After the Desolation- Rebuilding the World

C

Charlie Vasilyev

Guest
Plot Henrietta Gulyas Aiden Pyrel
  • Starting the early 2020s the third world war broke out only this one was different because most participants were building or had nuceal capabilities. It was long and bloody and in the end nuclear weapons were used. Many countries were wiped out.
    The USA had been building vaults and shelters during the war and many citizens survived hiding there. Still most of the country was left on the surface to suffer the consequences of nuclear fall out. Most died, but some survived burned and mutated. As year went on the nuclear wasteland that was once the US also moved on. Where cities once were grown over rubble now stood. The animals and humans thta lived mutated to survive. The climate even changed putting the US ever present extremes. Extreme heat or extreme cold with very few 'moderate' months in between.
    Years kept moving and things fell into a way of life. In the vaults people lived under the thumb of their director. Some were strict some lenient. Some vaults were evacuated because systems failed, revolutions ended others, and still other survived by harsh punishment and extreme control.
    There are roaming gangs and nomads that have been thrown out of or escaped vaults on the surface, but what the surface dwellers and shelter dwellers don't know is that the vaults were never built to last this long. The time will come when everything will stop running and working. Then it will be seen who will survive.


  • Name: Henrietta Sari Gulyas

    Nickname: Retta, Ri, Henri

    Age: 19

    Gender: Female

    Orientation: Straight

    Likes: People, water, drinking, music, her denim jacket(She likes the patches), colorful things, flowers,

    Dislikes: Feeling used, being alone, the night, her past, sleeping

    Why They're Out Of The Underground: She was thrown out of her vault for stealing alcohol.

    Personality:

    Impulsive- Henrietta is very impulsive. She tends to act without thinking and doesn't have the best self control. She has hyper-sexual tendencies and tries to hide problems by distracting herself and keeping herself busy with other things. She will get into fights, steal things, and make poor decisions and deals just to keep herself from having to think about her past or why she does what she does.

    Extroverted- Henrietta enjoys being around people which can be a problem in the wilderness where friends are hard to come by. She tends to get anxious and depressed because she has nothing to distract herself with. Being around people gives her energy and helps her keep her mind busy. Henrietta also cares for people a lot which is hard to see because of how jumpy her attention is, buts he truly does care for others.

    Energetic/Jumpy- Henrietta has a lot of energy. She tends to be hyper which helps her keep going for the days where it's dangerous to sleep because of gangs or mutants in the area. Her energy is very vibrant. When around others she talks a lot and is very jumpy and exciteable. She doesn't focus too well either so her conversations are very flighty.

    Lonely- Even when around others Henrietta tends to feel isolated and alone. Which is why she overcompensates with being high energy and very friendly. Because of her past Henrietta feels like she can't connect with others easily. She depression issues, but can hid it around others because people give her the energy to hide stuff. When alone she doesn't have that energy to care anymore.

    Bio: Henrietta was born in one of the harsher vaults. It was very strict about who was useful and who was useless. Her father, who was a nurse, was thrown out when she was 4 because he was stealing narcotics. This was also the time the twins were born.

    Kata and Abraham were born early and Kata was born with CP in her left leg. The director of the vault gave her mother a choice. Give him Henrietta or Kata gets kicked out because she was considered 'useless' due to disability. The deal was secret of course and required for Kata to stay hidden so that other families didn't try to cut deals also.

    Her mother chose to give Henrietta to the director. Henrietta lived with him until she was 15. A week after her 15th birthday it was discovered that Henrietta had been stealing alcohol from the small supply the vault had which was used to reward people the director favored or rarely as a reward when the vault was doing well. Stealing in the vaults was considered one of the worse crimes because of how limited certain supplies were especially as rare as some things were.

    Upon being thrown out Henrietta didn't have anything. She wasn't allowed to take any supplies to take with her. The vaults policy was if anyone was caught stealing they would be released into the wilderness with one pair of clothes, but no shoes and no supplies. This was discourage stealing even in the lowest class of the vault.

    Henrietta hooked up with several gangs as she wandered using prostitution as her form of paying because she had no other skills.

    Looks: The young woman stands at 4'11" and is rather thin from her time in the wilderness. She has very small muscle definition from getting stronger but is also very spindly. Her curves though their are relatively small from malnutrition.

    Henrietta is part Hungarian, part Israeli, and part British. Her skin is a light brown and now after 4 years in the wilderness is deeply tanned and dirty. She has plenty of scars on her body. There are a lot on her legs and feet from her first weeks and months in the wilderness and also on her arms and chest from fighting and sometimes her form of 'trade' got rough.

    Henrietta has black slightly wavy hair that's greasy and filthy because of how little she gets to perform personal hygiene. She hacked it up with a knife recently because she thought it was getting too long and too nasty. It hangs over her ears a bit and unevenly around her neck and forehead. She has moderately thick eyebrows and rather thick eyelashes.

    Her eyes are a very deep blue with a star burst of gray near the middle and specks of brown in them. Her nose is a button nose and her lips are thin. Her right ear is normal, but her left ear looks mangled because when she was first out one of her 'clients' shot at her after he felt he didn't get a good enough end of the deal. It missed her barely, but ripped up her ear and deafened her in that ear.

    Henrietta's hands are small and by now well calloused and scarred. Her nails are bitten to the quick because when she gets anxious she bites them. Her feet are also relatively small.

    Wears: She wears a dingy tan t-shirt that used to be white, but now is more sandy brown if anything. Her pants are a set of faded desert camoflouge cargo pants that have rips at the edges and are getting threadbare at the knees and her boots are a pair of brown kids work boots she traded for years a go.
    She has a coyote tan backpack she also traded for also a few years ago. It's a military bag with velcro on the outside for patches and strips you can hook flashlights and the like too.
    She has a faded denim jacket with various odd patches in her bag she uses in the winter.
    She has a milk jug filled with water she keeps slung on some rope over her shoulders.

    Other: She is deaf in her left ear.

    Henrietta bites her nails when anxious.

    Her gear is a mismash of old military stuff and work type clothes. She got most of her gear during her first year in the wilderness.

    Most of her 'trades' now she still uses prostitution for because she refuses to trade her equipment for fear of losing her things.

    Most of her trades now are to use water filling places and get food.

    Henrietta never sticks around with one gang because despite it being her choice to sell herself she eventually starts feeling used and unable to form any deep connections will runaway and move on.

    Family:

    Mother- Riva Miriam Gulyas

    Father- Gregory Edvard Gulyas

    Sister- Katalinka Lily Gulyas

    Brother- Abraham Gregory Gulyas

    Theme Song(s):

    I Will Not Bow ~ Breaking Benjamin

    Creator: @Charlie Vasilyev


  • Name: Aiden Pyrel

    Nickname: Peacock

    Age: 18

    Gender: Male

    Orientation: Straight

    Likes: Being around others, Certain types of pain, Feeling useful

    Dislikes: Doing Nothing, Laziness in general, Deep water (he has a fear of drowning),

    Why They're Out Of The Underground: His father got kicked out, and since his mother left with his father, he joined them.

    Personality:

    Tolerant: He is willing to listen to the opinions of others and not degrade them for what they believe, especially there he knows there are questionable things about himself.

    Charismatic: If the mood seems low, Aiden is good at using words and action to pick up the mood and motivate those that are down.

    Selfless: This is not always a positive trait. In many cases, he will put others above himself, even at the risk of his own health. There are a few specific cases where he will put himself first when it means no physical harm will come to the other person.

    Prideful: It is this trait along with his looks that earned him his nickname of Peacock: the pretty boy with an attitude. Being prideful can be negative, but he tries to make it as positive as he can and only struts himself around someone he considers a friend.

    Bio:
    Aiden doesn't remember much of his time in the vault. He remembers the people were fairly kind, at least to him, but they were also strict because they had to be. He was only there until the age of 5, since during that year his father, Seth, got kicked out for his lack of willingness to help. His mother was not willing to leave him, so she went with and so Aiden came along also.

    His memories of the vault are limited, whereas his memories of the surface are clear as day. The first year above ground was fairly uneventful, with the three of them wandering around, but after that, his father took control of one of the wandering games, and it was with that gang he lived for the next 11 years.

    Life for him was fairly simple. As a young child he made friends out of some of the other permanent members of the gang, and as he grew older he learned how to better survive. Unfortunately, as the years passed his relationship with his father started to crumble. The two of them began to argue about many things, the biggest one being that Aiden took pleasure in inflicting pain upon himself, something he figured his father would never understand.

    A chance at understanding would never be given since Seth was killed in front of him by someone he had thought was a friend of their family. The killer told him to leave unless he wanted to suffer the same fate. With no other choice, he fled. The seventeen year old quickly turned 18, and he spent his time trying to survive while hoping he would one day be able to return to the mother he had to leave behind, praying that she was doing ok.

    Looks:
    Aiden stands at 5'8" and has a weight (that used to be an average of 120 lbs) has been dropping since the incident that led him to being on his own.

    His hair is black and hangs down to his neck, expect for his bangs which hang down slightly passed his nose since it has grown and he has not taken the chance to cut it. It stands out against his paling skin, since most of his traveling has been done at night when he is least likely to accidentally run into the gang he was kicked from, fearing what might happen if he did.

    The middle of his irises are a seafoam green, the edges blending into a more darker blue. His eyes are soft, like the rest of his facial features. The right side of his bottom lip is pierced, something he convinced a friend to make for him as a way to spite his father. It hadn't been easy to get what was needed for the piercing, but he had managed to work out a deal.

    Clothing is whatever he finds to wear, normally a plain t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Shoes are another story as his recently became unwearable so he is looking for something else to wear, so as of right now his feet are bare. He was lucky enough to find a backpack so puts anything useful he finds in it.

    Aiden small

    Other:
    Aiden is a masochist, but he is anything but submissive.

    He wants nothing more than to return to his Momma, the person he loves the most in this world.

    He is not doing as well on his own as he thought he would.


    Family:
    Seth Pyrel- Father- Deceased
    Unnamed mother- Alive
    Adrian Pyrel- Uncle- Unknown

    Theme Song(s):

    Soliders ~ Otherwise

    Creator: @Icystorm
 
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Aiden greatly liked the sound of that. If the pills were something people wanted then that meant they could trade for more food, something he had not had enough of for quite some time. Suddenly being in the vault wasn't all that terrible. Being around dead bodies still was not preferable, but it was now more bearable. He would deal with almost anything if it meant getting more food in his belly, and maybe even a little extra, like something warming to wear for the coming cold. That is if Henrietta decided to share with him.

Helping search the rest of the medical wing, he nodded when she spoke after the rest of the search turned up nothing. "Ok. That sounds good." He followed to the kitchen and immediately began to help look around. Most of what he found was spoiled and did not mix well with the smell the dead bodies created. It was gag inducing, but he managed to to choke on the smell when he got close to any rotten food.

Opening a cupboard, he gave a happy cry when he found a dented but otherwise unopened can. Pulling off his backpack, he stuck the can in the bag then put the bag back over his shoulders. The rest of his search turned up empty, so he decided to go and see how Henrietta had fared.
 
Henrietta hadn't found much either. This vault had a surprising amount of what used to be fresh food. The bread wasn't even any good because it'd gotten wet and moldy. She did find a bag of dried soup and a box of crackers she'd found shoved in the back of a cabinet.

She also started to check for the knives, but most were either in a dead body or covered in blood and Henrietta wasn't about to mess with someone else's crusty blood that had no one knows how many diseases on it.

"You find anything?" she asked Aidan as she put the crackers and dried soup into her backpack, "We can check living quarters for clothes or blankets or something and then find somewhere to sleep." she added laying out her plan.

When Henrietta had first entered the vault she'd thought they'd stay here, but now she didn't want to. The stench was horrible and she was worried that because of all the bodies it would attract mutants and she didn't want to spend her sleep time fighting off wild animals. She didn't know for sure, but Aidan didn't look like he wanted to stay here either. They could build or find some other shelter to stay in above ground. Hopefully pretty soon, because she was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.
 
Aiden watched as Henrietta put the soup bag and box of crackers in her backpack, his question of whether she found anything answered by the sight. Now that they had more than bread and a means to get more food, he felt like it would be ok to finish off the piece of bread she had given him, if not before sleep then once he woke up.

"Yeah. I found an unopened can. I am not sure what is in it, though." Whatever was in it, he didn't care so long as it was still edible. "It looks like you came out a little better than I did, but it is good we are finding stuff."

Thanks to his newly found good mood, he managed a smile and was fine with checking out one more area of the vault before sleeping. Maybe they would even find something warm, because all he had now was the small blanket. Then a thought suddenly hit him. Looking down, Aiden's smile turned into a frown at seeing his bare feet. It wasn't so much the bare feet that bugged him but more like the wrapping he had put on earlier was nearly gone, and here he was stepping around dead bodies, the floor littered with blood and god knows what else. He had grown used to not having shoes or socks that he had not even thought about walking through this place with a cut on his foot.

"Henrietta, the pills you found, what are they for? I might have a problem, but I am not sure." He lifted his foot so she could see the cut on the bottom, the bottom of his foot caked in dirt and who knew what else.
 
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"I dunno...just grabbed all the unopened ones. Why?" Henrietta asked following his gaze, "Oh crud that ain't good." she muttered seeing his wrapped foot and realizing what that meant. Open wounds and various bodily fluids and rot were not a good mix,
"I'll see what I got when we're out of here. We can see if there's shoes that fit you here." Henrietta half decided half suggested,


She moved quickly checking for rooms. Honestly this vault was starting to give her the creeps and she wanted out. She could feel her spine crawling the more bodies they found. Some didn't even look like they'd been fighting. She entered a barracks and started opening lockers and looking for clothes. The blankets didn't look good enough to take just thin felt that wouldn't last in the wilderness.

Where's the Director's room? He should have some good crap in there. she thought as she looked through peoples lockers. There wasn't much in there, which wasn't shocking have a communal living space didn't encourage heaps of personal belongings. Mostly she was looking for a pair of shoes that were perfereably not on a dead body, though Henrietta was not above taking some from a dead body it was just not preferred.

"There isn't much in here." she said aloud looking a little ticked off at that fact, "How big are your feet, Aiden?" she added looking from his feet to the bodies as she headed out to see if she could locate the director's room.
 
Aiden did not like the reaction she gave at seeing the wound, it meant he really did have a problem. Fear shot through him as he set his foot back on the ground. What if it got infected? What if he got a disease from one of the bodies? Could he get a disease from someone that was dead? He had no clue, but it seemed likely. Either way, what would happen if the pills Henrietta found were not useful? He might have to cut off his foot to stop infection from spreading, and that would be like giving him a death sentence.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm his mind and followed Henrietta through more of the vault. One thing at a time. First finish exploring certain rooms and hopefully find shoes, then get out of this place. After that he could worry about his foot. Freaking out now would do no good.

He helped her look through the lockers, but like her, he found nothing of use. With how well their search had been going for other items, it was a disappointment that they were finding nothing of use in this last area. There was still a chance they might find something, but it was growing slim.

Stopping his locker search, Aiden frowned as he looked down at his foot. "I'm not really sure. I always just wore whatever fit. Guess I should have paid attention." Even if they found something that was bigger than his size, it would work just fine. Seeing that she was heading out of the room, he quickly followed.
 
Henrietta just nodded. She wasn't expecting a shoe size anyway she'd just been wondering out loud. She headed down the hall more looking for shoes and the director's room.

Stopping at a body about Aiden's size, a young man from what she could tell. His face was smashed in and had started rotting. Henrietta knelt down and untied his shoes pulling them off. They were a set of black combat boots.

"Sorry bud, but you don't need this anymore. " she muttered standing up. She realized they hadn't got Aidan any socks to wear with his shoes.

"Try these on...I have a couple pairs of socks in my bag if we don't find any here." Henrietta explained handing him the shoes. She continued down the hall peeking in the room until she found an opening with a door that looked like it's been broken down with something.

Upon entering the room Henrietta guessed they were at the Director's suite. Right now the room had been ransacked, the king sized bed was flipped off the frame the blankets torn and blood. All of the furniture had been smashed, broken, or knocked over. She went over to the wardrobe and carefully took out the crooked and broken drawers seeing if there was socks.

The room looked like it'd been luxurious at one point, but now it was one of the worst rooms in the vault. Henrietta found some socks and tossed them too Aidan,

"Take those." she told him before entering the private bathroom., whose door had bullet holes in it and was hanging off it's hinges.

There was a woman lying on the floor. She'd been shot in the midst of getting dressed. There was also a man on the floor who was not dressed his clothes were lying on the toilet lid. Henrietta guessed it was the director and his mistress. There'd been no woman's clothes in the room that she saw so the woman was probably not the director. She stepped over both bodies and grabbed two wash clothes that were folded neatly before leaving.

"Let's get out of here." she suggested shoving the wash cloths in her bag and heading for the door. The place was really giving her the creeps. The story of what had happened intrigued her, but at the same time it was just gross in here and all the bodies lying where they died was very unsettling.
 
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Aiden looked down at the body Henrietta had stopped next to, instantly regretting looking at the dead male's face. It wasn't as if he wasn't as bad as some of the other dead, there were other bodies that were just as bad if one looked close enough, but looking close is what made all the difference. Closing his eyes, he turned his head away and did not open them until she spoke to him.

"Alright." Grabbing the boots, he turned away from the body and quickly slipped them on. He was grateful that they fit well, and as he wiggled his toes he had to force his mind not to remind him that the shoes had just been pulled off of a dead person. Too much thought on that and he figured he would be sick.

With the shoes now on, he did a quick run down the hall to catch up to Henrietta, nearly tripping a few times since it had been a bit since he had wore anything on his feet, not to mention he had not taken the time to tie them. He didn't want to fall behind and lose his new companion, especially in a place like this.

He caught up to her as she turned into another room that was worst than most. Taking a quick look around was all he let himself do, not wanting to pay too close attention to details. In a place like this, details told a horror story.

Catching the socks, he stuck them in his bag and waited for her to come out of what had to be the bathroom. When she came out and was ready to leave, he gave a brisk nod and quickly left the room ahead of her. As he walked he glanced back to make sure Henrietta was still with him, and seeing that she was, he only stopped once he was outside the vault. "At least that was worth it." He turned to look at her, more than thankful for air that did not smell like death.
 
Henrietta followed Aiden and once they were out she opened her arms up wide,

"Woo! Fresh air!" she cheered. She then looked around and headed towards where the woods got thicker. They needed to set up shelter somewhere so they could take care of Aiden's foot and get some rest. She figured she was far enough form the town her old gang couldn't find them now, or at least she hoped.

"After we set up camp for the night we'll check out your foot and see what's up with that. They we should eat and set up watched for however long we're sleeping." Henrietta suggested.

She continued to talk about random things to keep her mind off the vault as they trudged onward for probably half an hour until she found a secluded spot in the woods. The brush was thick, but there was a very small clearing.

"This looks nice." she said dropping her bag on the ground carefully so as not to bust open her alcohol containers. She started to search for brush to enclose the area better and shore up protection n some thinner parts of the foliage,

"Sit down and take your boots off. Air out the would and I'll take a peek in a moment." Henrietta told Aiden as she worked. The boy hadn't said much during the trip, but Henrietta had been chatty enough for the both of them. It was easier for her to talk even if it was nonesense or useless information.
 
The cheer Henrietta gave was contagious, and Aiden managed a wide smile. Yeah, she could cheer that again. He never thought he would enjoy fresh air as much as he did now. And not having to look at the dead bodies anymore was a plus, although thinking about the body fluids he had stepped on with an open wound was nearly enough to ruin the happiness of fresh air.

He was fine with the plan that she came up with. Seth up camp, check out his foot, eat, then sleep. The one thing he wasn't sure about was keeping watch. That had been something he had been find doing without for as long as he had been alone, but he would wait until the time came to bring that up. Right now he was thankful enough for Henrietta's constant chatter. Without it he might have curled up and fell asleep, but having constantly changing thoughts for whatever topic she moved onto next help to keep him awake.

Looking down at the area she found, he agreed that it looked nice. It would do for the night, and was better hidden than some areas he had ended up sleeping in. Listening to her command, he sat down and pulled the boot off his injured foot, also removing what little wrapping still hung from his foot. The wound didn't look any different than it had before, still covered in dirt all those things he would rather not think of. Taking the water out of his bag, he poured a little over his foot to clean off part of the wound. What had been cleaned revealed the the area around the cut was starting to turn red.

Sighing, he grabbed the water and took a drink. He was worried about his foot, but he would wait and see what Henrietta thought about it. No use freaking himself out until he needed to.
 
Henrietta finished fixing their camp and then sat down in front of Aidan pulling her bag over. She grabbed the pill bottles and laid them out and then fumbled around searching for the jars of alcohol. She pulled out her jacket, cautiously unwrapping the bundle she pulled out of on the large mason jars of oddly colored alcohol and then put the bundle back. She grabbed a hankerchief from her bag too.

"So we're gonna clean this first and it's gonna hurt like hell." she warned him opening the jar and dipping her hankerchief in it she grabbed Aidan's foot,

"On the count of three. One, Two..." she suddenly put the cold wet hankerchief against the foot and started to dab and wipe it gently off to clean it.

"We have some extra bandages when we're done here we'll wrap it up and check to see what we have in the pills just in case. " Henrietta added. She looked at the wound frowning and dabbing at the edges to clean it well,

"So what's your story?" she asked. Henrietta didn't really need to hear his whole life story just something about him that would be interesting after all she had talked all day.
 
Aiden watched closely to see what Henrietta was pulling out of her bag, growing confused until she opened the bottle and a familiar scent hit his nose, instantly recognizing the potent smell of alcohol. He wasn't sure how she got it, or even why she had it, but he figured it wasn't any of his business so he did not ask. Plus, she was willing to help and use her supplies on him, so the least he could do was give her a little respect.

Nodding he said, he wasn't too worried about the pain, but the first few seconds after she pressed the alcohol covered handkerchief to his foot hurt and he could not hold back a wince. After those first few seconds the pain became tolerable, and not long after he came to enjoy it, the burning sting causing his lips to curve up in a smile.

His eyes had closed to slits, but they opened when she asked him the question. "My story? I can't say there is really much to tell." His brow furrowed in thought as he thought back and decided what to say. "The first few years of my life were spent in a vault, but I don't remember much. I was too young. My dad got kicked out for a reason I never learned and my mother followed, taking me with. We wandered around, and after a few years my dad took control of a gang. He was good at that, demanding respect and keeping people in line. One of the only things he was good at." The last sentence was spoken with a hint of sadness, but also with conviction. It hurt him to think about his father.

It took a few seconds for him to continue, having drifted off, staring into space. "All things considered, life was good after that. The only negative in it all is that my dad and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. We argued more times than not. I have some regrets about that because about a year ago he..." He paused in his speaking, looking away and to the ground. "He was killed in front of me. The killer told me to leave or the same thing would happen to me, so I fled and have been on my own since." He closed his mouth and moved his gaze away from the ground to instead rest on Henrietta. "My story is not too happy so far, but there is still time for that to change." It could still have a happy ending.
 
Henrietta was shocked when Aidan actually told her his life story or part of his story at least. Like most people who lived in the wilderness it was a rough story, but hey at least he was alive so the ending wasn't bad so far right? She hadn't looked up to see him smile because she was still inspecting his foot.

"That's pretty crappy, but I mean you're alive so it could be worse." Henrietta commented trying to be helpful, but probably coming off as more of insensitive and jerkish. She pulled her bag over and grabbed the bandages from it putting some guaze on the wound and then wrapping it up firmly, but not too tightly.

After wrapping Aidan's foot she sat back and grabbed the alcohol jar and took a quick swig before putting it away.

You can drink later, Henrietta, but not too much. You gotta stand watch tonight. she told herself. Henrietta grabbed the pill bottles and started to look through them as she thought about what to add to the conversation. Telling him she was a booze thief who got thrown out a vault and a prostitute probably wasn't the best opener though moral character wasn't easy to find out here so stuff like that was to be expected if you spent anytime around gangs and such,

"My pa got kicked out of a vault too." she opened at least it was one thing she had in common with Aidan. Henrietta wasn't particularly sentimental about her father. She'd only been 4 when he was thrown out plus he'd always acted weird and had bad mood swings. At the time it'd confused Henrietta, but now she guessed it was due to the drugs he was messing with and stealing.

Either was she'd never felt the Daddy-Daughter attachment some of the other girls seemed to have, she'd loved her dad like any toddler would, but he never really reciprocate d that love. She'd always been slightly jealous that even in the vault which wasn't the best place to grow up in, some people still had good parents who cared about them.
 
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Aiden gave a small huff of laughter, pushing past the sadness he felt so not to become too much a downer. Sadness would not help them at all right now. And it was true. It could be worse. He was thankful that he was alive and had the supplies he did. Even before he ran into Henrietta he was lucky to have the few items he had.

Letting out a soft sigh, and disappointed that he no longer felt the sting from the alcohol, he watched as she pulled out more supplies and began to wrap up his foot. She had far better medical supplies than he did, so thanks to that and her helping him find boots, his feet would now be better off. No more stepping on sharp sticks or stones.

Guessing she was done with his foot, put on the socks and slipped the boots back on, deciding to then help his growling stomach. Since his water was already out of the bag, he pulled out the rest of the bread she had given him, taking a small bite and chewing slowly so he could savor it. Even though the bread wasn't much, to his stomach it was one of the greatest things he had ever eaten. He took a sip of the water and then looked up when Henrietta spoke again, surprised by the words. Not that he should have been surprised.

"Really? What happened, if you don't mind me asking?" While waiting for her to respond, he continued to take his time with eating the bread, hoping to sleep as soon as he finished and she was done responding.
 
Henrietta took a drink of water and pulled out her part of the bread. She took a bite as she thought about whether to actually answer the question. Answering it could lead to other questions and she didn't honestly want to talk about her life that much. Finally deciding to answer it she pulled out her jar of alcohol again and took a small sip before offering it too Aiden,

"He stole drugs. Mostly narcotics I think...he was a nurse so he had easy access to junk like that." Henrietta explained. "I was pretty young when he was booted so I don't really remember it ya know? Didn't know what he did at first, but I found out eventually." she added. Henrietta put the jar of alcohol down since Aiden hadn't taken any yet and ate a little more bread as she waited too see what Aiden would think.

Henrietta found out because the director liked to remind her that her father was a criminal and the kids at school with older siblings knew and would try to bully her over it because having a criminal in the family meant you were the lowest of the low. When she was younger she'd wished she'd never found out like Aiden or that her father had just died instead, but as she got older she forced herself to stop caring.

"Why'd your ma decide to go with your dad into the wilderness?" she asked. If Aiden was going to ask personal questions she figured she could too. Besides she was curious why a mother would take her young child into the wilderness just to be with her husband, after all her own mother had chosen a very different path.
 
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Mid chew, Aiden looked at the offered alcohol bottle, unsure whether to accept or not. He wanted to say he wasn't really one for drinking, but he had never actually tried it. Never had the chance. Now that he did he was at a loss, but before he could make a decision, he grew distracted by her speaking, his eyes moving off the bottle and up to her face, listening to her response and noticing that after she got done speaking she set the bottle down. Good, that meant he didn't have to make a decision about it.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It is hard to remember the past beyond a certain age. Sorry you didn't really get the chance to know him, but maybe it was for the best." What would it have been like to not have known his father? He couldn't even imagine, so it was not something he could even try to understand, let alone figure out how she felt. He may not have gotten along with his father, but he was glad to have known him. Without that relationship, he wouldn't have turned out how he had, and he liked himself just the way he was.

Aiden took the last few bites of his bread, took a sip of the water, and gave his head a small tilt at her question. It caused him to give a smile that contained both happiness and sadness. "Momma loved my dad. He loved her too, and they both loved me. That is all the reason they needed. They wanted to keep our family together." And now the family was a pieces.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he put the water back in his bag then hugged his legs, resting his cheek against his knees. He was too tired to push away strong emotions, and right now he was worried about his mom. There was no way to know if she was ok or if she was even still alive. And what about he and his father? To think about what she might have been told about the two of them, she probably thought they were both dead.

"We should sleep." They could talk more in the morning, when it was easier to deal with everything.
 
Henrietta shrugged off Aiden's apology. He was right it probably was for the best she didn't grow up with an addict running the household, though it would've changed a lot of things she would've never had to deal with the director. She frowned a bit and seeing Aiden wasn't drinking she grabbed the bottle and took another small swig before putting it away.

She listened to what he said about his family feeling a little more sulky was he talked about how they loved each other. Well ain't that just lovey dovey Henrietta thought pessimistically. It kind of hurt sometimes to hear about others families because it made her wonder why her's was such a royal mess. She looked away from Adian to give him privacy and nodded at his suggestion,

"Yeah I'll take first watch." She volunteered popping to her feet and walking the perimeter of camp to check everything before finding a good position to settle in.

Sporadically throughout her watch Henrietta would get up and pace camp or walk the edge to check for mutants or people coming. When she guessed about 3 hours had gone by and went over to Aiden and lay down next to him before shaking him,

"Up and at 'em, Buster." she said wanting to get some sleep before the sun came up.
 
It took a moment for Henrietta's words to sink in, and by the time they did she was already walking away. Aiden let out a sigh and pulled the small blanket out of his bag, for comfort more than anything. Laying on his side, he draped the blanket over his shoulder and used his hands as a pillow. It wasn't the most comfortable, but more than a small amount of comfort was hard to come by.

Closing his eyes, he wished he could have argued the whole keeping watch -it wasn't something he felt was needed. He had done fairly well sleeping without a watch being needed, not that he could have had a watch when it was only him, but that was not the point. The point was, it was not needed. Unless she had a reason for wanting the watch, and if that were the case then they needed to have a talk. It wasn't as if she knew much about her or what her current situation was.

Pushing thoughts aside, he drifted off into a much sleep. Too bad it didn't last as long as he would have liked.

Groaning, he opened his eyes, pulled the blanket off his shoulder, and held it against his neck as he gave Henrietta an unamused look. "Why do we need to keep watch?" His voice was quiet and cracked during the last word. He was too tired to deal with this and wanted a few more hours of sleep.
 
"Why do we have to keep watch?" Aiden asked. Henrietta eyed him for a few moments. Honestly she wasn't sure how to explain why. When she'd been on her own she obviously hadn't kept watch, though that hadn't always ended well for her. She wasn't sure whether to shrug it off and just let both of them sleep or to explain that she may have angered a gang that could be trying to find her.

"Animals, people, stuff like that." she explained shrugging. What was the best way to say the next part? There wasn't really a good way no matter how you spun it. "Also I might have stolen some stuff from a gang in the town east of here. They don't normally go this far from the ruins, but ya never know." she added sheepishly.

Aiden would probably be ticked off she hadn't told him sooner though Henrietta didn't even know why she was telling him now. It probably didn't matter, right? Jules never liked his crew to go to far from the ruins for fear of being lost or being attacked. If the gang had explored more they would've already found that vault probably.

Henrietta thought about telling Aiden to forget it and just take the next shift herself, though she hadn't slept for a bit and didn't want to stay up. The longest Henrietta had stayed up was a bit over 3 days and that hadn't been pleasant. She'd started hallucinating and eventually had collapsed and passed out. While Henrietta didn't like sleeping because she hated her dreams hallucinating was many times worse so she just wanted to sleep.

"Fine...do whatever you want." Henrietta decided not having the energy or will to fight him on the point. If something bad happened so be it at least she'd be better rested. She closed her eyes trying to get to sleep. Henrietta started to rock slightly because it helped her sleep.
 
Since it was taking a few seconds for Henrietta to reply, the world around Aiden began to darken again as his eyes began to close. The lids stopped moving halfway when she spoke, but animals and people had rarely bothered him so he closed his eyes all the wall, only for her to speak again and cause him to open them for a second time. That was the type of information he had been waiting for.

Sitting up, he tried his best to rub the sleep from his eyes. It didn't do much good. With a yawn, he looked towards her bag and wondered what she had stolen. The alcohol seemed likely, but honestly he did not care if she stole stuff from others. He cared that because of it he would not get enough sleep, but he would sleep more later.

"I'll keep watch so long as you let me get more sleep later, when we are somewhere safer." He felt he owed her for all the help she had given him. Without her, it was possible he would still be starving, thirsty, and feeling like death. How he had once again gotten lucky and survived was beyond him.

Deciding to let her sleep, Aiden stood up and began to walk around the area. It helped keep him awake, but when he sat down to take a break he felt tiredness creep back upon him. Sighing, he began to chew on his bottom lip but stopped once it started to bleed. Instead, he picked up a stick and began to gnaw on it. It wasn't much, but it did enough to keep him awake until the sun began to come up.

He checked the area one last time to stretch out his limbs, then crouched down next to Henrietta and gave her a light shake. "Hey. Sun is coming up." And I should be sleeping now. It was odd, having to change his whole sleeping schedule. No wonder he was so tired.
 
Henrietta barely nodded before falling asleep. She didn't exactly sleep soundly she had quite a few nightmares and struggle dto stay asleep. Finally she woke up when Aiden shook her. Yawning she sat up and stretched. Henrietta got up and grabbed her bag off the ground taking some bread out before putting it on,

"Let's get going. We can eat breakfast on the go. If we find a house or town..somewhere with solid shelter we'll stop and you can sleep more." Henrietta decided starting to walk. There were a few old campground with cabins or some sort of Ranger's Hut that Henrietta had seen in her wanderings. She'd even come across a single houses out in the middle of nowhere before. Most of the small single buildings were abandoned, but some had small gangs in them.

"How did you sleep? Anything interesting happen on watch?" She asked as they started their walk. Henrietta was used to very little sleep because even when it was safe she never slept a lot. Henrietta knawed on her cold bread as she walked taking a sip of water from her jug. They needed a place to refill their water soon too.

Shoulda taken your coat out, Henrietta... Henrietta thought. It was a rather bitter morning, worse then even when she started yesterday. She would have to find a very good shelter soon so she could settle down for the weeks upon months of 'winter' where it would be too cold and dangerous to travel more then to get food or wood.
 
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