Left 4 Dead

by Colonel Liam

A Vietnam War Veteran, A cocky burly Biker, an over positive Office Worker and a Young Woman flunking her first semester of College, all of them find comfort in each other after losing their world to the menace of the green flu virus, now alone together in the city of Fairfield they must band together and escape the city or die to the horde

2. Chapter 2 A sign of Salvation

Left 4 Dead Chapter 2

No Mercy

Curing the Infection one bullet at a time

Chapter 2

A sign of salvation

Silence… from the four survivors for several minutes as they took everything that had occurred in the last 30 minutes or so… the infected seemed endless… and now there was mutant variants with different capabilities just like Bill had said… they were changing.

A crying woman with talons in place of her fingers… something that had grabbed Bill from high above and had tried to separate Bill from the team when a firefight brook out, the rooftop jumper concealed under a dark blue hoodie that stalked Louis and pounced him from high above when he thought he was alone… and the behemoth who flung a car at them and even slammed the other infected out of the way just to try and smash them itself… they were changing… something the old man thought would occur somewhere down the line but just two weeks after the outbreak… what other mutations were going to occur as a result things were going to hell in a hand basket real fast…

He looked down over the man street, from what he could see they were on the roof one of the apartment buildings off the Main Street as he could see the entrance facing the Main Street down below with a jeep smashed and wedged firmly into the front door with a load of bricks and other rubble laying on top of it several bodies crushed blood smeared over the dust and brick work that remained.

Down into the Main Street his brown frowned and he cursed under his breathe the street was filled with infected… the common variety thankfully… but still not a good sign… even back as four days ago they had heard other signs of other survivors wether it be the occasional gunshot or infected chasing after things other then them… but now it seemed they were the only four left in the city of Fairfield… abandoned by the military, government and what ever else was still left… Left 4 Dead.

Francis and Zoey sat in silence as rain poured down, Zoey had sat down on the cold concrete floor against a small table on the rooftop her pulling her knees to her chest as the biting wind caused her to shiver slightly, Francis sat on the opposite end of the roof where they had just jumped on moments before looking down over the edge with a less then satisfied look on his face. Bill gave them both a momentary glance before turning his gaze to the younger man of the group who was clearly in some pain from the hooded infected tearing at his stomach as the middle of his white shirt had stained a deep red as the man himself winced in pain.

"Son your bleeding all over the damn place let me take a look at ya" Bill said walking over as Zoey and Francis took notice of the blood, Zoey gasping and jumping up in shock as Francis frowned before casually walking over, "honestly I'm fine I think he didn't get much of a chance to do too much damage thanks to Zoey" he said although immediately winced afterward. "I ain't never seen one like that before it jumped me from a good 20 feet away" he stated before wincing in pain as Bill removed the shirt and tie and sighing at the blood over the rather large claw marks.

"Yeah well like I said these things are changing… anyway despite the fact there's a lot of blood he didn't take anything important out of ya, just tore you up above the muscle, we need to clear the blood off and then I can get you patched up" he said as Francis trotted next to old man and dropped a metal bucket on the floor next to them with a rather loud clang. "Francis keep it down infected are all around us!" Zoey hissed as he looked at her with a half glance and then turned to Bill, "feel that up with water and wash it over his chest then you can patch him up… if he isn't turning into a vampire…" Francis said turning away and walking to where Bill stood overlooking the Main Street.

"Francis… look come on let's not make judgment until we know for sure I mean we have all had close encounters and we've survived I'm sure he's immune right Bill?" The young woman said hopeful as he was now bandaging and dressing the wound, "normally I'd agree with monkey brains over there but we've all been scratched and bitten more then a few times so it's safe to assume we are immune, that being said Francis would normally have a point, the slightest wound can cause infected" he explained as Francis simply grunted his burly arms crossed as the shotgun was sat on his side as he overlooked the Main Street.

Bill got to work treating the office worker using water to wash away all the dried blood and then disinfecting and bandaging the wounds, Louis would his several times but Bill simply told him to man up and not run off on his own next time, this caused the other two people in the party to snicker as the office man scoffed. Soon enough Bill had fixed the younger man up who quietly gave thanks and put back on his ripped shirt as rain continued to poor down on them, "perhaps we should get inside this building at least we will be dry" Louis stated as Bill shook his head, "son there is no power in any of these buildings and we know what's gonna be in there in the dark where we can't see them" he said back as Louis huffed slumping down against the brick wall near the young woman who smiled weakly at him.

"Well we sure can't stay up here for ever Bill… hell we sure can't stay in this city much longer when are you gonna find us a way out of this shit hole like you said" Francis huffed standing up again and picking the shotgun back up as he was slowly starting to let his disdain for the leader of the group show. "Oh I'm sorry Francis I wasn't aware I had to do all the work around here perhaps you have some brilliant ideas on how to escape… oh let me guess something about holing up in a supermarket with shotguns and hunkering down to the army show up… and tell me how many shops have we gone through where that strategy has worked…" Bill snapped back as Louis and Zoey watched nervously as the two hardened men stood inches apart staring each other down.

"At least I've actually thought of something instead of going from building to building hoping for a fucking miracle to fall out the sky… you don't have a plan your just clutching at straws and hoping something turns up" Francis said fists clenched however the old man was not unfazed and held his ground. "Hey come on you two now is not the time for this we need to work together and figure something out or we are gonna freeze to death on this roof" Zoey tried interjecting only for Francis to round on her roughly. "Keep out of it woman unless you got a plan yourself" he snapped angrily staring her down as she recoiled Louis standing up and standing in front of her, "that's enough you hairy piss of shit your beefs with me leave them out of this!" Bill said smacking Francis with the butt of his M16 to the ground as the biker got back to his feet and raised the butt of his own weapon.

…

Without warning a loud engine noise of some kind came into earshot as a large channel 5 news helicopter suddenly flew around the building and the pilot was even relaying a message, "to anyone who can hear this… proceed to Mercy Hospital for evacuation… Repeat proceed to Mercy Hospital for evacuation!" Was here clear as day as he then flew out of earshot causing both men to stop fighting and stand down.

Bill looked up to the sky towering above most of the other buildings in city with searchlights on all four corners of its roof, Mercy hospital the place Bill had recently gone to ga e his surgery… and had his first encounter with the infected, all four of them were up and alert now… Bill placed a hand on his chin for one moment and then turned to face the others, "we can take the subway tunnels to the hospital, there is a red line station not far from here" he said walking over to a door on the roof leading down into the apartments cursing under his breathe when he realised it was locked.

"It's worth a try flying out of here would be a lot easier then walking" Zoey said almost sounding hopeful, "I hate helicopters" Francis simply said, "Mercy hospital is on the other side of the water works we can take the subway tunnels straight there" Louis added as they all began to feel a little more optimistic about their chances. "I hate hospitals…" Francis added, "don't be an ass Francis… there's a subway station just around the corner" Bill said standing by the door as the biker in question approached pulling the crowbar from his back, he smashed the door handle clean off and kicked the door open placing the crowbar back on his back, the old man silently nodded as he turned to the younger two members of the group.

"You kids ready for this… we are gonna have plenty of infected between them and us…?" He asked eyebrow raised as they both nodded, "yeah let's do it" Zoey said gripping her only pistol tightly as Louis handed her his spare one, "I'll find another one later… now let's get to that hospital it's gonna be a long night" he said as she nodded her thanks.

"I'll lead the way, careful kids don't see any lights on in the apartment we are in the dark" Francis said switching on the flashlight on the front of his beloved shotgun as she descended the stairwell as the others moved to follow him, halfway down the stairs they all stopped moving something with a deep voice was heard groaning nearby as if it had a very congested throat and was rather large in size, "what the hell is that" Zoey said clearly unnerved as she glanced around her eyes wide and filled with dread. "Something we are gonna have to kill… like the old man said… they're changing" Francis finished as he continued down the stairwell as the others followed closely behind.

End Chapter