Righto, here begins chapter 17. Not much to say, so enjoy!
chapter 17
Luther grabs Tyler and throws the both of them forward as the missile sails past their head and explodes against the wall behind them, shaking the whole building. The floor beneath their feet rumbles and begins to fall away. Luther just barely manages to grab onto a support beam as they fall and he feels Tyler grab on to his legs. The building continues to rumble. "Climb!" Luther shouts frantically. He feels Tyler begin to make his way up, using both him and what remains of the building around him. Blood wells from between Luther's fingers as the weight drives the splintered wood into his hand. "Hurry!" he shouts as he feels his grip weakening.
Somehow Tyler makes it up and manages to haul Luther up just as he was sure his hands would give out. He refuses to look down at the ground far below as he examines his hands. there are deep gashes where the splintered beam cut into his palms, and there is blood, lots of blood. "Fuck." he mutters as he gingerly takes off his pack and digs around for his medical supplies. Pulling out the small metal medical box, he cringes as he attempts to flip open the latches but only succeeds in leaving bloodstains everywhere.
"Let me." Tyler says, sliding the box towards himself and flipping the latches. "What is it you need?" Luther tells him to get out the roll of gauze and the small bottle of alcohol. "I thought you didn't drink any more?" Luther doesn't feel like responding with his normal anger and instead takes the bottle from Tyler, trying to ignore the pain in his hands as he unscrews the top. He pours the contents of the bottle over his hands, hissing in pain as the liquid burns against the wounds. Then he holds out his hands and indicates for Tyler to go ahead and wrap them now.
As Tyler works, Luther looks up the hallway at the idiot who caused this mess. The Mutie is dead, a large chunk of metal debris having pierced its chest. The stupid brute had fired at them with a missile launcher! Inside! Luther isn't sure of the total damage done to the building, but he is sure that behind them is nothing but empty space and twisted metal. "Shit." he hisses through clinched teeth as Tyler finishes wrapping his left and and ties it off, tightly.
"Don't be a pussy." Tyler growls at him as he moves to the other hand. Luther ignores the insult and looks at his left hand, the one already bound. At least his partner was smart enough to leave his fingers free. He attempts flexing them, and is alarmed with only his ring and middle fingers move. He tries again, and this time his index manages to twitch, but that small movement sends pain shooting up his forearm. Damn, the ligaments or nerves must have been damaged. Trying to move his index again, this time he manages to curl it all the way closed, but it hurts like a bitch. This is going to be a major problem if his right hand is damaged the same way.
Tyler finishes bandaging his right and stands up, watching as Luther flexes the now bound hand. His index and middle fingers move fine, but his ring and pinky fingers won't budge. he decides that is fine, as long as he can still grip his weapons. He stands and nods his head at Tyler. They continue through the building, looking for the downed radio tower they spotted from outside.
Once they had arrived in the plaza leading to where the Rangers where pinned down, they had stealthily made their way towards the hotel, only to find that the entrance was blocked by way to many Muties for them to even consider attempting to fight their way in. Instead they circled around, hoping to find a back door. Instead they noticed the downed radio tower bridging the gab between the hotel and a pre-war hospital next door. Neither were too keen on going into the hospital, but upon finding no other way into the hotel, that is where they went.
Once inside they encountered more Muties than they were expecting to and eventually found themselves running for their lives up through the multiple floors. they had been pinned down, right up until that one Mutie fired that missile at them. When you look at it that way, that Mutie may have saved them, in a fucked up sort of way.
Eventually they reach the spot where the radio tower collapsed. There is a short burst of wind that enters through the gaping hole in the building, and Luther decides that he is not as interested in crossing between the buildings as he had thought. The height makes him dizzy, and he is glad he hasn't eaten recently, or he may be hurling all over the place. "Shit," he mutters.
Tyler rolls his eyes. "Are you serious, I have seen you face down a sentry bot without getting nervous, and a little height makes you sick?"
Luther glares at him. "Hey, listen, you hate tight spaces, I dislike heights. Don't fuck with me about it, lets just get this over with!" Before Tyler can say another word, and before his nerve leaves him, he dashes across the rickety metal bridge. He all but leaps the final stretch of distance and hugs the wall once he is there. Releasing the breath he hadn't realized he was holding, he forces himself to look back over his shoulder. Tyler is casually walks across the bridge, letting out a low chuckle as he reaches Luther and gives him a pat on the shoulder.
They enter the hotel and carefully make their way through the dark interior. After passing through the remains of a few empty rooms, they spot a Mutie standing guard at at set of stairs leading up to the next floor. Luther slowly takes his rifle off his back and works his fingers into position, forcing them around the stock. He aims, and fires once, automatically working a second bullet into the chamber. The Muties head snaps back and its body falls backwards onto the stairs. Tyler rushes forward with his shotgun, ready to finish the brute off if it is still breathing, but Luther hangs back. His hands are screaming in pain at the forced movement.
Pushing through it, he stands and moves up the stairs slowly, with Tyler right behind him. As the reach the next floor they stop and look out into a large dinning area. At first glance, he doesn't see anything, but then he spots three Muties patrolling along an upper level. From the low lighting, he cant quit tell what weapons two of them are carrying, but there is no mistaking the large mini-gun being toted by the third. Tyler taps his shoulder and points at a nearby supply closet. Through it can bee seen a protectron model robot. Then Tyler points out a slightly glowing bottle of Nuka-Cola. "Quantum," Tyler mouths silently.
At first Luther does not understand, then it hits him. If the protectron has the right parts left inside of it, they can construct a makeshift grenade of extreme power. The schematic is doggy, and they have only managed to make it work once, but hell, it sure beats trying to cross that much open space while a Mutie with a mini-gun rains bullets on their heads. Luther nods his understanding and begins to carefully work his way out towards the Quantum. He moves between tables, attempting to stay out of the Muties line of sight at all times. As a result, he ends up crouched beneath one table for almost five minutes.
While they are sneaking, the sound of gunfire suddenly starts up above them. Luther curses quietly, the Muties must be making another push on the Rangers. The three Muties are distracted by the sound, and Luther dashes forward the rest of the way to the Quantum. Swiping the bottle off of the table he shoots a look up at the Super Mutants. They have returned to their patrolling. Luther goes to move, but backs into a table, knocking a plate to the ground. The plate smashes against the floor. Luther freezes in place, staring up at the Muties.
"I think I hear something." One of them growls thickly. The large yellow bastard starts down the stairs towards him. Luther backs away slowly, staying out of its line of sight. He crouches beneath a nearby table and draws his magnum, wincing as he forces his finger into the trigger. The Mutie stops at the table where the the plate fell. It sniffs the air, like a dog, before stomping on the plate. "Just some stuff!" The brute turns and starts to walk away, but Luther's finger twitches against his will. The hair trigger of his magnum causes the gun to go off. The bullet flies through the air, tearing through the side of the Muties face.
The Mutie lets out a howl and turns, swinging its massive arms and overturning all the nearby tables! Luther scrambles back, running towards the supply closet. He ducks as Tyler leans out and fires a few covering shots, but that does not stop the Muties opening up with their weapons. bullets fill the air, one grazing Luther's side and causing him to lurch to the side before throwing himself into the supply closet. He tosses Tyler the Quantum and pulls his rifle off his back to provide cover for his partner while he constructs the bomb.
As he leans out to fire, the one with the mini-gun opens up on their position. He curses and throws himself back again as the door frame is riddled with holes. "Done!" Tyler shouts, tossing him the explosive. Luther does not hesitate and hurls the make shift grenade out the closet door. He covers his ears and waits, but nothing happens. "Shit!" Tyler shouts. Luther growls and jumps to his feet. Before he can think better, he dashes out the door and slides across the floor. He aims, fires, and watches as the bullet hits the grenade and an explosion fills the dinning area!
The force from the explosion sends him sliding backwards along the floor until his back hits against a wall. The light generated from the blast blinds him for a moment and he has to shield his eyes. After a few seconds, the light fades and he risks lowering his hand. Before him is the destroyed remains of the dinning area. A perfect, empty, ring of blackened floor takes up the center of the room. The explosive tossed everything that wasn't nailed down all over the place. he spots the torched remains of the one Mutie that was down on the level with him and can also see the bodies of the other two. He stands carefully, not sure if anything is broken.
"Damn," Tyler mutters as he steps into the blackened ring, "I don't remember it causing this much damage last time." Luther grunts in reply and ascends the stairs up the the second level, looking for the roof access door. The fighting from outside has stopped and he is worried they may be too late. Tyler joins him as he finds the door and he can't help but notice the large amount of clanging coming from his partners pack. "What," he asks with a shrug, "the other parts of that protectron might make just as good bombs as the one I used did."
Luther shakes his head and steps outside. The first thing he notices is the large number of dead Muties. There are some that have been sitting for at least three days, and others that look to have recently been taken down. Moving around on the roof, they eventually come to a set of stairs leading up to what looks to be an outdoor patio. They make their way up to find even more dead Muties. "All right," a voice shouts ahead of them, "that is close enough! Hands where we can see them!"
Tyler looks to Luther who nods. They both raise their hands. The person speaking steps out from behind a quickly built barricade and approaches them warily. Luther recognizes Butcher, the Ranger's medic, and the one who was sent out the emergency hail. He thinks back the last time the two of them spoke, and a small want to kill the man hits him. "I'll be damned," Butcher growls as he recognizes Luther, "you have a whole lot of nerve, showing up now of all times. I ought to just gun you down, but I'm going to give you the benefit of a doubt because I don't think you would have come all this way just to kill us yourself. No, you would have left us to die, that is more you style."
Luther sees Tyler give him a confused look from the corner of his eye and discretely lower his hands a little. Luther gives a small shake of his head, starting a fight with Butcher while the other Rangers are around will only end up with the both of them turned into mincemeat. Not to mention that he has no fucking clue what the Ranger is talking about. "Okay Butcher, I was expecting you to be hostile, seeing as you lot left me do die on that last mission, but I was not expecting you to be blaming me for something. that aside, you are right, we are not..."
"We left you!" Butcher shouts, interrupting Luther. "You left us! You led us into that god forsaken hole and left us high and dry! The second we got there and the fighting started, you disappeared on us! We barely made it out alive! Six people died because of you Luther! Six! Bry, Andy, Eric, Brenda, Loren, and Phillip are all dead because of you!"
Butcher's words hit Luther like a hammer to the gut. "What?" he barely managed to say. "That, that isn't right. You lot abandoned me to deal with that behemoth on my own! You left me to set the charges, on my own! I blew that place to hell, but not before wading through wave after wave of raiders, on my own! I don't know what world you are living in Butcher, but the Rangers betrayed me! Now here I am, trying to save you despite you having left me to die before, and you blame me for what happened!"
Butcher snarls like a wild animal and gets right into Luther's face. "Don't try and twist the truth around! You led us into that ambush! What did you expect, that we would actually try and finish the job after we figured out it was just some psycho's way to kill us all off and make way for his high rising buddies back int the..." He doesn't get to finish his sentence as he is punched in the face.
Luther steps back, surprised, as Butcher stumbles back. Standing where Butcher was is Brick, the Ranger's heavy weapons specialist. The muscular woman is fuming and has a look on her face that says, shut the fuck up. "Shut the fuck up! I really don't care who betrayed who, we can kill each other later! Right now, we have more Muties coming our way and these two obviously want to help! Luther, you and your friend cover the left side, don't let any of those yellow bastards past us! Butcher, you get back in place and let Eugene and I do our job!" The woman lovingly pats her mini-gun.
Luther and Butcher exchanges glances once more before nodding and moving to their places. "So," Tyler says as he leans up against the barricade and readies his shotgun, "I like her. Think she would be up for a threesome with me and Clover sometime?"
Shaking his head, Luther struggles to get a proper grip on his rifle. "I don't think she is your type. That aside, unless you are into getting tied up to the bed and having freaky shit done to you, I suggest you stay away from her, and Eugene."
Tyler gives him a strange look. "You mean her mini-gun? She doesn't actually? Does she?" Luther does not answer, instead he shakes his head and works the bolt action of his rife as the first of the Muties reach the top of the stairs. At first, Brick and Eugene do most of the work while the rest of them save up their ammo. Eventually, however, Eugene splutters and ceases its rain of fire. Brick falls back to reload and everyone else joins the fight. From their position, they make quick work of the Muties who have to cross a lot of open space before getting to their defenses. That said, the bastards just keep coming.
"I am almost out of ammo!" Tyler shouts as he blasts the arms off of a nearby Mutie. Luther is also almost out, and further down the line he can hear the other Rangers calling out similar messages. A Mutie breaches the barricade and charges one of the Rangers who is reloading. Luther guns the brute down and moves to cover the hole in the line. Two Muties rush him at the same time. He manages to take down one, but is too slow the kill the other before it is on him.
He lets out a shout of pain as the Super Mutant rips the rifle out of his hands and tosses it away. The Mutie reaches for him and he just barely manages to step away before being crushed in the brutes massive arms. The Mutant roars and swings at him, catching him in the chest and lifting him off the ground before slamming him back down. The air rushes out of his lungs and he gasps as the Mutie pushes down on his chest, squeezing the life out of him. He draws his knife and forces it into the Mutie's arm! The mutant howls in pain and whips its arm back, tearing the knife out of its arm as it does so. Thick blood pours from the wound on the Mutant, and Luther sits up, driving the blade into the brute's now exposed side repeatedly until it stops moving.
He stands and looks for his gun, but can't see it. Drawing his magnum, he turns back to the barricade and drops two Muties with one shot to the head each. A grenade lands at his feet and he has just enough time to kick it back before it detonates. One Mutant is killed by the grenade, and two have limbs blown off. Taking advantage of the mess caused by the explosion, Luther charges out of the barricade and scoops up a discarded assault rifle from the ground. He empties the magazine, spraying lead in every direction, before dropping the now empty gun and leaping back behind cover.
Brick rejoins the fight and the remaining Muties are quickly mopped up. "Yeah," Brick shouts triumphantly, "now that is what I am taking about!" Luther drops to the ground. Sweat is rolling off of him. He takes a deep breath and takes the hand Tyler offers him, letting his partner pull him back to his feet. As he stands, pain flares from the hand Tyler is holding. He jerks his hand back and lets out a strangled sound.
"Oh, shit," Tyler apologizes, "your hangs!" Luther looks down. The bandages are torn and soaked with blood. His fingers are either twitching, or lying suspiciously still. "Can you feel them?" Luther shakes his head as Tyler pulls out a Med X, "Here, then, take this."
Butcher appears beside them and stops Tyler from injecting Luther with the pain killers. "He does not need those, what he needs is for someone to look at his hands and stitch them up properly before he looses any more blood." Butcher gives him a pointed look before saying, "He is a good enough medic that he should know that already." Luther growls at the insult, but Butcher holds up a hand to stop him from speaking. "Listen, we wouldn't have made it just now without the two of you here. Whatever happened, we can't change it or deal with it now. Let me fix your hands up and we can work out a way to get us all out of here."
Luther nods as his left index finger twitches and pain shoots up his arm. "Fine, just do whatever you think it is you have to." Butcher starts to work and Luther looks at the other rangers. Brick is cleaning Eugene, and there is only one other, Donovan. "Is this really it?"
Butcher stops and looks up at him. "Yeah, after Evergreen Mills, we hit even more rough times. We couldn't land any real jobs and the caps quickly started drying up. Our numbers have been thinning ever since. Some left, others died, and Reilly got more and more reclusive. Now its just us, Theo died on our way here, he was the one carrying most of our ammo. We were sure we were done for the next time the Muties showed up, but then you walked up the stairs."
"Reilly blames you," he continues, switching to Luther's other hand, "she has said so several times. I didn't at first, but after hearing it for that long, it is hard to to think it is true. When I saw it was you standing there, well, maybe I did blame you, but you and your friend saved our asses. For now, that is good enough." He finishes working on the hand and stands up. "I don't forgive you, if it was your fault or not remains to be seen, but it was still you who brought that job to us. Right now, lets find a way off of this fucking rooftop."
Luther stands and looks around, imediatly noticing the nearby elevator. "I take it there is something wrong with that thing, or are you all just that slow?"
Butcher rolls his eyes, "And I was trying to be nice. Yes, the elevator is a no go. Donovan thinks he could get it running, but he is missing some key parts. There was a protectron in the dinner down below that may have had the parts, but there is not getting down there now that we are all back up here. It would be suicide to try it."
Luther smiles as he looks over at Tyler. Tyler nods and moves over to Donovan and offers the smaller mechanic his pack. "Well," Luther says as he turns to Butcher with a wide smile on his face, "looks like my friend and I are your saving angels."
There you have it, sorry this one took so long to get our. Rewrote it more than a few times. Hope you all enjoyed. As always, leave a review, any and all criticisms are welcome.