Chapter Three's out now, as you can tell.
I still don't own Fallout 3, yadda yadda, etc. You get it.
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Chapter Three
We Love Bombs!
After an hour of walking, we arrived at Megaton. We would've gone faster, but we were carrying sack-fulls of stuff, and Fell was limping from the bite.
Stupid dog. I thought. The gates opened, and we hurried in.
I turned to Fell. "You want to eat first, or get rid of this load?"
She rolled her eyes. "We're going to Moria's first. Then food. C'mon." She turned to the right, and almost walked right into the Sheriff.
I nodded to him, and Fell waved. "Afternoon Sheriff. How can we help you?" I asked.
"Hey. Actually, there's a problem. There was this wanderer around town, the one who turned down Lucy's favor. You know the one I'm talking about." Simms began.
"Yeah. He just left after that."
"You see, he was payed by some man to plant a fusion charge onto the bomb in the center of town."
I didn't see how this was a problem, but Fell's mouth dropped open. "Oh shit." She said.
"What? I asked. "What's wrong?"
Fell turned to me. "A fusion charge, if activated, would detonate the bomb."
Now it was my turn for my mouth to drop open. "We have to evacuate."
Simms stopped me from going on. "No. That's why I was looking for the two of you. I want you, Fell, to deactivate the bomb. You don't have to mess with the charge, but the bomb, that's the problem. Will you do it?"
I was about to say yes, but Fell said something else. "Depends."
Simms' eyes narrowed. "Depends on what?"
"What's in it for us?" She asked. My eyes widened. This was one of the only friendly towns we knew of.
"Damnit girl! You're out for yourself aren't you. I'll offer you what I offered that wanderer for defusing it. One hundred caps, and the deed to the empty house."
I stepped in before Fell could respond. "Five hundred." I said flatly. These glassed helped hide the emotions dancing in my eyes, making me seem dead serious.
Simms threw his hands up in the air. "God damnit! Fine! Five hundred caps and the house. Now defuse that bomb." He shouted.
Fell stuck out her hand. "Deal." Simms shook it, and walked away, grumbling. Fell turned, and smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back, both out of satisfaction out of my wordplay, and the fact of our newfound home.
We walked straight to Moira's. I knocked, and walked in, Fell behind me. "Moira, we're back!"
Moira looked up from fiddling with...whatever that was. "So soon? Oh well, I'm not complaining! What've you got?"
We laid out the guns. "I'm taking one of the scopes from the sniper rifle, and Fell's going to use the assault rifle to fix up her Chinese one, and parts from the hunting rifle to fix up mine." I explained.
"Hmm. Well, I guess I can give you four hundered and twenty-four caps for all of it."
Fell glanced at me, and I nodded. "Alright. We'll use the parts we need now, then give the rest to you." We took the small sack that Moira handed to us, and I stood next to the workbench, watching Fell work.
How does she understand that stuff? I thought. I let my eyes wander around the room, eventually coming back to Fell. She was biting her lower lip, concentrating on her work.
I decided to get something to eat while she worked. I reached into my pack, took out some brahmin meat, and started chewing on it.
Twenty-some minutes later, Fell wiped her brow on her combat armor, and handed me my rifle back. "Here you go. The scope's twice as powerful now, and the reload should be smoother."
"Thanks." I said. "And yours?"
Fell hefted her CAR. "Two more clips, new trigger, replaced the sight, and smoother reload."
"Yours was in bad conditon huh?"
She grunted. "Only a little worse than yours."
"Hah." I said, triumphant.
I turned to Moira, and handed her the parts left from the firearms. "Here you go Moira."
"Oh, thank you!" She took the parts, and started putting them in the locker behind her.
We started to leave, but Fell stopped. "Moira?"
"Yes?" She asked, still putting away things.
"Do you have a monkey wrench? Or a chisel?" Fell inquired.
Moira stopped putting things away, sighed, and turned to Fell. "Just who do you think I am? I have the best shop in the Wasteland, of course I do!" She responded, exasperated.
Fell smiled. "Good. Give me one of each."
Moira ducked, and started rummagain around under her counter. "Oh I know they're here somewhere!" She complained.
A few seconds later, she stood up, with the aforementioned tools in hand. "Here you are! That's a hundred and forty-seven caps." She stated.
I raised an eyebrow, and Fell turned towards me, with a pleading smile. I groaned, and pulled out a hundred-cap bag. I handed it to Moira, and took out a fifty-cap bag.
I took out three caps, and game the bag to Moira. "There. C'mon Fell. Time to go."
We walked away for the second time that day, only with more tools, and three hundred-something caps richer. I turned to Fell, and with a scolding voice asked, "What are those for, anyways?"
She rolled her eyes, and responded. "I need these for the bomb. Speaking of which, we should do that now." She turned to walk down the ramp to the center of town, but I grabbed her arm.
"You're forgetting a factor Fell." I warned.
"Oh yeah, what?" She challenged.
"Church of Atom." I said.
Her eyes widened, and she nodded. "Right. They'd kill me if they caught me messing with the bomb." She was going to go on, but her stomach growled.
I laughed. "C'mon. Let's go grab a seat at the Brass Lantern. We have our own food." I walked down the remainder of the ramp, and sat down.
I pulled out the rest of the dog meat I had at Moira's and started on that again. Fell rummaged around in her bag until she found the mirelurk meat she'd looted, and she chewed on that.
"So." She said. "When do we do it? It has to be before tomorrow, it would be too late. Mabye tonight." She wondered.
"Tonight." I confirmed. "At midnight.
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(Fell's POV)
I woke from my nap, and stood up. Time to work on the bomb. I thought. I pulled on my combat armor, and walked out the small room, past a sleeping Shift, deciding to let him sleep.
I stepped outside of the building, and into the raining night.
Descending the stairs built into the ground, I pulled the hammer and chisel from my bag. I walked into the puddle around the bomb. I dropped my bag on the ground outside the water.
I started away as quietly as I could, the rain muffling the noise. The radiation started taking it's toll after a few minutes, burning my shoes, and eating away at the leather.
God damn it. I thought, finally breaking into the core of the bomb. Ten minutes more, and my feet'll be like christmas lights.
I looked around the core, scanning the wires. I spent a good minute like this, when I let it hit home. I have no idea what I'm doing. This sunk in, and I stepped out of the puddle.
After a drink from a water bottle, and another minute to clear my head, I stepped back in with a knife. I grinned at the wires, as if trying to say, Hey wires. We're going to explode now.
I grabbed a wire, one of two that I determined that was very important, that was hooked up to the uranium at the center of the bomb, and another object.
I held it tight, and yanked the knife through the wire, expecting to blow into millions of pieces.
Nothing.
Nothing happened. I stood there, holding half of the wire in one hand, a knife in the other, and a disabled bomb right in front of me. I opened one eye, opened the other, and stepped out of the water.
I'll be damned. I actually cut the right wire. I thought gleefully. I really did it. Nearly killed off the whole town, but I did it!
I walked back to the common house, inside, out of the rain, upstairs, out of my armor, and into bed.
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(Shift's POV)
I sat up, rested, and yawned. Time to wake up Fell. Bomb time. I stood, and pulled the duster out of the cabinet, over my white shirt. Shouldering my pack, I stepped out the door, then turned on my heel.
Forgot my shades. I thought. I grabbed them from the cabinet, put them on, then stepped out again, and walked to Fell's room.
I knocked, then walked inside, and was suprised to see Fell, up and dressed, with her stuff ready to go. "C'mon Fell, let's go. We've got a bomb to disarm." I said.
She rolled her eyes, and made a tapping motion to her wrist. I was confused, then got it. What time is it. I stepped out the door, walked down the stairs, and looked at the door. Through the smal window, light was shining in.
I raced back upstairs to Fell. "What time is it Fell?" I asked frantically.
She laughed. "I'd say around ten in the morning."
I groaned. "Great. Now we have to wait for tomorrow." I sat down on her bed, head in hands. "What a waste."
She laughed again. "Right. I'm going to let a house and five hundred caps wait a day. I did it on my own, idiot."
I raised my hands in shock. "Why?! You could've needed my help!" I shouted.
She pulled me off the bed using my already outstretched arms. "I did." She said.
My eyes widened. "You...what?" I asked.
"I needed your help with something." She said, giving me a quick smile.
I shook my head. "You were fiddling with nuclear grade explosives, and you didn't ask me for help. God help us all." I muttered.
She laughed, and headed for the door. "C'mon sleepy. Let's go find the Sheriff." And with that she headed out the door.
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That's it for this chapter. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. School's starting Monday, and I've been busy. Keep reviewing, It's what keeps me writing. No, I'm serious. I've gotten very few reviews. Review.
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