DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN FALLOUT 3 OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT. IF I DID, I'D BE RICH. PLEASE DON'T SUE. IF YOU DO, I WILL BE FORCED TO COUNTER-SUE. AND LOSE. SO DON'T SUE. I DON' WANT TO LOSE MONEY. DAMN YOU LAWYERS (NO OFFENCE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY LAWYERS)!
"So kid, you armored up your jumpsuit?" asked Billy Creel.
"Nah. Moira did it for me."
"She is a… nice person, if a bit… eccentric at times." He paused, then changed the subject quickly "So, what happens after we find your pa?"
"Well…" Thomas began. He thought about it. "I'm probably going to help Moira with her experiments. Might give me experience in the wild and wooly wastes, you know?"
"Experiments? Like what?"
"Well, going through a town turned minefield, getting radiation poisoning, et cetera," Thomas said, thinking about how painful the radiation had been after a while.
"Believe it or not, that does not surprise me." Billy said with a smirk on his face.
"Really?"
"Well, she is a bit more notorious than you think. Have you talked to the guard in there?" Thomas shook his head. "On break, he either sits around Moriarty's grumbling about how she is going to use him for an experiment or something, or he is jumping off the balcony and breaking his legs."
"Oh," said the recently un-confused teenager, "thanks for the clarification. … Are you weirded out by her too?"
"Hey! Enough of the smack talk about Moira!" Billy yelled. Thomas promptly shut up.
The duo continued walking along an abandoned highway that would lead to some place called the "Citadel" (which was near one of the last standing bridges into the city), each immersed in their own thoughts as they climbed over the old cars, when Thomas suddenly spotted a flash of pink, popping out behind one of the many cars. Another one of those rat-mole things, Thomas realized. "FUCK!" He yelled as he jumped back, oblivious to the fact that it was just a rat and he was armed with a military grade Assault Rifle. Billy sighed, shot it, holstered his .44, and gave Thomas a glare.
"Ummm… Sorry… It's just… I don't know why, but I am just terrified of those things! And spiders…"
"A mole rat? Kid, go fight a Deathclaw, then come back to me and tell me what you think is terrifying, ok?"
Thomas saw another flash of pink in his peripheral vision. Taking it to be another Mole Rat, he pulled out his pistol and shot, hitting the mass of pink.
He didn't hear Billy's hushed "Speak of the mother fucking devil…", nor did he see his silent warning through his eyes telling him not to alert this pink creature , to no avail, as the mass of pink turned around. Thomas then saw that is was not a rat. This thing was taller than Abe Lincoln, thin, all while standing on a total of two legs. It had horn on its head, and two very deadly looking claws. Thomas' body recognized it as a Deathclaw a split second before his mind did, and his fight or flight reaction told him to fucking fly like hell.
Ah… Running. If he was getting chased by a freaking demon-thing, he could enjoy madly running down a highway packed full of abandoned nuclear powered cars. Thomas' thoughts ranged from "FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK" to "BFG 9000 GOD PLEASE GIVE ME A BFG 9000!"
The adrenaline pumping throughout his body, he spotted a gift from God; a grenade (who brings a grenade with them to work?)that was just lying on one of the many cars and... Was that a cross painted on it? Oooh, fun! He picked it up, pulled the pin, let the spoon fall and heaved it at the fast-approaching demon-thing with a grunt. It missed it and landed amongst the cars behind it.
The death-thing stopped to get a better glance at what just flew by at its head. The grenade went off, exploding a nuclear reactor in one car, which did the same for all cars around it. Thomas flew backwards due to the massive explosion. He hit a building and fell unconscious to the sound of his Geiger counter ticking….
A man is running down a long, dark corridor. A pink, dog sized rat is giving chase. Suddenly, the rat changes into the thing that Thomas just blew into pieces, which pounces upon the man and –
"AH!" Thomas bolted up, fully awake. He found himself on an overpass over the same highway, next to an open flame and an alert Billy Creel, who was facing away from Thomas. As his eyes slowly adjusted, he could see things more clearly. He was near a factory… Billy was swiveling his head back and forth. Wait…
He blinked. Was that… Was that the Nuka Cola Factory?! Thomas immediately set a marker in his Pip-Boy 3000 for the factory, naming it (what else?) the Nuka Cola Factory. Billy noticed he was awake.
"Hey kiddo! You're finally awake! How ya' feeling?"
"Good! Never felt better… Well, I have actually… And I have a headache…The kind that could put someone in bed for a week… But still! I'm well enough to feel peppy!"
"Well, after an explosion that huge… That's good. Hell, it's amazing! Say, how 'bout you take over watch while I sleep?" Billy said, obviously tired as anyone can be.
"…Ok!"
"Thanks," Billy said as he lay down and (very quickly it seemed) fell asleep. He didn't snore, Thomas' very random teenage mind noted. Maybe he wasn't sleeping… People can fall asleep in 3 seconds… Right? Thomas looked at his wrist. Half past blue leather. Hmmm. Oh shit. Woops.
Thomas then looked at his left wrist and saw the time. 2:00 A.M. on the dot. Jesus. When he was knocked out it was… At least 12 hours ago.
Shit. Isn't that unhealthy or something?He ran his hand through his long, blond hair. Damn, he needed to take a shower! And… He didn't know why, but he felt… Naked, in a way. He looked at his Jumpsuit. Nope, he wasn't naked. He felt for his Assault Rifle. Nope, he was armed. But… Hm…
He had a sudden (what seemed like to his still semi-childish mind) epiphany. He needed a hat! Or a headband or…
"A BANDANA! What better way to show badassery then to wear a freaking bandana!" the former Vault Dweller yelled out, startling Billy out of his half sleep. "…Badassery, kid?" Billy asked with slight annoyance in his voice.
"Well, yeah! I just killed something vaguely resembling Satan (or a Cyberdemon) with claws!"
"It's called a Deathclaw for a reason, kid."
Thomas blinked. "So that wasa Deathclaw. I knew it! Well… it was one of the many things I was wildly guessing while running for my life…. But still! I knew it!"
Billy sighed. "Well kid, it's your time to watch, and I'm going to sleep. Again." He said with slight disdain. "Wake me up when the sun rises."
Thomas looked at his Pip Boy. 2:05 A.M. He set the timer for 6:00 A.M. and proceeded to sweep the area with his eyes. Damn, was it dark…
Hours later….
Thomas looked up. The sun had finally risen. He checked the time, which was 5:24. Hmmm. Conflicted on whether to wake up Billy now or wait for the alarm, he did not notice Billy's eyes open, nor did he notice him get up. "Hey kid," said Billy. "Get up. We should start moving now."
Thomas grumbled a bit, but got up. They continued down the highway, with the only sounds were their own footsteps, Thomas' random rants about Spam and Cram, and an occasional gunshot from the distance.
"Hey Billy?" Thomas asked, suddenly changing the subject.
"Yeah?"
"When we were talking about Moira yesterday, why did you get so defensive?" Thomas inquired with a small evil smirk on his face and a larger one in his mind.
"What? I did not," defended Billy.
"Why are you getting so defensive about it now, huh? Do you like her?" Thomas was literally skipping around Billy now.
Billy resisted the urge to punch the childish Vault Dweller to the ground. "Teenagers… God help me…"
"Help you what? Hide your feelings?"
"Kid… I'm thisclose to shooting you in the feet and/or knees. Drop it before—
Thomas gasped. "So it IS true!" He pranced ahead, singing, "Billy and Moira, sitting in a tree…" when he heard a very loud—
AND THAT'S THE SOUND OF A CHAPTER ENDING ABRUPTLY! I understand if you want to murder me. Don't worry though. I'm writing like a professional (Roald Dahl). I once read that, when you are going good, you have to put down your pen so that tomorrow, you feel excited to write. Also, its 3:52 A.M. and writing does NOT help insomnia…
Thanks to my wonderful new beta reader, I managed to get this out without embarrassing myself completely! Here's a few comments from her!
(On the whole "Lawyers" bit: "Ha!"
(On Moira's Guard) "Haha! The poor guy!"
(On Thomas' fear of rats and spiders) "Me too, Thomas. Me too."
(On Billy's S.L. F-in' J. pimpslap of a rebuke) "Okay, never mind, Billy has a point there."
(On Holy Hand Grenade) "ZOMG HOLY FRAG GRENADE!"
Also said Thomas was Cheery and Human!
Said something about me being sparkly.
Oh, and sorry for all the people who have waited for this. My muse just sorta left me for a while. Didn't talk. I was being an angsty teen I guess. Sorry. PLEASE REVIEW. PLEASE. I NEED THE FEEDBACK. MY BETA'S FEEDBACK ISN'T ENOUGH. Thank you.
~Thomas
