Veronica cringed as she hurried through the twists and turns of the cave, putting as much distance between herself and the psychopath she’d made the unfortunate mistake of pairing up with. She cradled what remained of her right arm, tugging the torn strip of her robe tighter around the ragged stump that ended just below her elbow. The power glove she wore over her right forearm was gone, left lying on the rocky ground at the entrance to the cave.
The psycho bitch had hacked it off with that big ass axe she liked so much. Veronica cursed herself for allowing herself to be caught off guard. She’d managed to escape, scrambling into the cave. She’d quickly regretted that. She didn’t know whether or not there was another exit to the cave. Worse, she didn’t know what other dangers lurked within. Psycho bitch on a kill crazy rampage was bad enough, but Veronica didn’t want to stumble into a den of nightstalkers or – worse – a Deathclaw. The Mojave was dangerous enough as it was, but with no weapon and missing the majority of an arm, Veronica liked her odds even less.
At least the bleeding is slowing down, she thought. She felt lightheaded and the agony of the wound was still very fresh, but she didn’t think she was in danger of passing out. Adrenaline and a Brotherhood mental technique for dealing with pain had her more or less alert. So that was something. Pausing for a moment, Veronica leaned against the stone wall to catch her breath and try to think of a way out of her situation.
It wasn’t easy. She was still having a hard time believing that she’d judged the woman she’d been traveling with so wrong. Veronica had been keeping an eye on Caroline for a while, tracing her movements and noting her actions. The young woman seemed nice enough. Tough, able to handle herself in a bad situation, nothing like the sadistic nut job she’d revealed herself to be.
Nice one, Veronica, she thought to herself. I thought you were smarter than this?
The fact that Caroline had concealed her true intentions so flawlessly terrified Veronica. She’d met a slew of people during her time roaming the Mojave. Some nice, most not so nice. But she’d always been able to read people with a good deal of accuracy.
Not this time.
So far, the cave seemed thankfully empty. Veronica decided to delve deeper and see if she could double back to the entrance. If she could get around Caroline, there was a chance she could block the entrance from the outside and leave the crazy bitch to rot. Normally, Veronica wouldn’t have considered abandoning someone to starvation, but Caroline was far too dangerous to take any chances. Pushing herself away from the wall, Veronica headed deeper into the cave.
Her eyes shot wide as she felt the unmistakable pressure and sudden snap of a tripwire. “Shit,” she muttered, launching herself back the way she’d come. A shotgun blast sprayed pellets into the wall beside the tripwire. If she hadn’t jumped out of the way, the blast would have taken her out at the knees.
I didn’t stumble into this cave by chance, she thought with chilling fear. She planned this. She set me up.
Mojave Hunts (13/?)
Veronica cringed as she hurried through the twists and turns of the cave, putting as much distance between herself and the psychopath she’d made the unfortunate mistake of pairing up with. She cradled what remained of her right arm, tugging the torn strip of her robe tighter around the ragged stump that ended just below her elbow. The power glove she wore over her right forearm was gone, left lying on the rocky ground at the entrance to the cave.
The psycho bitch had hacked it off with that big ass axe she liked so much. Veronica cursed herself for allowing herself to be caught off guard. She’d managed to escape, scrambling into the cave. She’d quickly regretted that. She didn’t know whether or not there was another exit to the cave. Worse, she didn’t know what other dangers lurked within. Psycho bitch on a kill crazy rampage was bad enough, but Veronica didn’t want to stumble into a den of nightstalkers or – worse – a Deathclaw. The Mojave was dangerous enough as it was, but with no weapon and missing the majority of an arm, Veronica liked her odds even less.
At least the bleeding is slowing down, she thought. She felt lightheaded and the agony of the wound was still very fresh, but she didn’t think she was in danger of passing out. Adrenaline and a Brotherhood mental technique for dealing with pain had her more or less alert. So that was something. Pausing for a moment, Veronica leaned against the stone wall to catch her breath and try to think of a way out of her situation.
It wasn’t easy. She was still having a hard time believing that she’d judged the woman she’d been traveling with so wrong. Veronica had been keeping an eye on Caroline for a while, tracing her movements and noting her actions. The young woman seemed nice enough. Tough, able to handle herself in a bad situation, nothing like the sadistic nut job she’d revealed herself to be.
Nice one, Veronica, she thought to herself. I thought you were smarter than this?
The fact that Caroline had concealed her true intentions so flawlessly terrified Veronica. She’d met a slew of people during her time roaming the Mojave. Some nice, most not so nice. But she’d always been able to read people with a good deal of accuracy.
Not this time.
So far, the cave seemed thankfully empty. Veronica decided to delve deeper and see if she could double back to the entrance. If she could get around Caroline, there was a chance she could block the entrance from the outside and leave the crazy bitch to rot. Normally, Veronica wouldn’t have considered abandoning someone to starvation, but Caroline was far too dangerous to take any chances. Pushing herself away from the wall, Veronica headed deeper into the cave.
Her eyes shot wide as she felt the unmistakable pressure and sudden snap of a tripwire. “Shit,” she muttered, launching herself back the way she’d come. A shotgun blast sprayed pellets into the wall beside the tripwire. If she hadn’t jumped out of the way, the blast would have taken her out at the knees.
I didn’t stumble into this cave by chance, she thought with chilling fear. She planned this. She set me up.