Dare enjoyed waking up in the arms of a woman. It had been happening more often lately, first with Silver, then with Clover and now with Katie. His years of traveling usually resulted in him sleeping alone, since he wasn't one to buy pleasurable company and having sex in the middle of the Wasteland, even in a camp, was dangerous. The noise could attract attention, from raiders or the nightwatch and it could keep the others up at night; not to mention that the scent could attract certain predators that would definitely ruin an amorous encounter.
And then there were the times he had woken up with unwanted company. Dare had been lucky during those encounters, in the sense that his attackers had all been women, and that another caravan guard had heard the noise and come to investigate.
But those were memories best left behind, and Dare found his thoughts drifting away as Katie mumbled in her sleep and pulled him closer. For all her hard planes of muscle, she was surprisingly soft. And also a cuddler.
Glancing over her shoulder, Dare spotted her Pip-Boy sitting on his desk, his sharp eyes picking out the clock. It was about seven in the morning, which was a little later than the sniper preferred to awaken, but he had been up late last night, so it could be excused. And that mirelurk nest wasn't going anywhere.
He was tempted to stay and rest more, but the day waited for no one. Dare tried to slip out of Katie's arms, but she grumbled something and squeezed him tightly. Thanking his deity for his natural endurance, he carefully wrested her arms away from him and made to leave, only for her to reach out and snag him back against her.
Dare sighed. It was cute at first, but he wanted to get up. Breakfast wasn't going to make itself and Clover didn't have the best idea of what constituted 'acceptable breakfast food'. Deciding that the subtle path wasn't working, Dare rolled around in Katie's grasp and pinched her nose shut. She grunted and drew back, wiping her nose on his shoulder. Since that didn't work, he reached up and patted the blonde's cheek. "Katie. It's time to wake up." He said clearly.
The former Vault dweller yawned and finally released him, sitting up and stretching. Scratching the back of her head, she groggily turned to Dare, blinking slowly. "Hey, Dare." She greeted sleepily, "What time is it?"
He lightly tossed her Pip-Boy to her, pulling a shirt on afterwards. "Breakfast time. We've got things to do."
Latching her computer to her wrist, Katie checked the time and stood from his bed, giving the sniper a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for listening last night, and for telling me about your mom. Let's do it again sometime." She smiled and left the room to gather her clothes from the one she shared with Amata.
An hour later, they were sitting around the table enjoying breakfast and listening to Galaxy News Radio. "-And in other news, it appears that the town of Grayditch has gone silent, and seems to be on fire. Someone might want to check that out, but bring the burn salve just in case. This Three Dog and you're listening to Galaxy News Radio, telling you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts. And now, some m-"
Static buzzed through the speakers, making Dogmeat whine in distress and rendering everything but a few seconds of music inaudible. Frowning, Dare stood from his chair and examined his radio, popping the back panel off for a closer look. "Well, it's not the radio," he relayed to the others, switching it off. "Looks like the signal's been interrupted."
"Grayditch…" Katie murmured, buckling her armor on. "That's close by, right?"
"About a twenty minute walk," Clover answered, "Why? You wanna go investigate?"
The blonde shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, we aren't all needed to kill a couple of mirelurks, right?" She asked, looking to the sniper.
He nodded blithely. "True. I want you to come with me, Amata. Though we're not supposed to kill them, mirelurks have tough shells, and a laser rifle is more effective than a hunting rifle." Dare explained as he pulled his duster on.
"Alright," Amata agreed, checking her pouches. "So, we're splitting up? Katie and Clover are going to Grayditch while we go to that memorial?"
"Yes," Dare answered simply, securing his weapons. "We should go along the river banks before splitting up, I have something I want to show you."
Making sure they were fully armed, the group exited their home and Megaton, heading south. They passed by the intact ruins of a Super-Duper Mart, having changed quite a bit since Dare cleaned it out. The parking lot had been cleared, the inert bodies of Pre-War cars pushed onto their sides and built into walls while the rubble and cracked concrete was pulled up and set aside to be broken down. That made way for fresh earth that could be tilled for some of the hardier crops, like corn, tatoes or mutfruit. That would be a boon for Megaton, which relied on trading and caravans for food, since they had very little land inside the walls and a working purifier.
There were a few guards milling about the area, watching out for wasteland predators while others worked on the beginnings of crops or repairing the inside of the building. A few waved towards them as they passed, recognizing the small group that had done so much for Megaton.
Approaching the irradiated river, they distantly heard the cracks of gunfire interspersed with quiet booms of explosives. Going low, Dare led them closer to the source of combat, huddling behind a large rock while drawing his sniper rifle. Peering through the scope, the sniper clicked his tongue and nodded. "Thought so," he muttered, passing the rifle to Katie as her best friend looked through her monocular. "Super mutants."
There were three of them, and they matched Dare's description perfectly, though he had left out a few details. They had greenish-yellow skin covering thick layers of muscle, with long limbs that seemed gangly, somehow. None of them had hair on their heads, their lips pulled back to reveal dirty teeth in a permanent sneer, with hateful beady eyes peering under knotted brows. They wore armor that looked to have been made from scavenged car parts and wielded ill-kept but working weapons.
Amata shuddered as she shook her head. Despite their monstrous appearance and their angry shouting, audible even from that distance, she felt sorry for them in a fashion. With how dumb they seemed to be, it was possible they didn't know any better. Maybe they had emerged from their cave into Wasteland that hated them on sight, and were simply trying to survive like so many others?
It wouldn't stop her from killing them when they attacked, but it did give her pause.
"What are their weaknesses?" Katie asked shrewdly, handing the rifle back to Dare.
He arched an eyebrow at her, nodding towards the super mutants who were spewing invectives at the same rate as their bullets towards a group of raiders. "You examined them, saw what they look like, how they act. You tell me."
The blonde grinned at the unspoken challenge. "Alright, Mr. Sniper. They're big, loud and yellow, so they're easy to spot and get the jump on. Or sneak around and avoid a fight," she added, seeing Dare blink. "Their heads are uncovered, as well their knees and shoulders, which means they're vulnerable to headshots and crippling shots. Their armor is made from scrap, so a few body shots would do some damage and once again, they're big, which makes them pretty easy to hit. Did I miss anything?"
Amata interjected before Dare could speak. "They don't take cover, but the ones with the assault rifles are covering for the one with missile launcher, so they have some understanding of tactics…though, the one with launcher nearly hit one of the others, so they don't care if the other super mutants live or die."
A ghost of a smile flitted across the sniper's face. "Good. These are the lowest rung on the ladder when it comes to super mutants, though. The older ones are tougher. Speaking of," he sighted down on the mutant carrying the launcher and squeezed the trigger, causing its head to explode in a spray of gore. "Remember to aim for their eyes. A headshot between the eyes or to the forehead isn't guaranteed to kill them."
To demonstrate, he landed the next bullet right above a super mutant's brow. The mutant's head whipped back and it cradled its damaged forehead before shouting angrily, right in time for the next shot to fly into its mouth and separate the top half of its head from the rest.
Dare picked off the last mutant before reloading and shouldering his rifle, moving down to join the others as they walked to the riverbank. The raiders that had been fighting the mutants had lost, two of them dead while the other lay on the ground, clutching the stump of her arm and moaning until Amata put her out her misery. They picked through the trio of corpses and recovered a few handfuls of bullets and chems, before dumping them in the river.
"Why did we do that?" Amata asked as they shoved the last body into the murky water.
"It'll attract mirelurks," Dare answered, backing away from the river. "Moira doesn't want me to kill any of the mirelurks in the nest, so I'll need to sneak in. And for that, I'll need the shell of mirelurk. Plus, their meat is very tasty."
Clover clapped her hands. "Well, have fun with that," she said hurriedly, nudging Katie and jerking her thumb at a column smoke in the distance. "Grayditch is that way. Let's go see what's up."
"We'll meet back here when we're done!" Dare called after the heavily-armored pair, getting a wave from the blonde in response. He turned to find Amata nodding at Clover's back with a questioning look. "She's afraid of mirelurks."
"Oh," she muttered, nodding. Their attention was drawn to the water as it bubbled around the corpses, large whitish-gray shells emerging from the river with rattling clicks. "That's understandable."
The biggest mirelurk looked up at them with a flat, inhuman face of ridged chitin and let out a crackling, clicking call before swimming towards them. "Shoot it in the face," Dare told Amata, unholstering Justice. Dogmeat barked threateningly as the crab-like creature scuttled onto the bank and charged at them with an odd loping gait. Bullets cracked and lasers seared the air as the pair of them fired on the mirelurk, bringing it down with quiet rattle.
Dare holstered Justice and jogged over to the dead animal, kneeling and using his knife to cut away the big and round top shell. Amata cautiously joined him, keeping her laser rifle ready and her eyes trained on the other mirelurks still feasting. She jumped at a loud ripping sound, turning to find Dare tearing the shell off of body, exposing dark grey meat beneath. The smell made her grimace and turn away, coughing.
"It smells bad now, but once you season it with some herbs and get it on a grill, it's one of the best foods in the Wasteland." Dare explained as he finished cutting away the connective tissue. "The others won't attack us unless we get too close to their food. This one was just being territorial. Hold my coat, please."
Holding her nose, the brunette former Vault Dweller took his duster and slung it over her shoulder as Dare hefted the shell on his back with a grunt. "Why do you need the shell again?" Amata asked in a muffled voice while Dogmeat took bites out of the exposed mirelurk flesh.
Beginning to walk towards the distant shape of the Anchorage Memorial, Dare adjusted the shell into a more comfortable position. "I'm going to use it to sneak into the mirelurk nest and plant the observation unit within," he explained, "Mirelurks don't have the best eyesight or sense of smell, so as long as I stay out of their sight, they won't realize I'm not one of them. Plus, Moira told me the nest is inside the memorial, and they don't build those in dry places, which means there's a way for water to get in, like an outflow pipe."
"So you'll wear the shell and swim in through the pipe, plant the unit and be out before they even realize you're there!"Amata concluded with a bright smile.
Dare nodded with a light smile. "Exactly. I won't have to fight any mirelurks and that will make Moira happy. Everybody wins."
Approaching the memorial, the pair crossed the bridge connecting the man-made island to the ruined road, finding the remains of other Wastelanders lying around the base of the monument. Given the way the bodies were stripped and decomposing, they hadn't been bothered with in awhile. Walking around the perimeter of the small island, they spotted what a camp a bit away on the north bank. "We should check that out," Amata stated pointing at the large tent walled off by a ruined truck.
"If we have time," Dare acknowledged. Dogmeat's ears stood up and he looked at the water before loping off, barking. The two humans followed the mutt to the edge of the water where the dog was pointing at the ground with his nose, the glint of metal shining in the overcast sunlight. It was the outflow pipe, visible just above the water level. "Good boy, Dogmeat," the sniper praised, stroking the dog's head and scratching his ears before pulling his weapons and metal plating off. Setting the heavier bits of his armor aside, Dare secured one of his pouches to his chest, containing the observation unit, Red Empress and a trio of stimpacks and making sure it was tightly sealed.
Donning the shell over his head, Dare nodded to Amata before carefully walking into the river until the rounded top of the shell was all that showed out of the water. With only his eyes and his nose above the water, the sniper swam into the pipe, looking through a small gap in the front of the shell. He found a rusting metal grate covering the entrance that took a bit of effort, and a ringing screech, to get loose, but he managed and swam under the memorial.
With the shell on his back and over his head, Dare was forcefully drawn back to his childhood. Once, when he had been young, around six, he had killed a young mirelurk and worn the shell on his head as a hat. His parents had found his antics cute, until the mother mirelurk showed up and it stopped being funny. Though his parents managed to distract it, Dare had been the one to finish it off with his little pistol, being the first Wasteland creature he killed that was bigger than him.
They had eaten well that night, and the mirelurk stew had tasted all the better with the proud smile his mother wore as his father boasted of his achievement to Uncle Moore.
Shaking himself out of his recollection, Dare emerged from the pipe into the bowels of the memorial and the nest. A few mirelurks lurked about the upper levels of the area, either taking care of the bundles of eggs or milling about and clicking. As quietly as he could, Dare swam up to a partially sunken platform that had the biggest nest sitting near the water. Planting his feet on the metal side, the sniper carefully levered himself mostly out of the water, quickly digging in his pouch for the observer unit.
With slow and steady hand, Dare pushed the metal cylinder into the spongy material of the nest between two large eggs before switching it on. Then, unable to help himself, he reached out and tapped one of the eggs, and when it didn't rustle or shake, he removed it from the nest with a quiet squelch. Tucking it into his pouch, he did the same for another before deciding he had pushed his luck far enough and swam away.
Mirelurk eggs were big enough that one could feed three people when stretched, and two would make a large breakfast. A large, tasty breakfast.
After a few more minutes of swimming, Dare emerged from the pipe out into the open air and climbed up on the bank, finding Dogmeat waiting for him next to the pile of guns and armor. Amata was missing, however, her tracks leading from the spot towards the camp. Shrugging, Dare drained himself of extra water and dried himself off before putting his gear back in the right place.
…
Amata watched as the shell Dare was under disappear into the pipe, sitting on the rocky beach next to Dogmeat. With nothing to do but wait, she eyed the nearby camp with a searching gaze. Besides the tent, there weren't any signs of occupation. Making a decision, she turned to the dog next to her. "Stay here, okay? Wait for Dare." He barked in understanding, panting as she scratched his ears.
Taking up her laser rifle, Amata crept towards the camp with her senses on high alert. As she passed by one of the trucks, she heard a disgusting slobbering noise and what seemed like footsteps. To her horror, what rounded the tent didn't have feet.
It looked like a human torso, bereft of arms at the shoulders and grotesquely elongated. In the place of feet, it had multiple sets of arms that it scuttled along on, three long lash-like tongues flailing out of it's mouth. Shrieking, Amata fired on the creature, the laser burn making it groan out and flail, a murky green ball of liquid spewing from its mouth.
She rolled away from the spit, not wanting any of that touching her and continued firing. Her next trio of shots hit the creature's body, turning it into a pile of ash. Amata sighed in relief, before looking around for the source of a bubbling, hissing noise. Looking down, she found that some of the spit had sprayed on her armor and was eating away at it. Yelping, she fished a bottle of water out of her pouch and poured some of the liquid over the acid, washing it away.
Sighing, Amata tensed as she heard more slobbering and choked gasping noises, finding another torso-creature clumsily climbing through a gap between the trucks making up the perimeter. She fired as soon as she saw it, peppering it with red lasers and avoiding the acidic spit until it fell with a gurgle.
Sure she was safe for the moment, Amata holstered her laser rifle and poked through the camp, stopping when she heard quiet crying. "Hello?" She asked quietly, furtively looking for the source. Hearing a gasp coming from the tent, the former Vault Dweller parted the opening and peeked inside.
Sitting in the middle of the tent, a young woman about her age sat with her hands tied in front of her. "You have to help me, please!" She called desperately, "They kidnapped me…they're gonna eat me…"
Hurrying over, Amata worked to untie the surprisingly complicated knots binding the captive's wrists together. "Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here," she promised, focusing on her task. So focused, she didn't realize anything was wrong until the captive gasped in fear.
Turning around, she came face-to-face with a super mutant, leering down at her with crudely fashioned club in its hands, rusted nails sticking from the tip. "Another stupid human for the green stuff!" It yelled, swinging at her.
Amata dodged away from the blow, grabbing her rifle and taking aim when, in a surprising burst of speed, it lunged at her and smacked the weapon out of her hands, laughing mockingly as she gasped in pain at the nails ripping through the skin of her fingers. The mutant backhanded her in the face, sending her rolling across the ground. Coming to a stop, she grabbed her pistol and brought it up when the super mutant kicked it out of her hand and stomped on her stomach.
Gasping for breath, black spots dancing in her eyes with the raucous laughter of of the mutant ringing in her ears, Amata rolled on the ground clutching her stomach. Is this really how it ends? She wondered, her mind racing. I only came this far, after all I learned and trained?
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her pistol lying on the dirt as the mutant loudly looked for more rope or chains. No! Amata shouted in her mind, digging her fingers into the earth and pulling herself towards her weapon. I won't leave Katie alone! I won't disappoint Dare!
Her scrabbling alerted the mutant, who snatched up her laser rifle as it spun to face her. "Stupid human! Lay down and die!" It shouted, trying to fit its thick fingers into the trigger guard, as Amata snatched up her pistol and was rolling over to face it.
Barking rang through the air as Dogmeat came bounding through the tent flap, lunging at the mutant and biting down around its ankle. As it roared in pain, a brief swirl of leather was all Amata saw before Dare jumped on the super mutant's back, the blade of his knife flashing as he stabbed it into the area where a kidney would be on a human, over and over again.
The pain drove the mutant to its knees, the sniper climbing up on its back and driving his knife into its neck, ripping the blade out through the front. Pushing off, dropping the mutant to the ground, Dare glanced at Amata she squeezed off a round, shooting the mutant in the head. Wiping his knife clean of blood, he hurried over to her side and knelt next to her. "You alright?" he asked quickly, gently taking her bloodied hands.
"He stomped on my stomach," Amata gasped, the pain rushing to the forefront as the adrenaline rush faded. Even through the throbbing in her abdomen, she could feel the warmth of Dare's calloused hands as he cradled her bloody digits and injected small measures from a stimpak into her wrists. Amata watched as her skin knitted back together, leaving whole flesh marred by thin pink scars.
Dare injected the rest directly into her abdominals, storing the empty syringe for later. "Let the chem do its work and rest for a bit, okay?" He said, getting a nod and relieved sigh as the stimpak went about healing her. Turning to the still tied-up woman, Dare approached her carefully, drawing his knife to saw away at her bonds. "Easy," he muttered, "I'm not going to hurt you. What's your name?"
The young woman with dark red hair faltered under his intense gaze. "I-I'm Joan, Joan Einse. Wh-who are you?" She asked nervously.
"I'm called Dare, Joan. Her name is Amata," he replied calmly, cutting the rope and releasing her. Holding a hand out, Joan took it after rubbing the marks on her wrists. "Where are you from?"
"Rivet City," She answered quietly, looking to Amata with worried and guilty eyes. "Are you going to be okay?"
Amata waved her off with a grunt as she pushed herself to her feet. "I'm fine, just a little tender." She said, retrieving her laser rifle.
"Well, Joan, I don't think you're in any shape to get back to Rivet City right now," Dare held up a hand to silence her protest, and she clammed up immediately. "We can escort you there later, probably tomorrow. In the meantime, you can come with us back to Megaton."
"Are-are you sure?" Joan asked nervously, glancing furtively around the empty tent.
Dare's eye twitched almost invisibly. "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it," he said shortly. "Can you defend yourself?"
She patted her pockets down, finding nothing but a handful of caps and a bottle of Rad-X. "Er, no…I did have an SMG I was pretty good with, but I think the muties left that behind when they…"
"Alright, Amata, give her your pistol." He ordered, nodding towards the red head. Amata arched an eyebrow at him, but handed her secondary off without a word, along with a trio of clips. "Good," Dare muttered, before unholstering Red Empress and passing it to the former Vault Dweller. "You can use that for now."
Knowing the weapon was important to him, Amata handled the red-striped pistol carefully and felt a happy burn in her chest at his sign of trust. Stripping a pair of grenades from the dead mutant, the newly-formed trio made their way up past the memorial, heading towards the spot where the other mutants had fought the raiders. The corpses had an assault rifle, a hunting rifle and a rocket launcher between them, none in very good condition. Along with the weapons, they had a about thirty caps and three stimpaks.
Joan took the hunting rifle and helped them push the large, heavy bodies into the river, the mirelurks from before having reduced the raiders to bloody skeletons. The bipedal crustaceans chittered at them for interrupting them, but began to feed on the mutated corpses with gusto.
"I don't see Katie or Clover," Amata reported, peering at the other bank. "They might need help at Grayditch."
"You want to go see what they're up to?" Dare asked, strapping the missile launcher to his back.
"Mhm," She nodded, unable to stop herself from feeling a niggling sense of worry.
"Alright then," the sniper agreed. "Are you up for that, Joan?"
"I am, yeah," the redhead replied. Having a gun in her hand had boosted her confidence, so at least she wasn't stuttering any longer.
Making their way up north, they crossed over a pitted bridge, picking across the gaps in the concrete and avoiding the crumbling edges. Safely across, they followed the path Katie and Clover had taken, finding the bodies of bullet-riddled raiders along the way. Apparently, the blonde heavy-weapons enthusiast had gotten to try her new gun out. Continuing on, they found Grayditch ahead of them, most of the buildings quietly smoldering along with burnt corpses. Lying among the bodies were the still forms of giant, rusty reddish-orange ants.
"What the hell?" Joan whispered, having seen ants that before, but never in that color. "I think…I think the ants did this."
"Giant ants that can breathe fire, you mean?" Dare asked dryly. "That's reassuring."
Stepping around the bodies, they approached the only intact shack and knocked on the door. "Who is it?!" A familiar, husky female voice called.
"Clover, it's us," Dare called back, "we finished at the memorial and saw that you guys hadn't come back, so we came to check on you."
"Come in, no need to shout through the door," the former slave grumbled from the other side.
Shrugging at a bewildered Amata, he pushed the door open and entered the shack, finding Clover sitting in a chair in the corner with her head hands, and Katie lying sprawled on a couch. Both looked fine except for the soot on their armor and light burns on their faces. "What happened to you guys?" Amata asked, hurrying over to check on her friend.
"Long story," Katie muttered, limply turning her head to look at them, her eyes focusing on Joan. "Who's the girl?"
"Joan," Dare introduced, letting Clover lean against his side. "We found her taken captive at a super mutant camp near the memorial. What about you?"
The blonde sighed. "Ehhh…we came across some raiders on the way here and I got to try my minigun on them (which was kick-ass, by the way), and when we got here, we found the place on fire with the giant ants spewing fire," she explained, waving her hands for emphasis, "We killed them all without much trouble, though I did kinda get lit on fire once. Or twice. There were about thirty of the damn things, and they were pretty tough."
"After we cleared the place out, a little kid, the only survivor, came out of one of those shelters and told us what he knew," Clover picked up, "Apparently, some scientist recently moved in and a few months later, these fire ants rushed out of the nearby metro system. We told the kid to hide again, then went into the metro to take care of the source."
Katie blew a harsh breath. "Pfft. Down there, we found more of the little bastards and that scientist, Lesko. Turns out he wanted to fix whatever made them giant in the first place, take them back to their Pre-War size."
"He failed, obviously, and somehow managed to mutate them further," Dare interjected, a wry twist to his lips. "That is the exact opposite."
"Yup," Clover barked out a short, rough chuckle. "He wanted us to kill the ant guards around the queen and leave her to him so that he could work on reversing the fire-breathing thing."
Amata balked. "Please tell me you didn't do that," she said, looking at her friend with concern.
Katie waved her concern off. "Of course not, that idiot screwed up and got a bunch of people killed and didn't care, except that they messed up his research." She snorted ungracefully. "We killed the queen and destroyed most of the stuff he was using to mutate them, leaving just enough for him to experiment with a few left over eggs. He wasn't too happy about that, but I made him see the error of his ways."
The dark way Clover laughed in reply to her statement spoke volumes about what they had done to 'make him see the error of his ways'. "He eventually came around and offered to inject us with some treated chemicals taken from the ants that would make us strong or make our eyes better, but he only had one dose of each." She explained, rubbing her eyes.
"You let some idiot mutate you, after the whole debacle with these ants?" Amata incredulously. "I thought you were smarter than this."
Dare nodded in agreement. "That does sound unwise." He commented blandly, though his expression was far from pleased.
Clover waved him off. "I hacked his terminal and read that he was actually a pretty good doctor when it came to humans, and turned his focus to ants for a challenge. But seriously, a chance to make ourselves stronger and almost fireproof? Of course we were going to take it! I got the one for the senses and blondie got the one for muscles."
"And that's why you're both lying around a shack; because mutations can be painful," Dare finished for them, crossing his arms. "I'm betting you have quite the headache, Clover."
The white-haired woman groaned and clutched her head. "Like I've got a pair of forks jammed in my eyes," she muttered, jumping as the sniper stuck a needle in her neck and injected a bit of Med-X into her system.
"That should help, but not forever," he remarked, sanitizing the needle with his lighter before tossing it to Amata, who gave the rest to Katie. "It'll be enough to get us home. Where's this kid you talked to?"
A quiet cough made Amata and Dare look into the other corner, where a kid with dirty blond hair sat, looking sheepish. "Hi, I'm Bryan," he greeted them with a short wave. His face was long and marked with soot, and his eyes were dull.
"Hey, Brian." Dare replied with a tight smile. "Do you have anywhere to go?"
"N-not really," the kid replied, "I have an aunt in Rivet City, though. Her name's Vera."
"Vera Weatherly?" Joan asked in surprise. "I know her!"
Brian looked up at her in confusion. "You do?"
"Yeah, I'm from Rivet City," she replied with a small smile. "You know, Dare said he would help me get back there tomorrow; you could come too." The redhead glanced at the sniper hopefully. "That wouldn't be too much trouble, would it?"
Dare shook his head. "No, that would be fine. We'd just have to be careful; travel down the banks to avoid the raiders and super mutants. But, for now, we should get back to Megaton." Clover and Katie stood, joining them with their weapons ready, though they looked tired.
Exiting the shack, they began to head away from Grayditch. "Hey, um, Sir?" Brian asked carefully, "Are you part of a gang?"
The sniper thought for a second. "Sort of. Why?" The Regulators would count as a gang, right?
"Well, I saw a guy pass through town a couple days ago, with the same coat as yours." He replied.
Dare paused. "Same coat…must be a Regulator, or someone with a similar sense of style," he said to himself. "A couple of days ago…did he say where he was going?"
The kid frowned, thinking back. "He traded some ammo with my…with my papa, and I heard him talk about Arl...Arlton? A cemetery nearby. He said something about a 'notorious criminal' he was chasing."
The sniper frowned. "A Regulator was going after a notorious criminal, and he hasn't been seen in days…I should probably check up on him." He turned to Brian. "Did you mean Arlington Cemetery?"
The boy brightened. "That's right! It's back that way, but you have to walk around the streets 'cause the buildings fell over."
"Good to know." Dare glanced at the ladies. "What do you think about taking a bit of a detour?"
"I'm up for it," Katie replied easily, hefting her minigun. Amata, Clover and Joan agreed swiftly.
Turning back and trotting around Grayditch, the group of five soon found themselves pushing through a rusted fence and entering a wide field. Every few feet, there was a white cross planted in the ground, to mark the graves of soldiers fallen before the world had nuked itself into oblivion. A solemn silence descended over the group as they stepped around the graves, heading towards the monument in the center.
On the steps, they found a dead Regulator lying on his back, sightless eyes peering at the cloudy sky above while resting in a pool of blood. Dare knelt near the man, brushing the eyes closed before tapping his forehead, his chest above his lungs and made a short slash over his throat with his thumb. Respects paid, the sniper searched through the duster, emptying it of useful items.
He found a small bag of caps and a few clips of assault rifle ammo, but no weapon. Along with that, there was a holotape that he handed off to Amata to play as he stripped the duster off of the body. Apparently this Regulator had forgotten that, while a long coat certainly added presence to a person, it was still just leather without any armor.
Amata slid the tape into her Pip-Boy, playing it back. "Notice to all good men and women seeking Lawful Bounties in the Capital Wastes:
Let it be known that the murderous person known as Junders Plunkett, of fair complexion, average height, and missing one good eyeball, is offered for bounty, either dead or alive, for the sum of 1,000 caps or similar compensation of expended equipment and/or medical expense.
Junders Plunkett was last seen committing theft and murder in the township of Canterbury Commons. The apprehending hunter should exercise special caution, as the bounty is noted for an uncommon aptitude with small, concealable blades."
"A thousand caps, huh?" Dare muttered, storing the duster away. "They must really want this guy dead." He looked down and saw a thin trail of blood leading away from the corpse, towards the only house in the area. "He's probably in there."
Leading the way towards the Pre-War house, which had most of the siding torn off, Dare drew Justice and stopped near the door. "Clover, come inside with me," the white-haired woman nodded and gripped her shotgun. "Katie, keep an eye on Brian and stay out sight. We might scare this guy outdoors, so be on guard."
Nodding in understanding, the sniper quietly opened the door and slipped inside with Clover following closely. While he was light-footed, her heavy armor made the floor creak loudly. Down below, a confused sound filtered up from the stairwell leading to the basement. Dare nodded at the stairs and Clover nodded, tightening her helmet before charging down, yelling at the top of her lungs.
There was a surprised shout before Dare burst in behind her, finding a shirtless man with an eyepatch wielding a pair of spiked knuckles swinging at Clover, who was letting the blows deflect off of her metal armor. Aiming, Dare dropped the man with a pair of shots to the chest, followed by one to the head. "Nice work, Clover."
She smiled brightly at him, holstering her shotgun. "Thanks. Good shot, Dare."
Besides his spiked knuckles, Junders Plunkett didn't have anything else on him. Searching the rest of the house, however, yielded a few books, a few bottles of wine and a Vault-Tec bobblehead, which was wearing a cartoonish green top hat and holding large green plant with four leaves. After severing a finger from the bounty and wrapping it bandages, the pair left the house to find the others waiting outside, Brian playing with a happy Dogmeat.
"We're done. Let's head back to Megaton," he said, leading them out of the cemetery, heading directly towards the dark walls in the distance. Crossing the dried, cracked land, they came across a mostly-intact concrete building with sandbags out near the front. Under a set of metal stairs were a pile of corpses, and the reason behind those were also behind the sandbags.
There were three men, who wore combat armor painted black, except for the symbol of a white talon on the left side of their chests. They wielded common weapons, a pair of assault rifles and a laser one, which they immediately opened fire with.
Katie shoved Brian down behind a rock as the others took cover, bullets and lasers flying over their heads. Dare drew Red Empress and popped out of cover, firing a pair of shots before a red bolt lanced into his shoulder, making him grunt in pain and duck down. "Dare!" Amata called in worry.
"I'm fine!" he called back, "Katie! Covering fire!"
"On it!" The blonde called back, spooling up her minigun before stepping out and unleashing a storm of bullets their way.
The black-armored raiders dove for the sandbags, though one was too late as multiple rounds ripped through his chest, dropping him. While they cowered, Amata primed a grenade and lobbed it over the sandbags.
An explosion rang out as the two raiders jumped away, one falling to Katie while Clover drew her Super Sledge and charged across the distance. She slammed into the last one, bowling him over before smashing his head in with her hammer. Looking around, she noted that there were no more raiders, and none coming from the building. "Clear!" She called to the others.
Brian and Joan emerged from the rocks, looking down on the dead bodies. "Dare, are you alright?" Amata asked as she stepped up to him.
"I'm fine," he waved her off, tapping the metal plate on his shoulder. "My armor took the hit. We're close to home. Amata, Clover, clean that place out quickly and catch up."
"Gotcha," Clover acknowledged, moving into the building with the medic.
Dare, Katie, Brian and Joan moved ahead, climbing a short hill leading up to the wall surrounding Megaton, following it around to the entrance. Clover and Amata caught up a few minutes later, carrying the weapons and ammo gathered from the raiders, along with a set of salvaged combat armor. "Whoever those guys were, they weren't nice," Amata commented as they walked through the gates. "They had a flag with some kind of skull-faced bird, swooping down to carry off a crying baby."
Nothing said 'bad guy' more than implied infant violence.
Entering their house, they laid their acquired loot on the table. "You guys can settle in, I'm going to see Moira," Dare said, nodding to the two guests as he placed the two mirelurks eggs in the fridge. "Joan, Brian, you can take the room by the steps, it has two mattresses. Katie, Amata, you can double-up in my bed and I'll crash on the couch."
Clover arched an eyebrow at him, sending a teasing smirk his way. "You know you can come to my bed, Lover," she said with a flirting lilt to her voice. "I wouldn't mind at all."
He shrugged in reply with a faint smile. "I didn't want to assume." Removing his leather armor but keeping his duster on, Dare gathered a few pieces of salvage and a bottle of whiskey. "I'm having dinner with Moira tonight, so don't wait up for me. Wadsworth should be getting started on it in awhile, so you can use the bath while you wait."
Joan perked up. "You guys have a bath?!" She asked excitedly.
"I know, right?" Clover replied with a grin. "Come on, I'll show you how to fill it up."
The two Wastelanders disappeared into the bathroom, while Brian sat down on the couch with Dogmeat laying next to his feet and a comic in his hands. Amata set herself near the workbench with a turpentine-soaked rag, scrubbing at the black paint on the combat armor. Katie, on the other hand, waited for Dare at the door. "Actually, I'll go with you," she offered, now in her jumpsuit.
"Alright," Dare nodded, stepping out into Megaton. "You want to talk about something?"
The blonde looked at him in confusion. "How did you…" He sent a deadpan look her way. "...Right. I do, actually. I…I want to look for my father."
"Mm." He nodded in understanding. "We should talk to Moriarty, then. I don't like the man, but a lot of information comes through his bar."
"You knew I was going ask, weren't you?" Katie asked shrewdly.
Dare simply nodded. "When you were ready."
The blonde smiled to herself, quietly following behind the sniper as he walked up to Craterside Supply and knocked on the door. "Moira, it's me."
The door opened and the eccentric redhead greeted them with a smile. "Oh hey, Dare! And Katie. Are you joining us for dinner?"
"Oh, no," Katie denied, "I'm just talking with Dare."
"Okay, then. Dare, sorry, but dinner isn't ready yet," She said disappointedly. "I think I'll be done in about ten minutes."
"That's alright, I need to talk to Moriarty anyway. I brought this." He offered the bottle of wine to her, which Moira took gladly.
"Ooh, this is a good year, and it'll go great with the brahmin I'm making. Thanks, Dare!" She thanked gratefully, before closing the door.
Entering the bar, they found Rudy behind the counter, banging on the radio, the fuzzy signal of GNR coming through. "Stop banging on it, Rudy," Nova grouched, a cigarette in her fingers. "I told you, it's not the radio. The Enclave station comes in just fine, it's Galaxy News with the shit signal."
"Yeah, it went out this morning," Dare remarked, leaning on the bar. "Rudy, Nova."
The orange-haired prostitute smiled sultrily and wiggled her fingers at the sniper. "Hey Dare, what brings you to this corner of town? Finally come to take me up on my offer?"
The sniper smiled slightly. "Not today, Nova. I'm actually here to see Moriarty."
As if on cue, the round-set man stepped out from his back office. "And what can a fine, upstanding citizen like myself do for the local hero?" It was easy to hear the false sincerity underlying his greeting.
Dare nodded to Katie and stepped back, letting her take the lead. "A few months ago, a man came through here, wearing a Vault suit like mine. I'm looking for him." She explained briefly.
"That's all fine and dandy, little lass," Moriarty said sarcastically, "but why, pray tell, should I tell you anything?"
"That man is my father, James," Katie replied shortly, his personality rubbing her the wrong way. "I need to find him."
The greasy bar owner leaned on the counter, smirking under his beard. "Oh, well that just tugs at my heartstrings, it does, truly." He said insincerely, "Since it matters so much to you, I'll offer the information to you for the low, low price of a hundred caps. Just a hundred caps and daddy-dearest's location is yours. Of course, if you don't have the money, there are other ways to pay." Moriarty offered, eyeing her up and down lecherously.
The counter rattled as a small sack filled with caps hit the top. Dare glared silently at the bar owner, the promise of violence filling the air.
Scoffing, Moriarty swept the caps into his pocket. "Always the good guy, aren't ya?" he asked Dare sourly. "Your dear old dad went southeast, into D.C. to the Galaxy New Radio station. Good day."
Nodding to Nova and Rudy, the pair left the the bar and stopped outside of Moira's shop. "Galaxy New Radio," Katie repeated to herself, closing her eyes and taking deep breath, committing the name to memory. "The first step to finding my dad."
Dare reached out and gripped her shoulder gently. "We'll be with you every step of the way, Katie." He stated firmly.
She smiled softly at the sniper, stepping in and hugging him tightly. "I know you will, Dare." She stepped away and waved as she went back home. "Have fun with Moira."
He waved to her before entering Craterside Supply, finding the building filled with the mouthwatering scent of cooked, seasoned meat emanating from the back room. Stepping in and hanging his coat and hat on a hook, then locking the door behind him, Dare found Moira standing in front of her stove, humming a happy tune as she cooked. "Hey Moira."
Jumping, the eccentric shopkeep spun around, bumping against the stove as she clutched her chest. "Dare!" She called in mock admonishment. "Don't do that, you sneaky sniper!"
Said sniper found himself smiling at her cheerful voice. "Sorry, can't help it."
Moira grinned at him, turning back to the stove and plating their meal. "Well, I hope that sneakiness served you well today when you went to the memorial." She looked back at him over her shoulder. "Did it?"
As she set the plates, he uncorked the bottle of wine and poured a generous measure for each of them. "It did, actually," he admitted easily, "I got in and out of the nest with the mirelurks none the wiser."
The awed look on her face made him smile. "Ooh, tell me about it!" She demanded, leaning on the table with an intense expression.
"Alright, well, we killed a few raiders near the river, so I dumped the corpses in the water to attract a few mirelurks. When they came around to feed, Amata and I killed one of them and I removed the carapace. Using that shell, I swam into the nest at the bottom of the memorial and planted the observer unit without alerting the mirelurks." He explained, sipping from his glass of wine.
"Oh wow!" Moira exclaimed, clapping. "I've never heard of anyone wearing a mirelurk shell like a hat to be sneaky before!" She laughed heartily, before sitting up straight. "That gives me an idea…"
Dare glanced at her questioningly as the silence dragged on. "...About what?"
She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Just an idea. Hey, when you go home, leave your hat here, okay?"
Nonplussed, the sniper nodded. "...Okay."
"Good!" Clapping again, Moira cut a piece of her steak and shoved it in her mouth, "What did you observe about the mirelurks?" He managed to decipher around her mouthful.
"Well, they live in water, so the radiation doesn't bother them," Moira nodded, having also deducted this on her own, "and there didn't seem to be any sort of hierarchy, they just built the nest, defended the nest, and took care of the eggs. Like most animals, really."
"Aww," Moira slumped disappointedly. "I hoped they might be more intelligent, but oh well…"
"It's another section down, at least," Dare offered optimistically, patting her hand.
Perking right back up, the adorably mad scientist nodded quickly. "You're right! And that's another chapter down, too!" Clapping excitedly, she looked to Dare with wet wide eyes. "That's two chapters…Dare, there's only one chapter left…do you know that? We're so close…"
Moira bit her lip, looking as if she was about to cry. "Aren't you happy, Moira?" The sniper asked in concern, reaching out and taking her hand.
Smiling sweetly at him, she sniffled and squeezed his hand. "I am happy, Dare, it's just…all the progress I've made, all the things I've learned…they're all because of you," she murmured gratefully.
Finding her gaze hard to hold, Dare looked away sheepishly. "Well, I'm sure you would've found a way to do it without me, Moira," he said quietly. "You underestimate yourself a bit too much. You're stronger than you think."
Shrugging, the scientific shopkeeper interlaced their fingers gently. "Maybe," she softly acknowledged, "but I didn't, Dare. You did. You helped me, even when everyone else thought I was just some crazy scientist in over her head. You gave me all this useful information, you went out and did all these dangerous things like sneaking into a mirelurk nest or walking into a minefield for me, when anyone else would've blown me off…or up. Or lied to my face."
Her voice grew more and more passionate as she continued. "And you've always been honest with me, even when you had advanced radiation sickness, a broken leg and a couple of broken ribs." Moira wiped her eyes on her sleeve, slipping out of her chair to circle the table and hug the sniper tightly. "And you've been a good friend to me, Dare, my best friend. And I appreciate that more than anything."
Pulling back, they were nose-to-nose, staring into each other's eyes, her starry light green into his sharp, flinty grey. Slowly, her hand moved up to the back of his neck and she leaned forward, their lips meeting softly. Moira sighed into the kiss, pulling Dare tightly against her.
Separating, Dare whispered, "Moira…"
Lightly pecking his lips, the scientist stepped back to her seat, still holding his hand softly. "I just want you to know how much I care for you, Dare." She replied to his unspoken question. "My studies have shown me the best way to do that is physically."
Chuckling lightly, they returned to their dinner. "I care for you too, Moira." He said simply.
"I know," she replied easily, smiling. "So, what are you going to do tomorrow?"
Sipping his wine, Dare cleared his throat. "Alright, well, Katie and Clover came across these giant, fire-breathing ants…"
…
…
…
A/N: And there you go, another chapter from the DC Wasteland! It took awhile to come out, I know, but I've had some free time lately and I've wanted to work on this story.
You got to see super mutants for the first time, mirelurks, more of Dare's ingenuity, Amata's determination, and the team fighting together. I actually covered quite a few little quests here, with the memorial, Grayditch, and the bounty. On that note, I didn't make him tougher than a regular raider because, well, he is a regular raider. In my own playthrough, I snuck up behind him and shot him once with a plasma pistol.
And then there's Brian and Joan, who are going to feature in the next chapter and that'll be it for them, since they really are one-off characters. Except for maybe a cameo or two.
And the big thing, Katie beginning the search for James! This will begin the larger overarching plot of Following in His Footsteps, a quest that will take them all across the Wasteland and back, with many adventures on the way. So, in a sense…
The true "Dare to Wander"...Starts here.
Dramatic!
About Moira: Yeah, there was definitely some breadcrumbs left behind about a possible relationship between the two in the future, but that's in the future. The way I see, Moira would be a really lonely person, given her eccentricity and dangerous errands and implacable cheerfulness in a Wasteland where everything wants to kill her.
The first time I played through Fallout 3, I didn't like her at all. Then, I went through a five-hour stretch of nothing but killing, exploring, exploding, super mutants, centaurs, Deathclaws and Yao Guai, body horror and emotional horror. When I went back to Megaton and visited Moira to sell my crap, her cheerful "Oh hey there!" made my day. There were already so many dirty depressing people getting their shit ruined, that having someone so glad to see me was a breath of fresh air. And she just sounds so happy when you do stuff for her.
Anyway, a big thanks to Kurogane7 for editing and being a soundboard. Why not go check him out? You are on this site anyway…
Stay Awesome.
~Soleneus
P.S.: This chapter was brought to you by: A concussion (not recommended), awesome music (recommended!), and copious amounts of coffee (also recommended!)!
I also updated Still Not A Hero about a week ago with a monster 10k words chapter, which I wrote half with a concussion. Still have the concussion, actually, for going on a week now.
It sucks.
So yeah, maybe go check out my other stories? I'll be working on them in due time, and you might find something you like, eh? You never know unless you try.
And it will make me cry tears of joy and caffeine. Maybe.
Stay Awesome Some More.
~still Soleneus