Game of Circumstances

Chapter six: Preparation

‘’ Oh… by Celestia…’’ I mumbled.

In my hooves, I squeezed the most beautiful shotgun I’ve ever seen. It was some of these old pre-apocalyptic caliber twelve shotguns, chromed like it was getting out of the factory, with written on it: ‘the saver’. I figured that it was the gun’s name.

‘’ You like?’’ Sirius said. ‘’ It’s an old one, but I think I’ve got the ammunitions.’’

‘’ You bet I do!’’ I replied, still squeezing the shotgun like a foal its gift for Heart Warming Eve. It was a love at first sight. ‘’ Where did you find that?’’

‘’ Oh, it belonged to my grandfather.’’ He answered. ‘’ He was royal guard, and he was even pretty well known, I think.’’

‘’ It was your grandfather’s? I can’t take it!’’

‘’ Of course you can! I’m not the type of pony that uses shotguns, if you want to know. Too heavy to use medicine at the same time and I’m a medic.’’ I smiled a little like Hap’ uses to do.

‘’ Thankyouthankyouthankyou!’’ I shouted as I hugged him. He looked at me surprised. I looked at him, surprised by myself. I released him. ‘’ Uh…’’ I said awkwardly, blushing slightly.

‘’ Hmm…’’ He mumbled, blushing too. An awkward minute passed.

‘’ Sorry for that…’’ I apologized, turning my head away.

‘’No,that’s… fine, I guess.’’ He answered. ‘’ Here’s the ammunitions for the gun. It’s a 12. Caliber shotgun from… Sun. INC, if I remember. Six rounds a load, remember to eject the case after pulling the trigger, because it will jam itself if you don’t.’’ He passed me a small pile of boxes. ‘’ Remember that when you reload, you have to put every bullet one by one in the cartridge clip.’’

‘’ Thank.’’ I said, taking the boxes and putting it in my newly acquired bag, with my bits. ‘’ Oh, and, for the hug, can we… just, y’ know, pretend that it has never happened?’’ He nodded. I sighed with relief and got out of the piece. Hap’ was playing outside, like she’d said.

‘’ Wanna play?’’ She asked when she saw me. I shook my head. ‘’ Aw, come on!’’

‘’ Sorry, but I and the doc are a bit trying to organize our trip to Happiness and…’’

‘’ Happiness!’’ She shouted suddenly, cutting me in the middle of my sentence. And she actually managed to startle me a bit too.

‘’ Gah! Happy, don’t startle me like that! I’m way too young to make a cardiac arrest! Plus, why did you shout for?’’ She looked… overexcited.

‘’ Happiness!’’ She repeated. ‘’ Ooh, a town named like that can only be the MOST AWESOMEST SUPER DOPER AMAZINGEST THING POSSIBLE!!!’’ I winced. Ouch, my ears. I’m not even sure that she used terms really existing.

‘’ Happy, could you just STOP yelling?! I don’t want to be deafened too!’’ I said. ‘’ Oh, by Celestia… why did I took her out of the cell?’’ I added, whispering. I had plenty of aggressive thought toward Gibbs just then, given that he’d clearly sent me in that store only to free Happy Pie, the fuckin’ noisiest, craziest and buckin’ weird pony in ALL OF EQUESTRIA! NO, I’M NOT LOSING MY COOL!

…

Well, maybe I’m still a little upset at Gibbs for that, but given how things turned, I forgive him. Even if I had the desire of beat the shit out of his sorry ass when I met him again.

Whatever.

Where was I again? Ah, yes, thanks. So, I had made her shut up, and trust me, it’s quite as difficult as dodge a shot in the head when the gun’s cannon is touching your head and you’re tied to a chair.

I am rather proud of myself usually when I manage to do one of these things.

‘’ Thank, Happy.’’ I said. She smiled to me. Aah, my ears…

‘’ Thank!’’ And she hugged my hooves like some foal would usually do to her mother. Like I used to do with mine, and, obviously, you with yours. What, you didn’t know yours? Sorry, I speak too much. Less chatting, more storytelling!

She released me. I don’t know how she felt, but I felt like a buckin’ mother in front of her foal. I patted her head absent-mindedly. ‘’ Uh, Calie?’’ She said.

‘’ Yeah?’’ And then I noticed what I was doing. ‘’ Oh, sh- sorry, Hap’!’’

‘’ No problem, Calie!’’ She said, and then she returned playing. I chuckled.

A real foal stuck in a mare’s body.

‘’ Calie, uh?’’ A voice said behind me. You have surely guessed that it was Sirius. I faced him. He looked at me. I looked at him. Hap’ passed between us, rolling on a dust ball. A second later, I was rolling on the ground, laughing the shit outta me. Sirius too, I think. It lasted for quite a long time, until I had so much laughed that my stomach ached. And, by the way, it you try to call me 'Calie', I make you eat your tongue.

‘’ Aah… please, nopony make a joke for the ten next minutes, I don’t think I could survive it…’’ If a raider had the idea of coming here, he could have killed both me and Sirius without encountering resistance from any of us. After, Hap’, it’s… not the same. Her, she laugh when she kills.

Anyway, let’s get back to the story.

The day passed quite quickly, and I and Sirius managed to pack everything we needed –our weapons, the chems and the map- before the dinner.

‘’ Anypony wants something to eat?’’ Sirius asked from his office. I and Hap’ were sitting up around a camp fire that I had lit in the operation’s room.

‘’ Yeah, what do you have?’’ I asked.

‘’ Hmmm… Apples?’’ He replied, coming in the room with a big box of apples in his fore-hooves. My eyes grew wider as my still poor beaten brain processed the information.

‘’ What…? It’s ALL you saved? No, no,no,no,no, there must be an error! Please, tell me it’s a prank!’’ I was desperate. He made me a fake smile.

‘’ Well…’’ He began.

‘’ Apples, always apples… why Celestia, why keep you doing this to me?’’ My fellows chuckled in front of my despair. ‘’ This is not FUNNY!’’ I shouted. ‘’ You don’t know how it feels, to eat these damn apples every day at breakfast, lunch and dinner since you were born!’’ They were clearly laughing at me now. ‘’ Ah, ah, funny…’’ I said, diving further in my despair as in began to eat an apple. ‘’ Behh… As good as it used to be. Now, can we just… drop the subject and speak about more important matter?’’

‘’ Of course!’’ Sirius said. ‘’ What do you want to talk about?’’

‘’ I don’t know, how about: what are our steps till’ we reach Happiness?’’

‘’ Hmmm…’’ He patted his chin. Hap’, equal as herself, dived in the box plenty of apples and began to eat one of them without using her hooves. ‘’ Which steps?’’

‘’ What is this Hellhole you’ve spoken of?’’ I asked, remembering the road he had showed us.

‘’ Hellhole…’’ He stopped. ‘’As far as I remember, it’s a small inn that welcome the wanderers. They called it like that because there are mutants and others bitches all around it, but we can’t follow the road without passing by.’’ You’ll see,

there wasn’t only that in that zone. But he wasn’t so far from the reality, thought.

‘’ Aaahh… I see.’’ I said. ‘’ Other important steps like towns or things like that?’’

‘’ No, but if you want to know, the hospital and the grocery are things that we mustn’t avoid from our road, although we’ll have to pass by, because some more chems and medical supplies are always welcome.’’ I nodded. It’s obvious for a wanderer like me that supplies and food are important. There’s never too much of that, until you can’t make more of it enters your bag. ‘’ But for now, I am more for getting some rest than to go on the roads.’’ He yawned.

I felt pretty tired too. Notice that I had not slept since I had left New Hope to the music store. I made myself a place, like I used too when I was a normal wanderer, and… nothing. I was insomniac.

‘’ Fuck…’’ I whispered. ‘’Why that kind of stuff always happen to me?’’ The others were already asleep, Sirius sleeping on a couch that he had recuperated from the raider’s attack, and Hap’ was rolled over herself and snorting softly. ‘’ Aaah…!’’ I whispered again, hitting myself with my improvised pillow, which was my bag. Have you ever been awoken for two whole days? No? Well, it sucks.

I passed all night looking at the ceiling with murderous desires. And I swore a lot, too.

Finally, looking at my watch –the raiders hadn’t taken it to me, yay!-, I saw that it was five A.M. ‘’ Fuck. I’ll prepare breakfast…’’ I sighed.

I took three apples out of the box, washed them, peeled them… what? Yeah, yeah, I know that most of the vitamins and the anti-ox… ocyj… whatever are in the peels, but I didn’t know just then, and I had nothing other to do.

Finally, maybe… what… thirty minutes later, Sirius woke up, soon followed by Happy. He yawned.

‘’ ‘morning, Cal’’ He said. ’’ For how long have you been awake?’’ He added, surely seeing that I looked rather tired.

‘’ ‘morning… fifty-two hours.’’ I said, feeling miserable, and mostly, too tired to formulate an entire sentence. ‘’ Fuckin’ insomnia…’’ He chuckled. ‘’ I made breakfast…’’ I said, showing the apples.

‘’ You… peeled and cut the apples?’’ He asked.

‘’ had nothin’ to do…’’ I replied. ‘’ Have some of them, I already ate…’’ Before you ask, I had really eaten; I just skipped it because I’m sure you don’t care about me eating apples with insomnia.

They ate quite quickly, Hap’ being the winner if it was a running, eating the whole apple without even munches it. And me? I had taken vitamins that the doc had been willing to pass me. It felt damn good, but Sirius commanded me to not take plus than three pills a time, and never more than two times a day. He said that it was because it acted a little like a drug, because of the dosage in each of them. Pfff... even when they're good, the medicines have side effects. This sucks.

Finally, we checked one last time our bags, took our weapons, and exited the ruins of New Hope to enter one more time the ash desert.