Jack jolted out of his makeshift bed to the sound of gunfire and yelling, sounds he knew too well.
"Damn," he muttered, "I was hoping for a full night's sleep." After waiting for the sounds to die down, he carefully crept up to one of the boarded up windows and looked out through one of the cracks.
On the main road of Minefield, Jack could just make out the silhouettes of three raiders picking through the bodies of Talon Mercs and some other, presumably their own. All too common in the Capital Wasteland, people had to do whatever it took to survive… but these few left in the wake of fighting were just in it for the killing.
"I can make fast work of these raiders, and all the more supplies for me." He took his combat shotgun out of its holster, then checked the clip and stood behind the sagging door. Then Jack kicked open the wobbly door and carefully put two rounds into the heads of the first two. The last raider, who still had a 10mm pistol out, managed to get a shot off at Jack before meeting the same fate as her companions.
Jack was on an adrenaline high as he began to search the battlefield for his prizes.
"Feels good, don't it," he said out loud. After a few minutes, his heartbeat and breathing returning to normal, Jack realized a familiar pain in his right shoulder. Sighing, he pulled off his armour, took out his multi-tool, and yanked a bullet out from under his collarbone.
"Good thing these raiders are such bad shots, this one got a little close for my liking." So far, Jack hadn't come across any enemies good enough marksmen to injure him fatally. He wasn't really looking forward to it either. The closest settlement, Megaton, was eight hours away and he didn't want to end up like the animals around him. So he gathered up as much equipment as he could carry, grabbed a box of Dandy Boy apples off a Talon Merc, and headed out for Megaton.
First of multiple chapters, with room for improvement. Additional characters to put into the story welcome in reviews…