More Questions than Answers

I knew in my gut that the lack of mutant or raider ambushes was going to be made up for somehow. It was about midday and we were nearing the proposed location of the safehouse. We told the family to stay put while we scouted ahead. Paul said the bunker was easy to miss and that he could use an extra set of eyes on the cliff. The family settled down to rest by their wagon while Paul and I climbed an eastern sand dune. We scaled a few rocks, climbed some more sand hills, and eventually reached the top. Far to the east was a tiny dot that Paul's map said was Broken Hills. All around us was flat desert and distant mountains for miles in all directions. Looking west, I started to get home sick at the sight of the mountains marking the outskirts of New Reno. It was then that things went south.

Paul scanned the area for the landmarks that were used in reference to locate the bunker. Looking towards the northern mountains, I saw a black dot rise from them. At first, I thought it was a fly or something, but even after waving, it appeared to move steadily towards us. I nudged Paul and he pulled out his binoculars, but by then there was no need. I recognized the sound. Piercing the wind were the familiar sounds of "Rotor Blades."

My mind scrambled as I asked Paul, "What do we do!?"

Paul looked down at the family several hundred yards away, and when he looked back, the noise was louder. There it was; the same thing I saw hovering above me in the snowy woods west of Klamath, a Vertibird. We felt the whirlwind kick up as it was landing only a half mile from the family. Paul and I got down, but as soon as we peeked up, the two propellered flying machine was on the ground kicking up a sandstorm. Through the sandstorm, I saw three black figures get out and begin walking towards the family. I asked the detective what to do again and he whipped out his notebook to jot down some stuff.

I asked again hastily since his mind seemed elsewhere, and he finally answered, "Nothing we can do now, but we have to stay out of sight."

I watched from behind the rocks while Paul took notes through the entire ordeal. The aircraft blades slowed to a stop and the engine noise died… But then, a different engine noise broke the silence. The black figures approached the family, and to the east was something on the desert floor kicking up sand. Wouldn't you freaking believe it? It was the working car from New Reno!

Aside from that, my attention turned back to the family and the oncoming figures. I noticed one of the black figures from the Vertibird was much larger and taller than the others, but we were too far to make out any details. The giant black mechanical looking man and his entourage stopped in front of the family just as the restored Highwayman pulled up. When the dust from the car settled around the scene, I quickly focused on the car and briefly made out a large green head sticking out of the sunroof. It was the vault suit man and his misfit entourage, but I was more focused on the scene with the family. It looked like a conversation was taking place between the black figures and the family while that car's owner just watched. Paul was done taking notes and looked to see what was happening only to turn back to the notebook when he saw the restored car. Regardless, I didn't even care about what the freaking car man was doing there, I just watched the family interact with the black figures.

No more than a minute after the car pulled up, gunshots interrupted the calm. The two figures next to the giant one unleashed a long stream of bullets at the family. The rapid succession of gunfire was the familiar sound of miniguns. Paul and I sat there stunned and only able to listen to the gunshots echoing across the open desert. Shortly after, the black figures went to board their aircraft, and the car drove right along. The Vertibird stirred up the sands and disappeared over the west just as quickly as they came. Once the aircraft was gone, and the car was out of sight, we headed down to the family… or what was left of them.

It hit me a little harder than I thought it would. The cart was ripped to pieces, and the family wasn't any better. There wasn't anything left of the scientist, his wife, or the two little kids. The blood… The blood was splattered across the sands for yards in all directions where they stood only minutes before. I thought I managed to make out a few body parts, but they were too mangled to identify. That man, his wife, and their two babies were effectively erased from existence. All that remained of them was that bloody patch of desert and few pieces of un-obliterated human. Paul and I walked silently west back to New Reno. There was nothing to say, and now we had far more questions than answers.

I knew what we were doing was a good thing when I saw those kids and the desperation in the wife's face that first day. After seeing what happened, and running over it again and again, I think the worst part of the incident was where Paul and I were at the time. Leaving the family alone while we searched for the safehouse location, and the sudden arrival of their doom probably made it seem like we were responsible for everything. I tried not to think about it on the way back into town, but that was all I could think about. The family's last thoughts were probably cursing us for abandoning them, or calling in the Vertibird. It probably all seemed too suspicious in their eyes, and I couldn't blame them since even we had no idea how they got tracked down. But, once the black figures were talking with the family, there was nothing we could do. I couldn't read their minds, but thinking their last thoughts were about us betraying them was too heartbreaking. We really were trying to help them… The timing was just too terrible.

We hardly spoke to each other the whole two day walk and arrived back in the civilized part of town just before Virgin Street and the Reno Archway. We took a rest in an alley outside the Cat's Paw and looked at each other. Like I said, there wasn't much to really talk about.

So, Paul just said plainly, "I have a lot of info to report back home…"

I stayed quiet as he went on, "You know, you were the first person I'd met to have actually seen one of those aircraft or Vertibirds, right?"

I nodded and said dryly, "Yeah, I believe you mentioned that back in Redding."

He went on, but surprised me with a bit of new information he'd been keeping to himself, "A month or two back, I got a radio from back home reporting sightings of Vertibirds northwest of Shady Sands-Er NCR…"

That statement shocked me. People had seen others firsthand? I thought the only person was that mutated survivor from the cold case that ended almost ten years prior? I asked a barrage of questions at that, "Really? More people are seeing them? Isn't NCR down south aways? Anyone see anything like what we saw?"

He stared at the overturned box I was sitting on and said, "Nope, nothing like what happened to that family... But yeah, even way down south people are seeing them now…"

He paused for a moment before adding, "I'll be honest with you, Sean; I'm not really sure what any of this means, but something is going on out here bigger than the Jet epidemic, the slavers up north, and the Families here in New Reno."

I didn't know what to say or even what to think about any of this. So, I said the only thing a simple minded wastelander or New Reno thug could, "Shit, man…"

I was still thinking about that family getting shredded by the big guns of those black figures, and the strange arrival of that dipshit "Chosen One" with the car.

Finally, Paul looked up and me with a defeated grin and said, "Things are getting real weird in New Reno, Sean. Find yourself in Shady Sands when you can… NCR will take you in and…"

He paused to think. He stuttered and added, "I'd love to work with you again, Sean. Just… Take care."

He stood up, seemingly ready to abruptly depart town for good when I asked, "What should I do now?"

Paul stopped in his tracks, turned around, and said, "Thanks for reminding me. Sorry about this, Sean; it's for your own good."

I looked at him puzzled before my world went black… Again.