Mercenaries and Zombies

[Elkay]

I wrote a Team Fortress 2 Fanfic. Zombies and lovable characters like Engineer and Sniper seem to work quite well together.

Anyway...

The song filtered through the air, tingling in the breeze, stretching into the darkness below. Midnight was no time to be on look-out, but someone had to do the job, and, being the loner that he was, Sniper was not going to turn down some peace and quiet, away from his team.

Night was a bad time for anyone, really. With the shadows stretching that much deeper, danger could get its claws in and attack at any moment. This had never phased Sniper before, but that night, he found he was shivering much more than usual. Not that he wasn't used to long, dark nights, he'd spent many a year in the outback, with little more than the crickets and an old, battered radio for company. The same radio he had now, trying to soothe his soul.

A creak. A loud creak. These battlements weren't exactly well kept, what with all the explosions and rockets being thrown around, but Sniper knew that a creak like that meant he wasn't alone. And with him sitting on his old wooden chair, his radio and his bottle of beer, what better time to try and sneak up on him? Sniper reached behind him for his trusty old kukri, almost as battered as his radio, and held his breath.

Another creak. Louder still. Sniper swung his knife, slashing at air, narrowly missing the one person he could actually stand.

"Woah, partner. Jus' brought ya up some drinks..." Engineer tutted, then threw a bottle of cold beer towards Sniper. "Thought ya could do wit' a drink or two. Ya spend too much time alone, boy."

Sniper smiled. A thin, pale smile. He wanted to be left alone. Engineer though had already brought up a chair and was now helping himself to a bottle. He didn't hate Engineer, not like he hated the others, but it was the little things that he said that bothered him. Like the fact he called everyone boy or son, like Soldier did, or how he'd quickly start talking about things Sniper couldn't care less about. Then again, he was glad that Scout, or worse, Spy, hadn't joined him up here.

"It's darn cold tonight. Really darn cold. Ya'd think there'd be more noise out 'ere."

A small grunt acknowledged Engineer. Sniper wasn't in the mood. That didn't stop Engineer from trying to get some conversation out of him.

"Ya know, Ah've been working on a new rifle for ya. Ah ain't done much yet, but ya'll love it when it's finished."

Sniper's ears pricked up as he turned off the radio. Engineer smiled, thinking he'd caught his attention.

"Double-barreled. Sounds kinda dumb, but if it works for shotguns, it works for..."

"Shh!" Sniper raised his hand, and Engineer fell silent. His eyes were concentrating on the opposing battlements, where there seemed to be much more commotion than normal. Sniper knew that the enemy also had a look-out, but normally they employed their Spy, instead of taking it in turns. Tonight, though, there was much shuffling on that deck.

Engineer fumbled around in his pocket, then handed a small, black and green tube to Sniper. "Night-vision attachment for your scope..." he quickly whispered, before sinking backwards, reaching for the pistol he always held close.

Sniper snapped the attachment on, then peered down his scope, the expression on his face changing from confusion to utter horror.

"What do you s.." Engineer's question was blasted away by the sound of a rifle firing. Across the battlements, a figure tumbled down, accompanied by a cold, wet splat. A second figure quickly faded away into the darkness, unsure whether he had been saved or was about to be murdered.

Sniper rubbed his eyes as he leaned away from his gun.

"What on earth happened, Sniper?" Engineer stumbled over his words, not sure what had just happened. Sniper though wasn't talking. He just sat there, as if he had just sat through a particularly horrible horror movie. And for someone who was a trained killer, a mercenary, that was not a good look.

"SNIPER?"

"W-What?"

A tremble, Engineer thought. Not good. "What happened?"

Sniper hesitated. "That... That guy was going to eat him..."

Engineer grabbed Sniper by the shoulders and shook him. "Snap outta it, son. Tell me what happened!"

Once again, Sniper fell silent. Engineer was about to shake him again when a muffled scream echoed through their own battlements.


Pyro leaped around, scanning the room for a weapon, trying to get out of Scout's reach. But with every corner, Scout was gaining on him, getting closer and closer. Why Scout was trying to kill him, he had no idea, but the fact that Scout was coated in blood that did not belong to either the enemy or him was a good reason to stay as far back as possible. Not easy when Scout was by far the fastest on the team.

A quick weave sent Scout crashing into a bench, while Pyro finally found something he could use, if only for a second. Scout was on his feet in an instant, but a knife to the neck held him back just long enough for help to arrive.

"Mmmphhhh!" Pyro bellowed at Demoman as Scout tugged at the blade in his neck, scratching and scathing his way across the floor towards them. But Demoman didn't answer. In fact, Demoman just collapsed, blood pouring from his back, his bullet-proof vest torn open, revealing a wound that would make a wild animal proud.

Panic quickly flooded Pyro's mind, as Scout finally managed to make it back to his feet. All he could do was run from something that was faster than him.

Heading for the exit, Pyro closed his eyes, waiting for Scout to grab him and tear him apart. But the blow never came. Speeding out of the doorway and down into the resupply rooms, Pyro didn't dare turn back to see where Scout went. Nor did he open his eyes, as he ran straight into Engineer.

"Pyro! Are ya okay? We heard a mighty ol' scream, and Sniper thinks he saw a zombie or somethin'!" Engineer helped Pyro off the ground, then dusted himself down. "And would ya know what that darn gnawing sound is?"

Pyro started rasping and wheezing in his attempts to explain what happened. Sniper just blinked, but Engineer seemed to understand.

"Scout did what?"

Before Pyro could repeat what he said, Sniper slipped away and quickly fired, once again the sound of his rifle filling the air. Scout collapsed inches away from his feet, what was left of his head coating the floor in blood and shattered bone. Behind Scout, up the stairs, was where Demoman had collapsed, but now, the corpse was missing most of its legs.

Engineer threw a nervous look at Sniper, then turned to Pyro. "What now?"

"Mmmph mmmmmph mmmmmmmph!"

Sniper blinked again. "Did he just say that Heavy was like this too?" He kicked at Scout's now limp body, easily snapping several ribs. It seemed as though his bones had become weak, like talc.

Pyro nodded, just as Engineer lost all colour to his face. "T-That's not good. Heck, the whole team could be infected!"

"You think you can fix it with the stuff from your dispenser?" Sniper asked.

"Nope. No way. Ah can't bring stuff back to life..." Engineer scratched his head, as Pyro and Sniper headed off towards the resupply rooms, grabbed what they could, then turned back on themselves and disappeared around the corner. Not wanting to be alone, Engineer followed, pausing only to reload his pistol.

"Mmmph mmmmph mmmmph mmph?" Pyro muttered under his breath. Sniper ignored him, his eyes darting down every doorway and entrance.

"Ah dunno, kid. Ah don't wanna think about that yet..." Engineer's eyes were darting around too. After having seen Scout and Demoman they way they were, he was getting more anxious by the minute.

Finally, they reached the dormitories. The lights had, annoyingly, gone out, but there was much more commotion hidden in the shadows. Someone was trying to bash the furthest door down. Both Pyro and Engineer were shivering. Sniper was silent, but it was clear that he too was scared.

"We should leave..." Sniper hissed.

As Sniper spoke, the banging stopped. A crunching noise, the sound of heavy footsteps on broken wooden floors, edged its way towards them, followed by the footsteps' owner. Grunts underlined the footsteps, wet and bubbly, as if the thing creeping its way towards them was drowning. And the shape of the hallway made it seem much further away than it actually was.

Suddenly, the footsteps became deeper, quicker, more powerful. Charging out of the darkness was the human equivalent of a tank, arms and legs pounding on the ground, splinters and dust obscuring their sight.

"FIRE!" Sniper screamed, his fear skewing his aim. Pyro and Engineer fired too, but their weapons were doing little damage. Pyro pulled Sniper back into an empty doorway as Engineer leaped to one side, the man-monster charging past and skidding to a halt, taking out a pillar and some stairs as it did so. Pyro muffled something, but Sniper didn't quite get it, so he turned to Engineer, who had disappeared behind the door of a maintenance room.

"Keep 'im busy for a sec!" Engineer was making lots of noise in that room. Sniper cursed loudly, asking how they would do such a thing, just as the man-monster charged by again, narrowly missing Sniper's arm. But before Pyro or Sniper could ask Engineer how he intended for them to keep the creature busy, it charged back, this time tearing off the doorframe that had briefly protected them.

Finally, Engineer appeared, said something about running away or moving or something, and threw what looked like a lead pipe down the stairs where the beast had once again stumbled, and ducked back into the maintenance room. Time and space seemed to burn bright.


Dust filled the air, making them splutter. For a moment, none of them were sure what had happened.

Engineer wiped the dirt and sweat off his face, then cautiously headed down the stairs. Pyro gave an odd squeak of protest, but Engineer ignored him. After several more seconds of strange silence, with a small hint of whimpering, Engineer called back to them.

"'E's dead!"

"Are you sure?" Sniper shouted back.

"Yep. And it's Heavy. Well, was. 'E ain't really a 'eavy weapons guy anymore..." Engineer plodded back up the stairs. "Say, can ya hear someone crying?"

Pyro tapped his feet angrily. "Mmmpph mmmmmph mmmmmmmph!"

Sniper nodded in agreement. "Five seconds ago, you were wetting your pants the same way we were, and now you're all fine and dandy?"

Engineer shook his head. "Ah'm not really... But Ah am impressed that mai l'il pipebomb worked... Tha' sorta thing always makes me feel better."

Both Sniper and Pyro tutted.

"Can ya hear that?" Engineer tried to change the conversation, going back to the previous topic.

Pyro strained to hear it, but Sniper was already walking off in the direction of the noise. It was coming from the single locked dormitory. It was a strange, eerie whimper, as if they had been going for a long time. Sniper walked up to the door and bashed loudly on it, the rotten door only just holding.

"Are you in there, doc?" Engineer asked politely, scorning Sniper for his rough approach.

The whimpering ceased, and something behind the door moved.

"Doc?" Engineer knocked lightly on the door. It was locked up tight from the inside. After another knock, he shook his head. "Ah don't think e's gonna let us in..."

Sniper stared at his feet. "Well, I suppose we ought to find the others..."

"What others?" Another voice drifted down the corridor, this one tinted with years of smoking and other illicit acts. Pyro jumped, not expecting the voice. Sniper simply growled. Engineer, though, didn't seem too bothered.

"Spy, you're alive." So Demoman, Heavy and Scout were dead, but Spy was alive. Sniper wasn't too happy about that.

"But of course. Otherwise I would not be here discussing our rather gloomy future with you." Spy flicked out his knife, then inspected the door that separated them from the whimpering, his eyes scanning it for a weakness. After much thought, though, he put his knife away and headed back where he came from. "I believe our comrade, Medic, is just as infected as the others were. But being a man of some intellect, he is keeping himself away from us."

Pyro scratched his head. "Mmmph? Mmmph mmmmph?" He pointed at a wound on Spy's arm, hidden by the layers of his suit.

"Oh, this? It is just a scratch, mon ami. But I do believe we need to ge out of here before Soldier appears to try and devour us."

"WHAT?" Sniper growled. "Soldier is infected too? Why don't you actually inform us about this?"

Spy rolled his eyes. "I did not wish for you to panic, but clearly I was mistaken. You are already panicking." Spy faded into the shadows, hinting for the others to follow. With much reluctance, they did, leaving the whimpers behind.


They seemed to walk for quite a bit, down passages seldom used even during the day. Spy zigzagged past obstacles, every so often tutting about how the company should fix the place up. Pyro and Engineer held the rear, with Sniper in the middle, his eyes once again darting around. They continued forth, until the path was blocked by a strange, bedraggled figure.

"Spy! Where have you been, you cowardly Frenchman!" Soldier spat as he bellowed orders at Spy. "You said you'd stay and lure some more of the enemy here so we can eat them!"

"What?" Sniper drew his kukri, growling at Spy's deceit, ready to chop him into pieces. But a single swift maneuver sent Sniper crashing to the ground, as Spy removed his mask, set to kill. Pyro though had other ideas and leaped at Spy, bashing him with his shotgun. Engineer pulled Sniper back, before firing an entire into Soldier, who couldn't decide who to eat first.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME?" Soldier shouted, spitting blood and saliva, just as Spy struggled out of Pyros grip and tore into his arm, filling the air with a blood-curdling scream. Another bite to Pyro's neck silenced him, and his body fell limp.

Engineer took one look at Pyro's body, another look at Spy and Soldier, and then turned to Sniper, just as Soldier and Spy started to close in on them.

"Run."

"What?"

"RUN!"

Engineer pushed Sniper backwards, then started to run himself. Soldier and Spy though had other ideas, as Spy lunged for him and grabbed his leg. Unable to stop himself from falling, Engineer tried to spin around, and fired the last of his ammo, which pierced through Soldier's head, blinding him and sending him stumbling backwards, tumbling down the steep stairs behind them.

Angered by Soldier's defeat, Spy clawed and stabbed at Engineer, scratching his legs and drawing blood, cutting in to him with his knife. Engineer kicked as hard as he could, but Spy was having none of it. The pain in his legs got deeper and deeper, as Spy clawed more and more, until, all of a sudden, he couldn't feel it any more. And as he fired that very last bullet from his pistol, Engineer swore he heard his heart slow down.


He didn't want to turn around. He was useless up close. Was he imagining the hot breath on his back, or were they really there? It took much determination to pause and actually look behind him. It was then that Sniper realised that he was back in the dormitories. And they were all empty now. He couldn't stop though. He had to carry on.

"Mmmph..."

It was Pyro. Maskless. But his voice was still messed up and muffled, blood pouring from his neck wound.

"Mmph mmmmph mmmmmmph."

"I didn't leave you behind." Sniper started to run again. "I DIDN'T!"

Spy and Engineer appeared behind him, one with a bullet through his chest, the other limping, with gashes on his leg. Both of them brimming with hunger.

"Ah didn't think ya wanted to infect us, Spy. Ah just thought ya're gunna kill us..."

Spy snorted. "You think differently when you are infected. Scout and Heavy couldn't take it. But we can. Sniper on the other hand... We do not need him. He is nothing more than a meal. Just like that pathetic drunk was..."

All three of them closed in, grinning. All Sniper could do was run. He was out-numbered. He could not win a fight. But he could hide. If he could make it to the resupply room, he would be safe.

"He's running..." Spy laughed, his voice crackling, grating on Sniper's ears. Sniper had no time to listen though. If he slowed down, even for an instant, they would catch up. They would devour him.

Sliding around a corner, Sniper knew he was close. He could feel them chasing after him, but the resupply room was only a few metres away. Two corners left... One corner. The room was in sight. He charged forward, clinging on to his last dregs of hope. He was almost there, he was almost...

Sniper hit the heavy, metallic door with a thud and a bang, and passed out on the floor.



The room was cold and dark, lacking in comfortable furniture.. Almost all of it was piled up, blockading the door. The only furniture not against the door were a small fridge, a cabinet of weapons supplies and a bench that was cemented into the ground. Apart from the lack of furniture, the room was very secure, padded out with all sorts of protection. Bullet proof. Explosion proof. Fire proof. Almost sound proof too.

Medic sat on the cold floor, staring at the walls and door ahead of him, hidden away by the blockade. Fear echoed around the room, coating the floor with a thin layer of dread. He'd lost track of time a while ago, but instinct, something he rarely listened to, was telling him he was safe in there. After what happened with Soldier and Heavy attacking him, then that explosion, he didn't really want to go outside.

After a little thought, Medic wondered what happened to the others. Part of him screamed that they were all infected, but he ignored that. They were grown men. They'd be able to look after themselves. Plus, they never called him out on the battlefield, like Soldier and Heavy always did. They didn't need him.

Satisfied with that thought, Medic got up and laid down on the bench.

The only question remained, what was that large thud on the door earlier?