"Holy nukes, son, I'm sorry. It's just that with most mutants, shoot first is the only way to go. Hmm" he said looking coldly at the corpse "she was pretty nice indeed."
Jim was still crying. Smokes decided to try another approach, because he needed Jim's help for finding Melissa and his time was limited.
"GET UP MISTER! GET UP! THIS IS A GODDAMN WAR AND WE HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS!"
Out of plain scare, Jim stopped crying and uneasily got up from the bed. A last tear shed from his eyes as he gave another look at the cowgirl's corpse, still intact aside from a neat little hole through her head.
"What.... what are you talking about? Who are you in the first place?"
"Look Jim. I wouldn't have believed it when I was your age... well, maybe I would have... but anyways. First some guy with a Quake 3 weapon appears in your room. Then you find a mutant in your bed. Now I expect some credit when I tell you that we're near the end of the world as we know it!"
"What.... nuclear war? but we're in peace...."
"Much, much worse. Listen carefully, because we have a job to do."
Smokes explained Jim about his future, Melissa's apotheosis and her subsequent degeneration.
"We have little time, I don't even know how much. We need to find Melissa, and kill her. I don't remember much of this town, so you got to lead the way."
"Can't we just get rid of the pills somehow?"
"We'll... we'll try. Now get dressed."
Wed Jan 26 02:16:24 2000