Chapter Three.
Germantown was supposedly to the north. He knew he would find super mutants when he got there, but what he would run into on the way was a mystery. He kept his rifle at the ready and tried to spot trouble before it spotted him as he headed north along a ruined road.
He stopped at the river.
Crouching behind an ancient car that had been wrapped around an old, dead tree MacCready took the rifle scope out of his pack and fixed it to his rifle. He looked through it to spy on the bridge that was half sunk into the river. From the angle he was at, he could tell someone had used junk to repair the bridge into a state where it could handle foot traffic.
He spotted two human figures crouched beneath the bridge. He also noticed how small bits of junk had been evenly spread out in front of the bridge. Anyone walking through it might not notice anything out of place, but they would make a lot of noise as they walked, enough to alert the raiders hiding under the bridge. It was a trick they used in Little Lamplight, near the front gate.
MacCready was confident that he could kill the two raiders he could see within as many seconds. It was their friends he worried about.
Keeping on his stomach, MacCready crawled back away from the car and made his way east, down river for a better angle on the bridge. Hopefully he would find another crossing point, but raiders tended to force people's hands when it came to travel options.
He didn't find a spot to cross, but found a rock to hide behind that gave him a clear view of the raider camp bellow the bridge. Counting the two on lookout duty, there were ten in all and they were armed well enough to take on a large caravan.
MacCready swore quietly. He would likely have to head down river and find another place to cross, either that or take a dip in the irradiated water. None of these ideas seemed appealing.
He felt a tap on his left shoulder. His heart caught in his throat and as he spun to the left, he felt a skinless hand clamp over his mouth from the right and pull him backward to the ground. "Keep you're goddamn mouth shut if you enjoy breathin', kid," said a gravely voice. MacCready was on his back, looking up. He couldn't see his attacker's face because of the sun, but knew he was a ghoul.
The hand left MacCready's mouth and moved up to the ghoul's skinless lips. "Shhh," he said, moving around so that MacCready could get a better look at him. Unlike most ghouls MacCready had seen while scavenging, this one had a full head of hair and even a small black mustache. He was dressed in a dirty suit and wore a pair of black rimmed glasses. "I count ten of the fuckers," he said. "How many have you seen?"
"Ten," MacCready replied, confused. "They've got guns coming out their asses. I don't think we're crossing here."
"That's a load of crap," the ghoul said. "Those assholes can't tell a gun barrel from a dick. Do as I say and we'll clear 'em out so we can cross the river."
The ghoul moved next to MacCready and crouched by the rocks. MacCready could see that the ghoul was heavily armed himself. He leaned a shotgun on the rock and unshouldered a large scoped rifle, which he pointed at the bridge. "Here's what you're going to do," he said. "Circle around and come in from the far side. When you hear me shoot, you start shooting like hell and shout like you're crazy. Don't worry about hitting anything, you just need to make them think they're being fired on from that side of the river. When they take cover behind the bridge on this side, I'll pick them off."
"Are you fucking crazy? I don't even know you," MacCready said, not liking the idea of running distraction.
"Do it, or after I finish with them, I'm coming after you."
MacCready had been threatened by some pretty menacing people in his short life, but this ghoul seemed like he could have eaten all of them for a snack. Nodding, he crept low back the way he had come and circled around to the other side of the bridge as he had been told.
Taking cover behind a gnarled tree, he poked his head around it for one more look at the raiders before he launched his attack. Some were sitting around a small fire drinking, while others kept a watch on the road that lead to the bridge. MacCready took several deep breaths and waiting for the pounding in his head to slow down.
If the ghoul was full of it, he was dead. MacCready thought of his tone and the way he said things. He was sure of himself, that was certain, but it didn't come off as arrogance. MacCready had met quite a few people who couldn't back up their bluster and the mysterious ghoul didn't sound like one of them.
He heard the gunshot and saw one of the raiders watching the road fall, his head surrounded in a cloud of red. MacCready stepped out from behind the tree and started shooting into the camp with his rifle, screaming.
The raiders saw him and returned fire. He ducked behind the tree and kept his face down as wood splinters struck his head and hands. He held his gun around the tree and fired, knowing he wasn't likely hitting anything.
He heard a loud whizzing sound in the air and hear the dead branches of the tree clatter and snap. A moment later, there was an explosion behind him that forced him into the tree. Something stung his leg and more objects flew past his head. Forgetting his own attack, he fell to the ground, covered his head and stayed as low as he could as bullets flew past him.
He could hear the raiders shouting and soon everything was silent except for the pounding that was now in his ears, louder than every. MacCready sat up and looked at his leg. A piece of shrapnel had put a gash in his calf. He pulled up his pants leg and examined the wound. Dark blood was welling out of the cut, but it didn't look like it had hit an artery. Pulling a bandage out of his backpack, MacCready wiped the wound clean and wrapped it. He would clean it later, but he thought it best he rendezvous with the ghoul.
MacCready reached the bridge and saw the ghoul walking calmly over it. "Hey!" MacCready said, running up behind him. "What now?"
The ghoul stopped and turned to face MacCready. The ghoul's melted features were bent into a look of annoyance. "We cross the river, you dumb fuck," he said. "You can loot the bodies, I've got all the shit I need."
"Who the fuck are you?" MacCready asked, not sure why he wanted to know. The ghoul seemed like the type to shoot him for being annoying.
"Desmond," the ghoul said. "Now unless you know the way to Germantown, fuck off."
MacCready said nothing for a moment, shocked by the coincidence. Desmond was walking away when MacCready spoke again. "I've got an idea about where it is. I was headed there myself."
Desmond stopped, but didn't turn. "I swear, if you're fucking with me, you're meat. What the hell are you going to Germantown for?"
MacCready thought about where to begin. He thought too long. "Well?" Desmond shouted. "I ain't a fucking babysitter. I don't know what rock you crawled out from under, but by the look of you, you'd better crawl back."
"Big Town," MacCready finally said. He was now more angry with himself for being so afraid of Desmond. He was the former mayor of Little Lamplight, and a bad ass in his own right, he reminded himself. "Big Town was destroyed by muties…super mutants from Germantown. I need to go there and kill something."
"Super mutants?" Desmond said. "Those green, stupid mother fuckers? Shit." He turned and walked over to MacCready, rubbing his mustache and looking at something in the distance. "Alright, kid, I'll tell you this. Loot the raiders and get yourself some decent gear. Fix that leg of yours, too. I need something inside the Germantown prison and you're going to help me get it. While we're there, you can do whatever the fuck you want after I get what I need."
MacCready nodded, apprehensive about now having Desmond to contend with but at the same time glad he was on his side.
"Move!" Desmond shouted, prompting MacCready to limp down beneath the bridge to pick over the corpses of the defeated raiders.
To be continued…
