Little survival tip, there's always life on the water. If you're looking for people, head towards the water. If you can't find water walk downhill until you can hit some, from there just follow the creek or whatever downstream until you find civilization. Most of that was moot in this case, I could see the river in the distance. Still, there was no harm in walking by my home on the way down, it wouldn't delay me.
Nothing much to see as I combed through. A few loose cans of grub that I'd prefer not to eat, a lot of junk and clutter. Just a bunch of houses that looked like they'd fall in on themselves any second. I didn't stay inside them any longer than absolutely necessary, especially after what I found in the second.
Some bug the size of an infant made itself known to me by shooting a barb or something into my fucking gut. I bravely backed away into the kitchen, and to my shock, it followed after me. Seriously, what kind of creature chases after something twenty times their size? I know bugs are stupid but christ! This was made evident when I bashed the little bastard with a toaster as soon as it followed me out into the kitchen.
Took a second swing to actually still it's twitching on the ground.
It smelled like something between shit and a wet dog.
Again I worried that I was the last man on earth.
It was such a fucking relief when I saw the fireplace up ahead. I walked towards it, wearing these emotions quite plainly on my face, and getting no small amount of whiplash when the man sitting there immediately pulled a pistol out.
"Hey! Who the fuck are you come here!" he demanded quickly, raising the gun.
"Don't want no trouble," I offered in reply, hands up by my shoulders as I stepped backward, slinking back around the nearest ruined wall. When he followed me, quickly and frighteningly, I caught his gun with my dominant hand and punched him hard in the face.
He hit the ground hard, and the pistol stayed firmly in my grip.
"You motherfucker!" he spat out, shaking slightly as he stared at me on his hands and knees. He looked fairly muscular, not a bodybuilder or anything, but a strong young man. His hair was dark and scraggly, his face still starting to swell as he rose to his feet. To my relief, he didn't try to come closer now that I turned the gun on him.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Me? You're on Brisborn property asshole, I'm allowed to be here! Who the fuck are you?" he demanded, his complete lack of fear unsettling me just a bit. Making me think just maybe I was on the wrong side of the law here.
"Look man, I just popped out of the ground like, half a mile away, walked towards the river and you were the first human being I saw," I explained apologetically. He seemed to calm down the slightest bit, but his next words didn't have the same effect on me.
"Give me the gun back, now," he demanded, sounding just a tad less threatening.
We stared at each other in silence for a good minute.
"Yeah…I'm gonna hang on to it, and go ahead and give me that knife too," I spoke rapidly into the next sentence, "but yeah, go ahead and lead me back to your family, I'll go along with that," I offered as a compromise. He only scoffed and shook his head, still he tossed the weapon to my feet.
"Fine asshole, you're not doing yourself any favors though," he said, standing up straight and walking off to the north.
Following him seemed like a gamble, but I didn't have any better ideas.
The walk through the desert had gone from frightening in a grandiose philosophical way to frightening in a very practical way. I didn't feel reassured at the compound I saw. At first, things seemed normal, though the odd acre of crops all looked odd and unfamiliar, they looked like something I'd be more than happy to eat. Eventually, they ended, and my eyes fell on the building itself. It was big and well maintained enough, but it looked like it'd been built for form over function. One big box, almost like a castle.
Ugly.
Defensible.
A long, wailing scream went out as we came up the porch steps. It was enough to make me pause briefly, believe it or not. Especially when this fuck in front of me chuckled. He didn't slow down and pulled the door open. Before I made a plan of action the hostage was joined by two of his family members.
I was suddenly regretting that my gun was not leveled.
A mean-looking old lady with a couple of yapping dogs on a leash, not the little purse kind of dog either, was by far the most frightening of the three. More threatening at least than the skinny dude with a pistol who came out with her. Especially when it looked like some homemade garbage, more like a cranked-up nail gun than a real weapon.
"Well, what's this then, another minuteman? Oh but you said there were no more dear?" she mocked over her shoulder, drawing my eyes to the beaten bloody woman on the floor. Even on her dark skin, the blood was apparent, an eye was completely covered by her swollen cheek, and her mouth was bleeding badly.
"I'm not a minuteman, I came out of a vault," I offered, gesturing to my clothing.
"How convenient," she sneered back, though her attention was at least back on me.
"HE'S TELLING THE TRUTH! HE'S NOT WITH US!" She lifted her head to call out, spurring the young man to walk back in and kick her, hard, in the face.
"This asshole took my gun and took me hostage," my friend yapped out.
"Yes, but what happened was, again I just came out of a va-" I tried to reason.
"-shut up about that stupid cover! Are there any more of you lot lurking around, I warn you, I only need one hostage to get my answers!" she threatened.
Well, it was better to get the drop on them.
I fell into a crouched stance and pulled my 10mm with a fluid motion. Two in the chest for the only one holding a gun, one more in the neck for that shithead who found me, and then I had a dog on my chest. It would have torn open my throat if I hadn't got my arm up to catch it, the second was already starting in on my leg, with my free hand I yanked the knife from my belt, stabbing the dog on top in the neck! It squealed and two seconds later it was too weak to keep its footing when I shoved it off. The other pooch was smart enough to step back when I swung, then snapped forwards to take a hearty chunk off my hand. Thankfully, it also gave me a good shot with my now free pistol hand.
Right in the side of the head, momentum sent him flying.
I was flooded with relief, and then another gunshot rang out.
"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!" granny screamed, as I wheezed, deciding that the shitty guns weren't all that shitty.
It's only because she hesitated I was able to lift my pistol and blast a few shots out in her general direction. She fell, and I dropped one second behind her, thanking whatever gods ruled this hellscape for the other thing in the vault. My body clenched hard as I stabbed myself in the thigh, feeling my wounds instantly pull themselves closed. Leaving me virtually unscathed, but ravenously thirsty, the kind of thirsty you get after a long, involuntary run through a hot summer day, and I'd already had a long-ass hike through a hot summer day, I'll remind you. I'd still been hanging on hope I'd get some free water here.
Though more immediate concerns, I quickly noted that all five were dead, pull my pistol back to my dominant hand, and ran up to the front window of the house.
It looked to be some kind of metal or brick, maybe it'd stop a bullet?
Nothing in that room except a hallway, but the sound of running footsteps kept my eyes locked on the opening. This time my gun was up, aimed, and ready to fire. The first punk through the door took it right in the nose! The next punk, who looked like a middle-aged rancher dad, only poked his head out cautiously. He ducked back as my first shot missed.
This was bad, I didn't have time for a fair firefight, they almost certainly outnumbered me and they had to have other exits to this building. I vaulted through the window, tossing my gun lightly through, waiting until it clacked against the wall to launch myself forward.
Even with his eyes successfully drawn away, he still got one shot in my ribs before I managed a grip on his arm, my knife came out and got him in the throat with a single fluid motion. You learned a looot of hand-to-hand stuff in the Power Armor core, believe me. I barreled through the man, using my grip on his arm to throw him aside and continue my run. There was a freckled girl of maybe 20 just a few steps behind him, she had a rifle in her hands.
I stabbed her in the temple while she was still in shock, then continued sprinting down the hallway. It led to a kitchen, I noted, for some reason before noting the guy standing right there in front of me. To his credit, he had his pistol out, but not up and ready to fire, not ready for someone to actually be here. I shot him twice in the chest.
Then I let myself breathe.
Thanks for Reading!
