Well, Wasteland Survival Guide won, so here's a chapter on the worst part of the quest; getting irradiated.

Alexis groaned in frustration. "I want to find my Dad," Alexis said, her voice becoming more exasperated with each word. "But if he's not here, we need to get supplies."

Amata shrugged. "Your call. The sheriff said supplies are at Moira's store, which was…" she paused, trying to remember which way Lucas Simms had pointed to. "That way." She decided, already walking down the hill and up a staircase.

Trusting Amata's memory, Alexis followed suit. The two walked above a building, until they were stood outside a large shack that had 'The Craterside Supply' written crudely next to the door. "That sounds right," Amata said.

Alexis nodded and pushed open the door, holding it open for Amata to enter. The girls gagged instantly, as a foul smell assaulted their senses, smelling like a mixture of soil, sweat and dead animals.

Exiting out of the side room, came a red-haired woman. "Oh, hello there." The woman said, her tone excited. "Don't mind the smell, just running a few experiments. Anyway, I'm Moira, what can I help you with?"

Covering her nose, Amata responded. "We need supplies."

Moira clapped her hands happily. "We have those. If you have the caps, I can get you sorted."

Alexis and Amata looked at each other in confusion. "Caps?" Amata asked.

Moira nodded slowly, the smile falling from her face. "You know, caps? Currency."

Alexis shook her head. "We don't have any of those," she told Moira.

Moira looked in thought for a second before smiling to herself. "Well, there are other ways to get supplies. I'm working on a guide for surviving in the Wasteland, and I need helpers to … help."

"What would we need to do?" Amata asked.

"Nothing too bad for the first chapter," Moira reassured. "I just need to know the best ways to handle radiation, where you can find food, and how to survive a landmine filled settlement." Moira said this in a tone that she may have used for discussing the weather.

Alexis dragged Amata to the corner of the store to discuss the opportunity in relative privacy. "I know she sounds a little crazy but we do need supplies," she tried to persuade.

Amata looked incredulous. "'A little crazy'," she repeated. "She wants us to irradiate ourselves and go to a place full of explosives."

"Ok, she sounds more than a little crazy," Alexis admitted. "But, hear me out. If we're out here we need to know how to deal with radiation and we're going to need how to find food."

"And the landmines?"

Alexis shrugged. "She's crazy, but we need supplies."

"Fine," Amata relented. "But we call it quits if this gets too bad."

Alexis grinned and nodded before yelling to Moira, "We'll do it!"

Moira smiled and removed a Vault-suit that was hanging behind the shop's counter and handing it to Amata who gratefully put it on. The suit looked exactly like the normal Vault-suit other than the various leather plates attached at the arm, chest, and legs. "If you're going to help me you'll need to some protection. I was patching this up for somebody else from the Vault but they never came back to collect it. Anyway, for the first chapter you'll have to get irradiated, find food or go to a place full of landmines. Which do you want to do first?"

The two girls glanced at each other and had a silent conversation. "Radiation," Amata said, going on to explain, "we can probably just stand in the water by the bomb."

"Ooh, good thinking," Moira complimented. "Now, you can come back after you get 200 rads, but for a really good chapter you'll need at least 600 rads."

"Got it," Alexis said, grabbing Amata and pulling her out of the store while wondering what a rad was.

Amata had the grace to wait until the pair were safely down the stairs and stood near the bomb before speaking. "She was crazy," she said.

Alexis laughed. "True, but she's giving us stuff and we'll learn how to survive in this Wasteland."

"Fine," Amata conceded. "Now, 600 rads?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Alexis said, trailing off as she stared at the water surrounding the bomb. "I guess we just stand in it for a while."

Amata nodded and stepped into the water, shivering slightly as the cold liquid met her skin. Alexis soon followed, coping better than Amata did. The two stood in silence for a minute. Before Amata spoke something that was on her mind. "Moira gave me this." She gestured to her new armoured Vault-suit. "But, she said she was holding it for someone else from the Vault." Alexis nodded, prompting Amata to continue. "That means somebody else must have escaped the Vault before us," she explained.

Alexis understood what Amata was saying. "But who?" she asked. "I can't think of anybody that disappeared." Alexis was vaguely aware that her chest and stomach were beginning to ache likely due to the radiation.

"We wouldn't have been paying attention," Amata rationalised. "I mean, think of all the people in the Vault we never saw or paid attention to." Like Alexis, Amata was also feeling the aches in her muscles, as her legs also began to falter slightly.

"We'll ask Moira about it when we get back," Alexis promised. "Until then let's focus on our job."

The two stood until their legs almost gave way, the breaths were laboured and their arms hurt to move. Eventually Amata had had enough. "That's it, we're done," she determined, slowly making her way back to Moira's shop, with Alexis trailing behind her.

Pushing open the door, the two were met with an excited Moira who gave a small whoop of happiness as she saw the two. "You two are positively glowing," she said eagerly. "Well, how do you feel?" she asked.

Amata replied first. "I can practically feel my entire body screaming in pain," she said.

"Interesting," Moira replied thoughtfully. "Too much radiation might not be good for the body or mind."

Alexis shrugged. "Yeah, it hurts but I'm sure I could live with it."

"Maybe radiation causes delusions of false stamina," Moira said, more to herself than Alexis. "Or maybe some people are better at dealing with the rads than others are." She snapped to attention. "Anyway, let's get you two cured up."

She pulled out a syringe full of a murky orange and brown liquid and plunged it into Amata's arm who winced, but did immediately look better. Alexis held out her arm and felt the needle enter her and also felt better as the concoction took effect.

"Job well done guys," Moira said. She handed the girls two containers of pills and two drip bags full of brown liquid each. "Some Rad-X and Radaway, my way of saying thanks for letting me test some drugs on you and accidently twisting your DNA like a cat with a ball of yarn."

"Thanks," Amata responded sarcastically, still rubbing her arm where the needle was used. "Guess we'll head to find food next."

I would say review, but I hated writing for this quest. But, review anyway.