Emptyness filled the streets of Glenn, and silent covered its every corners. A ruined city, with signs which said that once upon a time, it was a monument of mankind. Towering buildings, abandoned. Numerous streets, wide and narrow, without a passengers. Signs, banners and flags of all kind, tattered, flew with the wind or laid on the ground. The only denizens of the city, small animals and mutated ones, strolled on the streets, without a single care about its history.
A black wolf ran toward a food store, sniffed the area. It caught something. A scent, a sign. A human. It could taste it in the air, see it with its eyes. It let out a growl, to call its pack.
But the growl was stopped half-way through, slowly died out into a moan of a death creature. A knife dug into its throat, guard deep. The knife then was pulled out, aimed for its heart. The attacker hugged the thing, left hand held the creature tight, right hand drove the knife deep into the creature's body. With one last moan, it died and turned to dust.
All of them, all of them was the same. All turned to dust, to nothingness, not even a single drop of blood, not even a single piece of the creature stayed. How, he wondered. Was it because of the radiation? Or were they infected with a new strain of FEV? He couldn't find an answer. Fighting against them was like fighting against a force of nature. You gains nothing, but living for another day.
Randal picked his duffle bag up and slung it on to his back. He had gathered enough food and water for a few day. His job there was done, time to move on.
He was on the residential district of the city. From where he stood he could make out the hospital on the next block. Shotgun in hand, he moved.
Agate wasn't lying when she said this place was full of hostile creature. Some territorial, some attacked without any pattern. Other just simply attack whatever it saw moving. Just the same with every other places on the wasteland. At least he didn't have to worry about some nightstalker sneaked behind him or a swarm of cazador dived down from above.
On the way to the hospital, he decided to take a detour. Slowly made his way to a weapon shop, Randal opened the door marked with blue paint and entered the shop. He took some ammunition, some weapon parts to repair his rifle's receiver, and a few knifes, created a makeshift spear, replaced the one he broke during his last encounter with a local yaoi guai. As he tied the spear together, his eyes darted back to the crates and canisters contained the colorful powder. Oddly enough, even when he read the instructions of what it was for, he couldn't understand them at all. Aside from the red one, other kind of powder seemed to be used for some kind of performance, as far as he could make out of it. Their instruction sounded like a pre-war tool for magic tricks. At least the red one was flameable, so he could use them as makeshift flare. Other than that, it could be used for weapon, but he couldn't find any instruction about how that worked.
Prepared, the ranger approached the hospital. This area seemed to be infested with those mutated creature for reasons unknown to him. Regardless, as long as he kept his calm and walked into the area without any care about them, there shouldn't be any problems.
In front of the entrance was two of those canines. If he would compare them with something from the wasteland, a deathclaw would be pretty close, mostly due to their shapes and fighting style, especially the bigger ones. They stood on their hind legs and sniffed the air around them. Randal strolled forward, gun in hand. As he approached the two creature, they turned to him, snarled.
Territorial.
He stepped back two steps, the creatures lowered their body, eyes still on the ranger.
'Blocked.'
He moved to the left side of the building, found window and entered through it. He took out a map he got from the last time he entered the area.
'Pharmaceutical warehouse… pharmaceutical warehouse… east side, got it.'
The inside of the hospital had less animals than the outside area. But it didn't mean that there aren't any. Either with his axe or with his knife, Randal had to take them out as fast and as quietly as possible. On his way to the pharmaceutical warehouse, he took some bandages and sanitizers, some mild drugs he could find.
'Pre-war, but had no stimpak or med-x… strange.'
The Followers said that they often scavenge medical equipment from pre-war medical facilities, and also said that in bigger facilities, those essential kind of drug should be quire abundant.
'The local must have used all of them.'
Entered the warehouse, the ranger checked what he could find inside. If it fitted his needs, he would take it, regardless of its strange names, from pain-killer, hemostatic drugs, to vitamins supplements.
If he was honest, the regeneration rate of the girl was… a miracle. He used stimpak and hydra on her, yes he did. But unless she was as tough as a ranger, wounds like that would take days to heal. Hell, he could tough it out, but her level of healing was something as unbelievable as that Courier's.
With all he needed packed tight in his bag, Randal made his way out. As he walked across a window, he could feel a rumble from the ground. Eyes darted to the window, he saw something he didn't expect to see.
A group of six, no, seven giant creature marched in the forest, each one as tall as a building. Their horn? No, tusks? Were so big that it could be compared to a howitzer's barrel. They were covered in bone white armor, a trait shared by the local mutated fauna.
'What are they? E-le-fan?'
He had heard of giant creatures from the ghouls, but all he could see was from pre-war books and pictures. That, however, was more than enough to show him the sheer size of those pre-war animals. He wondered if they were hostile? A single one could possibly bring as much destruction as a deathclaw pack to a small settlement. Lucky for him, they seemed to be quite relaxed, just wandering around the jungle in peace.
He returned to his track, only to find one of the giant canine blocked his track.
When he compared them to a death claw, it was a little stretch. But to this one, it was literally a deathclaw without horns and had black fur and bone armor on it. The creature breath was stink of death and rotten meat. Its eyes focused on the ranger.
Slowly, and as quietly as possible, Randal tried to move around the creature while maintained his eye contact with it. They stared at each other. Randal made it to the other side, he only needed to retreat the hall, then jumped down from the window, made a beeline towar-
He stepped on something. And came with the realization, a growl from the poor creature he stepped on. The beast snarled when the ranger accidentally harmed its pack. With a single leap, it closed the distance between it and the ranger.
The ranger replied with a shotgun shell, knocked the creature back by a step or two. He turned and immediately ran toward the window.
Randal dropped from the window, rolled on the ground, quickly gained his bearing back. Followed right behind him was the beast. It broke the window and dropped right next to him. Another shot, barely any damage to the thing. It shrugged off the slug round as if it was a just a peddle and roared as it charged forward. Randal switched his shotgun for the spear. A timed roll managed to help him dodge the creature's hulking body. It slammed on to the ground, growled wildly. It pack heard the call, and marched toward the ranger.
Unholstered his flare gun, Randal fired it toward the pack. The fire spark landed on a canine, started to burn its fur, left a pile of flame on the ground. One of them leaped toward him, the ranger raised his spear up. The weight and the momentum of the jump, combined with the ranger's steady hand and the spear quite sharp tip, it pierced through the creature's chest. Quickly pulled the spear out, the creature turned to dust right at the moment the spear came out. Another round of flare loaded, this time the makeshift flare made from the red powder. Randal felt a kick. The flare burst out like a fire ball, landed on a small canine, burned it to oblivion and spread to others, left him dumbfounded.
There wasn't any time to stare, as the beast charged at him again. Readied his spear, the creature came into contact with him. The spear landed a hit on a soft body part, but broke due to the force applied by the creature's body. Randal was knocked back by a few meters. Before he could stand up, the beast attacked again. The ranger reacted by a blind shot with his flare gun. The powder round managed to hit the thing's shoulder, made it screamed in pain. Grasped the chance, Randal leaped on to the creature, grappled with it. It was a death wish, he couldn't stall the thing, let alone compete with its strength. But he had something else. The ranger took his combat knife out, poured something from a vial on to the blade. The blade was coated in what looked like a luminescent liquid. He stabbed it to the creature's throat, then dropped down as its claws came toward him. Unholstered his shotgun, the ranger aimed for the creature's torso, hoped that it could reach the unprotected area.
A few shot came out, still couldn't do much, aside from making the armor weaker. The creature struck again. But this time, it acted much more sluggish, almost as if it couldn't see him clearly. It stumbled, head shook from side to side. Randal took the chance and emptied his hunting shotgun at its torso. Finally, the beast fell. The ranger retrieved the knife, wiped it on his trench coat. Behind him, the pack looked at the fallen alpha, snarled at him. The ranger replied by pointing his shotgun at them. With a few barks, they retreated.
He darted his eyes from side to side. With the danger currently clear, he moved out of the area.
'No broken bones, but hurt like hell. Got to check it when I returned to the camp.
Bored was the last thing Agate expected to feel. Her body was wounded, her aura and whatever kind of medicine that human injected into her was working. Other than sitting up and lying down, she had nothing to do. When she was still with the White Fang, the nurse often bring some books for her to read, or chatting with her. But she was alone, on an abandoned building, and at the mercy of a human.
"When would he return?"
Honestly, she wanted to just run away, snatch every and run. But she couldn't, he was right, she wasn't in the shape to do hard works. Basically, she had nothing to do, and she couldn't do anything.
She looked at the device he strapped on her wrist. It looked like one of those sci-fi devices in an old movie. It had numbers and dial, with a two colour screen. The screen showed a funny looking cartoon human, with various kind of condition on its body. Was it meant to represent her? She turned a dial, it switched from one body part to another, showed the current condition of said body part. She turned a different dial, it switched to a different tab, hunger, thirst, sleep, to something like body condition.
'What exactly is 'Stimpak Sickness?''
Confused by the number she pressed on the button.
One button showed her what looked like a management interface, which let her insert names and weight of items, it also calculated the optimized weight she could carry. It had different tabs for different kinds of item, from weapon, armor to aid.
But the third button was what caught her attention. It was called 'Data'.
She saw a selection of maps. The Mojave, Arizona, The Divide, all of the names was alien to her. Another selection showed an incomplete map of what looked like Glenn. A different tab turned the device into a radio, but she couldn't catch any signal. The last tab, it was a collection of notes, voice records and so on.
Intrigued, she tried to play one of the record, labeled "Frumentarii #1".
[Randal, is the thing on?]
The voice of an old man came out.
+Yes, sir.+
[Good, good. Now then, what do we have here? A frumetarii… within our rank? What is your name, son?]
*Kent, Kent Oswald*
[No, no, no, son. I want to know 'your' name, not your… ranger name.]
*Sir, I am Kent Oswald, I am not a frumentarii, I am a ranger of Delta station, Colora-*
The sound of a hard slap, followed by fallen objects.
[Listen here, you little c*nt. We know who the hell you are. Think you are so clever? Well, Randall here caught you red handed right next to the radio, boy!]
Silence.
+Sir, I don't think he wants to talk+
[Get the cattle prod.]
+Sir, at least let me try to talk to him.+
[If that can yield anything, then do it.]
Footsteps, then the sound of a wooden chair dragged on the ground.
+Kent. Be frank to me. Are you a frumentarii?+
That word again. What did it mean?
Randal, you know damn well that I am not! I was their slave, remember? You! Your squad, our squad, saved me from them! Why would I stab you in the back? What would I gain from that?
Another pause.
[Listen,… Kent. We know that you are working for them. And we believe that there must be a reason behind it, other than… blind loyalty. We are trying to help you, we are trying to help everyone, protect them from him. Protect you from him. You are like a brother to me, and to all of us. Five years, Kent, five years. Doesn't it mean anything to you, at all?]
A low chuckle came from 'Kent'.
Protect? Protect? You think that you are protecting them? All we do were keeping the rotten part alive, Randal. Can't you see? The Legion, they aren't the evil one. They are the one who really trying to help. They purge the rotten, and protect the pure, like you. Why must we fight like this? Why must we fight the Legion?
+So you really works for them… why, Kent? Why? Aren't you-+
A slave? No, no, no. That, was a lie. What better way to enter your ranks than disguise myself as a young, fearful child, needed to be helped by you?
+Kent, what you are talking about is insane… We treated you like a family.+
I know… I know, Randal. That is why I wanted to help you. I wanted to let you know that I am with them, so that I can help you join us. I believe in you, and in our squad.
+But that didn't happen. Robert and I saw you talking with them through the radio. We did what we had to.+
And it hurt me, Randal. Why can't you join us? Great Kaisar saw good in you, you can be one of us, and he even considered to let you become one of his centurion. Please, reconsider my offer.
+I can't, Kent, I can't.+
Footsteps came in.
[So how is it? Did he tell you anything?]
+He confirmed that he is a frumentarii. From the start.+
[So he told you nothing at all? Well, Jacob prepared a bucket, he doesn't let me use the cattle prod. When did he get this soft?]
+Kent is like a son to him, don't you remember? I can't believe that this is happening.+
[Served him right, I must say. God bless Robert, I hope he is okay.]
The voice of Randal was shaking.
+What happened to Robert?+
[What? How couldn't you know it? The bloody traitor stabbed him, four god damned times! Managed to stable him, but his condition wasn't that bright.]
Something heavy fell down. A loud thud, followed by the sound of punches and kicks.
Incomprehensible sounds, similar to that of an angry man.
+Why the f**k did you do that, you traitor! He was the one who saved you, countless time! How could you do that?!+
Randal voice was akin to that of a grimm during its hunt. Booming with hatred.
Replied his furry was only a maniacal laugh from 'Kent'
"You shouldn't poking into that."
Agate almost jumped when she heard the voice from behind her. His voice was heavy, with breathes laced in with words.
"I should have cleaned it before giving it to you."
The ranger returned. He seemed to be tired. He unstrapped his helmet. Some bruises could be seen on the left side of his face.
"So, how are you? Feeling better?"
Randal asked, continued to doff his trench coat, then his armor, followed by the undersuit, until his upper body was bare to her eyes. Her eyes couldn't turn away, not because of inappropriate reasons, but for something more obvious.
"You are wounded." Her voice was akin to a whisper.
"Just some bruises and scratches, nothing major." The ranger rubbed some kind of powder on the wounds, then wrapped them with new bandages. Scars covered his body. A few gunshots, many lines, a large one ran from his shoulder to his hip.
Finished with his wounds, Randal took a dose of pain-killer, then wore his suit and armor back on.
"Can you hand over it? I have to… clean it."
Shyly, Agate unstrapped the Pip-boy. Randal took it and started to work with the device.
"So… how much have you know?"
Agate swallowed something in her throat, replied with a slightly shaken voice.
"Only the… the one about the traitor."
"I see…"
After he had done, he gave her the device, then returned to his post, eyes on the rifle again.
Agate took sometime to think about the record.
"What is frumentarii?"
Randal glared at her, but just for half of a second.
"A scout, a spy, and anything in between of the Legion. They lurk within their enemy's land, rank… sometime family. They stay and wait, gathering every single information from while also climbing their rank or standing within their enemy's organization or settlements."
He said with a calm voice, almost monotone.
Agate looked at the ranger, a simple thought in her mind.
'A traitor, nothing more, nothing less.'
The ranger seemed to be furious when he knew about the betrayal of 'Kent'. But there was also… pain. Betrayal…
Was she also a traitor, to the White Fang? No, she hadn't do anything to harm them. But to them, could she be considered as one? Possibly. She deserted. She could be a threat to them, a traitor to them. She didn't want that, she only wanted to be free.
Agate's grip tighten.
"How did you deal with him? The frumentarii?"
He didn't reply.
"What would you do to a traitor?"
Still nothing.
"Would yo-"
"Please, stop." His words was as sharp as a blade.
Agate looked down, thoughts about the White Fang swiveled in her mind. She wondered if she could sleep that night.
"You all are a bunch of useless pieces of sh*t!"
The lieutenant scowled his subordinates. The trio he left to deal with Agate was found unconcisious by a group of scout the next morning. While they had no major injuries, they didn't remember much about what happened either.
"All you had to do, was finish a single girl, and you got beaten to a pulp! Is this the best you can offer? Because you look like those whiny 'activist', all talk, no bite."
"Sir, we was assaulted, sir…"
The lieutenant's whip hit the air, created a loud 'bang' and startled the three.
"For f**k sake, this again? Who? Who in this worse-than-hell city would attack you? Who is even in this city? Beacon hasn't sent anyone here, and if it was huntsman, you wouldn't even return."
He was beyond furious, hand pointed from one to the other, pushed their heads.
"We, we don't know, sir. I think it was a man…"
"Oh yeah? You 'think' it was a man?" The lieutenant replied with a mocking tone, then he yelled. "Of course it was a man if it attack you and leave you alive, you MO-RON. A grimm would have a stomachache and sh*t your remain somewhere else already."
"We-we mean a 'male' man, sir."
"Male, female, pot, kettle, black. Same thing as the other. Unless you sh*t for head actually have something useful, better be ready to be a grimm bait!"
They started to vibrate, not shaking, vibrating before the rage radiated from the lieutenant. The veins on his neck and his arms surfaced, made the man more of a demon than a faunus. His wings spread wide, made his posture much more threatening.
"So, any bright idea, mister?"
His hand grabbed the neck of a White Fang, held them up, choked the air out of them.
"Here's one for you. I give you exactly two days. You either find her, or find a grave to rest in." His teeth gritted, words slithered out of his throat. "Got it?"
He threw the poor faunus on to the ground.
"Adam is going to kill me for this… a defect escaped right when thing started to go smoothly."
"My my, what a good leader you are. Can't expect any less from an animal, I guess?"
A suave voice came from behind the lieutenant. His whip turned into a stiletto, with a swift movement, he pointed it at the newcomer.
A human, dressed in a white suit and long black pants. His orange hair and the bowler hat gave the man a pompous look.
Next to him was a petite girl. Her hair color reminded him of a pink and brown ice cream cone.
"Why are you here?" The faunus sneered.
"Well, your boss man, if you can call him that, is quite busy. So, I said, let me deal with this side of the town, for the next big show we planned to do. And he said yes. So I think you can call me your new boss."
The man said with a smirk. It boiled the lieutenant's blood, but it was for the greater good, no matter how bad it might feel.