The Hunter (A Left 4 Dead CreepyPasta)

"The Hunter" (A Left 4 Dead CreepyPasta) written by TheDarkCat97
I don't know how to start this off, but I feel compelled to tell you about what happened in a gameplay of Left 4 Dead.

A little history lesson for ya: Left 4 Dead is an asymmetrical cooperative first-person shooter video game, developed by Valve South and published by Valve Corporation. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and OS X. Development on the game was completed on November 13th, 2008, and two versions were released digitally: A downloadable digital version, released on November 17th, 2008, and a digital retail disc version, with a release date determined by region. The digital retail disc version was released in North America and Australia on November 18th, 2008; and in Europe on November 21st, 2008.

Set during the aftermath of a worldwide zombie outbreak, the game pits its four protagonists—dubbed the "Survivors"—against hordes of the infected. There are four game modes: a single-player mode in which allied characters that are controlled by PCs; a four-player, co-op campaign mode; an eight-player online versus mode; and a four-player survival mode. In all modes, an artificial intelligence (AI), dubbed the "Director", controls level pacing and item placements, in an attempt to create a dynamic experience and increase replay value.

Left 4 Dead was well received by the industry media upon its release, with praise given for its replay value, focus on cooperative play, and a horror movie-like experience. Several criticisms were aimed at limited level selection and the lack of a narrative. The game has won several publication awards, as well as distinctions from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and British Academy of Film and Television Arts. As was done with Team Fortress 2, Valve supplemented the game with free downloadable content. The first, called the "Survival Pack", was released on April 21st, 2009. The second piece of DLC was charged for on Xbox Live and came in the form of a new Campaign entitled "Crash Course," released for both the PC and Xbox 360 on September 29th, 2009. Left 4 Dead was released for the Mac on October 28th, 2010.

The popularity of the game led to the development of a sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, which was released on November 17th, 2009. A new map for both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, called "The Sacrifice", was released on October 5th, 2010. In July 2012, all Left 4 Dead campaigns were ported over to Left 4 Dead 2, with cross-platform multiplayer support between Windows and Mac versions of the game.

The plot goes as follows:

''Pennsylvania suffers an outbreak of the "Green Flu", a highly contagious pathogen that causes extreme aggression, mutation to the body cells, and loss of higher brain functions (essentially zombifying those who catch the flu). Two weeks after the first infection four immune survivors—William "Bill" Overbeck (voiced by Jim French), a Green Beret and Vietnam veteran; Zoey (voiced by Jen Taylor), a college student; Louis (voiced by Earl Alexander), a district account manager, and Francis (voiced by Vince Valenzuela), an outlaw biker—make their way through the city of Fairfield, only to discover that the infection is creating more dangerous mutations in some of its hosts. After narrowly avoiding these new infected, along with hordes of others (as seen in the introduction video), the survivors are alerted to the presence of an evacuation point at the nearby Mercy Hospital roof by a passing helicopter. Fighting their way through the city's streets, subway and sewers, they are rescued from the hospital's roof by the pilot, only to discover he is infected.''

''With Zoey forced to kill him, the helicopter crash lands in an industrial district outside the city. Finding an armored delivery truck, the group uses it to make their way to the town of Riverside. However, they find the road blocked, and travel the rest of the way on foot. After an encounter with a hostile maniac in the local church, they discover that the town is overrun, and decide to head to a nearby boathouse for rescue. Contacting a small fishing vessel, they manage to reach the city of Newburg on the other side of the river, only to find much of it in flames. Seeking cover in a large greenhouse, their rest is interrupted when a military C-130 Hercules passes overhead, leading the survivors to travel through the city's business district towards Metro International Airport. Upon arrival, the group see that in an attempt to contain the infection, the military had bombed the airport. The runway, however, is largely intact, allowing the survivors to fuel up and escape in a waiting C-130. An airplane is seen trying to land, only to crash and explode, giving insight into how the outbreak affected air traffic.''

''Despite this apparent rescue, it crashes as well, and the survivors once again find themselves alone on the outskirts of Allegheny National Forest. Following a series of train tracks through the area, the group find themselves at a functioning, but abandoned, military outpost. After answering a radio transmission, the survivors make their final stand against hordes of infected, before a military APC arrives to (supposedly) transport them to Northeast Safe Zone Echo, implied to be one of the few (if not the only) safe zones still standing. Instead, they are taken to a military installation and informed that even though they are immune, they still carry the infection. They are temporarily held by the military before the base is overrun with infected. The four escape via train and travel south at Bill's insistence; Bill believes that they can find long-term safety from the infected on the islands of the Florida Keys.''

''At the portside town of Rayford, they find a boat but must raise an old rusty bridge powered by an aging generator to get the boat into open waters, assured that the machinery noise will alert a large horde. However, the generator gives out. Bill sacrifices himself in order to restart it, so that the others may reach safety. After waiting for the horde to disperse, the three then encounter four more survivors. They move the boat to the other side of the bridge and help them re-lower the bridge so they can cross in their car. Afterwards, Louis, Zoey, and Francis head back to the boat and set course to the Keys.''

Remember, Left 4 Dead is a first-person shooter in which the player takes control of one of four survivors; if human players are not available, then the remaining survivors are AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the infected—living humans who have been infected with a rabies-like virus that causes psychosis. The virus does not affect them but they can transmit it to others as carriers.

The game focuses on cooperation and teamwork and thus eschews some "realism" conventions usual in most FPS games of the wider genre. Colored outlines of teammates are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement. If a survivor falls off a ledge, then they may automatically hang onto it and can only be helped up by another survivor. If a survivor's health is depleted, then they become incapacitated and can only be revived by another survivor, at which point they continue playing with a low amount of health that decreases over time. If a survivor has been incapacitated and revived twice without tending to their wounds, then they will experience distorted black-and-white vision, and the next incapacitation will kill the character. If a survivor takes enough damage while incapacitated, or is not eventually helped up by teammates, then the incapacitated character will die. During "Campaign" mode, if a survivor is killed, then they will respawn in a closet or other enclosed space after a period of time (except during key points in the scenario), but must be freed by another survivor to rejoin the team. Otherwise, the player must wait until the next level. The AI is incapable of accessing the "respawn closets", so if all human player survivors are killed or incapacitated, players will have to restart from the last checkpoint. Survivors can share first-aid kits and pain pills and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has friendly fire (which causes no damage on the easy difficulty mode), increasing the need for caution around other survivors.

The survivors communicate by voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some may sound off automatically when performing actions such as reloading or spotting infected. Over 1,000 unique lines have been recorded for each survivor. Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving. Due to control issues and the likelihood of players using a headset, the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead omits the quick phrases feature.

The game is experienced through six campaigns that take place in various urban and rural locales. Multiple visual in-game hints—including license plates, park signs, markings on airport equipment, and lines of dialogue spoken by the survivors—suggest that these locations are in Pennsylvania, and similarly a memorial wall giving names of those who have died in the infection (actually names of the game's development team) along with their dates of birth and death suggests that the game takes place in October 2009. Each campaign is divided into five chapters (except Crash Course, which has two chapters, and The Sacrifice, which has three) marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm and revive characters who were killed. Specifically, the four campaigns are: "No Mercy", an urban setting culminating in a hospital skyscraper; "Death Toll", a small-town and countryside setting; "Dead Air", an airport setting; and "Blood Harvest", a woodland and farm setting. A two-level campaign, "Crash Course", was released on September 29th, and is set in the outskirts of a small industrial town. While The Sacrifice is a three-level campaign released on October 5th in 2010, with an industrial port-side setting in Georgia. The levels have distinct beginnings and ends, but there are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies, helping to create a sense of non-linearity. In the final chapter of each campaign, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of infected until rescue arrives. Each campaign typically lasts between 20 and 75 minutes depending on the difficulty level. Both platform versions of the game utilize an achievement system.

I bought the game from GameStop and purchased Xbox LIVE so that I can play while chatting with my friends on my headset. I played the game on Versus-Mode and played as Francis as I shot numerous zombies in the Dead Air level. I continued to wonder around killing common infected until I got attacked by a Hunter.

In case you've been living under a rock for the rest of your lives, The Hunter is an agile Special Infected whose mutation has granted him incredible strength and agility. His role in both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is to kill or grievously injure individual Survivors who have become separated from their comrades. Not to mention he's voiced by Mike Patton.

The Hunter appears in a faded blue hooded sweatshirt and dark brown sweatpants. His hood is always pulled down and over his face, which on close inspection, reveals that the skin around his eyes has either been clawed off or has mortified as a result of the Infection. What remains of his eyes emit the white reflective glow displayed by Common Infected in the dark; although this effect may be light reflecting off the blood leaking from his eye sockets. Inspiration for the Hunter's design may have come from the Parkour culture, a physical discipline that allows its practitioners to move fluidly and effortlessly through an environment, often overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. Some traceurs are seen with the sleeves and hems of clothing taped down to prevent air resistance. Also, during Versus, if controlled by a player, he can perform parkour from a building's wall to another. (An example is in the Dead Air campaign, most specifically the Construction Site.)

By the way, I practice Parkour sometimes, myself.

Hunters are primarily identified by their distinctive and intimidating growl, or the screams and snarls they emit upon sighting a Survivor or while attacking. Hunters are the only Special Infected who do not make any noise while in a passive state.

After the Hunter killed me due to the horde surrounding the other survivors, I respawned and entered the Holly Street Apartments through a broken hole in the wall. If you have not encountered a second Pistol yet, there is a corpse near the window that may have one lying beside it. I checked the bedroom to the left, and head down the stairs and turned right. However, that's when I got pounced, once again, by a Hunter.

"Again?" I groaned.

Thankfully, Bill knocked the Hunter off me and went after it as the Special Infected bounded away scot free. I stick to my team like glue as we shot and killed numerous zombies. Until, as I got to The Construction Site, once again I got pounced by, who else...

The Hunter.

I can tell it was the same Hunter that killed me back at the Greenhouse (the same place I got pounced the second time), because of the amount of blood on his clothes. I learned on YouTube that whenever you kill a survivor as a Hunter, huge splatters of blood with cover the character from head-to-toe. I can also tell somebody's playing the character, because of the name bar above the Special Infected saying, "The Hunter".

His timing, his timing is perfect. He knew where I would be at the right place and the right time, and would wait till I came out in the open. I checked this guy's stats, and it was a whopping 10,000 points!

"This guy's a god!" I thought.

I knew I had to step-up my game so I gave this guy everything I got. After 6 minutes in, I got pretty bored. I was at the Runway Finale until... I got attacked by, yet again, the Hunter. It was the same guy; same name bar, same bloody clothes. The bloody Hunter pounced by bouncing off some walls and dive down at me. It was, indeed, a trick move that was performed by many players from YouTube, but I thought this was odd considering that I did my best to prevent myself from getting pounced.

I respawned and decided to play as Louise and be cautious of my surroundings: I stepped outside the safehouse, nothing; I continued shooting zombies, nothing; I gunned down a Tank, nothing.

Just an ominous feeling like I was being watched...

I looked around, and I saw him. The Hunter! He was just standing there on the rooftop until he ran off. I kept my eye on the roof he was on, till I was sure he was gone. Me and the rest of the Survivors ran towards the C-130 until... *sigh* The same exact Hunter pounced me. This time I was ready, I snapped a photograph of the attack and saved it on my computer. I still have the pic and I'll post it when I have the chance.

I was about to quite right there and say fuck this until I heard something in my headphones. It sounded like a growl of some sort... no, no- not a growl. A deep, guttural voice which snarled something quiet and faint, like someone loosing his voice. I couldn't hear it clearly, but I can tell he was talking to me.

"I-I'm sorry what was that?" I asked.

No answer.

I asked again and still no response. I decided to check on other players and asked if their hearing and seeing the same shit I have. Their response is this:

"Yeah, we heard that shit!" 

"I don't know who this douche is, but he seriously needs to stop dicking with us!"

"If he keeps pouncing us, we're quitting the game! I don't know about you guys, but I rather play Call of Duty than to play Cat and Mouse with this motherfucker!"

You heard right, no ghosts, no goblins, just a random player who's obviously the biggest troll in town. And the thing that got me in the gut is that, I'm not the only one getting pounced on! This guy pounced other players, and did not stop until they quite the game. I decided to hell with this and tried to find the asshole and end his bloodlust once and for all. But to no avail.

I searched high and low, but couldn't find him. It was like chasing a phantom, no matter how hard I tried, I'll never be able to catch him. That is, until I found him pouncing on another player. I grabbed my shotgun, and aimed at the bloody Hunter.

I was finally going to kill the bastard!

"Now I got you!" I said out loud as I grinned with anticipation, and I fired my gun, and the bullet went straight for his back!

The Hunter got off of the Survivor and he bounded away as I fired another shot. I wasn't going to loose him now, so I chased after him through the level, firing my gun at the darkness.

"Where'd he go?" I thought to myself.

For what felt like hours on end, I searched high and low for the Hunter, until I heard the Hunter's trademark snarls. I turned my character around at the source of the noise, aimed at it, and saw the Hunter pounce on me.

I finally gave up, I quite the game. No matter how hard I tried, I just can't find a way to beat him. I tried to forget about the whole ordeal by playing Team Fortress 2. I noticed that in the chat box was the same players from the game, and thankfully, not the player by the name of The Hunter. They felt the same way I felt, which I guess makes us equals. I felt singerly at ease.

The next morning, I received an Email in my Gmail account, and it read as follows:

"Play the game... I want to see you bleed... I want to watch you die...

Sincerely, The Hunter."

What the actual fuck?! How did that bastard know my Gmail account?!

I freaked the fuck out as I called my friend over! He said that he's getting the same shit, which means I did not imagine or dream it!

I'll have to come back to this another time, I have to do some investigation on the matter. I'll talk to you guys soon.

UPDATE: July 4th, 2011 - 11:10 PM:
Okay, so, I did not get some evidence of the guy. Dickhead's anonymous. I promise to take the asshole down, but my friend was out of town at the time and went to Jersey Shore for vacation. Turns out, my friend ran into a guy who claims to be the older brother of our suspect.

He said his older brother's name is Mitch, and he had some run-ins with the law: played video games and harassed other players, and even hacked into their computers and looked up their profiles. Guy's a computer genius, or more like an evil genius if you ask me.

So, this guy's name is Mitch, he's 22-years-old, and lives in New Jersey. Looks like we have our guy!

UPDATE: June 8th, 2011 - 7: 88 AM:
My friend's back from New Jersey, and he got some bad news...

The witness was brutally murdered by Mitch - his younger brother - and lit his house on fire. Guess Mitch didn't want his identity to be revealed, so he went stark-raving mad and killed his own brother. I mean, Jesus Christ, what kind of messed up individual commit heinous acts like this?! What makes a person be this evil?!

I guess the only option is, is to call the police. Mitch is already on the run, and I'll make sure he'll get his just desserts.

Better run Mitch, cause now I'M the Hunter.