The young woman rifles through a wardrobe full of clothing and pulls out a small, skimpy leopard-print nightgown. She holds it up to her naked, newly-washed figure, swings her hips this way and that, then checks the tag.
Naughty Nightwear
Courtesy of The Tops Casino
The woman sighs and tosses it onto her bed. She most likely won't be using these anytime soon. Not with any partner, for that matter.
She pulls out another gown, pink this time.
Sexy Sleepwear
Courtesy of The Tops Casino
This was more like it. Shooting a Legion man's head off with a Hunting Shotgun in some sexy lingerie was on her bucket list. That'd show The Legion who they were up against- a tough, fine woman who still looked perfect covered in their blood.
She slides into the gown and smiles into the mirror. It fit perfectly.
After trying on one of her best dresses, she walks out the door and makes her way downstairs, where the happy jingling of slot machines ring distantly, beckoning her.
A couple smiling in each other's faces and holding hands pass her, and once they got to the nearest room, the man grabs his girl and they smooch and slurp at each other's mouths, then disappear through the door.
The woman continues down the steps, slightly shaken from the encounter. How long had it been since she'd kissed someone? Five years? She's young, only twenty, and her first kiss was given to some hormonal boy in a broken-down schoolhouse. Hell, the Wastes hadn't even given her enough time to lose her virginity.
The satisfying sound of her heels on polished tile wakes her from her train of thought.
Cigarette smoke hangs and swirls into the air like a daydream. There's a slow song on the radio echoing across the massive casino hall. Men and women laugh over clinking glasses and game cards.
A smile blooms on her face. This is heaven compared to those countless, sleepless nights pissing in sand, shitting in holes, living off of dry maize and boxes of stale cram. She has hot and cold running water now, good food, good booze, and a soft bed with cushions and sheets and blankets and pillows. It's simply heaven.
With a newfound confidence, she struts over to a bar and delicately lowers herself down onto a stool, like a lady.
The smiling bartender comes over, all dressed up in a tux and bow tie. He cleans out a sparkling glass and asks, "Can I get you anythin', miss?"
She smiles and leans forward over the counter, "Oh, yes. I would like..." She thinks for a moment. What would a lady order? What would her mother have ordered? "...Wine. Wine, please."
The bartender smiles and gets to work on her drink. "Good choice." He calls.
Her heart flutters. She's doing good!
The tall glass of wine appears in front of her in no time, and the bartender winks, "Here you are, miss."
Flattered, she blushes and cradles the glass in her palm, as a lady would have done. She wants to give the guy a good kiss on the cheek, something, anything, so she pops three caps on the table instead.
The bartender smiles and they're tucked into the cash register.
Drink in hand, she sits back and lets the casino sing in her ears.
Slot machines ding and laughs trail over the hazy air. Chandeliers twinkle and glasses clink. She could even hear the dice roll over the green casino tables and thumbs flick lighters into flame.
The wine's good. Real good. It had been well-aged, alright. The only good thing the Nuclear War brought was good alcohol that'd been aged for decades in the wastes. So she gets the bartender to fill her glass again. And again. And again. And again until the world around her is fuzzy and the sounds she was once so keen to now garbled and apart of an incessant buzz.
Right next to her, she notices a tattered man sit and hunch over the counter. He smells of urine and dirt, his clothes stained in both.
At first, he turns to two men smoking and conversing casually, but they turn him away. His head lowers, then slowly turns to her. He's a ghoul.
His face is torn and flaky, battered from radiation. His voice struggles to form a raspy whisper, "Do you have caps to spare? For a drink?" He coughs, "I just need...anything. Water, anything."
CHOICE
Turn Him Away (Go to Chapter 8)
Buy Him a Drink (Go to Chapter 9)