THIS ISN'T GONNA BE ANGSTY THIS TIME. BTW I CHANGED THE DATE FROM 2279 TO 2280 AFTER RE-READING SOME CHAPTERS. SORRY IF THAT MESSES THINGS UP A BIT FOR YOU (FOR SOME REASON). ENJOY IT OR HATE IT! IT EXISTS.
AND THIS IS MOSTLY A FILLER AGAIN. APOLOGIES IF THIS SUCKS ONCE AGAIN. I'M TAKING A LONG BREAK FROM MY CURRENT STORIES AFTER THIS. PLANNING TO WRITE A FANFIC SET MORE CLOSER TO HOME RATHER THAN WRITE POST APOCALYPTIC RUSSIA AND AMERICA.
"I'm not hearing what I just heard did I? You found a holotag belonging to the God damn Brotherhood of f*cking steel?!" Ryan shouted.
"You're not mad at me are you?" East asked holding her arm, almost regretting her choice of words.
He would've shouted at her for not bringing this up at an earlier time, but he didn't. She was still suffering from trauma, and it was logical not to take out your anger onto the messenger. "I- no. I'm not mad at you," he replied lowering his voice, "This is just... what was the ranking?"
"Squire."
"Isn't that an old rank? Or did they suddenly get some sidekicks for their 'crusades' all of a sudden?"
"I heard it was like a child ranking right? Heard it a few months ago from some caravans coming from the east."
"Must be a different chapter of the steelies, probably one where they're making their own version of the Hitler youth or whatnot. Wait... if it's just some child we should be all right," he said with a bit of a relief. Better a child than a behemoth in Power Armour armed with an energy stock that could supply the old Chinese air force.
"Can someone please update me on this crap?" The eyebot asked, "What is this 'Brotherhood of Steel'?"
"Long story short, they're descendants of some deserted US military who've become terrorists, religious fanatics and emotionally unstable techno-fetishists."
"Right... what?"
Ryan sighed, "Not like we're in a hurry anyway. Okay here's the long version, at least the version I heard. You heard of Arthur Maxson?"
"Yes. He and his unit betrayed the military a few days before the nukes once he discovered the FEV experiments at Mariposa Base. In response he slaughtered every scientist involved and went rogue."
He then went on to describe the main historical events like the Vault Dweller and the NCR-Brotherhood war, which his father was apart of, as well as the culture. Describing them as emotionally unstable techno-fetishists who 'terrorise the west', and perhaps the whole continent. He was half-right, part of what he said mostly came from the NCR Ministry of Propaganda and some stories from his dad.
He didn't rely entirely on his story to show his dislike for the Brotherhood, he and East had a run in several months after they met. It wasn't exactly friendly. They tried to confiscate his ballistic fist, the one weapon he had most people forgot about. Now, this was during the time when the Mojave chapter was supposedly meant to have been holed up in their hidden bunkers inside one of the wasteland's valleys, so exposing themselves to someone who had contact with many NCR associates was a brahmin sh*t idea. But for some reason, they did it anyway. They really were sluts for tech weren't they?
After DAVE absorbed all the information to his one petabyte hard drive, they finally changed the subject to a related one. "You people do know what this means right? We're not alone in this world. There are others just like us, first would be that 'Squire' fellow, what's next? Maybe 'Nero's Cohort' or whatever you called those Roman LARPers?" DAVE may have had a large memory storage, but bringing them up instantly wasn't always that easy. He just kept the important information to the front of his virtual mind.
"So, more people have come into contact with the weird artefacts like the ones from your vault?" Ryan asked, "Where exactly would they be from?"
"These objects come mainly from China and surrounding nations. The one in the vault was discovered by Indian Major Arbush Singh and American Professor David Johnson (Both confirmed missing) in Nepal back in 2261. We had research stations for these objects in Washington DC, Area 51, Guam, and a few other locations. There are even famous locations with these objects such as the Bermuda Triangle or the Dragon's triangle. So overall I'd say... mainly the US, possibly Canada and former Asian regions such as eastern China, the Himalayas, Siberia and Tibet. That's about all I can confirm from these reports, but a lot can happen in two centuries so who knows the status of the artefacts now?"
"So you're saying that we might run into a lot of people from all over the world?"
"Like I said back in the vault, not everybody survives interaction with the artefacts. Most got incinerated, melted into goo or just went plain insane that they had to be euthanised. So chances that we'll just suddenly run into a settlement filled with people from somewhere like Vladivostok, Shanghai or Lhasa are heavily low."
The teenager would've asked why DAVE didn't bring this up earlier, before remembering the topic nor anything closely related came up in the past few weeks.
As they reverted back to the 'Squire' situation, Ryan asked East, "Any other information on this kid?"
"I saw the name was 'Thomas Matthews', the man who had the holotags on sale said he looked like Akira but with brown eyes and wore dark clothing."
"That it? Any description on the dark clothing?"
"No, I think that's all the man said."
"Well, that's fine. Anything else?"
"The Squire appeared at the man's shop a few weeks ago back in the Fire Nation colonies. Sold off his holotags and that was it."
"Why would he sell his holotags?" DAVE asked, "If my assumptions are correct he should've been brainwashed or something like that."
"Hell if I know, but he's most likely dangerous," Ryan offered East her hunting rifle, which she declined, her guilt was still a burden to bare. Instead, he offered her a pipe revolver from his backpack.
"I- I don't know if I should..."
"Come on, it's for your protection when I'm not around or if we're in some serious sh*t. You already know how to use a gun anyway, it's not like you'll aim the wrong way and accidentally shoot yourself." There was a brief pause before he spoke again. He sighed going into a more comforting tone, "You're not the thirteen year old coward I met anymore. Nor are you the helpless 'damsel in distress' we saved in Omashu. You're a wastelander, and wastelanders know what's good for their own survival. So unless you're like those who turn from killer to pacifist, I suggest you take it. Come on, do it for me?"
A few more hour long seconds passed, she finally grabbed the revolver. It had been a while since she last used a handgun like this, let alone one that can pack a punch. Hopefully, she does better with it than her hunting rifle, at least with revolvers she didn't need to feel like she was an unreliable sniper in a losing war.
"Nice to see you back with a weapon. Now let's get moving, that Library ain't gonna find itself." Ryan opened the map, and absorbed its geography into his Pip-Boy map, even if the local alphabet was untranslatable for now.
A couple of days had passed since the news about the Brotherhood kid. According to Ryan's Pip-Boy is was the fifth of April, might've been different as the device adapted to different environments. This world most likely had a different timescale compared to Earth's.
The trio began to slowly get used to their surroundings, even after nearly two weeks they still were amazed by the pure nature, untouched by radiation. Even if the packs of predatorial hybrids were a pain to deal with.
East felt better than before, she still had nightmares and often still had symptoms of her PTSD, yet didn't act too shy every time they met a stranger travelling the roads. She was sort of as talkative as her usual self, yet without the large distrust and kind of violent attitude, letting her more kinder emotions opened up a bit more.
The group walked passed a large lake the size of Freeside, Ryan checked his Pip-Boy's map of the region, navigating them on the right path, before looking up at the glistening body of water.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Said the eyebot, "We've passed a lot of these lakes recently, but never really appreciated the view."
"Back in California, we sucked up all our lakes. Owens, San Luis, drained it all out. When I moved to the Mojave, seeing Lake Mead was like staring into the face of God themself. Despite just being a vast desert, the Mojave has a lot to offer compared to home. Yeah, it's pretty beautiful. Wish I had that old camera right now."
"Done. Once I get hooked up to a computer with a printer, the picture's all yours. So how long until we arrive at the desert?"
"According to my Pip-Boy it should take a few days... by car. By foot at this pace... we'll be there by about few months from now," Ryan cursed under his breath. He and East were used to travelling long distances, but for a month long journey? That was a big no for them. Maybe they should've went with Aang, he at least had their giant bison. Only problem would've just been the shenanigans they've encountered.
Thankfully, at that moment, their nonexistent prayers were met once a man greeted them from behind. "Howdy!"
They turned around, catching a better look at the stranger. He was a middle aged merchant wearing a rice hat and a slightly ragged olive tunic. He sat on top of a cart pulled by two horse-bird hybrids. His face seemed to strike as one of trust and good natured, his smile as happy as a saint. Pretty much the opposite of Tian, well most people were that prick's opposite already, but it was nice for once to see a friendly face they could properly interact with.
"Hi," Ryan waved, "You a travelling merchant?"
"Sure am, I'm a caravan. You want to buy?"
"No thanks, we're already stacked up on things. Plus we don't exactly have much money at the moment."
"Eh, that's fine. You heading anywhere specific?"
"Yeah, the Si Wong Desert."
"Hey, that's where I'm headin'! Selling some fruits over there. I can give you a ride for the right payment."
"Wish we could, but it's like I said, we don't have any money."
"Can't we just trade something?" East asked, "At this point I'd do anything to get out of walking to the ends of the world."
"I suppose you can trade something. Anything of value you have?"
"I can trade... I swear I had a few silver lockets... do you take scrap metal? Or any useless metal?"
"I would but I highly doubt anybody would want to buy it. Not in this travelling market environment. Military might purchase but wouldn't be as profitable with 'em."
"You certainly have a good eye for business," the eyebot remarked, "Here's an idea. Maybe we could take a job with you as caravan guards."
"Guards?" The merchant chuckled a bit, "You sure you're up for the task? You're just kids. I don't want you getting in harm's way."
"It's as they say, age is just a number. I was an unofficial caravan guard for a short job so I've had some experience. East is okay with combat. And DAVE is responsible for the massacre of... a lot of Fire Nation soldiers," Ryan listed.
To be honest, his experience was pretty tiny as a caravan guard. Couple of years ago, he was in the same situation during the days when he travelled with Angela. Had to move from the gang infested town of Nipton back up to Freeside, so he travelled with a caravan, it went smoothly besides for a skirmish or two.
"You sure this isn't some false claim just to hitch a free ride? You're still kids," the merchant mentioned again.
Ryan pointed to the burn on his face, "I got this from a fight with a firebender."
"No you got punched and knocked out, that's what happened," DAVE corrected before being given a death stare. But the merchant still wasn't convinced.
The Californian sighed, trying to figure out another means of persuasion, "My father was in the military, so's my sister. I know plenty of military strategies."
"What about her? She doesn't appear to be in good shape. Hold up, are you abusing her?!"
"Ryan's not abusing me," said East, "I... I was a Fire Nation prisoner back in Omashu..."
"Oh, I'm sorry I assumed that," he said, regretting his question already, "But you are okay for combat right? Tell the truth, not whatever your friend claimed."
"I... I can use a weapon again... does that help?"
The merchant thought about it for a few brief seconds, before accepting them on board. "Sure, I'll hire you. Roads are getting anarchic with the Fire Nation advancing deeper into our territory. Soon, it'll be every man for themselves out here before the Firebenders establish they're fascist order here. I'm gonna need anything if my business is to survive."
"You don't exactly strike me as an intelligent geopolitical individual," said DAVE. Made sense for an independent caravan, needed to keep updated with the world.
"You don't strike me as a human being," he laughed, "Seriously what are you? A spirit?"
"I... sure. Let's go with that if that's how you'll understand," the toaster was already tired of explaining at this point, weird for an automaton like him.
"Well whatever you are, let's hope you live up to what your friend said about you. I'm Tian by the way."
There was a long silence, not even nature uttered a wind.
"Your name is 'Tian'?" Ryan raised an eyebrow at the repeated name.
"Is- Is there something wrong with my name?"
"Sorry, we ran into another travelling merchant called Tian a few days ago. Sold exotic wares. Complete asshat."
"Tian's a common name out there. So I'd get why, there's Tians of all kinds around here. Hopefully we don't run into that troubled man."
"Next time I see that cockface I'll gut him myself. Now let's go, the desert's not gonna reach itself."
"I'm surprised you wastelanders still use old world terms," said DAVE.
"Not all pre-war culture died out you know."
After all of that, they hopped onto the cart. And off they went.
The trip would take a week or two depending on the weather and/or other dangerous events according to Tian. It was a pretty boring journey by the time the sun started to set, they wondered why they even offered at all protection for the caravan if there weren't any needed. It was nice they pretty much were getting this ride for free, but as much as it benefited them they still were scamming this nice merchant. But it was better to be safe than sorry.
"All right, would you rather fight a hundred gecko-sized deathclaws, or ten deathclaw-sized geckos?" Ryan asked the tribal.
"Uhh... I'd go with... ten deathclaw-sized geckos. They'd be slow, an easy target, and won't exactly maul me in just one hit," she replied.
"What about you, DAVE?"
The eyebot thought about it for a second, "Gecko-sized Deathclaws. Easier to vaporise."
"You understand geckos are larger these days right?"
"Of course I do. Every post apocalyptic fiction always includes a certain mutant evolved from a tiny creature. Hell, whatever scorpions have become would make my gears crawl, and I have no nerves!"
Tian looked back at his guards, "You folks use a lot of strange words. I forgot to ask, where are you from? You dress funny, you talk weirdly, hell your eyes aren't like anything I've seen. If that's not too personal?" Wait, so now people start to notice the shape of their eyes?
Ryan looked at the toaster, gesturing his eyes if Tian was safe for them to reveal to. His response was just a shaking head... or body. That obviously meant no but the reasoning was different, the merchant wouldn't have had a stroke from the news and died (somehow), no it would've ruined their anonymous status. Telling people that you're from another world both attracts attention and makes others class you as insane. So it was best not to tell everyone, the trip was only temporary after all. They were lucky to have made this decision at the last minute.
"We're uh... not from around here," the Californian simply responded.
"Rather keep it secret huh? That's fine, not everyone needs their story to be told," Tian faced back on the road, brushing it off like the polite passing man he was.
There was more silence which followed afterwards. Ryan switched the subject, "So Tian. What exactly do you know about the desert?"
"One of the largest regions in this kingdom. It's your typical desert really, deadly, unforgiving, ready to roast you when it likes. Only 'safe heaven' places there are the Misty Palms Oasis and wherever those bug-headed tribals live, wouldn't advise encountering the tribals, bunch of backstabbing pieces of crap. But they're good to trade with if you have the right products. But I'm just heading to the Oasis, used to be a gem about a hundred years ago before the war. Now it's just a den for mercenaries, bandits, scum of the world really. I hope you kids can handle yourselves when we get there."
'A desert wasteland inhabited by both the scum of this planet and tribals. Just like home!' Ryan thought. They'll fit in very well, only problem being their age.
"I'm sure we can handle it," DAVE remarked.
"Oh great, back to the blazing sun," East said looking down.
"The blazing sun's all you've ever lived under," Ryan laughed.
"I know, but it's gonna feel like hell, I'm already used to the greenery here," she slightly chuckled a bit.
Tian was about to say something about where they came from again, but once again decided to brush it off. Like most, he saw them as just people who came and went. Why bother getting himself involved in their business?
The tribal decided to change the subject, "Hey, Ryan? About that brotherhood guy. What are we gonna do when we encounter him?"
The Californian silently stared at her, "I... I have no idea. Guess it all comes down on the type of person he is. Might be hostile and would attack us, or they might give 'mercy'. Then again he is just some kid, might be scared and run for his life. We'll decide when he encounter him."
"Who's this 'brotherhood' kid you people talking about, if you don't mind me asking?" Asked the merchant.
"Let's just say he's like us, except an enemy, probably."
"He wears grey, you don't happen to have seen him have you? Came from the Fire Nation colonies?" East asked.
"Come to think of it... yeah, yeah I remember him. He was about twelve, wore a hat with an insignia of gears and a sword, had a grey coat with the same insignia, had a pouch bandoleer too. Actually his eyes were pretty similar to your's, Ryan."
"Can you describe his personality?" The eyebot asked.
"Yeah, didn't mean any trouble, very naive, spoke funny like you. My advice with him, just talk to him. He seemed like a good kid, don't know why you'd want to pick a fight with him. He seems to have a bright future ahead of him."
"Any weapons?"
"No, just some knife. There some history between you kids and him?"
"Not personally, but our peoples have fought each other for decades over ideologies and ways of life, my people drove them into hiding, but hostilities still continue."
"And who exactly are your people?"
"You wouldn't know who they are."
"If you say so. Just don't kill him on the spot, you won't know what it is but I promise that'd be a huge mistake. Hell, you might be able to change his allegiance or something, I've seen it before with some of the kids in the colonies, believing themselves to be like an inferior race or whatever bull-horsesh*t they brainwash them with."
"I..." Maybe a peaceful approach was the right choice, they were on the lookout for just a kid. Was it really moral to fight one over some ideological war? And like Tian said he could be talked down. Plus he's the only one they know who's in the same situation as them, he could have proven a useful companion. Yet his opinions clouded his overall judgement. "We'll think about it," Ryan concluded, finally making this decision. "You know where he is now?"
"Encountered him a week ago, believe he was heading somewhere this way. But who am I to say? I'm not some all-seeing god am I?" He joked.
"Thanks for the info anyway."
"Oh, watch out, pot hole," he warned before the cart suffered a bump, "There's gonna be quite a few along this road. So prepare yourself if you easily get cart sickness."
"So... you have any family?" The Californian asked Tian, changing the topic again.
"That's not really a subject I'd like to talk about," he replied with a bit of a scold.
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be, we've all got dead loved ones. I can tell by the looks on your faces that you've experienced the same."
"Yeah, I lost my parents when I was ten. Same with my girlfriend last year. Just me and my sister now, with the exception of a few cousins but we're not too close."
"I lost my people, they fell to cannibalism and barbaric ways of life. Turned on each other like animals," DAVE sadly added, leaving out the fact he was the reason for his vault's downfall.
East wasn't too comfortable with explaining her backstory, but she just had the urge to mention it, her true reasons unknown even for her. "I lost... I lost my tribe," she finished, almost shedding a tear. Not saying anything else after that.
"The world's a cruel place isn't it? Doesn't care for its inhabitants, takes everything and everyone you'll know and love. Not giving a damn," Tian said calmly.
"Mate, that's pretty much the whole meaning to life. We live, then die," said the eyebot.
The merchant chuckled, "Well that's one way to look at it. Depends on your point of view really. Since you kids opened up about your losses, might as well open up mine. I've not always been a travelling caravan. I was a farmer once, two kids and a lovely wife back in Ba Sing Se. It was a peaceful life, seeing those you cherish every day, well you get the idea. Everything changed when my eldest , Jia, got sick. Each day she got worse, coughed up blood, passed out from time to time. Hell, the doctor couldn't do a damn thing for her, it was either the fact that I didn't have the money for him to treat her so he blatantly lied or she was actually incurable. It wasn't long before she... she passed on."
"You don't have to say anything more."
"No, I think I should. Better for the employee to know more about his employer. Where was I? Oh yeah, her death had an impact on the family. My only son, Huan, he was just about four at the time, yet he and his sisters were like two peas in a pod. Didn't have any other friends, just her. When she died he wasn't the same again, not even when my wife did everything she could to give him a good life. And for me, well I grew an alcohol problem."
"You? Having an alcohol problem? Wow, there really is a lot to you than meets the eye," the scavenger remarked.
"Yeah, weird to compare me from then to now. Each night I came home drunk, sounding like I was half paralysed. Even hit my own son once or twice, the regret was about as large as... well it was worse than whatever comes from the top of your head. At that moment, my wife kicked me out. About ten years have passed since then, hasn't been a time when I haven't thought about that day."
"Have you ever considered going back there? Back home?"
"Of course I have, this travelling caravan career was how I turned my life around. But with the war going on, it's not entirely possible just to straight up stroll into Ba Sing Se. Even if I could would my family see me as a changed man? Huan's only memories of me would probably just be all those painful moments I had with him. And my wife still probably hasn't forgiven me."
"It's better to face your past than run from it. Do you want to spend the rest of your days carrying all these burdens? Because unless you go back home, they won't go away. And of course they'll see you as a changed man. You're one of the nicest people we've met! If you were the man you claimed you once were then your family'll have too accept you!" Ryan attempted to persuade.
DAVE whispered, "You understand how cliche that was right?"
"Shut it," he whispered back, "My charisma's at like a four so all I can rely on is cliches."
The merchant looked back at them, "Never thought I'd be convinced by a fourteen year old to deal with a heavily personal burden."
"I'm sixteen."
Tian sighed, "You're right. I need to face this myself. Thanks for bringing some sense into me."
The caravan carefully slowed down once they reached a seemingly isolated area, despite the one open road that lead straight through it.
The air grew cold, the flowers and plants that once bloomed became seemingly colourless, the beautiful songs of the birds faded out of earshot, and the once relaxed caravan guards unwillingly switched from relaxation to total surveillance of their surroundings.
East held tightly onto the grip of her revolver, ready for anything even when her heart raced with fear. Her eyes scattered all around, trying to make sense of the situation.
The bird-horse hybrids began to neigh in denial by each inch. Something was obviously wrong with this area.
Ryan grabbed his shotgun, and looked at DAVE, "You see anything?"
"Well... no. No life forms anywhere except for us," the toaster replied extremely bewildered.
"Oh calm down, this road's just got that atmosphere that's all. I go down this place all the time, nothing bad ever happens. Come on girls it's all right," he said to his mounts," There is some horror story behind this place though. Some psycho brought all his victims out here one by one like cattle, slaughtered them for sport or for some cult ritual. Nobody knew much about the killer or what happened to him. But the spirits of his victims are trapped here, unable to move onto the afterlife. Now all they can do is torment those who pass through here at night in order to dwell their boredom of an eternal purgatory."
"So just a ghost story?" Ryan placed his gun down, "Calm down, guys. It's like Tian said, just the atmosphere."
"Is that part of the atmosphere?" DAVE asked facing towards a hanging rotten corpse. The lifeless body attracted the few flies all around to feast, maggots infested their eyes feeding on what was left of the brain. Back in the wasteland, this was a sign there were raiders or some psychotic people straight ahead, couldn't say this place was any different unless they had some ridiculous ritual of 'sacrificing' to the spirits or whatever backwards tradition they possibly had here.
"Let's just keep moving... keep an eye out if anything happens," he ordered worridley.
"You're not worried? Mate, this whole place is just screaming 'TURN BACK OR ELSE YOUR INSIDES WILL BE OUR BRUNCH'," stated DAVE, "And I'm not one to be an atmosphere's bitch!"
"Of course I'm worried! But isn't it best if we investigate for ourselves? If there's a threat out here people should know about it!"
"You sure these 'ghosts' don't come at dusk?" East asked nervously.
"It's just some legend from decades ago, ghosts aren't re-" He immediately halted his speech just before he uttered another word, the merchant's body paralysed, all muscles just froze in place. The only sound coming from him was a quite choke as black root-like substances began to quickly plague the veins of his neck.
"Uh... Tian? You feeling all right?" Ryan asked worriedly.
Tian slightly tilted his head, trying to look at his unofficial guards. All he was able to helpfully do was reveal a small dart entrenched deep into his neck. The Californian's eyes widened in shock.
East glared in horror, as if she was witnessing the death of a loved one once again. She held tightly onto her pipe revolver, staring all around her for their attacker.
"Get him into the cart! Quickly!" DAVE cried. The two wastelanders pulled the almost lifeless merchant on his back. After a quick scan, DAVE gave his report, "Damn it! The dart's covered in some weird mixture of poison! Straight in the carotid veins! I'm sorry, Tian, but you're probably not going to make it."
"How long does he have?"
"Bloody hell, about a couple minutes at best. Need to act fast! Check your backpack, Ryan. See if there's anything that could help!"
An arrow hit one of the bird-horses, taking her straight out, yet somehow the remaining mount stood coldly calm. Well... at least they didn't randomly panic and dragged them straight off to a foreseeable disaster.
In response, the Californian glanced in the direction the projectile dashed from, able to thankfully get a glimpse of their attacker. It seemed to just have been one person, wearing some sort of black ninja-like suit and equipped with a small bow in hand, including what looked like a sword or some other bladed weapon on their back. He grabbed his revolver from his side (given the fact it had a longer range) and with his short luck, fired at their leg. Forcing them to limp off back into the forest.
"No, you two handle this, I'm gonna take out our attacker," said Ryan, loading a bullet into his revolver, "Someone needs to take care of that asshole."
"Let me handle it."
"No, Tian needs you here. You're the only medical (sort of) expert here. East can help you out."
"What?! Me?!"
"Would you rather go after our attacker?!" He asked almost threateningly. He didn't like talking to his friend like that, especially in her condition. She didn't respond back, accepting the role.
Another projectile hit the cart, it wasn't a dart this time, it was an arrow. Thankfully it was most likely a miss rather than an idiotic warning shot, things would have been catastrophic if their attacker decided to kill one of the mounts. It was a stupid action, they just gave away their location.
"Do what you can for Tian, wish me luck," he said before jumping off the cart, and rushed to the direction the arrow was shot from.
"Again, he didn't think this through," said the eyebot, slightly pissed at the fact he didn't let him go once again. DAVE had already proven himself to be a quick killer with tremendous perception, yet he was denied the chance for one easy kill. Then again, he was probably the only one with the knowledge to save their caring employer. He virtually sighed, and turned to the tribal, "All right, East. Listen closely, because I'm not repeating this again."
Ryan trudged through the sunset woods, holding his weapon tight in hand. He glared all over, listening to even the slightest sound. Their attacker seemed to be skilled in using the environment to their advantage, he saw the movies. He glanced at the trees above, thinking they might be hanging up there, ready to get the jump on him.
But maybe they weren't, he crouched down once he noticed the small drops of blood on the soil. This was good sign, they were vulnerable already, not to say they weren't. Ryan had two guns and a ballistic fist, and the attacker had less advanced weaponry. It was obvious who had the upper hand here.
He followed the blood droplets, which scarcely built a trail for him to follow, like a hunter searching for his prey. Entrenched deep into a tree was a knife, the attacker probably used it to keep themselves up, the blood droplets increased to small puddles, they were losing blood faster. But before he continued, he examined the knife, this wasn't like any normal blade, this was a combat knife.
Inscribed on the handle was an eye-widener and a jaw dropper, PROPERTY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY it said. Where in this world would they get this? Did it belong to that Squire? Tian did say the boy was probably coming this way, maybe this guy mugged him or something? Well, Ryan now had more questions to ask. He ripped out the knife and moved on.
Upon following the trail further, there was once again another hanging corpse, dangling from a tree trunk. This corpse seemed to be older than the one from earlier, more maggots infested the rotting flesh, some of the filthy chunks made a tiny pile on the ground. Despite what it was, the body was a sign to not go any further, yet it was also a sign that implied 'Secret evil base this way'. And given the fact their attacker was clearly injured, he didn't hesitate to proceed.
A distant groan was heard not long after, not even fading out a bit. Great, their attacker was now in one place, now it was time to get the jump on them. He moved forward, ready to get into position. Ryan took cover behind a tree, staring at the wide open area of the forest. There was a small den with a bit of handmade (stolen) furniture, as well as some bird-horse corpses hung up ready to be cooked, well now he knows what happens to the mount bodies. Disgusting.
By the den sat the attacker, trying to deal with the injury the Californian inflicted on their left foot. And they were doing a horrible job at it. Removing a bullet wasn't like bulling out an arrow. Their wound was mostly likely infected by now. Afterwards they pulled up their mask, revealing the face over a woman seemingly scarred and slightly psychotic judging by the weird constant twitch occurring in her eye. What a tw- actually it wasn't really much of a surprise. Ryan didn't grow up in a misogynistic society, so strict gender expectations were almost nonexistent.
Ryan decided to move out of cover, his shotgun ready to blow a whole into her face. Once she noticed him moving closer, she almost had the full urge to get up and run off.
"Hurts doesn't it?" He said, "Trust me, what comes next is gonna be a whole lot worse. You knew what you were getting into when you joined this profession."
There wasn't any response from her, just a long cold stare of both hatred and fear from their dirt-brown eyes. It reminded him of when he blew a hole or two into Zuko back in the North Pole.
He gave mercy once again, but not out of pity, more out of curiosity. He lowered his shotgun and held out the army knife, "Where did you get this?"
Yet again, no response.
He sighed, bringing out the big guns, metaphorically not literally, "Not saying anything, hmm? Tell you what, if you answer my questions, then I'll remove the bullet."
More silence followed, before she finally spoke, "Promise?"
"Pinky swear," he replied almost like a child dead inside.
"...I found the knife from a boy a few days ago. Wearing weird grey clothing. The minute I took the jump on him he just ran off, didn't even bother for a fight. Only thing I did steal from him was the knife, which he dropped as he cowered off. He was heading your direction if you're wondering." Well at least he knew that this Brotherhood kid was closer than he thought. Surprised she didn't question the knife's design itself.
Not going to lie, it was strange for her to be so talkative after such a silent phase. Then again she did hang dead bodies and (probably) ate bird-horses. Which brought up his next question, "Why the hell do you live like this? Raiding caravans and travellers, stealing their stuff, eating their mounts?"
"That's new, the victim questioning their attacker."
"And the attacker also getting their head blown off with a shotgun if she doesn't shut up and answer my questions."
"Fine. Here's the story in a nutshell cos I don't plan to give my whole damn life story to a child," she sighed disapprovingly, "Well my name's Yu, I grew up in a village as a street urchin and a social outcast. Yada yada yada, trained in a martial art before becoming an outcast yet again and here I am. Pretty much a skilled bandit that eats bird-horses."
"So you were born an outcast? Well that's not surprising. I pretty much near in a town filled with people like you, except they aren't rejected ninjas."
"The hell's a ninja?"
"Doesn't matter. All right, final question since your ankle looks a bit infected. The poison in your darts, is there a cure?"
"No."
"Really? Son of a bitch!" He covered his mouth, knowing there was no hope for Tian now. "Can you at least tell me where you got this poison from?"
"I just mixed a lot of random poisons together, created the monstrosity you know and hate. Sorry your driver's gonna die," she said without a care, "Now will you please remove the bull-at? Bull-ot? Whatever the hell you called it?"
Ryan cocked his shotgun, "No. Any last words before your face is nothing but a hole?"
"Wait WHAT?! I thought we had an agreement! You gave me that... whatever childish thing you did!"
"You really think I'd actually make an agreement with someone like you?" He aimed his gun, "You killed one of ours, I might as well return the favour."
"Damn, for a kid, you're one cold son of a whore."
"Trust me, I'm not like this to everyone. Seriously, any last words?"
Once again there was silence, no response.
Yet suddenly, as Ryan was about to pull the trigger from the absence, Yu quickly grabbed her blowgun from behind, and fired a poison dart. The projectile pierced Ryan, entirely missing the neck and straight in the arm. Sh*t.
Yu's face was then blown straight off, her head turned into chunks scattered across the now blood covered soil.
But he didn't think much anymore now of her demise, the wastelander looked at his arm, the dart was deeply entrenched. He yanked it out and rolled up his sleeve, examining the injury. His eyes almost shed tears, the same black mark that appeared on Tian had began to grow from the tiny penetration.
He remembered what Yu said, there was no known cure for the poison.
This was it.
Ryan was about to die.
It wasn't as quick as what was happening with Tian, he didn't feel the grim reaper just standing by, waiting for his soul to be claimed. No, it was more like a bit of exhaustion, it would take a while before he ended up like his nice employer. But how long? How long would it take before his whole body is infected?
He decided to head back, maybe a short walk would help him process this.
Back at the cart, it was a trainwreck. East tried listening to DAVE's orders the best she could, mixing random medicines together, injecting some Med-X. But no matter what she did, nothing worked for Tian. It wasn't that good for DAVE either, for once he faced a disease he had no knowledge on, not even a quick scan would help, this was all alien to him.
"Try using that, what's it for?!"
"That's for cazadores!"
"Just try it!"
"I umm... this..."
"Come on, we haven't got forever!"
"You sure this will work?!"
"I have no clue! You might as well have discovered the cure for testicular cancer!"
"The hell's that?!"
"Just give him the mixture!"
The tribal felt as if she held the weight of the world on her back, despite the fact she only knew the merchant since this morning. It all reminded her a bit of Akira and Banko's mom, she may have not had a connection with her, but she had two kids, now they'll never see her again because of her. She didn't want that to happen with Tian, he had a child and a wife, and they just talked him into getting back to them, and now it was all for nothing.
It wasn't her fault this time, but East still felt like it was.
"Ummm... uhhhhhh... try that cure. Used for scorpion stings right?! Maybe that could help?!"
"I... I can't do this," she said, only staring at Tian's eyes as his soul began to slip away. They stared at her, with a mixed message of both 'please help' and 'leave me, it's time to let go'. It was weird, she didn't know what to do. So that's what she did, absolutely nothing.
"Well... how about we... oh for f*ck's sake," it wasn't long before he joined with East, just about giving up on Tian. Neither said anything, they just stared as the poison finally overtook him, and released his final breath. "No signs of a pulse. He's dead," he looked at the girl, "There was nothing we could do. I'm sorry for putting you under all that pressure."
She didn't respond, she only stared at the body. It had been a while since she properly experienced a death like this, a long while. East shut his lifeless eyes before speaking in her tribal tongue, as if she was about to burst into tears, "Ruh im Frode (Rest in Peace)."
"Ryan's back," the eyebot mentioned.
The Californian gave an awkward wave, about to confess his new injury. "Dealt with that bandit or whatever she was, just some absolute weirdo that sounds like she was made up on the spot. Everything all right?"
"Well no, Tian's dead. And we kind of messed up your medical organisation in your backpack. However the hell you can carry a missile launcher, thirty weapons, less than a thousand bullets, food, medicine, magazines etc I will NEVER understand. Anyways, what are we going to do about Tian?" DAVE asked, sounding as if he no longer gave a crap, he did care he just felt there wasn't need for such emotion at this time.
Ryan just hearing the news their nice employer died made him worry even more, he wasn't ready to die, he hadn't even lived a full life. Hadn't trained East properly, hadn't started a family (then again he didn't exactly believe in true love), he hasn't even got much family left, how will they feel once they assume he's dead? How would East do without him? Would she even survive? End up like the refugees? The eyebot could probably take care of her, or maybe Aurey, his sister? It was an awful lot to process. But it wasn't long before he answered, "Give him a burial, after that we move on. Aaaand... I need to tell you guys something."
"Can it wait after we... bury him?" East asked, not ready for any more news.
"Yeah, sure. Help me carry him."
It took about half an hour for them to bury the body, they tried their best to do an actual funeral, but the best they could were a small speech each and a handmade gravestone which was just some broken rifle with Tian's rice hat placed on top. Better than nothing though. Better than dumping the body into a ravine like many settlements or tribes back home.
The smalls speeches then began.
"Well, Tian, you were a huge upgrade compared to asshole Tian. You happily exchanged protection from two kids and a weirdly programmed eyebot for a ride, as much as it was kind I really questioned that decision," Ryan sighed, "Overall, we're sorry we couldn't do more for you, we're sorry we couldn't protect you like we promised, we're sorry it ended this way. Rest in peace, or in a meaningless void, whatever the hell comes in the end. I wish I could say you're with your daughter now but..." He chuckled a bit, "We all know that's just something we make up to make death feel better. You wanna say anything, DAVE?"
"Well, Tian, although we've only known you since this morning and I see talking to your rotting corpse is the most pointless thing at this low budget funeral, I'm sorry you died painfully, I regret the fact that my scanners couldn't detect that 'woman with a backstory that sounded like it was made up on the spot' as Ryan described her."
"How did you not detect her though? You were able to detect a whole village from miles off!"
"They were probably wearing insulated clothing, prevented heat coming off. I don't' have anything else to say for Tian, but he deserved better. I'm sorry I'm not good at funerals, only thing I'm good at in funerals are causing them."
"Well it was close enough, DAVE," Ryan looked at East, "You want to say anything?" The tribal didn't respond, only staring at a small piece of creased paper. "What you got there?"
"Oh, I uhh... I found it with some of the papers back on the cart," she held out a picture showing a decent drawing of a family. Two loving parents and two playful kids, what a time that must have been for them. For East, it reminded her of a dead past, when she lived the life back home across the Colorado, the small festivals (well they were more or less parties by more advanced standards), her friends, family, all of it now erased and enslaved by the Bull's onslaught. And for Ryan, it reminded him of his days back in Redding, when he didn't worry about a thing, his dad radioed in every week after his missions, playing outside with Angela when she was alive, getting beaten up by a gang of thugs before Aurey saved his ass. Okay maybe not that last bit but he still did miss it. Both of them did.
"That's Tian's family isn't it?"
East nodded, "Do you know what this writing is? I can't understand it." She obviously couldn't read the writing here, but assumed since Ryan had a good grip on history and a bit of mandarin, and DAVE was pretty self explanatory.
"Sorry, I can't even read any Asian languages."
"The writing here looks like it's a hell of a lot older than Archaic Chinese, and that's thousands of years old, I can't even make out a single similarity to modern Mandarin!"
"It's probably just a note if anything happened to him. We might find out if we ask someone who can read it."
East nodded again, "Were you asking me something earlier, Ryan?"
"Yeah, did you want to say anything for Tian?"
She thought for a second, "I... I don't know what to say. Thi- this is my first actual funeral." East lied there, part of her felt like this was still all her fault, that it was her fault the merchant will never see his loved ones again.
"Didn't you have funerals back home?"
"I don't want to talk about that," she finished. No longer saying anything else.
"Well, Tian, may you wander the meaningless abyss that is the afterlife in peace."
At that moment, DAVE initiated a slightly distorted bagpipes recording of 'Amazing Grace' as the... well the body was already buried underground.
Eventually, the whole thing was over. The funeral was by far the worst in wasteland history if you count out savages dumping the bodies into a large ravine. The corpse was buried and surrounded by two kids and a weird robot he barely knew instead of close friends and loved ones. The organisation was worse than Ryan's plan for getting East out of the dungeon, worse than Caesar putting his closest friend in charge of the Battle of Hoover Dam. But they tried their best to give a proper burial.
"So, Ryan, you wanted to tell us something?" The eyebot mentioned.
There was half a minute of silence, at first Ryan was about to confess his injury, but after that funeral with a budget that was pretty much the price of a slab of wood, he remembered East was still recovering. She may have been more talkative, yet the pain was still there, he could see it all over her face. It was best if the pain didn't increase further. He might have opened up to the eyebot, but now obviously wasn't the time.
So in response he just replied, "The Brotherhood kid came this way, dropped this knife when he ran from our attacker. She told me he was basically a coward, so I doubt we'll need to fight him."
"Well that's good to hear. What happened with out attacker, by the way?"
"Blew her head off faster than the guillotine." At least the guillotine didn't harm the executioner.
"The guillotine was used to chop people's heads off. Whatever, so are we taking Tian's cart?"
"Do you want us to walk a thousand miles until our legs turn to dust?" East asked sarcastically.
"I don't have legs."
Ryan smiled, "So now your sarcastic emotions open up? At this rate you'll be back to your old self in no time."
"Am I the only one finding it weird that she's recovering from PTSD this quickly. Seriously, this is NOT how mental illness works."
"Just deal with it DAVE. Come on, let's leave this place," said Ryan before they head back onto the cart, "Does anyone know how to drive this thing? Nobody? Okay, might as well wing it."
Just as he managed to get the bird-horse things moving, they finally head off.
THERE, DONE. I'M GONNA CONFESS SOMETHING, I WAS ABOUT TO PROPERLY GIVE UP ON THIS STORY AFTER THIS CHAPTER. BUT AFTER SEEING THE NICE REVIEWS AND THE DECENT AMOUNT OF FOLLOWERS AND REVIEWS IT MADE ME REMEMBER THAT PEOPLE ENJOY THIS HEAVILY LOW QUALITY PIECE OF CRAP STORY OF MINE THAT I SOMEHOW ENJOY WRITING, SO NOW I'M NOT GONNA GIVE THIS UP OR LET YOU DOWN. BUT I AM TAKING A LONG BREAK FROM ALL MY CURRENT WIPs UNTIL I GET MY WRITING ACT TOGETHER.
AND THAT'S BY STARTING ANOTHER WIP XD.
RIGHT, HAVE A NICE 2021 FOR ALL MY READERS. AND FOR THOSE WHO HATE THIS STORY ALREADY I HOPE YOU HAVE A BETTER TIME WITH SUPERIOR WRITTEN FANFICS.
AIGHT IMMA HEAD OUT.
ALSO I'M REMASTERING THE FIRST 11 CHAPTERS. GONNA BE A WHILE BEFORE I PUBLISH A NEW CHAPTER.