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.

30. Collapsed in Sunbeams

Chapter 30: Collapsed in Sunbeams

This hulking mass of metal and pumps only laughed at me. It was a deep, hearty, and threatening boom within his respiratory mask. Lowering his hands upon his waist, he only stared me down, those glowing eyes judging my very existence. "You really have no idea who I am, do you? Has it been that long?"

I only growled at him, "Unfortunately for you, no. Frank Horrigan? Doesn't ring the slightest bell. You're supposed to be some Wasteland badass, or something?"

He did even reply. Charging forward, he shook the entire ground with those fruitful stomps. I met his charge, scooping up one of the many landmines that littered this place. I ducked under his massive, swinging form and pressed the landmine right at his chest, holding it there, and stretched my arms out. I held the mine there, in between us both.

Now that I was right upon him, it made me realize how massive and bulky this Frank Horrigan was. He went to grab at me, but hesitated. I pressed the landmine right against his chest. His attire was a mixture of Power Armor and Super Mutant. It was a hulking, heavy mass of protection, tubes, and robotic-looking extensions. He scoffed at me. "Do you really think that will work? I can be rebuilt, you cannot. Are you that desperate?"

I only press the mine harder against him, keeping the activation primed. If I release it from his chest, it will blow us both completely. Being a Plasma Mine the lingering effect will destroy us both, or severely damage us together. "Seeing as I lack the opportunity to talk to you, being all ready to murder me, and all. If I die, I will take you with me. However, since we are both still alive. How about telling me what you are doing here, why outside the Flea Garage?"

His voice only boomed in his helmet. "Pure coincidence! I heard a pesky rumor that the Enclave had fallen in the Capital Wasteland," he paused, and glared at me through the glowing eyehole of his helmet. "Again! While I was getting myself put back together, the Enclave was destroyed. The pathetic branch of government that couldn't accomplish anything, twice!" he paused and leaned down at me, reaching my face. "A pesky Deathclaw was behind that, joining the Brotherhood of Steel. You caused me a lot of trouble, you caused the Enclave a lot of trouble. Before I was, "killed" by The Chosen One; I killed your entire species off." He stomped the ground. The entire world shook beneath us. "How are you here!?"

I stepped closer. Meeting his rage-filled glare with my own. "My history doesn't matter at all. There aren't any of me left. In the end, you fulfilled your goal. I am the last you will ever see!"

He grabbed at my neck in such a quick action I couldn't even react. He could grasp my entire neck in a single hand. "It would be such a shame if I pushed you away, wouldn't it? You didn't think about that fact, did you?"

I could barely speak through his iron grasp. "Yo-you'll be in the radius too. Otherwise, you would have just done it already." I called his bluff.

He only grumbled under that protective helmet, towering above me and keeping his grasp upon my neck a consistent tightness of hatred. If one could project their feelings through such an action, his grasp would scream "hate!"

"It appears we are at an impasse," He admitted with a begrudgingly filled tone. "Brilliant of you. Trapping me and yourself between a landmine."

Keeping an unrelenting grip on the mine itself, I used my other arm to loosen the grip he had upon my throat, pushing that arm away. "I don't foresee either of us getting out of this unscathed. Since we are both stuck and essentially screwed. How about you tell me why?"

Frank only kept his arm up, ready to strike. "Why what? I have nothing to answer for you, or this pitiful Wasteland!"

"That's exactly what I mean, though. What are your plans? Why are you back? Why such a hate for my species? You surely don't share an intention with the Enclave back in the Capital Wasteland. Wh-"

He wasn't having any of my questions. "It's a return to form! Eradication of everything that wasn't in existence before The Great War. The Enclave is a remnant of the old world! I'm a remnant of the old world. If I let mutation and radiation run rampant, the nation will never return to what it once was!"

"The old world is dead, Frank! That hope of returning to form will never come to be. The issue of radiation and mutations is more widespread than you or I can comprehend. You're talking about total global change. The nation as you want it to be will never be back to what it once was. Murdering everything that doesn't fit your view will get you nowhere!" I snarled at him, but he only grasped at my throat more. My feeble attempts to shake him off were in vain.

"Unnatural creations like yourself are part of the issue." He boomed, looking away from me and checking his surroundings. "You are a product of science unchecked. The same scientist who made the bombs that completely annihilated the world. You don't understand what you represent. The Deathclaw was made to replace foot soldiers during the war. You were never meant to gain sentience, free will. You are just wrong!"

"Last I heard, the Enclave gave us sentience. Through experiments, with F.E.V." He was silent, almost like he was thinking. "What's wrong Frankie? Trying to clean up loose ends, postmortem?"

Frank only tightened his grip, pulling me closer. "The Enclave no longer matters. They can't accomplish anything! I will have to cleanse this Wasteland myself!"

With a swift curving of my spine, I bent myself in an incredibly unnatural way to release his grip. He un-handed me the moment I twisted his massive form with myself. This whole ordeal caused me to lose the pressure on the Plasma Mine and it fell to the ground.

He just stood there, stared at it, and then at me. I tried to make as much distance as possible. He didn't realize I disarmed it the entire time until now. He roared out and a blood-curdling screech of rage! He stomped the ground, shaking the entire world beneath us both. This absolute lunatic lunged at me before I could even turn around. He covered such a distance that any sort of spacing I made was completely void.

He grabbed me by the tip of my tail and pulled me in, in a single firm tug. Tightening his grasp, he swung me around, lifting me completely off the ground, and slammed me with all the might he could muster into the soil.

The impact landed me on my side and instantly knocked the wind out of me. This hulking behemoth of a mutant only leisurely strolled up to me, placed a foot on my chest, and pressed down.

I dry heaved a bit of air but couldn't get any more. The pressure on my chest only prevented me even further from oxygen.

Frank only moved his foot over up my chest. Holding that dirt, crusty, metal foot upon my face, rubbing up and down my snout. "Makes you wonder why you all died out. You aren't fit for this world."

Why do they always do this? I swear it's a power trip. I, despite heaving absolutely nothing. Dug my entire clawed grip into his ankle and pulled forward. He fell down in front of me with a thud so loud and earth-quaking that it made me stumble when I tried to get up. This brought me just enough time to retrieve the things that got scattered when he brought me to the ground.

Gasping for air, I doubled down on this current vulnerability he had. He would have to roll over and then get up. Too many tubes and pipes lined his back. They got stuck on the ground.

He quickly turned himself around and stood up! Quickly rushed over to his position, still scrambling for my bags. I began to furiously slash at his backside, cutting multiple tubes and pipes. I don't even know what fluids burst out of these extensions. Probably some kind of life support, saline, or… worse.

With my hands splattered and Frank irritated as all hell. Now would be a good time to bail. There is no way in any sort of reasonable Hell that I could take this fucker down alone. Keeping myself moving, nearly tripping over the body of Styx, goddamn I hadn't even registered that they killed yet him.

I saw it happen, shot right between the eyes. He deserved better. I assume Adam fell into the river, as well as Myles. I can only hope they will meet up or aren't completely dead.

I'll come back for you, Styx. I won't leave you to rot for the mongrels.

Horrigan charged at me like a Super Mutant on Jet, and with nothing to lose. With a swinging fist, I ducked under. Narrowly avoiding a quick uppercut in succession. Cutting the tubes on his back did absolutely nothing, noted.

When he drew closer, I noted all the bullet markings that Myles put in him. Frank Horrigan was a literal walking tank.

This man, mutant, thing! Was unrelenting. He wasn't tiring one bit and here I was gasping for air still, standing on this plateau like a dumbass. I needed to check my two bags and make sure I wasn't missing anything. I also concluded that my Bumper Sword would be of little use if my claws did basically nothing in comparison.

"I am Frank Horrigan. You are a mistake in science. The Secret Service would never allow the likes of you to exist in my world. You are not welcome in my world!" He leaned back, stomping the ground once more. Making me lose whatever balance I had.

Backing myself up to the same edge, I pushed Myles down. I didn't even look back and took a full sprint and a leap of faith into the running rapids below.

I didn't hear what Frank had yelled out. I hit the water much faster than I expected. The water wasn't strong enough to make me lose control of what I was doing. The splash and chilling cold were refreshing. I took the time to consider that Myles and Adam must have flown downstream. I didn't see a body from either of them. Or the Enclave soldier Adam fell off with.

Continuing with the flow of water, I finally caught my breath and steadied myself. I'll continue down the rapid until I see Myles, Adam, or the Enclave soldier. I think I am safe enough to keep myself relaxed for the moment. It's not every day you see a Deathclaw, swimming in a river.

This stretch of the river seemed to split at this point of elevation. Left and right seemed to stretch just as far. I took the moment of indecisiveness to rest myself upon a fallen log that was submerged in the river's dirt. It must have been here for a hundred years, just stuck.

Nothing happened while I was resting against this log. I was more than far away enough from Horrigan. I eventually decided that I was sick of being soaked and hoisted myself up onto the edge of the river, split, and stood up.

I'll follow one path from here. I was leaning to the right. That sounds good. Worse comes to worst. I can just trudge in the other direction!

I stood myself up on the riverbank and shook myself off. It's almost unreal how much water ended up dripping off me. I was practically soaked to the bone. I checked my surroundings. Everything seemed clear as could be. Not a sign of life in sight. The river itself seemed overall secluded. I couldn't see any sort of settlement or road on the horizon. How far did this go?

Once I was adequately dried enough, I checked my things, wring out my two bags, and began walking my way up the edge of the riverbed. It was a kind of miracle I got out of that relatively unscathed. My chest hurt from Frank and his excessive pressure, but other than that, I feel fine.

Here I thought I was done with the Enclave until I reached the Nevada border. I need to find Myles and Adam first. I can only hope they ended up together.

I wrung out my last satchel and took out one of our Aqua Pura drinks. The purest water in the region, or so they say. I always thought it could never beat the rivers of Nevada, especially not by the Hoover Dam.

Checking everything to be accounted for, I took the entire bottle down in a single gulp. It made me realize I did, in fact, taste this before. On the Prydwen. Pure water beats irradiated. Even if it wouldn't affect me severely.

The river leads into a large open field. Both sides flowed right into a massive lake overlooking another valley. That saves me time on checking both ways, at least. This place looked like some kind of park or attraction back in the day. It had a spiral walkway of weathered bricks and broken benches that are hardly recognizable. No road, which is still odd. I could see some kind of building on the complete other ends of the lake.

The roof partially collapsed in on itself. I could use the semblance of shelter to get myself together and figure out my next course of action. The entire area was suspiciously quiet. Usually, this area would have some Ghouls, Bloodbugs, or even a Deathclaw! A place so close to easy water makes for good living for a wild creature.

I kept myself out of the large opening area and kept along the dead treeline. I don't blend in with anything, but I imagine most wouldn't just pick a fight with a wandering Deathclaw.

I crept my way up to the collapsed building. I was a ways away but was drawing in. It seemed empty. I sensed nothing or anyone.

I gave a wide approach. Rather than straight on, I came from the side. The sounds of water and the elevation of the hill would be enough cover to reach the building itself. Plenty of thoughts crossed my mind. What could be in here, raiders, settlers, empty? Why am I even doing this? Myles and Adam could be here too, but I highly doubt it. I found no tracks to lead to that, at least not that I saw.

I reached the backside of the building and peered into it. The place looked like a gift shop. I can see some faded-away signs that still stand to this day. The shelves were barren, minus some leaves and dust, rubble. The place is in a bad state of affairs. I did, however, notice a rather suspicious hatch.

I picked up a long stick from the edge of the building and used it to hoist the hatch open. The handle was rusty as all hell, but it was still functional. I would need to finesse myself to fit, but I could get the angle.

I didn't even get the entire hatch open before I heard the shot of a gun and a bullet whiz by me from below. It made me literally jump back, nearly tripping on my tail.

"Goddamn it, Adam! Don't be so fucking trigger-happy!" I heard Myles scolding Adam. They were safe! "John, is that you? I'm assuming you didn't get hit by mister shoot anything that moves?"

I leaned forward and pushed the stick into the cracked hatch just to test the waters some more. "You are lucky your shot missed me, Adam. I would have been very unhappy to have come all the way down the river just to be shot like that." I pulled the stick back, tossing it behind me. "Make room, I'm coming down."

I opened the hatch and was met with a rather large-looking bunker. It was all I could describe as spacious. It even had a back-looking room that I could see.

Adam lowered his gun and took a seat in the most durable-looking chair in the room. "I thought I was crazy when I heard you talk, back at the Enclave standoff. It makes so much more sense now, everything. Myles was trying to explain everything to me and said that you would find us, so we stayed put."

"Yeah, we even have an uninvited guest in the back room. We thought you might enjoy looking at him."

Interesting, interesting. I got down on all fours and crouched down as low as possible. Much to my surprise, I can indeed fit! The steps leading down were much longer than I originally expected. The spacious room would explain a large amount of echo from the shot that Adam took.

I awkwardly reached the bottom of the steps and stood back up. "Glad you two made it out of that clusterfuck," I turned to face Adam, looking around the room as I moved deeper into this concrete sanctuary, "Adam, I am sorry about Styx. I… don't want you to think we are going to let his sacrifice be in vain."

He took a deep breath and only stared at the wall. "It was no one's fault. He knew what he was getting himself into. We knew the risks. I just don't know what I'm going to tell his daughter now."

"Daughter?" Myles asked, while loading one of the assault rifle mags he found on one of the many shelves.

Adam only sighed. "Yes, Mackerel is the girl we were searching for. That's his daughter. Intel suggests The Rose Bloods took as a slave her. Nothing confirmed. That is why we were here. We are traders, yes. But we are also spies. For who? I won't tell you, but just know that we are not an enemy of yours." He paused and turned around to face me, then Myles, "Especially not a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin and a talking Deathclaw."

I gave him a nod and didn't press on the matter. "I understand. You helped us get into the Flea Garage, so I have no reason to not trust you specifically." I leaned closer, turned around, and met him eye to eye. "Tell me this. The group that you spy for. Will it make me want to kill you upon figuring it out? I suggest you tell me now. Because if I find out, on my own and I am not happy with the outcome. I will kill you." I sharpened my claws together just inches away from him, for emphasis.

He pondered for a second and looked at Myles, who I would assume knew as much as me. "I don't think it would make you want to kill me. As far as I'm aware, you have had no interaction with us. We aren't widespread or even known on a grand scale. We gather intel and give it to other factions and groups that could use it we-"

"What is your group's name?" I asked him firmly.

Myles butted in, tapping me on the shoulder, and directed me. "John, we have bigger issues. The Enclave soldier Adam fell with. We captured and subdued her. You know, for answers. Figured you would want to get some out of her."

I growled at them both. "Very well, Adam, Myles. I'll see if they will answer me. If not, they die. No. Objections."

I gave neither of them time to argue, making my way through to the next room. It was significantly smaller and less lit. It did, however, have a chair with a pretty bloody-looking person. This lady is in dark fatigues and breathing heavily. Her leg looked broken. Her breaths are unsteady. She was tied heavily.

"Well, you look like shit," I commented.

She slowly looked up at me, a purple eye and coughing blood. "I thought they were blowing out their ass, when they said you would be coming. I already heard you talk, no point in not believing that." She spurt out another clump of blood and yelled. "I ain't talking! You'll never get a peep out of me!"

I simply circled the room, using the patches of darkness for intimidation. "I dunno, you already spoke. Awfully redundant to not keep going. So, I'm going to give you a single choice, here and now," I ran my index claw along her cheek, not drawing blood, but just so she can feel it. "I offer you a chance. Rather than continue to torture you, I will patch you up. Relieve your pain and fix you as well as I can. As long as you tell me what I want. Hell, I'll even let you walk with your life."

She tried to pull away and was way, way too immobilized to do so. "And, if I don't?"

I only snickered at her. "You tell me. I don't need to tell you what unspeakable things will happen to you. As far as I see it. I am giving you an easy out. Both ways technically work, yes. I want information. You want your life."

She wheezed and grunted in pain. "You won't do anything worse than Frank Horrigan will do to me! I'll be turned into a mutant or used to fuel his very life!"

I stopped her. "Wait, wait. I know nothing about Frank Horrigan. Tell me everything. I'll even help you with that broken leg and stop the bleeding, as you tell me. How about that?"

"I could just lie to you, you know?"

"Yeah, I could just kill you, you know?" I snapped right back. "Now, fucking talk! I grow tired of wasting time."

"God-Fucking-Damnit, fine! The Frank Horrigan that you met is just an impersonation, not actually the real Frank Horrigan. Yes, he's based on and uses the DNA of the real one from ages ago. They made him in a lab, made to believe he's the real thing. Don't you see? They are testing. Once they iron everything out, they will mass produce him. The Wasteland will be royally fucked!" she yelled in a panic!

I begrudgingly pulled out a sewing kit from my satchel and examined her leg, gently. "You're telling me that he was once real, isn't now, and is just an imitation of himself, but doesn't know it?"

She winced as I sewed her leg wound back together. "Ahh, yes, yes. He doesn't know that he isn't the real deal. Simply just a test. He was made in a lab to cleanse the Wasteland. Mainly of the Brotherhood of Steel, any creature, and anything that wasn't part of the Pre-War agenda. The thing is, his body deteriorates at such a rapid pace that he needs others to keep it sustained. Basically, through countless experiments. They converted people into a sort of 'fuel' for Frank to function on."

I stopped what I was doing. "You don't mean to tell me that… the tube I cut was… people? It splashed all over me!" Oh my goodness, that's absolutely disgusting!

"I'm afraid so. The tubes keep him afloat. If he doesn't have a fuel system, he can't function. Mind you, he isn't a robot or a machine. He's as organic as you and me. The problem is, to keep him as powerful and as strong as he is, he needs literal life support. Without a constant supply of organic energy, he will cease to operate, just like a machine without fuel."

That explains the missing people at the Flea Garage. It's not raiders or slavers, it was Enclave! I should have fucking known!

Ignoring my thoughts of wild speculation, there will be plenty of time for that later on. I did, however, wonder what Myles and Adam were doing. Probably discussing what the plan is or just let me deal with this lady on my own.

I didn't take a moment to look at her actual features yet. She had red hair and kept it in a bun on the back of her head. It looks like it was all tied together intentionally. Her skin was a bit darker, like a tan, and other than that, she didn't hold any sort of modifications or piercings. "So, what is your name? How did you get involved with the Enclave? It doesn't seem like it would be a choice of yours, if you could have prevented it," I asked her, finishing up the sewing of her leg wound.

For once she didn't squirm, just let it happen. "My name is Shar, like Sharleen. You are right. When they are picking people to be turned into fuel for Frank, they have us all fight it out. Survivors are given a choice, and it's join or die. To be converted into his tubes it doesn't matter if you are dead or alive. The higher-ups and superiors watch you suffer and then make you suffer some more. I didn't want to be made a fucking fuel for a walking monster, so I joined. Bought me time until I could do something to either escape or make a move and get myself killed, anyway. I remember being captured by some kind of slaver. It was a large camp somewhere. They moved us all so many times. Back and forth. Like we were a possession. They sold me for 50 caps, 50! That's all I was worth. I could goddamn scavenge more than that in a day." She stopped and spat another batch of blood. "What a fucking joke."

I noticed that her black jumpsuit ended up more red than black at the rate she was spitting. "It appears you are dying. Did Myles or Adam beat you up or was it that fall that made you so hurt? Your leg leads me to believe it was the fall."

I crouched down and offered her a towel to help wipe some of the blood. She didn't even acknowledge my previous question. "Why are you helping me, anyway? Show me such kindness and patch me up just to kill me, anyway." She glared at me. "You won't let me walk out of here with my life."

"From where I'm standing, you have already told me quite a bit. If I were going to kill you, I would have already. As far as I'm concerned, you are already dead to me, understand? You should forget this Enclave or whatever they want to call themselves now. Move on, away from here."

I swiped at her bindings and got them all in a single swoop. "You are free to rest up and gather a few supplies in here that will help you survive out there." I grabbed a Stimpack out of my satchel quickly and jammed it into her injured leg before she stood up. She yelped in pain from the impact, "But be aware. Once you leave, we will not be here. You will not find us. Don't even try to go back to Frank and tell him where we were. You have a chance to be free. I suggest you take it." Removing the stimpack and tossing it aside, I gave a long, audible sniff of her. "And remember, I have your scent. You betray us or do anything stupid. I. Will. Hunt. You. Down."

She leaned back into the seat and rubbed her leg, slowly. "I-I understand you won't see me ever again once I go. Can I roam freely, or will you be supervising me?"

I stood myself up and turned around to leave the room. "You are free to look around. I need to take stock of our rations and supplies. I recommend you don't go straight for a gun. We will give you everything you need to get out of here. Come to the entrance when you are well enough."

I left her alone. Fortunately, that room she was in was a dead end; the only other option was back to the entrance where Myles and Adam were. If she wanted to try anything at all, she would need to go through where we would be.

I crept around these concrete corners. This place reminded me of a very, very small vault. Makes me wonder if the hatch itself was uprooted and was meant to not be visible the day the bombs fell. No one made it in, from what I can see. That or whoever took shelter here moved on.

"What do you think he's doing? This is taking longer than I thought." I heard what I think was Adam speaking.

"Don't worry, my friend. If there is something you need to learn about John is that he's going to get the information with little hassle. Given how there has been no yelling or sounds of murder. I wouldn't worry."

Peeking the corner, I saw them both sitting at a table and drinking beers, of course. "You are correct to not worry," I said, making myself visible. "I will tell you everything once she leaves."

"Once she leaves?!" they both blurted out.

I only gave them a nod, joining them at the table, and taking a seat on the floor. "That's correct. To make a deal for the information, I patched her up and decided that I would let her walk. We are going to uphold that and let her go."

Adam slammed his beer down and it made Myles jump. The look he gave him was kinda scary for that. "How can you be so sure she won't go crawling right back to Frank Horrigan? What if she does? Our chance to kill her here and now. You're letting that slip by us?" Adam said, practically yelling at me.

"I understand your grief, Adam. I understand the risk this is taking. We aren't monsters here. We can be calm and reasonable. I have her scent. I can track her down if she does anything at all. I got everything I needed out of her. We, as in the three of us, are letting her walk freely."

"I'm not just going to let her go after being involved in Styx's death!"

I growled at Adam, slamming on the table to stand myself, nearly breaking it. "I wasn't asking for permission! I told her that she was allowed to leave, and she was going to leave. I'm not arguing about this anymore. I won't let you hurt her. So get over yourself. We will have plenty of time to avenge Styx."

Myles continued to swig his beer and Adam just leaned back in his chair, avoiding eye contact with us both.

Myles asked. "So, let's take a count of our stocks? I haven't looked at all these shelves yet. We can probably also hunker down here for the night."

Adam, seemingly begrudgingly, stood himself up, strapping his rifle to his back. He made it very apparent to not make any sort of visual contact with us. Made it across the room to one of the many lines of shelves. Boxes and many containers. I could see cans of food and bottles that were way too old to safely drink water.

Myles only shrugged and went to the line of shelves on the opposite end of Adam. I'm sure that I didn't need to tell them both what to look for. "If either of you finds anything particularly amazing, let me know."

"Sure thing, John. Maybe you should check our prisoner? The sooner she leaves us, the better."

I couldn't agree more. "You're right. I'm going to give her some basic supplies and send her on her way."

I closed the door behind me and left Myles and Adam to look through the shelves. I rather not get Adam all worked up. He probably has a lot going through his head. It made me consider what I would do in his position. Had Frank killed Myles instead, I would kill this woman without a second thought. Then I would hunt down Frank Horrigan.

"Shar? You haven't passed out on me, have you? It's been more time. Have you gathered yourself enough to leave?" I called down the hallway. I didn't want to sound concerned or anything. To be truthful, I just want her gone so I can sleep.

Silence. Not a sound or a peep. No movement either. Suspicion grew and silence is not a good sign. She's plotting or unconscious, or dead. Whatever happened. I think it's time she leaves.

Quickly reaching the end of the hallway, I knocked on the door with my index claw. "Shar? I think it is time you leave. I've given you more than enough time to get your shit together."

I gave a few moments before I barged the door open. I found her and flopped onto the ground. I could tell she was still breathing from here. Must have passed out from blood loss. With a sigh, I picked her up and carried her out of the room. She didn't seem to bleed anymore. I took the chance to squeeze her, make sure she wasn't faking it. Still completely out, didn't even react.

It was kind of eerie how quiet these tunnels were. Not even the Vault was as silent as this. Consistent shifting of metal and leaking pipes were the sounds of the Vault. Concrete may even last longer. Not sure it stops outside radiation, though.

Upon reaching the door, I leaned back on one of my legs and opened the door with the other, using the largest claw on my foot to grip the handle. "Alright, you two. It seems our patron has passed out from blood loss. This will be the perfect opportunity to give her some things and send her on her way. As in, a gun, some food, water, Radaway. You know, essentials."

Adam just continued to go through the many worn boxes on his shelf. Myles, however, gestured back to a pack on the table. "Seeing as you went back for her. I prepared a bag already. Should be enough to send her on her way. If you want to carry her a good distance away, we can hold the bunker."

I lifted my arm and had Myles strap the bag on my shoulder. "Okay, I'll carry her far away enough where she won't be able to find us easily. I'll put her up on something so no wandering creature gets her. When she awakes, she will hopefully just leave. If we see her again, she's dead. I'll be back before you know it. Come open the hatch, Myles?"

"Sure thing! These shelves will take absolutely ages to sort, organize and loot them. I don't imagine we will be done by the time you come back." He quickly charged up the steps, unlatched the hatch, and then ran back down the steps, bowing to me with an arm stretched out up the steps. "And do come back in one piece, Sir Lambert."

I only scoffed at him, going up the steps with Shar still passed the hell out. "Always am, Myles. I'll keep out of trouble. Don't you worry. Just going to leave her somewhere far away enough from here that she can't see it. If she's smart, she will just go the other way."

This was going to be really easy. Just take her as far as necessary. But how far would that need to be? I'll simply go the opposite way to the flowing river. If she can't follow the river, she can't find the bunker. I couldn't help but notice how absolutely dark it became so suddenly. This would be the perfect time to lose her. If I could see!

Here I stood, around the edge of the broken-down gift shop. Holding an unconscious lady outside a building in the dark. What the absolute fuck am I doing? Is this what my life has come to? I stood there, looking down at her. Good thing her bleeding has stopped. Right, getting her away from here. I didn't care for this lady, quite the contrary. She could die for all I care. I am keeping my word, however. She gave me information. Maybe not everything I wanted to ask, but enough, enough to earn her life back. She should be well enough to walk once she wakes up.

"Please, don't let me ever see you again. Don't be stupid and come back here. That's something that I would do."

I couldn't help but laugh at myself. That was too true. I would be a dumbass to return to somewhere that I should have never returned to. No creatures would wander around at this time of night. Fortunately, for us both. The hill that leads up from the lake is tall and hard to climb. She would either go all the way back down or walk all the way around with a hurt leg.

The field, however. Is much too open. I couldn't just leave her in the field, no? No… that wouldn't be right. I had to put her up somewhere. Somewhere kinda safe. I could use a toppled-over tree. Hoist her onto it with the bag and just go on my way. Yeah, yeah. That would be good enough.

I couldn't help but notice how light she was. When I saw her fall, I thought she was in Power Armor. I wonder what happened to that. She's lost everything but the jumpsuit on her back. Using some of the overgrown vines. I covered her up to keep her even more hidden. I ran the strap of the bag down the edge of the tree branch, making sure it wouldn't fall off from any inconvenient gust of wind.

That should be good. Ignoring the fact, she just flopped onto an uprooted tree. Backing away, I could barely tell she was there with all the vines. My conscience is clear, I can leave! Whatever happens from here isn't my responsibility!

…

I walked away and had a nagging feeling. Just telling me to make sure she wakes up, safe. Why, why?! Why should I care? She's the enemy! I've killed people for less. No, no. I'm not turning back. I was already nearly down the hill. This stranger will not cause any peril for me!

I dug a claw into the ground, using the dirt to slide my way down the hillside, and ended up just shy of the gift shop. It was a long way down. Don't need to worry about her making it down promptly. Something kinda surprised me. I hit nothing on the way down.

The darkness grew even more and more. The night was passing quickly. This night was practically without a visible moon, given the lack of natural light. I made sure to not take a dip in the lake, working my way around it. It came to my realization that we should leave here the moment morning hits. Likely go back to the Flea Garage.

This place was in absolute disarray. I found the concrete circle that lined the river. I found myself just leaning on a large fallen tree in the middle of some kind of rest area. Funny, that's what I'm doing now.

It kinda made me sad. Seeing places like this. I can't help but speculate what it was like before the war. Happy families not worrying about surviving day in and day out. Not overgrown by long-dead fauna. It must have been something beautiful.

Is this what Frank wants back? The old nation that once was. Every fantasy I've ever had of how life was before. Were they all true, at least a little? It makes me wonder if people deserve the opportunity to get the life that was ruined again. Like, people had their chance to appreciate the life that once was. Everyone is to blame for the Great War. As far as I am concerned.

Nobody won.

Leaving my little tree of thought. I decided it was time to get back to Myles and Adam. Barely saw the outline of the dilapidated gift shop. I knew my destination at least.

The trip around the lake, in the darkness. Wasn't very exciting. I was amazed. I saw absolutely nothing on the trip there and back. This place shouldn't be as vacant as it is. If life, that is. Oh well. Easier travel.

I knocked on the hatch and awaited a response. "Myles? I'm back. I have dealt with the lady. She shouldn't be an issue for the foreseeable future. If she's smart, she will keep away."

I could hear a faint clapping from below the hatch frame. "Bravo! Your ability to move unconscious ladies from bunkers is unmatched. No one could have hauled her away as well as you!"

Myles pushed open the door with a long, hunting rifle and gestured me down. "I was getting just a little worried. It was getting dark, and you weren't back. Did you take her to Nevada or something?"

I just shook my head, going down the long steps. "No, no. I just took her up the massive mound of a hill, behind the gift shop. Left her on a fallen tree, covered her in vines, and strapped the bag to one of the many protruding sticks."

"I see. That should be fine. Good work. Adam sulked away in the back after slamming down one of the shelf lines. I didn't want to pursue him. He just lost a friend. People like that are dangerous."

Myles pointed to one of the back hallways with a thumb.

I glanced past Myles at the cracked doorway with a sigh. "I should go talk to him. If we are going to offer to help him, we all need to be on the same page. If he's going to be reckless and not a team player, I want no part of that. We can just leave him on his way."

"Yeah, yeah. You are right. I can't help but feel bad for the guy, though. You are probably right that he would be less likely to lash out at a Deathclaw, huh?"

"Hah, yeah. Most likely. Does this place have a bunk room? I would like to sleep soon."

Myles rubbed his hands together, put his fingers up to speak, and then stopped. "Yes, uh, you see. Adam is in the only room. There is a double bunk we were going to take. I don't know about you. The room is-"

I stopped him. "Yeah, yeah, isn't big enough. I got it, I got it. Adam doesn't want to bunk with the talking lizard. Whatever, more power to him. He can have his previous, 200-year-old bunk bed." I left to enter the bunk room.

Myles stopped me, though. "Wait, wait. Maybe we should just leave him be? He stormed off for a reason. You have times you want to be left alone too, you know. Let's just give him time to think and consider everything. When morning hits, we can go back to the Flea Garage, find Styx, and figure out what to do from there."

I grumbled in defeat. "Look at you, being right. That's a good enough plan for me. We can just follow the river upward and figure out how to go from there. It should be easy. Was there anything particularly good in this bunker? The anticipation has been killing me the whole time!"

I shook my arms together like an excited child getting a present.

He paused for a moment, looked around, and shrugged. "Not to disappoint but, um," He looked down, clapped his hands together, and looked back at me. "No! But… it's not all for naught. The shelves mainly contained things we can't use. Old glass bottles, pieces of tools, odds, and ends. It seems this was a collection bunker. Like when someone heard the world had ended, they literally gathered things they collected as a hobby. Like bottles, and things like that. Hobbies don't save you in this Wasteland!"

I leaned journal. against the wall by the stretch of shelves, pulling out my journal, "Tsk, I know! How dare people have hobbies in this Wasteland! Goodness, the audacity for someone to find something they like doing in this world of things that aren't fun doing." I opened it up enthusiastically. "Really, such a shame!"

"Ack, at least your writing is a document of your journey. What can these bottles do for-"

"I mean, they can hold water?" I suggested.

Myles only glared at me, then at a shelf absolutely lined with bottles of different sizes and colors. If high-pitched sounds were capable of breaking glass, the look Myles was giving those bottles would be a good equivalent. "Are you kidding me? Do you even know how old these are? Cleaning these would take so much damn effort and carrying them? I would get shot, clanging my bag full of dirty water in my rainbow entourage of bottles!"

I only shrugged, giving him a wide grin. "At least you would die in an array of colors other than brown and red!"

He sat at the table, deliberately facing away from the shelf of bottles, defeated. "I was just expecting something more down here. A whole ass bunker. No guns, food or-"

I stopped him, pushing myself off the wall. "Did you ever consider that this place wasn't even a nuclear bunker? Maybe it was just a cellar for the gift shop. Given how completely unstocked it seems to be. We should ditch this place the moment morning comes."

Myles just leaned back in the chair, adjusting his hair, and simultaneously pulled out a bottle of beer from his side pack. "This fucking Wasteland sucks." He didn't even take a second thought and broke the cap of the beer with his teeth.

I closed my journal and set it down at the table, tested the chair for my weight, and took a seat, facing sideways. "That I can agree with, more than anything," I paused and debated for a second. "Hand me a beer. I should be fine in very, very spaced moderation."

Myles just looked at me, completely letting go of his drink, nearly knocking it over, off the table. "A-are you sure? You always clarify that you can't drink alcohol. Anything. Period."

"Yeah, yeah. Give it to me. I feel like making some mistakes tonight."

He groaned and rifled through his belongings. And stopped when he and I both heard a clunk of glass. "Goddamnit, I was hoping to not have another, so obviously apparent." He pulled it out and handed it to me, hesitantly. "Are you absolutely sure? I'm not responsible for whatever happens to-"

I only swiped the bottle out of his hand and popped the cap off with my thumb claw, without a word. I hesitated hardcore. Tested the opening of the bottle with my tongue and then pulled the whole bottle back. I gulped down about half of it in a single swig. I nearly dropped the bottle at the sudden rush of taste from the bottle. I broke into a coughing fit, setting it down on the table.

Myles stood up to help me, but I held one hand up and used the other to rub at my throat. The bitter, warm taste was disgusting. How does he drink this? "Ack! I'm fine, I'm fine. I made mistakes tonight, huh?" I looked down at the bottle. Well, I'm not some little bitch. I chugged the rest of it in a single swoop. Wincing at the action and swallowing it in a thick gulp. The second time down was easier than the first. "Ugh, so how much alcohol count is in that beer? I was going to do it in sparring chucks but, fuck it. Mistakes tonight."

"Alcohol count? I mean, it usually takes someone multiple, upon multiple to be affected by such an old, pre-war beer. I don't imagine a single one would affect someone as large as you. Just, you know. Don't go dying on me for this bottle."

I only burst out laughing, "No, no! I won't be dying because of a single beer bottle. Not this one, at least. I feel alright. Not any better than I started. I thought alcohol was supposed to numb these feelings?"

Myles took another swig of his. "Unfortunately, you aren't even buzzed. I imagine your size has something to do with that. No one knows how much alcohol it takes to make a Deathclaw drunk. Let alone one THAT SHOULDN'T BE DRINKING!"

"Oh, hush. I'm fine, see? Definitely not at all feeling it inside or anything. Thanks for the drink, Myles. But, don't worry. I think that beer was so washed down from sitting for so long. It won't tear me up as much as expected. I'll be okay."

I stood up and nearly fell over, using the table for support. "I-I think I'm going to go to sleep now."

He only stopped me, pulling an arm out and catching me just as I turned away. "Oh no, you don't! You don't get to just drink a whole beer and then just waltz away from me like that! It's not like you to wish for mistakes, let alone make them on purpose." With a squeeze of my forearm, he pulled me back to the table. "What the hell is wrong with you, John?"

Goddamn it, Myles, I don't need this now! I tried to pull away but his grip was unwavering, hell he even pulled with me so my efforts were pretty much in vain. "You're not going to let go, are you?"

"Not until you give me a reasonable explanation."

"Don't suppose telling you in the morning will suffic-"

"No, it won't. Now speak or I will not let you sleep."

With a defeated sigh, I asked, "At least unhand me. I can't get you off me without hurting you."

He grinned, let me go, and flopped back into his seat. "Glad to see we came to a reasonable conclusion. Now, talk."

I stood at the opposite end of the table, under a blaring circular light. "Why do I feel like I'm being interrogated?" I asked.

He just crossed his arms at me.

"Alright, Myles I'll tell you. I'm scared, scared for the future. I'm hurt, I'm frustrated. I just feel like a ticking time bomb. That's really lame, I know, but it's the best way I can describe it." I stopped, debating if I wanted to continue, "Fuck's sake. I am a fool. A fool, Myles! A fool for thinking that I can make a difference in this Wasteland! Frank Horrigan seems to have killed intelligent deathclaws before. He knew what I was enough to mistake me for someone, for a moment. He wasn't there when my vault was massacred. Did he kill my ancestors? How am I supposed to take on something that has killed multiple generations of us?!"

He leaned forward on the table and just stayed in that position, thinking. "It seems like he has a personal vendetta. I shot an entire magazine into him. It did nothing. I never thanked you for pushing me off that cliff. I never even thought of using the river. You were quite bold to get him off alone. We'll get him, John. Don't worry."

"We'll get him, huh?" I heard from the doorway. Adam leaned against the opening with his arm up. "I took some time to gather my thoughts and figured out what we are really up against." He avoided eye contact with us and took a seat at the table, on the long side. "Styx would want me to avenge him, not pout in some underground bunker."

He continued, addressing me. "John, he seemed to know you. Almost too well. You are telling me you don't know who he is, what he's done?"

I leaned down on the table, using my index claw to tap on it. "No, no. He knows my species. Not me personally. I never heard of him or know of what my species was doing before my Vault. I can only assume he killed my ancestors long, long ago. The name Goris, he said that, and that was personal. Thought that I was him."

I remember my father mentioned Goris. Wanted me to find him. Without a direction. They are definitely related, somehow.

Adam only cleared his throat. "I don't know about the name Goris. But Frank Horrigan, that name is familiar to me. It took me a moment to make the correlation. He's all the way from San Francisco. I'm talking about nearly 70 years ago. He is a Secret Service Mutant. An unstoppable force that bleeds his ideals. US Government. He wants the world that once was. He will do anything to achieve that goal. Even killing innocent people at a moment's notice."

All this information is lining up.

Adam continued, questioning me. "What do you know about your species, John? We had rumored documentation of talking deathclaws, but I was always under the impression it was an imitation of human speech. Cases of wild ones can make voices, not full-on sentences, not like you."

"I… know nothing about what Frank mentioned. I never heard the name Goris till then. I always knew we came from somewhere else, before my vault. Our history was very bleak. I mean, I know nothing about it! I wasn't even hatched at the time you mentioned Horrigan, 70 years ago? I'm only 45, Adam. I was hatched on April 5th, 2262. You need to add a few more years to that equation before you go, thinking that I know more than I do." I clarified.

"But you are the only case of an intelli-" Adam tried to state.

"It's impossible, Adam! I was told nothing!" I hissed at him. "I'm the last of my kind, Adam. The rest of us were killed. 30 years ago. I was only 15 when it happened. Sorry, I wasn't busy thinking. Huh, I wonder if Frank Horrigan was involved in this! Guess what? He wasn't! He wasn't there. It was in Nevada, anyway."

"Okay, Damn. Calm down, John." Myles spoke up, finally.

I only shook my head, pointing my claw at Adam. "No! I'm not calm! I don't appreciate Adam here implying that I know more than I do. Oh, the irony! Mister, secret organization. My species was massacred for what we are, twice! Apparently twice, according to Frank. Do you realize that once Frank kills me, there will be nothing left of intelligent deathclaws?" I stopped and slammed the table in Myles' direction, "Don't mention my father, Myles! He doesn't count. He was in captivity, not surviving the Wasteland. He doesn't count because he's old, anyway."

"Alright, enough! What did you learn from our prisoner, bitch?" He talked under his breath. "We still should have killed her."

"I never denied that we shouldn't have killed her! But we aren't monsters here. This is a summary but, from what I understand. This Frank isn't the original, he's an imitator. Based entirely on the DNA of the original, this one was made in a lab. A sort of reincarnation. Not sure how they transferred memories and ideals. Some kind of advanced Enclave technology. So, those tubes and pipes we saw on his back are his life support, literally. He is getting liquefied people pumped into him as a fuel. His body deteriorates at a rapid rate that he needs organic matter to keep it from breaking down entirely. This was one apparently just a test."

I saw Myles react the most to this news. "Oh, that's awful. Are we sure this is true? That seems gross enough to be real, and that's just, ugh!"

"Yes, it's funny. He goes on about how I am a mistake of science. I don't imagine he's looked in on himself. Fuck, he isn't even like, real! They reincarnated him in a science lab."

Adam scratched at his thin-forming beard. "Did you ever consider that they are making synths of Frank Horrigan? What an idea. A literal weapon of a man, mass-produced to cleanse the wasteland of all things post-war. No one is going to survive this. If this one is just a testing phase, we still have time to stop it! If we don't stop him, everyone, including us, will be eradicated."

Myles grumbled. "The Brotherhood of Steel has all too much experience dealing with Synths. This might be our answer to the missing people of the Flea Garage. We should go back there, warn people, and then figure out a plan from there."

"Yeah, after we have some kind of rest. I would like to sleep. Then we can head back in the morning. I never asked, Myles, Adam? You two didn't have any wounds from the Frank Encounter?"

They both shook their heads. "No, aside from some minor scrapes from the tumble, we both got out, okay."

Tapping on the table to get my attention, Adam asked, "Speaking of getting out okay, how did you get away from Frank, John? Seemed like he wouldn't just let you go easily. You obviously didn't kill him to escape."

"It's simple, really. I used one of the defused mines from the ground and pressed it between us both. I stalled for enough time till I came up with a plan. He thought, I will blow us both up. I spent most of my time trying to avoid his hits and getting thrashed around. Once I made sure I had all my things accounted for, I jumped into the river. And found my way here. He never pursued me. Though, when I jumped off the ledge, I heard him yell something. Never did figure out what that was. Raging rapids and all. He's got some real anger issues."

With a wide yawn, Myles stood up and wiped his eyes with one hand. "Sleep sounds wonderful. We can figure out more tomorrow. I don't want to creep up on that place at night, get jumped by a two-legged tank, and turned into a fleshy fuel source."

Adam stood up and left us both with a simple. "I concur."

"Not even a good night? That's cold, Adam," I sighed, looking back at Myles, and seeing him stumble to the bunker room. "Goodnight, Myles. We will get moving right in the morning."

"Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, John. I'll keep Adam calm. Maybe even try to talk to him."

That sounds like an awful idea. I couldn't say anything before he left me. Closing the door behind him. Oh well. Too tired to pursue that.

I bent the hatch handles, twisting them together so no one could just open it with little effort. Part of me wants to believe that Shar just woke up and left the area. Another part of me knows how people are and suspect I'll see her again.

I found a nice spot away from all the shelves, laying myself on the cold concrete floor. I'm sure I'll be able to sleep this alcohol off.

I'm going to make some more mistakes once I see Frank again.

End Chapter: 30

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! I know I took quite a hiatus, but I wanted to say that I will be (Hopefully) attempting to consistently update the story, once again.

I wanted to ask, as a favor for you all. If you have made it this far, I would appreciate a review! I've had so little in terms of feedback for my 3 years of writing Claws of the Wastes. I want to know what people are thinking! If you don't want to leave a review, please, please feel free to message me. I would love to have a chat about my tale! Chapter 30 marks big things to come!

I would also like to give a shout-out to "RichardsonSquared" over on Deviant Art! They drew my Deathclaw wonderfully! Can't share links on Fanfiction, unfortunately. Give them a look if you want to and check out John Lambert in art form!

Deviant Art: RichardsonSquared

Things you may have missed Chapters 1-30

Heavy Spoiler Warning! Do not read through if you are not caught up to, or past chapter 30!

I am adding this to the end of chapter 30. That way, all the chapters will properly line up again!

Greetings everyone! This is not a traditional chapter, more of an idea I had floating around in my head for some time. Given all the intricate trains of thought, I have while writing Claws of the Wastes. I thought it would be fun to go back through on a chapter-to-chapter basis. Point out each little reference, callback, and thought process behind the writing and even point out a few inspirations for certain scenes. A pulling back of the curtain! What better time than the milestone of 30 chapters and 3 years of my story? Given how long it is, you can imagine this took some time to put together. I don't even know if this is something people would want, but I'm up for shaking up the formula!

Chapters 1-10 no longer apply. I will match with the redo when I get around to it!

Chapter 11: I believe this is the start of the discovery of John's love for the Nuka Cola Quantum! I failed to mention it before. Harden is now the Sheriff of Megaton. If you all remember, Lukas Simms was the sheriff and mayor of Megaton. Enough time has passed in my story where his son (Who was a kid in Fallout 3) is now sheriff! I always liked that attention to detail. Other than a minor anatomy lesson in the Craterside Supply. Last, the setup to leave Megaton!

Chapter 12: More setup and more Enclave bleeding into the world! This marks the leaving of Megaton. Farewells, and the prospect of returns. I wanted to conclude Vault 101, in my own way. Because it doesn't have a satisfying ending during Fallout 3. There were hints and such about the Enclave being interested but the plot Point went nowhere. Seeing as it was The Lone Wanderer's home makes sense they would go after that, after reforming.

Chapter 13: Full introductions to The Lone Wanderer, and the fate of vault 101. I left some to interpretation, but it's safe to assume the Enclave overran and slaughtered them. An interesting fact. The Lone Wanderer, Mia. She is based entirely on the character I played during my last playthrough of Fallout 3! This will be the case for all protagonists of the previous games. What? You only expected us to run into The Lone Wanderer?

Chapter 14: The funniest thing about this chapter is I literally loaded up Fallout 3, walked from Megaton all the way down the Potomac River to reach the Jefferson Memorial, back behind the Super Duper Mart, past Springvale. You can see the massive broken bridge on the way there, where the dock of Mirelurks are. I took the game as my sort of timeframe to travel in the story. Just attention to detail! The inspiration for the Prydwn coming back would be that the Synth problem would be solved at this point in the Commonwealth. It just made sense. Project Purity would be important to The Brotherhood of Steel. Purified water would be widespread at this point. Other than that, introducing Myles! His character is based on one of my online friends who reads the story and also was there during its original conception.

Chapter 15: Here is where the chapters started really taking shape, as in length. I wanted to make it a standard 10k. That's why they take so long! I am pretty proud of the fight scene between Myles and John. And the start of their partnership. I never really knew where I wanted to go with them, specifically, but I think they grew to have a great dynamic. Lots of discussions between them after the fact. A casual mention of Quantum. Oh, and the story of Myles kicking a Yao Guai in the testicles. That was pretty funny. I enjoyed adding that. The talk of guns, laser rifles, and such. I made up the glasskose regulator. I did this because the games never go into depth on how things like this work. It made sense to me! The introduction to Maxson, and the setup for John to prove himself to be more than the beast he appears! Now, I didn't want to make Maxson change his own opinion of Wasteland creatures or anything that was non-human so easily. If not for Myles, John would have no. Chance.

Chapter 16: Stopping Myles in bed wasn't always intended. Though it was just to be a fast, little humorous section. It's safe to say that the excessive drinking that followed was the cause of that. I wanted to match the sense of foreignness and getting lost on the Prydwen like you would have on your first few visits on Fallout 4. I don't know about all of you, but the layout was kinda confusing for me, at first. John was in such a place that he didn't belong, and I wanted to make sense of that through his own little exploration session. Myles promising to get John laid here will become one of the many on-running jokes and gags throughout their banter. After this point, I believe it's brought back up at least twice. So, John finding the sprinkler system and fixing it was my way of showing him being adept was Pre-War tech without being boring about it. He grew up in his vault without a single grasp of the outside world. He had to make do with what he had, without even knowing it. I figured showing his thought process through action, rather than saying. "I'm good at fixing Pre-War tech." would be just boring. Gotta love the minor characters that show up just to berate him. That is one thing I think I have a slight issue with. People that only show up once or twice. Though that's how it really goes. You wouldn't run into a whole roaster of people in real life, or Fallout all the time. I dunno, I wanted a vast number of people to see and talk to. Without cluttering the "Main Character." Roster. After John meets Genny and has a slight detour to see Maxson, his little speech is to reflect the same one that Danse gave to Maxson. I wasn't sure about implementing such a thing, but ended up wanting to show more tension between the two. The whole mess hall scene was brilliant. The closest thing I can call John's presence there is "Awkward." Here he is, in a room full of Brotherhood soldiers, sitting at a table much too small for him, awaiting orders from Maxson. At least Myles is a good sport. The competition from Earl was a fun little distraction to finish the chapter and win John a Quantum. A small bet soldier had followed by a confrontation at the table. It's time to see what Maxson was planning!

Chapter 17: Maxson's whole plan to assault a Munition Plant infested with Super Mutants isn't entirely unlikely. The plan is really simple. Take what they can, wipe it out, and leave. After a gearing-up section, minor exposition. There is a major plot point here that I established super early. During John's talk with Paladin Grey, she asked what he's going to do after the Brotherhood of Steel. John said how he's going back to Nevada. I had plans for the story all along. I was always planning and the funniest thing is that this line is so simple, so easily forgotten. It's easy to miss that I made that a goal so early. Because as of right now (Up to chapter 30), that is the objective, reach Nevada.

I didn't want to make the trip to the Munition Plant or the preparation itself too long. It had been some time since you saw some action, after all. The encounter with the Super Mutants was unconstitutional. They aren't exactly threatening when backed up by an entire fleet of Brotherhood of Steel soldiers. Here shows John's adept use of weaponry and thinking fast. Being scolded for using the missile launcher by Maxson, doubting his ability. I wanted to make the Behemoth that came out a much more grand event, but figured making him more insignificant in the long run was the better decision. When Myles and John entered the facility, I wanted to match the feel of entering a new building, like in the games. That feeling of looking at the destruction of wear and tear has caused these locations. After some looking around, the discovery of the office and the beaten informant with the holotape. The reason no one else joined them was that Maxson cared more about soldier preservation. They went back to drop off the wounded, then to return. I never followed up on the informants' holotape. Going to Rivet City was planned. But I ultimately decided it wasn't necessarily needed. Here is where John drops the bombshell of what happened to Sophia. She was the first person he ran into after leaving his vault, after the massacre. She saved him and taught him all about the wasteland. My spin-off Heaven Splitter is meant to be a prequel. Showing his life with Sophia. She was important in shaping who he is today. After the tale, Myles swears allegiance and solidifies himself as our supporting character.

Chapter 18: The most significant of the chapter. This is the introduction to one of our main Villains for Act 1. Technically, you already met him, back in John's dream flashback of the Vault massacre. He was the one who killed his mother. Glavin. He never even knew his name until this moment. Now, it may seem a little convenient that he's here, but that is all explained later. The Enclave wanted Project Purity, still. Eden lives, as you know. And their goal hasn't changed. I made documents to make a sort of "Return" to the Capital Wasteland. Their main base of operations is here again, anyway. Besides, Raven Rock was mentioned in Fallout 2. John's reaction gave him away, really. Upon seeing Glavin, he was filled with unprecedented rage. As you could probably surmise, they wanted to use intelligent Deathclaws to make an army that would obey their every order. Kind of what they wanted them to do in Fallout 2, originally. You don't know that they already had Harris (John's father) and Occrum (The Alpha of the pack) the Enclave has been trying to, as they put it, "Breed and Army." Of disposable, inconsequential soldiers. In the lore of Fallout 2 and the intelligent deathclaw, it is the male that carries the intelligent gene. That's what gets passed on to the child. That is the theory of being able to mate with a wild, unintelligent female and produce an intelligent offspring. I'm under the impression that too many generations have passed, making it difficult to pass on the gene without both parents having the intelligent gene. Anyway, after a small torture scene and promises of getting dipped in F.E.V. The president calls over Glavin, I'm sure from some kind of computer he's connected to rather than his actual position. John plans his escape and saves Myles. I think I am proud of the escape section, as well as the description of the Ghouls. Disgusting! Carrying Myles was easy enough. Stopping the pursuit, concluding what was wrong with him in the process, and running into Mia. That was all of John's strength and he succumbed to fatigue, pain, and restfulness.

Chapter 19: After mentally breaking down, John pulled himself together and was overwhelmed with many things of thought. The Vault flashback was meant to give just a glance at how life was for him. It's always mentioned how he was treated, but I think seeing it firsthand in a cliche flashback was the best course of action. His parents were supportive and Ocrum was completely different. Other than that, the ointment that he made wasn't important. I just needed something for them to bully him about. I want to point out. If you do the math for all the dates, they line up! None of these are arbitrary or made up randomly on the spot. Everything is consistent. Not that way when I first posted these chapters, but after I went through, fixed everything, and made it all make sense. After some minor preparation, a talk with Mia, and a half-baked apology from Maxson, John makes his way to the Med-Tek center. The trip was much longer than I made it seem, but it was a goal and a destination. I always wanted to make a more elaborate trip but felt if we visited every little thing, it would get too sidetracked and just be filler. When he's going through the parking lot, and gets jump scared by the skeleton in the vehicle, I did a coin flip if he would have an encounter here. The flip was not to, so it never happened. It was probably going to be a fight or confrontation with some mercs outside the building. This entire section is a turn of horror. I don't know why, but I was feeling ambitious! Originally, I felt like I copied too many other media so I redid the section about a year ago and I think it works better. I definitely feel it's one of my best works so far, so early on too in the grand scheme of things. The funniest thing is I didn't know what direction I wanted to take after this, at the time. The creature itself looks largely like those F.E.V failed experiments from Fallout 3. Making him the original scientist you found notes about was such a twist. I was happy to have done it. Because it surprised both John and the viewer, that's difficult! The games themselves lately inspired the notes. How on earth had someone found time to write letters and journal entries while the world was getting scorched? I'll never know. This place was an experiment of F.E.V, before the War. When it wasn't covered in gore and victims of adventure. You may be surprised. This entire section was much worse in terms of the deeds the mutated scientist did. I won't get into details as I'm planning on re-applying elsewhere. I meant the whole making the cure scene to signify John's desperation. He's failed, not by his means but in his eyes everyone he's ever loved. He came here, to this dangerous place. Injured and barely able to hold his own. It was desperate, and honestly stupid. Many people picked up on the fact that he kind of has a death wish. It's a conundrum, really. He wants to save some people, but also wants to die. I say wanted to die because this changes throughout the story. He tried the scientist, but no luck. He is far too foul and mutated to be any kind of cure. The fact that John is the correct F.E.V is because he is a mutated strand of a mutation. The fact that he was hatched, gained some kind of resistance to its effects. He can't be affected by the effects of F.E.V because he is already afflicted by a much stronger strand than anything out there to date. Basically, he's special. His F.E.V that flows through his veins is special. This had been kinda hinted at for a while but here it comes into fruition, with the cure. It's basically just an amplified rad-away. It's not an F.E.V cure, it's just using it as a catalyst. A small confrontation with soldiers, not before John destroyed the entire lab. A selfish move, maybe but he knows how to make the thing. I'm sure this will come up again, eventually, maybe! Sliding down the roof to grab the Vertibird was pretty cool though.

Chapter 20: This chapter is repetitively straightforward. John runs back to the Prydwen, discusses the outcome of the cure with Baker, and then gives it to Miles, despite the Brotherhood wanting to study the thing. Myles getting carried by Mia and Grey. Strip Poker was something that just happened. I never wanted to take it all the way. Interrupted by the sudden attack. The elevator gets destroyed, and John ends up saving Maxson after some argument. I know, the whole bomb section of the Enclave trying to blow the Prydwen, using the colors of the United States flag. Both are cliche and make sense! Here we are again, though, after defusing the bomb. John gave himself up to save a still injured Myles. The Enclave would want them both alive, after all. Capturing John without a single issue is too easy. We can interpret the first appearance of Sophia how anyone would like. There are plenty of outcomes to what this is. I leave the interpretation up to the viewer. But know, one thing is true. She is dead.

Chapter 21: The funniest thing about John is that he's so at arms with his desires. His strength to live, yet his desire to die, are constantly clashing. Giving himself up to save someone is the way he would want to go. This entire section was to signify his path to death. In the foreboding hallway, the entire path was a "walk of death, " a brief scene with one of the administration ladies about trying to join their side. John asked for Glavin. Would he have followed through and joined the Enclaves cause? Probably not, but you never know. Revenge is a powerful driving force. Clara the mistress has far more nefarious purposes for John. Thank goodness she didn't have her way in the end. Here we are introduced to Emma. She, as you know, plays a very critical role in John's escape. She also is the defining factor in how messed up this branch of the Enclave is. Using people's families and those they love as bargaining chips. I wanted to make them more than just bad guys for the sake of it. I wanted to have good people, like Emma, be trapped because of circumstances. The proceeding part with the tests was a mixture of the G.O.A.T test from Fallout 3 and the opening tests in Prey. In Prey, the condescending doctor replies during the 4 tests you did, in the game stuck with me and I expanded upon the concept in my own way. Though, the image of a deathclaw typing away at a terminal and doing mundane childlike tasks is kinda funny, given how dire the situation is. John is only biding his time. After the test, we are dropped with the bombshell that John's father was alive from Emma and he's called to talk to Eden. Yes, the same Eden from Fallout 3. How did he survive? Well, that isn't important. He's a computer. He can be a backup to himself. I never wanted to explain because there isn't one. The Lone Wander blew up Raven Rock, Eden, along with it.

Chapter 22: Here is where things begin to pick up, the plot thickens, and stakes rise drastically. This is also where things take a dark turn. That was the whole theme for this chapter. We start with Myles' perspective simply because there has to be some kind of context as to why he's out there, at the crashed Vertibird. Unfortunately, with the story being entirely from John's perspective, it is difficult to convey things that are happening without his presence, without making it just an info dump later. I felt this was an acceptable alternative. Just to explain why Myles was there and not make it all too, too convenient. It's kinda scary how much Eden knew about John, huh? That whole discussion was meant to match the uneasy feeling it brought in Fallout 3. The concept is roughly the same, though. His goal of eradicating anything that is mutated in the slightest hasn't changed. Though, the means are much more drastic. Eden can't kill John after he adamantly refuses to join him because this isn't where Eden's processing consciousness is, as you know. This place is only a recruitment/testing facility. I opted to name this place "The Click" because it's like how his dad describes it later on. Like a gun, a click, a fast death. After Eden sends everyone after him like some kind of game, he runs into Emma again. His trust gets him drugged. It's safe to assume that she used the same drug that kept John under and knocked him out. Emma's suicide wasn't originally planned, but I needed another driving force for John. It seems a little sudden and all that. It's safe to assume that she had done some unsavory things in the name of keeping her family safe. I feel kinda strange having introduced John's signature weapon so late into development. Him having a Bumper Sword was always an idea. The casual mentioning of knowing Lily (Nightkin from New Vegas as Jacobstown) he made the whole thing on the spot, running around the hanger. I had a dream about the scene, it was kinda funny how it happened. I wasn't sure how to justify him knowing how to use a Vertibird. Of makes little sense as he made no inclination he knew how. He had ridden in them before, willing or unwilling. His conclusion was one of destination and panic. It's safe to assume that the crashing of the Vertibird was not entirely the fault of the Enclave shooting him down. His inexperience in flying played a part, too. The crash itself was something severe, sending him flying directly out of the vessel. This scene was pretty well done, I would say, the destruction, the stakes. He didn't have time to recover, with the masses of troops flooding in on his position. Obviously, John would not shoot himself at the end of the chapter while he ended up getting completely surrounded. It did make for a good cliffhanger when the chapter ended.

Chapter 23: We start this chapter from Glavin's perspective. With a little more context of the behind-the-scenes, and working of the Enclave currently. Getting back to the situation at hand. This Vertibird crash that John caused was the same that Myles got the report about at the beginning of chapter 22. The fact they ran into each other was no coincidence. By the time he arrives, night has fallen and the only light is the flames of the crash. John realized here that he trusts Myles. That's weird for him, and it's going to drive a lot of decisions from here. The Red Rocket station was quite a confusing turn of events. The two people that saved John from the soldiers were inspired by the Lutece twins from Bioshock Infinite. Was it lore-breaking, did it actually happen, or is there some otherworldly force at play here? Aside from Sophia appearing, there hasn't really been anything else supernatural. I will leave the conclusion up to the viewer. It does, however, shed light on how things could have gone, or went in another timeline. Food for thought.

I like the concept of it ending where it began. Except this isn't supposed to be literally. Back to the Munition Plant was expected. John's declining mental stability might be the reason for all of this. He could have killed those soldiers himself. He did just see Emma shoot herself recently, in the current time of chapter 23. Not to mention Sophia showing up again! Right before he attacks the Munition Plant. I like to think of him getting closure, and confessing to love for her is what got him through the whole ordeal. Did it happen, or was it in his head? Once again, it sparked debate. While I have a head canon for this. I leave it up to the viewer. Our first real encounter with Glavin since his introduction. A minor fight scene. I didn't want to take too much time with him, as it established Myles to be in danger. John let Glavin go simply because it would take too long to kill him at this moment. Despite what his entire mission now was for, vengeance. He still saved Myles instead of trying to kill Glavin. Myles, being EX-Enclave by not a choice of his own, was quite a twist. The means that it happens makes sense and John had to come to terms with that. But he saved him anyway and dumped the F.E.V out after falling in himself. I like to think that because he was born (hatched) a product of F.E.V that any direct contact would have no effect as he's spent his whole life being genetically conditioned with that already flowing through his veins. That's why when John fell into the F.E.V, it did nothing. Ends with a Behemoth just to show how insignificant they are at this point, plus they were fed up with everything that already happened.

Chapter 24: From threatening Myles. To the hoard of Ghouls, the beginning of this one was pretty packed with action. Nothing too hidden happens within this chapter. Myles and John get back to the Prydwen, and talk with Maxson. Exposition with others. Get back to Myles' room and John gets his injuries looked at and passes out. Nothing crazy aside from discovering the Enclave base location.

Chapter 25: Danse, he came all the way from the Commonwealth. The Institute working in Synth deathclaws, I wonder if that will be a plot point much later on? No, John isn't a Synth. I will confirm that right now. Before the Enclave can be attacked directly, Megaton needs help! That was fun to do. A return to Megaton from different circumstances and with the Brotherhood of Steel backing John up. Mike and Cat made another appearance, mentioning their kid from all those chapters ago. Who isn't actually a child but is an Enclave informant! After the battle at Megaton, John gets a Vertibird. I think some of you expected him to go back to "The Click" but there is no doubt he wouldn't. Not only for answers, but to bury Emma. It wasn't ever purely stated before now, but it's safe to assume he had full intentions to. He buried Sophia, after all. I should have mentioned her necklace before, like during her introduction, but I had never had an in originally having this. The necklace he takes is now tied to the handle of the Bumper Sword to this day. It's a permanent reminder of her now. It's safe to assume that she would have been mongrel food had he not buried her. When John entered the facility again, after the massacre, he saw flashes of the Vault and then back to reality. Its history is repeating itself. Now, John was drugged and in a comatose state for most of his time here. We and he don't know what kinds of foul experiments happened to him, or what they did while he was under. The reading can surmise, through context. They tried to use him to impregnate a matriarch but clearly failed as he is, as we know, infertile. Did it happen, or did it not? He decided he didn't want to know in the end. He destroyed what they left of the archives and left. John makes it back to the Prydwen, gets introduced to a few companions from Fallout 3, from Mia, and goes to get ready. Finding Clover, or more her finding him. Mia's Girlfriend/Wife in all her flirtatious shenanigans. Asking John to essentially sleep with her, getting horribly denied. This is where it begins. The ending of Act 1. The whole preparation for the Enclave assault was pretty straightforward. The timing of the bridge was a wonderful setup. Funny that the entrance to the base wasn't guarded. But in reality, it was just a storage drop-off. That can be used as an entrance. I wanted to match that sensation, real quick with the corridors and the endless rooms of nothing.

After that John runs into Ocrum. The Alpha Male and leader/Overseer of his Vault. He was one body that John never found after the Vault was killed. Here is the big plot twist of the entire story. Ocrum let the Enclave in. Not only to save himself, but to live in a life of imprisoned luxury. Did anyone pick up on the fact that they were going to use the dead bodies of the females to artificially make Intelligent Deathclaw eggs? That's incredibly fucked and I'm kinda proud I made that a possibility. Fortunately, John buried everyone in an undisclosed location. Every single deathclaw that was massacred. With the help of Sophia and Alyrys. He inadvertently foiled the Enclaves' plan without even knowing it. After John left Ocrum, that generator warning? Yeah, that was Harris getting blown up by one scientist. Also, gotta love how John refers to himself as "I am the runt who's going to wreck your entire organization." He's really embraced himself here. He gave the soldier a chance. He even leveled with him and was honest. Oh, man John finding his dad was supposed to play out so, so differently. Harris was supposed to die here, from his injuries, but I thought it was more interesting than just making that happen. Some of you might have noticed the huge disconnect between them. They are essentially strangers to each other. A whole 30 years of time, and Wasteland hardship. John loves his dad, yes. But he can't look at him like that. These two are practically strangers. Harris said that his mother would be so proud of him, ugh. The emotional response I hope served its purpose. Kind of crazy how, even in captivity, Ocrum was still a force to be reckoned with. He did underestimate John, however. Yes, you all interpreted it correctly. Ocrum was going to force himself upon John. There is no sense in beating around the bush and not saying that he fully intended on raping him before killing him. It's definitely twisted and messed up, even for the Wasteland, but I want to show Ocrum and his fall from grace in a significant way, and make his death even more satisfying. For those who got uncomfortable with all of Ocrum's licks and grinding. I hope it was the case, that was the intention. This section was originally too tame when I wrote it and now. I think it's perfect for what it's trying to do. Ocrum was a twisted individual, and I needed to make that known. Gotta love how John still makes fun of him for essentially being gay at the moment. "I wasn't.. aware our esteemed Alpha had a thing for males! Sorry, Ocrum. I don't swing that way." (I want to clarify that John isn't homophobic, just thought it was humorous when he's being strangled and rubbed in all the wrong ways and that's what he focused on. Also, he isn't homosexual, sorry for those who want him to be. You know who you are!) John gets the upper hand by seeming to submit and using that moment against Ocrum. Using both their weight to flip themselves around. John tore into him so much that he decapitated him, and was still slashing at the ground. What a way to end a chapter!

Chapter 26: The final chapter of Act 1! I'm only calling it Act 1 because it seems right. If it is sort of like a "Season," how many will there be? No idea! But continuity sure is fun! In retrospect I should do these based on "Acts' ' but I think a milestone of chapters works better. So expect the next, "Things you missed" to be chapter 60… if I make it that far. Anyway, we pick right up after Ocrum's demise. Nothing noteworthy that is miserable for a long while. Running into Scarlet after leaving his dad to meet up with everyone else. Scarlet is… interesting, to say the least. Feisty and young. But John helping Mike and Cat, in the beginning, is finally paying off. This is their daughter. She gets a collar disarmed and is free. In return, she helps John finish the rest of the generators. How John knows how to disarm a slave collar is up for debate, but I imagine he was in an interesting situation at a time or two. I wanted to make the layout reminiscent of Raven Rock, in Fallout 3. The leading up to Eden, the stairs, the lights, everything. His being in the middle was a stroke of genius. I was going to say a lot about John's argument with Eden here, but I think the section speaks for itself. Too bad destroying Eden isn't even close to the end of it all. Small conservations here and some downtime. After the destruction of Eden. A meeting with Maxson, after that, a plan of attack. A quick fact. The holotape that Mia listens to is the same one that her dad leaves her at the beginning of Fallout 3. The Enclave put out an all-out assault in the terms of a bombardment. The whole dream/death sequence that John has is inspired by so many ideas, dreams, and media that it can't even list them all. It took too, too long to get right. I would say I nailed it. The symbolism doesn't need to be said. Anyone with a slight idea of what was going on will know. I just think it will lose its message if I go entirely too in-depth on it. Aside from that, John leaving Glavin alive at the end wasn't the original plan. He was going to test him apart, but I thought keeping him alive was a lot more interesting for the future. Maybe.

Chapter 27: A few things at the beginning. Mainly Harris mentions the meaning behind the Vault. 5/22 is the date it was found, as well as the name behind "The Click" Honestly, not too much secrecy here. Lots of setups for later events. Like Myles given the folding guns, The Magnum from Harden later on, and introducing Adam and Styx. Straight forward chapter, nothing secret here.

Chapter 28: I'm sure everyone picked up on the fact that the thing that everyone at the resort was digging was a mass grave for… victims. After a quick fight scene, some riches are discovered. I introduced us to one of the recurring groups, the Rose Bloods. We don't meet them directly or even close to what they really are. Just bits and pieces of what is/will be. Other than that, nothing too secret here. Gotta love how Myles ended up getting a little too comfortable at the end with questions to John. It's all in good fun. People looked way too much into this.

Chapter 29: This is where things get a bit more interesting. Funny enough, nearly the whole conversation that was had was "offscreen." But before we had a nice "flashback" honestly, I didn't enjoy doing these. I much prefer being in the moment. Plus, it breaks the flow. But sometimes things have to be stated from before. The situation with Myles was completely unrelated to the previous conversation. Though, I think I went about this rather humorously. Given the entire scene, it enlightens a lot of things. Anyway, we get introduced to The Flea Garage! A unique name completely original to me. We are going to see a lot of different buildings and cultures going on the trip to Nevada. Don't worry, it will be an entire journey. No lazy, sudden teleportation cut. Now, I have a general plan for story beats and major points, just not what's in between. Leo, the Super Mutant at the Church, was actually a random encounter in Fallout 3. He was another friendly Super Mutant you could run into. Just a callback. Lilly's Leggins were just a fun little slogan for something suspicious going on. Oh, boy the brothel! It surprised some people that Myles didn't go along with the threesome idea and, to that, I say, understandable! The lady there was supposed to say much worse things in the original script. Would any of you be interested in previous, non-canon chapters? I might do a posting of chapters before changing and think of it as a sort of "Cut content." It will be its own standalone thing, not part of the main series. The lady that Styx and Adam are looking for is quite a conundrum. All will be revealed! The scene of Myles trading the watch, plus the story behind how he "found" it, was quite impressive. Malic, hmm I wonder what part she will play later on. So, some people were a little confused. The Enclave building, base, bunker. It was directly outside of the Flea Garage. Just on an upper cliff. Landmines, nighttime, danger, oh my! Rest in Styx, anyone could have died. I left his fate up to a coin flip. Unfortunate. Also, Frank Horrigan!

Chapter 30: So, I will not explain Frank Horrigan, why he's back, how he's really here, why he seems kinda… different? It all will be addressed later. Anyway, John and Frank have a good back and forth. Philosophy, and physically. John, trapping him between a landmine, was a stroke of genius. It's one of the ones that Myles disarmed in the last chapter. The river was a pretty nice feature. Given this is the most recent chapter, it's the most up-to-date, in terms of people reading. Not too much to note. The ones loosely inspired this river section in Fallout 4. The same sort of layout, I guess? The bunker was interesting. Adam got a little trigger, happy. So, Shar. She was the one that got knocked down by Adam. John went around getting the information without torture and threats. I feel the information she gave about Frank was pretty unique in concept! Frank is fueled by people. Disgusting! Leaving her on the log was also something that just kinda happened. I wasn't sure how to get rid of her in a way that made sense, so I went with that. Of course, classic humor at the end with the jar collection. Also, John drinking a watered-down beer. It won't affect him too horribly. He was at a pretty low point here, though. Questioning everything.

So, that's everything! I was going to end on some closing points, but those things are inconsequential. So, I'm going to share some contacts! If any of my readers would ever like to message or get in contact with me for advice, story discussion, or even play anything!

Wip Discord Server:

discord .gg /Rm4T6Bb

(Spaces not needed, thanks fanfiction)

Twitter: Uriziel. Claws of the Wastes

Email: ClawsoftheWastes G mail com

I always love to hear what my fans think and wonder. I want to answer questions and theories! As always, thanks for reading and I hope you will continue to enjoy where I take the story. The next chapter (31) will be late this month or early next month. (As of Jun 2, 2022.) (Whew, that was a lie!)