The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

A Vow to Change What Shouldn't

"Curie, I know you don't want to hear me say goodbye. As I speak these words I can feel your heartbreaking as mine does now. I never wanted to leave your side, ever. That is no longer possible." John's voice rang out in the empty room. He struggled to speak, his breathing labored and strained.

"There was trouble when trying to complete 'Rocket's Red Glare'. Maxon escaped his bounds somehow and killed Haylen in the process. I knew there was no way for me to escape the Prydwen. I was out of time. I hid in a storage container. It helped me survive the explosion but I wasn't unscathed.

"I was wounded in the leg somehow, making it impossible to climb up and out. I managed to open the storage container enough to be able to slip out, I think. I promise I was trying everything I could to make it back to you. That can't happen now." She could hear him take a deep breath, she knew he was fighting back tears. His voice trembled with sadness.

"I'm not sure how long I've been down here. I can barely hear the commotion above me. You are coming to get me, I know. By the time you reach this, I hope to be far away from here. I can't stand the thought of you seeing me in this state. I've done...I've done some things, down here, that I won't be able to take back." Curie heard his voice begin to crack, the sounds of him sobbing drowned out what he was trying to say. She wasn't quite sure how long his sadness played for her ears but when he finally calmed, his voice had the edge of commitment and resolution.

"Curie, please listen to me. Don't look for me. Just let me go. I don't ever want there to be a chance of me hurting you. If you find me, there won't be any way for me to control it. I can already see my body changing. It won't be long now.

"After the Prydwen fell, it released something into the air down here. That mixed with my injury, speed up the entire process. We already know there is no cure. I plan to dig down to the city and hopefully make it to the sewers underneath. It's where I belong anyways.

"You have to lead the Minutemen now. You have to help them move on from this war. You have to be there for Shaun. He needs you. I just can't come back now.

"I feel it, Curie. Something is wrong in my mind. It's like static just turns on in there. I can't see or hear anything else. It comes and goes, but I feel it getting more powerful. My hair has already fallen out, my teeth and nose are sure to go next.

"I won't end up like Hancock. I can feel that much at least. I will be different. Uncontrollable, angry, feral. This is why it is incredibly important that you listen to me, my warning. Leave me in the sewer. I would take myself out if I could, but there is nothing here.

"Goodbye, my love. Let me be remembered the way you last saw me. When I was still capable of giving you my whole heart. I want to go into this next life knowing that you will live on and make the most out of everyday. I love you." The holotape clicked off making her feel empty.

She tossed the PipBoy onto the sleeping bag next to her. Why did she even listen to it? How dare he tell her to give up looking for him. He knew she wouldn't listen to those words. It only fueled her search more. It only made her dig through the debris faster.

She had convinced herself to listen to the tape after finding Haylen's body this morning. It was clear to Curie that the woman had suffered fatal gunshot wounds, causing her death. When they had found that parts of her had been ingested, however, they moved her immeadiately to be examined.

Curie had preformed the autopsy herself. It was gruesome, to put it lightly. The poor woman's torso had been almost completely consumed. She hadn't known what could have been the cause of the strange wounds, they had found no signs of animals in the wreckage at all.

It wasn't until she noticed that the bite marks were human that alarm bells started ringing in her head. With the finding of the PipBoy, John missing, and now someone had tried to eat Haylen, she knew it had to be him.

Listening to the tape only confirmed that fear. He had said enough for her to put it together. John had survived the crash but was undergoing changes. The radiation leak from somewhere on the ship, coupled with his open wounds had vastly accelerated his disease.

He was turning into a feral ghoul and there wasn't a single thing anyone could do to stop it. That was why he ran to the sewers. He was hiding from her, from his men. He hadn't wanted anyone to see him like that or be injured by him in that state. Once the mutation was completed, he wouldn't have any control over his mind. He would no longer be John.

Curie refused to accept that though. She had been trapped in Vault 81 for all those years and had managed to cure that poor boy. If anyone was going to find a way to beat this thing, it would be her. Damn him, and damn his words. She would find him and she would cure him.

She vowed to herself, sitting on that sleeping bag, that she would take as long as she needed to bring him back from this. She would not feel these feelings any longer. She would make herself whole again and bring him back. Damned be anyone who would try to get in her way.