CHAPTER 35: INTO THE DEN.

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." -John C. Maxwell.

The Super Mutant wearing dog skin as a pelt gave out a death cry before collapsing to the ground in a heap. Its body laid with the other three behind some road blocks, their prods broken in the attack. Hiromi and his team didn't know the Super Mutants were armed until they started shooting back, the assault rifles were strapped behind them under the pelts. But despite the surprise counterattack, the tamers eventually fell to the hail of bullets with blood pooling around them.

Hiromi and his team checked their ammo and to see if anyone else was injured. "Good work, everyone." He praised. "That's five less mutants in the world."

"Should we head back to Ezrah and the others to help?" One of the men with a bandanna around his head asked.

"Yes, and hopefully Ezrah managed to at least weaken that thing." Hiromi nodded, reloading his rifle. "I can't imagine them taking it down so quickly."

A sudden explosion reached their ears, it was faint but unmistakable. It made the squad aim their weapons in the direction of the noise, which was in the direction of Ezrah and the wanderers.

"What the hell is going on now?" Hiromi said while getting back in the lead. "Come on. I don't know what that was, but they might be in danger!"

The squad grouped up and headed back to Ezrah's location, this time following the street instead of cutting through alleyways like they did to get the drop on the tamers.

()()()()

Louis sat up on his elbow and looked at the fallen Behemoth from afar. When he dodged the motorcycle that was thrown, he ended up landing on his back hard, leaving a tingling pain running up and down his spine. He feared it was the end, that one mistake left him open and completely defenseless. But to his thanks the others managed to get the Behemoth to turn away and attack them. And not long after that, the ear shattering explosion ended the mutant giant at last.

Before he found the strength to stand back up, a rapid sniffing came at him from the right before seeing a big snout smelling him over. Once Cavall's nose reached his face, he let his tongue out and licked all over him.

"Ah, Cavall! No, boy! Stop, I'm okay! Down boy." Louis laughed between every other word. After the giant hybrid was sure he was well, Louis stood back up and turned around to what remained of the motorcycle. The impact laid several feet away, parts shattered into many pieces and thrown everywhere across the street. "And to think that could have been me." he grumbled to himself.

Everyone stood around the Behemoth, stepping back every now and then as the blood inched close to their feet. Radcliffe scoffed in disgust and pulled out his Hardballer and aimed at the giant's body. Joe reached his hand out over the gun and made him lower it.

Footsteps approached from behind, Hiromi and his squad stood flabbergasted, almost unable to believe a Behemoth was taken down with just a handful of them.

"I...I don't believe it," he could barely find the words to string together. "You all did it! You killed the monster!"

Louis held his hand out towards Wayland. "You should be thanking Wayland. He's the one who finished it off. Shot that Behemoth in the mouth with a missile."

The entire group of settlers looked to the friendly Super Mutant. Some quietly voiced their thanks while others began to feel a newfound respect for him. Hiromi held his tongue for now, he wasn't in the mood to start another fight and just counted his blessings that the giant was done for.

Ezrah slung his laser rifle onto his back, ready to move. "Let's go. We're losing time."

"Gee, can we get a minute?..." Radcliffe asked with a heavy huff.

"We don't have the time." Joe said while checking the magazine of his Sako 85 rifle.

"He's right, the mission must continue." Ezrah started marching ahead, already back on track.

Louis was going to suggest letting everyone rest for a few minutes, but figured there was no time to argue with him right now. They needed to get Wayland inside the power plant before night fell. At the rate they were going, they might have to shack up in a building nearby. "Alright, you heard him, time to go."

They checked their guns while walking, either reloading or making sure everything was in working order. Wayland slipped a new missile into his quad-barrel to fully loaded, deep down he was happy to finally use it after having it hanging on his back for so long.

It took another hour and a half until the group reached the power plant. The crumbling structure rested many yards away, the building stood so dilapidated that it was amazing it could still be used to live in. The cooling towers had fallen, only the one on the left still had its foundation standing. They spotted several Super Mutants wandering the grounds, alone but not too far from each others' sight. They found some nearby buildings to hide in, it didn't seem that the Super Mutants put out patrols in their area. Either from not having enough of them to go around as it is or simply because they never thought of it.

Wayland handed his missile launcher, sledgehammer, and CZ57 Avenger minigun and ammo backpack over to Hiromi's squad and kept the AK-47 for protection if anything went wrong.

"Alright, so let's go over the plan one more time." Ezrah stood in front of the Super Mutant, hands behind his back, which was impressive in his power armor. "You will approach the entrance, say what you need to say to get in. Make it sound like you want to join their kin. Then once inside, start searching around, it shouldn't be too hard, Super Mutants are never very good with security on the inside of their dwellings. If they really are making more of them, find out how and where. Then report back as soon as you can. From the looks of it, they come and go as they please. So hopefully you can walk out without raising any suspicion. If you do find any humans there, then that pretty much confirms what you said yesterday. Although I really hope that's not the case..."

"I do too." Wayland said worryingly.

Louis approached the two, the plan already made him nervous for Wayland's safety. "I suggest some of us follow him and stay close to the power plant in case things go wrong. So Wayland could at least have someone on the outside waiting nearby."

"I advise against that." Ezrah turned to him. "We don't know where the Super Mutants are patrolling on the outside. And I can tell from here there's not much cover. You don't want one of them coming up from behind. They can be surprisingly sneaky when they want to be."

Victoria approached him from behind and placed a comforting hand on his trench coat covered shoulder. "Don't worry about Wayland. He can handle anything in there." She spoke, although not fully convinced herself.

Wayland could see the worry in his friends and put on a brave face for them. "I'll get in and come back. They won't know what I'm doing until it's too late."

"See if they got any booze in there and bring it back!" Radcliffe asked him from across the room. Or more like heavily suggested.

"Don't do that, Wayland." Joe sharply said.

Hiromi and his squad took positions near windows and the open door. He still hated the idea of the mission, letting a Super Mutant go inside to a power plant filled with them. His imagination kept running away, visions of the monsters pouring out from the building was all he could think about, and there would be Wayland at the back, betraying them all with a smile on his face. But once more he kept quiet, at least until he was gone.

Wayland went through the threshold of the door with his friends wishing him luck and the AK-47 hanging under his right arm with the strap over his shoulder in case he needed it within quick reach.

Ezrah stood near the entrance. "Good luck in there." He gave a small salute.

The Super Mutant nodded and began walking, giving his friends once last glance and a small smile. Once he started walking, a tightness came across his chest, the horrible sensation of fear. Memories of his former Overlord came back, and all the cruel and sadistic things it did to him and their human captives. It wasn't fear for his life that bothered him, it was the fear of how long the humans might have been suffering if there were any inside. In that moment, the veins in Wayland's face gave off a slight green glow that reached down to his neck and only lasted a few seconds before fading away once more.

In what felt like hours, Wayland approached the entrance to the power plant a few minutes later. The Super Mutants turned their heads his way, some slowly reaching for their guns. Wayland stood surprised, he didn't expect them to notice he was a stranger and hoped they would just let him walk right in. But once he approached the front entrance, two of them stood guard, wearing armor that seemed to be made of lawnmowers and cooking grill lids, looked to him.

"Hey! Who you?!" The one on the left shouted and aimed its busted up rifle.

Other Super Mutants started to gather, eager to leer at the new arrival. The mutant on the right pointed its shotgun. "Answer! Before we shoot!"

Wayland quickly cleared his throat, time to dumb it down. "Who you think I am? I Super Mutant like you!"

The two lowered their weapons and looked to each other with confused frowns before throwing back their heads and laughed. "Ha! You are Super Mutant!" The one on the left bellowed out loud.

The area soon became a clamor of deep laughs, Wayland gave a nervous chuckle, trying his best to play along with them. Once the one on the left calmed down and lowered its weapon, it began to ask Wayland some questions. "Where you come from? You alone and not with the other human gatherers."

Wayland almost gasped, those words confirmed his fears. But he pushed that revelation aside and focused on the mission. "I, uh, lost my entire kin. We were attacked by big beasts, I only one who escaped. I heard about you and wanted to join. Let me join you..."

The Super Mutants looked to each other as if that decision was up to the other. The shotgun carrier gave a deep frown. "Only our leader Demon can make that decision. We can let you in, but you will have to find Demon and ask. Just hope Demon not in a bad mood. Demon has been getting more and more angry every day."

Both of their big hands reached for the double door handles and opened it up, squeaking all the way. It was dark inside, it felt like walking into the mouth of a giant monster. Wayland slowly walked through, and soon the doors closed behind him rather hard. Once inside he could see small lights above, along with other Super Mutants mulling around and not giving him much attention. There was no turning back now, so Wayland put on his best fearsome face, the kind of face that told others not to mess with him and marched on.

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

With a heavy grunt, Inez snapped the final armor piece back over the body of the Gatling laser and slipped a fusion core into the back near the handle and trigger. The weapon came to life with a charging noise as she stepped back. After a few moments and no explosions, Inez confirmed to the others that the weapon was working. The workers gave her a round of applause for fixing the weapon they struggled for so long with.

Even Doug offered a small clap from the chair he sat on. "Good going, Inez." He said half heartily. "If anyone can do it, it's you."

Inez didn't take offense to his lackluster comment, she knew not being able to walk bothered him. "Still upset you can't be out there with the others?" She asked while taking a seat near him.

"Are you not?"

"Well, a little." She sighed. "I admit I've never fought anyone before. And so far I've only killed one man, that bastard Rust Devil leader. And Super Mutants don't die easy."

Doug grunted in response and slowly stood. His ankle was doing far better with only a slight twitch of pain. "So how sure are you with the repairs to that Gatling laser?" He asked, a slight grin starting to spread.

Now Inez started to feel just a little bit offended. "I'm very sure. Good as new if I do say so myself. What do you got planned?"

The farmer walked over to the weapon and placed a hand on it. "I'm just saying...it would be a shame for this fixed weapon just to sit around and gather dust." He gave it a light pat. "I say we return it to its rightful owner and look for some volunteers to help..."

Inez smiled in response and stood up. "I like the way you think..."

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

Deep inside the power plant, Thaddeus carried the strange canister up to a massive machine that took up an entire wall. It wasn't often he made his way down to the lower levels of the plant, he always stayed confined in his lab or took breaks on the roof. The equipment rested in a room that filtered the FEV into the gas chambers where the prisoners were kept. When Thaddeus and Al arrived and struck a deal with Demon, it took months to gather the materials needed to construct both the prison cells and the massive gas chamber that took up an entire sealed section. And what really took so long was explaining over and over to the Super Mutants what equipment and materials he needed. The reactor cores powered the machines, the ones that were still in working order. The one benefit of having creatures immune to leaking radiation was that they could go into those levels and fix the machines. Which drew Thaddeus half insane trying to teach them well enough to get the reactors in working order and not blow the power plant up.

Thaddeus hummed a tune while Demon and Splitter stood behind him at the entrance of the room. Of course he never trusted Demon or its temperament, so he kept four of his ogres standing in between him and the leader. Both for protection and to piss Demon off, he knew it hated the very sight of the ogres. To it they seemed like domesticated Super Mutants, no different than trained dogs. To that, Thaddeus smiled every time Demon grumbled in frustration.

All the Super Mutants wised up to how dangerous Thaddeus' ogres were. After the first few months when Thaddeus and Al made a deal with Demon, a few other mutants didn't take well to the idea of a human making demands. They approached Thaddeus and Al with the intent to kill, and a number of the others came to watch for fun. But before they could attack, Thaddeus snapped his fingers and pointed at the few would-be attackers. In the blink of an eye, the ogres lunged forward at the Super Mutants, and in moments they were ripped to pieces. Limbs torn off like a cheap action figure, organs ruptured and ripped out, and even their heads were pulled off and crushed like rotten fruit. When the mutants were dead, the ogres simply stood over the slaughter and waited for their next orders as the rest looked on in fear. No Super Mutants ever had the courage to make an attempt on Thaddeus' life since. Save for Demon's half empty threats, depending on its mood.

"How much longer until its ready?!..." Demon demanded, already losing patience.

Thaddeus didn't answer, he focused on the canister by carefully screwing the tubes in and locking it in place on the holding rack. "Not much longer. I need to run some final tests to make sure the terminal data is processing and not corrupt, check the FEV mixture, inspect the tubes running to the gas chambers, make sure there are no leaks, lots and lots of work. So go slap your followers around and don't bother me."

Demon gritted its teeth and growled verbally, the ogres seemed to register that as a growing threat and turned their blank, almost milky white eyes to it. Heavy footsteps came charging down the hall, Al quickly entered the room and glared right at Demon with a furious face.

"What the hell have you done?!" He bellowed, the blue veins under his pale white skin seemed to twitch. "I just found out you released our Behemoth! You let Wrath loose on the settlers! I'd ask what you were thinking, but clearly you don't have a single thought in that skewered head of yours!"

Demon's temper flared to that. It reached out a hand to grab Al by his throat before one of the ogres crossed the room and stood a foot away from Demon, ready to jump in. The leader backed off, despite its smoldering anger.

Thaddeus turned around to them, barely showing an interest in the sudden development. "I'm guessin' you sicced that Behemoth as another one of your snap decisions or spur of the moment. I don't see the big deal."

Al turned to him with an angered frown. "Not a big deal? We both know Behemoths are incredibly hard to come by! A single one is at least worth forty Super Mutants! And this shard head let it loose with only a few tamers!" He pointed accusingly at Demon. "Even if it doesn't get killed by the settlers, there's no way of knowing if they can get it back under control!"

Thaddeus entered a few commands into the terminal and soon the special mix began hissing through the tube connected to it into its first stage dispenser. "Okay, I get it. Demon screwed up, but there's nothing we can do right now. If the settlers are taken out, so be it. If they kill the beast, so be it too. Either way it keeps them at bay." He stood back up, stretched his back and started heading to the door. "I'm gonna check the holding cell. Try not to kill each other."

Thaddeus' ogres followed, always staying close to guard him. Al glared pure death at Demon, his patience for the brain damaged brute growing thinner and thinner with each passing day. If Thaddeus didn't finally lose his patience with it, Al knew he would. So before he said anything, the albino walked off to blow off some steam.

The scientist couldn't help but smile as he walked the dimly lit halls, the Super Mutants he passed stepped back out of fear from the ogres. Something about having big, brutish mutants as bodyguards made him feel bigger than a Behemoth. Some minutes later he entered the holding cell down below to the two hundred plus people held there.

The holding cells rested in the decontamination and sanitation rooms, the perfect place to gas the prisoners. Thaddeus spent a few months having the Super Mutants knock down walls, rearrange plumbing and wires, put up new walls and seal the rooms so the FEV gas wouldn't seep out. All in all it took about a year until Thaddeus said it was safe to make Super Mutants, including the time needed to gather the right machines and equipment to run it. And during most of those days Thaddeus wished he could just go back to the time before he and Al set out on their assignment.

The captives were held behind thick panes of glass found in testing laboratories with several separate blocks holding many prisoners at a time to keep them from rallying together and plot a full scale escape. Their conditions were miserable but at least their cells were kept clean for the most part. It was truly like big prison cells, Thaddeus had several working toilets put in each holding cell at the back with some flimsy privacy screens found in hospitals, and narrow sink pipes built into the walls for them to drink water. Whenever they decided to turn the water on. The doors had heavy sealed slots that allowed food to be slipped in and passed around, which also became a new pastime for the Super Mutants to tease them.

As Thaddeus walked at a steady pace through the makeshift prison, his eyes looking to the huddled hostages. He was at least impressed by the variety of people. Most were from small settlements or villages that wouldn't have lasted long regardless. Some were scattered Raider groups that have seemed to turn over a new leaf after being held for so long and getting to know their fellow prisoner. And the rest were small caravans that got abducted on the roads, their Brahmin slaughtered and their supplies stolen. Their ages ranging from late teens to at least forty, which worked well within acceptable parameters for what Thaddeus had planned.

He reached a far section near the last holding cell and went up to the terminal on a desk that ran simulated tests on the entire gas dispense plumbing to make sure it was all working. As he sat down on a chair and began bringing up the system data, a loud banging nearby caught his attention. Thaddeus looked up from his screen and saw a man with ragged clothes banging against the thick glass. From the looks of it, he been held there for a few months. He knew the prisoners had been in the cells for quite some time, some for more than half a year, others a few months, and even the latest round of fresh captives had been there for at least a few weeks. And they did whatever they could to pass the time and keep calm, that included making up games and telling stories of their life and the places they came from.

The man banged again on the glass, eyes with heavy bags under them. "Please, you gotta help us! Get us out before those monsters come back!"

Thaddeus watched him for a few moments before humming indifferently and went back to his task. The man reeled back in confusion before pounding his fist on it again, starting to draw some attention from the captives around him.

"Didn't you hear me?! Please help! Those things are going to kill us sooner or later!"

"I hear you! Loud and clear!" Thaddeus raised his voice in answer. "And I'm not here to help anyone. And for the record, if the Super Mutants were gonna kill you, they would have done it and eaten you for that matter."

"Then who are you? Why are you walking around freely with them?" The man asked as he looked at the ogres standing behind Thaddeus, wondering why they were so different from the rest.

Thaddeus smiled as the system diagnostics showed the plumbing was working. He then began checking over the gas sprinklers so that all chambers got an equal amount. "Who I am and what I'm doing is of little relevance to you and everyone else. Soon you all will be turned into those brutes..." He said so casually, to him it was truly no big deal.

The people who overheard Thaddeus and the prisoner began to clamor with fear and even bang against the glass in vain. "My god! Why would you do such a thing?! Helping these monsters make more of them? This is madness! You're a monster, just like the rest of those Super Mutants!"

Both of Thaddeus' fist flew up in the air and slammed down on the desk. The terminal jostled and the green screen flickered. The man and the people near him fell silent and the ogres behind seemed to be waiting for an order. "Me? A monster?" He asked before snickering. "That's a laugh. Calling me that when the world is filled with far worse monsters than the meatheads in this power plant. And just so you know, the monsters I'm referring to are people. They don't need to be hideous freaks of nature to show it!"

"That doesn't mean you have to do this!" The man pounded the glass with both fists now. "These people aren't monsters! We just try to live and survive in the Wasteland everyday!"

"And that there is part of the problem." Thaddeus pointed with his finger for a moment. "Most people live short and pointless lives. Scraping by with little to nothing, never knowing if you'll see the next day. Getting killed by some Raider trying to steal the two caps in your pocket. So many things for a meaningless existence in a dying world. I, on the other hand, have meaning in my work. And it will change the world for the better. I don't expect you all to understand, in fact I doubt you would anyway. But just know my work is one big step towards greatness for everyone."

He finally finished running all the tests needed, stood up and stretched before turning towards the way he came to leave. Not even giving the panicking people a passing glance.

The man wasn't done speaking, he followed as fast as could before Thaddeus was out of range of their holding cell. "What plan? What could you possibly achieve by turning us into monsters?! This is all insanity!"

Thaddeus stopped in his tracks, the ogres behind him stopped only a foot from behind him. He turned his head sharply to the prisoner, making the man step back suddenly. "Again, you all couldn't possibly understand no matter how much I explain it." His tone cold and sharp. "But, if it makes you feel better...those brain dead Super Mutants are just a means to an end for me. They don't even know I'm using them. And they won't know it, even when it's too late." Once more he began walking before they tried to get his attention again.

Thaddeus then remembered he needed to do something back in his lab and quickened his pace, the ogres matching his gait.

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

Wayland felt like he was wandering around for hours. He didn't know how to tell time, only that when the sun rises it's a new day. It was also difficult to make his search because a lot of the Super Mutants kept asking who he was and where he came from because of his odd shade of green. He came into an open floor, watching the Super Mutants mulling about with nothing to do but wait for their leader to give them orders. Old memories that Wayland wasn't too fond of. But he had a stroke of luck not too long ago, he overheard several mutants talking about the human captives held down below in the decontamination area. He smiled to hearing that information, but it went away just as quickly when he heard they were gonna be gassed with FEV sometime today. In fact, he began to notice a lot of the Super Mutants were in a good mood, as if they were awaiting the arrival of long time friends and family. It was worse than he feared, a new army was about to be made and that put the settlement and so many others in great danger. Wayland didn't know what to do now, he considered leaving and tell the others what he discovered. But then he remembered the guards at the door, it was likely they would stop him and ask why he's leaving so soon. He also considered going down to the lower level and sabotage the machines before the people were gassed.

Before he made up his mind, Wayland turned around and gasped in surprise when he saw who was standing in front of him. For a moment Wayland thought he was looking at a ghost, a Super Mutant with pale white skin and blue veins looked back at him with a tense frown. Wayland couldn't find anything to say, all he could do was stare at the albino that baffled him. Something about it made Wayland feel deeply nervous, he could tell it wasn't like the rest at all. It had sharp eyes and an air of purpose and reasoning that made it stand above the rest in intellect.

"Uh, hello..." Was all Wayland could muster to say.

Al on the other hand just frowned even more. "Who are you?..."

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

It was almost two and a half hours since Wayland walked into the power plant, everyone took turns on lookout and simply waited for anything to happen. Louis paced back and forth, worried for Wayland's safety. Ezrah stood outside of his Power Armor, inspecting the side where the Behemoth's blade scrapped against it. He sighed upon the noticeable scratches, and hoped someone could buff it out. Despite still functioning very well as the system diagnostics showed, there was no denying his Power Armor showed the scars of its battles. Light scratches and pin size dents covered almost every inch of it, Ezrah often thought back to the way it used to look, pristine and shiny, almost too beautiful to send out into the Wasteland. If there was one thing the Brotherhood of Steel was good at, it was taking great care of their suits.

Hiromi had his squad routinely check their equipment, both keep them prepared and so they didn't get bored. Radcliffe sat on an old chair in the corner near the door to the next room, dozing off here and there. Joe stood over Cavall, trying to teach him a few things like shake, lay down, and even hoped to get him to roll over. Although the large hybrid thought the ghoul was trying to play with him, so not much luck with the training. Chloe worked on her plasma rifle, making sure there was no damage to it after facing that Behemoth, and a bit disappointed she didn't get to use the flamethrower attachment. Asimov stood as still as a statue from one of the windows, never taking his optics off the power plant in case some of the brutes came their way. Victoria watched Louis as he continued to pace, knowing that every minute that passed made him worry more and more.

"Louis," Chloe said to him. "Pacing back and forth isn't helping..."

The Vault dweller stopped in his tracks and looked to her. "I know that, but that doesn't mean I can't stop worrying."

"Your hair is gonna turn gray and fall out, kid." Joe said after another failed attempt to make Cavall lie down. "Take it easy, nothing has happened since Wayland went in."

"Nothing that has happened on the outside." Louis pointed out, crossing his arms and looked to the door where Radcliffe was snoozing near. He sighed lightly and started heading for it. "I'm gonna...find a spot to go. Be back in a few minutes." He informed everyone.

All of them heard him as he exited the door. Victoria on the other hand felt a strange suspicion when he left the room. She knew Louis wasn't the kind of person to just let an issue go. So after a minute or so passed, she looked around before walking through the same entrance he went through.

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

Doug and Inez, along with five people following, made their way steadily down the street. They followed the fresh trail, thinking it was the best and safest path to travel. One of the men, a rather strong one, carried the Gatling laser strapped to his back. Doug put on a brave face as he walked, his ankle started to hurt again, but not enough to stop him. He put in all his effort to not slow the group down despite showing a slight limp to his step. His hand rested on the double barrel strapped to his waist, keeping an eye out for any danger. They all expected to see Super Mutants on the way, the five people traveling with them kept their rifles ready as if expecting an attack to spring out any moment.

"How much farther until we reach the power plant?" Doug asked to try and distract them from his limp. He worried they noticed it.

"At this pace, maybe less than two hours." Said the one carrying the Gatling laser.

Inez on the other hand knew Doug was pushing himself too hard. "Let's take a quick break. We won't be of any help if we're exhausted."

The group agreed and found spots to rest in the open. Doug mentally sighed in relief as he sat down on the front hood of a rusted car, glad to take the weight off his ankle. The frown across his face only seem to deepen, he didn't want to wait but couldn't risk making it worse again.

Inez sat down on the side above the axle, the tire long gone, and looked over to Doug. "Still worried about the others? Or should I say...you're more worried about Louis?"

Doug's tight face unwind, there was no way he could deny it with her. "That guy, always getting himself into crazy things. It's amazing and annoying at the same time."

"But you still want to help because he's your friend and friends help each other." Inez stated with a smile.

"Until he gets really hurt or worse. And then I'll feel shitty because he got himself killed for getting into something way over his head." Doug said, slumping his head down a little.

"I may have not known him nearly as long as you, but I know he'll be fine if you're looking out for him." She said, hoping to turn his frown around. "But trust in him, he's doing far better than most people who get in over their heads."

Doug let out a light chuckle and turned his head to the sky. "True, that guy can't go far before stumbling into some new mess." He slid off the hood and brushed the rust off his rear. "We've rested long enough. Let's move."

"If you're sure." Inez hopped off next and asked the group. "Everyone else good to go?"

The settlers got back up, rested and ready. The man carrying the Gatling laser secured it once more before they started walking again, following the trail laid before them.

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

Joe sat on the floor and leaned against a wall. He had sort of, kind of, gave up on trying to teach Cavall some tricks and let him patter off. But soon he realized Cavall wasn't anywhere in sight, in fact he hadn't seen Louis in awhile either. At least half an hour, give or take, the last thing he remembered was Louis going off to find a place to go. "Hey, where's Louis? Anyone seen him?" He asked while standing up.

Everyone in the room started looking around, but no one could find him or Cavall anywhere. Chloe also remembered she was once talking to Victoria earlier. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Vicky in awhile either. Where'd she go?"

Ezrah dashed to the entrance where Radcliffe sat, who was still dozing off in his seat. "Hey, Radcliffe, where's Louis and Victoria?" He asked while patting him on the shoulder.

Radcliffe jerked from his sleep and grumbled. "Who? What? Shut up and leave me alone."

"Radcliffe," Ezrah said more sternly. "Louis and Victoria are missing. And they passed you before they went missing. Did you see anything before they disappeared."

"No, I didn't!" Radcliffe rubbed his right eye. "They went pass me a minute or two ago. Just check the back. Maybe they both needed to take a leak."

"That was half an hour ago." Joe told him. "You were asleep the whole time."

Ezrah and Joe walked through the door with Chloe and Asimov tailing behind, they went down the dim and messy hall and stared hearing a heavy scratching. They quickened the pace and went around the turn to find Cavall digging at the bottom of an old wooden door that probably wouldn't have hold up if he really tried to break it down considering his size.

"Cavall, come here." Joe called to him. The hybrid stopped digging and sat down in front of the door whimpering lightly. "Oh, sure, now he knows how to sit..." He grumbled.

Ezrah grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open, the door almost broke off it hinges as everyone looked in to see an empty room. Cavall rushed in and went over to the big open window and rested his front paws on the sill and looked out, whimpering lightly again while sniffing the air.

"Oh, my god! He left, that fool left!" Joe said as he marched in.

"Why would he do something do foolish?" Ezrah went in next, he could tell that the dusty window had been opened very recently. "What is he up to?"

"He was clearly worried for Wayland's safety. I believe he wanted to go help." Asimov stated plainly.

Radcliffe approached them from behind and heard everything. "I get why he would help the big green guy, but why did Red go with him too?"

Chloe turned her head to him with a small frown. "I doubt he convinced her to go. If I had to guess, she followed him."

Ezrah left the room quickly, dashing back down the hall and into the room where everyone else was waiting for them. Hiromi was about to say something before Ezrah passed him and stepped into his Power Armor. Once he went in, the plating closed on his exposed body and reached an arm over his shoulder to grab the laser rifle.

"What's going on? Did you not find them?" Hiromi asked frantically.

"No, Louis left, probably to help Wayland and we believe Victoria followed him." Ezrah answered.

"That damn idiot. Why is he sticking his neck out for that monster? He's gonna get himself killed!" Hiromi cursed.

Joe checked his Webley quickly. "That's enough from you. Wayland's apart of our group and I won't let you talk shit about him or anyone else for that matter."

Radcliffe drew his Hardballer from its holster. "Wow, that's a nice thing to say, Joe. Maybe you aren't such a wrinkled old grouch after all."

"Get your drunk ass moving, Radcliffe! You're wasting time!" Joe snapped at him. Once he turned away, Radcliffe held out his middle finger high and proud.

"Hiromi, we're goin' to go look for him." Ezrah began to say. "Stay here, the plan hasn't changed. If we're lucky, we'll find them before anything else goes off the rails."

Hiromi on the other hand hated the plan to standby. "We can help, there's no need for us to wait here."

"I know you all can. But our mission is still a recon. We've lost too many people as it is, let's not get into another fight unless absolutely necessary."

"Hey, we need to get moving if you don't mind." Chloe called, waving her hand in the air to him.

Ezrah turned away and went over to the group before Hiromi could continue the argument. The former Brotherhood member sighed to himself, wishing Hiromi could understand that charging in won't help anyone and cause more needless death. They stepped out the building in a line with Joe in the lead and Cavall following at his side, sniffing the air for Louis and Victoria's scent and followed the trail.

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

Louis stayed low to the ground, going around the power plant and avoiding the entrance because going anywhere near it was nothing short of a suicide dive. He was searching for a side entrance and hoped the Super Mutants didn't have any guards in that area. Soon the front entrance was gone and he came around the corner. The coast was clear so he went over to the wall, cringing every time the gravel under his boots crunched. He lowered the ticking on the Pip-Boy's Geiger counter setting and kept checking it over and over every few seconds any radiation. A power plant was usually one of the most heavily irradiated places in the country for obvious reasons. He followed the wall, looking back and forth to keep an eye out for trouble. Finally he had a stroke of luck and spotted a side entrance with a raised concrete level, and the door was cracked open.

Louis dashed over to a pile of oil drums, thinking for a moment they were actually radioactive waste barrels. He peeked over the barrels and double checked the entrance. It was now or never, and he didn't even have a clue if there was anyone on the other side of the door. He took a deep breath, inched passed the barrels and got ready to dash before the sound of footsteps caused a fearful chill run down his spine. A hand grabbed him on the shoulder, a surprisingly small hand that held tight and pulled him back. Once Louis got a look at the person his fears went away, that is until he saw the look on Victoria's face.

"Are you out of your mind?" She asked, pretty much convinced he was.

The Vault dweller took a deep breath to calm down. "Don't we have to be a bit out of our minds to survive in the Wasteland?"

Victoria replied with a punch to his shoulder, just enough for him to get the point. "Don't joke! You were about to charge into a building full of Super Mutants and do what exactly? Get in Wayland's way and blow the whole operation?"

Louis couldn't find a rhetoric to that, he knew she was right, but even so. "I get what you're saying, but I couldn't just stand around and wait. Wayland isn't like them, and if they pick up on that then there's no tellin' what will happen."

The redhead sighed and looked to the entrance he was about to go through. "I can't talk you out of it, can I?"

Louis looked back to it. "Well...you certainly can try. Are you gonna go back to the others?"

"And leave you by yourself? Not a chance. I have no choice but to follow and watch your back." Victoria reached for her bow and drew an arrow, figuring that if they did run into any Super Mutants, a silent weapon won't expose them. "You care a lot for Wayland, huh?"

"It's not just Wayland," Louis looked back to the entrance. "I'd be worried about any of you if for some reason one of us had to go into something alone. "You, Wayland, Doug, Chloe, Joe, Cavall, Inez, Asimov, and yes, even Radcliffe. I believe we're all stronger together."

Victoria smiled a little to that. "You're...a really selfless guy, huh?"

The two quietly dashed over to the door, hearts pounding in their chests in fear of a Super Mutant coming out any second. But once they reached the door, nothing came out to greet them. Louis slowly pulled the door open as Victoria drew her arrow back ready to fire, and then slowly loosened it after not seeing anything on the other side. Louis went in first with Victoria watching his back before closing the door. There was no turning back for them at that point, now they too had entered the den of Super Mutants with no backup.

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

"Again...who are you?..." Al demanded more harshly.

Wayland finally snapped out of his confusion and answered in his dumb downed voice. "Uh, I am Super Mutant. Who else could I be?"

Al frowned in annoyance and put his arms behind his back, clearly not amused. Wayland felt a drop of sweat run down the back of his head as the albino began to pace from side to side, looking Wayland up and down. "Where did you come from? You're not like the others. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen a Super Mutant with your shade of green."

"I...I came from far away. My entire kin was killed. Want to join this one. Where is the leader? Is...it you?" Wayland said in hopes that the albino will stop looking him over.

Al on the other hand frowned deeply once more before something came to mind. "Follow me..."

The albino didn't wait for Wayland to object or say anything else, he had no choice but to do as told and followed. Al lead Wayland up many flights of steps and floors until reaching his floor, finding less and less Super Mutants as they went, almost as if they were avoiding the area. Al finally came to a stop in front of a large metal door, and Wayland began to feel that something was off. The albino pulled the heavy door open and let him go in first, once Wayland was in, Al closed it and gave him a moment to look on in awe at the large room filled with strange chemistry sets, terminals buzzing with data and other things that Wayland couldn't identify even if he tried.

His confusion only worsened with each passing moment. "Uh...where the leader?..."

"The fool isn't here. It never likes coming up here." Al answered while coming around. "And I didn't bring you here to meet it. I have questions. And you'd be smart to answer."

Wayland tensed up, he considered reaching for his AK-47. "I, uh, don't know what-"

Al raised his hand up to silence. "Stop. You're just embarrassing yourself." He lowered his hand down. "I know you're not like the rest of the knuckle draggers."

Wayland finally lost the fight of deception. "How did-"

"I know?" Al interrupted. "I could tell by the look in your eyes. A lot of people don't know it, but a Super Mutant that is different from the rest have a sort of 'glint' if you will. A slight hint of their former humanity." He turned away for a moment. "As if there's a microscopic piece of the person they once were. It's like the old saying, eyes are the window to the soul. If you believe such nonsense."

"Then why did you bring me up here?" Wayland dropped the dumb act in his tone. "Just to find out that I'm not like them?"

"Partly, yes." Al began to circle him, arms behind his back again. "There's something more to you, I can tell. A shade of green I've never seen. You're not a remnant of The Master's work, although I doubt you even know who that freak was. And you're not from D.C. either, there's plenty of those rejects all around. And you're not like the ones in Boston, your color doesn't match theirs." His eyes slowly traced him from head to toe. "In fact, your body is practically perfect. No bulbous lumps of mismatched muscles, no uneven limbs. It's almost as if you're one big, musclebound human who is green. So I must ask, who are you...and where did you come from?"

His eyes seemed to darken after asking that. Wayland could practically see the blood pumping through his blue veins under the skin of his face. A rustling of papers and other things falling off a table in the far corner drew their attention. Thaddeus came out from the dark corner, stretching his arms up after having a quick nap before continuing his work and holding a stack of papers in one hand.

"Al? Al, is that you? When did you get back? And how long have I been asleep?" He questioned while flipping through the papers, all of them filled with data and notes. "I came back here to go over the data one more time and took a nap." He looked up from his pages and finally noticed Wayland. "And who are you talking to? Who's thi..."

His voice suddenly froze, the papers fell from his hands and splattered out all over the floor at his feet. His hands began to tremble and took a step back, his face going almost as pale as Al's skin.

"Thaddeus, what's wrong?" Al asked, showing a surprising amount of concern as he looked to Wayland.

"You're not...you're not supposed to be here! You're not supposed to be alive!" Thaddeus took another step back. "There's not supposed to be any of you left! This isn't possible!" He ran towards a nearby table, almost slipping on the papers as he grabbed the drawer and tugged it open, almost pulling it out and sending the contents falling to the floor. "You're not supposed to be alive! You're not supposed to alive!" He took out a handgun, checked to see it was loaded before aiming right towards Wayland.

Al's eyes widen and quickly lunged to the side. "If you need to shoot, wait until I'm out of the way!"

Wayland stood more confused then all of them, something pricked at the back of his mind. The last thing he ever expected to see was a human walking around freely among the Super Mutants, let alone one that seemed to know him. Strange memories surfaced, if only for a moment. A sealed room. Strapped to a large table with metal clamps and strange wires all over his body. Several strange humans in lab coats looking at him behind a big glass window. Alarms blaring in a long hall. Running for his life before seeing the sun for the first time. Wayland snapped out of his blurry flashback thanks to the sound of a gunshot followed by a bullet whizzing over his head.

Thaddeus grumbled and held both hands on the gun tight. "Fucking abomination! You should be dead!" He fired off three more shaky shots, all of them flying all over the place and hitting everything but Wayland.

The confused Super Mutant lumbered back, turned sharply and ran into the door, flinging it open and barreled down the hall in a panic. Wayland needed to get out, the mission had gone out of control and needed to warn the others. Unaware that they too have made changes to the mission.

Thaddeus lowered his arms, the gun hanging loosely in his right hand. His skin still had a pale shade to it and a cold sweat across his brow. Al gritted his teeth and stomped over to Thaddeus and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, almost making the man crumble thanks to its weight.

"Have you lost your damn mind?! What were you thinking, firing a gun off like that?! You know it took forever to get all the equipment and you almost made them target practice!" Al shouted, tempted to toss him across the room.

Thaddeus finally came back to reality and looked up at the albino. "That Super Mutant...where did it come from? How long has it been here?"

Al blinked a few times. "It just arrived today. Some of the others told me it was looking around for the leader to ask if it could join. I've never seen anything like it before. But that doesn't explain why you went all crazy...er. Why does that one have you freaking out?!"

Both of Thaddeus' fists clenched, he almost pulled the trigger of his gun. "It was...it was before your time and it's too long to explain right now. We need to get that thing back, find out how it survived and kill it! I can't have any of them running around in the world!"

"But Demon is waiting for the new batch of Super Mutants. We're ready to do it right now."

The back of Thaddeus' left hand swung out and struck Al across the jaw. The scientist would regret that later when his hand began to bruise. "That idiot can wait until the end of time for all I care! The priorities have changed! Hunt that reject down, bring it to me, and I'll decide what to do with it!" He placed the gun back on the desk and headed for the door. "Now where are the damn ogres?! I need them to help and keep the rest of the rabble in order!"

Al growled deeply and stroked his jaw. "By the way, your aim still sucks..."

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

Louis and Victoria watched from the end of a hall as two Super Mutants walked by, never noticing them. The two stayed close and low, pressing their luck with every step as the amount of Super Mutants grew. They came to a stop at a turn, another small group passed through at the end. They were seeing more and more as if being summoned somewhere.

"Louis, we're gonna get spotted at this rate." Victoria whispered.

"I know, I know." He responded. "I must admit...I'm starting to regret my choice."

"Oh, so now he does..." She rolled her eyes.

Louis glanced back to her for a moment. "Just for the record, I did want to go in alone."

Their conversation came to a stop when the sound of heavy footsteps marched down the hall behind them. They spun around and saw two strange Super Mutants coming their way and closing in. Big and bulky with unusual skin color and pulsing veins and long arms with blank eyes. They both looked to each other, not sure what to do as the beasts looked their way.

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

Wayland lost his way easily, so many questions kept running through his mind. The man in the lab coat that seemed to know him, did he also know about his radiation power? He wanted to turn back around and force him to talk, he got the feeling the scientist had something to do with making Super Mutants thanks to all the strange lab equipment. Wayland came to a stop to catch his breath, he had no idea where he was right now and feared the man and albino would soon tell the Super Mutants about him.

"Hey! Who are you?"

Wayland felt his blood run cold as he looked over to two new Super Mutants. One with a metal shard sticking out of its head and another with an axe for an arm on the left and missing apart of its lower lip. Demon looked Wayland over, even it was unfamiliar with him.

"I said, who are you?" It demanded again, that was twice in one day Wayland had been asked that.