Chapter 10

It took a few seconds for Zane's eyes to adjust to the murky surroundings of the saloon; the ground floor was completely packed. Zane looked up to the second floor; a walk way ran around the entire inside of the building that led off to various rooms. Women leant over the railing at various spaces along the walkway, some conversing with drunken men at the first floor bar, others fanning themselves in an aloof manner. A man dressed in a white suit, complete with white dress shoes, was sitting at a table by the window. He looked up from his newspaper and met Zane's wandering gaze, before casually returning to his reading.

Lily led Zane deeper into the mass of intoxicated humanity, eventually emerging on the other side at the bar. The bartender had his back to them, slamming the side of a radio and crying out in frustration as static blared out. "Damn thing never works anymore, bloody city slickers don't give a stuff about our reception out here..." his hoarse voice was unbelievably raspy and dry. After a few more seconds he gave up thumping the radio and switched it off.

"Gobtholomew?" Lily asked politely.

The bartender swung round and Zane yelled out in shock, lost his balance, and fell over backwards. "Y-your face...how?"

The bartender glanced down at him briefly before returning to Lily.

"Brought a long a comedian aye Lily? How you been? Can I get you anything?"

Zane's arms were shaking as he sat on the floor, trying to get back to his feet, trying to say something, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. His body wouldn't move, and no words would come out, this Gobtholomew was something out of his darkest nightmares, and Lily just stood there idly chatting with him.

"Not today thank you, I was wondering if Mr. Moriarty was available, I'd just like a word with him".

"I'll go check for you dear" Gobtholomew wheezed, it pained Zane just to listen to its hoarseness. As Gobtholomew sidled into a back corridor to find Moriarty, Lily looked down scornfully at Zane, still visibly shaken by what he had just seen. "Welcome to Kanto Zane, welcome to post apocalyptic society, what you just saw is the result of those less fortunate then your ancestors, those that were still on the surface when the bombs dropped".

Zane's mouth hung open dumbly, he could still not muster the brain power to formulate a sentence, the image of Gobtholomew's face was burned into his consciousness.

"Ghouls" Lily added, "When the first vault dwellers discovered there were small pockets intelligent life on the surface this is how they labelled them, the name has stuck ever since. This is what the wasteland is Zane, if you don't take it seriously it will chew you up and spit you out".

Zane pulled himself up on his crutch slowly, sweat dripping down his brow, now all the questions were flooding in at once.

"How...why...forget about it" Zane ended up muttering as Gobtholomew re-entered the bar area with another man in tow. Despite the other man, presumably Moriarty, being of more importance to Lily, Zane again could not tear his eyes away from the monstrosity going about his bar duties. His entire face and skull seemed to be rotting; patches of sickly skin covered most of his features, as raw red muscle peeked through the gaps. His eyes bulged out of their sockets, there were only slits where his nose and ears should've been, and scars covered nearly every available space of skin that was still left. The few long strands of black hair that trickled down his skull appeared to be ready to fall out at any given moment as he coughed horribly into the dirty tea towel, then continued wiping mugs with it.

"...so this is Zane, a friend of the Professor's, he'll be doing the survival training until he's ready to leave Megaton".

Zane snapped back to catch the end of Lily introducing him to Moriarty.

"Colin Moriarty, owner of the saloon."

Moriarty offered his hand and Zane shook it. Moriarty's grip was like iron, his gaze, despite the friendly gesture, deathly cold.

"It's a pleasure Mr. Moriarty; you have a nice place here"

"Quit the sweet talk kid, can you work?"

"Uhh" Zane paused, "I've never served drinks before..."

"No not that! I mean manual labour, I need a utility guy, someone to run errands and perform odd jobs, you won't find better pay around these parts son".

Zane thought carefully, if he was serious about travelling the wasteland then the least he could do in preparation was to have money for supplies, and what was the worst job he could possibly perform in this town in the middle of nowhere? He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Lily, she seemed genuinely perplexed as to Moriarty's job proposition, if only he'd bothered to ask more about him before they went in...

"Well? Kids like you are a dime a dozen, you want the job or not?"

"...Yes, that would be great Mr. Moriarty"

"Excellent, when you're off the stick come over around 5pm and I'll see what I have for you to do".

"Off the st- oh right, yeah, it shouldn't be too much longer now...it was just...a...Tauros accident!"

Moriarty stared at him unfathomably before returning to the back rooms. Zane sighed in annoyance, he really didn't need to add the explanation on, Moriarty seemed like a man who wasn't interested in details to begin with.

Lily led Zane away from the bar and began to make her way through the crowd, seeking out another resident. "Why didn't you warn me about that thing?" Zane hissed, "How many of them are there?"

Lily ducked to avoid the swinging arms of a drunken customer and moved over to the wall to get a better look at the crowd. "Why should I warn you? The wasteland won't warn you when bandits decide to pick you off or when you unknowingly enter a wild Pokemon's territory, exploring the wastes isn't some romantic adventure, no matter how much my Grandad tries to sugar coat it, it's a job. The Professor will teach you the basics of survival, and he'll hand you all the knowledge he can, but that doesn't guarantee you won't die a hundred metres outta Megaton. My Dad-"

Lily paused mid-sentence and composed herself. "Don't treat the wasteland like a joke." Lily ducked back into the crowd, spotting her next target, leaving Zane momentarily staring into the space she'd previously been occupying.

"Well?" Lily called back; she'd been back in the crowd only a couple of seconds and someone had already managed to spill beer on her.

"Right, sorry."

Zane spent the next hour shuffling around the crowded saloon meeting anyone with any type of position in Megaton, mainly shopkeepers who, unfortunately for Zane, were a lot more inclined to discuss their life story than Moriarty had been. Lily never ended up needing to elaborate upon where Zane had come from beyond 'out of town', as they insisted on prattling on under the influence of alcohol until Lily decided to interject and move him along to the next person. Finally they came to a halt back near the bar as Lily counted off names on her fingers.

"...And one more makes...yeah, alright, just one left Zane, an ex-mercenary who works part time for Moriarty now, name's Jericho. I can't actually find him at the moment, if you see him let me know, he's in his forties now, shaved head...should have a big gun strapped to his back...probably being anti-social in a corner somewhe- got him!"

Lily dragged Zane across the room to where Jericho was indeed standing, in a corner, quietly sipping his beer.

"Hello Mr. Jericho sir, this is-"

"Shut your mouth girl, I've heard that introduction about twenty times already, I don't want to ever hear it again". Jericho glared at Lily before turning to Zane, "No offense kid".

"Uh, none taken?" Zane shook Jericho's hand as the man's attention returned to what he'd been looking at previously, the man in the white suit by the window.

"Who is that?" Lily asked in a low murmur.

"No idea, and Moriarty doesn't know either, that's why I'm here watching him, make sure he doesn't get up to any trouble".

The man by the window turned a page of his newspaper nonchalantly as Jericho finished his sentence, Zane noticed Jericho's hand wander towards his holster for just a fraction of a second before changing course and pulling out a dirty looking cigarette and a lighter.

"How long have you been watching him?" Lily queried.

"Too damn long", Jericho sighed and rubbed his eyes with his palm, "I don't know what this joker's deal is but he's wasted my whole bloody evening". Jericho quickly glanced sideways at Zane "don't let me turn you off working for Moriarty, I promise you the pay is good and I'm sure he'll have a lot more interesting jobs for a younger body like yours..."

Zane wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad about this development... "If you don't mind me asking, why is Moriarty so interested in this stranger? Lily told me earlier that this was the only saloon in the entire South West, surely you get a lot of strange...strangers...through these parts?"

Jericho smirked, "right you are lad, and what's the difference between him, and everyone else in this fine establishment?"

Zane paused for a few seconds, "...his clothing?"

"Bingo. He's from out of town, way out of town judging by the fact that myself, Moriarty, and Gobtholomew all don't recognize him, yet he turns up on our doorstep with this fancy get-up in perfect condition, he doesn't even have dirt on his shoes, this guy is a somebody, or a henchman for a somebody, either way he's here for more than a window seat to read the Kanto Times".

"Does the Sheriff know about this guy? Maybe he should be asking some questions or something?"

Jericho snorted, "The Sheriff? You won't see him in here boy, him and Moriarty, they have this understanding. Simms doesn't poke his nose into Moriarty's business, for the sake of the economic development of the town, and Moriarty doesn't interfere with town politics for the stability of Simms' leadership".

"Oh I see, and does that work out okay?"

"Hell no!"

Jericho gulped down the last of his drink and placed the empty mug on a nearby barrel.

"If that idiot over there doesn't do something soon I'm going to-"

Jericho was suddenly bowled over by two large men falling backwards out of the crowd as they fell in a tangled mess onto the floor.

"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!"

A roar went up around the saloon as fists began to fly, bodies tumbling over in all directions.

"A little help?" Jericho groaned from underneath the stack of men, he was helpless, flat on his stomach at the bottom of the pile.

Zane bent down to lift him out but Lily slapped his hand away. "Apologize for telling me to shut my mouth, it was very rude".

Jericho banged his head against the floor wildly, "Just let me out of here!"

Lily was motionless, "You know, I'm pretty sure the blame for this mess is going to fall to the security if this gets any more out of hand, I know you've seen how Moriarty likes to deals out punishment..."

"Fine! Fine! I'm sorry! Now please get these logs off me!"

The two men who had knocked Jericho over were now both sound asleep and slowly crushing him.

Lily and Zane bent down and heaved the weight off Jericho, digging their shoulders in and finally rolling them over. Jericho sprung to his feet and pulled the long rifle off his back. "Screw...this...place" he panted before sprinting into the pack, swinging his gun by the barrel in a large arc, knocking down a large group of men in one go. Zane hung back bemused as the brawl raged on; there didn't appear to be any reasoning or motive behind any of it, everyone was just trying to hit whatever was closest to them.

"Is this a common event here?" Zane asked Lily casually.

"Ahhh...yeahhhh"

"That's just great; I might not even make it out to the wastelands"

"Oh don't be such a baby, with all the rent you're going to accumulate, then taking into account my personal interest rates for the clothing loan, you'll be working here for a long time before the Professor lets you- oh my gosh! The Professor! He's in there somewhere! Quick, go and find him Zane!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea you know? Everything's still a little sore and-"

Lily grabbed Zane by the neck of his shirt and roughly pulled him in close so their noses were pressing against each other. "You would have a poor, defenceless girl go into that mess? I don't think so buster, you get in there and save my Grandad or you'll be out on your ass with the rock Pokemon".

Zane gulped nervously, he wasn't sure if Lily would follow through with a threat like that, but he wasn't going to gamble and find out.

"I'll just go and...yeah..." Zane carefully stepped towards the outer edge of the brawl, not sure how to even break in. He felt like he was on the edge of a cliff, toying with certain pain if he proceeded any further. It was at this point that two different developments caught Zane's attention at the same time.

In the centre of the fight, a dazed Professor hung on to the back and neck of a hulking man, swinging around and around trying to shake him off. His legs dangled hopelessly in the air as, with every shake, his grip around the man's neck weakened.

Right behind him however a quick exchange distracted Zane from immediately coming to the Professor's aid. The suspicious character in the white suit was having whispered conversation by the entrance with another man. Their hands lowered, the white suit began to pull something out of his pocket, something round. Suddenly a group of men stumbled into view, blocking Zane's vision of the entrance. Without a moment's hesitation he dived into the pack and rushed past the men, trying to see what was happening at the other side of the room. The break in his line of sight had only lasted a couple of seconds, but by the time Zane had fought his way to an opening, neither man remained in the doorway.

What should I do? Run after them? What if they didn't go outside? Zane thought furiously, time was running out.

"Zaaane, help meeeeee!"

It was only then that Zane realised he was in the centre of the fight and standing only a couple of metres away from the Professor. Now was not the time to play detective, Zane decided.

The Professor's grip finally broke and he was sent flying off the big man's back, crumpling on the floor by Zane's feet.

"Help?"

The Professor smiled weakly up at Zane as the big man turned his attention to him.

"Good lad". The Professor mumbled some encouragement and passed out on the floor.

Zane sighed and stepped over him, putting himself between Professor Oak and his attacker. "Back off man, he's already out cold; I'm just here to bring him back to his family".

"That there science man grabbed my wife's butt!"

"Oh, well, I'm sure your mistaken sir-"

"He probably isn't!" Lily called out from the corner.

Zane cleared this throat, "Yes, well, regardless, I'm just going to-"

"Piss off cripple! I'm going break that sissy's neck!"

"Cripple?" Zane looked down and noticed he was still holding his walking stick. "Oh right yeah, are you really going to beat up a senior citizen and a cripple?"

"AAARRGH!" The beefy man lunged at Zane, his arms outstretched as if he was coming in for a hug. Zane quickly hopped back, gripped his walking stick hard in his right hand, and swung it up and over his head, crashing it down on the top of the man's skull as his dive fell short. The stick snapped in two as Zane was left holding nothing but the handle as the man stumbled to his feet again.

"You!" He came at Zane again; his arms out wide, making sure Zane couldn't get away. Zane took it as a welcome invitation, stepping forward, and punching him square in his unprotected face as hard as he could. The big man stumbled back a few steps, blood pouring out of his nose. Zane resisted every urge in his body to cry out in pain, his hand was on fire, but he had to stay strong, maybe the other guy would back off.

The man howled in rage and jumped at Zane again, fists raised this time. His movements were sluggish however, it was possibly the alcohol dulling his movements Zane thought as he sidestepped the man easily and landed a heavy punch to his sizeable gut.

"Atta boy!"

Zane turned around to see the Professor sitting cross legged behind him, cheering him on.

"Give him the ol one-two for me!"

Zane slowly swivelled back around to face his opponent. Was this really the leading expert on Pokemon? He'd grabbed a lady's butt and then pretended to pass out to avoid a fight. No wonder Lily was so bitter when she found out he was coming down here.

"THAT'S IT!"

The man struggled to his feet again, Zane tensed up, as slow as his opponent was, it would probably only take one punch from his fat fists to knock him out. Instead of charging forward however he retreated back, "BOYS!"

Zane's heart sank as four other men emerged out of the crowd by the man's side. "Beat that weasel to a pulp". In a flash he was knocked off his feet and pinned to the ground, all four had just cannoned into him rather than attempting to fight.

"Hold him there!" screeched the bloodied ring leader. He stumbled back over as Zane squirmed underneath the weight of the man's lackeys. "Keep still" he chuckled as he aligned his fist with Zane's face.

Zane shut his eyes, he didn't want to see that hairy mound of flesh race towards him, this could kill him.

BANG!

Zane's eyes snapped open; sounds and images of guns firing in the vault began creeping back in.

BANG!

Another shot sounded and the people on top of him bolted for the door, most were running in any direction they could, bumping into others as they made for the exit, some simply cowered on the floor, hoping not to get hit. Zane finally located the source of the gunfire, Moriarty was standing atop the bar counter, shotgun in hand, towering over his patrons.

"Eeeverybody out, the saloon is closed for the next hour, you can all come back when you've cooled off!"

After a few moments only a small group of them remained, Moriarty still on the counter, Gobtholomew cowering behind him, Jericho squatting on the floor spitting out blood, Professor Oak lying on the floor mumbling to himself, Lily in the corner looking relieved, and Zane, getting to his feet so he too could vacate the premises.

Moriarty hopped down onto the floor and strode over to Jericho, pulling him up by the scruff of his neck.

"What the hell are you doing? You have a gun so you decide to smack people with it? How thick are you?"

"Bullets cost money sir, I was just-"

"Bullets cost money huh? You know what else 'costs money', not doing your job you brainless dolt! Now I lose an hour's profit and I gotta repair the chairs, tables, and the roof!"

Moriarty was right up in Jericho's face; the veins on his head seemed to bulge out from under his short black hair, his sunken eyes showing no fear as he shouted down the ex-mercenary.

"And what about fancy-suit? I suppose he didn't do anything suspicious at all right? It was just a coincidence that a fight broke out in my establishment the same day he turns up?"

Lily snorted from over in the corner but quickly covered it up into a cough.

"I'm sorry boss; he really didn't do anything except read that bloody paper".

Moriarty seemed about ready to explode until Zane decided to interject.

"I saw something".

Moriarty slowly turned to face him, "really?"

"Yeah, I saw him during the fight, he was talking to another man by the door, he didn't seem disturbed at all by it...oh yeah! And then the white suit gave the man something round out of this pocket!"

"What was it? Who was this man?" Moriarty blurted excitedly.

"I couldn't see, sorry. There were too many people in the way, I think the man was an average height, average build, just plain regular clothing? Sorry, it was just so wild".

Zane braced himself for an explosion of anger from Moriarty, but it seemed he'd calmed down now.

"Well, that's better than nothing I suppose, something round aye? We'll see if he comes back again, might have to arrange a little trouble for him out on the streets, see if he's got anything interesting on him". Moriarty pondered for a moment before stalking off back behind the bar.

"Clean up this mess Gob, I'm going to go have a think".

"Yes boss"

"Jericho! Do the job I'm paying you for, if there's trouble you break it up, by any means necessary. If you can't do that then don't bother showing up".

"Yes boss"

"Zane!"

Zane was shocked to hear him call out his name. Moriarty had paused at the door to the back rooms.

"I don't know why you pretended you were on a walking stick and I don't much care, but I expect you in here at 5pm tomorrow, got that?"

"Yes boss" Zane smiled.