FALLOUT ½: Post Nuclear Mayhem

By Creepy D

And so it continues…

"17 seconds of compassion

17 seconds of peace

17 seconds to remember love is the energy

behind which all is created

17 seconds to remember all that is good

17 seconds to forget all your hurt and pain

17 seconds of faith

17 seconds to trust you again

17 seconds of radiance

17 seconds to send a prayer up

17 seconds is all you really need."

--Smashing Pumpkins

Chapter 2

Part 1

Ranma sighed. The minute he had taken his eyes off Ryouga, the eternally lost boy disappeared. "Oh well, at least Kasumi programmed the location of the Vault into my PIPboy…"

**********************

When Ranma arrived at the entrance to Vault 9, he noticed a few lasers turrets that had been blown up. The door to the vault also looked like it had been blown up. A few scattered rounds of JHP 5 mm littered the entrance, along with a few dead men who, judging by the blue suits, had been vault-dwellers. Their eyes stared at Ranma, when he passed, blood pooling at his feet.

The inside was not much better. Ranma saw a few dead men who looked to be Raiders, and more dead vault-dwellers. He made his way to the elevator, and stepping in, pushed the button for level 2.

Level 2 was no different than the first, and Ranma saw no evidence of life. The level looked to be the living quarters of the vault-dwellers, and saw many people who had been murdered in their own beds. The resonant tang of death seeped into Ranma's nostrils. "This happened recently," he muttered to himself. "I bet the bastards are on the next level…"

The deep rage within Ranma started to take a life of it's own, just as it had before, whenever he saw injustice. He backtracked to the elevator and pressed the last button, Level 3. When the doors opened, Ranma surprised a guard. A quick punch to the man's neck left him choking against the bile trying to pass his crushed windpipe.

Another guard, hearing the choking, came running out of a room up the hall. Ranma drew his .44 and shot the man in the head. The rage was now in control. Ranma burned with a bright crimson battle-aura as he pounded into the room.

What he saw there pushed him over the edge. The raiders had knocked a young woman out and were in the process of cutting off her vault-suit with a combat knife. A small pool of blood had formed around her head, originating at a cut on her forehead. With an inhuman battle cry, Ranma started shooting. The man with the knife took an entire clip to the head, blowing bloody chunks all over the girl. The other four men looked up and drew their weapons. One man started firing his SMG while Ranma punched through his comrade's chest. The SMG's bullets ricocheted of the walls and computer in the room.

Ranma fed all his rage into a chi blast. "Mouko Takabisha!" he roared, as the blast separated another Raider's torso from legs. Ranma blurred, and the man with the SMG found him inside his defenses. Ranma felt his left fist exit out the back of the man's skull, as his right crushed the SMG, the metal oozing out between his fingers.

The last man turned and pointed a hunting rifle at the woman. "Move and I'll blow her fucking bitch brains out, motherfucker!" he screamed. The Rage within Ranma turned from a red-hot beserker into and ice-blue fury.

"Why did you do this? Why does your kind continue to kill and rape and murder and steal and enslave? Why? Do you think that no one will stop you? What is the fucking matter with you? WHY!?!?"

The man sneered, "Why do you protect these people? What do you get out of it? Now, whatta you gonna do? If you move, I'll kill this delicious-looking little beauty. So what's it gonna be, punk?"

Ranma stared at the man, then disappeared. The Raider gawked at the empty space then felt a light tap on his shoulder. He stupidly turned around, and his eyes met the spiked knuckles Ranma wore. "That was a dumb move, asshole…" Ranma muttered.

He looked at the young woman. "Jesus, what a mess. At least I got here before anything happened…"

**********************

Ranma took the elevator back down to Level 2. He looked through a few rooms before finding one that did not have a murdered citizen in it. He gently put the unconscious girl down on the bed and set about tending the large cut on her head. After he had fixed it up as best he could, he took off his combat leather jacket and draped it over her nude chest. Then Ranma sat back and waited for her to regain consciousness.

"Uhnnhh…Where am I?" moaned the girl as she tried to sit up.

Ranma leapt to with an exclamation. "Oh! Hey! Don't sit up, you'll only aggravate your wound! Please miss! Don't strain yourself."

The girl glared at him. "Who are you? What did you bastards do to me? I'll kill you if you touched me! Where's my father?"

Ranma blushed, and said, "Umm…I didn't touch you except to tend to your head wound, and I don't know where your father is, I think everyone else is dead…I stopped the Raiders before they could do anything to you, I think. My name is Ranma, miss..?" He looked away. "Umm…You also don't have a shirt on, so um, please don't sit up, or my coat will fall off, miss."

The girl stared at him. "What do you mean everyone's dead? They can't be!" She tried to get up again, but fell back on the cushions. She stared up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, my name is Akane. I believe you, but Jesus Christ. All my friends and family, all the people in the vault, dead…" She started to sob.

Ranma was at a loss. He knew how to fight and kill, but not how to comfort a half-nude, *extremely* pretty girl who obviously needed someone to comfort her. He awkwardly placed his arms around her and tried to make soothing noises. "Shh…it's ok…at least you are alive…The other Vault-dwellers would want you to be happy that you can still see another day. I, um, killed all the Raiders, so your people are avenged, and, um, are you done crying yet?"

Akane looked at him with wonder. "You killed all the Raiders? How many? What kind of weapons did you use? Can you teach me to fight like that? My Father would never teach me to fight, though he was a fine Martial Artist in his day. I want to be that strong to protect others so this will never happen again!"

"Um, I killed about 5, and it was mostly with my fists, and I suppose I could teach you, if you really wanted it…" He stuttered, "Um…m-m-maybe you sh-sh-should p-p-p-put on a sh-shirt…"

Akane blushed, and stammered, "Y-yeah…"

Ranma got up and said, "I'll be outside the room, try to find something to wear..." and then ducked out the door.

Akane looked after him and murmured, "kawaii…"

Ranma leaned against the door and muttered, "kawaii…"

**********************

Akane peeked out the door and saw Ranma leaning against the wall. "Here's your jacket," she said, and started to hand it to him.

Ranma looked at what she had found to wear. She was still wearing the tight vault pants, and had found a *really* tight white shirt to replace her ripped blue one. Akane brushed away a bit of drool that had started to form on his bottom lip. She poked him, hard.

"RANMA!" she yelled in his ear.

"Aaugh!" he yelled, as he jumped back a few feet.

"Here's your jacket," Akane said softly.

"Oh, Akane! You startled me! Um…Hold on to it until we find you something else. It's a harsh world out there, and that will protect you a bit."

She flashed him a smile, "Thanks! We need to get out of here, before…well, let's get a move on. You need to teach me, after all!"

Ranma's heart melted at that smile, "Yeah, I guess we should…"

End Part 2-1