Fireaxe

The Axe is a new Close Combat weapon intruducted in Left 4 Dead 2.

The Axe has unlimited uses, and you can carry it for as long as you want. It kills all Common Infected in one hit, along with all Special Infected minus the Tank and Witch.

The Axe should not be used against Boomers, for obvious reasons. It should also not be used for chasing Special Infected, despite the one-hit-kill. However, when used on a Special Infected, an "Execution Move" occurs. The Axe is raised above the player's head, then brought down on the Infected. This all happens fast, just a second longer than a normal slash.

The Axe is a slashing weapon, and has the ability to sever limbs. As with all Close Combat weapons, it can cause friendly fire damage to The Survivors.

The axe can be used to take out a witch with one hit from behind just as if you had crowned her.

Trivia

 * It seems to gather blood as it is used more. It starts as a normal looking red fire axe, but after a fair amount of usage, it shines with splattered blood.
 * The Axe along with the Frying Pan can usually be found in The Parish as seen in the Left 4 Dead 2 beta footage.
 * It resembles the Pyro's fireaxe melee weapon in another Valve game, Team Fortress 2.