Russell Johnston,^[3] better known by his nickname Rusty, is a character in Alan Wake. Rusty was a resident of Bright Falls, Washington and a ranger for Elderwood National Park. Following his divorce, he was in a relationship with Rose Marigold, a waitress from the Oh Deer Diner. He was also the owner of a Labrador retriever named Max.^[4] In 2010, after writer Alan Wake came to Bright Falls and was forced by a supernatural entity known as the Dark Presence to write a manuscript that would allow it to take over the world, Rusty was one of the victims caught in the conflict. After finding a manuscript page detailing the events of his death, he was attacked and subsequently taken over by the Dark Presence. The Taken Rusty was ultimately killed by Wake.

Appearance

Rusty was a Caucasian man with black hair. He wore a park ranger uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, dark green jacket, pants and tie, and black shoes. His jacket had patches with the logo of the Elderwood National Park on both arms. After being taken by the Dark Presence, his skin turned pale and his body became covered with darkness. He also wields an axe.

Personality

As park ranger, it was Rusty's duty to know and enforce the rules and instructions of the Elderwood National Park. He was a friendly with his fellow Bright Falls citizens and cared for the wildlife of the area, as seen when he treated an injured Max. He proved to be a selfless individual, as he, after being attacked and greatly injured by the Dark Presence, still cared for safety of Max.

Rusty frequently visited the Oh Deer Diner to drink coffee, which he seemed to greatly enjoy. Despite the age gap between the two, the ranger had romantic feelings for Rose Marigold, who made him feel young and forget about his previous failed marriage, of which Rusty still wore the engagement ring, which he hoped for Marigold to ask him to take it out.^[5] During his last moments of life, Rusty could only think of the young waitress.^[6]

After becoming a Taken, all traces of Rusty's humanity and his former self disappear, leaving only an empty shell at the disposal of the Dark Presence. In this state, like all other taken, Rusty only repeated random sentences that he had already said when he was alive.

Biography

Early life

At some point in his life, Johnston married an unnamed woman. However, the marriage turned sour and the two divorced some time before September 2010, though Johnston still kept the ring. He later started dating Rose Marigold, a waitress of the local Oh Deer Diner, despite the age gap.^[6] At one point, he also taught her how to dance.^[5]

Bright Falls AWE

On September 1st, 2010, Johnston was at Oh Deer Diner drinking coffee as usual while also keeping an eye on the Anderson Brothers, who had wandered-off from the Cauldron Lake Lodge and were having an outing at the diner. It was then when writer Alan Wake, who had traveled to Bright Falls along with his wife, Alice, entered the diner looking for Carl Stucky, who was supposed to give him the key to their cabin. After Marigold informed the writer that Stucky had gone to the restroom, Johnston greeted him and advised him to try the coffee, though he jokingly told him not to blame him for falling in love as it will "break [his] heart when he [had] to leave". Marigold then added that the ranger was no longer a human but "black coffee under a thin layer of skin". After Wake met the Anderson Brothers, Johnston informed him who they were.^[7]

A week later, when Max's foot got caught in a bear trap, Johnston took him to the Elderwood Visitor Center to treat him. Marigold visited him and brought him some coffee. Shortly after, Wake, along with his agent and friend Barry Wheeler, arrived the visitor center to met to rent a cabin from him. As he was busy with Max, Johnston asked him to bring him the registration form and sign it. After Wake did so, the park ranger gave him the cabin keys. The writer then asked him how to reach Lovers' Peak. Johnston informed him that it was located at the end of the Nature Trail and told him that he could use the radio mast to guide himself. He also advised him to be careful with the bear traps, citing what happened to Max, and expressed concern about a group of campers he had not heard from recently.

Sometime later that day, Johnston found a manuscript page that described the visitor center being attacked and the park ranger himself being injured in the process.^[8] At night, Johnston was working late at the visitor center when suddenly the area began to tremble. At first, the ranger believed it was an earthquake but he then noticed that something was wrong when his car started up with no one in it. A Taken logger appeared and attacked Johnson with his axe. The park ranger tried to defend himself with his revolver but it was useless as the bullets did not seem to hurt him.^[9] The Dark Presence then smashed directly into the front of the visitor center, hurling Johnston into a back wall and severely injuring him.^[8] The park ranger tried to move but he then realized that his legs had been twisted; in addition he also had a broken rib stabbing him on the inside.^[10] Max, on the other hand, was inside his kennel, unharmed.

Wake - who was on his way to Lovers' Peak - arrived at the scene and found a bleeding Johnston. The ranger told Wake that the events described in the page he had found earlier had come true and urged him to go to the nearby office to turn on the lights before the Dark Presence returned. However, by the time Wake reached the circuit breaker, it had already been destroyed with an axe. The Dark Presence reasserted itself and a group of Taken entered the visitor center. Wake could hear as the park ranger screamed agony. While Max was killed, Johnston was taken by the Dark Presence, becoming a Tele-flanker. In his last moments of consciousness, he though about Marigold and lamented that she was never able to ask him to take his ring off.^[6] Wake returned to the visitor center and found a huge hole in a wall. Steeping out into a yard, he was attacked by the Taken Johnston, who was maniacally reciting the park rules. Using the park ranger's revolver, Wake fought the Taken and killed him. He would later find a manuscript page detailing the ranger's final moments.^[8]

Legacy

The following morning, Wake took Wheeler to the ruined visitor center to see the scene of his battle with Johnston. Sheriff Sarah Breaker was called to visitor center to investigate the ranger's death alongside Mulligan. The two cataloged it as a crime scene, with the sheriff reasoning that so much blood could only point to a murder.^[9]

The shock of such a brutal incident soon attracted many curious townsfolk. Other park workers, who lived nearby and had felt the Dark Presence shaking the area the previous night, suggested that the earthquake might had brought down a wall on top of Johnston, and that the trail of blood evidenced that a bear had dragged away the corpse, while another proposed theory was that a drunk logger had accidentally crashed his truck into the visitor center, strucking Johnston, and hid the ranger's body to cover up the crime. Possibly the closest theory to the truth was suggested by an unidentified old man, who voiced his opinion that an evil spirit had killed and taken the park ranger away. The sheriff's deputies, however, dismissed this as a joke. As part of the investigation, Breaker asked Wake if he had seen or heard anything the previous night. The writer decided it was better to hid the truth about the incident to prevent her and the other citizens of severely doubting of his sanity or even accusing him of murder.^[9]

While being interrogated by former FBI agent Robert Nightingale, Marigold was asked if she knew anything about Johnston's disappearance as local authorities were still unable to find him. However, the young waitress, who unbeknownst to Nightingale had been touched by the Dark Presence, was unable to give a straight answer and could only babble about her liking Johnston and admitting that she gave him free coffee.^[11]

During his time trapped in the Dark Place, Wake re-experienced a distorted version of the events when he first arrived at the Oh Deer Diner, where he came across illusions of several Bright Falls residents including Rusty.^[12]

Gameplay

Description

Rusty is a Tele-flanker-type enemy, capable of moving at extremely fast speeds. However, once his darkness shield is burned away, he will lose this ability. As is usually the case with bosses, Rusty also has more health than a normal Tele-flanker or any other type of Taken.

Strategy

• Rusty will move erratically all around the visitor center and the adjacent yard. It is advisable not to fight him inside the lobby as it is too narrow.
• Waiting in front of the hole in the visitor center wall while boosting the flashlight will essentially block his path.
• The only weapon available to the player is the revolver. Nevertheless, they will find an unlimited supply of ammo on the yard.

Achievements

#	Icon	Name	Description	Further details	Points	Trophy
5		Under a Thin Layer of Skin	Defy the park ranger.	Kill the Taken Rusty in Episode Two: Taken (story related; cannot be missed).	10G	Bronze

Quotes

Human Form

• "No! Aaaagh! No! No!"
• "Oh, God! Please! Help me!"
• "Anybody? Help me!"
• "H-Help...!"
• "Can you hear me? Anyone? Please! help!"
• "Help! Help me! Somebody?"
• "Back here, I'm back here! Hey, please help me!"
• "I'm here! I..I'm hurt...can't...move.."
• "It knew...so dark..."
• "Mr. Wake, it happened just the way it was on that page I found...came true."
• "It'll come back for me....you must...the lights in the office. I..I have the key."
• "The whole place started shaking...I thought it was an earthquake, but then...then my car started up with no one in it. What's going on, Mr. Wake?"
• "Urggghhh...Urgh. A presence...so dark..like the forest at night...woke up."
• "It'll be back, I know it will. It hasn't finished with me yet."
• "Put on the lights, Mr. Wake. Please?"
• Have you seen Max? Is he ok? Here boy... Max.
• "I wish Rose were here. I should have told her...told her sooner how I feel about her."

Taken Form

• "Please don't feed the animals!"
• "Obey...the park ranger's instructions...at all times!"
• "Fishing is only permitted for those visitors who purchase...a park fishing license!"
• "Never approach closer than one hundred yards to bears and wolves. Never approach any other wildlife closer than twenty-five yards."
• "Pets...must...be leashed at all times. Never leave your pet unattended!"
• "It is against...the law to remove any natural objects or historical artifacts from the park grounds. This includes even rocks you may find along the river or even simple berries, sir...!"

Trivia

• Rusty was one of the only people other than Alan Wake to discover a Departure manuscript page. The page is found directly in front of the Visitor Center when Alan arrives there that night, apparently having been dropped by Rusty.
• It's implied that the Coffee Thermoses throughout Alan Wake possibly belong to him.
• It is noted in the novelization that the attack of the Elderwood Visitor Center was the first time Rusty had used his gun in the line of duty.

Behind the scenes

• Originally, Rusty was going to occupy the role of Sheriff of Bright Falls or a deputy before the role was ultimately given to Sarah Breaker.
  • In the game files, Rusty is still reffered to as a deputy instead of a ranger.
• As seen in the E3 2009 presentation, before his role was reduced, Rusty was going to meet with Alan at a local diner to inform the writer that he had found many of his manuscript pages and that he should later meet him in a more private location. Later at night, Alan would make his way to the Elderwood National Park to meet Rusty. Much like in the final game, Wake finds a page describing the ranger's demise and the Visitor Center is subsequently attacked by the Dark Presence and Rusty is severely injured. Unlike the final game, however, Rusty would have been dragged away, either by the Dark Presence or the Taken, to Stucky's Gas Station. Before dying from his injuries, the park ranger would have told Alan that he had hidden the manuscript pages on a nearby lighthouse.^[13][14]

Appearances

• Alan Wake
  • Episode 1: Nightmare
  • Episode 2: Taken
  • Special 1: The Signal (memory)

See also

Manuscript pages

• Rusty Dying
• Rusty Attacked by the Dark Presence
• Rusty's Final Thoughts
• Rose and Rusty

Gallery

Rusty bandaging Max in the original game

Rusty bandaging Max in the remaster

Rusty after being attacked

Rusty after being attacked in the original game

An injured Rusty tells Alan that what was on the page became real.

Rusty model in Alan Wake Remastered

References