I'm late again I know. I should be updating much more frequently now though.

Outside people were rebuilding. Homes were shattered by explosion and gunfire. The dead were being identified by groups of weeping family members. I walked through the square and barely watched the scene as I headed for the main gates. Suddenly, I felt a fist hit the small of my back.

I turned around to see a crying woman staring up at me a baby cradled in her arms. "He fought for you," she finally choked out. Her free hand pointing at a man's corpse a few feet away. "He's gone because he came to fight at your side, said it would be a great honor and now he's dead. Was it worth it?" she screamed the last part, the baby in her arms crying. She threw another punch at my chest, and another until she finally backed away sobbing to herself. I walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"He fought well, I should have been the honored one." She slapped my hand away and ran off back toward her apparent husband's body. Maybe she could tell that I was lying, I had never met her husband nonetheless fought by him. I guess he knew me though.

I sighed before turning back toward the gate. There wasn't much left of it now, the gaping hole still torn into the side like a scar. I ducked my head as I passed through it out into the wastes. I hadn't gotten ten feet before I heard a voice call out behind me. I turned in time to see Kodiak running at me, his power armor gone and now replaced by some light combat getup. He had an assault rifle slung on his back and two 10mm pistols on his hips. He reached me and skidded to a stop.

"Dawren," he gasped after a second, "I'm coming with you." I hid my surprise behind the blankest stare I could muster. "No, you're not." I turned away again as he grabbed my shoulder. I clasped both my hands around his wrist, positioned myself and pulled. He flipped over my back and slammed onto the ground in front of me. All of the wind in his lungs rushed out in one gasp. "I said no." my voice sounding cold as ice.

I stepped over him and continued on to find the beginning of the trail. I had gone another few feet before I heard him. "Sarah told us about your request, and how she said no." I stopped and turned back toward him. "I want to help you," he continued, "It's wrong of us to abandon you now, so I won't." I glared at him, "If she told you all that you should know I'm not much in the mood to see anyone from the brotherhood." "I know," he responded, "So I'm not helping you as a fellow knight, but a friend." He had gotten up now and was walking toward me again. He reached me and held out his hand, "So please, let me help you now. Like you've helped us so many times." I looked at his hand, then back at him. I brought my packs up a little higher on my shoulders and turned away from him. "Don't get in my way," I said before walking off again.

I heard him scramble to grab all his gear and run to catch up to me. Great, I thought to myself, I have a companion now. I shook my head at the thought; I had been hoping for a battalion of power-armored knights, not two merc looking soldiers. I guess it was better than nothing. We reached the sight where Lucas had been shot; a discoloration in the dirt haunted me as we passed. The trail wasn't hard to find, cars aren't exactly common in the wastes these days. I knelt down next to the tracks and found a lot of scuffed up ground, she had put up a fight. That point was made ever clearer when I turned around and saw a raiders body laying there, a 308-sized hole in his chest. I checked his pockets hoping for some kind of clue, but all there was was a pack of cigarettes. I sat back and considered my options.

I could make an attempt at tracking, but that could take weeks even with the tire tracks. I turned toward Kodiak, "Got a light?" I asked. He pulled an actual lighter out of his pocket and tossed it to me. I opened the pack and was about to pull out a cigarette, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I pulled it and it came loose. In very small letters the outside said, BURN AFTER READING. I almost laughed, enjoying just how stupid raiders were. I unfolded the paper and found a map. As crudely drawn, as it was I could still make out several land features that distinguished it as a map of the capital wasteland.

Several places were marked. The first that caught my eye was a big red circle about a mile away from Megaton, it was marked MP. Meeting place, I concluded. The next I could distinguish was around Megaton itself, it was marked AH. "Attack here?" I said quietly. Jesus, could they not figure anything out for themselves. The final point marked on the map drew my attention more than the others. It was several miles north of Megaton, marked with a large red arrow. This place was marked RVP, rendezvous point. I almost dropped the map when I recognized the location, Paradise Falls.

"What did you find?" It was Kodiak. I stood up and looked at him. I flicked one of the cigarettes into my mouth and snapped open the lighter. I'm not much of a smoker, but this occasion seriously called for something to calm my nerves. I held the lighter up to the cigarette, lit it and took a short drag. I let the smoke drift from my mouth before speaking. "A nightmare."

Five Months Earlier

The sun was beating down hard today. I shifted the position of the assault rifle on my back, checked the two sawed off shotguns on my sides to see if they had come loose, and unsheathed the combat knife from the holster behind my back. I was just outside the gate of the slaver headquarters of the wasteland, Paradise Falls. Satisfied with my equipment I sheathed the knife and walked up to the guard.

"Hold it right there," the man boomed. I raised my hands in surrender as he hoisted the Chinese Assault Rifle by his side. The man was your average slaver, a merc looking outfit, tons of extra ammo, and an attitude that just screamed asshole. "I'm not here to cause trouble," I said as innocently as I could. He cocked an eyebrow before lowering the gun an inch, "You honestly think I give a shit? Get outta here before I kick your raggedy ass."

"C'mon man," I continued, "You can let me up there, like I said I'm not here to-" he fired the rifle, the bullet smacked right next to my foot. "Okay, okay," I stuttered keeping my hands raised. I thought for a second before speaking again, "Lets cut the crap alright," I said lowering my hands, "Everyman has his price now what's yours?" He chuckled before speaking again. "Damn son, you don't give up do you? Alright lets say I had five hundred caps in my hand, then I might consider vouching for you." I took a sack out of my pocket and tossed it to him. Surprised he caught the bag and opened it up.

"Is this some kind of fucking joke," he spat raising the gun again. I smirked, "Not at all." I held up my other hand, a metal ring around my index finger. He stared at me confused before realizing what was happening. He scrambled for half a second before the grenade in his hand went off. I turned away from the blast and felt something wet spatter against the back of my coat. Turning around again I whipped the rifle off of my back and worked the action.

Already I could hear people running and yelling god knows what a little ways away. I took the opportunity to gain some ground. I ran forward, zigzagging around all of the rag tag forms of cover set near the entrance. I reached the main gate just as the two other guards there readied their weapons. I fired off a volley of shots and one of them went down, the other started firing randomly. I ducked behind a barrel as the gunfire peppered the ground all around me. I fished in my pocket for the little two-way radio I had taken. "Could use some help here," I yelled into the speaker. "Just a little patience son," Paladin Cross's voice came over the speaker. The plan was going smoothly so far.

The regulators had decided it was in our best interest to finally rid the wasteland of its main slaver base. My part was to run distraction as my brotherhood companion gave me sniper support. The other regulators would be setting charges near the slave barracks inside, hoping to catch most of them in the blast. I also had another goal in mind; there were several slaves in there that were important to me and I had a bone to pick with Eulogy Jones.

I heard the sound of a sniper bullet and the final door guard collapsed into a puddle of his own brain. I got up and rushed the entrance. The door inside was really just that, a door. Easy enough for me to kick in. One of the doors actually came off its hinges, hitting a scrambling slaver in the head, he didn't get up. A bunch of them were running in and out of the barracks searching for any kind of weapon. I smiled to myself, perfect. I pulled out the radio again, "Tell them to blow the charges now." I didn't hear a response, but I definitely got to see the effects. I ducked into cover just as an explosion loud enough to burst eardrums within a mile radius erupted from the direction of the barracks. The light that came off it was blinding, I just barely saw the shape of a small mushroom cloud in the middle of a huge ring of fire. Great I thought to myself; they decided to go with nuclear charges. I wiped dust off of my face before standing up again. Charred bodies littered the ground; some of them actually still moaned and tried to take shuddering breaths. I turned away from the grisly scene and ran toward the center of Paradise Falls.

I hated nuclear charges; they were like actual nuclear bombs, the lasting effects and all. Conventional shrapnel and plastic based explosives either killed you or blew you on your ass, no major suffering or torture involved. Unless you were in that small area of burning that was to far to die or to close to just be blown on you ass, but that was a small area. Nuclear could fry everything skin deep, and just stop there. A hell of a lot of pain; I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I ignored the muffled groans and screams behind me and continued on toward the main building. A man with a beard sporting an assault rifle was standing outside. Seeing me he raised his gun; I scrambled for mine but the action jammed and he already had me in his sights. Crack. My eyes were closed and slowly I peeled them open. The bearded man was on the ground, minus one head. I looked back toward the hills and whispered a silent thank you to Cross; I could almost see her giving me that 'You owe me one' smile.

I ejected the clip from my rifle and cleared the action; I would never leave my guns in this state again. I slammed the clip home and turned toward my target, the home of Eulogy Jones. The wind picked up and the tails of my coat kicked in the wind. I would have given anything to see what I looked like right now. I walked toward the entrance and kicked in the door.

Bang. Hot pain shot through my arm as I ducked to my right. More shots rang out as I ran. I flipped a table and crouched behind it. I tore the sleeve off my arm and found it peppered with holes; shotgun I concluded. Looking over and saw my attacker, a woman in a white dress with blonde hair; she was sporting a sawed-off shotgun in one hand and a short sword in the other. A melodiously deep voice rang out in the other room, "That's right my sweet kill him, and daddy will have a nice treat for you when you're done." A mischievous smile creased the woman's lips as she raised the shotgun in her hand at me once again. She fired the gun off twice more, both shots taking away a piece of the table. I scrambled to get my rifle brought to bear, but my arm was too torn up to level the rifle nonetheless fire it. I tossed the rifle and brought out one of my own shotguns from my hip holsters.

I blind-fired over the table and heard her scramble out of the way. Risking a peak over my torn-up cover I saw the woman's gun on the ground, and she was nowhere to be seen. At the last second I heard footsteps to my right. I sidestepped and felt the woman rush past me, her sword whistling through the air. I brought the butt of my gun down onto the base of her neck; she fell flat on the ground. I turned and aimed my gun as she turned over onto her back and swiped the sword into an upward arc. It cut into my right leg and I stumbled; enough time for her to get up and come at me again.

She ran at me and brought the sword down in an overhand swipe. I brought up my gun and narrowly deflected the blow; my arm shook from the hit. I stepped back to take a shot, only to find an actual cut in the barrel of my gun. I stared at it confused as the woman flashed that mischievous smile again. I tossed the gun away and barely pulled out the other before she threw another swipe at me. I stepped back and put my back against the wall as she swiped again and again. I didn't dare try to block with the shotgun again or risk losing it. I ducked at her latest blow and plowed an elbow into her gut. She doubled over giving me enough time for me to straighten up, place the barrel to the base of her neck, and pull the trigger.

The effect was a bit more graphic than I had hoped for as the shot blew clean through her neck and her head toppled to the floor; that smile never leaving her lips. I took a few deep breaths before righting myself, reloaded the shotgun, and moved on to the next room.

Inside was another woman, this one with darker skin and a 32 pistol in her shaking hand. She fired and the shot went somewhere to my left. I sprinted up to her, knocked the gun out of her hand, and hit both of her temples; she hit the ground unconscious. Then I heard clapping somewhere behind me.

"How noble," the same deep voice from before. I whipped around and aimed the gun at the man descending the stairs, it was Eulogy Jones himself. He reached the bottom of the stairs before continuing. "You let a near defenseless woman live; I have to say such feats of nobility are unknown in these parts."

I'm not sure why I hesitated; outside the sounds of battle were quieting, the regulators had done their work. Eulogy knew he wasn't getting out of here alive, so why the confidence? I brought myself back to reality just as his hand shot to his side and a scoped 44 appeared. I fired my first round before ducking behind a nearby couch; his first few shots followed me the whole way.

I fired off the last shot over the couch. I heard him duck for cover as the round hit the wall behind him. I cracked the barrel and reloaded the gun. There were only four shells left including the two I had just reloaded. I stood up and turned to find Eulogy on the other side of the couch I had been hiding behind. I pointed the gun down at him, just as he brought his foot up in a high kick knocking the gun out of my hand.

I shot out my bad arm and held his gun arm as tightly as I could. He struggled as straightened out the arm, brought up my good arm, and brought my elbow right down onto the joint. I heard the snap and felt his gun hit the floor by my feet. Eulogy ripped his now useless arm out of my grasp and lunged at the gun on the ground. I kicked the 44 as far away as I could I unsheathed the knife behind my back. I lunged at the clambering form beneath my feet; he turned over and dived just out of reach. The knife banged against the floor before I could recover. Eulogy was a few feet away from me before I turned back toward him.

I attempted to run at him, only to find the cut in my leg had finally decided to start hurting. I stumbled and fell to the ground. I looked and found Eulogy had picked up a nearby brick in his good arm and was about to bring it down on my head. I jumped to my feet, attempting to ignore the pain in my leg, and swung at his arm. Blade met flesh, a crimson trail sprung from Eulogy's arm. He dropped the brick to his side and clutched the wound I had inflicted.

I rolled out of the way as it crashed to the floor, then got to my feet and slammed my fist into Eulogy's stomach. He doubled over and I brought my fist down onto his back, causing him to fall to the floor. I took the knife and held it as his throat as he came to.

He looked into my eyes and I actually saw genuine fear there. I breathed hard as I stood there, this man's life held in my grasp. I don't know how long I stood there but it must have been a while because when I looked down I saw blood had pooled around my foot. Confused I looked for the start of the flow and saw it had all come from the wound on Eulogy's arm. I must have cut the artery when I lunged at him.

"N-never… done… this before… huh?" Eulogy said weakly. "I've killed before," I snapped back. "I… don't mean… kill." 'cough' "I mean… held a life… in your hands… like this." He was right; I'd never killed anyone like this before. I'd never stabbed someone in the back, never shot someone that didn't see me. I'd killed hand to hand before but they had always been an instant kills, not like this.

"Well… what're you waiting for… do it." I brought the knife up and looked at the man one last time. I turned him onto his side and brought the knife right above the back of his neck. In one final strike I brought the blade down perfectly onto the man's spine; blood spurted out in an arc that splattered against my cheek. I wiped the blade clean and walked toward the door. Finally slavery in the wasteland had come to an end. It was over.

Present day

I finished the cigarette and crushed it beneath my foot. North was where I had to go, north was where Amata was. I picked up my gear and started forward with Kodiak in tow. I didn't know what was waiting for me there, but I was pretty sure I didn't care. I was going to get her back, no matter how many of them I had to go through. The sun was setting now and night would soon be upon us.

I will hopefully have more than one update this week, I hope.