CHAPTER 45: THE FERAL TOWN.
April 21/2296
After several days together, the wanderers started to feel a little cluttered as they traveled. They so every now and then they would spread out a little in small groups for comfort. Fayola often scouted ahead to scan the land with her sniper scope before returning to them. They traveled along the highway ever since they left the bounty hunter town, which made their travel a lot easier for the time.
Louis looked at the Pip-Boy to make sure they were on track. "Well, nothing has changed much since we've started." he said to everyone. "Maybe we're reaching the end of the signal?"
"Perhaps we should hold off on the celebration until we actually get there, Louis." Doug said as he walked by.
"I still can't believe you people are following an unknown signal with an unknown Pip-Boy model, and have no what's even at the end of it. If there's anything at the end of it." Fayola said as she returned to them. "I don't know if you people are bold or out of your minds to do this."
"Says the one who joined us..." Chloe pointed out to her.
"It helps that most of us had nothing better to do anyway." Joe spoke out. "And you're just the same as us."
"And just to clarify, no one here has to stay if they don't want to." Louis covered up the Pip-Boy with his trench coat sleeve.
"You don't have to worry about me leaving anytime soon, I want to see this to the end." Victoria said to him, smiling softly.
"Hey, everyone!" Ezrah called out to them, waving armored arm up in the air. "There's a town up ahead!"
The wanderers picked up the pace and soon joined Ezrah where he stood. Indeed an old ruined town laid half a mile from them. At the left side of the town was a half finished Super-Duper mart with a few rusted construction vehicles left abandoned in front of the building since the Great War.
"Fuck, abandoned towns always give me the creeps." Radcliffe said with a cringed face.
"Look at that eyesore over there." Joe pointed to the dilapidated Super-Duper mart. "If that place had opened up, every small business in that town would have gone under in no time. Nothing like the greed of capitalism."
"And since it's was never finished, that means there's nothing in there to scavenge for." Inez sighed lightly.
"The mart might be a dead end, but we can at least check over the town." Asimov stated.
"I think there's something wrong with that town." Wayland said with a deep frown. "I don't like it."
"Well there's always a possibility of an ambush or some wild mutant. So we should at least have our weapons at the ready." Louis said while reaching for his AN-94 and chambered a round.
Everyone followed suit with their guns before making their way to the town. Once they got within several yards of it, the town turned out to be a lot more eerily quiet than they first thought. All they could hear was the wind and the creaking of old buildings and flying dust skittering across the ground. The wanderers looked around with caution at any possible place an attack could come from. Cavall sniffed the air, his hair started standing on end and made a low growl.
Louis kneeled a little and started stroking Cavall's head to calm him. "Hey, everything all right there, boy?"
"He smells something in the air. Maybe we should reconsider searching this town?" Joe said with a worried glare.
"Eh, it's probably just the stink of the Wasteland. Everything out here has its own unique disgusting smell..." Radcliffe said, throwing the LMG over his shoulder.
"And probably the smell of people waiting to attack." Joe pointed out to him. "Having an animal like Cavall is an invaluable asset to us, Radcliffe."
"Should we just turn back? Go around the town?" Ezrah asked the group.
"The signal is still pointing straight ahead. We'd waste a lot time going around." Louis said, unable to think of another way.
"I understand the danger, but if it means not losing time than we should cut through the town." Fayola chimed in. "Take points and go little by little as we search for supplies."
"Right, little by little." Doug said halfheartedly.
They formed into small groups and walked into the entrance of the town. All around they could see signs of shootouts spanning many decades. After they went a few blocks, the wanderers slowed down to start scavenging for anything useful. But all they found so far was old gear, torn backpacks and satchels, and weapons too rusted from age and exposer in the open.
"There's definitely signs of fights all over the town." Joe said while kicking some rusted cans. "But they're all very old, some even decades from the looks of it."
"But who were they fighting?" Louis asked as he spotted a skeleton with tattered clothes sprawled on the sidewalk. "I'm not seeing much of a pattern to all this."
Radcliffe tugged open a car door and looked in. "What the hell's to learn from a fight? All that matters is whose dead and who isn't at the end of it."
"As a matter of fact, there's a lot to learn from a fight." Chloe said as she took out a unopen can in the backseat of a car. "If you'd bother to learn anything instead of just shooting everything in sight or drinking to you blackout."
Wayland strayed from the group and went around a truck and suddenly gasped and stopped in his place. A large splatter of dark blood laid before him, along with many scattered human bones and torn clothes. The Super Mutant kneeled down and placed his fingers on the blood stained street and found that it was dry. Whatever happened in this spot wasn't fresh, but it wasn't too old either. Wayland got back up and darted back to everyone and tell them what he found.
Louis strayed a bit from the group as well. He came up to an old restaurant and walked inside the dim dining area for anything useful. He sighed after poking around for a minute and went to see if there was anything in the kitchen area. The inside was too dim so he turned on the light of his Pip-Boy to illuminate the room. As expected the kitchen was looted long ago, nothing but broken plates and empty cans and some scattered utensils. Louis sighed again and started heading to the pantry hoping something might have been overlooked. Just as he walked in, he heard something fall and clatter in the way back. He was instantly on alert and had his hand on the holster of his Colt. He heard another scuffle coming from the walk in fridge and slowly paced towards it. His hand crept onto the latch as he took a breath and opened the door slowly, it creaked heavily as he noticed a dim light from the back. Once the door was open he stepped in just as an empty can came flying towards him.
It happened in a instant, the flying can started to slow down in midair as Louis felt that tingling sensation throughout his body. It started around his eyes and traveled down his body, making him twist his head and body away and watched as the can slowly flew by before his senses returned to normal. His vision turned fuzzy for a moment as he rubbed the side of his head with his palm. Another can came flying at him and this time he was able to dodge without the VATS suddenly kicking in. The next object that was thrown at him was an empty glass jar along with the cry of a woman's voice.
"Stay away! Don't come near us!" she cried while picking up a bottle. The woman looked young, at least early thirties, her face had a few dirt marks and messy braided brown hair. She wore heavy clothes with a dingy brown jacket. At the corner was a little girl with her own jacket that was a size too large. The walk in fridge was lit by two camping lamps with two sleeping bags and two backpacks, one for an adult and a little one for the kid. "Go away! Go away!" she yelled while tossing the bottle.
Louis dodged the bottle and it shattered against the metal door. "Listen, it's all right! I'm not gonna hurt you!" he said while dodging another can.
The woman tossed several more cans and bottles at him until finally running out of anything to throw. She quickly dashed over to the girl and scooped her up in her arms. Louis was halfway into the walk in fridge, he could tell they had been holed up inside for awhile.
"Look, I'm not gonna hurt anyone here." He said with his arms up. "See? I'm not reaching for my weapons." The woman seemed to calm down a bit as he got within a few feet from them. "My name's Louis. My friend and I are searching this town for supplies. We can help you if you're in trouble."
"Did you see them? Are they still out there? How many are in your group?" she asked frantically, holding the girl's head close to her chest as if trying to shield her.
"Wait, slow down. What's out there?" Louis asked before hearing approaching footsteps.
"Louis! What's going on in there?" Doug called to him. "What was all that noise!"
"I'm back here!" he responded. "There's some people here! So only a few of you guys at a time! They're scared!"
Doug poked his head in with Victoria right behind him. "What's going on here? Were they hiding out in this room?"
"We have to get out of here! They'll swarm us any minute!" the woman said, her voice trembling even more.
"What's she talking about?" Victoria asked.
"I don't know." Louis said as he got closer to the two. "Listen, gather your stuff quickly. I promise we'll get you both out of here. How long have you been here anyway?"
"We've been hiding in here for five days. We just ran out of the last of our food and water." the woman said while rolling up their sleeping bags and grabbing the backpacks. "The group we joined was heading towards a town not too far from here. We cut through this place to save time. But once we got in deep enough...those things came out and attacked! Dozens of them!"
"Dozens of what? Tell us!" Doug asked a bit harshly.
"Doug, it's all right. If we hurry, we'll be out before whatever it is they're afraid of comes back." Louis started helping them pack up faster.
Once the woman and girl were finished, they darted out of the restaurant to find the rest of the wanderers gathering back together and asking who the two people were.
"What's goin' on here? Who are they?" Chloe asked as she approached.
"From the sound of it they're refugees, and they were hiding in that diner for a few days." Louis quickly explained. "I think something is in this town."
The woman happened to look over and spotted Joe approaching as well. Her eyes widened with terror and quickly scooped the child up and would have bolted if it wasn't for Wayland standing in her way. She froze from seeing a Super Mutant towering over her. Panic took its toll and the woman collapsed to her knees with the child held close with tears falling from her eyes. "It's another one of those things! The creatures that attacked us!" she said, looking back at Joe with trembling eyes.
"Well that's not the rudest thing someone has called me..." Joe said with a shrug.
"Hold on...creatures like Joe?" Doug said as it started to dawn on him.
Wayland raised his arm to get their attention. "I saw a lot of dried blood not too far from here. As if someone was eaten alive!"
Ezrah reacted to that and readied his laser rifle. "She must be talking about feral ghouls! There could be a herd in this town!"
"Then we need to get out of here! Let's go back the way we came!" Inez said, pointing in the direction.
Radcliffe was already starting to go before everyone else. "She's right! It's the quickest way without much crap in our way."
Without wasting another minute they retreated back the way they came where the Super-Duper mart was. They walked into an open space of the street that was surrounded by cars scattered on the sidewalks. A sudden shuffling came from somewhere behind the cars and they stopped in their place and listened as Cavall began to growl deeply. The shuffling grew more louder along with a raspy and heavy grunting. But then the shuffling came to a stop, as if whatever was skulking around suddenly vanished. The wanderers grew on edge from the odd silence, they formed a rough circle in that open space of street.
The silence came to an end as something leapt onto the hood of a car several feet away from them and scampered unto the roof. A feral ghoul screech a raspy howl and bared its crooked yellow teeth. The only form of clothing it had on was a tattered scrap of pants around the waist that looked ready to fall off.
Doug was the first to react and fired a single shot from his sawed off shotgun, hitting the feral square in the chest. It howled painfully and dropped to the roof and fell over, leaving a bloody trail all over the car. The shot echoed through the town, and the dead silence began to fill with howls and screeches and other horrid raspy cries coming from every street and building nearby. Dozens of feral ghouls poured out from their dark hiding places, charging right towards the wanderers, running and climbing over anything in their path.
"Feral ghouls!" Ezrah shouted and started blasting away with his laser rifle.
"Head for the end of the town! Hurry!" Joe shouted and drew his Sako 85 and fired from the hip, hitting a feral that was charging right towards them.
The wanderers fled again, spreading out to avoid getting cluttered from the vehicles and debris in their way. Louis and Doug stayed close to the woman and girl, carrying the girl tightly in her arms. The feral ghouls started to get closer, some clawed and trampled over each other, some scurried across the roofs and leaped down to the street. The Super-Duper mart came into view as they passed an excavator and picked up the pace. But just as they reached the open space that would have been the parking lot, more ghouls suddenly poured out from the inside of the half finished building. The new horde completely cut off the exit to the town and the wanderers had to stop. The new pack began to get close while the other swarm from behind was catching up.
Louis looked around for another way and spotted an alley not too far from them. "Over there! We can lose them through that alley!" he shouted and waved for them to follow.
Everyone saw the direction he was leading and quickly followed. Radcliffe and Wayland fired into the horde, sending a number of the feral ghouls collapsing to the ground. The rest didn't stop their chase, even trampling over those that fell as the wanderers started funneling into the alley a few at a time. Wayland and Radcliffe were the last to go in, the Super Mutant slung his assault rifle and grabbed a nearby car by its window frames. With a grunt he dragged the rusted vehicle right towards the alley entrance and flipped it over on its side just as he slipped in. The car became a makeshift barricade to buy some time. But just as he blocked off the alley, the ghouls smashed and thrashed against it, the swarm grew more dense as a few already started to climb over the car.
The narrow alley forced the group to go down it in an uneasy line. Suddenly a ghoul jumped down from the roof with a howl, right above Inez. She looked up just as it was about to land squarely on top of her. As always, Asimov was right beside her and quickly grabbed the ghoul by its ankle and tossed it to the ground. It slammed against the brick wall with a hard thud, stunning it only for a moment before it leaped back on its feet and lunged. Asimov anticipated its attack and sprang out his right arm blade and drove it all the way through its head just under the chin. The ghoul dropped like a rag doll and the group moved on.
Once back on the streets they tried to head for another way out of town before more howls and cries filled the air. Another swarm stampeded their way from the street that could have lead them out. With nowhere else to escape, they turned around and headed deeper into the town to find another way.
"There's...no end to them!" Doug said with heavy pants.
"I've never seen so many ferals in one place!" Ezrah shouted before turning to shoot down several ghouls that got in close.
"Hey, that's good! Stay there and shoot them down!" Radcliffe shouted while running ahead of everyone.
"You're pretty good at saving your own ass!" Joe shouted at him.
Radcliffe got way ahead of the group and reached a new intersection just as more than a dozen ghouls were closing in on him from several yards away. He went on the attack and started blindly firing at the ghouls with his LMG. The bullets struck several of them, along with a few of the cars surrounding them. Cars powered by nuclear cores. One of them finally exploded and most of the ghouls were caught up in the blast. Radcliffe almost fell back, the shock wave left his ears ringing and the bright flash left him covering his eyes with his forearm. The wanderers caught up and Joe practically dragged him along by the shoulder as more cars nearby started going off. Louis' Pip-Boy was ticking moderately from the spike in radiation.
"That's what you get for tryin' to save your own ass, Radcliffe!" Joe shouted and shoved his shoulder hard.
"What you say?!" Radcliffe shouted, digging a finger into his ear.
"I think he's a bit deaf from the explosion." Ezrah said to him. "You'll have to chew him out later."
Louis looked to the east of the town. "This way! Down the street, it's clear!"
The wanderers barreled down the street as more feral ghouls started to surround them. They came out from the ruined buildings, they dropped from the rooftops, and they even saw them crawl out from open sewer holes and storm drains. Moving as if they were executing a coordinated attack on the wanderers. Shooting at the growing swarm only enraged them and completely ignored and trampled over their dead, some even staying behind to feed on the fallen.
Louis kept searching for a place where they could hide to rest before they collapsed from exhaustion. He noticed they were all starting to slow down with only Asimov matching Inez's pace and Ezrah's Power Armor doing most of the running for him. His eyes fell on a rusted police car as they ran past it and than looked ahead and saw a building that could help them. "Guys, look! There's a police station up ahead! We can hide out in there and work out a plan!"
"Why a police station?" Doug asked him.
"Because most police stations are fortified and I don't see any of these ferals coming out of it. And it still looks very intact!" Joe answered, his breath filled with a wheeze. "Shit, I gotta quit smoking..."
"Either way we can't keep running like this!" Victoria said before firing a few shots from her .223 at a ghoul in front of them. "We're gonna collapse from exhaustion!"
"Then let's get in it!" Fayola nodded and picked up the pace and fired the last two rounds from her Redhawk.
The area around the police station was clear and within reach, but once they saw the front doors they noticed it was closed by a thick chain wrapped around the handles several times with a few locks holding it all together. They stopped in front of the doors and Louis and Doug grabbed the handles and chain to tug it open.
"What kind of sick fucking bastard uses so many locks?!" Doug pointed his shotgun at the chain to blow it off.
"No, wait! The chain might be the only thing holding these doors together!" Louis quickly stopped him from firing.
"But why is the chain on the outside?" Fayola pointed out. "It might be keeping something inside the building."
"We don't have a choice! The ghouls will catch up to us now even if we start running!" Victoria said while pointing her SMG towards the incoming swarm and started firing in bursts.
"We'll find out once we're inside! Just get those doors open while we hold them off!" Joe said to them. He switched back to his combat shotgun and started firing.
Louis started bashing the locks with the butt of his assault rifle while Doug did the same with his fire axe. Age and rust had made the locks easier to break, but it was still time consuming to get each of them off. Inez ran over to help using her big wrench, holding it firmly before swinging.
The rest of the wanderers stayed on the street to keep the feral ghouls back while the woman and child stayed on the step with Cavall pacing in front of them with his bright eyes trained on the incoming threat. Joe waited for the ferals to get in close before firing, being a ghoul himself the ferals mostly ignored him, but in their frenzy that seemed to change. Chloe aimed low with her plasma rifle, striking them in their waists and legs, melting those parts of their bodies to make them easier to kill while on the ground. Wayland ended up further away from the group to cull a small horde coming from down the street. His assault rifle clicked empty and started reloading, leaving him vulnerable to attack. Several ghouls surrounded and jumped him quickly, clawing and biting him all over. The armor he wore provided protection, but the ghouls still managed to get into the nooks and crannies, threatening to rip apart what held it all together. Wayland couldn't contain his anger anymore and bellowed loudly and started throwing his massive fists, smashing in their faces in and even grabbed and tossed the ghouls through the air and sent them splattering on the pavement. A ghoul's hand reached up and scratched him across the face near the lips with its long, dirty fingernails. Wayland growled and forgo the assault rifle and reached for his sledgehammer and swung with enough force to send the head of the ghoul in front of him flying. After that he started swinging hard and wide, splattering and smashing every feral unlucky enough to get in the way.
Ezrah got into the thick of it to draw the ferals away as much as possible. He didn't fear them getting through his armor, but that still didn't stop them as they clawed and bite all over. Ezrah even witnessed one of them biting hard on his forearm and broke its teeth with each bite. He fired upon them at point blank range, the lasers burned through their bodies as if they were made of dry wood. Asimov stood alone as well, both his arm laser guns folded out and blazing hot. Any ghoul that got in too close he switched to his arm blades to slice them open. Several ghouls jumped him from behind and knocked him to the ground and started clawing and biting his armored body. Asimov almost pitied them for not realizing they couldn't eat him and started charging up his head laser. Radcliffe climbed on top of a car and fired in wide sweeps on the ghouls, cackling like mad as their bloodied and bullet filled bodies started to pile up all around the car. Fayola switched from her Redhawk to her Walther P99, holding the gun in one hand and her gladius in the other. She would fire a few shots at any ghoul that got in close to stagger and finish them off with a swing of her blade, easily hacking off limbs and cleaving heads from shoulders. And any time she needed to reload, she simply stuck the tip of her gladius into a fallen ghoul's body to free her hand for a few moments.
Louis smashed off another lock and yanked away the metal loop as Doug unraveled the chain bit by bit. Inez gave her wrench a twist and broke another lock. The last lock came off and Doug yanked the chain off the door handles. With their weapons raised, Inez threw the doors open and they stormed in and gave the station room a sweep to make sure nothing was waiting to attack. The light from outside filtered in through the dirty windows, but it was enough for them to see and found nothing in there except for the usual signs of past looting and scavenging.
Louis ran back out and shouted. "It looks clear! Everyone in!"
The group heard him and started falling back as the ghouls' numbers only seem to grow. Inez helped the woman and child in while Louis and Doug stood at the top of the stairs offering support with everyone else. One after the other they filed into the police station, the horde got closer to their position. Ezrah and Chloe were still at the foot of the stairs to keep the horde back a little longer. Asimov finally went on the attack against the ghouls piled on him, the laser beam reached its full charge and fired upward to the sky, burning right through the ghouls hovering above him. Once they leaped backed off from the attack, Asimov quickly sat up and swept his beam at them. The ghouls made horrible dry screeches of pain as their bodies were cut to pieces from the intense laser. The Assaultron got back on his feet as the laser died off and headed for the door.
"Okay, you guys are the last ones in! Let's go before they overrun us!" Louis called out to Chloe and Ezrah.
"There's still too many nearby! They'll swarm the doors as we're closing them!" replied Ezrah, keeping his attention on shooting the ghouls.
"Then let's give them a reason to back off for a bit!" Chloe lowered her plasma rifle, turned a small knob, and raised it back up and unleashed a stream of flame.
The fire hit the ghouls and they lit up like torches. The air became filled with cries of burning agony, those on fire ran around aimlessly while the rest scurried back in fear. Chloe kept the stream of flame going, hoping that the twenty seconds of continuos use on one fuel canister would be enough to keep them away.
Ezrah watched as Chloe burn the ghouls to black cinders and realized she had the right idea. "I see that your weapon has a flamethrower attachment. Allow me to assist you!"
The former BOS raised his right arm and a plating near the side of the wrist slid open and a small nozzle protruded from the opening. A tiny flame ignited at the end and a stream of fire burst forth, mixing in with Chloe's fire and burning up more ghouls in its path. Chloe was surprised by this but welcomed his help considering the canister in her plasma rifle was about to run out. The scattered patches of fire kept the ghouls at bay and everyone finally stood inside the police station. Louis and Doug quickly wrapped the chain back around on the inside of the doors and tied it off as best they could. Everyone then found a place to sit or lean against to catch their breaths, the ghouls outside could already be heard skittering around looking for ways in. The woman sat down on a chair near a desk and started checking the child over.
"Look for anything useful!" Joe said while sitting on a chair too. "We gotta get ready to fight back against those bastards!"
"But this is a police station." Louis pointed out. "Didn't these kinds of places get looted right away in the Great War?"
"True, but even so you might get lucky if you know where to look." Joe opened a few desk drawers.
"We also need to secure the building." Ezrah said while heading to a nearby Nuka-Cola vending machine. "Block off all entrances and broken windows." he grabbed the vending machine and lifted with ease and headed back to the doors to place the machine down in front of it.
Fayola nodded agreeing. "We'll start at the back and work our way back here." she headed off with Victoria, Wayland, Radcliffe, Inez, and Asimov following to help.
"Check the area to the carport first." Joe called to her. "There could be a whole nest in there."
"We should make sure this area is secure as well." Doug said as he heard sounds of crawling and grumbling outside. "The fire must have gone out, they're on the move again."
"I think they're checking the windows." Louis said while peering out one of the dirty windows near the doors. "These guys aren't your average feral ghouls. They seem to be...smarter than normal? I can't really explain it."
"I have heard of ferals that show signs of a pack mentality." Joe said, his arms crossed in thought. "Although to what extent is debatable."
The woman approached them after sitting the girl down on the desk. "How are we going to get out of here? Those creatures have us surrounded."
"Ma'am, we promise we will find a way out of this. For you and the little girl with you." Ezrah said to her.
"She's my daughter. We've come so far to find a better life. I can't let it end like this for her." the woman said, worry and fear welling up in her voice again. "Please, if anything, make sure she gets out of this alive."
"We're all getting out of this." Louis assured her. "We just gotta find a way, there's always a way..."
The sounds of banging on the doors and windows startled them all. The ghouls were back in full force, clawing around to find any opening. The guys raised their guns fearing they could break through at any moment, the rest of the group returned just in time to see the shadows of hands banging against the dirty glass.
"This is turning into a goddamn zombie movie!" Doug said while reloading his Winchester.
"Need to work on your pep talk there." Joe said to him. "Get ready, those windows aren't going to hold for long! Don't start firing until they start breaking through!"
"Then this is where we'll make our stand until we find a way out!" Louis started looking around the room. "Barricade the windows with desks! Anything big enough to slow them down!"
Doug went over to the woman and her daughter. "Come with me, stay in the back until this is over."
The rest started moving desks around and flipped them over with the tops facing the windows. One of the windows nearby started cracking as the number of ghouls blocked out the sunlight. The wanderers got ready as they stood silent except for Cavall barking fiercely and ready to pounce.
"Guys, when they start breaking in, don't unload everything at once." Joe said to them. "Those windows are a bit off the ground, so they'll have to climb their way in. And when that happens, only fire in very small bursts so you don't shatter the windows completely."
"Joe's right, and we should also pick a window and stick with it." Ezrah commented, pointing his laser rifle dead ahead. "We can pick them off more effectively."
"Yeah, easy for you to say while inside that armor!" Radcliffe said, taking aim with his LMG.
One of the windows shattered in and a long gnarled arm clawed at the air. The arm pulled back and a ghoul with a crooked jaw poked its head in and hissed at them. Joe was the first to take action and whipped out his Webley and fired. The ghoul's head jerked as the bullet went straight through its skull and fell limp. The ghoul was pulled out by the others and three more arms sprang in and started lashing at the air. Another window to the right shattered and a ghoul crawled in despite the broken glass cutting it. Doug turned sharply and fired a shot into its chest and one more through the eye for extra measure. More windows were shattered open all around, ghouls climbed in and over each other in a hungry frenzy. The wanderers had to start firing in concentrated bursts, and every ghoul that fell either ended up on the floor or pulled out by the others outside. Doug decided to save on ammo and switched over to his fire axe and charged. He swung hard enough to split open their heads or drive the blade into their backs. Cavall dashed in and bit down on a ghoul's arm and broke it off like an old tree branch. He dropped the arm just in time to tackle another ghoul that wiggled its way in and tore open its throat.
The wanderers were already starting to lose ground against the swarm. Radcliffe ran up to a window and used the butt of his LMG to shatter open a panel and poke the barrel out. He fired upon the ghouls outside, not even having to aim thanks to their large numbers. Wayland followed Doug's example and took out his sledgehammer and easily smashed open the skulls of every ghoul that poked its head in like a game of Whack-a-Commie. The floor quickly became splattered with gore and skull fragments. Nearby an entire window pane fell off its frame and several ghouls started climbing in. Ezrah acted quick and picked up another desk and carried it over and slammed it down in front of the window longways and crushed the ghouls under its heavy weight.
Fayola stood away at a distance with her MSG90, picking off the ghouls one by one as they reared their hideous heads in. Her magazine went empty and started loading a new one. "Is it always this crazy with you people?" she asked while chambering a round.
Ezrah started using his laser rifle again after making sure the heavy desk was secure. "If you think this is bad, you should have been there with us against the Super Mutants. And I was fighting them for some time before they all came along."
"Yeah, but we've never been in a situation like this before!" Joe pulled off the drum of his shotgun and loaded his third to last. "We can't hold out like this for much longer! We need a new plan!"
"Right, working on it!" Louis said, switching to his Mossberg shotgun. "The front doors is out of the question. Not to mention it sounds like there's even more of them than before."
"We have to escape through the back while their attention is over here!" Doug shouted out, he stopped chopping the feral ghouls with his fire axe after too many started getting in.
"Good idea! I'll stay and hold them off while you all escape!" Ezrah sheathed his laser rifle onto his back and reached for his Gatling laser.
"We can't just leave you here to cover our escape!" Louis said to him.
"You have to! These ghouls can barely scratch my armor." Ezrah started to charge up his weapon. "It makes sense I stay behind while you guys get away! I'll catch up as soon as I can. Just go!"
"Ezrah's right!" Doug said while placing a hand on Louis' shoulder. "We're about to get overrun!"
The Vault dweller reluctantly agreed and they turned to flee, leaving Ezrah standing alone as his Gatling laser was moments from being ready. The last of the windows shattered open and the ghouls climbed in and dashed for him with hungry eyes. Ezrah lifted the Gatling laser and opened fire, filling the dim room with beams of burning red.
The wanderers quickly retrieved the woman and her daughter from the room they hid them in and started making their way to the back exit. The last thing they heard from Ezrah was the rapid fire of his Gatling laser and the pained cries of ghouls. They charged down the hall and could hear the ghouls just outside the windows trying to find a way in. Some started banging on the windows once they began to notice the wanderers inside. Fayola lead them down the quickest path to the carport, several windows shattered open and ghouls climbed in. They entered another room and slammed the door behind them, Wayland picked up a candy vending machine and placed it in front of the door to buy some time. Moments later the ghouls were pounding and clawing the door.
Not long after they came upon the carport entrance and flung the doors open. There were only a few police cars inside the dim carport, all rusted and scavenged as they headed towards the roller door. Once in front of it, Wayland reached down at the base and threw up the roller door thanks to his strength. It reeled up and broke off its support and crashed to the ground, the noise could be heard for several blocks around. The wanderers were back on the open street and began to run, but Louis stopped in his place and looked back at the police station.
Doug stopped after noticing he wasn't running. "What are you waiting for?! We gotta go!"
"Not without Ezrah! We can't leave him behind!" Louis replied, keeping his eyes on the building.
A sudden faint but heavy thud was heard and made them all stop in place. Another rumbling thud came, this time they could tell it came from somewhere in the police station. Finally, Ezrah came smashing through the wall where they passed through not too long ago. Brick and mortar went flying from the hole along with several ghouls falling out as Ezrah landed hard on his armored feet and started running towards them.
"Run! Keep running! There's more of them then ever before! Right behind me!" Ezrah shouted just as many feral ghouls started pouring out from the hole in the wall.
The wanderers spun back around and ran, already hearing the growls and dry cries of the ghouls barreling down on them. At that point they lost any sense of direction, all that mattered was keeping ahead of the horde. The woman started to slow down, carrying both her terrified daughter and their backpacks finally became too much for her. Ezrah, seeing that she began to slow down, quickly slung his Gatling laser to his back and scooped the woman up in his armored arms and carried them both with ease. The ghouls still kept a steady pace behind them, their eyes and slobbering mouths filled with hunger. Several small groups kept trying to cut them off at almost every street corner, narrowly avoiding their attacks and kept going.
At last by sheer luck, a way out came into view and they picked up speed for one last bolt. Just as the road leading out was within several yards, a new swarm of ghouls came out from the buildings nearby and blocked off their exit. The wanderers stopped quickly stopped in their place. All around the ghouls slowly circled them before stopping just fifteen or so feet from them. The ghouls growled and hissed, skulked around on their hands and feet like animals while others moved through the tight groups trying to get to the front lines. There was dozens upon dozens of them, if not a few hundred in all.
The wanderers had no choice but to stand their ground, breathing heavily from running. One by one they slowly readied their weapons and circled around, waiting for the feral ghouls to charge. Cavall panted heavy with his tongue lolling out but still lowered himself into a pouncing position. Ezrah gently placed the woman and her child down on the street and pulled out his Gatling laser. Wayland did the same with his minigun and pointed it at the swarm.
Doug kept his Winchester aimed at the feral ghouls with an aggravated frown. "Why aren't they attacking? Not that I'm complaining..." he said in a loud whisper.
"I know, this is so strange." Louis nodded in agreement. "I never would've imagined feral ghouls could act like this..."
"You guys can debate all this later once we get out!" Chloe commented, her finger trembling on the trigger of her plasma rifle.
"Hate to say it, but it's not looking good for any of us..." Joe dryly said to himself. "This might be our last stand..."
Radcliffe pulled out one of his flasks and quickly downed all the whiskey and belched. "Eh, fuck it! Better to go out in a blaze!" he chucked the flask and raised his LMG. "Let's send these zombie fuckers back to hell!"
"Yeah, grand idea, get them even more riled up by shooting them!" Fayola said to him with gritted teeth.
"Maybe we can distract them." Louis turned his head towards Ezrah. "Hey, Ezrah, how much longer can your flamethrower last? Maybe we can use it to clear a path?"
"I'm afraid I don't have much fuel left." Ezrah looked at the readout of his helmet showing the fuel canister was at seven percent. "It would only last a few seconds and not give us the opening we need."
"Then maybe we can fire on one spot to mow down a way out?" suggested Inez. "We should have enough ammo for that."
Before anyone else could make another suggestion, a ghoul suddenly broke from the ranks and ran right towards Louis. He reacted on reflex and surprise and put several bullets from his Colt into the feral ghoul's chest and it toppled down to the asphalt only a few feet from him. Another ghoul shrieked and broke away from the pack. Doug turned to the ghoul and fired three rapid shots into its chest and the last shot through its head. Two more sprang from the front lines and ran right for Inez. She was about to fire on them with her Beretta M9 before Asimov moved in front of her and blasted them down with his arm laser guns. They flopped to the ground with burning holes through their bodies. Asimov nodded while Inez frowned at him from behind for stepping in. After that ghouls started charging in a few at a time from all around, the wanderers made quick work of their attackers at first but the numbers were starting to increase with each passing wave.
The wanderers were forced to tighten their circle against the ghouls' rabid attacks. Reloading also proved to be dangerous for them as the ghouls seemed to target those who stopped shooting. Louis' assault rifle clicked empty and he cursed and reached for a new magazine. He only turned his eyes away for a second as a ghoul screeched and charged towards him with its arms outstretched and dark saliva all over its mouth. Louis panicked and almost dropped his magazine as it got within inches from him. A vicious bark became his saving grace as Cavall leaped and tackled the ghoul to the ground and tore it apart in his powerful jaws and gave Louis the moment he needed to reload. But as he got done putting in a new magazine, another ghoul closed in and took hold of his rifle and tried to rip it from his hands. Louis fought back against its tugs but still ended up being dragged away from everyone. During that struggle he noticed his friends were beginning to lose ground as their ammo dwindled and the ghouls attacked more rapidly.
The wanderers were moments from being overwhelmed, it seemed the town would be their final stand. Just then the sound of many tires coming to a screeching halt was heard, followed by doors flying open and various voices shouting orders to one another. Someone shouted about lighting them up and moments later several large bottles with flaming rags in them went flying through the air. The bottles shattered in the dense ghoul clusters and exploded into massive fireballs, engulfing dozens of them. They scattered from the flames as those on fire flailed around hissing in agony. After a few more bottles flew to scatter them further, the air suddenly came alive with the barks of heavy guns firing. The wanderers got down to avoid being hit by stray bullets from their unknown and hopefully friendly saviors. The ghouls finally had enough and broke their circle and fled back to their hiding places, some still burning as they ran down the streets.
The streets were littered with both the ghouls they slain and even more from the new attackers, all of them filled with bullets, laser burns, and smoldering carcasses. They cautiously turned to the people approaching them, several groups scattered out to execute any ghouls that were still twitching. The one leading them was a tall man wearing a heavy padded coat, combat fitted clothes and an old biker helmet with a glass face cover. He approached them alone as if to show he had no hostile intentions before stopping just a few feet from the exhausted wanderers and removed his helmet, showing a harden face with heavy stubble and four faded claw mark scars at his left cheek near the ear.
"Looks like we got here in time." he said while looking around at the fallen ghouls, amazed at how long they managed to fight against impossible odds. "You people are very lucky to have survived this town of ghouls."
