A/N: I do not take credit for any of the original Fallout 3 material. The characters and events that I add on to the story are the only things that I take credit for. Basically, anything that you recognize is not mine and anything that you don't recognize is. I'm not going to write this note every chapter! This is the only chapter that I will state this!
Just a warning; major spoiler alert! This story takes place right after the Broken Steel expansion kicks in (end of the main part of the game), so, if you haven't beat the main part of the game and don't want to know the ending, then you might want to skip this story over!
Please, leave reviews whenever you can! I'm trying to become a professional author and I want my writing to be as best as it can possibly be, so be critical, if there is anything to improve!
"Damn, not again," I muttered as I came upon the wreckage of yet another caravan. The raiders were getting bad, really bad. Ever since Aqua Pura had been released all over the Wasteland, it had been like a war between the caravaners and the raiders, even more than it had ever been before. Even though I had been in a coma for the first two weeks of the distribution, I knew exactly why: raiders weren't exactly reasonable or easy to trade with. The result; more raids to obtain what they weren't given the option to have.
I knelt down next to the corpse of the older man and carefully closed his eyes. I did the same to his bodyguard, a young Mercenary.
Damn those raiders, I thought to myself. They were one of the only factions left in the D.C. area that threatened the safety of the public. I had, literally, just helped the Brotherhood drive back the Enclave-with the help of Liberty Prime-to the farther reaches of the Wasteland, so the only main threat left were minor gangs, raiders being one of them. I was really due for some leisure time, but the "hero of the Wasteland" had no time for leisure, if there was still trouble brewing somewhere.
I looked up at the slain Brahmin, surprised to see that not all of the loot had been taken from the packs strapped to its back. That meant one of two things; either the raiders had gotten what they wanted, or they were going to come back for more. Raiders were too predictable, however, so I knew that the latter choice was the most probable.
I didn't want to, but I was low on supplies and still had a good three days left before I made it back to Megaton. So, I reluctantly started sifting through the packs, grabbing what food, water, meds, and ammo I could find and carry. I stuffed it all into a small pack that I kept with me at all times; a pack that, at this point, couldn't hold much more. I also grabbed what ammo was left on the Mercenary, pocketing it in an easy-to-reach location, since the ammo was already loaded in the clips and ready to use.
That's when I heard gunfire. From the first two shots, I knew that the gunfire was close. It had to be the raider party coming back for seconds.
Then I heard a scream; a scream from someone young.
I instantly sprang up, running toward the hill from which the gunfire was coming. As I ran I pulled out my rifle, making sure that the clip was full and that I had a spare ready to go. When I got to the top, a gruesome scene greeted me from the other side.
Two raiders were standing in a small clearing, one of them holding a small 10mm, the other throwing down a young woman to the ground. They both laughed as the girl was tied up, screaming the entire time, and laid on her stomach. The one without a gun climbed on top of her and hit her over the head with a plank of wood to shut her up. He then laughed as he grabbed the girl by her long, raven hair, pulling her head back so that she was looking up at him.
"Oh, you're a sweet one, you are!" The raider said as he ran his free hand down her side. "Not very often that we find someone like you runnin' around out here," He said. The raider with the gun started laughing as the other stood up and started pulling at the girl's pants.
"Ha, leave some for me, will ya?" The raider with the gun laughed. As he did, he waved his gun around jokingly.
Perfect.
With one fluid motion, I lifted my rifle and aimed through the scope. I took a deep breath and...
Bang!
The raider with the gun went down, pieces of his head spraying out around him. The other raider jumped up from on top of the girl, and turned around to face me. I laughed, surprised as the predictability of raiders. My gun was already aimed at his head before his feet were fully on the ground. His head went flying about ten feet when I shot him down, his blood spraying all over the terrified girl below him.
Then it was quiet, the only sound the sound of the wind, howling as it blew over the crest of the hill. I waited a few moments, lowering my gun and watching the clearing around me to make sure that no other raiders were hiding anywhere. After I was sure it was safe, I ran down the other side of the hill toward the still-tied-up girl at the bottom.
When I got into her field of vision, the girl looked at me with eyes that were clearly not accustomed to the harsh light of the Wasteland. I knew almost right away that this girl wasn't from around here.
"Hello," I said as I knelt next to her, throwing one of my spare shirts over her exposed backside, "my name is Mason. I'm here to help you."
The girl just looked up at me, her crystal-blue eyes wide, blood-shot, and sunken into her skull.
When she didn't answer, I reached into my pack and grabbed my small knife. The girl's eyes opened even farther, but she didn't make a single noise. I then cut the rope tied around her wrists. Almost instantly, the girl reached under my shirt and pulled up her pants.
"Did that man...hurt you?" The thought killed me. I had been looking through my scope, so anything could have happened that I hadn't seen. The thought hurt me even more because, like the raider had said to her before, she was a rare sight these days, in that she was beautiful, unscarred from the chaos of the Wasteland. Well, except for her badly sunburnt skin.
The girl shook her head and I sighed, relieved. "Good." I helped her get to her feet. "You lost?"
She said nothing. Okay...
"I can help you get home, if you tell me what town you're from. I've traveled all over this Wasteland and some surrounding areas, so I know this area very well."
She still said nothing, her eyes wide as she stared up at me (she was a good six inches shorter than me). I held in my frustration. The girl was probably in shock. She had almost gotten raped, and was more than likely lost. Patience was all that I needed.
Part of me wanted to leave her. I had little supplies, a long distance to travel, and I needed to get back asap. Dogmeat was waiting for me back in Megaton, and no doubt was very hungry.
But I knew I couldn't. Something about his girl made me want to help her. She was...captivating, so to speak. That, and I couldn't leave her. She would be dead in hours. I could tell that by the way her clothes hung limply from her small frame.
It was quiet for a moment as I thought to myself. Taking her could prove to be a fatal decision, since having to pack around a helpless girl would slow me down and bring attention to me when I was sneaking up on someone. But leaving her meant her death.
Now that thought, I couldn't bare.
"Well, since you won't tell me where you're from I'll just have to take you with me. Are you okay with that?" The girl instantly grabbed my hand, the one on her shoulder, and squeezed it tight, as though that small amount of contact could save her from anything. The contact made me shiver.
"Alright, but I have a few conditions. Can you nod to tell me that you understand?"
She nodded. Yes, a reaction.
"Okay. You must do whatever I say, for your own safety, alright? That means that if I say duck, you duck. If I say jump, you jump. If I say to run the hell away, you run your ass as far as you can, alright?" She nodded again. "Alright. Let's find a safe spot to make camp, so that I can get some food in you."
The girl followed right behind me, never letting go of my hand as she did.
Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! I tend to have really long wait periods between updates, but I'll try my best to get a good few chapters into the story before letting too much time pass by! Please review :D