# Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow (Chapter 9)

Author: STRONG
Tags: Anthro, Fallout, Fanfiction, Human, Nightstalker, Snekdog, Story, Violence

Chapter 9!

Chapter 9 : Pull My Trigger

\>You awake to the Sun in your eyes as it rises over the mountains to the east.

\>Gracie lays with her head on your lap, her nose pressed against your stomach.

\>A twinge of guilt hits you since you have to wake her.

\>Hm Maybe not though.

\>Carefully, very carefully you slide over, gently moving her head off you.

\>She whimpers softly as you set her head down on the bed.

\>Breakfast was calling and hopefully Raul didn't mind you grabbing a bit more food.

\>Quietly you leave the room and wander around the Lucky 38, taking it all in.

\>This place was almost magical with how well preserved it was.

\>As you pull open an working fridge you find several Brahmin steaks as well as garlic bread.

\>Might as well make some.

\>Do Ghouls eat? You don't want to be rude and not make Raul one.

\>You decide to make Gracie a Steak, you don't know Pip or Amber or Raul well enough to know how they like theirs.

\>But you know how Gracie likes her food.

\>Looking around, you find a stove and several pans.

\>You cook up 2 of the steaks and warm up the garlic bread.

\>Gracie is awake when you walk into the room carrying the food.

\>Her long tongue flicks out of her mouth and she sniffs the air.

\>"Ooo Brahmin steak and something else? What's that Anon?"

\>"Garlic bread Gracie, its good" you say as you set her plate down.

\>"Mm Breakfast in Bed Anon, I feel so special".

\>She digs in happily as you sit next to her.

\>"You are special Gracie, you mean a lot to me" you say pulling her close.

\>She leans on you and eats happily.

\>You eat silently, savoring the Steak and the garlic bread.

\>While this isn't breakfast food you didn't mind.

\>Maybe you could find some gecko Eggs and make a Brahmin garlic omelet.

\>Or Next time Gracie lays an egg you could do that.

\>That still bothered you a bit to be honest, but traditional rules are off the table when it comes to Snekdogs.

\>Gracie finished her food before you and has started changing into her recon armor, leather jacket and her messenger bag.

\>She doesn't even bother trying to hide her body from you.

\>Not that you mind but still it was somewhat teasing.

\>You finish up and change clothes.

\>Your leather armor is worn and beat up, your Boomer Jacket torn and patched up.

\>But it's all you have to remember your life from Nellis by.

\>There's a soft knock at the door.

\>"Come in" says Gracie happily as she rummages through her bag.

\>Amber pushes the door open.

\>"Oh good you're ready, we should get moving soon" She says with a grin towards Gracie.

\>You see Gracie's eyes light up.

\>"YAY! I'm So Happy to be traveling with you Sister!".

\>She bounds over happily and grabs Amber in a hug.

\>"I'm so happy I found you!".

\>You can't help but smile as her happiness, it was one of the few things in the world you enjoyed seeing.

\>It was right up there with firing big guns.

\>It might even be above it.

\>You walk out of the room, following Amber and by extension Gracie, who was holding her bigger sisters hand and talking about how you made her breakfast.

\>Every once and a while you see Amber looking over her shoulder at you with a smirk.

\>Eventually you're lead to the elevator and down to the ground floor.

\>"Remember Pip, we need a Full Vertibird" Raul calls to him as you all leave the lucky 38.

\>Pip Nods to him calmly.

\>"Let's go" he calls to your small party.

\>The roads on the Strip are like new, rebuilt like a the bombs never fell.

\>The roads outside the strip were torn apart from time.

\>As the 4 of you walk south to the Madre Vault you picked various plants to eat.

\>Helping those NCR Rangers had proven helpful time and time again.

\>You found a Banana Yucca along the way and tossed a few of the fruits to everyone.

\>Gracie happily bit into hers before latching onto your arm as you walked.

\>You in turn pushed her hood down and rubbed the scales on her head.

\>The walk is quiet and peaceful.

\>You enjoy the company of Gracie, Amber and Pip.

\>Pip may not speak to you much but that's fine, he's polite and doesn't hassle you.

\>Amber may be constantly teasing you about not being Gracie's mate but she's nice enough.

\>It seems when there are four people travelling together it deters raiders from attacking.

\>You also had no doubt that Amber's sheer size was intimidating.

\>The roads are hot and the wind dusty but you don't mind it as you walk with your little group.

\>But something bothers you. Was it jealousy?

\>Amber's hugs and affection to Pip as they walked and talked.

\>Why does it bother you? You have Gracie with you, holding your arm, but its different seeing them have it.

\>You don't quite understand why it makes you feel upset.

\>You shake your head slightly to get rid of the thoughts

\>They are mates, you and Gracie aren't.

\>You should just enjoy your time with her and she said she wasn't going anywhere.

\>As you pass through Novac Gracie looks up at the giant dinosaur.

\>"It's so cool!" Gracie says jumping up and down.

\>"Maybe on the way back home we can grab one of those little toy dinosaurs Gracie" you say with a smile.

\>She hugs your arm tight and smiles while looking up at you.

\>"Promise Anon?"

\>You rub the scales on her head and scratch her ears gently.

\>"Promise"

\>You can see Amber smirking as Gracie hugs you, but you ignore it.

\>Even now you feel that bit of jealousy as Gracie hugs you tight.

\>Why?

\>You break from her hug and start walking again.

\>Over the hills, sand billowing past, the sun beating down.

\>It's all a distraction for you as you check the map of your pip-boy.

\>You look around for this ghost town covered in red mist.

\>But all you see is sand.

\>Where is this place?

\>Eventually Pip sees what looks like a storm drain.

\>Its right were your Pip-boy says the Madre should be.

\>Pip grabs the grate and pulls it open, then peers down into it.

\>"There are stairs down here! I think this might lead us there"

\>Smart man, you had planned to blow the storm drain open with a grenade or something.

\>You pull out your LMG.

\>"I'll go down first and check it out then call you down when I'm sure it's safe"

\>Pip draws his compliance regulator.

\>"I got your back"

\>You nod and lower yourself into the drain.

\>As soon as your feet hit the stairs you raise your gun, a quick scan of the stair well.

\>There's a hallway leading into this place.

\>Is it a bunker? What's going on here?

\>No time for emotion, time to be tactical.

\>"Stairwells clear, Pip come down"

\>You keep your sights aimed down the stairs as you hear Pip drop in behind you.

\>Slowly you head down the stairs, weapon trained down the hallway.

\>Its dark and you know feral ghouls like to hide in places like this.

\>The layout looks simple.

\>A hallway with a room at the end, no one is in there.

\>There are 2 hallways off to the left and right.

\>"You clear right, I'll clear left" you say as you approach the fork.

\>"Got it" you hear Pip grunt.

\>You turn left and aim down a hallway to a well-lit room.

\>Hm looks like someone was living here at some point.

\>You walk into the room and scan left and right.

\>No one here.

\>"Clear left" you call out.

\>"Clear right" you hear pip call.

\>With that you can finally let your guard down.

\>"I'll get the girls" Pip says as he holsters his gun.

\>You nod and begin looking around the room.

\>A bed, a vending machine of some sort, a bunch of half completed weird looking laser rifles.

\>The vending machine looks a bit odd so you examine it calmly, leaning over it and around the sides.

\>On the side you see words that catch your eye.

\>"Big MT"

\>If it was made there, then this isn't a normal vending machine.

\>"What's that Boomer" you hear Amber over your shoulder.

\>"Dunno some kind of vending machine from the Big MT"

\>You feel Gracie sliding under your left arm to look at it.

\>"OH! I know what that is! It's a self-contained matter transformation device!"

\>You look at her.

\>"It's a what? And HOW do you know that Gracie?"

\>She starts tapping at the buttons on it happily.

\>"It takes uh" She looks around quickly and grabs a coin like thing of a table “These!"

\>She hands it to you.

\>A Sierra Madre chip?

\>"If you get enough of these it'll change them into items!"

\>She grabs a bunch of the chips and puts them in them punches a few buttons

\>Out pops a can of cram

\>You pick up the can and look at it, then open it up and taste it

\>It tastes better than any other cram you've had before, you pass it to Pip to try "try it, it's good"

\>"How do you know that Gracie?" Amber asks.

\>Gracie gives a toothy grin.

\>"I wandered around the Big MT for a long time, I found the Lab they made these things in! They had details on their computers!"

\>Makes sense to you.

\>Pip is the first to leave the room and head to the other room.

\>"Where is the Madre though?" he asks looking around the other room.

\>You follow him and frown.

\>"Dunno, my Pip-boy doesn't tell me anything besides it's here"

\>You see him tapping away at his.

\>"Same"

\>You're stumped and getting frustrated.

\>Was this a wild goose chase? Did Sato give you bad info? You were so close!

\>"Check behind the walls" you hear Amber call out.

\>She emerges from the other room holding what looks like a journal.

\>"Whoever lived here says there are secret tunnels behind one of the walls"

\>You frown.

\>Fuck sneaky shit, how were you going to find the switch to open a secret door?

\>You look around and see Pip begins knocking on the walls.

\>"What are you doing?" you ask, feeling your frustration begin to pour out through your voice.

\>You weren't angry at him or anything but this stuff was annoying.

\>A pair of scaled arms wrap around you waist from behind.

\>"Calm down Anon, its ok we'll find it" you hear Gracie whisper to you.

\>You take a deep breath and wait as Pip taps around the room

\>Eventually he stops and knocks on one spot again.

\>"Here, it's hollow behind here" Pip says pointing to the spot.

\>"How will get through that though" Amber says walking up to him and examining the spot.

\>You know how, plus it would probably calm you down.

\>Exploding things always did.

\>"I got some explosives, I'll blow a hole through the wall"

\>Pip looks you over.

\>"You sure about that? You might collapse the bunker"

\>Gracie hugs your arm.

\>"He's a Boomer! And he did that clear out our home! Trust him, he knows what he's doing!"

\>Pip looks a bit unsure but relents.

\>"You guys might want to get into that other room, this could make a mess"

\>They all file out of the room while you search through your inventory.

\>Start Small, you don't know how thick this wall is.

\>You grab a Grenade and back away to the hallway that leads into the side room

\>Quickly you pull the pin from the grenade and toss it to the foot of the wall then duck behind the corner.

\>The explosion shakes some dust off the walls when it goes off.

\>You peek around the corner and frown.

\>The others look too.

\>The wall is still intact, a small hole blasted into it.

\>"Oh great job Mr. Demo man" Amber teases you.

\>You can feel your frustration growing.

\>Fine they want a big explosion, they get one.

\>You grab a nearly depleted fusion core and smirk at Amber.

\>"How about this then" you ask smugly.

\>You feel a hand on your arm.

\>Pip has ahold of it.

\>"You sure about using that?" he asks, eyeing the fusion core.

\>You nod.

\>"I know what I'm doing man, I won't kill us or anything"

\>He nods.

\>"But you all should get out of the bunker, just to be safe"

\>You head to the room and place the fusion core in the hole that the grenade made.

\>Everyone else has already climbed out of the bunker as you walk towards the stairwell

\>"Gracie, you wanted to know why the Treadnaut had force fields around the power core?" you call up out of the storm drain.

\>"Yea! Why is that?

\>"It's powered by 8 of these fusion cores" you say as you pull out you scout rifle and take aim at the dimly glowing light of the fusion core.

\>"And if one gets shot"

\>you hold your breath and pull the trigger.

\>A miniature nuclear explosion goes off, causing the ground the shake and all of the dust settled everywhere to get rattled off.

\>You can't even hear your own laughter as the ground shakes.

\>Nothing like an explosion to lighten your mood.

\>"That happens" you say as the sound dies down.

\>"Come on down, we're good to go!" you call up.

\>"Hold up! Gracie's passed out!" Pip calls down to you.

\>You swear to yourself, you were so caught up in explosions you forgot about Gracie's tendency to play dead.

\>"One sec, I got her"

\>You climb out of the bunker and see Gracie splayed out on the ground.

\>"Gracie come on, you're ok, and it was just an explosion" you say as you grip her paws.

\>Her eyes open and she pulls one of her paws out of your hand and swats you with it.

\>"WARN ME NEXT TIME!" 

\>You help her up while you apologize.

\>"What was that about?" Amber says looking you over.

\>"Hog nosed snakes play dead when threatened, I guess that instinct got passed to Gracie" you say as you help dust her off.

\>Gracie's ears go flat against her head.

\>"I can't help it sometimes" she says looking at her feet.

\>"It's ok, we're working on it, anyway let's check out the wall" 

\>Pip jumps down first, followed by Amber, then Gracie.

\>You follow quickly after them and look at the wall.

\>Or rather what used to be the wall.

\>A smoldering hole where the wall was reveals the tunnel.

\>"Told ya I got it" you say with a grin.

\>You draw your LMG again and take the lead down the dimly lit tunnel.

\>Eventually it gets so dark that you and Pip have to use the lights on your pip-boys to see.

\>For what feels like hours the 4 of you walk, but it's hard to tell, at least it is for you.

\>But as you round a curve you see dim reddish light and the opening.

\>"Oh! Light! Light! Let's go Anon!" Gracie says beginning to run towards it.

\>You catch her arm in your hand, struggling to hold your LMG with one hand.

\>"Hold up, we have to play it safe. Let's all get there at once"

\>No need to rush now.

\>You keep your LMG in your hands and watch as the light gets brighter and the mouth of the tunnel gets bigger.

\>Eventually you walk through the opening and blink a few times

\>Before you there are buildings; villas that are crumbling and decrepit.

\>And behind them is a giant tower of a building, bathed in red mist.

\>As you walk you feel the ground is soft.

\>Like snow, the mist seems to have settled on the ground leaving an inch or 2 of blood red dust on the ground.

\>What is this stuff? You don't think you want to know, but you think you'll learn anyway.

\>Your footsteps are muffled from it as the 4 of you walk, looking around.

\>'It's really here' you think to yourself.

\>A fountain sits in the center of a plaza, empty with no water but with a few dozen of those chips in it.

\>Holograms of people flicker lazily as you look around and static cuts through the quiet.

\>"This place is creepy" you hear Gracie whimper from behind you.

\>You nod and keep your LMG out, aiming at every single sound.

\>The static is driving you crazy, like a garbled voice yelling at you.

\>Silenced footfalls all around you.

\>Words echo from your memory.

\>"That place will be your grave"

\>A noise to your right caused you to jump and fire at the noise.

\>Sparks fly as your bullet hits a speaker.

\>"Geez Boom calm down" you faintly hear over your own heart beat.

\>There are shapes in the mist taunting you.

\>"Anon are you ok?" Gracie's voice cuts through.

\>You blink hard and focus on her.

\>Stay focused on her, let her be your tether.

\>You hold her paw, gripping your Gun with one hand.

\>"You ok Boomer?" Pip says .

\>"I'm just... I don't know; those speakers are getting to me" you cough.

\>The 4 of you keep walking through the villas.

\>"What is this Stuff? Why isn't it affecting you?" you ask as you walk through the blood red mist.

\>You cough and feel your lungs burn.

\>It feels like the cloud is closing in on you.

\>"What do you mean Boom?" Pip asks as he leads the group.

\>"It's like this stuff is choking me, how are you able to walk through it?"

\>To your dismay they keep walking; ignoring your words.

\>Did you even say anything? Your breathing is so labored your can't remember.

\>Maybe you imagined it.

\>You look around at the three of them.

\>Amber and Gracie walk like there's no problem, like this cloud is nothing more than fog.

\>Pip seems like he's walking through a bit of smoke, a cough every once and a while.

\>Gracie has a firm grip on your hand as she walks through the clouds

\>But she keeps leading you through the clouds.

\>Through whatever this stuff is that chokes you.

\>Each time you have a violent coughing fit.

\>It burns.

\>you face burns, your lungs burns and your eyes burn.

\>Why is it painful to just exist here?

\>You cough and let go of Gracie's paw.

\>How can they keep going like its nothing?

\>You have to stop in an area where the cloud has settled, the dust around your feet is thick but the air clear.

\>Let your lungs clear, try to catch your breath.

\>You're not out of shape so why is this affecting you so much?

\>The others just keep walking.

\>Static in the air is the only noise you can hear.

\>But then something else cuts through.

\>Horrid, ragged breathing.

\>is breathing though? It echoes through the plaza around you.

\>Surrounding you.

\>Where is it coming from?

\>You raise your LMG and aim down the sights, turning quickly at each way into the area.

\>What you see is a shape in the cloud.

\>A figure, a human shaped figure, carrying something, eyes round and glowing green.

\>And it's stumbling through the cloud towards you.

\>You aim right between those glowing eyes.

\>"FUCK OFF YOU CUNT" you shout at it.

\>Your words have little effect on whatever it is.

\>It tosses the cylinder thing it's carrying at you.

\>As it flies through the cloud you recognize what it is.

\>A gas canister, with a small explosive attached.

\>FUCK!

\>You dive to the side and roll away from the impact, kicking up dust.

\>It hits the ground with an explosion, kicking the dust into the air.

\>You choke as you get to your feet and aim at the figure once more.

\>Fuck this guy.

\>You unload 20 or so bullets into the shambling body, ripping it apart.

\>Where are Gracie and Pip and Amber?

\>Through the mist you see more figures, walking that awful stumbling gait through the blood red cloud.

\>Fine.

\>They wanted to come for you, but you were going to go to them.

\>"BOOMER?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" you hear faintly over the ragged breaths.

\>Go, Kill them all.

\>You charge into the mist, gun blazing.

\>Bodies fall before you as you charge.

\>Bullets fly, leaving trails through the cloud.

\>How many of them are there? They just keep coming.

\>But you don't care though, how many of them have you killed? 10? 20? 30?

\>Not that it matters.

\>Is your gunfire drawing them to you? 

\>"ANON! ANON! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

\>Only one person calls you Anon.

\>Gracie.

\>Her voice is getting closer, you can hear it between the gunshots.

\>Protect her, kill everyone.

\>You kneel down and reload, 200 rounds take a little big to reload but you can keep firing for a LONG time.

\>But you're interrupted, a spear made of a stick and knives strapped to it; stabs into your left bicep.

\>A scream; Gracie's scream 

\>A hail of bullets tear through the humanoid thing that stabbed you.

\>You're breathing hard, the spear is still in your arm.

\>"ARE YOU OK!?" She cries.

\>You hear the gentle patter of Gracie's paws in the dust.

\>She kneels in front of you.

\>"I'm Fine" you choke out, your throat burns when you try to talk.

\>You grab the spear and pull it out of your arm, causing blood to spray into the dust on the ground.

\>"No, you're not Anon! We have to get you out of here!"

\>You stand up gripping your LMG with your right hand, your left arm hurts too much to move.

\>Fuck, you can't reload it like this.

\>The breathing of these people, these ghosts.

\>It surrounds you and Gracie. 

\>Gracie stands with her SMG drawn, firing at a few of the ghosts.

\>But you see one holding a one of those gas bombs.

\>You try to warn Gracie, try to shout but the dust that's been kicked up is choking you.

\>It throws the bomb right at Gracie.

\>NO! You won't let her get hurt!

\>You rush forward and push her out of the way.

\>The gas bomb hits the LMG in your hand and explodes, blasting you backwards into a wall.

\>Pain, so much pain.

\>You can't see out of your left eye, shrapnel from your LMG being blasted apart is in your legs and chest.

\>The toxic dust is settling into your wounds, poisoning your blood.

\>"NO NO NO ANON!" Gracie cries as she gets up and runs to you.

\>"I'm sorry Gracie, we should have never come here" you choke out.

\>You can feel your consciousness fading as you look into her teary eyes.

\>"NO Anon Please! Get Up! You Have to get up!' she cries pulling your arms.

\>You can't move, your body is limp as she drags you slowly.

\>It doesn't hurt anymore as she pulls.

\>"Go Find your sister; get out of here please"

\>You cough and taste the iron in your blood .

\>She needs to save herself.

\>"NO Anon! Please I need you! Please get up"

\>"PLEASE Anon! I Lo-"

\>Your world goes black and the pain fades.

\>Sato was right.

\>This place would be your grave.

Source: https://sofurry.com/s/rnaND2X1
Part of the series Love Me As Though There Were No Tomorrow
Previous: https://sofurry.com/s/ve3PDdEm
Next: https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1695239-love-me-as-if-there-were-no-tomorrow-chapter-10.md