A
avenger69ie
Guest
Hi folks, i've been reading the boards for a while and am really fond of all the fallout titles, but anyways, i've been unemployed for the past two weeks, mostly enjoying whats left of the irish sun here (ahem!) and playing fot till my eyes bled, i got thinking of this story one night and decided to put it to paper (or word) well, let me know if it sucks or what...
its not entirely accurate to fallout,
but its fiction.
this is the first chapter, i'd appreciate any criticism or praise from you all, as i do enjoy reading the stories on here.
well, enjoy... hopefully!
There wasn’t much left of this city after the war,
Or any city that Ryan had ever heard of for that matter.
This one, whatever its name used to be, might have been an industrial centre, as there was a large fossil fuel refinery and a harbour with about ten square miles of dock-lands. Almost nothing was intact after the bomb hit. But you could tell what used to be.
Shattered glass, twisted metal, burnt out hulks and structural skeletons of once proud buildings littered the cityscape.
Some of the smaller buildings and houses which were not at ground zero had been sheltered by the larger skyscrapers and industrial complexes and managed to somewhat protect them.
It was in these smaller buildings that hope and life thrived. For scavengers the remains of hardware shop or a supermarket were hope and with hope usually came life, and lots of it.
What wasn’t killed by the initial blast, usually died shortly afterwards, at the most, a human could live for around a month or two if he or she found adequate food and water supplies which were not contaminated by fallout, not to mention shelter from the fallout, and the mutations which ensued.
Ryan, didn’t know this, he didn’t have to. He already knew the earth had long since consumed the fallout. As the war that did end all wars itself ended, and with it, civilization curled up into a ball and almost died out completely.
The vaults were a saviour of sorts.
The vaults built before the war preserved a small fraction of what mankind once was.
Ryan was a descendent of one of these vaults. Vault 6’s community was 80% military, 17% science staff, 3% civilian. The civilian populous consisted mainly of cooks, janitors, vault technicians, medical, teachers and tradespeople most of them had their families with them.
Ryan’s grandfather was a sergeant in the old military. Not exactly a great rank, but he knew his men and women and knew how to command them. Sergeant Ryan received a battlefield commission during some battle prior to when the big ones dropped and was promoted to Drill sergeant. As a Drill sergeant, He was tough but fair on his soldiers. In the vault his duties were to teach his men and women tactics and keep them ready for battle if the need arose. This knowledge was passed from generation to generation. This knowledge is instinct now to Ryan and essential for him to survive in the wastes.
He is not alone. He is like the others from vault 6, Brotherhood of Steel.
A fusion cell drive, modified hum-vee, with heavy steel armour plating starts up as the key is turned in the ignition, the hummer pulls off and spurts dust and gravel from under its solid rubber wheels. The hummer passes an old rusty signpost with the numbers 35 surrounded by a faded red border as it Crests a small hill which had been obscuring their view of the city. The Size of the city itself was revealed to be enormous. Easily the biggest they have ever seen before.
The Hummer drove by the remains of old car shaped lumps of rust and burnt out shells of buildings, phoneboxes and human and animal remains. Ryan thought to himself, This is pointless, we’re not gonna find anything in this hellhole, Its deader than Elvis. In the distance Ryan could see a tall white sign with some letters on it, as he was the only one in the car besides the driver that could read properly, he told the others it was a Shell garage and it might be worth a look. They agreed.
The group consisted of two women and two men including Ryan. The women, Farsight a small but slender Tribal sniper, grew up in the wastes after her vault was breached by a raider gang. Her father was the founder of their new community home in the wastes. The other woman calls herself Jessy. Jessy was part of a raider party that was captured by the brotherhood 20 years ago, at the time she was 6 years old. The brotherhood doesn’t normally take pity on outsiders, but an initiate was ordered by his CO to take her under his wing, he showed her the way of the brotherhood of steel, Jessy is pretty good with small arms fire and she is extremely agile. A good choice for a Scouting mission Ryan thought to himself. The other man sitting in the pilot seat beside Ryan was Charlie, Charlie was a Ghoul, Charlie began his “new” life in a prototype vault which had a faulty ventilation system, as a result all of the inhabitants suffered the effects of an unknown airborne virus, (possibly purposefully released) combined with nuclear fallout. The result was an increased lifespan, and constantly regenerating tissue, which causes the old tissue to rot very quickly, the appearance of a Ghoul is easily noticeable, as they usually have discoloured skin flaking and peeling off themselves. Aside from the aesthetics Charlie is a nice if quiet guy for a demolitions expert.
Ryan had known his group for about 2 years and he had gone on this type of mission many times before. Through this they had become close, which they found important as they could rely on each other’s skills in certain areas to get through most situations. The Hummer was drawing nearer to the Shell garage. Farsight had been talking to Charlie about using the Stockpile of Claymore mines they scavenged on their last scout mission.
Charlie told her to “leave well alone”. Ryan laughed to himself, and thought, I really like the inquisitive side to her, but fuck me, how long has it been since she had a sandscrub, I can smell her sweating from here. You okay, Farsight? Ryan said. Yeah, I’m just comin down with a bug or some shit again, you know what my immune system is like out here. Yeah, I know, we’re all headin back to the bunker after this one anyway, apparently Paladin Wolff has something important for us out west. Farsight nodded. Charlie looked at Ryan for a moment and turned his eyes back to the road.
Jessy groaned. She and Wolff hated each other,
Wollf was part of the group that destroyed the raider camp that Jessy was born in and had objected to her being taken back as she was too young for slave labour, but he was overruled by his CO, who then gave an initiate custody of her.
Anyways said Ryan, we still have a couple of days before we get back to the bunker, so lets make the most of it, were short on mostly everything except water, so keep your eyes and ears open. Ok Charlie, slow it up and pull over opposite the garage. Charlie obeyed and drove the last hundred metres at 10kph, The Hummers shuttered windows on either side slid down to reveal the ominous barrels of guns, on the left a sniper rifle barrel and the right an M16a barrel jutted out. Charlie cut the power and steered the Hummer in neutral the last couple of metres to increase their perception of sound outside the vehicle. It didn’t do any good, The City was dead aside from a small whistle of wind flowing through the twisted hyper tensile steel girders of the nearby buildings, if it had been any quieter, and they would have been deafened by the silence. They all felt uneasy Nevertheless, they were alert and ready for almost anything.
Ryan ordered his friends to stay in the hummer while he checked out the garage. Charlie nodded to Ryan, the others remained focused on their tasks. Ryan eased himself out of the hummer, his Brahmin leather armour rubbing off the leather seats in the hummer. Ryan hauled himself out and slung an AK47 over his shoulder, he reached back inside the hummer for a moment to pick up his sidearm, A Desert eagle .50, takes the safety off, and stalks away from the Hummer. As he walks away, Farsight silently exits the hummer and takes a tactical vantagepoint crouching at the rear of the Hummer. Charlie unbuckled himself from the pilot seat, took up his old shotgun and loaded it with some solid slug rounds without looking at the gun.
Ryan had walked half the distance to the old garage when he slowed himself. Ryan was always suspicious of apparently abandoned buildings. Examining the front of the building he noticed a makeshift barricade behind the main entrance. Somebody took a stand here at some point. I wonder what they were protecting here he thought. He moved to his right to flank the building and search for another entrance, these places usually had a storage space entrance or a mechanic pit. Almost there now, watching the ground carefully to avoid making excessive noise with the debris. Ryan Encroached to the side of the building and side stepped out to his right with his Desert eagle pointed at an imaginary horizon at waist height. There was no entrance here, and Ryan didn’t want to stray to far from his group in case something did happen, or if this was an ambush.
Shit, he breathed to himself as he moved his back to the garage wall, he edged around the corner to the main entrance. He looked back to the Hummer, everyone was still there and doing what they were ordered to. Ryan stepped up to the doorway, and looked from the wall inwards, he could see empty racks, boards and other debris littering the floor.
There was utter silence, Ryan didn’t like it. He crouched down below the screen and moved to the other side of the door, Checked it and seen nothing unusual. He stood up, stepped back from the door, looked around quickly, nothing caught his eye, he ran forward and lifted his right leg to kick the door. The door burst open, the top hinge came off completely as the door flipped onto the barricade that was behind it. Ryan was left with his right leg on the door his two arms outstretched holding the Desert Eagle and scanning the inside of the garage. Nothing. Nobody. Yet.
Ryan hopped onto the counter, which had been moved into the doorway to create the barricade. Eased himself onto the interior floor of the garage. It was dark, like dusk inside. Stalking around the shelves Ryan put his desert eagle away and unslung the AK47. If there is anything here its not gonna last long after a burst of 7.62 hits it, he thought.
Just as he stepped around the corner he almost stood on something big, “FUCK”, he let rip with the AK47, eight shots left the barrel with a deafening sound. Ryan realised what he hit just as Farsight entered the doorway. What is it? She said. Ah its just a fucking corpse, looks like its been here a while, Ryan said, as he tossed the desert Eagle to Farsight. Farsight caught the old gun and slung her rifle over head and shoulder. The rifle’s strap emphasised her breasts Ryan thought. ‘here take a look he said’. Farsight strolled over to Ryan and looked at the decaying body of what looked to be a raider.
Farsight and Ryan both noted that there was a fist sized hole in its chest. Farsight said, did you do that? No, no, I doubt an AK could do something like that, that was something bigger, maybe a revolver or something? Farsight Crouched on her knees to check the wounds while Ryan went to the doorway to let Charlie and Jessy know he and Farsight were okay. She noticed the 7.62 entry points from Ryan’s weapon and dismissed them, there were no other wounds apart from the fist sized hole. Examining the hole she seen that it was black all the way through, like something was burnt through him. This is what killed him Ryan, I’ve never seen anything like it before have you? Ryan shook his head looked towards a counter and said did you check him? Hang on a sec, she said as she checked his clothing and body armour for valuables. Jesus! This is odd, He’s fucking loaded, whoever killed him didn’t check his body. She laughed as she pulled out a medic’s field kit, a 9mm beretta, 2 full clips, and a switchblade. Ryan frowned as he realised this could be the bait for a trap.
Something’s not right, he said to himself, Farsight, get away from that body, were, getting outta here now, I don’t like this.
Why? This is a free lunch man, she said.
There’s no such thing woman, now get back to the Hummer and take that stuff with you. Farsight obeyed and stood up stashing the booty in her clothing as it had been concealed on the unfortunate raider. Ryan backed off tightening his grip on the AK’s handle and stock. Ryan climbed over the barricade and walked back to the Hummer were the others had been waiting, got in and reloaded his gun. He said ‘expect trouble’ everyone went from cautious to fully alert and checked their ammo supplies. Charlie get us out of here, nice and slow. Charlie turned over the engine. The fusion cell drive powered up with a low and deep whine. The Hummer slowly started moving in reverse. They didn’t get further than a few metres when the first shot got off.
The first shot hit the Hummer’s bonnet leaving another scar on the metal and ricocheted harmlessly off with a whistle. Then there were salvos of shots in what appeared to be all directions at once. Most of them hit the Hummer and the ground behind them. After the first shot Charlie hit the accelerator hard and turned the wheel hard left, which threw the nose of the Hummer 180 degrees, He let go of the accelerator and hit the clutch gearing into 1st. Floor it! Shouted Ryan. Charlie didn’t need to hear to the order as he was running on instinct. The noise of the shots hitting the Hummer and scream of the Fusion Drive must be waking the entire fucking city Ryan thought to himself. Get the shutters up, were gonna get peppered.
Farsight and Jessy were firing at rooftops, when Jessy noticed one of the snipers and began firing on full automatic at him, she caught him with a volley of 5.62mm in the upper torso and neck, Death must have been instantaneous as he dropped his rifle and plummeted to the earth from his perch atop a burnt out bank building.
Farsight was not so lucky, she had not got the advantage of an automatic weapon. Her sniper rifle took time to reload and was more of a hindrance in this type of fight. This did not stop her firing at anything that presented itself a threat. Which was anything that moved in the now living city. The Hummer was taking damage from the shots, but the further they got from the garage the shots didn’t come as heavy. They were however getting more accurate. They’re Raiders, I can’t tell what Clan but they’re definitely raiders, said Farsight. Just as she finished her sentence a shot came through the opening she had been firing through and grazed her Brahmin leather armour before embedding itself into the floor of the Hummer. The second shot hit her in the shoulder and threw her back against Jessy, who almost lost her grip on her M16. Jessy pulled her gun inside and closed the shutter completely. She then took in Farsight’s rifle that had dropped when she was shot, and closed Farsight’s Shutter. Got an Injury back here Ryan, Fleshwound as far as I can see, but she needs attention quickly. Ryan pulled in his AK and closed the shutter then looked around. The first thing he seen was blood. Farsight how bad are you hurt?
Farsight was grimacing and said through her teeth, I’ll live. Ryan frowned and without looking at Charlie said, Charlie, get us the fuck outta here. Charlie responded, were on the outskirts now, give me about 20 minutes to get us somewhere we can take care of her wound. Okay good work Chaz, said Ryan. Ryan took off his torso armour and T-shirt.he tore the Shirt in two, putting one piece in his leg armour, While Jessy lifted Farsight up, Ryan propped the leather armour behind Farsight so she could rest her back on it. Ryan and Jessy both examined the wound and checked to see if there was an exit wound. There wasn’t. The bullet had struck the shoulder and lodged itself there. Put me out, said Farsight, this is gonna hurt real bad in a minute. Jessy check in the back and see what you can get to ease the pain. Jessy moved away from Farsight to search the back interior of the Hummer while Ryan wiped away blood with his T-shirt. Turning the T-shirt over to a cleaner side, he held the cloth over her wound. You’ll be fine once we get it out, I don’t think it broke the bone.
Jessy had found a small used pack of painkillers, there were five left in the pack of eight. She continued searching the back. I know its here somewhere, I was saving it for back in the bunker, ah, here we go, Russia’s finest. She pulled out a litre bottle of blue label vodka 3 quarters full. Give her these first, Jessy said, handing over the pills, she’s gonna pass out from blood loss soon, They should be fairly effective. Ryan gave Farsight the pills and his own canteen of water. She swallowed them all in one go and took three mouthfuls of water from Ryan’s canteen. Thanks, she looked at both of them and said Sorry before she closed her eyes. Another few minutes guys, said Charlie.
Ryan Lifted his T-shirt off her wounded shoulder, it wasn’t bleeding as heavily now. Gimmie the bottle Jess. Jessy handed over the bottle. Ryan took a small swig of the Vodka, knowing that the alcohol was going to dehydrate him, but his mouth was dry and he needed the comfort of the strong and potent liquid. Ryan took the other piece of his T-shirt out of his leg armour and doused it with the vodka. I hope she is really asleep or unconscious. He cleaned the wound with the sterilised cloth. Farsight didn’t budge, Ryan Checked her pulse to be sure she was okay.
The Hummer was speeding through the furthest point of the city now, Charlie could see the hills were less than a kilometre away and safe ground would not be far beyond that.
Reckon you can take it out Jessy? Sure Ryan, I’ve taken out slugs from deeper wounds than this and in worse places too. She smiled at Ryan.
Ryan finally stopped frowning and gave his small crooked smile back to her.
Where’d you get that bottle of vodka anyway? He asked. Oh, I was wondering when you’d ask me that, she said grinning. Well if you must know, it was about two weeks ago in a poker game with some tribal friends of mine. They had just joined the brotherhood and were sent to an old town on a trade mission. They found a whole crate of these babies and some other crap in an abandoned warehouse. Ryan smiled again and said, remind me not to play poker with you, this shit is gold dust out this far. You’re welcome said Jessy. By the way Jess, did you get a look at those raiders back there? You know who they are?
No, they were in all black armour, every one of them I seen was wearing black armour, no markings as far as I could see, but I might be wrong. Yeah, I didn’t see anything either, what about you Charlie? Did you see any markings or recognise anything about them? Charlie Shook his head, and said, nah man, I was too fucking busy tryin’ to get us outta there in one piece. Oh yeah, Ryan?, we may need to hole up somewhere for a while to fix the Hummer, she took a lot of hits, I wanna patch her up in case we run into more of those guys, ‘sides, it looks like Farsight’s gonna need a few days rest anyway. Yeah, said Ryan, you know anywhere good around here? Not especially man, but I can find us something temporary. Good Enough Charlie, Good enough.
Hey, why do you reckon those raiders didn’t take you and Farsight out when you guys were in the garage? Ryan raised an eyebrow and scanned Jessy’s face for a hidden agenda, he looked across to Farsight and ran his fingers through her hair pulling it off her bloodied face. He opened the vodka bottle again, and took another mouthful, then said,
The way I figure it is, the Raiders wanted all of us dead, not half of us, and secondly, they wanted the Hummer. That’s why they didn’t take us out in the garage, besides we were probably too heavily armed for them to take out in a straight fight, so they rallied snipers to hit us from above. They didn’t realise the Hummer was armoured. Ryan handed the bottle back to Jessy, She took a mouthful and sat back against the door, handed the bottle back to Ryan. He looked at the bottle intently for a few seconds as if he had escaped from reality. He took another deep mouthful leaving half the bottle full. How we doin’ now Charlie? Ah we’re outta the city Ryan, he paused the said, want me to pull over here? Ryan looked out of the viewing slits in the front. He seen desert scrub, charred trees, and some hills about 2 and a half or 3km in front. Head for those hills out there Charlie. Charlie nodded. And steered the Hummer towards the low hills. When Ryan sat back down, he stretched for the vodka bottle. Don’t drink any more after that Ryan, I need that to clean her wound okay? Ryan had already taken the top from the bottle and was raising the bottle to his lips, when he stopped and put the top back on and handed it back to Jessy.
Ryan Sat back, folded his arms and rested his head on his forearms. He was starting to feel the effects of the vodka. Jessy and Charlie remained quiet for the rest of the drive.
Charlie drove the Hummer around the base of the small hills looking for a suitable place for cover and shelter.
Charlie spotted the remains of an old building, no roof, and two and a half walls were all that was left, but it would do and was more than adequate for their needs. At the time he would have settled for anything but was happy with himself for finding this place. He brought the Hummer slowly to a halt in front of the ruins, covering the open side with the vehicle.
Three doors opened almost simultaneously. Jessy and Charlie stepped out and walked around to the door on the right side where Ryan was holding his arm around Farsight’s upper back and left arm, below the wound. ‘We’re not takin’ her out Ryan, its more sterile in the car’ besides, I don’t want any dust or dirt getting in to her wound while I’m workin on her. Ryan rested Farsight down again and turned her on her side so the shoulder pointed upwards. Charlie asked if there was anything he could help with, Jessy said, Nah, you guys might as well scout around and see if we’re safe for the night, I do my best work alone. Ryan nodded and picked up his armour, and got out of the Hummer. He motioned for Charlie to follow him as Jessy was dousing vodka on her hands and removing Farsight’s clothing. Charlie reached into the hummer and grabbed his shotgun and the Desert eagle that Farsight had back in the garage and walked up to Ryan. They heard Jessy closed the doors and shutters of the hummer.
Ryan shivered, its getting late, you reckon we’re okay here for the night? Charlie looked back towards the black silhouetted skyline of the city, I’d rather be further away from those fucking freaks in the city, but we’ll be ok for the night I suppose. They both walked around the building and found nothing of interest. Normally Ryan would have ordered them to split up and secure a perimeter but tonight he wanted some company even if it was Charlie. Ryan took out a small tan leather pouch from inside his armour; he opened the pouch and looked around, surveying the area. Spotting a small rock cluster, he made his way towards it. Charlie walked over to the rocks and sat down, he began stretching his arms over his head and bending his legs up to chest. Ryan had rolled up a cigarette from the contents of the pouch, he took out a silver butane lighter and lit up his smoke. Will she be okay? Asked Charlie. I think so, but she won’t be using the rifle for a while. That’s life Ryan, and there’s nothin’ you can do about it, Coulda happened anyone. Yeah Charlie I know, I know, he paused, live by the gun, die by the gun. Ryan took a long drag from the cigarette and breathed the smoke through his nostrils making a hissing noise.
Look Ryan, she wouldn’t be the first you’ve lost on a scavenge, ‘sides, she’s gonna be fine isn’t she?
Yeah Charlie but every time it happens, it makes me wonder, what is the point of all of this? Why don’t the Elders just fortify what they have and move the farms and factories to the inner territories? This bullshit about humanity and uniting the fucking wastes is never gonna happen, there are too many raider clans, too many mutants, and too many other assholes that don’t want to live the way the brotherhood want them to. The two remained quiet for a few moments, Ryan took a last long pull from the cigarette, stood on it and exhaled.
Charlie finally took a breath and said in a soft voice, It’s the whole idea, ya gotta look at it on a larger scale Ryan, they Are trying, and who knows, maybe we’ll become a nation once again, instead of bickering tribes and clans, That’s what the brotherhood wants.
Ryan took out another cigarette from the pouch and lit it up.
How did the war start, said Ryan almost mumbling. The big one? Asked Charlie. Yeah, I’ve seen pictures of what it was like before the war, the cities, grass, trees, clean water, what happened to make people want to throw all of that away. Well, I know I’m old, but Jesus, Ryan I ain’t that old. Charlie laughed and looked over at Ryan. Ryan looked at him and smiled back. Just then a fly landed on his knee, he blew smoke at it then brushed it away as he spoke, you don’t know how it started then?
Oh I’ve heard some old stories, but you know how stories are? They tend to get all out of proportion as they are being passed along. But if you must know, the war started over a lot of things, I heard from one guy at a tribal village that it started over livestock. Another guy told me it was some other nation that started the war over land because their country was too overcrowded. But the one I believe the most is that the war was started by many different nations, including our own to procure stockpiles of natural resources like petrol, coal, oil, metals, minerals and so on. Anyway, the wars escalated to such a level that they used the big bombs on all the countries big cities. The smaller cities, most of them died out from fallout, some succumbed to looting and eventually spawned raider clans, and others became fortress-like, towns and villages and I’ve heard cities too, shooting outsiders on sight. Then there’s the vaults, and you know what they’re like, some survived, a lot didn’t. Hey wanna game of cards? You got a deck Charlie? I always have a deck my good man! Charlie took out the deck of cards and dealt them both two cards each, 21’s okay with you? Ryan nodded, Sure.
Jessy had managed to remove the bullet lodged in Farsight’s shoulder with relative ease. That’s gonna be a nice Scar she thought as she mopped up the blood around the stitchwork. She doused the area around the stitching with the vodka. Wiped it over once more and held the cloth there to stop the bleeding. Eventually it did stop and Jessy applied a bandage from the field medical kit that Farsight had found in the garage. Once the bandage was applied, she covered her with a grey handmade blanket. Jessy picked up the now ¼ full vodka bottle and got out of the hummer in search of Ryan and Charlie.
It was almost dark now as she walked around the building. Jessy spotted them sitting on some rocks and made her way towards them. She noticed they were playing cards. Probably pontoon again, Jesus! These guys are fucking lame card players she thought to herself. I have to teach you guys how to play poker. Ryan waved his hand dismisingly. Charlie smiled knowing how good she was. How is she? Ryan asked not looking away from his cards. She’ll be fine, the bullet’s out and its whole, no fragmentation, the bone is bruised, but there’s no break that I can see, she’ll scar but that’s about it, give her a few days before using the arm, four at the least. Ok, good, good work Jess, that vodka here for a reason? Yeah, Drinkin’! They all laughed. Ryan still smiling handed Jessy a cigarette, Charlie dealt an extra hand this time.
After the game, they all sat there watching the red sun set behind the dark city.
its not entirely accurate to fallout,
but its fiction.
this is the first chapter, i'd appreciate any criticism or praise from you all, as i do enjoy reading the stories on here.
well, enjoy... hopefully!
There wasn’t much left of this city after the war,
Or any city that Ryan had ever heard of for that matter.
This one, whatever its name used to be, might have been an industrial centre, as there was a large fossil fuel refinery and a harbour with about ten square miles of dock-lands. Almost nothing was intact after the bomb hit. But you could tell what used to be.
Shattered glass, twisted metal, burnt out hulks and structural skeletons of once proud buildings littered the cityscape.
Some of the smaller buildings and houses which were not at ground zero had been sheltered by the larger skyscrapers and industrial complexes and managed to somewhat protect them.
It was in these smaller buildings that hope and life thrived. For scavengers the remains of hardware shop or a supermarket were hope and with hope usually came life, and lots of it.
What wasn’t killed by the initial blast, usually died shortly afterwards, at the most, a human could live for around a month or two if he or she found adequate food and water supplies which were not contaminated by fallout, not to mention shelter from the fallout, and the mutations which ensued.
Ryan, didn’t know this, he didn’t have to. He already knew the earth had long since consumed the fallout. As the war that did end all wars itself ended, and with it, civilization curled up into a ball and almost died out completely.
The vaults were a saviour of sorts.
The vaults built before the war preserved a small fraction of what mankind once was.
Ryan was a descendent of one of these vaults. Vault 6’s community was 80% military, 17% science staff, 3% civilian. The civilian populous consisted mainly of cooks, janitors, vault technicians, medical, teachers and tradespeople most of them had their families with them.
Ryan’s grandfather was a sergeant in the old military. Not exactly a great rank, but he knew his men and women and knew how to command them. Sergeant Ryan received a battlefield commission during some battle prior to when the big ones dropped and was promoted to Drill sergeant. As a Drill sergeant, He was tough but fair on his soldiers. In the vault his duties were to teach his men and women tactics and keep them ready for battle if the need arose. This knowledge was passed from generation to generation. This knowledge is instinct now to Ryan and essential for him to survive in the wastes.
He is not alone. He is like the others from vault 6, Brotherhood of Steel.
A fusion cell drive, modified hum-vee, with heavy steel armour plating starts up as the key is turned in the ignition, the hummer pulls off and spurts dust and gravel from under its solid rubber wheels. The hummer passes an old rusty signpost with the numbers 35 surrounded by a faded red border as it Crests a small hill which had been obscuring their view of the city. The Size of the city itself was revealed to be enormous. Easily the biggest they have ever seen before.
The Hummer drove by the remains of old car shaped lumps of rust and burnt out shells of buildings, phoneboxes and human and animal remains. Ryan thought to himself, This is pointless, we’re not gonna find anything in this hellhole, Its deader than Elvis. In the distance Ryan could see a tall white sign with some letters on it, as he was the only one in the car besides the driver that could read properly, he told the others it was a Shell garage and it might be worth a look. They agreed.
The group consisted of two women and two men including Ryan. The women, Farsight a small but slender Tribal sniper, grew up in the wastes after her vault was breached by a raider gang. Her father was the founder of their new community home in the wastes. The other woman calls herself Jessy. Jessy was part of a raider party that was captured by the brotherhood 20 years ago, at the time she was 6 years old. The brotherhood doesn’t normally take pity on outsiders, but an initiate was ordered by his CO to take her under his wing, he showed her the way of the brotherhood of steel, Jessy is pretty good with small arms fire and she is extremely agile. A good choice for a Scouting mission Ryan thought to himself. The other man sitting in the pilot seat beside Ryan was Charlie, Charlie was a Ghoul, Charlie began his “new” life in a prototype vault which had a faulty ventilation system, as a result all of the inhabitants suffered the effects of an unknown airborne virus, (possibly purposefully released) combined with nuclear fallout. The result was an increased lifespan, and constantly regenerating tissue, which causes the old tissue to rot very quickly, the appearance of a Ghoul is easily noticeable, as they usually have discoloured skin flaking and peeling off themselves. Aside from the aesthetics Charlie is a nice if quiet guy for a demolitions expert.
Ryan had known his group for about 2 years and he had gone on this type of mission many times before. Through this they had become close, which they found important as they could rely on each other’s skills in certain areas to get through most situations. The Hummer was drawing nearer to the Shell garage. Farsight had been talking to Charlie about using the Stockpile of Claymore mines they scavenged on their last scout mission.
Charlie told her to “leave well alone”. Ryan laughed to himself, and thought, I really like the inquisitive side to her, but fuck me, how long has it been since she had a sandscrub, I can smell her sweating from here. You okay, Farsight? Ryan said. Yeah, I’m just comin down with a bug or some shit again, you know what my immune system is like out here. Yeah, I know, we’re all headin back to the bunker after this one anyway, apparently Paladin Wolff has something important for us out west. Farsight nodded. Charlie looked at Ryan for a moment and turned his eyes back to the road.
Jessy groaned. She and Wolff hated each other,
Wollf was part of the group that destroyed the raider camp that Jessy was born in and had objected to her being taken back as she was too young for slave labour, but he was overruled by his CO, who then gave an initiate custody of her.
Anyways said Ryan, we still have a couple of days before we get back to the bunker, so lets make the most of it, were short on mostly everything except water, so keep your eyes and ears open. Ok Charlie, slow it up and pull over opposite the garage. Charlie obeyed and drove the last hundred metres at 10kph, The Hummers shuttered windows on either side slid down to reveal the ominous barrels of guns, on the left a sniper rifle barrel and the right an M16a barrel jutted out. Charlie cut the power and steered the Hummer in neutral the last couple of metres to increase their perception of sound outside the vehicle. It didn’t do any good, The City was dead aside from a small whistle of wind flowing through the twisted hyper tensile steel girders of the nearby buildings, if it had been any quieter, and they would have been deafened by the silence. They all felt uneasy Nevertheless, they were alert and ready for almost anything.
Ryan ordered his friends to stay in the hummer while he checked out the garage. Charlie nodded to Ryan, the others remained focused on their tasks. Ryan eased himself out of the hummer, his Brahmin leather armour rubbing off the leather seats in the hummer. Ryan hauled himself out and slung an AK47 over his shoulder, he reached back inside the hummer for a moment to pick up his sidearm, A Desert eagle .50, takes the safety off, and stalks away from the Hummer. As he walks away, Farsight silently exits the hummer and takes a tactical vantagepoint crouching at the rear of the Hummer. Charlie unbuckled himself from the pilot seat, took up his old shotgun and loaded it with some solid slug rounds without looking at the gun.
Ryan had walked half the distance to the old garage when he slowed himself. Ryan was always suspicious of apparently abandoned buildings. Examining the front of the building he noticed a makeshift barricade behind the main entrance. Somebody took a stand here at some point. I wonder what they were protecting here he thought. He moved to his right to flank the building and search for another entrance, these places usually had a storage space entrance or a mechanic pit. Almost there now, watching the ground carefully to avoid making excessive noise with the debris. Ryan Encroached to the side of the building and side stepped out to his right with his Desert eagle pointed at an imaginary horizon at waist height. There was no entrance here, and Ryan didn’t want to stray to far from his group in case something did happen, or if this was an ambush.
Shit, he breathed to himself as he moved his back to the garage wall, he edged around the corner to the main entrance. He looked back to the Hummer, everyone was still there and doing what they were ordered to. Ryan stepped up to the doorway, and looked from the wall inwards, he could see empty racks, boards and other debris littering the floor.
There was utter silence, Ryan didn’t like it. He crouched down below the screen and moved to the other side of the door, Checked it and seen nothing unusual. He stood up, stepped back from the door, looked around quickly, nothing caught his eye, he ran forward and lifted his right leg to kick the door. The door burst open, the top hinge came off completely as the door flipped onto the barricade that was behind it. Ryan was left with his right leg on the door his two arms outstretched holding the Desert Eagle and scanning the inside of the garage. Nothing. Nobody. Yet.
Ryan hopped onto the counter, which had been moved into the doorway to create the barricade. Eased himself onto the interior floor of the garage. It was dark, like dusk inside. Stalking around the shelves Ryan put his desert eagle away and unslung the AK47. If there is anything here its not gonna last long after a burst of 7.62 hits it, he thought.
Just as he stepped around the corner he almost stood on something big, “FUCK”, he let rip with the AK47, eight shots left the barrel with a deafening sound. Ryan realised what he hit just as Farsight entered the doorway. What is it? She said. Ah its just a fucking corpse, looks like its been here a while, Ryan said, as he tossed the desert Eagle to Farsight. Farsight caught the old gun and slung her rifle over head and shoulder. The rifle’s strap emphasised her breasts Ryan thought. ‘here take a look he said’. Farsight strolled over to Ryan and looked at the decaying body of what looked to be a raider.
Farsight and Ryan both noted that there was a fist sized hole in its chest. Farsight said, did you do that? No, no, I doubt an AK could do something like that, that was something bigger, maybe a revolver or something? Farsight Crouched on her knees to check the wounds while Ryan went to the doorway to let Charlie and Jessy know he and Farsight were okay. She noticed the 7.62 entry points from Ryan’s weapon and dismissed them, there were no other wounds apart from the fist sized hole. Examining the hole she seen that it was black all the way through, like something was burnt through him. This is what killed him Ryan, I’ve never seen anything like it before have you? Ryan shook his head looked towards a counter and said did you check him? Hang on a sec, she said as she checked his clothing and body armour for valuables. Jesus! This is odd, He’s fucking loaded, whoever killed him didn’t check his body. She laughed as she pulled out a medic’s field kit, a 9mm beretta, 2 full clips, and a switchblade. Ryan frowned as he realised this could be the bait for a trap.
Something’s not right, he said to himself, Farsight, get away from that body, were, getting outta here now, I don’t like this.
Why? This is a free lunch man, she said.
There’s no such thing woman, now get back to the Hummer and take that stuff with you. Farsight obeyed and stood up stashing the booty in her clothing as it had been concealed on the unfortunate raider. Ryan backed off tightening his grip on the AK’s handle and stock. Ryan climbed over the barricade and walked back to the Hummer were the others had been waiting, got in and reloaded his gun. He said ‘expect trouble’ everyone went from cautious to fully alert and checked their ammo supplies. Charlie get us out of here, nice and slow. Charlie turned over the engine. The fusion cell drive powered up with a low and deep whine. The Hummer slowly started moving in reverse. They didn’t get further than a few metres when the first shot got off.
The first shot hit the Hummer’s bonnet leaving another scar on the metal and ricocheted harmlessly off with a whistle. Then there were salvos of shots in what appeared to be all directions at once. Most of them hit the Hummer and the ground behind them. After the first shot Charlie hit the accelerator hard and turned the wheel hard left, which threw the nose of the Hummer 180 degrees, He let go of the accelerator and hit the clutch gearing into 1st. Floor it! Shouted Ryan. Charlie didn’t need to hear to the order as he was running on instinct. The noise of the shots hitting the Hummer and scream of the Fusion Drive must be waking the entire fucking city Ryan thought to himself. Get the shutters up, were gonna get peppered.
Farsight and Jessy were firing at rooftops, when Jessy noticed one of the snipers and began firing on full automatic at him, she caught him with a volley of 5.62mm in the upper torso and neck, Death must have been instantaneous as he dropped his rifle and plummeted to the earth from his perch atop a burnt out bank building.
Farsight was not so lucky, she had not got the advantage of an automatic weapon. Her sniper rifle took time to reload and was more of a hindrance in this type of fight. This did not stop her firing at anything that presented itself a threat. Which was anything that moved in the now living city. The Hummer was taking damage from the shots, but the further they got from the garage the shots didn’t come as heavy. They were however getting more accurate. They’re Raiders, I can’t tell what Clan but they’re definitely raiders, said Farsight. Just as she finished her sentence a shot came through the opening she had been firing through and grazed her Brahmin leather armour before embedding itself into the floor of the Hummer. The second shot hit her in the shoulder and threw her back against Jessy, who almost lost her grip on her M16. Jessy pulled her gun inside and closed the shutter completely. She then took in Farsight’s rifle that had dropped when she was shot, and closed Farsight’s Shutter. Got an Injury back here Ryan, Fleshwound as far as I can see, but she needs attention quickly. Ryan pulled in his AK and closed the shutter then looked around. The first thing he seen was blood. Farsight how bad are you hurt?
Farsight was grimacing and said through her teeth, I’ll live. Ryan frowned and without looking at Charlie said, Charlie, get us the fuck outta here. Charlie responded, were on the outskirts now, give me about 20 minutes to get us somewhere we can take care of her wound. Okay good work Chaz, said Ryan. Ryan took off his torso armour and T-shirt.he tore the Shirt in two, putting one piece in his leg armour, While Jessy lifted Farsight up, Ryan propped the leather armour behind Farsight so she could rest her back on it. Ryan and Jessy both examined the wound and checked to see if there was an exit wound. There wasn’t. The bullet had struck the shoulder and lodged itself there. Put me out, said Farsight, this is gonna hurt real bad in a minute. Jessy check in the back and see what you can get to ease the pain. Jessy moved away from Farsight to search the back interior of the Hummer while Ryan wiped away blood with his T-shirt. Turning the T-shirt over to a cleaner side, he held the cloth over her wound. You’ll be fine once we get it out, I don’t think it broke the bone.
Jessy had found a small used pack of painkillers, there were five left in the pack of eight. She continued searching the back. I know its here somewhere, I was saving it for back in the bunker, ah, here we go, Russia’s finest. She pulled out a litre bottle of blue label vodka 3 quarters full. Give her these first, Jessy said, handing over the pills, she’s gonna pass out from blood loss soon, They should be fairly effective. Ryan gave Farsight the pills and his own canteen of water. She swallowed them all in one go and took three mouthfuls of water from Ryan’s canteen. Thanks, she looked at both of them and said Sorry before she closed her eyes. Another few minutes guys, said Charlie.
Ryan Lifted his T-shirt off her wounded shoulder, it wasn’t bleeding as heavily now. Gimmie the bottle Jess. Jessy handed over the bottle. Ryan took a small swig of the Vodka, knowing that the alcohol was going to dehydrate him, but his mouth was dry and he needed the comfort of the strong and potent liquid. Ryan took the other piece of his T-shirt out of his leg armour and doused it with the vodka. I hope she is really asleep or unconscious. He cleaned the wound with the sterilised cloth. Farsight didn’t budge, Ryan Checked her pulse to be sure she was okay.
The Hummer was speeding through the furthest point of the city now, Charlie could see the hills were less than a kilometre away and safe ground would not be far beyond that.
Reckon you can take it out Jessy? Sure Ryan, I’ve taken out slugs from deeper wounds than this and in worse places too. She smiled at Ryan.
Ryan finally stopped frowning and gave his small crooked smile back to her.
Where’d you get that bottle of vodka anyway? He asked. Oh, I was wondering when you’d ask me that, she said grinning. Well if you must know, it was about two weeks ago in a poker game with some tribal friends of mine. They had just joined the brotherhood and were sent to an old town on a trade mission. They found a whole crate of these babies and some other crap in an abandoned warehouse. Ryan smiled again and said, remind me not to play poker with you, this shit is gold dust out this far. You’re welcome said Jessy. By the way Jess, did you get a look at those raiders back there? You know who they are?
No, they were in all black armour, every one of them I seen was wearing black armour, no markings as far as I could see, but I might be wrong. Yeah, I didn’t see anything either, what about you Charlie? Did you see any markings or recognise anything about them? Charlie Shook his head, and said, nah man, I was too fucking busy tryin’ to get us outta there in one piece. Oh yeah, Ryan?, we may need to hole up somewhere for a while to fix the Hummer, she took a lot of hits, I wanna patch her up in case we run into more of those guys, ‘sides, it looks like Farsight’s gonna need a few days rest anyway. Yeah, said Ryan, you know anywhere good around here? Not especially man, but I can find us something temporary. Good Enough Charlie, Good enough.
Hey, why do you reckon those raiders didn’t take you and Farsight out when you guys were in the garage? Ryan raised an eyebrow and scanned Jessy’s face for a hidden agenda, he looked across to Farsight and ran his fingers through her hair pulling it off her bloodied face. He opened the vodka bottle again, and took another mouthful, then said,
The way I figure it is, the Raiders wanted all of us dead, not half of us, and secondly, they wanted the Hummer. That’s why they didn’t take us out in the garage, besides we were probably too heavily armed for them to take out in a straight fight, so they rallied snipers to hit us from above. They didn’t realise the Hummer was armoured. Ryan handed the bottle back to Jessy, She took a mouthful and sat back against the door, handed the bottle back to Ryan. He looked at the bottle intently for a few seconds as if he had escaped from reality. He took another deep mouthful leaving half the bottle full. How we doin’ now Charlie? Ah we’re outta the city Ryan, he paused the said, want me to pull over here? Ryan looked out of the viewing slits in the front. He seen desert scrub, charred trees, and some hills about 2 and a half or 3km in front. Head for those hills out there Charlie. Charlie nodded. And steered the Hummer towards the low hills. When Ryan sat back down, he stretched for the vodka bottle. Don’t drink any more after that Ryan, I need that to clean her wound okay? Ryan had already taken the top from the bottle and was raising the bottle to his lips, when he stopped and put the top back on and handed it back to Jessy.
Ryan Sat back, folded his arms and rested his head on his forearms. He was starting to feel the effects of the vodka. Jessy and Charlie remained quiet for the rest of the drive.
Charlie drove the Hummer around the base of the small hills looking for a suitable place for cover and shelter.
Charlie spotted the remains of an old building, no roof, and two and a half walls were all that was left, but it would do and was more than adequate for their needs. At the time he would have settled for anything but was happy with himself for finding this place. He brought the Hummer slowly to a halt in front of the ruins, covering the open side with the vehicle.
Three doors opened almost simultaneously. Jessy and Charlie stepped out and walked around to the door on the right side where Ryan was holding his arm around Farsight’s upper back and left arm, below the wound. ‘We’re not takin’ her out Ryan, its more sterile in the car’ besides, I don’t want any dust or dirt getting in to her wound while I’m workin on her. Ryan rested Farsight down again and turned her on her side so the shoulder pointed upwards. Charlie asked if there was anything he could help with, Jessy said, Nah, you guys might as well scout around and see if we’re safe for the night, I do my best work alone. Ryan nodded and picked up his armour, and got out of the Hummer. He motioned for Charlie to follow him as Jessy was dousing vodka on her hands and removing Farsight’s clothing. Charlie reached into the hummer and grabbed his shotgun and the Desert eagle that Farsight had back in the garage and walked up to Ryan. They heard Jessy closed the doors and shutters of the hummer.
Ryan shivered, its getting late, you reckon we’re okay here for the night? Charlie looked back towards the black silhouetted skyline of the city, I’d rather be further away from those fucking freaks in the city, but we’ll be ok for the night I suppose. They both walked around the building and found nothing of interest. Normally Ryan would have ordered them to split up and secure a perimeter but tonight he wanted some company even if it was Charlie. Ryan took out a small tan leather pouch from inside his armour; he opened the pouch and looked around, surveying the area. Spotting a small rock cluster, he made his way towards it. Charlie walked over to the rocks and sat down, he began stretching his arms over his head and bending his legs up to chest. Ryan had rolled up a cigarette from the contents of the pouch, he took out a silver butane lighter and lit up his smoke. Will she be okay? Asked Charlie. I think so, but she won’t be using the rifle for a while. That’s life Ryan, and there’s nothin’ you can do about it, Coulda happened anyone. Yeah Charlie I know, I know, he paused, live by the gun, die by the gun. Ryan took a long drag from the cigarette and breathed the smoke through his nostrils making a hissing noise.
Look Ryan, she wouldn’t be the first you’ve lost on a scavenge, ‘sides, she’s gonna be fine isn’t she?
Yeah Charlie but every time it happens, it makes me wonder, what is the point of all of this? Why don’t the Elders just fortify what they have and move the farms and factories to the inner territories? This bullshit about humanity and uniting the fucking wastes is never gonna happen, there are too many raider clans, too many mutants, and too many other assholes that don’t want to live the way the brotherhood want them to. The two remained quiet for a few moments, Ryan took a last long pull from the cigarette, stood on it and exhaled.
Charlie finally took a breath and said in a soft voice, It’s the whole idea, ya gotta look at it on a larger scale Ryan, they Are trying, and who knows, maybe we’ll become a nation once again, instead of bickering tribes and clans, That’s what the brotherhood wants.
Ryan took out another cigarette from the pouch and lit it up.
How did the war start, said Ryan almost mumbling. The big one? Asked Charlie. Yeah, I’ve seen pictures of what it was like before the war, the cities, grass, trees, clean water, what happened to make people want to throw all of that away. Well, I know I’m old, but Jesus, Ryan I ain’t that old. Charlie laughed and looked over at Ryan. Ryan looked at him and smiled back. Just then a fly landed on his knee, he blew smoke at it then brushed it away as he spoke, you don’t know how it started then?
Oh I’ve heard some old stories, but you know how stories are? They tend to get all out of proportion as they are being passed along. But if you must know, the war started over a lot of things, I heard from one guy at a tribal village that it started over livestock. Another guy told me it was some other nation that started the war over land because their country was too overcrowded. But the one I believe the most is that the war was started by many different nations, including our own to procure stockpiles of natural resources like petrol, coal, oil, metals, minerals and so on. Anyway, the wars escalated to such a level that they used the big bombs on all the countries big cities. The smaller cities, most of them died out from fallout, some succumbed to looting and eventually spawned raider clans, and others became fortress-like, towns and villages and I’ve heard cities too, shooting outsiders on sight. Then there’s the vaults, and you know what they’re like, some survived, a lot didn’t. Hey wanna game of cards? You got a deck Charlie? I always have a deck my good man! Charlie took out the deck of cards and dealt them both two cards each, 21’s okay with you? Ryan nodded, Sure.
Jessy had managed to remove the bullet lodged in Farsight’s shoulder with relative ease. That’s gonna be a nice Scar she thought as she mopped up the blood around the stitchwork. She doused the area around the stitching with the vodka. Wiped it over once more and held the cloth there to stop the bleeding. Eventually it did stop and Jessy applied a bandage from the field medical kit that Farsight had found in the garage. Once the bandage was applied, she covered her with a grey handmade blanket. Jessy picked up the now ¼ full vodka bottle and got out of the hummer in search of Ryan and Charlie.
It was almost dark now as she walked around the building. Jessy spotted them sitting on some rocks and made her way towards them. She noticed they were playing cards. Probably pontoon again, Jesus! These guys are fucking lame card players she thought to herself. I have to teach you guys how to play poker. Ryan waved his hand dismisingly. Charlie smiled knowing how good she was. How is she? Ryan asked not looking away from his cards. She’ll be fine, the bullet’s out and its whole, no fragmentation, the bone is bruised, but there’s no break that I can see, she’ll scar but that’s about it, give her a few days before using the arm, four at the least. Ok, good, good work Jess, that vodka here for a reason? Yeah, Drinkin’! They all laughed. Ryan still smiling handed Jessy a cigarette, Charlie dealt an extra hand this time.
After the game, they all sat there watching the red sun set behind the dark city.
