Chapter 9: Theo, Interrupted
At the water treatment plant, Theo was nowhere in sight, so Helena tapped the shoulder of an old man in coveralls who was cleaning sludge from a fitting.
He jumped. "Holy hell! What in tarnation are you doing sneakin' up on people like that!" he yelled.
"I wasn't sneaking!" she yelled back. "You just couldn't hear me over that old worn-out rock crusher!"
"What do you want?" he yelled back with a sludge smudged hand to his ear.
She cupped her palms around her mouth, "Where's Theo?"
"Hell if I know," he yelled back, "boy never bothers to come in on market day!" He turned around and went back to his work, effectively ending the conversation.
She decided to ask around in the dispersing market crowd.
"Theo?" Billy Creel asked, helping a merchant set up camp. "What do you want with that asshole?"
"I've got his prescription from Doc Church," she said, waving the laudanum she'd nicked.
He looked at it dubiously, "Try the Brass Lantern. His wife Jenny works there. Tell her I'm still waiting for that 5.56 he owes me, but I'll take breakfast in bed."
She climbed the winding metal path to the Brass Lantern. It was a surprisingly cozy little dive with red paper lanterns hanging from the awnings.
"Hey, are you Jenny Stahl?" she asked a tired, defeated looking woman who was serving ramen to tipsy caravaners.
"What's it to you?" she asked surlily, stuffing a napkin with a rude drawing on it down her bra.
"I'm looking for Theo. Have you seen him?" Helena asked.
"Whadda you want with Theo?" she demanded impatiently.
"I've got a message for him. From Moriarty," lied Helena. "About the gig tonight?" she hazarded.
"If he ain't at Moriarty's, he's prob'ly smokin' weed with Mello or slummin' around Craterside," she said after glaring at Helena suspiciously. Then she transformed into a perky barmaid and brushed past Helena gushing, "Hey hot stuff, I got something extra special for you tonight!" She wasn't talking to Theo.
It was dusk by the time she found Mello's shack at the end of a cul-de-sac with a narrow balcony vantage of the crater. She thought she knew Theo much better.
A boy with dark red hair and blue-shaded sunglasses opened the graffiti covered door before she could knock. He held the door against his chest and examined her sideways.
"Are you Mello?" Helena asked him.
"Nope," he replied.
"Do you know Theo?"
"Yep."
"Do you know where Theo is?"
"Yep."
"Is he in there?"
"Yep."
"Can I see him?"
"Nope."
"Are you high?" she guessed.
"Nope," he lied.
"You know what this is?" She pulled out the laudanum and swirled it tantalizingly.
"Never seen it before," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"You want some?" she asked, dipping a finger in and tasting it. "Mmmm, delicious."
"Bitch," he said cracking a slight smile.
"Doctor Bitch," she corrected.
"A doctor pusher?" he asked skeptically.
She chuckled, "Damn, you got me there. It's only a lure."
The sound of a bass guitar emanated from the back of the shack. The door swung fully open and a blond kid stepped out and pushed a .44 magnum Desert Eagle into Helena's face. Part of his face was burned and his eyes were full of implacable hatred, but he was strikingly beautiful.
"Let's get one thing straight," he said vehemently, his finger tight on the trigger, "nobody pushes me. Those who do end up dead. The second I see your eye move, your brain is paste on that wall. Here's what's gonna happen: You're gonna turn around right now and walk away from this town. The next time I see you, I will kill you. Consider that your final warning."
The bore was close to her face, and she knew she wasn't fast enough to dodge it before the hammer fell. "Okay," she said, lizard brain fully engaged. "Bye." She backed away until she bumped against the balcony railing, which she flipped over neatly and landed three stories below on a slanted roof. She rolled off the roof and landed another two stories down on her feet in brahmin shit.
"Asshole," she muttered, kicking her boots clean. She was surprised at how quick and easy the fall was—satchel and rifle considered. Theo and the other two guys were looking at her from their balcony and she flipped them off emphatically before setting off for the gate.
She walked along the outside of the Megaton wall wishing that someone would spontaneously offer her a fusion pulse charge that conveniently attached to Megaton's nuclear warhead. It was dark and she could hear animal noises in the wilderness around her. Hunger began to gnaw at her, so she took out a knife and stalked the noises of her dinner.
A pack of wild dogs was terrorizing a molerat family. The chaos created an opportunity for a quick snatch and grab ambush. She leapt into the fray slashing wildly at hides and throats. It wasn't elegant and she barely escaped without injury, but she'd managed to keep the dogs at bay and drag her kill back to her stashed belongings against the wall of Megaton.
She started butchering the molerat, swallowing bloody chunks of meat as she laid the carcass bare. It wasn't good, but she only wanted to stave off the hunger. She'd come to know the extremes of pain and hunger intimately, and she would do anything to avoid the experience again.
When she was full, she consulted her Pip-Boy to see if she could receive radio. The brilliant light of her holo-display made her aware that she had been working in near pitch darkness the entire time, yet she had seen everything clearly. "I am a troglodyte," she laughed. "I am a radio wave receiving troglodyte," she amended as she tuned into Galaxy News Radio. "I want to set the world on fire, but… there's nothing left to burn."
"Sounds like lyrics," a voice in the night said.
She turned her Pip-Boy off and grabbed her knife, glaring into the darkness. The shape of a man materialized in her vision. It was Theo. The darkness gave her the advantage and she clutched her bladed wrist, springing her arm for a quick slash. She circled around him once. He had a revolver on his hip.
I could have helped you Theo, but your friends fucked it up for us. You're better off dead now. I'm going to try to put this blade between your third and fourth cervical vertebrae, straight through your vagus nerve, your carotid artery, and out of your larynx. It'll be quick, painless, and quiet. Just don't move or you'll mess it up. This is my first time.
He looked straight at her. "Didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know why you were looking for me."
"You can see in the dark too?" she asked.
"I can sense you. You can see in the dark?"
"Yeah, I'm a troglodyte. How can you sense me?"
He sighed. "I'm a Void. I sense all espers. Especially you. In fact, only you. You eclipse everyone."
"Are you high, Theo?"
"I'm always high, Helena. It's what Voids do—we're all psychic vampires and drug addicts. Are you high?"
"Of course not."
"You want to get high with me?"
"Can't you think of any more productive ways to spend your time and money? What you need is something that gives you lasting pleasure and builds self-confidence. Do you have any other interests?"
"Two things come to mind."
"What two things?"
"Sex and music."
"Music is good. Let's work with that. How does playing make you feel?"
"Like the god of fuck, like my dick is a giant spike I mainline my audience with."
"Maybe we should talk about what makes you feel like a void."
"Are you kidding? Fuck dep is what made me a Void. The Hunger ate my brain and sucked my soul into a black hole."
"O-kay. Well... believe it or not, I can relate to that. I've felt hunger that split my soul and flayed my mind. It made me… lose control. I've found it's best to distance yourself from the things that trigger such feelings."
"You wanna fuck?"
"Hell no! I hate sex."
"Ah, I see. You're just now awakening to your power and you're crawling in your skin. The curse is on you with a vengeance. You don't want to admit you're a cock junkie and you wanna be everyone's cum dumpster. You're scared once you get a dick in you, you won't wanna take it out. Don't try to fight the Hunger, girl, it'll only make it worse for us when you finally give in. Let me get you high. I wanna fuck the shit out of you."
"I think we should continue this conversation when you're sober."
"You don't want to see me sober."
"Actually I do. In fact, I've got a special course of treatment lined up for you. We can start it as soon as you're ready. I've been meaning to ask you: Do you have a syringe?"
"Never leave home without it."
"Excellent. I'm really positive about this big step towards recovery you've chosen to take, Theo. I'm sure the regimen I've planned will eliminate all your withdrawal symptoms. It will also take care of your cravings and keep you from relapsing."
"I don't want your fucking snake oil. I just want to party with you. Unless... you've got something good."
"I've got a fucking panacea. And it's not cheap. But don't worry about that. We'll continue our counseling sessions at a bargain rate, just to monitor your progress. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with our first meeting."
The dogs she had scared away earlier had honed in on the scent of the molerat carcass behind her. They were stealthily converging on them from all sides. It was time to get the fuck out, so she was trying to wrap this up quickly. A light suddenly shone in the distance behind Theo.
"Oh look, someone is coming."
A figure bearing a torch approached Helena and Theo from the direction of the gate. Theo turned to see who it was. He waved.
"It's Matt," Theo said. It was the red-haired guy she'd seen back at Mello's place.
Matt called, "Hey, we're set up. Are you okay? What's going on here? Oh shit! What the fuck is this?" he demanded from Helena.
Theo turned back to see what he meant. Helena's face, hands, and chest were smeared with blood and she was clutching a giant bloody bowie knife.
"We're having a confidential doctor to patient counseling session here. If you'd like, I can offer my services to you as well. And your friend—I can tip him off to some potent anger management strategies," she said, "if he promises not to shoot me."
"Are you fucking insane?" Matt accused.
"Why do you say that?" Helena asked.
"We're you trying to kill me in the dark?" Theo asked, drawing his revolver and backing away.
"What? No!" She lowered the blade and straightened from her crouched stance. "I mean, only if you tried anything," Helena replied. "You were the one who was talking crazy," she accused, pointing the blade at him. Theo didn't know what she was talking about.
Matt laughed, "You're not a pusher, are you? Colin's a fucking douche."
"I guess we got off on the wrong foot," Helena said. "I'm new to counseling and my approach needs some refining. What's Colin got to do with it?"
"I get that you're an idiot, but if you're not a pusher, what are you?"
"I told you: I'm a doctor," Helena replied. Her patience was thinning.
"What, you mean you're a healer?" asked Matt. "Or are we just going to go round and round all night with this shit. Look behind you."
Helena reluctantly looked behind her at the molerat mess she had made. A ghoulish dog was licking the rib cage and trying to drag the carcass away.
"Watch that dog," Matt commanded. "It's going to explode in three… two… one…" Splat. It exploded. A rain of blood and gore hit Helena.
"Holy shit! What was that!" she yelled.
"What was that?" Matt replied. "I just exploded that dog is what. You never heard of demolators?" He scoffed, "You don't know shit from shingles, do you? What the hell were you doing in that Vault? Playing VR games and swigging Nuka Cola?"
"Yeah, so? You got something against VR?" Helena said vehemently. "At least I wasn't going around exploding puppies!"
"Hey man, there ain't nothing wrong with VR. Chill, Matt. She's just a kid," Theo said.
"Shut up Theo, I'm talking to Doctor Bitch. What is your talent, Bitch? I showed you mine. Least you can do is show me yours," he addressed Helena.
She thought for a moment. "Give me your syringe," she told Theo, "and I'll show you."
"Fuck that," Theo replied. "You think I'm stupid? Use your own panacea before you mooch off me, greedy bitch."
Matt rolled his eyes. "What are you going to do with a syringe?"
"I'm going to inject my blood into Theo, that's all. It's a trick I learned from monte flashen comb."
Matt narrowed his eyes. "Who else have you seen since you came out of the Vault?" he asked.
Helena considered and replied, "I farther mount ego plexus fountain Legos. No, it shatter doubts eager shining wainscot furlongs. What the hell! I mean that I sunder flea a beggar froth and cuckoo set plethora the phantom sigil. This is impossible! I can't say himmel string guano," she cried in desperation.
"Must have been Ingolf," Matt told Theo.
"No doubt. Her dad wouldn't do this to her," Theo replied.
"You never know," Matt said, "They're all fucking wacked," referring to pushers.
"I followed Ingolf from the school. She was there for three days."
"Shit, I don't have time for this," Matt said. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Helena begged, grasping any opportunity to learn what the two boys knew about her dad. "Theo! I'll sleep with you. Whatever. Just let me come back with you."
Theo looked back with a shit-eating grin. "Red, please," he looked at Matt like a kid begging his mom to let him keep a stray dog he'd brought home. "Look at her, she's fucking harmless."
"Oh brother," Matt sighed with supreme self-restraint. "Well, come on then."
