A Friend in Need

Disoriented and gasping for breath she doesn't expect to survive the next blow that is inevitable but as she rolls to her side and fights to get to her feet it never comes. Muffled shouting is all she can hear as she manages to get to her footing finally, stumbling to the wall, she shakes her head as she looks up, her seeing the raider that had delivered the devastating blow laying dead. It's chaos around her as the settlers fight back against the raiders, her vision clearing to see Victoria standing just feet in front of her, assault rifle butted against her shoulder as she shouts orders.

Preston Garvey comes to a breathless stop next to her, asking,

"You ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine."

Preston nods, heads to run to the front lines, him right beside Victoria as they fight together against the threat. Righting herself she gets into the fray with the rest of them. The battle is short lived for the most part, thanks in part to the hard work Victoria had put into security. Guard towers had been built, manned with experienced former military, an alarm system had been wired to alert them early of an attack, machine gun turrets had been set up around Sanctuary, and the insistence of Victoria to give them some training with weapons. Cait had heard she had been a solider before the war, before all this bad shit.

People begin the process of cleaning up and looting the bodies before disposal, Cait slinging the gun across her back and getting to work. It's hours later before they finish, everyone headed to bed or their posts and she realizes Victoria is no where in sight. Curious, she walks the perimeter and still doesn't find her, wondering where in the world she would have gone. As she passes the clinic there is low voices and she knows immediately that's where she got off too.

Entering, the first room to the right she finds Victoria sitting up on a hospital bed, sitting in her bra and pants with the resident doctor looking at the wound in her side telling her,

"You're lucky."

A tired smile from her, "Story of my life, doc."

The woman shakes her head, moves to grab supplies as Cait glances at the wound, it a deep gash as the doctor tells her,

"How in the world did that happen to begin with?"

"Some raider had knocked Cait down and would have no doubt killed her if I hadn't stepped in. A bladed tire iron is a bitch up close and personal."

Cait sticks to the shadows as the doctor asks, "What do you think is going on with her? She works hard here, but what's her story?"

Victoria thinks about that for a minute before telling her, "It's bad, whatever it is. I found her going rounds with raiders at the Combat Zone."

Sitting on the chair, the doctor lays out her equipment before asking, "Think you can trust her?"

"With my life. She could have left at any point, killed me and left me to rot. But she hasn't."

The doctor nods, "This is going to sting."

Victoria sucks in a deep breath, her wincing as she grits her teeth against the stinging alcohol, the doctor flushing it with purified water telling her,

"She's a little brash for my liking."

"She's honest. I prefer her that way." Victoria comments as she exhales the breath, Cait knows she shouldn't be listening in, but she can't help it as the doctor asks,

"She's on something I think."

Victoria doesn't answer for a minute, then a soft admission of, "I know."