"Left 4 Dead: Butterflies in the Southern Breeze"
I opened my eyes and found myself in my memories. I was lying in my sleeping bag with my best friend, a raven-haired girl a year older than me named Jacie, standing over me with a satisfied look plastered over her beautiful face.
She kicked my side with those damn cowboy boots, and with a smirk she said, "Mornin' Sunshine! It's already four in the mornin'. Get up or we'll miss the sunrise!" She kept kicking my arm, hip, and my shoulder until I sat up and threw my shoe at her, which she dodged easily.
"God dammit Jace, it's four in the morning. Can't you let me sleep in for once?" I groaned and unzipped my sleeping bag, sliding my legs out.
"What'd I tell you about that mouth? Either way, get your pants on and come on." She turned away, her face turning a bit red as she zipped up the tent. And once she'd zipped it all the way, I heard her mumble, "Real smooth Jacie. God damn it."
I smirked and said out loud, "Wow, look who's talking about someone else's mouth!" I chuckled to myself, thinking about when I'll finally ask her out. I threw on some dark gray cargo pants, my black Rolling Stones shirt, some ankle-high socks, and finally my alligator-leather jacket. I slid my balisong knife in my back pocket along with a extra pocket knife just in case. I slid my belt on and attached my combat knife's sheathe over my right leg. And of course, I put said combat knife in it's sheathe. I made sure to grab a small box that had something I'd made inside and slid it into my jacket pocket.
I finally unzipped the tent and grabbed my old JROTC boots and got them on my feet with a little effort. I stood up straight, slipping completely out of my tent. I looked around for a second, but I didn't see Jacie anywhere. Then I remembered where she probably was.
After a few minutes of walking through underbrush and swinging across a wide creek with an old rope, I found Jacie sitting on one of those couple swings that she'd forced me to make and put up on the edge of the river. I crouched low and slowly approached her from behind, careful to avoid every leaf or twig on the way. When I got close enough, I reached under the swing and grabbed her foot, receiving a sharp kick to my fingers and a yell.
"Deacon you asshole! You know I'm jumpy!" she cried out, repeatedly trying to kick my shins as I hopped over the swing. Then she sighed, almost as if she was exhausted, then sat back down with a sad look.
I sat down beside her and put my arm on the back of the swing behind her, "You alright Jace? You look sad." I asked her, quickly moving my leg to dodge the kick.
"I'm gonna miss this place. The river, I mean." she sighed, laying her head on my shoulder.
I raised an eyebrow, "Not the handsome guy beside you? Aw, man." I said with pretend disappointment as I winced from another sharp kick to my shin.
"Fuck you. If you keep your promise and come see me when we finally get to Louisiana I'll think about it." she said, getting slightly closer to me.
We sat in silence for a while, neither of us wanting to disturb the peacefulness as we watched the first of the sun's rays begin to drown the river's surface and our faces in it's light.
I glaced at her for a moment. She was beautiful in the light of a sunrise. The light perfectly shadowing her angled face and making her steel-colored eyes look even more beautiful.
Jacie was about half an inch shorter than me, she was a bit thinner, too. She always wore the same outfit. Ripped jeans that were a bit too tight for them to be comfortable, her cowboy boots that showed that she was from the South, a white tank top and a sleeveless jeans jacket. Oh yeah, and a camo cap.
She was usually treated like the outsider, being from the South and moving to Wyoming only last year. I was treated about the same, but for me it was because of the scar over the right side of my face. I had tackled Jacie while she was trying to pick up a book she'd dropped and didn't see the truck coming. My face met the cement and got well aquatinted with it. The wound wasn't terrible, but it left a scar that covered the area around my eye. Since that moment, everyone treated me like I was a damn monster or demon. I'd all but given up on socializing when Jacie just walked over to my little solitary table during lunch and sat down. Then she just started talking like I was a friend she'd known forever, not some dude who looked like he'd been ran over. I'd given up trying to figure out why she decided to talk to me a while back. But since then we started doing camping trips out to the river about once a month, just the two of us.And this was the last one before she'd begin packing for her move to her dad's place in Louisiana. I wanted to make it special, so I'd brought a gift I made for her.
I pulled out the small box and held it out to her, "Open it when you get to Louisiana. Not 'til then, alright?"
She took the box and held it gingerly, "You and your surprises. I swear if I open it and a bunch of those snake toys jump out at me I'ma bury you alive when you get there." She put the box in her lap and suddenly wrapped both her arms around me, "You'd better come visit every year. I'll be mad if you don't."
That was over a month ago. Since then, the Green Flu mutated, causing this apocalypse. Right when it mutated I was on a flight to Louisiana to surprise Jacie with a birthday visit and we'd just crossed over into Texas airspace. Then it was like a switch was flipped, the plane suddenly started to descend into the miles of swampy land while passengers started to get sick or go crazy and trying to bite or tear their way into anyone who wasn't sick or nuts.
Luckily for me, the plane had hit the ground before a man in a suit covered in blood and some unmentionable body parts was able to grab me.
Suddenly, I began to wake up. But instead of the sounds of a horde or the sound flooding water, I heard two people arguing and a sound of someone banging on metal. In the distance I heard the roar of a horde, but it spunded as if they were being lured away by something, or someone.
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