#onlyawanderer.

charon's question has her hesitating briefly as she studies the road that stretches before them, then rechecks the map on her pip-boy for the tenth time or so. her mind tumbles over the pros and cons of taking the shortcut, incorporating the amount of supplies in her pack. she realizes that, molerats or not, the shortcut was the best way to go. at least it wasn't a nest of mirelurks. she hated those assholes with their hard shells and their creepy clicking noises that set her teeth on edge.

"kind of," she finally says, absently readjusting her pack's shoulder straps. "i'm running low on supplies. i've got one water, two nukas, a pack of fancy lad cakes, and less than half a box of sugar bombs. ammo's starting to dip into the 'too low for my comfort' category as well." she blows out a puff of air, blowing it upwards so it blows her bangs out of her eyes. "i'm not doing the best on medical supplies, either. two stimpacks, less than half of a bottle of rad-x, a single rad-away, and an almost empty roll of bandages."

she looks over at charon and gives him a small smile. "looks like we go the molerat shortcut route. those tunnels really wiped me out. what about you? how are you doing on supplies? anything we need to keep an eye out for you to grab at the next settlement?"

@g0dwept asked: 🏹 Yank an arrow out of the receiver’s shoulder with a swift pull. — cooper & sam

her back presses against the subway wall as she slowly slides down it, exhaustion making every part of her body ache. glancing down, she realizes that her hands are visibly trembling. she lets out a shaky breath, running them over her face before dropping them to her knees. her head falls back, features twisting into a slight grimace as it bumps a little too hard against the crumbling wall behind her. "we should stop here for the night. i...i'm exhausted. it's way too dangerous to keep pushing forward at this point." she's the first person to keep pushing and pushing, but she feels like she's about to drop. she doesn't want to be the reason that they get torn apart by a pack of feral ghouls. "i don't know how everyone does this all the time. is it just a...a wastelander thing or what?"

her hand darts out, grabbing the other person by the collar and yanking them back roughly. "don't run ahead of me!" she snaps, unable to help the irritability that colors her words. she'd already told them before they'd even entered the building not to rush ahead, but that particular order seems to have been forgotten in between the two small pockets of raiders that they'd fought in the from then until now. she sighs, then points at a very thin metal wire that was barely discernible in the gloom. "trip wire." then she jabs her finger up and at an angle. "two shot guns, primed and ready to blow your head off. you can't rush around in buildings like these, especially if they're crawling with raiders. you never know what kind of traps you might set off. now, if you're ready to be patient, i can disarm it."

her gun is lofted and she's eying the stranger closely, searching for any sign that he's going to shoot first. she can see the pip-boy on his wrist and it does catch her interest, but the growling super mutants and the pounding boots of raiders cause her to bite her tongue. interrogation can come later. right now, safety is her primary concern.

when he bolts, she follows closely behind. she doesn't pause to shoot behind her nor does she shoot the figure in front of her. green-blue eyes shift over to the man when he speaks, head bobbing in a sharp nod. "you haven't given me a reason to." and it was the truth. he could have shot her when they were having their standoff. he could have barred the door and left her to the mercy of mutants and raiders. but he didn't and that counts for something in her book.

she moves over to one of the dusty windows, carefully angling herself so that she could see out of a clearer spot but not be immediately noticed from those outside. "...they look to be passing us. looks like we may skip the gunfight after all." she stays where she is but looks back at the man. "name's sam. it's been a while since i've looked down the barrel of a gun and the person holding it hasn't attempted to shoot me. what vault are you from?" eyes flick to the pip-boy on his wrist, then back at his face.