Clenching her stomach tight, she screamed loudly, blood pouring from her marehood and coating her hooves a deep, slick red. The pain she was going through was becoming more unbearable by the minute. Whatever could of caused it, she has no idea, but the pain was indescribable. She rolled on the floor as fresh blood poured out of her, pooling around her body, most getting on her coat. She had never felt such intense pain before, and the blood just kept flowing, seeming to get faster. She had lost too much she thought that she would die any time soon, and she did just that. Her life blood had run short, and she had died from the heavy losses of it.
*** *** ***
''AHH!'' Rainbow screamed, shooting awake in a cold sweat, eyes small and terrified. She looked around, quickly noticing she was still in Three Dog's room. Trying to relax, she calmed her still heavy breathing. With her hooves, she held onto her chest, rubbing it slowly. A tear made it out of her eye, landing on one of her hooves.
''Don't worry, it'll be alright...'' Rainbow whispered to her womb softly. ''Everything is going to be just fine.''
*** *** ***
''I need to find her!'' I said, gathering some supplies of mine - mostly ammo and resources. Billy and Moira watching me with uncertainty, or rather shock, seeing as I just came into Craterside Supply about a minute or so ago. I had only gone to Moira's to get some things I left, and take something I made earlier - a shishkebab. It was basically a sword made from a lawn-mower blade and scavenged parts, apart from it set alight when activated.
''Brady, you can't be serious. You saw how she was!'' Billy said from next to me, becoming worried. True, I did see how she was, but I wasn't just going to leave her on her own! I loved her, and I'll be damned if something happened to her! I simply just ignored him as I packed more things in my bag, I checked through them as quick as I could, not wanting to miss anything. The only thing I needed but didn't have was my Pip-Boy, that Rainbow had attached to one of her legs. ''Brady!''
''What?!'' I yelled at him, now annoyed. ''I'm not going to stay back while my Dashie is out there on her own! How irresponsible do you think I truly am?! Nothing you can say to me will make me stay, I'm going after her!'' I said, my anger glowing in my eyes. I strapped my combat armour tighter as I threw my duffel bag around my shoulder, the shishkebab on my back and I walked to the door, placing my combat helmet on my head.
''Whoa, slow down, will you? You're not off on you're own!''
''Watch me.'' I said in a huff, slamming the door behind me.
*** *** ***
I have no idea how to explain the anger I was feeling right now. I had just left Megaton, heading towards Wilhelm's Warf. Without my Pip-Boy, this whole trip was going to be long and hard. I was going to have to use the metro stations to get to places, seeing as most roads on ground were piled up with debris from buildings as well as rubble. To say the least, I had no idea if I'd find her. I sure hope I did. That last conversation we had had gotten me thinking.
Was I really like that? Monstrous? After waking up in the clinic, I had no recollection on the hours from earlier on that day. But I did know one thing, and it ate away at my heart, making it hurt - Rainbow Dash was terrified of me. Even though I love her, things seem different. I was told by Billy himself that I attacked her AND killed Gustavo. Even though I didn't remember, I felt remorse for him and what I did.
Carrying on, I arrived at Wilhelm's Warf. The person who lives here, whom I knew, was sat there at a table, watching the river. I sat down across from her, watching the river with her. I smiled for the first time in a long time, turning my head towards her.
''Hey, Grandma Sparkle.'' I greeted her friendlily, Sparkle jumping a bit, before smiling at me.
''Oh, my goodness, ya'll scared me. Brady, right?'' She said in her usual, semi-southern accent.
Her bleach-coloured hair sparkled, a very small hint of pink inside it. For her age, she didn't have too many wrinkles, giving her an appearance of a mid-fifties women. The outfit she wore was made from the skin of a brahmin, the top white and trousers a minorly tanned-looking colour.
''Yeah, that's right. Its been a while, Grandma.''
''I'll say. So what brings 'cha to Wilhelm's Warf? Trading?''
''No, actually. I need your help. It may sound strange, but did you see anything in the skies not too long ago that had a rainbow contrail? Please, just tell me the truth.''
Grandma Sparkle looked at me like I was kinda crazy, but nowadays, anyone would. I mean, come on, who's heard of anything flying in the Wasteland apart from the occasional blown-off limb?
''Well...I can't say I have, but would it of been fast?'' I nodded my head, glad to finally get somewhere. ''Well, then. I guess I can help you, there. I ain't sure what I saw, but it seemed to be going kinda fast, flying in that direction.'' She raised a hand, pointing a finger to the east side of the area - Washington D.C.
''Thanks, Grandma. I've gotta go now, though. I got a little hunting to do. Catch you later.'' I waved goodbye as I went towards the east. Why Rainbow ight of flown east, I would never know, but even for her, that was a dangerous place to go. If she was flying up, anything holding a long-range weapon could of taken her down. D.C. is filled with Super Mutants and Raiders. I sure hope she is alright. I couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole thing. It was my fault she is as scared of me as she is. She is also pregnant, and if she gets hurt in her condition, she probably wouldn't be able to take it.
I already missed her. Wherever she may be, I hope she's alright.
*** *** ***
Day turned to night in what seemed minutes, and I realized at the last minute that I didn't plan the trip ahead. The lucky thing is that I found a hospital - Our Lady of Hope Hospital. I'm just hoping that nothing is in there that his an intention of killing me. Well, at least I can stock up on stimpacks and medical supplies while I'm in there. When I got inside, I found that the reception area was pretty much rotten and suffered over the years of decay. The walls were pealing with white plaster and had holes through to the other side in various spaces, and the smell of human decay hung strong in the air, due to the many skeletons littering the floor.
It was rather depressing, actually. Seeing all those people there, knowing that it was too late for them. Mothers, fathers, children and friends burned by the atomic fire from the bombs that fell two hundred years ago, not being able to run anywhere. They just burned. Sat at the worn out desk of the entrance was a still-working terminal, the skeleton of the receptionist face down on the keyboard, the green glow of the screen illuminating the remains in the darkness. Curious, I moved towards the terminal, carefully moving back the skeleton laying on the computer so it was sitting upright in the chair, those deep, black sockets were eyes used to be penetrating me, sending shivers down my spine.
I activated the log-in on the computer and began to hack. Knowing my way around a terminal, I got it hacked in around a minute or two. The password was 'forsaken'. All that was on it was an action that said 'unlock safe', and when I clicked on it, I heard a small click sound near my feet followed by a near-quiet echo that sounded through the waiting room behind me. I knelt down, seeing a small safe built into the desk. I opened it and took what contents were of use to me - a few bobby-pins, bullets for my assault rifle, some bottle caps and a 32. calibre pistol that had only five rounds inside of it. I wouldn't use it at the moment, seeing as I have my shishkebab handy, but it may come into use later, so I strapped it to my belt, should I need to get it quick.
Entering the waiting room, I could only see rows of metal benches, mangled and thrown around the room, some in bits and horribly rusted. At the back were some that were intact, a child's small teddy bear sat on one, and even though I knew it was inanimate, those eyes seemed to penetrate me, much like the skeleton at the front desk. Those small, black beads sent chills down my spine, but none more so than the skeleton of a child on the floor in front of the bench. The whole room was littered with skeletons on the floor, the limbs of some scattered around while others were intact.
On the top of the check-in desks at the left side of the room were a few skeletons, their bodies leaning over the counter, like they were thrown into that position when they died. One of them even had a knife that went just between his fire-blackened ribs, pinning him into the counter. What I saw at the other side made my eyes widen in shock and disgust. There were a couple wire-net bags with mutilated body parts and guts inside them, blood and fluids I didn't recognize spilling from underneath them and running down the counter, oozing onto the floor in a slick, stinking red. There were more of the gore-filled bags hanging from the supports above the desks and on the ceiling, blood dripping occasionally to the floor with soft splats.
I was already regretting entering the building, as I could tell something was in here, and it was nearby. I knew it probably wouldn't be human, because no human nor Raider would of done something as brutal as what is inside those bags. I could hear heavy foot steps, far too heavy to be described as being ones that belong to a mercenary or scavenger. I could see the silhouette behind a set of double doors, and quite plainly, it looked like a monster. I quickly ran behind the desks, pushing myself underneath one, hiding myself in the darkness it provided, assault rifle at the ready. The assault rifle was Gustavo's, and according to Billy, his modifications to the rifle had made it far more effective than it used to be. I was far more interested in the extended magazine, the advantage being that I could shoot and kill more before needing to replace it.
I felt my body shiver as I heard what sounded like more than one of those things enter the room, a slight dragging sound being heard behind their cackles of laughter, an evil sound. I heard a meaty thud, and then more laughter, followed by the sound of gooey-squashes, making me want to puke at the horrible sound.
I peeked around the corner, careful enough that they wouldn't notice they weren't alone. That sound I could hear, sickening, gooey chomping was something big and bulky and green eating the flesh of a person, more specifically that loud meaty-sounding thud I heard earlier that was a dead captive.
The figure of the monsters were bulky and veiny, almost all of their veins pushing against their tight epidermis. With what weapons I had on me, including the shishkebab, I didn't think they'd be much use against them. They even wore armour, or more or less scraps of armour, and that would deflate my chances of injuring one of them. Hell, just from looking at them, I'm guessing they could rip all my limbs off with little effort.
Panic went through me as one sniffed the air like a blood hound, his metal helmet pushing off his head, revealing a hairless top that was smooth and shiny (and green).
''I smell fresh blood.'' His voice was deep and rumbling, like he had been gargling rusty nails. He got up and walked in my direction, myself pulling back into the darkness before he saw me. I saw his eyes, too, and they were definitely not human. They were green and the pupils were like a cat's eyes, very much like a black diamond that only read death. Those large, heavy footsteps were heard again, and I could tell from the vibration that he was coming my way. Readying myself, I pulled back the cocking mechanism on the assault rifle, my arms shaking a bit. I literally froze when I saw his large, makeshift boots come into view. They looked like very badly sewn together rags, and even from my distance, I could smell the old blood on them.
I heard him inhale powerfully, snorting out a breath and continuing on his way. He thankfully moved past me and out of site, me breathing a sigh of relief. I quickly poked my head out and upon seeing the way was clear, made for a door to my left, not knowing where it would take me. When I got inside, I saw it was just a load of desks and computers, very few functioning while the majority were either destroyed, burned or that rusty they wouldn't work. I couldn't hear anything nearby, so I took that as a sign that I had time to do some scavenging.
*** *** ***
When I said it was a good time to scavenge, I was wrong. Dead wrong. By time I was just near through scavenging a section of the room, those green, walking apocalypses came in, holding assault rifles! Oh, and did I mention one had A FUCKING MINIGUN AND A FUCK-LOAD OF BULLETS?!
On my own, it was harder than I thought when it came to defending myself against something as hulking as the freaks in the room with me, but with Billy by my side, it wouldn't be a problem. I was firing rounds rapidly, draining myself of ammunition quicker than I'd of liked. I had barely brought enough bullets, due to not seeing this very situation, and I regretted not doing so.
I hid behind a desk, hearing bullets dent and smack themselves against its metal body. The thing holding the minigun had thick, black armour around his figure, and by the look of it, it was reinforced. Now that was going to be a problem...The couple of monsters next to me fired just as wildly at me as the mini-gunner, but at least they weren't armoured. I aimed as quickly as I could through the scope, but being as bulky as they were, their hides were more resistant to damage, including bullets, and I learned that when I fired at one of them - the projectile went into him, leaving a bloody wound, but it didn't even faze him! It was like shooting at a steel monster!
I fired at his head, hitting him in the eye, and with such a great shot, he screamed in agony, holding a hand to his now missing eye, blood flowing from his socket down his face and in his mouth, and when he dropped his assault rifle, being completely vulnerable, I fired once more, aiming my shots perfectly - one to the head, a few to the torso. Luckily, that knocked him down, dead in a pool of his own blood.
The next one was an even easier target - as close as he was, I could take him down with a headshot, and that is exactly what I did. Aimed, squeezed the trigger and POP! His head exploded like a firework, red, brain-mix paste splattering on the wall! I never thought I'd say something like this at something so gruesome, but that was awesome! Now all that was left to take care of was Mr. Minigun. One way or another, I was gonna kill him. I had to get by him!
An idea! I put down my duffel bag, rummaging around until I fished out a couple grenades I brought from my house. Getting a hold of them, I pulled the pin, throwing one at the ugly-green thing, and three seconds later, I heard an explosion from behind the desk - but no scream. But I did see some guts and limbs fly in front of me - EW! Getting back up, I saw that the explosion knocked most of the door frame out of place, only a black, blood marked spot where the explosion had transpired, within the same place the ugly was standing. His guts were all over the place! It was like someone shot a sack of meat with a cannon, splattering it around a room as if preparing a Raider's birthday!
I moved on upstairs after taking hold of the minigun that - thankfully - wasn't blown to shreds in the grenade explosion. On the way up, I didn't encounter any more monsters, but some part of me was telling me that was going to change any time soon. I walked along the corridors with the bullet-pack on my back. The whole box was giving me a backache, nevermind the bullets that were weighing it down more! And when I got inside one of the rooms that was a patients, I found a few medical boxes. Opening them, I found a supply of stimpacks that was more than I could need! By the end of raiding the boxes, I had roughly around thirty or so stimpacks.
Allowing myself a moment to look around the room, I noticed two chairs and a bed with only the metal frame, a skeleton laying atop it. One of the chairs was occupied, too, but not by a skeleton, but by a ghoul - wait, WHAT?!
Was he alive? I looked back at him, but his head wasn't turned to me. He had a combat helmet on his head, followed by green armour that looked older than the one I was wearing, judging from the larger amount of marks and scratches. Beside him on the other chair sat a still full bottle of whiskey and a few clips for an assault rifle. I cautiously pulled my minigun to face him, and with the barrels of the weapon, gently tapped his armoured back. He didn't respond to it. I tapped a second time, and with high speed, the ghoul grabbed a combat knife and grasped my throat, pinning me to the wall, causing me to drop the minigun out of shock.
His irradiated, blue eyes stared into my frightful ones, and for a ghoul, he looked pretty pissed.
''What do you think you're doin' kid?'' He asked, his voice a rumble, like he had been gargling nails, ''I suggest you back on out of here before you get killed, either by me or a mutant.''
''Whoa, calm down! P-Please, I didn't think you were a-alive!'' As I talked, the blade of the knife hit my voice-box, hurting a bit, but more and more as he pushed the knife a little harder into my throat.
''Why? Because I look like a corpse?! Think I'm a zombie, smoothskin!?'' He yelled in my face, anger flashing in his cloudy blue eyes, anger visible within them.
''What?! No! I'm calling nobody a zombie! What the hells wrong with you?!'' I struggled to breath, the knife now pushed that much into my throat it was cutting off my windpipe. ''Get your knife off my throat, please! You're starting to cut into me!''
''Why should I? So you can gun me down? Fat chance! If I let you go, you'd probably kill me, and I ain't taking that risk. I served the States during the war, and I'm a lot tougher than you are, human!''
''Look, I'm not going to kill you! I'm only looking for supplies so I can get moving to where I need to go!''
The ghoul snarled at me, slowly drawing back the knife, still being as cautious as I was. Christ, what do ghouls have against non-ghouls?! Just an act of scavenging or trying to find a place to take shelter, and they'd rather slash my throat than oblige! What is wrong with people, anyway? I have nothing against ghouls - well, maybe apart from the smell of two-hundred year old, rotten flesh.
''Fine.'' He growled, moving backwards, still facing me and looking me dead in the eye. ''But if you try anything, I will sooner slash your throat than let you walk out of here in one piece.'' He took the whiskey from the seat on which he was sat next to and took a swig, belching afterwards. From my distance I could smell the strong stench of the alcohol.
''What are you doing here anyway? I thought ghouls who wonder usually go to Underworld?''
''What? So what if I'm a ghoul in a hospital in a room on my own. Does it really matter? Why do humans always ask stupid questions when they have obvious answers?'' He said, the growl still in his voice, but his tone was softer.
''No need to be so hostile. I only asked a question. I got nothing against ghouls.''
''Is that so? Even if I call you something like a tit-sucking, whore-licking turd?''
I snickered a bit, trying to silence my upcoming laughter. ''Nah. Still not offended.''
''Right. Well, I guess you're alright. For now. Nice to see a smoothskin still has a sense of humour.''