STOP THE WORLD | LUKE TWDG

[ NINE ]

"I had to kill my mom..." He states "God, that sounds weird to say out loud..."

Those words hang there for a few moments as she stands beside him, after a moment, she leans back against the wall.

"Luke always used to push me..." Nick continues "I never wanted to go into business with him. I remember when he sold me on it. His big plan. Some fuckin' plan. A case of beer in, he just said Nick, we're burning daylight and that was that. After six months we were flat broke, but I didn't care...we were havin' fun." Nick carries on, taking a swig of whiskey. He offers her the jar, she shakes her head, turning it down. "Not a big drinker?" He asks. Angel lets out a little chuckle. "Depends on the occasion" is all she replies back with. There's another pause, he stares up at her.

"I wish I was like him, I wish I was like you. I wish I could just keep movin' all the time, I wish I could put all the shit that happened aside and just be a good person. But I'm just not... built like that. Everyone I grew up with. It all... happened to them. And now it's going to happen to us. We're all so fucked. This whole world is fucked."

Angel couldn't argue with that. She stays silent for a moment, sinking to sit against the wall. She reaches for the jar, taking a little swig. She grimaces at the taste for a moment before speaking.

"You remind me of...well, me" She states.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Nick asks, earning a laugh. Angel shakes her head.

"I don't think so." She states "my whole life I never had a complete family...my dad was a marine. But that...didn't mean anything. He was dishonourably discharged when I was six. I mean, I knew his brother better than I knew him...the real him, not the one that would come around when I was a teenager to ask for money and drink and...well, you get the picture. My grandparents, my moms parents, they raised me on the res. They were old, couldn't do much...I mean, they'd already had a kid. They'd already outlived her, they didn't sign up for me..." she says.

She takes another swig "and then the world ended. But you know, I had my best friend. He was like my Luke, he...he just was always on. He was so fucking charismatic and didn't care what people thought...and I had my uncle and his family and...and you know, then I didn't...and after I got out of Savannah? I was...I was a lot like you were now. Maybe worse" She states.

"Worse?" Nick asks, arching a brow at her. Angel shrugged.
"You forget I was a teenage girl and also dealing with all this...I was a fucking mess. I spent...so long looking for Clementine until Molly dragged me away. I didn't wanna live, everyone I cared about...they were already dead. And now I have her back and..." she trails off, taking a deep breath "And I don't think I'm doing a very good job, Nick. And I-I promised I would take care of her and I don't know...anything. I don't know what I'm doing. I thought I did, when I was all alone, and I just...I don't. I don't know how I survived when people better than me didn't...I just...I don't know"

There's a pause, Nick flexes his jaw slightly.

"I mean, hey...in all likelihood, we're probably just gonna march to some new place and somebody else will die. It's never gonna stop. And eventually it'll be our turn. I can't believe we've been here a day." Nick replies. Angel lets out a little breathy chuckle.

"You're drunk" She states
"No shit..." he replies "it's been a day. Have a drink with me, it'll probably be our last"

Nick grabs another jar, unscrewing the top. He raises it. "To Peter Joseph Randall, the nicest mean old bastard I ever knew" He drinks, Angel takes a small swig, then decides that's enough for now, letting out a breath as she feels the warmth spread through her chest.