She ran. Alexei knew the ferals wouldn't hurt her, but she still ran. Common sense told her to check the map on her Pip-Boy, yet her fear told her to go as fast as her feet would take her (a later trip to Doc Church would show the damage she did to her feet that day).

The basement. The basement was all that mattered at the moment.

Alexei slammed into the wall of the Dunwich Building to halt her momentum, her weight and speed leaving a body-shaped dent. Her adrenaline prevented her from feeling the inevitable ache, which her mind would thank for that later on. How long had it been since she entered the building? How long had she felt the presence behind her?

It had to be done.

She only took a moment's breath before she sped down the dark stairway to the basement. Only a few minutes and it would be all over! Just…keep…walking…

In hindsight, Alexei should've known that the stairs weren't stable. As she hurried to run down, the step underneath her boot gave way, twisting her ankle with a sickening CRUNCH. She fell down the rest of the way; her body being the only protection that the Book had from being damaged down the stairway. Her limp form remained still, the only sign of her living was the halting breaths she made.

Everything felt still: the air, the particles of dust and wood, time itself. Alexei's fingers held onto the Book even then, dirtied fingernails scraping against the tainted cover. Was she supposed to be hearing the ringing? She could've sworn she turned the radio off.

"'t up!You must get up! Please, dear, you have to!"

A…voice? She made sure no one followed her, save for It. Who was-

Hands were picking her up, the pain in her ankle lessening by the moment.

"Keep walking, Alexei. Just a few more steps, that's my girl."

She could hear the bone in her ankle with each pace she took, yet no sign of any pain was there. A hand held hers, almost guiding the young girl to the obelisk just a walk away. Only one more moment, and the world would be free of the Book.

"Almost there…"

Harrison had seen the girl come in and out of the Mojave Outpost a couple times already. Bit of an airhead (though with the scar on her forehead, he could get why), but a genius when it came to fixing tech. Every so often he would walk into the outpost and spot her eyebot nearby, an obvious sign that the girl was near. She couldn't talk right, bless her heart, but she used signs just like Harrison's momma, so signing with her came easy.

Her eyebot was sat next to her on the bunk, which they allowed her to use as thanks for fixing the food sanitizer.

Sweat dripped down her face, her eyelids twitching hard. Harrison could also spot her ankle moving quite a bit. He'd seen some of the older officers sleep like this as well, clearly suffering from shellshock. How the hell could someone so young have faced something so traumatizing? And just what the hell was it that gave her these nightmares?

"Almost there…"

The fuck?

Harrison stared at Alexei. Did he just hear her talk? And quite clearly, at least? Now this was interesting.

"Burn the book. Burn the book, burn the book, burn it!"

All he could do was sit there and watch. The poor girl was losing her mind over a damn book? He'd have to ask her about this later.

Just as he was about to try and wake her, Alexei sat up, tears beginning to well in her eyes. The older man put his hands up, his voice calm. He'd done it before with brahmin at his family farm, but he didn't think he'd have to do it to a shellshocked girl.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, kid. Ya had a bad dream."

"?"

"Yeah, it wasn't pretty. You were talkin' in yer sleep; somethin' 'bout a book?"

"How could I be talking?

"Hmph, probly somethin' funny 'bout the brain. People do weird things in their sleep. The doc could probly tell ya more 'bout it than I could. Look, the point is, you kept talkin' 'bout a book. Any idea why?"

"No idea. Only book I read lately was a comic."

Harrison left out a small breath. "My momma always said those were bad fer the brain. Maybe that's what caused it."

"..."

"Maybe."

"Look kid, jus' get some sleep, and I'll keep an eye out in case it happens again, ok?"

Alexei was hesitant, but she gave a small smile.

"Ok."

She laid back down on the bunk, and the last thing she saw as her eyes closed was the face of Harrison. He looked sad.

The man watched Alexei's chest rise and sink slowly. He doubted that this wouldn't happen again, but at least he was there to keep her company. This time, at least. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Poor kid."