He pays at the door, and they stamp his hand, just like everyone else. He starts to make his way through the crowd, pushing past people as they dance or head bang. He comes to the mosh pit at the front, near the stage, where Liam is screaming, introducing Roy into his improvised, extended solo.
Picture tight black jeans, worn low, with a bandanna peeking out of the back pocket. Imagine a studded belt hanging off of those jeans, and a leather jacket, zipped up and with masses of buttons on the front flaps. And a black sweatshirt on underneath the jacket, with the hood up, no one can see his face.
He stands behind the mosh pit, his hands jammed into his pockets, his face completely concealed by the dark atmosphere of the bar. Suspiciously, he watches the band. He examines them, their actions, their stances, their expressions.
They continue to play on stage, basically, just an improvised jam. Billy goes into a drum solo, the first one of the night. That leads into an unexpected, unrehearsed rendition of 'Rock You Like A Hurricane'.
They finish the set at midnight, utterly exhausted, and almost everyone has left the bar.
Billy immediately starts to pack up his drum set, and Alan and Dan pack up their guitars and amps while Roy and Liam head to the bar.
“Hey bartender, can we get our pay?” Roy asks, straightforward.
“You guys really went all out tonight, he says as he counts out the bills.”
“I was once given a great piece of advice,” Roy says as the money changes hands, “Give it your best, whether you're playing for four, or four hundred.”
Liam counts the money in his hands, and puts it in his wallet, waiting to divide it up until after everyone has gotten a good night's sleep.
***
Sex.
The world revolves around sex, everything comes back to sex. After all, everyone is a product of it. Everyone chases after it. It makes everyone happy.
Billy and Kate are a prime example of this, as they hook up late into the night, while everyone else is asleep. Being the only girl in either of the two bands, she has a private room, which gives them privacy for their intimacy. Their clothes are flung all over the room, pants on the floor, a shirt covering the lamp.
The door to the room opens up suddenly, and Bishop steps into the room, and flicks on the light. “The cops are—What the hell is going on here?” He asks, feigning surprise, even though he had expected it. “Clothes on now. Cops are here. Be at the bus in ten, or we leave without you.” And on that note, Bishop departs from the room.
***
The magic of Bishop knows no bounds. While Liam and Billy had been at the coffee shop and starting fights, the men of Nonetheless had went to work on fixing the bus. They had worked quickly to change the tires and replace the engine parts, getting it up and running, at least.
So, the ten musicians pile into a bus, which had been internally destroyed, and sit down as Jake drives away, heading towards their next destination. The walls contain holes and burns, while the rug is burnt and torn up. The windows are shattered, the seats are completely shot. Everything is trashed and scattered.
Everyone stays silent, listening to the grumble of the bus underneath them. It sounds bad, but at least it works well enough to get them out of there, and hopefully to where they’re going. Billy finally breaks the silence, twenty minutes later.
“So what the hell is going on?” He asks out loud, to no one in particular.
Bishop responds quickly, with his signature way of speaking. “Theft. Assault. Pigs don’t approve of that shit.”
Liam follows Bishop, deciding to elaborate. “We’d be in deep shit if we stayed. The fuckers from The Rabies ratted us out and bitched to the cops about us fucking them up.”
***
Rick wakes up on Robby’s couch, where he had been crashing for the past couple nights. The three of them had been working almost non-stop on new material for the past couple of days. Ben had been singing, and they had no bass player.
He gets up and takes his van to a local restaurant to get some food. While eating, he watches the TV set that they have turned on to the news channel. The local news reporter is ranting on about whatever bullshit is happening in the news, and he ignores it until they start discussing a feud between touring bands. The two newscasters sit at their desk discussing this calmly.
“These bands, whether by fate, coincidence, or purposeful planning, are on a coinciding tour, with dates in several places, almost all of which all three bands are scheduled to make an appearance in that town.”
“I heard that they’ve been fighting, as well. Are these rumors true?”
“Well, there’s already been some theft and destruction of private property, as well as violence.”
“And who are these bands?”
“Well, they’re all local bands, just getting started. We’ve got The Rabies, who are on tour to support their first full-length album ‘Vehicular Arsonists.’ These guys have been around for a while, playing smaller shows in the area. Then we’ve got Nonetheless, who have been around for almost as long, and they’re on tour with a new band called DOA, who just recorded their first EP, and have only been a band for under a month.”
“And how do these bands seem to know each other?”
“Well, let’s go live to our reporter, who’s on the scene with the lead singer and guitarist of The Rabies.”
Rick watches with intrigue until they stop talking. A shock runs through his system as they mention people being hospitalized. At the end, he gets up and leaves, throwing out his half-eaten food.
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