When Love and Hate Collide

Chapter 9: Nick's Heart Will Go On

Nick was waiting for me as he watched me scale up the ladder. He smiled and asked, "Are you ready for the run home?"

I nodded, "Oh hell yeah. What about you?"

He replied, "You know it. Before we do, I just want to say something."

I gulped and asked, "Sure. What is it?"

He answered, "I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you during this Hell-bound fight. You didn't deserve it."

I placed my hand on his shoulder and said, "Thanks, Nick. I'm sorry too for adding fuel to the flame. You're a nice guy when you want to be. I consider myself lucky for finding a fellow con artist who is just as think-headed and trigger-happy as I am."

He sighed, "I'm so glad I got swept into this apocalypse. It led me to you."

I blushed and quipped, "Stealing more 'Titanic' lines, my friend?"

He chuckled, "You know it! It's true, though. I'm glad this happened to me. At first, it was just me, Ellis, Ro, and Coach. I kept thinking, 'Oh dear God. Why me? Why these people?' And then you and Sheila came along and I'll admit I was a total jackass but it was to hide my excitement for finding someone I can relate to. Thanks."

I smiled, "You're welcome. I'll admit, we had our fights, but all in all, I had a fun time fighting beside you. And once again, I'm sorry for shooting you in the ass."

He nodded, "Apology accepted. I can't wait to get the hell out of here."

I laughed, "That sentence killed the mood, Nick."

He smirked as he tried to straighten his scruffy hair. "And what mood was it, Chris?"

I blushed, "Don't act like you're completely oblivious to it."

He walked closer to me, "No. Seriously."

I backed into the wall while Nick leaned against it using his right arm to prompt him. "Damn, you're quite the smooth criminal, Nick."

He smirked and winked, "You love that about me. Don't deny it."

I blushed harder and replied, "Alright, I won't. But you love the way I can make men like you sweat with minimum effort."

He whistled, "I'll admit, that skill is hot. The trick you used on me on the boat. Damn. I guess it pays to be a female con artist."

I nodded, "It sure does."

He slowly closed the gap between us and I immediately darted my eyes left and right. No one seemed to pay attention to us, so I relaxed a little. Nick softly placed his forehead against mine and began, "Christina, I…"

Coach interrupted, "Let's go! The military won't wait forever!"

Ro grabbed a hold of Nick's collar and quipped, "Not now, Romeo. We have a bridge to clear."

Nick blushed as Ro pulled him away from me. I laughed as I reloaded my AK and grabbed ammo for it. Lazerlemon hopped onto Nick's hand and purred. He scowled at the fur ball and waved him off his hand. He huffed and hopped up my leg and onto my Magnum holster. He began purring again. I chuckled as I picked him off the holster and onto my shoulder. Sheila walked by and asked, "How come when I call you 'Christina' I get a threat, but when Nick calls you 'Christina' you get a cheesy grin on your face?"

I covered my mouth with my hand and shrugged. "I don't know."

Sheila smirked, "My ass. I love trying to make you confess."

I snapped, "I confessed to you once!"

"Yeah, but not to Nick. Just admit that you're madly in love with him and raise Hell together."

I sighed, "Tell you what, Sheila. I'll confess when we're rescued."

She added, "On the helicopter."

I nodded, "Fine. On the helicopter."

She held out her pinkie and declared, "Pinkie promise me."

I sighed and linked my pinkie to hers, "I promise."

She smiled and petted my shoulder not occupied by Lazerlemon. "Awesome. Come on. Let's have one more zombie run before we retire."

I grinned, "Sounds fun to me."

Alex opened the door and we all walked out onto the bridge. Coach said, "Alright, the military is going to save us."

Nick doubted, "Or they're going to line us against a wall and shoot us."

Ellis replied, "Not likely Nick."

Nick mocked him, "'Not likely Nick.' Just watch, I have a hunch one of us might die."

My face suddenly paled. Sadly, Nick saw me in the corner of his eye and grumbled to himself, "Shit. Me and my big mouth." He immediately took my side and joked, "I'm kidding sweetheart. No one's going to die."

I shook my head and exhaled, "Yeah. Right. I just let panic overwhelm me for a second. Sorry for worrying ya." He smiled and walked away. Thank Bill, he didn't read my poker face. I was lying and if he studied me, he would've seen that I was lying to him. "By the way, seventeenth time." He laughed as a result.

Sheila picked up a walkie-talkie off a dead soldier and asked, "Hello? Anyone there?"

A voice boomed on the other side, "It's coming from the bridge! Identify yourself!"

Sheila continued, "I'm Sheila. There are six survivors with me."

The voice asked, "Bridge, are you immune?"

She replied, "Huh? No, we're not zombies!"

"Negative. Are you IMMUNE! Have you encountered the infected?"

She scoffed, "We had to fight the infected in order to make it this far! Of course we have!"

The voice replied, "Papa Gator, are you with transports?"

Another voice answered, "Copy that."

The main voice commanded Sheila, "Bridge, there's a transport on the east bank of the bridge. It'll be leaving in ten minutes. We are clear of friendlies. Good luck." Static was the last thing heard through the talkie.

Coach activated the bridge and Nick declared, "Alright, you heard the man. Let's get across this bridge."

The section we were standing on began to rise. We stood in front of the ramp, waiting for it to lower. I quietly prayed to myself, "Bill, help us."

The section stopped and the ramp crashed down. We bolted to the left side and ran almost single file again. We attacked very zombie in our way, either with bullets or with something sharp and pointy like a machete. We saw Special Infected, but for some odd reason, they didn't attack us. They just watched us run to the chopper while the common zombies attacked us.

We decided to dodge the Tank altogether and climbed up the tanker onto the upper part of the bridge. It was slanting on the right side, so we had to stay to the left as much as possible. Alex almost fell off, but thankfully Coach saw him flailing and grabbed his collar. "Don't fall on us, young'un."

Alex sighed with relief, "Thanks, Coach."

Soon enough, we saw the chopper waiting for us. We beamed at the sight; we're going to make it out of here! We zipped past the zombies and onto the chopper pad. Sadly, Faith had other plans for us. While Alex, Sheila and Ro piled inside the chopper, the common zombies decided that they liked the chopper too much to see it take off. They attacked it, causing the pilot to yell, "I can't take off with these things attacking us!"

I growled as I ran out of the chopper to fight off the zombies attacking the chopper. Nick panicked and followed me out. I ran around, filling the flesh-eaters with AK ammo. The zombies saw me outside so they went after me. I hissed, "Bring it on, you fuckers!"

Nick's Assault rifle rang in my ears as he ran to me, "Are you fucking mad? Get to the chopper!"

I shouted, "Not until you guys are safe! I need to destroy these sons'a'bitches so it the damn chopper can take off!"

He hissed, "I'm not leaving without you!" He reached to grab my arm, but suddenly, I aimed my Magnum at his chest. He froze as he stared at me with glossy eyes.

"I'm sorry, Nick. Go, while you still have a chance! Go without me!"

He shook his head, yelling, "I can't! I refuse to!"

I cocked the hammer at him, threatening to shoot him if he didn't leave. A single tear rolled down his cheek. I quickly saw more zombies running behind Nick, so I quickly shot past his shoulder and nailed one in the head. Nick took this chance to throw a pipe bomb. The group of zombies went after it, eager to chase the blinking, beeping thing.

He began pleading, "Please, Chris! Get into the chopper! Be with me! I can't live without you!"

I bellowed over the copter blades, "Yes, you can! I'm sorry, but this is my final stand! These zombies can't fight themselves! I gotta do it! Go, Nick, go!"

Nick ran up to me and before I could shoot him, he crashed his lips onto mine. The kiss was the most peaceful thing I've witnessed in years. It only lasted about five seconds, but I could die happy now. I aimed my Magnum back at him and sobbed, "Just go, Nick!"

He began sobbing as well, but he heeded my words this time. I followed him to the back of the copter and attacked the zombies that almost got aboard. Ellis pulled Nick inside and everyone looked in horror as the copter began to hover off the ground. Lazerlemon hopped out of Alex's pocket and made the leap of faith onto my shoulder. I watched the helicopter fly my friends to safety and I was blown down by the bombs released onto the bridge, destroying it completely.

Meanwhile, in the chopper…

The explosions outside the chopper window made Nick's heart sink. He leaned into one of them and softly sobbed to himself. Sheila cuddled into Ellis's arms, crying frantically at my sacrifice. He rubbed her back and held her tight, while he shed a tear or two as well. Coach bent his head down and cried, "Why, Chris, why?" Ro and Alex sobbed as one. Everyone was crying over my actions, but no one was hurting as bad as Nick. He pulled my blue bandana out of his coat pocket and began to sob loudly as he placed the bandana close to his lips. He lost the woman he loved.

After the explosion…

I groaned as I stood up. Lazerlemon shook himself off and went 'meep?' I looked up and stared in horror at the common infected, running towards me. I hissed as I grabbed my AK, "Come and get me, you assholes!" Bullets tore through the waves like butter, but despite my firing, more zombies kept coming. I reloaded frantically and continued to fight back, while struggling to face the facts: I am going to die.

After my AK ran out of ammo, I tossed it aside and began panting. Death was upon me and I knew that. The Special Infected that didn't attack us surrounded me in a deadly ring. A Smoker, a Charger, a Jockey, a Spitter, a Boomer, a Tank, and a young Hunter stared intensely at me. My nerves were on edgy, waiting for the super zombies to attack me. Lazerlemon cowered in fear behind my leg, but he came face-to-face with the Jockey, which scared the little fur ball senseless. He leaped into my jacket pocket for protection. I patted his pocket as I took a deep breath.

The common infected split like the Red Sea and I gasped to see the Hunter walking down the empty aisle. My breathing got heavy as I saw him crouch. He leaped over the younger Hunter and pinned my body to the ground. He hissed, "Where's your team now, Chris?"

I snarled, "They're safe! Away from this Hell hole! Go ahead! Kill me! My duty is done!"

He chuckled, "Kill you? No. We've got better plans for you." He pressed the side of my face into the ground and sank his teeth into the flesh of my neck. I screamed in agony as his bite spread throughout my whole body. My muscles grew weak and my vision blurry. I struggled to remain conscious but it was no use; I closed my eyes and waited. Waited for Fate to come knocking on my door. I don't care what happens to me; my friends are safe. My purpose has been served.

Disclaimer: I don't own Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 or any of its characters. Chris and Sheila are my OCs, while Alex is my little brother's. I don't own the Hunter pup species, but my little brother does own Lazerlemon as a character. L4D belongs to Valve and Hunter pups belong to perpetualfrustration from Deviant art. There is no such thing as solar-powered IPods…yet. I hope you loved reading this story.

Look out for a series called "Slashed Scenes/Moments" to see situations that didn't make the story. Part 1 can be found on Quizilla and part 2 can be found on Deviant art (rated M for sexuality). More coming soon!