**To answer everyone's question, no I am not including Dani. I didn't see her in any scenes, so I just left her out. Besides, I've run out of ideas for this story except for this last chapter, so I'm ending it here. Anyway... read on...**
"Tacome, I'm not liking the way that 'Danny' kid is looking lately." Nick said. He sat at the table in the center of the dining room at the apartments that they were staying at. It had been two months since Danny and his friends met Tacome, Vincent, and their family. Earlier that day, Danny had collapsed randomly while they were out shooting.
"Nobody is…" Tacome said. "He's looking worse and worse every day."
"I vote we move into the house." Rochelle said, raising a hand.
"Me too." Coach agreed, "We can use the space anyway."
"That's cramming eleven people into a three-bedroom house though…" Tacome pointed out.
"It can be done." Vincent said. "There's always the living room." He said.
"I'll pass on the living room." Nick said, "Jayden's not toilet trained yet and I've seen what he's done to that couch."
Ellis scoffed, "I've slept in worse." He said, "And I'm surprised you're complainin' Mr. My-Friends-Found-Me-Sleepin'-on-a-Dead-Tank."
"I wasn't sleeping, I passed out." Nick corrected him.
"Girls, that's enough." Coach said. "Ellis' right though… we have slept on worse."
"How's this? Coach and I'll take the couches. We'll let Tucker, Danny, Sam and Jazz share Tacome's old room." Ellis suggested.
Coach sank, knowing he probably shouldn't have said that Ellis was right.
"Okay." Tacome shrugged, "I can deal with that. We move tomorrow. Pack your stuff." She looked around, "This place is too small anyway."
After the decision had been made to move into the Ivanhoe house, everyone helped them move. Even Danny insisted, however with a better night's sleep, they found it hard to keep him down. They reluctantly allowed him to help.
As he was loading one of the trucks with some of Jayden's clothes, he heard the boy wandering behind him. He turned around and saw that he had wandered almost halfway down the street, "Whoa- is anyone watching Jayden!?" he called and ran after him. "Jay-jay, come on, let's get you home to mommy." He urged the child.
"Mommy?" Jayden turned and started for home.
There was snarling heard afterwards. Danny turned and found the fabled Witch, Saundra. She looked right at him and Jayden. She howled and ran at full speed at Jayden. However, Danny was fast enough to shove her out of her path towards Jayden and knock her over. "Guys! Grab Jayden!" he barked and began running the other way away from Saundra.
All of the other ran out of the house after hearing Saundra's scream. Tacome ran and picked up Jayden, holding him closely.
"Is that-?" Sam squinted.
"Saundra!" Vincent began running at full speed with his shotgun in hand.
Danny had run passed the Sonic: Drive-In, and passed the Dollar General, and even ran until he barely passed a McDonald's, which was only at the next intersection. He felt that he had gotten far enough and was sure he got enough distance from her. He reached at his side and tried pulling out his handgun as he turned, however, his handgun was stuck in its holster and Danny was now face-to-face with Saundra.
His stomach twisted in pain. He gasped and grabbed Saundra's wrist, looking down and seeing that her hand had gone through his stomach. He stumbled, but kept his balance. He glared at Saundra and finally got his handgun free, aiming the gun at her forehead… right between her eyes, and shot her point blank.
The Witch's head jerked back from the shot and she fell back, pulling her hand out of Danny's stomach.
Danny stared at her for a moment, his vision doubling and fading. He dropped his handgun and grabbed his stomach.
The others had run to catch up with Danny, but froze upon his state and at the sight of the dead Witch that had caused them years of trouble. "D-Danny?" Sam gasped.
Danny looked at them in exhaustion. He turned and found a trailer to a large delivery truck. He climbed into the open back and paused to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, guys…" he coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. He reached up and pulled the door down.
"Danny! Wait!" Sam and Jazz ran to the truck. The door slammed shut, causing them to stop in their tracks. They picked up the pace and ran until they reached the door of the truck. "Danny! Let us in!" Tucker shouted.
Danny dropped to his knees and coughed violently, feeling as though he'd throw up. He took a deep breath and rested himself against the wall of the side of the trailer. He heard them yelling at him. 'Let us in!', 'You need help!', 'Don't be stupid!'… his eyes watered. He was able to feel his own heart slowing down. His body had already gone numb and his breathing was slowing. His eyes began drifting shut. The trembling had stopped.
This was it. He knew it was. He wasn't going to see Sam, or Jazz, or Tucker anymore. He didn't give them a chance to say goodbye and he felt horrible about it. He wished he'd survived longer. His felt a lump in his throat and his eyes water. He squeezed his eyes shut and let out a small, weakened cry, "I'm sorry…" he whispered. The shouts and screams outside of the truck hurt him more. There was now loud thumping. He knew they were starting to try to open the truck. The noises gradually dulled themselves to nothing.
Ellis held two screwdrivers against the lock on the truck to take it apart. One of the screwdrivers snapped and he cursed, "God dammit!"
"Fuck this." Vincent aimed his shotgun at the lock on the truck, firing and destroying it completely. They rose the door to the trailer and found Danny sitting against the wall of the truck. Sam, Jazz and Tucker each rushed to his side and tried calling to him to wake him up.
While they called out to him, Nick stood toward the back of the crowd, it wasn't that he didn't care, there was no room up front. He heard a slight buzz. He looked over and saw a giant mosquito-type of bug, however, it glowed green. He froze and held up the frying pan he just happened to have with him. With a powerful swing, he smashed the bug on the wall and caused the crash to echo in the truck. He flinched when everyone turned to glare at him, "What?" he asked, "You should've seen the size of that bug." He said.
Tucker glanced at the wall beside Nick and gasped, having a double-take. He knew that bug from anywhere. He looked back at Danny. Sam had her arms wrapped around him and cried, holding his head against her chest. He was pale and wasn't breathing. His pulse was absent. Tucker's eyes heated and he moved closer to Sam, hugging her, Jazz and Danny, crying with them.
"Danny?" Jayden approached them, "Help-oo?" he asked. "Danny?" his eyes began watering. The toddler began crying.
Tacome picked up Jayden and wiped her eye. She'd grown to like Danny and his team. She only wished they'd been watching Jayden a little closer. Vincent was silent, as well as Coach, Ellis, and Nick. Rochelle was on the verge of tears like Tacome was.
"I really liked that kid…" Ellis finally spoke. "He… k-killed Saundra…"
"But… she returned the favor…" Nick said sadly, his eye watered.
Vincent knelt by them and hugged them, "We're sorry, you guys…" he said. "We… hoped to never lose anyone to this apocalypse again…"
Sam hugged Danny tighter, then paused, barely feeling light puffs of warm air along her neck, "W-we won't!" she gasped, "He's alive." She said and checked the pulse in his wrist, "He's alive."
Vincent turned around, "Nick, Ellis, go get a car, now!" he barked.
The two men nodded and ran off, racing to get a vehicle.
"Danny?" a familiar voice called.
Danny opened his eyes and gasped. The pain was gone. The world was black. He found the two rings scanning his body and changing him to his ghost half involuntarily. He took this opportunity to kick off the ground and fly and search for anyone, "Sam? Jazz? Tucker!?" he screamed. He picked up the speed and searched more frantically. After finding he was alone, he slowed down and dropped to his knees. He held his head in his hands, sobbing as hard as his body would allow him and changing back to his human half.
"Danny?" He heard someone call again. He looked up and found two light figures stood in front of him. He started toward them, "Hello?" he called. The world seemed endless, but eventually, the two figures made themselves clear. He hesitated to come any closer to them; the small, slender figure in the arms of a much larger one, both wearing the jumpsuits they were famous for. "M-Mom?" he asked, "Dad?"
They nodded, but looked as though they had been crying.
Danny stepped back. "I-I don't believe this…" he paused for a moment.
Maddie sniffled, "Danny…"
"We're proud of you." Jack managed a small smile.
He shook his head in disbelief, "H-How!? I'm dead! I got killed by a Witch! I'm…" he dropped to his knees, "I'm sorry…" he began crying, "I didn't survive…"
They knelt by him and wrapped their arms around him, "Danny… just listen…" Jack said and made him look up at them. "We're proud that you've lasted as long as you have." He said, then ruffled his hair, "With and without those ghost powers of yours…" he smiled.
Danny flinched, "You know?"
"Well… we do now…" Maddie said.
Danny sunk.
"But…" Jack started, "You're not done."
"What?" Danny looked back up at him.
"Your friends and… your new family are getting you help now." Maddie said.
"So…" Danny looked down.
"You're not dead, son." Jack smiled, "But you're in critical condition." His smile faded.
Danny shouted in pain as his chest began to sting. "Wait-" he grunted, feeling as though he was being shocked.
"They're not ready for you to go just yet, Danny…" Maddie said. "We just want to tell you how proud we are of all of you. You, Sam, Jazz, and Tucker…"
The world began to change to white.
"We love you, son…"
Danny took a deep breath and jolted. He groaned weakly in pain.
"Danny!" Sam gasped in excitement. She hugged him.
Danny groaned at the slight stress in his stomach, "I- I'm not dead…"
"No, no, thank God…" Sam cried.
He felt someone else hug him, considering everything, he had a feeling it was Jazz. The voice gave it away: "Come on, let's give him some space." Jazz said, letting him go.
"D-Danny?" Sam asked, letting him go.
Danny grunted slightly.
"We found out what was wrong with your ghost powers…" she continued.
"You remember those bugs that gave everyone ghost powers?" Jazz asked.
"Yeah…" Danny answered. Then realization hit, "Those little bastards…" he groaned and tried readjusting, however, he yelped in pain in doing so. He settled with staying in the same position.
"Is he awake?" Tucker's voice approached.
"Yeah." Sam turned around.
Danny finally opened his eyes and looked at everyone. Sam and Jazz were sitting on their knees at his side, Tucker was just walking into the room. It appeared to be one of the bedrooms at the apartment that Tacome and her team where moving out of.
"Dude, you scared us." Tucker knelt by him. "Next time, don't lock yourself in the back of a semi." He said.
"Yeah- what were you thinking?" Jazz asked.
"Honestly?" Danny started, "I… didn't think I'd survive…"
The three grew silent. Tucker sighed, "Anyway, Tacome and the others can't thank you enough for killing Saundra. You… put 'facing your fears' to a literal level."
Danny scoffed, "Thanks…" then he groaned.
"But Vincent and Tacome alone can't thank you enough for saving their son." Tucker smiled, "They want to thank you, but… they can't think of a way right now."
"Thanks, Tucker…" Danny held his hand up in front of him, easily making it go intangible without bothering the ghost part of him, he smiled slightly, "I've got my powers back…"
They all moved into the Ivanhoe house and made everything fit. Danny recovered from the Witch attack in a few months, however, his stomach had turned into his biggest weak spot, and he grew nauseous easily. His ghost powers made everything easier for everyone when it came to the 'Great Purge', which was an annual event where everyone went on a shooting spree and killed every infected in the area, including a Bulldozer that had moved into the area. Danny proved that he could kill a Bulldozer by overshadowing a Tank, causing Nick to lose an 'ammunition' bet to Ellis and Vincent. Several months later, they held a small ceremony for Danny and Sam and Tucker and Jazz, dubbing the couples married. Not long after that, another group of three survivors made moved in and made the family grow larger. The new names and faces belonged to a Zoey, Francis, and Louis.
**That's it! I'm done with this one! I'll really need to get back into the zone if I even think of doing another sequel to this. Unless y'all wanna hear Tacome and Vincent's half of the story, which includes the L4D2 cast. By the way, if anyone gets mad about the whole 'bug thing getting Danny's ghost half sick when it's not supposed to affect him in the first place'? I don't care. I couldn't think of anything else that would've done it except for the blood blossoms and I don't think I can put a blood blossom plant in my hometown and have it make sense. The bug thing was the only thing I could get to work. So don't complain.**