Fairfield

"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 small city in which the entire "No Mercy" and "Crash Course" campaigns 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 and was hit hard and fast because of it. After reports of an unknown pathogen came in and chaos struck Philadelphia, the cities law enforcement worked with CEDA to quarantine various buildings, monitoring them for trespassers who would be prosecuted. Eventually, this proved far too difficult to manage and entire streets were blocked off and watched by police. 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. People desperately fled the city in their cars to escape leading to lots of traffic accidents and gridlock. 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.

The Fairfield Airport was soon quarantined to stop the infection from spreading to other cities and after a small military campaign to retake the cities buildings failed, the entire city was quarantined and only inhabited by lone survivors who fortified various locations and hid in safe rooms. 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.

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. The surviving military forces fled to Riverside and established a better-defended area there.

Current Status
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

 * Holly Street
 * Holly Street Subway Station
 * Pump 'N' Run Gas
 * Burger Tank
 * Hersch Shipping Company
 * Eastern Waterworks
 * Underground city sewer
 * Pawn Shop
 * Mercy Hospital
 * Airport