Chapter 17: Onward
The sun eventually rose a couple hours later chasing away the cold desert night.
And the weariness from using the Stimpak earlier had mostly faded away leaving me with a few serious but, manageable injuries. It still hurt like a bitch to move and I still couldn't use my arm but, I still felt like I was in good enough shape to make the trek down to the Mojave Outpost.
Especially since I equipped the pair of green Torn Shirt And Jeans, I had in my Inventory which gave an extra +2 to Endurance. I figured that since I was already injured it was a good time to test out whether the Endurance stat actually made me tougher.
Which it sort of did but, not in the way I was hoping.
From what I could tell having a higher Endurance didn't actually do anything to lessen the pain and instead only made me better at enduring it. Which wasn't exactly what I was hoping for since I would have killed for a bit of morphine.
I probably could have used a second Stimpak at this point but, I didn't want to rush it just in case my body wasn't ready for a second dose yet. Not to mention that I didn't know how effective Stimpaks actually were to the regular inhabitants of this world and didn't want to be seen healing too quickly while I was still in a camp surrounded by dozens of NCR soldiers. And decided to wait for a better opportunity later when it wouldn't be so conspicuous.
Also, as a side note for whatever reason my bandages weren't recognized as clothing by the system so, I could still equip clothes and armor without exposing my injuries. Which I thought was interesting but, didn't care about too much.
"Hmm" I noticed someone starting to awake? "Morning sleeping beauty" I smiled as Yoruichi stirred from her sleep.
"Morning" she grumbled rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"How'd you sleep" I asked while stifling a laugh at her wild hair and angry pout that made her look like a grumpy old cat.
"Alright" she frowned "But, I don't think I'll ever get used to sleeping on the ground like this. Especially since my sleeping bag is garbage. That bastard Chet definitely sold me cheap goods... Hey, your sleeping bag seems pretty nice. What would it take for you to..." She paused for a second as her eyes slowly widened!
"Hey" I waved back as she stared at me in shock.
"Ethan" she shouted as tears formed in her eyes before lunging at me "You're alright!"
"Hold on" I laughed and stumbled back to avoid her "I'm still injured remember! And I don't really want to get knocked out by your killer hugs a second time!"
Realizing what she was about to do Yoruichi froze and sat down embarrassed.
"A-are you really alright" she whispered?
Sighing I sat down next to her on the bed and wrapped my good arm around her shoulder.
"I'm fine" I dropped the playful attituded after hearing how vulnerable she sounded.
She bit her lip and gazed down and my bandaged arm "But, y-your arm and your back! The medic said you might never be able to..."
"I don't really care what any medic said" I interrupted her "I'm made of tougher stuff than that. It'll take a lot more than a small burn and a few minor gunshot wounds to keep me down. Besides did you forget that we had a couple Stimpaks? Those things can do anything short of reviving the dead! So, relax I'm fine!"
"But, but it's all my fault" the tears started falling down her cheeks "If I hadn't taken a stupid risk and tried to save Beagle without a plan! None of this would have happened!"
"That's not true" I pulled her into my chest! "There was no way saving him was ever going to be easy but, you somehow managed to get him out in one piece. Besides it was my decision to draw the convicts attention, so really it's my own fault I'm injured and has absolutely nothing to do with you."
"No" she violently shook her head! "This IS my fault! I'm the one who forced you to come along and help find my mother's killer! If it wasn't for me selfishly dragging you along, you would never have been hurt in the first place!" Yoruichi pushed herself out of my chest and wiped the tears from her eyes "In fact I've decided that I don't need your help anymore! This is my mission and I'm going to do it on my own! I don't need you any- Ouch" she flinched as I flicked her forehead!
"I'm serious- Ouch" she tried to respond but, I didn't let her! "I don't- Ouch! Just listen to- Ouch! I want- Ouch! WILL YOU STOP IT ALREADY" she screamed!
"That depends? Are you done being stupid?"
"I JUST DON'T WANT YOU TO GET..." she started to yell but, quickly calmed down once I brandished my fingers in front of her face! "...Yeah, I'm done" she deflated.
"Good" I nodded before looking her in the eyes "And before we go any further, I think you need you need to get one thing straight. I knew all of this was going to be dangerous from the start and that I might get injured or die, and I know that this probably isn't even the most dangerous situation we'll come across. I just want you to know that despite all that I'm following you of my own free will, you're not forcing me to do anything! I'm doing this because I genuinely want to help you!"
"Really" Yoruichi studied me silently for a moment with her golden eyes.
"Really" I nodded.
She was silent for a moment before bursting out laughing and pulling a seductive pose "I knew it from the start! You've completely fallen prey to my sexy body haven't you?"
I blushed in shame and did my best to avoid looking down at the not insignificant amount of cleavage her loose t-shirt exposed. But, was secretly glad she was back to teasing me again and wondered if this was her way of coping?
"Maybe a little" I admitted scratching my head.
Yoruichi completely lost it at my confession and doubled over laughing.
"Though that's only part of it" I continued on deciding to be more honest with her once she calmed down a bit. "The truth is that I'm actually in a similar situation to yours. I didn't lose my memories and aren't hunting anyone down for revenge but, something happened to me not long ago that completely changed my entire life and I'm still trying to figure out what exactly I'm supposed to do now. And I guess following you around seemed like the easiest option."
She quirked an eyebrow at me "Now that you mention it, I don't think you ever told me how you ended up passed out outside Goodsprings or really anything about your past for that matter."
"Sorry" I apologized avoiding her gaze "But, I think I'll be keeping my secrets a little longer. It's not that I don't trust you but, that what happened to me is so absolutely insane that I'm still not sure I haven't gone completely mad!"
"Please just tell me" she pleaded! "You can't be all cryptic like that and NOT explain anything."
I just shrugged "If I'm being honest how crazy it is, is only part of the reason I don't want to tell you yet. The other is that there's one or two embarrassing things in my past that I know you would never ever let me live down."
I shuddered imagining how much she'd tease me if she ever found out that she was a famous anime character in my past life and that I downloaded her into my game because of *cough cough* 'reasons.'
"Oh, come on" she pulled on my arm "Now I really want to know!"
"Relax" I patted her on the shoulder "I'll probably tell you one day, just not right now."
"Fine" she huffed turning away "But, I'm adding this to the list of stuff you owe me for!"
"What are talking about" I tilted my head?
"Don't you remember" she grinned? "You owe me a meal in every place we visit since you blabbed all about my personal history earlier! Which is kind of ironic since now you're refusing to tell me about yours! So, I've decided that from now on you owe me two meals from every place we pass!"
"What! That's completely unfair" I argued! "I don't have that kind of money!"
"Too late" she scoffed "You either tell me your secrets or deal with being forced to buy dinner for a pretty girl."
"...When you put it like that" I frowned feeling extremely conflicted about the whole situation.
Our bickering was interrupted by the sound of the tent opening as Lieutenant Hayes stepped inside followed by a soldier with a red cross stamped across his shoulder.
"I thought I heard voices in here" he said before eyeing me up and down "It seems you're doing well."
"That's Stimpaks for you, that pre-war stuff is basically black magic!"
"So it would seem" Hayes gave me a look "From my experience even with a steady supply of Stimpaks it still should have taken you at least a week to recover from injuries like yours?"
"Who says I'm recovered" I lifted my bandaged arm "I'm still nowhere near 100% I'm just tough enough to ignore the pain."
"Fair enough" he conceded "After all everyone saw just how tough you really are yesterday when you survived that horrifying explosion and a hail of bullets. Speaking of which" Hayes turned to the soldier at his side "Sergeant I can't quite remember but, you treated his wounds can you tell me how many times he was actually shot?"
"8 times, sir" the soldier responded.
"That many" I raised an eyebrow?
"Yes, but despite that you actually suffered very few injuries relatively speaking" the soldier continued. "Although your leather armor helped block fire from most of the smaller arms it actually wasn't strong enough to stop the larger caliber fire from the few convicts who used shotguns. Despite that most of the injuries on your back were stopped after only penetrating one or two inches into your flesh, if they weren't completely stopped by the bones of your back which were cracked but, not shattered. You didn't even break any bones after taking that hard fall after leaping off from the bridge."
"Yeah" I rushed to think of an excuse for my abnormalities "I was just born with a naturally strong body and have always been a bit tougher than normal people."
"So, it would seem" Hayes rubbed his chin in thought.
"It's not really all that impressive though" I tried to downplay myself "It's not like I'm anywhere near as tough as something like a supermutant. Bullets still hurt like a bitch, I was just lucky that I only got hit on my back and not somewhere more vulnerable. Not to mention my toughness does absolutely nothing against fire or any kind of energy weapons" I motioned down to my charred arm.
"Speaking of which" I looked over to the soldier "You're the medic who treated me right? How bad is it?"
"You have 3rd degree burns covering 70% of your arm with 2nd degree covering the remaining area. That being said you are incredibly lucky. From what I can tell you only took a glancing blow from the Incinerator which is why you still even have an arm, normally after a direct hit a person's limb is completely ruined and has to be amputated. That being said I didn't have the expertise or equipment necessary to do a skin graft so you're probably going to have some pretty nasty scars once it heals.
"I can live with that" I answered fairly confident that wouldn't be a problem and that the system would make sure I heal up back to normal.
"Anyway, it seems we've gotten a bit off track" Hayes coughed "I brought the Sergeant here to check on Ethan's injuries and to change his bandages. Are you alright with that" he asked?
"No problem" I responded throwing my shirt off as the Sergeant approached and got to work.
He asked me to turn around and started undoing the bandages on my chest.
"Hmm, it seems like the bullet wounds on your back have mostly closed and should be completely healed within the next two weeks. Sooner if your willing to waste a couple more Stimpaks but, I wouldn't recommend it since they're quite rare and better suited to life or death situations and you seem to be doing fine."
"True" I rubbed my chin as the Sergeant finished cleaning my wounds and started removing the bandages on my arm "But, my arm is still completely shot and I'd rather not be walking around the desert with a disability like that for too long."
"Yes but, even with medical aid it will still most take your arm months to..." the soldier blinked in astonishment as he stared at my wounded arm.
To my eyes it nothing but, a mess of angry red flesh, painful looking blisters, and puss with disgusting black flakes scattered around. But, apparently the doctor saw something completely different.
"This is unbelievable" he gasped as we all looked over to see what all the fuss was about!
I couldn't see what the problem was and neither could Hayes who seemed mildly disgusted while Yoruichi stared down at my arm looked like she felt a bit guilty. I wanted to comfort her again but, it didn't seem like the time.
"What's unbelievable" I asked grimacing as my arm screamed in pain as the bandages were peeled away?
"It's your arm" the soldier gasped! "It should not be this healthy!"
"Doesn't look too healthy" Hayes turned away in disgust.
"You're wrong" the soldier shook his head "When I treated him yesterday his arm was completely charred black! Now after only a day or so it already looks like it's been healing for weeks! Look at this he said" pointing at the crusty black flakes! "Those are bits of burnt skin that have fallen off as new healthier skin took its place! On a burn as severe as his something like that normally takes at least a month!"
"I'm a quick healer" I shrugged.
"That's an understatement" the soldier sighed.
"So that means his arms is going to be alright" Yoruichi asked?
"Definitely" the soldier responded! "And from what I can see he might not even have any scar either!"
"That's great and all" I grit my teeth "But, can you hurry up and change my bandages because my arm is REALLY not appreciating the open air."
"O-oh, right of course" the soldier snapped out of it and quickly got to work.
"So, he's not in any life-threatening danger anymore" Hayes asked?
"Yes, I'd say his injuries are already more than halfway healed" the soldier nodded.
"Good that means the two of them can leave camp as soon as you're done here."
"What" Yoruichi gasped! "But, he's still injured!"
Lieutenant Hayes sneered "We're not a charity girl, we're an army and last I checked neither of you are NCR citizens. Which means I didn't actually have to do anything to help either of you! You're lucky we we're nice enough to patch your friend up in the first place, because we're low enough on supplies as it is.
"WHY YOU-" Yoruichi growled!
"He's right" I stopped her "They don't actually owe us anything and I'm grateful they actually took the time to help me."
"...Fine" she hmphed.
"Anyway" I continued "That actually reminds me, what's going on with Primm right now? Because I can't imagine that the convicts were too happy about that stunt we pulled."
Hayes smirked "That bunch of idiots is running around like a chicken with its head cut off and more than half of them have already fled from town!"
"Really" I asked genuinely confused? "What the hell happened?"
"Your little girlfriend blew most of them up along with their psychopath of a leader, that's what happened" Hayes laughed!
"Really" I turned to her and Yoruichi blushed!?
"Yeah" Hayes continued "She sniped a stick of dynamite right out of the air causing a chain reaction that killing pretty much all of the convicts chasing you. Now without a leader and missing most of their dynamite most of the remaining convicts have left the city and are heading back up towards the NCR Correctional Facility where they all escaped from in the first place. My guess is they're looking to join back up with the rest of the Powder Gangers since they were just a splinter group that broke off from the rest. Though a few of the stubborn ones still holed up in that hotel with what little dynamite they have left, so I wouldn't recommend going back into town just yet."
I ignored most of what Hayes was saying and only focused on the first part and turned to Yoruichi.
"Copycat" I deadpanned!
She crossed her arms "You're just jealous you're not special anymore!"
"Right" I rolled my eyes, at least I knew where I got the Exp for that extra level now.
"And done" I looked back down at the soldier who had just finished rewrapping all my bandages "You should be good to go, just try not do anything too strenuous for a while unless you want tear open your wounds. Oh, and make sure your bandages at least once a day. I'd say to do it at least twice a day but, we can't spare that many."
"That's good" I thanked him before getting up and doing some light stretches and putting my shirt back on.
"So, what are the two of you going to do now" Hayes asked? "You can stick around for a while longer but, you're not allowed to stay overnight in the camp again."
"I don't know, what are we doing next" I glanced at Yoruichi?
She blinked in confusion for a moment before explaining that she talked with Deputy Beagle yesterday while I was still unconscious and that he had told her he overheard the Great Khan's saying that they were on their way to Novac.
"Novac, huh" Hayes rubbed his chin? "If you're headed there your best bet is to head south through Nipton before circling back up north."
"How long does it usually take to walk there" she asked?
"If you leave right now it would take you about two days to get to Nipton from here if you follow the roads, so I'd suggest stopping for the night at the Mojave Outpost. After that you have a three or four day walk ahead of you before you arrive at Novac. I'd be careful once you get that far east though, The Legion's forward camp isn't far from there and they send out raiding parties all the time."
"Great more walking" I sighed already sick of it.
Yoruichi frowned and looked at me worriedly "We can wait another couple days before leaving if you want. Like you said they're pretty conspicuous and don't know we're after them so it shouldn't be too hard to find the trail again even if we waste some time."
"Trust me I'm fine" I shook my head "I won't hold us back."
"But, your still injured."
"And I won't get that much better in only a day or two" I countered. "Besides" I patted the pistol on my hip "I'm just as good a shot with one arm as two."
"Alright, I guess you win" Yoruichi bitterly smiled.
"Well since it seems like everything is good here I'll take my leave" Hayes said while nodding at the Sergeant to follow him out. "I got a whole camp to run after all. But, if you two are ever find yourself in the area again, try not to blow yourselves up on my front door. I'd rather not waste anymore supplies putting you back together."
With that Hayes and the unnamed medic left the tent leaving me and Yoruichi alone again.
"Well, I guess I should start getting dressed" she sighed.
"Yes you should" I agreed "That shirt is way too loose for you."
"Pfft, please you know you love it" she teased.
I just rolled my eyes and turned away to give her some privacy, while I used my Pipboy to go over my Inventory and make sure I had everything I needed. And found that I was still a bit short on ammo since I didn't actually get a chance to resupply while here in Primm but, should still have enough to make it down to the Mojave Outpost without any problems.
From what I recalled the only major obstacle in the way was an old highway patrol station that a small group of raiders called the Jackals have taken over. And even with the changes in this world I was pretty sure there would only be five or six of them there, so I was sure we could take them if we had too. Even then it wouldn't be much of a problem to just take the long way around and avoid them all together.
Though if we did that, we might end up running into some feral ghouls if we did that but, I wasn't too concerned since we were in the middle of a massive open desert. We'd be able to see and take them out long before they got anywhere close to us especially with the grenade launcher. Which I guess was Yoruichi's now since I didn't really feel like taking it back.
Not long later the two of us were walking side by side in silence down the empty stretch of the I-15 highway. Taking one last look behind me at Primm I sighed, even though everything turned out okay in the end what happened was still far too close for comfort. And served as yet, another reminder that I was still nowhere near strong enough.
But, what I was most depressed about right now wasn't my perceived weakness.
It was the fact that I had to leave behind basically the best boy in the entire game! I hurt my soul to know that I didn't even get to ED-E as single time before we left! ED-D was sentient Eyebot who floated around who could only talk in cute little beeps, and was basically my favorite companion in the entire game!
But, it wasn't like it mattered since even if I did get to see him I wouldn't have been able to take him with me because he was broken and I wouldn't have been able to fix him.
In the game you needed a pretty high Repair or Science Skill to fix him neither of which I had! Of course, I was pretty sure I could've made do with the Science! or Robotics Expert Perks but, I didn't have either of those either!
Which meant that the only way to fix him up was to find the correct parts which were three pieces of scrap metal, two sensor modules, and a bundle of scrap electronics.
I'd been keeping an eye out for that stuff since Goodsprings but, hadn't managed to gather everything yet. Thankfully, the out next destination was a trading outpost so I would hopefully be able to find everything I need on one of the caravans there.
I sighed once again and could only hope that the next time we come through Primm I'd be able to take my little buddy with me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone