L4D2 Hunter x Male!Reader - Chapter 1

    Travelling this late at night in a zombie apocalypse probably wasn't the best idea, but with my supplies dwindling down to a mere half bottle of water and a handful of bullets, I wasn't going to last much longer. I had no choice. As long as I used stealth, watched where I was going, listened for booming footsteps, choking noises, and that disembodied, obnoxious crying, I would be fine. I have to be careful with how much water I drink, too. Who knows how long it will be before I find another source? It could be at my current destination, for all I know. Or it could be three days after I run out, ya know, when I'm dead or dying.
    Luckily, the store I was headed to was just at the end of this block. I slowly stood up to look over the roof of the pitifully abandoned car and down the street. There was no noise besides the sound of the wind blowing between the desolate buildings, carrying light debris such as paper and dust. It was hard to see, but the remaining lit street lamps didn't reflect any movement. I looked back to where I came from, and the limping undead I got past were already off the streets. They probably wandered back into alleyways or something. As long as they weren't there, I felt so much better.
    With my surroundings mapped in my head, I began making my way towards the establishment with a flickering, neon sign that used to say "open", but the "e" had long been burnt out. I made sure to stay close against the buildings, as well as crouch when there was too much open space, like the emptiness between each structure. The buzzing of the electric sign got louder and louder as I drew closer. It was such a nice sound, considering what supplies could await you here. Convenience stores always had essentials like canned food and jerky. Things like that could keep for years. Water lasted forever. Literally. But places like this in big cities also kept material things that could be found handy, like batteries, hand tools, and bags.
    I was finally at the door. The place looked almost untouched by looters. The virus must have hit this place hard. It was almost unreal. My [e/c] eyes widened with excitement, but I didn't let it get to my head. I had to stay vigilant on my surroundings if I wanted to stay alive. My shaky hand reached for the door handle and I pulled it very cautiously. This place was so run down, I couldn't risk the hinges squeaking or a loud scraping sound from it running across the ground. The glass door was wide enough for me to fit through, but I didn't want to get ahead of myself just yet. I only waited a few more moments, maybe three at the most, just listening to make sure nothing was inside. As luck would once again have it, there was nothing but the sound of my own heart beat in my ears.
    As silently as I could, I made my way into the store. To my left were a wall of broken refrigerators. No murmur of a machine running to keep its contents cold. No lights. Just dust covering the glass, but not so much that I couldn't see. At the first one I walked to, bottles of soda lined the shelves of the box. Those weren't going to get me anywhere energy wise. Plus they were most likely flat. The next fridge had energy drinks, and the two after that had beer. I was of age, and one might be nice to take the edge off before I go to sleep back at my shelter. It just wasn't worth the extra weight and bag space. I had my old, school backpack and pockets. That was it. I was here for food, water, and whatever ammunition I may or may not run across. So, stepping over to the last fridge, I finally found water. I pulled the bag off of my bag and opened it, then set it down and loaded up what I could. This was quite a ways out, but there seemed to have enough here for a few more trips. I only filled the bottom one-third of my bag just for the sake of weight. If I had to run, I needed to be light enough to do it.
    Next, I went down the isle just in front of the water fridge. Canned things sat on one side, so I grabbed a few canned meats and soups, bringing the bag to a little over half-full. Now I really needed some lighter things to take back. So, to the next isle I went. Thank god there was jerky here. There were only seven packs left, so I went ahead and grabbed them and filled up. I could save those for hard times, like if I had to go find a new shelter.
    Distant screeching I heard through the shattered windows told me it was getting time to go. I rushed up to the front of the store and behind the counter to snag a couple of lighters and the decently sized pocket knife from the display case. Now the high-pitched calls were closer, but still echoing softly against the buildings. A Hunter leading a Horde was no doubt heading this way. Panic set in, but I had time to get out. I quickly snatched up some bottles of pain pills and a small first aid kit, officially filling my bag. Feeling accomplished, yet still wary of the oncoming terror, I headed out and retraced my steps a little more quickly in the dark than I should have. The sound of my feet hitting the ground were a little louder than usual, but I needed to make it back. "It's okay, [y/n], you have time," I kept thinking to myself.
    About an hour of an anxiety attack later, and an intense sensation of someone following me too close for comfort, I had finally made it back to my base. It was a bank vault of all things, but there were impenetrable walls here. Eight inches of concrete plus a two inch layer of solid steel made this safe room ideal. Money had little to no value in this state of the world, so of course I threw out as much of it as I could to make room for myself and my things. I used the safe in the back left corner to store any food supplies I have, and the one on the right corner to store ammunition. Finding out how to reset the combinations wasn't very hard considering my father was a locksmith when he was still around. The door was set to unlock every six hours, so I could get out when I needed to. I reset the code to it, so whenever I go out, I can just close it and come back to open it when I need to. That door was heavy, though. If the common Infected were following me, and I was quite a bit ahead of them I'd have a chance to get in without harm; however, say a Witch, Hunter, or Jockey was on my tail... I might as well be Horde meat.
    Something had odd caught my eye when I returned, though. Right outside of the vault door sat exactly three unopened bottles of water and three cans of food. I certainly don't remember leaving those there. Maybe a looter came by and took some cash, then left something to even out the field? But lately things had been lying around in threes. Last week on the lobby counters at the entrance of the bank, I found three flowers. Two weeks ago, when I was heading out to my usual loot spot (which was just a little, hidden grocery store at the centre of the block), I found three books I considered grabbing when only the day before I had scavenged books from a book store down the street. The number could be insignificant for all I know, but it left me curious.
    By the time I was drawn from my thoughts, I had finished emptying my bag. Everything was neatly organised in my safe, so I was content with the current state of things. Now I could go ahead and formulate a plan for the next day. I had plenty of supplies to sit in and get my energy up, but I'd like to have ammunition to start clearing out the streets again. Sitting on the roof with a rifle, blowing off zombie heads from a safe distance was rather satisfying. The mall on the other side of the interstate in the centre of town had a decent stock, last time I was there. Hopefully it wasn't looted yet. I took a few big gulps of water from my bottle before laying down on my makeshift bed. It was just an old, queen size mattress that took forever to drag here thanks to the constant appearance of those damned creatures outside. I also covered it with a few blankets from the nearby thrift store so I wouldn't have to sleep on the bare, dirty surface. I was exhausted, so it didn't take too long before sleep pulled me in close, safe and sound.
    The morning rose, and so did I. Of course, I had no clue how early it was. Vaults tend to have exactly zero windows. I got back rather late. Late enough that the vault door was already unlocked when I returned, so I assume it was around 1:00 AM when I fell asleep. I went ahead and got up and scooted over towards the food vault to crack open a can of soup and scarf it down considering my stomach was practically roaring for food. It only took ten minutes for me to finish my meal. It was filling, but maybe one day I can figure out how to warm these up without needing a fire. I'd love to use the microwave in the bank's break room, but those things beep boisterously. Even if I caught it before its finishing beeps, the roar of the kitchen hardware would attract anything and everything nearby.
    I set the empty can aside and stood up to stretch. A yawn fell past my lips, but I wasn't the least bit tired from how long I slept, I'm sure I'm about to listen to the--
    *Beep*
    *Click, click*
    "I'll be damned."
    Well, now that the door was unlocked it was time to get ready. I had ten minutes to get out before the door locked up again if I wanted to get that ammunition. I pulled on my shoes and securely tied them, then grabbed my backpack, threw my water bottle in there with my hand gun, slipped my nifty, new pocket knife I looted from last night's gold mine into my pocket, and finally headed out. I left the door just a little askew to check the street and make sure the coast was clear. Once that was completed, I shut the vault and exited the building.
    A small jog wasn't too hard to keep up with. Stamina was quickly built up after everything went to shit. It also seemed the Infected didn't take to wandering out in the daylight very often, so I didn't have very much to worry about. Visibility was to its fullest thanks to the sun. No rain clouds were out, but it was in the middle of storm season. This weather could change very quickly, and that would mean sound cover and infected beings everywhere. I slowed down to a walk to make my way up the side of the interstate, looking around as I ascended the ramp because I really could not shake the feeling that I was being followed. No matter how much I checked behind me, to the sides, on the ground, and towards the sky, there was not a single animal, person, or undead in sight.
    As soon as I reached the top of the ramp, I broke into a sprint across the interstate. It was wide open and the walking corpses were scattered throughout the concrete plains. I thought I even saw one of those bulky, tall infected creatures in the distance too, which sent a shiver down my spine. I made it across the first four lanes, the median, and finally through the other four lanes and past some abandoned vehicles on the road. Some of the zombies seemed to start drifting my way, but most seemed disinterested during bright daylight. It seemed to suck the energy right out of them.
    Within moments, I was down the other ramp and officially on the other side of town. A fence jump later, and I was in the mall parking lot.
    "One last sprint, [y/n]," I told myself. Being out in the open wouldn't do me any bit of good, but at least there were a few cars incase I needed emergency cover. I took off as hard as I could. The remaining distance was the length of a football field, but I could do it. This was nothing compared to the first few months after the outbreak. As I hopped up onto the sidewalk, I slowed my pace, stopping just before I'd end up throwing myself against the glass doors. Nothing was in sight, so I loitered there for a few moments to catch my breath and get my energy back up. While I rested, I pulled the pocketknife out to take a closer look at it. I pulled the blade out, but there was more than just a fuller blade. Another pull revealed a small pair of scissors, another revealed a smaller, thinner blade, another was a screwdriver, then a bottle-opener, and finally a serated blade. This was going to come in very handy.
    Seeing as my breathing was back to normal, I pocketed the tool and opened the door to peek inside. Infected bodies with heads that either had chunks missing, a few bullet holes, or were completely obliterated told me that someone else had been through here. Hopefully it was the nearby survivor group's scavengers and not a travelling group of looters. They kill on the spot for supplies. I decided to enter the building since this was the second floor. The gun shop was only on the other side, and this place had clearly been cleaned out. I walked at my own pace, ignoring the smell of rotting flesh in favour of the establishment's remaining smell. It brought a little bit of nostalgia to play through my head. My family and I would come here almost every weekend when I was a kid. Sometimes Mom wouldn't wanna go, so Dad and I would go grab a pizza here just because it was our favourite pizza in town.
    Getting lost in my thoughts and memories seemed to make the time pass faster. I was already at the front door of my mission today. Eagerly entering the store, I went straight for the bullets. I had a hand gun in my bag, then a rifle and a shotgun at my base. That's all the firepower I needed. It seemed looters or scavengers were definitely here seeing as a lot of the AK bullets and shotgun shells were gone, but they weren't here now. So what was left was fair game. I hopped over the counter and set my bag on top of the glass case and started loading up bullets for my 5mm hand gun. Then I moved left a few feet and took the last few boxes of shotgun bullets, as well as plenty of ammunition for my rifle. That was all I needed. Mission complete with my bag still having plenty of room for whatever supplies I may find on my way back.
    By the time I made it back to the door, I heard a shout followed by several gunshots.
    "Tank!"
    "There's two of them!"
    Usually in situations like this, I would be running so far away from here as fast as I could, but those shouts were familiar. Tanks wouldn't give me enough time to settle with a shotgun. I'm not very fast at loading those things. Plus, I've only ever seen one before. From what I saw, it was very difficult to kill. I could use my handgun, but that would make more noise and attract more of the infected than damage that thing.
    By the time I had made up my mind to grab the grenades from behind the counter, the gunshots ceased. No time, now. Without hesitation, I skipped grabbing anything else and made a dash into the large hallway, towards the commons area at the crossway between two main hallways. I made a lot of noise running, but I didn't care. If they were who I was thinking of, it was worth it. As soon as I rounded the corner... my face dropped. It wasn't the scavengers for the survivors of the west sector of town. Were they looters? They had to be. I kept a pokerface, standing my ground. There was nothing in my hands, so I couldn't be very intimidating. All four off them were staring at me now.
    "Well... Who should talk first?" The rather redneck-looking young man who seemed to be about my age asked, and also in turn talked first. Which was followed by a slap to the back of his head from his better dressed team mate.
    "You just talked first, idiot."
    I wasn't sure how to react, but I certainly relaxed. They certainly didn't seem dangerous. Thank god these looters weren't freelance murderers. I noticed the girl roll her eyes.
    "Ignore those two," she stated, walking towards me. "My name's Rochelle."
    "I'm Ellis!" The first man chimed in again rather excitedly. If only I had his kind of energy.
    "Coach," the larger man leaning against the wall said as he pointed to himself with his thumb
    "And the pessimist is Nick," Rochelle said, since the guy in the suit didn't seem to want to introduce himself.
    With a soft smile, I finally introduced myself. "I'm [y/n]. It's nice to meet all of you."

    ~ ??? POV ~

    I knew where the human was headed, so there was no need to follow him just yet across the giant road. A growl rumbling in my chest told my two pack mates to come a little closer. We had been following him for about a month now since claiming the territory. We couldn't have done it without his help, since he usually sat out of the way in a high spot above his shelter and shot at several of the Infected in the area, even cutting down a few problem undead creatures like the naked ones that like sitting on humans' shoulders and tearing at their faces, as well as a pale, crying girl with very long and scary claws at the bottom of a hospital.
    As soon as he disappeared over the top of the paved road, we followed suit. There was no way I could lose him. I'm so fond of his scent. I'd been tracking him so long, even if I lost his sweet smell, I could predict his path perfectly. I ran to the top of the hill, but dodged line of sight behind a rusted vehicle and watched him through the tinted windows. Where had he gotten such amazing speed? He was already going down the hill on the other side. I sniffed the air and looked around, mapping the area and the Infected that strayed around the wide road. I'm definitely grateful the sun doesn't drain that much energy from me.
    We stayed at the side of the interstate, hiding behind the stone walls that lined the shoulder of it. I peeked over the top of the concrete obstruction just for a moment. He was moving quite quickly for a human across the large bit of pavement that had worn white paint from use and weather. I could move so much faster, though. He stood a good chance against Hordes. As long as that Horde didn't have any Infected like himself or ones with good range.
    When I relaxed to sit against the wall, I looked at the younger of my two remaining pack mates. He was probably 18 or 19 years old when he turned. His face still held a rather soft expression, but it was hidden by the dark green hood and his wild, ginger hair. He seemed to be distracted, so I looked over to my older pack member. He was a bit older than me, though I wasn't sure by how much. It was likely he was at least 25 when he became an Infected. Neck-length blonde hair and his burgundy hoodie made him stand out a little more than others like us. Me, I just had a deep blue hoodie. It wasn't a very dark shade like most, but I could still blend in with a Horde if need be. Fun part was, whatever memories the original owner of this body had, we don't have. We merely held common knowledge that was more or less what helped us survive this long.
    By the time I peered over the wall again, I saw the glass door shut behind the human as he entered the mall. The door didn't even have time to settle before I hopped over the wall and swiftly made my way down the hill, over the fence, and into the parking lot. Following him through those doors would be too obvious, so as soon as we reached the building, we jumped and scaled the side to the roof. Then, after a quick sprint and leap to the other side of the building, we were through the roof door and scampering down the stairs to what we assumed was the second floor. This was where we believed he was; although, our own sudden entrance was soundly hidden by several gunshots echoing through the hall. I held back my hand as a gesture to my pack to stay hidden for now.
    I moved through the darkness of the building. Most of the ceiling lights were broken, and this hall didn't have any ceiling windows. I knew if I ran into trouble, I could call for my kin Hunters for aid, though I doubted I'd need assistance any time soon. It wasn't too much longer before I picked up his scent again as it wafted from the crossed hallways I was approaching. There I heard four separate voices, then a fifth one had gently spoken. That was his voice. It had to be. I never truly had the chance to hear it fully before, but it made my chest tighten almost as if this were a living body.
    I got as close as I could, getting into my own hearing range to be able to make out what was being said in their conversation. The way the older man in the white kept looking at him was quite disgusting... I'd very much enjoy colouring that suit of his with his own red, though making a move this early could prove to be fatal judging by the size of their fire power.
    Their conversation seemed rather brief as the woman said, "We need to get moving, but we'll be staying in this town for a few more days. There's a chance we'll run into each other again." Her farewell was followed by the young male human who decided to ruffle his [h/c] hair with his own parting words. Holding back a snarl was a little difficult. How dare that human touch something that wasn't his?
    I waited just another moment for the area to clear out of those weird humans before following my target again. He headed down a separate hall to head back to his home, I assume. So, I watched him head for the exit door, then turned around to make my way back to my small pack and continue to follow him. Something stopped me, though. It wasn't another human or a territorial Infected. It wasn't even an immobile object in my path. There was an awful stench of smoke. My bright blue eyes widened at the sound of his scream. It had already gotten him. Before I could even process the thought, I was already on all fours, running as fast as I could back towards the hall he traversed.

    ~ Reader POV ~

    Parting ways with the oddly matched team wasn't too hard. I had to brush my hair out of my face after Ellis messed with it, but they all seemed rather nice except that Nick guy. Maybe running into them again wouldn't be so bad? That feeling of being watched was probably the presence of other living humans. I'm certainly not used to being around so many people, let alone one these days.
    I went back down the hallways from which I entered the building to go ahead and make my way back. Of course, with my shit luck, I could make out clouds forming over head through the tinted windows of the back entrance to the mall. I picked up a little bit of a jog to reach the door a little more quickly. Getting caught in a storm wasn't my cup of tea without the Infection outbreak and all.
    A small sense of fear filled my head, and by the time I figured out what it was, I noticed the dreadful scent of smoke. Smoker. Picking up the pace, I dashed to the door as quickly as I could. The unevenly paced foot stomps accompanied by choked coughing told me it was just coming out of one of the abandoned stores I passed. Relief would be mine if I could just reach that door and get the hell out of here.
    My hand gripped the door handle and I was just getting it open. My heart pumped with joy for just a moment when the door parted from its frame - until I felt that gross, slimy appendage wrap firmly around my torso. A scream ripped from my throat as a cry for help because maybe-- just maybe Rochelle and her team would here me. They might come back to help. The dreaded creature kept tightening its tongue around me, pulling harder and harder to get me to let go of the door. I held on as hard as I could. My shoulders were screaming with pain to make me let go, not until my arms were actually ripped off, and I so hoped that would never happen. The obnoxious smoke fumes were making me nauseous, and my grip on the door was slipping as I was now suspended just a couple of feet from the ground holding on to the door handle for dear life. And then it happened.
    My hold slipped out of my hands, and with that, my hopes of getting out of here safely. I reached for my pocketknife, because perhaps the serated blade could help me, so-- Where was it. My free hand felt around both pockets, but nothing was felt. I stared hopelessly as I spotted the tool sitting just at the doorway. It had fallen out of my pocket. I couldn't reach my backpack from this angle. A screech peeled through the hallway, startling both me and smoker. It stopped dragging me, but only for a second. I tried to look back over my shoulder, and with some lasting effort, I was looking my death times two right in the face. The Hunter was on all fours and looked pissed as hell, while I was just five feet from the disgusting Infected dragging me towards itself. Tunnel vision made its way into my sight. Pure terror had filled my veins, and the smell of rotten flesh and cigarette smoke was overwhelming. I wanted to puke, but there was nothing I could do about it. I was done for, anyways.
    The last thing I looked back at was the Hunter pouncing, but it certainly wasn't aiming for me. Haha. That's it. It wants to rip apart the Smoker for intruding on its territory, then go for me, its very next meal. With a whine of defeat, I passed out and expected to never wake up again.

    ~ Hunter POV ~

    I charged down the hall as fast as I could, letting instinct fuel me as I lept in to protect what was mine. My focus was on the Smoker. My goal was to save my human without letting any damage fall to him. By the time I had my malicious target on the ground, my companions had arrived. The blonde quickly put himself to work, ripping the rotting tongue from the human's body. It was then, when he failed to react out of fear or shock, that I realised he must have fainted. Whether it was out of fear, stress, or the nauseating smell remaining in the air was left to question for a later time.
    My younger pack mate helped me put down the flailing mass of rotting, smoking flesh. We left the body there as a warning for other Infected not to mess with us or this young adult male, but knowing these things... Most of them were far too gone to even be conscious of what they're doing. I looked over to my other pack mate as he was picking up the human as gently as clawed hands could. We would have to bring him back to his vault before clouds pulled in any closer. The smell of a storm on the wind meant more Infected occupying the streets and open areas.
    We had never been so close to this human before. We were always so scared of startling him, which would no doubt result in either us or him getting hurt. That would hopefully never happen. I knew we should hurry back before the rain set in, but I wanted a closer look at him myself. Moving quietly so I wouldn't startle him awake, I moved in right in front of my larger pack mate. His gaze was fixated on the human's soft features as well. I reached to touch his [h/c] hair for just a moment. Just long enough to satisfy my want for interaction with this human. The wind hitting the building from outside reminded me we needed to go.
    I was out first, kicking the door open wide enough for my blonde companion to travel through with the human. The younger pack member followed soon enough, looking a little nervous as he glanced around and back at the human, then repeating the process again and again. There were three of us, plus the remaining stink of that coughing, smoky, tall Infected that had a hold of the human earlier. Hopefully his smell wouldn't track around too much with the wind and attract something else.
    The clouds above were closing in quickly. We wanted to race the weather back to his safe room, but if we went too fast it might result in sickening the human. Our reputation wouldn't go over very well with him, if that were the case. We made it over the bridge in enough time as well as the following street block. The rain began to fall. At first, it was a gently sprinkle, but the weather developed too quickly. A roar of thunder passed, and with that, calls of distant Infected echoed through the streets. Very subtly, I heard a small, stuttered gasp follow the orchestra of sounds eminating from the city and the storm. My sky blue eyes traced back for a moment as we reached our destination to see that he had woken up.

    ~ Reader POV ~

    Cold rain hitting my face was enough to wake me up from my fever dream. The last thing I remember was a Smoker constricting me and suffocating me with his nauseating fumes. I still felt so sick, almost like I could throw up any moment. The movement didn't help one bit. Wait. Movement? Why in Hell was I moving? I opened my eyes very slowly. It felt like my eyelids were glued together, but I had to see what was happening. The only thing I could really register was the rain, movement, and someone's arms were around me. Did that group of survivors return and save me? In that case, who was carrying me? He was a little stinky, so maybe it was Nick?
    As soon as my [e/c] eyes focused, the movement stopped. Who I was looking at-- What I was looking at took the breath out of me. A gasp escaped me, but I choked on the air. I struggled to breathe for a moment, yet I needed to get away from this thing. I pushed against its chest as hard as my sickened state would let me, but it didn't let go. My gaze looked upward again to look at a rather... offended expression? Honey-coloured eyes looked away from me and towards elsewhere in the direction of a grunt. My focus followed where he was looking. Another Hunter. Before I had time to react, I was lowered to the ground. As soon as one of my hands caught friction on the ground, I scrambled away as quickly as I could until my head loudly came in contact with the solid object behind me. My hands reached the back of my head to apply pressure and hopefully end the pain. Just great. Headache. Nausea. Fatigue... Hunters.
    I pulled my knees up to my chest as I heard a very close, distorted whine. Once I focused my gaze again on what it was, I was greeted by an ashen face inches from mine. Accepting my fate, my whole body had frozen. I was unable to move. I could still feel the weight of my backpack, but a Hunter could rip me apart before I had the chance to open the bag. Then, the familiarity of the Infected who was far too close hit me. Raven hair, blue hoodie. That moment when I lost consciousness with the Smoker. Did this... thing... this undead creature... save me? Blue eyes met my [e/c] ones. He didn't look so angry or frustrated. He looked rather... like he was observing me? Maybe I caught a hint of concern, but what blood-thirsty zombie would actually be worried about a living human? Perhaps a better question would be pertaining to why they hadn't killed me yet.
    *Beep*
    *Click, click*
    The sound had startled me, and apparently the Hunters, too, as the one closest to me jumped back and the blonde one took on an offensive position. I looked behind me, seeing what I had bumped into. It was my vault door. I was at my shelter? Did they bring me here? Maybe they just followed my scent back to kill me here. That had to be it. But maybe it wasn't? If that was their intentions they would have done it already. So many different thoughts were racing through my head. What I had been training myself to avoid, kill, and fear all this time, yet there were two right in front of me. My heart was probably ready to break free from my chest, because the pounding hurt quite a bit.
    A soft whine from behind the two really set off my anxiety. The black-haired Hunter moved to the side as a red-head took his place. The boy's head was lowered as he slowly approached me. He whined a few more times, seeming almost like a child afraid of being lashed out at even though he didn't do anything wrong. I kept my ground seeing as I couldn't move anywhere else.
    Once he was close enough, he dropped a pocket knife next to my feet. I stared at him for just another long moment before reaching for it. It was what I dropped at the mall. My pocket knife with a few extra tools on it. I don't know if these things could understand speech, but I could at least try. The black-haired one saved me, the blonde Hunter seemingly carried me here, and the ginger one retrieved what I thought I lost. There was no way they were planning on hurting me.
    "Th--... Thank... you?" I said in almost a whisper. As a result, speaking seemed to irritate my throat. A few hoarse coughs were forced out, and I held my hand to my forehead in hopes that the room would stop spinning. Now I'm sick. I focused on the group of Hunters to see the one in the blue hoodie barking something at his companions. Within a few seconds, the two took off to whomever knows where.
    *Beep*
    That noise meant the door was about to lock back again. I had been sitting here too long. Finally moving again, I braced my weight against the door and stood up. The action made my headache far more worse. Grasping for the handle of the steel door, I noticed the Hunter who stayed behind was watching me with a rather curious gaze that still held that hint of concern. He didn't seem to make any more moves, so I went ahead and put everything I had into getting the door open on my safe room. With enough muscle, it finally parted from its frame and I had enough room to get inside; however, the pale grey Hunter invited himself into the room, forcing the door a little further open himself on his way.
    I stumbled around the door and entered the room to go straight to bed. The Hunter remained by the doorway, watching outside towards the glass windows. I assumed he was waiting on what was probably his small pack to return. Plus he didn't seem to like it too much when I tried to close the door. As soon as I reached my bed, I kicked off my shoes and laid down. It wasn't until my body was lying against the soft mattress that I realised how much everything hurt. Yes, I was sick to my stomach, it hurt to breathe, and I had a throbbing headache. My legs felt so sore and my back and shoulders were killing me as well. It had to be from carrying that backpack for so long, even while that rather large Hunter carried me back.
    I looked back over too where the Hunter was by the door to see he was watching me. He seemed a little surprised when I took notice to his stare, so he promptly turned his gaze outside again. Part of me was screaming to stay awake and make sure he wouldn't try to off me in my sleep, but the other part told me I was safe with him - that napping properly was likely for the best. The latter added to my trust in the Infected. Like I told myself before, if they wanted to kill me, I would most certainly be dead by now.