Who: JJ & Roz When: Two days after the doctor arrived Where: Primm
They had visited Jean first and cleared out what supplies the raiders had. JJ didn’t need to create a storage for them as there wasn’t a ton, definitely not enough to fill up the pick up truck. Some medical supplies left by the new town doctor, some weapons and a bit of food was mainly what they grabbed. All the items were tossed in the back of the pick up and covered by a tarp. Also in the back were a few cans of gas, three full three empty. They each had a pack of scavenging supplies. Rope, bolt cutters, a hammer, gas syphon, etc. along with some food rations and water. There were also a few bins to help hold any of the smaller supplies they found.
As they headed from Jean down to Primm the road was relatively clear. The road between the small towns were pretty clear before the end and the time of day it happened had left them even clearer. Big cities didn’t always have the same luxury. So, since they had pretty much a straight away, JJ kicked back as Roz took a shift at driving. The radio picked up her station still broadcasting, some classic rock in rotation. She slouched in her seat, relaxed, feet out the window as she sang along a little with the music. “Hold me closer Tiny Dancer…”
“The end of the world and Elton John lives on,” Roz didn’t usually say much, but she was trying to put herself out there for JJ’s sake. So many people found her creepy that she did her best to try to act at least somewhat human when she was around others. The lizard brain hasn’t completely taken over yet. If it was going to happen, she hoped that was a few more decades down the road.
“So, have you met those doctors yet?” She felt like her body was at the point where a veterinarian would be more qualified for her than a physician, but it never hurt to have one around.
She nodded. “Yea, met the female Doc, Sanda I think. Dr. Turner. Helped get some basic power to their place and the water turned on. I’ll have to do some more work so they can be fully up and running but at least they’ll have lights until we get back.” JJ informed. “Woke up early excited so figured I’d get some work out of the way.” She laughed. “Seems nice. Blushed a little when I mentioned Bear. How ‘bout you? Run into them yet?”
Roz shook her head, “No. I typically avoid doctors. They have needles.” She wasn’t sure if they were the Frankenstein-type of doctors who would want to experiment on people or the Salk-type who would just be wanting to help them. Plus, she was always weary of new people. Didn’t want to get too attached before they went and got themselves killed. JJ was one that she’d let get to her, but one couldn’t be solitary all the time.
“I think it’s good that we have one or two though. Will come in handy next time.” She didn’t actually say what “next time” was, but anyone could discern her meaning. They would come in handy the next time someone thought to raid Carter.
“Yea. God forbid.” She said with a small sigh. Luckily Bear had been around a while and typically kept the worst of the worst away. They were approaching Primm, it was less than an hour from home, a little longer as sometimes they had to go a little off road to get around the cars, but JJ could see it on the horizon. She picked up her radio and on the town channel checked in. “Blue Jay and Gecko are approaching second objective. Everything’s been rainbows and sunshine.” She informed, having a little fun with things. The radios were all as secure as they could be so the odds anyone was listening in was slim, but she wasn’t going to take the risk, especially with the range they had since she was able to boost them. “So, anything fun I should be keeping my eyes open for?” She asked. JJ had her own little list of things she looked for, but she wanted to make sure Roz didn’t have anything specific.
“Gecko?” Roz cut her eyes toward the young woman for just a moment before she focused on the road again. Next time, she would make sure she picked out their cutesy names on the radio. After taking a moment to think she did eventually add to their list, “I’d like to see if we can find some different seeds for Lily. I owe her that for the blueberries.” Organics were the first things to be lost to time. Finding seeds still in their packaging was sometimes very difficult. Thankfully, they lived in a desert environment. Otherwise, they would all have rotted way. Then again, that also limited the stock of plants available to them. “But I’m not looking for anything special. A new pillow would be nice.”
“Hey, Cameleon is too long for the radio.” She chuckled. “And yes, def for Lily.” JJ ticked off her list. “Seeds for Lily, Guitars, Beer and Guns for Bear, Books and art for Tris, Electronics for me, Postcards for Alex, bottles for Syreni and… I guess a pillow for you.” She never knew what to get Morticia. “Always have my general list.” It was nice to have patterns. “And of course as always, food, power, water and medicine.”
Roz drove into the outskirts of the town and tried to find a suitable place to pull over. They didn’t want the truck to be out in the open, but you couldn’t always find somewhere safe to hide. This was one of those times she truly wished JJ could just pack the truck up and carry it while they were wandering around. It would likely put too much strain on her anyway so it wasn’t worth asking. Better to find a spot inside an open garage and force it closed.
She did just that, taking the care to pull into it backwards in case they needed to make a quick getaway. “I figured we could start here and work our way through the neighborhood.” Roz suggested as she stepped out from the truck.
She was a bit grateful that her leads and theories had panned out, Primm seemed to be completely deserted. The town had a few casinos in it and some others places built up around it geared toward tourists. It wasn’t that big of a town and JJ hoped that most of the places hadn’t been cleared out yet. “You wanna try to hit one of the casinos? Hope not all the hotel rooms have been hit?” She asked. Hoping that at the very least not all the hotel rooms had been hit. JJ reached into the back of the truck and pulled out her backpack, Most of the supplies were hanging off it so she could put things inside the bag. She also grabbed a crowbar from the back as well. To get inside locked rooms.
“As long as we avoid the casino floors themselves,” Roz agreed as she hoisted her own near-empty pack up over her shoulder. “I wouldn’t want to run into anyone who would be wandering around in there.” She assumed that only trouble-makers would be running around inside the casino floors, looking for idiots who were stupid enough to rummage inside there for supplies. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a bunch of non-perishables that we can load up on? Some of those fancy little hotel liquor bottles.” She’d stopped drinking a few years ago, because she’d found that the alcohol didn’t burn off as fast as it used to as her biology changed. That didn’t mean that she wasn’t above using them to trade for other things. There was always a town lush wherever you went.
“Oh yea. And little soaps and some nice pillows.” She said with a smirk. “We should also see if we can find the offices as well. There might be a first aid kit or something still hanging about. Maybe even an EMT location.” Which was hopeful considering the closest hospital was Las Vegas. She figured the casino’s had to have something when people got hurt… right? Hefting the crow bar over her shoulder, she started toward the first hotel and casino Whiskey Pete’s.
As they entered they found they needed to pass through part of the casino floor to get to the hotel bit. There was probably another door somewhere, but not the one they entered. As they started to hurry through JJ couldn’t help but experience a ‘squirrel’ moment. “Hey, what’s that…” She crossed through the empty floor to some displays. “Holy Shit.” Off to the side of the casino floor there were a ton of display cases, one of them holding a car that had been shot up. JJ moved and read a plaque before it. “Bonnie and Clyde. I know them… bank robbers right?” It was funny what facts stuck and what didn’t. “Shit, Tris would love this.”
She wanted to scold JJ, but Rosalind knew that it wasn’t worth the time nor the energy. JJ was still JJ, even outside of town. She stepped over beside the young woman and shook her head, “I’m pretty sure we don’t have space for that.” She spun around to look for a way into the hotel area that didn’t require the elevators. “Stay on task, Jujube.” She didn’t want to spend all day in one casino when they could be more productive by visiting multiple locations before dark. Besides, she lost some of her edge as the day cooled. Her senses were still excellent, but her body was ready to shut down once the day cooled below certain temperatures.
Roz headed toward one of the fire stairwells, hoping that it was neither blocked nor destroyed. “And I’m sure as hell not driving that thing home.” She called back to JJ as she pushed on the door. The alabaster woman paused momentarily, waiting to hear an alarm and praying that this wasn’t one that was hooked to one.
JJ rolled her eyes, pulling out a digital camera out of her pocket she took a picture, she was sure Tris would want to at least know about the stuff. Hurrying, she followed Roz. “Top floor down?” She asked with a grin. “I’ll race you.” Oh, she wasn’t going to race, but she was also sure that the top floor had the nicest rooms and so probably the best stuff. The door wasn’t alarmed, thankfully, so JJ hurried ahead and started up the stairs.
“You know, Alex took me to the beach the other week.” She said, making idle chatter to fill the void. “His powers are real trippy. Even the machines lose track of him… they hate that.”
Roz followed with not much more than a nod, but seemed like she wanted to say something when JJ humanized the machines. It was weird enough when Lily did it, but she understood since plants were alive. Machines were completely different and hard to envision. She decided against it and, instead, asked about the trip.
“How did you get to the beach?” Last she’d heard, there wasn’t a beach for quite a long way. Not a real one anyway. There were reservoirs and such, but nothing comparable to an actual sandy beach and sea shore.
“Alex can move through shadows… he took me along.” She said, glancing back at Roz as she rounded the landing. “Well, first he took me to a mountain for a snow cone, then to the beach to eat the snow cone.” JJ laughed a little. “Then we went swimming with the turtles.” It had been fun… something she didn’t get a lot of normally. Not in the same way. “
“Well, that’s handy,” Rosalind marched up the stairs without having to take a rest, but really wished they hadn’t decided to go to the very top. That restricted their exits and made things more difficult if they ran into trouble.She made sure she kept her senses opened in order to alert them to anyone else around. She could always smell traces of people or things, stronger when it was more recent, but the air here was fairly stale. There hadn’t been much movement in quite a while. That made her feel much safer, but she didn’t lower her guard.
When they finally made it to topmost floor, Roz tried the door and was able to push it open slowly. She didn’t want to just charge out there in case they ended up facing someone that she couldn’t actually sense via smell or sound. “I wonder if the fancy locks have disengaged.” She had an amazing amount of knowledge as far as casinos were concerned. She assumed that meant she had worked in one before the end had come. “Otherwise, it’s going to be a lot of work.”
“That’s what the crowbar’s for.” JJ chuckled. “And if they are still locked, that’s a good sign no one’s been in to loot.” She added with an arched brow. The first penthouse they got to, sure enough was locked up tight. So, JJ raised the crowbar and jammed in between the door and the door jam. “I think this is a good sign. Minibar here we come.” She laughed as with a grunt a crack was heard as the door mechanism broke and the door swung open.
The room was covered in a thin layer of dust, but actually still looked pretty nice after being locked up. “Looks like it might be a full floor of goodies.” JJ slipped off her back and placed her hand over the zipper. She focused and then opened the bag. “Anything that can fit in the opening, put inside. We can dumb and organize in the truck later.” She said as she placed her back pack down and moved to the bed and pulled the alarm clock first thing. Thankfully anything in her dimensional space wouldn’t be damaged so long as it was in there and removed before it closed. So she was able to pull light bulbs that didn’t looked to be burnt out as well the liquor bottles from the minibar and other fragile items without worry. Maybe they’d just spend the next day in Primm, hit Kingman another time. The salvage looked like it was going to be plentiful, well more than enough for a single trip.
Roz pulled at the minifridge in the room and opened it slowly. Anything that had been perishable was muck. Thankfully, most of it was prepackaged so the smell was’t unbearable. She pulled the bottles out of the fridge and shut it quickly. “I’d take the fridge, but I don’t want to have to clean it. Maybe another day we’ll grab it.”
She turned back toward the rest of the room and began sorting through the valuables. Roz fluffed the expensive pillows, checking them out before stuffing them into JJ’s bag. She even rolled up the dusty bed clothes so they could be stuffed inside as well. The things people valued were all different. To Roz, having something soft to sleep on was much more valuable than gold or cash. “Hmm,” she sat on the expensive pillow-top mattress and posited, “It’s too bad we can’t take the mattress. We should come back and get a stack these things next time. I bet the whole town would love that.”
JJ chuckled, priorities. She ducked into the bathroom and pulled out some soaps and shampoos and big fluffy towels. As she exited she was wearing a fluffy bathrobe. “God these people were spoiled.” She stuffed some of the items into the bag. Oh yea, she knew they were going to have a bit of organizing when all was said and done but oh she didn’t care. The amount of good stuff for use and trade was too much. She twirled in the bathroom. “It’s still so soft.” Then something hit her. “We should find one of these rooms that was being used! They’ll probably have suitcases and stuff. If they could afford this room maybe they had swanky clothes and stuff too.” She laughed a little as they gathered up some more things from the room before moving to the next. “And if you spot the maid card area we should have a nice score there too.”
“Hm. Cleaning supplies would be a boon.” Roz nodded as she stood up from the bed and inspected the rest of the room. She picked up the crowbar from where it had been sat down and made her way toward the door, “I’m going to go pop a couple doors and see what we find. You good for now?”
“Cleaning supplies and that’s also where they carry the restock stuff for the minibar. How many little bars of candy and trail mix you think we’ll find? Also fresh bottles of water and so much booze.” JJ laughed. “Yea, I’m good.” She said, pulling off the robe to stick it in the backpack. “I’ll follow shortly, gonna pilfer the toilet paper.” It was amazing the things that became a luxury item when you couldn’t just go to the store to buy stuff.
The alabaster lady hefted the crowbar over her shoulder like a baseball bat and made her way back out into the hall. She moved down the hall slowly, nose and ears open for sign of any intruders but the only thing she could sense was the scent of dust. Roz pulled the crowbar off her shoulder and jammed it into the next door she came across. She hefted twice and the door popped open with a loud cracking noise. Roz stuck her head inside carefully, making sure that someone wasn’t about to jump out at her before she stepped inside. She took a quick survey of the area before heading back to the hall and repeating the process. She wanted to open up whatever she could so they could have their pick of the items. It was a much faster process this way.
She did manage to find a room that had been lived-in and started sorting through the items that had been left behind. Clothes and jewelry, nothing too swanky but still pretty nice. An old phone and a laptop. Stuff JJ would love to tinker with so she was glad to find it. She picked up the electronics and stuffed them into one of the suitcases she’d found, along with any other clothing and fabrics she could pick up. Hauling them out in the case would be easier.
“Hey, JJ,” Roz shouted out into the hall as she made her way back out, “I found a new laptop for you.”
JJ had ducked into the other rooms and done some sweeps before joining Roz, setting the absurdly full, but very light backpack down. She loved her storage pocket power. “Nice.” The tinkerer would definitely put that to use. “We should use the suitcases too, they won’t fit into the backpack,” They would if the opening were bigger, “but they are always useful for storage.” Especially for traders who didn’t have her special powers, it gave them the ability to transport easier and also they did wear out over time, so having some for new stuff was always handy. “I think I passed the housekeeping closet.” She smirked, removing the light bulbs. “We may have to tag this town for Tris to bring us back regularly till it’s completely scavenged… before others find out about it.” She smirked, picking her bag up again and leaving the room once they cleared it. “Convince Bear to come and we’ll get you a mattress.” JJ laughed.
There was a smirk on her face as she thought about asking Bear to carry down a load of mattresses for the town. She could see the massive man just throwing them out the windows and then hopping down to help stack them in where ever. Indestructible and super strong. Lucky man.
Rosalind brought the crowbar with her, sitting the suitcase down as she stepped up to the housekeeping closet. She popped it open easily and took a look inside. The closet was full of bottles and boxes that had yet to disintegrate. “Thank god for plastic,” Roz muttered as she sorted through the shelves. A little bit of bleach went a long way, particularly for the hospital. “I think the docs would be happy to have some Clorox.”
“Good thinkings.” JJ said with a chuckle as she pulled out the housekeeping cart and started to empty it into the bag. All the alcohol, towels, snacks (that hadn’t spoiled), soaps, coffee…. “Oh coffee!” She actually hugged one of the packets. “Shit, Pepsi and stuff too.” Yea, she was happy. As they cleared the closet and the rest of the floor, JJ made sure to mark each door they’d cleared with a pen. They cleared two more floors before it started to get dark. Turning their flashlights on they finished the last room and then the trip back down was to take place. They had a few suitcases of stuff so instead of lugging them all the way down, they tied their ropes together and JJ ran down first so Roz could lower each bag, she’d untie them and they’d repeat the process.Thankfully they had their walkies to communicate with.
The last of the bags was lowered and Roz started a trip back down to the truck. It was beginning to get dark and that would normally mean it was going to be time for her to get settled for the evening. With it being as warm as it was, she wasn’t having the issues that she had in winter time. A 98-degree summer night would keep her running quite well.
“Should we just stay in one of the rooms tonight?” Roz asked into her walkie as she moved carefully down the fire stairs. “Seems a lot safer than sleeping in the truck.” The locks would make her feel the tiniest bit safer, even if she wasn’t sure they would help if they ran into someone really powerful.
“Yes. Definitely.” She said with a smile. “We can leave the cases here and load them up in the morning, stay on the second floor.” Since the first floor was all casino. “And I want to check out the casino kitchen before we leave tomorrow too… see if there’s anything salvageable. I’m cool with spending a second day scavenging and heading back the day after… but I wanna make sure we check the kitchen- food being the priority.” She said. Though even from their half day of pilfering they had gotten a lot of stuff. JJ, moved to the banister and leaned on it. “So, wanna go pick a room?” Sure they could each have one of their own, but safety in numbers…”
It was a million times safer if they roomed together, because there was no chance that someone could stumble upon just one of them and cause trouble. Roz couldn’t take a bullet, but she could take a quite a few hits. She would protect JJ until the bitter end if she had to, but she didn’t want it to have to come to that. “I am the one with the crowbar.”
She stopped on the second floor and wandered through the hall to try to find one that looked secure. Roz decided that the room closest to the stairs would be safest. It allowed them easy access to an escape route, but it was also dangerous because of that. The pros outweighed the cons though so Roz popped the door as carefully as she could, hoping not to damage the frame so that they could lock it back up. Dust covered this room as well and it needed to be aired out, but they would be fine. She pulled open the room’s window to let air inside and checked everything before she headed back downstairs to show JJ the way.
JJ stacked the suitcases up and then followed Roz when she came back. Once in the room she set her backpack down and pulled off the canteen and took a long drink before going to look at the door. “Okay, let’s see….” The frame was okay, but the lock had gotten damaged a bit. JJ pulled a small screwdriver from her belt and undid the casing on the door hand. “Let me get this fixed so we can lock everything up and then I’ll see if I can get the coffee pot working so we can cook some beans.” She said as she realigned the lock. It didn’t take long at all before the ‘click’ from the deadbolt. Just to be safe she also flipped the other lock that let you open the door a little but not all the way.
Once the room was secure she moved back to her bag and pulled a small box from one of the outer pockets and moved over to the coffee pot. “Man I wish I had power to turn on the TV, we could pretend like we were really back in time and watching pay per view and stuff.” She popped off the back of the coffee pot and hooked her portable power source up to it. As it got power and she flicked the on switch to make sure everything was working she hissed slightly. “Shhh.” She whispered. “I know, I know… you’re welcome.” She said in a hushed tone before returning once again to her bag to grab the small pan, two cans and can opener. “So, dinner is… mystery meal number one… or number two!” She said, holding up two cans to Roz to take her pick.
Again, JJ was talking to the machines. Roz ignored that peculiar weirdness, because she didn’t really understand it. It wasn’t like she could talk to lizards and snakes or anything. “Even number this time,” Roz sighed as she peeled back the blanket to reveal a sheet that wasn’t nearly as dusty. She shook out the pillows and threw them back onto the bed before stretching out and letting out a deep sigh. The mattress she had in her tiny house was nowhere near as comfortable as this one. “We need to block up all the stairs before we leave so no one else can get up here.” The scavenger in her was still trying to figure out the best way to keep their horde safe.
“I could rig the doors.” She said, there were a few ways she could work it so the doors wouldn’t open easily. Granted anyone with enough force and anything can open, but hopefully it would deter anyone from trying. JJ opened the can and poured it into the pot. “Ooo, we’re in luck. Looks like Spaghetti-O’s with hot dogs!” The coffee pot burner was started to get warm so she placed the pan on it. It would take a while to heat up, but at least they’d have a warm meal.” While dinner cooked she hopped on the end of the bed with Roz, kneeling with a smile. “So, I saw you talking with that trader from Boulder City the other week.” She nudged the other woman’s leg. “It looked pretty friendly.” Gossip was a vice of the young woman’s. There wasn’t a ton of other forms of entertainment, actually she felt a lot of people dealt in gossip. And with JJ, she worked a lot and while she was social her social life wasn’t as open as others. Her little trip with Alex was the most eventful socially she’d been outside of some scavenging runs.
“Jujube,” Roz scolded playfully and raised up long enough to pull another pillow under her back and head, “I’m always friendly with the traders.” She was very hands-off with the men in the city. It was mostly because she didn’t feel like she had room for that kind of stress in her life yet. Seven years since the end of the world and she just wasn’t ready yet. She couldn’t help it though. Trust was hard after the time she spent in Vegas. It was short, but it was enough. It was JJ’s innocence that had made Rosalind trust her so much. That and she could fix anything. “Besides that, he was trying to cut a bad deal. I just wanted to let him know.”
“So…” JJ tilted her head. “Just using your feminine wiles to negotiate… I get it.” She winked and a giggle. “Most of the guys who come through town are kinda dirty… like I know it’s the end of the world and you’re traveling, but take a little pride why don’tcha.” JJ always tried to look presentable at least. Granted in that moment her hands and clothes were a bit messed, but that was because they’d been crawling around dusty motel rooms. Were they going to go around in front of other people- especially to sell things, she’d make sure to dust off and clean up a bit. “And some of them just plain smeeeell. I like want to give them mini soaps for free just to lean their underarms ya know?” She fell over on the bed a little in laughter.
“I would never do that,” Roz’s voice grew quieter as she relaxed into the comfort of the pillowtop mattress. She yawned, tired from the long day of scavenging and collecting things for the town. Her body was finally coming down from high alert and she hadn’t realized just how tired and stressed that made her. She was so used to it, but finally being secure behind a locked door made everything better. “But if you haven’t smelled anything until you have a super sense of smell, my dear.”
“Don’t go on me yet.” JJ tapped Roz’s leg as she sat up and moved to check on the food. It was cooked enough. Divvying it up into two bowls she handed one to Roz as she had the other. They ate, then crashed out, JJ hooked a bell up to the door so if anyone tried to get in they’d hear it. She also hooked one at the window, despite being on the second floor- one could never be too careful.
The next morning they grabbed some trail mix from the mini fridge and JJ made some coffee. It was a little groundy but it was coffee. Then they headed downstairs. First, they took the suitcases out to the truck, then JJ secured the doors so they wouldn’t open unless you knew how. Granted it used up all the rope they’d brought with them, but thankfully the truck had a tarp so they didn’t have to really tie things down. “Okay, kitchen and then we’re out? Oh and see if there’s like a EMT place or something.” She almost forgot the doctors were the most important thing.
As they headed toward the buffett and the kitchen they passed a souvenir shop, JJ couldn’t resist heading inside. “Oh my gosh, these are fantastic.” She said, pulling off a pair of sunglasses and putting them on. “What do you think? With this hat?” She grabbed a mobster style hat from the rack and put it on, posing.
Coffee. Oh, lovely coffee. The scent and taste were still on her palate long after they went downstairs to find the casino restaurant. It made her slightly less cranky because the coffee warmed her body and helped her process the meals that she’d eaten. Normally, she’d only eat about once a day, but the work of hauling items down from a hotel balcony had been a tough bit to do. Thank goodness she’d had JJ and her magic bag of holding.
When JJ veered off the chosen path, Roz tried not to groan. It was like traveling with a hyperactive child sometimes, but complaining to JJ about her being her would be useless. Instead, she just followed and shrugged.
“I think we’re going to take too long if you’re—.” Rosalind stopped mid sentence as her head snapped to the side. The move was like that of a wild animal turning its head in order to hear better. She held up a pale hand as she listened. Something was padding around inside the casino. She could hear the sound of claws as they left a carpeted area and hit the tiled floor. She still couldn’t smell a damn thing for the coffee and was annoyed but persisted. “Animals,” she whispered as she tried to identify the sound. It definitely wasn’t a bipedal thing. And humanoids clonked around too much because of their perceived superiority.
JJ pulled the crowbar from where it was hanging on the backpack and gripped it defensively. “They could be nice.” She whispered hopefully. Olso was nice and Tristan said he’d been a stray. Holding the bar claw side forward she slowly moved to the opening of the door. She didn’t hear what Roz heard but she was sure the woman was right. Removing the shades she tossed them far into the casino. They clattered to the ground and a definitely not nice dog pounced on them. “Shit.” She breathed.
If anything bad were to happen, Rosalind was definitely the one to take a beating. Her skin was significantly tougher than most other people so she could actually take a dog bite whereas her scavenging partner could not. “Stay here,” she whispered before fishing a rather large knife from her kit and held it defensively as she stepped from the souvenir shop.
Had she the choice, she would have avoided that dog, but there was nothing she could do about the situation. The dog was between them and where they were headed. As she stepped forward, the dog began a low growl but Roz showed no fear. She held her knife at the ready a she moved closer and tried to shoo the creature away. It didn’t budge. Instead, the growl became louder. When she took another step, it became a fierce bark. She tried harder to shoo the dog away.
“Watch out.” JJ called out as a second dog came out from the side, trying to flank the other woman. They looked hungry and feral. For a moment she wondered if they were part coyote or wolf.
She should’ve realized the dog wouldn’t be alone. Feral packs were a real danger now and then. Roz just hadn’t expected there to be one here. Then again, with the way the power came and went, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that a pack had decided to stay around the casino since the fountain would occasionally spring back to life now and then.
The dog sprang at her, but Rosalind managed to catch its teeth with her forearm. Others might think her crazy, but blocking the teeth from biting into softer flesh was the way to go. She had leather sewn into the arms of her scavenging gear a long time ago due to the feral packs roaming the cities. It also helped with knife blades, though she could usually take a quick slash with little to no damage.
The second dog also tried to leap, but with her animal-like reflexes, she managed to catch the dog’s muzzle with a quick knife slash. It gave a loud and startled whine, signaling it was in pain as Roz kicked it with her steel-toed brown boots. She didn’t want to kill the creatures so much as keep them out of their hair.
“Back up you little shits!” The alabaster woman screamed as she tried to force the second dog off her arm. The first one had backed up but was still barking and bleeding all over the floor. She really wasn’t feeling like doing this much longer so she finally plunged her large knife into the shoulder flesh of the dog attacking her. It gave a sound similar to the first but much louder and with more pain. “Raaaaah,” Rosalind screamed at them both, slashing the air to back them up. What she would’ve given for a good shotgun.
JJ watched in awe as the woman worked. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen it but it was amazing every time. She watched as the dogs backed up, fearing her and apparently deciding it wasn’t worth it as they ran off. “You were awesome!” She said approaching. “Are you okay?” She had a tiny first aid kit on her belt and was ready to use it.
Roz flexed her left hand and tried to determine if the blood belonged to her or the dog. She felt that it was definitely the dog and shrugged as she wiped the blade on the edge of her desert-colored tunic.
“I really liked this outfit,” the scowl on her face clearly said she was unhappy with these circumstances as she returned her knife to its place at her belt.
Her skin could easily take the punishment of the desert, but the bright white color was dramatic enough to be spotted from long distances so she always kept covered. Her light hood had fallen back in the battle and some of her hair had slid loose from the braid she’d pulled together before they left, but she was otherwise fine.
“I think we should head out soon.” She was afraid that the noise from the dogs and the smell of the blood would bring about more unwelcome guests. Better that they leave for home soon and return again another day with more people.
“Then let’s hurry and get finished.” When it was needed JJ could not be distracted.
The two women hurried to the kitchen and found tons of food, surprisingly the freezer even had a backup generator with the intermittent power it never lost power for more than a few minutes and most of the food inside, while freezer burnt, looked viable. JJ marked the door and secured it closed as she had the stairs. “We’ll let the teleporters know about this.” They cleared all the non-perishables, lots of instant mashed potatoes and oatmeal, breakfast cereal, dried onions, powdered eggs, etc. boxes and cans of food that didn’t seem to be invaded by mice or anything else. It was a windfall for sure. There were a couple large bags of flour and other things they couldn’t fit in the bag and so they moved them into a pantry that JJ secured as well. “This is quite a haul. I’m so glad we came here. I almost can’t wait to come back.” There was something exciting about looting. It was like finding treasure.
“Make sure everyone watches for trouble next time,” Roz threw her pack in through the open truck window before opening the door to the driver’s side. “If there’s dogs around, there’s no telling who or what else might know about this.” She was actually surprised they hadn’t drawn the dogs’ attention the day before, but they had been inside for most of that day. That was two stragglers she had easily scared away. Probably sick and hungry. A larger pack might be roaming somewhere else and just hadn’t made its way back yet.
“Yea, tell them to bring Bear or a shotgun. Or Tris can do that thing he can do.” She’d seen the teleporter throw someone with his powers once, it was quite impressive. She slipped her backpack on and adjusted the hat she was still wearing. “Come on, let’s kick this popsicle stand.” With a smirk JJ slipped out of the kitchen. They hit the small emt office before leaving and ended up wheeling some supplies and medical bags to the truck.
Once everything was loaded up JJ did a quick mental calculation and nodded. She’d have time to get home and clear out the backpack before her portal collapsed so she dropped it in the back and they made sure the tarp was secure before getting in the car. “You want me to drive back?”
“Nah,” Roz was still worked up from the dogs earlier. “I can handle it.” She knew she would be able to make the drive with no problem. Besides, it gave JJ the freedom to be distracted and tinker.
Hopping into the passenger seat, JJ smiled at Roz and turned the radio back on once the car was started. They’d filled up the tank already and were set to go. The young girl was pleased that her radio station almost made it to Primm, it was very staticky though. Once they were a few miles out of town she hopped back on the radio, channel one, and let people know they were on their way back.