It was dark and storming when the group finally arrived at the entrance to Evergreen Mills. As her friends set up camp amongst some ruined buildings Ruby stared ahead at the opening ravine that lead to the most heavily fortified raider fortress in the entire Capital Wasteland, and also where all of her prey awaited. Up close she'd appear as she normally was however in this storm to any patrolling sniper who happened to catch sight of her in their scopes would swear they are gazing upon a shadowy wraith of death. As the camp was finished they assembled gathering up amongst a campfire they were able to keep hidden from any nearby sentries. Charon had seemed troubled the first minute he'd heard of Ruby's desire to stop at Evergreen Mills while on their way to Vault 112. "Okay Ruby run this by me again, why the hell are we going to try hitting Evergreen Mills of all places?" He said voicing his troubles and genuine concern for his employer despite Ruby swearing up and down that they were friends not boss and employee. Ruby smiled as she took off her cloak and dropped most of her gear including Prime's treasure they found near the Jury Street Metro after being ambushed by Talon Mercenaries. "We aren't, I'm going in alone, you guys are going to make sure none of em escape." She said as excitement glinted in her eyes.
All of her companions were staring at her with concern. "Don't worry guys I'll be fine so long as I keep on the disguise. If Jericho's info is right anyway." She said chuckling with a still giddy excitement in her voice. "Your going to trust advice from that horrible man?" Malika said voicing her distaste for the ex-Raider. "Yeah how do we know he wasn't lying to you Ruby?" Hazel said as she wrapped her sniper rifle in dark cloth. Ruby shook her head as she looked at all of her friends. "We don't we just have to believe this will work." She said as she picked up a stick and began drawing out the plan.
Ruby hated the idea of leaving most of her weapons behind, not to mention her beloved cloak but for the disguise to be effective she had to travel in lightly and about as poorly equipped as possible. The most she took with her was her sword as she stepped into the ravine dressed in the now soaked pair of raider clothes that Jericho had given her. She shivered as the cold sent strange sensations up her spine while walking towards a set of wrecked train cars. "Hey hold up!" A male voice above her called causing Ruby to freeze immediately believing her disguise had failed as she looked up at one of the rusty platforms that had been constructed as sentry posts seeing a male raider looking down at her. "hey watch out up ahead! don't get your ass blown up by the mines! If you feel like living head along the right!" Ruby rapidly nodded up at him as she looked closely at the train cars from behind the clunky welder's mask she was wearing and sure enough saw the small trail of mines. She looked back up at the sentry and gave him a thumbs up of thanks as nearby thunder roared. The man ignored her as he went back on his patrol path.
Ruby continued walking moving along the path the man had recommended and eventually exited the ravine the main compound itself coming into full view. As she began exploring a hot stinging pain pegged at her throat. Ruby winced gritting her teeth as she caressed her throat. She hadn't fed in several days since her, Hazel and Dogmeat first went to GNR and now before her was like a gigantic buffet of blood. Just gotta make my way towards the main building…. She thought as her breathing started becoming labored walking towards the main building of the compound as any patrolling raiders either didn't see her pass by or didn't really care. As she got closer to the building she could see guards patrolling the front and the interior courtyard. "To hell with this stupid mask…!" She mumbled as she quickly pulled it off and tossed it under one of the train cars. She couldn't resist her thirst much longer as she stepped towards one of the guards crouching behind the sandbags she was standing in. "Yessss….." Ruby silently purred as she grabbed the woman from behind dragging her down behind the sandbags and chomped into her neck as lightning and thunder raged covering the woman's screams of agony and then moans as Ruby drank her dry. This process continued with the other patrolling guards in the main courtyard as she finished feeding on the last guard she collapsed sitting down against the wall under the shelter of one of the buildings rafters.
Her face was flush with ecstasy of having fed after so long as she panted heavily. "God that was almost better than sex…" She said as she looked down at her disguise. The top had become so heavily soaked her own breasts had become exposed behind the fabric. "Well that's going to draw a LOT of unwanted attention…" She mumbled as embarrassment flooded her cheeks. "Well you're the one who wanted to go in alone." Thorn said as she appeared beside her with a teasing smirk on her face. "I don't see why your caring right now anyway it doesn't take a genius to see that your basically in heat." Ruby chuckled as she waved the little girl off. "Oh shut up, it isn't like you don't get off on mentally torturing people before killing em." Thorn giggled as she snuggled up to Ruby helping provide warmth with her abilities. Ruby sighed as she stared out the way she had come. Its almost hard to believe I was a terrified vulnerable vault girl only a month ago….She thought as she hugged her ghostly twin close. "When I go in Thorn…in 10 minutes I want you to raise hell and cause as much chaos as humanly possible in this place while I'm inside okay?" Thorn slowly nodded as she peered up into Ruby's eyes. "I'll make it a nice big pool of red…" She whispered before giving Ruby a peck on the lips and vanished in her usual ash petals lying in wait.
As she entered the area was poorly lit as she walked around. She noticed the small contingent of guards right away as she shivered from the cold her body was feeling. As one of the guards saw her he immediately called out to her. "Hey noobie you just get back from your first raid?" She looked up at him as he stood in one of the recreational areas. "Yeah the boys are unloading the stuff as we speak, heh had to fucking start raining on our way back so now we are all pretty soaked." He laughed with a slight twitch as he waved her up. "Well c'mon then Bolt is breaking out the booze right now that oughta warm you up." Deciding it was best not to raise suspicion she took him on his offer and joined him amongst some of the other guards consisting of a few men and women as they immediately began eyeing her as she got close. Ruby immediately began to feel uncomfortable as they sat at the bar and began eating some noodles. Any minute now one of em is going to grab my ass and when that happens I'm cutting his hand off. She thought bitterly as she felt their eyes all over her.
Almost as if reading her thoughts one of the girls leaned in staring at her. "Damn rookie your stacked!" She said staring at Ruby's chest with a hungry smirk. The others looked down and muttered in agreement as she felt one of them come up behind her and grab them roughly fondling. "Holy shit its all real!" the man groping her said as some others whistled in admiration. One of them looked over at the girl who first commented on her chest and said. "Hey Darcy how about we all take turns giving the rookie a nice congratulatory fuck for her first successful raid over some psycho huh?" Darcy grinned and laughed as she took out a bottle of beer and drank it. "Not a bad idea Bolt I'm sure the rookie would love that!" The momentary was short lived however as the group immediately went silent upon hearing the death cries of three of their comrades as they hit the ground. As Darcy and Bolt turned they saw the pale red-eyed recruit growling standing in a fighting stance grasping her sword as fresh blood dripped from its steel blade. They both had heard the stories of the Wasteland Ghost that had been wiping out tribe after tribe of raiders in the wasteland and at first they were skeptical. However, as they laid eyes on the new girl before them as she stood poised to strike the others as they began running to grab their weapons, they knew that from the ferocious glare in those blood-red eyes that they were dead already. The scuffle was swift and brief as Ruby cut and slashed through the unarmed and terrified raiders leaving only a trail of corpses.
As Darcy and Bolt turned to flee and grab their own rifles Darcy saw Bolt become impaled upon Ruby's sword tossing his corpse aside as she grinned at her. "So…about that congratulatory fuck…" Ruby said as she walked towards the frightened girl. "Hey! What the fuck is going on down there?!" A voice from above called as Ruby heard rapid footsteps from the walkways above. "Shit…!" Ruby muttered as she turned away from Darcy grabbing hold of one of the raider's pistols from the bar and ran to the window firing up at the incoming guards killing three and wounding the last one causing him to fall off the railing and crash onto the ground floor breaking his neck and cracking open his skull. As Ruby turned to face Darcy again the girl slammed her up against the wall causing Ruby to drop the pistol and her sword as the two wrestled for control struggling. "Those were my friends you skank!" Darcy yelled just before Ruby reached in and sank her teeth into her neck clinging to her letting out a moan. "What the fuck?! Get off of me you freaky bitch!" Darcy cried struggling frantically trying to get her off. Soon she collapsed down to the floor weak as she felt her life leaving her body. Finally Ruby let go of her and sat up on top of her straddling her waist. "Crag…where is he?" Ruby said as she caressed her cheek. "Middle chamber…back area….between Madame's brothel and Smiling Jack's shop…" Darcy croaked out as her eyes became foggy. "Thanks…" Ruby said as she kissed the girl's lips. "Heh…If you can get there alive anyway you'll have 40-50 of us between you and him…" She said mockingly before closing her eyes and dying. As Ruby looted the entrance area clean securing a Fat Man for her inventory collection of weaponry she heard a loud explosion outside and chuckled.
Thorn was in her own little piece of heaven as she set the generator holding the Super Mutant Behemoth inside its enclosure ablaze causing it to explode and setting the giant monstrosity free. This set off a trigger of chaos for the entire complex as everywhere she walked raiders either ran away screaming in fear or running towards the beast trying to subdue it. Thorn began laughing maniacally in joy as her psychic grip caught hold of these terrified raiders and began either tossing them all over the compound or tearing them from limb to limb and slamming them up against the rocks painting them in blood and gore. As she continued walking along she noticed a pen filled with slaves terrified beyond their wits unsure of as to what the hell was happening. Thorn grinned from ear to ear as the gate before them seemed to groan and bend back opening up for them. Seeing their final chance of escape the un-collared slaves began running for the exit picking up the weapons of fallen raiders for protection as they ran for their lives to escape the chaotic horror happening all around them. As Thorn giggled she noticed the rain stopping and looked up at the dark clouds. "Good…I don't want the blood here to be washed away anyway…!" She said and began to evilly cackle with a raving demonic glare in her eyes as she walked away hunting more of the raiders as the booming echo of the Behemoth's roar rang not too far away.
Hazel couldn't figure out what was happening as she lay amongst some wet rocks with her rain poncho made from scratch with the help of some tarp draped over her sniping any raiders that got close to any of their positions. First she heard an explosion within the Evergreen Mills compound and the next screams were heard along with gunfire all over the compound accompanied with a loud roar and thumping of heavy footsteps causing the ground to slightly shake. As she looked over at where Malika and Charon lay hidden and entrenched with Dogmeat and Bale she was sure they were about as confused as she was. Just what the hell was going on? Just what was Ruby doing? Hazel quickly shook these questions from her mind as she heard the sounds of people running as the rain seemed to stop. As they came out from near the first set of train cars Hazel realized what the people were. Hazel slowly let her finger free of the trigger as she let the slaves pass and heard Dogmeat and Bale barking as Malika and Charon rose from their position getting the terrified escapees out of their killing zone. "Hurry up Ruby… we don't exactly have the ammo to hold off an army here…" Hazel mumbled as she looked through the scope and continued sniping more fleeing raiders.
Ruby was howling with pleasure as she began the horrific massacre of the raiders within the crude Bazaar Crag had constructed for his men firing a 10mm SMG in her right hand and cutting with her sword in the other as some stiffly fought to the last man while others tried to flee. Her first stop was Smiling Jack's shop as she walked in seeing the man himself nervously staring at the girl covered in blood. "N-Now hold on there girlie lets talk business!" He pleaded as Ruby vaulted over the front counter he was standing behind and quickly decapitated him. As she quickly cleared out his inventory along with the Bobblehead he was keeping she took his shotgun tossing her SMG aside as she gazed at it. "Nice shotgun…I'll take it…" She whispered before walking out cradling the modified combat shotgun in her hands as she slid her sword into its sheath proceeding to her next target. As she went over to Madame's Brothel she noticed the stripper pole littered with various Nuka Cola bottle caps on the ground. She giggled and began swiping them off the ground as she softly sang. "Loose change loose change some cheap hooker isn't getting this change!"
When she entered the brothel it was in an even sorrier state than Smiling Jack's shop as she put her new shotgun to work quickly killing the naked male customers having just finished their sessions with the women. By now Ruby was simply a giggling drooling beast hungry for blood as she fell upon each of the raider women including the Madame herself and had her way with each of them drinking them dry during the process leaving their bodies behind where they lay and looting the place clean of supplies. "Her sister isn't here…I guess Crag has her along with Maxine…" She mumbled as she jabbed a stimpak into her leg healing a burn she got from one of the customers holding a flamer.
After she redressed and walked out she proceeded to the middle chamber where Crag's "throne room" lay finding the man himself holding the two sisters hostage with a sawed-off shotgun in his hand. "Stay back Ghost! I know what you're here for and if you come any closer I'll blow each of their fucking heads off!" He yelled with a terrified expression in his eyes. Ruby tilted her head as she stared at the man. She deeply couldn't believe that this was the supposed Lord of the Raiders in the Capital Wasteland. The idea made her laugh as the villain before her was now nothing more than a sniveling terrified human being hell-bent on killing her as he kept the hostages close. "Stop laughing! I'm in control of the situation here! NOT YOU!" He yelled with a crazed glare in his eyes. As Ruby looked at the two sisters she saw that they had been tortured. This is what I've been waiting for… She thought and looked at Crag and put down her shotgun. He nervously laughed as he stared at her. "Yeah that's right drop your fucking weapons! Your going to do everything I say you troublesome slut!" He said laughing but stopped as Ruby shook her head. "No…I'm not." She said and began sprinting towards her as Maxine took this chance to bash her elbow into his crotch causing him to double over as Ruby's blade penetrated his skull exiting out the back instantly killing him.
Ruby pulled her blade free and smiled at her sword slowly licking some of the blood clean of the steel. "Mmmmm….not as slow and painful as I wanted it to be but it got the job done…" She purred and began freeing the two girls. Maxine quickly hugged her tightly. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming…" She said as she began to cry. Ruby smiled as she patted her back. "I always keep my promises…" Her sister stared at Ruby uneasy and afraid as Ruby noticed she was in nothing but a pink nightgown. "Lexy? This is the girl I was telling you about." Maxine said reassuring her sibling. Finally Lexy spoke as she took hold of Ruby's hand. "Thank you for not blowing my sister's brains out when you had the chance." She whispered her voice very hoarse and dry as Ruby giggled with embarrassment. "Yeah…believe me if Maxine here hadn't pleaded her case trust me when I say I would have done so immediately." The three girls giggled and continued chatting as they left the Bazaar going outside.
They were all surprised with the damage that was done outside including the Behemoth that now lay dead slumped over some train cars as his innards lay spilled out under him. Good job Thorn…Ruby mentally thanked her double as she escorted Lexy and Maxine out of Evergreen Mills. As they met up with her friends they told her what had happened as well as about the slaves they rescued from the chaos. Ruby as well explained to them about what had happened within the main building was well as the Bazaar. "I need you guys to get all these people back to Megaton." She said finally calling Dogmeat to her side petting him. Malika stared at her worried as she looked at the blood all over her. "What about Vault 112 Ruby?" She asked as she wrapped a blanket over Lexy's shoulders. "Dogmeat and I will go on ahead to Smith Casey's Garage don't worry about us." As Malika decided now it was pointless to argue with her dearest friend she smiled at her and the group parted ways. Ruby stood there as she gathered her gear watching her friends leave for Megaton. "Well buddy…its just you and me for right now…ready to meet my Dad?" She said smiling as Dogmeat barked happily. Ruby giggled putting her cloak into her pack and began running towards the direction of her destination racing Dogmeat there. I'm coming Dad…just wait a little bit longer. Ruby thought as she pressed forward with hope and determination in her stride.
The fortress at Evergreen Mills was never reoccupied by the raiders after the horror that occurred on that dark and stormy day. As the raider chief Gutterfang , leader of the Venom Teeth tribe commented when he and his tribe first looked upon the carnage that had occurred. "No way in hell am I going in there, if I want a castle I'll find my own, Crag's ghost can rot with all the other corpses in this one for all I care." Travelers would only stop to briefly look upon the once feared fortress while on their way to settlements like Megaton or Rivet City. Scavengers who dared journey into the place came back with frightening stories of shadow figures being seen along with disembodied screams and voices that weren't human. And so as time passed people would say a war was fought where the invaders were so few but conquered an army. This allowed Evergreen Mills to stand as a moniker…a monument…and a graveyard…a small-scale war that would serve as the tip of the spear to another larger scale bloody war in the wastes that was on its way.
Happy December everybody! I'm so excited I finally got a chance to work on this! I've just been so busy with Christmas shopping and the like, anyway next chapter will be the end of volume 1 and shall hopefully be done before Christmas day. I want to thank you all so much for your love and support in this as I want volume 1 to be my Christmas gift to you all.
