บท 64: Left 4 Dead: Surviving the Green Flu

My third foray into the world of games, today we'll be talking about Valve's 4-player cooperative zombie shooter. I'll be offering a few different possible MC's: One insert character, one reincarnation, and one transmigration. Now I know some of you may say that you could use the same character idea for both rebirth and transference, but I'm trying to be original.

So, just for a frame of reference, Left 4 Dead takes place 2 weeks after Patient Zero was infected, and Left 4 Dead 2 takes place a week after the first game. The first idea for the protagonist is for an in-universe character. My suggestion is for their job to be something in the military, or S.W.A.T. as this would give him essential experience in fighting and survival tactics. Definitely a high ranking officer, maybe a captain. Obviously, he would also be immune, as there would be no point to making a fleshed out main character who dies in the first 6 chapters. Maybe he could have a bit of a prepper streak, stocking up on bottled water and non-perishable food, ammo, and possibly constructing a safe house, or repairing and refurbishing an old bomb shelter. Eventually, he'll catch wind of the situation and will be recalled by the military, but during transport they get attacked, and he is the sole survivor. Now, if you want to stay in line with the original game, he could find a trio of other people, who will depend on him as the leader. Or you could have him find a single partner(romance, if you like). Also, totally down if you'd like to give him a canine companion, I think dogs in apocalyptic settings are great.

Next up is a tale of rebirth, into a world of relative horror. Usually with these reincarnation ideas, I use fans of the series in question, since their knowledge would help them survive, and I don't see any reason to change it here. Sure, it's possible to just thrust some random Joe into a zombie apocalypse, but unless they're really lucky, they'd most likely die. Now, is it one of those die then wake up rebirths or will the MC meet God and get some wishes? I'm leaning more toward the wishes, but only because they can be limited to only being something within human bounds. So, no superpowers, just enhanced attributes, or immunity to the Green Flu. Maybe he'll be allowed to choose when he's reborn and where, but not which world he's going to.

As for transmigration, I thought I'd do something different, but I'm not sure how you would react. Why don't we take a character from another zombie franchise? Someone like Chris Redfield or Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil. But if that isn't your speed, why not have a gamer wake up in the body of one of the eight survivors? My personal choices would be Francis, Nick or Ellis. I pick Francis the most, but that's just cause I too, hate everything.