Fallout: Born Unto Trouble

18. The Night

It's a harder way to heaven on the rope you swing, and the night ain't filled with gentle things.

The radio droned on in the back of her head as the anxiety nearly consumed her. Night time in the middle of nowhere was not the most reassuring places to be, even if she was stronger than most people in the world.

Nipton had shaken her to the bone. Seeing those men nailed to crosses, the man with the creepy voice vaguely threatening her had caused yet another panic attack, and it took all of her (quite impressive) strength to run away as fast as possible.

She ran until she couldn't see the smoke from the burning fires in Nipton anymore, and the sun had started to set. It was starting to get a bit cooler, and Elizabeth finally stopped and collapsed. She gasped for breath and coughed. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the night sky.

She guessed she always thought the sky always looked amazing. Whether it was day or night, cloudy or clear, the sky looked amazing. The War had removed a lot of things that caused pollution, so the sky cleared up and it was always a vibrant blue color. The Mojave isn't as dry as people think, and there are usually fluffy clouds all over.

The night sky was even prettier than the day. There was a blue fog of stars across the sky, for unknown reasons, that glowed brighter than the moon sometimes.

The fog put Elizabeth at ease and she closed her eyes. She breathed in, and out, trying to calm her breaths. Her heart was still beating a million beats per minute, and she felt like she was going to pass out.

She ran her hand through her hair, and stopped for a moment when she touched the scar on her forehead.

Sometimes, she thought she wasn't real. That all this was just a dream. That she would wake up and she would be with some family that loved her. Parents, siblings, whatever.

But some things brought her back to reality. She was shot in the head and robbed of something, and she wanted to know why.

It was moments like these that remind her that she's alive. Sometimes, she remembered, she didn't want to be. That a pain in her chest of a forgotten memory made her want to give up and die.

She breathed in and out again, and put her hands by her side. Sleeping out in the middle of the desert isn't the smartest thing, but Elizabeth wasn't a smart girl and, at the end of the day, she really needed a moment to rest.

___

When Elizabeth wasn't trying to figure out the meaning of life and thinking about things that people in her situation shouldn't really be thinking about, she was off helping people.

She had already agreed to help Manny Vargas stop the ghouls coming into Novac in exchange for information on the man in the checkered suit.

Elizabeth remembered that she liked ghouls. They always had a story to tell, and Elizabeth would let them tell her everything they needed to get off her chest. She was, after all, a doctor.

She finally put two and two together to remember some things about her past. She was a doctor, and also could fix a gun in no time. So, she was also a repairwoman.

It would explain a lot, but not enough. She tried not to think about it when she walked into the basement of the REPCONN facility.

She discovered that she didn't like Nightkin. And she discovered that she liked getting hit by rebar clubs even less.

Still, she persevered. With a shot there and a hacked off head of another Nightkin there, she was able to use a Stimpack on her arm and move onto the next room.