Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.
A/N: Hi, guys! Thanks for all the continued support so far! I'm sorry my updates aren't as frequent as one per day, but I'm still in the process of writing this story and I'm trying to keep the gap between uploaded and completed chapters to at least five or six apart so that we don't catch up to ourselves, but I promise I won't be uploading the sequel until it's almost, or it actually is completed. That way you guys can have one chapter a day. Anyway, I'd like to thank buzzsaw935 for following this story. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
~ Not So Forsaken ~
- Chapter Nineteen -
"Left or right, guys?" Ellis asked as the group came to a small fork in their makeshift path.
They had two choices. Either walk through the swamp and potentially get devoured by alligators or take a walkway that went above the ground. To all five of them, the choice seemed pretty obvious. Higher ground would not only protect them from potential alligator attacks but also from any attacks from infected. The mist, swirling and twisting through the tall trees and the mass of foliage made it almost impossible to see where the zombies were, although their growls and snarls were echoing all around the group, mixed in with the sounds of frogs, insects and the other wildlife who were carrying on as if the world hadn't ended.
"We'll check this shack here..." Nick said, indicating the building to their left, "And then we'll go left and onto that walkway."
"Seems like a good idea." Coach agreed, "Let's move."
The shack to their left had nothing of any use in there other than another pipe bomb, which Nick decided to carry. So, navigating the awkward planked walkways, the group made their way up a flight of rickety-looking stairs, pausing at the top to look around the area in order to get an idea of what they were walking into. It was so misty that the infected below them were only just visible, and they certainly couldn't see what lay ahead of them. It made things very difficult.
"We don't have to kill everything in this swamp, right?" Julia asked in a whisper, "We could try and sneak by to save our ammo."
"We could." Rochelle agreed with a nod, "So, are we in agreement? We just shoot anything that's an imminent threat?"
The men nodded in agreement, and they carefully started to move across the walkway, trying not to make too much noise. They came across another shack which they quickly searched, thankfully coming across some handgun ammo and some rifle ammo for Nick, which he took gratefully considering he was starting to run a little low on bullets. They thankfully only drew the attention of a couple of the infected which were quickly taken out by Rochelle's machete and Ellis' fire axe.
Reaching the end of the boardwalk, the group were met with the sounds of a Witch crying. It was growing dark, which meant that wherever she was, she'd be sitting. That might make her harder to spot given the current weather conditions, but the five of them had to persevere regardless. Heading down the rickety steps and shooting the few infected that were wading around in the water, the group tried to find a way around the swamp water.
"How deep is this?" Julia asked, looking out at the water.
"I dunno. Maybe waist deep at the most?" Coach offered.
"Waist deep?!" Julia hissed out, shocked, "No, I'm sorry... I'm not wading through this."
"Unfortunately, honey, there ain't exactly a boat we can use." Coach said with a sigh.
"Then I'll have to improvise." Julia said with a determined nod, stepping past her friends as she looked for a way through.
Spotting the plank-like pathways that led across the water, she carefully edged across them, her rifle held out in front of her. The others followed her faithfully while she shot at various zombies to clear them a path. All of a sudden, however, she came to a stop, almost causing Ellis to barrel into the back of her. She reached back with a hand and grabbed his shirt to try and make him understand the urgency of this situation, which thankfully, he understood as he came to a stop behind her.
He quickly waved at the others to stop, and as the swamp critters continued to chirp despite the sound of the crying Witch, the five survivors remained deathly silent. She was mere feet away from them, and one step closer would be enough to disturb her. Ellis carefully started to ease Julia back, away from where the Witch was sitting.
"Well... There goes my hope of staying dry." Julia murmured, looking crestfallen, "Never mind. It was worth a shot."
"Those boots will keep your legs mostly dry." Coach offered weakly, pointing to an area to their left, "And besides, if ya stay near these here patches of land, you're only gonna be in water up to your ankles."
Clearly, Julia wasn't happy about that either, but as they stepped into the water, she was relieved to find that her boots did an adequate job of keeping her dry. Unfortunately for Coach and Nick, their lower legs were now soaking wet, which was accompanied by rather irritated grumbles from Nick as they passed the Witch, who was now partially shrouded in mist.
"Is that a safe house?" Ellis asked, pointing in front to where a soft glow of light was visible through the light fog.
It was a large structure that they were confronted with, looming somewhat menacingly over the five survivors as they approached. It transpired that they'd found a safe room in a drainage pipe, and it was going to be too small to spend the night in, but at least they could stock up on supplies and take a quick breather. Once inside, they shut the door and set the waiting metal bar in place before moving to the dimly lit table of supplies where they were able to gather more ammo and some water, which they all drank gratefully.
"We all doin' alright?" Coach asked, looking across at his fellow survivors.
Everyone responded positively which was a relief, and as the group reloaded their weapons, Coach felt pretty confident that everyone was focused and ready to go. Nick and Julia were talking about something between themselves at the back of the safe house, their voices so low that they'd probably barely be able to hear each other, so he took that opportunity to open up their exit door and leave the pair to have their talk.
They were met with very deep water that was definitely about waist height. Wading into it carefully, Coach spotted a bank to their right that would allow them to stay on semi-dry land. After a quick discussion, it was decided that due to Rochelle and Julia being smaller and also due to the concerns about them getting almost their entire bodies wet because of the depth of the water, Nick and Ellis agreed to piggyback them both across to the bank where Coach was now waiting. Ellis and Rochelle crossed quite quickly, reaching the other side with very little difficulty, and with Rochelle only getting a little bit wet. Ellis' overalls were enough to keep him mostly dry.
It was Nick and Julia's turn to cross now, and as the others covered them from across the water, Nick held Julia up as high as he could on his back before crossing the water with her. The feeling of his hands gripping her thighs like that was surprisingly arousing to her, and she cursed herself for getting turned on at the most inappropriate time possible.
"Almost there." Nick murmured, wincing at how uncomfortable his clothing felt, "Thank God."
"You guys should probably change your clothes once we reach the other side." Julia replied sweetly.
"No, honey, the heat out here will dry us off soon enough. I know it's Fall, but God, it's hot." Nick said with a grin, "It's so humid that my hair's getting big."
"Your hair gets big?" Julia asked with a chuckle.
"Yeah, it curls in humidity. It's why I slick it back." Nick said, turning around as he reached the bank, "Okay, are you close enough to get down?"
"I think so." Julia muttered, easing herself down off his back, "Thank you, sweetie."
She held her hand out to Nick to help him onto the bank, which he took gratefully, marvelling at how soft her skin was despite the hard work her hands had been put through over the past few days. She frowned at him in sympathy when she saw how wet he was, but Coach was quick to reassure him that he'd be dry again in no time.
Once they started moving through the trees towards a boat caught between two pieces of land, it became apparent that the swamp ahead was going to be treacherous to cross. The mist was enough of a danger because it obscured any threats from their views for some considerable distance, but also the thick foliage would make it hard to spot any zombies in their path.
"We'll be lucky to come out this unharmed." Nick murmured, "For God's sake, watch yourselves, and this time, we all stick together."
"Jesus, Nick..." Rochelle breathed out incredulously, "Talk about being pessimistic."
"Realistic, Ro. Realistic." Nick corrected her, emphasising his words, "We're gonna get attacked from all sides by threats we can barely see. The chances of anyone getting out unscathed is minimal. Okay, so we might not die in here, but..."
"Can we please get moving?" Julia whispered nervously, listening to the growls and groans of the roaming infected.
"Alright... Alright. Let's go." Coach murmured, heading forward first.
Ellis stayed at the back with Rochelle, and Nick ushered Julia in front of him where he could see her, and where she'd be protected by Coach. They crossed over the makeshift bridge carefully, their weapons trained ahead of them ready to attack any oncoming threat. Within seconds of reaching the edge of the swamp they were about to head into, a female zombie sprinted out from the foliage to their left, punching Coach straight in the side of the head.
Julia hit the zombie away with her M16 and shot at her, taking her head clean off. Coach rubbed at where the zombie had hit him, pouting as he glared angrily down at her body. Nick looked at Rochelle as if to say, 'I told you so', to which she responded very immaturely by sticking her tongue out at him.
They progressed a little further forward to find zombies scattered all over the place, vomiting, fighting each other, wandering aimlessly between the termite mounds that seemed almost to be growing out of the water. There was no chance of staying dry through this patch of swampland, so Coach vowed that no matter how small or lacking in spaces for privacy that the next safehouse was, they were going to change their clothes. Keeping their feet clean and dry was especially important, which was another reason why changing into dry clothes was a priority.
Moving along the thin patches of land and trying to kill whatever zombies were in their way as they went, the group found themselves face to face with the body of a paratrooper which was hanging from a tree, still attached to his parachute. Julia and Rochelle grimaced, stepping back a little as Coach and Ellis looked the body over for anything useful. Nick refused to leave Julia's side after what had happened with the Hunter back near the gas station. Coach, of course, could understand that but the situation wasn't ideal. Nick was the best marksman they had. His experience with weapons was way above their own, but the others knew after the scare they'd had with that Hunter, Julia would be lucky to get a bathroom break on her own.
"Poor guy." The redhead murmured, crossing her arms over her chest, "To think he died alone out here..."
"At least he's in a better place now, young 'un." Coach said in an attempt to soothe her, returning his attention to his search of the man's body, "There's nothing worth taking here."
"Jesus Christ, just leave him." Julia hissed, rubbing her forehead with the back of her hand and moving her gaze elsewhere in stunned disbelief that they were almost toying with someone's corpse, "Just let him have some fucking dignity in his death, please. It's not like he can have much like this."
Thankfully, Ellis and Coach stopped searching the man's body, both of them continuing in front. While the five survivors kept moving through the swamp, they remained mostly silent unless someone spotted a threat. Passing by a burned out house, they stopped for a moment to scavenge some supplies that were sat on a nearby dock, which included medical supplies, batteries for their flashlights and a few shotgun shells for Ellis and Coach.
Moving through the swamp a little further, shooting their foes as they went, the group suddenly came to a halt, utterly aghast at the sight of a crashed plane sitting in the middle of the swamp, a pile of bodies rising out of the water next to it. The cabin was exposed and was starting to sink into the water, while the vehicle itself caused quite a problem since it was now blocking their way. Nick cursed from the back of the group, kicking some random detached arm so hard that it actually hit the water near the plane with enough force to splash a nearby zombie in the face, causing it to stagger against the side of the aircraft.
"We're gonna have to go through this damn plane aren't we?" Rochelle groaned, almost as sick of this as Nick was.
"Let's just get it over with." Julia grumbled, "I'm sick of jumping through hoops out here."
"We all are, Jules." Coach replied with a sigh, "Let's move."
Moving carefully through the water, wincing at the discomfort they were all feeling at being wet, the five survivors prepared to open the emergency door on the inside of the plane to step out onto its wing and then move further on from there. The only concern was, what if this came with an alarm too? Everything else in the damn world seemed to come with alarms lately, so why wouldn't this plane's stupid emergency hatch?
"Are we sure there ain't no other way around this?" Ellis asked nervously from his place at the back of the group, "Why's everythin' always have to be ten times harder than necessary?"
"Because the universe hates us, that's why." Nick scowled, taking Julia's hand to help her into the plane's cabin, "I swear to God..."
"I don't think God's payin' a whole lot of attention to us right now." Coach said as he approached the emergency door, "Get ready."
"Please, please don't let this thing be alarmed..." Rochelle murmured, gripping her rifle tightly in her hands.
"Why don't we just open this door, and if it's alarmed, run like fuck?" Nick asked, "We've got the damn energy to do it, and we also have a spare pipe bomb, which means we can clear ourselves a path if we have to."
"I like Nick's idea." Ellis said with a sincere nod, "We can't be wasting this here ammo. There ain't that much left."
"Okay... Alright." Coach said quietly, taking a deep breath, "I want us to run in a group. If you see someone fallin' behind, holler, and we'll wait on 'em to make sure we get to our next safe area together. No-one's gettin' left behind. Are we clear?"
"We're clear." Nick said, "Now, open the hatch before this turns into a bad idea."
Coach heaved the wheel around to open the hatch, and as suspected, a loud alarm started blaring through the swamp, an inhuman scream filling the air which caused the team of five to break into a sprint. The water slowed them down considerably, but not so much so that they couldn't make a quick getaway. Shooting only what came at them from the front, the group raced through the water, all feeling exhausted by the time they got onto land. Nick looked over his shoulder to see Rochelle stumbling onto the grass, and he whistled to the others, who paused and covered them as he got her to her feet and pulled her along to keep up with them.
A bull-like roar came from their right, and Nick had to pause to heave Rochelle out of the way as a Charger suddenly ran between them and the others, hitting a tree somewhere beyond the foliage. Sprinting for their lives, the five kept running until they reached water so deep that they were forced to climb onto the roof of a sunken house, half buried in the swamp water. Taking that opportunity to then use their pipe bomb, they sent the infected running in the direction they'd come from to chase the beeping mechanism before setting off again, finding themselves with a pretty clear route up to a dirt road where there were only a few infected blocking their way.
"Just keep runnin'!" Ellis yelled, racing ahead.
A hoarse, throaty screech came from his left, and within seconds, he found himself being dragged off by a Smoker, out of the sights of his friends. Julia screamed his name, sprinting after the Smoker with her M16 aimed at it, her laser beam searching desperately for a good shot.
Nick saw her disappear down the hill after Ellis, and within a few seconds, there was a choking sound followed by coughing and a cloud of green smoke. The others held off the oncoming infected as best they could while Julia and Ellis got back up the hill. Looking up at her friends, Julia made eye contact with Nick, who was giving her a look that she couldn't quite fathom. He was frowning, and he looked scared, but something in his eyes told her that he was upset and disappointed in her, probably because she'd taken off after Ellis like that.
"This way!" Ellis yelled, waving them on, "Come on!"
They passed a sign for Village En Marais which also had a safehouse marker on it, giving the group an unbelievable sense of relief at the thought that they'd be safe soon. The five of them raced towards the awaiting safehouse, and as they got inside, they all helped to slam the door shut, throwing a table of supplies over before using it to help barricade the door. They all collapsed to the ground with exhaustion, with Julia immediately moving to check Ellis' neck for injuries after his Smoker encounter.
There was slamming on the door they'd just come through, courtesy of the infected that had been chasing them for the past ten minutes, and Nick couldn't help but hit the butt of his sniper rifle against the door in retaliation due to being so pissed off with the zombies for making them run so much. Satisfied that Ellis wasn't too badly hurt, Julia sat back on the ground, leaning against him for a moment to catch her breath.
"Well done, guys." Rochelle said with a relieved grin, "I can't believe we made that."
"We need to change our clothes." Coach said with a sigh, "Again. We can use that there bedroom."
"We staying here tonight?" Ellis asked, looking at Coach wearily, "I'm beat from all that runnin'."
"We'll just take a few hours to rest." Coach replied warmly, "Get outta these wet clothes and get some sleep."
"Jules and I can change last." Nick said with a smirk, "We're taking the bed."
"Wait a minute..." Julia said with an embarrassed laugh, stunned by Nick's rudeness, "We can't just decide we're taking the bed like that."
"It's fine, honey." Rochelle said with a laugh, "A few hours is nothing, and besides, if you two want some privacy, it's okay."
Rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably, Julia looked up at Nick with a fierce blush on her face while Rochelle stepped past them to get changed. She could be heard complaining in the small bedroom as she changed her clothes as to the difficulty she faced when trying to remove her soaked jeans which were now clinging to her body.
"There's some crackers over here." Coach said, sounding pleased with himself as he rummaged through the tiny house's cupboards, "Not been opened yet."
"Better than nothing, I guess." Nick grumbled, looking up as Rochelle returned in her cleaner clothes, the wet ones held in her hands.
"We can hang our wet clothes over this bathtub." She said, hanging her wet jeans and t-shirt over the bathtub in the corner, "It'll give 'em a few hours to dry off before we get moving again."
"Good idea, Ro." Ellis said warmly, "There's some crackers over here if you want some."
After Coach, Ellis and Julia had changed, Nick went to go and change his clothes after, feeling rather relieved to be out of his soaked suit. The second he'd laid his clothes on the bathtub, he grabbed Julia's hand and dragged her into the small bedroom, poking his head around to the others to tell them they were going to get some sleep.
They heard some quiet chatter in the small space next to them as Julia settled onto the futon-like bed next to them, her faux-leather jacket now being used as a pillow since the pillow she had to sleep on looked rather unpleasant. Nick settled next to her, using his jacket as a pillow too. After a few moments of quiet, Nick could tell something was up. Julia was looking up at the ceiling, her brow knotted in worry and her teeth chewing at her lower lip as she fidgeted with her fingers.
"Everything okay?" He asked her, turning on his side and leaning on his elbow to look at her, his hand supporting his head.
No, it wasn't. Julia was worried about what had happened out there with that Smoker. She knew full well that Nick hadn't been best pleased with her, and the thought of him being mad at her sucked so much that it made her chest hurt. She terrified that he was going to berate her for such a stupid move but at the same time, she just wanted to make amends and to forget about it.
"Are you mad at me?" She asked quietly, "You know... 'Cause I chased down that Smoker?"
Nick looked confused for a moment, his eyes glimmering in the soft light of the safe room with what looked like amusement. Now, Julia was confused. She was sure he'd be angry at her for throwing herself in harm's way, especially after Ellis, who Nick would probably be angry with for getting himself entangled with a Smoker anyway.
"I'm not mad." He whispered, "Yeah, alright, I got a little anxious when I saw you bounding down that hill after the damn thing, but I know you can hold your own. You made the right call going after Ellis."
"You sure?" Julia asked, her gaze trained on his.
"Yeah. Besides, if anything happened to you, I would've kicked Ellis' ass for being dumb enough to get caught." Nick murmured, leaning closer to her, "Now, shut up and come here."
Julia looked a little stunned at how calm he was, but that was soon replaced with a warm smile as she moved towards him to kiss him, sighing as he curled his hand around her head to hold her in place. He was moving on top of her before she knew what was happening, and part of her was worried that the movement would be spotted by the others, but when she felt him slipping his tongue into her mouth, a spark shot through her that almost caused her to moan.
"Nick, we can't..." She whispered, breaking away from him.
"Just a little..." Nick whispered back, "Humour me. Seeing your shirt go see-through turned me on a little."
"You know, I should call you disgusting and kick you outta here." Julia murmured, smiling as he kissed her again.
"Yeah, but you're not gonna, are you?" Nick spoke softly, trying to keep as quiet as possible, "You like me too much."
Julia pulled back and arched an eyebrow at him. He really was arrogant sometimes, but she really found it hard to care, especially when he was looking at her the way he was in that moment. It looked almost like adoration to her, and she really hoped it was. She hadn't been looked at like this for the longest time.
"I do." She whispered, moving to run her fingers through his hair, "Okay... We can a little. But, only a little. And we stay clothed. We're only here for a couple of hours."
"Oh, baby... So many rules..." Nick breathed out, smirking at her.
"Shut up and kiss me." Julia murmured, leaning closer to him as an invitation.
When their lips met again, Nick let her take control. Their last encounter like this had shown him that she clearly had issues with intimacy. Whether or not it was just a confidence thing or whether or not it had something to do with her ex-boyfriend, which it probably did, he knew that letting her take control was best. The last thing he wanted to do was freak her out since it had taken him so long to actually get up the courage to even let her know how he felt about her.
Running his hand under her long-sleeved top, he cradled her hip before squeezing lightly to show her he liked the way she was kissing and touching him. She was really good with her hands, and he didn't think she knew just how amazing her touches were. He felt her shudder beneath him as he moved his touch to her waist, and as she gasped with the electricity she felt at the touch, he slid his tongue back into her mouth again.
The sound of a gunshot startled them both out of their kiss, and they heard Coach celebrating his kill of a Hunter that had apparently been skulking nearby. Sharing a look of resignation, the couple decided to put and end to their make-out session and try to get some rest. Julia turned away from Nick to get comfortable, smiling to herself when she felt him move closer to her and pull her back towards his chest.
"We're cuddling now?" She asked quietly, unable to stop herself from giggling when she heard his response.
"Shhh... We're only here for a couple of hours."
Biting her lip to stifle her laugh, Julia took his hand in her own, squeezing it tightly before settling down to sleep.
~ To Be Continued ~
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thank you for reading this so far!