Out of the Grave, Into the Desert

Chapter 1, Awakening

Pain. Blinding, white hot pain. Was this how my life would end? And for what? A stupid Coin or whatever the man in the checkered suit had called it? These were the last thoughts and sensations before my mind shut down and I sank into the crushing black oblivion that was death. Next thing I knew, I was opening my eyes, to a blinding white light, My mouth felt like I had just drank Brahmin piss, and my head felt like it had been slammed in a drawer lined with nails. I blinked a couple of times, and the pain lessened.and as my vision returened, I saw a slowly rotating fan on a dull plaster ceiling.

As I tried to sit up, the pain in my head increased tenfold and I started to feel sick. A warm, dry and gentle set of hands grabbed me and helped ease me back down, and a man's voice said "Easy there! You've been little more than a breathing corpse for the last couple days, take it slow or you'll hurt yourself! I'm Vincent, but you can call me Vinnie, everyone does. Wish you could have had a more pleasant welcome to our fair town. Goodsprings, in case you don't remember. I'm the stand in doctor, Doc Mitchell had to run to Sloan to help an emergency. Childbirth, or something. left me a note, in case you woke up. Now, I hope you don't mind but he had to go rummaging in your skull to get the bullet fragments out, in case you don't remember you got shot." As if I could forget the blinding, pain. "Now, I was forgettin something, wasn't I? Oh yes, Your name! Do you remember your Name?"

"Kayla." I replied shakily. "My name's Kayla." The man made a strange noise. "Think my name's funny do you?" I snapped at him. "No, no of course not!" The man replied. "I seem to have come down with some sort of cough, and can't get rid of it. Now, As I was saying, the doc had to do a lot of rummaging in your head to get the bullet fragments out. He takes pride in his work, but you better say if anything looks off." He leans down and grabs a device that looks like a computerized mirror.

"How'd he do?" I gazed into the screen, seeing a scared, pale yet still pretty face. Or at least, so other's tell me. I have never been one to think of myself as good looking. My hair was dyed a faded red, after I had mistakenly scavenged an old bottle of dye from a ruined drug store in Alabama, thinking it was shampoo. After washing with it, and drying off, I then discovered my mistake. I didn't remember much about my past, other than moving from place to place a lot, but that was one of the few things that stuck out for some reason. My mouth was small, and face weatherbeaten. All in all, not a bad patch job. "No, it looks right." I said and handed the device back. "Your doc is amazing!" The man chuckled and said "Well he certainly likes to think so. Now, there is no sense in keeping you in bed anymore. Let's see if we can get you on your feet!"

I felt the hands grasp me by the forearms, and slowly helped me stand up. The room lurched dizzily as I stood up, but I could stand alright. I felt like I had a bad hangover, but I'd pull through somehow. "Good!" Vincent said, 'Now, why don't I just let you get ready, and then I'll walk you down to the saloon. Trudy's been dying to meet you. Ah, no pun intended of course." I glanced over at him. A Young, tanned man in a doctor's smock coat grinned at me. He was about 6 feet, broad shouldered, and a bit overweight, but that didn't make him bad looking, it just seemed to complete the image that he should be a lot older, like middle age but wasn't. "What do you mean, get ready? And why is it so drafty in here? is the window open or something?" He shook his head, keeping his eyes firmly locked on my face, which I thought polite, odd and creepy at the same time. "I mean, you gotta get some clothes on! You can't go outside in your underwear, you'd be teased for not bein decent!

I looked down, and saw I was indeed in a white bra and a pair of panties. "Why am I in my underwear, who the hell undressed me, and where the hell are my clothes?" Vincent smiled and said calmly "My girlfriend, Sunny. She undressed you. She also washed them. As for where they are, they are on that table over there behind the privacy screens. The rest of your gear is in your bag on the floor by the table in the corner over there. All your stuff is there, but the doc had to check for Id in case he had to notify your next of kin." Now I gotta write up a few forms for you to sign before you go. I will be in the other room if you need me." At that he turned, and walked out of the room through the door by a machine labeled Vit-O-Matic. On which a paper sign with the word BROKEN was hanging. Good. I hated those things. Always mocked my lack of strength. I dressed quickly, and wandered into the next room to see where Vincent had gone. I saw him sitting at a table writing and checking books. A creaky floorboard alerted him to my presence in the room. Without looking up he said "A few more minutes and you just gotta sign the bottom of this. Then you are free to leave."

I sat down on the couch to wait, taking in the fireplace, and the pictures on the wall. After what felt like ages, Vincent looked up and passed me the clipboard. "Sign where the X is. Also, the doc told me to give you this. He said it's an old Pipboy. It will help with the carrying and radiation, quite a few things actually. Detects Radiation, has a GPS Map in it, the works. He figured it was more useful to you then sittin on a shelf." I looked down at the form I had been handed, signed it, and picked up my new Pipboy, and put on my arm "Thanks." I mumbled. "Hey, don't mention it!" He said cheerfully. "Now c'mon, Trudy will kill me if I didn;t have you come say howdy before you left. Besides, I owe Easy Pete a drink, seein as you woke up."