"And here's this."

Gene watched the Pip-Boy boot to life as Nate latched it to her wrist. "Are you sure?" She flicked one of the dials, hearing static crackle through the small speaker.

"You'll need it to get to Dr. Virgil's cave. Just follow the map." Nate switched to the map interface and showed her how to navigate it.

She continued to fiddle with it. "Huh, this's pretty wicked. I gotta get one of these."

Piper handed off a large bottle of Rad-X to Renee. "You'll need these too."

"Uh, Piper, not to be rude, but I think it's gonna take a lot more than just this to keep us from turning into burnt bacon in there." Renee jerked her thumb toward the Glowing Sea just as some lightning flashed in the ever-present mist.

"Those are from one of Curie's special batches. They're incredibly potent, but I don't suggest taking more than you have to." Nate walked around them to stand next to his wife. "Fortunately the Pip-Boy has a Geiger counter on it, so when you hear ticking, just take one of those."

"You should have more than enough to get to Virgil and back." Piper forced a smile. "You're sure you two are up to this?"

Renee nodded and cocked her rifle. "Hey, if we don't do it, then who will?"

"The entire Minutemen force." Gene frowned.

"I told you that you didn't have to come." Renee rolled her eyes. "All right, we'll be back in a few days with Virgil!" She turned with a wave.

Piper returned it. "We'll be waiting!"

Lawrence lumbered beside them on his hind legs, his front claws barely scraping the ground. He snorted as Gene and Renee each downed a pill to quell the ticking from the Pip-Boy. "The Glowing Sea… Dangerous, even for me."

"Yeah, but with the three of us we'll be fine." Renee shrugged. "So, how long do you suppose it'll take us to get there?"

Gene glanced at the map. "If we keep moving and don't get off course… A day."

The trio continued to walk through the radiation, occasionally popping a Rad-X pill or waiting for Ghouls to pass by. With Lawrence on their side, the few Radscorpions that attacked were quickly dealt with, and neither woman even had to waste a bullet. He kept them steered away from danger using his heightened senses and strength. Though the detours were short, they began to add up.

So it was when suddenly they found themselves at the bottom of a small cliffside formed by the fallen remnants of an expressway. "Well, this is a problem." Renee tried to peer around it. "Damn, this thing stretches for miles. We could climb it, maybe?"

"It's not on the map, eithah." Gene tapped at the Pip-Boy screen. She groaned. "Fuck."

"We'll have to find a way around it somehow. Or else we'll have to backtrack." Lawrence ran at the old road and tried to climb it. His claws scratched at the asphalt but didn't catch. "Hmph." He landed on the ground with a solid thud.

"And lose three hours of travel? Hell no." She groaned again as the Pip-Boy began ticking rapidly. "Short stack."

"On it." Renee grabbed the bottle of Rad-X pills and dumped two out. She tossed one to Gene while popping the other in her mouth. "Mm, chemicals." She grimaced.

Gene swallowed hard. "Bettah than radiation poisoning."

Lawrence turned and sniffed at the air. His amber eyes narrowed. "We've got company, ladies."

Renee grabbed her rifle and reloaded. "Deathclaw." She glanced back at Gene. "We've got this. Just try to find a way around this thing, okay?"

"Right." Gene continued trying to analyze the map.

Lawrence roared and met the other Deathclaw halfway, slamming into it with a crack like thunder. He tried to bite at its neck. "Renee!" He shouted, pinning it to the ground.

Renee aimed and pulled the trigger.

The Deathclaw growled as the bullet hit its shoulder. It managed to hurl Lawrence off and roll to its feet, setting its sights on the redhead. It roared, running forward. Renee readied another bullet and fired. Again. Again. Again.

Lawrence leapt on it as it fell, snapping his jaws to the Deathclaw's neck. Just as he was about to pull away, it tossed him off again. Blood oozed from its multiple bullet wounds but it clearly didn't have any intention of giving in quite yet.

Renee rushed to put another magazine in her rifle when she heard more footsteps. "Gene!" She turned to see a second Deathclaw running at Gene. "Gene! Gene, move!"

The Deathclaw came ever closer. Gene took a step back. She fumbled to reload her shotgun, the shells falling to the ground. It roared.

"Renee, shoot it!" Lawrence struggled with the first Deathclaw.

"Lawrence, I—" She glanced between them and turned. "Gene!" Renee sprinted toward her, dropping her rifle to the ground.

Right as the Deathclaw went to scoop Gene into its jaws, Renee managed to shove her to the side. Instead, she felt sharp teeth sink down into her left leg. The next moment it flung her against the fallen expressway. She heard rather than felt the sharp cracks of her bones breaking and rolled to the bottom. Then, she heard nothing at all.


Gene picked herself up in time to see Renee hit the ground. "Sh-short stack…" She looked up at the Deathclaw and noticed a bloody, torn piece of cloth in its teeth.

It roared again and glared at her.

Gone was the paralyzing fear from before. Gene snapped her shotgun back together and loosed both shells into the beast at once. She wasted no time in reloading and firing again. It staggered backward as she blasted it with lead.

"Move!" Lawrence barreled toward them.

Gene dove to the side in time for Lawrence to leap on top of the Deathclaw, biting down on its neck and ripping out a chunk of flesh and scales.

With the present danger taken care of, Gene ran to where Renee lay. "Short stack! Oh god, Renee, please don't—"

Her foot nudged something. She looked down to see one of Renee's boots, still attached to her leg, while the rest of Renee's body laid a few yards away. Immediately she turned to vomit. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and glanced at the leg again. Blood leaked out onto the dusty ground and she tried to take a breath to calm herself.

She stumbled to Renee's side. Bile rose in her throat again and she struggled to keep it down. "G… Gotta control the…" She blindly dug around for the Stimpaks they brought along. Her eyes stung and she tasted acid on her tongue. Finally she couldn't hold it back any longer and turned to vomit again.

Blood. So much blood. And…bone. Her gaze swept over the ragged, bloody mess where Renee's left knee used to be. Gene shucked off her jacket and wriggled out of her t-shirt, ripping off the bottom half in an effort to keep some of the bleeding contained. She ripped off the short sleeves to wrap around her left arm—trying to mind the jagged bones sticking through the skin as she did so.

"G… G-Gene…"

"Renee!" She tied off the makeshift bandages (Oh god, they're soaked in blood already, what the fuck am I supposed to do) and jabbed Renee with two Stims at once. "You're okay, you'll be okay." She tried to find more injuries, anything life-threatening, but it was all life-threatening, her leg is fucking GONE.

Renee's eyes were cloudy with pain and she coughed, flecks of blood splattering her lips. "I… I c-can't feel my—my leg." She flinched with a low groan. "Wh-why can't I feel my leg…"

"Just look at me, focus on me." Gene noticed the obvious deformities through Renee's upper arm and shoulder. God damn it! "Lawrence! Get ovah heah!"

Renee groaned again and shifted with a sharp cry. "Hurts…" Her voice was weak and her chest rose and fell rapidly.

"Don't move. Just lie still." Gene tried to move Renee's left arm, eliciting a weak scream from her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"She needs a doctor." Lawrence stood over them. He snorted. "Quickly."

"You think I don't know that?!" Gene tried to gather Renee in her arms. "I'm trying to be gentle, I know it hurts…" She winced at the woman's cries of pain.

Renee suddenly raised her hand to cup Gene's face. "G-Gene, wait, the—mission…"

"Fuck the mission! You're fucking dying!"

"You need t-to find—Dr. Virgil." Renee clenched her teeth. She coughed again, more blood dribbling from the corner of her mouth.

Gene shook her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. "You're more important!"

"Gene." Lawrence placed one clawed hand on her shoulder. "Renee is right. You have a job to do. I can take her back to Piper and Nate; but you have to find Dr. Virgil."

"My life isn't…isn't worth risking hundreds of o-other people." Renee forced a smile but it came across more as a grimace.

Gene felt her tears start to roll down her cheeks. "Yes, you are! You're everything to me, Renee!" She grabbed the lapels of Renee's jacket. "Do you hear me?!"

Renee's eyes flickered shut again with a final groan. Her head lolled and she went slack.

"Renee!" Gene shook her, perhaps more roughly than she should. "Short stack, god fucking damn it, Renee…" She took a shaky breath. "Why did you…"

"Gene. Let me take her back to Nate and Piper." Lawrence shifted in front of her.

Gene looked up. "If I continue moving, will you be able to find me?"

"You have a distinct scent. It won't be hard." He nodded.

She gathered up Renee's unconscious body in her arms, ignoring the crunching of her bones, and deposited her in Lawrence's waiting claws. She pressed a kiss to Renee's forehead. "I love you…"

Lawrence took off in a run back to the edge of the Glowing Sea. Gene wiped her eyes and stood, staring after him. She slipped what remained of her shirt back on and pulled on her jacket. "I'm sorry, short stack." She turned to face the rest of the Glowing Sea, knowing somewhere deep within, Dr. Virgil's cave lay hidden. "Wait for me."