CHAPTER 2

The whiskey was starting to hit harder as I downed another shot. I figured it would be a good night to celebrate my close call. All I knew was it would be awhile before trying something of that magnitude again. I was aching all over and was having a hard time standing but that just may have been the whiskey.

"I knew you could do it!" Angel yelled before taking another drink of vodka directly from the bottle.

"Wasn't it you who told me I should back out?" I said through slurred words.

"No! I said you could. I never said you should." Her bottle was almost empty at this point and she was almost as far gone as I was. My mind was getting cloudy and everything I saw was a blur. Though through my vision I was able to see how loosely her clothes were fitting and basically falling off of her. Her gaze seemed to follow mine and a smile crept across her face.

"like what you see?" She asked with the most seductive tone she could possibly execute.

It took me a second to realize I had been caught staring and I quickly took another drink. I drank a little to fast however and I almost choked causing me to cough a little.

She was laughing so hard that she started to fall backwards in her chair. I shot forward as fast as I could just in time to catch her by the arm and pull her to me. She landed in my lap and had yet to stop laughing. She reached for bottle on the table but frowned when the realization hit that she had spilled it when she fell backwards.

She set the empty bottle back on the table and picked up mine. She put it up to her mouth to take the last shot or two in the bottle but missed and it spilled all down the front of her shirt causing her to laugh more.

"Maybe you've had enough." I said as I took the now empty bottle from her hand. She frowned a bit and placed her head on my shoulder. It was weird to see myself in this situation with her. We had grown up together and she was my best friend but for the past two years now the situation between us had seemed to change. I saw her in a different way and that scared me more than any creature I had fought.

I wouldn't necessarily be against anything happening between us. I would just be afraid of what would happen after the fact. I didn't want to get even more attached than I already was. This was not a world for attachment. Anything could happen at any moment and that terrified me.

I looked down at her to see she was sound asleep. I chuckled to myself and stood up carrying her in my arms over to my bed. I placed her head on the pillow and covered her up. I then turned to the table and picked up the empty bottles before tossing them in the trash bin next to my door. The cards from that night's game of caravan still covered the table but I decided to leave them until morning.

I walked over to one of my lockers and pulled out a bedroll before laying it out on the floor next to the bed. After kicking off my boots and pulling the whiskey stained shirt I was wearing off I sat down on the bedroll leaning against the bed. I didn't even have time to lay down before my eyes got heavy and I fell asleep sitting up.

It was short lived however as I awoke to voices outside my door. Normally it wouldn't bother me except for one detail. I didn't recognize these voices. The THORN was closed and I know everyone that lives down here. These voices belonged to someone I didn't know therefore they were unwelcome.

I looked up above my bed to the hooks where I kept my weapons. My 45. was hanging in its holster a few feet above Angel's head and my hunting shotgun was placed on top of the pegs sticking out of the wall. That shotgun actually had a name and it was Dinnerbell.

It was a gift my mom had given my father but he left it behind before going to Hoover Dam where he died, so it was given to me a few years back.

I stood up and placed my knee on the bed next to Angel who was still sound asleep. I reached up and grabbed Dinnerbell as I heard the voices draw closer. I always kept my guns loaded and ready so there was no need for shells at the moment. Backing away from the bed I took a knee by the table with a chair in front of me to rest my arms. Taking aim at the door I slowed my breathing and waited.

The voices were right outside my door and every second felt like an hour. My finger held the trigger as tight as possible without pulling it. Just then I heard the button on the control panel click as my door slid open. I could see at least three people on the other side all wearing light-weight leather armor and carrying various weapons.

As the one in front stepped inside I fired my first shot. The slug completely ignored his armor and entered his chest dead center. His body flew back to the opposite wall where it hit and slid to the floor. Once it registered in the others minds what had just occurred they took cover behind each side of the door.

"What the fuck! You said it would be clear down here!" Came the voice of another man just out of my sight.

"It should have been!" That time it was a woman's voice and I heard what sounded like a laser rifle charging. I chambered another shell and called out to them.

"If you toss in your weapons and put your hands against the wall, you wont end up like your friend there." I stated trying to defuse the situation before it got worse.

"I don't think so kid. Why don't you just give up." The female voice retorted. I just laughed and started to inch to the side in order to get a better shot.

"Do you people really think I'm the only one down here with a gun? It was stupid for you to come down here at all, now I wont tell you again." I said with a more serious tone. By this time Angel had woken up and was now pointing my 45. towards the door as well. I looked over to her and gave a nod telling her to rush the door. She nodded back in agreement and bolted for the opening.

Hearing the commotion inside the room the man on the other side of the door swung his hunting rifle around the corner and made a blind shot in Angel's direction. She hit the ground and slid into the hallway beneath him. He then brought the barrel of the gun down to meet her but he was knocked off his feet with a clean sweep to the back of his knee cap causing him to bang his head on the wall in the process. The other attacker then jumped down on top of her trying to pin her down.

I then tossed Dinnerbell to the side and ran out the door, tackling her off of Angel. Feeling her smaller frame give way as my shoulder collided with her ribcage. I could hear the crack of the bone and the shout of pain that came from her mouth as I kicked the gun away and put her in a head lock.

"I told you to give up." I said as she was now struggling to breath. She kept kicking and prying at my arms trying to escape but it was too late. I quickly jerked her head to the right and broke it instantly causing her body to go limp.

I smiled to myself thinking it was over but to my horror it wasn't. In the time I had dealt with the female attacker the man had regained his composer and was now holding Angel in front of him with a machete to her throat and the laser rifle on her shoulder aiming at me.

I could see the fear on her face and it terrified me. No matter what I have to do I'm not going to let her die. Ill be damned if I let this asshole take her from me.

"Wrong move kid." He said as he fired the laser rifle sending a beam grazing across the top of my left shoulder. It burned but other than that I didn't feel much thanks to all the adrenalin.

Angel screamed and squirmed trying to get free but to no avail. He started to back up down the hall with her in tow before I heard another gun shot. I wasn't sure where it had come from before I saw his head basically explode from the impact. Blood and brain splattered the hall as well as the right side of Angel's face. His lifeless body hit the floor and Angel ran into my arms.

As I held her there I saw my mom coming down the hallway with her anti-material rifle and a handful of guards. She stopped a few feet short of us and flipped over one of the bodies to examine it.

"Who the hell are these guys?" she asked with a puzzled look.

"I have no idea." I responded truthfully.

"But I intend to find out."