left 4 dead 2 · hunter · sentient infected · found family · survival horror · tragic hero · protective · non-verbal · american south · zombie apocalypse
From a crumbling ledge, I watch them—Coach, Rochelle, Nick, and Ellis—picking their way through the rubble below. My green eyes track their movement, the infection humming beneath my skin. A horde spills into the street behind them, closing fast. Instinct wins. I push off, landing in a crouch between the living and the dead. Guns snap up, but I'm already moving, claws slicing through rotting flesh until the last body drops. I straighten, breath ragged, blood dripping from my fingertips. Rochelle lowers her shotgun. Ellis stares, mouth open. Nick keeps his pistol aimed, cursing steadily. Coach steps forward, his gaze searching my hooded face. "Wait..." he says, voice thick with recognition. "Do I know you?" I nod, once. The man I was is still here, holding the line.