Crying Wastes

[D]

The armored men frightened her and so she stepped out with her hands up. Janica was afraid and she couldn’t die right then and there. They questioned the wastelanders about whether or not she was with them, she would have spoken up if she had found her voice, but thank god that the armored men let the two offline. She couldn’t stand seeing death. As soon as armored men took the wastelanders’ ammo, the masked armored man went over and patted her hips until he found the rounds. Luckily for her, that was all they took and the left. Once it was clear she let out a sigh of relief and turned to the wastelanders.

For them it was easy for them to notice that she was from a vault and she knew that it was probably obvious, so she didn’t try to lie. Janica nodded and gave them an apologetic look. On the ground she wrote that she had to go and was sorry that she couldn’t do much to help them. One of the two didn’t seem all that happy, but then decided that they didn’t need to waste ammo on a mute bitch. She wasn’t sure why they were so angry about her being from a vault but she continued on.

It was nearing night and she had walked almost the whole day. By nightfall she was tired and aching all over. It was then on the horizon that she saw a brightly lit, large town. As she neared the town, she could hear busy noises of a sleepless place. It reminded her of the pictures that she had once seen of New York. Maybe this town was just as busy. She reached the place and was surprised to see that it wasn’t gated. Instead, armed men and robots patrolled the streets. The place had workers building up robots and other type of prewar things. Saws were buzzing here and hammers were clanking there. It wasn’t like prewar New York, but it seemed to be just as busy.

She walked through the streets, careful not to disturb anyone and not to bump into any of the guards, but it wasn’t long until a guard grabbed hold of her shoulder. “Halt.” He commanded. “State your business.” Janica turned around nervously and tried to signal to him that she was tired and needed a place to sleep. However, the guard didn’t understand and this time he shouted at her to state her business. Troubled, she tried again, but her efforts only proved to be an annoyance to him. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Speak up!”

[B]

He stood at a whopping 6'8. Dark pupils looking curiously around him at the lights, always the same curiosity locals here would notice of him. He's been here for a good few months now, people knew and respected him... Probably because they were afraid of what muscle and no brain could do. Some of the children like him. They would say he has a big heart to fit the big chest. There's a boxing ring in this town where some people could get in and kick ass, earn some caps from the audience. This tribal was a fan favorite as of late, undefeated and easy to manipulate. Despite his manager using him and only giving 10% of the winnings, the tribal had worked up a good 200 caps. There he stood with the bag of "shinies". He still doesn't understand what shops like them for, they're not even that shiny... Regardless he began his trek to the shops to use them on pretty things. On the way he passed a scene. A guard had a pretty lady in his grasp and she couldn't speak. The guard was getting angry but still she wouldn't speak. But wait... He can't really speak either, why is that guard about to hurt her? In a slight rage he walked over and yanked the guard off of her, effectively knocking him to his ass. The other removed a 10mm and aimed it at him.
"Now, Ulrich, take it easy now..."
"You! No hurt! Pretty lady!"
Janica was behind the shirtless brute, she couldn't even be seen with the exception of her legs.
"You... Go! Me go with lady! Lady no hurt!"
"Fine! Just piss off, Ulrich!"
The guard spouted as he picked himself off the pavement. Ulrich grabbed Janica's hand and pulled her away from the guards. When they were away from them Ulrich gave her a wide smile.
"Me, Ulrich. You.. Pretty lady. You no speak, me no think. We same. We friends. Me no let guard hurt you."
He said with a pound on his chest that actually sounded like he was banging on something hard.

[D]

Communication was proving to be difficult and even when she opened her mouth no sound seemed to come out. Janica could tell that it wouldn’t end well if the guard was angry, but she didn’t know how to fix it. Bracing herself for a possible hit, she closed her eyes, but suddenly she felt the guard’s grip on her disappear. She opened her eyes and to her surprise a tall man had thrown the guard down. The guard’s friend aimed a gun at the brute and unsure of what to really do, Janica took out her own 10 mm. They were in a faceoff and for a moment there was silence in the town.

Janica couldn’t communicate how she didn’t want to fight, but luckily, or unluckily (she couldn’t decide), the brute was defending her. His words were poorly formed and as a schoolteacher it bothered her that he talked in such a way, but she couldn’t pick the people who save her. Before she knew it, she was dragged away from the guards and when the massive man deemed they were safe, he gave her a very wide smile. He introduced himself and she smiled back. Unfortunately, when she tried to show him her name he didn’t seem to understand. This would be bothersome.

She smiled at him against and gave him a nod of thanks for what he had done earlier. Having exhausted her adrenaline, Janica was feeling more tired than ever and decided to ask for a place to sleep. At first she pretended to have a pillow to her head, but he didn’t understand it, so she moved on to another motion. Janica gave out a false yawn and covered her mouth. It was then that she noticed the light of understanding in his eyes.

Sometime later, she found herself at this settlement’s equivalent of a hotel. The owner, or whoever ran the place talked about Ulrich winning caps and then winked at her, after calling her “Ulrich’s special lady friend.” They were then given a key to a room for free and were quickly ushered to the room. After what had happened earlier in the wastelands, she couldn’t stop her panic from erupting inside her mind.

He was going to squish her! She was going to die! Oh, god, she was going to die.

For what seemed to me an eternity, she stood in front of the free room’s door, not wishing to step in with Ulrich. He had saved her, but what if it was a plot to just fuck her and leave her for dead? The scenarios going through her head were terrible…Why did she get herself in these situations….

[B]

Ulrich watched the woman make weird signs at him. He just stared blankly, not understand a damn thing she said. It was until she yawned did he know what was wrong.
"You sleep? Me know bed!"
He said, excited to be of some use to the pretty lady.
"Pretty lady come Ulrich. Ulrich show."
With that he lead her towards one of the buildings with a sign out front that said "Gerry's Bed and Breakfast". Ulrich moved fast, not only because of his large legs but also of his excitement. He shoved open the door rather powerfully and smiled wide at the man behind the desk.
"Ulrich! How's my champ doin' today!? Lookin' to sleep?"
The pretty lady entered and the guy behind the desk roared a laugh.
"Ahh! It's on the house tonight, Ulrich."
He tossed the large man a key.
"On account of Ulrich's special lady friend!"
He gave Janica a wink.
"You're a keeper, hunny."
With that Ulrich quickly lead Janica to the room. He immediately sat down on the bed and looked at Janica questionably who stood frozen in the door.
"You no sleep?"
She looked scared. He knew fear.
"Ulrich protect!"
He looked down at the bed. It could probably fit him and no more. Even he knew this.
"Ulrich will sleep bottom!"
He stood and got on his knees, tapping to top.
"You sleep!"
Then he attempted to crawl underneath the bed. Having half a mind that he could utilize the bottom of the bed and still be comfortable while she used the top. Unfortunately he had to pick up the whole bed (which he did quite easily) and put it on top of him. The bed was crooked and mal-positioned.
"This no feel good..."
He admitted after a few seconds.
"Ulrich sleep floor."
He suggested and moved the bed off of him and laid on the dirty wooden ground.
"You sleep bed."
He said, patting the mattress again.

[D]

Janica watched his crazy antics and would have laughed, if the inn keeper hadn’t scarred her, but when he finally decided that he would sleep on the floor and away from the bed, she responded by slowly nodding her head. Normally, the teacher would have objected to him sleeping on the floor, but he had offered and her inability to speak wouldn’t help communicate anything to him.

Eventually she fell asleep and when she woke up, she learned that he was sleeping in the same position she had left him. Quietly, she headed for the door, but a slight creek was enough to wake up the brute of a man. Happily, the man followed her around, but her discomfort couldn’t be communicated so she didn’t even try.

Her first stop was a place labeled ‘pawn shop.’ Like the name of the place, she quickly discovered that it was indeed a shop and the way they sold things wasn’t too hard to figure out. Of course for Ulrich it took a bit and Janica, unable to let go of the fact that he didn’t get it, gestured to him, attempting to explain how they were going about doing things. In the end of the little stop, he purchased a sledgehammer, at little to no cost. She wasn’t sure why he got a massive discount, but Janica could only guess it was because of the massive damage he could have caused.

After she finished a few errands, Janica walked out of the store and headed off to the wasteland yet again. However this time, she was one weapon less, a few food boxes less, and a few caps richer. Continuing on with her journey, Janica walked toward the vault shown on her pipboy while silently listening to Ulrich and his comments. Oh how she wished this boy had an education.

[B]

The slightest creak and Ulrich was in a sitting position, poised to attack any people who would try to hurt his new friend. Seeing that it was just her, he relaxed with a wide grin.
"Me sleep like dead mole rat!"
He proclaimed and she just sort of gave him unreadable expressions. Well she didn't tell him to leave, why would she? She was his friend! He began following her like an excited obedient puppy all the way to the pawnshop. Once in he stared questionably at things. The shop owner shifted his eyes nervously. It wasn't until Ulrich set his eyes on a large sledgehammer did he smile.
"I like."
He said, reaching straight over the counter with his long arms and grabbing it.
"You have to.. Um... Pay... For that..."
The clerk said nervously.
"Pay? Pa-a-a-ay. Like play?"
"No... Look... Um... Okay watch me."
It seemed his friend had the right idea. She gave him some items and he gave her the shiny things Ulrich had in his pouch.
"Just give me 10 caps, okay, buddy?"
The shopkeeper finally said, getting anxious from the blank stares Ulrich gave him. Ulrich reached into his bag and pulled out a handful of the caps and handed them out. Not wanting to anger the beast the clerk decided to play the honest joe.
"No-no-no. Not all of them. Like this.."
He reached over to the pile and plucked five one by one, counting them for Ulrich.
"There, it's yours. Now please leav-"
Before he could finish Ulrich swept him up in a bear hug.
"You give to Ulrich? You so nice! You friend like friend!"
"yEs WeLL... C..CaNt BREAth...."
Ulrich let him down with a smile then patted the clerk's shoulder.
"You friend now."
He turned to see Janica walk out. Ulrich waved bye and ran after her, sledgehammer in hand.
"Ulrich have friends now! Ulrich happy."
He said with a content smile.
"You like village people. Quiet but happy the Ulrich."
As he got more excited he kind of just started slurring words, soon enough he wasn't even speaking English. He hadn't noticed that they completely left the town until he saw a interesting burnt shrub. To Janica it wouldn't have been anything more than a burnt shrub but Ulrich had troubles letting it go, calling it pretty and that they should take it. Soon enough Janica hurried him along. As they passed a collapsed building they could see it. A roller coaster spanning the sky. They were coming to an amusement park. Ulrich had no idea why the big metal thing was there but it annoyed him for some reason.

[D]

So they ventured off back into the wasteland and still, Janica failed to regain her voice. Her voice still seemed nonexistent. However, if she had regained her voice, she would have given a gasp. A gasp of awe perhaps? Regardless of what kind of gasp it was, Janica had never seen a real carnival. Of course, it wasn’t the ones like in stories. From the state it was in, she knew that the damage time had done was irreversible.

As they walked through, an old, rusty carnival tune played on the speakers, occasionally stalling and sometimes playing at an odd, slow tempo. The carnival booths and tents were stained with the land’s grime and again, time hadn’t been kind. For the most part it seemed as if the strange carnival was deserted. Overturned objects and trash, rolling around in the wind, added to the effect of neglect of the carnival. All around them were the forgotten carnival games and reward prizes. The prizes, unlike the rotten environment that surrounded them, were still in decent shape. They were a little dirty, but they still remained intact.

Unable to resist nostalgia, Janica walked over a broken booth’s wall, knelt down, and picked up a small teddy bear with smudgy black spots. It looked a lot like the bear she had used to own when she was young…well, minus the smudges of course. Having had gone through the years of abuse and now the scarring events in the wasteland, Janica couldn’t help but long for the kinder years. Normally, she would have shed a tear or two, but for some odd reason she couldn’t.

It alarmed her.

Was there something wrong with her?

It was then she realized that she couldn’t hear her companion’s heavy breathing and the sound of broken carnival tunes. Her silence matched the world surrounding her. Janica slowly got up with the teddy bear still in hand. Perhaps it was utter paranoia but it was as if the air grew colder behind her. She quickly turned around and was greeted by a mutated ghoul. Following the trademark look of the ghouls, this one’s face was distorted and decayed, but what stood out the most was a gigantic mole on one of its eyelids. However, that was all she was able to see because from behind her, she heard the sound of canvas ripping and then a hand cupped over her mouth. She was restrained and then a bag was put over her head. Her captors muttered and mumbled words but in her panic, she was unable to hear them.

Janica felt them carrying her somewhere and soon enough she was tied to what seemed to be a chair. “Ready guys?” A voice said and a minute after, they pulled the bag from her head. Light flooded the scene and around her were oddities resembling things from the classical carnival: Disfigured clowns, a very, very large elephant, a mutated animal, and a masked ringmaster. There was more, but she wasn’t able to catch all of them as they quickly dispersed. A sound of drums and trumphets began to play and before she knew it the masked ringmaster pointed at her. “And welcome to our circus….dear guest.”