Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 2 or its characters. I only own my OCs.

A/N: Hi, guys! Thanks for sticking with me so far! Great news! I pushed through last night and this afternoon, and I've actually finished the fic, so now there'll be a daily update until the last chapter is published. I'm also making a start on the sequel, so hopefully, it won't be too long before I publish that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Shin Maxwell: Nick is a silly man sometimes, I totally agree! Thanks for reviewing again! I hope you continue to enjoy the story.

~ Not So Forsaken ~

- Chapter Twenty-Four -

The sobbing was now unbearable.

As they moved slowly through the downpour and the enormously thick sugar cane field, Coach, Ellis, Julia, Nick and Rochelle were being driven crazy by the numerous Witches that were walking around in their vicinity, their sobs, wails and cries becoming more and more like torture with every passing second. At the front of the group was Coach, while Rochelle was close behind, followed by Nick and Julia, with him holding her hand tightly, and then Ellis at the back, who Julia was keeping a very close eye on.

"Keep moving!" Coach instructed over the ever howling wind, "Keep your eyes on that sign!"

It was getting colder, and the wind had been growing steadily more violent, along with the rain, which the group were desperate to get out of. They were focussing on their goal, which for the time being was getting the gas, getting back to Virgil, and then finally being able to get warm and dry before, at long last, they'd touch down in New Orleans. For some reason, the rain seemed to be getting colder, and all of them were starting to shiver, especially Julia and Rochelle.

Julia couldn't help but marvel at the strength of Nick's hold on her hand. He was gripping onto her almost for dear life, his hand clasped around hers and her arm tucked under his in a protective manner to keep her close to him. After their talk about his reasons for trying to keep her in his sights, Julia had promised herself that she'd stay with him, no matter what. If it gave him peace of mind, she was happy for him to shadow her for the rest of their journey, even if it did feel a little confining to her.

"There's the gas station!" Coach said gleefully, "We made..."

"AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH!"

The scream of a Tank coming at them from the right was so loud that the girls and Ellis let out yelps of shock, and as they broke out of the cane field, they were confronted with the large zombie barrelling towards them at alarming speed from the right of the gas station. They started to attack it with round after round, scattering to surround it so that it took bullets from every angle. Amazingly, despite it hurling concrete around like its life depended on it, it didn't manage to hurt anybody. It collapsed dead in the middle of the road after about a minute or so of gunfire, and the group rushed around it to get into the gas station to find the diesel that they needed.

Once inside a storeroom, which also happened to be a safe room, they slammed the door shut, raided the shelves looking for ammo and medical supplies, and then they looked around for spare cans of diesel which had been stored in a small closet within the storage room. There were six cans, so it was decided that they'd take five, and Coach volunteered to carry the sixth can on his back as well, reassuring the group that he could bear the extra weight. It was a bit uncomfortable trying to attach the cans to their backs, but after fashioning some straps from some supplies in the storage cupboard, everyone was able to carry their can of diesel securely.

"We all ready to go?" Rochelle asked as everyone tried to gather their nerve to head back out, "It's gotten awfully dark outside..."

"Then we need to be more careful." Nick said with a grimace, "This storm's getting really bad, so for God's sake stay close to each other. If visibility becomes too poor, we link hands or just try to grab onto the person in front. That way we don't leave anyone behind."

"I like that idea, Nick." Coach said softly, "We need to keep our eyes on each other and try to keep each other safe. It's getting' real bad out there."

"Then let's go before it gets any worse." Julia said quietly, moving to lift the bar from their safe room door.

Stepping out, she saw just how dark it had actually gotten, and her heart flew into her throat. She felt Nick's hand on her shoulder, and he squeezed gently, encouraging her to continue moving while trying to reassure her that it was going to be okay. Nick knew deep down that it might not be okay, given the severity of the weather conditions that they were now being faced with. Once back on the gas station's forecourt, it was easy to see how bad the flooding was getting. The road was almost submerged, and the cane field across from them was actually waterlogged, which would make crossing it to get back to the elevator incredibly difficult.

As soon as they managed to get part way into the cane field, the wind suddenly picked up, screaming in their ears as the rain pelted their faces, soaking them through almost as if they were standing under a shower. Since they could barely see their hands in front of themselves, they chose to stop, put their weapons away but keep their sidearms at the ready, and take hands, with Julia at the front, Nick behind her, followed by Ellis, then Rochelle and then Coach. The redhead led them slowly through the cane field, knowing full well that she couldn't hear anything if it was approaching. Thankfully, the storm seemed to be keeping the zombies at bay for the most part, and they didn't really encounter any trouble until they got to the other side of the cane field.

A Spitter was climbing down the elevator shaft towards them, which Julia killed within seconds, leaving the body to fall gracelessly and hit the floor with a sickening crack, a pool of acid now bubbling around it. The group waited for it to dissolve, everyone shivering in the cold and wet, despite Nick, in particular, trying to hide the fact that he was actually shivering. Thankfully, within a few seconds, their path was clear, and they huddled inside the elevator, hitting the button to head back up to the mill. Julia pressed close to Nick, her body shaking so much he didn't think she'd be able to shoot straight.

"You're from Illinois. You should be used to cold weather." He said with a smirk.

"Shut up. I get cold really easily." She said with a grimace, "I couldn't cope with the cold back home either."

"The sooner we get warm and dry, the better." Coach said with a sigh, "We're gonna end up gettin' sick at this rate."

The elevator reached the top, opening up to reveal the darkened mill, which only had the odd zombie walking around its floors, allowing them the chance to slip by without drawing any attention. However, the more childlike crying that Witches seemed to emit at night could be heard above the sounds of the pouring rain and the howling wind. As the group headed down to the floor below them to try and escape without crossing the water, they spotted the Witch in question, sitting not too far from the large water tank they were going to attempt to climb.

Nick led the way, which involved jumping from a walkway onto a rather unstable looking flat roof of a portable cabin. Julia followed him, allowing him to catch her as she jumped onto the roof as well, but the creak it gave as her weight was added to it was far from reassuring. Nick then moved towards the large tank ahead, spotting a bright yellow ladder that would enable them to climb to the top of it. He made the jump from the roof to the ladder, grabbing on with one hand and hissing as his shins banged against the metal rungs, leaving him annoyed that he was probably going to be bruised.

He climbed carefully to the top, moving slowly so as not to slip since the rungs were wet with the rain, and he waited patiently, encouraging Julia to come next. Ellis was already on the portable cabin's roof, waiting for Julia to get onto the ladder so that he could help Rochelle across and send her that way too. Julia also hit the ladder with a bang, and as she almost reached the top, she slipped, desperately clutching onto the sides of the ladder to try and stay up, rather than falling into the water and disturbing the Witch below. Nick helped her up to the top and as Rochelle came next, Julia stood guard while Nick helped Rochelle up there with them as well. Ellis made the trip with no issues, but poor Coach was the one who happened to land awkwardly on the ladder, slipping and falling into the water below.

The Witch's cries stopped. All that could be heard as she slowly turned to look at him was the rain, the rumble of thunder that happened to be rolling by, and the howling of the wind. Coach eased himself up and onto his feet, trying not to panic as the Witch continued to silently stare at him, just like the one that had stared at Ellis and Julia in Whispering Oaks. He carefully edged away from her and started to climb the ladder, moving quicker as he heard her starting to growl.

"Don't rush!" Julia called to him, her voice hushed, but full of urgency, "She'll calm down again in a second when she realises you're not a threat!"

Taking a deep breath, Coach continued to climb with speed, but also with care, and as he reached the top of the tank, the group moved along a walkway and onto the top of another enormous water tank, leaving the Witch to cry alone in the water below. They managed to use the long, thick expanses of pipe to make their way back across through the decrepit mill, and thankfully, the severity of the weather seemed to be keeping the mutated infected at bay. Once they got back to the entrance to the sugar mill, everyone finally could breathe a sigh of relief. While it had been a perilous part of their journey, it had been a very quiet and mostly peaceful one.

Re-entering the safe room that Julia had burst out of earlier in her upset, the group closed the door behind them, barricaded it as quickly as they could and then started to collect the remaining supplies that they'd left behind on their way through the town earlier in their journey. A sudden gasp from Coach caught the group's attention, and as he eased the bar from the safe room door and pushed it open, they found themselves confronted with rather deep flood water, leaving some of the houses they'd passed earlier, flooded up to their porches. Thankfully, their tall foundations had kept them from being seriously damaged by the water.

"Let's go across the roofs!" Nick said, grimacing as the storm chose this moment to get worse, "Stay close!"

He pulled Julia in front of him, who stepped out first, shooting at the few infected that were wandering around in the water. Climbing a step ladder onto a nearby garage, Julia got onto its roof, standing guard as her comrades climbed up to join her. They ran carefully across the rooftops, leaping from one to the other while trying to navigate their way through the flood, looking for vehicles or items they could use as platforms to remain as dry as possible. Within a few minutes, they found themselves back at the playground.

"Almost there!" Ellis panted as they waded through the water, all of them now starting to grow very tired and absolutely sick of being soaking wet, "I bet that house we passed on the way in is nearby!"

It transpired that it was, and just as they were about to reach it, the storm picked up again, giving them more reason to push forward and try to get inside. Ushering everyone through the steel doorway, Coach was suddenly met with the sight of an approaching horde of infected, followed by a Smoker and a Charger. It was a tense few seconds to get everyone inside, and then, slamming their new safe house door shut, everyone rushed to barricade it, grateful that the house had been incredibly well boarded up and barricaded by its former occupants.

While trying to ignore the pounding of the zombies on their safe house door, the group of five explored the house. It was clearly a small family home. The living area was very small, and the kitchen was too, but it had three bedrooms and a bathroom which they hoped had running water. There was a double bedroom and then a further two single bedrooms, and after more exploration, an airbed was discovered in one of the closets which meant that everyone had something comfortable to sleep on.

"We should stay here tonight." Coach said quietly, "Virgil's probably expectin' us to, given this storm."

"I'll go see if the bathroom's working." Rochelle offered, "A sponge bath and a change of clothes will fix us up just fine for now."

Everyone took a moment to put their supplies down and get their breath. There was a sudden, celebratory whoop of joy from the bathroom, as Rochelle came running out with what the others thought might even be tears in her eyes.

"Guys... We have hot water..."

"What?!" Everyone asked, their faces a look of complete shock.

"We have working hot water! We can take a shower!" Rochelle let out another joyful laugh and clapped her hands together, "I'm going first!"

One by one, the group took their first hot shower in days. They washed their hair, the girls shaved their underarms and legs, Ellis got rid of his five-o'clock shadow that had started to make its unwelcome presence known on his young face, and Nick even had a quick shave, since his facial hair was growing thicker too. Watching him emerge from the shower in clean clothes with messy, wet hair was rather amusing for the others, but once he'd dried it a little on the towel he was using, it seemed to settle down against his head again, rather than sticking out and up in all directions. He did comment that he'd found some hair products in the bathroom, so he'd be able to slick it back again later, but this only seemed to fuel the fire and everyone had a quiet giggle at his expense.

Coach handed Nick a Meal-Ready-to-Eat, which was pasta and vegetables, and the group sat around the living space with nothing but the dim light of a camping lantern and the sounds of the storm accompanying them. Nick and Julia were on the couch, with Julia sitting in Nick's lap, which allowed Coach to sit on there with them while Ellis and Rochelle took the armchairs.

"So, are we gonna take it in turns to keep watch tonight?" Nick asked, supporting Julia as she leant forward to put the packaging that their meals had come in on the coffee table.

"Nah, this place is barricaded like Fort Knox." Coach said with a sigh, "We all need to rest tonight."

"So, we're literally a two-minute walk away from the gas station right now?" Rochelle asked tiredly.

"Yeah. And I know how we're gonna signal Virgil." Coach said, taking a drink of water, "We're gonna light up that sign at the Burger Tank. I don't see the point in us doing that until we're fully rested. It's gonna draw in a hell of a lot of unwanted attention."

"Yeah, I'd rather be fit for the fight." Julia agreed, taking a drink of her own water, "I'm exhausted."

"Me too." Rochelle agreed, standing up and stretching her arms above her head, "I'm gonna turn in for the night. Goodnight, guys."

Everyone wished Rochelle the sentiment in return, and as she picked up her gear to head to bed, Ellis decided to call it a night too, announcing that he was going to get the airbed inflated in the room he was going to share with Coach. Then, Coach wanted to hit the hay too, which left Nick and Julia on their own. Once everyone had disappeared, Nick turned to Julia, who was still looking in the direction that the others had wandered off in.

"You doing okay?" He asked her quietly.

"Yeah." She replied with a warm but tired smile, "Just exhausted. You holding up okay?"

"I'm fine." Nick murmured, leaning closer to her with a frankly devilish glint in his eyes, "Wanna go to bed?"

"Not yet." Julia whispered, grinning brightly as he kissed her, "I wanna talk for a while. We barely know anything about each other."

"Talk?" He asked with an arched eyebrow, "Okay... I guess we can talk a little. What do you wanna know?"

They talked for well over an hour. Julia talked about her childhood and some of the amazing places she got to see as a little girl. Nick talked about some of the places he'd seen as he'd gone around the States gambling, and he opened up to her about how he met his ex-wife and how their marriage had broken down. Julia found out that Nick didn't have a favourite colour, but that he did prefer blue and black above other colours. Nick found out that Julia's favourite colour was green, and that most of her wardrobe back home had been in varying shades of green. They talked about the music they liked, their favourite movies and they even talked about their dream cars.

Julia got talking about what her old job had been like, and some of the shit she'd had to deal with on a daily basis from some of the customers she had to serve. Nick talked about the one time in his life when he'd tried to have a steady job and how his boss had pissed him off so much that he'd quit halfway through his first day. They talked about their different experiences in school and found it amazing how much difference fourteen years made between the education they received and how they both found life at school to be.

When Julia opened up to Nick about why she and her parents didn't speak any more, he couldn't help but feel angry on her behalf. She hadn't been too upset when she'd been talking about it, but that part of her life still clearly caused her some serious pain. They then got onto the subject of former partners with the exceptions of Nick's ex-wife and Julia's ex-boyfriend, and when Nick started to tell her a story about when he thought he'd gotten one of his high school girlfriends pregnant, Julia managed to get up the courage to discuss the very delicate matter of her miscarried baby with him.

It had angered but certainly hadn't surprised Nick to discover that Kevin had been the one responsible for Julia losing her baby. He didn't ask too many questions because he knew she'd tell him all that she wanted him to know, and even though she became a little tearful, she admitted that part of her was grateful that her baby hadn't had to be born into this mess or into the mess of a violent, abusive relationship. She immediately recoiled in horror at her own opinion on the matter, but Nick tried to reassure her that it was okay to be thankful that the baby hadn't been born into further suffering.

It felt good to get that dark part of her recent past off her chest. It was something that she'd planned on telling him about when the right time came, but it appeared that the opportunity had presented itself much earlier than she thought. Changing the subject to discuss nicer things, Julia asked Nick if there was one destination in the world that he was desperate to see before he died. He admitted that he wanted to see the Maldives at least once in his lifetime, while Julia wanted to visit the pyramids in Egypt.

It wasn't too long before they were both ready to head to bed, and as they got up from the sofa, Julia took his hand and started to lead him towards their bed for the night, her other hand holding onto the small camping lantern. Nick got a strange feeling, almost as though he knew what she was hinting at by pulling him along after her like that. She kept glancing over her shoulder at him with a hint of embarrassment but with her teeth biting her lower lip, almost as though she was trying to be... Seductive? Was that the look she was going for? It was working, Nick knew that much, but he didn't quite know whether that was her intention or not.

Once they got to their door, they made their way into their room, where their belongings were already sitting. Unlike the others, Julia had been quite the little homemaker and had already made up the bed and moved their bags and weapons inside their room. Nick couldn't help but smile a little at that. As he closed the door, he noticed Julia moving to stand behind him. Unbeknownst to him, she'd spent their time talking trying to work up the courage to actually take their relationship to a new step. She'd been thinking about how close they actually were to death. One wrong hit from a Tank or once accidentally disturbed Witch could be enough to kill them. They may not have a lot of time left, and she knew that Nick had been wanting to push their intimate relationship a little further, so she was prepared to give herself to him. Any time they had together like this wasn't to be wasted.

When he turned, he was faced with Julia who was red in the face and looked a little panicked, but when she reached up suddenly to take his face in her hands and kiss him, he started to understand why she was looking so flustered. He gripped her hips, not tight enough to hurt, but enough to let her know that he really appreciated what she was now doing. She let out a small moan into their kiss, breaking away from him to start unbuttoning his dress shirt in an almost frantic manner.

"Hey..." He whispered gently, "We've got the whole night, okay? You can slow down. Take your time."

"Sorry..." She laughed quietly and sheepishly.

"It's alright." Nick laughed too, trying to ease her nerves, "We can go as slow as you need us to. No pressure."

"You're too good to me." She murmured, biting her lip as he took her face into his hands this time.

"Shhh..." He whispered, "Enjoy the moment."

It actually felt good to have a pressure-free period of intimacy, where there actually wasn't any expectation, although he did have a good idea now of what Julia's intentions were. He was so used to having fast, raunchy encounters that it was nice to not have that necessity or urge to rush things. Besides, this could be a difficult thing for Julia to actually get through, and while he didn't want to make her do anything she didn't want to, and while he didn't want her to feel any discomfort, he knew that taking things as slowly and steadily as possible was the best thing to do.

With this in mind, Nick carefully brought her shaking hands back to his shirt, allowing her to hold onto him as their lips moved in deep, passionate, but slow kisses. He then steadily started to walk her back towards the bed, keeping a hold of her to ensure that she didn't fall over. She could sometimes be a little clumsy, as he'd seen already. Stopping at the side of the bed, he kicked off his dress shoes, while Julia sat down to take off her boots.

She took off her hoodie and let it fall to the floor beside them before moving onto the bed, settling against the pillows. The camping lantern, which she'd placed on one of the bedside tables as Nick had been closing their door, gave the room that wonderful glow which seemed to make it feel cosier, and it bathed her still-bruised skin in a warm glow that made her appear all the more beautiful.

A flash of lightning illuminated the room, followed by a loud crash of thunder, but it seemed to go unnoticed by both Nick and Julia as they melted into each other, settling down on the mattress together. Julia's fingers returned to his shirt buttons, slowly and methodically unfastening them as their lips met and parted in what could only be described as tender kisses. Nick's hands were under her white t-shirt, being careful not to startle or hurt her, and while she was pushing the shirt from his shoulders to reveal that toned, dark-haired upper half of his, he started to ease her t-shirt up in order to remove it.

Once both articles of clothing were gone, Nick decided to test the water again as he had back at the entrance to the swamp. After another five minutes or so of kissing, moving from her lips to her neck, her upper chest and even her flat stomach, which had elicited the sweetest and softest of moans from her, he reached for her jeans, feeling relieved this time when he was met with no resistance.

He unfastened the button and then pulled down the zipper, but he chose to not go any further from there. He wanted her to adjust to that first before attempting to actually remove the item of clothing from her. Her legs were now parting for him, and with a sigh of almost pure joy, he moved between them, bringing his hips down to hers in one languid, heated movement that sent a pleasant rush through her body, causing her to gasp and tilt her head back. Taking that as a positive, Nick then decided to try and remove her jeans. Again, he was met with no resistance.

She was beneath him now, wearing nothing but a grey bra and a pair of navy blue panties, and it took all his will to not ogle at her. She was incredibly gorgeous to look at. Her body, despite its bruises and that horrific scar on her left leg, was stunningly beautiful, bathed in the warm light of that stupid little camping lantern. He moved to kiss her neck, feeling her head tilt to the side to give him better access, while those beautiful fingers, shaking with anxiety and self-consciousness, began to unfasten his belt.

'You can do this, Julia.' She thought to herself, 'Let yourself have him tonight. You might not get another chance.'

She felt his stomach quiver slightly as her fingers brushed against it to unfasten those completely ruined white dress pants, and she felt a small burst of confidence at the sensation. Had he actually enjoyed the feeling of that, or were her fingers cold?

"Are my hands cold?" She asked him quietly.

"No, baby, they're not." He replied with a deep chuckle, "Just surprised me a little is all."

She was going to apologise, but she saw him look at her in such a way that she knew she didn't need to. She sat up to help him remove the dress pants, and they both got a little chuckle out of the fact that they seemed harder to remove than they should've been, which meant that Nick eventually had to stand up to kick them off and then he returned to her, giving the warmth back to her that she so desperately craved.

Feeling his fingers take a hold of the clasp at the back of her bra, Julia suddenly took in a deep, sharp breath and she held onto that as he unfastened the garment, and began to slowly remove it from her trembling body...

~ To Be Continued ~

HAH! I know I'm evil, leaving it there :D

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading so far!