The Wastelands (VenturianTale fanfic)

Chapter 7

Timebomb took a sip of Aqua Pura and stared at the wall in Cywren's house. What was their next move? She often spoke about strange radio signals and undiscovered locations on her map but what next? After their near death experience in the raider town, he was afraid of losing Cywren. He pulled out his pistol and took out its energy cell. He played with the idea of staying here with her for the rest of their lives but neither of them liked staying in the same place. The Brotherhood of Steel offered anything they needed but Cywren had a bad feeling about trusting wasteland organizations. The wastelands had people hunting Cywren down since she saved Big Town and defeated several raider camps.

He sighed and finished the bottled water. Was there any place safe for them to stay?

At that moment, Cywren walked down the stairs from her two hour nap. She yawned and stretched her arms.

"Hey Timebomb," she greeted.

"Hey Cywren," he greeted back.

She walked into the kitchen and pulled out Sugar Bombs cereal. She poured herself a bowl and sat down to eat.

"Timebomb, did you ever wonder if there was a safe place for us to stay in?"

He sat up straight. "Uh, yes. I have."

"Do you have any ideas?"

He pulled out another bottle of Aqua Pura. "We could stay in Big Town but we'd be endangering everyone because there is a warrant for your death."

"Megaton has little to no defenses, the Brotherhood will ask for tasks to be done, the Metro tunnels are full of Feral Ghouls, the Pitt is too hot, I don't entirely trust the crew on Mothership Zeta, the Outcasts are known to kill each other..." Cywren sighed and ate a spoonful of cereal. "And we can't camp out in the wastelands because of all the hostility."

Timebomb tossed his empty bottle into a trash bin. "The only way we can ever stop is to keep going."

Cywren cocked her head. "I've been kicked out of Vault 101, the other vaults are too dangerous to stay in, and Springvale has too many Atom believers to leave us alone."

Timebomb sat down beside Cywren. "Do you want to settle down?"

Cywren blushed slightly and scooped up another spoonful of Sugar Bombs. "I-I'm not sure, yet. Its just that... well..."

"You're afraid of losing me, aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

Timebomb smiled slightly. "I was afraid I'd lose you."

Cywren faced Timebomb. "What do we do?"

Timebomb wrapped an arm around Cywren and sighed. "Who knows? Maybe we need to keep wandering around, only stopping to sleep the night away."

Cywren drank the milk from her cereal bowl and wiped her mouth. "What if we need to... leave Washington?"

Timebomb shivered. "We know who we're facing here. Leaving Washington could be a death sentence."

Cywren leaned against Timebomb. "Why can't peace come faster?"

Timebomb stared at the Vault-Tec machines surrounding him. "I don't know Cywren. I don't know."