4

Dawn came faster than Norton had hoped, but he was ready as soon as the sun reached the horizon, spraying gray light upon the post-apocalyptic world. His pack rested on his back, his pistol rode on his left hip, and his Combat Shotgun was cradled in his arms, ready at a second's notice. He had spent the past hour cleaning his guns by firelight and knew they were in top condition.

According to his Pip-Boy, the trip to Paradise Falls would take roughly five hours, if he kept a steady walk. That was exactly what Norton did, keeping to the old highway. There was less chance of an attack on the road, but he didn't let his guard down. There were a number of things that could attack at any second and he wanted to hit them before they hit him.

He had been walking for nearly an hour when he came upon the caravan. The owner was a middle-aged man named Crow. Norton had met the strange man a couple of times and knew his specialty was armor, but he always had a few little tidbits lying around.

"Hello!" Crow called from the road with his free hand. His other hand was leading his old pack Brahmin. "The spirits told me we'd meet!"

"How are you, Crow?" asked Norton.

"I'm doing well." The trader answered. "What about yourself. That leather armor is looking pretty beat-up. What you need is all new combat armor. I just picked it up in Canterbury Commons."

"No thanks, Crow. I was wondering if you had any 10mm or shotgun ammo lying around. Maybe a couple Stimpaks."

"I have six rounds of 10mm and ten shotgun shells. I'll give them to ya for three caps a round."

"Three caps?" Norton asked. "That's a little much, isn't it?"

"No sir! Things are getting expensive up north."

"What's happening up north?"

"I don't know, but prices are going up all over, man!"

Norton paid for the ammo, spending forty-eight caps total. As he was about to say goodbye to Crow, he looked around, feeling something was missing.

"Hey, Crow." He said. "Didn't you always have a guard with you? For a little extra protection?"

"Until about a year ago, yes." Answered the trader. "But one day, a messenger came and offered my guard 100 caps a day to work for a man named Mr. Rhoades as a guard and he up and split! 100 caps! I was only paying him fifteen a day. And from the sound, there are other messengers buying all the mercenaries they can for the same price."

That was odd. Who was this Mr. Rhoades and why did he want so many mercenaries?

"I also heard of messengers going to settlements and recruiting young men and women." Said Crow. "Just like the mercenaries. But of course, it's all rumors."

"Interesting. Thanks, Crow."

"No problem, friend."

The two parted ways, Norton going northwest and Crow heading south, most likely towards Big Town. This new information was important enough for Norton to stop, go to the Notes section on his Pip-Boy and type in "Mr. Rhoades? Why does he want all the mercenaries?"

Norton moved on, trying to decipher the equation in his head. Something was telling him that this was all connected, but he didn't know how. Hopefully, the Brotherhood could shed some light on the whole issue.

He didn't see a single person or creature for three and a half hours after meeting Crow. But, as Norton crested a hill, he looked down to see three dogs standing in a clearing, eating the rotting corpse of a mole rat. He only say them for a second before he that smelt through the afternoon air.

The howling began and the three dogs began running towards him. Blood dripped from their jaws and mud matted there fur. Norton looked. He could see Paradise Falls, maybe twenty minutes away. There was no way he could outrun the hounds for that long. Quickly, he backed off the road, a giant boulder covering his back, and lifted the shotgun.

The first dog leaped through the air and he fired, killing it before it hit the ground. He pivoted and fired at the second, the shot going over its head. The third dog closed it and he sprung to the side, crashing the muzzle of the shotgun down on its head, crushing the skull.

The last dog jumped and Norton wasn't quick enough. Its teeth clenched his forearm, punching through the leather. Norton let out a cry of pain and flung his air. The dog lost its grip and hit the asphalt rolling. Before it was up, Norton fired the shotgun with one hand, spraying its guts all over the road.

Norton leaned the shotgun against the boulder and began going through his pack. He soon found one of his six Stimpaks and began stripping off the top portion of his armor. A Stimpak was a medical device that was a mixture of painkiller and antibiotic in a syringe with a little gauge that showed the amount of medicine left.

Now bare chested, Norton looked at the small puncture wounds in his forearm. Without hesitation, he plunged the needle of the Stimpak directly into the wound and pushed down the plunger. Within seconds the pain faded. Norton then wrapped a piece of cloth around his arm to keep the dirt out of it and put back on his armor. Then, he continued on.

Paradise Falls had been a decent sized strip mall before the Great War, but a fence made of sheet metal, barbed wire, and wrecked cars had been built between most of the buildings, making it a decent fortress. The place had been a common place for slavers to live and store their slaves. A few years back, as the Brotherhood of Steel grew and branched out more, the place was taken over as an outpost.

Norton followed the road directly to the entrance, a simple trail through a gap in the fence that led to the inner gates of the outpost. At first, he was shocked that there was no guards at the gate. Then, he saw the bodies.

The decaying bodies of two young men lay behind the sandbags near the gate. Their Power Armor had been removed and their Laser Rifles lay close by, stripped of ammo. The only thing identifying them as Brotherhood were their holotags around their necks. Both had bullet wounds through their chests.

Norton readied his shotgun and walked down the trail. A few hundred feet down, he found the gates to the outpost, an old railroad car with the doors facing the trail. Another body lay there, this one a woman. She had completely been stripped naked and all of her gear was missing, other than her holotags. Norton opened the doors and stepped into the outpost.

The inside of Paradise Falls of worse. At least twenty bodies lay spread out the grounds, all stripped of gear. Something must have been very powerful to be able to infiltrate a Brotherhood outpost and live. Norton looked over and found that all the bodies were Brotherhood, meaning that none of the attackers had died. These weren't ordinary Raiders.

One of the main buildings in Paradise Falls was named Lock and Load, a place where guns and supplies could be bought. Norton walked into the dusty building and looked around. The place was empty. Every single gun, weapon, and bullet had been taken. In the center of the floor lay another Brotherhood of Steel member. This man, Norton knew

Paladin Glade had been a member of Lyon's Pride, the elite group of soldiers Sarah had run. After Sarah's death, the group was disbanded. Glade, being a Paladin, had most likely taken the job of being in charge of the Paradise Falls outpost. Norton bent down and picked up Glade's holotags. He respected this man, had even fought with him.

That was when the muzzle of a 10mm submachine touched Norton's neck.

"Don't move, asshole." The cold voice said.