Good day to all of you, and welcome back another chapter. Those who have bothered to read any of the story, I kind of took a long time away from writing… or anything for that matter. Finals are over with, my anxiety is now in check, and my straight jacket has been removed. Without further a due, the story continues. The next chapter will be in the POV of Porter Gage. I wanted to give a feel of what I think goes thru his mind from day to day. I know my grammar and spelling will be a bit off, and I apologize about that. If anyone wants to point anything out, let me know. Enjoy, and thank you for any support.
I haven't gotten much of any sleep as in the past few nights. Considering Colter's policy of "let's just sit on ass", the whole damn town had been at each other's throats. The disciples slashing necks in the middle of the night, the operators ripping off anyone that moves and the damn pack fucking acting like damn animals. I knew that one day either this alliance that was formed would end, and all hell would break loose; however, if someone was to kill that son of a bitch looser Colter, perhaps the raider gangs would give the alliance another try. The thing is, I never knew a woman would be the one to deal that loathsome man in his grave.
"Swzztt" I could hear the sound of metal grinding against metal. Banging and power tools. I swear to god, if that is another high pack raider messing around with the workbenches, I'm going to throw that fucker off the damn balcony. Considering I couldn't sleep thru all the damn noise, I had no choice but to get my ass up from bed. Or what can be considered a bed, with just a hard wooden box with cloth on it.
As I walk out to the balcony, I spoke before I could even see who was at the bench. I should have kept my mouth shut before I saw who was making all that noise. "Hey fucker. You mind not just wandering wherever you want, or I'll just toss…" I was interrupted by a woman's' soft angelic voice before I could finish my scolding.
"Hey there Gage. I figured I'd return the favor of you giving me that beautiful rifle by updating your rifle. Seems you haven't really maintained this poor thing lately." The boss was working on the work bench, tinkering with my rifle. The old rusted hunk of junk would malfunction most of the time. I always thought it was just old. "You do know weapons like these need to be cleaned and maintained right?" She spoke to me with a coed grin, but that's not what got me worked up. She wore a white tank top with stains of grease, making it nearly black and brown, and sported a really short shorts that she seemed to fashion out of some random pants she found lying around.
I was barely able to veer my attention back to her working on my rifle. "You got that hunk of junk working again?" I said, wondering how she did it.
"Oh yeah. All you need is some lube, solvent and a few spare parts." She spoke while putting the pieces back together. "Which brings me to something I want to discuss with you." She continued on her work while trying to conceive a wide grin. I was curious to see what she was thinking. Not only the fact that this woman has pretty much made herself at home, messed with my property, but now wanted to 'discuss' things with me?
"What do you have in mind boss?" you remember about the different parks I told you about right? You take those, the rest of the gangs will follow you to anywhere." I spoke back to her, curious if that was what she wanted to discuss, but it wasn't that. What she did want to talk about was intriguing none the less.
"It's about the pack and that ridiculous looking Mason." She said to me, her face developing a serious look about her. I could tell she was deep in thought. A mind like her, I wasn't sure what to expect. "The number of parks are uneven for the number of gangs we have. An alliance like this is not only based on fear and strength, but a type of fairness. What do you think will happen to the gang that gets the short end of the straw? She finished her question while staring directly in my eyes.
"I would have to say that whoever it might be, they'd be pretty pissed off. Probably want to retaliate for being stiffed." I returned her question. Knowing the nature of raiders, I also wondered about this. I assume that she too had dealing with the like of our ill kind. "What do you propose?" I asked the boss.
She stood there for what seemed like a minute before she responded. "We stiff the pack." She turns to me with an emotionless face. Devoid of any feeling. That is, before she told me the rest of what she thought. "We give them very little, but we deny them anything else." She started to sport a grin on her face that made me blush which is pretty hard to do. Here was this strong looking woman, thinking about screwing over an entire raider gang. My kind of lady.
"So… we just keep them in the game for the time being?" I responded while she stood there laughing. "Why the pack? Why not just get rid of them here and now?" I asked the boss why she felt the need to scheme it all, but what she said next made me think.
"What's the fun in that?" her face cold, and ceased the laughter. "I've seen what the pack is capable of. Just a bunch of mutts whimpering to one Alpha. A group like that is dangerous, and I don't want that kind of gang anywhere near me." She started to gather her things off the workbench, and handed me the rife she was working on.
"Now, I'm going to go change out of these grimy cloths, and you and I are going to head out for a little bit." She just pushed the rifle to my chest, and walked inside the building, not bothering to look in my direction. I swear, this gal is confusing in all levels. One moment she's smiling and happy, and the next moment, she's cold and deadpan. Now all I can do is wait.
I look at the rifle the boss handed back to me before she disappeared behind the door. She did amazing work. The grease was replaced with a clear coat of oil, and the dirt removed from the various crevasses among the design. I rack the bolt back, and it rides forward with no resistance. The mechanics of the gun seemed to work flawlessly. I guess she knows her way around cleaning and maintaining weapons. A noble trait I suppose.
After a few minutes of waiting outside and admiring my boss's handy work, I hear the door fly open, and a booted foot sticking out of the entrance. The door caught me off guard, and barley missed my face.
"Well Gage, I suppose it's time for you and I go on a little walk." The boss points at me with her finger with a smile, and she switched into her blue vault suit that was rigged with straps and various pouch compartments. "I think it's going to be a good rest of the day. I'm looking forward to finding what's out there." She looks away from me, and she starts to stare out toward an area that appeared to have abandoned buildings in a form of a small town off in the distance.
"Wait…" I paused to think of the name of that place she was pointing toward. "Are you talking about Bradberton? That town is crawling with feral ghouls. Anyone that goes near that place, is never really heard from again." I spoke to her, trying to sound worried because that place was a terrible way to start things off. I heard of that place. A place crawling with ferals and those who go there, are torn to pieces. A fate I'm not whiling to jump into as of yet.
"Don't worry Gage. You scheme like Loki himself, but don't tell me you lack the spine." The boss glances over toward me, holding the rifle over her shoulder I gave her yesterday as a sign of good will. I still can't figure this gal out. It's almost as if she can be nice and mean at the same time. a perfect match for a group of miscreants like us raiders.
We decided to leave Nuka world a short while ago. The descelant plains just outside the weathered columns of the park made it seem if you were stuck in the Mojave Desert. Not a lot of foliage round, but just enough to make you feel uneased. The short time I spent with my family so many years ago in the NCR wasn't exactly what you would call a 'happy days'. As we made our way out, we came across some blood worms. These damn things creeped me out, but they are easy enough to take care of.
The boss was amazing. One of those little fuckers shot straight out of the ground, and before the thing could even attack her, she dung her bowing knife straight into the plump worm in midair. Shortly after that one attacked, a second one came from my left. I was startled, but quickly got my wits. Before could bring up my rifle to shoot, the boss cranked out a round from her little hand cannon she had, turning the worm into a past of red goo. Those things always attack in groups, and I knew that more would be on their way. The boss and I had to get to more solid ground so those things wouldn't keep harassing us for who knows how long.
"Hey boss, we need to head over north." I shouted to her because she seemed so focused on the ground, or at least I think that is what she was focusing on. "We need to head to more solid ground, probably the road will keep those thing off our backs." My voice seemed to snap her out of her transduced state. Her eyes where blank, and I saw a small grin ran across her face as she looked at the mess that was strung along the ground. She nodded in approval, and we headed past one of the parks that I mentioned earlier, Kiddie Kingdom. Its strange contraptions of rides and houses, not many raiders wanted to step foot in there, but I know me and the boss will have to eventually. I could only wonder what the boss was planning. First, talking about getting rid of the pack, and now heading to a well-known place that nobody ventures toward.
"Great!" I spoke to myself as the clouds began to give way to a greenish tint, and lighting ripping across the sky. "Looks like a radiation storm is brewing, I think we should rest for a second at that broken down stop over there." I pointed toward a dilapidated gas station that was just along the broken pavement. With the green sky coming in, anyone outside without a respirator would definitely get radiation poisoning.
The boss looked up to the sky, and pulled a gas mask out of a pouch she had slung behind her right hip. I wear, that gal seems to be prepared for anything. As she dons the mask on her face, I made out a tattoo that appeared to be two serpents that are coiled around each other on her wrist. It seemed menacing yet beautiful at the same time. Perhaps I could ask her about it, possibly breaking the silence we've had ever since we left Nuka world.
"Hey boss." I spoke to the woman who sat at a bench just inside the broken down garage in the gas station. She was just sitting on the bench, motionless. "So what's up with that tattoo on your wrist there boss?" As I asked her, she just stared at her hands, open palms toward her face. The tattoo, plain as day now that she moved her sleeve away from her arm. She seemed to hesitate, but responded back to my question.
"You know something there Gage?" she spoke to me while staring at her wrist.
"You ask a lot of questions." She seemed to be upset that I asked her, but I wanted to know. For some reason, I just felt like I had to learn something about her.
I lean against the side of the inside wall, next to a workbench. I lit a cigarette, and I slowly inhaled the smoke. "I don't normally ask people personal shit, but for you, I feel like I have to know." I inhale another drag before continuing. "I find you fascinating is all.
Not normally my style."
"Awe." The boss, looking up at me from her bench. "That's sweet. Honestly Gage. Nobody in two years has bothered to ask anything about me. Well, considering I've secluded myself from everyone in the past two years." She looks at her wrist in question, and begins to make a face of worry. "I honestly don't know. I woke up from my icy tomb after the bombs fell, and next thing I know, I had this etched in my skin." The boss begins to remove her gas mask, and begin to light a cigarette for herself. The fire lights up the dark garage, and she takes a long drag, puffing out a huge plume of smoke. "I looked around for a while, and found a shit ton of old world books. Come to find out, it's a symbol of Loki, the Norse god of trickery and death."
"Wait, Loki?" I was confused because I heard her mention that name before. I wanted to know more, but it sounded like the rad storm had left, and the boss was already getting her stuff together. She slung her backpack behind her back, and picked up her rifle.
"Let's get moving Gage. I want to get that town before night falls. These desolate dunes kind of makes me nervous." She looks at her rifle before walking out of the garage and into the vast wasteland. "And I always get a little trigger happy when I'm nervous." She gave me smile as she began to walk out of the dark and dank garage, with the sun beating on her pale face.
It didn't take us much longer before we entered the limits of Bradberton, and the boss stopped to look at a broken down sign just outside the town. 'Welcome to Bradberton' was written on a stone and steel sign. On the left of the entrance of the town, there was a small house that appeared to have an alter inside, and it seemed to draw attention from my boss. The walls were destroyed inside the house, but as the boss went a little deeper inside, there was a chine sword that was positioned blade down in a pile of smoldering ashes. The boss seemed to act curious with the blade, and she picked up a piece of old wood, throwing it into the smoldering embers underneath the blade. As the debris hit the embers, it lit up bright, and a few stimpacks fell, and they landed near the boss. She and I were startled at first, but she picked up the packs, and then picked the blade out of the fire as well. Apparently, the locals didn't take too kindly to all the commotion, and we heard crumbing and rustling outside.
"Hey boss, when you aren't busy admiring old antiques, I think you and I need to get ourselves ready." I spoke as I brought my rifle from slung on my back, to ready in both my hands. I knew that this is going to get nasty, and I knew that we needed to get out of the area. My heart began to race, and my palms began drenched with sweat. Unfortunately for me, my boss thought otherwise, and told me to wait.
"Look Gage, I'm sure you're probably spooked out about this place from its history, but these ferals are as good as dead. I'll show them at Nuka word not to look down on me." She put the Chinese sword, and starts heading out to the street, pulling out her rifle while walking past me.
"Wait…" it starts to don on me why she decided to come all this ay. "You went to this place to make a name for yourself? Couldn't there have been a better way?" I asked her, and I was answered from her with just a grin and a wink. Her smile reminded me of this one cray old guy. The way his face looked at me when he was finishing my gang off. A twisted and sadistic grin that makes your blood run ice cold. In the end, he spared me for some reason, but the image of the mans' grin is forever etched within my mind.
I watched her as she stood out in the middle of the street in town. I heard the crackling and rumbling of the ghouls who didn't sound that far away. The boss just stood there. Her jet black rustling and twirling in the wind, her muscular figure standing still as if waiting for oblivion itself. At that moment, a large group of feral ghouls arrived from the far end of town, running straight toward her. She readies herself along with myself. I couldn't let my boss fight by herself now could i?
The feral that came seemed emaciated and weak. The boss fired off two rounds, and fell two of the ferals mid strive. She squeezed of another three rounds, and two others exploded in a slew of blood and gore. Pieces of the two ghouls fell to the ground, and made one of the others trip over it. There were three more ghouls running toward us, and the boss brought a grenade from one of her pouches, threw it toward the grouped ferals. The explosion forced the remaining three ghouls to bust from limb from limb. Arms and legs flew all around, and one of their heads landed at the boss's feet. She broke out in a laughter, and I could only wonder why she would be laughing at a time like this. Her joy was cut short though because shortly after the sound of the blast, we were met with more sounds of screeching and shambling of those putrid ghouls.
"Boss! Looks like we have more of those freak shows." I shouted to her as she took off in sprint toward what looked like an old general store. She was reloading her rifle while she ran, but oddly enough at this, it was nice seeing the view of her running.
"I know that Gage, and stop looking at my ass would you." She yelled out as she ran toward the broken down building before the sounds got closer. Just as soon as I followed her inside, she turned and pointed her rifle toward me.
"Get down!" the boss shouted as she squeezed off a round nearly grazing my left ear. The round split apart the skull of a feral ghoul ravager.
The ghouls' metal chest plate made a clank noise as it hit the ground with a wet plop of its body. I breathed a sigh of relief, but the boss brought me back to reality as two more ravagers came in thru the door way. I turned quick to see one of them arm's length away from me, so I brought my rifle up and pumped the nasty thing full of rounds. The ghoul fell hard, but the second jump at me in a bum rush. It swatted my rifle away from me, and was about to strike again as it quickly got up off its side. It thought for sure the nasty fellow would knock my head clean off, but before it can follow thru with its attack, its head was severed off in a flash.
The body of the radioactive mutant fell to the wooden ground with a thud, headless nonetheless. The boss stood next to me, Chinese blade in hand dripping with the red ichor of feral blood. I looked up at her, and her eyes were vid of any color. It was as if she was high on something.
"This isn't over yet Gage." The boss spoke as she stared outside, constantly scanning with her eyes. "Well well, I haven't seen those fat beauties in a while." She pointed with the sword she found toward the end of the broken street. A fat andhusky charred feral ghoul was wondering aimlessly around the corner. "Last time I saw one of them, I was in the middle of the Glowing Sea". As if on que, the ghoul looked over and spotted us. With a loud screech, he and three other lesser ghouls came storming toward the both of us.
I picked up and readied my rifle, and the boss followed suite. We both fired off rounds, destroying tow of the lesser ghouls and blowing the head off the third. Casings flew past my face, and the heat from the barrel gave off a mirage of heat. The big guy kept careening toward us, and the boss stepped back further inside the store. I followed her lead, and the ghoul broke thru one of the busted out windows.
The grotesque ghoul lunged toward the boss, but she refrained from moving. She just stood there, dropped the rifle by her side, and brought out her Chinese sword. She seemed calm as could be, and as soon as the hulking ghoul was on top of her, she quickly sidestepped. As she stepped, she swung her blade with a flash, severing thru the meat and bone of the ghouls' right leg. Greenish red blood sprayed in all directions, and the ghoul fell down onto the dirty floor with a thud.
"See Gage, no matter how large or strong one can get, you can never win when someone knows your weakness." The boss stared at the withering ghoul as he laid there, unable to move in any direction. "You must never let those who are under you see you weak. At least I took this big guy out after I took the weaker ones. A fate that all things face." She spoke as she positioned herself next to the ghouls' head, slowly bringing out her blade she found earlier. She brought the sword up above her head, and came down with a swiftness like a bullet, severing the head from the monstrous body below her. The head rolled toward where I stood, and saw the bloated face, contorted in pain and grief. I just stepped on the head with a grin.
"I overhead one of the merchants talking about this place. That not even the raiders here would go near this place." The boss started speaking to me while looking over at me. "I figured if I'm going to start somewhere to show these gangs who the boss really is, I might as well show it outside the petty game you called 'the gauntlet'." She put her blade back inside her backpack that she slung off her shoulder, and brought her hands to her hips. She began to look curiously at me, as if she was trying to figure out what I was thinking of all of this. She didn't have to think hard.
"Well, you are the boss after all. I think that…"
"That's another thing." The boss cut me off before I could even finish. Something I think she will do a lot of. "I know the other gang leaders don't like you, but nobody schemes to have someone else in charge. You can see how… suspicious that may look." She kept one hand on her hip, and another hand dangled close to her side pouch that housed her .44 magnum. "Tell me Gage, what am I thinking right now?"
"You are probably looking for a reason not to kill, and in all honesty, I don't really have a good excuse." I responded with candor, not really wishing it was about to end. I look straight into her eyes. In them, I see deep malice and dis trust. "I've been from one raider gang to the next for nearly all my life. I've seen powerful gangs fall just because of the sheer incompetence of its leaders. Hell, I've almost led a gang myself." Remembering that kind of gave me the giggles. The crap me and the gang went thru in the past, but I had to digress.
"Look boss. I may be smart and everything, but not lot of people look up to me. I'm not strong nor that crazy. You see to have it all. I'd rather be beneath someone who will take me to greatness, rather than I lead people to their doom. Just saying." I didn't know what else I could say to the woman rather than that. Sure, she may be dame to kill for, but I think he is what Nuka world needs right now.
"Well Gage. So you think I'm not only crazy, but you think I'm strong?" she stared at me for what seemed like forever before she broke out a wide grin. Something I myself was not expecting. "Gage, I must say that you are by far the most amusing raider ive ever come across. That why I like you." She dropped her hand to her side that was poised over the pistol, and proceeded to walk out the general store. She gave me smile and a wink as she turned the corner. I supposed I not only dodged a large group of feral ghouls, I also avoided being killed by the best looking raider ive ever laid eyes on. Wouldn't have been a bad way to go if ou ask me.