The Long Walk VI Part 1
Louise followed Joe back to the Powder Ganger they left behind, nervous of the trouble they planned to stir up. This wasn't the hunting trips or the night watches back in Goodsprings. Both were dangerous but this was distinctly different. Defending the town from attack was expected for survival. The danger came to them, and they defended what was theirs.
Today, they walked into danger, towards insanity itself.
This time, Louise knew that they were likely to die. They were heading right for an enemy base, a base full of cultists. Joe, her, and her Night Stalker pup.
Oh Founder! Louise panicked. She imagined herself huddled up in a corner in her mind, pulling at her hair and rocking back and forth. They were going to war. What would her mother think of her now? Terrified and trembling before what needed to be done? Mother would call her a coward. Was Louise really doing this? She knew the answer to that of course, but she felt the need to ask herself, to assure she wasn't dreaming. She was determined, but the reality of what they were going to do was sinking in like a poison, spreading through her veins as a void of endless dread. Empty, consuming, despair.
"You really think this will work?" She asked her Night Stalker. He looked up with a questioning gaze, seeming to sense her inner turmoil. She wondered if he understood the shaking in her voice, or if he could smell her dread. Maybe her 'Psyker' abilities reached out to him and he felt her worry.
The plan hinged on her mind being able to do things she had no idea how to control. What if her Psyker abilities turned out like her magic, and she ended up blowing things up? Maybe she could give people headaches.
The puppy nudged her leg with his snout, a comforting gestured that eased her emotions by a sliver.
Joe shrugged. "I hope you can make it work. It's probably our only way inside. As I said, there is a lot of we don't know, Louise. We're going on a lot of improvisation here, and that means we need faith. Something I don't particularly enjoy. But circumstances being what they are, this is a good as we're gonna get."
"Faith? Haha, you're welcome to stay out of this mess. This is my fight, not yours." It was her pride that pulled her out of the depressing pits of despair. If Joe wouldn't show confidence, she'd try harder.
"Then you'll probably die if I leave."
His words were like a metaphorical kick to her soul, and she stumbled back into a storm of twisting emotions. "And why do you care again?" Louise argued, relying on her temper to keep her going. "Last time I checked, you didn't give a gryffons ass about an entire town being wiped out. But two people are enough for you to stick your neck out?" She amped her anger into hostility, remembering dying screams in the night and the smell of burning flesh.
What she needed was what drove Joe forward. Jealous of his drive, she wanted to know why he helped her. What made her friends special for him?
"I'll be honest, if you didn't have your powers I probably wouldn't be on this rescue mission. I'd have decided there are better ways of dying than to cultists. Or getting my brain scrambled enough to think like them."
"That doesn't answer my question: Why are you doing this? You've more a survivalist than an hero. Going out of your way just for my sake doesn't seem like you."
"What, an old man can't do something stupid once in a while?" He said with an honest to Founder grin. It was easy to forget his odd sense a humor what with his quiet baritone voice.
It was still strange to Louise how quick he could make off handed comments. No matter the circumstance. Was that what he had, a reserve of humor? Joe was a strange man.
Joe shook his head and continued. "More to the point, even if you are a novice with your powers, I think you can pull this off. You did well in taming the pup, even the Psyker I traveled with needed more than a bit of practice to do that. Hell, it sounded like you managed to scare off a Deathclaw with your powers from what you told me. It didn't run away, you made it run away. Take it from someone with experience, that's not easy. You must have something special about you if you can pull that off before even finding out about your abilities. I'm taking a gamble, I'm putting faith in you."
She didn't respond right away, mulling his words in her mind. She thought of different Deathclaw, one who's flesh fell from its body. But it was true, she must have scared one of those monsters off, somehow. People on this world took Deathclaws as serious as a rogue dragon, and from just one encounter she knew why. They were near demonic in appearance and named appropriately. The NCR trooper she watched effortlessly torn in half gave credence to that.
"They're not like other beasts, Louise. They are smarter than they look. There are a few stories of a few that talked. Don't give me that look, I know, I don't give those tales much credit either. Still, they ain't dumb. If what you say is true about scaring one off, then we can manage insane cultists. That's why I believe we have a chance." His words didn't comfort her. Talking Deathclaws? That was horrifying thought she did not want to think about. But, it was better than thinking of a cavern full of drugged out maniacs. Both were as likely to sit down for tea as a barbaric elf might.
"The main thing you should focus on is keeping your thoughts under control. From what we were told, the Vipers are sensitive to hearing your thoughts, so we need to make sure we keep your mind quieted. The Vipers are crazy, not stupid, they'll know something is up if we slip-up one too many times. But we do have some leeway. Remember back when you tamed the pup? What you need to do is something like that. Focus is key."
"I guess. But that was when I was panicking. And the pup is... Well, I suppose you're right. I'm nervous about this, that's all." Louise was more than nervous, but she convinced herself this was the noble thing to do, so she would do this. Whatever this was. Icy tendrils of terror danced in her heart despite herself. Psyker abilities, they were putting all their cards in on something she hardly understood.
"I know. But it's all we got. Focus hard, really hard, on what you want them to hear. It might be difficult, from the sound of that one's rambling. I think your experience with Goodsprings is clouding your head. They'll see that like the crazy man did. He said something about a 'burning woman reaching?" Joe leveled his eyes with hers.
She flinched at the reminder. Those words spoken by the insane gang member stung anew with the revelations. Did she project her thoughts that loud? Projecting the image of Sunny burning alive? Louise's stomach froze into a tight icy block.
"Louise, focus." Joe said "We should be getting close to where we left that man. I want to make sure they got him before we move. We don't want them coming up behind us. We can test you when they pick him up, see if it works before strike out at their base. If we're going to fail, I'd rather it be out here and not on the main assault."
Louise nodded, working on her determination of what was to come. Despite this, it was some time later that she realized Joe had avoided her question of why he cared to help her rescue her friends.
...
The place they stopped at looked like the rest of the wasteland to her. She wasn't paying attention to the surroundings as much as she should with the upcoming trial clouding her mind. She was guessing they were close to the drugged man. There wasn't any other reason to stop as far as she could tell. The crazy seemed more animated now at any rate. As she crouched next to Joe behind some rocks, the insane man let out a bout of laughter. A shiver ran down her spine. The poor thing, fool doesn't understand what's wrong with him.
Joe tapped her on her shoulder. "Alright. We're almost there now. You remember how it was with the pup? Think calm soothing feelings. That way he'll feel comfortable. Now, I don't think we'll be able to mask your influence completely. I want to gauge just how far we can be from them without them taking note of us. What I want you to do is…" Joe took a dramatic pause, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. "Think of crickets."
"Pardon?" Louise cocked her head, some of her hair falling into her vision.
"Before we get to the base, let's try something simple. Imagine the sound of crickets, calm and steady, like the ones around us." He made a broad gesture with both hands for emphasis.
"Really, that's your idea? Just think of crickets to pass by the snake cultists?" Louise rolled her eyes. Of course Joe would come up with something so lame and anticlimactic.
"You have a better plan? Like I said before, we're running in improvisation here. We don't have much time to come up with a solid plan. If you can do this, then we know they can be fooled. Then, we can focus on using that to get inside. Either this, or you try and keep your cool untested when we're closer to their base."
She opened her mouth to say something, thought for a moment and closed it. She didn't have a better idea, and not likely to come up with one in time to save her friends.
"Alright. I'll try." Her voice wavered. She was trembling. The idea of matching her thoughts with that of a cricket suddenly seemed daunting. Maybe not so lame after all.
"Just listen to the insects around you, get into rhythm with them. It should be easier now that you something other than just emotions to go on like with the pup. That's as good as we're going to get. If this doesn't work, your friends are going to die. No two ways around it." She flinched as if struck, the cold tone as merciless as hard steel.
Well, he wasn't wrong about that either. And, well now she actually did have something to go on instead of vague emotions and feelings. She still doubted, but as joe's words sank in, she knew he was right. There was nothing else to be done if they wanted to save her troublesome traders and have a reasonable chance of escaping.
Harvey and Dani needed her. They needed her to succeed, to help them. She refused to fail more people. Ignoring the cold stone of dread and anxiety still inside her twisting guts, she steeled herself.
Louise focused on the chirping sounds around her. The little bugs were like a soft orchestra in the night. She listened to how fast they chirped, and how loud they were. Focusing as if she were attempting a spell, she blocked all other thoughts. The pounding of her heart, her inner voice of encouragement and doubts faded as she focused. She wrapped all excess noise up tightly in imaginary hands, and strangled them. She was a cricket. Chirp, chirp. Everything else but the musical cacophony of the night washed away into a void inside her. Packed away and ignored. Chirp chirp.
Joe had a strange expression of recognition and he grinned. "Been a while since I've seen that look on someone. It's nice to see again. Remember, do your best to keep your thoughts on the noise. Nothing but that."
Nodding, Louise turned back to the lone Powder Ganger babbling away in the night. Did he ever stop his babbling? The problem right now was that he was delirious.
Without a proper test subject, Louise could have burst all blood vessels in her head, and they still wouldn't have known if she was actually doing anything of value. They had to wait for the Vipers to show up to put her new talent to the test.
So Joe and Louise waited. It gave her a chance to really get in tune with her fellow crickets. She kept her gaze on the man and other than the real crickets about them there was no disturbance during their wait. She felt she was doing something right. An ache crept into her head and that must be a good. It meant something was happening with her mind. It was a confirmation of sorts and she used the growing throb to forge her focus on the insects of the night and the insane babbling fool.
Finally, shadowy shapes arrived, outlined by darkness and moonlight. They danced down the hillside, some whooping in excitement. A few had guns, pistols and rifles, and others had spears. They gathered around the man, one kneeling beside him. Louise could hear faint conversation on the wind, but nothing discernible. For a few tense seconds, one appeared to look in their direction. Thankfully, the figure gestured to where she and Joe had gone to earlier.
The Courier was right not to pick the same path on return. Their position was secured by darkness. Eventually, Vipers reached a conclusion. One particularly large man slung the crazy gang member over his shoulder and they turned to leave, apparently none the wiser of Louise and Joe's presence. If it weren't for the near trance like state she was in, she might have been happy at their success.
Did she do it? The Vipers didn't even look back. She couldn't allow doubt to spread. Not now, not yet, no doubt. One wrong step and this would be for nothing. By the Founder above! Louise fretted, stress and mental strain crashing inside her. She quietly hummed the song of crickets and musical bugs, her head beginning to tear from the inside out as she focused on her task. Chirp chirp. She thought again and again.
Thankfully, Joe's whispers helped bring her back to reality some. "Well done Louise, we're not caught yet. Keep it up, we're that much closer to saving your friends."
She nodded but refused to break her concentration, even as she stood and stepped behind Joe as he led her towards her newest challenge. She sent a few more prayers for Harvey and Dani. And for her head to forgive her after this was over.
...
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Tailing the Vipers was not an exercise in physical strength or endurance but mentally and emotionally. Louise could say she was straining under barrels of weight. It was akin to walking with a stack of books on her head while steadily casting low yield explosions. Or like walking a tightrope above a snake pit. She did her best to keep the only noise in her head the mental garbage of cricket noises. As she feared, her headache ramped up its throbbing with every minute that passed. Joe helped mitigate this, as she followed his instructions as he led her, stopping and going when he said so. Their footsteps were faint, like the snapping of toothpicks.
Despite the success, she had a sliver of doubt threatening to infect the rest of her mind. Doubt that this was actually working, that they weren't just walking into a trap. If she survived the night, the crickets would likely follow into her dreams with their evil chirps. She sang their tune, while a small part of her thought of smashing and killing the damn noisy bugs. It was like a parasite writhing in her mind. When this was over, she worried that the very thought of crickets would cause her to be sick. For now her throbbing headache matched the insect's tempo.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Still, she held on, and as they followed their targets in the night they traversed the rocky landscape. The march wasn't long, but when Louise had an entire night's worth of crickets in her head, time distorted. Every minute felt like an hour. Founder, it felt like the entire symphony had smuggled in knives and was joyfully stabbing to their hearts content. Like a band of cricket raiders, using her brain as their instruments of pain and suffering. The crickets were evil sadistic blights that needed to die. It was only her desperation and Joe's silent encouragement that kept her from stopping her self-inflicted torture. She carried on, wishing to knock herself out. Anything to make it stop. Joe's presence continued to keep her going, and she was truly grateful for him being there.
Chirp, chirp, chirpidey chirp. She sang along, determined despite the painful throbbing in her head.
"Alright, we should be almost there. You're doing great kid. We have a chance. A small chance, but a chance. Just need to keep it up a bit longer." Joe whispered to her.
She gave a slight nod in affirmation and gritted her teeth, refusing to bow out just yet.
The Vipers led them over a hill top and Louise noticed Joe falling back. She slowed her pace to match his, taking care to keep a wary eye on their unknowing guides. The Vipers slowed and walked up to an entrance to a cave. Louise glanced to Joe to find him taking a critical eye of the surrounding area. Perhaps looking for sentries or signs of a trap.
Louise scanned the area and didn't see anything but the shadowy landscape of the desert. She paced herself with the steady chirping, constantly playing the tune in the back of her brain so she didn't lose all focus and her deeper thoughts stumble out for the Vipers to hear. New voices echoed through the night, and she redoubled her efforts of imagining herself as a cricket.
Chirp chirp.
She heard someone that sounded like a man but his voice was strange. His tone was something akin to a person who was drowsy but laced with a creepy evil accent. It was a difficult trait to put into words, certain octaves sending crawling sensations across her skin.
"Greetings brothers and sisters!" The eerie voice said. "I see you have brought us a new member, still trying to process the Great Snake's wisdom, and come into Awakening. Another reformed, from the filth of their criminal spirit into a purer path, an enlightened path."
Louise strained her ears, splitting her thoughts between eavesdropping and playing cricket.
A woman spoke up in reply to the first voice. "Yes. His eyes are damaged, but they are still good enough for him to see. At any rate, he will make a useful instructor on explosives, something we certainly need to turn the caves into a pit. That's the good news, but here's the bad. We have a third party unaccounted for. Someone killed these criminals. This one is in the midst of proving his worth. Probably won't be answering important questions of how his fellows died. Don't know if it's that other gang in the area or not. We've done our best to guide him, but it is up to him if he can withstand the Great Snake's words."
"You sound troubled Warrior Sister. Is there something else to this?"
There was a noticeable pause before she spoke again. "He was babbling about something peculiar, a girl who 'spoke with her mind', among other things."
Louise felt a pinch on her head, her control wavering for a split second too long for her to like.
Chirp? Chirp, chirp, chirp.
"Hm. Perhaps it is just him. People react differently to being shown the truth. And there was no one to guide him in the time of the Awakening. Perhaps he was wandering into places where one ought not to?"
ChIRrrpp~
Louise's teeth clattered. That last chirp was out of tune, out of place. She was slipping, or, was that an inserted thought by the creepy voice?
Her head hurt and she was suddenly aware of how tired she was. Was she going to die today? Funny such a thought wasn't abnormal anymore. She was tired, but not caught yet. She shook her head and redoubled her focus.
"Perhaps." The woman said. "Have the trader and his kid Awakened?"
"Not yet. We can't use our own for placation you know. But, if someone else did those criminals in, then it suits us just fine. Bring back some of the bodies, they will do fine in the soothing ritual, and then we can welcome a new brother and sister."
"Very well. Perhaps I'll come across those interlopers while we're at it."
"Perhaps. Farewell for-… hm."
"What is it?"
"Crickets sounded funny… I must be imagining things. Go on your way while the night is young, and be quick about it. The Bull was spotted around town, and where they go, trouble follows. Just like their Bear rival. I would like you to not waste too much time. I have a feeling they are up to something. Stay vigilant."
With an unseen response, the miscreants walked away. Sand and rock crunched beneath their feet, their light steps growing distant.
Joe peered over their cover, observing the remaining cult members. Louise heard them doing something, but even without seeing she was confident in betting that the drugged Powder Ganger was being dragged inside their base proper now. She dreaded the thought of continuing with the plan. The pressure in her head felt to bursting. It was like a damn tea kettle that just couldn't release the pressure, and her mind was being cooked under the blazing compression.
Thankfully, her torture was nearly at an end.
"On my mark." Joe said, catching her drifting thoughts. "Drop the sound… And, go."
Louise dropped the internal cacophony of insect noises, quietly gasping. The relief was a sudden release of anxiety and stress, followed by beautiful lucid thoughts. A loud ringing echoed through her, and she was faint for a moment. The silence was akin to stepping inside a quiet room after a daylong racket of exceptionally loud chatter. Her knees were weak and she shook. She wasn't used to keeping her willpower constant and steady. It was normally released in the form of failed, explosive, spell attempts. Lingering pain softly faded, the after image of knives slipping from her mind and clattering to the floor.
They… they had done it. She did it. It wasn't magic, not how she defined it, but it was something special. They were right outside the Viper's base now. Unseen, and right outside the the enemy's door! Her Night Watcher nudged her leg. Some strength flowed back into her at his encouragement. Having a pet for moments like these was pretty a nice addition.
Even Joe seemed content to express his approval. "Well done, Louise, I mean it. Told you you're stronger than you think."
Louise felt a blush that might have somehow given them away. Could the Vipers sense her embarrassment? For just a moment, however, she didn't care and found herself surprisingly fond of the thought of making Joe proud.
"Now, to get inside…" His confidence wavered ever so slightly, and her own elation leaked out of her.
"How? Should I fight their insanity by filling their heads with crickets? I practiced that just now for the past half-hour, I bet I could ransom their remaining sanity by threat of chirping." It felt good to reply with sarcasm. Louise was confident she could out chirp the chirpiest of students back home. They were all crickets that she still had a small desire to stomp.
"Nah. Remember what I said earlier? If these crazies worship snakes, then we have the perfect idol for them." He gestured to her pup.
"Or heresy." A roll of her eyes was barely avoided at the thought. She hoped this wasn't actually Joe's plan. Her sarcastic remark probably had better merit than using venomous puppy to get in.
"Heresy perhaps, but like I said, improvisation. It's all we got."
"How though? I don't think they will just drop and bow over for a snake-dog hybrid. Perhaps, he'll woo them with his ugly cuteness." The pup cocked his head at her comment. Truly, a face only a mother could love. Did that make her a mom?
"That's why you make it seem holy, special somehow. We need to draw out the guards by the front, but if we do anything hostile, well that's it then, it's a bust. The whole place will be on alert. The Bull sounded like the Legion. They hear any shots, that's gonna be their first thought, and a full on assault is what we can expect. But, with this, we get a chance to lure them out with curiosity."
"We don't know how they'll react though. Attempting to pass my dog off as divine spirit could easily result in the whole base coming out, or who knows what. This is hinging on a lot of unknowns, Joe."
A slow and weary nod was his response. "Exactly. Precisely why I don't like going on jobs without some intel, but it's either this, or one of us distracts them, lures out as many as we can, and leaves the other alone inside looking for your traders. Then we all end up dead, or at least me. I'm sure the snake skins will look good on you." He joked.
The blunt words struck, and had they been physical she was sure she would have been knocked over. They were backed against a wall here. And with the consequences for failure spoken, she decided to focus on solutions. She hadn't learned the songs of the sophisticated cricket to back away now.
"Alright. Any idea of what I should be 'thinking'? 'Praise the sky snake' or such?"
"Hm. Well, if we're trying to make it seem holy, I think as long as you can convince them it's actually the pup talking, we should be good. We just need to clear out the entrance, then we should have a better idea of what we're getting into. Just get the ones in the entrance out of the way, as many as you can. I got a suppressor for any stragglers inside, as well as for these ones. Try and see if you can just ask for them. If not, lure them close to us so we can put them down."
"I do… alright. Yes. I think I can do thi-wait we?"
In response to the question, Joe handed her a handgun, a 10mm model, with a protruding round metal object extending from the barrel.
"Yes we. Just in case there's more than I can shoot myself."
Killing them. Despite their transgressions, despite the Vipers being an insane cult, Louise didn't want to kill. The incident with the Powder Ganger was a heat of the moment thing. This was luring them out and gunning them down. She eyed the gun, its form foreboding.
Joe didn't seem to care much for her internal misgivings and roughly shoved the handgun into her grasp. "First time, yes I know. Same as before. It's either this or failure. Take your pick, Louise. The clock is ticking."
Joe was wrong half. It wasn't the first time she would be guilty of ending another's life. Her first was a town of innocents after all. Her turmoil of the events returned. The cool metal firearm rested heavily in her hands, heavy and a world of difference between it and her wand.
Beside her, the young Night Stalker looked at her with a tilted head, forked tongue slightly out. He rested his paw on her leg, looking at her with far more empathy than a simple beast should be capable of.
Joe patted her shoulder. "Just, trust me on this alright? You need to send him out as bait."
Her snake puppy shuffled his paws and gave a small whimper. She stroked his ear and he seemed ready to please and die for her if she asked him to. The puppy could and would do this for her.
She heard wood creaking, likely the door to the base, and Joe was peering over the top again. "Alright… one of them is back out now. Now or never, Louise."
She nodded, not responding verbally, but opting to put more effort into her mental words. She peeked around the side of the rock she was behind, seeing the darkened shape of a Viper. She took a breath, and resumed exuding her mental grasp. She must have done something right because he jumped in place, a rifle in his hands at the ready.
"Who's there!?" He demanded, others soon by his side, their black forms training guns on all directions.
Is that any way to speak to one such as me? She projected her thoughts loudly. Really, being a glorified puppet master to a damn snake dog for a bunch of snake worshiping idiots was among the last things she'd ever thought would happen to her.
"Who goes there? Are you with the Bull? Or the Bear and its unruly convicts?" The same man asked.
I am not the Legion, nor am I part of the vile Bear. I am something different.
With a gentle pat on the pup's back from Louise, he ventured around the rock, walked towards the group a bit and then stood there looking wide eyed at the strange humans before it. Or she thought so, she dared not move her head to look, but the lack of snarls of heresy was a foot in the door at least.
"A Night Stalker? Wha-"
Watch your tone with me commoner thing. Louise reached back in time for the arrogant girl she had once been.
"What is this? Wha- What?"
Is that any way to speak to one such as I? Should you not be groveling before my majesty?
And of course the pup chose that moment to lick its balls. Wonderful. True nobility of the Night Watcher. (I added a bit, but she can't see her pup lick its balls because she's in scaredy-cat mode. Can she sense him?)
And do you see how little I think of you? Perhaps you should do more to earn the respect you so claim to foist.
"Enough! Explain yourself creature! What are you and why are you here!?"
I am an angel of the Great Snake. The one who helped your founders.
Even though she didn't see it, Louise was sure she at least heard his skepticism. She could imagine his eyes narrowing, his mind catching up to the impossibility of a talking animal. "I don't know of any angels spoken of before. I don't know what precisely you are, but I doubt you are what you claim. Night Stalkers weren't even around back then."
Louise suppressed a violent and crazed string of curses. They might have even made her mother blush. It was like suppressing a mental sneeze, painful and disorienting. She needed to bounce back from this.
Perhaps not, but one cannot deny-
"I think you are lying. Our founder, the Great Snake Keeper Faust, never mentioned you, never put you in the First True Words. And the only time our Child ever speaks to us is in our dreams, or when we are first initiated. Tell me, why should I believe you? You are an oddity to be sure, but not a part of the Great Snake, or its Children. I have no idea what you are little pup. Leave. Leave before I decide you are more than a slightly interesting animal. You speak in a horrendous accent as well. That alone is giving me incentive to shoot." (They seem to be rather rational people. Odd for a cult of crazed fanatics.)
No! No, she couldn't be failing! Louise didn't want to admit any failure. Doing so would surely break her mental control. She glanced to Joe, between his serious eyes and his knuckles turning white on the grip of his gun, it told her the ground she was on was a hair's width from falling apart.
Images flashed in her mind. Harvey and Dani bound, the latter crying, screaming, while whatever was done to make them Vipers was inflicted on her. She smelled something burning, a horrid screeching in her mind echoing as if in a cave.
Not again, not again! She felt her facade breaking, cracks forming in the wall she had built. Like a trickle of water picking up intensity, images flashing. Harvey and Dani, Sunnny burning, the sound of gunfire and death, the destruction of everything she held dear. And at the very end, for brief horrific second, she saw a familiar face. A black, near opaque face with milky white eyes. It was gone a second later, but Louise swore there was an after image lingering behind her eyelids for an instant.
"By the Children! What?! What just happened?" She heard another yell.
"What was that? I saw something! Something in the dark watching, waiting.
Louise scrambled to turn her moment of broken sanity into a key for the Viper's den.
Perhaps, now you understand. I am not some mere mutant you can order around. I suggest you listen to what I have to say. Yes, I admit I am not an angel. But I am something more. I do not wish for us to fight. If you are willing to hear me out, perhaps we can avoid any more incidents.
"Very well."
Louise blinked and paused for a moment. That worked? Well, she pushed on.
I only want one thing, and one thing only. If you give me that, I shall leave, and never return. I merely want that man and girl you captured. Release them and bring them outside. After that, we will depart.
"No. I'm afraid that is not going to happen. I do not know what you are, and I respect your... abilities. But they're not negotiable. They shall be Awakened, and know our truth."
There is no way to negotiate this?
"No."
Louise let out a sigh, one filled with resignation. Joe was holding up five fingers. Two on one hand behind three on another. Three in the front and two in the back.
*Sigh* Very well. I understand your choice. But what if, I offered you a trade?
"Trade... what sort of trade could you possibly offer us? You carry nothing we could want."
If you do not wish to give them up, I know of others you can get. On my way here, I passed by some more interlopers. Another man and girl. The man is strong. The girl is beautiful by human standards. Defenseless and ripe for the taking. A fair trade, no?
The Vipers looked uncertain, or as uncertain as head movements could be at this distance and darkness.
If you wish, you can bring as many as you like to accompany you. I am far from invulnerable. I shall show you where you can find them, or at least point you in the direction.
Still hesitating. She needed to prod.
Or I could simply reach into your minds again and show you.
"O-only to show us they are real." The leader seemed to try to sound confident.
Louise projected images of her and Joe huddled in the darkness of the night. She took care not to give their location away.
"...Very well. You try anything pup, and we won't be giving you a chance to run."
Good. This way please. Come... come. come. come.
She was forced to let that slip into the stream, to get the pup moving in her direction she wanted. Her headache was increasing again, her concentration slipping. She hoped this wouldn't go on for too long, least she tear her brain in half.
Now that eyes were on her position, she dared not peek, but Joe was giving her hand signals. Five Vipers, three in front and two hanging back slightly behind them. The two in back he would target first, so that left the three for her.
The sound of crunching earth signaled the victims approaching to their executions. Her grip on her pistol reflectively tightened. She hand cramped but she dared not relax.
"Am I really going to do this?" She mumbled to herself, trying to keep her thoughts to a minimum, and that left the simple cold reality closing in on her in the form of cultists. She was going to kill them, some of them at the very least. Or they would kill her. But she'd kill one of them first at least. Her hands would finally be stained red.
Harvey and Dani...Would she let them end up the same as Goodsprings? The reply was akin to a quick pull of the trigger itself. 'No.'
Yes... yes. Come here. Ah now, to the left, left left. Look that way. There are over there. She slipped a little in the wording. It was near unbearable now, stars flickering in her vision. She felt herself drawing blood as her teeth dug into her lower lip.
If they noticed it they gave no verbal cue. Instead, the three leading the group finally entered her sight. With a closer observation of the cultists, she could see what looked to be bones on their clothing. Bone armor? Small hands interlaced one another, some too small to be that of an adult's. It meant something dreadful, but Louise didn't let herself think too deeply on the tiny hands.
The last two Vipers walking behind held back, just out of her sight, but she could discern head outlines of them. They were facing away from her, looking somewhere off in the distance.
She rattled sage in her mind, prattle, prattle, as she looked back to Joe. When their eyes met, instead of shooting, he slowly began to creep on them, knife in one hand and gestured some signals for her to keep babbling mentally in their minds. Actually, his hand made talking motions like it were a sock puppet without the sock. She gave a false location for the Vipers to look at.
Sorry for the noise, I'm unpracticed speaking with humans, but there you all have it, the location of those interlopers. Joe had reached his first victim. He covered the farthest back Viper's mouth with a hand and plunged the knife into the man's neck.
Louise raised her suppressed pistol towards the three in front. I urge you all to be vigilant this night. You never know what foul fate can befall even those under divine guidance. Joe had gently but swiftly guided the dead Viper to the cool sand. He wasted little time in moving to the next, who had the presence of mind to turn just in time for Joe to slash his knife across the Viper's wind pipe. He pulled back and stabbed again, into the eye to quiet any last struggles.
In other news, Oh bloody hell, oh Founder, uh, chirp, chirp, I'm a cricket, chirp.
Save for all of them focusing on the strange behavior coming from the pup, they neglected to notice Joe carelessly dropping the second body. He drew his sidearm and blasted a hole into the left most Viper. The reactions of the last two were swift, swiveling around, drawing their weapons.
Instincts screamed at Louise, and unlike last time she dared not falter. She pulled the trigger of her 10mm, a pat of her suppressor sounded off, and consequence was the right most Viper clutching a bullet wound that tore through his throat. He fell to his knees, coughing a wet terrible sound before it turned into a panicked, choking, gurgle.
Joe shot the finale Viper in the chest three times and the man fell, dead.
Louise continued to stare at the man she shot, watching in horror as he continued to writhe. She hoped Joe would shoot the poor man, put an end to him quickly. He must have decided it wasn't worth the bullet. Instead, he stared as she did, watching the cultist die. In her inaction, the Viper finally stopped clawing at his throat, his legs ceasing their futile kicking, and he died.
Her first kill. She had taken a human life. Not the mistake of inaction that led to other's death, but the purposeful choice of ending another's life. The unmoving body seared into her memory. Her emotions stopped and she stared at the corpse.
She didn't feel anything. Where did her worry go? Where did everything go? Her vision focused on the body, tunneling until the only thing she could see was the gushing wound in the man's neck. Was she supposed to feel sick, regretful? Was this shock? It was the only way to explain her reaction. Her first kill and she felt so... numb. She was expecting more fanfare, but with just a pull of the trigger, the cult member lay dead seconds later.
"Nice shot. Next time aim for center of mass." His critique made her flinch. Earlier she had appreciated his pride in her, but this was somehow different.
"...I just killed a man." She rasped. She could hear the horror in her own voice. It didn't sound like her voice at all, but it was something at least. Something other than the overwhelming numb feeling coursing through her. She wanted to drop her pistol. Her hand shook terribly.
"An evil man, who already had his mind fucked up by drugs, was involved with kidnapping others and doing the same to them, including your traders. You heard what the Powder Ganger said, he was dead the moment the venom hit his blood."
"I know, I know but... oh gods..."
"Louise, there's two ways you can look at this, pragmatically or mercifully. Pick one and help get these bodies moved out of the way and cover up the blood spots. If another patrol comes back here, we'll need as much time as we can get. Hell, we're pushing it already with the ones still inside. Get moving."
Joe's lack of empathy at her emotional struggle tore something inside Louise. It infuriated her that he could be so apathetic when it came to death. Taking another's life was not trivial. She shook herself, burying her anger, and focused on their current situation. Joe handed her some gloves and she slipped them on.
Standing over the corpse of the man she killed, she stared at it for a moment, directing her anger at the dead man. This wouldn't be the last man that would lose their life directly by her hands, but he was her first. She shook as she stared at his body, stoking her hate and anger of everything that was wrong with this wasteland, and what lows it brought her to. This wasn't murder, she told herself, this was justice. That was how she needed to proceed.
The thought only unsettled her more.
Touching and moving the corpse was an endeavor. Together, she and Joe worked to move the bodies in a hidden crevice of a few large boulders. She never thought she'd need to dispose of bodies in her life. Yet here she was, hiding her kill. Like a common murderer.
She was not a murderer.
It was an execution. She told herself, hardening her nerves to the thought of more executions.
"Careful not to get their blood in any wounds. Don't wanna get brain fried that way."
She ignored him, mumbling a few curses by the Founder, and added in some commoner curses she overheard some servants quietly mutter a few times. She continued her list of colorful language, muttering to herself.
"Louise, focus!" Joe said, grabbing her attention as she finished depositing the last of the corpses. "For God's sake, we just managed to pull off clearing out the entrance, that's already better than I thought we could do. Now c'mon, the sooner we get inside the better. They'll be missed soon I reckon. Then we'll never get in without a direct fight. We're here to save your friends."
The reminder of their goal was like a slap to her face, clearing the numbing fog that blanketed her mind. She breathed, forging her resolve. "Yes. You're right, Joe." A noble woman must be focused on the mission at hand.
The best way to get used to something was to do it more, wasn't it? Her mother would gladly wipe these vile people from the world. So, that's what she would need to be for what was to come next. Gritting her teeth, Louise stood taller. She'd show Joe that the Vallière name wasn't one to be crossed lightly.
However, before they made to enter the lair, a sudden explosion of noise in in the night drew both Joe's and Louise's attention. Another explosion, gunfire, people screaming. The beginnings of a fire was slowly but surely growing in size, giving a clear beacon. It looked like it was coming from a town.
"Nipton."Joe said. Well, she could have guessed that herself. And she could also guess who was attacking it.
"...Legion."
...
Well, it's about fucking time! I apologize for the serious gap, I had a severe case of writers block. Like, really serious, ugh...
You can thank my beta for getting me out of that funk. And Good news is, the next chapter is already being betad so it really shouldn't take anywhere near as long as this one did. It'll be maybe just a bit shorter than normal though.
Stay tuned!