Chapter 8: We Weep For Those We Don't Know
"Pledge in your hearts and minds, pledge by your guns that you will stand with them in battle until the end, trust each of them with your life."
I walked for I don't know how long; I had decided I would just walk in the direction of Manhattan. I was still mourning over Vigilante. I had taken from his body all I would need and all he'd want me to have, the caps he carried for us, extra mags for my assault rifle, his Stetson, and L'il Justice. It would be an injustice to not see it carry out what he used it for.
My only companion now was the music Check fed to me, and all the stories he told about the world around me. There was no trouble. There was only the conflict between the TSL and the Irradiated.
The mid morning sun beat down on me whilst I stumbled through an abandoned town. I looked up when I heard music. I turned around trying to find the source when I spotted it on my compass. Thank God it was friendly.
I rushed around the street corner, expecting someone sitting on a rocking chair with a radio nearby, but it was only one of those floating robots hovering towards me. This was blasting the music already heard on NBC.
I turned around to keep going until it started to play white noise and then nothing. The thing was looking towards me. And then came the sound of someone tapping a microphone, "Hey, can you hear me?" The metallic voice made it hard to determine the speaker's gender
I had run this routine before, "Yes, who are you?"
"Name's Samantha," One mystery solved, "But most just call me the Lone Wanderer."
"You're the Lone Wanderer?" I asked, astonished.
"Hey, is she there?" Another voice spoke over the microphone, it was rough, manly. "Hey, there she is. I guess Sam's already said hi, so it's my turn, Hi, I'm the Courier, real name's Bill."
"Yes, yes, I was just about to introduce you till you interrupted," shushed Samantha, "Your Gamma right? The Empire rascal?"
"Is that what I'm called now?"
"Well, no. Rascal kind of stuck in my head. People are calling you Geist, now."
"Okay, so what do you want? I'm trying to get to Manhattan."
"We need you to meet us."
"Where?"
"I've just downloaded the location to your Pip-Boy. We'll be waiting."
With a pop and a fizz, the Eyebot went on playing music, "Wait! How did you do that?" I sighed and lifted my Pip-Boy to my eyes, switching to the map I saw a new square on it, Metro B647 Electrical Station.
…
Again I found myself against a wall, trying not to get killed. I hadn't fully realized how hard it would be to fight without Vigilante.
There were a lot of broken walls out here.
I shook that random thought from my mind and focused back onto my predicament. I was fighting Raiders, the first in a while. There was a clunk. I looked at my feet and my eyes widened.
A frag grenade was lying at my feet.
I grasped it and flung it back over the wall. It exploded only a second later. I heard screaming and could tell shrapnel had filled one of the Raiders. That meant three left. I lifted up my assault rifle and peeked over the wall.
Two of them were down, actually. One had been walking forward to jump me when I threw the grenade back out. He had died instantly with his left arm blown to bits. I shuddered at the sight of bone, blood, and human. The other was rolling on the ground, still hollering in pain. Shrapnel must have embedded into his entire upper body.
I quickly put him out of his misery. I spotted the last two on my compass, cowering right behind a rock. It wasn't a big rock, but still big enough to hide two people. I jumped up and onto it. Peering over the edge I saw that the last two were girls, and both weren't looking up. I sneaked out my .357 and pointed it at the girl on the left's head.
"Don't move, and I won't blow your brains out of your ears," I commanded. Both of them looked up. The one I wasn't trained on got up and moved to take a blade from her belt. She had only put her hand on the handle before I put a bullet in her chest. Her eyes were aghast before she fell over.
I jumped down from the rock and turned around to the other girl. She got up, hands raised. She didn't look like a Raider, she was in rags, which weren't typical for them, but she had a weapon, I couldn't be too sure.
"Please, I don't want to die."
"I've heard that a lot out here. Why aren't you wearing any type of armor?" I took my finger off the trigger, but kept the gun on her.
"I'm a slave, they were using me in their fights. If I got out of line they would kill me immediately." She shoved out her wrist, "Look, I'm marked!" She was right; the number 64 was marked onto her wrist. It was underlined by a bar code. I still kept the .357 on her whilst I moved my sleeve out of the way, and sure enough, the number 7, underlined in a barcode, was on my wrist.
I lowered my pistol and holstered it, "My name's Gam-" I was suddenly stopped when she shoved her own pistol at me.
"Give me everything you've got on you."
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Robbing you, what does it look like?" She said bluntly.
"I was going to help you. We could have traveled with each other, strength in numbers, right?" I pleaded.
"Friends will only get you killed out here."
I stopped breathing when she said that. She was right; because of me Vigilante had gotten killed.
"You okay kid? You've stopped breath-" She was cut of by a sound of rattling.
"Well, hell! I could turn this into a Mex-e-can stand off if I wanted!" I looked over at a stout man who had goggles over his eyes and a hat that made him look like a dog. He was pushing a cart filled with junk.
Looking at the cart reminded me of Kag for some reason.
"You could let me kill her, then you could kill me, would be better for you, prospector." I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
"He's a what? Don't prospectors mine?"
"Yes, and no." Said the man, "You see, prospector is just a fancy word for scavenger, 'cept many of us dun like that term."
"So what happens now?"
"Now, I'm gonna ask the pretty lady with the 10mm trained on a potential customer's head to put said 10mm down." He pulled off the cart a very menacing shotgun and pointed it at the Raider/slave girl. "Now would you please lower yer gun, ma'am?"
…
And then I was alone again. The girl and the trader left. No one traded names. I had only asked him for a couple clips of 5.56mm and a tin of Cram. I sat on a rock as I dug the compressed meat out.
I wondered if people cried for Vigilante? Would they cry for me? People probably hated me. I was the reason he got killed.
No, he probably would have been killed anyway. Mechanist had gotten the drop on us. I bet if he hadn't done a monologue I'd be dead.
I looked down at the empty tin; small drops of water that could only have been my tears lay inside it. I bent over and started to cry, letting my tears hit the ground.
I threw the Cram tin on the ground. I had quite a while to walk to meet the Courier and the Lone Wanderer.
…
I stopped at the sound of screaming. It wasn't Raider induced screaming, it was insanity induced screaming. "I'll kill all you sons of bitches! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Sounds of plasma fire and the chatter of an assault rifle sounded through the twilight.
I continued on just wanting to pass whatever was going on and find somewhere to sleep.
The firing stopped, "Halt, under the name of Sol, halt!"
I looked over at the source of the voice. In the gleaming sunset stood a man in very heavy looking silver armor. The pauldrons were the skull of Brahmin. Almost every indent was painted a soft yellow. The chest was adorned with a large painting of the sun. Strung around his neck were the sharp teeth of a dead beast.
"What do you want?" I asked him as I stepped closer, "I have somewhere to be and I've wasted too much time already."
"Please identify yourself, ma'am. If you do not I've all right to shoot you dead. You may have heard the last person to say no."
"Gamma Phillips. You?"
"Star-Paladin Crossroads. Miss Phillips do you know a man known as 'Vigilante'?" He spat the name out in disgust.
"I did, have you not listened to the news?"
"No, the Solstice Legion does not listen to the blasphemous sputtering of 'Check'. He is a heretic to Sol."
"Well Vigilante is dead." His eyes widened in shock, "I was there when some maniac blew a hole in his stomach. And if you've come out here to kill him for his terrible deeds, whatever he did, you lost your chance."
"You may carry on your way ma'am." I could feel the tears brimming on the edge of my eyes. "What exactly did he do? What did the man who tried to help a fucked up world do to earn a place on your hit-list?"
Crossroads turned around and stared at me, his eyes were stone dead. "He betrayed Sol. He betrayed the Legion."
"But what did he do exactly?" A tear strolled across my cheek.
"Your ears would be too young for his actions."
"I've seen tens of mutilated bodies, been raped, and had the only thing I could call a friend die protecting me. Try me." I checked off all I'd been through in my head.
"He tried to kill our leader so we could rejoin with the blasphemous Steels."
"That can't be true!"
"Like it or not, he tried it, and ran away the instant he failed." I turned away from him and started to walk away.
I looked back at him, "You have no right to call an amazing person a traitor."
…
I stepped on the head of the chirping radroach. I pretended it was the fucked up Wasteland and stomping on it made the world better. I shoved it into the trashcan and looked around the tiny motel room. I'd learned my lesson from sleeping unprotected so I had shoved a chair in front of the door. In the past I'd had the protection of the Vault, my brother, and it's security cameras (Monitored 24/7!), and whilst out here I had had Vigilante.
The twin mattress was still comfortable even after 200 years. I sat down and turned on my radio; 'Howdy everyone, I'm Mr. New Vegas, here to remind you that your no- GAH! I can't keep up the act.' I grinned at Checks little impersonation.
How does it seem that he always starts his broadcast when I turn my radio on?
"You may have already noticed the recent influx of Solstice Paladins wanderin' the Wastes, far away from Roosevelt Island and uptown. Well reports show that they're asking for the where about of Vigilante. Think they didn't get the news? Me too. Turns out I'm having a little trouble on the homestead. My daughter, that same girl who came in to replace me a few weeks ago has turned fifteen today. She has little message for Vigilante's replacement," How had I become the replacement?
"Hi everyone," The voice was a cheery young girl, and I think I've heard it before "Gamma, if you're listening (I'm gonna get my father to put this on repeat anyway), I just want to tell you I love you. It's a stupid celebrity crush, but we've all had one haven't we?" I cringed at those all too true words, "I'd like to meet you. It gets lonely in Rockefeller with just my dad."
"Hey young lady!"
"You know I'll still love you dad."
"Well anyway, it's time for some music, this a birthday present for my baby. In other words, there's only so many ways you can say I love you. That's right Frank, and I'm sure you named them all. Up next is Fly Me to the Moon."
"Fly me to the moon, let me dance among the stars."
Great, now I had another thing to add to my checklist of things people want me to do. I listened to the song before I got up, not felling tired anymore and pulled open the desks drawer. Inside there was a holotape.
I downloaded it and started to let it play. I moved over and lent against the windowsill, looking at the last remaining skyscrapers of New York.
"Honey, I've got to set this up before I have this memory taken from me for the test."
"Harold, get over here. Screw the stupid holotape," The women giggled, "I'll just remind you after the test is done."
Were these two people having sex? Who'd want to keep a recording of that? Then I heard moaning. Yep, two people having sex. What really intrigued me about this was the man mentioning his memory being taken away.
Could someone really manifest a machine to steal someones memory and bottle it up? I shuddered again at the old world. I fast-forwarded the recording, wanting to skip their "moment".
"Heh, guess the recording was working." Harold chuckled.
"How can you work as a scientist and not know when a recorder is working properly?"
"Shuddup."
She giggled softly. "What do you want to name our son? Frances Phillips sounds good. I don't really want us to name him Elliot."
Was I hearing this correctly?
"Elliot was to be my grandfather's name. I kind of want to keep him with us."
They had my last name. In no way could this be a coincidence. If I was hearing this correctly, I was listening to my great, great, great, great, great grandmother and father deciding what to name their son.
"We got a Vault number."
"Why are you so quick to change subjects?"
"Well this is kind of important, wouldn't you think?"
"I guess so… well?"
"We're in Vault 67. Whenever, if ever, the bombs fall. Elliot/Frances, you, and I will be in Vault 67." The recording clicked off.
I walked back over to the desk and pulled open more drawers. I found a note on a piece of paper.
'Elliot Frances Phillips is safe inside Vault 67. I just wish I could have made it. Both his mother and I wish we could have, but we're old now. We gave our tickets to a young couple with a child on the way. They very well reminded me of us back in our thirties. I'm damn surprised that Sarah and I were shoved into the same room as the night we conceived our boy.'
'I'm proud of him. Grew up to work in a good reporting job. Always had a knack for writing, even when he was young. They announced that nuclear missiles had just been launched from China and it's allies and we've retaliated. I've heard the chatter on the T.V, supposedly neither side started it, but a terrorist group launched the first one into Europe. The West Coast will be hit in two hours; the East will be hit in three. It's been two hours and 45 minutes. Crap. They just hit. I'm watching the plume go up right now just outside the Upper East Side. To be a man in your fifties, to have watched the world drive itself into the ground is horrible. I still remember the announcement of the nuking of Tel Aviv. I hope those government bastards burn in hell for starting this all.'
'The Last Words of Harold David Phillips.'
I lay back down and took deep shuddering breaths. So now I know how the world ended. I knew though that one of my ancestors made it in.
…
I could here rumbling in the power station. It was the sound of energy. Something I rarely met with out here. The extent had been terminals and radios. Outside was what my Pip-Boy had recognized as a Mark II turret. I kept an eye on it as I walked up to the door. The turret swung the long barrel after me, but didn't fire.
Manhattan was gleaming to my right; it would take maybe a few more hours to reach it.
I reached for the door and knocked. With a flurry it swung open. "Gamma, how are you?" Samantha stood in the doorway. I looked her up and down. What really got my attention was her armor.
"You're wearing an armored Vault Jumpsuit."
Samantha looked taken aback from my comment, "Well, yeah. I'm from a Vault in D.C. called 101. Doesn't, like, everyone know that?"
"Sam, have you not been listening to the news?" Bill asked, out of sight, "Check's dropped a hint a while back that she's from a Vault."
She scratched her gray hair. "I don't listen to him. Reminds me too much of Three Dog, I do not need to be feeling homesick right now."
"He also reminds me a bit of Mr. Vegas, you ain't hearin' me bitch."
Samantha rolled her eyes and turned to me. "Feel free to make yourself at home."
I entered the small one room building. To my left was a bunk bed and a table, to my right was a wall of monitors, and a swivel chair, where a man in a leather duster that was vaguely familiar sat watching the screens.
"Hey." Came the simple hello. He swiveled around and faced me. I now realized what he was wearing. He had on a duster that hid combat armor. The same kind Vigilante wore. "Nice to meet you, kid. Done some pretty kick-ass things in a week. Of course I ended a war between to armies, became the heir to the New Vegas strip, and killed a man who shot me in the head all in four days."
"Wha- How?" I asked startled.
"Well, first thing was that this guy Ben-"
"Bill, enough for now. You can tell her later." Samantha pulled out of one of her pockets a cigarette. "You smoke?"
"Samantha, she's young. I don't think it'd be right to reveal things like that and chems to a young girl."
"Bill, how long do you think we have out here? Might as well have fun living."
"So why did you guys want me here? I kind of have an agenda to keep track of."
"I've heard," Bill turned back around in the chair and motioned for me to take the one next to him. He started to tap something onto one of the terminals and a video feed came up. "This is inside the Eyebot storage room at NBC's head-quarters. I can't do anything beyond this point, Eyebots can't be moved from here unless they've been activated."
"Why is this relevant?"
Bill glanced at me and gave me a sly look. "Because this is probably gonna be where Checks daughter teaches you the hockey pokey." He laughed but was interrupted when Sam slapped him upside the head.
"I'd like to think not," she said sternly.
"That's kind of disturbing thinking that you could be watching me and her."
"We'll be out of town by tomorrow." Samantha gave me insight, "There's some trouble in Boston, there are supposed to be some Super-Mutant farms up there."
We sat in silence for a few minutes, Bill lazily flipped through different Eyebots in the Empire Wasteland. "How have you two survived out here? I mean it couldn't just be expertise."
"Well, actually, both Samantha had friends in our respective regions. I had befriended an ex-NCR 1st Recon Sharpshooter who's name was Boone. Kind of kept to himself, good to have around as back up. He's married now with the other person I traveled with, my best friend, Rose of Sharon Cassidy. We just called her Cass. Used to own a trading caravan. Some old croon bought her out of it and she headed out with me." Bill's eyes glazed over as he relived long lost days.
Samantha patted him on his armored back and gave a soft ahem, "I didn't travel with people at first. My first companion was my dog named ironically Dog-Meat. He was sweet and caring. Found him killing Raiders. The dog was tough as nails. I watched him get battered by knife slashes and pistols wounds and even then he didn't go down. Stayed with me till the day he died, 'bout three or four years ago." She looked down twiddling her thumbs; loose hair fell from its place in her bonnet. "I also traveled with a Super-Mutant." She looked up at me, "You know, they're not all brutish maniacs. 1st gens have a very high intelligence level. Anyway, his name was Fawkes, arguably the strongest asset to our little team. Carried a goddamn Gatling Laser. Put down a Deathclaw in less then a minute. He was from Vault 87 where the Government tested the F.E.V. Don't really know what happened after we rescued the Capitol Wasteland. Guy kind of just… disappeared."
Bill moved his arm to one of the terminals and I noticed the metal clamp around his hand. "Wait, Bill, are you from a Vault? You have a Pip-Boy."
He side glanced and sighed, "This good guy, Doc Mitchell gave it to me after that son of a bitch Benny shot me in the head. He said he had no use for it so I thought, 'Hey! Free Pip-Boy!' Thing has been pretty damn useful." He turned the dials on a radio and music started to play out a speaker.
'Into each life some rain must fall
But too much is falling in mine
Into each heart some tears must fall
But some day the sun will shine
Some folks can lose the blues in their hearts
But when I think of you another shower starts
Into each life some rain must fall
But too much is falling in mine.'
"He plays the kind of music that pulls on my heart…" I looked up as Samantha put a hand on my shoulder.
"I know what you mean." She pulled me into a tight embrace.
…
"Gamma, before you go, please take this, it's kind of a personal treasure of mine." Bill put into my hands a small statuette. I rolled it in my hands until it reached the front. I recognized the cartoonish figurine of the Vault-Boy that accompanied the Pip-Boy. The bottom of the statuette was the word Vault-Tec. The underside had the word Endurance under it.
"Thank you." I smiled at him.
Samantha stepped out from the power station with a gun in her hand. "Take this, it'll replace your .357, and it delivers the bullets in a more powerful punch." She handed me the polished wood handle. The pistol had a dark gunmetal sheen to it. The barrel and chamber had the same looking ivy and floral designs that L'il Justice had to it.
I paused for a moment and took out Justice. "Mighty fine revolver, wasn't it V's?"
"Yeah…" I holstered Justice and loaded the bullets from my .357 into the new one. "I'm gonna name it V. That way he'll be close to me."
"You two had something going between you didn't you? You saw him as a savior and mentor." Samantha rested a hand on her hip, "He saw you as a salvation."
"A salvation? What do you mean?"
"Honey, I've heard the stories from up here. Vigilante has done dark things, his own little demons, and I don't think all the people he's saved have been able to fix that until you came along. Guy died knowing he saved you and let you live on."
I looked at V solemnly. Samantha rested her hand on my shoulder; "We've all lost someone to the Wasteland. I lost my dad because he sacrificed himself so I could beat the Enclave."
"And I lost my sister to Legion slavers," Bill added.
And then that was it. We said our goodbyes. Bill and Samantha went on packing their things for their approaching battle. I kept on walking.
Walking in the Waste was uneventful unless someone runs up to you with either a weapon in hand, or they're running to warn you of something.
I kept walking until I reached water. Looking at my Pip-Boy map showed I was on the precipice of Manhattan. I studied the surrounding area, the water ahead of me held only a small portion of land, maybe.
"Hello!" I looked up at the approaching boat. Emblazoned on the bow was a familiar sun. "Are you looking to cross into Manhattan, friend?" The man at the front of this ship was in white robes with gold trim, on each shoulder was emblazoned the sun.
"Yes, I've come to visit NBC." The man's cheery face faltered for a second, "Well then hop aboard, my name is Scribe Olsen." The boat bumped onto the shore.
I hoisted myself on and saw that the boat was empty besides another scribe, who was at the back with the motor in hand. "Hello." He ignored me and revved the engine, pulling back from the shore. We sailed across the murky water for a few minutes before passing what must have been the strange landmass.
Halfway submerged into the water was a warship. One end was pointed to the sky and read U.S.S Intrepid. "It was an old aircraft carrier before the Great War." Olsen sat beside me, "We scavenged quite a bit from it, and scribes back at the Citadel are building an airplane from the scavenged pieces."
"Have you given it a name?"
"Yeah, we're calling it Moondust. We're painting it black with the great Sun painted on the wings and cabin." He sounded like a small child at Christmas.
" The name doesn't fit the craft. Anyway, I never understood why you guys fantasize about the sun. What's so special about it?"
"Oh, the Sun is amazing! Our leader Sol has told us about how the Sun used to be able o bring warmth into millions of hearts, and how it used to cause luscious green plants to grow everywhere."
"Does seem like something to worship."
"Is this your first time in Manhattan? They used to call it the Big Apple. Housed the greatest shows on Earth, not to mention some of the most iconic landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building."
"Yes, but I've come to meet Check's daughter."
"So your Gamma… The upcoming Empire heroin, come to replace the reject of The Solstice Legion, Star-Paladin Comet."
"Yeah, well he did a butt-load more helping then you lot have." I muttered as I slipped in my earbud.
"…And then I said, 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy!'. Anyway, after a long wait, Solstice scribes have finally cracked the code on the infamous Vault-Tec Vault location terminal. President Sol has stated that in a few days they'll be analyzing the map and searching out any unopened Vaults. It's not like they've already opened enough. Also, reports are coming in from a spy inside the Solstice Citadel states that the Legion has gotten their hands on a vat of F.E.V and is experimenting with it for more ways to win their struggle with the Irradiated Forces. Also, Gamma, if you're listening, my daughter really wants to know where in Sam's hell you are. Shouldn't have taken this long, girl."
…
"Welcome to Manhattan." I looked around at the dead park. The surrounding trees were just dead husks, and no form of grass existed.
"Um, excuse me," I stopped a passing Wastelander, "How would I get to Rockefeller Center?"
"You need to take the Subway. It'll take you up to Times Square, you'll have to walk the rest of the way." He kept walking and stopped at a food stall.
A sign jutting out of the ground read 'Subway, this way'.
…
The subway was absolutely filthy. People sat on aging benches and stood up in the aisles, any trash was disregarded and had built up over time, stinking the place up. The only rail lines that remained from the war were the line between Battery Park and Times Square.
But I was finally here, the Big Apple. Times Square in itself was exciting. On either side of a huge courtyard where two roads ran through it were rows of re-purposed shops, ranging from clothes stores to butcher shops. And above me sat the tall, skeletal remnants of large bill boards and skyscrapers.
I bet over 200 hundreds years ago, hundreds of tourist wandered aimlessly about, taking it all in.
Now I had to make my way to Rockefeller.
…
"Welcome, and hello, to National Broadcasting Channel, New York branch, how may I assist you?" The robotic receptionist stood erect behind the counter. "If you are here for an appointment or interview, please type your name into the terminal in front of me."
I walked over and tapped in my name. I heard a squeal from the hallway to my left and suddenly a girl came running, followed by a man being dragged along.
I staggered back as she let go of him and hugged me, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh. Hello!" She retracted and took me in.
"Scout, could you please leave the poor girl alone." He turned to me, "Hello, Gamma. I'm pretty sure I don't need to introduce myself."
I took in Checks and his daughter. He was dressed in a vest and white shirt with jeans. Hung lazily around his neck was an un-tied bowtie. He had semi-long brown hair that was starting to grey. Scout was dressed in a pair of overalls and a white shirt. Her short hair and been dyed black.
"I've been to hell and back just to get there," I jokingly laughed. Scout was about my height, maybe even my age. She was pretty as well. Not close to Judith pretty, but pretty attractive.
"Checks, Scout, what was with suddenly rushing away like that." And speaking of Judith. My face turned stone blank. I looked around the two family members and saw her walking down the hallway towards us. I walked around Scout and Checks and looked at her. She was normal. No fancy gold body paint, no elegant jumpsuit. Her hair wasn't even dyed; it was a normal blond color. She looked astonished to see me "Gamma?"
"Judith, I'm so happy to see."
"Gamma honey, ya'll are covered in blood."
Scout stifled a laugh.
"The Wasteland has done things to me." I sank to the floor.
Soon Scout had pulled me up. "Maybe you should take a bath."
…
"It's weird having someone be in the same room while I do this."
Judith sat perched on a stool by the mirror, brushing her hair. "Ah'm not lookin' ah'm ah?"
The water turned brown with all the dirt I was scrubbing off. "Why'd you leave Judith? Why'd you leave the Vault?"
She stopped for a minute. Her head sunk a little before she glanced over her shoulder, "Ah was 'fraid you were gonna ask me. I left because ah had too. Why'd you?"
I stopped dumbfounded for a second. "I… I left because…" I racked my brain trying to come up with a reason. "Because I'm a crazed fan girl who suddenly saw her only lights in an underground city disappear before her eyes? Or how about the fact that because of that I found out I'm not supposed to be alive. And maybe the idea of a Mister Gutsy popping out of a wall's paneling startles the hell out of me?"
"What are ya'll talkin' about? What Mister Gutsy?"
"Oh like you didn't know, that's why you left." I dipped my hair in the water. "Why else would you have left?"
"Ah honestly don't know what yer talkin' 'bout." She turned to me and I sank into the water in embarrassment.
I raised my mouth just above the water level, "So if you didn't know, then why'd you leave?"
"Cause I had tah, didn't ah say that?" I shut my eyes and sank under the water. I burst back up a couple seconds later for air. "You should get dressed, Checks wants to do an interview with you." I got out of the bath and pulled on a towel.
…
"Hey everyone! Y'know that little girl I keep on talking about? Well, turns out the girl arrived in town today after my daughter put out that tiny little 'Hello'. Well, I was eager to pester her about some things and so, coming up next is my interview with the Empire Rascal."
I pulled out my earbud. I had already heard the barrage of questions.
I looked down at the pool of water bellow me. On one side were staircases leading down to it, the other side was dedicated to a large gold statue, worn with age. I sat down on one of the four edges of the hole.
I looked around at the sound of footsteps. Scout sat down next to me. "You do know why I called you here, right?" She asked.
I swivel my eyes to the pool again. "… Yes."
"You girls shouldn't be out here at night." We turned our heads and saw glistening white robes. I looked up into the face of an old man, his head was balding and the beard that adorned his chin rested against his chest.
"Hello again, Father Mond." Scout stood up. The man's shoulders and arms were adorned with silver plating; white moons adorned the pauldron.
"Miss Douglas, and who may I ask is your friend?"
"She's no one, just met her." I looked over at her, my eyebrow in an arch. She shot a quick glance at me.
"Hurry back to your father's embrace before I get paladins down here." Scout bowed her head and he walked away.
"What was that about? I'm 'no one'?"
Scout turned to me, "Trust me, I may have just saved your life. Now I want to show you something."
…
"It looks great!" She smiled as I twisted about in front of the mirror, checking out the black cloak she had found in an old department store. It had taken a couple of minutes to get there, but knowing she saved this for me was… somewhat special. The long sleeves hung around my wrists, and the hood lay against the top of my spine.
Now I was also getting my first look at my new Jumpsuit. I stared at the large blood stain from when I was shot in the stomach. Small scorches mark were the fire lashed my body in Junction N-27. A very large mark was on my shoulder, where timber must have landed on me. Small splotches of blood spattered the rest of it.
"What's wrong? Do you not like it?" Scout stepped in front of me.
"No… it's just. It's just that I've been through a lot in what? A week? I just… I hate how I look. My clothes are covered in the remnants of wounds and battles."
"Don't put hate on yourself. I think these were my last pair of clean clothing." She pulled at the straps of her overalls.
"At least yours aren't covered in your blood and that of others."
"Why do you think I asked you to come here?"
"Because you wanted to meet me. Study me… See if you wanted me and could still love me."
"Yes, and because there aren't many kids out here, let alone girls. We've all grown up or have been taken by Raiders. I love you. You're valiant and strong. Ever since I heard my dad reporting about you nine days ago."
"But the question is do I love you back?"
"Do you?"
"I swear I heard voices coming from up here, Hugh." Came the muffled voice of someone. And it belonged to a boy, who stopped wide-eyed when he saw Scout and me standing there. Following him was a younger boy, whose shaggy blonde hair covered his eyes partially.
I whipped out V and pointed it at the two boys. "Gamma, what are you doing?"
I shifted my eyes over to Scout. The look in her eyes made mine widen. I looked over at the boys and dropped my hands to my sides. "Get the hell out of here you two. Get out." They took my message and turned tail for the exit.
"Gamma, are you okay?"
"No I'm not!" My voice was raised well beyond a whisper. "I just pulled a gun on two boys who were YOUNGER then me. In the course of a week I've become a killer, haven't I? I would have shot at them if they had tried anything."
"Gamma." Her voice was stern, "The people you've killed in the past week have been bad people. You've hurt Raiders, Enclave Remnants, and Slavers. You've killed no innocent people!"
"I never wielded a gun before Vigilante showed me how. I never hurt someone until now. Even if those people were bad, I would've done damage beyond a death."
"How do you mean?"
"I forgot about this until now, but back in Hob, I killed five Enclave soldiers. Afterwards a thought came into my head, but I lost it after Vigilante pulled me back into to the then and now. Those people could have families. They could have brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, wives, husbands, and children! I could inflict physiological damage upon people I will never meet, never get the chance to say 'I'm Sorry' to."
"Death is common out here, I've witnessed it first hand. You've lost a friend, we all have."
"That's just what Samantha said." My loose hair hung over my face like a drape.
"I lost my friend, because it was my mistake. I misjudged the situation and because of that he died. I'm sad, and I'm still grieving, but that doesn't mean I can't be happy and not think about those people. The ones you'll never have to meet. They've already known death, you're just a newcomer to the Waste."
"Scout, to answer your question earlier, I do." I kissed her on the cheek.
"My place, or yours?" I blushed furiously at her proposal.
…
I sat straight up in the bed at the sound of pounding at the door. "You guys have been locked in there all night! Come on out." Commanded Judith. I nudged at Scout who bat at my hand and shoved her face in the pillow. I shrugged and climbed over her. I checked myself in the desk's mirror.
I had taken off my jumpsuit and had just my undershirt and panties on. "Ah ain't got all day, sweetie!" I pulled on the crumpled jumpsuit, then I put the cloak on my shoulders.
I unlocked the door and looked out at Judith leaning against the far wall, "What do you want?" She pointed down the hallway. at the end, in the lobby, stood the same man in the white robe and someone in a long-coat painted a dim orange, the sun encircling the shoulders.
The men were striding down the hall towards us, "Miss Vocal," greeted the man in the long-coat, "Now, Miss Gamma. I have reason to understand that you have had a previous companionship with the heretic the Wasteland came to know as... Vigilante." He flashed a small grin that could only belong to the devil, "Pardon me, I realize I haven't introduced myself, I'm President Sol, leader of the Solstice Legion." I backed up into the room, scared as hell for what he might do.
"May I ask what is going on here?" Sol stepped a side and behind him stood Check, his head was adorned with a hat that sat lopsided on purpose.
"Nothing, I was just popping in for a visit, old friend. Wanted to meet the Wasteland's new vigilante." He turned to me, his radiant smile returning. "Now I bid you adieu. Let us go, Father Mond. We're done here."
As he walked away I cold here him mutter one last thing, "For now."
