Chapter 3.
------Chapter 3------
Sometimes Letting Go is Easy
Briac awoke that night to gunshots and warcries. He shot straight up in bed and grabbed his colt. Sliding a magazine into it, he snuck around to the side of the house he was in. He could see a few of the guards from earlier firing off into the expanses of the desert, but he couldn't see what they were firing at. The he saw a few silhouettes moving around towards the village.
Deathclaws.
There were three adults and two babies. It was weird for deathclaws to be this far from their homes, but they were running as fast as they could; it was as if they were on a mission.
The adult deathclaws, around 10 feet tall with claws as long as machetes, were running just barely in front of the babies, which looked to be about 4 feet and 5 feet tall. Their brown, furry masses strided almost effortlessly towards the village walls. Made out of only random stones, the walls would easily fall.
He grabbed his shirt from the floor, threw it on, and grabbed his pack of things. He didn't intend upon staying around long enough to be mauled to death. Before he could even get all the way out of the house, Celisa ran up to him holding one of the weapons the guards were using. She shoved it and three magazines of ammunition at him.
"Hurry. You must help us defend the village!"
"Lady, I know you need help, but I can't aim very well."
"This gun has a scope on it. It's not that hard to aim. Just point and shoot."
With that, the discussion was over and he was sprinting towards the direction the deathclaws were running. He knew the bullets weren't worth shit unless they were AP (armor piercing). He checked the magazine, and they were indeed AP. How the woman was able to aquire such high quality bullets was beyond him, but with around 2 tons of angry meat running at him, he didn't have time to ponder about ammunition.
He lined up his first shot at the lead deathclaw, fired, and missed horribly. After about four misses, he got used to how off the sight was. He took aim once more. The deathclaws were so close he could make out past battle scars through the scope. He fired at the lead one again and the bullet sunk deep into it's left leg; it dropped speed greatly due to the gaping hole in its leg. He reloaded the gun and took aim at the second one, but before he could get a shot off, it dropped like a ton of bricks. One of the other guards had got it. Once again, he lined up the last adult in his sights and fired. The bullet cut perfectly into the creature's eye, blasting out the back of it's skull like a macabre piñata full of gore treats.
The two babies were so agile that shooting them from this range was almost impossible. Instead of futily firing at them with the gun, he ran to find Celisa. It took only a short amount of time, because she was sitting in the only house that looked put together.
"Do you have any AP rounds for a Colt .45?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because the babies are too hard to hit from where they are. I need AP rounds for a handgun. Do you have any?"
"I don't have any for a .45, but I do have a beretta you can use."
Yet again, Briac sped away from a structure to risk his life for a village he'd just came across.
Before he could get to the wall, he heard stones crashing and screams of pain.
'Dammit,' he thought 'they're already inside the walls.'
He checked the beretta in his hand, and the colt in his pocket. Just in case, he pulled out his colt and readied it for use. He walked slowly towards the wall that had just came tumbling down, and saw the babies ripping apart the guard that had only earlier that day, told him to safely unload his firearm. He fired a shot from his colt into the guard's head, ending his suffering, but keeping the deathclaw babies busy wondering what the hell just hit their prey. He shot off a few rounds into the baby closest to him, and got its attention. The little bastard dropped the arm in its mouth and, gore still along its fangs, ran towards Briac. Before it could get close enough to hurt him, he fire twenty rounds into it. Only a few pierced its hide, but it still skidded across the ground, lifeless.
As fast as he possibly could, he reloaded his colt and beretta, and fired a few shots into the baby that was still alive. That got its attention very quickly, and it started running at him also. But before Briac could get a shot off into the baby, someone screamed to him.
"Get the hell down!"
Briac turned around to the sight of a rocket launcher being fired in his direction. He dove out of the way of the rocket, but the baby didn't. It exploded like a balloon hit with a needle. Briac was covered in chunks of flesh and bone, and even a bit of shrapnel tore at his left arm.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing you psycho!?" he screamed to the person.
"Killing deathclaws. What else?" He answered.
"Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"I'm Devyan. You are?"
"Name's Briac. Where the hell did you get your rocket launcher?"
"Came across some poor BoS (brotherhood of steel) corpses. Poor sons a bitches didn't see the mine." with that, Devyan smirked a bit.
"Ah.. how do you know it was a mine?"
"Uh, the way the parts were arranged." he rolled his eyes.
"How the hell could you tell by that?"
"Okay, lemme spell this out for the stupid kids. I. Set. The. Mine."
"...Oh."
"Exactly."
Celisa came running up to Devyan and Briac. She congratulated Briac on the kills of the deathclaws, and offered him the beretta, but he just gave it back to her and asked for the rifle instead. She looked oddly at Briac, but conceded to him when he pointed out that she forced him to put his life on the line for them.
Devyan left town as quickly as he got there, but Briac decided to stay the rest of the night. Briac wasn't sure what the hell was with that Devyan guy, but for some reason he thought he should follow him.
In the morning, Briac bartered for a hell of a lot of jerky and water, and set off in the direction Devyan had left.
Briac awoke that night to gunshots and warcries. He shot straight up in bed and grabbed his colt. Sliding a magazine into it, he snuck around to the side of the house he was in. He could see a few of the guards from earlier firing off into the expanses of the desert, but he couldn't see what they were firing at. The he saw a few silhouettes moving around towards the village.
Deathclaws.
There were three adults and two babies. It was weird for deathclaws to be this far from their homes, but they were running as fast as they could; it was as if they were on a mission.
The adult deathclaws, around 10 feet tall with claws as long as machetes, were running just barely in front of the babies, which looked to be about 4 feet and 5 feet tall. Their brown, furry masses strided almost effortlessly towards the village walls. Made out of only random stones, the walls would easily fall.
He grabbed his shirt from the floor, threw it on, and grabbed his pack of things. He didn't intend upon staying around long enough to be mauled to death. Before he could even get all the way out of the house, Celisa ran up to him holding one of the weapons the guards were using. She shoved it and three magazines of ammunition at him.
"Hurry. You must help us defend the village!"
"Lady, I know you need help, but I can't aim very well."
"This gun has a scope on it. It's not that hard to aim. Just point and shoot."
With that, the discussion was over and he was sprinting towards the direction the deathclaws were running. He knew the bullets weren't worth shit unless they were AP (armor piercing). He checked the magazine, and they were indeed AP. How the woman was able to aquire such high quality bullets was beyond him, but with around 2 tons of angry meat running at him, he didn't have time to ponder about ammunition.
He lined up his first shot at the lead deathclaw, fired, and missed horribly. After about four misses, he got used to how off the sight was. He took aim once more. The deathclaws were so close he could make out past battle scars through the scope. He fired at the lead one again and the bullet sunk deep into it's left leg; it dropped speed greatly due to the gaping hole in its leg. He reloaded the gun and took aim at the second one, but before he could get a shot off, it dropped like a ton of bricks. One of the other guards had got it. Once again, he lined up the last adult in his sights and fired. The bullet cut perfectly into the creature's eye, blasting out the back of it's skull like a macabre piñata full of gore treats.
The two babies were so agile that shooting them from this range was almost impossible. Instead of futily firing at them with the gun, he ran to find Celisa. It took only a short amount of time, because she was sitting in the only house that looked put together.
"Do you have any AP rounds for a Colt .45?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because the babies are too hard to hit from where they are. I need AP rounds for a handgun. Do you have any?"
"I don't have any for a .45, but I do have a beretta you can use."
Yet again, Briac sped away from a structure to risk his life for a village he'd just came across.
Before he could get to the wall, he heard stones crashing and screams of pain.
'Dammit,' he thought 'they're already inside the walls.'
He checked the beretta in his hand, and the colt in his pocket. Just in case, he pulled out his colt and readied it for use. He walked slowly towards the wall that had just came tumbling down, and saw the babies ripping apart the guard that had only earlier that day, told him to safely unload his firearm. He fired a shot from his colt into the guard's head, ending his suffering, but keeping the deathclaw babies busy wondering what the hell just hit their prey. He shot off a few rounds into the baby closest to him, and got its attention. The little bastard dropped the arm in its mouth and, gore still along its fangs, ran towards Briac. Before it could get close enough to hurt him, he fire twenty rounds into it. Only a few pierced its hide, but it still skidded across the ground, lifeless.
As fast as he possibly could, he reloaded his colt and beretta, and fired a few shots into the baby that was still alive. That got its attention very quickly, and it started running at him also. But before Briac could get a shot off into the baby, someone screamed to him.
"Get the hell down!"
Briac turned around to the sight of a rocket launcher being fired in his direction. He dove out of the way of the rocket, but the baby didn't. It exploded like a balloon hit with a needle. Briac was covered in chunks of flesh and bone, and even a bit of shrapnel tore at his left arm.
"What the FUCK do you think you're doing you psycho!?" he screamed to the person.
"Killing deathclaws. What else?" He answered.
"Who the hell are you, anyway?"
"I'm Devyan. You are?"
"Name's Briac. Where the hell did you get your rocket launcher?"
"Came across some poor BoS (brotherhood of steel) corpses. Poor sons a bitches didn't see the mine." with that, Devyan smirked a bit.
"Ah.. how do you know it was a mine?"
"Uh, the way the parts were arranged." he rolled his eyes.
"How the hell could you tell by that?"
"Okay, lemme spell this out for the stupid kids. I. Set. The. Mine."
"...Oh."
"Exactly."
Celisa came running up to Devyan and Briac. She congratulated Briac on the kills of the deathclaws, and offered him the beretta, but he just gave it back to her and asked for the rifle instead. She looked oddly at Briac, but conceded to him when he pointed out that she forced him to put his life on the line for them.
Devyan left town as quickly as he got there, but Briac decided to stay the rest of the night. Briac wasn't sure what the hell was with that Devyan guy, but for some reason he thought he should follow him.
In the morning, Briac bartered for a hell of a lot of jerky and water, and set off in the direction Devyan had left.