forever 2 - zombie blood

Nick watched as the blonde girl said something to Anne. She said something back, smiled, and continued to play the game by herself as the blonde one walked away.

Nick took a deep breath and made his way across the room to the arcade, running a hand through his hair nervously. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she whirled around, startled.

Great, Nick thought, she probably thinks I'm some freak now.

"Sure," she smiled, handing him a blue plastic gun. "You played this before?"

"Nope," Nick confessed, inwardly marvelling over her distinct English accent. "But I played the original version, House Of the Dead."

"Then you'll love this," she replied confidently, pressing the start button on the machine. "I'm Anne, by the way."

Nick panicked. What do I say to her now? "I know" ? "Nice name"?

"Sorry. I'm Nick. Or Frack. Or insane. Whatever you wanna call me," he joked, gaining some confidence. He felt more relaxed around Anne than other girls.

The two continued to play, their only words being the occasional "Yess!" and "Darn!"

"Heck, you're good," Anne commented a few minutes later, as Nick shot down seven zombies within the space of ten seconds.

"Thanks," Nick grinned, "That's probably because I spend all my spare time playing Nintendo."

"Same here!" she exclaimed. "Pokémon Stadium is the most addictive game ever!"

"And its sequel, Pokémon Stadium GS." Nick agreed.

Soon, the score was 2475 each. The machine began counting down the final thirty seconds of the game, and the two concentrated on the screen even harder.

Suddenly, a grotesque zombie appeared from round a corner in the game, and Nick and Anne pulled their blue plastic triggers simultaneously. Blue graphic zombie blood splattered the screen and its eyeballs flew in opposite directions.

Nick grimaced. "That didn't look right, even by my standards."

Their scores rose to a round 3000 each, and with ten seconds left to go, the two clutched their guns tightly, anticipating a last-second zombie attack. The machine started beeping, five, four, three, two..and then, Nick's score suddenly jumped to 5000.

"Hey!" Anne complained, as the cheesy game over music began playing. "No fair!"

Nick grinned and pretended to shoot her with his plastic gun. "All's fair when there's a glitch in the game."

"Risk it?" she said indignantly, "I would've beaten your butt given ten more seconds and no glitch!"

"Really?" Nick teased, and ducked to avoid her wild swipe with the plastic gun.

Back at the bar, Brian smiled to himself as he watched Nick and Anne flirting and joking. What made him think she'd turn him away? Brian wondered. The two seemed made for each other..

Nick and Anne played round after round, the glitch in the game causing unjust wins for both sides.

"And I win again!" Anne punched the air triumphantly.

"Yeah, that stupid glitch that gave you about seven of your wins," Anne raised an eyebrow.

Nick grinned sheepishly, and changed the subject, "It's boiling in here; you wanna go outside or something?"

"Is something the matter?" Nick asked anxiously, detecting the change of her tone.

"Nah, just a little tired," she lied. What's wrong with me? Anne thought, as she followed Nick towards the doorway of the hot Tampa club. I've been dreaming of this day for the past three years, so why am I so nervous about going outside with him?

Maybe it's because you think he won't like you if you tell him you're a fan, her more sensible alter ego told her. Didn't he say he wouldn't want to date a fan in case they were using him?

But you're not just a normal fan anymore, you're a famous fan, another part of her argued. He won't -

"Anne?" a voice asked. She jerked her head up to see the concerned face of Nick. "Are you OK?" he asked worriedly..

"Yeah," she smiled, shaking off her thoughts. Should she tell him about then dozens of Backstreet posters she had up on her bedroom wall? She decided against it. She didn't want to ruin the night, just yet.