PROLOGUE
And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, on account of the fruit of their deeds.
Micah 7:13
"Hurry, smoothskin!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, damn it!" the Lone Wanderer screamed back, fingers flying furiously across the keyboard of a dying terminal. The ghoul beside her defended her with a massive shotgun, killing Enclave soldier after Enclave soldier who advanced upon them. The stream of men seemed never-ending, and his strength was quickly dwindling—along with his ammo. He knocked another soldier onto his back and shot him to a swift death, glancing over his shoulder with a snarl of concern.
"Done!" the girl cried, quickly turning away from the screen. Arched brows lifted in exhilaration, sun-kissed cheeks pinked, blue eyes exuberant and wild. She'd never looked more crazy or more fucking beautiful. "Let's go!" she yelled, grabbing him by the hand. They sprinted to a door at the end of a long hallway amid gunfire, explosions, and the shrieks of dying men. She took a running start and jumped to kick the door open with her boot. They broke out into the electric night air, charged with violence, and stumbled to a stop on a virtibird pad. The Vault Girl tossed a grenade down the hall behind them and slammed the door shut, the ghoul pressing his weight against the metal so that the men inside were trapped when the explosion went off.
The distant, beating sound of an approaching vertibird had them both on edge. The girl pulled a large Tesla Cannon from her back and prepared herself, waiting, ready for anything. Explosions went off on a nearby platform, sending the two scrambling to stay on their feet. The ghoul grabbed her protectively and held his shotgun up.
The great black form of the vertibird came tearing down through the waves of smoke and flashes of red from laser weapons. A blonde woman poked her head out and held forward a metal-clad arm. "Get the fuck onto this 'bird before we all blow up!"
The ghoul hastily lifted his smoothskin into the vertibird before leaping up behind her, his feet dangling as the pilot took off. The two women pulled him safely into the vertibird and they stared back at the rooftop as soldiers burst out of the door and filed out onto the landing pad.
"That . . . was too close," the ghoul panted, shaking his head as Vault Girl let out a trill of laughter.
"God damn, you're amazing!" she cried as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.
The blonde rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys, at least wait 'til we get back to the Citadel to celebrate. Besides, you're going to miss the fireworks."
The couple broke apart and peered out to see that yes, indeed, the vertibird was descending onto a landing pad a safe distance away from the air force base. The blonde quirked a smile at them and dropped out of the vertibird before it had even landed. The ghoul jumped down as well, turning to help Vault Girl down beside him. He slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as the three turned toward the base. In the distance, the buildings were alight with the glow from plasma grenades and energy lasers. The ghoul pressed his lips to his girl's temple, chuckling against her sweat-slick skin. It was enough to make anyone laugh as she clutched at the straps of his armor in excitement. She was wearing one of her stupid, goofy grins in her triumph.
"Get ready, you lovebirds," the blonde said with a laugh of her own. "You won't get any scene more romantic than this one in this shithole of a world."
Bursts of blue light erupted in the night sky, materializing into the determined streams of missiles headed straight for the air force base. They soared through the air like majestic dancers, trailing pathways of brilliant light, before they finally made contact with the main building.
The barrage ensued.
Missile after missile hit the buildings, sending tremors through the ground beneath the spectators' feet, demolishing the air force base and summoning huge plumes of smoke and rubble. Each burst could clearly be seen through the haze as they hit the ground and pummeled all record of Enclave forces at the air force base into nothing more than memories.
The sound hit them quickly after in a wave of force and wind, whipping Vault Girl's hair back from her face, exposing her maniacal grin for all to see as the ear-shattering BOOM resounded around them.
And then the night fell silent once more, the only evidence of destruction the distant smoke clouds mushrooming up into the sky. The Lone Wanderer let out a whoop and erupted into what had to be the most deserved victory dance in the history of victory dances. Her ghoul quickly interrupted by grasping her face with his hands and kissing her so hard she saw stars. He pressed two more, sweeter kisses to her lips and grinned down at her breathlessly smiling face.
"Come on, you two! Back to the Citadel!"
The ghoul ducked and grabbed Vault Girl, throwing her over his shoulder and lifting her back up onto the vertibird.
When they reached the Citadel, the Lone Wanderer led her ghoul by the hand running through the courtyard, sprinting through labs and hallways and kitchens to reach their room, their laughter trailing after them like ghosts. They burst through the door, clumsy with passion, legs intertwined, hands tangled in hair and fisted in shirts. He picked her up and they tumbled onto the bed all arms and legs, their lips meeting somewhere in the transition.
Their explosion had shattered the night air with light and sound, made the ground quiver beneath their feet.
Their lovemaking blew it right out of the water.