On The Road (A L4D2 Fiction) *DISCONTINUED*

Hell at the Riverbank

   Nick continued to grumble and curse Francis under his breath as we walked into the deserted town. Ellis and Rochelle were talking with eachother (though it was mostly Ellis asking her about relationship advice and talking on and on about how pretty Zoey was) and Coach was leading our group. I put a hand on Nick's shoulder.
   "Nick, just forget about him. Once we get the bridge lowered, you won't have to see that biker ever again, alright?"
   He scoffed and shrugged my hand off. I sighed and ran ahead to walk beside Ellis and Rochelle.
   "Rochelle I'm tellin' ya, I'm gonna marry her!" Ellis exclaimed.
   "Ellis, honey, you talked with her for five minutes and you were too nervous to get more than 10 words out of your mouth." She laughed.
   "Not only that," I butted in, "we're in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Where do you suppose you and Zoey are gonna have said wedding?"
   Ellis looked around in thought, then shrugged.
   "I dunno, but I'll have to make it work!"
   Rochelle and I chuckled at Ellis' behavior, and continued walking.
   "Hey y'all, we can get around through this store!" Coach told the rest of us, walking into a seemingly abandoned and run-down building.
   We followed, and entered as well. We walked up the stairs and checked the rooms for anything, and ended up finding chests full of pills, pipebombs, and ammunition.
   "Holy hell, who would leave this behind?" I mumbled to myself, slipping my backpack off and loading up on ammunition and bombs.
Once we grabbed what we wanted, we left the room and continued down the hallway.
   Before we turned around the corner, Coach stopped us.
   "Y'all hear that?" He asked, quietly.
   We stayed silent for a moment, but then heard heavy breathing, soft growling, and light pounding sounds from just a wall away.
   "Tank." Rochelle mumbled.
   "So, who's going first?" Nick joked.
   I pulled out a single molotov from my bag, and turned to the group.
   "I will. You guys back up, I'm gonna molotov this S.O.B."
   "No way girlie. You're the youngest of us all. You'll get killed doing that. It'll just depend on what kills ya first: the tank or the fire." Coach protested.
   Rochelle nodded her head in agreement, and Ellis shrugged his shoulders. I rolled my eyes at them.
   "Well, nobody else will do it, so I will." I shouted as I rounded the corner.
   A loud roar from the Tank was heard as he charged at me. I fell back, running down the hallway, and threw the molotov behind me. The Tank roared again in a mixture of pain and anger, and targeted me. I grabbed my gun and began shooting at it as I ran. I noticed that through the spreading fire and the thick smoke that I couldn't see the other survivors, or where the Tank was, for that matter.
   "Guys?! Where are you?!" I called out, not hearing a single gunshot other than the ones coming from me.
   Suddenly, I was hit against the wall, and hard. The Tank had found its way to me. I tried to get up and shoot at it, but I found I couldn't.
   "Shit! I'm down!" I yelled out.
   The Tank growled and went off to find the others, and I pulled out my pistol, in case I needed to defend myself from other infected. The smoke from the fire was making it hard to see, and even harder to breathe. I couldn't stand, and I knew I would barely be able to defend myself if I had to.
   I smiled weakly.
   'This is how I'm going out, then? Alright. Hey Jon, Ethan.. Caci, Chasiti, I'm coming. Just you wait.' I closed my eyes slowly as I thought about my impending doom.
   I found I couldn't open my eyes anymore, and that my breath was growing shallow. I was on the edge of death, and I knew it. A wave of calmness washed over me, even with the situation I knew I was in. I would be seeing everyone again soon. I'd be free from all of this.
   That's when I heard it. The roar of a defeated Tank, and multiple heavy footsteps running in my direction. I tried my best to open my heavy eyelids to see who it might be, but I couldn't. I could only, just barely, speak.
   "H-hello?" I wheezed out.
   "Shit, you're gonna be okay. Can you get up?" I heard a voice ask.
   Nick's voice.
I tried, and failed, to speak to him again. All that left my lips were wheezing noises and weak coughs.
   "Shit, she's dying. Does anyone have a medkit?" Nick called out.
   I felt someone lift me gently off the ground, and then, a few minutes later, I felt a cool breeze. We were outside. I still could not open my eyes, and when I tried to speak, I had horrible coughing fits; my throat burned with a need for moisture. I felt whoever it was who had taken me out of the (most likely) burning building set me down against a wall.
   "Hey, you're gonna be okay." I heard a different voice.
   Rochelle.
   "I found a medkit. Here." Another one spoke.
   I could tell it was Coach. I heard footsteps and the shuffling of fabric, a zipper, and crinkling noises. I felt my flannel too being taken off, and cool hands gently patching up the wounds on my arms, face, legs, and wherever else I might've been hurt.
   "I got her patched up. What now?" Nick asked.
   "She's awake, but I don't think she's having an easy time. She can barely open her eyes." Coach pointed out.
   'Thanks for the observation.' I thought, sarcastically.
   "Does anyone have any water or anything?" Rochelle asked the group.
   "Yeah man, got some in my bag. Found it at the mall." Ellis spoke.
   When I felt as though I had a little more strength, I attempted to lift my heavy eyelids. This time, I succeeded, and the others, who had been watching me, had seen.
   "Good, okay, she can open her eyes. This is good." Nick mumbled.
   "Sweetie, can you speak yet?" Rochelle asked me, crouching down right in front of me, and holding the water bottle.
   I tried again, but I wheezed for a moment, and then proceeded to cough my lungs out. She nodded, and handed me the water bottle. I took it and lifted it shakily to my lips, drinking down what was left of it.
   "Better?" Rochelle asked.
   I nodded.
   "B-better." I spoke, my voice faint.
   "Come on, let's get going. There's a safehouse up ahead." Coach announced, helping me up.
   I gladly took his hand, and within a few minutes of walking and shooting a few infected, we were safe... for now.