The fire cracks, pops, and sizzles as I feed it another piece of wood I have neatly stack by my wooden makeshift home. The flames grow as does the heat. It burns my cheeks but warms most of my outer body from Appalachia's rigid freezing temperatures.
A bush behind where I am sitting rustles. I quickly bring up my short hunting rifle up and take aim.
It shakes again.
My index finger lays on top of the trigger.
A rabbit hops out from the pathetic shrub. It sniffs the ground a few times, the air, to the ground again. Then, it notices my presence. It hesitates and jumps away in fear. I lower my hunting rifle back to my side. At the same time, a sigh slips from my lips.
It's been over three years since I left Vault 76. I honestly didn't know what to expect. All I was told that it was my mission to rebuild the Wasteland. Of course, they had mentioned that I would face dangers along the way, however, I don't think anyone realized how gruesome it truly is out here.
The fire continues to crack every so often. I take my seat on a tree stump and aimlessly stare into the hearth.
I met up with a group of vault dwellers just a few minutes after leaving 76. A few I had recognized, others - oddly- I had never seen before. There's skepticism at first, but after a few days traveling in a group, it somehow felt it was the best course of action. We agreed to stick together and rebuild Appalachia together.
There was a sense of hope and eagerness growing within our souls. We were ready to take on with whatever was going to come our way. For as long as we remember, we were repeatedly told that the fate of the Wasteland was in our hands and what better motivation than to have the power to change the world.
All that built up enthusiasm and inspiration only last a week before we were attack by a group of scorched, forcing us to lose four of the group of twelve. We managed to escape from our enemies by swimming across a nearby river, creating that protective barrier between us, but the damage had already been done.
A sense of helplessness loomed over our heads for the next day or two. Not one of us had mentioned the devastation with our fellow vault dwellers. We ate, walked, scavenged, and repeated these motions. After those days passed, that's when all went downhill.
Marla Halberstadt, a young woman about the age of twenty-one with long blonde hair, snapped like a madman. She clutched her head, laughed, and began to ramble on and on about what has happened within the last several days. Landon Johnson, our unofficial appointed group leader, attempted to get her to calm down. Marla kept rambling on and on about how Vault 76 and Appalachia was just a set up by the government to be able to test the limits of the human mind and body and other whimsical ideas she most likely had come up with.
"I can't, I can't, I can't," I remember her say in her broken and brittle voice. The tone of desperation was real. "If we're here to rebuild Appalachia, then what good does it do if we can't even rebuild ourselves?!"
Those were the last words from Marla before she put a 10mm bullet through her brain.
The once hungry flames from the fire have now been satisfied with the little twigs I have been involuntarily feeding it the last twenty minutes. A cold breeze flows through. It blows the flames to one side, but when the wind dies down, the blaze is now upright.
A year after the Marla incident, we had pitched camp near a mountain range that divided us and Greenbrier Hotel. To the West of our cozy settlement was the Tygart Water Treatment plant, Poseidon Power Substation, and to the southwest was Summerville, an abandoned town ridden with Super Mutants. It was a nice secluded area that kept us safe from any wandering feral ghoul or mole rat, thanks to the help of the boulders and trees with multicolored leaves.
All was well in the settlement. Despite us nearly losing half of the group, we had onboarded a few helpless stray dwellers from time to time, bringing our number from seven to fifteen within that time period. Each dweller had an important role to play. They were either assigned to the following roles: scavenger, hunter, medic, cook, and guard. Landon thought it was best to have as many people as possible to fill these jobs, though, not too many as supplies could run down faster than normal.
My role was to scavenge nearby areas or travel far to other places such as abandoned houses, office buildings, and other things as so. While I scavenged, it was vital for us to scout the area for another place to settle. Though it's important to settle down, it's also vital to keep moving. It helps the enemy to keep guessing where we are, especially if that enemy is a group of Scorched. Those bastards are smart as hell.
From the sporadic group of refugees we adopted, there was a woman that caught my hazel eyes. At the time, I was on guard duty early in the morning, the woman and her group - or what was left of it- were running in a panic down the road from us. It seemed like they were shooting at a group of Super Mutants chasing them. I would help if I could, but according to Landon, we must not interfere with the battles of others outside the group. This could lead to various problems like traps or losing precious supplies like ammo and stimpaks.
It sounds like an awful thing to do, but survival of the fittest. Only the strong survive.
Just before I turned my back at the soon to be horrendous massacre, I heard a timed beeping not too far from my post.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
To my right, a Super Mutant Suicider was making his way down the side of the camp and headed towards the helpless group. My partner and I raised our scoped weapons in case if the suicider were to ever change its mind and ever attack us. The woman must have noticed a glaring flash from our scoped rifles because she turned her head and began to yell for our help. We stood by quietly and watched the chaos ensue.
Normally, I'm not moved by such horrifying scene, but something in my soul stirred. Ramon, my guard partner, must have noticed it because he began to tell me not to stick my nose in the business.
"I have to help", I finally said to him as I lifted my scoped rifle to take aim at my target. I inhaled slowly. "I have to help."
BANG.
The suicider that once was headed to her direction collapsed like a ragdoll. The live mini nuke it held exploded. The horde of Super Mutants halted in their tracks and turned their focus onto me.
"Stay here and alert the others. I'm going to help them."
Ramon called out after me, then cursed under his breath. He rang the emergency bell.
The next twenty minutes were all a blur to me. I sprang from tree to boulder to tree trying to dodge bullets left and right, my teammates aiding me in battle, and a pack of mole rats joining in the fight. Towards the end of the fight, I finally managed to reach the woman and the only living teammate. Both she and the man were unconscious.
While I knelt next to the distressed woman, I couldn't help but examine her as I checked for a pulse. She had her chestnut hair tied in a bun, sun-kissed tan skin, and a slightly thin frame. Her face had smears of new and dried blood and dirt and she sported the famous blue and yellow Vault 76 suit. It was obvious that she and the others were roughed up from whatever Appalachia had in store for them. Even her eyes showed black bags and redness from the lack of sleep.
The others and I carried them back to base where we would treat them for their wounds. At a certain point, she woke up from her mini coma, though, she dozed off a few times but forced herself to stay awake.
The first thing she did when I brought her back to camp was sob like a small child. Between cries, she would mutter things about losing her friends and the mutants. Then she clung onto me for dear life before she was sedated by our camp's medic Gloria. My best guess is she was ambushed while going through Summerville. A classic rookie mistake that most people make. Lucky that she and her other friend survived. It's a miracle that anyone is able to make it out of the ambush alive.
The distressed woman and the man woke up after a five-day coma. Most of their physical injuries have just about healed. But their mental health was a whole other deal. It was a nightmare really.
Throughout the next few nights, I could hear her uncontrollable sobs and shrieks. Each day was worse than the last. Gloria could only do so much considering the low amount of supplies we had stored. The only thing that helped the poor woman was a shot of anesthesia and antibiotics for her wounds.
This went on for about a week until Gloria and Landon decided that enough was enough. Injecting the woman with medication every six hours was only going to damage her more than she already was. It was something that the woman had to fight on her own. Time was the only medicine she needed.
The woman's recovery wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be. Again, she cried and yelled for a day or two, but after that, she quietly slept in the infirmary. Whenever I could, I'd go visit her to see how she and the man were doing. Both were doing fine. The man was a talkative one, as he told stories of his days in the vault and what's he's encountered so far. On the other hand, the woman was the opposite.
I'd attempted many times to get her to talk, however, all she ever said was her please and thank you's. She spoke to Gloria a bit more than she did me. A part of that has to do with womanly camaraderie. Another because, well, Gloria is the Doctor.
This lasted about a week or two before she finally spoke to me.
"Why did you save me?" she asked in a cold yet broken tone.
I shrugged nonchalantly. "I just had to."
Her thin hands reached out for my left hand. As she grasped it, I could feel my body go warm from her touch.
"Thank you," she cooed before crying.
We fell in love from that moment on.
Since then, I began to see Julieta more often in the infirmary. Not long after, she was back to full health and Gloria had given her the okay to go back home. The man and Julieta had no place to go since her camp was and her friends were destroyed by the pack of Super Mutants. Landon had no intention of letting them join because of the little supplies we had. Feeling sorry for the two, I spoke to the leader privately.
We came to an agreement. As long as the outsiders were to pick their own weight around the camp and perform their duties, they were allowed to stay. But if they were to lay around in their tents and not lift a finger, they were to be banished out of the camp.
Julieta and Charles accepted without hesitation.
Immediately, we married. Our group held a small short ceremony. Months later, she became pregnant. At first, we were skeptical in bringing a child into this broken, irradiated, dead world, then the more we thought about it, it turned out to be a blessing.
Our child holds success for the future of Appalachia.
Not that the baby can do anything now, but it's what the vault dwellers and even the others are currently working towards a better future for the next generations to come.
I add more kindle to the fire. The flames grow but just enough to satisfy its hunger.
A little over a year has gone by and the baby was born. A beautiful baby girl. In honor of my wife's favorite flower, the rhododendron, we named our daughter Azalea. The name suits her well. Her hair is brown like her Mom's but when the sunlight hit just right, her locks turned to a deep scarlet.
At that time, it was when the group had decided that it was time to move camp to someplace else. There's a piece of land just north of Vault 76 that seemed like a great spot to pitch tent. It was covered in trees, where we would be protected from not only nearby enemies but also the sun.
The day it was time to start migrating, Benjamin, one of our scavengers, sprinted into the camp as his life depended on it. He stopped right in front of Landon and I and began to speak a hundred miles an hour.
"Woah. Calm down, son. What's going on?" Landon said as he put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Slow down brother."
"I-there's- another-wait-," Ben wheezed through various sentences. He put his hand on his knees to catch his breath. "Okay. Someone told me that there's a safer area just north of here. There is a river nearby and plenty of game to hunt. Not to mention, it's relatively safe."
I shook my head. "No. We have to stick to the plan. We're going near Vault 76."
Landon nodded. "Gabriel is right. It's too late for us to change our destination."
Ben seemed desperate at this point. His medium dirty blonde hair bounced on his head as he retaliated back. "I don't think heading back near Vault 76 is a great idea!"
"Why is that?"
His gaze suddenly portrayed fear. The look alone sent shivers down my side. "I overheard some raiders from a town nearby us say that they were going to make a break to the vault. The leader said something about killing off the men, and taking women and children and do terrible things to them and then-" His eyes widened.
"Then?" I calmly said.
He hesitated. He bit his bottom lip, looked away, but shook his head. "I quietly left. Look, it's dangerous to even think about nearing the vault. How about we check this place out and then settle there. If you think about it, how many people do you think are going to be near 76? If we gather with others, who knows what might happen! If the Raiders are going to be there, it's going to be a bloodbath!"
Landon purses his lips and ponders on what he says. As for myself, I don't buy into the story. A red flag automatically pops up in my brain when Benjamin's body language shifted. He's been hesitant this entire time. My suspicion radar is going off.
"Landon, may I have a word with you?" I pulled him to the side several feet away from Benjamin. "Look, I don't think we should trust him."
"Why not?"
"I don't feel comfortable with what Ben has told us. Under any circumstances should we change our route. This could all be set up!"
An expression of perplexion was written across Landon's face. "I don't think Benjamin is lying-"
"-You're joking, right?"
He shook his head.
A nervous laugh escaped my lips. "Landon, excuse me, but you're an idiot.
"Excuse me Gabriel, but I find it rather rude for you to assume that one of our members of the group is some sort of traitor. Ben has been with us since day one. Not once has he led us astray with his tracking skills. I'd honestly trust him with this than you."
At that moment, I felt a sense of distrust stab my heart.
I was Landon's right-hand man. The second in command. His best friend. Nothing hurt me more than him turning his back against me. Sure, we had our fair share of arguments and actual fist fights. But at the end of it all, we both knew that whatever decision we came up with, it was for the best of the group.
And for Landon to say he trusted Benjamin more than me, was a slap in the face.
The leader turned his back to me and paced into the direction of Ben. "I understand that you not only want to protect the people of our group but your wife and child as well. Just realize this, Appalachia is a dangerous place. Our best option is to keep our options open. You never know, this place Ben speaks of may be better than where we are headed."
After our little argument, I rushed to my camp, where Julieta was gathering our things together. On her back, she had Azalea swaddled safely and soundly asleep in a piece of white fabric. My wife must have noticed that I was in a bad mood because she dropped everything I was doing and hustled to where I was.
"What happened?" she asked in a low tone.
I ran a hand through my dirty locks. "Landon wants to check out a place just north of here. And I don't think it's a great idea."
"Why is that?"
I faltered with my sentence. The last thing I wanted was to worry or even frighten Julieta with such suspicion. For all I knew, I could have been wrong. But there's a sense of fear that telling me not to go through with Ben's idea.
Julieta frowned. Now she's getting worried.
"Benjamin suggested the idea," I admitted. Our year old daughter groans for a quick second but falls back into her morning nap.
"I don't see a problem with that," she admitted as well, which honestly, made me angrier than I already was. "We're just trying to find a safe place to settle down. What Benjamin has said so far, hasn't hurt us at all."
I throw my hands up to the sky. "That's the problem. He was acting weird the entire time. I don't trust a single word he says. The man is up to no good and I'm not having it." I turned to face my backpack that was on the floor. I assumed that Julieta was halfway through packing my clothes, so I began to start stuffing it with other articles of clothing that were lying around. "C'mon Jules, we're packing and leaving the group."
"What?!"
"I cannot risk having you girls go through whatever danger is waiting for us. I refuse us to walk into a death trap. Julieta, if I were to lose you and the baby, I don't think I could ever live with myself-"
A pair of slender tan arms wrapped around my stomach. I felt my wife's chest press against my chest as she embraces for the next several minutes. "Gabriel," she cooed. God, I loved when she said my name the way she did just now. It's like pure honey dripping from a comb. "You're stressing yourself too much about this."
"But-"
"-Has Ben or even Landon ever steered you or the others wrong?"
"No."
"Have they both ever put us in danger for their own benefit?"
"No."
"Then what are you worried about?"
I slipped from her enticing hug and faced her. The palm of my right-hand meets with her left cheek. The warmth from her body sends a wave of security through my bones. "I'm worried that Ben hasn't been truthful with Landon and myself. Julieta," I lowered my voice and cupped both of her cheeks with my hands. "I'm scared that I'm going to lose you. I have this gut feeling that things are not going to go the way they should."
"If that's the case, what's the worst that can happen? If someone comes and attacks us, we have more than enough men and women to fight them off. We've had raiders and other murderous bands of groups come and fight us, but we're the ones that come out on top. No has died since the incident with my group, and that happened nearly two years ago." Julieta places her fragile hands on top of mine. I began to melt in them. "You're worrying too much about this Gabriel. Take a deep breath and calm down."
We both stared into each other's eyes before we found ourselves seconds later indulging from our kisses.
"I love you, Gabriel Zimmerman," my wife said.
"I love you, Julieta," I responded with the same amount of passion. "No matter what happens, I'll always love you and Azalea. You two are the queens of my life and that will never change."
Jules's cheeks flared to a soft crimson tone. God. My wife is so precious that I can't even handle it.
"Well...," she placed a hand where her abdomen is. "Pretty soon, you might have a little prince tagging along with you."
I shot her a confused look. Then suddenly, my jaw dropped to the floor.
"You mean...,"
Julieta nods her head as tears swell in her chocolate orbs.
We spent the next several minutes hugging each other, crying, and even trying to figure out names for our unborn baby. We had no idea that it was going to be a boy, however, I knew that it was going to be a boy. I just knew it.
We spent the next hour or so finishing packing our things before meeting up with Landon at the base of the camp. Most have already finished, others were nearly done. I scanned the area to see if Benjamin was already in the group, but I hadn't seen him just yet.
Moments later, Landon cleared his throat. "Alright you guys," his voice boomed loud enough for another settlement nearby to hear him. "It's time to move once again. Plans have changed slightly, but our destination remains the same. One of the scouts may have found another place just passing north of a ski building north of here. It's about a half days walk. We're going to check it out and then head Northwest to our new home. Any questions?"
Not a soul budged.
I glanced one last time to see if Ben was here.
Not to be seen.
"One of the scouts has gone ahead of us to clear the path for us," the leader added the paused. "Looks like everyone is here, so let us get a move on."
I cursed under my breath. I know that it's standard procedure for a scout to walk at least thirty minutes to an hour ahead of the group to see if terrain has changed or to keep the road safe from the dangers of Appalachia. I've done it a few times. If there was impending danger ahead, we had to mark the territory with some kind of symbol to warn us (It was usually red paint for danger, yellow for caution, and blue for clear). It's just the fact that I still have something against Ben.
When Ben lies, it's obvious, just like today, though he did a better job hiding it. It may have gone unnoticed with Landon. Well, I'm sure he noticed it too. He just has a bad habit of trusting people a tad bit too much. I've often told him that one day, it may bite him in the ass. I pray to God that it's not today.
Julieta slipped her hand into mine. Her fragile fingers laced into mine. Again, a blanket of security and warmth took over my body. I gazed over to my side. My wife smiled at me with reassurance.
"Let's go!" Landon roared with excitement.
Okay.
I had to this for my family.
Everything is going to be fine.
Hours later, around mid-afternoon, we finally passed the ski resort. We stopped shortly for a quick break. Ben must have killed off the scorched because there was a good number of them lying around dead. Their bodies still look a bit fresh, but they must have died hours before we got here.
I'd been lying if I said I wasn't nervous. Actually, nervous doesn't begin to describe it. I was frightened at the fact that something was going to go wrong from here. The feeling in my gut was just unsettling. I threw up at least once. Some of the settlers in the group began to grow troubled, but I brushed it off as minor food poisoning from an old box of YumYum Deviled Eggs. The last thing I needed was scaring the group to death.
Landon looked at his pipboy. He tapped the screen a few times with his thick finger. He paused momentarily, scrunched his lips, and retracted his left arm back to his side. "Okay. So the marker Benny tagged the map is leading us past the mountain coming up. We're just minutes away."
Everyone sighed with relief.
"See?" Julieta poked at me. "I told you nothing was going to happen."
My shoulders loosened up. I hated to admit it, but she was right. Maybe I was overthinking things.
"You're right," I muttered in defeat. "I guess I should listen to you more often."
My wife's chocolate brown eyes twitched from my last remark. "Oye, what do you mean listen to me more often? I know what's best for the three of us!"
I stuck my tongue out at her. She reciprocated my motion. Seconds later, we laughed like immature children.
Jules turned to me. "You know that I love you, right?"
"Of course! And know that I love you as well."
I kissed her gently but passionately on her lips.
"And I love Azalea, and little prince here." I reached over and patted the non-existent bump on my wife's stomach. " I cannot wait to meet you, little guy."
"Same," she replied softly. She goes quiet for a few moments but then starts again. "If it's a boy, what would you want to name him? I think to name him after you would be a great idea! It's always nice to have a junior in the family. My father was a junior. It sucked for him because he had four girls, so the family name died out."
I shook my head from side to side. The strands of my blonde hair tickled the skin just above my eyebrows. "If we can't think of anything else, then we can go with that. I believe there's a better name out there for him."
"Gabriel is a nice name."
"It is, but it's too basic."
Julieta giggled.
"What?" I demanded. "Something funny?"
"Not at all. It's the first I ever hear you say something like that. You are a rather prideful man, so hearing you say something like that is a shock."
"Bite me."
She winked at me. "I think I have."
Now my cheeks flared up like a bright red tomato. "ANYWAYS," I coughed. "So names for prince... How does David sound?"
"No."
"Charles?"
"Too white," Jules admitted. "Plus it would be naming him after Charles himself."
We both thought about the talkative man. We shuttered at that thought.
Hm. This may be a bit harder than I thought.
The grass was beginning to thin out as we neared the mountainside. Soon, our feet were crunching on rocks, dead soil, and bones from dead mole rats and other small rodents. The air had suddenly gotten cold, but I paid no attention to it as my wife and I were still discussing baby names.
Julieta moved Azalea from her back to her front side. It had probably had gotten uncomfortably for the two of them since our daughter had started to huss and fuss. She groaned a bit since she was woken up from her afternoon nap, but fell asleep just shortly after into the new position. I offered to hold the baby, but Jules was set on holding her herself.
"Look!" she randomly called out. She broke formation and trotted near the side of the mountain to where a patch of blue exotic floras were blooming. She squatted down and plucked one from the ground. "Soot flowers are often overlooked, but they do provide a great source of healing," I managed to hear her say.
She turned to me with eyes of life. "HIS NAME! I KNOW WHAT IT SHOULD BE!" My wonderful wife screamed at me! "IT'S-"
I had no idea what she said after that.
Because I was distracted by an enormous creature towering over her. Its curved wicked horns protruding from its skull were dull but looked like it had gone through quite a few tough battles. The pointy scales on his back were razor-edged like metal blades. Its hands looked that similar to a Velociraptors feet I had seen in books back in 76, only these monsters were ten times more ferocious, especially that one ginormous claw of his. It was just as long as my baby daughter was. And his leathery skin was all scuffed up, however, the cuts and dents only seemed superficial.
It stood boldly at about fifteen feet and had to have weighed at least two hundred pounds.
What the hell is that?! What kind of demon is that thing?!
My mouth opened to warn her, but no words were ever formed. I only managed to point behind my clueless wife who was still standing there with a giant smile plastered on her tanned face.
"Ju... Jul...," I whispered to myself.
A piercing scream was heard from behind me.
The monster raised its claw high into the azure sky.
People began to cry out to my wife. Others raised their rifles and other weapons.
"JULIETA! BEHIND YOU!" I finally roared from the bottom of my heart.
But it was all too late.
At that very moment, Julieta finally turned around to see what was going on. The horrific monster brought down its hand. Just before it struck her, my wife turned her back to the demonlike creature to protect our child. We managed to make eye contact one last time before it was all over.
Her orbs only sent me an apologetical look before she swatted away thirty feet to the left.
That's when all hell broke loose.
Bullets of all sorts whizzed past my body, screams of men, woman, and child alike sounded in the freezing air, and Landon attempted to calm the crowd down but failed miserably.
I simply fell to my knees in horror as I stared at the demon yards away from me. He was frenzied from all the bullets his body had taken.
He charged towards me.
I hung my head and said a quick prayer.
I'm sorry, Julieta. I did absolutely nothing to save you.
Miraculously, the monster ran past me as if I were a mere speck of dust. Maybe it's because I had shown him no sign of fear or violence. Maybe he already knew I was dead inside.
The monster's footsteps hit the ground so hard, I could feel the vibrations throughout my entire body. The sounds of bodies being thrown and hitting the ground filled my ears. I heard my name being called out numerous times. I heard their cries for help. I heard their weapons confronting the creature.
But none of that mattered to me. No one mattered to me.
My wife and children are dead because of my stupidity.
"Julieta... Azalea... my little prince...," I silently cried to myself. "I'm so sorry..."
I crawled my way to them as tears streamed down my face. My hands and feet dug into the rock and soil so hard, my skin began to peel and bleed. The pain was nothing compared to what I had just witnessed. Nothing in this world will hurt more than losing my family.
The war-zone behind me raged on as I met with my wife. She was fighting to stay alive. Her breaths were heavy but growing far apart from the previous one. Her lean body was broken in numerous places. Her limbs were in different directions and her clavicle was protruding from her skin. Her once white T-shirt was spotless and now, it was soaked in a thick sticky crimson substance.
Just looking at her in this life-threatening state was enough for me to break down. I gingerly brought her up and hugged her close to my body. "No. It's okay baby," I cooed softly, holding back my tears. "You're gonna be fine," I lied for her sake.
My wife strived to speak, however, blood was the only thing that came from her mouth.
I ran my hand through her soft chestnut hair and rocked her back and forth. "I love you Julieta. I love you and our kids. I don't care what happens. I belong to you and you only," I whispered desperately.
Julieta's hazel orbs shimmered as tears filled to the brim. She cracked the purest smile I'd ever seen. Soon her smile faded and her body went limp.
The warmth of her body disappeared as so did mine. I clutched my wife's body and uncontrollably sobbed like a three-year-old child.
At the same time, the monster roared.
Instead of feeling fear, the only emotion I felt was anger. No, rage. No. None of those adjectives began to describe how enraged I felt at that very moment. My vision had gone red and the only thing I had in mind was killing that thing.
Just a few feet from my wife's lifeless body, there's a combat knife lying near a patch of grass. I laid my wife down and gave her one last kiss on the cheek.
"Rest up baby girl. You definitely deserve it."
I reached over her and gripped the knife.
I tapped into my pipboy and searched for my 10mm pistol. I knew it wasn't going to do much, but it was going to have to do. Once I found it, I holstered it to my side and got to my feet. At this point, I knew I wasn't going to win with that monster. It was just impossible, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from seeking vengeance for my wife and children. At least, in the end, I'll get to see them on the other side.
I turned around to face the war zone.
Everyone but Landon was dead. He was surprisingly holding up with the monster. He parried the creatures attacks with his mighty super sledge and managed to get a few shots him here and there. Landon is taller and stronger than the average male. But still, that doesn't mean he was able to easily defeat his foe, especially one that has been heavily mutated.
Landon was tired. He was quaking in his shoes from the exhaustion and the fear. Sweat was pouring down his face and soaked his vault suit around his neck. He growled under his breath, which gave him an extra shot of energy. "Come on man!" He cried out for help. "I need ya here man!"
The monster swiped at Landon. To his luck, the black man lost his footing, making him slip backward. Landon groaned when his back hit the hard ground. The creature rose its razor-like claws in the air.
BANG.
ROOOAAAR!
I stood frozen where I had instinctively shot my 10mm.
All the pent up madness I had for the thing suddenly vanished in a millisecond. That fierce, grueling cry of the monster has been by far the most frightening sound I have ever heard. It was much louder than I had expected to be. Honestly, I didn't know what sound it was going to make, but never in my entire life would it sound like that.
This thing... This thing is a demon from Hell.
The monster began to run to me. Its arms were wide open as if its arms were too big for his body. For a large monster standing at about fifteen feet, it sure ran fast as hell. I'm not even sure a radstag could even outrun him.
I embraced for impact.
This was it. I knew that in a few seconds that I'd be put out of my misery. Well, I couldn't have been happier because after witnessing the death of my family, I don't think there's a better way for me to die. I mean, there's no point in living if there's no one here on this piece of crap earth.
Fuck Vault-Tec.
Fuck the government.
Most of all, fuck me for making this all happen.
As the monster towered over me, oddly, I felt a sense of relief consuming my body. My life flashed before my eyes. My time in Vault 76, the day I had left, meeting my wife, my daughter being born, and up till now, it seemed it was taking years to replay all those memories I had been cherishing this entire time within the last seconds of my life.
I closed my eyes.
I can't wait to see you, Julieta.
Just then, a loud grunting noise came about behind the monster.
YAARRGHHHH!
ROAAAARR!
There was a loud crack.
I quickly open my eyes to see what the commotion was all about. Turned out, Landon had managed to swing his sledge right behind the creature's knee. If I were to take a wild guess, Landon must have broken the monster's bone into two or three pieces. It doesn't surprise me that he is capable of such a thing, but what surprised me was how fast the monster retaliated.
In just half a second, the monster swung his hand around. Landon's reaction was much to slow. It resulted in him getting slapped about ten yards back, leaving me once again face to face with the monster.
But I had already begun to take action. The best course of action to take was to fight close. The further away I was to it, the easier it would be for him to take a shot at me. Because of my size, the closer I get, the harder it would be for him to get me.
I got low and made my way to his backside. My initial thought was to attack him in the weak spot. And that's what I did. I shoved my blade deep behind his injured knee.
Again, it roared out in agony.
He twisted around. I tried to avoid getting hit from his tail, but all failed as it knocked me to the side several feet. I landed and slid near a few of dead friends. Their eyes were wide open, and still calling out for help.
I shuttered, however, I got to my feet as quick as I could. Now wasn't the time to start feeling sorry for myself and the others. I'll do that after I kill this demon in front of me.
The monster charged at me.
I raised my bloodied hand out in front of me. There was a slight pause, though, I did not hesitate to shoot.
BANG.
The 10mm pierced its right eyeball. It howled louder than ever, still sending a cold chill down my spine. I've now completely pissed it off.
Before it had the chance to retaliate, Landon rejoined the fight. He slammed his sledge down and wacked the mutated monster on top of his skull. The force of the weapon broke off his left curved horn.
Landon took no time to rest. He swung again at its' injured leg. To our surprise, it whined and began to retreat. It limped away past my dead comrades and hid back up the mountain where he came from.
The leader and I stood frozen. We inhaled and exhaled as if we ran a double marathon. Sweat beaded down our foreheads, blood oozed from our wounds.
What in the hell just happened?!
"Are you okay?"
"They're gone..."
Landon hung his head. "I know."
"My family..."
"Gabriel-"
My eyes focused on his large body frame. Externally, he was in great condition, but internally, he was just as broken as I was.
"My wife is dead," I choked up, holding hot tears back. "My unborn son is dead. And my daughter-"
An innocent cry belched out of nowhere.
Rustling from behind me grew louder as it brought me back to reality. Then, a soft but hearty cry emerges from a tiny makeshift bed I had made from scraps of cloth and cotton I had found lying around in a nearby abandoned building.
My father instincts kick in. I shuffle to my baby, pick her up, and cradle her into my chest as close as I can. I then wrap her the blanket she was covered in, sway her gently left and right.
"Shh," I say practically inaudibly. "It's okay baby girl. I'm here. Daddy's got you."
Not before long, Azalea falls back into a deep slumber. Not much longer after that, I find my seat back on the broken tree stump.
The Deathclaw, as I found out its name from a group of caravaners months later, miraculously retreated, but at the sound of Azalea's sobs, it decided to poke its head back to into the scene. As I held a bloodied combat knife in one hand and cradled my daughter in the other, I gave it a good evil stare down before it made the decision to vanish back up the mountain again.
Landon had caught up to me. His arm was broken as well as his nose. Blood trickled from various parts of his skull but seemed fine nonetheless. I had also acquired a couple of broken ribs, broken left foot, and clavicle. As far as I could tell, we were going to survive, though the pain was surely going to kick in a few minutes as the adrenaline wore off.
Landon was panting like a mad dog. He attempted to speak but all that managed to come out of his mouth were heavy breathes of hot air.
"I'm sorry," he managed to cough up after five minutes fighting to catch his breath. "If I had-"
"-It doesn't matter," I interrupt him carelessly. Blood from my brow dripped to the ground. "My wife and unborn kid are dead. Everyone is dead. Benjamin disappeared. I don't need your apology. That's the last thing that I ever need right now or ever."
I wrapped my arms around my unscathed child. Tears streamed down my face. I fell to my knees and cried like a child missing his dead mother. It was pathetic for a man like myself to sob the way I did. But I didn't care what anyone thought of me at that moment. I had suffered the last thirty minutes, and I was going to continue to do so for the rest of my life.
After my outburst, I wiped my snot and tears onto my bloodied green sleeve. The stench of the thick crimson substance nearly made me vomit, but I held it in.
Landon's posture straightened as I got to my knees. "Where are you going?"
"Somewhere," I muttered. "And I'd rather you not join me. It's best if we cut ties from here on out."
"Gabriel. Don't be like this man."
I began to walk to who knows where.
I heard footsteps following me. I halted, turned, and yelled at my once friend from the bottom of my lungs, "STAY AWAY FROM ME! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. IF YOU HAD JUST LISTENED TO ME, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. GO AND BE WITH BEN FOR ALL I CARE."
This may have been the first time I had startled my friend. On other occasions, we've had our fair shares of arguments. We've even said things that we didn't mean, but boy, today was the first time I had said something out of spite and meant it. Even Landon knew that.
He gulped. "Okay," he hushed. The agonizing tension between us finally shattered like a glass vase hitting a cement floor because Landon's dark orbs were filled with hurt and tears. "You be careful out there, ya hear?"
I ignored the last sentimental advice he ever gave to me. Hell, I didn't even bury Julieta like a normal human being. Because after that moment, I swiveled on my heels and stormed off with my fussy three-month-old baby girl and never looked back.
From that moment on, our friendship was destroyed, never to be repaired again. We both had lost everything, money, friends, family, food, you name it. But most of all, he lost my trust the moment he chose Benjamin over myself. And there was nothing in this world that could ever repair that.
Azalea fidgets against my chest.
If anything, I'm eternally grateful that my daughter made it out alive. I'm still shocked that there wasn't a scratch on her. She had been lying in a bush quite a ways from all the chaos. I've thanked my Julieta over and over for protecting our daughter at the cost of her own life. That's only a love a parent has for her kid. I admire her for that and I forever will because I couldn't do a damn thing to protect anyone.
Small white flurries begin to fall from the sky. A few of them land on my shoulders, and on my daughter's chestnut hair. I bring the blanket up and cover her, so she doesn't contract an illness. Her immunity isn't quite strong enough yet for a two-year-old.
The flame that was once hungry, has finally died down. I stare at its glowing embers. When the wind blows through, it grows bright, but when it stops, the color resumes back to a soft orange.
It has been satisfied completely.
Appalachia.
My mission, set by the Overseer, is to make Appalachia habitable one day for incoming generations to come. My great great great grandchildren will live in a land that I had once roamed and cultivated. I would have shown my child, and even grandchildren, how to cook, fight, and grow what's necessary for survival.
This place is just hell all around.
I look down at my daughter. Her chest rises and descends in a rhythmic peaceful pattern.
"Don't worry baby girl," I whisper loud enough to not wake her up. "It'll just be you, me, and this barren, pitiful world called home."
A/N:
I wrote this one a whim, so there may be quite a few errors! I hope you enjoyed it! :)