Sorry it's been so long. I get distracted so easily. Excuse the short chapter. To make up for it I'll post sooner. And excuse the spelling mistakes. Once again typed on a phone.
"Someone needs to t -"
Words died as a slim figure stalked past them, head covered by a tan hood, body wrapped in scarred recon armor. A heavy rifle was strapped to their back but all eyes kept to the bloody gauntlet on her right hand.
She twisted her head slightly to the right, hearing the mutters after she passed. She looked back down to the metal under her boots. "They despise me," her throat croaked.
"They fear you."
"And that's supposed to make me feel better?"
All she got was a grunt. For once, that wasn't good enough for her.
Elsewhere in the Wasteland...
"Marie?"
The young blonde groaned, rolling onto her back, arms spreading out at her sides. Her eyes opened and she growled at the beams of light coming through the boards slabbed across the opening to the train tunnel.
She rubbed the back of her right hand over her eyes and sat up, legs dangling over the edge of the rail car. "We're here," she yawned.
Obviously," Riley snorted. She tossed Marie's bag over into the young girls lap and then slung hers over her shoulder. ""I let you sleep long enough. Time to head out."
Marie yawned again and nodded, pushing herself to her feet. She pushed her arms through the straps of her knapsack, following Riley out of the tunnel. The light was harsh and the heat stung her arms, causing her skin to immediately host a sheen of sweat. But she didn't care, with the view it was worth it. Everything was gray, green, dusty and very ugly. There was nothing, only a cluster of buildings to the West and to the South, a faint tower waving against the skyline.
But nothing meant no rules.
No tests.
No hovering adults.
Nothing.
"Marie, c'mon!"
Marie tore her eyes away from the sky and she followed Riley down a small path leading down to the flat lands. Riley atopped the blonde at the bottom of the incline, passing an assault rifle to Marie; she didn't look confident in herself.
"You know how to use that," Riley questioned, cradling her own rifle in her long hands.
"Kind of," Marie pulled the butt of the rifle against her shoulder. "But don't expect me to save you or anything with it."
Riley chuckled and they started out into the Wasteland.
The air was so quiet, Marie was close to muttering by the time Riley stopped. The sun was just past the middle of the sky so it was just past noon. Riley pulled Marie off to the side, pushing her into the shade of a bombed overpass. She passed Marie a bottle of water, the silence finally getting to Marie.
"I didn't think it wluld be this quiet," Marie muttered.
Riley grunted as she swallowed. "Capital Wasteland is just that - a Wasteland. There's nothing here but small settlements too isolated to hear outside of their walls," Riley looked out over the land as she capped her water. "You have two choices," she looked back to Marie. "Big Town or Megaton. My choice would be Megaton but Big Town is filled with kids more close to your age."
Marie shrugged and stuffed her water into her pack while Riley did the same. "I would prefer safety over company. Megaton."
Riley nodded and squinted her eyes against the sun as they started walking again. "Good choice."