I skirt around the remains of the town, heading for the gas station that Archie had mentioned. Occasionally I stop and scan the horizon with my binoculars but things are quiet.
Several hours later I'm at the station. Inside is chaos, overturned desks, rusty shelving in piles, and I pick up a pack of cigarettes from the ground as I head towards the basement. There's a giant rat in the stairwell, the size of a dog, munching on a box of sugar bomb cereal. It looks at me and growls and hisses, and I take out my 10mm pistol and I shoot at it but it darts away into the shadows. I hear it hissing vehemently as I step downwards into the darkness, but I'm through the basement door before it can retaliate.
I shine my flashlight around. Someone had been living here, long ago. There's empty boxes of food and bottles of water next to a cot in the corner. There's a dried up corpse there on cot, with a six shooter in its dessicated hand, and a stain on the wall where the person must have blown out their own brains. Something moves in the shadows and as I turn and get a glimpse of some small animal disappear out of a broken basement window. I poke around and find a box of freeze dried coffee and shove it in my pack.
I hear sounds now from the first level, footsteps. I make my way silently to the door and I can see at the top of the stairs a ghoul, it's face burned by the sun, it's flesh hanging off it in strips, probably attracted by the gunfire. I close the door and lock it just before it throws itself down the stairway at me and hits the door with a thud. I hear it now, sniffing, and the rat hissing, and there's a squabble and the scream of a ghoul making a kill.
I see several shadows pass the window and soon I hear more ruckus up above, crashing, smashing and snarling. A small animal darts in the window and into a dark corner.
I shake my head. It's always something in the wasteland. I decide to wait and see if things quieted down.
A small cat with ginger colored fur emerges from the shadows as I push the body off the cot and sit down. She meows plaintiffly, her tail slowly twitching left, then right.
"Hey little one. I bet your thirsty?" and I notice the bowl next to the cot. I pour some water in it and she drinks it down. She puts her little paws on my leg and stretches and purrs.
"You're friendly.. Looks like your owner didn't survive though." I slowly reach foreward and she shoves her head up against my gloved hand.
"Looks like we'll be here for awhile." she jumps into my lap and curls up, looking up at me with big yellow eyes. She startles as there's another crash from up above and she leaps away, her fur on end.
We wait together for several hours and things quiet down up above.
"It's time for me to go. Think it's safe girl?" I whisper and I quietly crack the basement door and look up into the light. All that's left of the ghouls is a rat corpse glistening in the light of my torch, eaten to the bone, not a shred of flesh left on it. I ease my way up the stairs, wincing at the sound of the creaking wooden steps, but the gas station is empty except for me and the cat. It's getting dark out and I don't want to travel in the night, with the radscorpions on the prowl. I had to get back to Tee, I know she would be scared if I didn't come home.
I stand in the doorway and look out over the nuked town. I take out my geiger counter and take a reading. It clicks madly and I know the place is irradiated as hell. Things are quiet, except for a distant scream, a ghoul making another kill.
I take two steps out the door and something lands heavily on my back and I fall forward on my face. It bites into the back of my neck and I yell, flipping over and throwing the ghoul off of me. I stand quickly but it lunges at me and I'm down again, wrestling with what once was a human being. It screams and I bash it in the head with my geiger counter as hard as I can. It goes limp and I push off myself and stand up. It's a pitiful creature, missing an eye and its nose, and I stomp hard on it's head and it splushes into a pile of goo.
I make my way hastily away from there, away from the town and its denizens. Soon I am in the wasteland again, dust in every direction and my heart beat slows down. The cat has followed me. She looks up at me and lets out a quiet meow. She jumps up into my arms and pushes her head against my chin. I scratch her ears with my hand.
"How did you survive out here little one?" I say but she only looks at me with those yellow eyes. It's nighttime now and I know the radscorpions will be on the prowl. I scan the horizons with my binoculars and I see a dust storm coming from the west. I make haste towards home but the storm overtakes me and I have to take shelter in a beaten old shack.
I wrestle a piece of old sheet metal across the door and the cat and I sit and wait. Eventually I fall asleep, my head resting on a leather suitcase, the cat on my chest purring. I wake in the night with a start and I can hear the telltale chittering of radscorpions outside, but we are safe in the shack. I peek out between the broken boards and I can see them encircling the hut.
I awake in the morning, the cat sleeping on my chest, and as I wake up she rubs her head on my chin as if to say "let's get going." I emerge from the shack and the radscorpions are gone, the only sign is the telltale trail they leave as they left, the imprints of many scorpid feet as they wandered off, searching for quarry elsewhere.
I had survived the night and I hoped Tee was safe and sound, and Archie too. Would she stay in the bomb shelter like I had told her? I walk towards home now, with the kitty trailing on my heels, she catches grasshoppers here and there and crunches them up.
Survivors gather together. It's the way of the wastes, if you see a friendly face, you stick to it. I wonder why the man in the gas station had killed himself, was he lonely, or a junkie without a fix? Maybe he had just needed water, or maybe, he couldn't escape from there with the ghouls around. I don't know but I wonder anyway. Was he a good man, a bad man? You can never tell just from looking at a corpse. I had seen one too many in my life.
Welcome to the wasteland.
Several hours later I'm at the station. Inside is chaos, overturned desks, rusty shelving in piles, and I pick up a pack of cigarettes from the ground as I head towards the basement. There's a giant rat in the stairwell, the size of a dog, munching on a box of sugar bomb cereal. It looks at me and growls and hisses, and I take out my 10mm pistol and I shoot at it but it darts away into the shadows. I hear it hissing vehemently as I step downwards into the darkness, but I'm through the basement door before it can retaliate.
I shine my flashlight around. Someone had been living here, long ago. There's empty boxes of food and bottles of water next to a cot in the corner. There's a dried up corpse there on cot, with a six shooter in its dessicated hand, and a stain on the wall where the person must have blown out their own brains. Something moves in the shadows and as I turn and get a glimpse of some small animal disappear out of a broken basement window. I poke around and find a box of freeze dried coffee and shove it in my pack.
I hear sounds now from the first level, footsteps. I make my way silently to the door and I can see at the top of the stairs a ghoul, it's face burned by the sun, it's flesh hanging off it in strips, probably attracted by the gunfire. I close the door and lock it just before it throws itself down the stairway at me and hits the door with a thud. I hear it now, sniffing, and the rat hissing, and there's a squabble and the scream of a ghoul making a kill.
I see several shadows pass the window and soon I hear more ruckus up above, crashing, smashing and snarling. A small animal darts in the window and into a dark corner.
I shake my head. It's always something in the wasteland. I decide to wait and see if things quieted down.
A small cat with ginger colored fur emerges from the shadows as I push the body off the cot and sit down. She meows plaintiffly, her tail slowly twitching left, then right.
"Hey little one. I bet your thirsty?" and I notice the bowl next to the cot. I pour some water in it and she drinks it down. She puts her little paws on my leg and stretches and purrs.
"You're friendly.. Looks like your owner didn't survive though." I slowly reach foreward and she shoves her head up against my gloved hand.
"Looks like we'll be here for awhile." she jumps into my lap and curls up, looking up at me with big yellow eyes. She startles as there's another crash from up above and she leaps away, her fur on end.
We wait together for several hours and things quiet down up above.
"It's time for me to go. Think it's safe girl?" I whisper and I quietly crack the basement door and look up into the light. All that's left of the ghouls is a rat corpse glistening in the light of my torch, eaten to the bone, not a shred of flesh left on it. I ease my way up the stairs, wincing at the sound of the creaking wooden steps, but the gas station is empty except for me and the cat. It's getting dark out and I don't want to travel in the night, with the radscorpions on the prowl. I had to get back to Tee, I know she would be scared if I didn't come home.
I stand in the doorway and look out over the nuked town. I take out my geiger counter and take a reading. It clicks madly and I know the place is irradiated as hell. Things are quiet, except for a distant scream, a ghoul making another kill.
I take two steps out the door and something lands heavily on my back and I fall forward on my face. It bites into the back of my neck and I yell, flipping over and throwing the ghoul off of me. I stand quickly but it lunges at me and I'm down again, wrestling with what once was a human being. It screams and I bash it in the head with my geiger counter as hard as I can. It goes limp and I push off myself and stand up. It's a pitiful creature, missing an eye and its nose, and I stomp hard on it's head and it splushes into a pile of goo.
I make my way hastily away from there, away from the town and its denizens. Soon I am in the wasteland again, dust in every direction and my heart beat slows down. The cat has followed me. She looks up at me and lets out a quiet meow. She jumps up into my arms and pushes her head against my chin. I scratch her ears with my hand.
"How did you survive out here little one?" I say but she only looks at me with those yellow eyes. It's nighttime now and I know the radscorpions will be on the prowl. I scan the horizons with my binoculars and I see a dust storm coming from the west. I make haste towards home but the storm overtakes me and I have to take shelter in a beaten old shack.
I wrestle a piece of old sheet metal across the door and the cat and I sit and wait. Eventually I fall asleep, my head resting on a leather suitcase, the cat on my chest purring. I wake in the night with a start and I can hear the telltale chittering of radscorpions outside, but we are safe in the shack. I peek out between the broken boards and I can see them encircling the hut.
I awake in the morning, the cat sleeping on my chest, and as I wake up she rubs her head on my chin as if to say "let's get going." I emerge from the shack and the radscorpions are gone, the only sign is the telltale trail they leave as they left, the imprints of many scorpid feet as they wandered off, searching for quarry elsewhere.
I had survived the night and I hoped Tee was safe and sound, and Archie too. Would she stay in the bomb shelter like I had told her? I walk towards home now, with the kitty trailing on my heels, she catches grasshoppers here and there and crunches them up.
Survivors gather together. It's the way of the wastes, if you see a friendly face, you stick to it. I wonder why the man in the gas station had killed himself, was he lonely, or a junkie without a fix? Maybe he had just needed water, or maybe, he couldn't escape from there with the ghouls around. I don't know but I wonder anyway. Was he a good man, a bad man? You can never tell just from looking at a corpse. I had seen one too many in my life.
Welcome to the wasteland.
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