Chapter 525 - Restlessnesses

Christine had felt herself slowly dying inside since she left her family all those years ago... Her parents completely and utterly rejected her relationship with Veronica once it'd come to light, and the rest of the Brotherhood looked at her with complete disgust whenever they saw her.

Nobody attempted to hide their feelings towards her, that's just the way it was supposed to be... To be honest, she was actually lucky she was lesbian, compared to what happened to Homosexuals, the look of disgust and suffered isolation wasn't much when compared to execution...​​

That's why when Elder Elijah offered her a position among an outside group of the Brotherhood, a fresh start... She accepted, not knowing at the time that he was the one responsible for orchestrating the whole debacle concerning her and Veronica.

The man was obsessive in everything he did, wanting to be in control of everything... Which is why, when his apprentice started going off on her own, skipping work, and coming to work looking dishevelled, he started to intervene.

Hints here and there, directing people where Christine and Veronica would be, starting rumours... Of course, Christine only realised this many years later, when she was given the order by the Circle of Steel to track down and assassinate Elijah...

She had been trained as an elite assassin for many years, capable of killing someone for so far away they looked like an ant... So, when she received Elder Elijah as a target, she did as she would always do, gather information.

As she had been in close contact with the man for many years, it wasn't difficult to question everything that involved him and go through her own memories with a fine-tooth comb. This is how she eventually came to the conclusion that everything bad that occurred back then, was solely due to Elijah, just to get her away from Veronica.

...

She hadn't acted like the trained assassin when she realised this... More like a child having a tantrum. She spent two full days destroying dummies and training herself into the ground, and only stopped due to direct orders from her seniors.

Soon enough, she had numbed those feelings towards her former 'friend' and elder. She was sent off to hunt him, tracking him all over the wasteland... From California to Big Mt, to the Sierra Madre in Mexico. Her journey had been long and arduous, and only got harder when she was captured by those mad scientist, creatures...

Even now she could feel the effects they had on her, making her completely unable to read or write... Yet, even with her injuries, she continued to hunt Elijah, following him all the way to Mexico, to the Sierra Madre where she was ambushed by some sort of Super Mutant...

Which is how she ended up in the Auto-Doc... She didn't know how long she'd been there, but it had to have been months at least, occasionally she was taken from the Auto-Doc and forcefully fed, before being shoved back inside to continue her torture.

She was prepared to die, yet, the next time the Auto-Doc opened it wasn't the scarred face of the Nightkin that greeted her, but instead a strange helmet atop an even stranger suit of Power armour...

She almost had a panic attack when she saw the Big Mt logo displayed across the person's chest piece, but she quickly calmed herself, realising that the logo was dramatically different to what those creatures use.

Then, the next surprise... Veronica... And Afton? Had she died and gone to heaven? Did that mean Veronica and Afton were already dead? Had she finally lost her mind?...

Back with Afton, he, Dean, and Anja had been waiting outside the room for around thirty minutes now and were all wondering what they should do now...

Afton knocks on the door a couple times, and slowly opens it when he doesn't get a response... Inside he could see both Veronica and Christine still holding one another, however, the latter had fallen unconscious, most likely due to sheer exhaustion.

Veronica puts a finger over her mouth, indicating for them to be quiet.

Afton nods, "I think it's best for us to get some rest... Hopefully the Cloud won't drown us while we're asleep." he states, beginning to use furniture to block the doorway to prevent Ghosts from entering.

After all that's done, he walks over to the wall opposite the door and rests his back again it, not daring to leave is armour in case he needs to immediately jump into action.

Veronica on the other hand strips out of her armour and gathers up any scrap clothing, cushions, or paper to create a makeshift bed for her, Christine, and Anja.

Once the three are comfortable and falling asleep, Dean drags a chair over to sit next to Afton, his revolver never leaving his grp, "You know, as a Ghoul, the hardest thing to come by around here is sleep. I don't really need food or water, but sleep was always tough..." He spins the wheel in his revolver for no particular reason, "With you in that armour, I think I'll sleep like a baby." he says with a quiet chuckle, propping his legs up and he slumps in his chair, eyes closed as he holds the revolver close to his chest.

Afton just shakes his head at the ghoul, Dean had obviously been living here since before the war, and Afton couldn't really imagine how that would feel... Living for two hundred years would probably be tough enough in a paradise... But here? In the hellscape called the Sierra Madre? He wondered if he had the willpower the Ghoul had.

Regardless, despite his regeneration, it was best for him to get as much sleep as possible before they have to move again... Who knows when next they'll get to rest.