Spot lights in the distance had caused the Wanderer and Clover to seek a low place to hide later that night. The Wanderer frowned as Clover looked down the scope. He disliked this sensation of not being in control, and it seemed that since visiting Tenpenny Tower his situation would remain as thus until he could finally figure out all of the angles. And get his mind to quit wandering back to that man with the sword and the definite Presence he'd felt within him...

"Talon Company," Clover said in a low voice. He'd taught her not to whisper at night as the sounds carried more than simply talking in a low tone, and he was actually proud the girl had listened to him. "And a whole lot of them, lover. I... I think this is their base. Fort Bannister I heard Eu... Him call it that once."

The Wanderer nodded slowly and rested his chin on his folded arms, as he stared at the encampment of patrolling figures, before rolling onto his back to glare up at the star-filled night sky. They'd have to circle around the camp, that was without doubt. But that would take time and give their hunters plenty of opportunity to catch up to them. Hell, they could even stop here and resupply! After a few moments of contemplation, the Wanderer decided to pull up the map function of his Pip-Boy. In addition to marking down the area, the Wanderer began to check the surrounding area for any locations they could lay down for the night and hopefully- HOPEFULLY- have their hunters pass them up. Even as the thought was passing through his mind, he began to calculate the odds of success of that. Something struck him about these hunters of theirs. He didn't see them giving up the chase that easily... but...

"What if that bastard told them what the keys were for?" he muttered to himself. Their was a sinister, cold chuckling in the back of their mind, And which bastard was it that told them?

He hadn't even stopped to consider that these mercenaries could have been tipped off by Burke. Hell, they were already working for him! And it would explain Tenpenny's lack of surprise at much of their conversation. The theory could add up, or it could just prove he was becoming more and more paranoid the longer he was out here with these tribals. Sighing gently, he decided it was unimportant. Regardless of who tipped them off, there was a cold certainty from the shadowy mind of his Presence that they indeed knew where they were headed.

But even armed with that knowledge, what was I supposed to do with it...?

With a grumble, he rolled back onto his belly and decided it was time to move on, for better or ill. They'd continue along their path to Fort Constantine. And maybe, if they were careful, the Wanderer could begin to form an ambush of his own.

The going was slow outside of Fort Bannister's perimeter, careful to avoid the spot lights as they carefully scoped the area around them. Fortunately, these men were not as intelligent as the last group of Talons they'd encountered. They kept to a pattern that was easy to pick up on after a few minutes of dodging the probing lights while keeping the encampment perpetually to their right. As they were working their way around the camp, the Wanderer kept glancing at his Pip-Boy, checking their slow progressing location on the map feature. This camp was large, nearly as large as some of the settlements he'd come across while wandering the Capital Wasteland. It was certainly larger than Arefu, though not quite as large as Megaton. And it was with a frown he realized he was looking only at what was above ground. Experience had taught him that most places held secrets below that were often best not to be trifled with... at least until the obvious dangers above had been dealt with. And charging down an entire encampment of hostiles might not pan out so well for him.

He suppressed the apathetic thought of someone should do something with a quick clench of his jaw. It was not his responsibility to fix every little problem encountered in the Capital Wasteland... even if people did seem to constantly approach him with their's. How people seemed to think approaching a man as large as he, quite obviously armed with several weapons was a good idea was beyond him to understand. His mind ceased its wandering as they began to put some distance between them and the fort, and he resettled into that old familiar wariness of dangers that might lurk around them in their focus on what was behind them.

Despite his focus, his usual ability to bend his mind to a single task was absent. He couldn't get his mind off of that damn group...


Jose sighed as they made their way through the topside of the Fort, wiping the sweat from his brow. Sure he'd wanted to keep them running but he didn't think they'd manage to stay THIS far ahead!

"All right, Mark go and get some more ammo. Mike, I want you to go and grab some more water. Ling," the Hispanic man began to issue out orders, stopping as he noticed Ling continuing on Northwards. "LING!" His barking command voice finally made the Asian stop and turn to regard him with a blank look. Jose wet his lips for a moment before continuing. "Go and grab a couple more stimpacks, maybe a few cannisters of Psycho. I wanna harry them two a little more." The man frowned and moved off, thankfully in the direction of the medical supplies.

Shaking his head softly, he looked over to Darius and noticed he was breathing a little heavier and holding his head. He'd watched the kid they were after throw his oldest comrade. Seen the overwhelming display of strength and the shift to agility when he'd crossed blades with Ling. There was definitely more to their target than he'd at first wanted to admit. But the guy had taken out five Talon teams already.

"So... How'd he manage to throw you like that Darius?" he managed to ask while looking up at the sky. It looked like a cloud was moving in on the north.

Darius looked like he was considering the question for a moment. Jose noticed that when the man took to deep thinking, his shoulders rolled. This time, there was definitive pain in the motion. What were they hunting?

"... I've never met anyone that could lift me up like that, except my brother," Darius paused as he withdrew a cigarette from a pack he kept in his pants. Jose bit back his surprised remark. The big black man rarely smoked, and usually only when he was drinking. Jose recognized the big silver lighter as his brother's, and the flame cast his compatriot's face in a bright orange light for a moment. "And I gave him more trouble than I gave that damn kid." His dark eyes focused on the north for a moment and a frown touched his features. "There's a storm rolling in, boss."

Jose looked back and nodded as well. It was like a wall of dust moving forward. At least they knew that their quarry wouldn't be getting far ahead.


Okay, so yes... It is past the turn of the year and I have not finished this. Been working too much to have much drive and being a parent does dominate one's time. Regardless, this story is NOT dead. It's just a little harder getting stuff out due to lack of free time. See ya'll next time and a big thanks to my reviewers so far. Looking at them really got me motivated to update.