InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Does this unit have a soul?"

Lorna Dane (geek_magnet) wrote in devolve,
@ 2011-01-30 13:11:00

Entry tags:

lorna_dane, sam_guthrie

Who: Sam and Lorna
What: Working on a car and talking
Where: Garage
When: Late morning
Rating: PG-13 (Language)
Status: Complete

Lorna hadn't asked Kurt. She fully expected Bobby to conspire with the blue fuzzy elf against her, convincing him that the horrible truth of their world would break her poor frail psyche. Fucker. She was stronger than that dammit. She'd been out there two years ago for as long as it had taken her to fly back from Iowa. Seen her hometown in flames, the looting, the survivors turning on each other and the zombies killing everyone in their paths.

She'd also seen the other side. People helping other people, trucks full of survivors driving away as fast they could, people too injured to continue forcing the others to go on. No matter what Bobby was telling himself, it had never, ever been as bad as he convinced himself it was now.

Or else two years later, they wouldn't still be here. They wouldn't have been able to build a wall and make themselves relatively safe. Hank wouldn't have time to spend all of his time working on a cure. There wouldn't be time to take a time out to play in the snow or watch fireworks. Those were luxuries people who were just barely surviving didn't have. Turning the wrench with her powers as she held the coolant tank in place with her hands since it was plastic, Lorna made a decision. She'd ask the one person who she was certain would be completely honest with her if she asked.

Because Sam was the worst liar she'd ever seen in her life. Except for maybe Pete. It was a toss up between the two. But Sam was right here and he was less likely to try and gloss over the bad details to spare her feelings.

"Hey, Guthrie," Lorna called as she finished tightening on the washer. "Come check my work." Straightening up, she took ahold of the wrench she'd been levitating. The metal was warm, as if someone had actually been holding it the entire time. She'd learned long ago that she had more torque with her powers than her own arms, no matter how much she worked out. It had been good practice for her precise control really.

Having Sammy check to make sure she'd installed the new coolant tank correctly was kind of a ruse. She just didn't know how to lead into this kind of conversation without going on a full rant about how Bobby had quoted a fucking depressing musical at her when she was sincerely trying to find out what was wrong with him. Not that the entire place probably hadn't seen their argument.

"Sam, what's it really like out there?" she asked quietly, picking up a rag to wipe off her hands. "Outside the walls."

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_rocket_butt_
2011-01-31 06:16 am UTC (link)

Sam looked up at the sound of Lorna's voice and put down his own wrench on the tool cart he had pulled up in front of the truck he'd been working on.

"Like you really need me doin' that at this point." He headed over anyway, wiping his hands on a rag as he walked, though it just spread the grease around. He was just bending over to look at what she'd done when she spoke again and he stopped where he was, still leaned over, before methodically checking her work and then straightening. He took a slow, even breath and then leaned back against the car as he turned to face her.

"What brought that on?" he asked rather than immediately answering her question. He'd get around to it, if she really wanted to know, but first he wanted a chance to gather his thoughts. And to know just what had put that particular bee in her bonnet.

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geek_magnet
2011-01-31 06:22 am UTC (link)

"Hey, you're still the mechanics master," she reminded him. Lorna had gotten better, but really, Sam had been doing this for years.

Lorna sighed and levitated the wrench over to the toolbox to put it away. "Bobby," she told him honestly. "I found him on the roof afternoon before last trying to bury himself in a snow pile. I made the mistake of trying to get him to tell me honestly what's been eating him. Big mistake."

She finished wiping her hands and tossed the rag next to the toolbox. "Dammit, Sam, I know I haven't been outside the colony in a year, but I can't believe that things have gotten so much worse that it's time to give up." She sighed again and wrapped her arms around herself. "But if it is that bad, I want to know. Unfortunately, Bobby thinks I'm too fragile or something like that. Jackass..."

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_rocket_butt_
2011-01-31 07:17 am UTC (link)

Sam sighed and scrubbed a still-greasy hand across his face and up into his hair. He'd more than half suspected it'd had something to do with her fight with Bobby the other day, though it would have been nice to be proven wrong.

"If he thought it was time t'give up I doubt he'd still be goin' out there three times a week," he pointed out quietly. "An' I don't believe he thinks you're too fragile t'hear about it any more'n I believe he's given up. Don't have a clue what he actually does think at this point 'bout much of anything, but I'm pretty damned sure it ain't either of those."

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geek_magnet
2011-01-31 07:49 am UTC (link)

Lorna chuckled wryly and walked over to where she'd tossed her rag. Picking it up, she headed over to Sam and swiped away some of the grease he'd just smeared on his face. Men.

"I know, Sam," she muttered. "I really do. Bobby's just really, really good at getting to me. It's really not fair." She looked into his eyes. "But really, is any better or worse out there than it was a year ago? Two years ago? I remember when I flew back here. I saw some bad stuff, but I saw some good too. I just can't believe there'd be anyone left to trade with if it was really just a numbers game like he said."

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_rocket_butt_
2011-01-31 08:07 am UTC (link)

Sam scrunched up his face and grimaced slightly as she scrubbed at him. It reminded him uncomfortably of something Momma would have done, and that wasn't anything he wanted to be thinking about just then.

When she was done he tucked his hands into his pockets and fixed his gaze on the floor while he listened to her, and thought about how to answer.What he wanted was to not answer. To not even have to think about the things her question brought to mind. Seeing what was out there once a week was more than enough, he spent the rest of the week doing his damnedest to forget all about that one day.

"I guess it depends on what you think of as better or worse," he finally answered, gaze fixed resolutely on a spot on the floor.

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geek_magnet
2011-01-31 09:15 pm UTC (link)

It probably was something his mother would have done. Which yeah, wasn't something she'd intentionally do because Lorna didn't want to upset Sam that way. Losing their mother had probably been the hardest part of this for the entire Guthrie family. Reminding him of that loss was the last thing on her mind.

His answer was less than encouraging. "Sammy, you are not helping my crisis with being vague," Lorna pointed out. "I don't expect it to be great out there. If it was, we wouldn't have closed ourselves in here so tightly. What I want to know is if the world's still falling apart or worse. Or if it's starting to put itself back together. Because I can't really believe there'd be anybody to trade with if it was still falling apart like the first few weeks after the virus hit."

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_rocket_butt_
2011-02-01 12:12 am UTC (link)

"Sorry." Sam bit back a sigh and shoved a hand through his hair again, this time leaving it in place at the back of his neck. It wasn't that he didn't sympathize with her worries, it was that he was trying really hard to avoid a crisis of his own.

"It's...different. The world ain't fallin' apart so much any more, but that's partly because it'd be pretty damned hard for it t'fall much farther than it has," he finally answered. "Far as I know we might be the last place in the world with electricity. There're some folks out there holdin' on like we are, but it's dang hard t'do much putting back together with the virus still loose an' the nightmares still comin' to get you. There's the farm colony we trade with, an' the Morlocks keepin' together and keepin' each other safe, and a few other local groups holed up here an' there. Probably about the same almost everywhere by now."

He did sigh this time and looked up at her finally, blue eyes sad and old in a too-young face. "An' there's folks that prey on them when they can, an' try t'come after us when they're stupid enough or desperate enough. We're safe, an' we're gonna stay that way, an' even if Hank don't find a cure this thing'll run itself out eventually, if only 'cause the last of the infected rotted away without infecting anyone else...but it ain't near so good for much of anyone else out there."

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geek_magnet
2011-02-01 08:45 am UTC (link)

Actually, what Sam was telling her was pretty much what Lorna assumed. Not everyone was lucky enough to have the kind of technology and engineering geniuses on hand. Life outside their colony had to be pretty primitive. But the fact that they were still around after two years was telling.

"The human race is tougher than we give ourselves credit for, Sammy," she told him. He was too young to have seen what he had. All of them were, really. "Hank will find a cure if anyone can. And even if he doesn't, it won't be the end. You know that. Hell, Bobby probably even knows that. But it's got to be hard to see that all the time."

Lorna smiled softly. "Thanks, Sam," she told him. "For being honest with me."

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_rocket_butt_
2011-02-01 09:26 am UTC (link)

Sam shrugged and looked down again. "It is what it is, ain't no point bein' anything but honest." Even if he'd left out things like putting down people, kids even, like rabid dogs, because they weren't actually people anymore, and all the advanced scouting in the world couldn't keep them from running into the undead some of the time. And sometimes the scouting wasn't meant to keep it from happening, because if they dealt with a horde of them then it meant that someone else, someone less able to handle it, wouldn't have to deal with them later.

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geek_magnet
2011-02-01 10:01 am UTC (link)

Lorna knew about that as well. Some of them made it to the gatehouse, had to be destroyed with the perimeter guns and while that wasn't as visceral as what the groups that went out did, it was the same reality.

She felt sorriest for Kevin, who literally had the job of cleaning up the mess the zombies left behind. "It is what it is," she agreed grimly. "Sometimes I wish I could do more to help you guys, but we all know my powers don't do jack to the damned things." Unless she managed to bash one's head open with a large chunk of metal and pulverize the brain. Which was harder than it sounded and much less efficient.

With her ability to generate magnetic shields and levitate for short distances, Lorna had considered scouting. But she couldn't maintain them for the long haul. Which was why she knew she belonged back at the colony defending it.

"For what it's worth, it helped," Lorna told Sam. "Maybe the rest of us need to start stepping up more. It was only a matter of time before it to people, right?"

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	_rocket_butt_ 2011-02-01 11:48 pm UTC (link)
	"Everyone does what they can, where they can. Don't think there's anyone who ain't pulling their own weight, even the kids," he answered, glancing back up at her again and smiling faintly. "Not sure what about it helped." He shrugged again, still faint smile going decidedly cockeyed. "But I'm glad it did." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

geek_magnet
2011-02-02 05:44 am UTC (link)

He was right. It was just an ugly job and somebody had to do it. None of them had it easy, especially the little kids. Lorna smiled a bit at him. "I worry too much," she admitted wryly. "Not that you didn't know that already."

Time for a subject change, since she hadn't intended to drag Sam's mood down. "Hey, you just confirmed I don't need a second opinion to install a coolant tank," she reminded him. "You think that doesn't help?"

Tossing the rag she'd tried to remove some of the grease in his face off to one side, she folded her arms over her chest. "What's next, Guthrie?"

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_rocket_butt_
2011-02-03 07:04 am UTC (link)

It would have been pretty hard to drag Sam's mood any farther down just then, but he appreciated the effort. He turned to survey the garage, and considered telling her that lunch was next. It was Sunday, after all. They were supposed to take the day off, though he rarely did.

He needed the distraction of work just then, though, and he looked across to one of the trucks he'd taken out of the rotation a couple weeks back, unhappy with the state of the tires. They'd found a good set of replacements recently, though, so that they could have new tires on it and still have usable spares, and they were stacked against a side wall.

"Let's swap out the tires on that one." He nodded towards the truck and headed for the stack of spare tires.

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