CHAPTER 29: ESCAPE FROM PARADISE.

"A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell." -Thomas Fuller.

The footsteps grew louder and closer to the alley entrance, along with a number of clamoring voices. The wanderers stepped back, hands reaching for their guns as the children hid behind Radcliffe. But another shouting voice drew them away, claiming they knew where Radcliffe was last spotted. They waited anxiously for a few moments until the footsteps went away.

"Looks like we avoided trouble," Louis took his hand away from the Desert Eagle. "For now."

"No one has any reason to suspect us." Victoria put her .223 away, glad they avoided a shootout. "But now there's no place for Radcliffe and the children."

Asimov's arm laser guns folded back into his forearms. "It won't take long for them to set up guards at certain points. And the High Lookers will be all over on the catwalks. Our options are very limited at this point."

"Look, take the kids and I'll distract them." Radcliffe brandished his Hardballer. "The reward on me is much more. Just pretend the kids belong to you and get out."

"Again with the suicide plunge?" Louis looked over to him. "We've been in tight situations before. Just stay with us and we'll figure something out."

"Is he always this positive?..." Radcliffe asked the rest of the group.

To which Doug rolled his eyes and answered. "You have no idea..."

Inez didn't mind the idea of him making a distraction. But for now she kept her thoughts to herself.

"Radcliffe, how long have you been moving around in the back alleys before finding us?" Joe asked him.

The Raider thought about it for a few moments. "Well...half an hour I would guess. Why?"

"Because I was thinking we move through the alleys and find a path to the exit. If we're lucky, we'll wait for an opening and make a rush for it." Joe scratched his chin in thought.

"No way." Radcliffe shook his head. "The two main exits are too far from here, and there will be guards packed up the ass waiting for me."

"Unless we make our own..." Louis suddenly spoke.

"Our own? What are you thinking of?" Chloe asked, knowing that look on his face.

"If all the exits are blocked or guarded, then we need to make our own. Knock down a wall that leads to the outside." Louis started thinking of the layout of Paradise's Raid from what he remembered seeing on the display maps they passed.

"Hate to spoil your idea, but knock down a wall with what?" Inez asked bewildered. "We don't have any explosives on us."

Wayland held his hand up. "If the wall isn't too thick, then I can probably break through."

"Well, you did play tug-of-war with a Sentry Bot, so there's no questioning how strong you are." Doug nodded in agreement.

"Hold on a second." Victoria spoke. "Everyone's searching everywhere. Won't that mean the alleys too?"

"Probably not right away." Radcliffe looked back behind them. "The alleys are off limits, and people like to avoid them because they either get lost or run into some critter that slipped in. Usually drunks just end up passing out here, we even walked over a few drunks laying on the ground before running into you guys."

"Alright, it's a plan for now." Louis looked Radcliffe in the eyes, and it made the Raider worry for a moment. "But when we get these kids out, you and me are going to have a very long talk."

"Whatever it is, please just not in the face." Radcliffe turned to start leading them. "Now follow me. I know the alleys better than most people. Just pray everyone's looking somewhere else."

Cramped and dirty, that was the quickest way to describe the back alleys of Paradise's Raid. Everyone walked single file just to get some space. Garbage littered the ground beneath their feet, everything from broken bottles to cans of food and even empty bullet casings. Which gave a foreboding sense to the wanderers, only Radcliffe and the children didn't seem to be bothered by what they passed. The children were the only ones comfortable enough thanks to their small size. They positioned them in the middle of the line for protection.

Louis walked in front of the children at the moment, there was still some questions he wanted to ask. "So, how old are you kids? What's your names?" he asked gently, but all the children did was either look down or away to his questions.

"Forget it." Radcliffe said, walking behind the kids. "I tried asking them some of the same questions and they didn't respond to any of them. They're pretty afraid of adults."

"And they're very stunted too." Louis looked back over his shoulder to them. "It's going to take a long time to readjust, where are you even going to take them?"

Radcliffe chuckled bashfully to himself. "I...haven't gotten that far yet. I don't even have a place to go in mind..."

"Are you serious?!" Inez couldn't believe what she heard. "Just about everyone here is turning this place upside down to get you and you don't even have a plan once or if you get out?!"

Radcliffe stopped and turned to her. "Hey, I admit I'm not exactly the best at coming up with plans quickly. Okay?"

Inez sighed and uttered a number of cusses in Spanish so the children wouldn't understand what she spoke.

Joe suddenly came to a halt, Wayland almost ran over him as the rest of the group stopped one after the other. The Ghoul stood still with his eyes dead ahead.

"Joe, what's the hold up?" Doug called up to him.

"We...might have a problem." he answered as heavy footsteps started echoing in their direction.

Four different voices clamored with each other, all them saying and cursing Radcliffe's name as they got closer. The wanderers couldn't turn and run fast enough without making too much noise. Doug acted quickly and pulled out his Browning and got behind Radcliffe and poked the barrel to the back of his head. Radcliffe almost turned to fight back on instinct, Doug quickly grabbed his upper arm to hold him in response.

"Don't struggle. Just play along." Doug loudly whispered.

Radcliffe thankfully caught on and raised his hands up. The children looked to him, thinking they had been betrayed by the group. Radcliffe hushed them with a finger to his lips and winked an eye to play along as well.

"There's no way he's hiding here!" one of the people spoke.

"He has to be!" another man said as they got closer.

"And you guys will scare him off with all that yelling! So shut it!" a gruffer voice snapped at them.

The group of Raiders came around the turn, still talking their heads off before coming to a halt upon seeing the odd wanderers. All four men frowned when they saw Radcliffe with a gun to the back of his head, and the kids tagging along in front of him.

"What the hell's going on here?!" one Raider with an eyepatch frowned his good eyebrow.

"What's it look like? We caught Radcliffe and the kids." Doug quickly replied to them, giving Radcliffe another poke.

"Right! I was no match for them!" Radcliffe spoke, playing along terribly. "They moved like Deathclaws and had me cornered in moments."

"Please, just stop talking..." Victoria muttered to herself.

"Shit! We barely started searching and these assholes already caught them?!" a bald Raider groaned in annoyance.

"Right, we caught them fair and square." Louis spoke next. "Now if you'll excuse us, we're going to collect the bounty on this incredibly smelly man..."

Radcliffe frowned and lowered his head to sniff his chest and armpit quickly, it had been a long time since he washed his clothes. A very long time.

"Hold on a second." the fourth Raider with a burn on the side of his cheek suddenly said. A knife hanged from the belt, his fingers suddenly touched the hilt. "They haven't gotten to Seymour and the others yet, and he never said whoever catches Radcliffe first is the winner."

"Don't do anything reckless!" Joe held his hand out while the other went for the Webley. "You're all out gunned."

But the Raiders ignored his warning, they all started reaching for their knifes and guns. The children ducked, hands started reaching for their own guns. A shootout in an alley was a worse case scenario, too narrow for all of them to fire back with nothing to hide behind.

"Shit, I always knew I would have a last stand in an alleyway." Radcliffe lowered his arms and reached for his Hardballer. "Or at least that's one of the ways I figured I'd go..."

Wayland suddenly gave out a loud bellow, startling everyone in the alley while looping around Joe and charged forward. Fear made the men hesitate, seeing a Super mutant charging was the stuff of nightmares to them. Wayland swung his left arm out at the first man and sent him flying into a wall and knocked him out cold. The second man literally faced a big palm grabbing hold of his face and lifted him up. The Raider's muffled screams filled the alley for a moment before being thrown into the man behind him. Both bodies collapsed to the ground in a heap, putting them both out too. Wayland stood over the last man, who's knees shook to the point of giving out. But Wayland put him down with a hard bop on the head with his curled fist, sending him unconscious to the floor with the rest.

The group stood with slightly gapped open mouths, Wayland turned around to them and smiled with his shoulders shrugged. Playing it off like it was no big deal. "They were going to attack..."

"Uh, right..." Louis coughed into his fist quickly. "Great job, Wayland. That was...very surprising. No one saw it coming."

"If we're done here," Radcliffe spoke to get them back on track. "There's still a lot more of these assholes looking for us."

"You still want to a gun to the back of your head?" Doug asked with another light poke.

An echo of glass shattering and a garbage can being knocked over came from far behind, along with more people talking to themselves. More Raiders were making their way through the alleys and would soon be on their trail.

"We got incoming! Keep moving!" Chloe practically ordered them.

They quickened their pace while stepping over the fallen Raiders, leaving their footprints in the dirt. The wanderers hoped the tracks would throw off anyone looking for Radcliffe and think they were just another group of people on the hunt. More voices started getting closer from all around, each alleyway leading out would have Raiders filling in and waiting. Their footsteps pounded the ground harder in an effort to avoid being cornered from all around.

"This place is a maze! We're going to get cornered!" Victoria said, looking for an exit.

"Radcliffe, where's the next best turn to take?" Joe asked as a fork in the alleyway came into view.

"Take the left! It will lead into the back further!" he replied while pointing.

Everyone took a sharp turn to the left, one at a time to not run over each other. The alley was darker, making it difficult for them to see and having to use the wall as a guide. But a faint light at the opening came into view, growing brighter the closer they got. The light lead out into the opening, it took a few moments for their eyes to adjust from being in the dark for too long.

"Radcliffe, this isn't another alley!" Joe said when his eyes cleared.

"Oh...shit. We were supposed to go right..." Radcliffe's face twisted in embarrassment upon remembering the correct way.

"Excuse me, but we have bigger problems right now!" Asimov pointed ahead.

The Assaultron turned their attention to a large horde of Raiders. Dozens of eyes looked to the wanderers, their focus soon landed on Radcliffe and the children standing near him. Low chuckles and crooked grins became apart of the many eyes hungry for the big bounty on Radcliffe's head. Several people took a few steps forward as the wanderers stepped back, more and more started stepping forward as they stepped back again. The Raiders wanted them to run, it was fun to catch their victims that way. Just like they do all the time in the Wasteland with their victims.

"Run. Run right now!" Radcliffe shouted as he picked up the boy and threw the child over his shoulder.

Louis caught on to what Radcliffe was doing and did the same with the dark skin girl and whistled for Cavall to follow. Doug picked up the blonde girl as Inez came and took the baby from her arms. The wanderers left a small cloud of dust from where they stood, their backs turned to the charging mob closing in. None of the Raiders used their guns at the moment, Seymour's warnings are always dead serious. Onlookers that didn't want to be involved stood out of the way, allowing them to run past. The Raiders moved like a stampede, knocking over a few stands and trampling over anyone who couldn't get out of the way

. An entrance came up, held up by metal poles and supports and looked a little weak from age.

"We got to lose these people!" Louis shouted as they closed in on the opening.

"Oh, sure, maybe the opening will close for us!" Doug snapped a little too harshly then intended.

Chloe suddenly beamed with a bright idea. "Maybe it will!" she reached for her holster and drew the plasma pistol.

The merc took aim while running. She fired two shots to the right, three to the left, two more to the lower right, two to the lower left, and five towards the top. The sudden shots confused the group as they went through the opening, but then they spotted the boiling hot plasma melting the metal supports. A few moments later the ceiling fell apart, bringing down everything above and creating a rip in the thick canopy along with broken cables spewing sparks. The Raiders came to a hard stop in front of the debris, some lunging in to dig out the junk to get through. On the other side, the wanderers stopped for a few moments to catch their breaths, admiring the Synth woman's handiwork.

"Damn, Chloe, nice shots!" Inez complimented as she shushed the baby in her arms.

Chloe smirked and holstered the plasma pistol. "It just came to me. I once did something similar on a mercenary job a few years back to catch the person I was after."

"That won't hold them for long." Radcliffe said while watching the onlookers in case they made a move. "And more will be here any moment."

"Right, keep running." Joe spoke.

Despite blocking off their pursuers, more Raiders were seen coming from another path and shot off in an aimless direction once more. Several groups ended up fighting with each other, all of them trying to sabotage the other to get the bounty. Not even realizing their bickering was making them lose their targets. The wanderers came up to another entrance that forked and took a right after remembering Radcliffe's bad direction from earlier.

Moments later neon bright lights shined above, at first they thought it was the Red Light District again. But the neon sings and people not dressed as prostitutes showed it was another section as they came up to the high sign. Gambler's Oasis, the main location for gambling in Paradise's Raid. The area stretched on with countless poker tables, roulette tables, craps tables, arena pens for small animals like radroaches and mole rats as a new form of cockfighting. Rows of slot machines coughed up coins that people could exchange for caps. Every slot machine had different designs and bodies, showing that they came from different casinos across the country. A lot of the gambling equipment came from far and wide, and it attracted just as many people to piss their caps away.

"Dammit, we should have hit this place up last night before getting chased all over the place!" Doug groaned and eyed the poker table not far from them.

"Since when do you care about poker?" Louis asked him.

"Since we need any form of finances we can get." Doug retorted. "Do you know how much we drank last night alone? A couple rounds of poker could have helped."

"Forget the poker game! We gotta keep moving." Chloe said as High Lookers found them, pushing through the crowds.

Radcliffe looked around for a way out, but the casino district was packed to the brim. High Lookers started closing in from all around, the thick crowd slowing them down. But then he noticed several people backing away from a cart, it was a delivery of caps going to the treasury. The caps rested in six small crates with a number written on them to indicate how many were in each one. For once Radcliffe came up with a brilliant idea, he placed the boy down on the floor, finally glad to be down. He charged forward to the delivery cart, shouldering through the crowd until squeezing out and stood in front of the two men transporting the cart.

There was no security with the men at the time, and no one dared thought of stealing from the cap transports. And those who did were swiftly caught and usually never seen again. But Radcliffe knew they were pass the point of no return, so with a bright smile he closed in on the two men who stood in fear of his presence, knowing his reputation well. Radcliffe's boot kicked into the crates and toppled them to the floor, shattering open and spilling out all the caps. Everything went quiet in that area, countless eyes darted to the spilled treasure, which within moments the crowd descended on the pile to grab as much as possible. Even the casino goers knew the High Lookers couldn't round all of them up to retrieve the caps.

"Free caps! Free caps for everyone!" Radcliffe shouted with hands around his mouth to stir up the crowd.

Soon the guards were surrounded by people trying to get to get their hands full. The two men that transferred the cart fought a losing battle, and the guards that were closing in on the wanderers didn't know whether to stop them or the people from taking the caps. It was easy for Radcliffe to rejoin the group since the crowd near the caps only got thicker, a few gamblers even started throwing the caps into the air which only made the crowd more ecstatic.

"If there's one thing you can count on, it's people's greed." Radcliffe said to the group over the clamor of the crowd. "And they'll risk trouble with the higher ups thanks to this commotion."

"Radcliffe, that was a surprisingly good plan." Louis praised him, and then looked at the other gambling stations and came up with an idea. "In fact, let's continue spreading the wealth!"

Louis dashed to a nearby roulette table, filled with stacks of chips and piles of caps. The commotion gave him an opening to kick his leg out and hit the table with his boot. The old wood splintered from the heavy blow, and before long the middle section collapsed and spilled everything on it. The dealers of the roulette table didn't notice him until it was too late, they were busy trying to stop people from stealing the caps from the crates. And now more caps laid on the floor for people to take.

Wayland joined in and went towards a row of slot machines. His fist slammed against the side of the first slot machine. Its wooden side shattered with ease under his strength and tilted to the left and bumped into the one beside it. After that the row of slot machines fell over like dominos and spilled coins out of the trays and added on to the chaos. The people at the slot machines started gathering the coins, thinking they could actually fool the clerks at the exchange counters.

Fights broke out all across the casino strip, Raiders and travelers battled for any cap they could get their hands on. Even if the caps didn't come from the transport. The guards stood overwhelmed, trying desperately to round up as many thieves as they could while fighting those who fought back.

"Now's our chance!" Radcliffe shouted while picking the boy up again, much to his dismay.

They fled at full speed, knocking past anyone that got in their way and stayed close to not get separated as the guards lost them quickly. It took over ten minutes to reach the exit, they bought more time by knocking over almost every gambling table they came across to help with the chaos. After that they sharply turned out into the open, still not sure if they were outside one of the factory buildings thanks to all the covering.

The wanderers were in the clear for now, but now they stood in the open with walkways hanging high above. The very domain of the High Lookers who watched over all. Slowing down to a light jog, the wanderers kept one eye up and another down.

"How much longer until we're out of here?!" Joe asked with a slight wheeze. He truly considered throwing his pack of cigarettes away.

Radcliffe looked around for familiar directions, which was hard for him to recall. "Uh...I'm not sure. Is it bad if I was drunk most of the time while gambling?..."

"Yes!" everyone unanimously replied.

Inez scoffed harshly. "No wonder you're in debt..."

A sudden bang, followed by a hole popping up on the ground in front them caused the group to stop. Just as they feared, a number of High Lookers started filling the catwalks above, all armed with guns pointing their way. People started taking cover after the first gunshot, including the wanderers. Luckily there was enough junk laying around for them to take cover, including metal shells of old cars and small stands. The High Lookers started firing off rounds in controlled bursts to force them out. Reports of strange people with Radcliffe and the kids already reached most guard stations, so they knew who to look out for and corner into a trap.

The wanderers broke off into several small groups to avoid the scattered shots. Pinned down by enemy fire, it was what the guards needed to buy time until more arrived to round up the group. A tactic Radcliffe knew about.

"They're stalling us!" he shouted as a few shots struck near his cover. "More will come around to get us!"

"Yeah, we picked up on that too!" Doug shouted with sarcasm.

"They have clear shots as long as they're on those catwalks!" Victoria said as several more rounds hit near her hiding spot.

Chloe watched as panicking onlookers tried to find their own places to hide, bullets narrowly missing them. "Do they even care if they hit someone they're not targeting?!"

Joe saw a man fall to the ground, a fresh bullet lodged into his upper arm. "I'm guessing no..."

Asimov looked back at catwalks to map the guard's positions. "The only way we're getting through is by getting rid of them."

"Oh, real brilliant, robot!" Radcliffe spoke with complete sarcasm. "And just how do you suppose we do that?! You gonna charge out and fight them?!"

Asimov sharply turned his head to him, the visor on his face slid up and revealed the charging laser cannon. The powerful hum grew more intense as the laser beam reached its max power. Radcliffe crawled back in fear, thinking he was the Assaultron's target and didn't have anywhere to go from his hiding spot.

"Hey, come on! I'm kidding!" Radcliffe futilely raised his hands.

Asimov finished charging and stood up sharply, satisfied he gave Radcliffe a scare. The Assaultron spun around and faced the gunfire with his arms crossed for added protection. Asimov focused in on the catwalks and unleashed the full power of his beam. The red laser shot straight up at an angle and startled the High Lookers, yet he didn't hit any of them. Instead his target was the very platforms they stood on, almost a dozen crisscrossing as the laser started cutting through at the very back.

One after the other the beam cut through the old metal like a hot knife through butter as the old proverb would say. He sliced the catwalks right at the middle, slowly tilting his head upward to the sky. The High Lookers fell back to earth with screams, even though the fall wasn't high enough to kill them, none of them would be a threat from that point on. Crashing back on the ground either left them with broken bones or simply knocked out as the catwalks dangled above. Asimov's beam not only cut through the platforms, it also cut a long slit in the ceiling that slowly widen from the melted supports dripping hot metal slag.

The last of the beam's energy trail faded away and Asimov's visor slid shut. Everyone got up from their hiding spots and surveyed the damage Asimov created. Fallen bodies laid sprawled on the ground with scattered moans of pain.

"Wow, I knew lasers could get really hot," Louis looked at the catwalks as the cuts began to cool. "But to melt steel so quickly is another thing."

"I can overclock the power drain from the fusion core of my weapons." Asimov said as he made sure the fallen guards stayed down. "But in doing so I have expended ten percent of my core's power in one attack."

"It's a last resort." Inez stepped up to him. "Another one of my father's unique designs. But anything past five percent renders the head laser useless for a time because the parts are overheated."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good..." Radcliffe spoke, not really paying attention. He kneeled down in front of an unconscious guard and looked at his gear over. "Here we go! This might be the thing we need!" he held up to them a cylinder shaped grenade. A smoke grenade to be precise. "These assholes carry a ton of these to break up riots."

"How often does that happen?" Victoria asked.

"Not often, I've only seen one small riot a few years back." Radcliffe started gathering more smoke grenades. "Truth be told the guards don't see much action these days."

"So in other words, they're out of shape when it comes to handling trouble." Chloe mused to herself. "They did seem to have a hard time with the riot in the casino."

"And I think I've already come up with a plan." Louis kneeled in front of another fallen guard and undid the belt of smoke grenades hanging from his waist. "We're gonna make a literal smokescreen to get out."

"Sounds good. Guys, gather as much as you can carry." Joe said as he took a belt. The guard started to stir awake, but a quick punch to the side of his head put the man back down.

The wanderers each had a belt of smoke grenades hanging over their shoulders, and not a moment to spare considering a new group of Raiders coming after them. Joe was the first to use one of his smoke grenades and threw it as far as he could. A cloud of smoke exploded and provided them cover to flee the scene.

()()()()()()()()()()

Seymour stared at the countless monitors, changing the feeds every few seconds. His patience wore thin as his anger grew more from the wait. A section was blocked off, the casino was rioting and spreading, and a number of Raiders had started harassing shops, claiming they were tipped off about Radcliffe hiding in one of them.

"I gave these fucking Raiders one simple task!" his fist slammed on the terminal keyboard, breaking several keys. "And they just tear this place up! I swear, after this we will never do another Wanted Hunt!"

A familiar Itinerary Man stood near him, the very same one the wanderers talked to just the other day. "It seems they've grown too lax from not having much to do. Perhaps Paradise's Raid has become too well run."

Seymour turned sharply to him, not in the mood for snide observations. "What are you doing here anyway?!" he snapped.

"Apologizes, sir, you asked for an Itinerary Man sometime ago," he answered, hiding his hint of fear. "But I suppose you forgot while searching for Radcliffe."

"No, I just have more important things to do at the moment!" Seymour looked back to the monitors, eyes glued to the screens.

One of the men at the terminals suddenly spoke. "Sir! I found Radcliffe! He's in section ten near the fourth factory!"

Seymour dashed towards the screen and shoved the man aside. He would have fallen off if his chair wasn't on wheels. The headmaster observed the monitor and saw Radcliffe clear as day, and the footage was very recent. But his eyes suddenly went wide when he saw several unknown people with him, and even helping him.

"Who the fuck are these people?! Radcliffe doesn't have any friends here!"

"Wait, I know these people!" the Itinerary Man pointed to the screen with surprise. "They arrived just yesterday. They're newcomers, I gave them a brief explanation of what goes on here and even a quick history of Paradise's Raid. They certainly are a strange group."

Seymour's fist curled again, it was just another problem to deal with. "I don't give a damn who they are. If they're helping that rat bastard, then they're enemies too!" he looked back to the man holding his thick clipboard. "I want you to inform the others, update them about these people and capture them too! Lock down all the exits, triple the guards and anyone who wants to volunteer. We're ending this now!"

"Right away, sir." the Itinerary Man quickly turned away before Seymour came up with anything else to shout.

Seymour started taking control of the video feeds, controlling the terminal in front of him. He brought up a file that marked the camera layouts to better follow the Raider's position. "There's nowhere to go, Radcliffe. All the exits will be locked down. Just you wait..."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

At first the smoke grenades really helped the wanderers out. Every time a few guards or Raiders came their way, a grenade would be tossed and give them the precious few moments needed to get ahead. And knocking over a stand or throwing something in the way helped too. But their grenades were already running out and their path only became more crowded. Another smokescreen allowed them to turn off into another alley before anyone could see them.

Their legs ached, sweat dripped from their brows and stood winded. A few Raider groups ran past the alley, missing them in the shadows. In fact, the amount of guards became more thick in the area, almost as if they knew their location.

"Is it me, or are there a lot more of these High Lookers and Raiders around?" Louis asked after finally getting his breath back.

"I spotted a number of security cameras as we ran." Asimov began to say.

"And unlike us, you can't get tired..." Doug said with a bitter frown.

"And I suspect we're being watched. Our position might be already compromised."

Radcliffe let the boy down for now, carrying the child over his shoulder started to make it stiff. "Then we're too late. Seymour and the other headmasters will have the exits locked by now. We'll be facing a small army of guards and Raiders, and they'll be armed."

"What about slipping out by making our own exit?" Victoria reminded them. "Or are we changing that plan now?"

A thought came to Radcliffe, it turned out Victoria was right about a change of plans to their exit. "I think you might be onto something, fire head..."

"Don't ever call me that again..." she shot him a terrifying glance.

"Just here me out." Radcliffe walked to the center for all of them to hear. "A year or so ago I was drinking in a small bar at the very back-"

"Something tells me this is how a lot of your stories start out..." Joe interrupted for a moment.

"I was in the back as some off duty Itinerary Men came in." Radcliffe continued while quickly flipping Joe off. "They sat at the bar and after awhile started getting a little drunk. And that's when I overheard something very interesting."

"Well, don't keep us in suspense. Time is short!" Chloe cut in impatiently.

"Fine! I overheard them talking about a secret exit! One that only the headmasters and a number of Itinerary people know about!" the Raider cursed under his breath for a moment. "They bitched for almost an hour about remapping the secret exit entrances. And ever since then I kept it to myself, I even waited until they left. I felt it was the kind of thing that would get someone killed. And believe me, people have been killed here for less."

"So in other words, we abduct some random Itinerary guy and make him tell us where the secret exit is?" Inez felt the plan seemed way too simple to work. "After all we've been through, you think it will be that easy?"

"To be honest, I think it's a good idea." Louis said with a hopeful smile. "It's pure chaos out there at the moment. All we have to do is stir it up a little more." he jangled the belt of smoke grenades in front of them. "We just have to look for an unsuspecting victim and take him."

Once again Doug knew there was no point in arguing. And deep down he felt it was the best course of action. "Alright, I just want to get the hell out of here. What's the plan?"

As if waiting for someone to ask, Radcliffe kneeled down and started drawing in the dirt with his fingers. "Since we're in the last factory, I know the exit is nearby. If we backtrack through the alleys, we'll come across it in awhile. And I know they'll be crammed in their like sardines. Which reminds me of a time when I ate some bad sardines from a dented can and had the runs for days!"

"Back on track..." Wayland spoke harshly.

"Right! Anyway, they'll be tons of guards and Raiders waiting there. And Itinerary Men give orders to the guards. So we'll have our pickings." he continued drawing out the area to the best of his abilities to give them an idea of where they were going.

"Then let's do it." Chloe said as she threw her combat helmet on. "And we'll need to come up with a plan of attack. We won't take any of them without a fight."

"We'll talk on the way." Joe slung his hunting rifle over his shoulder. "Time to move."

The wanderers moved back into the alleys once more, this time with a surprise attack formulating. Twenty minutes passed with no sign of them, which only served to stir up anyone looking for them even more as their patience wore thin. At the junction point where the exit to the outside was more than a few hundred feet away, several dozen High Lookers and Raiders stood waiting and pacing around for any signs of their presence. The people who didn't want to get involved stayed out of it and retreated to the many indulgences of Paradise's Raid until it was all over. And people who wanted to come in were held up at the entrance and growing agitated from the long wait.

Unknown to them all, the wanderers were already there and watching. They took the time to plan a course of attack, just out of sight and split off into several groups. A lone Raider stood near an alley entrance on guard, but only half interested as he turned his back to the opening. Louis' Desert Eagle emerged from the shadows and struck the man upside the head with the bottom of the handle. The Raider went limp and fell backwards into the arms of Louis and Doug and dragged into the alley before anyone could see him. Once the Raider was tossed aside like trash, the two looked out to the crowd.

"I'm having second thoughts about this plan, Louis." Doug said while counting as many heads as he could see. "There's just way too many."

"It's a lot more then expected, yes." Louis nodded in agreement. "But that won't matter once the distraction kicks off." he began looking for a nearby Itinerary person.

Around fourteen of them stood out from the crowd, easy to find because of their clipboards and sharp suits. Louis knew he needed to hurry, any moment now the distraction plan they made will start. Then as if out of the blue, the Vault dweller found someone very familiar to them and smiled.

"Hey, Doug, you're never gonna believe who's here." he tapped his shoulder for attention and pointed in the direction.

"Who the hell can we possibly know-" Doug stopped himself when he saw the Itinerary Man from yesterday, standing in the opening and giving orders to everyone that passed him. "That guy? You can't be serious."

"I am, we just found our target." Louis turned his attention to another alley from far across. "And just in time, too."

In the alley from across, Wayland placed down an oil barrel and stuffed a few more wads of paper and splintered wood into it. Joe came up and dumped a half empty bottle of vodka they found in for fuel. He then took out his zippo lighter and started flicking the striker to get a flame burning.

"Dammit. Come on..." he grumbled as the lighter flickered.

"You really do need to slow down on the smoking..." Wayland commented.

"Lecture me later..." Joe finally got a flame burning. "About time." he grabbed a wad of paper and looked up to the few catwalks hanging above. "Won't be much longer now."

Radcliffe lead Asimov and Chloe to the stairwell that went up to the catwalks after the Assaultron knocked out the guards at the bottom. All three of them carried the remaining smoke grenades on belts. Twenty-four in all, enough to lay down a thick smokescreen to blind them. They kneeled down, hiding in the shadows and watching the High Lookers mulling around.

"How much longer until we do this?" Radcliffe checked the belt he carried, the plan they came up with made him nervous. A small army of people just below wanting his head. "They'll spot us sooner or later."

"Just wait for the signal. That's when we'll begin." Asimov said, monotone as ever.

Victoria inched herself through another alley opening, staying in just enough to peer out. She drew her .223 and took a deep breath, wondering why she volunteered for this part of the plan. She gripped the handle with both hands and raised the gun up. Five quick shots rang out, echoing throughout the junction before she retreated back to the shadows.

The five shots did as expected, the loud bangs threw everyone at the junction into a frenzy. Raiders began running around, looking for where the shots came from while the guards tried to keep the people calm. Asimov's audio receivers picked up the gunshots and got into position by getting down like a runner at the starting line. With a whir of hydraulics in his limps, the Assaultron dashed straight forward.

Before they could even react to the clanking footsteps, the handful of High Lookers patrolling the catwalk went stumbling over the rails. Asimov swung his arms outward with precision, hitting them hard on the backs and sides. None of them could even turn in time to fight back thanks to the narrow catwalk.

The half dozen High lookers landed into the crowd of people below, adding on to the confusion. Wayland and Joe saw the men fall from above, the fire in the oil barrel burning as the Super Mutant lifted it with ease. He emerged from the alley and tossed it with ease through the air, aiming for a pile of construction items like lumber and tarps. The area was currently under construction before locking down. The flaming barrel fell onto the materials and spilled all the burning paper and wood. A fire quickly began to spread, forcing the guards to try and put it out with other tarps and looking for fire extinguishers.

The three up above then did their part by pulling out the smoke grenade rings and threw the belts over the railings as the smoke started to sputter out before landing on the ground and finally let it all out.

Smoke choked the air while the fire almost reached the shop stands and other structures holding the place together. Once the area was in enough disarray, Louis and Doug finally did their part and sprang into action. The lone Itinerary Man from yesterday covered his mouth with a handkerchief, trying to find his way through the smoke and still holding the thick clipboard with his other hand as if it was a lifeline.

A strong arm suddenly wrapped around his neck and held tight. He could barely make a gaging noise as another set of hands grabbed his legs to prevent any struggling or kicking. He was hoisted off the ground and carried away while trying to fight back with his arms, but the one holding him by the neck squeezed tighter as a form of warning.

Soon he saw the dimly lit alleyway, at least relieved he could breath again for the most part. At first he saw Doug, remembering the young man from yesterday. And it didn't take any thought at all to know the Vault dweller was the one manhandling him by the neck.

()()()()()()()()()

Inez stayed behind with Cavall to watch the kids, the young mechanic slowly rocking the baby in her arms. She found it strange that the baby hadn't fussed or cried much since the children came into their care, which lead her to believe the baby was very malnourished. Simply too weak to do things that a baby normally does, which the kids alone proved with their scrawny bodies.

"We have got to get you guys to someone who can take care of you all." she said to herself while watching the children play with Cavall. The large dog had a long piece of wood in his mouth and played with boy pulling the other end. "No child should live like this."

Footsteps echoed down the alley from across, Inez held the baby in one arm and reached for the Beretta at her side. But her hand moved away once Louis and Doug came in with a man in tow. Inez sighed in relief as the two dragged the struggling man towards a wall and thrust him against it. Louis pulled out the Desert Eagle and pointed at the Itinerary Man's head.

"You so much as yell and your brains become a stain on that wall behind you!" Louis warned as he pushed the end of the barrel into his forehead.

The Itinerary Man slowly exhaled and calmed himself. "Fine. I know when to keep my mouth shut."

Not longer after, Victoria rounded the turn, breathing a little heavily from her quick escape. A minute later Joe and Wayland came from another alley, and finally Asimov, Chloe, and Radcliffe joined up a few moments later. The plan had work, even better than expected. And they all recognized the Itinerary Man right away and some couldn't help but chuckle a little upon seeing their unlucky victim.

"Wow, it's a small world after all." Joe commented as they gathered around, all of them with dead serious looks.

Louis moved the end of the gun from the man's head and placed it just under his chin. "Alright, we're gonna cut the bullshit. That means cut to the chase and tell us where the hidden exit is!"

The Itinerary Man's brows twitched, a shiver ran down the back of his neck. "I don't have a clue on what you're talking about."

Radcliffe tried his turn. "Quit lying! I remember overhearing a few other Itinerary Men awhile back! They talked about a secret exit that only the headmasters and a select few know about! So spill it..." he reached back and unsheathed his ripper. "Before your guts spill."

The Itinerary Man looked down at the gun, then back up to them. Knowing they would never let him go until they got what they wanted. But then he remembered something that he knew about the exits and forced back a creeping smile. "Alright, no point in denying it. You guys are right, there are secret exits throughout Paradise's Raid. And there happens to be one not too far from here. I know because I'm one of the top Itinerary people around, a title which I've rightful earned."

"Wow, do they offer dental and paid vacations?" Joe snorted sarcastically.

Louis grabbed his collar and pulled him away from the wall. "Then start leading, Itinerary Man." he gave a quick jab to the back between the shoulder blades. "And if you run or call for help, I'll put you down where you stand."

"Oh, believe me, I don't make foolish mistakes." once he faced away from them, a big grin finally came across his face. "And there's no need to call me by that. My name is Nelson."

"Wow, so don't care..." Radcliffe said while shoving his shoulder hard.

Forty minutes of wandering into the deepest recesses of Paradise's Raid brought them to a dead end. Wherever they stood, they could at least tell it was somewhere inside the fourth factory ground floor at the very far back that was cut off from all public access. The twists and turns started to grind on their nerves until the man named Nelson stopped them in front of a corner.

"Why did you stop?" Victoria demanded.

"We're here." Nelson answered with a forward smile. "The wall in front of us is the hidden passage."

Chloe looked towards the gray and cracked concrete. "Not what I was expecting. Are you leading us on?"

Nelson slowly turned his head. "If I may? I have to open it."

Louis gestured to the wall with his gun. "Do it."

Nelson slowly approached the wall and looked it over for a few moments. His hand touching the cracked concrete, almost giving the impression that it would shatter like glass. He then kneeled down and touched along the metal baseboard until reaching the corner. He applied a little pressure and a section of the baseboard sunk in, a loud clank followed as he stood up and stepped back. They watched a long section of the wall sink in, never letting their guard down in case it was a trap. Once the wall sunk in enough it slid aside into the inner wall and revealed a metal door with a wheel lock.

Louis lowered his gun, surprise all over his face and everyone else. "Well...I wasn't expecting something like this."

"If you think this is amazing, just wait until we get inside..." Nelson said while stepping back.

Joe frowned deeply, the man seemed too eager to help them along. And he didn't want to let him out of their sights. "You're still coming with us until we're in the clear."

"Like I have a choice, burn bag."

"Watch it!" Doug went over and made him turn around. "Don't get fresh with us."

Louis and Victoria stood in front of the door and began to turn it. The wheel at the center barely moved an inch thanks to age, it took Wayland to turn the wheel until the locks came undone. the Super Mutant pulled the thick heavy door open, a stale smell came out and hit their noses, indicating the door hasn't been open in a long time.

Slowly, they went in one after the other with Louis leading Nelson in first. Once all of them stood inside, Wayland pulled the door close and turned the wheel lock and broke it off for extra measure. They heard the rumble of the wall from outside slide back in place with a heavy thud. More lights flickered on, buzzing and droning from unknown years of not being used. All around was metal floors, walls, and ceiling, Louis couldn't help but chuckle to himself from almost feeling at home.

"Well, looks like you guys are on the home stretch." Nelson said with a crooked smile. "Consider yourselves lucky. You people are the only ones to make it this far."

"Whatever. Start moving." Radcliffe came up in front of him. "If there's any traps, you'd be smart to deactivate them. Or set them off. I don't care which."

"Oh, believe me, I want this over soon, too." Nelson glanced back at the door one more time, knowing he had lead them right into a trap once the door closed behind them.