#l4d fic

[sempitemery]

you look cold, louie. let me warm you up.

(sigh)

so i got distracted halfway through drawing this and uh.. accidentally ended up writing a tiny frouis fluff piece based on it. 🤦

it's literally 100% dialogue, all lowercase, just like 485 words lol. it's silly but i put it up anyway if anyone would like to read it.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65368405

[odysseywritings]

L4D3 - The New Strain.

(cw: minor language, missing animals, and mention of terminal illness)

The quartet scrounged for useful supplies in the dying town while fighting off straggling zombies. Gabi and Rhonda quipped over the crummy quality of the canned foods while taking whatever could be useful.

"These peaches are nasty," Gabi groaned. "But they're still a little sweet. Maybe you should try some, girl."

Rhonda scoffed. "I'm as sweet as they come! Hell, Tess can't wait to sink her teeth in me!"

From a distance away Tess replied in ear shot, "I said I wanted to chew you out, meathead."

The younger women laughed and explored some more while Tess scanned the inside of a little diner with faded, cracking windows. She assumed it was a popular place outside of eating as she saw a bulletin board full of yellowing papers. One for a gathering at an upcoming tractor auction, another for a Mexican American heritage festival, and one for raising money for a brother's terminal illness. Tess thought how distant all of these were now. What kind of community can happen during a zombie apocalypse?

She grabbed food that didn't rot and saw Ken sitting down grabbing paper. He held a page for a missing pet, a black 6 month old cat named Rosie, along with where she was last seen and what calls she responded to. The young veterinarian student said nothing but his heart broke from thinking the worst in this dangerous new world.

Tess sat next to him and rested her hand on his leg for reassurance.

"I lost my horses when the ranch got overrun. I tried rustlin' them altogether but that damn storm ruined everything. Just gotta think it can go any way. Good, bad, or something in-between."

"Yeah," Ken said without conviction. "Probably not a good sign for a would-be doctor to fixate on this."

"Son, we need more than just good health to be human. You'll do fine if you care 'bout the right things."

Tess pointed at Gabi and Rhonda. Specifically, Rhonda vomiting down some nasty beer and Gabi laughing her head off.

"Like those two."

Ken smirked and nodded, raising himself. He folded up the paper into his pocket just in case.

He and Tess walked to the other pair to group up and head out. The stride halted when Tess heard a strange sound around them and held her hand to stop Ken. He looked around puzzled and followed her eyesight.

[sempitemery]

featuring 7 of the original survivors from both games, leave a light on is an ongoing left 4 dead fic with no main character or ship. told from a rotating POV, the story is mostly a romantic soap opera where no pairing is out of bounds and no pairing is safe.

please be advised this fic is intended for mature readers, and will contain explicit sexual content as well as themes that are not for everyone, such as depression, kink and age disparity.

https://archiveofourown.org/users/sempitemery

more tags and rambling below:

oops so i started another fic by accident

what ship you ask

literally who fucking knows

anything could happen

i'm so excited. vibes are pretty different from a change of plans ngl. no relation, totally separate versions of the characters, universe etc. updates might be inconsistent, still mostly focused on a change of plans, but also might drop a few chapters at once sometimes cause they'll be more snack sized, like 2-3k instead of the 5-9k chonkers i've been doing, so that's fun. super excited for the alternating POV and the chance to explore some other relationships. i think some people might really dig this and some people might rly hate me for it... maybe some of the same people if i'm really lucky LOL.

first three chapters are already up and tiny spoiler alert... first one's rochelle's POV 😈

[odysseywritings]

The Church

@flashfictionfridayofficial @howdywrites

(tw blood and gore)

The quartet of zombie survivors walked away from the struggle with bloodied wounds barely covered by bandages. They needed a place to hold out and recover and it certainly wasn't going to be out in the open as dusk approached. The bloody red sun overlooking the cruel southwest desert signalled the frozen chill of night creeping in. By serendipity, the sun was toward the direction of a church with lights still on.

"Yay, someone is still alive!" the pink dyed Gabi beamed.

"Finally," the large stetson wearing Rhonda grinned. "Was afraid Tess was gonna fly away with th' wind!"

"Hush it," the tiny, gray flanneled woman said. "This is holy ground, and I don't want y'all talking like heathens while we're finally blessed."

A long haired man wearing denim and brown leather observed the pile of zombies dead and impaled while posed in upside down cross formations.

"I love what they've done with the place," Ken quipped. "Really feeling the love of God here."

Tess groaned, "Lord, forgive them and their foolishness."

Gabi knocked on the door and yelled to say they were in need of a safe house. There was no coherent answer, only some mumbled sighs. She looked at the others who were also confused, yet the chill was grating on their skin, and they chose to enter anyway.

The cobwebs and chipped pews contrasted with the ornate church's stained glass filled with colorful hagiography that felt at home to Gabi and Tess, while Ken was impressed by the artistry, and Rhonda was apathetic to it all. They looked around to find the sound's source, a constant moaning that echoed throughout the building, causing Gabi to shiver and Rhonda to aim her shotgun. Tess found a separate room and found a kneeled woman in a nun's habit sulking.

"Sister? You're alright now. We're not bit."

Gabi stepped in to see the nun and bent down to comfort her, but Tess put her arm out in case it was a trap.

"What's your name?"

With a long exhale, the woman slowly got up and looked at them, and saw Ken and Rhonda enter as she ambled over.

"I am Sister Amanda. I am the only one who has been saved in this great judgement. I hope you four are not the Horsemen come to lay waste to me."

"Hell no," Rhonda barked as Ken raised a brow at the nun's words. "But if we were, I call War, because that's the most badass one!"

"Rhonda," Tess sighed. "Sorry, Sister. We didn't mean to intrude, but night's closing in, and we needed a refuge."

"I understand. But before I let you all stay, you must do me a favor, and that is to confess your sins. It is how I remained safe from this awful plague. I insist you do the same lest the horrible curse outside befalls you all."

Rhonda rolled her eyes while Tess and Gabi obliged with Ken out of sight.

"I don't mind, Sister," Tess said. "I ain't going too private since I'm with company, but... I did a kill a man before all this. A real snake who tried to get more than he deserved."

"I killed a few m'self, ya ain't that special" Rhonda chimed as Tess glared at her. "What? Y'all wanted confessions..."

Gabi twiddled her fingers and stepped up. "I... turned a blind eye to someone being attacked. I was just so scared and didn't know what to do!"

Tess put her hand around Gabi's and Amanda gave a small smile with hands outstretched.

"Thank you all. I know now what people you are all. How un-Christian and sinful you are."

"Excuse me," Tess stared daggers at her. "Then what was all that confession shit for?"

"Call it introspection," Amanda said with a sluggish smile and heavy eyes. "You will need it in this coming Rapture. Murderers and cowards need to be reminded of their guilt if they seek salvation."

"What are you even saying," Gabi cried in confusion. "We messed up but we're doing what we can! How dare you be sanctimonious!"

"I can beat that smugness right out of 'er," Rhonda cracked her knuckles.

"You may say your barbs, but I am protected, for my deeds are only to the evil and soulless you saw before trespassing on this land. You three-"

Her heart dropped and a chill went down her spine.

"Wait, there was a fourth one. A young man. Where did he go?"

"Ladies?" Ken shouted from below, causing the others to be concerned.

Rhonda grabbed Amanda by the arm and escorted her to where Ken was. He found a cellar hidden by tapestry and went down and saw a sight that rendered him speechless and cold. The others followed his path and saw what he discovered.

Bodies of slashed clergy and churchgoers were laid neatly in a row. Many were only recently rotting and three were smaller and younger than the rest.

Ken pointed at the limbs and necks. "No bite marks."

Amanda lost balance and felt her vision distorted and swirling. She retreated to a pew and rested on her side.

"The Lord will forgive me. He always will. He knows what I had to do. They all committed grave sins. To use the apocalypse as an excuse for impure and unholy acts. To abuse all of His love. To abuse all of His laws. To abuse all of His charity."

She rambled on as nightfall pressured them to throw her outside, in her nearly catatonic state, damning her to the outside world come Hell or high water. The group had varying degrees of guilt, with Ken and Rhonda feeling no sympathy for Amanda, Gabi feeling terribly sick, and Tess thinking about their safety in sleeping without a knife around their necks. They didn't hear her as they slept through the night and assumed she met her flock.