Disclaimer- I do not own fallout.
Yes, I realize that this update is not within my projected parameters and I again humbly apologize to my readers who I have kept waiting for a rather gross amount of time. I have no excuse.
Well, next chapter for the cold chronicles is up, read it while it's hot (Heh get the irony). As always reviews are greatly appreciated. Also I'd like to give a special thanks to those of you who have reviewed more than once. Sorry again for the terrible and inconsistent speed at which I update, if its any consolation I think (And hope) my writing skills are getting better.
I hope you enjoy the chapter. Now, read the damned thing.
…
The cold tingling water fell to the loose dirt below us. Soft plops so faint, seemed thunderous in the late night of the wastes. I was shivering uncontrollably, Christine wasn't fairing any better. My head was on a swivel at this point, looking for any possible landmarks I could use, or some husk of a building to take residence in for the rest of the night.
My eyes quickly spotted some kind of old broadcast station. Many of which were scattered throughout the wastes, unfortunately, they were very sought after. Built to last they usually attracted raider gangs, or bucketheads. Both of which were the few in the wastes who can hold such a desirable structure.
But we didn't have much time, sooner or later the cold would get us. At this point my heart was beating miles a minute, trying to get the blood to my extremities. My decision was made, we would go, raiders or bucketheads, that building would be ours.
I put one shivering hand on the grip of my claw, my other hand going for the revolver at my hip. I flicked the water out of the barrel and chamber as best I could, it might not fire, but whoever we ran into wouldn't know that.
"Come on, we're gonna take shelter over there." I said motioning to the station.
"What if there are people there?" Christine asked, her voice was marked by chattering teeth.
"Than I shoot them and put 'em out for the scavs to pick apart." I stated through clenched teeth. The freezing air was starting to get to me more and more.
I was starting to lose my dexterity, had to get warm soon, had to get out of these wet cloths. We closed the distance to the station fairly quickly, my lips twitched involuntarily and it wasn't because of the cold. I leaned against the door, listening for any sound on the other side. After a few moments I heard what I hoped I wouldn't, a soft rustling on the other side.
Kicking in the door wouldn't do, if they're experienced then there's a trap waiting for us, but we had no choice. I turned to Christine and motioned for her to come up beside me by the door, Jack followed suit.
"Alright, we have no choice, either we try to get into this place, or we die from the cold." I breathed in slowly. "So I'm gonna kick-in the door, your going to have to cover me. Ready?"
She nodded.
"Good, now when I say go, you best be ready." I said.
Again, she nodded.
"Alright." I steeled myself for the task at hand. "And, go!"
My heavy boot kicked into the door. At this point I was hoping the shock and awe would startle anyone in there long enough for me to kill them before they realized what was happening. My revolver was up in a flash and pointed at a man who just started to sit up, his partner wasn't far behind.
The first one reached for something next to him, I fired the revolver. Only it didn't go off, a loud click seemed to echo off the walls and all around took notice. Especially the man who had just raised his rifle and was aiming down the sights at me.
It was clear now that they were a raider group, luckily there were only two of them. Unfortunately they had working guns, Christine was at my side now her rifle raised, but most likely as useless as my pistol. Our little swim made sure of that. The man with the rifle gave a low whistle.
"Not very nice coming in uninvited like that." He looked between us. "Tell ya what girly, how bout you come over here and we'll let ya live. That is if you do us a few favors of course." His partner snickered, threateningly waving around a lead pipe.
My grip on my revolver tightened, so stupid. But there was no way I was going to let that happen to Christine, she didn't deserve it. I could catch the quick glances at me, she was expecting something. She knew her rifle wouldn't fire, she wasn't dumb.
I looked between the two. The leader was waiting for some kind of response, my head formed a plan in a flash.
"Wait, we can make a deal." I said. I slowly walked toward him. He raised his gun and continued to aim down the barrel at me.
"Drop your weapons and get down on your knees asshole." He growled.
I did just that, dropping my claw and revolver and putting my hands out in front of me. I started to plead and beg, hollow words coming from my mouth. He stepped forward, putting the cold barrel of the gun to my forehead. At this point I didn't know what was happening around me, I was purely focused on this man. The one that would harm her, the one that would corrupt those eyes.
I couldn't let that happen.
"Heh, don't worry pal, it'll be quick n' painless. Then we can have fun with your girl over there." He stated. That was the moment his guard dropped, so assured of his triumph he let his muscles relax for a moment, his trigger finger loosened.
It was all the time I needed. I launched myself at him, pushing his rifle to the side as I did, making sure any stray bullets fired wouldn't go toward where Christine was. I used my other hand to grab his hair which was done up in a Mohawk and I yanked his head back. Quickly I clamped my teeth down on his jugular and jerked my head back, taking a chunk of his throat with me.
Warmth splashed my face, and I got a look at his eyes as they stared shocked right into mine. I didn't pause as his partner ran at me in a rage, a primal scream issuing from his throat. He swung his pipe at me, I ungracefully fell back, the pipe missed my head by inches.
I then proceeded to kick him in the crotch, he doubled over in pain as I pulled the pipe from his hands. I then started to bash his skull in and didn't stop until it was a barely recognizable mass of pulp.
Once I was sure he was dead I turned to Christine, she had a mortified look on her face. Shooting people was different, you usually didn't have to be close to the carnage. We didn't have time to waste, the spit out the chunk of flesh.
"Come on, we have to get these bodies out of here." I said grabbing the now headless one by his leg and began to drag it toward the door.
She still stood there, I didn't blame her. Instead I just continued to bring the bodies outside, I just dumped them outside the door. Nothing fancy, no time to drag them away from the station, I would just have to put something in-front of the door to keep the animals out.
After barricading the door and getting Jack in, I started to look around for anything of use. The adrenaline was wearing off and the shivers started to come back, Christine had snapped out of her trance and noticed the cold as well.
I found the blankets which the raiders had been using and put them by the mattresses, then I motioned for Christine to come toward me. She did, hesitantly, it was understandable. As she came over I began to strip down laying out my various articles of clothing to let them dry, they would be fine in the morning.
Then I wrapped myself in the dry, warm, if not totally clean blankets. Christine was giving me an incredulous look, even as she shivered. It was amazing to be in the presence of someone so odd.
"I suggest you do the same, or you'll catch your death in those cloths. We sleep here the rest of the night into midday tomorrow. Wait for the barrels of our guns to dry, and our cloths too. Not to mention the extra rest will do us good, after that we move on." I breathed out.
Christine nodded mutely to me, I turned away giving her the privacy she no-doubt wanted. It was the least I could do given the circumstances, Jack laid down by my side as I began to hear her strip. She laid her thick leather clothing down next to mine, as well as her rifle.
I heard her take the other blankets from where I put them and wrap them around herself. Surprisingly enough she laid next to myself and Jack, putting one arm around me, then snuggling up closer. It startled me, but I did not move.
"Just sharing body heat." she whispered.
I nodded mutely, the silence went on for what seemed like eternity. It came to the point when I thought she had fallen asleep.
"I know that you were right by killing them, but I've wanted to ask you something for a while now." She said. I nodded and waited for her to continue, there was a long pause until she finally seemed to recognize my affirmation of hearing her. "How, how do you forget the faces?"
"Why? Having bad dreams?" I questioned right back. Her grip around my midsection tightened.
"You don't have to answer, if you don't want to." she mumbled.
I fell quiet for a long moment, listened to the rough winds of the wastes outside. My chest seemed to tighten as I swished my answer back and forth across my tongue. I grabbed her hand and held it in my own.
"I can't tell you how to forget them. It would, be wrong." I said.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"For you to learn a skill like that, it would compromise who you are. You could never be the same person you are now." I paused. "And that would be unforgivable."
"So, I have to deal with the nightmares then?" she whispered.
"Yeah," I whispered back. "But, its better than not feeling anything."
We were silent the rest of the night as we fell to our need for sleep.
…
D.C. Ruins 0300 hours…
Three figures stood in the rubble of the old city. One examining a dead man clad only in ragged pants and a shirt. Old wounds left dark crusty stains where the victim appeared to be missing chunks from his body. The two standing guard 20 yards away from the examiner chatted in hushed tones.
"Can't believe what happened to Harry." Said the first with a distinct accent, the origin of which was lost to the past.
"Yeah, sick fucker tore him up. Remember, Baker and Charles stumbled back babbling messes. Can't imagine who could do that." His partner answered back.
The first gave him a sideways look through his goggles. "I still say they just ran into a supermutant." He replied.
"No, couldn't be, wrong part of the ruins for them. Even if they did, old Harry could've killed it, besides, those wounds look too clean. It looked like he had chunks perfectly cut from his bones." Responded the second.
"So, what or who do ya think did it?"
"No idea, lets wait for the bosses verdict."
The apparent leader of the group crouched over the corpse, using his butchers knife to examine the wounds without touching them. Finding the clean, almost surgical nature of them he stopped, then he moved to look at the ground. Finding minute disturbances with the rubble and dirt, he followed the trail to where Harry was apparently taken down.
There he found more clues, finding the direction in which the attacker went. He pulled out a worn monocular and looked through the instrument to find further details within the debris, leading up a rather large pile of rubble.
He began to move at a dead sprint, soundlessly and effortlessly going up the large pile of rubble, he made his way to the other side. His comrades were slow to catch up, in the darkness of night they lacked the same grace.
Eventually they made it to the other side of the pile to observe their boss looking again through his monocular, apparently taking an interest in one of the many similar decrepit buildings.
He again ran soundless toward the building, drawing his revolver and cocking its hammer in one fluid motion. Now his team was on edge, readying their own weapons as they ran after him.
He stopped at the entrance carefully peering into the enveloping darkness. After a moment of complete silence he holstered his weapon and motioned for his team to follow him into the building. He looked to the used and abandoned makeshift fire pit in the middle of the room and approached it slowly. His two companions stood at the entrance, both covering him and observing his methods.
He then took notice of a rather rancid piece of unfinished meat, seemingly thrown a good distance from the fire pit. Approaching the meat he crouched down and picked in up, maggots had been deposited by flies whose lifeless corpses littered the dirty floor around where it had been.
Pulling down his dark cloth facemask he smelled then licked it, taking a moment to analyze the taste and consistency before spitting to rid himself of its foulness.
His companion winced at his actions, obvious disgust present in their body language. The man put his mask back in place standing up to his full height and looking back at the two.
"We need to head out, this is a few days old, at best. We don't have much time before his trail goes cold…. Then he's lost." He said in a raspy voice.
As he brushed past the two their confusion was evident.
"Wait, what the hell. What are we going after boss, how the hell did you know it was there, and what did you even get from any of that?" goggles asked as they caught up with their enigmatic leader.
Not pausing from his current course he answered. "The rubble was disturbed around Harrison's body, which led to that building where our friend stopped to sleep for the night."
"What about the meat? Why even lick it?" asked the other man.
"Well, our friend seemed to have made a meal for himself…. Out of Harrison." He replied.
The other two shook off their shock in a second, the trio continued onward toward a location only 'The Boss' knew of. Cannibalism was nothing new in the wastes, but it was always shocking, even to veterans of the brutal new world.
The three kicked up dust as they ran through the ruins, their long coats flapping in the icy winds.
…..
I woke up to find the warmth which had been against my back all night absent. The feeling sent a chill up my spine as my hands began to shake, quickly I calmed myself before taking view of my surroundings. All seemed fine, Jack sleeping not to far away, my bags and other tools still lay where I left them the previous night.
Christine seemed to have awoken and was already dressed in her dried leather apparel, she sat idly cleaning her sniper rifle, carefully striping the parts then reassembling it after her cleaning was done. I went about getting up slowly, walking over to my clothing which had dried as we slept, mostly. Even as I slipped into them I could feel the dampness which still clung stubbornly to the well worn fabric.
Last to be put on was 'Harrison' as I had come to call the long duster. It was slightly worse off than the rest of my clothing, I hadn't noticed the new bullet hole put into it by my little bout the previous night with the raiders.
It was about time we got a move on, we had already had enough rest and wasted enough time. The thought gave me shutters, for all my life I've been going in the direction of absolutely nothing, had plans set up for everything except a destination. What was I supposed to do now? I have a charge, dumped upon me by happenstance and perhaps simple loneliness, but where was I supposed to go, or even do for that matter? What did this girl think I had that was worth following me for?
It wasn't a question of material possession, but a matter of some kind of naïve moral hope, I think. However, the time for such stray thoughts was over it was time to move: continue the long march toward whatever was out there for me to find or do. I whistled to Jack who instantly got up and was at my side. Christine looked up to meet my gaze.
"Time to go, get that sorted and done quickly." I breathed out.
Without waiting for reply I unceremoniously threw the makeshift barricade away from the door and opened it. Greeting my senses was the foulness and desolation of the wastes for the billionth time in my life I breathed in air so cold it felt as though it cut my mouth.
I began to walk, confident that Christine would catch up. I even increased my stride a little, walking as fast as I could, jack kept pace at my side. Perhaps I did so hoping in some sick way that I could leave her behind. However, sure enough I could hear the fainter footsteps of my charge behind me.
Anyway, at that point it didn't even matter, I suppose. We were walking vaguely westward, at least according to the sunrise, who knew where that would take us. Hell maybe we'll just keep on walking, right out of the Capital wasteland. Getting out of D.C. sounded like a good Idea to me, hell a change of scenery would be good. Maybe start fresh somewhere else, finally able to go into semi-civilized settlements without having to hide my face for fear of death.
Yeah that sounded like a good idea. Get out, get away from the growing conflicts between tinheads and muties. Not to mention the ever more paranoid and persistent regulators. These thoughts and many more were running through my head as a loud crack echoed through the silence.
Hmm, left it on a cliffy, sorry 'bout that. Kinda just wanted to get this up, show everyone it's not dead. Yes again I do realize it's been a ridiculous amount of time, 5 months according to one of my reviewers (Yes Jmann 1821 and Nom Opii it has been a while) Anyway I truly am sorry and I do promise to finish this. Heh, don't worry know the feeling, have many stories I wait for updates on. Well that's all for now, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Sorry if you didn't, I know it feels somewhat rushed.
300-709.
