A/N: So we're on the home stretch! Only a few chapters left, I think. This one is getting posted a little earlier than usual because I've got a busy few days ahead.
Please keep reviewing. It keeps me going :)
I do not own Pitch Perfect or Fallout or any of their characters
Beca opened her eyes and tried to make sense of where she was and what had happened. Her ears were ringing and the screen in her helmet that displayed the same information as the Pip-Boy was flashing red. It told her parts of her power armor were damaged, and that she was hurt.
She shook her head slightly and tried to remember what had happened.
She'd seen the Deathclaw and felt a rush of fear.
The creature was truly terrifying. It looked like it had come directly from hell, with its scales, horns, teeth and claws.
She raised her gun and fired relentlessly, hitting it in the head every time, but the Deathclaw barely reacted. It was as if it had been stung by a bee. All Beca had done was draw it's attention.
It had given a heart-stopping roar, before it swung its arm and hit her, sending her flying and crashing into the side of a rocky hill.
She got unsteadily to her feet and pulled out her Fat Man, which fired mini nukes.
The Deathclaw's attention was back on her.
Her heart was pounding as she steadied her aim.
As it opened its mouth to roar, she fired, launching a mini nuke directly into it.
It clearly did a lot of damage, as the Deathclaw started thrashing and screaming, but it didn't die.
"Motherfucker," Beca cursed, desperately trying to reload the Fat Man.
She raised her weapon again, just as the Deathclaw took another swipe at her.
She dropped to the ground and rolled, missing its massive clawed hand.
It was getting angrier. She was like a bug it couldn't crush.
She aimed again but hesitated before she fired.
She was too close to it. If the mini nuke made contact with the Deathclaw while she was this close, the explosion would probably kill her. She knew the suit would absorb most of the heat and the resulting shock-wave, but it would definitely throw her into the air.
But if she didn't fire, the Deathclaw would probably kill her anyway. And then it would make its way to Sanctuary, and kill her friends. Her family.
Beca had to make a decision.
She thought of Chloe and Aubrey as she fired her weapon.
As soon as she squeezed the trigger, she dropped the Fat Man and turned away in order to run.
She hadn't even taken a step before she heard the dying cry of the Deathclaw as the explosion sent her flying through the air.
The force of it caused her head to slam into the inside of her helmet, as her body hit a tree and crashed to the Earth.
Aubrey had not stopped pacing for a single second while Beca had been gone.
She cursed herself again and again for not going after her.
She forgot sometimes, they all did, that Beca was so young. Even as she'd watched her walk away in her power armor, she had thought deep down that Beca would return. She kept watching the horizon, waiting for her to come back. Bruised and battered but alive and probably dragging a Deathclaw hand with her. When she'd take her helmet off, she'd be smiling. Aubrey would hit her in the arm and chastise her for almost getting herself killed. But then she'd smile, and they'd hug, and they'd carry on like they always did.
That's what was supposed to happen.
But it had been almost three hours and Beca wasn't back yet, and the sounds of explosions had died away a long time ago.
She should be back by now.
"Aubrey, she'll be fine," Stacie said, trying to calm her down.
"Why didn't I follow her?" Aubrey asked.
"Because she would have been furious with you," Stacie replied. "You know how she is. She's tough, 'Bree. She can handle a Deathclaw."
"She's eighteen fucking years old Stacie," Aubrey said, her cursing catching Stacie off guard. "She's practically a kid, and I let her go and fight a Deathclaw alone? I can't wait here anymore. I'm going to find her."
Dogmeat, who had been whimpering since Beca left, jumped to his feet.
"Come on boy," she said. "Let's go get her, yeah?"
Dogmeat barked in response, and they started walking.
"I'm coming too," Stacie said, close behind.
"Me too," Fat Amy said, catching up.
It didn't take them long to find her.
Dogmeat ran ahead and started barking loudly. Aubrey broke into a run to catch up to the dog, the others were right behind her.
It was then she saw the immense figure of the Deathclaw and she ground to a halt.
"Holy shit," Amy said softly.
It was dead. It's giant body covered a ridiculous amount of space. There were broken trees beneath it that it had taken down when it fell. Had it fallen in Sanctuary, it would have easily taken out their main house and workshop.
Dogmeat started barking again, a little further away from the Deathclaw.
"Beca?" Aubrey said, catching sight of what Dogmeat was barking at. "Beca!"
She was still in her power armor, face down in a crumpled heap on the ground. Parts of it were broken beyond repair, scattered around, and the back had been scorched black from the explosion.
Aubrey couldn't see what was inside the armor, but she kept calling Beca's name as she scrambled over to her. The others still close behind.
Dogmeat was pacing around her, whimpering in distress.
Aubrey dropped to her knees beside her, and had to restrain herself from quickly pulling off the helmet. Instead she slowly turned her over and carefully removed her helmet.
Blood had coated the side of her face. It was trickling from her nose, a cut on her lip and a deep one on her forehead.
"God, please tell me she's still alive?" Aubrey said, as Stacie crouched down at her other side and checked her pulse with a shaking hand. She let out an audible sigh of relief as she felt it.
"She's alive," Stacie said.
Luckily the armor had protected Beca from the heat of the explosion, but the force of it combined with hitting the tree had knocked her unconscious.
"We have to get her back," Aubrey said.
"We can't move her yet," Stacie said, removing what was left of the right arm of her power armor so she could check her Pip-Boy. "She could have broken her back or anything."
"She can't stay here," Aubrey said.
"I know that," Stacie replied, examining the Pip-Boy which gave Stacie an idea of what Beca's injuries were. "Amy?" She said, looking up at the third girl in the party. Fat Amy had been unusually quiet as she looked down at her injured friend.
"Yeah?" Amy replied.
"I need you to take the hands off that Deathclaw."
"What?" Amy and Aubrey asked together.
"They're worth a lot. Like, loads and loads of caps. We're already low on medical supplies, and we're going to need all we have and more to help Beca."
"Okay," Amy said, taking a machete from her belt and approaching the Deathclaw.
"Can you tell what's wrong with her?" Aubrey asked, wiping some of the blood from Beca's face.
"Massive concussion," Stacie said, reading through the Pip-Boy. "She's broken her left arm, and severely bruised her ribs. And she's probably sprained everything else, but the Pip-Boy doesn't show that. God, if she hadn't been wearing this power armor she'd be dead for sure."
"What do we do now?" Aubrey asked, her voice quiet.
"Take off her armor and get her home. We can't carry her while she's wearing it, but we'll have to move her slowly so we don't damage anything else," Stacie said. "She's going to need a proper doctor, Aubrey."
"Do we have time to wait for one?" Aubrey asked as they began carefully removing the power armor once piece at a time.
"I can give her stimpaks, stitch her head and bandage her ribs but I can't set bones," Stacie said.
"When we get her back, I'll radio out for one," Aubrey said.
Fat Amy had rejoined them, dragging the Deathclaw's hands behind her. She was planning on wearing the power armor so she could carry Beca easily but there wasn't a single functioning part.
"Help me with her," Stacie said, bending down to pick Beca up. Aubrey helped lift her. "Careful."
"Can you hold her?" Aubrey asked, picking up what was left of the power armor.
"Yeah," Stacie said, looking down at her friend. "I've got her."
After around half an hour of waiting, the Minutemen arrived to escort Chloe, Emily and Jesse to sanctuary.
Half of them had stayed behind in order to clear the hideout of feral ghouls.
Jesse was severely tempted to stay with them.
"Once it's clear I'll be able to move back in there," he said, as they began walking away.
"That'll be nice," Chloe said, shaking her head. "Just you and the corpses with no one there to protect you once you get raided."
Jesse scowled slightly. "It was my home for over 15 years," he said. "I'm sorry I'm not that eager to leave it."
"There's nothing for us down there," Emily said, quietly. She had barely said a word since they began walking. Her eyes were darting around her constantly, trying to take in everything that was going on around her. How can it be so big? she thought. It felt like everything was too much for her. The sounds, the smells, the colours, even the feeling of the wind, was overwhelming. "We'll be safe at this new place, right mom?"
"Right," Chloe said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"How safe can it be?" Jesse asked. All the bravery he had shown against the feral ghouls was disappearing rapidly. He looked even more afraid than Emily did. "It's not even underground."
Chloe sighed before moving closer to him. "Look Jesse," she said, in a low voice. "You saved mine and my daughter's life back there. For that, I'll be forever grateful. But if you don't cool it, and stop freaking Emily out, I'll take you to the nearest raider hideout and leave you there. Understand?" He nodded, still scowling.
The rest of the journey to Sanctuary was mostly uneventful, apart from the two nights they'd spent sleeping in whatever abandoned building they could find. During those nights Emily had been terrified. She'd clung to Chloe's arm and didn't sleep for a second. She jumped at every noise and every shadow.
By the time they reached Sanctuary, two full days after the ghoul attack, both Chloe and Emily were exhausted, but relieved. The few Minutemen who had escorted them this far, left them within sight of the first set of turrets that guarded the settlement.
Chloe lead the way into Sanctuary, Emily still clutching her arm, Jesse following close behind, looking dubiously at their surroundings.
When they reached the main area, Chloe's eyes scanned the area, desperate to see Beca. She thought she'd find her in the workshop. The power armor was there, or bits of it were, but no Beca.
"Chloe?" A voice called from beside the radio tower. "It is Chloe right?" A tall brunette approached them. She looked vaguely familiar.
"Yeah," Chloe said.
"I don't know if we met last time," she said, "I'm Stacie. What are you doing here?"
"Beca said we could come if we needed to," she said, still looking around for her. Her heart had begun to beat uncomfortably. There was an odd atmosphere around the settlement that hadn't been there the last time. "This is my daughter Emily. And this is Jesse." Chloe told her about the ghouls and having to leave their hideout. "Where is Beca?"
Stacie looked down. "She, um... She got... Hurt," Stacie said.