Left 4 Dead 1. Chapter 1: Pain

**I'm baaaaaaack!**

**Yes, Hunted is making a return. This is the remake of Hunted. For those of you who read this before welcome back, it's going to be a bit different. Actually there will be very few similarities between this one and the last one. For those of you who are new, welcome for the first time.**

**To the new people: Hunted was the first Left 4 Dead fic I ever made, and, by my standards, was a smashing success. However, I posted that when Left 4 Dead 2 was still abuzz with activity, unlike today. I know this new rendition won't be as famous.**

**This story will probably go down the same road the last one did. This means I'm preemptively making it Rated M. The people who read the last one will understand.**

**I do not own any rights to Left 4 Dead. All rights go to Valve for the game, zombies, and any characters that appear in Left 4 Dead. Any original characters are property of me.**

* * *

Two weeks after first infection…

The zombies had turned the country to hell in a matter of weeks. No place was left uninfected.

The only ones who survived were the lucky ones, they either hadn't been infected from pure ingenuity.

Or they were immune to it.

Those who were immune were few in number. Something that was being looked into in secured research labs spread throughout the country.

However, that didn't mean that immune weren't targets.

One group of survivors had already learned that they were not safe. But they wouldn't last long enough to get anywhere safe.

Except for one.

A group of five walked through the streets of a rural town, looking for a place to stay the night. They were all high school students who had been in class when the infection hit. They were all that was left of their hometown, which they were now on the outskirts of.

In the lead was a high school quarterback. He was large, in charge, and ran on minimal brain function. He wore a green and yellow jacket with the letters LIS sewed onto the front, and a pair of jeans that were practically hanging around his knees. His hair had been shaved down to barely be there at all, and was a dark black. His eyes were dull and gray. He carried himself pompously and didn't listen to anyone else, and swung around a shotgun as if it weren't possible to blow off someone's head at any moment. His name was, as he demanded to be called, 'The King'. His real name was Ian.

Walking next to him was his 'girlfriend', if she could be called that. Her hair was dyed blonde with pink and blue streaks in it, and her eyes were purple from contact lenses, and she only wore a poorly buttoned jacket and short skirt. She had been in the bed of every guy in school in the exact way you're probably thinking as of this sentence being typed. She walked around with a pistol like it was a title. She'd never shot the thing even though the group had been attacked by zombies twice now. Her name was 'Kitty', as _she _demanded to be called.

Behind them walked perhaps the most typical nerd you'd ever seen. He was bone thin, covered in acne, and wore the typical square glasses. His black hair had once been cut short and neat but now was messed from a few attacks by the infected. He wore a green plaid shirt and khakis. His name was Leonard. Armed only with a crowbar.

Behind him were two other survivors, one of them stood tall and assertive.

He was the only one who could actually rival their 'leader', but he kept his mouth shut. His hair was a light brown, and cropped to one side. His eyes were a bright blue and shined with rage. A rage fueled by his one goal in this apocalypse: Make sure his sister stayed safe. His name was Tyler. He clutched the baseball bat in his hand a little too tightly. He was very ready to use it, be it on a zombie or human.

The young woman that walked next to him was his main concern. His younger sister. Her name is May. She's a year younger than her brother, but they weren't your typical 'argue over everything' siblings. When they were growing up, and still very much to the present, it was one of those sibling relationships where Tyler came home plenty of times with cuts and bruises from getting into fights to keep his sister's decency from being tarnished by false rumor.

May was a beautiful, intelligent, modest girl of sixteen years old. Her hair, like her brother's, was a light brown, but was long and flowed in a way almost indescribable. Her eyes were completely different from her brothers. Hers were a bright green, almost like emeralds. They once were full of life, as was she, but after all this had started, she felt hollow. Like she was dead but forced to stay alive. She held a machete in her hand.

"The way I sees it, we jus' hit up a few places fer some food and shit and be on our way." The King said as he kicked a disembodied zombie skull some distance.

"I don't know what you plan to do with shit, Ian, but you enjoy yourself." Tyler said, getting a laugh out of May and Leonard.

"Shut the hell up." Ian muttered, only getting May to be quiet. Tyler didn't respond. Leonard was still snickering.

"And that goes for you too, unless you want a slug in your head." Ian snarled, pointing his shotgun directly at Leonard's face.

"Yessir!" He muttered and backed up a bit.

"Wimpy bitch." The jock muttered and continued forward.

Kitty chuckled mockingly and followed after him.

"I told you we should've left those two to get eaten." Leonard muttered to Tyler. Ian and Kitty would've been torn apart by zombies if Tyler hadn't rescued them from a horde. While Leonard was usually nice…he didn't like anyone who put the barrel of a shotgun in his face…or had attacked him a multitude of times before the infection began.

"I thought that the apocalypse might cure idiocy." Tyler said. "That was naïvety on my part."

"Hey! Are you pussies going to sit there and get torn up? We aren't saving your asses if you get lost!" Kitty called back to them.

"Why'd we give them the guns?" Leonard muttered.

"We didn't. They found them first." Tyler sighed.

The group continued on for some time. Any stray zombie that came near got a slug in the head.

"Hey, maybe we could conserve the ammunition a bit?" Tyler snapped at Ian as the gray matter of another infected went flying all about.

"I can shoot this damn thing as much as I friggin' want ta. So shut the hell up." Ian growled. To prove his point. He shot three more shots into the air.

Tyler put his face in his palm.

"He's going to get us killed…isn't he?" May muttered. It was the first time she had spoken in a while.

"I don't know…if we're dead. We don't have to put up with him." Leonard muttered.

"Where is he even leading us?" May asked. She was looking along the roof tops. She felt like she was being watched.

"I dunno…Let's just hope he actually acts competent."

Another hour of walking had everyone feeling tired.

"We're stopping here fer five minutes." Ian said.

He said this in the middle of a four-way intersection, complete with wrecked cars and bodies strewn about.

"Isn't it a little exposed?" Leonard muttered.

"Shut the hell up! I'm not going to clear out one of them buildings just for a little more comfort."

"…How many brain cells does he have again?" Tyler whispered to Leonard.

"Uh…Functioning? I'd say…two." Leonard muttered. Once again, the three of them tried to stop themselves from snickering.

Everyone sat down someplace in the intersection. Tyler was resting against a car, and May was nestled next to him. Leonard sat on top of the car. Looking for any zombies.

Ian walked around. He was bored. His miniscule brain told him to find something to entertain himself.

He looked up at Leonard and grinned evilly.

"Hey babe. Gimme yer gun." He muttered to Kitty, who obliged and placed the gun in Ian's meaty palm.

The jock held the pistol up and shot it at Leonard. Not to hit him, just to scare him.

He got the desired effect. Leonard heard the gunshot and bullet whiz past his head and his instant reaction was to tumble off of the car and fall onto the road. Flat on his face.

"Leo!" May yelled and rushed to him. Tyler was up in a flash and stormed over to Ian and Kitty, who were both laughing hysterically.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! What the hell did you do that for?" Tyler demanded.

"I was bored. I wanted to see a geek break his own nose for once and it looks like it worked." Ian grunted, and looked over to May and Leonard. Leonard's glasses sat broken on the ground, and his face was covered in blood.

"Well great. Now we're going to need to get him fixed up. And he might draw the zombies now since he's bleeding. Great fucking job. You're killing us."

"Well die then. Survival of the fucking fittest. I'd say whoever has a gun is probably the fittest." Ian muttered, and pointed the pistol directly at Tyler's chest.

May got Leonard to his feet and grasped her machete. But she was quickly aware of a shotgun barrel being pointed at her head. Ian gave Kitty the shotgun when he asked for the pistol.

"Maybe without your bitching and falling behind, we might get somewhere. You's been holdin' us back…I don't think anyone will miss three whiney fucks." Ian said with a shrug.

It was quiet for a moment. Ian then made to pull for the trigger, but Tyler shoved Ian's arm so that the gun wasn't for him. But it was aimed at a car.

The bullet went through the window of the car and shattered the glass. Almost instantaneously, a loud beeping began to come from the vehicle.

Screams erupted from all over the town. Zombies began making their way out of alleys and buildings. Jumping out of windows and beating down doors to get to their targets.

"Well. Have fun!" Ian chirped, and he and Kitty ran off.

"Run!" Tyler yelled. The three of them chased after Ian and Kitty. There was a method to their madness.

The infected came pouring out of the buildings as they ran. Kitty and Ian seemed home free. But a zombie jumped through a window, and tackled Kitty to the ground.

"IAN! HELP!" She yelled as she tried to push the zombie off of her.

The jock turned around and pointed his pistol at the zombie. Tyler, May, and Leonard shoved past him, ruining his aim. When he got his aim back, he found the flood of zombies approaching at high-speed. And more of them were coming out to join.

"IAN!" Kitty yelled again as the zombie began to force her back down.

"Sorry, babe." He said and ran off after the other three.

"NO! IAN! HELP ME!" Kitty yelled as the flood of zombies surged past. Many of them stopping to help pin her down.

A loud scream sounded out before a multitude of sickening cracks abruptly ended it.

Ian looked around as the zombies began to block his path. He could only think of one thing to do.

He lifted the pistol and, while still running, shot it at the other three survivors.

Leonard's scream from having a bullet enter his leg could curdle blood. May and Tyler instantly stopped and made to help him, but Ian came charging in like a bull and tackled Tyler to the ground, and forced May off-balance.

A loud screech was heard, and a horribly ugly female zombie appeared. It wore only a bra and pants. Its stomach had become flabby and distended. It lacked a jaw, and its lips had burned away from the acid that seeped from its throat.

"Leo, get up!" May yelled as she tried to help him up. Ian had grabbed the bat away from Tyler and was now swinging it at him, but kept missing.

Leonard tried to put weight on his leg, but the zombie that dripped acid decided to attack while her prey was vulnerable

It built up a ball of the acid, and shot it at him.

Leonard screamed as the acid splashed over his head and back, burning into his flesh.

May was helpless to get it off him, especially as a zombie tackled her into the ground, only to be impaled by the machete.

The green acid had dripped onto the ground and dissipated. It was soon replaced by a crimson red. Leonard didn't move.

A loud screech sounded, and a hooded figure appeared in the sky, aimed for Tyler and Ian.

May grabbed a rock and tossed it at the zombie, hitting it in the side of the head.

It yelped in pain and lost focus, and body slammed into the two.

It groaned as it stood up, and turned to look at May, who was pointing her machete directly at it.

The figure wore a dark blue hood, and cargo shorts. Duct tape had been tied around the wrists of the jacket, and around the bottoms of the short's legs.

It didn't attack, just stared. The commons didn't come near while this special was about. They'd only help it when its attentions were diverted.

May couldn't help but notice how young the zombie looked. He couldn't be older than her. And…despite being a little pale and thin…He looked kind of handsome.

May instantly swore she was insane and would tie herself in a straight jacket if she got out of this, and die while screaming profuse insanity to the zombies.

Ian groaned and rubbed his head. A cut had formed from hitting the pavement. But he couldn't worry about that. He got up and turned to Tyler. "I'm going to kill you, you piece of shit…" He muttered and pointed the gun for Tyler's head.

The Hunter turned to Ian and screeched. It leapt forward and tackled into Ian, but this time it on the ball. It pinned Ian under him and began to claw into him. Tearing at whatever he could.

"No! NO! GET IT OFF!" Ian yelled out as he struggled against the zombie.

Tyler pushed himself off the ground as the horde took its chance to charge again.

Tyler and May said nothing as they turned and fled.

Ian wouldn't have any of it.

He punched the Hunter in the stomach, then lifted it up and tossed it into the horde.

He pointed his pistol, and fired.

Tyler didn't even think, he just pushed May away to make sure the bullet came nowhere near her. A hole appeared in his back, and another in his stomach.

"You bitch…" Ian muttered as the zombies poured over him, another glob of acid found its way through the mass of zombies that tore at him and covered Ian in it. His loud yells soon ceased.

"Tyler!" May cried as he collapsed to the ground, holding at his stomach.

"Oh God…Oh God!" She cried as he coughed up blood. "Don't worry…we'll…we'll figure this out…" She muttered as she looked up at the zombies, marching forth like an army ready for the final charge.

"Sis…just don't…" Tyler muttered, trying to force a smile out. "I swore to myself I'd die to protect you…I just hoped I could've done a better job of it…" A small puddle of blood was forming around Tyler.

"Tyler…" May cried. "Please…don't leave me alone…"

"Sorry, May…" He muttered weakly. "Get out of here…and don't die on me…I won't forgive you…" He still tried to force a smile.

May looked up as the horde's anticipation broke and they charged forth.

"Run, damn it…" Tyler groaned. May turned and ran, looking back only once to see the horde flooding over Tyler. The loud screech of the hooded zombie sounded.

He didn't scream.

May tried to keep her tears from flowing as she ran, but found it to be difficult.

Just at the end of the street. Just a mere fifty feet from where Tyler went down, there was a red brick building, with a red steel door standing proud. 'SAFE HOUSE' red dark red paint on one of the walls.

May crashed through the door and forced it shut behind her, and began piling up any furniture she could push against it as the zombies collided with the door. They screeched and snarled, and clawed and shoved at the door. But it was shut tight.

May collapsed onto the ground, and her sobs burst forth. They could be heard for miles around…

* * *

Tyler watched his sister as she ran off. He thought that her delaying would've given the zombies the advantage they needed.

"Sorry dad…I couldn't do it…" Tyler muttered as he saw the first few zombie lunge for him.

A loud, high-pitched screech sounded, and the infected were knocked off Tyler. The hooded zombie stood over Tyler and snarled. The infected ran around the two, any of the zombies that delayed or tried to attack Tyler got nearly lost their arms from a swipe of the hooded zombie's claws, and quickly returned to chasing May.

The spitting zombie screeched and spat a ball of goo at the two, but the Hunter took the hit too and let the acid drip off around him. It didn't even phase the clothing.

The wave of zombies past and the spitting zombie jumped from the roof she was standing on, which was three stories up, and landed with a thud. She didn't flinch.

She approached and screamed angrily at the male infected, who screeched back. A set of pink nails were reared and sliced into the Hunter's back. The hooded zombie snarled and sliced open the stomach of the spitting zombie, before standing up in a hunched over, two-legged stance, and bit the female zombie in the neck.

It gurgled out a screech as it die, acid seeping from its stomach and covering the ground.

The hoodie growled and turned to look at Tyler. He was just about dead.

"So…This is how I die, huh? I always thought it would be cancer or a heart attack or something…but a zombie?" He muttered. The hoodie just sat and stared at him.

"You didn't attack my sister…" Tyler muttered. "But you had the chance…"

The zombie nodded.

"Maybe being close to death makes me insane…But if you understand me…and you aren't going to kill her…Then make sure she's safe…please…" Tyler begged.

The zombie nodded again.

Tyler coughed up more blood. "I don't like pain though…Please…Make it stop…" He begged.

The zombie delayed for a second, thinking about how to do this quickly.

He pointed five of his claws directly at the top of Tyler's head.

"Just do it…" Tyler gasped.

The hoodie snarled and put all his force into his one hand.

"Bye sis..." Tyler muttered, just before the claws met their mark.

Tyler shook for a few seconds, and then was still. His blue eyes stared unseeing at the evening sky.

The zombie picked up Tyler's body and dragged it into an alley. He first shut Tyler's eyes, carefully, and then found a large tarp to wrap the body in.

It was a long, arduous process, but when the Hunter was done, Tyler was completely wrapped in the blue tarp. Nothing could get to him.

The zombie snarled angrily and leapt to the rooftops with a loud screech as the sun began to set.

He jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he landed on the roof of the safe house. He could hear May's quiet sobs and whimpered.

What this zombie was up to was a mystery in itself. How it had not become a blood thirsty killer is another one.

But he was now the only ally May had.

So long as he was alive to protect her, he wouldn't let the other infected kill her.

Anything that tried to harm her would die.

Anything that harmed her and fled would be _hunted_.


	2. Chapter 2: Beginnings

**Just to make sure you all know: DISCLAIMER**

**I do not own any rights to Left 4 Dead or their characters. If my character may be taking on the role of one of their creations…take that as you will. Any original characters are my property. If you want to do something with them, contact me. Not that anyone will ever do anything with them…Because that would imply I'm famous enough to have stuff like that done by my amazing fans… (Besides the amazing fans part, the rest of the previous statement should not be taken seriously. Unless you want to take it seriously. XD)**

**Anyway. I may do things like these here at the top, or maybe the bottom if I ever have any comments I want to wake about the story or my life or just…anything.**

**But on with the story!**

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May had literally cried herself to sleep.

She had crawled into a chair that she didn't push against the door, curled up, and cried for hours before her fatigue forced her to sleep.

She woke as the sun began to peer through the other door. Also red and made of steel.

She groaned and rubbed her eyes, which had been uncomfortably itchy from her crying through the night.

Her mind hadn't comprehended the situation yet, and she looked around.

Yesterday hit her like a train.

The tears flowed, and once again May began sobbing loudly, much to the dismay of the infected outside, who were now being so rudely disturbed by this unneeded wakeup call.

They all began screaming and clawing at the door, or reaching through the bars as if they had a chance to get to her.

A loud screech sounded, and many of the zombies turned and ran from the door, those who didn't fell limp and silent as the sound of flesh tearing and bones breaking resounded.

May gazed out the door, tears still streaming down her face. She didn't know what did that. But she would have rather fought a few normal zombies over one of those super strong bastards, assuming she decided to leave at all.

No…she'd have to leave…

A loud growl came from her midsection and she clutched her stomach, aware of how empty it was. But she felt too upset to eat. She felt too upset to live anymore.

She looked at her machete, sitting so innocently on the floor. She wouldn't particularly mind if it found its way into her brain at this point.

But Tyler had said, "Don't die on me…I won't forgive you." She could only assume that would go tenfold if she died by her own doing.

She forced herself out of the chair, and quickly stretched. Her spine cracked in a few spots. She could've sworn she felt something watching her, but looking to the door revealed only one zombie arm hanging limp. What killed those?

She dropped it and began looking through the house for one particular room.

The kitchen. When she found it, she didn't waste time and began rummaging through the cupboards and refrigerator for anything edible. She ate whatever she could find that wouldn't save, and put whatever would stay fresh for a while on the counter.

It didn't take much searching for her to find a bag. It was a school bag, a dark green and beige one.

Wasn't there a kid at school with a bag like this?

May also dropped that and returned to the kitchen, putting the food into the bag before continuing to search the house. Some pain pills, a medical kit, and not much else.

She sighed inwardly as she walked up to the door and looked out at the street. Wrecked cars, corpses, and zombies. Nothing out of the ordinary nowadays. But the number of fires was not what she expected, and a mist sat over the city. It must've rained in the night.

She watched as the nearby zombies came charging to the door. But they stopped short, gazing upwards at something they obviously did not like. They all began backing off.

May wasn't sure what was happening, but she wouldn't question it. She opened the door and walked out. One infected charged, but she sliced it open with the machete. The others didn't seem so prepared.

May followed their gaze, and saw nothing. But at the same time, the small horde surged forth with sudden courage.

They caught May completely off guard and she found herself suddenly tackled to the ground by the ten or more infected.

A loud screech sounded and a hooded figure leapt from a rooftop and body slammed the infected. He grabbed one and tore out its innards. Not that such abuse killed it. Just enough to scare it and its friends off.

The horde took off in one direction, the one leaving a trail of intestines.

The hooded zombie looked at May for a split second before leaping away. He grabbed the edge of a rooftop, hoisted himself up, and was gone.

May just tried to process what happened. An infected...saved her from the infected.

There was no doubt in her mind. She knew he was the same zombie from yesterday. If his remarkably normal looking features didn't show it. The scabbed cut on his forehead did.

"I hit him with a rock…and he protects me?" She muttered. She picked up another rock, and looked up to a common that was charging back at her. The one that had been gutted. She could see its intestines loop around as it came back.

"How to train your zombie…" She muttered as she tossed the rock, hitting the infected square in the head.

It stumbled forward a few more steps, dropped to its knees, and then dropped dead.

"Okay…so that didn't work…" She muttered. She actually knew better than thinking a stone to the head could make him not want to kill her…could it? She couldn't test on these weak zombies. She'd rather not test on the strong ones.

She sighed and decided to start her trek. She didn't know where she was going, but she couldn't stay in one place forever. She just hoped to happen on a military operation, or CEDA…or something! She knew that CEDA had tried to do something to stop this virus when everything began, and once hordes of cannibals began showing up everywhere, she could only assume the military was doing something.

"I'm going to die…" She muttered. She swore she could hear Tyler scolding her for that.

Another few tears down her cheeks, but she wiped them away and remained focused. Be sad later, stay alive now.

May saw something out of the corner of her eye, on top of a roof. A dark figure, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"_What does that zombie want with me? Is he just toying with me? Wants me to stay on edge and keep having panic attacks, just keeping the infected off me until he's ready to kill me?" _May thought to herself. She turned to look at him directly, and he stared back. They just stood there in a staring match.

She could barely hear a growl from the zombie and he disappeared once again.

"_If he gets too close…just slice off his head."_

The thought was reassuring, but she knew that she couldn't actually kill that thing with a machete if it attacked her.

She continued down the street, and came to a four-way intersection. Where to go, where to go?

She heard another screech from the hooded zombie and gripped her machete, but she saw the zombie on a roof, staring in the direction she was already going. The zombie looked down at her, then began on his way in that direction.

May stared at the zombie. Could she trust him?

Well, he was the only one that wasn't trying to kill her, and actually seemed to be trying to help.

She followed the infected's lead across the street.

It lead her to the very edge of town. The buildings ended and the trees began. The hoodie leapt to a tree branch and sat on it, keeping his eyes focused completely on her.

May would've loved to have a car…She had a license…well, her temps.

She also would've loved a gun. Or a normal meal. Or that this apocalypse thing hadn't happened.

But this wasn't a time for wants. She had to work with what she had.

A machete, and a somewhat neutral zombie. It was a small list.

She just continued to follow the road, watching the leaves fall as the hoodie leapt from branch to branch. She was sure that, if anyone else was still alive, they weren't calling these things hoodies.

"What's a good name? Pouncer? Slasher?" She muttered. "…Stalker?"

The zombie didn't seem to hear her, despite the fact that they were supposed to have super senses or something.

A loud burp sounded from somewhere behind May. Before she could even turn around, her whole backside was covered in some sticky liquid.

She turned around to see a fat infected, wiping some of his vomit off of his chin. She shoved the thing, picked up a rock, and threw it at him. He groaned and suddenly blew up, like a balloon, sending more bile everywhere.

May became aware that a horde of zombies had come running. Maybe this puke attracted him.

Deciding to be horrified by the prospect of being covered in puke later, May only could think of one thing to do with a huge horde of zombies heading her way.

Run.

She started running down the road, her infected stalker leaping through the trees at her speed, and with the army right behind.

One infected lunged forward and tripped her up, and she soon had a whole horde on top of her.

The hooded zombie lunged out of the trees and began fighting with the horde, taking each one out easily, while they were having a hard time keeping track of him and landing hits.

May took her chance to push herself off the ground and began running again, leaving her stalker to fight the horde. Currently, he was pulling out the organs of one, while one chewed on his head. The rest were kind of confused and just attacked the first thing they saw.

A loud, raspy scream echoed from the woods, and a long, muscular, wet appendage wrapped around May's waist. She struggled against it, but it had caught her arms too. She was tied.

The appendage began heaving into the trees, and May found herself tumbling down a muddy riverbank, with the appendage unravelling and disappearing back to its owner.

A freakishly tall infected covered in boils loomed over May as she tried to push herself up, now completely covered head to toe in mud. Spores of some definition spawned from and floated around the zombie, as well as a cloud of smoke emanating from him.

It lashed the tongue out again, this time wrapping around May's neck, and dragging her over to the zombie.

She tried to tear the appendage with brute strength, but it was a pure muscle wrapped around her neck, like a python.

The moments ticked by. The sounds of the fighting zombies soon dissipated to nothing. Lights began to flash in her vision, her struggles became weaker, and she couldn't make a noise.

A loud screech sounded and she saw a figure crash through the trees. It tackled into the tall infected, and sliced the tongue apart.

May dropped to the ground and gasped for breath, struggling away from the fighting zombies.

The hoodie dug its claws into the other infected's face, popping many of the boils, while the tall infected balled its hand into a fist and smashed it into the head of the other.

The hooded zombie pulled his claws out, and then shoved them into the tall infected's throat.

It gagged as its throat was crushed, and struggled away from the hoodie. The infected snarled and lunged forward, smashing the smoking one's head into the ground.

The smoking infected died with a gasp and released a cloud of smoke. The hoodie snarled at it and then turned to May.

Her vision slowly cleared, and she wasn't sure if to be thrilled to see the hooded zombie.

She jumped up and grabbed her machete, but her legs gave out from her being near choked to death and she was back on the ground.

The hoodie reacted to her falling instantly, it was on top of her in an instant, snarling.

"_So he was just waiting to kill me…" _She realized. She wasn't even sure if she could cry, but the tears began to fall anyway.

She tried to struggle against him, but she was stuck, no matter what she did. Maybe if she got lucky, there was some almighty lord and he might take mercy on her.

The hoodie snarled again and leaned down, and began sniffing. It saw the streaks that the tears left in the mud that had caked all over May.

Seeing that May was not a mud monster, just really dirty, the hooded infected hopped off of her, and disappeared into the trees again.

May watched in shock as the infected disappeared. He didn't kill her?

She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, looking into the trees. She couldn't see him at all.

She sighed and climbed back up the bank, finding herself back on the road. To her left, a pile of mangled zombie bodies. To the right, the open road. She turned to her right and was on her way.

May could hear the snapping of branches as the hooded zombie followed her. "I think Stalker is probably the best name for him…" The idea almost made her laugh.

But what did he want from her? He had the chance to kill her but he didn't take it.

Maybe the rock she threw at him did more damage than she thought.

Three hours straight of walking left her exhausted. It was only about nine in the morning though. Luckily, there was a gas station nearby. Maybe she could rest there for a while.

She peered inside. No signs of zombies.

She pulled the door open and slowly closed it behind her, trying to keep as quiet as possible.

She looked around the gas station. Maybe there was some leftover stuff for her to take.

Small packs of Oreos and chocolate chip cookies. Score! A few bags of Lays and Ruffles potato chips. And a few Slim Jim's.

She heard a thud and a whimpering outside. May turned to the hooded figure, who was trying to figure out the door from his crouched position. Could he even stand up on two legs?

She saw the look of pain on the infected's face, and could see him clutching his stomach like he was shot. A light went off in May's head. He was hungry.

"_I thought the infected ate people." _She thought, but there wasn't as much blood on the infected's face as she thought there would be. _"But can I trust him?"_

The hoodie whimpered again and shoved against the door, finding that it wouldn't budge. It was pitiful.

May groaned and finally conceded to the zombie's begging. She gripped the hilt of her machete, causing the infected to back up a bit. In doing so, May was allowed to push the door open.

The hoodie stared for a second, and watched the door begin to swing closed. It lunged forward and entered the building before the door closed behind him.

The two stared at each other. May's hand was prepared to pull out her weapon, and the infected didn't relax either. His leg muscles were tensed to pounce if he needed to.

May backed up to the back of the store, giving the infected all the space he needed to scrounge up some food.

The hoodie gazed at her for a few more moments before turning to the shelves. He examined each one, sniffing for anything that piqued his interest.

One Slim Jim sat unclaimed, and the infected reached up and snatched it quickly, as if it would notice him and run away any second.

He sniffed at it, and then bit into it. The plastic wrapping was not to his liking, however, and the infected pulled it away in disgust. But he knew something tasty was sitting just below, so how would he get to it?

He tried smacking it against the shelf, thinking that maybe the plastic would crack and break away like a shell, but that didn't work.

He snarled and bit into the edge of the plastic, and began pulling at it, shaking his head. The plastic was stubborn, and gave way. But not so that he could get to the meal below.

May couldn't help herself and began laughing at the infected. He turned to her and she could practically feel the daggers being shot at her from behind his hood.

"Like this." She said, holding up one of the Slim Jim's. She grabbed the top, and split the two plastic layers from each other with ease, revealing the snack within.

The infected played the process back in his head, and using the non-ruined side, the infected copied what May did and found the meat snack openly revealed to him.

The infected smiled with glee and began to ravenously eat. May figured she might as well eat hers, since it was already opened.

Twelve inches of spiced meat was gone from the infected's hands in mere seconds.

He made a noise akin to purring, and began sniffing around the shelves for more.

May watched the infected scavenge for food with interest. How did he go from a normal person one day and turn into…some sort of animal the next?

The infected found a few packs of beef jerky, and tried applying the same steps that was used on the Slim Jim with the new food. The plastic came off easily and the infected gleefully feasted on the meat, going through the chore of chewing it with no complaint.

After the jerky was gone, the infected sat back against the counter, 'purring' with content.

May half expected him to sit on his haunches like a cat, but he actually sat like a normal human. Rear on the ground and back rested against the solid surface for support. His legs sat sprawled out in front of him and his hands rested on his stomach. If May didn't know better, she could've thought he'd fallen asleep.

"I suppose you feel a bit better." May muttered, the infected's purring increased in volume for a few seconds to agree with her.

May was very sure that the infected wouldn't kill her, for now at least. She thought so anyway...He didn't act like any of the other infected so she could only assume the answer was a yes.

May didn't understand anything about these zombies. You could kill them without shooting the head, and they seemed to think now and again.

That was bullshit.

She moved to the door and heard the crunching of empty and discarded packs and boxes as the infected got to his feet and followed her.

May pushed the door open and quickly moved out of the way, allowing the infected to lunge out.

He stretched his legs and arms out, preparing for more jumping, turned to face May for a second, and turned to a tree. He lunged against a wall, bounded off to grab the metal canopy sitting above the gas pumps. He climbed on top of it, then turned and lunged into the trees.

A loud snap sounded and a loud yelp quickly followed. Many more snaps, and many thuds soon followed. Then there was a sound of a switch going off, and a snap following after.

The next sound was the most blood chilling, deafening sound May had ever heard.

A loud scream filled the air around her. It was high-pitched and long lasting. Even from up here it made her ears uncomfortable.

May ran to the tree line and examined the scene. A large branch sat on the ground, the tree it was once attached to sat above, with a scar in the bark where the branch once jutted from. A mass of broken twigs and crushed plants leading down a hill followed in the same direction.

May followed the path down to the bottom of the hill, and what she saw tore at her heart.

In the middle of a clearing, the hooded infected tried pulling away from the bear trap that had snapped around his right leg. The teeth of metal dug into his flesh, and the cuts only became bigger as the zombie struggled. A stake had been buried into the ground through the last link of the chain attached to the trap.

He snarled and screeched and pulled, then he turned to the metal jaws and began to pry at them, the teeth slowly pulled out of his skin, letting more blood flow. But the jaws were meant to stay stuck in. The pressure to keep them closed was stronger that the infected's strength in his arms, and he lost his grip. The teeth dug in deeper than before.

Another screech of pain, and the infected fell to his side.

May approached slowly, trying to make sure that the claws wouldn't lash out.

The infected heard her and snapped his head to face her. His teeth were set together, and a two faint streaks could be seen coming from somewhere under his hood to run down his cheeks and to his chin.

Without a second thought, May looked for a way to get him out of the trap. A heavy, thick branch sat on the ground dismembered next to its parent tree, which had been knocked down and mangled by something. Something big.

With the comforting thought of the possibility of something large in the area, May grabbed the branch and carried it back over.

The infected whimpered and tried to pull away again.

"Stop moving. I want to help." May muttered, trying to get the branch stuck into the trap.

The infected didn't heed her and kept trying to get away.

"I said stop moving!" Her voice raised to a higher, more commanding pitch. Once again, he ignored her. Every time she tried to get the branch set in, the infected kicked away.

"God fucking damn it! HOLD STILL!" This time the infected sat still, just long enough for May to get the branch through the jaws. She pushed against it with effort, and the jaws slowly opened.

Without a second thought, the infected pulled himself away, and May let go of the branch, letting the jaws and teeth clamp down on its new prey.

The infected whined and tried to get away, but his leg wasn't being compliant. As soon as weight went on it, it gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

May hurried over and reached down to help him, but he lashed out with his claws and snarled out her.

"I'm not going to hurt you…" May tried to reassure him. She could've tried at any time in the gas station, but she didn't.

The infected stared at her for a few more moments. The sounds of cracking sticks drew their focus. Someone or something was coming.

May grabbed the infected under his shoulders and began dragging him. He didn't object. He could tell that whatever was coming wasn't friendly, and he was a sitting duck unless he was being helped.

They hid themselves in the tree line at the bottom of the hill, the bushes hiding them from view.

"Well I'll be damned…" She heard a voice mutter. It was man's voice.

She peered out of the bush and saw two normal human men examining the trap.

"I thought ya said this here thing was s'post to snap one of them zombie's legs right off." One of them said.

"It was s'post ta…It bit the legs offa all those other ones."

"Maybe it's one'a those stronger bastards. Maybe one of those jumpy ones."

"How'd it get out?"

"…Maybe one of thems zombie lovers. I hate those damn fuckers."

"Maybe we can find them."

"Nah, wouldn't be worth it."

"What if that damn zombie lover is a woman?"

"…Okay….Le's check aroun' a bit."

May began panicking as the two of them split off and began searching. She grabbed a small rock in her hand, just in case…and she could see another loose branch in the distance. The only survivor of something that had gone crashing through those trees.

She put all her strength into the throw, and the rock sailed across the clearing and struck the branch, which fell to the ground with a snap and a thud.

"Over there!" One of the men yelled, and the two ran towards the other side of the clearing.

May wrapped the right arm of the infected around her, supporting the bad leg. The hoodie didn't care what she did, just as long as they didn't end up dead. The two of them got out of there as quickly as possible.

Back on the road, May saw something that she hadn't before. It was as if God had placed it there. A van. A dark green minivan sat on the road. It was in good condition, and she could only hope for keys and gas.

She pulled at the door, and it opened. She wanted to cry. Keys in the ignition.

"Get inside." She ordered the infected, pulling open the rear passenger door.

The hoodie hoisted himself up and into the seat, and she closed the door behind him.

She hopped into the driver's seat, closed the door, and turned the keys. The engine sputtered, and roared to life. But the tank was only about a fourth full.

"No time to complain." She muttered, and floored the gas pedal.

The tires screeched, found their traction, and the van took off down the road.

One gunshot fired from behind them, but missed its mark, and they were gone.

"Oh God…" May muttered, feeling like her heart was just now able to restart.

The infected in the back seat whimpered and stared at his leg, blood streaming from the multitude of wounds the trap had left.

"Just hang on for a while, let's make sure we're safe…" May muttered. She didn't want to be looking at that wound of his and then get one of those guys pointing a gun in her face.

Four miles down the road found them at another gas station.

"Stay put." May commanded as she hopped out of the van. The infected didn't seem to want to object.

May passed it off as looking for more supplies, but really she just wanted to confirm that no living person was here given what she was about to do.

With no one in sight, she returned to the car, which she had parked neatly next to a gas pump just in case.

With no one to demand pay, free gas would be a delight.

Luck wouldn't hold out forever, the nozzle only gave out the gas for a few seconds before the flow of liquid stopped. The pump was empty.

Rather than restart the car and drive up to every pump, May found a couple of Jerry Cans and decided to use them.

Four pumps, one empty. The other three only filled the one can collectively.

"Well, I guess we have to ration it like everything else…" She huffed, and put the Jerry cans in the back of the van.

"Alright, now to take care of you." She said as she flung open the passenger door, with the infected still tending to his injured leg.

"Let me see it." May commanded, and the infected snarled in response. He really needed to decide how friendly he wanted to be.

"Well, you can either let me see it, or we can let some _other _infection get into it and we'll have to cut it off." Could the infected get infected with different infections?

The hoodie mulled over it for a moment, then growled in defeat. He turned himself to face away from May, with his leg stuck out for her to examine.

May pulled the med-kit out of her bag and sat it down, pulling out whatever she thought she'd need. Anti-bacterial spray, bandage…some sort of cloth to tie his hands together or tie his mouth up so he wouldn't slice her to ribbons while applying the medicine would've been nice.

"If you even think about clawing me, you'll lose your hand." She warned, and the infected barked out some sort of response, but she had no idea if that was an 'Okay.' or a 'Whatever.' or a 'You fucking wish you could get me with that knife.' Reassuring thoughts only.

May took a deep breath and grabbed a hold of the hoodie's ankle, and began applying the spray to each one of the cuts. She could feel the zombie tense, and gazing up for just a second, she could see the back of the car seat being torn as the infected bit into it, trying to keep the screeches at bay.

After the spray was applied, she wrapped it in the bandage. It was good for temporary measures. She also moved the leg to see if it was broken. The infected didn't react as if it was, so she could assume he was fine. It still must've hurt like hell though.

"I think you'll live." May said as she moved out of the way. The infected slowly moved to get out of the car. He pulled himself out with his arms, and his legs followed clumsily behind.

The infected didn't find his preferred stance to his liking. His knee wouldn't bend nicely and the pain in his leg absolutely refused him to bend it under him. Any attempt made to do so, it automatically shot back out from under him, and thus, without support, he plainly fell on his rear.

"Can't you…y'know…stand up?" She asked. The infected froze in spot. Either he had forgotten how, or the very thought of it was alien to him. Or he might've been realizing how stupid he was for not thinking of that.

"All the other…uh…infected I've seen walk on two legs…Can't you?"

The hoodie reached up and grabbed the door handle of the car, and began to pull himself up. May grabbed hold of his arm and helped him up the rest of the way. Suddenly, she was a lot more scared of him.

The hoodie had a bit of a hunched back, probably from being crouched so much, but even then. He was taller than her. If he stood straight, he'd probably have her by a whole foot. His hunch only took him down a few inches.

The infected looked around with a sense of wonder. Everything looked so different from up here!

And the uninfected became so short!

For just a moment, his hunting instincts told him to attack her. She was smaller than him, she couldn't fight back.

But he fought his instincts back instantly. They would not invoke his lust for blood.

"Wow…You're…bigger than I expected." A light flush fell over May's face instantly. That sounded dirty.

The innuendo was lost on the infected. Such concepts had probably been erased from his memory. It might explain why all the zombies kept trying to kill people. They were just really horny but the only release they had was killing things.

May sighed and stared at the hoodie. She must've been insane… "You aren't going to last out here with a bad leg, are you?"

The infected pushed himself over to the seat of the car and whimpered in agreement.

"And you're going to keep stalking me for whatever reason anyway, aren't you?"

The infected nodded his head once.

"I'm definitely insane…" She muttered, burying her face in her hands for a moment. "Alright…Alright…You can take this or leave it. You aren't eating me for whatever reason, and I still owe you for getting that smoky thing off of me…As long as you don't try to eat me…Do you want to travel with me instead of stalk me? You won't have to keep sleeping on top of a roof…"

The infected nodded frantically, grinning widely. No more cold nights for him!

May couldn't but laugh at him a bit. The infected might have taken showing his thanks a bit too far though. Something wet and warm slid over May's face, and the infected smiled at her.

"GROSS!" May yelled, wiping her face. "Zombie spit…" She turned to the infected and glared at him. It was like a sword of ice just tore through his entire being.

"But we're going to set some ground rules. Rule number one: Never. Do that. Again."

The infected nodded again, and though he could only voice it in a whimper, the frown on his face told her that he was sorry.

"Okay…we've wasted enough time here." May muttered as she heard the groans of approaching infected, possibly attracted by her yell. "Time to go."

May hopped in the driver's seat and started the van, and drove off just as the horde burst out of the trees.

In moments, the van disappeared down the road.

Something large forced its way out of the trees. It growled angrily and looked down the road at where the van went.

The pair didn't even know they left just in time.

"Wait a second...I'M STILL COVERED IN PUKE!"

Thus began May's journey with the hooded infected.

* * *

**This chapter took a while, and I don't like how I ended it. But it was rushed so I could get it out quicker, and get to the next chapter.**

**Which should hopefully be up soon as well.**

**Also, I'm considering bringing up a point that may be of concern in later chapters of the story, but that might also ruin the plot.**

**I won't say anything about it now, unless it's brought up in a review later. If it happens, you'll all know. **


	3. Chapter 3: Cars

**Believe it or not, I started making this chapter shortly after I posted the last one, my defense is that I was on a short vacation, that and I've gone through now three scenarios of what I'd like to do with this chapter, plus I was sick for the past few days.**

**What were we doing again? Oh, right! Story!**

* * *

Two hours of uneventful, uncomfortable driving. Always fun. Especially when you were caked in dry bile and mud.

"You know, I need to find out a name for you. I can't call you Hoodie, or Stalker." May muttered. The second name made the infected huff. How dare he be called that!

"Well I'm sorry you don't like Stalker but that's what you've been doing all day!" What was she doing? She was getting into an argument with a zombie…and he couldn't even form a cohesive retort! Not only that, she just met him today!

The stomach of the infected rumbled, as did May's. The infected snarled at his stomach and sat back. He was aware of some small imbalance between one side of his butt and the other side. Reaching back, he pulled a piece of leather from his back pocket.

He was almost tempted to eat it. It was organic material of some kind from an animal of some definition, but there was something about it that seemed important. Maybe the uninfected would know.

The infected held the piece of leather up to the front of the car for May to see.

"Where'd you get a wallet?" May asked, peering back at him. The infected reenacted his pulling the wallet out of his shorts pocket and once again held it up to the front of the car.

"That's your wallet!" May exclaimed, taking the infected by surprise, and quickly pulled to the side of the road. Force of habit, even when it seemed all other cars in the world were useless and destroyed.

May climbed from the front of the car to the back and sat next to the infected, who handed the wallet to her without complaint.

May opened the wallet, and the first sight she was greeted with was a temporary license.

"Well, Mr. Hoodie, we're about to find out who you really are."

May first gazed at the picture. The face of a handsome young man stared up at her. His brown eyes, even in the picture, looked reclusive and lonesome. His brown hair sat lopsided to the right. While the eyes looked depressed, there was a handsome smile displayed proudly, despite a set of braces.

The infected rubbed at his teeth, finding them devoid of any metal. Did they break off?

The year of birth was the same as hers. He was born in December. She was older by a few months. She was born in October.

May was concerned about the name. The license had been ruined. Torn, it looked. The only name visible was his first one.

"Seth…" She muttered. The infected perked up at the name.

"Do you recognize the name? It's yours…I'm pretty sure."

The infected sat still for a few moments, then nodded. He was sure that in some time that seemed long past, he had been called Seth.

Seth…The name itself began to jumpstart something in his mind. Wisps of the past began to come back to him.

"Well I know what to call you now. Or scream if you ever lick me again." Wait a second…

Whatever double meaning may have accidentally been laced into that sentence was once again lost on the infected. He whimpered another apology for his overzealous show of thanks from earlier. He took his wallet from his new companion and replaced it in his pocket.

May smiled at him and patted him on the head. "Good zombie." She said, causing him to snap up with a glare she could not see. Nor did it affect her.

She climbed back into the front seat and returned to driving. She could've easily had her license if the past two hours told her anything!

May wondered…could she bring him back? Could she make him remember everything? Teach him to speak? Be human again? It was a long shot, but she could do it! That was her goal. Disinfect the infected!

And then find a mental hospital!

She was insane, and she knew it. She trusted this infected, maybe not enough to sleep without her machete being clutched like a teddy bear, but she trusted him enough to be within arm's reach of her. And now she actually thought she could bring him back?

But she had to wonder as she peered into her rearview mirror, and seeing the face of the infected. Gray, covered in some blood, and she knew that the next time he opened his mouth, she'd see fangs where normal human teeth should have been.

Why did she trust him so quickly? Three or four hours of having him stalk her and suddenly she acts like he's her closest friend. She didn't know any Seth's anyway.

But it went back to what she said at the gas station. He wouldn't survive long after the trap got him. Sitting there on the ground with a bad leg? Some survivor would love nothing more than to blast his head in.

The same would go for her. She was alone. If she got hurt, she had no one. No one to help, or at least to comfort her. No one to watch her back…no one to talk to.

She accepted him in an instant because she trusted him too quickly, sure, but also because she would have nothing. She would've just died and no one would know. No one would grieve. No one would even remember that she existed.

She couldn't throw trust around like that. What if she met those two guys first, and put trust in them? That could've gone any way.

But the same could be said for Seth.

Maybe she really was insane, and she didn't know it. To think that a zombie, a frigging zombie that she only met three hours ago in a gas station, would be trustworthy. Maybe she could just stab him in the head now before he ate her.

But she looked at him in the mirror again, the way he examined himself. She saw it, even if she couldn't see his eyes. The look of disgust, of hate.

He knew he used to be different. He may have forgotten what he was before, but he wasn't what he was now.

She sighed. He wouldn't attack her. She knew it. She saw the human left in him. Just enough of it to know that he was harmless.

But she was still going to keep the machete close.

The infected stared down at his leg again. He didn't know when it became spring-loaded like it was now, but he now realized that he took it for granted. Just pounce and leap and jump, everyday life. He couldn't do that now.

He stared up at the uninfected. She must've been off her rocker to let him tag along. She should've been his meal by now! She looked good enough for a meal…Well…if she wasn't so thin maybe…

**No! **Don't turn into a beast! You're not going to eat live meat! Even if it is tender…warm…fresh…delicious…

NO! STOP IT!

He clutched his head, trying not to go insane.

"Are you alright back there?" May called back.

Seth gazed up, and then nodded quickly, flashing a fanged smile at her.

"Reassuring…" She muttered, looking in the mirror at his fangs.

A few more minutes of driving yielded an abrupt end to the road trip.

Something bellowed loudly and charged out of the trees, smashing into the front of the van.

"Shit!" May yelled as she tried her best to keep the van from spinning out of control.

The van slowed enough to only lose its front wheel to a guard rail as it rammed into it. But now May and Seth had no ride.

"What was that?!" May yelled, and already Seth was trying to get out of the van. But being infected, all he could do was claw at the door.

May forced her door open and hopped out of the van, and Seth leapt to the front and followed.

The large zombie bellowed and smashed its huge arm against a tree, causing the plant to shudder.

The other arm had shrunk into a useless, flapping appendage when it moved. One of its legs had also become inflated, and the opposite leg had become anorexic by comparison.

"…That thing is ugly." May muttered. Seth snarled angrily and tried to crouch, but his leg refused and shot out, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"And you're in no shape to fight."

The large infected began running toward them. Then the arm came up, and with a bellow, kicked into overdrive.

May and Seth quickly made the decision to get out of the way, hopping over a car directly behind them and running past that as the infected smashed into the car. The car only budged a few inches, but no body repair shop could ever fix that dent.

"I would love to have a gun right now." May muttered as she and Seth began bobbing and weaving between cars, the infected chasing after them being able to shove them enough to get them out of his way.

They found themselves running over a bridge, with a river filled with rapids running below. A semi-truck had smashed onto a concrete wall and the cab and half the trailer now hung precariously in the air, only the back of the trailer was left on the bridge.

May had a crazy, and yet genius idea.

She made a cut to the right, causing Seth to panic. Turning right did not get her away from the enemy!

She stood in front of the trailer and faced the infected.

"Hey, ugly! You chasing me?" She called out. The infected faced her, growling from its throat.

"Aw, what's the matter, are you afraid of little ole' me?"

The infected bellowed angrily. He feared no one!

He lunged forward, and the arm came up. And May barely dodged as it barreled into the trailer.

The doors to the trailer shattered, and the infected face planted into the front wall.

He tried to push himself up, but a creaking noise caused a sudden jolt of fear.

There was nothing to grab onto as it turned to face the back of the trailer, as the bridge suddenly appeared in his vision, and became increasingly smaller.

The truck met the river with a crunch and a splash that sounded more like an explosion. The truck disappeared under the rapids, and that was the end of it.

"Well…that could've been a lot worse!" May commented, peering down into the river. She didn't know if the infected could swim, but nothing could get out of those rapids once they were in.

Seth peered down as well and had a panic attack at the sight of the water. He didn't care if it hurt like hell, the lunge he made away from the edge was worth getting away from the sight.

Well that answered that. Infected didn't like water.

May went to examine the van. It was done for. The engine was ruined and a wheel was gone. The jerry cans had smashed open and the back of the van was filled with gasoline.

As May was examining the back, a loud screech sounded from somewhere, and then the sound of spitting.

Seth grabbed May and pulled her out of the van just as the ball of acid struck, and the vehicle was instantly set ablaze.

"Time to leave." May commanded as the infected began to appear to investigate the roaring of the fire.

Two hours more of walking left the two feeling tired, cranky, and filthy. The last for May, at least.

"Ugh…last time I had a bath was five days ago…" She thought aloud, and peered down at her clothes. If it weren't for it being covered in bile and mud, her shirt, which used to be white, would probably be see-through from all the perspiration.

With that thought in mind, and a glance over at her infected, but still male companion, she decided to stay tolerant of the muck covering her clothes for now. Until she could get cleaned at least!

Seth's only form of locomotion was a heavy limp, and with his hunched posture, he looked like he would topple to the side with every step. He was out of his element now, walking on two legs for a duration, and being unable to leap. It was humiliating.

"I think we need to get you off that leg for a little while." May commented while examining the bandage. Much of the cloth was red, and she swore with every step, the stains expanded.

Seth wasn't comfortable being in the middle of the highway and resting for who knew how long.

He shook his head indignantly.

"Well the find us another working car." May ordered.

The pile-up of vehicles dissipated, and a mahogany Ford Escort looked in decent condition. The door sat wide open and the keys were in the ignition.

May turned the keys, and the car rumbled to life. Seth wore a smug grin.

"Shut up."

The car didn't have a lot of fuel in it though. People must've been stingy on buying more, or were stuck in traffic for so long trying to flee the infection that the engines just slowly burned it all away.

As the two hopped into the car and went on their way, May became aware of just how dirty she was. She didn't acknowledge herself in the mirror when she examined Seth, but now, a chance glance caught her by surprise.

Her face was only partially visible under the dirt. A clashing of the brown mud and her cream skin. She rubbed at some of the caked dirt, and it chipped off.

"You could at least have tried to find a way to let me know I was this filthy."

Seth cocked his head to the side in confusion. Filthy? What was filthy? What did it mean? Was she referring to the dirt? Wasn't that her camouflage?

The car didn't last long before the engine ran on empty, but May had turned them down an exit ramp and now they sat on the outskirts of a city by the time it was out.

"Great. I love more walking." May muttered as she got out of the car, opening the back door so Seth could get out.

Seth kept trying to crouch. Every few minutes he'd stop walking and drop. Every time, his leg refused him and shot out from under him.

"If you aren't careful you're going to break your nose."

The infected huffed at her and gave up on trying to crouch.

A loud, demented scream filled the air, followed by a high pitched cackling.

Seth growled angrily, and began gazing around.

Faster than they could realize, a small, golbin-like infected appeared from behind a car and lunged at May, clinging onto her head.

"Ow! What the Hell?!" She yelled as it began tugging on her head. She began stumbling wherever it leaned.

Seth screeched and ran after the two, he grabbed the small creature by the arms and tossed it off of her.

It screamed insanely and began running. Seth, fueled by rage, crouched and leapt after it. If there was any pain, it didn't process in his head.

The smaller infected turned and lunged, grabbing onto Seth's head in midair. Seth struggled to get the smaller thing off of his head, but it was no good. It had control when it was on his head.

May ran up and sliced it in the back with her machete, distracting it long enough for Seth to reach up, dig his claws into the infected's back, and then toss it into a car.

It didn't have long to recover before Seth lunged at it again, biting down on the throat before finally disemboweling the thing.

Its dying noise was even an insane laugh, dying down from a loud cackle to silence.

"That was disturbing." May muttered, trying to get her neck to pop. Now her head hurt.

Seth growled in disgust at the impish infected, and turned to face May.

She reeled back a bit at the sight of him. His face was stained red with blood, the liquid dripping down his chin and staining his jacket. Still crouched, any place he placed his hand had a red handprint left on it.

Seth whimpered. He knew how he looked. He'd seen how he looked before, after he was first infected…a time when he had no thought besides the thought of blood and flesh.

"It doesn't…look that bad." May muttered, trying to show a weak grin. "Thanks for getting that thing off of me."

Seth almost smiled too, but the sight of his fangs covered in red would've just been more disturbing to her.

Infected blood was not like uninfected blood. To an infected, he uninfected blood was warm, and in a way, sweet. Infected blood was cold and bitter. When it came down to the mark, the infected would eat anything they could, but they preferred sweet over bitter.

As such, with the bitter taste of the head humper in his mouth, Seth wanted something to get rid of the taste. He wanted sweet meat…fresh meat…

His vision began to blur. It was going to happen.

"Seth, are you okay?" May asked. Seth began clutching his head and snarling angrily.

He looked up at May again, screeched and sprang up. He needed to get away from her.

"Seth! Wait!" She called, trying to chase after him. But the infected, running on some primal instinct that ignored his pain, was back to his pouncing. On top of a car, into an alley, bouncing between the walls of two buildings until he reached the top of one, and quickly disappeared.

"What happened?" May muttered, staring at the rooftop that Seth vanished behind.

She wasn't sure what to do. Could she be hurt by this? She hadn't even known the infected for a whole day yet. Maybe worried about him? Yes, worried. His leg was hurt and now he was overusing it by lunging around like that.

But now she was on her own. She had to move, fast. Maybe find one of those safe houses.

She wanted him to come back. She didn't want to be alone. He was nice, as far as she could tell.

"Please come back…"

She gazed at the roof for a few moments, sighed, and ran down the street.

Seth had left just in time. He wasn't adept at fighting his instincts yet. When something that sent them into overdrive happened, he could do nothing.

Now he was back to a feral infected, for the time that his instincts raged like this. He sniffed the air. In the far distance, for he had travelled a considerable amount before, he smelled an uninfected. Alone, and female it would seem.

But the scent, he'd smelled it before but didn't take extreme note of it until now. It was a scent that told even his feral instincts to keep away.

So he looked elsewhere.

He heard a coo somewhere close by. A bird. A tiny, insignificant bird.

But anything to get the taste of infected blood out of his mouth.

The pigeon sat comfortably on the edge of the roof. Blissfully unaware to the infected human stalking it.

Birds reacted too quickly if they heard something. That was why Seth forced this pounce to be quick and quiet.

The pigeon's gaze turned to see the fangs coming down.

A puff of feathers and that was it.

Mere seconds passed before Seth finished off that insignificant meal. It dulled the bad taste in his mouth at least.

His bloodlust subsided a little. But he needed something else. Meat. Fresh meat.

He heard barking below and he peered down into the streets. Any dogs that found themselves without an owner did what their ancestors did: Form packs and become hunters.

A Doberman, a Boxer, and a Rottweiler were patrolling the streets, looking for their own meals. Be it some weak infected or an animal of some kind.

Seth growled and stalked along the rooftops, following them, waiting.

The Doberman stopped short while the other two went on. It had seen a rat and began chasing after it.

Seth snarled angrily and lunged with a screech. The dog's ears perked up and it turned to see the hooded infected tackle it into the ground.

It yelped, before growling and biting at Seth, grabbing his arm in its jaws.

Seth screeched and bit into the dog's back, causing it to yelp again. The two other dogs came running, barking angrily at the infected.

Seth pinned the dog under him and raised his claws to finish it. But the Rottweiler charged up and bit into his back, causing him to screech with anger. He swiped his claws against it, only to be caught by the Boxer.

Seth struggled with it before the Rottweiler and Doberman lunged back into the fray.

The dogs tore at the infected, the infected tore at the dogs, until finally Seth tossed the Rottweiler and Boxer to the side and had his original target, the Doberman, pinned under him.

He raised his claws to slice them in, but he saw the look in the dog's eyes. The look of pain, and fear.

Seth stared at the dog for a few moments, and felt his bloodlust drain away.

Seth quickly pushed away from the dog as the other two recovered.

The Doberman pushed itself to its paws and limped towards the other two, which growled angrily, despite being torn up, to keep Seth away.

Seth, panicking, leapt towards a rooftop, and disappeared, leaving the dogs to tend to their wounds.

He whimpered and curled up on a roof. He was a monster. A horrible, disgusting, monster. He was going to kill more living things. They were dogs…but they were alive. Then he realized: The pigeon. He gagged, and the remains of the bird spewed forth from his throat to cover the roof in front of him.

A glance up at the sun caused panic for him. It was beginning to set.

The uninfected girl!

He began lunging from roof to roof. He was aware of the pain coursing through his body but ignored it. He needed to get to her.

Her scent started to become fresher. He followed it along until he at last could see her.

Another wave of anger shot through him.

She was doing all she could to get away from a horde of infected, which were quickly gaining on their target.

Seth screeched angrily and began the chase.

May didn't know how the heck this happened. She was just walking along and then a bunch of zombies appeared out of nowhere.

The screech of a hoodie caught her attention, and she turned to look toward the rooftops.

She stumbled and lost her footing, allowing the horde to begin dog piling on her.

Another screech sounded out and the mass of zombies all turned to see the hooded infected bear down on them.

Some fled, some tried to fight. All of them were brutally slaughtered.

Seth snarled as he smashed the skull of the last one into the pavement, while May pushed herself to her feet.

Seth turned to look at her, getting only a gasp from her.

Seth's jacket had been torn in many places, and he was covered in cuts and scrapes that now bled freely, staining the fabric.

"What the Hell happened to you? Why'd you run off? What were you thinking?" May demanded, eliciting whimpers from Seth.

She calmed down and sighed. "I guess we really need to get you cleaned up now." She said, smiling at him. "But don't ever run off again!"

The rest of the walk was uneventful, though May had to keep her focus on Seth to make sure that he didn't collapse. They at last found themselves barring the door of a safe house.

"Oh, look, the words of the people." May said as she began reading graffiti. One group of the writing caught her attention.

_For any of you lucky enough to only see those sick people stumbling about like a bunch of brain dead idiots, consider yourselves lucky. There's deadlier infected out there._

_Yeah, like the Smoker. They'll spit out this giant tongue at you and drag you toward them. Real ugly too, covered in boils and let off a bunch of, well, smoke. They cough a lot too, so they're easy to hear._

_There's also this fat ass called the Boomer. They gurgle and burp all the time, and if one gets close enough, it will throw up all over you, and bring hordes of the normal infected. When it dies, it blows up like a bomb, and will cover you in puke like that if it's too close._

_What about the Hunter? Those hooded bastards that scream every time they jump. And boy do they jump! Those things can get to the top of a building without any trouble. They'll just watch you for a long time, wait for a weakness, and then they'll leap down on top of you and start gutting you._

"So that's what you're called. A Hunter." May said, gazing down at Seth. The infected cocked his head to the side and huffed. Maybe he was confused about this.

_Don't forget the Spitters. They just hawk loogies at you. But they're loogies made of acid. That bounce off walls. And form into puddles of acid when they hit the ground. But they're really screechy, kind of like birds. And they drip acid when they run around._

_Then there's the Charger. Huge ass guy with a giant arm. He'll run at ya and smash you into something, then he'll grab you and pound you into the ground. Sounds kind of like a cow though._

_And the Jockey. Tiny thing that laughs like a maniac. It'll run up and jump onto your face and force you to go wherever it likes. I think it humps you too…_

_You all forgot the two deadliest. The Tank. A huge motherfucker that can toss a car like a ragdoll. They'll knock punch you're lights out easily. Don't get near it! Then there's the Witch, an infected bitch who just cries all the time. Just don't get too close, flash a light, or shoot at her, and you'll be fine._

"Wow…I've already been around the others, I don't want to see the last two." May muttered. Seth didn't quite understand. Other? Other what's? What did these markings mean? Could she discern meanings from them? What otherworldly intelligence did the uninfected possess?

May sighed as she scratched at more of the dry dirt caked on her face. "I would kill for a bath right now…" She muttered, and turned to her infected friend. "And you need one too!"

Seth backed up a bit. Was she accusing him of something?

May had the idea of going to check the bathroom for running water. It was a stupid idea, but better than none.

She searched the whole first floor of the house, which yielded nothing. The second floor, however, was a different story.

'_This way to heaven.' _Was spray-painted on a wall with an arrow pointing towards a door.

May pushed it open and found it was, indeed a bathroom.

Heaven? Could it be…?

She approached the bath tub, crouched down, and tried turning on the water.

The pipes groaned for a moment, and then the faucet spewed forth a brown liquid, which became clear after a few moments.

May wanted to cry. Actual running water.

It dawned on her that she might quickly get used to smelling a bit more decent than the surrounding landscape.

Which meant that being in close proximity with Seth as he was right now might start making her sick.

Which mean that he needed a bath.

Oh joy.

* * *

**So yeah…this is a chapter. I know it took a while, but again: Vacation, rewrites, sickness!**


	4. Chapter 4: Baths

**I feel like I've taken this too quickly. I've read one story so far where someone gets an infected friend in the first chapter, sure, but I think I just ran into this like a cheetah, and I think the brick wall is around the next turn.**

**Nevertheless, I'm not going to hide away in my shell again. I'm going to squeeze what I can out of my brain for this.**

**Not sure if I can even say if this story is doing well or not. Some people like it, as I've seen, and continue to see from new reviews, favorites, and followers. I'm not sure about all though. Of course, there's only been three thousand fictions for this game…compared to over seventy thousand for some others.**

**Anyway, let's just get this next chapter going. We'll see what I can dish out!**

* * *

May peered out the bathroom door at Seth. The infected was sniffing around. May was drawing parallels to a cat now. He wanted to figure out everything about the place, he was also very quiet most of the time, unless she said something to him. He approached anything that seemed out of the ordinary with extreme caution until he found out what it was.

And, of course, he hated water.

But she looked at him, actually took a moment to look at him carefully, and…well…he needed a bath.

His front was still covered in blood, which she wasn't sure if it belonged to him or something else. His back was torn up as well. His arms, his legs, she didn't even notice the bandage was gone until just now. The cuts from the trap were still bleeding openly

He needed to get cleaned. Might hurt a lot with all those cuts he got from nowhere, but if he could get even sicker…that wasn't going to end well. She was doing a ton of crap that probably was getting her close to having her intestines tied in a bow around her neck, based on the assumption that his condition could get worse.

She needed to get to a straightjacket soon.

"Seth, come here please." She said. It was going to be embarrassing to her, possibly degrading to him, and uncomfortable for both.

So everything was going to be peachy.

Seth turned to face her and walked over to her. He'd managed to get himself back to four legs, but his crawling was more of a tiny hop every time he moved the bad leg.

That wasn't so much like a cat…more like Gollum.

How was she going to explain this to him? The problem was that he'd probably only have issues with the water and the more than rigorous scrubbing May would have to go through to get the dirt off of him. She had to not freak out that she was going to have to see the guy naked…and be running her hands all over him.

She shouldn't really care about that. He wasn't going to, he was going to be too focused on fuming angrily while he sat there in the water. She'd just get to the issue when she got there.

Seth stared up at her expectantly, and she let out a sigh.

"So, to put it bluntly…you're filthy." She said.

Seth cocked his head to the side. He heard the word before but he forgot what it meant.

"Even if it's only for tonight, I think sleeping under the same roof with you smelling like a corpse is going to be difficult…So you need to get in the tub."

Seth gazed over at the tub, and he visibly tensed when he saw the water.

"You're not going to drown!" She exclaimed, and walked over and submerged her arm in the water to prove her point. It barely came up to her elbow.

Seth growled. But somehow, he felt that resisting her would only make things a lot worse for himself. So it was either try to get away and deal with an anger he hasn't seen yet, or just go along with it and get it over with.

He huffed and crawled over to the tub, and made to get in.

"Hold it." May muttered, nudging him back from the tub. "You kind of need to lose the clothes for this."

Seth shook his head wildly and clutched his hood, pulling it further over his head.

Maybe he would be freaked out about it.

"Well I know it's a little embarrassing but I'm guessing you can't clea-."

Seth shook his head suddenly, and pointed his finger up at the dim, flickering, dying light of the bathroom.

"The light? You don't like the light?" May inquired. Seth nodded, and rubbed his eyes and whimpered to mimic pain.

"It hurts your eyes?" May never actually like charades, but she had to play to guess what the hell this infected meant. She wanted to know how he retained intelligence like that, where the other infected didn't come close.

Seth nodded again and whimpered. Oh…so he didn't care about being exposed, he just didn't want his eyes to hurt.

May flicked off the light switch and the bulb sitting above them went dark. Maybe for the rest of time.

There was a single window in the bathroom, the light of the setting sun illuminated the bathroom enough for May to see, maybe also dim enough for Seth to be comfortable.

"Is that okay?" She asked. Seth lifted his hood so it didn't smother his face, and then nodded.

In an instant, he was struggling with the clothes. May's face flushed and she turned around. She really wasn't sure what to do about this.

The rustling and annoyed grunts soon ended, and May peered back.

She first focused on the face of the infected. No longer concealed by the hood, she could piece his face together. It was just like on the license. But to see the eyes and hair, it was alien. His hair was filthy, but you could tell it was originally a dark brown, some of which now sat over his eyes.

His pupils, even in this dim light, were as small as they could be. That's why he hated the light, he couldn't adjust to it correctly. The irises were a dark, deep brown, kind of like chocolate. The whites of his eyes were horribly bloodshot, probably from the sensitivity to light.

They held a sadness to them. They gazed at everything with some sort of pain in them, until they rested on her. They seemed to brighten just from looking at her.

May sighed and turned around. She was going to see everything anyway, so she might as well get over it.

Perhaps from some leftover shred of decency, or the change of having 'it' out in the open, Seth was positioned so that his arms sat protectively in front his nether regions.

That was more of a relief to May than anything else.

However, the rest of him was easy to see. He was quite thin. Possibly just from becoming infected. Most of the infected seemed pretty thin. But it wasn't like his ribs were about to tear out of his skin. He was just bony.

_Not bad-looking for a zombie. _She thought to herself. She then thought about that for a moment. Where was that straightjacket?

Okay, focus on that later.

"Get in." She commanded, pointing at the tub. Get him clean, and get him dressed for God's sake.

Seth huffed and crawled over to the tub. He peered into it for a moment, and then lifted himself up and over, splashing messily into the water.

May had averted her gaze for the most part until he was submerged in the water. She should've looked for some bubble bath or something.

She sighed as she went around looking for everything she'd need. Shampoo was on a rack sitting next to the shower head. May would've rather given him a shower but she was hoping she could get away with only washing above the waist.

She found washing rags on a shelf and grabbed one, and pulled out a new bar of soap.

"Okay. No biting, kicking, slashing, thrashing, or gashing. You're going to sit there, and you're going to take this with no issue."

Seth growled but nodded his head once. The water was already stinging his legs and lower back. The cuts where the iron creature bit him were hurting badly.

"Let's get this over with." May muttered. She wet the rag and soap in the water, lathered the rag, hesitated for a second, and then began scrubbing his back.

He began growling, but that stopped short and a purr began to rumble from his throat. Okay, so he wouldn't be slicing at her now. That was good.

May scrubbed his whole back until it was covered in soap. Then washed that off. His back was noticeably paler than his front now. So part of it was just dirt. Gross.

The rest of the bath went like that. Front side, no issues besides her embarrassment. She had to do the legs too, make sure the cuts got washed out. Then she shampooed his hair, scrubbed his scalp until he couldn't feel it anymore, and then rinsed.

"Done!" She announced, getting her hands off of him as soon as the soap was gone.

Seth hopped out of the tub and crouched down. May grabbed a towel and wrapped it around him so that it draped over him like a cloak. The first thing he reached for was the jacket.

"I need to get you a new one. Don't even think about it." She said as she picked it up. It was full of tears from whatever he fought before. It would actually serve better as…nothing. Luckily she wouldn't have to find out what size shorts he wears, they were pretty unscathed. Might as well get them clean too.

"Just go sit down and wrap yourself up in the towel." She muttered. Seth disappeared into the hall without a trace, finding his way into the bedroom and sitting on the edge of a queen sized bed. He wrapped himself in the towel like a cocoon, with it draped over his eyes as he liked.

His mind was still piecing itself together. It was starting to remind him that there was an issue with being exposed like this, but he wasn't sure what it was. But he wanted his clothes back right now.

May had emptied the tub, because the water had turned brown from bathing the infected, and she had opted in for a shower, though she would've preferred the bath. But she needed the bile and mud off, not to be sitting in it.

Even though she couldn't sit back and relax as she stripped her clothes off and entered the shower, the warmth was pure bliss.

May just stood in the heat for a few minutes, then went on to scrubbing the bile and mud off of herself. She was disgusted with how filthy she was, it was nice to see the dirt going down the drain. She examined herself during her moment of privacy. She was starting to get a bit of a tan on her arms. After her shower, with hair and body washed of any impurities, she examined herself in the mirror that sat over the sink for a better look.

She was getting a tan of some description all over her body. She actually looked a little odd. Her arms and face were starting to become a light brown, her back and stomach were somewhere between the spectrum of pale and tan, anything that a bra or jeans would cover was still pale.

She sighed at her reflection. The end of the world was making it hard to keep an even tan. There was no such thing as amenity anymore, was there?

She gave her physical features a glance over: As plain as they had always been, to her anyway.

Again, a sigh escaped from her before she began drying herself with the towel.

Wrapping herself in the towel, May then took a few moments to look at her clothes. Could she get these stains out? Then she examined Seth's. His were a mess too, and what was with the duct tape?

A sigh escaped once more as she exited the bathroom with the clothes in her arms and began going about the house looking for a washing machine.

May became aware of the fact that she was being followed and turned to see Seth following her, the towel still draped like a cloak.

"I told you to go lay down on the bed." She muttered. She tried to ignore that both of them only had towels on, and Seth's didn't cover anything very well.

He whimpered and reached up for the ruined tatters of his jacket, but she yanked it away.

"If you want a jacket so bad, go find one that fits you." She sounded a bit more annoyed than she should've, but this jacket thing was getting annoying.

Seth stood there for a second, considering it. Not a bad idea. He went bounding off in an instant to scavenge a hoodie up.

May discovered a washer and dryer in a corner room. Thankfully, the washer worked. She didn't want to touch the dryer until she needed to, afraid that if she turned anything on, it would be for the last time.

The jacket she tossed to the side. The duct tape came off Seth's shorts, and everything went in. Screw the staining, she couldn't care about that now.

She turned around and found herself staring, once again, at the crouched form of Seth, dressed comfortably in a navy blue sweater with a gray hood and sleeves. A smug grin sat on his face, fangs barely concealed.

"Yeah yeah, great, now go lie down or something, I'll have your shorts out in a while."

Seth, of course, didn't care about the shorts that much. Not having them meant he had to maintain less sticky stuff.

The thought of the sticky stuff sent a bolt through his head. He needed to get some on the new jacket!

He snatched his old jacket and bounded away with it down to a guest bedroom, May trying not to follow him with her gaze.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and began tugging on the silvery adhesive around one of his sleeves. It wouldn't come off, this was why he liked it so much. He tugged harder, and harder, until finally it gave way.

But it had stuck to itself during the struggle, and was useless to the infected.

He snarled angrily and tossed his old jacket to the side. He wouldn't bother with the other sleeve.

He needed the sticky stuff. He couldn't pounce without it. He began tugging drawers out of dressers and dumping their contents. Tearing open closets. Any place a roll of the stuff may be hidden.

"What's with the racket?" May asked as she walked into the room. She'd replaced the towel with a blanket feeling a bit more secure with more cloth around her.

Seth picked up the useless remains of the duct tape and then grabbed his jacket sleeve.

God, May hated charades. But at least he was easy to figure out.

"You want duct tape for the jacket?" She asked.

Was that what the sticky stuff was called, duck tape? He didn't bother to question why it was named after a bird, he just nodded.

"Alright. Let's go look." Damn was he needy. Was he worth keeping around?

But she mentally slapped herself for that. He saved her time and again, she couldn't just kick him out on his ass.

A ten minute search throughout the house yielded a roll of duct tape, hidden in the back of a drawer in the kitchen.

Seth grabbed it and hurried off, back to the guest room. Now came the arduous process of getting this wrapped around his wrists correctly.

May sat down on the couch and yawned. Maybe a short nap wouldn't hurt. She'd been running around all day, trying to escape cannibalistic maniacs. She deserved to rest.

She wrapped the blanket around her, curled up under its warmth, and was asleep in moments.

She was running, as fast as she could. The infected poured in from all around her, thousands of zombies vying for her blood.

May's lungs burned for breath as she weaved between cars, the army of infected following her as best they could.

A loud roar sounded from behind her, and a slab of concrete smashed into the road next to her. The ground shook as something big gained on her. She needed to get out of here.

She saw a small alleyway. A small space placed conveniently between two buildings, just big enough for her to get into.

She snaked down the alleyway, hearing the enraged roars of the zombies behind her as they tried to follow.

A tremor shook the buildings, and May looked back to see a hulking mass smashing its arms into the sides of the buildings, knocking the dilapidated walls away and making the alley way big enough for the infected to get into.

She ran faster, out the other end and back into the streets, but more zombies appeared out of buildings and charged for her.

She gazed up the ladder of a fire escape and began climbing. Past the first floor, the second floor, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and then the roof.

She clambered onto the flat top of the apartment and gazed down. Thousands upon thousands of zombies screamed up angrily at her, taunting her, calling her down to her death.

She was trapped.

May backed up and looked around there must be a way out.

She heard an angered roar, and she could see the hands of the huge creature as it pulled itself up.

She backed away slowly, to the other edge of the roof.

She couldn't make out any details of the huge creature. Her vision was blurred, and it was as if a fire had erupted all around her.

The creature roared and charged forward, raised its hand, and swung.

May didn't feel the blow, but the next thing she knew, she was sent flying back, down, towards the crowd of starving infected.

A screech sounded out and a blue and gray blur leapt out and caught her in midair. It took the blow of the crash landing, but suddenly it had her pinned under it.

Its face was covered in blood, its eyes were concealed by the shadows of its hood, blood dripped from its fangs. The army slowly gathered around the soon-to-be meal.

She stared at the face, and it clicked. Tears began to stream down her face.

"Seth…" She croaked out, beginning to struggle against him, but he was pinned.

Seth snarled angrily, brushed his claws slowly, passionately against May's face, and then grabbed her throat in his hand.

"Please…" She cried out. It fell on deaf ears as an evil grin played on the infected's face, his fangs ever dripping blood.

He braced his claws against her skin, right where the jugular was. And he drove the claws in.

May shot up and burst into tears, clutching the blanket to herself. It was as if her blood turned to ice.

Seth shot awake at the sound of May's crying, and was on his feet and down the stairs in moments.

May heard the noise, and opened her eyes to see Seth staring at her.

Her mind instantly went back to the nightmare and she panicked. She screamed and kicked out at Seth. She was hysterical.

Seth yelped and backed away as he got a foot in his chest. He growled and lunged forward, pinning May down on the couch.

"Get off me you infected bastard!" She yelled out, struggling against him.

Seth snarled angrily, but it clicked. Memories of something long ago. Of a friend who woke up in the same way, scared out of their wits from a nightmare they had.

And he helped May in the same way he helped that friend from ages so long ago.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him in an embrace. He did not remember what this did to comfort people, but he hoped it work.

May's sobbing stopped as she felt the infected hug her. The heat that his ever-present fever provided seemed to melt the ice in her veins away, the comfort that his arms wrapped protectively around her gave quickly calmed her down. Her mind recomposed itself, and another wave of sobs burst forth.

She clutched to the fabric of Seth's jacket and just cried, and cried. She felt horrible, because she still didn't trust him. She still thought he would kill her. In the deepest parts of her mind, her instincts loathed him, she despised him.

But her conscience told her to trust him. He wanted to keep her safe. He wouldn't harm her.

Her brain was in a civil war over this, and she was powerless to stop it.

"I'm sorry." She muttered after she calmed down. She now leaned back into a corner of the couch, rubbing her eyes as they became irritated from the crying.

Seth still sat next to her. Why was the uninfected acting so weird?

"Just a…really bad dream." She muttered, as though she had read his mind.

Seth assumed it was about her brother. A jolt of guilt shot through him. He made the realization, after enough contemplating, that he had killed her brother. The uninfected male asked, as he would die anyway, but Seth took the life of perhaps the only person that cared for the uninfected girl so strongly. And it was so stupidly easy to see that he should've noticed it before.

May sighed and rubbed her head. "I need a drink." She muttered as she stood up. The blanket slid back and May went to grab for it, but she was shocked to find herself completely dressed. Her once gray t-shirt now a dark blue, and her jeans slightly more faded, but they were the same ones. They were clean at least. She noticed her bra sitting on the arm of the couch and flushed slightly.

And a glance at Seth confirmed that the infected was fully clothed again, his shorts clinging to his legs by way of duct tape.

"Did you get me dressed, while I was asleep?" May asked, staring at the infected in disbelief.

Seth got the sudden sensation that his life was at risk. He must've done something wrong. But oh well.

He nodded and tensed slightly as May's brows furrowed, and her lips quirked into a frown.

She glared at him for a moment, and sighed. Well, they were dry, and he couldn't seem to process any issues with being naked so he probably didn't even look at her twice.

"Alright. Great. Thanks…you can head back to bed now." She muttered as she walked out to the kitchen, getting herself a glass of gloriously cold, filtered of any green flu infection water.

She heard the thuds of Seth clumsily climbing back up the stairs, and sighed.

Could she get a decent night's sleep if she had nightmares like this?

She might not even have them if Tyler were here.

Her body clenched and more tears fell. She suppressed her sobs so as not to arouse Seth's worry again.

She pulled herself together long enough to grab the blanket and head back upstairs. She gazed into the guest bedroom to find Seth sleeping in the single bed. He looked like he had flopped onto it as soon as he got to it. His arms hung over the sides, one leg hung over as well, and…he was snoring.

May tried not to giggle at the overly loud noise. She wouldn't have to worry about nightmares, she wouldn't get anymore sleep with that going on.

She continued down the hall to another bedroom. The bed was slightly larger than the one Seth had claimed, but May was too tired to think about being fair.

She walked over, jumped into the bed, and fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

* * *

**This chapter is so…meh. I want to get these done in a timely manner to keep you all interested, but I also need to see what I can do with the situations I create in the story. It also doesn't help when I write a lot of these chapters at midnight.**

**Trying to make May appear as a rose with thorns. Girly but still tough. I'm failing horribly I feel. God I suck.**

**Ah well. You all like this crap so I'll keep making it!**


	5. Chapter 5: Words

…**I got nothing.**

**The weather's getting better, so yay.**

**Story? Story.**

**Scratch that, I do have something. I know that I have to keep this thing up on the top of the list to be seen. But 500 people have read this, every chapter has less views than the last. I'm not sure of the usual pattern for stories. I've been out of this for a while. I feel like I'm not satisfying the readers of this story.**

**Maybe it's just me being stupid…but I don't know. Anyway, now story.**

May stared at the washing machine, turned to gaze at the obviously guilty Seth, and then turned back to the machine.

"I should've realized last night…but I didn't even think about it." She muttered.

She was referring to the hole that sat in the glass of the washing machine door, with a hammer sitting innocently at the back of the machine.

"You could've just woke me up. I could've gotten them out and you wouldn't have had to let them air dry."

Seth huffed indignantly as he tended to do. He was an infected, he didn't know how the machines of the humans worked! The 'door', as it was called, was too advanced for his understanding.

"Well, I hope no one wanted to get their clothes washed." May muttered as she threw the bookbag on her shoulders, and made sure her machete was strapped securely to her side.

May walked to the red metal door and peered out. There were about ten infected milling about. Nothing major.

She tossed the door open and walked casually out into the sunlight. Seth snarled and crouched down. He was going to have fun.

The small pack of infected all turned to May and charged as soon as they found out she wasn't an infected.

Just as they closed in, Seth appeared out of the darkness and flew over May's head, bowling into the infected.

"Strike!" May announced as every zombie smashed into the pavement. Two cracks announced the broken skulls of two zombies. The rest got to their feet and went running.

"If I have you around, I may not even need this thing." May joked as she pulled out her machete and examined it. It wasn't anywhere near dull.

Seth examined himself for blood. He felt good without being covered in dirt and blood and he wanted to make sure he could keep that up for as long as possible. Not that he complained during the bath, the scrubbing felt good…

May had already replaced the bandage on Seth's leg, but it seemed that just a few hours off of it made the difference. The bleeding had stopped for the most part, and he was getting more comfortable in his normal crouched position. May actually felt better with him being three feet shorter instead of a foot taller than her.

A loud, raspy scream announced a Smoker being nearby. The tongue shot out, but May ducked under it and the tongue fell limp, before quickly began retracting to its owner.

May and Seth followed the tongue to the overly tall infected. It stared at the two for a moment, panicked, and began trying to clamber up a pole to get away.

Seth snarled and lunged at the Smoker, but it got its grip on the pipe and climbed out of the way.

Seth's hands shot out and the only thing he could do was bounce off the wall so the momentum didn't carry his face into the bricks.

He collided with May as he literally bounced back, sending the two to the ground.

"Ow…Hey, get off!" May struggled against the weight of Seth. He was heavier than he looked.

Seth pushed himself off of May after a moment and turned to face where the Smoker had gone, but it had disappeared.

"Okay, new rule. Don't use me as a landing pad." May said, pushing herself up.

Seth growled at her. What was he supposed to do, turn his face into a pancake? Wait…What were pancakes again?

The two continued on their way through the city. It was odd, wherever they went, fire and death and destruction seemed to have beat them there.

"I guess the military has been trying to do something…" May muttered as she gazed at the charred remains of something that was once humanoid. But she couldn't tell if it was infected or not…

No, it had to be infected. They wouldn't blow up living people…would they?

Seth hopped on top of a car, and then lunged towards a pipe that ran off the side of a building. He climbed up it to the roof and gazed around. He couldn't see anything extraordinarily dangerous. But he was keeping on his toes.

One hour, two hours, three hours of nothing exciting, just walking through a burning city. There were a few horde attacks, but they didn't even touch May between her machete and the fury of the Hunter.

Then it went downhill.

A loud laugh sounded from somewhere, and once again, a Jockey introduced its crotch to May's head.

"OW! Not this again!" May yelled out as she pried at the hysterical zombie.

Seth shoved the infected off of her, but it lunged out at him. He got his head out of the way, but it clung onto his back and dug its claws in. Seth snarled and tried to shake it off, but the creature held on.

Seth began jumping around wildly, smashing into walls and cars, trying to get it off. The scene unfolding before May looked oddly like a rodeo.

Seth took a lunge forward and stopped short, his momentum tossing the impish creature to face plant into a car right next to where May stood. She lifted her machete and brought it down on the infected's neck, severing the head.

"Okay, the second time that's happened, and I'm starting to feel like I've been molested…" May muttered, popping her neck painfully.

Seth whimpered. He forgot what molested meant but if it was associated with those face humpers then it couldn't be good, at all.

Roaring and yelling could be heard, and a horde of zombies appeared from what seemed like nowhere. The scream of a Spitter could be heard, as well as the bellow of a Charger. The screech of a Hunter in the distance was what put Seth on edge the most.

May and Seth began to slice through the horde as they made a mad dash for their prey. When the Spitter fired a shot, Seth stepped in front of it, causing it to bounce hit him and just slide off his clothes pitifully.

The Charger bellowed and appeared from an alleyway, and, as the name implied, charged at the two. Seth pushed May out of the way, which made her fall on top of an infected, and the Charger collided with Seth instead.

There was a less than enjoyable crack as Seth was smashed into a wall, but he struggled against the Charger anyway. It glared at him for a second, and pieced together that it had helped the human. It grabbed him in its overly meaty hand and smashed him once into the ground, actually realigning Seth's spine again, then it would just toss him into the wall and cause his gray matter to come spewing out.

It _would _have done that, if May hadn't climbed up the back of the brute and sliced her machete through its own gray matter. The dented scalp of the infected went flying off and it fell forward, Seth barely getting enough time to get out from under the falling lummox.

The Spitter shot another wad of acid at the two, once again, Seth taking the blow, before he located the grotesque female infected on a roof top and went chasing after it.

The horde had either all been killed or fled. The Charger was dead and Seth was dealing with the Spitter…but wasn't there a-

A red blur appeared at the top of May's vision before quickly coming into focus. A Hunter in a red hoodie and jeans that were torn to just below the knee. Like Seth, its sleeves and pant legs were duct taped so no air could get into them.

But May wasn't focused on that. The Hunter was massive. He must've been a big guy when he wasn't infected. He must've nearly been seven feet when he stood up, and somewhere above the two-hundred pound mark.

Which means exactly how strong were his muscles to get him leaping across whole buildings?

It snarled and lunged forward, May barely stumbling out of the way. Her machete clipped its leg, leaving a small cut. May, however, couldn't keep her balance and was on the ground.

Her breath was knocked out of her as the weight of the huge hoodie landed on top of her. It snarled and lifted a clawed hand to slice her throat open.

May shoved against the hulking Hunter and kicked at his back, but it did nothing as the claws came down.

A loud screech filled the air as Seth tackled into the larger Hunter. Its claws sliced into his shoulder, but he wasn't fazed.

The two recovered quickly and were on their hands and feet. They snarled at each other and began pacing. The red hoodie made a quick lunge to the right, but Seth matched it. A lunge to the left, and Seth was still facing it.

It snarled and pounced forward, smashing Seth into the ground. Seth screeched and swiped his claws against the larger infected's arms, trying to make it hurt to move them, but the red hoodie was unfazed as he bit down onto Seth's own arm.

Seth could only rip at whatever he could reach: The face, the neck, the arms, or the back while the red Hunter used Seth's wrist as a chew toy.

Seth finally got his claws dug into the cheek of the red Hunter, causing massive pain as they ripped through the flesh.

May ran forward with her machete and reared back for the swing, but the red Hunter was faster and literally back-handed her, with enough force to send her sprawling to the ground.

Seth's rage boiled over and he dug his claws in under the red Hunter's arms. Combined with getting his feet up to kick into its stomach, he managed to toss it off.

The Hunter recovered quickly, just as Seth lunged forward. It raised onto a normal two-legged stance and literally grabbed Seth in midair.

Seth and May were both terrified by the zombie with it standing at full height. Seth's legs didn't even touch the ground as it held him.

Seth snarled and kicked out, again in the stomach. The larger Hunter doubled over and clutched its stomach.

Seth and May didn't even have to look at each other. They didn't want to face this thing, so they decided for a tactical retreat. Also known as running like hell away from it.

They went the direction away from where the Hunter was, and ran past zombies that had just been milling about, causing mass confusion in the horde. The appearance of the large Hunter chasing after them confirmed the possibility of a meal, so they joined in the chase.

Seth bounded off a wall and down an alleyway, May following close behind. A pile of corpses next to her didn't catch her attention until she noticed the shining gray shape of a gun.

She stopped short and didn't even think as she lunged for it. A pump shotgun. She could only pray it was loaded.

The horde of infected turned the corner, the Hunter missing from their ranks, Seth had realized his companion had abandoned his side and he came lunging back to her.

May held the gun up, waited for the first infected to get close, and pulled the trigger.

The shell exploded and the pellets blasted forward, obliterating the head of the first infected. May grinned with delight, pumped the gun, and fired again. The chest and stomach of the next zombie disappeared.

And then Seth appeared, bounding over May and smashing into the middle of the horde. Zombie guts and body parts began flying and by the time they were dead or had ran away, Seth was once again covered in blood. He huffed angrily as he looked himself over.

"But where's the Hunter?" May asked. A loud screech answered her question as the red hoodie landed behind them. They took off down the alley again.

"I'll turn around, shoot this thing, and it'll be out of shots." May muttered as they emerged on the other side of the alley. She decided to test that.

She spun around, pumped the gun, and pulled the trigger. And a click resounded.

"Of course."

The Hunter knocked her to the ground and moved quickly to gut her in normal Hunter fashion, but Seth was on the ball and lunged forward, knocking the two back into the alleyway.

The Hunter snarled angrily and hooked his claws into Seth's arms. Once again Seth came off the ground.

The Hunter grinned evilly, and spun around, tossing Seth back down the alleyway. He smashed into a pile of rotted wood crates and was buried under now splinted planks.

The large hoodie snarled and turned to face May.

"Piece of shit!" She yelled as she stabbed her machete into the Hunter's neck.

It gagged and fell to the ground, clutching its throat, before May stabbed the Hunter once in the head. It twitched, and then was still.

May ran over to the pile of wood and began tossing the remains of the crates aside. Seth burst out of the wood, clutching his head. Some blood was running down his forehead.

A small splatter of blood on the wall of the building confirmed that his head had hit the bricks.

He whimpered as he saw drops of red enter and quickly exit his vision.

"Okay…we can fix this." May muttered. She was fairly certain he didn't get a concussion just from scratching his head on some bricks. But she'd been wrong before.

The sign that signified a safe room pointed down the road to a distant red door. Blocked only by a few infected.

"Alright. Come on." May muttered, helping him to his feet. He stumbled forward, but got his footing, and the two moved as quickly as they could to the safe room. Any infected that got too close got a machete in them.

They threw the door open, ran into the room, and shut the door behind them.

May shoved a chair in front of the door and then lead Seth out into what appeared to be a living room. Another renovated house.

"Sit." May commanded him, pointing to a couch, and Seth did as commanded.

May had grabbed a new medical kit from the last safe house, and now she was using it, again on her infected companion.

"If you can't stop getting hurt like this, I'm going to just stop wasting these on you." May joked. But Seth whimpered, not catching the humor.

"Oh…I wasn't serious…sorry." She muttered. She got up to look for something to wash the cut out with. Old rag. Better than nothing.

She hoped desperately that this place had running water as well, but the answer was a no.

So May decided to pull a bottle of water out and opened it, wetting the rag with some of the somewhat precious drinking water.

She pushed Seth's hood back slowly, letting him cover his eyes, as she began to scrub the cut out with the water. Then she put on some of the antibacterial salve, and wrapped his head in a bandage, because the cut was too long for a normal band-aid.

"There. But I can't help you with the blood." She muttered as she gazed at Seth's jacket, now covered in crimson.

Seth whimpered as he pulled his hood back up.

"You're okay, right? You're not going to die on me."

He whimpered again and began rasping from his throat.

"Seth?" She asked, concerned. This rasping didn't sound good.

"Hhhhh…huuuuuu…huuuuurrrrrrt…" Seth moaned out.

May stared at him for a moment, eyes as wide as dinner-plates. "Pardon me?"

"Hhhhheeeee…heeeeeaaaad…huuuurrrt…"

"…You're…talking…" May muttered. "…You hit your head on a wall…and you start talking. Fuck this illogical zombie shit!" She yelled.

Seth whimpered and clutched his head. "Huuuuuuuuurrrrrt."

"Right...sorry…"

May sat down on the couch next to him and pulled her legs up to her chest. Trying to process this. "All that had to be done was throw you into a wall, and you can talk?"

Seth didn't respond. Since he was just now learning how to speak again, he probably didn't have the proper words to describe this.

"Can you remember any other words?"

Seth thought for a moment. "Nnn…nooooo."

"…Okay. So three words…that's a start."

So, to clarify. Day 1: Brother died, met stalker infected, and gave stalker infected a bath. Day 2. Stalker infected was now talking because he had a headache.

"Okay, you know what, you just lay down for a while, see if sleeping-."

A loud snore from the infected signaled he'd fallen asleep.

"-helps."

May began scavenging for supplies while her now speaking friend slept. She found what she could only have dreamed of. A gun. Fully loaded and ready to shoot.

It was an AK-47. Perhaps a bit of an aged weapon for the time. But if it fired a bullet, and that bullet killed a zombie, who was to complain?

She let Seth rest for a few hours before she woke him up.

"Come on, hoodie boy, time to go."

Seth whimpered and sat up. He rubbed his head, but beyond that acted like nothing abnormal had happened.

He got to his crouched position, but huffed. It didn't seem right, but it did at the same time. He pushed himself to two feet. Still it seemed off.

May watched with concern. How hard _had _he hit his head?

He decided on the crouched position and walked to the door, waiting for May.

"Seth, are you okay?" She asked, kneeling down so she was face to face with him.

He rumbled some sort of answer. What happened to the talking?

May could only guess that his brains were more scrambled than she thought. Oh joy.

She tossed the door open, and they stepped out into the sunlight.

A blast of wind whipped up and seemed to smack them right in the faces. Seth's hood went flying back and the light attacked his eyes. He screeched and hid them in his hands.

Again, May was caught off guard. The fourth word he had relearned, and it was:

"Fuck!"

**I have no excuse other than I need to stop typing at midnight. I'm making this go too quickly.**


	6. Chapter 6: Panic

**Reviews, follows, and favorites are appreciated folks. If I know that some people actually like this stuff it makes me want to create more of it.**

**Due to a set of circumstances, including being sick, needing to catch up on work and getting into the normal groove of spring and summer. (Mowing lawns, cleaning gutters. All that jazz.) I've had hardly any time to type. So I used up even more time to extend this a lot for you all.**

**That logic works if you don't think about it.**

May sliced through the chest of an infected with her machete, and then promptly pushed it to the ground. A horde had just attacked, but the two of them had defended themselves easily enough.

"So, have something to say?" May joked as she waved her machete around, trying to fling stuck gray matter and intestines off of it. Seth snarled angrily, he felt like his head was about to explode and he wasn't in a joking sort of mood.

"Damn…sorry I said anything."

She figured having his head get knocked into a wall would make him get pissy. Why she was antagonizing him, she did not know. It wasn't her best idea. Actually, why she was acting like that at all was strange. She had been shy and soft-spoken when people weren't cannibals. The apocalypse changed that in a week? What would happen after a month?

She decided she was going to learn how to be a sweetie again, not a sarcastic bitch like Kat was. She didn't want to be that. She never wanted to be close to that.

They continued on in relative silence. May was beginning to reflect on herself. A week ago, zombies tore her town apart, and killed her parents. She had built a shell and wanted to die…but Tyler kept her going.

And poor Leo, alone and afraid. While their social interaction had been limited before, whenever May and Leonard had spoken to each other in any form, it was good natured. They got along well enough. They found him crying, clutching a bloody crowbar with an infected version of his mom lying dead on the floor. His father had not been infected, but his internal organs had been decorating the room quite untastefully. They had to bring him along.

They were really the only people she had, and they were gone…No thanks to the now deceased bastard and bitch combo of Ian and Kat.

May had already tried to believe that they never existed. In the short twenty-four hours since their deaths, she tried to clear them out of her mind, despite her gathering of thoughts earlier. She tried to believe that she made up Tyler and Leonard, and even the two murderers. But she was lying to herself.

Her body began to shake and tears began to form in her eyes. But she stopped herself, wiping her eyes quickly. Not the time to start mourning again. Even then, she felt like shit for denying the existence of her brother and friend.

Seth gazed up at her and whimpered a bit. Why did she keep crying? Was it her brother? He'd been dead for a day now, why didn't she drop it? Being infected, he'd lost his ability to understand grief, at least at a level like this. If something died, it died. End of story.

Even if he did deal the killing blow on Tyler.

But when he reflected on it, the grieving of death, he seemed to recall times when he'd think of people he cared about that weren't around anymore, and he'd become saddened too. What the heck were these memories and when did they happen?

The sounds of infected yelling reached their ears. A horde charged from in front of them. May pulled out her gun and began firing. The infected began to receive holes in varying parts of their bodies, many falling before they reached the duo. When they got close, May pulled out her machete and sliced into the first one that got close. Seth lunged forward and tackled into the first two he could, stabbing his claws into their heads.

The fight was like any other. Nothing major. A bunch of infected with their insides now outside of their bodies. In fact, it seemed to be a common thing for hordes to come bearing down, and achieve nothing.

Seth snarled and stared at his hands. He hated having them covered in blood.

"I wonder if leaving the city would help. Less populated, so less infected. If only I could keep a car in good condition for five seconds."

Seth gazed at a car that had been flipped onto its roof and then smashed into a metal pancake. A pool of blood had formed under it. No need to guess what happened, but what caused it? Seth had seen the only possible culprit once before. He never wanted to see such horrid carnage like that again.

May wasn't comforted by the sight either. She knew the name of the Tank, but she didn't want to see one.

"I really want out of this city now."

"Ooooout." Seth rasped, copying her. He'd have to learn from imitation and memory.

May giggled at him. His discomfort with trying to speak again had lost its shock value. Now it was actually kind of cute.

Yes, she couldn't deny that the infected was somewhat cute…but it was cute like a cat! At least that's what she tried to pass it off as.

May began peering into car windows to see if there were keys left in a transmission. But it was coming up as a bit hopeless in an instant, mostly because a majority of the cars had been flipped onto their sides or tops, or smashed into buildings. Most likely thanks to whatever had turned that first one into scrap metal.

They continued down the road when the yell of a Smoker sounded out. The tongue shot out at May from atop a roof, but Seth sliced the appendage before it could reach her, and lunged forward for a pipe and began climbing to where the infected was.

"Must be the same one from earlier." May muttered to herself as the screams of pain began to emanate from somewhere unseen. May wondered what method of execution Seth had chosen, as he seemed to have quite a few. Decapitation, disembowelment, throat crushing, brain stabbing, and smashing skulls into pavement. He was a bit more creative than the other Hunters.

Maybe he was hanging it with its own tongue.

Seth returned a moment later, smiling triumphantly, despite a new coating of blood adorning his whole front side.

"D…deea…deeeeead." He rasped out, his smile widening a bit.

"Charming." She muttered as she stared at her half crimson companion.

"Out of curiosity, was it the same one?" May muttered as they continued on their way. A nod from Seth confirmed her suspicion. It was ballsy to attack her again when it knew she had an infected bodyguard and seemed to fear him like it had done.

May came to the realization that she was only calling Seth a 'he'. She still referred to the other infected as 'it', and quite easily too. Maybe it was only because Seth wasn't a bloodthirsty killer…at least not thirsty for her blood anyway.

Seth hopped on top of an overturned car and gazed out into the road. He saw one of these 'cars' in what appeared to be decent condition. He ran forward, with a now hopeful May following him to the vehicle.

May peered into the window. The glass was dirty and the car was exceptionally dark.

A hand suddenly smacked into the glass, causing her to jump back in fear as the infected began banging on the glass of the car.

Seth snarled at the common, waiting patiently for the metal and glass barrier to be opened so he could end it. May recollected herself and moved to the door, tossing it open. The common infected lunged out, got a set of Hunter claws in its head, and was still.

The car was indeed in decent condition. A set of keys sat on the driver's seat, and the engine was revealed to still live when the ignition turned.

"Thank God…" She muttered. Seth huffed in annoyance. Who was this God and why was she thanking him? Seth found it, not this other guy she kept thanking! Wait, he had an idea…if he found this God guy and…'got rid' of him, then he'd get all the praise!

Such was the mentality of an infected.

"And thank you too, Seth." She said, smiling at him. Seth felt better now and smiled smugly. That was more like it.

May threw open the back door for him and waited for him to enter, before closing it behind him.

Half a tank of gas. People were being a little stingy when it came to fuel. Oh, right...four dollars a gallon.

Well, at least the apocalypse made it so you didn't have to pay that much.

They left the city with a horde chasing them about ten minutes later, and they were on the highway.

"Now if I could only find out which way I'm going and where to go from here, we'll be set." May muttered as she weaved past a wrecked car.

Seth paid no attention. He was more concerned about being covered in blood again. He hated it. It was sticky and warm, and smelled both delicious and disgusting at the same time. His brain was getting screwed up. He just used to lick blood off before but now the thought of it made him retch.

"We could find a lake for you to jump into." May teased. But she expected some sort of growl from Seth. She peered into her mirror again, and he only seemed to be considering it for a second.

"I was joking." May quickly covered. But Seth seemed bent on finding a lake now. Anything to get the blood off.

And May was probably going to have to scrub him again.

They stopped at a gas station and scavenged what little gas was left, then went on their way for another few boring hours. They ate as they drove, Seth taking most of the meat, namely the Slim Jims. They needed to find more food.

"If this becomes one of those things where I have to eat birds and squirrels I'm going to go nuts."

Seth nearly spit up his recent lunch at the mention of birds. He didn't need to be reminded of the incident with the pigeon.

"Are you alright?"

Seth kept his food down and forced a fanged grin at May. "I wonder if there's a dentist who'd be willing to look at those for you…" She muttered. They were turning yellow, and the sharp points on every single tooth was a very discomforting sight.

After a while, the two were becoming stir crazy. May was tired of sitting at a wheel and Seth kept bouncing his legs. They just wanted out.

May had turned off the highway and now drove through a small town. Nothing noteworthy about it. It was desolate, not even a single car fire burned. The few infected left did nothing but scatter. Seth and May didn't know this, but they were scared of the loud noise. Loud noises meant death for them…

Something May and Seth would find out.

There weren't many bodies around. Maybe the rest of the infected joined the first wave in spreading the apocalypse. Maybe this was the lucky break they needed. Time to rest and collect supplies.

Seth saw it before May did and barked with happiness, something that he didn't do before at such sights. There was a lake hidden in the forest surrounding the town. It could barely be seen from the road.

"Oh jeez…" May muttered as she turned down a dirt road, which, unsurprisingly, led to the lake.

A few log cabins were scattered about. Probably rented for summer stays or something.

There were few infected in the town, there were less here in the woods. They could live here for a while.

May parked the car next to the cabin in the best condition and let Seth out. He stared at the lake for a moment.

"Don't even think about it." May said. "If you go too far out, guess who has to save you if you start drowning? You're heavier than you look you know."

Seth whimpered and stared at his hands. The blood had dried, and now began to just rub off. The infected retched again.

May didn't want to go through bathing him until she had everything set up. If there were infected in this cabin, she wanted to clear it out. Then get everything ready for their extended stay. Then she'd give her demanding infected a bath.

The cabin was untouched. Maybe it hadn't been rented or the tenets hadn't made it before the apocalypse.

May found towels and soaps and shampoos, all new. The shower, as predicted, wasn't working. So it was cleaning with the fishes for now.

She'd worry about scavenging later. She'd have to concede to her infected friend when she heard a loud splash.

May walked out with a towel, washrag, soap, and shampoo. Seth sat happily in the shallows of the lake, arms held over his head to shadow his eyes. His clothes were soaked, and now discarded on the shore.

"Did you jump in with your clothes on?"

Seth whimpered and nodded. He didn't like the heavy feeling they had, so he took them off.

"Well now you'll have to wait for them to dry." May muttered.

Seth thought for a moment. "…Sssst…stuuupid." He rasped, pointing at himself, with an embarrassed smile adorning his looks.

May smiled at him. "I'm not going to comment on that." She said. "But if you can talk now, why can't you bathe yourself?"

Seth stared at her for a second. "Liiiiiight." He rasped.

"Crap." May muttered, gazing up at the sun. "Wait a moment."

She ran back inside and began searching for something, anything to help.

A dusty, old baseball cap had been forgotten in a corner closet. She pulled it out and dusted it off.

"Here." She said, handing the cap to Seth.

He grabbed it and examined it from all sides, and then gazed at the underside.

He screeched with fear and dropped the cap, leaping literally five feet in the air and landing behind May, cowering.

A spider struggled from under the cap and swam clumsily through the water, it got to the shore and sat still. Seth snarled angrily at it and approached slowly. May only stopped watching when the infected's waist became visible. She had no wish to see that, at all.

Well…she was ninety-nine percent sure she had no wish to see that.

Seth swiped at the spider, which lunged forward to bite his hand. Seth yelped again and went back to hiding behind May.

He whimpered and buried his face against her leg.

"Really? You don't like spiders?" May asked. But she wasn't amused by this, just full of disbelief. The spider inched forward and Seth clung to her leg like a toddler to its mother, eyes squeezed tight and a whimper tearing from his throat. He was beginning to remember why contact with some other living thing could equal comfort.

May knew what it was like to have a phobia, so she decided to act as an arbiter between the arachnid and the infected.

She pulled out her machete and stabbed the spider on the tip, then swung the blade so the tiny corpse went flying into the middle of the lake. A fish jumped up and caught it before it even hit the water.

"There." May muttered, and Seth smiled with glee. May retrieved the now half soaked hat from the water, examined it for spiders and webs, and then placed it on Seth's head when it passed inspection.

Seth blinked a few times. It would do for the time, he supposed. "…Gooood." He muttered.

"Alright. Have at it." May muttered, handing him the soap and rag, setting the towel and shampoo, which she opened out of courtesy, on the shore.

She walked back into the cabin and let Seth piece together the bathing process from memory as he reentered the water. In the meantime, she checked the kitchen for food while trying to get the image of the nude boy out of her head. She couldn't decide if she was scarred or not.

Then there was that pesky one percent of uncertainty.

"He's an infected May. And you just met him anyway. Just let it go…" She muttered to herself.

The kitchen had nothing. It must've been the responsibility of the residents to feed themselves. Bummer.

So the local stores were going to get raided.

She heard a yelp come from outside and she dashed out to see a Hunter, covered in soap suds, rubbing at his eyes.

"Oh for fuck's sake." She muttered as she approached. "Okay, hands down."

Seth whimpered and dropped his hands from his eyes. They were mostly red before, but now there was hardly any place that wasn't shaded with being bloodshot. Soap suds clung to his eyelids, and he forced his eyes shut again as he tried to keep the soap out.

"You've got to be joking. You're hopeless." May said, trying to keep from laughing. "Fine. But I'm going to teach you how to do this."

She wet the rag in the water and ringed it out, before lifting it to his eyes and gently wiping away the soap.

He whimpered and wiped his eyes again, blinked a few times, and then smiled sheepishly.

"I might as well do the rest so you don't swallow the soap or anything." May sighed.

In mere moments Seth was letting out his strange, infected purrs as May scrubbed him. He had a look of bliss adorning his features.

"You really like this that much?" She asked as she soaked the rag again and rinsed him off. If Seth had remembered any sort of word to confirm that, he was too busy with the blissful scratching the rag provided.

May decided to turn devilish. If he was like a cat…they like to be scratched behind the ears.

She reached her hand up and began lightly scratching Seth behind the ear. He froze for a second, and then his 'purring' intensified.

"_I guess the infected really do act kind of like animals."_ May thought to herself. But she wasn't focused on that. She was entertained with Seth's reaction to the slightest provocation.

She reached her other hand under his chin and began scratching there. His tongue flopped out of his mouth and he was practically jelly at this point. He was barely able to sit up.

Then she wondered how pissed he'd be at her for doing this.

She lowered her hands and he recovered for a few seconds. He processed what just happened and shot a glare at her, snarling angrily.

He was _really _pissed at her for doing that. He wasn't some sort of pet!

"Sorry…I had to see how you'd respond to that!"

Seth huffed. If it weren't for her heavenly scrubbing he'd be a whole hell of a lot more pissed off with her.

She finished cleaned her demanding infected friend and dried him precariously. Making sure to avoid any unnecessary journeys south. Then she wrapped the towel around him, making sure it was secure so it wouldn't expose anything she didn't need to see.

Again, the pesky one percent danced in her head.

She snatched his clothes away before he could grab them. "I thought you wanted these to be dry." She said, raising a brow at him. He huffed and snatched at his t-shirt, which May had to scavenge up for him while guessing his size after the last bath.

He copied what she did with the rag, and rung the water out of the cloth. He threw that on, after he determined it wasn't damp enough to leave off of himself.

He did the same with his boxers, again, scavenged by May. She didn't like sitting in damp clothes but if he didn't care then she knew what to do the next time he jumped into the water with his clothes on. He then disappeared into the cabin.

May sighed and made her way for the cabin as well. But a clap of thunder in the distance sent a jolt up her spine. She looked up into the sky to see dark black clouds sweeping into the area.

This is what she meant when she said she understood phobias.

She rushed inside and slammed the door closed behind her. Seth was sitting at attention after hearing the thunder.

May sighed and hung the jacket and Seth's shorts in the closet, setting his sneakers in there as well and even hanging the socks over the rack.

She walked into what could be called the master bedroom, and set her bag, machete, and gun on the floor, before climbing onto the bed and sitting. She was tired, and her thoughts began to wander.

But she didn't want to think. Her mind would wander to Tyler and Leo, and her parents. Maybe she could just sleep…

Another thunder clap forced a yell out of May. She hated thunder and lightning. Just like Seth hated spiders.

The storm was forcing memories on her.

She remembered times when she was young, when a thunderstorm would hit. The thunder would shake the house and the lightning would flash in the sky. She'd begin crying uncontrollably until one of her parents, or even Tyler, came to her rescue. Her parents would hold her close, brushing her hair and rocking her back and forth, trying to keep her calm.

Tyler, being only a year older than her, would just hug her and tell her that he wouldn't let the lightning touch May. He'd knock it out before it could get to his sister. It kept her occupied, because she'd start giggling uncontrollably.

Even as a teenager, her mother would come to the rescue if a storm got so bad that May wasn't able to be comfortable. May built a tolerance, but every so often, a storm would hit that killed the power, shook the house, and was deafening with every thunder clap.

The memories of her family made tears form in her eyes. She couldn't and didn't bother to stop herself from crying. She choked on her sobs though, trying to keep quiet so Seth didn't come running.

The rain began to drench the place. Infected stumbled around in the rain like it didn't exist. If one slipped, it just got back up and continued on its way. Unless it smashed its skull open on pavement of course.

A clap of thunder sounded, and May curled up, pulling her knees against her chest. She just wanted her family back. Why did this have to happen?

She didn't care anymore. Her wails sounded throughout the cabin.

Seth peered in the doorway and watched. Something in him felt like it was about to fall apart. He hugged her before, just based on some memory and the want to get her to stay calm, and quiet.

But he wasn't feeling so selfish now. He was actually worried for her now.

A bolt of lightning charred the ground outside, and the thunder shook the house like a train just ran by. May's cries worsened. It was like she went from sixteen years old to four in just a few moments.

Seth whimpered and began to enter the room.

"No, don't…I'll be fine." May choked out suddenly. She didn't like looking weak, like she was useless. She especially hated worrying Seth like this. And she hated getting sympathy from someone she just met.

The infected whimpered, but disappeared from the doorway.

May wiped her eyes of the tears and sat.

"Well, Tyler, I'm making a huge mess of this." May muttered. "And the only help I've got is a zombie."

She was very sure her mental health was declining now. Talking to the dead. As if he could hear her.

Another clap of thunder sounded. May flinched, and decided to bury herself under the covers and hopefully sleep the storm away.

The cabin had two floors, the ground floor and an attic. After a few hours in the cabin, Seth had made his way up and sat in the attic, looking out at the world through a window. The storm still raged. Lighting flashed in the sky, thunder roared deafeningly.

But Seth ignored this, and just looked out at the small town, despite most of it being hidden by trees

He saw something, vaguely humanoid in shape, flying into the air, above even the trees. A slab of concrete smashed into it and sent it out of view.

The screams of the infected could be heard, drowning even the storm out. May pulled the covers off of her and got up. What was going on?

She walked out into the living room, bag and weapons once again on her person. She listened to the screams. There was something mortifying about them. What was causing them? There were no gunshots. And what if it, whatever it was, came here after it finished all those infected off?

The infected soon fell silent. The only noise was the occasional thunder-clap of the storm and the pattering of rain on the roof.

Seth came running into the room, snarling angrily.

"What's wrong?" May asked. But Seth didn't reply, he only began scratching at the closet door.

May pulled it open, and Seth retrieved his clothes and threw them on, despite them still being damp.

Then came the thumping. The slow, methodical thumping. Then the ground began to shake slightly.

Then the roar came. Not even the Charger could yell like that. The thumps quickened until it could be made out to be the creature running.

May raised her gun, but began to falter.

"This isn't what I think it is…" She muttered.

The cabin was in the best condition out of all of them, but one section of wall was covered in mold. And it looked rotted and weak.

In short, it was, indeed, rotted and weak.

The wall smashed apart easily as the infected burst through. It stood on legs that were too small to support it for more than ten seconds, and smashed its bloated fists into the ground. This guy must've used steroids, and the infection put the steroids on steroids. It was nothing but pure muscle. Its jaw seemed to be caught in the mass. Its tongue stuck uselessly out of its mouth.

It didn't even bother waiting, it ran forward, swinging its arm at May. She jumped back as the arm smashed into the wall she had stood in front of moments before.

Seth snarled and lunged at it, stabbing into its arm, but it tossed him like a rag doll into a glass table in the living room. A yelp and the sound of shattering glass sounded out.

The Tank snarled and turned back to May. She was back on her feet and began unloading bullets into its hulking frame,

It snarled angrily and swung at her again. It was going to force her into the bedroom, but she had other ideas. She ducked under the arm, and stumbled for the living room. The Tank swung again, missing only by an inch.

The infected realized that this wasn't one of his other playthings. It was quick. He'd have to go all out.

He roared loudly and ran forward, swinging an arm. May ducked under it and lost her balance, hitting the floor.

The Tank raised its arms to smash her into the ground, ignoring the bullets that now flew from May's gun as she began firing.

A screech sounded and Seth collided with the Tank. The small legs of the Tank were horrible at absorbing the shock and the bulky creature went down.

His back was covered in cuts, but he ignored them as the Tank ignored the bullets in its chest.

Seth got off the creature and helped May up.

They needn't say a thing as they ran for the door. Maybe they could get to the car before it got out.

But it was already on its feet again and came barreling out after them. It made a beeline for their car, planning to use it as a weapon against them.

"I'm not letting that thing turn our ride into a pancake!" May yelled. She had no idea how to reload this gun, and it had only a few bullets left. Not that there were other magazines with it. It was just the gun and the one round when she got it. She began firing anyway.

It snarled and turned to her, ignoring the car now for its main target. The Tank charged her. The bullets stopped, and May now had no chance against the thing, she could only run. She needed it to be distracted so she could start the car.

Seth lunged and landed on the back of the Tank. He screeched and dug his claws into its back. It yelled and began reaching around for the smaller infected. But his tiny legs prevented him from getting his arms back there without risking crushing its tiny limbs.

It snarled and reared onto its back legs, only for the few seconds Seth needed.

He leapt from the head to the shoulders, and stabbed one of its eyes out.

The massive infected roared and began swinging wildly. Sadly, it hit the car and smashed it into the cabin, causing the structure to collapse.

The Tank finally shook Seth off and growled angrily.

Seth gazed from the Tank to May. There was a word to tell her what to do now. What was it? Oh yeah.

"Run!" Seth rasped out, and kept the huge infected's attention, leading it away from May.

May hesitated. But it was probably best to not question Seth right now. She didn't want to be near this thing anymore.

She ran into the trees toward the road. Away from the infected. Seth waited until she was a good distance away, and lunged for the trees, but the Tank tackled into him and sent him into the ground.

Seth groaned and got back up, to find the beast standing over him.

Seth screeched angrily at the larger infected. The Tank raised an arm and swung.

May waited for Seth. She heard the thundering steps of the Tank die away. But her hooded friend was nowhere to be seen.

The storm had passed, and now all that was left was an overcast sky.

May wanted to call out for her friend. Yell at the top of her lungs so he could hear. But she didn't want to bring the wall of meat back either.

She sat on the side of the road and waited. Everything was silent. The birds were silent, the wind didn't blow, and even the insects seemed to have vacated the area.

Ten minutes and he didn't show himself. Should she go look for him?

Another ten minutes, and another ten. May fought the urge to shout out for him.

She snuck back down to the lake. The cabin was in ruin, but nothing was to be seen. She returned to the road and sat down. She didn't know whether to be angry over this or not.

He had become her friend in just a day, but he was gone already…It was only a day though.

But she could feel the burning in her eyes. The tears wanted to flow but she tried to refuse them. Why did all this shit have to happen?

She decided she was going to search for him.

She heard the distant scream of one last common infected in the town, and the roar of the Tank. It wouldn't have been her best idea.

She heard the rumble of the Tank's steps approaching, and hid in some bushes on the side of the road.

The Tank snarled and looked around. It thought it could sense a survivor. It was sure of it.

May watched and waited. Maybe it would leave.

The Tank turned its head toward the bushes. May mentally cursed.

"_Please make it leave, please make it leave." _She silently prayed.

It snarled and began to move closer.

"_Oh please God, no…" _The infected approached slowly, snarling.

A rumbling could be heard. Not like a Tank's footsteps, but…like an engine.

The Tank snarled and turned to look down the road. May did as well, and could barely see a vehicle through the bushes.

The Tank roared and began running for the vehicle. It would smash that thing into a pulp.

The vehicle's engine roared as it sped up. May stared in disbelief. What were they going to do, ram it?

She could see now that it was a pickup truck. An old blue Ford. She could make two figures out in the back. And…were those mini guns attached to the sides?

The truck screeched and turned to its side, the gun open fired on the Tank.

It snarled and tried to block the bullets with its arms, as if that would help.

The truck screeched again and turned around so its back faced the Tank, and the massive infected charged forward again, but now both guns open fired on it.

It roared and lunged forward for the truck, but it screeched forward out of its reach as the guns slowly turned the front of the Tank into mush.

It groaned and fell forward, a few more bullets being put into it to make sure it was dead.

The truck turned once more and stopped next to the corpse. The gunners hopped out of the truck bed and the driver got out to examine it.

"Not as fun when they don't have an army to help them." One of the gunners commented, kicking the arm of the infected. He was short and stocky, with short black hair, and gray eyes which saw through a pair of glasses.

May looked at the insignia adorning the door of the truck. It was all red, and consisted of an eagle in midflight, holding the arm of an infected in its talons.

"Looks like it got something before we got here though." The driver muttered, staring at the blood stained fists of the Tank. He was tall and thin, with long blond hair and blue eyes.

"Let's hope they were zombies, not survivors."

"Greg, we've been here three times now and there haven't been survivors. What makes you think there will be now?" The driver asked.

The supposed 'Greg' was an aged man, around sixty years old. His hair was a mix of black and gray, with a gray mustache as well. His eyes were a dark brown, and had a tired look to them.

"I told you this was the last run. But you never know, maybe the odd wanderer could be here."

May didn't want to risk getting found by these guys. If they were anything like those two guys from before, she didn't want to be around them.

She made to move, a twig broke under her foot, and the three men turned to the bushes.

"There's something in there." The driver muttered, pulling out a pistol and aiming it at a bush.

Greg pulled an assault rifle off his back and approached the bush slowly. May's hand went to her machete. She couldn't fight three men armed with guns. And if she ran they'd probably catch her.

Where was Seth? She didn't want to face this alone.

Greg pushed the branches of the bush aside and stared at May. "…You an infected?" He asked, a smirk playing at his features.

"…Not the last time I checked." May forced out, pushing herself back a bit.

Greg let out a laugh and held out his hand. "Alright, hiding in the bushes isn't gonna do ya any good."

May hesitated, but grabbed Greg's hand and found herself in the open in an instant.

"…I will never question you again, Greg." The stocky man muttered.

"That's a lie and you know it, Zack." The old man shot back.

"Oh you're right, I do know. But it's the thought that counts!"

"So…" Greg said, turning back to May. "I'm going to have to inquire a few things, if you don't mind me asking, young lady."

May eyed the tall man with his pistol warily. "Do I have a choice?"

"At this point, not so much. First, your name, please." Greg pressed.

"Full name or…?"

"Just your first name."

"Uh…well, my name's May." She muttered, still eyeing the gun warily

"Alright. I don't suppose I have to wonder why you were hiding in the bush…are you by yourself?"

May's eyes glistened with tears. "Uh…Well, I had a brother and friend of mine with me…But…"

"Oh…I didn't mean anything by that." Greg muttered. The tall man holstered his pistol.

"And…I did make a friend after that, but we got separated. I don't know where he is."

"How recently? Maybe we could find him for you."

"No…I don't think that would work..." She didn't want them to know she was friends with an infected. "Even if you found him alive, he might take shots at you anyway. He isn't, or wasn't, very trusting." She hated lying and doing so made her cringe, but it was this or actually get thrown into the looney house. Suddenly when facing that possible threat, she didn't want the straightjacket.

"Are you sure he would do that?" Greg pressed.

"Maybe, and besides, we got separated about a week ago."

"Well…I'm sorry to hear about your losses. I suppose our introductions are in order. The tall guy is Randall." Greg said, pointing to the long haired blond.

"The pudgy guy is Zack."

"Fuck you too Greg." Zack muttered.

"And, as he said, my name is Greg. We're some scouters for the Fighters of the Infection."

"The what?" May asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's just a group, a community if you will, of people who have managed to build a defense against the zombies. That's just it, a fortified community that the infected can't get into."

"I hope you just don't recruit on a whim. Seems like a bad idea." May muttered.

"If you're worried about the Walking Dead going on in our little town, we're trying to keep that from happening." Randall muttered, leaning on the truck.

"We tend to leave those who take a particular fascination in the destruction they can cause, or that the infected cause, to themselves." Zack elaborated.

"Thank you for explaining that, specs." Randall sarcastically spat.

"Ah, fuck you." Zack growled out.

"Just ignore them." Greg muttered, watching as the two began getting into a shouting match. "If you want a place to lay your head, you can come back with us."

May felt like she was being torn in two. She could be safe, and sleep and get enough food. And cry for the five months it would take to begin accepting Tyler was gone.

But what about Seth? Was he still out there? Was he alive?

She shouldn't have worried that much. She only knew him for a day. But he had saved her life. In fact, had he not been there, that Tank would probably have torn her in half and been off to destroy something else half an hour ago.

"I…I don't think I can. I need to find my friend and…we're going to figure out what we want to do."

Greg nodded. "That's your choice." He muttered. A concerned frown sat on his features. That was the way people got killed.

"But...maybe you could help me with one thing?"

"We can try."

May held up her empty gun. "Where are the bullets for this thing and how do I reload it?"

**I'm putting an end to the chapter with that. I'll work on the next one as soon as possible.**


	7. Chapter 7: Alone

**I think I'm getting sick again. No, wait. Yep, definitely sick. Well isn't that wonderful? Oh well, I won't let it take me down.**

**I say that and the very next day of typing that, I'm getting better. I don't even get myself.**

**And then I'm sick again…shoot me. ;-;**

**Okay, I'm going to stop typing that I keep getting sick and then better, maybe then I won't keep going through this.**

With no supplies to spare on them, the trio agreed to take May into town, where they raided the local stores for any supplies, an endeavor that took a few hours with hidden hordes of infected now overzealously attacking with no Tank to cause them trouble. May took only a small part of the loot, not that all the supplies together were a lot, but it made sense to her that she didn't get as much. They had a whole community to feed, she was the only person she had to feed now.

"You're certain you don't want to stay? We'll bring your friend if we find him." Greg pressed as he handed some AK magazines to May.

"Trust me, if you did find him, he has…certain qualities that you wouldn't like." May muttered as she examined her new provisions. A few cans of beans, some water, a med-kit, and the ammo she needed for her gun that they found in the last town. It was better than nothing. Zack had knowledge with the AK-47, and taught her some of the basics.

"Then why do you stick around with him?" Her 'instructor' asked, examining the machine guns in the back of the truck.

"Well, I said qualities _you_ wouldn't like. It doesn't mean I mind them. And besides…I owe him. He's saved my life a few times now."

"Well if you want to pay him off, all you have to do is-." Randall began.

"Shut your trap!" Zack and Greg yelled simultaneously. Randall did as he was told. "What was he going to say?" May questioned.

"All you have to do to pay him off is a romp or two in bed and be on your way. I'm sure he wouldn't object." Randall said, a perverted smile playing at his lips.

"Hell no I don't!" May yelled, backing a few inches away from the tall guy. There were a number of things that made that idea utterly frightening for May. For a start, she'd at least like the guy to take her on a few dates first. She'd only known Seth for a day and he'd disappeared anyhow. She wasn't sure how much of a problem she had with him being infected.

But again, she just met the guy…and he had barely the grasp of anything human as it was. How'd he remember how to get clothes off and on?

"You asked, princess." Randall muttered, pulling out a knife and using it to clean his nails. "Alright, Randall. Just for that, you get to scout ahead." Greg said, smiling innocently.

Randall grumbled something, but didn't bother arguing and walked off down the road. "Sorry about him. He's some sort of sex addict. He's tried to get into the pants of nearly every woman in the compound. Even the ones who still have living husbands." Greg said, examining the tree line for any infected.

"Why do you keep him around then? Or how has he not ended up dead from some guy getting pissed at him?" May asked, watching the tall figure disappear down the road.

"He's the best sniper we've got. He can usually pick off the stronger infected before they get close." Zack interjected before hopping into the driver's seat of the truck. "Sadly, that's the truth. We've tested the marksmanship of anyone who can pull the trigger on that gun but he always does better. If we had someone else, we'd send him off. He's made almost everyone pissed."

"I can imagine." May muttered. She threw her bag onto her back and shouldered her weapon. Time to head out again.

"Word of advice. Don't go west. There's a city out that way that is overflowing with zombies. You'd be torn apart." Greg informed her. May gazed up at the sky. The sun was on the second half of its journey. It must've just been past noon. "That way, got it." May said, looking the opposite direction.

"Yes ma'am. I can't promise there aren't other cities like that in that direction either, but they shouldn't be the very first one you run into."

"Thanks. For all this." May said, smiling a bit. Greg smiled back. "Take care of yourself. And I hope you find your friend." He hopped into the bed of the truck and stood ready at the machine gun. Zack and Greg waved at her before driving off down the road.

May watched them go. Her instincts told her to flag them back down, and let them take her to safety. Just so she didn't have to go through this. But her conscience fought back. She had to at least know if Seth was alive or not. If he wasn't then she screwed herself over. If he was, then she made the right choice.

She sighed and sat down. How would she find him?

She waited until the truck's engine had long died away, and even any gunshots that sounded out were unable to be heard. She sucked in a deep breath…

"**SETH!**" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Nearby birds took to the air out of fear of the noise. And the echo sounded for a moment before dying away.

She waited and looked around. Five minutes, ten minutes.

She knew looking for a Hunter would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Especially if he had gotten himself stuck, or he'd turned feral. The thought of Seth becoming a beast like that scared her. The nightmare flashed in her mind. She didn't want that to happen.

She yelled again and again for him until her throat was sore.

"Please find me…" She murmured. She couldn't help but tear up a bit at the thought of being left alone again. She began on her way.

A figure peered out from the bushes, and licked its lips. And then a second appeared, growling hungrily. A human. A distressed, possibly weak, delectable human. But something about the human put them off. They would bide their time, wait for the perfect moment. For now, to keep an eye on their prey.

An hour, two hours, three hours of walking. The sun was slowly approaching the western horizon. May had since turned east as Greg had recommended. The infected were luckily of little concern in these open roads with no civilization around them. She saw very few, and she didn't bother wasting bullets when one charged. One or two slices and she was on her way again.

She gazed up at the sky as the sun began to disappear behind the trees. It was getting very late. May didn't like the thought of being out in the open at night. If it wasn't infected that showed up, it might be a hungry animal.

There wasn't a car around for her to get into. Even if there was, if it was locked, she'd have to break a window, and then an infected or animal could get in any way. Where could she sleep?

She picked up her pace, hoping to come across something. But as the light of the sun began to fade, and the stars began to show themselves, May decided she could only do one thing. It was better than nothing.

She stared at an oak tree. It was large, and had thick, sturdy branches. It would have to do. She never really climbed trees as a kid, so her first few climbing attempts ended with her falling on her butt. However, she finally got in the tree, and sat in the small crook at the top.

"I hope I don't fall out." She muttered to herself. She didn't bother with taking the pack or her weapons off. Out here, she might have to start running at any moment.

A yawn forced its way out of her, and she began dozing. Finally, she fell asleep.

Now was the time! Attack it! Kill it! _Eat it!_ One of the silhouetted figure growled and glared up the tree, at the human. It was so simple. The human was asleep, it would be defenseless. The other creature let out a short snarl and shook its head. Now wasn't the time.

The other figure paid its companion no mind. It was starving. It lunged at the tree and dug its claws into the bark, causing the plant to shake a bit with the impact. May's eyes barely opened, and she gazed around. Her consciousness only lasted a few moments before she was asleep again. The creature grunted with effort as it pulled itself up the trunk of the tree, its comrade watching from below, until at last it was staring at May.

It took a sniff, trying to make heads or tails of a peculiar scent. She smelled kind of like an infected. It must've just been from fighting all their brethren. But it wouldn't matter. Soon she would smell of blood and guts.

It snarled angrily and pinned May's arms down, and sat on her stomach so she couldn't get up. May shot awake at the weight on her stomach, and found herself staring at the dark figure of a Hunter.

"_No!_" She yelled and struggled, trying to pull her arms free. The infected snarled and made a fatal error, it let go of one of her arms so it could start disemboweling her.

May balled her hand into a fist and swung as hard as she could against the Hunter's head. It yelped and clutched at its head, stumbling back into a branch. May kicked out with one of her legs, her foot connecting with the infected's chest and causing it to lose balance.

It landed on the ground below with a thud and a yelp, its comrade, also a Hunter, dodging out of the way. The attacker groaned and pushed itself up. They had lost their chance now, and would have to wait for another time for their meal.

The attacker snarled and lunged off into the trees, only appearing for a fraction of an instant in May's vision. And then the second one followed shortly, also for only an instant. "Oh god…Seth, where are you?" She muttered to herself.

She began sobbing. If more infected started to show up, she was as good as dead. But that wasn't only it. She wanted Seth there so she knew she wasn't alone. Someone to cling to if she absolutely felt the need, just so she could feel safe.

May got no more sleep that night.

The first light of morning began to appear in the sky. May was tired and on edge. She was also in a fairly pissed off mood due to her lack of sleep and fear of the Hunters returning.

Her stomach growled, and further announced its emptiness through a painful cramp. She groaned, but didn't reach for her food just yet. She began climbing down the tree, but that quickly turned into her landing, once again, on her rear.

"Ow…" She groaned, reaching a hand back and rubbing tentatively. It didn't hurt as much from five inches off the ground as it did from six feet.

She sighed and pulled her bag off her back. She pulled out a can of the beans and stabbed her machete into it. She only made a small cut in the can, and pulled back on the metal. She couldn't stuff her face on these, and she didn't want them spilling out into the bag.

She didn't eat nearly as much as her stomach demanded, but she had to ration. Otherwise it would be a good way to starve later.

With breakfast out of the way, which was actually about a mouthful of beans and a swig of water, she was back on the road and on her way. She needed to think about what she was going to do.

She decided that if she was going to make Seth find her, she'd have to give him a time limit before she decided he was never going to be seen by her again. She wanted to give him the rest of existence, but that wasn't an option.

A week, she'd give him a week. In that week, she also realized, she'd probably destroy her vocal chords by shouting for him, but it was worth it. She shouted out for him once at that moment, and waited. But nothing happened.

Should she even keep going any further? The further she went, the less he was likely to find her. He may have been on the opposite side of the city, going in the opposite direction. She dare not think that he was dead…But maybe he was already gone for good.

She sat down and buried her face in her hands. Why was this even so much of an issue? As she had told herself so many times before, she only knew him for a day. But he saved her more than once, and he seemed to like her. Not that she could tell, he hardly learned how to start talking before the Tank attacked.

She only hoped he could find her. She got back to her feet and gazed down the road. And she walked. The Hunters watched her from the trees. A low growl emanated from the attacker's throat. Maybe now? She wasn't even conscious the first time but she fought it off. But now there was no tree. Just open ground…and she seemed distracted. Just attack from the back, and claws in the spine. She'd be paralyzed and breakfast would be served.

Its companion gave a disapproving shake of the head. Wait, for the perfect moment. When she's distracted by something else entirely…then kill her without her realizing she was dead. They decided they would bide their time…however long that would be.

A week had passed since the attack in the tree, it was about nine o'clock at night. May had found herself in a small town, raiding the stores and killing the infected as usual. A number of car fires kept the streets lit decently, so she wasn't so worried about the dark.

She had forced herself to realize that her infected friend was dead or had gone the completely wrong direction. She would probably never see him again. May decided that she could learn to live with that. He only helped her for a day, and she had gotten through another week. Even when a Smoker attacked. Something broke the tongue and the Smoker didn't attack again.

May had thought about that. It was very odd. Was something scaring them off? If it was Seth then why didn't he show himself? It mustn't have been Seth then…So what was it? She had this feeling of dread in her. If it wasn't Seth keeping her from being killed by something, then her unseen guardian must want to kill her for itself.

The Hunters watched her from a rooftop. They were starving, and craved the flesh of that human. Birds and rodents were small, more of an effort to catch, and the meat they got wasn't worth picking out of their teeth! And they had to do that for a solid week, not to mention scaring off any infected that could incapacitate her. It was no fun hunting downed prey…It didn't struggle as much. It didn't scream as loud. Plus, injured prey didn't seem to feel much pain…the healthy ones screamed with every claw swipe.

They shuddered with anticipation. Their stomachs begged for a meal. They needed to kill that human, now. The original attacker's instincts were kicking into overdrive, throw caution to the wind. Kill it! _**NOW!**_

It turned to look at its partner, waiting for the approval. When a small group of commons charge from an alleyway directly at May, the other one gave the signal.

The Hunter lunged from the roof with a screech, poised directly for May, its partner following suit. She had just killed off the last common and only had enough time to turn around to see the infected tackling into her. She yelled out in surprise as she went down, and the Hunter tried not to waste time in clawing her. It dug its claws into her sides and snarled, before tearing them back out, taking some flesh with it, he was going to enjoy this.

May screamed out and punched for the Hunter's face, but it pulled back away from her fist, before going back down on her with its claws. Tears began flowing from May from the pain, and the thought that she was going to die, just like this. The way she feared: Alone and forgotten.

The Hunter dug its claws in again, and tore them out, and dug in again, and tore them out, each time getting a scream of pain and more tears out of May. The companion snarled and shoved in, digging his own claws into her, and letting them sit. The original attacker watched with anticipation.

The comrade let out a low growl, slowly curling its fingers so that its claws tore slowly through May's sides. She whimpered as the pain tore through her. There was something paralyzing about it, she could easily knock him off, but the passion he took in it…it scared her.

But her own instincts kicked in. A sudden kick to the stomach send the Hunter stumbling back. The first one screeched and lunged for her again, but the cold blade of the machete found its way into the Hunter's arm.

It yelped and stumbled back, clutching at the cut. May got to her feet and glared at her attackers. The Hunter she just sliced into was fairly large, with a dark green hooded jacket, and a pair torn sweatpants. As always, the sleeves and pant legs were taped.

She pulled out her gun and aimed it at the Hunter. It stared at her for a second, fear plastered on its face. The shots sounded out, the carcass fell limp to the ground, and it was silent for a moment.

The second Hunter screeched angrily and began to retreat, turning and running to the nearest building. It leapt towards a pole and climbed as fast as it could for the roof. May turned on a dime and fired a few shots off. One entered the Hunter's leg. It yelped as it lunged upwards, grabbing the side of the roof and hauling itself over.

May groaned as a wave of pain from her sides washed over her.. She reached her hand down to the wounds, just below her rib cage, and felt the warmth and stickiness. She didn't want to look at her hand, but she forced herself.

Her palm was covered in red. She tried not to faint at the sight, and quickly pulled her shirt off. She pulled the med kit out of her bag and began meticulously tending to the cuts. The blood had run from the cuts to the ground when she had been pinned, and she noticed the pool of crimson she had left. It wasn't exactly small, and the sight made her dizzy.

She sprayed the disinfectant spray on the cuts, causing a whimper of pain to force itself from her. She then wrapped the bandages, with difficulty, around her until the cuts weren't visible. She slowly pulled her shirt back on and stared at the roof where the Hunter had disappeared.

Where was Seth?

She turned down a road and returned to her store raiding.

**Just threw a little chapter together. I originally made it longer but I decided to cut it into bits. So here ya go! The next chapter is already in the works!**


	8. Chapter 8: Assaulted

**If you find any grammar mistakes in the last chapter, my apologies. I did some quick editing and the proofreading on the FanFiction website is shit. So neither I nor the website picked them up. But no use crying over spilled milk.**

**Also, this chapter was reuploaded after I had to fix a few mistakes I left in here. Likely nothing noticeable but it was bothering me.**

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The Hunter watched its target. The death of its companion was no reason for it to give up. It merely was a delay. The Hunter sniffed the air and tried not to shudder with delight. The smell of its prey's blood reached even the rooftops. A beckoning scent to finish the job so it could taste it.

A light bulb went off in its head. It gazed at its hands and found its palms and fingers coated in blood, already dried a little. It quickly began licking them clean, 'purring' with satisfaction at the taste. Its hands were soon clear of the crimson, to its dismay. It needed more, but now wasn't the time.

The infected could not take the pleasure in the kill like he tried to last time. That got its partner killed. It would have to be quick. The Hunter had devised ways of quick execution: Stab its hands into the prey's sides, grab some sort of organ, and pull. Or perhaps just slice the jugular open, let the prey bleed to death. The pleasure of its crying and screaming would remain.

If not that, smash the skull into the ground. That always worked.

The Hunter snarled. It was starving and here it was, waiting for a distraction. Plans for the attack were racing through its head. Attack from the back. The prey could do nothing if it was pinned on its stomach. As helpless as a bird without wings.

The coo of a pigeon made the Hunter's head snap to it. It lunged forward just as it took off, taking a swipe at it. It dodged out of the way and flew down, right past the prey.

May jumped back as a pigeon flew past her. She watched it fly off, and turned to face where it came from. She could see the silhouette of a humanoid figure on a roof. She didn't waste time, she pulled out her gun and aimed, but the infected disappeared before she could fire a shot.

She took more caution. She had to. The infected weren't all just mindless zombies, and being oblivious to her surroundings is what got her attacked. She rubbed at her side a bit, the pain was terrible. A safe room had not shown itself to May and it had been three hours since the attack. She was tired, in horrible pain, and starving to add on top of it. Could it get any worse?

Sadly, the answer to that was a yes.

She soon heard a rumbling. Not the rumbling of a Tank's footsteps, but a car engine. May gazed down the road and saw a pickup truck turn the corner. It wasn't in the same condition as the truck that the Fighters of the Infection had.

It was painted black, with a some odd designs all over it. The only thing she could make out was a skull. It also had tires that were too large for it. It was a wannabe monster truck. May decided it would be best to look for a place to hide. Especially when she heard a guy yell out and fire gunshots randomly into the air.

She ran behind a car that sat uselessly on the side of the road, and waited. The truck slowed to a halt just beside it. "You sure you saw somethin', Rick?" A burly, unintelligent voice groaned out.

"Yeah, I saw somethin'! Dunno what it was…kinda looked like a zombie!" An equally as unintelligent sounding, slightly higher pitched voice answered.

"Alright, migh' as well find it. Maybe it's just an infected and nothing else though." The burly voice growled as the truck creaked as a weight was taken off of it. "Maybe it's a _girl _infected." The other man suggested. Their laughs of evil delight made May shudder. She needed to get away from them. _Now!_

"I think it ran behind this car…" The higher pitched voice muttered. May wasn't going to wait to be found, she bolted out from behind the car, down the road where the truck just came from. "Oh, it's a normal girl, much more fun!" The big guy yelled out. The truck quickly rumbled to a start, screeched, and began bearing down on May. There was no point for them to hide their intentions. She knew what they wanted to do to her, and they knew that she knew that.

The truck screeched to a halt just in front of her, and the two men hopped out of it. One was overly large, his legs straining under his weight as he stood. His green t-shirt didn't even fit him. He had no hair and a rough give o'clock shadow, and three or four chins. His eyes were a dull grey and practically dead. The other was thin and short. His hair was black, and shaved just an inch from being bald. His teeth stuck out from his upper lip. His eyes were a dull green, not as unintelligent as his friend's, but the lack of IQ points was obvious.

And they both reeked of beer and sweat.

"Now now, where do ya think you're going little lady? It's rude to run off on people who just…want to make your acquaintance." The thin guy began, an unconvincingly friendly smile playing on his face.

"If you think I'm deaf or stupid, you're wrong you disgusting freak." May spat out, reaching for her gun. The two pulled out their own guns too, a shotgun for the big guy and two pistols for the small guy.

"You can't get us both, darlin'. Don't make this harder for yourself." The skinny guy muttered, his smile turning from the unconvincingly friendly to wicked.

The two couldn't have hoped for a better chance. A common infected leapt out of a window above May and tackled her into the ground. The big guy shoved it off of her before grabbing her and hoisting her up, holding her arms behind her back. She screamed and struggled against him, but his meaty fists were clenched around her wrists like a vice.

The infected was no real problem as the small guy put a bullet in its head. "Well, I have to thank that bastard. He helped us out quite a bit." He sneered. "As for you, young lady. I don't take kindly to having a gun pointed at me. Now we really have to punish you."

He slowly ran a hand down May's side, and she didn't waste time in responding with a kick in the stomach. She was aiming for lower but she was being held with her arms forced behind her back.

"Bitch!" The thin guy snarled, raising a fist at her. A screech sounded out at that moment. The thin guy didn't even turn around, he disappeared from May's view in a flash. He screamed as the Hunter's claws tore into his sides, but he fell silent as a set of fangs dug into his throat. There was a disgusting crack and he fell limp.

"Rick!" The big guy bellowed. He tossed May, literally, to the side, and pulled out his shotgun. He fired a shell at the Hunter, but it was already gone. It lunged onto a wall and ricocheted off towards the big man.

He reached a meaty fist out and grabbed the Hunter by its hoodie. It stared at the man for a moment, struggled against his grasp, only to find it to be useless, then an audible gulp sounded from it.

The man giggled stupidly, tossing his gun to the side and balling his other fist to pummel the Hunter. "Hey jackass!" May yelled. The man turned to look at her and found an AK-47 barrel pointed directly at her. "Ah, shit!" He muttered. He didn't even make a noise as a bullet found its way into his skull. He gurgled and toppled over. The Hunter yelped and fought out of his grasp and landed on the ground next to the body.

May aimed her gun at the Hunter. It was the same one, she could see the blood flowing from the wound on its leg. The infected turned to her, snarled, and dodged out of the way of the shot she fired. It lunged for a wall, leapt off of it and landed on top of her before she could get another shot off.

She yelled and struggled against him as he made to get his claws in. But May wasn't going to have it this time. She kicked her leg to the side, knocking his away as well. There was a yelp as the Hunter's legs split. It let out a whimper for a moment, before going into a screech of absolute pain. May took the time to get her legs out from under him, and kicked out. The Hunter yelped as he stumbled back. May went for her gun, and the Hunter ran once again, running down an alleyway and turning the corner.

It was silent for a moment, then a loud screech sounded out, followed by a yelp. A horrible crack and then it was silent again. Something just killed something. She soon found out what was killed as a corpse landed with a loud thud next to her. The sudden shock made her jump, but she realized it was dead and decided to examine it.

It was a Hunter, from the looks of it, but missing a vital body part known as the head. It had been messily decapitated, blood spewing out and messing the hood. The jacket was jet black, and the infected wore black khaki shorts. A bullet wound bled from its right leg. This was the same one she just fought off.

It obviously wasn't a very good Hunter. Very sloppy execution, and whatever just killed it obviously was a better fighter than it was. But what killed it?

She turned her gaze up to the roof, and saw a glimpse of a figure disappearing. She shook a bit and decided to get away from this place as quickly as possible. She turned to the black truck of her would have been rapists. Well, they weren't using it. But it probably smelled worse than shit.

She also decided that liberating the two goons of their weapons was a good idea. They didn't need them. It wasn't robbery if they were dead, and they tried to rape her anyway so she didn't feel bad about it. The infected began to approach at the scent of blood just as May hopped into the truck and drove off. She was tired of town hopping. She wanted to find a way to safety.

She glanced back in her rearview mirror as the horde tossed themselves on the bodies of the men and the Hunter. "Rest in peace motherfuckers…" She muttered maliciously under her breath, not noticing the silhouetted figure that followed her as quickly as it could across the rooftops.

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**Again, throwing together something quick for you people. I realized too late that separating May and Seth made quicksand and now I'm struggling to get out of it. I think I'm making headway though. Let's see what I can do next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9: Reunited

**It's getting hard to type. There's that brick wall. Let's see if I can break through it. (I won't be able to break through it.)**

**Beyond that, I must apologize for once again going silent for a while. Between new games catching me and reeling me in and normal life things, I haven't been typing much. My muse seems to be battling itself but I don't want to fail again.**

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May kicked the tire of the truck angrily. Once again, fuel was lacking in this world devastated by the infected. The truck had died outside a fairly large city. She could hear the screams of the infected, and even a few gunshots. And it was full of fires. Why did everything have to be on fire?

She shifted her gun across her shoulder uncomfortably. There probably wasn't a car in working condition to be found in there if people were fighting through hordes of zombies. Going on foot would probably be how it was for a while. She let her head hang for a moment, before forcing herself to deal with it, and approached the outer limits of the city.

The first few minutes in the city were fairly easy. Just unorganized groups of infected stumbling about, and if any of them noticed her, they got the machete going through them. May was being very stingy with the bullets. She had to be, they didn't grow on trees and her aim could be better.

An infected snuck out from behind an overturned car, and charged forward for her. Just as it went to tackle into her, a rock came flying from somewhere above, smashing into the infected's skull. May turned around to see a groaning infected stumble forward a few steps, and then fall forward, its hand falling uselessly on her foot. She kicked the hand away and looked up at the rooftops. Nothing.

Was it him? It couldn't be another infected, could it? If it was him, why didn't he show himself? She wasn't going to shoot him…on purpose. She had no idea why she was even worrying about it anymore.

She stopped thinking about what she had thought about a hundred times before and made her way down the street. Her unseen guardian still watching from a rooftop.

May jogged her way along the streets, machete going through any infected that got too close. She was tired, unbearably hot and sweaty, and tired of getting covered in blood. The bellow of a Charger sounded out as it stormed straight for her. She easily side stepped it, letting it run into a wall, and slashed at It with her machete until it dropped with a loud groan.

She sliced the blade through the infected's head, making sure it wouldn't get up on her, and stared down the street again. Where was she going anyway? Where was safety and where was certain death? It would've been nice to have a rooftop guide.

She followed the street to an intersection, and gazed down the three roads. Ah! The symbol for a safe house. She walked down the street, confirmed her suspicion with the lovely red arrow pointing her to go further, and began on her way.

May was beginning to regret not accepting the offer from Greg. Even if she had to be the target of that sex addict, at least there was a few sets of guns between her and death's door.

She gazed up at the rooftops. It was becoming instinct. If it wasn't to find Seth, it was to look for any infected preparing for an ambush.

She couldn't see anything hiding above, so she turned her focus back to the streets. It was hard to keep an eye on everything. She was getting a sense of paranoia. Like she was being watched from all sides. She was waiting for the infected to pour out of the buildings like a wave, just wash over her and wipe her out from anyone's memory all at once.

A rasping cough made May tense up, and look to the rooftops.

Almost on cue, the common infected began pouring out of their hiding spots, out of alleyways and from buildings. May considered fleeing, with the Smoker about, but it wasn't an option when she was quickly lassoed from behind.

May yelled out as her arms were pinned to her side. The infected pulled her off balance, and began dragging her to itself. The horde of infected piled on top of her just as the Smoker was staring her in the face.

She kicked and writhed and did everything she could for freedom. The zombies shoved, clawed, and bit at eachother trying to get at their meal. They even tried to shove the Smoker out of the way, risking breaking the tongue just to get to her.

A screech sounded out from on top of a building. All eyes went to a rooftop, where a figure was shadowed against the rising sun. It leapt from the building and landed in the midst of the horde. At first the common infected, and even the Smoker, paused with confusion. Then the first set of infected guts went flying, and there wasn't much to be confused about anymore.

The horde leapt upon their attacker, the Smoker letting its supposed cronies take all the hits. It wisely wrapped its overly extended, gross, constricting organ around May's throat to keep her from screaming and began dragging her away as the mystery enemy battled with the horde.

May gagged and fought against the infected. The tongue constricted like a python, and May began seeing spots. The Smoker dragged her into an alleyway, hoping to get away. But it wasn't long before a screech sounded out again. The infected turned its gaze, only to find a set of claws.

It screamed out as it was quickly executed. The tongue fell limp from around May, and the first thing she did was gasp for breath. There was a moment for her to breathe, and then her head snapped up, finding a face covered by a hood staring at her.

Blue jacket with gray sleeves and hood, cargo shorts, sneakers. And a set of scars in the right leg.

"Seth?" May muttered. The infected show his fanged grin to her.

May quickly found herself hugging the Hunter. She didn't know why. Maybe it was just because she had a friend with her again.

"What took you so long?" She demanded, quickly letting go of the infected. He thought about the word he wanted for a moment.

"L…L…Lo…Loooooost." He rasped. He was starting to sound a little better than when he first began talking. But his voice was still dominated by the raspy growl.

She smiled at him. "I figured…But was that you that attacked the other Hunter last night?"

He nodded. "Well it was me, so why did you keep hiding?" She asked.

"...B…baaaad….sm…smell…" He rasped. May furrowed her brow a bit. It must've been from those two bastards that tried to force themselves on her last night.

"You weren't sure it was me…because I smelled bad?" The infected nodded his head in response.

"You zombies are all kinds of weird." She muttered. Seth decided to take that as a joke and just grinned at her again.

"But if you ever abandon me and let me almost get eaten by zombies again, you better hope they actually do eat me." She threatened unconvincingly. Seth nodded in agreement. He wasn't going to lose her again.

After being on her own for a week, having the infected back was a comfort to her. She almost didn't think it was possible that she had a friend again.

But the sounds of another horde approaching cut the reunion short. They were gone by the time the infected arrived.

"You know…It's funny." May muttered as they approached the safe house. Seth turned his gaze to her.

"That was a lot like how we met. You fought to get a horde off of me, and a Smoker tried to sneak off with me." She shrugged a bit. "Do infected have any other battle plans besides throwing stuff at people until they die?"

Seth thought about that for a second. Wow. When she put it that way…

The look of realization on his face was more than an answer. She laughed a little as they approached the safe room.

With her infected friend at her side again, it felt a thousand times safer.

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**My only excuse is that splitting them up so early wasn't a good idea. It's 4:30 AM at the time of this chapter's completion, and I wanted to get something out here so people didn't start thinking I was dead.**

**Oh, by the way. I'm not dead!**


	10. Chapter 10: Bitten

**HA! I AM ALIIIIVE!**

**Oh dear, I'm talking again…**

**Anywho. Many of you may have noticed that the chapters I had posted are no longer there. That is because they absolutely sucked and would just cause more problems like when I split up May and Seth. As pointed out by one of the readers, I was horribly mistaken in some respects. In my defense, I was sick, lazy, and overall in a bad mood so I wanted to get stuff done then go curl up in a corner and die.**

**Now many of you may be wondering why I've been pretty silent. Besides the fact that it is the time of year where everything starts becoming hectic, I also have horrible allergies during the spring and summer. They just knock me out.**

**I decided to take a break from typing to let my sinuses recover, but then it got worse. I actually got sick! Just a cold…I think, but it's one of those colds that just make you want to sleep all day and kill anything that makes a peep within fifty feet of you. Headache, runny nose, chills, sneezing with the force of a battleship cannon…**

**Then pair that with my allergies. Not fun. My sinuses are beginning to recover, and hopefully with all the dander and pollen coming down to a minimum with fall and winter rolling in, I'll be able to recover. I say that, but fall and winter bring all the diseases out…There's no end to it…**

**I'm also toying with a lot of ideas right now. I'm trying to work on a new story, and I'm trying to find out a way to freshen up Hunted. Right now I feel like I'm posting the same stuff over and over in different chapters and I want to get out of that rut.**

**Oh, you all don't care. Oh…I see…Fine, on with the story…**

Seth was desperately hungry, made apparent when his stomach growled loudly and sent a pain through his torso. He whimpered and stared at May. A week without anything wasn't exactly good for him at this point.

"I'm not sure if beans would interest you…" May muttered, after spending five minutes trying to shove the Hunter off the couch. When that failed, she decided to see if she had anything in her bag. In the week she had travelled, she didn't get much food at all. A few snack bars, a bag of chips. She still had two cans of beans left, but she was having a hard time keeping herself from emptying those in one go. She wasn't getting nearly enough to eat.

She pulled the can out of her bag and held it out to the Hunter. It only took one sniff to get his reaction. The infected gagged and shoved the can away from him. He remembered that scent too well.

"Definitely not a fan." May muttered as she put the can away. "Alright, we'll try and find something for you…or you're going to have to go and…find something else when you get hungry."

Seth shuddered. He wasn't sure if he'd ever cleanse his mind of the incident with the pigeon and pack of dogs. Something so minor kept coming back to him, maybe to scream at him that he was weak willed and to get away from his human as quickly as possible before he went insane again.

"Are you alright?" May's voice brought Seth out of his stupor. He gazed up at her and nodded briefly. A lie in its own right, but she couldn't peg him for a shake of the head. "If you say so. Come on, we need to get moving." Seth decided it was best to not waste more time.

The two left the safe room and were greeted with a small wave of infected. As always, these small bands of idle infected were slain quickly. And as always, the trek started and usually consisted of an awkward silence between the two. The odd infected grabbed their attention for a moment, and then it was an awkward silence again.

May tried piecing Seth together. What was he? He was infected but besides the one time he ran off in some sort of panic, he hadn't done anything particularly odd, as far as she could tell. Did he remember life before he became infected? Did he know what he used to be?

She gazed at the infected. His face was expressionless. Eyes hidden, mouth forming an almost straight line. The gray skin helped to compliment the stony expression.

Perhaps he was trying to find out the answer himself. May couldn't help but be curious as to what was going on in his head. What thoughts were his, what thoughts were implanted by that damned virus? And what was it that fought off enough of the infection so he wasn't a bloodthirsty killer? He didn't attack her, he could understand English, even if he couldn't speak it all that well, and he seemed to hold a keen dislike for the other infected. The only problem was that they were learning to hate him back.

And then the big question: why was he helping her? What was so special about her that he was putting his life on the line for her within three weeks of meeting her? That Tank could have smashed him into a pulp, but he took the risk to get it away from her. Did she remind him of someone?

It was like a bolt of lightning shot through her body. Was he following her around because she looked like someone else? Was he protecting her just from a simple mistaken identity? She needed to know.

A small lump formed in her throat. She didn't like the thought of being alone. The infected had proven himself to be a valuable friend to have, and having him run off because of a simple mistake would be unbearable. He was someone to talk to, someone to keep her sane. But she needed an answer.

"Seth…" She began. The infected was still getting used to having a name, something to be identified by. He had just been an 'it' before then. A thing with no individuality. Just part of the horde. As such, it took him a moment to respond and draw him out of his thoughts. He realized he was being addressed and snapped his head up to look at his human.

May let out a sigh. "I just…I was wondering…why…why are you helping me?" The Hunter stopped in his tracks, and May crouched down to be eye level with him. The infected pondered it. Why did he help her? It wasn't just because her brother asked her to…though that might be a small part of it.

There was a reason. A reason he couldn't completely understand. It was from a time long ago. A time that she was linked to. Something about her…He didn't know what it was, but every part of him told her to stick around with her and keep her safe.

Seth was silent for a few moments, then just shrugged. "Keep…saaafe…" He rasped. May wasn't satisfied with the answer. "Do I…look like someone you used to know?" She asked.

Seth cocked his head to the side. Also an excellent question. He examined her closely for a while. There was definitely no mistaking her. He'd never seen a human with eyes like hers, or had he? Her eyes seemed to send his mind into turmoil. He decided that the short answer would be best until his memory and vocabulary repaired themselves. "No." He rasped with a shake of the head.

May sighed. That was a relief…or was it? He couldn't remember his name until she found his temps. What could he remember, if anything?

"One of these days, we're going to get your memory back and we're going to figure out everything there is to know about you." May muttered with a smile. The infected nodded in agreement. It'd be nice to know where all the flashbacks were coming from.

"Now to figure out how to do it…" May muttered as she began on her way. She was considering how well jumper cables would work on him.

Seth suddenly realized something. He had a way to identify himself, but this whole time, he referred to her as his human. He didn't know her name! He was up in a moment, lunging in front of her and planting himself in front of her, causing her to jump back. "Is something wrong?" She asked as she regained her composure.

"…N…Nnnnnn…Nnnnnaaaaame." He growled out, pointing at her. It took May a moment, then a light bulb went off in her head. "Crap, I never did introduce myself did I?" Seth shook his head at her.

"Well then, my name is May. It's nice to actually be formally introduced to you." She said, smiling. "M…Mmmmmaaaay." He rasped. He processed it for a second, then smiled at her. "Mmmaaay." He repeated, his smile going into a full grin. He liked her name. He found it to be pretty.

She couldn't hold back a giggle.

The pair continued on for a while, until they came to a roadblock. Part of one of the smaller buildings had been destroyed and now lay in a pile of steel beams and bricks in front of them. It looked completely unstable if they tried to climb over it, but it was smaller than the other blockades of destruction that littered the streets.

A body sat to the side, midsection torn open, and their gun broken apart. They had managed to stack up a few propane tanks, and even a crate of gunpowder. May didn't think she should question where the gunpowder came from.

The only way through was to get past the wall. Would a gunshot work? "Stand back, and you might want to cover your eyes." May muttered. The two took a number of steps back. Hopefully enough to keep from being incinerated. May raised her gun, aimed carefully, and fired a single shot.

It blasted into a propane tank. There was a short, sharp whistle, and then a wall of fire exploded, literally into view. The two turned their heads away until the heat and light disappeared. They turned back to see the wall blown apart…and to hear the screeching of zombies alerted to their presence.

The two instinctively broke into a sprint. They left the alleyway and turned down the only street that wasn't instantly blocked off. The horde flooded in from all sides, and managed to trap them. May fired some shots into the crowd of infected before she had to pull out the machete. The first zombie lunged for her and found its chest sliced open. The body fell on her and knocked her off balance. The next infected tackled her to the ground but impaled itself on the machete.

Seth found himself at the center of an infected dogpile once again. He sliced one and tossed it and another one jumped on him. One was gnawing lazily on his leg, and soon found its jaw being kicked off. One that tried to hold down his arms got impaled.

He kicked the pack off of him and leapt on the first one he saw. He hated fighting the infected but took a certain pleasure in it. It was a bittersweet feeling seeing the body parts of the zombies go flying.

May had gotten back to her feet, and was preoccupied with the horde in front of her. They charged in and fell to her machete like flies. She didn't notice the infected she thought she had sliced in two crawling commando style towards her.

The last infected fell, when May found the common grabbing on her leg. It pulled her leg from under her and forced her to the ground. It threw itself forward, grabbed her right arm, and bit down as hard as it could, and began shaking its head back and forth like a dog with a chew toy. May yelled and punched the zombie as hard as she could, again and again, but it wouldn't let go.

The infected whimpered as a pain shot through its back. It let go of May and tried to crawl away, but was lifted off the ground. The infected flailed hopelessly in the air as it tried to get away from its attacker. May stared at the enraged face of Seth in shock. It was like all feeling had gone from him. The Hunter had lifted the infected off of May and held it over his head with almost no effort put into it.

It would be safe to say that he was pissed.

He screeched and tossed the infected with all his strength. It landed with a loud thud and rolled for a few moments. It groaned and tried to get away again, but Seth didn't miss a beat and leapt forward. The infected screamed, then there was a sickening cracking and splattering, and the screams died down into gurgling whimpers, then stopped all together.

May had pushed herself to her feet, clutching at her arm. She was right handed, and that was the only hand she could use the machete in. The reason she knew this involved being forced to try to use the machete in a fight in her left hand, and almost slicing the head off of an extremely rude football player that was responsible for the death of her brother and friend.

Seth whimpered as he approached, staring at her arm. He couldn't see what the wound looked like under all the blood. May was trying to not panic. She had nothing to treat the arm, nothing to stop the bleeding, and now she was afraid that she could get infected. Being bitten might be all it takes to get infected.

She tried not to break down crying right then. She slumped to her knees and began to sob. She couldn't be an infected. She wouldn't stay sane like Seth had.

The Hunter sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her. He knew what she was afraid of. She didn't want to be one of them. She didn't want to be cursed with the horrible existence like he had been.

Suddenly, a rumbling could be heard. That of an engine. The two turned their gazes down the street to see a vehicle coming their way.

**I cannot promise that the next chapter won't take this long. Again: illness, busy time of the year, and lack of muse are all factors. I'm trying to pull through!**


	11. Chapter 11: Broken

**Here ya go. Note to the fans, just a short review helps keep me inclined to type so I know someone is actually reading the story. I don't know who is and who isn't a dedicated fan at this point.  
**

* * *

May wiped her face and began pushing Seth. "We've got to hide." She muttered. They hurried off the street and hid behind the only available cover: An old sedan flipped on its side. They huddled against it and tried to keep quiet.

The vehicle's rumbling slowed to an idle. "Quick, get out of here." She whispered to him. Seth whimpered and hesitated for a moment, but conceded and lunged down an alleyway. "There!" She heard a man's voice yell, and heard the gunshots zip past after her friend. Seth turned the corner unscathed, and was gone.

"Damn. Got to keep an eye out for that thing now." Another man muttered, his voice having a lazier tone. Two doors slammed and May could hear footsteps. She could barely see the shadow of a hooded figure crouched on a rooftop. Hopefully push wouldn't come to kill.

"You sure you saw a person? It might've just been that hoodie." The second voice asked again. "No, there were definitely two there, and a normal zombie would have just charged the truck. I know what I saw, I might be getting old but I'm not blind yet!"

"Well let's say there was a survivor. That Hunter is still alive. What makes you think the survivor is?" The second man asked again. There was a pause. "That's what I want to find out." The first responded.

May held her gun ready. The two turned the corner, and she had her weapon pointed at them, and two weapons pointed right back. For a moment anyways. "Well look who it is."

She almost dropped her gun. The faces of Greg and Zack stared down at her. Something seemed off about them. "What the hell happened to ya?" Zack asked. May stared at them for a second. "What the hell are you guys doing all the way out here?"

"Well let's leave it at you should be glad you didn't come back to our camp with us." Greg said, pulling a medical kit off of his back. "Some idiot didn't see a chink in the fence and the zombies just flooded in."

"And where's the sex addict?" May asked, noticing a lack of the tall skinny weirdo from her first meeting with these guys.

"Randall was one of the first ones to go. Tank got to him. Let's leave it at that." Zack replied, keeping his eyes peeled for any infected. May glanced up at the rooftop. Seth had disappeared from view. That wasn't reassuring, given the situation.

"Have you been bitten before?" Greg asked as he finished bandaging May up, his voice a bit dark for her liking. His expression had turned stern as well. "Uh…No…" She replied. Greg stood up and exchanged glances with Zack. "But I've had just about everything else those zombies could do to me happen." She was suddenly becoming fearful of what was happening.

"But if I'm not a zombie yet…I should be fine, right?" She persisted. Zack and Greg were beginning to look like a threat in the back of her head, the way they were staring at her. "We've seen a lot of people get bitten..." Zack started. May noticed Greg's hand uncomfortably close to a pistol holstered at his side. "…And none of them make it."

May gasped and tried to back away from them, pressed against the car. "No. I'll be fine. I swear!" She yelled out in panic. She can see a shadow peering down from a rooftop. "May, do you really think you'd be better off as one of those monsters instead of being dead?" Greg muttered. His eyes held a sadness in them.

"I'm not going to be infected! If I was going to be infected, I would have been by now!" May screamed out hysterically. Greg shook his head. "May…I don't want to see someone as young as you are turned into one of those…things."

"So you'd rather see someone as young as me with a hole in their head from some sort of mercy killing?!" May fired back, causing Greg to take a step back. "I'm not going to watch another person become infected. I'm done watching people turn into animals."

"Then get the hell out of here. If I'm going to change, you don't have to watch it happen. You don't get to decide when I die!" And with that, she had her gun pointed at Greg. "I haven't gone through the past week of nothing but hell to let some old man kill me thinking that it's for the best."

The gun being pulled out was perceived as some sort of signal to Seth. He leapt from the roof with a screech and pinned him to the pavement. Zack aimed his gun, but Seth pulled Greg up and held the man in front of him as a shield, claws threatening to pierce into the jugular at the slightest provocation.

"Seth, don't hurt him." May muttered, aiming her gun at Zack, who put his weapon down on the ground in defeat. Greg let out a dry chuckle. "So this is that friend of yours? And I thought cannibals were as insane as you could get in this apocalypse."

"So I'm insane now? I'm not the one threatening to shoot people that have been bitten by an infected." May shot out, spite in her voice. Greg said nothing else. "I'm not nice to people that try to harm me or my friends. So you two are going to give me the keys to your truck and we're going to pretend that this never happened."

"They're in the ignition…" Zack muttered. May got to her feet and walked to the truck. Just as Zack said, the keys sat in the ignition. She turned them and the truck roared to life. She maneuvered it to face back the way it had come from. May could see the look in the eyes of the two men. She revved the engine. Seth dropped Greg and leapt into the bed of the truck. May floored the pedal, and the truck went screeching down the street. Zack and Greg grabbed their weapons and fired, but there was nothing they could do. Seth and May were gone.

May had found out what was so off about Greg and Zack. Their eyes showed expression, but had been dead for the most part. They had gone over the edge. Not in their right minds at all.

May gazed in the mirror back at them. They just stared back before finally disappearing into the distance. Two victims of the apocalypse before they had even died.

* * *

**I decided that I wanted to bring back those two to expand a bit on character background, and I'm trying to build more on May having a stronger, less forgiving side than is let on. Probably not going to get the wanted results, but I'm okay with this nonetheless. I know it's a bit short, given the time between the two chapters, but I'm picking up the pieces of my screw up and I think we're back in full swing here.  
**


	12. Chapter 12: Home

**Merry early Christmas! You all get no Christmas chapter this year! I don't know if I can do a one for the year, or even at all! I don't know how long I'll be working on Hunted, so I don't know if it will be going to next Christmas, we'll see!**

**And Left 4 Dead doesn't seem all that cold and snowy in the games and comics. Might be due to the overabundance of car fires, but I don't know. I can assume Christmas wasn't close when the infection started. Sorry guys, fiction still should rely on canon information.**

**I'll start working on the next chapter, but it likely won't be out before Christmas. If it is, that's my Christmas present to you all. If it isn't, then this one is. Okay? Okay.**

The worst time for a car to run out of fuel is when you're in the middle of scenic nowhere. The middle of a flat expanse of road with farmland on both sides with only the remains of farmhouses, vehicles, or trees being the only scenery, in this case. It wasn't a good time for whichever unlucky people found themselves in such a situation.

May was particularly irritable as she pulled her stuff out of the truck and began leading the trek. She was being unusually aggressive and snappy, sometimes going off into some random fit of irritable complaining and cursing, mostly about the apocalypse or how much she hated zombies, or most other things that she found annoying at the time.

The reasoning for this was simple. It was _that _time of the month for May, and she usually went into episodes of anger until everything cleared up. At least she had found a few boxes of pads left in a store she and Seth had raided the other day, so she had one less thing to complain about.

This didn't mean she was any less scary to her infected companion. Seth was concerned for May, while simultaneously being slightly terrified of her. The irritability and slight smell of blood were more than enough to cause him to worry. But he had to resign himself to giving her a wide berth. She wasn't in the mood for being fussed over by her infected friend, and he didn't want her wrath directed at him.

The pair had been walking for a while now, the sun beating down on them. The calls of cicadas and the chirp of a bird or grasshopper every now and then were the only sounds to be heard. Any zombies they came across were dead or dying from heatstroke. Those that weren't offered no real threat to Seth or May.

"I hate these fucking zombies." May seethed as she sliced the head of an infected apart. "I hate this fucking heat, I hate not having enough food and water, I hate this God damned apocalypse..._I fucking hate everything!_" She nearly yelled, her teeth clenched together. "I should just shoot myself in the fucking head…I don't even know where I'm going. It's like I'm just walking around until something kills me."

Seth did nothing to reply, he was just trying to not look at her at all. Last time she caught his concerned look, she went off on him. The random verbal abuse was leaving him confused and upset. What did he do to deserve being yelled at?

So the two just walked on, ignoring each other almost completely as they made their trek to wherever the road took them. May calmed down for a time, but Seth didn't buy into her sudden return to relative normalcy. He had already learned that the anger came and went.

One thing the pair were noticing were piles of cow carcasses, rotting and fly covered, with the flesh completely torn off of their faces. Did this disease affect cows too?

After about an hour of non-stop walking, something appeared on the horizon. May shaded her eyes and tried to make out what it was, but she couldn't. After getting closer, she realized it was an old roadside diner, but there was something off about it. It looked fairly clean, with assorted cars and trucks that looked like they could actually function sitting out front. Then May realized that there were actually people there when she saw someone appear out front for a few moments before disappearing inside again. "Shit." She muttered, stopping herself short.

Seth risked walking up close to her and looked where she was looking. "Well we're going to have to get around them." May muttered. The surrounding grain or corn fields looked like they could be tall enough to sneak through. "Come on."

The two snuck into one of the crop fields on the side of the road opposite of the diner. "If they find us, you need to run as fast as you can, got it?" May said to Seth, turning to look at him. He whimpered, but nodded. He'd be a fool to say no given the multitude of circumstances.

Slowly, they crept closer to the encampment, until something stopped them short. Seth sniffed the air, and his jaw almost dropped. He was completely entranced by the scent, to the point that he didn't even register the drool that was running freely down his chin.

"Seth?" May muttered with some concern, waving her hand in front of his face. He snapped out of it and stared at her for a moment. May gave him a weird look until she caught a whiff of what he was smelling. May almost thought she was dreaming. The scent of cooking meat teased her nose. She was almost as entranced as Seth had been. "They…they have food…" May muttered. The two stared at the diner, then at each other. Their stomachs growled almost in unison.

May could barely make out a sign on the front of the diner. She moved so she could read it. "Rhonda's Diner. All non-zombies welcome." She read aloud. Seth whimpered and slouched. "Hey, it might be a trap anyway, we should just keep going…" May muttered. But their stomachs growled again, and Seth gave her a pleading look. If the hood wasn't blocking them, May was sure she would see puppy eyes.

"But you'll get killed." May muttered, but Seth let out a little whimper, followed by a "P…pleeeaaase?" May sighed, trying to keep a fit of irritability from boiling over. "Alright. Alright…" She muttered, gazing at him for a few moments. "But you're going to have to chew the claws off."

Seth stared at her for a second, but snarled and shook his head violently. "Listen, it's already bad enough that you're gray and have fangs. I may be able to pass off the skin condition, but you have to hide the teeth, and people will freak out when they realize you have claws. You'll have to lose the duct tape too."

Seth felt like she was asking him to change into a cow while he was at it. "Or you can wait for the time it will take me to finish my meal, sitting out here in the blistering heat with no shade or water until you die of heatstroke. I'd really rather you just lose the claws but it's your choice." When she put it like that, the claws seemed insignificant. "H…how…f-fiiiiight?" The infected asked in turn. He didn't know how to use the fire sticks or the sharp sticks either. Claws were all he had.

"I don't know, you can punch at whatever attacks us, I guess? It's sit in the middle of a crop field or lose the claws. I'd rather we not try to steal, because I don't feel like getting either of us killed today."

Seth whimpered and looked down at his claws. He let out a little huff, giving it a moment's thought…

May stepped out of the overly tall crops, followed shortly by Seth. His nails had been chewed to look normal, roughly, and he was forcing himself to stand as straight as possible. His jacket and shorts were uncomfortably loose, with the duct tape having to be abandoned in the field.

May always taken aback by how tall Seth actually was. "Remember, you're my extremely unfortunate cousin with a skin disease and some mental…issues. Don't say anything, and don't do anything until I tell you to. Got it?"

Seth muttered something completely incomprehensible. May stared at him for a second before the infected sent a grin her way. "Oh. Ha ha. Very funny." May muttered. At least she didn't have to explain what any of that stuff meant. The two made their way to the diner, Seth shuffling a little unevenly, while May helped to support him.

"Just in here, there you go…" May muttered as she pushed open the door, Seth shuffling inside. The patrons sent them a few odd glances, trying to figure out who these two were. One of them was visibly reaching for a weapon, thinking some insane chick had just led a zombie into the diner.

Seth suddenly began swiping at the air, babbling incoherently. "No, no don't do that, bud. There isn't anything there." May muttered, hoping people would at least lose interest. Seth made a sound of disappointment before moving to where May pushed him. It seemed to work, everyone went back to their meals at least.

"You're a better actor than I thought you would be." May whispered. Seth smirked slightly in response. They sat themselves at the very corner booth. "No tearing into the food like some animal. Be a bit slow and methodical about it. Don't make me have to feed you." She muttered as they sat down at a corner booth, away from most of the patrons.

"Well well, looks like we got a couple of new faces." A woman's voice said. The pair looked up to stare into the kindly face of an African American lady. Her smile was kind and sincere, and her dark brown eyes showed a certain kind of warmth that made them relax a bit. Her jet black hair was cut short and curled, and bobbed up and down when she walked.

She was short and plump, but she had a strong, proud stance and it could be told that this was a lady you didn't mess with. No wonder she could set up a diner during the apocalypse. She wore a waitress' apron on the front, and a long dress with intricate, colorful designs that made May a little dizzy.

"Yeah, we're uh…we're not from around here." May muttered. Seth had turned to staring at the ceiling, though there was obviously nothing there. "I'm May, and this is my cousin Seth." The infected turned when his name was announced and sent the lady a closed, crooked smile before going back to staring at the ceiling.

"Um…Is he okay?" The woman asked, following the gaze for a moment to make sure a spider wasn't about to jump down from the roof. "Oh. He's…uh…a bit _touched_. There were a few issues when he was born, and he fell down some stairs when he was little. He's lucky to be walking, really. Then he's got this skin disease that makes him sensitive to light and look gray. But you've never seen a better zombie killer." May partially lied. "Oh, the poor thing! And you both look so thin. You must be starved! Here, I'll give you a moment to look over the menu and then I'll be right back to take your order. Rhonda will make sure you two get fed, don't you worry." The woman said as she handed May the menu, before turning and walking off to tend to the other customers.

"Pork chops, grilled chicken breast, fried chicken…Fish and seafood for a limited time only. No beef…" May muttered. She could only guess that the assumption that cows were able to be infected was correct, and that water in general was avoided in case it was polluted with the infection. "So it's pork, chicken, or whatever they managed to scrounge up from whatever was nearby…Still better than beans." May muttered. Seth nodded at first, but quickly passed it off as swinging his head around. "Now don't do that, bud. You don't want to get dizzy before we eat." May muttered. Having a discussion while keeping up an act was a bit annoying for the two.

Rhonda came back with two glasses of a liquid May could never dream of seeing again. It was brown, fizzed at the top and smelled of sugar. "Is that…" May began. "I figured two young'uns would want some soda. Coca-Cola, to be specific." Rhonda replied.

May stared at it for a few moments. "I love this place…" She muttered, before grabbing the glass and chugging on the soda. Seth took a moment to find out how a glass worked before taking a cautious sip of the drink. He felt as though he could die from happiness from the taste, and it took everything he had to not follow May's example of chugging down the drink.

Rhonda let out a chuckle. "I figured you two might like that. We ain't got much left. I'm usually sparing to people when they ask for it, two glasses per visit. Now we're down to one per visit." May stopped herself short of gulping down the rest of the caffeinated beverage. "But this stuff keeps me sane during this time of the month…" May muttered.

It only took Rhonda a moment to figure out what May was talking about. "Caffeine or sugar?" She asked pointedly. May smirked, "Whichever one I get to first." The two shared a bit of a laugh while Seth set down his now empty glass. "Anyway, I'm doing too much chit-chattin'. What do you two want to eat?"

About fifteen minutes later, Rhonda walked out holding two platters. Fried pork chops with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob for May, and a pile of fried chicken for Seth. "That ain't real healthy." Rhonda muttered as Seth quickly sank his teeth into the chicken and began chewing to keep his teeth concealed. "He hates vegetables. Give them to him and they'll be all over the place in seconds. I get him to eat some once in a while, but it's mostly meat for him."

Rhonda left to say her goodbyes as the other patrons began filing out the door. May noticed that they were leaving ammunition, guns, or medical supplies behind. That must be how they pay. "So." Rhonda began, sitting down at their booth when the diner was void of all other life. "How does a pretty girl like you and her less than fortunate cousin end up out here in our little Hell away from Hell?" Rhonda asked, watching Seth carefully. The infected knew better than to show his teeth, and kept taking bites as quickly as he could and chewing slowly and methodically to lessen the risk.

"Well we've been travelling for a few weeks now. We don't really know where we're going, just kind of wandering really. I don't know how much more either of us can take. It's really hard on us when those special infected get involved. And it can be pretty slow going without a car. Ours just ran out a fuel a couple of miles back, actually." May muttered. She hated lying, but she would hate seeing Seth with a hole in his head a lot worse.

"And…your family?" Rhonda asked. May tensed up a bit, and she tried to fight back her tears. This was the only thing that wasn't a lie on her part. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said anything…I've lost some family too…" Rhonda muttered. "My husband was in the hospital for surgery. Gall bladder went bad on him. He was in recovery when the infected attacked and…and…" Rhonda began tearing up as well. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I share my personal life with my customers too much. I've made some damn good friends though, especially regulars."

"It's alright…I guess part of the healing process is talking about it…" May muttered. "Doesn't mean we like to do it." Seth was trying his hardest not to acknowledge anything, but he felt sorry for the two of them. He was just realizing the strength of the bonds these people had with their families. It was nothing like how the infected acted.

Rhonda gave May a sad look. "I guess it's bad no matter what happens. If you're infected, you're some monster with no way of thinking…" Seth cringed. "No feelings…" Another cringe. "…No soul."

May shot a quick glance at Seth. She couldn't say anything in return. If she lied and agreed with Rhonda, Seth might feel betrayed and go running. If she said anything against that, Rhonda would start thinking May was a bit loony herself.

"But you said you're looking for a place to stay, right?" Rhonda inquired, trying to get away from the solemn mood. "Tell you what, you're a nice girl and I can't think about what'd happen to ya a week from now with you who knows where. You might be interested to know most of them other customers are regulars."

"So people have set up refuges around here?" May asked, suddenly a bit more hopeful. "Yeah. We don't have too much in the way of zombies 'round here. The miles of road and sunlight can tell you why. They seem to like places where there was a bunch of civilization. We's got it pretty okay out here in the countryside. Doesn't mean we don't see zombies. Sometimes whole hordes come marching up the highway like a herd of cattle. But people 'round these parts got along when before we was fighting the zombies, and we're still getting along now. I doubt they'll mind a new face."

"Well…I'm not sure people could deal with my cousin very well. Do you know of someplace that's intact around here that we could stay at?" May was getting her hopes up. A place to stay for a while, in safety, with the promise of regular meals was too good to pass up. "Well now, funny you should ask. The old Jenkins farmhouse is vacant. It's pretty small, only had a man and woman living there before the infection started. But it's decent, or it was anyway. None of the big groups took it because it was too small." Rhonda explained.

"Where is it?" May practically begged. Rhonda smiled. "I guess that means ya wanna move into 'town'. Here, I can drive you two up there." She said.

"Oh thank you!" May exclaimed, unable to keep herself from hugging the lady. "My pleasure honey. I'd love to help you kids in any way I can. But you all finish up your lunches first." Seth and May did so, now a bit more rushed. May pulled her payment out of her bag. The shotgun one of her would be rapists from all those weeks ago had been using, as well as all the shells that she could find. "Would this cover the cost?" She asked sheepishly.

Rhonda took the gun and examined it. "Not sure if I can take a weapon off of you, hon." Rhonda said, not feeling right about stealing a line of defense from May. "Are you kidding? I have trouble with the machine gun. I'd break a bone trying to shoot this." With that statement, Rhonda took the gun and shells. "Glad to see you learn quickly." She said after returning from storing her new supplies away.

"I'm just wondering what I'm supposed to do for more supplies. No car, and I'm sure all the nearby places have been raided." May muttered hopelessly. "Well I've got some friends who I'm sure would have some fuel to spare to get you started if you took them to your car. Beyond that, there's a city about twenty miles west of here, one of them big ones that have a shopping mall around every corner. That place is filled with all sorts of stuff. I even have to go down there sometimes to find my stuff, and I haven't gone without yet."

"You would think places like those would be empty." May muttered as Rhonda began leading them out the door to an old, dark red, slightly beat up car from the nineties at least. "You kidding? Big cities like those, half the people get killed before the zombies even show up, and the other half are killing each other for their own little chunks of the city by the time the zombies get there." Rhonda muttered as the three of them entered the car.

It was only a ten minute drive to the farmhouse. Like Rhonda said, it was small and slightly worn down, but it was a place to stay. "Now I'll be showing up tomorrow around midday to help you get started. Your cousin will be okay by himself while you're gone, right?"

May glanced at Seth. "He'll be fine. He hardly breaks a thing." Rhonda nodded. "Alright then, have a good night you two."

Seth and May watched Rhonda drive back down the path, and turned to look at the house. "Well. Home sweet home."


	13. Chapter 13: Nightmare

**Well. I've been dead for a while. A little late to say Happy New Year, isn't it?**

**By the way, if you couldn't tell, work on my new story has begun. Actually, I have about three or four ideas floating around and some of them are typed up, though I don't know if I'll go through with any of them. I don't know how often Hunted will be updated.**

**Anywho! Story!**

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The house was, in essence, a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, and a laundry room. The front door led directly into the cramped, yet homely living room. The walls were painted navy blue that could be mistaken for black, with an accompanying blue carpet flooring that was just a shade lighter. The room housed a leather couch, an empty television stand, devoid of its "crown jewel", and a small dining table that only had room for two chairs. At the very back of the room, a door led to the kitchen, its walls and floors a conglomeration of black and white checkered tiles. It was as cramped as the living room and had even more furniture: a stove, a small refrigerator, a counter, and a sink. You couldn't take more than ten steps in the whole room.

Going to the very right of the dining room led to the bedroom. It contained only two end tables, each with a lamp on it, a medium sized dresser, and a bed without any sheets, which was just large enough for two people to sleep on comfortably. The walls were painted blue as well, but lighter in color than the living room, and just a simple wooden floor. Attached to the bedroom was the last, and smallest room in the house. The bathroom offered the least mobility. You walked in, and you had a bathtub in front of you, a toilet to your left, and a sink to your right.

May finished examining the house, devoid of both electricity and running water, and shrugged. "It's better than hiking to who knows where…" She muttered. Seth nodded in agreement, but he still didn't like it. He sensed that the two of them sharing such a small living space, with her being the way she was, was going to lead to a lot more angry outbursts from her. It would probably be best just to give her as much space as the house allowed.

"So we can go to sleep, or start working on fixing your brain." May muttered. Seth would take an affront to that, if it weren't for the fact that she was right. They let out a sigh in unison, and stared at each other for a few moments.

May practically launched herself for the bed while Seth didn't care where he slept, and curled up on the couch. Within minutes, they could've passed for corpses. They hardly moved or made a noise. The world around them was silent as they slipped away into unconsciousness…

_They're all dead._

She watched helplessly as the swarm of infected overtook their town. Tears streaming down her face when she realized her parents were gone…

_You're all on your own._

She could only run and leave her brother behind to be killed by those monsters…

_No one cares for you anymore._

Thousands of glowing eyes glared at her from all angles…

_And he…He's just waiting for you to slip up._

A hooded figure snarled…

_He'll make you like everyone else._

Its muscles tensed…

_And no one will know._

And it lunged forward…

May woke up crying, and yet it seemed that the nightmare didn't end. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed, feeling sorry for herself and wanting her family back. Many nights had been spent like this for the past three weeks, sometimes with the dreams seeming realistic, and yet other times they seemed completely surreal. If she got any sleep at all, she usually had a nightmare, but they never became easier to deal with and only reminded her of the pain.

And always that nagging feeling in the back of her head that Seth couldn't be trusted. She had forced it down time and again, but it always found a way to come back and haunt her. But Seth hadn't hurt her yet, so why would he?

She curled up into as much of a ball as she could, knees pulled up to her chest, and stared at the wall, tears still flowing. Everything was so confusing. In her dreams she seemed scared and helpless, a victim to the torturous ways of her subconscious mind. And yet when she awoke, she put up a veil, usually one of forced neutrality, and less commonly one of false happiness, usually just to keep Seth from worrying.

She lay there, pensive, thinking of what the apocalypse was doing to her.

She'd left two other humans for dead, all because they had cracked mentally…and she'd killed a person. He had threatened her well-being and possibly her life…but she pulled the trigger…she put the bullet in his head…

Her sobbing became louder, and her body seemed to freeze over. Was she some sort of monster? It was all in self-defense…right? That guy and his friend tried to rape her, and could have easily killed her afterwards…but what about Greg and Zack? They were on the brink of insanity, watching their whole community be destroyed, and she left them on their own in the middle of a zombie-filled city. They could very well be dead now because of what she did…but they were going to kill her, even though she had tried to calm them down.

So it was justified…right?

Coming to terms with the last few weeks was making her feel sick. She clutched her stomach and sobbed, trying to hold down her lunch from earlier, which was moving back up her throat without much resistance.

And then there was Seth. He selflessly threw his life on the line because he was protecting her, usually when she let incompetence get her overpowered by the infected. He put her in the highest regard, and would easily have himself killed first before he let her die, and he didn't even seem to have a reason! Or did he have a reason that he wanted to keep to himself, as if he could tell her anyway? But what was he to her? She saw him as a friend at this point, despite the protests that her survival instincts kept going on.

But he selflessly protected her more than once now, and what did she do for him? Get him out of a trap, get rid of a spider that he was absolutely terrified of, and feed him. All good things in their own right, but hardly a reason to die for her.

What scared her was the way he selflessly attacked anything that even thought of threatening her, even something as strong as a Tank. She asked herself a horrifying question…Would she do the same for him? Would she shove him out of the way to take the blow? Would she fight to keep him safe and alive if he was injured? Or would she just turn and run away, leaving Seth behind to his fate?

Just like she'd done with Tyler…

May burst out into completely uncontrollable sobs. It wasn't hard to see that she was going through a mental breakdown again. Seth came running in upon hearing May's distress, seeing her curled up in a ball with tears streaming down her face. He hopped onto the bed and whimpered, pleading her to calm down. The only thing he could think to do was hold her against him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a sitting position, resting her head against his chest and hoping just his presence would help to calm her.

"I'm a coward and a monster…" She croaked out between sobs. Seth whimpered helplessly. He couldn't do anything to help her when she had a breakdown. He couldn't reassure her, he didn't have the words. "I left my brother to get killed by zombies, I stole a truck from Zack and Greg and left them to die, and I've even killed a guy…I'm no better than one of those damned zombies…"

Seth cringed a little and whimpered at the last comment. He knew what he was…did she think of him the same way? But she quickly realized what she had said, and knew what he was thinking. "No…" She muttered, wiping her eyes and looking up at him. "Not you…You aren't one of them…"

Seth felt a little reassured. But he had always noticed May's slight discomfort with him. It was mostly automatic reactions if he made a sudden movement. But he noticed other signs of issue, whether it be just moving just a fraction of an inch away from him, or a watchful sideways glance. He knew she didn't mean to, and that she was right to do so. If he ever let rage or his feral instincts get too much of a hold on him, he didn't know what would happen to her…

May soon calmed down enough to hold back her sobs completely, wiping her eyes with her arm. She didn't want to pull away from Seth's embrace, it soothed her in a way that she didn't feel it should, and yet it made her feel safe.

"Thanks for putting up with me…" She muttered, wrapping her arms around the infected's torso and giving him a quick hug. It felt a little odd to be hugging him at all, but she didn't really mind it. The physical contact made her feel better. Seth rumbled in satisfaction as well, even if the returned hug was only for a fleeting moment. "I suppose I have some issues to work out…" May admitted.

Suddenly, a loud sound like an explosion had the two up in a moment. They ran to the front door and looked out. Smoke billowed into the air and the orange light of fire could be seen coming from the direction of the highway.

May and Seth were ready and running for the highway within moments. They moved as fast as they could to the source of the explosion.

"Oh my God…" May muttered.


	14. Chapter 14: Compromised

**Not much to say right now. Trying to find a direction to toss this story in. Still working on the new story but I'm a little unsure about it. No point in working on this stuff if no one will read it, is there? So for now Hunted is getting some attention.**

Rhonda's café was being attacked. Seth and May showed up and watched in terror as at least ten people shot into the building through busted windows. Part of the café had been blown up as well, with the remains of an exploded propane tank scattered about the place. The pair could barely make out the silhouette of Rhonda inside, hiding behind the counter and occasionally getting up to shoot out at the attackers.

"We've got to help her." May muttered. She turned to look at her infected companion but he was already gone. She turned back to the group of raiders and aimed her gun, but she froze, the idea of killing another human again making her sick. Her conscience was arguing with itself over what to do. _"They're going to kill Rhonda if you don't help stop them."_

"_But they're still humans…"_

"_They're humans that are going to kill Rhonda. And they'd kill Seth if they saw him, and you too if they got the chance."_

May sighed, and aimed her gun at the head of one of the men. Or she would be if she wasn't shaking so much. Another one of the men disappeared from her view into the brush around the café. The raiders noticed this as well, and another one of the men went to investigate. He noticed something, because he aimed his gun quickly and was just about to pull the trigger.

Three shots went off right then and there, and for a time, everything was silent.

"Jones? God damn it!" A woman yelled. "There's someone out in the fields! Find 'em!" A number of raiders split off from the group and began moving in May's direction. She tried to steady her breath and began to back away slowly. She turned to run, but found herself on the ground after colliding with something. "Going somewhere, missy?" A voice growled out. May looked up to see a rather muscular and imposing man standing over her, his body completely covered in tattoos. May tried to get to her feet, but another man kicked her in the side and pinned her with a foot pressed on her back.

"Well looky here, we got ourselves a little hero." Another man's voice said. May managed to turn her gaze to see four silhouettes standing over her. "Think the boss will want to talk to this one?" May groaned as more weight was pressed onto her back. She tried to push herself up but a kick in the stomach knocked the breath out of her and made her feel sick.

"Nah, the boss'll just kill her." Another voice rasped out. "I say we have some fun before we put a bullet in her head." There was a series of evil chuckles as May was pulled up from the ground. "Get off of me!" She screamed, throwing her fist out and punching one of the men in the face. He lost his grip on her and May made to run, but a leg kicked out and knocked her off her feet and onto her stomach.

"You're going to regret that, you little whore..." The tattooed man hissed in her ear as he flipped her around and pinned her arms above her head, two of the other men pinning her legs down. "I'm going to make you wish you were never born."

May spat in his face, causing his rage to boil over. "Bitch!" He yelled as he moved a hand and punched her in the face. A loud screech filled the air, and the three men were knocked off of May. The tattooed man yelled as he struggled with the figure attached to his arm, biting down with all his strength and desperately clinging on, a difficulty due to a lack of his favored weapons.

The man punched Seth in the gut and swung his arm around, sending the infected flying off and smashing into the ground. He was up in an instant, screeching and lunging for the raider again. A gunshot went off just in front of him, and Seth turned to see another one of the men pointing a shotgun at Seth, nose bleeding from where a fist had recently connected with it. Seth snarled and dodged out of the way as a second shot went off, lunging forward at the man and tackling him into the ground. But he wasn't able to do much else before another man tackled into Seth, taking the chance to punch him a few times in the gut.

Seth screeched and swung his arm around, punching the man's face since he had no claws. The man stumbled slightly, just enough for Seth to lunge in and bite down on the man's neck. The raider yelled as the infected's fangs began to crush his windpipe, but a punch in the head from the tattooed raider loosened Seth's grip enough for him to be pulled off and tossed away.

The other two men had May trapped. She had to keep them both in her sight, but she only had the one gun to keep them at bay. "Now you know how this is going to end, darlin'. You even try to pull that trigger and we'll blow your head apart." The man with the bloodied nose growled out.

"Not if I blow yours out first." That was the last thing the man heard before a gunshot rang out, and a hole formed where the man's head used to be. Rhonda pumped the shotgun and quickly shot the second man in the gut before he could pull the trigger. He let out a groan as he clutched at where his stomach used to be, before falling forward, motionless. May turned to look at Rhonda, a small number of bullet wounds in her arm, and pure anger painted on her face. "Thanks…" May muttered weakly.

A loud screech forced their attentions away from each other. Seth tried to block the punches as the tattooed man attacked relentlessly. A hit to the gut forced Seth to double over, then a punch to the head sent him to the ground. The man pulled out a pistol and tried to shoot the downed infected, but Seth recovered in time and dodged out of the way, before lunging for raider.

Seth gagged as the man caught him by the throat. He snarled and pried at the man's arm, in vain. Seth's snarl died to nothing as the man closed his grasp on Seth's throat enough to start choking the infected, before holding up the pistol to his head. "Say goodnight." The man muttered maliciously.

A gunshot rang out, and Seth fell to the ground, limp…

* * *

**Oh dear God! What have I done?! Why did I do this?! How could I break the sacred rule and do this?! I just broke a few people's hearts! I know it! I'm a horrible person! And I'm really overacting this...**

**Oh hey look, more story!**

* * *

The infected gasped for breath as he came to his senses, letting out a low whine as he regained his breath. The tattooed man groaned and fell forward, clutching at his stomach, where a slug had just gone through. "Goodnight." Rhonda muttered before another shot went off, blasting the man's skull apart.

Two other raiders by the café lay dead, and the last of them decided to flee the scene before anything else went wrong. After the man with half his throat missing had been put out of his misery, Rhonda turned to the two teens. May standing there with her head hung, as if she was prepared to be shot as well, with Seth hiding behind May's legs, peering out from behind like a child that had been caught doing something bad and was trying to hide from the punishment.

"You weren't telling the truth about his 'condition' I see." Rhonda muttered, examining her shotgun with an almost threatening interest. May nodded silently, not daring to say a word. "So what is he, your pet or somethin'?"

Seth took offense to that and let out a low growl, but found himself staring down the shotgun's barrel. He yelped and hid behind May's legs as best as he could. "No, he's not my pet…He's just…" She hesitated for a second. "He's just my friend…He's the only friend I've got now…and the only thing on this God-forsaken planet that seems to care for me." May muttered. She looked up to Rhonda's incredulous gaze.

"Nnnnn…Nnnnnnoooooot….baaaaaaad…" A voice rasped out, and Rhonda's head shot down to look at Seth with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "Sssseeeeeth…nnnooooot…baaaaad…" Rhonda stared at him for a few moments. The blood covered face didn't reassure her, though she knew this was from fighting the raiders. She turned her gaze to Seth's hand, which was clinging to May's leg as if looking for reassurance. The claws were gone, but they were already growing back. Rhonda turned around and deliberated with herself, and let out a sigh before turning back to May.

"If you were anyone else, or if you hadn't helped me, I'd already have blasted your heads in. I don't know what in the hell you two are supposed to be, but I suggest you get out of here before other people figure out what…_that_ is." Rhonda muttered darkly, accentuating the 'that' with a point at Seth. "I don't want to see you two 'round here again. Understand?"

May nodded silently, and turned to leave. "One last thing…" Rhonda said, causing May to turn back slightly. "You might try finding someplace where you two can't be bothered by anyone else. Maybe an island in the Keys, or maybe go to Hawaii…"

May nodded. "I'll think about that…Thanks…" She murmured, before she turned and began walking away. Seth stayed where he was for a second, staring at Rhonda. Rhonda turned and watched him carefully, raising her gun slightly again. Seth cocked his head to the side, let out a small whimper, and then turned and followed May.

Rhonda sighed, running a hand through her hair, before turning and moving toward her café. Time for her to pack up and move on as well…


	15. Chapter 15: Ambushed

**Sorry about the chapter fail to those who follow the story. Found a discrepancy that I needed to fix and I took the hard way of fixing it.**

**Remind me not to fix discrepancies at midnight.**

**I just realized that this story is already way over a year old…JESUS WHERE THE HELL DID THE TIME GO?!**

**I was supposed to be at like…chapter thirty by now, because those were totally realistic expectations.**

**Why didn't you guys say anything?!**

May rubbed her cheek gingerly, wincing at the pain. A very noticeable welt and bruise had formed on her cheek where the man had punched her. Seth frowned and whimpered as he watched her. He didn't react fast enough and she got hurt because of it. "Hey. It's not your fault." May muttered, placing a hand on his back. "I don't blame you, I'm the one that got us involved in the first place." Seth felt a little better…but that wasn't much, with his throat still throbbing from being nearly crushed, and a number of bruises forming all over his body from the big guy pummeling him.

He could feel May staring at him, but didn't turn to face her. "But I still don't get you. You're going to get yourself killed getting into fights like that, all just to protect me. What about me is so special to you?" Seth did turn to look at her for a second, and didn't make a sound. He just examined her. "…Ssssstill…nnnnooot…knnnooow…" He rasped, looking annoyed by how his own brain was beating him.

May sighed. "What does the world even want from us? You keep getting beaten to hell and back and I keep getting turned into a zombie chew toy, or almost a…a _toy_ for sick bastards two times now…It's like this whole thing is just trying to torture us." Seth listened to her and nodded slowly. "Nnnnnnooooot…liiiiiike…"

She gave him a small smile. "I don't like it either…So anyway, how do you feel about going on a permanent vacation?" May asked, her grin widening. Seth turned and looked at her, confused. "Hawaii or Florida Keys, Rhonda suggested. You've shown me that the infected have a particular dislike for water. Just have to clear off an island for ourselves and then it'll be bye-bye apocalypse!"

Seth tried to process it. Well, if the infected would eventually stop showing up, then it was the best idea he'd ever heard. He nodded his agreement, and May stood up. "Alright then…well then we just have to start heading south." She peered up into the sky for a moment, and noticed the sun was still rising. She turned her back to it, then turned left. "And that way would be south." She muttered. "Wanna go on the road or cross country?" She asked as she pulled her bag onto her back.

The hunter sighed. He'd much rather get in one of those metal things. He deliberated for a second. After what happened at the restaurant, staying hidden would probably be best. He pointed out into the overgrown fields. "Alright. If we die of thirst, I'm going to kill you." She added as an afterthought. Seth growled in a noticeably mocking tone, which got a soft smack in the back of the head. "Walk." May said, trying not to smile. Considering he had the intelligence of a toddler, he could still be entertaining.

An hour or two of walking in baking heat caused open farmland to finally yield to the shade of a forest. The two were overjoyed when they found a small stream. They didn't care about decency and kneeled down to the water, sticking their faces in and drinking greedily. They were covered in sweat and tired from the walk, and decided to take a small break.

"I'd take a bath, but it's too small and we're going to be walking again soon." May then ran her tongue along her teeth, and shuddered. "But brushing my teeth would be nice…" Seth didn't bother running his tongue over his teeth, he'd probably cut it anyway. May turned and looked at him. "We should probably find a way to brush your teeth too. I doubt you want them rotting out.."

Seth huffed and curled up. He liked his fangs being yellow, it made him look scarier. "Don't huff at me." May say pointedly, reaching into the creek and splashing water at him. Seth yelped and jumped into the air in surprise as he found his hood and hair drenched. He snarled and turned to May, who was too busy laughing at him to care. "Your reaction was priceless!" She managed to get out before going back to her guffawing. Seth glared at her before he tensed his muscles, lunging forward at her. He stopped short, enough to throw her off balance as surprise overtook her, and then he simply pushed his hand against her head, sending her into the creek with a small splash.

Seth growled out his own laugh before lunging onto a tree branch as May pulled herself from the creek. "Asshole! I deserved it, but still…Asshole!" She muttered as she examined her soaked clothes. She sighed and pulled her shirt off, wringing it out into the creek. She glanced up at the branch and noticed Seth looking at her with a very discomforting interest, causing a light flush to come into her cheeks. Nothing important was being shown to the world, but it was still a little disturbing. "Oh so now you're a pervert?" May asked as she pulled her soaked shirt back on, in the interest of hiding her body from his view.

Seth growled, either insulted by that remark or annoyed that the show was cut short. She was the one taking her shirt off in plain sight! He obliged her silent request, however, and turned around, staring at the tree trunk in disinterest. After a few moments, "You can look now!" came from below. Seth huffed and jumped down from the tree, and stared at May. "Come on." She muttered, and the two were off again.

Seth noticed that May was in a state of unease as they continued through the forest. The event at the creek helped distract her for a bit, and it seemed that since the fight had happened, she kept trying to distract herself. Seth knew it was because she had killed another human. She was having a hard time coping with it, especially when she had just had that break down a few hours earlier.

The hunter nudged against her leg. "What?" She asked weakly, not turning to look at him. Seth frowned a bit before nudging her again, a bit harder this time. "Stop Seth." She muttered, pushing him away from her with her leg. He huffed and knocked into her again. "Hey!" She yelled as she landed on her rear end with a thud. Seth lunged a distance away, grinning at her, as if daring her to come after him. He was more like a kid than an infected sometimes. "Seth, I know you're trying to keep my mind off of things, but it's not really helping…" She muttered weakly, pulling her knees up, resting her arms on them, and then resting her chin on her arms.

Seth approached and sat next to her, staring at her for a few moments. "What?" May asked bluntly, turning to return his gaze. "Nnnoooot…liiiiikee…Mmmaaay…ssssaaad." He rasped, frowning slightly. She gave him a small, bitter smile. "Yeah well, I've been sad since this whole thing started. It's just gotten a lot worse since the beginning." She muttered, turning and staring back out at the trees. Seth's frown became a little larger as he continued examining May. He then turned around and flopped backwards, getting a surprised squeak from May as he collided with her and sent her to the ground.

"What are you doing?!" May demanded, trying to push the infected off of her. She never agreed to be a pillow! "Mmaay…sssaaad. Nnnooot…mmooove." He rasped.

"Seth, I'm starting to get annoyed, and I think you'd prefer me being sad instead of angry with you." She threatened. The hunter considered it for a second…then decided that her side was too bony and uncomfortable for his head. He flipped over and shoved her onto her back, before flopping down again, resting his head on his arms and staring at nothingness.

"You're not going to move unless I hit you, aren't you?" May muttered as she tried, but once again failed, to push the heavier and stronger infected off of her. Words could not describe how embarrassed she was by this awkward position he had forced on them. The infected shrugged in response to her question and let out a fake yawn. He shifted where he was a little bit, and then shortly after began to snore lightly, still very obviously faking. "You're an ass." She said bluntly as she began shimmying out from under him

Seth was starting to enjoy this, and she was a comfortable pillow anyway. He sat back up, and grabbed her by the legs, dragging her back to where she was, before flopping back down, earning an 'oof' from May. "Don't make me punch you. You're going to hate me if I do it." Seth had decided that her threats were baseless and stuck his tongue out at her, before going back to resting. He felt a pain in his arm, but it wasn't enough to make him get up. He tapped his fingers on her side and turned to look at her, seeing a look of defeat on her face.

"Seth. Please just stop." May muttered unhappily. The hunter decided maybe it was a good time to stop his antics. They were obviously not working. He got up off of her and let her sit up, watching her as she stared out at the forest. "Do you know what boundaries are?" She asked bluntly, turning to shoot a glare at him. The infected pondered on it for a moment in mock effort, then shrugged, smiling at her.

She didn't return the smile though. "Well you should learn." She muttered before getting up and walking off. Seth looked after her for a little bit, crestfallen. He got up and slowly followed after her, staring at the ground. He made sure he kept a good distance between the two of them, in case she snapped.

He was afraid for her. Afraid she might do something drastic if she got any worse…something that might leave him alone in the apocalypse again, just another infected to be shot and killed. He couldn't let May hurt herself…

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a bit of rustling from the few dead leaves on the ground. He looked up and around him, to find May had disappeared. He began panicking and quickly sniffed the air, trying to catch her scent. He froze in place and growled deeply, scanning around him. He heard the sound of something running, and turned just in time to see the butt of a gun hit him in the head, making everything go black…


	16. Chapter 16: Imprisoned

Seth groaned as the world slowly materialized. He quickly noticed a throbbing pain near his right temple, but that was the least of his concerns right now. The lighting was dim, but he quickly noticed that he wasn't in the forest. Grass had seemingly transformed into concrete, and the trees had melded together to form concrete walls as well, their branches intertwining into a low stone ceiling.

"Well, good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He heard a man's voice say. He turned his gaze to the silhouette of a head peering through a set of bars. Seth snarled at him and tried to stand, but he found that he had no head room, and that a spell of dizziness took over anyway, causing him to fall back onto his side with a thud. "Aw, what a pity, can't get up to attack me. It's not like you could get me anyway. Good luck trying to get out at all. Sweet dreams, princess. You're in for a big day tomorrow."

With that, the man disappeared from the door, laughing sinisterly. Seth growled and managed to push himself onto all fours, steadying himself against a barred wall and letting his eyesight slowly adjust. He was in little more than a box, a crate used to hold animals in a time long forgotten. He peered out of the bars to see a number of cages and crates. It was what was within these crates, however, that disturbed him.

Each cage held an infected. He could see every type of infected except anything that wouldn't be stopped by metal bars, such as a Spitter, or a Tank. The behavior of the infected, however, was unlike how it usually was. There were 'normal' infected, in terms of behavior, screaming and growling like animals, gnawing and tugging on their bars. He saw one Charger bellowing angrily and struggling like a frenzied shark, its arm stuck between two bars of its cage.

But then he noticed infected with clothing ranging from torn scraps to nothing, covered in scars or open wounds. They were quiet, except for the occasional bout of vomiting that their disease forced on them, before they just continued to sit there in their own filth, defeated. He saw a Hunter lying curled up, clinging to a single piece of cloth which it held helplessly over its head while it whimpered pathetically. A Jockey sat absolutely still, just staring at a wall, sometimes twitching or moaning in remorseful agony.

Seth back himself into a corner at the sight, some of the more energetic infected screeching and clawing his way from behind their prisons, while the more scarred ones gave him a dejected look before turning back to the floor. What was he about to be tossed into?

* * *

May awoke with a start, instantly hating life as she felt a throbbing pain course through her head. She groaned and tried to reach a hand up to tend to her wound, but her arm wouldn't move. She looked down and saw that it had been tied firmly behind her back with her other arm. Her legs were each tied to the chair as well.

"What the hell is going on?!" She yelled loudly as she began struggling against her restraints. "What's going on is that I'm going to make you pay." A malice filled voice hissed.

May shivered and looked up and around, acknowledging her surroundings for the first time. It was some sort of basement, concrete surrounding her on all sides. Beyond that there was a toilet, a sink, and a tattered mattress. In the center of the room was a stairwell leading up to a barred metal door. It was a makeshift cell.

Finally, her eyes landed on a tall, masculine figure. His hair was short and a dark black. His dark brown eyes showed only hatred, and the smirk he wore seemed to gloat victoriously. His face was scarred with claw marks going from the top left to the bottom right. But without the scars that had left his face disfigured, he would look strong and stern. But his scars and demeanor left him looking little more than evil and aggressive.

"What the hell do you want with me?!" May demanded, struggling at the restraints despite the pain coursing through her body. "Oh don't act that way, cupcake, I know you're smarter than that. You know very well what I want, just think about it a bit."

May glared for a second. "You're the leader of the bandits that attacked Rhonda's restaurant." She muttered. The man smiled. "See? You're a smart little thing." She began struggling a little bit more. "And you know I helped her…" She muttered. She was starting to feel the panic set in now.

"I must say girl, for being practically torn in two by the infected, you've managed to keep your brain intact." He said, pacing around her. "That's what you think." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that? You're gonna have to speak up dear, my hearing isn't what it used to be. Gunfire does that to the ears." He hissed, walking in front of her and staring in the eye. "Well if you want your revenge, then why haven't you put a bullet in my head already?" She snapped.

"Oh, tsk tsk. Mind your temper, child. A bullet in the head isn't 'revenge'. I'd be doing you a favor, getting you out of the hell we have to live in. No, I have something much more devastating in mind." He growled at her. "Oh let me guess, raped by goons? I've already had people try to do that to me twice. And that's why some of your bastard thugs are missing their guts or heads." She spat at him.

The man's gaze hardened considerably, his brows furrowing as he wiped his face. "Oh yes, your little _pet_. Well my dear it just so happens that a creature like that is the perfect addition to my little business." May's eyes widened. "What are you going to do to Seth?!" She yelled, straining against her binds.

The man laughed again. "I knew he would be your weak spot. Well girly, we live in a world with no law, and none of the amenities that we used to love. People need entertainment nowadays. We as a species are driven…insane, without some kind of mental stimulation. What better stimulation than watching zombies tear each other apart?"

May's eyes widened and she struggled more. "Bastard! I'll kill you if you even try that!" She yelled. The man laughed. "Oh dear, well then I better look for alternatives. I mean…Hunters have a bit of vitality for an infected. They can take a bit of roughness, and he's not too banged up to not bring in a pretty penny _another_ way." He muttered passively. He had found her Achilles' Heel, and he was enjoying exploiting it for all its worth.

May stared at him in disgust. "You're sick." She muttered, feeling physically ill. "If you try to do anything to him, I'll blast your head apart!" She yelled suddenly. Tears were beginning to well in her eyes. She couldn't let anything happen to him. He was her friend, and the only thing she had in this hellacious world.

"Maybe I am sick, but a man has to make a living somehow in a lawless world." He muttered with a chuckle. "But I'm not without my gentlemanly ways. You and your…_pet_…get to share a room before his big debut tomorrow." He said with a dark smile. He snapped his fingers and through the door stepped a large, muscular man. "Throw her in the 'guest room', and get her pet too. But if either of them try anything, spill the zombie's guts." He said to the thug.

* * *

May grunted as she was tossed rather roughly through a door. The binds had thankfully been removed, leaving red marks on her wrists and ankles that she rubbed carefully, but she couldn't try anything with the barrel of a shotgun pressed against her back the entire walk here.

She curled up, pulled her knees to her chest and sat, staring at the floor. A few minutes later, she heard a small racket outside the door. "Stupid bastard! You're lucky I don't smash your head in!" She heard the thug yell. The door opened and a hooded figure was tossed in, hands bound behind his back, before the door slam closed and the lock turned.

"Oh Seth!" May cried as she moved quickly to help him up. The infected whimpered and pulled at his restraints. They were metal jail cuffs, unlike the ropes used to hold May. "Oh how do we get these off of you?" She muttered. Seth looked down at his jacket pocket and leaned on his side, a key sliding out. "Civil for a bunch of barbaric bastards." May muttered, seemingly beginning to choke on her words as she grabbed it and unlocked the cuffs.

Seth rubbed his wrists for a second, then looked at May. Tears were welling in her eyes and before he knew it her arms were around her. He was caught off guard, but he quickly wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry." She said, barely a whisper. "No matter what happens to us, I want you to know that I'm sorry for how I've acted…for how I've treated you."

He clutched her close. "Nooot…maaad." He rasped, holding her back to smile meekly at her. She managed a single chuckle through her now free flowing tears, before clutching to him again and burying her face into the crook of his neck, simply because it was the least bloody thing on him. She could feel the heat radiating off of him melt away her fears, if only for a time. Once more she felt peaceful and it was because of being close to him. But the realization of her attitude just hit her harder and a new wave of tears burst forth.

He held her close and ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm her. This closeness was causing a feeling he barely recognized, and one he doubted he'd felt before. But it was overshadowed by the pain of seeing this girl break down again. She was on the verge of mental breakdown and it was showing.

Seth took a second to look around the room. There was a small, single bed, an old washing basin, and a couple of water buckets. It was luxury as far as he had seen for uninfected.

He felt May's sobs slow down, and she pulled back, rubbing her eyes. "I'm sorry…I know, I'm a mess. Crying doesn't help anything." She muttered, and got to her feet. She examined the room as well, sighing.

"A tub and water? How nice of them." She muttered sarcastically. Seth stared at the tub then up at her. "Mmaaaay…geeeet…cleeeaaan…" He rasped, turning almost instantly to give her privacy. She chuckled and, almost automatically her arms were around him, hugging him from the back. Maybe it was the fear of tomorrow or the relief of the present but she found she just wanted to be close to him. Seth could feel the heat rise in his face, but almost as automatically as May's hug, his strange purr rose from his throat.

"I don't know. I feel like not giving them the satisfaction." She murmured. "They probably want both of us cleaned up for our executions. Makes the blood and guts easier to see." Seth's purring lessened, but May's arms strengthened their grip around his fairly thin frame and the purring began resonating loudly again. She was enjoying this too much but something in her stopped caring. She just wanted to be near this infected…no, this human. This crazy, caring human who just happened to be a bit diseased. She just wanted to be close and never let go, a single thing to cling to as the void slowly swallowed them both.

Her heart slowly began to pick up its pace, and her face flushed. Seth seemed to detect this and he turned to look at her. Her eyes met his and her face reddened even more. "Well if it's our last night together, or alive, or whatever…we should enjoy it…" She muttered. Seth was confused but the look on her face and the heat was beginning to cause a stir in him that he had not felt in what seemed a lifetime…

**Oh jeez what even is this for a return chapter? I don't even know. One chapter in one year. Go freaking figure.**

**Sorry I died there guys. Real life caught up with me and I got blindsided. I'll try to be more active I promise.**

**As for this chapter. Well, it kind of escalates quickly. I guess the gravity of the last night on Earth can cause odd feelings…**


End file.

Left 4 Dead, Hurt-Comfort, Romance