Hey guys. I have little dialogue to share this time round. I will have more first person narration going on here. Last time round I was disappointed in myself on how short and uninteresting the chapter was. I hope to pick things up. Starting here.

"The Humble suffer when the mighty disagree."
-Phaedrus; 15BCE-50AD.

To say we were expecting someone like the legion would be a terrible lie that cost many lives. That is like saying that a mouse expected the Snake to snap it up. Caesars legion came over the Rocky Mountains in a wave of blood, terror and fire. Fire that quickly spread until it engulfed our homes. Tore our families apart, and ruined our lives... But in retrospect, I wouldn't be the man I am today if not for their tyranny.

The legion sacked the settlements closest to the mountains and occupied and annexed the settlements not too far off. People fought, oh yes, but it was never enough. Not a single settlement could fight an organized army like the army Caesar had. His forces enslaved, Raped, Pillaged, and occupied their way through all of the old Colorado and old New Mexico. The Plains weren't far at all... My family was trading in Wild City where the Plains started drying up and becoming a desert in the northern arm of the Old Lone Star State. I found a map later on calling it Texas. But that was as we knew of it at the time. We weren't ready for what would come... I was 13. Barely had hairs on my chest. Thats when fate met me head on and blindsided me. In Wild City in May, that was when my old life ended, and who I am today organized the funeral and lived on.

"Its hot outside, mama. Are you sure that theres no where we can go inside?" I complained in my deepened, mostly broken voice.

"Not yet, your father is still selling. Today is a good day for it. The Lone Star Rangers are buying as much Weapons, Armor, and Ammunition that we carry.
Even all of the Radaway and Stimpacs are selling." My mother said happily.

"Why are people buying all of it?" I asked, perplexed.

"Because stupid people would rather waste peoples lives that settle a border dispute."

"Who are these people?"

"Some people from out west are supposedly coming into the area. The Rangers are waging war against them and they need supplies. They want to arm settlements that will be next and put ambushes and minefields where they think their armies will be moving. They must be moving very quickly for how many caps we've earned in the last week." She stated.

"But what happens if they catch us?" I asked, concerned.

"Well, we'll be on the road long before they get here based on the scouts last report. And the Rangers are doing everything to slow them down. It should be a while."

"Alright." I finished, satisfied.

How were we to know? That Caesar was the biggest risk taker of a general we knew of? How were we to know that he would have advanced with what he had?
How were we to know?

We went to bed that night, 9000 caps richer and two thirds of our stock depleted. We planned on staying the next day and leaving. My father would sell what we had left and buy some more supplies when we reached frontier city up north where the war wasn't as much of an impending threat so weapons, ammo, and armor were significantly cheaper. Plus my father had caches dotting the wasteland by whatever route he was going to take. He had one up by the red river and it was on the way. We stayed the night at "The Gunslingers Cot". It was an old inn and bar that was a bit cheaper than "The Ammo Box" on the other side of Wild City. The Cot was built after the great war in the salloon style, piano, bar, and all. But they created a separate floor for the wenches to pursue their career,
so they could rent out roms and the customers wouldn't be disturbed by them.

I liked the Cot. The Bartender sold watered down alcohol or used run-off beer so he could sell to children. It was cheaper, not nearly as alcoholic, and took away the risk of addiction. But according to patrons, it just didn't taste as good as a regular beer. My father was old friends with Michael, the Barkeep and owner so I got as much of the weaker beer as I wanted and he let me run around as long as I didn't make a regular nuisance of myself. It was the 8th night we'd stayed there and I was a hit with the patrons. I made a lot of friends and some of them let me sip their beer or taught me how to play various card games like: Mao, Egyptian Rat-Slap, Slap-jack, Bomber, Poker, Black-Jack, and Rad-effect. I shall spare the details of these games as that would take far too long but I might share in some added note after I'm done if it is of interest, but my favorite of all of them was, undoubtably, Mao.

The Man playing the Piano could also sing very well and wore the old fashioned striped outfit and required his round lensed glasses. His name was Clause. He spoke Spanish fluently and said that he came from somewhere in the desert of the old country of Mexico where they had a musical instrument school where you could apply as an apprentice. No charge, just that you apply yourself and help with whatever was required and that it was set up in some old mission.

Many Patrons came to hear him. Michael knew that, and thats why he paid him a bit more than the maids and Johnathan, who ran the bar when he slept. Clause said that one song he learned before he left the old country was a pre-war song called "Piano Man" by a man named Billy Joel. This was Clauses favorite song to play, and everyone came to listen when he did around 6 and 9 every evening. He went to bed at 10 to Midnight. Clause would let me up on his bench every day and do his best to show me how to play the piano. I found an old record of "Piano Man" many years later, and in my recollection, Clause sounded just like Billy Joel. It was almost an exact parallel. The only thing stopping this exact parallel was his slight spanish/mexican accent.

But this is all old memories, and stand fading agianst what happened that eigth night...

I think it was around 3 O'clock when the gunfire broke through the night air. Followed by shouting people and explosions. My mother jolted awake and my father followed. We stumbled out of bed and quickly packed our things. We ran down to the lower level with clause crouched behind an upturned table with his .44 in hand waiting for someone to come through the door. Many other late night patrons did this aswell. Michael and Johnathan ducked behind the bar, Johnathan with a hunting rifle and Michael with a combat rifle. My father pulled the plasma pistol he had in his trench coat out and ran up to the bar.

"Whats happening, Michael?" He shouted over the commotion.

"I don't know! But I think its the legion! No one else would dare try to launch an assault on the city unless they have a deathwish or a large, trained army!"
Michael shouted back.

"The legion? How? I thought they were three days away at forced march?"

"Thats what I thought, too! If you want an idea on what might have happened, ask the rangers! They must have had some ambush force a few miles out! Thats just assumption!"

Then there were a lot of sharp whistles over-head and explosions. "My god..." My father said gravely. "They're launching mini-nukes! We need to leave, Now!"

Michael extended a hand. "Goodluck, Thomas. I'm not leaving, Wild ciity is my home and the Cot is my livelihood. Caesar or no Caesar. But stay safe. I hope to see you again, Whatever happens." Michael said to my father.

He shook Michaels outstreched hand. "Thank you, Michael. Do your best to stay safe, old friend." My father told him.

"I'll do my best. Now go, You can take my Ma-Siwang outside. The black one."

"I can never thank you enough, Michael."

"No need, consider it the repayment of an old debt."

With that, we ran outside and saw the bombs rainding down on the buildings. We ran up the street and went around a corner and found a Ranger that was running for the edge of the city.

"Whats going on!?" My father asked furitively.

"The legion set up an ambush force 'bout 10 miles out. They've got the entire city surrounded and built these big sling-shot like things that they're firing on us! Way I hear it, they've got reinforcements on the way for when they're gonna try to take the city!" He shouted over the explosions in his Southern accent.

"How can we get out?!" My father yelled.

"Eh..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "You could be able to follow the sewers out to where the river fills up the water drainage system. But the next entry intothe sewers is on the other side of the city!" He shouted. Then there was some noise emanating from the Walkie-Talkie at his belt. He unhooked it and listened. "Shit!" He shouted. "The reinforcements just arrived and they're mobilizing on the northwestern and western sides! Thats where the cover is!
I'm sorry, sir, but I've got to go! They need every rangers gun on that front!" And then he shouldered a sniper rifle and started running west.

My father cursed. "What are we going to do, Thomas?" My mother asked.

"We're going to have to try to make it there. If we can't... we wait out the siege..." My father said gravely.

"Alright. I love you, Thomas."

"I love you, too. Come on Maxxim."

"Alright." I said.

And we ran. Around every corner. The louder the shouting and gunfire, the closer we were we figured. A few legionairs had already mad eit this far and they raised their guns to meet my father. They wore heavy armor made of metal and had some kind of bristles on their helmets. My father dispatched the two that were blocking our way with two swift shots from his plasma pistol to their heads. We looked up ahead. About half a mile ahead there was a large metal cover in the middle of the street. We all knew what it was. I just had a switchblade on me that I got because a Rad-Scorpion choked to death on it. Well...More like it got lodged in its mouth so it couldn't eat and it died of starvation. My mother considered that choking. But back to the battle.

We ran ahead as fast as we could, it was 10 meters from us... Then something happened that would change my life, forever. It must have been a stray bullet or something. But we were running then there was a quick buzz and my father fell to the ground after his head jolted back and he fell forward on his face...
I remember this moment very clearly... There was ash on the wind and what I would call, the smell of death, burnt flesh, smoke, and radiation, then the road had ash and blood covering it and there were fires everywhere... Shouting and Gunfire filled my ears... I could hardly hear... I saw the plate and looked up to my father for reassurance. He looked down at me and half-smirked and nodded. Then he looked ahead and then his head jolted back and there was a blood geyser off of his face and he fell forward onto his face and slid for 6 feet... My mother screamed... It felt like slow motion... I screamed too...

We stopped at my father and he had been shot in the forehead by a stray bullet. My mother fell to her knees over his body and cried and I hugged her and weeped as well. But our grievences were interrupted by Rangers screaming at us to move and then being gunned down. The Legion men crowded the street and advanced forward...
My mother grabbed me and we bolted into an alley and hid in an exposed cellar for alcohol. They were usually locked... But thank whatever god was watching over us, this one wasn't.

We waited hours in that cellar... We waited until the explosions and gunfire stopped. Then the shouting. Then the silence... the worst of all of them. We were almost certain that the legion had taken the city. But we needed to wait for things to cool down and the fighting to stop. The door was hard to lift,
it was covered in rubble. My mother was strong though. Three hard punches kicked off any rubble on top. Then we slowly peeked out.
The daylight blinded us. We saw the bodies of rangers and... My father... moved to the sides of the street. It was occupation time, not looting time.
So we had a little time. But as the marching unit went down the street, we realized that the city was on lockdown. We needed a place to go... The Gunslingers Cot might still be standing. So we quietly left and snuck through every alley. The legion was breaking into peoples homes and carrying Men, Women, and Children out to be outfitted in chains.

I remember everything from here clearly. But I shall continue this and the occupation of Wild City in the next chapter...

Thanks for reading guys, I hope you liked it. If you like it, hit that favorite button and follow for more! Tell me your thoughts in the reviews and you can always private message me. Bye guys, see you next chapter!