CHAPTER 3: RUN TO FREEDOM.
"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." -Nelson Mandela.
February 22/2296
Four days have passed since the Ghoul known as Joe joined the two travelers. The three were still in New Hampshire and still didn't have a set path to follow. Needless to say, tensions were high.
"Screw you, Doug!" Joe shouted at him.
The three companions were on another highway road, passing old cars and trucks, finding nothing in any direction. The past few days were rough for them since they left the last town to sell the stuff they gathered from Joe's former group. But ever since then, they have encountered a number of problems. From various Wasteland critters, to several groups of Raiders with nothing on them to boot. And in doing so, they have gone through more than half their ammo, food, and water.
"No, screw you! And fuck you to that matter!" Doug shouted back at him. "You have your share of food and water!"
"Guys! Cool it, fighting won't do shit for our situation." Louis said as he checked his Pip-Boy. The device had not only kept marking the locations they passed, it had marked other locations around them, despite not going to them. All of it within several yards of the group. "I know it's been a tough few days, but fighting will just make us weak."
"Easy for you to say. You haven't used most of your ammo." Doug frowned at him.
"And your food too." Joe said before pulling out a cigarette.
"You said you were cutting back." Louis reminded him while still keeping his eyes on the screen. "And I've used a lot more of my ammo and food than you think. I just don't like to talk about it."
"We can't keep going like this. We're either gonna run out of ammo or food and be left defenseless out here." Doug gestured to the Wasteland.
"Then we're in luck. My Pip-Boy just highlighted a town nearby. We can see if there's any goodies lying around." Louis smiled to them.
"Or find more Raiders and god knows what else that wants to kill us..." Joe scoffed while putting his cigarettes away.
"Not like we got much of a choice." Doug sighed as they saw the ruined town ahead. "Let's go see what else wants to fuck with us..."
The three came up to the town in Lebanon, and just like countless others, it was desolate and full of decay. Yet the air was still and filled with the possibility of danger around every corner, the three had their weapons ready as they walked down the cracked road. The area looked like nothing had been around for quite some time, for everything had a layer of dust and dirt covering it. Doug and Joe had their Winchester and combat shotgun ready for an attack, Louis held one of his handguns and kept glancing at his Pip-Boy screen to check for movement. The wind blew gently, moving any form of garbage around with the buildings lightly creaking from age. Several minutes passed as the three spotted a Super-Duper Mart and ran for it.
"Alright! An old Super-Duper Mart!" Louis cheered as they approached the old doors. "I bet we can find something in there!"
"Hold it, we don't know what's inside." Doug reminded him.
"I bet a few caps there's Ferals in there waiting for any smooth skins to come in." Joe approached the window. "So, when in doubt, make them come to you." he banged the window a few times with his hand and stepped away from view.
The three waited a minute as Louis' Pip-Boy started showing four blips on the compass as they heard spine tingling shrieks. Four Feral Ghouls slammed against the window, they banged and shrieked with their raspy cries. Trying to get the smooth skins standing outside and slobbering with basic instincts.
"Told you..." Joe chuckled.
"Wow, I never would have thought of that." Doug complimented. "Where did you come up with that?"
"I saw it in an old horror movie long before the Great War." Joe started walking for the sliding doors before stopping a moment. "Or...I think it was a tv series. I'm not sure. It's been a long time."
The three went up to the sliding door, it didn't open because it didn't have power. The Feral Ghouls followed them, still trying to get through. Joe grabbed one door and slowly pulled it open just enough for one to slip out before slamming it shut. Doug was the first to take it down, the pick of his fire axe slammed into its skull before pulling it out as it fell to the ground. Joe opened the door again as another slipped out. It was completely naked and was clearly a man, making it awkward for the group as Louis chopped its head off with his machete. Joe pulled the door open once more, but the last two managed to push through and charged for them, Louis and Doug were prepared for it as they tossed their combat knives, hitting the Ferals right through the eyes and into the skulls before they collapsed to the ground.
"Sorry about that. They really wanted out." Joe shrugged to them.
"No problem. I just wish we didn't see that second one's...business." Louis shuttered a little. "I didn't know Feral Ghouls would really have genitals." he pulled out his combat knife from the one he killed.
"How do you think I take a leak?" Joe opened both doors.
"Don't you think there could be more in there?" Doug asked.
"If there was, we would have seen them by now. Or they could be locked in other rooms." Joe walked in with his combat shotgun ready. "Either way, roll the dice. Just pray you guys don't run into a Glowing One."
"Just be ready for anything. We're gonna be in tight spaces." Louis aimed his handgun.
The three started their search for anything they could salvage in the dirty and cluttered building. Louis turned on his Pip-Boy light while check the radiation levels, all of it safely low for them. Louis started by looking at the food section for anything eatable as Doug went to the outdoors section, he managed to find three flashlights and batteries for it and kept one for himself. Joe went to the medical supplies section, the shelves were pretty much empty, but he found a first-aid box that was unopened and some bottles of rad-x for the other two. A small radroach came out from under one of the shelves and started skittering towards Louis, he turned to it and gave it a kick that sent it flying across the room, its head crushed from the blow.
Doug saw the radroach flying and smiled as it hit the floor. "What did you do? I didn't hear any gunshots."
"I kicked it. Not worth the ammo. Speaking of which, I'm going to the hunting section." Louis passed by him.
"Don't hold your breath! Those places were one of the first things looted after the bombs dropped!" Joe called as he checked the open restaurant section.
"Hey, Joe, how old are you anyway? If you don't mind me asking." Louis called to him.
Joe took a moment to think. "I just turned...thirty-four a few months before the bombs dropped. So add to that, I'm now two-hundred and fifty-three. But at least I managed to keep my good looks after all these years."
"Wow, I didn't know there was Ghouls back before the bombs dropped." Doug said sarcastically.
"Eh, fuck you..." Joe scoffed.
"I'm surprised there wasn't any Ghouls before the bombs dropped. From what I've learned in class, just about everything was nuclear powered. You couldn't even turn on a radio without starting a small reactor." Louis looked at the hunting section and found that all the guns were not surprisingly gone. But he moved behind the counter and checked under it and found an unopened box of ammo. "Hey, Joe, I found some ammo for your rifle!" he called to him.
"Thanks! Found some medical supplies in the back!" Joe called back.
Doug checked the hardware section and found some prewar tools lying around. He knew tools were worth several times their weight in caps to the right merchants. He moved to a single register near the section and bust it open and found several stacks of prewar dollar bills. Another find that would go for big caps to the right collectors.
Joe was at the kitchen supplies when Louis came up to him. "Hey, Joey, look what I found!" he held up a box. "I found a few boxes of Blamco Mac & Cheese! I'll bet you haven't had this in a long time!"
Joe didn't turn to him. "You need milk and butter for that stuff. All of which are in very short supply. And don't ever call me Joey again..."
"Already ahead of you! I found some cans of powdered milk and canned butter, just add water! And I even found some canned sausages that we can mix in the mac & cheese!" Louis smirked and pulled the cans out. "Wow. They really canned a lot of stuff back then."
"You have no idea." Joe sighed as he found an old cooking knife.
An hour passed as the three decided to end their looting. They gathered their stuff and met near the entrance. Joe walked over to Doug and held out a bottle of prewar whiskey with a faded label. "Here. Peace offering and all that..."
"Thanks..." Doug took it.
Louis walked over with a smile. "Guess what I found!" he held up the bottles in a carry crate. "Six bottles of Nuka-Cola. And they're a little cool too."
Joe took one and looked at it. "Man, those idiots back then pretty much tried to replace water with this stuff." he looked at the bottle and pointed to the fins on the bottom. "They started making these bottles look like rockets a few years before the bombs dropped. But you can still find normal bottles here and there."
"No kidding. We passed like eight Nuka-Cola signs and vending machines on the way here." Louis opened his and drank it.
"If you guys are done with the history lesson, then let's go before trouble finds us." Doug slung his pack over his shoulder.
The three exited the Super-Duper Mart and started leaving town with their freshly acquired stuff. They found some ammo, canned food, some Nuka-Colas, medicine, and tools to try and sell off in the next town.
"You see, guys? Good things come to those who wait..." Louis smiled to them.
"And bad things to those who don't prepare..." Doug gulped down an open can of mini hotdogs.
"We should make our way to another settlement and see what's the best routes to go." Joe took a drink from a bottle of vodka. "If they have maps of the state, we can find the best highway that's the safest to travel."
"Why not travel off road if it's shorter?" Louis asked him.
"Bad idea on that. Especially if we're not from the area. A lot of people have been killed by cutting through forests and stuff like that." Joe answered.
"So we either deal with a lot of enemies on the road, or deal with a lot of enemies off road. Fucking wonderful." Doug grumbled.
Louis' Pip-Boy rumbled and looked at it. He was picking up several blips on the compass screen and started dashing ahead of them. "Hey, I'm picking up something! Might be trouble!"
"Louis, don't be running off like that!" Doug called to him.
The group rounded a building and peeked out to see who was showing up on the blips. They saw nine men with weapons, and with them was two Brahmins pulling a long cage on wheels. Inside the cage was eleven people, six adults, one teenager, and four children. All of them dressed in rags with bomb collars around their necks. The children were sobbing quietly with the people that might have been their parents or just took care of them. It was clear they were slavers and delivering their slaves to who knows where. Three of them near the Brahmins were arguing while looking at a map as a few stood guard while the rest teased the slaves.
"Monsters!" Joe grumbled quietly.
"I've seen slavers before when I was young. My dad and his group caught them as he put a bullet in each of their heads." Doug frowned.
"We can't let this happen to those people..." Louis reached for one of his handgun.
"Put your murder boner away! We need to think of a plan, charging in will only put us in danger." Doug turned to him, only to see that Louis was already making his way over while crouching. "Dammit! I am going to kick his ass one day!"
"Your friend is going to get himself killed. You know that, right?" Joe pulled out his combat shotgun.
"Probably. But at least he'll die doing what he loves. Being an idiot." Doug sighed as they stayed low to follow.
Louis moved from car to car, getting closer to the slavers. Thankfully they didn't spot him as he got close enough to see what they were dealing with. He looked to the cage and saw the slaves, but he noticed that the front of the cage was separated by another set of bars from the other slaves.
And in the separate section was a young woman, she was dressed in simple clothes that were much better than the others, but still a little old. Around her neck was a collar, but it didn't seem to have a bomb built into it. Her eyes were bright blue and could be seen from a distance, her hair was crimson red and made in a messy braid. Her skin was milky and soft, despite being in the filthy Wasteland, and she seemed to have some Asian features. Her face had a strong scowl, she watched the slavers, clearly wanting them to get close enough.
Louis started making his way closer to the slavers, he was about to make his move as another slaver came out from between some buildings after taking a piss and spotted the Vault dweller and pulled out his handgun. "Who the fuck are you?!" he yelled and pointed his gun at him.
Louis froze up and turned his head to him, he raised his hands and slowly stood up. "Hey there! How's it going?! I couldn't help but notice you guys had some slaves." he smiled brightly and started walking towards the man, who still kept his gun pointed at him.
"He's gonna die..." Doug groaned from their hiding spot.
"I call dibs on his assault rifle and Desert Eagle..." Joe raised his hand.
"Sorry if I seemed like I was sneaking around. I wasn't sure if you wanted to do business." Louis held his hand out. "But please, what's your name?"
The slaver lowered his gun. "Uh, Tom."
"No kidding, my name's Tom too! But I go by Tommy." Louis lied to the halfwit.
The leader of the slavers and some others walked over. "What the fuck is going on?! Who the fuck are you?!" he demanded while pointing his rifle at him, along with some of the others.
"Just a traveler with some caps to spare. I noticed your slaves and felt like buying some." Louis smiled to the leader.
"Maybe we're not in the mood to sell slaves! Maybe we'll just kill your ass and take what you got! Or better yet, take you as a slave! You can never have enough slaves!" the leader glared at him. Doug and Joe were about to get up and start shooting as he and the others started laughing. "I'm kidding. If you want to buy some, come on over. Less mouths to feed."
"Good to hear." Louis turned to where the two were hiding. "Duke! Josh! Come on out, we're in business."
Doug and Joe slowly got up. Both frowning at him for exposing their hiding spot. The three made their way over to the cage and started looking at the people inside. The redheaded woman raised a brow at them, she could tell right away that they were not looking for slaves. She kept a closer eye on the men, waiting for an opening.
"Okay, the adults are two hundred each, the mouthy teen bitch is a hundred, and the little brats are fifty each. Which one do you want?" the leader asked as he pointed to everyone but the redhead.
Louis pretended to be thinking it over. "So fifteen hundred for them all. Easy math." he said. Some of the slavers tried to count to see if he was right.
"Wait, are you saying you want to buy them all?" the leader looked at him baffled.
"Boss, can we sell them all here to some traveler?" one of them asked.
"Uh, Tommy, I don't think we can afford them all..." Doug said through gritted teeth with a nervous grin.
"Hold on, you didn't give me a price on the redhead." Louis pointed to her.
"Sorry, but she's not for sale. Our leader likes to keep her as...special company." the leader turned and smirked at her.
"I don't mean to be nosy, but why is she not with him if she's so special?" Louis looked back to her.
The leader of the group frowned. "We were tasked to move her and the rest of these trash to another slaver location while our boss deals with some 'Liberators' that are causing problems! Now, are we gonna do business or what? Because if you guys don't have the caps, then fuck off before you join them in the cage!"
Louis turned to his friends and winked. "Alright, chill. Let me just search my pockets. We got the caps." he was about to grab his handgun.
"Hold it! You're a goddamn Vault dweller!" the leader pointed to Louis' jumpsuit with the number 96 at the left.
"Uh, yeah, is that a problem?" Louis' eyes darted around.
"You're fucking right it's a problem!" the leader growled at him. "Almost two decades ago in the Capital Wasteland, a Vault dweller fucked us over! That cocksucker pretended to work for them, even used their Mesmetron to recapture the escaped slaves and send them back! But after that fucker brought all the slaves back, they welcomed that pieces of shit into Paradise Falls, the Vault dweller killed them all before they could put up a decent defense! That motherfucking Vault dweller even turned a fighting slave they had against them and joined with the rest of that Vault dweller's followers! I think the whore's name was Clover or something! And to add insult to injury, that fucker later ruined our most lucrative trade with the leader of The Pitt! The Vault dweller overthrew Ishmael Ashur and freed the slaves! That piece of shit destroyed our best foothold in the country and set us back for years! We're the laughingstock of the other slaver clans! And to top it all off, my little brother was one of the people killed when that Vault dweller attacked Paradise Falls! So in other words...we don't deal with Vault dwellers and anyone they're with!"
Louis groaned with worry. "But I'm not associated with that Vault dweller! I swear! We're from Maine! We have never been close to the Capital Wasteland! Here, we'll give you two thousand caps for them all, except for the redhead!" they were screwed now, he reached back and grabbed his handgun and fired at the leader, hitting him near the heart and shot three more in the head.
Doug and Joe were surprised by his sudden action as the slavers reached for their guns as the slaves took cover as best they could. The three started running for a nearby car and duck down. Joe was about to return fire with his rifle as Louis stopped him from firing.
"What are you doing?! I had a clean shot!" Joe shouted at him.
"You can't risk hitting the slaves!" Louis argued.
"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Doug snapped.
Louis peeked over for a moment. "Me? Why didn't you guys fire?! I winked for you guys to be ready for my signal! Reaching for my guns was the signal!"
"How the fuck we're we supposed to know that?! We have never done anything like that!" Doug shouted over the gunfire.
"Guys! Argue later! Kill these fuckers first!" Joe said as he shot one in the head with his rifle. "Fuck yeah!" he slid the bolt to load a new one.
"I'm sorry! I thought I was being clear! You always told me to be ready for anything! I just thought you would catch on!" Louis apologized.
"We'll make battle plans later!" Doug poked his head out and shot down one with his Winchester.
One of the slavers got to close to the redhead's section of the cage as she leaped into action. She grabbed his knife by his belt and grabbed his head and pulled him into the cage and held tight. "Burn in hell, you slaver piece of shit!" she said before slitting open his throat, blood sprayed out as the other slavers saw it.
"You fucking bitch!" one of them shouted, all of their attention on the cage.
"Now's my chance!" Louis leaped up from his hiding place and aimed. He activated his V.A.T.S. and took aim at the last three and highlighted their heads, all of which had high chances to hit them with fatal shots. He activated his action points and fired, all three shots flew and hit the slavers in the head before they even knew it.
The slavers were down. The three walked over to the slaves as Louis found the key on the leader and opened the cage. The slaves poured out and thanked them, tears of freedom fell down their faces. They were hugged tight by each one as Louis found the key for the bomb collars and deactivated them. He then went over to the closed off section of the cage to release the redhead. She got out and stretched, he was about to undo her collar as she snatched from his hand and did it herself.
"Thanks..." she softly spoke.
"I was just doing what's right. Those bastards got what they deserved." Louis smiled as he gave one of the people his canteen for them to share.
"Hey, Louis, I'm glad we did what we did and all, but now we have twelve people with us. What are we gonna do?" Doug asked as he looted the fallen slavers. "Only twenty caps? No wonder they were wanting to sell."
"He's right, we can't care for everyone here." Joe pointed out as he showed the kids how to loot. "That's right, kids. Always check the back pockets too. Leave no side unchecked."
"Excuse me." one of the men approached them. "Before I was enslaved a few years ago, I traded with a nearby settlement. I heard they welcome runaways in. We can go there and start a new life!"
"If you know the way, then we'll go there." Louis said as he went to the Brahmins. "We can sell all our loot and these two as well." he started petting one of the heads. "Does that sound nice? You two don't have to pull slave carts anymore! Who's a good Brahmin? You are! Yes you are! Who's a good mutant cow? Oh, wait, you're both male! That makes you mutant bulls!" he petted them both as they mooed.
"Can we just lock him in the cage and leave it behind?" Joe sighed.
The grouped gathered the weapons and other loot from the slavers and started leading the Brahmin to the settlement. Unknown to them, the first one Louis shot was still barely alive.
The walk took less than an hour as they saw the handmade sign calling the place Gray Slate. It didn't have much of a wall, but it had more than enough guards to compensate for the defense.
"Look at that everyone. Your new life begins here!" Louis said as they saw some people come out to greet them. "And look at that! We got a bit of a welcoming committee too!" the woman that was leading them pointed a handgun right at his face. "Not good!..."
The other guards aimed at Doug and Joe as they reached for their guns. "You slavers got some balls to come to our front step! Or you're just fucking stupid!" the blonde woman shouted.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We're not slavers! I swear! We killed the slavers and freed these people and brought them here to start anew!" Louis panicked with a nervous grin.
"Ma'am! It's true, these men saved us!" one of them approached her as the children pleaded with her too.
The woman looked them and lowered her gun. She then turned to her men and told them to lower their weapons too. "Well, I never thought I would see someone save a bunch of slaves for no reason." she held her hand out to him, he shook it in return. "My name is Yolanda. Welcome to our settlement, I gather you guys want to sell the Brahmins. And that cage can be melted down for scrap."
"We also have their bomb collars. You guys can make some explosives out of those." Doug held the collars up.
"Come on in. We'll give these people a home and work. And as for you three, we'll treat you as honored guests and get drunk!" Yolanda said to them. "Your Ghoul friend can come in too. All are welcomed here."
"You had me at getting drunk." Joe smiled to her.
The three and the former slaves walked into the town, the redhead stood still for a moment before looking back to the old town in the distance. She knew she needed to leave as soon as she could, before the one who kept her prisoner for many years started looking for her.
The inside of the town was quite lively, the people quickly caught wind of what happened and greeted the three as well. Louis shook several people's hands as the redhead approached him. "Sorry if I seemed ungrateful earlier. I thank you for freeing the slaves and me. Take care of yourself."
"Wait! Are you leaving here with nothing?" Louis asked her in confusion.
"I can't stay here. The boss of that group will be pissed he lost his slaves, but he's willing to brush them off if it means getting me back. I'll only endanger the settlement and the former slaves." the redhead started walking towards the entrance.
"Hey, you can't go out there without so much as a cap or knife." Doug said to her. "And with the way you're dressed, you'll only attract the wrong kind of attention. Or maybe the right one..." he smirked.
"I'll manage. And I rather die then go back to being his slave. Now go get drunk and celebrate. Glad to know there's actually some good people out there." the redhead said before continuing.
Louis quickly went over and grabbed her shoulder. "I can't allow you to go like that."
"I'm not a slave anymore. I can go wherever I want!" she frowned at him.
"I know you can, but please, allow me to buy you some gear and weapons. It doesn't matter how tough you are, the problems out there will get you." Louis looked to her sternly with gentle eyes. "Please. I insist."
The redhead sighed. "You won't take no for an answer, will you?"
"Louis, buying a lot of weapons and gear can be expensive." Doug pointed out to him.
"It's my caps, I can do what I want with them. You guys just sell the Brahmins, cage, and weapons." Louis looked to him for a moment. "Now come on. That shop over there has weapons and clothes."
The two went to the building with the stuff on display behind the window as Doug and Joe went to sell the animals and gear. Louis and the redhead walked into the building and looked around, the floor had racks of clothes, shelves full of various items and supplies, and there was a glass case counter where the owner was sitting with all the weapons and ammo behind him. The redhead started looking over the racks for new clothes, she started by getting new underwear and looked for clothes in her size. She found enough stuff and went to the changing section, the curtain covered her from view, but the top was open enough for her to look out.
She started by putting on the new underwear and tossed her old clothes aside and started putting on the new leather black pants and black top with short sleeves that exposed her navel. She put on a thick top that covered the rest of her torso before throwing on a medium sleeved jacket with leather pads on the shoulders and elbows with metal pieces woven in for extra protection with a few zip pockets. She slipped on some combat boots that went up to her knees, the one on her left had a compartment for a knife. She slipped on some metal guards that covered her forearms and black gloves with the thumbs and trigger fingers exposed. She then slipped on a belt with several pouches all around it.
"Why is he helping me?" the redhead quietly asked herself. "Does he want something from me? All this stuff won't come cheap, and he's offering to buy me weapons too. He can't be doing this out of the kindness of his heart." she looked to see him checking the shelves and picked up a bobble head.
Louis flicked the head a few times before it popped off. He panicked and caught the head and quickly put it back on and placed it back on the shelf before the owner saw and pretended to continue browsing the shelves.
"I'm surprised he's last this long." she shook her head. "But there's no point in turning down this stuff. I hate to admit, but I really wouldn't last long out there." she emerged from the changing room as Louis spotted her.
"Hey, you look great in that stuff!" Louis waved to her. "Now you need some weapons before going out to the Wasteland."
The two walked up to the counter as the redhead looked at her options. "I'll take that .223 pistol. The 12.7mm SMG and 10mm SMG. And that bow and arrows." she pointed to each weapon.
The clerk smiled and brought out the weapons she ordered and looked them over. The .223 pistol's green light lit up on the side as it was loaded, the SMGs were loaded before she checked the collapsible bow and gave the string a few pulls to test its strength and slung the quiver filled with thirty arrows on her back. She then placed all the ammo she could carry in the pouches and placed both SMGs behind her waist and her handgun in a side holster.
"So with the weapons, ammo, clothes, that will all be...six hundred and fifty caps." The clerk said to them.
"Sure thing..." Louis looked into his pouch and noticed he was a tad short and muttered. "Oh, great..."
Luckily, Doug and Joe walked into the store. "There you are, Louis. We sold those Brahmins to a farmer and the cage to a metal worker." Doug held out a stack of tied caps. "We got eleven hundred for both Brahmins, and eight hundred for the cage. So here's your cut, a thousand caps. We'll sell the weapons later."
"Doug! You're a lifesaver!" Louis smiled and took the caps.
"Why, did you break something?..." Joe frowned at him.
"No!" Louis panicked before turning to the clerk and gave most of the caps to the clerk. "Thanks again, sir. Let's go, guys!"
The four started walking down the dusty street before the redhead stopped walking. "So be honest, why did you buy me all this stuff? Do you really expect me to believe that you spent most of your caps just for the hell of it?" she asked him.
"What? I just got you that stuff because you needed it." Louis defended.
"Yeah right! A Vault dweller that just happened to free some slaves and then bought me a lot of gear and weapons because you wanted to?!" the redhead scoffed and assumed she knew what he wanted. "Oh, I get it now. How could I have been so stupid? Alright, let's go. Where do you want to do it?..."
"Do what?..." Louis asked, worried where this was going.
"Don't play dumb! Just say it, you want me! Is that it?" she stepped closer to him, she was only an inch shorter than him. "If that's what it takes to make us even, then fine! I have nothing else to offer other than the clothes on my back, which you bought by the way. Because anything is better than that bastard who enslaved me!"
Joe cleared his throat. "Does he really look like the kind of guy who would ask for such a thing?"
"Of course he wouldn't, Joe." Doug said while looking at him. "And if he did I'd kick his teeth out."
"Let me make one thing clear. I didn't get you that stuff to make you owe me! Especially for...that. I did it because the world is full of assholes! And I just don't want to add to the list by being like all the other selfish people out there!" Louis sighed and looked around for a moment. "Look. If you're worried about that guy finding you, then why don't you come with us?"
The redhead blinked a few times. "What? Come with you guys?"
"Not in the sexual way! Just saying. I mean, we're heading across the country. That way, you can lose him and we can have an extra hand on our journey." Louis suggested to her. "How about it? What's your name anyway?"
She sighed a little before answering. "My name is, Victoria Evans." She answered, having to think on her last name for a few moments.
"Victoria. That's a beautiful name." Louis said, making her smile a bit to herself.
"If we're done with the feelings, I'm gonna go get shitfaced." Joe smirked and started walking to the bar. "Come on, Doug. I want to see you pass out."
"Not if you pass out first." Doug challenged him.
Louis started following them before looking back to her. "Hey, just think it over. Whatever you decide, I wish you luck. We'll be in the bar, Victoria."
The three entered the bar with a number of people waiting for them. Victoria watched the three sit down as they started ordering drinks. She began to think it over, did she really want to go with them, or just use them for protection? She had been a slave to a madman for half her life, and only she knew what he was capable of to get her back.
