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Fairfield 01
City of Fairfield
State Pennsylvania, USA
Campaigns No Mercy
Real-world Counterpart Fairfield, Pennsylvania
"Son, we just crossed the street... let's not throw a party 'til we're outta the city."
Bill
"Radio is saying Fairfield has been quarantined."
Graffiti

Fairfield is a fairly large city in which the entire "No Mercy" campaign takes place in Left 4 Dead

History[]

This city was a once-booming city that features large buildings and skyscrapers as well as apartments and industrial factories. Mercy Hospital, Red Line Subway, Burger Tank, and Hersch Shipping Company and Eastern Waterworks factory complexes are some key areas in Fairfield. Based on graffiti, the city also appears to have an airport due to its size and also because it is surrounded by a mountain range. The city is also home to the Fairfield Police Department.

Fairfield was likely the epicenter of the infection[1][2] and was hit hard and fast because of it.[3] After reports of an unknown pathogen came in and chaos struck Philadelphia,[4] the cities law enforcement worked with CEDA to quarantine various buildings, monitoring them for trespassers who would be prosecuted.[5] Eventually, this proved far too difficult to manage and entire streets were blocked off and watched by police.[6] Soon, the infected overwhelmed the police and panic hit the city harshly.

CEDA organized evacuation efforts to Riverside at a local city park, a recreation center, two high schools, a civic arena, and Mercy Hospital which was overrun one-by-one.[7] People desperately fled the city in their cars to escape leading to lots of traffic accidents[8] and gridlock.[9] Others hid underground in the subway system and sewers as a way to get out of the city or simply hide but they were killed.[10]

The Fairfield Airport was soon quarantined to stop the infection from spreading to other cities[11] and after a small military campaign to retake the cities buildings failed,[12] the entire city was quarantined[13] and only inhabited by lone survivors who fortified various locations and hid in safe rooms.[14] A risky volunteer effort by helicopter pilots to evacuate people from the roof of Mercy Hospital was undertaken and helicopters can be seen patrolling the cities, announcing over a bullhorn for survivors to head to Mercy Hospital.[15]

To enforce the quarantine, the military began fortifying key chokepoints like bridges and highways in the industrial outskirts of the city. The military set up a small but well-armed presence to guard these points. But they were severely underprepared and underequipped and were swarmed by hordes of infected who escaped the city and spread out into the surrounding countryside.[16] The surviving military forces fled to Riverside and established a better-defended area there.[17]

Current Status[]

CarAlarm

Fairfield's former citizens.

The city is overrun with the infected with its infrastructure in a mixed state. From untouched office buildings with working computers to collapsed buildings and caved-in train tunnels. There is a network of small fortified holdouts and safe rooms which the Survivors use as a place to rest and heal. The ultimate fate of Fairfield, whether or not it was bombed like Newburg or simply abandoned like Rayford is unknown.

Influence[]

Interviews with Valve developers and an in-game store sign reveal that Fairfield is located in the 215 area code, which corresponds to Philadelphia. However, it doesn't share any recognizable architecture or landmarks, the subway system bears no resemblance, and it's surrounded by mountains, where the region has none in real life.

There is a real town called Fairfield in Pennsylvania, located outside of Gettysburg. However, it is located in the 717 area code, whereas the Left 4 Dead Fairfield is within the 215 area code (Philadelphia area), approximately 100 miles east of the real Fairfield. Also, unlike the game, the real Fairfield is a small historical borough with a population of 507 as of 2010.

Landmarks in Fairfield[]

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  • Fairfield is the first city that the Survivors start off in.
  • Fairfield is the setting for the Left 4 Dead intro movie.

References[]

  1. In Chapter 1 of Dead Center, you can find a map of the American East Coast, which shows the area Fairfield is in as the epicenter for the spread of the infection.
  2. Throughout Chapter 4 of "No Mercy", you can find isolation rooms in the intensive care unit (level 4) with multiple patients blood samples marked as 'N/A'. Combined with 'Biohazard' tape this has spawned a popular fan theory that this is 'Patient Zero' of the Green Flu.
  3. Unlike most other locations in the game, there is little sign of a military presence signifying it was likely one of the first places hit.
  4. This is seen in all chapters of The Sacrifice (Comic).
  5. These quarantine posters can be found mainly at apartment entrances or storefronts throughout Chapters 1—3 of the campaign.
  6. Police barricades with police cars next to them can be seen in the street portions of Chapters 1—3 of the campaign. The fact that this is a more severe response to the infection suggests that it was undertaken after quarantining buildings failed.
  7. You can find listed CEDA evacuation centers at safe houses in "No Mercy" and "Crash Course". Most have 'overrun' scribbled out over them.
  8. Traffic accidents ranging from cars simply parked awkwardly to burning vehicles can be found throughout Chapters 1—3 of "No Mercy".
  9. Gridlocked traffic can be found on the Whitney County Bridge in "Crash Course" Chapter 1.
  10. The presence of many dead bodies, supplies and small shelters throughout the subway and sewers suggest that as more and more streets were either barricaded off or filled with infected, people came down here to quickly get to evacuation centers. There are some signs that the police tried to coordinate this effort given the abnormal amount of police bodies found in Chapter 2.
  11. This is mentioned in safe house graffiti.
  12. Evidence for a military campaign can be seen with the presence of mini-guns, K-Rations, zombified soldiers and a crashed army humvee in Chapter 1.
  13. This is mentioned in Chapter 2's safe house graffiti.
  14. Safe rooms can be seen in the basement of a Chinese restaurant, the office of a Pawn Shop, the break room of a Hospital and the construction office of the Hospital's renovations. Fortified areas can be seen in the Subway's generator room in Chapter 2, various garages in Chapter 3 and the area outside the elevator in the Hospital ICU in Chapter 4.
  15. The fact that the pilots have no military of CEDA markings is a sign that they are simply volunteers helping out CEDA. In Chapter 3, if you look up at the hospital you can occasionally see a white helicopter landing on the roof and taking off. Suggesting multiple helicopters are at work.
  16. The remains of this military blockade can be seen in Chapter 1 of "Crash Course".
  17. Given how close Riverside is to Fairfield and the large military presence there, as well as what is implied in graffiti throughout "Crash Course" this is the only place they could have gone.
Locations in Left 4 Dead
L4d no mercy L4d achievement survive garage L4d death toll L4d dead air L4d blood harvest Supreme sacrifice L4D last stand
No Mercy Crash Course Death Toll Dead Air Blood Harvest The Sacrifice The Last Stand
Fairfield Whitney County Riverside Tunnel Newburg Allegheny National Forest Rayford Lighthouse
Holly Street Whitney County Bridge Riverside Greenhouse Richardson Atlantic Brick Factory
Holly Street Subway Station The Truck Depot Riverside First Church Harbor View Hotel Daughtery Farm The Barge
Pawn Shop Riverside Main Street Construction Site Rayford Port
Pump 'N' Run Gas Riverside Park Metro International Airport
Mercy Hospital
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