| “ | I'll see peace back on earth if I gotta murder every one of these bastards with my bare goddamn hands.
— Bill Overbeck
|
” |
William "Bill" Overbeck is one of the protagonists of the first-person shooter video game Left 4 Dead. A Vietnam War veteran, Bill commands a group of survivors during the zombie apocalypse.
Bill enlisted in the US Army Special Forces. He served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War before an injury to his knee led him to be honorably discharged. Stateside, Bill struggled to adjust to civilian life. Without an enemy to fight, he felt lost in a foreign world. Decades later, Bill prepared for surgery at a Veterans Affairs hospital. As anesthesia dulled his senses, Bill’s nurse suddenly turned into a zombie.
Fighting off the drugs' effects, Bill escaped and realized the full scale of the catastrophe. The Green Flu ravaged the country, turning its victims into zombies. Bill returned home and retrieved his army fatigues. He was exhilarated; he finally had a new enemy. Bill met three other survivors: Francis, Louis, and Zoey. Together, the group traversed the East Coast seeking a safe haven. However, the Green Flu thwarted their plans at every turn.
Captured by the US Army, the group learned a shocking truth: the four survivors were infected. They were immune to the virus's effects, but spread it to all they encountered. The group escaped and sought to find a remote island. In the port town of Rayford, they hoped to secure a sailboat, but they were waylaid by a horde of the Infected. Bill sacrificed his life, staying behind to ensure his friends survived.
Battle vs. Miles Quaritch (by Wassboss)[]
Bill is woken by water dripping on his forehead. He opens his eyes and stares at his surroundings. He is in a dimly lit room, lying on the floor facing up to the ceiling. He slowly gets up but feels a sharp pain in his bad leg. He winches in pain as he stands but manages to keep his footing. He stretches in the morning sun and scratches his head. He brushes the dirt and grass off his clothes and walks over to a table. He picks up an AK-47, a M1911 pistol and a couple of Molotov’s. He then pushes open the door and steps outside.
Meanwhile Colonel Quaritch is cleaning the machete after getting it stained with blood. “Well that should do it” he says smiling at his now shiny machete. “Who knew first day back and from Pandora and I’m already fighting for my life” he says chuckling. “Ah well nothing i can’t handle”. Suddenly he hears the sound of footsteps on the ground outside. He stands up slowly and walks carefully to the other side of the room and picks up his M60. Slinging the machete over his back he creeps out of the side exit.
He slowly walks down the alleyway checking around for any hidden zombies. He sees a shadow go across the ground in front of him and he crouches down behind an open door. Slowly the barrel of an assault rifle peeks round the corner. Bill stands at the entrance to the alleyway squinting into surprisingly dark alleyway. He can hear breathing but he can’t decipher where it is coming from. Quaritch can’t take it anymore. With a roar he jumps up and fires sending a barrage of bullets flying at bill. However bill has managed to leap behind cover and the bullets pass him harmlessly. He pokes the barrel of his AK round the side and fires missing quaritch’s head by an inch. Quaritch madly fires at bills location but the stone wall of the alleyway prevents him from hitting him.
Bill fires again managing to hit the barrel directly shattering it and rendering the M60 useless. Quaritch growls and pulls out his RDA pistol firing at bill catching him off guard and destroying the AK. He laughs but the smile is soon wiped of his face when bill whips out his own pistol and shooting him in the arm. Being a trained soldier he shrugs it off but his anger wells up. He roars loudly and fires rapidly at bill and manages to scrape his face with one shot and hit his thigh with another before bill gets behind cover. Bill yelps in pain but somehow manages too aim carefully and knock the pistol out of quaritch’s hands. He then quick as a flash jumps out and runs at quaritch putting his pistol too quaritch’s temple.
Knowing he has been beaten quaritch closes his eyes and waits for the bullet. One minute, Two minutes. He opens his eyes and sees the bill is struggling to pull it. “Don’t milk it come on kill me” he says angrily. “I can’t “says bill looking down at the floor. “Why not” says quaritch. “You remind me of me in my younger days” says bill tears welling up in his eyes “So brave, so deadly and willing to fight to the death it makes me remember my days as a soldier”. He is cut short as quaritch pulls the machete off his back and slices the pistol in two. “You know what old man” says quaritch pausing “I don’t care”. He swings the machete at bill but he easily dodges it pulling out his own knife. He stabs forward but gets caught in quaritch’s belt.
Quaritch smiles and knees bill in the face sending him sprawling to the ground. He raises the machete above his head ready to plunge it into bill’s chest. Just as he is about to kill him bill pulls out a Molotov, lights it and throws it at quaritch shattering against his chest and setting his shirt on fire. He screams and drops to the floor rolling around in a desperate attempt to get rid of the flames. While he rolling around bill walks around him and picks up his machete from the floor. He struggles with the weight and swings it across the floor. The weight of the machete coupled with the weakness of the initial swing means that the hit on quaritch is neither lethal nor devastating. It only make a minor cut on his side. By this time quaritch has put out the flames and is up on his feet running back to the room where his weapons are. Bill follows slowly dragging the machete behind him.
Quaritch runs into the room closing the door to give him more time. Grabs his Bush boss from the cupboard he stores his weapons in and straps it onto his back. Just as he gets it on bill smashes the machete against the door and shatters it with the force of the blow. He steps though the doorway and quaritch fires the flamethrower burning him alive. He keeps on burning the charred corpse till he is out of fuel. He then picks up his machete from the floor beside bill’s corpse. He raises it in the air and shouts in victory.
Winner Colonel Quaritch
Expert's Opinion[]
Colonel Quaritch won because of his physical superiority and better weapons. While they both had army training quaritch’s was much more intense and unlike bill he had no physical disadvantage that might prevent him from performing too his full potential. His mental attitude was much better than bill’s having survived much worse ordeals than bill which meant he was much more assured of his abilities.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Joel Miller (by Postapocfan1999)[]
Joel walked down the abandonded street. He had his sniper out, ready to kill any infected or humans who want to harm him. He constantly was thinking about Ellie. The infected had seperated them. Joel's mind also pictured those particular infected. They were unlike anything he had ever seen. He was low on ammo because of those bast****. He looked at the highschool up ahead. The same one he told Ellie to head to so they could meet up. He checked his weapons and continued walking...
"Damn infected." Bill grunted. He cocked his Ruger and went into the highschool. As he went in, he thought about his group. They were all killed by a group of new infected. It was a mistake to fire their guns like they did with the regular infected. They actually noticed the gunshots. That was stupid on their part. He lit a cigarette and stood against a wall, tears forming in his eyes...
Joel had noticed Bill long before he even lit his cigar. He aimed his sniper at Bill, his finger hovering over the trigger...
Then he coughed. Bill shined a flashlight on him and saw the gun that Joel had. He immedeatly aimed his Ruger and fired, barley grazing Joel. Stupid Ruger, Bill thought. Joel went behind a wall and turned off his flashlight so Bill wouldn't know where he was. He took out his revolver and blind fired so Bill would take cover.
The light moved and left Joel in complete darkness. "I ain't gonna hurt you!" He shouted to Bill.
"Hell ya you won't motherf****!" Bill lit his pipe bomb and threw it at Joel.
Joel ran down the hall and the pipe bomb beeped until it detonated. "You mind giving one of those to me for the clickers?"
"Screw you!" Bill aimed his M1911 at Joel and the bullet his his leg. He prepared to kill Joel, but all he heard was a clicking sound. Joel took the opportunity to pull out his Tarsus and fired at Bill, hitting his foot. Bill reloaded his Colt as Joel rolled away into one of the classroms which had no door to block his way. Bill fired at him until the slide locked back. While Bill did that, Joel took out a health pack and tended to his wound. Bill did the same and Joel fired his last revolver round, barley missing Bill's head. Joel then pulled out his Mossberg and fired one shell at Bill. This time, the buckshot hit Bill's leg. "FUUUUUUU*********!" He screamed.
Bill ran away, but not without getting a bit of revenge. He pulled out his M79 and fired into the room that Joel was in. Joel spotted this and got out of the explosion radius, but did not leave unscathed. A large piece of shrapnel was embeded into his arm. Joel took it out and used his last health pack. He then threw a nail bomb and some shrapnel hit Bill's shoulder and lower back. Joel pumped his Mossberg and carefully went out of the room. He turned on his flashlight and saw the trail of Bill's blood. He followed it until he went outside of the highschool.
Bill had his M16 out and he fired wildly at Joel. His aim was unsteady, so Joel went out of harms way. He crouched behind a car and aimed his sniper.
Bill ducked and the shot hit air. He then ran to a nearby schoolbus and went inside. Joel, knowing he had no more ammo for his Winchester, pulled out his Mossberg and fired at the bus. Joel then took out his M4 and slowly crept towards the bus. He flanked bill entered through the back. Bill was trying to clear a jam while Joel did this. Joel aimed his rifle and pulled the trigger...
Nothing. The thing probably misfired or something. Joel threw it and unleashed his flamethrower.
"YOU PHSYCO!" Bill hollered as Joel severley burned him. The flamethrower's canister emptied quickly, leaving Bill burned, but still somewhat able to fight. Bill took the opportunity to buttstroke Joel. He did it so hard (yes, that is what she said) that he knocked Joel out of the bus. Joel fell on his behind, pain blossoming throughout his body. Bill jumped at him, but Joel rolled over and took out his pipe. He struck him on the head and Bill shouted. Bill then used his gunstock to hit Joel in his stomach, knocking the air out of him. Joel raised his pipe and aimed the pipe at Bill's head...
He moved and the pipe met Bill's shoulder. The pipe broke and Bill swung his gun at Joel's head, knocking him to the ground and leaving him helpless. Bill took away Joel's Mossberg and said, "Any last words?"
"Ellie..."
No one has seen Joel since. He is presumed dead.
Ellie didn't find Joel there and waited until a pack of clickers chased her away.
Bill layed on the ground. His mind was slowly slipping. He could still think, but not control his body. His mind lingered on the day his group died, the smoke in the air. It must have been contaminated. As the months passed he slowly became blind and mindless.
Expert's Opinion[]
Bill won because of his superior weapons and training. Joel was a formidable opponent, but Bill had the advantage from the start.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Souichiro Takagi (by SPARTAN 119)[]
- Bill Overbeck:
- Souichiro Takagi
Bill, Louis, Francis, and Zoey walked out of a wreck of a downed C-130, onto the grounds of a large mansion covered in partially burned tents and dead bodies.
"Great", Francis said, "This place is fucked up too".
"No point in staying here, Bill said, "Lets get moving and try and find somewhere safe".
"Yeah, but where?", Zoey asked, "We don't even know where we are."
"Looks like Tokunosu", Bill said, "I was stationed at a base here before the war. Now I don't want to deal with the military again, not after what happened in Pennsylvania, so I say we go with the old plan and go to the docks, get a boat and find a small island to live on- there should be a bunch of them to the south."
The four survivors walked forward through the ruins of the camp, until Louis walked over to a military crate and broke it open with a fire axe he took from inside the plane. "Guys", he said, "I found some medical supplies".
Suddenly a voice said in English, with only a slight Japanese accent. "Freeze, drop your weapons, I will not tolerate looters in my compound!"
The four survivors looked up to see Souichiro Takagi flanked by three militia men. "Who the hell is that?!", Francis asked.
"Wait a second, Louis said, "I think I heard about this guy when I was doing an internship in Tokyo, apparently he's an ultra-conservative politician"
"I hate politicians!", Francis responded.
"This your last chance", Souichiro said, "Put down the weapons and supplies or we will fire on you!"
"Hold on a second", Bill said, "We're....." Bill was cut off by a burst of fire from a militia man's M16. The burst caught Louis twice in the chest and once in the head, killing him.
"You'll pay for that you bastards!", Bill said, getting into cover, before raising up and firing a burst from his M16, eliminating one of the militia. 
The two groups of survivors exchanged fire, with bullets flying over the other's heads. Souichiro Takagi, who took cover behind a brick wall commanded his men to throw the dynamite. The stick of explosives landed near Zoey. She tried to jump out of the way, but the dynamite exploded, killing her in the blast.
"Zoey... Dammit.... Die you sons of bitches!", Francis yelled, firing his Benelli M3 shotgun and scoring a hit in one of the militia men's chests, causing him to collapse to the ground.
Bill got out a pipe bomb from his side and threw it at Souichiro. The explosive device let out a beeping sound that attracted a horde of zombies. Seeing this, Souichiro drew his katana and slashed through the hordes of the living dead that surround him. The last surviving militia man, however, was not so lucky. He only got off a few shots with his Remington 1100 before he was overrun by hordes of the infected, he pinned him to the ground and began to tear him to pieces. Seconds later, however the bomb detonated, blowing militia man and zombie alike to a bloody mess.
Francis fired his shotgun at Souichiro, narrowly missing him. Souichiro raised his Luger and fired several shots at Francis, scoring multiple hits.
What Souichiro did not notice, however, was Bill, who drew his SiG Sauer, firing several times into Souichiro's back. Souichiro crumpled to the ground, dead.
WINNER: Bill Overbeck
Expert's Opinion[]
Bill won this battle because of his superior combat experience and training, being a former special forces soldier in Vietnam. This, along with his superior weapons allowed him to win in spite of his injuries decreasing his mobility.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. The Stranger (Until Dawn) (by Wassboss)[]
Walking in silence as the biting cold nips at any piece of exposed skin Bill leads the way as the L4D Survivors trudge through the snowy forest of Blackwood Mountain. The group comes across a river, the black murky water lashing violently against the riverbed. Bill points to a fallen tree which has created a makeshift bridge across the water. “We can cross here,” he says gruffly.
“I dunno Bill it doesn’t look awfully stable,” Francis retorts eyeing the tree suspiciously.
“We don’t really have another option; I don’t want to spend any more time out in the cold than we have to. So man up and cross the damn river,” Bill replies annoyed.
“Well I ain’t going first,” Francis continues.
“Hell I’ll go first if it will shut you both up.” Zoe holsters her pistol and carefully manoeuvres across the tree trunk, jumping off on the other side of the river. Louis is the next one across leaving just Francis and Bill. Bill indicates for Francis to go first and he reluctantly hands him his shotgun as he steps tentatively onto the trunk. He slowly begins to edge over it and is about half the way across when he feels it begin to shift underneath him. Panicking he starts to move quicker which only unsettles the tree more, dislodging one end of the tree. As it begins to sink into the river he makes a leap of faith and is grabbed by Zoey and Louis on the other side and they pull him up onto more stable ground.
“Holy shit. I told you that thing was dangerous Bill,” Francis shouts angrily. “What are we going to do now? You’re stuck on that side and we’re all over here.”
“I’ll have to find another place to cross. You three continue onto the lodge house we saw on the map.”
“We can’t just leave you out here Bill, what if Hunter or a Smoker gets you. You’d be a gonner.”
“I’ll have to take that risk. Besides we haven’t seen any infected for days now, I don’t think they like the cold much. There’s probably a bridge or another fallen tree somewhere along this river.”
“Can you at least throw me back my shotgun?” Francis asks.
“No can do, I’m going to need this more than you.” Francis looks annoyed which makes Bill smile. “Enough arguing, I’ll catch up with you guys soon.” Bill starts walking downhill alongside the riverbed while the other three carry onto the lodge house.
“Jesus Christ how far does this river go?!” Bill mutters under his breath. After 20 minutes of following the river he hasn’t found a single crossing point. He stops to gain his bearings and his ears prickle as he hears the sound of crunching footsteps in the snow. Instinctively he ducks down and glances around to determine the location of the noise. A figure enters his field of view, a man dressed in a thick green parka coat, wearing tinted goggles on his eyes and with a bandanna pulled up over his mouth and nose. Strapped across his back is a bulky metal canister which Bill recognises instantly as a Flamethrower canister. “He looks like trouble” he thinks and silently thanks his luck of being hidden behind a thick pine tree.
The Stranger looks around the area carefully, standing perfectly still in case a Wendigo turns up. He could’ve sworn he heard people’s voices but knowing the Wendigo’s tricks he can’t be sure. For some reason his attention is drawn to a particular area of the forest which seems to be unnaturally quiet. Years on the mountain have taught the Stranger that when even nature falls silent that something foul is afoot. Turning, slowly, to point his Flamethrower towards the area he hears the unmistakably sound of something shifting its weight, causing the snow to crackle underneath. “Trying to get stealthy with me are you?” he whispers and sends forth a stream of flames, expecting to hear the hellish shriek of a Wendigo. Instead he hears loud cursing, followed by an old man dressed in military gear bursting out of the foliage.
Cursing his sudden change of luck, Bill goes out all guns blazing and empties his shotgun clip at mysterious man to cover his escape. Working quickly to reload his shotgun he feels a burst of heat as another blast from the Flamethrower roars behind him. He circles around with his shotgun and takes pot shots but each time finds a storm of fire to be the reply. Fast running out of ammo he realises that he’s going to need to do something about that pesky Flamethrower before he gets burnt to a crisp. Ducking down behind a boulder he loads up the last eight shells of his shotgun and pumps it as more flames lick at the rock. Peeking over once the stream has finished he sees the Stranger has swapped fire for bullets and is now clutching a Winchester shotgun, the nozzle of the flamethrower dangling by his side.
Finally seeing a chance to get a proper shot in, Bill fires off several rounds as the Stranger backtracks to a rocky outcrop out of range. Realising he will have to get closer Bill creeps out from his own cover and gets about halfway to the outcrop before getting the feeling he’s walking right into a trap. Sliding behind a tree his instinct proves right as a barrage of pellets graze the trunk, snapping several branches in the process. Returning fire he finds he is still way out of range and has to step out to find more cover. Again narrowly missing having his head blown off he finally manages to get within range to actually do some damage, only to find that he only has one shell left. “Shit” he mutters, annoyed at himself for not paying more attention to his ammo count.
He switches to his trusty magnum just as the Stranger pops out from cover and sends another couple of shells at him. Returning fire with the Magnum, the powerful shots chip the surface of the rocks but the Stranger is much too quick and manages not to get hit. Bill tries to keep an eye on him to see where he shoots from next but nonetheless surprised when the man pops up much closer than before. A bullet tears through his side and he grimaces in pain, hiding out of the line of fire and touching the wound with his hand, coming away with a sickly red colour on his palm. “I can’t keep up like this,” he ponders. He knows he has to get out of this situation and regroup somewhere else but he needs a distraction. Reaching for a bottle of whiskey in his pocket he takes a sip to warm him up a bit and an idea suddenly hits him. Jamming a handkerchief into the bottle neck he uses a lighter to ignite the other end and tosses it at where he last saw the mysterious man...
“It’s a good thing I managed to hit him there. That was my last shotgun shell,” the Stranger thinks as he draws his Pistol. The sound of a smashing bottle echoes through the area and flames begin to form but the Stranger isn’t worried as he’s already moved away from the location of the projectile. Peering over the cover he sees his opponent hobbling away and tries to take a shot but finds the flames are preventing him from getting a good view. He vaults over the outcrop and gives chase and spots Bill as he heads down into the mine-shaft. “Oh fuck,” he snaps and hastens his pace. The Wendigo love to hide out in the mines and if he could do without another possible person for them to turn. That and he has weapons and ammo stored down there which this guy could use against him. Clutching his weapon tightly he checks though each and every area, every possible hiding place but he can’t seem to find his foe anywhere. “Listen here. You can’t keep running about through this mine,” he says changing tactic. “There are things on this mountain, things you wouldn’t believe. If I don’t find you they will and I can tell you right now it’ll be much worse if they get you.” Getting no reply he continues to search the mines but to no avail. In his hurry he forgets about one small crack, just large enough to fit a person inside. Too late he hears the whoosh of air and he can do little but turn as knife is plunged into his stomach. Bill drags the knife down and yanks it out, stabbing him one more in the chest. The Stranger starts to fall but Bill gently helps lower him down and lays him on the cavern floor.
“I’ve see some pretty messed up things myself.” The Stranger looks up at Bill. “I fought in Nam’, saw some of the worst things imaginable. Describing it as Hell would be putting it lightly. I saw people dying all around me horrible deaths, deaths no man no matter how wicked should suffer. But these weren’t wicked men most of them were kids and I wasn’t much older. And then; just when I thought that Hell was behind me the Green Flu Virus hit and now we’re in a Hell that makes Nam’ look like nothing. I don’t know what is on this mountain but whoever they are I’m sure it can’t be worse than what I’ve suffered through.” Despite his grave injuries the Stranger can’t help but chuckle.
“You’re one tough bastard you know that old man. I sure as hell hope you’re tough enough to deal with Makkapitew.” With those parting words the Stranger breaths his last breath. Bill can’t help but feel regret, whoever this man was he felt like a kindred spirit, someone else who understood the horrors of this world. His mind wonders to those last words, what on earth is a Makkapitew. Shrugging to himself he heads back out of the mines and trudges back towards the riverbank. Hearing more footsteps in the snow he raises his Magnum before realising that it is Zoey, Louis and Francis.
“What are you guys doing here? You were supposed to go to the lodge?”
“We couldn’t just leave you out here alone Bill.” Louis says cheerfully as he hands Bill a spare shotgun. “There was a bridge just over there,” he says pointing to a spot just a few places from where Bill first met the stranger. Cursing his luck once more he is about to say something when an ear splitting screech pierces the air as a large, pale-skinned creature bursts from the undergrowth.
“Oh my god. What is that thing?!” Zoey shouts in shock.
“Makkapitew” Bill says smiling and pumps his weapon ready for battle.
Winner: Bill
Expert's Opinion[]
Bill won this battle mostly because of his better experience in combating a human opponent whereas the Stranger only ever fought against Wendigo and was therefore too specialised to deal with a different type of opponent. Slightly less importantly but still relevant to the battle he also had marginal advantages in terms of his firearms which made the difference in a gunfight.