“Try not to spill any of that on the seats, eh?” Nolan pleaded, struggling to keep his eyes on the road and the tray of fast food cups in my lap.

“Yeah,” I chuckled with a significant look at the pile of cans below my feet, “wouldn’t want to make the carpet any stickier.”

“I’m not worried about stickiness…” Nolan muttered.

I understood his concern, I know I wouldn’t want a gallon of blood poured in my car, but at the same time I wasn’t exactly about to upend the tray on the floor.

“You never told me what took you so long getting back from the trailer park.” I said in a bid to distract my anxious driver.

“Just talked mostly,” Nolan replied with a shrug, “turns out Nigel was really looking forward to the company and having someone who’d actually pay rent.”

“And having a Sasquatch to keep the Ghouls at bay.” I pointed out amusedly.

“Yeah, that too,” Nolan huffed, “still though, felt bad letting him down.”

“You shouldn’t,” I replied, shaking my head, “you know as well as I do that that’s Nigel’s special power. He makes you feel guilty for his shitty situation that he put himself in. No one forced him to cook meth, Hell, the town supported him when the Sheriff put an end to it, and then-”

“He went and robbed Gertie.” Nolan finished disappointedly, “How do you even remember that? You were barely out of diapers.”

“Things like that stick in your memory,” I said as we turned into our driveway, “besides, it’s a small town. Gunk sticks.”

“I suppose.” Nolan murmured, not wanting to talk about his friend, “Anyway, where do you want me?”

“Wherever,” I replied, “near the shack wouldn’t be bad, we’re downstairs.”

“Isn’t that the thing you and me converted into a bomb shelter?” Nolan asked as the driveway opened up to the clearing where the shack was.

“Yep,” I said, doing my best not to spill the drinks as we came to a harsh stop, “and we’ll probably have to do it again.”

“Damn,” Nolan scoffed, “you really got screwed over, huh?”

“You have no idea.” I replied half-amusedly, “C’mon, girls are probably hungry enough to eat… well, you.”

“Hey, not even as a joke.” Nolan said, doing his best to keep a straight face.

Balancing the four drinks, I grabbed the food, my axe, and my tote and got out of the truck, the cups of blood being the only thing that didn’t bubble over as I did.

Worrying about the structural integrity of the cardboard tray, I walked as quickly as I could to the shack while Nolan got the door, damn near tearing it off its hinges as he did.

“Millie? Liz?” I called through the closed hatch, “You guys decent?”

“It’s cold as balls, so yes.” Liz shouted back, “You bring the food?”

“And company,” I replied as I set the axe down in the kitchenette, “get clear of the hatch, would you?”

I gave them longer than was probably necessary before opening the hatch, the warm air billowing out from below drawing my attention to the fact that it was freezing.

“You go first,” I said, “need you to grab the food.”

“Sure thing.” Nolan agreed, stepping into the hatch without hesitation.

“Is that Nolan?” Millie asked excitedly, “How’d you find him?”

“He found me, actually,” I replied as I handed Nolan the food, “kind of a long story.”

“Which means he saved your arse, right?” Liz lightheartedly jabbed.

“No,” I scoffed, handing the amused and waiting Sasquatch the drinks, “but in this case, yes.”

“Anything interesting?” Liz asked.

“Not really, Monster Mash broke down, Alistair needed some help,” Nolan replied, shaking his head as he handed the girls the food and made room for me climb down, “what about you guys, get up to anything?”

“Tried sleeping some more, but I think it’ll be a while before our clocks reset. You know, provided we can’t get to level five before then.” Millie explained shortly after I’d shut the hatch, “Speaking of which, saw that quest notification, you think we’re up for that?”

“I think so,” I said as confidently as I could manage before handing Liz the tote, “I’ve got my axe, and I’m sure we can scrounge up some weapons for you guys.”

“What are you hunting?” Nolan asked, taking a seat near the fire.

“Ghouls,” I replied while Liz set the tote down on the mattress and grabbed her drink from Millie, “nothing special.”

“Provided you promise not to lose it, I got a shotgun I can loan you.” Nolan said, grabbing his burger from the bag as we made a semicircle around the fire, “I think there’s a tire iron in the truck too.”

“We can’t take your gun,” Millie scoffed, “especially not after you saved Alistair.”

“You mean the man who, with a grand total of fifty bucks to his name, bought a friend lunch?” Nolan replied with a smile, “If anyone deserves a little help, it’s you guys.”

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that the three of us felt no small amount of embarrassment by what Nolan said.

It wasn’t that we didn’t like getting credit for being good people so much as it was that the stuff Nolan felt grateful for was just things we did because they seemed right to do.

Helping to repair Connie, getting him the water purifier for his truck, it was just stuff that we felt like we owed him for all his help around the property.

“So, this job,” Liz finally said, breaking the silence, “I checked the map, says it shouldn’t be more than a few miles up the road.”

“Sounds about right.” I replied past a mouthful of fries.

“Alright, so how are we getting there?” Liz asked, “Because I know you aren’t making me walk three miles in the middle of the night.”

“It’ll be good for you,” Millie said matter-of-factly, “besides, it’s not exactly something we can help at the moment. What is important now is figuring out the bathroom situation.”

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well, it’s been fine up until now because we haven’t eaten,” Millie replied, “but now that we’re, you know, eating, it might be important to figure out what we’re going to do about… you know, going.”

I’d like to attribute what I said next to my low Intelligence, but I’ve already gone to that well a few times and, if I’m being totally honest, I could’ve had my Int maxed out with every buff in the world and probably still would’ve ended up mindlessly spouting out my suggestion.

“We’ve got a pot, right?”

“That’s what I said!” Liz exclaimed, drawing a good deal of the attention away from me, “You know the saying, well we actually have a pot to piss in.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Millie scoffed, “Her I get, her family probably shared toilet paper, but you can’t expect me to use a pot, especially not when it’s the one we’re going to use for baths.”

“Don’t most families share toilet pape-oh, you meant…” I trailed off, hoping to have defused some of the tension with humor, “Honestly though, we’ll just make sure we clean it properly. Anyway, this isn’t exactly good lunch conversation, we have company.”

“Eh, I’ve heard and said worse around the table,” Nolan joked, “in all honesty though, I could probably get you something in the way of a restroom set up before you get home after your hunt.”

“Really?” Millie asked excitedly.

“It won’t be anything special, but yeah,” Nolan replied with a nod, “provided Connie and I are still able to do a little deforesting.”

“Of course,” I said, doing my best to keep my burger in my mouth, “same deal as last time.”

“Neat.” Nolan said before finishing off his meal, dusting himself off, and slowly getting to his feet, “If it’s alright by you guys, I’m goin’ to go get settled in. Thanks for lunch.”

“Not a problem,” I replied, masking my surprise at how quickly he’d finished his food, “just bang on the hatch if you need anything.”

“Will do,” Nolan said as the girls shuffled a little, making absolutely sure they were clear of the sunlight, “I’ll leave the weapons in the kitchen in case you head out after I’ve turned in.”

“Thanks.” I said gratefully as I returned to my meal and Nolan scaled the ladder like it was nothing, disappearing through the hatch and promptly closing it behind him.

“Why do you think he’s so helpful?” Liz asked, grabbing the tote as she shuffled back over.

“He’s just a good guy,” I replied with a shrug, “always has been. My parents went to school with him.”

“Still baffles me that he’s in his fifties,” Millie said, looking up at the hatch, “he looks… Well, he looks about as old as you.”

“Sasquatches age slower,” I replied before slurping the last of my drink, “also, thank you. Really needed that confidence booster.”

“It’s your beard and his agelessness,” Millie explained, “besides, a little age looks good on a man.”

“Mmm, balding and liver spots.” Liz joked as she pulled out the blankets and books, “Four comics, really?”

“Better than being bored out of our minds,” Millie replied, “and I said ‘a little age’, not AARP-eligible.”

“Sure thing, cutie.” Liz jokingly dismissed, flicking through one of the comics, “So, what’s the plan?”

“Guess wait ‘til nightfall then hoof it.” I yawned after finishing the last of my food, “I might even try and get some sleep between now and then.”

“Probably not a bad idea.” Millie agreed, “As much as I’m sure we can handle a level three quest, I doubt we’ll be able to coast through if you’re barely conscious.”

“Exactly,” I said with a nod, “not to mention the fact that I didn’t get a ton of sleep last night and spent a bunch of time wandering around town.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Liz lightheartedly scoffed, “sounds to me like you need to justify you having a little nap.”

“Well… yeah.” I chuckled, groaning slightly as I got to my feet and kicked off my boots, “See you in a few hours.”

“You sure you don’t need music and a warm glass of milk?” Liz mocked.

“If you’ve got any, sure.” I said before collapsing on the mattress, a decision I regretted immediately as my body practically went through the thin pad.

Weirdly, the jolt of pain seemed to push me further towards sleep as opposed to waking me up, and before long I’d completely zoned out.

I didn’t feel great passing out while the girls were up, but at the same time they knew I was a heavy sleeper and could talk as much and loudly as they wanted.

Besides, dying because I was too tired to pay attention seemed a whole lot less appealing than some mild social awkwardness.