I do not own or will ever own anything by Bethesda Softworks or by Obsidian and Fallout New Vegas. This is just about a regular soldiers journey through New Vegas and the NCR.
The spelling and grammar are poor at best, I know this, believe me I know. So if you can still read this then I thank you, if you can't... well stop reading.
Chapter 11
A Nightmare of Pain
As soon as they entered the living quarters they were greeted with a horrible smell that made their eyes water. Inside a large common room they could see even more shell casings on the floor with bullet holes all along the walls. A greenish brown slim was present on all of the furniture, books, and old pre-war debris that was strewn all over the floor.
"God what is that smell?" Asked Daniel putting his hand over his mouth trying not to throw up.
Even for Tristan the smell was becoming a bit overwhelming as he reached down and grabbed a swing of his water from his canteen bitterly tasting the odor. Going around the corner they could see three doors with two of them label men and women dorms and the front door labeled admin.
"Our best bet is the admin one, since it will lead us to the overseer's office directly,"stated Pat moving forward and touching the panel near the door to open it.
The door only went up a foot before malfunctioning, as three grenades dropped from the ceiling right in front of Jennifer's feet.
"Grenade!" She yelled kicking one of the grenades under the admin door while running away from the grenades with Tristan.
Patrica pushed Daniel over the side of an overturned couch before she dove behind a old book case in the left corner. Running together, Tristan grabbed Jennifer from behind and used his body to shield her while they both dove to the ground.
The grenades went off with a loud explosion that sent debris and slim everywhere. A few seconds later Tristan finally lifted his head up.
"Is everyone okay?" He asked coughing slightly throw the smoke the grenade had caused.
Patrica stood up covered in books and slim but nodded her head back at him. Daniel slowly stood up with his helmet's shield destroyed along with pieces of metal jammed in the top part. Taking it off and tossing it aside he gave Tristan a thumbs up.
"Um sweetie, your still on top of me,"whispered Jen who turned around to look up at him.
"Oh I hadn't notice,"he added winking back at her and helping her back up.
Looking at the admin door they realized their was no way of opening any farther now that the controls had been fried by the booby trap.
"Okay, I don't like, it but we are going to have to split up. Me and Dan will take the man's dorm while Jen and Pat take the woman's."
With each group going in separate directions Daniel took point reaching the small hall-way first. Going inside the first room they found nothing but a bunch of over turned dressers and rotten beds all covered in that same nasty greenish/yellow slim.
"The sooner we get out of here the better,"added Daniel coming out of the room and entering the next room which was opposite of the one they had just entered.
As soon as Daniel entered the room he felt something sharp stab him in the neck. Turning around he saw some type of plant that reached the ceiling of the room. Staggering from the blow Daniel didn't have time to react when the plant reared back to shoot another set of bards at his direction.
"Dan!" Yelled Tristan charging forward and tackling Lopez to the ground.
The bards missed the both of them by mere inches. Popping back up, Tristan pulled out his machete and swung across his body cutting off the plant at the root.
The plant let out some type of scream before shriving up on the nearby bed quickly turning a deep purple color which quickly melted through the bed and concrete below.
"Dan, How do you feel?" He asked bending down to look at his wound.
Reaching up he pulled out the three bards that had stuck inside his neck. "To be honest, I am okay."
Going inside his green duster Tristan pulled out his small first aid kit. Finding the small amount of anti-venom inside it he quickly gave it to the young ensign.
"Do you think this is necessary?" He asked rubbing the side of his neck were the bards had been only moments ago.
"Maybe, maybe not. I don't want to take any chances though."
"Ladies be on the look out... Daniel was just attacked by some type of plant that can shoot these barbs at you."
"Fuck! How bad is Daniel wounded?" Asked the concerned voice of ranger Evans.
Tristan gave the sluggish looking Lopez one last look before he gave him a thumbs up. "A little woozy but hopefully the anti-venom will work. Don't worry I will be keeping a close eye on him."
"Alright keep us updated if he get any worse and will come back."
This time Tristan took point leaving the dorm and going down the hall until they came across some type of barrier that was made of that same slime they had encountered all inside the living quarters area.
Bringing his carbine up he rammed his but end of his gun into the barrier finding it hard as stone. "Well it looks like we are going down,"added Tristan pointing to the stairs that was to their right.
"Lopez, how you holding up?" He asked looking behind to see that Hispanic man was sweating and looking a bit pale.
"My head is killing me, but that always happens when I take anti-venom. I am slightly allergic too it,"he said reaching up and wiping some sweat away from his brow.
Reaching the floor they could see hallway went down a bit before turning left towards the woman's side with the only other way being another hall about 50 feet away from them.
Walking down the hall, Tristan spotted a rather large shutter door that was open. Leaning around the corner he spotted someone kneeling down in the middle of the floor.
"Dan, someone is in there,"he said whispering to the man,"be ready for anything."
Nodding back at him, they both slowly entered the room. Coming closer they could see all the lights were out in the room with only the lights from the hall exposing a small portion of the room. Judging by the person's cloths they could see they were wearing an NCR armor although it was torn at several places with blood and other kinds of grime all over it. Inching closer with their guns at the ready, they could finally see what it was doing. Their was another body on the ground, although it wasn't moving. The person above it was reaching down and pulling parts of the body apart before shoving it into it's mouth.
"Tristan, we found some type of dead mutant creature,"said Jennifer's voice through their radios immediately making the thing turn around to face them.
The creature had dark red eyes with sores and other legions all over it's exposed parts of it's body while it's skin was a sickly purplish yellow color. It had blood all over it's mouth area along with a severed arm in it's hands before slowly standing up, dropping the arm to the ground.
"Stand down now or I will put you down!" Tristan warning the person while looking through his scope and aiming at the mutated woman's forehead.
The mutated woman simply smiled back at them before charging. She was fast and with two steps barely a foot away from Tristan who fired one shot hitting her right in the middle of the forehead. Stepping aside he let her body skid past him inside the hallway they had just come from.
Instantly three sets of red eyes appeared in the dark all turning at Tristan. Growling and screaming could be heard getting closer and closer from rooms above them telling him more of them were coming their way.
"Lopez lets move" He said to his fellow STF agent.
But instead of say anything he heard his friend shout in pain before dropping to both knees with his heads on his head.
"Daniel!" He yelled when suddenly he spotted another mutated person wearing a vault 11 uniform come charging at him.
Taking quickly aim he fired three times hitting it once in the chest, throat and mouth. The creature instantly dropped to the ground but was quickly replaced with another mutant right behind it. Bringing his gun forward Tristan struck the mutant in the head with his butt end of his carbine, knocking it to the ground. Turning around he barely had time to fire a few shots at another incoming mutant hitting it twice in the thighs and stomach. Instead of dropping to the ground, the mutant ignored his wounds and took another swipe at him. Step backwards to avoid the attack Tristan Tripped over the other mutant he had sent to the ground. Hitting the ground he lost control of his marksmen carbine which was sent skidding on the ground behind him.
"Shit!" He said reaching for his 9mm pistol when the creature on the ground grabbed a hold of his shoe.
Kicking the mutant in the face a few times he finally managed to free himself. Looking up Tristan spotted the third creature growing down at him with it's claws raised high above it's head.
"Go to hell!" He said before firing two shots into it's head, exploding it into pieces.
The lifeless body of the dead mutant fell onto of second mutant who with a bloody face was still crawling towards him. Standing up he fired three shots into the creatures head, ending it's movements. Putting his 9mm away and finding his marksmen carbine Tristan raced over to Daniel who seem to be even in more agony than before.
"What's wrong Dan?"
"My head... it feels like my blood is burning from the inside,"he said closing his eyes in pain again.
"Come on,"he said putting his arm around his shoulder,"I am not leaving you behind."
Walking towards the door, Tristan was just about to enter the hallway when Daniel stopped and pushed Tristan completely in the hall and closed the metal shutter behind him.
"Dan, what the hell are you doing?" He asked looking through the small glass window the shutter had.
"I am turning into one of those monsters. I can feel it inside my body."
Tristan shook his head. "No will find a way to stop it from changing you."
Daniel chuckled a bit. "I doubt it... all I would do is slow you down,"he said cringing in pain before collapsing on the ground once more.
"Dan, Daniel, Ensign Lopez!" He shouted banging on the metal shutters even with the sounds of more mutants getting closer and closer.
Suddenly Daniel appeared at the window once more. His eyes were turning a red color as his body was shaking violently when with out warning he punched his hand through the glass that was separating them, forcing Tristan to back away from the shutter.
"Go, damn it, go!"
Looking to his right Tristan spotted another mutant coming off the stairs, firing two shots which hit the creature once in the chest and eye. Another mutant appeared right behind it's fallen comrade and came charging down the hall. Back peddling he fired once more taking off the top part of the dead man's head. Grabbing a grenade off his back part of his belt Tristan chucked it towards the landing platform, accidentally hitting another creature in the shoulder.
Two more mutants came charging down the hall at Tristan when the grenade went off, sending mutant parts up in the air while knocking the two charging mutants off their feet. Looking down he could see they both had lost their two legs but were none the less still crawling at him as fast as they could. Taking aim he fired two shots into each of their brains killing both of them.
"Tristan, Daniel were under attack by some type of creatures, like feral ghouls,"said Jennifer in a panicking voice with sound of weapons fire in the background.
"Like wise March,"he said reloading another 20 round clip into his carbine,"I can hear you guys. Take the corner to the right and will meet up in the middle."
Running towards the hallway he could see their was a dead end only 20 feet down with a side storage room being the only door. Shaking his head in frustration for telling his team to fallow him into a dead end, he ready his marksmen carbine for the next wave of mutant attack.
Rounding the corner Jennifer reloaded both of her two 10mm sub machine guns while Patrica pumped her hunting shot gun exploding another mutant's head as the shell that ejected from her gun nearly hit her in the side of her face. Turning her head around she spotted her boyfriend firing his carbine at a fresh wave of mutants.
"Jen, lets fucking go!" Shouted Patrica to her as she emptied both of her clips into the oncoming creatures dropping 5 of them before she started sprinting down the hall.
Reaching Tristan they quickly turned back around. "Where is Daniel?" Asked Pat grabbing her grenade launcher and firing a round in the middle of oncoming mutants.
The explosion sent several limbs and body parts in the air. "Those bards infected him with the same thing that seems to have driven the NCR and vault dwellers into these creatures."
Even with the fire fight that was going she could see the painful expression he had on his face after telling them of this devastating news. Reloading her 10mm SMG's Jennifer fired again hitting 2 mutants in the face with scores of bullets.
"They just keep coming!" She shouted noticing another 4 mutants quickly replaced the two dead ones.
"We can't stay here!"Yelled Pat who finally finished reloading her hunting shot gun and blew hole in a mutant's chest with part of shell hitting another two mutants in head and chest, dropping both of them to the ground.
"Lets move, now!" Shouted Tristan urging them to move down the hall.
With all of them backpedaling and firing at the constant wave of mutants they finally reached the storage room door. Thankfully the door opened right away allowing them inside. Once inside Patrica immediately hit the doors control to close it again.
"Damn it Walker, were trapped in here,"said Pat looking around the ruined shelves that had random pieces of supplies along with a few fridges in the corner.
Jen could see that Tristan was thinking hard but still had that same confident look on his face. "I know that, but if we stayed out there right now we would be dead Evans."
Looking behind herself, she could see that Pat knew this was their only option, although finding the news about Daniel probably was hard on her. While he wasn't dead yet, none of them new how long it would take before he became like the others outside the door.
Looking around the storage Jen could see that ranger Evans was right. Their was no other way for them to escape they could see.
"Come on lets check to see if there is a vent shaft or something,"replied Tristan walking away from the metal door with the mutants on the outside pounding and screaming behind it.
After 5 minutes of lifting up downed shelves and coffee tables, they indeed found a small vent shaft but found the same kind of slim that had blocked the admin door a floor up. Looking around they each grabbed a small object and attempted to knocked down the harden goo.
"Shit, it's not working!" Shouted Jen tossing two throwing knives at the slim only to have them bounce right off it.
It was then they noticed their was a different sound echoing against the door. Dropping the old fire extinguisher he had, Tristan edged closer to the metal door.
"What is that?" Asked Jen who was right beside him while Patrica still in the back part of the storage room.
Suddenly a fire ax head appeared sticking through the door, causing them to jump in surprise. "Fuck, find something to brace the door with,"said Tristan grabbing one of the nearby shelves and began pushing it towards the door.
Jennifer immediately grabbed a small coffee table and put it up against the bottom part of the door just as another two ax heads appeared sticking through the door.
"Hurry up Tristan!" She shouted when a mutated NCR soldiers hand appeared and grabbed Jennifer's left forearm dragging it through the small hole they had made.
In a flash Jen felt her body hit the hard metal door, only stopping because of her shoulder wouldn't fit through the hole. A second later she felt one of the creatures bit her causing her to scream in pain. Tristan stopped what he was doing and immediately grabbed a small pole off the ground and rammed int through the hole, making it go through the creatures neck. The feral solider let her go, allowing her to pull her arm back through the hole once more.
Using most of his strength, Tristan managed to tip the metal shelf over causing it fall on a slant blocking the door at the same time. Grabbing a few heavy boxes he immediately began stacking them on top of the coffee table Jen had set up a few moments earlier.
Looking down at her bite wound, she could see the mutant had bitten all the way down to the bone.
"Pat get that fucking vent open now!" Yelled Tristan once more as they tried once again to stop the creatures from getting in.
Grabbing what little hair she had left on her head, Patrica looked down. It was then she spotted her grenade launcher and pulled it out. Loading a fresh round into the launcher she grabbed her helmet off the nearby desk and put it back on.
"Brace yourselves,"she said stepping back away from the vent shaft and fired the grenade shot at the slim.
Bending down and putting her hands over her head they heard the grenade impact the slim causing debris to go flying everywhere. Taking her hands off her head, they could see Patrica still standing their with her advanced combat armor blackened and damaged from absorbing most of the explosion. Shaking her head the ghoul took off her helmet and armor plating but when she tried to walk Patrica stumbled a bit before crashing into another shelf.
"Did it work?" Asked Jennifer looking past the burnt metal and books that littered the floor all around them to see the vent was indeed open.
"Let's move,"added Tristan as they both moved away from the door.
Bending down he helped a woozy Patrica get to her knees. "On your feet Evans!"
Grabbing her hunting shotgun, she fallowed Jennifer inside the vent shaft with Tristan bringing up the rear. Giving one last look at the mutants he spotted they were about to break through the door any moment. Grabbing his second to last grenade, Tristan pulled the pin slightly out of delaying the explosive charge for a little while before he fallowed Pat inside the vent.
"Let's hope this doesn't lead to another dead end,"said Jen taking the right bend in the vent when they all felt the explosion of the grenade rock the vent shaft.
After crawling around for a minute, sergeant March began to notice that they were going up a slight angle. While that meant this vent did lead somewhere, it also made the climb harder on her injured wrist causing her to wince in pain.
"I can see some light!" She yelled crawling even faster as a fresh wave of adrenaline surged inside her veins.
Popping her head out of the vent, she was immediately greeted with a person dressed in metal armor pointing a flamer at them.
"Identify yourselves,"the person said through his metal helmet lowering his flamer even closer to face.
"Special Task Force agent sergeant March."
The person flipped open the shield on his helmet. "Jennifer March?"
"Yeah...wait you sound familiar to me,"she said climbing out the vent and allowing Patrica and Tristan to fallow suit.
Tristan quickly dusted himself off before turning up to look at those familiar eyes. "Gorobets, your alive?"
The second lieutenant nodded back at him. "Glad to see you are too staff sergeant Walker."
" I really don't think this is the best place to be standing around and talking!" Yelled Patrica who was still having problems from hearing after the explosion inside the storage room.
2nd lieutenant Gorobets nodded his head in agreement. "Good point... fallow me."
Sprinting down the hall, they quickly turned right before noticing the large office that had laser beams near the windows and front door protecting it. John reached the nearby computer terminal and quickly put in the password lowering the beams.
"Hurry, get inside now!" He shouted opening the door for the three of them to run inside.
Slamming the door shut he entered in the password once more to raise the laser beams just as a couple mutants were sliced into pieces by the beams turning on. All of them were breathing hard from running for their lives not to mention the shock of nearly dieing a few dozen times. Patrica spotted the couch and took that moment to collapse on it.
"I can't believe you guys made it through that wave of zombies,"added Gorobets taking off his helmet and setting down the flamer he was wielding.
"Not all of us did,"said Tristan leading Jennifer over to the second couch the overseer's office had in it and began to bandage up her bite wound.
"I am sorry for you loss,"said John lowering his head a bit.
At this Patrica raised her head up. "Daniel isn't dead yet. He's just...,"but instead of finishing she simply trailed off in silence.
John held up his hands. "I am sorry miss. It's just in the past few days I have watched every member of my team either die or become one of those zombies out their."
Bending down Tristan gave his girlfriend a quick kiss on the forehead before making his way over to his former sniper instructor. Taking a drink of his water and grabbing some dried brahmin jerky he sat in front of him.
"What is going on here?" He asked giving him a serious look.
John sighed heavily. "To be honest... I really don't know. When Master Sergeant Hernandez's team didn't return we entered the vault. It was then we found clues about what really happen to the original vault dwellers. That they were forced to sacrifice a person every year or else computer that controlled everything inside here would kill them all. It was when we entered the living quarters area we were attacked by those zombies out their. Most of them were wearing old vault suits but a few had NCR armor on. Well it was only a matter of time before my entire team was either dead or turning into those horrible beasts. That was when the rangers made it this far too, being lead by a ranger veteran Alexander the great."
Tristan looked around the tattered office but couldn't find any more bodies. "Where is the veteran?"
Gorobets ran a hand through his hair before looking back at him. "By the time his team had arrived they were down to 2 people who could still fight with a third serious wounded. We had to sit here and watch as she slowly turned into one of those damned monsters before Alexander ended her life with a shot to the head. It was then he came up with a plan to go to the Atrium to try and find the overseer's password that has locked down the main terminal here,"he added pointing to the computer terminal that was behind him.
"Let me guess...they never came back,"said Jennifer wincing a bit from the pain in her arm was causing her.
"Right you are my friend. That was about...4 hours ago when I heard the last shot echoing from the atrium which is right down the hall."
Tristan turned to look at Jen then back at the lieutenant. "Do you know how long it takes for the infection to set in?"
Jennifer stood up with a concerned look on her face. "Give or take two hours. It depends on where the infection gets in. But what I do know is after about 12 hours is when the victim loses all control over their body, and that's when you only have a few more hours before they completely lose all brain function."
"What do you mean lose control of your body?" Asked Jen holding her bite wound.
Gorobets shook his head. "I really don't know now. But there is something that is controlling all of these damn zombies. Like I knew their was someone else in the vault when the creatures immediately stopped bothering me and raced up the admin section. That tells me their some kind of master or mother creature giving them direction."
"That's all well and good but... what do we do now?" Asked Pat opening her eyes and sitting up.
4 hours later the four of them were still inside the overseer's office trying to devise a plan in getting to the atrium to find the overseer's password with out being eaten to death. They were able to stop Jen's turning by giving her sedatives like med-x, psycho, buffout, and jet every hour with an increase dosage to so that her body could never get use to it.
"Listen, I don't care what you say,"said Patrica who was pacing back and forth,"the moment we get about half-way down that damn hall, they will swarm us and will all end up dead."
Gorobets grabbed a hold of his short dirty blonde hair. "Don't you think I don't know that. But as you told me earlier we are on tight schedule as it, not to mention you have two of your crew getting ready to join those monsters at their in a few hours."
"You don't think I don't know that you fuck! We won't do them any good if we wind up dead ourselves!" She shouted back by grabbing the nearby empty whiskey bottle and tossing it against the nearby wall.
Tristan knew that everything was riding on their decisions here, not to mention the fate of his girlfriend who was remaining very quite, which was even strange for him. Sitting down he put his arm around her drawling her close him. Even with all that happen he never once saw her ever get scared or even flinch with what lieutenant Gorobets had told her about how long she had.
"How are you holding up?" He asked in a whisper as Pat and John both had finally stopped arguing.
"About as good as you can be knowing there is a deadly infection inside you and will turn you into some kind of zombie creature I read in those pre-war books,"she said looking up at him with a worried expression across her face.
"I going to find a way to save you, even if kills me,"he said looking directly into her eyes.
Jennifer smiled back up at him. "I know my general. You will never give up. It's what keeping me from giving in... and the combination of drugs takes,"she added making both of them laughing a bit.
Standing up Tristan cleared his throat to get their attention. "I think by now we have run out of options and time. Whether we like it or not, we have to move. The atrium has two floors right?"
Gorobets nodded his head bringing up a small map of the entire vault and putting in on the table. "Yes, although the first floor is a lot bigger with the second floor really is just another small viewing platform."
"I know that look Walker,"said Pat stepping next to him,"you have plan."
Tristan grinned back at her. "It's crazy but right now we have much of a choice. The atrium and it's walk ways back circle back here on the second floor. I think if we have both you and 2nd lieutenant Gorobets guard our escape back to the office. Me and Jen will then go on the first floor checking for the veteran's group exposing ourselves."
"No, that's insane I won't let you do that,"replied John shaking his head at Tristan.
"No disrespect sir, but I wasn't asking you."
Gathering up their weapons and ammo, they prepared themselves to lowering the security beams and charge down the hall.
"Remember... we don't want to spend no more than 5 minutes out their. Anything longer we make a break back here,"Tristan said setting his first recon sniper watch to a 5 minute timer.
Right before Gorobets dropped the beams, Jen reached out and stopped him. "Wait, something isn't right. It's too quiet."
It was then they all finally noticed that the usually sounds of the mutants shouting and running around had all stopped. Looking through the side and front windows they saw nothing on either hallway as well.
"I don't like this, Its like their bating us...setting a trap,"added Gorobets with a worried look on his face.
Tristan had to agree with the 2nd lieutenant as he took a deep breath."Well I guess this proves your theory of a master that is controlling them."
"So what do we do now then?" Asked Patrica pumping her shotgun.
"We just be extra careful."
And with that all four of them exited the overseer's office. Looking around they cleared both hallways before moving down the southern one moving as fast as they could while at the same time trying to make as little as much noise as possible. Turning right they finally reached the second floor balcony platform that over looked the lower atrium.
John quickly stopped in front of the hallway they had just came down, while Jen, Tristan and Patrica silently moved father down the balcony reaching the eastern hallway. Right before Tristan and Jennifer could go past her, Patrica reached out and gave each of their shoulders a squeeze.
Giving her one last look, they move across the balcony an finally spotted the dead veteran and his two rangers in the right corner beneath them. Looking down they saw the small fire ladder that was still hanging over the balcony. Unfortunately the ladder was broken about 3 feet from the ground, meaning they would have to jump up in order to get back up.
Going down the ladder first Tristan gently dropped down on top of the a wooden desk. Hopping off the desk Tristan quickly surveyed the area for any hostiles. Finding nothing, he waved his hand up at Jen who quickly climbed down the ladder and landed on the desk as well. Backing up Tristan and Jennifer both moved closer to the right corner while pointing their guns at the two different entrances on the lower level of the atrium.
Reaching the bodies, Jen began to search the veteran for anything useful. Looking through his pack he had on, she found a small piece of paper that she quickly read.
"This is a memo of the last meeting the vault dwellers had, it's got the password for the overseer on it,"she whispered to him putting it back inside the pack when suddenly she stopped.
Looking down he could see the same look that Daniel had on his face when he was overcome with pain and eventually transformed.
"Their coming,"she said gripping her head,"I can feel the masters call in my head."
"Jen take your sedative!" He yelled dropping down to one knee while still looking at two entrances for the on coming mutants.
Shaking she tried to inject yourself but missed and stabbed the dead veteran rangers body instead. "Jen!" He screamed gripping her by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him.
Her eyes began to turn a reddish color as she gripping his forearms even tighter. "I...I... lov... y...,"she tried to say before the grip on his forearms began to start hurting him, forcing Tristan to drop his marksmen carbine to the ground.
Jennifer grinned in sick pleasure when suddenly she let him go. With out saying a word Tristan watched his girlfriend sprinted down the left side of the section of the atrium and disappeared into the maintenance section of the vault.
Sitting up Tristan put his hand down and accidentally cut his glove on something. Looking down he could see a worn katana sword that was still being held inside the Alexander's dead hand. Grabbing the sheath and the sword Tristan put it next to his machete and slinging the pack Jen had been searching over his back.
"Enemy spotted!" Yelled Patrica into her radio.
A moment later he could hear the sounds of shot gun shells being fired along with the sound of Gorobets flamer burning mutants to a crisp. Dropping to one knee Tristan carefully looked through marksmen carbine's scope, waiting for the fresh wave of mutants to come charging in.
As soon as the first creature appeared inside the atrium, Tristan fired a shot hitting the zombie right in the head. The hollow point projectile exploded the zombies head into a bloody mess, instantly dropping the body to the floor.
Using the anger and pain he felt from watching his girlfriend turn into one of those monsters, Tristan went back and forth between both entrances firing one shot each, hitting a mutant every time in the head. Emptying a clip with in 30 seconds, Tristan quickly reloaded another hollow point clip into his carbine and started up again. By the time he was onto his 4th clip Tristan had managed to make a small pile up of dead mutant bodies in front of each entrance forcing the other creatures to climb over the top of them.
"Tristan let's go, your time is up!" Yelled Pat into his radio finally bringing him out of his small trance he was in.
Putting his carbine over his right shoulder, Tristan grabbed his 9mm pistol in his right hand while wielding the dead ranger's katana in his left hand. Running forward he fired several shots killing three zombies who had managed to climb over their own dead. Firing the rest of his clip Tristan mange to kill another 2 more zombies before hitting another three in the chest and legs. Hopping on the desk he swung his katana forward cutting the head off one zombie. Bringing his katana up at and angle Tristan swung down twice cutting two more zombies in half along their shoulders.
"Hurry the hell up, I am running out of flame here!" Shouted John switching to his reserve tank of fuel.
Jumping up Tristan climbed up the fire ladder as fast as he could barely pulling his legs out of the way of a mutant who swung at him with a lead pipe, missing him by inches. Reaching the top platform Tristan put away the katana and grabbed his last grenade a plasma grenade.
"Let's roll out!" He yelled dropping the grenade over the platform down below.
The greenish explosion ripped apart any monster that was with in 6 feet of the grenade while at the same time destroying the old fire ladder completely.
Grabbing his carbine Tristan quickly rejoined Pat who was firing with her .357 magnum, killing a mutant who got with in 2 feet of her. Forced to reload Tristan fired two shots killing another 2 more mutants right before they could tackled Evans.
Wiping the blood off her face and chest, she turned to look at him. "Where's sergeant March?"
Tristan simply shook his head. "Gorobets lets move!"
Charging down the hall, Patrica and Tristan led the way while John backpedaled spraying fire the whole way to cover their rear. Rounding the corner they killed another 5 more zombies before sprinting down the hall. Reaching the overseer's office John punched in the password lowering the security beams once more giving them access.
"Get in!"
Tristan turned and fired his last 8 shot of .556 ammo giving them time to get inside before he turned and dove back inside just when John turned the beams back on once more.
"Tristan, do you know the password?" Asked Gorobets who was already running towards the overseer's computer terminal.
"Yes sir,"he said taking off the pack and finding the letter,"it's Betty."
As John began to search through the programs on the now working terminal Tristan took a moment to collect himself. Reaching up he took off his first recon beret and gripped his head with both hands. Looking up briefly, he knew that Patrica wanted to say something to him but thought better of it. Instead, she reached out and patted his shoulder before walking away from and joining the 2nd lieutenant.
Barely a few minutes in they felt a small power surge go through out the entire vault causing the security beams to go out for a few seconds before coming back on. Right when he was about to ask what the hell happen a deep electronic voice started talking.
"Power anomalies subsidizing. Error, power flow erupted through out sections 1,2,3,6, 7,8, and 9,. Danger... a threat level omega radiation level has been detected inside reactor room. Requesting immediate flush team. Error, communications off line. Damage to entire core network. Main hub functioning inside laboratory 10-A. Warning, a biological pathogen has been detected on all levels below section 4. Vote; All citizens of Vault 11 are requested to meet inside the atrium to vote for the new overseer. Solution; currently the vault 11 is 110.6 years over due for their sacrifice. Error, a threat level alpha pathogen has been detected inside sacrificial chamber. Please make connect with vault tec headquarters to resolve this issue."
Tristan, Pat, and Gorobets all looked at each other with a confused look on their faces, until Evans snapped her fingers.
"It's the vault's mainframe coming back online."
"Quick ask it a question?" Asked John with an exited look on his face.
Patrica cleared her throat before talking. "Computer tells us about the biological pathogen?"
Suddenly the lights dimmed a bit inside the office. "Negative, only the overseer can ask questions."
"Okay lets just play along for now,"said Tristan standing back up,"I vote for 2nd lieutenant John Gorobets."
John turned and looked at him with a surprise look on his face. "I also vote for myself 2nd lieutenant John Gorobets."
Just when Patrica was about to vote, the computer cut her off. "A third vote is not need. Let the records show that 2nd lieutenant John Gorobets has become the new Overseer on May 10th 2275."
"Okay computer, what can you tells us about the biological pathogen?"
"Question is too specific."
Tristan ran a hand through his goatee before pointing at Gorobets. "Sir, ask it about how it was created?"
"Computer, how did the pathogen spread through out the vault?"
Their was a long pause before the lights once again dimmed. "Approximately 111.4 years ago the election of Katherine Stone as overseer caused political upheaval throughout the vault. Small groups of citizens began attacking each other, each group attempting to gain control of the vault. One group called themselves the medical block had a secret weapon. Pathogen H4N8 was to be pumped into the oxygen scrubbers giving them the upper hand in the bloody civil war inside the vault. But due to human error in calculations the pathogen spread faster than they could control and soon the entire vault was consumed. Last records show that 98% of original citizens had been infected or were dead."
"Ask it if there is a cure,"said Patrica looking at Tristan than back at Gorobets.
"Processing request,"said the computer despite the fact the lieutenant had not said anything,"results. Pathogen H4N8 primary objective is to change the chemical signals that the brain sends to the body by turn the body into a massive carrier of infection. A simple toxin mixed with anti-bodies and a sedative will reverse the affect on all of those people who get treated before a complete transformation takes place."
Gorobets sighed heavily. "What will happen to those who are already past that point?"
"Death will occur. At that stage of development, the pathogen has completely taken over the brain, damming the host down to basic instincts. Once the cure enters their blood stream it will react violently to them causing them to bleed inside out, with their brain explodes inside the hosts on skull."
Tristan began pacing back and forth trying to think of what they could use as a powerful toxin. "We need something like venom, or radscorpion poison."
In a flash John hopped out of his seat and skidded on his knees to grabbed the pack on the floor. Taking out pieces of equipment he finally found what he was look for. A necklace of giant radscorpion poison glands as he placed them on the table.
"I remember the veteran Alexander who had them around his neck as trophy putting them inside his pack before they left here."
Tristan slammed his right fist into his left palm. "We just need an area to mix and distribute the cure throughout the vault."
"Scanning... Lab 10-A still has power along with everything you will need to make the cure. Warning increase power flow will draw the attention of the large mutantion inside the sacrificial chamber, recommend a diversion before proceeding with cure up load,"said the computer to each of them.
Without even thinking Tristan grabbed one of the poison glands off the necklace. Taking off his machete and katana he placed them on the coffee table.
"Tristan, what are you doing?" Asked a confused Patrica who had come to look at his two melee weapons.
Crushing the venom gland Tristan began to coat the two melee weapons in the poison. Taking what little was left of the poison he added it to his last shot of med-x he had on him. Taking off his green duster, marksmen carbine and first recon beret, Tristan calmly set them down on the couch behind.
"Staff sergeant Walker, what the fuck are you doing?" Asked Pat who had grabbed him by the forearm and spun him around to get his attention.
"Listen Evans, you heard the computer. The moment you start making that cure, that thing inside the chamber is going to send everything at you. We need a diversion and that's me."
Patrica shook her head. "No that's crazy, their rip you to sherds if not infect you first!"
Tristan bent down and grabbed both of his melee weapons sheathing them. "I know that. I also know I am not a melee weapon expert... that's Jen. But, I like to think I can give you at least 5 minutes before I die. And besides I think these venom mixture will give me a chance against the pathogen, if only for a little bit."
"I still don't like,"said Pat shaking her head,"but...it's the only chance we have to save Dan and Jen."
Gorobets gave Tristan a serious look before he started talking off the metal armor he had on, leaving him dressed in his dirty first recon survival armor. Grabbing Patrica's hunting shotgun that only had 8 shots left he turned to look at the computer monitor.
"We are ready computer."
Suddenly the overseer's desk began to move upwards showing a the hidden sacrificial chamber beneath it. Going down the stairs they could hear increase activity of mutants that were now banging even harder on the walls. Right before they could reach the first door their was another side door to the right that could only open from the inside.
"Opening the 10-A lab hallway door,"said the computer letting the metal door slowly swing up to them.
"Don't,"said Tristan holding up his hand to them,"just get the cure in as fast as you can. Everything is riding on your success."
Tristan watched as the door behind them closed leaving him to walk alone down the narrow hall way that was in front of him. Reaching down he loaded his last 20 round 9mm clip into his custom pistol before he started his approach. The farther he got into the hallway the more of that nasty slim he could see, along with what look like some kind of grayish poles that seem to be trembling.
Reaching the end of the hall Tristan spotted several of those plant spores that had infected Daniel. Instead of spraying him, they simple fallowed his every move before he entered the sacrificial chamber. Looking around he could see 4 giant mutants who looked to be least 8 feet tall, twice as ugly as the others, not to mention they were all carrying large pieces of steel that had been sharped at the ends into some kind of home made weapons.
To his horror he looked directly in front of him past the destroyed robot parts to see a huge mass of moving blob that was giving off a worse smell than anything he had even imagined possible. Looking up he could the mass reached the ceiling and was at least 10 feet wide with moving tentacles that could easily swat him around like a fly.
"Ah so you must be one of the those pesky military guys my babies have been telling me about,"said the master creature as it strangely enough had the over stretched face of something that might have been human once.
Tristan stepped forward when suddenly one of the master mutant's tentacles swung in front of him. "Not that close. My children tell me your the most dangerous one of them all."
"What can I say, I am good at what I do,"he added with a cocky smile on his face.
Immediately the large mutant slammed it's large tentacle on the ground, knocking Tristan off his feet. On the ground he grabbed the poison/med-x mixture he had and injected into his wound on his left hand before standing up.
"See, your just like every other human who came before you...a tiny spec of dust on the grand scale of the things. I am the new evolution, neither human, nor ghoul. The perfect combination that has been refined over a hundred years,"replied the master creature who suddenly brought up a small tentacle and swung it forward stabbing Tristan in the neck and began pumping the infection into him.
Tristan who was already feeling a little woozy from the poison mixture barely could register the small discomfort he was feeling in his neck. Pretending to be in pain he dropped to his knees hoping the chemical would save him.
Meanwhile Patrica and the new overseer 2nd lieutenant Gorobets made their way down the narrow metal hallway. Reaching the front door they could see it slowly open for them revealing a still functioning lab that was perfectly persevered in working order. Looking around they could see a Mr. Gutsy was hovering around as it stopped to turn and look at them.
"Oh the new overseer has finally arrived,"said the robot floating over to them,"we must now waist any time with making the cure. Currently the computer's main frame power is only at 35%, so the mixture will take a few minutes before it will be ready to pump through out the vault."
Pat and John exchanged a worried look as she took out the radscorpion poison glands. "What's next?"
"You need some strong sedatives,"said the mainframe computer,"I believe there is a large quaintly of them inside the lab."
With the robot's help they managed to find over a dozen chemicals like, psycho, med-x, and jet. Taking them over to a machine and dumping the poison and chems together they watched as it pounded all the ingredients together before spinning around at a fast rate of speed.
"What's next computer?" Asked Gorobets with the Mr. Gutsy taking the long cylinder containing their mixture out of the centrifuge.
"You must place the mixture inside the injecting station. Their the anti-bodies can be injected inside the mixture. Once done, the cure then must be transferred over to the pumping station so that it can be spread throughout the vault."
Patrica gave the injection machine a hard look before turning back to the robot. "It can't be that easy."
"I am afraid not miss,"said the robot putting in the mixture and sealing the glass container,"the injector will take a couple minutes to process the anti-bodies inside the mixture. Unfortunately, we will not be able to hide the huge amount of power it will take to do this. I suggest you set up defensive positions soon as possible."
Patrica immediately began searching around for any kind of weapons inside the lab. Opening a small safe on the far wall, she found two laser pistols with 25 shots each. Placing them down the desk that was directly behind the injecting station, she began to help Gorobets move a table against the door. After placing a few more heavy crates on top of the door, Patrica checked her own ammo.
"I only got 12 shots,"she said snapping her .357 magnum while placing her last 6 rounds on the table as well.
At this Gorobets felt for his own 9mm pistol which he was done to his last clip when suddenly he got an idea. "Robot, does this lab have any defenses we can use?"
"Yes, a working turret can be deployed outside the door. Not to mention I am myself capable of combat."
Without saying a word the robot floated over to a control panel and lowered the turret from the ceiling. "Okay computer start the process."
Just when Tristan thought he was about to start turning himself, he felt nothing. Standing back up he looked up at the ugly creature that dominated the room.
"Now I will read your mind and find out what you are hiding,"the master mutant said bringing it's two tentacles near Tristan's head.
Reaching down he grabbed his katana and swung up slicing both of the tentacles which made the creature cry out in pain.
"Kill him my children!" She shouted to her 4 giant mutant guards who immediately surged at him.
Pulling out his 9mm pistol Tristan fired a few shots at the first oncoming mutant. The bullets didn't slow the creature down one bit. The monster swung forward attempting to strike Tristan in the head, but instead he ducked, letting the blunt weapon go by him. Stabbing forward Tristan was amazed how easily his blade went into the creatures chest. Quickly bringing up his gun and firing 3 times under the giant mutant's chin he blew it's brains away.
Before Tristan could pull out his katana another mutant swung forward cutting his dead friend in half. The blade kept going and sliced Tristan on the left arm and across his armor before Tristan mentions to stubbed backwards away from blow.
"Fuck!" He yelled rolling out of the way of another blade attack.
Charging forward Tristan fired the last of his rounds causing two of the giant guards to shield themselves from his gun fire. Swing low he cut one of creature's legs off at the shins dropping into down to his own eye level. Stopping immediately Tristan swung his katana around beheading the 2nd mutant.
By now the two other giant mutants were both on him in a flash, forcing Tristan to sluggish block their powerful swings. Staggering backwards Tristan was hit the chest by a foot sending him skidding backwards on the floor. Stopping himself the staff sergeant rolled to his right allowing the third giant mutant to run right by him.
Swinging up he cut off the arm of the third mutant with his blade doing an arch he cut off the top part of it's head as well. Turning around Tristan tried to block another attack from the 4th giant mutant but the thin blade couldn't handle the powerful attack and broke off near the handle. Instantly the guard backhanded Tristan across the face sending him flying backwards hitting the back of the wall hard on his head.
Slowly getting help Tristan felt like he was in a daze as he could feel something warm run down the side of his face. Bringing his hand up he could he it was blood. Looking up at the last second he barely had time to duck a melee attack which struck the wall, lodging the creatures blade tightly into the wall.
Still feeling the affects of his head injury Tristan staggered away from the 4th mutant. "Leave the blade! Kill him with your hands!" Yelled the master creature.
Stopping Tristan still felt the broken katana in his hand. Remembering what Jen said about throwing blades he tossed the broken katana forward striking the giant guard in the eye. At first the guard kept running at him but, right when it got close to him the creature fell on it's face and slide on the ground dead.
It was when Tristan took out his machete he noticed the large power surge that seem to be coming from behind him.
"What,"said the master creature,"find them now!"
Suddenly the master creature brought down another one of it's tentacles and wrapped it around Tristan's chest. Raising him in high in the air he felt it starting to squeeze him and force his own armor to press into his own chest.
Feeling a few of his ribs break, Tristan coughed up some blood. Just when he was about to pass from not getting enough oxygen the master creature dropped him hard to the ground. Landing he could feel his left ankle break on impact as he began to hold his injured ribs.
"I'm not going to kill you,"added the creature,"no... I am going to leave that to your friends."
Looking up a bit, Tristan spotted both Jennifer and Daniel suddenly appearing inside the chamber. Both of them having that crazed mindless look across their faces along with the bright red eyes that could be seen across the chamber.
Back inside the lab Patrica and Gorobets waited for the surge of zombies to finally reach them. The turret outside was doing a better job than they could ever dream, giving them at least a full minute before they heard a small explosion.
"Okay, here we go,"said Patrica aiming her .357 magnum at the door.
"I will defend you to death,"said the robot aiming it's plasma gun at the door.
Suddenly they could hear the zombies on the outside banging away at the door. At first nothing happen, but with out warning a small explosion went off shaking the laboratory.
"What the hell?" Asked lieutenant Gorobets still aiming his hunting shotgun at the door.
Instantly another series of explosion rang out this time impacting the door violently, blowing chunks of the door into the lab. Patrica was forced to duck the hot metal that came in their direction. Standing up she saw a few mutants holding mines who were charging forward and detonating them as soon as they reached the door.
Taking carefully aim she fired one round hitting the mine that the NCR zombie was carrying setting it off in the hallway. In a flash at least 5 mutants charged forward all wielding mines, as Patrica and Mr. Gutsy attempted to kill them before they reached the door. Dropping three of them the last two reached the door and detonated their mines.
"Get down!" Yelled Pat right when the large explosion blew what was left of the door into pieces ripping apart the crates they had set up to block the entrance.
Getting up Pat could feel the small cuts she had on her face, not to mention the large piece of metal that was stuck inside her right shoulder. Removing it, she saw that Gorobets was unconscious from being blow back into the metal wall that was behind them.
"Die you scum!" Shouted the robot as it began spraying flames at all the incoming mutants while at the same time firing it's plasma gun at them.
Aiming her .357 magnum she pulled the trigger but nothing happen. "Shit!" She yelled realizing the gun had missed fired.
Holstering her side arm, she looked around for the laser pistols they had set up but couldn't find them due to the series of explosion early. Bending down she grabbed the hunting shotgun away from Gorobets and fired killing a mutant that was stabbing the robot with a kitchen knife.
"Attention injecting process done,"said a calming female voice.
"Now Miss!" Yelled the Mr. Gutsy robot who was sparking heavily from the series of blows it was receiver over and over.
Shooting another shell into the group of oncoming zombies Patrica backup into the injection station and grabbed the large cylinder. Running over to the far corner she put it inside and sealed the case shut. Instantly the cylinder disappeared up into a large tube just when the Mr. Gutsy robot exploded into a ball of fire still blocking the entrance inside the lab.
"Cure upload complete. Starting air filtration now,"said the computer main frame.
Back inside the sacrificial chamber Tristan couldn't even stand any more. "Kill him, but make sure you it as painful as possible,"said the master creature behind him as it lifted him up and dropped him in front of them.
Rolling onto his back he could see Daniel and Jennifer both looking down at him with a combat knife and throwing knives in their individual hands.
"Cure upload complete. Starting air filtration now,"he heard the main frame say throughout the entire vault 11.
A fine mist of blue material began to raining down from the air filtration system from above.
"No!" Yelled the master mutant when the blue mist began to melt it's grayish skin.
Instantly both Jen and Daniel dropped their weapons and ran towards the master with a concerned look in their eyes. Suddenly they stopped when the master mutant finally died and it's body began to slowly dissolve into a blob of gray goo.
Both Jen and Dan breathed in the blue mist and instantly dropped to their knees in agony. Each of them began holding there chests when they both throw up violently a red/purplish mixture before falling over.
Feeling the stain of losing so much blood, Tristan started to loose consciousness. Right before he did he made looked up one last time to see that both Jennifer and Daniel were stirring with a confused look on their faces.
"What's going on?" Asked Jennifer to Daniel who shook his head while cringing a bit from the headache he had.
"I don't know? Where are we?" He asked her.
Looking around the room, they couldn't quite understand what was going on, until they spotted Tristan on the floor.
"Tristan!" Shouted Jen crawling her way over to him.
Tristan could hear voices of people all around him but they sounded muffled. Listening more he started to hear the voices becoming clearer and clearer. Opening his eyes slowly, Tristan could see that he was inside a large room that had two other beds inside with Daniel and Jennifer both talking to each while Patrica stood over the entrance.
"Damn, how long have I been out?" He asked causing the three of them raced over to his bed with excited looks in their eyes.
"Relax my dear, we are in Camp Gold right now,"replied Jennifer who was smiling down at him, just when she was about to tell him, chief Hanlon appeared in the door way.
"I can answer that for you Sergeant,"said chief Hanlon with General Hawke right behind him.
"You have been in a coma for a week now. We nearly lost you twice on the operating table and to be honest I thought you might never come out of that coma. I never seen anyone survive from that much damage you sustained inside the Vault ll,"he said offering him an encouraging smile before stepping aside and letting the general look at them.
"Since you are awake now, I will address all of you. What you guys did in that vault is nothing short of miraculous. This will go down not only in special task force legends but for the entire NCR. I hereby promote you from staff sergeant to master sergeant Walker. Miss March you will now be ranked 1st sergeant, while Patrica you will receive your 2nd ranger star. Finally ensign Lopez you will be promoted to operative. Now if you excuse me I must get back to Hoover Dam,"she said smiling down at them exiting room along with chief Hanlon who gave them one last look before disappearing from the room as well.
Tristan shook his head and looked up at his girlfriend. "Was I in that bad of shape?"
Jennifer bent down and grabbed the medical chart that hung on his bed. "Severe laceration on right arm. Skull fracture, concussion, broken ankle, 4 fractured ribs, internal bleeding, and a collapsed lung."
"Yep, you beat the hell,"added Lopez with a grin across his face,"although I must admit I thought for a minute... you might now make it."
Looking to his right he could see the relieved look that Jen had on her eyes as she reached down and grabbed his hand.
"Before we let you rest their general I have to ask. How did you survive that long?" Asked Pat folding her arms across her chest.
Tristan took a deep breath before tightening his grip on Jen's hand. "I didn't want to let anyone down. We're a team, and I care about all of you. And I would have given my life for anyone of you."
Pat nodded back at him. "Spoken like a true hero. Come Dan, I think these two have something to talk about."
Putting her arm around his shoulder, she led them out of the room and closed the door. "How much do you remember about turning?"
"Very little,"she added looking down at him hard look,"the last thing I really remember is that scared look you had in your eyes."
Tristan took a deep breath which hurt a little bit still. He remembered everything that happen inside that horrible vault, even that moment when Jen almost said she loved him. Tristan knew he was in love with her ever since they spent that time together during their final trail. But for now he was simply content for both of them being alive.
"You know something sweetheart,"she said crawling into the bed with and leaning her head on his shoulder,"I never lost faith that you wouldn't come out of that coma."
Tristan leaned over and kiss her on cheek. "Well I am glad that you did. Cause to be honest...I did all of this for you. I couldn't lose you, not like that. Not with out giving everything I had for you."
A/N: This is my second fallout story, the first one was called Dragon Knights so hopefully if you liked that you will like this one. I will try to get new chapters out every 2 weeks or earlier. If you want to review or offer help I am always willing to listen. I can take criticism too, I promise.