Fallout Girls: Devastated Desert

The retreat from Nipton was a rough one for the Rainbooms as they learned that not even supposedly secure towns were safe with the Legion attacking. And while they all detested the idea of going any further east – any closer to where the Legion had come from, for fear they may run into more of their forces – it was far too late to turn back; they had to get to New Vegas and find some way of getting home.

Thankfully, just as they were leaving Nipton and passing a rusted sign that read “Welcome to Nevada”, Applejack spotted some small godsend. “Train tracks.” Sure enough, a railroad crossing stood just beyond the sign with the rail line running north to south across the road. “That’s gotta go somewhere.”

“And anywhere is better than that.” Rarity remarked as she looked back at Nipton, and the Legion flags flying over town amid the smoke… and the pained screams of those poor unfortunate souls left to die in the town.

“I still say we should’ve helped them,” Fluttershy noted as the girls walked along the tracks.

“I’m with Fluttershy; we could’ve handled them.” Rainbow pointed out.

“With only two guns and a fistful of ammo for each?” Applejack countered, a hand on her revolver. “Naw, I doubt we would’ve stood a chance.”

“We have our superpowers, don’t we?” Rainbow argued. “I could run rings around those guys before they even knew what was going on.”

“And maybe gotten hurt in the process.” Sunset pointed out. “I don’t want us to risk getting into fights unless we’re positive we can win. And if we can avoid fighting altogether, then that’s just a bonus in my book.”

“I can’t but agree Darling.” Rarity nodded, wiping her brow with a small handkerchief. “Still, I hope we find civilization soon. Anything for a reprieve from this blasted sun.”

“You’re not wrong there.” Twilight agreed, looking tentatively up toward the sun which glared down on the scorched desert as they hiked along the tracks. “If we can’t at least find some safe shade, I’d say major sunburns are the least of our concerns. Heatstroke also springs to mind, and none of us want that.”

That was when the girls heard high-pitched yipping howls further up the canyon, instantly prompting Sunset to ready her shotgun. “As opposed to gettin’ mauled by coyotes?” Applejack asked.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.” Pinkie smiled across at Fluttershy.

Fluttershy swallowed nervously as she strode to the front of the group as they approached what looked like a small den-like cave in the cliff face, surrounded by a small pack of scruffy-looking coyotes. Fluttershy grasped her Geode and felt her magic activate as she approached, hearing the coyotes growl lowly. “Shh. It’s okay; we’re not going to hurt you,” she assured. “We’re just passing through to find somewhere safe.” One of the coyotes growled lowly and yapped at Fluttershy, before it moved aside and let her see a small litter of pups behind it. “Ohh. You poor babies.” She quickly stood up and turned back to her friends. “He says they were forced out of their den by some sort of… monster. They’ve been too scared to go back inside in days; the pups are hungry.”

“Think we can spare some food?” Sunset asked.

“Ah think so.” Applejack shrugged as she checked their supply bag, finding a very curious-looking cut of cooked meat. “Don’t know what kinda critter this came from, but if it’ll help…” With little ceremony, she tossed the meat into the sand in front of the coyotes, who all voraciously tore in.

The large leader of the coyote pack yapped happily at this gift and rubbed its head up against Fluttershy’s leg in gratitude. “Oh, you’re welcome. Is there anything else?” The coyote immediately yapped in acknowledgment, but Fluttershy appeared a bit nervous by what it apparently said. “Oh. Um… o-okay.”

“What is it?” asked Sunset.

“He… wants us to deal with the monster in the den,” Fluttershy answered. “And drag the…d-dead person out.”

“Dead person?” Rarity asked in surprise. “Goodness, someone died down there?”

“B-But he swears they didn’t do it. The monster did.” Fluttershy assured.

“Well, we may as well.” Twilight shrugged, looking at her friends. “I hate to say this Sunset, but I think it might be best if you and Applejack took the lead. You’re the only ones with weapons.”

“Actually, I was gonna suggest you and Rarity go first. You’ve got the best defensive powers.” Sunset pointed out. “AJ and I will be right behind you.”

“Mm, good point.” Twilight nodded, glancing over at Rarity. “You for it?”

“I suppose so.” Rarity shrugged, glancing back at the others. “You three stay here and keep watch. If anyone or anything comes down the line, I for one expect a warning.”

“Relax; we got your backs.” Rainbow nodded as she leaned against the rocks.

Cautiously, the four crept down into the den and looked around. Almost immediately, they saw a person’s body just inside the cave crumpled near a cow skeleton… and he looked rancid. “Ugh. Good gracious, how long has he been here?” Rarity asked in disgust.

“If those coyotes are to be believed, only a few days,” Twilight noted as she examined the body. The robes were intriguing and felt like they were made from some kind of old leather, but his flesh was what was really intriguing; it looked decayed somehow, with patchy hair around his damaged scalp… and his nose appeared to have rotted off, which was particularly gross. As she searched his body, she found something near his hand; a strange boxy assembly with a trigger and unusual foregrip, almost like a gun of some description. “Hmm…”

As she was examining the device, the group heard a strange guttural growl from deeper in the cave. “What was that?” Sunset asked, quickly holding her shotgun at the ready despite her hands shaking. Immediately, Rarity conjured a wall of diamond shields in front of the group as Applejack drew her revolver, steadying it in her hands. Despite never firing a gun before, she stood confidently as she looked down the sights… until the group saw their quarry; some sort of four-legged monstrosity with legs that looked like arms and feet that looked like hands, and an upper torso of a tortured-looking person with what looked like teeth or broken ribs sticking out the sides of its abs, and three large tentacle-like tongues where its mouth should be.

As soon as this monstrosity made eye contact with the girls, it let out another burbling snarl that made all four girls scream in terror. “Kill it, kill it, kill it!” Rarity demanded in disgust. Almost immediately, Sunset aimed for the monster’s face and pulled the trigger. The shotgun kicked hard into her shoulder, and the slug missed its mark by a mile. Applejack took a few shots, but with her hands shaking in fear, her bullets only hit the beast in its shoulder as it returned fire by spitting out some sort of disgusting green glop from its middle tongue. “For the love of everything, kill this demon!”

Twilight’s hands were quaking almost more than Sunset and Applejack’s as she aimed her strange weapon at the monster, but as soon as she pulled the trigger, a bright red blast of energy shot forth from the muzzle and hit the beast right in the side of its head before it turned its attention to the nerd. Looking at her hand and realizing exactly what she was holding, Twilight suddenly stood up and held her weapon forward, firing a few more shots at the beast which impacted it in the torso… before it simply clicked and nothing happened. “I’m out!” she said.

“Hold it steady; I’ll finish it!” Sunset ordered as she reloaded her shotgun. Twilight quickly activated her magic and held the monster still as if it were frozen, allowing Sunset to get up close and personal with it, putting the muzzle of her gun flush to its head. “Smile, freak.” One twitch on the trigger and the creature’s brains were splattered all over the wall, gore splashing from the hole as Twilight dropped it. “Well… that was disgusting.”

“Enough so that I believe we need never speak of this again.” Rarity pointed out succinctly.

“You ain’t gonna get any argument from me,” Applejack noted as she slipped her revolver back into her belt. Then she noticed Twilight looking at her weapon. “Whatcha doin’ there, sugarcube?”

“Trying to figure out how to reload this stupid thing,” Twilight noted as she examined her gun, finding a catch on the back of the gun. She pulled it and found what looked like the ammo slot… and what appeared to be three double-A batteries wrapped in heavy-duty electrical banding of some sort. “Hmm…” Curious, Twilight did her best to distance herself as she started searching the unfortunate corpse she’d taken the weapon from for more of these devices.

“What in heaven’s name, Twilight; you’re looting?!” Rarity asked in disgust.

“I don’t like that I’m doing this any more than you do Rarity, but I need more ammunition for this thing.” Twilight pointed out, retrieving about four more of these battery packs, which she quickly put into her pockets along with a few other things. “And either way, as much as I hate to sound cruel by saying this… he’s not using them.”

“Even so…” Rarity remarked; she was disgusted her friend was driven to such extremes.

Sunset sighed and shook her head. “I hate to say this, but Twilight’s onto something; we don’t know how scarce resources out here could be. If our only way to resupply between towns is scavenging and looting the dead, then… we might as well.”

“Well, we should at least make sure this feller’s laid to rest right and proper,” Applejack noted. “Dunno who he is, but he deserves that much, especially if we’re takin’ his stuff.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sunset nodded as she dragged the man’s body into a laying position, crossing his arms in repose as she closed his eyes, shuddering in quiet disgust at the feel of his almost decayed eyelids. “Wherever you’re bound now, I hope you find happiness there.” She stood up and held her shotgun at the ready. “C'mon, let’s go.” With that in mind, the group slipped out of the cave and joined the others.

“Sounded kinda crazy in there. What happened?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, good news and bad news.” Twilight shrugged, holding up her pistol. “Good news; looks like this world has laser weaponry.”

“Aw what? Why do you get a laser gun?” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“What’s the bad news?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well… we’ve figured out a quick way to get fresh gear.” Applejack shrugged. “And it’s… lootin’.”

“Looting? That’s messed up.” Rainbow remarked, before looking back down the tracks the way they came. “But… if it’s either that or choose how we die out here…”

“Exactly.” Sunset nodded. “None of us like it either, but it’s our only option.”

“Well, hopefully we won’t have to rely solely on plundering.” Rarity remarked. “If we can find somewhere to trade like civilized people, I’d much prefer it.”

“You and me both.” Sunset nodded. “Either way, the monster’s dead so the coyotes have their den back.”

Fluttershy smiled as she looked at the coyotes. “You hear that? Your home is safe; you can go back in.” The large coyote yapped happily and licked Fluttershy’s face, making her giggle.

That made Twilight realize something. “Oh no, Spike. I forgot we left him back at school. I hope he’s okay.”

“Oh, I’m sure your brother can take care of him until we get back, Darling.” Rarity assured.

“I just hope we can take care of ourselves to get back.” Sunset pointed out. “Let’s keep moving.” With that in mind, the girls left the coyote den behind them as they kept walking down the tracks, hopeful they would be okay.

After what felt like hours, especially with the sun bearing down on their heads, the Rainbooms finally staggered – exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry – to what looked like an abandoned railyard, with a busted handcar in the sand next to the track at the foot of a water tower. “What do you think the odds are there’s still water in there?” Sunset asked, only partly joking as she was dying of thirst.

“I wouldn’t bet on it.” Applejack shrugged as she handed Sunset a canteen from her pack. Sunset knew her body needed more than the small swig she took, but she also knew she had to think about her friends just as much as herself.

Her attention was then captured by the bare mattresses on the right-hand platform surrounded by bottle caps and empty bottles. “Looks like someone else set camp here before us,” she remarked as she clambered up onto the platform, helping her friends up behind her.

“Dun’ look like they’re ‘round anymore,” Applejack wasn’t wrong; the area around this railyard was just further empty desert as far as she could see – not a soul in sight.

“Well, that’s kind of a relief.” Rainbow sighed as she set her gear down. “I’ve had to pee for like half an hour now.”

“I don’t think the bathrooms are a good bet, even if the building weren’t barricaded,” Twilight noted, pointing to the boarded-up door behind the mattresses.

“I’ll just go in the sand; no one’s around to see.” Rainbow shrugged and simply walked off the platform, rounding a corner before she unzipped her skirt.

“Charming.” Rarity remarked offhandedly at the sound.

“Until we find an actual bathroom, I think that’s our only option,” Sunset noted.

“I must say, I’m not entirely fond of the ‘options’ we’ve been lumped with,” said Rarity. “Plundering the dead, doing our… ladies’ business… out in the open.”

“Here’s hopin’ we won’t have to get used to it.” Applejack shrugged as she sat down on one of the mattresses, kicking her boots off. “Either way, Ah think it’s ‘bout time we got a plan together before we keep movin’.”

“Agreed.” Twilight nodded, seeing a few containers on the shelves next to the mattresses. “Well… as long as no one else is using them…” She shrugged before she opened the two stacked metal boxes next to the shelf, but found they were both empty. The first aid box on the shelf only had a bottle of what looked like clean water in it along with an IV bag filled with a strange amber chemical with a crude name scrawled on the label: RadAway. “Hm…” She wasn’t sure what this stuff was, but it was probably worth hanging onto, so she pocketed it and handed the water to Applejack as she checked the toolbox next to the first aid kit. “Not much in the way of equipment.”

Applejack shrugged as she took the water bottle. Then she looked past the water tower and smiled. “Bet Ah could get that handcar back on the tracks.” It wasn’t much of a bet; with Applejack’s strength, she could easily rerail the thing.

“Maybe. But I don’t think we should go any further north.” Sunset suggested. “Not until we can hit a town and get some more supplies.”

“I think I saw a pass over there.” Pinkie smiled, pointing to a small opening in the rock not far from the railyard. “Maybe it’s a shortcut to somewhere.”

“Definitely worth checking out.” Twilight nodded. “But first…” She allowed herself to fall back onto one of the mattresses. “I think we could all use a breather.”

“You’ll get no argument from me on that, Darling.” Rarity agreed as she laid down on the other mattress.

Rainbow rejoined the girls quite satisfied as she laid down on the platform, her feet dangling off the edge. “You sure we shouldn’t keep going north, Sunset? Could be an easy way to get to Vegas,” she suggested.

“Yeah, or a trap. We don’t know what’s up that track, and until we do, I don’t think we should risk it.” Sunset noted.

“I guess. I just hope we can get some more good food before too long.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Well, I think I read somewhere that certain cacti are edible if we want to risk it.” Twilight pointed out.

“Hm. Well, that does sound rather interesting and exotic.” Rarity shrugged.

“Little desert foragin’ sounds like fun.” Applejack agreed.

“We’ll see what luck we have in that regard.” Sunset nodded. “For now… I’m a bit more worried about that pass. I’ve seen enough movies to know what usually happens in places like that.”

“Yeah, but how many people in those movies had superpowers?” asked Rainbow.

“Fair enough.” Sunset shrugged. “So you think we should risk it?”

“If it turns out bad, I can just run us away until we reach safety.” Rainbow shrugged.

“Perhaps we save the further adventure and madness until after we rest.” Rarity pointed out. No one argued with her as they all relaxed on the platform, simultaneously dreading and looking forward to what would come next for them.