Hey, I'm back. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter and if you didn't…why are you back? Well, since you are back, I hope this goes well.
I don't own Fallout…why world!
Camp Zulu-North Watchtower
The sun had just begun to rise as Will sipped black coffee from a metal cup. It was 0800 now, but he woke early, around 0630 because he was used to early mornings on the family farm. He had come to the tower early, relieving the sentries of their duty and coffee. He chuckled as he remembered the freckle-faced boy he saw. His armor could be described as two sizes to big with a helmet to match. At least the rifle he carried was his size; the battered .223 varmint rifle could barely be called a weapon against human beings.
He leaned back, the old camp stool creaking slightly as he propped up his feet. Mojave morning air…ah, nothing like it.
He stared at the dregs of his coffee, contemplating whether or not the rest of it was worth it. Damn kid couldn't make good black coffee to save his life. He thought as he choked down the rest of his cup.
Reaching for the binoculars, he raised them to his eyes, quickly glancing at the Northern Passage. He had heard there was almost always a steady stream of trade caravans heading into New Canaan, but now because of recent White Leg raids led by Legion soldiers; the caravans have ceased completely.
He sighed, slinging the binoculars around his neck. "Wish they would come 'round. I just want a chance to get one of those bastards."
"Well, you might just get your chance soon, Private."
Will visibly jumped at the sound of the voice, reaching for his sidearm to discover it was missing. Looking up, he saw the laughing face of Sergeant Evers.
"Damn it, Evers; that's not funny." Will hissed, rising out of his chair. "What if you had been a Legionary or something?"
Evers laughed, pulling his pistol from behind her back. "Well, then you'd be up shit creek without a paddle. Word of advice, Sharps, keep your weapon holstered at all times; not on the table."
Laughing despite the burning in his face, Will grabbed his pistol from Evers. "Yes ma'am. So what's the duty?"
Laughing, Evers climbed the rest of the way into the tower; taking Will's chair from him. Sighing again, he leaned against one of the posts supporting the roof. Evers began to explain the duties of the sentries. They were to watch for any hostile forces and report it by radio to Command. Though, as Marie said, the likelihood of anything happening was ten to one.
"But if we are attacked, what's the chance of us holding this position?" Will asked, despair practically dripping in his voice.
Evers leaned back, pulling her packet of gum out and popping a stick in her mouth. Chewing silently, she fixed the beret on her head as she thought over the question. "Well, I've been in worse spots before."
"Worse spots then this? There's barely a wall, just some damn sandbags."
"Camp Forlorn Hope, Will. I didn't have a wall between me and the Legion." Evers said grimly, her eyes covered by her sunglasses. She popped a bubble, the noise the only thing between them.
"I'm sorry, Evers. I didn't know…" Will trailed off, flicking open the chamber of his revolver. He absently counted the six rounds over and over; ejecting each round and reloading. The simple task calmed his nerves. He began shooting with his father, who had taught him the ways of the rifle. The first thing he learned well was how to quickly reload in a matter of seconds.
As his father said, "A good man can fire six times, but a fast man can do it twelve."
From then on, Will had practiced time and again until he beat his father. He remembered the day of his father's death; he had fired twelve shots.
"Don't worry, kid. No harm done, though you should be more careful. Any other trooper would've knocked you upside the head for even speaking of Forlorn Hope. Some say its bad luck…me, I don't believe in luck. Just destiny."
"Destiny, ma'am? What do you mean?" Will asked, holstering his revolver.
"Well…God, kid. I grew up in a religious family and I've made it through the Legion, White Legs, and Recon training because of it." Evers explained as she folded her hands in front of her. "If this bothers you, I won't make you uncomfortable. I'm a private person, so don't worry about me trying to save your soul from the bowels of Hell."
Will laughed loudly, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. "Na, I'm fine with it. My mother was the same way, but I never really got into it."
Evers opened her mouth to reply, but a low buzzing sound interrupted her, ever growing by the second. Her mouth hung open for a few seconds before she flung herself to the ground; pulling Will with her.
"Evers, what the-
He was silenced by a trio of arrows sinking into the wood post that he had just been leaning against. Evers crawled across the floor, more arrows passing the tower and sinking into the flesh of the NCR troopers below. She reached the table; knocking it to the floor to grab the binoculars and walkie-talkie.
Will watched as she raised the radio to her lips, calmly reporting the situation to Command. Reaching over, he grabbed the binoculars from Evers, slowly rising to look above before ducking back down as another arrow nearly skewered his head.
"Sarge, we go major incoming!"
"Really? The cloud of arrows trying to kill us didn't seem like a good enough hint?" Evers said as she finished her report and crawled across to the weapons locker that had been hidden by the table.
Flipping it open, she pulled two AR-15 assault rifles out and tossed one to Will along with a bandolier of ammo. "Sharps, you fired this weapon before?"
Will responded by slapping a magazine in and cocking it with the precision of any NCR trooper. Nodding once, they both rose up, opening fire as the horde of Legionaries and White Legs descended on the compound.
There seemed to be no end to the endless waves of bodies, the majority being White Legs lead by simple Legionaries or the more seasoned Decanus. Will laughed when he saw the feathered helmet and the man waving the White Legs forward. Squeezing the trigger he sent a burst straight into the man's chest; his blood splattering on his men. Shifting his fire, he opened up on a squad that had almost overran one of the barricades; killing three troopers.
"You primitive, crazy bastards." He muttered as he emptied the remainder of his magazine into the chest of a White Leg. The woman screeched as the 5.56 rounds tore her body to shreds. "Sarge, how did we not know this was going to happen?"
Her rifle bucking against her shoulder as she downed a pair of White Legs, she quickly replied. "Well, it seems that the raid took a different route out of the canyon that we hadn't scouted out yet and hid till this morning. That's what command thinks at least…dammit, reload!"
Will covered Evers as she dropped down to reload, his fire turning the White Legs and their Legionary leaders into bloody barricades which helped to slow down the continuous stream of enemies. He gasped sharply as a barbed arrow sliced across the unprotected top of his shoulder; blood beginning to slowly trickle down his chest.
Thankfully, the adrenaline coursing through him kept the pain at bay, but for how long he thought. For every White Leg killed another took his place and the barricade was beginning to be overrun by the sheer number of them.
"Reload!"
Will dropped down as he ejected the magazine and fished around for a full one. The floor of the watchtower was carpeted by spent brass and arrows adorned the wooden posts. Gritting his teeth Will opened up again, shattering the skull of White Leg before he could impale an unlucky trooper.
Waving his hand, the trooper picked up the fallen man's spear, thrusting it into a veteran Legionary, the man screaming as the spear-tip sliced through his stomach. Will swallowed hard as he watched; all along the barricade the fighting has resorted to hand-to-hand combat. Sadly, the Legionaries almost always overpowered the NCR troopers and rushed farther into the compound. More than once, Will or Evers had to kick an overeager Legionary off the ladder leading to their position. Eventually, Evers had simply ordered him to get rid of the ladder itself.
So, as a White Leg was climbing up with a knife between his teeth, Will kicked the ladder down; the man screaming as he slammed to the ground. Silencing his cries, Will returned to the fight. The two of them began a system, alternating between firing and reloading to conserve their ammunition.
"Sarge, I got one magazine cocked and locked with another in my back pocket. How're you doing?"
Shifting through her pockets and bandolier, Evers came up with two more magazines, not including the half-spent one in her rifle. "Pick your targets; White Legs are almost useless without leadership. Take out the Legionaries first. Here take these, I'm going to try and raise Command."
Taking the offered magazines, Will switched his fire to semi, squeezing the trigger as he went from Legionary to Legionary. He cursed when the rifle locked open, the magazine spent. Slapping in a replacement, he crouched behind the wall to steady his breathing. He laughed as he drilled a Decanus through his funny goggles, the feathers of his helmet exploding comically.
He didn't see it, but Evers glanced in his direction, shaking her head. Hopefully, the kid wouldn't begin to enjoy the killing; she had lost too many friends that way. Her continued attempts to raise Command were met with static, causing her to chuck the walkie to the floor in anger. The casing broke open and the wiring of the radio spilled out.
Will jumped at the sudden crash of the radio, twisting to look behind him. "Uh, Sarge…what did you do to the radio?"
Pulling her sidearm from its holster, a 9mm Berretta, she opened fire on the closer enemies below. "The damn thing wasn't working; seems like Command is leaving us high and dry. Seems like nothing's changed in their minds; we're still the grunts." She said, downing a White Leg with a massive club of some sort.
Will watched in horror as Higgins rushed forward with a group of troopers to shore up the defense. Higgins slammed his rifle into the stomach of a Legionary only to be brought to his knees by half a dozen arrows suddenly appearing in his chest. Slamming a fresh magazine in his rifle, he was too late to keep the Legionary from drawing back his arm and with his machete, cleave into Higgins' stomach. Will screamed incoherently as he opened up, riddling Higgins' killer with holes. He just stood staring at the bodies, trying to go back in time.
"Sharps stay here. I'm going to make a run for the Command tent." Evers ordered as she slid a new magazine into her pistol; snapping Will out of his daze.
Laughing at her words, Will crouched next to her. "With respect ma'am, but I think I have a better chance. Rifle is better than pistol, no? Cover me best you can from here and bunker down when I'm gone."
To solidify that he was going, Will crouched next to where the ladder used to be. "We just had to get rid of the ladder eh?"
"Shut it, Sharps. Okay, ready…go!"
Will leapt from the tower, rolling as he crashed to the ground. Jumping to his feet, he was instantly met by a charging White Leg swinging a wicked-looking axe. Raising up his rifle, the blade cleaved through the receiver; ruining the weapon.
"Rusted piece of shit!" Will cursed as threw it aside, backpedaling to escape the swipes from the White Leg. He dove to the side, drawing his revolver as the White Leg got closer. Pulling back the hammer, he began to squeeze the trigger when the chest of the man exploded in a burst of blood and guts. Rolling to avoid the body, Will glanced up, the smoking barrel of Evers' pistol.
"Take note, Sharps. Don't bring a knife to a gunfight, now get mov-
Evers was cut off by a loud blast, followed up an explosion which sent many White Legs to Hell in a bloody blast. It was accompanied by a number of similar explosions along the perimeter, driving the enemy back.
"Its Hoover Dam, the artillery's got this place zeroed in! Get to cover!" Evers shouted as the artillery continued to blast the now-fleeing White Legs. But the artillery seemed to move closer to the compound, beginning to hit some troopers as well. Will watched in horror as a shell exploded by the watchtower; the woodworks collapsing with Evers screaming in terror.
Will rushed forward only twenty feet from the remains of the tower before he was lifted off his feet. The world spun for an instant as he slammed into the ground, blood dripping from his nostrils. He could only stare at the smoking remains of the tower before he laid his head down; darkness taking him.
Wow…has been too long since I've written. Sorry everyone I was in Guatemala on a mission trip. I promise I will do my best to update more regularly, hope I haven't lost any interested readers. Alrighty, well here's the chapter, review if you liked it please, I love feedback.