Chapter Thirteen
"Wild Things"
The wild things will chase you down
They'll steal your throne and break your crown
Don't ever look them in the eyes
You'll only find a nest of lies
You've got the hatred that you
You've always hated in you
You've got to face them now
Try to stay away
From where the wild things play
Posey
It was disconcerting to wake up and have the room around her be just as black as it had been when she'd fallen asleep. Sure, Posey had done so for nineteen years, but after a week of opening her eyes to sunlight, the oppressive darkness of The Vault felt thicker than ever. She sat up, shivering and pulling the blankets, still warm from her skin, up around her shoulders before slipping out of the room she'd been staying in. Her stocking clad feet padded silently into the other room, the dull glow of her Pip-Boy's default screen the only light present in the darkness. She could hear Jude's steady breathing as she checked her Pip-Boy for the time. It was a little after seven thirty, and Posey debated on waking both Jude and her father and telling them it was time to be off.
She couldn't help the smile that twitched her lips at the memory of her father, alive and well, in the next room. In some ways, it seemed too good to be true. The Wasteland was unforgiving, as she was coming to realize. Yet, it had been good to her. She'd found her father, and yes they'd had a bit of a rough patch, but that was over now. She had him back, and they weren't stuck in a psychopathic, simulated neighborhood, left to be tormented for all eternity.
So that was a plus.
She heard Jude turn his sleep, saw the outline of his sleeping form by the glow of her Pip-Boy before he suddenly jerked upright and cried out:
"Holy shit!" His voice cracked, and Posey jumped herself, whirling around looking for whatever had scared Jude hurriedly clicked on her Pip-Boy's flashlight, combing the blackness with its rays but she saw nothing.
"What?" She asked, turning back to Jude, who held up a hand to block the fluorescent rays of her Pip-Boy.
"Exactly! What are you doing just looming like that!" Said Jude, squinting in the light of her flashlight. "This Vault is creepy enough! Cripes," He lowered his hand to his eyes, scrubbing at them with a scowl. "you almost gave me a heart attack!"
The overhead lights flickered on and Posey turned and saw her Father standing in the doorway to his own room, looking both surprised and a bit suspicious at the odd scene in front of him, Posey, still with her blankets draped around her shoulders like a cloak, and a very groggy looking Jude with a stormy scowl tugging on his lips.
"Morning, Dad." Said Posey, grinning widely up at him while Jude pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes with a quiet groan.
"Good morning..." He said slowly, "Everything alright out here?"
"Your daughter just about scared me to death." Said Jude, looking blearily up at Posey with a scowl. "But other than that, yes. Everything's fine."
"I'm sure. I hear she strikes fear into the hearts of many." Said James with a small smile. Posey frowned and crossed her arms over her chest,
"Like who?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I'm quite sure Freddy Gomez was terrified of you, my dear."
Posey rolled her eyes, but her lips still twitched in a smile. "Well since we're all bright eyed and bushy tailed,"
Jude glowered,
"Shouldn't we be on our way?" Asked Posey.
"Indeed we should be." Said James with a smile of his own. "Off to Rivet City."
"Off to Rivet City." Agreed Posey, with a grin.
The Wasteland air was still cool as the three of them stepped out of Smith Casey's Garage. Jude especially looked relieved to be back under the open sky and free of his "monkey suit" as he'd called it, which he'd quickly abandoned in favor of his usual Leather Armor, which Posey had to admit, looked much better than the too small Vault suit.
"Does the Wasteland have seasons?" Asked Posey, shivering slightly as a crisp breeze washed over the group. "I mean, it's technically spring, but it's nothing like the spring I've read about." She reached in her duffel bag for her jacket.
"It has varying temperatures." Said James conversationally. "Spring has cool nights and mornings and warm to hot afternoons. Summer, well it's just hot, the nights still get rather chilled however, but there's never any precipitation and the weather patterns and daylight hours don't really vary, so it's not technically a season, although-" He cut off, mid lecture and looked down in something not unlike horror at Posey's jacket, which she'd slipped on during their conversation.
"Posey Marie Bennett." Said James, looking at his daughter with wide eyes. "Is that a Tunnel Snakes jacket!"
"Oh," Said Posey, looking down at the black leather around her shoulders. "yes. Yes it is."
"And is that..." James looked at the name in silver stitching on the lapel, aghast. "Butch Deloria! Why are you wearing Butch Deloria's jacket?!"
Jude sniggered while Posey felt herself blushing. "Dad, it's not what you think!" She said, holding her hands up to placate him,
"Oh it better not be what I think." Said James, looking more stunned than angry. "I thought I raised you better than that!"
"All I did was save his mom from Radroaches!" Said Posey, defensively. "I was escaping the Vault, and there was a Radroach infestation, and they had Butch's mom cornered, so I helped her. I killed all the roaches and Butch gave me his jacket, as a thank you."
"You took on a swarm of radroaches," Asked James in disbelief.
"Yes, I did." Said Posey defensively, "It's not that hard to believe. And really Dad? Me and Butch? Really?"
"Alright, alright." Said James, patting her on the shoulder as he passed her, taking the lead of their little group. "You're my daughter and I love you, even if you have questionable taste in men."
"Dad!" Cried Posey indignantly while Jude bit back a laugh. Posey scowled and swatted his leather bound arm. "Don't you take his side!"
"Oh no." Said Jude, holding up his hands, one of them still holding his shotgun, in surrender. "Nuh huh, Blondie. I ain't takin' any sides. No way."
"Smart man." Called James and Posey could hear the smile in his voice.
"Don't make me regret saving you." Called Posey, addressing her father's retreating back. She tried to coax her mouth into a scowl, but all it seemed to want to do was grin.
"Wouldn't dream of it, darling." He said, shooting her a smile over his shoulder.
He continued on his way, his hands in his lab coat's pockets, whistling cheerily and Posey looked after him, exasperated but also feeling happier than she had in days. Jude drew even with her and watched James walk away with a smirk sideling up onto his lips. Jude looked down at her while simultaneously propping his shotgun on his shoulder.
"I like your Dad." He said with a grin.
It was unreal how much easier the Wasteland suddenly seemed to traverse. It was as if Posey had been walking around with two left shoes, or rather, like she'd been holding her breath for a week and a half. But now her Dad was back, and everything was so much clearer. The air that much crisper in her lungs and the sun that much warmer over her skin. All was right with the world. Or, what was left of the world anyway.
"So, you've been to D.C.?" Said her father, walking along beside her and looking at her with wide eyes. "Truly? Through the metro and into downtown D.C.?"
"Yes." Insisted Posey with a laugh, while Jude walked behind the pair, keeping his eyes roving across the Wasteland, though he too seemed to be enjoying himself.
"You spoke to Three Dog?"
"I did." Said Posey, smiling and shifting her grip on her rifle, distributing the weight a little more evenly as they walked. "I picked this puppy up in D.C., swiped it off a Mutant. Or was it a Raider?"
"It was a Raider." Clarified Jude from behind the pair. "We took it off that Raider who shot your ear off."
"What?" Demanded James, looking horrified and Posey laughed, pulling back her hair to reveal her now partially mangled ear.
"It's really not that big of a deal." Said Posey with a shrug, letting her hair fall back over her shoulder. "It just took a chunk out of my ear. Could have taken a chunk out of my skull, but it didn't."
"Oh my-" James drew a hand over his face, looking fretful. "Are their any other injuries I should know about?"
"Well, you saw my bullet graze," Said Posey nonchalantly, running her fingers over the ridge that followed the curve of her forehead, almost down to her temple. "I got that from a Vault 101 Guard, I also fractured my knuckles punching one in the face, and I got my arm dislocated by Officer Mack. But those are all pretty much taken care of. I scraped my neck on a rusty old subway car. Let's see, what else...Oh! And I got nearly strangled by a Raider."
"Which wouldn't have happened if you'd just listened to me." Said Jude grumpily, and Posey shrugged, feeling her heart twinge again at the thought of the boyish Raider.
"Good lord," Said James weakly, but Posey smiled and patted his shoulder reassuringly.
"But I'm fine now, Dad. I've got battle scars. I kind of like them, actually."
James still looked distressed, but shook his head and said, moving on with a sigh,
"Now remind me, what did Three Dog make you do?"
"I had to go to the Museum of Technology and get the Virgo II's landing dish and replace his broken broadcast relay at the Washington Monument." Recited Posey for what seemed like the hundredth time. She hadn't told him about all of her Megaton adventures. She didn't really want her father to know she'd managed to make an enemy of one Mister Burke quite yet.
"That bastard!" Said James, scowling fiercely. "Didn't you tell him you'd only been out of the Vault for two days!"
"Yes, Dad, I did." She said patiently, smiling while James fumed. "But hey, at least we can get Galaxy News Radio, all over the Wasteland."
"I don't suppose he plays any Peggy Lee, does he?" Asked James hopefully.
"I don't think so." Said Posey with a smile.
"Shame. I rather liked her record back in the Vault's jukebox."
Posey laughed as they entered a gully of sorts, steep rocky embankments shooting sharply up on either side of them, casting their party into shadow and dropping the temperature by several degrees, and Posey almost reached for her Tunnel Snakes jacket again, which she'd put in her bag as the sun slowly ascended and grew warmer.
"What was that one song you liked so much?" Asked her father while Posey carefully picked her way across the rock littered ground, stepping a head of him a little ways so she was now in the lead.
"It's a Most Unusual Day." Said Posey, "It talked about the sky a lot. It kind of reminds me of today, actually." She said with a grin, looking back at her father and Jude before singing out:
"It's a most unusual day, feel like throwing my worries away! As an old native born Californian would say, it's a most unusual day!"
Her father was laughing and even Jude's lips twitched in a smile as Posey hopped from rock to rock, belting out the lyrics in a bright, if slightly off key voice.
"There's a most unusual sky, not a sign of a cloud passing by," The path turned sharply, obscuring the view ahead of her and Posey lept down from the rock she'd been standing on, twirling round the corner.
"And if I wanna sing, throw my heart in the ring-"
Posey's singing ended in a strangled gasp as a resounding roar echoed around the little canyon and some...thing whirled around, baring down on her faster than Posey could have imagined. Ten feet tall, hunchbacked and vaguely humanoid, with a large, horned, reptilian like head, the creature leared down at her and Posey stumbled back, bringing her rifle up and shooting wildly at the thing which let out another earsplitting roar, spittle flying from its maw full of yellowed fangs, and brought an enormous hand, ending with long razor sharp claws crashing down in a deadly arc, right at her head.
Her shot and her stumble probably saved her life, as she tripped backwards over one of the many rocks, the longest of the claws, almost like the creatures middle finger, caught at the skin just in front of her right ear and brought it viciously down, its other talons tearing at the skin at her neck, and shredding her armored suit. Jude's shotgun rent the air and the creature staggered back, yowling again, but its thick scaly skin seemed difficult to penetrate.
Posey felt her chest and neck burn, pain emanating all the way to her navel and the tips of her fingers, and blood quickly soaked her front. Her father was by her side in an instant, a pistol in his hands and rapidly firing at the things legs.
"Get back!" She shouted, pushing back the blinding pain, and grabbing his arm she ran pell mell back the way they'd come as Jude threw two Frag Grenades, one right after the other at the thing.
"Dad, run!" Shouted Posey over its roaring and Jude's gunshots.
"I'm not leaving you!" He bellowed back, eyes hard and knuckles white on his guns grip.
"Jude and I can handle this! Just-"
She let out a cry as she felt an enormously powerful grip seize her torso, and she was jerked viciously backwards while simultaneously being lifted into the air. Posey's rifle clattered to the ground and she felt the creatures rough skin under her fingers as it tightened its grip, and Posey let out a choked gasp, feeling an excruciating splintering sensation as saw the creature's gaping jaws, its rancid breath washing over her as she kicked viciously at its teeth, her vision spinning with both pain and fear.
She could hear her father's shots as if from a great distance, and the thing bellowed angrily at him, swatting in his direction, but he dived behind a boulder. The beast roared again and Posey saw a flash of silver and dark hair and suddenly the creature stiffened, its cry cut off and ending in a gurgle as it arched its back, its vice like grip loosening and Posey slipped out of its claws, crumpling into the dirt, which sent a blinding stab of pain through her chest.
Through streaming eyes, she saw Jude, blood coating the side of his face, matting his black hair to his scalp standing in front of the thing, one hand wrenching the creature's head down by a horn. His lips were twisted in a vicious snarl and his other, bloody hand gripped the handle of his Combat knife so tightly his muscles shook. He twisted the knife viciously, and yanked it down the animal's neck, the tough muscle and skin buckling and tearing, and blood spattering across Jude's face as he hit what Posey guessed to be an artery, before pulling the knife free.
She could hear her father's anguished voice in her ear, and feel his hands under her arms as he moved her away from the fallen beast, but all she see was Jude, and the creature's blood gushing onto the dirt below as it fell slowly back, still gurgling and twitching, its horned head falling gently back onto the ground. Jude stood over it, his back to her, his knife still clenched in his bloodied hand, shoulders trembling.
"Posey! Posey, look at me!"
Posey tore her gaze from Jude and looked at her father, feeling dizzy and weak.
"Posey!" He cried, his eyes frantic, and hands stained scarlet from her blood.
"I-I'm alright." She said through trembling lips "At least... you should see the other guy. It's not spurting, at least. That's a good sign, right?"
He let out something between a sob and a laugh and pulled her to him, hiding her face in his shoulder and careful of her injuries.
"Thank God, Posey." He said into her hair. "Oh, thank God... I thought I'd lost you."
"You can't get rid of me that easy," She said, pulling back though she winced at a knife like stab of pain through her ribs. Now that the excitement was over, she started to truly feel the searing pain pulsing from the deep lacerations and her father pulled back, now looking at her wounds with a more critical, professional eye.
"You'll need stitches." He said, "And at least two Stimpacks. Probably more, considering that brute's grip. How do your ribs feel?"
"Not good." Said Posey, feeling ashen faced and wondering if it was from blood loss or the thought of stitches. Probably both.
She couldn't quite tell what sort of state her torso was in, it all felt like a burning mess, but she didn't feel anything too much farther down from her clavicle seeping blood, so she at least had a few minutes left to live. Hopefully a lot of them, seeing as she wasn't in any danger of bleeding out anytime soon. The two lacerations, the one near her ear and the one on her neck, were shallow thanks to her well timed trip, but she couldn't tell about the ones on her chest. There was certainly a lot of blood, soaking the front of her shirt and the edges of her vision were blurry with pain.
A shadow fell over her and she looked up to see Jude, his face spattered with gore, a grisly addition to his already freckled face. The skin around his eyes was tight, and she could still see the indentation of his knife's handle in his palm. For a moment, he looked as wild as any Raider she'd ever encountered, but then, he crouched down next to her and she saw how badly his hands were shaking.
"You okay, Blondie?" He asked, his voice hoarse.
Posey's vision swam, but she managed a weak, "Yeah."
"Should we move her, Doc?" Asked Jude, and James frowned, shaking his head.
"Not yet. That thing has cracked some ribs. We'll get a Stim or two into her, and wait for those to set in before we try. That should help clot the lacerations and slow down the bleeding as well."
James pulled off his lab coat and wadded it up, placing it behind Posey's back and the boulder she was leaning against, and helped her out of the top half of her armored Vault suit, which was now in dire need of repair.
"It probably saved your life, that suit." Remarked James, pulling the cap off of a Stimpack once she was clad only in her not-so-white-anymore tank top, before she could protest, he stuck it into her torso, right between her ribs.
"Ow!" yelped Posey, looking at him reproachfully, but James was busy fiddling with the other necessary medical supplies. "Probably," Agreed Posey begrudgingly, still looking petulantly at the other Stimpack in his hand. "How's it look?" She asked, moving her gaze and keeping her eyes trained on Jude's back, who sat a few feet ahead of her, his back respectfully turned while he cleaned off his hands and knife, the dirty water he'd salvaged from the Raider camp tinged pink before it soaked into the Wasteland dust.
"It's ugly," said James grimly, "But with a couple of Stims, some stitches and some sterile bandages, it should be fine."
He let out a shaky sigh, and Posey turned to him despite the pain in her neck. He drew a bloodstained hand down his face, looking as if he'd aged ten years in ten seconds.
"Oh sweetie," He said brokenly, "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, Dad." Said Posey emphatically. "If it's anyone's, it's mine. I wasn't paying attention and I was being too loud."
"I just wish you could have stayed in the Vault,." He said, looking mournfully up at her, and Posey was instantly reminded of his time as a dog in Vault 112. "where it was safe."
"Dad," Began Posey, exasperated.
"I know, I just-" He hung his head, "I felt so powerless, paralyzed with fear. Posey, if anything happens to you out here, I'll never forgive myself."
"You didn't seem paralyzed to me." Said Posey, "And I'd rather spend a few weeks out here, with you and a chance at freedom, than a whole lifetime down in that Vault alone."
"Your mother-"
"It's just like you said," Interrupted Posey. "it's just you and me now, and so long as we've got each other, that's all that matters. Don't you remember how many times you said that to me when I was a kid? I'm okay, Dad. If I'd stayed in the Vault I'd be dead for sure. You're not going to lose me out here, I promise. I can take care of myself, and when I can't, Jude steps in and saves my bacon."
James glanced over to the young Wastelander, who was methodically cleaning Posey's rifle, his repair kit open next to him and the rest of the group's weapons spread out, awaiting his careful care.
"True," Said James ruefully, "I really do owe that young man a word of thanks."
"I definitely do. Now Dad, mind patching me up? These scratches hurt like hell."
"Right, of course." James began sorting through the first aid kit in front of him, and carefully injected another Stimpack while Posey looked pointedly away, grinding her teeth.
"So," She said as he started to clean the cuts and Poey dug her fingers into the soft dirt next to her. "this won't delay us too long on your trip to Rivet City, will it?"
"Don't worry about that," Said James, his hands, as always, gentle yet confident in their work. "I don't want to rush you, with your cracked ribs. We'll set up camp here, and see how you feel in the morning."
"Right here?" Asked Posey, dubiously eyeing the hulking corpse only a few yards to their right.
"Okay," Said James, glancing over at the bloodied mass. "maybe we'll move on a little further, but not much. The Stimpacks should help with your ribs, they've already slowed your bleeding by quite a bit, but you'll have to be careful and promise me that even though it hurts, you'll take deep breaths every hour or so, I don't want you getting a pulmonary infection out here."
Posey took a slow, deep breath, flinching as she did so. It felt like she was inhaling broken glass.
"What was that thing?" She asked while her father tore open the sterile suture kit from Vault 112.
"That was a Deathclaw, a young one, judging by its size, but still" Said James, carefully readying the needle and suture thread. "we are very lucky that Mr. Hiller acted so quickly. Deathclaws are very very dangerous, but the flesh under their jaw is vulnerable."
Posey looked apprehensively at the suture needle in her father's hand, swallowing hard as it glinted in the Wasteland sun.
"I'll be quick." He said apologetically, "I promise. It's just these ones on your chest that need stitching, and they're not very long."
She finally glanced down at the wounds causing the bloody mess and winced again. Now that her father had cleaned the blood away, she could see the four, deep slashes, furrowing into her skin. Not long, they started an inch above her collarbone and stopped about four finger widths below it, just above her breast, but they were deep and stood out vividly against her otherwise pale flesh: red, raw and angry.
"Well, that's gonna leave a mark." Said Posey shakily.
"Here."
Both Doctor and patient looked up to see Jude, holding out a flask and looking stubbornly off to the right, not even risking looking down at Posey and her few inches of exposed flesh.
"Best to get a little buzzed first." Said Jude, still looking anywhere but at Posey. She smiled, in spite of the throbbing pain. It was sweet, his respect for her modesty.
James looked disapprovingly at the the flask before saying
"She's not twenty one."
Jude did meet James' eye however, and raised his eyebrows.
"Pre-War legal drinking ages don't really apply anymore. Unless you've got any other kind of anesthetic. I had some Med-X, but that bastard threw me against a rock and it broke the syringes in my pack."
"How's your head?" Asked Posey, looking at the blood now cracked and drying on his temple.
"Just a scrape, really." He said with a shrug. "I promise, I'm not concussed." He gave her a small smile, which Posey returned.
"What's in it?" She asked, looking from the flask back to Jude's face.
"Whiskey from Moriarty's."
Posey's lip curled at the mention of Moriarty.
"No thanks." She said distastefully.
"Blondie," Said Jude, exasperated.
"I can handle it," Said Posey settling back against her rock. "Just distract me, like back in the metro. Dad, carry on.
"There's a little numbing gel here," Said James, "It will at least numb the skin a little. I promise sweetheart, I'll be quick."
"I know you will. Jude," she patted the space next to her while her father smeared the anesthetic cream onto her skin.
Jude sat warily on the ground next to her, once again carefully avoiding looking at her bare flesh, despite the portion exposed being far from scandalous.
"So get to distracting," Said Posey, looking quickly away as her father began to stitch up the torn flaps of skin. "you're next you know," she said through gritted teeth. "We forgot to have him look at your arm."
"Oh, yeah, that." Jude looked down at the bandage on his left arm.
Posey flinched and grit her teeth at the sting of the needle and the uncomfortable tug of the suture thread.
"Jude!" She hissed, "Distract!"
"Right, sorry. Um," Jude's eyes were wide and he almost looked panicked. "What do you want me to talk about?"
"Anything! Tell me your favorite story."
"My favorite-" his eyes looked fearful as she flashed her own towards him, scowling fiercely. She sucked in a quick breath as she felt the needle again and shot her hand out, taking Jude's tightly in her own.
"Ow! Hey-"
"Get. Talking!" She said through gritted teeth, and James shot Jude a sympathetic look.
"O-okay!" Stuttered Jude, cringing himself at her vice like grip on his hand. "Okay, my favorite story... Uh... Once, t-there was a man, an outlaw by the name of Robin Hood."
Jude, as it turned out, was a good story teller, once he fell into the rhythm of it. His voice deepened and once he got into the swing of it, was full of the right inflections. Posey's father worked fast, and soon he was covering her fresh sutures with antiseptic and covering them with sterile gauze, just as Jude finished, saying:
"And King Richard returned, and Robin Hood was given a Lordship, and he and Maid Marian were married, and I'm assuming they lived happily ever after, because I haven't heard otherwise."
Posey smiled at his ending while James sat back, looking tired, but pleased.
"There." He said, once he'd applied a few butterfly bandages to the her neck, just to keep the skin together. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Let's just say I've endured worse, recently." Said Posey, finally releasing Jude's hand, which he promptly shook out, wincing.
"That's the spirit." Said James smiling, "Resilience. It's a good trait out here. Now, Mr. Hiller, let's see that arm of yours, and we'd better check on that head injury as well."
Jude and Posey switched spots. Her ribs still ached with every movement, but not the same sharp, breath stealing pain as before, as the Stimpacks worked their magic.
"Do you want me to tell you a story now?" Asked Posey with a smile while James unwound the bandage around Jude's arm and started pulling the bloodied gauze away.
"He hasn't even said if it needs to be stitched up yet." Said Jude with a frown, just as James announced:
"Yes, I think some sutures are in order. Posey, hand me another kit, would you please."
Posey smiled while Jude rolled his eyes, and she handed over another kit from her father's bag.
"I'll clean it out, stitch it up and you should be right as rain." Said James and Jude winced as he started swabbing isopropyl alcohol into the wound.
"My offer of a story still stands." Said Posey with a smile. "I've got quite a few in my repertoire. I had the fourteenth issue of Grognak the Barbarian, with no missing pages. Might ruin the the thirteen others ahead of that for you though."
"Never cared for Grognak." Said Jude, cringing as James began to suture his arm. "I only ever read the eighth one. And not all the way through, it was my br... I mean... it wasn't mine."
Posey frowned and filed away another mysterious detail she would have to ask him about later, if she caught him in a good mood.
"No Grognak then." Said Posey, "What about Cinderella then? That was my favorite story growing up."
"What the hell is a Cinderella?" Asked Jude, looking over at her with his dark eyebrows drawn so low they almost met in the middle.
"Not what, who. She was a princess."
"Did you like her because she had a funny name too?"
Posey scowled, "No, and I don't have a funny name."
"Well at least it's not as bad as Cinderella."
"You should just let his wound get infected, Dad." Said Posey, looking at her father, whose lips twitched in a smile.
"As a medical man, it goes against my code of honor to do so." Said James, not looking up from his work. "However, I must say I am quite fond of your name."
"Thank you." Said Posey, turning back to Jude with a triumphant smile. Jude simply rolled his eyes.
"Alright then, let's hear it. Who is this Cinderella."
Posey smiled, despite her twinging ribs and burning skin.
"Once upon a time," She said, relaxing against the boulder. "there was a little girl named Ella, whose father and mother loved her very much..."
All injuries now accounted for and taken care of, Posey got gingerly to her feet, feeling her ribs painful protest at the movement. Jude ran his fingers over the new bandage and Posey weakly swatted his hand away.
"Don't touch it, your hands are filthy. You'll get an infection."
"I thought you wanted it infected?" Said Jude while James gathered up the spent medical supplies and stowed them carefully under a rock, so as not to contaminate their sterile equipment.
"If you lose your arm what use do you think I'd have for you?" Said Posey, smiling wanly. She was starting to feel the toll of the afternoon's adventure, and thought that perhaps sleeping by the Deathclaw's corpse wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
"...Moral support?" Asked Jude after a pause and Posey smiled, a little more animatedly this time.
"You, supplying moral support? You're not exactly a bright little ray of sunshine, Colorado."
"Excuse me? I am a delight."
Posey laughed then winced, "Oh! Don't make me laugh." She moaned, "It hurts."
"Sorry, Blondie."
James straightened up, his pack over his shoulder, as well as Posey's duffel bag.
"Well onward, ever onward." He said brightly but Posey held out an arm, despite the subsequent flash of pain in her torso.
"I can carry my own bag, Dad."
"I know you can," He said evenly, slinging the strap over his shoulder. "I also know that it would hurt, a lot. And I don't like the idea of you in pain, call me old fashioned."
"You're far from old fashioned, Dad." Said Posey with a smile. "You're actually quite progressive."
"Glad to see I haven't fallen behind the times."
"I'll scout out a head a little ways." Said Jude, slinging his shotgun over his arm and picking up Posey's Hunting Rifle instead.
"Alright," Said Posey, "be careful."
"Always am, Blondie." He gave her a small smile, and took off, jogging ahead and slowly shrinking from view.
"It's not your fault, you know." Said James, watching his daughter carefully. "Deathclaws have an excellent sense of smell, and it was downwind of us. It was well aware we were there already, it was just lying in wait."
"Yeah, but if I hadn't been acting like an idiot-" Said Posey with a sigh.
"You weren't being an idiot." Said James, leading the way past the Deathclaw's carcass, and Posey carefully skirted the bloodied remains, unable to look away from the thing's claws, tinged red with her blood.
"Singing and dancing in the middle of the Wasteland is pretty idiotic." She countered, wrapping her arms gingerly around herself as she took a deep breath, gritting her teeth against the flaring pain. "Anything could have heard me."
"You were just-"
"Being an idiot."
"No," Said James patiently, "actually, the older you get the more you remind me of your mother."
Posey looked up at him in surprise, but he hadn't turned back to her.
"How so?" She asked, following him carefully, each step set her ribs aching.
"Your mother was a brilliant scientist, and her work was vital to Project Purity, but there were other reasons why she was invaluable to the project. She always seemed to know what to do to raise everyone's spirits. She was fearless, your mother. She let the world see her exactly as she was. If she was happy, she wanted the world to know there was reason to be, no matter how silly or idiotic-" he cast her a meaningful look over his shoulder. "others thought her actions to be. She was...passionate. About life, about love. But most of all...most of all, she was passionate about you."
Posey was silent, watching her father as he walked, wishing she could see his face. Her father had never spoken about her mother much. Posey knew that her loss still hurt him, more than he let on she was sure. She'd always thought her mother must have been the luckiest woman alive, seeing how deeply her father loved her, even after she was gone. He never even mentioned anyone else, and though Posey knew Beatrice from the Vault had once shown interest her father, James had politely turned her down. Posey didn't miss her mother, per say, she missed the opportunity of having a mother very much, but she didn't know enough about her to truly miss or mourn her. Now it seemed, she was learning all sorts of things about her.
"Dad," She asked hesitantly, "how did...Did Mom... did she really die giving birth to me, or was it something else, something that you couldn't tell me because of the whole 'Born in the Vault, Die in the Vault' business."
"No, it was complications with childbirth that took her." Said James, and she saw his shoulders stiffen and his hands clench. "I never lied about your mother, sweetie."
"Okay...What did she look like?" Asked Posey, wishing her father would slow down a little so they could walk side by side again.
"Well, I obviously am a little biased, but I think she was probably the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen." He gave her a sad smile and did slow to a stop, allowing her to catch up to him. "That was a little cheesy, wasn't it?"
"A little." Said Posey with a smile. "Everybody says I look like you, do I not look like Mom at all?"
"You have her smile," Said James, "and her laugh. And a lot of her mannerisms, actually. She loved to read as well, and dance. She had one plucky dimple in her right cheek, just like you. Just the one. She had red hair, a lovely shade of red, that she hated. I never understood why. She always wished she was a blonde."
"I always wished I was a redhead." Said Posey in surprise, and James' lips twitched in another sad smile.
"Like I said. Very similar."
"Do you remember her favorite color?"
"I think...it was either yellow, or pink. Maybe both, soft shades, like-"
"A sunrise." Said Posey in wonderment. How on earth could she be so like a woman she'd never met?
"Yes, rather like a sunrise I would imagine." Said James with a smile. "And she loved looking at pictures of flowers. She knew, if our baby was a girl, that she wanted her to be named after a flower. We had quite the list: Rose, Lilly, Magnolia, and of course, Posy. We added the 'E' later, in the spelling. Catherine thought P-O-S-E-Y looked better than P-O-S-Y written down. I guess she knew already her daughter was going to make the History books." He said with a smile, and Posey blushed, and would've shaken her head if turning her neck didn't hurt.
"Were you hoping for or a boy or a girl?" She asked.
"Catherine said she'd be perfectly happy with either, but I think she secretly hoped it would be a girl. She certainly spoke about our daughter quite a lot."
"What about you?"
"I didn't care, boy or girl I'd be happy with either." He gave her a smile and said warmly, "But I'm glad, very glad Posey, that our baby was you."
Posey blushed, but she managed, through a tremulous smile,
"You know, I think leaving the Vault was the best thing we could've done for our relationship. I don't even care that you embarrassed me in front of Freddy Gomez while he was asking me out anymore."
James chuckled, "Well that's a relief," He said with a warm smile. "that was putting a serious strain on our relationship."
Posey felt oddly shy, but she smiled back and looked at the ground before them, still with her arms around her torso to brace her aching ribs against her movements.
Her father had always been affectionate, but in a quieter, almost subtle way, with his easy teasing and gentle smiles. He'd been a almost...sparring, with his praise growing up, but when she did earn it, it was always very sincere and she could tell her father believed every word he'd said. So this, open and direct approach when Posey felt she had hardly done anything to earn his admiration, made her wary. Perhaps it was the reminiscing about her mother, or his odd, melancholy smiles, but Posey couldn't shake the disturbing feeling that it was almost like he was saying goodbye.
They'd been walking in silence for a few minutes when Posey heard Jude's voice call:
"It's me Blondie, don't shoot."
She turned and saw him cresting a small hill just to the left of them, and her face split into a wide smile as he jogged down the low slope to meet them.
"I don't think I'm going to be shooting anything for a while." Said Posey once he'd reached them. "I'm pretty sure the kickback from my rifle would break my ribs...again."
"Technically your ribs are just cracked." Said James, "But the force of firing a rifle may persuade them to break properly this time."
"Oh, persuade. How diplomatic of my rifle." She met Jude's gaze, expecting him to join her in smirking at her little joke, as he ordinarily he would have. Or at least have graced it with an eye roll. Now however, he seemed to have trouble mustering up even a smirk.
"I found a good spot to stop for the night." He said, jerking his thumb in the direction he'd come from. "It's just a hop skip and a jump that way."
"I think hopping and skipping are off my agenda for a while as well," Said Posey, placing a tentative hand against her ribcage, "but lead on."
Jude nodded, and turned around, heading back up the way he'd come while Posey and her father followed after him.
Despite her rib's painful protest, Posey jogged the few short paces to Jude's side and asked, quietly:
"Jude, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." He said, though he didn't look back at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"I dunno, you just seem..."
Brooding and mysterious, as always. She thought, frowning slightly. "Quiet." She finished at last.
"Maybe I'm just quiet."
"You are, but sometimes you're not and it's very confusing for us mere mortals to understand." Said Posey, trying not to sound whiny or demanding.
"So stop trying." He said, at last glancing down at her, and Posey fought the urge to shrink back. The lines around his eyes, which she was slowly becoming accustomed to seeing crinkled in a smile, were haggard, and his eyes looked wild. It was almost like when he'd been twisting his knife under the deathclaws throat, as much a monster as the one he'd been destroying.
"Jude,"
"I'm just tired, Blondie. I'm fine."
He sped up, and she watched him go, waiting for her father to catch up with her before setting off again.
"Everything alright?" Asked James lightly, and Posey shrugged, before realizing what a bad idea that was to do with cracked ribs.
"Less alright," She said with a groan, and James shook his head.
"You need to be careful," he admonished, "you can't just bounce right back from something like that, Stimpacks or not."
"I'm fine." She said, though it now felt like the lining of her thoracic cavity was on fire.
"What were you and Mr. Hiller talking about?"
"I was just asking if he was okay, he seems a bit...shaken up."
"Deathclaws are one of the most feared creatures in the Wastes." Said James, looking up at the Jude, whose back was still turned to them. "People grow up to horror stories about them, like you grew up with stories of ghosts haunting the reactor floor. The only difference being, Deathclaws are a very real threat."
"So is the ghost of Mary Jenkins," Said Posey, "you weren't there when she yanked my cap right of my head."
"This wouldn't be when you and Amata where down there after curfew, trying to spot the elusive ghost, would it?"
"We would never have gotten caught if Butch hadn't screamed like a little girl when my flashlight went out." Said Posey sourly.
"And what exactly was Butch doing down on the reactor floor with you, after curfew, in the dark." Said her father with a warning tone.
"Professing his undying love while trying to steal my precious innocence." Said Posey flatly. "What do you think, Dad? Trying to scare Amata and me! Didn't work, by the way. He was the one we had to walk back to his apartment."
James shook his head and Posey grinned, "I've got all sorts of tricks up my sleeve, Daddy-O."
"I don't doubt it." Said James dryly, as they crested another small hill and saw the slowly degrading remains of an old overpass, under which Jude sat on the hood of a rusted up car.
"Figure this oughtta be good enough for the night." Said Jude as they approached, shading his eyes against the fading light.
"Seems alright to me." Said Posey, who was happy just to stop. She felt sure that once she actually allowed herself to rest, and let the stimpacks take their effect, little things like breathing wouldn't be so painful anymore.
"Good," Said Jude, hopping down. "because I already made a fire pit and I don't want to have to make another."
The area was small and sheltered by an enormous cement pillar on one side, and a wall of collapsed cars another, creating a neat little L shape in the middle of which Jude had built a small fire pit, ringed with stones.
"I'll go find some wood." He said, dropping his pack inside the wall of cars. "I'll be right back."
"Okay," said Posey with a slight frown, leaning back against a rusted out car but waited to lower herself to the ground, she was sure once she was down, she wasn't going to be getting up for a while. "do you need any help?"
"No, I'll be fine."
Posey made a mental note to keep track of how many times Jude said 'fine' that evening.
He turned to leave but Posey called, "Wait."
He paused, looking over his shoulder as she pushed off the cars with a wince before walking over to him and asking under her breath,
"Jude, are you alright? I mean, really, alright?"
He didn't meet her eyes, instead he eyed her neck, his green eyes sweeping over the many contusions and scratches marring the pale flesh there.
"I'm fine." He said, his voice low and almost gravely.
"Are you lying? Because you don't look fine."
"Then stop looking." He challenged, finally dragging his gaze to meet hers and Posey blinked and swallowed hard. He most definitely did not look fine. "I'll be back, okay?" He said, turning and hauling his shotgun more securely up in his arms.
"It's getting dark." She protested, but Jude kept going.
"I'll be fine."
As he walked away, James looked over at her with a wary eye,.
"How do you feel, Posey?" He asked, taking her spot in leaning against the centuries old vehicles.
"I'm-"
fine
That word had been said so many times recently it didn't even sound like a word anymore.
"I'm fine."
"How do your ribs feel? Any pulling at your stitches?"
"My ribs, well they hurt but they'll be fine. My stitches are fine too."
"Glad to hear it. You should sit down, rest for a while."
Posey didn't respond, she just kept looking out the way Jude had gone with a slight frown. He was an enigma that man, every time she thought they might be growing closer, he'd jump back to being surly and unresponsive again. She'd called him her friend, back in Vault 112. Was that what he was? Her friend?
"Posey, Mr. Hiller is quite capable of handling himself out there." Said James a little impatiently. "Please, sit down."
"Dad, can I ask you one more question?" She said softly, turning to look at him while ignoring his plea. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her queary. She took a moment to look at him first, really look at him, since the first time she'd found him down in Vault 112. She knew her father was old, his neat hair, salt and peppered with age, and the wrinkles round his eyes and mouth. She'd always assumed they were laughter lines, but now... "It's about mom." She hedged, watching him carefully for a reaction, watching the way the his face went sort of rigid, the blatant pain that flashed across his features, as quick as a flash of lighting before fading away to a gentle smile.
"Of course, sweetie. What do you want to know?"
"Why," Posey felt herself blushing but cleared her throat and pressed forward, "why did you love her? I mean, what about her made you love her?"
Her father's face fell into a thoughtful frown and he slowly lowered himself down so he his back was to the cars behind him, and he was staring out over at the Wasteland's sinking sun. Posey joined him, her movements cautious and teeth clenched.
"That's a very good question," Said James softly, "you know, some people say you don't really choose who you love, but I never really held with that. What was the point if you didn't choose? What made love special if it wasn't a conscious and thoughtful act, if it was just some predetermined thing, then what was the point?"
"So, I'm guessing you don't believe in Soul Mates." Asked Posey with a slight smile.
"Poppycock." Said her father at once, and Posey laughed, which of course sent a stab of pain through her ribs which quickly put an end to her mirth.
"How did you and Mom meet?" She asked, grimacing slightly against the pain.
"We met in what is now Rivet City." He said, eyeing her carefully before settling back against the cars. "Only then it was more like Bucket of Bolts. It was in its early stages, very different from how it is now. I was twenty-one, fresh from the Wastes. I came seeking knowledge, as there was a very promising scientific community growing there. My father, your grandfather, was a doctor in our little community in the Wastes, and he taught me all he knew but I wanted more. I wanted to know what the world was like, I-"
He paused, noticing Posey's half raised eyebrows and smirk.
"Well," He said ruefully, "I guess this does sound a little familiar, doesn't it?"
"A little." Said Posey, smiling slightly.
"Anyway," Continued James, "I walked into that rusty hunk of junk, and saw a little huddle of terrified people. Refugees, from a town victim of a Super Mutant raid. They became some of the first residents of Rivet City, and among them, right in the middle of the group, was your mother."
His eyes took on a faraway look, and although they were fixed on Posey, he didn't seem to be seeing at her at all.
"I'd seen a lot of people out in the Wastes." He said quietly, "It takes a part of you, living out there. It chips away at who you are, and people always looked so worn down. But...Not her. She was still so much herself, she was whole, she was still so alive. She'd lost everything. Her parents, her siblings, her home yet when she looked up at me, despite the obvious grief, I knew she wasn't going to let anything, not loss, not the Wasteland, make her any less of herself. It wasn't going to have her, and she was like that right until the day she died." His voice cracked and he let his head hang forward, drawing a hand down it and taking a shuddering breath. "I didn't think anything could ever take your mother." He said, and his voice was surprisingly steady. "Nothing ever slowed her down. Even when she was nine months pregnant she was working, though I begged her to rest. That's why it was such a shock to me, when...when she..."
Posey placed a comforting hand on his arm, feeling a sudden stab of nostalgia and loss for a woman she'd never known.
"That's a pretty good reason to love someone, she sounds amazing." She said quietly, "I wish I could have known her."
"Oh Posey," He said, smiling wanly and smoothing back her frazzled hair. "she would have loved you. She was so excited to meet you. She held you, for a moment, before the end. She thought you were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen."
"You know, I never really missed her until now. I didn't know her, so it was hard to, and sometimes I missed the opportunity of having a mother, but I never felt cheated. Never felt like I was really missing out on anything, because you never let me feel like that."
Her father looked away and Posey rested her head on his shoulder.
"You're a great dad, Dad."
"Even if I lied to you for most of your life?"
"Well that was less great, but I understand. You're still the best dad I've ever had."
"Oh, well that's a relief."
Posey smiled and even though every breath hurt, and her feet ached, Posey couldn't for the life of her, think of anywhere else she'd rather be.
Jude
The sun was sinking fast, but Jude didn't turn around. He'd passed at least four burned out husks of trees, with plenty of dry branches scattered around the base, but he hadn't stopped. He couldn't stop. If he let himself stop, he'd see it all over again. Even with his rapid footfalls and his heart pounding in his chest, they were still slipping through the careful wall he'd spent years building. Cracks in the foundation, letting in the ghosts that had been relentlessly nipping at his heels.
A line of rusty tin cans, perched on a rock
All he could hear was his heavy breathing and the pounding of his boots into the Wasteland dust. But it wasn't enough to drown out his tumultuous thoughts.
POP! POP! POP! Missed everyone. Must've been the BB gun's fault. Not his.
It was dark now. The sun was gone and dusk was fading, the night slowly falling around him.
The odd, blurry shape out on the horizon.
His heart thudded in his ears and he shook his head, desperately trying to clear it. He'd done so well for so long! They couldn't sneak up on him now!
An earsplitting roar.
Jude reached under his armor, feeling the ridges on the skin of his shoulder.
"Jude! Jude, run!"
His hands on his shotgun were shaking, his knuckles white against the barrel. And Jude swore, he swore he could hear it:
A high, anguished scream, ending in a animalistic yowl and that snap.
Jude felt his knees buckle and his stomach churn and he fell forward, gasping for air and fighting back waves of nausea. He dropped his gun and twisted his fingers in his hair, right at the roots, feeling the pull and he could feel everything, the leather of his armor against his skin and the dirt under his fingers as he leaned forward, clenching his fists. The hatred and rage, coming to a dizzying peak between his ears. He bowed his head, feeling all the muscles bunch and tense under his skin and he was shaking. He threw his head back and let out a strangled yell.
It tore out of him, angry and barbaric, leaving his throat raw. It was answered by a howl, and Jude whirled around to the sound, snatching up his gun. A pack of wild dogs? He hoped so. And their Raider masters. Maybe a Super Mutant and a centaur. Anything. Let it be anything.
"Come on!" He roared, staggering to his feet, feeling his pulse jump in his neck. "Come on you bastards!"
Nothing answered. Nothing charged out at him in the blackness. There was nothing to shoot at.
"Come on!" He bellowed again, "I can take it! I can take it now, Wasteland! I can take it!"
There wasn't even a flicker of movement.
"You've never held back before!" He yelled out into the dark, his throat sore. "Come on!"
He could feel the chain, so carefully concealed, around his neck, burning into his bare skin and with fumbling fingers he yanked it off, curling his fist around it and the key at the end. It pressed into his palm, the grooves imprinting themselves into the pad of his hand. He wanted to throw it away. He could feel the muscles in his arm trembling. He knew he had a hell of a throw, from countless grenades lobbed at his enemies. Now he felt like someone had thrown one at him, and he had no idea where it had landed.
He could throw it, and odds were he'd never come back to this part of the Wasteland again. He'd never see it again.
Let there be something, ANYTHING, coming for him. Something real, something he could take a swing at. There had to be some wild thing out there. Something besides himself. Something out there as crazy as he was. The Wasteland was their playground, so where the hell where they?
Jude waited. The moon rose, and the wind whistled. But nothing came.
He hadn't even gathered a twig yet.
Posey was probably in fits, thinking he'd been eaten by a Mutant or something.
With trembling hands, he tucked the chain and the key under his shirt, carefully out of view. He glared out at the dark of the Wasteland, and it stared right back.
Empty.
"There you are!"
Posey's voice was thick with relief, and her smile was as wide as the moon as he stepped back under the overpass, his arms full of brush and dried branches.
"Why were you gone for so long? Did something happen? Are you alright?"
Jude looked down at her, huddled by her father's side. Her face was still pale, and the vivid red slash down the front of her neck burned into his vision. She was the one who'd been through the mill today, and yet she was asking him if he was alright.
"I'm-" He started,
"If you say fine I'm going to hurt you." She said warningly. Jude felt his lips twitch up in a semblance of a smile.
"I'm alright. How's that for you?"
He crouched down and started building up the fire, hoping to combat the chill already hanging in the air. Once a little flame was crackling, he drew back.
"I can take first watch." He said, standing up and moving over to the hood of the car he'd been sitting on when Posey and James had first found the place. "You guys can sleep."
"What about your mines?" Asked Posey.
"The wire got damaged." Lied Jude, "It's not a big deal. I can take watch."
"Okay," Said Posey, her gaze searching. Jude turned and looked out over the barren landscape around them. "Make sure you wake me up when it's my turn." She told him.
"Sure thing, Blondie." He responded, not looking back.
She was asleep in moments, sitting up against the cars, leaning into her dad with her sleeping bag draped over her like a blanket. She must have been waiting for him to get back before she allowed herself to drop off. Hours passed. Jude fed the fire, and patrolled the edge of their site, his mind blissfully and wonderfully blank.
"You need sleep."
Jude turned and saw James, still sitting with his arm around his daughter, but his eyes were sharp and showed no sign of weariness.
"I can take watch." Continued the man. "You should get some rest."
Jude shook his head. "Trust me Doc," He said, looking back over the Wasteland, "if I go to sleep now it'll just make it worse."
"Make what worse?"
Jude shook his head again. Damn, these Bennett's were a curious bunch.
"I take it this wasn't your first brush with a Deathclaw." Said James quietly. He had a way of speaking that Jude both admired and hated. He never seemed to raise his voice, but you always had to stop and listen anyway.
"No, not my first." Muttered Jude. He didn't want to go into this. He didn't want to test those waters again. Not tonight.
"Where's your family, Mr. Hiller?" Asked James and Jude was thankful that he was to tired to really react.
"Don't have one."
"I see."
No, you don't. Thought Jude bitterly.
"I can keep watch." Said Jude mechanically, "I'm not gonna fall asleep."
"I'm sure you won't," James' voice was calm, steady and reassuring. A perfect Doctor voice. "But as a medical man, I insist that you rest."
"I can't."
"You should at least try. You might be surprised."
"No, I can't." Said Jude, and he could once again feel anger percolating under his skin. "If i let myself slow down,"
"They'll catch up to you."
Jude looked up at the older man in shock. He was looking at Jude with a small, impossibly sad smile.
"Trust me," He said quietly, "I know what you mean."
He looked down at Posey, who was tucked into his side, sleeping peacefully. Her hand was fisted in her sleeping bag.
"Get some sleep, Jude." He said, not looking away from his daughter. "I'll keep watch."
Jude, for the first time in a long time, took the word of advice. He shook out his bedroll across the fire, and laid down, staring up at the overpass above them. He closed his eyes, and let all his muscles slowly relax, let his chest rise and fall, slow and even.
"Sleep well, Mr. Hiller."
And surprisingly, he did.
An:/ and it's the return of the filler chapters. Dun, dun DUH!
But it's alright. I hope it's alright anyway.
This chapter's song Wild Things by San Cisco is seriously one of my favorite songs ever. You guys should go watch the music video. It's so delightfully creepy. It's actually where I got the inspiration for the admittedly lame title of this story.
Special shout out to Could-Not-Think-of-a-Username, tirechanclas, Latisha McPeanuts and ffhz for their reviews and support. I love you guys!
As always, constructive reviews are worth their metaphorical weight in gold, so that's always a plus. And song suggestions, as well!
I'll be back soon with the next chapter!
Xoxoxoxo
Living Pretty