Blood seeped through the bandage, dripping down onto the rotting wood floors. Piper searched her pockets for anything useful but came up empty-handed. Deciding against ruining her only good jacket, she had fuck all to bandage with.
Sighing at what she had to do next, she rolled over and tried to stand up. Pain flared within her thigh every time she so much as twitched, but she managed to stand enough to lean on a nearby wall and began searching the house for supplies.
The house was relatively fortified, hosting two floors with each window barred by sheets of wooden planks, but almost completely empty. The first floor was a complete bust; the only thing Piper could find was a half-eaten box of Sugar bombs.
Climbing up the stairs (painfully and extremely slowly), it was revealed that the second floor wasn't all that much different, except for the cold ashes of an old tenant's campfire. Unfortunately, ash doesn't stop bleeding, and even if it did, Piper would rather die than stuff her gaping wound with burnt wood.
Piper debated ruining her beloved jacket even further as she heard creaking at the front door. Senses alert, she pulled out her pistol and took aim at the staircase, waiting for whatever ugly nonce peeked their head.
Unfortunately for Piper, the "ugly nonce" was already behind her.
Ajax appeared in a plume of smoke behind Piper, sweeping her injured leg from underneath. Caught by surprise, Piper tries to aim at the person behind her but is quickly disarmed and grabbed by her shirt before she hits the floor.
"Do you enjoy being a pain in the ass?" Ajax inquired, her silver irises glowing in the moonlight as she furrowed her brow in anger and disappointment. "Can you not sit still for ten fucking minutes?"
"Well, Ajax, I'd love to sit down as your helpless damsel, but as you can see..." Piper groaned, pointing a hand at her still-bleeding wound while trying to stay conscious in all the pain.
Following piper's hand, Ajax sighed and set Piper on the ground, this time with more care. She pulled her satchel off her belt and opened it, searching for bandages. When she found none, she groaned and palmed her face. She spent a good few moments contemplating before peeking her eyes out from beneath her hand to glare at Piper, who was still dealing with immense pain. "Listen very carefully, Piper. What I am about to do cannot be told to anyone." Piper opened her mouth to quip but was cut off by a harsh "Anyone" and sharp glare.
"Alright, not a soul Ajax."
"I'm not fucking around, Piper," Ajax insisted, pulling her hands off her face to interlace her fingers and point at Piper. "If I so much as catch the slightest tuft of wind that you peeped about this, I will end your entire bloodline."
'Oh great, not only am I a target but I'll also be watched 24/7' Piper thought before giving a slow nod.
Ajax stared at Piper for a few moments, darting her eyes around her face in search of something, before closing her eyes and letting out a begrudging sigh. After a short moment, she opened her eyes and stood up to move over to Piper's injured thigh. She used her claws to cut the bandage off the thigh, tossing it into the darkness of the staircase. In an unexpected turn of events, Ajax began cutting her open palm with her claw, watching as the blood dripped slowly into Piper's thigh.
"And before you ask because I know how predictable you are, yes, our blood is technically compatible," Ajax said, still keeping her hateful gaze on the wound. "Don't get your boxers in a bunch."
Piper pretended not to hear that last piece and continued to watch in morbid curiosity. She knew Ajax was likely a mutant of some kind—that much was known by the rock fragments along her skin and her hands—but she clearly wasn't a super mutant and she definitely wasn't a ghoul. Maybe it had something to do with the vault she came from...
None of her questions would be answered as Ajax swiped her hand on her pant leg, seemingly finish. "You should be fine in the morning. For now, you probably wanna sleep." She started to walk towards the campfire, but stopped to add "Unless you wanna writhe in pain until morning."
Piper only now noticed it—probably because she's been on her ass the past ten minutes—but there was a pile of wood wedges and sticks near where Ajax appeared. She must've left to get that earlier.
Having second thoughts about her ambivalent escort slash possible killer, Piper tried to crawl towards Ajax, who was now setting up a fire, but could only manage some pathetic struggles due to her now numb thigh. She instead decided to return to leaning against the wall like a bag of mutfruit.
As she craned her next to look at Ajax, a wave of exhaustion came over her and weighed heavily on her eyelids. The last thing she thought before caving into the darkness of sleep was how nice Ajax's back looked in the bright moonlight.
YOU ARE READING
Memory of Black Mold, Heart of Broken Glass
Action"How pitiful, a bandit who thinks they can run," they utter, their voice scratchy like sandpaper. or An unfortunate encounter between a mercenary and a journalist and their journey together.
