CHAPTER 48: THE FERAL ALPHA

Big Hank growled with hungry eyes and took a heavy step forward as if to see what they would do. Louis snapped out of his shock and tightened his hold on the assault rifle. Doug found himself gripping the shotgun yet unable to move his arms to take aim. Seeing the giant feral ghoul took all the fight they had out of them both. Suddenly, Big Hank slammed his fists against both walls, creating big cracks in the drywall and let out a loud bellow of rage.

"Doug, run. Run!" Louis finally managed to break the silence and snap them into action. Even gave him a shove in the direction of another hallway.

Big Hank barreled down the hall like a bull, his stomps could practically be felt by the two as they ran. The giant ghoul turned out to be surprisingly quick as he gained in on them. Louis and Doug still had many meters ahead of him but quickly realized their speed was decreasing, allowing Big Hank to get closer with each step. Louis turned and fired several rounds to see if it would make the brute pull back. Only a few bullets managed to graze him in the spray, but Big Hank never faltered from the hits and only grew more enraged. Louis realized their current position put them both at a disadvantage, so he quickly grabbed Doug by the arm and pulled him into the first room he saw and slammed the door shut.

In moments, Big Hank approached the door and threw his fists up and smashed through it, splintering it entirely and sent it flying off its hinges. The big ghoul shambled into the room, another cubicle space with no other ghouls inside. Big Hank began searching, drool dripped heavily from his chin as he checked each cubicle one by one, knocking things over or tossing them aside. At the other end of the room against the wall, Louis and Doug found refuge in two side by side closets with slits at their face level. Despite finding a safe place, the two had to stifle their heavy breathing to keep themselves quiet. They stood at a standstill, unable to flee without alerting the ghoul to their position. The brute suddenly tossed a trash can that landed near them, making the two jolt silently in place. Big Hank started to grow more frustrated and tossed around just about everything in his path, including a terminal that he lifted off a desk and chucked it at the wall, shattering it to pieces on impact.

With a grumble that sounded like annoyance, Big Hank stormed away from the range of their view through the door slits. The lights began to flicker again before going out, plunging the room into darkness. Everything seemed to go silent in the dark, leaving only the sounds of Louis and Doug's low breathing that only they could hear. After a minute or so the lights flickered back on, but Louis found his view a bit darker. He narrowed his eyes to get a better look before his heart sank from terror for seeing Big Hank looking back at him through the slits.

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The first floor echoed with gunshots and ghouls screeching and howling. The wanderers swept through while staying in close groups, taking points at every hallway and room entrance. Already they left a trail of bodies in their passing, but many ghouls still continued to flank them from all sides. Ezrah took the lead with Chloe and Joe beside him. Wayland was at the back with Inez and Radcliffe covering the rear. Victoria, Fayola, Asimov, and Milton took the sides as they passed by open doors. They came towards a double door that was locked from the other side. Ezrah made quick work of it by ramming through, sending both the doors flying off their hinges. Ezrah quickly surveyed the room and paused moments later after seeing it stood filled with ghouls that quickly took notice of them.

Ezrah dropped his laser rifle and reached for the Gatling laser on his back and aimed into the crowd. "Unbelievable! It's just nest after nest with these things!" he said before unleashing a shower of streaking red laser beams.

The former Brotherhood member swept the room several times until he was sure it was all clear. The barrel end of his Gatling laser smoked as he gave them the signal to pass through. By a few at a time, they funneled in while taking shots at the ghouls still coming at them from behind. The ghouls suddenly retreated for the moment, leaving them time to start reloading and come up with a new plan.

"So, this all turned into a shit show real quick." Radcliffe said as he loaded his LMG with a new box magazine.

"I hate to say it, but you're right..." Ezrah said, kneeling down to pick up his laser rifle. "And what's worse, we're still on the first floor of this building."

"These damn ferals are making it impossible to search each room." Chloe said, exasperated. "At this rate, Louis and Doug could be gone by the time we find them."

"Don't think like that. We're not leaving anyone behind." Fayola said to her. But like the rest, she began to feel that their chances were also slim to none.

"I believe it's safe to say they're at least not on the first floor." Asimov stated. "We should proceed to the second and start our search over there."

"He's right, we've wasted enough time here as it is." Inez said in agreement.

"I think I saw a stairwell entrance a few corridors back." Milton said. "We'll have to backtrack a bit but it's better than looking around for another."

Wayland turned his head to the hall after hearing the sounds of ferals scurrying their way. "Guys, more are coming!" he quickly slung his AK-47 and grabbed his sledgehammer. "I'll smash them all to bits!"

"Just watch where you're swinging that damn thing..." Radcliffe said, taking a step back.

Several new ferals dashed into the hall and made a straight shot for the waiting group to mow them down with gunfire before moving on.

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Louis felt the closet lift up in the air and braced himself with his arms and legs to keep from falling out. Big Hank looked up at him through the door slits, snarling and shaking the closet like it weighed nothing in his grip. Before Louis could think of anything, Big Hank hurled the closet across the room. It crashed onto a desk before falling to the floor, sending the door flinging off as Louis got tossed around on the inside. Once the closet came to a stop on its side, Louis tumbled out with aching pain all over. Even his head got slammed around several times, making him believe he might have gotten a concussion. Big Hank was already marching towards him, reaching his large hands out to yank him up from the floor.

Doug burst out from the closet with Louis' shotgun raised and shouted a whole slew of curses to get Big Hank's attention before firing off a shell. The recoil was much stronger than he anticipated, making him miss way off target and only grazed Big Hank's right shoulder with a tiny amount of buckshot. Despite barely hitting the feral ghoul, it was enough to get his attention and spin around quickly to charge after him. Doug stood frozen for a second before snapping out of it and pump another shell. By the timeDoug took aim, Big Hank swung his massive arm out and struck the barrel of the shotgun upward just as he pulled the trigger. He missed fully that time, but the percussion of the shot near Big Hank's ear drove him into an even more vicious rage and palmed Doug in the chest with his other hand, sending him falling to the floor with a hard thud.

Louis finally got back on his feet, fighting through pain in his head and reached for his Desert Eagle and took an unsteady aim and fired. Big Hank threw both his hands up in the air ready to pummel Doug before one of the bullets struck him in the right arm near the elbow. The new sting of pain only served to enrage the large ghoul more and reached out to pick up a terminal with a shattered screen from a nearby desk with one hand and hurled it. The terminal flew past Louis' head, missing by a few inches and could feel the passing breeze as it smashed into the wall nearby. Doug took aim while the rampaging ghoul wasn't looking his way. He braced himself for the recoil this time and had a clear shot at his back and pulled the trigger, only to receive an empty click in response. Doug stood speechless and pumped the shotgun a few times and saw nothing spring out from the ejector.

Big Hank looked back to Doug after hearing the empty pumps and would've turned to attack if not for Louis firing again and hitting the ghoul in the shoulder, going straight through. He staggered around heavily from the pain and almost went down before shaking it off and charged for him. Louis held tight to his Desert Eagle once more and fired, this time hitting the ghoul in the side near the waist but still not deep enough to do any real damage. The pain finally made Big Hank back off and turn away sharply, heading straight for the door as Louis tried to put him down. He only got off three shots before the gun went empty, missing Big Hank entirely and cursed himself as his head still throbbed from pain that contributed to his poor aim.

Once the ghoul was out of sight, Louis quickly dashed over to Doug and kneeled with his hand held out. "Hey, you okay?" he asked, giving him a shake on the shoulder.

Doug blinked a few times as he regained his senses. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Just had a giant ghoul almost tear me apart."

"Right, I can't believe I missed that bastard with every shot." he looked at his gun and started to reload.

"About that, you got anymore shells?"

Louis searched around in his pouches and found nothing. "Shit, I don't got anymore. In fact, I'm almost out of ammo entirely. Left most of my stuff back at our hotel rooms since I didn't expect we'd be fighting today."

"How many times do I gotta tell you?" Doug asked with a small frown. "When out in the Wasteland, always expect the worse and be ready to fight."

"I know, I know. I'll promise to carry every bullet I can from now on." Louis replied with a small smile.

"So...you think that freak is gone for good?"

"I seriously doubt it. That ghoul is like no other. We need to get the hell out before he decides to circle around." Louis looked back to the door Big Hank fled through, wondering what his next move will be.

They returned to the hall to take the quickest path towards one of the emergency exits. Louis gave Doug one of his Colts and moved at a cautious and nervous pace, waiting for Big Hank to spring out from somewhere at any moment. After moving halfway down the hall, they were greeted by four ghouls springing out from a turn at full speed. The two took aim and fired upon in careful bursts and the ghouls fell before them with the last one going down right in front of them while still twitching and Doug put one more bullet into its head to finish it off. Another dry screech rang out as five more ghouls appeared, practically pushing past each other in a frenzy. Doug started stepping back while firing his gun as Louis quickly switched to his assault rifle and fired in quick bursts.

After the ghouls were down, the two shared a satisfied nod of their teamwork. Louis than spotted movement out the corner of his eye and turned just in time to see what it was. In that moment, he quickly shoved Doug back and jerked himself away just as a body of a ghoul flew right between them. The body hit the ground and rolled several times like a rag doll, shattering every bone on impact. Big Hank reappeared to them without warning and picked up two more ghouls, one by the neck and the other by the ankle with ease. He threw back his arm and hurled the one by the neck like a baseball. This time Louis and Doug were already backing away in anticipation as the body just barley missed them thanks to the narrow hallway.

Big Hank bolted for them while picking up another body by the arm and started flailing both corpses around hitting everything in his wake and narrowly missing the two with each swing. Louis pulled out both his Colts and quickly fired in hopes to finally put down the ghoul while he was up close. Big Hank surprised them both by quickly using the bodies as shields to take the shots just in time. Once his magazines went empty, Big Hank started attacking once more, forcing the two turn and run away. He didn't lose a step in pursuit and dragged the bodies right along with him.

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The wanderers were still contained on the first floor, but as they stood to take the time to reload, they noticed that the waves of ghouls was getting thinner after each assault. Leading them to believe they had whittled down their numbers enough to ease their search more.

Ezrah finished loading a new fusion cell into his laser rifle and looked to the group. "Everyone, how is your ammo count?"

"I'm doing fine for now." Chloe responded.

"Savin' my rifle ammo for last here." Fayola said as she finished reloading her Redhawk.

"By the way, why didn't ya bring that case with you?" Radcliffe asked her. "What's in it? Because any firepower would be real fuckin' helpful right now."

"What's in that case isn't your business." Fayola replied with a sharp glare. "And it wouldn't do us any good here in such an enclosed space."

"Radcliffe, forget about what's in her case and focus on the task at hand." Joe sternly said to him. "We can't lose this momentum right now."

"So what next? Try to find a stairway again?" Inez asked.

"That would be our best option." Asimov said to her. "We can use the fire escape stairs to get up faster..."

Victoria stood by herself several feet from the group without realizing as she reloaded her weapons. Her attention turned to a dark room nearby after hearing some light shuffling. A ghoul burst from the darkness with a startling cry, its arms outstretched to grab and sink its teeth into her. She fumbled with the 10mm SMG in her hands and dropped the magazine in the panic. Just as the ghoul was within reach, it fell forward and hit the ground hard, the front of its teeth smashed from the impact. Victoria stood in confusion before looking down and saw Cavall with his jaws around the ghoul's right ankle. It struggled and thrashed around before Cavall quickly let go and went in for the kill by biting around the back of the neck and ripped it open with one powerful pull. The ghoul made its death rattle and went limp beneath the large canine.

It took Victoria several seconds to register what just happened as everyone quickly came over to her. Cavall looked up with tired eyes but a small happy wag to his tail. He paced up to Victoria and she petted and thanked him for coming to her rescue.

"Holy hell! That damn feral came out of nowhere!" Radcliffe said, looking at it.

"Damn it. We have to be more careful in here." Fayola said as she gave it a kick in the side.

Joe kneeled down and gave the large canine a pat on the head as well. "Cavall, you look terrible." he spoke, noticing his disheveled hair, numerous scratches beneath and a lot of blood on his muzzle and paws. "Well, at least you messed them up more than they did you."

"He was with Louis the last time I saw him." Victoria said, fear and panic stirring up inside on what finding Cavall could possibly mean.

"You think he can lead us back to them?" Chloe asked as she reached down to stroke under his jaw.

"I don't know. He looks like he's about to collapse from exhaustion as it is." Milton commented, wondering how many ghouls he took down on the way.

Wayland heard more screeches and turned around to see another group of ghouls heading towards them from down the hall. He quickly spun around and fired into them with his assault rifle, alerting the rest of the wanderers.

"Fuck! Here we go again!" Radcliffe cried out as he joined Wayland by his side and fired with his LMG.

More ghouls barreled in from another hallway, forcing them to split off again into small groups to cover every path. Victoria soon joined in with the fight but her mind still debated on what to do next. Cavall began pacing around quickly, barking loud and fierce yet kept acting in a manner that indicated for them to follow him. Joe stood back and leaned his back against the wall and began reloading his rifle while taking notice of Cavall's agitated state and figured what needed to be done.

"Vic, take Cavall and go find Louis and Doug!" he suddenly called out to her. "We'll stay here and hold them off. Cut you guys a way through to the stairs."

"No, we'll find them together!" Victoria protested in response. "We can't afford to get more separated."

"You have to! We can't waste anymore time as it is." Joe replied before turning around and rejoining the gunfight. "And you won't be alone." he glanced over to Wayland and called. "Big guy! Go with Vic and Cavall! Find those two so we can all finally hightail it out of here!"

Wayland stopped firing and turned his head to him. "You think that's a good idea? There's ghouls everywhere."

"We can handle this!" Ezrah said to him while keeping his focus on the fight. "Besides, you're not the only heavy hitter here as long as I got my Power Armor!"

"Just go! We got this!" Chloe said right before her plasma rifle went empty and started reloading a new cartridge. "We'll catch up once these fuckers are all gone!"

Wayland fired until his assault rifle went empty and went over to Victoria and Cavall. The redhead hesitated before realizing it was their only option and called for Cavall to follow. The three bolted for the nearest hall currently cleared of ferals. Several turns later they came up to the stairs of a fire escape and Wayland quickly yanked the door off its hinges and tossed it aside. Victoria stepped in and looked up the flights to see if it was safe before heading up. Cavall got in the lead to guide them, barking all the way up the stairs with the two storming close behind.

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After several minutes of fleeing, Louis and Doug came up to another set of double doors and burst inside the rom and slammed it shut behind them, finally allowing them to take a breather. Doug spotted an old flagpole and quickly grabbed it and thrust it through the door handles. Moments after, Big Hank slammed into the door and began pounding away, abandoning the bodies he dragged along.

"That shit's not gonna hold out forever." Doug said as they backed away from the door.

"I don't see any other exits." Louis looked around at the large room and only found a couple of old folding chairs, a few desks, and an overturned podium. "I think this is some sort of...conference room. I don't know..."

"Fantastic. Maybe that big ugly bastard can hold a meeting here on how to kill us." Doug replied with a deep scoff, although not at him. "How much ammo you got left? Think it's enough if we put one between that fucker's eyes?"

"Not much." Louis said while holding up one of his Colts after reloading with his last magazine. "This is the last time I ever underestimate a feral ghoul..."

"I think it's safe to say that none of us expected a feral ghoul to actually have some level of sense in its rotted head and built like a bodybuilder."

"Well I'm not gonna go down without a fight." Louis held out his other Colt to him. "If we keep our distance and attack from both sides, we might get the upper hand."

The doors began to buckle from Big Hank's constant assault. Louis and Doug stepped back far and spread out wide. With a few extra heavy blows, the ghoul finally smashed through the doors and sent the splintery pieces falling to the floor. Big Hank had to duck his head just to be able to step inside. His bloodshot eyes looked back and forth between the two, as if in thought on who to attack first. Louis began to lift his rifle as Doug took aim right away with the Colt. Big Hank growled sharply before charging like a bolt, the two did not expect the ghoul to take such a sudden action. The duo reacted too quickly and fired several shots but only hit the walls where the doors once stood. Big Hank reached out while running and grabbed a metal chair from the floor and hurled it with incredible force at Louis. Anticipating this, Louis already began to move despite it still missing him by a few inches. Doug took the opening and fired three more rounds at Big Hank, this time hitting him in the back near the shoulder and hip with the last one grazing his arm. The ghoul changed course and went after him, completely ignoring the new gunshot wounds.

Doug continued to fire all he had left while quickly backing up. Big Hank raised his arms up in front of him like a crude shield through the attack, ignoring how deep they went. The Colt clicked empty and Doug frantically ran away with Big Hank chasing after him all around the room like a lion about to pounce on its prey.

Louis took careful aim, the assault rifle lightly rattled in his hands from shot nerves. Doug got a few paces ahead of the ghoul and Louis took that opportunity to fire everything he had left. His aim turned out to pay off as the dozen or so rounds hit Big Hank dead on by more than half. The ghoul howled in agony and took a sharp fall to the right, landing on a wooden table, the weight of his body shattering it in half with ease before hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Big Hank twitched and jerked violently and gave one last agonized cry before going limp. The two carefully approached, Louis kept his rifle aimed despite being empty. Once in close enough, Doug gave Big Hank's foot a quick kick for any reaction.

"I think," Louis struggled to speak for a moment. "I think he's really dead. I honestly didn't think he would go down that easy after all we did."

"I guess some of your shots hit true." Doug said as he gave the foot another hard kick in hopes of breaking it. "You didn't get the bastard in the head, but your shots struck all over its body. But I'd put a few bullets in its head just to be safe."

"You know, that's probably not a bad idea." Louis nodded and reached for his Desert Eagle.

Big Hank's eyes shot open with a furious growl that sent shivers up their spines. The ghoul kicked his leg out and swept Doug's feet out from under him. He landed hard on his side with the wind knocked out and shooting pain all over. Louis pulled the trigger of his assault rifle before remembering it was empty when he heard empty clicks. Leaving him no other options, Louis grabbed the barrel of his rifle and flipped it around to hold it like a club and swung with all his might. His first hit made contact with Big Hank's back as he started standing up, but the blow only made him falter for a moment as Louis swung again. That time Big Hank suddenly shot his hand up and grabbed the butt of the rifle and yanked it from Louis' hands just as he got fully back on his feet and tossed it aside.

Louis fumbled for his Desert Eagle in its holster as Big Hank's arm lashed out and grabbed him by the wrist with an iron tight grip. Before he could even begin to think what was about to happen next, Big Hank grabbed him by the shoulder real tight and hurled him several feet across the room with ease several feet across the room. Pain shot throughout his body once more with exhaustion only making it worse, his vision spun with heavy blurs. Louis tried to get back up, but his arms barely had any strength left. Before he realized it, Big Hank loomed over him ready to reach down with an almost sadistic grin on his face.

Doug suddenly cried out from behind and leaped onto the ghoul's back and wrapped his arms around the neck and held tight. Big Hank lunged back with such force that Doug was almost thrown off. All that bucking made Doug hold tighter despite his arms feeling like they were gonna pop from his sockets. The ghoul tried reaching for him, but his arms proved to be too big as he long nails only missed Doug's face by inches. While the ghoul stumbled around, Louis finally got himself up on one knee and drew his Desert Eagle and got into a low crouch to aim, waiting for a clear shot that wouldn't hit Doug.

He fired the last four bullets more rapidly than intended, he simply didn't have much strength left in his body. Only one bullet managed to hit its mark in Big Hank's right knee. The burly ghoul let out a hoarse scream that shook the two very deeply. Big Hank fell to his knees and flung Doug from his back. Louis scrambled to his feet and quickly hobbled over to help Doug back up. The two finally headed towards doors at a slow, limping pace. As they ran, Big Hank was already after them despite the bullet wound in his leg, resorting to crawling on his hands and knees in a wild flailing manner. He quickly caught up and clawed out his long arms and tripped them by grabbing their ankles, sending them falling to the floor just several meters from the door.

They rolled out of the way and away from each other just before the ghoul could pounce on them. Doug spotted a broken chair leg with a splintery end and snatched it up. He stood back up and drove the piece of wood into Big Hank's back with all his strength. The ghoul cried out from the sharp pain that left him stunned for a few moments, allowing Doug to keep the momentum and stab many times thanks to his anger driving him. Just then, Big Hank snapped into action and swung his right arm up and hit Doug square in the chest, sending him flying to the floor. He was out for the count, half unconscious and struggling to gasp for breath. Louis watched as his friend fell and went on the attack despite the danger. He grabbed his empty shotgun and held it the same way like his assault rifle and swung.

The butt of the shotgun struck Big Hank hard on the side of his head with a wet crack. Louis left a noticeable gash, and to his disgust he also saw a thick piece of skin hanging from the opening along with the skull itself exposed. Big Hank jerked his head sharply and stood back up despite his knee wobbling from the bullet wound. Louis made the first move by swinging his shotgun and hit Big Hank across the side of his head, followed up by blow to the left shoulder and then again across the chest. Louis kept landing the hits but nothing seemed to phase the brute. Before he could land another strike, Big Hank swiftly snatched the shotgun from his grip and tossed it away and then wrapped his large hand around the Vault dweller's neck and lifted him in the air with ease.

Louis tried to pry the fingers from his throat but they were tight as a vise and didn't budge at all. He kicked his legs out in another attempt, but his kicks to Big Hank's chest only seemed to make the ghoul grin at his struggle and opened his mouth wide.

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Victoria, Wayland, and Cavall finally reached the top of the third floor flight and burst into the hall without even checking to make sure it was clear. Victoria let Cavall get ahead of them to track for Louis and Doug's scent. Just as they came up to their first turn in the hall, two ghouls circled around to attack them. Wayland stepped ahead and fired a short burst from his AK-47 and put them down before they could get in close enough to be a threat. During that, Victoria finally got a moment to stop and catch her breath for running around for so long.

"This is exhausting." she said before inhaling deeply and exhaled. "We could be...too late by now."

"No, I know they're alive." Wayland said. "We'll find them soon, I know it."

Cavall turned around and began barking to signal another swarm of ghouls coming. The hall filled with shrieks soon after as the first small wave came into view. Victoria got in position with one of her SMGs raised and ready to fire just as Wayland stepped in her path against the coming swarm.

"What are you doing? I have them in my sights!" Victoria said with surprise while trying to get around him.

"You need to find Louis and Doug! I'll hold them! Don't waste what little ammo you have!" Wayland responded, keeping his attention focused on the incoming ghouls.

Victoria wanted to protest, but she than realized Wayland had a point and reluctantly backed down and called for Cavall to follow. After they went several meters down the hall before stopping at the next turn, victoria looked back just in time to see Wayland go on the attack by firing with his assault rifle in one hand and smashing any ghouls that got too close into pieces with his sledgehammer in the other.

Now down to two, Cavall lead Victoria through the twists and turns with the sounds of Wayland's battle growing fainter and fainter. After a few more turns, Cavall came to a stop without warning and began sniffing the air and floor. After picking up the new scent, he began barking and dashed off again at a surprising speed. Victoria felt they were on the verge of finding them, and during all that she couldn't shake off the fear of how they might be found.

Cavall started barking again just as they turned into a new open hall where she saw the double doors torn off from their hinges. The two made one last quick dash and entered just in time to see Louis held up in the air by the giant ghoul ready to sink his teeth into him. Victoria snapped out of her shock and started screaming to get the ghoul's attention to which she did quite easily. Big Hank turned his attention to her with an angered growl, still keeping Louis held up. The Vault dweller was overjoyed to see Victoria after all the time that passed as his vision began to grow blurry from lack of air. Cavall bolted forward with a vicious streak of barking and teeth bared. Big Hank was forced to drop Louis just as Cavall got in close enough to attack. Louis hit the floor on his rear with a hard thud and fell to his side, coughing and gasping deeply for breath.

The hybrid leaped high just as Big Hank raised his arm in defense. Cavall's jaw clamped down hard on his forearm and already left a large tear of rotted skin. After that the hybrid and ghoul battled for dominance, Big Hank came falling down after Cavall gave him another powerful pull, never letting go the entire time. Once on the floor, the two rolled around in a tense struggle, Cavall biting and clawing as Big Hank tried to fight him off. During that, Victoria used the opportunity to run towards Louis to help just as he managed to sit up. Once close enough, she found herself throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace from being so overjoyed to see them alive. An action that surprised the Vault dweller very much.

"Vic? You're really here?" he asked in confusion, thinking he was delusional from the lack of air. "Did everyone else make it here as well?"

Hearing his voice stirred Victoria and she quickly let go, not realizing she had a fading blush on her face. "Y-yes, everyone is here!" she blurted a bit. "But they're holding off the ghouls on the bottom floor. I was only able to get away with Cavall and Wayland."

"And where's he?" Louis asked as he held out his hand for her to take.

Victoria pulled him back to his feet. "We got swarmed by another group of ghouls on this floor and he stayed behind to hold them off. Leaving just the two of us."

"Sounds about our usual kind of luck..." He said with an awkward chuckle. He found that standing was growing more difficult.

"Yeah, thanks. By the way, I'm okay too if anyone's asking." Doug grumbled as he slowly walked towards them with a limp to his step.

Their attention turned back to the battle Cavall was currently engaged in. The two made all manner of vicious and primal cries while rolling across the floor. Cavall released the forearm and in a split second sank his teeth deeply into Big Hank's right shoulder and gave a few strong tugs and ripped a huge chunk of flesh from it. The new form of pain sent the ghoul into a full blind rage and let out a scream that rattled everyone. One of his hands reached behind Cavall's head and grabbed the scruff of his neck and pulled him away sharply, Cavall continued to snap his jaws furiously. Big Hank reached his other hand out to go in for the kill by grabbing his snout to crush it. He reacted to the coming hand and clamped his jaws down on it tightly.

Now at a deadlock, Big Hank quickly rolled to the side to finally allow himself to get some footing and stand back up. Cavall held firm as his paws dug deep scratches all over Big Hank's chest and stomach, still thrashing wildly. Getting back up tipped the fight into the ghoul's favor as he began spinning around with Cavall hanging on by the strength of his jaws. Big Hank came to a sudden stop and swung his upper body around with enough force to finally rid him of Cavall's iron clad bite. The three could only watch as Cavall went flying through the air before slamming into the nearest wall. He cried out in a painful yelps and came crashing down to the floor and tried to get back up but collapsed under his wobbly legs with a pained whimper.

Big Hank turned his gaze back to the three. His left hand had much of the flesh ripped off on the palm and back when he threw Cavall. The twitching tendons and bones could be seen clearly, rendering the hand barely functional yet Big Hank still managed to curl it into a angry fist and stormed towards. The three felt like they had lost, Cavall laid unmoving as they stood with no one else to help them.

Using the last bit of strength in him, Louis decided to give Doug and Victoria a chance to get away by charging head on towards Big Hank. He reached down and grabbed a long table leg from the floor and raised it up like a baseball bat, ready to swing while shouting for them to get out. Louis landed a blow on the ghoul's forehead and made the lumbering brute stumble forward and almost went down before regaining his balance and striking his arm out, hitting Louis square in the back with his open palm.

The palm struck his back with almost enough force to break his bones with the wind knocked out of his lungs. He almost blacked out from the pain but found it in himself to push through it and spin around and swung blindly with all his strength. The ghoul received another strike, this time to the side of his head with a loud crack that once more made him stumble around in a daze. Not wanting to lose the opportunity, he began clubbing away all over the ghoul's body with everything he had. His assault came to a sudden end when Big Hank finally rebound and caught the table leg in mid swing and held it firm as Louis tried in vain to pull it away. Big Hank would have pulled it from his hands if not for Victoria's 10mm SMG that she tossed, striking him in the back of the head dead on. The ghoul forget the vault dweller and look down at the gun with an angry scowl and stomped on it, crushing the gun as if it were a tin can and made the three feel more disheartened then ever before.

Louis ignored the gun and tried once more to strike the ghoul upside his head. Big Hank was quicker to counter and slapped away the old hunk of wood from his hands. The ghoul once more continued his assault on the Vault dweller, lashing his long and jagged fingers nails that nearly clawed his face off several times. Doug and Victoria threw caution away and charged in, picking up whatever they could get their hands on. After that, they surrounded the ghoul to divide his attention and worked together with their attacks.

Every time one of them made a hit, Big Hank would turn around to attack, only for someone else to hit him and this continued on for several minutes. Their constant beating left many bleeding bruises and welts and an increasing level of pain that threw the ghoul into yet another violent rage and attacked by swinging his arms around widely. Big Hank turned around and reached out to grab Victoria and snagged the strap of her 12.7mm SMG instead and yanked it off from the shoulder she was loosely carrying it from.

It wasn't the ghoul's intention to grab her weapon but he none the less spun it around in the air before hurling it across the room and shattered it against a wall. He than dodged Doug's attack and grabbed the long piece of wood and yanked it from his hands. Louis tried for another strike from behind, but the ghoul caught on and quickly turned to smack the table leg out of his hands quite easily. Losing his weapon so suddenly left Louis standing in disbelief and expected the ghoul to finish him off there. Big Hank didn't swing again but instead grabbed Louis by the collar of his coat and hoisted him up in the air. Doug and Victoria could only watch as the ghoul hurled him across the room with ease just like he did with Cavall. He crashed dead on into a wall nearby and fell right on top of a long table that then broke under his weight.

The room spun all around Louis in a deep haze and could only make out blurry shapes moving about. Everything was starting to go dark, his consciousness started to slip as he used the last of his strength to look towards his friends rushing in to help. He tried to speak but his voice came out in a shallow wheeze that couldn't be heard by anyone. He wanted to tell them to run, get out while they still could. Big Hank was almost on top of him, ready to reach down and finally finish him off. Louis couldn't help but think for a moment that he was lucky to pass out and not feel anything that was about to befall him. Just then he saw something else come into his blurry view, something taller than Big Hank himself.

Wayland had stormed into the room, looking incredibly roughed up but none the less fine. He didn't need to say anything or ask what was going on, only that he needed to take the ghoul down. Big Hank turned around to attack but ended up frozen on the spot from seeing a Super Mutant for the first time ever. Wayland threw back his arm, balled his hand up into a fist and hurled it forward, colliding directly into Big Hank's face, smashing his front teeth and what little remained of his nose. A loud crunch of bones was heard byBig all and Hank fell to the floor like a ton of bricks, his limbs spread out and his head twisted to the side. He made a pitiful dry wheeze and coughed out some blood. His arms and legs made slight twitches but couldn't move them at all.

Louis couldn't figure out what just happened from his concussion induced confusion. His body felt heavy like lead and the only thing he could hear was his friends calling his name. Their voices sounded distant with a lingering echo as everything finally went dark and he passed out on the spot.