A/N: Last one!

I don't own Valve. See the last 18 times I told you.

At the end of most zombie stories, you see the main heroes riding off into the sunset. Zombies are trailing after them, but you don't know what happens next.

Not with this one.

Gatling tells me the vaccine is out now, if only on the border-states along the Mississippi, and initial trials look promising. By the end of 2 months, everyone along the river will be immune. By year's end, all the States should be vaccinated. I don't know if it's the truth, but if Den's sense of smell is right, I'll take Gatling's word for it.

A happy ending, you could say.

Oh, and over 100 million people are dead.

That's 100 million wives. 100 million husbands. 100 million sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, friends…

The war might be coming to a close, but, trust me, nobody's celebrating.

Sure, some of them might still be alive. Uninfected, even, 'cos if you're infected, you might as well be dead. There's no cure, anyways, according public announcements from our friends in the CEDA, and infected are dying in droves from dehydration. (Turns out zombies don't go for Gatorade.)

The economy's gone to hell. Billions of dollars in damage, trillions lost in workers and supplies. Half the country (Which is all there's left) is in ration, surviving on either stockpiled supplies, or foreign donations. (At least, from countries willing to import to us again. There aren't very many.)

Not that I'd know. Lab-rats don't have to care.

Some of the whitecoats, when they'll actually talk to me, call me a hero. A savior, even. And I want to tell them to shut the fuck up.

You know why? Because I'm not.

All I did was run. Survive. Not spill my precious immune blood on the ground, fighting zombies. There are other people out there that died, trying to save others. Fighting to protect who they loved. Fighting to live.

Fighting not to be left behind, for dead.

What did I do? I hid. I ate some MREs. I had a few misadventures. You could call it a survivor's guilt, but I think it's a burden I can bear.

I don't regret it, in any case. I'm not much for heroics, and it's not like I have anything to turn back to. Dad's gone. Whit's gone. My apartment was carpet-bombed. Hell, they even took The Cabin as government property. (Which started a shit-storm on my part, but that, like the Badger Incident, is a story for later.)

Am I happy about it?

Hell's bells, no. Every time I see Gatling, I want to do things to him that would make the pilot back in Maine look like he got a little cat-scratch. I'll tell you, being a lab-rat is no career a person should aspire to.

Then again, I don't think I aspired to anything that happened over the past month. What can I do about it, anyways? I'm government property now.

Maybe it isn't such a happy ending.

But, you know what? Even with all this crap going on, I know two things:

1. I am alive.

2. I have Denver.

It isn't all I need.

But, sometimes, it's just enough.

A/N: And that's a wrap for this chapter, and for Acts of Mercy. It's been a pretty awesome ride, for my first fanfic. I'm not stopping here; the sequel is in progress, and keep checking my Profile and my Wordpress. I might post a one-shot here and there, so keep watching. Keep those Author/Character questions coming, too!

Some thanks are in order.

Firstly, I thank TV Tropes for the endless help and guidance. I'd also like to thank IsisMasshiro for the excellent Left 4 Dead comics, that inspired me to write this in the first place. Check them out on DeviantArt.

I'd also like to thank Ryan. If you're here, you know what you did.

And, lastly, but not leastl-y, I want to thank YOU. Yes, you, reading this; I give my sincerest thanks to my reviewers, and favvers and followers and to all the people who read this crazy little story of mine and said, 'This is great! We want more!' You guys truly kept me motivating to write stuff and post it, and you keep doing it. It truly makes my day to think that I could write something that can bring someone joy.

You guys are the best.

Keep watching me. It's not over, I promise.

Until next story,

-Author.

P.S. Make sure to check out the Google Docs link for this story, to see it in its full glory, strike-throughs et al. You might see some author commentary; don't be afraid to comment on it!

P.P.S. Be sure to also take the end-survey (link on my profile) It helps me improve my writing and storytelling, I love feedback!