Tack Russo

Life-Trading Team

Outpost

Livingston Colony

> *I saw Tack and broke free, wrapping him in a hug. It had been too long. He tensed, then hugged me back. "It's good to see you, nerd," he choked out. "I stole a space station."*
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Thomas "Tack" Russo is one of the Fire Lake sophomores. He is described as being short and skinny, with wild black hair and cobalt blue eyes. He is sarcastic, quick-witted, fiery and intensely loyal.

Tack is unkindly noted in Genesis as Min's "slacker friend who [can't] stop his mouth from running," possibly referring to the fact that he continually insults kids who are bigger and stronger than he is, getting cornered and beaten up for his words later on. He is fiercely independent with a biting sense of humor. In a 2019 article, author Brendan Reichs described Tack as "crass and brash but with a good heart."

## Early Life

Tack grew up living at Rocky Ridge Trailer Park alongside Min Wilder, his best friend, who he was in love with. He got his nickname from bullies at school, Ethan Fletcher and the Nolan twins, who pinned him to a bulletin board with thumbtacks in the sixth grade. They called him "Thumbtack" as a cruel joke, but he immediately adopted it and refused to respond to any other name. Tack was raised by a single father, dishonorably discharged veteran Wendell Russo, whom he revered, despite Wendell being abusive, perpetually drunk, and unable to hold down a job. Tack was also jealous of the bond that Min and Noah Livingston shared in the week leading up to the Program, unable to resist making fun of him whenever possible.

## In the Program

Tack is the first to die and reset in the Program after being stabbed by Ethan for vandalism and abandoning his search team. After the Downtown group takes control and issues martial law, Tack stays in the trailer park with Min for a while before they run out of food. After a trip to the silo that goes sideways, leading Tack to believe that his best friend is dead, he joins up with Noah's Ski Lodge team.

After Min's alleged death, Tack turns to violence, suddenly obsessed with killing everyone responsible for her loss. Before Min escapes the silo she sees that his status number is positive eight, knowing he would have to have killed a lot of people in order to keep the number that high. He also eliminates Cole Pritchard during this time. He is described by Noah as "a walking body count that had everyone in the valley quaking," and by Toby Albertsson as "a regular angel of death."

After Tack finds Min alive, he proposes the Life-Trading Team in order to save people from Sarah Harden's reset ultimatum. He stays with the survivors of this team up until the final battle in Town Square, where he sacrifices himself so that the rest of the group can move onto Phase Three.

## Chrysalis

After being resurrected with the rest of the class, Tack stays in Home Town for two months before leaving with Corbin O'Brien's farming group to establish the Outpost. There, he lives in a tent instead of a cabin and spends his time exploring the woods and drawing maps. He evades the first attempt by Chrysalis to round up the group and locates the camp where members of Nemesis 3 are hiding. With Ethan and Noah, he successfully captures Rose Valenti and tracks her to the Terrarium exit. Once onboard the station, he once again evades capture and dodges Chrysalis personnel along with the Guardian until he eventually discovers the truth about Sophia.

After rescuing Min and joining the final battle to defeat Sophia, Tack descends to Mars with the rest of the survivors. Although he is on the Livingston Colony roster, he does not live in the settlement with the rest of them, electing instead to build a cabin below Min's so he can stay close to her. Finally, in a desperate, risky attempt to see Min happy again, even knowing that she may have eventually fallen for him someday and that Sophia may be lurking in the depths of any machinery, Tack uses the cloning technology to bring Noah back to life.

## Trivia

* Tack once slept outside Min's trailer, reasoning unclear
* He and Min are the same height
* Tack was the first and last person to die in the Program
* Hogwarts House: Slytherin