Okay guys, seriously this time, main story, GNR, metro tunnels, scary stuff. Enjoy! Also some more major hints about Luther and Tyler, wink wink.
Chapter 12
"Jesus fucking Christ Nick!" Tyler hears Luther shout as Jericho's headless body falls to the ground between them. Tyler never like the look of the man, something about the way he referred to everyone as assholes, still. He looks up at Nick's face, trying to get a read on what is going on in the kid's head. Nick's face is set in stone, however, and Tyler has no idea what he may be feeling or thinking.
"Teach you to fucking leave my ass halfway through a job." Nick sneers at Jericho's body.
That makes a huge difference. At least he isn't killing just because Jericho was ugly. Getting revenge is a damn good motivator, as far as Tyler is concerned. Luther, however, seems to have different ideas. "What the hell Nick?" Luther shouts angrily. "You can't just kill people for no damn reason!"
Nick shoots Luther an angry look, "You don't know shit Luther! That bastard," he points at the corpse, "left me for dead in a fucking metro tunnel. He probably intended to collect all the reward money for himself! I don't care how you two got a hold of him, or if he claimed that he left to find help! The fact remains that he left me to fucking die!" Nick whirls around and walks back the way he had come at them from. None of them follow.
"Is it wrong that I am slightly turned on by that?" Clover coos from behind them.
Tyler gives her a look from over his shoulder, and then turns to Luther. "Hey," he starts, "just what is going through your head? It isn't like you and I have never done anything out of revenge."
Luther lowers his gaze to the ground and rubs his neck. "I know," he grumbles, "we have done some low shit, but this is different." He looks back up at Tyler, his gaze boring into him. "You cannot tell me that you haven't noticed it. They way he has been since we found him in the pitt. I don't know, I am just worried about him."
Tyler huffs, "It isn't our place to ever worry about others."
Luther looks at him with a steady gaze, "Then what were we doing when we went to save him?" His partners words strike a chord. He hadn't thought about that. Strange, maybe he hadn't realized until now just how fond he was of the kid. Of Nick. He looks up as he hears footsteps approaching. He can't help but tilt his head to the side in curiosity as Nick returns with a small boy tailing behind him.
"Luther, Tyler, Clover," Nick says curtly, "this is Bryan, his father was killed by the giant ants that until recently were inhabiting this area. I intend to get him a new home. Until then, he should probably stay in Megaton."
Tyler has to force himself not to chuckle as he hears Luther take in a sharp breath. "Look Nick," he says, "that may not be the best of Ideas." Nick gives him a look that says, explain. "We," he scratches his beard, "sorta got thrown out. Luther here held a gun to the sheriff and busted himself out of jail and I sorta helped. So no Megaton for a while. Else we may be shot on sight."
Nick is fuming. At the moment he is crawling through yet another metro tunnel, this one infested not with giant ants but feral ghouls, on his way to GNR. Apparently, Luther and Tyler up and decided to blow their own caps on buying the supplies needed for the trip. Stimpacks, bandages, ammo, and plenty of other provisions. He had been planning on leaving on his own, having grown tired of the patronizing tone Luther had suddenly started using whenever the two of them spoke. Not to mention that on top of having to look out for his own life, he is also having to constantly check up on the little punk Bryan who somehow has no experience at all despite having been raised in the fucking wasteland!
A loud hiss echos behind him and he whips around just as a feral falls from the shadows atop him. He curses and manages to get his sawed off under the creatures head. The pulls the trigger and instantly is covered in gore. He pushes the already rotted corpse off of himself and wipes the blood from his mouth. He stands and shouts, "We had better be getting close to that fucking exit!"
Nearby Tyler cracks the neck of a ghoul attacking him and growls, "We are damn it, just keep them off us while we get it open!" The group ascends a dead escalator to the next level. Nick takes position at the top of the stares with Clover. Bryan hides behind a nearby Nuka-Cola machine while Tyler and Luther run to the door leading to the surface and start trying to pick the lock keeping it shut. "Why the hell do the Brothers always have to lock the doors when the come through!" Tyler shouts in anger.
A pack of ghouls emerge from a tunnel and charge up the stairs. Nick hands Clover his 10mm, "Make every shot count!" he orders as he opens up with his assault rifle. The ferals at the front of the pack go down firs, their skeletal bodies protected by nothing more than rags. The ones behind them however have the remains of metal and combat armor hanging off of their frail frames. A ghoul clad in combat gear bounds the rest of the way up and leaps upon Nick, pinning him down and clawing for his neck. He grunts and tosses the ghoul over the side of the platform, sending it falling to is doom. He sits back up and again fires into the pack with his rifle, but there are too many! "Fall back!" he orders as the ghouls reach the top of the escalator.
He lies down cover fire as Clover breaks from cover and runs to where Luther and Tyler are desperately attempting to open the gates to the surface. Nick stands to fall back, but a ghoul latches on to his foot. He shouts in pain as the creature's teeth sink into his leg before emptying his remaining ammo into its head. Drawing his sawed off, he fires on round. The scatter shot tears into the pack of ghouls, killing a few and sending many to the ground with wounds that would stop a normal person, but the ghouls just crawl after him. "Get that fucking door open!"
Moving backwards he fires his second shot from the sawed off. Several more ferals go down, but there are still too many! He reaches for a spare magazine for his assault rifle! Out of his peripherals, he sees a ghoul launch itself through he air towards him. He mental girds himself for the impact, but it never comes! A black and white blur flies through the air and intercepts the creature! Nick stares as the large dog savagely tears the ghouls throat out before back towards him, its fangs bared at the rest of the ghouls. Nick has not time to wonder about the animal as the rest of the ghouls scream and charge. He slams the magazine into his rifle and opens up on the creatures, spraying hot lead through the air!
"Got it!" Luther shouts as he rips open the gates. "Everyone out, out!" Nick falls back, walking backwards for a few steps, still shooting at the ghouls. When his gun clicks he turns on his heel and sprints! The dog runs a few steps ahead of him, but it is limping and Nick quickly gains on it. Without knowing why, Nick leans down and scoops the animal up into his arms as he passes it! He can hear the pounding of the ghouls feet right behind him! Bullets wiz by his head as the others lay down cover fire from the exit! With a desperate surge he throws himself out the gates! Tyler slams them shut and rams a metal rod through the lock to secure it! The ghouls slam into the gates with enough force to cause the metal to expand outward! The group moves back, fearful that the gates will give and the ghouls will spill out upon them, but the gates do hold and the ghouls can only grope uselessly at them!
"Yeah," Clover shouts with a sadistic laugh, "that is right uglies! You are not getting any of this ass, hell no! Ha!"
"That," Luther gasps as he catches his breath, "that was way to close!"
Bryan Wilks stares at the mass of ghouls straining to get at them through the gates. Nick watches as the boy turns to the group with a huge, awestruck, smile on his face, "You guys are awesome!"
A whimper followed by a slight movement causes Nick to look down at the dog he is still holding in his arms. "Shh," he whispers, trying to sooth it, "its okay." He runs a hand through its fur and feels that it is matted down in places. Looking at his hand, he sees fresh blood. "Oh no." he mutters. Looking up he shouts, "Hey, he is hurt, we have to do something for him!"
The others all look at him in confusion, as if noticing the dog for the first time. Luther walks over and speaks first. "Where the hell did he come from?" Luther crouches down in front of Nick and runs his hand over the dog, Nick notices that his hand comes away covered in blood as well. "That is not good."
Readjusting his hold so that the dog sits more comfortably in his arms Nick looks up at Luther, "He saved my life back there. I've no idea where he came from or what he may have been doing in the tunnels, but I would not have made it without him." Luther nods and stands back up. Nick takes the hand he offers and gets back to his feet. Luther opens his mouth to say something else, but Tyler interrupts them.
"Hey assholes," he says in a hushed tone, "can it, we have company." Luther and Nick look up to see Tyler lying against the stairs leading the rest of the way up to the ground level. Nick looks over his shoulder and nods at Clover, then at Bryan. Clover nods her head and pushes the boy behind her as she slides the back hammer on the 10mm Nick gave her. Nick turns and ascends the stairs to where Luther has already joined Tyler.
Peaking over the edge, he spots what has them worried, and he can see why. A few feet away from them are two hulking individuals. The things look sort of like men, but much larger. They have yellowish skin that looks almost like tanned leather. They also have mismatched armor made out of all sort of of junk. One is toting an American assault rifle and the other has a long post with nails driven through one end. "What the hell are those?" Nick whispers.
"Supermutants." Tyler growls. Nick can't help but note the rasping hate in Tyler's voice. "The Brotherhood of Steel must be in a bad way right now for the Muties to have pushed this close to GNR. This complicates things."
Nick looks back at the things, the Supermutants. They things are big, but still. "There are only two of them." he voices his thoughts. "We can handle them."
Tyler scoffs, "You have never faced anything like these before. They are not like raider, stupid, slow. These things are bred for war, for killing. And there is no way there are only two. When you see one, others are always nearby. They must be all over this area." As if to confirm his thoughts, the sound of gunfire starts up in the distance. "Shit," Tyler curses, "they are already at GNR!"
"We have to do something!" Nick says as he starts to stand.
"Hold it," Luther says, reaching up and grabbing him, "stay down!"
Nick growls angrily, "GNR and Three dog are the best leads for finding my father! The trail is already cold, damn it, I am not letting these things kill my last chance!" Nick makes to stand again, and again Luther pulls him down.
"Just wait half a second will you?"
Nick turns on Luther, seething, and ready for a fight, but stops when he hears commotion behind him. Looking back at the Supermutants, his jaw drops at what he sees. Gunning down the Mutants are three people in full power armor! From what he had learned in the vault, these suits were serious business. Now watching whoever the people fighting the Mutants, he has good cause to believe it. The soldiers, they have to be soldiers, made quick work of the Mutants. Laser beams burned off limbs and even disintegrated one of the Mutants. "Its the Pride," Tyler mutters.
"Well then," Luther says as he stands up and approaches the soldiers, "why don't we see what they think of finding us here at the same time as them?" Nick has no idea what the two mercs are talking about, but he stands and follows them, motioning to Clover that all is clear.
As their group approaches, one of the soldiers steps towards them and removes their helmet, revealing a surprisingly young blonde woman. A blonde woman who is glaring daggers at Tyler. "Of course," she says with a heavy sigh, "it would be you, wouldn't it." Without waiting for a response the woman turns to the other soldiers. "Paladin Vargas," she barks with authority, "Take Reddin and scout ahead for Knight Captain Colvin and Initiate Jennings." One of the suits salutes her and then both turn and move through the ruins. The woman then turns back to them and lifts her laser rifle menacingly, "Now," she all but snarls, "tell me what you are doing here!"
Tyler chuckles, "That is how you greet me? After all these years? No threats, no fighting, not even a warning shot to my leg? Ha, good to see you too, sis."
Nick's head snaps around to stare at Tyler. He has a sister, he thinks, he has a fucking sister in the Brotherhood of Steel! Nick's reaction is nothing compared to the woman's however. She steps forward and slams the stock of her rifle into his stomach! Nick expects Tyler to retaliate, or at least push her away, but he does nothing and just takes it. "You fucking bastard," the woman shouts, loosing the last of her composure, "what the hell did you expect! You betrayed us, you betrayed me! You up and left when we needed you the most! Look at where we are now! Desperately fighting to hold on to what was once one of our most secure strongholds!" She finishes by pulling back and slapping Tyler across the face, hard.
Nick watches in stunned silence as Tyler rolls his neck and rubs his cheek. Luther steps between the siblings and pushes them apart, really the only one has to worry about is the woman, who is still trying to get at her brother. "Enough Sarah," Luther finally shouts as he grabs the woman by both shoulders of her armor and forces her to look at him, "I know that things are tense, I know that you and he have to talk, hell I even know that the only think keeping you from killing me is him, but right now we have bigger issues. We need to get to GNR, like you, and you will need help if the situation is as bad as you say it is."
The woman, Sarah, steps back and takes a deep breath to collect herself. She looks over at Nick, noting the dog he has in his hands, then taking in Clover and Bryan. "Who are they?" she asks.
"He is Nick," Luther says, indicating him, "he is the main reason we are here. He is searching for his father and Three Dog is our best lead. The boy is Bryan Wilks, his family was murdered in Greyditch, we need to get him to safety. Look I know it is asking a lot for you to trust us, but we can hold our own in a fight, you won't have to protect us, hell we may even make things easier for you!"
Sarah huffs, "Fine, you can accompany us. Get in the way, and I will gun you down!"
So, there it is, It has been hinted earlier that Tyler is formerly of the Brotherhood, but why did he leave, or did he just leave, and why what about Luther would make Sarah want to just kill him? Also, I am going to explain Dogmeat's appearance in the next chapter, so hang in there!