Chapter 1: A Warm Welcome
The sun was setting to the west. The light flickered between the crumbling rocks of the waste land. All that could be seen beyond the horizon was a small building, a few dead trees and some shrubs. A sigh of relief could be heard from a young boy. The lad seemed too young to be wondering in the lifeless state of Washington DC. All that accompanied him was an ugly mutt. The boy hadn't cut his hair in a long time. His pants were shredded up to his knees. His feet were covered by cloth knotted together. In his small innocent hands was a hunting rifle. Although the boy was young he had tasted blood one too many times before. Strapped to his belt was a canteen, partially filled with tainted water. It was all he had to drink.
The boy's companion panted, almost as if he was about to throw up a lung. He bent down as he opened the canteen. His expression was of worry. "Here boy, I'll be able to last a while with out water, you need it more then I do…" the young dog seemed loyal to his master and his master seemed loyal to him. The dog barked in relief. The boy's expression quickly went from a frown of fear to a grin of comfort. As long as he had his canine friend he was going to be alright. "Look, see that building over there boy? Dad was right! There is a shelter over there! I bet there's food, a nice big bed… well a mattress any way, and lots of water for you and me." The dog became exhilarated and wagged his scraggily tail. A small tear fell from the boy's left eye.
The two made there way to they're new home. It was further away then it looked. By the time they got to the shack, it was already dark. "Come on boy, lets go look insi-"
The dog didn't move. "What's wrong boy?" he asked, cautiously. The dog began to growl. "Oh no!" The boy gasped. "Come on boy? Please stop joking around… Please!" The boy grew fear in his belly as he tried to grip his fire arm. "Who's there?! Come out now, or… or I'll blow your brains out!" "Heheh…" an ominous sneer could be heard from behind the shack. Well kid, you might just have to blow all our brains out …" an estranged man came out of the shadows. The man was bald with a large bull ring through his nose. He wore a leather vest and armor made of scrap metal. The man wore big leather boots that were too big even for him. He held a large revolver in his left hand and pointed it at the child. "There's no one here to save you kid." The man said. A cold breeze blew on the boy's neck, making him shiver. "What are ya scared? Well don't worry…" the stranger said in a low raspy voice. "My gang and I haven't eaten all day, and you and your growlin mutt is all that's on the menu." He licked his lips. More of them appeared around the boy and his companion. "Ohhh, young meat!" "I've never tried dog before…"
The boy was stunned. "St,t,t,t,"
"Stand back? That's not how it works kid; this is the law of the wastes. You're my dinner. If you wish, I'll just put you out of your misery quickly…" "Grr…" the dog ran toward the leader and pounced to attack. "Crazy fuckin mutt!" The leader raised his foot and kicked to poor canine in the ribs. "Mutton Chop, no!" The boy screamed. "Your done kid!" The bald man yelled. "Come on guys, fresh meat!" he howled. The rest of the savage gang yelled like animals, as if all traces of humanity were gone. The boy shot two bullets but missed entirely. The boy had been grabbed from behind. He kicked violently. "Ohhh feisty huh? Just how I like it!" One of the punks bellowed. He had a big Mohawk, styled with mud. In the middle of his two front teeth was a big piece of flesh. The boy screamed. Mutton chop barked and yelped for help. The boy began to give up all hope. He could feel a hook being jabbed into the skin of his right arm. The boy began to hear a quite sound from beyond the orgy of cannibals trying to tear him apart. The raiders noticed the sound also. The sound got loader. It sounded like it was coming from a radio. The boy recognized it.
"What's up waste Landers?! This is Three Dawg!" 'Three Dawg!' the boy thought. But who had a radio out here? The raiders looked behind them. "Well, well… looks like we're in for some desert boys." The leader smirked. There stood a man. He wore armor like the raiders surrounding the boy but seemed different. His hair was styled like the man with the Mohawk, but cleaner. His face was covered by an old hockey mask. He held his left arm in the air. On his wrist was some type of mechanism. It glowed a comforting green the soothing sound of three Dawg's voice was coming from that gizmo strapped to his arm. The boy felt strange warmth from his presence. Even though he looked like the punks tearing him apart he was different. He was totally unarmed, not a pistol in sight. He didn't even have a knife! He had nothing and he was willing to help him. "You got balls interrupting our feast, asshole…" the leader growled. "Now if you wish to live, I insist you run, we'll hunt you down after." The wanderer with the hockey mask raised his fists in the air. "Try it." He insisted. "I'm eager for a fight!" The raiders looked confused. "You gotta be kidding me! One of them yelled. "Is this Fuck high on jet or what?" The leader looked insulted. "Man, I don't know who you are, but your dummer then a sack of shit. You heard him boys, attack!" The raiders dropped the boy forgetting about him and drew they're guns and fired. The wanderer evaded a few of the bullets but took about five shots to the shoulders and arms. He kneeled on the ground trying to catch his breath. "You want more?" The leader asked as he laughed. The wanderer got back up, charging towards the leader at a fast speed. "NO you don't!" A raider yelled. He held a shot gun aimed at the wanderer's face. The figure quickly clenched his fist and winded up his arm. Not hesitating, he launched his fist into the punk's grimy face. Every one watched in astonishment. With a single punch the raider's head was blown off, as if some one had shot him point blank! "You gotta be kidding me!" The leader yelled with disgust. The lone wanderer seemed to be plowing through the delinquents ignoring all the cuts and wounds forced upon him.
"Fuck! What's with this kid?!" An angry raider yelled as she aimed her pistol at the renegade. With a flaming determination he turned around and jabbed her with his left. With strife the raider pulled out a switch blade and attempted to gash his torso. The wanderer lifted his shoulders in the air and spun clock wise smashing her skull in the collision. The brawler was stained with blood, from the raiders and from him self. All that was left was him and the leader.
The night sky was clear. A nice breeze cooled the wounded back of the renegade. "Look at ya! You're covered with blood and guts!" The leader caught the wanderer's attention. The leader had managed to lock the boy in an arm hold and pointed his large gun to his temple. "You come any closer, kid; I'll blow this little bastard's brains out." The wanderer stood his ground, trembling from shock. "I gotta hand it to ya kid, you know how to fight. Now I'm a smart man and I know not to fuck with any one with a spunky attitude like your self. Why don't you just fuck off and I'll let the kid go? Eh?"
The wanderer let out a sigh. He lifted his blood stained hockey mask away from his face. The man had scraggily side burns that needed to be trimmed. His face was sharp and narrow. He seemed to be of Asian decent. His eyes shown a comforting brown in contrast to the wasteland. "Fine." The wanderer answered. The boy looked surprised. Just as he thought he was out of the rabbit's hole he was once again emotionally wounded. The wanderer smiled. "I won't hurt you, but I think that dog has a different idea." The leader looked confused.
"Wha-?!" He yelled. He turned to his left just seeing the glimpse of the wounded dog he kicked in the ribs returning the favor. As the dog nipped at the raider's face the boy took initiative and grabbed the pistol clenched in his rough hands. The man lay on the ground scared for his life. The boy pointed the pistol to his temple, crying. The prior leader smirked nervously as he lay on the dry ground. "I gotta hand it to ya." He croaked. "You're much tougher then I expected. Please tell me your name before you free me from this shitty world." The wanderer smiled. The name is Abe." He answered.
"Alright," the leader exclaimed. "Well? Aren't you gonna take me out with those powerful fists of yours?" The leader requested. "Heh, ya know, I was going to kill you but I killed enough people as it is. I think I'll just take your stuff. Then you can leave."
"You gotta be kidding me!" the leader shrieked. "On the count of three…" Abe demanded calmly. The leader got up and brushed the excess dirt off of him. As he walked away he stopped and turned around. "You haven't heard the last of Lucky!" He hollered. "I'll be back, with twice the men and twice the guns!" he tuned back onto his forced journey and trekked aimlessly into the wastes.
The boy and the dog stood beside Abe as they watched the defeated bandit. "Thanks mister." The boy exclaimed. The pain began to take its toll on Abe. "Ya no problem kid…" He breathed out as he clasped onto the cold ground. "Mister!" The boy hollered.
"Don't worry kid," Abe grumbled. "According to my Pip boy I still got some life left in me. Just do me a favor and reach into my pocket and grab a stimpack will you please? That would be just great." The boy hesitated. "Alright" the boy said. He reached into Abe's pocket and took the small medical device and handed it to his wounded hero.
The wanderer stabbed the stimpack into his arm. "Ahh… well I still feel a lot of pain, but I'll be fine." Abe pushed him self up. "Hey kid, what's your name any way?" Abe asked the child. "My name is Cameron, and this is my dog Mutton Chop." Abe smiled. "Nice to meet you Cameron, I'm Abe. Now could you please come here Cameron?" Cameron walked closer to Abe. Sure what do you- Ow!" Abe disrupted him as he smacked the child on the back of the head.
"What the Hell are you doing out here kid?!" Abe lectured. "Don't you know how dangerous it is out here?! You could 'a been slaughtered!" Abe nagged. "Geeze, where are your parents any way?!" Cameron began to cry. Mutton Chop growled at Abe for his ignorance.
"Look," Abe repented. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm one to talk. This barren hell hole is all new to me and I still haven't gotten the hang of it. Why don't we set up shelter in that shack right here and you can tell me a little bit about your self." The boy wiped the tears from his face and lifted his head while he tried to hide his sad eyes. "Ok…" he agreed.
"Your friend looks hungry." Abe mentioned as he pointed to Mutton Chop. 'Grumble Grumble' Abe's stomach growled. "Seems like you need something to eat also." Cameron giggled.
"Well I did manage to scavenge this weird stuff. Instamash it's called? I hope you guys like it cause other then that I have some meat from some rat type creature and you won't want that probably…" Cameron looked intrigued. "Ohhh! I love mole Rat meat!" Cameron shrieked in excitement.
"Just when I thought this place couldn't get any weirder…" as Abe opened the door to the shack a whiff of rotten wood crept into his nostrils. "Blahhh!" He screeched in repulsion.
The shack had two dirty mattresses slapped on the rotting wood floor. In front of them stood a broken down counter and behind the counter stood a shelf full of weird appliances. Other then scrap metal and a tire iron, there was a shot gun and a coffee machine. Set to the side was an old computer from before the war. It was completely useless on account of the monitor was missing. In the middle of the shack was a bunch of old branches which could be used to make a decent fire. "You got any matches kid?" Abe asked the Cameron. "No," Cameron replied. "What do we do now?" He questioned. Mutton Chop was too tired to care about a warm fire. The shaggy dog slowly strolled to one of the mattresses and began to rest. Abe sighed.
"Well I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." He decided. Abe grabbed two fairly large branches and placed one straight up on the ground in the middle of the scrap wood, and rubbed it with the other stick. "Well Cameron, this may take a long time," Abe exaggerated. "Do you think you could tell me what you were doing all the way out here?" Abe asked with no hesitation. Cameron looked upset. "It's alright if you don't wanna tell me." Abe mentioned to the child.
"No…" Cameron answered. "Its fine, it just…"
"Just what?" Abe inquired.
Cameron looked into the dead pieces off wood as he took a deep breath and began to tell his tale. "My dad was a mechanic in the wastes east from here. It was just me, him and my mom… and mutton Chop if course! We repaired the equipment of many travelers just passing through. Sure we had the odd raiders, but my dad had that covered. He set up motion censored turrets all around our house that he could turn on inside for when they came. It wasn't the best life to live, but I really had no problem with it. But that all changed today." Abe began to see smoke from the friction between the two branches. "What happened?" Abe was Eager to hear the dark conclusion to Cameron's story.
"To day we had a disruptive visitor and he was no ordinary man. Calmly he came up to my dad as if he was some type of trader. This man had a long mustache and a gizmo on his arm, just like yours. I had just gotten back from playing in the back with Mutton Chop. All I saw was my dad yelling for me to get in side and activate the turrets. The visitor took out a wooden bat and knocked my dad onto the ground. I remember what he growled. "Listen old man, I'm just gonna take all of your stuff and I wont harm you or your family." The visitor said as he bartered for my dad's life. I wanted to help my dad but I just ran inside. My mom was inside peaking through the blinds of our windows. I tried to activate the turrets but they wouldn't turn on. That man must have disconnected them when we weren't looking. My mom and I just saw my dad just get devoured by that savage bastard… He ate my dad! The bastard just bent down and ate him! "Grab the gun Cameron!" My mom yelled. I pulled it out of dad's holster placed on the floor. Mutton chop stood at my side. The man just barged in. My mom ran towards him in a blind rage. "You fucking asshole!" She cried out as she pulled out a knife. The man grinned, depicting all of his sharp teeth. The man just grabbed her and threw her to the ground and beat her to a bloody pulp with his bat. "Hahahahaha!! This is too easy!" He cackled. I just stood there, frozen with fear. I can see all those sharp teeth right now. All of them seemed to be filed down to pointy perfection. The man petted his mustache as if it were a small rodent. "Run boy…" he growled. "Come find me when you're old enough to actually fire that gun properly…" He assumed because I'm so young I couldn't shoot my rifle. Maybe he was right. I never did shoot at him, I was too frightened. "Remember this face kid," he barked. "Cause I'm gonna light this world on fire!" He lifted his bat in the air and smashed our lantern placed on an old table. The lamp got on the rug and began to catch on fire. All I remember is Mutton Chop and I, running to this old shack. My dad always told me to come here in case something happened to mom and him. Then those raiders caught me and you came along and saved me and mutton chop over there."
'Whoom!' the lifeless pieces of wood finally sparked and immediately resurrected as flame. "Good timing…" Abe mentioned as he placed his hands above the fire. "I know how you feel Cameron." Abe continued. "I lost my parents also. My mom died when I was just born and my dad recently just left me to defend my self." Do ya wanna tell me what happened to you? The boy asked eagerly. "I... well… I can't really talk about it right now." Abe cowardly replied. "Awe, c'mon, my parents were just eaten, today and I had the guts to tell you!" Cameron pointed out. Abe removed his hockey mask entirely and placed it beside him on the floor. "I guess I'm not as strong as you are Cameron." Abe admitted as he stared into the flames. Cameron stared confused at Abe as his bright green hair shimmered in the light of the fire.
"What are you talking about?" Said Cameron, "you just slaughtered a dozen raiders with your bare hands!" Abe turned his head away from the fire and stared into Cameron's hazel eyes. "There are many different types of strengths out there kid. Some people can just about talk their way out of any sort of trouble, others are good with they're hands and some people are just smart. You got a unique strength that many people out here don't have." Abe explained. "Yah and what would that be?" Cameron asked. Abe paused and turned his head back looking at the fire he created. "You have a will to live." The two of them sat on the ground in a comforting silence. All that could be heard was the flickering of the fire and Mutton Chop's snoring.
Abe returned his eyes towards Cameron. "Hey, Cameron?" Abe whispered. So that man had the same device on his wrist?" "Ya, why?"
"Just asking." Abe replied.
"Do you want that mole rat meat?" Abe asked. "Sure." Cameron said. "I think I'll go to bed after." He replied. "That's fine kid. I'll keep watch." Abe insisted. "By the way, we're going to have to move out tomorrow alright?"