Fallout: Fury Blood

Chapter 107: Unwelcome Guests

Warning:
Violence and gore

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Loathing to wake her, Danse roused Kelly with a hand against her cheek. He had intended his touch to serve as a gentle antidote to her deep coma, but she shot awake with a startled inhale and found his gaze at once. It appeared that they were now so attuned to one another that she could sense his tension with a mere touch.

Her eyes alone queried him, sketched by a trusting willingness to fall under his wing on command. She knew something was wrong.

"We need to leave. The Bloodhunt is mobilizing in force from the South. They'll be swarming all over the canyon by midday."

She drew in her breath more sharply as the news hit home, sitting up into his hand. "Shit. But the Minutemen..."

He had anticipated her response. "We can't mount an offensive while their army is taking up residence. We were counting on assailing them before they could replenish their numbers."

Her shoulders hooked inward with dejection, the protrusion of her collarbones highlighting her weight loss. "We were too late..."

"No, soldier." Danse clasped up her jaw, forcing her doleful blue eyes to harden on him at his whim, in the way only a true Paladin could inspire of his prized soldier. "We wait for our opportunity. You still need to recover your full strength. Our mission is far from over."

He could feel the jaw in his hand grinding as she nodded with eyes of fierce belief. Good. There's my girl.

"Now, on your feet. We need to break camp ASAP. I want us mobile in T-minus ten."

Together, they hustled into top gear and gathered everything of value in their small shelter, shoving it all into their packs. From the dwindling supply they had been living off, it wasn't much, and it didn't take them long. Ammunition was scarce enough to be carried on their person, and the only thing they were forced to leave behind was the majority of the radraptor meat they couldn't find room for; they both agreed that carrying water with them took precedence over food. They would just have to make do with whatever they could hunt and forage while on the move.

"We'll be living lean," Kelly cautioned as she scooped up kindling from their stockpile to stuff in her satchel. She was looking to him for confirmation of their joint decision, dark brows slightly raised in what he translated as reservation.

"We'll survive," Danse said to dispel her doubt. Internally, he was concerned for her health if he couldn't provide for her. She was still fragile and needed constant sustenance, and he suspected she was anaemic and malnourished in various other forms. He knew that she would wilt quickly without support.

But it was his duty to instil confidence in her, even if it meant masking his own apprehensions. Leadership 101.

Silent, Kelly stared at him a moment too long for his liking, before returning her focus to packing. There was no spite in those eyes, just knowing. She knew him too damned well.

Before climbing into his power armor, he took up his riot vest and beckoned Kelly to him. "Wear it. I won't need it with my power armor, and I don't want you running around without protection if we stir up a hornet's nest." He helped her into it, adjusting it to her slim frame with it's straps and buckles, but she was still swimming in it. It was almost comical.

Her humor didn't miss a beat. "Sexy. I bet you're rock hard just looking at me."

On the contrary, his mind was now occupied imagining her wearing nothing but the combat vest. But that would be embarrassing to admit, so he fulfilled her humor with what he thought was a safe smile.