Blood from Vault 18

Chapter 5

Wasteland Medicinal Practice

There was nothing.

It was quite surprising to think about Kieron realized when he walked in the destroyed city, not a single soul inhabited the area. The only things that remained where ghost and echoes from the distant past.

He could see it in the bloodstained toys next to the small skeletons, on the cars with piles of mummified corpses that had become a macabre display of the last day before the bomb fell, it was almost hypnotizing in a way that neither Kieron nor Jen could put their finger on. Jenn had to look away as she spotted the skeletons of what she assumed was a family hugging even in death, it mirrored in ways that she did not want to think about right now because she would break down again, unknowns to her Kieron was doing the same.

He could feel the invasive thoughts creep in his mind the more he tried to push the visual away, he turned to Jenn and decided it would be best for the both of them if he started a conversation "Stay close to me, i don't see anything but we can never be too careful here"

The blonde girl nodded at him as her blue eyes widened a bit in worry "Yeah… sorry I spaced out a bit, my body is so tired but I don't want to be back with the others, I don't want to think"

Kieron slowly nodded as he looked down at his arm "I feel fine right now, don't feel tired or anything but maybe that's just the adrenaline still running through my system" Jenn bit her lip as she raised her hand and trailed a finger over where she was sure a bullet had struck him as they made their escape out of the Vault, Kieron looked at her curiously "Maybe the stimpacks you took helped? I mean you don't even have a bullet hole where they shot you"

There was a pause as Kieron looked down at the spot "I forgot all about it… fuck me everything is a blur right now Jenn, I just ran and did everything that my body told me to do, I barely know how to use a gun and I killed people with it" it was such a weird thing to feel, he was a killer now.

But he did not regret killing those that betrayed their home and chose to side with THAT man, his grip on the pistol tightened as the image of the man that had betrayed and used the youth of Vault 18 wormed its way into his brain, but he was dead now and revenge against a corpse was nothing if not hollow, so now he needed to focus on what he could do now. And that was save the asshole Johnny, who even if the red-headed bully was not his favorite person in the world he had helped him escape the vault and that alone made him someone Kieron could trust.

Looking down at his PipBoy Kieron hummed "We need to go up that hill over there, that's what my map is saying" Jenn did a double check and nodded "Same here, it's a miracle that our maps are still so accurate after all this years… Kieron do you… don't you think it's a little scary?"

Kieron nodded slowly "It's… very empty"

"Right, that's what I was thinking there really is no one here. Dad used to say that the wasteland was scary not because of the creatures or the people but because there was nothing in it… I never got what he said until now" Jenn had to close her eyes for a second as she tried to hold back tears. Kieron tried to reach out to her with his hand but a movement to his side made him quickly jump to the side and draw his weapon.

Jenn heard a small creek as a robot stumbled into view, the rust was visible and even some sparks could be seen. A protectron from the days of old covered in leaves and dirt walked in the middle of the destroyed town his paint long faded and the words Robco barely noticeable on the side it was unnatural. At least the bodies that littered the area were long dead but this was the closest thing Kieron had seen to a ghost. "Protect and serve" the machine said as his lonely footsteps continued to echo across the dead city as it walked towards nowhere doing nothing until his body finally shattered and he also faded into dust like the dead he protected.

The duo of vault-dwellers felt a sense of unease at this as Jenn reached for Kieron's hand for comfort. Kieron held it and squeezed it for a second as he looked towards their destination with a more urgent sense to get out of the open and back to the lodge, not just for Johnny's sake but to have a semblance of safety. Their steps were more akin to running as they ran across the destroyed streets as the sun caress their skin, Kieron stopped to look around to see if anything was following them and to let Jenn catch up to him.

"You… no wonder you were the star player of your team… you're fast" the blonde girl muttered in between breaths Kieron tried to smile but the team was nothing if not bitter in his memory, noticing the look Jenn quickly changed the subject "You're not tired?"

Kieron did smile at that "Nope. Not even one bit, come on we are almost there" he said as he resumed his walk towards the pharmacy. Jenn took a deep breath as she tried to keep up with the taller teen even if her lungs and body complained about running again in such a short amount of time. But reprieve finally arrived when they reached the surprisingly still intact pharmacy, Kieron passed his hand over the sign and almost snorted when he red it said open. Jenn looked at the destroyed windows and the darkness inside with wariness "Have a plan tough guy?"

"Yes, stay behind me and help me spot threats. I don't have a gun or something to give you right now. But hopefully we won't be needing them, I mean aside from bugs I don't think there is anything in there" Kieron joked as he opened the door and walked inside the humid building. His boots were immediately drenched as the entire building seemed to be submerged, Jenn followed closely behind as she sniffed the air and frowned "Kieron do you smell that?"

Kieron frowned "Yeah, it smells like shit Jenn" Jenn shook her head "No no, it smells like a gas! Something here is broken, it could be flammable" she muttered as her dad's tales came to mind. Looking at the gun in Kieron's hand she made him lower it the young man frowned a bit but nodded, if he could cause and explosion then he would just have to rely on more conventional means of violence. So he cracked his knuckles and prepared himself for the worst, nodding at Jenn she used her PipBoy as a flashlight as she tried to see among the vines that had grown like a plague on the building.

Something moved along the water making both teenagers tense up. Parting the water something green stared at them in curiosity, Jenn moved her arm to get a better look at the creature and gasped as she spotted the largest bug she had ever seen in her life. The giant praying mantis clicked its mandibles at them as if testing them when the two teens took a step back it gained confidence and pounced at them with surprising agility it sank pointed arms at Kieron's leg. Kieron gasped as he greabed the bug by the head and twisted it with all his might as green blood sprouted from the neck of the creature.

After a loud snap the head came off and the body trashed around still trying to hunt for them, Jenn kicked it towards the water where it trashed for a bit before its body sank somewhere she could not see "You okay?"

"Yeah barely a scratch I think, I was not expecting the thing to jump" Kieron commented as he continued to walk towards what he assumed was the reception, the faint glow of a terminal caught his eye, he motioned with his head towards it as Jenn gave slow nod "Worth a try"

The two teens removed most of the dead foliage from the machine as it asked them for a password, Jenn frowned as she tried some generic things that came to mind but they were denied each time Kieron meanwhile searched on the cabinets for anything that could help them. A small note caught his attention it had the password along with a large list of complains the person who wrote the note wanted to present to management. Kieron tilted his head to the side as he tried to understand the last part of the scribbled notes.

"Why do they keep changing my password?! This is completely unreasonable I had to change it again to the generic password they gave me (0987690 in case something happens to me) why does the government need to keep messing with the records and taking the IMPORTANT medicine to that stupid base. I believe they are the reason we are having shortages of certain medicine and then they change our records. Please DO SOMETHIN, you and your paper is the only one that still shares unbiased news I have all the evidence and all you have to do is expose them"

The… government? They had a base nearby? But that didn't matter right now all that mattered was that he had the password "Got it" he used the paper note to unlock the computer and a small menu popped up as he tried to locate what they needed, Jenn looked over his shoulder and grinned "Not bad"

"Thanks, did it work?" he commented making Jenn tilt her head to the side "What worked?"-"Making me look cool"

Jenn giggled a bit "Yeah, made you look smart and handsome" Kieron grinned but the blonde girl interrupted his next words as she pointed at the screen "There, they stored some of the medicine on the right wing come on Kieron I think I felt something bump my leg"

Kira stared with anxious anticipation out into the valley as she counted in her mind how long Kieron had been gone

One to ten, then back again. Like that for hours, then those numbers were converted to seconds and then those were converted to minutes and those lastly hours. Anything to get her from the monotony and the haunting smoke rising from the mountains, what remained of Vault 18.

"You will get nothing from just standing there"

Gritting her teeth she tried to ignore the voice but she could feel the presence behind her "Fuck off Ben. They should have returned by now" she relented as she finally turned around to glare at the "supposedly" awakened tribal boy. The glare was met with cold indifference "The valley is quiet, if something happened we would have heard it" Kira scoffed.

"You cannot know that, maybe they tripped and died"

Ben, now Kurtz, turned around to leave. Not fond of the company "Unlike you I have full confidence on the tribe's leader, he is strong he will make it back in no time"

Kira opened her mouth but closed it as she returned to stare and count.

She did trust him, but she would sooner die than admit that to anyone. Kira clenched her fist as she tried to get a hold of her emotions, it would have been so easy to just add him to the list of things she had to avenge of the people she had lost but no, he did not die. And now here she was standing around like a worried housewife, she blushed at her own thoughts and almost slapped herself.

No that was not her priority, her priority was finding her tribe. And she was close, if the information from the Wasteland Scouts was correct she was about some days walk from the supposed location this slavers kept HER people… Kieron was just help.

She heard footsteps and reached for weapon but as the figures became clearer she let out a sigh of relief she did not know she was holding. Jenn glared as soon as she saw her but simply shook her head and walked towards the cabin, Kieron waved amicably at her. "Took your time"

"Giant bugs made it difficult, but I have all that we need to maybe cure Johnny" Kieron commented as motioned her to follow him back into the cabin, near the fireplace Johnny was breathing with difficulty as he grew paler by the second, he did not have more time. Kieron gulped as the big moment of truth came, reaching for the bag he had found on the pharmacy he placed the items he needed to perform… the operation.

Kira looked at the overdosed fellow vault deweller and frowned "Yeah, I don't think its worth the trouble"

"No… we have to try, I erm… just don't know what to do right now. I know we have to flush his system but I guess that's supposed to be done with injecting the medicine directly into his system"-"Dude, don't look at me like I know. I was in computer science, your sister was the one that… sorry"

Kieron closed his eyes as he felt the waves of sadness roll of over him as the painful reminder that Mandy was no longer with him was brought back to the forefront of his mind. He snapped out of his small trance when Johnny began to gasp for air "Shit"

Reaching for his pocket Kieron pulled out a stimpack and injected Johnny to buy him more time, Kira handed him the Fixer "In this state Fixer will fry his brain Kieron"-"Maybe, but I have an idea for that. Hand me that Buffout and the Med-X"

Kira almost chuckled "Shit… do you want to give him a double overdose?"

"His system is fucked already. If those drugs can maybe help him live for long enough for the Fixer to do its magic. But… it will hurt him like a bitch" Kieron said as he forced Johnny's mouth open to shove down the Buffout down his throat and at the same time jabbed him with the Med-X, Kira looked away as the veins on Johnny's arm bulged and he began to shake uncontrollably. The commotion attracted the rest of the crew as they all ran to see what was going on, Jamie covered her mouth to not throw up when she saw Kieron shove down the Fixer to hopefully save him. "Ben, Eric! Help me hold him down, his almost biting off my fucking finger!"

After what seemed to be an eternity, the movements finally stopped and there was a brief pause were everyone held their breath, Jenn began to sweat when she saw no movement "is he dead?"

Johnny answered when he threw up again and shortly after began to snore, Kieron fell backwards as the more immediate need was met. He shook his hands trying to get rid of the spit and blood, noticing the disguisted looks he was getting he couldn't help but chuckle at them, with a small grin he looked at his crew "So… who is hungry?"