Badger limps behind.
"We gotta ration that stuff, who knows when we'll be able to get more stims? Cripes. Damn robot did a number on me..."
He looks around at the wreckage, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Any sign of Estelle? We didn't get along but I didn't want her to up and disappear... So we heading back to the corpse and human s%&+ filled schoolhouse or what?"
Kris has his hands full of Psycho and Buffout and says Keep the f#~~ing stims, no good high there. and he continues stuffing the "good" drugs into his backpack.
Warhammer pipes up. "I believe I was told to show those of you to the nearest hospital locale a few days ago, if that is your desire Mr. Badger."
As you guys scavenge the rubble of the building after the flames eventually die down, you find:
It seems the Slavers found a pickup truck (picture one of those old Studebaker models from way back when, but fusion powered). It seems to be missing it's fusion core, keys, and has holes rusted through a few panels, but anyone with a d4 repair skill can figure out without rolling it otherwise seems in good shape. It won't move of its own accord right now, but maybe if you strap a beast of burden or two to it...They had it under a tarp near the service station, but not within it, which is why you didn't spot it earlier, and the blast seems to have blown the tarp off, making it plain to see.
"That's true, but given our luck the hospital's overrun with pod people from Venus or cockroaches that pretend to be humans or whatever other s@&! they had on the sci-fi holotapes.... which means we should go check it out, because that sounds pretty radical. BUT. We also need everyone to not be wounded... Aeryicka, do you think you can patch up Tom? We can dose him with pain killers so he don't squirm so much..."
Notice:
Timmy says Hey, Badger look at this...
Badger picks up the key Timmy points out.
"Damn, what did I say? Best friend material, you and your brother."
He turns the key in the truck and starts fiddling with the wheel and knob.
"Okay, so this... No, that lights a cigarette... They didn't really teach us this stuff in the Vault. Maybe if I put this in neutral, and Timmy steers we can push it back the school until we find the mechanical stuff it needs."
Aeryicka nodded as she walked over to Kris. "Put Tom down, will see what I can do to help," she said, reaching for her pack. "Hit him with med-x and I'll start treatment." Unfortunately, when she got to the med kit, it seemed like the stress of the last couple days finally got to her. So many rapid changes in her life, nothing to cling to. And now, staring at the injured body of their nominal leader, she broke. Tears silently fled from her ducts as her hands started shaking. Then sobs started wracking her body. 'Why? Why? WHY?' "WHY??" she suddenly yelled out before jumping up and fleeing to the broken truck. She leaned against the tire, rocking back and forth. "Too much. Just too much. Just too much," she kept muttering over and over.
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Thomas cracks an eye open, and his heart flies at the sight of spunky young girl coming over to him with a medkit already open. The pain in his tallywackle is immense, but it begins to subside with the knowledge that soon the bleeding will be stopped and perhaps some buffered analgesic applied to take down the swelling in his Alabama blacksnake. No, wait, don't cry, it'll be okay, you can just apply pressure and...where are you goiiiiiiiinggggg??????
Beyond the steady cadence of pain in his Master of Ceremonies, frustration sets in.
Kris grabs a Stimpack and says "F+&* it. Here we go" and he plunges it into Tom's thigh. "F$&@ing Overseer was heavy anyways. Too much f!@!ing eating, not enough asskicking"
-Posted with Wayfinder
-Posted with Wayfinder
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Thomas' eyes flutter open, expecting Aeryicka, or maybe Harper, to be hovering over him, expertly applying a gauze of some sort. So it's with no small amount of consternation that he receives the vision of Kris' swaggering buttocks walking away from him, discarded stim close by.
Painfully, slowly, he sits up. Jimmy seems to materialize out of nowhere, and is a welcome stabilizing presence.
He ponders his next move.
His body is an ocean of pain-fire, and they simply do not have either the time or material to bring him to health anytime soon. He seems to recall something about Estelle missing, and a pain-laden glance around does not see her skilled hands anywhere.
Awkwardly he gets up.
There is no one else. Two birds and all that.
Leaning heavily on Jimmy, he limps over to where Aeryicka is crying. He braces his back and gratefully slides down next to her.
He can only hope that she needs him as badly as he needs her.
He puts a shaky but warm arm around her and says, softly, "Shhhhh. Sh sh sh. It's okay. It will...it will be okay. I can, I...I can help. I can make things better but...but I'll need something from you first. Now, this is a big favor, and it may sound strange at first, but...but when you think about it, it will...it will be for the best. Can you be strong for me?"
Thomas explains that his injuries have sapped much strength from him, but he can replenish himself if only he can get something to eat. No, no no, not anything so mundane and vaporous as radroach. Something more substantial. We'll need to build a fire, but, if everyone can move off, or if we can get alone, if you could...if you could...if...if you could just slice off a pound of flesh from that slaver that Harper killed, and grill it, the high-quality protein will do much to restoring his strength. It's a secret he learned long ago, and makes good sense, when you think that it could be that or starving.
You may have a moment to think of it, but do not take too long.
Jimmy is nodding, but he doesn't say anything else.
Harper fell to her knees as she saw Thomas's eyes open, obviously having been worried that she'd never see them open again. She reached out to give him a hug, but hesitated once she remembered that he was currently recovering from a near-death experience.
She put her hands back in her lap, and fiddled with the chain between her fingers.
It was sticky. For that matter, so were her hands. How had she failed to notice up to this point that her hands were coated with dried slaver blood? She almost automatically conjured up the sound of a snarky voice telling her that she'd been tainted, but shook her head and put the thought out of her mind. She had better things to focus on. Like Thomas.
Slowly, Harper leaned forward and touched her forehead to Thomas's, looking at him awkwardly and upside-down.
As Thomas's arm reached around her shoulder, Aeryicka's crying slowly slowed down. "Strong?" she asked softly, her mind instantly going towards Miles for a moment. "Why me? Why not Harper? Yes, I can be strong, always strong, like...like wolf. I can be strong like wolf." When she said yes, Thomas laid out an idea that for a seconds had her almost recouping in disgust. That was just...wrong' on many levels! But as he finished, Aeryicka slowly came around to it. Honestly, one should never let meat go to waste, unless left for scavenger. "I can..I can help, just not sure how to get others to leave," she said quietly, her eyes darting to the others and lingering on Kristophe for a little longer than the others. He would he a problem...
Emotional discussions and whatnot are not how Badger is wired; he'd rather walk away from his problems or shoot them than manage other people. So he keeps well away from the crying teenagers, instead fiddling with the car to try and figure out how to make it move.
"So, uh, Warhammer, Jimmy, Timmy- you guys ever drive one of these things before? Like, maybe we can push it right? Until we find the thingamajig that it needs?"
Common knowledge:
Sorry about the delay, guys. Haven't had enough focus to do my GM updates. Been crazy weekend. Working on update for today.
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Thomas grins through the pain, manages to put a hand on back of Harper's head and hugs her briefly, pain shooting through his John Thompson.
"Hey kid." He doesn't know what to say. It's hard to protect someone when you can't protect yourself. He can barely even stand. There are...things...that need to be done...before he can be useful. Things she can never, ever know about.
Well, maybe there are two birds and stone.
"Hey, Harper, I...I need you to do something for me. I...I gotta...I gotta get to that raider. I think he might still be alive, and...and I gotta ask him something. No, don't look, this is something I gotta do myself. In fact...In fact it might be best if no one knows about. Don't...don't worry I'm not gonna hurt him, but...but things might get uncomfortable. Can...can you get Kris to go over by Badger? Have you three try to mess with the truck for a bit? I...I won't take long, but I gotta do this, and...and you guys shouldn't be...be burdered with...with this. Just...just for a minute, okay?"
= 13
Even through the massive pain coursing through his Ivory Tower, his tongue is slick. He doesn't like lying to Harper...but she can never know.
With that Jimmy helps Thomas up and he goes over 'ricka, who seems to be nodding to something he said.
Thomas sits there, patiently waiting for Harper to distract Kris.
Thomas put his head close to 'ricka and says
He's so hungry.
What the f@&# are you idjits talking about. We gotta move ass, could be more of those f!+%s around here. Get up and lets go. Kristophe grunts at the three vaultdwellers who are head together talking
Badger, come talk some sense into these fools before they do something stupid like get themselves killed.
Kris grabs his bag, his guns and his Discipliner and says to Timmy C'mon Timmy, lets gtfo.
Badger steps out of the car.
"Come on, guys. If we can get this thing rolling, we can push it and all of our stuff back to the school. Probably not good to breathe all the smoke from that explosion, either. I mean, I'm not a doctor, but that's what I think."
He steps over to Tom, offering a hand.
"C'mon, man. We'll get you into the car with all of our extra crap and then we can push this thing back to the school. Soon as I can get the wheels unlocked and figure out that lever and the foot things."
Push? What the f!## are you talking about Bloom. I ain't pushing that hunk of garbage! Did one of those f*+~ing robots Kris glances at Warhammer Smack you in the head?
Badger furrows his brow, agitation entering his voice.
"What, you wanna leave this here for some other a@!!+!@s to find? And then they can fix it up and we just walk everywhere like a bunch of jerks? Pushing it sucks now, but we're just going down the road. At least till we find the thing it needs to actually drive. Or an ox or something to pull it. Then none of us have to carry heavy stuff and we can like, trick it out later with a flamethrower or something."
Huh? Ox? What the f&~@? You sound like that a&~*#&* now. Kristophe says, gesturing at the still sitting Tom
Seeing Badger help Tom up, Aeryicka walked up to him and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Come, lets see what we can do to help your balls. Try to see about the truck." The last is said to the others as she helps Tom hobble to where the dead slaver currently laid.
Where the f*** you going? The way back to the School is this way! Kristophe shouts and then he turns to Timmy Timmy, what the f**@! Why are these people hellbent on dying.
Kristophe stands in the road with his hands on his hips in a classic tap the foot in impatience pose
Let's go!
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As Thomas is helped away, walking mostly under his own power, Jimmy snickers at hearing the little girl say the word 'balls'. It was funny and out of place and helped lift his spirits. It was also a little bit erotic, but no need to focus on that. Now.
Jimmy walks over to where Kris and Badger are arguing. "It's okay, guys. Tom just wanted to do one more once over. I think he either wanted to check the bandit's Nature's pocket for more drugs, or maybe a clue about Estelle. Either way, I'm sure it won't take long.
Besides, we gotta see what we're gonna do about this truck, yeah? I mean, Badger, we might be able to push it, but how would that go?
And Kris, if you don't wanna push it, how about you try to start it up? Or, have we checked this place enough? Maybe we just need to look harder?
Or, Badger, you and I could start pushing it. We can just let Thomas catch up, yeah?"
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Thomas accepts 'Ricka's shoulder. He -could- walk on his own...but he really doesn't wanna. The sounds of swearing and wrath from behind his back gives him a comforting feeling that the others are deeply engaged in broad talks about future planning for a paradigm of effectiveness. They shouldn't be disturbed.
And survival cometh from meat. Observe."
Thomas takes a knife and cuts cleanly through the shoulder, catching the rich deltoid muscle. He also carves the upper chest and the fatty pectoral group. The few, brief cuts serve up a plethora of meat.
"Now, I'll just use this stick here to use as skewer and we can sidle up close to this burning building. There, see how the meat crackles? That sound let's you know that it's being made safe to eat. The human body is a dirty place, but Fire makes all things good. There, a few moments in the heart of the Fire and it turns a golden brown. I would prefer it cooked unto blackness, but we must be stingy with time.
Let's move here where it's not as hot, and we can be safe from prying eyes." He takes a big bite, the air faintly scented with the smell of steak. "Mmmmf. Yes. Oh my that's good. Uoahhh. I can feel myself gaining strength already."
He downs an entire pectoral cut with relish, then holds up two skewers full of well-cooked deltoid. He takes a bite out of one, then offers the other up. With a smile he says, "Care to join me?"
Badger shrugs.
"I mean, I tried the keys man, it just won't go. So maybe it's missing something. And it seems like the wheels are stuck, otherwise we could start pushing it. I bet Mr. Handy could help with that too. But it's a shame to leave the damn thing here, it could make things way easier down the road... Plus I never thought I'd drive a car, so this would be cool to get it started."
He starts fiddling with the car more, possibly making things worse.
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Jimmy frowns. "That...that doesn't sound right. I mean, there aren't, like, blocks on the wheels, right. Do, um, do you know what a 'gearshift' is? Do, do you mind if I try it?"
Jimmy hops behind the wheel. He turns the keys and hears the lack of any reaction, but he tries to figure out any other problem.
= 12
"Okay, yeah. Dad once showed me one of these car-things. I mean, that was before.... Um, yeah, anyway, you just gotta move this like this...."
Jimmy spends a few minutes showing Badger and Kris and Timmy and possibly Harper the basic workings of car-things.
Ahhhh! F!&@ whatever hurry up. I'm not f~@%ing pushing this thing! Kristophe says in exasperation
Jimmy is able to get the gears shifting and wheel steering but without a functional fusion core it won't start...but he's now sure that's the problem.
"Not bad," was her verdict.
Badger watches closely while Jimmy shows him how the lever, pedals and wheel work in tandem and what the names of all the gear shifts mean.
"Okay, so the best way for us to get this outta here is..."
Ahhhh! F@&$ whatever hurry up. I'm not f~~+ing pushing this thing! Kristophe says in exasperation
"FINE!", he shouts from the truck's cab,"Just start back without us, we'll catch up- with the truck, since some of us are thinking long term!"
Returning to Jimmy, Badger starts pointing out other things and asking about them.
"This dial here, that's for like the nucular energy? And if it had power, could we turn on the headlights or do you think those are all blown? If I press both of these pedals at once, when it's running, what would happen? And what's this second lever? 'E Brake'? This thing is kinda boxy, compared to the ones they had on the holotapes, but I guess that's holotapes for you, right?"
Kris watches Badger and the others fool around with what in his mind is junk. He looks at those shells that Badger grabs "Hey, how about I load this boomstick with some real lead yeah? " and if Badger assents Kris will load his hunting shotgun with live rounds instead of those crappy beanbag rounds.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Kris watches Badger and the others fool around with what in his mind is junk. He looks at those shells that Badger grabs "Hey, how about I load this boomstick with some real lead yeah? " and if Badger assents Kris will load his hunting shotgun with live rounds instead of those crappy beanbag rounds.
-Posted with Wayfinder
"Sure, fill 'er up. Any more robots we don't know on a first name basis can walk off a faceful..."
Kris busies himself loading his hunting shotgun with real ammo, he ain't got time for that beanbag crap. Once he's done, he lights a cigarette and loads Badger's shotgun.
You people are still f+$+ing with that piece of junk? Baby Jesus Holy God when are you gonna realize its an old piece of rubbish
Science (untrained):
Badger sighs heavily.
"Alright, it looks like we can at least move the thing. Jimmy, why don't you steer and then Warhammer and I and whoever the heck else wants to be helpful can start pushing it back toward the school."
He looks around at everybody else.
"So once we stow this back at home base, we want to go check out the hospital, yeah? At this rate, we need all the stims we can scrounge up..."
Strength roll, if necessary, once we start shoving the truck along:
Ace: