AN: Thanks for the patience with me for not posting last week with school, There will also be no chapter next Tuesday, because my finals schedule is confusing and dumb. Thanks to everyone who messaged me in condolences, I appreciated it more then I can put into words. You guys are great. Anyways here's the next chapter, enjoy guys :)!
They walked to the pond, MacCready taking out his binoculars once they hit the shore. He scanned the water's edge, not noticing anything until he found the man fishing by the pipe. He pointed the man out too Anne and they made their way around the water and walked up to the fisherman. Once they got closer Anne pointed at the pipe.
"I bet that's our entrance," she said and jumped into the water and started making her way to it. MacCready sighed, jumping in behind her. He hated getting wet. The water was murky, and he came to the surface quickly, blinking to try and clear his eyes. Once he could focus again he saw Anne swim quickly to the middle pipe. He followed her and soon they were standing in the pipe. He shook himself like a dog trying to get the water off.
"God that's disgusting." he groaned and he looked up at Anne.
Her white shirt was almost see through now, and while her coat covered most of her he could still see her body as the shirt clung to her. She felt his ears turn red and he looked around, Anne was squeezing her shirt now. He tried to think of anything to get the image out of his mind, but nothing came to his mind.
"You ready?" She asked and MacCready looked back, she was still wet, but now her clothes didn't cling to her. This he could deal with.
"Yeah," he said and she smiled at him taking a step towards him, creating very little space between them. The image came back to his mind, and he felt his ears burn up again
"You know, you are going to see me naked eventually right?" she said smirking up at him. MacCready's eyes went wide and he tried to think of something too say.
What am I supposed to say to that?!
"Maybe I already have," he said without thinking and then he cleared his throat, "We should head in, yeah." he started walking hearing her behind him wading through the water. He shouldn't have said anything, why had he just blurted it out?
"You better tell me what you are talking about!" she shouted and he tried to think of something to get her to drop it. In front of them was a door which he quickly opened and made his way through.
They stood in the tunnel, and the end, on dry land, was the man Anne had been talking too, Dan. He looked at the two of them, "Some people up ahead, I'll follow your lead." the long hair man said and Anne nodded, slipping her way past the two men. MacCready found himself walking beside this large man, feeling uncomfortable. The man was so much larger then he was, he hated it.
They walked through the tunnel and stepped out into a bright light, MacCready covered his eyes and Anne stepped forward.
"Just because Jacob vouched for you doesn't mean you can enter the compound. Why should I let you in." Said a man with a thick accent behind the light. MacCready could hear guns clicking, and he could feel them pointed at them.
Of course.
"I'm coming in, one way or the other. At least with the easy way, you still get to breathe." Anne's voice was...odd; it was her normal voice, but MacCready had never heard her threaten someone like that. It sent a shiver up his spine, like hearing a deathclaw speak. He liked it.
"All right, Have it your way. I'll take you to Doctor Chamber. She can decide what to do with you." The man started walking and Anne looked at the two men behind her, nodding for them to follow her. MacCready didn't even think about it, following after her, but he noticed the bigger man hesitate. MacCready smirked too himself.
You get used to it.
"Blythe? Hey Blythe!" The man shouted as they were walking down the ramp. They stopped and Anne looked at MacCready. He felt twitchy, ready to grab his rifle at any second.
"Yes what is it Manny?" said a bored voice, but he couldn't see the person. Didn't like that, meant this place had more people in it then he could see.
"I thought you guys were done with subject 14?" The man with the thick accent said. He could see in the room, a man sat in a chair severely beaten. Anne was trying to look, standing on her toes, But MacCready placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, he shook his head. Just because she could handle what was behind that door, didn't mean she could.
"Torture? They're sick. Just give me the signal." Dan said from beside him, whispering the words so only they could hear. Anne shook her head.
"Oh yes, the interviews over," some interview, "I'm just reviewing the data on question four. Fascinating really." The man with the thick accent started tapping his toe, getting impatient.
"Yeah, I'm sure," he said walking away from the door, glaring at the three of them and then making his way back down the ramp. The group followed.
This place was crawling with guards, all of them eyeing them up. He could see Anne's jaw tensing as they walked, she was thinking the same thing he was; too many people.
They got to a gap in the path and stopped, "Hey, extend the platform. Orden sent her." the man said, pointing over his shoulder at Anne. The platform extended and soon they crossed, making their way through the rest of this compound. The path twisted and turned until they came to a large room where a woman stood in a white lab coat and large goggles on her head. Anne approached but the woman spoke sharply.
"So the one investigating Stockton's caravan has arrived. Do you even know his supposed daughter is in all likelihood a synth? No matter, Let me be upfront about this. There are two ways this meeting can end. We come to an agreement or there's violence." MacCready didn't like that second option, he'd seen all those guards. He glanced at Anne, he already could almost already tell what she would choose.
"There are no other options?" Anne asked once the woman finally stopped. The doctor's lips pulled in tight like she had smelt something bad.
"Too much is at stake to allow you to simply leave. Let me pose a question to you. What would you do if your family was destroyed by a synth, right in front of you, when you were but a child? Would you roll over and accept it? Or would you do something about it." she said her voice was annoying, like those people from Tenpenny Tower; as if she knew better and more then you do. Anne shook her head.
"I've been there, but I haven't resorted to torturing innocents." Her voice was hostile and the woman before them shook her head.
"Casualties are inevitable, it may not look like it but we're at war. As long as the institute walks invisibly among us they strike without warning and control us from the shadows. I've dedicated my life to devising a test to detect these hidden synths. To root them out so they can be extinguished. Isn't that a goal worth fighting for?" The woman said looking down at the three of them. She sounded so self-righteous, he felt like his whole body would do an eye-roll if she didn't shut up.
"Who really knows what the institute is responsible for," Anne said, which surprised MacCready. He figured she'd hate them with a passion, but she seemed unsure.
"And how do they manage to keep us in the dark? A living synth is indistinguishable from a human by any medical test yet devised. But it turns out psychology can detect the difference. Enter the SAFE test. The test is in its infancy, but through sacrifice and perseverance our success rate is improving." The woman sounded full of herself, and MacCready doubted all of her claims. He saw the man tied up, and he could see the young woman in the cage; how many had died for a few accurate results?
"It sounds like your test may not even work," Anne said, her hand going on her hip and she leaned on her right foot. She was getting impatient, he could see that.
"There is a correlation. We've measured it. We just need more data, more test subjects to narrow it down. Covenant is many things. A refuge for the broken people left in the wake of the institute's rampage. A place of safety and healing. But most importantly it is our one chance to end this age of paranoia," the woman rubbed her chin, her goggled eyes fixing on Anne, "I will make you a deal, If you let me dispose of Stockton's synth and continue our work I'll match whatever reward you were offered." he could feel Dan beside him tense up. He didn't feel like reassuring the man that Anne had a soft-heart and would reject this deal faster than she rejected Med-x.
"I've had my fill of crazy on this contract. No deal," Dan said, crossing his arms, looking up at Anne. Anne glanced at Dan before her eyes slid over MacCready for a quick second and then back towards the doctor.
"Fortunate for me, I wasn't talking to you." she sounded so full of herself, MacCready gritted his teeth.
"You side with this nutjob and we're going to have a serious, deadly problem." Dan practically bristled, taking a step back from them. MacCready looked up at Anne who was clearly looking for a non-violent solution, though even MacCready could see that wasn't an option.
"Don't kill the girl. Spare her." Anne said, looking at the woman again. The goggled woman's lips went tight again.
"Come on doc, think about what you're up against," MacCready said, the woman's head darted to him for a second but she shook her head.
"Impossible. The odds are too great she's an institute infiltrator. Even if she is an unfortunate victim in this war, sparing her can compromise everything." Anne shook her head sadly.
"That's a deal I won't accept," Anne said angrily, her hands quickly pulling her rifle off her back. MacCready did the same.
"Should have offered more lady, Oh well. Too late."MacCready said shaking his head. How the hell are we getting out of here?
"Then you'll just have to kill me." the woman spat out, reaching for a pistol on her hip.
In seconds, Anne had her rifle bayonet dug into the woman's stomach but she punched Anne in the face, causing her to stumble back. The Doctors one hand went to the hole in her stomach, trying to hold in the red liquid. MacCready didn't have time, the man who had led them here was shooting at him. He put himself behind a pillar and started returning fire, hitting him in the knee and the man screamed, falling. Anne pushed the Doctor, and she flew backwards and slammed her body into the ground. MacCready lost sight of them, but he heard it; he was accustomed now to the sound of heads exploding.
That's probably not healthy
In seconds Anne was back in his sight, charging at the man shooting Mac, "Anne!" he shouted, chasing after her, but it was too late. She slammed her boot into the man's face, knocking him onto the ground. He watched as Anne slammed the bayonet of her rifle into his face. The man didn't scream, he just choked on his blood, and his hands wriggled as they tried to fight for life. She turned looking over her shoulder at MacCready. Her bright eyes had something that he hadn't seen before, something that made him think of the way she had spoken earlier; a deathclaw. He smirked at her, and she gave a feral smile back. He liked this, a lot.
The three of them stayed low to the ground, trying to see if anyone came. He could hear some confused shouts, but then nothing. Once they were sure no one was coming they stood up and started looking around the room. Dan had run to the young woman in the cage. Anne had made her way to a terminal, opening the doors
"Oh thank goodness. I'm free!" The young woman cried, hugging the large man. He patted her head and then he started walking over to Anne.
"So Stockton gets his daughter and we get paid. Not a bad day," he said smiling at her. Anne glanced at Amelia who was crouched with her hands on her face.
"What if she's a synth?" Anne asked, concern in her voice. There was no point in wondering that now; they had made their bed.
"If even after all they've done to her they don't know if she's a synth or not, I figure she's human enough," Dan shrugged, he reached into his pocket and pulled out some caps, "Here's your cut of the reward. I'll get my half from Stockton. Been a pleasure" Dan nodded but Anne shook her head before he could walk away. Dan stopped, looking at her skeptically.
"I did more than half the work on this job. My share should reflect that." Anne said, crossing her arms. MacCready smirked too himself, she was right. Dan sighed.
"There's some truth to that, sixty-forty work?" he asked reaching into his pocket and grabbing some more caps.
Anne looked at Amelia and sighed, "Be safe Dan." she said and walked back over to MacCready, placing the caps in her pocket.
"Didn't think about how we'd get out of here huh?" MacCready asked, trying to hide his annoyance. Anne looked at him and shook her head.
"We don't know if she's a synth. If they put Shaun in front of me and said he was a synth, but couldn't prove it unless I killed him...no. I'm not willing to risk killing an innocent person." she said walking past him and looking around the room. The way she put it made him feel odd, maybe the gunners had affected him more then he thought. She was right.
The cells were full of blood and raw animal meat. MacCready looked in the cell and shivered. They'd admitted there had been people in there, and this was the condition they had left the people in like that. Anne looked at him.
"Can you still justify it?" He could hear the pointed tone in her voice. MacCready sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. He could argue with her, say she was right, but he instead didn't want to start the argument here. He followed after Anne towards the exit.
"Ready to go?" he asked and Anne nodded, pulling out her rifle. He could even see the guards slightly around the corner. They walked out, and Anne shot one in the back of the head, the body fell forwards and the other guard turned, MacCready shot him in the face, watching as the front of his face flew away. Shouting came from the left, but Anne ran past the opening, to a chained door. She ripped the chain down kicking open the door. MacCready was on her heels, seeing a guard turn a corner. He was still reloading but the guard ran towards them firing. The bullet missed him, but he saw Anne dive through the door.
"Anne!" he shouted, and she rolled on to her back. There on her right cheek was a long scar, bleeding a lot. Fuck.
He turned his attention to the guard, shooting him in the stomach, the man fell screaming and MacCready ran through the door, slamming it behind them, Anne was on her feet now blood pouring down her face. She turned to her left, as the doctor from earlier came running down the ramp. She fired the man in the stomach quick, and as the man stumbled forward Anne slammed her bayonet into the man's neck. He gurgled on blood and Anne slammed her foot into the man's chest, pushing the dying man off her blade. MacCready and Anne started running up the ramp and he felt something burn through his left calf, he screamed twisting his body to look at the guard who was down there. He raised his rifle but saw a grenade go flying past him. Anne grabbed MacCready, wrapping her arm around him. He saw the explosion happen, and the man's arm flew off.
"If we run for it we can get to the tunnel, we can get out," she said and MacCready nodded. It was hard to focus on what she said since his leg felt like it was on fire.
"Okay, I might lag a bit though," he said and Anne nodded.
"I'll distract them-" MacCready shook his head. Those were stupid words, what she was saying was stupid.
"No," Anne glared at him.
"You're in no condition to argue, just follow me okay." she pulled the laser rifle from her waist. He was about to argue when he heard shouting from behind him. The two ran, Anne in front, she fired at the turret, and MacCready slipped behind her, making his way down the ramp and to the tunnel. The guard there he could hear firing, and he heard Anne scream, he started turning when he felt her body slam into him.
"Go!" she shouted, her voice in clear pain. They ran through the tunnel, making their way too the door. They stood in the waist-high water, and they ran into the water. It burned MacCready's leg, and he could just imagine all the bacteria making homes in his flesh, but there was no stopping it. He wrapped his arm around Anne, looking down at her, seeing that her stomach was bleeding, heavily.
"What happened?" He asked and she looked at him, her eyes started to close. Oh no, Oh no.
He swam through the water, dragging Anne with him, keeping her head above water, trying to keep his eyes open as well.
Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!
It felt like it took forever, but after a long, while they made their way to the shore, and he pulled her up trying to stay awake as he started reaching for a stimpak, though for the life of him he couldn't remember where he had put them. He heard footsteps running down to them, he looked up at the old man running over.
"Please...please help us," and everything went dark.