Chapter 2 - Still Not Happy
As we entered Moriarty's Saloon, I felt totally exhausted! I sat down at the nearest table, half expecting Jericho to sit down next to me, but he just sat at the bar and rudely ordered a whiskey. Sighing, I noticed Nova was stood up at the other side of the bar.
"Nova!" I cried out. "I got those condoms you wanted!"
Her eyes widened, and she rushed over towards me. She looked like she was going to slap me, but instead sat down angrily, another vodka in her hand.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she whispered vehemently. I recoiled back with a smirk. Reaching into my breast pocket I pulled out 10 packets of condoms and set them on the table. She was about to pick them up when I slammed by hands down on them to prevent her doing so.
"Nu-uh!" I smiled. "Not until you give me the information that I want!"
Her eyes were like daggers as she leant back on her chair and sipped at her drink.
"Fine." she spat. "What do you want to know?"
Flipping out my pad, I started taking notes as I fired questions at her. Some of her responses were really interesting. She told me all about her experiences with ordinary men, ghouls, makeshift contraceptives and sex in the wasteland.
Sitting at my desk in my bedroom, I looked over at my notes for my 'neo-chapter one'. I had my first interview with the prostitute Nova. Sure, I had risked my life to get it, but it had been worth it; I was well on my way to getting this first chapter complete! I glanced over at the clock; it was 10:23p.m. I had said goodnight to Jericho at Moriarty's Saloon as I was feeling pretty tired, but sitting in my room my nerves were wide awake. As I jumped onto my bed hoping to somewhen fall asleep, someone suddenly was banging on my door. Although I was still in my jimmy-jams, I flew down the stairs and opened the door. My eyes widened; it was Flak! My good friend from Rivet City!
"Flak!" I cried. "What are you doing here?!" I jumped him and put my arms around him; he was a fellow trader from the large city of Rivet City. We used to both run a shop together here in Megaton, but after he had ticked off a few slavers he left this cute little town and ran off with someone called Shrapnel to seek a new life somewhere else.
"Hey, Moira!" he smiled. "Can I come in, first?"
I stepped out of the way and let him in. I didn't have much in the way of things to offer him, such as food or drink, but I rummaged the fridge and found a squashed little squirrel I found in the dustbin to give him. Surprisingly he didn't take it, so I ate it for myself. Yummy!
"What are you doing in town?" I asked him again.
"I am just piling up my wares." he replied. "I came by earlier, but you weren't here. You aren't usually shut, where were you?"
"Oh..." I thought about what to say. I couldn't really say I was out getting contraceptives, now, could I? "I was just 'piling up my wares', as you put it!" I lied; he saw right through me.
"Is that all you were doing?" he questioned me. I could never lie to him.. so I told him all about the new Guide I was writing.
"A new guide, eh? Hey, wait!" he looked alarmed, for some reason. "You hired Jericho? I've heard all about him, it's not the sort of company you wanna keep."
I shrugged my shoulders and laughed as I bit down into the squirrel's head and chewed it off. Swallowing it down I replied non-committedly:
"He saved my life, you know."
"Well, just be careful." he sighed, lighting up a cigarette. I eyed up the "death-stick" with curiousity. After 'borrowing' one of Jericho's, I wanted another one for some strange reason. I had done investigation into addiction before. It was around two years ago. I had met one of Billy Creel's ward's friends, who isn't around now, and I gave him some Mentats. The results were astounding! He had one the first day, then ten the next, and after a few days you couldn't get him off the stuff! He became really violent and bad-tempered, a real meanie! So I had to get Billy involved. I paid Maggie not to say anything, so Billy didn't know anything. Luckily the kid was so doped out he didn't know anything in the end!
"What brings you here so late in the evening, Flak?" I asked him. He wasn't dressed like he usually was. He was very a long, red trenchcoat, made of leather, and white trousers with black leather boots.
"Oh... there's this gig on tonight at Moriarty's Saloon. It's rare for musical talent to appear in the wasteland. They made the instruments out of old weapons."
I clapped my hands in glee and smiled in ecstacy! I hadn't heard real music before! Only the crummy, patriotic American stuff you heard on the radio.
"Oh, let me, let me come!" I begged, crashing to the floor and laying my head on his lap. He sighed and laughed weakly.
"Well, all right. Just.. get changed, first, all right?" he said, quietly. He stood up, pushing me away. Standing up too, I kissed him on the cheek and ran upstairs. Diving under the bed, I pulled out a few old clothes I find lying around the wastelands. I also pulled out an old cracked mirror and tried on a few of the clothes. In the end I decided on some pre-war summer clothes. It was a small, red little number; a dress that cut off at the top of the breasts and the top of the knee. It also pulled in at the waist and showed off my figure; a far-cry from the usual dungarees I wore. Even though I was only going to a 'gig', I took my notepad, just in case. Also, I took a packet of cigarettes which I had never smoked, who knows if they might come in handy?
Running down the stairs, I caught the sight of Flak looking bored. I smiled at him and he glanced up at me, obviously taken aback by the image of me in a dress. I stroked his cheek seductively and opened the door to my shop, gesturing him to go first. He tipped his imaginary hat and walked out, sniggering. I wish I hadn't just worn a dress now; it was bloody freezing! What we need is another atom bomb!
We entered inside Moriarty's Saloon, and I felt really, incredibly happy. Not I've-Found-A-Stomach-Substitute-Pleased, but human pleased. I had found an excuse to wear a pretty dress, and I was with an old friend to listen to real music in a Saloon with alcohol. Sure, the alcohol would slowly kill us with its radiation, but that was a small price to pay! People's heads turns to look at us as we entered. Flak went off the greet people he hadn't seen in a while as I sat down at the bar. Ordering a glass of wine from Gob, I was interrupted just as I was about to drink it by a tap on the shoulder. Spinning around I came face to face with Jericho!
"Well, well." he said, in his sardonic way. "Lookee, here. If it isn't the warrior princess, all dressed up for the party." He wasn't wearing his usual armour. Instead he was wearing a dusty black tuxedo, and that was armoured instead with leather plating. He didn't trust many people, it seemed! I smiled, eyes half-closed, and crossed my bared legs.
"May I help you?" I said, gulping down my wine as I had seen Nova do. Bad idea! I coughed it back into the glass. It was disgusting! He laughed and placed his hand on my shoulder; I didn't bother to move it, it felt warm!
"Yeah, you can give me my lighter back!" he demanded. I remembered that I had forgotten to give him back the Zippo. Laughing weakly, I promised I would give it back after the gig. Satisfied, he went back over to his table, where Nova sat. She put his arm around him and looked at me with a smile on her lips. Turning back to Gob, I felt a little less happy. I didn't exactly know why, for a girl like Nova suited a bloke like Jericho! Gazing at my rose-tinted reflexion in the wine, I shook my head and sipped gently at the wine, not taking time to savour the wickedly bad taste. It wasn't going to catch me this time!
Flak, who had finished greeting people, came over and sat next to me. Just as he was about to speak to me, the musicians entered onto the stage. Well, I say stage, but it really was just a raised metal platform near the bar! Their instruments were most interesting; a flute was made from an old AK47 with holes cut out of it and reeds made from old shell casing. A guitar was made out of a sniper rifle; a metal sheet had been placed alongside the handle, with long piano wire stretched from the tip to the bottom to make a noise when twanged. It sounded funny but certainly held a good tune! There was also a trombone, a violin, a piano and panpipes. The songs they played were pre-war songs, the kind you wouldn't hear on the radio. I lost myself in a world of music that night, not seeing anybody, just dancing music in my mind. Whilst they were playing, Flak dragged me back into the misery of real life.
"Hey, Moira! Wakey, wakey!" he called. I turned round to face him. Looking into his eyes, I couldn't really stay mad at him for putting me back into reality.
"What is it?" I asked, smiling.
"Want to dance?" he asked. I felt a bit stupid; I didn't know how to dance, nor did I think he did. I had seen some test-subjects when they were electrocuted though, and thought they looked like they were dancing. Maybe if I mimicked that, but slowed it down a little...
"Sure!" I beamed, jumping down from the stool. What a change this was, from the normal monotony of daily life! He took my hand in his and we joined the crowd of people in the centre of the Saloon. Swallowing our inhibition we all displayed our inability to dance to the out-of-tune and strange music. The irradiated alcohol was pouring all night long from the ghoul behind the bar and everyone was happy. What a strange night this was, to look back on it...
After I had danced for an hour or so, I felt incredibly worn out, so sat down at one of the tables which lined the walls. I had drank so much wine though that I failed to see Jericho seated there, and fell right into his lap.
"Easy, babe!" he roared, as I attempted to straighten myself out. There were no mirrors in the saloon, but I knew I must have looked rather deraggled! I suddenly remembered the guide, and the first chapter. Although I was rather tipsy, I did have my senses about me, and was prepared to do almost anything to get it written. I didn't consider myself ugly, but rather pretty. Jericho had obviously kept his eye on me throughout the night, so why not take his interest in me to my advantage for my guide?
"Silly." I whispered, getting closer to him. The hooker he was cosying up to earlier was at the bar, on her who-knows-which vodka. Jericho, who was taken rather by surprise at my sudden interest leant back a bit, but relaxed almost immediately to my hand on his knee. "Has Nova given you up, then?" I smiled. I probably looked like a Centaur, with my tongue hanging out and one eye half closed! If I did, he didn't noticed, as he drew his face closer to mine.
"Naw." he replied. "I got rid of her. Who knows what she got."
I closed my eyes tight; I knew it was dangerous, considering he was a cold blooded, ex-Raider, but I drew my face even closer and kissed him deeply. His goatee tickled. Amazingly, he didn't draw back like Flak did all those years ago! I opened one eye to see his reaction; he looked at me like I was a Super Mutant or something! Then, his expression relaxed. I knew he was about to kiss me back! Just as he was about to, I felt a hand grab mine and pull me to my feet: it was Flak.
"Hey, hey!" I called, as I was dragged outside of the Saloon. Noisy crickets could be heard in the night as Flak confronted me outside of the noisy pub. "Flak! What are you doing?" I asked, really confused.
"Moira! Have you been taking too many mentats or something? What are you doin', kissin' Jericho? You know what he's like!" he said, in my ear. I pulled back, upset that he had ruined my plan. I pouted my lips and looked at the ground. I could see the crickets glowing on the ground. "Well?" he expected a response.
"Flak!" I began. "It was for my guide! I was gonna... you know! Get a first hand experience! What, were you jealous?" I asked him. I wondered if he really was jealous. He looked away, shyly. Just then, I remembered about Shrapnel, his boyfriend.
"Did you forget?" he asked.
"Oh, wait, silly me. I remember." I laughed, slapping my head.
"This isn't about me." he continued. "You've got to be more careful. If you are going to conduct experiments like that, at least choose a safer subject." he begged. I didn't really know what his problem with Jericho was. He didn't seem like such a bad guy... he had saved my life... and he wasn't that bad looking!
After bidding Flak goodnight, I entered into my empty shop. I could even hear the echo of my footsteps as I trudged upstairs. Looking into the cracked mirror, I gazed at my reflection. I looked tired, drunk and stupid! The red dress didn't suit me at all. What was I thinking? Quickly slipping it off, I changed back into my blue dungarees. I then scooped up my cute little teddy bear off the floor and hugged him close to my chest. I wouldn't write any notes tonight, I just wanted to get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow I'd see if there were any leads I could follow to help me write the guide, but for now I wasn't really in the mood. I slipped into the sheets on my bed and turned the lamp off, drifting into dreams.
I awoke with a start; something loud outside had shaken me awake! I heard it again, only conscious this time; it was a gun-shot. Quickly throwing the dirty sheets away from me, I jumped up from my bed and ran towards the window. Peering out from it, I could see the local Sheriff, Lucas Simms, standing over a seemingly dead body. It was that, or he was asleep! Sighing with relief, I was glad that there weren't masses of Raiders coming to murder us all and mutilate our corpses. That wouldn't be much fun at all! I was burning with curiousity as I ran outside of my shop and towards the sheriff, to see who he had seemingly shot. I had forgotten that I was only wearing my pyjamas, but then again, I didn't look half as silly compared to Cowboy-Fixated Mr. Simms!
"Luke!" I called, waving my arm in the air and running towards him. He turned away and sighed, perhaps he hadn't noticed me? I shouted again. "Luke!"
He turned to face me, but he didn't look too happy!
"What's happened, Luke?" I asked him, kneeling down at the dead body. A crowd had formed around it, and Lucas Simms was trying to keep everyone at bay, so they wouldn't disturb it.
"What did I tell you, Moira? Don't call me Luke." he grunted, looking away from the dead body and then at me. I had completely forgotten he hated the sweetest little name I made for him!
"Sorry, Luke... Ass! Anyway, who did you shoot? Oh, wow!" I exclaimed, turning the body over. "You're such a good shot!" He had hit the jugular vein, the heart and right between the eyes! I wondered how he managed to do it with the gap between firing bullets for a magnum, but proceeded to examine the body, much to Lucas' protest.
"Get away from it!" he would cry, as I laughed and reminded him about my scientific qualifications. Of course, those qualifications were just my life's experiences, but they meant more than some education from Harvard University... or Oxford!
"Oh my!" I gasped, recoiling my hands. "Is that who I think it is?" It was a silly question to ask, I know, because I knew who it was. It was Billy Creel; Maggie's father, and one handsome guy! Too bad he was dead, but no wonder there was a crowd; whenever a Raider trapsed in here and was 'retired', people didn't bother looking twice, and he or she simply ended up in my backroom for the advantage of mankind. However, Lucas Simms had killed one of our own... but why?
I stood up from the ground, not feeling very well at all! I didn't think I would be using Billy Creel for any of my experiments like I did the Raiders.
"What happened?" I asked Lucas, still looking at Billy; his eyes appeared to be yellow... strange!
"I don't know!" Lucas Simms replied sharply; I even drew back at the tone of his voice. "The dude simply went crazy, so I wasted him. Poor sod." he sighed, covering his eyes with his hand. I placed my hand on his shoulder, but quickly retracted it when he gave me a look that could kill Deathclaws!
"It was the right thing to do." I said, as gently as I possibly could. "He might have killed many innocent people!"
My kind, heroine-like words didn't seem to have any effect on him, and he just walked away, leaving the body on the ground with a crowd around it. I certainly had no use for it, so I watched as Nathan and his wife Manya ordered some people to take it away to arrange a burial service. Thinking that I had seen enough, I walked back to my shop, eager to write down notes on Billy Creel's sudden turn for the worst.
The morning hadn't been the nicest one, so I had decided to keep my shop shut out of respect. I wrote down some things which stuck in my mind about Billy Creel as the morning passed by;
- It took three bullets to take him down; perhaps strength enhanced by some kind of drug. He might have been addicted to something, like Psycho, or Mentats. Mentat addiction did display violent streaks, but not enhanced strength. Maybe something natural, like adrenaline?
- He was brandishing a combat knife, not his usual magnum. If he wanted to brutally murder us all effectively, why use something so stupid? Indicates primal aggression seen in Super Mutants. Maybe radiaction afflicted?
- His eyes were yellowed, indicating a problem with the liver. If he had ingested heavy doses of radiation, this may cause it, but it weakens the body to such a state that increased strength is an impossibility.
... I GIVE UP!
I threw the note-pad to the other side of the room, angry with myself. I desperately wanted to know what on Earth had happened to Billy Creel! I cast my mind back over the last few days; I certainly hadn't seen him in Megaton, and I didn't see him last night at that gig in Moriarty's Saloon. My line of thought about Billy stopped immediately, like someone had shot me in the head with a shotgun; I remembered what had happened last night! I slapped my face and cringed; did I really sit on Jericho's lap and attempt to kiss him? Cringing even moreso, I collapsed on the bed, screamed into my pillow and banged my fists on the dirty mattress. The sweet scent of turpentine filled my nostrils as I laughed hysterically, impressed by my own confidence. Although, the copious amounts of irradiated wine had probably helped things along. Thinking I should go and apoligize to Jericho for my actions, I got up from the bed and left my shop, heading towards his house.
Every step there was like a dagger through my heart; I felt nervous confronting him after what had happened. With my heart pounding heavily in my chest I banged on his door three times; he answered after around five minutes. Upon opening the door, I saw what ten bottles of vodka did to him; he looked like hell! Unshaven so the stubble showed up in little flecks around his beard; smelly so the alcohol offended my nostrils; unkempt in dress so he looked like a tramp.
I didn't know why I did what I did, perhaps it was because I had seen so much grittiness that I was attuned to it, but I pushed him into his house and then slammed the door behind me. With a large grin on my face, which I imagined made me look insane, I slowly stepped up to him. Just as he was about to protest about my inapproriate entry, I placed my finger to his lips.
"I came here to apoligize, you know." I whispered. He looked at me as though I had told him I saw a pig flying earlier. "But right now I don't regret any of it." I continued. He pushed my hand away and hacked, loudly.
"Listen, babe. I ain't got no clue what you're on about." he coughed, lighting up a cigarette from a carton lying on a nearby table. My heart sank; just like I had done, he had forgotten about last night!
"Let me jar your memory!" I laughed, placing my hands on his shoulders and pulling him towards me. Garnering all the courage I could muster I pressed my lips down hard on his and we were locked in an embrace for what seemed the longest time; with no Flak to pull me away on this occasion! I was not the best kisser, but simply imitated what I had seen and read. After I pulled away, his eyes were half shut and he looked very strange. He was about to speak when we both heard movement coming from deeper inside his house. I looked over his shoulder and squinted my eyes through the darkness; coming out from the shadows was none other than Nova, wearing nothing but dirty bed-sheets wrapped around her. Turning red, I suddenly felt very stupid, and very angry. I faced Jericho, but couldn't think of anything to say; he just looked at the ground. Feeling incredibly awkward, I wiped my lips clean and dashed out of his house as quickly as possible.
Returning to my shop, I slammed the door hard behind me, to find Flak seated behind my counter. Still cross, I ignored him as he greeted me and stomped upstairs, crashing onto my bed and staring angrily at the ceiling. I knew it was childish, but I admit I was envious. How could Jericho sleep with such a whore? Not to mention obviously pay her? My thoughts were distracted as Flak entered my bedroom.
Quietly, he leant up against the door frame and lit up a cigarette.
"Everything all right, Moira?" he asked, sympathetically. I didn't need anyone's sympathy!
"Fine." I replied, crassly.
"You don't look fine." he commented, coming over and sitting down on the chair next to the bed.
"Appearances can be deceiving!" I cried, sitting up. "What do you want?!" I shouted into his face. He pulled back, probably surprised that I would get this angry. I instantly regretted getting moody with one of my best friends, so apoligised deeply and sighed, trying to look as sorry as possible. Luckily, he forgave me and offered me a cigarette. I whacked it out of his hand, sending it flying across the room; I still wasn't completely happy yet.
"I did come here for a purpose, you know. Apart from that gig." he began. I looked up from the floor, gaining an interest in what Flak was doing in Megaton. More than anything though, I wanted something to take my mind of that bastard Jericho.
"What do you mean?" I asked, sounding as dis-interested as possible.
"Well... I saw you standing over Billy Creel's body this morning, so I suppose you have some idea of what happened to him." he sighed. "Too bad it was too late."
I was a little confused; too late for what? And what idea did I have of anything?
"Sorry?"
"Some idea of why he went nuts." he suggested.
"Well..." I cast my mind back to the notes I was writing. "His eyes were yellow... which means his liver was probably being weird. Radiation, perhaps? Also!" I cried, excited at the prospect of being involved in something that didn't involved Jericho. "It took three shots to take him down! So he was like... super human!"
"Well, you could put it that way..." Flak laughed, weakly. "What Billy appeared to have was some form of 'feralosis'. It's this strange new disease that's been cropping up all over the wasteland. I heard about a cure in Springvale, of all places! So, I decided to stop off here and visit some people before continuing on."
"Wow." I whispered. A new disease? Causing people to go nuts? It didn't surprise me that much... but what did surprise me was that there was a curse. Especially in this horrible wasteland! What I really wanted to know was why Flak was seeking a cure, and not some big army, like the Brotherhood of Steel.
"Why you, Flak?" I asked him, with my tone that usually got answers! It involved puppy dog eyes, and sometimes worked.
"Listen, Moira. I don't want to go into it right now. I shouldn't have said anything." he replied, angrily, and began to leave.
"Wait!" I cried, following on after him. He ignored me, but I persisted, and grabbed his arm. "Why?!"
"Because Shrapnel has it! He's gone feral!"
I suited myself up well for the trip. Equipping the best armour I could find, I also brought along my finest weapon, that I just couldn't bear to part with, nor sell; my scoped Magnum! It was so cute; I even put home-made stickers of my shop's mascot all over it, the Craterside Supply Centaur! They melted off though, whenever I had a chance to fire it... poor things. Placing a handbag around my shoulder that I found on a skeleton around a mile from Megaton, I slipped the Magnum inside. I was finally ready to depart for Springvale with Flak, to find the cure for Feralosis. He told me it wouldn't be easy, but after snogging Jericho I felt I could do anything!
I literally flew out of my shop door and toward the entrance of Megaton and met up with Flak there; he looked rather more happy than the previous days, probably because we both knew Shrapnel would be healed in no time. I felt very bad for Billy though, especially Maggie; he could have been healed. We exited Megaton and headed North for Springvale, brandishing our guns incase trouble headed our way.
"So why don't you tell me what we're up against?" I asked, eager to know what the cure actually was.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." he replied, jokingly.
"I've seen a lot of things!"
"Well, all right. You're gonna see it at any rate. You know that hooker, who used to work for Colin?"
I felt angry again, thinking about Nova, but she still worked for Colin.
"No, who?" I asked, unaware of whom he was speaking.
"Well, her name is Silver, and she managed to escape from, taking a whole lot of caps. Some bloke came a few weeks ago, told Colin she was dead. But she ain't. She holds the cure."
"You're kidding." I laughed. "How can some two-bit hooker hold the cure to something so deadly?"
As the words left my lips, we approached the outskirts of Springvale, and short earthquakes of around half a second durations greeted us, with a second pause between them. Stopping dead in our tracks out of fear, I almost peed myself as I saw something massive step from behind a large building.
The giant mutant coming out from behind a large building looked almost human! Also, it appeared to be female, with long, ragged blonde hair, but a hideous, grinning face with blood pouring down it. Its footsteps were causing the mini earthquakes as it scoured the land looking for people to eat, and we watched in terror as it picked up a corpse of the ground and shoved it into its mouth and crunched down happily. It must have been Silver, but what on Earth had happened to her? It looked like she had had hefty doses of radiation exposure by the look of it, but why?
"Well, uh." Flak, whispered, a tremble in his voice. "There she is."
I could understand his fear. Silver now stood at around 50 feet, her body was coated in thick, blonde hair and she appeared meaner than a Brahmin after you've tipped it!
"How are we gonna get the cure from her?" I asked him, my own voice feigning. Unfortunately for us, she heard us with her massive, dropping ears stained with blood. She turned to face us and let out a deafening scream. The adrenaline kicked in quickly!
"Split up!" Flak screamed at me. I ran left and he ran right! Hiding myself behind a building I covered my ears so I wouldn't be deafened by the loudening screams eminating from Silver's big gob! Suddenly, she appeared to be on the move and heading towards me! I readied my gun and entered inside the building I was standing outside. She must have known where I was, for the whole building shook, and sunlight overtook the darkness as she tore the western wall off! Forcing my legs to move, I ran upstairs as the building collapsed around me. Not one to give up easily, I took a few shots, aiming for her head, but they only hit her shoulders. She screamed out in pain as she backed off and wiped at her upper arms to see what was there. I could see blood trickling down her arms as I covered my ears from the loud screams. Without hesitation, I poked my eye through the scope and aimed for her eye. With one quick movement I let off a shot and luckily for me it was a direct hit! It exploded her left eye, sending yellow goo everywhere! Her eye must have been massive! She screamed again in agony and cupped the socket where her eye had been. Flak, who had not abandoned me to die, entered onto the scene and shot her with his shotgun in the kneecap. She doubled up in pain and fell back slowly (as you can imagine, with the wind resistance at her size) onto the ground, causing a huge earthquake which sent me and Flak onto the ground. I whacked the ground hard, and rolled over to the top of the ruins of a staircase, almost rolling down them! Luckily, I didn't, or it might have been the end of me!
Silver wasn't dead yet though, you could see because she was still making one heck of a noise. Screaming and yelling in pain, she had obviously lost all reason. Flak approached her, a frag grenade in hand. Climbing onto her head, he pulled the pin and shoved it into her mouth, running away as quickly as he could. I turned away, to avoid watching such a hideous sight, but I heard the noise of her cranium exploding into a thousand pieces. Now she was dead.
I was still on the second floor of the destroyed building, on the ground and my head buried in my arms, covered in Silver's blood after the grenade sent it hurtling everywhere. After a few minutes Flak approached me and helped me up, brushing me down with a teddy bear he found lying somewhere near. I looked at him angrily, frustrated that he didn't tell me what a big foe we had to face!
"I hope you got what you came for!" I cried, as angrily as I could!
"I certainly did!" he smiled, holding up a vial of red liquid. I peered at it intently.
"What's that?" I asked. He told me it was the internal fluids of Silver's womb; it was a cure and a vaccine against Feralosis. Silver, after heavy doses of radiation unwittingly spread it to every single one of her clients, sending them into a murderous rage.
"But then, that means.." I started, but cut myself short.
"Yes..." Flak sighed. "Shrapnel once did pay Silver to sleep with him. But that was a long time ago. Before he met me."
We headed back to Megaton, fast; Flak was going to head back to Rivet City immediately once we arrived and I was going to run the bloody shop again, like I usually did. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for myself, though. When we arrived at Megaton, I hugged Flak and wished him the best of luck in returning, I then entered the town and returned to the Craterside Supply Shop. Looking at the clock, it read roughly 5p.m. Bloody hell... the day wasn't even nearly over yet! I had had some excitement though, so I shouldn't have felt so sorry for myself that it was back to my old boring routine of opening the shop and serving customers come the morn. I gazed over at the counter and espied the Wasteland Survival Guide. Slapping my head, I suddenly remembered the Wasteland Life Guide! How could I have forgotten it! That was going to be that thing that swallowed up my boredom! However, how could I use the interview that I had gotten from Nova now? I hated her! I felt as if I had gone right back to the start with the guide; my relationship with Jericho had ended before it had even begun. The interview with Nova was now worthless because I wanted nothing to do with her, and although Flak was in a commited relationship he was headed toward Rivet City.
As I sat in my bed, I thought about the guide again. Was I really going to let Nova get in the way of it? So what if Jericho had slept with her? I searched underneath my bed for a carton of cigarettes I had found scavenging outside in the wastelands and pulled in onto the bed. Pulling a cigarette out I lit it with Jericho's Zippo and inhaled deeply, trying not to wretch. If Jericho could handle it, so could I. All I wanted to do was complete the guide, not get all up in arms because Jericho had slept with some hooker. I had paid him 1000 caps, for Goodness' sake! It would be silly of me to ignore him and waste all that money because of some stupid woman! Feeling every so confident, I left the cigarette hanging out of my mouth and walked smoothly out of the shop, heading towards Jericho's house.
Banging on the door three times again, I waited for him to answer. After a few minutes, again, he answered, although this time he looked a bit more like the Jericho I had seen fighting the Raiders instead of shagging whores.
"Listen, Moira..." he started.
"No." I replied, cutting him off. "Be ready at 7p.m. with your gun, to go to Rivet City. I need you to kill things so we can get there." I ordered him. He didn't reply, nor look angry. He must've been please to have been given the chance to kill things. Leaving him at his front door, I went back to my shop, cigarette still in my gob, although it had burned away, nearly at the filter now. Burning my lip, I spit it out in pain!
"Ow!" I cried! I was glad Jericho didn't see that.