Ch 10?

They reached the top to hear the sound of an argument, and they rounded the corner to see Tom and Mary Holden going at it.

"This is not a good idea!" Mary started.

"Don't you see? We're gonna get outta here, just like the Doc!" He started running toward the Vault Entrance.

Danny sprinted forward, rushing past Mary as she started to shout for Tom to stop.

Tom reached the corridor to the Vault entrance. There were two guards at the end with 10mm pistols. "Hey guys, it's me!" he shouted.

The guards immediately raised their pistols.

"Wha-!" Tom started, before getting hit in the shoulder with a bullet. And then getting tackled by Danny, rushing him out of the doorframe.

"Tom!" Mary tried to rush over to him, but Morgan grabbed her. "Hold it Mary! Tom's okay, but if you go over there those guards aren't going to be any happier to see you either!"

Danny stood up, a bit groggy from his impact. He noticed Tom's shoulder was bleeding.

"Oh, come on…"

He propped Tom against the wall, who looked at him in confusion.

"Danny? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing? What the hell were you thinking, Tom!" Danny replied, more than annoyed with getting shot at.

"I… I just thought I could get out like your dad did…"

"Tom. The guards have been authorized to use lethal force to keep people escaping the Vault. The Overseer is rather ticked off at the moment. What made you think you could just waltz through!"

Tom never got to answer, being interrupted by a bullet ricocheting off the floor next to them.

"Morgan!"

"Yeah?"

"Tom's okay, but those guards are making it bloody difficult to focus! What should we do?"

"What do you mean? We'll just knock em' out like last time!"

"I can't get that close! It's a long hallway and I have no cover! I can't close with them!"

"See, this is what happens when you focus on close combat!" Morgan yelled as a another few bullets ricocheted off the walls.

"Is there anything we can use for cover?"

Morgan looked around frantically. Then he noticed a fallen wall panel over by Danny.

"Use that panel! Get Tom across and we'll figure it out from there!"

Danny grabbed the panel and turned to face Tom.

"Tom, we need to get to the other side."

"No way! They're shootin' at us!"

"Tom, if we don't go, we'll die. If you die, who's going to look after Mary?" Danny questioned.

Tom was silent for a moment. "…All right, say when."

"Ready… set… GO!"

They raced across the doorway, bullets pinging off the plate, and one even finding its way through a corner.

They slid to a stop, and Morgan and Mary came over.

"Tom! Are you alright?" Mary asked, near tears.

"He'll be fine, but I have to get that bullet out. Morgan, can you keep them off us?"

"I can try, but BBs ain't gonna keep em' back for long."

Danny sighed. "Use the pistol then. Try not to hit them unless they charge down the hall."

"Got it."

Danny turned back to Tom. "Tom, I can fix this, and you don't have too much damage, but this is going to hurt like hell."

Tom reached out and grabbed Mary's hand. "Do it quick."

Danny, picked some tweezers out of his bag, then very carefully, began to pull the bullet out.

"AAAAAAAAAGGHHHH!" Tom screamed, writhing in pain.

"Mary, hold him still or he'll hurt himself more!" Danny snapped. Mary complied, somewhat shakily.

Danny proceeded to pull the rest of the bullet out. "Okay…" He stuck a stimpak into the wound, and looked at Mary. "Take him back to his room, and keep him off of the shoulder. Don't have him do any heavy lifting for a few days, and he should be fine."

"Thank you, Danny. I'm sorry that-"

"Don't mention it. Just tell the Overseer it was me if he asks, so that he knows I cleaned up after his goddamn mess."

Mary nodded and led Tom off.

"I don't mean to rush you, but I'm afraid that they are getting bolder." Morgan stated flatly as a bullet pinged off the support beam he was leaning against.

Danny stood up. "Right. They have officially ticked me off." He hefted the wall panel.

Morgan looked at him, wide-eyed. "You're not gonna-"

"Yep."

"While they're-"

"Fraid' so."

"Danny!"

"If we leave them here, conscious, they'll only shoot at more people! I'm gonna take em' out."

Morgan stared for a second, then smirked. "And people say I'm the crazy one."

"Shaddup and just fire over my shoulder as I go."

"Got it. On three?"

"Count off. One…" Danny readied the panel.

"Two…" Morgan loaded the BB gun.

"THREE!"

Danny twisted round the corner, bracing against the improvised shield as he pounded at ramming speed down the corridor.

Morgan whipped around the corner to shoot at the now distracted guards, catching one on them in their pistol arm, causing them to drop their weapon.

The other fired at Danny, but the improvised shield held up to the small-caliber rounds.

Danny closed in like a freight train, ramming the armed guard against the door at the end of the corridor, where he slumped to the ground.

The other guard swung at Danny with a police baton, but Danny caught the weapon in his right hand and punched the guard with his left. The guard reeled back against the wall, just in time to take a BB from Morgan's rifle to the forehead, knocking him out. Danny turned and rabbit punched the guard he had rammed, putting him out too.

"Nice shot."

"Thanks. Want some armor?" Morgan asked as he moved to loot the unconscious guards.

"Sure. This jacket isn't that helpful against bullets." He stopped for a second.

"What? What is it?" Morgan asked, seeing his brother stiffen.

"We just saved two people, one of whom was shot, rushed down a hallway and knocked out two officers under orders of the leader of this Vault, who had told them to shoot anyone going into that corridor."

"So?"

"So, I believe something is going on."

Morgan stopped his looting. "What do you mean?"

"Come on! Think with those few remaining brain cells! Something has to be going on. Why has the Overseer gone so berserk over one guy leaving the Vault? Why has he put orders down to shoot people on sight, instead of just incapacitating them? Hell, how did dad leave! It's supposed to be so radioactive out there that you'd fry in minutes!"

"Danny, calm down." Morgan said, a little concerned. "I don't know any more than you do… but…" He said, grinning "We now have a prime excuse to hack the Overseer's terminal and truly get to the bottom of all this."

"All right…" Danny said, looking at the unconscious guards, uncertainty still on his face.

They looted the armor off the guards, along with two more 10mm pistols.

"Hrmmm… shoddy. I swear, no one does proper maintenance…" Morgan murmured.

"Not the time."

"Right, sorry."