[M] [IC] Fallout: Ain't That A Kick In The Head?

[Holocene]

Joe jumped when Stephen's bottle impacted with the wall, the sharp sound of glass shattering piercing his ears. As Stephen went on his expletive filled fury, Joe watched Nikola attempt to bandage Dani up.

For the first time on this journey, the feeling Joe had been trying to keep buried ever since he had gotten into the mess leading up to this swelled up and overtook him. He realized he was powerless. He had no more control over his group than he did his own destiny at this point. As Nikola slumped to the floor, blood pouring from his wound, Joe could not feel but lost to the world, lost in his own fate.

But Joe kept looking back at Nikola, and something in him snapped. He ran over, and reached into the medical bag, pushing Nikola's unmoving hand out of the way. Damn, he had used the last Stimpak on Dani. He turned to ask Stephen for one, assuming he had had any in the first place, but then a realization hit him.

Joe reached into his inner coat pocket, and pulled out something he had been saving for an emergency. He held in his hands a Super stimpak. Rare and expensive, Joe had procured one before setting out by cashing in a favor. He had been saving it in case of emergency.

And now there was one, but it was not Joe who needed it. He hesitated for a moment, realizing that if he gave this to Nikola, there would be nothing to save himself in the event something bad happened. But after his brief moment of indecision, Joe took it, wrapped the belt around Nikola's leg near the injury, and then pressed down, injecting the serum into Nikola's body.

Joe sat down, his arms resting on his knees, looking at Nikola. He wasn't sure they would even ever make it to Delta, but if they were going to die, he wanted to feel he had some sort of control over their fate, and for the moment, he had been able to decide the outcome.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani awoke from her unconscious state with a jolt as Nikola jabbed her with a stimpak. She gasped and sat up as Nikola instructed her to turn to the wall, she groggily did as he asked but was snapped awake as he shoved her arm back into socket. She let out a scream of pain and sweat beaded on her brow as he moved it around to make sure it was positioned correctly. As he gently settled her back against the wall he collapsed and her heart sank.

"Dammit Nikola! You should have taken care of yourself first! We need you alive you bastard!" She moved to assist him but Joe beat her to it. He jabbed him with a super stimpak and sat back. Dani crawled over to Nikola's side and put a hand on his face. "Alright you dick head, now it's my turn to say to brace yourself. This is gonna hurt." She took out one of her daggers and fished around in Nikola's bag for some peroxide or something to sanitize her blade. Finding something that would be sufficient, she made sure the belt Joe had wrapped around his leg was tight enough and took a deep breath before focusing in on the gunshot. She cut away the section of his vault suit that was surrounding his wound and began fishing around as gently as possible to remove the bullet. Finally after what felt like an eternity, she grabbed it. She then thoroughly cleaned his wound and bandaged him up as best she could.

She was very glad she had learned a good deal of first aid in her years in the thieving ring she grew up in. She shook her head to clear her mind of the images of injured children she had helped tend to and slumped down next to Nikola. She was covered in sweat and blood, and so very tired. But she knew she couldn't sleep. She slapped herself in the face with a bloody hand and sat back up. They needed to get away from this place.

[LupusSilvae]

Stephen refrained from commenting while the rest of the team worried about fixing each other up. Truthfully, he was not even paying attention to them, lost in thought while he stared into the horizon with a glazed look. Maybe it was from the sudden, massive intake of alcohol, but it was impossible to tell. As things settled down, he was able to breathe a little better, and glanced at the others. "Can't stay here," he mumbled dully. The anger had mostly faded from his voice by this time. "Soon's you can move, we'd best go. Desert's safer."

[UserError404]

Nikola didn't even have time to react before Dani started digging around in his leg. He instinctively reached for it before falling back to the ground and gritting his teeth in pain. His muffled groans went on for an agonizing eternity before she successful completed the operation. He caught his breath and looked at his leg, then at Dani. Without saying anything he wrapped his arms around her in a passionate embrace. "Sorry... I just... Had a surge of emotion there. I'm glad you're okay. And thank you." He said before he released her and further examined his leg.

"You should've said you had a super stimpak Dani. I could've done an even better job at fixing you up!" He said as he used the wall to pull himself up, taking Stephen's advice on leaving. Nikola then reached out his hand to help Dani stand as well before going to pack up his things.

[Holocene]

As Nikola awoke and Dani rushed in to use her medical skills, Joe took a step back. He watched Dani work for a moment before standing next to a now calmed Stephen. Joe also stared into the seemingly endless desert horizon, reaching into his coat pocket for a cigarette, before realizing he had run out of those days ago.

Joe replied simply to Stephen, "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea."

They were still far away from Delta, but for some reason, as Joe stood their gazing into the starry sky, his nerves slowly calming, he felt the worst was behind them. They had overcome all that had happened so far, was there really anything that could stop them?

[abbiejlee95]

Dani stiffened as Nikola embraced her and a wave of confusing emotions engulfed her. She usually hated for anyone to touch her. But the only human contact she had ever really had was negative or forceful. She slowly raised her arms to return his hug and she breathed in the warmth and comfort she had never really experienced. He pulled back too soon for her liking and apologized for his sudden action. "It's ok. I was glad to help. I'm glad you are ok as well. And... Thanks.."

All of her words were quiet and she avoided eye contact as he reached down his hand to help her up after thanking her for the stimpak. "It actually wasn't mine. Joe used it on you." She looked over at the aforementioned man and looked over his dirty pinstriped suit. "It seems he's not all bad." She gathered her things and wrapped her good arm around Nikola's back and pulled his arm over her shoulder so she could support him as he walked. She then headed over to join the others in their admiration of the starry sky.

[LupusSilvae]

With everyone on their feet, Stephen opted not to waste any time moving on. "Mmgonna be drunk as hell, but we can't wait here. We'll just go 'til we find a camp spot far enough out." With that, he whistled and nodded out to the wastes, sending Rhea scouting ahead and relying on her superior nighttime senses to navigate the darkened desert. Stephen staggered a little bit when rising from the wall to follow her, but did so without assistance, driven forward by the hope of solitude among the sand.

[UserError404]

Nikola happily accepted Dani's help. He gave her a warm smile as he did his best to support her as much as she was supporting him. "Hey Joe. Uh. Thanks. I owe you one." Nikola said as they approached the group. As they headed out, he was significantly slower than the others, probably due to the fatigue caused by the super stimpak he took off his leg before they set out.

As they walked, Nikola kept glancing over at Dani, watching her face in the moonlight, partly admiring it and partly making sure she was keeping her eyes open. Whenever she would begin to nod off, he touched her face and nudged her slightly to wake her back up.

[Holocene]

"Yeah," was all Joe said to Nikola, and he began walking with the rest. They walked for a while in a general silence, each left to their own thoughts.

Eventually, they settled down to camp for what was left of the night, after they had gained enough distance for Stephen's comfort. Joe was extremely fatigued still, and he didn't imagine Dani or Nikola having much energy left either.

After Joe rolled out his sleeping bag, and set down his gear, he found Stephen and casually walked up to him. "I don't know how you do it. Living out here all alone like this. If you say we can travel the rest of the way by bypassing the roads and cities, I believe you. I just don't understand the life it takes to do this on a regular basis."

Joe stared at Stephen for a moment after he had spoken, trying to analyze the man under the dirty, wild layer that he hid himself behind. He was like Ernest in many ways, but he had come from somewhere different. What made him, him, Joe could not guess.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani sleepily trudged along, helping Nikola, but also allowing him to help her. Her heart jumped every time he touched her face as she began to doze but she did her best not to react violently as was her instinct. She was surprised at the level of trust she had for this man. She didn't even really know why she felt so comfortable around him. She had never really felt comfortable around anybody.

As they reached camp her heart sunk a bit. She watched as everyone started to settle in and she sat down on the ground with a huff. "Nikola? When will it be safe for me to sleep? I don't know how i'm going to stay awake..." She whistled for Beggar and he swooped down from who knows where and lightly perched on her shoulder. She reached for Neils and patted her lap to signal for him to come join her. She had begun to really enjoy the little rascal's company.