Ava crouched behind the large, jagged boulder. Her chest burned painfully with each breath she took and the cuts on her legs and knees stung. She could hear footsteps from behind the boulder and she contemplated slipping beneath the deep pool of water that was only a few feet away from her. She could easily stay hidden in there. Not a soul would find her. Footsteps pounded just a few feet away from her, but perhaps there was still time to dive into the cool water. The footsteps where getting closer…
If I get caught, Charon will never let me forget it, she thought.
She had to do it now, or she would be found and taken captive. Ava bent forward to get into the water as quietly as she could when she felt the cold barrel of a gun press into her cheek. Ava froze and held her hands up in defeat. She hated to lose, but without Charon, she always did.
"Gotcha," a voice whispered. Ava carefully turned her face and stared into a pair of brown eyes and a dirty, scrawny face. Her captor pushed his cover off his head and smiled deviously. He held an old Chinese assault rifle that was certainly much too big for him.
"Damn it! How did you find me?" Ava shouted. She stood up, her eyes meeting her captor's, and placed both of her hands behind her neck. Admitting defeat was something she wasn't used to, even after two years.
"I just did what Pops taught me. I saw your footprints in the dirt. Gotta do better Mom, I learned from the fucking best," said a much older MacCready. His voice had been getting deeper, but still cracked every now and again. The other children knew better than to tease MacCready. Knick Knack lost three teeth the previous week fighting with MacCready.
Ava sighed heavily as MacCready turned his head and shouted, "Game's over! I caught Mom!"
All the children from Little Lamplight peeked out from their respective hiding spots and rushed over to Ava and their leader. Two years had passed since the Enclave was destroyed and the children had all grown immensely. Some even began to tower over Ava, like Éclair and Squirrel. They were almost as tall as Charon. Even MacCready was Ava's height, and he was only fourteen.
"R.J., if that gun was loaded, I will whoop the tar out of you," Ava said as she tore the gun from his hands to check it. MacCready laughed loudly and Ava had to smile. He had learned way too much from Charon. Damn ghoul. She'd have to get back at him when he returned from his hunting trip.
"I'd never do that, Mom. Pretty sure Pops would have me on permanent weapons detail and you know I hate that shit," said MacCready.
"One more round Mama?" asked Penny as she tugged on Ava's belt.
Ava smiled widely and handed MacCready back his rifle. "All right! Listen up! We have time for a quick game before your father comes home, I think. I'm only counting to fifty this time, and there are to be NO TRAPS. Am I clear on that? I'm starting…now!"
The children scattered, eager to play another round of their warped version of hide and seek. Ava smiled as she counted aloud. Even Charon played along at times, except he would set snare traps to capture Ava and the others if he was "it." Their life really was wonderful, Ava had to admit. Staying at Little Lamplight for the past year really was the best choice for the pair of them. They had accumulated enough caps that they all lived comfortably. There weren't any mercenaries out there better than Ava and Charon, and it was the sole reason they were up to their necks with constant job offers.
"Forty seven! Forty eight! Forty nine! FIFTY! I'm coming for you, kids! And I don't give a shit if you're ready or not!" Ava shouted happily.
Her feet pounded loudly on the rock floor as she ran through the caverns, checking for any children that didn't make it to a hiding spot just yet. The caverns were strangely silent though. Ava could usually hear the laughter of the children…unless they were hiding towards the entrance of Little Lamplight. Ava grinned and rushed through the flimsy wooden door. Ava saw the toe of a boot sticking out from around the corner, behind an old cabinet. She quietly snuck over and peeked around the cabinet.
"FOUND…damn it." There was a shoe, but no kid attached to it. Ava scowled deeply. "Guess I didn't find you."
A gun cocked loudly by her ear and Ava froze. "No, but I've found you…"
Rough hands pulled her by her long hair and then wrapped around her wrists, dragging her towards the cavern entrance. Ava managed to look up and saw a raider wearing a full set of recon armor, save for the helmet. Strange, raiders never wore armor besides the crap that they made up themselves. The tattoos on his face were enough to tell her he was from the raider clan about twenty miles away.
"Let go of me you fuck! I SAID LET GO OF ME! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" screamed Ava.
"Now, you're gonna behave or we're gonna do something you won't like," said the raider.
Ava continued to struggle until she thought her wrists would bleed. She felt a sharp rock dig into her spine and cried out in pain. Her arms must have been sweating from all the running around, because she managed to free one hand and grabbed a small rock. Before the raider could grab her wrist again, she slammed the rough edge into his Achilles' heel. The raider dropped her wrist and yelled in agony. Ava scrambled to her feet and jammed her knee into his chin. Her eyes found an open tool box lying nearby and she grabbed a rusted wrench. The raider tried to get to his feet but Ava's hand was way too quick for him. It was one of the few things Ava learned from Charon. Hit them when they're down and do anything and everything to keep them down. The cold metal smashed into his skull and the cave wall was splattered with his blood. His body sank to the floor, unmoving, and Ava gave him a kick in the groin regardless.
"You come into MY home and threaten me? My family? Are you fucking stupid?" she screamed at the lifeless corpse. Ava's hand and arm were red with the raider's blood and she wiped her hand on her shirt to get a better grip on the wrench.
Ava raced towards the cavern entrance. She hadn't heard from the children and rage surged through her veins. If the raiders had touched even a single hair on any of the children's heads, she would burn every raider clan to the ground. Just for the hell of it. She couldn't understand it though. For the most part, nothing came to Little Lamplight. The children were vicious enough on their own, but when Ava and Charon were added to the mix, not a damn thing came near the place. She could see the entrance to Little Lamplight, but she still couldn't hear any of the children. Ava felt something hard slam into the side of her face, the sheer pain of it bringing her to her knees. She spat out blood on the cave floor and glanced up at a small group of four raiders, all wearing the same recon armor.
"Mama!" screamed one of the children. It was Bumble. Ava could hear the fear in her voice and it made her sick. She was supposed to protect the children and she couldn't even do that.
A raider turned away from Ava and shouted, "Shut the fuck up! You do anything outta line again, and we're gonna kill your mama. Wouldn't want that, would ya?"
Lying on the ground, Ava glanced at her pip-boy for the time. She had to know how much time she had to distract the raiders, because there wasn't much she could do without a gun or a knife. Her eye was swelling up quickly but she managed to read "19:57" on her pip-boy. Three minutes…she could do that.
"Get over there with your damn brats!" said a raider as she kicked Ava towards the children. She crawled over to her kids and pulled Bumble close to her chest. Bumble cries were muffled as she pressed her face into Ava's neck and Ava gently rocked her and stroked the back of her head. These raiders would fucking pay.
"Hey Milly, we're gonna go look for Squid. The bitch here might've fucked him up," said one of the raiders. The raider named Milly nodded her head and glared at Ava.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I was gonna shoot one of them but they grabbed Lucy and I didn't want her to get hurt," MacCready whispered quickly. He wasn't entirely sure if Ava would be angry for not taking the shot regardless. Maybe he should have, but she had taught him never to take it unless he was a hundred percent sure that he could kill the target without hurting others. It didn't stop him from feeling like crap though.
"S'alright. We have like, three minutes. Maybe two now," she whispered back. MacCready smiled, knowing exactly what she was talking about. These raiders were so fucked. He wanted to laugh at the fact that the raiders didn't even know that they would only have a few more moments to live.
"Stop talkin' over there! Do you feel like fucking dying today? I don't got no problem killing all of you kids while mama here watches," said the female raider.
The younger kids shook their heads in fright. They were all at a loss, caught off guard like this. Ava, however, chose this most inappropriate time to laugh out loud. The raider, Milly, stared at her in confusion.
"Yeah, okay. I'm willing to bet that I will watch you die right where you stand in a minute or so," said Ava loudly. Out of the corner of her eye, Ava saw movement in the shadows and she grinned. Just in time.
"And how the fuck are you gonna kill me? You ain't got no gun, no knife, and if you even think about gettin' up, I'm shooting these kids in the face. Tell me, how you gonna do it, bitch?" she taunted. She knew the Vault Girl was crazy but not moronic.
Ava raised her hand smoothly and she pointed two of her fingers at the raider while curling the other two towards her palm, her thumb sticking out like the hammer of a gun.
"Like this: one," began Ava. She smiled as Charon stepped out of the shadows, shotgun raised, and walked silently towards the raider. His skin prickled with fury and he could not wait to pull the trigger on this intruder.
"Two…" Ava continued. The children did not betray Charon's presence at all. Instead, they sat silently. Ava couldn't help it. She began to laugh quietly and the raider shook her head. Ava closed an eye and pulled a pretend trigger.
"Three," growled Charon. The raider's eyes widened in disbelief and Charon pulled the trigger. The ghoul glanced over at Ava and sighed in relief. He walked over the now dead raider's body and towards his girl.
"I for one am really glad that you are always so damn punctual," said Ava as Charon pulled her to her feet and into his arms.
His lips met hers and he still felt the same rush he did when he first kissed her back at Point Lookout. After two years, she was still with him and it was always a pleasant surprise when he would wake up to see his gorgeous Smoothskin lying beside him in bed. And most of the time, she wasn't wearing a god damn thing, and neither was he.
"Are there more?" Charon asked. He kissed the top of her head and gave her body a tight squeeze. Outside the cavern entrance, he had run into a few raiders and killed them all with only a single stab wound in his left shoulder. It ached, but tending to it could wait. The children and Ava always came first in his mind.
"Three more, Pops!" shouted Éclair. Charon nodded and gave Ava his side-arm.
"Come. We will rid our home of this filth," he said with a snarl. The children cheered loudly and began to pick up various items as makeshift weapons. Ava handed Biwwy her wrench and he smiled up at her. The group marched through the tunnel and stopped abruptly when they heard screams from the raiders and the howls of their dogs. Charon smiled darkly and looked back at Ava.
"Seems like the hounds got them," he said in amusement.
"Poor bastards. Your gun would have been a quicker death… but I think I like that the dogs got a hold of them," said Ava.
In the Great Chamber, Ava and the rest of the group came upon the remains of two of the raiders. Their throats had been ripped out and some of their hands were missing fingers. Two of the dogs, Rex and Muttface, were fighting over a severed arm as they growled viciously at each other. The children began to laugh at the sight. The other four dogs had the final raider pinned against the wall, mere seconds from a brutal attack. Ava stuck her fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. All six dogs immediately sat on their haunches, still baring their teeth at the raider as blood dripped from their fur.
"Why did you come for my family?" Ava asked the raider. All she wanted to do was let the dogs maul him, but maybe she could get an answer out of him before she gave in.
"I ain't tellin' you shit!" he yelled.
Charon chuckled and said, "You have two choices: Tell us why you attacked my home and I kill you with one gunshot. Don't, and I'll let the dogs have you. You have ten seconds to decide."
The raider glanced around the Great Chamber, hoping for some sort of reinforcement from his clan but there was none. He was all alone and yeah, he was pretty much fucked either way. He knew his clan shouldn't have come here. They all knew the Vault Girl and her ghoul lover had been living there for a while now. He was a fucking idiot. He had heard the stories. The Vault Girl killed anyone who pissed her off enough, and the fucking ghoul killed anyone who even looked at his girl wrongly. They were genuinely out of their minds, going after the Enclave by themselves. He had even heard that guy on the radio talk about it. They invaded a base and destroyed an army. By themselves. Maybe it was an honor to die by their hand. He may as well be honest.
"Someone paid us to take the kids to the slavers and to kill you two! The girl, especially!" he shouted, pointing to Ava. Charon growled loudly and lifted his shotgun. Someone wanted Ava dead. The news wasn't really a surprise but it made his blood boil nonetheless.
"Who was it?" Ava asked.
"S-some guy! I don't know who the fuck he was! He had a shit ton of caps though, we couldn't say no! Please, just shoot me! I don't want the dogs to kill me!" pleaded the raider.
Charon's single eye met with Ava's and she gave him a strange smile. A smile he only saw when something truly twisted was cooking up inside her mind. Ava stuck her fingers back into her mouth and the raider began to run for cover.
"No! I told you everything!"
Ava's whistle echoed in the Great Chamber and within moments it was filled with the agonized screams of the raider and the barking of the dogs. The children did not even flinch at the sight. They have all seen worse.
"Who the hell would go after us?" Charon asked, his voice bitter with irritation.
Ava shook her head sadly. The children were not safe now, that much was clear. They had to be moved to a safer location and she knew exactly where she could take them. The trip would be dangerous, of course, but it was better than staying there.
"We have to move the kids. I'm thinking Tenpenny. Roy will be fucking pissed but I think he'll warm up to them," suggested Ava.
"Imagine when he says something MacCready doesn't like," said Charon with a smirk. He couldn't imagine the arguments those two smart-asses would have. The ones between Roy and Ava were already a gold mine of entertainment, although Roy was never stupid enough to say anything insulting to Ava. At least not in front of him.
"If Roy touches our kids, I'll cut his fucking head off," she said. Charon smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. She was always one to choose a violent option; that was his Smoothskin.
"All right kids…your mother and I are taking you on a vacation…go gather your things. You will not return for quite some time," said the ghoul.
The children gathered their things, their idle chatter creating a slightly more pleasant atmosphere. Most had never set foot outside of Little Lamplight and were eager to be going on an adventure. Ava was not so sure but she was confident enough in Charon and the dogs to give them all a good amount of protection. She was always too hot-headed, and she had come to rely on Charon to be the cool and collected one. There were times she felt strange about relying on another person so heavily but whenever she would catch him staring at her and a smile would appear on his face, it disappeared. Only she could make him smile the way he did, and he was the only man she could ever really trust.