[IC] Atomic Rain (Fallout)

[Nekoholic]

Basil narrowed his eyes. "And just what do you know exactly?"

Leith smirked. "Much. Now let's go."

[NinjaButterfly]

Kaye stared at him for a long moment, a mischievous glint in her eye. She had hoped that her little tactic would have made Basil give away more information on his...condition, but she should have known he was too smart for such petty tricks. After all, he was a borderline scientist. The more she pondered on it, the more mysterious he became to her. It was a condition she had heard of before, but she simply couldn't put her finger on exactly what...
"I know you aren't normal. Anyone who has paid attention today would know as much." She paused for a moment, thinking of how to continue this conversation. "This morning when me and Leith found you, your friend was on the very brink of death by radiation poisoning, correct? Then you seem to be utterly fine... You haven't even had any meds yet you are still going as strongly as ever. I don't get it...how?" She walked up to him, standing about a foot away and stared closely, tapping her finger on her lip in thought. "I know you two were caught in that storm last night and you wouldn't have held out medicine for the sake of your friend's health. So tell me...how did you do it? How did you survive such an onslaught of radiation and live to tell about it?"
She paused for a moment before beginning to pace while in thought, circling him almost as if he was prey. It was meant to be intimidating, but in all honesty she was just doing it to toy with him in her joy of the moment, thinking she had the upper hand right now. "If the radiation factor isn't enough to throw people off, then perhaps your chem tolerance is a red flag, surely. The Smooch I gave everyone would have affected us all in the same way. And if it had really worked...then you and Jace would be lying in bed together right now." she smiled almost sadistically at him. "I know you aren't normal and I doubt your friend has noticed anything is astray with you. Hell, he's even more of an idiot than I am, so I don't think he would be capable of connecting the dots on his own with some help, you know?"
After coming to a quick stop, she leaned in his ear, "I am on to you, Basil. I don't know what you are, but I will find out...and so will others. This is my new game now. You are the new toy of my fascination."
Just as she moved away from Basil, she heard a crunch coming from the woods and quickly turned to see Jace and Leith walking towards them. As they approached, though, she watched as they made their way over.
Jace's head was hanging low in defeat and embarrassment and couldn't bring himself to look in Basil's direction. He felt so stupid for what he had attempted to do, even if he had been drugged to do it.

[Nekoholic]

Basil felt a surge of anger course through his veins, but upon hearing the approaching footsteps, his attention was immediately diverted instead to Jace and Leith. Rubbing sorely at his throat, Leith stepped past him, but not before giving him a firm pat on the shoulder, and then headed towards Kaye. Though confused at the odd, one-sided exchange, Basil rushed over to Jace and wrapped his arms around him. Giving him one firm squeeze, he said, face buried into the wrinkled fabric of his shirt, "I'm sorry. Please don't run away like that again, okay?"

[NinjaButterfly]

When Basil embraced Jace, he stopped breathing in his shock and turned his head a fraction to look at Basil. He hesitated for a moment, not exactly knowing if it would be okay to hug him back or not. He decided to hug him back for a quick moment, only using one arm in case he wanted to move away. Before he had the chance to move away on his own, though, Jace did it for him.
"No, I'm...I'm the one who should be sorry, Basil," he said softly, staring down at him. "I didn't mean the things I said and attempted to do. I was just being stupid while under the effects of the drugs...and...I hope you can forgive me."
Kaye looked over at Leith as he walked over and noticed him favoring his neck. It took her a moment to notice he was in pain and quickly grew worried. "What happened, Leith?"

[Nekoholic]

"Of course I forgive you," Basil quickly said. He snuck a glance at Kaye, concerned that she might actually tell Leith or Jace about their "discussion." He then also noticed that Leith seemed to be in pain. "What...did something happen to Leith out there?"

Leith replied, "Ah, just the rheumatism, Kaye."

[NinjaButterfly]

"A...rheum-a-tic-what?" Kaye looked at Leith, puzzled, but shook her head to dismiss it. "On second thought, I don't want to know. As long as you're okay, though..."
Jace clenched and unclench his teeth a few times and spared a glance in the ghoul's direction. "I...well, I'm not proud of it, to say the least." He sighed heavily before looking back at Basil, guilt riddled on his expression. "He was provoking me and...I hit him. The bastard pissed me off to the point where I was trying to provoke him into fighting me, and I threw a few punches...but he wouldn't fight back." He looked away from Basil, rubbing his neck nervously. "I hope you don't hate me...for being such a dumb brute. And before I do something dumb again...I am going to go to sleep." After a moment's hesitation, he patted Basil on the shoulder a few times before walking off. In silence, he pulled his homemade sleeping bag out of his backpack and tossed it on the ground beside his log to block some of the frigid wind, then laid his pack down to use as a pillow. Once he was content with his set-up, he sat down on the blanket.
"Since I have a pass that says 'I almost died today so I get the night off and everyone can fuck off,' I'm going to get some well-needed sleep." He then laid down and threw the other side of his sleeping bag over himself, getting comfortable. "If something happens, wake me up. But unless someone is attacking us or dying, no one better not disturb a single 'z' of my sleep. I mean it."
Kaye looked at Jace, about to ask him what he meant by the last statement but decided against it. "I guess I will take second guard shift, Leith." Once she saw that Jace was falling asleep, she walked over to Bessie and Bob and rummaged through her things until she found hers and Leith's sleeping bags. Unlike Jace, she wasn't a masochist to freeze to death on this night, so she took a spot close to the fire, trying to keep room for the other two.
"I guess Jace gave up his spot at the fire to keep the tree warm," she muttered to herself as she threw down her blankets. She spared a glance in Jace's direction to see if he heard, but to her amazement he was already out cold; he really must have been exhausted to fall asleep that quickly, but she didn't blame him. Once she got arranged comfortably herself, she let out an exaggerated yawn. "See you men in the morning. Don't let the ghouls bite...Leith." And with that ending statement, she drifted off into unconsciousness.

The next morning, Jace was startled away by the sound of a pot slamming against a rock. He quickly bolted upright in the bed and instinctively reached for his rifle, but as the grogginess left him and he assessed the situation, he noticed that it had only been the girl messing around the fire. It took him a long time to remember the events that had taken place yesterday, but once everything came back to him he winced at the memories. The entire day had gone by in a haze and had hoped it was all merely an illusion of his subconscious, sickly mind, but the nightmares still held true in reality. The only thing he didn't fully remember was the events that took place during the night; it had all been too fuzzy even as it was happening. It was just best to forget it all, anyways.
He released a soft groan and laid down his gun by his side. "Do you have to be so loud with everything you do?"
Kaye looked over at Jace, seemingly startled that he was actually awake. She seemed to seriously take the question into consideration before shrugging. "Probably so, yes. And a good morning to you, too sleeping beauty."
He let out a huff. "Mornin'," he said in a gruff voice before standing up and stretching. Once he got all the kinks out of his back and shoulders, he bent back down and started rolling up his sleeping bag. "Is everyone ready to go? I want to get this over with so we can part ways as quickly as possible."
"Can you slow a boat, man? We haven't even had breakfast and you really do not want to see Leith without his morning fuel. You thought he was an ass before..." She shook her head as she pulled out supplies for breakfast, though did so slowly because she knew someone was going to come over to stop her and ban her from ever cooking a meal again. Not that she would do anything like that again...most likely.

[Nekoholic]

"Kaye, it'd probably be best to let someone else cook this morning," Leith said, appearing from the treeline. He slung his combat shotgun back onto his back, narrowing his eyes at Kaye as she made the preparations for breakfast. He then flicked his gaze over at Basil, who appeared to be measuring out what appeared to be Rad-Away; he assumed it was for Jace, just in case he still felt the lingering effects or radiation sickness.
"I can do it after I'm done with this," Basil offered.
"Why, that sounds like a splendid idea," Leith said, looking pointedly at Kaye. He cocked his head toward the Brahmin. "Why don't you get Bessie and Bob ready instead, 'hon?"

[NinjaButterfly]

"You mess up one meal and you're set for ridicule for life..." Kaye mumbled to herself. She didn't give up a fight, surprisingly, as she sat down the supplies on a rock and sauntered towards Bessie and Bob in silence. It seemed so odd for her to be acting so...normal, it instantly set up a red flag in Jace's mind.
"You already drugged the food again, didn't you?"
She looked over, shocked at his words. She put her hands on her hips in a sassy manner while glaring at him. "No, I haven't, actually! And for you to accuse me of such offends me!" God, did everyone have to assume the worse in her?
"Then why give up so easily about cooking? Unless you have already done something to the food."
"Just because I'm not a morning person does not mean I did anything to the food! Besides, I don't feel too well to pull such pranks this morning. Thank you." That probably had something to do with the fact she hadn't had any chems this morning, but she wasn't about to admit that to anyone.

[Nekoholic]

"Kids, stop fighting for once in your damn lives," Leith scolded, huffing as he took a seat on a boulder, beginning to check his gun over before they set off. Though he trusted his combat shotgun to deal adequate damage when she needed to, she'd gotten old and was constantly falling apart. He didn't quite have the heart to throw her away yet, though, as she'd always been there for him before. If she went down, then he was going down with her, just like a captain with his ship. Still, he liked to make sure that she was ready to go before he rushed off into potentially dangerous situations.
"Jace, here's the last of the Rad-Away that we have on us," Basil said, walking over to him with the syringe ready, "You need to take it before we go."

[NinjaButterfly]

Jace rolled his eyes at the ghoul, deciding it would be best to just ignore him for now. "I do not need anymore, Basil," he said before sighing softly. He forced himself to smile at him although he still felt like an ass for what he'd done yesterday. "Don't you think we should save the rest of it for emergencies?"
"Unless we are heading into an irradiated vault, I do not believe we will need it." Kaye remained silent for a moment before turning to Jace and Basil. "This place isn't irradiated, right?" She bit her lip nervously. Although she never acknowledged the point, she worried about Leith. They hadn't known each other but for a couple of years and knew he most likely hated her deep down for her childish antics, but it always ate at her in the back of her mind that he may one day turn feral. Despite how selfish it may sounded, she didn't want to be around when it happened because she didn't think she could bring herself to do what needed to be done.

[Nekoholic]

"I don't know if it'll be irradiated or not," Basil said with a shrug. He glanced at Kaye before focusing again on Jace. "We've tried warning you that this place is unpredictable, as are all vaults. This is your last chance to turn back, if you're not feeling up to it. And Jace, take it; I think it'll be worse if you get sick again while we're in there, especially if we do happen upon something particularly bad."
Leith looked up at Kaye, and said, "You having your doubts now, Kaye?"

[NinjaButterfly]

"Of course not!" Kaye said quickly as she turned to stare at Leith. "We are going to earn our paychecks even if it kills us!" Well, she doubted she would go that far. If it seemed too dangerous when they got there, then she would back out but they wouldn't know until they got there. She started to think these two knew more than they were letting on but didn't voice her suspicions.
"You would all just love that, wouldn't you? The girl back out because she might have to get her hands dirty a little bit. Well, guess what? I'm from the South, too, and we southern girls like to get our hands dirty, so ha!"
"I don't think there has been a clean person in this state for a few hundred years now," Jace said, smirking slightly.
"You know what I mean! God, leave it to men to make everything more difficult than it should be."
He shook his head in exasperation before looking back at Basil. He sighed once more before holding his arm out. "Go for it, then. Just know...I do not approve of this."

[Nekoholic]

"Well, I didn't ask for your approval," Basil said with a smirk.
"So there's supposed to be this wiggly-woggly thing in my gun, but it's gone now. Do you think that'll be an issue by any chance?" Leith asked offhandedly.
Basil glanced over at him with a look that said, "Um, yeah, probably."
Leith huffed as he began to put what remained of his shotgun back together and mumbled under his breath, "That's it. When we're done with this, I'm finding a new gun."

[NinjaButterfly]

"That 'wiggly woggly' thing that you are talking about is the receiver bolt and yes, you do need it." Jace shook his head. How could anyone use a gun without knowing how one worked? "The bullets aren't going to load without it, so you're going to have to half-cock it and manually do it."
"Did the dumb brute actually say something smart?" Kaye asked, staring at him with wide-eyes sarcastically.
He scowled and shot her a glare. "Shut the hell up, blondie."
"I am not blond!"
"Could have fooled me..."
"Shut up! Anyways, are you going to be good to go, Leith?" She looked over at him.

[Nekoholic]

Leith was quiet for a long moment, dumbfounded, almost awestruck that Jace had actually known something that he didn't. He then cleared his throat, stood up, and said, "It's a shotgun...so it uses shells, not bullets." He then stepped over to him, holding it out. "But could you please see if there's anything that you can do? Please?" Sure, the asshole could make it deliberately harm him next time he shot it, but there was already a high chance of that happening as is.
"Awww... That was...almost nice," Basil said, smiling softly. He stepped away from them, his medicinal work done. "We might make friends of you two yet."

[NinjaButterfly]

Jace scowled at Basil's comment. "I highly doubt that will ever happen." He was pretty surprised he had said 'please' to him, so he felt he didn't have much of a choice. After taking the shotgun from his hands, he looked it over for a moment while tinkering with it, studying it as closely as Basil would information on a terminal. After a few minutes, he sighed and handed it back to him before shaking his head. "I'm sorry but there isn't anything I can really do for it without the proper parts. Even if you had an extra rifle reciever bolt, the shell wouldn't fit through the chamber. If you had another shotgun, though, I could fix it. Once you've done that, though, then what would be the point of tearing up a good shotgun to fix this piece of shit?"

[Nekoholic]

"Hey, now, don't insult Rebecca like that," he said, taking the gun back. He sighed, gazing down at her forlornly. "She's stuck around longer than anyone else has. We've been through both the best of times and the worst of times, together. Hard to just...throw her away."

"We'll start out with just a BB gun, but once you get older, son, this gun right here will be yours. A gun is your best friend, so long as you remember the difference between the safety and the trigger. Haha. Good advice for both guns and women!"


"The entrance should be somewhere near here," Basil said, squinting against the approaching darkness. Despite having traveled the entire day and being exhausted, he felt a surge of excitement begin to serve as a backup source of energy now that they had finally arrived. "The entrance could be covered or overgrown, so we may need to look around."
"Looks a lot like nowhere to me," Leith mumbled, though he knew the kid was right. But if the entrance was hidden or overgrown, that could mean two things. One, that the residents never came out and could even be living down there even to this day; though they were rare, he had heard of vaults that had managed to persist in spite of the circumstances surrounding their existence. However, there could just be a bunch of dead bodies down there. The second was that someone had deliberately obscured the entrance, meaning that they were ready to keep anything out. Therefore, he doubted that they'd be very welcoming of guests who desired to look through their possessions.

[NinjaButterfly]

Jace nodded his head in response before walking away from the group. Now that they were here, he put his mind to the task at hand and slowly paced around the area, taking everything in. They were inside a deep-set ridge with the walls fairly spaced out. There were more trees inside the ridge than there was flanking them on the tops of the hilltops and surrounding area, so it was a good indication to Jace that there very well could be a G.E.C.K. nearby. There was also a lot of rotting and piled debris in the ridge where rains must have washed all the fallen trees downriver.
His heart rate begun to speed up at the prospect of the completion of their journey. It had to be here...he felt it in his bones. Although it was a little upsetting that his excursion with Basil was coming to a close, at least they wouldn't have to return home empty-handed. For once in his life, Jace wasn't going to be the useless drunk that always caused fights. He would be looked in the eye by the villagers with confirmation and pride instead of people passing him by, staring at the ground in fear and shame.
"This place floods when it rains, so if it starts raining again, we need to get out of here quickly. See all of the washed-out trees?" He motioned towards the piles of uprooted trees. "Be careful and watch your step."
He continued walking around for a few more minutes until he came across what appeared to be a black hole behind a bunch of backwash that looked as if it was a cave. He slowly walked over to it and moved over a few free limbs. "I think I found the entrance, guys."
"I must admit I'm impressed, Jace," Kaye said, smirking slightly.
Jace hesitated for a moment, waiting for a smart comment to come but none came. "I'm not an idiot like ya'll think."

[Nekoholic]

As Basil stepped towards the entrance, he gave pause and peered skeptically at the ground, noticing prints in the mud. "Um...these could just be our footprints, but these look...rather fresh."
Leith glanced toward the muddy ground and nodded. "Yeah, kid's got a--" Despite himself, he flinched when he heard a bullet shoot into a nearby rock. "Shit..."

[NinjaButterfly]

Jace ducked as the shot whizzed past his face, shrapnel spattering in his face and shoulders. He pulled his gun out and turned the safety off before popping a few rounds into nothing. Since he didn't know where the shots were coming from he hoped it would scare them away, but as he did so more shots fired on their position.
"Anyone have sight of the shooter?!" Kaye yelled, ducking as another bullet whizzed past.
"He's shooting from higher ground. Scan the hilltops!"
Just as Jace started to lean up, a raider pounced on top of Jace. He tried stabbing him in the throat and Jace barely held back his hands. He gritted his teeth together, using all of his might to hold his hands back though it was proving difficult. His strength hadn't completely returned and it was quickly sapping his reserves dry.