Afton sent a knowing look at Anja who nods and raises the Laser Rifle at one of the roots.
*PEW!*
The green beam strikes the root and causes it to recoil like an arm too close to fire, a long low rumble echoes from the cave system behind the broken wall as the roots retract back from where they had come from.
Afton feels goosebumps go up his arms as the sound echoes through him... That didn't sound good... Behind the broken wall was likely the cavern that the plants had infested, that was likely the source to the initial infestation, so, given enough time... How powerful could the organisms grow? Judging by that sound just now, he was slightly unwilling to make a guess and have the universe kick his ass in return.
The 'good' thing about this whole situation was the fact the cavern didn't seem entirely filled with spores... He could still see inside it, meaning that the spores were all likely sucked through the ventilation system.
He sighs and readies his weaponry, "We better go then..." he mutters and steps into the cave system with Anja slowly following.
Afton's forced to use his Pipboy light as the cave system was almost completely empty of light. The only other thing provided any degree of light being the bio-luminescent mushrooms that seemed to be sprouting from the floor, walls, and ceiling.
They continue walking and are forced to occasionally step over the roots lining the floor. They could try to cut or kill every root they see, but it would likely do nothing but anger whatever creature resides in this place.
Eventually, they reach an opening and are greeted by a vast cavern, a wide underground place with pillars of stone and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Though, that isn't the most eye-catching thing contained in this place. No, that would be the hundreds of Spore Plants, and the enormous luminescent tree sitting in the middle of the cavern...
The base of the tree was huge with roots spreading across all parts of the cavern, a good portion of thing digging into the stone and likely expanding as more time passes. Afton wasn't even able to see the top of the tree as it went through the stone ceiling of the cavern... This was incredibly dangerous as if it was left to its own devices that it'd likely breach the surface and begin spreading spores around the wasteland.
Afton sighs and chews on the inside of his cheek, "I don't think we can kill that thing..." he mutters. He didn't think they had enough firepower to outright kill it, and he doubted setting it on fire would do anything but anger it.
Not only that, but he wasn't sure how it would react to being attacked... From what he could see, it was probably perfectly capable of collapsing the entire cavern itself. He looks to Anja who was warily pointing the Laser rifle at the tree, "Don't shoot the tree... We'll probably need to kill the Spore Plants to look around the place, but I have no interest in seeing what kind of damage that thing can do."
Anja quickly nods, agreeing with him on that point. "Yes sir."
He bites back a retort at her commonly used phrase and looks around the cavern... It was fortunate the tree was luminescent otherwise they'd have a lot of trouble searching for Keely in here... If she's still alive of course.
After looking for a couple minutes he finally spots a cave-like entrance on the other side of the cavern. There wasn't any other exit here so if Keely was alive, that's where she'd be. He points it out to Anja and starts shimming around the room to try and avoid gathering the Spore Plants notice.
Halfway through Anja stumbled on something and accidentally kicks some pebbles down a rocky incline, the sound of them skittering down it echoing through the room...
Every single Spore Plant in the Cavern slowly turned towards their direction...
...
The duo stays as quiet as possible, from what they'd observed in previous encounters, the plants reacted to sound... Afton could hear Anja's erratic breathing, she was terrified and was ready to run at a moments notice. Quickly, he cups his single hand around her mouth, suppressing the sound enough to allow some reprieve.
After a couple minutes the Spore Plants lose interest and turn away. Afton breathes a quiet sigh of relief and sends a stern glare at Anja. She needed to control herself before she got them both killed.
Soon enough, after a couple more close calls they reach the cave and enter inside. Both relaxing slightly as they were now out of the line of fire of the Spore Plants. Afton glances around the small cave for a moment before spotting a humanoid figure. It was a ghoul with patchy, ragged-looking grey hair. That wasn't something weird though, no, the weird thing would be the green veins covering her entire form... If Afton didn't know any better, he'd say that she was infected.
"Hello?" he tentatively asks.
The person restrained to the wall by roots opens her eyes and lifts her head in his direction, "W-what? W-wait, are you real?"
...
"Er, I think so?" Afton mutters, patting himself over to get the point across.
"You shouldn't be down here, but..." she examines him, "I can see its already too late to warn you."
Afton shrugs, stifling the scowl that wants to make itself known, "You're Keely right? I was sent to rescue you by Doctor Hildern's assistant."
"Ah, that must be Angela then... Such a dear. I feel the need to apologise to you, my incompetence has damned you... I should let my curiosity die and warn the NCR about this place."
"What do you mean... And why did you come down here anyway, I can't imagine anything useful being here." he asks, wanting to know why she was in this cave in the first place.
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Keely purses her lips when he questions her, "I wanted samples from that big tree... Soon as I scraped some bark shit hit the fan. Was forced to hide in here, but, as you can see, the roots found me eventually." she says, sending a pointed look at the roots restraining her to the wall.
"What about your skin... It's green like the Spore Carriers, are you sure you're not infected?" he asks, knowing that she's probably immune to it, but still wanting to know her theory.
Keely attempts to shrug but the roots simply tighten their grip when she does, "Ghouls are immune to the spores, but that doesn't mean they'll stop trying. Our cancerous cells will kill anything introduced to our bodies, be it out own cells or intrusive ones... By the way, I still haven't gotten your names." she states, looking at them expectantly.
"Afton Parker, this is Anja... Now, about those roots, think the tree will go berserk again if we cut you out?"
Keely gravely nods, "If you cut it we need to leave quickly... I don't know if I'm able to walk though..." she mutters.
Afton nods, "Alright, here's how we'll do it. I'll cut the roots and take Keely, Anja you will clear anything in the way of the exit while we run. Cool?" they both nod and he gives them a reassuring smile, "Cool."
Afton holsters his pistols and pulls out the axe, it's previously dulled blade having fixed itself via his [Mechanicus] Perk. He gives the duo one last chance to blackout before bringing it down on one of the roots wrapping Keely.
*Thwak!*
A sound no different to chopping into a tree can be heard, and immediately afterwards a loud, low rumble echoes powerfully through the cave. Afton rears back and tries again, chopping through the first root and causing the low rumble to turn into a silent shriek.
The remaining roots try to constrict Keely but Afton speeds his chopping up, outside he could already hear the roots tearing apart everything around them... Hopefully the Spore Plants would be among the targets.
A couple more chops and Anja pulls Keely out of the bundle, Keely trying to stand but falling to her knee's, obviously too weak to walk. Afton shoves the axe into his backpack and throws Keely over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. "Let's go!"
*OOF* Keely groans as all of her weight is forced onto her stomach, "Treat me like a princess why don't ya!"
Afton smirks, "Apologies but I lack the equipment for that."
"Like what? A sense of decency?" she playfully accuses.
"My other arm... Though if you want a princess carry then I'm sure Anja would volunteer!" he says just as they leave the cave and are greeted with utter destruction.
The luminescent tree had apparently not taken kindly to its roots being destroyed and had begun tearing apart everything in the cavern. Most of the Spore Plants were dead, and stalactites from the ceiling were beginning to fall.
Both large and small rocks were beginning to dislodge from the walls as the tree's roots tore apart the foundations that kept the cavern from caving in. The group decided not to stick around and wait to see what else would happen, quickly gunning for the exit at the opposite end of the cavern.
They made sure to stay well away from the tree by circling around it in a similar fashion to how Afton and Anja had first snuck through. Only now they were forced to dodge falling stalactites and randomly flailing roots that could hit like a swung tree.
Afton leaps over a root attempting to sweep across the floor and Anja just barely makes it over, raising the laser rifle towards the next offending root and firing a couple times. She misses most of her shots but a few connect, leaving large black scorch marks on it and causing the root to retract.
Afton uses VATS to freeze time and examines the path forwards, quickly noticing a couple stalactites in Anja's path that may harm her. He resumes time and calls out to her, "Anja! Get out of the way!" he shouts.
Unconsciously her body throws itself to the side just as a couple stalactites pierce the floor where she'd just been standing. It was fortunate she was so used to following orders otherwise she might've met her end right there.
Quickly she picks herself back up and follows Afton, clearing some more roots out fo the way as they run through the narrow entrance leading back to the Vault. Even though this cave system is relatively safe they don't stop running until they get back into the confines of the Vault metal interior... If it could survive the apocalypse then a cave-in would be nothing.
Anja and Afton stop to catch their breaths, the latter unceremoniously dropping Keely and begging to cough again. Droplets of dark blood spattering the floor under him. "Auuhhhh, fuck!"
"Seems like you haven't got much time left." Keely observes from the side rather callously.
He sends her a sideways glare, "No shit sherlock, don't forget I got infected trying to save your sorry ass." he states, not wanting her to forget the debt she owes him.
Keely nods, "I don't mean anything by it, just stating a fact."
"Think there's any hope for me?" he asks her.
Keely shakes her head, "No, not really..."
Anja interjects with a frown, "How can you be sure? You aren't all-knowing," she turns to Afton, "I'm sure we'll find a way to help you sir."
Afton chuckles weakly, "Huh, thanks for the optimism. I guess..." he says while releasing a sigh, "Before we do anything, we need to deal with the spores somehow. If they leave the Vault then it won't just be me who's fucked."
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