RIDERS ON THE STORM | ғᴀʟʟᴏᴜᴛ.

SIX

𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙞𝙭 :
ASS JERKY?

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IF SHE THOUGHT the quiet had been horrible with just her and Cooper, adding Lucy into the mix was a shock. No one spoke besides a snarky comment from either Brynn or Cooper that turned into a short bickering session.

Lucy was mostly focused on slugging herself along, trying to stay upright. The heat had been getting to the sisters for miles, but mostly Lucy as her water had been gone long before she met up with the two again.

Cooper was also not doing too hot. He was having coughing fits, and Brynn had asked him why. His only response was to blame Lucy but give no further explanation, but Brynn suspected it had to do with the vials. Why else would he be so upset about them? Unless it was some kind of hardcore drug and he was an addict. But that was probably just Brynn's imagination going wild. Not like she had much else to do while trying to keep her mouth shut during the long hours of travel.

They were passing a building with a large sign reading: Westside Medical Clinic, when a loud grunt was heard from inside. The group stopped and looked at each other. As the voice inside continued to shout, almost sounding to be in pain, a sentence was formed, "Roger! My name is Roger!"

Cooper's jaw dropped slightly as he nodded his head towards the building, a hand on Brynn's back to push her along. She ventured in first and Lucy was pushed along behind her by Cooper. Brynn's chest felt tight as she ventured into the building, having enough faith in Cooper to believe he wouldn't be sending her blind into a trap.

Deeper in the building Brynn could hear scrambling and some thuds. If she had to guess she would pinpoint it as the last room in the hallway, but she still checked every room they passed just in case. "My name is Roger." The voice sounded once more as they passed many rooms with ransacked shelves. The clinic had been raided, and if the sand covering the majority of the floor said anything, it had been a while since it had been occupied.

The last room was the right room, as through a wall there was a figure jerking around, twitching. "My name is Roger. Roger! Roger. My name is Roger!" The male voice repeated the words over and over, making the room feel like the worst identity crisis there ever was. Brynn didn't have to get close at all to realize that this Roger was in fact a Ghoul wearing a camouflage jacket, "My name is Roger."

The Ghoul raised a hand, giving Brynn a look she recognized with ease. Stay back and listen. She held her sister's arm, keeping her behind her as they stopped near the door but close enough to the room to see the scene. Cooper advanced further into the room, stopping near a glass cabinet just to the left of the frantic ghoul who was so focused on his words that he hadn't noticed them.

"Hey, Rog." Cooper greeted after wincing at the man's state.

The ghoul looked up, and he looked to be in a worse state than Cooper. The skin on the right of his face had been sunken so low it appeared to be bone. Though there was a kind gleam in his eyes, "Hey. Hey." Roger laughed but it quickly turned into coughs. He recognized Cooper, greeting, "Fancy seeing you out here. You out for that bounty, too, huh?"

"Yep," Cooper answered slowly, lowering himself to crouch on the ground as he took the sight in. Beside Roger, there were many empty vials, but none had worked on the man—evidence being his current state.

Roger let out an unprompted growl, his body moving as though he couldn't control it. Brynn knew because, after a few seconds, he had stopped, his mind returning to his eyes when he let out, "Oh, shit." He looked down as if mentally scolding himself for his state.