Chapter 4: First Venture

They are off on their first venture out. We'll see what happens. On with the story!

Atlas awoke slowly with a sad but almost expressionless face. He got up and sat on the edge of the bed looking glum to the floor.

These images won't get out of my head. That nightmare was not fun at all. I'm tired of nightmares man. They really make you feel like shit.

FLASHBACK

"What is this? Why so much blood? What the hell is going on here?" He questioned as he started trailing the blood with his 10 mil holstered and his hunting rifle in hand.

"Whatever this shit belongs to its pretty goddamned big. That's a lot of blood."

He continued following it and soon corpses started piling up. Some were raiders and some were ghouls. Then he noticed something. Initiates were dead too. Brotherhood Initiates. More and more showed as piles of ash and goo started showing up and eventually some bodies of brotherhood knights. Their power armor had large gashes and all of them had these huge rips in the armor where they were disemboweled.

He continued pressing on and on until he saw a foot. A pretty big foot. He slowly looked up and saw the sight of ruby leaning against the wall of a building. True terror amongst his face at the bullet wounds, laser rifle burns, and plasma wounds covering her body. She was hunted down by the brotherhood. He always thought of them as trouble they helped out in so many ways with their power armor. He never thought that they would do something like this.

"No…no no no NO!" He ran towards the body of ruby and started shaking her long arms.

"Why? Why would they do this? Was it because you can talk? I don't understand why they would be so cruel. You were such a kind being. Even if you weren't human you didn't deserve this!" He cried out.

Sobs were all that could be heard as the motionless Deathclaw leaned against the wall.

"NOOOOO-"

END OF FLASHBACK

"That… was just absolutely horrible…" Atlas said repelled.

He swore he could cry. His other nightmares were bad but this one hit him hard. Hit him where he cares. Where it hurts.

"I'm starting to have some doubts on even letting her walk outside after that dream. I don't want her to be hurt!" He said vilified but worried.

He finally decided to stand up from the edge of the bed and started taking off his clothes to put on his armor. He simply wore underwear under his leather and metal outfit as it basically counted as one big suit. Lots of buckling up but hey, it worked.

As he finished with his metal gauntlet he walked outside his room. He opened up the pantry shelf and took the can of potato crisps from before and sat down at the table. He opened up the top and started eating.

"Hopefully this time I won't be attacked by an overgrown lizard" He said with a small chuckle.

It was around 6:50 in the morning when he woke up. He doesn't know why he wakes up as early as he doesn't have a job or anything but he always has woke up this early. That he can remember anyway. Finishing the last few amounts of chips in the can he threw it in the bin to his right.

"Buckets!" He whispered.

The sun was rising. This is a sight to behold. The clouds align perfectly for the rays of sun to hit at certain spots.

"I'll go check on Ruby." He said getting up from his seat and making his way past the dining table to the garage.

"I hope I don't wake h-" He paused as he noticed the figure missing from the bed spot.

The garage door was opened.

He walked outside with a slightly fast pace and proceeded to look around for the Deathclaw.

"Where is she? Maybe on that little peak looking out towards concord. There is a great shot of the sun rise there and I know she likes sights." Atlas had said making his way to this little rock peak in the back of Red Rocket.

FLASHBACK

"In this space yes but I will not allow you to sleep on the floor. I have some junk that I scavenged so give me a minute and I will make you a huge oversized bed." Before she could testify against him working for her he was already off into his little working shack. He quickly came into that garage with a bunch of tools and junk items and gestured her to "Shoo" so that he could work.

She got the message, nodded, and headed outside to sit on the ledge, looking out into what was merely a gaze of what the commonwealth had to offer. She looked at the sunset, her ruby eyes twinkling in the sunlight with that faraway daze that just sets into you.

After a few minutes of goggling the sun she turned when she heard an "All done!" from her partner

END OF FLASHBACK

"I assume so. She ogled the sun for quite a while."

Atlas made his way over to the peak. Sure enough he saw her. The draconic figure out of a fantasy novel was sitting on the little ledge staring her exquisite ruby eyes towards the everlasting rise of the sun.

Hearing the footsteps she turned her head and saw the armored human walking over to her.

She smiled a smile that seemed as if it was from a movie or cartoon or something. She had her eyes closed while she smiled. Why? It was kind of cute I suppose.

"Well good morning Atlas! I did not think you would be up so early. I expected you to be up two hours later." She greeted.

"Good morning as well. I don't know why I get up so early but I do. It's not a bad thing but it's not a good thing either. How come you're up?"

"You want the honest truth?" She said facing back towards the sun.

"Of course. I would never lie to you and I would hope you wouldn't lie to me."

"I was sound asleep till about this time when I heard you scream. I was worried as you sounded pretty terrified but I thought you merely had a bad dream. I heard you open up the door into the room and I could sense you peering in and looking at me. You appeared… relieved after that. I guess I didn't fall asleep after that. It had me thinking." She stated steadily turning her gaze back to the human who was now sitting next to her looking at the same sun she was just gazing upon.

"I uh. I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for it really. I did have a nightmare though. You were right about that and the relief." He stated.

"Mm. Will you tell me about your nightmare? Why you were relieved to see me?" She questioned slightly tilting her head.

Atlas said nothing. He put on that expressionless face staring out into the souls of the commonwealth. She would see this face often in the future.

"Atlas?" she barked out.

"No. I don't want to talk about it. It was a nightmare simple as that. It messed me up but I'm fine now. It's all I could think about I don't wish to bring it up again." He argued.

"It won't be truly off your chest until you come to terms with it Cara. Just please tell me. I'm worried." She said with a sound of worry.

"…"

"Fine." He complied.

"You know that you are the first pers- uh… being to talk to me and not try to kill me since before the bombs. So I decided that I would try to make you my companion. It worked thank the gods but we have each other now. As partners I shall protect you till the end. We will accomplish a lot together. I had a dream where I was tracking blood. Lots of it. Bodies were littered everywhere. Brotherhood initiates, knights, dead. Completely gutted and eviscerated. I followed the blood till it led to a sight I never wanted to see. I…"

"…" he fell silent looking down towards the ground as the sun continued to rise.

"Please Atlas, mo chara, please tell me what you saw." She pleaded

"I saw… you Ruby. You had bullet wounds, laser burns, plasma damage, and plenty of gashes. You were leaning against a building and when I came over. Y-you were dead in m-my arms. I lost everything again. A true Atlas." he broke out. He wasn't sobbing. Not even a crying tone in his voice. He was simply normal except for the flow of tears falling down his cheeks.

"O-Oh my. I deeply apologize… I didn't realize it would be that b-"

She was cut off but a certain action that surprised her once again. The Deathclaw was taken aback by the man jumping up from his seat and embracing her in a hug. A tight one for a mere human.

"I don't know what I would do if I had actually found you in such a state! I promised myself I would protect YOU! You are all I've got!" he shouted with tears still falling.

He nestled his face into the large scaly creature. She slowly wrapped her arms around the smaller form of Atlas letting him vent.

"Aww my little baby Atlas. What would I do without my big, strong protector?" She said with a hint of sarcasm.

Atlas laughed into her chest. She chuckled back.

"You don't need to devote yourself to me. Remember I am a Deathclaw, I can handle myself rather well. Don't worry Atlas, I'll be fine. I'd never leave you like that. Not in a lifetime mo chara." She exclaimed in a soothing tone.

"I know. I know. Sorry Ruby." He got out of the embrace and wiped his tears with his arm.

He stood up and gave a final look at the sun.

"Let's go." He motioned her over. "You should eat before we get moving. There's a place I want to check out."

"He is so caring. I wish more people were like him." She thought to herself. She got up and made her way over to Atlas where they walked side by side to the garage door. They entered the garage.

"Can you eat human food or do you hate the taste?" He questioned heading into the kitchen.

"I'm fine with whatever you can supply. It may not be able to fill me up like a Brahmin but anything will do." She explained.

"Fill me up. That's what she said." He snickered quietly so he couldn't be heard.

He opened up this little shelf that was in the corner and grabbed some meat that was hanging on a hook.

"I have a bunch of raw dog meat from when this place was attacked. You fine with that?"

"Oh yes I'll gladly take that. Thank you so much! What about you Atlas? What shall you eat?"

Atlas walked over and handed her the meats. "I won't be eating anything. I just had crisps so I'm good. I don't need to eat too much. I'll be outside while you eat. Try not to make a huge bloody mess okay? It sucks ass trying to clean blood." He waved as he exited the Gas station.

"I hope you'll be okay." She said in her solitude.

She started making quick work of the raw dog meat. Wasn't too hard with her huge razor sharp teeth but she had to eat carefully as to not dirty everything.

After a couple quick minutes she finished her meal and cleaned her hands with her tongue.

Animals.

She started looking around the humble abode and she found many interesting things. A bunch of posters, a bobble head, a few Knick knacks and pieces of junk no doubt for modifications, and something that caught her attention. A bright note shone in the back of sunlight. She picked it up and opened it. She knew how to read. She loved books but that was only because that's all she had in containment.

Atlas. If you forget, always keep this note nearby. I wrote this for myself in times of doubt and fear. You have had no one. You are no one. However, you are something with this being. You have someone in this being. Ruby will be everything you have. She is all you have from now to the end of your existence. So always remember that even if you feel everything is over, live for her. Make sure that nothing is done in vain.

Atlas to yourself.

A single tear fell from her bright ruby eyes. Picture that. A Deathclaw crying. That's a sight you'll never see.

"What did I do to deserve a friend like him? He has to be the best thing that has happened to me." She sobbed.

She set the note back down and closed it. She calmed herself and wiped the tear away. Straightening her situation she went out of the garage, closing the door behind her. She turned and saw Atlas with his left metal gauntlet hand on his hip, slightly leaning to the left, smiling as the sun was barely above him.

"You ready to go?"

She couldn't do anything else but smile. After a few moments she proceeded to ask, "Where to?"

"I plan on going to a city nearby. It's a longer walk than usual but nothing compared to what you went through. It's a place called Lexington." He informed her.

"Sounds good. Let's hope it's not too bad there."

"We will have to move southeast from here. We will pass a diner that I spotted on my map and we should then reach Lexington. It's not hard to miss." He stated pointing towards his pip boy.

"Let's get a move on" He motioned to follow.

Ruby nodded and made her way to his side. The two started off on their short venture to Lexington.

A few minutes pass by from the walking. They ran into a few blood bugs but Atlas picked them off with his 10 mil.

Soon they could see the diner in the distance. Atlas marked it on his map.

"What is that on your wrist Cara?" She asked intrigued.

"Hm? Oh it's a pip boy. It's a wrist computer that shows me my health status, my condition on my armor, and my radiation meter. It has a map too. It is a nifty little tool." He informed her

"Ah I see. That is very interesting and helpful." She stated.

Atlas continued to walk in the assigned direction and didn't even bother looking towards the diner.

"Atlas are we not going to investigate that diner? There could be foodstuffs in there." She questioned looking towards the diner.

"I didn't really plan on it but I guess we can look." He shifted his advance over to the diner's entrance.

Making his way to the door he opened in and barely made a step inside when a pipe revolver was nudged up against his temple.

"Move another inch and I watch your brain explode mother fucker." Said the man in a threatening tone.

Without thinking Atlas ducking and shoved his hand into the side of the gun, causing it to fire and miss its target. He grabbed the arm of the assailant and brought his fist against the side of his arm, hearing a loud and audible crack was all he needed to hear before the sound of the gun dropping and screaming consumed the air.

"GAHHH! OH MY GOD!" the man screamed.

Atlas kicked the man on the floor and watched him scurry outside holding his broken arm. He was backed into the outside wall of the diner. Atlas drew his 10 mil and pointed it at the man's head using that same expressionless face.

"AHHH NO WAIT! Spare me please! PLEASE! I just wanted some food to feed my wife! This was the only place I knew that had food! I swear I thought you were a synth or a raider. Please don't kill me!" The man begged and pleaded.

Ruby neared close to atlas hearing the sudden gunshot and brawl.

"What happened Atlas?!" she asked.

"He tried to kill me. Simple as that." He kept his gun trained on his head. His .50 cal hunting rifle still resting on his back.

"But he is begging and pleading. You heard him. He just wanted food for his mate. Let him go. I don't think he meant any true harm." She reasoned. In the back you could hear the man "Holy fuck the lizard can talk"

Atlas turned and looked at Ruby with that face. Why does he use that face so often. His emerald eyes giving off a fearful demeanor. He then turned back to the man, grabbed his broken arm and put it back into its right place. Hearing the man scream didn't even phase him.

"Grab your shit and go. If I so much as smell you around me again, I will put a .50 through your fucking head and feed your wife to the ghouls." He threatened.

The man rushed his stuff out of the diner and booked it into the commonwealth. Atlas walked into the diner and started grabbing some food as well.

Ruby was completely thrown off by his sudden aggressive nature. This wasn't like him. Was it? Her maw was agape from the exasperating moment.

He wasn't antisocial was he? Has he been through so much that he has little to no tolerance for others? I hope he will be alright.

She collected her thoughts and waited outside for him to return.

Atlas was gathering most of the foodstuffs and shoving them in his pack. He kept that same expression. Nothing.

He did not like the world. Ruby was his one exception.

After a few minutes of rummaging about he put his pack on and walked out of the diner not saying a word.

Atlas was a very apathetic man that's for certain. Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, and concern. Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, and/or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical and/or physical life and the world.

The apathetic may lack a sense of purpose, worth, or meaning in their life. An apathetic person may also exhibit insensibility or sluggishness.

Ruby made her way behind him and eventually made it to his side.

The walk for a couple of minutes was quiet. What were they thinking?

I just realized it would be very hard to go on a stealth mission with Ruby because of her heavy set footsteps.

"An tUasal? Mo chara are you okay?" she said worried.

Atlas said nothing and merely had a blank expression moving towards the location marked on his map.

She put her giant clawed hand out in front of Atlas and stopped him.

"What is with you Atlas mo stór?" She said with a tiny hint of aggression.

"Nothing. Why are you so worried?" He looked confused. Is he faking?

"You showed almost no heart for that man back there. He was simply trying to help his wife. Picture it as you trying to get food for your parents. You'd want to make it home safely with the necessities. He was just being precautious."

"That would be relevant if my parents weren't dead." He said coldly

"I understand that you view the world in such a negative light but just look at me. I'm a beast yet you made a friend out of me. Open up and stop being so emotionless. Please." She tried to explain

"You are special though Ruby. This world isn't. I have no reason to show any empathy for the Earth that we walk on." He stated.

She sighed with a slight whimper at her failed attempt.

"Don't be like that. It will change nothing between us. It only affects others. Don't dwell too much on it please."

His pip boy vibrated and flashed a little. He grew near the destination of Lexington.

"There it is. Lexington." He basked in the sunlight. It was around 1 pm.

"Well. Let's get to it." He stretched out his hand.

"We will clear this city of scum and loot whatever we can. You have my back and I have yours."

"I will always be there for you mo stór" she said with a smile.

This will be the first venture. Going into Lexington. Little do they know what surprises will be in store for the pair.

FINISHED WITH CHAPTER 4! Well? How'd I do? Next chapter will be all about Lexington.