"Who the fuck are you?"
Renee held up her hands at the gun pointed at her chest. "Just a traveler!"
The man frowned and jerked his gun to the side. "Keep movin' then."
"Can't I even take a look inside? I just need to pick up some stuff."
He made a show of flicking the safety to off on his gun. "I said, keep movin'."
Renee scowled and let her hands drop. "Tch. Fine then, asshole." She turned to go, but not before flipping him off.
"Hey!"
A bullet landed in the ground at her feet. She skittered back, reaching for her own gun.
"Don't fucking mess with the Gunners!"
She barely dodged the next bullet by diving behind one of the sandbag barricades they had set up around the hospital entrance. "God damn it, I'm just full of bad ideas today…" She slapped a full magazine into her rifle.
Bullets ripped into the sandbags at her back and she scrambled to find better cover. A volley of bullets followed her movements from one Gunner's automatic assault rifle as she dashed behind a sideways car. She peeked out just long enough to return a shot at them before ducking back. She heard one of the Gunners cry out in pain.
"You can't hide forever!"
More bullets pinged off the car. She risked another shot and nearly took a bullet through her arm. Instead it skated off her skin, leaving an angry red mark in its path. She inhaled sharply, eyes narrowing. Close…
Above the din, a trumpeting howl split the air. Almost immediately she heard the unmistakable stomps and roars of Super Mutants shake the ground. She rolled her eyes. "Great."
Though, they seemed to be after the Gunners instead of her. She heard more shouting and rapid gunfire and a few lasers sparked over her head. She poked around the side of the car. Both Gunners and Super Mutants were locked in combat and not paying her any mind at all. She eyed the hospital doors. It would be a perfect time to get inside, but…
"It is the age of the SUPER MUTANT!"
"You broke my fucking arm!"
She flinched as the injured Gunner was picked up and slammed into the concrete. A broken arm was the least of his worries now. She slung her rifle across her shoulder again and knelt, her legs tensed.
As soon as the path was clear, she shot off in a mad sprint, right through the middle of the gunfire. One of the Gunners tried to whirl around and slam her with his gun. "Hey—" A Mutant shot him through the chest before he could finish.
She realized the door to the hospital was closing to prevent the Mutants from entering. She jumped over a dead Gunner and launched herself forward, aiming to duck into a roll inside the building…until the door closed shut on her ankle. "Shit!" She tugged it free and the door finished closing.
"Ow, ouch…" Renee rubbed at the spot. It would bruise, for sure, but otherwise she was fine.
As she got to her feet, she looked around. Ruined seats scattered the large, open room, and a desk with some blown-out terminals took up a whole alcove. She grabbed her rifle again just in case.
She heard nothing beyond the faint sounds of her own footsteps as she limped further into the room. "Beakers, where would I find beakers…" She mumbled, mostly to keep her nerves at bay.
Curie sent her out for lab supplies: beakers, flasks, any chemicals she came across. And unfortunately, the best places for those were old hospitals. Renee's least favorite places, as she found them almost unbearably creepy. They were often filled with skeletons and, worse, bugs. Though the Gunners at the entrance were a surprising addition, one she hoped to never come across again.
Renee crept further into the building. Dim lights flickered above and she kept jumping at her own shadow.
The sound of skittering caught her attention and made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She swallowed hard. Radroaches. Renee lifted the gun as she peered into a room.
It was empty, save for a skeleton laying on the floor.
"Poor bastard," she murmured. She turned just in time to have a Radroach land directly in front of her.
With a shriek she began shooting at it, stumbling back into the room. The poor Radroach died after two bullets, but that didn't stop her from wasting an entire magazine in her shock.
"What was that?"
The voice came from above her. She realized more Gunners were stationed in the hospital itself; and of course there were, why wouldn't they be? That would make things far too easy.
"I'm gonna check it out. Stay here."
Renee shouldered the rifle and instead pulled out her knife, holding it tightly. She heard footsteps getting louder and louder as the Gunner approached. She ducked inside the doorway.
The Gunner stopped just outside the room. "Just a Radroach!" She yelled. Then, she kicked at it. "Wait…"
Renee bit her tongue. Of course the blood and guts from the roach splattered everywhere in the hall was a sign someone else was around. The Gunner turned again. "There's someone—"
Renee grabbed the woman with one hand and plunged her knife into her chest with the other. She stepped back as the woman fell to the ground. "Sorry." She stepped around the corpse.
Above her, more footsteps. Renee tried to keep to the shadows as she went along. Taking out one Gunner was easy enough, but she didn't want to risk finding more. Or worse, them finding her. She wasn't about to die when Curie was waiting for her back home.
The thought made her hesitate. Diamond City wasn't her home, not really, not yet. And Curie was just her boss. Did Curie even care that much about her? Renee's mind flashed back to the way Curie looked at Nate when he visited and she tucked away the memory. No, probably not.
"Where are you?" A Gunner called, sounding closer than Renee liked.
She ducked into another side room and pressed against the wall. Two Gunners passed by, guns at the ready. Her eyes narrowed as she watched them turn a corner. "Hmph."
Renee managed to get up to the second floor before she heard them find their dead friend. There was shouting, words she couldn't quite make out, and frantic running. A faint hiss told her the door opened again and more footsteps. Apparently the Gunners were able to beat back the Mutants.
"Damn it, that bitch made it inside!"
"Find her, and rip her throat out!"
Renee kept her knife at the ready as she began searching more rooms. Among them, she finally found a ruined lab, and there, some mostly intact beakers. "Finally," she breathed. She began gently packing them in her bag, protected by some old towels Curie gave her to make sure they wouldn't break.
As she was dropping the last one in, she heard the distinct click of a gun. "Found you."
She turned, seeing two Gunners. "Oh god damn you."
"I'm back!"
"Just a moment!"
Renee heard some rustling from the basement laboratory and nudged the door shut. "Sorry it took me so long." It'd been nearly three days since Curie sent her out, and though the walk to the old Mass Bay Medical Center didn't take her long, the return was…much more eventful.
"I'm just glad you made it back—Renee!" Curie nearly dropped the notebook in her hand. "What 'appened?!"
"Gunners, mostly. Turns out they don't like it when you murder their friends." Renee grinned and held out her bag. "But! I managed to get the beakers you need."
Curie ignored the bag and began fussing over her. "Your eye! You look 'orrible!"
Renee winced as Curie poked around her various bruises and brushed against her still-swollen left eye. "I'm fine. I've had worse."
"Is zhis going to become a habit for you?" The small woman looked over her arm where the bullet grazed her. "I don't want you to get killed out zhere for me."
"I mean… It's pretty standard for me. I'm kind of a bullet magnet." Renee shifted her weight, her breath hitching as she put pressure on her bruised leg, and shifted back. "But really, I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me."
Curie didn't seem to pay attention to her words. "Why didn't you use any Stimpaks?"
"I don't have any."
Curie stopped her examination and gazed up at Renee. "You… Did I not give you some?"
"Um, no." Renee saw the surprise cross Curie's face. "But I didn't ask for any!"
"Foolish, foolish…" Curie grumbled something under her breath that Renee couldn't quite catch. "I am so sorry. Zhis is my fault. I should 'ave prepared you better and I did not."
"It's not really anyone's fault. Except maybe the Gunners." She glanced away. "So, if that's it, I'm gonna head to the Dugout Inn. I could use a nap."
Curie gripped her wrist and began tugging her further into the apartment. "Oh no, you are staying right 'ere. I'm not letting you go anywhere until I ensure you're all right."
Renee felt a blush spread through her body. "O-okay," she squeaked. Curie's fingers were cool, strong, and Renee couldn't bring herself to argue. She didn't even want to argue. Her mother's advice came back to her,
"If a cute boy ever asks if you're okay, the answer is always no."
Well, surely it applied to cute scientists too.
Hey everyone. If you can, leave a review? I don't get a ton of feedback on my work and cherish each and every review, even if it's highly critical. I only get better if I know what to work on.
Thanks.