Claws of the Wastes

by Claws of the Wastes

A talking, intelligent Deathclaw wanders the Wastes to bring closure. For himself, for the Wasteland. With a cross-country trip, spawned by the desire for vengeance, along the way. Believing that he is forever; the last of his species. This is a journey that is going to get reckless! Wandering with little of an ultimate purpose. He might just find one.

17. Where do you Lead

Chapter 17: Where do you Lead?

Arthur looked down upon us all as if waiting for everyone to stop their chatter and bickering. He turned around and pulled down a rather large map of what I can only assume was the Capital Wasteland. It was nice to finally have the attention not drawn to me for the time being, he flicked a ruler from behind the map and pointed to a road. it was near a river which leads into a lake, the Potomac, perhaps?

"This factory is infested with a merry band of Super Mutants, it is also a munition factory which made bombs and other explosives before the nukes dropped, it will be our job to make sure our enemy does not get a hold of these munitions before we do. We will be going in and taking out the Mutant threat and scouring every inch of that factory clean. We must not forget our goal to purify this Wasteland and harness technology so history doesn't repeat itself."

He handed the ruler off to one of the officers on the podium with him and took a deep breath, he almost sounded agitated. Maxson walked to the railing before asking, "Does anyone have any questions or concerns? We will be moving out within the hour, as those who didn't show up to this meeting will be given their punishments when we return."

There were a couple of soldiers who murmured to each other and whispered but no one brought up a question or said anything at all. With a nod. "Get yourselves geared up, Brotherhood, Ad Victoriam, and you are all dismissed and clear to leave." He placed a fist on his chest as the small army filed out.

Myles told me then it was best to wait for everyone else to go out first, we will trail behind. I couldn't have agreed more with that plan. "Suppose we should go get you geared up, too bad I messed up your power armor. I would have liked to see you take on some mutants in it."

"Ah well, there is always another time, there will always be more mutants after all. Let's get going, we have less than an hour to prepare."

I gave him a nod and stood up from the bench, the rest of the Brotherhood who attended were long gone by now, no need to worry about my size getting in the way. I left down the steps to end back on the scaffolding and Myles followed behind me, our destination was that lower level with all those benches and power armor stations.

"Shouldn't we stop by your little cave? Maybe pick up an extra suit of armor for you or will your hardened combat work for now?"

He was silent for a moment before answering, "No if we had time I would love to stop there. I'm going to have to use armor that is readily available to me. I will use that plasma rifle you had set up for me though I left it in my locker in our showers."

That made me happy. I do wonder how my handy work would fare against those Mutants. I saw the platform below us and we arrived at the steps going down there, plenty of the soldiers at the debriefing were already geared up and in their suits. They had a mixture of Gatling Lasers, Snipers, Plasma, and Laser Rifles, along with a few Super Sledge and Thermal Lances. The Brotherhood of Steel is geared to 'purify' the Wasteland as Maxson put it, despite how I feel about the phrasing of that sentence it is a necessity to bring back the world to some semblance of normality. Humanity and the world itself will never heal if there are mutated and disfigured creatures wandering about. Ironic as I am myself a mutated creature, but in the end, aren't we all just Mutants out here in our respects? Should Maxson's vision of a pure Wasteland come fully to fruition, that would dictate that I would need to die...

Myles must have noticed I was in thought and snapped in front of me with a concerned look. I shook my head and jumped back to reality, now is not the best time to wonder, or even worry about the "What if's," of life. We don't run our lives on "What if's," no one would ever get anything done with all that could go wrong.

"I'm okay, Myles, apologies. I was just impressed seeing the Brotherhood of Steel gear up, the arsenal of weapons is more than something to show off to your enemies!" This wasn't exactly a lie. I was after all genuinely impressed at their hoard of technology, you always hear the stories but seeing it for yourself, now that is entirely different. Considering that I for one can be easily gunned down, anxiety is putting this feeling lightly.

Myles went down the steps and joined up with this bunch of soldiers that were gearing up, he made a gesture in my direction to go over to where he was, it was time to face the music, at least I wasn't shot. Waltzing past a few soldiers too busy working on their power armor to notice me. I stopped right behind Myles and the group of three soldiers was in front of us, lucky for me I recognized one of them. It was Paladin Grey who I ran into on my little adventure, figuring out some form of layout of this place.

I went up and introduced myself, "Hello you two! I am John the deathclaw who has been causing all the trouble around here. I already met Paladin Grey, yesterday. I didn't see you in the debriefing. Are you joining us with the mission?"

The pair looked at me and then at each other before answering together and then they debated on who should go first, the man eventually decided that his woman should go "Uh...yes we will be going to take the munition factory, we are ready and just waiting for the go-ahead to board the Vertibirds."

I gave my nod and they went to finish their preparations, I leaned against an empty table with one arm and addressed Paladin Grey who was seemingly waiting for me too. "Glad to see you again, Grey. Tell me, will you be joining us in wiping out these Mutants?"

"Why, yes I am, bastards are holding a munition plant so God only knows what they are planning! Plus we should get a hold of it before the Enclave does or some band of raiders. Essentially, everything is against us and we should secure it as soon as possible."

"I agree, if these Mutants are as brutal as the one out West your group of soldiers is going to have issues, half of these people don't even look like they saw an army of mutants before."

Myles then stepped in, "You aren't wrong, John, This is some of these recruits' first real mission, which I protested against but Maxson was having none of it. I'm going to go get my gun now you and Grey have fun."

Before I can suggest that I go with him he is gone...great. I don't much favor being in a room full of young soldiers who I don't even know. I sighed before asking Grey, "Do the sprinklers still work since I fixed them yesterday?"

She laughed as she went down to weld her power armor together. "Yes, actually, and Glenn tried to claim the deed for himself but people didn't believe him anyway, they also didn't believe you did it so I guess we both lose this one."

She stood up and lifted her welding mask and looked at me with a smile before getting more serious, "Why exactly are you here? I mean, at the Brotherhood, here on the Prydwen I heard some rumors but I want to hear it directly, from you."

I had to think for a moment, I took a few seconds to give her a real answer, "I want to take out the Enclave, avenge my people and rid the world once and for all of their evil and destruction. No longer will they ruin lives and take anyone else from people ever again."

She went back to work on her armor. "What do you plan on doing when this is all over? You plan on sticking with our Brotherhood or-?"

"No, I plan on returning home to Nevada. I know it sounds crazy and all but I would want to tell my mother that she was avenged, alongside everyone else I buried after that day. Tell them that their sacrifice and deaths were not wasted, after that I have no clue where to go or what I want to do. Maybe live out the rest of my days in solitude, be the last of my kind. I think that is for the best."

She grabbed a fusion core from the table and inserted it into her armor. "You know, Genny had told me about your talk with Maxson last night and how she overheard what had happened to you. I wanted to say I'm sorry and that your cause is very noble and that your plight won't be done alone." I thanked her and asked if she needed help with anything, before she could answer there was an announcement.

"All soldiers and recruits attacking the Munition Factory make your way to the loading bay! I repeat, make your way to the loading Bay we are leaving in 15 minutes, stragglers will be left behind."

Grey picked up her helmet and made her way through the crowd, not before waving to me goodbye, "I'll see you on the field. I can't wait to see what you are capable of!"

I gave her a wave myself and wished her luck on the ride. I got off the table and began to sharpen my claws together, this should be easy, right? They have the firepower and the numbers, then again it is an entire factory of Mutants. I should go find Myles. Going up the steps all the Brotherhood already filled out and I could still see some of them on the scaffolding, lucky for me I know my way to the Loading Bay from here. I eventually decided that Myles would already be there and entered the outside, it seemed that Vertibirds were already leaving as I went through the doors and I saw a pilot gesture for me to go over to them, so of course I did.

"Sir, you will be loading in this one here, due to the increased weight of well, this one will be for anyone who didn't team up and Myles is already on so please go ahead." He stepped aside and moved both his arms at the entrance of the Vertibird, welcoming me in. I wouldn't be able to sit on one of the seats so I just went to the back and crouched down, I'm surprised I fit with little issue.

"Oh, nice of you to join us, John, we will be lifting off shortly, it makes me wonder if you've ever been on a Vertibird before?" Myles said inspecting the same gun I had thrown together for him when we met.

I scoffed while adjusting my hands to lightly lay flat against the floor. "Not willingly, no. This will technically be a new experience, won't it? I have to wonder how far is this Munition plant, as I don't know the map of the Capital Wasteland quite yet?"

"It's a bit of a long distance away, past the Citadel and nowhere the Lone Wanderer's been, from the looks of it."

A few more Brotherhood Soldiers joined us and then Maxson and Procter Quinlan also followed onto the Vertibird and then we went off, before checking if everyone was strapped in we took off, it was a smooth take off. I was glad to see that the two suits of Power Armor and my weight didn't tip the scale of what this could carry.

Procter and Maxson were discussing. I don't even know what, they were pretty quiet, almost whispering to each other. Myles sat in a seat just to the right of me and he held a hand against his chin with his eyes closed before opening his eyes and addressing me. "My handover has improved, good thing too I would not like to fight Mutants like that, this is a pretty high-class flight if you couldn't see. You shouldn't be here as you have no ranking but maybe that's the point? I am glad we are here. I mean, you will be sticking with me when we enter the building."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, I imagine we are doing a complete wipe of this place? No Mutants left to report back to their leaders of what happened, assuming they have any."

Myles then gave a nod, "Yes, no survivors, and we should try and save anyone if they have captives, we should also try and see if we can't find out where they are making more Mutants, there must be some secret Vat of F.E.V somewhere here in the Capital Wasteland."

"Wipe the facility, save any captives and figure out where they are making more Mutants, should be easy enough to do. I imagine they will have some locked rooms with some pretty dastardly armaments that they have access to, maybe some sort of secret long lost to history? Places like this always have some sort of dark history hidden from when the world was set on fire."

"I think you are right about that, there has to be some sort of pre-war secret that these dumb Mutants didn't find."

Maxson then spoke up addressing us both. "We are going in there to wipe out the Mutant threat and harness any munitions we can, not to play make-believe scavenger hunt."

I held my tongue and just looked over at Myles who simply gave him a, "Yes, Sir!" Though I can tell from his expression that he was holding back just as much as I was. I have this odd feeling that Maxson was shutting down my ideas because of what I am.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful, there were a few discussions and nothing noteworthy, just how we plan on doing that attack and how much Maxson hates Mutants, yeah I gathered that you hate anything that isn't a human. I will get the nerve to address this eventually, myself.

I could see out the window, there was this massive facility just by the water, it had smoke coming from it and looked very dilapidated, sure enough. I saw Mutants patrolling and plenty of makeshift walls and cover in case of gunfights, I imagine we will use these against them.

There was some clanging from outside the Vertibird. The pilot was in a bit of a panic. "We are taking fire from a Minigun, we have to land otherwise the whole thing is going to blow!"

Maxson quickly stood up and ordered them to, "Land the damn thing then!" And we had a not so graceful landing right on the edge of the water, a short distance from the rest of the little battalion.

The two soldiers and Myles filed out of the Vertibird. They walked in a triangle formation covering all sides and I left the vessel as well, the sky was an ominous shade of blue and grey, not a single cloud in the sky and it was too quiet. Maxson and Procter made their way over to the other two Vertibirds and followed the cover of Myles and his formation. I followed after them on four legs and kept my head down till we reached safely and I stood back up. At least my head won't get blown off here.

I felt like they wanted us here. "You all realize this is what they wanted right? To bunch us all up in one spot before-" It was then a Mutant in a black-suited armor donned with road signs leaped from behind one of the parked Vertibirds and lifted a missile launcher. I saw it first and before anyone could even lift their guns I leaped in his direction and swiped a claw up his chest launching him in the air before using my other hand to catch him by the head and slamming him into the ground with a *crunch* and life faded from him instantly, but while I slammed him he still shot a missile into the air. It went behind us all and landed on the ground in the factory itself, leaving a decent hole in the long-forgotten driveway.

I stood up from his body, grabbing the missile launcher and the other three missiles he had on his belt before retreating to the crowd. Myles was the first to comment. "Well if not for you we would have all been red chunks on the ground, I have to say your reaction timing was impeccable, to say the least."

I rolled the three extra missiles on the ground before placing the butt of the launcher itself on the ground and opening the chamber to load another "Obviously, you all don't have a plan here, otherwise that close call wouldn't have happened, Maxson, I'm sure you don't want to take orders from a reptile but.. seeing how I just saved your ass how about you listen to me for once…"

He pointed at me and yelled, "I won't be taking orders from a reptile you are right, now stop fiddling with that launcher before you blow us all up! I am formulating a change of plans seeing as our element of surprise is gone."

I scoffed at him before loading the launcher upon my shoulder and handing the other two missiles to Myles. Angling the launcher up at the sky, I held a claw up with my other hand to measure my distance and simply said, "I don't take orders from a condescending, pig and I'm not waiting for your brain gears to get me killed, now you can follow my lead or go fuck right back off back to the Vertibird."

I gave him no opportunity to even say a word. I leaped out in front of the gate, there were about three mutants ready and waiting for all in a row on a guard post, made up of cars and various scraps. They aimed at me but I had already shot that missile before they even had an opportunity to fire. An arm went one way a leg went another, and the third Mutant's entire body went flying into the water with a very audible splash.

Quickly backed back up behind the wall of Vertibird and asked the rest of the soldiers if they were ready, most of them protested but Myles put down the missiles and cocked his Laser gun, and gave me a "Hell yes!" The rest of them were looking at Maxson and then at me as I leaned the Launcher horizontally against the Vertibird and awaited what he was going to say. Eventually, he grumbled and said, "Fine, John, just because it's best from a strategic point, I'll take a group and we will hit them from behind and you stay here upfront, Myles and Grey will back you up and the rest will go with me okay? We do this.." and he almost seems to choke on uttering the last word, "Together." Before rallying his troops and making their way behind the building, shooting at the Mutants on the rooftop.

Myles and Grey went up behind me and looked at each other and she then gave me an "I can't believe you called Maxson out like that, you aren't new to this at all, maybe doubting you weren't the best idea huh? Now let's go kick some Mutant ass!" Grey pounded her knuckles together and got her Gatling Laser ready and primed to fire.

"Myles, you stay back and keep to my right side, that way I know where you are at all times, should you need help. Grey, you keep to my left for the same reasons, let me go in front and don't bother helping me if I pin a Mutant or even worry about me, you keep each other alive and if we make it through this I'll get Nuka Cola for us all yeah?"

They gave each other a fist bump and then gave me a reassuring nod as they got ready to move. I trotted past the Vertibird and entered the parking lot, a Mutant arm from when I shot the missile was on the ground before me, it wasn't long before we were charged by a Mutant hound which I promptly cut into with both hands, it bled out pretty quickly and I kicked it out of my way. I heard shots and lasers fly by me as they tore through any Mutants in our path, one tried to surprise me from behind a pile of rubble but I kicked his knee, causing him to fall to the ground and I slashed across his throat making him fall forward to the ground face-first into a puddle of his now spewing blood.

Myles and Paladin Grey were doing their work, they took out plenty of Mutants themselves and they followed behind me like they were asked to, so far so good until I was surprised by a Mutant Overlord, he rammed into me with his entire body and knocked me flat on my back. He shot me directly in the chest with a few shots of his multiple-beam laser rifle. I winced at the sting but aside from that I was scorched but I was fine enough to keep fighting. I kicked him in the stomach and myself back over and quickly stood up. I did a cross slash from his face down to his torso, the slash destroyed his body and left some rather deep gashes, he landed backward and nearly fell apart from the force of his landing.

It seems my comrades were busy dealing with their issues. I checked my chest wound and flicked my hands to get at least some of the blood off of it before I decided to pick up that tri-beam laser rifle. Decided after such a close call I would keep the confrontation low for a while. I was able to provide cover fire to Myles and Paladin Grey as we made our way to the back to join Maxson and his battalion.

It was then that there was a slight rumble of the ground, then another, and another it got more and more intense and shook the ground entirely. Myles and Grey lost their footing, Grey fell upon her back with her power armor and landed hard. The back gates burst open. A Super Mutant Behemoth! Here? No, no this can't be right, why didn't we get warned? As if this could be missed.

A flood of lesser Mutants flooded out from behind the now broken gate, Myles had gotten behind cover but Grey was still out in the open, exposed to them all. Unfortunately for her the Behemoth stood over her and glared at me with his fist raised at his sides ready to punch at either of us. I took this opportunity to make a move and shot him right in the back of the head, causing him to turn around and growl and snarl at me before charging in my direction, shaking the ground and making me lose my footing, but not enough that I couldn't jump back.

I saw Grey trying to get up but then she was pinned by a Mutant who removed her helmet and pulled a Sledge from behind his back, he held her down by sitting on her chest and holding the hammer above his head laughing maniacally saying, "Smashy, Smashy human!"

I had to take a desperate action now, getting my footing I took a full sprint at the Super Mutant Behemoth, I slid right between his legs and shout wildly at the Mutant on top of Paladin Grey, I scored him once in the leg and then another time square in the head, my slide took a hard stop and then my gun went *Click* empty, of course! I cursed to the sky before throwing the gun right at the Mutant as he recoiled from the previous shots. I gave a quick roll forward from being on my back and sliced upwards and jumped back up onto two legs, I got the Mutant right up his neck, and tossed him aside before helping Grey up and telling her where Myles was.

"I don't know how he got me-"

I then cut her off, "Grey, there is a fucking Behemoth behind us, save the thanks for when we get out alive, go to Myles!" Pointing to where he was behind the pile of cars, he gestured for her to go over. I was going to handle this Behemoth.

The Behemoth turned to me realizing I was, in fact, not where I was previously. His nose twitched as he looked at me with pure hate and disdain, he then noticed Grey retreating to where Myles was and then charged her. Oh no, I'm not letting that happen.

I ran at the Behemoth on four legs before slashing at his knees and sliding in front of him from his side, he roared and threw a fist to the ground, ignoring Grey as she got to safety. He held his arm and leaned down to hit me with his other, as he swung, I ducked under it and used his other arm which was still on the ground to climb up his body, I gashed and clawed into his forearm as I made my way up to his shoulder, I pulled myself up and stood myself on his back, he flailed and swung his arms around in an attempt to get me off but I was already determined. I wasn't sure how else I would have been able to kill this abomination. I took the time to steady myself, I spread my arms wide as I could before digging them into the bottom of his chin and slicing horizontally with both my hands and going down his throat as I went, till I reached the back of his neck and removed my hands from the deep cut.

He leaned back and grabbed at his now cut open throat and caused me to fall backward off of him as he fell to his side, gurgling and spazzing upon the ground, blood from his neck running down his hands and arms before all the fight finally left him and his body went limp, the gurgling stopped and that was it, Behemoth down. This was in fact, the second time I've slain a Behemoth.

I looked around the area once I stood back up and gave the Behemoth a good, solid kick to the side of the skull, judging from how his head almost fell off from the gashes when I kick him, yeah I would say that he is dead I took this time to flick my hands, attempting to get some of the blood off my hands and claws.

Myles and Grey came out from behind their cover, it seems they were able to clear the rest of the Mutants, at which it seemed there wasn't any left around, bodies and limbs littered this once peaceful workspace.

Myles came out from behind the pile of cars and looked at the carnage before us. "Holy shit, that was something else, you completely ruined that Behemoth's day and...life and everything."

I gave him a greeting, "Glad you are okay, you did just fine with that rifle and this isn't the first time I've faced a Behemoth, out west they are pretty prominent."

We didn't have much time to converse, it was then out of the broken, dusty gates Maxson and his fleet came out, they must have successfully gone through the back and managed to clear their section out. Maxson walked forward first with a few soldiers behind him. I couldn't help but notice that there were a few bodies of power armor, laying limb, dead. We couldn't have gone through this without any casualties, still a shame, even though I am one to know you can't save everyone, an impossible feat in this hellscape.

A few of the soldiers in the back carried the wounded to the Vertibirds and checked the rest, I scanned the roof to make sure of no stragglers. From what I can see it was clear we wiped the outside at least, the inside was most likely a different story.

Myles and Grey went to Maxson surely to tell them what had happened on our end while I snooped around, looking for any hidden Mutant ready to jump out at us with a surprise Minigun, speaking of I didn't see any Mutants with that Minigun we got shot at with when we first flew over the place.

I looked at my blood-soaked claws and hands, this is how it always ends, this is the way of the Wasteland. You will see the same sight over and over and all it does is remind you of the monster you are, at least as long as appearances are concerned. I hugged the wall which led back to the parked Vertibirds and used the loading dock to wash myself down. The water here seems endless, at least I couldn't see land on the other side. We were in a pretty tucked-away corner, at the end of a long winding road with nothing else around the sight. What nefarious, treachery was going on in such a secluded Munition factory?

I finished washing the blood from myself, lucky none of it was my own but I do have a pretty noticeable scorched mark upon my chest, that laser could have turned someone dust, ash, or something else entirely. I sat down on this pier, there were some old boat vessels which I can see from here, and some even sank while docked. I don't even know the name of this place still, something isn't adding up with this whole mission, Munition Factory? I don't see anything that leads to this being a possibility of being a Munition Factory.

I only rested for a moment before I returned to the group, I was asked by one of the soldiers to help one of the wounded, seems they weren't able to get removed from the Power Armor, I assisted with hauling them to the Vertibird and tried to soothe them, but they were hysterical! I am not the one to be in the field of medical work so I wished the soldier luck and went to find Myles, and see how Grey was doing.

Assuming they were together, I saw Maxson and Myles but not Grey, where did she go off to? A few of the knights gave me a nod of approval as they went by, wished me a good job, and told me I did well. What was going on? Why the sudden approval?

I trailed past the number of Mutant bodies from behind the back gate, it was about the size of a small army. They must have chased the Behemoth off and dealt with the increasing forces as they went along. I could see that we still lost 3 soldiers, was this worth it?

It was then the backset of double doors shot open, Maxson and a few other Paladin went through, carrying boxes and cases of ammunition and explosives. "About time you came back, here I thought you cut and ran off on us. Get yourself back there and help us load these into the Vertibirds!"

I immediately snapped back at him, "I wouldn't be running, I washed all the blood from myself, you know from the Behemoth that I took out, alone?"

Before he could even say anything I brushed past him and ducked into the doorway, it was a munition factory, it had conveyor belts and pressing stations. This place probably pressed and produced ammo and explosives for the great war.

They had already taken the time to gather and bunch up everything, it was in a neat little pile. I might as well pick up what I can, now I am not some explosive expert but I am pretty sure if someone was to shoot this massive pile of munitions, I would probably be a red splat upon the ground. That's how easy it is out here, one forgotten Mutant or a stray bullet, I gathered up what I could quickly and made my way back outside.

Holding a few boxes on top of a case of I don't even know what, I could still see in front of me at least, they were taking advantage of my strength and I had expected this, at least. I was okay with it. This amount of supplies would take ages to move even with the help of the additional strength from their power armor.

I took a few trips back and forth, it was probably the easiest part of this mission. Eventually, we managed to move everything to the few Vertibirds, loaded it all up, and while some celebrated, others were less enthusiastic. I took this time to ask about Grey and they told me she was injured when that Mutant pinned her, broke an arm and a few ribs, internal bleeding but she will be alright. The sooner we get out the better. I found her on a stretcher and out of her armor. I gave my condolences and told her she did just fine. I...was thanked for saving her life and that she wouldn't be here without me. She doesn't owe me anything, I wasn't going to just let some green freak bash her brains in. I decided to let her rest and joined up with the rest of the Brotherhood.

Maxson was making a speech right outside the gates where we landed originally, something about how even though we had fallen brothers and sisters in this fight we still got what we came for and we wiped out an armada of Mutants. "Now, due to our wounded and the amount of ammo and explosives we have loaded up, some of you may need to be left behind, our Vertibirds won't be able to handle the extra weight, do we have any volunteers?"

I sighed I would be the best option. I am heavier than someone in power armor, I think. I stepped forward with a hand raised, "It would be most strategic for me to stay behind, my extra weight would just slow you down and we have wounded to tend to, no sense arguing."

Myles stepped up. "I will stay behind too, make sure there aren't any other Mutants and that our work here won't be compromised, sir! We will even make our way back to the Prydwen ourselves, focus on treating our wounded and we will be back before nightfall, tomorrow."

Maxson gave me a nod and Myles a nod and concluded that should be enough. "Very well Myles, you and John will make your way back to the Prydwen and you make sure you get back, you hear me?"

"Don't you worry, Maxson? I'm in good hands. We will both be back to you I promise, get going now before something catastrophic happens."

They talked for a few more minutes before Maxson and his crew boarded the Vertibirds and took off. I decided to rest by a pile of cars and wait for them to disappear beyond the horizon.

Myles went and sat down by me, he looked over at me and took off his combat helmet, along with unstrapping his chest plate and shoulder pads. I leaned my head back and rested my eyes for a moment before he spoke up.

"I...didn't think we were going to survive that, all of us were too unprepared and not nearly well equipped enough to deal with a damn Behemoth, Me and Grey would be dead if not for you. I wanted to thank you for that, but I have to ask, how the hell did you even manage that!?"

I paused a moment before lowering my head back down and opening my eyes. "I just waited for him to throw his arm down and then I jumped on his back and cut his neck open, it wasn't that hard. Especially when you and Grey were on the line, you two have shown me respect and hold yourselves high. The Wasteland needs more people like you and I wasn't just going to let that go away."

"What have you been through, where you can jump on a Behemoth and not be shaken up by it afterward?" He asked me, this was a serious question, serious enough that I gave it some thought

"I.. have nothing to lose. I have no one to go back to, I have no family to love, I could die and the Wasteland and it wouldn't be any different. My very existence is an impossibility. But to answer you, I have tales that will shake you to your very core. Believe me when I tell you this isn't something you want to delve into."

He didn't even seem surprised by this. "I understand, I won't pry but know that I appreciate you saving us all, and just know I appreciate you and our friendship."

I looked over at him as I stood up with a fang-filled smile. "Who said we were friends?" As I offered to help him up.

Myles gathered up his armor which he took off and set it behind the car pile. "We should check out the inside. I honestly believe there is some dark secret around here, I want us to discover it, and honestly...I'm not in a rush to get back to the Prydwen."

"You know, me neither. I could do without some of the people there. Besides, that is where I feel better out in the Wasteland, finding otherworldly secrets. That is what I strive for, knowledge and experience in this hell, shall we continue?"

He gave me a nod and I went through the back door which I had hauled out the small armory from, sunlight seeped into the broken windows as my eyes adjusted to the slightest bit of darkness, I can almost visualize workers struggling to make their daily deadline.

"Never seen a place like this before, we should look for a Terminal and figure out the name of this place, the sign was so weathered and broken I couldn't make it out."

I agreed to that."I would like the name of this place too, maybe we can determine if it's known for suspicious activity."

We took the time to look around the area and a few maintenance rooms, but aside from a few desks and cabinets, there was nothing in any of these rooms, not even a note or Terminal.

I heard Myles call for me from the other end of the hallway, it didn't sound urgent but I still made my way there quickly.

"Look, John, I found a skeleton in a chair here, he was holding this Holotape, all we have to do now is find a Terminal. Have you found anything exciting yet?"

I shook my head, I could barely fit into this room so I went back into the hall. "No, aside from long-forgotten scrap and empty desks and cabinets I haven't found anything."

He placed the Holotape in his pocket and joined me. I told him that we still have the upper floor to check out, fortunately for us at the entrance there was a ramp that went up. There was only a single elevated room above all the pressing devices.

It was a quaint office space, some supervisor probably supervised his workers here and made sure everyone was doing their job properly. The dust and debris took their toll though, an old coffee table sat in the corner and a few mugs still sat next to it, just to show how unprepared everyone was for the Great War, people went about their daily lives unknowingly that it would be their last.

Fortunately for us, there was a working terminal on the desk. It sat proudly in the middle of the room, illuminated the desk with its signature green light and bulky resilience, these things were made to last a long time. Longer than their creators even.

I got in front of the terminal and crouched down, I was practically on my knees, a disadvantage of being a large lizard fitting into normal human positions to access equipment or technology that never works. Myles scoped around the room looking for anything useful. "You know, I'm glad you know terminals because I'll be honest here, that is one thing I suck at."

"Really? The great Paladin Myles doesn't know how to crack a Terminal? I could teach you what you desire."

He continued opening drawers and looking at boxes. I'm sure it's just a scavenger procedure to check everything. "You teach me? I don't doubt your ability but I can't see you teaching anyone anything."

As I clicked the keys on the board hoping to get somewhere I scoffed at him. "You would be surprised, not all in my Vault were able to speak or comprehend technology as well as I, in fact, I was a teacher, I helped young ones speak and even those who were older form proper sentences, hell I even taught them to write and work terminals and use generators. I went from the runt no one wanted to the one who everyone went to when they had a problem."

I paused and stopped my typing and said softly, "I was also the only one who made it out alive…"

He didn't say anything before going to a chair and moving it up, just in front of the desk, and sat down in it, using the back of it to rest his arms and he looked like he was wondering about something.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing. Well, that is a lie but you won't like what it was."

"Alright, now you have to tell me because I'm just going to sit here and wonder what it is-"

He cut me off and simply said, "It's about Sophia."

I leaned myself back almost as if I had been hit by something. "You are right, I don't like what that is."

He adjusted the chair and looked at me, "You know it's just us here right? You can tell me anything, John. I feel I have earned this at least. I know what it's like to have no one to talk to or share your sorrows with. You mentioned you have no one to go back to, so what happened?"

I grumbled, "I don't want to relive this at all, but you aren't wrong you have earned something, god I'm going to regret this, do you want the long or short version?"

"Give me somewhere in-between."

I quit typing on the Terminal and used a hand to go down my face before I mustered the strength to tell, "When I left the vault I had no idea what I was doing, where I was going, or what I had planned so I just kinda picked a direction. There was nothing for miles. I did spend a lot of my time in tears as I went through this new world. I was so, so young when it had all happened and I just watched my whole vault die, and take a life for the first time, myself. Eventually, I stumbled across a road, now I have never been outside before but I was aware of geography and landmarks and such, all those years in the library paid off after all because I found a small settlement, except it was abandoned and not at all looted. I poked around and found something to eat and drink here. It was awful compared to the processed food we had in the vault. I nearly threw it up and I wasn't sure because it was my first taste of Wasteland food or that it was that terrible, it was probably both. It was then that I met her, she came up the hill that the camp was on and probably heard someone, who was me hacking their lungs out and went to investigate, she was in very tattered rags and she held a baby. Needless to say, she freaked out upon seeing me and ran. but she tripped from being so weak. I had tried to tell her that it was okay and that I won't hurt her, and that just made her freak out even more. Eventually, she concluded that I wasn't real and I was a figment of her imagination, which I wasn't, so I kept my distance and threw her one of the bottles of water I found here. Sufficient to say that kind of convinced her, she questioned me and there were a lot of things I had no answer to, not like I do today," Continuing, "I gave her some of the food I had also found and asked about the baby, because it seems sick and she told him that he has radiation poisoning. She was looking for some Radaway with some folks from her settlement but they got separated. I asked where and she didn't remember, having been wandering for ages. I told her about my vault, breaking down as I did, and that is what convinced her that we go together, once I put myself back together. We were off, I told her I had no experience out here and that well I was naive, she told me what to look out for. I killed a Radscorpion and we found an old Red Rocket Gas station, she told me the ins and out's of scavenging for supplies, and lucky for us there was a Radaway stored under the front desk with some other things, a revolver and some bullets. I helped apply the Radaway to the baby and she asked if I wanted to follow her back to her settlement, I told her of course as I had nowhere else to go, and off we went, see I didn't understand that there were other deathclaws unlike myself, that weren't intelligent, at least not that I have seen. When we reached the front gates the guards shot at me and then saw her I was terrified! They stopped shooting and asked why the hell she had a Deathclaw, she had explained and then I stepped in saying my side essentially that my Vault was dead and I'm new to this land. I don't even remember what convinced them but they let me through and she took me to her little house."

"She set the baby on a bed and went out to tell the two guys at the gate that her search team was missing, but they had shown up earlier saying that she was missing. It was kind of funny, yes, it was nice seeing the community care so much for each other. A few days went by and I managed to meet everyone in the town. No one wanted to shoot me anymore, so one of them asked if I wanted to go back and bury my dead. It took way too long but eventually, I said, yes. So a small band of me and the town went to my Vault along with Sophia and we took the whole day but we buried everyone up the land above the vault, dragging them all out was so emotionally hard for me and I was pretty much crying the whole time, they let me bury my mother and that was that.

We went back and I lived there and helped out for years to come, honing my skills and helping the settlement when I would. Alyrys was the name of it, it was built in some old ruins near a river, it had a brick wall surrounding the perimeter, it was...a nice place. I grew up here, hit my adulthood, and learned how to shoot firearms and how to fight. Raiders became increasingly an issue, we kept getting attacked daily. But eventually, all good things have to end, right?"

Myles kept listening intently as I took a deep breath and then let it out, "Sophia she...was captured by the Raiders along with a few others, so I went to find her. The raiders had a camp not far from us, which was part of a smaller operation. They lined the 5 up that they captured and executed them one by one, Sophia was the last in line. I ran in there like a fucking maniac, some fled in terror, and others fought. I cut through them all. One of the bastards took Sophia back behind one of their tents and stabbed her multiple times before I reached her. I tore that fucker apart, limb from limb before I went over to Sophia who was still alive, bleeding heavily. I tried telling her it's going to be okay, you are going to be fine but no that didn't change anything. She bled out as I held her."

I used a claw to wipe a tear coming out as I continued, "I just sat there, at a loss looking down at her, I don't even think I cried till a while after I was just in shock, then my sadness turned to rage. I found one of the raiders who were still alive and I tortured them...I did things to this man that I don't want to mention, I found out where their main base of operations was and I stormed it that day, it was a settlement taken over by raiders. There were innocent people there but...I didn't care. I tore down men, women, and children; they all died. I made sure there were no survivors. My body and claws were so drenched in blood, I remember the carnage very well, bodies everywhere and then I just left after I wiped them all out. I went back to Sophia and buried her where my mother was. I carried her burdens one last time and made sure she got a proper grave. I went back to Alyrys and the current leader banished me, they heard of me killing that entire raider settlement I then earned myself the title of. "The White Death'' I didn't even tell them goodbye I just left, after everything I have done for them all. I'm sure not everyone agreed with it but I was sick of spilling blood. I then had a new plan, I began to make my way to the Capital Wasteland, I heard of Enclave being there, it took me a few years but I finally arrived."

He just held his hand over his mouth, looking at me shocked, "Holy shit, I just feel sad after hearing that." He gave a sniffle and wiped his eyes.

I gave a small sigh, "Yes, and Rick was her son's name and he grew up to be one of the caravan workers. He was gone on a trip before I was banished. Never even got the chance to tell him about his mother. I also loved Sophia but I never had the chance to tell her before she was taken from me, she was good and pure for this world, this twisted sick environment didn't deserve her. Ever since I buried her I made a promise to myself that I would never let another innocent soul be taken from this world, and that I would banish any Raiders I see."

Myles then stood up and hugged me, it was unexpected but I certainly welcomed the comfort, "Just know, I will be here for you, okay? I don't have anyone in my life either and I think we can make great friends, and do great things for this world and me. Make this hell a better place for everyone and forge a new world, built on the tears of those we lost."

That sentence touched me because it's what I believe in myself, a better future building off of what we lost, so we can make something new. "I couldn't agree more, Myles Now get off me before I end up a weeping mess, and thanks for listening, it's been too long since I got anything out like that I feel nice, actually."

He got off me and went back to his seat "Anytime, I have your back 100% from here on out, no matter what."

I nodded with a smile, it was nice to finally have someone I can rely on, and someone reliable. I think I do trust this man and that.. scares me, I'm not used to trusting people at all. I believe him when he says he has my back, he has proven that much already. "Now what do you say we get this Terminal open?"

End Chapter: 17