Part Two: Wasteland Princess

Chapter Ten.

Princess cracked her knuckles as she stood at the top of the hill overlooking Big Town. "Bug Town is more like it," she said to herself as she adjusted a necklace that had been given to her half an hour earlier by a girl that had left Little Lamplight before her. It was a piece of old sponge that had been soaked in something. The girl had said to wear it at all times while around Big Town if she wanted to live.

Princess had put a bullet in MacCready when he had returned to Little Lamplight not long after he had left. Shooting him had made her more unpopular, but her only regret was that she hadn't shot him in the face. He had been shouting about Big Town being destroyed, which was the only thing that had saved him from her second bullet which went wide as she was wrestled to the ground by Lucy.

He had looked cute while on the cave floor, bleeding.

She was the only one who didn't believe his story about Big Town. The longer he talked, the more the others nodded and the less she believed. First, she was expected to think that the best town in the wasteland had been overrun by stupid muties. Second, she was supposed believe that MacCready, the fucking coward who was only brave when sniping people from the wall and punching girls, had gone into a radscorpion nest and taken it over with the help of a mad scientist.

And to top it all off, Big Town was now Bug Town and was protected by radscorpions that would kill you if you didn't smell right. "Bullshit," she said, slamming her fist into the other.

The first thing she planned to do was kick MacCready's ass and feed him to his damned bugs. He had sucker punched her once when they were little, but she wasn't little anymore. She had killed enough mutants and raiders since then to consider herself a badass. She still wore her pink dress but had cut it into a skirt which she wore over leather pants. Complete with a top adorned with metal plates she had picked of a slaver, Princess thought she looked the part of a true wasteland princess.

"He can go be mayor of the fucking bugs," she said, walking down the hill and around the barricades at Big Town's entrance. There was a wooden footbridge there, made wide for radscorpion traffic. As she entered the town square, she saw that her coming had been anticipated.

No one was out on the street. Some had come to stand on porches while others watched from windows. Princess sneered at a few of them, having marked them as wastelanders and not former Lamplighters. MacCready had let the place go to hell.

He was standing in the center of town with his arms crossed. He was still wearing that dopey looking military armor minus the helmet. His poofy red hair shifted in the wind and dust hid many his freckles. She wanted to pinch his cheeks almost as bad as she wanted to hit him.

"Welcome to Big Town," he said. "I'm the Mayor, R.J. MacCready."

"I know who you are, asshole," she said.

"Glad you remember, bitch," MacCready said. "I was thinking I was going to have to remind you, but I guess you're smarter than you look."

Her fists clenched. She liked being the Princess of Little Lamplight and didn't like the idea of being a princess living under a mayor in some stupid bug town. "Who elected you?" she asked.

"The citizens," MacCready said. "ALL of them." A radscorpion trundled past MacCready on its way out. Princess gave it a dirty look, of which it took no notice.

She swallowed. He really had found some way to control the radscorpions. Frowning, she thought it was more likely that the radscorpions had killed the former inhabitants and MacCready had simply come up with some sneaky way to trick them.

"I want a recount," she said. "I've got five votes." She held her palm up and curled it into a fist.

"Here's the ballot box, bitch," MacCready said, holding his arms out wide.

She screamed, startling the humans and radscorpions alike and charged with her fist in the air. MacCready stepped to the side and kicked at her ankle, sending her feet into the air and her face into the ground. She picked herself up to the sound of clapping and bit down on her lip hard enough to make it bleed before running at MacCready again.

This time, he didn't sidestep her. Moving slowly towards her, he ducked beneath her fist and sent his own into her nose. She was transported back to when she was ten, the first time his fist had connected with her face, and lost consciousness.

***

Princess gave the peeling wall of Big Town's hospital a blank stare as Lucy fixed a bandage onto her nose. "It should heal straight, I think," Lucy said.

Princess shrugged.

"Look on the bright side," Lucy said, finishing the bandage off. "The fight lasted a little longer this time…and the bugs really are a help. Just keep out of their way and try not to get on nest detail."

"Nest detail?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. MacCready has people go into the nest to scavenge the bodies the radscorpions bring in. It's mostly slavers, raiders, and muties. When we start seeing wastelanders, MacCready makes a big deal of selling pheromone to surrounding settlements. The radscorpions are actually really helpful, if a little creepy."

Princess gritted her teeth. Her nose hurt, which was her only distraction from the humiliation she felt. "Looks like the ass really has everything covered," she said, not unclenching her teeth.

"Yeah…," Lucy said. "Only…sometimes we have to find food for the radscorpions if we notice they're not bringing much in, otherwise MacCready says they'll leave."

"Sounds like fun," Princess said. "Is there a detail for popping slavers and mutants?"

"Yes," Lucy said. "There's also a new thing you should know about. It's a law the mayor passed while you were unconscious."

Princess rolled her eyes. "What is it?"

"He, uh, said to make feeding the radscorpions easier, anyone convicted of treason would be fed to them." Lucy patted her arm to comfort her. "I think he said you were a grandfather or something like that, so don't worry. But from now on…"

"Does leaving count as treason?" Princess asked.

"I don't know," Lucy said. "I think that's banishment, but why would you want to…"

"Because I can't stand him!" Princess shrieked. "I tried to be nice to him a long time ago…I-I…" her voice shrank. "I liked him. I actually liked him and he…he…"

She felt tears well up behind her eyes but bit her lip again. Clenching her fists, she pounded the table. "I'll kill him. I'll leave forever and come back and kill him."

She stood up. "Can I have a stimpak?"

Lucy looked away. "I don't know…you're not going to die from your nose and they're hard to find. I also just spent a long time bandaging you."

"I'll never ask you for anything again, Lucy," Princess said, spitting the other girl's name. "I promise."

Lucy though that promise sounded more like a threat and so she quickly got a stimpak from the first aid box. Princess held still while the needle went into the area around her nose. Lucy didn't know what was in a stimpak that made it work like magic, but thought she would be the best doctor in the waste if she ever found out.

Princess ripped the bandage off her nose as the swelling went down before Lucy's eyes. Princess stormed out the door, heading for where Big Town kept its stock of weapons which it now used mostly for trade with the radscorpions working defense.

Lucy followed her out and held her breath when she saw MacCready head Princess off.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" he asked. "There's a new law in town, you know."

"I heard, which is why I'm leaving. I'm taking some guns and I'm leaving forever. Don't try to stop me, or you won't get lucky a third time."

MacCready smirked and looked like he might try his luck for a third time. Instead, he backed away and gestured with both hands towards the armory as though Princess were actual royalty. "Be my guest, your majesty. If it'll get you the fuck out of here, take the who fucking building if you want."

"Maybe I will," she said, going into the armory and slamming the door.

She left Big Town carrying an assault rifle, two 10mm semiautomatic pistols, ammunition bandoliers and a few grenades. She thought about shooting MacCready dead, but had better, more satisfying plans for his demise. She liked to think her time as a princess had taught her the value of planning and patience. She hoped the people who had been the dinner of Bug Town's radscorpions thought so as well.

To be continued…