Escaped Slaves

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OOC Lookin for 5 who will stay with it. Sit idle for 5 days and you can and will be killed off by who ever posts first on the fifth day.

And it begins...

Gunshots broke the nights silence. The caravan brought to a hault as the sounds of slaughter rang outside. Inside the slaves awoke to darkness with bursts of muzzle fire seen through their blindfolds.
They rose to their knees, sweaty bodies bumping into one another, wondering what was happening.

Eeeeerrkk. The door to the sealed slave wagon was opened and a bright light shone in.

"Just some worthless tribals." a gruff voice yelled into the night.

A few moments passed as footsteps aproached. Another voice came to the door over the venting and wirring sounds of power armor.

"Leave em be, we need to be back to the bunker before sun up."

"Sir"

With that footsteps walked off into the night and silence again surounded the now seemingly free prisoners.

Working to free himself from his blindfold Yolo squirmed and wrigled his head against his shoulder until he could see from one eye. He saw other men more severely bound than he, some tied to the side with full mouth gags and blind folds.

Crawling on his knees he made his way to the edge of the wagon to see the blue shaded desert.

"Ahh the sweet smell of freedom and gunpowder...

OOC: 5 People in the wagon, 5 identies to asume. Please stick with it.
 
Outside the slave wagon lays the bodies of the dead raiders. Guns and shell casings lay strewn about the ground, a clear sign of the battle that was just waged here. Mooooo... Atleast the Brahmin were left.
 
OOC So you know I will post here once a day. Purely for my own amusment.


IC
Yolo hopped out of the wagon and searched around the campsite, his hands still bound behind his back. Finding the raider commander he searched him and took his knife as the others were starting to crawl out of the wagon.

After a rather absurd period of time he finaly managed to cut through the ropes. He searched around and outfited himself with some heavy leather armor, a Desert Eagle and a semi automatic AK47 before freeing the others who sat huddled by the fire.

Four dark figures sat, one a large hulkish man. His head as square as the ammo case he was packing. A woman with long hair and a slim body and tight leather gloves. Another person who judging by the smell was a ghoul, hard to tell if it was man or woman. And finaly another man who although free, still sat on the ground rocking back and forth with his hands behind his back as though he was still tied.

Somthing you learn in the wasteland is the insane can be easily exploitable.

"Hey, Get up!" Yolo took charge nudgin the scatter with his new boot.

He scrambled to his feet still living his nightmare of raider imprisonment.

"Whats your name?"

"Ss ss Sam." He managed to sputter out behind shaking winces.

"Oh great, free for five minutes and already we're slaves again." The brute muttered to the woman.

Yolo shot a glance over at the two before turning back to the scatter brain.

"You're free, the raiders were killed."

Hesitantly he looked around to see the slayn bodies of his former capters. Bringing his eyes back on Yolo he winced and ducked back.

"I dont think he gets it" Yolo said to the others, "Perhaps the girl should explain it to him."

"I have a name thank you. It's Sasha."

Sasha walked over to the scatter and started to explain the situation in that womanly nurtering way while me and the larger man, Hank, roamed around the scattered bodies taking what we could and collecting it into a pile. The Ghoul just sat on a log next to the fire starring ahead at nothing.

The sun just started coming up as we gathered every thing together to discuss our next move.
 
"So what now?" Hank asked looking people in the eye.

"Realisticly we dont know where we are. Three days from some where Im sure, but in what direction." said Yolo

Every one scanned the horizon but it was the same unchanging desert landscape they were acustomed too. Just then the ghoul picked up a rifle from the pile and took aim and fired before any one had a chance to react. A shot wizzed by Yolo's ear as he fell to the ground in panic. The emotionless ghoul proceeded to walk off into the desert and returned with a three eyed jack rabit, its third eye missing, replaced by lead.

"Nice shot" said Sasha. "That had to be 100 yards away."

The ghoul half-smiled in an unchipper sort of way.
"I am extremely far sighted" He said.

"Well that would explain the long distance acuracy I suppose" Yolo said over a smile.

Chuckling Hank looked down at the wagon wheele and moved his gaze along the tracks left by the wagon.

"Bingo! We can follow those tracks back where we came from!" Hank said optimisticly. "Yolo, you were the last one captured, where did you come from?"

"I came from a slave camp called Lodi." said Yolo.

"Well great that doesnt do us much good."

"Maybee not, they had quite a bit of supplies there. Not to guarded either. With the artilery we have I bet we could take it." Yolo was always quick to battle. "I have friends there that would join us if it ment they could potentialy be returned to their homes and families aswell."

"Then its settled, we move to Lodi."

The cooked the rabit and tore it apart amongst themselves, eating while they moved. Sasha slept in the wagon along with the weapons armor and provisions the raiders graced them with. She agreed to the night watch position.

And so in the blazing sun they marched...
 
The trip for the most part was quiet. No encounters thankfuly by all who were running on survival mode. Conversation was sparse, the ghoul and Sam didnt really speak much trudging along behind Hank and Yolo who discussed their respective pasts.

Hank had worked as a doctor in his town wich was north of Lodi. He also had some arms training from the towns local malitia. His wife had been killed while scavanging around town one evening. Judging by the remains it was most likely a deathclaw he said. "Pretty Tore up"

Yolo had been at a slave camp breaking stone into blocks for what seemed like his entire life. Though unforgiving it had given him the oportunity to build up quite a bit of strength as well as weapon handling with a sledge. Along from phsyical aspects he had made, and lost many friends in the camp, friends that would prove vital to their survival in future times.

Yolo dropped back to walk next to Sam in atempts to befriend the lad.
"So what about you Sam, where do you come from."

Sam looked at the ground twitching and shaking his head trying to form words behind the stutters.
"Rrr Rraiders .t tt t ttest Psssycho."

Thats about all he could manage before hugging himself rocking back and forth.

"Well alright that explains that, poor guy. What about you ghoulie you got a name?"

The Ghoul walked starring strait ahead like always. Very calmly he answered. "Yes." "My name is Sam."

"oooo... That might get kind of confusing. How about if we just call you, The Ghoul."

"Might as well, that is what every one else calls me."

"So what about you The Ghoul, where do you come from."

"Like so many I lived in a vault. We opened our doors and ventured out into the green tinted hues of the new world. Wasn't long before we too started lookin a little green. Seem to have grown a tolerance to the radiation though. Other than that Ive just been wandering and surviving how I can. Ive goten pretty good with a rifle"

Yolo nodded feeling more complete knowing the stories of his companions. The continued walking until dusk when they decided to set up camp and cook some of the raiders food.

After food had been cooked and now all that was left of the fire was glowing embers, every one decided to get some much needed rest. They slept sprawled in the sand while Sasha kept watch leaning against the wagon along with her rifle.

Sam shot up to a sitting position covered in sweat.
"I got to pee." he whispered like a handicaped child.
Taking off the blanket he was covered with and standing up he stared off into the darkness. Looking at Sasha obviously embarased of his outburst he began walking into the desert. He kept a close eye on the fire over his shoulder glancing back to make sure he didnt get out of sight.

He began to do his buisness and glanced back at the fire. Blackness momentarily obscured the glow. The trickle stoped. "Hhh hhhello?"


EEEEIIAAAAAGGGHHHHH THRASH SHRASH THRASH


The screams came as a startling realization to the others. They were in Death Claw Country.
 
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Feb-18-03 AT 11:32AM (GMT)]Lorkin sat up abruptly when he heard the screams.
He knew that all familiar howl...

"Damn Death Claws. I bet the got one of the survivors. that's a shame"
***
Lorkin had been watching the recent events from the edge of a cliff that ran along the trail several hundred meters away. He watched The raid on the wagons, and the five that had survived. He had been watching them with interest. It was a lonely life, being a drifter. Surviving on on the plains, alone. Only his survival skills and his instincts kept him alive. It was a rare occurance to encounter anyone besides raiders, and on the occasions he did meet other people, they weren't the kind of folks you'd like to meet. Mostly outcasts and criminals.

Of the 5 survivors, He paid extra attention to the scatter. Lorkin sensed something about him. Some significance. He knew that there was important information trapped inside the twisted and tortured mind of the scatter.

As night fell, he watched the party settle down and make camp for the night. He decided to do the same. If they survived the night, he might go and meet them the next morning. It didn't look like they had much to trade, but Lorkin didn't need much besides someone to talk to anyway.

He was just about to doze off when he heard the screams. Lorkin waited for the commototion and sounds of a skirmish to follow, but heard nothing.

"Poor bastard," he thought outloud, and loaded a shell into his Death Claw Defender, a 35mm canister launcher that he had found at an abandoned military depot outside of Jerkwater back in his bounty hunting days. It wasn't a rocket launcher, but it stopped Death Claws dead in their tracks. Nothing like handheld artillery.

Tomorrow he'd go down and see if there were any survivors.
 
Day finaly came much to the ease of the members of the now smaller party. After what happened in the night no one got much sleep. They decided to go out and look for the remains of Sam, see if any thing had been left behind. Sasha pointed them in the direction he wandered off to and sure enough a slumped over body could be seen in the distance.

As they got closer the blood confirmed their suspicions, but wait, there were two bodies. The rushed to see what they were seeing and astonished they found Sam alive. He was sitting crosslegged holding the severed head of a death claw. He was covered with blood with a particularly large amount around his mouth. Hank inspected the marks around the deathclaws neck to find nail and bite marks.

"He did this without a weapon" Hank said solomly

*Maybee there are some advantages to psycho abuse..* Yolo pondered.

The entire group laughed deep to see he was still alive and even Sam managed a smile feeling some pride for his remarkable kill. They hoisted a shaken Sam up to his feet and walked him back to the wagon still clutching the death claw skull. They got packed up and those who could manage to stay awake drove the Brahmin towards their destination.
 
The day wore on, sun beating down on the group who were now all awake accept Sam in the back.
The Ghoul sat with a wide brimmed straw hat on driving the Brahmin, quite a funny site to see.

A large dust cloud marked another party of travelers ahead. Surely they could see the group and Hank reminded every one to stay on guard.

They pulled out their guns and prepaired to fight assuming the aproaching party was another batch of raiders from the slave camp following the same worn trail.

Sure enough they were, though the were not transporting slaves. The party was twice as large as the one that had been transporting the group. Yolo thought that they were probably sent looking for the others. Hank told every one to hold off, hoping to avoid a fire fight. The party met face to face with our group and the leader steped up to meet Hank.

The Raider leader was a big man not unlike hank. He had multiple scars on his face and neck, probably from knife fights. The others seemed like new recruits, though not fearful of what was about to take place.

The large raider leader looked the group over and took note of the Deathclaw skull they had mounted atop the wagon.

"Nice prize" He said nodding his head towards the skull

"Yeah, our friend in back is lucky to be alive." Hank responded

The raider leader looked Hank up and down. Looking Hank in the eye he let out a sharp exhale of a laugh and motioned his troops to continue on.

Both parties began to move again in opposite directions. The raider made one glance back to see the back of the wagon

22194 was stenciled on the back.

His eyes filled with rage as he let out a roar of anger.
Sam inside the wagon shot up. This was the second time in as many days he awoke to the sound of gunfire directly outside his dwelling.
He looked outside just long enough before having to duck to avoid wizzing bulles. A freeze frame image of raiders stuck in his mind. Three were down riddled with bullets, two knocked off their feet blood spraying from their torsos in mid air. The leader growling a vein popping from his forehead. Four others fired rifles.

Sam ducked down and huddled into a ball rocking back and forth. He just wanted to go home.
 
When Lorkin awoke the next morning, he saw saw only an empty, abandoned campsite. He quickly packed up his things and headed down to investigate the previous night's occurance.

He knew he was getting close to the area where the Death Claw had been. He saw the circing buzzards, and could smell the putrid stench of rotting flesh. Already as he approached he could see the shape a body lying on the ground, covered with scavenger birds. When he got close, the birds scattered and Lorkin surveyed the damage. Much to his surprise, instead of finding the body of one of the survivors, he gazed down upon the headless remains of a Death Claw.

Lorkin was confused. This couldn't be the work of one of the survivors. He looked around for another explanation. He saw no other Death Claw tracks, Only several pairs of human tracks that lead back towards the campsite. Lorkin couldn't believe his eyes. He saw no signs of a major struggle, he heard no gunshots the night before. He took a closer look at the Death Claw corpse but didn't find any stab wounds, or wounds of any kidn for that matter, except the missing head.

How could a small band of escaped slaves kill a Death Claw without getting themselves killed in the process? He had to find out. Lorkin examined the area one last time before hurrying off to try and catch the group. He had to know what had happened the night before.
 
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Feb-19-03 AT 08:30AM (GMT)]Lorkin made his way back to the ridge that ran along the trail. In these dangerous parts, it was safer to take the road less traveled. Plus, it gave him a better vantage point and he could often remain unseen. Why anyone would carve a trail in the middle of a canyon was beyond him. Any caravans that traversed it were begging to be ambushed.

Lorkin saw a collumn of dust rising ahead of him, so he knew he must be getting close to the wagon. Then he noticed further ahead another dust cloud traveling in the opposite direction.

"Oh no. Raiders!"

Lorkin immediately hastened his pace in hopes he could catch the wagon before anything bad happened.

He finally caught sight of the wagon and the travellers, just as they encountered the opposing Caravan. Lorkin tried to count the travellers. He only saw 4. What happened to the 5th? Did the Death Claw kill one after all? Lorkin pondered this as the tension mounted below.

Sure enough, a group nearly 10 raiders halted the travellers. He watched as the lead raider advanced on the group. For a moment, it seemed as though everything would be ok. But then the Leader noticed something about the wagon and became enraged. Suddenly, the 4 travellers started shooting! quickly 5 raiders were killed and the 4 travellers took shelter behind the wagon. The remaining Raiders grabbed their rifles and returned fire. the traveleers were pinned down behind the wagon. They were sitting ducks. Lorkin had to do something!

He reached into his satchel and pulled out an incendiary mortar. He loaded into his Canister Launcher. He only hoped the splash damage wouldn't harm any of the travelers.

Lorkin fired into the center of the group of Raiders, and a large ball of liquid fire immediately engulfed them. Perfect shot! The remaining raiders ran around frantically, practically immolated by the flames. Lorkin watched as the vortex of flame seared the raiders. The ammo on their bandoliers exploded, sending schrapnel everywhere. Their clothes and armor were incinerated, and burning flesh sloughed from their bodies.

The surprised travellers looked up to the ridge to see where the shell had come from, and saw a figure reach for a rifle and begin raining bullets into the scorched bunch of dying raiders. They watched as the last burning raider finally stumbled to the ground and remained, unmoving.

They were all dumbfounded. Where did this mysterious savior come from?
 
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Feb-19-03 AT 08:31AM (GMT)]Lorkin scurried down the canyon walls to greet the travellers.

When he arrived, the wary travelers drew their weapons on him.

Lorkin paused. "Greetings. I mean you no harm. My name is Lorkin, and it seems I have reached you just in time." Lorkin caught a whiff of the burning flesh of the dead raiders and looked over at the bodies. "So," he said, "Who ordered the Raider Flambe? The chef send his apologies, as you will probably have to pick out the lead" Lorkin smiled wryly.

Hank and Yolo chuckled, and the group put down their weapons and greeted the stranger.
 
"You're a real wise guy." Yolo said over a broad smile, happy to be alive.

"Admittedly so." Said Lorkin.

"A little humor isnt a bad thing in these parts, especialy when it scorches 5 men trying to kill you." Yolo chuckled.

"I've been watching you for the past few days and I must admit you have me a little dumb founded about that DeathClaw. Who, or what did that to him."

A broad smile crossed the faces of every one.
"That'd be attributed to Sam, ripped that suckers head clean off he did" Yolo gestured to the skull that was mounted on the wagon being bleached by the sun.
"A finer sight I have yet to see than a scrony little twitch covered in blood holding a deathclaws severed head."

Sam hearing conversation about him crawled sheepishly out of the wagon surveying the bodies, half burning, on the ground and the new addition to the group. His clothes were still stained with blood wich marked him as Sam to the new comer.

"hHi" Sam said with a little smile.

"Wow that was hardly any studdering at all! You might just be improving boy!" Yolo teased Sam.

"tth thh thtt tthh thaan thank tha thaaa tha ttheeeaa thae....

Yolo took particular pleasure in teasing some one that could quite possibly tear him limb from limb, suicidal tendancies were always his strong suite.

"ttht tthtt tththhht ththh thhh .."

"Where you boys headed any how?" Lorkin asked

The group explained the situation earlier with being free'd from their capters and how they came to be here. They explained they were headed towards a slave camp up the road a couple days where they intended on freeing. The ultimate goal was getting every one to their homes, but the more they learned about every one the more they learned that not many had familys to go home to.

"thh th thank you." Sam finaly sputtered out.
Lorkin smiled at Sam and said claping his hands, "Well then lets not loose any time." With that the dust raied up again along the trail as the scavangers eyed a cooked meal in the groups wake.
 
[updated:LAST EDITED ON Feb-20-03 AT 08:18AM (GMT)]As the group trudged on under the blazing sun, Lorkin kept a keen eye on the edge of the trail and along the canyon walls. Raiders were especially common in these parts, because the walls of the canyon came very close together ahead, and it made a perfect place to pinch off caravans.

Up ahead of them, they heard someone yelling for help. Lorkin advised them all, "Be wary. This could be an ambush."

They came upon an old man that looked like a merchant, whose leg was caught beneath a boulder.

"Th-Thank the heavens! I've been trapped hear for hours! I was on my way to deliver medical supplies when raiders attacked me! Please help me!"

Hank, Yolo and The Ghoul all gathered around the boulder and lifted with all their might to free the man. Suddenly, he sprang up and grabbed The Ghoul and held a knife at his throat. Before anyone could react, He whistled loudly, and two other thieves with SMGs stepped into view from behind some rocks a few meters ahead.

"Kindly throw down your weapons and hand over all of your caps" the man with the knife said.

The travellers did as they were told, and the other two men gathered their weapons, and began pushing them off the trail. Sam grabbed his head and began moaning.

"Sir, please remove your hands from me" The Ghoul said calmly.

The man with the knife was too distracted by Sam to pay attention to The Ghoul.

"What's wrong with him?!" he asked, motioning towards Sam.

"That's what We'd like to know" replied Yolo.

"Go Git him!" the man with the knife commanded his partners.

"I'll ask you again. Please let go of me" The Ghoul said.

The man ignored him.

The thugs grabbed for Sam, and instantly he knocked their hands away. They grabbed for him again, and Sam immediately punched one of the men in the throat, sending him to the ground gasping and coughing up blood.
The other reached for his SMG, and Sam kicked him in the arm, shattering it in several places. The thief cried out in pain, and Sam kneed him in the kidneys and wrapped his arms around the mans neck and gave his head a quick jerk, snapping his neck.

"Jeezus!" the man with the knife exclaimed.

The Ghoul took this opportunity and elbowed him in the stomach, turned around and gouged his thumb into the man's eye. Yolo dove for his rifle and shot the man several times. All three of the attackers lay on the ground, lifeless. Sam was crouched, hugging his knees and bawling.

Lorkin searched their bodies and collected their weapons. He found several hundred caps, a couple Stimpacks and other medical supplies and a double-barrel shotgun with the stock sawed off and the barrel cut down significantly.

"I always wanted a hand-cannon" He declared.

Sasha went over to try and calm down Sam.

Hank noticed that the sun was almost setting and he recommended that they get moving.

"This isn't any place I'd like to linger. we should find a place to camp soon; it's getting dark."

Everyone climbed into the wagon, and they set out again.
 
"So thats what its like to see our boy in action" Yolo said roasting some iguana on a stick over the nights fire.

Sam did not react happily, judging by his post psycho reactions he did not enjoy brutailizing the enemy. Fortunatly it probably saved The Ghouls life.

As every one ate Yolo drew out a map of the camp as he knew it. We are attacking from the east, there is nothing to the west. The north and south are littered with mines. At night all the slaves will be locked up in these two buildings, and the raiders asleep in these.

"Our best bet will be to take out the guards and atempt to kill the men in the buildings in their sleep. This is some what unlikely though because if any one of the guards hits the alarm then every one is awake." explained Yolo.

"I think we could use those alarms to our advantage." said Lorkin. "If we take out the four guards, position the rest of us inside the camp and wait outside the doors we can set off the alarms and pick them off as they come out."

"A good plan, but what if they decide not to come out?" asked Yolo
"Well Ive always got more incindiary mortars." Lorkin said with a smile.
We all chuckled and got our gear ready for the attack the next morning.
 
Sasha got us up just before dawn so we could get in position. The Ghoul set up his hunting rifle at the edge of the Northeast minefield while Lorkin and Sasha camped out on the east end of the camp. Yolo, and Sam hugged the perimeter and snuck around to the west gate.

The guards as usual were half-assing their jobs, leaning against the gates pretending to be awake. Once Yolo and Sam reached the other side they waited for the sound of gurgling blood that would be their signal to act.

To the east Lorkin and Sasha krept up with knife in hand and side arms ready, hoping not to need them. They positioned themselves on either side of the gate and on three grabbed the guards and cut out their windpipes along with some other vital arteries and veins. Blood gurgled as they tried to yell for help but it was too late.

Hearing a thud, the other two guards stood to atention and turned around trying to see their counterparts. As one was reaching to sound the alarm Sam and Yolo attacked. Yolo cut the throat of the guard in the same manner as the others. Sam on the other hand plunged a knife into the raiders lungs and nailed him to the ground. He stradled his back and repeatedly stabbed the lifeless corpse both hands on his knife until he was surely dead.

"EEk" Yolo let out

The group had not acounted for one final guard wich patrolled the inner yard of the camp. He came walking from around the corner of a pilar in the center of the camp just in time to see his fellow guardsmen being stabbed to death by some insane attacker.

"You Mother FUCKER!!" He yelled raising his assault rifle and fireing shots at the two. Yolo grabbed Sam and took cover behind the gate wall.

Lorkin and Sasha looked at each other and ran to help their downed comrads. Running through the camp they were cut off by raiders flooding out of buildings on either side of them. Shots from the North East told them there was enough sunlight for The Ghoul to do his job. The first few men of the southern building droped. Lorkin and Sasha fell back to get out of the ghouls line of fire. Sasha took out her rifle and began droping men coming from the North building.

It wasnt long before the raiders got hip to what was happening and began to fire from inside the buildings windows. Lorkin and Sam fell back to outside the gates. laying down cover fire when possible.

On the other side of camp Yolo and Sam sat weapons drawn waiting for the sound of an empty magazine to fire. But the raider guard was smarter than that. He fired no needless shots knowing that they would have to either walk in front of the gate or behind the barbwire fence on the other side, where he would have a direct shot.

"Ok he isnt moving" Yolo said out of breath
Sam looked up at him with big scared eyes.
"I need you to run that way, fast as you can. Try to get behind the cover of the other gate wall. Im coming out right behind you."

Sam at this point was shaking so hard he didnt know if he could stand.
Yolo got up to a crouch. "Ready"
Sam gulped hard and nodded poising himself for running. Yolo put his hand on Sams shoulder and said "ready... GO!"

With no hesitation Sam bolted and the raider grinned wide behind his burning cigar taking full auto fire at him. Sam reached the other pilar the sound of bullets breaking metal and taking out chunks of dirt all around him. As the raider emptied his clip into air dirt and metal Yolo sprang out just as the framiliar clicking sound of an empty magazine assured his saftey. Yolo smiled evily at the raider whos face droped as did his cigar. Yolo droped back and shot the raider square in the chest 4 times. He fell to the ground.

The commotion at the other end of the camp told Sam and Yolo they were needed as backup. The occasional sound of a highpowered hunting rifle came echoing over the sound of smg and pistol fire from the raiders buildings.

"We'd better wait for the mortar before we move in, dont want to get lit up like those raiders are going to be" Yolo said to Sam.
The two looted the dead raiders and waited on the other side of the pilar.
 
Gunshots and yelling filled the air until a final large concussion took away all sound. Debris and bodies went flying as the entrance to the housing units were bombed by Lorkins heavy artilery. Sam and Yolo came around to put down any burning bodies that were trying to escape or extinguish their flames. As the dried desert wood of the buildings began crackling and poping with fire some raiders tried to escape out the back windows into the mine fields. Maybee it was lack of activity in them or maybee it was panic that sent them running. Huge explosions sounded to the north and south shaking the canyon walls as anti personel mines went off. A leg hit Yolo square in the chest. Looking down he jerked and jumped back quickly.

"Thats a new one on me" He said looking at the severed leg. He looked to Sam and they both charged in to the south building breaking out the windows with the buts of their guns. Sam took his SMG and sprayed rounds into the raiders who were trying desperatly to escape the flames. Sasha and Lorkin were doing the same to the North building.

Eventualy the roof bracing timbers of the buildings started falling engulfed in flames. Every one pulled back and met east of the camp. They waited there looking for any straglers that could pose a threat, but the raiders apeared to be wiped out entirely.

Just as day was coming to a head, the sun coming over the horizon filling the canyon with light the group went in to free the slaves.
A large chain and lock outfited the door to the bunks.

"Allow me." Lorkin said in excitment pulling out his hand cannon.

"Step back!" He yelled as he blew the lock clean off.

Swinging the door open the found that the insides to the building were completely baren accept for the unoccupied bunks.

"I thought you said this was a big slave camp" Hank acused Yolo.

"Hey this is where I came from, I dont know where they all are."

A separate house for the Camp leader sat near the back of the camp. As the group picked around for supplies Lorkin and Yolo investigated the house. Inside was littered with porno and botles of booze.
"Typical raider livin" Yolo said.
There was a desk that Yolo was searching through. In the top drawr lay a Desert EAgle.
"oooOo Ive always wanted a Desert Eagle" Yolo said mockingly looking at Lorkin.

Lorkin was taking interest in somthing else. A letter reguarding the request for all the slaves they could get. It read.

********************************************************************

Rankar,

Raider general command requests as many slaves as can be released from your camp. They are needed for the removal of a large addition to the raider arsonal. Escourts will be recieved at Dead Oak Slave Camp in no more than 1 week.

-Slave Command.

*********************************************************************

On the wall was a crude hand drawn topigraphical map marking out the travel rout to Dead Oak including unlabled x's that denoted stoping points along the way.

"This must be very recent as we were being shiped east and this rout leads north" said Yolo

"We should tell the others, if nothing else maybee we can ambush their caravan and undo what ever the raiders plan on doing."

Yolo nodded. "Good plan."

The others were outside standing around a small pile of fire arms.

"The weapons storage was empty, these are off the bodies of those in the houses." Hank pointed to the houses that were now smoking rubble.

Sam was off starring at a small cold fusion generator that powered the lights for the camp muttering to himself.

Lorkin and Yolo explained what the raiders were doing and their plan to head north and cut off the raider slave convoy.

"If we are going to catch them we better get goin now. Chances are they are a bit ahead of us, but they will be moving slow since all the slaves are on foot. The group nodded and got ready heading back to the wagon.

"22194, 22194, 22194, 22194, 22194, ..." Sam recited starring at the generator.
Yolo sat and starred at him looking at the pre-war mini reactor for a moment before pulling him off and saying "cummon lets go"

The group left the burning wreckage and left carrying a few more guns and some land mines the ghoul thought might come in handy in the future. The group headed north bound following a faint trail of foot and boot prints left by the respective slaves and raiders. The good news was there seemed to be few sets of boot prints, but they may have been covered up by the following slaves. They would soon see...
 
"Dead Oak is a six day journey from here" said Lorkin. "If we increase our pace, we can probably make it in as little as four."

Hank examined the letter for any kind of a date.

"There's no way to tell when this got here." he remarked.

"I wish we hadn't killed all the guards; we could interrogate one of them" Yolo replied.

Then, almost as if on cue, they heard a moan, coming from the area where they killed all the guards.

Lorkin walked over and found a raider, barely alive. The entire left side of his body from his knee to his neck was charred. He grabbed the guard and stuck a pistol under his chin.

"When did they leave?!?" he barked at the guard.

"Go to hell!" the guard replied.

"Wrong answer" said Lorkin, and shot the raider in his unburnt right kneecap.

The guard screamed in pain, but Lorkin jammed the barrel of the pistol into the guard's mouth to silence him.

"Now I'm going to ask you again. When did they leave?"

"Aaaaahhh! Yesterday! *gasp* they left... yesterday morning... Gah!"

"Thank you," said Lorkin. Then he pointed at the man's bleeding right knee. "You know, you should do something about that. Maybe some fire? Fire will seal that right up." and he began to walk away.

"Hey!" the guard cried out "are you just gonna leave me out here to die?" he asked.

"Well, that was the idea" Lorkin replied

"Would you at least do me the favor of killing me now?" the dying guard pleaded.

Lorkin sighed, and walked over to the pile of weapons. He dug out a pistol and threw it at the man.

"Do it yourself." He said and began walking away again.

The guard began laughing, and he raised the pistol and aimed it at Lorkin.

"Look out!" Sasha cried out.

But it was too late. Lorkin turned around just as the guard pulled the trigger. But all anyone heard was the *click* of an empty clip.

"See? I thought you might try to kill me, that's why I didn't give you any bullets" Lorkin said. "And even if you did really want to use the gun on yourself, do you think I'd make it that easy for you? Your ass is gonna rot under the sun, as dozens of scavengers carry you away, piece by piece." and with that, he walked back to the group.

"Let's go, they're a day and a half ahead of us." He said to them.

Hank looked back at the guard who was cursing at them.

Yolo got Sam, who was still muttering numbers in front of the powerstation.

They loaded the wagon and set out on the long journey that lay ahead of them.
 
Lorkin examined the map they had taken from the slave camp.

"It looks like they're planning on going around Sacramento to get to Dead Oak." He proclaimed "If we go through the city, we can save some time."

"Why would they waste time going around?" asked The Ghoul

"Probably don't want to make anyone suspicious would be my wager" replied Hank.

"That, and most folks aren't exactly hospitable to raiders" said Lorkin. "But we don't have to worry about that. We're just a group of travellers" he said with a grin.

And they continued on down the dusty trail.
 
By the end of the first day they could see the massive sprawl of sacramento. The hills just before it gave good view of the sprawling urban landscape. A distinct line was drawn where a thriving city once met nature head on. Now it was just a collection of empty husks of buildings. Some housed people trying to survive. Ahead there were even a few of the giant Sky scrapers left standing. After the war not many of these existed.

An old interstate 15 made for fast travel over smooth black road. Within a day they were in the city limits, greeted by a big sign proclaiming Sacramento. As they traveled through the city they could see residence poking out from behind windows watching the odd group of people. Apparently this once diverse city was now home to a segregated population. The Ghoul got an especialy large number of bad looks.

"We should ask some one where we can do some arms trading." Hank suggested. They asked people as they passed. People were for the most part unresponsive. Some outright laughed and turned their backs. It seems the towns folk were a little touchy about guns, no one seemed armed. This concerned Yolo.
"If they arent armed. who is..."

They continued their journey and eventualy came to a suitable inn. Soaking Paw Tavern and Brothel was its name. Inside music played and drinks flew. People danced in a drunken stupor. The group got rooms. Hank Yolo and Lorkin decided to watch the wagon, not trusting the large number of potential thieves with their wagon full of fire arms. The Ghoul took a collection of literature he found around the tavern to his own personal while Sasha and Sam slept in another.

The rest of the guys made jokes about a potential sexual encounter with Sasha and Sam.

"What! All Im sayin is I bet the guy is crazy in bed. All those psycho treatments and all."

Every one laughed and drank their beer. This was the first bit of pleasure time the group had had since its meeting and they could not deny it was good to be a little enibriated. Though Hank being the on call medical staff made sure to remind them of the dehydrating effects of booze in the wasteland.

Across the alley they noticed two men comming together. They exchanged words and one handed the other a sack full of caps. The reciever looked around and handed him a pistol. The man with the pistol steped back into the light and looked it over, pointing it strait ahead and looking down the sights. Some other men that happened to be passing by took one look at this and drew assault rifles on both the men and proceeded to open fire.

This shocked Lorkin Yolo and Hank causing Yolo to spill his drink on himself. The two men walked over picked up the gun and continued on their patrol.

"Aparently the local law does not allow weapons in town." Hank said.

"Good to know, and probably the reason we were gettin such a harsh responce earlier." said Yolo. The three put their guns in their wagon and kept a good eye on it.

"Maybee some one inside can slip us some information concerning weapons in this town. Surely some one has to controll it. The guns those men had were not common. Military issue from pre war if I saw right." Lorkin informed.

"Maybee Ill go inside and see whos tounge is loose at this hour" Lorkin said finishing his drink and walking inside.

Hank and Yolo continued to watch over the wagon sipping their drinks...
 
Lorkin walking into a bustling room. Folks were dancin and men from the bar cheered as skantily dressed women teased and taunted men on the dance floor.

Lorkin walked up to the bar and took a seat next to one of the more verbose members of the brothel. Changing his deminer to match that of the drunkard. "Buy ya a drink friend?"

The man squinted at lorkin a huge grin overcoming his face to reveal missing teeth and gingavitus.

"Of Corse!" Throwing his arm around Lorkins shoulders.
"Withat kina athitude yor guna be a good frend!"

The bartender slid down a shot of home distiled whiskey at Lorkins request. The chum at the bar quickly gulped it down and turned bright red laughing uncontrolably.


Up stairs in his room The Ghoul sifted through pages of a science book he had come across in the slave camp. It was from before the war and spoke mainly of the Governments testing of Nuclear weaponry as well as some diognostics of nuclear bombs. Although The Ghoul was quiet he was not without inteligence, in face quite the opposite. He spent much of his free time educating himself in hopes that some day he would be one of the contributers to a better society. He continued to read his book into the night.

Outside Yolo lay back against the tire of the wagon while Hank looked on. The streets were very empty. Even the bodies that had once been littering the streets were cleaned up by the local authorities. Lorkin imerged from the double doors his arm around his bar mate acting quite drunk.

"Allrite boyyyy I see you all tommara!!!!" Lorkin exclaimed to his new found ascociate as we staggered into the night.

"So much for finding information" Hank thought to himself.
As soon as the man was out of site Lorkin straited up his face droping back to normal.

"So here is the situation. Fire arms were outlawed in Sacramento 6 years ago after a huge gang war nearly wiped out the center of town. The funny thing about that is the local law isnt the one that enforces the rules. The two gangs that were at odds have setled in their respective parts of town. One controls the east, one controls the west. They are still at odds but local authorities keep them from killing each other off, or killing off the city residence. I think that as we get closer to the hub of the city more information will become available."

They nodded Hank looking over his shoulder into the brothel that was starting to settle down. Well looks like things are winding down. Better get some rest.

With that they bunkered down and waited for the new day...
 
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