As far back as Alexei could remember, which currently really wasn't that far, she always had a soft spot for the creatures of the Wasteland. One of the very few memories she had of Back Then was being shouted at for refusing to shoot Yao Guais or mole rats. It seemed to pay off, somewhat. Whenever she made the stray visit to Sloan, Snuffles would always tail behind her, grunting happily. She always saved stray bits of meat for geckos and nightstalkers, which sometimes ended poorly, as she's woken up more than once to several nightstalkers staring at her, waiting for handouts. This always led to a very confused ED-E, who usually "woke up" before Alexei, and tended to forget that most Wasteland beasts adored her. This was often followed by the sounds of lasers, then the screeching of animals, ending with Alexei jumping up and shooting the closest moving object, which was often ED-E. Poor ED-E.
I say all of this, of course, in order to state that while Alexei loved every four-legged animal, she hated bugs with a passion. She killed insects with the same cold apathy she had towards the Legion. Radroaches gave her goosebumps, radscorpions were quickly torched, cazadores got turned into green goo, and fire ants made her shudder with a forgotten memory from Back Then. Alexei could never figure out where this hatred came from; whenever she thought hard enough about it, all she got for her troubles were headaches and nightmares that repeated for several nights. Where did they come from, anyway?
The fire in the cave was dim, and Alexei was too scared to go out in search for more wood. It wouldn't help anyway; all she had was a pistol with no ammo, and a bat encrusted with rapidly drying radroach guts. Her improvised bandage was starting to make her face itch. She stared at the city that stood several yards away from her hastily-made shelter and then looked down at her Pip-Boy. 5:30. Almost dawn. Alexei sighed in relief, which was short-lived as she heard a scuttling noise a short distance away from the cave. She hastily took cover behind a rock, and quickly looked over the rock to see a giant…scorpion? Why was it so huge? Her breathing got heavier, and she ducked back down hoping that it wouldn't notice her. She'd never forget the noise it made; the eight chitinous legs clacking against the rocks and gravel. It's hissing sounded like her potential future, her own death rattle ringing in her ears. She just had to hold out, it was almost dawn. She had to live; for Dad.