A figure lays to the earth just at a peak of a hill its body pressed against the earth as much as it can, it's armor dug into the sandy ground beneath. It looks through an old pair of binoculars the left lens cracked and full of little grains of dirt. This figure has a dusty brown beard with eyes chestnut in color. Those eyes looking down at something in the distance nothing can be seen but this beacon. That is piercing the cold black night. "Stupid people, they are just asking for it by lighting that fire" it mutters this 'it' turns out to be a middle aged man as the sound of his voice indicates. "Oh i hope they got some caps it's been awhile since we actually got some whiskey. Do you think they will have some caps Tick?" A man next to our brown haired man says loudly…." Shut up Koda! You damn idiot i tell you everytime we go out that you need to shut the hell up you're going to get someone killed…... " Tick calms from his little outburst and his face quickly turns from serious to optimistic as if nothing happened… "So Bossman what is the move the men are waiting.." Tick says hastily but he understood.. The Brown haired man puts down his binoculars and looks at Tick and Koda. "We are getting ready to move. Tell the men to get ready. Pass it down.. And don't call me boss you know my name" The man says he sounds impatient.. "Okay Hawk... " Tick sounds a little embarrassed in his words. He looks to his right and Koda to the left both pass it down to the Raider that is next to them until it meets the last one…

The Camp that has sparked so much interest is a small group of traders maybe 5 plus the pair of brahmin and its guard with a dozen of poor wastelanders scattered around, hoping that following the caravan will be safe travel to one place to the next. But they are wrong very wrong… 28 battle hardened raiders sit looking down at them from a hill not to far from the campsite a good throw of a rock could be the distance between these two groups. The pitch black night makes the beacon of fire visible for miles. The moon sits high above them but the light from the moon does not help either parties.

As the moon rises a bit past the center of the sky the people at the camp are mostly asleep the fire kept alight by the old wood in a metal barrel. The awake huddle around the fire the night wind goes straight through them. The ones that are awake mostly the guards watch the Brahmin that are staked into the ground and the surrounding hills. But there is not enough of them to watch everything some of the wastelanders are awake to help watch. They do not realize the danger that has been slowly surrounding them suffocating their escape routes. It's already too late for them. They are trapped.

"Help!" a dirty man says walking towards the camp. The Guards and everyone alike wakes up at the sudden cry into the night.. "Stop right there fellow" says a Middle aged Guard.. "But I am-"..."I don't care if you're hurt we don't know you" The Guard interrupts. "I will die without help please i will stay here" The dirty man says he stops his foot as his designated location he is only a couple dozen feet away. The Guards and some of the traders start talking among each other deciding whether or not to help the injured man. After a couple of minutes a trader walks to his brahmin and grabs some old t-shirt and takes his knife to it. He walks up to the lead guard and hands him a strip of the old t-shirt. The Guard walks slowly over to the man. the closer he got he come to see there was a lot of blood on the man's stomach indicating a stab wound or maybe a gunshot the man's shirt was covering it and he clutched his arm close. "Let me put it on for you" Says the Guard… "No...no i got it i can do it myself"...

"You will probably pass out i insist… Hey Nate come here and watch this man for me while i put this wrap on." The Lead Guard says. Nate walks up to the men and stands with his gun drawn looking out into the view around him.."Okay Mike make it quick i don't like this" Nate says

Mike kneels down and the injured man gives him the wrap but doesn't let go of the wound.. Nate gets closer thinking he will let go once he is close. Mike already put down his gun unaware of the danger.

"You know I can't get to the-"

A whizzing sound is heard and blood splatters all over the back side of mike's neck.

Nate twists his leg before going down, but his eyes are already empty, he is already gone.

Mike tries to reach for his gun but the injured man pushes him to his back.

The man gets up and lets go of his wound. A cut up rat falls out of his shirt. He quickly grabs mike's gun and points it at him.

Most of the guards were startled at what just took place. Most look at the hill where the shoot came from the others look at the injured man pointing the gun at mike. "Don't ya move fucker, or your head is gone" Says the injured man his voice changes into a more serious tone rather than the sad one he tricked him with.… Most of the guards by now point the gun at him the merchants and the wastelanders get out guns and the ones without one cower down or hidden themselves behind someone that does. "This is how it's going to go down. All of you put your guns, and knives on the ground right now or my friends will make sure you go down with them." The man says. Most of the Guards listen the traders and the wasters do comply, one by one they pull out their knives and guns and drop them to the dirt none of them say a word some mumble. "We have some brave ones don't we. That is unfortunate." The man shakes his head he points the gun at mike who lays on his back eyes open... And shoots him straight through his neck and walks forward…. The Guards raise their guns to fire. The man drops to the ground and the hill lights up with muzzle flashes.

The rain of bullets fly through the brave guards most get pummeled by bullet after bullet their bodies swaying left and right as each round goes through. Only when the bullets stop does the Guards knees buckle and slam into the dirt… Some people have been hit the ones unscathed hit the dirt. some cry others sit there hoping it's not the end. The man walks up to the crowd and kicks the weapons away from the cowering individuals. He raises his hand up and the hills so still and silent besides the gunfire start to crawl with the raiders. They walk down the hill some run to get to the supplies..

The Raiders walk up to the people and start dragging them about like dogs. "Men over here Children over here and the rest right here" Says a raider he points at various spots in the dirt. Most kinda crawl over to the spot if they are going to slow they are kicked or dragged. As the people got into groups they grabbed the packs on the brahmin and threw them on the ground 4 Raiders start picking through them one is Tick..

"Not in..this..pocket..or that one" Tick slowly starts to sound frustrated he walks over to the group of men… "Who owns that Brahmin pack?" nobody says anything… Tick gets closer "Who owns the fucking thing" He gets out a knife.. "It's...mine" a young man speaks up.. Tick grabs him and puts his knife to the man's throat it's an old kitchen knife chipped at the end but the color is not silver or grey its stained red it's been put to use. "Alright boy, where is it.. where is the caps" he says gripping the young man by his collar. "There… In my bag next to the campfire...I only have a 100 it's nothing" the young man half heartedly points at the barrel that was still alight. Tick throws him into the group of men and walks towards the barrel.. He gets there and Koda is already picking through the bag. Tick didn't like that…

"Koda get the hell out of my caps you little shit" Tick grabs him by the shoulder and pushes him back Koda turns around and takes a swing at Tick.. it lands but the metal armor stops his fist instantly. Koda grabs his fist. Tick starts to laugh he grabs the bag the sound of tiny little caps are heard. "I am going to be drinking tonight" …. "No your not" Hawk grabs the bag Tick doesn't let go… "No way boss I found this bag and I haven't had a drink in a week" Tick says he pulls on the bag Hawk stronger than Tick holds firmly. "Well you won't be drinking anytime soon" Hawk pistol in hand shoots Tick straight through his chest at point blank range with a .44

Tick lets go of the bag and falls onto the Barrel knocking it over he clutches his chest and starts to whimper as he goes. The sound of him trying to get air fades as Hawk walks towards the Raiders going through the items…

"So what do we got?" Hawk says to the Raiders picking through. He is also looking into the bag trying to count the caps.. "Well we have a lot of parts on one of the Brahmin. The others are more full of food and clothes.. But they do have some Whiskey and one or two beers.

"This was a waste of our time" Hawk says he grips the bag and walks to see the items strung out in the dirt it's just what they described. Hawk looks through some items there was a bottle of whiskey that he took for himself. A woman screamed behind him and he turned to look. They were getting the chains on the Women's necks and tying the wrists of the men. "Alright i got what i wanted pack the rest up and chain the Brahmin up we are getting ready to go back" Says Hawk... The Raiders agree without question they rather not end like Tick… Before they head out Koda is seen striping Tick of his armor and anything valuable… Koda kicks the body of Tick before walking away

The Raiders grabbed their prisoners and the Brahmin in a line for a long walk the ones that don't die will become slaves and if they are wemon pets for the raiders themselves…

Halfway into the journey back to the Tunnel daylight starts to pierce the Eastern sky the raiders have been walking for near 5 hours. Their prisoners tired from being deprived from their sleep slowly lumber around like walking corpses. The Raiders kept marching them but most broke the orderly line and took a prisoner of their liking and more or less made them walk forcefully. The ones that were not being dragged along by a Raider were in a line most of the group was men but there were three or four children with their parents. The raiders didn't care as they knew this was probably the last few moments they would see their parents before a life of work follows.

As the line starts to slow down because of their exhaustion raiders get behind them and start to kick.. "Come on you assholes get moving" A raider says while kicking a man.. some struggled to walk faster. A woman started to straggle behind the pack she looked like she hasn't ate for days and she looked deathly tired. A Raider broke from the little ring that surrounded the Brahmin and the prisoners and put his hand around her neck. He dragged her a couple feet until she fell on the ground….

"Get up!" He said while pushing her forward it was a little strong for her and she fell forward her face slammed into the dirt. She whimpered as she hit. The Raider walked up to her side and kicked her over onto her back so she could sit up. The woman didn't get up she lay on her back and lay breathing her breaths shallow. The Raider kicked the woman several time in the side his face full of rage. She cries out with every kick. He stops kicking the woman and picks her up by the wrist. She groans in pain as she is lifted… He pushes her forward and she kinda limps to the Raiders that have walked a bit and now are getting further and further away.. She tries to keep walking but she slowly comes to a stop her side hurts from the kicking she is very tired. The Raider pushes her from behind but she doesn't budge…. "Come on!" Says the Raider

The woman starts to cry she is broken tired and hurt….. After a moment or so the Raider realized that it was no use she would never catch up to the group and he is wasting his time… He swings his arm out and punches her in the back of the head she goes down without resistance her knees buckle automatically. She lays there not unconscious, her eyes lay open tears stream from her face… The Raider takes out his gun he is getting ready to pull the trigger….. The woman starts to mutter something He lowers to the ground and it can barely be heard…."I'm sorry sweetie….I won't make it to Canterbury Commons.." Another tear falls down the woman's face and she gets a little choked up…. "I'm sorry Haley" The Raider looks back at the group and at the woman he puts his gun away and stands back up…. He digs his foot in the ground… "I guess not" He raises his foot and stops down on the woman's face as hard as he could.. He kept stomping more and more after a couple seconds he started to laugh as the laughter got louder he got faster….. He stopped when she was unrecognizable

Around 8am The group got back to their temporary camp. the prisoners were sitting in various spots others were with their Raiders that have claimed them for their own purposes. (Most would think they would be sold into prostitution but they would be sold to Paradise Falls and in return Bought by the Syndicate so they would get the profit from the sale for extra. This illegal action has cost thousands in Syndicate caps.)

"Alright round em up and we are bringing them to the Box… Pack up your shit we will head out in 30 it will be a little bit before we reach Darkline" Commanded Hawk

Most of the Raiders mood lightened up when they knew they were going to the Box as it was the central market for illegal goods, Women, and Drugs… Let alone the place where Syndicate Raiders were paid for slaving.

They grabbed all their things and put them onto the old truck bed carts they attached the stolen Brahmin to the carts and let their Brahmin carry the tent supplies.. The Prisoners that were sitting around the camp were packed tightly into the truck bed and chained in.

A couple of hours pass without much of a problem some of the Raiders slap around the prisoners but the hours passed smoothly… As they get to Darkline the prisoners are blindfolded with the clothes the Raiders stole.. Hawk is seen reaching into his backpack right before the blindfolds come on.. The click of a radio can be heard and he mumbles into it…. A heavy sounding door is heard opening up… "Alright get in but hurry it up" Hawk is heard..

The cold morning air with sunlight turns into darkness against their blindfolds. The air is musty but it smells of grease and dirty men. Booze and dampness of stone… Soon the darkness turns to bright buzzing lights the prisoner's eyes covered fear the worst… Some of the lights reflect red against their eyelids…. As they move further and further into this place grinders, saws and power tools are heard.. "Where are we" whispers a man… "I..don't know...maybe in a bunker of sorts"..Says another.."I don't think these guys are normal day to day raiders"..."Why would you think they are raiders? I think these are slavers they are taking us somewhere" A man says in a hushed voice…. "I want my mom" cries a little boy... there seems to be about six people in this cart from the whispers that go around…..

A raider realized they are talking and moves in closer to hear he makes sure he goes unnoticed.

"I think these guys are Raiders we have been going west since we got taken…" The man stops talking suddenly "I know who these gu-" The man stops he is heard being choked a couple moments later some feel his body being pulled out of the wagon….. And someone else replaces him… "I wonder what he was going to say…. actually what was he going to say again I already forgot" A Raider says he chuckles at the end … "Well...I think i have an idea but i am not sure" he laughs a little… The little boy whimpers a little loud he gets ready to start to ball.. "Shut up boy before i stitch that mouth shut….The raiders says he twitches a little… He looks to his blindfolded crowd… "Well i heard about this...this..um..place.. yes place is the word…. Well you see it's out west and they take people…" The Raider tries not to laugh…. The Raider is shaking his hands jitter about as he talks.. he is probably high on Psycho…. "Ohhh yes they take people…. and they work them…. they work them until they can work good… if you don't work good they get in your mind….They….they break you…They do it's true -the raider pokes at each of the grown man's head-" As he pokes each person he repeats "They'll break you" He chuckles at each person he goes to and pokes…."It's all fine after your broken your useful…." the raider says with a straight tone…"If you don't break...oh no... no…..They'll break...Yes just like the others yes… they will… They will break like others and like me…" The conversation quickly turns to the Raider talking to the captives to talking to himself

After the Raider stops for a moment and they all think he is done speaking he spots the little boy "And don't you worry little fellow you will break to… It's always fun watching the little ones break...oh yes … yes it is.." The Raider strokes the little kids faces… wiping a tear as he does… the raider quickly pulls his finger back…. "No time for tears…. there is not tears were we go… no tears.. well not anymore… tears are there but hidden… Nobody cries.. Work makes you strong yes… yes it makes you strong.. Then tears go away…" The Raider quits talking he slowly inspects the tear he lets it fall down his dirty finger.. he plays with it a little studying it….

He slowly puts it up to his eye and lets it fall down his face…. He kinda smiles before it disappears "No tears".

After a couple more minutes they feel themselves going up a ramp and a rusty squealing noise is heard the prisoners are shuffled out of the carts and ordered into a little line….. The Raiders start stripping them of their clothes….. Most of the men start trying to resist but are soon suppressed. The Women on the other hand resist and they are assaulted by the Raiders stripping them of everything they have on them most of the raiders go after the women and personally decloth them and more….… The Children are the same they are thrown around like dolls most of them crying as it happens…. After the prisoners were stripped of everything but there bare body the blindfolds come off….. The light blinds them for a moment but they see that they are underground in some sort of train station but not a pre war one a brand new one made out of metal and concrete Raiders that are not around them are working on the walls and other things….

They are pushed onto a cart with two Raiders the truck bed carts have been linked to it with chains….

"Alright...now that we have gotten everything in order…. I am sorry that you are being treated so unkindly…" Hawk says he seems to be reciting a letter or something as it does not sound genuine.."It is now that you will proceed unto this car for transport….blah blah….I don't give a shit…. Alright gets your asses in the beds… or we will make you,," All of the prisoners get into a truck bed again most stay in their own groups the children get their own it is open as their are only 3 children… Humiliated and Afraid the Prisoners cower together. The women are stared at by all the male raiders and a couple of female raiders alike… Most of the women huddle together so that only their backs are exposed….. The men do the same…. the Children sit in a corner of the truck shaking deathly scared….. As 2 raiders got onto the big screeching cart… A raider goes to the west end of the train tunnel and flips a switch what was pitch blackness is replaced by a path of lights going westward for miles and miles. The screeching cart starts to move as the two raiders operate the cart…... " Here we go… here we go" Says the raider that played with the child's tear…. He jumps up onto the childrens truck bed and watches…

"Don't worry men I wrote down the number of people we have i will split the caps as soon as i receive them….l" Hawk says his group signs in relief most say unpleasant comments or complain about when that payment will actually arrive. But until then his group waits for the next car set of cars to come…

They were never seen again...Free…..