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[[caption-width-right:300:Yes, this is [[BadassInANiceSuit Nick]]. After a sunken boat, an encounter with a Witch, and a separation from his teammates, that is.]]

->''"Of course I'm alive. I'm not an idiot. ...Those goddamn assholes couldn't wait two days for me to catch up."''
-->-- '''Nick'''

A ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' fanfiction by [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1586803/Disrupted-Original Disrupted Original]] that takes place after the ending of the game. Apparently the survivors were slated to be brought to [[AllThereInTheManual a fleet of cruise ships]]. The author takes this idea and runs with it, having the cruise ship crash and/or sink into the ocean. The game's party of four becomes separated from each other. This story follows Nick as he tries to reunite with them.

The fic is not so much a story about a [[ZombieApocalypse zombie apocalypse]] as it is a story about Nick's slow change from [[JerkAss complete asshole]] to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold a somewhat decent human being]].

This fanfic is now complete, at 43 chapters, and can be [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5984812/1/Two_Step read here.]]

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!!''FanFic/TwoStep'' provides examples of:

* AfraidOfBlood: Anyone in the military who has to deal with Carriers.
* ArcWords:
** [[spoiler:'Say hey, Daisy Mae. How many children have died today?']]
** [[spoiler:'Turn the page, wash your hands.']] Same arc, arguably: [[spoiler:'Hope is just a word with a hole in it.']]
* AxCrazy: [[spoiler:In 'The Catalyst' (chapters 38 and 39), Nick basically goes into full on crazy commando mode as he ends up working himself free of his ziptie restraints during a sample-taking, kills the doctor who has done nothing but help him by strangling her with his IV line, slashes the throat of one guard with a scalpel, shoots two more, and THEN purposely infects one of the shot guards with his blood as she was begging him for help. Oh, and with a SlasherSmile on his face, too. 'Crazy' doesn't ''begin'' to describe it.]]
* BadassAndChildDuo: While Terry and Sean are more teenagers than kids, Isaac definitely counts when they're with Nick.
* BeardOfSorrow: Well, several months of not shaving does that to a person.
* BigFriendlyDog: Rob, unless you're a zombie.
* BreakTheHaughty: Seems to be the road Nick's going down right now. Nick was a handsome, narcissistic, smug jerk ass who only looked after himself before the infection. Suddenly he is scarred, half blind, alone and desperately trying to reconnect with his companions.
* BreatherEpisode: The chapters spent in Eight Springs.
* CharacterDevelopment: Nick gets loads of this.
* ChekhovsGun: The military satellite phone.
* ChekhovsSkill: Gregory's noisemaker technique to get rid of zombies comes back into play when [[spoiler:Nick uses it to draw out all the zombies so the military will be forced to shoot the zombies instead of him and the boys as they escape Washington D.C.]]
* CrapsackWorld: Well, it is a zombie apocalypse. Except now it's winter, and the further north Nick travels, the worse it seems to get.
* CrazyEnoughToWork: Nick's plan for getting out of Washington, D.C. [[spoiler:Infiltrate a military encampment, disable six of their seven Hummers, hotwire and steal the last one, and then pick up and escape with three kids and a dog?]] Sure, why not?
** As of the latest chapter, 39, it seems most of Nick's escape plans fall under this...
* DeathGlare: Losing an eye seems to have made Nick an expert at this.
* DeadlyRoadTrip: It's a given, considering it's a zombie apocalypse. With the harsh winter, mutating zombies, the military and other dangers, it's been taken up to eleven.
* DecoyProtagonist: Christopher and Amanda are introduced before even Nick is. [[spoiler:But Christopher doesn't last too long before getting infected. And after Amanda tries to kill Nick, he leaves her for dead, as he probably infected her on accident already.]]
* TheDeterminator: Nick, who was willing to risk getting a brain hemorrhage after a nasty fight with a charger rather than sit and wait for his wounds to heal. To a lesser extent, Rob.
* DontYouDarePityMe: Nick might be half-blind and starving to death, but he doesn't take well to sympathy. [[spoiler:Giving it, on the other hand...]]
* DownerBeginning: The story begins with Christoper and Amanda [[spoiler:walking down a road piled with dead bodies.]] They were stuck on their yacht for a month and had no idea how far the Infection had spread, or the damage it had done.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: An understatement. And even then, the rewards aren't all that happy.
* EyeScream: Only exacerbated by the fact that [[spoiler:Nick got the wound by saving Coach's life.]]
* EvilGloating: Luke did this to Terrance. [[spoiler:And Kyle did this to Nick.]]
* FriendlySniper: Isaac, a kid version.
* GreatEscape: The entire four-part, four chapter arc called "The Catalyst."
* HandicappedBadass: Even with just one eye, he can still kick a lot of ass.
* HesJustHiding: In-universe example. [[spoiler:The note Nick found at Eight Springs]] makes it clear that Ellis is clinging to the hope that Nick isn't dead.
* HiddenDepths: Nick, while never quite dropping his grumpy stoicism, still became attached to his dog and [[spoiler:two of]] the three kids from Washington- a huge change from his attitude in the game.
* ImAHumanitarian: It's never blatantly revealed, but rather hinted that a pair of survivors Nick runs into would have liked to [[WorldOfPun have him over for dinner]].
* ImprovisedWeapon: Nick kills a Charger with a cake knife. The absurdity of this is not lost on him.
* IncrediblyLamePun: Isaac's only form of humor is making ''painfully'' terrible zombie puns. Guess how the others react.
* IneffectualLoner: Nick, but the same would be true for any survivor in the same situation. He's just harder to get along with.
* IWillFindYou: [[spoiler:In Chapter 42, Ellis finally finds Nick and takes him to the saferoom Nick has been trying to reach for months.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Nick, of course. Sean also has shades of this.
** JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: Kyle. Barratt comes after a very close second, but his extremely abusive behavior can be just be barely excused for his fear of being infected by the carriers, and well as attempting for subduing the captured carriers so they won't fight back and potentially infecting someone. Which leads to...
** JerkassHasAPoint: [[spoiler:In-Universe, Barratt warns Dr. Sijan about the dangers of trusting carriers, and of more importantly, never turn your back to one. Unfortunately for Dr. Sijan, she did just that. ]]
* JustAKid: Spoken by Nick after Sean [[spoiler:saves him from dying of a bullet wound.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Kyle. He drugged Nick, threw Rob out to the snow and abandoned him and sent Nick off to a CEDA/Military research facility, which is basically a FateWorseThanDeath for carriers. He was last seen getting ready to go to Maine to find the safezone Ellis and the others were in, as Nick told him there's a safezone there. Kyle's plan is to find other carriers there to pick up and give them Nick's fate.]]
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:For one brief, shining moment, it seemed like Nick was finally, FINALLY going to make it to the safezone. WITH Rob in tow. And then Kyle happened.]]
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Barratt seems to be ESPECIALLY fond of doing this to people after he's tazed them. [[spoiler:Kyle did this to Nick after he woke up from a drug-induced sleep, doing some EvilGloating about abandoning Rob and describing what will happen to Nick when he is taken to the research facility.]]
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Along with the above KickThemWhileTheyAreDown trope, Barratt also has this tendency to not to refer carriers not by name or gender pronouns, but by their designated numbers and "it". Cue him being infected by another carrier he was beating to death and turned into a zombie. To push the karmic justice even further, Nick started to refer zombie!Barratt as an "it" as he made his escape from the facility.]]
* LeftForDead: [[spoiler:Nick does this to Amanda early on after she tries to kill him.]]
* LickedByTheDog: Nick is adopted by/adopts a stray dog named Rob and three boys from Washington, D.C.
* TheLoad: Played straight with Christopher and Amanda. Totally averted with Rob and the boys.
* MadnessMantra: "''Say hey, Daisy Mae...''"
* MercyKill: Nick to [[spoiler:Christopher]], when [[spoiler:he inadvertently passes the zombie virus to him.]]
** [[spoiler:This was also Gregory's intention when he murdered a train full of children.]] He was also crazy.
* MiseryBuildsCharacter: The entire fic seems to be BUILT on this trope. And damn does it do a good job.
* MoralityPet: Terry, Sean, Isaac, and Rob are this for Nick. Especially Isaac.
* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: Except for the zombies. Nick is struggling to overcome a handicap and not starve to death, while actually seeking out other people, as opposed to his 'lone-wolf' attitude at the start of the game. Also [[spoiler:after Terry's death.]]
* PapaWolf: Nick grows to be this for the boys.
* PerpetualSmiler: Terrence.
* PerpetualFrowner: Nick.
* ScarsAreForever: Nick can certainly tell you that.
* ScarSurvey: With a face like Nick's this trope was bound to happen eventually.
* ShellShockedVeteran: Nick is this in the very beginning and throughout his journey his PTSD has gotten worse. Other survivors can be this as well.
* SlasherSmile: [[spoiler:Nick gives one to the female guard he ended up shooting as she was begging for help...shortly before infecting her with his blood.]]
* SnowballFight: Issac tries to do this with Sean but instead Nick with a snowball. Few seconds later, Sean throws a snowball at Nick, this time intentionally. Cue SugarWiki/FunnyMoments.
* SnowedIn: In the movie theater.
* SuperDrowningSkills: Tanks are too dense and disproportionate to swim.
* TeenGenius: Sean, who is an experienced medic at age fifteen.
* ThrowTheDogABone: In chapter 28, after all the shit Nick's been through the past twenty eight chapters, the gods above must have smiled on him, when he [[spoiler:finally, ''finally'' gets laid by a fiery red head.]]
* TraumaticHaircut: When they shave Nick's head at the military research facility.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Isaac, the twelve-year-old sniper.
* TwoFaced: Nick, naturally, though he's a rare heroic version of this, despite his grumpy stoicism and his early jerkass tendencies.
* WhamEpisode: [[spoiler:Chapter 23.]] May induce shock and profuse crying.
** [[spoiler:Chapter 33. "I will fucking KILL YOU, Kyle."]]
* WhatTheHellHero: [[spoiler:Nick angrily asks Coach and Rochelle in the epilogue why they left him behind in North Carolina.]]
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Nick apparently has a fear of water [[spoiler:from nearly drowning on a cruise ship]] and a 'really-he'll-piss-his-pants' fear of Witches. [[spoiler:For good reason.]]
* YouAreNumberSix: After being taken into the research facility, Nick is "C-315-024" or just "315."
** There's also the unnamed Carrier who [[spoiler:infects Barratt after a struggle]], known only as "909."