# Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow (Chapter 3)

Author: STRONG
Tags: Anthro, Fallout, Greentext, Human, M/F, M/f human, Nightstalker, comfy

Chapter 3!  
Follow boomer and Gracie as they set out to meet their allies!

Chapter 3: The Other side of Paradise

\>Wind blows by, causing the door to the cave to rattle gently

\>The noise wakes you from your sleep

\>The soft weight on your legs tells you Gracie hasn't moved

\>Your eyes open to seeing sand and other debris blowing outside

\>The door isn't exactly solid but it would slow down most would be attackers long enough for you to mow them down

\>You gently place a hand on Gracie's shoulder

\>"Hey wake up, Gracie, we gotta get going"

\>She eyes slowly open and she sits up, wiping a small bit of drool from her lip

\>"Wha? What time is it Annnnnonnnnnnn?" she says your name though a yawn

\>You check your pip boy for the time

\>2 PM

\>A decent nap but you had a lot of ground to cover

\>During your travels you had met a Brotherhood of steel paladin, Sato

\>During your trades, he gave you access codes to the Brotherhood bunker, saying you were trustworthy enough

\>Ever since the war for hoover dam the Brotherhood and the Boomers had been shaky but friendly allies

\>Who would have thought two reclusive, gun crazed fanatical groups would be such good friends?

\>If you recall correctly their bunker was to the north

\>You dial in the coordinates on your pip boy and get up with a small stretch

\>Gracie pulls back on her jacket as you stash your gear and bedroll in your inventory

\>"Where are we going anon?" Gracie says as you push the cave door open

\>The fact that someone took the time to make a door for this cave and didn't use it for anything blew your mind

\>Not your problem though

\>If it were closer to the strip you might consider using it as a base

\>"We're headed to meet up with some allies Gracie, keep that helmet on though"

\>No need to cause a panic with her unusual appearance

\>The sunlight blinds you temporarily as you blink away the brightness

\>Another day in paradise

\>"Ugh it's too bright anon, can't we wait till night?"

\>You start heading around the rocky hillside, there should be a canyon you can head through to the northeast

\>"The place we are going has a defense system active at night that we don't want to be caught in"

\>You walk through the barren desert, leading Gracie

\>Dust billows around the both of you as the desert sun beats down on you

\>Ugh fuck you sun, you big fat ball of cancer

\>The growl of your stomach pulls you away from your scorn for certain celestial bodies

\>As much as you want to get to the hidden valley fast food was needed

\>"Gracie are you hungry? We could hunt something here "

\>You turn to her and see her panting and tired

\>"I'm...\*pant\*.... Starving Anon" she gasps out

\>You frown

\>"Are you OK? And if you were hungry you should have told me, I tend to get distracted"

\>She shakes her head

\>"I'm, just not \*pant\* used to how fast you walk, and you seemed so determined I didn't wanna distract you"

\>A twinge of guilt hits you

\>She really was trying hard and you were being a hardhead like always

\>"Alright Gracie, let's slow down and see if we can hunt up something to eat"

\>Instead of walking in front of her, you walk next to her letting her set a pace

\>You keep your pip-boy up and scan the wastes

\>Geckos frequent these areas, and they can be quite tasty

\>You're looking down scanning the screen of you pip-boy when Gracie jumps on you, bouncing up and down while pointing

"OH OH OH! LOOK A GECKO! LETS GET IT"

\>Pushing her off, you look to where she was pointing and see a group of Geckos in a circle, feeding on something

\>"Nice, Lemme get one"

\>She tugs your arm earnestly

\>"No No! Let me! I wanna get one! I saw them first!"

\>You look at her and she looks up at you expectantly with a happy smile

\>"Pleassssseeeee!" she begs looking over to the geckos in the distance

\>As clingy as she is, she can be quite cute

\>In an annoying sort of way

\>"Fine, shoot one and lets get a meal"

\>She looks down at her feet, shuffling them a bit

\>"Uh can I use one of your guns? I don't have one"

\>Derp, you mentally facepalm from the oversight on your part

\>Nearly everyone had a gun so it was second nature to assume she had one, even when she clearly didn't

\>"Alright, I'll let you use the ratslayer, and I'll use my campaign rifle, score 2 kills"

\>You draw out the ratslayer and hand it to her as she bounces excitedly on her feet, her tail wagging in a flurry behind her

\>"Alright this is how you use a gun" you say as you pull out your Campaign rifle

\>You silently kneel and start telling her the basic of using a gun

\>How to load it, shooting posture, the basic rules of a firearm

\>After about 10 minutes of explanation, she loses her patience

"Whatever! Teach me later! Hungry now!"

\>You sigh and look down your scope

\>"Fine but don't press the scope directly to your eye or you'll-"

\>The soft \*Twhip\* of a silenced round is heard followed by Pained screaming From Gracie

\>Quickly, you dive down onto her

\>Where did the shot come from? You don't see any blood from a gunshot wound on her

\>Stupid! She said she was being hunted! How could you let your guard down

\>You pause a moment to look at Gracie, only to see her grasping her right eye

\>She didn't, did she?

\>"Stop Gracie, STOP! Let me see"

\>Gently prying her fingers away from her face your suspicions are confirmed

\>She held the rifle scope right up to her eye and became a pirate

\>Well, rather she now had a black eye from the recoil driving the scope into her eye

\>Gently, you sit her up and look at it while she whimpers, following you with her swollen right eye

\>You sigh, "Alright, no more scoped guns for you for a while"

\>Grabbing a stimpak from your inventory, you pull the cap off it

\>"Stay still, I don't want to accidentally jab your eye"

\>You think back to the first time you shot a scoped rifle and how you made the same mistake

\>A painful memory to be sure

\>Your your right hand holding the stimpak and your left holding her head softly, you gently stick the needle into the bruised area around her eye

\>"Shhh it's ok, it'll be over soon, I got you" you whisper gently, rubbing her head with your thumb as you push the medicine in

\>She whimpers and keeps her multicolored eyes on you

\>Was her fur always this soft? Where her scales always so smooth?

\>After a moment you pull the needle out and rub the spot gently

\>"It'll heal pretty quick now, but you'll be sore for a while"

\>You stand and help her to her feet, as she rubs the spot gently with her paw

\>"Did I at least get one?" She whimpers

\>Right, you were hunting geckos, you had forgotten between teaching and healing Gracie's eye

\>You pull her paw from the bruise as you look

\>"Don't touch it, it'll hurt longer"

\>Sure enough there is a slumped over corpse of a gecko

\>The rest must have scattered from Gracie's screams of pain

\>But one is enough for now

\>"Yea you got one Gracie, good job"

\>She gives a pained smile

\>"Thanks Anon, I don't think it was quite worth it though"

\>You give a sympathetic smile

\>"If it makes you feel better I've done that a few times, it happens"

\>It only happened to you once but she doesn't need to know that

\>As you walk to the body of the Gecko, you see what the group was all huddled around

\>A half eaten human body

\>Gracie gags and covers her mouth

\>"Oh god, they killed him!"

\>You kneel next to the body of the gecko and pick it up, completely ignoring the body of the human

\>"It's a raider, a Viper junkie that died from an overdose looks like"

\>You point out the empty psycho canisters littered around the body

\>"Probably got super high and died, the geckos just got a free meal"

\>Hefting the weighty gecko over your shoulder, you carry it into some shade

\>"You got a big one Gracie, we'll have some food for a while"

\>You set the gecko down and grab a machete, and go to town on a nearby bush for firewood

\>Normally lighting the plant life on fire would be an issue but the super mutant you killed solved that problem

\>You quickly pile all the sticks and leaves in a pile and pull out the incinerator you picked up

\>Within moments the sticks are a roaring fire

\>You pull out your hunting knife and sit, then begin gutting the gecko

\>"Where did you learn all this Anon?" Gracie says watching you cut bits of meat off the gecko

\>"Trial and error mostly, and a few pointers from some rangers after I fixed their guns"

\>You set the meat directly onto the embers

\>"What can you do Gracie? I know you can do that invisible stuff, but you don't know how to use a gun and apparently cant clean a fresh kill"

\>She sits down on the sand next to you

\>"Uh, I'm good at sneaking and stealing! I would sneak into towns and take cans of food to eat, and those raiders are dumb! I would wait till the were high on chems then steal their food!"

\>That explains that

\>"Well if we're gonna travel together we need to get you a gun, without a scope, and if you are as good at sneaking as you say, silenced"

\>You pull a piece of meat off with your machete and let it cool for a moment before giving it to Gracie, which she takes and juggles from paw to paw gently, letting it cool down

\>It's cute enough to make you smile as you pull another piece off and take a bite right out of it

\>Not the best tasting meal but it's better than cram

\>"Where are you from Anon? Tell me about you" Gracie says between bite of gecko

\>Gah, being asked about yourself is always weird

\>You knew yourself better than anyone else but it still felt weird talking about yourself

\>"Uh how about we trade info about each other?"

\>Her eyes light up, even through one is swollen

\>"Sure! that'll be fun!"

\>You start out answering her first question

\>"I'm from Nellis Air Force base to the north, my Tribe, "The boomers" live there"

\>Gracie cocks her head to the side

\>"I thought you said most people call you boomer"

\>You give a pained smile

\>"I was the only boomer that decided to leave the base, So most people just call me boomer, after all I'm the only one they've met"

\>You think for a moment for your question, Chewing your chuck of meat

\>"You said you were from the Big MT, What's that?"

\>She fidgets nervously

\>"Uh The Big MT is a place where a bunch of scientists live, they created a bunch of hybrid animals and a few anthros like me, I hope my sisters escaped too"

\>That peaks your interest

\>"Sisters?"

\>She nods

\>"A bunch of us were made, not born, different species mixed with different species, all Canines and snakes to create nightstalkers"

\>You contemplate for a moment

\>A Place that made hybrids of animals for what? for fun? seemed cruel to create something for no reason other than you could

\>"MY TURN! How are you so good with guns?" Gracie says bouncing closer to you

\>God damn her wide hips made an imprint on the sand

\>You cut a few more pieces of the Gecko off and throw them on the fire

\>"My people are from a Vault, big pre-war bunkers, we believe guns are a right for people to have, so I was raised around them, and taught how to use them early on"

\>Gracie is now right up next to you, tail wagging softly in the dirt

\>"And you left? Why?"

\>You shrug

\>"My people hid from the world, trading only with a few people and killing everyone else, I didn't want to stay on that base, and now I doubt I can ever return"

\>She stares at you for a moment

\>"What do you mean never return anon?"

\>You sigh; do you really want to get into this? Might as well

\>"I....I was the only boomer to leave, when I decided to leave they told me to never come back, said that I was as bad as the savages outside the base"

\>The whole idea hits you again, your home, your family, shunning you

\>You can't help but bow your head and sigh

\>Is it so bad to want to see what was out there and return with new knowledge?

\>According to everyone else, yes

\>A scaled and furred arm wraps around you

\>"Well you have me now and I'm not going anywhere Mr. Boomer!"

\>You aren't sure if you should be happy or annoyed

\>Happy, you guess

\>"Thanks Gracie"

\>You pull her into a half-hearted hug

\>She's not what you had in mind for company but she's at least interesting

\>Stories of far away lands you may visit, science that you once thought was magic

\>At least you knew that if you asked she would be be to tell you something new

\>But now isn't the time for that

\>You stand from your sandy resting place

\>"We better get going Gracie, unless you want to be caught in a sandstorm later"

\>She hurriedly stands

\>"What about our food?"

\>You smirk and use your Pip-boy's devil magic to collect the food and the rest of the gecko meat

\>Better to have it and not need it that need it and not have it

\>You stomp out the fire then begin walking

\>"Can I have a gun Anon? Maybe one that isn't scoped?" Gracie asks catching up with you, her footpaws kicking up a bit of dust

\>Right she doesn't even have shoes

\>You make a note of this, maybe the BoS will have some that will fit her

\>As you walk you look through your Inventory at the guns you have

\>Laser rifles, laser pistols, a funky plasma gun, your riot shotgun, a 10mm SMG

\>a SMG? that's perfect; For now at least

\>You pull it out and hand it to her carefully

\>"Alright so this is a full auto gun, so be careful when you use it because it eats through ammo quickly"

\>You hand her a few magazines which she slips into her pockets

\>As the both of you walk through the sand you teach her how to use the gun properly, how to clean it and how to take care of it

\>"This is your Gun Gracie, if you take care of it, it will never let you down"

\>She stares at it in her paws for a moment before looking up at you and smiling broadly

\>She then pounces on you in a hug, causing you to trip and tumble into the sand

\>"THANK YOU THANK YOU ANON! ITS THE BEST GIFT EVER!"

\>You spit sand out of your mouth

\>"You're welcome but get off me! And be Careful with that!"

\>You point to the barrel of her gun which is currently in the sand

\>"Oh! Oops!" She says cheerfully

\>She gets up off you and dusts the gun off, leaving you to stand up on your own

\>"Come On, let's go" you say , annoyed at the previous events

\>You walk next to her, still heading north towards the valley

\>As you walk together, she tells you more about herself and you tell her about yourself

\>She is apparently good with hacking computers, learned it from trial and error at the Big MT

\>Her favorite food is bighorner steak, cooked medium rare

\>You tell her of your travels

\>How you went to Lake Mead, Camp McCarran, Novac,

\>Along the way you point out edible plants too, teaching her what foods you can find

\>The Mojave, although still a wasteland was never directly hit with a Nuke, so plant life it more abundant here

\>Banana Yucca, Agave, Jalapenos, and coyote Tobacco; all great to eat, cook with, and sell

\>The sun is setting to your left as you pass a chain link fence

\>"Anon, what are those?" Gracie says pointing to some creepy crawlies

\>"Bark scorpions, not as hostile as Radscorpions but still dangerous. Pretty tasty though"

\>Gracie points to one scuttling closer

\>"Let me get this one! I wanna try my Gun!"

\>She unholsters it and takes aim

\>"Line up the sights, focus on the front sight and use the the tip of your finger" You instruct as you stand behind her, following her movement

\>She pulls the trigger and fires a short burst of about 5 or six bullets

\>Surprisingly she only misses 1 shot, the rest find their target

\>"Good job Gracie, we now have some extra food"

\>She jumps up and down in excitement

\>"Yay! I did it! This is awesome!"

\>You smile as you inspect the body of the scorpion

\>A small one, but there should still be good meat in the claws, plus the venom glands sell well

\>You quickly chop it up and stash the parts for later

\>"Look around Gracie, there should be a bunker with a tree stump on top, that's our destination"

\>You look around, seeing various bunker doors, one broken in, one welded shut

\>"There anon! Look!"

\>Gracie points to your left

\>Following her pointing finger, the Bunker you were headed to is in clear view

\>"Nice, lets go"

\>You hurry to the door as the sun crests behind a mountain

\>"IN! IN! IN! Gracie, that Bark scorpion wasn't alone I bet"

\>She hurries in and you follow, pressing the button to close the heavy sliding door

\>On the other side of the room is another door with a keypad next to it

\>You hook your pip-boy to it and punch in the access Code the paladin gave you

\>"Sierra, Alpha, Tango, Oscar, Indigo 6 5 4 1" you mumble as you punch it in

\>A light above the Door blinks green then the door opens

\>You're met by a man Wearing power armor, pointing a Laser rifle at you

\>"Who are you and how do you know that code?!" He barks angrily

\>You raise your hands calmly

\>"Paladin Sato told me it, I'm a boomer from Nellis, looking to trade and maybe get as shower and a place to sleep tonight"

\>He keeps the rifle trained on you

\>"Knight, fetch Sato, I want to see if this Boomer is telling the truth" He calls to a man standing behind him, who instantly rushes away

\>Gracie shuffles behind you nervously

\>"Are people always this Hostile Anon?"

\>You nod and answer her, keeping your eyes on the rifle and your hands up

\>"People want to protect themselves and their people,The Brotherhood of Steel is no different"

\>The Man looks past you to Gracie

\>"Is that an Anthro? I haven't seen one of those in years, come out from behind him, no sudden moves"

\>She nervously slides out from behind you, trembling and looking at him

\>"Huh interesting"

\>He points the rifle at her and steps towards her, eliciting a gasp

\>you have your eyes locked on him but you hear it

\>the soft thump of her hitting the ground

\>"Whoa is she Ok!? I didn't even do anything!"

\>Just as he says that you hear yelling from within the bunker

\>"RAMOS STAND DOWN! I REPEAT STAND DOWN!"

\>a Bald man in power armor rushes out of the door

\>"Boomer is our ally! I gave him th-"

\>Sato's eyes fall to Gracie laying on the ground

\>"YOU IDIOT! YOU SHOT OUR GUEST!?"

\>Ramos backs off, raising the rifle away from you

\>"Whoa I didn't do anything, she just Fainted!"

\>You turn and kneel next to Gracie

\>"hey get up Gracie, it's ok" you whisper, Rubbing her ear gently

\>She opens her eyes and sits up, holding your hand that rubbed her ear

\>"Sorry anon, he spooked me"

\>Sato Lets out a sigh of relief as you help Gracie to her feet

\>"Boomer! It's great to see you! Come on in!"

\>Ramos frowns

\>"I wish you would have told me you gave your access code out Sato, how can I be head of security if I don't know about stuff like this"

\>Sato laughs and leads you past Ramos

\>"Just keeping your job more interesting!"

\>Sato leads you down a long flight of Stairs

\>"Welcome to the Hidden valley bunker, Boomer!" Sato says as you walk

\>Gracie is latched to your arm as you walk, you can feel her trembling as she eyes the various people in power armor

\>"It's ok Gracie" you whisper to her

\>You follow the paladin into what appears to be a throne room

\>"Elder McNamara, a Boomer from Nellis is here" Sato says motioning to you

\>Before you sits a blonde haired man, who looks you over carefully

\>"I didn't think Boomers left Nellis, what are you doing here?" he finally asks

\>"I left the base to see the rest of the Mojave, I came here to trade, and maybe get a shower and a place to sleep for the night"

\>His eyes fall to Gracie, who is still holding your arm while trying to hide behind you

\>"And what is she?" he asks with an amused smirk

\>"She's just nervous, she's never seen power armor before and is spooked by it"

\>He laughs at that

\>"Fair enough Boomer! Since Sato is vouching for you, you can come and go as you please, the Boomers in Nellis have been a valuable ally to us, trading pre-war tech with them has proved valuable"

\>you nod

\>"Thank you, any place we can shower and sleep?"

\>Sato steps forwards

\>"I'll show you Boomer"

\>He leads you to an Area with several cots

\>"You can sleep in here, showers are down the hall, I'll let you and your friend explore, also feel free to use the shooting range, I know how you guys love shooting stuff"

\>"Thanks Sato" you say as you find an unoccupied cot next to a wall

\>You pull out your bedroll and lay it down

\>Gracie looks around nervously, people walking by stop and stare at you both

\>"Are you sure we're safe here Anon? People are staring!"

\>"We're fine, they just aren't used to outsiders much"

\>After you finish smoothing out he bedroll you stand

\>"Come on let's trade some of my extra gear and maybe get some ammo and caps"

\>You extend a hand to Gracie "It's OK, I promise"

\>She takes your hand and you wander the bunker for a bit

\>After a little while, you find their quartermaster in a large room next to the shooting range

\>"Hey there! You're the boomer? Elder McNamara gave me the OK to trade with you, I'm Knight Torres" She asks as you approach

\>"That's me, I got some laser rifles, laser pistols and an incinerator to trade"

\>For the next 15 minutes you trade your extra weapons for caps and ammo

\>Gracie watches with interest as you do

\>When you finish you turn to her, looking into her mismatched eyes

\>"Alright Gracie, Lets shower and head to bed"

\>She clings to your arm as you lead her to the shower area

\>It's literally a bunch of stalls with showers in them, curtains cordoning off each area

\>A pile of towels are neatly folded at the far end

\>"Ok Gracie, go ahead and shower"

\>She lets go of your arm and looks at the pipes as you turn to leave her in peace

\>"Wait! Anon! Don't leave me! I'm Scared!"

\>You turn back around

\>"I'm not going to shower with you Gracie"

\>She looks disappointed, her ears folding down

\>"Then uh, Can you just sit outside the stall for me?"

\>You sigh

\>"Fine, I'll keep watch for you"

\>She smiles at that and pulls the curtain closed

\>A shuffling sound is heard along with a few zippers unzipping

\>"Hold my Cloths!"

\>She shoves her clothes into your arms, being careful to stay hidden behind the curtain

\>You take the bundle of clothes and set them on a bench near the door

\>As you walk back to the stall you hear the sound of running water and Gracie humming

\>"Oooo this is nice! They even have little soap dispensers!"

\>You lean against the solid wall and scroll through your Pip-boy as she showers

\>A sound at the door of the shower room catches your attention

\>Knight Torres is there carrying 2 bundles

\>"Call it a hunch but I think you both might want to sleep in something besides armor, here's some sleepwear on the house for our guests"

\>She hands you the bundles

\>"Thanks Torres"

\>She smiles and nods before leaving

\>You hear an angry Huff behind you, and turn to see Gracie poking her soaking head out from behind the curtain

\>"You aren't even trying to peek at me Anon? And your flirting with that lady? How rude!"

\>A frown crosses your face

\>"No I'm not going to peek at you, you Snekderp! And I wasn't flirting, I was being polite"

\>She lets out a slight Hiss then retreats behind the Curtain

\>"Can you grab me a towel at least Anon?"

\>As you walk to grab 2 towels, the water turns off and a scaled arm reaches past the Curtain

\>After handing one to her, you begin Stripping your Jacket and Leather armor

\>Gracie pushes out of the shower past the curtain, wrapped in her towel

\>"Where are those Pj's?"

\>You point them out and slip into the stall then remove the rest of your clothes

\>You set them and your towel right outside the curtain

\>Quickly turning on the warm water, you feel relaxed

\>For the first time in a long time actually

\>This was one of the Most secure areas in the wasteland, you were safe here

\>You stand and think about those other bunkers, Maybe you could used one of them as a base

\>"OoooH Nice Anon"

\>You turn quickly and see Gracie Peeking around the Curtain

\>"Oi Fuck off!" you shout as you pull the curtain shut

\>"Just because you didn't peek doesn't mean I won't!" she calls in a singsong voice

\>Well that ruined the relaxation

\>You quickly finish showering and grab the towel

\>It felt good to be clean

\>You pull on your new Pajamas and step out of the shower stall to a waiting Gracie

\>"So you don't carry those big guns to compensate, that's good to know" She says with a fanged smile

\>"Shut up you pervert"

\>As flattering as that was you didn't like being spied on

\>"Come on let's go to bed, we have another long day tomorrow"

\>You gather up your armor and lead her to the sleeping area

\>A few members of the brotherhood are already laying in cots, the lights dim and soft snoring fills the air

\>You fold your armor and help Gracie fold hers

\>A pillow is already waiting on the cot for you

\>As you yawn and feel Mr Sandman coming for you, you grab your own pillow from your inventory and lean it against the wall

\>You sit down and pull the Cot's pillow into your lap, already anticipating Gracie's question

\>"Come here, you snekderp" you say as you pat your lap

\>She lays down and places her head in your lap

\>"Goodnight Anooooonnnnn" she yawns to you

\>"Goodnight Gracie" you whisper, rubbing her furred head

\>Sleep takes you into it's warm embrace with the sound of soft hissing in your ears

\>So far it's the best lullaby ever

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/Vm2DAyZ1
Part of the series Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow
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