Prey
Rip Van Winkle decided it was time to move on. She could only stay in the same abandoned Vault and hunt for groceries for so long. At the very least she should find a new temporary home with a stocked refrigerator. Or, better yet, maybe a subway tunnel infested by mole rats so she could eat for a month.
It took her a couple days of travel, with some annoying interludes with Raiders and Feral Ghouls getting in her way, but she finally found a place to stay, at least for a little while.
About a mile in the distance she saw a tall building, at least ten stories high. Unlike other war-torn buildings which were gray and rotted-looking, this one had a yellow coloring to it, like the rock formations in pre-war books about national parks. It was also well-kept, with walls and corners that had some repairs. As she got closer she saw that it was surrounded by a concrete wall. No doubt there had to be some decent security.
She could only imagine this would be the sort of place that was cool on the inside with some comfortable beds. If the war had never happened, this would only be the sort of place where they would leave a mint or a chocolate on your pillow.
She checked her Pip Boy to see if there was a name for this establishment. Tenpenny Tower. Sounds swanky.
Since she escaped from the booby-trapped neighborhood, young Rip had found herself becoming more scared and timid about being in the Wastes.
Every time she saw another life form her first instinct was to hide. Stay out of their sight.
Her first encounter with the Brotherhood of Steel was particularly frightening. People in powered suits of armor that looked like robots, the kind that set out to destroy mankind in science fiction stories.
They actually spotted her before she had the chance to hide behind the counter of a demolished diner. She could hear their footsteps as they got closer.
"Just a civilian," one of them stated. "Move along."
And so they continued on their way.
She remembered being so relieved. They didn't help her, but at least they didn't try to hurt her.
The first time she had to hunt an animal for food it was a matter of desperation. She had run out of potato chips and who knew if there would be a next time when she found another well-stocked fridge.
Not too far from where she was she saw a trio of giant mole rats. Ugly things, but their meat would have to do.
The first shot, which took out the first one with in a single hit, alarmed the other two and they pursued her. She fired more shots at them, trying to keep herself from panicking as they got closer.
Once all three of them were dead she let out a sigh of relief. About a third of those shots missed, but at least she got them before they could bite her.
But then there was her very first encounter with Raiders.
It was the dead of night; she couldn't sleep because she was all too hungry, so she had to make an emergency trip for supplies or for prey.
And she came across who she would soon learn were victims of Raiders. A caravan; the salesperson, a guard, and their mutated two-headed cow acting as their pack mule.
All three of them had been attacked in the most brutal way possible, and the carnage alone nearly made her throw up.
It had to have been the work of humans because the cuts were made too clean to be the work of a feral creature. They looked more akin to cattle in a shoddy butcher shop. It was just too awful that anyone would do this to a person.
But then she heard a moan.
She looked up and the female guard was still alive. For now. Her legs had been cut off and she had already lost a lot of blood. She probably didn't have much longer to live as it is.
Rip knelt down beside her and the guard finally noticed the girl's presence.
"Please…" the woman whispered through bouts of blood. "Let me die…"
She no longer had a firm grip on her handgun, so she nudged it in Rip's direction, indicating she was to put her out of her misery.
Rip was horrified at the idea. "No…" She felt the tears build up in her eyes. She took old of the guard's hand. She wanted to say that there was hope, that there was a doctor nearby, that maybe she had a chance.
Oh, how badly she wanted to say that was true, but with as much blood as the guard lost there was no chance of her survival, even if Rip were to carry her on her back to the nearest place with a bed and first aid kit.
She wished so badly it didn't have to come to this.
She took the gun. She trembled all over as she cocked it.
She took aim for the woman's head, and she couldn't stop the tears. She couldn't take it. She turned her head away, and fired.
She fell to the ground and sobbed harder than she ever had before.
And no doubt her crying caught the attention of the last people she wanted to see: the trio of killers themselves. Raiders.
The tears were still streaming down her face, but this time Rip wasn't going anywhere. She stood back up despite some imbalance, gripped the handgun more and more firmly in her hand until it started shaking again.
"Well, lookie here!" one of the Raiders teased. "A poor lost little princess. Oh, don't worry, little-"
Before he could condescend any further, or make any real threats, she had already shot him in the face. There was a real fire in her eyes.
"DIE!" She fired repeatedly at the second one. Got the him right in the throat, as well as made several holes in his shoulders. "DIE!" The third Raider freaked out and turned tail. "GOD IN HEAVEN, DIE!"
The third Raider didn't get far before she was shot multiple times in the legs and torso.
Rip reloaded the gun and checked if they were still alive. Fortunately not, so she didn't have to waste any more bullets on them.
She had never felt angrier in her entire life. It was like a monster in her had finally come unleashed.
She took what supplies she could use from the Raiders, who had already picked the caravan clean of their items. But for the caravan she made a quick burial for them. She had no idea who they were, but they sure as hell didn't deserve to suffer the way they did. The Raiders, on the other hand, could be left for the dogs.
Rip marched on to find shelter, and she was realizing for the first time in her live just how much bile and hatred she was carrying with her.
