throb every step felt like a hot blade piercing through throb she didn't stop; she was fueled by the adrenaline; the will to fight was coursing through her veins with the knowledge that her ferryman was alive throb he was alive-thank God-and he would be there for her throb the crimson flame lighting her path down the tunnel of blood and darkness throb
The moment of weakness and utter defeat that had consumed her prior was furiously pounded upon by the wave of her wrath. Charon had been right; she was stupid.
A skkkk as her boots skirted across the dirt; she had turned a corner too fast and drifted into a mutant. The mutant howled and groped Evelyn with one hand, encompassing her into a tight grip as he lifted her high into the air. She gasped in agony and powerfully kicked the mutant's face with her boot, pummeling its skull with a sickening crunch. The mutant didn't free her until it crumpled over backward, and she rolled away from it with a greedy inhale of air.
throb throb throb
Her left arm was clutched close to her chest; she wavered slightly as she jogged towards the ambush site where they had been pinned. A crash sounded under her boot; her once treasured Pip-Boy had been reduced to a shattered mess of glass and circuitry when they had piled her. There was definitely no hope of fixing that. Charon's shotgun had been carelessly tossed aside; whether they did not require it or it was an oversight Evelyn did not question; it felt awkward and heavy in her hands, but she burdened the weight of it.
Move move move. It was the only phrase Charon dared to think about at this point. His quick overturn from despair at Evelyn's possible demise to euphoric relief at her survival was now reduced back to overwhelming anxiety as he proceeded without her.
Move.
The tear-stained greaser kid was sniveling loudly; Charon had to quell him with a dark glance that read I will leave you behind. The woman and older man both handled the weapons they had scavenged awkwardly; the ferryman doubted they even knew how to release the safety.
A bloodied fist raised up and the group froze in place.
Three mutants lumbered past, screeching inhuman noises and gnashing their teeth brashly. One suddenly stopped, sniffed the air, and then gave a wvip of its head directly at them.
"AHA, FOUND-GHFSGsadjsd-" The ferryman's knife was lodged in the base of its throat; it clutched at the handle wildly before falling forward, the blade protruding through the spine.
The other two were already alerted, and both were being assailed with a rain of bullets as Aubrey and Tom sprayed away blindly. Charon raised his own filched hunting rifle, shooting clean marks through both pairs of eyes.
They collapsed with a heavy thud; the ferryman retrieved his blade.
The mutant went flying, impaling itself on a broken beam with a grotesque crunch. Evelyn skittered into the cafeteria, immediately slipping over the thin sheet of blood that coated the floor. Her skull cracked against the tile, and she groaned as she struggled back upright.
"Ehhv-"
Something was shouting at her, but the words were blurry and distant to her ears.
"Ghetufp-"
The high-pitched ringing then stopped, and she slapped herself in the face.
"You fucking made it! Holy hell!"
Campbell. She blinked groggily, crawling over to the sound of his voice. His fuzzy silhouette finally settled, and she clutched her fingers around the bars of his cage, grunting from effort as she stretched them wide enough for his exit. A small child emerged with him, and the mercenary bent down to scoop him up in his arms.
"Thank God for you, Cazador!"
"Was that it? Where's everyone else?" she asked dumbly, rubbing at her inner eardrum with a finger. They appeared to be the only survivors she had found.
"Was going to ask you the same thing." Campbell adjusted the kid in his arms, tightening his grip around him. He nodded down to her. "You good? Let's get the fuck out of here."
She nodded. Before they exited the building, she swiped a machete coagulated in blood.
"This way! If we can make it to the pass, I know a tunnel we can lose them!" Aubrey pointed to the opening in the cliffside, her breathing heavy as they ran through the town square.
They were so close. The mutants were thinning; their numbers were few, now. They were scattered and screaming confusion at each other. When they finally made it to the dark, narrow cave entry, Charon spun on his heel and began to depart.
"Whoa, wait! You can't just leave us!" The woman attempted to grab at him, but he was already out of her reach.
"I have fulfilled my order. You are safe." The ghoul then hustled away from the party, running straight back into the din of the firefight.
He made it back to the town square, planting his boots firmly before him to stop. Evelyn and the mercenary were behind cover, bullets spraying along the brick wall. Charon pointed his rifle across the way, giving himself cover fire as he steadily moved towards them.
"Well I'll be damned! You too!?" Campbell had a grenade in one hand and a child curled into him in the other. He pulled the pin with his teeth and tossed the explosive behind them. The sound of flesh being torn apart left little to the imagination.
Evelyn sat forward, bringing his strapped shotgun to the front of her chest. "I got you a present," she weakly joked, handing him his things. Their bags were laid at her feet, and he blinked down at her.
"Thank you," was all he managed to say, appreciating the weight of his customized weapon in his palms.
A loud roar made all three peek out. A rather large super mutant was stomping its way towards them, and Evelyn recognized it as the one that had dislocated her shoulder. As much as she hated herself for it, she trembled in spot, her teeth clattering together.
"It is okay." A warm hand on her good shoulder tore her gaze to the side. The ferryman did not break his focus from the lumbering beast, but nonetheless, she felt reassured. She wrapped her fingers around his own and gave a light squeeze, and then returned her attention back to the encroaching intruder.
"So this one all me or-?" Campbell joked beside them.
"May I see that?" Charon nudged his chin at her large blade.
She presented the handle to him, and he flexed his grip as he took it in his palm. He knew full well she could slice through the mutant like butter with the thing, but she was tired, and he could make out her left shoulder spasming. Even if he was in worse shape physically, he did not want her to risk herself any more than she already did.
The mutant was holding a sizeable sledgehammer across its chest; problematic only if it made contact with him.
"Charon-" she cried at him, reading the intentions in his eyes.
Those smoldering embers transfixed on her. "Do not worry; I was not planning to in the first place." He then stood, towering over them as he calculated the trajectory and frisbeed the machete through the air.
The mutant was already too close to dodge and too surprised to register a countermove. The sharp blade made a clean slice; the head toppled forward to loll around at its feet.
The ghoul appeared smug. "Let us go."
"Ow-ow, Charon, not so rough!" Evelyn squirmed under his heavy hands as they forcibly gripped the sides of her face and he rotated her around. She was coated in so much blood, and he intensely scrutinized her to ensure it wasn't hers. After ten minutes of analytical observation, he finally stopped shaking her around like a ragdoll and held her face close to his. A brief flash to their momentary kiss made him instantly drop her, as though she had burned him.
"You are fine," he concluded.
"I could've just told you that," she growled, rubbing the sting from her pinched cheeks. "Now will you please sit down? I know you're hurt." The strained emotion in her voice made him sigh, and he relented. She dove into her bag, brushing her clotted hair from her face.
The group was now seven strong; Charon's previous charted souls had made the decision in waiting out for them for as long as they cared to, visibly relieved at the sight of more survivors. They were camping in the tunnels to regain some structure and sleep; it was a long trek to Lake Capers, and they could not afford to lose anyone to injury or carelessness. The ghoul had come out with the worst damage report; everyone else just tended to their private thoughts and future nightmares.
She ripped his tattered shirt in half. "I don't know how many more shirts we'll be able to find in your size, big guy." She untwined his tourniquet, pressing her fingers lightly to the mangled flesh of his shoulder. An injection was made, and another to his broken arm. She wrung out water from a rag and gently wiped the blood and ash from his scorched body. "Do you want a med-x?"
His head lolled to the side at her, his glare giving birth to her laughter. It bounced off the cave walls, and heads turned to the sound.
The mercenary approached them with three water bottles in hand. He handed her one, downing his own as he watched her uncap it and slowly hand it to the ghoul. "Will he be alright?" he asked.
Evelyn watched uncertainly as Charon coughed from a drink, water sputtering down his person. "I hope you didn't survive all that just to drown from a water bottle," she said wryly.
He leaned forward slightly to sit upright. "Fuck-you…" he growled, taking another swig.
"Yeah, I think he'll live." Internally, Evelyn was damn relieved at the ghoul's condition. Their months of traveling together had created a deeper impression than she initially realized, and the recent imagery of what she had thought was their last moments-
"Hey, are you okay?" Campbell bumped her with his shoulder, a concerned expression on his face.
Evelyn felt the tears roll down her cheeks; her voice was small. "Yeah…yeah-I'm good. Thanks." She rubbed at the sore skin of her eyes and sniffed loudly; snot was running down her nose and she wiped it away with the back of her hand.
Charon nudged her roughly with his elbow, finishing his drink.
It was…well, it was a total shitshow, is what it was.
The bounty hunter roved the binoculars slowly, his observance of the town that was once Serrato not filling his mind with happy thoughts. Shit.
There were corpses everywhere. Mutants, humans, brahmin, dogs- was there anyone still alive down there? The binoculars were lowered from his face, and he gave a depressed sigh. There had been earlier tracks up the pass of a scuffle of some sort, and now he feared the worst. Whatever had transpired just a couple of days prior had long left him in the dust of it all. The only thing that remained was the shit and the blood.
He made a fervent prayer to the only God he knew that he wasn't about to find Evelyn's mangled body in some way down there. If he did…well, he didn't think about it. It was to be the bridge that he would cross when he got there. He cautiously searched; her Pip-Boy had been laid to waste. He gingerly picked it up and overturned it in his hands. Super mutants were fucking brutes. He lit a cigarette and rubbed at his eyes. As he continued, there was still no sign of a body. He did not know whether to be thankful, or apprehensive.
There was an obvious indication of a firefight, perhaps that was them? The ferryman was nowhere to be seen, and so he concluded that they had somehow made it through the ordeal in enough pieces to hightail it. There was another trail of tracks, this one a lot messier and flecked with blood. It was leading towards Lake Capers, and he knew it was the one to follow.
"You fucking tell Harrington to let us in now!" Aubrey's voice cracked as she wailed. The piercing harpy cry was answered with the sounds of mechanical whirring; the draw bridge was beginning to lower.
A man clothed in mismatching riot gear jogged forward after the bridge was fully dropped. "I need-"
Aubrey shoved her blood-stained hands on the man's chest, pushing him aside weakly with what little strength she could muster. "You can fuck right off! Tell Harrington to get his ass over here now!"
The man was so startled by her hysteria that he nearly dropped his gun. The helmet turned to survey the rest of the group, and he gave a curt nod. He turned on his heel and made a circling motion with a closed fist high in the air, flashing seven fingers to an invisible sentry. The group was stewarded inside the city; there was the sound of water lapping high against the beams of the bridge as it was raised behind them. The dark clouds rumbled overhead; the air was pregnant with the expectance of rain. A few more guards had come to assist; they soon found themselves escorted inside the city medical clinic.
Evelyn sat on a ruined sofa that lined against the far wall; she leaned her head back into the cushions and closed her eyes to the uproar around them. A heavy weight settled beside her, causing the seat to dip inwards towards the ghoul.
"Worst detour ever," she breathed out. "Next time, we'll stick to the map." The realization that she had lost their sense of direction- again -made her jolt forward. "Oh my God, the Pip-Boy-" She covered her face with her hands, sighing aggravatedly into them. "I wonder if by chance someone has one to sell around here…"
Charon grunted. "They are rare, Evelyn. If you can find one someone is willing to part with, I will find you a mirelurk that can sing." His tone was bone-dry.
She slightly parted her fingers to look at him. "I hate you."
He snorted. "I do not think you do."
Remembering the spontaneous kiss they had shared inflamed her neck and face, and then she thought back to the bounty hunter. For a moment, she looked devastated, and Charon sighed, grumbling irritably.
Campbell approached them. "Boss man wants a word with us."
"Aubrey, look, I just don't have the resources-"
A hand slammed down on a desk; papers were then scattered around the room as she screeched at the man.
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" she raged. "The whole town is a fucking graveyard, Al! People were getting eaten alive while you sat on your ass and let it happen!"
The mayor of Lake Capers leaned forward in his seat, resting the heel of his palms against the table and steepling his fingers. He seemed unfazed by her hysterics. "There's been a problem with super mutants in the past raiding through, but Kent always had it under control. I didn't think-"
"Oh, that's right, assume assume assume! That's some bullshit!" Aubrey wiped the hair from her splotched face, angrily pacing around the room.
Al Harrington just pinched the bridge of his nose. "Coop, when's that team ready to head out?"
The chief of security twined his fingers through his belt loops, taking a thumb and raising the tip of his hat with it. "Three days, give or take."
"Are you happy, Aubrey? We'll provide damage control, and then go about getting Serrato stable again." The mayor turned his attention on the three standing to the side. "So, I guess I've got you to thank for doing our job for us."
Evelyn was staring a hole through the woman who had so hypocritically spoken; the recount of how willing she was to leave Campbell and the others behind made her flush with anger. Charon nudged her in the side when she didn't respond to the question asked. "Hrm? Sorry, what?"
A sigh. "We would like a full report on the situation, and what to possibly expect before we send our team out. Would you like to handle this now, or later? I can see you all look like hell." He pointedly looked at the shirtless ghoul. "Or just been through it."
"Later," Evelyn spoke.
"Very well. Chief Cooper here can answer any questions you may have." He went to stand from his chair. "Oh, and welcome to Lake Capers."
