[11]A Memory Turned Nightmare: Nuka-World

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[11]A Memory Turned Nightmare: Nuka-World

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CJ winced when he stretched his body out, his arm ached and sprung with what he assumed was blood. His face hurt too, somewhere.

He blinked, slowly as he stared around the group of Raiders, licked his lips, and opened his mouth, "anyone else?" The Raiders shook their heads and cried out in joy for his win. It had never felt so awful to win.

Not with the blood staining his fingers because we all know that shit doesn't wash off.

"No? Then someone cleans up this fucking mess. Get him a stimpack if you wish." Then it quieted a bit, looks of confusion shot to him and half-hearted calls of, "yes boss" were heard as CJ gave a clipped response. "He's not dead. He'll live if he saves himself." Then CJ strode away, resheathing his bloodied knife as he hurried out of the crowd as put-together as he could. He felt sick. Disgusting. If he had missed, a couple of centimeters to the left-.

He shook his head as he heard the sounds of footsteps following him. "Fuck this," was all he could say as he spotted Aila siding up next to his right.

She nodded, speaking up a little, "you're bleeding."

"When am I not?" He shot back before taking a breath at her stern look, "sorry, sorry. Right. I just- I couldn't- I didn't know what to do. He was saying shit and I thought hey this might be a way to put people in line- not killing of course but showing some teeth because that's the only language they speak here, and it fucking backfired. Sorta. He's alive, don't worry. Just- probably not going to be able to use his right arm for the rest of his life if I hit where I thought I did-."

"Connor," Aila drops sharply, "he is not who I am worried about." CJ winced a little but nodded nonetheless as Aila pulled him to the side of the buildings and back to Cappy's Cafe. CJ was about to protest when he saw most of the Raiders, now having their entertainment, went back to whatever they were doing. Aila opened one of the doors to the cafe, and CJ nearly groaned at the sight. "Now sit down please, I'm going to take a look at-." She stopped when she heard it too.

"You missed a spot, scab. Sweep that patch again." Another Pack member had a pipe rifle trained on a very young slave as the boy hurried to sweep up the blood-stained floor. As if there was getting any of that off. The boy kept sweeping in jerky movements and it didn't take a genius to tell that he wanted to run.

"Please, just, leave me alone. I'm-I'm doing my best, okay?" His voice was a little high and CJ could guess the boy was a little younger than him, 15 maybe?

Before CJ could step in, the barkeep called from behind the counter, "Hey! You shoot my help and you're going to be the one pushing that broom. You got that, tough guy?" Her voice was crackly and scratched. She stood tall behind her counter as the Raider held his hands up.

"Just havin' a little fun, granny. Keepin' the kid on his toes." The barkeep, Lauren, curled her lip at the Raider. 

"I don't give a molerat's ass how many of you Raiders there are. In here, it's my bar an' my rules." The last word was growled out as something threatening, she meant every word she said and if she shot these Raiders, CJ wouldn't be surprised. Actually, it was impressive. She immediately talked that Raider down and commanded respect. CJ shook his head, but there was a sense of something strong in his fingertips. From what he had seen, there were some slaves who he could talk to about maybe helping take Nuka-World back.

There weren't many Raiders in Cappy's Cafe, only about 3 from CJ's count. One of the 3 Raiders nodded to him as she passed, "nice fight, Boss." And left the cafe, leaving only 2 of them. In the squished corners, was a wasteland traveler or two. CJ narrowed his eyes, but he felt too tired to actually pick a fight with anyone as he and Aila made their way to the front of the bar, his nose burning something fierce when Connor sharply sniffed in, the blood burning as he tasted a bit of copper on his tongue. He could hear the soft steps of MacCready behind them.

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