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Post by B on Aug 21, 2010 1:00:07 GMT -5
Through the halls, it was the same noise every day, every hour. Thunk, thunk, clump-clump... Some security guard barking out orders for two to stop arguing. Security barking more orders at the at the protesters who live in denial. "The systems aren't dying" they said, "Leaving the Vault is suicide". Despite the fluctuating power system, the outage last week, or even the fact that some people's food systems died. Eventually their wastes became just that, waste... We're having trouble recycling food and drink, and very soon there will be none to eat, none to drink. The Overseer, Marshal Paxton was quick to realize this threat and acted accordingly. He ordered that a small group will exit out into the wasteland and obtain the equipment needed to repair their ever-decaying equipment. The Overseers best suggestion was to get the material from another Vault. The issue to their plan was that the Vault door was jammed and was deemed unrepairable. Many of the inhabitants who favored the expedition suspected foul play amongst the protesters but the Overseer would not allow such squabbles. For the last 3 years, the citizens of Vault 14 labored a tunnel through the side of the vault. Every citizen was to work with the exception of some security staff and Overseer Paxton. It is now the morning on the ever where they will break the seal that has bound them for so many years.
A very pretty woman walked out from the open door. In her hand was a warm meal of of some kind of meat and some kind of vegetables. In the other hand was another plate of food, with different foods, it looked like the replication of a seafood and fruit. She placed them on the Overseers desk. A man sat behind the desk. His hair grayed and cheeks withered. He had a very kind expression on his face, however. "Thank you Elissa." The blond woman bowed and turned away. The 14 symbol on the back of the blue jumpsuit was nothing new. Everybody wore them with the exception of little pieces added to it. Maybe a jacket... Maybe body armor, maybe a hole or two... Added dirt? "Mr. Paxton." It was the voice of Head Security, Jacob Finch. The Overseer picked his head up. The African American set out a few clip boards. Instead of letting the Overseer read the news on the forms, like always, Finch spoke of what was on them as the Overseer pretended like he was reading it. "The science team suspects that we should be hitting the top very soon. The ground is getting stronger and warmer." The Overseer rubbed his hands together. "Good, good!" Finch gave a single slow nod and continued with the news. "There is issues, though... Apparently many of the citizens are getting sick. The medical team believe it to be a reaction to the ground. They are certain that the Vault was not supplied with normal oxygen." Overseer cocked his head for a second, thinking of what he means. "Of course! It must be the radiation in the dirt, you were told of what the risks were." "That's what the medical team originally thought but the science team are sure that there is too little radiation packed in the dirt to cause the sickness that it is. In fact, they said they have such a small medical base is because nobody really gets sick... They came to the con-" "Wait-wait..." He took a bit of the meat and spat it out. "Horrible!" He spat a few times at the dish and pushed it away. "I have lost my appetite." He wiped his mouth with a white towel that was by his desk the whole time. A blue "14" was imprinted on it. Finch stood there obediently, awaiting the Overseer to notice him again, when the man did he spun his hand around like a tape recorder, basically meaning to continue. "Right, well they believe that our immunity systems... I believe that's what they called it... That they are weak. And if we sent people out now they will surely catch many diseases and will die." The Overseer understood those words well. Basically saying that sending people out was suicide. He growled. "are you saying we are to stay here and die slowly!? Are you saying that these last 3 years were a waste!?" Finch didn't flinch (lol) at his sudden outburst, he was very calm. "No, sir. The medical team have said that they will administer intensive antibiotics and treatment on all of those that are to be in the field. But..." The door opened and a man wearing a lab coat continued. "But I'm afraid we cannot break the ground barrier until that hole is sealed. The only people that can break it are the chosen. If we break it now the old air will shower into the Vault. We all risk infection, disease, virus, and death." The Overseer rubbed his stubbled chin. "What will you have us do, Dr. Padowask?" The doctor was a young man. The GOAT rightfully put him in the Medical division. He quickly became the head of it by curing a man's strange cough. Despite the lack of work, he studied well of the affects that the medical mainframe had on old diseases. He also figured in the effects the radiation would have on those diseases and multiplied accordingly. Then added in their weakened immune system and multiplied yet again. The result was not comforting. "Get your team to my office as soon as you can. I've decided to use the broken water purifier tank as an antibiotic shower of sorts. Every member will sustain a 3 hour antibiotic shower then will be administered cells from deceased members of Vault 14. If in fact they have carried these diseases before it should mean their white blood cells have a memory of it. If we transfer these dead cells, the member's own white blood cells were record the data of the old. Hopefully with this and the antibiotics they should gain a strong enough immunity to survive. I cannot guarantee that it will stop all disease." The Overseer only understood a little of what he was saying, but the fact that he had a method of bringing their guys out there was enough to make him approve the project. It was today that Vault 14 would leave. Today.
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Post by D on Aug 21, 2010 22:56:34 GMT -5
To believe that the three long years began with an explosion. She remembered that explosion so vividly because it had been near her classroom. Yes, she was a teacher back then, but not now. All the children were too old to teach now. She supposed that after the GOAT they went to learn by apprenticeship, but she wasn’t quite sure because she didn’t exactly have anyone to teach after. Perhaps she did and never noticed, but the teacher didn’t care too much because she knew that when the children, she had taught, brought their own children into the world, she would be in the job. If she died before that happened, the overseer would know what to do.
They always did.
However, because of the recent problems, the teacher couldn’t help but be worried. Going out into the Wasteland? Not being able to fix anything inside? She never voiced her opinion on it and remained silent, but she thought the plan of going outside was ridiculous. She heard that there was still radiation and deadly animals. The thought of going outside frightened her and because of her thoughts she had hesitated much while digging that tunnel. As a result, she was punished accordingly, but she held no hatred against her punishers or the overseer. How could she? He was doing what he knew was best. Somehow those punishments, which she couldn’t remember all to well, lead to her making a decision against her old thoughts. It was as if they had brought some sort of enlightenment to her in those three long years.
She remembered the overseer asking for people to venture out to get the supplies and at that point, her hand shot up. “I will go.” She said and the overseer entered her name on the list, Janica Klimt. Her ancestors were Austrians and she kept their peachy skin. From her mother she gained her grayish blue eyes and from her father she was given straight brunette hair. Over the years, her hair grew long and although she didn’t need it, somewhere along the way she wore glasses. She hated long hair, but she never wanted to cut it due to the unappealing hairstyle choices and she never really cared to research for better ones so she braided her hair and threw it over one of her shoulders. The glasses she wore were ones that covered much of her face with large frames. The glasses along with her abnormally large vault jumpsuit, attained when they ran out of her size and a fatass died, gave her an unattractive look. Her tall height didn’t help all that much either.
Had she not been given her teaching job by the goat, she probably would have ended in maintenance because according to almost all, she was extremely unattractive. Outside of teaching, the woman didn’t talk so much to others and she lived alone in her own room. The woman never had a romantic interest and never thought about having children either. Those of her generation criticized and ridiculed her, and those of the most recent generation were trained to never be like her, but Janica didn’t care for the words and continued on with her job as a teacher.
She wasn’t one capable of hatred.
However, she still wished to lessen the talk about her. As much as she wanted to pretend like it didn’t hurt, she knew it did and somewhere along the way the guards convinced her that going outside would be the way to do so. They might have done other things too, but the Janica couldn’t remember. She was far too tired and honestly, didn’t care whether if she remembered or not. Her goal, which was very simple, was to teach. Perhaps it was because she was stuck in a vault that she thought that the jobs of pre-war teachers were exciting, or maybe it was because of her distance from everyone else caused the awkwardness to seep into her mind. Whatever the reason was, she hoped to lessen the talk and then kill time so she could come back to teaching…
“Ms. Klimt…” A voice accompanied by a knocking noise on her room’s door sounded and Janica’s eyes widened. Was it time already? The teacher had wasted her time by reminiscing on her past. She looked around for her sack and when she found it she headed for the door. The door slid open and a security guard, disgusted by her appearance, met her. “You are to report to Dr. Padowask first.” Janica nodded and slowly made her way to the vault’s medical center. Although she had lived all her life in the vault, she felt that its halls were unfamiliar. Navigating through them was a slight challenge, but the teacher eventually made it to the lab. As usual, she was the last to come because of her trouble to navigate the place and because of how they had called everyone to get the shower. All of the others seemed to be waiting at the overseer’s office.
Janica entered the medbay and too her surprise saw three people, the head doctor and two others. Not used to really seeing the medical team, she felt nervous. “Am I supposed to step in the tube?” She asked. One of the people told her to and just as she was to step inside they stopped her. “…my clothes…?” Janica frowned. Extremely uncomfortable, she slowly undid her hair and took off her glasses. “Please don’t tell anyone…” She asked, worried that more terrible news about her would spread. She continued on to strip off her clothes and the cold air of the vault gently hugged her skin. She covered the areas necessary of being covered and frowned more at the fact that these people were seeing her body. Janica felt ugly.
However, without the large glasses and the oversized suit her features were revealed to the three people in the room. Previously the glasses had covered the fact that her face had high cheekbones and they drew away from the oval shape of her face. Without the glasses, her features like her nose and eyes were now proportional to her and had lost the appearance of being small as hell. To finish it off her lips were full. She seemed more natural and youthful. As for her body, the suit had covered her slim build. Had Janica magically switched bodies with one of the people on the medical team, she would have been surprised by the beauty given to her and also by the bad luck that covered all of it.
“Please get it over with.” Janica begged and she stepped into the tube. For three hours she was drenched in disgusting water and for three hours of her life, she was the most ashamed of herself. Although there were only three people, she still wanted to cry and fighting that urge was hard. She felt as if the whole time, their disapproving eyes were on her and she dreaded every moment of it. Finally, it was done and she quickly changed back into her clothes, pulled on the glasses out of habit and headed out. On the way to the Overseer’s office she braided her hair again and there at the office, she was told what to do along with the others. When asked questioned, she couldn’t bring herself to asked any of the many questions she had. Her embarrassment still lingered on her thoughts and they were so heavy that she remained distracted until they reached the tunnel.
Behind the group of six, the vault dwellers successfully sealed the vault from the tunnel and as soon as that was done, they dug their way out. When they broke the surface what they found was darkness. It was a little strange at first and some of the group questioned out loud, but when Padowask crawled into the darkness, others followed. Surprisingly, after some minutes or so they climbed out of a window of a toppled building and into the sunlight. Janica shielded her eyes from the sun’s rays and looked around at the once magnificent New York. She had forgotten that this was were the vault was created. Seeing the shadows of a gigantic pre-war city made her sad, and it scared her more that even a great city, according to books, fell.
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Post by B on Aug 21, 2010 23:42:42 GMT -5
Padowask stood with two others and watched as five people went into the machine. He hadn't seen many people naked in his life and he hadn't had much of a pubescent teenager. Surprisingly he was very professional. He noted something in his pip-boy but that was about it. "All done Miss Klim...tuh? Stop me if I'm pronouncing it wrong." She didn't really respond. She quickly left the tube, grabbed her jump suit and quickened off to dress. He raised his eyebrows and shrugged as the door closed behind. She was obviously very self conscious. Why? she was beautiful. Of course, he's too involved shifting through old medical data to learn the latest gossip. He's one of the few in the medical profession here that actually took it seriously. "Right." He said spontaneously. The other two looked up curiously. "Ready the tube. I'm going." "Uhh..." A blond boy, one of the newer ones assigned to the job from the G.O.A.T. "But doctor, you were never added to the list." "Did you check the list, boy? Nobody in that group has any medical knowledge. It is a list full of people volunteers. It wasn't put together tactfully." He began stripping off his clothes. "Andrew, go inform the Overseer that I will be participating. Gerard, begin the cleansing." He stepped in and undergone the same treatment as the group.
The Overseer had his hands folded. The five were sitting in leather couches arranged by the overseers desk. They had no idea what they were waiting for and the Overseer himself looked impatient and annoyed. Finally after three or so hours the door slid open and in came Padowask, in his doctor's coat and underneath you could see security body armor. His hair was wet. "Right, then. Overseer, I believe we're ready." The man wasted no time. The group were sent to the cave system and the security used blow torches and thick leftover metal to seal the gap. They will not be able to get back in from that way. One of their other directives was to locate and find the reason for the vault door being jammed and to fix it from that side. Padowask started at the back of the group, not as bulky as a few of the males, he let them do the strenuous work. Finally they broke through, but still darkness. Everyone was taken aback. Padowask was the first to regain from the alarm. He pushed past the others and pulled himself out into a room. Everything was on its side. It didn't take long to notice that the whole room was on the wrong side. The door was above them. They had to use furniture as a makeshift stairway to reach the top. Then out through a hole in the hallway. Finally, daylight. Padowask glanced a smile at the ruins. Many buildings were still standing. A few leaning against each other. The fabled Empire State Building still stood tall among the wreckage, though was very badly beaten. The skies were a yellowish-blue. "Amazing... Simply... Amazing." He marveled. He rubbed his scruffed chin. He took a deep breath. The air didn't seem bad, he wasn't coughing, he wasn't in agony. Either his treatment worked or there was no danger that he and the science department theorized. "Smell that? Doesn't smell much different from the vault, eh? Radiation-free air!" There was an odd stench. But it definitely wasn't deemed harmful. A few of the people relaxed. "Right, then. Lets find out way off this building and into the area over there." He pointed to the park... A radiated lake and burnt trees lay in it. Soon they will touch the Earth, one or two of them believing that they are the first since the war. That everybody else was dead. Medical bag around his arm he began walking, carefully. The windows were everywhere and all of them were broken. They could fall to any of the rooms easily.
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Post by D on Aug 25, 2010 1:08:34 GMT -5
And so the group climbed from the building. For some it was hard, but surprisingly for Janica it was quite easy, even though she was frightened by heights. When they hit the ground, the assigned navigator of the group was quick to point out which direction to head and of course, everyone else followed. If it hadn’t been for the sack of food she was helping carry then the two hours of walking would have felt a lot shorter. It was a little after the two hour mark, shown on their pip boys, that something eventful happened and unfortunately it wasn’t good.
It began with the sound of rumbling and a machine stalling, but what followed next was frightening. A scream of laughter drowned out a poor vault dweller’s cry for help while the same rumbling from earlier was muffled by the noise of ripping flesh and grinding bone. The blood seemed to explode from the victim and had quite a splash zone. Unfortunately for Padowask, he was within that zone, but what was worst was what emerged from the center of that bloody pool.
He hunched over the corpse and slowly lifted the chainsaw to steady himself. The metal visor, resembling a welding mask, was covered in blood, and just about his whole person was dripping with the poor vault dweller’s red liquid. Using one hand, he wiped blood from his mask’s viewing glass and then he raised that one hand in the air.
From the fallen buildings, raiders charged. Another vault dweller, closest to one of the raider hiding places, quickly found a chain wrapped around his neck. Without time to react, two raiders pulled him back and dragged him on the ground. They ran and rushed between two poles, which they knew that the vault dweller wouldn’t fit through. Still, they continued to pull at their victim until the victim turned as blue as his jumpsuit and when blood began to ooze from under the chain.
While all this happened, Janica ran back the way she had come. Confused and frightened, the schoolteacher couldn’t think of anything other than retreat, but her retreat proved unsuccessful when a raider grabbed hold of her braid and pulled it back. She fell flat on her ass and quickly rolled over before attempting to crawl away, but as quick as she reacted, she collapsed suddenly under the raider’s weight. While putting his weight on her, he forcibly turned her around and began to claw at her clothes. Janica scratched and slapped him, trying to keep his hands away, but as a result she received a backhand that knocked her glasses off of her face. It was then that she started to scream for help.
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Post by B on Aug 28, 2010 21:56:07 GMT -5
When the events began, Padowask was just as surprised as the others. They seemed human but something was off... Oh yeah, the explosion of blood that engulfed Padowask was one bit of evidence. Padowask seemed to disappear behind the red mist, not to be seen for quite a bit of the battle. Hearing screams for help back the way they came, Padowask had intended on following the lone comrade. The other two will be okay, the security guard seemed to be keeping the raiders at bay with his 10mm pistol. Who knows where he got it, maybe off of a raider, maybe lying randomly on the ground, but Padowask found himself in possession of a metal baseball bat. Within the ruins, it wasn't difficult to spot the blue jumpsuit and the creep that mounted it. Padowask knew this action, as well as everybody else in the vault. It was called rape. Even vault citizens knew lust. Twirling the bat, Padowask ran forward and delivered a blow to the raider's rib sending him falling over in pain on the side of Janica. Padowask was quite surprised he was able to deliver a blow as strong as that but really anybody could hit hard with a metal bat. "Janica, come, hurry!" He called to her, holding out his hand to help her up. More gunshots from the distance. Were the other two okay? Padowask wasn't intent on going after them, there were quite a few of these... People? Out there. They could be going into hell just to find two corpses, they had to get out now. "Lets go, we need to leave them or we'll die."
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Post by D on Aug 29, 2010 0:44:26 GMT -5
Her mind went blank and at this point, she wasn’t even aware that she was still screaming. The next thing she knew, the kind doctor had hit the Raider off of her and before she knew it, he grabbed hold of her hand. Her face was wet with tears and the expression of pure fear was still apparent. She couldn’t bring herself to speak and didn’t respond all the much to the doctor. For a brief moment, she didn’t move, but after a tug, her legs started to run.
What was happening? Why did this happen?
Janica wasn’t sure how long they ran for or what had even happened. She remembered a few bits and pieces but even if put together she would never know. It was perhaps better this way that she didn’t. Having been stuck in an almost perfect society for so long and then suddenly being thrust into a wasteland, she went into complete shock. As a result, it made the travel for the two vault dwellers completely quiet. No words were exchanged and even if he tried, she wouldn’t respond. Luckily for them, nothing proved to be threatening and eventually, by the same luck, they found a settlement called Queens.
It was a mid-sized settlement surrounded by an impressive fence and gate. From the outside of the settlement one could see the guards at the walls and a few stationed at its gate. When the two vault dwellers approached the guards let them in without much word, but with watchful eyes. Upon and the place, one of the two, whoever was first to notice, saw that the place was… complex. Guards walked around along side all types of people. Some were diseased, others were naked, and more others were doing things that shouldn’t be named. Because the guards seemed the most reliable at the time, they were asked about a place to stay and in turn, the vault dwellers received a rather appropriate answer.
“Ask the queen, betch.”
Without another option, Janica nodded and followed the street signs to the Queen’s Lair. At this point, she was quite responsive and no longer needed Padowask’s help. She was quite aware that the settlement she had walked into was quite strange. At this point, her initial shock had faded slightly, but the environment she found herself in had given her a reason to remain silent. People, not only men, were complimenting her and well, she wasn’t used to compliments. She also was definitely not used to being advanced on. These strange encounters only caused her to quicken her pace toward the Queen’s Lair.
By the way, where did her glasses go?
When she made to the Queen’s Lair’s door, the guards, like the one at the main gate, let her in, and Padowask, if he followed. Upon entering the place, she was quick to note that the building was normal, for lack of a better word. For the most part it was like the settlement around it. Naked people there, furniture here and there, and other things, but for the part not included in the most part, Janica saw that a few questionable toys were spread around. Some places looked like a torture chamber for fun and the school teacher didn’t know what to make out of those parts. It creeped her out and gave her a reason to move on. Finally, she made it to the ‘throne room.’ A woman, who Janica assumed was the leader of this…great… place, sat on a chair behind a table.
The woman, or man, Janica couldn’t tell, had a short and ugly black hair that looked to be cut by a dull blade. It also seemed as if the woman had sat there for ages because of the impressive gut. She wasn’t exactly the cleanest looking person either for her skin had smudges of dirt but Janica knew that this was the wasteland. The queen wore half a shirt covering boobs that weren’t well-supported and some loose pants. Over her shirt, she had a coat of some sort and had matching pairs of gloves on, both with the letter Q on them. Normally, Janica also wasn’t one to judge, but the Queen was just a little bit revolting in her eyes and so she lowered her head to avoid staring at the woman any longer.
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Post by B on Aug 29, 2010 1:18:22 GMT -5
They just ran... and ran... and ran... Until they couldn't run any longer. Street corner after street corner. Crumbling building after crumbling building. Just how big was this city? He gasped for air as he looked into his PipBoy. It was mapping the terrain as they walked ever second. Not by a far radius but it was better than nothing. He didn't bother to speak to Janica. He's read over trauma and the look it gives. She was experiencing it. If he wasn't a level headed guy, he would be too what with a comrade's guts still hanging off his coat.
"Look... A fence... It looks like a civilization." Padowask stated, pointing to the fenced in area with armed guards walking along the side. Janica didn't say anything as expected. They continued in, the guards didn't say a word, just eyed them. What came after was awkward, naked people, sick people, people who went on waxing themselves furiously. This reminded Padowask of an incident in the Vault. One of the families had never heard of masturbation, caught their teenage son doing it and raised an outrage. The locals out here didn't seem too disturbed about it, though. Soon enough, they had to ask for direction, Padowask had asked one of the guards for a place to stay, he gave them their answer while teaching him the lingo. Padowask looked questionably at Janica then they continued on.
On the way into the "throne room", Padowask lightly nudged aside what looked like a fake rubber version of male genitalia, why anybody would turn that into art was a question he could not answer. There also seemed to be a young couple in the corner performing in a sexual act, upon further inspection they were both male. Yet again there was a similar incident involving two of the populace in the Vault. The Overseer actually considered imprisoning the two until Padowask went in-depth about hormones. When they saw the queen, Padowask had many questions... Most of them were about her. They stepped up and she immediately spoke up. "Who da fuck are ya'll!?" Padowask was quick to speak for the both of them. "Erm! I beg your pardon, miss. We are betches from the Vault of 14." A grin quickly took place on her face as he continued. "We ask for your hospitality this day so that we might rest." "Da fuck you say?" A man standing next to her, no shirt but pants leaned over and whispered something in her ear. "Oh, oh..." She stared at the two for a few and then stared at Janica longer. her eyes going down... Then up... Then down where it stayed. "I tell you what... She flash me dat ass... And you can stay here in mah crib." "Uhm..." Padowask questionably turned to Janica whose expression was in no way welcome to the idea. His intelligent mind worked quick to think of another solution. "If I may make a counter offer... You have sick and wounded outside. We will be here for probably many days. If I agree to help them then-" "Fuck no! I want dat fucking ass!" The shirtless man leaned in again and began whispering, she pushed her head back. "What? Fuck you!" He leaned in closer and whispered again, her expression changed again. "Aiiiight... But if you don't do nothin' we gonna kick you out naked." "Thank you ma'am." He said with a bow and hurried himself and Janica out. The adviser from earlier followed them out. "Hello." He said and Padowask gave him a nod. "I don't know what you said to her, stranger, but thank you." The adviser gave a nod. "If you will please follow me to our doctor's office, you can get started getting rid of this disease that seems to be spreading. We've already had to quarantine half our town. It didn't work. It's spreading slower but most of our equipment are in the north end and our doctor was killed... Welcome to Queens." They followed him along, well, Padowask did, he wasn't sure what Janica had planned.
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Post by D on Aug 29, 2010 1:54:46 GMT -5
Janica looked up at Padowask and her eye slightly twitched. The doctor was a kind man, but that just had to be the stupidest thing he’s ever said. Not being the type of person to outwardly express her feelings, she looked away once again and simply listened to what could be a train wreck of doom. Had she stayed looking up and at the disgusting queen, she would have barfed on the spot, and maybe twice, if she had caught the queen looking at her. By the way the conversation went, Janica felt extremely sick and was glad to be hurried out by Padowask.
Unsure of what to do next, she followed the buffed out man and Padowask to the doctor’s office. She wasn’t for the medical field, but because she was a teacher, and had once had lots of time on her hands, she could be of some use. Another reason would be so that she wouldn’t be alone in this strange settlement and also because she didn’t know what to do. For now, Padowask seemed to be the man with a plan and perhaps later, they could leave.
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Post by B on Sept 3, 2010 22:58:24 GMT -5
Padowask was led to their "new medical room". It was about the size of a large closet and instead of a bed there was a leather chair, nothing for the doctor to sit in. "Right, I'll need an sick individual, latex gloves, and a mask to start, please." The adviser seemed as if he was about to laugh before pointing to a small end table which had various instruments. What seemed to be a broken stethoscope, a pair of rusted pliers, a knife with dried blood rusted on it, a syringe which had likely been used several times, and what seemed to be heavy duty construction gloves. "Um... Okay... Could you please get me a patient Mr...?" "Ericson." "Nice to meet you Ericson, just call me Dr. Padowask." "...Sure Doctor." With that he left and turned to Janica. "You were a teacher, correct? You should know enough about the medical field. If you would help me I would be grateful. Please stand by the table... Whatever you do don't poke yourself on any of the instruments."
2 hours later... Using very little of the instruments, Padowask had spent his time examining a young woman. She had clothes on and seemed to have only recently gotten sick with the disease. Occasionally Padowask would ask for Janica's opinion on something, the woman didn't speak but would occasionally reply with a nod or shrug. Eventually it was quite clear to Padowask what the issue was. He had gotten in contact with Ericson again. Explaining that it was radiation poisoning, contact with the skin was enough to rub the infection off, but then again Padowask wasn't surprised due to how much sex goes on here. "If it's from radiation I should be able to clear it with some Rad-Away and some anti-mutagens." "I don't know about anti-mutagens but the doctor had a good supply of Rad-Away and Stimpacks, but they're in the north end, you'll have to get in there and get them. There are still many infected people who aren't happy about being locked in, also there seems to be an infestation of Mole Rats." "Mole Ra-a-a-ats?" The doctor hesitated during the word. He knew what rats were but sadly the only thing he learned from them was the diseases they carried. They were creatures of doom in his book. "You must really be from a Vault... They're big hairless rats that want to eat you. You're gonna need a gun, both of you." Ericson pointed to a small shop that had a poorly drawn gun on it. "Just go over there and tell Daniels that you're gonna solve our problem. He should supply you with a fresh 10mm." "Wait... Why do we have to go? Why can't you go?" "You're from a Vault. You need to learn... That and we've been getting hit by raiders lately... We can't afford to drop the guard." "Raiders?" "They're crazy people." Padowask laughed at the man's hypocrisy, has he seen this town!? He stayed quiet though and continued listening. "They wear trash and repair broken weapons to kill people and merchants to take their stuff." Padowask nodded, that was likely what they experienced earlier. "O-okay... We'll get the guns..." Ericson left and Padowask looked at Janica. "Will you come with me?... I'm nervous about doing this alone." He said straight out. He was smart but it was obvious that he wasn't a fighter. At least he was brave despite that.
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Post by D on Sept 3, 2010 23:51:26 GMT -5
They were led into the medical room and even to Janica, who normally tried to be kind, thought that the room was laughable. The place looked absolutely ridiculous and the medical equipment was disgusting. No wonder the other doctor died… Shaking off these negative thoughts, she looked to Padowask, waiting for any instruction. Once she received some she would gently nod and finally, she walked over to the table.
For two hours, she watched Padowask do his work and occasionally she would nod or shrug to his questions. The questions, in her opinion, weren’t necessary at all, but she believed that he asked them so he knew that he wasn’t quite alone. In a strange world, it would be extremely difficult to feel that loneliness, but she figured that it wasn’t all that different than her life in the vault. Perhaps this world wasn’t so different after all… Eventually, Ericson came back and the doctor explained about what was happening to the people. Considering that she had been a vault dweller all her life, and not in the medical field, she was surprised that this was what radiation poisoning could do. Some of it was disfiguring and another part of it was just extremely unfortunate. If she could do anything then she would and luckily for her, an opportunity presented itself.
According to the kind doctor, they could be cured with the help of Rad-Away and she was ready to jump in, but instead of rushing in, she took the time to pay attention to the other details. Mole Rats and angry infected people? Her reaction to the two potential threats was quieter and she simply made a face of worry. If they were talking about a pre-war mole rat then she had nothing to fear, but from the way Ericson had said it, she doubt that they were still the same.
Slowly and hesitantly, she nodded her head at what Ericson suggested. Without asking much more, she headed over to the door and to Padowask, she guessed, it seemed as if she was leaving him. He asked her to accompany him and of course she nodded. The challenges that she would face in this little mission frightened her, but this town frightened her more. She didn’t want to be stuck in such a place alone and she believed that Padowask was the same way.
Janica, deciding not to waste any more time, walked toward the weapon store with Padowask and allowed him to do the talking. They received their handguns, which looked a lot like the ones in the vault, and twenty bullets each. She never shot a gun in her life and when the shop owner saw that, he carefully instructed her on how to use it. She listened intently on the instructions and after that short briefing, Padowask led the way to wherever they were going.
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Post by B on Sept 5, 2010 20:37:09 GMT -5
Padowask followed towards Janica to the gun shop. The owner was a male, seemed to sound flirtatious with the good doctor. Padowask played it cool, though, took it as compliments but nothing more and received the weapons. He handed one to Janica who seemed to be just as confused with it as he was. Then they were shown how to use it, one of the gentlemen at the left snickering at their inexperience, and then the two left. "Okay... Take a deep breath." He said and did so. There was a large wall separating the two districts. A metal gate was locked, a guard in front got the key ready as they approached. The guard nodded and unlocked it. "Good luck." He said with a snicker. Padowask and Janica entered, the guard just told them to yell for them when they got the supplies. Padowask nodded and the door was closed and locked behind them. The area around was desolate with the exception of the few bodies that littered the road. Were the people inside their homes dying? Some bulgy creature moved out into the road and began chewing on one of the bodies. Padowask shook his head. "I don't know... If we should do this... They didn't even tell us where the office is... None of these places look sanitary enough to be called a hospital." He groaned slightly and tried to move off on a side street, which actually was part of a street, the concrete were broken up and slight faded yellow lines marked intersections in the prewar times. The two vault dwellers began down the alleyway until two of the hairless creatures protruded from a building and charged the two. Both dwellers raised their guns and shot. The creatures fell quickly to the punishment. Padowask looked at the gun in amazement and regained enthusiasm. "Well... Shooting a gun isn't so hard." He said confidently then moved toward to inspect the creatures, instantly going for the mouth. He raised the skin until it revealed the razor teeth, a strange slime replaced saliva. "Interesting... This is a theory but it's possible that the infection started with a bite from one of these rats. Then, through contact and intercourse the disease transferred on." Some coughing could be heard coming from a building nearby. Padowask looked at Janica then back at the door of the make-shift building. "Come on." He told Janica and jogged towards the door and opened it. "Hello?" There was little answer. "Hello? Is anybody there?" There was more coughing and Padowask ran into what seemed to be a kitchen. A young woman was lying on the ground. She was extremely sick, that was easily noticed. Her eyes moved weakly to Padowask. The doctor knelt down beside her and checked her. "It's going to be okay. I'm going to get some medication and come back here. Hang in there until then." He stroked a crusty strand of hair out of her face and smiled. "Janica. I don't think we'll get much opposition from people here, but if we don't hurry they're going to die. I wouldn't doubt most are in the same position as she is." He stood up and began in a jog out the door, Janica likely following. They crossed the street and passed a Mole Rat who seemed not to care or notice the two. He was too busy gorging on one of the citizens. At the end of the street was a building with a painted red cross. That was pretty obvious. They moved for it and then noticed a group of mole rats running from behind. Not being stable enough with a gun to turn and shoot without tripping over his own foot, the doctor rejected the idea of fighting them just yet. He bursted through the hospital's door and waited for Janica to enter the slammed it shut. "Right, lets collect the supplies and then we'll deal with them. We can't leave here with the supplies until we've administered treatment to the people already here."
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Post by D on Sept 5, 2010 21:44:33 GMT -5
Janica felt the odd feeling that these people were expecting them to die, but he quickly shook it off once she stepped through the gates into the infected districts. The locked door behind them was anything but comforting, but she continued to move on. They walked through the streets, killed a mole rat, and finally met the first infected. The infected woman was quite sickly and she felt a bit of anger towards the Queen, but it passed quickly when Padowask ran off toward the streets again.
It didn’t take long for them to find the red cross building and once they were in, she left the doctor to search other rooms for the Rad-away. While searching she encountered a few notable things people wouldn’t miss: Rad-X, a few stimpacks, Rad-away, bobby pins (she didn’t know why she took these), and of course random ammunition. Why someone would keep ammunition in a hospital, she didn’t know, but she was able to carry all this in her trusty sack, along with the food from the vault.
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While looking, she found a peculiar holodisk: Billy:“Janet, you can’t kill him! Ishtin is my iguana!” Janet: “Damnit, Billy. I’m hungry! We wouldn’t be starving right now if we could just eat him!” Billy: “Janet…pleasssee… I love Ishtin! He’s a good boy! I swear!” Janet: “I swear to God, Billy, if you don’t shut the fuck up I’ll skewer you instead!
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Eventually, she found the room with all of the Rad-aways and stuffed as much as she could carry in her pockets and sack. It took her longer than she thought it would to find Dr. Padowask, but when she found him, they headed out through another door. The mole rats didn’t seem around, but while moving about, she accidently knocked over a trash bin. The sound attracted the moles from the front of the hospital and the vault dwellers were forced to fight in a mini battle between beast and man. It didn’t last long, but the vault dwellers emerged victorious with new experience.
For hours, the doctor used the rad-away on people and Janica would act as the pack mule. When the supplies ran low, she would run back to the hospital and then back to Padowask. Once they were finished she led the doctor back to the gate and she allowed him to signal to the guard to open. Once on the other side, she helped the doctor again with ‘healing’ the people and when they were done it was time to report back to Ericson.
Ericson didn’t seem all too pleased with the doctor’s work in the north, but his expression seemed to change at the news of the doctor’s work in the south district. It was then that Ericson granted the two vault dwellers a free night’s stay at their hotel. He gave them directions and Janica walked to the hotel. Luckily, she got her own room, and before she even realized how exhausted she was, she fell asleep.
Janica woke up the next day and heard some knocks on the metal door. She got up and readied herself for the day before answering the door. When she opened the door, she found that it was just the wind and quickly she forgot about it. For the beginning of her morning, she wandered around, looking for Padowask. She found him in the doctor’s office and with a piece of paper, she informed him that it was time to go.
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Post by B on Sept 5, 2010 22:40:54 GMT -5
Padowask spent the night requesting that sick members are brought in from the north district. Seeing that the vault dwellers were able to accomplish the goal, Ericson had it ordered. The mole rats were being removed and the sick members were coming to the south district. People were nervous but the signs of the disease were already beginning to fade. The Rad-Away was a stronger anti-mutagen than Padowask gave it credit for. It would take more than just one dose to cure them, though. To some of the more severe infections he was giving a second dose now. The woman from yesterday was sitting in the chair as the Rad-Away was pumping into her system. Padowask smiled as he leaned against the wall. "I see, Lupita. I'm glad to see you and your brother survived." "Hey... Thanks for... Well... Talking to me... Nobody has ever done that for someone... Well someone like-" The door could be heard opening nearby. Padowask leaned over to see Janica enter. "Janica! Good morning. Come on in." He beckoned. He must not have slept yet, had a lot of eye baggage. Despite that his senses and mind seemed as awake as ever. "Come, come. This is Lupita, the young lady you saw the other night. Her and her brother had both survived the poisoning thanks to your help. There's still so many people I need to heal." As he mumbled the last part, Lupita smiled at the woman. She still looked sickly but it was obvious she was very beautiful. "Thank you, Janica." As Padowask expected there was no reply from the other woman, however she did look at him as though she was ready to leave. Padowask's smile waned. "Look, Janica... There are only two of us. The others are dead. If we continue this we will both die. There is so much I can do here. Stay with me... Together we can help turn this town around, make it livable for Lupita and her brother. Make it livable for everyone who has a kind heart. What do you say?... Or express..." It almost seemed as if he were begging her to stay. An unknown land and somebody who isn't nearly as unknown as all these other people. Her leaving would be like leaving him alone to fend for himself.
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Post by D on Sept 5, 2010 23:24:54 GMT -5
Janica smiled Lupita and nodded her head. She was glad that Lupita and her brother were doing better. She was also glad to see a smile on Padowask’s face. Two people smiling around her was a rare case and it lightened her mood a bit, but it quickly ended when Padowask realized the news. He tried to persuade her to stay and he gave valid points, but she didn’t want to stay.
She didn’t believe that she had a place here and the atmosphere bothered her in this city. Janica still thought of herself as a teacher and as a teacher, she knew when teaching people was a lost cause. No one would care and she would only feel useless. Even though it was only one day, she believed that she had seen all she needed to see in the Queens settlement and as much as the world outside frightened her, she wanted to know more about it. Maybe it was all the pre-war stories she knew about or maybe the radiation left in the world made her crazy. Whatever it was that was leading her away from this place at the moment, she knew that she didn’t want to stay.
After deciding on what to do, she shook her head and for the first time in a long time, gave another person a hug. Janica pulled Padowask into an embrace to thank him and to tell him that she considered him a friend. If her feelings weren’t communicated in the hug, she wrote on the paper, telling them that she had to go. She would miss him and would worry about him, but she knew that despite his almost constant confusion, he could hold his own.
All that was left to question was herself and she wondered if she could survive…
She waved to Lupita and then to Padowask before exiting through the door. It didn’t take her too long to exit the city and after checking her pip boy, she continued heading toward the vault that the overseer had originally marked. Armed with a handgun and her trusty sack, she walked the wastelands with the yellow numbers fourteen on her back. (LOL rhymed).
On the pipboy, the vault didn’t seem so far, but the walking said other wise.
Somewhere along the way she had found a dead wastelander, but before doing anything, she checked if the wastelander was really dead. Janica poked the body with her boot and rolled it over, but not before poking it with a random stick she found. When she knew that it was safely dead, she knelt down and began to loot. From the body she picked up a hunting rifle, some more ammo, and as disgusting as it was, she stole the clothing to wear it. After she changed, she made a makeshift strap for the hunting rifle and swung the strap over her shoulder. Janica didn’t know how to use a rifle, but having an extra weapon seemed helpful and somewhere along the way she decided that she would take the time to learn.
Dressed in a more fitting outfit, she continued on her way to the other vault.
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Post by B on Sept 6, 2010 19:40:49 GMT -5
"Fuck you! We spend our days protecting your sorry ass and you wont spit up any ammunition!?" There were four men. Two of them were wearing gigantic pieces of armor, one of them didn't have a helmet on. Dark tousled hair and brown eyes. He had a strange looking rifle in his hands, the other had what anyone could tell was a minigun. "We will die without this ammo!" "No, you'll die with the ammo if you don't spit it up now!" The one without the mask shouted. The other two gentlemen were dirty and small compared to the other two, wastelanders that didn't look too different from the one Janica saw earlier. The soldier with the minigun quickly looked in the direction of a sound. "Hold on Greg. I heard someone." He spoke to his comrade and started walking in Janica's direction. "Come out, immediately." He said in the general direction. "I don't like surprises, I have an itchy trigger finger so you better obey." In response hands raised up from behind a rock and then a woman come out. "Ahh... I knew I had good ears. Come on over here, sweet heart." The man in the mask demanded. She did so and the one without the mask looked over at the other two as if they were planning something. "No, we don't know this woman!" One of the men said in defense and the other nodded in agreement. "Just hand over your ammo, we'll let you keep whatever you've got in your guns, okay?" The one in the mask said. The men finally gave in and handed over two small boxes. "You too, sweet heart... Wait... Let me." The one with the minigun balanced his gun in his right arm and with his left patted on Janica's hips until the small box of leftover 10mm rounds presented themselves. The soldier took it and nodded to her. "The Brotherhood of Steel appreciates your cooperation. All of you." The one in the mask stated and the other nodded. "You have a great day." With that the two walked away as if they were kings. The wastelanders looked at each other. "We will die!" One of them cried. "They say they come to help us but they keep taking our supplies!" The other growled and then looked at Janica. "Your skin is much too soft to be a wastelander. Are you from a Vault, or somethin'?"
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