Time for chapter seven.

Chapter Seven

Albany. Once the capital for the state of New York, only a short distance from the bustling metropolis of Manhattan it's surrounding islands. It had survived the great war two centuries earlier, though half the city was obliterated, it pressed out almost unfazed as it prepared for the new world.

This continued up until two opposing mercenary armies had met each other for control of this city. One fighting for law and order, same as the Regulators who came years earlier. The other fighting for blood and caps.

Black and Grey. Cruelty and Honor. Talons and Rangers.

The city did not survive the two years of brutal warfare, as it was bombarded on a daily basis, and fought for fifteen times. Now it was a flattened landscape, with rubble as it's ground, and only a handful of buildings left standing, if only skeletons now. An elaborate trench network spanned in both the northern and southern sides of the city. Where both sides fought for only a few hundred yards of ground. And when it was over, thousands of bodies littered the land.

Lowell had survived those two years of hell, first as a private, then as corporal, and finally as a senior sergeant. He was one of the few to survive as all the others were either crippled, or killed. He was lucky.

That's also what he was hoping for now, as he and Mina Jordan cautiously made their way across the landscape. The safeties on their weapons were switched off even before they entered the city.

The place Lowell was looking for was at the center of the city, beneath what was city hall. To get there however required to pass through a route called 'the dead trench'. When Mina nervously asked why it was called that, Lowell only chuckled. "You'll see."

After maybe an hour of traversing, they reached a central trench that ran from east to west across the whole city. It originally was a Talon company line, but became the most contested piece of real estate in the entire city, with every major offensive and 13 of the major battles taking place there.

The final battle for this place was the most horrifying, and the most obscene. The Rangers had attacked the line and through heavy fighting nearly succeeded in taking the trench again. Rather than retreat like they always had, the Talons dropped an entire volley of 'Rabbit gas' on top of the position.

Rabbit gas was similar to the Mustard gas used in the first world war, causing the lungs to begin bleeding and the eyes to burn. The green gas spared nothing that inhaled this poison, man, and animal both had succumbed to this heinous weapon.

The men in that trench, Ranger and Talon, didn't have enough time to get their masks on. So thousands of them choked on these lethal vapors, and even to this day, their skeletons remain where they fell.

The place was often rumored to be haunted by the spirits of the those thousands of mercenaries. A place so disturbing not even the local Super Mutants went near it.

And that's exactly what Mina saw when Lowell hopped inside the six foot deep trench. Thousands upon thousands of skeletons, hundreds with destroyed bodies due to fighting each other, the majority with their own hands around their throats, still trying to breath. The grey dusters were now shreds, or more often than not, completely gone. The armor of both combatants had rusted over from the years of frost fall and abuse. The weapons were so rusted and damaged they were rendered useless at the feet of their former owners. It truly was an appalling sight.

Not being able to process what she saw, Mina began vomiting madly. Lowell climbed back out and helped to steady her. "Yeah, all of us did that when we saw this. No shame." He said as he patted her on the back.

Lowell stared back in the path in the ground. He wondered how many of his friends had perished in there. And how close he and his company came to sharing the same fate. The only reason they didn't was a small group of Talons had broken through the right flank, and by sheer luck, Lowell's company was the closest to dealing with it. Just avoiding the gas.

Mina coughed and wiped her mouth. Her respect for Lowell had grown that day as this sight was not for the faint hearted and weak minded. Seeing this much death was not natural.

Lowell again hopped back into the line and grabbed the adolescent as she leapt into his arms. "Here's some advice, just keep your eyes forward and ignore everything beneath you." Lowell said as he gripped his rifle and trudged on. That was easier said than done, since the bones were snapping and crackling as their feet fell.

Mina had vomited several times along the way.

Finally and thankfully after another hour of this, the two finally reached city hall. Mina panted, her legs had gone numb from the number of times she had puked. Lowell allowed her time to rest and recover her strength.

"Lowell? How did you survive something like this?" She asked motioning back to the killing field outside. Lowell stood there quietly, remembering all those years ago.

After a moment of silence, he answered her. "By sheer chance." Lowell leaned against the wall and pulled out a cigarette. "If we were lucky, one in fifty of us had made the entire duration. Out of the original 10,000 at the start of this thing," He then shook his head in disbelief, "Only 200 made it."

Lowell then motioned for Mina to follow and the two entered the basement of city hall.

Another day had passed and the two started another fire. This time however, neither ate, nor slept. Not in this place. For the uneasy feeling that someone was in there with them was plaguing them throughout the night.

Mina found herself shivering. Now only was did it feel so cold the fire was not strong enough, but on more then one occasion, she swore she heard the sounds of battle, the sounds of bombs falling, and the sounds of men and women both screaming, and dying.

She jumped when Lowell suddenly spoke. "You hear it too, huh?" He asked as he rested against the wall. "Yeah, people claimed they've seen tracers flying when no one was there, the sounds of incoming artillery, screaming, ghosts."

Mina stared at him as he continued to tell the story. She was amazed that he was not mad or mentally disturbed. "It took about six years to finally block out the dreams." but he surprisingly, chuckled. "But the faces of those I killed, and those I lost never went away."

"Then," Mina began slowly, trying to word it properly. "How did the nightmares cease?" Lowell was silent for the moment, before looking her in the eyes, grinning ruefully. "You accepted them, and made your peace with the dead."

Lowell decided to venture in deeper by himself, much to the discomfort of Mina. He felt like exploring the basement. Getting a better understanding of their location.

There were at least three rooms: the one they were staying in; the adjacent room with what looked like old printing presses; and finally a room connecting to the underground metro tunnels.

Lowell guessed that the archives were cleverly hidden inside those tunnels, so it would be a chore finding them.

For now, he returned to the campsite, and the two tried to get some sleep.

Day break. The beautiful day outside, was an insult to the landscape. Not to mention the thousands of Rangers that lay scattered across the city.

Lowell groaned and lit up another cigarette, coughing from the smoke. "I'm gonna have to quit eventually." He muttered as he pulled the coffin nail out and stared at it. "These things are gonna kill me." He coughed again and set it back on his lips.

His appearance was of questioning health with heavy and darkened eyes, stiff, and haggard, both in appearance and the sound of his voice.

He was outside smoking as to not wake Mina, for she had finally fallen asleep. As he continued to drag, he stared out at the desolate landscape.

Lowell felt uneasy, even with his wasteland experience. This place and the death that surrounded it, made even the most brazen wastelander uneasy. A land where few animals called home, save for a vicious and almost sadist type of rat.

Corpse rats. That's what the vermin were called here. Though not as large, or as intelligent as New York rats, they more than made up for it by sheer quantity. During the war, their numbers exploded from the amount of bodies there were. It was not uncommon to see such fat ones that they couldn't even move, and had to be helped by their fellow rats.

Not only were they despicable and heinous, but also demoralizing. Everyone knew that when they were around, there was a body nearby. On top of that, these vermin spread terrible dieses that incapacitated, and killed hundreds of people.

Lowell laughed at a way to pass the time when he was a Ranger. They would drop hunks of muti fruit, which were so rotten not even the dogs would eat them. The fruit was laid out on the floor and the rats were so bold, that they actually ran out from their hiding places to feast. And when they did, the Rangers would start whacking them with their spades, clubs and entrenching tools.

Lowell Morgan felt old. Not only from surviving such conflicts, but to remember times from so long ago. And it was not uncommon for people to say he looked much older than he really was.

He shook his head and threw the cigarette away. Then pulled his grey sand mask over his face, which was just a grey bandana. For the temperature dropped the farther down one went in those tunnels.

He looked at his watch and then kicked Mina in the foot. When she tiredly stared at him he just waved her up. "Roll down your sleeves, and raise the lapels up, kiddo. Its gonna get cold." He said as he lifted his lapels up and double-breasted his jacket. Mina did the same.

The two then descended into darkness.

Lowell switched his flashlight on and pulled out his .44 revolver. He hated using the flashlight, because I gave away his position, but he didn't have a choice. The metro corridor was so dark that it required light.

But considering where they were, he felt slightly better, considering life tried to avoid this part of the city.

He made sure that his foot falls were slow and quiet. Even though indigenous creatures like ghouls and Super mutants steered clear of the center of town, didn't mean they wouldn't wander in the metros from time to time. Or at least that's what Lowell was told.

However as the two descended further and further down, Mina couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling. Not from the location, but from something else. Like someone, or something else was there with them.

Then she heard it.

Voices. They were distant, and faint, but they were there nonetheless.

"Lowell?" Mina whispered, and he turned around. Determination in his eyes. "I know."

"We're not alone."

Okay that's the end of chapter seven. Read and review people.