Hey everyone! :D
And here is chapter 6. I know that it took some time, but like I already said, I have school and this school year is very stressful. Besides all the tests I also have to prepare three big presentations with documentations. So you don't have to ask for an update all the time (*squinting at all the guest reviews*). But I'm happy to see that you like my story that much that you want so badly an update X'D
Well, anyway. I hope you all will enjoy the chapter. Have fun reading it ;D
Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are
Chapter 6_Chasing the unknown
It was the next morning as Chiara woke up from her fitful sleep. The first thing that she noticed was that it was comfortably warm before she realized that the warmth came from Shark who was pressed up against her.
With a quiet yawn the little girl looked up only to see the still sleeping face of the hunter. Odd, she would have bet that he was already awake. She at least had gotten the impression that all the bad people didn't have to sleep much – if at all.
But Chiara couldn't help herself but to smile softly as she regarded Shark's sleeping face. He looked so peaceful and fully relaxed, unlike yesterday. That reminded her of something...
Shark had been hurt! She instantly became worried again as she hurriedly sat up and regarded the sleeping hunter more closely. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't spot any injuries beside the four scratches on the small hunter's cheek – and even those were mostly healed by now.
But he really seemed to be in pain the day before – even though the little girl didn't know why. She knew only one thing. The pain Shark had been in couldn't have been caused from these scratches, so it had to be something else.
She pondered on it for some seconds longer before she sighed quietly and gave up. She just hoped that he wouldn't be in any pain anymore when he woke up.
With that in mind the five year old turned her head so she could look to the big window in the room. The dawn was starting with the first sunbeams.
Chiara stayed in bed for a while longer until she got bored and was fed up with resting and not moving for a period of time. Shark wasn't awake yet and it didn't seem like that would be the case in the near future.
After she looked briefly at the hunter, to confirm that he was indeed still asleep, she slowly shifted out of his tight embrace and crawled quietly to the edge of the huge bed.
She immediately stopped in her tracks as Shark grumbled loudly before he curled up with a quiet growl. She waited some seconds longer but no more sounds could be heard from the hunter, so that she proceeded and finally climbed down from the bed.
Chiara swiftly walked out of the bedroom and in the living room while she reached up and pulled the blue hood from her head. She really couldn't understand why it was so important for Shark that she wore that thing over her head. But she didn't dare to go against an angry hunter – and Shark had been angry as she had refused to wear the hood.
With a quiet sigh the little girl reached up again and tightened her pigtails clumsily before she spotted something on the floor. She faltered slightly – unsure what this meant.
Just in the middle of the living room stood a backpack – the backpack full with food that they had left behind in the supermarket.
The little girl downright pounced on the backpack before she clumsily ripped it open and could only stare in disbelieve at all the cans in it. She furrowed her brow as she cocked her head out of bewilderment.
Why was the backpack here? And how did it get here in the first place? Did Shark go back to the supermarket and brought it back? Very unlikely, but she couldn't come up with another explanation. No one else than the small hunter could have done it. He knew where the backpack had been but on the other hand Chiara doubted that the hunter would have done this with the pain he had been in.
A quiet noise from behind her startled her whereupon she spun around, only to come face to face with her companion, who seemed to be awake by now. She hadn't even heard him until he was standing right behind her.
"Don't do that. You scared me, Shark.", mumbled the little girl while she took a deep breath.
But the hunter didn't pay her any attention, instead he stared at the backpack before he let an uneasy growl slip. His remaining eye roamed the room wildly before he sidestepped the little girl to bent down and to sniff at the backpack. He seemed to get more and more agitated the longer he smelled the backpack.
Chiara cocked her head anew while she observed the small hunter's actions. Judging by his reaction he really wasn't the one who brought the backpack back.
But who could have done it then?
She was pulled out of her thoughts as Shark started to growl and slowly crawled to the window through that they had left and entered the apartment. As she saw how he crouched down and prepared himself for a jump the little girl acted without thinking.
She swiftly ran up to him whereupon she grabbed his arm and clung tightly to it.
"Wait! Don't go. At least not without me!" Even though she knew that the hunter couldn't understand her, she wasn't able to stop talking to him. When she would stop talking then who would be left to do it? Besides she never had been a big fan of long lasting silence.
Shark looked at her before he snarled quietly out of irritation, but didn't try to wrench her off his arm nonetheless. The little girl took this for a good sign.
"What's wrong? Who got the backpack?", she asked her companion who seemed to have understood and recognized at least one of the words as he looked back at the backpack and slightly shook his head for an answer.
"You don't know...?", guessed the little girl before she sighed loudly and hesitantly released Shark's arm from her tight grip.
"Come on, let us eat something first before we go and look for the person.", suggested Chiara while she pointed at the backpack with the cans in it.
As Shark just cocked his head out of confusion she stepped up to the backpack with a wry smile on her lips. She grabbed one of the cans before she showed it to Shark and pointed meaningfully at the lid of the can.
It seemed like the hunter remembered the day before as he slowly took the can from her hands and opened it with one of his claws – just like she had done it with his index finger at the supermarket. After it was open all the way he gave the can back whereupon the little girl grabbed it with a proud as well as a happy smile.
In the can was pinkish stuff – some fruits she couldn't remember the definition of.
"Thank you Shark. Oh, that would be for you." Smiling she pulled another can out of the backpack and gave it to the hunter who also opened this one without any questions. She could see how he faltered as he saw and probably smelled the contents of the can.
"That's meat. You can eat it. It's for you.", offered the little girl warmly while she pointed at first at the meat in the can and then at Shark. As the hunter gave her an unsure look she just smiled back reassuringly before she stuffed one piece of fruit from her own can in her mouth and chewed happily on it. It tasted really sweet.
Shark seemed to hesitate for some seconds longer before he at last grabbed clumsily some of the meat and crammed it in his mouth. The surprised as well as delighted moan that followed brought the little girl to laugh.
"I'm happy to see that you like it.", said Chiara happily while she watched how the hunter devoured the small portion of the meat like he was starving. She rather watched him eating the meat out of the can than the flesh of some animal or some other creature. The mere thought of the dead deer made her sick.
She hurriedly shook her head in an attempt to shoo these thoughts away before she concentrated on the contents of her own can which she quickly ate. As she was finished with eating she looked up at Shark who looked at her with a frown – or to be more specific at her head that was missing a hood on top of it.
"What?!", snapped the little girl who already knew what the problem was. But instead of replying anything Shark just snorted awkwardly and turned around to crawl in the direction of the glassless window again.
"Hey, wait! I want to go with you!", exclaimed Chiara as she clung to Shark's arm a second time this morning.
The hunter looked down at her whereupon he shook his arm in an attempt to get her to let go. As that proved itself useless he started to growl in an impatient fashion and grabbed the little girl to pull her off his arm. But this also ended in failure. Chiara wouldn't let go until Shark would take her with him. She wasn't a pigheaded fellow for nothing.
Her own pleading face promptly transformed into a big satisfied grin as Shark's loud defeated sigh reached her ears, so that she finally let go of his arm and petted him swiftly on the cheek. She didn't even make a fuss as Shark grabbed her hood and pulled the blue material over her head. If she had to wear the hood in order to be allowed to go outside with Shark then so be it.
Knowing what would come next she swiftly turned around on her own and waited for Shark to bite down on her hoodie. The way the hunter carried her around still reminded her of an overgrown cat that carried its baby kitty around. Even though it felt somewhat awkward to dangle like that from her hoodie she still thought that it was kinda cute.
The little girl was pulled out of her thoughts as Shark lifted her from the floor and swiftly climbed through the window and from there up on to the roof. She could practically imagine how his nostrils flared as he smelled the air around them with a deep breath.
It took some seconds but Shark eventually sniffed the scent out that he probably had smelled on the backpack. This time around Chiara didn't squeal out of delight as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop – even though she couldn't suppress the happy smile that was quickly plastered on her face.
She was still wondering how the backpack had gotten in the living room and who had done it. But no matter how long she pondered on it she couldn't come up with a satisfying answer, so that she sighed deeply and just decided that she would have to wait and see.
The five year old squealed out of surprise as the hunter suddenly turned sharply left before he dropped some meters, only to jump on a higher building up again and then to sprint over the rooftops. Through the whole stunt – or should she rather call it a race?! – the little girl clutched her own hoodie tightly – out of fright that she would by any chance slip through her hoodie, which was somewhat too big for her.
Just as she was about to tell Shark to slow down the small hunter stopped on his own and sharply turned his head in a specific direction. Chiara needed some seconds to realize at what exactly he was looking.
A run-down looking house – the exact same run-down looking house in that Shark had found her in a closet and in that her mummy and daddy had left her.
"What are we doing here, Shark?", asked the little girl weakly who had to bear down the tears that threatened to spill out of her glossy eyes. She didn't want to be reminded of the fact that her mummy and daddy wouldn't come back for her anymore.
But the hunter ignored her words while he jumped from the roof and landed safely in front of the entrance of the run-down looking house. He slowly crawled into the house whereupon he bent down and released her hoodie from his teeth so he could move around more freely.
Chiara looked up at the hunter who stuck his nose in the air and started to sniff wildly until he seemed to have located his target. He quickly grabbed the little girl and shoved her in a small storeroom. She was about to protest about that as Shark just grabbed the door and slammed the door shut – cutting her off in the process.
"Hey!", exclaimed she indignantly before she crossed her arms with an angry huff. What was that all about now?! Grumbling lowly to herself she faltered as she spotted that the door wasn't really closed. It seemed like Shark hadn't slammed the door hard enough in his haste to go after the unknown person, so that he left the door unintentionally ajar.
Even though she wanted to leave this storeroom she hesitated to do just that. Shark wouldn't have put her in here without any good reasons. And out there could be more of the bad people who would hurt her very bad.
She bit her bottom lip while she contemplated what to do. Should she wait here for Shark or should she just take the risk and go after the small hunter? She didn't want to be left alone again. She just couldn't shake the bad feeling off that Shark might not be coming back for her – just like her parents didn't.
The decision was taken from her as loud giggling and laughter reached her ears and catched her attention.
Chiara furrowed her brow while she listened closely, in hopes to hear it again. She couldn't just have imagined that noise. The anew laughter that sounded much nearer this time confirmed that.
But who was laughing? Could the bad people even laugh? Chiara couldn't remember that she had ever heard an infected laughing. So, did this mean that it wasn't someone of the bad people but a survivor?
The little girl swiftly looked out between the open crack but couldn't spot anything with such a limited view. She still hesitated for some seconds but finally her continuously growing curiosity couldn't be ignored anymore.
Taking a deep breath she pushed the door open and stepped in the room whereupon she looked around her, but couldn't spot anything special.
While she fumbled nervously with the end of one of the sleeves of her hoodie she slowly walked across the big room until she reached the wide hallway with the staircase that lead to the first floor. She couldn't really remember that this run-down looking house was that big.
A sudden thud that sounded from the floor above startled the little girl who flinched violently and hurriedly looked up the stairs. Shortly after the sounds of growling and snarling also reached her ears. That definitely sounded like a hunter – even though she wasn't too sure if it really was just one hunter who made all that noise.
"Shark?!" Unsure what she should do Chiara called her companion with a shaky voice but instead of a growl or something similar an insane sounding laughter answered her call. The little girl instantly grew stiff as she quickly realized that this sound came from behind her and not from the floor above her.
Before she was able to turn around a heavy force collided with her, so that she tumbled to the floor with a shocked yelp. Panicked she hurriedly propped herself up on all fours but faltered as she was about to stand up fully on both her legs. She promptly was scared stiff as she came face to face with some crippled monkey-looking thing, whose face was just some inches from hers.
What was that thing? She just knew that it looked really ugly and that he – she just noticed now that it was male – had to be the one who just shoved her to the floor – what had been somewhat painful.
The at first frowning then confused face of the monkey-looking man unsettled the little girl who just became confused herself. She thought that that thing wanted to hurt her just like all the other bad people and now it was just staring at her, apparently not sure what he should think about her.
Swallowing hard she slowly scooted back on all fours to get more room between herself and the monkey – not daring to stand up just yet.
It was then that the monkey seemed to have made up his mind as he started to laugh like a maniac while he bounced up and down before he started to jump around her in circles. This behavior didn't help to cease Chiara's confusion – on the contrary, she just got more confused about all of this.
She watched the actions of the monkey with a wary eye while she unintentionally sat back on her haunches – just like Shark always did it. But this little change in posture seemed to be enough to encourage the monkey-looking man further who instantly giggled insanely and without any warning grabbed the tiny shoulders of the little girl with his too big hands.
Chiara promptly flinched back while she tried to oppress the terror that threatened to overtake her.
"Let go!", demanded the little girl with a shaky voice whereupon the monkey frowned deeply and jerkily grabbed her hood to pull it clumsily off her head.
He barely saw her face as he shouted out of wonder but quickly started to laugh like a maniac again. His hands twitched a couple of times as they tightened their grip on her shoulders painfully before he jumped slightly up and shifted his weight towards her so that she barely could keep standing.
"No! Go away!", shouted the little girl panicked as the disfigured face of the monkey rushed towards her own while her legs gave in under the combined weight on the same time.
She shut her eyes tightly, not wanting to look death in the face, as a sudden ear-battering shriek reached her ears and the monkey's weight suddenly disappeared from on top of her. Surprised and relieved about the fact that Shark came to her rescue Chiara opened her eyes again, only to see someone else crouching beside her lying form.
She could just stare in bewilderment at her savior who snarled out of fury and slashed violently at the monkey-looking man who let a startled yelp sound and jumped swiftly back to evade the sharp claws.
Who was that? And what was he? At first glance she would have guessed that her savior was a hunter but one missing article of clothing threw her for a loop. Weren't hunters supposed to wear hoodies?
Her savior wore a dark brown t-shirt, dark blue pants, he was barefoot and on his head he wore a baseball cap with a camouflage design in dark gray shades – and even though it was pulled deep down above his face it still did a poor job of protecting his eyes from the light, if the action of squinting his eyes was anything to go by. And she just noticed now that this hunter still had both of his eyes, even though she couldn't make out the eye colour. Instead she thought that she detected some brown short hair that stuck out at some spots from under the baseball cap.
She didn't know why but her savior looked very familiar to her, even though she just couldn't remember of who he reminded her of.
But before she could have pondered on it a while longer a second furious snarl – that didn't come from her savior – pulled her out of her thoughts. She quickly looked up whereupon she spotted an angry Shark on top of the staircase.
As the monkey spotted Shark as well he hurriedly fled the scene. That thing probably realized that it was outmatched and didn't stand a chance against two hunters.
Chiara groggily sat up and sighed deeply while she looked between the two hunters back and forth until her gaze stayed on her savior who was also staring at her from under his baseball cap so that his face was cloaked in shadows.
The hunter whined loudly as he reached out to her, but quickly spun around in the direction of Shark who growled warningly at the other hunter. The little girl could have sworn that she saw in this fleeting moment as the hunter reached out for her a guilty as well as longing expression on his face. But why? What was it with this weird hunter?
The little girl was pulled out of her thoughts once again as Shark pounced on the other hunter who swiftly dodged with a jump backwards. With a last growl that was directed at Shark and a fleeting look at the little girl he spun around and leaped through the entrance of the run-down looking house.
As Chiara saw how Shark tensed up in order to leap after the other hunter she quickly propped herself up and clung to one of his arms.
"Dont! Let him go! Stay with me...", pleaded the little girl while she clutched Shark's arm only tighter and pressed her face against the appendage. She didn't want to be left behind. Besides that weird hunter saved her, so the least they could do was to not follow him and let him be. Even though she still asked herself why he looked so familiar to her?
Shark growled out of irritation as he shook his arm but quickly gave up and instead pulled her hood over her head again and bent down to bite down on her hoodie whereupon the little girl hesitantly let go of his arm.
The small hunter carried her outside through the entrance of the run-down looking house only to stop in his tracks and to stare at something.
"What is it?" Confused the five year old followed Shark's line of sight only to spot in the distance on a rooftop a small figure. Was that the weird hunter? It seemed like it. But he was only watching her and Shark and didn't make a move to come near or to go away. That hunter was really strange in Chiara's opinion.
"Shark?", unsure she hesitantly called the hunter's name as after some seconds nothing was happening. It seemed like her voice snapped him out of his trance as he purred lowly at her and slightly shook his head.
Some more seconds passed before Shark finally moved again. He crouched down to jump on one of the roofs of the nearby standing houses. As he leaped in the direction of the other hunter her savior sprung up on all fours and quickly leaped away, out of their sight. Chiara could hear how Shark snorted confidently about the other hunter's retreat before he purred happily.
The little girl couldn't help herself but to wonder if she would see the weird hunter again. She would be telling a lie if she would say that she wasn't curios about her savior.
Who was he?
Aaaaand? Can someone guess who this new hunter is? :'D
No? Good X'D