Not Dead

"Ugh" I slowly came too and found myself lying face down on bare mattress.

Unsure of what was happening I tried to push up but, froze when a searing pain erupted from my left arm. The intense pain forced me to collapse sending another jolt of pain exploded along my back.

I laid there groaning in agony for what seemed like an eternity before the excruciating pain settled down into an agonizing but, mostly tolerable throbbing.

Gulping, I laid there motionless covered in sweat trying to recall exactly what I did to end up in this situation.

'Things went wrong so fast' I sighed as the memories slowly came back to me.

It was not even ten minutes after Yoruichi left to scope out the hotel that I heard the first gunshot followed by several explosions. I was already on edge since I could tell from that small amount of Exp I received that she had already killed at least two people and was a bit worried that she'd been forced to kill so early into her infiltration.

And knew she was too good to get caught this soon so the only thing that made sense was that if Yoruichi found Beagle in the kitchen and got caught trying to escape with him. So, jumping to my feet I sprinted for the door leaving behind the legendary Scorpion Casserole. Which was only okay if I was being honest.

Jumping over the casino's makeshift barricade and passed Ruby Nash who was already ushering people into position. I rushed outside only to see a bullet graze Yoruichi's arm as she led a desperate looking Bealge to escape. And saw that they were about to be mowed down by the massive squad of convicts who had just exited the hotel!

Acting on instinct I activated VATS which had already full recharged after its earlier use and took aim at the few convicts who actually looked a bit sober. Especially the freak in the hockey mask who was very clearly that Burn guy Hayes warned us about.

I fired killing the majority of them instantly except for Burn who was saved by his thick metal mask and only got knocked on his ass.

Still, that was enough. I didn't need to kill all of them and only needed to catch their attention for a moment so Yoruichi could take Beagle and escape. Unfortunately, I realized a little too late that my plan worked a bit too well when Burn decided to forget about Yoruichi and target me instead.

I nearly crapped my pants when I he tore off the dented hockey mask revealing his disfigured face and I definitely peed myself a little when he ordered his men to catch because I, and I quote "Needed To Burn!"

Everything that happened after that was just an adrenaline filled haze I couldn't really recall exactly what happened. But, I somehow managed to escape Burn's pursuit and made it back to the entrance of town, albeit a bit worse for wear.

Seriously!

Wasn't it just my luck that I somehow managed to piss of the ONE GUY in the entire town who used a Flamer! Which by the way is considered an Energy Weapon! Meaning that it wasn't affected by any of my defensive Perks and that I took full damage from its attacks!

Something I became painfully aware of after one of his blasts went of near my arms scorching it black. Just remembering that awful moment sent searing pain roaring through my arm.

But, whether it was my high Endurance or the undying will to survive I didn't even know I possessed. I continued on ignoring the pain and determined to make it back to the NCR camp where I knew the convicts wouldn't dare to follow.

My heart nearly stopped when I saw the massive field between me and the camp but, that only hardened my resolve even more because I knew I was in the final stretch.

There was no way in hell I was going to let myself be killed by a ragtag group of escaped prisoners! If I was going to die it was at least going to be to something cool like a Deathclaw! Or a Giant Robot Scorpion!

A string of stinging pain erupting on my back, something I only now realize were gunshots.

Thankfully, my defensive Perks were effective against that, and I was confident they saved my life. The fact that I was even alive was a testament to their value, though I probably would have been better if I had managed to get the Moving Target Perk.

But, whatever there was no point crying over spilled milk.

Ignoring the wounds covering my body I ran knowing that I was going to make it, when I saw something horrifying in VATS. The convicts also seemed to realize they weren't going to catch me and decided to just blow me to smithereens instead. About a dozen sticks of dynamite flew to towards me as I raced to come up with a plan.

I didn't have any time to think as I could already hear a massive explosion already going off behind me.

The dynamite landed around me and I could see there were only a few seconds left on their fuses. Out of time I did the only thing that came to mind and throw myself over the railing of the overpass hoping that would save me from the blast. The world shook as enough explosives to demolish a building went off mere feet above my head.

Everything went a bit fuzzy after that but, I vaguely remember Yoruichi yelling at me before I passed out from her squeezing me too hard.

I sighed again now that I knew everything was over, and just glad to be alive.

Looking around I saw that in a dark empty cloth tent and figured I was still in the NCR camp. It seemed like it was night now and I wondered where exactly Yoruichi was. It wasn't like I expected her to be right here by my side since we've only really known each other for a few days but, I was worried about how much time had passed.

If it had only been a day or two that would be fine but, what if I'd been unconscious for a week or more?

If it had really been that long, I wasn't sure whether or not Yoruichi would have decided to go ahead on her own. Of course, I wouldn't have blamed her if she really did that since she needed to catch Benny and fulfil her destiny and all that nonsense. But, I'd be lying if I said it wouldn't hurt.

I didn't even know what I was supposed to do if that happened. Should I continue onto New Vegas on my own and try to meet up with her there? That seemed like it would be really awkward though.

'First things first' I thought while fighting through the pain shifting around to get a look at my Pipboy which was thankfully on my unburned arm. Since I needed to figure out how long I was actually out before thinking about pointless stuff like that.

But, groaned when I realized it was gone.

'Of course, they'd take it off' I sighed. What doctor would leave something like that on an injured patient?

Shaking my head, I tried to figure out what I should do now. My tent seemed empty but, I knew there had to be people everywhere since this was a military camp, so all I needed to do was make a little noise to get people to come.

But, decided against it when I remembered something important.

Even though I didn't have my Pipboy right now I could still access my items through the Favorites Menu! Which included my Stimpaks!

With a thought a giant metallic syringe appeared in my hand!

I wasn't sure how well it would work on me since even though I had a system I still had a flesh and blood body as far as I was aware. So, it might not be as effective as in the game but, it wasn't like I had anything to lose. However before taking the plunge I remembered something important.

I needed to check if I had Leveled up at all.

A lot happened earlier, and I wouldn't be surprised if I managed to reach Level 5 during that mess. Willing the menu up my heart leapt with joy as I saw that I Level up not one but, two whole times!

I wasn't sure how that happened but, I wasn't going to complain since I had more important things to deal with right now.

Without wasting any time, I put the first Perk Point into the Medic perk which would increase the amount a Stimpak would heal me by 20%. Stimpaks were valuable resources, so it made sense to make sure each one went as far as possible. Not to mention I was in agonizing pain and wanted to do everything I could to make sure this worked.

Stifling a groan my head throbbed as waves of knowledge washed over me.

'Huh' I gulped feeling the new information flow into place 'Guess I know first-aid now.'

I would have to think about the implications of Perks stuffing information into my head but, I could do that later when I wasn't lying half dead on a rotten mattress.

Not having any more reasons to hesitate I fought against my fear of needles and injected myself with the glowing green liquid inside the syringe. And once again pain ripped through my body as I spent the next half hours twitching in agony.

And as the minutes ticked by the pain slowly receded to a manageable level before finally fading away.

Shifting around I could tell that even though the pain was mostly gone I wasn't quite healed yet, and still had some fairly serious injuries. But, I was in good enough condition that I could actually start moving around now.

I also noticed that I was now extremely exhausted.

I was tired before but, now I felt like I'd just run an entire marathon, and the only conclusion I could come to was that the healing from the Stimpak completely drained my body's resources. I never really thought about how a Stimpak actually worked before but, I guess all the energy for the healing had to come from somewhere.

Feeling the fatigued state of my body I decided against using another Stimpak because I had a feeling that might do more harm than good at least until I recovered a bit more energy.

Now that I could move, I decided to get up to try and find a soldier to answer a few questions for me.

Standing up off of the bed I wobbled a bit after losing my balance and my vision started to blur forcing me to sit back down. Sighing I realized that now probably wasn't the best time to move around and that I should let myself rest a bit longer.

Shivering I noticed that aside from some bloody bandages and a pair of underwear I was completely naked. It reminded me of how I woke up in Doc Mitchell's house, god so much has happened since then and I've barely even left Goodsprings.

Noticing that my eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness I took another look around the tent to see if any of my stuff was nearby. It felt weird not having my Pipboy.

That's when the sound of gentle breathing caught my attention and I looked down to see a dark shadow sleeping in the corner of the room. It wasn't hard to recognize the dark purple hair of the girl curled up in her sleeping bag and I felt a wave of relief wash over me knowing that it hadn't been that long and that she hadn't left.

Part of me wanted to wake her up but, I decided to let Yoruichi rest since I can't imagine all of this has been any easier on her and that she could use the rest just as much as I did.

Tearing my eyes away from the sleeping beauty I noticed my backpack and Pipboy resting in a pile next to hers and wondered if I'd be able to make my way over to it without waking her up. It wasn't that far, and she seemed to be sleeping fairly deeply if the sound of her breathing was anything to go by so I figured it was okay.

Standing up I was more prepared this time and managed to slowly and silently make my way over to my stuff without falling over or waking her up, and successfully made the trip back to the bed with my Pipboy in hand.

Though strapping it was a bit of a challenge since one of my hands was still burnt to a crisp and wrapped in a thick layer of bandages but, I managed somehow.

Flicking the Pipboy on I saw that it was only October 23, meaning that I had thankfully only been unconscious for a little less than a day. Which was great since that meant I hadn't completely messed the timeline up, at least not yet anyway.

Lying back down on the bed I grabbed a canteen and a bit of meat from my Inventory and had a small meal. I know I could have just eaten it instantly with the system but, I wanted to take a moment to just enjoy being alive. It was surprising how much better the fish Gecko meat tasted after almost dying.

Once that was done, I remembered that I still had one Perk Point left to spend and quickly opened up the panel once again.

I didn't even need to think about what I wanted to pick and just chose Moving Target like I planned to the day before. And sighed once again thinking about how useful it would have been if I'd had it earlier, and I also realized that my choice to double down on defense was the right choice. Because if I had gone for a more offensive build right from the beginning I probably wouldn't have survived yesterday.

Checking the time, I saw that it was around four in the morning and that there were still a couple more hours until the sun rose. So, I had some time to kill since I wasn't the least bit sleepy after being knocked out most of the day.

I figured it would be a good idea to think about what was coming up in the future and plan out my next couple Perks in advance.

As far as I knew Beagle made it out of Primm in one piece so he probably already told Yoruichi that he overheard Benny and the Khan's say they were heading to Novac. So, our next destination was probably going to down to Mojave Outpost which was the next settlement on the way since we would have to make a detour down and around black mountain.

And a lot of stuff was going to happen down there.

First, off we'd probably have to help clear out all the ants along the I-95 highway so the caravans could start moving again. And Yoruichi would probably remember what I said about convincing someone higher ranked that Lieutenant Hayes to protect Primm so we'd probably have to make a couple trips back and forth to make that happen. And along the way she'd definitely hear about the NCR assault on the Powder Gangers main base and want in on that.

I sighed, and that wasn't even mentioning the giant blood-stained elephant in the room that was Nipton.

I got chills just thinking about what awaited us in that nightmare of a town. I just hope I can hold Yoruichi back from ripping apart Vulpes Inculta on the spot since I'd rather not make an enemy of the Legion before we had the strength to back it up.

I also couldn't ignore the possibility of running into a certain body snatching satellite at the Mojave Drive-In.

I wasn't sure how it would work in real life but, in the game the second you touched that thing you were teleported to a DLC area known as Big MT where you have your brain and several vital organs removed and replaced with machinery. And have to go an a whole psudo-sciency adventure to reclaim your missing body parts and escape while thwarting the insane plans of a bunch of brains in jars.

I wasn't sure if the satellite would actually be there but, if it was I was going to be keeping my distance.

The Old World Blues DLC was the second hardest of the New Vegas DLC next to Lonesome Road and I wasn't going to even think about going anywhere near there until I was at LEAST level 30 and equipped with all the best weapons and armor the Mojave had to offer!

I'd already learned how badly an energy weapon could mess me up and that place was absolutely full of them! Along with all kinds of horrible abominations like walking skeletons, mutant plant people, tiny deathclaws, not to mention being the home of the Legendary Bloatfly the single deadliest enemy in the entire game!

Anyways, back to my Perk selection.

I couldn't get the next rank of Toughness until I was level 9 and rank 2 of Adamantium Skeleton didn't unlock until level 13. Meaning I could start investing in other Perks. And after everything that happened it didn't take me long to decided that the best option was to max out my Endurance at 10 and get the Solar Powered and Ghoulish Perks since they were both fairly overpowered. With Solar Powered giving a massive +2 to both Strength and Endure during the day while Ghoulish would let me regenerate lost health while exposed to radiation. Something I felt like I could exploit now that this was a real world.

...I was probably going to avoid Cannibal though especially after what just happened with the Medic Perk, just the thought of a Perk giving me a taste for human flesh made me want to vomit.