Chapter 11
Upon awakening, I realised that we were no longer on the train. Although my head span and hurt like crazy, I managed to get into a semi-recumbent position. Straining my eyes against bright, artificial light, it seemed as though someone had put me on a foldable bed. No pillow was left for me to lie back onto, but at least the place was heated. I assumed I was in some sort of hospital - somebody from Rivet City must have come to investigate the train and found us there, lying unconscious. At least we were still alive (or at least I hoped Gob and Desmond were).
"Finally awake, huh?" came a raspy voice from the corner of the room. It was Gob, most definitely. So he was alive! I jumped out of the bed, steadied myself against the dizzying effects of concussion, and staggered over to him, collapsing on top of his blur in relief.
"You crazy bitch!" he shouted back, pushing me off him on the ground. Startled, my senses returned swiftly, and then I noticed the bars that one of the walls consisted of.
"Since when did they put bars in hospital wards?" I giggled, unaware of the whole situation. Were we in some sort of isolation unit?
"We're in jail, idiot, and going to be executed in about... now." he croaked, miserably, staring at his broken watch. Before his words could set in, a guard decked out in full armour approached what must have been our cell and banged on the bars, ignorant to the headache that plagued me. Without waiting for a response, the guard unlocked the cell door, threw it open and entered. Mercilessly he kicked me in the stomach, sending me reeling over in pain.
"Thought you could get away with it?" he spat, angrily. I had no idea what he was talking about! He continued to grab my collar and pull me to a standing position. Ruthlessly he headbutted me violently, causing my nose to bleed (yet thankfully left unbroken). Gob attempted to stop the guard, but received a bullet to the shoulder in response as he grabbed the guy's shoulder. I moaned in pain as stars danced about my head. The guard threw me out of the cell, followed by Gob, and we were yet again left as a heap on the floor. Breathing quickly, and rather frightened, I rubbed my sore head. Suddenly, two people burst into the room. My vision was blurry, so I could not make out their faces.
"Ms. Stahl," came a cold, almost-robotic voice, "can you identify these people for the holorecorder?" he asked politely. My eyes started to adjust, and I could just barely make out the figure of a woman and a man.
"Sure can. That's Gob, from Megaton, and Moira Brown," she stressed my name as if it were a disease, "also from Megaton. They are the criminals!" Her feminine, southernly voice poured out of her judgementally. Now I was really confused; what the hell was she doing here of all places?
"Jenny..." I moaned, "What are you-" but before I could complete my sentence the guard had slapped me round the face.
"Thank you, Ms. Stahl." the man next to her replied. He too wore full armour and carried a machinegun on his back. He approached us, picking us up gently from the floor.
"See," I began, to the cruel guard. "That's how you treat a lady."
The guard raised his fist at me, but the man stopped him from pelting me once more.
"Calm down." he suggested, calmly. Vague recollections of his face entered my mind, but I could not place it.
Jenny bid goodbye and hastily left the room after receiving a nod from the man whom she had accompanied.
"Hey, wait!" I called on after her, eager to know why she was here.
"Moira Brown, and... Gob. You have been charged with murder on a massive scale, and the attempted murder of Rivet City's citizens, including the destruction of the city itself."
Completely dumbfounded, I could barely say anything as blood rushed to my head.
"The atomic bomb seized from the makeshift train, along with your presence and circumstances, leave no room for other explanation. You will hereby be executed immediately, following no trial." he announced, as calmly as before. "My name is Harkness, by the way. Pleased to meet you."
"You're head of security here at Rivet City..." I managed to cough out of me.
"A reputation?" he replied. "Not one so big as yours, I imagine." he replied with a smile.
"Fancy that! That bird who writ the survival guide being such a ruthless bloody murderer!" the angry guard shouted out. "You ain't half done a lot of damage to a lot of people, young lady!" his verbal attack continued.
"It pains me to kill the author of such a respected book, Ms. Brown, but circumstance requires it. Anything you say from here will be ignored as per requirements." he stopped talking after this and began to unstrap his machine gun from his back. The angry guard stepped back into the cell to avoid getting blood splashed on his uniform, and me and Gob both stood there stupidly, not really sure what to do.
I shut my eyes as I heard him fumbling about from his ammo clip, hoping the death would be a quick one. If he respected me as an author then he would at least shoot me in the head and get it over with. Poor Gob, I also thought, as I heard the bullets being loaded into the gun; but there was nothing I could have done to prevent this situation, I supposed. As I heard the familiar click of a bullet being loaded into the chamber, I held my breath, awaiting the death that would reunite me with friends long gone. Jericho suddenly popped into my mind as all went black around me.