Author's Note: I would like to give a quick thanks to Shadowninja123 for favoriting this story. I'm almost positive I haven't thanked them before, but I just checked the favs list and for some reason, I never got an email telling me they favved, so sorry Shadowninja!
As always, please review! They make me smile like a big idiot :D
Wasteland Survival Part 10
Ray and Sarah heaved aside the last chunk of concrete; it hit the ground with a heavy crash. Ray straightened out his back with a groan as it gave several loud pops.
"Don't you think you could have helped out a little more?" Sarah asked Jericho, her eyes shooting him a glare and her voice dripping venom.
"I could've...but I chose not to for my own health," Jericho said with a smirk as he stubbed out his cigarette on the sidewalk that he sat on. "Besides, I drink and smoke too much. What if I had a heart attack? I know you guys would be too sad to carry on without me," He tacked on with a grin.
"Oh yes. What would we do without our trusty drunk?" Ray said with a scoff and a grin. "Let's stop blabbing and check out this room now."
Ray approached the door. The brownish red of the door had been scratched by the rubble and covered with a thin layer of dust. The golden 4 that hung on the door was slightly lopsided from the rubble that had fallen on it, the gold paint covered with scratches.
Ray grabbed the door handle and turned. The door swung open, revealing a room that looked as if it had been preserved since the great war; it likely had. There was a glass cabinet pressed against one wall of the room. A brown wooden stand supported a strange looking box that Ray had seen many times, but never knew what the hell it was. It looked like a terminal like the ones Ray had tried to hack (and failed) many times, but without the keyboard. Two small single beds were pressed against the opposite wall, accompanied by a smaller one that looked like it was for a child. The teddy bear that lounged on the smaller bed confirmed this. A small coffee table stood in the middle of the room. A turn around the corner led to a small bathroom, the toilet, sink, and bathtub surprisingly intact. A refrigerator stood near the door to the bathroom. A thin layer of dust covered everything, and the air smelled musty and stagnant, as if it had been trapped in here for a long time.
"What is that?" Ray asked, pointing at the terminal without keys.
"I don't know, but I know they're fun to smash," Jericho said with a grin, approaching it with his Combat Shotgun held like a club.
"Don't!" Sarah suddenly shouted, rushing up to the box with wide eyes. Ray raised an eyebrow. The only flaw with the Brotherhood of Steel was that their leaders were obsessed with finding and acquiring intact Pre-War technology. The soldiers killed their enemies and brought back any Pre-War tech for the Scribes. Besides fighting the Enclave and Muties, this was their main mission.
"This is a television, or a TV for short. People used to buy these because you could buy cable or a dish and watch shows that were recorded, then beamed through the cable or dish and they would show up on the TV. I've never seen one in this good of condition before," Sarah said, a sense of wonder in her voice as her hands gingerly brushed over the knobs on the TV.
Jericho put his Combat Shotgun away and looked at the TV. "That's actually pretty cool. And that's saying something coming from me, I usually hate that techy bullshit."
Ray was at a loss for words. A box that showed moving pictures? He'd never heard of such a thing, and probably would have laughed at anyone else who told him about it. Jericho quickly lost interest in the TV and walked over to the glass cabinet. He pulled open the doors and let out a loud cry of something that could only be joy. He reached inside and pulled out a bottle of Whiskey.
"Jackpot! There's tons of drinks in here!" Jericho bellowed, his eyes thirstily examining the cabinet.
"Jericho, we will have to sell some of that. We can't exactly survive out here with hardly any caps," Ray warned lowly.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll save some to sell, but I'm going to have a few drinks, so shhh," Jericho responded, pressing a finger to his lips in a hushing motion.
"If you get too drunk and you start shit, I'm going to kick your ass. Just a warning," Sarah said nonchalantly, sitting on the smaller bed.
"Calm down honey. I'll keep it under control," Jericho responded, pulling the cork out of the bottle and taking a heavy swallow.
Sarah rolled her eyes and put her duffel bag on the floor. She laid her Laser Rifle on the bed and began to take it apart, carefully cleaning each of the parts. Jericho turned from the cabinet and went over to one of the beds, laying down with a sigh of relief and frequently sipping from the bottle. One foot hung carelessly over the side of the mattress as he watched Sarah clean her rifle.
Ray wasn't sure of what to do. He went over to the last bed and sat down. He put his backpack on the bed and laid back, his back giving several more pops from all the heavy lifting. Before he knew it, he fell asleep.
...
Ray awoke an unknown amount of time later, his stomach growling loudly. Dim light spilled from the still open doorway. Ray looked at his compatriots. Jericho lay on his back, his fingers wrapped loosely around the neck of the now empty Whiskey bottle. His eyes were shut in a peaceful look of sleep and snores rumbled from between his parted lips. Ray looked to Sarah. She lay on her side, her Laser Rifle wrapped in her arms and her head resting on it as she cuddled it close. Her lips were curled up in a small grin of sleep. It was almost comical seeing the soldier curled up and snuggling her Laser Rifle as if it was human. Ray smiled at his companions and went to stand in the open doorway.
The sun had ducked even lower behind the horizon. Only the very top of the sun poked above the horizon. The sunset set the clouds on fire, the sky a scarlet pink. The sunset had always been one thing Ray loved about the Wasteland. It was unseen from the DC ruins, but if you were in the right part of the Wastes, it was amazing. It was one of the few beautiful things in the Wasteland; it showed that you had lived another day, now you just had to make it through the night.
Ray was pulled from his thoughts by his stomach giving another loud rumble. He let out a small sigh and went to look in the refrigerator. Hopefully it had something to eat, even if it was Pre-War and had been sitting for God knows how long. Ray pulled the door open and peered inside. To his dismay, it was bare. He let out a hiss of irritation and gently closed the door, trying not to wake Sarah and Jericho.
Ray grabbed his 10mm and went back to the doorway. He was hesitant to leave, afraid that Talon Company could have followed them. "Don't be ridiculous," He mumbled to himself. He hesitantly stepped outside, his 10mm pointed in front of him, his eyes raking his surroundings.
There was nothing except the gentle sound of the wind blowing. He sighed a little in relief, and slightly lowered his pistol. He walked on, wishing that he would stumble across a Molerat or some creature he could eat. He hadn't eaten since before they reached The Citadel. And the only reason he and Jericho had been able to eat is because Ray had sold the Hunting Rifle that he got from the Super Mutants back when he first met Sarah in DC.
...
After what felt like eternities to Ray, he finally stumbled across a Vicious Dog. It charged him on sight, snarling and snapping it's jaws. Ray raised his pistol, but before he could shoot, the dog had leaped through the air and was upon him. The dog hit him hard, knocking them both to the ground.
The dog's teeth were snapping inches from his throat, its rancid breath panting right in his face. Ray gagged and wrapped his hands around the dog's throat. He grabbed the dog around its neck and threw it away from him with a grunt. The dog rolled on its side and quickly jumped to its feet. It was growling loudly, sounding more like something that had crawled out of hell than a dog.
Ray grabbed for his pistol, the dog suddenly darting out and latching onto his hand. Ray let out a cry of pain, crimson dripping from his hand. What if the dog had rabies? He hauled himself to his feet, the dog still hanging from his hand. The dog planted its feet against the concrete and pulled roughly backwards, tearing Ray's flesh even more. It shook its head back and forth with a loud snarl. Ray let out a cry of pain mixed with rage.
"You fuck!" He shouted in an enraged tone. He dropped his 10mm again and quickly scooped it up with his free hand. He delivered a powerful kick to the dog's ribs. The dog flew backwards with a loud yelp. He quickly raised his pistol and pulled the trigger. The bullet sailed through the air and buried itself in the dog's chest. The dog stopped snarling and fell to the ground. Ray approached where it lay. The dog lay on the ground, whimpers sliding from its muzzle. Ray gently placed his pistol against the dog's temple and squeezed the trigger.
The dog stopped whimpering and squirming after the small bang sounded. Its eyes slid shut. Ray let out a small sigh and holstered his 10mm. He grabbed the dog's back leg and dragged it back towards the hotel.
...
Ray dropped the dog near the door and immediately went into the hotel room. He glanced at his friends. Jericho was still asleep, snoring incredibly loud. Sarah woke up at his entrance. She slowly sat up, rubbing sleep from her eyes with a yawn as Ray rushed into the bathroom. "You okay?" She called, her voice filled with confusion.
"Not exactly, but I got dinner," Ray responded from the bathroom. He ripped open the first aid kit, looking for something to sterilize the dog bite with. Sarah raised an eyebrow and walked into the bathroom, straightening her usual ponytail.
"Holy shit! What the fuck happened to you?" She gasped, looking at Ray's hand. Blood was flowing from it like water from a faucet, a torn strip of flesh dangling.
"That damn dog used me for a chew toy. What if it had rabies?" He said, panic leaking into his tone with the last sentence. Sarah rushed from the room, dashing over to the glass cabinet. She'd seen what happens when rabies went untreated, and it was not pretty. She tore open the cabinet, grabbing a bottle of Whiskey.
"Forgive me you perverted old man," She said with a glance at the snoring Jericho. She rushed back to the bathroom, grabbing Ray's injured hand by the wrist and holding it over the sink. She ripped the cork out of the bottle with her teeth and spat it onto the floor. She then poured the entire bottle over Ray's hand. Ray's eyes went wide with the sudden searing pain. He clenched his jaw and let out a muffled cry of pain. The burning pain died down, painstaking slowly. Ray smoothed out his breathing. "You okay now?" Sarah asked, holding a Stimpack that she had produced from the first aid kit.
"A little better, not much. There's still flesh hanging from my hand," Ray said hastily, "Please, hurry up and use the Stimpack," He managed, trying not to sound rude. Sarah gave a quick nod. She carefully reached out with a steady hand and gently took the dangling flesh between her thumb and index finger. There was a sharp intake of breath from Ray, to which Sarah gently responded "Shh, you're almost done." She carefully maneuvered the flesh back into its original position and injected it in three different spots with the Stimpack. She wrapped it up with some of the bandages and gave Ray's arm a gentle pat. "There. All done," She said.
Ray let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."
As Sarah put the extra bandages away she spotted something under a towel on the bathroom floor. She pulled the dirty towel off and exposed a small machine. "A generator?"
Ray glanced down. "Do you think it works?"
"One way to find out," Sarah said, flicking the ON button. Surprisingly, the little generator came to life with a loud surging sound, illuminating the room that had been quickly darkening.
"Sweet!" Ray cried at the sudden burst of light. A loud boom came from the living area, followed by a loud "What the fuck!"
Ray and Sarah rushed from the bathroom to find Jericho laying on the floor, his eyes wide with surprise. Ray and Sarah burst out laughing. "We just turned on a generator, its not the apocalypse...again," Sarah managed between fits of laughter.
Jericho clumsily hauled himself to his feet, grumbling as he did so. He made his way back to the cabinet, grabbing another bottle of Whiskey. "Don't fill up on Whiskey. Ray bagged us a fresh meal," Sarah said to Jericho after she managed to quit laughing.
"Really? So, the White Knight actually got his hands dirty for once," Jericho said with a roll of his eyes as he popped open the bottle.
"Jericho, I wandered out here for seven years before I moved into Megaton," Ray responded, irritated by Jericho's remark.
"Okay, okay. You got me, so what'd you get?" Jericho responded.
Ray led them through the door and gestured to the dog's body with a small grin. "Better than nothing. Could really go for some Mirelurk though," Ray said.
"Better than nothing," Jericho repeated, putting his bottle on the ground and pulling out a Combat Knife to skin the dog with.
As Jericho skinned, Ray and Sarah milled about, finding things to make a fire with. Little was said between the three, aside from Jericho's occasional grumblings about how much the dog stank. Soon, a small fire burned in the night, pieces of dog flesh poised on sticks and roasting over the open fire. They ate quickly, hunger getting the best of them. Dust was kicked over the dimming fire, uneatable scraps from the dog buried in the ruined dirt of the Wasteland. After the meal, the small group retired to the hotel room, climbing into bed and quickly falling asleep.
...
Ray cracked his eyes open to the bright morning sunshine that flitted through the thin, faded blue curtains that were draped carelessly over the window. He yawned and slowly sat up. He felt refreshed, the bed was comfortable, even though it was a little lumpy. Jericho lay on his stomach, surprisingly sleeping without snoring. Sarah was nowhere to be seen. Ray looked about the small room. He climbed out of the bed and went to the bathroom. Not there either. He pulled open the door to the hotel room and looked outside.
Sarah was out front, aiming her Laser Rifle at a few empty Whiskey and Nuka Cola bottles. She shot them one at a time, the red laser zipping through the air and shattering the bottles. "Morning," She said without looking up as she pulled the Microfusion Cell from the rifle, tossed it aside, and loaded another.
"So, what you up to?" Ray asked awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.
"Target practice. If we're going after Talon Company, we need to do something about weapons for you and Jericho," She responded, fiddling with the ammunition and looking over at Jericho.
"I definitely need some, but what's wrong with Jericho's shotgun?" Ray asked, watching her as she adjusted the ammo.
"You kidding me? That thing's shot to shit. On top of that, the ammo's expensive, unless you can scavenge some," Sarah responded.
"You got a point there. Did you have any ideas?" Ray replied.
"Well, unless the caravans come running, looks like scavving," Sarah mumbled, examining the sights on her rifle.
"Jericho will be thrilled," Ray said sarcastically.
"Thrilled about what?" Jericho called from behind them, his voice rougher than usual from sleep.
"About your favorite thing in the world; wandering around looking for crap," Sarah said with a grin, looking to Jericho who leaned in the doorway of the room.
Jericho groaned and turned back to the hotel, disappearing inside the shadows of the room.