A/N: My apologies for the huge delay between chapters. Not off to a great start in that respect. My excuse is, however, a pretty good one; for the past month I've been writing finals, preparing my classes for them, proctoring them, grading them, and generally preparing for the close of this two-year chapter of my own life as a volunteer. I'll be heading back to the US this month, which may or may not mean I'll have more time for writing. Time will tell. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was initially going to be much longer, but I decided to split it because it was getting too long. So, consolation prize for having a short chapter: chapter 3 is almost finished and will probably be published much more quickly than this one.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the people who have reviewed thus far, particularly 1, whose review inspired me to get up in the middle of the night to post this instead of waiting until I had chapter 3 finished. Thank you all, please continue to review.

Warnings: Strong language, violence, romance between two women, some hintings of PTSD.

Chapter 2: Floodgate

Evelyn returned to the others (which was a feat in and of itself) and told them the news. They were as excited as she had been at the prospect of a town, and equally horrified to learn they were cut off from the vault.

"How many?" was the first thing Dani asked.

"I counted five, but there could be more."

"Five... and you think one would be too much for us?"

Evelyn nodded. "Definitely. With the firepower we have now, and without having any experience with these... things," she shook her head. "We'd be slaughtered. We're lucky to be alive now."

Noah blew out a long breath. "Well, ladies, looks like we're fucked."

Dani shot him a look that was tinged with worry.

"Don't say that."

"Yeah, I regretted it as soon as it came out. Lady is definitely the wrong word to describe you."

Evelyn smacked his arm. The words had their desired effect, though, as Dani couldn't help but smile, despite their circumstances. She took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, so returning to the vault isn't an option right now—that's fine. We didn't want to go back yet, anyway."

"Yeah, but I would like to go back someday," Noah griped.

"Right. So we'll have to figure something out. For now, our best option is to try to reach this town. Maybe someone there will be able to help us with these dinosaur things, or they'll have an idea of who can."

"That's assuming that anyone actually lives there and it's not just a burnt-out husk from a hundred years ago."

"Yes. Let's move forward under that assumption."

Dani turned to Evelyn. "Which direction did you say it was in?"

"East. Here, let me show you."

She pulled up the map on her pipboy and the other two huddled around her. Evelyn was acutely aware of how close Dani's face was to hers as she stared at the small screen from over Evelyn's left shoulder. She fervently hoped that Dani couldn't hear how her heart was pounding. Though, even if she could, she would probably chalk it up to anxiety and physical exertion.

"Here?" Dani asked, reaching around Evelyn to point at the same cluster of green, pixellated lines that had drawn her attention on the rooftop. Evelyn nodded rapidly. She could practically feel Dani against her back now. It was as though a thin layer of static electricity lay between them, making all the hairs on her neck and arms stand at attention.

"H-here, let me just transfer the map to yours... that'll be, uh, easier," she said.

Easier on your nerves, muttered the voice.

Evelyn took a cable from her pipboy and connected it to Dani's. She had to wade through several menu screens before she could perform the transfer, then she disconnected and repeated the process with Noah's pipboy. Soon, everyone was staring at their own screen, and Evelyn's heartbeat was allowed to return to a normal pace.

"Mmm... it's quite far. It will take us at least a few hours to reach," Dani said.

Noah nodded. "Yeah, especially with our packs and the heat. Plus, I dunno about you guys, but I'm not used to these hill things."

"I'm perfectly acclimated, thank you," Evelyn deadpanned. Noah snorted and shoved her shoulder. "Right, that's why you were sweating like a pig when you came inside a second ago."

"You've never even seen a pig. Maybe they don't sweat at all."

Dani cleared her throat, an amused expression quirking her lips. "Fun as this is to listen to, we need to get moving. Packs on. Evie, you take point."

They followed their squad leader's directives without further discussion. Noah and Evelyn removed the mattress as quietly as they could, and Dani poked her head through the hole to make sure there weren't any errant dinosaurs lurking in the corners below. When she was satisfied that they were alone, she dropped down onto the table and then to the floor. Her squadmates were quick to follow, and they were out in formation moments later, moving at a steady, quiet pace.

They continued without stopping for an hour and a half, breathing easier and picking up the pace when they agreed they must be out of dinosaur territory by now. They had moved beyond the hilly region and into more of a flatland. Evelyn was still marveling at the sky that stretched endlessly above, although the relentless sun beating down on them was starting to get to her. Her neck especially was becoming sore, and there was an increasing redness to her companions' fair skin that was concerning. Was this an effect of lingering radiation?

They'd just stopped to rest under a copse of bare trees which were closely-spaced enough that they cast a little area of shade, when they heard voices. Dani held up a hand, signaling for them to stay quiet and out of sight. She shared a significant look with Evelyn, who nodded and raised herself into a crouch, soundlessly moving until she spotted the source of the noise. It came from a group of four men, outfitted in a strange combination of leather and scrap metal which gave the impression of armor without the advantage of offering them any genuine protection. Three of the men were armed with pistols of some kind, while the fourth was swiping at the sparse grass with a rusty machete. They were moving closer on a diagonal course which would bring them within spitting distance of Alpha Squad in short order. Evelyn stayed perfectly still and listened.

"—teen caps between them, can you believe it? What a fuckin' waste of bullets!" said a man wearing what looked to be a cloth sack with eyeholes cut out over his head.

"I dunno, it was pretty fun watchin' em squeal," said the man to his right, whose shirt was splattered with an unpleasant brownish substance that made Evelyn's skin crawl.

The first man gave a harsh, barking laugh. "You're fucked up, man. I thought you was gonna jizz when you finally toasted the old dude," he said. Bloody Shirt frowned.

"Hey, man, whatever gets it hard. No judgment here, right?" said Machete Man. They dissolved into laughter while Bloody Shirt glared, and Evelyn took the opportunity to fall back to the other members of Alpha.

Dani was waiting with her eyebrows raised expectantly. Evelyn held up four fingers. Dani nodded, but still looked questioning. Evelyn pointed to the pistol at her hip and held up three fingers, then held up one finger and made a slashing motion with her hand. Noah butted in on their silent conversation, making a waving motion with his hands that made both women cock their heads in confusion. He sighed noiselessly, then pointed in the direction of the men and smiled exaggeratedly, then pulled a horrible manic expression, finishing up with a shrug. Evelyn nodded in understanding and mimicked the second expression. Dani bit her lip to prevent any stubborn giggles from escaping. Noah elbowed her and shrugged again, obviously seeking direction. Dani considered their predicament.

The men were still headed right toward them and their tree cover wasn't thick enough to conceal them for much longer. Finally, she made a motion that had Evelyn shaking her head vigorously. Dani raised an eyebrow at her, pointing to the small bar above her Alpha symbol that designated her as their squad leader. Evelyn swallowed and lowered her eyes, but quickly raised them again when Dani grasped her shoulder. Her blue eyes shone with reassurance. Trust me, they said. Evelyn's own eyes softened in response and she nodded, moving to comply with Dani's commands.

Dani and Noah stood, leaving their packs behind as they strode to meet the unknown group head-on. Evelyn stayed behind, drawing her weapon and lying prone among the underbrush.

The men with guns raised them as soon as her squadmates came into view, and Evelyn held her breath, training her pistol on the man with the bloodied shirt.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" said Sack Head.

Dani affected an expression of surprise and fear, raising her hands hesitantly. "O-oh my God, Rick, I told you we should've stayed hidden," she said in a carrying whisper.

Noah scoffed. "They're just looking out for themselves, Scarla," he said, turning to the men and raising his hands as well. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We've been wandering around for days—have you got any idea where we could find some water?"

Sack Head turned to look at his companions. "You hear that? They been wanderin' around out here for days without no water."

Machete Man laughed. "I ain't never seen nobody so fuckin' clean in my life. Where the fuck you guys come from?"

"F-from up north," Dani stammered.

Bloody Shirt stepped closer and cocked his pistol. "Interestin', that, seein' as how that's where our camp is and all. You wanna give that another think?"

Noah and Dani both took a step back. "Look, we really don't want trouble..." Noah repeated.

"Looks like you found it anyway," said Machete Man with a grin.

"Wait," said the fourth man, whom Evelyn hadn't heard speak until now. His tone of voice made it clear that he was the one in charge. The others stopped speaking, but didn't lower their weapons. Their leader moved forward, examining Dani and Noah interestedly.

"Those look like vault suits," he mused.

"Hey, yeah! They got them pipthingies, too!"

Bloody Shirt's eyebrows shot up into his greasy hair. "That true?" he said, taking another step forward. The excitement was clear in his voice. "You from a fuckin' vault?"

"I said wait," said their leader, walking forward and shoving Bloody Shirt to the side. He seemed genuinely affronted by this, but held his tongue.

"Please excuse the... roughness of my companions. It's a rough world out here, you understand."

Dani nodded slowly, still looking apprehensive. Evelyn thought the expression was at least half real by this point.

"It's true that we have a camp to the north. We have water there. Why don't you join us?"

"N-no, I don't think..." Dani began.

"Shh, let's hear them out, Scar," Noah said. "Er, listen, we're open to talking and all, but could you...?" he nodded to the weapons that were still trained on them.

Leader followed his gaze and made a clucking noise with his tongue. "Ah! Of course, of course, where are our manners?" He motioned for his lackeys to lower their weapons. Sack Head and did so readily enough, but Bloody Shirt only did so after Machete Man nudged him. He looked even more incensed to have a fellow grunt pushing him around. Dani and Noah lowered their hands, appearing much more comfortable now that there were no weapons trained on them.

Evelyn watched all of this play out while she remained motionless. She was beginning to worry what she'd do if they did go off with these people. She hadn't been able to communicate the conversation she'd overheard, so she was very nervous that her squadmates didn't know what they were getting themselves into. Sure, she'd gone along with Noah's "cool, or crazy?" pantomime, but she worried that they might think she had based that judgment on appearances alone. Those getups were pretty kooky, after all. Then again, she was probably selling her companions short. They'd had weapons trained on them a second ago—there was no way they would let their guards down so easily.

"Now, Scarla, is it?" Leader asked. Dani nodded. "I assure you there is no need to be alarmed. We're a team of scavengers. It's a... competitive field. There are many dangers out here in the Badlands, and not all of them are radscorpions, if you understand my meaning." Noah hummed his agreement.

Leader smiled. "I'm sure you must be tired and thirsty, and you both have a nasty sunburn. Come with us to our camp. We have shade, a place to rest, water, and food. We can continue our conversation on the way."

Dani and Noah exchanged a look, then Dani nodded. "...Okay."

Evelyn's heart jumped into her throat as they began to walk away. How was she going to follow them without being seen? She didn't want to reveal herself—not only because Dani had told her to stay hidden, but because she knew they were in danger. She was about to stand when she noticed that Bloody Shirt wasn't following the others. He stood with his gun half raised and seemed to be deep in thought.

Sack Head noticed his absence first, looking around for a moment before spotting him a ways behind them. "You comin' man? ...Or didja wanna stop to jack off in the bushes first?"

Machete Man guffawed.

Bloody Shirt seemed to make up his mind. He jogged a little to catch up to them, but as soon as the others turned their backs, he raised his gun and put two bullets into Sack Head's back.

He fell like a rock.

Everyone turned this time, brandishing their weapons, Dani and Noah included.

"What the fuck, man?!" Machete Man shrieked.

"That vault's mine, ya stupid fucks!" Bloody Shirt spat, and he put a bullet into him before anyone could react. Leader began returning fire, missing his first shot but catching Bloody Shirt's shoulder with his second.

Bloody Shirt (who could now be called Bloodier Shirt) turned to the side, barely dodging a third bullet, and sent three back in quick succession. Leader dove to the ground, evading them all.

Meanwhile, Dani and Noah were legging it back toward their copse of trees. Evelyn considered giving them some cover fire, but neither of the "scavengers" seemed to be taking notice of them, so she opted to conserve ammunition. She could only assume that her squadmates had come to the same conclusion.

Leader attempted to fire from the ground but missed. Bloody Shirt smiled as he aimed his pistol with both hands, but he was met with a dull click when he pulled the trigger—his clip was empty. He threw his gun away in disgust, ducking to avoid another shot from Leader. He ran forward two steps and snatched Sack Head's gun from off the ground. Leader was on his knees now, and his next bullet hit its mark, tearing through Bloody Shirt's upper thigh.

He howled in pain but somehow remained standing. Leader was frantically attempting to reload his revolver when Bloody Shirt emptied the fresh gun on him. He took four bullets before he went down.

Bloody Shirt wasted no time turning his gun on Evelyn's squadmates, but she was prepared. Her bullet struck him in the side of the head, and he was dead before he hit the ground.

Everything was strangely quiet after that. Evelyn kept her gun trained on the fallen men, but when they hadn't moved for several minutes she sat up slowly. Dani and Noah were back in the trees now, looking every bit as shell-shocked as Evelyn felt. It had all happened so fast, and now four men were dead.

One of them was dead because of Evelyn.

Her hands shook as she restored the safety on her pistol, but she quelled the tremors through force of will. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Who knew what might be drawn by all that commotion?

Evelyn stood, pulling on her pack and rejoining her squadmates. Dani blinked at her, then gave her a shaky smile.

"...What the fuck," Noah breathed.

He had such a way with words.

"We have to get out of here," Evelyn said. "Somebody—or something—had to have heard all of that."

Dani took a deep breath. "Yeah. You're right. Let's go. I'll take point this time."

They donned their packs and were off, not looking back at the carnage they left behind them. Unfortunately, it wasn't as easy to put it out of their minds.

After an hour or so of walking, they could finally see the town (or whatever it was) off in the distance. It was another hour before they could make out any details, though they found that the only discernible details were the color and texture of the different pieces of metal that made up the wall Evelyn had seen from afar. The flatland offered them no opportunity to look inside. They did appear to be approaching the back of the town, however, as there were no visible gates.

They stopped about a mile away, both to rest and to formulate a plan. Noah, ever the one to address the elephant in the room, spoke up first.

"So, uh... what happens if this place is just full of people who wanna kill us?"

Dani took a swig from her water bottle, swirling the liquid around in her mouth a few times before swallowing. "Mmm... well, we'll just have to convince them not to."

Noah's lips twitched as he tried—and ultimately failed—to hold back a smirk. "So my mouth's the only thing that's gonna keep me from getting my head blown off? I think I'm in trouble here."

Dani laughed outright. "Yeah, maybe I should do the talking. ...Seriously, Scarla? That's not even a name."

"What? No, that's totally a name."

"It is not! When have you ever heard of someone named Scarla?"

Noah opened his mouth to reply, then shut it again as he thought. "I... must've read it somewhere."

Dani laughed even harder. "Bullshit! What book?"

"I don't remember! But I've definitely heard it before!" he said. Dani just kept laughing. Noah folded his arms and waited for her to finish, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, fine," Dani said when she'd calmed down enough to speak. "Evie's read every book in the vault. Have you ever heard the name Scarla before?" she asked, turning to Evelyn.

Evelyn picked at the brown grass they were sitting on and shrugged one shoulder, unable to meet either of their gazes. Ordinarily she'd have loved this sort of conversation, because Noah was totally pulling this one out of his ass, but she just didn't feel up for it right now. She felt more like crying, or like throwing up.

She'd never seen anyone die before. Now she'd seen it happen four times, and not only that, but...

You're a killer.

"...Evie?"

Dani's voice pulled her out of a dark place. She looked up, wiping a cold sweat from her upper lip. She was shaking again. She tried to will it away as she'd done last time, but the adrenaline was gone. Her strength was gone. Her breath caught—and then Dani was there, kneeling in front of her.

"Evie, are you okay?" she asked gently.

"I..." her voice broke, and she cleared her throat before trying again. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said, and the firmness of her own voice surprised her.

She couldn't fall apart now. They still had things to do. The vault was depending on her.

Dani was depending on her.

She finally met Dani's eyes and gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Dani smiled in return, but something in her eyes told Evelyn she wasn't buying it. However, she had the courtesy not to press the issue.

"What, um... what were you saying? I guess I spaced out."

"Hardy says Scarla's not a real name. I swear I've heard it somewhere," said Noah.

Evelyn took a deep draft of her own water before weighing in. "I don't know. It does sound familiar, but it might just be because it sounds like Carla. I think maybe you were mixing up Scarlet and Carla?"

Noah mouthed the names a few times. "...Okay, what the hell, I don't even know anymore. Maybe I did make it up."

Dani giggled. "As long as you can admit it." She took a seat beside Evelyn, and there was a brief silence before she became their serious Alpha Squad leader once again.

"It's very important that we don't mention the vault to anyone."

Evelyn nodded. She'd been thinking about that during their trek. If the mere possibility of a vault had prompted that massacre... there was no telling what people would do if they knew the truth. They had to protect the vault at all costs.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying, and that's all fine and dandy, but it's not like we mentioned it before," said Noah. "They recognized our suits and our pipboys—there's gotta be some other vaults around here, I guess?"

Dani chewed on her thumbnail. It was a habit she had when she was thinking something over. It ordinarily didn't faze Evelyn, but all she could think was how very unclean all of their hands were right now, so she pulled on Dani's elbow to get her to stop. Dani blinked at her, then examined her thumbnail and grimaced. She spat a few times, then rinsed her mouth and spat again.

"Okay, so we have to ditch the jumpsuits," she said finally.

Evelyn imagined wearing one of the leather-and-metal monstrosities they'd seen and squirmed. The vault jumpsuits were all any of them had worn since they were children. They were comfortable, practical, and most of all, familiar. When you'd been thrown into a completely different world, a little familiarity went a long way. But the safety of the vault had to come first, so she took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yeah... pipboys, too."

Noah sighed. "I hate taking off my pipboy. I feel like I'm missing a limb or something."

Dani smiled indulgently. "I know. I hate it too, but..."

"Hold on, we don't all have to give up our pipboys. It's just suspicious that we all have them, right? If it's only one of us we could've found it, or bought it," said Evelyn.

"Yeah, okay, I guess that makes sense," Noah conceded. "So which of us keeps theirs?"

Evelyn shrugged. "Dani's squad leader—and she knows how to work tech the best, anyway."

It was true. Evelyn was confident in her abilities when using her pipboy, but that was because she'd had it since she was a child. Dani, meanwhile, had been working with the vault's computers and other gadgets since the G.O.A.T. had placed her in IT.

Though they'd all been training to become scouts since childhood, they were also obligated to contribute to the daily operation of the vault, and so they'd all been placed into careers by way of the G.O.A.T. examination. Dani had been in IT, Noah was in maintenance, and Evelyn had worked in the infirmary (hence the good scores on her medical tests).

Noah grumbled a little but he agreed in the end. Anyway, it wasn't like they were going to discard their pipboys—they were far too valuable. They just had to keep them hidden. Evelyn wrapped hers in a winter cap (they'd come prepared for whatever climate they might find) and put it in an inner compartment of her pack. It was strange... her arm felt so light and unnatural without it. Noah was right, it was like losing a limb.

Once finished, they turned to Dani again. She smiled at them sympathetically. "Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your willingness to sacrifice for the good of the vault. I know it's not easy."

Noah waved his hand dismissively. "Don't go all sappy on us, Hardy. We all knew what we were signing up for when we came out here. It's not a big deal."

"No, it is a big deal, and I want you to know that I appreciate it. And feel free to borrow my pipboy if you need it... or if you're going through withdrawals," she said with a grin.

"What do you propose we do about our jumpsuits?" Evelyn asked.

"Yeah, I dunno about you guys, but I'm not real keen on leather harnesses and metal shoulder-pads," said Noah.

"I wouldn't say no to a leather harness," Dani mused.

Evelyn was pretty sure everyone could see her intense blush this time, caramel skintone or not.

Dani laughed. "But in all seriousness, I'm not sure what we can do right now. We don't have anything else to wear, so unless we want to sweat our asses off in winter coats or go walking around in our underwear..."

Noah mumbled something that Evelyn didn't catch, but which caused Dani to throw a stick at him. "Shut it, you. Anyway, we'll just have to wear our jumpsuits for a while longer until we can find something else. In the meantime, there will be no mention of the vault outside of our squad, capiche?"

"Aye, aye, cap'n."

A/N 2... again: Sorry, not planning on making a habit of having two notes per chapter, but I feel the need to address something before anyone balks at me. If Alpha Squad seems exceptionally green, it's because they are. They've had training, yes, but they've been trained by civilians who have never been in a real fight for their life. Not only that, but their only interactions up to this point have been within the same tight-knit community of people that they've known since childhood. They've been sheltered, literally and figuratively, their entire lives, and they were raised by people who were as well. Please bear with them as they learn things the hard way. You've got to wise up quickly to survive in the Badlands.