The Enclave sucked. That was the simple conclusion that Trixie had come to. The Enclave, their world, and everything about it sucked more than all of the magical messes that CHS had dealt with combined.

Trixie couldn’t get the image of Turner’s head erupting out of her mind. She had seen a few horror movies before, but there was a huge difference between seeing cheesy special effects on a screen, and seeing the real thing right in front of you. To be fair, Trixie found it easy enough to understand why the Enclave wanted to leave. Any world where a medical professional’s first instinct was the use of deadly force was a world that no sane person would want to stay in.

Thankfully, Vice-Principal had decided against checking the surface using the facility’s security cameras. Trixie couldn’t deny that she had initially felt a little curious as to what a real post-apocalyptic wasteland looked like, but the shooting had utterly quashed any semblance of enthusiasm.

Since her idea of using the cameras had been shot down, and she couldn’t think of anything else to distract the trio with, Sienna had taken them back to the cafeteria to let them try to relax and process their situation, a decision that Trixie very much approved of. Once she had rinsed the taste of vomit out of her mouth in the cafeteria’s sink, Trixie excused herself and followed Sienna’s directions to the nearest restroom. She didn’t really need to go, but rather was desperate for some peace, quiet, and solitude.

The restroom was, surprisingly, less spartan than the rest of the facility. There were mirrors over every faucet, a small ham radio in one corner playing jaunty little tunes, a trashcan in another corner, a dispenser for sanitary products and, Trixie blushed when she spotted it, a dispenser for intimate lubricants and fertility treatments. That blush only deepened when she spotted fresh posters on each of the toilet stalls of a man in a red, white and blue jacket and top hat, with the caption: UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOU! Do your bit to help the Enclave repopulate our world!

Trixie quickly ducked into one of the stalls. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there weren’t any posters inside, then put the toilet seat down so she could sit comfortably. Finally alone and unsupervised, Trixie groaned and rested her head in her hands.

It wasn’t long before silent tears were slipping down her cheeks.

---

Fluttershy had never noticed before just how much Vault 101 reeked. It had almost certainly smelled a lot better before all of the current drama kicked off, but right now her nostrils were filled with the foetid stench of rotting garbage, old blood, and radroach waste. She quietly hoped that it only smelled so bad because of her enhanced senses. Thankfully, the fact that Rarity hadn’t so much as wrinkled her nose as they walked suggested that that was probably the case.

Together with Adam, Fluttershy left the clinic and made her way back through the choke points. She glanced sidelong at Butch as she passed. She wasn’t even remotely afraid of the loud-mouthed thug anymore, but she still wasn’t quite sure that she trusted him, even with his apparent change of attitude towards the group.

“Are you alright?” Adam asked suddenly.

Fluttershy looked up at him. His expression was calm and collected, but she could hear his heart hammering away in his chest much faster than usual. “I’m okay. Are you?”

“I guess so.” Adam sighed heavily. “It’s just weird being back here. I’d say it’s nostalgia, but things have changed so much that the place is barely recognizable to me.”

That was understandable. Fluttershy tried to think of something that might lift his spirit, but all that came to mind were weak platitudes, so she changed tack. “If we can sort this mess out peacefully, would you like to move back here?”

Adam shook his head vigorously. “Not a chance. There’s a whole world out there, I couldn’t just settle down here in the underground again. I might see if I can rest here every now and again, just to keep in contact, but my place is outside.” He shook his head again, melancholy slipping into his voice. “It might not be what dad wanted for me, but that’s where I belong.”

Fluttershy gently placed her hand on his back. “He’d be proud of you,” she said, getting a sad smile from him.

As the pair emerged back into the atrium, Fluttershy tensed up. “What’s wrong?” Adam asked, immediately noticing her sudden shift.

“There’s people around. Quite a lot of people,” Fluttershy replied. She could hear their muffled voices coming from a room nearby, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. “They’re gathered in one of the rooms down there.” She nodded towards a nearby corridor. “They weren’t there when we came in.”

Adam glanced over at Taylor, who was still at his post by the entrance, scowling at the pair. “It’s probably the security team, they’re bound to know we’re here, or maybe the other residents are getting together to discuss our return,” Adam mused. He shrugged and kept walking. “Hopefully it’s the latter, but if it’s the former, I think we can trust the girls to hold the fort.”

“I’m more concerned about them turning the security team into mulch,” Fluttershy said flatly. “Does Vault 101 even have anything bigger than a 10mm pistol?”

“Hmm, I think the Mack’s might have an assault rifle,” Adam replied. “Officer Mack and Wally kept bragging about how their ancestors brought it with them when they first settled in the Vault, but I’ve never actually seen it.”

The thought of an assault rifle in the clutches of the Macks was a nasty little surprise. Fluttershy was confident that the others would be able to handle it easily enough, but she was getting a sneaking suspicion that at least one of the Macks was going to end up six feet under by the end of the day.

As they made their way through the Vault, Fluttershy noticed that none of the usual residents were abroad in the corridors. Whether that was because of the tension between factions, an enforced lockdown by the Overseer, or simply because word of the Rainbooms’ return had spread, was anybody’s guess.

It didn’t take long for the pair to reach the Vault’s upper level, though the number of broken and barricaded doors meant that they had to take the scenic route. Fluttershy frowned and cocked her head to the side as they reached the atrium’s upper walkways. “Oh, I hope that isn’t what I think it is,” she muttered.

“What is it?” Adam asked.

“Four people are following us,” Fluttershy replied, listening intently. “Two of them are wearing boots, not shoes. They must be members of the security team.”

Adam glanced back the way they had come, then looked over the walkway’s railing. “We may as well wait for them. If they’re looking for trouble, they may as well find it here.”

“I suppose you’re right.” Fluttershy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating on the law she had adopted from the Family.

The Law of Family: Kill not our kindred; slay only the enemy.

Fluttershy didn’t like the idea of violence, she doubted that she ever would, but if the security team were determined to pick a fight with her and her friends, that made them the enemy. If they couldn’t be talked down, then there was only one other option. A few seconds later, Fluttershy opened her eyes just as the four followers emerged onto the walkway.

Officer Mack was at the front of the little group. His helmet visor was up, revealing a sadistic grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he had a 10mm pistol clutched in one hand. Fluttershy felt her predatory instincts stir at the sight of him. He was the one who had murdered Jonas; the first death that Fluttershy had had to deal with in this miserable world.

Resisting the urge to immediately vamp out and slake her rising bloodlust, Fluttershy tore her gaze away from Officer Mack and looked at the others with him. Officer Wolfe was standing next to Mack, bearing both an identical pistol and an identical twisted grin. Behind them, surprisingly, were Wally Mack and Pepper Gomez. Wally, Officer Mack’s younger brother, had ditched his old Tunnel Snakes jacket and was tightly gripping a cracked baseball bat, while Pepper, Officer Gomez’ wife, was holding a large kitchen knife. Fluttershy presumed that Pepper wasn’t as amenable to the Rainbooms as her husband was.

“Hey, long time no see,” Adam said calmly, though he was glaring at Officer Mack as much as Fluttershy had been. “We’re just on our way to have a chat with the Overseer, did you need us for something?”

Officer Mack chuckled maliciously. “I almost couldn’t believe it when Taylor said that you little shits were back.”

“And I can’t believe a lot of the crap going on back here,” Adam retorted. “For a start, they’ve still got a scumbag like you on the security team.” Mack opened his mouth to say something, but Adam ignored him and turned to Pepper. “You surprise me, though. I get why Tweedle Dum, Tweedle Dee, and Tweedle Dipshit are here, but what about you, Mrs Gomez?”

Pepper tightened her grip on her knife and glared at the pair. “It’s all your fault, yours and that idiot father of yours.” Fluttershy fought the urge to snarl at the insult to James. “The Vault was safe, but thanks to all of you leaving, those rebels want to risk everything and contact the outside, just because they’re bored!” Pepper shook her head. “I don’t want to do this, but I can’t let you risk my son’s safety.”

“You do realize that Taylor already tried to shoot him earlier today, right?” Adam pointed out, making the blood drain from her face. “The biggest danger to the Vault right now are these posers.” He jerked his head towards the security officers.

“I think I’ve had enough of you running your mouth,” Officer Mack sneered. “It’s payback time.”

Fluttershy tensed, ready to whip her sword out at a second’s notice, while Adam straightened up and squared his shoulders. “Pepper, you’ve always been good to us, and Wally, this is over your head, so I’m going to give you one chance. Walk away. As for you.” He cracked his knuckles and fixed Officer Mack with a glare that would give a Super Mutant pause. “You’re going to pay for what you did to Jonas and Amata.”

Officer Mack leered at him. “Did you know that they cried?” He said with vicious glee. “Cried like little babies when I beat them, especially that little bitch, Jonas-”

That last jab obliterated what little remained of Fluttershy’s control. Wings erupted from her back, a feral snarl escaping her throat as she leapt at her prey. Officer Mack didn’t even have time to react as Fluttershy raked her talons across his throat. Before he could even clasp his hands to the gaping wound in his neck, Fluttershy stepped to the side and backhanded Wolfe with a fist. He fell to the floor instantly, his helmet dented in far enough to show that the blow had been fatal. Mack followed a heartbeat later, weakly pawing at his throat.

Movement caught Flutteshy’s eye, and she snapped her head up to fix Pepper and Wally in her sight. The two of them were staring at her wide-eyed, holding their weapons in a white-knuckled grip as their terrified heartbeats thundered in Fluttershy’s ears; weak little prey-things ready for the slaughter.

Before she could lunge for them, a hand gently touched Fluttershy’s shoulder. Quick as a flash, she shrugged it off and spun around, letting out a warning snarl, only to see Adam holding his hands up placatingly. “Easy, Flutters,” he said slowly. “That’s the two biggest assholes down, how about we let the other two think about their mistakes, huh?”

Fluttershy growled and looked back at the other two. It took a tremendous effort of will, but finally she managed to hiss and tear her gaze away from them. She covered her mouth and nose with a hand. “I need to get out of this corridor.”

“She’s a monster,” Pepper said suddenly, her voice quavering with fear. Fluttershy glanced back to see her cowering against the wall, her knife forgotten, while Wally dropped his bat and fell to his knees, staring at the corpse of his older brother. The sight of the blood pooling on the floor stoked Fluttershy’s thirst, and she quickly looked away.

“The only monsters here are dead on the floor,” Adam countered. “If you don’t want more to follow, then stop picking fights with the people who are trying to help. He put an arm around Fluttershy’s shoulders and gently tugged her away. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Fluttershy let herself be guided slowly away from the scene. The urge to go back and unleash hell, to feed indiscriminately, was still thundering through her veins, powerfully enough that it was all she could do not to sink her fangs into the neck that was so tantalisingly close to her own. When the two entered the last corridors before the Overseer’s office, she slipped out from under Adam’s arm and rifled through her nursing kit for a blood pack.

“Are you okay?” Adam asked.

Fluttershy drained the blood pack in a second, savouring the tingle that flowed through her body. With the edge taken off her thirst, at least for the moment, she sighed and tried to organize her thoughts. “I shouldn’t have killed them.”

“If it’s any consolation, the only reason I didn’t do it myself is because you got there literally a split-second before me,” Adam told her. “At least you didn’t go for Wally and Pepper. They’re idiots, and an asshole in Wally’s case, but they probably don’t deserve that.”

“I nearly did go for them,” Fluttershy replied tightly. Even now, after downing a pint of blood, her body was still aching for more.

Adam shrugged. “Nearly killing them is better than actually killing them.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I suppo-” She glanced over her shoulder as she heard lots of faint footsteps and voices crossing the lower floor of the atrium.

“What is it?” Adam asked, instantly on guard.

“About ten people, I think,” Fluttershy replied. “It sounds like they’re heading down towards the clinic.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Adam glanced down the corridor they needed to take, then back at Fluttershy. “Should we head down there and see if we can stop them?”

Fluttershy almost said yes immediately, but she managed to hold herself back. Stalking through the Vault’s corridors when she was vamped up wasn’t likely to be safe for anybody, especially if she ran into another hostile group, and she didn’t feel anywhere near calm enough to switch back to her ordinary form just yet. “No, the girls can handle it. We need to speak to the Overseer.”

Adam nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

With the decision made, the two headed through the last few corridors to the Overseer’s office. When they arrived, they found Officer Gomez sitting on a chair in the waiting room outside, nursing a cup of coffee. His eyes practically popped out of his head when he saw Fluttershy, and he quickly put the coffee down and scrambled to his feet. “What the hell?”

“We need to speak to the Overseer,” Fluttershy said in a tone that brooked no refusal.

Next Chapter: Chapter 128 - Defensive Measures 101 Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 3 Minutes