I've written, deleted, rewritten and deleted again this chapter so many times. Some of you already know, that I write this stuff in the early morning hours at work. And since I last updated, I wrote every workday on this. Maybe you get a feeling on how difficult it was for me to get this chapter at least a little bit right.
It was late in the evening. Usual she would be asleep by now, but she was wide awake thanks to lack of exertion and excitement. Today, they were just out for food supplies and hunting. And after a few minutes they had spotted a few mole rats. Easy target practice for Crimson. After they had bagged them, they both stood somehow a bit lost in the middle of the road. "What now?" Charon scratched his chin as he seemed to be thinking. "Well, we've got everything we need, don't we? Let's head back. No use in risking our lives and wasting bullets." They were barely an hour out of there hide-out and she felt restless. She sat on the mattress, her back against the cold wall. The Pip-boy in her hand she read all the notes she had found in the little machine. Some didn't made sense to her and the others were somewhat depressing, thinking, that these people, who ask for help are long dead.
There were a few notes that were clearly written as a suicide note. But sometimes, she found funny notes and longer stories. "How do you know to read? I believed Raiders were illiterate." Charon broke the silnece "Illiterate?" she asked him with a puzzled look "It means, that no one taught you; that you can't read." "Well, seems like I was taught by someone." Charon came over to here and took the pip boy out of her hands. "You're not gonna tell me who?" she rolled her eyes. "It's not important." He starred at her annoyed, not able to argument with her. "So be it." He concluded the conversation. "By the way, how much ammo do you have?" She got up and checked her own pack. "About 60 rounds, I guess, why?" Charon nodded. "That should be enough. We'll be going into the DC outskirts tomorrow. It's time for you to face the real deal."
Crimson couldn't sleep much. She was way too excited. Thrashing around on her old mattress Charon threatened to throw her out into the tunnels if she didn't keep quiet. They spend their morning preparing for their supply run, packing everything that was necessary. As they left their hideout, they didn't head south to the tunnel portal like usual. Charon turned north and Crimson followed him as the ventured silently deeper and deeper into the tunnels. The ghoul had explained to her how to behave when they were in the subway tunnels. She was instructed to stay close to him and cover her face.
There was a good chance that the ferals mistook her for a ghoul due to the scent of Charon. They could save ammo and time that way. But luckily, there wasn't a chance to test this method. She hated ferals. The sound they make, how they jumped at you how they clawed and gnawed. Goosebumps formed on her arms as she thought about it. Almost an hour after they began their run Charon pointed towards some old escalators. This must be the station where they leave the tunnels. Once outside of the station they found themselves in a square like complex surrounded by tall buildings.
They crouched behind a waist-high partly broken-down concrete wall which encompassed the entrance of the subway station. "You decide which building." Charon whispered hoarsely. Crimson looked at the buildings. Some were half collapsed and seemed to fall in at any moment. Another building seemed to be a residential house. That would mean a lot of rooms, small spaces and a lot of junk. But there was always the possibility of hidden pre-war treasures. Furthermore, the only viable other option was an office building, and she was pretty sure, that it wouldn't have something valuable inside.
"The residence." She determined. Charon nodded and they jogged silently along the walls towards the entrance. They had trained this multiple time, so Crimson knew exactly, that her place was on the right side of the door. Charon would give her a signal and she opened the door for him, quietly entering the building behind him. There was just a small entrance hall that lead to the elevators and the staircases. "Let's go upstairs to the top while searching each floor for enemies. That way, we should be able to scavenge on the way back downstairs with ease. But be prepared. This is the city. There won't be only ghouls here!"
At the fifth floor, it happened. They were rounding a corner as they saw the huge green frame of a super mutant. Luckily, he had his back towards them. Charon instantly jumped into cover behind an old table which laid on it's side in the corridor, pulling Crimson with him. His arm still around her, he pressed her close to his body, afraid that the small table wouldn't cover the two of them. Crimson could feel the warmth radiating from him through her clothes. His face came closer, his lips almost touching the rim of her ear as he whispered to her, blowing warm air and tickling her neck in the process.
"It's your mission. You have to decide." Her heart was pounding, probably because this was her first encounter with a super mutant. What should she do? Attack? Sneak away? When they had entered, they agreed on clearing this building so they could loot without any worry. "We're going to take him down." She decided. "Any suggestions how we do that?" Charon smirked. "Aim at the head." He said as he handed her the assault rifle he used as a secondary weapon. "Ready?" Crimson nodded. "Then in three, two,.." At one he stood up, rounded the table with a few long strides and got into range for his shotgun. In the same moment Crimson kneeled behind the table and fired the assault rifle at the super mutant. He turned around and immediately got hit in the head by Charon's shotgun. The big green mutant fell dead to the floor. Charon raised his fist, a sign for Crimson to stop and stay silent. They both waited for further enemies to approach them due to the noise they caused. But nothing came. Charon knitted his non-existent brows. Mutants are never alone.
"Something is wrong" he said quietly as he turned and walked back to his companion. "Keep your guard up. I don't like the look of this place." They kept on following the hallway and stopped before rounding a corner. "I'll go first, you cover me." He instructed her and was almost immediately crouching and walking around the corner. Somebody opened fire as soon as Charon was in the corridor. Crimson fired back but could not see any enemies. Her Ghoul companion skidded towards the next door and squatted in the doorframe while working on the lock. Another burst of gunfire started and Crimson instantly fired back. She still could not see where the shots came from, the enemies must be laying behind some old furniture which littered the hall. Charon finally got the door open and after a quick sweep of the room he motioned her to run towards him. He cowered in the door frame again, ready to provide cover fire as Crimson prepared herself to sprint towards Charon. He took aim at the heap of old furniture where he suggested the attackers as he finally saw a super mutant emerge from behind it. With a Gatling Gun in his huge Hands.
Fuck. He jumped back into the room behind him, not sure if the drywall would safe him from the spray of bullets. "Crimson, stay back!" he yelled at the top of his lungs shortly before the Gatling gun began to roar. As she heard the sound of the heavy machinery she crouched and covered her head. Plaster and pieces of flew through the air as the 5 mm bullets pierced the walls. Crimson managed to look up and saw Charon crouching in his room behind a wardrobe. He motioned her to go back the way they came. As he motioned a circle with his right arm, she thought, he wanted her to go around and find a way to get behind the Gatling gun swinging mutant in the corridor. Crimson creeped back the way they came. Maybe, she could get behind that mutant through one of the apartments. She had seen some crumbled walls on the lower levels. If she was lucky there would be a way to get from one apartment to the next one and then she could find a way to get onto the corridor further down. She opened the next luckily unlocked door and looked around for a way to get into the next apartment.
The super mutant came closer to Charon's position step by step. Cautiously, he took a quick peak into the hallway, deciding, that the mutant was still far enough away. Charon took one of his grenades, he pulled the pin and the lever, counting the seconds before throwing it in the direction of the Mutant. This tactic was risky with such an old grenade, but he feared, the mutant would throw it back if it didn't explode quickly enough. A deafening bang could be heard as the grenade went off by the feet of the green mutant. The walls were shaking and dust trickled from the ceiling. As Charon took a peak into the hallway he could see the mutant shaking his head. It had a big fleshwound on his right leg which surely made it slower now. Sniffing his chance, he readied his shotgun and attacked the limping mutant.
Crimson almost toppled over as the grenade exploded. She had no idea who threw the grenade and just hoped, that Charon was not hurt…or worse. No, she thought and shook her head. Charon wouldn't die from a mere grenade. To Crimsons disappointment, the wall between the two apartments seemed fine, no holes to slip through. She hurried over to the window-side of the Building, looking outside and seeing a Fire escape. Great! She climbed out of the window, which pane was long gone and placed her feet on the metal staircase gently. She wasn't sure if it could hold her weight.
The metal underneath her groaned a bit and the staircase swayed a few inches not fully attached to the wall anymore. Chunks of corroded metal came loose and fell downwards. Only a few strides and she clung onto the windowsill of the next apartment. She climbed into the room, glad to leave the staircase behind her. She took her rifle from her back and sneaked to where she thought the hallway should be. The front door was already broken down so she made sure the corridor was empty before slipping through the door. It seemed that she was in another hallway than the one with the super mutant, but due to the noises it emitted she could localize the enemy pretty easy. She crept towards the noise along the wall, always fearing to discover other super mutants.
At the corner she came to a halt, slowly peeking around it and seeing Charon charging the mutant. Crimson readied her assault rifle thoroughly taking aim, always looking out for Charon's position. With a quick movement, the Super mutant rushed forwards and tackled Charon to the ground. Crimsons mouth escaped a stifled shriek of surprise as she saw the Mutant standing above the lying Ghoul. She took aim and shot a volley at the mutant. She missed. At the last moment the super mutant ducked and grabbed Charon at his throat pulling him up. Crimson panicked as she saw her Companion in the ironlike grip of the enemy, gasping for air.
As the mutant charged him, Charon had no room in the small hallway to dodge his attack. He raised his arms and his shotgun in front of his upper body and head to protect himself from the impact. He hit his head as he fell, taking a view seconds to regain clear vision, but too late, the mutant had his hand around his neck, squeezing the life out of him. He had 10 seconds most, until he would pass out, Charon calculated. He raised his shotgun which he still held in his hands. He thanked his training for not loosing his weapon in such situations. He pointed the barrel of his weapon at the head of the mutant.
Crimson panicked and started to shoot at the mutant at a fast pace. As the bullets hit the mutants head, he turned around with Charon still in his grip. And then it happened. A bullet hit the hand of the mutant which was still wrapped around Charon's throat. The Mutant opened his hand, and Charon fell to the floor. Crimson praised every god she know of as the mutant finally came towards her, exposing his vulnerable face. She took aim and shot him through the eye. He took a few tumbling steps before collapsing dead to the floor. Not wasting any more time, she hurried to Charon who still lied on the floor gasping for air. She hoped the mutant hadn't crushed his windpipe. As she knelt next to him, she saw the damage. His throat was a bloody mess.
"Fuck!" she yelled, taking of her bag and frantically looking for her stimpaks. She found one and administered it to his throat. With her hand she wiped the blood off and saw the source for all the blood. There was a bullet hole in his throat a little to the left from his windpipe. As she hit the mutants hand she must have hit him too. "Fuck!" she yelled again, this time only louder. Why doesn't the bleeding stop? The hole sure got smaller due to the stimpak, but it didn't close entirely. She went through her bag again and found another stimpak, her last one. "Please please please" she muttered under her breath as she injected the stimpak close to the wound. But nothing happened, the hole closed maybe marginal a bit more. "Shit!" she screamed now, cold waves of panic running down her neck and back, she feels nausea rising from her stomach.
Keep it together! She thought repeatedly. Ripping her shirt apart, she used the strip of cloth to wind around Charon's neck, his eyelids fluttering and still gasping for air with a soulcrushing, desperate rattle. She had to get him into safety, the only place she could thought of was their hideout, but it was at least 2 hours away. The wound still bled but not at a deathly rate she supposed. "Okay, common Big guy, I need your help." She maneuvered one of his arms around her shoulders lifting his upper body upright before trying to get him to his feet. His eyes flicked open and he let an agonizing grunt escape his throat. "I'm sorry, so sorry. Bear with it." She would have loved to give him some med-x or at least buffout, but Charon got rid of all chems as he took her in.
It felt as if it took days to get back to their hide out. Crimson was just glad, that Charon didn't pass out, she would never be able to carry him completely. It was hard enough to keep him upright with all his weight leaning on her, but at least he could walk by himself. When they were finally at "home" she half dropped - half lowered the huge ghoul onto the mattress. She unwrapped his neck and inspected the still bleeding but almost closed hole she was responsible for. It seemed to look a little bit better than when they started stumbling home. But maybe she just wished it to be better so much that she started to imagine it. "Charon, where are the stimpaks?" she asked him loudly. He shook his head and pointed to the shelve at the wall with the supplies. But Crimson was sure, there were no stimpaks on the shelve. Nevertheless, she started to inspect it. "Charon, there are no stimpaks." She stated after a few minutes of searching. But her ghoul companion fell unconscious and could no longer answer.
Her heart raced, unsure on what to do. She could scavenge for stimpaks, but there was no guarantee that she will find some. She stopped in the middle of rummaging through the supplies. She could buy them. Charon had taken her with him a few times when he sold their scavenged merchandise to a caravan. The trader had occupied a nearby old gas station and used it as a temporary store. Quickly she went back to Charon and checked his pockets for the key of the safe in which he stored the bottle caps. After opening it, Crimson took every bag she had found inside, unsure about how much stimpaks would cost. Before she left the hide out again, she wrapped his throat again, hopping that he would not bleed to death while she was gone. Please, let him survive, she thought before closing the door behind her.
"Just one? I need more than one stimpak!" she yelled at the trader enraged. She was lucky and found the caravan at the old gas station. "I only have one to sell, lady. You want that one or not?" he said annoyed as he feed his brahmins. It won't be enough to heal Charon, she was sure about it. She needed to get more stimpaks and fast! "Alright, give me the stimpak and all the med-x, jet and other chems you have." She decided. An idea had formed in her head. She didn't liked the idea and it was risky but at this point the only chance she could think off. She concluded the deal and headed north-east, towards the turf of her old raider gang, with the pockets full of chems, bottlecaps and a single stimpak.
This will be the the last chapter in the Year '18. I hope you all have a wondefull christams time and I wish you all a Happy New Year, or as we germans say "Guten Rutsch!" (roughly translated: "good slide" into the new year). See you all in 2019 =)
P.S: the Glühwein helped! :)