The silhouette of several men sat in the distance, the rising sun making them stand out against the broken road that they walked along.
Each had broken and dried skin, obviously a infamous band ghouls.
One of them still had a full head of hair, though it appeared dirty and full of ash and dust that accumulated there from years of living in the wastes; It's dirty blond color could go for black.
He wore a combat vest that beared the mark of Yao Guai claws and various bullet marks.
His combat fatigues were worn down and hardly needed to be camoflagued anymore. A pair of combat boots kept His feet in mediocre conditions.
A Assault Rifle was slung over His back and a bandolier of grenades were hanging from His chest, His slim body almost slumping forward from the weight.
Two of the other men where identical in every way; They could of been twins or they were mutated in the same pit of glob, no difference.
They both possessed two holsters, inside of them rested rusted M9s, clearly ancient, broken and repaired many times. Another holster could seen attached to their legs, also carrying a firearm inside of it.
The other man was also bald, somewhat resembling the twins. His dark eyes resembled a dark cold night but also beared a hint of leadership and veteran skills.
A friendly aura flooded from His flayed skin, His somewhat toned body somewhat muscled.
He carried a Sniper Rifle and a Combat Shotgun, a bandolier of ammunition slung around His shoulder. He wore a tattered army T-shirt and black slacks.
The group resembled Mercenaries or the Hunter packs that usually could be found poaching Mole Rats around Megaton.
But they were anything but Mercenaries or the common rogue Raider.
They were just a hardened group of mistreated Ghouls, just as desperate to survive as the other residents of the Wastes.
Scorched roads and burnt trees littered the barren wastes that surrounded the Men.
The blistering sun couldn't of been worst either, the deadly rays threatening to drive the Men into a state of dehydration or even to turn on each other and greedily take their canteens for themselves.
But these Ghouls knew better. Rationed bottles of Dirty water sat in their packs, along with bags of food and other valuables.
"Hmm..."
"What?"
"Map"
"What?"
"Give me the map...."
"Why?"
"Give me the map!'
"Okay...."
One of the twins crouched down, digging through His small sports bag that had been scavenged only miles back. He pulled out a small bundle of scorched paper, but as He opened it, it revealed that it was in moderate conditions and listed common locations such as: Megaton, The Citadel, and Commonwealth.
The oldest of the Ghouls, their leader, grabbed the map and swiftly looked across it with His eyes, drifting around Megaton and eyeing the roads surrounding it.
"We should be coming across a neighborhood soon....a somewhat big one..."
The others rose their eyes brows in interest.
It had been a few days since they had come across a place where they could manage to find loot. They had traveled along these roads many times and knew every cranny to look for Lizards, Water, and Trinkets. And this neighborhood was known for it's houses that contained useable appliances and copper wire that could be paretically peeled from the walls.
"How far?" Piped up one of the Twins finally.
"A few miles...." A slight grin could be seen on the Leader's face.
Happy hunting!
"Is that a debbie cake?
"No..."
"Dude, joke it up!"
"I found it!"
"Come on.... please!?"
"Just a piece..."
The Ghoul placed a chuck of the pre-war cake into His brother's hand. He turned to the others and offered some to them also.
"Hey, want some Gyle?"
"Yeah, sweet!"
The Ghoul with dirty blonde hair gave up His search for wires in a broken electricity socket and took a piece of the food.
The twin then turned to the group leader and offered the last half of the chunk.
"Boss...you up for a bite?"
"No thanks, Snitch, but enjoy..."
The twin sneered and placed the cake in His mouth, "Your crazy!"
The man smiled. "I know...."
"Lets check the fridge!" Gyle cried out, still licking His lips after greedily consuming the treat.
"Yeah!" The other Ghouls shouted out in chorus and they all sprinted into the kitchen.
The only Ghoul who was left was their Leader, who went by the name of Thorn.
He chuckled and slowly made His way into the small, tiled kitchen in which His friends were currently raiding for goods.
"Slow down fellas...." He called out as they claw viciously at the fridge and cabinets.
The fridge was clearly plundered many years ago but they found luck in the cabinets.
A few cans of food including: Pork and Beans, Potatoes, and Corn.
"Good find guys!" Gyle was hysterical at the thought of gobbling down the canned corn they had come by.
He loved the stuff with a passion.
The crackle of the midnight fire warmed the Ghouls.
The light created by the fire was safely sheltered by a rock on one side and the backside of a house on the other.
The group had decided to make a fire here and stay in the town for the night; They didn't want to risk getting stuck in the open with no fire.
"Pass the Pork"
Jaz, Snitch's twin, smiled as the can was placed in His hands.
He shook as He lifted up the spoon already placed in the canned food item and shoveled out a few chucks of pork, accompanied by a side of beans. A bit of the thick, juicy, meaty liquid also stowed away on the utensil. The delicious taste over took Jaz and almost made Him drop the load.
But He finally stuck the food in His mouth and savored the delicacy.
"Good stuff...." He smiled and noticed His Brother Snitch looking at Him sternly.
"Oh sorry....but I gotta savor it...."
"I don't mind but your making it look as if it is better than that debbie cake I found...."
"Oh, it almost is bro!"
They chuckled and noticed that on the other side of the fire, Gyle madly stuffed spoonful after spoonful of corn into His mouth.
"Converse it, conserve it, Gyle!"
Thorn was slouched over the can of potatoes Himself, happy to finally be able to enjoy a quiet and peaceful meal.
The crunch of a twig disturbed Thorn from His dream-like state. He quickly set the can to the side and grabbed His shotgun, grasping it firmly in His hands.
"Hello!?" He gingerly called out, scanning the land around them.
Snitch climbed up onto the boulder that sat behind them and looked around for Himself, pistols drawn. He managed to spot the figure of a man, just a few feet away.
"Hey, you!" Snitch pointed at Him, His pistols not fully raised yet.
The man seemed startled and started feeling around His lower waist, as if a bee was stinging Him.
Seconds later, Snitch realized the man had drawn a gun and raised it to fire.
Snitch seemed to be quickly and with the flick of His wrist, lifted up His guns and pull the trigger.
Two bullets flew out of His M9s, one on course to the target and one dipping towards the ground, obviously a misfire.
The man let out a shot, from what sounded like a 32. Revolver.
The bullet struck Snitch in the chest, the metal ball churning the Ghoul's stomach and making Him feel a dizziness.
Without time to react, Snitch fell from the rock and landed beside His startled Brother.
"Oh crap, get your guns! Snitch was shot!" He slid over to His Brother, tears in eyes.
Both of Snitch's bullets found their mark. The first one made contact with the man's neck and the second managed to ricochet into the man's eye, bursting through the other side of His skull.
Thorn made His way to the man and examined Him. He was a dirtied Wastelander, mad with rage. He look out of His own mind and wasn't really all that harmful.
Thorn bashed Him in the face with His shoutgun butt.
"Who are you!?"
"Kh-an...co-mi-ng"
He managed to choke out a sentence before Thorn ruthlessly busted a shell into the man's upper chest, sending Him into a state of shock and then into a gradual death.
Back at camp, Snitch managed to get a few bandaged wrapped around Him by His desperate Brother before He begged Him to stop.
They both had several minutes to talk, they even laughed, but finally Jaz got up and walked away from the fire.
Snitch was gone.