Epilogue

They were Survivors.

They survived.

After they were shot out of the sky, the new group of six had climbed out of the wreckage. The jets had flown off once they'd emptied an entire clip of bullets at them, and they escaped with mostly scratches. Well, a bullet had grazed Vance's arm, and Julie's wound was still bleeding. But they were still alive, and that was what mattered.

"Fucking military," Nick grumbled. He and Julie were standing together, the latter leaning against him.

"I'm starting to think they don't like us."

"Yeah, why'd they even shoot at us? We weren't doin' anythin'!"

Rochelle adjusted the strap of her rifle. "Maybe they learned that we had those three with us. They don't know that those Special Infected are – I can't believe I'm saying this – special."

"What are we goin t'do? Stuck in the middle of nowhere without any idea of where we are; things look bleak."

"Oh stop it, Ellis," Rochelle chided him.

Nick rolled his eyes at the two and watched as the Smoker, who identified himself as Carter, slowly peeled the bandages away. These were soaked with blood, but for the moment the blood had stopped flowing. What they needed was a...

"Jesus! Don't do that!"

The Hunter, who'd written 'Vance' as its name on the sand a few inches away, had dropped a first aid kit near his hand. Inside were all the things that Nick needed to temporarily treat Julie's wound. She shuddered a little, but otherwise remained still. Rochelle had joined him by then, and using two rocks, she created a small fire where Nick heated the pair of tweezers and one of the needles in the kit.

Once both tools were sterilized, he used the former to yank the bullet out of his daughter, who shrieked in pain. She nearly slashed at his face but stopped herself just in time, and Vance held on to her wrist just in case she tried doing it again. Soon, her wound was stitched up and fully bandaged.

It wasn't the best operation in the world, but it would have to do. They didn't know how long they would need to travel, and she needed to heal. Vance's wound wasn't as bad as hers, but Nick treated it just the same. The bloody bandages had barely started to burn when Ellis spoke.

"We got to go to Utopia. I heard them pilots talkin' about it before we went down."

"You did? You heard that despite the gunshots and the firing?" Rochelle couldn't help it; she smiled. Ellis could be crazy, but he was a good kind of crazy.

"Yeah. Told ya I have excellent hearin'."

Nick raised an eyebrow as he helped Julie up, her unwounded arm around his waist. "And where is that?"

"Ellis Island in New York. It's far, ain't it?"

"Uh, yeah. It'll take us weeks to get there."

Nick was silent for a while. Then he looked at his daughter, and then at the rest of the group. Coach would have scoffed at it initially, but the big guy would have eventually voted to go there. If the military didn't want them, then to go directly to them was foolish. They needed to find someplace else, and Utopia sounded safe.

Secure.

He nodded, but it was clear that he still had some reservations about it. At least they had a destination and a bare plan.

But what they didn't know was where they were.

A question that Ellis answered ten minutes later as they reached a certain area of a fast-moving river.

"Hey y'all. I think I know where we are."

"Oh yeah? Where are we, Farmer Joe?"

Ellis drew the hanging vines away from a sign, and they all read the two words painted on it.

COLD STREAM.

Author's Note: Four years. Wow. I just...thank you for sticking with me for this long! Thank you for those who've left reviews, encouraged me to keep going, and gave me advice about the technicalities of the game. I decided to end this here since I haven't played Cold Stream yet. Maybe once I have, I'll write about their journey to Utopia (a place I previously created for another L4D fan fic of mine, Patient Zero). But Nick and Julie did find each other, and maybe that's the happiest ending one can get in this game. What did you think of this story? I'd be happy to hear your thoughts and comments, and thank you for reading! :D