Left to Die

Summary: It's been a year since the Green Flu took over the United States and Shell is a fighting survivor who is searching for her friends and sister. She comes across an oddly-behaved Hunter, who she becomes attached to as the last thing to live on. HunterxOC

Chapter 1

It had been a year since the Green Flu ravaged the United States.

It started as a sickness; a fever and then people became so violently aggressive and began attacking each other. Eating each other. I couldn't believe it at first, but I had to. I killed my own mother.

It seemed the virus was like a more violent form of rabies, foaming at the mouth and attacking with no thought whatsoever.

My father had gotten bitten multiple times and he did not turn. So, I assumed he was immune to the virus, but a closer look from scientists that we had gotten captured by a few months ago concluded that he was a Carrier, someone who was healthy on the outside, but carried the pathogen inside their bloodstream.

The doctors and scientists observed me also and sicked a Common Infected on me, where I had gotten bitten on the neck before I killed it with my switchblade. It was concluded I was also immune…..but I wasn't a Carrier.

In fact, I was immune to the whole virus, which was extremely, if not, impossible. Apparently, my immunity was passed down from my father, but not only was I healthy on the outside, but on the inside too. It seemed that whenever I would get bitten, the immunity inside my bloodstream took over and healed the wound, leaving nothing but the blood.

The doctors were shocked at this and they forced me through experiments.

And when I didn't cooperate, they killed my father, right in front of me. Of course, I became angry and got loose, killing a few guards and scientists before I finally escaped. I'm still normal; I don't have super strength or anything like that.

Sometimes I wonder why I seem to be the only one in the world who is immune to the whole virus.

Now I'm on my way to New York, after the virus had taken over the United States. It doesn't seem to be airborne, or it would've infected more than just the USA. But I'm traveling to find my sister and my friends, hoping that they will still be alive.

Let's just hope I don't get myself killed.

…

It was sunrise in a small town in Pennsylvania. I traveled by day and slept at night. I had been staying in a small apartment for the past couple days, with running water at least. I would search through the food stores for anything edible. I had to keep myself in shape and due to all my running and exercise over the year; I had lost a lot of weight.

I still had my heart problem, but I could run for long periods of time now instead of only running for 20 seconds total. I now wore a pair of slightly baggy jeans, with a short sleeve white shirt and a black leather jacket with running shoes. I had my rifle slung over my shoulder, my katana at my side and my pistol in a holster around my right thigh.

I carefully and quietly walked into the store and went to the can isle, getting as many cans as I could and putting them in my backpack. I hadn't seen a lot of Common or even Special Infected lately. But since this was a very small town, I wasn't surprised.

I sighed softly to myself and brushed my dark brown bangs out of my face before getting up and walking to the entrance of the store. I looked around and then hurried across the road, where I stayed in the shadows.

The sun was now barely giving off any light and within five minutes, it was completely dark. I brought out my flashlight and shined it along the road where I would find the apartment I was staying in.

All of a sudden, that's when I heard the familiar screech of a Hunter. "Shit." I swore and ran down the street. I looked quickly over my shoulder to see a hooded figure lunge right at me and I didn't even get time to grab my gun as it knocked me to the ground and my flashlight fell away from me.

The Hunter above me snarled, showing its sharp teeth and its claws made their way to my throat. I quickly brought out my gun and made a move to shoot it through the head, but it was slapped out of my hand and both of my wrists were grabbed and pinned roughly to the pavement.

I struggled underneath the Hunter's strength as it leaned down and sniffed me. My heart was pounding. I've had close encounters with Hunters before, but never this close. The Infected inhaled my scent deeply and growled, baring its teeth. Why hasn't it killed me yet?!

All of a sudden, that's when I heard the snarls of the Common Infected, which caught the Hunter off guard. With what strength I had, I threw the creature off and quickly stood, grabbing my gun and flashlight before I looked ahead of me and saw the Common Infected running towards me.

"Shit!" I swore and took off down the road. The Common Infected was closing in. I rushed around the corner and nearly got bit by a Common Infected. I cocked my gun and shot it through the head before continuing to run. All of a sudden, they came at me from all sides. "Fuck…."

I was dead.

That's when I heard the screech of a Hunter and one of them, not to mention it looked like the same one that had pounced of me moments earlier, jumped down from one of the buildings and landed right beside me. I made a move to shoot it, but the Hunter snarled and before I could do anything, his right arm went tightly around my middle and he jumped.

I nearly screamed when the wind whipped through my hair and the Hunter used his sharp claws to cling to the walls and leap from building to building, away from the Common Infected and too far away from the apartment I was staying in.

The Hunter finally landed on the roof of a somewhat tall building and released me, causing me to quickly get up and cock my gun in its face. The Hunter crouched, in a seemingly pouncing position.

But it never did anything.

It just stayed there, staring at me with the eyes hidden underneath its dark blue hood. What the fuck….? I thought, staring at the Infected in front of me. Hunters weren't exactly my favorite type of Infected. I hated the Common Infected more, because the fucking things ran. Zombies are supposed to be slow, not fucking sprinting like a track star!

I've avoided Witches, the ones that lure survivors in by wailing and crying. I've only ran into them once or twice. Smokers, I hated them, right after the Common Infected. Because of their damn tongues!

The Hunter in front of me growled low in its throat as it seemed to glare at my gun that I had pointed in its face. If it made a move, I could easily shoot it through the forehead. Since it hadn't killed me yet, I'd question it.

"Why did you save me from the Common Infected?" I asked it.

The Hunter only growled again, but not in a warning or threatening way. Instead, it began crawling towards me. I had my gun ready for anything that was about to happen. I heard that Infected could detect the immunity in a survivor, maybe that's why it was sniffing me earlier.

I made no move to back away as the Hunter got closer to me and when it reached me, it got into its crouched position again and then did what disturbed me the most.

It butted its head against my thigh.

I was completely baffled. I expected the Hunter to take a bite out of my thigh or something, but not this! The Hunter slightly glanced up at me with hidden eyes and butted its head against my thigh again.

I was confused, so confused. I released the hold I had on my gun and very slowly turned on the safety and slipped it back into its holster. The Hunter let out a noise that sounded like a…purr?

Why did it remind me of a cat?

I didn't know how tall the Hunter was, since I was only 5'5". Even my sister, who's a year and a half younger than me, is taller than me. I moved my right hand and very cautiously, laid it on top of the Hunter's covered head, giving it a small pat. The Hunter made the same purring noise again and nuzzled its face against my thigh.

I really didn't know why this Hunter was being so friendly. I thought it was going to rip out my throat earlier and now it's nuzzling against me?

When it didn't seem that the Hunter was going to rip me to shreds, I looked away from it (or him, since Hunters always seem to be male) and out into the night.

"I need to get back to the apartment…." I mumbled to myself, causing the Hunter to glance up at me with a soft growl. I sighed. "Yeah, you can come with."