Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When Travis heard about the ones who left the city’s safety and found freedom, he had to look into it. When he found out it was possible, he had to tell his friends about it.

This city was… shit. It was safe from the raiders and feral people who the wild had claimed years ago, but the state of the city wasn’t great. Morale was low, there were fights almost everywhere you looked, and resources were running thin.

The leader of the city had an iron grip on what people were allowed to do, how far they could step out of line. Fights were whatever, as long as you kept it away from enforcers. But if you spoke up against what the leader was doing, that was too far. They just wanted somewhere where they could talk, and make the jokes they wanted, and just be. 

Travis brought up the stories to his friends, Ted, Noah, Charlie, and Cooper, and all of them agreed that freedom would be better than safety.

So they packed what they could, and loaded up a stolen van with enough tanks of gas to get them a ways away from that fucking city.

Then they stopped. Where would they go? They hadn’t ever been outside the city walls, what were they supposed to do? They hadn’t ever relocated like this, how would they even get their lives started back up?

Thankfully, Noah pays attention to things around the city. He’d heard about some guy who’d recently moved here from another city, a decent ways away.

They could ask him. He would probably know how to make a new life somewhere, know how to help them make new lives elsewhere…

So that was how the five found themselves at the door of a stranger, someone who could possibly be the key to their freedom, someone who-

“What the fuck do you want?” the man said when they finally knocked long enough that he answered. He was definitely a someone, Travis would give him that. Almost as tall as Ted, and with some… interesting facial hair… he did not look like what Travis had imagined.

“Well, uh. We were looking for a Mr. J Schlatt?” Charlie asked, smiling, though it wasn’t as wide as it normally was. It seemed everyone was off-put by the man.

“You’re looking at him.”

“Right. Well, Mr. J Schlatt, we’d like to ask you-”

“Just Schlatt.”

“Okay, um. Schlatt. We’d like to ask you about your recent relocation to this city.”

“What about it.” He seemed… how should Travis put this. Hostile.

“Well, see. We were also looking to relocate,” Ted cut in, taking the conversation from Charlie, who was fumbling.

“Good for you.” Schlatt started closing the door. Ted stuck his foot in the door, effectively stopping it, and then pushed it back open.

“Well, Schlatt, we were wondering if you might help us.”

“No.”

“We didn’t even say with what.”

“Well whatever it is, no.”

“Well what if it’s got something in it for you?”

“Don’t care.”

“Oh come on, you can’t possibly want to stay here ! It’s shit here! You can't speak out or do much of anything! You’ll see that soon enough, if you haven't already! Come on, you seem like the kinda guy who says whats on his mind. You cant do that if you stay!”

“But why should I help you?”

“Because we are asking nicely.”

“No.”

“Because we don’t like the restriction of freedom either. Haven't you ever felt trapped somewhere?” Cooper asked, trying a different approach than Ted.

“Yeah, actually, and it's a lot better here than in some other places.”

“Well maybe we wanna find better places! It’s just new to you now, but once you get used to it here, it’s a shithole. Come on. Please? We can pay you or something!”

“Will you stop asking if I take you somewhere and then leave?” Schlatt sighed.

“Yes,” the five of them said simultaneously. Schlatt sighed and ran a hand down his face.

“Fine. When?”

“Oh, as soon as possible. Can you be ready today?” Travis asked excitedly.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because, dipshit, it’s gonna get dark soon. You really wanna start your little ‘quest’ at night? There are raiders out there, never forget that,” Schlatt said with a roll of his eyes.

“Oh. That is… that’s a fair point. So tomorrow then?”

“I guess, if you have to leave that early…”

“Yes.”

“Fine.”

“Great! See you at dawn!” As Schlatt shut the door, the group could hear him grumbling about ‘fucking morning people who won’t leave him alone’. They started walking back, all talking excitedly about finally getting out of this shithole. Badgering Schlatt into taking them out of the city would be a great idea.

_____

Schlatt hated this. Why the fuck had he said yes? Why had he caved so easily?

Well it wasn’t like it was the end of the world. He could just not do it, not show up wherever they’d said to meet.

The next morning, Schlatt was awoken by a loud knocking at his door. What the fuck? He rolled out of bed and dragged himself to the door. He was too tired for this shit.

He peered through the peephole. Fuck , it was those weirdos from yesterday afternoon! Fuck, they actually came back? They were serious? He never packed or anything!

Wait. he could just tell them no. This was fine. This was okay. He opened the door.

“I changed my mind, I’m not helping you,” he said.

“What?” the tall, dark-haired guy, said incredulously. “Why not?”

“Well for starters, I don’t want to, and besides, I don’t even know you!”

“But…” the short, curly haired guy pouted.

“Schlatt, come on. We’re offering you a lot here,” the tallass spoke again.

“Like what? You said nothing about that yesterday,” Schlatt challenged.

“Like money. You’re new here, I’d be willing to bet that you haven’t found a job yet, you’re probably looking to earn some money.” Schlatt had nothing to say about that. It was true. “Well if you help us, we’ll pay you. Deal? Just business.”

“Just business. Fine. Deal. Let me get my things.” He let them into the main room, and disappeared into his room to throw some clothes into a bag. He reappeared a few moments later, having put things into a backpack.

“So, you’re a, um, a minimalist, huh?” the tallass said in reference to Schlatt’s barren apartment.

“Not really, just haven't gone furniture shopping. There’s not really any good places to go, and I've found it hard to find a decent moving crew, so it’s fine like it is at the moment, thanks,” Schlatt snipped. Tallass raised his hands in surrender, and rolled his eyes as Schlatt ushered them out and locked the door behind him.

“Right this way,” Curly said. They walked him to this rather suspicious looking van, where the other three were loading the last few things. One of them wordlessly took Schlatt’s bag, and put it in the back for him. After a few minutes, they all got in the van and started driving.

“So… where are we going again?” Schlatt asked.

“You’re gonna tell us how to get to your old city,” one of the guys, who wore a bucket hat, said.

“Okay, hold on, you don’t want to go there. There are plenty of other cities on the way, why don’t you go there?”

“Why didn’t you just go to one of those cities then?”

“None of your business, Buckets.”

“Buckets?”

“Your hat.”

“My name. Is Cooper.”

“How the fuck was I supposed to know that? None of you ever introduced yourselves.”

“Oh, did we not? Okay, well easy fix. I’m Cooper, this is Travis, Ted, Noah, and Charlie.”

“Oh. cool. And I’m… never gonna remember that.” 

“Then why did you ask if we would introduce ourselves?”

“I did not.”

“At least make an effort!”

“This is for business, Buckets. I don’t have to do anything except lead you to a city.”

“Great, we hired an asshole…”

“That you did.”

_____

This was a mistake. They never should have hired Schlatt. Sure he was their guide, but he was a complete asshole. He didn’t really bother learning their names, or if he did, he didn’t bother calling them their names. He just made up nicknames for them and refused to call them anything but, despite how much they corrected him.

He called Ted Tallass, Noah Beardy, Travis Curly, Charlie Gamer guy, and Cooper Buckets or Bucket boy. And quite frankly, Ted was sick of him.

They’d run into several raider groups due to Schlatt’s shit directions, and had to fight them off. And the man was of absolute zero help. Despite claiming to have travelled to their former city mostly on foot, he was a shit fighter, and an even worse navigator. This guy was full of shit.

In several fights that they had fought with the wild raiders, Schlatt had simply hid, and taken out people when convenient for him. Or he’d just shoot them from far away, but if he couldn’t hide or run fast enough, someone else would have to save his ass. 

Schlatt made it very easy to blame him. If anything went wrong, it was usually his fault, or if it wasn’t, blame was shifted to him anyway. Ted was seriously considering just leaving Schlatt at the next place they camp at and letting him figure it out for himself. He supposedly traveled to their old city alone, he could figure something out.

He was just such an asshole! So argumentative, never willing to just give it up, and he never called them by their real names, always those stupid fucking nicknames.

But Travis wouldn’t let them kick him out. They had all talked it over one night while they were camping, and Schlatt had gone to sleep already. Travis thought he was funny, so it wouldn’t do to kick him out. Not to mention, given that they could argue with Schlatt, it created a lot less opportunity to argue amongst each other, which they all had a rather extensive history of doing so.

So from that angle, Schlatt helped the group get along. With everyone except him.

So morale was higher as long as Schlatt was around to push back against people, and as long as he would take the blame, the guys had no reason to fight with each other, which was a first for them.

They asked Travis why, that night that they’d debated leaving Schlatt behind.

“He’s funny,” came his simple answer.

“But he’s mean! And it's not like he isn’t mean to you, too!” Noah challenged.

“But he doesn't exclude me in his mean jokes. Doesn’t underestimate me. You guys do. I’m not defenseless, if he goes too far I know how to defend myself.”

“We know, but it’s just… you’re like our little brother! We feel bad being mean to you…” Cooper contributed.

“Well I'm not your little brother. I’m your friend, and I can handle mean jokes just as much as you can.”

“Sorry.”

“So I don’t think we should just leave him.”

The next day they were all back in the van, Schlatt still telling his jokes and being an asshole in the back row. Ted turned up the radio, and Travis chatted with Schlatt as the others rode along in the van.

Chapter Text

Schlatt knew they didn’t like him, and thought he was an asshole. He knew that they’d discussed leaving him behind while they thought he was asleep. He was a light sleeper. Used to have to be, with a bit of a threat watching him at every turn, and now apparently, he still needed that ability, or he might wake up alone in the middle of nowhere.

He was grateful, if only slightly, for Travis, who prevented them from leaving him behind. He eased up a bit on being intentionally mean for a bit, still telling jokes and everything, but maybe not quite so mean jokes.

They blamed him for a lot. Any inconveniences, or if a fight with raiders doesn’t go to plan. He was easy to blame, he knew that. He didn’t really care if they did, to be quite honest. He knew he messed up quite a bit sometimes, but even when it wasn’t his fault, it was easier to just accept it than spark another argument. Sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was exhausting. He sometimes was just silent, letting them talk amongst themselves while he recharged how many words he had.

He’d never really gone on a roadtrip with so many people. Sure, it was stressful, and they sometimes got in fights with the raiders and the ferals and the other hostile locals of the land, but overall, it was kinda fun. He hadn’t really had much of anyone to talk to in a long time, not since he’d left New York, and that was like… a year and a half ago. He hadn’t really wanted to talk to anyone before he left, but that was a bit of a rough situation. He didn’t want to go into that. 

He was not looking forward to going back to New York. He’d traveled pretty far out of his way to make sure that he wouldn’t . But here he was, guiding people there. Maybe he could drop them off at the edge of the city and then head to a different city. They had been right, after all. Los Angeles wasn’t the best suited for him.

But New York definitely wasn’t.

He hated this. Hated going back. It felt like a piece of him, whatever part of him that had finally changed, was being stripped away, and he feared he’d just automatically revert to his old self as soon as he stepped through those walls.

He remembers when everything changed. He was maybe seven, and it was a normal-enough Earth Day, ironically enough, the day Mother Earth reclaimed her land. Forests and temperate jungles covered the land, trees popping up seemingly out of nowhere. Major cities stayed, and the people inside of them remained sane, but people outside the cities went sort of feral, animal-like in nature, or they became raiders, groups of hostile people with minds of greed, going around and looting nearby ghost towns.

Travel became a job for the brave or foolish, or people who knew roads. Trading became an important part of the job economy, Traders traveling across the land to bring and give goods for money or other goods.

Schlatt’s father used to be a trader, and he remembers hating that. Not just because of the profession, but because his father used his work as an excuse to not take care of him. Then one day, he never came home. Schlatt got a letter in the mail from his father, telling him that he’d been taken in by a pack of raiders. His father mailed him letters every few months, a bitter reminder that Schlatt was electively left behind. He stayed with a friend, which was a lot better than staying alone, or even staying with his father.

Schlatt tuned back in to the now, quickly realizing it was dark out now, and very foggy, and they were getting out of the van to set up camp. An uneasy feeling gnawed at his bones, but he said nothing. It wouldn’t be favorable to drive in these conditions, anyway. He walked around their chosen campsite, and almost walked straight off the edge of a nearby cliff. Very nearby. Holy shit. With all the fog, he couldn’t see more than about five feet down the cliff, so there was no way to know how far down the ground was, not with how dense this fog was.

Schlatt backed away from the precipice, and walked back over to the group.

“Watch your step over there…” Schlatt muttered, sitting down a few feet away from them.

“Why?” Buckets asked.

“Big ass cliff.”

“Oh. Oof. Yeah, good reason. Thanks for the heads up.”

They sat around and talked, surprisingly no arguments being started, but maybe also unsurprisingly, as Schlatt wasn’t really in a talking mood. He just listened to the others chat away like old friends (it was clear that they were) and stayed silent, occasionally glancing around at their foggy surroundings. He didn’t like this place much. It just felt… restless.

“You seem quiet, Schlatt. You judging us or something?” Tallass asked.

“No, just not in a talking mood.” Schlatt grunted, eyes going back to the group around their little fire.

“Hah, that’s a first!”

“Shut it, Tallass.”

“My name is Ted, I wasn’t aware ‘Ted’ was so hard to remember.”

“It isn’t. I know your names. I just don't care.”

“Really? Then what are our names?” Tallass challenged. Schlatt smirked.

“Tallass, Buckets, Curly, Beardy, and Gamer guy.”

“Why do they get a cool name and I’m just Gamer guy?” Gamer guy complained.

“Your shirt says that you're a gamer. And other than that, I didn’t know what else to call you.”

“Some people call me Slime.”

“No, that's not how it works. You can't suggest your own nickname to me.”

“Worth a shot.”

Schlatt shrugged and went quiet again. Eventually, the decision to sleep was made, and they asked who was gonna keep watch. Schlatt offered, it wasn’t like he was gonna get any sleep anyway.

“Uh. Hell no, dude.” Beardy objected.

“Why not?”

“We don’t trust you.”

“That’s blunt.”

“Well it’s true. You have done nothing to prove that you are actually even helping us, so no.”

“I am helping, why the fuck do you think I’m here ? And you really think I wouldn’t wake you up in case of an emergency?”

“You’d be more likely to just book it, I bet,” Beardy rolled his eyes, and continued asking around if anyone could keep an eye out. They decided on Charlie, who scooted away from the fire a bit as everyone went to sleep. Schlatt leaned against a tree, his back to the cliff so no one could sneak up behind him.

After about an hour, he saw movement, but it was just Charlie getting up. He walked over and leaned against the same tree Schlatt was.

“Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked.

“Can’t sleep.” Schlatt said, not bothering to face Charlie for the conversation. Just as well. Charlie was also not facing him, looking out at the forest.

“Why?”

“Don’t trust this place.”

“You could have suggested that we stop somewhere else, you know.”

“Sure, but would anyone have listened?” Schlatt asked, rolling his head to look at the other.

“Probably not. That’s a fair point. You can help me keep watch then, if you’d like. I’m guessing that’s why you volunteered in the first place?”

“Yeah.” They sat in silence for a while longer, sometimes making idle chit chat. Then, near the morning, the fire started dying, so Schlatt got up to go help it along, get it going again. It was still really foggy, so he tried to stay within range where he could see the fire while he gathered some firewood.

He came back and crouched down near the fire, gently putting things on it, helping it along. Just as it was getting stronger, there was a firm hand on his shoulder, and he jumped, whipping around.

“What are you doing? Trying to kill our fire?” Beardy hissed. Schlatt shook his hand off, uncomfortable with the touch.

“No, dumbass, I’m trying to make it stronger. Sorry for not letting you freeze,” Schlatt whispered venomously, trying not to wake the others.

“I highly doubt that.”

“Go ask Charlie.” Noah narrowed his eyes, and crept over to where Charlie was. They had a brief discussion, and Noah went back to where he’d been laying, glaring at Schlatt before turning back over to go back to sleep. Schlatt went back to lean against his spot on the tree, and Charlie muttered an apology.

“Sorry about Noah…”

“It’s alright. Used to it.”

“But… Schlatt, you shouldn’t have to be.”

“I said it’s alright. Drop it,” Schlatt grumbled. Charlie opened his mouth to say something, and then Schlatt heard something in the distance and instantly every one of his nerves was on high alert. “Shut up.”

“But-”

“No seriously, shut up. There’s something out there.” Schlatt looked intently toward the direction the sound came from, slowly standing up. “Charlie, quietly go wake the others. I’ll grab some weapons from the van.” Charlie nodded, not even registering that Schlatt had real-named him in his haste. Schlatt slipped off toward the van, anxiously looking and listening around in the fog for any noise. He grabbed various weapons and hurried back to the campsite. Everyone grabbed a weapon from him, and too late did Schlatt realize that he had not grabbed enough weapons for everyone. He didn’t have one.

He was about to go back to the van, but then, gunshots rang out, and he rushed back to where the campsite was. Everyone had everything covered, so he dodged around until he could find someone. He looked around anxiously, trying to find somewhere to take cover.

He looks over and sees Travis over by that cliff that Schlatt had seen the night prior. He starts heading towards him, gunshots firing around him, and then suddenly there's a pain in his side, and he’s stumbling back. Fuck, that hurt. Oh shit, that really hurts. Oh shit. He put a hand to his side, and when he pulled away, blood coated his hand. Oh fuck. He looked back up, feeling light-headed, about to call for help, but then he saw Travis again, even closer to the edge this time. He was fighting someone. Did he need help? Schlatt saw the edge of the cliff beginning to crack, and panic flooded his mind. He forced himself to get up, stumbling towards the edge.

Schlatt got there just as Travis took care of the person he was fighting, but as he went to walk over to Schlatt, the cracks widened and the stone began to break. Travis’ eyes widened in alarm, and he tried to regain his balance to get to safety, but the ground fell from under him, and he fell.

Schlatt caught his arm at the last second, gravity doing its job and pulling Schlatt to the ground as he held on to Travis’ wrist. Travis holds onto Schlatt’s wrist, holding on for dear life. Schlatt can’t see the bottom, the world below them swirling with slow-moving fog, doesn’t want to know what would happen if Travis fell.

A rock digs into Schlatt’s side, and he fights back a noise of pain. He tries to pull Travis up, but he doesn’t have the best strength, and Travis looks like he’s accepted something.

“You’re hurt,” Travis says. It’s not a question. “I saw you get hit. You can’t pull me up. Just let me go, or you’ll fall, too.”

“Not happening. Give me your other hand,” Schlatt grunted, shifting to reach his other arm down, to try and grab Travis’ other arm. Travis did not offer his other arm up. “Come on, Curly, grab my hand!” There’s blood on this hand, from where he touched his wound, trying to put pressure on it. Travis still did not try to grab his arm. “Travis please, take my other hand, you can’t give up now, just please!”

“Schlatt, you’re hurt, you’ll only hurt yourself more…”

“I don’t care, grab my hand.”

“Schlatt…”

“Goddamnit, Travis, take my fucking hand!” Schlatt ordered. His body shifted, gravity threatening to take him over the side too. Travis smiled at him, a small, genuine smile, before letting go of Schlatt’s wrist. Schlatt instantly grabbed Travis’ arm with both hands, but his grip was slipping, the blood on his hands not making anything easier.

“You know, you really aren’t as much of an asshole as you let on,” Travis said, almost sadly. Schlatt’s grip slipped, and Travis disappeared into the fog. There was no sound of landing, no splash of water, no sound of pain. He almost wished there was. Schlatt laid there, shell-shocked, for a moment, before he withdrew from the edge. He stared at the precipice, wrapping an arm around himself to keep pressure on his wound. He knew, distantly, that it should be hurting like a bitch, but he just couldn’t feel it just then.

Sounds of fighting stopped, and after a few minutes of near silence, someone came jogging over to him.

“Schlatt, where’s Travis? You two were over here, right? We’re all ready by the car.” Ted asked, ushering him to his feet. Schlatt turned his head towards the man slowly.

“He’s gone,” Schlatt said dully.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“He fell.”

“Over the Cliff?”

“I’m sorry..”

“And you didn’t help him??” Ted said angrily, stepping to the side slightly to face him better. The face of fury did nothing to soothe Schlatt, in fact succeeding in doing the exact opposite.

“I grabbed his arm, I tried to-”

“So you let him go. You let him go? Why you Sonovabitch, I ought push you over to, huh? Let you fucking join him!”

“No, I-”

“Come on, you can explain yourself to the others!” Ted grabbed the collar of his jacket, dragging him over to the others and throwing him down on the ground. Schlatt quickly scrambles to face them, scooting away. “Travis is gone! He let Travis go! Travis is gone, and it’s his fault!”

“What..?” Cooper said in disbelief. Everyone stared at him.

“I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear!” he tripped over his words, his mind not working right when he needed it to.

“Schlatt what the fuck! He vouched for you, almost every time, and you just let him go ??” Noah growled, stepping at him. Schlatt flinched, scooting farther away. He glanced around, they were all distraught and furious.

Schlatt had no words to offer in his defense. It was an accident, he was injured, he hadn’t meant to, Travis let go first, and yet, none of the guys wanted to hear excuses, and certainly not from him regarding the death of their friend.

Schlatt hadn’t ever proven himself to be really anyone of trustworthiness, except perhaps to Travis, but Travis wasn’t here now. They wouldn’t believe the word of a man they didn’t even trust before this, especially not when he had literal blood on his hands.

Eventually they just all piled in the car in silence. Schlatt sat in the back, trying to keep pressure on his wound. He couldn’t tell them now, they were mad at him, they’d just tell him to suck it up or go join Travis off that cliff.

Noah had brought up a good point. They didn’t like him. Travis had been the only reason he’d managed to stay for so long, because Travis thought he was funny. But now Travis was gone and there was nothing to stop them throwing him to the raiders.

The pain from the bullet wound in his side seemed secondary to the pain in his chest, the sting in his eyes as he fought to shove down the horrible guilt weighing on him.

He should have been stronger. His wound didn’t matter, he should have pulled Travis up.

Everything hurt. He moved his hand to put better pressure on his wound, wincing as the pain intensified.

_____

Charlie looked back at Schlatt. Yeah, he had been alarmed and saddened by the news of Travis’ passing, but despite Schlatt being an asshole and none of them trusted him, really, he hadn’t ever done anything to be un trustworthy…

But Schlatt, Schlatt had looked terrified. He’d looked like he’d seen something he never wanted to see. When they were all yelling at him, he looked pale and shaky and a bit banged up, but he hadn’t looked like someone who would ever kill someone who didn’t deserve it.

Looking back at Schlatt in the backseat now, the man still didn’t seem like anyone who meant to kill Travis.

Nevertheless, he said nothing. It was too soon. Everyone was still mad, and sad. Schlatt had always been easy to blame. Charlie somehow knew that Schlatt would continue to let them blame him.

As much of an asshole as schlatt seemed, it seemed a lot less black and white now. Grays started to filter in, grays that Charlie hadn’t seen before. Schlatt wasn’t an asshole just because. It was a defense mechanism. He was just on edge, refused to get attached. Charlie wondered how Travis had seen that so fast where they hadn’t.

Charlie turned back around at the thought of Travis.

He didn’t quite like Schlatt. He didn’t think Schlatt liked him. He could be wrong about both things, he didn’t know. But regardless of his feelings, maybe he would offer him a simple mercy of just… not yelling at him when the others did. For Travis.

_____

Schlatt lasted not even a few days with the guys. They were all still pissed at him, mourning the loss of their friend. Schlatt mostly kept quiet. Any joke would be in bad taste. Besides, they didn’t seem to want him to say much of anything anyway.

And then somehow he and Noah got into an argument, which had turned to Noah and Ted arguing at Schlatt. The conclusion? Schlatt was no longer welcome in the group.

They sent him away with a water bottle and a small amount of food, and he offered them a smile, to which they scowled. Cooper and Charlie came over to watch him leave, the latter looking like he wanted to say something, but staying silent.

Then they all got in the car, and drove away, leaving him to watch the only people he had left leave him behind.

Lost on where to go, he started walking back the way he came.

Chapter Text

What were they thinking? Schlatt was no fighter, he couldn’t survive on his own out there! Charlie groaned, running his hands down his face.

“Something on your mind, Charlie? Got something to say?” Ted challenged.

“Yeah, actually, I do. We shouldn’t have done that.”

“He killed Travis!”

“Do you really think that? Ted, he was just as upset as the rest of us, and he was terrified.”

“I don’t give a damn if he was, he killed our friend!” Charlie saw Cooper look over at the backseat, where Schlatt used to sit, and he could tell that Cooper might come over to his side.

“But what if it was an accident?” Charlie asked.

“Uh. Guys?” Cooper interrupted, still looking in the backseat.

“ What ??” They both ask, exasperated.

“I think I’m with Charlie on this one…” he pointed to Schlatt’s seat. There was a rather large spot of dried blood on the seat there, and bloodied cloth at where his feet would have been.

“I don’t think Schlatt could have pulled Travis up if he tried…”

“Holy shit…” Ted murmured, the group’s actions now revealing their consequences to him. “We’ve fucking doomed him.”

_____

Schlatt didn’t know how he ended up back at that cliff, but he did. He looked around hollowly, everything crashing back down around him. Tears pricked at his eyes, swimming in his vision, threatening to fall. 

He walked back over to the cliff, slumping down to sit, his legs dangling over the side. His side hurt. It was a nice view, sort of, what with the fog being gone and all. There were trees, and grass down at the bottom, couldn’t be even 20 feet. There was even a little pool at the bottom. 

Wait. Travis couldn’t have possibly died from that height, and besides, there’d be a body. Travis was still out there. Schlatt had to get down there.

Finding a safe way down proved to be a tough task. He could jump into the water, but he really didn’t want to. There was a little slope near it, though, and Schlatt made his way over there. He started trying to slide down, but lost his balance remarkably fast and ended up taking a hell of a tumble down gravel slopes and into the little pool of water at the bottom. It was cold. Bitterly cold, in fact, and all of that tumbling and landing in water had jostled his wound. He scrambled to the surface of the water, and over to the bank, where he lay, soaking wet, gasping. He was distantly aware of his side bleeding again.

He should probably get that bullet out. He could wrap it with leaves or something, but it could get infected if he left it in. It probably already was…

Well, if he dies, he probably deserves it.

He took out his knife and brought it to the wound. He clenched his jaw as he tried getting the bullet out, to no avail. He was just making it worse. Besides, he couldn’t see anything around all the blood.

He grabbed some nice green leaves and pressed them to his side, then found some long stems and wrapped them around his side to hold the leaves there and put pressure on it. He washed his hands off in the water and started looking around. He had no idea what he should even be looking for. Footprints, he guessed.

He felt dizzy. Fuck. He took a knee beside a tree until the dizzy feeling passed, and then slowly stood back up. He looked back into the forest, lost on where to start.

There. Against all odds, a spot of white stuck out amid a sea of green, and Schlatt made his way over to it. It was Travis’ shoe. Only one of them, and the laces were still tied. There were several pairs of footprints, and mud on the heel of the shoe. Had he been dragged off? 

The raiders.

They probably took him. Travis had kicked off his shoe to provide a trail, a direction! Taking the shoe and putting it in his backpack, he started off in that direction, following the tracks. 

After a while, he found the other shoe. There, the tracks turned, leading towards the side of a mountain. He found a small footpath, and followed it, eventually coming to a clearing. There were definite signs of life, wooden structures and ladders leading up to treehouses. He glanced over and there was a cave in the side of the mountain. If he had to bet on any place that they’d be keeping Travis, it’d be there.

He went to grab a torch from a nearby structure, but when he came back over to the cave, he saw people coming out of it. And they had weapons. He did not. And they saw him. Fuck, they definitely saw him. He was about to go and hide, but that seemed a little late now. 

They walked right over to him, and grabbed his arms. He tried to fight, to squirm away, but one of them elbowed him right where his gunshot wound was, and he doubled over in pain. The two raiders had a brief discussion about this, before they started dragging him over towards the cave. In pain and dizzier than he’d ever been, he couldn’t fight back well, just tried to make things difficult for them on a small-scale level.

They took him past a barred cell room, he’d have to remember that was there, fuck. That looked like somewhere they’d keep Travis. He should… he should take some of their things, just in case they threw him in as well. In all the noise from their walking, and given that they were practically dragging him anyway, they didn’t notice him swipe their keys. 

They brought him to a room where another raider was, and this one turned and made a noise of surprise. They were talking, and distantly Schlatt knew it should be English, but words did not make sense to him then. A hand touched his wound again, and he flinched away in pain. He looked up, and the new raider had on clothes that almost looked like a doctor outfit, but… you know, wild. 

They stripped him of his jacket and made him get on a table, and things were happening around him that he did not understand. Maybe he was more out of it than he thought. The room swam in his vision, and the raiders kept appearing just to laugh.

He tried to move, he shouldn’t just lie here. But when he tried, his hands and legs were strapped down to the table, along with a strap across his thighs and chest to keep him down. What the fuck? What the fuck. What were they gonna do? Fear filled his mind, and he thrashed, trying to get free. There was a hand on his side, dangerously close to the wound in his side. He got the feeling that this was a warning. He stilled, though that did nothing from muttering curses and insults at them.

His shirt was being pushed up, to reveal the wound in his side. He lifted his head just in time to see them take a knife to his side and very carefully widen the wound. Fuck that hurt. He hissed in pain, and after a minute the ‘doctor’ took the knife away. Then he brought a pair of tweezers, and stuck them in his wound, digging around in there for the bullet. Schlatt had to clench his fists and his jaw to avoid making any noises of pain, though he couldn’t stop the short breaths that came out as little gasps when he was reminded that he needed to breathe through his pain.

The raider got the bullet out, and then turned and grabbed another tool. Schlatt didn’t know what this one was. Maybe it was to clean it? It looked vaguely like a pen, and it had two prongs that joined together to make one. 

Then the raider ‘doctor’ turned it on and went back to working on Schlatt’s wound. He pressed the tool to the inside of Schlatt’s wound, and jesus fuck that hurts. It was hot, the tool was fucking burning him. A cauterizer, he thinks the word is, but words mean nothing to this fucking feeling .

It felt like he was being burned from the inside out, in a place that already fucking hurt. They kept this up for waaaayyy too long, and eventually Schlatt couldn't hold back his sounds of pain. 

Someone was screaming. He hoped it wasn't him, that would be embarrassing. But honestly, he couldn’t blame whoever was screaming, this shit hurt. 

The ‘doctor’ cauterized the rest of Schlatt’s wound, which fucking hurt to high hell. Then he finished closing the wound, successfully doing it without stitches and in such a way that Schlatt would have the ugliest scar on his side for the rest of his life. Of course the man fucking burned it closed.

Once they were done, the ‘doctor’ put a sort of ointment over his wound, which numbed it marginally, before releasing the straps and gesturing over to the men who brought him into the room in the first place. Schlatt’s throat felt hoarse, his head hurt, and his side felt like it was on fire. The ointment slowly worked to numb it more. 

The raiders put him in that cell that he’d seen on the way in, and Schlatt propped himself up against the wall, trying not to jostle his newly closed wound. Thank god for doctors willing to operate on people without anesthetic, right?

He looked over. There was someone else in the cell with him. He couldn’t see very well, but they were curled up, with their knees to their chest and their hands over their ears. Acting upon suspicion, Schlatt said Travis’ name.

The figure didn’t react. Schlatt said it again, a little louder, and still nothing. He lethargically picked up a small rock, little piece of gravel, and flicked it at the figure’s head. They turned, putting their arms down, and Schlatt caught their face in the distant torchlight.

“Hey Travis,” he said with a grin. Travis looked up excitedly, getting up and coming over to Schlatt and pulling him in a hug. Schlatt hissed in pain, trying to push Travis off of him. The shorter man eventually got the message, pulling away. Schlatt’s side screamed at him, and so did his skin. He wasn’t used to human contact, especially good human contact. Schlatt shifted to better face the other. “You alright?” he asked. He pulled Travis’ shoes out of his backpack and handed them back to him. Travis put them on as he spoke.

“I’m fine. Are you? I heard screaming…”

“Bah. I’m fine. Nothing I can’t walk off.”

“What did they do to you?” Travis asked, and Schlatt detected a second question there. Were they gonna do it to him?

“Remember I got shot?”

“Yeah, how is that? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, Curly, I’m fine. They just, um. Took the bullet out for me. So I'm alright. I’ll be fine.”

“It was still in?” Travis asked incredulously.

“It was at an awkward angle, okay? I can’t do everything myself,” Schlatt said, trying to lighten the mood. Travis snorted, briefly.

“Sure. Like how you couldn’t escape by yourself.”

“Oh, no, that’s just you, Curly. I’m fine. I could get outta here any time I wanted,” Schlatt said. Their voices were lower now, talking of escape.

“Oh yeah? Prove it. I don’t believe you,” Travis challenged. Schlatt smirked and pulled out the keys he’d nicked from that raider earlier. He’d forgotten he had them until Travis mentioned escape. Travis’ eyes widen upon seeing the keys, and Schlatt chuckles lightly, putting them back away. He heard footsteps coming down the cave corridor, and motioned to change the subject and act natural.

“Why did you decide to go with us?” Travis asked, picking up on the signal.

“Should I have stayed?”

“No, just… I mean, you don’t seem to like us. They don’t seem to like you that much either… why go with someone if you hate them?”

“Who says I hate you guys? And besides, it’s… easier, I guess. Than going with people you care about.”

“But wouldn’t you have rather gone with someone you care about?”

“I don’t… have anyone…” Schlatt murmured, flicking his eyes away.

“What? No family? Friends?” Travis asked, shocked.

“Nah.”

“Why not?”

“Well, Some died, some left, and then… well. I had this friend, but it didn’t really work out..?”

“What happened?”

“Well… that’s a long story.”

“We have time, Schlatty.” Travis sat down beside him, his back to the wall. Schlatt sighed, and decided to just get it out.

“I had this friend. He was my best friend, we’d known each other for ages… but one day, around a year ago, maybe a year and a half, two years, he did something. Something bad. And he kept doing it. And I tried to work with him on it, you know, smooth over the problem, help him if I could… but he kept doing it, and kept doing it, and dragging me into it, making me do shit I didn’t wanna do… and it was really bad, man… I’m not gonna go into it, but I didn’t wanna be there anymore, it was really uncomfortable… but I stayed for him, I stayed to help him, cause he was all I had left, and he kept saying that I was a bad person for wanting to leave, and-”

“Schlatt. It’s okay,” Travis interrupted, making him stop and slow down. “You… you don’t have to tell me. I’m here to listen, if you want to talk, but no ones forcing you. You can go slow. Breathe,” Travis said. Schlatt took a breath. He hadn’t realized he’d stopped.

“Right. Where was I? Right. Bad person for leaving. My friend stopped telling me things about what he was doing, just had me doing favors and shit for him, and you know, whenever I fucked up or couldn’t, well that was on me… but I assumed I had helped, that I’d stopped him, but then, months later, I learned that he’d been doing it behind my back for ages, that he’d just been using me as a cover. Which fucking sucked, by the way…”

“I’ll bet!”

“So I… left. I left, and I didn’t look back. Once I got to your city, I just needed… something. I don’t know what. A change, I guess. So I looked for something to do. And then you guys found me, and dragged me into your shit. I’m sorry I was a jerk, and an asshole, but… I just wasn’t ready to have friends again.”

“It’s okay. Why aren’t you with them, by the way?”

“Oh. I, um. Went off on my own.”

“They let you? You’re injured!” Travis said, scowling.

“Yeah, I um. I didn’t tell them about this…”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeahh…”

“Why not?”

“That’s another long story, and I’m sure that one can be saved for later,” Schlatt said, noticing that the raider was now a good ways away. He pulled back out the keys. “Go unlock the door, I'm gonna stand up.” Travis nodded and took the keys and went over to unlock the door. Schlatt slowly stood, wincing a bit, but he was at least upright.

“You okay to walk? Or do you need help?”

“I’m fine. I can walk,” he said. He wasn’t sure. He hoped he could. It would be embarrassing if Travis had to help him out when Schlatt was the one who came to help him.

They started towards the entrance of the cave, Schlatt occasionally having to lean against the wall and push himself off of it. They made it out, and the sunlight through the tree canopy was almost blinding, but Schlatt noticed one rather important thing.

There were people out and about in the camp now. And they were all looking over at them.

Fuck.

Then someone stepped out of the crowd of raiders, and unfortunately, Schlatt recognized him.

Besides some graying hair, this bastard hadn’t changed much at all. He walked right up to Schlatt and Travis, and Schlatt edged just a tiny bit in front of Travis, not even noticing as he did it.

“What do you want?” Schlatt growled, putting on a strong face despite the burning pain in his side. 

“Just to talk. Come with me?” the old bastard asked, mischievously polite.

“And leave him with your raider buddies? Fat chance.”

“My my, you haven’t changed a bit. No harm will come to him, and besides, we fixed you up, didn’t we?”

“Wouldn’t call that fixing.”

“Just come with me.” He looked at Travis, behind Schlatt. “Stay put, and no harm will come to you. Now then, come with me, Johnathan.” Schlatt glanced back at Travis, who looks around, and then nods. Schlatt sighed, and followed the familiar man into one of the wooden structures.

“You got yourself a nice little camp here, huh? Find yourself a new family, dad ?”

_____

Travis didn’t know the man that Schlatt went with, but it was clear that they knew each other. Schlatt got first-named and everything. The man probably didn’t know that he preferred to go by his last name.

They were in that little building for a while. So long, in fact, that something actually happened.

The rest of the guys found their way into the camp, and were immediately accosted by the raiders and sent to go stand with Travis, who they were very happy to see.

“You’re alive!” Cooper exclaimed, tackling him in a hug.

“Yeah! Schlatt busted me out!” Travis explained, grinning.

“Really?” Noah said, surprised. “Where is he now?”

“Oh, he’s in there. Someone apparently knows him here…” Travis said, glancing at the building that Schlatt had gone in. They walk a bit closer to the shack, and they can hear arguing.

“I had to leave. Plus, you were fine…” the stranger said cooly.

“I WAS EIGHT.” Schlatt growled. So they’d known each other for a while, then.

“You turned out fine.”

“No thanks to you, mother fucker!”

“Oh come on. I had that bullet taken out, I practically saved your life.”

“You almost killed me in the process!”

“What do you want me to say?”

“‘You and your group are free to go.’ That. Say that.” Schlatt sounded pissed. He had already not been having a good day (or good anything by the looks of it), and this did nothing to help his bad mood.

“Did you finally make some friends?” the man taunted.

“Sure. Yeah. Now let us leave.”

“Why didn’t you ever write back? I sent you letters all the time, why didn’t you ever write back?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Cause you fucking left, dickhead. You know those fucking letters were only to taunt me, you no-good deadbeat son of a bitch!”

“At least you knew I was still alive, right?”

“I honestly could not have cared less, you could have died and I would not have given a shit.”

“Where’d you learn that mentality, huh?”

“Like father like son, bastard. Now fuck off, we’re leaving,” Schlatt said, with an air of finality. Travis looked back at the guys and ushered them away from the door as Schlatt came back out.

He stopped in the threshold upon seeing the guys, and walked away from the building. Now that the two were facing the same way, Travis could tell that they were related. Schlatt had implied that this was his father in the argument, and Travis could certainly see it.

Schlatt walked over to the group, and jerked his head in a ‘come on’ motion. They all left the raider camp without a word, which was certainly a first for pretty much everyone in the group.

They got away from the camp before anyone said anything.

“So who was that?” Cooper asked. Schlatt sighed.

“That was my father.”

“How’d your father become a raider?”

“Well see, sometimes when people make mistakes they run from them. He was a trader, and decided to run from his mistake, so he never came home, does that answer your question?”

“Yes…” Cooper said, though he didn’t look happy about it.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt?” Charlie piped up.

“Bad timing. You guys were pissed, it wouldn’t have helped anything,” Schlatt explained. Travis stopped.

“Wait, why were you guys pissed?” he asked.

“We thought you died, man. We thought he just let you die,” Noah said, rubbing the back of his neck. The whole group was stopped now. Travis could hardly believe what he was hearing.

“Wait so then why was he in the forest alone?”

“We kinda… made him leave?” Everyone glanced between Schlatt and Travis. Schlatt looked like he didn’t care, beyond maybe wanting to hurry up and get out of these woods so he could sit down, but Travis probably looked angry. Not that he could see his own face, but he felt angry, so he probably looked it.

“Travis, it’s fine, if they hadn’t I wouldn’t have found you,” Schlatt said, unexpectedly coming in to de-escalate the situation. He looked tired. “And also, I have a question of my own. You didn’t know Travis was alive, why are you even out here?”

“Oh. we got a few more hours down the road before someone finally looked back and saw your fucking bloodstain on your seat, and we realized that you wouldn’t have been able to pull Travis up even if you tried, not with that much bloodloss, so we turned around,” Ted explained. Schlatt looked somewhat confused, but he shook his head slightly and accepted it. “What?”

“Just… never had anyone do that. Thanks? I guess?”

“Yeah, whatever. Don’t expect this every time, you hear?” Ted chuckled. Travis smiled. Schlatt wouldn’t have wanted a cushy ‘oh but of course’, it would have probably just made him feel dumb. Travis was grateful for his friend’s ability to adjust his wording to people who can’t hear nice things all the time.

They continued walking, and eventually they got to a clearing by a cliff and a pool of water. Travis recognized that cliff. Schlatt looked around for an easy way up, and sighed when there wasn’t one. Ted led the group over to the side, where there seemed to be a footpath. A rather steep footpath, but still a footpath. One by one they walked/climbed back up, and once Travis got up, he looked behind him, at Schlatt, who looked like he felt very lightheaded. Travis tried to give him an encouraging smile when Schlatt glanced up to meet his gaze, but it wasn’t returned.

They all got up, and the van was parked nearby, just on the edge of the clearing. They all walked over there, and it did not go unnoticed the way that Schlatt seemed to collapse in his seat in the back.

Schlatt had his own row in the van, at the very back (since no one really wanted to sit next to him), and someone else only sat in it if Schlatt was driving, which… hadn’t been often. Only in areas that were really precarious or confusing, cause that man could find a road to anywhere. Just as well that he had his own row, really, the man looked about five seconds from passing out. He kept up the act until he thought no one’s attention was on him, even offering directions. He told Ted, who was driving, what road to look for and how long to stay on that road, and then once they started, attention left the mutton-chopped New Yorker. Travis was seated directly in front of Schlatt, and heard him when he let out a tired sigh. He turned around a bit.

“Why don't you get some sleep, Schlatt? You’ve had a rough day…” Travis suggested. He did not miss the way Schlatt looked around at the back of everyone’s head before sighing and nodding, giving up on his determination to be awake. He winced as he shifted to lie down on the row he was on, a hand going to his side as he failed to hide a grimace. He hadn’t said what they did to him, but Travis could infer that it wasn’t good.

He turned to face the front again, letting Schlatt fall asleep in peace. After half an hour, he glanced back to check on him. He was laying down, his NY hat covering his face, and his puffy jacket wrapped around his body like a blanket. Cooper and Charlie noticed him looking back, and quietly started a conversation.

“So… did they do anything to you in there?” Cooper asked. The others listened in.

“No. Tossed me in a cell, but that’s it. They did something to him, though…”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know exactly, but he said they took the bullet out.”

“It was still in?” Charlie asked, looking slightly nauseous. Travis nodded.

“But it’s out now. I was… I don't know how they did, though, or if they just patched up the wound in a bad way, cause I heard a lot of screaming…”

“... he’s asleep… you could check it…” Noah muttered, peering back from the front row. Travis pursed his lips, about to say no, but curiosity pushed its way in. they had to see if it was infected, right? Infection would be bad.

Travis gnawed his bottom lip and shifted in his seat and reached over, moving his jacket and shirt just slightly to see the wound. He didn’t like it.

“They cauterized it. The wound. They burned it closed,” he said, turning back around. He joined Charlie in feeling nauseous.

“Holy shit, that’s fucked…” Ted muttered. Charlie looked at Schlatt, then turned back to the front.

“I feel bad, I know he’s a dick, but I don't think anyone deserves that…” Charlie said, swallowing his nausea.

“I think there’s more going on in his head than we know,” Travis said. “You know, he tried really hard to stop me from falling.”

“Yeah?” Ted asked, turning his head slightly.

“Yeah. He was hurt, and we’d’ve both fallen, so I let go, and he still tried to pull me up.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“He didn’t tell us that.”

“I can’t say I'm surprised. He might be an asshole sometimes, but I'm pretty sure he knows how to read the room. After all, he didn’t tell you he was injured because you didn’t want to hear him, so…”

“Yeah, I agree.”

“We should let him sleep.”

“Yeah. oh, we might need to stop and refuel in a few hours,” Ted noted.

“I wonder how much more gas we have left in those cans,” Noah hummed. They both shrugged, and Ted kept driving.

Chapter Text

They ran out of gas a lot sooner than they thought they would, and soon had to stop. They pulled off the highway and pulled into a nearby lane. Near the road there was a sign that advertised gas, so hopefully they could refuel.

They came down the lane, and there was a large field in front of a nice farmhouse. They hadn’t seen a house so nice in a long time, it was truly a sight for sore eyes. They parked, and looked around. There were many cars on the side of the lane and around the back of the house. This  guy must collect parts or something. Didn’t seem to be any danger around, though, so they got out of the van.

Schlatt was still asleep in the back of the van, but no one really wanted to wake him, so they left him in the van and walked up to the farm house.

There was someone outside, tending to the garden. He turned when he heard them approach, and waved at them, meeting them near the last few yards.

“Hello, there. Don’t get groups of people so often, what can I do for you?” the man asked.

“Oh, well. We were wondering if you had any gas we could borrow,” Ted said.

“Oh, sure, sure. But first, you look hungry. Come in, have a bite to eat!”

“Oh, no, we really couldn’t. See-”

“Oh, no, but I insist. You need gas, yes? Well you won’t find any around here for at least fifty miles, maybe more. But I can’t just give it away for free, now can I? Come on in, and we can discuss.” He guided them inside, and then locked the door behind them. The man grinned, a sharp and toothy grin. Ted suddenly trusted this 100% less. 

“So what do they call you,” he asked, despite his distrust.

“My name was Amos Trapper, before the wild took over these parts. Now, there’s not much use for first names, if you don’t prefer them. So now I’m just Trapper. Welcome to Trapper Farms!” the man said. He went over to the kitchen and put a pot on the stove.

“Why do I feel like this is a trap?” Cooper muttered to Ted. Ted elbowed him in the side. It was in the fucking name, of course it was a trap. Ted heard about people like Trapper. Not quite feral, but close enough to that it was best to avoid them. He suddenly remembered all those cars on the side of the laneway. He really hoped their car didn’t join them.

“So where are you-all headed?” Trapper asked, turning back around to them as he began cutting up some carrots. 

“Um. New York,” Ted said.

“New York, eh? I hear some funny business about New York. Hear there’s a fella there who ain’t mean no good. I’d be watchin’ out for him.” Trapper moves on to the next carrot, and Ted reeeeally doesn’t like the selection of meat Trapper pulled out for whatever he was making. Then the farmer glanced out the window, something catching his eye. The guys peered out the window as well, and saw Schlatt walking around in the field. An orange cat darted into view, steering clear of Schlatt.

“Oh hey, a cat,” Travis commented idly. Ted looked over at their oh-so gracious host, who looked damn near frozen, rooted to the spot.

“You know, fellas,” Trapper started, “ain’t no one’s been able to touch that cat from the day it showed up here.”

“Okay?” Noah asked, rolling his hand to get going with the point.

“I’ll make a deal with you. If your other friend manages to pet that cat, I’ll let you go, and we can barter for gas like civil people.” So he was totally gonna keep them trapped there. Guess he wasn’t called Trapper for no reason. “If your friend manages to get that cat to come to him, I’ll give you the gas. But if he manages to get that cat to let him pick ‘im up, you can go with gas, food, supplies, whatever you need, you hear?”

“And if he can’t do any of those?”

“Then you best hope he can come up with a plan to help your sorry asses, cause like hell you’ll even make it off the property alive.”

Fuck. Their lives hung in the odds of Schlatt getting a living being to like him. They were fucking doomed.

_____

Schlatt woke up, and the van wasn’t moving. He sat up, feeling his side protest, but overall it felt a lot better. He checked it, and it seemed that whatever ointment the raiders had put on the wound had done wonders to close up and start healing the wound.

Then he realized how quiet it was. No one else was in the van. What the fuck? Did they just leave him here? That’s rude. He got out of the van and looked around. They at least picked a helluva place to stop. Beautiful farm house, with a long field in front of it. Looked like something out of a postcard.

There was movement in the field, and Schlatt looks over. An orange cat leaped around the field. Holy shit. Schlatt hasnt seen a cat in so fucking long. He wanted to pet it. He walked over, hoping the owner of the house wouldn’t mind.

The cat stared at him until he got about five feet away, then it bolted a bit further away. Schlatt and the cat played a bit of chase, Schlatt just slowly approaching the cat as it ran farther every time.

Eventually Schlatt changed tactics. He sat down in the grass and looked around. He found a stick. He bet that he could make a cat toy or something out of it… he fished around in his backpack for something to tie to the stick. His hand brushed against something hard and cold, and he grabbed it and pulled it out. A round-ish river stone about the size of his hand. He could remember when he picked this up. He put it back in his backpack in favor of something else. He came up empty, and decided he had to get creative. 

Looking around, he found an acorn and a few feathers from the chickens that whoever lived here owned. He found some twine near a fence by the chicken coop, and so he tied them all together, making a little fishing rod toy. He held it up, almost feeling proud of himself, then remembered that he had to put it to the test against the cat.

He carefully walked back over to the cat, staying a safe distance away from the cat so it wouldn’t bolt. He knelt down and wiggled the stick, making the toy bounce around. That got the cat’s attention. It watched the toy with wide eyes, following it with its eyes. Schlatt pulled the rod back, and mimed a fishing motion, the toy part of the rod landing close to the cat. The cat tried to grab at it, and Schlatt grinned. This was working.

He played with the cat for a bit before he tried to pet it, reaching out to touch it when it was nearer to him one time. The cat hissed at him and darted away. Fuck. Well, maybe it just needed to get used to his presence. It probably didn’t see many new people.

Schlatt laid down in the grass, and even though this was to get the cat to get used to him, this was nice. For the first time in what felt like forever, he could just breathe and exist, and nobody needed to care.

He idly played with the cat toy, flicking it around his body. The cat eventually came back over to him, sniffing around. Schlatt remained still, letting the cat sniff him.

“Sorry if I smell, they don't have good plumbing out here…” Schlatt joked to the cat, whose face appeared in his line of vision to blankly stare at him for his bad joke. “Can I pet you?” He carefully lifted a hand to pause near the cat. It didn’t run off this time. Instead, it stood still for a second before sniffing Schlatt’s hand, and then rubbing against it. Schlatt grinned.

He pet the cat, running a hand down the cat’s fur. It started purring, butting up against Schlatt’s hand and arm. Schlatt sat up, and the cat decided that he was a jungle gym, crawling all over him, purring and pestering him for pets.

“Well, aren't you friendly? Holy shit. Take a bit to warm up, but you’re just so friendly! You got a name, buddy?” Schlatt grabbed the cat under its front legs to hold its body up. “You’re a boy, hey boy!”

God, Schlatt was on cloud nine. He really hoped he wasn’t intruding or anything, but he just wanted to pet the cat. He couldn’t recall being so happy in literal years. Everything seemed unimportant compared to this moment. 

He didn’t know if the cat had a name, but he wanted to call it something. He couldn’t just call it ‘cat’ the whole time, it deserved a name.

Jambo. Jambo seemed as fine a name as any. Plus, it started with a J, so maybe it could be the J Catt to his J Schlatt. He chuckled.

Schlatt eventually stood up, and the cat rubbed against his legs. Schlatt picked the cat up and it let him, as long as he gave him head scratches.

“You like attention, doncha Jambo? Not given enough attention? I’ll give you pets. I’ll give you so many pets.” The cat meowed in response. Schlatt let it down, the cat pouring out of his hand like liquid. He chuckled when it started following him around.

He should probably go look around for the guys. He didn’t know where the fuck they went, and he was somewhat apprehensive that they’d left him behind, but he would rather stay here with the cat than go back to New York anyday. This place was much better than that shithole.

Schlatt grabbed his backpack and put the DIY cat toy in there, patting the cat good-bye as he started going up to the farmhouse. That seemed like a good place to start. The cat followed him, and Schlatt couldn’t help but smile.

As he approached the farmhouse, he saw his travel mates’ heads in the window. There they were. Schlatt walks up and knocks lightly on the door. When the door opened, everyone in the room was staring at him. Schlatt glanced around, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“Hello..? Did I come in at the wrong moment?” he asked. The first person to move, he didn’t recognize. He was an old, bearded man with dark, rather untrustworthy eyes in Schlatt’s opinion. He reminded him vaguely of a group of ferals that he’d encountered on his initial journey out west. However, nothing seemed to be amiss, and this man seemed at least a bit more sane. 

“Not at all, boy!” the man said. “I was just discussing things with your friends.”

“Oh, we’re not-”

“Everything is sorted, don’t worry, don’t worry! You all can take whatever supplies you need. Gas, food, first aid, litter.”

“Oh. um. Okay, thank you…” Schlatt said. None of the guys had spoken still. He felt like he missed something.

They all went outside, and the man showed them where to find things, and they were given free reign to collect whatever they needed. The man also collected things, though some interesting things that Schlatt wouldn’t have ever thought that they’d need. Cat food, cat litter, a box, some bowls.

The man beckoned Schlatt over.

“What’s your name?”

“They call me Schlatt.”

“Well, Schlatt, I’m farmer Trapper. That was some show you put on out there with that cat.”

“Oh, the cat. Yeah, real friendly cat you got there. What’s his name?”

“He doesn’t have one. And the funny part is, Schlatt, is that he’s not a friendly cat. I daresay not one person has ever managed to pet that cat, and here you come along and he’s nipping at your heels like you’re his mother.”

“Huh. That’s…” Schlat fought to keep his smile under control. Really? The cat didn’t like people? But it chose him ? The thought made him swell with pride and just a touch of giddiness. Then he remembered what Trapper was getting together. “Wait, what’s all this for?”

“Oh, well the cat chose you, didn’t he? He’s yours now.”

“Oh, no, but we’ll be on the road a lot, I really won’t be able to take the best care of him…” Schlatt said. God, the guys would fucking hate him if he brought the cat. Not to mention, they’d be around New York soon. What was Schlatt gonna do with the cat there? He couldn’t take it to New York!

“You’ll take better care of him than he’ll get outta me. Little fucker won’t let anyone touch him. But he likes you, so you’re takin’ him.”

“But, my group won’t-”

“Your friends have accepted taking the cat. You’re taking that cat.”

“...” Schlatt looked around, and made eye contact with Ted, who gave him a warning look, and mouthed ‘do what he says’. Schlatt crooked his head, and looked back at the farmer. “Okay, then, we’ll take the cat…” he says. Trapper grinned, and Schlatt had to fight a physical shock reaction when he saw sharp teeth. He now understood why Trapper reminded him of a feral. A saner one than some others that he’s come across, but a feral nonetheless. Why he was helping them was beyond Schlatt. 

He smiled tensely at Trapper, taking the cat supplies from him and putting them in the back of the van, making a little cat corner and hoping the guys wouldn’t mind. Now to go and get the cat. He grabbed the little fishing rod and started looking around for him.

_____

Cooper was quite frankly astonished when the feral Farmer Trapper made a deal with them. He was confused on why it was about Schlatt until the farmer explained that the cat was damn near impossible around people. 

But leave it to Schlatt to deliver on a bet that was stacked against him that he didn’t even know about. He got that cat to fucking love him in like fifteen minutes, even making a little cat toy for it and playing with it.

“Take it. Take whatever you need…” Trapper said, watching in awe as the cat rubbed against Schlatt. “But you have to take the cat.”

“What? Hell no,” Noah snapped. Noah wasn’t much of a cat enjoyer. He wasn’t allergic or anything, but his mother had been, so he’d just grown up not liking cats much. Not to mention, it was kind of hard to take care of pets during the apocalypse.

“Well that’s the deal, boy!” Trapper whipped his head to look at Noah. Noah blinked. He did not like this man at all. “You take the cat or you take nothing!”

“Cat sounds like a great companion,” Charlie said, elbowing Noah. As soon as Trapper turned back around, Charlie whispered in Noah’s ear. “It’ll probably run off when we stop next, don’t worry.”

They went about collecting things that they needed. Noah and Ted got gas, and a lot of it, so they’d be set for a while, and Travis collected medical supplies while Cooper and Charlie stocked up on food. Schlatt came over at some point and struck up a conversation with Trapper. Ted gave him a look that said not to argue with the farmer. Schlatt got a slightly nervous look, and tried to continue the conversation as normal. After they’d loaded everything up, Trapper insisted they stay for lunch. No one particularly wanted to argue with the feral man, so they agreed. 

As Trapper cooked, the tired old stove kept clicking as it controlled how much gas to give. Noah didn’t think much of it, beyond the fact that it was a bit annoying, but he glanced over at Schlatt for half a second, then looked back. The man was staring off into space, his face twitching whenever the click sounded. Huh. That was weird. Noah nudged him to get him to stop. Trapper was almost done.

They’d all watched him cook, there didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about the food. No human meat or anything… but it was good food. It was nice to have a homemade meal again. Don’t get that much, on the road, or living with a group of your dumbass friends. None of them liked to cook.

After they ate, they thanked Trapper, who smiled that sharp-toothed smile and made sure they had everything. He watched as Schlatt went back out in the field and collected the cat, then they all got in the van. They started the car, and left the farm. That was… not a comfortable experience.

“So that was the nicest feral I have ever met…” Schlatt said, first to break the silence. Noah sat two rows in front of him, and that was still two rows too close in this van. Travis took the bait of conversation though, and asked him how many ferals he’s met. “More than I’d’ve liked to.”

“So Schlatt. You didn’t drive to LA, right?” Cooper asked.

“Correct.”

“So you walked? Isn’t New York all the way across the country?”

“Yeah. Coast to coast, baby,” Schlatt joked. Noah looked back. Schlatt was idly petting the cat, who’d flopped down in his lap.

“Why didn’t you drive?”

“Oh. I left in a bit of a hurry,” Schlatt said, biting his lip, “so I didn’t have time to get keys.”

“Why didn’t you just steal one?”

“I don’t know how to hotwire.”

“Really? Are you fucking kidding me?” Noah laughed. “What do you know how to do? You can’t fight, you can’t hotwire, I doubt you can catch food for yourself. What can you do?”

“I know how to start a fire.”

“So helpful. So do we! So… I guess that makes you useless!” That might have been a bit too far, but Noah couldn’t seem to care.

“Listen, Beardy, there are plenty of things that you don’t do, either.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Like try and look for your friends after they get separated,” Schlatt bit. That one touched a nerve with all of them. Travis had indeed fallen, and it was just a collective unspoken thing to not mention how much they all felt like shit for not trying to wait out the fog and look for him. 

“You’re a bitch.”

“I can at least recognize trouble when I see it, Noah.”

“And yet you still walk straight into it.”

“Self-preservation is not in my blood.”

“Clearly.”

“Can you guys stop?” Travis asked, cutting in. Noah and Schlatt both sighed, and Noah turned back around. Schlatt stopped talking for a bit, until Travis spoke to him. “Oh, Schlatt, I almost forgot. So, I got a bunch of first-aid supplies, and I found this big thing of burn cream! For your side!”

That would help, Noah thought. What a useful thing to have. Just in case. Schlatt took some of the burn cream, nodding his thanks at Travis. Then the car fell back into silence for a bit, before Charlie put on some music. 

Eventually, hours down the road, they stopped. It was getting dark, they could go ahead and make dinner.

Noah started making a fire, and as he worked, he glanced up and noticed Schlatt over by the edge of the woods. What the fuck was he doing? Then Noah noticed the cat. Schlatt put it down by the edge of the woods and nudged it away from him. He didn’t look happy to do so. The cat, however, was not making things easy on him, and it just took the nudges to mean pets and kept coming back for more. Schlatt said something to the cat, and then patted his head and stood back up, stepping away from it.

The cat tilted his head, and then crawled up Schlatt’s pant leg and back into his arms. Schlatt sighed, and put the cat back in the van, then came over to where Noah was making the fire like nothing happened.

“How’s the fire coming?” Schlatt asked.

“All the wood is wet. What was that about, with the cat?” Noah countered.

“Wanted him to go to the bathroom outside the van, cause he fucking stinks.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“So is your ‘wet wood’. If you put it a different way, and then put a bunch of dry crunchy shit like leaves in the middle, then it won’t matter much if your wood is wet, cause the fire will dry it inside its little shelter,” Schlatt explained, fixing the little pile of wood that Noah had, to show him what he meant.

“Huh. I guess you are good at fire.”

“Yeah, they call me the fuckin, uh…”

“The burning man!” Noah finished. Schlatt got a weird look on his face, as if the idea of being called the burning man offended him.

“ Uh . I was thinking fireman… burning man… nah.” 

“Fine, whatever, just trying to keep up the conversation.” Noah rolled his eyes and called Charlie over to light the fire. Noah had dropped his lighter in a puddle. Whoops.

Charlie came over and pulled out his lighter and started trying to light it. The feeble clicks yielded no result, though the sparks still tried.

“Just give me a sec,” Charlie said, still clicking the lighter. Noah looked around, his eyes once again drawn to Schlatt, who had his eyes closed and his jaw set, flinching again with the clicking, just like he had been at the farmhouse. Noah wondered what was up with that. It wasn’t like the clicking wasn’t annoying, but Noah had to wonder why it bothered Schlatt so much.

Finally, Charlie got the lighter to start, and he lit the fire. Schlatt opened his eyes again, face cold and unemotional while a flash of pain went through his eyes before those too became unemotional. Noah didn’t know if he trusted how fast Schlatt got… whatever that was… under control.

The rest of the group came over and joined them by the fire.

“So Schlatt, did you name the cat?” Travis asked. Noah sure as fuck hoped not. When people named things, they made an attachment, and Schlatt should probably go ahead and get rid of the cat. Definitely not because Noah didn’t like the cat, that would be a dumb reason. But because, well… okay well he couldn’t think of a better reason, but he was sure there was one. Besides, Schlatt had looked like he was trying to get the cat to leave anyways, Noah could probably speed that up.

“Yeah, I did,” Schlatt said with a grin. “Named him Jambo.”

“Aww, that’s a cute name!” Fuck, he named it. 

Later, it started to rain. The fire went out, and they couldn’t relight it because their wood got wet. They all just piled in the van and changed seats around a bit so that everyone could have some more room, and Noah regrettably ended up next to Schlatt.

Everyone dozed off, but Noah couldn’t sleep. God, he fucking hated storms. The lightning flashed and the thunder crashed, just like it did every time.

He’s always hated storms. When he was a child, the thunder used to scare him. His father was a stern, uncaring man, told him to get a fucking grip and go back to bed. His mother was nicer with it, but she often couldn’t help from under his father’s thumb. If she tried to softly help him, his father would pull her back to their room. He could always hear them arguing. When they’d argue in front of them, Noah would talk back, try and stick up for his mother, but no matter how loud he was, his father was louder, his voice like thunder and his eyes like lightning, ready to strike at those in his way.

And then the great storm. Noah was thirteen, old enough to be able to stick up for himself. He should have done a better job sticking up for her. 

The power went out. The power had always been fragile during storms, especially since power companies didn’t give a shit, since it was mother earth’s apocalypse. Storms seemed to be worse after everything went to shit, too. But the power went out. Noah heard yelling. He can still hear her screaming, even after all these years. He hears her in the winds of the storms, whistling by him as the thunder laughs. He remembers walking down the hallway to the kitchen to get a candle after the screaming stopped, and when he got in the kitchen, thunder crackled and lightning lit up the room. His father stood over his mother threateningly, his mother unmoving on the ground.

“What did you do..?” he’d asked in horror.

“Get the fuck back in your room,” his father commanded.

“Mom? Are you okay?”

“Your mother’s gone, brat, now go the fuck back in your fucking room!” the man stepped forwards in a threat, and Noah scrambled backwards. He should have gone in when he heard the screaming. He was just too scared of the thunder to move. But it was too late. He should have pushed back harder, he should have fought back for her. He was supposed to protect her, and he failed, he-

There was a crack of thunder in the real world, and he was jerked back from his waking nightmare by a hand on his shoulder. Noah whipped his head over to see Schlatt, who in the dim lighting of only the lightning, looked eerily similar to his brute of a father. Noah pushed himself away from the man, who held his hands up in surrender.

“What do you want?” Noah hissed. Schlatt grabbed his bag and fished around for something within.

“You seemed like you were freaking out,” Schlatt said quietly.

“That’s none of your fucking business.” The thunder crashed again, and Noah flinched. Schlatt looked back over at him.

“The thunder?”

“Shut the fuck up and mind your own business.”

“No, it’s…” Schlatt pulled out something from in his bag and offered it to Noah. Ear plugs, likely from a construction site or something. “I just collect shit. You never know. But… I get… not enjoying a sound.” Noah looked at him, but Schlatt glanced away. Right. The clicks. 

Noah accepted the ear plugs, putting them in. Already, the thunder was muffled. He looked around at the other people in the van. Schlatt seemed like the kind of person to make fun of someone for being afraid of storms, and making it known to other people, but no one else was awake, or even aware of their conversation. He was surprised.

Schlatt turned back away from him, and Noah tried to get comfortable. Maybe he would be able to sleep through the storm.

The next morning, he woke up before anyone else. The rain had stopped, the storm had passed, and the ear plugs were still in his ears. Noah got up to stretch, and got out of the van. The cat jumped out before he could stop it, going to go to the bathroom on a nearby tree. Little shitstain. Fucking cat. 

Schlatt was trying to get it to leave anyway, right? They couldn’t take this thing to New York…

Noah walked over to the cat once it was done with its business.

It looked up, saw him, and ran away into the woods.

Chapter Text

Noah had breakfast ready by the time everyone got up. He’d used Schlatt’s advice with the fire, and then heated up a few cans of food for everyone. One by one, they all gathered around, getting some food. Noah noticed Schlatt looked perturbed by something, but the man took his food like normal. It was clear he was thinking about something hard, but he didn’t make any move to talk about it, so Noah didn’t mention it. 

After a bit of idle conversation and watching Schlatt look around in confusion, he finally spoke up.

“Hey, have any of you guys seen Jambo?” he asked. Everyone glanced around for the cat.

“No. Why, he not in the van?” Charlie asked. Schlatt shook his head. “Well who was the first out of the van?”

“I was,” Noah said. It would have come up later, anyway. “Jambo got out.”

“Well which way did he go?” Schlatt asked. Noah got ready for Schlatt to yell at him or something, and was somewhat surprised when it didn’t happen immediately.

“Why’s it matter? You were trying to get him to leave anyway! I saw you last night!”

“I wasn’t trying to get him to leave, I was having him take a shit outside the car, cause he’s a stinky little guy.”

“You were trying to get him to leave, you were!”

“He’s my cat, why would I get him to leave?”

“He wasn’t your cat, he was feral! And besides, you had him for less than a day !” Noah said. Why wasn’t Schlatt yelling by now? Noah was ready for a fight, why wasn’t Schlatt arguing back?

“But I still had him!”

“Oh, and that mattered to you so much, didn’t it? You get one thing to like you and suddenly you have something of importance? Give me a fucking break, Schlatt, you don’t care about shit. You didn’t care about that cat, not really. And it didn’t love you. You pet it, it wanted something from you. That was it. It didn’t really like you.” Noah said. Schlatt’s nose was turning red, and his somewhat sad and annoyed look turned dark as Schlatt’s eyes hardened.

“But he followed me around, wouldn’t leave me the fuck alone! He did like me!”

“Then where is it now, Schlatt?” Schlatt didn’t say anything, just glared at Noah. “Huh? Where is it now?”

“Guys, stop it. We’re only a few states away from New York, we can’t fall apart now…” Travis murmured, probably not liking all the yelling and acidic words. Schlatt kept glaring at Noah.

“What the fuck have I done to you?” Schlatt asked, voice lowered.

“What?”

“What the fuck have I done to you? Like, genuinely. I know I’m a bit of an asshole, but genuinely what the fuck have I done to you that you hate me so fucking much?” 

“Cause you are an asshole, man! You call us names, you tell mean jokes!” Noah said, listing off a few things.

“You do that to each other all the time, Dickhead!”

“Not to mention, you’re fucking dead weight! We probably could have gotten to New York without you! All you do is just take up space and use our resources,” Noah bit. Schlatt recoiled a bit. That touched a nerve, Noah could tell.

“Oh, yeah, like you wouldn’t have gotten past that Farmer Trapper without me,” he rolled his eyes. “I don’t need to take this from you.” Schlatt was deflecting. Why wasn’t he yelling already? Why was he staying so tame?

“We’re all thinking it! I’m just man enough to say it to your face!” Schlatt turned away from Noah, not taking the bait. Ohh, how Noah would have loved to fight this prick, but even as he turned around, choosing to be the bigger man here and not punch him, which Noah could admit he was definitely asking for it, if only to paint Schlatt as an even worse person, Noah felt a bit bad about the things he was saying. He didn’t really mean them, but he just… once he got started, he couldn’t stop.

Noah watched as Schlatt’s fists clenched and he took a deep breath.

“You know, Noah. I was trying to be nice last night. If this is the consequence of me trying to make an effort with you people, I clearly made a mistake,” Schlatt said bitterly, letting go of his breath and unclenching his fists. His little reference to the night before pissed Noah right the fuck off, though. He probably told everyone, the prick. Noah seethed, and shoved Schlatt forward in his rage.

“You mother fucker. You told them, didn’t you? I bet you fucking pitied me soooo much cause I looked weak, huh? I’m not fucking weak!” Noah yelled. God, Schlatt reminded him of his father way too much. They were both large men that could tower over him, or at least seem like it, they both had facial hair, though Schlatt’s was definitely… unique… and most of all, they both thought he was weak.

“I wasn’t fucking pitying you, Noah, I was just trying to be nice!” Schlatt shoved him back harder, and Noah tripped over something and fell back. “I didn’t fucking tell them shit, I don’t think you’re weak, and I wasn’t fucking pitying you! Forgive me for trying to fucking empathize with you, you bitch! You never wondered why I have those? Yeah I collect random shit, but maybe other people have problems like that, too! I don’t think you’re weak for needing to work through an issue, I think you’re weak cause you think you have to fucking take it out on people! I did nothing to you this morning, what the fuck !” Schlatt finally snapped, yelling at him. He sharply inhaled. “I’m gonna go look for Jambo,” he said in a controlled tone, before storming over to the van, going around behind it. Noah was frozen. No one had ever said that to him before, but it made sense if he thought about it. Why would he be weak for something he couldn’t control? No, instead he was weak for not controlling what he could, and as a result, he pissed off people who were just trying to help.

Noah and the others went back to the van and he sat down in his usual seat in the second row, and he thought about what Schlatt had said. He was right, of course.

Fuck, Noah shouldn’t have picked a fight with Schlatt. He was prepared for Schlatt to hit him first, but now he just looked like an asshole. Guess Schlatt’s heart wasn’t into fighting right then.

God, Schlatt even gave Noah ample time to pull away from the fight, before he brought out that smackdown of a truth bomb. Noah regretted not doing so.

There were a lot of things he regretted about today, and it wasn’t even noon yet. He’d let the cat out and chased it away, and the more that he thought about it, it had done it’s business and had begun walking back to the van by the time Noah chased it off.

Noah felt horrible about doing that. Schlatt hadn’t seemed happy about going with them until he met the cat, and for the (short) duration of the cat’s tenure as a member of their group, Schlatt had seemed really happy. Genuinely so. And now…

Noah looked out the window. He could see Schlatt walking around in the woods, calling out for the cat. It had been around Schlatt for not even a day, it wouldn’t respond to its name yet, this was in vain.

Eventually that became clear to Schlatt, who gave it up and came back to the van, sitting on the ground, leaning against the van. His face was turned away from the windows, but Noah could tell he was upset. The tips of his ears were red, and Noah had never seen Schlatt sit like that, his arms resting on his knees and his face halfway tucked into his elbows.

Noah regretted today.

_____

Schlatt hadn’t had anything to call his own in fucking years. No friends (not good ones at least), no family (that stuck around). He’d been alone for damn near two years looking for a place that felt far enough away from New York, and then just as he began to feel comfortable somewhere, just as he began to feel the ropes of the wild begin to loosen, and oh how they tighten the longer he’s out here, people come and get him to come away from this place and back into the wild, to take them to the very place he was running from, just because they have an idealized view of how life looks in the Big Apple. He was honestly only in it now to see the look of sheer disappointment on everyone’s faces when they realize they had it better in LA.

But along the way, he got something that made all of the shit he went through worth it.

That fucking cat, dude. He would have done anything for that cat. Maybe because he hadn’t seen a cat in fucking years, or maybe because it quite literally chose him, but it made him feel special, made him feel happy, made him feel like he had something to keep going for. He’d gone through a lot of shit, and he was honestly surprised he was still alive, if he was quite honest, but here he was.

Noah, he discovered, had a similar problem as him. The man didn’t like thunder. Schlatt didn’t have the same issue exactly, but it was more like they both had an auditory trigger. Schlatt knew how shitty that could be sometimes, to get stuck in your head because of something as simple as a noise, but it wasn’t simple, was it? It was complex. The mind associated that sound, no matter how small it is, with something bad in the past, and it wont let it go. For Noah, it was apparently thunder. For Schlatt… it was like he could still hear that telltale click, click, click of that lighter, echoing in his mind. It made his skin tingle with a distant heat, and he couldn’t pull away.

Schlatt knew what it was like to get stuck in your own head like that. He hated it. So when he saw Noah struggling with a similar issue, he offered the ear plugs. He wasn’t trying to pity him, or be mean. He could relate.

And then he was repaid with Noah chasing off the first sliver of real happiness that Schlatt had since he was a kid, and then starting a fight with him. 

But jesus, Noah really just wanted to fucking hit him where it hurt, didn’t he? All that shit about how he didn’t care, how the cat wasn’t really his, how it never loved him. It did, or at least Schlatt wanted to believe that, and was it really so hard to just let him believe it?

But god damn, the part that really got to him was the dead weight bit. He knew that he wasn’t the most helpful, but he helped some… but Noah said that he didn’t, or didn’t help enough, and he just used up the group’s resources. Well fine. That was an easy fix. Schlatt had enough collected food to get him to New York, and he had a few water bottles, he didn’t have to use any more of their resources. And if he did, it’d only be the ones he either assisted in collecting or helped prepare.

Schlatt looked around the forest for Jambo. Noah never told him which way he went, said it didn’t matter. It mattered to Schlatt, but it wasn’t like Schlatt mattered to anyone else, so naturally his search for Jambo wouldn’t matter. Nobody protested his search, at least, so he could assume it didn’t matter.

He called out for the cat, his chest hurting. God, why did he care so much about his stupid cat? It was just a cat, it was just a cat. But… he was his cat. Jambo was the first good thing, the first really good thing to happen to him in years. He knew that he couldn’t take Jambo to New York, it wouldn’t be safe for him there, but he could have gotten out of the city fast or something. He and Jambo could have just wandered around, keeping each other sane. 

He knew he’d only known the cat for… not even a day at this point, but the sting of his absence still pricked at him, made his chest feel heavy. Schlatt hadn’t noticed how lonely he was, even surrounded by all the other guys, until he met and lost Jambo. He’d felt genuinely happy for once, and now it was ripped away from him.

Jambo wasn’t coming back, Schlatt decided. Given the nature of what Schlatt wasn’t looking forward to in New York, Schlatt wasn’t sure he wanted Jambo to come back. Noah had been right, after all. He had been trying to get Jambo to leave. For his own safety. But that was when they were closer to where they got him. Now they were hours away. 

Schlatt leaned against the back of the van. He couldn’t go back in like this, he felt like he was about to explode. He wasn’t… angry… he was just sad. He felt like he was going to cry, but he wasn’t allowed to cry. He wouldn’t let himself. 

He wiped his face on his sleeve and stood back up, collecting himself and making sure his face wasn’t terribly red before joining the others in the van, sitting down in his row alone in the back. No one said anything for a minute, but everyone sat in silence.

“Hey, Schlatt, do you wanna drive?” Travis asked. Schlatt looked up.

“Oh. maybe after the next stop,” Schlatt said. Travis smiled and nodded, turning back around. Charlie glanced back.

Charlie was the guy in the group that everyone ranted to. He was good with first aid, and knew what to say. Unfortunately for Charlie, Schlatt didn’t want to talk to anyone. Much less rant. His problems were his own. 

Charlie mouthed “you okay?” as if he and Schlatt were actually even close enough for Schlatt to tell him shit. Schlatt gave him a neutral face and nodded. Charlie nodded back and turned back around.

_____

Noah fought off saying anything for an hour, until he finally couldn’t help himself. It was pretty obvious that Schlatt had gotten attached to that cat reeeeally fast, which… didn’t seem like the right behavior for Schlatt’s age. Or at least… what he thought Schlatt’s age was. The man looked to be in his late thirty’s, and his taste in music would agree. He mostly only knew songs from the 90’s and before, was very unfamiliar with a lot of the music that the guys listened to. Plus, he fucking sounded old.

“Hey, Schlatt…” Noah said, calling the man’s attention.

“What do you want?” Schlatt said.

“Isn’t it kinda weird that a full-grown adult would get attached to something so easily after like, less than a day?”

“Yeah, I suppose that would be weird, who are you referring to?”

“You’re kidding, right? You, dude. You’re the only full-grown adult here.”

“... how old do you think I am?” Schlatt asked, squinting at him.

“I don’t know, like… thirty-eight to forty?”

“Holy shit,” Schlatt chuckled. “Is that what all of you think?” He looked around. Everyone else nodded or shrugged.

“Well?”

“I’m twenty-two, dude…” Schlatt said. Noah blinked.

“No you’re fucking not,” he said. There was no way. Noah thought he was older than all of them here… most of them actually were twenty two, save for Charlie and Ted, who were twenty three and twenty four, respectively.

Schlatt pulled out his license, and passed it up to Noah. Sure enough, he was twenty two, and wouldn’t be turning anything else for several months.

“You really thought I was forty?? Why?” Schlatt chuckled incredulously. Noah grumbled, not enjoying being teased. He supposed he deserved it though, after making Schlatt feel like such shit.

The next few stops, Noah began to notice trends that yes, he started, but he didn’t like. Schlatt no longer ate with them, and when they stopped at gas stations or anything, he stocked up on food that was packaged such that it could last for a while. He hadn’t realized that Schlatt had taken anything he’d said seriously, but he most definitely had. It was bad enough that he’d actually made Schlatt cry, but this… he hadn’t meant what he said, and to know exactly what Schlatt was doing was painful.

Nowhere in Noah’s life did he think that he would be the cause of someone dragging himself down. Schlatt had always seemed untouchable, like nothing could hurt him. Even when Schlatt had gotten shot, he kept pushing. He didn’t realize Schlatt even cared about the things they said until this. He just seemed untouchable, like he didn’t care. He was such an asshole to people, why did he care about what people say? 

They had Schlatt drive after a few more hours on the road, and once he got behind the wheel, they were making better progress than they had with anyone else driving. Not that they were unproductive or anything, Schlatt was just pissed off and a speed demon. Fucker driving nintey down the empty highway like he didn’t have just his own life to lose. He was just tapping his finger on the wheel and humming along to some old song on the radio station he’d chosen.

“Jesus, Schlatt, would you slow the fuck down?” Noah complained. Schlatt jumped a bit.

“Fuck, I forgot you guys were back there…” He said, glancing back at them and ceasing the tapping and humming.

“Yeah, we’re still here. What, are we that forgettable?”

“Hardly.”

“Then how’d you forget?”

“Well, Beardy, you seem to forget I was alone for quite a while, I’m used to it.”

“That’s kinda sad, dude.”

“I know. Doesn’t change anything though.”

“Well, you’re not alone now,” Travis said with a smile, trying to de-escalate the conversation as it became increasingly charged. 

“Couldn’t tell,” Schlatt said sarcastically. He went back to driving, slowing his speed just a touch, probably because Noah said something about it.

He eventually went back to softly humming along to whatever song was on the radio, even singing a little bit. Why did he only listen to old music? Like seriously, what the fuck? Sure, some of them were good, but why not play something they can all enjoy?

“Schlatt this song fucking sucks,” Noah said. Schlatt jumped a bit again. He’d forgotten again. Maybe it was because he couldn’t see them as well when hes driving, and they’ve all been being quiet, and for someone who’s supposedly been alone for a while, that might be easy.

Noah noticed that the song hadn’t been changed yet.

“Schlatt, the song fucking sucks,” he repeated.

“It’s a good fucking song! And besides, I don’t give you shit about your emo-ass music, so shut it. You wouldn’t know good music if it slapped you in the face,” Schlatt went off, leaning forward and glaring at him in the rear-view mirror. Noah raised his hands in surrender, and Schlatt turned the volume up out of spite.

“Come on, Schlatt, it’s a bad song!”

“And it’ll be over soon.”

“Just change it!” Noah pestered, refusing to back down. Schlatt growled, but changed the radio channel.

“Fucking Christ, can’t have anything around you,” Schlatt grumbled under his breath, but Noah still caught it. Shit, right… the cat, the argument this morning. He felt a spike of guilt go through him. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that Schlatt was not the only asshole in the group.

That night, when they’d stopped for the night, Ted made dinner as Charlie told jokes and listened to any little complaints or anything. Travis was leaning against Cooper as they listened to Charlie’s jokes. As for Noah, well. Noah was too busy watching Schlatt to listen fully to Charlie.

He didn’t trust Schlatt. He had some regrets about the man, yes. More regrets than he’d like to have about anyone. But even still, he didn’t trust him fully. He trusted him more now than he had when they’d first met, but to be perfectly fair, they’d hardly known each other for two weeks, and the man didn’t reveal much about himself, ever. The most Noah knew was that he was twenty-two, from New York, and that he liked cats. With such little information, Noah found it hard to trust him, even if he had proven himself to some of the other members of their group. Travis, for example, when Schlatt had gone back for him after the incident at the cliff, and Cooper, who does whatever Travis does, because Travis has a good sense about things.

Noah watched Schlatt. He wasn’t sitting with the group. He was a few yards away, leaning against the van, messing with something in his hands. Someone tapped Noah’s shoulder, and food was being passed to him. No one questioned where Schlatt was, though there was a space for him near the fire.

“Hey, Schlatt. Dinner’s ready,” Noah called. He saw Charlie glance over at the empty spot, before going back to telling jokes.

“No thanks, I’m good,” Schlatt called back, holding up a protein bar that was probably expired. Noah sighed. Schlatt was taking this farther than Noah thought he would. If this was a guilt trip, it was definitely working. Fuck. Noah wasn’t gonna say anything. He wanted to, but that was probably what Schlatt wanted. He couldn’t just play right into his hands, that would be foolish! Schlatt was clearly a master manipulator or something, trying to get Noah to do something or something. 

Or… he wasn’t, and Noah was just looking way too far into this.

No. No, Schlatt was definitely messing with him. Toying with his mind. He couldn’t be trusted.

Noah pushed the New Yorker out of his mind, and focused on the fire. Dinner was done, they’d all eaten, and were pulling out things to go to sleep. Noah was on watch for the night, so he got comfortable and watched his friends go to sleep.

An hour later, he heard sounds behind the van. Suspicious, Noah got up and went to go look.

Schlatt was on his knees, throwing up into the grass a few feet away from the van. Instinctively, Noah reached out a hand to help him try to get it all out, but Schlatt stiffened, and hissed at him.

“Don’t fucking touch me.”

“Wh- okay… are you alright?” Noah asked, a bit taken aback by the man’s tone.

“I’m fine, I just-” Schlatt tried to speak, but cut himself off as he heaved again, and Noah turned away slightly as he threw up.

“Eat something bad?”

“Forgot people could be allergic to things…”

“Oh shit, what did you eat?”

“... you’re gonna laugh.”

“I’ll be honest, if you have to say that I probably will.”

“Cosmic brownies.” Noah snorted, what the fuck was that allergy? That was so fucking weird!

“Not like… any of the ingredients or anything?”

“Before all of this apocalypse shit, I could eat other products by the same brand, just not these.”

“Brownies hate you.”

“Brownies hate me.” 

“Are you good now? Done throwing up?” Noah asked.

“Think so…”

“We have some water over here, come on.” Schlatt took a deep breath and stood, grunting in pain a bit and putting an arm around his middle. Oh right. “How’s your side, by the way?”

“It’s fine. Healing up fine.”

“So… can I ask something?” Noah handed Schlatt a water bottle, to which Schlatt hesitated, but accepted. “What happened in that cave? When you found Travis.”

“When I found him? Or before?” Schlatt asked after taking a gulp of water.

“Before, I guess.”

“They took the bullet out.”

“Travis said he’d heard screaming.”

“They took the bullet out without anesthesia. And then closed it up with a cautery.”

“That must’ve hurt.”

“True.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Again?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

“You’re running out of question time.”

“How did you know what to do last night? When the storm was going on.”

“... personal experience.”

“Can I ask what?”

“No.”

“That’s… fair… I suppose. But the, um. The trigger. I’ve noticed you don’t like clicking noises… are they just annoying, or is that an actual, um…”

“That is, in fact, none of your business.”

“Actual thing then. Alright. Hm. Do you wanna know about the storm thing?” Noah asked. He’d been told once that the best way to get people to open up is to tell them something about yourself, and chances are that they might tell you something of similar caliber.

“You can tell me, I don’t care if you don’t, though.”

“I don’t mind telling you.” He did. He was only telling him this on the off chance that he’d finally learn something about Schlatt.

“Then, shoot.”

“My father wasn’t a good person. Especially so after the whole… apocalypse thing went down. Bastard went feral or some shit. He and my mother used to fight a lot. I tried to stick up for her, but he was… god, he seemed untouchable. Like nothing could get to him. You remind me of him a bit, in that sense.” Schlatt didn’t look like he liked that. Noah continued anyway. “But there was a storm, a big one, and they were fighting and shit, and I walk into the kitchen and she’s lying dead on the ground, and he’s yelling at me to go back into my room.”

“Damn. That's rough, buddy.”

“Yeah…”

“Do I really remind you of your father?”

“I think you used to. Because you also seemed, kinda… untouchable. Not human, almost.”

“But I am human.”

“I know. And I mean hey, at least you don’t go around killing mothers…” Noah chuckled to himself. Schlatt deadpanned.

“I killed my mother.”

“What the fuck.”

“Yup. Right out of the womb, I was made to be a stone cold killer. My first victim was my mother.”

“Oh I thought you meant like you actually killed her.”

“I did.”

“Oh, sure, sure. Stone cold killer all the way, man.”

“That- I wasn’t kidding.”

“So you actually killed your mother.”

“Yeah, Childbirth, but-”

“No, dude, that doesn’t count. How is that your fault if you deadass didn’t even have motor control yet?”

“... I dunno, fuckin… rebirth, and I had a grudge or something.”

“Have you been carrying around that you killed your mother for all these years? Jesus, dude…”

“Huh? No, I don’t care. But, um. Continue what you were saying about your father. You seemed like you were enjoying telling me what a piece of shit he was.”

“Right, of course. He was a total shit-stain, pain in my side, and arms. Bastard used to smoke, and, uh.” Noah rolled up his sleeve to reveal his arm. Schlatt looked at it for a second, before sighing.

“I feel that…” he muttered.

“You an ashtray too?”

“Yup. That's what they call me. They call me Ashman.”

“I thought they called you Fireman.”

“They call me lotsa things. I am known far and wide by many names.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Like, um. The man of many names, that’s what they called me.”

“Inspired, truly.”

“Yeah. Aren’t you supposed to be on watch?”

“Oh, shit, you’re right. You’re all good though, right? With the brownies, and shit?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Schlatt muttered, shooing him away. Noah nodded, and went back to where he’d been sitting before. He felt… lighter. He hadn’t ever told anyone about his parents, and he was glad that no pity came out of Schlatt. If anything, it sorta helped Noah for Schlatt to have lightened the mood. 

Morning came with no further events, the sun rising and the guys all getting up and putting everything back in the van. There was an underlying buzz of excitement from everyone in the group, save for Schlatt. They’d made more progress than they’d thought they would yesterday, after passing off the wheel to Schlatt, so today would be the day that they’d be arriving in New York.

They had Schlatt drive again, cause he habitually drove fast, and they figured that it would be helpful for someone to know the city well for their first drive around.

As they drove, Schlatt was silent as the others chattered around about what they thought life in the Big Apple would be like. eventually, though, when they were nearly an hour away, he spoke up.

“Hey, is it okay if I just drop you off outside the city? Like, you guys can keep the van and everything, I won’t take that, just… you know, we part ways outside the city.” He explained. Why didn’t he want to go in the city?

“What? Hell no, dude, you still have to help us figure out housing and shit, show us around,” Ted said, always the first to speak. 

“But like, why? You can do that just fine on your own.”

“Well, this is what you agreed to, Schlatt. Don’t go changing deals on us now.”

“But-”

“No, Schlatt. Just drive.”

Noah wondered why Schlatt didn’t wanna go into the city so much. It would be cool there! With the Empire State building, and the Statue of Liberty, and… whatever other places there are  in the city that people don’t talk about on TV. Schlatt grumbled, and kept driving. 

And then, just as they could see the city in the distance, Schlatt pulled over.

“What now, Schlatt?”

“Are we friends?” Schlatt asked, looking at them in the rear view mirror. His expression was guarded. Several people opened their mouths to respond, but as per usual, Ted was the quickest to speak, talking over anyone who might disagree.

“No, of course not,” Ted said. Noah was almost 70% sure at least three people in the car were about to say the opposite, but no one was about to disagree with Ted. they all knew he didn’t like people talking back, or disagreeing with him. They all had issues, this was just his. Normally it wasn’t a problem, but Noah had a sneaking suspicion that to Schlatt, no was the wrong answer. When Noah looked at his face, he looked kinda upset.

“Then why the fuck am I helping you?”

“Because you agreed to.”

“Fine. But as soon as you’re settled, I’m gone. Good fucking luck on getting anywhere when you figure out you don’t wanna be here, either. Oh, and don’t mention my name while you’re here.”

“Why not?”

“You won’t like the results.” Noah decided he really didn’t like Schlatt’s implications there. Either Schlatt had done something bad, or he’d done something really bad, and Noah didn’t wanna end up on the back end of that.

“Sure, whatever,” Ted rolled his eyes. “Just fucking drive, Schlatt.”

They got just outside the walls of the city, and everyone was excited. Noah had a million thoughts in his head about what life was gonna be like in the city, it was like for once he could actually see himself in the future, not just in the moment.

Schlatt, however, looked like he felt nauseous.

They drove through a tunnel under the walls of the city, and everyone was on the edge of their seats as they started coming out of the tunnel, waiting to catch a first glimpse of the city, and-

“Where are all the people?” Cooper asked. They all looked around. This… this was not what they thought it’d be.

“Whatever do you mean?” Schlatt said, feigning ignorance.

“The people! In movies and shit, there’s always a buncha people everywhere!”

“Oh, right. I must have forgotten to mention. This, um. This isn’t the movies. Welcome to New York. You thought LA was bad, hoo hoo hoo, it can get so much worse,” Schlatt said, a malevolent grin on his face. He pulled over again. “We can turn back. I mean, we made it, we could just go somewhere else. Southward bound, maybe. There’s a lotta cities out there, we don’t have to stay here .”

“Shut it, Schlatt, we’re staying. Take us to where we can find a place to stay.” Ted said, again speaking over anyone who might object. Noah knew he was prideful, wouldn’t back down just because of a little setback, at least, not while Schlatt’s being so smug.

“Ted, are you sure? This doesn’t seem-” Travis tried, but was silenced by Ted holding a hand up, waving him off.

“I’m sure. We’ll be fine. Just go, Schlatt.”

“You’re gonna get people into trouble with that mindset…” Schlatt grumbled, but pulled back into the mostly empty road, and navigated them to an old-looking apartment building. They got stuff out of the vans as Schlatt went over and unlocked one of the apartments. He had a key. Was this where he used to live?

They all brought their stuff inside the apartment, and set it down.

“I’ll go to the office and get keys tomorrow, but tonight we can just sorta chill in here,” Schlatt said.

“Why can’t you go tonight?” Noah asked.

“Because I don’t want to.”

“That’s a shit excuse.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want to be here, you can wait for keys if I have to be here.”

“Fair enough.”

They all got settled, and the next day, Schlatt went to go raid the abandoned leasing office for keys. 

People lived in New York, Noah was sure. The city itself was a massive trading city, traders coming in and out of the city like bees to a hive. He’d seen a few, but there were not many just walking the streets. He didn’t expect much of a welcome party.

Maybe that was why he was so surprised when a young man stopped by the apartment while Schlatt was out. He looked like any other person, and Noah could only assume that he was one of the other few tenants of the building.

“Hey, I thought I heard someone was moving into the city!” he said, a friendly smile on his face. “Welcome!”

They brought him in for some casual conversation, and he explained that since nobody new ever really came here anymore, he liked to greet all the new people, let them know what there is to do in the city, now that the tourist industry kind of hit the fan.

“So is it just the five of you?”

“No, someone else went out to grab something.”

“All alone? Oh, you guys should always stick to the buddy system, you never know what could happen. There’s any number of things. I used to go around with a friend of mine, until he left a few years ago.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Charlie said. The man shrugged, an easy smile on his face.

“Shit happens,” he said. “He actually used to live really close to here! Oh shit, I never introduced myself, did I? Ha ha, I’m sorry!” Just as he was about to tell them his name, the door opened again, and Schlatt announced himself.

“I got the keys! I could only get like, four, so two of you will have to double up, but I’m sure there’s at least one two–bedroom around here, so-” Schlatt cut himself off when he saw their guest.

“Holy fuck, Schlatt, is that you?” their guest asked in disbelief. Schlatt was frozen in place, only managing to mutter a single word.

“ Carson. ”

Chapter Text

“ Carson .” Schlatt’s voice was hushed, as if he did not believe his eyes. Ted watched as the new guy, Carson, stood up and approached Schlatt, greeting him like an old friend, pulling him into a hug that Schlatt did not return.

“Schlatt, holy fuck! I can’t believe this! I thought I’d never see you again!” Carson said, clapping Schlatt enthusiastically on the back.

“So did I…” Schlatt murmured, pulling away from Carson.

“Guys, this was that buddy that I was talking about! The friend that I used to go everywhere with! We used to be inseparable !” As Carson spoke, Schlatt stepped away from the man. Carson knew Schlatt. Schlatt seemed uncomfortable around Carson. Ted wondered what bad blood there was between the two, and why one of them was still bitter about it while the other seemed to not be.

They all sat down, Schlatt as far away from Carson as he possibly could be, which failed rather miserably as Carson sat down right beside him.

“So how long have you two known each other?” Charlie asked.

“Oh, we’ve been friends for years, haven’t we, Schlatt?” Carson asked, reaching to pull Schlatt into another side hug.

“Yeah, we’ve also not been friends for years, dude,” Schlatt growled, holding up his hands to stop the man.

“Yeah, maybe cause you left? I’m honestly surprised you managed to make any friends, dude, with your track record of leaving the people you supposedly care about.” There it was. Ted had refused to believe that Carson held no grudge when Schlatt clearly did, and he was right. Looks like things were not as amiable as they seemed.

“We’re not friends,” Schlatt said, with a brief glance in Ted’s direction.

“Then what the fuck are you?”

“I’m a travel agent of sorts.” Ted snorted at that.

“Worst travel agent ever then,” Ted chuckled. Schlatt shot a glare in Ted’s direction while Carson laughed.

“Yeah, Schlatt here has always been shit at stuff like that. Like, one time, when we were younger, he got us lost in the middle of fucking nowhere cause he kept trying to leave me in the woods. Fucking asshole, right?”

“Really? Why would he do that?”

“He just woke up and chose to be mean I guess,” Carson said. He went on to talk about Schlatt like he wasn’t even there, like he wasn’t seated right next to him. Schlatt looked uncomfortable and angry, but did not offer anything in his own defense against Carson’s words.

“I guess so,” Noah muttered.

“But I hope you guys didn’t have him do anything terribly important, he can’t be trusted with jack shit. I needed help one time, and he just did everything in his power to make things difficult!” Ted cast an accusatory glare at Schlatt briefly, who rolled his eyes and looked away.

“Like what?”

“Like, he made my parents hate me, and I had this business and he tried to tear it down, and then when I needed his help the most, he just… left,” Carson said, grief in his voice. It sounded like… well… Ted didn’t know like what exactly, but something about all of this didn’t seem entirely like the truth. But Schlatt wasn’t denying any of this…

Ted had no reason to trust Carson. But he didn’t trust Schlatt, either. But now that he was hearing about a seemingly other side to Schlatt, he was glad he didn’t give Schlatt a lot of trust while they were in the wilderness. What if he’d left them in the wild, like Carson claimed that Schlatt had tried to do to him? Or, what if… fuck, what if they’d actually needed his help with something and he left them behind?

Schlatt claimed to have been alone in the wild for around two years, Ted knew with certainty that he would know how to do it again.

But… as much as Ted didn’t know what to believe about Schlatt anymore, there was one thing that still threw him.

Why had Schlatt asked if they were friends? And why did he shut up afterwards like the answer actually mattered to him? Maybe Ted had jumped the gun a little bit, immediately telling him no, but let’s face it, he’s glad that he did, what with this new information from Carson about the way that Schlatt treats his friends.

And why wasn’t Schlatt saying anything? Carson was just shit-talking him this whole fucking time, why wasn’t Schlatt standing up for himself? 

Unless it was true…

“Oh, look, it is getting late,” Schlatt said in a deadpan robotic voice. “Carson, you should leave now. Bye bye. I’ll close the door behind you.”

“Alright, alright. I know when I’m not wanted,” Carson chuckled.

“Uh huh.” Sarcasm bled from Schlatt’s voice. The two stood up, and Schlatt showed him to the door, opening it. Quiety, and clearly not meant for anyone else to hear, Ted heard Carson say something that really didn’t sit well with him.

“You’ve grown up, Schlatt. You look… different. I liked you better when you were smaller.”

“Go away.”

Schlatt came back after he closed the door and locked it, making sure that Carson actually left instead of waiting outside the door.

“What were we talking about before… him..?”

“Dude what the fuck was that?” Ted confronted.

“Right, keys. I have four, so two of you will have to pair up, at least until I leave,” Schlatt said, ignoring Ted’s question and handing out keys. Travis and Cooper paired up, predictably, and the rest of them found the apartment that corresponded to their keys. They all came back and grabbed stuff and took it to their respective apartments. Schlatt walked around the main room of the apartment, content with just whatever the fuck he had in his backpack, and trying to stay out of the way of people as they grabbed things. Ted watched as Noah walked over and talked to him.

“So you said you were leaving. When’s that happening?” he asked.

“Trying to get rid of me so soon?” Schlatt jested.

“Just when.”

“As soon as I can.” Schlatt cast an uneasy glance to the world outside the window. “I don’t really wanna be in this city.”

“Cause of Carson?” Noah asked, putting pieces together. Schlatt gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Just cause. I suppose that is a bit of a factor, but… like… you left LA. Would you ever want to go back to a place you left?”

“S’pose not.”

“Exactly.”

“Surely.”

“Anyway, fuck off and collect your shit, I don’t wanna be up all night.” Schlatt waved him off and Ted walked over.

“What was all that stuff that Carson was saying? Was that true?” Ted asked.

“Depends how you look at it.” Schlatt shrugged.

“You son of a bitch. How many times did you think about leaving us stranded in the wild?”

“None, actually, cause people can change. Maybe not Carson, but still.”

“Schlatt, look. I don’t believe that for a goddamn second. So you better hope you leave this fucking city before I find a reason to put you in the ground.”

“Mind your fucking business, Ted, and you won’t,” Schlatt snarled suddenly, easygoing tone gone. “I don’t give a shit if you don’t like me. You have made it clear that we are not friends, I don’t have to pretend to be. I don’t care if you want to believe Carson, but come the fuck on, are you really gonna believe someone you just met over someone that you’ve at least spent an ungodly amount of time with in a car? Things are not all that they seem here, and if you were at all smart, you’d leave too. Take some fucking advice for once, man. Get you and your friends out while you can.”

“Yeah? Or what?” Ted asked. Was Schlatt threatening him?

“I think you misunderstand, Ted. That wasn’t a threat. That was a warning. Now get your shit and get out of my fucking face.” Schlatt pushed past him and retreated into his room. Ted scoffed and collected the rest of his share of the things, before going back to the apartment that he had the key to, and dropping his stuff off.

Ted organized his things, making quick work of it, before sitting down on the abandoned couch there. 

What the fuck was all of that though? Like, honestly? This random-ass guy somehow knows Schlatt, and pretends to be nice for like, five minutes before dropping that shit and of course they fucking hate each other.

Ted thought it was valuable information though, what Carson told them. Ted hadn’t trusted Schlatt all that much anyway, and this was just proof that he was right to not do so. Schlatt left people behind, apparently, that he was close to.

But something didn’t track right with that. Schlatt had had ample opportunity to abandon them, leave them behind, leave them stranded… and he didn’t.

But Schlatt didn’t argue against any of the things Carson said. Ted wondered why. It wasn’t like Schlatt wouldn’t argue with someone, he’d argue with a stump if he thought he had a good argument… so there must have been some truth to Carson’s words, or maybe just something they weren’t seeing.

Ted shoved all these things to the back of his head and laid down on the couch. It had been a long day. He should get some rest. This couch was pretty comfortable, after all.

He was awoken to a loud knocking at the door. He got up reluctantly, rolling his eyes and trudging over to the door. Travis and Cooper were both there, Travis looking more awake than Cooper did, and a lot more anxious about something.

“Travis, what? You woke me up…” Ted grumbled.

“Schlatt’s gone,” Travis said quickly.

“He was planning on leaving anyway, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not! Come look!” Ted rolled his eyes but let Travis drag him down the stairs over to the apartment that Schlatt had temporarily claimed. He could instantly tell that something was wrong. 

The door had been kicked in and broken slightly, and the hallway leading to the door was a mess. The main room was all sorts of disheveled, like some sort of fight had gone down. The table was even broken. Oh… no…

“What the fuck happened here?” Ted asked in bewilderment, scanning the room.

“I don’t know, but Schlatt’s gone.”

“Go get the others up, I’m gonna snoop around.” Travis nodded and took Cooper. Soon all five of them were in Schlatt’s apartment, searching. His backpack was still here, completely packed still, like he hadn’t bothered unpacking. But Schlatt never left his backpack behind. Always had it with him. If he’d left on his own terms, it would have come with him.

Where the fuck was he?

And what the fuck happened here?

Chapter Text

“Where did he go?” was a common question that morning. Schlatt wouldn’t have left without his things, and he wouldn’t have left everything in such a state of disrepair. So the group packed up their things quickly, realizing too late that they might should have given more heed to Schlatt’s warnings. Cooper saw Noah grab Schlatt’s backpack at one point, accidentally spilling some of its contents. There was a rather large amount of undoubtedly expired protein bars, that cat toy that he’d made, a lighter-less firestarter kit (which was just some flint and steel kept together with a piece of string tying them together), some rope and other useful things to have when outdoors for any significant amount of time (Cooper remembered him picking that up at the farmhouse), and… a rock, for some reason. It wasn’t special looking or anything, just some river rock, but Cooper didn’t remember seeing him pick it up, so he must’ve had it for a while. Noah put everything back in the bag, sparing a weird glance at the rock before zipping up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder with his own backpack.

They put their backpacks in the back of the van, just in case they would need it there later, and started walking around, looking for Schlatt.

The city was quiet with a stale air, though there were noises in the distance from a group of old warehouses. Trucks coming and going, shipping goods to and from New York. The trading business seemed to be doing well, then. At least from that place.

The guys seemed to think that that was as good a place as any to start. As they walked there, Ted grumbled about how he knew they shouldn’t have listened to Schlatt. Or Carson, for that matter, but Cooper just rolled his eyes. Yeah, sure, Carson had been persuasive, but it would have been easy for Ted to see through the man if he’d had a little more faith in Schlatt. Noah did Cooper the favor of pointing this out to Ted.

“You were the one who wouldn’t take Schlatt’s warnings, dipshit! He gave us so many opportunities to go anywhere else, but we were so intent on being here. But it was entirely on you if you believed Carson, at this point. All that shit about Schlatt leaving? He could have left at any time!” Noah said.

“Oh don’t you give me that shit. You didn’t trust him for a good long while, either.” Ted spat back.

“Sure, cause he was an asshole. We are too ! You don’t fucking get it, Ted! We could have avoided this. This,” Noah gestured around them, “this isn’t the New York that we thought it was gonna be, and we could have turned around at any point before Carson showed up, but noo. Big bad Ted is the self-proclaimed ‘leader’ of the group, where the fuck has your leadership gotten us?”

“Hey guys? I feel like we shouldn’t-” Charlie tried to give some input, and both Ted and Noah were quick to tell him to shut the fuck up. Cooper patted Charlie on the back. It was useless to try and smack sense into them like this, they just wouldn’t hear it. Charlie looked at him and pointed to something down the street a little bit. A figure darted out of view.

“I feel like we’re being watched.” Charlie muttered. Travis, who was standing near Cooper, widened his eyes and looked around.

“Ted, Noah, quit it.” Cooper said, loud enough for them to hear.

“What?” they snapped.

“We’re being watched.”

They were quick to shut up after that, their eyes darting around to locate their stalkers. Once they revealed themselves, however, there were more of them than they thought. Men in masks quickly surrounded their group, holding guns up to hold them in their tracks. 

“What the fuck is this?” Ted shouted. One man stepped forward and spoke.

“We are your escort. You will be coming with us.”

“And if we don’t?”

“You will. Though I have a feeling you might prefer being alive than dead.”

“Ted, let’s just do what they say,” Travis said quietly, always the voice of reason. “We’re unarmed…”

And then they saw their van, their trusty van, being driven past them by a tow truck. Ted shouted after it, but he was stopped by the numerous armed guards in front of him.

They were escorted to wherever someone wanted them to be eventually, and they found themselves face-to-face with a large facility, with trader trucks coming in and out of it in an orderly fashion, the main doors snapping shut when they weren’t in use.

Their group approached the door, and it swung open for them, slamming shut and locking behind them. They were led inside, each door locking behind them as they went further and further in, until they were standing before one final door.

“Just remember, whatever you do reflects on other people,” the lead guard said, rather ominously, before unlocking the door and gesturing for them to go in. 

Cooper looked around. This place was… he didn’t like it. Too white and yet somehow gray, and dust and dirt lay everywhere, coating the place in a fine layer of grime. It was clear what things were touched regularly, various tables and tools.

And then the man of the hour walked in to have a seat in front of them. Their guest turned host, Carson.

He walked in and grinned at them, opening his arms like they were being welcomed and not held at gunpoint.

“Why hello, new friends. I hope your escort treated you well. Had to make sure you arrived here in one piece, didn’t I?” Carson said, his smile too wide to be real. “After all, I couldn’t separate you guys from the rest of your group forever, now could I? You seemed so lost, walking around without your tour guide.” That hollow smile turned dark, and Carson told the guards to take the group away, and they were being escorted down a dark hallway and being shown into a closed-off room with one wall that had a two-way mirror with bars across it.

Once all of them were in, the door was locked behind them and they looked around. There was a figure in a dark corner of the room, sitting against the wall.

“You guys are all fucking dumbasses. Shoulda left the city when you had the chance. You walked right into his trap, are you fucking stupid?” Schlatt’s voice asked. Travis brightened a bit, and Ted rolled his eyes.

“Oh, and you didn’t?” he grumbled.

“No, they broke into my apartment and knocked me out, forgive me for being unconscious.”

“You know, it wouldn’t have killed you to give us some warning about Carson.”

“You know, I did, and it wouldn’t have killed you to listen to someone for once. Might help you one day. Might’ve helped you today.” Schlatt bit. Ted snarled and walked towards him. Schlatt stood up and stepped into the light a bit. He looked like shit. There were bags under his eyes and a bruise on his jaw.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Charlie asked, forever the ‘healer’ of their group. Schlatt chuckled bitterly, a bitter smile on his face.

“Exactly what I wanted to leave the city as quickly as possible for. Dunno if you’ve realized by now, but Carson fucking hates me. You heard him, and his dumb fuck stories.”

“Were those actually true?” Travis asked.

“What, that I left him in his ‘darkest hour’?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure, if that includes leaving for my own safety. Carson’s fucking crazy.”

“No shit,” Ted grumbled.

“What about all that other stuff? Like, the… you making his parents hate him and shit.” Cooper asked.

“Think about it this way. Carson twists things around to make himself the victim. Those things happened, sure, but not the way he told them,” Schlatt explained.

“So then what, uno reverse type deal? You’re actually the victim as a plot twist?” Ted asked sarcastically. Schlatt was quiet for just a second too long before replying.

“Ted. Look around. You have been kidnapped. Abducted. You are not safe. I’m pretty sure that Carson being the victim should be the furthest thing from your mind.”

“... fair point. I concede.”

The next day, Carson brought the lot of them before him, and told them how things were gonna operate from here on out. They would be given very simple tasks to do, and if he didn’t like something that they did, there would be consequences. Cooper saw Schlatt roll his eyes and rub at his arm absentmindedly. But Carson wasn’t serious about all this, right? They'll be fine, right?

Well, Carson sure did make them do things. At first it was simple shit, clean this up, do this, do that. They really didn’t want to, but Schlatt encouraged them to just go ahead and do whatever Carson says while it was still simple shit like that.

And then, after a day or so, it got malicious. Schlatt was brought before Carson, and the guys were to watch as Schlatt was escorted into a room with a man tied to a chair, and a gun on a little table in front of him.

“No. Not doing that,” he said, understanding the objective before the guys did. Carson’s voice came through over a speaker.

“You know the drill, Schlatt. Shoot him,” Carson said. What the actual fuck? Was Carson seriously gonna make Schlatt commit murder? That’s… that’s fucked.

“No. We’ve been through this, man, nothing’s changed since I left. Not doing this.” Schlatt stood his ground, staring at the glass that Carson stood behind.

“Ugh. God, Schlatt, why are you always so unhelpful? I ask such simple things of you, why do you have to make this so hard? It’s not like he’s innocent, Schlatt, he’s done bad shit. What’s your problem? Too much of a pussy to kill a man in cold blood?”

“Something like that,” Schlatt said, wisely not taking the bait. Carson growled, and waved a hand. Guards came in, two of them grabbing Schlatt while another grabbed the gun and shot the man in the head. Schlatt jumped and shrunk away slightly from the sound, staring at the dead man briefly, before glaring at Carson. Guards took him into another room, and the guys were escorted back to their cell. Before the last guard left, though, he summoned Ted back into the room they were previously in.

Cooper sat down against the wall while they waited. What did they want with Ted? Noah paced the floor, while Travis and Charlie quietly talked, trying to cheer each other up.

Ted was back almost an hour later, looking just a little pale and lost in thought.

“Hey, what happened?” Noah asked, always wanting to know what’s going on.

“Carson tried to get me to shoot Schlatt.” Ted said, still thinking hard about something. Every head in the room whipped up to look at Ted.

“What?! You didn’t, did you?”

“No, of course not. I’m not a monster. But, Schlatt asked to talk to Carson right after that, I’m just wondering what they’re talking about.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s obvious that they know each other. And yeah, sure, Schlatt seems to hate him, but… I don’t know. I’m probably looking too far into this. But I don’t trust how well they know each other.”

_____

Schlatt wasn’t the type of man to kill someone in cold blood. He would kill someone if he had to, and has. You don’t spend two years in the wild without killing a few raiders in self-defense. But he wouldn’t without reason.

Carson used to do this shit to him all the time, give him “simple tasks” that were so extremely out of Schlatt’s moral boundaries that he just couldn’t do it. Carson would, of course, play the victim, ask Schlatt why he was making everything so hard on him, then pull him into another room and tell him what he did wrong before dishing out a punishment.

But then Schlatt left, and he thought he wouldn’t have to deal with that again, but fate had other plans. Carson wasn’t exactly pleased that Schlatt had left, and used Schlatt’s disobedience on an already fucked up task to take it out on him. Schlatt tried to ignore the click, click, clicking of Carson’s lighter as he prepared the feature item of Schlatt’s punishment, a thin metal rod that Schlatt was all-too used to over the years. It glowed orange with a burning familiarity.

“Give me your arm. You know this will be a lot faster if you cooperate,” Carson warned. Schlatt wordlessly rolled up his sleeve, looking away as Carson pressed a burning line into Schlatt’s arm, among the many others healed over. He hissed, and Carson pulled away. “You gonna cooperate next time? Do what I say, when I say it?”

“Undoubtedly not,” Schlatt growled defiantly, rolling his sleeve back down over the fresh burn. Carson glared at him.

“You’ve changed a lot over the last two years, haven’t you?” Carson chose to hide his anger with a chuckle. “You won't be as easy to control, huh? We’ll see. In fact, I already have a surprise for you. We’re turning the tables a bit today, since you wanna be so difficult.”

Carson had a guard tie Schlatt’s arms behind his back, and went to go radio one of the others. Schlatt was put in the room that he was in before, the one where he was to shoot that man. They’d carried off the body by now, done a half-assed job of mopping up the blood, like always. Being on this side of the room was new though, Schlatt wondered who they were gonna have kill him.

It wasn’t comforting, the thought that Schlatt was just okay with this, but… maybe he'd be reborn on a better earth or something, one that wasn’t quite as bleak and hopeless and… really fucking violent, like this world was.

And then Ted was being shown into the room. Fuck, Schlatt didn’t think Carson would stoop to this . 

“Ted. Shoot the man in front of you,” Carson said over the speaker. Ted looked at the gun, and then at Schlatt.

“Fuck no, I’m not gonna shoot him.” Ted said. Schlatt could almost hear the smirk in Carson’s voice when he spoke next.

“Shoot him, or there will be consequences.”

“Fuck you, hell no!”

“Ted, just do it, it’ll just get worse if you don’t. It’s okay,” Schlatt said, looking at Ted. Ted looked at him in horror and anger, as if he couldn’t believe that Schlatt was endorsing this.

“What, you wanna fucking die or something, Schlatt?”

“He never said you had to kill me, he said you had to shoot me. Doesn’t have to be fatal!”

“I’m not gonna fucking shoot you!” Ted yelled. Schlatt sighed, hanging his head. He wasn’t gonna win this one.

Schlatt knew what was gonna happen to Ted. Carson was at the very least consistent. Mostly. He enjoyed the occasional curveball every now and again.

But… Schlatt had been here before. He’d been more of a pussy then, didn’t want to get hurt, and as a result, someone else did. Someone that he cared a lot about. Schlatt couldn’t say that he cared about these guys as much as he did the one he knew before, but he did know that he didn’t want anyone else getting hurt. Not again. Not if he could help it.

So he sighed, his head hanging in resignation.

“Carson, can we talk?” Schlatt asked. Ted whipped his head over to him, probably in indignation. Schlatt didn’t look at him, rather mentally preparing himself for everything.

“Oh?” the blonde asked. “What about, Schlatt?”

“Just… can we talk.”

“Fine. this had better be good.” Schlatt was taken to another room to speak with Carson. “What?”

“I wanna make a deal with you.”

“Oh? I know how much you like deals.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“So what do you want?”

“I want to take their punishments.”

“Oh? So what, instead of them taking it, you’ll take it for them? What are you? Some kinda hero? Get off your high horse, Schlatt. You’re no hero.”

“You’re right. I’m not. But I don’t need them bitching at me for leading them here and letting them get hurt.”

“Ah. And if I decline?”

“You won’t. You wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to hurt me like this, me cooperating and shit. I know you just love it when I cooperate, don’t you?”

“Hmm. That I do… alright, fine. I accept. So you’ll take your friend’s punishments. That’s new. You didn’t do that before. So I assume you’ll start with… what’s his name again? Ted? Ted’s punishments?”

“Yeah.”

“And if I said I was going to give him two brands?”

“... then I suppose I’d have to take it.”

“Perfect.” Schlatt hated that malicious smirk on Carson’s stupid fucking face, but he already agreed to the deal, no going back now.

Carson started heating up the metal rod to burn him, and Schlatt tried to ignore the click-click-click of Carson’s lighter. You’d think he’d use the stove more often. He did sometimes, enough for Schlatt to hate the clicking of the gas stove, too, but mostly he did it with the lighter, so that he could look Schlatt in the eye as he heated up his punishment tool, make him watch and wait patiently in dread, just anticipating the burning, painful feeling.

The rod was red-hot now, finally, and Schlatt automatically held out his arm. Just get it over with…

“No.”

“Huh?”

“Take off your shirt,” Carson said, and Schlatt’s stomach dropped. “Didn’t you hear me?”

“Fuck. sorry…” Schlatt lifted his shirt up, taking it off hesitantly. Carson tutted.

“You’re not pretty like you were back then. So small and thin, so pretty, so perfect. Now look at what you’ve done to yourself. Even in the apocalypse, you’ve found a way to make yourself look like a fucking pig!” Carson hissed maliciously, pressing the iron into Schlatt’s back as he said that. Schlatt tensed as the metal burned into his skin, trying not to scream. He wouldn’t give Carson that satisfaction, at least. He could switch up the positioning of where the brands would be any way he wanted, but Schlatt wouldn’t give him that satisfaction of a scream.

Carson made the next one just as much of a pain in the ass, or more accurately, the back, and then he released him to go back to his group.

“Now get the fuck out of my sight before I decide to give you any more.”

_____

Carson had them doing menial tasks. Whatever, right? Better than sitting in that fucking cell all day, but… I mean come on. Mental tests and tricks was one thing, this was literally just moving fucking boxes! Shipping crates and packages with suspicious-looking labels.

“This is fucking ridiculous,” Noah said to Schlatt, who was quietly moving things beside him. Schlatt had been acting weird. They’d been there for maybe a week or two, time was meaningless in that empty fucking cell. It wasn’t longer than that, though, and Noah knew he could ask Schlatt (the man just seemed to know how long they’d been there. Almost like he didn’t wanna be there.), but he didn’t seem very talkative right now.

But as quiet as he was, that was incredibly out of character for him, from what Noah had learnt about him so far, and he moved like he ached, like something on his body was bugging him, like he was in pain. He’d asked him once, but Schlatt just gave him a little glare and shook his head.

Unfortunately, Noah was not the only one who noticed Schlatt moving funny.

“God, Schlatt, you’re so pitiful, not even carrying as much as your friends! You move shit like a little girl!” Carson jeered. This had been going on for a while, and Schlatt said nothing in defense of himself, not giving Carson the satisfaction he wanted. How terrible that Noah did, instead. Hey, if Schlatt wouldn’t bite back, Noah sure would. He wanted to put this Carson bitch in his fucking place.

So before he could stop himself or think about what he was saying, words were flowing out of his mouth.

“Oh I bet you’d know a lot about how little girls move things, wouldn’t you, you fucking pedophile lookin ass,” Noah said under his breath. Schlatt elbowed him warningly, but the damage had been done. Carson had already heard it. 

“The fuck did you just say to me?”

“You heard me!”

“Noah, shut the fuck up!” Schlatt hissed. Why was Schlatt trying to silence him? It was a good insult! If Carson was gonna act like a creep, Noah was gonna fucking call him out on it!

Carson started walking towards them, and Schlatt tried to busy himself. Noah stood his ground.

“The fuck did you call me?” Carson growled.

“You know what I fucking called you, I called you a fucking pedophile!” Noah repeated himself, staring Carson down. Carson turned to Schlatt, grabbing the back of his shirt and wheeling him around to face him. Schlatt hissed slightly, and Noah wondered why, but then Carson was interrogating Schlatt.

“You telling people lies, Schlatt? You talking shit?”

“No, I didn’t tell him anything!” Schlatt said defensively. Carson looked doubtful.

“Is that so? I doubt that highly. Why the fuck else would he say that thing specifically?” Carson asked, poking Schlatt in the chest angrily. Noah was getting really tired of Carson talking about him like he wasn’t there.

“He didn’t say shit. You kinda just fucking act like one. You say some creepy shit, Carson, Someone’s gotta call you out on it.” Noah shrugged. Carson glared at him, but released Schlatt’s shirt.

“Do your fucking work. Schlatt, see me afterwards.” Carson went back to where he’d been watching him from earlier.

“God, that guy, right?” Noah asked Schlatt, chuckling a bit. “Geez, the way he got offended by that, you’d think he actually was a pedo!”

“You need to learn to shut the fuck up,” Schlatt said quietly, seriously. Noah’s laugh died. Schlatt normally might’ve found this funny. That meant…

“Wait, shit, so really? That’s… that’s fucked.”

“Yeah. So shut up.”

After they were done, Schlatt was reminded that he had to speak with Carson by a guard who pulled him aside. Noah knew that if Schlatt got in trouble, it was likely his fault, but they’d fucked up before, worse than a few choice words. Carson hadn’t done anything to them then, just pulled Schlatt aside and presumably spoke to him or something. It wasn’t like Carson was gonna do anything to Schlatt.

“Hey, while he’s gone… Do you think they’re up to something?” Ted asked, once they were back in the cell.

“Who?” Noah asked.

“Schlatt and Carshit.”

“How do you mean, up to something?”

“I don’t know, like, plotting together or something! You know they used to be friends, they could be tricking us.”

“Dude, I’m pretty sure Schlatt hates Carson.”

“Well he doesn’t care much for us, either, does he? I mean, he kinda polices us all the time, tells us not to go against Carson’s ‘rules’, even though they are absolute bullshit.”

“He might have a reason.”

“Since when are you so eager to give him the benefit of the doubt? I thought we were all on the same page.”

“Ted, he’s stuck here too. We should at least try to stick together.”

“Okay, well, even so, we should start making an escape plan. We need to get out of here.”

“I agree, but maybe we should try to be patient. I know he seems untrustworthy, but I think he has a plan.”

“I don't care, we need a backup plan.”

“Fine.”

Schlatt came back around an hour later, and he wouldn’t talk to them. He seemed… off. Physically, he looked fine, at least from what Noah could see, but there was just something wrong with him.

Whatever it was, it didn’t seem good. 

He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was more here than met the eye.

Chapter Text

When Schlatt was a child, it was just him and his father. His mother died in childbirth, he was told. His father was a traveling businessman, before the world had gone to shit, often leaving him with neighbors and whatnot when he left. When the apocalypse came, he became a trader, shipping things in and out of New York as supply and demand ordered it.

But, as things do out there in the great unknown, his father seemed to grow… wild. Wild as the ferals and the raiders, wild as the jungle outside the new walls around New York, the walls that kept the wild out. Any smart city had them now, lest they fall to the wild as well. But his father grew wilder the longer he spent out there, trading. He would go on drunken tirades, romanticizing the life of a raider. He would tell Schlatt how if he weren’t here, he would go and live in the wild. He’d made friends with a few raider groups, there was really nothing stopping him, except for his only son.

And then, not even that stopped him. When Schlatt was 8, just a year after the apocalypse, he was left with the neighbors, the King family, and he never saw his father again until age 22. But at least he couldn’t hurt him anymore.

The Kings were an… interesting family. Mr. King was an average-looking man who probably just wanted his son, Carson, to be willing to play catch with him or something. Mrs. King had always wanted a daughter. It wasn’t that Schlatt behaved like a girl, but he was a small young boy, and he didn’t know how to play sports, so he would end up staying inside and helping Mrs. King in the kitchen anyway. It made her happier, anyway.

Schlatt had shared a room with Carson for several years. When he’d just moved in, it wasn’t an issue. In fact, loathe as he was to admit it, Schlatt had been a bit afraid of the dark for a while, almost depending on Carson’s company to keep him at peace during long nights.

That living situation wasn’t an issue until Schlatt was a few months away from his 13th birthday, when Carson began learning… new things about the human body. At night, he’d touch himself, trying to be quiet. 

Schlatt began going in the closet or bathroom to change, as Carson would make weird comments about him if he changed in front of him. “You’re so small,” “You know, you’re kinda cute if I think about it.” “You’re a thin boy, Schlatt, it looks pretty on you.”

There was just too much going on for Schlatt to not find it uncomfortable. The comments made him want to hide and never come out again, or at least wear long sleeves and baggier clothing to hide his body from… prying eyes. But at night, Carson still touched himself, something that Schlatt could neither stop Carson touching himself nor protest against the comments without it getting worse, without Carson teasing at him, telling him to “just accept the compliment!”

Compliments just became increasingly warped in Schlatt’s mind, the idea of accepting them just brought to mind if he had to accept the ‘compliments’ that Carson told him.

One unforgettable night, Schlatt woke up to the feeling of someone standing over him. He kept his eyes closed, but he couldn’t help his breathing quickening as a hand lightly crept up his arm, and the bed dipped slightly. Carson made breathy huffs next to him, very obviously touching himself next to Schlatt.

It continued for a few more minutes like that, until Carson finished what he was doing, and stilled behind Schlatt, his breath warm on the back of his neck.

“I know you’re awake,” Carson said, chilling Schlatt’s blood.

Carson left him alone after that, he’d gone back to bed, but Schlatt couldn’t sleep well after that. What the fuck was that? That was… freaky. They were the same age, so there was at least that buffer, but why the fuck was Carson acting like that?

Carson hadn’t made a mention of it again, at least not until a few nights later, when Schlatt woke up with the bed dipping beside him, Carson sitting down, just staring at him.

This sort of thing went on for a while, Carson just watching him or touching at his sides and arms at night as he… did things. Schlatt hoped that Carson was just sleep-walking, sleep talking, but if he wasn’t, Schlatt wasn’t sure how comfortable he’d be around Carson. It was an uncomfortable situation regardless, but if it was intentional then it was just a little bit worse, in Schlatt’s head.

Luckily, salvation came when Schlatt was a few months older than 13, when Carson’s parents decided that they’d procrastinated giving Schlatt his own room for long enough. They gave him the guest room, and Schlatt felt just a little bit safer. Just in time, too. After he’d turned 13, Carson had gotten a bit bolder at night, touching him in places other than his arms and sides, his clammy hands ghosting over his stomach or back, depending on how Schlatt was sleeping.

Schlatt had taken great care to not sleep on his side ever since one night when he’d had to actually break his terrified silence to actually shake Carson off when he’d felt him press close against him, pressing against his hips and toward his rear end. Carson had huffed and gone back to bed, and Schlatt curled up against the wall, staring out into the darkness, wide-eyed, just waiting anxiously for any shadows to move in the dim light from the window.

Around the time that Schlatt got his own room, Mr. King deemed it important to begin to teach him how to be a real boy, to get out of the kitchen. Schlatt was fine being in the kitchen, helping Mrs. King cook and set the table when she asked him to. He hadn’t had a mother before coming to live with the Kings, so he really didn’t mind letting her live out her little fantasy of having a daughter through Schlatt. He wouldn’t act like a girl, but he supposed helping her in the kitchen and in the garden wasn’t so bad.

But Mr. King thought it was a good idea to teach him how to play baseball. “The boy needs to learn how to be a boy!” he’d said to his wife when she threw a tantrum that Schlatt couldn’t just stay in the house with her. To be honest, Schlatt thought that learning baseball would be fun! There wasn’t a team, and the baseball diamond was unkempt and overgrown, since the apocalyptic wild just loved finding places that weren’t looked after, but just tossing a ball around was fun.

Mrs. King started ignoring him after he came home from playing ball, and all the time unless she had all of his attention, either in the kitchen or in her garden, but even still. Baseball with Carson’s dad gave Schlatt an opportunity to actually talk once in a while, instead of just listening to whatever Mrs. King wanted to talk about. 

High School was freeingly lonely. Not many kids went to school, and the ones that did, didn’t really give a shit about anyone. Still, the Kings had decided that learning things was important in the apocalypse, and thankfully the curriculum that ‘teachers’ taught was more applicable to… real life. They didn’t bother with complex maths and shit, just taught them decently useful shit, like how to tie knots and start fires and set up snares.

Schlatt didn’t have many friends in high school, mostly due to Carson being a possessive fuck and getting mad at the thought that Schlatt might have other friends. How dare he, right? But Carson could have all the friends that he wanted.

As bad of a double standard as that was, Schlatt didn’t care much, didn’t really want to talk to people much anyway.

But then he found out about Carson’s girlfriend. He told Schlatt about her one night, while they were doing homework and Carson’s parents were out of the room.

“God, Schlatt, I met this girl, and she’s so great…” Carson started.

“Really? Tell me about her,” Schlatt said, trying to be encouraging about it.

Carson would talk for hours about her, how pretty she was, how nice she was, how much he loved her, loved her body… but the more he told Schlatt over the days, the more comfortable he got talking about the things he did with his girlfriend. He’d come home with a hickey or two on her neck and he’d boast them to Schlatt, and his parents would see them and be proud of their son for finding someone, then tease at Schlatt for not being able to find a partner. It wasn’t his fault there weren’t many good options.

Everything was fine, at least regarding high school life… until he met Carson’s girlfriend. She was, um… she was something, that’s for sure.

Schlatt walked up to Carson after school, and he was kissing someone. He announced himself, and Carson pulled away. Schlatt paused when he saw Carson’s girlfriend’s face.

“Schlatt, hey! This is Julia!” Carson said, introducing his girlfriend.

“Uh… Hi. Carson, this is… your girlfriend?”

“Yup!”

“Oh. Well. How, um. How old are you?” Schlatt asked, feeling very uncomfortable.

“Twelve! Old enough to do what I want, thank you, in case you have a problem with that!” Julia snapped. Schlatt raised his hands in defense.

“Was just asking… so, Carson, should we get home?”

“Yeah. Bye, Julia!” Carson kissed her goodbye, adding to Schlatt’s discomfort, and then turned to walk with him. “She’s great. God, we were messing around earlier, and she’s so small, it feels fucking great.”

“... Carson, you’re turning nineteen next month.”

“And?”

“Don’t you think it might be better to pick someone more around your age?” Schlatt asked through a bit of a grimace.

“She’s turning thirteen in like, three months, dude, it’s fine!”

“That’s really not, Carson. She’s a kid.” Carson grabbed Schlatt’s arm and stopped him.

“This is the literal fucking apocalypse, and you’re trying to put an age on love? What the fuck, Schlatt. What’s your problem? Why can’t you let me be happy?”

“Carson, it’s just… she’s really young, man… I just…”

“You just nothing. You tell mom or dad and I’ll make you regret ever coming to live with us. You’re already trying to take my parent’s love from me, I’m not letting you take this.”

“What? Carson, I’m not trying to like, steal your parents from you. I promise. That’s not even what I was talking about. It’s just… all this…”

“Shut it, Schlatt. You’re not gonna say shit to anyone, you hear me? I’ve got needs, you know, and she’s more than willing to help me with them, but if I can't with her, there’s always other people, Schlatt. I mean, your room is right down the hall from mine… at least then I wouldn’t have to sneak out all the time to go see her, to get my needs satisfied. So unless you like that alternative better, you better keep your trap shut.” Carson threatened. Schlatt paled, and fell silent. What could he say to that? There was nothing he could say.

Though every time he spoke to Carson’s parents, the more he itched to tell them, to just get it out there, off of his chest, to just… to just breathe freely again, without feeling Carson breathing down his fucking neck.

Carson didn’t stop dating Julia, and he didn’t stop telling Schlatt what he did with the girl, despite the visible discomfort on Schlatt’s face. Schlatt tried to help him find someone more his age, but he was met with futility.

Carson, at one point, apparently thought that Schlatt was simply jealous of Carson’s ability to be in a relationship. His parents were so proud that he’d found someone, they’d started teasing Schlatt about his lack of a partner.

“You know, Schlatt, you could always get someone to leave hickies on you or something, pretend like you have someone and just lie, to get them off your back about it,” Carson suggested once.

“No thanks, man. I’m good.”

“What, so desperate for their approval except when it actually matters? Come on, Schlatt. Here, I’ll help. Come here.” Carson stepped towards him menacingly, and Schlatt stepped back.

“N-no, no thank you, Carson, I think I’m fine on this one,” Schlatt backed into a wall. Fuck. Carson was still walking towards him.

“Come here, Schlatt, I’m gonna help you.” Schlatt put his hands up to try to keep Carson at bay, but admittedly Schlatt wasn’t all that strong, and it did little to help in his favor. Schlatt tried to slip by him, get out of the room, but Carson grabbed him and tossed him to the floor. “You’re so small, Schlatt. So easy. Now sit still, I’m trying to do you a favor.”

Carson pinned him and gripped Schlatt’s jaw as he forced his head to the side. Schlatt thrashed around under Carson, trying to make it difficult. Carson leaned down to leave a mark or two on Schlatt’s neck, but had to dodge an elbow swinging up at him from the way he had Schlatt’s arms pinned.

“I’m trying to help you, why do you always make everything so difficult?”

“I don’t want this! I don’t need their approval on this one!”

“Schlatt, I can’t have a loser hanging around me all the time, man up! Either find someone like I did, or I’ll help you pretend!”

“No!” Schlatt finally got Carson to recoil with a well-placed knee in the gut, to let him go so that Schlatt could flee the room and go to his own and lock the door. Carson banged on the door and tried to get in, but eventually gave up and just said that he was gonna go meet Julia. He had a problem he had to take care of.

However, he eventually stopped talking about Julia so much, and started talking about this place he started working at. It was a good gig, from the sounds of it, and the boss had taken a shine to Carson’s… persistence. Carson described his job to his parents as an assistant Trader. Carson described his job to Schlatt as something more akin to smuggling, if there had been any real enforced laws left in this God forsaken country.

Carson brought home a sample of what he’d been smuggling trading, and Schlatt held back a comment on how it looked suspiciously like drugs.

“I know it does! It is, idiot! Look, I’m gonna share it with Julia, she’s gonna love it,” Carson said.

“Carson, I don’t think you should-”

“Shut it, Schlatt. I don’t care. Me and my girlfriend are gonna have a good time together, why do you have to ruin everything?”

“Drugging her though? I mean, don’t you think you should ask her if she wants to first?” Schlatt asked.

“Oh my god, dude, I was fucking going to. How lowly do you think of me?”

Schlatt held his tongue about a limbo comment. He didn’t want to test just how low Carson could actually go.

Carson left with the shady substance, to go spend some “quality time” with his girlfriend, and Carson’s father chose that time to bring Schlatt out to the baseball field again.

They tossed around a ball for about an hour before Mr. King began making conversation.

“You look like you’ve got something on your mind, son,” he said, tossing him the ball. Schlatt tossed it between his hands once or twice before throwing it back with a sigh.

“I dunno.”

“You know you can talk to us. I know we aren’t your birth parents, and that we can seem overbearing at times, but you can talk to us.”

“I don’t know. Have you ever, like… like someone told you something, and you’re just sorta uncomfortable with it?”

“What’s bugging you?”

“... how young is too young, in your opinion? Like, to date someone?”

“Well, call me old-fashioned, but I think people should be over 16 before they date, and certainly above 18 before they do anything of the bedroom sort.”

“So… say, erm, Carson. For example. He’s almost 19. How young would be too young for him?”

“I’d still probably say 16 to date, but I’d prefer it be closer to his own age.”

“And over 18, to… have sex?”

“Oh certainly. Why do you ask?” Mr. King asked him. Schlatt shifted uncomfortably.

“I’m a little bit uncomfortable with his girlfriend.”

“... why?”

“Have you ever… met her?”

“Carson’s girlfriend? Can’t say that I have. Why? Is she not real or something?” Mr. King joked.

“No… No, she’s real.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“She’s 13.”

“I’m sorry, what? You said she was 13?”

“Y-yes.”

“Tell me, boy, and be honest, you’re sure she’s 13.”

“Yes. Well, I don’t know when her birthday is, she might’ve-”

“Never mind her birthday, that’s a damn child!” Mr. King burst out. Schlatt flinched away slightly. He’d never heard the man curse before. “Tell me, Jonathan, has he touched her.”

“Like… like…”

“Anything inappropriate. Kissed her, touched her anywhere that shouldn’t be touched before.”

“... Carson might’ve made a mention of it before.”

“Don’t tell me he’s slept with her before.”

“... okay, I won’t.”

“Jesus H. Christ, I’ve raised a monster. Lord help us all.”

“Mr. King, um… what’s gonna happen to him..?”

“Never you mind. Thank you for telling me. I’ll handle it. He’ll never touch her again.” Mr. King packed up the ball and his things, and they started walking home. Schlatt remained quiet almost the whole duration of the walk, fearing the man’s current furious state. He didn’t relax until he felt a hand pat him on the back.

“Huh?”

“I’m proud of you, son. It takes grit to have to sell out your friends like that, to do the right thing. I know that must’ve been stressful.”

“... you have no idea.”

They got back to the house, and Carson’s dad asked his wife where Carson was.

“He came back a bit ago. I think he’s up in his room, dear.” She said. Carson’s father turned and walked upstairs without another word. “Oh, what’s wrong with him?” she asked, in that same dazed tone of voice she’d always had. 

“Nothing, Mrs. King. Can I help you with the kitchen?” he asked, needing a distraction. Her face brightened, and they ignored the yelling upstairs as they finished preparing dinner and setting the table.

Then Mr. King was dragging Carson down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Oh good, just in time for dinner!” Carson’s mother chirped, as if blind to the anger in the room.

“Margaret, our son is a monster. That girl he’s been seeing is 13 years old!” Mr. King told his wife.

“Why now Franklin, if he loved her, then what’s the problem? They grow up.” Mrs. King sounded distant. Her voice had always seemed clouded, Schlatt hated to learn that her morals were as well.

“He slept with her!”

“Well if it was consensual-”

“That doesn’t matter! She was 13!”

“Hmm. Just calm down, have some dinner.”

“Enough with the dinner, woman! Our son is a fucking pedophile and all you can think about is making dinner?”

“That’s a strong word, Franklin. Remember, dear, there aren’t any laws anymore. Not really.”

“But there are morals ! That’s the only thing that differentiates between society and the fucking wild!”

“In some societies, girls would be younger than thirteen at the time of marriage.”

“I cannot believe this. Schlatt, please, you know she’ll listen to you,” Mr. King pleaded. He needed his wife to see reason. Schlatt swallowed. Carson glared at him. Fuck. He was gonna be so fucking mad later. Fuck, Schlatt felt scared, and nauseous. But he turned to Margaret King and spoke.

“Mrs. King, I think Mr. King is trying to get you to see that…” Schlatt made the mistake of looking at Carson again. “That morals are an important thing… cause without them, you can go crazy…” Schlatt explained. Mrs. King turned to look at him with that same dazed expression she always had, and smiled softly.

“I see. Don’t worry, dear, I’m not going crazy .”

“But he… he doesn’t want anyone to go crazy, that’s why it’s important that we at least pretend the old laws are in place.”

“Well. I suppose… okay. Carson, sweetheart, you’ve done a bad thing.”

“I loved her, mother, is that so bad?” Carson asked, toying with his mother’s frail mind. This was a game of tug o’ war now, Mrs. King in the middle being tugged around like a ragdoll.

It sure was a shame then, that she’d always liked Schlatt better than her own son. Schlatt had let her pretend he was the daughter she couldn’t have. For years he entertained her like that, and even continued to do so when Mr. King had decided that Schlatt needed to act like a boy again. He didn’t mind being in the kitchen, the noises of the stovetop were almost comforting, that soft click click click when it turned on.

Schlatt remembered she had been so frustrated when Mr. King took him to play ball. She hadn’t spoken to him for a while. Schlatt wanted to play ball, yes, but he hadn’t had a mother before coming here, so he shut up about the ball and helped her in the kitchen whenever he wasn’t with Mr. King.

Carson hadn’t ever done that. So it should have been no surprise when she chose to agree with Schlatt.

Schlatt had to go up to his room while Carson’s parents decided their son’s fate. He had to go with his father to apologize to that girl's parents, and to break up with Julia.

Carson came up to his room later. He was pissed.

“You think you’re smart, huh? Think you’re soooo clever, to tell my dad like that, to turn my own mother against me.” Carson seethed. “Lemme let you in on a secret, Schlatt. You haven't done shit. Sure, I had to break up with Julia. But you think I would tell you, with your fucking moral structure, you goddamn holier-than-thou bastard, if she was the only one? This is a fucking warning, Schlatt. You pull that shit again, I’ll make your life a living hell faster than you can blink. I care about you, but that can change. I’m being nice. Don’t forget that.”

Carson left him alone that night, rather eerily. It still felt like something was coming, like this was a sort of calm before the storm. He laid in bed that night, his bearded dragon on his chest. He’d had the pet for a while, got him before the apocalypse happened. He’d named him ‘Good Boy’, and the Kings had allowed him to keep him when they took him in.

The storm hit when Schlatt noticed his lizard was out of his cage, a few days after Carson had been found out. He panicked a bit, looking around his room for the pet.

“Hey, Schlatt! I, um. I got you something,” Carson knocked at his door. Schlatt froze. “Like a peace offering. Cause… I mean we live together, it wouldn’t be good if we hated each other.” Schlatt stood from his spot in his room, ceasing the hunt for Good Boy at the moment to see what Carson wanted. He opened the door and Carson handed him a rather shoddily wrapped box, smiled, then left, walking down the hall.

Schlatt brought the box into his room and sat down with it. He unwrapped it, then slowly opened the box. The contents were covered by some plastic bags, he thought, then he realized that the contents were in the plastic bags.

When he unwrapped the bags, he hadn’t even seen what was in the box before the smell hit, the smell of dead animal filtering through the now open bags. Oh god, what the fuck was that?

Schlatt opened the bags to view the contents, and his heart dropped into his stomach. He wanted to throw up.

Poor Good Boy lay in the bag, his head rather bloodily separated from his body at the neck. Schlatt’s poor pet, he hadn’t done anything, he just chilled out there, in his tank. That wasn’t fair, Carson didn’t have to go this fucking far! That man should clearly not be trusted around any pet of any sort. God forbid Schlatt form an attachment to anything.

But it all started really going to shit when Carson was offered a promotion. He’d gotten Schlatt a job at his work, running errands for people as needed. Schlatt avoided the back rooms, avoided a lot of everything, kept his head down, did as he was told. He saw what happened to the ones that didn’t. He saw inside the back rooms, once, when one of his coworkers fucked up and was taken back there. Schlatt didn’t see him again for a while. His name was Connor.

But Carson got a promotion. He was apparently good enough at this job, whatever actually went on here, that the boss decided that he was the perfect one to take over when the old man retired.

But he had to prove himself, first.

Schlatt was brought before Carson, and they were left in a room together. Alone. Schlatt had avoided being in a room alone with Carson ever since he’d told Mr. King the truth about Carson’s girlfriend.

“I’m getting a promotion soon, Schlatt,” Carson said.

“That’s good, right?”

“Yes. But see, they said that if I wanted the position, I had to be able to make good on promises.”

“Oh?”

“Do you remember what I promised you, a while ago, about some things?”

“... could you be more specific?”

“When I told you about Julia, I told you that if you fucked it up for me, I’d make sure you knew not to do it again.” Schlatt paled. “Uh huh. You remember. I gave you a second chance then, but I’m afraid I have to revoke that. I really want this promotion, see, and it’s just a little bit more important to me than you are, right now. So. Cooperate, and I’ll try to make it easy on you.”

“C-Carson, what? You can’t be serious.” Schlatt stepped back. Carson took two steps forward.

“I can be, and I will be.” Carson wasn’t fucking around anymore. Schlatt ran towards the door and tried to open it, banging on it and yelling for them to let him out. He heard Carson scoff behind him, then hands on him as he was grabbed.

Carson used him, and it hurt, but as he was tossed into one of the cells in the back room so that he’d keep quiet about everything, he found solace in a familiar face.

“What happened to you?” Connor asked. Connor, conveniently enough, was his cellmate. Thank god, too, cause Schlatt thought he would genuinely go crazy if he’d been left alone after that . They were able to talk for a little bit, and Connor let him hug him and cry. Call him a pussy, whatever. He needed that hug, needed to be allowed to cry.

Carson kept true to his promise, unfortunately. When he wasn't able to find some girl to “satisfy his needs”, he just used Schlatt to. He stopped showing remorse about it, and Schlatt learned to cooperate, or Carson would make it hell for him. He’d started burning metal into his arms every time he fucked up, or didn’t cooperate. He’d sit Schlatt down in front of him and tell him what he’d done this time, or even just something that Schlatt had done to piss him off in the past, and he’d heat up a thin metal rod with this faulty old lighter that he’d stolen from his dad.

Schlatt grew to hate the burning orange of hot metal, and every time he heard a similar-sounding click, like that of a lighter, he heard nothing but that lighter, and it felt like the burns on his arms were fresh again, stinging as they scalded his skin. What once was a comforting noise, the little click, was now a source of stress in Schlatt’s mind, associating the sound with pain.

One time, Carson even used hot water, when it was more on an impulse that he was to hurt him, and they were in the kitchen one time. He’d been angry, Schlatt knew he didn’t have the lighter on him, and as much as Carson wanted to disagree, he wasn’t as powerful without his signature threat. Or at least, Schlatt thought so. Had the gall to tell him that.

Carson had asked him to bring over the pot of hot water so that Carson could finish cooking, and when it was handed to him, Carson grabbed his arm and splashed the water at him, watching him cry out in pain, recoil from the boiling water.

“Never fucking backtalk me again, Schlatt! You understand?” Carson had screamed at him. Schlatt gasped in pain, but nodded.

It was one of Carson’s favorite pastimes to make Schlatt do things. Especially things that Carson knew he wouldn’t do. 

Schlatt was shown into a room with a man tied to a chair, once. There was a gun on the table in front of him, with a single bullet. “Shoot him,” Carson said, the instructions entirely too simple and casual for the weight of the assignment.

“What? No! Why?”

“It’s not like he’s innocent, Schlatt. He’s done bad things. Besides, this is your assignment today. It’s not hard, Schlatt, stop making it difficult and just shoot him!”

“No, I- Carson, this is so fucked up, please don’t make me do this,” Schlatt pleaded. Carson scoffed.

“Schlatt, you know you’re gonna get hurt if you disobey me, why do you always make everything so hard?”

“Carson, this- all of this is so fucked up! Why? Why do you do this?”

“Why do you attempt to stay?”

“You need help , man. Like, actual help. Like, if there was still a law system, you’d be fucked. You need fucking therapy.”

“You don’t get to tell me what I need, Schlatt, you’re half the reason everything’s wrong with the world!”

“... I’m not shooting him.” Schlatt said. He didn’t care what Carson did to him. No matter what nightmares hit, killing a man in cold blood would not be among the memories that plagued him. 

The new burn on his arm still stung, but it was numbed by petty satisfaction. He got under Carson’s skin. He knew how to get under Carson’s skin, now.

Apparently, hurting Schlatt wasn’t enough for Carson to get that promotion. He had to let go of his other reluctant attachments. Schlatt had to watch.

Schlatt was brought before Carson, a thing all too familiar now. He’d memorized every turn, every twist, every step that it took to get to that room, where Carson would ask of him a task, sometimes easy sometimes not. Sometimes the task was fucked up, out of Schlatt’s moral boundaries, so he would refuse to do it and just accept the punishment, or he would do the task in silence, get off easy that night.

But today was apparently different. There were some visitors in the room.

Mr. and Mrs. King were already in the room, talking to Carson. They were arguing, speaking about the recent engagements that Carson had gotten them involved in. Carson grinned when Schlatt walked into the room.

“Schlatt! How nice of you to join us!” Carson greeted.

“Schlatt! Tell him that this is nonsense! Trading is one thing, but this is… smuggling ! First it was that instance with that young girl, now this? This is too much!” Mr. King said. 

“Schlatt, you remember how I was getting that promotion soon?” Carson asked, blatantly ignoring his father. Schlatt nodded. “Well, I have to do something. Thought you’d like to watch. It’s your fault, anyway, that this is gonna happen.”

“What..?” Schlatt asked. That what was gonna happen? What did he do this time?

“Don’t tell him that! Your choices are your own, Carson, don’t drag Schlatt into this,” Mr. King said. Carson reached over and pulled Schlatt to his side.

“Oh but dad, he’s been in this since the beginning. I dragged him into this a looong time ago, didn’t I, Schlatt? And he didn’t protest, he just thought I needed help. But his mistake,” Carson’s grip on Schlatt’s shoulder tightened, and Schlatt winced, “was turning my own parents against me.”

Hold up. Fuck. Fuck.

“Carson, he simply told us the truth! You had to stop dating that little girl! She was a child! You can’t touch children!”

“But he didn’t tell you everything, did he? No. Only when it was convenient for him. He knew for a long time before you did, Dad . He was just being a pussy. A coward. But it’s okay, he’s gotten what was coming to him.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Carson’s dad asked. His mother hid behind the man slightly, staying away from her son.

“ Schlatt … you didn’t tell them? Well. That’s okay. I will. See, Mom and Dad, Schlatt and I made this little… deal… that if he fucked up my relationship with Julia… Well, I’m a man now, Dad, I’ve got needs! And if Julia couldn’t satisfy them…”

“ No… ” Carson’s parents recoiled from the new knowledge. Schlatt looked at the ground in shame. He’d done the right thing, getting Julia away from Carson, but at no small cost. When Schlatt looked back up, expecting to see disappointment or disgust on the King’s faces, there was none, at least not directed at him.

“Yep. So… he doomed himself, really. And you, too! You told me I was a monster. He stole you two away from me and twisted it around so that I was the monster. Me! Not him! He ruins everything he touches, and somehow I’m the monster? Fine. I can be the monster. Gotta be, anyway, if I want this promotion.” Carson picked up a gun on the nearby table. “And I really want this promotion.”

Carson’s dad, seeing the gun, jumped into fight mode, but Carson was faster. The gun went off, and Mr. King cried out in pain, and his wife in shock, as he dropped. He gripped his side, grimacing.

“Oh yeah. Hey, Dad,” Carson called his attention to him. When his parent’s eyes were on him, he grabbed Schlatt’s face and forced him to kiss him. Carson’s parent’s faces twisted into one of horror as Carson let Schlatt go, and Schlatt just stared at the floor. Carson’s dad tried to get up to lay Carson a new one, but Schlatt flinched as the gun went off again, and Mr. King stopped moving. Mrs. King was crying, pleading for her life.

“Carson, baby, you know we love you, just, just put down the gun, sweetheart, and we can talk about this!” she pleaded, begging for her pitiful life.

“Sorry mom. You should’ve picked my side earlier.”

The gun went off again and Schlatt turned his head away as he heard Mrs. King’s body slump to the floor beside her husband. Schlatt fought back the urge to do something. Yell, cry, break down, run , but instead he stood still, staring away from the people who had taken him in, the best shot at parents he’d been able to have.

“There, now, Schlatt, I know it’s hard, but you know I’ll always take care of you. Here, come on. I know it’s hard, I mean all this is your fault, but hey! You helped me get my promotion!” Carson said, stepping between Schlatt and the bodies on the floor. Carson wasn’t even that fucking phased. “Come on, Schlatt, let me help you feel better.”

“No,” Schlatt said shortly, stepping away from him.

“Schlatt, you know you don’t have much of a choice here. Make it easy on yourself. It’s a good way to deal with stress.”

Carson was certainly right about one thing. It definitely did take his mind off of the murder, as Carson fucked him. Schlatt hated how he couldn’t bring up the energy to fight back.

Connor wondered why he even still tried to speak with Carson. It wasn’t like it had ever gotten him anywhere good, and besides, Carson literally raped him. Schlatt could only sigh.

“It’s worse if I don’t.”

“Well, can’t you try?” Connor asked. Schlatt reluctantly nodded. He hoped this wouldn’t turn out horribly.

It did.

Carson found out rather quickly that Schlatt’s vow of silence to him would not be broken by simply hurting Schlatt.

So he hurt Connor instead. He hurt Connor badly. And Connor shook his head when he was about to speak, about to call Carson off, so Schlatt said nothing. Connor wanted to prove a point to Carson as much as Schlatt did, but he was ready to get hurt for it. Schlatt didn’t know that.

But Carson found out that that bothered Schlatt, so he kept hurting Connor. Instead of hurting Schlatt, he’d hurt Connor, and try to turn them against each other by doing so.

One time he even drugged Connor with some of that suspicious merchandise that he was in charge of transporting, and then he fucked Schlatt in front of Connor, who was too drugged out to do anything but watch as Schlatt sobbed, trying to hide himself from the world.

“He doesn’t care, Schlatt! Look at him, doing nothing to help you. If he really cared, he’d help you!”

Connor had approached him after that, banged up and bruised, and asked if he’d really believed all that shit.

“Cause it’s not. I promise it’s not. He, he drugged me, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t help you!” Connor explained, upset.

“Connor. I know. It’s alright,” Schlatt said. He knew Connor would have done something if he’d been able. Besides. It was sad to say, but Schlatt was almost used to it at this point.

It had been clear that they needed to get out of there a long time ago, but after that incident, it became imperative that it be soon . Schlatt, since he was out of the cell more often, was tasked with memorizing any exit he was able to. There weren’t many, but there was a gap between the guard shifts. 

Schlatt managed to get the key to the cell once, by surprising one of the guards by thrashing around when they were tugging him somewhere. He was bumping everywhere anyway, it wasn’t that hard to get the keys.

Then he just had to wait for Connor, who was out with Carson at the moment. Schlatt fretted to think about what was happening to his friend, but they would be out soon.

Connor had talked about going to several places. California, for starters, or maybe Texas… somewhere far from here. Schlatt liked the idea of California better. All the way across the country sounded like a safe enough place, safe from Carson.

Connor got back. Fuck. He was in bad shape. Carson had done a number on him this time, dishing out his anger on Connor instead of who it was actually directed at. Schlatt hated that. Wished that he’d taken that pain from Connor.

Connor assured him that he was still alright to get out tonight, and so they sat. And they waited. Finally the guards left, to switch out, and Schlatt quickly unlocked the door.

Connor moved like he was in pain. This wasn’t good. They needed to move faster than this. They needed to run. Schlatt wasn’t strong enough to carry him, but he could at least help him move forward.

They barely made it out of the building before people noticed. All hell broke loose, and suddenly people were firing guns at them. They needed to get to the outer wall of the facility. There were trees there, a forest. They could hide.

By some miracle, they made it to the outer wall. But so did the guards. And so did Carson.

One shot rang out louder than the others, and Connor yelled in pain beside him, before falling silent and going kind of limp. Schlatt tried to keep going, to drag Connor with him.

“Come on, come on, the forest is right there, stay with me, buddy!” Schlatt pleaded to a dead man. He didn’t want to accept that.

“Schlatt. He’s gone. Drop him, let’s go back inside.” Carson instructed. Schlatt turned around. It was just Carson, but he had a gun pointed to Schlatt’s chest. Schlatt’s heart sank. They’d gotten so far… They were so close! No!

“W-wait, Carson, please, let me-”

“No, Schlatt! I’m done playing. Come back inside, and I might consider letting you off easy after a few more brands, to show you your fucking place.”

“Carson, please just let me bury him. Please. I, I’ll go quietly, I won’t fight back. I promise. Please,” Schlatt begged. Carson rolled his eyes.

“Fine. But make it quick.”

Schlatt laid Connor down and checked his pulse, just to be sure if there was anything he could do. There wasn’t. Schlatt tried not to cry as he dragged Connor over to a nice spot near the outer wall, near a small creek and under a beautiful tree. He started digging. It was slow, and dirt and rocks got in his branded wounds and under his fingernails, tearing up his hands, but this is… the absolute least that Connor deserved. There was no way that he’d be able to get the grave to the proper six feet deep, but enough to bury his friend. 

Finally the grave was deep enough, and Schlatt carefully (and rather awkwardly) maneuvered Connor’s body into the grave, laying him so that he looked as much like he was just sleeping as possible. 

Schlatt’s chest hurt as he covered him. He wished he could have spent more time with Connor, paying his respects, but Carson hadn’t ever been the most patient person, and he did have a gun.

“Are you fucking done yet?” Carson snapped impatiently when Schlatt finished covering Connor.

“Almost… just let me find a good stone.” Schlatt stood, his body aching, but looked around the area, then found a good rock in the creek. He dug it up. It was large, and it took a lot of his energy to move it over to the grave, resting it slightly farther up than Connor’s head. Schlatt decided to make a little ring of other stones, so he collected some smooth stones from that creek.

Carson was tapping his foot, angrily glaring around the area as Schlatt collected his rocks. Schlatt arranged the stones in a circle, and came up one short. Sure, he could make the ring smaller, but he really didn’t want to, when he could just spend more time out in the fresh air, not rushing the tiny funeral.

“Are you quite finished?”

“Almost,” Schlatt said quietly. He chose another good river stone, about the size of his hand. He sighed. He really didn’t want to go back. He whispered a hushed prayer to whatever god was still listening, if there even was one, and looked back at Carson.

Carson wasn’t looking at him, instead kicking a pebble around as he waited. Schlatt stood. Carson still didn’t notice.

“Sorry, Connor,” Schlatt muttered. He wished he could have finished the grave, but if he did, he might never get out. Instead, he pocketed the rock and disappeared into the forest, keeping an eye on Carson until he was far enough away, then he quietly ran. Ran as far as he could, for as long as he could. He could practically hear Carson’s enraged yell as he ran, encouraging him to go faster, farther, run through the pain.

Schlatt was 20 when he escaped New York, and it took him two years to complete a four month hike. Shit happens, you know, and he’s all alone, no one else there to keep him motivated to keep walking, or to push through when he got hurt or attacked.

He did manage to actually… thrive, in the wilderness. He got a backpack, supplies. He figured out how to make fire without anything that clicked (He’d gotten rid of the lighter he found ages ago. The first time it gave him a panic attack was also the last.), even with damp wood. He knew how to make snares, or hunt, so it wasn’t like he was starving out there. He even managed to put on a little muscle, a little weight. He almost didn’t want to rejoin civilization again, but he knew that he did not want to go completely wild. He understood the powerful call that the wild had on people, why so many of them never come back to the cities, but he didn’t really want to forsake his humanity completely.

So he ended up on the other side of the country as New York, in Los Angeles, California. He was there for maybe two weeks before he missed the freedom of the wild again. This place was too constricting.

Then a group approached him about getting out of LA. His heart, longing for the wild, try as he might to stay human inside, agreed with the group.

Until he found out where they were going. He really didn’t want to go back to New York, but he very well wasn’t going to stay here . They could go their separate ways a while down the road.

Who knows? Maybe a little human interaction would be good for him.

Chapter Text

They managed to put their heads together long enough, though it was mostly Ted speaking over everyone, silencing those who dared to speak against him, to make a plan. Noah didn’t exactly like the idea of the escape, thought that they should just wait and see what happened. But Ted insisted that they have a backup plan, just in case. So they made a plan that they could enact at pretty much any time, so they’d be ready to jump into action whenever they decided to leave. If they had to leave Schlatt behind, then Ted said they would. The man was convinced that Schlatt was planning something anyway. Besides, Ted reasoned, Schlatt had gotten out once, he could do it again.

But Noah wasn’t sure, cause Schlatt definitely fucking hated Carson, so why would he be planning anything with him? 

They got done planning by the time Schlatt came back, looking a little worse for wear, at least if you really looked at him. It was difficult to place what was actually wrong with him, cause he looked fine, physically, but Noah could just tell something was wrong with him. Schlatt sat in his corner of the room and leaned on one shoulder up against the wall, his back away from the corner slightly.

Noah walked over to him.

“Everything okay?” Noah asked. He was met with silence. Schlatt wouldn’t look at him. “Schlatt? Come on. We’re all stuck in here, it’s not like you can get away from us.”

“You should learn to watch what you say around here,” Schlatt said cryptically, his voice lowered. Noah blinked. What the fuck? Ohhhh… right. He’d called Carson a pedophile. And Schlatt had… Schlatt had confirmed it. Shit. That’s fucked up. Noah wondered how Schlatt knew that. He wondered if Carson had gotten onto him about it. Maybe that was why Schlatt didn’t look so good right now.

“Sorry about that. It was supposed to be a joke.”

“Look, I know that you guys don’t take him seriously, cause he hasn’t really done anything to prove that he’s serious, to you, but he’s not fucking around.”

“Okay. I’m sorry. You’re right,” Noah said. Schlatt nodded, accepting the apology. They sat in silence for a bit before Schlatt spoke again.

“I meant to say something earlier, but… thank you.”

Noah blinked. “Um. For what?”

“Scaring Jam- the cat off.” Noah blinked again. That was a bad thing. That was a bad thing, right? Like, this was a snarky thank you? Or was there something he was missing? Schlatt looked over, seemed to see his confusion, and explained. “You were right, after all. I was trying to get him to leave.”

“Why? You liked him.”

“If he came here with us, he’d’ve died.”

“Huh?”

“I had a lizard once when I was younger, and I pissed Carson off by saying something I shouldn’t’ve to someone, and he killed the lizard.”

“That’s fucked up.”

“I don’t wanna think about what would’ve happened if Jambo- if the cat had come with us. Yeah I liked him, it woulda been cool if we’d kept him, but you guys were pretty insistent on coming here and I didn’t wanna lead that poor cat to his death.”

“I’m sorry about that, by the way.”

“I could have been more descriptive with the warnings.”

“Yeah, you could have, but we could have listened to you. Trusted you a little bit.”

“For real, no shit. Like what the actual fuck did I do you you schmucks to make you hate me so much?”

“You were a bit of a dick.”

“So the hell were you!”

“Fair enough.” Schlatt and Noah talked for a bit longer, and Noah was glad to finally be able to have, like, an actual conversation with Schlatt that didn’t border on an argument. Schlatt even told a joke, and Noah laughed, patted him on the back once. His laughter died when Schlatt flinched away from him. He asked why, but when Schlatt brushed over it, dodged the question, Noah let it drop, and they went back to talking normally. But ultimately, Schlatt was tired and eventually let the conversation die. Noah didn’t really attempt to move again, though, relaxing as Schlatt’s breathing evened out beside him. Some part of him itched to look at Schlatt’s back for why he flinched, but he figured that no, he shouldn’t, that would be invasive. Not that he particularly cared about being invasive, but they’d just had a good talk, started acting nice and all, and he didn’t wanna fuck that up too quick.

Schlatt wasn’t quite as asleep as he thought, though, because at one point he shifted and muttered a curse under his breath. Noah thought that this was a good time to go ahead and tell him the escape plan, in case he wanted to try to get out with them. 

“We’ve been planning to get outta here.” Noah says quietly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. We’re gonna rush the guards once we decide on a time.”

“That’s a shit plan. Just stick around a little longer, I’ve got a better plan.”

“What is it?”

“One that requires stealth, and just a little bit of discretion. You’ll know what it is when it’s time. I’ll clue you in.”

“You can’t just tell me?”

“You wanna know why your escape plan is gonna fail?”

“Sure.”

“We are being recorded. That,” Schlatt said, pointing to the mirror on the wall opposite them. “Is a two-way mirror. Everything that we say that the others can hear, they can, too. I sure hope you guys spoke quietly.”

“... shit. And I don’t suppose we can just pick the lock?”

“Why do you think this is a whole-ass room of a cell instead of a barred cell? That’s how I got out last time. Carson’s an idiot, but he’s no fool.”

“So as vague as you are about this, we just have to trust you?”

“Unless you have a very good reason not to, or an even better plan out, pretty much,” Schlatt said.

“I’ll try to get the guys on board. I was more in favor of waiting it out, to be honest,” Noah explained. Schlatt nodded.

“Now go away, ‘m trying to sleep.”

“Right.” Noah scooted over to the rest of the group, specifically Ted. “psst! Ted!”

“What?” Ted asked, turning a bit toward Noah.

“I don’t think we should do the escape plan. Schlatt’s got one,” he explained. Ted rolled his eyes.

“I don’t care. He could be working with Carson.”

“Why the fuck would he be working with Carson? He hates Carson!”

“Why shouldn’t we do the escape plan?”

“They’ve been recording everything we say.”

“That’s definitely a good reason. But, we never said when, so I’m sticking to the plan, and you should too. I’m gonna get us outta here, don’t even worry about it.”

“Ted, I’m just not sure. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Just trust me. We’ve known each other for a long time, Noah, and you’d trust that guy over me? Really? Come on, man.”

“Ted, I’m just saying. He’s been pretty helpful this trip.”

“Oh yes, like leading us to New York, where we have been trapped and held against our will.”

“It was you who wouldn’t let him talk us out of it, stubborn-ass.”

“Whatever. Nuance. We’re going with my plan.”

“Fine, but it’s your fault if it all goes to shit,” Noah warned.

“It won’t,” Ted insisted.

Noah went a few feet away from Ted, signaling the end of the conversation. Fucking Ted. Why does he have to be so headstrong? Noah sighed, and closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. The last thing he was aware of happening was Charlie talking quietly to Schlatt in a rather hushed tone, and Ted watching them with a suspicious glare.

The next day came all-too quickly, a few guards banging on the metal door to get them all up. Carson had a special surprise for them today. A bit of a show.

Shit show more like, Noah quickly discovered. He didn’t like the premise of Carson’s little show, but he supposed he didn’t have to.

“I don’t really like being talked about, conspired against. Schlatt, you know what happens to people who conspire against us, now don’t you?” Carson said as he walked around all of them, leaning on Schlatt’s shoulders as he said that, digging his fingers into the meat of his shoulders. Schlatt winced. Guess Carson’s grip was a lot firmer than Noah thought it was.

Ted, however, took a different meaning from Carson’s words, and elbowed Noah slightly. The others said nothing, silently falling in beside Ted in the plot to escape. Ted was authoritative, wasn’t afraid to yell his friends into submission to do things his way. He had been, in fact. Charlie didn’t like being yelled at, Cooper didn’t really care what they did, and Travis kinda just did whatever Cooper did. Cooper had a history of siding with Noah, though, so that was at least a plus, but not this time, it seemed, as they also very much wanted to get out.

Noah tuned back into the conversation just as Carson finished saying what they would be doing. Noah hadn’t caught what he’d said. Guess he’d find out quickly enough. 

Carson apparently wanted to play nice today, pretend like he had friends. He had them all sit down individually, and pull prompts from out of a hat, and pretend like that prompt was a problem to talk to a therapist about. However, one of them would be the therapist.

Carson was the therapist first, which did not do well to help them get into the mood to have a lighthearted chat with the man. Once they realized, however, that this was a perfect time to take the mick out of him, then they fell into it a lot easier.

Carson had everyone not in the immediate skit in the ‘audience’, and he made a whole-ass fucking production out of it, basically. “Just have fun today,” he’d said, like there would be consequences if they didn’t.

“Hi, and welcome back to my show,” Carson said to his little audience. This man was so pathetic, doing all this shit for friends or attention. But, Show was probably the best word for it. A shit show, but a show nonetheless. They’d all be acting, anyway.

Poor Charlie was up first, and he came up and sat down extremely awkwardly. Charlie hadn’t been in much of a talking mood lately, not since Ted (and a little bit of Noah, to Noah’s regret) had snapped at him multiple times to shut up. Eventually he did, and they couldn’t get another word out of him. Ted basked in the silence for a bit, before it became suffocating in their cell, and they quickly wished for Charlie to speak again.

Charlie took the hat from the table and drew a prompt.

“So tell me. What’s your problem, what’s wrong with you?” Carson asked.

Charlie dramatized telling Carson how he thought he was gonna die, telling him how everyone was dead and shit. Carson looked like he at least was having fun, though Charlie was practically sweating bullets while talking to Carson.

“We’re all gonna die, Carson, You’re gonna die.” Charlie said, saying it with such finality that it almost sounded like a threat. Wait, how far could they push being shitheads to Carson, being mean?

Carson laughed at Charlie not a moment later, who let himself laugh at his own joke as well. If Carson was laughing, this was a good thing, right?

Schlatt was fiddling with something as they all watched the little skit that Charlie did with Carson. Noah tapped him, pointing to the thing he was playing with. Schlatt passed over a little pink camera, and Noah turned it over in his hands before handing it back, looking at Schlatt questioningly. He just smiled and shrugged, waving him off like he’d explain later.

Charlie made a joke about trying to cope, and Carson laughed boisterously. And then Charlie was done, and Schlatt was being pushed to the front. The interactions between Carson and Schlatt were more natural, if not a bit meaner, Carson telling him to just throw away a lot of progress at one point. There was definitely an ability to keep a conversation flowing between them, though that was obvious. It was no secret that Carson and Schlatt had known each other for many years.

“You’re garbage, you’re trash, you’re absolutely bad,” Carson said, still in the voice of the bit.

“That’s a bit rude, actually,” Schlatt said in his normal voice, at one point.

Next up was Cooper, and his little talk with Carson went by rather quickly as he just very simply melted, pretending he had no bones. Next up was Travis, and Carson looked like he was already a bit done with playing the doctor. Carson was kinda mean to Travis, getting snippy with him as he pulled out his prompt.

“Just tell me what you got.” Travis read his prompt.

“I’m sorry, I’m afraid of you.”

“You’re afraid of me?”

“Well, what you are makes me afraid of you,” Travis said. Carson had a dangerous look in his eye. Noah knew he was probably thinking about the pedophile comment from the other day. Travis continued on to include everyone else in the room in the list of what he was afraid of, and Carson relaxed a little bit. So did Noah. He didn’t wanna know what would have happened to Travis if that had actually been a reference to that comment.

“There’s people in here that I am afraid of, and that’s why I can’t say,” he continued.

“Just tell me.”

“I’m incredibly afraid of- oh I read this wrong.”

“What?”

“It says ‘Mormons’, I read morons…” Travis said, calling Carson a moron to his face . Carson laughed at first, along with everyone else, but as it turned darker, Noah was trying to move things along. Ted took Travis’ place before Carson could decide on some mean thing to do to get back at Travis, menacingly standing over Carson in his chair before taking a seat.

“I can’t get enough of it,” Ted said. Carson looked immensely confused. “I need more filth!”

Carson threw his folder down, done with being the therapist. “I can’t take this shit,” he said, storming over to join the audience. Schlatt looked uncomfortable when he sat down next to him. Shame, Noah hadn’t gotten a turn to rag at Carson. That was probably intentional, though, if he thought about it.

Then Ted put on the jacket, and took over the show, as he always does so well.

“Hello, and welcome back to; ‘What the Fuck is Wrong With You, With Doctor Ted’. I’m Doctor Ted.”

First up was Schlatt, who incorporated that little camera he’d found, making a bit about how his cat called him names. Noah almost felt bad again, until he remembered their talk about Schlatt’s old lizard. Noah shuddered at the thought of that cat meeting the same fate. He frowned to think of how easily Schlatt had gotten attached to it to the point where he would rather run it off than let it stay and die. At least there was a hope of it being alive out there, right?

Noah went up shortly after that, getting stuck in an Australian accent for a bit, then getting Ted stuck in that same accent, which was funny. Everyone was laughing, having a good time. Noah even forgot Carson was even in the room until it was Charlie’s turn to be the therapist, and Schlatt’s turn to get some long-awaited, probably much-needed therapy. Schlatt took one look at his prompt and took a very deep breath.

“Listen, listen, I am a doctor,” Charlie said upon hearing Schlatt sigh. Schlatt leaned back a bit in his chair.

“Yeah? What are your credentials?”

“What do you mean?”

“What are your credentials? Cause this is fucked up.”

“Just tell me what the problem is.”

“I am in love with Carson King,” Schlatt said. The room drew a breath, and Carson snorted beside Noah. God, knowing what Carson was, that was… more than a bit tense. If there was bad blood there, between Schlatt and Carson, that was reeeeally fucking awkward. It was fucking awkward anyway, but god would that make it worse. Noah just hoped Carson hadn’t ever done anything directly to Schlatt, cause that could bring up a whole mess of shit that nobody would be prepared for. Schlatt didn’t talk much about his past, at least not about Carson, and he never would have said anything to Noah if he hadn’t been trying to help or relate. Noah tried to refocus on the bit and not on the actual fucking pedophile laughing next to him.

“I’m not qualified for this.” Charlie said after snapping his folder shut.

No one would have blamed Schlatt for leaving it there. No one. So then why the fuck did he continue, make the bit go even further?

“He makes the news? I’m reading it. He… does anything? I have to be there. Always, I never stop. I can’t. It’s like he drags me along or something.”

“Okay…” Charlie didn’t know how to respond to this. Noah looked at Schlatt, who seemed to realize this, and continued the conversation for Charlie.

“If Carson were here?”

“What would you do if he were here?” Charlie asked, sweating a little bit. Schlatt made a vague grabbing motion with his hands. “What does that mean?”

“It means…” Schlatt trailed off as he looked at the audience again. His eyes locked onto something just to the right of Noah. Noah looked over to see Carson, still chuckling along, smile a bit cruel.

Suddenly Schlatt stood up, taking a step towards Carson as his face darkened and the bit dropped off.

“Oh, fuck-” Charlie said, recognizing the energy in the room. Carson would get mad if Schlatt got over here. If Noah was reading this correctly, Carson must have written that prompt, cause like hell anyone else here would’ve. Bad luck that Schlatt got it, but Schlatt didn’t seem like he was playing around anymore.

Charlie thankfully tackled Schlatt and pulled him back before he reached Carson. They fell to the ground, yelling.

“We’re gonna fix you! We’re gonna cure you! You’re gonna be fine!” Charlie kept pulling him back away from Carson, who had on a dark smile.

“Let me go!” Schlatt shouted, before curling in on himself and pretending to cry. He covered his face and everything. He squirmed away from Charlie, who briefly rubbed his back in what would have been a comforting gesture, if Schlatt hadn’t tensed immediately after. It wouldn’t be very noticeable to anyone else, but to Noah, who had noticed him tensing or flinching when something touched him on the back before, it was all-too noticeable.

Charlie looked around frantically for something to console Schlatt with, finding a cotton ball from a previous scene and offering it to him.

“NO!”

The scenes calmed down a bit after that, at least not getting physical at all. Noah and his friends kept making fun of Carson, using the opportunity to shit talk him right in front of him. At the end, Carson didn’t look happy, gaze dark as he watched the scenes with an indistinguishable gaze.

Schlatt got his revenge for Carson’s prompt for Schlatt when it was Schlatt’s turn to be the therapist, and Carson was his patient. Schlatt got to make Carson look like a complete fool, speaking Spanish to him as Carson struggled to keep up with him. Noah didn’t even know that Schlatt knew spanish. How do you find time to learn spanish during the actual fucking apocalypse?

Schlatt chuckled when Cooper asked him afterwards how he knew Spanish.

“I met this guy in a raider camp who taught me, his name was Alexis, but everyone just called him by his nickname, Quackity.”

“Huh. You meet some very interesting people in your travels, Schlatt.”

“No shit,” Schlatt said, looking at all of them.

“Hey, before you all go back to your cell, I actually wanted to discuss something with Schlatt, but you all can stay in here, we aren’t done yet,” Carson butted in, grabbing Schlatt’s arm. Schlatt had a visible disgust reaction, but he didn’t try to escape the hold, seemingly knowing better. Carson pulled Schlatt into the next room over, and Noah and the others stood there in the room.

“‘Discuss something’ my ass. That sounded sus as fuck, come on,” Ted grumbled. The wording was definitely interesting, Noah could at least give him that.

_____

Carson loved playing games. Always had. Today, his game was apparently pretending that his captives were his friends, laughing and talking with them like old pals. He’d looked like he was having fun, but… he didn’t fucking deserve that, so it was an unspoken unanimous decision among the group to make Carson feel like shit, to bully him. He kinda fucking deserved it.

Schlatt did his best to make Carson look like a fool, but he was still reeling from his prompt with Charlie. He knew, he just fucking knew that Carson put that goddamn prompt in there, and fuck if it didn’t make Schlatt justifiably uncomfortable.

So he made Carson look like a fucking idiot. Unfortunately, Carson had the last laugh after all, as they ended everything right after that, and Schlatt was pulled aside, undoubtedly to pay for whatever everyone had said.

He waited for Carson to start heating up the metal again, but Carson thought for a second.

“You know, Schlatt… I think it’s just… great … that you were finally able to make some friends. After all these years, you’ve finally gotten over me.” Fucking bullshit, Carson was spouting. “But see… I can’t go around letting you all get too chummy, some shit like what you pulled last time you were here might go down again. So, uh. What say we invite your brand new friends to see what you’re capable of now? You must have gained some fighting skills, out there in the wild, let’s see how you fare against one of your friends. That tall one, maybe? Ted, his name was?”

“You can’t just burn me and get it over with?” Schlatt rolled his eyes. The fuck was this? What was Carson hoping to gain?

“Careful now, Schlatt, keep that talk up and I might think you like it.”

“What are you even saying?”

“You and Ted are gonna fight, and you and your friends are gonna learn not to ever talk shit about me again, got it?”

“You sure that that’s what they’ll get from this?” Schlatt snarked.

“Well, even if they don’t, at least I get to watch you two beat the shit out of each other.”

“I’m not gonna fight him.”

“Oh, you’d better. Otherwise I’m burning each and every fucking one of them. Making sure they know that it’s your fault when I do. Then.. you know… I’m pretty pent up, Schlatt. You lot are a stressful group of people. I’d need a good way to get it out of my system. I’ve been gracious, not making you do that yet. But don’t fucking try me, Schlatt. I’ll do it, and I’ll make them watch. See if they can look you in the eyes after that.”

“...”

“So are you gonna be a good boy and cooperate? Or are you gonna be a little shit, and let me have some fun with you all?” Carson asked. Schlatt sighed.

“I’ll try to get him to fight. I don’t know if he will.”

“You’d better hope he does, then.”

_____

Charlie watched as Carson walked back into the room, this time going back behind the glass wall.

“Ted, please step forward,” Carson said over the speaker. Ted grumbled, but stepped forward. Schlatt walked into the room. “You and Schlatt are gonna put on a show. Amuse me, and nothing further will come from today.”

Ted looked back at all of them, and it was like Charlie could read his mind. If that was true, that he’d leave them alone, then tonight would be the perfect night to escape. However, Ted and Schlatt did not have the best dynamic, so all of this depended on what kind of show Carson wanted. And if Ted and Schlatt would cooperate. 

Charlie didn’t really know how to feel about Ted’s escape plan. It seemed too idealistic. Not to mention, they only knew how many guards were around the cell and down only a few specific hallways, they had no idea what would be waiting for them near the exit. However, it seemed Ted would not be taking logical opinions right now, and every time Charlie attempted to say much of anything, either to provide input or to lighten the mood, he would be silenced, a snippy ‘shut up!’ being thrown his way. So he did. He let them be sulky, only talking when talked to. He didn’t want to lighten the mood anyway. It wasn’t like that would help anything, certainly not.

Wow, he was snarky in his head today.

Charlie tuned back in as Schlatt and Ted stepped closer to each other, an unreadable and yet dark expression in Schlatt’s eyes. Schlatt stood in front of Ted.

“What does he want us to do?” Ted asked quietly, squinting past Schlatt to glare at the glass that Carson stood behind.

“He wants us to fight.”

“What do you mean fight?”

“I mean like fist fight, like fight .”

“What the fuck? Why?”

“Didn’t like us taking the piss out of him.”

“Well I’m not gonna fight you, he can go fuck himself.”

“We are gonna fight. Come on, at least pretend,” Schlatt said, still talking lowly to Ted.

“What the fuck is your deal, man? You just roll over for him with anything he asks, like you two are best fucking pals.”

“Is that what you think? We aren’t. I hate him. I just know what he can do, and I don’t wanna risk it.”

“You are so full of shit. You know what I can do and you go against me all the time.”

“That’s different. Your plans are stupid and they get people hurt. You’re reckless and a bad leader. Your friends are scared to talk back to you and you don’t even care to hear them out when something is a bad idea. I know what you’re planning, and it’s not gonna turn out well.”

“What the fuck do you know about my leadership? You’ve barely even known all of us for two months!”

“And yet I know that they’re scared of you and your plans. You claim that they’re your friends looking around, I’m not so sure. Anything else you claim is bullshit half the time, and I’m pretty sure that some of your claims are gonna get somebody killed.” Schlatt kept a neutrally angry face, but Charlie could tell that his intentions were very much to bend to Carson demands again, to get Ted to fight him. If he had to piss him off to do so then he would, but Charlie had seen Ted mad before. Ted was gonna go nuclear, and it wasn’t gonna be pretty. Charlie just hoped that Schlatt didn’t go much further with the personal insults, or the ones that Ted would take personally.

“You choose your words carefully now, Schlatt, or I swear to god-”

“You’ll what? You’ll fucking what, Ted. you didn’t wanna fight me, remember?” Oh, Schlatt was good at this, manipulating the conversation to get what he wanted out of this. “I don’t think you’ll actually do anything, Ted.”

“Shut up, shut the fuck up.”

“I think you don’t have the balls. I think you’re too weak to do anything about it.” Fuck. Schlatt shouldn’t have said that. Ted shouted angrily, almost flying at Schlatt to try and grab him. Schlatt mostly dodged the first punch, avoiding the fist, but not Ted’s body crashing into him from momentum. 

Charlie and his friends watched in frozen shock as Schlatt actually managed to get Ted to do what Carson wanted them to, and as Ted grabbed the front of Schlatt’s shirt so he couldn’t dodge as he punched him.

Schlatt punched back, but it was very evident that he wasn’t trying. Mostly just hits to get Ted to pull back a little, give him some space. Schlatt didn’t look too happy about having to fight Ted, but not because he didn’t want to fight Ted, Charlie didn’t think it was about that. Charlie had seen Schlatt fight on a handful of occasions with the raiders. If Schlatt wanted to hurt Ted, he would. What did Carson say to Schlatt that would get him to start a fight with Ted? Was this to push them all apart or to try to… no, it couldn’t be to… to protect them… right? But if Charlie thought about it, that could be a logical reason. He could understand why, too, because Schlatt clearly knew more about this place and its workings than they did, if he was trying to protect them, it would make more sense that that would be the reason he had so many ‘chats’ with Carson, as opposed to Ted’s theory that he was conspiring against them. Ted was just paranoid though, didn’t make much sense sometimes.

Charlie jumped slightly as Ted landed a hard punch to Schlatt’s cheek, and Schlatt went down, holding a hand up for Ted to stop. Surely that was enough for Carson, right?

“You’re not done, Schlatt, either fight back or don’t, quit pussying out of things,” Carson said over the speaker.

Schlatt huffed out a breath, and Ted growled.

“I’m done playing his fucking games,” Ted said, before raising his voice. “Hear me, Carson? Come and fight me yourself, you fucking coward! Pussy!” As Ted was shouting at Carson, he did not notice Schlatt getting up until Schlatt’s fist was connecting with Ted’s face in a not-so-held-back punch. 

“What, too weak, can’t take a punch?” Schlatt challenged. Ted recovered, and then whipped around, fury in his eyes. He grabbed Schlatt’s shirt and punched him hard, then pushed him to the ground, holding him down as he kept punching him.

“I’m not fucking weak!” Ted said. Fuck, he’s snapped. Ted had an issue with being undermined, being considered weak. People used to tease him when he was younger, smaller, because he wasn’t strong enough to protect himself. Now he was, and Charlie knew that Schlatt definitely touched a nerve with his words. 

Ted kept punching even beyond what was required, purely pissed off now and forgetting his defiance of Carson in favor of beating the shit out of Schlatt, blinded in his goal by a triggered rage. Noah finally seemed to be able to move after a moment, and Charlie came to help as they pulled Ted off of Schlatt, tugging him away when he kicked at Schlatt’s side. Schlatt was out like a light, unconscious on the ground. Charlie felt nauseous when he looked down at him, the group medic in him wanting to make sure he was okay as the friendliness in him agreed. He stepped forward towards Schlatt, tried to kneel down to check him, but Ted stopped him.

“He’s fine, Charles.”

“I’m just gonna check up on him.”

“No. He’ll be fine.”

“But-”

“Shut up, Charlie!” Ted snapped. Charlie shut his mouth almost automatically, any retort in his mind disappearing without a trace. Distantly, he could hear Carson laughing.

“Good job, Ted. You really got him, huh? You all must really hate each other, don’t you? And here I thought Schlatt was actually protecting friends this time, and not more misguided jerks. He trusted me, once, too, and got burned by that. How far do you think you’ll get with him now?” Carson chuckled. “God, say goodbye to your chances of trust with him. Okay, I’m done with you all. Guards, take them back to their room. And, um. You can take him to the other one until he wakes up,” Carson instructed.

They were taken back to their cell, and locked inside. Once they were all alone, it was quiet for a good few minutes. Nobody sat near Ted, just in case he went nuclear again. Ted sat where he normally did, and stared at his hands, his bloody knuckles. He’d done one hell of a number on Schlatt, and Charlie hoped he was okay. Wished that he’d had the chance to make sure that he was okay, but he didn’t. God, he should have fought Ted harder on that one, or fought at all to make sure that Schlatt was okay.

But then Ted turned to him.

“You told him, didn’t you?” Ted asked. Charlie didn’t like that tone. It seemed too calm for how badly Ted blew up not 20 minutes ago.

“Told him what?”

“Told him how to get under my skin. You told him about when we were still in school, didn’t you?”

“No, no I didn’t. He’s just good at agitating people. Apparently.”

“Apparently. You swear you didn’t tell him?”

“Why would I have?” Charlie asked. Ted had a tendency to get paranoid, or to be suspicious of people. But Charlie had known him for a long time. It was okay, as long as Ted was calm about it so that Charlie could explain what was really going on.

Ted calmed down a bit after that, washing Schlatt’s blood off of his hands before sitting down to rub at his temples. “Fuck, I may have gone a bit far,” Ted said. His knuckles were bruised. “Regardless… I think tonight’s the night. We could get outta here,” Ted said. Charlie looked away from him, unsure. He got why Ted wanted to leave so badly, he hated being trapped in one place, always had, ever since they were kids, but patience is something he could definitely learn. That and trust. He’d struggled with trusting new people for the longest time. Hell, it had taken him like, two months to trust Travis. Travis ! Who was like the most teddy bear person they’d ever met! Thank god that they’d known Noah for a long ass time, Charlie didn’t think that Ted would ever have trusted Noah if they hadn’t known each other for years.

“Are you sure about that, Ted?” Noah asked skeptically.

“Yeah. Carson said he wouldn’t bother us again tonight, it’s the perfect time!”

“But what about Schlatt?”

“What I said earlier still stands. If he’s here, then he can come. If not? Kinda sucks, but he’s escaped once before, he can get himself out if he’s so sure that he can get us out, but I’m not waiting on whatever shitshow of a plan he’s got.”

“... you’re making a mistake.”

“You wanna stay here with him? Maybe never get out?” Ted challenged. Noah sighed and backed down.

“No.”

“Then we’re doing it my way.”

“Fine.”

About an hour later, they got ready to burst out of the cell, and then made a distraction so that they’d open the door. When they heard the door unlock, Ted gave the signal, and they rushed the guard that came through the door, then took off running down the halls.

Left, left, right, left, right. Vague directions that led to nowhere, shook Charlie’s faith in Ted’s ‘escape skills’, brought them to a dead end. Ted growled at the sight, then had them turn around.

“I know it’s around here somewhere, I saw it!” Ted insisted. They kept running, until finally they found a door that had a single pane of thin, tall glass in it. They could see outside, lights illuminating the ground that stretched out to a tall wall around the facility. Distantly, they could see trees. Ted shouldered the door open, and they each had a solid three breaths of fresh air before they looked to the side, feeling eyes on them. About a dozen armed guards were waiting for them, waiting to see what they’d do.

“Fuck,” Ted said eloquently. Charlie wholeheartedly agreed. The guards gave them a choice between surrendering or dying, and too late Charlie agreed without a doubt with Schlatt. They should have waited for his plan. They each held up their hands in surrender, starting first with Travis and ending last with Ted, always the last person to admit defeat.

As they were rather roughly escorted back inside, Charlie made the mistake of looking down a dim hallway that had a few barred cells at the end of it. Standing there with his hands on the bars was Schlatt, watching them pass him by with a look of betrayal that would make even Ted’s blood run cold.

Chapter Text

The guards shoved them into that room that they always inevitably ended up in, stood in front of Carson like he was an important man, someone they should respect or care about, but Charlie did neither. He’d heard Schlatt and Noah talking before this, heard them when they mentioned Carson being a pedophile. Charlie just couldn’t respect someone like that.

Carson smiled smugly at them as he paced in front of them, behind his glass of cowardice. 

“Well well well. This seems… predicted,” Carson said. “If only some of you could have suggested that this might have been a bad idea.”

“How the fuck did you know?” Ted demanded.

“Ted, Teddy, didn’t someone warn you? Your conversations are recorded in your room. I knew you were gonna try, so I practically set up that little opportunity for you. You know, you would have had a better shot at your escape if you’d just waited a bit, but I suppose your friends were too passive to say anything to you.” Carson smiled cruelly, and Charlie saw Ted glance around at all of his friends, who avoided his gaze. Carson clicked his tongue in mock pity.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Sure. Ah, but I did have a point to bringing you here. You see, as funny as it was to see you fail, I can’t excuse this. An example must be made.” A bolt of anxiety shot through Charlie. What was Carson going to do? Surely nothing terrible, otherwise he would have punished them for their stupid shit way earlier. He wouldn’t just jump from zero to 100, right?

And then Schlatt was being led into the room, in a horrible mockery of the last time he was led in, only this time there was traces of blood on his shirt, and oh god… Ted let out a sound of remorse beside him upon seeing Schlatt’s state.

The man had a black eye, his cheek swollen and his lip busted and bruised, his nose looked a tad crooked, like it had recently been broken and then rather unprofessionally fixed. Schlatt wouldn’t look at any of them, as if trying to hide from their gaze. Like he knew what was going to happen.

“You know, friends, it’s actually quite good that you failed in your escape attempt. I would have killed him if you had succeeded,” Carson chirped, walking over and grabbing Schlatt’s chin to try and get him to look at them, but Schlatt flinched away. Ted seemed like a lot less of a forceful presence beside him upon hearing that. “Thank goodness that you failed, then, huh? Say thank you, Schlatt.”

Schlatt remained silent.

Carson grabbed his jaw again, a bit harder, not letting him away this time, jerking his head up to the guys. Schlatt still averted his eyes.

“Hm. You know, I bet he’s not very happy with you all right now. How ungrateful, right? You practically saved his life and he can’t even say thank you!” Charlie felt sick. He remembered Schlatt saying how Carson twisted things around. Schlatt shouldn’t have to apologize for anything, not to them. They left him behind, when they could have been patient. Fuck, Charlie should have protested harder to Ted’s plan. If it hadn’t been just Noah saying to wait, to have patience, then Ted might have listened. Fuck. Carson was speaking again. “Let’s see if we can get him into any more of a grateful mood, huh?”

Carson took something from one of the guards, a small black device-looking-thing, and set down one part of it, still holding the other half. He turned to Schlatt and hissed at him to hold still, before putting something around his neck. Carson tightened it against his neck, and Charlie noticed a black box of sorts against Schlatt’s neck. Schlatt leaned away from Carson as he secured the thing around Schlatt’s neck.

Carson chuckled a bit as he picked up the device he’d set down, turning it over in his hands.

“I’ve made some modifications to this collar here. I mean the base function was always there, but I’ve, um. I’ve amped it up. Shall we see what it does?” Carson asked. “Let’s start at about a thirty, huh?” He grinned, and held the remote up as he pressed the button.

Schlatt let out a cry of pain and immediately grabbed at his neck, his knees buckling. Charlie winced. That looked like it hurt. What the fuck? This was a leap, Carson really went hard on this! Holy shit! A fucking shock collar? Shiiit…

Carson released the button, and Schlatt heaved, his arms twitching slightly as he grasped at his neck, trying to pull it off of him. Carson chuckled.

“Wow, and that was only a thirty?! Haha! Shit, man!” Carson laughed. Charlie winced, his heart in his stomach. He hated this, hated that he had to be here for this. Hated that Schlatt had to take what should have been inflicted upon them, the people who actually tried to leave. Charlie looked over at his friends. Judging by the looks on their faces, they agreed with Charlie’s sentiment. Ted’s lip twitched. Charlie could tell he was fighting hard not to say anything. “Get up, Schlatt,” Carson instructed, kicking at him when Schlatt did not do so immediately.

Carson made a show of upping the voltage, all the way to fifty, and Charlie’s heart sank impossibly lower. The button was pressed again, and Schlatt’s back hit the glass as he jolted, his arm flying back and hitting the glass pretty hard as he tried to pull away the thing on his neck. Charlie noticed a tiny crack in the glass. 

The button was released, and Schlatt shook with pain and forced adrenaline, electricity coursing through his nerves like fire. Charlie couldn’t watch this. He just couldn’t turn away. Travis looked up at Ted for a second, almost pleadingly.

“Stop it!” Ted shouted at Carson, who ignores them gleefully. They step out of line briefly, before being pushed back by the guards.

“Oh, you don’t like it?” Carson turned the dial up again, all the way it could go. Charlie felt his blood run cold. Was Carson seriously gonna shock him at 100? The fucking bastard pressed the button, a feigned innocent look on his face as Schlatt screamed in pain, writhing on the floor as the electricity burned through him. Charlie felt Travis close his eyes and turn away a bit. He’d always hated seeing or hearing people in pain, especially when they didn’t deserve it. Charlie remembered Travis talking to him one night, long before New York, about his time in the cave after he’d been taken by raiders. He’d heard Schlatt screaming, and Charlie just knew that that had scarred him more than he had told Schatt. Or anyone, for that matter. Charlie just knew that the poor guy would have nightmares about this for weeks.

He wouldn’t be alone in that.

Carson let up on the button, finally. Schlatt wasn’t moving. Carson knelt down beside him and checked his pulse, clicking his tongue.

“Guards. Lift him up,” Carson instructed. Worry wracked through Charlie as he watched intently for any sign of life from Schlatt. The guards held him up by the arms, Schlatt’s head lolling forwards. It was like the room held a breath as Carson grabbed Schlatt’s hair and lifted up his head.

Carson slapped Schlatt hard across the face, yelling “WAKE UP!”, and Schlatt choked out a gasp. He coughed and shuddered, collapsing to recover when the guards dropped him. Carson rolled his eyes.

Travis looked up at Ted again, eyes pleading as he glanced between Ted and Schlatt. Charlie could see the internal battle in Ted’s eyes as he mentally debated with himself. He quickly came to a conclusion, steeling himself.

“Carson, stop,” Ted said. Carson looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.

“What do you want now, Ted?” Carson sneered.

“He didn’t try to escape, he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Doesn’t deserve it? Interesting. You know, technically he doesn’t deserve a lot of the shit you all put him through, but here we are.”

“What do you mean?”

“What are you asking? What, after all of your shit leadership, you wanna play the hero? Is that what it is? You want to take his place?” Ted thought. Charlie shook his head at him, not knowing if he wanted Ted to do it or not. He didn’t want any more of his friends to be in pain, but Schlatt looked about one big shock away from his heart giving out.

“... yes,” Ted said, with a quick glance at Travis. “Just… stop.”

“You’d take his place. Really.”

“Yes, I woul-”

“No, he wouldn’t,” Schlatt grunted, slowly getting back up. Schlatt looked at them for the first time today, if only to shoot them a glare. Now that Schlat would meet their gaze, if only for a second, Charlie could see two things in his eyes. Pain, and defiance. Pure, untamed defiance. Schlatt would not let them take that so easily. Did… did he have a fucking plan? Was there something more to this? Unfortunately, Carson agreed with Schlatt.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have let you do that anyway, Ted. This is Schlatt’s punishment, for ever even trusting you lot. Imagine almost being the reason someone you know dies. Schlatt, is this, like, your curse or something? At least one person dying or almost dying during escape attempts?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Schlatt glared at Carson. Charlie blinked. What..?

“I thought it was funny. Anyway, I’ll wrap this up. I’m getting bored. Ted, Teddy, nice attempt at redeeming yourself, but, um… Too bad, huh?” Carson feigned pity, before pressing the button again, a blank, maliciously hollow look on his face. Ted wrestled his way out of line, punching the glass. The crack in the glass grew slightly.

“Fucking stop! You’re killing him!” Ted shouted.

“You didn’t care about what happened to him before this, why should you have the right to care about that now?” Carson wasn’t letting up on the button. Schlatt screamed silently from his spot on the floor as he writhed in pain, too far for them to help, behind some stupid glass wall. 

Carson left his finger on the button for another ten seconds or so before releasing it, and Schlatt went still again. Charlie feared that he wouldn’t move again, until (thank the stars) he moved slightly to curl in on himself, his body trembling.

Charlie felt sick. He looked anxiously back at the room that Schlatt was in as he and his friends were escorted out of the room, back to their cell. He was worried that they would just take Schlatt back to that dark, isolated, cold barred cell that Charlie had seen him in the other day. Schlatt was in a bad way, and he knew that he was probably worse now. Ted had rather obviously done a number on him, but fuck, that shocking thing… Charlie hated seeing that. He joined Cooper in hugging Travis, who looked damn near close to tears. Poor guy hated seeing anyone in pain, and Charlie could assume that out of anyone here, Travis probably had the best cause to care about Schlatt. The man had been the one to find Travis after he’d been taken by raiders.

Noah also looked concerned, a rare look on the stoic man. Charlie had asked him one night, a few nights ago, why he switched from not trusting Schlat to the complete opposite, and Noah just sighed, and explained rather vaguely that they were all stuck here together, and he’d had a few talks with Schlatt, and given how tough Ted was being to talk to, Noah just wanted to talk to someone with an opinion.

“No offense, Charlie, but… you’ve kinda been shutting down a lot faster lately. I get it, I do, and it’s not your fault, but… god, I can’t just sit quietly for much longer, and like hell I’m talking to Ted,” Noah had explained. Charlie nodded. He understood. This place was gonna drive them crazy if they stayed for much longer, he couldn’t fault Noah for trying to find solace in someone. If he was able to relate to Schlatt at all, then he should.

The guards opened the door again, and Ted stood up as if to ask what they wanted now, but then two of them entered while one stood guard, the first two practically dragging Schlatt in. They dumped him into his usual corner, and left them.

Noah scooted over to him and was about to check on him, but before he even laid a hand on Schlatt, Schlatt hissed “don’t fucking touch me.” Noah halted his movement, withdrawing his hand. Charlie winced. Not wishing people harm and wanting to interact with them were two very different things. If Charlie had to guess, and it wouldn’t be hard, but he would guess that Schlatt was just a teensy bit bitter. 

Schlatt pushed himself up to a sitting position, facing the door, but not looking at any of them as he leaned his shoulder against the wall. Charlie wondered if his back hurt from where Ted hit him, and that was why he wasn’t fully in the corner. But… the more that he thought about it, he’d seen Schlatt sitting like that on more than one occurrence… before that incident with Ted… was it just how he liked to sit? Was that gunshot wound from like, a month and a half ago still bothering him? If so, then Charlie should probably try to take a look at that. That could be bad. Somehow, though, he didn’t think that Schlatt would be very welcoming of any sort of interaction right then.

And then Charlie noticed that the shock collar was still latched around Schlatt’s neck. Fuck. that was a threat if any. “Don’t fuck up,” it seemed to say, enforcing the petty fucking rules that Carson had in place better than anything that Schlatt had ever sait to try to get them to just follow the rules. Even malicious compliance is still compliance, he’d said once, and Charlie was beginning to agree. Charlie tore away from Cooper and Travis, going over to Schlatt.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Fuck off.”

“Can I check you over?”

“Pointless procedure,” Schlatt grumbled.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have anything that would help anything, now do you?” Schlatt asked, turning to look at him, fury in his eyes and anger apparent on his bruised face. “You don’t have medical supplies, you don’t have shit. What the fuck do you think you’re gonna do that’ll help anything?” Charlie winced back at Schlatt’s harsh words. He knew that Schlatt was just hurt, either from Ted or the stockings or purely just emotionally, since they’d almost left him behind, but he couldn’t help taking the words personally. Behind him, he heard Ted stand up.

“Hey, don’t talk to him like that, he’s just trying to help!” Ted said, jumping to Charlie’s defense.

“What, like you try to help your friends? Like you’ve been telling him to shut up this whole time, silencing him when you get the slightest bit annoyed? Like you being such a good person, trying to get your friends out of some town where the worst thing was a limit on freedom of goddamn expression, then getting all of us trapped somewhere where the worst thing is a lot fucking worse than that? Gee, I wonder who the fuck could have warned you about that! I fucking wonder why they never said anything! Oh wait ! I fucking did!” Schlatt looked fucking scary right now, his face darkened by bruises and bad lighting, making his anger look almost sinister. Charlie was glad that it wasn’t directed at him at the moment.

“Look, Schlatt, I fucking get it, alright? I made some mistakes. That doesn’t give you permission to snap at Charlie like that. Snap at me if you need to take it out, alright? I’m not weak, I can take it,” Ted said. Schlatt let out a long exhale, before pushing himself away from the wall, standing up.

“I know you’re not weak. You don’t have to prove that to anyone, no one was gonna fucking say that.”

“You did. During our fight.”

“Yeah, cause Carson said for us to fight, and believe it or not I cared a lot more about the consequences he laid out not happening than us not fighting. I don’t care that you handed my ass to me, I fucking let you. Carson wanted a goddamn show, I fucking gave him one. Thank you, actually, for going that hard, cause otherwise it never would have ended. Look, Ted, I know you thought I was working with Carson or something, and to an extent I am, but only cause I made a fucking deal, okay? To hold off his fucking punishments for when you guys fuck up. Why do you think I tried to stop you? You can banish whatever fucking thought of me ‘conspiring’ with Carson from your fucking head, I fucking hate that man more than you can ever imagine, and you will not be making that mistake again, got it?” Schlatt hissed. Ted blinked. 

“You made a deal with him?”

“I don’t think I ask much from you guys. Okay? I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.”

“... no, you aren’t wrong…” Ted said. Charlie knew that this was such a smack in the pride for Ted, but he was glad that Ted was handling it with some amount of grace.

“Then I need you to do something for me, okay?”

“What?”

“I need you to trust me. Just until we get out, I don’t care what you think of me then. But until then, I need you all to just listen, go along with shit, and don’t ask questions. Remember, they can hear what we’re saying. I can’t tell you what’s going on until after it’s happened, okay? But… if you can find it in yourself to trust me, just a little bit, I’ll get us out. All of us.” Schlatt had forced himself into a calmer state, offering Ted a proposition in the calmest voice he could probably muster at the moment. Ted sighed, looking down. Charlie knew he was looking at his knuckles again.

“Fine. What do you need.”

“Time, improvisational skills, and some goddamn patience.”

“How will we know when?”

“I’ll signal you.”

“… fine. That okay with everyone else?” Ted asked, surprisingly. They all nodded. “Well then, Schlatt, the ball is in your court.”

_____

Ted hated being left in the dark. He knows that it was for a purpose, but he hated not knowing the plan. But… he supposed that he at least owed Schlatt this much. He had been right, after all, Ted had been being a pretty shit leader. Funny thing, to be told that by someone he barely knew.

Schlatt had been right on the nose with a few things, though, if Ted took a step back to examine everything. Loathe as he was to admit it, his plan was… pretty shit. He hadn’t listened to any other (potentially better) opinions, and as a result it got them into an even bigger pile of shit than they were already in. Another thing he fucked up that Schlatt just had to point out was how he’d impaired his relationships with his friends. Noah used to talk to him about everything, conspire with him, validate crazy theories with him, and now he barely talks to him, preferring to try to talk to Schlatt. He’d practically permanently silenced Charlie, who had just been trying to help keep their spirits up, and now Ted had dampened even the highest of hopes. Cooper hadn’t changed much, at least visibly, but… he just seemed colder towards Ted, edging more in front of Travis every time Ted walked near, as if feeling the need to protect Travis… from him . That hurt. Travis was like his little brother, like the whole group’s little brother, and Ted had gone and scared him.

Ted couldn’t even remember Travis looking him in the eye for a good long while there, until that little… event… earlier, with the shock collar. Travis looked so scared, so worried.

He’d been too busy trying to hate Schlatt that he didn’t even give the man a chance, and forgot that other people could in his stead.

Ted didn’t like Schlatt.

But he couldn’t hate him, either.

Sure, he’d rather brutally pointed out everything wrong with the way that Ted did things, he’d started a fight with him, he’d not specified what was wrong with New York before bringing them here… there were several things. He was not an easy person to get along with.

Neither was Ted. He knew that. Realistically, Ted was unwavering on going to New York, so being here was mostly kinda his fault. He knew that Schlatt was just following orders when he’d started a fight with him, he couldn’t be faulted with that. If he thought about it, If Schlatt really went along with it, then Carson probably had something far worse than anything Ted could do to him hanging over his head. Schlatt was a stubborn bastard, so if he was so willing to fight Ted to avoid Carson’s wrath, then Ted should have suspected something sinister about Carson. No, not just sinister, that wasn’t the right word.

Evil.

Ted was ready to take a step back if he must, if that's what it took to get his friends out of this shithole, and let Schlatt take the lead.

Ted just hopes he does the right thing when the time comes.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Schlatt wasn’t lying when he said they monitor what they say. Apparently, Carson had taken their talk earlier to mean that they were actively planning another escape, and had sent guards to collect. Before any of them could even move to stand, they were waving around that shock collar remote in front of the room, a threatening reminder as to what would happen if they tried anything. Ted saw Schlatt’s arm subconsciously twitch. They all stood, letting themselves be led out of the room, and down the long passageway.

Ted watched as Schlatt eyed someone’s watch as they started walking, looking at it again when they reached their destination. Ted wondered why. It took the same amount of time as always.

They stood in front of that oh-so-regrettably familiar face. Carson’s glasses reflected the light a bit as he glared at them.

“Escaping again already? Can you be more dumb? You know, next time I won’t be so forgiving like I was last time,” Carson pouted. Ted gaped. Forgiving ? Nearly shocking the life out of a man was Carson’s idea of forgiving ?

“Oh, why not, Carson, everyone here knows you just loooove a game of cat and mouse, now don’t you?” Schlatt teased. Why the fuck did he say that? He still had that fucking thing strapped to his neck, and he’s out here teasing the man who could very well send him into cardiac arrest.

To Ted’s surprise, however, Carson laughed after a pause.

“Alright, Schlatt, you wanna play more games. I can play more games. Hmm. How about this one. You have one shot to escape. One shot, right now,” Carson said. Ted watched as Schlatt considered. He thought, chewing on the inside of his cheek a bit. “Tick tock, Schlatt. I won’t play this forever.”

“… Okay… what about, uh. What about him,” Schlatt asked, turning left to the guard behind him, pointing with his right hand. Slick as an eel, Schlatt’s left hand grabbed the shock collar remote and pocketed it without anyone the wiser. Ted wanted to gape, cause that was smooth as fuck , but he knew that if he drew any attention to it, whatever Schlatt was trying to do would be ruined.

“Right. Back up, guard. He gets a chance. One, chance, Schlatt. Make it count,” Carson taunted. Schlatt took a step forward, glancing at the people lined up next to him. Ted gave him a pointed look, trying to ask what they should do with only a look. Schlatt shook his head, barely.

“So I just… escape?” Schlatt asked, turning back to Carson. “No consequences?”

“Well I mean of course there will be consequences, it is my game after all, Schlatt, but you wanted to play it, so let’s play.”

Schlatt took a deep breath. “Okay.” He walked up to the glass, looking at Carson through it. Ted wondered what he had planned.

Ted rather suddenly remembered the crack in the glass just as Schlatt made a very sudden movement, bringing his fist up and punching at the glass. Carson jumped, but then laughed. The crack had only gotten bigger.

“Is that all you got?” Carson laughed. “That’s fucking pathetic-” Carson was cut off as Schlatt punched the glass again, and the glass shattered around Schlatt’s fist. Schlatt grabbed Carson’s shirt and pulled him closer, slamming him against the glass. He repeated the motion, hitting Carson again and again.

Ted was very suddenly acutely aware of how much it would have sucked if Schlatt had fought back against him at all when they fought. Schlatt fucked up Carson, punching him, hitting him, slapping him around. Finally Carson made out a call for the guards, and they grabbed Schlatt, slamming him against the glass, restraining him. Carson recovered, dusting himself off. Schlatt laughed as Carson scowled.

“One free pass, remember, Carson?” Schlatt chuckled.

“Oh, I never said there wouldn’t be consequences. Guards, take the rest of them back. I think Schlatt and I need to have a talk.”

As Ted and his friends were led away, he couldn’t help but wonder what the fuck Schlatt was hoping to gain from that. Was this intentional? Was this part of his plan? If so, then Schlatt’s plan was potentially crazier than Ted’s. Ted just hoped Schlatt knew what he was doing.

_____

Schlatt seriously wondered why the fuck Carson kept going with the shit Schlatt persuades him to do. Give him a free chance to escape? SuRe, wHy noT? Schlatt knew him too well to not try to manipulate Carson’s desire for malicious entertainment. But maybe this time he shouldn’t have pushed his luck so far.

He just, he had to, you know? He’d gotten a hold of the shock collar remote, they couldn’t control him with that. And Carson was so smug behind that glass, and then Schlatt saw the crack, and it was all just lining up for him.

It wasn’t anymore. There was a line, and he’d crossed it. Carson wasn’t messing around anymore, as he roughly dragged him into the next room over and shoved him against the wall. There was a knife at Schlatt’s throat, and Carson looked livid, bloody and absolutely like the living fucking devil to Schlatt at that moment.

“I’m fucking done with you, Schlatt. I play your games, but not anymore. I’m done toying with you, it’s time I got serious. Now then, you’re gonna make yourself fucking useful , and maybe I won’t kill you right here.”

Schlatt swallowed, and glanced briefly around the room. His blood ran cold when he realized that this was the room that Carson had killed his parents in. This was the room that Carson used to get rid of attachments.

“Bend over, Schlatt,” Carson snapped, when Schlatt didn’t move the way he wanted him to fast enough. Schlatt’s blood ran impossibly colder. No. No, no, no no no, fuck no. Schlatt tried to edge away from Carson, but as soon as he got to where he could run to the other side of the room, Carson landed a well-placed hit directly to one of the newer burns on Schlatt’s back. Schlatt went down with a cry of pain, dropping to his knees to recover from the pain.

Carson shoved him down onto his front and held one of his arms behind his back, angled up so that it hurt to move. The blonde straddled Schlatt’s thighs, and Schlatt really wished Carson hadn’t been intentionally weakening him over this past month or two. Like it or not, Schlatt knew that Carson knew what he was doing. Carson had probably guessed that Schlatt had gotten bigger, stronger over the past two years so that he was harder to beat, harder to take advantage of, which was an entirely correct assumption, and weakened him accordingly, making it all too easy to incapacitate him with just a blow to the back. That shit hurt, man, come on.

Carson held him down as his free hand started traveling down Schlatt’s back, lingering extremely uncomfortably on Schlatt’s sides before reaching for his waistband.

Fuck. Fuck, Schlatt, think!

Carson got a finger hooked in Schlatt’s waistband, starting to pull it down, before Schlatt managed to open his mouth to say anything.

Words froze in his mouth for a terrifying second, like they used to two years ago, and Schlatt found himself praying to whoever was watching that whatever risky gamble Schlatt was about to take would pay off and stop Carson.

Chapter Text

“I’m sorry! I was-” think, Schlatt! “I was jealous!” Schlatt blurted out the first thing he thought he could even remotely work with. Carson stopped, not withdrawing his hand, just pausing.

“Jealous of what?” Carson asked, genuine confusion. Perfect. Schlatt just needed to grab Carson’s curiosity to make him wonder where Schlatt was going with this.

“O-of you! Your, ah. Your little game with the therapy bits was really fun for the guys, and I just… I was jealous of how easy it was for you to gain their friendship, when I’ve been trying for months!”

Carson’s hand withdrew from Schlatt’s waistband, and off of Schlatt’s lower back entirely. Carson was still holding him down, but Schlatt had bought some valuable time.

“What do you mean?”

“They had a lot of fun, they wanted to try to be your friend!”

“They did? I never heard them talk about it in the cell recordings…”

“They were talking about it on the way back to the cell one time. Y-you, um. You kind of scared them, though, with the fight, and the shock collar…”

“Oh. I thought they were trying to be mean, with all the things they said,” Carson said, releasing Schlatt’s arm.

“I’ll admit, I was trying to be mean, cause I was bitter about all that, but they just have a bunch of insult humor. They were ragging on each other all the time in the car ride over,” Schlatt said. He knew it would be more believable if he incriminated himself, so he did, and Carson definitely took the bait.

“Really?”

“Yeah. They do that with people they feel comfortable making jokes around. I was jealous that they wanted you to be their friend more than they ever wanted me.”

Schlatt felt Carson get up off of him. He was so relieved that this was actually working. He knew what was at stake, and it would not have been good. Schlatt quickly fixed his clothes.

Carson was eating this up. See, Carson had always ruled by fear. He gained respect from his colleagues and employees by the way he handled traitors, and by making an example of his own parents, and parading Schlatt around like a trauma trophy when Schlatt had been here before. Unfortunately, though, at least for Carson, Schlatt remembered the time before he had this job, when he just wanted friends, wanted people to like him. Schlatt had banked everything on the brief inclination (and hope) that that was why Carson had done the thing with them with the chairs and the prompts and pretending to do therapy (which they all needed at this point). If Carson no longer looming over him, trying to fucking rape him was any sign to go by, Schlatt was right.

Schlatt pushed himself off of the floor. He thought. They could get out now, if Schlatt played his cards right. But he needed to get them out of the cell, first…

Bingo.

“They wanted to apologize for that, actually. Being so mean without clarification. I mean they did rag on you pretty damn hard.”

“Yeah, I guess they did. They really wanted to apologize?”

“Yeah. You should see if they’re still wanting to apologize. Might have to remind them briefly, but I mean, I bet they’d still be willing to be your friend. Couldn’t hurt to apologize for scaring them, too. Gain back some friendship points.”

“You think so?” Carson asked. God, this was working better than Schlatt was even remotely hoping for. Shit. 

“Yeah, I do. Here, if you wanna do that now, I’ll stay here. Not like I can go much of anywhere…” Schlatt mumbled. Carson nodded in confirmation. He left the room, and Schlatt almost immediately dropped to his knees, letting out a shaky breath. Fuck, Carson’s hands had always left dirty handprints on Schlatt’s skin, it was like every time the man touched him it left something evil on his skin, consuming him and eating him alive. God, that was too close for comfort. Way too fucking close.

But now was no time to break down. He took a deep breath, collecting himself, before swallowing. The collar was still there. That was his first order of business.

Carson had rather foolishly put down that knife that he’d held to Schlatt’s throat, and had forgotten it in his haste to go chase the goose Schlatt had sent him after. Schlatt hoped that Ted and the others figured out that they just needed to go with it, just in case Schlatt was late.

Schlatt grabbed the knife and edged the blade under the collar. He would just unlatch it, but he’d tried earlier, back in their little cell, and it didn’t work. Noah had confirmed that it was locked on, he’d need a little key to get it off. Or a knife.

He carefully cut through the nylon of the collar, nicking the skin on his neck, but eventually getting it off.

Schlatt was in haste mode. His entire body ached, but adrenaline took over graciously as he hurried to set things up. He’d timed how long it took to get from their ‘cell’ to the room Carson always had them brought to. He only had about twenty minutes to get everything ready, and meet them where he wanted to meet them. There was a breezeway between two buildings, Schlatt hoped to meet them there.

He slipped out of the room he was in, that cursed room, and quickly made it to where he remembered the garage was. He’d tapped into knowledge from years ago, when he used to work here. He knew where shit was.

He got into the garage, blissfully unguarded, and found their van. Perfect. Quickly locating keys, he checked over everything. All their stuff was in the back of the van, thank fuck. Someone had even grabbed his things, too. Everything was lining up.

Schlatt grabbed several cans of gas, putting some in the back of the van and leaving others out. Taking that knife that he’d cut off the collar with, he went around, slashing all the tires of the other cars in the garage, so Carson wouldn’t be able to chase them as easily.

He grabbed two of the gas cans and booked it back to that room that Carson usually brought them to, the room with the (now broken) glass. He set everything down and grabbed the shock collar again.

Carson wasn’t ever gonna fuck with anyone ever again here, Schlatt was gonna make damn sure of it. If there was one thing Schlatt was good at, it was fire, both thankfully and regrettably, as hot things just seemed to find him around… certain people. But Schlatt was good with fire. He tampered with the already-tampered-with shock collar, and tested it. Sparks flew when he pressed the remote button. Perfect.

Schlatt took the oil cans and started dumping them on the floor, getting the shit everywhere. He put the shock collar in the middle of it all, ready to burn all the most important room in the building to a crisp.

But Schlatt needed to get far away from here before he did.

He went back to the garage, going into the maintenance room and finding a conveniently located handgun, and then he opened the bay door and quickly got the van out. Briefly his back touched the seat, which was just very simply pure pain, so he sat forward in his seat rather awkwardly as he drove around the building.

He watched the clock on the dashboard as he approached the breezeway, hoping he wasn’t too late to catch them as they were going in.

Then he saw a door open on the cell block side, and Schlatt was immediately laying down on the gas, speeding towards the breezeway as two guards came out. He saw the alarm in their eyes before the impact, and then he stopped short. He looked to the right, and the guys were standing in the doorway, shocked, as they processed what happened. There was one guard behind them, who recovered faster, and started pushing past them to get at Schlatt. Schlatt grabbed the gun he’d stolen, quickly raising it and shooting the guard. He was not in remorse mode, he was in escape mode, and remorse didn’t matter right then.

The guys were still dumbstruck as an alarm went up, sounding through the grounds of Carson’s facility.

“Well? The fuck are you waiting for? Get in!” Schlatt yelled. They snapped out of it, stepping over the guards as they got into the van.

“Fucking how?” Ted asked. Schlatt ignored him for a second, throwing the van into reverse and trying to get out of the breezeway. He pressed the button on the shock collar remote, and he hoped it worked.

Carson and about half a dozen guards were waiting for them at the end of the breezeway, and Schlatt could see them in the rearview mirror. They pointed their guns, and Schlatt sighed, rolling to a stop.

“What are you doing?” Ted hissed.

“Just give me a sec,” Schlatt muttered.

“You son of a bitch, Schlatt, you said they wanted to apologize to me!” Carson growled, coming around to the driver's side. The guards went to each side of the van in case they tried to jump out.

“I lie sometimes. You were just saying how we play games, Carson, well you fucking lose.”

“I have you stopped.” Another alarm went off in the building, a loud telltale ringing that would have any high schooler sighing and starting to file out the door to evacuate the building. Fire alarm.

“Yeah, but, um. Shit, do you smell smoke?” Schlatt asked, looking around. He grinned in satisfaction when he saw smoke rising from the building around where Carson’s office was. Carson gaped. “You should have killed me when you had the chance, Carson.” Schlatt rolled up the window as Carson gaped at the smoke.

“What now, genius?” Ted asked, looking at the guards around the van. Schlatt turned up the radio to try and calm his nerves. Some funky song started playing over the radio. He recognized it. Sweet dreams. What a song to escape to, huh?

“We leave. Buckle up, this is gonna be a bumpy ride.” 

“Huh-” Schlatt gripped the wheel and looked over his shoulder, accelerating in reverse, just going past the guards on either side. He anxiously glanced back and forth, at the guards running after them, and at the road behind them. Once the road opened up again, he turned the car around, speeding ahead towards the first wall of the compound. He drove around it, trying to find the exit. The song fucking slapped, and really, Schlatt would laugh at the rather comedic timing of this song during a car escape, if he werent so stressed.

There. Schlatt sped towards the exit, hoping to make it there before they got the signal to close the gates. He kept his back away from the back of the seat as he drove, accelerating madly towards the exit, getting past it just as they started closing it.

He wanted to try and stop outside the second gate, the wall around the main city. He had unfinished business there, but he wouldn’t if it sacrificed their chance at escape. They still had a little bit to go before they reached the gate, and Schlatt didn’t remember it being this far. In memory, he and Connor were just running, he hadn’t bothered to remember how far, he was just so panicked about the prospect of not being able to get out, forgive him if he hadn’t counted the miles.

Schlatt felt like this was almost too easy. There was a catch, he knew there had to be. Carson had probably found one car that Schlatt had forgotten to slash the tires for, and was pursuing them right now. Fuck, he was probably right behind them. The music pumped in the back of his head, feeding his adrenaline as he drove, mentally running far away from everything that Carson had done to him, today or otherwise. He couldn’t think about it right now. If he thought about it, he’d have to process it, and if he did that then he’d break, and they wouldn’t make it out of New York. He had to make it out of New York. He had to. They had to. No fucking shot he was leaving anyone behind. He didn’t care if they didn’t like him. He didn’t care if he didn’t like them. Emotions didn’t matter. He did care about them, wanted them safe, still kinda wanted to consider them friends, but that was on the backburner now. They had to get out now. Had to. Leaving anyone behind wasn’t an option. Schlatt hadn’t managed to get everyone out last time, no fucking way in Hell was he leaving anyone now.

He could see the gate of the wall, speeding towards it. He looked anxiously at the rearview mirror, adjusting it so he could see better, even while keeping his back off the back of the seat, as he’d been doing the whole time. He couldn’t see anyone chasing them. Just a quick stop. Just a quick stop.

“We have to stop for a minute,” Schlatt said as they neared the gate. “Someone hand me my backpack.”

“What? Why are we stopping?”

“Unfinished business.” Schlatt got through the gate and stopped the van, reaching for his backpack, being handed to him by Charlie. “You guys close the gate,” he instructed as he fished around in his bag before his hand reached what he was looking for, the cool stone heavy in his hand.

He stumbled out of the car, adrenaline still pumping through his veins, making him feel shaky. He walked over to the treeline, a memory at the forefront of his mind, resting on the tip of his tongue as muscle memory carried him to a weathered stone with a circle of river rocks around it. He sank to his knees in front of it, the stone he’d carried around sitting comfortable in the palm of his hand.

His body ached, but it seemed like everything had finally come full-circle. He got everyone out. He almost didn’t feel like he deserved closure, to finally finish the grave. He turned the stone over in his palm a few times, thinking if he wanted to say anything.

He felt someone behind him.

“Who were they?” Ted asked, an uncharacteristic gentleness in his voice.

“He was my best friend. His name was Connor.”

“How did he die?”

“We were trying to escape. He got shot down, Carson let me bury him.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“That was… it was the only reason I got out, was because Carson let me bury him. I slipped off before I finished the grave.”

“Well at least now you get to finish it.”

“I swore to myself that if I ever came back here, I would get everyone out, or fucking die trying,” Schlatt said.

“I think your friend would be proud of you.” Schlatt looked over at Ted questioningly.

“He died because of me,” Schlatt said incredulously. Why would Connor be proud of him?

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think he died because of Carson. You were trying to get the both of you out.”

“And I failed.”

“There’s always risk. You know that. You practically told me that. I just think he’d be proud of you for getting everyone out this time. Two people is one thing, Schlatt. Two people is hard enough. But you got six. Six people. That’s a feat. He’d be proud.” Ted said. Schlatt sighed. Ted was right. Connor had never been a very bitter person, hadn’t ever blamed Schlatt for their fucked-up circumstances. Besides, it was Carson’s fault, wasn’t it? 

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Time to stop carrying that around, huh?”

“Yeah. We should get going.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s get out of New York.”

“Let’s drive then. Everybody back in the van!” Ted said. Schlatt placed a hand on the stone as he placed the rock that he’d carried so far in its rightful place, before standing up and turning. All five of his companions were there behind him, waiting. They went and got back in the van at the behest of Ted, but it felt… good, having them behind him. It almost felt like support.

Schlatt got behind the wheel again, and scooted forwards so his back wouldn’t touch the seat, and got them driving again. The guys had blocked off the gate. Nothing would be getting out of there so easily.

_____

Ted had to take a second to process all of that. What the actual fuck just happened?

Carson gave Schlatt a single chance to escape, right then, right there, when they were in that fucking room again, and Ted remembers being utterly shocked and horrified when Schlatt punched through the glass and started beating the shit out of Carson. Fuck. They fought each other. Ted had ‘fought’ Schlatt. What would have happened if Schlatt had actually tried to fight him back instead of taunting him and taking it? Ted shuddered at the thought. He’d done a number on Schlatt, sure, but the idea that that could have been turned around on him so easily shook him.

And then Schlatt was being taken into a separate room, and they were led back into their prison of a room to wonder what they were supposed to do, theorize about how fucked up Schlatt would be upon return this time.

Then, maybe like, thirty minutes later, they were being guided back. They hadn’t even gotten to sit down, really. 

It was as they were approaching the breezeway that they finally understood what Schlatt’s plan was. Several things happened too quick to process. The two guards that were in front of them suddenly were not, being bowled over by the front of a familiar-looking van. The guard behind them was shot, and they were being hurried into the van.

Schlatt had apparently started a fire, and Carson and his minions were distracted by that as Schlatt drove like a madman out of the facility vicinity. A rather upbeat song played on the radio as they fled, almost distracting from the severity of the situation. Schlatt sat on the edge of his seat as he drove, his eyes wide and flitting between the road in front of them and the compound behind them. Ted knew that he was searching for if anyone was following them.

Schlatt stopped the van just outside the walls around New York City, telling them to close the gates behind them as Schlatt walked over to a rock on the ground after fishing something out of his bag.

Ted watched as he dropped to his knees and stared at the rock, and time, which had been going so fast for the last little bit, slowed down. He knew what this was. That rock was a grave. Ted debated if he should even try to say anything. It probably wouldn’t mean anything from him, it wasn’t like he and Schlatt even really got along, but… he was tired of being an ass. Trying to hate Schlatt had obviously lost him more than he’d gained. So he said something.

“Who were they?” Ted asked. Schlatt fiddled with the stone in his hand before answering. He explained who the grave was for, how he’d died, and Ted doesn’t know why he said it, but he told Schlatt that he thought that his friend would be proud of him. It seemed to help the man, as he eventually stopped fiddling with the stone. 

Schlatt put the stone in the circle with the others as they all loaded up again. Schlatt still sat on the edge of his seat, his back away from the chair as they drove away from the city.

Schlatt was a fucking speed demon. Understandable, but still anxiety-inducing as they drove further and further away. Schlatt still glanced behind them to see if they were being followed, but they weren’t.

They really got away. They actually got out. Fuck, Schlatt and Noah were right, they should have just waited for Schlatt’s plan, whatever it was, it was so much better than Ted’s.

“Schlatt, your plan was great, how did you even plan that?” Ted asked, curious as to how Schlatt managed to predict that Carson would give him a chance, that all those things would fall into place.

“I didn’t.”

“Huh? Then how the fuck did you pull all that shit off?”

“Improvisational skills. Not to mention, man, I used to work there, I know where shit is, I know how to get out. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve escaped from there.”

“So you pulled all of that out of your ass?”

“Easy on the phrasing there,” Schlatt said with a wince, “but basically yeah. I, um. I tricked Carson into thinking you all wanted to be his friends so that he’d stop… um. So that he’d call you guys back.”

Conversation dulled a bit after Schlatt explained all that, until Ted felt a light tap on his shoulder. He looked back, and Charlie was leaning over to him. Charlie pointed to Schlatt.

“Why is he still sitting like that?” Charlie whispered. Ted looked at Schlatt, who was still intentionally sitting with his back away from the seat.

“I don’t know.”

“He’s been sitting away from walls like that, too.”

“Oh yeah…” Now that Ted thought about it, he had been sitting like that for a while. He opted not to say anything just yet, since Schlatt seemed so insistent upon getting out of New York before they stopped again.

Just after they crossed the border into New Jersey, though, they hit a big pothole that had everyone jerking in their seats. Schlatt’s back hit the back of the chair, and he inhaled sharply as he tensed and gripped the wheel. He took his foot off the gas momentarily as he recovered from… whatever just happened, and Charlie tapped Ted again, more insistently. Ted nodded to show that he saw that, too.

“Schlatt, I think we should pull over,” Ted said.

“No, we have to keep going,” Schlatt murmured through grit teeth, staring straight ahead. “We have to get away.

“We are away.”

“We have to get farther.”

“Someone else can drive, just pull the fuck over!”

“Fine.” Schlatt pulled the car over, and they made him get out of the driver's seat. He walked around the car, and looked like he hurt as he got in and clambered to the back, where he normally sat.

“Schlatt, are you hurt?” Charlie asked, looking back at him. So was everyone else.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not what I asked. I asked if you were hurt.”

“It’s fine.”

“So you are.”

“It’s not that bad,” Schlatt said. Ted saw Noah give Schlatt a weird look.

“Not that bad? Not that bad, Schlatt, you’ve been sitting weird for weeks now, you’re walking like you hurt, you flinch every time someone touches your back, and come on, you’re visibly injured, even just from your fight with Ted! And the shock collar thing? Not that bad, are you fucking kidding me?” Noah asked indignantly. Ted winced when their fight was brought up, but yeah, Schlatt did look like he’d been through the wringer recently.

“... I mean…”

“No. No bullshit. No one is chasing us right now, just let us help you. You helped us, now it’s our turn.”

“You’re not gonna take no for an answer, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Fine.” Charlie got his medical supplies out, and they set up a little place to work. “Should I take off my shirt?” Schlatt asked, shifting from foot to foot anxiously.

“If that will help..?” Charlie said. Schlatt started taking off his shirt, and oh fuck that looked bad. There were burn marks all over his back, branded into his skin. Almost his entire back was an angry red, inflamed and irritated by the shirt he’d had on. Fuck, it looked really fucking bad. Ted looked anywhere but the man’s back, just saw the bruises on his face and a little cut on his neck next to two identical burns from the shock collar. Fuck. Ted couldn’t look. He glanced around at his friends, most of them in horror or shock. Poor Travis looked like he was about to throw up.

“ Holy shit Schlatt …” Noah gasped under his breath. “What the fuck even happened?”

“Carson. But I mean, it was mostly my fault anyway, I brought this upon myself. Talked back too much, and all…”

“No, dude. You don’t get to excuse this. You were captive . Nothing while you are a captive prisoner that could be your fault could warrant… all this.”

“But-”

“Oh fuck… I know what happened…” Ted says, putting pieces together.

“It's really not…”

“Schlatt made a deal with Carson.”

“Well. I mean, it sounds bad, but-”

“You did, didnt you?”

“Well-”

“What was the deal? That you would take our punishment and he wouldn't mess with us?”

“...”

“Your silence speaks volumes.”

“Yes, alright?”

“Why?”

“Fuck if I know, we aren’t even friends, I just…”

“Who said we weren’t friends?” Ted asked.

“You did. I asked, before we entered the city, and you said no,” Schlatt reminded. Ohhh… Shit. Right. 

“Well if you thought that, then why would you do this?”

“I couldn't let him hurt any more people. Any more people that I…” he froze for a sec. “That I've traveled with for a while…” But Ted knew what he meant. He cares about them, even if they didn't care about him. Ted sort of understood. They’d accidentally learned a lot about him over this trip, and they knew that he didn't really have anyone to care about, anyone who could care for him, that was why he got so attached to the cat.

“... Schlatt. Lay down. Let us patch you up, huh? Those look pretty painful,” Charlie said, his voice soft.

“It's really fine. You don't have to.”

“Hey, it's what friends are for, right?” Schlatt looks over at all of them with an impossibly guarded expression, and gives a curt nod. They have him lie down on his front as they patch him up, but jesus christ this is bad. Scorched and scarred… Ted remembered Noah saying something about how Schlatt didn’t like it when they clicked lighters or anything like that, and that suddenly made a lot of sense to Ted. Unfortunately that was before they even got there, which meant that all of this had happened before. Ted looked back at Schlatt’s back. All of this looked new, which meant that it just happened elsewhere, but Ted could guess that it was just elsewhere. Schlatt had had bandages on his arms under his sleeves for a while, he could guess it was there.

Schlatt had his head cradled in his arms, and his fists were in balls as Charlie tried to treat the burns. Travis remembered some burn cream that they’d picked up back at that Farmer Trapper’s place, and gently applied some to Schlatt’s back.

Charlie was talking the whole time, trying to keep himself calm, and Ted noticed Schlatt tensing more.

“Charlie, I think you’re stressing him out, stop talking,” Ted said. Charlie looked at the back of Schlatt’s head and stopped talking.

“No don’t stop talking, you better fucking not,” Schlatt grit out. Ted and Charlie both blinked, but Charlie looked inwardly glad that someone finally wasn’t telling him to shut up as he kept talking. Ted supposed that it was a bit of a distraction for Schlatt. This shit looked painful, and Schlatt was already handling it far better than Ted ever thought he would be able to. How the fuck Schlatt hadn’t collapsed by now was an enigma to Ted.

Though he had seemed rather closed off. Ted knew that humans were able to block out pain sometimes, until they’re in a place where they can acknowledge it, had Schlatt just been doing that this whole time? Fuck. Ted should have known.

As Charlie and Travis finished with the burn cream and applying some bandages, they looked up at the rest of the group with a shudder. They helped Schlatt up, and got him situated in the back of the van, still lying on his front. Charlie gave him the heaviest pain meds that he could find, and told Schlatt to sleep.

“No argument there,” Schlatt grumbled into the jacket that they had bunched up into a pillow for him. Ted got behind the wheel of the van, and everyone got situated, and they continued driving.

_____

Travis had really hoped that Schlatt wasn’t hurt.

He’d felt bad that they had dragged him along ever since they’d gotten stuck in that cave together. Fuck, he still remembers Schlatt’s screams. They haunted the halls of his memories, resurfaced in his dreams. The fight between Schlatt and Ted had been terrifying, too. Schlatt had just gone down so easily. That hadn’t seemed right.

The shock collar thing was excruciating to watch. Travis felt helpless, like he couldn’t do anything to help but plead with Ted to do something. Ted had always been a figure of strength in Travis’ life, protecting him from things that might hurt him. That figure had gotten a bit distorted in Travis’ mind over the past few weeks, what with Ted being a bit of a… well a bit of an asshole, to be quite frank with you. He’d pulled it together towards the end, but for a scary little bit there, Travis had almost felt like he couldn’t even look Ted in the eye. 

Even when Ted did step in, it wasn’t enough. Schlatt still got hurt. But this… this … this was messed up. Burns all over Schlatt’s back…

Travis had really hoped that Schlatt had been fine. That nothing was happening to him, and that he was just angry about being here. It had been obvious that he and Carson had bad blood, but it had been foolish of Travis to overlook the clear signs of Schlatt distancing himself from pain. He’d seen firsthand that Schlatt could push himself through that, back when they were in the cave, why had Travis let himself believe that Schlatt was fine?

Travis looked back at Schlatt. As soon as they’d gotten him to let the walls down, the man had difficulty putting them back up as they had treated his wounds. Walls or not, these were still some rather serious injuries. Travis and Charlie had been talking, and Charlie said that he wouldn’t be surprised if Schlatt got an infection. They’d just have to monitor it.

Travis watched as Schlatt took a deep breath in his sleep. He was on his front, cradling a jacket in front of his face in lieu of a pillow, and Travis remembered this little teddy bear that he had in his backpack. One of the guys had given it to him as a joke, but he’d kept it. Withdrawing it from his bag, he leaned over the seat and placed it on top of Schlatt’s arm. Maybe it would keep away any nightmares the man had. God knows he probably needed a break from anything that plagued him.

Travis turned back around in his seat and tried to distract himself, looking out the window of the passing country as Ted drove.

Chapter Text

Schlatt slept through an entire fucking day. They checked on him every hour or so, but he was out . Just as well, really. He probably really fucking needed it. Or at the very least his body needed the time to heal. 

Charlie and Travis had even changed out his bandages once while he was asleep, and he didn’t even wake up for that . He’d just stirred a bit, shifted in his sleep, but he stayed dead to the world.

Ted told them not to worry too much about it. They knew he needed sleep. They knew he was still alive, if his breathing and little shifts in his sleep were anything to judge by. Noah remembered that Schlatt didn’t sleep very well in the cell, not that anyone else did, either…

At some point they even stopped for the night, all cooped up in the van, comfortably leaning against each other in a space other than the cold confines of their cell. Noah didn’t know what state they were in, as he dozed off, but it was a good ways away from New York. they’d taken a few back roads, if only just so they could tell Schlatt that there was no way that anyone would be following them from New York. Might help to settle the man’s anxiety, if he had any when he awoke. 

By the morning, as they all got up to stretch, Schlatt was still not awake. Noah found out, as he took a turn behind the wheel, that they were in Ohio, which was why Noah couldn’t figure out where they were. There’s fucking nothing in Ohio. 

They drove through the fields of Ohio, the neglected and overgrown fields going on for miles and miles. It was almost kind of hypnotizing, the way the countryside seemed to stretch into eternity. They’d pass road signs every so often, torn and weathered billboards that hadn’t been changed in over a decade. Hard to find maintenance jobs when nobody cares about how things look anymore. At least not out in the middle of nowhere like they were.

By around lunchtime they made it to Illinois. They’d passed through Indiana rather uneventfully, and the only way that Noah had even known they had even been in Indiana was when they got to Illinois. Noah stopped when he began recognizing some of the areas that they’d stopped in before, deciding that they could eat there. They all got out of the car and stretched, deciding that they could take a bit to just chill out, explore around a bit. No one was around for miles, so they wouldn’t have any problem with raiders or anything.

As Noah looked around, he recognized a few things, and realized something. This was around the area that he’d scared Schlatt’s cat off in.

Huh. Noah wondered if the cat was still around. Briefly entertaining the thought, he ducked back into the van and grabbed that little fishing rod that Schlatt had made for the cat out of the man’s bag. Schlatt himself was still asleep, his breathing steady. Noah got back out of the van and went back to looking around, fiddling with the fishing rod.

He didn’t actually expect to find the cat, it had been over a month after all, since he’d scared it off, but… well, it had been feral before Schlatt tamed it, it would obviously know how to survive in the wild. 

If Noah wanted to find it, then he’d have to think smart. What would an animal need to survive? Food, shelter, water… water first. Find a good source of water. Noah managed to find a stream in the woods, and he walked downstream a little bit, before finding a clearing. Noah looked around the clearing, wondering briefly what the actual fuck he was even trying to do, he didn’t even really like cats! 

And then he saw it. A flash of orange, darting across the clearing.

Against all odds, it was actually him. That fucking cat. Holy shit, he was actually still here. Noah tried calling his name to get him to come closer. “Jambo! Come here, kitty!” he said softly. The cat looked at him with a sort of expression that sort of read as ‘are you crazy’ to Noah, and did not move.

Distantly, he heard someone call his name. They were probably going to try to leave soon. Fuck. he had to hurry.

He grabbed the fishing rod and lightly threw the toy end out towards Jambo. The cat stiffened a bit, before his eyes grew big and he stared at it.

Noah stood very still as Jambo stared intently at this toy. He slowly started edging it closer towards himself, and Jambo followed it with his eyes, doing a little cat wiggle as he prepared to pounce. Noah got ready.

As Jambo jumped to grab at the toy, Noah moved and grabbed at the scuff of the cat’s neck, grabbing it and pulling the cat closer as it tried to escape. He held him down slightly as he tucked the toy into his jacket with his free hand, and then picked Jambo up and held him to his chest and zipped up the jacket around him so that he could hold onto him easier. Jambo wiggled and squirmed, fighting against Noah’s arms, but, well, Noah already had him, he could imagine Schlatt would be ecstatic to see him again.

Noah remembered what Schlatt had said about Carson and pets. He knew why the cat had to leave, understood why Schlatt had to let him go, but surely the same was not true now, now that they were not headed to New York. He shuddered to imagine poor Jambo at the end of the same fate as Schlatt’s lizard.

But there wasn’t anymore danger here, right? Jambo could come back.

Noah walked back up the hill to where the van is, and Travis was near the van, tapping his foot. He opens his arms in a ‘where have you been’ sort of way, and Noah waved him over.

“Hey, hey, I need your help with something. Dude, do we still have that litter tray and all that stuff that Schlatt had for that cat?”

“Uh, I think so? Why?” Travis asked, looking confused.

“Look,” Noah said, pulling his jacket down a bit to reveal the orange fur. Travis’ eyes widened, and he grinned.

“Is that him?? Jambo?” 

“Yeah, come on, we’ll put him in the van.” Noah holds a struggling Jambo as Travis opens the back, getting the litter and food and water sorted out. They both got in the van, where everyone was waiting for them. “Hey guys, look who I found,” Noah announced, unzipping the jacket and freeing the cat, who leapt away from him immediately and started running around, hiding from everyone. 

“Bro what the fuck,” Ted deadpanned.

“I found Jambo!”

“Wh- how?”

“I found him in the woods! I recognized this area a bit, and I looked around, and I found him!”

“That’s… heh.” Ted laughed. “Only you, Noah.” Noah laughed as well, looking over at Jambo. He’d started sniffing around, and eventually found Schlatt’s hand, which had fallen off the seat near his head. Jambo sniffed it, and apparently recognized it, butting into his hand and then looking confused as to why no petting was following. The cat pawed at his hand, and there was still no response. Noah frowned a little bit. Poor Jambo must be so confused, the only person who he had ever let touch him wasn’t even responding when he wanted attention, he was just limp. Noah craned his neck to see if Schlatt was even still breathing.

He was, he was just still asleep, same as how he’d been for the last… god knows how many hours it’s been now. Noah patted the seat near Schlatt’s lap, and Jambo looked at him.

“He’s asleep, bud.” Noah told him, even if the cat understood or not. Jambo crooked his head to the side, and then pawed at Schlatt’s hand again. Noah sighed. He’d probably figure it out eventually. Cooper starts driving, and Jambo starts anxiously pacing, exploring the van, sometimes voicing complaints at them, but ultimately goes back to pawing at Schlatt’s hand.

Eventually, the cat hopped up into the seat, and started sniffing at Schlatt. He prowled around on the back of Schlatt’s legs, sniffing up his side and then stepping on his back. Schlatt stiffened in his sleep, groaning and then waking himself up.

“What the fuck is on my back?” Schlatt groggily asked, drawing the attention of the others in the van. “Ow- owowow get it off-” he hissed as Jambo started walking towards Schlatt’s head, still on his back. Noah went around and moved the cat off of Schlatt’s back. The cat wiggled out of his arms and went around to Schlatt’s head, where he was still waking up.

“Good morning, Schlatt, it is currently three in the afternoon, almost a whole fucking day since you passed out,” Noah tells him. Schlatt grumbles in response, and then Jambo licked Schlatt’s nose, and he startled a bit.

“What th- huh? Jambo?”

“He came back,” Noah said, watching Schlatt push himself up to let the cat sniff at his hand before petting him. “Looks like he sensed you were around and came back. I think he missed you.”

“Really?” Schlatt had this content little smile on his face as he pet the cat. Noah looked over a bit and saw Ted giving him a skeptical look. Noah shrugged at him, before waving him off. Schlatt was still cooing at the cat, who seemed rather happy that Schlatt was finally responding to his requests for pets.

“Yeah. Probably thought you weren’t ever coming back,” Noah said before he could think about it. Schlatt winced a little bit.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Schlatt said in that little voice people use to talk to their pets. He looked around for a second, picking up a little stuffed animal on his arm. “Who put this here?” he asked. Travis cleared his throat.

“I did, sorry. It used to help me when I felt bad, so I thought…” he trailed off.

“Oh. Thank you. I guess.” Schlatt handed it back to him, before adjusting himself, sitting up, his back not quite against the back of the seat. Jambo flopped down next to him. He stared at the cat for a bit, lost in thought. Ted looked at him, trying to read him.

“What’re you thinking about, Schlatt?” Ted asked into the near silence of the car. Schlatt looked up, snapped out of his trance.

“Animals. They’re funny looking sometimes. Like, Monkeys? You ever seen a Gibbon?” Noah wasn’t expecting that. The human mind is a mystery, he guessed.

“Uh. Can’t say that I have.”

“I’ve only seen pictures. But I’m pretty sure they used to have them in zoos.” Travis gasped when Schlatt said that, looking suddenly very excited.

“We should go to a zoo!” he exclaimed, tugging on Ted’s sleeve.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Ted said. Travis pouted.

“What have we got to lose, Ted? We might as well, unless you’re in a hurry to be somewhere,” Schlatt said. Ted scoffed.

“Wasn’t it you yesterday who was so insistent upon getting far away from New York?”

“A, that’s not fair, you know exactly fucking why. B, even if Carson was chasing us, don’t you think it’d be harder for him to find us if we are unpredictable with our location?”

“... I suppose so…”

“Plus, look at Travis. Look at him. Look at those eyes,” Schlatt said, the manipulative bastard. Travis was looking up at Ted pleadingly, his best puppy dog eyes on. “You know it’d make him so happy.” Ted sighed, and Noah could tell that they were gonna go to the zoo before Ted even said anything.

“Fine. I guess we do deserve a break from all the… stress and shit…” Travis and Charlie, who also apparently wanted to go, cheered, and Schlatt grinned. “Anyone have a problem with that?” Ted looked around the van. No one spoke up with any issue. It might be fun to go to the zoo. They deserved some fun.

And that’s how they found themselves headed south, down from Illinois to Tennessee, where there was a zoo. Noah grinned just thinking about it. Sure, he wouldn’t really care either way, and he didn’t really care about seeing all the animals, if there even were any, but something about this just excited him. 

Several hours later, after a few driver changes and a few times getting lost, they made it down to Nashville, Tennessee, all of them collectively making fun of the faded billboards for the ‘Nashville music’ that the city was so inclined to. The city had been relatively deserted, clearly no one wanting to stay in the city of everyone’s favorite music longer than they had to. Noah wondered if there were many raiders around, as he tried to get comfortable sleeping, but they hadn’t seen any evidence of their presence around, so he didn’t think so. Usually they left out markers so that other raider camps knew that this was someone else’s territory, but Noah hadn’t seen any of that. They found their way to the zoo around nightfall, and decided to sleep in the van in the empty, overgrown parking lot.

Come morning, people were buzzing with excitement. Noah knew that they probably wouldn’t see many animals, but it was exciting nonetheless. They all filed out of the van, after rolling down the windows a bit for Jambo, since it was cool enough outside, and went to the entrance of the zoo, where they looked around at the reception desk. Schlatt was already idly looking around for souvenirs or useful things, fucking collector man, and Travis and Charlie were snooping around for the keys to open the gates to the zoo. Noah, Cooper, and Ted stood near the door until they found the keys, holding them up with triumph.

They went and opened the gates and entered, looking around. Collectively they decided to go to the gift shop first, since logically of course that made sense, and oh boy.

This place alone was a collector’s dream. Mostly useless things remained untouched, if not a bit dusty, but everything was left alone. There were a few gasps when they walked in, and then they all scattered, grabbing random things. Travis got some random stuffed animals and a monkey hat that Charlie had convinced him to take, shoving them into his backpack to unload later. Noah found a nice pair of sunglasses, which he immediately put on, examining himself him the nearby mirror and then making finger guns. And then he saw it. The glorious rack of long stuffed snakes. Oh, how could he not. It could be a stuffed animal, it could be a scarf, it could be a weapon. He rushed over and looked at them, before selecting a sparkly purple one and pulling it down. This was coming with him. He could already tell, the zoo was a fantastic idea.

Charlie was over by the hand puppets, selecting a few to take, putting some in his backpack and keeping one on his hand, an alligator. Noah just knew that anything that Charlie said that day would be accompanied by making the puppet talk. Ted was near him, wearing this stupid looking hat, but hey, who was gonna stop them? He might as well. Noah briefly thought that it would be really funny if the only animals they saw today would be stuffed ones.

Cooper found a skateboard and some fish plushies, and was sword fighting Travis with them, and Schlatt was in the corner looking at some fancy rocks and things with feathers. 

“What’re you gonna take?” Noah asked, going near him.

“Huh? Oh, well I figured it’d be a good idea to raid their first aid office at some point, stock up on shit.”

“Nah, man, we’re all just taking stupid shit. I know you like to collect random things, what are you gonna collect?”

“... I’m looking at all the rocks,” Schlatt said.

“Oh… Cause of your friend?” Noah asked, feeling bad for a second.

“What? Oh, no, cause they look cool. Look at this blue one.” Noah looked, and it was a cool rock. Schlatt grabbed several other rocks and deposited them in his bag. He also grabbed some feathers off of a poor plushie, shoving them in his bag. “For jambo,” he said.

“Hey, weren’t you talking about those monkeys on the way over here? You could get a monkey,” Noah said, gesturing to the wall of monkey plushies.

“Hmm, I could…” Schlatt said, considering. He grabbed one of the plushies and put it in his bag, a brown one with white fur on its cheeks that made it look like it had sideburns. No wonder Schlatt was drawn to it, Noah thought, as he looked at the mutton chops adorning Schlatt’s face. “What should I name him?”

“You like gibbons, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Gibby, obviously.”

“Oh shit you’re right. Of course. Obviously. Why didn’t I think of that?” Schlatt deadpanned, playfully smacking his forehead. Noah chuckled.

“It was just the obvious thing.”

“It was.”

“Surely.” Noah and Schlatt walked back over to the others, where they were gathering to actually go and tour the zoo. Noah grinned when he noticed Charlie had an alligator puppet on his arm and was animatedly talking to Ted, moving the mouth of the puppet.

They split off at the mouth of the zoo, Noah, Cooper, and Travis going together one way while Ted, Charlie, and Schlatt went off the other way. 

Travis dragged them around, excited to see some animals, while Noah and Cooper talked casually about stuff. Cooper was on his new skateboard, rolling along beside Noah and Travis. Cooper had skateboarded before, Noah knew, but his other board had broken at some point and he hadn’t gotten around to getting a new one before they left Los Angeles. Needless to say he hadn’t practiced in a little while, but it was easy for him to get back in the swing of it.

They ended up fucking around, watching Cooper doing skateboard tricks along the pathway, jumping over vines and stuff as he rolled along.

They didn’t really see any animals, at least not animals in exhibits, but they did go into the areas and such, looking at the aquariums and cages, seeing where animals would have been.

They got to an emptied penguin exhibit, and Cooper took one look at it before deciding it was perfect for skateboarding. Noah agreed, and Travis happily looked around for a bit before coming back to watch Cooper skate.

At some point, Charlie showed up, without Ted and Schlatt. Noah quirked an eyebrow, and Charlie shrugged.

“Schlatt said he was gonna grab something, Ted said he was gonna go look for Schlatt when he didn’t come back for a while, and now I’m here.”

“Huh. Well, I mean, you can hang with us for a little bit,” Noah offered. Then, looking over at Travis, who was looking a touch antsy, Noah suggested something else. “Or you and Travis could go and see if you can see any animals. Even just wildlife, you know? Might be cool.”

“Oh, there are some birds in the aviary, I passed it on my way here,” Charlie said. Travis lit up, and Charlie nodded, leading him out of the building that Noah and Cooper were in. Noah and Cooper stuck around for a while, Noah watching Cooper practice his skateboarding tricks. It was nice to relax for a bit. They could meet up with the others later.

_____

Ted and Schlatt and Charlie had grouped off, and they started walking around. Ted knew that he and Charlie walked kind of fast, but Schlatt had been doing a pretty good job of keeping up so far. And then they found this long walkway where the monkeys would have been, and Ted and Charlie decided to try and race, but without running. They speedwalked over the walkway, and Ted laughed at how ridiculous they must have looked, but when the walkway came to a curve, they slowed, and looked back. Schlatt was no longer behind them. Charlie sighed.

“It’s okay, Charlie, you go on ahead, see if you can find the others. Schlatt and I will catch up later,” Ted said. Charlie nodded and continued walking, while Ted walked back the other way, towards where he left Schlatt. As he came around the curve where Ted last remembered seeing him, he found Schlatt sitting on the curb of the sidewalk, one hand propping his head up. Ted sighed, walking over.

“You good?” Ted asked, stopping just nearby.

“Yeah, just. Tired, I guess. I dunno.” Schlatt’s voice sounded the part too, and as Ted looked him over, everything about his posture screamed exhaustion. Ted remembered Schlatt’s back, how marred and scarred it was, and remembered that that probably still hurt.

“How’s your back?”

“It’s fine. I mean, it hurts, but no more than usual.”

“Have you been pushing yourself?”

“I dunno. Why?”

“I know we didn’t really get along for a while, and it’s arguable that we even do now, but the others consider you a member of this group, and if I were to actually put aside my own pride, I’d agree. So that means that if something’s up, we’re gonna help you. Mental, physical, I don’t give a shit. We probably all need therapy after that shit. But you say the word, and I know like, four other people who would jump to help you,” Ted said. Schlatt chuckled a bit.

“Thanks.” Schlatt tried to stand up, but looked to be in pain as he did so, so he gave up.

“You don’t have to get up right now if you don’t want to. Or I can take you back to the van, and you can rest.”

“Gimme a sec, and then… yeah. If you don’t mind.”

“Sure.” Ted waited for Schlatt to deem himself ready, and then came over and helped Schlatt up. Ted had to be careful how he held Schlatt up, since he didn’t want to hurt him. Schlatt said it was okay, though, after a bit of fumbling, and they started walking back the way they came, back towards the entrance of the Zoo. They had to stop a couple times for Schlatt to get his bearings, but otherwise they made it back to the Van with little issue. Jambo seemed happy to see them, probably not appreciating being locked in the car.

Schlatt got in, and took his usual place in the back of the van. His eyes looked distant.

“Are you okay? Like, really. I know your back is probably sucking ass right now, but are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just… before you came back, I was just processing. You know? Lotta shit happened, I just blocked it all out. Think a lot of us did.”

“Yeah…” Ted agreed, thinking about the way he’d treated everyone, the way he’d failed to help Schlatt, the way he’d gotten people hurt and trapped and imprisoned, and yeah, he’d never really know what Schlatt went through, and he can’t say he understands, but he gets it. Needing to process. He probably needs to do that. They all probably need to do that. “Do you process better alone?”

“I’m more likely to do it alone… hard to take a sec to think when you have other people on your mind.”

“Yeah. Well, if you need to talk anything out, you can talk to us. Or I can arrange a group therapy session or something, we all just word vomit of something.”

“I’ll let you know. Thanks.” Schlatt murmured. Ted nodded, letting Schlatt alone for a bit while he went to find the others.

Ted felt bad for Schlatt. The man went through a lotta shit to protect them, and he’d thought they didn’t care at the time.it would have been terrifyingly easy to let them get hurt, and worst of all, Ted thinks he knew when the deal was even made!

He remembers the first few nights that they were there, and remembered Carson trying to make Ted shoot Schlatt. Ted had thought about it. He’d said no, but he’d thought about it. Schlatt had even begged him to. Ted had thought about it. Fuck.

He remembered Schlatt asking Carson to speak privately. That was probably when they’d made that deal. Schlatt had been here before, he’d probably known what the punishment for disobedience was, didn’t want Ted to suffer that. But why? Ted had been nothing but rude to Schlatt.

Schlatt didn’t want people to have to go through that. He had been here with someone before, he probably had to watch and endure horrible things. Didn’t want to do it again.

Ted could admire that about Schlatt. He wished he’d picked on it sooner, but he could admire that about Schlatt.

Ted walked through the Zoo, and eventually found Travis and Charlie near the Aviary, looking at random birds that had somehow managed to live.

“Hey guys,” Ted said. Charlie waved him over.

“Hey, Ted, did you find Schlatt?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah, he went back to the van.”

“Aww, was he that bummed out that he lost the race?” Charlie teased.

“Nah, he was just tired. Bad back, you know.”

“Oh shit right. Is he okay?”

“Yeah, he just wanted some time alone.”

“Gotcha. He’ll be fine, right? Like…”

“Physically? Yeah, I think he’ll heal.”

“And mentally?”

“Will any of us?” Ted asked, looking at Charlie solemnly. Charlie and Travis exchanged a glance.

“Group therapy?” Travis asked.

“Probably a good idea, but if we start drawing prompts out of a hat then I’m out of there,” Charlie admitted. Travis shuddered slightly, and Ted let out a grimacing noise. That had not been a pleasant experience. Nothing there had been, but that had been just… weird.

“Yeah, no, none of that. Still amazed how he managed to trick Carson, though. Like, that shit was insane. That guy was insane.” Ted shook his head as he spoke, expressing his disdain for the man.

“No kidding. Come on, we should meet up with the others.” Ted nodded, and Travis and Charlie led the way over to the place where the cold dwellers would have been kept, and they found Noah and Cooper near the former penguin exhibit, Noah watching Cooper practice skateboarding tricks.

“Hey, guys,” Noah greeted. Ted waved. “Did you lose Schlatt?”

“He’s chilling in the van,” Ted explained. Noah nodded.

“Yeah, I think a little alone time might be good for the guy.”

“We should get back eventually, though.”

“Yeah. Now?”

“Soon.”

“Alright. Hey, Cooper, wrap it up,” Noah called out to Cooper, who grumbled a complaint, but skated over to them anyway, handing his board up to one of them before accepting a hand from Noah getting out of the exhibit.

They started making their way back to the parking lot, going back through the gates and dropping the keys off in the office, just to be nice. As they approached the van, Ted took a deep breath. 

“Hey, before we get in…” Ted started. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at him. “Are we okay?”

“What do you mean?” Travis asked.

“Like, does anyone have shit they need to talk out or anything. I know that he probably does,” Ted jerked his head to Schlatt, still sitting unaware in the van, “but like, if anyone else does, we could probably all stand to talk about some stuff.”

“Oh. Yeah… our shit might now be as bad as what he went through, but we shouldn’t keep this shit in,” Noah said, backing him up. Ted nodded, internally glad that Noah was on his side again. The others nodded in agreement, and Ted opened the doors to the van. Schlatt was staring off into space, and blinked himself back into reality when he heard them. Jambo stretched beside him.

“Hey, Schlagg, can you get out of the van really quick? We all need to talk about some stuff.” Ted waved him out, and Schlatt sighed, pushing himself up and clambering out. They shut the door so that the cat didn’t get out, and then they all sat down.

“What’s up,” Schlatt asked.

“Talk. We’re talking right now. About stuff. What the fuck is up with you?”

“Um. Went to the zoo today, saw some bones.”

“No, I mean. New York. If you’re ready to talk, I think all of us could stand to let some stuff out.”

“And you want me to start.”

“Only if you’re ready.”

“I’m not. Someone else start,” Schlatt said bluntly. That had to be fine. If he needed time, then he was allowed to have time. It was the least they could give him.

“Alright… I can start…” Ted offered. There were a few nods. He was the one who suggested it, after all, only fair that he start. “First off, I’m sorry for being an asshole. I put everyone in danger by being as stubborn as I was, and it took me way too long to realize that. So… I’m sorry for being a shitty leader, and an even shittier friend.”

“Ah, you were trying to help. You can’t put all of that on yourself, it wasn’t like many of us were actually trying to come up with a plan,” Cooper said. “I mean, Schlatt was, and Noah definitely put his two sense in, and you could have listened to them, at least a little bit, but you were trying, and you didn’t quite trust Schlatt. Schlatt, no offense, man, but you could have at least said a little something about your plan, or what we were getting into in New York before we got there. It’s not fair that Ted puts all of that on himself.” Cooper was spitting facts, and Schlatt nodded his agreement, raising a hand in a ‘point taken’ gesture. Ted muttered a thanks, and Cooper nodded.

“I’ll go next,” Travis offered. “Ted, it was kinda scary when you sorta took over like that. It was like you weren’t even you, you just became a robot or something. Didn’t listen to anyone, we’re your friends, I know you already apologized for it, and I accept your apology, but it was still scary to see you like that.”

“I’m sorry, Trav. Next time, someone slap me out of it or something,” Ted joked. Noah raised his hand, volunteering. A few of them chuckled.

“Also, are we done telling Charlie to shut up? Every time we do that, he just kinda shuts down. Kinda sucky to watch.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, Charlie.”

“No problem. I will just very simply be talking freely after this, though,” Charlie said.

“One more thing, Schlatt,” Travis raised his hand again, addressing the mutton chopped man. Schlatt looked at him. “I get why you did it, but it was really really scary to see you get hurt like that. I just… are you gonna be okay?” Travis asked, his eyes wide and pleading. Schlatt’s expression softened, and he gave Travis a soft, comforting smile.

“I’ll be alright, Travis. Don’t worry about me,” Schlatt said. Travis let out a breath and nodded, returning the smile. There was a moment of silence as Travis finished up, and no one said anything, until Cooper was awkwardly volunteering.

“I don’t have much to say, I was just kinda chilling, trying to follow whatever bullshit Carson said to do, but I’m sorry I didn’t contribute a lot to help while we were in there. I didn’t really try to keep anyone but Travis sane, and I probably could have helped at least calming people down after tense situations. Sorry about that.”

“It’s alright, Cooper. Several of us didn’t,” Charlie said. “On that note, I think I’ll go next.” There were a few nods for him to go ahead. “Okay. I’m like the doctor of the group, right? At least unofficially, I mean. I try to help out with wounds and stuff, but I also try to listen when you guys need an ear. But I just… I felt so useless, man. I felt like I couldn’t help at all, I couldn’t lighten the mood, I was useless to talk to cause nothing was private in there, and I couldn’t even recognize that there was something really fucking wrong with Schlatt until way too late!”

“Charlie, no one expects you to be the cure-all to everyone’s problems. No one expects you to heal everything, or to be able to help every issue. That’s what this is for, to let out all of our shit and let each other know that they’re not alone, that all of us can talk. No one expects you to do all that by yourself,” Noah said, placing a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.

“I expected it of me.”

“Charlie, that’s not fair. No one person can fix everything, it’s okay to let other people handle things.”

“I guess. Thanks, Noah.”

“Course.”

“It’s your turn, by the way,” Charlie said, nudging Noah with his shoulder.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine, but I do have some questions. Schlatt, Carson was a pedophile, right?” Noah asked, turning to Schlatt. That had been revealed a while ago, but it was still disgusting for Ted to even think about.

“Yeah.”

“Was he… anything else?”

“He’s a multitude of fucked up things. You want a list? I’d be happy to shit talk him,” Schlatt offered.

“Shit talk away, my friend,” Noah said, opening up the floor for Schlatt.

“Pedophile, murder, war criminal, you know that he killed his parents? He murdered pets and shit, destroyed pretty much everything around him to run a smuggling empire… guy’s a fucking rapist and a pervert, though pedophile is maybe the worst thing to call him from that front…”

“Woah, woah, he was a rapist too?”

“He had us do slave labor and you’re surprised about that ?” 

“I mean… no, but how’d you find out?”

“A first-hand account,” Schlatt deadpanned, giving Noah a slight glare.

“First-hand… shit, wait, really? I mean I knew he was fucked up, but really?” Noah asked in disbelief, clearly drawing that conclusion way faster than any of the others did.

“I used to be pretty,” Schlatt said, almost defensively. Ted really did not like the conclusion that his mind came to for that. The others collectively grimaced when they realized, wincing and looking at Schlatt with a pitying look. Schlatt looked like he hated that.

“Did he… do anything this time?”

“No, thank god,” Schlatt said, and there was a collective exhale. It was fucked up that it even happened at all, but it was at least a tiny relief that it hadn’t happened this time. “It almost did, just before we escaped, but I talked my way out of it. Don’t worry. And don’t fucking pity me, it was years ago, I have had time to get over it, so forget about it.”

“Shit. sorry. A-anyway,” Noah tripped over his words a bit as he tried to recover the conversation, “anything that you want to tell the group about?”

“Suuure,” Schlatt rolled his eyes, and Ted could almost tell that he was thinking “haven't I already?”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“I know that you guys think that I’m probably fucked up mentally, but if you guys pity me more than a very subtle amount I will lead you to another dangerous place and not tell you, and then leave you there,” Schlatt threatened, getting oddly specific with it, likely to pull a chuckle out of a few of them. Nevertheless, the point was made.

“Point taken,” Ted chuckled. 

“That being said, I am sorry for being really fucking vague on the way here. I imagine I could have saved everyone a good bit of pain.”

“Perhaps.”

“But the past is the past, and now we can move on. So. Where to? Where are you guys gonna drag me now? I’m guessing not California?” Everyone turned to Ted. 

“Hell no. I was actually gonna ask if you had any suggestions, Schlatt.” Schlatt raised an eyebrow.

“You want me to choose? What happened to being a control freak?”

“I learned how to take a little step back sometimes recently.”

“Hmm. Fine. I, um. I hear Texas is rather nice this time of year,” Schlatt suggested with a shrug. Everyone exchanged glances, and nodded. That was as good of an idea as any.

“Texas it is,” Ted said. Having a new destination felt… good. Like they actually had somewhere to go in Texas, even though they’d have to figure everything out once they actually got there. But it finally felt, for the first time in months, that the world wasn’t just going to end. It could continue, at least for them.

The world may be shit, but they might have a future now. And as the world caves in, it does not end, not just yet.