Yup, another oneshot including the Hunter from Left 4 Dead. This is just a little something that came up after a convo me and my friends had on Live :3 Hope it's not too terrible.

:Left 4 Dead and all its glory belong to Valve:

Find. That's all that mattered.

He had to find her, he had to clarify she was still alive.

He had traveled far, through states and counties. It was amazing that he hadn't ended up on the opposite side of the United States. Maybe it was just the sense of tracking, the urge, the bond he held between this person and himself. It shouldn't be surprising after all, hunting should be a Hunter's topmost capability.

Sans the pouncing and tearing its victim to shreds.

He finally reached his destination, the town looking different yet the same from the places he's been through. Dead atmosphere, wandering cannibals, Special Infected, crashed cars, silent streets. He took no care in any of this as he prowled the area, all that mattered was finding her.

Sure, he could go for a fresh kill, he hasn't eaten since he touched the outer rims of the big city not far from here. His growling stomach demanded food, causing him to rethink his plans and save the hunt for later. He then remembered what was left of his rotten brain.

Brainless zombie wouldn't fit his category, Specials tend to think a bit beyond the whole ".Feed." issue. They reacted when something painful came in contact with their body, they sometimes had the sense to bathe if really necessary, and on a rare occasion they recalled what happened in their past life.

The person he was searching for, a girl a year apart from him, was something he deemed worthwhile.

Special.

Loved.

They lived nowhere near each other, states apart. They met through a first person shooter game on Live. A random quick match, a versus that consisted of his close friends and a few strangers including her. After some matches and party invites, he grew a bond with her. She became a good friend, someone he could talk to, a person he cared for in his life.

Now that something fantasy-like has become a reality, he had to make it clear she was alright. They both made a promise after all.

New smells and aromas evaded his nostrils, he ignored the new scents and continued to pick out her essence, presence, anything to satisfy his search. It took him a bit of a while, but he soon found himself in front of a townhouse. Its appearance looking washed out and the outside lights flickered ever so often. Something in his gut told him she was here, whether dead on the ground or stumbling about as a Common.

The door was next to nothing to get by. Metal it was and with something poorly placed behind it to forbid intruders was nothing close to sweating about for the Hunter. He broke the door down after barging himself in a couple times. A table broke onto contact when the door in front of it was forced open, leaving the house in silence soon after.

He listened carefully, he didn't rely on his eyesight anymore since they became poor each day of his transformation. Hell, he should've already clawed the useless tunic out of his sockets to relieve his aching eyes but resisted the urge. He didn't think bleeding out sockets would be a good impression to his friend to show he meant no harm. He sat on the broken down door for a minute, deciding whether to explore the downstairs or heading up another floor of the house.

Through the musty smell and the aching silence, he heard the slightest of noise a floor above him and a scent lingered faintly through the house.

He crawled as quietly as he could up the wooden steps, feeling a body of an animal sprawl itself on one of the creaking step. He pawed at it, long enough to realize it was dead, been dead, before continuing up the stairs. Growling in the slightest way, he could make out the hallway he stood in. There was a door in front of him when reaching the top but he didn't want to bother to tear it down. That wasn't where the scent was coming from anyway. Turning and making his way down the small hallway, he almost toppled over a body collapsed in front of the door that held his curiosity.

Growling again, the Hunter trailed his talons over the body lightly. The door was closed and the body seemed to be sitting here for quite some time. The smell and feel of its skin was enough to tell. The Hunter lowered his head to inspect the body some more, he had doubts this was the person he was looking for, but the aroma of the corpse didn't smell of infected. This person was either killed before the infection could take over or killed for hostile actions. Either or, it didn't matter to the Hunter.

He turned his head to the closed door, the faint smell becoming clearer. Leaning closer, he listened. He certainly smelled something, something alive. It was still unsure if there was an Infected on the other side of the door or an actual person. Perhaps this was why he found no Commons inside the complex. Not only barred, but hiding the scent confirming breathing flesh was inside here. These people were something above usual stupidity.

He almost flinched when he heard something again, something rustling against carpet, something was moving inside.

He snarled lightly, dragging his claws against the wood before breaking the door open.

He received a yelp as he felt carpet on his fingers rather than hardwood. He motioned his head to the direction of the sound, another growl escaping his lips. He was in a bedroom, no shit, and in the bedroom was a breathing person. Unless the Commons found a way to squeeze themselves in the farthest corner of the room, whimpering and crying, scared shitless, this person was definitely not a Common.

He heard the click of a gun and almost backed away, but the repetitive clicking allowed him to ease down. The person was out of bullets, with another snarl from his lips he could tell the gun wasn't pointing at him.

The person was trying to shot themselves.

It cried, which turned out to be the sounds of a girl. The Hunter perked his head up a bit, was this her?

He crawled a bit closer, causing the girl to sob more and try to maneuver farther from the Special. He could tell she didn't want to die, and she didn't need to be afraid since that wasn't his intention. But how to put it in words she could actually understand?

She was scared shitless, watching the infected crawl up to her like her dog when it wanted praise. She kept clicking the trigger of the gun, hoping it was just jammed so it could splatter her brain before the Hunter actually attacked. Finding the situation hopeless, she thought she might as well do hopeless things.

"Go away! Leave me alone!"

The Hunter actually pulled himself back some, but only to draw himself closer to the crying girl. There was nowhere to run. She realized her stupid mistake to actually have a chance to run for it when the Hunter wasn't so close to her.

"I said beat it!"

She chucked the empty gun at the creature, actually hitting it on the head. The Hunter barked at her, dumbfounded for a split second when the hard object smacked his skull. Finding no other way out, the girl actually shoved the monster away from her, racing out of the bedroom. She didn't get far, the Hunter snagged her by the forearm with his teeth, drawing the girl back and onto the ground. She screamed in return, pain ringing its bell as the fangs ripped through her flesh like a knife to a stick of butter.

Why was it taking its time? Why didn't it just kill her already!

Trying to wrench her arm out of the creature's mouth proved to be useless, the Hunter keeping a firm grip. Her eyes hurt from crying so much. This was just fricken great. First her parents go hungry crazy and then she mistakes her mom's friend for being one of them. A bullet in the forehead wasn't something you can take back as an apology or anything.

Making a few feeble attempts to free her arm again allowed her to accept fate and just sit there, waiting to be eaten. What was the point? Her family's gone and her friends are all most likely dead. She was too cowardly to go outside and see what was happening to the ones she cared about. All she found herself doing was holing herself up in her home and wait for rescue.

The more she thought about it, the more stupid sounding it was.

She looked at the Hunter, still having his teeth puncture the raw flesh. He wasn't ripping it open, nor was he digging his teeth in deeper. All he was doing was holding her there, as if making a child sit down at time out.

"Why don't you just kill me?" her voice croaked, tears still rolling down her red cheeks. The Hunter emitted another sound, it wasn't a growl or a snarl, more like a whine in a raspy tone. She shook her head, confused at the Hunter's communication. He slowly removed his teeth from the wound he made, somewhat eyeing her, on the edge if she tried to escape again. When the girl remained still he lapped at the injury, licking up the blood that escaped its fleshy container. She sniffled, still completely thrown off that this Hunter wasn't hostile in any sense. It was like he knew her, like he…

She raised her other arm up, hesitating before reaching out to the creature in front of her. He stopped treating the wound, unmoving as the hand slowly came in contact with his hood. She pulled the hoodie back, revealing the Hunter's features before the girl.

Messy black hair matted with dried blood, grime, and dirt coated his scalp. Face and skin drained of whatever color it held in a prior life now emitting a dead grey tone. His eyes were milky white, having no purpose for seeing as blood and torn muscle circled the Hunter's useless vision. The creature had a lip piercing, one that looked difficult enough to put on when it was removed.

Wait…

[\[\[\

"Good fucking lord this piercing won't go in!"

"Dude, chill. Just leave it alone if it's causing you so much-"

"No, because if I do that then the hole will close up and more fucking problems come up! I'm getting this fucker in whether he likes it or not! Aghhh my liiiip…"

[\[\[\

Staring wide eyed, the girl whispered. Half to herself, half to the Hunter before her.

"Mikey?"

The Hunter quickly responded by nudging his head against her arm, vocals rumbling in his throat to represent a purr.

She couldn't believe it.

Mikey, the raging awesometastic guy she met on XboxLive was sitting here in front of her. Infected, non-hostile, still caring, still alive.

He came all this way, just to see her cry and blubber like an idiot. To make sure she was alright.

And cry and blubber she did, she instantly hugged the Hunter. Laughing a bit as more tears escaped her eyes, burying her face in the musty sweater of his.

Mikey tensed up, surprised at the sudden hug but managed to wrap his arms around the shivering girl. He nuzzled her, glad he found her after all this time.

Even if she were to change to Common or Special from his bite, he would make sure he would protect her.

That's what big brothers are for, anyway.