I do apologize for how long it has taken me to post this chapter. It's been a real busy two weeks. Between work and school I've either had no time or been too utterly exhausted to write. And I really didn't know how to write this chapter! So consider this my apology and a promise. I have seven days of free time coming up before it's back to the grind. Goal is to post three chapters minimum in that time.

Now on to questions!

What do you listen to (if at all) while you write?

Great question! I consistently listen to Electro Swing Volume 4, 5, and 6 by Bart and Baker. I feel that the jazzy/techno vibe fits Fallout super well and really gets me in the mindset.

Now then. The chapter. Read, review, enjoy!

April 21, 2280

06:20

Kentucky

Next to Clinton's Train

Knox scrabbled and rolled in the dirt trying to stop himself as the train continued to hurtle forward without him. Beyond the rattle of the train wheels on the tracks he could hear a pounding in the dust. As his feet went over his head again he caught an inverted view of the world. Thundering towards him were three of the horseman who hadn't yet mounted the train. Their horses snorted and the riders were shouting as they approached him.

Great.

Knox grit his teeth and snagged his fingers into the dirt. He felt rocks tear into his gloves, but succeeded in flipping himself over back to his feet. He slid for a few more feet and came to a stop. In one fluid motion he twisted around with his pistols drawn, firing.

The first few shots went wild causing the cowboys to scatter, but he merely readjusted his stance and tagged one of the riders in the chest several times. The other two pounded past him, whooping and shooting in the air. Intimidation tactics might have worked on the rest of the passengers, but Knox remained steadfast.

He caught the rogue horse by the reins and flipped himself up onto the saddle. His heels kicked planted into the dead robber's chest and ejected him from the ghoulish beast.

"Hee-yah, horsie!" He snapped the reins. The horse reared, its hooves in the air, and pounded off after the train. Knox dug his heels into the horse, urging it forward faster.

Ahead, the two remaining horsemen peered back to see him tearing after them. One swore and began to fire wildly behind him. Bullets whizzed passed Knox. He sunk lower in the saddle and spurred the horse on again.

He neared the robbers and tried to level his pistol on them, but one of the two robbers had pulled a grenade out. He pulled the pin out with his teeth and released the explosive. Knox watched the lever lift and spring off as the grenade landed in the dirt.

"Ah, fuck," he spat through ground teeth. He swung his legs up onto the saddle and stood in an uncomfortable crouch.

"This is a bad idea. This is a bad idea! THIS IS A BAD IDEA!' Knox screamed as his horse strode over the grenade. The horse screamed as the it went off and its front legs collapsed as its hind quarters slung up. Knox sprang up and into the air his arms pinwheeling out of control.

His descent brought him near the robber who had dropped the grenade, but not far enough. Knox slammed down on the rear of the horse, his legs hanging off in the back. He grabbed a hold of the man's belt and clung on for dear life. The robber felt the extra weight and looked behind to see a dust covered Knox looking up at him murderously. The robber slashed back at Knox with the reins.

Knox howled as they whipped across his face. He tried to let go, but his hand was caught in rope coiled on the robber's belt. Knox spun around, trying to dodge the snapping reins. He scrabbled at his sheathe and pulled out Blood-Nap. He slashed down on the rider's leg, causing him to scream in pain and also succeeding in uncoiling the rope.

Knox splayed out in the dirt as the horses kept riding. The pile of rope sat next to him, rapidly dwindling away. One end was still attached to the horse. And the other was still wrapped around his rest. Knox sat up with a groan, fixing his hat and rubbing his neck. He sighed in defeat and scratched his chin. As he lowered his hand he noticed the rope wrapped several times around his wrist. Then he noticed the quickly shrinking amount of rope next to him.

"Ah, fuck."

The rope snapped taught, pulling his arm forward and nearly out of its socket. Knox shot forward being ignominiously dragged by the rider and his horse. He smashed through clumps of dirt and cactus, the most he could do was protect his face.

A particularly hard rock slammed into his shoulder. This time it did dislocate.

"Alright..." he hissed in pain. "Time to get off the ground."

Knox pulled A Light Shining In Darkness from its holster, the sunlight glinting off its polished barrel. He took a deep breath as bits of dirt and rock stung against his face. The shaking of the barrel slowed as he trained it on the rider dragging him along.

The two robbers were laughing with each other at Knox's misfortune. Then one of their heads exploded. Then the other. Their corpses tumbled off their former mounts and rolled in the dirt. Knox twisted himself around until his feet were facing front. He planted one foot one of the horseman and the other on his dead comrade. Once more he pushed himself into the air.

Using the rope around his wrist he pulled himself onto one of the horses. He slashed the bonds with his knife one handed and then cradled his arm to his stomach. He scrabbled through the pouches on the saddle until he found what he was looking for.

"There we go, that should do it." He pulled out some scavenged Med-X and stabbed it into his thigh. It brought the pain down to a bearable level.

"Time to get back on the train."

Unmolested by robbers, Knox thundered after Clinton's train.

"Clinton, you better still be alive!"

Ava stuck her head above the lip of her hiding place in the crater that was formerly a train car. The armored robber was still stalking about in the ruins on the other end. She carefully lifted herself up, trying not to disturb the rubble. She planted a foot and carefully walked towards the robber.

He swung towards her, his rocket launcher pointed at a threatening angle. She froze before reminding herself that the man couldn't see her. He was just looking around. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all, she told herself.

Slowly stepping through the blasted train car she got closer and closer to the robber who continued to fruitlessly yell for her to come out.

Yeah. Right. Like that was going to happen.

Ava got within a few feet of the armored robber and was immediately thankful for the hood she was wearing. The man reeked! She didn't want to think about what he'd smell like without the hood drawn up over her face.

It wasn't like she regularly smelled wonderful. She could count the number of baths she'd had on one hand before moving into Tenpenny Tower. After the Tower, well, that was an easier number. It was zero. But still. She had never, ever smelt like this man.

She'd be doing his comrades a favor by killing him she decided. He'd probably smell better dead. And with that she snaked a finger on each hand through the pins on the grenades on his belt. With a small tink they came lose. Ava threw herself away from the man with a savage laugh. She decloaked just as the man whirled around in horror. She waved a hand at him with the grenade pin spinning around her finger as she disappeared into the next car.

The explosion rocked the train as the grenades went off and subsequently caused his other explosives to meet a similar fate. Blood and soot rained against the window.

Ava couldn't help, but gleefully giggle until she turned around. The cabin was crowded with robbers. They all whirled towards her in surprise. Ava gulped. Wonderful. A crowd full of people who wanted to kill her.

Wait! On the ground. Who was that?

It was the waitress, tied up and tossed on the floor. Yep, she decided. A crowd full of people who wanted to kill her. Ava did feel genuinely bad about blowing the waitress off earlier, but maybe saving her would make up for that.

Allowing that she could in fact save the waitress.

Before the robbers could react, Ava sprang into action. She drove her fist into the first man's nose before whirling around on one heel, sticking her other leg into the air, and wrapping it around the throat of a masked women trying to stab her.

She brought her leg down with a sickening snap and drew Perforator, leveling the silenced weapon at the gang. It's barrel spat quiet death into the robbers. She threw herself towards the left of the car as the robbers began to get their bearings. She cloaked in midair and as she landed on the floor, rolled back to the right side of the car.

The feint had worked. All the robbers eyes had followed her to the left, so when she sprang up onto the tables along the right side they were blindsided. She fired amidst them before jumping at the whole midst, still invisible.

With her arms spread out wide she caught the lot of them in neck, plunging the whole group to the ground. She kicked and punched and stabbed, screaming wildly the whole time. The robbers hadn't a chance. Her cloak began to flicker on and off struggling to cope with all the interactivity between her hits and the flailing mass of people on the floor.

Time had seemed to slow, almost stop as she brawled and fought, but quickly enough it was over. She was surrounded by either corpses, the unconscious, or those few smart enough to pretend to be unconscious.

"Er... um... help?"

Ava looked up from her position on the floor. One final robber had the waitress in hand with a gun on her head. Wonderful. They were playing with hostages again.

She slowly stood up with her hands raised.

"Let her go and I promise I'll only kill you a little."

The waitresses eyes widened in recognition and surprise even with Ava's voice being filtered by the stealth suit. The robber, however, was less than inclined to listen.

"Shut up, you... whatever you are... And stay visible! I'm in control here."

The gun was shaking. Ava rolled her eyes. "Did you not just see what I did to all your buddies here? You're next. Unless of course you let her go."

"I said shut up!" The man was casting his eyes back and forth. The waitress had clammed up with the robber's hand around her throat. "Put your weapons down! Then... then go back out that door."

"Fine, fine. You're in control here," Ava said sarcastically. She slowly bent down, one hand gently putting Perforator on the ground, the other slowly reaching for the dart gun. She nudged Perforator forward with her foot. The robber's eyes tracked it across the floor.

Ava shot up straight, whipping the dart gun up. It's mechanism twanged and the dart shot forward, burying itself in the gun hand of the robber. He shouted in surprise and swung his hand around, but it refused to do his bidding and fire.

Ava sprinted for him, grabbing the gun and wrenching it away. Fingers snapped in the process. None were hers. She pointed the gun down and fired twice. Once into each of the man's kneecaps. He collapsed, weeping. One swift blow to the head later and the weeping stopped too.

Ava turned to the waitress, gently taking her arm and guiding her to a chair. Her clothes were torn and bloodied, but she seemed unharmed.

"That's... uh, you in there, right?" she asked nervously.

"Oh right!" exclaimed Ava. She pulled the hood off and looked at the waitress with a bashful smile. The waitress breathed freely in relief.

Ava sat next to her. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry," she started. The waitress looked at her, completely baffled. "For last night I mean," explained Ava. "I was really rude and you were so nice and I was trying to make a good impression and then Knox made me so mad. I'm just... sorry."

The waitress just stared at her for a few silent seconds in disbelief before uttering a short, "oh."

Ava stood up, pulling her hood back into place. "Anyway, just wanted to let you know. I have to go see if Clinton's okay. Maybe I'll see you around?" Ava sealed the hood, blushing madly, and trying to play it off like she was cool. She stepped over the robber she'd shot in the hand and glanced the dart. That was a really good shot. Almost Knox-like. Wait a minute...

What had happened to Knox?

The ghoul-horse's breathing was getting ragged as Knox pulled up alongside the train. He was nearing the destroyed car that he'd been thrown off in the first place. Ava was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the armored robber. Instead there were just scraps of bloody meat thrown around.

He was just going to assume that wasn't Ava.

"Be free my friend," shouted Knox as he leaped off the horse and back on the train. With a loud, "OW," he landed on his injured arm with a sickening pop.

"Ahhhh, arm's back in its socket," he moaned while tentatively wiggling his fingers. Everything was in working order. A very painful, but working order. He got to his knees and slowly pushed himself all the way up, dusting his pants off.

"Time to go find Ava," he said to himself. He walked casually through the bloody carnage towards the next car where even more bodies were waiting for him.

"Holy shit," he muttered as he looked around the car. Bodies were strewn all over the place. The floor, the tables, one hanging out a window, and one survivor sitting all shellshocked at the end.

The waitress.

"Uh, hi," started Knox uncertainly.

The waitress looked at him, blinking in surprise. "She went that way." The waitress jerked her thumb at the door.

Knox nodded uncomfortably and edged towards the door.

"Wait." Knox froze. The waitress was looking at him, biting her lip. "Would you tell her thank you for me? I didn't have a chance earlier."

Knox gave her a reassuring smile. "Of course."

Ava crept through the remaining cars which were oddly deserted. No passengers and no robber's just... empty. The silence was actually starting to get on her nerves until she heard angry talking just before the engineering car.

She slowly walked up to the door and peered through. Clinton was standing with his arms crossed staring down the barrel of a pistol. He looked entirely unimpressed. Another man stood guard with a combat shotgun and the last, well, she was guessing that was the leader.

He stood with his back to the rest of them. He had a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off and embroidered on the back was some sort of weird lizard. His brown hair was shaved close on the sides and rose up above his head. In his hands was a baseball bat, nails decorating the end of it in bloody majesty. Ava could faintly hear them talking amongst themselves.

"I say we just shoot the zombie and take the train, boss."

"That's because you're an idiot. He's one of the only people still alive (if you can call it that) who knows how to run a train. We need him to be willing."

"Right. Willing," snorted the robber with his gun trained on Clinton in reply to the boss. "How many fingers do you think we can take before he agrees to work with us, Mack?"

Wait a minute. Mack?

"I say four. What do you say, Wally? Do I start cutting?"

Wally Mack? How the hell did Wally Mack get out in the middle of Kentucky?

Ava watched as the robber boss turned around. It was indeed Wally Mack. Former Vault 101 inhabitant, Tunnel Snake, and certainly not a friend of Ava's. Butch had over time turned into one of her most loyal companions, but the rest of his gang she would gladly push off a cliff.

Wally walked over towards Clinton. "What about you, ghoul? How many of your fingers do you think we take before you agree to work with us? Eh?"

Clinton just stared at him in contempt. Wally shook his head and turned his back on him again.

Shit, this was bad. They were going to start torturing Clinton! And she didn't know where Knox was and she didn't know what to do and FUCK! This is what always happened when she tried to do something good. She just couldn't fucking do it!

Ava grit her teeth inside the hood. No. That was the old her. She was going to save Clinton. She had to.

But how? She stood back from the door and looked around for another way into the engineering cabin. Windows to the exterior? No. Underneath? No. Wait! There! An air vent.

The engineering cabin put out more heat than the rest of the cars asides the actual engine. The ventilation system went up above the door and into the car through several access points. Access points plenty large enough for her to fit through.

With a practiced jump she leaped up, hooking her fingers into the grate. She yanked down and felt the bolts give way and the grate come off. She set it silently on the ground before jumping back up and hauling herself into the vent.

She slithered along until she could peer down above Wally and his goons. She was stretched out along the air vent rather uncomfortably, but didn't dare shift much for fear of causing noise. She slowly drew the dart gun and sighted up through the grating. Right on Wally Mack's neck.

Stupid bastard.

She pulled the trigger. The dart started to leave the gun until the train rattled violently on the tracks. Ava flew up into the top of the vent before falling down through the grating. The dart flew wide, striking a steam valve. The valve burst and steam started spewing into the car. As Ava fell she could see a man running through the previous car as the window fogged up.

It was Knox. He couldn't see what he was running into.

The thought was driven out of her head as landed with a thud on the ground. She was still cloaked, but Wally's men had certainly heard something.

Time seemed to slow as the guard raised his combat shotgun towards the door Knox was opening. Clinton was trying to quietly move for a screwdriver, but Wally could see him.

And Ava was caught right in the middle of it.

Oh boy.

Again I apologize for how long it took me to write and post this. It's hard to write a substantial chapter that doesn't have a lot of dialogue in it. However, we powered through and now we can get back to a more regular schedule. Isn't that cool? I also wanted to give a big thank you to you guys and girls out there. The feedback and love I get for this series is more than I ever expected. Thanks a lot.