Chapter Text
As the music was playing in the old, rusty truck, Nate listened Bonnie's directions carefully, despite his own suspicions. Russell has always been too trusting with strangers and he knew that perfectly well. Hell, that kid should've learned that when he jumped into his car. Well, at least Nate knows who he'll blame if everything goes to hell.
“And now you just turn ... right. “ The ginger woman pointed at the almost perfectly hidden forest path on their side. A lot of plants and grass has grown on it, covering the entire trail. Nate was barely able to make up the road from all of it; what a perfect hiding place he thought.
“Your base is in the middle of the woods? “ Russell wondered, glancing at the woman next to him. He had his doubts since the beginning of the day and a place in the forest didn't exactly scream ''safety'' to him. God knows how many walkers must be luring around there.
“It's more like an abandoned cabin of some sort. Only thing is that.. I don't think it's perfectly safe for us, ya know? We've been thinkin' about movin' forward.. We just... we don't know where it's safe anymore.” The woman's tone quickly turned into more serious as her smile on the face started to fade.
Russell nodded. She wasn't wrong. It was nearby impossible for anyone these days to find a perfectly safe and secure place to stay in; especially for more than few days. You needed to keep moving.
“Nowhere is safe. That's how the world is nowadays.”
Nate's input came out of nowhere but the others couldn't help but agree with him, silently. He didn't stutter; hell, he didn't even bother to turn his gaze towards the others. He just kept driving forward with the empty look on his eyes. He knew what this world was capable of.
“So uh.. you were talking about a city nearby? How far away is it exactly?” Russell attempted to change the subject as the road was hopefully leading them to the cabin Bonnie promised.
“Around 20 miles to south from 'ere. Heard it was overrun by walkers when the outbreak started.. I bet it still has some good stuff in it.” The woman seemed positive enough of the ability to find something from the city nearby. Where were they again? Russell couldn't tell anymore, most of the time it was Nate holding the wheel and he just kept telling him that he knows what he's doing or where he's going. He still remembers the night with Nate; it was weird. In reality, he bet he had no idea what they were doing either.
“You mentioned you have a group, right? How-?” Russ wasn't able to finish his sentence before the truck arrived in the yard of a quite large wooden cabin. Including the house, it seemed like there were some sort of garage. Neither of them looked like they were in the best shape but damn, it was something. Maybe Russ will get to sleep on an actual bed this night; damn, that'd be like a dream come true.
To Nate, this was more than just shady. Obviously these people wanted their help and shit but this just seemed too good to be true. Good things didn't exist anymore, right?
As the truck drove next to the occupied looking garage, a black haired young woman stepped out of the cabin. She looked worried for a second but as she saw her friends get out, a huge smile came across her face.
“I was worried you guys. How far did you go? I thought you promised to stay nearby!” She ran to towards the truck as shel lowered herself onto the ground from the bed of the truck.
“Stephanie, there's no need to worry. And look, we brought some guests over.” The brunette woman soon grabbed the other's hands and hold them close to herself, embracing her touch. “They can help us.”
As the rest of the people jumped out of the car, the woman gently shook her head before landing a small kiss against Shel's lips. A blush soon appeared on her cheeks and she quickly shook her head as she realized they had an audience right next to them.
“R-Right! This is.. Russell and Nate. They will let us borrow their car later, right guys?”
Nate could've said something snarky or mean right now but his attention was somewhere else that moment. Surely he would've love to see some girl and girl action but he was too distracted by the looks of.. all of this. This couldn't be real to him. Hell, he has been moving for god knows how long and no place he has stayed looked like this. This looked so.. unreal. Like there was no walkers around here, quiet and peaceful. He could've swore he heard a bird singing earlier. Was this real?
“That's right. We're here to help; for the gas you promised. We aren't getting far without.” Russell didn't like the idea of leaving this place, not yet. If they could have one day of peace that would be enough for him.
“You ready make the trip today? I mean we got some daylight left for sure.” Vince asked before walking towards the garage. It seemed to be full of empty boxes and old furniture; what could he possibly do there?
“Can we look around the house first? I mean, we always got tomorrow, right?” Russell admitted, he wasn't tired. Hell, it wasn't long ago when he got up. But the idea of just staying put without worry, socializing with other people than Nate.. It just sounded like something he would've liked to do right now.
Nate shook his head rapidly and laughed as his hand caught Russell's shoulder, pulling him closer to him. Of course he had something against this idea; he always had something to say.
“Look kid, we are leavin' as soon as possible, alright? We do this and drive-?”
“I don't see an issue when it comes to staying, do you guys? Actually, one bedroom is compeltely unoccupied. It's upstairs, right next to our boys' room!” The black haired woman smiled as she walked towards the main door, opening it for the people outside. “I could show you. Come on in!”
Nate didn't get to finish his sentence before the people were already stepping inside the cabin, including Russell. The older man sighed as he followed the others, leaving only Vince outside, looking for something he didn't bother mentioning to out loud.
From inside, the place looked clean and.. it seemed like it hasn't seen the apocalypse at all. There were playing cards on the living room table, flowers in pots around the house and a fresh smell of food on the air. It felt like the life they used to have.
“Oh, we just cooked but.. I'm not sure if it'll be for all of us. We ration our food very strictly and we weren't exactly planned for your arrival...” Stephanie smiled awkwardly as she approached the kitchen. “There are some canned food you can take if you get hungry.”
“I think we are good for now. Thanks for the offer though.” The younger male couldn't help but smile when he heard the kind offer coming from the lady. This all seemed so.. unreal. After all the shit they went thorough, maybe this was what they finally deserved. Some peace.
Unlike Russell, Nate was tense and his eyes were constantly searching for something to point out to their hosts. He couldn't believe any of this was real. Or if it was, there must have been a bigger catch to it than to just visit to a city. No way they'd let complete strangers eat, sleep and borrow some gas for a little trip. No, something has to be wrong.
Oh.
A blond man with beard walked down the stairs, looking like hell. His hair was messy and he was yawning; apparently all the noise woke him up from his nap.
“We got visitors? Hell, that's-”
The stranger's sentence was soon interrupted by the eye-contact with Nate whose expression completely changed from confused and suspicious to pure rage. No other words could've been said before the older man quickly bashed the other against the wall violently. As his arm reached the other man's neck, Russell and Bonnie rushed behind him, attempting to pull the man away from the other.
“I'm going to fuckin' kill you!” Nate wasn't planning to let the man go if it wasn't for Bonnie and Russell who forcefully were able to separate the two from each others.
“Nate, what the fuck is wrong with you?!” Russell held the man's shoulder close to him, his eyes strictly on the older man. He had no idea what was going on but he swore to god if Nate was going to ruin their visit. Doesn't he ever think his action beforehand?
Fortunately, Bonnie and Russell together were strong enough to keep Nate from possibly hurting the scared man; at least for now. While the ginger woman wasn't too pleased with the reaction Nate had towards their friend, she was more than willing to help him to get distance from the other.
“This fuck..! This fuckin' asshole's friend killed him! You killed him!” His voice started to crack as he mentioned someone that man supposedly killed. That didn't stop him from trying to struggle away; but without success.
What he said, shocked Russell for short a moment. He turned his head for a second to look at the other man, wondering what exactly was going on between them. However, no matter what happened before, this situation wasn't needed; it was possible to settle this in a peaceful way.
“Fuck man I swear.. I swear it was an accident man!” The blond man's words stuttered as he stepped further away from Nate, breathing heavily. He soon met the wooden wall behind his back, his distance to the crazed man getting bigger.
“Everyone be quiet!” Stephanie shouted, making almost everyone in the room turn their heads towards her. She looked entirely different than few moments ago; she was furious and the gentle smile from her face had completely faded out. “You're our visitor, Nate. Have some manners for God's sake.”
“Fuck you, bitch! You don't know shit!” Stephanie wasn't the only one who was furious; hell, Nate was absolutely out of his fucking mind. Not a single time Russ has seen this man this mad, this bloodthirsty. Sure, he got scary angry at times, even to the point he'd raise his voice but it was never like this.
That's it, Russell thought. They were going to kick them out because Nate lashed out like this and they'd be back on the road in no time. He obvious held grudge against the other man and at this point, Russell saw no possible way of this actually turning out well.
The longer they held Nate who showed no signs of calming down, the more their grip started to slowly slip. He was planning to hurt him or worse, kill him.
“Nate?! Nate, calm the fuck down man!” Russell's desperate attempt to calm his companion down was unsuccessful. This was the reason why they are always in trouble; because Nate can't get a proper hold of himself.
“Let go of me! Russ, ain't you-” Nate's sentence was interrupted by a loud thump against back of the man's head, leaving him unconscious by the strong hit. His legs failed under him and his body was only supported by the two individuals who were looking at the male in a slight shock. Russell quickly turned his head to the woman's direction who was holding a rifle in her hands. Shel had hit Nate's head in order to make him pass out for a moment.
“W-What did you do?” Russell knew why she did such thing to Nate but it didn't mean he had to like it. For a second he thought he was holding a dead body of his ''friend'' and frankly, the idea was terrifying to him. As much as he despises Nate's way of doing things and his flawed logic, they had been together for a long time now. Russell has grown attached to Nate, way more than he would've liked to.
“He's not dead, just unconscious. We put him into the garage until he can behave. I'm not letting him inside until the situation is settled.” Her tone sounded determined as she lowered her weapon, placing it next to their couch. No one seemed to disagree with her and so, she approached Nate's motionless body. “Russell, would you give me a hand?”