Fanfiction: Alone Together Chapter Three

Jun 16, 2010 18:24

Title: Alone Together
Fandom: Left 4 Dead
Rating: M
Pairing: Hunter/OC
Summary: After waking up alone in a safe room with a festering wound on her back Avery is forced to trust a rouge Hunter if she wants to survive the coming winter.

It was times like this that I was thankful for all those survival shows that I watched on Sunday afternoons.  Of course none of them had mentioned how to survive a zombie apocalypse.  Who figured Max Brooks would have been a better source than Les Stroud?  But the keys to survival were all the same.  First things first, I was going to have to find food; for me and for Hunt.  I didn't know if he could eat normal food or not but there sure as hell wouldn't be any people hunting while I was around.

Getting out of our little hole in the wall was easy enough.  I held on tight as Hunt leapt from balcony to the roof across the ally.  We barely touched the ground before we took off through the air again.  My fear of heights made keep my face buried in his back and I noted that he smelled; at least his clothes did.  As soon as we figured out how to get hot water he was going to get a bath.  I didn't care if I did have to tranquilize him, this zombie was getting a bath and a new change of clothes.

A particularly rough landing forced me against his back again and the overwhelming stench of mildew and decay assaulted my nostrils.

"Okay that's it, put me down." I said as we landed.

Hunt looked back at me curiously as he crouched to make another leap.

"I'm serious! Let me down!  We can walk the rest of the way."

He huffed but sat back so I could slide off.  I straightened up and grabbed my pistol, looking around.  We hadn't seen many other infected but I had a feeling that they wouldn't  be able to resist a lone survivor walking around with only one weapon.

I looked back at the hunter who was watching me with some apprehension, trying to decide if he should stick with me or not.

"Cover me from above.  I'll be fine on my own down here."  I told him.

He nodded and leapt onto a nearby room and disappeared out of sight.  For a brief moment fear flooded me, but I knew it was uncalled for, Hunt needed me as much as I needed him.  He wouldn't leave me, not like the others did.

He proved me right ten minutes later when a small group of commons picked up my scent.  It was easy to dispatch the first few that I saw coming, even with a single pistol.  But I failed to notice the few coming up behind me until I heard Hunt leap from a ledge above and tackle an infected that was sneaking up on me.  He swiped at it fiercely, removing the head from its shoulders with a single blow.  I stared at him in a mixture of amusement and awe as he flashed me a grin before disappearing back into the shadows.

Hunt, my protector in the shadows.  My life had certainly taken a strange turn.  Two weeks ago I would glance at these same shadows with fear and caution; now i looked to them for hope and salvation in case I got in over my head.

We were only a few blocks from the store now.  I had seen it briefly when we were flying through the air.  It wasn't a WalMart but, from the looks of it, it was pretty damn close.  The building was huge with a parking lot to match.  I hoped that there was a wide selection of items inside.  Hopefully it wasn't so small that it had been raided completely.

With pistols aimed I peered around a corner and stepped into the street.  Usually I avoided streets at all cost.  It left too much open, especially when you were traveling alone.  But I knew that I didn't need to fear the roof tops anymore.  I prayed that Hunt would alert me if a Smoker or another Hunter was nearby.  Or, god forbid, a Tank.

I immediately stopped that train of thought.  No.  No no no!  There would be no Tanks!  I wasn't going to jinx it.  I'd been lucky this far and I wasn't about to tempt fate into ending it now.  But, just like the ally way, the street was only littered with a few of the common infected.  They were easy enough to pick off before they got too close and I didn't even see Hunt thinking about pouncing.  He was keeping a safe distance from me, perhaps to avoid being associated with me.  Maybe others would think I was his kill?  Did zombies even have a concept of possessions?  Was it against the zombie code of conduct to attack a human of another zombie?  Was there a zombie code of conduct?

There were so many questions; too many questions.

The facade of the store was coming into view now and I was ecstatic to see only a few over turned cars and commons blocking my way.  I had never been so damn happy!  Hunt must have been feeling some of my happiness too as he dropped down onto the street next to me with a soft shriek.  He looked up at me with a ferocious grin that would have sent fear through my body only a few days before.  Now I only matched it.  We were two lions that had just found the biggest damn herd of antelope that we had ever seen.  And there wasn't another pride for miles.

Without any indication to each other we both started running down the street, jumping over cars and aiming for the loiterers.  Hunt leapt onto a nearby zombie while I pumped the other with bullets.  Together we cleared the next two blocks in record time.

But that's where our luck ran out.

The parking lot was empty save for a mass of cars and a lot of trash.  Despite how peaceful it seemed I knew this was a bad sign.  It was always better to be able to see your enemy than let them sneak up on you.  That's why I was glad the hunter was on my side.

Hunt seemed to be pretty on edge too.  If there weren't any zombies in the parking lot that meant they could only be inside the store, which was going to make getting inside a hell of a lot harder.

"You ready pal?" I asked as I took the free moment to reload.  I didn't exactly have unlimited ammo but I figured there were piles of it laying around somewhere.  As long as I could make it through the store then I'd be fine.

Hunt barked and looked at me to ask the same question.  He looked at my gun as I reloaded and then back up at me.

Are you going to have enough?

"Don't worry, I should be able to make it through.  If not then I'm sure I can find an axe or something to use." I said with a shrug.  Maybe I'd get lucky and find another gun.  The pistol was great and all, but I was a poor shot and this didn't exactly do a lot of damage.  It would be great to have a shot gun or my hunting rifle with me again.  Even a second pistol would make me feel a little bit more at ease.

I could feel Hunt's eyes lingering on me for a minute before he started crawling for the door.  It struck me then that I hadn't actually ever seen Hunt's face, it was always hidden beneath the hood.  But I could always tell when he was looking at me or what kind of expression he was wearing.  Apparently I was getting better at reading body language, even among the dead.

We crunched through the broken glass of the front doors and into the dark building.  A few of the emergency lights were still blinking on but most of the store was still dark.  Well damn.  Maybe this wasn't such a great idea.  I looked back out into the sunlit parking lot.  I knew there was a horde waiting for me just a few feet away and I couldn't help but want to run back into the awaiting light.

But from within the darkness I heard a curious call and although I couldn't see him I knew Hunt was waiting for me.  Stealing myself against my fear I took a few more steps into the dark, knowing that I wouldn't be dealing with this alone.

"Alright, just watch my back okay?  I know you can see a lot better than I can."  I said softly as I walked in, looking around.  It was hard to see but I could hear the shuffling and groans of the nearby commons.  They hadn't noticed us, yet.  On the back of my legs I felt the brush of Hunt's stiff hoodie and I allowed myself to relax.  He was good to his word, that much I knew.

Just then I heard the shrieks of the few zombies lurking nearby and I lifted my pistol, turning on the flashlight.  Their eyes reflected back at me as they rushed towards me.  I unloaded a few bullets into each of them as I slowly worked my way forward.  Behind me Hunt was growling at them, startling a few of the commons who looked around in confusion. His intimidation didn't last long, however, and their gluttony made them rush forward again.  The sharp claws of my hunter friend ripped their already decaying bodies to shreds.  Soon we have the entry way cleared out.  It wasn't much, but it was something.

Once I was sure that no other zombies were coming I groped around until I found the back of Hunt's hoodie.  "Lead the way." I told him once I had a firm hold.  I heard him growl softly before twisting and wrenching my hand off of him.  Well so much for that plan.  But I was a big girl, I could handle myself.  Right?  Right.

Ahead of me I could hear Hunt growling.  He wasn't angry, or happy, or annoyed, he was just making noise.  He was making sure I could hear him as we moved forward into the darkness.  There was only so much that my little light could illuminate.

Slowly I took a step forward and then another followed by the other again until I was walking hesitantly into the darkness of the store.  The layout was pretty familiar, with food and produce on one side and other necessary supplies on the other.  After hitting the food department we would need to raid the outdoor section to see if anything was left.

With Hunt in front of me literally growling directions I was able to wade through the void, disposing of any undead that were unlucky enough to become illuminated by my flashlight.  Ahead of me I could hear Hunt tearing into his brethren.  So far so good.  There were a lot of the fuckers but they weren't swarming.  Maybe one lone human wasn't exciting enough for them to start moshing.  At least not until said lone human walks into a display of glass bottles, knocking them to the ground with a loud commotion.

Well shit.

How did a fucking display of glass bottles survive a room full of zombies anyway?!  Shouldn't they have been the first things to go?!  A whiff of the air told me that I had knocked over some fancy schmancy bottles of vinegar.  Perfect.  Just bloody perfect.

The echoing scream of a horde sounded all around me and I heard Hunt hiss loudly a second before I felt him pressed up against me.  For the first time since I had awoken all alone in the safe room I was afraid.  I had gone up against hordes before but never alone.  Even with four other people at your back hordes were always dangerous.  You never knew what was lurking in that sea of decomposing bodies.

For the first time I doubted Hunt's ability to protect me.  This could easily become too much for us and it would be smarter for him to cut his losses and run.  If four immune humans could do it I couldn't put it past a zombie to do the same thing.

"Hunt." I said softly as I listened to the sea of zombies getting closer and closer.  I felt his back stiffen as I called his name, focusing his attention on me.  "Please don't leave me." I pleaded just as the first waves crashed against us.  If the hunter replied I didn't hear it over the screaming of the infected.

I planted my pistol directly against the skulls of those that got too close to me and unloaded into the dead brains.  The now, truly dead fell back and were instantly replaced by two more.  I kept it up, concentrating on killing everything as quickly as I could, ignoring the fists of those that got too close.  I concentrated on my job and that was all I could do.

Behind me I could hear Hunt growling and screaming and roaring as he tore the flesh their dying bodies.  I could tell that he wanted nothing more than to leap out into the fray and destroy them before they got too close.  But he stayed with his backside pressed against mine, snapping at anything that got too close.

I was too preoccupied with keeping anything from getting too close to hear the groan of a nearby Boomer.  Even if I had been listening for it, it would have been impossible to hear over the mixture of my blood rushing in my ears and screaming of the dead.  I didn't notice the bloated creature until he was standing only a few feet away from me, taking his aim.  Shit.

"Boomer!" I shouted out of habit as I turned my fire onto it before it got too close.  But it was too late.  The monster wretched and covered me and a large area surrounding me in its vomit.

If possible the horde became even hungrier, pushing and shoving each other with more violence in an attempt to get to me.  I shoved my finger onto the trigger as quickly as I could until all I heard was 'click click'.  Damn!  I reached for another clip but a flailing hand knocked the magazine from my hand.  As if sensing my moment of weakness the horde pushed in closer, completely blocking my view of everything.

Suddenly I became very aware of my mortality and I knew that I was going to die here.  I couldn't feel Hunt against my back anymore and I knew that he had left me, not wanting to doom himself to the same fate.  He had the right to run.  I didn't expect him to stay just to try and keep me alive.  That would have been suicide.

WIthout any other means of protection I curled my arms around my head, hunching over, trying to keep my face safe.  Maybe someone would be able to recognize my remains and at least give me a head stone.  I jammed my fingers into my ears in an attempt to try and drown out the noise.

I screamed as I was shoved down on my chest.  I tried to look up but my view was blocked by a dark pants leg in my face.  I thought it was that of one of the commons until I caught the reflection of duct tape around the ankle.  Craning my head I looked up to see Hunt standing over me, decapitating and gutting any of the horde that got too close.

I looked back down then, slamming my eyes closed, curling my body up so that it was as small as possible.  Now I knew why it was a bad idea for us to come.  Now I knew why he wanted to leave me behind.  I was going to be hearing a lot of "I told you so" after this was over.

Slowly the roaring in my ears died away.  I couldn't hear the zombies or the ripping of flesh, just the heaving beating of my heart in my chest.  Hesitantly I opened my eyes, afraid of what I was see.

"Hunt?" I called softly.  I wanted to get up, to move, but I couldn't do that with him standing over me, still crouched.  He was growling into the darkness, daring anyone to come closer.  And I wasn't about to start pushing him in case he tried to attack me, thinking I was something else.  He turned and looked down at me and I felt my entire body freeze.

His hood had fallen back in the midst of his fight, revealing his face for the first time.  Nothing I could have imagined would have been anywhere close because I would have never imagined him to look so human.

His hair, though matted and stained with blood, was recognizable as being a light brown color.  It had grown shaggy in his time since a zombie, although it might have been that way before; it was impossible to tell.  His skin had the familiar pallor that was typical for the infected masses but he lacked the obvious deformities that many of the others did.  There were no masses of puss or enlarged talons.  His muscles were not bulging nor was he distorted.

The only obvious signs of the illness were the changes of his eyes.  His pupils were wide, almost completely swallowing the irises.  It was like looking into the eyes of an animal.  There was no emotion, only instinct.  But as he looked at me realization seemed to dawn on him and I saw those pupils slim, revealing the gold of his eyes.

Again with the cat characteristics.

But those animalistic eyes quickly narrowed in annoyance as Hunt growled and stepped away from me.

I told you!  I told you this would be dangerous!  But no, you just had to come along!  You couldn't trust me to get what you needed!

He was ranting and raving, angry that we had been put in this position.

"I'm sorry, okay?" I said with a sigh as I dusted myself off, trying to calm down.  No matter how many times it happened, being overtaken by a horde was always scary.  "I should have gotten another gun or a few pipe bombs.  I know I know.  I'm sorry."  I said shakily as I looked around.

Satisfied that I had learned my lesson Hunt stopped glaring at me and pulled his hoodie back up, much to my disappointment.  It was nice to look at another (semi)human face.  Oh well, he'd already saved my ass twice now, I wasn't about to ask him to do this for me too.  I was running out of favor points.

"Come on, lets just go find some food." I said as I kicked a corpse out of my way and started back on our mission.  I tried to ignore my body as it shook from fear and excess adrenaline.

I heard something shuffling beside me and suddenly felt something pressed into my hand.  I looked down and was happy to see another pistol being shoved into my hand.  I checked it and was happy to see it was fully loaded.  Thank God!

"Hunt, you are my zombie guardian angel." I said with a happy smile as I flicked on the light.  This was a more powerful pistol than the one I had been carrying.  He must have plucked it from one the corpses that were now littering the ground.

Next to me I could hear him laughing to himself as he snuck forward, making sure the way was clear before he motioned for me to come forward.  After we passed the fifth isle with no zombies in sight I grabbed an abandoned shopping cart and started pushing, ignoring the creaking wheels and the incredulous look from the hunter.

"Look, I figure its smarter to go ahead and get a ton of shit and leave it somewhere up front so we don't have to keep doing this over and over every time we run out of supplies.  I'd say we push it to the ally but that's too obvious and the commons will get into it."  I said as I started down the canned food isle.  Without bothering to look at what it was I started shoving things off the shelves and into the cart.  When your food supply was limited you really couldn't afford to be picky.

"Can you even eat this?" I asked as I looked at a can of ravioli before tossing it into the buggy.  Already the thing was getting full.  Apparently no one had survived long enough to make it back this far.  They had all turned into the mass of infected that Hunt had just taken out.

Hunt shrugged, still growling, crouched at the end of the isle on high alert.   Oh well, we'd find out later.  I threw the can into the cart and kept looking.

Once the canned goods were finished I started searching the next isle for anything that could last, containers of ramen, pasta, canned meat.  Anything that had an expiration date that ended in 2011 was added to the collection.  Whatever lasted would be used.  I was taking a page from the Native American's book and using everything that I could find.

"Alright, I think we've got enough food."  I said once I had scavenged all I could.   It was certainly a good amount and would probably last us for a month or two, as long as we didn't get gluttonous.  "Now lets see what they've got in the outdoors section."  I said as I pushed the cart passed my zombie guard on duty.

He looked into my cart and looked back up at me with a sarcastic expression.

You sure you got enough?

"This should last us for a little while." I said as I started walking toward the back corner of the store.  "Now we just got to find something to heat it up with."  Surely there were some electric heaters or something that we could use.

Surely.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

Probably not.

I sighed softly as I continued forward.  It was hard to stay positive when the world was the way it was.

That's when I heard something strange beside me.  It was a large sniffing sound, like the neighbors' dogs used to make when they were tracking my cats.   I looked behind me and saw Hunt sniffing the edge of my shirt.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I shouted, swatting at him with my fist.  Instantly he recoiled and scooted back a few feet looking abashed.

"Where you sniffing me?!  Where you actually sniffing me?!" I continued my tirade, still unsure if I had really just seen what I thought I had.

Hunt just crouched and looked at his feet, shuffling his hands as he nodded slightly.  If I didn't feel so uncomfortable without it I would have thrown my gun at him.

"Well you don't exactly smell like roses yourself mister." I snapped back at him as I looked down at myself.  I really did reek.  And I had completely forgotten about being bombed by the Boomer.  So maybe I really did smell like roses to him.

"So, what, does this Boomer shit really smell good to you?" I asked as I looked down at my shirt.  I was definitely going to have to get some new clothes.  I turned my buggy around sharply and started toward the middle of the store where there was a small display of clothes.  Thank God that the owners had been preparing to put the first of the winter line on sale.  There were hoodies and jackets galore.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hunt nod his head vigorously at my question.  That alone made me want to vomit.  "That's it, you and I are getting new clothes.  What size do you need?" I said as I looked back over at him.  He was pretty average size, not too large or too skinny.  "Medium it is then." I said as I grabbed a few mens hoodies and threw them into the cart with the rest of our stuff.

"Turn around." I said as I pulled a smaller, pink girls jacket from another rack.  Hunt looked at me curiously and I glared at him.  "I said turn around.  You're still a guy and I am maintaining some dignity throughout all this."

He grunted but turned his back to me nonetheless.  Quickly I ripped off my dirty shirt and threw it to the ground before pulling on the jacket and zipping up the front.  "Alright, you can turn around." I called as I finished dressing myself.

"There. Now I only slightly stink of death and decay." I said with a sarcastic grin.  I had the impression that Hunt was rolling his eyes at me when suddenly he froze.  He sat up straighter on high alert before growling deep in his throat.  He started backing up closer to me until he was pressed against my legs.  He continued to growl softly and I recognized it as a sound similar to what my cats made when they were afraid.  That wasn't good.  If Hunt was afraid that meant that I should be scared shitless.

"What is it?"  I asked softly as I trained my eyes on the door.  There was only one thing I knew of that could possibly scare a hunter and I prayed that this wasn't the case.

"Please don't tell me there's a Tank out there." I muttered, my eyes never leaving the door.

Hunt stopped growling and pulled on the corner of my wrist to get my attention.  I looked down to see him crouched in front of me like he usually did when he wanted me to get on his back.  I didn't hesitate with the threat of a Tank looming over us.  Then I looked over at our spoils, our means of survival.

"Quick!  We have to hide it!"  I whispered harshly.  He hissed back.

What the hell are you thinking?!  We have to hide ourselves!

"Just shove it behind that counter over there.  That way we'll know where it is and we don't have to do this again."  I told him.  "Or let me down and let me do it."

He growled at me.

Fine.  But if we get killed I'm blaming you.

He jumped and shoved our cart full of food and clothes behind a nearby counter so it was out of sight.  This way we could come back in a few days and reclaim our spoils for the day.

Before I had a chance to protest further, Hunt leapt onto a nearby display case and from there onto the rafters.  He crawled carefully along while I peeped over his shoulder.  Slowly we crept closer to the entrance and already I could feel the thunderous waves of the Tank as it made its way toward us.  I held my breath as we froze in place and watched as the gargantuan beast made its way through the doors.

The Tank stopped just inside, sniffing briefly and looking around.  I had a horrible sense that it could smell us, that it knew we were there, it just didn't know where.  I clung to Hunt tighter but was unable to make myself look away.  I noticed that Hunt was being as silent as possible too, every muscle tensed and ready to make its move.  We would only have one opening.

We sat perched there for what seemed like an eternity before the Tank finally lumbered further into the store.  As soon as the monster was far enough away Hunt jumped, landing on the ground for only a brief moment before he jumped outside again.  Behind us I could hear the Tank roaring in aggravation as we escaped passed it.  The echo of its heavy footsteps floated to my ears but by the time it made it to the parking lot we were already on a roof several yards away.

Hunt didn't stop moving until we could no longer hear the Tank's roars.  He carried us everywhere and anywhere to get us away from the Tank.  By the time we finally made it back to the hotel room he was exhausted.  He collapsed just inside the door, sending me toppling off to the side.

I grunted but didn't complain.  I got up and slammed the door shut, shoving the piece of plywood that served as a brace over it.  I looped the chain around the inside handle for good measure.

"Come on, lets get you one the bed."  I said as I tried to hoist him up, supporting part of his body weight so he could walk over to his bed.  I helped him lay down gently and laid the cover over him as he curled up on his side.

"Thanks for today."  I said softly as I sat down next to him.  "I'm sorry I nearly got you killed a few times."

He shook his head a little, his way of telling me not to worry about it.  I smiled to myself and got up to get something to eat but stopped when I heard his raspy voice behind me.

"Rrrrr....ellllcom.....Arrey."
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