Chapter Five: Away
It certainly was a long fall. Jumping out from the tunnel might not have been the best idea, but it certainly was better than being burnt to death! Thinking what I'd like my funeral song to be as we plunged down to earth, I glanced downwards.
"Jericho!" I tried to shout, but I couldn't get a word out my breath was so taken away!
Beneath us was a body of water, with a waterfall flowing into it! Obviously, the water was completely radiated, and shimmered with a green tint in the morning sunlight. Jericho must have seen it too, for he was screaming or shouting! I had never been so relieved in all my life.
Smiling as we plunged closer and closer to the body of water, I thanked Jericho silently for all his help. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead now! Perhaps even someone else's experiment!
All went black when I hit the water.
When I next opened my eyes, the sky was black. Night had fallen whilst I was unconscious. It seemed Jericho and I had washed up on the riverside somewhere. Thank Goodness! With all my strength, I crawled over to Jericho. I suddenly felt the urge to vomit; the radiated water must have poisoned us while we were floating in it. Quickly searching Eulogy's coat pockets, I rested my hand on a RadAway that he always kept on him; the alcoholic beverages he loved so much were just like any other liquid in this waste land, and he didn't want to grow a third arm!
Pulling the RadAway out of the pocket, I pushed a little button which unsheathed the needle, and placed it gently in a vein running down my left arm. I was careful not to use all of it, as Jericho needed it too! Still unconscious, but breathing, Jericho remained still as I administered the RadAway. It was strange injecting someone who was still alive!
While I waited for Jericho to wake up, I laid down and stared up at the night sky. Stars were shining brilliantly down on us. I was so happy that we had escaped! I wanted nothing more than to go back to my shop and lie down on my bed, my teddy bear hugged close to me!
Suddenly I remembered about the Wasteland Life Guide I was writing. Perhaps being a slave had its benefits? I could use this for my guide! Wow! What luck I had!
A cough came from beside me; Jericho was awake! With glee I shook him fully awake.
"Oh, Jericho! Good morning!" I giggled. "How do you feel?"
"Ugh…" he coughed and spluttered. He pulled out a packet of cigarettes from a makeshift pocket on his pink dress. They were all soaking wet. "Shit." He spat.
"Oh, well." I smiled, happy to see he was still himself.
"Where the fuck are we?" he asked, weakly. He rubbed his shaved head; he must have been sore. "Oh, my head's killing me." He moaned.
"Hehe. Reminds me of when I was looking for a headache cure." I laughed, reminiscing about the past.
"I could sure use one now!"
"Well," I began, "I would love to help you, but I lost the scalpel."
"Don't ever fucking come near me with a scalpel, you hear?" he muttered, angrily. I nodded my head; it seemed most people were rather stern with me whenever I mentioned scalpels and my 'cures'!
"Do you think those slavers are looking for us?"
"No doubt 'bout that. As long as we got that revolver…"
"We don't have that revolver. We lost it in the water." I smiled, sweetly.
"What do we have?"
"Well…" I sighed, "…this little snub-nosed pistol that I got from Ymir."
"Do not mention that name to me again!" he barked, taking me by surprise.
"Oh, sorry." I giggled, suddenly remembering that Jericho and Ymir now had history. "He's dead, by the way. I'm sorry!"
Jericho stared at me angrily.
"Gimme that coat!" he ordered, almost ripping it off me. "I'm freezing!"
"Okay, okay."
Several hours had passed since we had awoken up on the riverside. Jericho, with all his worldly knowledge, ascertained that we had washed up just south of Arefu. Which meant that Megaton was not that far away at all! Beaming with happiness as I skipped along, Jericho muttered once or twice about how crazy he thought I was, but I didn't mind; I was so happy that soon I would be in my bed!
We continued walking down the river, south-east towards Megaton. Jericho hadn't spoken to me for a while, nor I him. It seemed like there was nothing really to say; I suppose we were both just so happy to be free from being slaves. At the start I really had no idea whether or not I'd be free, ever again. Perhaps the other slaves would escape too, now with Eulogy dead. We both had been subjected to things neither of us would want to speak about. My will to speak was too strong, however. And when I saw Megaton on the horizon, I just couldn't help screaming and shouting!
Running through Springvale toward Megaton, I ignored Jericho's questions about the large, dead, blonde giant that lay still in the middle of the town and sped towards my hometown. I could sleep in my bed! I could see my shop's assistant! I could open the shop again! Usually, opening the shop was just a way for me to make money to fund my experiments, but I hadn't realised before what a joy it was! The sun started to rise as I hastened toward my beloved Megaton once more.
I sat behind the counter, chewing my fingernails. Yesterday we had got back to Megaton, and without saying a word to me, Jericho had ran to the nearest bar for a drink. I chewed off a hangnail on my ring finger and cast my thoughts to Jericho. I wondered if he would attempt to sleep with Nova again. However, if he felt anything like I did after that slave incident, it would be a long time before I wanted to sleep with anyone.
I glanced over at the clock on the wall, it read 10:34a.m. My shop had been open for only half an hour! Kicking back and leaning my chair against the wall behind me, I smiled at the hired gun man who looked after my shop for me. He didn't smile back, just pulled out a pouch of tobacco and started rolling himself a cigarette. Instantly I wanted one! All those cigarettes I had smoked whilst being a slave and travelling with Jericho had got me hooked. Although I knew the effects of tobacco on the human body, it didn't deter me much; there were so many things in this world that could kill me long before I got lung cancer anyway.
"Will you roll me a cigarette, please?" I asked as sweetly as possible. He moved his eyes to look at me from his hands, which were carefully placing tobacco in a rolling paper.
"Is this some kind of 'Moira' joke?" he asked. He obviously hadn't known about my new habit!
"Not at all!" I smiled, jumping from my chair and rushing up to him. He backed away a little and looked at me kinda funny. I hope he didn't crave for my affection, too! Batting my eyelids at him as I asked him again, he agreed to give me a cigarette. Maybe he did like me! He was very handsome, but not my type, so I decided I wouldn't lead him on further! It would be best to remain just friends, especially considered we shared the same workplace! I didn't want to be one of those sleazy bosses who bedded her workers!
As I stood outside my shop smoking a rolled cigarette, I leant over the railings out front and watched the day go by. The local sheriff, Lucas Simms, ambled back and forth through the town, on the lookout for crime. The preacher down near the Atom Bomb continued to preach. Nova the prostitute went in and out of the saloon, always a drink in her hand. Megaton hadn't changed a bit in the week I had been away! Pulling out a notepad from my coat pocket, I began to scribble down ideas for the Wasteland Life Guide again; how lucky I was to be enslaved! All this information! My notes were pretty unreadable to anyone who may chance upon them, but I understood them; I was looking forward to sitting down at my typewriter later on and writing out all my stories in full! This would be the best guide yet!
Suddenly Jericho caught my eye as he left the Saloon. He hadn't seen me yet, so I continued to watch him as he walked towards his home.
"I'll be back." I said to my armed helper, who stood by the shop's entrance smoking a cigarette.
Although I would never usually abandon my shop like this, I wanted to be in Jericho's company. We had been through a lot together, and it felt nice to have somebody to depend on! I banged on his door three times and waited patiently. He didn't take so long to answer the door this time.
"What do you want?" he said flatly, after opening the door. Pushing my way inside his house, I turned around to face him and smiled.
"Isn't it good to be back?" I asked.
"Yeah!" he suddenly smiled, enthusiastically! He must have mellowed! "It's great to be back in such a shit hole like this!" he continued. Maybe not.
"Oh, cheer up!" I squealed.
"What did you want, anyway?"
What did I want? I didn't know. To see him, talk to him, share time with him. It would sound silly to say those things, however. I struggled to find an answer.
"Well?" he pushed further. I didn't want to embarrass myself further, nor could I really explain to him what I wanted, as I wasn't so sure myself.
"I, uh.." I began, stumbling with my words.
"Yes?" he asked, sternly.
"I'm throwing a party!" I suddenly exclaimed, out of nowhere. I don't know where I got that one from!
"…a party?"
"Yes! To celebrate… our freedom! Yes! I am hosting a Freedom Party! There'll be food! Dancing! Wine! Cigarettes!" All these ideas were suddenly flowing into my head! I could throw a party to celebrate us escaping from the slavers! And I could incorporate it into my guide, too! One must throw a party sometime in one's life! I could imagine the chapters: how to throw a party! How to make a decent meal! How to dance! I didn't really know any of these things, but I could learn.
"You're serious about throwing a party?" he asked, condescendingly.
"Yes!" I cried. I was never so sure of anything in my life! "I'll make the arrangements and send you an invitation somewhen this week!"
Before he could reply, I hugged him goodbye (much to his violent dismay), and ran back to the shop.
Inside the shop, I had a customer waiting at the counter! She turned around when I entered, her hand on her hip; had she been waiting long? I wondered. It was Jenny Stahl, the local food flogger who lived near the Doc's house.
"Oh!" I smiled. "Can I help you?"
She shifted about a little, apparently nervous about something. She kept glancing over at my hired gunman.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
"No!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I just needed a frying pan. My one has rusted through completely."
"Oh. I'm sure I've got one lying around somewhere. Give me a moment."
Running to the back of the shop, the frying pan which was hung up over some dirty towels instantly caught my eye. It was in relatively good condition, so I thought I would sell it for 20 caps. As I reached to pull it down, I heard the shop door open and close, the little bell above the door ringing sweetly. I had found the bell on a dead Brahmin I had discovered one day in the Wasteland. I felt sorry for it, and decided I would keep the bell to honour its memory! Going back to the shop front, frying pan in hand, I saw that Jenny had gone. I looked over at my hired gunman, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
Little did I know that Ms Stahl and I would be crossing paths again very soon…