Chapter 2.4: The Dead Mother

William walked out of Megaton, for the first time since he had walked into it. He looked back, and felt the fear that he had felt when he had walked out of the Vault. Megaton was probably the last town for a while. Plus, there could be anything out there. Add on the fact that he was alone, and didn't have much gear, it was pretty reasonable to be afraid. Only things he had ever fought up to that point was childhood bullies, radroaches, and vault security guards when he was forced to escape from the Vault. Then of course the hazards of the outside. Radiation, wildlife, and he was sure that there would be people who aren't as friendly as those in Megaton. Well...people in Megaton aren't really that friendly, but they're not trying to kill him or rob him or possibly even rape him.

William shook it off. How the hell was he going to survive if he kept scaring himself by thinking of the worst before he even walked away from the damn gate? William walked in the direction of the marker on his pip-boy's map. William knew it was going to be a long trip. Even if he got there in a short amount of time.

His first trip in the post-apocalyptic remains of the Capital? Only a fool would think that nothing would go wrong Though if you think everything is going to go wrong and let your fear manhandle you, then it wouldn't go well either. It would take a long time to overcome the initial fear. Though if everything goes well, William would be around until he reached that point.

Ironically, even with all the fear, the trip was pretty uneventful until he reached the half point of the distance between Megaton and the marker on his map. He saw a woman laying on the dusty old road up ahead. She was huddled over something. William pulled out his 10mm pistol, and ran towards her. William's fear would have stopped him, but William knew that the lady was hurt...if she was alive. Why else would she be out in the middle of the open, not moving?

William had reached the woman.

"Ma'am...are you alright? Ma'am?" William went to shake her, to see if he could get her attention, but the moment he slightly touched her, she fell over. What she was huddling over immediately became visible.

A baby carriage...but it was empty. There was a pillow and some toys in the carriage. The carriage had a name wrote on it. Elizabeth. Why would she be so dumb to carry a baby anywhere outside? Why would she leave a safe enough place like Megaton, why should she risk it? William walked back to the woman's corpse, and investigated it. It looked as if someone stabbed her right in the back...about seven or six times. The body wasn't even cold yet. This was done recently. William was almost sick. He noticed there was a note in her pocket. He grabbed it and began to read it.

"Well...we outstayed our welcome at Megaton I guess. He said they had no more room for us. I bet if I had offered him caps, if I had caps, they would have room for us. And for a civilization that was formed by people who were rejected by those safe in the Vaults, they sure are fucking hypocrites. Kicking a woman with a baby out...Megaton's just made up of a bunch of assholes." The note read.

But...the people seemed alright despite the drunks and suited people who try to offer deals if I help them blow the town up. Yet, they would kick out an alone mother and her daughter? If they had let her stay, then she would still be alive. William thought. Then, he realized something. He didn't find the baby dead. Did the murderer take the fucking baby after killing it's mother? He thought.

He looked around and saw what appeared to be a campfire, not that far away. He ran towards it, but before he caught the attention of whoever was at the makeshift camp, he stopped and realized he was about to raid someone's camp, which was a bad move. Even more so considering he didn't even know if it was the killer's. He noticed that the camp's owner hadn't noticed him yet. The man's shirt was covered in blood, probably the mother's, however William didn't know if it was truly her's or not. He decided that he shouldn't attack without proof that he was the killer.

William emerged from the bushes he had temporarily hid in, acting as if he had just now walked through them. He caught the attention of the man instantly.

"Hello...I'm just passing through, and I was wondering if I could sit down at your camp for a minute." William said.

"Sure...but only for a minute." He said.

There was a chest behind him, which he was leaning on. William walked closer to the flame, and sat near it. He noticed there was a bloody knife on the ground.

"What's the blood from?" William asked.

"Oh...some wild dog attacked me. Cut it and put it down before the damn thing bit me. That's where all this blood came from. There's been a shit load of wild dogs in this area recently. Pisses me off." He said, looking at the shirt and his knife.

"What did you do with the dog?" William asked.

"You're just full of questions, aren't ya? But if you must know, the cuts only wounded it. So I broke it's neck, got some meat from it, and threw it somewhere." The man said.

William looked around, after the man looked away. He saw something covered with dirt to the left side of him. He slowly but silently uncovered it, trying not to get the man's attention.

It was an old wore out teddy bear, and it had a tag attached to it. On it, Elizabeth was handwritten.

"Say...what's in the chest behind you?" William asked.

"Some old...things. I don't see why it's any business of yours, stranger. I'm letting you sit at my camp when any other person would pull a knife on you, kill you, and take everything you have and leave you on the road." The man said, irritated.

"Funny you say that. As that road, over there, has a dead woman's corpse laying on it, with an empty baby carriage. Her back is riddled with knife wounds." William said.

"Now you're accusing me of things? Boy, you got no proof I did such a thing. Even if I did, what's going to happen? I get arrested? Look around. There isn't any laws. Now, get. Go away." The man said.

William got up, and walked away, through the bushes.

After a minute or so when the man thought William had truly left, he once again hid in the bushes, trying to be as silent as he could be. The man was still sitting near the fire, but he had the chest in front of him now and open. William heard a noise that made him severely angry.

The cries of a baby. It had been locked in the chest the whole time William had been near the man. The man now had the bloodied knife in his right hand, and he was holding it near the baby. He grabbed the knife's handle with both of his hands, lifted it into the air, and was about to thrust it down on the baby still in the chest.

The fire and the baby...was this sick bastard about to cook a baby? William didn't let it come to that. He shot once, hitting the man's hands, which caused him to drop the knife beside the baby. William grabbed his bat off of his back, and ran towards the man. He swung, and hit the man's head so hard, he could hear his neck breaking.

He was filled with rage. The man had not only killed a woman, but a mother, and was about to feast on the damn baby! He lifted his bat into the air, and thrust it down on the man, even if he was already dead. William continued to beat down on the dead man. Blood splattering onto the bat and him. The baby cried even louder.

William stopped, and looked down at the man and the bat. They were both completely covered in blood. William put the bat back on his back, and he scooped up the baby out of the chest. He also picked up the old teddy bear and put it in his bag. He hurried, and began to rush towards Megaton while carrying the baby. But, he didn't get far before what the man had said came back to bite him in the ass.

Three wild and feral dogs were following him. One ran towards William and took him down, the dog bit onto William's legs. William had dropped the baby, and she had rolled away from him. The other two dogs went instantly for the baby, and began to maul her. Her screams intensified, and William screamed as well. Something snapped in William, his heart was filled with rage, and his eyes burned like flames. William grabbed a hold of the dog that was biting his legs, and punched it several times in the face. He then grabbed it's head with both hands, and snapped it's neck. He threw the dead dog away, and he pushed himself up off the ground, and got up. He ran towards the baby and the two dogs that were mauling her, kicked one, and grabbed the second by the tail, then slammed it hard into the ground away from the baby. William could still hear the baby screaming faintly. William ran towards the one he had slammed, and stomped on it's throat, killing it instantly. The last alive dog was moving towards the baby again, but William tackled it, and held it's jaw shut, and covering it's nose. William was filled with so much adrenaline and rage, that he managed to keep the dog from moving while he suffocated it. When the dog became lifeless, William emerged, and walked over to the bloodied baby.

William fell to his knees, and looked at the baby in horror. She was still alive, and in pain. William was no doctor, but he knew that she wasn't going to survive. William knew what he had to do, the only thing he could do. His shaking hand, slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his 10mm pistol. Tears ran down his face, and he closed his eyes as he put the gun up to the baby's head. Most people wouldn't have been able to pull the trigger...

...But he did.

The gunshot echoed through the area, and another piece of William had died. He walked over to the side of the road, and began to dig a hole deep enough for the baby with his bare hands. He carried the baby's corpse, and put it in the makeshift grave. He slid the still loose dirt back to where it had came from, covering the baby. He reached into his bag, and pulled out the old teddy bear that was Elizabeth's. He put the teddy bear on the top of the makeshift grave.

He got up, and looked towards the road. He saw the last thing he wanted to see. There was a large group of men wearing spiked and bloodied armor holding weapons, walking down the road, towards William. However, they stopped when they reached the dead mother's corpse...

This day was just not going to get better.

End of The Dead Mother

A bit traumatic for him, having to mercy kill a baby and everything. And a large group of raiders...hmmm, I wonder what will happen. We shall see, next update.

And unfortunate, but due to a mishap with my laptop, this is one of the only two stories, that had the chapters uploaded before the...mishap. I'm going to try to get the chapters for the other stories, but so far my laptop may need to be reset/rebooted entirely...yay.

Oh sarcasm, you don't make me happier, but you don't make me sad. The other story that was updated today with it's surviving chapter, is A New Definition of Misery. So go read that if you haven't...or, if you don't read it, you should start. Or...if you came to this one after reading ANDoM, then...well. This is it.

Adios, and if you feel like it, review.

~TGG333