It had been a long trip. Weeks and weeks of constant traveling. Following the old highways from St. Louis was hard enough, what with large sections of the road destroyed long ago, but at least he had the old road signs to tell him where he was. Now he'd decided it would be easier to follow the Potomac to his destination, as it was smack dab in the middle of the ancient river. Jack's one man caravan was headed for Rivet City, having heard the rumors of the Brotherhood of Steel's success in purifying the water in the area. Obviously, the effect would take time, and the Potomac was still not safe to drink or swim in. He'd have to conserve his water for the time being, until he was able to trade something for some Aqua Pura.

The trek was a bit treacherous from time to time. Steep, rocky mountains were hard enough to climb on his own without having to coax a pack Brahmin over them as well. This particular Brahmin-the heads individually named, "Billie and Suzy"-was his sole companion for the entire trip, and though she, or rather they, were stubborn, Jack hadn't been let down by the beast yet. Loaded down with various supplies, the mutated cow carried most of the things one needed to survive out here. A tent, a sleeping bag and bedroll, extra guns and ammo, and enough food to last Jack the rest of the trip and then some. He was only a few more days away, less than week at most.

Reaching the top of a hill that had proven to be a lot rockier than he'd thought, Jack unscrewed the metal cap on an old, round canteen, tipping his head back to take a swig of the contents. The water inside was warm, and a bit dirty, but he'd done his best to rid it of the deadly rads. He'd have to see a doctor at some point about getting it cleared up. Scanning the wasteland before him, Jack looked up the mountain to see the blackened, blasted remains of what was once Raven Rock, a pretty sizable Enclave base. A demolished Vertibird could be seen strewn across the jagged rocks that dotted the mountainside, alongside twisted and melted pieces of metal, likely from the base itself.

He took a moment or two to rest, before climbing once more to reach to road below the old base. It, too, was littered with debris. Once up on the road, walking was much easier, and Billie and Suzy could walk without him worrying. He would be able to follow this road for a while, and according to other travelers who'd come through the area, he didn't really have to start worrying about steep hills again until he reached Springvale, and that didn't bother him because they were all the opposite direction of where he'd be going once he reached that point.

As he followed the cracked road, the sound of clattering rocks far below caught his attention. Sneaking up to the side of the road, he peered over the ledge. A small group of Mirelurks was digging around in the rocks near the river further below him, probably looking for food or someplace to lay more eggs. It was obvious that the purifier's effects had not reached this far yet. Since they hadn't noticed him at all, Jack decided it was better to stay quiet and just avoid them altogether. It was ammo saved for another emergency, as well.

There was little going on at this end of the Capital Wasteland. Very few wastelanders wandered out this far, and there were no settlements nearby, so it made sense that the area was hostile and untamed-at least compared to other parts of the wasteland.

During the long walk, Jack busied himself looking in the burnt out cars that were scattered all over the road. Most of them were empty, picked clean long ago by scavengers much older than himself. About an hour or so later this lost his interest, as he had come upon a power station, secured by a chain link fence. It was tucked up next to a cliff, that was producing enough shade for both he and the pack Brahmin to get some actual rest and eat.

While Billie and Suzy were munching away on old, dead grass, Jack set himself down with his back against the cliff wall, digging through some supplies he'd unloaded from the beast.

He had no sooner stuck his spork in his food when there came a bunch of shouting and hollering. Startled, the pack Brahmin made to run, only to be shot two or three times and fall to the ground, motionless.

It had happened so quickly, Jack hadn't had time to pull his gun from it's holster before a large raider, dirty and much more muscular than himself, appeared from around a tall rock and swung at Jack's midsection with a blood-splattered baseball bat. The force easily knocked Jack off his feet, taking all the wind out of him. As he doubled over in pain, the raider hit him again, flattening his crumpled figure out onto the dry, hard ground.

There were at least five of them. A wiry, young looking girl with frazzled pigtails joined the larger raider in beating the trader down into the dirt with an old pool cue, while the others made sure the pack Brahmin wasn't going to get up and run away with all the precious loot. It only took a few more hits from the team of marauders to make him black out, face first in the dirt.

-several hours later-

Jack didn't dare open his eyes. The splitting pain in the back of his skull kept them tightly shut as he winced on the ground. At first he didn't move, he'd been awake for a few minutes now, but he had no idea if his attackers were still nearby. At first he only listened, afraid to breathe. The only thing he heard was the sound of the evening wind coming up the hill from the river, rustling the dry weeds around him.

He was still alive, which was strange for a victim of a Raider attack. They must have been so busy taking his things that they'd forgotten to mutilate the unconscious man.

When he was sure he was alone, Jack cracked his eyes, only to immediately close them again due to the bright evening sun. The sky was turning a deep red. It was too fitting.

After a moment, Jack overcame the pain and forced himself to sit up, attempting to ignore the awful aches all over his body. His face felt a bit swollen, but at least he could still open his eyes. The taste of blood was all too present in his mouth, dried and caked under his lips. It made him feel sick.

But not as sick as he felt when he turned around to see the body of his poor Billie and Suzy, butchered. Skinned and butchered, and likely to be eaten by the assailants from earlier. They'd taken everything the Brahmin had been carrying, and then cut her up into steaks.

Realization hit him, and Jack choked, whether on the blood in his mouth, or in an attempt not to go into hysterics. Everything was gone. All his food. All his water. All his weapons and his money. Gone. And he was stuck out here with nothing but cuts and bruises. He frantically checked his pockets, hoping maybe the raiders had missed something, anything. All he found was his old portable radio, which they'd apparently seen no use for, and a matchbook with only a single match left in it.

Being left alive was probably worse than being killed at this point.