Slave chapter 1

"We have only the finest and most reliable slaves here. You won't ever have to worry about them running away with our new laser collars. If they ever run away you can set off the laser which will cut off their heads. Also the remote will work as far as 30 miles so if you don't notice until they are long gone you can still get'em." the auctioneer said over the crackling speakers. There was a large group of wasteland farmers and some of the higher class citizens. They had all gathered at the mall for the Sunday slave sales; it was only day of the week that featured non-ghouls. Ghouls were the most unfortunate of the survivors of the 2077 war, where the US had taken over Canada. Ghouls were left above ground and were just far enough away from ground zero not to die. However there were also super mutants. No one knew where they came from or how they started, but they made good labor slaves due to being large unintelligent brutes.

The mall was one of the most unpleasant places to be. It had the most horrible stench. The walls were coming apart, even though the slavers had millions. They used whatever shops were still intact to hold the prisoners. The slaves labored under the scorching California sun as the sweated through their rags. But they had one thing to look forward to, that they might be bought by an adventurer who would be kind to them."So how much can they lift? And how intelligent are they?" shouted a farmer, who raised Brahmin. His four daughters stood around him.

"Well, all of that varies slave by slave, so you will just have to wait until we read off the attributes of them as we sale them. Now are there any other questions about them as a whole?" he shouted again over the bad speakers. "No? Okay, then we shall continue on schedule. The first one up is number 234; this big guy is about 8 feet tall, is a mutant and can lift around 1000 pounds. Not too smart though, but on the good side he will never learn how to escape. We will start the bidding at 2500 caps. Okay 2500 right there anyone going higher? No? Okay going once, going twice, sold to the man in the back." his voice became more rapid as he tried to speed through the day's selection. There were several more mutants, some ghouls and finally humans. That was where Dell came was the first of the men for sale. He was average height not the strongest but he could still manage most labor. He had thick messy blond hair and deep strong green eyes. He was no more than 17,he had not yet been exposed to the wastes, but he was going to get a big shock. Dell was a vault boy from vault 15, which had been raided as the slavers of the mall found a new cash of dynamite a week ago. He came with a woman, whose name was Maria. Maria was a teen from the wastes who had been caught in a cave with a few other kids. She had darker skin than most of the others, hair as black as the night sky, and an oval shaped face that showed she had Asian ancestors. Her eyes on the other hand were as dark and blue as the sea and a few scars adorned her otherwise smooth face. She did not know how old she was because raiders had killed her parents when she was small; she had been living on her own ever since, surviving by stealing. Both humans had only small tattered rags to wrap around their waists, and cumbersome black collars.

"Next up is a pair; numbers 286 and 287, a specialty item. Number 287 is none other than a vault dweller or he was…haha" he chuckled. "Well, these two would make an excellent breeding pair for an excellent investment. The female has been exposed to radiation and is believed to have the favorable mutation of the birth cycle being shortened to 3 months, and a 80% chance of twins or more and 50 % of that 80% triplets. So we will start the bidding at 5000 caps" he exclaimed.

"I've got 5000."one shouted.

"I've got 6000" shouted another and the bidding went all the way up to 11000 until there was a gunshot; a raider had shot a rich older man, riffled through his belongings and finally shouted "I've got 15000 for them." And with that no one bid higher.

"Okay, going once, going twice, and sold to the raider out back." his voice came over the crowd. As the guard ushered the slaves off the stage the raider found his way to the pay room. The guard meanwhile escorted Dell and Maria to the same room. As dell entered he saw the thick reinforced glass that separated the slaves from the customers

"Okay, here's your caps now I want my slaves". grunted the rider as he pushed a bloody purse at the cashier. The cashier took the caps and counted them out with the help of several guards; slowly they finished, before handing him back about half of the caps. The raider was a big man who in older times would have easily been a linebacker. He was over 6 feet, had a spiked brown Mohawk, dark malevolent brown eyes, and was dark skinned with several scars he wore as war trophies. He clanked as he walked because he carried a shotgun two 45 pistols and a hunting rifle, which all miraculously fit in his makeshift armor of odd metal and scrap leather.

"So here is your remote. It will control several functions; for example the laser head removal that is fun. There are also other functions such as the shock function, tracking, and lots more that you can enjoy, so have fun with your new items and remember to tell everyone where you got them at." Hinted the manager as he handed the raider the remote. He took the remote and immediately tested the shock function and laughed as Dell and Maria fell to the ground convulsing for a few seconds. Then they stopped and fell limp for a second until they realized what had happened and got back up. "Oh and also this is the button that mutes them. So, if you press this they can talk again but all they do is complain so I wouldn't do it."

"So in other words I should never press that button." the raider chuckled looking at the pathetic little boy and girl. He considered whether the boy might be trusted, but he could tell his boys would love the new piece of ** he just bought. He might have to breed them a few times, as the blood line of his gang had run a little intertwined. This time he wouldn't let Butch set his mutant on a female; that bastard still didn't get that human women were not sturdy enough for a mutant, and he would be damned if he lost another ** because good un-mutated or ruined girls were hard to come by and he hadn't seen a slave for sale under 30 in months.

"Ok, lets go you two. Don't make me shock you too much, I don't want damaged goods. Especially you, you little **." he shouted at them and the female especially.

And with that he started to walk away with them at his side, before he hurried back into the auction room.

"I forgot, Dell you get free clothes." the raider said as he took the clothes of the still warm body of the man he had just killed. When he saw that the pipsqueak wasn't moving he hollered.

"Put it on or I will shock you for real."

As Dell realized he had no chance, he stripped the old man and scanned what he got. "Anything you find there you can have, but just remember that I have a dead man switch, and if I die this bracelet will cause your collar to remove your heads."

With that said, he took inventory of what he had; an old revolver with 2 boxes of bullets, a white suit with black slacks, a pair of shoes, a box of cigars, a butane lighter, and 10 syringes that said 'stimpack' on them. He got dressed as fast as he could, loaded the gun and stuffed it into the inside pocket of his suit, along with the stimpacks, lighter, cigars, and bullets. He walked over to Maria and placed his jacket around her shoulders, buttoning it up so she wouldn't be exposed anymore. She gave him a look of thanks which could not be conveyed in words even if she could have spoken.

Completed, they followed their master. Seeming moderately pleased as he ushered them out of the mall, he grunted. "I'm Jay."