Work Text:
He was jerked out of his sleep by a loud voice exclaiming:
“Rise ‘n shine, Russ! We got a full day ahead of us!”
Accentuated with a small kick at his side.
He didn’t know when he fell asleep. He'd spent most of the night up, tossing and turning, sure that Nate would come around at any second to play another of his sadistic games. Maybe he'd put a gun to his head, and play like he was going to pull the trigger- or start yelling that some bandits had come to raid the building, and laugh at his fear and confusion. Or maybe Nate would just slit his throat while he was asleep, just because he was bored and didn’t want to share his supplies anymore. But, eventually, Russell fell into that delirious, unsatisfying sleep that feels like seconds when it’s actually been hours.
[Get up]
[Stay in]
He turned over and mumbled a response that drifted into nonsense halfway through, hoping that Nate would allow him some time to gather his bearings.
“Now Russ, you know how much I’d love to let you sleep in all day, dreaming of pussy and whatnot, but we’ve got a lotta work to do, and I need your help,” he replied in a condescending sing-song voice that set Russell’s teeth on edge.
“I wasn’t dreaming of that shit, man. Just because you’re disgusting, doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
“That wet patch on your crotch begs to differ, but okay.”
Russell instinctively went to look and cover himself, only to realise it was a joke. Nate found it hilarious.
“Man, you gotta be the dumbest kid alive! How do you keep falling for this shit? Good thing I found ya when I did, or else you’d be zombie chow,” he laughed.
“That kind of shit isn’t funny. Keep doing that and I’m walking outta here.”
“Okay, tough guy,” Nate replied sarcastically.
“Alright, c’mon- get up, sweetheart. We got a big day ahead of us, and we gotta get started now if we want to make any progress,” he added flippantly, walking out of the diner.
Russell narrowed his eyes at him, before getting up and following suit.
“Okay, so what’s the plan?” He asked, jogging to catch up with the taller man. He figured the sooner they got things done, the quicker he could get to his Gran’s (and away from Nate) and so decided to play along for the time being. Cooperating with him was the only option if he ever wanted the pair to go their separate ways.
“So, you might recall our “old friend” from earlier managed to bust our fuckin’ tyres. But it’s no matter- the carburettor was a ticking time-bomb, anyways. There’s another pickup ‘round front that’s in pretty good shape, aside from the tyres. I got a jack, and I already took some tyres from another car while you were having your beauty sleep. I figure our first port of call is getting these ones off and swappin’ them over with those.”
“Sounds good,” Russell agreed, finding no grounds for complaint.
“After that’s done, we have to find some gas. I’ve got a siphon, and there’s a bunch of cars around which have got to have something left. We’ll go around and take as much as we can.”
“Okay,” Russell nodded.
“Then we can do a final sweep ‘round the front and back and gather any supplies we might’ve missed- I bet there’s a heap of good shit left behind in the camper vans and trucks, so we’ll search those and take whatever we can find. We can salvage some parts, too, if we’ve got the time. After that, we’re good to hit the road. When the time comes, we’ll discuss where to go from there.”
Russell didn’t quite agree with the last part- there was no “next step,” aside from him being dropped off at Statesboro and them parting ways, like they’d agreed.
[Gran’s house?]
[Food?]
[Supplies?]
[...]
“You’re still taking me to my Gran’s, right?” He asked, trying to suppress any suspicion from leaking into his voice.
“Yeah, yeah, sure. But first, we gotta focus on the task at hand, okay, kid?” Nate replied disinterestedly.
Russell didn’t like the response, but figured there was no point in delaying their getting out of the pitstop any longer than necessary, and so decided to put off his complaints until later.
“Okay. So where do we start?”
“You know how to change a tyre?”
[Yes (LIE)]
[No]
[Kind of]
[...]
“Uhh… no.”
Nate smirked at the boy’s lack of survival skills, having already guessed the answer.
“You know you’d be screwed without me, right? Didn’t no one ever teach you no basic survival shit? I mean, this was important before the apocalypse. Could be a matter of life or death now.”
Russell stayed silent, not knowing what to say in response.
“Well, I guess it’s up to me to teach you, then. Here-” Nate said as he handed the jack over to Russell.
“What-”
“Well, you don’t expect me to do everything around here, do you? Besides, you gotta learn eventually, and now’s as good a time as any.”
[Accept]
[Decline]
“Uhh, you sure? What if I fuck up?”
“You won’t. I got faith in ya, Russ. Besides, I’ll walk you through, so that even an idiot could get it right.”
“Gee, thanks. So what do I gotta do first?” He asked, leaning down to get a better look at the tyre.
“I already put the car in park, and found some bricks to keep it in place. You just gotta do what this tells you,” he replied, handing him a manual.
“What? I thought you said you were gonna help me?”
“Yeah, I am: this lesson’s a two-in-one- first, how to change a tyre. Second, how to be self-sufficient.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah, yeah, don’t get your panties all in a twist. Just read it and I’ll tell you if you’re doing it right.”
[Read Manual]
[Place Jack]
“Okay, it’s in.”
“Good. Now turn the handle clockwise until it’s nice and tight like a virgin’s pussy.”
Russell stifled any comment to that, merely giving a disgusted look. He just wanted to make things go as easily and non-confrontationally as possible.
[Tighten Jack]
“Okay. Now what?”
“Here,” Nate mentioned, handing him a small t-shaped tool.
“It’s a cross wrench. Turn it left on this screw here and it’ll come loose as a whore. Then you can pull the hubcap off,” he added.
“You don’t need to make a comment everytime you give me instructions,” Russell scolded.
“Relax, I’m just trying to give you some details so you’ll remember it better,” Nate smirked.
[Remove Screw]
[Remove Hubcap]
“Nice work- now use this torque to loosen the lug nuts off, which are those things there. You could use a spider wrench or a breaker bar, too, though you... probably have no idea what I’m talking about,” He added, handing him another wrench. “Just put it in and turn it left like last time.”
After about forty minutes spent between the manual, the tyre and having to listen to either Nate’s dirty jokes or frustrations that Russell was doing it wrong, with Russell rebutting that he should do it himself if he had such a problem with it, the tyre was finally replaced.
“Huh, not bad,” Nate praised as he looked down to inspect the tyre, “Better than some of the dumbass kids I used to have to prentice back at the auto shop. Some of them were so goddamn stupid they couldn’t even make me a sandwich without fucking it up. The amount of times those stoners nearly got me killed, messing with the hydraulics and shit…”
“You used to work in an auto shop?” Russell asked in a way that was almost accusing.
“Yeah?”
“So you were a mechanic?”
“Uh… Yeah? Is that some kind of “big reveal”? Your mom get murdered by a mechanic or something?” Nate replied, still inspecting the tyre.
“You’re a mechanic and you made me replace the tyre? We would’ve been out of here already if you just did it yourself!”
“So? I do you a favour, and this is the goddamn thanks I get, you ungrateful fuck?” Nate responded, disproportionately angry.
[What favour?]
[I’m sorry]
[Nevermind]
[...]
Russell thought better than to get into an argument or make Nate angry. It would just eat up more time, and the guy seemed mentally unstable enough as it was.
“I’m sorry, man. I’m just under a lot of stress. We don’t got a lot of time, you know? And I don’t like staying in one place for too long.”
“Relax, it’ll be fine- no one’s gonna find us here,” Nate replied, disarmed by the apology, “Go clear my shit out of the glovebox so we can get outta here quicker.”
Russell walked around for a bit, looking at the pit stop and the road.
[Talk to Nate]
“You just can’t get enough of me, can ya?” Nate asked in a mock-seductive tone.
[Gran]
[The Old Couple]
[The Car]
[...]
“So, uh, about my Gran…”
“Look, Russ, I told you we can work that out later. Right now, I need your help so we can get the hell out of here, okay?”
[The Old Couple]
[The Car]
[...]
“Are we gonna talk about last night?”
“What about it?”
“So you’re just gonna act like it never happened?”
“Why do you have to be such a pussy, Russ?” Nate sighed, “Whatever you think I’ve done wrong, I’m not interested in hearing it.”
[The Car]
[...]
“How do you plan on getting the car started?”
“I was thinking that some of your homeboys back in the hood probably taught you the ropes…”
“Are you fucking kidding me, man? The hell do you mean my “homeboys” in, “The Hood”? I grew up in Johns fucking Creek. Nothing but old white ladies clutching their purses and shit around there, racist ass…”
“I’m just messing with you, man,” Nate laughed, “I’ll just hotwire it. It’s easy enough.”
“Have you done it before?”
“Yeah, of course- heaps of times.”
“After the walkers, right?”
“Not necessarily,” Nate replied, smirking in a way that made Russell uneasy.
“Of course you have,” He mumbled unimpressed.
[...]
“Well, I, uh, guess I’ll get going then…”
‘’Bout time.”