Chapter 1: Lone Wandering
As Sarah crouched behind a rock, she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. She glanced around, squinting as she looked to the right. There it was: the Museum of History. It was slim chance, but she was hoping that she could find out something about her father. All that stood between her and the museum were these last two super mutants. Sarah checked her Pip-Boy. Only 4 stimpaks left, great. Quickly, she shoved a mutfruit in her mouth and washed it down with some dirty water, grimacing at the taste. After checking her equipment, she edged towards the super mutant. As she snuck up behind him, she thought to herself, 'The idiot doesn't even know I'm here.' When she was within five feet, she aimed her shotgun and blood exploded everywhere. The super mutant screamed and fell, decidedly dead. Sarah watched as its blood filled the cracks in the sidewalk, and grinned. God, do I love this, she thought.
As she turned to face the second super mutant, he bellowed at her, "Now try and hide from this!" He swung a sledgehammer aimed at her ribs and she dove to the side. It clipped her shoulder and she heard the wet crunch of bone. She landed on her back and pointed her shotgun at the super mutant's face. She fired, blinding him. The super mutant started swinging wildly, but at that point Sarah took her time finishing him off. Sarah walked towards the museum, her left arm dangling unnaturally, whistling as she went.
"Stop right there, Smoothskin," a voice warned, and Sarah turned to see a laser rifle aimed at her face. "You must be lost," the ghoul jeered, "or another human with a death wish." She lowered her weapon and smiled gruesomely, "Welcome to the Mall, tourist. My name's Willow." She nodded her gun towards the door to the museum and added, "Most of the residents aren't crazy about humans, but they'll sell to you, fix you up, as long as your caps are good and you're not a ghoul hater." Sarah shook her head. She was beginning to lose consciousness. As she hobbled towards the door Willow chuckled under her breath. Humans, she thought.
As soon as Sarah opened the door to Underworld, a ghoul in a utility outfit stopped her. "Oh, well, would you look at that! We got us a smooth skin visitor. We haven't seen one of your type in a long time," he said, eyeing her.
She was in no mood for banter and snapped, "Can I get the tour guide speech later? I need a doctor." The man, Winthrop, she noticed his name sewn onto his jumper, pointed towards the end of the hallway. Sarah sighed, thinking, It's going to be a long day.
"Like I was saying," Doc Barrows continued, "the shoulder is dislocated and your clavicle is fractured." Sarah gave a tight nod and set her teeth. She sat atop a dingy bed in the Underworld's infirmary, which was called The Chop Shop. She wasn't sure she appreciated the humor in the name, especially when a half falling apart ghoul sat in the corner. An occasional moan stemmed from there, followed by a glare from Doc Barrows. "You bring this on yourself, Patchwork."
"I know... I...know. Charon though. Azrhukhal didn't have to... Wait... What was I saying?" the man in the corner managed to stammer out. The smell of alcohol filled the clinic, and it wasn't coming from the antiseptic.
Nurse Graves came around the screen and handed Sarah a belt. "Bite down on this dear. It will help," she said gently. Once the belt was in between her teeth, Sarah closed her eyes and began to count to ten. She made it to five when the doctor wrenched her shoulder blade back into place. Sarah screamed through the belt. Doc Barrows and Nurse Graves turned her over, and before she could spit out the belt to yell for him to stop, Barrows had reset her clavicle, sending her spiraling into darkness. When Sarah woke up, sore, disoriented, and hungry, she checked her Pip-Boy to find it was twelve hours later. The corner occupied by Patchwork was now empty, and he was no where to be seen. Nurse Graves smiled at her from a nearby chair, "You're awake!"
Sarah grimaced as she rotated her shoulder; at least it worked now. "Yeah, it's a miracle. Where can I get something to eat?" Sarah asked, "and some chems too." She was still in too much pain to be chipper.
"If you want food it's Carol's, if you want chems it's the Ninth Circle. Supplies there's Underworld Outfitters. Before you go though, your payment…" Nurse Graves trailed off. Sarah blushed. She had almost forgotten to pay, after they had fixed her up. A small mountain of caps was dropped on the table. "That should be enough," Sarah grinned. Before Nurse Graves could tell her that that was too much, the door had opened and closed.
On the second floor Sarah stood in the doorway, looking left and right. Chems, or food. Food, or chems. Eventually the throbbing in Sarah's shoulder won and she ambled over to the Ninth Circle. It was a dirty bar, but then again every bar in the Capital Wasteland was filthy. That tends to happen at the end of the world. A thick smoke hung near the ceiling, added to when someone lit the occasional cigarette. After bullshitting with what had to be the sleaziest guy in the Wasteland, a ghoul named Ahzrukhal, Sarah sat at a lone table, injected herself with med-X, popped a Buffout and closed her eyes. The pain flowed out of her arm and Sarah whistled in relief. The place may have been shit, but the chems were Grade A. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a ghoul standing by himself, leaning against the wall. He watched everyone in the room, shifting from person to person. His arms were crossed, a hostile expression on his face. When he saw her looking at him, he narrowed his eyes.
Curious, Sarah got up and walked over to the ghoul. "Hi, I was wonderin-" she began.
"Talk to Ahzrukhal," he interrupted.
"But I was just-" she tried again.
"Talk. To. Ahzrukhal."
Sarah flushed with anger and stomped away. When she turned, a smile touched the ghoul's face. The smoothskin was amusing at least. Then, just as quickly as the smile appeared it was gone.
Sarah stomped up to the bar and slammed her hands down on the counter. "Ahzrukhal," she growled," who is that?"
Ahzrukhal followed her glare and laughed. "That's Charon. Let's just say… well, he's a loyal employee. Don't mess with me, and he won't mess with you."
Sarah blanched, "So, he's your slave?"
"I hold his contract, which makes me his employer," Ahzrukhal corrected. "He will do what I ask without question. He is absolutely loyal to whomever holds his contract. Unfailing, unflinching, until the day that employment ends. Don't get me wrong, I have no doubt that he holds no end of animosity towards me. But so long as he is my employee, he is as gentle as a teddy bear," he smirked.
"I'll give you two thousand caps for his contract," Sarah blurted out.
"You sure you've got that kind of scratch, smoothskin? If you have the money I suppose that could work… " In reply Sarah rummaged around in her bag until she found a bag with 101 stitched into the side. Caps clattered to the bar counter as they fell from the bag. Everyone in the Ninth Circle turned to watch as this human counted the largest pile of caps they had ever seen. Half an hour later Sarah held four caps in her hand, while Ahzrukhal began transporting the caps to his safe. Sarah rubbed her eyes. Counting all those caps had been exhausting. "I'll give you the pleasure of informing Charon yourself," Ahzrukhal said over his shoulder.
As the smoothskin approached Charon, he narrowed his eyes. She looked far too confident walking towards him. How much did it take for this girl to get the message? Rocking back and forth on her heels, she smiled. "Hey Charon."
"Talk to-," he began his one line.
Sarah smiled even bigger and shook her head. "Nope, I have good news. I'm your new employer."
Charon froze. "You purchased my contract from Ahzrukhal?" Charon grinned hideously. "So, I am no longer in his service. That is good to know." For the first time in a long time, Sarah felt a pang of fear in her stomach. With that terrifying look still on his face, Charon said politely, "Please wait here. I must take care of something." As he walked towards Ahzrukhal, Sarah turned and followed him. Ahzrukhal and Charon spoke for a moment and then, before anyone could stop him, Charon pulled his gun and shot Ahzrukhal once in the head. As his body slumped against the counter another shot shredded the already dead ghoul's chest. The limp body slipped to the floor, leaving a trail of blood down the counter. Everyone in the bar began screaming, fighting to see if Ahzrukhal was really dead. Charon nodded towards Sarah, saying, "Alright, let's go."
"Whoa! What the fuck was that?" Sarah stammered, her eyes traveling back to the bloody mess that was Charon's former boss.
"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard," Charon said calmly. "Now that you're my employer, it freed me to rid the world of that disgusting rat. Now, for good or ill, I serve you."
Sarah paled and said, half-jokingly, "Remind me to stay on your good side." Charon said nothing. The bar was now empty, mostly because people were afraid that they were next on Charon's list. Sarah took that opportunity to search for and pick the lock on Ahzrukhal's safe. Charon looked at her questioningly, but said nothing. Sarah shrugged. "I just paid two thousand caps, and obviously he's not going to be needing it. We could use some upgrades. Your armor looks like it hasn't been repaired in 30 years. Wait… how old are you?" It was hard to tell his age. It was hard to tell the age of any ghoul.
Charon replied, "I was born in 2055."
"So you were alive before the Great War?" Sarah gasped. "What was it like, where were you from, who-?"
Before Sarah could continue, Charon whirled around. He said nothing, but his entire body screamed, Leave it alone, so the conversation was dropped altogether.
Sarah managed to find Underworld Outfitters and a ghoul woman greeted them, "Oh, a human. It's been so long since I had a customer!" Her eyes looked past Sarah, and when she saw Charon she started stammering. "I-uh, what can I get for you…two?" she asked, the latter word practically a question of its own. The walls were lined with shelves and a dirty rope barrier divided half the room.
"Well, we need all the food that this will buy, and I'd like to have a look at your weapons and armor," Sarah answered, dropping a small pouch of caps on the counter. "And while you do that, I hear you're the person to ask about the history of this place."
The little woman beamed at Sarah and launched into the full history of this place, as best she knew it. While the woman, Tulip, she said, filled a satchel with Mutfruit and Pre-War food she prattled on, talking about the pamphlets and books that she had read. One book, Paradise Lost, was apparently the basis for the entire underworld exhibit. She reached under the counter and produced a book, putting it into the bag with the food. "I found a big box of these in the back room. A gift for listening to me ramble."
"No, it was interesting!" Sarah exclaimed, nodding at the woman, "but thank you, books are hard to come by!" After Tulip had filled the satchel with food, she led Sarah to the back room, where the majority of her weapon and armor stock was kept. Sarah scanned over the equipment. Most of it was old and in poor condition, all but a set of Combat Armor and a sniper rifle. Sarah walked over to the gun and began inspecting it eagerly. "Tulip, this weapon is in pristine condition. It's hardly even been used!" Sarah cried as she looked into the chamber. "The breach doesn't even have any signs of wear!" Sarah looked at Tulip intently. "I have to own this gun, Tulip. Name your price." Sarah glanced at the Combat armor and added, "Oh, and the armor, too."
Tulip was slightly amused by this girl's antics over the gun. She had found it in the back room of the history museum, locked in a closet, with the combat armor. It had taken three hours and 30 bobby pins before the door was unlocked. She figured that it was the security guard's and had taken it to sell, but no one was willing to pay Tulip's asking price. "It's eight hundred caps for both, and I'll even throw in two boxes of ammunition for the rifle. Plus another two hundred for the supplies."
"Done," Sarah stated. She swung the gun over her shoulder, wincing. Her shoulder was still in pain and the Buffout was beginning to fade. She tossed the Combat armor to Charon.
"Put this on. Can't have you dying on me," Sarah said.
"As you wish," Charon replied.
Not much of a talker, Sarah thought. She counted out the caps and pushed the large pile towards the ghoul woman. "Easy come, easy go," Sarah smiled. She was beyond happy with her purchases. Meanwhile, Charon gazed at the two women with what seemed like abject disinterest. "Tulip, if you don't mind me asking, what do you spend caps on down here anyways?"
Tulip chuckled and said, "Well, there's Carol's for food. And the Ninth Circle, but I don't like it there." Tulip froze, her eyes looking at Charon, terrified. If Charon heard, he gave no sign of interest. Tulip cautiously continued, "Mostly we give our caps to Quinn to trade whenever he goes out."
"Well, I hope that helps," Sarah chirped. "We best be going. Bye, Tulip. See you around! Let me know if you get any more weapons like that!" As Sarah turned and walked out, Charon silently followed along.
Charon saw that, as soon as they walked out into the main hallway of Underworld, everyone stopped to stare at them. Apparently news of Ahzrukhal's death had travelled quickly in the small community. People stood, gathered in the halls, whispering amongst themselves. They were too afraid to confront Charon directly, or his new employer for that matter. The smoothskin whispered to Charon that she needed to make one more stop, and that he could wait outside. Charon stood outside the Chop Shop, watching everyone. Other than the occasional snarl, Charon ignored them. Until further orders were given, he would follow training protocols. He was used to new employers, though not ones so young. He noted that she had a lot of caps to spend, which was unusual, but Charon didn't really care one way or the other. That wasn't part of the his employer came out she looked a little pale, but otherwise uninjured. "You ready?" she asked. Charon curtly nodded. "Alright, let's go," she replied, already walking towards the door. Charon fell in line behind her.