CHAPTER 47: INTO THE FERAL DEN

By the time Louis and Cavall got halfway to their destination, the Vault dweller realized he was breathing heavily from running so fast and came down to a steady jog before exhaustion endangered his chances. Louis took a deep breath to calm himself. The last thing he needed was for him and Cavall to be taken as well. He moved between anything that could hide them both from sight in case there were other ferals lingering about. It took them a little longer before getting in close to the building and quickly slunk behind a car. Louis peeked his head out and looked around for ghouls again before checking his Pip-Boy and didn't see any nearby movement on the motion tracker bar across the bottom of the screen. He leaned back against the door of the car and took a breath, Cavall was sitting next to him, waiting for Louis' next move. After exhaling, Louis got back on one knee to get ready and took one more look around to make sure it was all clear and bolted, softly calling for Cavall to follow.

The office building was just a few yards away, Louis could feel his heart pounding again as he got closer. Memories of yesterday came flooding back, thoughts of ferals coming out of every opening. But none came as they finally reached the entrance to the building and stopped quietly. Louis checked his Pip-Boy for any red ticks indicating movement one more time.

Once he stepped in he could smell the rot in the air. The dusty windows helped keep the inside bright enough to see but there were many dark places where a feral could hide and ambush. So he switched to his Mossberg 590 shotgun to counter such possible surprises and started walking forward, Cavall staying close to his side and ready to attack.

The first thing Louis did was look for any signs on which direction Doug was taken. The floor was littered with broken coffee mugs, glass, office supplies, pieces of clothes, and smashed furniture thrown all about. Louis cursed when he saw how the floor was basically a garbage minefield that could make enough noise to expose them if they weren't careful. So with another breath, he started treading carefully and Cavall seemed to pick up on it as well. After his eyes started to adjust to the dimness, Louis could see a path of drag marks on the floor with junk that had been recently scattered along with a number of dusty footprints. He started following and activated the light of his Pip-Boy and turned the light down in hopes it would reduce the risk of being spotted before exiting the main lobby and into the halls.

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Doug's leg felt numb from being dragged by it and his foot was far worse with tingling numbness. His back was burning with pain thanks to the many bruises and cuts. Every attempt to wrest from the massive feral's grip or grab something sturdy failed miserably as his captor proved to be very strong and pulled him along without a moment of slowing down. Doug then passed a coffee mug and reacted by grabbing and chucking it right at the ghoul. By sheer luck the ceramic cup hit Big Hank in the back of the head, causing it to stop walking, which made Doug regret his actions. Big Hank let go of Doug's leg and turned around sharply and reached down. Doug cried out as Big Hank's pointy nails clawed into his shoulders and hoist him up in the air like a toy. The ghoul then shoved him firmly against the wall, making his back sting with pain more as the wind was knocked out of his lungs as all desire to fight back suddenly went away. Just his size alone made Doug think it could take his head off in a single bite. Suddenly the ghoul pulled him away from the wall and wrapped his massive arm around his neck and started carrying Doug again. He could barely breath, the back of his head was pressed hard against its body as the heels of his feet dragged on the floor.

After several long hallways and two flights of stairs, Doug was taken to a large open room with other feral ghouls skulking around. They took notice and began shrieking and scurrying around, stuck between attacking him and cowering in fear of their leader. Big Hank came up to a door that was blocked off by a long and tall shelf. The feral reached out his hand, grabbed onto the side of the shelf and pushed it out of the way with one arm as it scraping against the wall. Once the shelf was clear enough, Big Hank flung open the door. Doug tried fighting against his captor once more but was easily overpowered and hoisted up by the neck and shoved into the room. He fell hard and hit his back which yet again exploded with burning pain.

He rolled on his side, hissing through his teeth as his nose was hit by the smell of stale rot. The room was large, most likely a conference room, the dusty windows let the light in for him to see enough around. Doug looked up sharply at the ghoul just as he slammed the door shut and pulled the shelf back into place. He staggered back up, gasping from pain and wobbled over to the door and slammed his fists on it.

"Yeah, and fuck you too!" he shouted and gave the door one last slam.

The pain in Doug's ankle made him collapse, forcing him to move around on hands and knees and went towards the windows. First, Doug checked his ankle and breathed a sigh of relief after realizing it wasn't broken. Just sore and raw from being held for so long. After several minutes he managed to stand up and assess the situation, still with a stagger to his steps. He came up to the windows, four of them across and more than large enough for a person to climb through. But Doug saw one window pane that had been shattered and poked his head out and peered down to see what looked liked very faded splatter stains. He silently shuddered at the thought, jumping out the window to his death was the last thing he wanted to think about. Especially if he didn't die on impact and laid there in the open to be attacked by the ghouls.

Once he pushed that thought away, Doug started looking around the room for anything that could be used as a weapon. The conference room didn't have anything useful to his disappointment, just scraps of rotted wood from furniture, none of it even remotely good enough to strike with. Doug than looked down and found a large leg bone, he was no expert on biology, but he knew a human bone anywhere and found several other bones from both people and animals scattered all over. Doug quickly started checking the bones to see if any of them might be good for striking or stabbing buy they were either brittle and broke with ease just from bending or too blunt to stab with. Doug sighed and chucked the bones in his hands and went over to a wall and laid against it. Something he quickly regretted as his back stung with burning pain. He reached a hand back and could feel a few cuts and brought them back to see blood staining the tips of his fingers.

Doug scooted away from the wall and took off his shirt, the entire back of it was tattered and stained, ruining it for good. Doug was about to bunch it up and toss it aside before looking back at the window and began to come up with an idea that might give him a useful weapon.

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Riding on a motorcycle was a whole new and scary experience for Victoria. She held tightly to the bodyguard Milly as she drove at almost top speed down the rough road. The redhead happened to look up and spotted something ahead and told her to slow down. They came upon several feral ghouls on the ground and the bodyguard reached for her sidearm. But they quickly realized the ghouls laid dead once they got in close enough. After Milly stopped they saw evidence that the area was where Doug fought before being captured. Victoria quickly got off and found Doug's weapons, the guns he was carrying to sell, and even his box cap and jacket with the sleeves pulled inside out. Without saying a word, she gathered up all of Doug's stuff except for the guns they were given and loaded them into side pouches and tied the coat around her waist before getting back on and continued on. The settlement came into view some time after, and at that point Victoria realized that even if they rounded up the rest of the group, they would have to come on foot, which would only take longer for them to arrive and help.

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Louis poked his head around a dark corner and saw it was clear and moved forward. They lost the trail and looked around for any new signs. Cavall paced beside him, sniffing the floor with his ears standing perked and alert. They were still on the first floor of the building, the darkness forced them to find different paths that wouldn't put them in the pitch black. Every now and then they heard the sounds of distant shuffling and faint moaning all around.

For a moment he stopped and held his hand out for Cavall to stay in place. He used his coat sleeve to wipe the sweat at his brow and took a breath to calm his nerves. Louis stood thinking of a new plan before something caught his attention, above he could hear a slight hum coming from the ceiling before the lights flicked on in a flash. The sudden brightness, despite being dim, made Louis shield his eyes while they adjusted. This strange event confused him but ultimately figured there must be some active backup generator that kicked in. He figured it might sputter on and off every now and then since the lights began to flicker and buzz as if they could go out again at any moment.

Discovering this only created a new problem for them. The last thing he needed was a firefight with the ghouls while in the flickering lights that would distract his aim. Just before they were about to continue on, Cavall spun around and began to growl. He turned just in time to see a ghoul come around the corner and spot them. It howled and charged without hesitation, Louis dashed forward in response before Cavall could leap into action. He flipped the shotgun around and held it by the barrel and swung just as he got close enough. The butt of the gun hit the side of the ghoul's skull with a loud crack, followed by another crack as its head hit the wall, leaving a bloody smear. The ghoul flopped to the ground with its skull cracked yet it still tried to get back up. Louis didn't let it get that chance and quickly finished it off with a boot stomp to the head, smashing it cranium on the floor.

Cavall suddenly turned around sharply and began barking just as two more ghouls came charging from the other end of the hall. Louis cursed and took aim with his shotgun, knowing there was no point in being subtle anymore. The first feral charged in while lashing its long nailed hands in the air. Louis answered its attack with a quick shotgun blast to the face. The ghoul's head exploded into a shower of viscera and painted the walls next to it. Louis pumped another shell just as the other feral got within a few feet of him. After he put a round of buckshot into its chest, there was no doubt the feral ghouls in the building were aware of them.

"Cavall! Let's go!" he called to him and ran off.

The entire floor seemed to come to life with the sounds of hungry screeches and cries. They burst out from the office rooms, the bathrooms, the employee lounges and even from under desks. Louis stayed in the lead firing away, shredding the ghouls to pieces and reloading on the run. After turning into another hall they came up to an old double door and he pushed it open with one door breaking off its hinges in the process. The room was a cubicle space, and once they entered the ghouls inside came out from hiding and shuffled after them, giving the two no choice but to press through. He put down two ferals at once with a single shell. He grabbed a cubicle wall and pulled it over, blocking several ghouls coming from behind them. Louis continued this with the cubicle walls as they fled, pulling them down, shoving aside, and kicking the walls over to block the ferals from surrounding them. Despite all he did, the ghouls managed to climb over the cubicles and desks like a wave.

The other exit was just in range as more ghouls flooded into the room. Louis toppled over more cubicles to give them just a few more seconds to get out. The door turned out to be locked and he quickly reached for it but fumbled a few times thanks to his nerves going a mile a minute. Finally he twisted the lock and pushed the door open and went through it just as the ghouls closed in. Louis grabbed the door handle and closed it just as an arm snaked its way through and slammed down hard on it. A crack of bone was heard, but the arm still flailed and clawed at the air as the ghouls began shoving on the door. Cavall barked viciously and bit down on the arm at the elbow. The ghoul fought back in vain as the flesh near the shoulder began to tear. Louis held firm with both hands and turned around so his back was against it for more leverage. Finally, the arm came free from the shoulder with a sickening rip, freeing the door from the blockage and Louis was able to shut it completely. He panted with exhaustion as the ghouls continued to pound against the door. Cavall chewed on the arm for a moment before dropping it in with a disgusted snort.

Their moment of rest didn't last long as more barreled down the hall. Louis was about to turn around and wait for them to appear. But then he suddenly remembered the noisemakers Stanley gave him and reached into the sack hanging from his belt and grabbed one at random. He quickly looked it over and found a pull string and gave it a tug and chucked it down the hall towards the corridor. A second later the noisemaker went off, sounding like an alarmclock. Louis couldn't believe what he saw as several ghouls leaped onto it. They clawed and tossed it around, making Louis wonder if they were somehow attracted to the sound or couldn't figure out why there wasn't something alive to sink their teeth into. Either way, Louis shrugged it off and called for Cavall to follow.

Louis took out another noisemaker and flipped its switch and tossed it down the opposite end of the hall they went. The noisemaker went off saying 'mama' over and over, a voice box from a doll. Once more it attracted several ghouls and left them confused, allowing the two to slip away. The lights above started to flicker again, Louis cursed to that and their waning luck. He tossed another noisemaker down the hall and was surprised to hear Stanley's recorded voice shouting for ghouls to come get him.

The lights flickered once more before going out entirely, plunging the two into total darkness. Louis looked at the green glow of his Pip-Boy and turned on the flashlight. He switched to his assault rifle and held it up with one arm while positioning his other wrist at an angle to point the light forward. The darkness also seemed to bring silence with it, the only thing that could be heard was Louis' heavy breathing and Cavall's low growling. Every few seconds he would turn back and forth in the hall expecting to be ambushed.

A light rustle of footsteps came from behind and Louis spun around, pointed the rifle, and fired blindly before he could even get the light of his Pip-Boy on the attacker. The hall was lit by bursts of gunfire and a ghoul flopped to the ground. Two more ghouls charged in from the other side and soon met the same end. Cavall heard the next attacker and leapt into the darkness and became filled with the sounds of a struggle. Louis was about to turn around and shoot the ghoul before another barreled into him and sent them both falling to the floor. They rolled on the ground not too far from Cavall and his attacker, it swiped at his face with its long nails and tried to bite at his throat. Louis had to let go of the rifle just so he could use both hands to keep it off him. He managed to force the ghoul onto its side and than swiftly kicked it in the chest. The ghoul was already crawling after him as Louis scooted back, pulled out one of his Colts from its holster and put two shots into the ghoul's head. Once that ghoul was down, Cavall finished his off by ripping its throat open and it went limp twitching on the floor in its own blood.

Louis holstered the weapon and rolled back up onto his feet. Cavall paced up to him with a bloody muzzle, panting lightly. Just as quick as the lights went out, they flickered back on with a weak buzzing and Louis sighed in annoyance at the power outages that seemed to happen at the worst possible time. He reached down and picked up the assault rifle and heard the distant howls of more ghouls incoming. With a weary sigh he took aim and started firing just as the first few spilled out into their hall.

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Chloe walked with a small smile as her bag of caps jangled against her hip. Ezrah and Fayola walked next to her, each of them with their own full bags. They proved to be a very effective combo against the wild critters skulking outside the town. Fayola would snipe from a distance while Ezrah got in close to shoot them down and Chloe stayed with the patrol group to take down any that got too close. Once the critters were down, the people patrolling with them would go and gather the bodies that were safe enough to butcher.

"I'd say we had quite a productive day." Ezrah stated with a cheery tone.

"I still think we could have bartered for more." Fayola said indifferently. "We did most of the work anyway..."

"Usually I would agree, but this town has been good to us, best not hassle them for a few extra caps." Chloe said before seeing Joe, Wayland, and Radcliffe coming their way and waved.

"So how did you three do on the farms?" Ezrah asked once they got close enough.

Joe held up his small bag. "We did pretty well. Reminds me when I worked for a farm for about ten years a few decades ago."

"I plowed four fields!" Wayland stated with a grin.

"Yeah, we worked our asses off and they tried to stiff us." Radcliffe said with a scoff.

"No, they didn't try to stiff us." Joe turned to him sharply. "You were found sleeping on the job several times! First time under a tree. Than behind the barn. And than in the Brahmin pens. And than under a damn tractor! You made us all look like bums!"

Inez and Asimov overheard the argument as they came up. "What's going on here now?" she asked them with a weary sigh.

"I suspect the problem involves Radcliffe doing something stupid." Asimov stated plainly.

"Go jump in a scrap heap!" Radcliffe snapped at him.

"Hey, we're still missing Louis, Victoria, and Doug." Chloe said as she looked around. "Anyone seen them in town?"

The rest of the group scanned around to see if they could find them. "They have to be around here somewhere." Joe said while taking out a cigarette pack.

Just then, they began to hear a faint sound, a high chopping noise as they noticed people moving quickly out of the way of something. The chopping noise got louder as they saw something rolling up to them with an all too familiar redhead waving to them with both arms. Once the motorcycle came to a stop, Victoria all but flew off it and charged towards the group. Before anyone could get a single word out, Victoria quickly and almost incoherently told them about Doug being captured by feral ghouls and Louis with Cavall staying behind to try and save him. Once she was done, the group needed a moment to process everything they just heard.

"I think red's lost her mind..." Radcliffe softly said to break the silence.

"Radcliffe!" Inez snapped.

"Normally I'd say that's all too crazy to believe." Joe said as he held up his lighter. "But then again, after traveling with you guys for the last few months, crazy is all we deal with..."

"We'll never make it in time on foot! Even if we run!" Ezrah said, knowing his Power Armor could only move so fast.

"And we don't have a ride like Vicky here." Chloe pointed out.

"Than we have only one option left. We must go to the station where they keep their vehicles and get a ride. That's the only way we can get there fast enough." Fayola said.

"Fuck that! I'm not gettin' sick as shit again on those!" Radcliffe protested.

"We're all gonna need to be in on this, Radcliffe." Joe turned to him. "That means you, too. So suck it up and come along!"

"We'll get to the station right now." Victoria said as she got back on the motorcycle. "If we're lucky, we'll have a ride ready and waiting by the time you all get there."

"Try to get a bus. That way we can all get on just one." Joe said to her. "Those vehicles are precious resources to them, so it's not like they'll roll them all out just for us."

The bodyguard turned the motorcycle back on just as Victoria held on to her. She drove the bike around and sped off, knowing a shorter way to the vehicle station, leaving the rest of the group to follow on foot as fast as they could.

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A long stretch of a hall laid littered with more than a dozen ghouls, empty casings, and several magazines. The air was still thick with gun smoke as several new ferals skulked into the halls sniffing and searching for prey. Louis and Cavall hid in a nearby janitor closet that was mostly empty, the lightbulb above flickered and Louis sighed, worrying the lights would cut out again at any moment. Cavall started to growl softly as they could hear noises from outside. Louis began to think the ghouls had sniffed them out, he looked to the left and found some broom and mop handles and a few old boxes of various cleaning powders. Firing a gun off in such a enclosed space was out of the question and would only attract more. They began to hear scratching and Cavall growled in response. He reached out and grabbed the broom handle first and than took hold of the door handle. He flung the door open, knocking back the ghouls that were in front of it. Louis dashed out and swung with all his strength, the broom handle cracked against the first ghoul's head. The old wooden shaft splintered down the middle as the ghoul fell to the ground, Louis finished it off with a few more whacks to the head until the handle broke off near the tip.

The next ghoul closed in and Louis quickly spun around and drove the splintered tip into its chest which than burst out from the other end. Two more ghouls came in from the right while another at the left. Cavall burst from the closet and went after the lone one by attacking its leg. Louis backed towards the closet and grabbed one of the cleaning boxes and chucked it at the ghouls. The box crumbled on impact and covered them in white powder that blinded them both. Louis took the plastic mop stick and quickly struck them both down with the mop head holding end and kept beating them on the ground. The mop handle bent after several blows and the ghouls laid with cracked skulls.

He tossed the mop handle down and looked to see Cavall pouncing onto another ghoul that wandered into the hall. The large canine made short work of the ghoul by tearing out its throat and leaving the head barely hanging on. Both of them started to feel fatigued from all the fighting and running.

"Cavall, let's go. We gotta keep going." Louis said as Cavall looked up to him with questioning eyes.

The air became filled with the cries of more ghouls moving in on their location. Louis sighed and threw another noisemaker down the hall to give them a few seconds. After running down the hall for a minute, they came up to another set of double doors and into a new large room. Louis lead Cavall to the far right door and was about to place his hand on it before the door flung open and off its hinges and a dozen ghouls poured out. They almost fell on top of him like a wave and was barely able to sidestep in time. Several ghouls went after Cavall, forcing him to scamper away from Louis. Many ghouls now cluttered the room and began to surround them both. Louis pulled out both his Colts and fired blindly into the crowd while Cavall dodged and slipped through his attackers trying to leap on him. Both of Louis' guns clicked empty and started to reload on the spot. A ghoul grabbed him by the wrist and Louis reacted by slamming the butt of the other gun into its nose cavity. More hands reached out to grab viciously, forcing Louis to turn and run for the nearest exit. Cavall was forced to do the same and fled to the opposite side of the room, separating them down completely different hallways.

Louis cursed himself for losing Cavall. The ghouls followed as expected, Louis would turn every few yards and fire at them with his Colts. The guns went empty and he put them away in their holsters just as he spotted a door ahead with an old sign showing it was the entrance to the stairs. Hoping for the best, he came up to the door and pushed it wide open. Once he had a good look at the stairwell and saw it was all clear, he slammed the door shut and found a desk nearby and pulled it over and twisted it around a bit so the desk was pressing against the door and the other end against the stair rail post. The ghouls pounded against the door but the desk held it pinned in place. Louis took some deep breaths before making his way up the stairs to the second floor, taking his time to be cautious while thinking of what to do next.

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The wanderers arrived at the vehicle storage garage and found Victoria talking to some of the mechanics and the driver of the most beat up looking school bus with almost all its color faded off.

"Please, our friends are in danger! We need you to take us to their location to help!" the redhead pleaded with the man sitting on the first step of the bus.

"Look, lady, I can't just take people out for a joyride. Especially when you'll don't even live in this town." the driver said, scratching the back of his head.

"What's going on here?" Joe asked as they approached.

"I can't get the driver to take us to where we need to go." Victoria answered him.

"Oh, I think we can get him to drive..." Radcliffe said with a grin as he reached for his Hardballer.

Fayola put her arm out in front of him. "Are you trying to piss the entire town off against us?!"

"Look, we can pay you guys if that's what it takes." Chloe held up her sack of caps. "We all got plenty of caps."

"What's going on here?" Milton asked, approaching the group after overhearing them.

"Hey, Milton..." the bodyguard said, waving to him.

"Strange to see one of you here without Stanley. Everything okay?" Milton asked her.

"He's fine, but some of their friends are in trouble, and they need this bus to get them all there faster."

"It's another pack of ghouls that attacked them!" Victoria said, getting to the point of it all. "There's not enough time to explain everything, but we need to hurry or they're gonna die!"

Milton thought over everything quickly before looking to the driver. "Get them where they need to go."

"Uh, you sure 'bout that, Milton?" the driver scratched the back of his neck a tad nervous. "You know we can't just drive around on a whim and the town council won't like this either."

"I'm on the council as well and I'll smooth it over with them later." Milton said. "Stanley and his team have been good to us, even gave us warnings of roaming ghoul packs coming near our town over the months. I think we can help a little by giving these people a quick lift."

The driver shrugged and stood up. "Well, if you say it's okay. We'll go as soon as they hop on."

"You heard him. Let's go!" Joe said, first one to climb on the bus.

"Well, you guys have fun with that. I'm gonna head to the bar." Radcliffe said to them.

"Your ass is coming with us." Chloe said to him. "I don't care if you get motion sickness, puke out the window if you need to."

"Once you guys get that bus going, I'll lead you back to our camp site." the bodyguard said. "We've moved a few times in the last few months."

"Than we better not waste another moment." Ezrah said while carefully walking up the steps in his Power Armor, the bus shifting to the right before walking down the aisle.

The rest got on with Radcliffe grumbling and cursing all the way. Victoria climbed aboard also so she could place Doug's weapons and stuff down and the bodyguard could lead them back without someone riding backseat. Milton was the last to get on and the bus as its engine rumbled to life and rolled out the garage area with some onlookers watching and wondering what was going on as the bodyguard pulled in front of them. Victoria stayed standing up and held on to the rails above. It had been almost two hours since she left to gather the others, and every minute that passed was a minute Louis, Doug, and Cavall could meet their end by feral ghouls.

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Once Louis reached the stairwell of the second floor, he went up to the door, listened for a moment and slowly opened it. Losing Cavall weighed heavy on his mind, but all he could do right now was hope for the best. The large hybrid had survived long before they found him and a few ghouls were no match against him. Louis looked into the hall and found it to be far dimmer than the first floor. Cursing his luck again, he pressed on, the Mossberg raised. Turning left at the first door he came into another cubicle filled room, dim with several lights flickering rapidly.

He took several cautious steps, looking over the cubicles to see if any ghouls were hiding. Feeling a bit more safe he pressed on a little quicker just as the lights flickered rapidly and almost went out. Louis looked up, fearing they would go out as he kicked over a garbage filled trash bin near a cubicle. Several cans and bottles rolled out and clattered against each other, creating an echo through the room. Louis' breath caught in his throat and froze in place, his eyes scanning the room for anything. The silence came to an end as ghouls started to emerge from the cubicles all around him.

Louis gripped his shotgun. "Just can't get out of the office rat race, right, guys?"

A ghoul from the left barreled towards him, clawing its arms in the air. Louis whipped around and put a shell of buckshot into its chest. Louis than bolted for it, shooting every feral in his way. After firing the last shell, he switched over to his AN-94 and fired in small bursts. Not long after he made his way out of the cubicle room with a swarm of ghouls right on his trail. He turned into a hallway with rows of large windows, showing the outside to him. The ghouls caught up with him at the turn, and one of them ended up stumbling and crashing through the brittle window.

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Doug finished crafting his makeshift weapon. He broke off a long piece of glass with a pointed tip and ripped a long strand of cloth from his ruined shirt to wrap the thin bottom end into a handle. It was crude but at least he could make some deep cuts if he was careful and even stab if lucky enough. Just as he stood back up to think of his next plan, he heard a faint sound of glass breaking outside. He dashed to the window and poked his head outside and saw a ghoul just as it hit the pavement below. And despite being a floor up, he could still hear the ghouls shrieking and to his surprise the sound of gunfire as well. He pulled his head back in and began to pace around the room, holding the glass blade as if he was about to stab something. Already he had a good idea who the ghouls were chasing.

"I don't believe this! It has to be Louis! Only he would be this crazy!" he said, more than eager to stab something. "Dammit! I need to get outta here before he gets himself killed!"

He stuck the glass blade into his back pocket and dashed up to the door and started pounding on it and shouting at the top of his lungs, hoping it would be enough to attract the giant ghoul or even better, Louis might hear him calling out.

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Stanley paced around their camp, constantly looking to the old building and wondering how everything was going for the Vault dweller and his friends. He also kept glancing to the road, waiting for the two to return with their group in tow. Just than he heard the all too familiar and slightly stalling sound of their motorcycle coming along with a new rumbling sound. He turned around and saw it was a bus trailing right behind his bodyguard. Both vehicles soon came to a stop at their camp.

"Good to see you back." Stanley said to his bodyguard and as Victoria walked down the bus steps. Radcliffe almost knocked her aside after running down the steps and fell to his hands and knees and began dry heaving. Stanley watched the group as they got off one by one. Milton was the last one to get off the bus and waved.

"Ah, hello again, Milton. It's been awhile..." the researcher said to him.

"Sorry it couldn't be under better circumstances." Milton replied. "I was filled in on what happened along the way and it's still almost impossible to believe."

"I feel the same way." Stanley nodded in response and took a good look at the wanderers. "And I must say, this is quite a group. I never could've imagined such a team..."

Victoria quickly went over to them with a look of worry. "How long has it been now since we left?"

"More than two hours, give or take." Stanley replied grimly. "I don't want to sound so negative, but their odds are very slim at this point..."

"Don't count Louis out yet, he's quite a scrapper for a Vault dweller." Joe said as he approached, not sure what to think on a person who studies ghouls. "And Doug is like a pissed off mole rat, he won't go down without a fight."

"And we'll be there to fight along side them." Ezrah said and reached for his laser rifle.

Radcliffe finally stood back up and slung his LMG over his shoulder. "Just give me something to shoot before I find something to shoot!"

Once they were ready, the group dashed straight for the office building. As they closed in, several ghouls could be seen skulking outside at the entrance. The ghouls soon took notice of them and swarmed for them with dry howls. The wanderers stopped in place and quickly put an end to their attack with a volley of gunfire and continued on, stepping over the bodies and soon came up in front of the entrance.

"Be ready, we saw a whole lot more than these ones earlier." Victoria said, looking up at the building. "And Stanley isn't exactly sure how many more are inside."

"Then we stay close, take points, and sweep the building room by room and floor by floor." Fayola said just before throwing her helmet on.

"That could take a long time." Chloe said with concern heavy in her voice.

"Better than barreling in and getting lost." Joe said. "Don't want a feral jumping ya from the shadows."

"I'll tear this whole building down to find them if I have to!" Wayland boasted with a mighty and angered voice.

"One thing at a time, big guy." Joe said to him.

A few at a time they stepped through the entrance, staying close and taking in their surroundings and found themselves surprised to see lights on, despite the flickering and static buzzing. Despite the risk, they decided the best place to start was as deep as possible on the first floor and work their way up the next two. As they began to move, they could already hear ghouls swarming in from all around.

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

Louis did all he could to slow his pursuers down. Throwing and knocking over anything in his path as he passed them by. One almost tackled him from behind, but instead grabbed hold of the tail of his coat and almost tripped him up. He slowed enough to turn around and stomp on its head and free himself from its gnarled grip. Those few seconds allowed the ghouls to get closer as Louis once again ran at full frantic speed. Just then he passed another staircase sign and bolted for it. Louis spotted the open door and gave himself one last push of effort towards it. He quickly threw the door shut just as the first few ghouls in the lead slammed against it.

Louis stepped back, panting heavily from burning lungs as he looked around to see if he could find anything to block the door. Yet to his dismay, there was nothing in the stairwell to use and the ghouls were pounding even harder. He stepped back, trying to think of a plan as he turned to the stairs behind him and gasped as his face went a bit pale. The stairs stood on the verge of collapsing, the railing had fallen off with the post at the top barely hanging on.

"Goddamn it!" he cursed sharply. "After all the shit today, this is where it ends?!"

Louis thought of running back down to the first floor, but in doing so would just put him back at the start. Seeing no other choice, the only way forward was up. He placed one foot down at the base of the steps and slowly lifted his other foot and placed it on the next. He took a deep breath and went up another step, hearing it crack loudly. The doorframe started to give out from the constant assault. Louis went up another step more and saw the base at the wall start to crack more from his weight. The hinges started to come loose as the rusted metal holding it all began to break. Louis could tell that the door was about to give out, leaving him no other choice but to make a break for it. He took a deep breath and bolted up the last fourteen steps and could feel them giving out as the ghouls busted down the door and flooded in, but the first few got stuck in the frame for a few seconds. Louis reached the landing and collapsed from exhaustion and could only watch as the ghouls follow.

For once Louis was thankful for the dilapidation of the country, the stairs broke out from under the ghouls and sent them falling down to the first floor. The stairwell echoed with the sound of crumbling concrete and metal hitting the bottom along with several bodies splattering or being buried alive. A cloud of dust flew up and Louis covered his face from it. After everything died down, Louis slowly got back up and saw that the entire staircase had collapsed. The ghouls stood at the landing, howling and clawing the air as two jumped from the landing and didn't even get halfway before falling. Louis couldn't help but smile a bit as he wasted no time going up the steps, being careful in case the stairs he stood on were also weak from age.

He reached the top of the stairs in a few minutes, a lot longer than expected. Louis noticed he was more exhausted than he realized. His legs were sore from pain and his arms felt heavy and his chest ached from his heart pounding endlessly. He threw open the door without bothering to check if there were other ghouls around. At that point he didn't care much as his assault rifle hanged limply in his grip. A faint pounding broke the silence in the hall, making Louis stop and stand ready for anything. But then he heard the faint sound of yelling along with the banging, meaning it could only be Doug calling out. Louis threw caution to the wind and headed towards the sound. It grew louder as he searched the rooms until coming into the small hall where a large shelf was placed in front of the door. He went to it and started pushing, which took him several hard shoves until the shelf was out of the way. Louis grabbed the door handle and threw it open and was greeted by Doug charging out and swinging something wildly in the air.

"Stop! Doug, it's me!" Louis shouted as the blade missed his face by only a few inches.

Doug jolted from hearing his voice and quickly backed off. "Louis?! What the fuck?! I almost stabbed you!"

"Glad to see you're still in high spirits." Louis said as he happen to catch a glance at his back. "Jesus, what the hell happened to your back? It looks terrible."

"Really, because it feels great!" Doug snapped as the pain ran through him again. "Sorry, it hasn't been exactly a good day as you can see."

"Right, today hasn't been too peachy for me either." Louis said while reaching for his Mossberg. "Here, you'll need a better weapon than...whatever it is you have."

"Glass from a window that I made into a knife." Doug held it up to him. "Why are you even here by yourself? This place is full of ghouls! It's suicide. And believe it or not, there's this really big-"

"Big as all hell and just as ugly ghoul. I know. It's a long story." Louis interjected. "And to make a long story short, I didn't come here alone. I had Cavall but lost him awhile ago. And Victoria headed back to town to gather everyone and return here."

"I get the feeling you pulled this plan together on the fly." Doug sighed as he took the shotgun. "So, you got a plan to get out of this hellhole?"

"Pretty much fight with all your might and hope we find Cavall along the way down. All three floors." Louis answered him indifferently. "But if I can get up here, than we can get back down. Just stay close and..." he noticed him going very quiet and still. "Doug? What's wrong?"

Louis got his answer as he turned towards the direction he was looking. At the very end of the long hall stood Big Hank in the flickering lights. He gnawed on a rotted human arm before tossing it to the floor and showed his blood soaked teeth to them and growled loud enough for them to hear all the way on the other side.