Queen's note: Whoo! Making peace with the matriarch, I am happy how Blake is turning out/being flushed out .
Welcome to the Wasteland
Chapter Six:
Making Friends to last
It was the sound of footsteps that alerted Valory to someone coming over. It was not the long, march like stride of Deegan that she was getting used to, nor the whisper soft steps that Lana had grown into over the years.
For a moment, Valroy missed the hatchling years of Lana as she listened to the hesitant steps coming over to her patch of sun warmed grass. The matriarch missed kids, and hoped to see more now that they were settling for a while.
"Um..." The woman that had come over stopped at least ten or twelve feet away, her voice unsure but trying. "Valory was it?"
Valory opened her eyes finally, shifting her head to peer over, finding the older woman of the family standing there. She gave a soft chirp of surprise, also noting the man, father of the family not that far behind his wife.
"Yess, that iss my name." The words slurring just slightly Valory shifted in her basking position to tilt her head at the two, tail flicking to curl to her left. Keeping herself moving slowly, so not to startle the jumpy humans.
The woman took a deep breath and came over, a larger bowl in her hands, ignoring the reflexive alarmed sound from her husband. She knelt down, trying to hide a shiver as she put the bowl down between them. A small smile trying as there was an interested 'brrt?' sound, "My name is Connie, this is my husband Black, thank you. For saving my daughters that is. And us, but mostly our girls."
"I...yes," The man said as Valory lifted her head a little off the ground, blinking at him in surprise. "Thank you… really, thank you for helping us. I don't think I could live long if something happened to any of my girls. Lucy, Mary...Connie."
The man glanced at his wife, Blake shifted and rubbed the back of his head before shuffling closer to Connie. Daring to meet the golden eyes that were watching him with a curiosity but understanding that seemed to be too keen. He took a breath and spoke up again. "I'm sorry I yelled, thank you for giving us space to calm down… and taking care of the bodies."
He glanced to where the spot farther down the hill where he had seen Valory burying the Raider bodies. The fact that Valory had refused to eat the bodies having done much to help him come to grips with what Lana and Deegan said.
Valory was distracted by what was in the bowl for a moment, and then started a low reassuring humm to calm nerves. Making use of the subsonics to do so. "You are welcome. I… dislike those that prey? Hurt others in greed. Could… I could smell the...what iss word…?"
The deathclaw had to squint off to the side as she struggled with how to explain what she wanted to. "Bad smell, they give off something bad." She spoke a purely deathclaw word and again attempted to translate. "Rotten core? Mad mind?"
Connie tilted her head at that, the tension in her shoulders easing despite her wariness before. Hearing not mimicked words but a true attempt at convention. Even the stumbled words made the deathclaw… human like. The intelligent gaze helped the most as far as Connie was concerned as well.
"Lana said you liked to try new things." The older woman said, glancing at her husband and then motioning to the large bowl. "We still had some breakfast stew, if you would like? It's made with carrots, tatos and squirrel."
Seeing the perked up attention and inquisitive chirp had a half smile tugging on Blake's face. He made a mental note to apologies to that new girl. Remembering not twenty minutes ago when Lana had pointed at Valory and said in a low but firm voice 'Valory saved you, not us. She chose to help. Thank her not us.'
Blake took a deep breath to get himself to calm down now that he accepted what happened. He still reflexively tensed as the large deathclaw shifted closer to his wife. But the creature was just sniffing at the large bowl, tilting her head back and forth before her forked tongue poked out, though it did not actually touch.
It was the action that drew Blake's attention to a few differences in Valory compared to the local deathclaws. It was right there in her face, longer and slightly more muzzle like. A longer tail and not quite as hunched. She could stand up right better for looking around.
It was the claws that stood out different, all distinct like a Death-Claw was, but the thumb and pinkie fingers were shorter. The pointer was only a little bigger but the main killing claws were the middle and 'ring' fingers. It was not all for hunting but a shift in evaluation for better manipulation of objects. Letting Valory to carefully reach out and pick up the bowl to lift to her rather than eat out of it.
"This… iss very good Connie miss." Valory said with a lighter trill sound. Offering the empty bowl back, angling in the killing claws to keep them mostly out of the way and then turning her hand to hide them.
Being polite.
"What...is a Taa-du? Ta-toe…?"
Connie could not help the laugh that escaped her.
Some distance away, back up at the house and farm a few heads swiveled to look over at what was happening. The group doing a cross of keeping an eye on as well as pretending not to be doing so. Deegan was the only one with his back turned, sitting in front of Mary as he checked her leg over. The bullet wound closed from the half a dose of a Stimpack, but she would need time to heal the twisted ankle.
Rough fingers felt down the girl's leg and over her foot, pausing as Mary winced and Deegan rumbled in response. She was sitting on the current bench in front of her home's front porch.
"Without an xray to confirm, I'm pretty sure they're not completely broken, but," Deegan lifted a finger as he looked up at Mary pointedly, "There's likely a few hair like fractures in the bones in your foot. You need to stay off it for a long while. As much as possible in the next few weeks, and as much as possible over the next month. No more stims, you don't have enough mass to deal with the internal resource drain right now."
"We should have some crutches on one of the walls." Lucy offered, glancing at where her parents were, then over to where Lana was investigating their Brahmin.
Deegan nodded, "That would be good. You just have to help her down or build a ramp."
"Is med-x okay?" Mary asked as she took another deep breath while the Ghoul man wrapped her ankle.
"That should be fine," Deegan nodded, pausing as he eyed Mary again as Lucy darted inside. "No more than a quarter dose a day. Even then it's best to take it at night."
"Makes it easier to sleep." Lana agreed, rubbing the head of the loaded brahmin, having found the medical supplies for Mary there. Her moose was contentedly grazing in the spring green while the aftermath was going on. "Is your cow in calf too?"
The question had Mary distracted as she looked over to Lana, having to think about that, "Noo… the breeding didn't take last year I don't think?"
"It didn't, she's just generally getting fat with spring." Lucy agreed as she came back with the crutches and some fresh, soft leather. Handing it all to Deegan, "Do you see something with Clarabell?"
"I think she has an abscess in her udder," Lana said crouched down beside Clarabell, who shifted but let the new young woman feel down her stomach to the udder.
"She's always had a bit of a big one since she started to calf years ago." Lucy explained as she came over, hoping the fence using a cinder block, and came over. The blond looked worried, wondering if she and her family missed something with their family brahmin. It may be silly but Clarabell was a part of the family, many winters she had provided enough milk for her calf and the family when food was in slender pickings.
Saving them all from starvation, more so when Lucy and Mary were little kids.
But sometimes you can get used to something happening slowly over time and not see it. Lucy remembered her dad saying that with her small squirrel-meat farm (she needed to start hunting for babies again now that it was spring), and one was sick.
So Lucy came to see what Lana had spotted. At first not seeing anything until Lana gently pushed unto the udder. Clarabell was well trained and well behaved, though she gave a low groan and tried to shift away.
"That's a pain response, but if you feel, there's fluid in there." Lana explained, easing the pressure and rubbed the cow's side before stepping over to where the stray cow was and checked her udders, "This girl feels like my cows do right now, granted they're moose... but they are all quadruped grazers with some basic things alike. She's bagging up like Luna and Grace."
Lana paused and added, "Well, Grace is producing milk already for me but she hasn't made any colostrum, and it's normal for her." Grace was one of those moose cows to bag up once exposed to babies in need.
"I don't see any colostrum on Clarabell, or that cow." Lucy agreed as she took her turn in carefully examining the two brahmin.
"When was the last time… Clarabell got some rad-away? A full dose for her mass." Deegan spoke up as he looked up from helping Mary learn how to get along on the crutches. They were now sized for her and the girl was walking over with a swinging gate from the added supports.
"It was... umm..." Lucy started to speak but stopped, staring at the cow as she shifted to get one of her heads in range for pettings on the broad head. "Mary?"
"...I think just before winter?" Mary said, pausing from her spot on the other side of the fence. "After Mom thought Clarabell aborted when she found the old girl in the field."
"That might be it, it just takes a scratch and a rad storm when you're not looking." Deegan offered as he stayed near Mary, reaching out only twice to help her correct balance before falling over. "There could be an abscess. Are there any extra growths? Lumps?"
"I need her halters," Lucy gave the cows dominant head a kiss on the forehead. When she had the halters on led the brahmin out of her overnight stall. Tieing Clarabelle to the other side of the hitching post the stray was attached. Letting them nose and introduce themselves with a few huffs, puffs and some non aggressive fussing.
It let them get a better look at Clarabelle, and her udders.
Lana drew an outside chair over for Mary to sit before calling for her mount to come back and dig into the cargo packs.
"When would she be giving birth normally?" Deegan asked, even if he favored the bull brahmin. He knew general care of the breed, just not the details of vets. The scarred man pulled off his hat as he stooped down to see what Lucy was looking at.
"We breed her later than normal so it would be...any week now. Normally we try to have her milking during the winter." Lucy explained, gently inspecting the larger than normal udder sack. Flashing a grateful look at Deegan as the man grasped a moving leg, lifting the foot to keep the cow from moving away. Lucy frowned as she checked several spots.
"Clarabelle doesn't have as much fur as she normally does." Mary realized as she rested, tilting her head, "I mean she had that burn patch on her rump, but in general isn't as fuzzy."
"She may have radiation sickness," Lana pulled a pack free. Bringing it over and digging into to get a bottle of alcohol, a lancer and… was that a needle?
"That would lower her immune system to other infections." Deegan agreed, braced to hold the leg up and over on one of his knees like the farriers do when working on hooves. He tilted his head, hat shoved back on as he got a look at the things Lana had. "That is a big needle."
"And a big gage," Lana gave a soft snort, showing how big around the three inch needle was. It was covered with a clear plastic or glass tube, it was clear but sterile while inside. "It's one of the only things that can puncture the 'under armor' hide, I guess you can say, that the moose have. But I have a scalpel to make a lance just in case for draining."
"Have you seen something like this?" Mary wounded, from her spot able to watch but was not so close to get hurt if Clarabell had a fit.
"Kinda, It was a younger moose that got out of a pen when we were bringing them in for a rad-storm." Lana explained, her things set on the bag as she and Lucy found the weakest feeling spot on the udder. Right under on the bottom where it could be missed. "That feels like a head of sorts is trying to form here. Anyways the young bull ended up coming back after the storm, but it was like, two months out on his own running around in panic. He was pretty scraped up, had a lot of rads and infections that needed to be drained."
"A little Buck?" Mary hummed, looking up as the moose came over to her, the big antler-ed head lowing to either give or get attention as he lipped at her bad leg. Unable to resist reaching out to give scritches with her knuckles on the forehead under the horns. Buck definitely felt like he had a thicker skull then the Brahmin did. "Aww..."
"It was a little Buck like moose," Lana nodded, sitting up to let Lucy get a look after pointing out the new lumps. Trading where they were looking. "It was a few years ago, and other than being a gelding now, and a lot shorter than other moose he's doing good now. Last I saw he was working in the flower mill with the elk."
"That's good," Lucy stood up to eye the stray Brahmin, "Would you mind if I check that trunk for any rad away?"
Deegan shook his head, "I don't see the harm, if there's a pack or two that you use. Lana?"
"Nah, I don't mind either. I don't think you should do more then two packs to start with though." She reached for the main teets on the udder, Clarabele had what looked like four main ones and two smaller, and a few odd skin tags. Lana made a face as she gently squeezed the biggest teet to see some blood and something milky come out. "Where was that vet again Edward?"
"The old creamery," the ghoul said, watching. "It would be a bit of a trip but worth it to keep this girl around for another few odd years."
"I'll mention it to our parents." Mary said, and then asked, "Can draining help?"
"It will, and cleaning it until it heals," Lana used a cloth to clean the udder with the alcohol and the scalpel, "I think there's two spots it can drain from, but you'll have to...uh, sort of milk the blood and the rest of the infection out of the ducts for them to heal."
"Eew," Lucy made a face, but that made sense to her at the same time.
"Ready?" Lana asked Deegan.
"Yeah, I have a hold of her."
"Sorry Clarabell I don't have brahmin painkillers." Lana said as she found the spot on the bottom and made first one then a second quick, clean cuts in the same spot.
The brahmin's startled bleet and twitch was thankfully not that pained. Deegan kept the leg held to keep Clarabelle from doing more than jerking her leg a bit, and not reflexively kicking out. The scared man gave a groan at the sudden smell as the biggest abscess drained out onto the ground.
"Definitely infection."
"Ohhh boy." Lana had to stand up for a moment, or a minute. Making sure her things and her own face were not in the 'splash' zone. She and Edward would definitely need to clean their boots though.
"I can smell that from here." Mary covered her face with her hands. Spotting her parents starting to come back. Valory a little closer than before but in the process of settling down again on her side.
"What's going on back here?" Blake wondered as he took in things.
"The squishy side of animal husbandry." Lana explained as she ducked to help make sure that pocket of infection was drained before opening the others. Deegan mentioned one on his side too.
"Clarabelle wasn't producing milk," Lucy was making a face but was worried as she looked at her parents. She held up the two rad-away packs. "She's been quietly sick."
Blake exchanged a look with his wife before coming over to help. Whatever plans made that morning well and truly tossed out the window for both groups. Supply runs and raider inspections. Taking the time to just help one another, and the stressed animals.
By evening Clarabelle was uncomfortable and relieved at the same time. A rigged cloth used to help keep dirt off her udder, but able to still drain overnight.
Blake had taken the time to walk with the group back to the Co-op in the early evening. As much to see the path again as to get some of the dear meat offered for the family. Though he mainly came to help Lana and Deegan set up the fence panels taken from the shipping lock up.
There was enough to make three stalls all in separate areas. One for Deegan's bull brahmin (Blake was very interested in the bull), one for the stray cow brahmin about to give birth, and the last stall was larger for the moose cows with the fawn so they weren't locked in one of the buildings. More fence panels to be harvested the next day for both groups.
Blake shifted his pack on the walk back home, Valory keeping a respectful distance as she escorted him for safety's sake. As well as to ask some questions about the area, what she needed to start hunting that where bigger threats to both settlements predator wise. The man answered as best he could with local knowledge. The heavy stakes in the pack on the bottom and a bag of radexes moss as well. The latter had a lot of his attention, willing to spread some outside to watch it over the next few days, and around one isolated tato plant.
Strange how days can change so much from morning to evening.
Reviews!
justsomerandombastard: Hello again! I like the idea of other exotic animals surviving, like those from zoos that survived. There's the buffalo versions of Brahmin in Nuka World, and a few other things I want to play with. Including the rad-storks you can see in the fallout 4 concept art.
I do think that some vehicles can be still running, it just depends on the area and the resources though. One defiantly needs some cars or vehicle frams that haven't been corroded with time. I DO think cars can be canalized for power systems though! Depending on the modal or year depends on what people can use each car for. Even using the frames for things too.