Knuckles fell heavily against the driver's side window, startling Nancy from her rest against the steering wheel. Her head shot to the side and she saw Dixie, to her surprise.
Dixie didn't look happy, her thin almond shaped eyes darted back and forth searching for danger and her arms were crossed defensively over her chest.Nancy let out a deep breath, the car inside was silent and tense, Dominic was looking down, aimlessly staring at the closed glove box.
Cooper was curled against the door burying his face, refusing to speak as he shook in frustration.
Nancy popped the door open to hear her, first Nancy droned "Yes?" with a tone that sounded far more exhausted than her expression gave away.
Dixie awkwardly looked across her and at Dominic "Um," then she gave a half wave towards the moving truck, Bonnie and Wyatt were no longer climbing on it and now standing about facing one another, Bonnie waved in a fast and jerking manner that made it seem like they could be arguing, but they couldn't hear, Nancy followed her gaze with a distant lean and sighed as Dixie started "They thought I should ask for the keys, um, Iona wouldn't do it. She's acting weird. So um, can I have the keys? They want to test the engine or whatever." Dixie said, looking just about everywhere but at Nancy.
Dominic startled. He moved slowly however as he patted his jacket and jeans until he felt the bulge of keys, he was going to take them out but as he slipped his fingers in his pocket he paused, then sighed, guilt just piled onto the heap of negativity he felt building in him, he just his eyes tight and stuffed it down before he moved to open the door "I got it." he said reluctantly.
"Can I leave now?" Cooper asked, his tone was nearing a snap but he kept even enough to avoid a scolding.
"Where?" Nancy huffed, the words leaving her lips before she even thought about what to say. Then she lowered her head as she nearly choked herself as she scrambled out an apology "I'm sorry Cooper. Yeah, go. Say hi to Penny for me." she said with a forced smile but everything else about her just showed exhaustion.
The three adults watched as Cooper yanked open the sliding van door and slid out, he had the book under his arm and marched forward.Dominic felt a lot of regret, unable to look at his son's departure any longer he lowered his head.
Cooper stopped briefly by Bonnie but Dominic instead turned his head, he looked at Dixie and Nancy who still kept their attention towards the box truck.
A few seconds of silence, tense and awkward, overcame them.
"I'll go then." Dixie said as she watched the car her daughter was in like a hawk, shifting her attention away from Cooper who was now approaching it.
"Okay." was the only goodbye Nancy could muster. She gave a weak smile and returned her head to the steering wheel.
Letting out a deep breath Dominic took in the messy details in the van before he pushed open the front door. The cold air hit him and he felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle, he adjusted his marked jacket and dug the keys from his pocket.He walked down the road towards the rge moving truck and gnced back and forth, Arlene and the others were still far down the street picking through abandoned vehicles.
Iona had locked herself in her own car and Dominic could feel Bonnie's attention on him. He got goose pimples. Dominic didn't keep his head down, he held his chin up and looked the two of them in the eye, even when met with Bonnie's cold gre he didn't lower his gaze.
Wyatt lifted his head and blinked. He was surprised to see Dominic approaching and felt a sudden urge to step back which he quickly fought away, shifting his stance to give in just a bit to the itch to move. He was never much for sitting still anyway.
Cooper had already left, already searching for Penny to continue the novel with. Which left Bonnie and Wyatt just a foot or so away from the truck. The hood was folded back and closed, the thick metal grills reattached to the point the vehicle looked like they never even opened it, maybe even slightly better. Oil splotched them, marks of bck grease and mechanical residue smudged their skin and stained their rolled up sleeves.
Wyatt was the first, surprisingly, to break the silence. Bonnie obviously wasn't going to speak as she let her indifferent glower show her feelings. Wyatt waved zily and managed "Hey." without giving away too much of how he felt.
"I'm sorry." Dominic replied, he quickly extended his hand, fist closed with the keys dangling from the bare keychain hoop "And thank you." he finished as Bonnie took a single step forward and snatched the truck key from his hand.
"Yeah." Bonnie replied stoically but her cold front dropped when Wyatt muttered out "No big deal." now instead she shot him a wide eyed warning.
Wyatt flustered "What?" he sputtered out, turning towards her awkwardly.
"Grow a backbone." Bonnie snapped. Her voice was harsh and it honestly surprised all three of them, even Bonnie herself, Wyatt gaped but couldn't think of anything to say to his defense.
Wyatt looked between them, a mix of confusion and a lost look on his face, brows screwed together close and mouth slightly open.He felt like no matter what he did it was wrong.
Bonnie just turned away and approached the truck door. She was shaking her head and mumbling under her breath.Dominic gave a half hearted wave as he too turned to leave, Wyatt remained dumbstruck where he stood for only a few more seconds before he huffed, crossing his arms across his chest he moved to the passengers side door. Wyatt again let out a displeased huff as he sat down beside Bonnie, who was silently watching Dominic leave.
Wyatt said nothing, he gave a short look to Bonnie but no words left his lips as he settled into sitting like a scolded child. Arms tight over his chest and a thick lipped pout on his face.
Bonnie had her hands on the wheel but the key was still in-between her tightly curled fingers. Wyatt sighed, leaned himself against the door and listlessly looked out of the unclean gss window, out into fields and at the distant highway.
Suddenly, with a rocking start, the truck chugged to life. The sound wasn't perfect, there was certainly no purring engine nor clear dashboard. The check engine light blinked beside the low fuel gauges, but it was on, and it moved when Bonnie gently willed it forward.
Wyatt's eyelids fell, looking out of the front windshield now trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of his siblings.
Far down the side road, at least a dozen abandoned vehicles away from the others,, were the three scavenging. Renáta was in the process of shoving metal cans of food into her backpack, pulling them out of a cardboard box that was in the back of a busted up sedan with rust eating away at the wheel guards. She left the leaking tin or cans that looked too corroded for her to be comfortable eating out of.
Arlene was picking through the front seats, pouring out napkins and loose wires from the glove box as she dug through searching for anything remotely useful. A light sigh left her lips. Inside the glove box and now spilled onto the floor was a photo of a family, a man smiling with three children surrounding him, Arlene didn't know the man nor his offspring but a dullness began to ball in her chest. She swiped the crumbled papers and loose business cards over to cover it, and she moved on with her search.
Ralph was leaned against the hood of the broken up vehicle zily scanning the nds around them for undead. Far off towards the highway he squinted his eyes and tried to see in better detail. Earlier Ralph decided to bel himself as the guard, the watcher, look out. He mostly just wanted to avoid helping with the scavenging, deciding for himself this would be a better use of his time.
Arlene leaned back and saw Renáta through the broken window. Renáta exhaled deeply as she stood up and tugged the bag over her shoulder, turning she briefly met eyes with Arlene but it seemed to fluster Renáta as she quickly looked away, not expecting her to already be looking her way.
Arlene gave a halfhearted smile "Hey." she greeted.
"Um," Renáta's face scrunched awkwardly, shifting as she replied "Hi." with a gnce around.
Her surroundings matched almost everything else she's seen of Edgeridge, ft pins and overgrown farmnds, or massive stretches of frost tinted pine trees.
"I don't think we've ever really talked, have we?" Arlene said with a disingenuous smile, she tried to bring a friendly air to herself but the exhaustion was too deep to be completely hidden. "I mean, just talked, casually. Not about survival." she said with a scoffing ugh, short and high, "I don't know much of anything about you, that's on me. I'm sorry." Arlene said with an uneasy exhale, as if she didn't know how Renáta would react.
Renáta nodded "Yeah," dropping her head in embarrassment she went on to add "That's my bad too. I, I just never really felt like it was my pce to approach you, the three of you, actually." she said with a light role of her gaze, skipping over the area and passing by Ralph briefly.
They watched as Ralph strolled forward. Out into the field, stomping on wild clovers and tall stalks of grass. Then they returned to looking at each other. "I try not to get in the way." Renáta added, brows knit together hoping Arlene didn't pick up on her dislike of her brothers, though Renáta has hardly shared a word with Wyatt she certainly has had to ignore more than one comment or 'compliment' from Ralph. Renáta took to avoiding both of the brothers, well, she avoided Arlene too.
Arlene shut the car door and gestured for Renáta to follow her, which she did, moving towards the next truck in the row Arlene spoke up "We may not look the friendliest but we don't bite," Arlene chuckled, soft and low and this time genuine "Even Ralph, sure every word out of his mouth makes me want to punch him but he's not as bad as he seems. Promise." she gnced back over shoulders and towards Renáta who quickly nodded when she got her attention.
"I've gotten to know Bonnie a little," Renáta remarked quickly ducking under one of the rger pine trees that were splotching the mostly empty fields "She's talked about Wyatt a bit, from what she said he seems nice but I don't think I've said a word to him outside of greetings." she added, looking around aimlessly "I'm sorry. I usually have better people skills..." her voice trailed, slowly becoming mencholic.
"You're fine." Arlene waved her hand, the smile coming more easily to her lips "The world ending can make us forget about things like discussing the weather." she joked, eyes trailing over the dented front of the passing sedan "Where are you from?" Arlene asked.
Renáta was taken back by the casual question and stammered "Huh?" before exhaling, "Oh..." she followed Arlene's gaze and examined the blood dried hood before quickly looking away, swallowing the bile she felt suddenly leap into her throat "All around, I spent most of my time on the Great Bridge." and then both of their expressions fell, Arlene looked as if she put her foot on her mouth but Renáta quickly moved on trying to ignore the somberness that overtook the shaky warmth of the moment "I've been traveling for years, I don't really have a pce I'd say I'm from. But, Funny enough, I think this is the longest I've been in Edgeridge." her voice started fast but even as Arlene and her began looting the next car. Renáta wasn't ready to think in depth about the Great Bridge of Anslem, or who was on it when it was infamously bombed.
Arlene huffed as she dragged a heavy suitcase from the back seat and began unpacking it "I've never left Edgeridge. I think, I spent, what, maybe two weeks in the city? At the longest?" Arlene chuckled lightly "Wild. How different things go for people." she said with a half smile, thinking of her past rather than thinking of what she was about to say "I spent most of my childhood raising my brothers," she said as she tossed out whatever she deemed useless, mostly jewelry, small personal knicknacks, there was even a sports trophy wrapped in a white T-shirt that she not too gently returned to the back seat "What was your childhood like?" Arlene suddenly asked.
Renáta paused, hand groping through the glove box, blinking briefly as if she had to really think about it. Then she cleared her throat and brushed away crumpled trail maps "Um, I don't know," she ughed awkwardly "Normal? I was bullied in middle school?" then she shook her head "Honestly uneventful. Nothing really happened, I just did school, college, threw myself into my job until I could start traveling for a living." Renáta said pinly, there was no strong emotion on her face nor in her retively ft tone.
"College?" Arlene tittered as she looked up at her "I'd ask if it was fun but by the sound of it you were there to study, not party." she joked with a light shrug.
"Yep!" Renáta humorously spoke, smiling lightly "I hardly ever saw my roommate, I practically lived at the library." Renáta said, adding a joking tone but she was serious, she hardly knew anyone outside of her study groups.
"I never even thought about college. I hardly scraped through high school." Arlene chuckled. Stuffing a few pairs of rolled socks into her sack.
"What was it like?" Renáta asked as she stretched her arm under the back seat, she eyed a left behind bottle and let her fingers roam over crumbs and lint as she reached for it "Raising your brothers?" she finished with a grunt, her fingertips tapped against the bottle but it rolled back as she tried to pull it closer.
"Oh let it wasn't easy, and it was mostly Wyatt," she said with a warm smile "Him turning out any different from Ralph was all me." she joked with an overly exaggerated gesture to herself, thumb pointing inwards towards her puffed up chest "No," she added humorously before she rexed back and continued ransacking "No, but, I'm sure you noticed the age difference between us. Wyatt wasn't exactly pnned, then again I don't think any of us were. Wyatt was just a ter surprise." Arlene kept her eyes on the supplies as she began to count them out in front of her, her finger wagged but her expression nor tone held somberness "Mom passed away not long after he was born then grandma moved in because dad was a deadbeat and I was too young to work the stove, by the time she died I was eight so I was old enough 'fer child rearin' as my dad put it."
"Oh Gods..." Renáta interjected with a scoff.
"Yeah he's a real bastard." Arlene said with a smirk but her voice didn't match the expression, dull and toneless, she tossed aside a few bundled ties as she continued "I did what I could, I kept the inside of the house livable and they would trick Wyatt into doing most of the chores on the farm, then whenever Dad or Ralph would finally leave their dent in the couch they'd do the butchering. I left in my teens, moved in with Nancy and her parents..." Arlene trailed her words towards the end, sighing when she finally stopped. She gnced out into the field and spied Ralph, he had hands cupped by his head, looking out towards the highway.
Renáta didn't know what to say. She was mulling over her words but before she could conjure the perfect comforting reply Arlene forced a dry ugh from her throat.
"That was way too much for a first introduction." she said as she shook her head "Sorry. Ever since the world ended I've started over sharing. Bad habit. Trying to break it." then she gnced up to meet Renáta's eye, she was sat up on her knees holding a bottle of clear water in her hands and an apologetic smile on her face "Obviously it's not going too well." she said, trying to make a joke of it as she smiled much more awkwardly than Renáta.
"No, no you're fine. I'm sorry you went through that." Renáta said but she did her best to not sound pitying, trying to meet her eye but Arlene quickly buried herself in the open case in front of her in embarrassment.
"It could've been worse," Arlene murmured with a light shrug "Despite what Ralph says I do love them, even our father, I got a second pair of parents too with Nancy's folks." she added before stuffing whatever she decided to be useless back into the case.
"My sister and I were born far apart too. I'm eleven years older." Renáta said, the smile on her face was small, wavering, not very convincing, but it was genuine. Then she shook her head "I didn't really help raise her, not like you did, I was mostly just mad she was born. I was selfish as a kid, liked being the only one...." Renáta paused, staring off into space before her voice ghosted "Gods, now I just want her here." but she hardly registered when she spoke.
"I'm sorry." Arlene somberly added.
Renáta startled back into herself and quickly met her eye.
Her plump lips opened again only to be cut off by Ralph's call. He let out a loud 'Whew!' in an exaggeratedly loud tone. They both looked over at him and watched him casually stroll back towards them, he was switching his gaze between the far away group of survivors they travel with, and the distant highway.Ralph made a wide gesture and waved his hand dismissively "Got some rotters on the way," he said zily, voice drawling before he spat onto the grass "Best be gettin' back." he added with no real emotion.
Renáta and Arlene were just looking at one another. A blink shared between the two of them. Renáta tilted her head slightly forward in a subtle gesture of 'Are you okay?' and Arlene just nodded as she stood up.
"Do we have time before the undead get here?" Renáta asked, eyes squinting as she covered the top of her face with her hand, shading it from the sun as she scanned the long stretch of grass between their side street and the highway.
"They ain't winnin' no o-lympic medals." Ralph said with a scoff.
"We should run back, just to be safe." Arlene said before she adjusted to her worn runners sneakers.
"Sounds good." Renáta replied as she fixed the bag on her shoulder.
Down the road the box truck inched forward then reversed a few feet, the engine roared as Bonnie revved it, stressing it briefly, then she turned it off. She smiled. A light chuckle left her lips before she turned to look at Wyatt. Her smile didn't survive meeting his eye as he remained numbly staring forward, fingers gently rubbing the bruising skin on his face.
"It should be good to drive." Bonnie said wanting to fill the silence.
"Yep." Wyatt replied before he forced open the door and left with a huff.
Bonnie sighed deeply, groaning as she exhaled and dropped her head forward. Wyatt grumbled. Footsteps heavy against the side road he walked forward with no purpose. He just needed some way to exhaust this strange pent up pressure in his chest. He was going to ask Iona something, anything, to pretend he had a reason to storm off.
The frustration he felt sted only a few seconds before it corroded into an encompassing guilt. Wyatt's teeth dragged against the already marred skin of his lips trying to ease the heat building in him. The only thing Wyatt could think of was 'Stop pissing everyone off.' which he repeated in his head again and again like a broken record, only stopping when he nearly crashed into Irvin.
He blinked himself back into reality.
Irvin gave him a meek smile that didn't match his usual toothy grin and Wyatt frowned.
Irvin startled. He met his eyes with a lost look on his face and Wyatt struggled to give an expression better than his, he scratched at the back of his neck and dodged Irvin's attention "You okay, Mr. Stokes?" he asked quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.
"No son," he shook his head weakly "No I'm not." Irvin sighed out, a deepness in his voice shook, trembled under his attempts to still his cttering jaw. Wyatt rose a brow, Wyatt took the chance to peek over his shoulder as Irvin sent his downcast gaze to his beaten shoes.
Behind him in the Stokes family wagon was Iona, whom he was searching for, wrapped in her mother's arms and buried in her comfort.
Wyatt quickly looked away and back to Irvin, he sure as hells wasn't going to give anyone any reason to think he was an eavesdropper or a nosey sod, no, not that he thought much of his already low reputation. He sighed. That ping of tightness in his chest returned and his mood fell. He couldn't pinpoint the feeling, shame, worry, anger, it all meddled in him and he struggled to keep it all in, fingers tapping against his thigh desperate to let out any amount of energy.Wyatt tried to show the car no more attention and crossed his arms, needlessly gncing around at the mostly empty road around them.
Wyatt faked a cough to help him get started talking "Need anything? Bnkets? Extra dinner?" he asked quietly. Gncing around only to make sure no one was listening, or watching.
Irvin acted like he forgot Wyatt was there. Startled all over again. He blinked as if his entire vocabury was erased from his mind and just stared at Wyatt.
Wyatt waited. Not long but enough. Then he spoke up, hardly above a whisper and leaned ever so slightly closer to the elderly man "You okay boss?" he asked again, as softly as his rough voice could manage.
"You," he started but his voice trailed. Irvin waved weakly but not at Wyatt, he was looking behind him, before Wyatt turned Irvin finished "You got a shadow." he managed awkwardly, like the words themselves fought against his throat.
Wyatt turned his head and saw Cooper not too far away, within ear shot if they were speaking any louder, but he had his brow screwed in worried confusion as he watched them intently.
"Coops!" Wyatt brought a bit of a cheer to his voice, waving animatedly at him but Cooper didn't wave back, arms crossed and foot tapping. Wyatt nearly jumped when he felt Irvin csp his shoulder.
"Go take care of the boy. He's a good kid, don't let that dad of his grind him down." Irvin said before gently pushing, encouraging him to walk away as he himself turned to approach his wife and daughter in the vehicle.
Wyatt felt conflicted. The tightness seemed to only further constrict him but he wasn't, well, couldn't, let this keep him stagnant. Not when he's got so much to do. So much to make up for.Wyatt approached Cooper feeling worse than earlier but he didn't let it show at all on his face. Expression even, the slight curl of a smile on his lips to not further stress the boy with his own problems. No kid, no person, needed to deal with his problems except himself.
Cooper looked down and dug his shoe into the concrete, grinding his sole into the street. "You look like ya got somethin' on ya mind." Wyatt asked.
"Do you want to date my mom?" he asked suddenly.
That was it. The final thing Wyatt could take today. As he stared completely dumbfounded he felt like something broke. It was like all the emotions he had stuffed away burst and flooded him with such incredible rage and encompassing frustration. His gut tightened and his face flushed hot.Not a word could leave his paralyzed throat.
"Is that the only reason you're my friend?" Cooper's voice broke, fists bunching at his sides.
Wyatt stammered, he didn't know what to say, so many variations of 'no' waved through him but he didn't want to come off as aggressive or hateful towards Nancy either, no words came and it clearly dissatisfied Cooper as he spun around and ran. Wyatt could hardly even process the sight of him smming the van door shut. Or trying to. As the door slowed itself to shut safely.
Eyes wide he simply stared forward. He could feel Irvin's pitying gaze on his back.
He wanted to scream.
Wyatt swallowed his emotions and tightly moved, body stiff with tension he approached the driver's side of the moving truck. He saw Bonnie talking to Nancy, both standing a few feet from her own vehicle.Dominic was nowhere to be found, not that Wyatt was looking, he felt like he was on autopilot moving with no purpose, then he saw three fast figures.
Arlene had her hand again around Renáta as she dragged her forward quickly, Ralph was a few paces behind but he didn't hold the same urgency as the others. Behind them, quite a far few paces back, trailed a few undead.
Dominic quickly jumped out of the van and scrambled to approach Nancy, nearly tripping."Where's Cooper?" Was the first thing to leave Dominic's lips
"Come one!" Ralph scoffed with a quick gasp of air " 's a few fuckin' rotters," he quickly criticized, he gnced up, drawing his machete briefly as he saw Wyatt and Bonnie approach "Princess Arlene here ain't lettin' me 'waste 'a arrow' so y'all can fuckin' kill it." but before he could even fully extend the weapon Wyatt snatched it from his hand. Head low and without a word shared.
"What crawled up his ass?" Ralph asked with a huff.
Bonnie didn't even follow him this time. Just watched as Wyatt stormed forward, he gripped the base of the machete and stretched his fingers over it.
Arlene pinched her brow joining Bonnie's side.
"I'll get the cars ready!" Renáta excimed, she seemed exhirated, but worried, dashing past the rest of them and behind the moving truck.
Arlene huffed, heart beating hard as she calmed herself down, she leaned forward and rested her hands against her knees, dropping the bag by her and Bonnie's feet.Breathing hard from the run she gave Bonnie a look of confusion, questioning the situation with a single risen brow.
Wyatt was shaking as he raised the bde and swiftly brought it down on the Undead's hands, severing the wrist, then swung again, swinging the thing like a blunt bat he struck again and again slicing skin and exposing bone and bark, tendrils of pnt matter filed like spider legs and desperately attempted to hold the host together.
Wyatt dragged rended flesh and thick strings of coaguted blood back with the bde and sliced again, severing the head from the body causing the main bulk to colpse.
Growling Wyatt briefly struggled to rip the weapon from the hacked up torso, snapping the colr bone; he, in the same motion, embedded the old bde into the second one's leg and brought it down.He stomped his boot down onto Its chest and drove the bde into the infected's head, but he didn't stop. Grunting Wyatt forced the machete out and smashed it down, again, again, and again, he hacked at the corpse until he was panting and tired. Stumbling back he wiped his brow on his already stained sleeve, then gave a single gnce down at what used to be a Veriyn body, now the upper half looked like mince meat.
The rage that filled Wyatt turned into shame almost immediately.
He felt eyes on him, Wyatt was frozen for a mere second, he loathed the thought of turning back to his fellow survivors, he didn't want to face anyone he just wanted to hide away and drown in his own self pity. His torso swelled as he forced in a deep breath and steeled himself.
Tearing his lip bloody he bit down hard as he turned around, not bothering to clean the machete he just shoved it back towards Ralph who gave an approving smile. Wyatt felt none of the pride he seemed to as he stormed towards their truck, dodging around Bonnie and Arlene's concerned expressions.
"Whew, guess that takes care 'a that." Ralph said with a big grin. He was expecting Wyatt to cheer with him but Wyatt didn't acknowledge any of them.
He then looked over at Arlene, he shrugged but she just watched Wyatt's back.
"Should we get Going then?" Nancy murmured, unknowingly clutching onto Dominic's arm "Before more get here?" she added nervously.
Arlene sighed and shook her head, she wasn't going to put them in danger. She dragged the bag back up onto her shoulder and turned away "Someone else drive the truck." she said, waving them off and storming forward towards the other cars.
Nancy looked up at Dominic expectantly.
"Let's get moving, we're not far off now." Dominic replied quietly.
"I'll get Cooper." Nancy replied.
Nancy walked away, she quickly sped up to get to Dixie's car aiming to take Cooper back. Renáta already notified the Stokes and she and Arlene quickly stuffed the extra supplies in the back of Bonnie's wagon.
Dominic went to the driver's side door of the truck and climbed in, there was a walkie talkie on the seat and Dominic scooted it off to the side. He looked up. At the desote road in front of him. There was a heavy feeling in the air, his chest was tight and he no longer knew if he was doing what was right. Suddenly it all felt wrong, nerve-racking, but this new, brutal, world he's found himself stuck in has encased them all in such a shaky unease nothing felt right. So. He did the only thing he could. With a sigh Dominic turned on the engine.