Animals We've Become/Truck Freak

Truck Freak is the eighth episode in Animals We've Become.

Issue
It was dark, so dark that I couldn’t see anything. But I suppose that’s how being knocked out works. It’s really bizarre. I eventually began to open my eyes just a little bit so I could just barely make out where I was. Somebody’s black face was right next to mine.

“BOO!!!” The black man screamed.

"Wh-Holy shit!!" Ethan screamed, spooked. Didn’t take Ethan as the scared type. But I guess we all scared sometimes.

“Ha! Got 'em!” Nick laughed, loudly. Fuck, that irritated me. I can already tell I’m not gonna enjoy being in these guys’ company.

Before us, four men stood tall. Well, two of them stood tall, the other half were kind of short. I could tell that the one in the red beanie was about my height, and the black man was actually shorter than me.

"What the fuck." I said, disconcerted. "Where are we?"

“In our lair. Our… headquarters. The Truck Yard.” a red bearded huge man said.

"Who are you?" I asked, confused, as the six people stood before Ethan and I.

"My name is Chris." the bearded man said.

"I'm Tom, dude." the skinny man said.

"I'’m Nick!" the crazy man screamed.

"I'm Joe." the elderly man said.

“Hold up!!!” Ethan yelled. “Where’s the other two, where’s the gaylords who kidnapped us!”

“What’s wrong with being gay?” Nick asks. He seemed genuinely offended by that. “I have friends that are gay and they’re like, super cool, and shit.”

"Besides, Bwent didn't kidnap you two, bwo!" Tom said. "He CLAIMED you. That's how things work awound here."

The little dude had a speech impediment, and I could tell I would not appreciate to be around him. But oh well, what could we do? They did take us against our will, after all.

The roar of a large truck interrupted the squabble. The truck drove in and pulled out next to us and a tall, muscular man stepped out. I had to admit he was decent looking, but I'm not gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

“You’re Brent,” I noted. “The guy who claimed me….”

“Yes. I am the Brent.” He pulled out a shotgun. “On your knees, boy.”

“What?”

“On. Your. Knees!”

“My knees are weak.”

Brent pointed the shotgun at my flabby pecs. “Did I ask if your knees were strong or weak, boy? Get on ‘em.”

I did as he asked. I didn’t want to be shot after all, I wanted to see Amber again. “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

“No reason,” Brent chuckled. “I just wanted to see you do it.”

I felt my eyebrow twitch. “I don’t like doing things for no reason!”

“Neither do I.” Nick agrees.

Brent slammed the butt butt of his shotgun into Nick’s central cheek “Quiet, dipshit. You wanna get locked in the truck again?”

“You’re not the boss of me!” Nick screams.

“Fuck this,” I said, standing to my feet and brushing off my knee pants. “I’m done with you’re stupid fucking rules! I DON’T CARE IF YOU CLAIMED ME, I JUST DON’T GIVE A FUCK ANYMORE I JUST WANT TO GO HOME”

Suddenly the truck door opened again and another man stepped out.

“WHOOHOOHOO FUUCK” Joe yelled

“You’re fucked now.” Nick said with a grin. “Boss gonna fuck your shit up!”

“You fuckin dead bwo…” Tom said with an evil smile.

“Heh, yeah,” Brent smiled. “Collin! Come say hi to Glenn!”

I saw the snakeskin boots before anything else. Then the tattered blue jeans, then the silver dragon’s head belt buckle. He had long hair, a forked beard, glasses and a fedora. He looked like a movie star. “Well... well... well…” He said with a smooth British accent. He was clapping slowly. “What do we have here?”

He had a sword hanging from his belt, he put his hand on the handle. “You, the young chap… You’re Glenn, right?” He got down on one knee and flicked his hat up. “I’m Collin…”

Collin stroked his beard and grinned, “This guy…” he looked at Ethan. “He your brother or something?”

I looked over at Ethan. He looked back, somberly. “Yeah,” I said. He smiled at me. "He's my brother now……..."

“Ok.” Collin. He took out his sword. “I’ve got a question for you Glenn…” He put it to my neck, it was so sharp it was already cutting me. “Have you ever been scared Glenn… Really, really scared?”

“No,” I said. I wasn’t gonna let this asshole intimidate me, even if he is english.

Collin laughed maniacally. “Hah… hah… hah… You will be…” He put his sword back in his belt and walked away. “Enough talk… Have at ‘em, lads...”

"Don't mind if we do…" Brent said, grabbing my axe and Ethan's baseball bat. We were now officially, defenseless.

"Hey!" Little Tom said, pointing at Ethan. "The dude's jacket. That mine. It CLAIMED! That what I do, bwo! I collect jackets! Got a whole bunch of them, too! And now I'm adding that one to my collection!"

"The fuck you are!!" Ethan protested

Brent and Chris moved on and forcefully took Ethan's jacket, before tossing it to Tom, who failed to catch it, letting it fall onto the dirty floor. He picked it up regardless, and put it on, hugging himself and feeling the gentle fabric of the jacket.

"Yeah, bwo! This feel nice!" he laughed a hearty laugh.

“Yo you look really good in that.” Nick laughed, holding his index finger and his thumb in the shape of an L on his face. “Not.”

"Hey, fuck you bwo!" Tom said, slapping Nick on the back of the head. "Why you always gotta be such cunt to me, dude?"

"Boys… Settle down." Joe said laughing, slapping his knee, as he separating the two midgets. He clearly had stopped the bickering duo beforehand and found the situation funny.

“Hey little man, you’ve claimed all the shit, what the FUCK!” Chris spat in Tom’s face.

Tom wagged his finger. “Nuh-uh-uh! I was fiwst! It mine now, dude!”

“Why you gotta ruin all the FUN man…” Chris shook his head and glared down Tom before storming off. “I’m gonna take a fucking shit.” he said, slamming the door shut behind him. "And no one touch that ginger kid's shoes! They're mine! CLAIMED!"

"Really, man? Why do you gotta claim all the gross stuff?" Joe said to himself.

Nick points his gun at Ethan, “Look at the little baby boy over here! Baby boy gonna cry!? Gonna cry baby boy?”

Ethan laughs, “Yeah, right. I’m the baby boy, when I’m way taller than you.”

Nick shoots the ground next to him, “Shut your fucking mouth. It’s not the height that matters. The only thing that matters is whether or not you got a gun because then nobody can talk shit.”

"LEAVE HIM THE FUCK ALONE!" I shouted as I lunged at the Little black Man. Before I could do anything though, Brent decked me. It hurt like hell.

“Nice try, nerd.” Nick smirked with pride.

"Alright, I've had it with this little shit." Brent said. "You're going to the truck yard, boy."

"Hahahahaha! That little white boy is done now!" Nick laughed a crazy laugh.

"What do you mean trucks? Like what, like a car?" I asked, confused.

“NO,” Brent said, bringing his shotgun back up. “THEY AINT CARS. TRUCKS AND CARS ARE DIFFERENT! I HATE WHEN PEOPLE DO THAT SHIT! A TRUCK IS ONE THING, A CAR IS ANOTHER! IT'S IN THE GOSH DARNED WORD! A TRUCK HAS A BED, A CAR HAS A TRUNK! THEY'RE NOT THE FUCKING SAME!”

“Oh, no need to yell, darling...” Collin said, slowly applauding as he emerged once again from the trees.

Brent’s eyes widened and his cheeks blushed with redness, like the balloon from 'It', my second favorite novel from the Stephen King of Horror, right after 'Dreamcatcher'. “Collin, not in front of our friends. Please respect my privacy.”

Collin grinned, “Yes… Quite… Whatever you say, dear…”

So this is what Nick meant by having gay friends. He wasn’t kidding.

"To the trucks! NOW!" Brent exploded, as he put his grabber on my collar and pulled me away from my brother from another mother, Ethan Walker.

"GLENN! NO!" Ethan yelled, as Brent kept pushing me. "LET HIM GO YOU FUCKING BRAINLETS!"

"You stay wight were you are, bwo!" Little Tom said, pointing his gun at Ethan. "I alweady claimed your jacket, don't push me or I'll claim moooore…" he laughed.

“Two little white boys gon' die tonight!” Nick laughed. “And it’s gonna be you two!”

Brent kept dragging me. The dusty ground created clouds around me as I resisted and struggled in his grip. It felt like I was getting dragged to the bathroom for a swirly again… only worse. This time it was so much worse. So much worse. Suddenly, he stopped. I looked up and see Collin’s sword up to Brent’s neck.

“Not so fast, Brentley, my dear...”

“WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!" Brent boomed. “Collin, I claimed these two!”

"That twue, bwo!" Little Tom agreed with Brent. "I was there, I saw it, dude!"

“I agree… but we're not done with these two…” Collin said.

Chris slammed open the door, with a pistol in his hand. He looked angry. Really angry. “What the FUCK IN HELL is going on? I go to do my deed and I come back to this… Tomfoolery!”

Collin sat me back down, next to Ethan. “You know…” he said, smirking. “We’ve been spying on you chaps for a long time… We were always there.” He started pacing around with his hands behind his back. “The school… T-Dog… The bank… The supermarket…."

“T-Dog?” I ask, could he mean my friend T?

“Yes…” He gave Ethan a sadistic grin. “I watched your cute little girlfriend die, Ethan… We could have saved her, but we didn’t. Maybe we should have… I would have claimed her myself.”

“MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!” Ethan yelled.

“HEY!” Collin yelled back, louder.

"Language!" Brent said, pointing his shotgun at Ethan's head.

“Now, listen here... BITCH!” Colin said, he put a lot of emphasis on bitch for some reason.

“Since when did FUCK become a swear word?” Chris asked.

"It always was, ya dumb quacker!" Joe replied.

“Okay, you’re beginning to get on my fucking nerves, old man. What do you even do here? I don’t even know where the FUCK you came from, when I think about it, what is even your name?”

"Yo face look like a caveman, dude!" Little Tom said, angered. "Yo bead so long I could wipe my ass with it!"

Chris got all up in Little Tom’s face and grabbed by the collar of Ethan's jacket, pushing him up against a wall. “SAY THAT AGAIN, FUR-LIP! I’LL CLAIM YOUR LITTLE BONY ASS AND BEAT YOU UP SO BAD YOU’LL SEE MORE STARS THAN THE AMERICAN FLAG OF THE U.S.A!”

“Guys, let’s stop fighting each other and focus on the real enemy. These two twerps and their gross friends by the grocery store that we’re gonna kill. By the way, I claim the redheaded woman.” Nick said.

“Nick’s right.” Joe said. “If we continue to argue like a bunch of jews fighting over rye bread who knows what’ll happen to us? These two could try to escape, and I don’t want that. I claim the handicapped kid.” Joe finished.

“EVERYONE, SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP!!!” Collin yelled, waving his sword around. “Yes… We will go back to the supermarket and kill the rest… You see, Glenn, that’s why we sent Grendel there… to investigate…” He held his sword up to Ethan. “Only this little wanker killed him, didn’t you… Ethan…”

Ethan’s fist clenched. “MY NAME IS FUCKING GRAYSON FUCKING WALKER YOU FUCKING CUNT! AND YOU'RE ALL SO, SO FUCKING FUCKED NOW!” Suddenly he escaped his bindings and ran up to Collin. “CLAIM THIS YOU FUCKING QUEER!!” He threw his balled fist and hit Collin right in the face. He glasses came flying off into the sunset. "FUCK!"

“BASTARD!” Collin yelled with gritted teeth. Brent and Tom held Grayson down. “Bastard… FUCKING BASTARD! THIS LITTLE WANKSTAIN JUST CLAIMED ME!”

“Hey! Nobody hits the boss man!” Nick says firing his gun next to him. “Next time you try that shit, I’ll pop you like a soda!”

“I’LL POP HIM RIGHT BLOODY NOW!” Collin screeched, holding his sword up to Grayson’s neck. “I’ll kill you, boy... I’ll crush you and burn you alive… Then I’ll kill your portly little friend.” He looked at me. Did that cunt just call me fucking portly? What does that mean? “Then nobody will ever know what happened to you. And I’m sure in time every bit of you will be gone… and your death will be a mystery…” He grinned evilly. “Even to me…”

“Game over for you two dweebs.” Nick laughs.

"It game over, man! Game over!" Little Tom shouted, quoting the movie Aliens, one of my favorites, if I say so myself. I might've been friends with him before all this, but that possibility was in the past now. Tom was a kidnapper, a bully. Clearly clinging to the stronger kids to protect himself, the most pathetic kind of bully. I could bet my butt that this kid used to be bullied himself in highschool. Heh, he chose the wrong path, and I am sure he is going to regret it very soon...

Collin adjusted his hat. “Lads… take Grayson here to the truckyard…”

“Bossman… are you sure?” Chris asked carefully, a shocked expression on his face.

“Are you blind as well as retarded, Chris?” He pointed his sword at Grayson. “This bi-polar little bastard just FUCKING claimed me…”

“Damn…so is he one of us now? Is he a Claimer?” Big Chris asked, confused, scratching his beard.

“He’ll never be like us… We’re pro-claimers… Now, let’s be on our way… to the truckyard…”

“Bossman… are you sure?” Chris asked carefully.

Collin held his sword up to Chris’s neck. “You’re God damned right… TRUCKYARD… NOW!!!”

Brent came and picked both of us up one hand each. As he walked by Collin, Collin slapped Brent’s ass. “Collin…” Brent said, blushing. “I told you…”

Collin winked at him and Brent took us to the truckyard.

We arrived at the truck yard. There were tons of trucks, which I had learned were not the same as cars. There were also trailers that probably were used as housing, and some picnic benches in the middle of it all.

When the truck stopped, Brent and Chris approached us and threw both me and Ethan out on the ground. Not gonna lie, it hurt really bad. The truck was pretty high up and they weren’t gentle when they threw us off. I think I handled it better than Ethan though, I swear I could hear a whimper escape his mouth as he hit the gravelly ground.

“Have a nice fall.” Nick laughed.

Big Chris and Little Tom then picked Grayson up and threw him onto one of the picnic benches and held his head down as I laid helpless on the ground watching it all unfold.

“Bossman is coming, boy. Lucky if you live to see another day on this Earth.” Chris roared with laughter, walking away giving way for his boss.

Collin walked dramatically up to him, slowly clapping and raised his sword above his neck. “Well well well… Any last words, Grayson.” he inspected his shiny, majestic blade, reflecting off the sunlight.

“E-Ethan… I'm… I'm Ethan...” Ethan said. “My name… My name is Ethan Cornelius Walker…” He looked up at me. “Glenn… Your the best friend I’ve ever had… Even more than Jason... I’m sorry for bullying you, brother.” He held his head down and waited for the Death. "Tell AJ I'm sorry, too… When you… When you see him again… Please."

“My my… How sweet…” Collin said. “I’d hate to break up such a sweet little romance… Kinda reminds me of me and Brent”

“Collin…” Brent moaned.

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Hmmm…” He smiled. “NOBODY SHOULD EVER SAY I’M NOT MERCIFUL!!!” He screamed and swung his sword down on Ethans hand. It fell off and flopped onto the gravel.

“Ahhhh…” Ethan whimpered. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHhH!!!!!!”

Trivia

 * This issue has the least amount of main characters appearing.
 * This issue has been described by the showrunner that this issue was inspired by Infinity War as this issue seemed like it was told from the villains POV just like Infinity War.
 * This issue marks the third appearance of Grayson Walker, Ethan's alter ego caused by his multiple personality disorder.
 * Ethan losing his hand was a last second decision.
 * This issue reveals that Joe wasn't the original leader of the Claimers.