JUST A RAD FREAK

Sam and Frankie Shepard | 31 | Mutated humans, Mercenaries and General Troublemakers.

[jdry-art]

[pulsecharged]

(Jay) "What do you mean you have a bad idea? No, you’re supposed to have good ideas."

“It is a good idea,” Sam countered, then furrowed her brows and stopped mid-movement. “Well, maybe not, but it’ll work... probably,” she added with a casual shrug. “Just stay over there and cover your eyes,” Sam instructed him and ushered him behind a partially crumpled wall.

Once she was certain he was out of view and couldn’t see what she was doing, Sam grabbed onto the high voltage fence with both hands letting the current run through her so it shorted out. The resounding bang that sounded a lot like a thunderclap, would probably do little to reassure Jay that her plan was a good one.

“Jay? You can come out now,” she called for him, rubbing her tingling hands on her pants.

[pulsecharged]

Big guy’s still staring at me, isn’t he?

“Yup. Staring at you and coming this way,” Frankie smirked over her drink. “Want me to handle him?”

[pulsecharged]

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I thought you’d give a shit about what happens to her, seeing as you slept with her and all. Guess I was wrong,” Frankie replied with a scowl. “Just figured maybe you knew where I could start looking for this son of a bitch since you’ve been here longer than us.”

[pulsecharged]

(Jake) Oh, shit! Was that a bad guy?

“Do you really wanna stick around and find out? Just go!” Frankie shot back to him, ushering the young boy to turn around and run away. During their hasty retreat, she made sure to keep herself between their pursuers and Jake at all times.

[pulsecharged]

Nice call on the DayGlo green.

The plan had been simple enough; Jimmy would clear the main floor while Frankie cleared the basement. What she hadn’t counted on, however, was finding a dormant Glowing One in the utility room and subsequently getting plastered in glowing green radioactive gunk when she had fried the fucker and it exploded.

When she emerged from the basement and was met by Jimmy’s comment, she couldn’t help but snort. “Really brings out the Done With This Shit in my eyes, doesn’t it?” She chuckled and used the back of her hand to wipe away some of the gunk from her face. “All joking aside though, you should probably stand over there. This stuff is still pretty ‘hot’,” she was quick to add and waved a dismissive hand towards the other room.

[pulsecharged]

saltyspitfire

“She gave as good as she got,” there was a note of pride in his voice, despite the otherwise grave tone with which he spoke. Part of him hoped the bloody asshole had been dragged off somewhere and died, but that was not something he could count on, “Doc gave her a dose of med-x the day it all happened, but she won’t take no more. I guessin’ she wouldn’t have taken it then but she was so out of it I ain’t sure she coulda told you her name,” he gave a shrug and shook his head, “Says she don’t trust chems though, and I ain’t about to try ‘n make her take nothin’ she don’t want, but I know she feels like hell.”

He took a swig of beer, and nodded, “Broth mostly. She had some instamash last night and that went down alright. Anything that needs chewin’ is too hard for her to swallow just yet. Hopin’ that won’t last too long.”

Shifting in his seat, Matthew turned his mind back to their arrangement, “The folks we’re waitin’ on oughta be here in a day or two I’d think. Dependin’ on the weather. We’ll be headin’ to Sunshine TIdings Co-Op, you know it at all?”

In their experience, the only people who refused treatment in the form of chems were people who were either ex-junkies or those who’d had a proper scare regarding substance use or addiction. At a glance, Holly didn’t look like a junkie, but it wasn’t always easy to see whether someone had been using or not. As Matthew continued talking, chem usage was a topic that they left for later. 

Frankie perked up a little at the mention of their destination and inclined her head slightly. “Sunshine Tidings? Isn’t that the place that had the uh, stoner Mr. Handy a few years back? People are still talking about him,” she said and hiked her thumb in the direction of Vadim. “Can’t say we’ve been there though, but we know where it is,” she concluded with a short, decisive nod before she took a large swig of her beer. 

“We’re waiting on friends of yours?” Sam asked once Frankie made it clear she was done talking. “Maybe you could- I dunno.. go ahead of us and meet up with them? Would help us knowing which areas to avoid, and it might help put some minds at ease to get an update on how uh, Holly’s doing,“

“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” Frankie nodded her head again, then shot Matthew a questioning look and added, “Unless you have some big objections to that, of course?”

[pulsecharged]

saltyspitfire

“Yeah that’s about the gist of it,” Matthew agreed, offering a nod and then his hand out to shake, “Good to meet you.”

He paused long enough to take a bottle, and open it, “We got some people comin’ down to help with the trip back to our settlement. Ain’t real sure when we’ll be goin’ exactly, depends on how she’s feelin’. Don’t wanna drag her out across the ‘wealth when she ain’t ready for it, y’know?”

Holly had tuned out. Only vaguely aware of Matthew and Sam speaking. Between her stomach twisting in knots, the renewed pounding in her head, and being overwhelmed by this entire conversation, she simply could not find the energy to contribute. She offered the second woman a small nod in greeting, but said nothing and went back to staring at her hands. However, when the table was slapped she flinched, and looked up, brows furrowed. She looked at the beers, and was tempted. It had been a while now since she’d had a drink, and was starting to feel the shakes coming on. But with her head, Matthew would not allow it.

Holly sat there, looking at these two strong, confident women and felt incredibly small. And stupid. And weak. No doubt they were looking at her thinking those very things, and as much as she hated it, she couldn’t blame them. While they spoke, she grabbed her mug of broth, and nudged Matthew with her elbow, then stood shaking her head, “Tired. Ain’t no help.”

“You’re fine,” he assured her, sitting up in his chair, resting a hand on her arm as if to steady her, “You alright to walk on your own?”

She nodded, and waved his hand away, then started back towards their room. He watched her walk, slowly, unsteadily, until she was out of sight. Part of him felt guilty for having got all this rolling while she was sitting right there. No doubt she’d have been irritated about being left out of the conversation too, but it had clearly been too much for her. His attention turned back to the Shepherds, and he offered a small smile.

“Holly uh…she ain’t fond of money talk even when she’s well. Doc says she’s got a concussion – probably took a few real hard hits to the head – and her throat…” he shook his head, “Ain’t much to do ‘bout it. Just gotta let her heal. It’s just a lot all at once is all, hope y'all won’t take offense.”

Frankie shook the offered hand firmly, trusting that Sam had at least mentioned her to their company if they were already discussing a job. Judging by the look of Matthew and Holly she assumed the job in question wouldn’t pay particularly well, so she was a little confused as to why Sam had bothered to offer their help so readily. It was something she’d have to ask her about later, once they were alone. 

Sam had suspected Holly would throw in the proverbial towel sooner rather than later, but she hadn’t expected her to look so deflated when doing so. Her gaze remained on Holly’s back until she disappeared from view, and then her full attention reverted back to Matthew. “I kinda got the impression. Looks like someone really put her through the wringer,” she replied in a quieter tone with a thin-lipped and joyless smile. As she listened to what her sister and Matthew were saying, the pieces began to come together and she understood why this potential job had awoken such interest within Sam. 

“Did the Doc give her any meds, or did he just prescribe her with bed rest and uh.. chicken soup? Broth?” Frankie asked, gesturing vaguely in the direction Holly had gone. She was relatively certain both Matthew and Holly knew there were chems that would help her, but she doubted the pair of them condoned chem use - even in situations like this. With any luck, she had been given something for the pain and something to help her sleep so she’d heal faster. 

[pulsecharged]

@saltyspitfire

Three hundred caps.

Then a hundred more for each day. Even knowing that that was not what would be asked of them, Holly’s head was spinning. That was likely fair for this sort of work, but that was a lot of goddamn money. The deal that she was offering was not so different from the one she’d made with Rick back when they’d first met, and she was no opposed to it. However the talk of money now had her stomach twisting in knots, so much so that she thought she might be sick.

“No, any killin’ that needs done we’d do ourselves in due time,” Matthew shook his head, “Til we know what the extent of the situation is, what kinda numbers they got, and how far these assholes are wantin’ to take this, that’s on hold. Right now we’d just like a few extra people around, y’know? Make ‘em think twice about comin’ at her again.”

He glanced at Holly, who sat with her shoulders slumped, seeming not to pay much attention to the conversation at all. His brows furrowed in concern, but he continued, “I reckon we could make that work. There’s a boarding house at the settlement where she lives. Beds and food. And Holly’s got plenty to trade.”

A moment of hesitation. It didn’t feel quite right speaking for her, but it wasn’t as though she was up to that right now. Or interested in doing so, it seemed, “She uh…she’ll scrounge up specific things for folks sometimes too, if asked. So, I reckon that’d be on the table.”

Sam listened to what Matthew was saying, but she was looking at Holly. Holly, who seemed to drift further and further away from the conversation, and not because of boredom. If it was a repellent that they wanted, that could be easily arranged. Besides, a job like that suited Sam and Frankie a lot better than potentially having to escort her around. Escort missions were generally a pain in the ass, because the piece of shit needing the escort rarely had the ability or will to defend themselves.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sam noticed a familiar figure approaching, holding four beers. Frankie stopped beside her sister and set the bottles down on the table before she took a moment to look both Holly and Matthew over. “What’s going on?” she asked, mostly directed at Sam, who scooched her chair a bit to the side to make more room for Frankie. “This is uh, Matthew and Holly. They might be needing our help soon,” Sam explained and claimed one of the beers for herself. Frankie did the same once she had sat down, holding the cap against the table and gave it a firm smack to send it flying. “Alright..? With what?”

“Seems they have a bit of a bully problem. Some dickhead who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer,” she told Frankie and took a sip of her beer. “Ain’t that right?” she asked Matthew, and motioned for both him and Holly to take one of the beers as well if they wanted any. 

[pulsecharged]

saltyspitfire

Matthew smiled in return, but glanced at Holly. It was hard to read her face though the bruising and swelling, but she was less enthused. Slowly, she held a hand up, rubbing her first two fingers and thumb together, then shook her head. He gave a small nod, then looked back to Sam.

“I reckon that’s true,” he began, sitting forward slightly, “And we’d appreciate a hand in workin’ this shit out, I ain’t met a merc yet who works for free. And we ain’t got much in the way of caps right now.”

He paused, head tilting slightly, “We’d be able to scrape together somethin’, and ain’t sure what your usual fee is, but I reckon we’d be a might short to say the least. You’d both have our gratitude of course, but that don’t put food on the table or nothin’.”

The gesture Holly made was unmistakable, but it didn’t seem to make Sam turn tail and run off to find better prospects elsewhere. Had she been dealing with snobs from the Stands or shady chem dealers in Goodneighbor she would likely have presented them with a ‘take it or leave it’ ultimatum, but these two didnt fit into any such category. They looked like hard working people who genuinely could use a few extra pairs of hands - as well as guns.

“Usual fee depends on the job that needs doing. For example, just paying for our presence and protection is gonna cost you less than hiring us to hunt down this fuckstain and kill him. That said, outright killing him might not be the best course of action, unless you know for certain you got them all,” Sam explained calmly. “Retaliation and revenge is a bitch, and it’s gonna suck the most for you because they’ll know you ordered the hit, and then they round up some nasty, local boys, and they come in, and they’ll kill you, your mommy and your pet goldfish.”

Sam realized that she hadn’t actually given them a solid number to work from in her little tirade, so to make up for it she leaned forward slightly to snatch up a pen and napkin from the center of the table. “Usually we’d charge three hundred for a job like this, up front, to cover for supplies and ammo, then an additional hundred each day we work for you. Twice as much and we’d deliver the guy’s head to you in a bag. However, everything’s negotiable.” Sam began scribbling the price for food, lodging and ammo down on the napkin, and would glance up every now and then to make sure she wasn’t losing their attention along the way. “You’re traders, aren’t you? If you can provide us with food for the duration of the job, a place to sleep, and maybe a discount for your wares, you’d only have to pay for the expenses of ammo.”

[pulsecharged]

@saltyspitfire

“Good to meet you Sam,” he returned the firm squeeze, and shifted in his seat. It was not a big table, and  he didn’t want to crowd her. Holly did not offer her hand, nor did she speak, but she gave a nod in greeting.

This was the first he’d heard of trade being the issue, though he could not fault her for that. Thus far talking had taken a lot of effort – seemed that is still did – and this was the first day that she wasn’t dazed and disoriented. At Sam’s reassurance, the corners of Holly’s lips twitched upward every so slightly, as if to form a tiny, pained smile, but she shook her head.

“I ain’t sorry. But he ain’t negotiatin’,” she paused for breath, “Thinks he’s puttin’ me in my place.”

Matthew’s face hardened in anger, and he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, “He ain’t gonna lay a hand on you again, we’re gonna see to that,” he studied Sam for a moment, head tilting slightly, “You a merc?”

Sam didn’t think he was negotiating either, at least not in the traditional sense. It was perhaps more of a turn of phrase than anything else. Less flattering people would probably call it harassing and intimidating, and neither of which was something she was unaccustomed to. It was good to see Holly had someone who cared about her and helped tend to her during her recovery. Sam had been in similar situations before with Frankie there to look after her, and just knowing she wasn’t dealing with her troubles alone had meant a word of difference. 

Matthew's question elicited a simple nod from her. “I am. Along with my twin sister. We work together, exclusively,” she replied and leaned back in her chair. “You’re gonna have to look long and hard to find a better two-for-one deal, I can promise you that,” Sam added with a slight smirk. 

[pulsecharged]

@saltyspitfire

Matthew hesitated to answer her question, glancing at Holly. She had been on edge since they’d arrived. Wary of everyone, jumping at any loud or sudden sound. She’d grown tired of sitting in their rented room, but he was not sure if she would be up for the company of a stranger.

Holly struggled to swallow another spoonful of broth, quietly studying the woman before nodding slowly, and gestured vaguely at the chair. Matthew offered a small smile, and held hand out to her to shake.

“Name’s Matthew Bridger,” he nodded to his right, “This is my friend, Holly O’Rourke. ’Fraid there ain’t much to go on just yet. She’s run into ‘em before ‘n things’re just escalatin’. Ain’t sure why.”

“Trade,” Holly rasped, face twitching at the pain in her throat, “Want me to trade with ‘em. Offered protection. Told ‘em to go to hell.”

Sam inclined her head in an appreciative gesture before she claimed the offered chair. Before sitting down, however, she grasped Matthew’s hand firmly and introduced herself, “I’m Sam Shepard."

Once seated, she took a moment to look Holly over, noting the bruising on her skin. Sam nodded appropriately as she listened to her talk and couldn’t help but think back to similar injuries inflicted on fellow slaves and working girls. The explanation Holly offered was enough to make the corners of Sam’s lips twitch slightly. “For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing. It may not feel like it right now, but if this is their idea of negotiating you’d end up losing an arm as soon as you had given them a hand,” Sam said calmly, resting her arms on the edge of the table with her hands folded. 

[pulsecharged]

Big guy’s still staring at me, isn’t he?

“Mmno, I think it’s me. Or maybe he thinks I’m my sister,” Frankie replied in a quiet voice. “You know, I thought he looked familiar when I walked past him earlier. I think he might be one of the goons who work for that stuck up snob in the Stands. Well, one of the stuck up snobs.”

Frankie moved to stand, and slid her beer towards Jane. “Keep am eye on this okay? I’ll be back in a bit,” she said before she began making her way towards the door - and sure enough, the big, burly dude followed after her.

[saltyspitfire]

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

Matthew glanced at Holly, who was sitting beside him doing her best to drink a bowl of broth. For most it would be a simple task, but anything that required use of her throat proved difficult. She was beginning to have an easier time talking, but doing so at length was a strain. Her responses to his questions were either one word or short choppy sentences. She’d managed to tell him only a little of what had happened; that she knew the man who’d done this to her, and that he’d likely try it again. 

“Ain’t sure just yet,” he admitted, brows furrowed in concern, “Talkin’ too much pains her some, ‘cause of her throat, so I ain’t got a full story or nothin’. Got the impression that this ain’t a one time thing,” Matthew paused, rubbing his eyes , “Help would be ‘preciated down the road I think, if you’re serious.”

[pulsecharged]

“Course I’m serious. Wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t,” Sam replied and braced a hand on her hip. That some entitled bastard went about beating up and choking people for the fun of it didn’t sit well with her, and she knew Frankie would be even less happy to hear about it.

“Mind if I sit down?” She asked and gestured to a free seat across from the two of them. “Then maybe you can tell me what you do know, and I can buy you a drink.”

[pulsecharged]

You said you were covering the door.

“I was covering the fucking door!” Frankie snapped back and shot Jimmy a dirty look. “But they didn’t come in through the door, did they? No, they came up the goddamn fire escape!” She continued and strained against the door, putting all her weight behind it to ensure whoever was on the other side couldn’t get in.

[pulsecharged]

It’s so delicious, man. They put this little cheese on it.

“I know,” Sam all but gasped from her spot laying splayed across Asher’s legs. “Hey, you think we could make some right now? I believe we have all we need in the kitchen.”

[pulsecharged]

What, you don’t like this color?

“Oh, no, I absolutely love the shade of hangover vomit. Really brings out the tiredness in your eyes,” Sam snorted and flashed him a grin. Truth be told, the smell of him was far worse than the color, and if she was being honest she was having a hard time identifying all the different nuances of Aweful that made up the stench.

“Get undressed and hit the shower. I’ll go get you some clean clothes.”