A/N: This is going to be a short story about James's night in Evergreen Mills, which we hear a bit about in Jericho's tale during my Story "Megaton Stories". In this tale we will see James on the night before he finds his father, but soon comes to some disturbing conclusions that he may not get the happy ending he had been hoping for when he reunites with his father. I am currently working on the follow-up to Megaton Stories, so this small tale should keep you all satisfied till then. Remember to R&R.
James and Jericho walked through the wasteland through the heavy heat, feeling like they had been walking for days as they crossed over another crater. James had not stopped moving since he had discovered the location his father was being held, in old smith Casey's garage on the other side of the wasteland. Jericho complained constantly throughout their journey, but it had little to no effect on the Lone Wanderer. This was his goal after all, to find his father so he could go home to vault 101, and after all he had been through it was about time he got what he deserved. Excitement and impatience overwhelmed James, and this kept him going.
"Kid…its getting fucking dark!" Jericho barked, out of breath but still having enough lung capacity to smoke a cigarette.
"So? We're almost there….I think?" James said, uncertain if they were approaching their destination or completely lost. After all the pip-boy map he used was just recently installed and there was apparently still a few kinks to work out.
"And that fills me with fucken confidence, but we gotta find a place to crash!" Jericho said sarcastically, leaning against a boulder as he caught his breath. Were Wadsworth here, he would certainly point out that smoking was perhaps the cause of Jericho's loss of breath.
"Fine, we'll set up camp here and-"
"Cant out here!" Jericho interrupted, looking around the area with a faint sense of recognition in his eye.
"Why the fuck not?" James asked, very impatient at the thought of seeing his father again.
"Too dangerous…" Jericho stated, not really wanting to dig up old wounds for the kid, but at the same time needing to explain just what he was talking about.
"Are you fucking serious? We are just a couple of hours away from our destination, and you want to find a place to sleep because it's too dangerous?" James asked his tone angry and betrayed by his comrades desire to rest at a time like this. It was selfish, he knew, but he had the right to be selfish at this stage of his journey.
"You think I'm fucking joking?!" Jericho barked, glaring into the kids eyes.
"No…I think you're a pussy!" James responded, his tone completely condescending.
"Say that to my face!" Jericho barked, getting into James's face ready to beat the crap out of the cocky little shit.
"I will once you tell me what the fuck is around here that's so dangerous?" James asked, readying himself for the fight that was most certainly about to come. He would move on to the garage with, or without Jericho, if that was going to be the way this end. There was a very short list of things that could stop him at this point, from finding his father.
"This is Yao Gual country." Jericho barked, causing James's face to turn from a fiery angry red, to a terrified white.
James had become very cautious of the ursine creatures since losing his arm to one a few months prior, however he would never admit that he was in fact afraid of them. This man, who had killed Deathclaws and armies of raiders, froze in fear in front of a Yao Guai. He was fully capable of killing one if need be, but still tried to avoid them at almost all costs. Jericho knew this, and often used it to exploit the young man into doing what the old Raider wanted to do. This time, however, Jericho was not bluffing. He knew the area very well, as he used to live not too far from where they were. Jericho made it a habit now and again to drop by to his old home for a quick visit and a look at the new blood. Sure these visits weren't as often as he would hope them to be, but they still happened now and again.
"So…I take it you know a place we can spend the night?" James asked, the sweat pumping from his body as the image of his arm being ripped from his shoulder returned to his mind.
"In fact, kid, we happen to be near a place I used to call home." Jericho explained, a smile crossing his dirty face as he spoke.
"Are you serious?" James asked, a little bewildered at the thought of Jericho living anywhere else except Megaton.
"Believe it or not, as long as you let me do all the talking we will be fine." Jericho responded, as he checked his machine gun's clip. The old girl was still kicking despite getting on in years, but sooner or later would break on her owner.
"That's not helping. Is there really no other option?" James asked, not liking the idea of Jericho doing all the talking in any situation, let alone one that could get them both killed.
"Come on, it will be fun. Besides, you're planning to go home with your dad after we find him right?" Jericho made the argument, loading a full clip into his rifle.
"Well…yeah?" James admitted, feeling a little ashamed of himself but not exactly knowing why he felt this way?
"Well in that case, let's go have some fun. Your last night in the wasteland!" Jericho announced, well aware that James was starting to be convinced.
"Fine…just don't get us killed." James reluctantly said, running his hand through his hair as he spoke.
"No promises" Jericho said, as he began walking ahead of James, causing James to chase after him.
"What's this place called anyways?" James asked, catching up with the old raider.
"Evergreen Mills." Jericho answered, leading James to what was no doubt the deepest darkest hole in the ground that could fit a bunch of raiders.
As they approached Evergreen Mills, James heard the scream of a creature he was all too familiar with. Grabbing Jericho by the arm, James stood in silence for a moment, raising a finger to hush Jericho as he waited for another indication of the scream. If it was what he thought it was, they were in much bigger trouble than they thought they were. Pulling free of James's grip, Jericho glared at the kid for a minute before rolling his eyes and walking forward towards their destination. James saw as they approached, raiders watching them and their every move from the cliffs. James felt his hand twitch, as he approached the mills surrounded by danger. As they approached a large gate, a loud scream caused James to grab his rifle and aim in all directions. Like a domino effect, all the raiders in the area drew their weapons on James and Jericho as the monstrous scream bellowed through the air. With his hands in the air, Jericho looked around at the young faced raiders surrounding them.
"WHOA! Calm the fuck down." Jericho shouted, as James continued to aim his rifle in many different directions.
James knew that sound too well, and he wasn't about to be killed this close to his father without putting up a hell of a fight.
"What the fuck is wrong with you kid?" Jericho asked, as James felt his metallic arm twitch.
"It's a behemoth, Jericho. It's gonna kill us all if we don't get the fuck out of here!" James shouted, as he continued looking for his target.
All of a sudden laughter broke out among the raiders surrounding them. James assumed it was from kind of community drug induced hysteria. Each of them laughing heavier than the next as James lowered his rifle. Jericho nudged James hard in the ribs, causing him to bend over in pain. The roar of the behemoth continued to soar through the rock formation surrounding the mills, almost dwarfing the laughter that surrounded the two strangers.
"Jericho, their starting to piss me off. What's so fucking funny?" James asked, as he glared at the men surrounding them. Jericho was quick to slap James over the head, before walking ahead of him and through the crowd.
"Put your fucken rifle down and follow me." Jericho snapped, as James lowered his rifle and began rubbing his head.
"That fucking hurt!" James whispered, following Jericho through the crowd.
"Good. See kid, you're lucky that they know me around these parts." Jericho said, reminding the kid that he was not in charge while they were here.
"You're lucky I'm not going to kill you for that." James said walking into the centre of Evergreen Mills.
"Whatever. You see that big fucken cage?" Jericho asked, pointing towards the large cage in beside the entrance to the Mill.
"Yeah?" James said, as he heard the monstrous scream again.
"They keep the big bastard in there. It's electrified so the asshole can't get out without breaking the generator. And we won't be doing that will we?" Jericho explained, moving towards the entrance again.
"Sure…whatever." James responded, feeling like a complete idiot, but also afraid of the consequences if that thing got out.
"Follow me; I got some shit to show you." Jericho laughed as he walked through the door into Evergreen Mills.
As the entered the dark and dimly lit cavern, James heard the loud cheers of men who were clearly drunk and high at the same time. He had heard cheers like this before, but that was in a place he never wanted to remember again, Jericho smiled at he looked around, and seemed to enjoy the dangerous atmosphere of the place they had found themselves in. Nodding forward, Jericho motioned James to follow him, and being in completely unknown territory James decided to follow the old raider. As they walked over the unconscious and overdosed, James's nostrils stung with a variety of unpleasant smells as he stepped through the renovated cavern. He had to admit, despite its people and smells; the place was actually really impressive. The fact that a bunch of drugged out of their mind raiders were capable of building something like this, even if it was simplistic in some places. Jericho stopped, and lifted his head up smelled the air.
"Oh fuck…" Jericho said enthusiasm in his tone as he moved quickly following his nose.
"What?" James said, following behind Jericho.
"You smell that?" Jericho asked, sniffing the air as James suddenly got the horrible stench.
"Oh fuck. What is that?" James asked, the smell stinging his nostrils.
"Over here." Jericho announced, rushing off ahead of James following the horrible stench like a dog in search for something.
Jericho had led James to what seemed like the eating area of the structure, and in it sat more dangerous looking individuals than James wanted to count. Each of them eating or gnawing away at whatever food was before them that they could afford. Jericho pushed through the crowd, swearing and insulting anyone who questioned him on his actions. Following closely behind him, James said nothing to anyone he pushed through, not having the time or patience to deal with these people. His only goal right now was to get Jericho, find a safe place to sleep and get the fuck out of this place. Jericho came rushing back with what looked like meat wrapped up in old paper, most likely that wasn't even clean. Handing James one, Jericho wasted no time digging in, ripping into the meat with his yellow teeth, a satisfying grin on his face as he ate.
"Eat up, kid." Jericho said his mouth full with the brown meat as he spoke.
Cautiously, James put the meat in his mouth and took a small bite of it. This clearly was the source of the horrible stench that filled the air, and looked browner than any meat he had seen before. It was tender and its juices exploded in his mouth as he took a bite. To James's surprise it tasted much better than it looked and smelled, and he quickly took a larger bite of the meat as Jericho handed him a bottle of beer. He couldn't believe how good this tasted.
"This is amazing." James said his mouth full of drool as he took another bite.
"Ya like it, huh?" Jericho asked, smiling at James as he watched the kid devour the flesh wrapped in old paper.
"It's great! What is it?" James asked, drinking the beer to wash down the meat.
"Radroach." Jericho said, causing James to pause for a moment.
James wasn't sure if he had heard that right or not. Did Jericho just say he was eating one of those disgusting insects that he used to shoot in the vault? The creatures that basically repulsed James to the core, were what James was eating? Taking a heavy swallow of the meat in his mouth, James looked at Jericho with wide eyes.
"Radroach?" James repeated, burping uncontrollably as he looked towards Jericho.
"Did I fucking stutter?" Jericho asked, as James took a hard look at the meat.
"I am eating Radroach meat?" James asked in disbelief, as Jericho nodded.
"It's not bad…" James said, disgusted in himself but also really enjoying the meat. Devouring the rest of it, James followed Jericho towards what looked like the bar area.
Sitting at the table, faced with a dirty glass of whiskey and a warm beer, James found the whole place far too familiar for his liking. It wasn't exactly like the Pitt, but there were still some parts of it that brought old memories out of hiding, much to his displeasure. The sounds, the smells, and the company all reminded him of those nights where he wasn't sure whether or not he was going to see another day. The nights he prayed to whoever was listening, to end his suffering as quickly as possible. Most of all, however, it reminded him of just how much he had gone through to come here. To be so close to finding his father, and ending what had been a long nightmare. To make matters worse, he hoped the taste of Radroach would be soon gone out of his mouth despite the fact it was a rather pleasant taste. There was just something about having a piece of that bug in his mouth that made him uncomfortable. However, he wasn't going to spit out what was essentially a good meal, after all good food was hard to come by in the wasteland so who cared where it came from. That's one of the reasons he never liked asking where his food came from, as he may not have liked the answer.
Jericho snapped his fingers in front of James's face, snapping him out of his distracting memories and back to reality. James shook his head and drank greedily from the dirty glass, downing the whiskey quickly before Jericho. He let out a loud cough as the alcohol burnt down his throat. It was strong, that was damn sure. Jericho laughed loudly, as he poured another glass for James, bringing a smile to the young man's face. James would never forget Jericho when he got home, back to Vault 101. He wouldn't forget him, or Charon, or anyone of those that saved his ass up to now. The people he owed so much to. It was at this moment that James saw the lights of the bar focus on a cage, with a performer inside of it.
She came out of the cage, and slowly began gyrating her body to the radio played over the speakers. She was skilled that was for sure, and somewhat alluring. Wearing next to nothing as she stepped over the counter, and then across the tables as if she were the queen of the Mills. James was shocked as the men that filled the already cramped bar stayed quiet as she approached his table. Standing before James on the narrow table, she dropped down to her knees and smirked wickedly at him, staring into his eyes as she bit on her lower lip. James gulped and decided now would be a good time to take a long drink of his whiskey, just so he could stop looking at the woman before him. On all fours now before him, she growled playfully at him as she crawled towards him, her ass swaying as she crawled towards him like a predator to its prey. Getting back on her knees before James, she took a hold of his whiskey and taking a large mouthful, looked down at James with sultry stare. James was motionless as she grabbed him and kissed him, feeding the alcohol to James with a kiss before pushing away from him. James felt a strange mix of disgust, shame, lust and desire as she pulled away from him. It was at this moment, James heard the crowd cheer in amusement and jealousy over what had just happened. Getting back to her feet, she continued to sway along to the music, her movements almost hypnotic as she moved away from the bewildered James and back to the cage she came from. The music was slowly coming to its end as she got back into the cage, and sat down. As the music ended, the bar exploded with sounds of applause and cheers.
"NOW THAT'S A FUCKING SHOW!" Jericho announced, standing to his feet and clapping his hands in appreciation. James looked past the crowd and saw the woman exit the cage as the woman was given a shot of psycho and some jet, and lead to what James assumed was her living quarters.
"That's…what was that?" James asked, wiping his lips on his sleeve.
"You shouldn't worry about it, kid." Jericho said, smiling as he took a drink of his beer.
"What the hell was that?" James asked, now needing to know why the girl was drugged directly after her performance.
"Entertainment…" Jericho responded, a smile crossing his face.
"That's fucking slavery!" James shouted as he stood up, causing a bottle fall and shatter on the ground from the table. The breaking bottled caused the whole bar to pause and stare in silence at James. Jericho quickly grabbed James arm and pulled him back down into his seat.
"Their drugging them up and using them as slaves, Jericho. It's sick!" James barked, letting everyone in the bar know his feelings.
"Are you fucking crazy!?" Jericho hissed, glaring at James in the eyes as he spoke.
"Yeah, but I don't fucking like slaves!" James responded, pulling his arm free of Jericho's grip.
"Look, kid, we are outnumbered 100-1, and you're giving a shit about some junkie that just made out with you?!" Jericho asked, downing his drink before looking back towards James.
"There are no saints here, kid. Only sinners live here." Jericho said, as James felt something press into his back.
James froze, as he recognised the sensation of the blade tip pressing against his back. He knew if he moved an inch, his attacker would drive that blade deep into his back. Taking a deep breath, James grabbed his glass and saw Jericho had eyes on the attacker. Gulping down the drink, James clinched his fists and slowly rested his hands on the table.
"You got a big mouth on you, boy. Did you know that?" The raider said, as James's eyes darted down at his pistol. Any sudden movements and he would be dead. The only hope he had left was that Jericho would do something. In other words, he was screwed.
"It's come up in conversation before…" James responded, putting on a fake smile as he spoke.
"Wonder if you talk so big with a knife in your back." The attacker said his tone serious and twisted. James noticed Jericho bending over in his seat, before sitting back up straight and looking at James's attacker.
"You're gonna step away from the kid, understand?" Jericho threatened, standing up from his seat causing the raider to dig the knife deeper into James's back. James could feel the knife finally breaking the skin and drawing blood.
"Or what?" The raider asked, eyeing Jericho up and down.
"Or, I'm gonna slice your throat clean open." Jericho responded, before slashing forward at the raider. James felt the blood erupt from the man's throat, spraying across the table and himself. The weapon Jericho used was still held in his hand, a broken piece of glass now wet with blood. This victory was short lived as Jericho grabbed James moved as quickly as he could towards the bar. Leaping behind the bar, they narrowly missed the barrage of bullets that followed them.
"Jesus Christ!" James shouted, as shards of glass starting raining down around the two.
"Now this is a fucking party!" Jericho shouted, as he loaded his machine gun a wicked smile on his face.
A/N: So couple of things to point out here.
1. They are not killed on sight because Jericho is a veteran to certain Raider Groups. Plus as I stated, Jericho made it a habit to drop in to the Mills now and again. So he is known to some of the Raiders there. Thus, is not killed on sight.
2. The Mutant bit was something I always like to bring up now and again. Behemoths are fucking scary man, I mean you got nothing but a rifle and grenades and your fucked. Also, keep in mind I have said James's back has been broken by one of those things, so yes he is a little jumpy around them.
3. The Radroach meat thing always seemed like something a Vault dweller would try to avoid eating, especially after Vault 101's big bug outbreak during the escape mission. I also dont see it being in demand as much around the other settlements. Raiders, on the other hand, I have no problem seeing them eat it. James hasnt tried any before this moment, because he found the idea of eating one disgusting. Until he actually ate one and found he enjoyed it.
4. The dancer is something I wanted to bring in for the fact that raiders are assholes sure, but they dont like to be called slavers or even being associated with slavery. So when James discovers their drugging her as entertainment he makes the connection and makes a few enemies as a result.
5. Things escalate so quickly in the end there because I wrote the end 4 times but didnt feel shocked and appalled raiders fit in with the whole characterization of what we know as Raiders. The guys that basically shoot first, ask questions later. However, something needs to set them off and just like any other place in the game, if you kill one of them they all turn on you.
Well I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of One Night in Evergreen Mills. Remember to R&R and I'll see you all soon.