Rhydian woke up early the next morning. She slowly made her way into the hallway, careful not to wake Jericho. She flipped on her pipboy light and began walking the abandoned hallways of the old schoolhouse, the music from her pipboy keeping her company.

Times have changed,

And we've often rewound the clock,

Since the Puritans got a shock,

When they landed on Plymouth Rock.

If Today,

Any shock they should try to stem,

'Stead of landing on Plymouth Rock,

Plymouth Rock would land on them.

Rhydian danced down the hallway as she listened to the radio. She picked through the random objects scattered across the floor. She picked up stimpacks, radaway, and various food items. She didn't move like a normal person. While she listened to the radio, she danced while she did everything.

In olden days, a glimpse of stocking,

Was looked upon as something shocking,

But, now, God knows,

Anything Goes

She thought that maybe Amata should listen to this song. Amata became sort of a whore when they hit seventeen. She screwed Butch DeLoria, Paul Hannon, and Wally Mack within the same week. In fact, she continued screwing the three of them.

It's not like Rhydian cared, really. She just thought it was funny. She and Amata were friends when they were ten. After that, they weren't. They weren't even really friends before that, either. Amata began screwing the vault while Rhydian mostly stuck to herself.

Rhydian hung out with Butch DeLoria a little bit, but only if it was the two of them alone. Butch was a complete dick to her when anyone else was around, especially Paul or Wally. Hell, she'd even lost her virginity to Butch and she really regretted that now.

She hung out with Freddie Gomez quite a bit, too. If they were alone, Freddie really came out of his shell. If other people were around, he wouldn't talk to her much. He was an easy target for Butch. Freddie was a sheep, someone easily to push around.

Butch was a wolf. He prayed upon the souls of the innocent.

She picked up an issue of Grognak the Barbarian from the ground and smirked. When she was ten, she had a huge crush on Freddie Gomez. She'd asked Amata at her tenth birthday if she'd gotten Rhydian a date with him. Amata then basically said he was as ugly as Grognak the Barbarian. It was funny now. Then, it made her angry.

She sang along with the next song, it being her favorite.

"Into each life some rain must fall,

"But too much is falling in mine.

"Into each heart, some tears must fall,

"But some day the sun will shine."

She felt as if this song was made for her specifically. She humored herself by wondering if she'd written it in a past life.

"Some folks can lose,

"The blues in their hearts

"But when I think of you,

"Another shower starts."

Jericho watched from the doorway as the vault kid danced around the room. He thought only of how stupid the kid was. The stupid, little brat was going to get herself killed. It would be extremely easy for a raider to blow her silly head off while she was dancing around like that.

How dare she do that with him traveling with her? If she got killed out here because she was acting like an idiot, the whole town would blame him. Never mind the fact that most of them thought she was a serial killer. If he came back without her, they'd all assume that he killed her.

It wasn't as if he really gave a shit. Everyone hated him anyway. It was more about the fact that everyone already talked shit about him. He knew if they thought he killed this twerp, they'd talk even more shit. It was hard enough for him not to shoot the shit-talkers. It would be even harder if they started talking worse about him.

"Are you fuckin' stupid?" He asked abruptly.

Rhydian's heart stopped for a moment before she realized it was Jericho. For a moment, she'd mistaken him for a raider. Her face turned a deep shade of red when she turned around. Her cheeks turned such a color that it nearly matched her hair color.

"It's a good thing you're awake," she said in a serious tone, completely ignoring his question. "I am so ready to leave this dump. I've already gathered any valuable loot. I was thinking we'd head up north. I was hoping we'd find a nearby settlement to trade with."

"Fuck that. Let's hit Megaton first to sell this loot and buy some supplies. See Doc Church while we're there," Jericho snarled at her.

"I see you're not a morning person. Actually, I don't think you're an any time of day type of person. I suppose you're right. I really need to see a doctor."

"That ain't why we're goin'," Jericho interrupted harshly. "We're going so that I can get some more supplies. Since we'll already be there, you could stop by the clinic."

"Whatever you say, Jerry," Rhydian added with a wicked grin as she ran by Jericho and headed for the door.

He wasn't sure why she thought that was so damned funny. He despised that name and wanted to punch her in the face every time she used it. He grumpily followed behind her, kicking over every table and chair that he passed by.

On the way back to Megaton, Jericho continued to gulp down whiskey. Rhydian wondered how much of the startup fee she gave to him went to whiskey. She guessed that half of it went to whiskey, a fourth of it went to cigarettes, and the last fourth went toward actual supplies.

She pulled a beer out of her bag and took a few sips. Her head was really starting to hurt. She figured that a few beers would help her with the pain. She wondered how silly it seemed to other people that she'd drink beer, but wouldn't touch any sort of liquor.

She continued to sip on her beer and it continued to help her with the pain. She chugged the last half and she could feel Jericho staring at her out of the corner of her eye. When she was done, she put the bottle back in her pack.

"So the spoiled vault kid drinks. How do ya like that?" He spoke as if he was almost impressed with her, but then his face went sour again. "Why the fuck did you put the bottle back in your bag?"

"I don't want to litter," she answered as she cracked another beer open.

"That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard!" Jericho shouted, making Rhydian jump again. "Look around you, you little bitch. There's trash and shit everywhere."

Rhydian glared at him as she held the bottle up to her lips. His attitude was really starting to bother her. Even she could only take so much name calling and so many insults.

"Do you know why it's like that?" She asked through narrowed eyes. "It's like that because of too many assholes like you just throwing their garbage around willy nilly! If everyone was like me, the wasteland wouldn't be such a bad place."

"You're wrong about that," Jericho growled, throwing his empty whiskey bottle on the ground right in front of her. "The wasteland is better off without pampered assholes like you."

She'd had enough of him. She chugged the rest of her beer while giving him a death stare. When she felt the last of the warm liquid go down her throat, she gripped the bottle tightly. She chunked it at his head without a second thought.

This wasn't the first bottle Jericho had thrown at his head. He quickly ducked it. To Rhydian's surprise, he began to laugh at her. He laughed harder at her attempt to hurt him. He wanted to get under her skin. Hell, he wanted to get underneath everyone's skin. To succeed at it only made him happy.

They walked for a little ways before Rhydian turned a 180 and ran in the other direction. Jericho watched in amazement as she grabbed the bottle she'd thrown at him and neatly tucked it away in her bag of things. He remained speechless and bewildered by her stupid act of morality all the way back to Megaton.

"Here," she told him, handing him her bag as they walked through Megaton's gates. "Go sell this stuff. You keep half and give me the other half. I'm going to Doc Church's."

Jericho didn't say anything as he took Rhydian's bag. She was such a stupid kid. He was amazed that she trusted him to do this. He was surprised that she didn't think he would cheat her out of her half.

I can't believe she doesn't think I'll cheat her out of her half. That's exactly what I'm going to do, Jericho thought to himself as he ascended the ramp up to Craterside Supply.

"You'd better be pretty damn hurt to bother me," Doc Church said in annoyance as Rhydian walked in the clinic.

"Does this count?" She asked, spinning around to show him the back of her head.

"I suppose," Doc Church said, slightly less annoyed. He still didn't think it was good enough reason for her to come bother him. He'd seen much worse in his time as a doctor. He really didn't have time for a spoiled brat to come to him every time she scraped her knee.

"I thought doctors were supposed to be nice and caring," Rhydian told him as he began stitching up the back of her head. She winced slightly.

"You better watch the way you talk to me," Doc Church replied with an irritated sigh. He couldn't help but smell the whiskey in her hair. He wasn't surprised. She did travel with Jericho after all.

"No, seriously, every wasteland doctor I met so far isn't very nice. In fact, you're all cocks, doctor." She let a wild grin cover her face. "I'm going to start calling you all cocktors. You get it? Doctor, cockter…"

Doc Church almost smiled at this, but only almost. Instead, he jabbed her rather hard with his needle. He muttered an apology for the accidental slip even though it had been done on purpose. To finish, he stuck a stimpak into the wound.

"I'd tell you not to travel until it's fully healed if I really cared," Doc Church told her, holding his hand out to receive payment. "250 caps."

"Oh," Rhydian replied quietly. "I'd have told you I was out of caps when I came in if I really cared."

She could swear she almost saw steam come out of Doc Church's ears. She gave a devious grin before handing over the caps and walking out of the clinic.

She started walking up to Moriarty's to talk to Gob when a hand grabbed her shoulder. She spun around quickly to face Lucas Simms.

"Oh, hey, Sheriff," she greeted him with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"I hear you're smart," Simms said with the same threatening tone he always used. "I hear you're good with technology and explosives."

"I guess."

"Could you disarm the bomb in the middle of town for me?"

"Holy shit!" Rhydian exclaimed with a look of shock on her face. She stared wide-eyed at Simms and then at the bomb. "That fucking thing is still active?"

"Watch your language, missy," he scolded. "We have children running around."

"I'm sorry. Yeah, I'll disarm your bomb. No sweat. I'll do it before I leave town again."

"You aren't going to ask about your reward?" The sheriff asked her with a look of concern. "That seems like the first thing a wasteland type like you would ask."

"Nope, I wasn't planning on it. I'll talk to you when it's done, Simms."

She broke away from him, heading toward Moriarty's bar. She cursed Simms under her breath. She knew exactly what he meant by wasteland type. He meant, crazy killer. Sometimes she wished she could walk around town and punch every asshole like him in the face.

"So, how'd it go with Jericho?" Gob asked as she sat down across from him at the bar. "I'm glad to see that you made it back alive."

"I told you that I'd be okay," she said with a small smile. "It went good. His wisecracks don't really bother me."

"That's good. I hope that was your only trip with him."

"No," Rhydian said with a shake of her head. "I busted my head open again. So, it's me and Jericho until it heals."

"You can't get someone else to go with you?"

"Are you kidding?" She chuckled at this. "You know how everyone thinks of me around here. No one would go with me."

"I would if I could," Gob added, hoping to take her mind off of the assholes in town.

"You're too soft, Gob." She poked his belly and grinned. "Jericho's not so bad. I mean, he's like sixty. You can't expect him not to be bitchy."

Gob was much older than Jericho and he wasn't bitchy. He kept that to himself though. He found it nice that Rhydian always tried to find the good in people despite the fact that most of the town practically hated her.

"So, where is Jericho?"

"He's selling the loot we acquired."

"Wait, what?" Gob felt as if he was talking to someone who was mentally challenged. "You let him sell all your loot? He's going to cheat you."

"No, he won't," Rhydian replied with a chuckle. "I trust people, Gob."

"That's a good way to get killed out there." Gob shook his head at her as Jericho walked in the door.

"Well, well, looks like the vault twerp is already here," Jericho muttered as he sat down at the bar. "I'm having drinks before we leave. Here are your caps."

Rhydian thanked him as she put the bag of caps in her supply bag. She sipped on her beer and listened idly to the other bar goers' conversations. That is, until she heard Nova's conversation with a customer.

"So, I guess the twerp has probably been talking shit while she's been here," Jericho scoffed, downing his shot. He almost swallowed the whole shot glass along with the liquor.

"Actually," Gob began as he polished a dirty glass, "she was saying how you weren't so bad after all."

"While she's in here playing the victim, did she mention that she threw a bottle at my fuckin' head?"

It took all of Gob's self-control not to snicker at the thought of Rhydian throwing a bottle at Jericho's head.

"He asked for it," Rhydian said with a shrug. "Look, I've got some things to take care of. Gob, I might not see you before I leave again. Don't let Moriarty beat you too bad. I'm going to kill him one day, I swear it."

"You got a thing for the ghoul?" Jericho snickered, taking a swig from his whiskey bottle.

"No, you narcissistic asshole," Rhydian spouted angrily. It made her angry to think that you couldn't do something nice for someone without being accused of having a hard-on for said person. "I fucking hate anyone who abuses any other living thing."

"So, you're going to kill me? Did I hear that right, lass?"

Rhydian knew that accent anywhere. Her jaw and fists clenched as she spun around to face Moriarty. She stared at him with a look that was almost strong enough to make him spontaneously combust.

"If you don't keep your fucking hands off of your employees, then yeah, I will." She took a menacing step toward Moriarty.

"You're one to talk," Moriarty told her with a shit-eating grin. "I hear you're quite the murderer. Has this rotting bag of brahmin shit been running his mouth?"

"You know you hit him Moriarty. Don't play the fucking fool. I've seen the bruises."

"Oh, really now? You are aware that everyone hits him. Are you not?"

"They hit him because you let them, you old coward. You know he won't fight back. You make it look cool to hit him and degrade him, so everyone else does it, too. You do it because you're a coward."

"I am no such thing, lass. I don't think you really know just who I am."

"You're not?" She asked with a laugh. "Then why don't you hit me? Why don't you hit Jericho? You know we'll fight back and probably kill your old ass."

"You'd better watch your mouth, lass."

"Aren't you supposed to be protecting her?" Gob asked Jericho. "Isn't that what she's paying you for? Get up and do something!"

"I protect her in the wasteland. Not here. Here, I fucking drink. Shut the fuck up and let me drink, zombie."

"I'll get him out of here one day," Rhydian said warningly as she left the bar.