Queen's note: Did I mention that I was doing world building and slow burning of the story? Well I am, I can't help it, it's just…so fun and de-stressing to write out the side line/behind the scenes so to say n.n Also can we just…mush Preston's face now and then?

Welcome to the Wasteland

Chapter Twenty One:

Meds and Reassurances

Lana hissed in sympathy as she checked the angry mark that was welling up with further smaller spots trying to form inside the red. Feeling the dark man wincing but holding still. "Oof, yeah this is very infected Preston, the others are likely too,"

"It felt like a few marbles or pebbles were forming when I woke up." Preston admitted, and though he reflexively twitched. The young man stayed sitting, his jacket and shirts in line to be cleaned, so he was shirtless and only in the borrowed pair of pants and slippers that Jacky brought. The clean green shirt was in his lap, giving him something safe to clutch as his wounds were really cleaned and inspected. Possibly for the first time in weeks.

The little things on his back that he had not bothered with other than being annoyed that his shirt would get stuck in scabs and rip at unexpected times. The feral ghoul bite marks were making themselves especially known that morning. Thank the gods that he had nothing below the belt so to say, as that would be embarrassing. Other than some cracks on his feet and ankles from wet boots from the last big rad storm.

Preston was even more thankful for the clean socks and slippers.

"I'm going to have to drain these," Lana hummed, turning to the improvised table set up beside them. A metal desk that had been taken out of the shipping building across the stream. Disinfected with others and medical tools from the high alcohol moonshine brought from Darla the trader back at Lana's homestead.

...and for cleaning wounds.

It was not pleasant but Preston knew that it was important to keep any wounds clean. The lectures from Lana and Connie helped him remember that fact, or just reinforce it.

Preston had only gotten away for so long while trying to help move desks. The man winced but stubbornly held still as Lana used a scalpel to lance an infection pocket. Preston closed his eyes as pressure was put around the spot.

"Breathe," Lana reminded, her voice warm and reassuring as she worked. "Take a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. Almost done with this one,"

Preston followed the instructions, cracking open an eye as Lucy walked by, setting a pan of hot water on the desk. The other young woman grinned in reassurance as Lana dunked a washcloth in the hot water to use.

Lucy walked away to drop off the other pot of hot water to the other cleaning station her mother was at, taking care of a minutemen's back and thigh.

Preston felt another pinch and a dull throb of pain as Lana lanced another spot, using the hot rag to clean his neck up.

"You'll definitely be carrying a scar, and need to exercise, stretch your neck regularly to keep the scarring from pulling tight." Lana spoke as she worked, using a needle to get the slightly smaller pocket that was a bit deeper. That big one had to be thoroughly cleaned, scrapped out and removed so it wouldn't grow back. There were another few bite marks on Preston's right shoulder that needed to be worked on as well, but they were not as bad.

"A scar isn't so bad." He said, Preston took a deep breath as another hot, clean cloth was pressed against his neck.

"Hold this against your neck with your left hand." Lana instructed, cleaning her hands and tossed the first few cloths into a basket to get cleaned. "The other bites aren't as bad but could quickly turn. After the compression I'll need to clean it all, and around the bites with the alcohol. Then I'll work on your other wounds."

" It sounds like I might have to settle for a basin and cloth bath today?" Preston asked, holding the hot cloth to his neck and forced his right arm and shoulder to relax as much as possible.

"For you, yes, for sure." Lana hummed sympathetically, glancing down at Preston's back. "I'll make sure your back and shoulders are cleaned up for sure."

"Thank you Lana." Preston glanced over his shoulder, smiling.

Lana made a silly face back at him, teasing gently as she was still tired, "You may want to wait to thank me. After cleaning the wounds, and disinfecting, you might not feel the same."

The Minuteman shook his head, chuckling in a tired but… a lighter way than he seemed the day before. "As bad as that is, it's better than being dead."

If anything, Preston looked guilty after a moment. "I just feel bad using up so much…"

"It's worth it," Lana responded, poking Preston's head lightly with a knuckle, "More so if you can still help others."

The young man considered, thinking about the phrasing.

Preston nodded after a minute. "You know… I think... you're right."

Lana smiled, "Believe it or not, I learned that from Valory when I was hurt a few years back."

"She's... something." Preston hummed, but he was thoughtful, rather than offended or adverse, to more information about the massive deathclaw he had only just met earlier that morning. Preston was, on the whole, thoughtful about Valory. "Is she coming back around today?"

"More than likely later on," Lana nodded, cleaning off the man's back and the arm with bite marks, "Val mentioned checking for those raiders Concord after her nap this morning, and seeing where the male is patrolling around here."

"Is that a flirting thing, or…?" Preston winced but held the compress, trying to smile as he became aware of bruises on his back that the young man had not realized were as big as they seemed to be. "...ow…"

"Sorry, almost done." Lana hummed, "And yes, there's a big, slow motion flirt with the male hanging around. He seems pretty small for those in the area but is defined in his muscles, jaw and horns from what I can see. I think he realized Valory isn't interested in strength, she ran off two brothers… umm, after that last rad-storm when they got too close to here and the brahmin."

"That was the night she came by with a bleeding leg?" Connie glanced over, and Lana became aware others were listening to her and Preston. And that made sense, it was a Deathclaw topic.

Wait...Didn't Connie know it was the night before? That's what Mary said… oh. She was trying to keep the refugees from panicking too. They did not really know the timeline of Valory's healing.

Duh Lana.

"Yeah, she said they were starting to hunt, possibly for an offering but it was the brahmin and getting too close to the farm. So...she laid into them, pretty sure she ate one of their tails. That smaller male is the one that dropped off the deer last week and put the fawn in with Clarabelle and the girls, then Valory dropped off the latest deer."

"Huh, he needs a name." Mary hummed as she took a breather, while one of the kids ran past, gathering rags from the three cleaning stations.

"Oh, he has a name." Lana blinked, realizing that she forgot to mention it to those here at the Farm.

"He does?" Mary sat up.

"It translates directly to 'Moon Ridge' for us, but the words in primal deathclaw have two meanings." Lana explained, as Preston looked up in interest. "The moon represents thinking, as they had to plan and think about moving and hunting at night. So his name can also mean 'night thinker,' or 'dark seer.' But the direct translation Valory said was Moon Ridge."

"That's... pretty interesting actually." Clare said from where the Amazon like woman was laying down in the shade of the farm house not far away. What was left of her breakfast of creamy, tato chowder with small bits of venison was in her lap. The bowl was almost empty, though she could not quite find it in her to set it down. "And scary to realize how intelligent the wild Deathclaws are. Even if it's rudimentary."

"I think there's worth in intelligence with them, but the hazard of it, is there will be the three sides of a coin." Lana hummed, and made a face, "You'll come across those like Valory that can care and sympathize, but then like humans, there's individuals and groups that just...don't care about people. We're as much a food source as just a part of the environment. Then the edge, where some don't care one way or another unless eggs or juvies are involved."

"Are there any other packs that have an arrangement like your family?" Connie asked, finishing with Jarrard's back. The man was stretched out on two desks, quiet and passed out from a good third of a dose of Med-X. It was a blessing to be sure, if only to get off the shirt that had been fully stuck in the scabbing and bandage. It was not as infected as Connie feared but a part dose of a stim pack to half heal under the pile of bandages before getting here… she had a lot of work. And she would rather have a passed out patient, than a wiggly one that was in pain.

Lana had to think for a moment, "I know of a big, semi wild pack in the midwest. I didn't meet them personally but Valory and Lucky- he's a wandering male from home, have mentioned them. They have a truce with a community. Not the same as my home, the Deathclaws keep other predators away and once a month get some of the overpopulation of farm animals they keep breeding. And in the worst winters I think they share some herds, but you should ask Val for more details."

"I think I might." Connie hummed, looking up from her work to scan the horizon and as if like the phrase 'speak of the devil and he shall appear.' She recognized the black from walking along the tree line.

Moon Ridge was walking across the north, coming from the rough direction of Concord. The woman could see confidence in the form even from where she was. Not really a strut, but clearly pleased he could pass that once invisible line and walk 'near' the farm when he had not dared step before.

"Someone is confident." Connie noted.

"He's liking that Valory is letting him patrol her route while she sleeps." Lana snorted, though she was relaxed. If her guardian trusted the male, she would start to try as well. "I think we might be good with the raiders, if Val is sleeping again."

She scanned the grassy field around them, giving Preston a break to relax before she would use a little bit of stim. A modified stim where it had been ejected into a sterile jar so not to release a compressed amount at once. But smaller doses in a controlled way as she needed to help close the cleaned out infection pockets, or the bigger scabbed over areas once cleaned of dirt, grime and fabric bits.

It was a little trick she had learned in the medical and first aid classes back home. Lana had been raised to not relent on stimpacks, but never doubted how useful in an emergency they could be. The hazard though, was how the body could heal wrong with the overuse of the stimulants or how it would drain resources in the body, aka the fat layers. If there was little to no fat, then the body would pull from muscles, or in worse case attack organs.

At least one whole stimpack dispersed in small doses and between several people would be mild and hopefully localized to the skin layers. Preston and his people were in varying stages of near, to being in starvation as it was.

"Person!" One of the kids called out noticing someone walking up.

"Hello the farm!" Noel's voice called out in greeting, waving his free hand as he came up the path from the lake and dam.

"Uncle Noel!" The younger boy brightened up where he was at the washing station. After getting a nod of permission from Blake, ran over to get a one armed hug.

"Hello little man! Megan sent me over with some of her rolled and cracked razor grain for the new people." The scarred man shifted the large bag over his left shoulder, it looked like one of the fifty pound bags that had been stored in the bunker.

"Thank the gods." Connie smiled, relieved, from her spot working. She glanced back down and then up, "That will be a good help, and easy on stomachs. WE should see about getting more tomorrow from the museum."

"Museum?" Preston asked, confused a bit as he glanced between the newcomer and then to Lana as she stepped back over.

"It's one of the biggest buildings in Concord, but also were Megan lived since the bombs dropped." Lana explained, "She was growing Razor grain and a few other things almost as much time."

"Oh…oh wow that would be a lot." Preston started and then the thought hit him that if there was a lot of razor grain and only one person eating… that was a lot of leftover harvests. Then the young man thought some more, letting go of the cloth on his neck as Lana tapped his fingers to check it again and swap the cloth for a fresh hot one.

"I wonder how one can keep growing things inside. Away from the rad storms." Preston spoke aloud as he watched the ghoul go set the heavy bag inside the house.

"Light is the biggest issue, and the right kind of light." Lana answered as if she was asked, it had seemed like she was after all. "The museum of freedom does have a lot of skylights above, and still has power. I think it also helps that the Razor grain can grow in lower levels of light, being a grass based plant. I'm starting to grow a lot of stuff in the old bunker near the co-op, as well as topside crops."

"There's a lot of big buildings around that are still standing." Preston winced as something was cut on his back to start draining. Another infection spot likely, it felt like where those scabs had ripped when sticking to his older shirt.

"Sorry, two spots left after this, and I'll stop prodding you." The woman hummed, still trying to be reassuring.

"It's okay…" The sole Minuteman officer snorted softly. "Not sure how useful I'll be right away but… I might be able to do something to help." Preston paused and added sheepishly, "After a nap…"

"After a nap," Lana agreed with a smile, and then added to help distract, "And yeah, there's a lot of buildings still standing in Concord. Maybe we can't live in some but we can make some green houses. Or reuse building materials."

That wagon had better be untouched by those raiders.

Lana was not sure what she could do to them if the raiders did anything, or if they were alive. By the sounds of it, Deegan likely went after them all himself. Also considering how he was in the bunker, likely succeeded.

Lana hoped the wagon was not hurt, and the museum had not been damaged further than the weathering.

That would probably be tomorrow though. Right now Lana finished up with helping Preston, making sure as little wounds were exposed, either by way of the mild stimpack doses or just taping bandages on. Once he was safely dosing in the mentioned nap, Lana moved on to the next person. Smiling as Clare came over to help clean up before she was checked over.

.