Rated M for gratuitous profanity, violence, and ghoul sex.
The Fallout universe rights are currently owned by Bethesda Studios. I do not own the rights to Fallout intellectual property and receive no money for this. It is merely a creative outlet, dream space, respite from the real world, and something to tide me over until Fallout 4 is released.
Chapter Twenty One: Sex Appeal
The woman peeked over the chunk of concrete that she had been cowering behind. "Is it safe?"
Kate turned on her heel, walked up to her, and pointed her gun at the woman's face. "No. It isn't safe. Not with your stupid ass around. What did I tell you?" she snarled.
"Look, you don't have to—"
"I asked you to do three things. Stay out of our way. Hide when shit starts. Don't scream. So you need to drop the fucking damsel in distress bullshit and shut the fuck up or you will be very unsafe," Kate snarled. "Since you obviously didn't understand me before, I am giving you one chance to ask me any questions to clear up any misunderstandings before I put my gun up, because when I do, the next time I take it out, it will draw your blood."
The woman paled, cringing and putting her hands up. "I understand. Please lower the gun. I'll be quiet next time. I promise."
Kate put her gun up. "Good. Next time is the last time." She started walking, not bothering to wait for Charon or the woman.
The woman stepped up to Charon. "Is she really going to—" Her voice trailed off.
Charon shrugged, smirking. "Talk to Kate." He bent over the dead mutant and fished out some .32s. He stuffed them in his pocket, and then he jogged a few paces to catch up with Kate, leaving the woman to trail behind them several nervous paces.
"Liability. Yes, I know," Kate snapped.
Charon frowned and dug the bullets out of his pocket. He stared down at them, deciding what to say. He had been certain that he would be the first one to get pissed off at the woman, and that Kate would fuss at him for it. Even if she hadn't turned on the woman, he would have known she was pissed by how she didn't even bother giving the corpse a second look.
She was fastidious in her search for supplies. He had spent so long with Ahzrukhal that he had forgotten the ways of the wastes. While it was true that Ahzrukhal had provided Charon with the absolute minimum for his needs, Charon never had to worry about being fed or sleeping. He only had to worry how long it would take until he got those things and how much he would get of them. When Ahzrukhal sent him on despicable jobs, Charon had only really needed to scavenge the occasional meal and ammo, but even those instances had been rare. Most of Ahzrukhal's requests had him out of Underworld and back within a day. Those times, he didn't even bother looking for food. It was his penance for a job well done. Kate was forcing him to recall the long days before Underworld where he had to clean out corpses and scour the wasteland to survive. She went even further than that, collecting what seemed like inconsequential scraps to him. That was exactly how she had gotten the bolt that was helping hold the damned satellite dish in place.
He held out the bullets. "That's all he had on him. Didn't find any rope. Sorry."
She looked at him, and her lips twitched. She wasn't ready to let it go yet. She accepted the bullets and stuffed them into one of her pockets. "Thanks."
"I don't know if you should thank me. They didn't seem to do him much good."
Kate's lips parted, and Charon could see just a hint of her teeth under the upward curl of her lip. "Stop doing that," she said, trying to go back to a straight face.
"Doing what?"
Kate frowned, but her eyes gave her away. "Trying to make me laugh."
"It isn't trying if you actually do it."
Kate snorted and shook her head.
Charon pursed his lips. "But if you prefer that I don't—"
Kate groaned. "Don't take everything that I say so literally, Charon." She glanced behind her to check that the woman was still following her. She harrumphed when she saw the woman.
"If you were less nice, you would be much less annoyed." Kate smirked at him, but Charon returned a smile. "Although, I might be too biased to give you advice. While I don't like it when you're annoyed, I do enjoy your niceness."
Kate blushed and looked away. She leaned over to him. "If you make me go all soft in front of her, she'll stop being afraid of me and forget all about the not screaming again," she whispered.
"Hey, you're not the only one with acting skills. I can just act like I've gone feral."
Kate snorted. "I wasn't acting."
"Yeah, and she's still hanging around, isn't she?"
They stopped when they saw the signs.
"'Keep your weapons holstered or get shot.'" Kate glared back at the woman. "Lucky for you."
Charon frowned at the signs. "I don't like the look of this place."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Name one place that you have liked the look of."
Charon snorted. "I'll let you know when I see it." He scowled at Kate. "You don't want to go in there, do you?"
She sighed. "We've been going strong most of today. I wouldn't mind break."
"Has it occurred to you that whoever is in there might want us to keep our guns holstered so that we're easy targets?"
"Who sits in front of a door waiting to take shots at it?"
"Those pricks at GNR."
Kate pursed her lips. "You know, if you're going to insist on being right about things, could you at least space it out a little more? Then it would be a lot less aggravating."
He sighed, looking at the sign. "If you want to go, we can go. Technically, it doesn't say anything about weapons that are not guns. Let me go in first."
She scoffed. "If I did that at GNR, you'd be dead now."
"I might be dead now. When I see bullets and fire coming at me, I don't stand and stare at them."
Kate folded her arms. "Then we're at an impasse."
Charon grunted in agreement.
Then they both turned and looked at the woman.
"What? You're not thinking of sending me in there, are you?" she said, crossing her arms.
"I doubt that anyone will shoot you," Kate said.
The woman scoffed. "No way in hell. Uh-uh. This isn't Rivet City, so I am not going in it until I know that it's safe."
Kate strolled into the courtyard, tapping her chin with a finger.
"Kate. What are you doing?" Charon warned, dashing for her.
"Looking," she said, taking in the doors of the building. She walked up to them.
"Kate," Charon growled.
She frowned at him. "Hush. I'm just looking. I'm not going to open it yet." She pressed her ear to the door and rolled her eyes shortly thereafter. "They've got GNR on."
Charon snorted. "One more thing in common with the goons at GNR."
Kate went down the stairs and stood by Charon once more. She pointed at the woman. "We'll open the doors. You stay behind me until we're sure that they won't be shooting."
The woman frowned. "Why you and not him? He's taller."
"Because he didn't want to bring you along anyway, and he may actually be starting to get the teensiest bit feral after all."
The woman cringed. Charon bared his teeth, growling drolly and swiping half-heartedly. The woman gasped but then clamped her hands over her mouth quickly. Charon met Kate's eyes, and she had to stave off a laugh.
"Good. You are learning," Kate said, bemused. She nodded towards the door.
"What if they do start shooting?" the woman asked.
"Then we close the doors and either wait until they come outside and shoot them back or run if they have more firepower than us. You know, you should really learn to use a gun." Kate snorted. "Jesus, I mean, I grew up in a fucking vault, and I know how to shoot a gun."
The woman's eyes grew wide. "You grew up in the vault?"
Kate tugged at her clothes. "Did you miss the suit?"
"So you're 101?"
Kate's mouth twitched. "Something like that."
The woman sighed with relief. "Good. So you aren't going to kill me."
Kate narrowed her eyes. "Just because Three Dog makes me sound like a do-gooder doesn't mean that I actually am one. I'm hot. I'm tired. I'm sick of the fucking sun, and I want to get off my goddamned feet. We do this, or I leave you here. Got it?"
"Wasteland hero, my ass," the woman grumbled.
Charon opened his mouth to speak, but Kate already had a hand on his arm. "Come on. Let's see if you're going to prove me wrong again."
Kate led them up to the doors. Charon pushed passed her to take the left door. He could get his gun out quickly that way, and maybe if he did, she wouldn't have to bother with hers at all. Kate gripped the handle on the door on the right. The woman trailed behind her, arms folded and shoulders hunched. Kate and Charon looked at each other. Kate took a breath and nodded. They pulled the doors open.
"Hello?" a thickly accented male voice said over Billie Holiday. "If someone is out there, you best come out right now. You keep your weapons put up and so will I."
Kate bumped her knee into the woman's leg. The woman startled and shook her head. Kate narrowed her eyes and bent her head towards the building. The woman cringed and poked her head around the door.
"Oh what is this? Aha! It is Dukov's lucky day, and yours too I think, my dear. Another flower for me to unflower," the man said with a hearty chuckle. "Hey, well I tell you what, sweet cheeks. For you, I promise to keep all my guns put away but this one, eh?" He grabbed and jostled his manhood.
When the woman got a good look at the interior, she moved from behind the door and walked in eagerly. "Wow. This place is nice."
Kate leaned her head from the door enough to meet Charon's eyes. Charon rolled his eyes and shrugged. Kate began to move, but he moved out first.
Dukov winced. "Whoa! Baby, this ugly with you? Oh, I bet you need a real man maybe much worse than you thought, huh?"
Charon snorted and folded his arms. Kate stepped by his side.
Dukov's face lit up. The bald, boxered man strode towards Kate, arms extended and eyes moving faster than his feet. "Unholy mother! The god of screwing definitely smiles upon me today. For such a beautiful blossom, you are wearing far too many clothes." His chuckle was throatier.
Charon noticed the loophole the moment that he had seen the sign. He crunched his fingers down on his arms, trying not to move them. While he didn't see any other guards around, that didn't mean anything.
Dukov stretched out his hands to grab Kate's hips. Before Charon could move, Kate's arm darted out and squeezed Dukov's neck. Her eyes narrowed as he made choking sounds.
"You don't get to touch me unless I say you do. Got it?" She hissed. When he nodded, she shoved him backwards.
Dukov fell backwards a few steps, gasping for air. "Jesus Christ! You fucking bitch!" he managed between coughing fits. He rubbed his throat. He stood up, eyebrow cocked and arrogance back once more. "Okay. So what? You the kind that likes it rough? We can do rough." He cleared his throat. "Maybe."
Kate folded her arms over her chest. "We were just hoping to rest for a bit. We're travelling." Her eyes left Dukov, and the first thing that she really saw in the building was the gigantic statue of two people mid-coitus that was suspended from the ceiling. "Huh."
"Take a seat. Get a drink. Get two. Hey, Cherry!" Dukov called.
A long sigh sounded followed by "What?"
"We got some more fine-ass bitches in here. They aren't drunk. Fix that."
There was grumbling followed by cabinets slamming. A red-headed woman appeared from the side room. She was holding two open bottles of whisky and wearing a slip that was barely holding itself together due to the number of rips in it.
Cherry frowned. "You didn't say there were three of them."
Dukov cackled. "I said 'fine-ass bitches.' How many fine-ass bitches do you see out here, Cherry? Huh?"
Cherry extended a bottle to the woman. She snatched it and began chugging. Cherry walked up to Kate and offered the other one to her. Kate put a hand up and shook her head. Cherry shrugged, glanced at Dukov to see if he was watching, and then offered it to Charon. Charon's lip twitched and he shook his head. Cherry shrugged and took a swig.
"If you don't have any other ladies with you, could you close those damned doors now, clown shoes?"
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Clown shoes?"
Dukov was looking at Charon.
Charon growled under his breath, closed the doors behind them, and prayed for Dukov to do something that could be construed as a threat. He would show him just how damned far away boots were from clown shoes.
Dukov made his way to the woman and signaled for her to give him some of the whisky. A good fourth of the bottle was already gone. Dukov gulped some down, sighed, and then let out a rumbling belch. "You know what I think you would look good in? Nothing." He lifted his head. "Hey, Fantasia. Get your sweet ass down here. I think I have a new playmate for you to meet."
The woman took back the whisky and began wandering around, out of Dukov's grasp.
Charon leaned in towards Kate. "You do know that we can't take her with us now, don't you?"
Kate snorted. "When I was thinking that we would take a break, I was thinking something more along the lines of water."
Cherry crossed her arms. "Where you guys headed?"
"Rivet City," Kate said.
Cherry glanced back at Dukov and the woman. "She a friend of yours?"
"Not exactly."
"Huh," Cherry said. She took another sip of the whisky and watched them.
The woman walked around the great room. When she got to the bed, her eyes lit up, and she ran a hand over it.
Dukov stepped behind her, put an arm around her waist and put his mouth near to her ear. "Eh, you like that? It's nice. Got sheets on it and everything. Just don't ask if they're clean. But you can't know how nice it is without me in it," Dukov said.
An ebony woman walked downstairs, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Her slip was in worse shape than Cherry's. Once downstairs, she staggered around until she found a full bottle of whisky. She sighed with relief and opened it. "Who's she?" she asked.
"I don't know, baby. Hey, sweet cheeks. Tell me what name I should be calling out later on," Dukov purred.
"Molly," the woman said, moving from his grasp and continuing to survey the room. She walked up to Fantasia. "Pretty nice place here."
"Nothing to do here but eat, drink, fart, and screw. This is nothing but the good life," Dukov proclaimed, laughing.
Kate snorted. "Wow."
Cherry snickered. "Yeah. He's a real charmer. You've got to give him that."
Molly studied Fantasia. "You like it here?"
Fantasia took a gulp. "What's not to like?" Her voice went to a whisper. "Besides him." Her voice went back to normal. "No one bothers us. There's a trader that stops by once a week or so to bring more alcohol, party favors, and even food occasionally."
Molly smirked and turned to Dukov. "You got your own 24-hour sleepover party, huh?"
Dukov went up to Fantasia and Molly, draping an arm over each of them. "And it's always got room for one or two more," he said, glancing at Kate. He snorted at Charon. "Look, honey, I don't know what kind of needs he had, but I can tell you that I can go for so long that these ladies get tired way before I do. If I am awake, I am ready."
Molly smiled coyly, but her eyes remained calculating. "I saw the signs about the guns. You a good shot? Do you keep this place pretty quiet?" She added with a purr, "Except for the ladies, I mean."
"Honey, I am the best shot in the east."
Kate snorted and shook her head. "Unbelievable."
"I think your rules were too much for her. That woman was destined to scream," Charon muttered. Kate smirked, and Charon smiled, glad to see her in better spirits. "On the plus side, I think that means that you can stop acting like a hard ass."
Kate rolled her eyes. "I told you that I wasn't acting."
"You know, we could sneak out now if you wanted to. She'll be safe enough. You won't even have to feel guilty."
Cherry looked between Dukov and Kate and Charon, biting her lip. "Hey, can I ask you guys something?"
Kate raised an eyebrow. "What?"
Cherry's eyes were desperate. "Can I go with you to Rivet City? I am so sick of this asshole. I won't be a bother, I promise."
Kate scoffed. "What is this? Some kind of goddamned relay race?" Her eyes narrowed. "Can you shoot a gun?"
Cherry bit her lip and winced. "No."
Kate growled and rolled her eyes. "Seriously? Does any woman out here know that they can use weapons other than their pussy?"
Charon stifled a chuckle.
Kate scowled at the woman. "Molly kept getting us into trouble. She screamed every time she saw something move. How do I know that you won't be the same pain in the ass?"
Cherry shrugged. "You don't, but Dukov's got a ball-gag upstairs." She snorted. "Not like it's hard to keep quiet around Dukov, but it should keep me shut the fuck up out there."
Kate blinked. "What's a ball-gag?"
Cherry snickered. "Sheltered, huh? It's a ball that goes in your mouth with straps that go around your head to keep it held in."
Kate's mouth dropped. "And why does he have one?"
Cherry shrugged. "Variety? I don't know. I think he uses it on me to make himself feel better when I don't feel like faking it."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "How do you breathe?"
"Oh, it's got a hole in the middle of it."
Kate went over to a chair and fell into it. "Wow. That really disturbs the fuck out of me."
Cherry shrugged. "It's no big deal. You get used to it."
She glanced at Dukov and then back to Cherry. "And you're okay bringing it with you." She cringed. "And possibly using it?"
"If it'll make you feel better. Hell, anything to get out of here."
Charon folded his arms. "And how much have you had to drink?"
Cherry snorted and held the whisky bottle up. "Sugar, I've got the liver of a super mutant. It takes a few bottles to do anything for me these days."
Molly came up to them. "So look. I've made a decision."
Kate folded her arms. "You're staying here."
Molly blinked. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess. Certainly not history repeating itself."
Molly scowled. "At least he isn't threatening to shoot me."
Charon snorted. "He is. Just not with the kind of gun that she has."
Cherry's eyes got big. "You were going to shoot her?"
"I told you. She wouldn't stop screaming. It was like a dinner bell for mutants," Kate muttered.
Cherry pulled the slip over her head. Kate and Charon both blushed. Charon looked at the ceiling. Kate kept her eyes focused on Cherry's face. "Here. You'll be needing this." She held the slip out to Molly.
Molly scoffed. "What. You aren't going with them, are you? She's fucking crazy, and that ghoul of hers is going feral."
Cherry's eyes went big. "Is that true?"
"Well, you wouldn't believe me if I said that I wasn't crazy. Charon, on the other hand, is fine. He pretended to be feral for half of a second just because she sucks so much at following directions."
"Hey! You wanted me to get shot up!"
"I wanted you to fucking help out for once," Kate snarled.
Dukov slid up behind Molly and Cherry. He put one arm around Molly's shoulder. He snaked the other around Cherry's back, reached around, and squeezed her breast. His eyes were glued to it. "Ladies, please! No fighting! That is not the Dukov way."
Cherry cringed and unwrapped herself from him. "Sorry, Dukie. I've got a new arrangement. But it looks like you've got a good replacement."
Dukov snorted. "No big loss. Old broad like you was getting worn out anyway." Dukov turned to Molly, slid off her pack, and began untucking her shirt. "Well, looks like you won't be needing this now, will you? I like for my ladies to be comfortable and available." His mouth latched onto her neck, and he began working on her pants.
It was Kate's turn to look at the ceiling. "Wow. This is really awkward. Could you just—I don't know—maybe wait until we leave?"
Dukov snorted and raised his head long enough to say, "Oh I have waited far too long already."
"Wow. Just wow," Kate said.
"If you could just leave the pants there, I would appreciate it. I'm going to run upstairs and get my things," Cherry said.
"Sure thing. These were getting disgusting anyway. Take the bag too," Molly said, slipping out of them.
"Great," Cherry said. She looked to Kate and Charon. "I'll be back in one second, and then we'll get out of here."
Kate cleared her throat. "The faster the better."
Dukov's hands were all over Molly's body. Molly smoothed her hands down Dukov's back, but she looked at Kate as if she was standing there normally without someone latched to her. "Thanks for earlier. Try not to shoot her."
Dukov growled and lifted his head. "Baby, you talk way too much." He smacked Molly on the ass and steered her towards the bed. "Fantasia, get your sexy ass over here and help make our new friend feel welcome."