Here we are, past the milestone of Chapter 10. About 25% of the story arch I want has been successfully fleshed out. Just to give you all a heads up, I will be moving the game's main story line forward here. I do have a layout for how I want this to end, but a few changes have caused the ending to have to be revised a little. Anyways, welcome to 11, enjoy!
Chapter 11
Ants, big, fucking, ants! Nick wastes one that comes close to him with the new sawed off shotgun he bought from Craterside Supply, but only after the bug spews flames out of its over sized pincers. He curses and frantically pats out the flames, thankful for the new armaments he purchased along with the gun. He bats the flames out and growls angrily. Of course, something has to go wrong! Finding supplies in the Super Duper Mart was easy, he and Jericho made short work of the raiders there. They were on their way back to Megaton, when they were cut off. By these damn big, fire breathing, devil spawned, ants! The ants drove them into some ruins, and from there, even more ants showed up! Now they are pinned down in a building that seems to be ready to crumble around them, not to mention it is now on fire and the ants are swarming out of the ground!
"This place is coming down," Jericho shouts furiously, "get us the hell out of here! I am not dying because of some big ass..." Nick tackles him out of the way as part of the ceiling above them crumbles and falls. Nick climbs to his feet, not bothering to brush himself off as another wave of ants come at them. He reaches up and pulls two grenades from the bandolier on his chest. He rips the pins out and rolls them towards the approaching ants. "What the hell are you doing?" Jericho shouts. Nick turns towards the former raider, then tackles him again. They crash through what is left of a window right as the grenades detonate. The two of them scramble to their feet and run as the building shutters and collapses in on itself in a fiery rain of debris.
They come to a stop, bent over double, and panting hard as they catch their breath. Nick straightens up and looks back. There is only one wall of the building left standing and the rest is a smoking pile of concrete and dirt. He rolls his neck and pulls Jericho to his feet. "Lets get moving before more of those things show up."
Jericho is stringing together a series of curses, but Nick ignores him. His attention has been caught by a sound coming for a nearby life preserver. He knew what the things were, he has learned about them in the vault. He walks over and opens the door. There is a small shot of fear and the boy inside lifts a rusty pistol. Nick slaps the gun out of the kids hands before he can fire and shouts, "Watch it punk!" The boy sinks to the floor of the preserver and whimpers. Nick sighs, "Damn it," he mutters. "Look," he says, "what are you doing in here? Haven't you seen the ants around here?"
The boy nods, "I've seen them. My dad called them Bid Damn Ants. You haven't seen him have you? He said he would be back, that I should just hide here. Will you find him?" The boy looks up at him with pleading expression.
Nick shakes his head, "No way squirt, I don't work for free and you don't look like you have anything. Listen, I can take you to Megaton, but I am not going to..."
"My dad had a gun," the kid interrupts, "he used it to kill the ants all the time. If you find him, you can have it, I am sure he will give it to you. Please!" The boy is begging now.
Nick sighs and rubs his brow, "Damn it." He looks over at Jericho, the man shakes his head and jerks his weapon in the direction of Megaton. Nick turns back to the boy, "All right, fine, I will find your fucking dad! Just, stay put!" He reaches over to close the preserver, but the kid surprises him by jumping out and hugging him around the middle. "Um," he starts, "okay kid," he pats the boy on the head, "um, that is enough, back in the preserver." The boy flashes him a hopeful smile, and then steps back into the pod as the door closes on him. Nick steps back and runs a hand through his now shaggy hair. "Shit."
"No kidding," Jericho growls, "I did not sign up to babysit some fucking snot nose! Lets leave and collect our pay from that psycho back in Megaton!" Nick ignores him and reloads his sawed off. The weapon is in good condition, and does fair damage up close, but it only hold two rounds at a time. Good thing he still carries his 10mm. "Hey," Jericho shouts, "I am talking to you!" The man clamps a hand on Nick's shoulder and spins him around. Nick responds by slamming a fist into the man's face! The man is ends up sprawled on the ground, and before he can stand, he fins Nick's boot on his throat.
"Listen you stinking swine," when he speaks his voice is flat and emotionless, "you have two options, keep to your contract and do as I say, or I can end you right now. It is your choice. Lucky you, most people don't get a choice." He stares down at Jericho, a blank, uncaring look in his eyes. Jericho's eyes widen as he realizes that Nick means it. Nick watches as Jericho realizes that, as far as he is concerned, his life is expendable. Jericho swallows and tries to nod as Nick lifts his boot away from his throat. "Check the shack over there," he orders as Jericho stands, "I will check the house next to it."
Nick watches as Jericho stands and shoots him a dirty look, but does what he says. Nick moves and tries the door to the house. Something behind it has blocked it and he has to force his way in. He looks, and sees that it is the body of an ant blocking the door. He walks further into the house. He knows what he is going to find, he can smell it long before he can see it. In the living room of the house is the body of a man who has to be the boy's dad. He is on the ground, cut open and burned. Around him are the bodies of two ants. Nick shakes his head. Great, what is he going to tell the fucking boy? He looks around and notices a Chinese model Assault rifle on a nearby shelf along with a few mags of ammo. He takes the gun, assuming it is the one the kid was talking about, and loads it. He takes the rest of the ammo mags and slides them into his bandolier.
He steps out of the house and looks at the preserver pod. He decides to delay breaking the news to the kid and instead enters the shack Jericho went into. He looks around and spots the man crouched down, searching the draws of a desk. "You find anything?" he asks as he enters.
Jericho shoots him an angry look, "No, only been in here for a few seconds. I take it from that gun in your hands that you found the little snots father right? Let me guess, dead." Nick ignores him and walks over to a desk with a computer terminal sitting on top of it. He activates it, and stares at the screen as it prompts him to enter a code. He thinks back to all the times he had to hack into a terminal in the vault for a person who had forgotten their code. He cracks his knuckles and reads over the screen. He enters one code, and it is wrong. He shrugs his shoulders and types in another. This one works perfectly and he gains full access. He reads through the script running along the screen.
"Looks like a scientist is to blame for these ants. Apparently he set up shop here and started experimenting with their DNA. He has moved himself into the metro tunnels under the town and has set up shop." He steps away from the terminal and looks over the room. "Why would anyone want to experiment on fucking giant ants?"
"It usually is the smart lab coats who cause the most trouble. They just can't leave things alone. Always have to go fucking with shit." Jericho says as he stands up and pockets the caps he found. "Lets tell the kid about his dad and get out of here." Nick nods and follows the man back outside. They approach the preserver and Jericho motions to it with a flourish, "I will let you do the honors asshole."
Nick ignores Jericho's snide tone and opens up the machine. The boy first looks up at him, then looks around for his father. When he realizes that his father isn't present, a desperate look fills his eyes as he looks back up at Nick. Nick shakes his head slowly. All hope leaks out of the boy's face and he slowly sinks to the ground where he wraps his arms around his legs and begins to whimper. Nick raises a hand to his face and rubs his eyes, "Shit." he mutters. "All right, cut it out punk!" The kid looks up at him with tears shinning in his eyes. "We can, I don't know, take you somewhere."
The kid sniffles and wipes his nose. He swallows and shakes his head. "No, you can go. You are nothing but another mean adult! I will take care of this on my own!" The boy pushes past Nick and grabs a long twisted metal rod from the ground. Nick stares at his back as the boy fumbles with the weight of his makeshift weapon. Sorry boy, he thinks to himself. He steps forward and slams a fist into the back of the boys head. The boy collapses, unconscious. Nick drags him back to the preserver and locks him in it.
"Now that is more like it," Jericho shouts, "show that little snot not to fucking talk to us like that!"
Nick whirls on him, "Can it!" Jericho steps back, surprised by the venom in Nick's words. "I intend to track down and kill this scientist for what he did to this town. That little snot, as you call him, deserves more of a chance at life than trying to survive in a town invaded by giant, fire breathing, ants! You and I are going down into the metro, we are going to clear the ants out, kill the bastard who made them, and then make sure the boy can make it on his own!"
"Fuck no," Jericho shouts back, "I signed out for the fucking store job! I put up with you searching for the punk's father, but I am not going to play hero to him! You go down into those tunnels if you want, but I am getting the hell out of here before you get me killed!" Jericho turns and starts to leave. Nick goes after him and clamps a hand down on his shoulder. Jericho turns, maybe expecting Nick to just shout at him, instead Nick lands a solid punch to Jericho's face, knocking him to the ground. Now there will be a second bruise right next to the other Nick has already given him. Jericho glares up at him from the ground, "Well, this is like deja vu, weren't we just here a few minutes ago?"
Nick growls and reaches down. He grabs the front of the man's armor and lifts him up off the ground to the point where he is almost being held in the air. Nick slams him into the side of a nearby dinner, cracking the glass window. "I am sick of your constant bad attitude! You are working for me! If I say jump, you ask how high! Now, we are going down into the tunnels, no more questions, no more refusals. You stay quiet, not one, fucking, word!" Nick releases him and turns on his heal, headed straight for where he saw a metro entrance earlier. His sawed off is still in his hand and his ears listen for the sound of Jericho drawing his gun. He is sure the man will attempt to kill him now, however, a few seconds later Jericho appears at his side with his mouth set in a grim line. Good, Nick thinks, even if he does not like the man, the extra body between him and the ants will be appreciated.
The enter the tunnels and Nick is hit with the sensation that he is back in the vault. He felt the same way however long ago it was when he, Luther, and Tyler went in search of the Family. He feels a the smallest twinge of guilt as he thinks of Luther. He will probably be furious with Nick for having hired on Jericho and gone to deal with those petty raiders without him. Oh well, He is the bastard who started a bar fight and got himself locked up.
It does not take them long to find the ants, or, perhaps it would be better to say the ants found them. Almost as soon as they entered the metro tunnels the bugs were on them. They fight furiously, as though frenzied. On the surface, the ants where dangerous, down here, they almost seem desperate in their attempts to stop the two humans from advancing any further, but advance they do. Each picking their own fights, they make quick work of the ants that come at them, keeping them at a distance so as the bugs cannot spew fire at them. They become so wrapped up in the fight, that Nick does not notice they are being flanked until it is too late!
A wall of fire descends upon him from behind and he throws himself to the ground, rolling frantically in an attempt to snuff out the flames on himself. He rolls onto his back and holds down the trigger of his new assault rifle. Hot lead tears into the massive ants attacking their position from the direction they had already passed through. Four of the six ants go down beneath his barrage, but the other two keep coming as his rifle runs of out ammo! He curses as he reaches for a spare magazine. Nick abandons his efforts to reload his rifle as the nearest ant reaches him and clamps its pincers down on his leg. He cries out in pain as the serrated jaws cut right through the leather padding on his leg and shred his flesh. He pulls out his sawed off and pulls both triggers, blowing open the ant's head and showing him in burning hot green blood.
The second ant reaches him and opens its jaws to engulf his head. He drops his useless sawed off and attempts to grab the jaws with his hands, but the bugs bite force is too powerful! The pincers close around his left wrist and almost sever his hand. He roars in pain and somehow manages to wrestle the bug to the ground! With his free hand, he pounds the bug's over sized eye! The bug emits a high pitched screech as it's eye splatters inward! Nick continues to pound the bug's head, not stopping until the thing stops struggling. both sets of pincers are still attached to him, on his wrist and his leg. He grunts in pain as he attempts to wrench himself from the dead bugs jaws. He manages to get his hand free and is disheartened to discover that he cannot feel or move it. He growls and moves on to his leg. One he is free, He struggles to his feet and grabs his discarded weapons. "Jericho," he shouts, "Jericho, where are you?"
He stumbles forward a few steps and collapses as he puts weight on his injured leg. "Fuck!" he shouts in pain. He casts his gaze around, but sees no sign of Jericho. "That bastard," he mutters, "If he has left me here, I will fucking kill him once I find his fucking ass!" A series of mechanical gears come too life and a door behind him slides open. Pulling out his 10mm, he readies for another fight!
Tyler shouts for his men to get down, but it is too late. The Super Mutant Master opens up wit its mini gun. His men are caught in the crossfire of the Master and the other Muties they had engaged. He attempts to run in, to help them, but Gear holds him back, "Sir, it is too late for them, we have to get out while we can!" His lieutenant's words reach him and he rips his gaze away from the corpses of his dead men. He and Gears run, bursting out of the ruin and fleeing. Before they get too far the ruin rumbles and then explodes, swallowed up by the mushroom cloud caused by the warhead they detonated at the buildings center.
He falls to his knees and watches the burning cloud expand. He ignores the warnings of his power armor's geiger counter. "Sir?" Lieutenant Gears asks cautiously. Tyler cannot answer. He can only stare at the radioactive fire burning where the ruins once were. So man men, so many of his men, dead. "Sir," Gears repeats, "sir we have to get moving. The radiation from that bomb will kill us if we stay."
"Why does that matter?" Tyler asks somberly.
"Sir?"
Tyler turns to face Gears. Even though he cannot see his lieutenant's face behind the helmet of his power armor, he knows that he is wearing a confused expression. "What does the death of two more soldiers matter in the face of so much death?" Tyler stands and starts to walk back the way they had come. The way he had come with his entire squad.
Tyler jerks out of the dream with a shout of pain. He doesn't recognize his surroundings and leaps to his feat, ready to fight if he has too. He looks around the small room frantically. There are two others, lying on cots, covered in bandages. A hospital? Where the hell is he? The last thing he can remember is the dust storm. He spots his things stacked neatly in a corner and quickly pulls on his armor. A door opens behind him and he spins, raising his shotgun. "Oh," coos Clover, "you are awake Lover, good, I was so bored with you sleeping so much."
"Clover," Tyler sighs with relief, "where the hell am I? What happened to Luther and the kid?"
Clover cross the room and sits down on the cot he had been lying on. "Oh, Lover, all sorts of fun stuff has happened. Your scary friend with the long coat and the hard eyes had a fight with the young man you two got out of that place, he seems like a dick, not sure why you saved him. Anyways, your friend got himself arrested and the young man went off to do some job or something. Now Lover, lets have some fun." She lays back on the cot suggestively.
Tyler looks at her shapely legs, and for a moment, considers it, but then shakes his head. "Maybe next time doll, I need to get my bearings and, get these weird memories out of my head. Need a fix, and a damn good one." He finishes buckling on his armor and leaves the room with Clover on his heels. He starts towards the Brass Lantern, intending to purchase some chems, but is distracted by a commotion near the town gate. He looks up the hill leading to the gate, and sees Luther loaded down with gear and holding a gun to the sheriff. "Shit," he mutters, "I guess we should help him."
He reaches over his shoulder and un-slings his shotgun. He hoofs it up the hill and levels the barrel of the gun at Lucas. "Damn," the old sheriff sighs, "not you are in on this too? This just keeps getting better and better."
"Tyler," Luther growls, "get the hell out of here, we are leaving, now." Tyler looks at his partner, intending to find out what is going on and why they are aiming their guns at the sheriff, but he sees Luther's expression and knows that asking will get him no answers. Instead he takes Clover's hand and all but drags her out the gates. Seconds Later Luther backs out, his rifle still aimed at Lucas. "Start towards the Super-Duper Mart. I got the supplies we need for the kid's trip into the capitol. We need to find him before he gets himself killed."
Pain, lots of pain. He can feel it. It is welcome. It is far better than when he felt nothing in the pitt. His leg is bleeding bad, his wrist is definitely broken. Not the mention all the burns all over him from the ants. Now he is dragging himself out of the ant hive. Behind him he can hear the clacking of the Queen Ant's mandibles as she searches for him. Damn that fucking scientist.
When the door opened earlier, he had been expecting ants, or ghouls, or something along those lines, not a scientist who railroaded over everything Nick tried to say. The man talked non-stop. Before Nick even know what was going on the scientists starting thanking him for agreeing to do some job that would allow him to stop the ants. Nick, angry about Jericho's disappearance and confused by the scientists over complicated summary of how the ants came to be, found himself fighting guardian ants who were protecting a massive Queen Ant that tied to kill him but that the scientists needed alive. Now he is crawling away, the Queen successfully distracted by a grenade tossed down a random tunnel, and is almost back to the scientists lab.
The mechanical doors open and the man comes flying out in a flurry of words and activity that confuses Nick. Somehow he ends up on an operating table with the scientists standing over him asking which mutigen he wants. Nick mutters something that the man takes as an answer, and then suddenly even more pain flares all through his body. He screams as whatever the scientists injected him with burns its way through his veins. He writhes on the operating table, his muscles clenching and contracting. His limbs jerk involuntarily, as though he is experiencing a seizure. The Scientist claps his hands together as he reads something on a nearby console, "Good," he says, "your body is adapting far faster than I would have thought, you should be done, now."
As soon as he says that, the pain vanishes! Nick sits bolt upright, his body tense, braced for more pain, but there is none. No pain, none at all. He lifts his hand and looks at his wrist. The swelling is gone and he can move it. He looks down at his leg, through the shredded material of his armor, he can see his skin, perfectly healed, as though nothing ever happened. He stands slowly, gently putting weight on the limb, and it holds him without any trouble. He looks over at the scientists in wonder. The man is nearly jumping from joy. "Marvelous," he shouts, "I knew it would work, I just knew it! Thank you so much my good man, now I can continue my work!" Without any further explanation, the man bustles past nick and down into the Ant Queen's hive.
Nick shakes his head, "What a nut case." he mutters. He shrugs his shoulders, "right then, I hope that worked and all those fucking ants are dead." A little unsure what to do, he stands there for a few minutes, waiting to see if the scientist is going to come back. When he does not, Nick decides he wants out of the fucking tunnels. He makes sure that his assault rifle and his sawed off are loaded and makes his way out. As he exits, he can't help but notice the number of dead ants lying all around. Some he and Jericho killed, but most of them appear to have just dropped dead. Whatever that scientists did, it sure worked. Out on the surface he quickly goes to the life preserver. When it opens, the boy glares at him angrily.
"Um," Nick says, not sure where to start, seeing as he knocked the boy out last time they spoke, "hey."
"What do you want now?" the boy sneers.
Nick sighs, this is all bullshit. "Listen, punk," he growls, a little more forcefully than he wanted, "I just made sure those ants won't screw with you or anyone ever again, the least you could do is be a little thankful."
The boy stars at him, "It doesn't matter about the ants. I can't stay here on my own. My father is dead, I am all alone."
Nick feels as though he has been shot through the chest. The boy's words, he had felt almost exactly the same way not to long ago when he first stepped out of the vault. He sighs, realizing that no matter how hard he would try, he would never be able to live with himself if he leaves this boy here on his own. "shit, okay look, is there someone who you can go to, family, something?"
The boy looks up at him, "Well," he sniffs, "I have an Aunt who Dad always said lived in one of the safest places in the wasteland. He said it was a big tub, or a big metal can, or something like that."
Nick sighs and rubs his temples, he has no fucking clue what this boy is talking about. "Look," he says irritably, "what direction was it?"
The boy thinks for a second, then points, "That way."
Nick turns and shades his eyes from the sun. Right away he spots the four figures approaching them. "Get back into that pod and do not come out until I say so, if anyone else but me says to come out, don't." He all but shoves the boy into the preserver and takes out his assault rifle. He lies down behind a road barrier and watches the approaching group. "Fuck me." he growls when he recognizes them. Its Luther, Tyler, and Clover. Dragged between Luther and Tyler is a disgruntled looking Jericho. Nick stands from cover and watches them approach.
Without thinking he draws his sawed off and marches towards them once they enter the town. Tyler lifts a hand in greeting, but Nick ignores it. He puts the barrel of his gun to Jericho's head, and pulls both triggers!
He limps his way along the riverside, holding up his front paw and pausing ever few feet to lick it gingerly. The fight with the molerat had not gone smoothly. While he did eventually bring it down and get a good meal, the animal had fought fiercely. He spots an overturned boat and crawls underneath it. His Masters death wasn't all that long ago, but already he misses him. At least with his Master there was the promise of a warm to curl up next to each night. He shivers and a feeble whimper escapes him. He is cold, and he knows that the wound on his leg will cause a lot of hurt, possibly even the final hurt, if it does not heal soon. He looks out from underneath the boat and whimpers again. He closes his eyes, maybe it would be easier to just go to the hurt. To stop fighting. He has never thought of that before, of not fighting. Right now, it sounds very comforting.
Okay, Bryan Wilks is not in the story, and he will play an important role. As will Dogmeat. The next chapter will be a little longer, hope you guys like this one. As always, feedback is welcome.