A/N So, I saw an author who I respect greatly, using these author's notes, and figured this would be a good way to communicate. Anyways, I'll have another author's note at the end of the chapter, explaining some references made in this chapter, as well as the past two. I'm pretty proud of this chapter, as it introduces someone I've been planning for some time. This is my first author's note, but I hope it helps a little. Enjoy, and please feel free to R&R. I would really appreciate any feedback.
Chapter 3: What Happened to Captain Jordan Chase
ED-E and I had been traveling for several days, since we had left the outpost on the edge of the Capital Wasteland. The last bit of civilization we had seen for some time was quickly fading into nothing more than a distant memory.
As we trudged along, suddenly, ED-E grew excited. He began beeping and whirring away, turning to face me.
"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned.
ED-E responded by bobbing up and down, before a crackled, weak voice came through his speaker, "if anyone can hear this, this is Captain Jordan Chase of the United States Army, the Enclave. I can provide weapons and technology, in exchange for medicine, water or food. I will die if I am not helped soon. Please, hurry."
The message repeated itself.
"How far are we from the signal?" the words all came tumbling from my mouth.
ED-E spun around once.
"There has to be some way we can find out, ED-E," I said.
I hadn't yet forgotten Captain Chase. He was the sort of man that was impossible to forget. Without his command, I would've been a dead man. I would never have gone out into the battle, thus never meeting with the Lone Wanderer, and Dr. Whitley. In a way, the captain had saved my life, and I couldn't help but feel that I owed the man something.
"We have to be close, to be within range of the transmission, right?" I spoke to myself, "ED-E, isn't there some way you can pinpoint the location of the signal?"
ED-E wavered from side to side, an act that I assumed meant he didn't know.
ED-E whirred up again, angling his body towards the direction of a factory, in the southwest. Almost immediately, he began jetting off, not bothering to look back, and see if I had followed.
I followed without hesitation. I knew that ED-E was intelligent. And I wanted to find someone else, even if it was Captain Chase.
X
The factory was a desolate looking building. It was clearly barren, void of any signs of life. A hollow, empty shell, a reflection of a better past, a monument to the hubris of humanity, that had ultimately lead to it's own destruction.
Standing tall overhead was a massive pole, bearing the familiar red and white sign of Nuka-Cola, broadcasted proudly to the wasteland.
Broadcasted proudly to no one.
"ED-E, is the signal coming from inside?" I asked, albeit reluctantly.
The monolithic building looked intimidating, a clearly dark, unexplored place, far larger even than Adams Air Force Base. The last thing I wanted to do would be to go inside, and hunt through labyrinthian hallways, and endless rooms filled with only God knew what.
My heart sank, as ED-E buzzed, nodding up and down in an exaggerated motion.
At this point, I was at a crossroads. I could either continue with the journey that Dr. Whitley had given me, taking ED-E west, ignoring the factory altogether. This was surely the least dangerous of the two.
The alternative to this being that I would traverse the pre-war relic, in search of the captain. Even if he were dead, the man deserved a proper burial, at the least, certainly. And if he were alive, I'd be granted another companion, one more proficient in in the skills of navigation, as well as small guns and energy weapons.
I turned to ED-E. And, as if the little eyebot knew what I was thinking, he angled himself towards the entryway.
I took a deep breath. This would be the first time I'd been indoors since I'd left the Enclave. I had no idea what kind of horrible things might lay in store for me.
Opening the door, I stepped into blackness, leaving the light of the wasteland and the shrieking of the hinges behind me. The light from my power armor flicked on automatically, allowing me a better view of my surroundings.
The only thing in this room ahead of me was a rounded wooden desk, cut in a half, with several ancient computers, decaying papers and pencils resting atop it. To my left was a small table, supporting an old lamp and a pack of cigarettes. Small, rotting chairs lay scattered around the room.
I saw no signs of life, anywhere.
"Hello!" I tentatively called out, looking all around, half expecting something terrible to happen.
ED-E beeped, hovering to the computers. He began to whir away once again, as his outer shell bumped against the corner of a monitor, causing him to spin out of control, and smack into a wall.
Unable to help myself, I began laughing at the eyebot's expense. I laughed until I was in tears. The clumsiness of the little eyebot was enough to break the tension, at least for now.
"Come on, ED-E. Can you trace the signal any further?" I asked, attempting to contain myself.
ED-E shook back and forth in response.
"Alright, alright, buddy. I guess we'll have to start looking," I sighed, not looking forward to what was coming.
I began moving forwards, past the rounded desk, through an entryway, to find myself in a massive room. A Nuka-Cola vending machine leaned against the wall to my right, as before me, I saw dozens of crates filled with Nuka-Cola.
I stepped forward, removing my helmet as I did so, before grabbing a bottle of the soda. It was warm, but I still popped the cap, and took a long swig. The sweet soda wettened my mouth, and the carbonation burned at the back of my throat. It was absolutely delicious.
I looked around, spotting a plastic bag, before I began stuffing it with as much Nuka-Cola as it could carry without tearing. ED-E, meanwhile, hovered behind me, the gentle hum of his thrustors lulling me into a state of general unease, rather than complete tension.
As I finished, pocketing the cap, and replacing my helmet, I saw several broken, rusted Mr. Handy robots against the far wall. As well as a lone skeleton, clutching a .32 pistol and a note.
The image sent chills down my spine, as I moved forward to investigate. Out of my own unfortunate morbid curiosity, perhaps, I unwrapped the skeleton's fingers, and picked up the note. In faded ink, it read:
Please, God, have you forsaken your followers? I see you have broken the skies with your thunder, and scorched the earth with your righteous anger. Surely, the sound of your trumpet has sounded. This must be the rapture, truly, but why have you left me? Why have you forsaken me? Forgive me, Lord.
I threw the note to the ground, in horror. The chill came back upon me, and I shivered. This was my first time reading something written before, no, during the Great War. In its own way, it filled me with more dread than any monster ever could.
ED-E let out a series of concerned beeps and whistles, reminding me of the task at hand. I had to find Captain Chase.
I forced myself to break eye contact with the skeleton, making my way into yet another empty room, this one containing a stairwell, which I promptly headed up. Still, I could see no signs that any living person had been here in 200 years.
"Hello!" I called, as I continued my walk, "hello!"
Silence.
Perhaps ED-E was wrong? Perhaps there was nothing in this dead place after all? But as I glanced back at my companion, I knew he would not have been mistaken. If ED-E was confident in himself, then surely, I should show confidence in him as well.
"ED-E, do you suppose Captain Chase is dead?" I couldn't help but ask, as I halted my progress.
ED-E whirred away once again, shaking his form back and forth. I nodded, before continuing my journey.
"Hello! Captain Chase, Captain Jordan Chase! Hello?" I yelled at nothing.
Finally, I reached the top of the stairwell, which lead to a balcony. I proceeded forwards, until I reached the edge, and looked down. And stopped.
Below me was a mass grave. Dozens of bodies littered the ground below. Old, rotting, twisted, decaying corpses. I was caught in absolute shock at what I saw.
I didn't know how to respond. I was simply frozen in place, in absolute horror. So many dead, so many lives lost, and all for what?
"Hello!" the word escaped my lips.
Five bodies leapt up to their feet, lifeless eyes searching for the source of noise that had awakened them from their slumber, until they locked on me. And the corpses stood, watching me, observing, waiting.
"Oh, shit!" I cried, stumbling backwards, dropping my bag of sodas.
What in the hell had I just seen? Had I been hallucinating? Had the bodies of the dead really risen up?
I returned to the ledge, although my feet felt as though they were made of lead. And I saw the rotting carcasses, still upright, still watching me. Still waiting for something, but what, I didn't know.
ED-E could sense the terror emanating from me, the sense of unease and dread. He moved to my shoulder, beeped gently once, and pointed his form towards the hallways to my left.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, and followed ED-E forward. All the while, the corpses' gazes followed me, until I was out of their sight.
At that moment, I remembered something one of my instructors had said, about dead men, who still lived. Mutations, abominations, I don't remember what they had called those things.
From that point on, I had to focus all my energy to forcing myself to move forwards. Every side passage I came across, I had to watch, had to make sure no dead men would jump out and attack me, for I remembered my instructor speaking of their savagery.
The tension was building to the point that it became unbearable. As I placed one foot in front of the other, I knew I couldn't go any further. So, I turned into the closest room, a restroom.
My eyes darted about, as I saw a first aid kit, which I promptly opened, removing a stimpak and a shot of Med-X. Perhaps these could help me, save my life someday.
"ED-E!" I hissed quietly, "ED-E, come on!"
I heard the little eyebot chirp. The sound comforted me, somewhat, as I leaned against a side wall.
Suddenly a stall exploded open. Before I could react, the thing, humanoid in form, snapped it's head my direction. Up close, the dead men were even more horrifying. Their skin had all but rotted away, their stench reeked, as they looked akin to some petrified monster from an old horror holovid.
The dead man pounced on me, smashing me against the wall, causing me to scream in fright. The claws scraped against my armor, as the thing gnashed it's teeth. I made an attempt to raise my arms, but the thing continued it's onslaught, scraping and scratching and striking.
I heard a thunderous boom, and the dead man flew to the side, many small holes peppering it's side. I gasped, dropping to my knees, turning to the left to face my savior.
But my relief melted away into dread, for my salvation turned out to be another dead man. This one, clad in leather armor, wielding a shotgun.
I let out another scream, reaching frantically for my plasma pistol. In an instant, the dead man slammed into me, pressing the shotgun up against my throat.
"Shut your fucking mouth, now. I just saved your life, kid, now follow me," the dead man said, waiting until I nodded in comprehension before removing the weapon, "good. Now stay close, stay quiet and keep your damn head down."
I began to follow the dead man, into an open room. The dead man turned around, shoving me to the ground, before firing his shotgun once again. I turned my head to see another of the savage corpses fall, this one missing a head.
"Get up on your feet," the dead man snapped, still keeping his shotgun to the door.
I obeyed immediately, as I scurried behind him. Only to see ED-E, accompanied by three new companions.
"Leper, keep guard of that door," one of the companions, a bald man, ordered, "Ilya, Colonel Carver, find something to block that door, now!"
"You ought to let me out there, and show these commie sons of bitches just what a true, red-blooded American patriot can do," a Mr. Gutsy robot complained, in a throaty voice that reminded me of Corporal Benson.
"These fucking ferals are everywhere," the dead man, whose name was Leper, retorted, letting off another blast from his shotgun, "should've known this whole expedition was too fucking good to be true."
"I think you're starting to turn into one of those ferals yourself, Leper," the girl, whose name was Ilya, quipped, a half smile on her face.
"Fuckin' bitch," Leper muttered to himself, "kid, what the fuck are you still doing here? Get over there, with the rest of them."
Leper pointed towards the bald man and ED-E. I promptly obeyed.
"Nice power armor," the bald man nodded, running a hand across his goatee, "the name's David James. The ghoul there is Leper, he's got a bit of a temper, but he's a hell of a soldier. That girl's Ilya, our hacker and lockpick. And that robot is Colonel Cutler. Ilya fixed him up a few years back, and he's been a welcome member of our party ever since."
"I-I'm Scott. Scott Delaney," I hesitated, "and that is my eyebot, ED-E."
"Good to meet you, Delaney. Now, I suppose there's no transmission after all, if you aren't that Captain Jordan Chase fellow," David James trailed off.
"We're good, sir," Ilya said, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes, as she and Colonel Cutler finished pushing a desked in front of the entryway.
"Good, good work. Now, we need to plan a way to get out of here," David James shook his head.
"Look, David, all due respect, but that transmission is coming from in here. It's offering technology, weaponry. Now, we leave now, all we'll have to show for it is wasted ammo, which we only have a limited supply of. We need to bring back something worthwhile," Leper said, keeping his shotgun at depressed ready.
"I agree. A captain in the army of the great United States simply cannot be abandoned. We should show these goddamn commies how we deal with hostage takers in America," Colonel Cutler said, pride in his voice.
"Mr. James," I said uncertainly.
"Just David. Or James, if you'd like," David James interrupted.
"Err, David, I need to find Captain Chase, sir. That's why I'm here, also," I said.
"Now that's the American spirit. It's why capitalism and freedom will always prevail," Colonel Cutler hovered over to me.
"Look, we just need to get out of here," David said, running his hands across his bald head.
"David," Ilya said, setting a hand on his shoulder, "we can't just let that man die, can we? Especially when he can provide us with weapons and tech. Even if he's dead by the time we arrive, this transmission is only a few days old. He'll have something on him, I'm sure of it."
David shook his head, but didn't answer. Instead, he began pacing back and forth.
I figured it would be best to keep my mouth shut, even as ED-E made his way over to me. I was fortunate that no one had tried to take my armor, eyebot or plasma pistol. At least for now, that didn't seem to be a priority to anyone. After all, I had no idea how people might react if they knew who I was, and where I was from.
We were taught to never trust the uncivilized savages of the wasteland. While the cultists were certainly bad enough, the savages were even worse. The cultists had a semblance of culture, at least they knew how to maintain a sense of order and stability. Savages would result to killing each other for shiny trinkets and the like.
"Delaney, what do you think?" David asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What the fuck are you asking him for? He's useless, if not for me that feral ghoul would've shredded him to pieces," Leper scoffed.
I gulped, taking a deep breath, "I think we should find him."
ED-E beeped worryingly, but I knew he would stay beside me.
"Very well. But I still think this is a mistake," David said, drawing his submachinegun, "let's move this debris out of the way, and find the source of this transmission."
"Nice armor, by the way," Ilya remarked, as she walked past me, "once we get out of here, I'd love to get my hands on it."
Before I could react, Leper had removed the desk holding the door shut against the scratching on the other side. Immediately, hideous ghouls burst the door down, stumbling forward, snarling, searching for a target.
A blast of fire emerged from Colonel Cutler's flamethrower arm, engulfing two of the ghouls. The monsters shrieked, as the Mr. Gutsy shot them both down with his plasma cannon.
"I think I can trace the transmission's source!" Ilya called, turning my attention back to her, as Colonel Cutler and Leper continued defending the door.
"Good, good," David waved his free hand while advancing towards the door, "Leper, are we clear?"
The ghoul peeked his head outside, looking right, then left, "we're clear, at least, for now.'
"Good. Now, let's move out," David James lead the way, submachinegun held at the ready.
"Don't get in the way," Leper snarled at me, before following.
Colonel Cutler and Ilya followed, leaving only ED-E and me. We both exchanged a look, and began to follow.
David James continued his cautious forward approach. He hadn't sighted any more ghouls yet, but he knew it was bound to happen. Abandoned buildings like these were always chocked full of them. Or robots. Or raiders. Or supermutants.
"David, we're close," David heard Ilya call from behind him.
"Alright," David kept his eyes front, always on alert. One slipup would be fatal, as he'd seen far too many times.
He heard a skittering sound, and raised his left hand, signaling to stop. Slowly, carefully, he advanced forward, into another large, open room.
"Alright, fall in," David waved.
Suddenly, a dozen ghouls leapt out of the shadows, hissing and spitting and snarling. They snapped their teeth, twitching and making frantic breathing sounds.
Davis swung his gun left, then right, sweeping the room, as the ghouls approached. He squeezed the trigger, sending two rounds into one's chest, before firing at the next.
Behind him, however, a ghoul leapt on his back, tearing away at his face.
"Gah!" David cried, firing wildly.
"David!" David heard Leper cry, as the ghoul began firing at the ferals.
Another feral leapt atop David, and then another, ripping away at his flesh. Tearing off his skin, digging their fingers into his innards. A shotgun blast blew one of the ghouls off him.
One of the ghouls grabbed David James by the head, and began yanking, tearing away at it. At that moment, David began to scream and flail, as the monsters covered his body.
"No, David!" I heard Ilya shout, as I saw a ghoul tear the man's head from his shoulders, spraying hot blood across it's legs, and across the lifeless corpse.
Colonel Cutler joined Leper, shooting feral left and right, as Ilya pulled a pistol from her hip and shot down the two ghouls atop David James. She rushed to the body, holding it close.
ED-E, meanwhile, had joined the fray, taking a ghoul out with a well-placed blast to the face, incinerating the creature. I, on the other hand, was still frozen still. It was as though something, someone had taken hold of me, cast some sort of spell.
"Well, that's the last of those fuckers," Leper turned around, and made eye contact with me, "what are you just standing around for, smoothskin? You know how to shoot a gun, pussy?"
"These commie sons of bitches got exactly what they deserved," Colonel Cutler said proudly, "I think our commander would be proud to have died in such a way, in service to our great nation."
"Ilya," Leper knelt by the crying woman," we have to go, he's gone. We need to get the hell out of here."
"He's dead because of us, you know," Ilya snapped, "he wanted to go back, but we insisted to move forward. To find some damn captain, for what?"
"Listen to me, Ilya, use some fucking common sense here. If we don't find that captain now, David will have died in vain. We've come too far now," Leper urged, attempting to pull Ilya to here feet.
My eyes wandered across the room, when I saw him. Captain Jordan Chase himself, leaning against a wall, sitting down, slumped over. Uniform in tatters, badly burning, but still recognizable as the captain. A small transmitter rested in his lap.
"Ilya, Leper, Colonel Cutler!" I shouted excitedly, breaking the somber silence, "I've found him!"
I ran to examine Captain Chase. The Enclave officer, however, had clearly been dead for around a week now. And he had been stripped of his weapon. My eyes narrowed, as confusion began to wash over me. For the captain showed no signs of bite or claw marks. Which meant he hadn't died here. Someone had placed him here.
"So, this was fucking pointless then," Leper loomed over my shoulder, violently yanking the transmitter from the dead man's lap.
The ghoul threw the thing to the floor, before he began stamping on it, repeatedly, until it was no longer recognizable as a transmitter.
Leper looked around, "alright, let's get out of here."
"He deserves a proper burial. He was a good man," Ilya said, still at David's side, "we can't just leave David here, not after all he's done for us, and for Holon."
"Fine, have the new guy carry him. At least that cunt will be fucking good for something," Leper shoved me aside, before making his way to the exit.
I hoisted David James' body up over my shoulder, before Ilya handed me the decapitated head. I probably would've thrown up, but I saw the tears in Ilya's eyes, and knew I had to do this.
ED-E beeped approvingly at my actions.
"Thank you, Scott," Ilya gave a sad half-smile, "I think you'll like Holon."
And with that, I left the body of Jordan Chase behind, along with my life as a soldier of the Enclave. Even if it might delay my mission, these people had saved my life, and I owed them. It was the right thing to do.
So, in silence, aside from Colonel Cutler's remarks about freedom and America, we made our way out of that factory.
X
Captain Jordan Chase had pulled himself around 100 yards away from the vertibirds wreckage, before his strength gave out. He simply couldn't go any further.
In a last, desperate move, Captain Chase pulled his transmitter out from his satchel. It had been damaged, but it was still functional. And so, holding the button to record, Jordan Chase spoke his last words.
Once he finished, he laid back. The captain knew he was going to die. And yet, despite the immense pain, Captain Jordan Chase felt a strange calm wash over him. He didn't care anymore.
Captain Chase was dead by the time Derrick Ransett had tracked the transmission, and found the body. He proceeded to take the damaged plasma pistol from the captain's side.
X
Derrick Ransett began to chuckle to himself, at he dragged Captain Chase's body along behind him, hanging on to the transmitter. Only a mile away, he knew, was a ghoul infested factory. Any good Samaritans who might come looking for the source of the transmission would surely be devoured in the ghoul nest. An absolutely perfect trap.
Derrick Ransett coulnd't wait to meet his next victims.
A/N
So, an obvious reference is made to the small guns and energy weapons skills when Eric refers to Jordan Chase for the first time.
I had to include numerous references to one of my favorite movies, "28 Days Later". This includes where Scott calls out "hello" repeatedly to silence, only to call it out over a mass grave to see several dead beings pop up and being observing him. Also, where Scott grabs a soda and drinks it, then proceeds to fill a plastic bag with sodas.
David James is a reference to the actual actor David James, specifically nodding to his role as Colonel Koobus in the film "District 9". Colonel Koobus dies much the same was as David James.
Now, the first chapter was heavily inspired by the D-Day scene from "Saving Private Ryan". I also included a nod to the special skills, where Jordan chase asks Scott if he "thinks he's special".
Well, I hope you enjoyed. Like I said, this is my first author's note, but I feel it better inserts my voice into the series. Please R&R, any feedback is appreciated!