And They Continued [PT 1]

A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

You hadn't realized how quickly time had passed. Reminiscing, wandering through the home. Memories of warmer, sweeter days numbing you at every doorway. Maybe that was why you hadn't noticed how swollen your leg had become. Or how painful.

Each stop on your tour, narrated by your robotic butler, had brought a new wave of warring memories.

It had just been yesterday that you were walking down these streets, neighbors and pets and-

"No." You muttered, tossing another log on the fire, water nearly at a boil. "Two hundred years..." Hand scraped over your face. "Two-"

You squeezed your eyes shut. The familiar hum of motors giving some comfort. You scoffed, water bubbling furiously over the fading flames of the cooking pit. You tossed another fence plank on there, some leaves and sticks you had gathered earlier.

Good.

"Can't believe he's still ali-" you pause, doing your best to lean back in the broken chair, the back mostly missing. Your leg was singing in agony. With a hiss you gingerly straightened the limb, your knee protesting almost as loudly as the skin around your shin.

"Still functioning." You corrected yourself, watching him buzz past a broken window, dusk painting the sky pink and purple. Though he seems a little off.

With some difficulty you leaned over, pulling your bag towards you, up on your lap. Dust billowing from the bag dragging, making you sneeze.

A heavy sigh as the wave of initial pain faded. You felt weariness drop on you like a boulder as it replaced the pain, making you suddenly aware how much hurt you had been feeling all day. Digging through your bag. Setting aside the knife, the needle, thread. A stimpack.

Bracing yourself you leaned over the wounded leg. Hissing as your hip protested the movement. using the dull knife you'd found to cut off the ruined fabric from your vault suit. Red, black, and angry purple flashed at you from beneath fabric. Eyes closed, a deep, deep breath to steady your hands. And looked at the flesh that was revealed.

Nausea crawled up your throat as your stomach sank. The mongrel hadn't bitten deep but the teeth had slid down the skin, leaving it flayed from mid-calf to ankle. The flesh plastered to your leg with blood and fuzzy bits of bright blue fabric.

"Fuck." A whisper.

You hadn't realized how excessive the damage had been. Your pant leg had been holding everything together, along with the dried blood.

Teeth grit, jaw achingly tense as you ripped off the rest of the section of vault suit, dunking it in the still scalding water. The heat soaking up the fabric to your fingers. Eyes watered, pulling it out sopping wet, splattering everything; the least of your worries but adding to your stress.

The fire popped. The dim light on your pipboy not enough, but it would have to do as shadows grew and stars began to emerge.

Carefully, painfully you pressed the rag to your leg. Stifling your cry of pain the best you could, biting your lip hard as the heat and pressure made you dizzy, made tears run unbidden down your cheeks.

Removing the cloth. Breathing gulps of air, unaware you'd been holding your breath. You sucked in through your teeth, dunking the rag quickly, careless of the scalding on your fingers. Your body so high on adrenaline you couldn't feel it anyway.

Gritting teeth you washed at the wound, fresh blood spilling with the water. An ugly pinkish brown mud developing on the cement pad beneath you.

"Ow." You whispered into the fading light, finally clean enough.