When Love and Hate Collide
Chapter 1: Meet the Survivors!
I shot a nearby zombie in the face with my AK-47 that I stole from the last safe house I encountered. "Take that, bitch!" My partner quickly shot a zombie that was about to slash me from behind. "Sweet shot, Sheila!" I commented her. She smiled as she blew on the barrel of her sniper rifle. "Thanks, Chris. I'm a dead eye shot. Plus, you weren't paying a lick of attention behind you." I playfully hit her with the butt of my AK. "Come on, there's a Motel 6 up ahead. Maybe we'll find a few survivors…and zombies." Sheila reloaded her sniper and said, "Let's go kick some zombie ass!"
I stealthily weaved my way through the traffic of non-moving cars and saw a huge horde surrounding one area at the Motel 6. Thinking fast, I quickly pulled out my pipe bomb and tossed it away from the mob. The flashing, beeping explosive was candy to a zombie. The whole horde went running after it, leaving two badly beaten, barely-alive men. I quickly ran to them and barked, "Run!" Without thinking twice, they took cover into an abandoned room. The bomb exploded, sending zombies and body parts flying. Blood rained on me, as well as guts and goo. "Gross! Living or not, that's disgusting!" One of the men quickly screamed, "Behind you!" I just smiled as the zombie behind me had it's head blown off by Sheila. I turned around and signaled Sheila to approach. The signal was peace sign, plus fist, and an "x" made with both hands. She ran up to me and said, "You're so lucky I didn't miss that zombie." I chuckled and said, "You're so lucky that I found you that sniper! And that machete! Don't come bitching to me, Sheila." She opened her mouth to snap, but I quickly uttered, "Thank you!"
We walked into the room where the boys were. They were repairing their wounds. Without saying "Hi!" or "Are you guys ok?" I said, "Redneck and a con artist." Sheila hit me, "Don't be a rude bitch. Are you guys ok?" The redneck looked up and replied in a very fluent Southern accent, "Yeah. We are now. But our other friends have met the end of this apocalypse." I looked back into the court yard and scanned the carnage for other bodies. I found them; two black humans. One male, another female. I remembered that I picked up a defibrillator earlier and still had it. I grinned to Sheila, "Cover me. I'm going in." She nodded as she aimed her sniper outside the window. I darted outside and slid into the dirt next to the black male like a baseball player sliding into home plate. I quickly rubbed up the defib unit and pressed the chest paddles into his chest. The electricity was able to zap him back to life. He gasped as he sat up off the bloody ground. He looked up at me and asked, "Who the hell are you?!" I retorted, "I'm God! Meet up with your friends in there!" I pointed to the room where the two guys and Sheila took shelter. I noticed he had a defib unit on him. Since I can't use the same unit on two people, I snatched his away and rolled towards the other body. I charged the defib unit and before I was able to shock her back to life, a huge long tongue came out of nowhere and tied me up. I yelped in surprise. I was being dragged upwards, but I wasn't going to give up so easily. I planted my feet into the dirt, leaned back and sank my teeth into the fleshy, tongue rope. The creature, which was a Smoker, screeched in pain as I sank my teeth deeper and deeper into its tongue. Sheila leaped out of the room and used her machete to slice the tongue off me. I barked, "Kill the Smoker!" She nodded as she sniped it in the heart. It exploded into a cloud of green smoke. I was able to continue my work and the unit jolted her heart back to life. She gasped as she looked up. I quickly said, "Friendlies. Friendlies." I offered my hand to her and she took it. I helped hoisted her up to her feet and we all sprinted into the room.
I spit outside the window and scraped my tongue with my nails. "Word of advice: Never bite a Smoker's tongue! That was disgusting!" The guy in the white suit and blue shirt snapped, "None of us are that stupid to do that!" I looked up at him and snarled, "You do know I could have left you for dead, con man!" The redneck asked, "Would you have left me for dead?" I turned to him and asked, "Have you pissed me off?" He shook his head. I grinned, "Then you're good." He smiled. The black man placed a strong hand on my shoulder and said, "Thanks for saving us. You've got guts." The black woman added, "You must have some kind of balls to rescue both of us and resist a Smoker." I grinned as I retorted to the con man, "I've got more than others." He glared at me, which only fueled my satisfied grin. The redneck got up and asked, "What's your name? And what's you name?" Before Sheila could answer, I quickly said, "We'll handle intros in a safe house. I heard a horde coming in." Everyone nodded and suited up for a fight. I reloaded my AK and tightened the bandana around my head. "Time to blow up the undead."
All six of us were able to escape the bloody motel and slip down the hill. The con man snapped as he slid down, "Whoa! Shit!" I scoffed as I slid all the way down and rolled forward to avoid landing pain. Then I heard him snarl, "Show offy bitch." I was flipped him off and unloaded my AK's magazine on every zombie that looked in my direction. Sheila followed me and quipped, "Kill stealer." The four strangers tailed us as we ran through the water and up onto high ground.
The black guy said excitedly, "Whispering Oaks!" I looked forward and said, "Oh yeah. The amusement park." Sheila quickly shouted, "I see a safe house!" The redneck replied, "Great! We can finally find out who you guys are! And you'll know who we are!" I retorted, "Is that a good idea?" I turned my head towards the con artist and retorted to me, "Do you go by 'bitch' or 'show offy bitch'?" The black man slapped him upside the head and hissed, "Move your ass, Nick!"
We rushed towards the safe house while blasting zombies left and right. I snarled at the swarming horde, "Back you flesh-eating dumbshits!" Every one was able to get into the safe house, while I took my time shooting zombies. The con man, whose name was Nick snarled at me, "You don't want me coming out there after you!" I snarled behind me, "Tough talk! Prove it, numb nuts!" He growled as he stormed out of the safe house, grabs the back of my collar and dragged me into the safe house. Sheila closed the door and quipped to Nick, "I'm starting to like you."
I snarled at Nick, "Let go of me if you want your manhood intact!" Nick heeded my warning and let me go. The redneck said, "I've never seen a girl so violent and willing to kill our boys. You quite the keeper!" I turned to him and quipped back, "I was very popular in high school. No one fought with me or they would be in the nurse's office all day." The black man said, "You're one badass bitch. So is your friend. I'm Coach." The black woman said, "My name is Rochelle. Anyone that saves our hides is fine in my book." The redneck slapped my back and said excitedly, "My name is Ellis! You can call me El if you want, but it sounds like a girl's name." Sheila said, "Ellis? That's a very unique name. My name is Sheila." Ellis beamed at the comment. "That's a beautiful name you have, Sheila!" She blushed, "Thanks, Ellis." I muttered under my breath, "I see sparks." She hit my arm and hissed, "Shut up." I only laughed.
"I'm Chris", I finally said. "And I know that you're Nick." He scoffed, "Yeah that's my name." I grinned, "Now that you can't call me 'bitch' or 'show offy bitch'." He snarled, "You're already a pain in the ass! Don't get smart with me!" I only grinned at the fuming con artist. "If you don't cross me, I won't cross you. Besides, you should show me some gratitude. I saved your money-stealing life." He scoffed, "I had things under control." Ellis snapped at him, "Are you kidding?! We would have died if Chris and Sheila didn't show up! Thanks, gals! We both own you one!" Sheila playfully shoved the brim of his cap down on his face and quipped, "How about a spot on your team? We can protect each other until we're out of this hellhole. I mean the zombies, not the South itself." Ellis laughed as he pushed his cap out of his eyes, "Done like dinner! Welcome to the pack, Chris and Sheila!" Nick groaned in frustration. Coach hit him again. "Be nice, Nick. She did save us", Rochelle snapped at him. I, being the bitch I can be, I added, "Yeah, Nicky. Be nice to me." I gave him my best puppy-dog innocent look. He tensed up and growled, "Don't call me 'Nicky'." I nodded and snickered at him, "No prob…Nicko". He sighed and muttered under his breath, "This is going to be a very long apocalypse." Ellis laughed and asked, "Isn't Nicko the name of the Sweetheart candies around Valentines Day?" Rochelle chuckled at his connection, "No, Ellis. Those are Neccos." Sheila replied, "I love those little hearts. They're so good!" Ellis smiled at her and said, "Me too! The best treat for Valentines Day! Hey!" He pointed at Nick as if he discovered something, "You're Christ's Sweetheart!" Sheila, Coach, and Rochelle burst out laughing. Nick and I looked at each other with disgust. "No way in Hell!" he barked at the redneck. "Hell wouldn't even describe that thought!" I added. Sheila laughed and said to me, "I see sparks!" I placed my hands onto my face and said softly, "Karma's a bitch!" Nick added as he rolled his eyes at Sheila's comment, "Tell me about it."
Coach decided to change the subject. "Relax everyone. We had a long day and there'll be a long day tomorrow." Ellis nodded, replying, "More zombie killin' in the mornin'! I love the smell of zombie before breakfast!" Sheila pulled out her machete and a cloth covered in dry blood. She began cleaning her blade with the cloth. Ellis watched as she cleaned her mighty melee weapon.
I walked over to a shady corner and began listening to my iPod. It always calmed me down when I feel tense about something. I bobbed my head to the song "See Who I Am" by Within Temptation. I loved that song. I grinned as my tense feeling towards Nick faded away. Since I was in a shady area, I decide to fix my fire print bandana on my head. I untied it, revealing my Hunter scar that I gained on the first day I interacted with the infection. It's a double claw slash, one claw mark is longer than the other. That why I wear the bandana over my forehead: to conceal the scar. I don't want to answer questions from others about it. I soothed my bangs out and retied my bandana on again.
That Hunter. I snarled in my head. That Hunter attacked me, but didn't kill me. Instead, he just stared at me with his soulless eyes and scratched my forehead. When I screamed in pain, he pounded away, leaving me alone in Savannah. From that moment on, I vowed that I'll find that Hunter and kill him with my bare hands. Around my neck was a necklace of teeth. They were Hunter teeth. Every Hunter I kill, I pull a tooth out and add it to my collection. Sheila never argued why I hated Hunters so much. Smart girl. I'm a Hunter hunter.
Coach saw me in the corner and beckoned me out of the shadows. "Come and join us, Chris. Don't be a stranger." I looked up at the man. At least he and Ellis were friendly. Nick on the other hand was a dick. Ro was sweet and being a badass for putting up with Nick longer than me. I've only known the guy for an hour or two and I already can't stand him. He can't stand me either.
Ro walked into the safe house kitchen area, looking for water and food. She pulled out three water bottles. I grinned evilly and shouted to Nick. "Nick!" He looked up uninterested and lazily and asked, "What?" "I bet you five bucks that we have to share a water bottle." He scoffed at me and replied, "I'll take that bet." We looked up at Ro, who said, "Alright guys. There are only three waters here, so we're going to have to share them." Coach said, "I'll share with you, Ro." She nodded as she tossed one of the water bottles to Coach. Nick quickly turned to Ellis and spoke across the room, "Hey, Ellis! I'll share with you and we'll let the girls share their own water." Ellis chuckled, "You scared of cooties, Nick?" Nick snapped, "No!" Ellis replied, "Then you wouldn't have a problem sharing with Chris. I'm sharing with Sheila." Sheila asked Nick, "She placed a bet on it, didn't she?" The con man nodded. "Damn. You're screwed, Nick."
Ro tossed Ellis a bottle and said, "You and Sheila share." Then she turned to Nick and me, even though I'm still in my little corner. "You two will share the last." I shouted, "Yes! Pay up, Nick!" I held my hand out to him. He growled, "Fuck!" as he searched his pockets for cash. He pulled out a five dollar bill and slapped it into my hand. I chuckled evilly, "Sucker." Nick snarled after he opened the water bottle, "Bitch!" I shrugged casually and replied, "Don't hate the player, Nicky. Hate the game." He flipped me off as he took a long drink of water.
Coach witnessed our little bet and asked, "You gamble, Chris?" I slipped the five into my pocket and answered, "Once in a while. I had a major problem a few years ago when I gambled on everything. Horse races, car races, dog races, and even at card games like poker." Ro slyly turned to Nick, who still had water in his mouth, "She's your type, Nick. She's a con artist too." Nick spit out his water and coughed viciously. The water hit me and I snarled, "Hey Spitter! I know I need a shower, but don't spit on me! I killed two of them this morning!" Sheila corrected, "Actually, you killed one and I sniped the other one." I wiped the water off my face and grumbled, "Thanks for correcting me."
Nick ended his coughing fit with a question, "You're a con artist?!" I rubbed my nails against my shirt with pride, "Yeah." Then he snapped, "Then why were you so quick to judge me about it?!" I stood up and spat out the door to remove any water that was in Nick's mouth and any taste of the Smoker's tongue that still lingered on my taste buds. I answered his question, "You have the look. I don't. I'm an innocent face, giving me the surprise." He scoffed, "Innocent my ass!"
Ellis had to say while snickering, "Your arguin' is funny as hell to watch!" I gave him a thumbs up without looking at the redneck, stating, "Thanks, Ellis. Making people laugh is very rewarding." In my head, I added, "So is winning money against an asshole." Nick hissed, "Shut up, Ellis!" Sheila hit Nick in Ellis's defense. "Ow! Why did you hit me?!" he barked. "That's for snapping at Ellis. You have an attitude problem!" "So does your friend Chris!" She hit him again. "Don't play stupid! We know you like her!" Nick was too quick to defend himself, "No I don't!" However, his face began to grow red. Coach quickly said, "Alright everyone! Lights out! We need our sleep!" Almost on queue, all of us yawned, reminding us of our exhaustion. I fell back into my shadowy corner and curled up. Nick scoffed at me. "Are you unaware that a couch is much softer than floor boards?" I ignored him by turning the volume on my iPod up. Sheila got up and gently patted my shoulder as if to say "Night, Chris! See ya tomorrow!" I nodded as I relaxed. Ellis spoke out loud, "Night, y'all! Sweet dreams!" Despite my music being very loud, I heard him. Sweet dreams? I wish I could have them.
