-Jade-

When we got to the gas station, it was empty and abandoned, dust everywhere, John was having a hard time carrying me by the time we made it inside, gasping for breath. He dropped me down on a counter, a bit roughly, but not on purpose.

"Stay here. I... need to scavenge."

He could barely breathe well, and he was already going out.

"No! Mister John, don't leave. You're very hurt. You shouldn't move too much."

He stopped, teetering on his feet.

"We barely... have supplies. We need... more."

I was scared for John. He might end up like Mommy. Eyes open, but not seeing.

"Please. We'll be safe for a while. We have some food and water."

He slumped forward, and came back, sinking into a chair beside the counter.

"So tired. Sleep."

He closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep. I got down from the counter, feeling very weak.

"Mister John needs to rest. But me, I can find stuff."

I creeped over to John, looking through his pack. I found his laser gun, all shiny, but empty. I had watched John enough times to know how to replace the battery. Grabbing a few energy packs, I pit one inside. Walking slowly over to the door, I took one last look, and left, to reach the Super Duper Mart in the distance.

-Jade-

It was dark and damp, and radroaches scurried around, looking for food. My hands shook, and the laser gun made small little jiggling noises. One of the big bugs saw me, and started toward me. No, no, no. I hate bugs, I hate them! I screamed, closed my eye, and shot at it 5 times.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Looking at it, I saw the pile of ash I made.

"Oops."

"Who's there?!"

I heard a deep voice, loud and scratchy. It sounded like a monster, one of those super mutants. I jumped inside one of the freezers beside me, trying to hide as best I could.

"Is that a little girl? Don't worry, I won't hurt you, little one."

I didn't trust that voice, but he didn't sound mean. I peaked up, seeing a super mutant, trying to smile.

"I am Uncle Leo, girl. I will not hurt you. I am a super mutant that embraces pacifism."

I darted back down, still frightened. But he seemed sweet.

"Here. A peace offering."

Something fell beside me, and my eyes widened. It was a bottle, nearly full to the brim with Rad-X.

"I do not need it. I am immune to radiation, but I can feel this place bathing in it. Please, take a few."

I knew about that strange stuff that killed so many men before me. I popped 3, feeling safer.

"Good, good, little one. What is your name?"

I decided to trust him. He didn't seem bad, like the other green men.

"Jade. I'm looking for food. Could you help me?"

He scratched his head, something that was hard for him to do.

"I've found a couple cans of pork and beans. You're are welcome to some, if you want."

I nodded vigorously, climbing out of the freezer.

"Little one, what happened to your eye?"

"What do you mean?"

He came closer, and I flinched without realizing.

"It's gone."

-Daydals-

The robot played dead, giving the appearance of shutting down to fool his captors. Daydals was actually watching, waiting for the right moment to strike. With catastrophic damage to his primary coordination module, he was as strong as an adult male human. Scanning his situation, he deduced having a limited selection of options. His captors were not foolish, watching him almost constantly. The man who attacked Jade carried Daydals, making comments about disliking this duty.

"This robot is fucking heavy. Why don't you carry it, Ed?"

"Shut the hell up, Jack. I'm a better shot than you, so I have a better chance of taking care of any problems."

Jack would grumble, and Daydals noted the dissatisfaction and aggression he had toward his companion. The robot had formulated a plan for escape, as his captors had not slept for many days. But while he made this plan, he faced a strange conflict. Logic pointed toward escape, yet, he was undergoing a strange malfunction. Despite the fact that neutralizing the hostiles during escape would jeopardize his chances, he wanted to terminate the aggressor known as Jack. The malfunction persisted as an automatic disposition to switch into combat mode at the sight of Jack, and an urge to remove himself from close proximity to Jack. From user history, Daydals pulled data to scan this malfunction. He gave it a name. Anger.

-Jade-

Wait, my eye was gone? It... it can't be. It was just closed. Uncle Leo looked pained, reaching toward me.

"Don't worry about it, girl. Many people have only one eye."

I had to check. My hand moved to my right eye, and I tried to open the eyelid and see, but there was nothing. Just black.

"No! No! Why?!"

I started to cry, tears running down my face in streams.

"I can't see! I can't see!"

Uncle Leo finally got close, reaching out to hug me. I moved away, still terrified of the whole situation.

"Don't touch me!"

The mutant recoiled, obviously hurt. It didn't matter. I was missing an eye! He started moving away, unable to deal with the situation. I heard a thump on the counter, and the door closed, Uncle Leo gone. I sat there, still crying. I need to pull myself together. John is in trouble. I have to help him. Drying my tears, I looked at the counter, noticing the bag left behind by Uncle Leo. Opening it, I found food and water, with some meds mixed in, too. I turned to the night sky, and whispered to the vast wasteland.

"Thank you, Uncle Leo. I'll never forget you."

-Jade-

I scrambled toward the gas station, stumbling with the heavy bag in my arms. I did so well! Even though I had help, I knew John would be proud of me. I opened the door, walking inside.

"Mister John, I got some supplies!"

He was still lying there, asleep in his chair. I ran over, shaking him awake.

"Look!"

I thrust the bag onto his lap, and he looked inside.

"Where'd you... get this?"

He was pale, and breathing fast. I had to give him something.

"Wait here."

I went to the other side of the room, where our things were. Searching, I came up with the jar of Buffout, and a stimpack. I walked back to John, making him take the Buffout. I didn't really have much trouble, to be honest. He seemed desperate for it. Once he swallowed, I jabbed the stimpack into his thigh, and he breathed out, peace in his eyes.

"Thanks, brat. You need to take some too, though. Buffout, than stimpack."

I did as I was told, and I felt like I was floating. No more pain from my face. Just bubbly feelings and stuff. Nice and relaxing. But my eye. I had no right eye. There would only be darkness there, always.

-John-

Well. She sure is filled with surprises. I grit my teeth, standing up, hunched over. My wounds were going to take a long time to recover. I had to check on them, to make sure they wouldn't get infected. Making sure Jade was sound asleep, I went into the gas station's bathroom, taking my time. Taking a deep breath, which was a chore by itself, I stripped off my armor and clothing to take a look. The damage was catastrophic. The Yao Gai had eviscerated my chest, and I felt many bruised ribs. The bullet wound in my stomach had almost completely healed, thanks to the stimpacks. The sear on my calf was gone, as well. My main problem was the chest wound. I need to fix it right away. The edges were becoming green, and oozing, a sure fire sign of infection.

"Fuck."

I opened my bag, staring at the various bits and pieces. My hands working as quick as possible, and I constructed a muscle supplement, a larger scale version of what I gave to Jade. By the time I was finished, the sun had risen. I had used the rest of the old Mr. Gutsy self repair parts, so getting wounded was something i couldn't afford in the future. I cleaned up the wound, disinfecting it rubbing alcohol and a knife, rending off the pieces that were gone for. I stuffed a rag in my mouth, biting down hard, and slammed the patch on.

"AAAAAGGGGHHH!"

It was excruciating. I felt wires burrowing into my flesh, making their way to my muscles. Latching on, the sensation took away my breath, my mind beginning to blank from agony. The wires dug even deeper into the muscle tissue, and latched on, sending out the electric pulses needed to loosen some of the inhibitions in my brain. The pain was gone, the supplement finished, molding into a simple metallic patch. I had to be careful, now. These supplements are useful, but they're a double edged sword. Restore strength to a weakened area, but make that area more easily damaged. I grunted, rising to my feet.

"Well. I'm alright, for now."

Tired, I made my way back to my chair, and fell asleep.