A Rose Among Thorns

11 | Resurfacing

Briar Rose prepared to braid her hair when a deep rumbling sounded; she jumped up and looked at the shack floor in recognizing the sound of Mole Rats burrowing to the surface. But this rumbling sounded deeper, like something larger was coming up. Was it a lot of Mole Rats or did something else live underground? She ignored her hair as she sprinted out of the shack to find Nick.

On her frantic search for the synth, scared settlers ran to higher ground, like up the stairs in the diner and to the still standing drive-in wing; others hurried to get on concrete, nervously eyeing the dirt under their feet. She finally spotted Nick hurrying toward the wooden shack, probably to get her; she ran toward him.

"Nick, what's going on? Is it Mole Rats?"

He turned at her voice but froze; he just stared at her, speechless. The same recognition she saw flicker across his eyes the first time she met him was in full force.

"Nick? Nick!"

He snapped out of his daze. "No, it's not Mole Rats; it's Radscorpions."

"Radscorpions?" She wasn't able to ask what they were since the sounds of something bursting up through the earth cut her off. Briar Rose whipped around to see these new creatures.

Radscorpions were just like the little emperor scorpions she remembered, but were ten times their size due to radiation. The enormous shelled creatures had pinchers large enough to snap a man's torso; the stinger held over its body dripped with some green venom. Two of them had surfaced and looked for their newest meals.

Gunfire sounded; the Radscorpions recoiled from the onslaught of bullets from the settlers, but their hard shells deflected a lot of them. One charged toward the settlers still on the ground floor while the other caught sight of Briar Rose and Nick and ran at them. They pulled out their guns and fired at it as they retreated. It shrilled and flinched as their bullets hit it directly in the face; it suddenly jumped in the air and dove into the ground, burrowing out of sight.

Briar Rose stared at where it disappeared in shock. Nick grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the diner full of settlers fighting the other Radscorpion. The building movies used to play on sat at the end of Starlight Drive-In, about twenty yards across open ground.

"Get inside!"

They ran for the safety; the ground rumbled and vibrated underfoot, like the Radscorpion was following their exact path.

The earth suddenly exploded under them, catapulting them into the air and breaking Nick's hold on her hand. Briar Rose struck the ground and somehow held in a scream as she dodged the Radscorpion's strike with its stinger; it stuck in the dirt right where her torso had been.

She scrambled to her feet and continued running toward the building. She heard the Radscorpion chasing behind her; gunfire popped but she didn't look back to see if it was Nick.

The side of the building came up; Briar Rose skidded to a stop as she ripped open the door. The Radscorpion's stinger flew by her nose, drilling into the metal door; it now had her trapped between the stinger and a pincher. She just lifted her gun and shot, releasing bullet after bullet directly into its disgusting face. It recoiled, pulling its stinger out of the door, opening up her escape to stairs.

She charged into the building, but the Radscorpion swiping at her feet tripped her up. Briar Rose fell into the metal stairs; her collision with them made her lose her grip on the 10 mm. She turned around to see the creature fighting its way to fit into the narrow doorway to reach its meal.

Briar Rose took the laser musket off her back, cranked it and shot at the Radscorpion. It recoiled from the powerful blast but still tried to get her, squeezing its way further and further in. She shot and shot at the mutated insect.

It finally stiffened and crumbled in the doorway. She kept the laser musket aimed at the Radscorpion, making sure it was dead. It suddenly shifted, and she almost pulled the trigger, but found Nick trying to force his way in.

"Are you hurt, Flower?" he asked as he continued to kick at the dead insect.

She had to take a few steadying breaths and lowered her gun. "No; it didn't get me. Are you?"

"I'm fine." After repeatedly cursing the insect for being in the way and more kicking, Nick made room for him to step over the Radscorpion.

She rose to wrap her arms around him when he reached to hug her; she put her head against his chest. That was scarier than when she fought a Deathclaw; if she was in power armor, maybe it wouldn't have been as frightening.

"Could you find another way to keep me on my toes?" Nick asked; even though he forced a chuckle, his voice shook.

"I think I can do that."

Briar Rose gradually calmed down in his arms. Remembering his reaction earlier made her look up at him.

"Hey, what happened earlier?"

Nick's eyes wavered as he deliberated. "The 'old Nick' had a fiancée; her name was Jennifer Lands. She had red hair like you, but always wore it down. This morning, you looked just like her." He ran a hand through her hair. "I thought I was experiencing a memory."

She felt a quick stab of jealousy before it turned into shame; he couldn't help that Jennifer Lands was a part of the memories that weren't even his and felt the same for her as the 'old Nick' did. But did he view her as Jennifer Lands, or did he see her as Briar Rose? Why was she so concerned, anyway?

She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry; I didn't know I caused you this much pain."

"Don't think that you do. I'm learning to tell you apart—this morning just caught me off guard." He lifted her face. "You're you and she's her; she's a memory that I'll never be able to know. I'm extremely honored that I get to know you."

They heard the slapping of running feet, then a male settler appeared in the doorway; two others appeared over his shoulder. He glanced at the dead Radscorpion then to them. "Are you two alright?"

Nick looked at him. "Peachy."

At the settler's puzzled expression from not understanding the old-world saying, Briar Rose hid her smile into Nick's chest. He chuckled, then explained.