ch.2 Wasteland survival (Rewrite 2)

Fallout Equestria: Subject 00

Ch.2 Wasteland Survival

“Survival is everything.”

Jade led Shock to the room she awoke in and now the Pegasus was staring at the machine in the room. It looked like a padded box with padding big enough to accommodate a pony. Jade guessed that must have been what she had been sleeping in for the past 200 or so years. Besides the desk, it was the only other thing of significance in here.

“Wow a working Gen 5 Stasis Pod! I never would have guessed they made anything other than 3s, I thought 4s and 5s were only theoretical.” Shock said, inspecting the pod.

“Well this would explain how you stayed alive and sane all this time. The first 3 generations weren’t that great, in that they were not able to keep the occupants unconscious indefinitely, you’re lucky to have been in one of these.”

“Um... what?” Jade was honestly not expecting the stallion to know that.

“Oh, sorry, my talent is related to pretty much any sort of per war tech you can think of. I can hack, modify, and repair just about anything.” The Stallion said.

Jade glanced at his flank and saw what looked to be a cloud with a lightning bolt. “In case you’re wondering Miss, um…that’s not my Cutie mark. I’m what’s called a Dashite. It’s complicated, so let’s leave it at that for now.”

“Okay, Shock seems to have a troubled past.” Thought Jade. She could deal with not knowing what a Dashite was for now.

“So Shock, um….”

“What were you doing in a Ministry of Peace top level research base?” Shock seemed to be ignoring her now.

”This place was built like a fortress, but you were the only one given a pod. And what blew those doors open? Wonder if I can get into the records...”  He walked to one of the terminals in another room. He worked for a bit but had the password cracked soon enough.

“Damn. The mainframe’s practically gone, looks like it was wiped.”

“Really?” Jade asked.

Shock seemed to come back to his senses as he looked back at her. “Um…yes, it was standard for most Top Level Black Marked Facilities to be wiped in situations such as these. Most TLBMF’s didn’t get a chance to, though. Hoofington is the best example of this, as most of its records are still accessible with a bit of simple hacking.”

He looked back to the computer. “Here in The Brooks though, it’s almost the same story. This isn’t the first Facility I’ve seen that had its system wiped, but there are not many.”

“So you’ve been to The Hoof?” Jade asked wondering, be it impossible, if he knew what became of her friends.

“Yes, I’d place that death trap is about as dangerous as Splendid Valley, those White Woods, and the Everfree. The Brooks is just under Hoofington, danger-level wise.” He smiled.

“Ah, found some data that wasn’t wiped.” His face scrunched up. “Do you any about a Subject 00?”

Jade looked at him nervously, but pulled up her medical stats on her Pip-Buck and showed them to him. He looked confused at first, like he was going to say something about not needing her Pip-Buck to find out, until he actually took a look at it. He looked at the terminal, then her Pip-Buck, then the terminal and back a few times*. Then he shook his head.

“So?” Jade asked afraid she may have lost whatever chance she had of him becoming her friend.

“Wow, you have some bad luck miss,” He looked back at the screen, “Seems as though this whole place was built to study something involving you.”

“The Doctors said I was sick and they were trying to identify it.” She turned her head away, realizing she might still be sick.

“Wait a minute Miss, you’re not sick. From what I can gather, you’re the opposite of sick. In fact you’re the healthiest mare I’ve seen since coming to the Wasteland, besides the bullet wound, of course.” He said it like it was nothing, but to Jade it was like a ton of bricks hit her in the face.

She wasn’t sick. She… Wasn’t… Sick.

“Then why…why was I here for so long?” Jade asked; anger building as she turned her gaze to the terminal.

“Sorry Miss, but that’s about the only thing I can’t find.” Shock told her. “There is a video, though.” He keyed in some commands and then the sound of sirens echoed from the terminal.

==

Sirens blazed as The Black Out Research Facility was evacuated by everypony but two. Doctor Neural sat by a console as he tried to restore power back to the computer.

“Shit, where are the backups?” He looked to the only other living resident of the false hospital. Subject 00 was still in stasis as by order of both the Ministry Mares and the O.I.A. She was oblivious to the world as she breathed, dreaming endlessly. “Damn me if I’m leaving you here to die when the power gives out.”

A Blast shook the building as a Balefire Bomb went off in the distance. Black Out was built like a fortress, but still needed power from outside sources. It had generators but not enough to sustain the whole facility. Jade’s pod could last a thousand years if that were the only thing the generators powered, but not if they had to power the building as well. He didn’t know how much time he had left to override the protocols but from the slamming of the blast doors behind him and the activation of protect-a-ponies, he knew it wasn’t long until the system locked him out.

He was relieved when the screen light up and was rewarded with access to the system. He quickly started transferring power form the rest of Black Out to Jade’s pod. “I might die doing this and I might be recorded in history as a mad pony, but you are a key to fixing this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into. Those stars of yours showed me. You need to help the ponies who need it whenever you wake up. You might not know it, I don’t even think I understand it, but you are going to be an important mare, Jade. You just need to live through this apocalypse. Try and learn from our mistakes. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

The lights and ventilation systems of Black Out slowly shut down. The facility built solely to study one mare became a tomb for both its head doctor and its only subject. “I’m sorry we lied to you, Jade, but you would have never come here otherwise.” Doctor Neural gasped and struggled for breath as the air in the rest of the facility quickly became toxic, leaving only Subject 00 alive.

==

As the video showed the Dr.’s last moments, Jade felt some of her anger subside.

“Is that all there is?”

“Besides this place being built solely to study you? Nothing. As for what they were studying? I can’t seem to find that.” Shock said, hooking a wire to her Pip-Buck.

“Hey! What are…?”

“Downloading what’s left of the mainframe’s files into your Pip-Buck. You do want it, don’t you?” Shock said as he keyed the commands to copy the files.

“This place is either going to be overrun with raiders, gangers, or those blasted ST Steel Rangers.” Jade blinked, just now thinking of just how valuable this place was.

“Right, so should we find some things to sell. I’m broke….I think.” Jade said, looking around.

“Well, pretty much anything you can find here would be worth something to someone so just empty a desk.” Shock said as he logged out of the terminal.

“Oh, and just so you know, Bits are no longer the standard currency. In the Wasteland, Bottle Caps are. So if you find any, grab them.”

Jade stood blinking at Shock for a moment. “Um…not that I’m not thankful, but why bottle caps? And why are you being so nice to me?”

The Stallion blinked, “I don’t rightly know. You just seemed to need help. You just woke up and barely know a thing about how the world works now, so….”

“I’m a damsel in distress then.” Jade gave him a flat look.

“No, you’re a newcomer to the Wastes and I know how that feels. You’re really lucky to bump into me; most would just let you struggle or die.” Shock began looting the room, taking bottle caps and an assortment of junk.

“We shouldn’t spend too much longer here. I don’t know how many ponies were drawn by the blast doors being blown open.”

Jade nodded and started her own search.  She found a couple of bottles of Sparkle Cola and Sunrise Sarsaparilla and put them into her bags. She was about to look in another desk when she heard something behind her. She turned to see the biggest roach she had ever seen in her life. Needless to say, she screamed.

“What is it?” Shock rushed over in a panic.

“You’re hiding from a radroach?” He asked flatly, squashing the bug.

“Those about the weakest things in the Wasteland, you’ll find them everywhere.”

“But…that was a huge bug!” Jade exclaimed, still panicking.

“Note to self, Ponies from before the bombs are ridiculously afraid of bugs.” Shock shook his head.

“Come on, that scream of yours definitely made this place a hot zone.” Shock started towards the exit as Jade tip-hoofed around the smashed bug.

Jade followed the Pegasus and was glad not to see any red dots by the time they got outside. “So which way?”

“Aren’t you the expert?” Jade asked.

“No. In fact, you know Brooks better than I do. I’ve only been through with my caravan.” Shock said, scanning the horizon.

Jade looked west and thought back to what Watcher had said.

“West. I think there’s something over there that might help us out.” Jade started walking in that direction.  She heard Shock fall into step behind her and smiled warmly. She was happy that he stayed.

“Hey Shock, would you consider us friends?”

At first the Pegasus said nothing, which of course got Jade to worrying if she had somehow offended him with her perceived stupidity. “Hold on there Miss, now I’ve only known you for a few hours. The answer is gonna be a no for now, but I’m not really the kind of pony to let somepony so new to the Wasteland wander it by themselves. They might die five minutes in, doing something stupid like asking a raider for directions.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jade apologised as they reached a road. It ran west and since that was the direction they needed to go, they started down it at a trot.

“This is the old Bucking Way. When I was a filly, it wasn’t paved yet. It was just a big dirt road.”

“Dirt road…wow, you are old.” Shock teased.

“I was 10 at the time, if you must know.” Jade said, looking back towards the center of the city.

“The Hot Shot Sky Port should be along the way. That may be where we need to go.”

“Dead Shot Port? Oh HELL NO, that’s the biggest Raider Den in brooks! Going there is like committing suicide.” Shock shrieked as he jumped in front of Jade, blocking her path and forcing her to stop walking.

“Are raiders smart enough to use the back alleys in the Port’s sub basements and bunkers where ammunition and explosives are stored for the MoW?” Jade said casually, remembering how she overheard a couple of MoW officers talking about the secret stores.

If Jade was glad of one thing about her time in that damned facility, it would be that a lot of people there had big mouths; she was a good listener. Shock just stared at her, mouth agape. “No, so let’s get moving.” as Jade passed the Pegasus, she shut his mouth with a hoof, wearing a big smile on her face.

"”I'm going to regret this.”  Shock frowned, Jade falling in behind him. “You’re going to get killed without someone to cover you.”

“Ya know, no-pony asked you to come.” Jade shot back playfully.

“Yeah, but... this is just plain wrong. I just don't need another death on my conscience that I could have prevented. And why in Tartarus would you go, anyways?”

“There is something there I need and I'm going to get it, wherever you like it or not; I‘m not keeping you here with me.”

That was the last straw that broke THIS pony’s back. “FINE! WHATEVER!” He yelled with blatant disregard for his own safety.  “GO SCREW YOURSELF! Go and get yourself raped! Or maimed! Or killed! Or whatever-the-buck else! I. DON'T. BUCKING! CARE!”

With that said, Shock flew away leaving a thoroughly dumbfounded Jade behind. The mare stood there for a minute before shaking her head and with a running start, head-walling the nearest intact wall. Pain was... satisfying.

“Great. Just… great.”  She muttered and slumped to the ground. “Out of this whole wasteland, you just run into probably the only helpful pony, made him pissed off, and you let him fly away without giving him so much as an apology. Oh Goddesses, why?”  Jade sighed. “I guess it can't be helped. Whatever I planned to do I should do alone. It will be easier that way... I hope."

Jade walked down numerous back alleys on her way to Dead Shot Port. Jade had only to glimpse the front of the building before nearly throwing up. She was surprised that she had lasted so long without doing so, especially since killing that pony after witnessing a raider eating that other pony’s leg. Jade hoped her stomach would hold out until she reached the weapons stash.

She was happy to see her guess was right. There weren’t any Raiders in the back alleys. They seemed focused on skulking on the road and runway. She guessed that none of them had thought of patrolling this route yet. She weaved through the fallen rubble, avoiding the pock marked walks and bent rebar as best she could. It was hard because it got continuously narrower.

She occasionally glanced at the posters, even though unreadable, the raiders had covered them with profanity akin to what is seen in school-yard bullying. She wondered if these raiders really spoke like that or if another group had written the slurs previously. She really didn’t care, but it was a distraction from thinking about how she was about to charge into the home of those cannibals. Jade noticed there were less bones here than on the main roadways. She surmised it was because it was quicker to evacuate via the main roads than some dingy alley.  It really didn’t bother her though. There was nothing she could do, she just need to push the thoughts of people she once knew being behind a welded door to the back of her mind. It really wasn’t helping.

She tripped on a piece of stone fallen from a nearby building and smashed her nose in the cement. She looked up and was immediately thankful for what felt like a broken nose. The space between where she stood and the Port was wide open. There were bodies here and there, but there was no cover. She would have been a sitting duck if she hadn’t have tripped.

Jade nursed her sore nose and wounded shoulder as she looked back at the open gap between the buildings and saw little cover. She then looked up towards the roofs and noticed a portion of the radio tower had collapsed and was now wedged between the Port and the building across from it. It was rusty and bent out of its original shape in many places, but was her best shot across.

She walked into the building that housed the tower on the roof and was thankful to find only bones. No signs of activity. She made her way to the upper floors, climbing the stairs as while she pulled out the .357 Revolver she had taken from the research base. She had little ammo, but it was the only gun she could shoot without having felt like she broke her neck each shot. Jade hoped she wouldn’t need a stronger weapon.

The inside of the building wasn’t like the outside, stained by years of disrepair and weather. Water and some sort of slime (she really didn’t want to about where that came from) covered the stairs in places. It wasn’t long till she got to the roof and slowly, carefully started walking across the collapsed tower, keeping an eye out for raiders on the ground. She was thankful to see only a few below her. Come to think of it, walking across this thing was probably a bad idea.

Jade made it across and looked around at the roof she took so much trouble to get to. It was littered with bodies that deliberately put on display with their internals strewn about like streamers and the occasional eye on needle, which was a much creepier display. The contents of Jade’s stomach finally decided that it was done partying and the mare threw up her previous meal, 200 year after she had originally eaten it.

Jade didn’t have time to think as eight raiders, two with very heavy looking rifles that looked like they could one-shot her if they had good aim, came up onto the roof. She hesitated for a second before trying to get her gun back out. She was a bit too slow as she felt a round impact her side. She looked back to see a hole in her stomach and then her world faded to black.

Jade awoke to find herself armorless. She looked over her side to see Shock bending over her middle while reaching towards her… She bucked him in the jaw. "You perv!” She yelled squirming about, trying to move, but screamed as she felt her stomach bleed.

“I'm trying to heal you!” Shock yelled holding her down.

“All of you stallions are same!” Jade yelled trying to buck him again.

“I'm not!”

“Yeah, HOW?!”

“I’m just not, ok. Can we drop it and I heal you?”

“No we can’t just DROP IT!”

“…fine…i..g…”

“WHAT? Speak UP!”

“I'M GAY!” Shock shrieked in her face, clearly annoyed.

“...oh..." Jade said, ceasing her struggling.

“Be fucking happy I came back at all. Luckily that bullet missed your heart. Fuck, it’s still a bad wound.” Shock said before picking up a set of tweezers in his mouth and proceeding to dig into the wound.

“Ow! The fuck are you…?”

Shock didn’t answer, but yanked something out of the wound. “Be happy your armor slowed the bullet, otherwise I would have had to deal with internal bleeding and other crap, I’m not a doctor you know.” Shock got out some bandages and started dressing the wound. “We’re stuck on the roof because I kicked one of those snipers onto the tower you used as a bridge and it fell. I’m surprised we don’t have the whole Port on our flanks. Though Ditzy seems to be keeping their attention completely on her.”

“Who…” Jade said, wincing as she stood. Shock just pointed to a sky carriage being flown by a pegasus mare with wings made up of almost nothing but bone. “How is she…?”

“She’s a ghoul.” Shock explained as she turned to the door to the roof. “Come on, we only have one way out of here and it’s through about a thousand Raiders whom all want to make us into decorations.”

“I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Yes, yes you are.” Shock rolled his eyes.

“You don’t have to rub it in.”

“Let’s just get moving.”

Jade looked around and notice the bodies of the snipers lying dead not too far from her armor. She guessed Shock must have arrived just after she passed out from the shock of the hit and killed them. She walked over to her armor noticing the hole in the left side of plating just before where her hind leg met her body. She gave a sigh of relief for not losing the limb to the bullet.

She re-equipped her armor and nodded at Shock before she followed him down the stairs to the next floor. The stairs opened up to a hall that was even worse than the roof. There were bodies hanging from the roof and entrails dangling from light fixtures. She didn’t know if she had anything left to throw up, but her stomach was doing it’s best to get her to toss her lunch again. She looked back at Shock who evidently just came back from looting while she was busy admiring the decorations and had found more ammo, particularly for her pistol. She then noticed something about the stallion; he wore a pair of cracked flight goggles around his neck. She decided to ask about that once they finished off the raiders, if they survived.

Jade started reloading her pistol as pair of red bars came from the direction of the stairs. Jade wished that the damn EFS was more accurate. She motioned for Shock to lead them as she got her gun ready. She heard the burst from his battle-saddle and the bars winked out. Unfortunately, that also shook the proverbial hornets’ nest. Jade caught up with the stallion as he was pinned down by fire behind a desk that had somehow gotten into the stair well. Jade took cover with him and started firing back. Her first shots missed but she started to understand how to aim.

She ducked back down to reload as Shock started his own volley of fire. He ducked back to reload as Jade popped back up to lay down more suppressive fire. As they repeated this, Jade noticed that some of the red bars were moving. She didn’t like that one bit.

Jade looked to Shock as he grabbed an apple grenade and graciously returned it to the raiders that lost it moments before. The resulting blast cleared the stairs, pulping the raiders blocking them. Jade didn’t like the idea of walking through dripping chunks of remains, but it was their only route down. And they really couldn’t risk flying down.

Jade reloaded as they passed the pulped mass and entered the second floor. The raiders here had dug in while the ones on the stairs had them pinned down in the stairwell. Jade took cover behind a desk that had a torso splayed out on the top of it before she noticed the numerous butchered bodies and gagged. Shock tossed more apple bombs that he obtained from the raiders previously pinning them. The grenades took out a good number of raiders and scattered the leftovers. Jade started firing then and while not a very good shot, she was getting better and actually starting to cause some damage.

She felt pain like a red hot iron spreading from her right hind leg to the middle of her back as a raider with an SMG fired at her, penetrating her security barding. Shock shot down that raider and tossed Jade a healing potion. Jade had never really needed to use one before and therefore was amazed at how much better she felt after drinking it. She wasn’t at 100%, but she could walk. She looked at Shock, looking a little less bad for wear as he had taken a potion himself, as he tossed another grenade down the next flight of stairs. The sound of pulping flesh told her raiders had already been back on their way up.

“Why didn’t you give me…?” Jade asked as they ducked in behind a door on the landing of that flight of stairs.

“I found them on a raider.” Shock replied, taking a peek around the door at the next flight of stairs.

Jade took the other side of the stairwell door as Shock sent a couple rounds of suppressing fire to clear the stairs. Jade then rushed downward to the first floor with Shock tailing right behind as a huge pony with what looked to be an RPG on their battle-saddle moved into the doorway, blocking them.

Jade skidded to a stop as she and Shock turned around and ran back up the staircase. They just got out through the door they had ducked behind only moments ago as the rocket hit the roof of the room they had just re-entered.

The explosion sent them flying and left a hole in the floor between the second and third floors. Jade was the first to get back up and just in time to see the rocket pony training his weapon on her. The rocket left the barrel and Jade squeezed her eyes shut as tight as she could, thinking: “No, it can’t end like this!” Her head started pounding and then she heard the explosion and felt the pressure and heat, but didn’t die. Her eyes popped open in surprise and in her daze, didn’t notice as the last traces of a magical shield fizzled out of existence a few inches in front of her. Rocket-Pony blinked in disbelief at her survival, which was all the time Shock needed to turn the pony’s skull to a bloody mass.

Shock took the RPG, loaded the only rocket the raider had on his corpse and launched it down the stairwell to the first floor. The blast left only four red bars. Jade and Shock took the stairs a bit more carefully as they descended them. The last four raiders were trying to get a massive machine gun turret to work. They weren’t even loading it right! Jade scoffed as she targeted the two loading the ammo belt and got a lucky shot as her aim was only off a little, killing both. Shock took care of the last of them. Jade scanned for anymore coming in from outside the building and sighed in relief as it seemed to be over.

“I can’t believe we just did that.” Shock said, looking around at the bodies. “Wow. I mean, I’ve heard what this place was like and even the alicorns and Steel Rangers avoided it as much as possible.”

“Well, I don’t think the raiders were expecting an attack from their own roof.” Jade said as she felt her legs starting to shake. “I think I need to lie down when we find a safe place.” Jade looked outside as the Pegasus mare had landed. “But first I think I have to thank that mare.”

It took a good while before Jade stopped freaking out long enough to listen to Shock once she really got a good look at state of Ditzy Doo. It took her even longer to stop hyperventilating. The ghoul looked like a living corpse and Jade was having a hard time coming to terms with it. Though for only waking up two days ago, she thought she was doing pretty well for how quickly things were being thrown at her. Ditzy didn’t seem that bad though, the mare had to communicate by using a chalkboard, but she was nice.

Ditzy had looked from Jade to Shock and then wrote on her chalkboard, “Let me fix your armor, no charge.”

Jade and Shock looked at each other and then over the other’s armor. Jade’s was littered with bullet holes from her from right hind leg to the middle of her back and otherwise dented in many places from other, less powerful impacts. Shock’s had numerous bullet holes and dents as well. They looked back to Ditzy with the same thought on their minds.

Jade was one who spoke first, “Oh Miss Doo, I couldn’t ask that of you.”

Ditzy shook her head and wrote: “Not asking, I’m offering to help you. You two seem like nice ponies, you can really do some good here, and I’d like to help.” Jade had no idea how the ghoul had written that much on such a small chalkboard, but didn’t argue. As she shed her armor, Shock did the same and Ditzy handed her a book.

As Ditzy worked on their armor, Jade looked at the book the mare gave her. It was titled: The Wasteland Survival Guide. Jade blinked, her home hadn’t gotten that bad had it? To be called a wasteland and necessitate an entire book to detail just how to survive?

She opened the book and noticed it had references for not only Brooks Bend, but areas all over in the Wasteland. Jade looked to a marked page which was titled: Hazards of the Brooks,

1. Anti-Air defense systems. For any pegasus visiting the city, keep in mind that Brooks Bend sports an experimental AA cannon system with enough firepower to take out a Thunderhead with only a few shots. I know we’re all surprised that the Enclave hasn’t tried to take out these guns. But there’s a simple reason: they can’t. That’s right, these guns are so scary that even the enclave won’t mess with them. These guns have such a large defensive robot and turret array that reaching one was deemed too costly to attempt. That’s why you’ll almost never see a Dashite in the city. So if you think flying through the city would faster, I’d reconsider walking.

2. Specialized robots and Protect-a-ponies, Brooks holds some of the most job-specific bots I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of bots. Don’t even think that one of those clankers are small, it means they are easy to take down. I’ve seen some that have magical shielding. When you find a super sentinel with one of those, well let’s just say it was nice knowing you. There also something I like to call smart bots, these are the rare bots to achieve true sentience. These buggers can think like you or me, only a whole lot of times faster. These are absolutely deadly in any fight, avoid these at all costs. It may be hard to discern these from the non-sentient bots, so consider them smart anyways as a precaution.

3. Big Bertha. This little fishy was once known as a legend of the Brooks Rivers living the Revo. Well she’s not a legend and she’s not little. She’s turned into a monster in the time since the megaspells fell. Just be careful when crossing Revo, and hope Big Bertha has already eaten.

4.Dead Shot Port, the raider den. This is a place to avoid, the anti-material-rifle snipers, missile-launcher-wielding ponies, and machine gun turret, and a plethora of less-armed but no less dangerous raiders swarm the place. More caravans meet their ends here than most other places in the Wasteland, not including hoofington of course.

1. the tainted Dizmy. In recent years, the Dizmy has become a conduit of Taint.  Nopony knows how or where it all came from, but it is a place to avoid… unless you want mutations or tumors.

2. Last Touch Port. Steel Rangers and alicorns both avoid it, so even though we know nothing more about it, avoid it.

3. Lastly: the alicorns. While not a real threat on their own here, since they don’t seem to want anything to do with anything or anypony more than usual, they will fight back if you try to attack them. Don’t think that it would be easy in the first place. These alicorns seem more heavily equipped, even if you are out for them, they can still turn you into a mound of pink ash. They will leave you alone if you leave them alone; I advise you to leave them alone.

Jade skimmed the rest of the book; most of it seemed to focus on stuff like hacking and making mines. That seemed like it would be useful for her to know.

She smiled, thanking Ditzy and asked how much the book would cost. The ghoul wrote to her that it too, was free.

“Ditzy, has Brooks Bend really gotten this bad?” Jade asked, turning away from the book.

The mare looked at her with a sad expression and nodded. “I would suggest leaving, It’s not The Hoof, but still quite dangerous.” Ditzy wrote on her board.

Jade looked toward her hometown and felt something deep inside her urging her to do something there. “No.”

“No?” Shock said, surprised. “What do you mean no?”

“I have something to do here, Shock. I don’t what or how I know, but I just do.” Jade said, looking the stallion in the eyes. “I can’t turn my back on it, but you don’t have to stay.”

Shock stared at her for a long time, and then said, “Well, shoot Miss, I just can’t leave a lady all alone without an escort, now can I?” Jade smiled, relieved that he was willing to say with her.

“Now if we’re going to be cleaning up The Brooks, then we’ll need a place to start.”

“My old home might work.” Jade said, looking to Ditzy who had just completed the repairs on her armor. The walled eyed ghoul had not just patched the bullet holes, but reinforced the whole thing.

“Thanks Ditzy Doo. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

“Just stay alive,” Ditzy wrote before hooking up to her cart and flying low to the north.

“Well, I’d take that advice.” Shock grinned as Jade hit him.

Level Up:

New Perk: Horse Sense: You are a swift learner. You gain an additional +10% whenever experience points are earned.

Quest Perk: Fail Safe: When fearing for your life in certain situations, a weak shield will appear for a short amount of time. It has enough strength to block small explosions, like a rocket, and some small-arms fire. It cannot withstand larger explosions or heavier-arms fire. Even sustained small-arms fire will break your shield. Don’t think you’re invincible, ‘cause it’ll only get ya hurt; besides, you didn’t even see it appear in the first place. (Will appear only when you are under 25% health.)