Fallout New Vegas: A Rose Among The Ashes

Chapter 2

A Rose Among The Ashes

2: Practice

The smell that hit me when I nudged open the door of the office block was like a physical wall. Blood, cordite, and damp mustiness all mixed into one. Raiders had definitely been here, all right, but not recently. The lobby was dark, devoid of light since the power obviously hadn't worked in centuries, and the windows had been boarded up to mask the raider's decrepit activities. There was a pile of rubble in the centre of the room beneath a hole in the ceiling where the floor above had caved in. A dusty old desk sat in the corner with the empty shells of a couple of old computers seated on it. Corridors to the front, left and right of me led off into other rooms. Other than that, the room was unremarkable. It wasn't exactly luxurious, but it was a roof over my head. Speaking of which, I made a mental note to sleep under a doorframe in case the ceiling decided to collapse.

I stepped cautiously forward into the lobby, letting the door slowly click shut behind me, making as little noise as possible. The silence was eerie, and I could hear the semi-nervous thudding of my heart in my chest. Just in case this really was a raider trap (and I had seen them do this before), I didn't want to telegraph my presence.

I carefully checked the immediately adjoining rooms to the lobby. They were equally empty and old, but there was a lot of evidence of past raider activity. Spent bullet casings, empty, dirty syringes, half-finished plates of mouldy food. Even dried, peeling bloodstains on various walls and floors.

Deciding it was safe for the night, I decided to unpack. I took my bedroll out from my backpack and unfurled it on the floor inside one of the doorframes before lighting my gas lamp to illuminate the room. The newfound light cast long shadows over the walls, but I also noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, and noticed a first aid kit just poking out from behind the desk on the floor.

Well, this was a stroke of luck. Even raiders aren't stupid enough to waste valuable medical supplies, so if they'd left the box here with the intention of returning for it, or whatever purpose they had, there may still be something useful left in it to add to my own inventory.

I crossed the room, observing my shadow as it darkened the wall in front of me, and crouched down as I did. I reached down to unlatch the lock, and lifted the lid.

My triumphant smile turned immediately to a shocked 'O' as I saw the jumble of wires inside the box, connected up to an old grenade tucked into the corner.

Acting upon panicked instinct, I leapt backward as far as my legs would push me as I heard a small 'click' from the box, before it detonated in a brief flash of yellow flame.

I landed on my back, reeling from the shock and noise of the explosion. Dazed for a second, I quickly snapped myself back to my senses and checked myself for injury. No shrapnel or blood, just mildly singed clothes. Good.

I breathed a small sigh of relief as I let my head rest on the floor, taking in what just happened. That was when I heard distant shouting voices from outside, just discernable over the ringing left in my ears. They seemed to be getting closer and more frantic by the second. They must have heard the explosion, but I wasn't going to wait for them to arrive before making myself scarce.

Thinking quickly again, I scrambled to my feet and ran through the empty doorframe directly opposite the entrance, taking cover around the corner, and pulling my pistol out from the holster on my hip.