Tunnel Route
Ferris gripped his recently acquired assault rifle loosely, and waited. He took several deep breaths to calm his nerves. It wasn't like he was scared, or terrified, more anxious. Anxious that this whole scheme that he and Sid had been working on since almost after they arrived wasn't going to come crashing down on them.
They were waiting in a room at one end of the mill, that led to the steelyard outside. The room was small and cluttered, a desk in one corner with steel shelves and cabinets behind it. A couple of old, pre war lamps provided the only illumination, castings a soft glow. The walls were bare brick, with only a few posters here and there.
Six other slaves were waiting with them, most carrying some sort of weapon, from pistols right up to the cutting tools the slaves used. All of them looked nervous, but then they knew what waited for them on the other side of the door to the steelyard. Ferris had an inkling of what to expect; he'd already met several troggs before, and he knew how vicious and dangerous the beasts were. He wasn't particularly interested in meeting any more of them, but Sid had said there was a tunnel network that led out of the city in there.
He glanced over at Sid, his companion leaning against the wall, eyes closed and arms crossed. His shotgun was propped up next to him, barrel resting against the floor. The picture of a man completely at home and relaxed. Then he saw the small smile that curled Sid's lips.
"Not gone to sleep yet, then?"
Sid opened one eye. "Not bloody likely. Not with that bloody lot shuffling and moaning. You'd think they'd been given a death sentence or something."
Ferris shrugged. "Haven't they?"
"Near as, I guess." Sid dropped his voice to a whisper. "You know, we could offer to help these sorry sods. Would make things more interesting."
"I thought you didn't like having dependents?"
"True. Okay, forget I said that. Besides, look at them. Never met a sorrier bunch. Be kinder just to shoot them now."
"Maybe it would, but then we'd be no better than the Raiders, would we."
"Hey I was only saying. It's not like I'm actually going to do it. I guess I kinda wish I could do something to help them."
"One day, someone's going to come here and change everything."
Sid chuckled. "Did you just turn into a fortune teller while I wasn't looking? I could've sworn that almost sounded like a prophecy."
"No. Just inevitability. The Raiders use slave labour. One day, someone's going to rebel against that."
"And probably get a lot of people slaughtered too. Still, those would be interesting times to live in, don't you think?"
Before Ferris could answer, several Raiders entered the room. The line of slaves stood up straighter as the Raiders, two women with Mohawks, and a man bedecked in rings, studied them.
"I ain't seen a sorrier bunch of slaves in all my life." One of the women said. Her voice was guttural and coarse. If it wasn't for the skimpy costume she'd chosen to wear, Ferris would've doubted it actually was a woman.
The man moved to stand in front of the line of slaves. For a moment, his eyes rested on Sid and Ferris, standing at one end, then they were travelling down the line. "You slaves have been picked to recover something for us. It's dirty job. And dangerous." He pointed at the door to the yard. "Out there are steel ingots from back when the steelyard was in full production, before the war. You're going to go out there and recover them. For every ingot you bring back, that'll be one less beating. The team who brings back the most, will get something nice from me. Understood?"
The slaves nodded.
"Good. Ladies, give 'em the bags."
The two women took satchels from the cabinet behind the desk, and handed them out to the slaves. There were enough for one between two. Ferris took theirs, slinging it over his shoulder.
The man sat behind the desk and crossed his arms. "Well? Get going."
Almost in a rush, the slaves piled out of the door, running out into the steelyard. When Sid reached the door, the second woman whispered something in his ear, and pressed something into his hand. He smiled at her in thanks, and went through. Ferris followed.
They came out at the bottom of an old train yard. A watchtower built from scaffold poles stood over the entrance, ready to protect it from encroaching troggs. Not that it had been all that effective. It had been here that the beasts had made their way into the mill a few weeks ago, slaughtering the guard on watch before forcing their way through the door.
Further up, lines of train carriages sat on rails, their metals wheels having long rusted to the tracks; it would take a monumental amount of power to get them moving again. Of their nuclear powered engines, there was no sign. It was likely that they would be stored in another location.
"What was that about?" Ferris asked.
"Huh? Oh, that. That was Paula. Wanted to give me something for luck." Sid held out his hand, showing the object Paula had given him. A stimpack. "Here. May as well make that bag useful, seeing as we aren't actually collecting any ingots."
Ferris slipped the stimpack into the bag. "Okay, we need to find somewhere quiet to hole up whilst I unlock these collars."
"Yeah, preferably somewhere you're not gonna be distracted."
"That building looks promising," Ferris said, pointing.
Above the trainyard, there were several old warehouses, their corrugated metal walls and roofs pitted with rust. At some point, the arm of a crane had collapsed onto the buildings, creating a bridge across them. And beyond, half hidden in the ever pervasive haze that covered the Pitt, sat the cooling tower of the old power plant, long dead. The building Ferris pointed at was on the level above the trainyard.
A scream echoed across the steelyard, and cut off abruptly.
Sid hefted his shotgun and smiled uneasily. "I guess someone met a trogg. Okay, let's go look."
They made their way through across the trainyard, weapons at the ready. Halfway way, they came across the first body. It was lying slumped half on the platform between the lines of carriages, legs over the edge. The slave's chest had been torn open, his sack ripped apart by his side. The trogg had torn it open, searching for something. His weapon was still gripped in his hand, unused. He'd been surprised by the trogg, probably pounced on him from behind.
The building was more of a shack, an outbuilding attached to one of the warehouses. It lay on the other side of a chain-link fence. Ferris and Sid had to climb through a gap where part of the fence had collapsed to reach it. There was no door to the shack, having fallen off at some point, and the windows were now just blank holes. Several metal shelving units had been bolted to the walls. Apart from the shelves, there was no furniture inside the shack. It had been used more for storage than anything, to keep odds and ends that the old steelyard might need for repair and maintenance.
"This'll do," Ferris said. He moved to the back of the shack, and motioned for Sid to sit down next to him.
Reluctantly, the wastelander did as he was asked. He faced the door to the shack, and set his shotgun down in his lap. Nervously, he checked to make sure the safety was off.
"Whenever you're ready. Let's get this over and done with, yeah?"
Ferris nodded, and drew his bobby pin. He inserted it into the lock. "Just keep still. Remember, the slightest bit off, and I blow your head off."
"Yeah yeah, don't remind me."
He shifted the pin around in the lock. Feeling for the catches. It was slow and careful work, feeling round with the pin to get a feel for the interior of the lock. He already had a good idea of the lock from before, but this was different. This time, he was going to do it, instead of just testing the water.
Sweat began to prick his forehead. He stuck his tongue out, concentrating, and tasted salt.
There was a shuffling noise outside.
"Hurry up," Sid whispered.
"I know."
"I mean it."
"I know."
Ferris shifted the bobby pin. He felt resistance, and pulled back. Tried again. There was a soft, but audible click. The lock disengaged. The collar parted, and Sid pulled it off. He breathed a sigh of relief, and rubbed his neck. It felt good to feel cool air on his neck again.
"Cheers, mate."
Ferris nodded. "Now for me. Keep me covered."
Now that he had the feel for the lock, it didn't take as long to remove his own. It was trickier, not being able to see the lock, but Ferris closed his eyes and concentrated on the movement of his hand, shifting the pin this way and that.
"It's getting closer. You'd better hurry up with that collar." Sid said.
Ferris ignored him. He felt the sweet spot, and pushed. The collar disengaged. Ferris opened his eyes and began to sigh with relief. He saw the trogg, and froze. Sid held his breath.
The beast hadn't seen them yet. It was too interesting in following whatever trace it had picked up on the ground. The head swung one way, away from the shack. Then it swung back. It hooted, spotting the two men inside.
With all his might, Ferris ripped the collar from his neck, and threw it. The collar struck the trogg dead centre of its head, knocking it back. It let out a howl of pain. Then Sid fired. The shotgun blast was deafening inside the shack. The trogg was hurled against the fence in a spray of blood. It dropped to the ground, dead.
Ferris picked up his assault rifle. In the distance, they heard a howl, quickly picked up by others. They were coming from all over the steelyard.
"How far to the tunnels?" Ferris asked.
"Not far. There's a man hole down by the carriages."
"I think now's a good time to start running."
Sid nodded in agreement. They ran from the shack, back down to the parked carriages. Ferris spared a glance back, and suddenly wished he hadn't. Behind them a hoard of troggs scampered down after them. They moved on all fours, in an odd hopping motion.
He followed Sid between the rows of carriages. It was too narrow to move in anything but single file.
"Keep going. Get the man hole open. I'll hold them back." Ferris brought up his rifle.
The first trogg made it to the gap between the carriages. He centred it in his sights. The rifle burst caught it square in the chest. It juddered under the bullet impacts, and dropped, dead. Another climbed over the corpse of its fellow. That one fell to a shot to the head.
"Ferris!"
He fired another burst, then turned and ran to Sid's aid. Ferris burst out of the gap between the carriages. He took in the scene immediately. Sid had been prising the man hole cover off when the trogg had pounced, taking its moment when he'd been completely distracted. The trogg had landed on Sid's back, wrapping its powerful arms around his neck in an attempt to strangle him. Then Sid had fallen backwards, landing on top of the trogg, preventing it from biting him. They rolled, and suddenly the trogg was on top, arms reaching down to rip Sid's throat out. He was fighting a battle he was going to lose.
Ferris pulled the trigger. The rifle bullet blew through its brains, exploding out the other side in a spray of bone fragments and gore. The trogg collapsed on Sid. He reached down and grabbed a handful of flesh and heaved the corpse off of his companion. Letting go, Ferris brought up his rifle again, and fired a burst at the gap between the carriages. A trogg dropped, dead.
"You okay?"
Sid coughed. "Yeah. Can we go now?"
More troggs poured out of the gap. Ferris fired several more bursts, cutting them down. His rifle clicked. The magazine was empty. He ejected it, and slammed home a fresh one.
"Now is a good time."
The two men jumped down the manhole, and pulled the heavy cover back in place. It dropped shut with a clang.
Ferris climbed the rest of the way down the ladder. He pulled out a torch and switched it on.
Filthy water sloshed around their boots. The walls were slick with slime and moisture, gleaming in the torch's beam. The tunnel was three metres wide, and after five metres sloped down, the rest hidden in darkness.
"Oh joy, another sewer. There'd better not be any deathclaws at the end of this one." Ferris said.
"Huh?"
"Never mind, long story."
Ferris started walking, leading the way with his torch. Above, the troggs howled and screamed, scrabbling at the manhole.
A/N: Review please!