Jackpot.

Lily thrust the kitchen knife into the corner of the suitcase, easily punching through the faded yellow cloth. After a few minutes of cutting, ripping and tugging, she managed to create a hole big enough for her hand. She smiled proudly at her achievement, forgetting for a moment that her sister wasn't there. Not that she'd appreciate the effort, anyways. Rachel would have just scoffed at her, pulled out a Bobby pin, and had the entire thing open in a matter of seconds.

The first piece of clothing to come out of the case was blue, a cheerful sky-blue that made her want to vomit. She tossed it over her shoulder with barely a second thought. Too bright, and it reminded her too much of the Vault dweller's outfit. Next was a rolled up pair of long, brown trousers. If she still had her pack, this would have been a prime find. It was much too big for her, but the material was top-notch; plenty of raiders would have dropped serious caps for clothes of this quality. Lily reluctantly put them aside and dove back in.

A blender. Two packs of cigarettes. A toy car. Lily's heart sank further with every random item she pulled out. A pinstriped black suit, pristine and untouched for two hundred years, quickly joined the rest of the useless clothing on the dusty floor. One pair of pants. She pleaded, shifting through the remaining contents of the suitcase. That's all I want.

Someone up above must have been half-listening to her appeal; that, or they had a twisted sense of humor. The next item she found was a miniskirt, pink and fluffy. Lily stared at its frills and curls with a mixture of curiosity and anger. It was…pretty, in a way that none of her other clothes were. She knew it was stupid; clothes this bright would make her pretty alright. A pretty good fucking target. But she wanted to try it on, even if it was just for a moment.

"Are you left-handed?" a chirpy voice interrupted her thoughts. Lily turned to see the short-haired woman watching her intently.

"Yeah." She mumbled, quickly stuffing the skirt back into the suitcase. Her cheeks had to be tinged red with embarrassment; what was she doing? Trying on skirts? Dressing herself up like a prostitute?

With a small cry, Lily brought the knife down in a flash, cutting through the material with ease. She carved up the flowery decorations and sliced through the flimsy cloth again and again until the skirt was a pile of scraps.

That was fun! Red cheered. Let's see if they have any more!

Any regret Lily felt over destroying the antique outfit was wiped away by Red's glowing approval. It was the first time since she'd woken up that Red had complimented her. Eagerly, she began shifting through the suitcase.

After ripping through a teal skirt that made the mistake of matching her eyes, Lily finally found what she was looking for. A pair of pants. Maybe her luck was turning somewhat, because these pants weren't just good, they were perfect. Strong and stretchy, with material that was stained dark enough to go with her top; this would make moving at night a breeze, if she was careful not to make too much noise. Snatching up a pair of red panties from the pile of clothing and gathering up a few scraps of pink cloth, she disappeared behind the refrigerator.

"Where are you going?" Curie asked, as Lily picked up her pistol and headed for the open doorway. What remained of the door had been blasted away, along with the front porch.

"It's none of your business." Lily grunted.

"Do you need medical attention?" the woman asked, following her out the door. Was she limping that bad?

Lily gritted her teeth and whirled around.

"Where did you come from? Why are you following me?" she demanded, clenching her fists aggressively.

Maybe her lucky really had turned. Somehow, Lily's words seemed to have gotten through the woman's dense skull; she froze, her mouth open as if she wanted to speak. When no words came out, Lily huffed and spun around, heading off down the street.

Footsteps. Light footsteps, tip-tapping against the ground and gaining in speed. Lily whirled around, revolver in hand. She half-expected to see the crazy woman bearing down on her in fury.

Give me back my water! She screamed in Lily's head, swinging her furious fists wildly. I'll beat it out of you! It was always these kind of people who turned out to be total psychos.

Instead, Lily watched as a mangled, decaying creature hurled itself towards the woman. She barely managed to cry out as the ghoul tackled her to the ground, rotting teeth gnashing in a frenzy. Before Lily could aim down her sights, the woman had somehow managed to shove her rifle into the creature's mouth. Drops of nasty green spit ran down the sides of her weapon as she kicked the creature's soft body repeatedly.

A second ghoul was now crawling with superhuman determination towards the struggling pair, dragging its useless legs along the blackened road. None of the other ghoul corpses seemed to be stirring; these two must have been knocked unconscious by the explosions.

A sharp cry brought her attention back to the woman. The ghoul had sunk its fingernails deep into her shoulder, exposing bright, red blood to the glittering sunlight. She turned to look helplessly at Lily, her mouth too busy screaming to call for help.

Lily was just a few feet away, and her revolver was already prepped and ready. Neither one of the ghouls seemed interested in her; why would they be, when fresh meat was already writhing desperately in their hands? All she had to do was limp away.

With a heavy sigh, she focused down her sights. As annoying as the woman was, ferals were a lot worse.

Lily lined up her shot carefully as the ghoul's head jerked and lurched unpredictably. The first ghoul's head disappeared in a blood-red mist, showering the sobbing woman in chunks of rotting flesh. The second ghoul released her and turned towards the noise. A large-caliber bullet burst through its chest, destroying its diseased heart and ending its life.

Curie was a weeping mess. Bits of ghoul brain were stuck in her hair, nasty juices were flowing down her ashen face and mingling with her tears. Her eyes were wide, panicked; the eyes of a Radstag caught in a trap. She watched fearfully as Lily approached, glaring down at her with pitiless eyes.

You're too soft, Lily. Red's voice was deceptively calm. She wasn't going to give orders, wasn't going to force her to do anything. She was leaving it all up to her.

"Please help me." Curie pleaded, gritting her teeth in pain. The stranger seemed to consider it for a moment. Or was she just inspecting her backpack? Maybe she wanted food? Medicine?

"Please, I'll give you anything you want from my pack." Curie promised. "Just help me to my feet." Both ghouls had landed heavily on her legs, pinning her to the scorch-marked asphalt. Although her throbbing shoulder was hard to ignore, it wasn't the pain that scared her. If the wounds grew infected, there was a real danger that she could lose her arm.

And that would not be easy to fix!

Lily bit her lip. It there was a God above, he seemed to love playing cruel tricks on her. Yesterday, he'd taken away her dignity. He'd forced her to beg for her life which, in a cruel twist of fate, made that very life meaningless.

But today, he'd offered up the perfect sacrifice in the form of this pathetic, wailing creature. She'd lost her dignity, but she'd make up for it in ruthlessness.

All she had to do was pull the trigger.

Lily took a step forward, landing squarely on the squirming woman's hand. She turned her boot savagely, left and right, grinding her hand into the concrete. The woman cried out in pain, hyperventilating as fresh tears streaked down her dirty face. Lily refused to let up; she wanted to see hate in those gray eyes, wanted to see the woman curse and spit in rage. Anything besides the pitiful, helpless whimpering and frantic, wide-eyed terror.

Lily quickly pulled her foot away. She'd hoped to feel a hint of malice or spite for the wretched woman under her boot. But all she could feel was pity, and a growing sense of shame.

Why drag this out? Little acts of cruelty were pointless. Just pull the trigger and walk away.

She'd never killed someone in cold blood before, so it was a relief to find that most of the actions were familiar to her. Checking the cylinder, pulling the hammer back with her thumb, even the deep, controlling breath she took before firing the shot were all easy.

But when she turned the barrel towards the cringing woman on the ground, her hands began to shake. Her heart began to thunder louder in her chest as the woman's gray eyes widened in fear. She was still saying something. Pleading maybe? Lily couldn't hear over the roaring in her ears.

The worn grip on her revolver, which had always been so comforting, now chafed against her skin. She didn't bother trying to still her hands as she lined up her shot; at this range, she wouldn't miss. Her finger tensed on the trigger, and the woman flinched.

Ten seconds passed. A bead of sweat dropped from her brow, as the woman below continued to beg and plead. It's just you or me.

Twenty seconds. Lily realized she'd been biting her lip the entire time; she could taste blood. This mewling creature might not end up killing her, but someday, someone would take advantage of Lily's weakness.

Thirty seconds had passed, and the woman had stopped begging. Or saying anything. But Lily still didn't pull the trigger.

A whole minute had passed before Lily gave up, tears of frustration pouring down her face. Why was it so hard? Why was a raider like her helping this hapless woman to her feet?

Because you're weak, little sis.

"You'll need bandages." Lily mumbled, refusing to meet the grateful woman's eyes. There was no use pretending anymore; if she wasn't going to kill her, she might as well help her.

You might as well throw yourself in the river. Red spat.