Chapter 7: The Enemy of my Enemy…
"The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend"
Even though the rest of the world had changed in the last 200 years, most of it being blasted to hell and back, the Museum of Technology had remained untouched by time…mostly. The pieces on display were all Pre-War, space technology and aviation equipment.
Seeing as Gary was bleeding to death however, he had no time to admire the museum.
"I have bandages in my bag. We'll also need you to take off that jumpsuit." Constantine showed no sign of fear for Gary's life, even though he had may have ruined his own to save the Lone Wanderer's. He placed Dogmeat on the ground, who was still out cold. Gary removed his backpack and weapons before Constantine placed him on the floor, leaning him up against a wall.
Gary complied with the mercenary's orders, unzipping his jumpsuit and sliding his arms out, exposing his bloody undershirt. "We're going to have to try and remove the bullets first, I have a surgeon's kit in my backpack..."
"No need, the bullet was a 5.56, it was a through and through. I suggest we get you a new set of armor, this wasn't enough to protect you." Constantine rummaged through his bag, retrieving a needle and sewing thread along with bandages. Gary removed his shirt and leaned up against the wall again, his breathing was heavy and he felt tired after doing such as small task.
"Ya know," Gary muttered while Constantine sewed him up. "you never told me what your name is."
Constantine looked up for a second, "I did, you must not have heard. My name is Constantine, I was a part of the Talon Company mercenary group," and then continued with the task at hand.
"If you were tasked to kill me, why did you save me?"
Constantine didn't respond at first, he simply kept his head down and continued to thread the needle through Gary's skin. "I… I was tasked by God to aid you."
Gary couldn't help but stare at the merc. "Well I wasn't expecting that as an answer. Would you like to explain farther perhaps?"
"Unfortunately this is not the time nor place for that, Mr. North." Constantine put away the needle and picked up the bandages, only to throw then back on the group and pick up his sniper. Gary tried to figure out what had Constantine spooked, but couldn't hear anything.
"Two of them..." Constantine whispered. He had to fire only two shots, one for each enemy. One Super Mutant had just walked down a staircase and was walking towards the two men. The other had been up on a balcony, but both were now dead.
"We must hurry, mutants will be upon us soon." as Constantine turned around to face Gary once again, he saw that he was injecting a stimpack in Dogmeat. The Lone Wanderer started petting his companion, hoping he would wake up.
"What is the dog's name?" Constantine asked as he started to roll the bandages over Gary's upper torso.
"Dogmeat," the name caused Constantine to look up and raise an eyebrow. "I didn't name him; he came with me after your people killed his old master."
Constantine wrapped Gary's shin and put away the bandages. "I apologize for the actions of my coworkers, but I assure you that I took no part in the killing of your companions."
"You didn't do anything to prevent the killing either." Gary said. "Listen, I'm sorry if I'm not acting grateful because I really am for you saving my life. This whole thing is bullshit though! I have mercenaries after me for what? Disarming Mr. Burke and a nuke? It looks like I can't help anyone out here without it coming to bite me in the ass! Last time I help anyone..."
"That would be ill advised to stop, Mr. North, believe it or not you have the capability of making the Capital Wasteland a better place." Constantine helped Gary up. "Can you walk?"
"Yea I'll be fine." Just as Gary started walking around, he heard the sound of claws on tile. "Dogmeat! You're alright!" His dog companion barked in response then ran up to him and started licking his face. It appeared that beside a small bump, Dogmeat was fine.
"It is good to see he is well." Constantine said. When Dogmeat turned to face the new man he growled loudly, recognizing the armor.
"I know you'd like to rip out his throat, boy, but he's a good guy... I think." Gary withdrew his hunting rifle and looked at Constantine. "Lead the way."
"It is not wise to place a sniper on point, but as you wish." The mercenary walked ahead, passing a desk and a downed airplane. Gary looked at it briefly, if he remembered history class correctly, it kind of looked like the Wright Brothers' airplane.
The group walked up a set of stairs and past of set of closed doors. Constantine led Gary and Dogmeat to the end of the walkway, leading to a new room. Gary read the sign, 'Vault Tour'. As soon as group entered the room, lights flooded the area. The entrance looked like a cave opening to a Vault, very similar to that of Vault 101.
A voice recording came over the PA. "Vault-Tec welcomes you to our new line of subterranean vaults featuring our patented Tripe-S Technology."
As Gary walked in he couldn't help but feel a small pang of homesickness, yet at the same time feel free of his confines. "Well this brings me back." Gary said aloud.
As the group walked down a set of stairs more lights came on. "Being underground got you down? Smile! Our SimuSun Lighting mimics the feeling of being outside with only a fraction of the sunburn potential!"
"Just as comforting."
"Was your Vault similar to this one?" Constantine turned around to face the Vault dweller.
"More or less." They passed several exhibits showing living quarters and kitchens. "After seeing the Capital Wasteland, the Vault seems so… dull."
"I would think it would be more safe then the wastes."
The loudspeaker went off again. "Concerns about security? Our Eye-on-You Camera enable the Vault's leader to watch your every move. You'll never be alone again!"
Gary raised a finger, pointing the loudspeaker. "Not unless you have some wack-job leading you're Vault. I happened to have a crazy Overseer which happens to be why I'm out here." Constantine shook his head in acknowledgement.
"We hope you've enjoyed our tour today. If you have any further questions, please take a brochure from our helpful Vault-Tec guides." Gary stepped over a skeleton as he walked out of Vault exhibit.
"Slacking…" Gary muttered. There was a set of double doors to the exit's left, the three went through the door.
This area had seen better days; 200 years of being deprived of maintenance had caused part of the ceiling to crumble. The walls were damaged and the tiles of the floor were shattered. There was an eerie silence hanging in the room. Constantine crouched and Gary did the same.
"What's wrong?" Gary whispered.
"It's too quite. We'll make less noise while crouched." Constantine replied. Gary assumed the merc knew what he was doing so he didn't argue. The two men and dog headed to the left down a hall. The doors at the end of the hall led to a multilevel room displaying a rocket.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the lower floors causing Gary to tighten his grip on his rifle. Constantine walked forward a bit and looked down. "One mutant in sight. Prepare yourself because when I fire more will come down upon us."
Constantine raised his sniper and fired a single bullet. Almost like an echo, the roars of mutants filled the room. The rest of their time in the museum was filled with killing mutants. It was almost as if the Super Mutants had been using the museum as a base. When they finally made it to the dish they used old leather belts to make it like a backpack. Constantine offered to take it seeing as Gary was still injured.
The group finally made it back to where they had come from. Constantine and Gary ran to opposite sides of the front door of the museum. "Where exactly is the Washington Monument?" Gary questioned. He ejected the clip on his hunting rifle and slammed in a fresh one.
"It is the single largest building in all of Washington DC, it's impossible to miss it."
"There's going to be a lot of Super Mutants aren't there?"
"The center of the Mall is full of trenches; those trenches are filled with Super Mutants."
"So we're going to have to run like hell then, right?"
Constantine sighed and nodded his head, "Yes, run and gun."
"Alright, Dogmeat are you ready?" Gary asked. The dog barked happily. Gary put his hand around the door handle, Constantine did the same. The two nodded and opened the door at the same time.
The three ran out the door and charged in the direction of the Washington Monument. Two Super Mutants were directly in front of the Museum, looking over the bodies of the dead mercs. Gary and Constantine took each of them down, a bullet to the head each.
"We must keep running or we will become overpowered!" Constantine shouted.
"I won't complain!" The three ran alongside the edge of the trenches, being careful not to fall in.
"One mutie atop that bunker and he has a huge ass gun!" Gary pointed out a Super Mutant atop a makeshift bunker high above the trenches. He appeared to be commanding other mutants around him. When he noticed the group he swung his mini gun in their direction. The weapon's six barrels fired up and started spinning rapidly.
"I see him." Constantine stopped momentarily to raise his sniper. It had become second nature, aiming at the head of a target and firing. After Constantine pumped two rounds into the mutant's head it literally exploded and the body dropped to the ground. Constantine started running next to Gary again, reloading his rifle while doing so.
"You're going to have to teach me how to snipe like that!"
"You are already a good shot, but when we make it out of here I promise you I will." The two men followed Dogmeat's lead to the monument, it was getting closer.
Gary heard something that sounded like a powerful jet lifting off. Gary turned to the direction of the noise, his eyes wide with horror. A Super Mutant was carrying a missle launcher and had just fired the weapon. Gary quickly picked up Dogmeat and put in a protective hug. Gary couldn't warn Constantine in time, the missile went off as it made contact with the ground in front of them.
The two men were thrown off their feet from the explosion. Gary soared into one of the trenches below him; it was a hard impact with the ground. Gary let go of his dog who seemed unscathed.
Constantine had not been thrown into the trenches, rather he had flown backwards. He stood up dusted himself off. The smell of smoke caught his attention. The mercenary found the source, a line up of cars that were on fire.
"That doesn't bode well…" Constantine muttered. Pre-War cars were powered by nuclear reactors and when they exploded they were essentially the same as mini-nukes. Constantine started sprinting in the opposite direction; he felt the heat on his back as the cars exploded, causing a ringing in his ears.
Sydney had assessed her situation, and as far as she was concerned she was screwed. This wasn't her first time relic hunting in D.C., but the National Archives were different. This Pre-War building was patrolled by mutants, and a lot of them. She had been sent on a job to find the Declaration of Independence and frankly she didn't think her life was worth the amount of caps she was going to be paid.
The mines she had set up wouldn't hold off the mutants for long because they were stupid creatures that would simply run into them. Her 10mm SMG dubbed the 'Ultra" SMG had a finite amount of clips that wouldn't be able to hold her off forever.
"All of this for a damned piece of paper." She fired off a burst from her SMG, clipping a Super Mutant. She took cover behind some sandbags as they returned fire.
All of a sudden a string of explosions went off; they were loud but distant so they couldn't be her mines. Sydney didn't know what the cause of the explosions was, but whatever it was it was big.
"More humans!" Shouted one of the mutants. The group that had congregated outside of the room Sydney had taken cover in roared and stormed out.
"I feel sorry for whatever sap they're going after." Sydney muttered. She put her weapon back on the holster on her leg and sat down. She exhaled deeply and turned to her computer, determined to continue her work.
Three bullets went off from above; Constantine had just killed the rocket toting mutant. The merc leaned out to peer down upon Gary and Dogmeat. "Are you well?"
"I've been worse and I've been better." Gary called out. "How is the dish?"
"Intact."
"Good. What the hell happened up there?"
"Some vehicles blew up."
"Oh… well that's fun." Gary said. "Listen, I don't see any stairs around so it looks like we're going to have to continue through to the end of the trench. Meet us at the monument."
"Consider it done." Constantine got up and waved for Gary and Dogmeat to start going. The dog ran out ahead, barking at an unseen enemy. Gary withdrew his shotgun for the close quarter combat. Gary rushed in to follow Dogmeat, who was already taking on two mutants. They were both armed with wooden boards, clumsily missing the agile dog and hitting each other inside.
"Suck on this!" Gary shouted as he pumped a shell each into the mutie's faces. Both of the overgrown mutants dropped to the ground.
"Stupid human!" Another mutant, this one stood in front of Gary and the exit. It was larger then normal mutants in every way, closely resembling a Behemoth yet not that freakishly huge. Its muscles were huge; its arms weren't touching its sides. Its eyes were pure white, similar to those of a Behemoth. In its right hand was a large weapon that resembled some kind of hammer. Gary was sure that if the bludgeon made contact it would not end well.
"You have to be kiddin' me…" Gary mumbled. Gary fired off three shells in the mutant's direction, blood seeped from its wounds but it didn't appear to affect it. Obviously angered by the attack, the mutant launched itself towards Gary. As it brought down the hammer Gary quickly rolled out of the way. The earth cracked as the weapon made contact with the ground.
"What the fuck?" Gary shouted. He fired several more shells into the back of the beast. The monstrosity recoiled slightly and turned around to face Gary yet again. Dogmeat swiped at the mutant with its claws, striking blood.
"Dogmeat get out of there!" Gary called for his dog companion. Despite its size the mutant was surprisingly fast, but not fast enough to catch Dogmeat. Gary got in closer to fire more rounds, but was picked up by the mutant's free hand. It managed to hold Gary with just one hand, puling him off the ground and crushing his chest.
The mutant grinned and opened its mouth to let out a demonic laugh. It raised its weapon and prepared to smash Gary. The Lone Wanderer took this opportunity to push his shotgun into the mutant's mouth. Gary pulled the trigger only once.
The mutant's grip loosened and a moan emitted from its mouth as the back of its head exploded, painting the wall of the trench. Gary dropped to the ground and coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He felt as if his head was going to explode when the mutant's grip had tightened around his chest.
"Let's go, bud." Gary said as he stood up. Dogmeat barked and ran out of the trench, Gary following close behind. The area in front of the Washington Monument was a no man's land, completely devoid of anything. Gary took a second to admire the monument; he was in awe of its size and the architecture in general.
The monument was fenced with two Brotherhood of Steel members guarding the entrance, each armed with very large guns. Constantine was nowhere to be seen.
"Behind you."
"What the fuck!" Gary jumped in the air and turned around, Constantine was standing there, sniper in hand.
"No need to swear."
"You don't just sneak up on me like that, especially when I have a shotgun, alright? Now how about we just get up the damned monument and put the dish up there so we don't have worry about mutants anymore?"
"Well we'll have to worry about them for a bit longer." Constantine replied, pointing to a group of four or five mutants in the distance, racing towards the three. Gary ran ahead towards the monument, when the BoS members caught sight of Constantine they raised their weapons.
"Talon Company isn't welcome here!"
"Whoa whoa he's with me guys, I'm Gary North." The two soldiers looked at each other and back to Gary.
"We're a part of the 2nd Monument Defense Detachment. GNR radioed ahead about you so go ahead and we'll kill the muties. We have our eyes on the merc scumbag though." Replied one of the men.
"That's fine with me," Gary said. "Let's go." Constantine and Dogmeat followed Gary through the gates of the fences and towards the Washington Monument doors. A radio was on a ledge tuned into Galaxy News Radio. The two metal doors that served as the entrance had the words 'Mall Outpost' scribbled on them along with various propaganda posters.
The inside of the monument was mainly rubble. A single golden portrait of George Washington hung over the elevator doors. A small bell rang as the elevator doors opened and the group entered. The lift jumped as Gary hit the 'up' button. Weapon fire was heard outside over the noise of the gears of the elevator activating.
The elevator continually rocked and jumped as it climbed the obelisk. Gary looked up; a panel was removed at ceiling, revealing the elevator shaft. He crossed his arms and waiting with anticipation.
The bell rang yet again as the doors opened. Gary exited first; the small room was crammed with various pieces of technology. To the left was what appeared to be the main control for the relay dish. There was an opening in the wall of the room. When Gary walked over and leaned out he let out a heavy sigh.
"Problem?" Constantine moved towards Gary.
"I have to go out there to put up the dish." He pointed outside; the current relay dish was in horrible condition just as Three Dog had said. It was attached to the monument's exterior. Gary threw down his weapons and motioned for Constantine to hand him the relay dish.
"Be careful."
"I'll try my best." Gary accepted the dish and held it under his arm as he went on the ledge. He kept his back close to the exterior wall and he walked across on the thin ledge. Gary managed to pry the old dish off and throw it off the monument.
"Watch out down there!" Gary shouted. He hooked up the lunar dish securely and entered the monument safely. As Gary put his gear back on, Constantine flipped the switch to activate the relay. Gary's Pip-boy crackled to life as Galaxy News Radio's signal was found.
"Our job is done, let's get outta here."
There were two guards stationed outside of Galaxy News Radio. The two stood in silence, the only noise was the wind flowing through burned out windows until one of them, a knight, spoke up. "I think we need another Behemoth attack…"
The knight's superior, a paladin, turned to his companion "You're an idiot, you know that right?"
The man was bored to say the least. "Ah come on you know what I mean, GNR outpost is boring as hell most of the time!" The knight replied.
"We get attacked by mutants every so often, and even the Outcasts take potshots at us if they pass by! I'd say that's enough."
"Stop acting all high and mighty! You're a paladin and they stuck you defending a building! You should be out there in the wastes!"
The paladin laughed and turned to his companion. "And I suppose you'd want me to bring you with me, huh?"
"Well if you put in the good word, of course!" The eldest Brotherhood guard simply sighed and turned his attention back to his guard duty. Three figures came out of the building in front of GNR, two men and a dog.
"Look who is back, the Lone Wanderer." Even though Three Dog had made a broadcast about Gary only several hours early using the name 'The Lone Wanderer' it has caught on already.
"Oh shit, is that a Talon Company merc with him?" The knight asked, raising his assault rifle. The paladin squinted his eyes, the guy next to the Lone Wanderer was definitely wearing Talon Company armor, strange. As the group approached the knight stopped them. "Hold up there you two…"
Gary held up his hand. "I know what you're thinking, this guy is Talon Company and they're a buncha scum bags. Well you are right in thinking that, however this particular scum bag is not a scum bag. He happened to save my life, so he's with me."
The two guards turned to each other and then back to Gary. The paladin spoke up first, "In which case go on in, Three Dog is expecting you up in the studio." Gary and Constantine both nodded and gave their thanks as they headed into the radio station.
Gary had GNR playing aloud on his Pip-boy the whole walk back, he really enjoyed the music and he learned a good deal about the wastes and what was going on. He learned of the mysterious 'Enclave', the supposed remnants of the United States government. They were led by a President John Henry Eden; Gary had heard several of the president's broadcasts on the Enclave station. He also learned that he apparently was going by the name of 'The Lone Wanderer', which he got a kick out of.
The two men entered the studio with Dogmeat. The entry room was in total disarray, but they ignored it. They then went up the stairs to find Three Dog. Three Dog was sitting on a swivel chair as the two men and dog entered the studio. The DJ threw out his arms as he saw Gary, ignoring Constantine; a large smile was on his face. "The Hero of the Wasteland returns!"
"Ha. Thanks, Three Dog. Just glad to help out with the Good Fight and what not."
"Hey, you're the one who deserves all the thanks! You struck a major blow against tyranny! And now GNR can be heard clear across the Capital Wasteland again. That'll give Eden and those Muties something to think about."
Three Dog stood up to look at Gary eye to eye. "But before I get back to my calling, I bet you wanna hear about your Dad."
"Yea you could say that." Gary joked.
"When your dad passed through here, he and I talked for a good long time. He's a real stand-up kind of guy. He mentioned some scientific mumbo-jumbo which didn't make much sense to me and mentioned something called "Project Purity. He also said something about going to visit a Doctor Li in Rivet City. Then, he left in a hurry."
"Rivet City? Where's that?"
Three Dog gave Gary a strange look with a cocked eyebrow. "You've never heard of Rivet City? Wow… just… wow. Well, a whole bunch of people got together and turned a beached aircraft carrier into a town. Pretty cool, huh? You could just follow the river south from here… there's no way you can miss it."
"But in the case that you do miss it, I'm sure your new amigo here could help you lead the way." Pointing to Constantine finally acknowledging the presence of the merc.
"Yes I know the way." Constantine spoke up for the first time.
"Talon Company, kid? I mean he seems polite but really? How did that work out?" Three Dog crossed his arms, expecting to be amused by the story.
"It just kinda… did, ya know? He helped me out and wanted to stick around. He's a good sniper." Gary did want to get into the whole 'sent from God' thing.
Three Dog shrugged, accepting the answer. "Well Lone Wanderer it has been fun, good luck finding your dad, kid. Don't let the crazy wasteland eat you up."
"Well to Rivet City then, should prove to be interesting, eh?" Gary asked as they exited Three Dog's studio.
"With you, Mr. North? It should prove to be quite the time."
"Constantine, why exactly do you call me Mr. North when you're obviously several years my elder? You could just call me Gary."
"I could, but I call you it out of respect," Constantine replied, still stone-faced.
Gary stopped and leaned up against the railing overlooking the ground floor. "Respect for what? I've done nothing special."
"Respect for what you stand for, you are a rare person to be in this wasteland Mr. North. You look to help people even when faced with a quest to find your father."
The Lone Wanderer thought for a second, he didn't really know what to say. "LW," called one of the guards. Gary peered over the railing to look down to the first floor. "There are two men outside who claim they know you; do you wish to speak to them?"
Gary was slightly confused; he didn't know many people out in the wastes. The only other friendly people he knew were in Megaton, but that was quite the ways away. "Um yea sure, thanks for the heads up." Gary turned to Constantine and shrugged. Gary and Dogmeat went down the stairs and out the door first, the mercenary trailing far behind.
"I'm telling you we know him and if he is here then we need to speak with him!"
"Listen local, I'd love to help you but..." started the guard, as Gary opened the door he patted the soldier on the shoulder. Gary looked at the two men and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Well look who it is! The Lone Wanderer himself!" It was Billy Creel from Megaton. Carlos Vega-Lopez was standing right next to him, a smile slowing growing.
"Billy? Carlos? What the hell are you guys doing here?" Gary started laughing as he threw his arms around the two. "You have no idea how happy I am to see two friendly faces! Most of the faces I've been seeing were pissed and wanted me dead!"
"You look like crap compared to how I met you, ya know that, kid?" Billy joked. Dogmeat started barking happily. "I see you have a new friend!"
"Dogmeat is still with you! Well he chose a good new master." Carlos exclaimed as he bent down to pet the dog.
"Wait Billy, what about Maggie?" Gary asked, remembering Billy's adopted daughter.
"She's being taken care of by Manya and Nathan Vargas back in Megaton. I wouldn't have left her but when I found out about the trouble you were in I decided to get you out of what ever you were in. Apparently you have it covered."
"Trouble…?" Gary started.
The door to Galaxy News Radio opened up yet again, this time Constantine stepped out. Billy took a step back, recognizing the Talon Company logo. Carlos pointed up a finger.
"You!"
"Hello Mr. Vega-Lopez, I'm glad that you made it to Megaton alright. Is your friend in good health?" Constantine said this all matter of factly. Carlos got up close to Constantine and shoved his finger in his face. Before he could say anything, Gary pulled him away and held up his hands between the two.
"Hold up everyone! The Lone Wanderer here is confused, how do you two know each other?"
"We've met before." Carlos said gruffly, crossing his arms. When he didn't carry on, Gary made a rolling motion with his hands to clarify. "You remember when we were attacked that one night?"
"Course."
"Well it was Talon Company. They were after you. Me and one of the other guards were the only survivors. This guy and his little buddy wanted to get info outta me, but I wouldn't talk. The other merc was going to kill me but then your friend here killed him. Shot him in the back of the head in cold blood."
Gary turned to Constantine, "This true?"
"Yes, Mr. Vega-Lopez speaks the truth."
"After that he gave me some stimpacks and sent me back to Megaton with the wounded guard. He told me to get medical aid and not to follow. He said that he was going to be the one to find you, not anyone else."
"I mean Mr. North no harm." Even though Carlos was pointing the accusatory finger at him, Constantine still showed little emotion.
"Yea well forgive me for thinkin otherwise! You could see why I think that way when you killed a man you worked with!" Carlos turned to Gary. "Listen I know that he saved my life, and he's workin with you now but I'm having trouble with him cuz I feel that he's just gonna kill us when he gets the chance!"
"Listen, Carlos. I appreciate your whole worried for my well being thing, I truly do, but Constantine saved my life also. He also assured me that he truly wished to fight with me. I hope that you stick around, but if you can't work with Constantine you're going to have to find something else to do." Gary looked Carlos in the eye, awaiting his response. The caravan guard shook his head and sighed.
"Fine. I'll be keeping an eye on him though."
"I look forward to working with you Mr. Vega-Lopez. And I don't believe we've met before," Constantine said to Billy. The merc extended his hand. "I am Constantine."
Billy hesitated at first. He knew all about Talon Company from his time in the wastes, but he accepted the fact that this merc was different. "Name's Billy Creel, most people just call me plain ol' Billy. Nice to meet you."
"Well now that this joyous meet and greet is over, shall we carry on to Rivet City?" Gary asked. The three other men all agreed. "Constantine you can lead the way, correct?"
"As you wish."
"And you could explain why you are here." Gary said to Billy. The group started walking and Billy laughed.
"Alright alright. It ain't that long of a story. I found Carlos at the clinic in Megaton when he first arrived. He let me know what had happened with the attack. I kinda felt bad for sendin' you out there and then getting ambushed, so I figured I would go with Carlos to make sure you're alright."
"Well that's noble of ya Billy, but I don't know when we'll be getting back to Megaton to drop ya off."
"Listen, I know how to handle myself. Before I sat around in Megaton I was a caravan guard believe it or not!" Billy raised his magnum to show Gary. "So is your dad in Rivet City?"
"That's what Three Dog said, just hope he didn't leave already."
"Don't worry, bud." Billy placed a hand on Gary's shoulder. "You'll find him."
Oliver and Jericho had made it back to Tenpenny Tower with no trouble at all. Oliver practically ran the whole way back. He needed that information on his brother. He would get back at Gary. As the two men approached the gates of Tenpenny Tower, they were stopped by a man leaning up against the wall.
"You Oliver North?" The man wasn't a guard and he certainly didn't belong at the Tower. He was wearing metal armor with spikes. His voice was rough and his face was dirty.
"Who the fuck is askin?"
"Eulogy Jones of Paradise Falls. He's monitored what you've done and you seem like just the kinda stand up guy who could help us out."
"And whats in it for us, slaver?" Jericho added in.
"Slavers?" Oliver quickly turned to Jericho.
"Yea, slavers. You know what those are, or where you not exposed to the topic in Vault?" Jericho teased. "Paradise Falls is there little headquarters."
"Our morals appear to be the same, North. You wanna make some caps? We all like caps right? They make the world go round."
Oliver crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening, what do I gotta do?"
"Here is a list of… VIP's that Mr. Jones is interested in. You capture them and then bring 'em to Paradise Falls and you'll get paid a pretty penny. And then of course if you ever find yourself in D.C. go to the Lincoln Memorial and ask for Leroy Walker. Tell 'im you've been sent as a problem solver for Eulogy."
"Aight, how am I supposed to capture these 'VIP's'? Tie 'em up with a rope?"
The slaver laughed. "We are in the year 2277, North, we have technology. Take these." The slaver handed Oliver some kind of gun and a large circular object. "This is a mesmetron, all you gotta do is point and shoot. The target will be stunned. That's when you slap on this bad boy." He said, holding up the circular object. "It's a slave collar. Tell 'em to go to Paradise Falls or else their head'll explode."
"Sounds fun." Oliver said, equipping the items on his belt.
"Lookin forward to workin with ya." The slaver nodded and started walking off in the distance. Oliver and Jericho headed through the gate and ran past the lobby. Oliver punched the elevator button and anxiously waited.
As soon as the doors opened Oliver rushed out and walked past the guard to Burke's room. Mr. Burke was sitting in a chair, smoking a cigarette. "OK Burke, the whore was a no go. She got eaten by cannibals."
"We did slaughter those fuckers though." Jericho added in. Burke crossed his arms upon receiving this news.
"Exactly, so what news do you have for me?"
"Impatient impatient." Burke crossed the room and pored himself a scotch. He slowly drank it and let out a breath. "Refreshing. Your brother is headed towards Rivet City. If you wish to kill him before Talon Company I will allow you, it would save me the trouble of having to pay them."
Oliver quickly turned to Jericho. "You know where that is?"
Jericho chuckled. "Course I do kid, I was raised in some fuckin' Vault like you were."
"In that case, we're leavin. I'll be back with Gary's head." Oliver exited Burke's room before he could respond. He would make it to Rivet City and find Gary. He would find him, and kill him.
