Chapter 12: The First of Ruins
"What are they you ask? Feral Ghouls are former humans who have become horribly irradiated by the radioactive fallout covering the wasteland from the Great War. Many ghouls are pre-war humans who survived the nuclear bombardment during the Great War. They were horribly disfigured and their lifespans were increased, making them closely resembled to that of a zombie. Mass exposure to radiation in the post-war Commonwealth wastes degenerated their brains, causing them to lose their higher cognitive functions, turning them into mindless, radiation-resistant cannibals, aka Zombies." A voice said to another as they sat near a campfire. "Hmm, you got anything else on those things?"
"Although losing most of their intelligence, they seem to retain it a bit considering they work by a 'pack' mentality, will try to dodge bullets and other attacks with random bursts of speeds, and will even try to play dead by luring survivors near their dead bodies so they could pounce them when least expected. Losing their limbs won't stop them, so their brain has to be destroyed in order to eliminate them completely. Quite the nasty bunch, they are. All in all, quite a deadly creature to be out with in the waste, with plenty of variants to come by. From charred to glowing, bloated to withered, it's all the same. They want to dine on your flesh in the end. Best you blow it sky high before it gets ya." The voice responded back once again. "Interesting. The world is filled with all sorts of weird creatures, and all because man couldn't settle down and debate with their words. Such heathens… anywho, I wonder what else I could find out here. " The man said as he finished writing in his notebook, standing up from the campfire and walking towards what looks like city.
The roads seemed grew calmer and calmer as our pair of good samaritans cleared out the filth of the commonwealth. People that have been reduced to a stumbling zombie, needing to be relieved of all pain and anguish, were brought down and laid to rest in peace. They had gone about the north side of Diamond, clearing all that they could in order to make the roads safer to travel. With light of this, the people could start to clear out and search the buildings in order to gather more supplies and maybe find any citizens held up in a building. Even if they don't find any new settlers, the least they could do was stomp out any signs of danger so that more people would be at ease.
"I'm starting to run out of ammo you know. It probably wasn't the best idea to start with the ghouls considering there is so damn many." Atlas had said now coming into view. He was shown following behind his companion Ruby. "I knew you would eventually, but that's what you get for choosing such an expensive and bulky round to hold. What did you say it was again?" She asked intently, with Atlas responding to her while he reloaded his weapon. "It's a .50 cal, and it packs a better punch than the other options I had for this rifle. Once I run out, it will be a CQB game for here on out, because all I will have left is my damn pistol. I don't exactly have that much ammo left on that either." He groaned.
"I figured you were a bit a ornery because you haven't had anything to eat, but we ate about twenty or so minutes ago yet, here you are." She said, but not in a disapproving or disappointing tone. It sounded as if she was teasing him. "I am not ornery… I'm just stubborn." He said looking at the evening sky. Ruby had laughed at him and this threw him off. "What?"
"That is what ornery means. It has two meanings: bad or ugly temper, and being stubborn. It fits you perfectly you hard head." she giggled. "Ahh whatever, happens to the best of us." He said, nearly pouting as they trudged through the streets heading to the west side. He looked up into the sky and swore he could see black smoke, coming from different parts of the landscape. He could also smell it, coming from where they were headed. "Hey, you smell that?" He asked getting his rifle ready. "It has been violating my nostrils for several minutes now. Either those raiders are burning things down or having a giant cook out." She joked. His sense of humor had began to reflect on his companion.
"Only one problem with that." He said as he walked to her side. "What's that?" Atlas looked up at the smoke and then back at her. "I don't smell any food. Whatever it is, it's foul. Come on, I'll scout ahead, you watch my back."
"No, I'll scout ahead. You stay behind, watch my back." She got down on her fours and went off. "What? Woah woah wait! Annnnd there she goes. Damn, no sense arguing with her. I swear." He said to himself annoyed. He watched as her figure vanished after taking a sharp turn on the winding roads of outer city diamond. He got down just a little bit but rushed over, following the path she took while keeping an eye out. The smells only got stronger and stronger as he moved forward. "Jeez, I couldn't imagine having a sense of smell like Ruby. This shit must be ten times stronger for her."
The area around him seemed to rise in temperature as he moved forward. The buildings that surrounded him got noticeably more charred and ash covered than others. It looks more "recent" as opposed to those left by the nukes centuries ago. Soon he took another sharp turn and ran right into something, nearly falling in the process. "Ow! Shit!" He said as he opened his eyes and saw that he had ran into the back of Ruby. In front of her he could see an outline of orange.
"Sorry Ruby, didn't expect that… what is it?" He asked, only to have her reach a hand around her back and grab onto his arm, pulling him to her side. He looked out into the landscape with a confused look, only to see nothing but a wartorn waste. Buildings, both old and rejuvenated had been turn to rubble. Bodies, intact or dismembered were strewn throughout the streets. Multiple things were in fire, traces of some explosive bombardment. It's a surprise no one had heard the explosives, but with the laws and nature of the commonwealth it was honestly no very doubtful.
"Oh my god…" He said as he looked to Ruby, seeing nothing but pure terror in her face. He put a hand on her arm before passing by and beginning to inspect the area, seeing nothing but pure chaos. The bodies had been fresh upon inspection, with only a few bodies being colder than others. Weapons were left, but no supplies or ammunition. "These were raiders but… some of these aren't." He said solemnly as he knelt down next to the body of a women, bullet wound going to her heart. Some of these people were innocent. Could have been bystanders, scavengers, even prisoners. The way these bodies are mutilated it's just… inhumane." He stood up, eyes glaring at a destroyed house. The anger was searing off him as he grinded his teeth. He then got down onto his knees, dropping his rifle after seeing something he shouldn't have. Next to a decapitated male and female body, was the body of a little boy. Tears had stained his cheeks, and a bullet was lodged in his chest.
"It was the Spectres. Ares… that fucking bastard!" He yelled out into the world. Shouting at the top of his lungs, he punched the concrete ground three times as hard as he could. "FUUUUCK!" He yelled from the immense pain going through his hand, on top of the anger he felt over the losses of people he didn't even know. His partners actions and ideals had began to reflect on his own, shifting from a once uncaring and blunt person into the man he is now. He held his hand, tears stemming from his eyes after the pain comes through. For some reason, he did not break anything. His combat glove kinda helped, but his fist would surely be out of commission for a good bit though.
He then shifted himself into sitting down, holding his hurt hand and cursing at himself for being such a fool. Ruby had made her way over to him, standing by his side like the protector she was. Atlas looked up at her and stuttered, trying to get words out. "I-I… I just… why?" She looked down at him, not having a simple expression on her face. He couldn't find anything to say, so he looked back down and leaned on her leg. The pain came in waves, and although he did not sob, the tears still flowed.
"This sight, is all too familiar. The enclave has turned desolate towns into a waste, much like this. For me, this is nothing new. I just wish we could have known somehow that this was occurring. We could have helped in some way, but instead we were left oblivious. It happened to recently too, so we know that the Spectres are indeed a large force to be reckoned with." She explained, still eyeing the chaos that ensued.
He looked back up to her again, still not knowing what to say or how to get the words to come out. "W-Why? Why these people?" He muttered out. "Could we have… c-could we have saved them?" She looked back down to him, taking the back side of one of her claws and gently wiping away his tears. "I don't know Atlas. That's the whole point, is that we simply never know what outcome could take place. Don't be so sad little one, the innocent souls that have been slaughtered here are grateful to have you mourn them. They now know that they will not be forgotten. I am sure, that in the end you will avenge them." She soothed him, using her most sooth-filled tone possible. He sniffles as he leans back up on her leg, wondering why they did this.
"These are so gruesome… there is no way that these are spectres… this has to be something worse, a more barbaric group." He tried to reason, knowing it may not be true. "It could very well just be other raiders or some other group, but the only hunch we have is that of the spectres. So that is what we will assume." She responded. Atlas wiped his face with his good hand, wincing as he felt the pain in his right fist.
"I wished you wouldn't have punched the ground Atlas, surely there was a better way to extinguish your anger." She extended her hand down to him, and he took it. He got himself up with her help and just leaned into her side as she held him close, a sign of protection and comfort. "I don't know why I did that… I suppose I was just so angry that we didn't know. How did we not know? It isn't too far away, but… I don't know." She gave him a reassuring squeeze to let him know that she had him. After a few more moments of staring at the gruesome scene, Atlas wiped his face with his good hand again and picked up his rifle, leaving the embrace that Ruby had him in.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she turned to head off. "Yeah. Hopefully when we finish up clearing the outer diamond area, we end up finding whoever the fuck did this. I swear, I'll make 'em pay. That's a promise." He said, gritting his teeth as he walked off, trailing the way that they originally came from. The pain continued to come in waves, and the only part that really hurt was his knuckles. He restrained himself so that he wouldn't cause himself damage, but he did get a little carried away. He was almost afraid to take his glove off, so he settled it on having Alicia look at it for him after having a nice chat with her. "She is gonna give me an ear full… great." He said to himself.
Ruby had given the scene one last look before setting off and catching up to Atlas. The two had walked the streets that they originally came from, no longer paying any attention to the hell they had left behind. It would take awhile to get everything back to normal so that they can have settlements there again.
Atlas knew that if they come into a fight, he wasn't going to be at his best now that he let his anger best him. He pulled his pistol out of its holster using his left hand, making sure it was loaded and ready. It wasn't recommended, but he managed to pull the slide back just a little bit despite the searing pain coursing through his fingers. He saw the brass on the bullet and let his chamber fly forward that little bit as he hissed. "I'm not very great with my left hand, but I'll manage. Sorry you will have to do most of the work should we run into any trouble. I know I didn't break anything simply because it would hurt much worse than this. I may have internal bleeding or some kind of bruise." He said to himself, hoping that he was right. Ruby just shook her draconic head, sighing at the fact that he would even do something like that, but of course she knew better.
"What would you do without me around? I swear little one…" He turned to her, smiling as they walked hoping to cheer her up. "You aren't that much taller than me you know, you only beat me by like… a foot or more." He scratched his head with his hand, not realizing it was his bad hand until the pain seared through. "Ow, shit. Okay, gotta remember that."
"You be sure to stay back should we encounter enemies, I'll handle them." She ordered, keeping her serious face plastered. He seemed defeated when he realized just how focused she was. For all he knows, she was just as angry as he was. He simply was just trying to redirect his anger before he does something stupid again. "R-roger." Was all he said. They continued to walk the ghoul covered roads, watching as their bodies decay even further after their life has been extinguished. The somber walk led on in nothing but silence until he decided to ask an odd question in hopes of taking her mind off everything.
"Hey Ruby? How come you haven't been speaking Gaelic all that much anymore? It was quite interesting to hear, considering it definitely dates to pre war." Ruby looked at him and then back out in front of them. "It was simply a habit. I know some other languages due to the people tasked with caring and nurturing me. All of their languages were very much passed on to me, and the one I heard the most besides English was this old man who spoke 'Irish Gaelic.' I like how it sounded so I learned it with him, knowing fully well that others wouldn't understand what he and I said. Now that I am here with you in Boston, I see no use for it. Call it rehabilitation, except with regular language. I have already picked up on dialects and how you use what some would call 'slang' and I replicate it to seem a little bit more normal. I will try my best to keep in a formal style, as I tend to notice that a formal dialect gets you a lot of compliments compared to your standard."
"... Fair point. We all tend to sound bland after a while. It ain't all that bad. Anyway, I was just wondering." He finished off, seeing at how Ruby kept her eyes on her surroundings. The two of them just kept walking the streets, now more quiet than the two have ever been. To be fair, both of them were clouded with a sense of rage and a lust for vengeance. The sun had began to set on the world, and they had things to report.
"When we arrive, you are going straight to Alicia. You need to get that hand checked out so that I can make my decision based off the results. Meanwhile I shall go to the Mayor and tell him about the recent events and how we should deal with it. That clear?" She said to him, tone coming off as commanding and harsh. "Y-yeah… what do you mean make your deci-" He was then soon interrupted by her. "It doesn't matter now. You'll know when you get the results. This is a serious matter Atlas. No matter who the enemy turns out to be, we need to extinguish them from our plane before they cause any more damage." Her seriousness for the situation was something he hasn't seen fully. He had only seen parts of it, and it began to worry him. He did however, agree that the people on the end of this should perish. "I understand."
"Good, that makes things easier on me. Diamond is up ahead. You know what to do." She said to him as the both neared the front gate. The guard didn't even hesitate to let them in after knowing exactly who they were. Atlas, now in a safe area decided to holster his pistol. It took a little bit of fidgeting with it but he got it in its rightful spot and continued through the market, ignoring the glances and waves he got from any bystanders due to the serious look that now plastered his face. Ruby broke off from him at the marketplace and went her separate route, taking her "advanced" way to get to the mayor.
When Atlas arrived at the office, he opened it up with his left and went straight to where he figured she would be, in the back. "Doc? Alicia where are you?" He asked out as he scanned the area, seeing empty seats and empty beds. He checked everywhere except her actual office, and couldn't find a single trace of anyone. "I guess everyone is healthy then. Alicia?!" He yelled out. He heard some shuffling from the back office, the footsteps coming close to the closed door.
"Whaaaaat? I'm closed today what is it?" She said, coming out of her little space and yawning. Her hair was not raggled, but it appears she was taking a little nap. Atlas felt a little guilty about coming right in, he had no idea it was closed. "Closed? What for?" He asked, watching as she stretched and wiped her eyes. She opened them up and met his emerald ones.
"Oh, Atlas! What are you doing here what's wrong?" Her tone and manners had changed compared to what she was originally. She completely threw off his question and went straight into paramedic mode. "Something happened didn't it?" She asked intently as she scanned his body for any visible injuries.
"Weeeell, maybe. It's a long story." He said as he slowly lifted his hand up to her. She eyed him before taking his hand and noticing as he winced from the pain in his hand. She wasted no time in removing his glove, despite the hissing coming from him. She scanned his knuckles and noticed that they were bruised to all hell.
"Damn… here. Come sit. You can tell me about it now." She pulled him over to a chair and sat him down, walking over to her cabinets and searching through them. "Well, you know how we were gonna go clear out the streets right?" She nodded, "Uh huh, and I'm guessing you found Ruby too." She said as she went back over to him with a handheld device, taking his hand and taking a "picture" of it.
"That's right. We were killing off a bunch of ghouls. I'm actually running dry on ammo from all those damn ghouls. We went northwest bound to get into raider territory, and we came across a pure catastrophe filled scene. Dead bodies, both raider and not were laying on the ground with varying wounds. Some mutilated, others not. We saw a dead boy shot in his chest… it was… fucking barbaric." He said, trying not to relive the scene. She waved off the picture that came out of the device and saw that he has no fractures nor does he have any broken bones.
"I am sorry to hear that… I suppose you two were a bit shaken up from it." She said as she put the device back and started fumbling in other places. "I was surely, but not Ruby. She said stuff like this was normal for her. She seemed to serious and cold compared to me. At first she was sentimental, and I was rage filled. I actually punched the ground a good couple times, that's why I'm here." He said, rubbing his head nervously. Alicia came over with a case, probably filled with stuff he will need.
"Here, this has med-x that you need to take to ease the pain, get you back into working order. It should also stop the swelling." She put the glove that she removed in one of his pouches. "Might wanna let it breathe a little bit. You didn't hurt it too bad surprisingly, but it will take a day or two to get better. There is also some stimpacks in there, to help you both on your next journey. You know I wish I could go, but this is all I could do." Atlas nodded with a smile on his face, standing up and stretching out his hand a little despite it's injury. "I can't thank you enough Doc, and I'm sorry for- AHH!" He was interrupted by her punching his arm.
"Ow? Why?" He asked surprised from the punch. "That was for waking me up and coming in my place after I closed. Everyone here is nice and healthy, I wanted to actually catch some sleep for once. That's also for worrying the hell out of me, you moron. Why did you punch the ground? You damn meat head…" She came in close and pulled him into a tight embrace, burying herself into him and resting under his chin. "Don't be so stupid, okay?"
He was blushing himself to death at the moment, but he wrapped an arm around her and smiled away. "I'll try not to, but that's asking for a lot." They both laughed, "Yeah, I know. Go on now, let me get some sleep. Check in with me later if anything else happens." They left the embrace and Atlas nodded. "You got it, I'll be sure to let you know. Thank you so much, catch you later!" He said as he grabbed his case and waved her off, exiting her office with a hearty smile. She sighed with contempt, swirling her hair as she went back into her room to catch a few more winks. "Big old block head…" She said quietly as she closed her door.
The once ruined fort run by the minutemen, is now being restored to a higher glory. The sun glisten
He steps out of her office and out into the world, seeing that it grows darker by the minute. He opened up the case to grab one thing of med-x before closing it back up and putting it in his bag. He took a moment to remove the protective cap and injected it into his arm with a wince. He sighed as he then retraced his steps to eventually make it over to the market, disposing his empty syringe on the way. When he got there, he looked around at the vast amount of people and took notice that Ruby wasn't done yet. "Well, two things I need to do," he said to himself walking over to the weapon dealer. "Ahhh, Atlas my friend, what is it you are looking for today?" Atlas leaned on his counter, pulling out his caps from his bag despite the teeming pain still there in his hand.
"I need some fifty cal and ten millimeter ammo, I'm running out over here Mateo. Think you could help me out?" Mateo had a grin on his face as he reached below the counter and pulled five boxes of each ammo. "How is this? 60 fifty cal rounds and 100 ten mil rounds, all for the price of 150 caps, what do you say?" Atlas's eyes popped out of his head when he realized just how cheap that offer was. "Damn! Of course I'll take it!" He said joyfully while putting 150 caps on the counter. He then put his caps and his ammo into his bag, now feeling the weight they held. "Feels good to finally have some weight back there again." He thought to himself. Once he got everything settled, he exchanged smiles with Mateo before leaning on the counter again, "Why such a low price my friend? What gives?" Mateo looked a bit surprised that he didn't know. "Atlas surely you must know? You and the Jewel have been opening up safer roads for caravans to come through. More stuff found around the safer parts on top of the caravans mean better stock for us all! I couldn't thank you enough, so that's why I will be lowering your prices on any items you buy from me."
He couldn't help but laugh, "Damn man, I appreciate that. Let me know when you got a really good pistol in stock, one that is better than the one I bought last time. It wouldn't hurt to have a strong backup." He scratched his beard as he thought of some that he could sell to Atlas, "I'm not too sure, that will be a hard upgrade. Give me a little while to get some more stock, I'll let you know if I get something." They then both shook hands as they went off with Atlas going to a food bar and ordering a bowl of noodles. Mateo went back to work as always.
As he ate, all he could ponder is what she will expect of the results. His hand already began to feel better, but that could be because med-x is like a pain resistance drug. He shrugged it off anyway, not really caring since no matter what he was going to go anyway. He just ate his hearty bowl of noodles, which was so delicious to him. It was something he hasn't had in such a long time. He just sat there, biding his time and enjoying himself for the little bit he had. Life in the city wasn't all that bad after he opened up a bit. He was still nervous to talk with people openly, but it made things easier when he started getting a fairly good reputation.
"Thank you for the meal!" He said as he paid the server off and made his way to the front entrance with his gear all ready. He took some final sips from his water before tossing it out when he got to the entrance way. He could see Ruby waiting outside. Nodding to the guard, he made his way to her. "How'd it go?"
"About as well as I could expect. The mayor will be sending out heavily armed scouts in bigger numbers to investigate that area and further clear it out. He is distraught by our news however, despite the fact that we cleared most of the north side. He thanks us graciously for that." She explained, with him nodding in acknowledgement.
"I suppose we should watch ourselves when we get back out there. We should just head west from here and deal with whatever raiders are still in the area. Mutants should most definitely be last, I don't feel like dealing with those damn suiciders." He looked up to Ruby, who was just staring at him with a blank expression. "How is your hand?" she asked quite bluntly.
"It's fine… uhh, Alicia said that it will only take a day or two to heal, and I have some med-x and stimpacks so. All good." He said with generosity, hoping she won't leave without him. For some reason, that is the only thing he could think about.
"Good, now as for my decision. I say that we head out to the raider area tomorrow. I very much dislike the idea of you going with, as I am afraid for your safety both physically and mentally, however it puts me in between a rock and a hard place. Should I leave you here, you will be quite upset and I could get into more danger. Should you come with, we could both find something else we didn't wish to see but we would have each other. Despite this, you are going with me. You will follow my lead as we retrace our steps and walk past the scene we encountered today. We will hopefully pick up some kind of clue as we make our way to the raiders. Understood?"
"Y-yeah, of course. Let's do it." He said, not so very ecstatic. "Sun sets soon, you should go get something to eat before we settle in." He suggested, hoping she will do so.
"Where do you plan on sleeping tonight?" She asked, slightly tilting her head and flicking her tongue out, kinda like a snake. Atlas looked around to see just where they would. "I don't know, I suppose that building in front of us." He said shrugging his shoulders.
"That shall do. I am glad we brought this up because the major is going to have someone build us a home here. It's going to have a door big enough for me and will be built higher up than other homes. We will also have better privacy, since we will be around the back side of Alicia's office." Atlas looked surprised, "Really now? That's good news! Glad you told me. Hopefully it has facilities for BOTH of us because you and I haven't showered... Anyhow, go on and get something. Find yourself a nice Brahman or anything else you can find to satisfy yourself. I'll be up on the roof, you be safe now."
"I'll do my best. I'll be back as soon as I can dearest. Be back in a flash." She said to him as she headed off on all fours, looking back as Atlas crossed the ways to get to the building. Atlas waved at her as he went to the other side of the building, taking the large ladder that leads all the way to the top. It was an enclosed ladder of sorts, and had a hatch at the top with a pretty good lock on it. Should somebody come knocking in his sleep, he will hear it. As he looked at, he realized that he may have been a little bit too generous, as the sun was now gone from the sky. "Well, damn. Good thing she can see well in low-light."
He hopped on the ladder and took it to the top, albeit a little shaky considering his injury and he also has a fear of heights that he still hasn't gotten over. It wasn't that bad unless it got to extreme heights, like that of a skyscraper. At the top, they still had a basic set up going. There was a sleeping bag that had been placed, nice and closed up so that nothing will get inside to surprise him. There was also a lantern, still filled with oil sitting on an old metal table, which he put his bag and weapons next to. "Basic, but appreciated." He said as he stripped down his armor, boots, and duster, placing them under the table nice and folded up. "Don't need those flying off with the slightest wind. Now I might wanna get some clothes before someone sees me." He said, embarrassed since he was running around in only his underwear and socks. He opened up his bag and grabbed a black plain shirt and a plain pair of shorts, putting them on and opening up his sleeping bag. "Goddamn, it just cold as hell… guess that's what happens when you take off all that shit I was wearing." He said to himself, getting nice and snug.
"What if it's really hot? Would I be sweating really bad? Or is there a type of fiber in there to be resistant to both weathers. I hope it's the second one…" He was talking to himself, which was something he had frequented for as long as he can remember. His mind refused to get on the topic at hand, which was the slaughter of settlements and who could have been at the head of such an operation. So instead, he went to another topic that was stuck on his mind.
He began to blush just thinking about it, "I wonder if Alicia likes me? Maybe I'm just reading this incorrectly, she just cares a lot about me and Ruby… for some reason." He turned to his side and hid deep in the big sleeping bag. "Grrr I don't know! I wish I knew more about this… It's my own fault for not socializing. Nobody knew who I was, even when I was around." He ranted with himself for a little bit until he settled with a yawn.
"Ahh, I'm done. Hopefully she will come alright," he smacking his lips as he closed his eyes and soon saw himself falling into a slumber. The sweet relief of sleep was welcome in this world, with only two things being able to ruin sleep.
Meanwhile, Ruby had just finished devouring a radstag. It wasn't glowing so it should have been safer than others. She found a little pond of sorts, and washed out her claws there after remembering what Atlas had said. "Sure got dark quick." She said to herself, before going to another topic that came to mind. "We must smell really musty… I suppose everyone else does too. Even so, we all should still take a shower whenever possible." She thought to herself as she turned back, finding her way to Atlas. She encountered little resistance as she went over to the grasslands over to the east, avoiding conflict when possible. Now, she just needed to head on back with the same conditions.
Stealth however, was her element. She stuck with the outskirts and kept to the shadows, moving as swiftly and quietly as possible. Most things didn't bother to attack her, as they knew naturewise that they were no match for her. Had she come across a raider or a super mutant, even an institute soldier, then she would need to fight. Right now though, she wasn't much in the mood for it.
"Come on… just let me have a nice trip back. I'm already wasting enough time." She said to herself as she snuck around some buildings, seeing lights in the distance. For all she knew, she could have passed by raider or mutant settlements without them ever even noticing each other. Good for the both of them.
The lights got brighter, and soon she could see diamond guards, securing the front entrance way. She knew that she had made it back to safety, so she decided to head over to the building across the way, which is where Atlas was. She climbed up the massive brick and concrete building, pulling herself up to the top and seeing Atlas, tucked into his sleeping.
She tilted her head as she went over to him and peered down at him, realizing that he was asleep. "Aww, poor thing must have been tired." She mused with herself, going over and laying down next to him like they always do. She likes to sleep the way they do, because it makes her feel like security, or like a mother watching her child. "I shall protect you little one, I love you Atlas. Sleep well, and I'll see you in the morning." She said as they both snuggled in. All sound began to drown out as the sounds of slow breathing and heartbeats overtook everything.
Both have entered the peaceful embrace of sleep, and they shall be in this embrace for hours. After the events of today, it was definitely something they needed. Hope that no one should stir, hope that they have the clearest minds with the nicest of dreams. While diamond may be shining a beacon of light and hope, a dark cloud of animosity and evil dwells elsewhere. It looms over the fort, where the god of war and his allies build themselves from the first of ruins, and begin to establish the first of their empire.
Standing next to an artillery cannon, the rogue leader Ares watched over the city, looking as flashes of light and sounds of screaming and gunfire consumed the outer area. Soon, he got a call on his ear piece. He sighed as he answered it, "A little late, don't you think? What is it? Oh, Big Boss!" He corrected himself upon realizing it was the reason man was his commander; the one who put him in charge of the Spectres.
"I saw what happened to the north-west side, was that your guys? Damn, those fucking HLV's are something else. The scene they left was fucking barbaric!" He started laughing a little bit maniacally. "Ahhh anyway, what is it you ask for boss?" The voice coming through his headset was inaudible, but it did change Ares face expression quite a bit. "We do have control of the fortress yes, and after what you did on most of west side, there shouldn't be too much of a problem." He answered his boss. "No, I haven't told him yet. Should we tell him, it would just make him even more of an enemy… a damned good one at that." Some more silence coming from Ares as he listened to his boss. "Right, understood." Was all said before his boss ended the chat. Ares just gave out a devilish smirk as he started out in the direction of diamond.
Okay, so I was gonna make this thing about 14k words long, but with the way I had it set up it didn't look good on paper, so I'm separating them into two chapters. We are now starting to get into the grit of the bigger picture. My Atlas and Ruby have grown a lot with me over the years, evident by my constant changes in style. Whether that is a flaw or a uniqueness in me, I know not. I thank everyone who takes the time to read it regardless, and hope my current style has been enjoyable. Love all of yall, and catcha later tater.
~RedRonin of the Asen Exiles.