The sun rose early over the wasteland. The sky a pale orange with dark grey clouds.
Gravel crunched underfoot as a shadow lurked along the dimly lit street. A fire glowed from a barrel ahead, two large silhouettes danced on the wall. A young girl pulled a small silenced pistol from her hip, as she traced the wall toward the dilapidated house on her right.
A quiet grunt punctuated the silence. The girl pulled a knife from her boot and leveled her pistol across her wrist. Things were about to get interesting. The sounds of feet on concrete echoed around the still street as two figures bolted toward the girl.
Two quick clicks came from her left hand as she charged at the now frenzied ghouls before her. Blood dripped onto the concrete and shrieks of pain cut through the calm morning air. The girl jumped back and fired her pistol twice more, the first tearing through one ghoul's chest, sending a hail of broken ribs and lead throughout.
The second shot caught it's target dead in the left eye, shattering and splattering the skull around it. Two thumps and a spray of blood and brain were the only sounds that followed. The was girl now panting and sweating as the chems took their toll on her body. She dropped to her knees, clutching her shirt as pain tore through her torso.
Her vision began to darken and blur as she slumped quietly onto the concrete.
When her eyes opened she snapped them back shut. A blinding light shone overhead and garbled voices could be heard nearby. She opened her eyes again to find the source of the sound and everything came into focus.
She was in a small room with a bright lamp overhead. A young red haired woman sat nearby watching her intently. "I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up missy, how do you feel?" the girl sat up and pushed a tangled lock of white hair out of her eyes, "like i crashed hard.. how did i get here?"
She looked down and noticed that her grimy clothes and gear were nowhere to be seen, "better yet, where the hell are my things?!" the woman stood and put a hand on the girl's shoulder, then spoke softly "slow down kiddo, you don't worry about any of that right now, just rest. i'll explain everything to you when you're not in such a bad way okay?" the girl nodded and laid back down.
Sleep came surprisingly easy to her that night, more so than any night in recent memory.
...
When she awoke she was surprised to see the woman still sitting beside her, head slumped and quietly snoring. She must have stayed up with me all night, the girl thought. She sat up and swung her feet over the edge of the cot on which she had been laying. Cold concrete greeted her and she shivered as it crept up her legs to the rest of her body.
Her warm cloak had been replaced with a white tank top and thin underpants, both cleaner than she had ever seen before. The shirt was slightly too big for her, causing the straps to constantly need adjusting, but she was glad to even be alive at this point, considering what had transpired the morning before.
A few steps around the room revealed a door on the opposite wall from where her bedding was. She walked toward it as quietly as she could. She was still wobbly, but kept her footing as neared the door. It was unlocked, and she pulled it open carefully. Despite her caution, the old door began to creak loudly. She stopped in her tracks, not wanting to wake the woman that had been keeping watch over her.
After a moment of quiet she turned and slid through the small crack, leaving it open behind her. The room beyond much larger, a counter ran along the back wall near a door, books and bits of plants and other such refuse were scattered around the metal counter.
The door opened suddenly startling the young girl. She ducked and hid by the edge of the counter. A cracked mirror across the room allowed her some view of the door as two men strolled in casually, closing the rusty door behind them. They both had guns slung across their backs, assault rifles, probably chinese from the shape. one of them was a large dark skinned man with a duster and an old fashioned cowboy hat, a gold star adorned his chest.
The other was a gruff looking fellow with long matted dreadlocks and a beard. They made their way into the room where the red haired woman slept, tossing the door open, clearly not hesitating to wake her up.
"Moira, it's ten thirty, you need to get up and open the store," one of them said in a slightly raised voice. A soft yawn sounded from within the other room, followed by panicked babbling "oh no! lucas where did she go? she was here last night! she was right here, i gave her a stimpack and some fixer and now she's just gone! oh golly i hope she didn't just take her stuff and leave, she was in terrib-" "Moira, calm down, she's in the lobby hiding; I think we scared her coming in" another voice cut in.
A relieved sigh cut the tension and footsteps thudded their way back into the open room. The dreadlocked man came into view as he made stepped to the end of the counter and crouched near the frightened young girl. He smiled and extended a hand to her. A few silent moments passed before she took it, and lifted herself from the ground.
The dark skinned man walked over to her and extended his hand as well and spoke, "Good to see that you're doing well ma'am, from what i hear you've been through quite a bit the past day." she looked at him cautiously and shook his hand. He grinned and spoke again, "but I'm getting ahead of myself. Name's Lucas Simms, I'm the sheriff around here." the girl replied shakily "nice to meet you sheriff, I'm Katya Jurgen... would you mind explaining where i am and how i got here?"
Lucas grimaced, "Sharps here pulled you out of an abandoned building near Springvale," he nodded to the other man and continued. "you were pretty beat up, and we found enough chems on you to keep a squad of raiders junked up for a month. he brought you back to town, the doc wouldn't have it, so Moira offered to let you stay here in the crater-side supply."
Katya looked around nervously and whispered "my chems.. what did you do with my chems?..." Moira spoke up for the first time since lucas had woken her, "I put your things in the locker over there" she pointed to a small row of lockers behind an open door "you can have it all back but i really wish you would leave the chems... i have plenty of fixer if you-" "No. I- I mean no thank you... you've helped me enough as it is. I just need a fix right now..."
"Well when you get settled, talk to Sharps, I think you owe him some favors for saving your ass back there in springvale," lucas said abruptly and walked out the door.
Sharps turned to her and frowned, "sorry about him, a junkie killed his wife a few years back, left him and his son alone. He's not too keen on the subject." katya looked down somberly "that.. must have been terrible.. i had no idea," Sharps rested his hand under the small girl's chin and lifted her gaze to his, "now now there, don't get all down on me; and don't let him make you think you owe me anything, i just did what i felt was right. Though i could use a hand with some scavenging.
The little girl's attention piqued at the mention. "scavenging for what exactly?" the scruffy man smiled revealing some missing teeth" "why anything and everything good Moira here deems worthy of being bought. books, guns, meds, food, hell she'll even buy toys and spare parts if you can manage to find them!"
"that's right!" Moira chimed in enthusiastically "here at the crater-side supply, you find, we buy!" Katya grinned and nodded "Sounds easy enough. I'm in." sharps chuckled, "don't kid yourself missy, its dangerous work, but ill be with you, and judging by your gear you probably know how to handle yourself."
She nodded and started to speak but was cut off by Moira, "Before you do anything, I'm going to make sure you're in good enough condition for all that." she turned to sharps, "just give me an hour to get her checked out and she's all yours. he nodded and walked out the door.
...
An awkward silence hung over the store as Moira ran her diagnostics on katya. Then a question popped into the little girl's mind "where did these clothes come from?" The red haired woman looked up and blushed, "well when sharps brought you in your clothes were pretty dirty, so i took them off and cleaned them for you and lent you some of my stuff to wear in the meantime." she chuckled nervously, "i even washed you off as best as i could, i hope you don't mind.
Katya's mind raced at the thought of this stranger removing her clothes, seeing her naked, and bathing her. her thoughts were halted by Moira's warm hand on her bare thigh, she turned and locked eyes with the woman. it seemed like hours had gone by before they broke eye contact, both looking away and blushing.
The door opened behind them and Sharps walked in, holding an large pistol and a few magazines of assorted ammunition. He held them out to katya who was still red faced and grinning nervously. "what's this for?' she asked. The man grimaced, "your gun wasn't exactly in great shape miss, thought you could use something cleaner and less... prone to exploding when you use it," katya laughed, "I guess you're right, let me grab the rest of my things and i'll be ready to go"
She turned to Moira -who tossed her a small key- and stepped toward the locker. the tumblers clicked as the key did it's work and the door opened to reveal her cloak, daggers and nearly broken pistol neatly stacked on top of a large satchel. She grabbed the cloak and threw it on over her new underclothes and holstered her weapons.
The satchel was the only thing left in the locker, and she hesitated before reaching for it, but did so anyway. She turned to sharps and shouldered the bag, its contents rattled around as she did so. "ready when you are," she said calmly. He nodded and they started for the door.
...
It had been only a few hours since Katya and Sharps had set off, but she could already feel her addiction taking over. "Sharps," she said, "i have to stop for a minute..." he nodded and turned back toward the girl. They sat down and Katya reached into her satchel, pulled out a small cartridge inhaler from one of its many compartments, pressed it against her mouth and clicked the button on the side.
The small device hissed as it released its chemical gas into katya's lungs and her eyes reddened. She exhaled slowly as the world around her started to vibrate. Her vision sharpened and her muscles tensed. Sharps grunted and shook his head but said nothing.
It was nearly midday, and their destination loomed ahead; a crumbling monument of humanity's old world commerce. "The super duper mart," sharps mused, reaching for the rifle slung across his back and checking his magazine. Katya unholstered her pistols and did the same.
She looked over to the large man accompanying her, he had a look in his eyes that said he was uneasy, something she had never seen before. He turned to her, his normally cheery expression replaced by a serious scowl. "Katya, " he said quietly "are you sure you can handle yourself? This place is probably filled with raiders or other nasty sorts," she nodded and cycled a round into her gun, "Don't worry about me. Lets move."
They traced along the side of the building to a back entrance with no sign of trouble. Sharps paused and grabbed a key from his coat, then quietly opened the door and peeked inside. He turned and motioned for katya to wait, then slung his rifle and reached for the oversized combat knife on his belt.
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then crouched and darted through the door.
Katya peeked through just in time to see Sharps pounce, his free arm wrapped around the target's neck and the knife plunged into the side of his skull, the only sound made was a slight scrape when he pulled the saw-backed blade from it's temporary sheath.
He eased the lifeless raider to the floor and switched weapons, this time to a silenced 10mm pistol. Katya slipped in the door and screwed her silencer on. It was apparent that sharps was in no hurry to give away their position.
The room they had entered into was small and cluttered, another door was visible to the right. Sharps rummaged around the dim room, opening drawers and cabinets looking for anything salvageable. The doorknob to the right rattled and they both turned, guns ready. The door swung open, revealing a large man with a tire slung over his shoulder and a menacing leather mask adorning his face. He glanced between the two intruders.
"well shit," he grumbled and snapped a hand down to draw his weapon, three clicks caught him short and tore through his chest and shoulder, sending him sputtering to the floor. Sharps looked to katya, who still had her pistol drawn and was aiming at the downed raider.
A moment later she lowered her weapon and moved to search the body. The man wasn't carrying much; just a few bullets, two syringes of psycho and a machete, but she took them all the same and slung the machete over her cloak.
Sharps had fared better in his search, the drawers had contained several boxes or ammunition and a sack full of bottle caps. Some of the drawers had food stored in them. It wasn't much, but not a bad haul for the first room. They made their way out of the room into a darkened hallway that lead to the pharmacy.
It had a large bar with an open window running the length of it, the cavernous room beyond was littered with shelves, half standing half overturned. Catwalks adorned the tops of the standing shelves and several raiders moved amongst them in the dim light. Sharps turned to katya and motioned for her to wait. She nodded in compliance and hunkered down against the wall.
Sharps pressed on quietly and surveyed the room, it was empty aside from a stack of metal boxes and footlockers near the counter. He turned back to katya and waved her over. "check these boxes, I'm going out to clear the rest of the store," he said quietly and calmly. She looked at him with wide eyes, "you can't go out there alone, if even one of them sees you, you're as good as dead!"
He grinned sheepishly, "well then i suppose i'll have to just be extra careful, won't I?" She started to protest but he held his hand up and slipped off before she could say another word.
The main room of the super duper mart was enormous, Probably the biggest single room Sharps had ever seen. He marveled at it as he scuttled along silently. he was less afraid of being seen than being heard. The dim lights would mask his appearance even if one of the raiders looked directly at him, but they also made it nearly impossible for him to see the many piles of empty cans and other such refuse covering the floor.
He had nearly gotten across the floor when his foot hit something soft and he nearly lost his balance. The object his foot came in contact with stirred suddenly and groaned. Oh shit he thought. His free hand zoomed to his belt and a silver flash trailed behind it as he struck at the half conscious raider he had just awoken.
The blade sank deep into the man's throat, halting any alarm he might have tried to raise. Blood dripped quietly to the floor, as the raider gurgled away to the afterlife. Sharps sighed and wrenched the blood-soaked knife free. Close call.. need to be more careful, he thought and began to move again.
...
Now this is a score, katya thought to herself as she recounted everything the pharmacy had to offer. Four boxes of ten millimeter ammo, a menacing combat shotgun and two belts of assorted shells for it. A handful of fragmentation grenades, several cash registers full of bottle caps and paper money from before the great war. The most intriguing item she had found so far was a medium length metal tube adorned with a mouthpiece and two holders full of needle sharp darts. She pulled one off and examined it. there was a small cone at the opposite end of the point.
It was then that she realized what she was holding. A blowgun? oh wow sharps is going to flip when he sees this. She brandished the ancient weapon and stuffed a dart into the mouthpiece, aimed at a nearby wall and exhaled violently. The projectile sailed through the air, then buried itself into the crumbling concrete wall.
Katya grinned mischievously as she retrieved the dart, then snuck over to the window and aimed her newfound tool at a raider standing atop one of the nearer shelves. Her hands were shaky as she plucked a large broad-head dart from the gun's quiver and fumbled it into the mouthpiece.
Her head was pounding, her vision blurring. She needed to jet up.
...
Sharps was standing inside the manager's office when he heard someone scream near the pharmacy. Katya! he thought frantically and bolted out of the office. Once outside it was clear that something had gone awry. Several of the raiders patrolling the catwalks had begun to converge on the pharmacy, weapons drawn.
...
Katya was too busy shoving shells into her new shotgun to think about anything else. The raiders were coming, and they were far from happy. She pocketed a handful of extra shells and darted through the hall aft, into the back of the store. Once inside she threw the door closed and slumped beside it.
Twisted laughter sounded from beyond the door and footsteps thudded softly on the cold concrete. She stood and snapped the shotgun's bolt back, chambering a round. Before she could make a move, the door exploded inward in and slid across the floor.
Her hand flew to her mouth to keep from screaming as a lone man walked into the room. He had no visible weapon save for his massive rippling muscle. His shoulder was covered in the same blood that streamed down from his cheek, where a small yellow cone protruded from the skin.
The terrified young girl slowly shouldered her weapon, aimed directly at the raider's head and pulled the trigger. A metallic click rang out and the oversized man snapped his attention to Katya.
"YOU!" he bellowed, "you're gonna DIE brat!"
...
There was no need for stealth now. Sharps sprinted to the nearest shelf and pulled himself atop it, then snagged the assault rifle from his back and opened fire on the raiders crossing the catwalks. The first shot tore through the air and impacted the closest raider directly in the spine, killing him instantly. The second went wide, but gained the attention of several of the other enemies. Time for some cat and mouse, sharps thought with a smirk.
He rattled off another burst and dropped into the maze of aisles, vaulting over refuse and shelves. Two raiders rounded the corner ahead of him and leveled their weapons, Sharps broke into a run as he dropped his rifle to its sling and pulled a sawed off shotgun from a shoulder holster, then dove between his assailants. Hard ground slammed into his shoulder and back, he rolled, aimed and fired the first barrel point blank into the first raider's face.
A shower of blood, bone and other cranial matter lifted into the air. The other raider, now stunned at the sight of his headless comrade stood in shock. Sharps jumped to his feet and jammed the shotgun into the man's neck. The raider tried his best to react but it was far too late. Sharps pulled the trigger and sent the man's head tumbling to the floor, his lifeless body thudding behind it.
Curses and shouts thundered nearby and footsteps rang throughout the maze. Sharps cracked open his weapon and replaced his spent shells, then holstered it and clambered over the next shelf. He could see several raiders moving along the maze from his perch, and decided to take advantage of his position.
He sprinted forward and leapt across to the next shelf, then opened fire on the unsuspecting raiders beneath him. By the time anyone had realized what had just happened, it was already too late.