Chapter 35: The Enemy
I slept until my mind awoke, signaling the muscles in my body to get up. The peaceful interval of the time it took for me to wake up was bliss to me, as I yawned and stretched in the bed that didn't even seem to have a hint of the evil it harbored. Purging the vile that slept in the bed, I finally got up, and reached for my bag at the side of me. Since no one else was in the train car anymore, I took the time to change my clothes into a pair of faded black jeans that seemed to be too tight for my calves at the time, along with a black belt and steel buckle that has since rusted. I adorned a gray tank top, mainly because it was comfortable to be punching something with it on. Finally, I sat at the end of my bed and put on heavily-washed and faded boots that seemed to be the color of black, but it soon faded to white as it reached the center of each boot. I got up and looked around for where everyone else was. I turned to the right and heard the faint, indistinct chatter of people in the car down. I opened the old door and peered inside.
This cart was full of only lockers that were lazily closed, some being left open completely. Inside were the weapons that Logan's men used to attack us, from the two empty sniper rifles the men shot at us with, to the man with the knife in his neck's pistol that he shot Dogmeat with, tucked away in its own locker.
The indefinite conversations got louder as I walked to the next door, looking around through the foggy window to see what was going on. I soon opened the door and spotted the group eating at a table that took up most of the cart.
"Sup." Rilee nodded at me as she took a plate of gecko meat.
"Found the dinner cart. Nothing much for us here, though." She told me as she used her head to point at a free chair.
I took the chair and pulled it out to sit down, wondering where the tall beast came from.
"How'd you get this?" I asked them.
"Joe and I went huntin' at the break of dawn. You shouldav' seen it." Lennie smiled at Joe.
"I killed the mother." Joe smiled proudly.
"Right after the husband knocked you into a wall." Lennie told him.
"Still kicked his ass." Joe shrugged as he fed himself the steaming meat.
"How'd you cook it?" I asked them.
"We used the fire from the engine to heat this bastard up." Lennie answered.
"Does that mean the train's ready?" I asked Ulysses.
"No, but it's almost done. Rilee and I can finish it up today." He told me.
"Thanks for the toolbox by the way." Rilee looked up at me, showing her respect by not staring down her food.
"Eat up, kiddo, because we've got a fine day of sitting on our asses ahead of us." Joe sighed sarcastically.
I cut up my gecko with the fork and knife and brought it to my mouth, chewing and trying my best to listen to Lennie and Joe's story of how Joe got a scrape on his left shoulder while in the gecko den, while chewing the crunchy skin.
"So the pappa got up and threw him into the ground!" Lennie smiled.
"Still kicked his ass." Joe mumbled.
"Still whinin' about it, it sounds like." Lennie giggled as he chewed his food, wincing down in pain as he chomped it.
"That was bone." Lennie mumbled with the food in his mouth, holding his jaw.
"That reminds me. Come with me, Sarah." Ulysses told me as I gulped down my water.
"Thanks for the meal, boys." I smiled at the two as I got up and walked to the second cart with Ulysses.
"They brought back a lot more than just a mother gecko." Ulysses explained as he opened up his locker to a gecko-backed leather arm guards.
"What's this?" I asked him.
"An apology for ruining your father's suit. I made it last night." Ulysses told me as he gave the two brown arm guards to me.
"A back and hip holster? How'd you learn to do this stuff, anyway?" I asked as I put the armor on.
"It was all in the G.O.A.T., I guess." Ulysses answered.
"The G.O.A.T.?" I repeated.
"The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test that every person takes when they turn 16. Mine didn't necessarily say I was to be good with fixing things, but then again, I was too young to pay attention to the results." Ulysses said as he sat down in his chair and spun it around to face his desk, where the paint and sewing kit were freshly opened.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him as I looked over his shoulder at his project.
"I think of it as a reminder to myself." Ulysses said.
"Is that the duster you got from that guy with the knife in his face?" I interviewed as Ulysses sewed through the black hole with the needle.
"Yes." He answered as he flipped it over to the back area, where he had painted a blue, red, and white symbol on it. It appeared to be a blue circle with a white star in the middle, surrounded by other, smaller white stars that encompassed the edge of the shape. Coming down from the bottom of it were four red lines that appeared to end at the split in the duster, where the space between the legs began.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"This was... the American Flag." Ulysses said as he stared at the symbol.
"Why did you paint it on there?" I asked him.
"Because it's a vow I made to myself, to never let my emotions get in the way again, and the only way to do that is to remind myself about what happened to history's greatest men." Ulysses said to me.
"If that's what you want to do, then that's fine by-"
A cripplingly loud gunshot rang outside the train car, ending our conversation in an instant.
"COME ON OUT! WE KNOW YOU ASSHOLES ARE DUMB ENOUGH TO STAY HERE!" A man's voice shouted at us as Ulysses and I stared each other.
Behind us, the door opened to Lennie, Joe, and Rilee, waiting for someone to do something.
"Rilee, get working on that engine as fast as you can." Ulysses ordered her in an instant as she ran as fast as she could away.
"Joe, guard us while we fix it." Ulysses told him.
"Sarah, stall them for as long as possible while Lennie flanks around them." He said to us.
"Uh, are you sure?" Lennie asked.
"Lennie. Do it." Ulysses commanded.
"O-Okay." Lennie stuttered as he went out the back exit as I went out the front, with no hesitation.
I walked slowly out the cart, my hands raised as high as the skies, walking intensely out of the tunnel while I heard faint footsteps walk along the left side of the train. I walked out of the tunnel and to my right, and faced the band of armed people, wearing rusted metal chest plates and helmets.
"Well, well, well, I was right!" One of the men chuckled.
"NICE WORK BOSS!" A woman shouted loudly.
"Why do you have to yell? It's the morning." I complained to her.
"WELL WHY DO YOU GOTTA BE QUIET?!" She boomed.
"I-I dunno, common sense? Are you kidding me with this guy?" I asked, looking for the other armed people for a response.
"Look, there's been a misunderstanding; we can clear it up, okay?" I started.
"A misunderstanding? You killed our men!" One of the men shouted.
"Look at it this way; we didn't necessarily kill them as they… decided to perform a cluster suicide together." I continued to talk out of my ass.
"BULLSHIT! THE ONLY REASON YOU'RE TALKING NOW IS BECAUSE WE CAUGHT YOU IN THE ACT!" The woman echoed in the morning.
"Holy shit, can you guys tell her to shut up for the rest of this conversation? What's the matter with you, a speech impediment?"
"I'M TONE DEAF. THAT'S WHY I DON'T SING!"
"W-When would this situation call for you to sing?"
"DON'T PATRAONIZE ME, MEAT BUFFET!"
I looked at her for a moment with my mouth partially open.
"W-What?"
"Anyway… I can give you your collars back, plus the payment that Logan promised you." I said to them calmly.
"No can do, missie, you've already got a bounty up on that pretty little head of yours." The man in front said.
"A bounty? By who?" I asked.
"YOU'LL KNOW HER NAME SOON ENOUGH!" The woman shouted.
"How did you even get this job on this negotiation team here?" I asked her.
"GOOD COP, BAD COP, LEAD PIANO!"
"Do you seriously think this is what negotiating is right now?"
"Shut up and let me talk." The man in front said lowly.
"Look, I can sense that you're the leader, right?" I nodded at the man in front of the war party.
"Then why don't you make the right choice and protect your people?" I asked him before he could even answer the last question.
"What hell are you talking about?" The man asked me.
"What I'm talking about it that there's a rifle aimed at the back of your head and if you even turn around for a second there'll be a bullet in between your eyes before you can piss yourself." I warned him.
"Clever." The man smiled.
"Not clever enough." He glared at me as he rose up his hand to the air, signaling out two men, dragging Rilee out to the confrontation. I looked concerned at her as they tied cloth around her mouth, keeping her from talking.
"We saw her running out here before you even got to us. You call that a plan?" The man snickered.
"YOU WANT ME TO START NEGOTIATING NOW, BOSS?!" The obnoxious woman screamed.
"The door for that closed, like, 12 seconds ago. Are you seriously just thinking about that option now?" I asked her.
"Be quiet, the both of you. Now, here's how it's gonna go." The man said as he pulled Rilee next to him by her dark hair and held his revolver to her head.
"Give me the collars and the payment, and then you'll tell us why you're so intent on pissing off the two Wasteland Lords." The man nodded.
"Okay." I said weakly, looking back at the train, and then at the floor, reaching slowly for my pistol.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man threatened as he tugged on Rilee's hair harshly, making her whimpers muffled through the cloth.
"They want me to stall..." I sighed as I continued to reach for my pistol.
"What are you doing? You're only going to get shot, girl!" The man shouted at me.
"... I'll stall them." I mumbled as I gripped my pistol.
"I'm done with this! Shoot them both!" The man screamed at his group.
"Not a good idea, hoss!" A voice shouted from above us, making us look above to Lennie as he held his rifle in one hand, and lightly tossed a radiation grenade in the other as he glared angrily at the man holding Rilee.
"Let 'em go!" Lennie shouted at the man.
"And what makes you think you'll kill all of us with one grenade?" The man chortled.
"Because. I'm a hunter, and I'll always be one step ahead of you… or behind you… I'm trying to make a hunting pun, but it's not working out for me, never mind." Lennie called down to them.
"BOSS, I DON'T LIKE WHAT HE'S INSINUATING!" The woman shouted to the leader.
"W-Why are you yelling to him? He's—he's like five inches away from you." Lennie questioned atop of the tunnel.
Growls and roars erupted from behind the men, making them turn around to see what the commotion was. The family of Deathclaws, ranging from babies to the green Alphas the size of three men ran at the soldiers, spreading away the men as they ran away in the combination of fear and anger towards them. Lennie ran down from atop the tunnel as I untied Rilee and lead her towards the train, shooting my last shots at the largest Deathclaw. The Deathclaws tore apart the group, making their death screams apparent from even inside the train. Rilee ran to Lennie and he grabbed her by the shoulder and led her away as I stared at the carnage induced by the animals. The screams of fleeing people rattled my head and made me dizzy and nauseous as bullets flew from all around my at the beasts who ripped flesh from their six inch claws.
"Sarah!" Lennie yelled at me, making me turn around to the train that was moving slowly down the tracks and away from the fight.
I turned back to the fight between the armed men and the Deathclaws as a man was lifted into the air and cut open through the stomach over the babies. I backed away from them and ran towards the train as Lennie brought Rilee to the moving door and brought them to it. I ran at the train as fast as I could, but a force brought my own to the ground instead. The leader of the group, now bloodied and covered in sweat and dirt choked me on the ground.
"YOU KILLED US ALL!" He yelled at me as I struggled to intake air. I held his arms and tried to push him away as his complexion turned red from anger, and mine to purple.
"You killed us…" The annoying woman repeated in a whisper over the loud firefight.
"Seriously? This was your time to yell!" I shouted at her.
The train pulled faster and faster away from i's left turn. As my eyes shut from the loud sounds in my head, I saw a green circle fall next to us. Without thinking, I used all my force and adrenaline to roll the leader on top of it and sneer angrily at him as the blast gave off, sending me up into the air as the radiation burned through his body below me. I landed on the ground with the wind knocked out of me as I crawled on the dusty ground in some state I never thought existed. I picked up the man's pistol as I crawled towards the train, knowing that I would never be able to catch up to it at the speed I was going. I crawled to my knees, using my hands to guide me forward as the shellshock set in, deafening my ears and ruining my cognitive function. Despite the agonizing pain and fatigue, I got to my feet and started to hobble towards the train as the sounds of death and dismemberment echoed faintly behind me. My eyes were halfway to shutting and my body halfway out of its energy when I heard a voice.
"Come back, Sarah!" A hoarse voice called.
"Hey, boss, get this Deathclaw off of me, quick…" The obnoxious woman whispered gently as a Deathclaw slashed at her.
I turned around to the man about to ask how he knew my name. His face was ghoulified as his legs burned away on the sand.
"Come back and fight!" He croaked at me, barely lifting up his arm to yell at me.
I looked at him in his bleeding eyes and shook my head, turning around and sprinting at the train as the Alpha Deathclaw ran towards me.
"SARAH!" The man screamed at me as the Deathclaws walked slowly to him, and tore him to shreds.
I looked ahead at the train as it speeded straight down the railroad, the back cart almost at my fingertips, but slipping away slowly as I ran out of breath. Behind me, the Deathclaws finished off the ghoulish man, and were running after me in a hoard of impending death. As I panted and coughed, holding out my arm at the back of the train, I saw a hand reach out and pull me up.
Ulysses looked at me and sat me down as he closed the door on the Deathclaws.
"Are you okay, Sarah?" Ulysses asked me as he snapped my fingers.
"I know him." I muttered as I closed my eyes.
"Sarah, listen to me, you're bleeding everywhere and you need a stimpak. Stay here." Ulysses said as he walked quickly away.
"He knows me and I know him." I continued to mumble.
I closed my eyes again, falling over at the dinner table as the train bumped through the tracks. A loud crash next to me awoke me in an instant, and made me look up at the ceiling. I turned to the side doors and struggled to open it, falling to my knees as I completed my task. The dead trees and dust whizzed past my head as the train went faster. I looked up at the door and grabbed the top of the train, pulling myself up to the roof as I investigated the commotion.
Clawing its way onto the train was the Alpha Deathclaw, the greenest, meanest, and deadliest Deathclaw of them all. I aimed my pistol at the beast and fired at its head, making it only crawl up to the top of the speeding train faster. I backed away as it swiped its hand at me, ripping through the plates of my arm guard and slashing through my arm, toppling me off the side as my wounded arm caught onto the railing of the train.
"Sarah!" Joe's voice called for me inside the train as the Alpha Deathclaw walked closer to me. Every time I tried to wretch my arm free only made me scream out in pain louder. The revolver was held barely in my fingertips, so I raised it to the Deathclaw and fired a round into its head, making it open its arms wide to slash them forward.
Before I knew what happened next, a loud crash echoed in my ears. I opened to see that a passing billboard broke off at the Deathclaw's head, knocking it off the ledge so it's claws were held deep into the metal. I pulled back the hammer of the revolver with my left arm and fired a single round at the Deathclaw, knocking it off and jettisoning it into the ground as the train zoomed away from it.
I holstered the revolver and pulled my arm out of the loop in the railing and leaning back into the dining cart, oozing blood onto the floor as I fell upon it, looking up at Ulysses and Joe as they looked around for what to do.
"I can't stop that much bleeding." Ulysses told Joe.
"Then do something! God, her skin's peeling off!" Joe screamed at him.
"It's almost completely through the arm, it's hanging by a few ligaments." Ulysses told Joe.
"We have to cut it off before she bleeds out. Get my sword in my cart ahead." Ulysses told Joe.
"Oh God, I can't, I can't." Lennie said in a gasp as he walked away.
"No." I mumbled as I tried to roll away. My eyes caught sight of my arm and I screamed at the top of my lungs as I spotted it. The cloth that covered my arms was gone, and my arm's skin was ripping off of me like it was fried bacon fat. My arm was twisted and bent backwards, the bone separated almost completely. I screamed as loud as I could, like I was being stabbed to death in front of everyone.
"Sarah, don't move you're going to be okay." Ulysses told me as Joe ran into the room with Lennie.
"Do we have any medicine so she wouldn't feel this?"
"No time, hold her down." Ulysses instructed them as I wiggled my body.
"NO! NO!" I begged to Lennie and Joe held my head and legs down. Lennie gagged, and looked away as he held me down.
"Sarah, we have to do this!" Joe yelled as I moved as hard as I could.
"NO! DON'T DO THIS!" I yelled as Ulysses aimed the sword at my arm.
"Hold her still, I said!" Ulysses yelled to them as I constrained my body.
Ulysses lifted the sword into the air above my arm as I screamed aloud at him, using my shaking left arm to move Lennie's hands off of it. He turned his head away from me as Ulysses brought down the sword. I slammed my arm up and elbowed Lennie's head away, rolling away as the sword clanked against the metal. Joe looked at me and picked his arm up to constrain me again, but I kicked him in the nose with my boot, getting up and backing away in the corner, holding my bloody arm.
"I can move my fingers..." I sobbed as I stared down at my trembling hand.
The three of them looked at me, with Joe and Lennie having the exception of holding their bloody faces while they stared.
"I can move them..." I muttered as I dropped to the floor, and my vision went to black.