Okay here is chapter fourteen. Sorry about the little slip up a bit ago, I screwed up on the timing with AugustinianFrog's Half Moon and I'm trying to keep it running smoothly in my opinion. A little explanation and apology.
Chapter Fourteen
Lowell's vision blurred again.
He felt he now was laying on his back, a wet towel rested on his head, and he no longer felt nauseated.
When his vision cleared he was staring at Adam Anders' face. He had a sly grin on, and cracked, "Have a nice beauty sleep?" Lowell only rolled his eyes as he sat up. "If I felt better, I'd send you on a beauty sleep, myself."
He had his hands on his head when James Vanderbraun came up and handed him a bottle of clean water. Lowell downed the whole thing, splashing his face in the process.
When he looked around he saw all the Liberators in the enclosed room. He guessed they were in one of the buildings in Olsco.
"So do you know what happened to this town?" Carl asked from is corner. Lowell thought about it for a moment before remembering.
"Disease took out most of them, some bloody plague that has been going around." He said. This answer had both the Vanderbrauns looking at him.
"What kind?" Both James and Julia asked together.
Lowell simply scoffed. "I'm not a doctor, I've never seen it before."
"Tell me the symptoms, what were they suffering from?" James demanded suddenly. Why he would be interested, Lowell had no idea, he simply groaned.
"Not sure, they looked bad enough when I found them a day after they kicked the bucket and I had no time to ask my friends before they left." Lowell answered him.
"Friends?" Carl asked.
Lowell nodded. "Yeah, when Mina and I dropped in on the town a day ago, most the people were already dead, but two of my old Ranger friends were in, keeping the peace while trying to evacuate the people." He answered and then stood to his feet.
"Look, there's also talk of some Ghoul army in the area, which also has the people spooked." Lowell said, almost rambling it.
"Ghoul army? Are they even smart enough to band together like that?" Carl asked.
Lowell only shrugged at this question. "That's what the rumors say, and according to my friend, they're not rumors." Lowell again answered Carl.
Sven was closer to Lowell than the latter thought and said, "Hey, if they're all together, just let me drop a nuke or two. I got enough in my pack." Though it sounded a little disturbing when he said it through a breathing mask.
"I'm going to let you guys sort all of this, I have to go and see what this plague is. Is there a body still laying around?" James said, directing the question at Lowell.
"Mina and I burned most of the bodies, but there could have been one we missed." Lowell admitted and shrugged.
Again Sven became very disturbing. "Ah, so that's the fire I smelled. You used a gasoline based fuel… Molotov?" He deducted. Lowell gaped at the pyromaniac as James and Julia left the building.
"You got a weird talent, you know that?" Lowell told Sven. To unnerve him, Sven simply laughed.
"Not talent, insanity. Did you know that they call me 'Slightly Psycho Sven?'" The pyromaniac answered him. Lowell quirked his eyebrows.
"Why only 'Slightly?'" Lowell asked, nervously.
"Because I only have two personalities back then." Sven replied. Lowell didn't have a thing to say to this.
"Back here, all right," Adam said, and began demanding the specifics on what Lowell knew. "Tell me everything I need to know, plague, army, what else? Details?"
After explaining what had transpired and what he had been informed, Lowell repeated it to Capt. Alexandra of the Half Moon. She was only there because both Adam and himself insisted on it.
"My friends, Scotti and Shelby, said the nearest town was St. Olivia, about three days journey upriver via ship." Lowell explained to which Alexandra only frowned. Smoke puffed out of his mouth when he said this.
"Yes, yes but I recall there being other establishments but there could be a difference in the trails and what towns they run into." Alex said as she put the pieces together. "Regardless, I cannot stay here and Saffron has told me they have salvaged whatever they could of value from the town. So what are you boys trying to tell me?" She demanded.
"Well the best I can deduce, there's the Shades to worry about, headed by some guy named Vinioux, a plague that is apparently going around, and Lowell here says that there's a Ghoul army on the loose." Adam stated carefully.
Lowell took a large drink from a glass of water, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"I know this Vinioux guy from before the war…but that's ancient history. I've yet to run into these 'Shades'--"
It was then Alexandra said venomously, "They're bastards." Lowell only puffed out more smoke before he continued.
"But I think we have this Ghoul army to worry about because it's close in the area. I'd suggest, captain," He added the last part respectfully. "That we follow the river up north looking for refugees, gathering information before we find a place where we might intercept this army."
Alexandra stared at Lowell skeptically, and Adam in surprise. "You're saying that you want to go and take on an army of ferals…with you and what army?" Lowell only shrugged and pointed at Adam.
"They destroyed the Wall, plus a giant creature from the sewers. Who knows, my friends might want to help, if they're nearby and if you want some of the action, more power to you." Lowell explained.
Alexandra scoffed, rolled her eyes and said, "No thanks."
"We're just telling you this to keep you informed. You also realize that you're not going to be making a living if you keep running into ghost towns. If we protect the people, you have people to do business with." Adam wisely pointed out.
The captain sighed. "Yeah, I get it."
After loading up the now awake Mina, as well as the few supplies from Olsco, the Half Moon rumbled away.
As it chugged up the river, Adam and Lowell stood on the bow's railing.
"You know I kinda surprised when you said you're gonna help us. I always known you as a guy who knows when to fight and when to hit the fence. I thought you would hit the fence with this one." Adam said, as both of them took drags from their cigarettes. Lowell chuckled gently. "Not this time pal. And I have three good reasons. The first is that you did save our lives, and I'm a guy who pays what he owes. The second is if these damn Ghouls keep this up, there won't be any reason to go north anymore."
"What's the third?" Adam asked, and Lowell had a mischievous grin on his face. "Someone has to help you change your diaper when you see those Ghouls." Adam simply flipped Lowell off.
It was then Julia came up to them. "Mrs. Vanderbraun." Lowell said tipping his hat to her. "I wanted to talk to you about something." Julia said simply though she looked disgruntled.
She then gripped Lowell's sleeve and pulled it back, revealing three vertical scars on his wrist. "What this is about." Julia said, glaring at Lowell. "Whoa." Which was the only thing that came out of Adam's mouth.
Lowell sighed, threw out his cigarette and pulled his sleeve back down. "There's three of them on both of your wrists." Julia said pointing at his hands. "Ah, Christ. Would you relax, I ain't suicidal." Lowell said with frustration. "Then why would you do it in the first place?" Julia asked both confused and tempered. "The situation called for it at the time."
"What does that even mean?" She asked bewildered. "None of your business." Lowell said before he walked away.
Finally after the three days, they reached St. Olivia, the smell of many dogs became very apparent. From both the smell of wet fur, and other a not so unimaginable smell. Much to the Liberators dislike.
"What are you guys complaining about?" Lowell said as he laughed from Julia and Adam covering their faces. Julia glared at him. "The smell is hideous!" She said behind a dust mask.
"Well I happen to appreciate that smell. I owe my life to dogs at one point or another." Lowell said as he leaned against the bridge.
From a distance one could tell that the guards were on high alert. Guards patrolled both in and around the small town, many of them with attack dogs leashed next to them.
Lowell could see many Rangers along side the guards as well as loitering in the town.
On the roofs of many of the buildings, guards were setting up sandbags as well as mounted machineguns.
As the Half Moon pulled up to the dock, Lowell and Saffron leapt off and tied the ship to the mooring cleats.
Once the ship was berthed only Julia with Isaac and Saffron stayed aboard. Everyone else departed.
Lowell, Adam, and Sven headed towards the town hall. They needed to know what the situation was. The plague, and the Ghoul army needed more specifics before they could move.
When they stepped inside the small building, it was rather empty aside from six people. The mayor sat at a desk near the end of the building. Two guards were on either side of the front desk. An aide stood next to the mayor. Finally Scotti Toye stood in front of the desk and Shelby Royeaux leaned against the wall to the left.
Lowell figured that Toye was doing the same thing as they were. He also noticed that her duster was simply draped over her shoulders. Royeaux noticed Lowell and nodded.
"Thanks mayor." Scotti said and turned, stopping when she saw Lowell. "Hey pal." She said sounding tired. Lowell only nodded.
"Who the cowboys?" She asked when she noticed Adam and Sven. "Scotti Toye, Adam Anders, and this is Slightly Psycho Sven." Lowell said. "I've seen stranger." She said as she looked at Sven.
Adam then held up his right hand to shake her hand. She stared at this gesture and said, "Forgive me if I don't shake hands," Scotti then pulled her right side duster off, revealing the knotted sleeve and the lack of an arm. "But you'll find it's very awkward with me." Adam looked quite embarrassed with his discovery.
"The Ranger over there is Shelby Royeaux." Lowell pointed to his friend. Though she did shake Adam's hand, her attention was mostly on Sven. "Lift your mask up." She said simply and Sven cautiously did so. Shelby nodded when she saw his face. "I thought so."
"Thought what?" Sven asked confused.
"I don't care what your history is, if your timid or psychotic. I think your cute." She said.
Lowell and Adam glanced back at Sven and both to their delight and shock, Sven was blushing. "Oh, uh, thanks." He said giving a small smile. Royeaux nodded and walked away. Adam scoffed and Lowell shook his head. "She thinks I'm cute." Sven said shrugging.
"Now I have seen everything." Adam said.
Lowell decided to changed the subject and turned to Toye. "So lets walk. Tell us what you were talking to the mayor about." Scotti sighed and said, "Well there are about a hundred refugees in this one parish alone. The plague you saw in Olsco as well as that damn feral army have cleared out maybe fifteen towns and villages."
Adam tried to get a better understanding of the situation by saying, "So basically these two things are wreaking havoc through out the north?" Scotti nodded somberly. Lowell could tell she was just plain tired.
"Looks like your going to make a stand here." Lowell said. "Well we don't have a choice. The ships, aside from yours was the only one they've seen in a week. I've sent out scouts to see if they can find the Ghouls." Scotti said as she pulled out cigarette. "It's beyond a doubt that they'll find this town eventually."
"Well, maybe we should hit them before they get here." Adam suggested. Lowell shook his head and Scotti as well. "I admire your bravery, Mr. Anders. But what your suggesting is both insane and suicidal."
Lowell nodded his head. "She's right Adam. That's open country out there. They'll have the advantage."
"Well, is there any place away from the town we can go at em?" Adam asked.
The answer materialized when a Ranger scout of maybe 16 approached Scotti. "Whatcha got, private?" She asked. "Did you find the Ghouls?" The scout shook his head and said, "No, but we found something else."
Though he didn't finish, because a another Ranger, a Ghoul, appeared and began sprinting towards Toye. "Scotti! Scotti!" He shouted several times. When he reached her he fell to his knees, panting and gasping for air. "What is it? Catch your breath." She said as she knelt down next to him.
"I-I-I found it. Six miles to the west. They've stopped though." The scout panted. It's not hard to guess that he ran the whole way. "They stopped? Why?" Adam asked as he then turned to Lowell. "They're like me. Exhausted." The scout said and two other Rangers picked him up and carried him away.
Scotti then turned to the first scout and asked. "What did you find?"
What the scout led them to was a knoll a mile outside St. Olivia.
Lowell, Mina, Scotti, Royeaux and all the Liberators were there as well.
Unfortunately two other groups had the same idea, and decided to kill each other for it.
Not waiting for a signal of any kind, the group started shooting at the two groups of mercenaries.
Scotti and Carl kicked things off by laying down fire by her SMG and his Gatling laser. Mina and James picked off any they could. Everyone else stayed out of the fire and advanced. It didn't take long to overwhelm the small fights.
When it was over, Lowell as well as the others found Adam staring down a stranger wearing jet black armor, helmet and a balaclava. Among his arsenal was an assault rifle, shotgun on his back, two pistols on either side, and what looked like a wrist mounted katar dagger on his right hand.
Lowell as well as Adam noticed some corpses at the stranger's feet. They were Talons. Upon seeing this Lowell shouldered his shotgun and Adam pointed his pistol at the man.
"I see these guys were literally stabbed in the back, but care to explain to me why you're wearing the same color but lacking the insignia?" Adam growled.
Lowell looked into the man's eyes, and saw neither emotion nor fear. This guy was pretty dangerous.
Returning to Adam's question, the man simply shrugged. "They got in the way. Besides, most people hire Talon Company but Talon Company hires me." The mercenary explained himself. It was obvious that none in the group liked the sound of that.
Shelby had the better idea. "I say we riddle your sorry hide al over this ground here."
"Your brain would explode first." The mercenary said. Lowell noticed he had quickly yet quietly trained one of the pistols towards Royeaux from the hip.
Julia then announced her idea. "Look, he's not Talon Company per se and we have a bigger problem to deal with. Maybe we can just let him go, there's already going to be too much bloodshed within the next couple of minutes." Though she said this while her plasma rifle stood at the ready.
Lowell almost jumped at what he heard next. "Perhaps it was that attitude that I should thank you for." Lowell as well as everyone swung to the left. At first nothing was there.
Then a distorted image faintly appeared before their eyes. Then just like a science fiction story, the shape of a man appeared before them. He was clad in a strange suit from head to foot.
Before any of them could react, the newcomer removed his helmet.
Their reaction was very clear to Lowell and the Rangers. Julia actually pointed her rifle angrily at his head. "You're that Enclave agent!" She growled.
Lowell didn't know who to point his scattergun at. A psychotic mercenary, or an Enclave solider.
"And you're the Liberators…plus Rangers…plus this psycho over here…" He said motioning to the black armored man.
"…all caught in the path of a very large Ghoul army." The agent announced.
"You know this guy?" Lowell asked Adam. "Not on good terms, if that's what you're asking." Adam answered.
James began processing the current situation. "All right, we got some Talon-ish person on the right and an old 'friend' to our left who is telling us information we already know."
"Whom I thought I told we'd kill if we ever saw again." Adam added.
"Right…I'm wondering if there's some connection here." James said finishing up.
The stranger said, "Talon Company hired me to take out some bums called the Shades over here in New York. I'm from the Capital area. These Shades are giving them some unnecessary competition."
"And what makes you believe we can trust you?" Scotti demanded, pointing her SMG at the mercenary.
"My kill counter?" He asked almost like he was asked what time it was. When he showed the number, it was rather obscene.
"Enclave sent me to investigate some anomalies happening in the area. I was investigating a plague--"
"That I'm sure you guys unleashed on the population." Julia snarled, though the Enclave rolled his eyes.
"Trust me. I'm sure intelligence wishes they came up with this one. Unfortunately, my investigation led me to this Ghoul army which kind of puts me in a bind. I'd say it would be better for all of us if we worked together to destroy this army and then we can all go our way without killing each other. That ay we all leave happy and healthy and then we can just shoot each other at a later meeting." The Agent offered.
Didn't sound too tempt to just shoot the both of them now. That was Lowell's thought anyway.
"Tell me one good reason why we should accept that offer." Julia demanded.
Lowell admitted that she was being pretty belligerent about this. What ever reason it was he understood if it involved the Enclave.
"Because, my dear Scribe, if Command ever detects my vitals signs read nil, they will drop an orbital strike on my position on account of all he technology on my person." The agent explained.
"We could just toss him in the middle of the Ghoul army." Sven suggested. Lowell snorted when he heard this. "We wouldn't have time to run away, Sven." Carl said flatly.
"With all of this in mind, I bring back my original proposition, No one kill each other, including you, what's your name?" The agent demanded of the mercenary in blackened armor.
"Dawson, Dawson Philips.
"Great, because Vertibird flybys have suggested that there is a large number of Ghouls out there. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Care to tell us how many your Enclave buddies said were in that Army?" Scotti demanded.
"Trust me, it's better that you didn't know."
The doors in the side of the mountain were jammed a little and it took Adam, Lowell and Carl to pry the metal door open.
Inside it was a long dark corridor, alcoves on both sides.
The group pulled out flashlights and side arms and cautiously began making there way down the long tunnel.
Lowell noticed that it was very elaborate, not like the metro tunnels from the subways. It was smooth metal, and almost elegant. The floor was made of wood, with marks that looked like it had been polished.
The tunnel seemed to go straight into the heart of the small mountain.
Finally after maybe a hundred yards, the tunnel ended and a large security door stood before them. The computer panel next to the door was shattered and clearly beyond use.
"It looks like we can neither hack our way in or blow the lock off." Julia said, as she also stared at Lowell.
"I can get us in." Sven said with a grin on his face. "NO!" Everyone answered in unison. "Sven we have no idea what's on the other side of that door. Besides we might need anything inside." Adam said, and Sven looked disappointed.
Lowell turned to Carl. "Alright big guy. Give us a door." He nodded and pulled out his Super Sledgehammer. All of them stepped back as Thompson began pounding away at the door.
It didn't take long before the door was completely dented and it was knocked down.
Inside they looked shocked at what was there.
The room was full of assault rifles in several racks, mines, bunk beds, a table and chair sat next to a far side wall, a HAM resting on the table. Several lockers full of 5.56 ammunition resided next to the rifles. A large cabinet caught Sven's eye and when he opened it up, he let out a very deranged giggle. Inside were 10 Mini-Nukes.
"God, you could fight a small war with this place." Lowell said as he picked up one of the rifles.
"Well I think this might be the place to hold the Ghouls off." Adam said as he himself gripped a rifle.
That's chapter eight folks. Read and Review.