Chapter 34 - Fracture
“It started with small, web-like fractures.”
===~+~===
“Ah! Mums, you’re back!” Macro declares as we enter Icicle Lab. “We’ve been waiting for days! We were beginning to worry,” He says, his three eye stalks switching rapidly between the two of us. “Hal here will never admit it, but he was the most worried between the two of us,” Macros says, turning his eyes to the lumbering giant beside him, who glares in return.
“Uh, this might not be the right time, but...Hal, I don’t think we’ve met before. I didn’t realize Cora made a third AI friend,” I say, stretching out a hoof to him. “Nice to meet you.”
He raises his heavily armored leg and takes my hoof in his. “A pleasure, Miss Ratchet. Between Cora, Macro, and Soar, I’ve heard quite a bit about you,” Hal tells me. “Cora put the finishing touches on me about three years ago. Things were getting rough, and they needed my firepower.”
“Yea, I can see that,” I say, looking at his grenade machine gun and minigun. “Sweet Luna, did Cora build you sturdy or what?”
“She had to,” Hal replies. “The threat facing the Wasteland is greater than ever. Raiders are out in ever greater numbers packing heavier firepower and increased viciousness. In fact, that is why we have returned without Soar,” he tells us.
Cora and I exchange a glance. “Is she alright?” I ask.
“Fine, but she is keeping watch on the facility,” Hal says. “Macro, fill them in.”
“Of course, Hal,” Macro says, and then turns his attention to us. “We found the facility, entered it and disposed of the defences. Inside, we found a pod. An almost exact replica of the one here. In fact, I think that it might be the very first one ever derived from your design due to-” Hal clears his throat, interrupting Macro.
“Ah, yes. Another time, perhaps,” Macro continues. “The terminal that controls the pod is locked out, we even tried your credentials, Miss Ratchet. The terminal said it required Celestia Tier access to unlock. However, shortly after we found the pod, raiders entered the facility,” He tells us.
“Raiders?” I ask. “Judging by the fact that you are here, these aren’t normal, unorganized raiders.”
Macro bobs his eye stalks. “Indeed. They belonged to the raider gang that controls the majority of the badlands, the Radscorpions. That much was evident due to their armor fashioned from the carapaces of their namesake,” Macro says.
“So, what happened?” Cora asks.
“They attacked with a group of five. We managed to kill them, but when we stepped outside, we saw a group of twenty more heading towards us,” Macro says. “Against that many, we decided our best option was to retreat for now. We slipped away to a nearby plateau and began observing them. After a few minutes, thirty more Radscorpions arrived. In an hour, seventy more arrived, along with their leader, Skag. It was then we decided we should come back and inform you of these events.”
“Let me get this straight,” I mutter. “One hundred some raiders invaded the facility which holds a Celestia Tier sealed cryopod?” I ask.
“Correct,” Hal replies. A chill runs throughout my body. “I suggested we kill them all and return with good news, but Soar and Macro refused.”
“And with good reason,” Macro interjected. “We were vastly outnumbered! Even with your firepower, we would have been overwhelmed without a proper plan of action.”
“Macro’s right,” Cora says. “Rushing in would have only gotten you all killed. You did the right thing in returning here.”
“Agreed,” I add. “But, if the raiders really have overtaken the facility, we don’t have much time,” I say, heading towards the armory. “Cora, see if you can find a replacement part for your assault rifle. We’re heading south, so I need to lighten my load a little bit and lose some of this bulky clothing. Macro, Hal, if you haven’t already, resupply.”
“Got it,” Cora says, and heads to the workshop.
“We’ve been ready to move out moments after our return,” Hal tells me.
“Good. How quickly can we get to the facility?” I ask as I rummage through the armory looking for what I need.
“Three days, assuming we don’t stop, run into trouble, or make camp for the night,” Macro replies.
“Three days, huh?” I mutter. “I could make that. If the worst happens and I’m too tired to move on, Cora can always carry me on her back...Are there any towns near the facility?” I ask.
“There is one about ten miles north of it. Average size, average defenses, kind folk,” Hal informs me.
“I see. If we spend three days on the road, I’ll be too tired to do anything once we arrive at the facility. But, if we take a while once we reach that town for me to rest, we should be able to hit the facility in four days,” I decide.
“Good plan, Miss Ratchet,” Macro says. “Sometimes I forget that you organics require rest. It must be ever so miserable.”
“Gee, thanks,” I grumble as I finish getting what I need. “Ok, we can leave once Cora fixes her-”
“It is fixed and ready to go, Ratchet!” Cora says, coming around the corner.
“Good work, that was quick. Alright then, let’s go. Hal, Macro, lead the way,” I instruct as we exit Icicle Lab once again.
===~+~===
I end up getting into Cora’s armor and having her walk me the rest of the way. Quite handy, having her able to use the armor without me. I get some sleep while inside, that way I won’t be completely exhausted when we arrive.
But when we arrive at the town and Cora wakes me, I’m surprised that we aren’t in the town, but instead we are standing on a hill outside the town. Cora lets me out of the armor and I look down at the town, I can see why. The town is littered with corpses, festering and diseased. A strange pale green mist is rising from it.
In the middle of town I can see a lone pony standing, they don’t have a mane or tail and their entire body is covered with sores. But they are just standing there and when they exhale, the mist around them thickens. I have no idea what they are doing.
I notice movement in the town as well. Two figures in radscorpion armor and gas masks, to be specific. They look like they are looting the town. The sound of muted hoofsteps approaches, and I look to see Soar walking up. “Soar? What’s going on? What happened to the town?” I ask in a rush.
“We failed,” Soar tells me. “The Radscorpions opened the pod, that pony standing in the town is who was inside, I think. They certainly didn’t enter with the Radscorpions, I would have noticed. But that pony came out of the facility. The only conclusion that I can come to, is that that pony is the one who was sealed in the pod.”
“But what happened to the town?” I ask.
“I wasn’t in time to see what happened,” Soar replies. “But, that pony seems to be the source of the mist in the town. And the fact that the raiders are wearing gas masks make me think that that pony has some sort of chemical or biological attack. I would not advise you to go into the town, Ratchet. However, something else is strange about that pony. When I used my thermal sensors, his heat signature was barely visible,” She explains. “It is almost as though he is dead.”
“Well, he looks kind of like a ghoul. Maybe he is one?” I suggest. “Do ghouls have low body heat?”
Soar shakes her head. “No. They are normal, like most ponies. Some are even hotter, depending upon how much radiation they have sucked up,” She tells me.
I look back towards the town and frown. “So. The Radscorpions did this, then? And they did it with the buck that was in one of my pods…” I stare at the town and an anger rises up in me. My anger piques when one of the raiders kicks once of the dead townsponies. “Soar. Can you go into town and get me one of those gas masks?” I ask her. “We need to stop them.”
“I can,” Soar replies. “But I could also just go with Cora and the others and we could handle it,” She offers.
“No, absolutely not,” I tell her. “I need to do this. So go down there, and get me one of those masks.” I say the last bit a little harsher than I should have, but Soar doesn’t argue back. Instead, she nods and trots off down to the town.
I watch as she goes down, kills one of the raiders, and pulls of their gas mask. Then she trots back up and gives it to me. “Here you go, Ratchet. Shall we take out the other two now?” Soar asks. I slip on the gas mask and make sure it is tight around my head, don’t want any of that mist to get to me.
“Let’s go,” I declare and start heading towards the town. I walk straight for the buck in the center. I’ll trust Cora and the others to handle the one raider that is still lurking around. It isn’t long before I reach the road the strange buck is standing in, and a single gunshot rings out from behind me. They must have killed the raider. With the buck right in front of me, I quicken my pace and draw a knife. When I reach the buck, I put the knife to his neck. “Why did you do this!?” I shout at him.
But he stares blankly at me and just blinks. His eyes look...kind of dead. I shake my head and ask again, cutting the knife into him a bit, “Why!?” He doesn’t even react. He just continues breathing and blinking at me. I narrow my eyes at him and pull the knife away. The buck doesn’t try to run or anything, he just goes back to standing there. “Hey, can you hear me?” I ask him as I wave a hoof in front of his face. Nothing. “Can’t talk?” I ask.
Hoofsteps coming from behind me signal the arrival of the others. “I don’t think he is...here,” I mutter as they gather around. He doesn’t even react when they approach. “Do you think...he’s just...empty?” I ask.
Cora waves her hoof in front of him as well and gets the same outcome as I do. “It would seem that way. He is just staring blankly and breathing,” She says
“Ratchet, can you take his pulse?” Soar asks.
“His pulse?” I ask. “Sure, I guess.” I raise my hoof up to his neck and feel for a pulse. It is...slow. I count it out. “That can’t be right…” I mutter, and take it again. But I get the same result. “It is around ten beats per minute,” I tell her.
“That might explain his low body heat. At least in part,” Soar replies. “It might also explain why he doesn’t seem to do much at all. Perhaps he has no brain activity other than basic functions like breathing and blinking?” Soar suggests.
“Maybe,” I mutter. “He doesn’t seem to be a treat by himself. The damn Radscorpions must have brought him here just to wipe out the town.” I look around at the dead littering the streets. They seem to have suffered from various diseases. It looks like it was painful. Pools of blood surround some, bodily fluids around others. Some have no fluids around them but have horrible rashes or blisters. “This is horrible,” I say as I shake my head.
I draw Forgiveness from its holster. “We can’t let you live, even if this isn’t your fault. I don’t know who you are or how this happened to you. I don’t even know if you can understand me or if you are suffering. But, I am sorry,” I tell him as I put the gun to his head. “If you are suffering, I hope that this puts an end to it.” I pull the trigger and the unknown buck falls to the ground in a heap.
A cold rage has been burning inside of me since I saw the town. The deaths that I could have prevented had I arrived sooner. If Cora and I came here instead of going to the north, we could have made it. But now...all of these ponies are dead and I had to kill another pony who did not necessarily deserve it. Was the unknown buck bad or was he being used because he couldn’t fight back? Whatever the case, I feel goosebumps creeping all over my body as my face hardens. I know what I need to do.
“The facility is ten miles to the south, right?” I ask the AIs.
“Yea, that’s correct,” Soar replies.
“Good. Then let’s go and kill every last one of the Radscorpions,” I say as I start walking south.
Cora stops me. “Why?” She asks. “The pod’s occupant is dead, it isn’t our problem anymore,” She says.
I turn to face her. “Because they killed a town full of innocents. How can you say it isn’t our problem?” I ask her pointedly.
“Because it isn’t, Ratchet. Our problem is dealing with the pods and their occupants. Not ever raider band that shows up,” Cora counters.
“Are you saying we should just walk away and return to the lab? Even though the Radscorpions might find other things in that facility they can use to harm ponies?” I say as I glare at her.
“That is exactly what I am saying,” Cora tells me. “There are more than a hundred of them, we don’t stand a chance. And if something went wrong, you could die.”
“I know that. But if I can stop even one raider, then it is worth it,” I tell her. “So, let’s go.”
“No. We should return to Icicle Lab,” Cora says stubbornly.
“No?” I ask in shock. I look to the other AIs. “What about you three? Macro? Soar? Hal? Do you want to return to the lab? Leave these raiders to raid?” I ask.
“Well...it would be the safest course of action, mum,” Macro replies.
“Cora’s right,” Soar tells me.
“One hundred is a bit much,” Hal admits.
“So, that’s it then? You’re all going to turn tail and run?” I ask, looking between them. “Fine, I’ll go myself then,” I tell them and start walking south once more.
But once again Cora stands in my way. “Stop. Come back with us,” She says. “It isn’t safe, Ratchet. All of this death is clearly getting to you,” She says sadly.
“My mind is made up. Now move,” I say as I try to go around her, but she stops me again, shaking her head. “I said move!” I yell, but she shakes her head again and stares at me. I take a deep breath and then growl, “Fine then. Cora. Command override, activate voice input protocols. Authorization, Ratchet. Passphrase, For The Future.”
Cora goes stock still and says in an emotionless voice, “Awaiting input.”
“You are to stay in this town and burn the dead. Once done, you are to remain here for one day. If anyone tries to make you leave or tries to stop me from leaving, kill them,” I tell her.
Cora keeps staring at me for a moment before saying, “Command accepted. Executing.” She then walks to the unknown buck’s body and begins to lift him onto her back.
“Mum! What did you do!?” Macro exclaims.
“I made her listen to me,” I reply evenly. “You three should help her. Your flamer will come in handy, Macro. Oh, and don’t even think about trying to stop me. Cora will destroy you. Later,” I say as I continue walking south unhindered.
I hear them protesting from behind me, but I ignore them. If they won’t help me, then I’ll just do this on my own. My anger is way too intense to simply return to the lab. No...I need to get revenge for this town. Once I am done, not a single Radscorpion will be left alive.
===~+~===
“So, missy,” the green cloaked figure that has been tagging along with me begins. Until now, he has been following along in silence. “You really plan to charge in there without a plan and kill them all?” He asks.
“You finally decide to speak up, and that’s what you ask? Yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what I am going to do,” I tell him. Just a short while till I reach the facility. “How about you answer my question now? Huh? You know everything that happens to others, right? So, what happened to that buck?” I ask.
He chuckles. “You’re just lucky that it is my area of specialty. He died long ago and I claimed his soul then. In fact, if I wasn’t already Pestilence, he would have been an ideal candidate for my position,” Pestilence explains. “Your government experimented on him to use him for biological warfare. Come to think of it, it is was kind similar to what happened to me.”
“They experimented on him? What? Why would Princess Luna approve of that?” I ask him in shock.
“Your princess knew about a lot of projects that were less than ethical. But in order to win the war, she allowed many things,” He tells me.
“You’re lying. She wouldn’t allow experiment that harmed ponies,” I counter.
Pestilence chuckles again. “After everything you’ve seen, you still think that? Twilight used your own creation without your knowledge. I bet you thought, ‘Twilight wouldn’t do something like that,’ when you first learned that too,” He says. “What about Umbra? Her experiments? And you remember Abominable’s body? What they did to him? But, I suppose that was all ethical, right? However, a better question right now, is why would I lie to you? Your princess is long gone. And telling you what I am right now isn’t going to change your mind, is it?” He asks.
“I suppose not,” I admit with a sigh. “Fine then. What did they do to him?” I ask.
“What didn’t they do,” He replies. “Subjected him to various diseases, both old and new. Even ones they created themselves. They initially were trying to create a biological weapon. But, after he died but was left alone for a while, miraculously his body came back. Of course, it wasn’t intelligent. But it did react to stimuli and the like,” He explains. “They decided to use it to continue their research. A while later, they made him a living, biological weapon. As you might guess from the town and the fact that he was sealed, practical application of him proved near impossible. His breath is a contaminated mist that infects ponies instantly. The first few researchers died before he was contained. It was hard to handle him and they couldn’t find a way to deliver him anywhere to be of actual use. In the end, he was sealed away,” Pestilence concludes.
“If he wasn’t living anyway, why not just kill him? Why seal him in a pod?” I ask. I can see the facility ahead, a few raiders are outside. And after hearing about what was done to the unknown buck, I am positively fuming with anger. These raiders will be the perfect outlet for it.
“Who knows,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “Maybe they thought they could use the diseases they pumped him full of later? Maybe they wanted to use him to advance cures for current diseases. Hard to say for sure. So then miss, you won’t be fighting diseases up ahead. I’ve been shirking my duties for long enough as it is. You go do your thing. Be careful though. Your mind might just snap, as fractured and messed up as it is right now…”
I turn to look at him, but he is gone. “Yea, ok, great. Make morbid comments about my mind and fucking leave. Great. Fuck it. I’ll just go kill these raiders then. And stop talking to myself…” I let out a sigh. I’m a few yards from the entrance to the facility, and the raiders have started to take notice of me. Four of them standing guard. Radscorpion armor? Check.
I pull out Forgiveness and two knives. The great thing about their armor, is that it doesn’t cover their head, neck, or joints. There are plenty of places to inflict damage. I level Forgiveness and take aim at a buck with a carbine. The bullet slams into his eye and exits out the back of his head. I waste no time and quicken my pace, running at them in full gallop. One calls out and a moment later a knife finds its way into her neck. I shoot a few rounds at another mare with an smg and put her down. The last raider has a sledgehammer. I charge him and tackle them to the ground then proceed to stab him mercilessly between the gaps in his armor until he stops moving.
With all the raiders out here dead, I wipe my knives off on my lab coat and reload Forgiveness. Putting the knives away, I take the carbine from the dead raider and check its ammo. Just a few rounds missing from the current magazine, but the buck has two extras as well. I holster Forgiveness for now and then check the smg. The mare seems to have gotten a few shots off, but the mag is mostly full. She has another on her corpse that I take with me. The other mare has a sniper, but I won’t need that in here. And the sledgehammer will be unwieldy inside tight corridors. I’ll stick with these two guns for now.
All set, I open the door to the facility. Already a group of five raiders are running towards me, probably heard the mare’s shout. I take them down with the carbine and smg before they can get off more than a few bullets. The rapid fire of the smg quickly emptied the magazine, so I reload it while I look over the raiders’ bodies for more ammo. Only one buck has spare carbine ammo, the rest are using other rifles, pistols, or melee weaponry.
I don’t waste time looking around the entryway and continue deeper into the facility. I open a door to the hallway beyond and see two raiders a ways down. A short burst of fire later and they fall into a heap on the ground. I continue walking down the hallway as shouting a hoofsteps echo through the halls. A door to my left draws my attention and I peek inside. Four raiders just getting their armor on. I riddle their exposed flesh with the smg and continue to the next door.
This time the raiders inside are prepared and start shooting at me as soon as the door opens. I duck around the corner and float the smg around to blinding empty it into the room. A few groans come from the room and some of the shooting stops. Without any ammo left for it, I turn the corner into the room and throw the smg at the nearest raider and then proceed to swing the carbine across the rest of the raiders until its clip is empty as well. They return fire as I run out of ammo, but I drop the gun and charge them as I draw a few knives and stab at them. I don’t stop till they are all motionless on the floor.
A few rounds found their way into my barding, some even penetrated. But I ignore them for now, nothing serious. I wipe my knives, reload the carbine, and find another smg on one of the raiders. I’m about to look for more ammo when more Radscorpions enter the room and start shooting. I duck behind a desk and return fire, killing one instantly. Clicking my tongue at the fact I got myself stuck here, I empty the carbine into another raider. There seems to be at least three more outside the door. I look over the bodies I am sitting beside and spot a shiny apple peaking out from under one of the buck’s bags. Floating it over to me, I pull the pin, wait a few seconds, and then throw the apple into the hallway. A few shouts and curses precede an explosion and silences the raiders outside.
I leave the room while I reload the carbine and pick up another from one of the raiders in the hallway. “Who’s next?” I mutter as I continue on. As if answering my question, more raiders turn the corner up ahead. The one in front is a buck whose eyes go round as I start spraying the carbines down the hall towards them. The small group tries to get back around the corner, but are tripping over themselves as I shoot them. After a few seconds, they’ve stopped moving. I sigh. I keep using more ammo then I am finding. They need to die quicker.
More raiders burst through the door immediately to my right, catching me by surprise. I try to use the carbines to fight them off, but after a few bursts both carbines are empty. The raiders’ bullets find their way into my chest and I start bludgeoning them with the carbines as I draw Forgiveness to finish them off. When they are all dead, I quickly take out a healing potion and drink it quickly. As the potion works its magic, I reload my revolver and holster it again. I look over the dead raiders and find another smg and pick it up as another raider comes around the corner the others were trying to hide behind. I turn the smg on him and empty the clip.
The single raider goes down, but my frustration boils over. “All of you just die!” I scream as I walk over to the corner to look for more weapons I can use. A shotgun and a 10mm pistol are the two I decide to pick up. Both without a single round used. I turn down the corner and continue.
I repeat the process of killing the Radscorpions as they appear, taking their guns, and killing more. A trail of blood and death follows me, some of the blood even my own. When guns prove useless, I turn to my knives. Dozens of Radscorpions are dead already as I meet another group in the halls. I empty my guns into them, and when they run dry I charge them with my knives. Their bullets strike me but I shrug them off and I stab them all repeatedly. When I’m finally done with this group, I’m bleeding pretty badly and covered in blood. I pull out a new potion and start to drink it as more raiders come through a doorway.
At that point, I black out. I’m not sure if it is because of blood loss, anger, or what, but I don’t remember anything else as I continue through the facility. When I finally regain my senses, I am standing in a large open room with a cryopod in the center. I have a bloody knife held in my magic. Hanging upside down above the pod, is a buck with a rope tied around his rear hooves. He is glaring at me angrily, but he is wearing Radscorpion armor. It is a bit more fancy than the others.
“So, I take it you are the leader?” I guess as I look at him. He smiles at me as he sways.
“Well, I reckon I am. I’m the only one left now, after all. If I wasn’t the leader already I would have become it by default,” He replies. “Say, you look familiar. And you got some fight in ya, I like that. Managed to kill all my gangers. What would you say to joining forces and ruling this region with me?” He offers.
I snort in disgust and press the knife to his throat. “I’m not going to join you. I’m here to kill you. But first, I want to know why,” I tell him.
“Why? Why what?” He asks.
“Why you came here to this facility. Why you opened this pod. Why you decided to use the buck inside to kill an entire town!” I growl at him.
He laughs. “That’s what you want to know? The answer should be obvious. And the answer for all those questions is the same. For power,” He tells me. “We came here to find some old world technology to give us an edge. And we found it in this. That town out there was a test of what that buck could really do. ‘Course, he killed a few of us before we thought to use those masks.”
“For power?” I repeat his answer. “That is why you killed a whole town?”
A sudden realization seems to dawn on the buck. “Oh shit. I remember you now. Yea…I get it. You don’t care about the town, you’re just here to eliminate the competition, isn’t that right, Nova Surge? You must be expanding down here, hu? Your little gang up north didn’t have enough territory already, huh?” He chuckles. “Surprised you didn’t bring the rest of your gang here for the stomp. But, turns out you didn’t need them anyway.”
“Nova...Surge…?” I mutter in confusion. What is he talking about. Is there some raider boss out there that looks like me somewhere in the wasteland.
“Don’t play dumb now. A normal pony could have done what you did. I mean, just look behind you,” He says with a whistle. “All that carnage. If they weren’t my own, I’d be impressed.”
I turn around to see what he is talking about and wish that I hadn’t. Dozens of dead Radscorpions are in this room alone. It looks like someone butchered them. Did I...do all this? I can see large pools of blood and smears on the wall. In a couple of places, the smears of blood become words and phrases. 'Who am I?' and 'What is my name?' are two that I can make out. Others are too sloppy to read.
I turn back to the buck as I feel my head start to pound. “Since you haven’t just killed me yet,” The buck begins, “do you want me to join you? Perhaps you want me to tell you about all of the trade routes down here so you can hit them. Tell ya where travelers like to gather so you can pick them over? Let me down, and I’ll...hey, wait…” He starts to panic as I stagger closer to him with the knife and put it against his neck again. “Let’s talk about this Nova, we can work something out!” He pleads.
“My name...isn’t Nova,” I growl as I put a hoof to my head. “My name is...Ratchet,” I say as I drag the knife across his throat. His eyes pop wide as blood flows from his neck and streams onto the cryopod underneath. My head is spinning and it feels like someone has been kicking me in the head. I can feel a wetness under my barding. I must still be bleeding. Quickly, I pull out my last potion and drink it. But my head keeps throbbing. “Nova...Surge…?” I question as fall to the floor. “What is…” I start to mutter, but I quickly lose consciousness as my head hits the floor.
===~+~===
When I awake again, the smell of copper fills my nose. With all the blood in the room, it is understandable. My head still has a dull throbbing, but it isn’t as bad as it was before. I look at my PipBuck, only about an hour has gone by since I passed out. I stagger back to my hooves and gather myself. The Radscorpions are dead. “Indeed they are,” A familiar voice says from beside the doorway. I turn to see War, leaning against the doorway in his red cloak. “You’ve certainly made me work today,” He tells me.
I groan. “Of course. Of course you’d show up. You know, Pestilence said some really cryptic shit a while ago. Care to elaborate on any of that?” I ask him.
“I can tell you he’s right. You aren’t you. I mean, look around. Ratchet wouldn’t have done any of this. At least, not alone without her friends,” War explains. “And that buck strung up like that? That’s not a very Ratchet thing to do, you know. Ratchet helps ponies, right? She wouldn’t torture them.”
I frown at him. “Yea, ponies change,” I tell him. “I’ve seen enough innocent ponies killed to last a lifetime. The least I can do is kill murderers and the like.”
War nods. “Do you think this is a case of the Wasteland breaking a pony?” He asks.
“No. I’m still in control, I can tell right from wrong,” I counter. “That is why I’m not done. Not yet,” I tell him.
“You’re not done?” He asks. “There are no more Radscorpions here, or anywhere, for that matter. Not the raider variety, anyway.”
I shake my head. “I don’t mean here. There are more raiders elsewhere,” I explain. “I’ll go find some more and kill them too.”
“Alone?” War asks. “Cora is still following your orders for quite a while, you know.”
“Yes, alone. If I went to get Cora and the others to help me, they’d only try to get me to go back to the lab,” I tell him. “For now, I’ll go find a nearby town to stock up in. Maybe find some info on some raider gangs in the area,” I say as I walk past him towards the exit.
“That’s your plan then?” War says with a sigh. “You should clean up first then. The whole, ‘covered in blood’ look isn’t going to make you seem friendly to any towns you go to.”
I stop walking and look myself over. War is right, I am completely covered with blood. Even my mane is matted to my head it has so much blood in it. I guess I didn’t notice with everything going on. “Hey, thank you…” I say as I turn back to him, but he is already gone. “Why do they always do that…” I mutter.
I take his advice and find a bathroom in the facility. After a while, I manage to get myself clean. My armor and lab coat is another matter entirely. While I do manage to wash off the majority of the blood and gore off of them. My lab coat is going to be permanently stained, however.
With my appearance taken care of, I spend around an hour looking over the bodies and giving the facility a quick once over. I take most of the ammo I can find, any drugs and healing items, some of the smaller arms like pistols and smgs, caps of course, and some food and drink. I leave the rest for whoever happens across it next. Nothing inside the facility is too much of a threat anymore, not since the unknown buck is dead.
Then, I leave the facility and head north. I remember that we traveled through a town on our way here. I plan to head there and see what I can find out. The name of the town? New Appleloosa.