When Love and Hate Collide

Chapter 3: We're Going to Rock and Roll All Night! And kill Zombies Everyday!

~ I was sweating like crazy as I darted my eyes for the Hunter. My scar enflamed in pain, causing me to snarl and have my eyes to water slightly. I saw him on top of the highest roof. He howled, alerting the horde. "Oh shit", I grumbled. The horde came walking around me, but I quickly threw a pipe bomb away from me. The mindless zombies ran towards the blinking bomb, unaware that it'll explode once the beeping rapids. Every common infected swarmed the bomb and when it exploded, zombie guts and blood flew everywhere, pelting me. Ignoring the blood and the smell, I raised my AK-47 to the mutant zombie. He grinned and chuckled at me. "Meet your match", he spoke in a very raspy voice. I gasped. He can talk?! The Hunter can actually talk?! I was in shock. All of a sudden, my vision got blurry, causing me to blink. When I looked up back at the Hunter, he was gone. I gasped, "What the hell?! Where are you, you fucker?" I felt him breathing on my neck. My heart stopped. He slashed me around and pounced on my body. I fell with a heavy thud. He gripped my shoulders and began to claw into them, drawing pain and blood. In self-defense, I head butted the Hunter, causing him to snarl. "What the fuck was that for!? Chris, that hurt like a bitch!?" Wait. It sounded like Nick. I spoke, "Nick?" ~

I woke up from my stiff sleep. I saw Nick in front of me, holding him forehead, teeth baring in pain. Sheila shouted, "What the hell, Chris?! Why did you do that?!" I looked at her and innocently said, "Sorry, but my nightmare made me believe that Nick was a Hunter." Ellis spoke behind me, "I've heard a lot of batshit crazy ideas, but that one takes the cake." Coach laughed, "Nick? A Hunter? That's a good one! I'm writing that down." I looked at Nick, who was rubbing his forehead to ease the pain. I grumbled, "Damn nightmare." Nick snarled, "Nightmare my ass! It's just an excuse to hurt me!" I stood up and looked down on the conman, "I'm not hurting you on purpose! Why would I do that, other than the fact you can be a total asshole?!" He stood up and stared at me with his sharp, acid colored eyes. "I don't know. Maybe because this group isn't big enough for two grifters." I scoffed, "Yeah right! That's the entire reason I hurt you! Good job. Nick! You'd make a great detective!" Nick knew I was being sarcastic. He growled at me. "At least I'm not a sick, vengeful bitch!" I was on the verge of attacking him, but Coach and Ro pulled me away from him. "Nick, you're a fucking bastard and I wish you would go to Hell!!" Ellis and Sheila gasped a little. Nick just stood there, absorbing what I just said to him. Ellis went to Nick's side and said, "Don't worry about her. She's just…er…" "Bitchy?" Nick answered for him. Ellis shook his hand as if to say "maybe." I sneered at his comment. "Sticks and stones, Nickolas. Only bullets kill." Nick was taken back when I called him "Nickolas." Apparently, he doesn't like it when called by his full first name. Hell, I hate it when I'm called "Christina."

Coach, Ro, Ellis and Sheila waited tensely as we just stared at each other. They were waiting to see who would make the next move. I sighed. "Nick, sorry I head butted you and I'm sorry that I called you 'Nickolas' and I'm sorry I…" He raised his hand, ceasing my talking. "I get it", he grumbled. Everyone let out the breath they all were holding. Ro decided to change the subject, "Does anyone have an idea how we're getting out of here?" Coach said, "What if we use the Midnight Rider's stage and equipment to signal the helicopter?" Nick replied, "That's the stupidest plan I've ever agreed on." I chuckled at his comment. He only looked at me with no expression on his face. I shut up really quick. Ellis began one of his stories, "Have I ever told you guys about the time me and Keith made homemade fireworks?" Ro quickly asked, "Ellis, sweetie, can this wait?" He simply said, "Ok." He was a little disappointed that he couldn't tell his story, but Sheila placed her hand on his shoulder, assuming him that he'll get a chance to tell it. Not right now, though.

We reloaded our weapons and get ready for battle. Everyone got a med kit, some sort of bomb, and a melee weapon. Coach opened the door and we fought our way through the hallway filled with zombies. Luckily, we came across bathrooms. Coach quickly announced, "Piss break! Ladies go first." Us girls shrugged and walked into the ladies bathroom. We shot any zombies loitering in the bathrooms and we dragged their bodies outside with the guys. Once the bathroom was clear of zombie corpses, we picked stalls and pissed. Ro called to me, "Are you ok? Flipping out on Nick wasn't cool." Sheila added, "Sending him to Hell was uncalled for." I sighed, "Can we drop that? It's in the past now. That's where it should be." It was quiet for about five seconds, until I snarled, "Oh bloody Hell!" Ro asked, "What's wrong?" I replied, "Well…I've got a problem." Sheila joked, "You and Nick should create a club" I growled, "Enough about Nick! I don't tease you about Ellis!" She giggled and said, "Touché. Tell you what: I don't tease you and you won't tease me, ok?" I nodded, "Deal. Now my problem is red, monthly, and guys hate the topic." Both girls went "Ooohhh. That sucks." I asked, "Does anyone have a quarter?" Ro said, "Nope." Sheila added, "Not me either." I growled, "Oh great! Maybe we can break the box." Sheila said, "Good idea. Nick has an axe. The perfect weapon to bash the box open." I snarled, "There's no way in Hell he's coming in here! I'd rather have a Tank come in here and smash me to bits!" Ro said to Sheila, "Damn. She has it bad." She nodded and replied, "Oh hell yeah."

I asked, "Who else has an axe?" It became quiet. Then Sheila said, "No one. I'll go and get Nick's axe and I'll break it open." I nodded, "You do that. I'm not coming out until…fuck, you know." Sheila flushed and went outside to retrieve the axe.

Sheila walked to the guys, who were just waiting around. Ellis asked her, "What's going on, Sheila?" She replied, "Nothing. I just need to borrow Nick's axe." Nick spoke a little too quickly, "Why?" Coach and Ellis looked at him with wonder. Sheila answered, "I need it to take care of something." Nick gripped his axe, asking, "What kind of something?" She grinned evilly and said, "It's a woman thing." All three guys stared at each with horror. Nick then shoved the axe into Sheila's hands, replied, "Nuff' said." She smiled, "Thanks, Nick. I'll give it back." So she strolled back into the bathroom and found the box full of tampons and pads. "This is going to be sweet." She swung the axe and nearly took the whole box off the wall. "Jesus! What the hell?!" I barked. Sheila replied, "Relax. I got it open. Here they come."

We girls emerged and the guys took their turn. Sheila returned Nick's axe to him. As the guys walked into the bathroom, we leaned against the wall and waited for a good two minutes. I reloaded my AK and said to Sheila, "Thanks for doing that. That's why I went ballistic on Nick earlier. He's not that much of an asshole. But he's still an asshole." Then we heard, "It's nice to see I'm not completely hated by all." It was Nick and the rest of the guys, all ready to go. "Now we know why you're acting like bitch", he continued. I said, "I know. I know. Sorry about snapping at you earlier." He nodded, "Don't worry about it. By the way, you own me five bucks." I frowned, "Why?" He grinned, "On the Coaster, I saved your life. I won that bet. Pay up." I growled as I reached into my pocket and pulled out that five I won from him two days ago. He snatched it and said, "Sucker. Remember, Chris, I always win. One way or another." I scoffed, "You stole that line from Titanic, Cal." He chuckled, "So?" I countered, "You cheated. Well at least you're not like Leonardo DiCaprio. He was hot in that movie." Ro laughed and slapped me on the shoulder, "Hell ya, sister! He was smoking hot!" Ellis said as he smoothed out his dirty brown hair, "Come on now. Any blonde guy is hot. But it's the brown haired guys that are the life of the party!" Sheila giggled as she asked, "Are you trying to make a statement, Ellis?" He blushed slightly, realizing that Sheila caught it. Coach said, "Alright. Enough boy talk girls. We have a chopper to signal."

"There's the stage", Coach said as we got outside. I looked around the bleachers and chuckled, "Do you think these zombies are waiting for the show?" Ellis replied, "Hell, I would. I love the Midnight Riders." Sheila said, "I'm a rock and roll fan myself. However, I've never heard any songs done by the Midnight Riders." Ellis gasped, "Well then, Sheila. Prepare to be blown away by their music!" Ro asked, "What kind of music you listen to, Chris? You must love music if you have an IPod on you." I replied, "I'm a metal, rock and roll, alterative fan. Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance, Within Temptation, Nickelback, Aerosmith, and it goes on." Coach replied, "That's some impressive music, Chris. Do you sing any of it?" Before I could answer, Nick blurted out, "She sings in her sleep." I blushed, "Am I good, Nick?" He blushed too. "Well…er…umm…I can't recall. I was half asleep…with a hangover to notice." I rolled my eyes, because I knew he was dodging the answer. "Last time I checked, water doesn't give one hangovers, but hey. Whatever floats your boat, Nick." He blushed so hard, I could feel the heat radiating off his body.

We fought our way to the stage and we went to the control station under the tent. Coach said, "We need to set up the lights and fire up the music. Any volunteers?" Sheila and Ellis raised their hands in unison. Coach nodded and ushered them to the top of the bleachers. Ellis hit the lights and shouted, "Lights on!" The lights on the stage blasted on, blinding Nick, Coach, Ro and I. "Jesus!" I snarled in pain. Ellis and Sheila jumped back onto the stage and Ellis grabbed the lead mic. He began singing one of the songs, "Every lady's crazy when her daddy's not around...gotta reach for the top, stay on the mountain..." until he needed an adrenaline shot, which everyone heard because he shook himself awake in the mic. Nick ran to the control panel and called, "Pushing the button that says 'Finale.'" He pushed it and the music began blaring in all speakers around the auditorium. I grabbed a guitar and shouted with Nick, "Are you guys ready to rock!?"

The horde came running. All of us grinned. Sheila and Ellis fought their way to a sniper tower in order for Sheila to snipe from above. Ellis stayed close to the ladder, protecting her from any zombies planning to climb up and attack her. Ro and Coach stayed on the stage with Nick and me. We were killing zombies left and right, not even getting a chance to blink. I needed a med kit so I darted my eyes around for one. There was a med supply cabinet up near the light panel. I threw my pipe bomb away from us, causing the mindless cannibals to run after it. I jumped off the stage and ran up the bleachers. I opened the cabinet and grabbed a med kit. As soon as I healed, zombies blocked my escape. I grabbed my guitar and whacked them away from me. They began scratching me and clawing me. In pain, I yelped. Nick was on the scene almost immediately. "I've got your back!" he shouted over the carnage. I smiled, "Boy, am I glad to see you!" He grinned and we stood back-to-back, fighting off the undead horde.

A screech made my blood run cold. A Hunter was nearby. I shouted to Nick, "I hear a Hunter. Keep your eyes peeled!" He nodded and grew edgy. I saw it, so I waited for it to attack me. There was hardly any room for us to move, so I had to face it head-on. To my surprise, it didn't attack me; it attacked Nick! "Get this thing off me!" he bellowed in pain as the Hunter scratched his chest. I screamed, "Give it a headbutt!" He obeyed. He headbutted it hard in the head, causing it to stagger off his body. Then I beat it over the head with my guitar, killing it. The hit was so hard to the jaw; one of its teeth flew out of its jaw. I ignored it for right now and helped Nick back up to his feet. "Thanks, Chris." He grumbled weakly. "You're welcome, Nick", I replied.

We heard a chopper over our heads. Sheila shouted, "The helicopter's here!!" Nick quipped, "I think the pilot wants us to turn it down." I laughed as we fought our way to the chopper. On the way there, I picked up the Hunter tooth on the ground. Sheila and Ellis joined us as we fought our way through the zombies. A Tank bellowed at Ro and Coach, who were still on the stage. I shouted, "Sheila! Throw your Molotov!" She nodded and tossed the bottle of inferno on the Tank. It bellowed in pain and came charging at us. We scattered in order to avoid the burning zombie. We opened fire on it and strafed our way to the chopper. Coach and Ro ran to the flying vehicle while firing at the Tank as well. It finally collapsed dead, enabling us to reach the chopper without anymore Tank problems. We piled in and it took off.

We all leaned back, panting and sweaty. Nick's chest was stained with blood from when the Hunter attacked him. A small whelp appeared on his forehead, either from when I headbutted him or from when he headbutted the Hunter off of him. Sheila hardly suffered any injuries, but Ellis looked really beat up. I guess he didn't let any zombies near her and used his own body as a shield. Coach and Ro suffered several scratches and burns from their fight on the stage. I too suffered many scratches from the zombies. We were all exhausted.

The copilot spoke to us, "Y'all all right?" Ro replied, "We're fine, now that we're out of that rock and roll hell." Ellis looked up at the voice. "You sound familiar." The copilot turned around to face us and Ellis gasped. "Holy Hell! Lil' bro!" The copilot beamed. "Sweet Jesus! Ellis!" Ellis stood up and gave the copilot a noogie. We stared at each other with confusion. Sheila asked, "Who is this, Ellis?" Ellis cleared his throat, replying, "This is my lil' bro, Alex Bucker! I thought the infected got ya!" Alex shook his head. "Are you kidding?! As soon as I learned about the infection and copilots were short, I signed myself up and became a pilot in trainin'! I love it so far!" Ellis let go of his brother and replied, "Well, I'm glad yere ok! These are my friends: Rochelle, Sheila, Chris, Coach and lastly Nick! We're a team that kicks zombie ass!" Alex bowed to us in a southern fashion, stating, "Nice to meet y'all! Thanks for lookin' out for my bro!"

The pilot decided to cut this reunion short. "Alex, focus on flying. I need to give the passengers supplies." He pulled out a big box full of food and water. We looked at it with awe. Finally, some real food! However, as soon as I saw the M&Ms, I snatched them like a ninja. Nick reached for an apple and I noticed he was in massive pain. I took a spare med kit off my back and tapped Nick's shoulder. He faced me and then he looked at the med kit. He did the math. He shook his head, "No. I'm fine. I don't need a nurse to help me with my wounds." I placed my hand on his scratch, causing him to hiss in pain. "Don't be stubborn, Nick. Let me help you." He gritted his teeth and replied, "No. You helped me by telling me to headbutt the Hunter. Thanks for that tip. But I don't need to be tended to." I pressed harder, causing his hissing to grow louder. "Alright, alright!" he barked in agony. I grinned in victory. I commanded, "Lean back and remove your shirt." He turned bright red, but obeyed regardless. He removed his once white jacket and began peeling his blood stained blue shirt away. Since the blood made the shirt to stick to his wound, it caused him great pain as he removed it. His chest was taut and fit, causing me to turn as red as his bloody scratch. Sheila "accidently" hit the metal hull with the butt of her sniper, snapping me out of my sudden fantasy. "Time to focus on the task at hand", I thought. I examined the scratch. It wasn't too deep, but if it doesn't get healed, it will get infected. I reached into the med kit and got some rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. I poured some alcohol onto one of the balls and told Nick, "Brace yourself. This will sting." As soon as I placed the alcohol damped cotton ball on his scratch, he hissed and snarled, "Fuck! That hurts!" I chuckled, "I told you it will!" I rubbed the dried blood away from his taut chest and tossed the bloody cotton ball aside. I grabbed the linen bandages and told him to sit up. He did and I began wrapping the bandages over his scratch wounds. Once he was patched up, I gave him back his shirt and jacket. He quickly put them on and ate his apple.

Sheila was smirking at me. I looked at her and asked, "What?" Her smirk grew as she replied, "Nothing." Ro asked, "Does anyone know a good joke?" We all grinned at the thought. I started:

While on a trip to Saudi Arabia, 3 Americans accidentally stumbled into a harem filled with more than a hundred beautiful women. Just as they started getting friendly with these women, the Sheik burst in and roared, "I am the master of all these woman. No one else may touch them except me. You three men must pay for what you have done today, and you will be punished according to your profession."

The Sheik turned to the first guy and demanded to know what he did for a living. "I'm a cop", replied the man. Then we will shoot your penis off", announced the Sheik. Then the Sheik turned to the second guy and asked him what he did for a living. "I'm a fireman", came the reply. "Then we will burn your penis off", declared the Sheik. Then Sheik asked the third guy what he did for a living. Barely suppressing a smile, the guy answered, "I'm a lollipop salesman."

Everyone began laughing at the sick, yet funny joke. Ellis said between laughs, "You have a sick mind. But it's hilarious!" He began his joke:

During her annual check-up, a pretty young woman was asked to disrobe and climb onto the examining table. "Doctor", she said shyly, "I can't undress in front of you." "That's ok", he said. "I'll flick off the lights. You get undressed and tell me when you're through." A few minutes later, her voice rang out in the darkness, "Doctor, I've undressed. What should I do with my clothes?" "Just put them over here, on top of mine…"

Nick chuckled at the joke. Sheila elbowed Ellis, quipping, "That was dirty! I almost had a doctor do that to me! Thank God I knew well enough to kick him in the balls. He was howling for a week!" He laughed at her comment. Then Alex shouted, "I've got a joke for y'all:"

What's soft and warm when you go to bed, but hard and stiff when you wake up? Vomit.

Everyone laughed because it was funny without being too dirty. However, to most guys, dirty jokes are the funniest. Coach began to tell his joke:

An old maid wanted to travel by bus to the pet cemetery with the remains of her cat. As she boarded the bus, she whispered to the driver, "I have a dead pussy." The driver pointed to the woman in the seat behind him and said, "Sit next to my wife. You two have a lot in common."

I laughed pretty hard, but not as hard as Ellis. He loves a good joke. Sheila's ribs began to hurt from her laughter. It was Ro's turn to tell a joke:

The mother of a problem child was advised by a psychiatrist, "You worry about your son too much, and it is causing you needless anxiety. I'm going to put you on a course of tranquillizers."

On her next visit, the psychiatrist asked, "Have the tranquillizers calmed you down?" "Oh yes", she replied, "They have worked wonders." "And how is your son?" "Who cares?"

Ellis laughed and pointed at Nick, "That's you, Nick. You wouldn't care about your kids!" I hit him in Nick's defense. "That's uncalled for, Ellis. You don't know that." Nick scoffed, "Since you found that funny, I'll tell you a joke I found hilarious:"

Billy-Bob was riding in Jed's truck. Suddenly Jed pulled over, got out and pointed to a field and said misty-eyed, "That's where I first had sex." "How was it?" asked Billy-Bob. "Great!" Jed replied, "Until I looked up and saw her mother was watching." "Holy shit! What did she say?" "Baaa."

I laughed so hard, I snorted. My snorted ignited everyone's laughter. My ribs began to hurt. Sheila retorted at the laughing conman, "Since you thought that was funny, I'm going to tell a joke that you'll love":

It was Little Johnny's first day at school, and his father warned the teacher that the boy was an avid gambler. He said that Johnny might win lunch money from the other children if he's not watched closely. The teacher was not unduly worried by this news and insisted that she was perfectly capable of monitoring Johnny's gambling urges.

Shortly after lunch on that day, Johnny's father called the teacher to ask how things are going. "Everything's fine", she said, "In fact. I think I may have cured Johnny of his gambling habit." "How did you manage that?" asked the father.

"Well", explained the teacher, "the little monkey absolutely insisted on betting me 10 dollars that I had a mole on my rear. Finally, I agreed to the bet and took him to the staff room so that I could show him that I had no mole. Now that he's lost his money, I don't think he'll be gambling again." "Damn!" said the father, "He bet me 50 bucks this morning that he would see the teacher's ass before the day was over!"

Everyone cackled at the gambling joke, including Nick. He snorted, "If I knew that one, I would have pulled that bet off when I was in high school. My Spanish teacher was a hottie!" He tried to purr, but it sounded more like a machine gun. Everyone chuckled at his failed attempt. I countered, "I pulled it off on one of my college professors. It was hilarious!" Nick giggled, "Are you sure it was a bet and not foreplay?" I hit his shoulder, blushing like a beacon. He laughed at my red face.

Alex was howling up at the cockpit, ignoring his duties. The pilot snapped at him, "Alex, pay attention! You need to take over for a little while. I don't feel very well." Alex nodded as the copilot began the pilot. I opened my bag of M&Ms and scarfed them down like pain pills. Alex asked me, "You like M&Ms?" I nodded, "Hell ya. They're my crack." Sheila said to Alex, "I didn't know Ellis had a little brother. Most of his stories involve his friend Keith." Ellis snapped his fingers and shouted, "I almost forget about the fireworks story!" Nick and I groaned. Don't get me wrong; Ellis is a great dude, but even I have a limit on how much talking he can do. I pulled my solar-powered IPod out of my pocket and began listening to "Break" by Breaking Benjamin. I instantly smiled as the song boomed into my ears. I leaned back to relax, but something stopped me. I feared the worse: Nick. I quickly said, "Sheila, who or what is behind me?" Sheila began laughing pretty loud. I growled, "I thought we had a deal! No teasing!" She snorted, "This isn't teasing! This is laughing at your situation!" I growled and wiggled away from Nick, who was the one I leaned into. "Good thing the song I'm not listening to is 'Lean on Me'", I grumbled. Ellis chuckled, "That would be very appropriate and embarrassing!" "I see nothing in your eyes. And the more I see, the less I like. Is it over yet? In my head! I know nothing of your kind. And I won't reveal your evil mind. Is it over yet? I can't wait!" I sang along with the song to avoid their banter. Ro pulled one of my ear buds off and shouted, "We can all hear the song! Turn it down!" I cringed at the pain in my ear. "No. You take the breath right out of me! You left a hole where my heart should be! You gotta fight just to make it through, because I'll be the death of you!" Ro rolled her eyes and let me sing my song. I noticed Nick bobbing his head to the song and began humming as well. I guess he knew it or he lost too much blood to care anymore.

Once that song was over, I stopped singing, giving Ellis a chance to tell his story. I looked behind me so I can lean back without Nick as a cushion. Thank God he wasn't. I leaned against the cold, metal wall of the helicopter and eat more M&Ms. Nick was examining his rings on his fingers. "What a pimp", I thought to myself. I spoke out loud, "Wake me when you need me." Sheila hit my leg and quipped, "Who's the quote stealer now, Master Chief?" I flipped her off as I closed my eyes to snooze. Hopefully, Nick doesn't wake me again during one of my nightmares.