Desiree

As I wake up the day after I knocked out six-gun Sal I wake up to find Desiree asleep curled up next to me with her arms and legs wrapped around mine looking very content but she wakes up with a start and jumps out of my bed after seeing me looking at her and cowers in the furthest corner from me and says " Please master don't punish me I still hurt from last time"

"Relax Desiree I'm not going to hurt you but what do you mean last time? Did Sal hurt you"

While hesitating a fair bit she says "yes my former master and his friends used to do many depraved things to me last time it was whips" and she starts to sob and pull on her hair

"Shhh calm down it's going to be alright nobody is going to ever hurt you again" I say as I slowly approach her and give her a gentle hug and start to slowly rock her back and forth with her head over my heart and quietly sing to her:

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Li

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Hush Now, Don't You Cry

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Li

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

That's An Irish Lullaby

Over In Killarney, Many Years Ago

My Mother Sang A Song To Me In Tones So Soft And Low

Just A Simple Little Ditty In Her Good Old Irish Way

And I'd Give The World If I Could Hear That Song Of Hers Today

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Li

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Hush Now, Don't You Cry

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Li

Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral

That's An Irish Lullaby

After I finish she falls asleep so I put her in my bed while pulling the blankets up on her and then Eve walks in and asks "What was that Holt it's so calming"

"It's called An Irish Lullaby my family has used it since before they came to America it's a very powerful song it doesn't matter what scared me or why I was crying it always put me to sleep"

"That's pretty nice Holt and it's beautiful that you'd sing a lullaby that personal to someone you just met yesterday"

"Eve the demons that poor woman has inside her dreams are far more horrible than anything you've ever seen now let's give her some sleep and tell everyone that anyone who wakes her up is going to get their ass kicked by me and I won't be nice about it , by the way what was it you needed"

"Oh right yeah we took some weapons as payment from a couple of drifters and I'd like your help identifying them"

"No problem let's check them out and give her about 3 hours sleep"

As I'm led to the supply room I see a small pile of weapons on a table with a chair next to it so I sit down and get started and the first weapon is a SCAR-H with an acog scope and a vertical foregrip and 2 thirty shot magizines taped together jungle style that's seen a lot of use but it obviously been very well taken care of and after that I pick out a glock 18 with a micro red dot sight and a foregrip attachment and 3 thirty shot mags but only 1 of which has ammo and after that I sort 3 non customized mp5 a3s along with 3 separate sawed off 12 gauge double barrel shotguns and a very nice m4a1 with an m320 grenade launcher attached along with 1 one hundred shot beta mag and to top it all off an AirTronic precision shoulder fired rocket launcher or PSRL for short which is an American made rpg-7 with a modular design that's made enormously safer and more effective because of newer materials and better sights with 4 rockets and I suppose I should mention a small collection of various firearms made of scrap metal with a bunch of assorted ammo which is the bulk of my work and that ends my work for the day because this surprisingly took four hours because some of these weapons were made of scrap or the wrong parts or were broken so I had to sort through them to see if they'd work

After I finish up sorting the weapons and sitting at the desk in my room Desiree wakes up and says " Hello master I'm sorry"

"Sorry about what" I say while writing down a list of the weapons I found today at the desk in my room

" I'm sorry I cried master it was weak of me"

Upon hearing that I immediately turn my chair around and say " Don't apologize Desiree you didn't do anything wrong and please call me Holt master doesn't sit well with me"

"Yes mast... I mean Holt by the way how did you know to do that to help me "

"I've also had my own share of suffering and for a period I was just as edgy as you and that song helped me and some of my friends get through the demons and the nightmares so believe me when I say I understand you"

"I hate to ask Holt but what do you mean you were me I thought you were supposed to be a super soldier"

"To tell you a small secret I wasn't always a super soldier I was made like this after escaping with my friends from a prison camp but my wounds were too deep so either I go to a desk job , Retire ,or become more than human and so I became the first successful super soldier of my specific program but interestingly my scars didn't fade but became permanent marks almost like a dog's spots or a tiger's stripes" I say as I show her my enormous collection of scars and tattoos

"But what do the tattoos mean Holt "

"Some are my fallen comrades , some are difficult beasts I've defeated ,and a couple are design that hold memories which I don't want to forget"

"I understand Holt and Thank you for sharing such personal information with me I understand it couldn't be easy "

"No problem now let's get you some real clothes and some hot food how's that sound"

"It sounds wonderful but can I get clothes first "

"Of course that was my plan anyways so follow me "

As I lead her out of the Pretty Kitty I go to Sally and lead her inside where I take her measurements and make her some simple reinforced clothes made of leather I tanned from the hide of a Waste King the fiercest creature in the wastes which I killed with a mortar shell and skinned and tanned myself along with a good pair of Army boots in her size I make of the same materials except the soles which are made of a special material called hyper rubber which is like regular rubber but is 50 times as strong.

After I finish making her clothes I say "Okay Desiree these are made of the finest materials and can even resist bullets what do you think" after I finish speaking I show her her reflection in a floor length mirror I found

"Oh I love it thank you Holt" and then she gives me a very nice hug after which we go eat and go to bed so we are rested for tomorrow