ICC- Kilrick Salvage Chapter 2- On the Road to NYC

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Rama Stryfe jumped out from the back and looked around, giving the desserted township a wary glance. "I know this may sound lame or out of a novel, but we mustn't linger here. I can already feel eyes touching my armor."

Jake gave Stryfe a look.

"We're being watched," Stryfe said bluntly, "and the sun is setting." Rama pointed a gloved hand towards the orange globe that was slowly setting in the west.
 
“If these bleeding maggots are the fuckers you say they are then we can’t stick around playing silly buggers, can we?” I said to the group. “Let’s get going to a safe place before the sun goes completely out… and since the road is pretty much blocked we have two choices: we can try and take the car out of the way before getting killed or we can run the hell out of here! Personally, I think we can barricade ourselves in one of those empty buildings over there. Your call Kilrick, mate, you’re the boss…”
 
No time to delay. The sun had already dipped below the horizon and all the light was the last rays of departed day.

Decisive action at times like this was better than no action.

IF we got out and moved the car, they'd pick us off. The car hadn't been there when we came in.

Ram it or go around.

"Rama, back in. Jasmin, another star shell." We'd have to run with the big rig.

"Jake, ram the fucker."
 
A loud CRASH! All the truck shook, Jake just rammed the car blocking the way. The car moved, but not enough to take it out of the way.

“Damn it, ram it again!” Yelled Kilrick.

Another crash! The car moved again, but still in the way…

“I see movement! It’s all around us, in the darkness!” Said Stryfe.

Everyone pulled out their guns while Kilrick yelled to Jake to ram the car once again!

I look out, it seemed as the shadows themselves were getting closer…

“Bloody hell!” I said. “So they don’t like the light, do they? Let’s see how they feel about fire!”
I reached for my bag, pulled out a glass bottle with a rag coming out of it.
“Add two parts alcohol and one part tar and you got yourself a Molotov cocktail!” I set the rag on fire and throw it to the darkness around us. “SOD OFF!” I yelled.

On impact the bottle shattered and flames appeared, a loud high-pitch scream could be heard.

“AH, HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT FUCKING WANKERS??”

Jake pulled the truck in reverse a few meters for one big final ram against the car…

Looking out the truck I could see the darkness fleeing from the flames of the Molotov cocktail but rapidly regrouping and coming close yet again…

“Shit! Mate, they’re back!!" I yelled.

“GO, NOW!” Said Kilrick to Jake

“This time it’s the car or us!” Replied Jake, stepping on the acceleration paddle.

The truck moved onwards with a powerful acceleration, one big crash on impact, a big rumble, the car slide off the way and the truck kept going…

“YEAH!” Jake said enthusiastically.

“Alright, now let’s get the fuck out of here...” Said Kilrick decisively.

“Well, that was bloody interesting” I said, lightning a cigarette and pulling out a flash from the jacket filled with whiskey, taking a sip.
 
“I don’t think we’re off the hook just yet” Alerted Eric Chang. “They’re after us!”

“Can’t we go any faster then this?” I asked

“With all the shit on this road this is the fastest I can go!” Replied Jake! “You can drive the fucking thing if you want!”

“They’re getting closer!” Said Eric yet again.

I pulled my magnum 44. of my boot with my left hand and with my right grabbed my sawed-off. “Hell, I was curious about how they bleeding looked like, anyway…”
 
*Maggotville*

"Holy fucking Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, what the fuck are those things?"

As the team hauled ass, Kilrick just yelled three words, MAKE THEM DEAD.

"Alright Eric, remember your breathing techniques. Just stay calm, and don't jerk the trigger." With that in mind, Eric put on his NVGs and shouldered his rifle.

"You little maggot shits, I am going to turn you into an undertakers nightmare." Although Eric couldn't make out a full shape, he could see that something was moving very fast and making good headway towards the truck.

"Breath out, breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out, BOOF." To Erics delight, the creature fell what he thought, was face first into the ground with one of its legs missing.

"As Eric pulled back the bolt to chamber in another round, he muttered, "Serves you right, none of you fuckers are having asian cuisine tonight".

Eric took aim and fired again, this time tearing the face off of another maggot.

"We have more incoming hostiles Kilrick. No better time to field test that ma deuce then right now."

Eric once again chambered in another round and fired. At first, he the thought he had missed the little bugger. However, that all changed when he noticed that the third maggot had an exposed stomach.
 
There were plenty off the fuckers and closing in fast, but soon Jake would have a clear road up ahead.
But we had to get there alive, first!

I noticed the Asian man, Eric, snipping the creatures. He was good, but still young and I could see him a little bit freaked out.

“Edden, Eric, Stryfe, I need your fire power if we’re going to get away from these sodding pofs!” I said to them. “Came on, work with me, I think I have an idea how to get some distance from them. Edden, I want you to keep firing that shotgun has fast as you can to the lots of them. Stryfe, that AK-47 is going to be really useful, just burst away to the ones closer to us, I want to scare then to shit and make them think twice before getting too close to us, Eric, just keep sniping has you are, you’re doing fine sonny!”

They agreed, Stryfe didn’t look particularly happy about the way I was giving orders, but he too knew that in these situations the best thing is to do was to work together.
Even so I said: “Came on, trust me on this, later you can bugger me bleeding head off!”

When they all started firing away the maggots started to back up a little from the truck, but still kept chasing us.
But now they were at a safer distance from us. Natural thing to do when someone like Stryfe kills ‘bout a dozen with a single bloody burst!

The sods now were where I wanted them to be!

I pulled the pins out of 4 grenades I had in my jacket…

“EVERYBODY, HEADS IN TRUCK! FIRE IN THE HOLE!” I threw the grenades at the buggers; a second later one huge collective explosion loud has hell and lots of maggot corpses flying around. The rest slowed down with the explosion, enough so Jake could get us into open clear road and finally drive us away from the bastards.
 
- "So these were the maggots?" - I said looking at the darkness behind the truck.

- "And how do you think?" - replied Kilrick, wiping sweat off his forehead. The others at most only raised their heads, being either too tired or too focused after the fight.

So I ended up in a truck with a bunch of mercs with all my stuff and without possibility to come back. I didn't think It would be better if I stayed with the traders. I've been given a chance I couldn't waste. Back to action.

I checked the map to determine where we were going, but there was nothing on the map in that direction. I checked the sun position I remembered, looked at the map again and... nothing. We were going nowhere. It seemed at least conspicious to me. If the truck was going to some place that doesn't appear on the maps, I would have been left in the wastelands soon. So I realised I had to join them quickly.

- "Where are we going to go?" - I asked Kilrick

- "For now we're going to hit some towns on the way to NY" - he noticed the map - "Let me show you" - he took a quick look at it and he surely got surprised - "How did you get one of these? Never mind, it's worth nothing" - he showed me another one, which was similar to the raiders' one - "Here's NY. And these are the towns" - right, on this map everything matched - "Your map won't ever help anyone" - saying this, ha was making a paper plane of it. Soon the map was flying through the truck to reach freedom.

- "That's a long way. Don't you need a hand?"

- "Well, it's enough of us here already, but I will think about it"
 
Jake took the truck to the top of the hill, to the overlook, allowing us one more look down into the town.

We could make out some of the lines of the buildings in the growing darkness, but soon even that disappeared. It was as if the evening swallowed the entire town, and there was nothign down there but a deep and endless void.

I spoke to Jake quickly, pointing out a location in the map. Jake nodded.

The others were reluctant to get out of the vehicle, except for Rama and Edden who took a quick look underneath the vehicle to inspect for damage.

Down below we could hear hoots and laughter, growling and barks. Somewhere in the darkness of maggotville, the nightlife was getting exciting.

It almost sounded like it was climbing up the road to great us, and maybe they were.

"Got some damage here." Said Rama.

"Can we travel?"

"Better than walking." Said Rama, looking back from where he came.

They were coming up the hill. We couldn't see them. You could almost never see them. But you could feel them, and that was bad enough.

"Let's go. Besides, I want to be back at first light."

Jack turned the key and we left the overlook. We would be back in the morning.
 
Edden let off a final scatter shot, tearing, into the thin calf off a nearby maggot. A second would have followed if its maggotty brethern hadn't scooped up its fallen comrade, making the scatter shot splinter the archiac door frame, probably powdering the fleeing maggots. "Damn it... I was about to make six."

Rama grabbed hold of Edden's barrel, lowering it, Edden's rd haze was still twinkling in her eyes. Stryfe recognized it, it was that same look he remembered years abck when Edden enjoyed killing, "Plenty of time for body counts later, Edden. Now, we move." Stryfe said to his comrade and then nodded to Jake. "Lets go."
 
We drove for about an hour before we came to Keystone Trader, which, in addition to providing us a place to bed down, would trade with us some goods.

Ollie Wilcox, who ran the Keystone from his father, let us in through the barricade while his wife kept a shot gun trained out the outside.

He nodded to me by way of greeting.

I looked over at his wife Anne and then asked Ollie, "What's the deal?"

"Dire." He said.

I passed him a handful of credits, which he looked at, shrugged adn turned away. Rent money for the night.

I turned back to the crew. "We stay inside the barricade tonight. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we go back to Maggotville."

"Look at this front end, shit." Said Jake. He was walking in front of the rig, looking at damage from the ramming.

"Looks like we'll be needed some new pipe while we're here." Said Eric. He was under the vehicle with Rama and they were looking over the damage.

I crouched down and took a look. One of the hoses had taken a gash and was leaking coolant. The coolant could be replaced easy, but the hose would need work.

"Jake, I need you to look over the damage and see what we need fixed. Work with Eric and Rama on this." I said. "Don't want the rig dieing on us in the middle of Maggotville if we need to make a hasty withdrawal."

Jake nodded and got back to work.

I looked around.

Keystone Trader was a fairly decent size outfit. A building refitted from an old truckstop, and tires and barrels had been used to form walls around the exterior, strung with barbed wire for added defense. The walls were the main defense. Inside was the trading post itself, a sort of keep for those who lived at the post, Ollie, Anne and their four kids. The oldest of the daughters was coming along looking to pass a few tricks, trying to make a few credits.

Back in the truck the others were getting sorted out. "Rent's extra for the trading post so we'll sleep here." I said.

Reynolds didn't seem to like that idea, but Deeds and Jasmin took it in stride. Stowe seemed pissed off with me more than the circumstances.

I tried not to let it bother me.

We weren't the only ones renting space. There were three brahma filled carts, tinkers by the look of em. An older fellow and a younger who I took to be his son. There were three women, an older one and two younger ones, one of which easy on the eyes but didn't seem too happy. There were also some kids, who I didn't pay much attention to, who aged between 4 and 15.

They had been debating or arguing over some matter but hushed up as I came over.

'What can we do for ya?" Asked the old man.

"Looking to trade. Got any hoses?" I replied.

The 15 year old was looking at me with longing eyes, probably looking to entice a trade of her own. Kids grow up fast in these parts.

"Yup," said the younger. "Got all sorts." He turned to show me his inventory.

I picked up one or two. We'd have to cut it, but that was to be expected. We hangled over the price before reaching a compromise.

"I reckon that would do." I said finally. "What brings you folks here?" trying to make conversation.

"Damn Dire." Said the old man. "I figured better to bring my family in least them hounds a hell picked off one of the little ones."

"Ollie mentioned that. I didn't think they strayed this far north. Sure they weren't just a pack of hungry dogs?" I said.

"Damn sure I am. I can hear em different from dogs, wolves too. Done a bit of trade down in Glu-town recent, heard him howling up in the night." Said the old man.

The younger one nodded. "Yep, I figure that out there is a younger pack, maybe a splinter."

"Dire kill the rebel ones." Said the old one, short and curt, cutting off the younger one with a rebuke.

I figured it was father and son.

"Either way, better to be inside tonight."

"Yell yes, can't get any closer for us in any regards. Besides, Ollie likes to trade." Said the older fellow.

"Leaving tomorrow then?" I asked.

"Uh hunh." Said the younger. The younger girl was running a finger up and down her legs. The younger son saw my eyes linger and smiled. All was good as long as he got a piece of the action. "We're heading over West. Been working Maggotville. Ain't many folks do that town so it's fertile for the taking."

I nodded, "Indeed. Well be careful. Don't be caught there after dark."

"Ain't no worries about that. Only the fool and unlucky would stay in maggotville after dark." Said the old man.

I turned back to my rig, with the new hose traded for a few coins.
 
The clench of .12ga rounds being reloaded into the chamber filled the silence of the mutant rig. Edden had changed the scatter rounds to solid slug. Better distance and harder punch. Two Beretta 9mms and a H&K MP-5. The shotgun had plenty of rounds, so for now, she needed stopping power. And she had that urge to bust some skulls. Right now she felt the biting sensation in her lungs.

NICOTINE

Feeling her breast pocket, she grabbed a single cigarette and asked for light, getting one from Kilrick.

"Thanks much, Boss." She took a gentle puff and smiled, her honey colored lips and face almost looked child like.

Getting up she sat next to the new comer. n... and you are handsome?" Edden streched out her right hand.


OOC: This is to you Karkow
 
“Richard, but call me Wolf, I like it better.” I answered the young dark coloured woman, shaking her hand. “You’re Edden, I’ve picked that up earlier. Sorry to boss you around like a bloody prick back there, but it has been some time since I socialize with other people, hell, it’s been some time I’ve been sober this long… That reminds me, you fancy a drink? I got a bleeding headache that only some old whiskey can cure…”

“Yeah, sure!” Edden answered. “Nothing better to do in here anyway!”

Rolling a cigarette for myself while we walked to the trader post, Edden finished hers.

“Roll me one, cowboy?” She asked.

“Sure, and they’re better then those you buy in the wasteland, full of radioactive shit, they are!” I rolled her one, gave it to her a lightened it.


We arrived at the trade post, I asked for a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

“You did a great job with that shotgun of yours in Maggotville.” I told her, while we drank. “Which makes me wonder: you’re young, good looking, hell, very good looking, enough to give me a few twists in the head and dream about a shag, especially when calling me handsome! So, what brings you to be in the middle of some old, ugly and smelly mercenaries off to some suicidal bloody quest?”
 
Jasmin had been helping out with the rig but I noticed her watch as Edden and Wolf went over to the trader's shed for a round. It was Edden she was watching, and that was interesting.

I turned back to the others who were working on the rig. They had gone over the damage and were giving me the report, but I wasn't liking what I was hearing.

Rama was shaking his head. "That puddy will need time to dry and it won't hold."

"Considering the damage to the radiator," said Jake, "Best thing would be to find a replacement."

"But we could use the rig for a day." I said, trying to clear up what they told me.

Rama shrugged. Jake spoke. "Yes we could, and the repairs could last awhile, but no telling how long. It's like using masking tape for repairs- sure it will hold but it's not dependable."

Fuck.

A replacement meant that we would have to go back to Maggotville, but with the slow puddy it meant that we couldn't leave until mid-day, and with the repairs needed for the Rig, most of the day would be spent salvaging vehicles just for the parts to get the one we had working.

It was a matter of time.

We would lose a day. It was possible we could get our rig as far as Glu-town but there was no way for sure that it would hold up, or not break down in a vulnerable place. It was bad enough that we would have to take an undependable vehicle into Maggotville.

But there was little we could do. We would go in, sometime late in the morning or early in the afternoon- depending how the puddy dried. Salvage what vehicles we could and then come back. Repair the rig and then return the next day for the turbine and then go to Glu-town. One day lost.

"Alright, do what repairs you can and make a list of what we need. When you're done, Jake, let me take a look. If we can bargain for some of the parts from Ollie or the Tinkers, fine. Otherwise, tomorrow we go to town and salvage for parts for the rig, do the repairs tomorrow. Rama, see if you can help get that bike fixed."

I returned to the tinkers, more to bleed what info I could out of them. They had been harvesting maggotville, so perhaps they knew where I could find the parts I needed. The trick would be to get them to tell us what we needed to know without them figuring out what nuggets of info we were after. That's why I brought back a couple of bottles of hootch with me to lubricate their minds.
 
I was listening to the Jake's conversation with Kilrick while trying to find out what happened to the bike. "Well, I'm not so good at this. I should ask this guy... uh, Jake to help me out" I was at comfortable situation - they've lost something in Maggotville and they had to come back. They would have lost a whole day. If only Jake had repaired my bike, I could have come back for this part.

I went out of the truck.

-"Hey, Jake! I heard you need something from Maggotville to fix the car"

-"Right. So you have something on your mind?"

-"I can go there and retrieve it for you in at most five hours. I want you to try to repair my bike so I could go. Anyway, this is the best you can do cause you won't repair the truck until the part's here"

-"Well, you're right. I'll go check the bike. And you have to talk to Kilrick about payment"

-"Of course I will"

So I went out looking for Kilrick. I could do this work for free, but only if I would join them. This was a strong argument for them to take me with them. But what was their main task?
 
After I came back from the tinkers, learning what I needed, I listened to the kid with the bike. Sure, go into to town and retreave the part. I wanted the bike fixed but either way it would be a day lost.

If he left in the morning, he would have to do the salvage himself. There were a few parts and they weren't light. He would have to go to at least 8 different locations.

He would be alone and this was Maggotville. If rumor was true, he should be safe at night. But there was more. The tinkers might be tempted to shoot him for his bike, leaving dead or wounded and us without a bike. To do the salvage meant he would have to watch his back.

Too many uncertainties and risks.

"I like you courage kid, but it wouldn't work. We go in as a crew. Safety in numbers. To go to each location will take you most of a day with those Tinkers looking at your bike. Too much risk."

He didn't seem to happy with that.

"Look, you want to ride with us, fine. I pulled you out of Maggotville, I guess you can call it courtesy. We're heading to New York on a job. Pays 130 K split among the survivors, plus a bonus of 10K per head. Those who come back collect, the others get buried. I don't recommend taking it unless you got an interest at stake."

I let him think about it.

It was getting late and I was tired. We would have to wait till late morning to go back to town. Jake was pretty sure the repairs would hold up for a couple of days at least. Then we'd have to be fast.

The others had scattered, some making friends with Ollie and his girls, or the Tinkers and theirs. Some getting drunk. Outside the Dire were howling mournfully. They were real close, probably attracted by the scent of human beings and our cooking fires.

I went back to where we had strung up a tarp.

Stowe was waiting for me, a bottle in her hand.

"You really shouldn't have taken the job." She said.

"It's a job. It pays." I said.

"It will cost you." She said.

"Don't they all. Besides, I would have paid for it either way."

"It's not worth it." She said.

"What's not worth it?" I asked.

But she shook her head. "Hell, no reason to worry. We might never even get there."

"So why not make like friends." I asked.

"Why not?" She said. And I followed her into the darkness, and found her in a quiet, private place behind the shed.
 
*moments later*

Stryfe found his hands covered in grease and oil as he made with the repairs to Rohan's bike. It was a lovely vehicle as they come and Stryfe had the good fortune to ride a few in his time... Some of the scars are from the misfortunate times. But like the saying went, once you get back up on the bike, you;d never forget how to ride it.

Edden and Wolf were making nice, which was a bit odd for Edden's anti-social tendency to avoid people at all cost. Cranking the bike, Stryfe gave it a rev to see if all his labor was in vain.

The ignition hit, the mini-beast gave a growl worthy of a death claw. And in one of those rare moments, Rama Stryfe smiled.

"Excellent."
 
Here I was, drinking and bloody chatting with Edden. We talked a little, even ate something too, but we mostly drank, and smoked, a lot! Here’s a girl who can handle alcohol. I like that.

I got to know a little bit more about whom she was and what she was doing here. Told her a little ‘bout myself also… not the real shitty parts, don’t want to scare the girl off. Hell, might even get lucky! Hey, I’m an old wolf, but a wolf none the less!

But an interesting girl, very interesting girl! And strange! And crazy! Not working very well in the sodding head!

That turned me on...

It was that or the booze fucking with my mind.

Strange, so many days and nights alone, the only sex I had was with girls drunk enough to like me, but not prostitutes, never could be really much aroused with prostitutes. But what most women would see was some old bastard who drank a lot.

And yet, being in the field, being in the middle of the action, it pumped the old juices back on, and, with the risk of sounding corny, I felt younger! With the same wit I had way back then.

It was getting late; I wondered what the others were doing. I realized I really didn’t cared that much.

“So” I started “You and Stryfe. Is something going on with you two? Something I should know about before trying something stupid that would get my old ass killed?”

“Me and Rama? We’re friends, sort of. Special friends...”

“Special in what way?” I asked.

“That’s not important, for now… But what were you talking about? Something about trying something stupid?”

“You can’t blame a bloke for trying, can you? Even if you are more of a ladies type!” I said with a grin.

She smiled back and had one more glass of whiskey.
 
Edden gave a nodd, "Too true, Wolf, too true. I can't blame a guy for tryin'... Hell with effort, you may never know." She took a gentle swig of the copper liquid. "But for now... the answer is no... Gotta keep my merchandise kept safe. And besides, I like girls. Long story."

Wolf gave an accepting nod, which made Edden beam. "See that's why I like you, Wolf. You can take no for an answer... or at least doin' your best to take it. I'm not going to say something corny like: 'Let's jus' be friends.' I'll keep my options open. That's the best I can do."

There was a long moments pause before Edden opened her mouth again. "Anythin' else, Wolf?"
 
After the temporary repairs on the bike held, Stryfe took a short stroll near the gates parameters, surveying the dead city in the foreground and following the moving shadows within the darkness with his own keen eyes.

It must have been excrutiating to know where your food is but you had no way of getting to it. It must have been torture. The taste of human flesh was a taste that was hard to remove from your tongue. He knew that. It took sometime to go cold turkey, when the guilt of eating another human being grew so much, you just stopped on your own. That was like a skag trying to kick psycho or jet. If that were the case, well Rama almost felt sorry for the maggots out there.

Almost.

In his tour across the great wastes and even through the great ruins, Stryfe learned pity and mercy were vices for lesser mortals. Even as a Ranger, one had to draw the line in how far he helped someone.

Day light would come in eight hours, and Stryfe knew the shadows would go back. It wasn't a comforting thought at all, since they'd undoubtedly would be heading back into their territory. So a blood bath was unavoidable, and Stryfe would stake his life on that.

It was depressing to look out there, and Stryfe knew after all this was over, that there was a slim chance he'd be seeing Violin or Armand again... Or Talon.

Perhaps it was written somewhere this was how it was supposed to be.
 
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