Break opened her eyes and looked around in confusion not sure exactly where she was. It took her a few moments to remember yesterday’s ordeals. She sighed already missing her old bed and got up and stretched. Her back was killing her. Those chairs weren't very good for sleeping on, and unsurprisingly she had nightmares. That damn Protectron was taunting her, chasing her through a office building like maze with confusing and incoherent paths that led nowhere or were blocked. He chased her around a maze while spewing hellfire out of his mouth always one step behind her. He laughed at her, mocked her, and showed how weak and helpless she really was. He eventually caught up to her to finish the deed with a red hot blade to her throat nearly scorching her skin when she suddenly woke up. She could still hear the laughing echoing through her ears and rubbed her neck instinctively. Sighing in relief that there wasn't any burn marks. It felt so real. She thought she could actually feel the burning heat of the blade. She immediately got doubts about her chances of even surviving the day. She shook her head and tried to put the dream out of her mind and focus on escaping her current situation. This was no time to dwell on doubts. That kind of attitude would get her killed. She had no idea where she would go or if she could even survive the wastelands, but she had to try.
Break used her PipBuck's Eyes Forward Sparkle to see if there were any mirelurks in the break room. According to the manual, non hostiles appear in yellow and hostiles appear in red. Since they don’t know she was there, all the mirelurks should be in yellow. Right now she didn’t see anything, but decided to not take any chances. She slowly crept down and looked down the hallway for anything and still found nothing thankfully. She turned off her PipBuck’s light to avoid any undue attention.
Break entered the break room. She rushed towards the fridge and raided all the food that could fit into her apron’s pockets. She took three boxes of canned apples and a box of InstaMash. She hated InstaMash with a passion, but took it anyway. She couldn’t be picky. She knew that when you are starving, even trash looks appetizing. All the talk about wasteland survival she overheard in the cafe from the patreons was surprisingly coming in handy. She also took the two bottles of dirty water despite having reservations about it. Radiation poisoning was no joke. She thought back to what happened to her parents. She shook her head and got back on track. Now was not the time to dwell on that. She needed to keep moving and focus on her next move if just to keep her fears in check. She mentally noted to get a canteen as quickly as possible.
Break exited the break room staying alert for any trouble. She noted yellow figures coming this way on the E.F.S. She took a passage that completely avoided them. For the next hour that is what Break did. She would avoid any figures that came her way and didn’t care how out of the way it took her. She hid in darkness or whatever she could find when retreating wasn’t an option. A few close calls, but so far nothing had seen her. Eventually her PipBuck was able to lay out a decent map of the sewers, but they seemed to go on forever. Eventually she found another door and opened it since her E.F.S. picked up nothing.
In it was a little work area. It was small dead end room with not much to note aesthetically. Break could see tools on a rusty shelf with one of the shelves collapsed from age. There were various parts scattered across the floor, but nothing seemed useful. On a small metal desk with a peeling blue coat was a terminal. Break almost jumped for joy, but did her best to control herself. She briefly looked through the shelf, but didn’t find anything that would be practical to carry along with her. She turned it on and was greeted with a password screen. Break tried her best to hack it. She pulled the PipBuck manual from her apron and opened it. It had a guide on basic hacking. It was a questionable thing to have in your manual, but Break didn’t complain. She ate some canned apples as she worked, glad to get something in her stomach.
Hacking the terminal presented a screen that revealed the keylog of the last used keys. Break was shown possible key combinations that might be the password. She was given four tries before the terminal’s security would permanently lock her out. Strangely, just exiting out and reentering would give her back her four tries, but it would reset the password. So it was only really a matter of time before she guessed the password and gained entry. Break took a crack at guessing the password. The words available to her were giver, yellow, rain, diver, pacifier, data, friends, and tree. Break took a wild guess and entered ‘pacifier’ since it seemed the most complex of the passwords. Her hacking system told her only 3 letters matched. Break thought about it and hit ‘friends’. Four letters match this time. The only real choice at this point was ‘diver’. She took that and was greeted with the terminals main menu. Break marveled that the user of the terminal choose such a lazy and easy password.
The terminal had exactly what she was looking for, a complete map of the sewers. She downloaded it to her PipBuck and viewed it. Break just gaped. She wasn’t even close to the lake’s exit and was actually going the wrong directions. ”Oh come on!” Break moaned. It would take a long time to walk all the way over there, which made even longer by avoiding mirelurks. The exit was almost a mile and a half away.
Break sighed. She quickly looked through the other files on the terminal but found nothing of real interest. It did have a few journal entries and Break skimmed through them, but contained nothing special and was mostly a pony complaining about their hemorrhoid problem. She turned the terminal off and began the long trek to the exit that led to the lake.
Break used the same tactic as before and it more and less succeeded with a few more close calls. The full map made it easier to navigate. A hour and a half later, she was eventually forced with a real dilemma. She found a door that led to an almost straight path to the lake exit, but her E.F.S. was picking up over half a dozen figures. Strangely, one was red, but Break ignored that for a moment. She couldn’t go around without seriously inconveniencing herself. If she took the door, she guessed she would be out in about fifteen to twenty minutes. If she went around it would take at least an hour or two. The twisty and confusing maze-like paths didn’t give an easy way around.
Break stomped her hoof in frustration trying to think. She really didn’t want to go in there, but freedom was so close she could taste it. There was also no guarantee that she wouldn’t get into a bad situation going the long way. She decided to scope out the room before doing anything. She might be able to sneak around them. She trotted up to the door and slowly and carefully pushed it open a crack and looked inside. There was a large room that hosted several pieces of large worn down machinery of unknown purpose scattered along the walls. The room had a metal staircase on the right wall that lead to a walkway on the second floor.
Break could see some mirelurks milling about. Some were paired in groups while others were just walking about going to a different room or walking upstairs. The mirelurks in the groups were chittering at each other like they were having a conversation. This confused Break, but she guessed she shouldn’t be so surprised they have their own language. She briefly wondered if it was possible for a pony to communicate with them if they were intelligent, somehow learn their language, but Break shook the thought from her mind. It wasn’t important right now, and had no idea where a pony would even start.
Break stared at the room. She might be able to sneak past them if she stayed low and moved quickly. She might be able to sneak behind the machinery to the other side of the room. Break paused and thought about how crazy, stupid, and reckless that would be. “No wait, I could just hide behind one of the machines and wait for them to leave.” She thought. It could work, but she would still have to sneak past those mirelurks and she really didn’t like that idea.
Break thought about it some more, but froze when she heard splashing echoing behind her. She uses her E.F.S. and saw two yellow figures moving dangerously close to this way. “Horse apples!” Break cursed. She gulped and crouched down and entered and closed the door and quietly as she could. So far none of the mirelurks noticed her. To her right she saw two mirelurks clicking at each other and they were right next to a piece of rusty dilapidated machinery that Break guessed was a generator. The back of it looked just big enough to fit her though it would be an awkward and tight squeeze. One in the right was almost but not quite facing her way, and the other had its back completely to her.
Break stayed low and quietly snuck up to them. She didn’t even breathe fearing that it would give her away. Her heart pumped so hard she thought it might beat out of her chest. One almost looked towards her, but she moved out its line of sight and luckily it didn’t notice her. She was almost to the generator when a shoot and rang out and hit the floor next to her right cheek. Break stumbled over in surprise. The mirelurks looked around in confusion and shock and noticed her. Break screamed in terror.
“Dammit, almost had her.” A familiar voice loudly cursed. Another shot rang out and Break just bolted towards the door on the other side of the room deciding to just run for it. The mirelurks nearest to Break turned and swung at her with a pincers. She dodged the best she could. A pincer almost hit her in the head but she ducked under it. She suddenly tripped and fell on the floor painfully. One of the mirelurks swept one of her legs under her. She just barely rolled to avoid a pincer claw grabbing her right front leg. She saw another mirelurk coming towards her and bucked it in the face. This stunned it and Break stood up and felt a sharp pain on one of her back legs followed by another loud bang. She yelped in pain. The thug took another shot at her, but it only grazed her back leg.
She heard another bang but it wasn’t towards her this time. “Damn things! Get outta the way!”
It seemed most of the mirelurks turned their attention towards the gunpony gauging him to be the bigger threat. Break made another dash for the door again ignoring the pain in her leg. She could feel blood oozing down it. She was faced with another claw thrown her way but she dodged under it and to the left and opened the door fiercely when she got to it.
“Hey!” The thug’s voice boomed as she left the room. “Ponyfeathers!”
Break didn’t think and took the right path from her memory of the sewer’s layout. Her hooves echoed through the tunnel and she ran. She took another right as saw a couple of mirelurks right in front of her. She didn’t have time to stop so she prayed to Celestia and jumped. They saw her, but she leaped over them before they could react and she used one of them as a platform as she went over. They chased after her, but Break just increased her speed. She took a left then a right and found a door. Her E.F.S didn’t spot anything. She opened it and closed it behind her and locked it behind her. She collapsed and panted. She was in another maintenance room not unsimilar to the last one she found, though this one was larger and had another exit. Unlike the last one, this didn’t have a terminal and had large pieces of equipment, tools, and parts. She took a few moments to get her breath back.
She checked her E.F.S. and saw that the mirelurks hadn’t discovered where she went yet. Break checked the room and found a first aid box. She opened it and found some antiseptic and some bandages. She applied the antiseptic to her wound and wrapped it tightly. A sewer was the worst place to get an infection, so Break didn’t want to take any chances. There were also two healing potions, but Break decided to save them for later. It seemed silly to waste one on such a simple wound.
She found a tool harness with a bag on it on a shelf with other tools and put it on. She stored the healing potions in it and the entire supply of antiseptic and the bandages from the little first aid box. Break checked the E.F.S. again and saw some red figures in the distance and they were coming this way. She left the other door in the room and went down some more passages. She approached another door and used her E.F.S. to find anything behind it.
Break gulped at the at least twelve yellow figures. Break checked her map and she was very close to the exit into the lake, but the mirelurks were using it as a way in and out.
Break opened the door a creek and looked out. She could see mirelurks walking around the tunnel. Some were just chittering at each other. She could see light from the end of the tunnel to her right. It was grey and muted, but it was still light.
Break couldn’t see an easy way past them. There was no way she could do it without being seen. She quietly closed the door and slumped down. She was stuck and there was no way out. She just sat there for a few minutes. She knew it was wasting time, but she needed it. She needed time to think of something.
She opened the door again a crack and looked through. She visually confirmed the only way to get past them was to become invisible. She sighed and wondered if maybe she should just make a break for it. She could also just wait them out, but that did come with the risk of being discovered. She jumped at the sound of gunfire and distant cursing. The mirelurks turned and looked towards the direction of the gunshots.
Several of them left to investigate leaving only about six to stand guard. She thanked Celestia that the thug was creating such a useful distraction for her. It didn’t seem like the best odds, but Break decided now was about the best time to try. She was about to open the door and make a break for it when she spotted something flying quickly in their direction it was covered in a blue green aura. It took a second for her to figure out what it was. Her eyes widened and she quickly closed the door and moved away from it. It was a grenade.
It went off and caused a huge bang. The door behind her shook from the shockwave and she fell to the floor head first. She could hear a splatting sound then gunfire. Another explosion rocked the door. After a few more scattered gunshot everything suddenly went quiet. She moved up to the door that was tough enough to survive the explosions and cracked it open. The sight made her ill. Mirelurk blood and other unmentionables were splattered all over the walls. It was green, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. If one looked hard enough, they might see some kind of twisted modern art painting with how random and haphazard it was splattered along the walls. Several mirelurk bodies could be seen slumped on the floor unmoving. Break heard splashing behind her and turned to see a figure coming towards her. It was staggering and looked about to collapse. Thug A had a large gash on his right stomach and he was grasping it with a hoof. It was dripping a lot of blood. He also had a lighter wound oozing blood on his head.
He stumbled along the corridor and used the wall to support himself. He seem to lose all strength in his legs and grunted in pain when he fell and hit the floor. He was breathing hard. He had his gun levitating towards the way he came trying to guard the corridor the best he could.
“Damn, how long do I have until more come from the lake?” The thug panted. He suddenly toppled over and his gun fell to ground out his levitational grip. He groaned and gasped. He looked completely out of it and didn’t seem to have much strength left at all. He was bleeding badly and it looked like he struggled pretty hard to even get this far. Blood stained the wall and it pooled the ground around him.
She saw her chance and opened the door abruptly. The thug’s eyes widened and tried to levitate his gun in response, but it just fell as soon as his magic grabbed it. He had so little strength left. Break didn’t see any other enemies on her E.F.S. or anything in front of her. She had a clean getaway until she hit the lake and outside. She was about to leave, but froze and looked back at the injured pony. She looked back and forth from the exit to the dying pony.
She rushed up to him and opened her tool bag and got out a healing potion. She open it and gently poured it down his throat holding his head still with her other hoof, the thug’s eyes widened in shock. Break sat down the second healing potion and some antiseptic on floor in hooves’ reach and gave the thug another look before rushing outside.
She knew it was a dumb thing to do, but it felt wrong just leaving him there. She didn’t want to be the cause of his death too. Enough ponies have died today she reasoned, and he didn’t seem like a bad pony. He went to rather crazy extremes to avenge his friends. It takes real love to do that, so he couldn’t be all bad. However, she planned to get out of here as soon as possible, and hopefully she would be long gone if he did get ideas of taking shots at her after recovering. She prayed to Celestia that he would somehow survive and get back home.
She exited the tunnel and finally found freedom from the sewers. Sure it the sky was full of grey dreary clouds that eternally blocked any chance of getting proper sunlight when the pegasi closed the sky, but right now it was a truly beautiful sight. She just looked at it in awe for a few moments, but shook her head and reminded herself where she was. She could see the lake in front of her. She could see water that went on for about a mile or two. There was a wall around the piece of land that surrounding the end of the lake and the tunnel she left.
She didn’t fancy taking a swim in radioactive water, so she tried to climb the metal tube that exited the sewer and got to the patch of land behind her. She almost slipped and fell when climbing the tube, but she managed to get over it and get on top of the tunnel. She could see nothing but desolate empty land in front of her. Nothing but rocks, barren earth, and dead trees as far as the eyes could see. It was a bleak and bit despairing. She knew that dangers were everywhere now. She checked her PipBuck for anything on her map. It has nothing but Primrose and the sewer exit.
Break sighed. She paused to think. She remember that settlement Forks was somewhere to the east. So she used her PipBuck compass and traveled in that direction. Hopefully she could come across a caravan that would lead her the right way. She wondered if it would be safe to live in Forks if she kept her head down and changed her name, or maybe she should go to the next town after Forks. Changing her name sounded like a good idea, and she was planning on spending her travelling time thinking up a new one.
- - - - -
“Hey Robin! You won’t believe who’s back!” A pony from a distance yelled. Robin looked up from his cards. He was playing solitaire on a coffee table in a room that used to be a teacher’s lounge. It had been converted into a little room that the Cosas members liked to use in their down time. It had a green torn couch and several tables. Many were occupied by other Cosas members chatting, playing cards or some other game, or just relaxing. The smell of cigarette smoke was thick in the air. Everypony in the room turned towards the intruder.
“Well?” Robin asked.
“It’s Brisk Bolt!” The pony explained. “He survived!”
Robin looked surprised. “Really?”
“He’s down the in the infirmary right now.”
“What happened?” Robin asked genuinely curious. He was sure the pony had died.
“Dunno sir.” The pony said shrugging. “You will need to ask him yourself.”
Robin paused to think. “I think I will.” He got up from couch and left the room. The other ponies in the room followed him.
The infirmary used to be a nurse’s office, but it was expanded into a mini clinic when the school was converted into the Cosas’s main headquarters. Robin could see a few ponies being treated. Doctor Sieve was currently examining a back leg of a mare. The doctor was an Earth pony. He had a strong raspberry coat and dirty green mane and was currently wearing a lab coat that was a bit tattered. The fact that he couldn’t use magic didn’t make him less of a doctor as some newbies seemed to think. Robin thought the doctor’s skills could run with the best of them. The nurse was talking to another patient and only gave them a cursory glance before continuing her chat.
Brisk Bolt was sitting on a bed. His stomach was covered in bandages and also had some wrapped around his head. He looked worn and exhausted like he hadn't slept in days. It looked like he was talking to the boss. It looked like both had been crying. They noticed Robin and the entourage of ponies accompanying him almost immediately. “Robin!” The boss greeted. “I wasn’t expecting to see you hear.”
Robin shrugged. “I was just interested in hearing how Mr.Bolt here escaped those treacherous sewers.”
Brisk laughed. “Barely, those damn mirelurks gave me some trouble.”
“So, what happened?” Robin urged.
“After I jumped in the sewers, I found the filly, but she escaped.” Brisk explained. “She somehow evaded me for hours. The whorse was fast. I tried to fight off those damn crabs, but they gave me no end of trouble and there were so many of them. I had to end up hiding most of the time.”
Brisk continued. “I had almost given up hope when I lucked into finding her.” He paused for a second and looked away. “Then I… took her out. Sorry boss, I couldn’t bring her back alive. I know you really wanted to get back at her for Dagger.”
The boss slapped him on the back. “It’s alright boy. I’m just glad you’re safe.”
“You took her out?” Robin asked. Something about the statement seemed off.
Brisk nodded. “Right in the chest. Then I somehow found my way back to the entrance and luckily Silver Tone was there to help me out.”
Robin was almost sure that Brisk was lying. He didn’t deliver that line with as much gusto as the rest of his story. He thought the pony would be bragging about taking out such a hated enemy. The boss and the other ponies didn’t seem to notice the lie. “Well, whatever. She’s gone and out of our hooves.” Robin thought.
“Mr. Bolt was certainly a lucky one.” Doctor Sieve chimed in. “His injuries were severe, even with the healing potions he took.”
“Yeah. You’re right Doc.” Brisk said in a strange and distant tone. “Luckily I found that medical box!” He laughed.
The doctor faced the group and took on a firm tone. “I’m glad Mr. Bolt has so many friends that care about him, but I would appreciate it if you didn’t crowd my hospital. You can visit him when he’s released.”
The group behind Robin looked sheepish and embarrassed and quietly left. “I better go too.” Robin started to leave with the others. He waved to the boss and left them. He could see the boss and Brisk chatting again
Robin started his way back to the break area. He wondered why that idiot actually lied about killing the filly after everything he went through to try and kill her. Did something happen? He shrugged and supposed it didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like he really cared all that much either way.
- - - - -
Break sat down behind a rock and took out a water bottle. She drank down a little of it before putting it back. Luckily she was able to find a stream with clean, but irradiated water. So she had enough water for now and was able to get her fill. Hopefully she would be able to buy Rad-away at Forks and get rid of her minor radiation poisoning. The thought of being even a little eradicated made her very uncomfortable.
Break just sat their content to just get off her hooves. The last few miles hadn’t been too bad. There was this one part where she was almost killed by a radscorpion that jumped at her from behind a rock, but it couldn’t outrun a pony. Break got out some canned apples and started munching on them. She hadn’t eaten in hours and was starving. She sat there for about ten minutes not really thinking about anything. She just wanted to enjoy this little bit of rest. She screamed when a bullet hit a spot next to her leg.
“Move, and you are dead.” A male voice threatened. Break did as she was told. A scarlet pegasi with a dark goldish mane landed in front of her. She cursed herself for not paying attention to the sky. The pegasi had a battle saddle with a minigun and had it pointed directly at her.
“W-what do you want?” Break shuddered. She wondered if this guy was a raider. On closer inspection, he didn’t look like one. She noticed his battle saddle and barding were painted orange and blue. The colors seemed familiar somehow.
“Dear Celestia!” She thought. She knew where those colors came from. They belonged to the infamous Yellow Star Slavers.
“No questions.” The slaver barked. “Get moving now!” Break nodded and followed the slavers directions dreading every new step.