Hi guys! Please please forgive my late update. I am sure they need to make another word for how late this actually is but here it is! I hope you enjoy, I really enjoyed 'researching' it again :)
disclaimer: all fallout 3 characters, places and names are the property of Bethesda.
I balanced on the frame of the mast easily, keeping watch as Charon went past me I whispered a word and he shot to the other side, pushing himself against the remains of the hotel room's wall. I sprang back to the hospital wall and pressed my back to it, breathing slowly. I heard a few shouts and used Charon for my viewing glass, as they would not be able to see him from his position.
I looked across into the crumbling ruin opposite the hospital and saw one of the Super mutant Masters lumber towards the remains of a window, arms clutching a mini-gun. I motioned for her to stay put for a minute. So she did one step further, leaning back against the crumbling wall she pulled a nuka-cola from her pack and popped the top. The mutant by the window cocked and ear and turned saying, "I heard something…" it lumbered between the two windows looking down at the ground below. I looked back and she had one arm behind her head and the other was casually holding the bottle, swaying it on her knee as she waited for the signal.
"Ah, it was nothing..." the mutant master said, turning to walk away back through the ruin. I nodded sharply.
She was up and onto the mast within second of my signalling, bottle in one hand, crossbow pointed at the ruins, eyes watching. She walked across the mast's rusted metal like she was walking on air… never having to watch where she was going, until she hopped off the other end and popped the bottle on the end of the mast. She tapped it and it gave a little ring, but by the time the mutant had wandered back, we were far gone.
The lights were a little better in the hotel as I jumped down into the hotel room below, quickly moving across to the door frame. She joined me and moved quickly into the corridor eyes sweeping to the left. Rubble blocked off the right-side of the corridor so we set the pace slowly. We could hear the grunting of the first super mutant through the thin walls and just as we approached the first room, a hole in the wall allowed her to pick him off. Its head rolled away and we kept going.
She held up her hand just before the next stairwell. Unhooking a clip from her belt she reached around the wall and I heard the small click and she pulled back. Seconds later, nothing. She grinned and we moved up the stairs picking the grenade bunch on our way. As we made it to the next landing we stopped at the headless body in the blue mercenary outfit. The box beside it was unmistakable. "Damn… boy got his head blown clean off." I muttered and she nodded sullenly before punching in Reilly's code and hauling out the ammo. We split it between us and moved on. No time for a funeral, but that's how it is. Still, I thought to myself, when I fall, it sure as hell better not be in some godforsaken hotel.
Damn this was a lot of mutants, I'm almost impressed. The bodies were scattered everywhere – it was hard to tell where one ended and another began. The walls were littered with pock-marks and laser burns. Charon took point as I checked each of the bodies for ammo – these rangers wouldn't have had time for everything, not judging by all this carnage.
I came up beside Charon who was crouched by a broken couch and staring intently through the gap in the wall between the rooms. I listened for a second and the heard the footsteps echoeing off the halls. I tapped once; then twice on the sofa arm and Charon nodded. He rolled to the other side of the broken wall and hid. Just as the first mutant stomped past, it took one to the leg and crumpled with a wail which ended seconds after with a shot to the head. I pulled back my arm and readied my crossbow as the other came roaring into the room.
"Show yourself!" It yelled. I almost replied, but my head was faster than my mouth and it had taken two bolts to the neck and heart before I could utter 'behind you' …
I pulled out the bolts and we moved on through the remains of this hall and up another set of stairs and the other side. The door at the top was hanging on its hinges, half-splintered and red slashes painting its face. More bodies up here too. We stopped at the door of the next rooms and took out the roaming centaur before it could spit.
We had almost cleared our way to the last stairwell but something caught my eye to the left. I motioned for Charon to guard and moved off to the left past a double bedroom and into a smaller one in the corner. A skeleton with a crumpled suit lay curled up on the rotting mattress and beneath its fingers laid atop a holotape. I picked it up and set it playing on low.
I moved a little closer to her as she huddling in the small bedroom. I could hear the whining of her pipboy's audio and leaned a little closer to her the words.
My dearest Little Moonbeam. I know you've been waiting to hear what happened to me.
I'm sorry I left you like I did. An important deal came up... one that might have let us get away from that shack we were living in.
I came to the Statesman Hotel to meet the buyer and the deal went bad. We shot each other, and now I think I'm dying.
I won't make it out of this place... the ruins are crawling with super mutants. All I can do is record this and then hide up in one of the rooms.
You're a strong girl and I know you can use everything I taught you to survive alone.
Please forgive me, sweetie. I only wanted to make the best for us. Daddy loves you very much. Goodbye.
The audio played off and I saw her bow her head for a moment. Poor sap, probably didn't know – or was too desperate to take proper care. Who knows out here? It was odd to see her take it like this, but then again how would I know? I tapped her shoulder with the butt of my gun when she hadn't moved and she nodded and picked up the crossbow again.
As she turned to the stairwell the look on her face had lost a little of the lightness I had seen out on the ledge – but the steely look on her face told me this almost got personal..
The two mutants in the foyer before the elevator never knew what hit them as three grenades went flying to their feet. We ducked behind the columns until the smoke had cleared and waited a moment to listen for footfalls. Quiet. We dashed for the elevator and I looked on at the other entrance while she fiddled with the control panel and sharp spark of light and a hiss from her told me it was done before the tap on the shoulder. We stepped inside and took a moment to ammo check before the elevator opened up again outside the old restaurant. We could hear them trudging around from outside the door. She bade me to stay back and slowly slid through the door she had barely pulled open.
There was a flash of light from the crack and then she was back and the shouts of confused super mutants told me she was just playing games with them. She pulled the sniper rifle from her pack and giving me a wink, held the barrel between the door and its frame and fired off three shots. A ringing explosion and the smell of smoke attacked me. If it wasn't for my mostly gone nose – that would'a made my eyes sting.
As it were, she pulled back, eyes squinting into the room. I held the rattle of feet on steps and she dove to my side behind the door as a super mutant overlord came charging through. Oh Bollocks. It ran down the corridor and we quickly ran inside to the chaos of overturned chairs and scattered limbs. Nothing moved in her except the dust in the slits of light. We could hear it cursing in the corridor and had moved onto the balcony and out through the roof door before it could find us.
We turned the corner on the roof as a mutant collapsed in front of us, its limbs falling away. We ran towards the stairs where we could hear the unmistakeable rattle of a minigun sounding off. We breached the top as the last of the mutants fell under the heavy fire and a man in green armour beckoned to us.
As we approached he ran to us. "The name's Butcher, I'm the team medic. It's good to see a friendly face."
"We met Reilly, she made to Underworld and is getting patched up – I came to get you out of here." She said, smiling. The human – Butcher – seemed to let out the breath he had been holding. Damn, that was loyalty right there. "I can fix that elevator – there is no way we are going back that way and while I can think of a quicker way down, you wouldn't exactly like it."
We moved past and while she helped the other human in the stupid combat helmet with the elevator, I gave the others the ammo we picked up. The one with the minigun looked like I had given her the key to life itself.
"Aww HELL yeah." She exclaimed, locking the ammo into place and giving the trigger a few mock tugs.
"It's done. Let's go" We led the way down to the bottom floor and into the lobby. There were more of them down here, there were always more dammit.
I heard the cock of Charon's shotgun behind me and I knew we were in action again. It's going to be hard to top this, I thought as I crouched and led the way out onto the balcony. Super mutants came running from the entrance on all sides and from the moment we stepped out I knew we would lose someone if we didn't keep on top of the tide. I took down the first with a shot from my rifle to the head as he came running towards us. His sledge fell to the ground and I ran forward, grabbing it and swinging it in one swift motion to crush the skull of the next against the railing. I should have been paying attention below me. I heard the whine too late and felt the bite of the Gatling gun against my side and was knocked back. I felt the burning through the hole in my armour and winced. I only just managed to raise my rifle in time to knock back another sledge-swinging mutant.
I heard Charon from the other side of the balcony. "What's the matter? Can't stand the sight of your own blood?!" he yelled. I gave a look and laughed. I knew I wanted him around for a reason. I moved into cover behind an over turned desk and breathed before turning and taking shots at the Gatling totting super mutant master that was making mince out of my shoddy cover. I dove for the central column and moved around it quickly to flank it and pulled out the connector for the gun. It jammed and it swung round with uncanny speed... just in time to face my barrel.
It was the last shot to ring out through the entrance and I knew with a practiced certainty that this blood wasn't going to come out of my hair easily. Charon was by my side as soon as the area was secure and he looked at me sternly. I just shrugged and stretched, which earned me another painful stab to my side. I nodded to the rangers and told them we would meet back at their compound once I had patched myself up.
"What?" I asked as I overturned a chair and leaned back.
"Why do you do that?" He tilted his head.
"Do what?" I replied, pulling back the shirt covering my armour and feeling around the hole.
"Act like you do?"
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean." I opened a bottled of purified water and poured it over the wound, wincing a little and then piling on a wade of mostly-clean cloth.
"You do." He turned and waited until I finally sighed and stood. We walked in silence to the double doors and out to Vernon Square.