Author's Note: Hello all, back to present the next chapter. School is kicking up pretty hard, but I found some time to write this chapter (I have four tests on the same day this week). Well anyways here's Chapter 7, probably my most intense chapter so far. Read and review when you are done reading please, and if you haven't done so yet, read my one-shot Tears and Noodles, a Left 4 Dead fan-fiction. If I get enough positive reviews for it, I'll turn it into a full story. This chapter takes place in the fourth and fifth level of No Mercy. This will also be the longest chapter thus far so you might want to grab something to drink as its SUPER LONG. Thought you guys deserved it for the patience. Now read and review and make me a happy man.

Disclaimer: I own Left 4 Dead, but in Soviet Russia, Left 4 Dead owns me. Oh be right back, phone is ringing. WHAT! Dang it Valve, I was going to make Last Man on Earth permanent, but you had to steal the rights back. Tricky corporations and their money...

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Chapter 7: Sacrifice

The fearless survivor and the silver maiden walked out of their home for the past few days. As the sun rose in the sky, the survivor smiled. "Ain't it beautiful, Hope." he commented. Hope looked in the sky and Vincent saw the sun bedazzle in her bright red eyes.

"Let's keep moving. We aren't far now." Vincent motioned. Mercy Hospital was indeed not very far; it would only take up to a few minutes of walking. The colossal building towered above the meek pair.

There were few infected in the streets, and most were turned in the other direction. Vincent silently slammed each of them in the back without alerting the others while Hope went straight to stabbing her claws through them. As Vincent knocked down the final infected, the survivor heard a familiar screech. "Hunter!" he cried out.

Vincent turned around to see a Hunter pounce onto him extremely fast. The survivor braced himself, but suddenly his left arm jerked up as if it had a mind of its own and landed a punch perfectly onto its face in mid-air. Surprised, he looked down at his hand then examined the Hunter. "Wow it's dead." he remarked in surprise. "Did I just do that? I never could do that. Did Chicago Ted do something to me besides healing my wounds?"

He looked at Hope, who merely shrugged in confusion. "Wonder what else I can do. Anyways, lets go."

With all the infected dead in the streets, the pair sprinted towards the skyscraper. Two minutes later, they saw the entrance to the hospital. "We're here, but no one else is here." Vincent observed. "I don't like this. Keep your guard up."

There were no infected in the courtyard, but Vincent saw a big muscly arm waving from behind an ambulance. "Oh shit, Tank. It must be waiting for us." the survivor whispered. No sooner than he finished his words, the Tank knocked the ambulance towards the pair. Instinctively, Vincent ducked, but Hope just stood there and he was forced to pull her down. The ambulance sailed through the air, missing them by a hair's length. As it crashed behind them, Vincent looked up and saw the Tank aim a punch towards him. He jumped back, but jumped farther than he anticipated, and it turned into a flip.

"What just happened?" Vincent thought. He pushed it aside and went straight into combat. As soon as he landed, the survivor unloaded all of his rounds into the Tank. The tank mercilessly shoved Hope to the ground and went straight for Vincent. He squeezed the trigger, and nothing came out. "Shit, need to relo- Ah forget it." he muttered. The Tank aimed a punch, but Vincent ducked and punched the Tank in the stomach as hard as he could. To his surprise, the Tank staggered back from the blow. "So I also have enhanced strength. Sweet!" Vincent grinned. Before the Tank could recover, Vincent continued punching it, staggering it back towards Hope. Hope got up and stabbed it in the back, killing it. Blood dripped down her claw as the Tank fell to the side, its life ebbing away.

Vincent tried to chuckle, but only a wheezing cough came out. He picked up his AK-47 and jammed a fresh clip into it. They walked into Mercy Hospital and saw a safe room behind the front desk. "I guess we'll rest here before we move on." Vincent decided. They walked in, and the survivor locked the door. Vincent threw down his backpack, sat down, and opened a bottle of water from it. He finished drinking from it and threw it into a nearby trash bin. There was sleeping bags in the room, and Vincent crawled into one. Before Vincent could go to sleep, he felt something embrace his head. He looked up and saw Hope gently gripping him in her presence, cradling his head in those lethal claws of her. She bent down and whispered, "I love you." and kissed Vincent gently on the lips.

"I love you too." he replied and fell asleep in her lap.

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Vincent expected himself to be thrown into another dream, but this time it was a dreamless sleep. Suddenly, he heard voices. Vincent opened his eyes and saw Hope looking towards the safe room door. "To the safe house, people!" yelled a strange voice. Vincent got up and picked up his AK-47. He saw an elderly man in an army uniform, a biker-looking man, and a bald black man run into the lobby. He also saw a fourth figure, but he or she was covered by the darkness. "Okay now who are you people?" the lone survivor asked the group.

"We are Survivors like you. Will you let us in?" said the elderly man. Vincent was about to answer until he saw the fourth figure. She was a young woman, looking around her late teens to early twenties. She wore a bright red jacket and carried a hunting rifle. Vincent gasped in shock, "Oh my god... Zoey?"

The girl named Zoey looked back at Vincent in confusion, and then recognized him a few seconds later. "Vincent! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed.

"I could ask the same of you. Who are these people? I've never met them before." he asked.

Zoey responded with venom in her voice, "And I don't want you to. You'll probably just kill them. Your nothing but a cold-blooded killer."

Vincent sighed. "The past is the past and lets leave it at that. The world has completely changed and so have I. Besides, your not getting inside here with that attitude."

The biker shoved past Zoey before she could speak. "We could just shoot you. I hate goths, and you sir look like one." he threatened menacingly. He held up an auto shotgun.

Anger built up inside Vincent. "You could try." he began, "But I wouldn't recommend it." Vincent held up his AK-47.

The two stared at each other like wolves ready to pounce, until the black man broke the tension. "Guys why are we all fighting? We should be worried about them. We can kill each other when this is over." he spoke in a calm tone.

The lone survivor sighed and lowered his gun. "He's right. Well come on in, but if one of you even dare try and shoot at my companion, you'll be dead before you can blink."

Vincent began to lower the metal bar on the door when Zoey asked him in a sarcastic tone, "Oh and who's your companion? I thought you were a lone wolf at heart."

"You'll see when you come in." he replied and unlocked the door. The four survivors stepped in and gasped at Hope who was laying down on the ground, staring at them.

"WITCH!" the biker cried out. He prepared to raise his shotgun, but Vincent raised his AK-47 first.

"Uh uh uh. Don't you fucking dare." he threatened.

The four turned to stare at Vincent. They stood there for a moment until the elderly man put a hand on the biker's shoulder. "Come on Francis, I don't think he'll hurt us as long as we leave the Witch alone."

"Francis" lowered his gun. "Man, you are messed up. They're the enemy and yet your treating with them." he let loose in a low rumbling chuckle.

Vincent spat out in a angry tone which surprised everyone including Hope. "She is different from all the rest. Yes, she's not like us. But that doesn't mean everything not like us is aiming to kill us. If she wanted to kill me, she would've done it. Hope has saved my life several times so you better not fucking touch her."

Silence stood in the air for a moment until the black man once again broke the silence. "Well let's just calm down and introduce ourselves. I'm Louis, and that's Bill." he said, pointing towards the elderly man. "You already know Francis and Zoey." Louis finished.

Vincent cleared his throat, and introduced himself. "My name is Vincent. Like Zoey said, yes I'm a killer. But no I was not cold-blooded. I was good, very good at the game. Now the world's gone to hell and I'm just trying to survive. I've nearly died once, but I'm now back stronger than ever. Literally."

To demonstrate, Vincent raised his fist and pounded it into the metal safe room door. The door shook from the impact and when he lifted his fist, there was a big dent where he punched. The four survivors gasped as Vincent gave himself a tight grin.

"And this." he continued. "Is Hope. Met her the very first time I encountered a Witch. We stuck by each other ever since." he pointed to Hope at the ground, who waved one of her claws at the survivors.

Bill nodded, then began to speak. "So...do all of you want to proceed through this hellhole or get some rest?"

"I'm game, but I don't know about y'all." Vincent offered.

"Hah. If your game, I'm game." said Francis. He hefted his auto shotgun up. Vincent had to grin; he reminded him of himself.

"I'm tired, but I can get through this. How about you, Louis?" Zoey spoke.

When Louis didn't answer, the other four survivors looked over to see him turned around.

"Pills here!" Louis chuckled. He then turned around awkwardly when he heard Zoey. The four survivors burst out laughing, and Louis turned slightly red. He cleared his throat, "Yeah I'm also game. We can do this. I got a good feeling about this."

Vincent laughed, and everyone turned to look at him. "What?" he asked. "I can't laugh at the fact that he's got a good feeling in an apocalyptic world?"

Bill shook his head and unlocked the safe room door and the group of six headed out the hallway. There were a few infected in the hallways. Vincent saw that most of them were either nurses, patients, or doctors. The survivors opened fire on the infected, with Hope in the middle so she would not get hit. They went up a flight of stairs, shooting several infected as they go. "Why stairs?" gasped Bill as he socked an infected to the ground.

"Come on Bill. Cardio!" Louis cheered. Bill mumbled a curse, but they were up in a large open room. Vincent heard familiar crying nearby and saw a Witch sitting on top of a nearby stairscase. Zoey turned to look at Vincent. "What?" he asked.

To his surprise, Zoey giggled. "It's funny how you defended Hope. I can tell you like her. How do you manage to withstand the sound of crying?"

Anger threatened to make Vincent make her shut up. Instead he calmly replied, "First of all, Hope doesn't cry...much. Second of all..." he broke off, grabbed Hope and kissed her deeply. Hope was taken aback by surprise, but she surrendered to the kiss. "...I love her." Vincent finished.

Zoey shut up. Hope blushed slightly. Louis grinned. Bill shook his head. Francis chuckled, "You know, I DON'T hate this. But if you two lovebirds are going to make out, do it elsewhere."

"Ah but if we do, we'll waste valuable ammunition on that Witch up there." Vincent replied craftily. "Hope, can do you do your thing?" he asked.

Hope nodded, and slowly walked up to the Witch. Vincent heard the familar growls and snarls he heard the first time Hope had persuaded a Witch to let him pass. Ther other four survivors looked in surprise as the Witch got up and slowly retreated into another room and began to cry. Hope slowly shut the door, and walked back towards the group. The four survivors stared at her in awe, but Vincent merely smiled. The group went up and passed the Witch and entered another stairscase. "Aw god, more stairs?" complained Bill.

"Want be to carry you, old man?" Vincent chuckled. Bill glared at Vincent, but continued walking up.

"I hate stairs." said Francis.

"Is there anything you DON'T hate, Francis?" asked Louis. "Oh wait, you want to see Vincent and Hope make out." he laughed.

It was Francis' turn to glare, and he directed it at Louis. Vincent had to laugh at that. He liked Louis the most out of the survivors. He gave Louis a pat on the back and reached the top. The hallways there had lots of tape covering rooms. Vincent walked in, then got a faceful of boomer bile. "Ah come on! I just washed this!" he complained.

Vincent heard Francis chuckle, but also heard gunfire and the ripping of flesh. When the effects of the bile wore off, Vincent saw a Boomer at the back of the horde. He raised his gun to fire, and suddenly everything around him became slow. He could see the bullets come out of the group's guns. He saw Hope slowly tearing apart infected as they slowly fell to the ground. It seemed so easy as he raised his gun, fired a single round, and watched the Boomer blow up. Everything sped up to normal again as it exploded. Bile sprayed at the horde, and they tore each other apart. "Come on, let's go!" Bill cried. The six weaved through the horde as they tore each other apart. After the sounds began to fade, they came across an elevator.

"Five bucks says we're going to alert the horde when we call for it." commented Vincent.

"I'll take that bet." said Francis. He pushed the button and heard the familar sounds of a horde.

The lone survivor grinned. "I was right. Now you don't got to worry about just a horde. You also owe me five bucks."

Francis cursed under his breath but began to fire. Vincent saw a wall break apart and another horde rushed forward. Hope was at the center, tearing at them blade master style. Blood and limbs flew everywhere. Vincent then felt the familiar slimy tongue of a Smoker wrap around him. Louis rushed to help him, but Vincent yelled, "I got him, don't worry!"

Vincent held his ground, and used his strength to yank the Smoker towards him. The Smoker flew through the air, and Vincent headbutted it hard as soon as it landed. It exploded in smoke, and the tongue dropped off of him. The elevator door opened and the group went in. Louis pressed the button to the twenty-eighth floor.

"I hate elevators." grumbled Francis.

"And I hate you. What now." replied Vincent.

He saw Francis almost take a swing at him, but a cold stare from Bill stopped him. Zoey breathed heavily. "I can't get over how FAST they all are, it's not even fair. I'm calling zombie bullshit on that, you know?" Zoey giggled. "They're not...ALLOWED to be so fast." Despite the coldness Zoey shows towards him, Vincent agreed.

"Well what do you expect? Life keeps throwing bullshit at us." he remarked.

They reached the top of the elevator and the door dinged open. The floor looked as if it was still under construction. It was completely empty. "I got a bad feeling about this." commented Louis. Vincent laughed.

"What happened to that good feeling?" he chuckled. Louis merely replied with a grin and they progressed forward until they heard the familiar roars of a Tank. "Stand back, I'll handle this." said Vincent. Everyone but Francis stepped back. "What are you going to do?" Francis asked with a smirk.

The super survivor didn't answer as the Tank came forward to pound them. Vincent slightly stepped back so the Tank was in front of him. It raised its hands to grind the survivor into dust, but Vincent simply punched at its stomach, causing it to once again stagger. It staggered back, then fell over the edge of Mercy Hospital. "Tank fail." remarked Vincent. He turned to Francis, who didn't say anything.

"Jesus, what the hell happened to you?" asked Zoey.

Vincent began to explain, "Don't know. I once mortally injured for a few days, but a man named Chicago Ted fixed me up. He must've done something else too since I'm far stronger than I used to be."

Bill gave him a pat on the back. "Whatever it is kid, I'm glad your on our side."

The super survivor smiled in respect of the veteran then they moved through the various metal bars throughout the floor. The Tank was the only infected on the floor, as they wandered around for five minutes searching the way to the rooftop. After mindless wandering, Hope spotted a light and pointed at it frantically with her blood covered claws. Vincent looked in her direction. "Safe room!" he exclaimed. He ran, and heard the familiar sounds of a horde.

"Oh come on!" he cried out as he and the other survivors fired their guns. Vincent felt himself being shoved to the side as Hope shoved past all of them and tore up the horde. Francis raised his weapon to fire, but Bill stopped him and yelled, "No Francis! She knows what she's doing." And he was right. Muscle and gore flew splattered the walls, and it took Hope no less than a minute to decimate the horde completely. When they was all annihilated, she walked towards Vincent, covered completely in blood, and fell into his arms. Vincent wrapped his arms around the bloody warrior and turned to the other survivors. "Come on, let's get in." he merely said. They got in and shut the door.

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The survivors, badass survivor, and blood covered maiden sat down on the floor, exhausted by the journey. Vincent opened his backpack and tossed a bottle of water to each of the Survivors. For Hope, he tossed a bag of sugar, which she dove into hungrily. He couldn't help but notice Zoey's curiosity in Hope's like of sugar. For himself, Vincent popped open a bottle of soda and drank heavily from it. He heard Francis' sarcasm, "Why do we get water and you get soda?"

Vincent smiled, "Because I'm the dude who carries shit." Francis shrugged and continued drinking. When they finished, they threw the bottles into the trash. Hope finished the bag and did the same.

"I'm exhausted." said Zoey.

"We'll rest then we'll escape this godforsaken place." decided Bill. The survivors began to lay on the ground and go to sleep.

Vincent laid down next to Hope, who stroked his hair with her claws. "You should also get to sleep." he whispered to her.

Hope wrapped her left claw around Vincent's shoulder then went to sleep on his chest. Vincent gently stroked her beautiful white hair and fell asleep himself. Once again he was plunged into another dream.

"Well, I met the girl." he said in the darkness.

His younger self stepped forward. "So you have. But, in the end, will you make the right decision to redeem yourself? Time is running out, so decide quickly."

Vincent expected more, but his younger self retreated into the darkness. "Wait. What do you mean? Tell me!" he screamed.

But all was dark and Vincent felt alone until he felt a tug. He turned around and saw Hope behind him. "Open your eyes." she whispered. He did and woke up.

Louis stood above the pair. "Dude, you were talking in your sleep. You okay?" he asked.

Vincent sighed, then reassured him, "Yeah. Bad dream. Are we going to go now?"

"Yeah. I was going to wake you up but it seems your girlfriend beat me to it." he chuckled.

Hope turned red at the word girlfriend, but she smiled shyly at Louis. Louis offered a hand to Vincent and he took it. "Let's kick some ass." he grinned.

"Hey I was about to say that!" yelled Francis.

"Well he beat you to it." chuckled Bill.

Vincent expected sarcasm from Zoey, but she just fixed him with an uncomfortable stare.

The group opened the safe room door to the rooftop. Bill groaned at the sight of more stairs, which caused Francis to chuckle. They went up, knocked down a single lone infected and progressed through the hallway. "Damn. Long hallway with awkward silence. Scary." commented Vincent.

He heard the banging of a door and a horde came out a side passage in front of the group. They opened fire and Hope sliced up any that came too close. Vincent depleted two clips before the horde was decimated. The six rounded the corner to an elevator shaft. Bill spotted a ventilation opening to the right and beat it open. They crouched through and climbed up a ladder to the left. Vincent looked at Hope who held up her claws. She couldn't climb up. "Hang on." Vincent said. He wrapped his arms around Hope and leapt with his new abilities.

Hope slightly gasped when they landed on solid ground again. "Don't let go. We're going again." the super survivor smiled. He jumped again, higher this time, and landed on the rooftop.

Bill, Francis, Louis, and Zoey climbed up and joined with them on the rooftop. Vincent heard a radio nearby. "Great, we can call for evacuation and maybe escape this hellhole." he smiled.

"I agree. Let's go." said Bill. They dropped down onto a helipad and shot several idle infected. They entered the building with the radio. "Hello?" asked Vincent.

"You made it!" said a voice over the radio. "All you got to do is hold out until I get there. But first, you need to prepare. There should be a mounted gun and supplies to help you. Call me back once you've prepared. News chopper five out." The survivors ran to the top of the small building and saw a minigun.

"Damn, I'm so using this." said Francis. Everyone chuckled, even Hope.

"Alright. Vincent, can you go down there and tell him we're ready?" asked Bill.

The badass survivor nodded and went downstairs. "We're ready."

"Alright I should be there in fifteen minutes." came the reply. Vincent ran back upstairs and they began to battle incoming hordes.

Francis dealt with any in the front and Vincent could see the others covering the sides. Hope covered the back; killing any infected that attempted to sneak up on them. After a few minutes of defending, Francis remarked, "This isn't so bad."

No sooner than he finished those words, Vincent saw not one, but two Tanks coming at the Survivors.

Francis fired the minigun at one of the Tanks and killed it, but the second one reached the building and went up the stairscase. Hope sliced at it with her claws, but the Tank ruthlessly punched her off the building. "Hope!" Vincent cried.

He went into a fury and began beating the Tank with the stock of his AK-47. "You..." he said as he continued whacking it. "Son of a..." The Tank tried to resist the vicious melee attacks but to no avail. Mindless fury fueled Vincent, making his attacks more stronger. The Tank was actually bleeding. "Bitch!" Vincent roared and jumped high in the air, and smashed his AK-47 into the tiny head of the Tank. The gun instantly broke, but it killed the Tank.

The fury soon left Vincent and he ran over to Hope. He examined her, but she got to her feet. "I'm okay, just bruised." she winced quietly. They sprinted back up the stairs.

"Here take these." said Louis. He tossed Vincent a pair of pistols, who looked back in gratitude.

"Time to kick ass, akimbo style." he grinned.

They fended off more oncoming hordes. Vincent saw a massive horde gathering to the right and everyone focused fire there. The radio downstairs rang, "News Chopper Five will be there in five minutes."

Another Tank rushed at the Survivors, and everyone focused their fire on it. The Tank tore a chunk of rock off the ground, but Vincent quickly used his enhanced reflexes to put a single bullet at its head, which caused it to drop the rock on itself and kill it. "I'm impressed." chuckled Bill.

The helicopter came. It hovered to the side of the helipad. "GET TO THE CHOPPA!" screamed Francis. Bill, Zoey, and Louis followed Francis to the copter. Vincent took Hope quickly in his arms and jumped above the horde. They were the first to get in the chopper, and Vincent provided covering fire. The infected knocked the guns out of Bill, Louis, and Zoey, but they got on, and the copter took off. "We're safe!" cried out Zoey.

Suddenly, the copter jerked. "What the fuck?" cursed Vincent. He looked over and saw a Tank hanging on to the copter. He looked at everyone and they looked back and realized what he was going to do. "Kid, I'd stop you, but I'm pretty sure nothing is going to change your mind." said Bill.

"Damn straight." replied Vincent.

Louis patted Vincent hard on the back, his face grim. "Dammit man, I'm going to miss you. Just remember you are be the most badass dude I'll ever know."

Vincent shook Louis' hand. It was Francis' turn to speak. Vincent may hate him and there was an ensuing chaos around them, but he would listen to his words. Francis grinned, and to the survivor's surprise, handed him his auto shotgun. "Kick some ass for me will you?" he asked.

Vincent grinned. "You fucking bet." He turned to stare at Zoey, who was crying softly. "I'm sorry for everything I said." she cried. "You really have changed, sacrificing yourself for us."

Zoey approached Vincent and hugged him tightly. Despite the shaking, they held it for a moment.

Whereas Zoey was crying, Hope was weeping extremely deeply. Vincent gripped her tightly. "Be safe, my friend."

He was not the type of person to cry, but Vincent could feel a few tears drop from his eyes. He approached the door. The Tank reached a muscly arm towards them. The pilot looked out of the cockpit. "If you're going to jump, do it now."

Vincent sighed, took one last look at the group of five, then tackled the Tank back down to the rooftop. The Tank roared in pain when it hit the ground, and knocked Vincent back. He hit a metal wall pretty hard. Stars wheeled around his eyes. The hordes held back, as if wanting to watch a grueling match between the Tank and the super survivor. The copter began to fly away, but before it could, Vincent saw a figure jump out and land behind the Tank with a thud. The Tank wheeled up in pain, and Vincent saw the familar claws of Hope go through it.

"Hope!" he cried out in mixed anger and relief. The Tank died, and Hope rushed to Vincent, smothering him with kisses and tears. "I'm not going to leave you." she cried out. Vincent stared as she spoke in normal volume for the first time then gripped her tightly. The horde slowly approached them, surrounding them. Vincent picked up Francis' auto shotgun and Hope got up to cover his back. "Well...Let's kick some ass.' he smiled grimly at the odds.

The horde charged.