Slow updates. FALLOUT 4! That news pushed me to write this.
When Faith stepped outside, she squinted. The sun light was getting to a darker shade of orange and she watched the sun slowly moving over the horizon.
Looking back at Thing, Faith ushered him on, "Let's go boy. Time to turn in these caps and find my father. I hadn't realized we took so long… the sun is almost setting."
Thinking about what Wolfgang said about raiders, Faith hurried along to Megaton.
As she neared Megaton, she noticed Thing becoming agitated, "What's wrong, Thing?"
She looked around with her shoulders hunched, they just made it passed the second sign and now they were passing through the rocks. She could see the hunk of metal gleaming in what's left of the sunlight.
"C'mon, you heard Wolfgang, there are some scary people out here…" Faith moved on, but stopped again when she heard a snap.
Whipping around, Faith put her hands to her mouth to stop from giving a startled gasp.
Behind her and Thing was a woman. She was dirt smudged and her red hair in some weird balding pigtails. Her armor covered her breasts and pelvis, but left everything else bare. A ginormous gun resting on her back.
Faith trembled, but offered a smile, "Hi… I'm Faith… and there here is Thing… Nice to-uh… meet you."
The woman lifted her brow, "I'm not in the mood for you, asshole."
Faith watched as the woman veered off to the left. She was walking toward some large tower.
Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Faith turned to Thing, "Was that… a raider?"
Thing looked up at her with beady eyes and mewled. Not understanding what that even meant, she turned back around and walked to the gates.
She looked around for Wolfgang, hoping to ask him some more about that strange woman, but he wasn't there. Faith sighed in disappointment.
"I know you don't like being inside, Thing. I'm going to rest, though. I will see you in the morning, alright?" Faith said while patting his head. She dug around in her pockets to get some radroach meat that she had.
Thing wagged his tail and took the meat and moved to the corner of the Ton of Scrap. He knew he wasn't welcome in human territory and he didn't want any other human to catch him, knowing full well what would happen to him. He hid behind some rocks and rested, waiting for his master to come back.
Faith watched him go, frowning. She had hoped he would come with her.
She paused when she heard yelling above her, "Hey missy! Were you just… Talking to a damn molerat!"
Faith looked up and saw a man perched on a rafter that was overlooking the area. She supposed he was some guard.
….
Molerat?
She looked up at the man, "What's a… Molerat?"
The man looked back up into the horizon and yelled down to her, "That ugly, hairless creature you were walking with. I've never seen one so… friendly before. I was just about to shoot 'till I saw it with you. Be careful, kid. Not all creatures are friendly, you just got lucky."
Faith scoffed, "Thing? He isn't scary, nor is he vicious. Maybe all of you are too scared to see that they are all friendly."
She pointed at the man, "Hey… Did you see that lady over there, walking behind me and Thing? She was wearing… well… more like what she wasn't wearing…"
Cutting her off, the guard began to speak, "Yeah that was a raider… Which is also strange. You better count your lucky stars kid. Now I gotta get back to guarding, watch yourself out there, kid. 'Cause no one else is gunna do that for you."
Faith stared at the man as he began to pace again. That was the third warning today. She even met a raider. Apparently she met a 'vicious animal' too. Huh.
She started to think about what 'lucky stars' she had as she pushed the heavy gate open.
Walking down the make-shift stairs, she pet the two headed cow before heading up the Moriarty's Saloon.
Faith began to climb the rafters and noticed that the sun had almost completely set. She checked her pip-boy and the time read 8:34pm. She hurried along the rafters and didn't see the man on the railing, so she assumed he was inside the… establishment.
Faith turned the knob and walked inside. She saw Gob again, still cleaning dirty cups with dirty rags. She walked up to the counter and sat down. Now that she had caps to pay, she might as well get some real food and drink.
Gob noticed a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, "Oh hey vault-kid! How are you?"
Faith smiled and waved, "Good, I went to…" Faith started to panic, she told Silver that she was going to lie to Moriarty about her location. What should she say?
"I went to get some caps because I couldn't finish a job that I was sent on... Yeah… so, uh… Moriarty said he would give me some sort of information if I gave him some caps." Faith shrugged, "Now I'm back here. Back here and hungry. With money." She gave Gob a toothy smile.
Gob looked around and put a Nuka Cola on the table, "Be careful kid, Moriarty… he's dangerous… he-"
"Now Gob, don't go scaring our new guest."
Faith turned to see a pretty woman leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette, "Hi… My name is Faith. And Gob isn't scaring me…" Faith trailed off as she stared at the woman. Her bra was showing, her pants were ripped… Don't these women know how to dress!
The woman laughed, "Hey baby, I was just saying. If you need anything just let me know. My name is Nova, I'll make sure you don't forget it."
Faith twitched at her sultry tone and tried to ignore the ice cold feeling sliding down her back. No.
Giving her a friendly, but forced smile, Faith turned back to Gob, "It's ok Gob, I just needed some information about my dad. Apparently I need to look for him or something." She shrugged again, "I guess I'll wake up once I find him… hopefully. I've read about this in a book once. The girl was in a coma and she had to undergo a bunch of trials and stuff in order to get back into her real body… Maybe that's what's happening to me…"
Gob watched as Faith popped the bottle open and drank the Cola. He had no idea what she was saying about trials and shit. He just wanted to make sure she knew about Moriarty and his vile ways of treating people, women and ghouls top the list.
"I just wanted to make sure…" Gob paused to grab another glass to start wiping down, "Did you want anything else with that?"
Faith watched as Gob cleaned the glasses and pondered how mean Moriarty could be. He had been a bit standoffish, but not too… mean. She nodded her head to Gob, "Actually… I am starved! I didn't think I would need sustenance and such being that I am… well you know… sleeping."
Ignoring her last comment, Gob went through the bar to grab some InstaMash and Salisbury steak, "Faith… I don't thi-"
Moriarty watched as Gob interacted with the little Vault Princess. She was just like James, never judging and always kind… too kind, and innocent. How long would it take for her to lose that? Moriarty smirked, he sure as hell wouldn't mind taking her for a go… Short blond hair and pretty green, green eyes… He sighed and strut over to the lass, putting his arm on her shoulder, "Lass…"
Faith watched as Gob stopped mid-sentence when he turned around. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up. She smiled, "Oh! Just the man I needed to see… I have your caps and such. Now… my dad?" She pulled some caps out of her jumpsuit muttering, "It was about… 100 caps or something… wasn't it?"
Moriarty watched her, "Did you take care of her?"
Faith paused in her count, "Well… She actually was taken care of before I got there… Kind of gross actually… I was a bit… troubled with how I was to find caps… but I found some in a safe, I'm a pretty good lock-pick so…" She trailed off and continued to count out the caps she was to give him, hoping that she didn't lay on her lie too thick…
He nodded and pursed his lips, "Dumb bitch probably owed many other dues… Don't count out the caps lass, I'll take the whole bag."
Frowning, she looked over to him, "But you said…" She narrowed her eyes and remembered what Gob told her, "You said 100 caps, that's what I'm giving you."
She watched as he took his hand off her shoulder and laughed, "I did say it was 100 caps. And as I recall you said no. So now I'm saying it's the whole bag. What'll you say this time?"
Faith tensed, "Okay, let's just take a step back… 100 caps was reasonable wasn't it?"
Moriarty crossed his arms over his chest, "I'm reasonable, but I'm not crazy. How can you bargain with me and not have the caps?"
Faith puckered her lips and turned back to Gob who wordlessly placed the food in front of her and went back to cleaning his cups, "I guess I am not going to get any information from you then…"
Moriarty raised a brow, "Fine. Go find daddy yourself then. I'll be here when you change your mind."
He then narrowed his eyes on Gob, "Make sure you give her… My discount." He gestured to Faith by putting his hands on her shoulders.
Giving Faith a last knowing look, he walked back to his… office.
Growling under her breath, she looked to Gob, "What discount?"
Gob flinched, "Well…. I figure he wants to charge you double…"
"Double!" Faith groaned and put her hands on her head, "I like you Gob, but if we are going to continue this relationship, I need to find more money." She gave a hallow laugh and smiled ironically at Gob.
Gob cracked a small smile, but looked around cautiously, "I can try to charge you an extra half instead of double… Moriarty doesn't pay me enough to pay for double your charges…"
Faith frowned, "No… I'm not taking your money. I'll just look for a job… or something. Are there even jobs?"
Raising an eyebrow, Gob went back to face Nova, "There are a few… most women are… escorts…"
Faith scoffed, "As if. I'm not doing that… ew."
Nova cleared her throat, "Nothin' wrong with gettin' caps like this… Most women can't even carry a gun."
Looking over her shoulder at Nova, Faith snorted, "Yeah well… No. I'll learn how to carry a gun… Hell I'll teach myself. I just don't know how that's going to solve my money problem." She turned back to her food, "Also I currently have a silverware problem… how am I to eat this?"
Gob smiled, "We charge for that too…"
Faith blanched, "Fine, fine… it isn't like I haven't eaten with my hands before… is there a sink at least? My hands are nasty."
Nova gestured to the corner under the stairs, "Behind that tarp…"
Nova and Gob watched as Faith got up to go wash her hands. Glancing over to Gob, Nova leaned in and whispered, "She isn't exactly… tactile to change… Actually, she isn't even reacting… Do you think she's on somethin'?"
Gob turned to Nova, "I don't know… But I like her and she's nice to me, I don't want to pry in anyone's life." He picked up the rag and wiped down the counters, "Besides, she can't be on drugs… do they even have those in the vaults? I figured most are made out here…"
Nova rolled her eyes and resumed her spot on the wall, "I'm just sayin' she don't act like the rest of us, I'm aware she came from the vault, but she doesn't seem too shocked by life out here… You think it hit her yet? I mean…"
Nova trailed off as Faith came back, "That water has some strange properties, My Pip-Boy was beeping…" She sat down and shoveled to food into her mouth and grimaced, "This doesn't taste too good…"
Nova chuckled, "You'll get used to it, Baby."
Faith paused and sighed, "I can't believe that Moriarty is trying to charge me for the information on my father…"
Nova laughed, "Yeah, that's Colin's style all right. He sells information so much, you'd think the bar was just a hobby."
Finishing up her food, Faith patted her stomach, "I am sufficiently filled up… Now on to the next issue, where am I to stay for the night?"
Gob looked up from his cleaning, "The only place you can rent a bed is here…"
Faith put her hands on top of her head and leaned on the counter, "No!" She groaned, "How much?"
Nova puffed her cigarette, "Well for you? A room and some company will run you 120 caps. Up front."
Faith's lips twitched, "Company? Honestly, no thanks. I'm a bit too innocent for that and I'd like to keep it that way."
Nova scoffed, "Honey, you gotta get that out of your mind. Either you lose yourself willingly or someone will force you to."
"I've taken some self-defense classes… Besides, I haven't met a single asshole… well other than Moriarty. Everyone I've met so far has been very nice to me…" Faith argued, "Now… how much is a room without company?"
Nova blew out smoke and crashed her cigarette butt onto the counter and Gob whimpered and quickly wiped the mess, "120 caps, up front."
Sighing, Faith got up from her chair, "No… I'll just look for some other bed…"
Nova raised an eyebrow, "You will have to leave Megaton… this is the only place where you can rent."
Faith started to pull out her caps again and gave Gob the right amount, "I have a feeling and I'm gunna go with my instincts on this… By Gob! I'll see you tomorrow." She waved to Gob and nodded to Nova and walked out the door.
Nova sighed and turned to Gob, "How long do you think she will survive?"
Gob furrowed his brows, "I don't want to think about that… She's…" He trailed off and Nova frowned.
"She is going to be in for a rude awakening one day…"
I know most of this stuff is kinda... bland. I'm going to work on making it more action filled. Faith's personality conflicts with the game... also, I hate it when writing seems rushed, like she's all innocent now and next chapter she kills people? No... it's gunna go super slow and you will see the transition. Hopefully anyway.
ENJOY! and peace out home slices. Also. FALLOUT 4!
Abby