Unchosen 31

It was a few days before we were completely free of the ruins, and weeks more before we were recovered enough to move on. We'd stopped back into Leah to let the townsfolk know that we'd failed. They took the news stolidly enough, and Chasity never said a word. I guess it was a hard life, even in the pretty little township, and loss wasn't something anyone was unfamiliar with. From there, we headed back out into the world again, heading north again, trying to regain the trail of the crew that had taken the object of Her quest.

The object of Her quest. We knew a little bit more about it, but not much. She'd told us some, but though trust ran between us like an electrical current, this was the one thing she'd always played very close to the chest. We discussed it between us in the evenings, what it was for, what we'd do with it if- when we managed to get it back. We didn't really even have a plan to do that, but getting it back, finishing Her quest, was the only thing we had. 

So we wandered. We followed hints, rumors, any thread we could pick up, from junktown to village to ruined town. Weeks passed. A month. Then we rolled back into Doc's hometown, Nova Vi.

Unchosen 30

I remember pain. Searing pain all over, but mostly in my back. That's what I came back to, after blackness.

After the pain, there were voices, urgent, nearly frantic at first, then calmer. Flickers of light, the sky, a fire. It was all muddled for a little while, but after a little while, it started to clear up. I tried to sit up, but the agony came back and I lost myself for a while.

The next I remember, it's dark, with a flickering fire, barely big enough to heat coffee. Except, we didn't have coffee, I remembered. It'd been a month since the last of it ran out. I didn't try to sit up this time, just turned my head. The pain flared again, but not enough to put me out this time. My eyes focused, and I found myself looking at the slack-jawed face of Tex, laid out on his bedroll next to me. His throat was still bandaged, and he was drooling, but even in the firelight I could tell that his color was much better. I turned my head again, bracing for the pain, and found Chasity and Doc, their murmured conversations stilled, staring at me across the tiny fire.

"Welcome back, you old geezer," Chasity said with a grin. I didn't answer at first, just looked her over, trying to recall what had happened. I saw the heavy bandages around her forearm, and it all came back to me. The beast in the ruins, with the acid spray. It'd gotten Chasity first, and then... Nothing. I couldn't dredge up the last bits, other than some vague recollection about the antenna.

"I got some bad news, gramps," said Doc, his voice grave. I let my eyes focus on him, searching his expression. He'd pulled something out of his pack, and held it in his lap. After a moment, he lifted it up, letting the faint light from the fire shine through it. "Your duster didn't make it. I figured you might want to say a few words before we bury it."