Chapter 4: The Doctor
My arms were ready to fall off. Tandi wasn't fat, it's just Garl really kicked my ass. Seeing the outer walls of Shady Sands brought me comfort. I bet it would do the same to Tandi, but her eyes were closed as she rested her head on my shoulder. Ian was having trouble carrying all the loot he took from the raiders and keeping the two former-slave girls walking. I couldn't tell if the gate guard was happy to see me or not, but I could at least tell he was happy to see I had Tandi. "So, what happened?" the guard asked me anxiously. My jaw felt like it was going to fall off. I continued into the town without answering the guard. Ian stopped to talk to the guard for me though.
"The raiders. They're all dead now," Ian said before he continued following me.
I could guess that the largest building in the town must have been her home, her being the town leader's daughter. The aroma of spices soothed my nostrils as soon as I entered the door. It made me hungry, but then reminded me that I was just pounded into a tender piece of meat. A kooky-looking man rushed over to me. He looked at me in awe. "Thank you a million times, vault dweller! You have done a great kindness to this town, and to myself! You are a true hero! You are always welcome here in Shady Sands, vault dweller!" the man rambled on with gratitude. I positioned Tandi upright, and she finally let go of me. My skeleton now felt like it was about to fall apart. I fell right down on my knees.
"Albert, you should stay here for awhile. You look really hurt," Tandi sympathized me. I have to get a water chip, I can't waste time because I'm hurt. The thought of walking hurt my body more. I guess I could spare a night here.
"That'd be lovely, Tandi," I forced myself to say through the pain.
Tandi and her father helped me to my feet. It hurt me more and more as they assisted me to a bed. At least they put me down gently without causing too much pain. Tandi's father left Tandi and me alone. Tandi began to slowly stroke her hand on my head. "I'm sorry you're hurt Albert, but thank you for saving me," Tandi said with disappointment. I put my eyes to hers.
"Why are you disappointed?" I asked in pain. Tandi looked like she was about to cry.
"You're hurt because of me," she said before she started sobbing.
"But you were captured because of me. We're both responsible, so don't worry about it," I spoke passionately. Tandi's eyes stopped watering. Her mouth turned into a smile. I closed my eyes, though my left eye was partially closed this entire time.
I didn't get out of that bed for a week it turned out. Ian had apparently made a small fortune from selling most of the stuff he looted from the raiders. He paid a surprise visit one day. He had a half-smile on his face with his hand behind his back. "Hey bud, I got you something a vault dweller might like. High-tech stuff from before the War. I honestly don't know much about it, but you're the smart one. I got a nice deal on it 'cause the trader was stupider than a Brahmin," Ian said before showing me what he had. I sprung right up out of the bed. I couldn't believe something like this would still be around.
"A Wattz 1000 laser pistol!" I shouted as my hands shot out at it. I examined it in my hands. It's design was like any pistol, same size too. I checked it's power. Full energy cell in it, nice. This made my day. "Thank you, Ian. I think it's time now for us to head to Junktown."
Before I left Tandi's house, I went to say good-bye to her. She stood with her hands folded and arms down. I bowed to her and spoke gratefully, "It's been a pleasure staying here. Thank you very much, Tandi." She looked disappointed.
"Good luck finding a water chip, Albert. Stay safe out there!" Tandi said with enthusiasm. I took one last look at her pretty face before walking out the door. As I walked out the door, I realized that I hadn't left this house in a week. I immediately shielded my eyes. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the sunlight. Ian stared at me in surprise.
"Your eyes that bad, Al?" he asked.
"I lived 25 years of my life without ever seeing the sun. I think you understand that, Ian," I said back. Ian nodded his head, and led the way out of Shady Sands.
As we headed south to Junktown, Ian seemed to be a lot more trusting. I guess it's from helping him put an end to the raiders. I kept thinking about the Desert Ranger, Tycho. His words were still crawling around in my skull. They scared me, but at the same time made me wonder if I should be more careful. Come to think of it, I haven't killed anyone or anything out here in the wasteland yet. Yet? Now I'm thinking that I WILL be killing people out here. I changed my thoughts to something else. Now I was thinking about Ian's stealing from the dead. That still bothered me. Something came to my mind about it actually. I decided to ask Ian about it. In a non-accusing way, I asked, "Ian, you said you don't steal from the living, but you stole from your last caravan before they left you behind. Why was that?" Ian rubbed his neck uncomfortably.
"Yeah, I did…" he started, "It's just…that's life in the wasteland. I mean, I've never stolen from people's homes or anything. Just rival caravans and gang members and people like that. Believe me, it's not a bad thing." I figured that was enough of that topic. I didn't say anything else for the night.
It was in the afternoon of December 30th when we arrived at Junktown. I can see where the name comes from. A giant wall of junked cars surrounded the town, keeping it safe from invaders. I looked up at the brown sky. I noticed that a hazy smoke hovered over the town. There was a large blue cargo box with two sides absent that served as the entrance to the town. A single guard stood in front of it with his weapon holstered. He let us in without saying anything to him. I looked around after walking in, looking at the buildings around us. Most of the buildings were constructed out of sheet metal. I noticed one building that was an old garage had the sign 'Hospital' above it. Maybe I should see how my body is now from my fight with Garl. "Ian, I want to get checked out in the hospital. Wait for me outside." Ian propped himself on the outside wall of the hospital next to the door.
The first thing I saw as I entered the hospital were two armed guards at the door. Seemed like an odd thing for a hospital to have. There was only one other person in here. The man wore a white outfit, that was stained with blood. Either he was a doctor or a butcher. The bright lights emphasized his bald head. His eyes squinted at me, it gave me an uncomfortable feeling. "Lets go, what is it?" he asked me impatiently.
"I was beat pretty hard last week and wanted to see how I'm doing now," I answered. The doctor lifted his head up, as if I got his attention. His eyes opened up wide.
"Well, heh, let me see then. First, pay the 10 cap fee in advance," the doctor demanded, still impatient. Damn, I forgot that Ian had all the caps.
"Oh, let me go get the caps, excuse me for a moment," I said nicely. The doctor smiled, exposing the dirty color of his teeth. He was definitely creepy.
"Hey, why don't I just take you now then? Here, follow me to the cellar," the doctor said friendlier. He opened a heavy manhole on the floor. He pointed at the ladder down, for me to go first.
I didn't want to go now, this doctor scared me. I looked back at the door. One of the guards stood in the way of the door now. He wouldn't let me leave if I tried. The other guard pointed at the manhole. I guess I have no choice. I was hesitant and walked slowly over to the manhole. I didn't take my eyes off of the doctor. I stepped down the ladder still staring at him, but I should've looked at what I was walking into. The smell of fresh blood was overwhelming. The darkness made it impossible to know what was going on. Maybe this doctor is a butcher. I thought of Tycho's words again. I was ready for any surprise. The doctor slid down the ladder. One of the guards closed the manhole after the doctor came down.
A loud motor-powered noise started. I was more prepared than the doctor hoped. I had a flare in my hand. I wasn't going to be blind here, I lit the flare. The flare made the skeletons and human flesh that surrounded me glow. The doctor had a pre-War device in his hand that I recognized. It was a ripper, a motor-powered cutting tool that was similar to a chainsaw. It was smaller than a chainsaw, because it was held in one hand. The cutting blade on it was only a foot long. The teeth of the ripper were colored in fresh red. The teeth were racing up and down on it, eager to tear through something. The doctor was surprised, it stopped him where he was. He was about to cut me with the ripper, he was right in front of me. I took the moment he stopped and jumped on my only chance. I pulled my knife in it's holster, but it was caught. A second pull freed the knife.
The doctor advanced on me now. His ripper made short work of my knife, cutting through the steel like butter. I might have had time to take my laser pistol out, but I panicked. I threw what was left of my knife at the doctor's face. He stumbled backwards, and I launched my hand out at his hand. I was able to force the ripper out of his hand as I kicked him away. The doctor looked like a frightened animal now. He is an animal, killing these people like this. He had his hands up, like he was begging for mercy. This doctor's a murderer, he's deserves no mercy. I looked around the room, seeing all the dead bodies. I brought the ripper up at the doctor's neck, and it's teeth cut right through his neck out through the top of his head.
I stood still for a moment in shock. I had just killed someone. Horribly killed him too. I looked down in disgust at the doctor's face that was no longer on his body. The two pearl-white eyes rolled out of their sockets, with the emerald-green on each staring at me. I couldn't stand the sight, this whole room was filled with the remains of corpses everywhere. One thing caught my attention though, a box that had a kind of logo that said: 'Iguana Bob's.' I wanted to get the hell of there, but I was curious. I opened the box, which make me even more sick. Within the box was bits of human meat. This guy kills people, then disguises their meat as Iguana bits? This fact eased my mind for the moment, but I have to get out of here.
I wondered about the two guards that were up the ladder. I could take them by surprise, easily. Tycho spoke to me though, 'stop being so overconfident.' I changed my plan. I climbed up the ladder and opened the manhole slightly. I saw Ian arguing with the two guards. Ian drew his .223 pistol and shouted, "Tell me where he is or you'll be choking on your own blood!" His pistol was lined up with one of the guards' throat. I decided to spring on the other guard then. I pushed the manhole out of the way and pulled my laser pistol out faster than lightening. A simple squeeze of the trigger sent a red laser out at the guard. The laser struck the guard in the middle of his back. A hole the diameter of a baseball burned in his back. Seeing me do that, Ian made the guard he was aiming at 'choke on his own blood.' The deafening scream of the .223 pistol was actually pleasant to hear.
I thought about the spoils I just got, and could get, here in the hospital. I already had a ripper to replace my knife, and my eyes latched onto a strongbox in the back. The strongbox wasn't strong, just opened right up. Inside was a lovely bag of 3000 caps, as it was labeled. Ian noticed what I was up to. He spoke in a kind of wise-ass tone, "You realize what I said about stealing?" I ignored him. I don't know what just happened to me. I walked out the door of the hospital without talking back to Ian. I wanted to go shopping now.
"Where's a shop around here?" I asked Ian impulsively. Ian started walking further into town.
"Darkwaters General Store is right in the center of the town. It's run by the mayor of Junktown. Come on then," Ian said with his head over his shoulder.
As I followed Ian to the store, I noticed a suspicious-looking man with a rifle on his back. He kept looking around himself, like the bogeyman was after him. He seemed to be following us though. I saw the sign 'Darkwaters' and stopped Ian. "This guy's been following us, we should let him pass by," I whispered to Ian. Ian and I watched the man walk into the store. I guess he was just going to the same place as us. Ian gestured his hand towards the store. I went in first.
As soon as I entered the store, I saw in front of me the man that went in before us with his rifle in his hands. "Gizmo sends his regards!" he yelled. He aimed his rifle at the clerk. He must be an assassin! Before the assassin could pull the trigger, I tackled him to the ground hard. The clerk had a large handgun by then, pointed at us. I knew his intention, so I jumped right up on my feet. The clerk's handgun gave out a wail as it blew the assassin's brains out. Ian walked in the door then. He just stood still looking at the assassin's body. The clerk holstered his handgun and walked out to me. "Well, that's a damn fine thing you've just done for me stranger. Thanks for saving my life," he said with gratitude, "I'm Killian Darkwater, mayor of this fine town. What brings you here besides saving me?"
"I was coming here to shop, but what's that he said about Gizmo? Do you know what that means?" I asked Killian. He squinted and had an angry look on his face.
"He's the owner of the casino that's in town. He's a criminal, and wants me dead. This isn't the best evidence we have here, but maybe you can help me out, help remove the crime here in town. Interested?" Killian asked me.
I thought about it for a minute. Helping the mayor could have some good advantages. What the hell, I'll do it. "Sure, if it helps out the town," I replied anxiously. Killian nodded his head and rubbed his nose.
"Alright, I need you to get a confession out of Gizmo, you know something that can let me lock him out or maybe take him down. Something that proves he's a criminal. I have a tape recorder that's beat to hell, but still works. Just get proof, okay?" Killian asked nicely. He grabbed a tape recorder from behind the counter and handed it to me.
"Okay, where can I find Gizmo?" I questioned.
"Oh yeah, should of told you that. He's in his casino on the north side of town. You should go tonight, 'cause his door ain't always open. Got it?" Killian asked for confirmation. He looked at my jumpsuit then. "And tell you what; you help me out, I'll armor-up your vault suit for free." That sounds like a nice deal.
"You got it, Killian. I'll come back later tonight," I said strong. Ian was already walking out the door before I did.
Now we had to wait until nightfall before heading over to the casino. Ian and I walked around town to kill time. I stopped and bought a real iguana-on-a-stick to eat as we walked. I noticed how Junktown was filled with low-life scum everywhere, drug addicts roamed around freely. When passing one house, I was startled by a man screaming. A man ran over to me and pointed back where he came from. "Get this beast away from me!" he shouted in terror. From behind the corner of the house, walked out a four-legged animal. It walked slowly, certainly not a terrorizing animal as the man made it sound like. The animal looked up at me anxiously. I noticed what it was. It was a dog, an animal that was claimed to be man's best friend back before the war.
I approached the dog without fear. The dog sat down and his tail moved side to side. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and his eyes were attached to my iguana-on-a-stick. I took another bite out of the iguana, and held it in front of the dog. The dog seemed surprised by my actions, and his mouth gladly accepted the rest of the iguana. The dog seemed happy. I rubbed my hands against his blue coat of fur. As I continued to do so, he edged closer to me. Without thinking I said, "Dogmeat," to the dog. His ears shot up and he barked. I guess I have a name for him now. I stood up straight and in a firm voice said, "Come, Dogmeat." Dogmeat barked and stood up. As I walked away with Ian, Dogmeat followed me. I now had another companion out here in the wasteland with me.
