Chems. One of the miracles and banes of the wasteland. It was very easy to get hooked-- just ask anyone who uses jet or takes mentats regularly. Cooper, however, was the exception in the regard that he needed his chems. It kept him from going feral and that's all he wanted. It was a curse worse than death. Dying in the mind before the rest of the body can even process it.

He turned in Lucy for a two month supply of those vials in exchange for her organs. It would last him well until he needed to come back again with a new person. This was the only place that made them. Whatever was going on here didn't matter to him. However, as he watched her enter the Super Duper Mart, he felt it. That sensation of something sitting on his chest. His heart felt heavy and his body followed after. He struggled with each breath he took. His vision blurred for a moment and his sense of balance was muted. He fell to the ground with a soft, imperceptible grunt. The withdrawal had finally caught up to him.

Was this really it? He stared at the ruble and what used to be skyscrapers. The sun beat down upon his laden frame with no mercy. The coat that he had worn, suddenly felt like a weighted blanket. He attempted to move, but to no avail. He laid there for god knows how long, his mouth open and his saliva pooling in the sand until Lucy emerged from the Super Duper Mart. She was adorned in raider leathers with her Vault 33 jumpsuit open. He hadn't expected that, but considering how the growls and pained groans came from the building earlier, those feral Ghouls were gone. "If you don't get these, you turn into one of those? That how it works?" Cooper tried his best to nod. Instead, his eyes flicked up and down, his eyelids fluttered and his chest heaved with each breath he took. Lucy knelt down in front of him, the pistol in her hands was tilted haphazardly to the side until she withdrew it. "I may end up looking like you, but I will never be you." She lowered her free hand and set down a handful of vials carefully. The yellow liquid within squished and swirled with the movement, only settling down when set down. "Golden rule." Was all she said before leaving him. He wasn't sure whether to smile or not. He just stared at the vials of liquid gold in silence.

Cooper forced himself to his feed and inserted one of the vials into the slot. He quickly held the mouth up to his lips and inhaled deeply. His mind became clearer and he felt relieved. The weight over his chest was a welcome shift. He stumbled into the Super Duper Mart like a man who drank himself into a stupor. He exhaled in disbelief at the sensations running through his mind. He opened a sealed vial with clear liquid and gulped it down as if it were water. Satisfied moans, groans and sighs escaped his lips as he gorged on the vials and chems the people left behind. He froze when he saw the small wooden trunk containing the vials of the chem he used to prevent from becoming feral and smiled. He grabbed handfuls and let it slide down his palms, into the pile. He took off his hat and started shoving them into it. He felt like a million bucks. Hell, he even popped the cap off one and drank it. It feel good to be alive, even if the future was bleak.

However, this indulgent escapade would come to an end the moment the 'sheriffs' arrived. They dragged him to meet President Sorrel Booker of the 'Governmint'. The talk with Brooker did little to quench the fire he had towards the situation. In all honesty, he'd have a much more mentally stimulating conversation with a Deathclaw. Cooper growled quietly while sewing his finger back on when Booker mentioned he was still after 'her'. The Ghoul stoked the fires a little while Troy mentioned his father lived in Filly when he had his skirmish for Wilzig. Booker ordered the Ghoul be fed to the hogs.. but he was not going down without a fight. He reached for his action army revolver and shot them both. The Ghoul glared coldly at Booker as he questioned about information on Moldaver before leaving the building.