Kirk woke up early from a restless night of terrors again. He didn't know how long these terrors would persist, but he had other things to worry about. He got ready and ate the breakfast Wadsworth prepared. Gotta admit he could get used to this treatment. He packed his things and filled both his water pouch and canteen. He also packed away a few more water bottles in his pack. He then said bye to Wadsworth and headed out. He was the first to arrive at the gate, which surprised him. After a few minutes, Lucy showed up. She was very pretty with blonde hair and blue eyes. She wore a long, sleeveless black leather coat with some leather armor on her torso. Her pack was small, and she carried a small pistol and curved knife as well. "Well, don't you look spiffy." she said. "Same to you." he said, feeling his face redden. He looked around for Jericho. After a few minutes, he showed up. Kirk looked over his gear. He had leather armor on, but... it looked like parts of were missing on it. He had a pack and a assault rifle with a crude bayonet on the end. He also spotted a knife and pistol on him, too. "Alright, let's get this over with." Jericho said, annoyed. "Wait. I got some things we should go over." Kirk said, pulling up his PIPBOY map. "Ooohhh, fancy tech, you got there." Lucy said, getting too close to him. Kirk got the strange, uncomfortable feeling again and took a half step from her. He started noticing this strange unease around women that he had never felt before. He shook it off and focused. He asked Lucy to point where Arefu was on his map. After she did, he explained what Moira wanted him to do on their trip, and Jericho laughed. "Good luck with that, idiot." he said, walking out the gate. Lucy shrugged and followed him. Kirk looked outside the gate to open wasteland. He realized then how naive and stupid he was just to march out there a few weeks ago. Now, he finds himself hesitating. He took a deep breath and walked out.
As they went through Springvale, Kirk looked over and saw Silver's house. Memories flooded in of that awful night. He made a note to check in with her when he returned. They walked a bit further and saw the school. Kirk didn't think much of it until he saw the school sign and realized it was the building. He stopped and looked at it. Again, memories came flooding in. Flashes of pain and that damn woman came across his mind. He got lost in it until Lucy placed her hand on his arm. It startled him and took a step away from her. "You good?" she asked, puzzled. "Yes, I just got distracted." he said, moving on. Jericho had been eyeing him the entire time.
The land was barren and dead as they continued on. Kirk looked all around and saw a few scattered ruins and dead carcasses. Human and animal. After a few hours, Kirk noticed he was lagging behind the two. His feet and legs were killing him. He realized he had never walked for this long in his entire life. It was awful. 'Should I ask if we could rest? Are they tired like I am?' he thought. He didn't want to appear weak. Especially since Lucy was counting on him to get her there. He realized he may be holding himself to a standard he wasn't ready for. Lucy kept looking back and noticed Kirk walking slower. "Jericho, we should rest. He seems tired." Lucy said. "Fuck him, if he can't keep up, he is on his own." he said gruffly. Lucy glared daggers into the back of his head. "Well I am hungry so we are stopping to eat." she said. She looked over and saw an abandoned building with a tube like structure on it's side in the distance. "There, that's where we will rest." she said marching over there. Jericho groaned realizing she was the one who made the calls since she was paying. He looked over at Kirk who was watching Lucy veer off course. "We are taking a break, since you are a bitch and can't keep up!" he yelled and walked over to Lucy. Kirk nodded and followed, relieved.
They were all eating what they brought with them in silence. The awkwardness was suffocating. Finally, Lucy broke the silence. "So what is life like in a vault?" she asked. Kirk thought for a moment while chewing his food. "Routine, everyone runs on a schedule pretty much." he said, taking another bite of food. "That sounds boring as hell." she commented. "Not really, you get plenty of time to yourself near the end of the day. Weekends, you have more of it as well. It was simple living." he said, taking a drink of water. "What did you do with your free time?" she asked. "Not exercise, obviously." Jericho snarled. Kirk glared back. "If you got something to say to me, just say it asshole." Kirk said. "You are weak and pathetic. You are costing us progress with the job because Blondie here felt bad for you and thought it best to treat you like a baby!" he snarled at him. Before Kirk could respond, he continued. "What will you do if we need to run? From a Deathclaw or a Yao Guai? I guess we can leave you behind while they eat you, and we escape. At least that way, you would have been of some use on this trip." he went on viciously. Lucy wanted to say something but felt it was not a good idea. She sheepishly continued to eat her food. Kirk was angry and embarrassed. He had never been so thoroughly ridiculed in his life. Not even Butch was this harsh. He stayed quiet and finished his food. He stood up and walked out of the building. Lucy called out to him, but he ignored her. "What a bitch." Jericho said finishing his food and getting up. Lucy stopped him. "From now on we go at my pace, got it?" she said. "You can't hold his hand forever girl. But I hear ya." he snarled and walked out.
They marched on, and already Kirk was getting tired again. He hated himself for being so naive. How could he not have thought of the physical demands of this trip? He also hated that the more he thought about what Jericho said, the more he realized he was right. 'Is this why Simms wanted us to travel together? To be blunt and harsh on me to better prepare me for this world?' Kirk wondered. Simms was the type of man to always have a reason behind his decisions. Jericho halted the trio, snapping Kirk out of his thoughts. "What is it?" Lucy asked. Jericho pointed at a hole. "Mole Rat Den." he said, pulling out a bottle of liqour with a rag hanging out of it. Kirk wondered what it was. "Wait! Don't burn em! Let's try out the stick Moira gave Kirk." Lucy suggested. "Good idea." Kirk said and pulled out the stick. "So how do we use it?" she asked, examining the stick. "I don't know. She said it should work like a repellant and deter them away." he explained. "That is so fucking stupid, why go through all that trouble, when you can just shoot em." Jericho grunted watching the hole. "Jericho don't act like Moira hasn't done something for you. Think of this as paying her back." Lucy said with her hands on her hips. Jericho scoffed, thinking back to when he first met her. She did help him redo his armor, he remembered. "Fair point, come on then." he said waving Kirk to the hole.
Kirk approached the hole with the stick, and Jericho stood ready to shoot if the stick failed. Kirk heard scurrying, and then a big ugly hairless rat came out. It squealed at him, and Kirk quickly tapped it in the head with the stick. The rat squealed louder and started rolling on the ground. Kirk wasn't sure if he needed to tap it again or hit it. He decided to watch. The rat got up, shrieked, and its head exploded into bits. Kirk was stunned by the violent reaction. It was jarring and grotesque. It stirred up memories of guts spilling out of the raider he killed. This made him tremble and then vomit. Jericho started laughing hysterically. He walked over to Kirk and grabbed the stick out of his hand. "Let me try this out." he said happily. He waited for another one to come out, but two stormed out. He hit them both, and the same result happened. Lucy had to look away from the gore. It was too much. Jericho, however, seemed to be relishing in it. "Repellant my ass!" he cackled testing in on more rats as they charged out. After a few minutes, no more Mole Rats came out. Jericho looked over the scene, and his face turned to disgust. He tossed the stick back at Kirk's feet. Kirk had collected himself and looked over the blood and gore everywhere. Lucy was vomiting now, and Jericho was walking away. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Kirk asked, putting the stick away. "Nothing brat, now let's get moving. It will get dark soon." he snarled, walking on. Lucy had finished and walked up to Kirk. "Poor Moira, she is gonna be horrified to hear about this." she said and walked on, ignoring the bloody scene. Kirk looked over the gory scene of eyeballs, brain matter, and flesh. He hated the idea that this would probably be a common occurrence out in the wasteland.
Jericho was more irritable than usual, Kirk noticed. Which was strange since he seemed to have had such a good time using the stick on the Mole Rats. Kirk had also decided on what he wanted to finally say to him after he ripped into him earlier that day. They continued on until it was getting dark. "Time to set up camp." Jericho said and looked around. "There." he said, pointing at a destroyed highway. They settled in underneath the structure, setting up their places and food. "Jericho." Kirk said, grabbing his attention. "You were right earlier." he said, pulling out his food. "The way you said it was fucked up, but the message was clear. I need to toughen up, improve my stamina." he continued. "So fuck you, but thanks too." he finished and started eating. Jericho grunted and pulled out his food as well. Lucy smiled at them and ate as well. They ate in silence until everyone was wrapping up. "Alright stick boy you take first guard shift since you need to 'toughen up'. Two hour shifts with me next, then Lucy repeating." Jericho ordered and got ready to sleep.
Kirk grabbed the rifle. Stockholm gifted him and set up behind a wall nearby. Remembering Stockholms teaching about keeping a lookout. 'Make yourself as invisible as possible with the most field of view you can find.' Stockholms words resonated in his mind. He kept watch and in the distance saw movement but too far away to make out what it was and was heading away from them. He heard howling, clicking, banging, and yelled in the distance all around him. 'Keep your ears open just as much as your eyes. Most times, you will hear something coming before you see it.' Stockholms words reminded him again. He thought of his father and where he could be. He hoped he was safe.