Chapter 4: Brotherly Love
Adversity introduces a man to himself
Gary's eyes flickered as he tried to get up. The light blinded him as it poured into his vision. He couldn't really see, everything was blurry to him. All he could do was wince as he tried to sit up, but his whole body ached.
"Ah crap..." He laid his head back down; he was on a bed, but where? Gary rubbed his eyes viciously, desperately trying to get his vision back. Everything was still fairly blurry, but now he saw a figure approach him in the darkened room he was in.
"Stop what you're doing there, it'll only make it worse." The voice was familiar... The doctor he met before.
"I know, I know, but what the hell is going on?" Gary demanded.
"You really don't remember anything?" A new voice, Lucas Simms. Gary put his hand to his head, trying to concentrate. His head swam; nothing seemed to flow properly together.
"I... I really have no idea." His vision finally started to come though, he was in the clinic in Megaton, he knew that much. "And how long have I been out?"
"As expected, seeing as what happened to you. And you have been asleep for around a day, it around eleven in the morning." The doctor said. Gary was taken aback, a whole day? Slowly, Gary slid up on the bed, sitting up with his back propped against the pillow.
"What happened to me?" Gary started raising his voice. He looked around, his eyes widened. "Wait where is my brother?"
Lucas Simms sighed and sat next to Gary on the bed. Gary got a good look at the man; he had a black eye and bandages on his body, what the hell happened? "Here, let me tell you what happened. Yesterday morning you and your brother left Megaton for Springvale elementary school. You two said you were going to clear out the raiders that were located there." As Simms was talking, Gary assumed the worst for his brother. Why the hell would they do that?
"At around noon," Lucas carried on," The two of you showed up again. You had a wild look in your eye, and your brother ran off somewhere. You gave me this device," Lucas withdrew a metallic object. It was a fusion pulse charge for…
"Oh Christ. Please God no." Gary said, he remembered what happened. He remembered it all...
"Slow down, son. Just take a deep breath and calm down."
"Just listen to me!" Gary threw up his hands in the air. "That device! The one I just handed to you? It's made to rig the nuke. It is a pre-war design made for a nuclear warhead if it doesn't go off. All you have to do is place it on the bomb and press a button! Then kaboom! You're dead!"
Lucas Simms understood the gravity of the situation. "Now tell me again, where did you get this?"
"I took it from my brother when he wasn't looking. He said he got it from a Mr. Burke, who promised him cash if he took Megaton off the map."
Lucas Simms withdrew the assault rifle that he had on his back. "I never liked the looks of him. It appears that we're going to have a chat with Mr. Burke. Come with me, I'm going to show you some Wasteland justice."
Gary ran along Lucas Simms as they made their way towards Moriarty's Saloon. Gary didn't know what to expect. What the hell was going on with Oliver? What made him think that money justified the death of so many innocents? Gary just hoped that he didn't show up when they confronted Burke, and if he did... Well he just hoped his brother wouldn't do anything irrational.
The two men were outside the bar, Simms turned to the eldest North brother. "Have that shotgun of yours in hand, I hope it won't come to that, but it is better to be safe then sorry. We have no idea what he will do."
Gary nodded his head and withdrew his shotgun, "You got it." As the two entered the bar, the atmosphere immediately changed. The air was now thick, and there was an eerie silence. Lucas took the lead and walked to Burke in the corner of the saloon.
"Burke," Simms barked. Mr. Burke lifted his head and placed down his glass of wine. "What is your business here in Megaton?"
"Surely if it is my business, it doesn't concern you, sheriff. Besides, I am just a simple business man."
"Well then what the hell does this mean to you?" Lucas Simms took out the piece of hardware for the bomb. Burke made no indication that his plan had failed, he remained completely calm.
"It appears you have found some pre-war technology there, sheriff."
"Don't play dumb with me, Burke. You intended to blow up Megaton! Are you out of you God-dammed mind?"
"Ah sheriff, it appears there been a bit of a," Burke glared at Gary," miscommunication."
At that moment, the door to the bar opened. "What the hell is going on here?" Cold sweat started forming on the back of Gary's neck, Oliver was here.
"Oh crap." Gary muttered.
"Gary, what the fuck are you doing?" Oliver walked up to his brother.
"Oliver, what you wanted to do is wrong, I'm not willing to blow up a city for a couple hundred Godforsaken caps."
"No, this is wrong, this is stupid!" Oliver shouted. In the corner of the room, Burke snickered.
"Perhaps something can be worked out?" Burke stated calmly. The way he worded this was more of a command more so then a question.
"No way," Lucas Simms spoke up. "You're coming with me, that's that. Now get up."
Burke's entire demeanor changed quickly. "Why must you knuckle draggers always insist on doing things the hard way?" he looked at Oliver. "Fine sheriff, I will humor you." Burke stood up, Lucas waved him on as he proceeded to walk out the door first.
Then Burke withdrew a pistol from his suit coat.
"No!" Gary prepared his shotgun, and aimed at Burke's head. A burst of pain erupted in his left arm, causing him to lose aim of Burke's head and instead aim towards his hands. Gary pulled the trigger; blood seeped onto the floor as Burke shouted in agony as his left hand was literally blown off his arm. He grabbed his stump of an arm and held it close to him.
Gary faced the direction of the pain in his left arm. His eyes widened as he saw that Oliver, his brother, had stabbed him in the arm with a switchblade.
"What the fuck!" Gary shouted. He swung his shotgun around and delivered the butt of the gun straight to his brother's face. A sickening crack was heard, blood poured from Oliver's now broken nose.
He stumbled into Lucas Simms, who turned around just as the shotgun blast had gone off. Simms went to grab Oliver with his free hand, but Oliver stabbed Simms' hand with his knife. Simms quickly reeled back his hand, but Oliver didn't let up, he delivered a kick to Lucas' stomach and an elbow to his face, which sent the sheriff over the bar counter.
Gary saw Burke make a run for the door, just as Gary was about to follow him, Oliver tackled him to the ground.
"Get the fuck off me!" Gary shouted. Despite the fact that Oliver had the advantage of being on top, Gary still was able to deliver a strong right hook the connected with Oliver's jaw. Gary got his leg free and kicked his brother off of him.
Oliver rubbed his jaw and stood up. "You couldn't just go with the God-damned plan could you? Let your morals get in the way yet again."
"You're psychotic, you know that?" This time, Gary charged at his brother. Oliver was ready; he lashed out at Gary, who ran right into the attack.
Gary moved back and placed his hand on the bar to recover. Oliver didn't let up though; he pulled his brother towards him and delivered an elbow to the side of his face. Gary ran his back straight into the bar; he pulled himself up and kicked out, making contact with Oliver's chest.
Now on the offensive, Gary tackled his brother once again just as Oliver spit up a combination of saliva and blood. Gary kept driving forward; Oliver planted his feet down but couldn't stop his older brother from pushing. They were out of the bar, and they quickly fell as the two broke through the barricade on the walkway. Oliver grunted as his back slammed into the roof of the building under them. The shanty roof quickly gave way due to the combined weight of the brothers, causing them to fall into the building below.
As the two landed, Gary, still on top, proceeded to pound his brother's face repeatedly. His fists started to ache as he continually battered Oliver. Blood poured from Oliver's mouth and nose, getting caked in the hair of his goatee.
Gary gradually stopped. Looking at the person he once called brother, he realized he couldn't kill him, he had done enough. Gary stood up and walked away from the unconscious form of his twin.
He didn't know where they were exactly; it appeared to be some place of worship though. Gary leaned up against a railing that overlooked rows upon rows of benches facing a podium. He soon realized he was bleeding; he spit out the blood onto the floor and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
"We weren't finished." Gary's eyes widened as his brother's voice came from behind him. He didn't have the opportunity to turn around as he was thrown from the ledge by his brother. His side made direct contact with a bench as he landed on the ground floor. In pain, Gary rolled on the ground gripping his side. He believed he may have shattered a rib on the way down.
"Look out below," Oliver shouted. He jumped off the second floor to the first and landed right on Gary's stomach. Gary spit up blood and shouted in agony as his brother once again stomped his stomach.
"Too bad you're not gonna see dad," Oliver said. He kicked Gary in the head. Gary's vision swam; he was on the verge of blacking out.
"I guess I'll have to make up some kind of explanation." Oliver grabbed his brother by the collar of his jumpsuit and pulled him close to his face.
"Explain this to him." Gary muttered. The eldest North brother spit in his brother's eye and withdrew his combat knife. With his free hand, he grabbed Oliver by the neck. Gary dragged the blade down his brother's face from his left temple, down his nose, and stopping after cutting his lip.
Oliver fell over howling, he rolled on the ground holding his face as blood poured on his hands. Gary propped himself on his elbow, his vision was still blurry. Using the help of a bench, he started getting up.
"You brought this upon yourself, you know that right?" Gary said over the shrieks of his brother. Now standing, he limped over to his brother and withdrew his pistol.
"I'm so sorry, brother. I'm sorry." Then came noise and pain. The doors to the church busted open. A single figure stood in the doorway. A series of shots rang out, catching Gary twice in the right shoulder. He dropped his pistol and fell to the ground. The figure, a male, came up to Gary and smashed the assault rifle butt into Gary's forehead, knocking him unconscious.
"I would have been dead if it wasn't for you, Gary, and I thank you for that." Lucas Simms said. Gary wasn't paying attention though; his mind was still racing with thoughts of Oliver and the fight.
"Do you know who it was that shot me?" Gary asked.
"That was Jericho, an ex raider."
"Ah, I had the pleasure of meeting him before." Gary rubbed his shoulder where he was shot. "Why didn't he kill me?"
Simms actually seemed proud for a moment, "The people of Megaton raised arms against the two of them, and they didn't have the opportunity to kill you."
"Did Burke get away?"
"He ran off with your brother and Jericho to God only knows where. Luckily for us, with that wound you inflicted on him he won't survive for very long."
"Yea... Lucky for us..." Gary said emotionless. He still couldn't believe what had happened. His brother had turned on him; they had nearly killed each other. Lucas Simms placed his hand on Gary's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry son, you did good, really good. Your brother made his choice and you made yours, and now you are always welcome here."
"Thanks, sheriff, it means a lot." Gary placed his hand on Lucas' shoulder and used him to support himself as he stood. The doctor nearly tackled Gary to force him back down, but Gary waved him off. He stood up and stretched. "I can't stay in this bed, I have things to take care of, and I still need to find my dad." Gary turned to Simms. "Do you know where Galaxy News Radio is?"
"Gary, that's in the middle of the DC ruins, which is not a place you want to go. In your condition you would be torn to shreds."
"Give me some credit will ya, sheriff? I could handle myself against a few raiders."
"That's the thing, there aren't raiders, there are super-mutants." Gary couldn't help but smile and raise an eyebrow, super mutants? Sounded like some kind of cheesy movie monster. Lucas raised a finger to Gary, "You may laugh now, but you would find out soon enough that they are not to be messed with."
Gary held up his hands as if to surrender, "Alright, alright, I won't mess with them. Could I get a map or something for the safest possible route?"
"Better yet, I could get you a caravan. Well not me personally, but Billy can. He handles the trade caravans around here. He could possibly arrange for you to go with one."
Gary nearly jumped with excitement; this was actually going to happen! He was going to find his dad! "Alright, but before I leave, there are a few things I need to finish here first." Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Such as disarm your nuke."
Gary walked over to a table holding all of his gear. He put on his jumpsuit and started strapping on the leather protection. As he placed his various weapons on his belt and over his shoulder, Gary leaned over to the doctor.
"Hey doc, how much to I owe you?"
"You've already been paid for," and with that, the doctor left the room. Gary looked at Lucas, who simply smiled.
"Lucas you didn't have..."
"Yes I did, kid. Chances are I would be dead if it wasn't for you, so it was the least I could do." Gary threw on his backpack and thanked Lucas. He exited the clinic and proceeded to finish his errands, his dad waited at Galaxy News.
After escaping from Megaton, Oliver, Burke, and Jericho headed south-west. Oliver bandaged himself up while Jericho wrapped Burke's still bleeding stump of an arm.
"Listen, I'm sorry, I didn't expect my brother to..." Oliver began as he injected himself with a stimpack.
"To out smart you? To nearly kill both you and I? You failed me, and now you will repay me for your failure." Burke shouted, he threw a used stimpack to the ground and walked off ahead of the two. Oliver made a fist, his lip twitched, but he cooled down.
Jericho lit up a cigarette and puffed smoke from his mouth. "'The fuck we goin'?" He grumbled.
"Due to his failure, I need medical treatment. We are going to Fort Bannister." Jericho raised an eyebrow to Burke's response.
Oliver turned to Jericho. "You've heard of the place?"
"They claim dat's where Talon Company holds up."
"Talon Company?" Oliver asked.
Jericho merely laughed at Oliver's question. Before responding, he coughed heavily. "Fuckin' ignorant Vault-kid, you'll meet 'em soon enough."
"Watch what you fuckin' say to me, Jericho." Oliver snapped back, he raised a finger to Jericho's face, who simply slapped it out of the way.
"You think that just cuz you gave me some caps that I'll bend over for ya? Ya just gave me a reason to get back out in this shit-hole, and don't forget it." Jericho said; he took a heavy drag from his cigarette.
The rest of the walk to Fort Bannister was silent, expect from Jericho, who sounded as if he was going to cough up a lung every couple minutes. Oliver ran his hand over his broken nose, it was completely shifted. He went over the bandage he put over his face from the knife wound. He couldn't believe that his face was going to look like this…
The three men arrived at the Fort's walls, looking up, Oliver noticed guards in towers holding assault rifles pointing in their direction. "Put down your damned firearms and open the gates!" Burke shouted. The men immediately realized who Burke was and they scrambled into action. The guards started barking orders to men the ground, the gates to the Fort squeaked as two men unlocked the gate and pulled it open. The two mercenaries closed the gates as soon as the three wanderers entered the fort.
Oliver examined the area; everyone was wearing the same exact outfit, black body armor that had a white emblem, a talon, on it. Debris of larger buildings stood in the area surrounded by tents. Burke made haste for one of the tents, Oliver and Jericho followed closely behind.
"Ah Mr. Burke, what brings you here?" an almost emotionless voice asked. Oliver turned his attention to a mercenary now standing in front Mr. Burke. It was a white male, he had clean cut blond hair, his stature was athletic, and he stood eye to eye with Oliver. The most noteworthy feature of this man was the large sniper rifle on his back.
"I have no time for this Constantine, I must see the doctor." Burke carried on, moving past the mercenary.
"God helps those who help themselves, Mr. Burke." Constantine replied, following Burke. Oliver noticed something about this Constantine character, his voice was cool and suave, similar to Burke's before this whole situation.
"I have no need for your religious nonsense, Constantine." Constantine walked ahead of Burke for a moment as they entered a tent. The merc opened up a man hole and motioned for the men to head in. As Burke went down the ladder, he carried on, "There is no God and this wasteland should prove it."
The four men proceeded down a hall and down a flight of stairs. Everything in the under ground facility was made of metal and there was a mercenary at every corner. "Your lack of faith truly disturbs me, Burke. You should know that everyone..."
"Religion is nothing but the product of the foolhardy." Burke quickly snapped back. "You are a mercenary; your God would never forgive you even if he existed." The men stopped at a metal door, to which Constantine hit the switch to. As it opened, the stench of death swept out into the hall. Oliver felt the contents of his stomach rise up into his throat due to the smell. He was clearly the only one affected by it because the other three walked into the room with ease. Shaking his head vigorously, Oliver walked in last.
Inside the room was an incinerator with a pile of bodies in the corner. Towards the front were several operating tables, each with various amounts of blood. A man with military fatigues and a blood stained doctor's coat stood in front of a table with various medical devices. As the door closed the man jumped, when turning around he was surprised to find people in the room.
"Ah, ah welcome. Mr. Burke! What happened to you?" the man wore glass that appeared to be too large for his head. He was skittish in his movements.
"A minor set back, I need you to replace my hand." Burke said as he came closer to the doctor. The man was taken aback with surprise.
"B-but sir, I haven't perfected the robotic limbs yet. I do not know if it can be properly spliced..."
"We do not have time, just do it." The doctor ran to Burke's side and removed his bloody suit jacket. Before shooing Constantine, Oliver, and Jericho out, Burke shouted something.
"Get me Jabsco!"
"Ah Christ." Jericho muttered.
"Know him?" Oliver asked.
"Kind of, I heard of him before I retired, he thought he was hot shit." Constantine cringed slightly when Jericho swore, but carried on.
"Sounds like the commander. I'm not going to get him quite yet, the procedure should take a while and he hates waiting. What brought about your partnership with Burke?"
"None on your fuckin' business." Oliver stated, once again Constantine closed his eyes and shuttered.
"As you wish." Constantine made a motion with his hands as if to take a bow and he left. Oliver and Jericho glanced at each other the mercenary walked out.
"That guy seem a bit odd to you?" Oliver asked.
"Wasn't a normal merc, at least by the wasteland's standards. Religious? And cringing like a pussy? No fuckin way is he a real merc." Jericho replied.
Oliver didn't respond, he simply thought. He tried to play through what had happened earlier this day in his head. How did Gary get that detonation device? They cleared out the raiders in the school... Then they took a break where Oliver suggested the idea of blowing up Megaton... then he went to find a Nuka-Cola...
"Sonova bitch." He muttered. He left his backpack with his brother when he went to find pop. How was he so fuckin' stupid? He might as well have handed the device over himself. One thing he knew, Gary would pay. He certainly didn't care that they were brothers, that didn't matter any more. He scarred him and ruined what could have been a successful future. All he had to do was decide if he was to find Gary first or his dad. Then again... he wondered what Burke had in mind for him.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the door to the clinic/morgue opened. Oliver was the first to walk in, Jericho followed closely behind. Burke was sitting on an operating table, holding his new hand. Essentially the new left hand just looked like a claw with three large pinchers.
The doctor looked up as the men entered. "Am I to fix him up as well?" he said, motioning to Oliver.
"He is to learn the price of failure." Burke said; his voice was calm yet again. He stood up and put his suit jacket back on. Without staying further on the subject, he asked "Where is Jabsco?"
"Right here Burke." Oliver turned to a man now entering the clinic. He was a large man wearing metal armor that had spikes on the shoulders. A large combat knife was noticeably placed on his hip. "Now would you care to explain why you showed up to my fort uninvited?"
"I come here with business. Business I know you could accomplish. There is a new… inconvenience running about the Capital Wasteland. His name is Gary North. I want him dead."
Jabsco snickered and rubbed his chin. "You are aware of the fact that having my men search for this man will cost caps correct? A lot of caps?"
"I am fully aware of the cost of this, and I am willing to pay the bill when I see his head on a silver platter."
Oliver turned to Burke, interrupting the conversation. "Let me kill him, I'll do it for free."
Burke's expression turned sour quickly, "You had your chance and you blew it, I have other plans for you as it is." He turned his attention back to Jabsco. "I want your best men on this job, he may seem incapable of fighting but you will find out otherwise."
Jabsco looked at Constantine who had just entered the room. "You hear that Constantine?" The mercenary simply nodded in response to the Commander. "I'm placing you on the clean-up squad."
"Sir, we are going to need to first gather intelligence on the target before going for the assassination."
"I will make you job easier." Burke started. "North looks like this one." He said pointing to Oliver. "They are twins, erase the scars and bandages and you have the target."
Jabsco laughed in response to Burke's comment. He leaned towards Oliver. "Your brother really did a number on ya didn't he? I think we just learned who was the tougher of the two didn't we boys?"
"Shut you fuckin' mouth before I close it for you." Oliver said without thinking. Constantine looked away, as if he already knew what to expect next. Jericho slowly went for his assault rifle on his back, expecting a fight. Jabsco looked at Oliver, flabbergasted.
Oliver had no time to react as Jabsco pounced on him and shoved his combat knife in his face. "I'll gut you, kid. Don't forget it, alright?"
Before Oliver responded, Burke spoke up. "Gentlemen let us all settle down, we all want the same thing, the death of Gary North. Did God ever say the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Burke directed the last part to Constantine, who completely ignored the comment.
After several minutes, Burke, Jericho, and Oliver left Fort Bannister and headed to their next destination. The contract was set, and mercenaries were already sent out to kill Gary. Burke led the group south-west from their current location.
As they marched on, Oliver noticed a large tower in the distance. "What's that?" Oliver wondered aloud.
"Tenpenny Tower, the crown jewel of the Capital Wasteland." Burke said. Oliver looked back at the building; it had to be the tallest thing he had ever seen in his entire life.
"Why the 'ell are we goin somewhere so ritzy?" Jericho asked.
"This is my… base of operations if you will. If it doesn't suit you, you do not have to stay."
"So does that mean we'll be stayin' here?" Oliver butted in. The sun was starting to set and they would need somewhere to rest for the night. To Oliver, staying in some kind of ritzy tower sounded like something he deserved.
"No," Burke simply said. Oliver stared at him, murderous intent in his eyes.
"What the fuck do you mean no? You want us to stay out here?" They were now right in front of the tower's entrance. A rusted metal door appeared to be the only entrance to the tower, which was set up like a compound. A large concrete wall surrounded the entire perimeter of Tenpenny Tower.
"In a sense, yes, you are to stay out here until you complete a task for me. You failed me once so now you must redeem yourself." Burke said. The door slid open and Burke walked in, it immediately shut behind him. There were bars allowing one to see from both sides, which Burke looked through. "You must eliminate a nuisance of mine."
Oliver crossed his arms. "I'm listening."
"Good. Roy Philips is a ghoul who has been attempting to enter Tenpenny Tower for quite some time now. The residents of Tenpenny Tower shall not tainted by having this scum in our confines. I want him and his companions dead, and I need proof."
Oliver had nothing against ghouls, but as far as he was concerned, they stood in between him and his own goals. "Where do we find these ghouls?"
"Ah, I like your eagerness. Head west and you will find the Warrington train yard. My intel states that Philips has been seen there many a time. Happy hunting." Burke tipped his hat with his new mechanical hand, as if to remind Oliver why he is doing this, and left for the entrance of the tower. Oliver spit on the ground and started walking west, Jericho trailing behind.
"The wasteland everythin you've been expectin', kid?" Jericho asked.
"Everything and more." Oliver responded. "What do you know about Burke, Jericho?"
"He was always in the corner of Moriarty's, only drank wine, which set off a couple of flags for me. A damn creep if ya ask me." Jericho took out his lighter and cigarette and lit up another cigarette.
"Noted." The two traveled in silence, the crunching of rocks under their boots was the only noise that followed them. As they walked, Oliver's pip-boy crackled to life as the Geiger counter spluttered to life. "Radiation."
"Oh great, I'm gonna grow a fourth arm." Jericho muttered. Olive snickered and shook his head to Jericho's comment. They appeared to be at the train yard, seeing as there was a single train car parked on rails. Oliver withdrew his sword and laser pistol and marched ahead of Jericho. He came about a door; he turned and nodded to Jericho in silence, then entered.
The hallway's walls were chipping, and tiles on the floor were turned over. A skeleton decorated the floor to the left, along with two assault rifle clips and an assault rifle. Oliver quickly rushed ahead and scooped the two magazines up and placed them on his belt. He picked up the assault rifle and examined it, it was different from the one that Jericho had.
"American made, piece of shit compared to the Chinese model." Jericho spoke up. Oliver ignored him, a gun killed things, and an assault rifle just killed things faster. Oliver put away his other weapons and carried his new assault rifle. He headed through another door, which led to the train tracks. Using the tracks as his guide, Oliver walked along side them hoping they would lead him to this ghoul.
A shriek caught Oliver by surprise; he frantically looked for the source of the noise. "Ghouls!" Jericho shouted, pointing out in front of him. Oliver finally realized that in the distance, there were scrawny figures running towards them. They looked like ghouls, they were completely devoid of hair, their pupils were pure white, were hunched over, and seemed to be lacking intelligence.
Jericho wasted no time opening fire on the group of ghouls, four in total. One was immediately mowed down from a burst of Jericho's assault rifle. The three remaining ghouls charged at the two men. One was in rags; the other two appeared to have some sort of armor on. Oliver opened up with a burst from his own assault rifle, catching a ghoul in the head, which exploded on contact. The other two were no match for Oliver and Jericho; they were killed in no time at all.
"YEA!" Jericho shouted, as he continued to fire at the corpses of the ghouls. "Forgot how it was out here!" He reloaded his gun and placed it on his back. Oliver simply stared at his companion.
"So what did you say you did before this? You were a raider?" Oliver kept his assault rifle out as he walked. "Got any interesting stories?"
"For another time, kid. We got shit to take care of." Jericho said quickly.
"Not in the sharing mood, Jericho? No stories of rape and pillaging? Mindless slaughter of innocence?"
"Shut the fuck up, kid." Jericho said once again, his voice raising. Oliver squinted his eyes to Jericho and simply shook his head. There was a door to their left, which Oliver opened. Two ghouls were crouched looking at the ground. Since Oliver had the element of surprise, he easily killed the ghouls single-handedly.
"So you said these were ghouls?" Oliver questioned as they walked. "Why do they look different from the other ghouls I've met? Like the bartender at Moriarty's?"
"Do I look like you're fuckin' museum guide here kid? Ya know what, don't answer that ya smart ass. These ghouls are feral. They're a buncha mindless zombies. After a while, all ghouls turn feral, it'sa part of life."
"Well that… sucks." The rest of their traveling was spent in silence, with the occasional gun shot. Oliver was getting bored, ghouls, ghouls, and hey waddaya know? More ghouls. As they entered a new room, something caught his eye; on the Metro wall was an arrow with "The revolution starts here"
"Must be the ghouls." Oliver said, Jericho coughed in response. The two men walked into a large open room; there was a second floor and an escalator leading upstairs.
"Hey! You two!" Came a voice from above. Oliver and Jericho looked up; a ghoul stood there was a sub-machine gun. "If you don't put away your weapons I'll shoot you two!"
"I'm just here to see Roy Philips, he here?" Oliver shouted back.
"Oh is that so? Is he expecting you? Well then, run along. It's not wise to keep Roy waiting. Has a bit of a temper that one. Head through the gate. You watch yourself. "
"Yea I'll keep that in mind." Oliver said. He noticed the gate and walked through it, Jericho trailing behind.
"What's the plan?"
"Gonna get up to this Roy Philips, see the whites of his eyes, kill him and steal his stuff. That's the plan." The two men carried on, heading through corridors until they ended up at what appeared to be a living quarters.
"Roy Philips!" Oliver shouted.
"What do you want?" Came a raspy voice from around the corner. A ghoul in leather armor appeared, his was blue and he had no nose.
Oliver withdrew his sword. "Burke of Tenpenny Tower sends his regards." He jabbed the sword upward into the ghoul's stomach. Philips' eyes widened, he spit up blood that ran down his mouth.
"Fu-fuck you." Philips muttered. Oliver twisted the blade in the ghoul's stomach and pulled it out. Philips crumbled to the ground, holding his wound. A gurgling noise emitted from his mouth as more blood poured out. Oliver twirled the blade in his hands.
"Time to meet your maker." Oliver said as he brought the blade down on Roy's neck. Blood erupted onto the ground; the entire floor was now covered in a sea of red. The head rolled onto ground, the eyes stared up at the ceiling.
It then occurred to Oliver that he had no idea how many ghouls there were in this area, there might have been a dozen people here. His attention was caught when a high pitched, raspy scream came from the right. A female ghoul had entered the room; she obviously saw the corpse of Roy Philips on the ground. Jericho reacted quicker then Oliver, he shot a single bullet in her head and she collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"The hell is goin on here?" A voice from behind, the same ghoul that they met before. Oliver withdrew his 10mm pistol; as soon as the ghoul entered he fired a single round. The ghoul's eye exploded like a bloody grape as the bullet made contact. Oliver blew the smoke from the gun and placed it back on his belt.
"I'll check the next room." Jericho stated. He walked through the doorway that the female ghoul had come through. "Clear!" He shouted back. Oliver picked up a small bag that he saw in the corner. He walked back to Philips' head and shoved it into the bag. Burke would have his proof that the ghouls were dead, and Oliver would have a nice place inside Tenpenny Tower. Oliver simply smiled as he continued to raid the ghouls' quarters.
"Well everything is set on my end." Billy Creel stated triumphantly to Gary. He had arranged a trade caravan to go with Gary to go to Galaxy New Radio. It was around five in the afternoon now. Gary had confronted Leo Stahl about his drug problem, helped Moria Brown, and disarmed a freakin' nuke. A pretty productive day in his eyes. He had a good amount of caps now, and Lucas Simms even gave him the key to a new house for all of his good deeds. Gary was disappointed that he wouldn't be able to use it until he got back though.
"I couldn't thank you enough, Billy. I really appreciate it." Gary said, extending a hand to his new friend. "I believe I'm all set." Gary examined himself, shotgun on back, pistol in its holster, knife on belt. He had a bandolier with plenty of shotgun shells, and a bag full of 10mm pistol mags. His backpack was full of food and medical supplies.
"Well in that case, if you've said your goodbyes, the caravan is waiting outside." Billy stated.
"Lead the way." The two men walked out of Megaton, a group of armed men were near the entrance, standing near the robot that guarded the gates of Megaton.
"Boys! This is Gary North, he's gonna be joinin' you all." Billy raised his voice so everyone could hear.
Gary stepped ahead. "Thanks again for agreeing to take me along with ya." An Asian man walked up to Gary and shook his hand.
"Hey the more the merrier, right? You could call me the Chairman! This is my caravan!" The man wore a large brown jacket with many pockets, he had goggles around his neck, and a pistol on his hip.
Gary couldn't help but smile at the man's name. "The Chairman? Like the communist leader?"
The Chairman laughed, as if no one had ever understood the joke. "It appears that we have an educated one here guys! Yes, when I first started this little caravan of mine I was accused of being a commie, apparently they didn't like my wares. Well I accepted the name with open arms as a kind of joke." He leaned in towards Gary. "To tell you the truth I don't even think I'm Chinese. I'm pretty sure my family comes from Japan."
Gary smiled; this should be an interesting trip. "You could meet the rest of the guys as we go along." Gary nodded in agreement, he was anxious to get going. "Oh before I forget! This is Dogmeat! He serves as our mascot I guess you could say!" The Chairman exclaimed happily, pointing to a dog that was panting near the rest of the men. Upon hearing his name, Dogmeat ran up to Gary and started sniffing him. Gary had never met a dog that hadn't tried to kill him, so he was nervous at first, but slowly eased into the new experience. He crouched down and petted the dog; he wasn't an expert on pre-war dogs, so he had no idea what kind of breed of dog it was. To Gary, it kind of looked like the dogs he saw cops use in Pre-War movies.
"Heterochromia." Gary muttered. Dogmeat's most noticeable feature was the fact that his right eye was brown and his left was blue. Gary stood up and petted the dog once again. "Well we ready?" Gary questioned.
"Yep!" Responded the Chairman, "Let's head out!" The Chairman pointed a finger towards the East and the men started marching. Gary followed behind, he turned around to Billy and waved, Megatons slowly vanished as the group walked off in the distance.
Gary decided to strike up a conversation with the nearest guard of the caravan. He was standing right next the two headed cow with the entirety of the luggage, which Gary found out was called a Brahmin.
"Hey, I'm Gary." Gary stated as he walked alongside the man. The man had tanned skin and black hair; he appeared to be of some Hispanic descent. He was wearing leather armor and had an assault rifle on his back. His hair was cut short to his head, yet he had a single row of hair in the style of a Mohawk. The man simply looked at Gary and remained stone-faced.
"Um… What's your name?"
The man turned to Gary, no emotion was present still. "Pablo Jorge Sanchez Gonzalez Morales the Third."
Gary could only stare at the man, his eyes were wide. "Um… really?" Gary had no idea if the man was serious or not. Pablo Jorge Sanchez Gonzalez Morales the Third cracked a smile and started laughing.
"Nah I'm just having some fun with you man, the name is Carlos, Carlos Vega-Lopez at your service. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Ha, you got me there, I had no idea if you were serious or not." Gary admitted.
"Don't worry; you weren't the first to fall for that." Carlos responded. The two men continued to talk throughout most of their short journey. Gary did most of the talking, explaining his escape from the Vault, looking for his father, and his separation from his brother. The entire group listened closely to his story. Nightfall came upon them as they passed the Super-Duper Mart. They crossed a river on a bridge; Gary's Pip-boy read a good amount of radiation in the river. He wondered if most of the water in the DC area was irradiated.
"We are stopping here for the night; we should be at Galaxy News Radio tomorrow. We could trade with the Brotherhood of Steel and then make our way to Rivet City." The Chairman stated. Gary thought everything sounded Greek, he had no idea what the Brotherhood was or Rivet City.
The men took off their packs and started taking out food. Gary sat next to Carlos and started fishing around his bag for food. He removed a can of beans and took out his combat knife. After sticking the knife into the top of the can, Gary worked the knife around in a circle and opened the can.
"So how many days you been out here kid?" Asked one of the guards, John 'Ace' , as he started making a fire.
"I believe this is my third." The guard whistled in response to Gary.
"Damn, you've gone through hell in those three days haven't ya?"
"I'd say so." John successfully made the fire and took a seat next to Gary. He lit up a cigarette and laid back on his backpack. Gary held his can of beans over the fire and waited for the food to warn up. The metal quickly got hot and Gary and to place the can back down.
"Make it easy on yourself." Carlos spoke up. He offered Gary a cooking pot.
"Thanks, looks like I didn't think of everything." Gary said as he gratefully accepted the pot. He placed the beans on the pot and held it over the fire by the handle. Once the beans were done, Gary poured them back in the can and ate straight out of it.
The group ate their meals and shared stories of the Wastes. 'This is a good group of guys.' Gary thought to himself. They gave him advice on surviving out in the Wasteland. He bought a bandana and a pair of goggles from The Chairman because they said protecting his face from the sun was essential.
"Despite being stylish, goggles also offer a practical side." Carlos joked. "When the wind picks up dirt, it won't get in your eyes. And of course the bandana could be used for multiple purposes."
"Alright, got it." Gary tied the bandana around his head and placed the goggle on his forehead.
"Hey you wanna smoke?" John asked, an unlit cigarette in hand.
"I've never smoked before."
"Well it passes the time, here ya go." Gary accepted the cigarette and placed it in his mouth. John gave him a lighter. Gary lit the cigarette and stared blankly at John.
"Now inhale." Gary did, but a bit too hard. Gary broke out into a coughing fit. The group of men started laughing hysterically at his expense. Gary put the cigarette in between his fingers and looked at the lighter. There was the shape of a playing card symbol, a spade.
"I'm a regular ace at cards; hence my name of course. John 'The Ace'. I etched the spade in for luck." John stated.
"Yea so never play cards with him." called a guard from across the fire.
Gary traced his finger around the shape. "For luck..." Everything was so peaceful, he just stared at the lighter.
Then all hell broke loose.
Dirt started kicking up as the sound of guns filled the air. Several explosions went off and a scream of agony was heard. "Oh fuck! Ambush!" shouted someone. Gary didn't know what was going on, his senses were incredibly distorted and his mind was racing.
"Get up kid!" That was John. He felt a strong hand on his arm pulling him up. As he stood up, Gary pulled his goggles over his eyes. He didn't know exactly where they were being shot from, but Dogmeat ran off and that is where he assumed the assailants were. Another explosion went off, so they had grenades. The pack Brahmin fell over in a pool of its own blood.
"Give 'em hell boys!" Shouted the Chairman over the fire. The only reasonable gun Gary had for range was his pistol so he crouched down behind a boulder and started firing.
"Mierda!" Carlos shouted from behind. Gary turned; the guard's shoulder was bleeding heavily.
"You alright?" Gary shouted back.
"Si a Si, just keep firing at them!" Carlos yelled back. Gary realized that the boulder he was behind didn't give him very good cover, so he had to make a run for it.
"Lay down some covering fire or something! I'm movin!" Gary quickly got up and moved backwards while firing his pistol.
Then a grenade landed at his feet.
"Move!" Suddenly Gary got thrown to the ground; someone was on top of him just as the grenade went off. Gary pushed the person off him, to his horror it was John. Shrapnel had ripped his body apart, metal stuck out of his face. Gary felt like he was going to throw up, but he resisted the urge. He got out from under the corpse and took John's hunting rifle and bandolier.
A shout of pain came out of nowhere, it was the Chairman. 'Oh crap, we are so screwed right now.' Gary thought to himself as he his behind the corpse of the Brahmin.
"Gary! Run! There should be a train station entrance near! Just get out and find your dad!" It was Carlos.
"But what about..." Gary started.
"JUST RUN DAMMIT!" Gary felt like a coward doing it, but he had to, he had to find his dad, and wasn't going to let anything get in his way. Gary got up from his spot, rifle in hand, and started running. He didn't know if the train station was near, but he just had to run.
Over all of the commotion, Gary heard growling. All he could do was hope it was Dogmeat. Gary cautiously carried on. Then he possibly had the best luck he had come by since he came out to the Wasteland. Gary had found the subway entrance and Dogmeat. The canine was hunched over a person, ripping out their throat.
"Good boy!" Gary shouted. Dogmeat turned his attention away from the now dead person and now to Gary. At first he growled, flashing his bloody teeth, but then started waging his tail and panting. Gary ran to he dog and petted him.
"Come on boy, we gotta leave."
Dogmeat seemed to understand because he whimpered and faced the direction of the fight. "I'm sorry boy... your friends are dead. But you have me, we have each other, we'll get out of this together." Gary couldn't help but feel stupid talking to a dog, but it kind of made him feel good knowing he had a companion.
Gary noticed the corpse of the man Dogmeat attacked. The person was a bloody mess; he wore black combat armor and was wielding an assault rifle. Who was this guy? It wasn't a typical raider. Gary stopped thinking about the man, determined to carry on and live.
The North boy and his new dog slowly walked down the stairs to the subway. Not knowing what laid ahead, Gary put the hunting rifle over his shoulder and took out his shotgun. He turned on his Pip-boy light. With Dogmeat at his side, Gary entered the unknown abyss of the subway station.
