Heart of Steel
Chapter 2: Bowels of the Underground
The sewer was dank and moldy. Years of disuse left the water irradiated and the walls stained from water, waste, and those who used it as shelter and movement from the bombs. This tunnel had no power in it, the only light was coming from the flashlights of the initiates. Scanning the tunnel, it was evident to that the direction back to the Citadel was blocked and all they could do was move forward.
"Where the fuck are we," asked J.R. as he shouldered his assault rifle shinning his light down the sewer to the end of the bend while covering his mouth and nose with his free hand.
"The sewer obviously," replied Zach Zimm as he put his flashlight in his mouth to work on his weapon, hand's free.
"We need to find where we're going," corrected Schieber as he pulled some utility tape from the side pocket of his combat pants; he then wrapped the tape around the bare wooden grip and the flashlight to his R91.
"Good idea, wish I could put it on mine," said LaCroix as she checked her ammo levels for her 10mm submachine gun, "Schieb, pass it to the others, we need to be able to see and use our weapons."
Schieber passed the utility tape to the others with assault rifles and the others taped up their weapons as he did. They had stayed in the same position for a good ten minutes gaining their bearings before one of them spoke up. They all turned attention to him, his words filling the power vacuum that existed with the loss of Paladin Bruce.
"Well, we should move forward to find where this tunnel connects too," said Dan Roe as he removed his helmet to scratch his scalp through his brown hair, "we need to get back to the Citadel and tell them what happened."
"I agree," said Hannah Newton as hung her sub-machine gun at her waist and shined her flashlight out, "looks like the only way out is down more."
"Let's go," said Roe as he pointed his rifle out and slowly walked down the sewer to the left, the right passage being blocked, "stay on the sides, less chance of standing in that radioactive sludge."
The initiates continued walking, shining their lights ahead to see the obstacles in the way. The continued down the sewers, heading through the opened tunnels. They passed by a burnt out power junction that they were unable to get running. The only scare they had as they were in the tunnel for more than an hour was a nest of a five radroaches. J.R. and Roe neatly took them down with few pot shots. They came to another alcove, another out of commission power station, Roe took off his helmet and sat on it leaning his back against the tiled wall. J.R. took out a pack of smokes and offered a cigarette Dan who turned it down.
J.R. put the smoke to his mouth and lit it, taking a long drag and looking over the Roe before exhaling as he leaned against the alcove wall. His eyes narrowed as he stared intensely at Dan. Roe was holding his face in his palms before he looked up into J.R.'s stare.
"What is it?" He asked as the fellow initiate was staring him down.
"You seem familiar," replied J.R. as he looked over Roe before taking another drag, "I've been all over caravan trails and met many people, why do you seem so familiar."
Roe shook his head, knew this would catch up with me, he sighed before looking into J.R. eyes, "I don't know."
J.R. noted the lie and filed it in his mind for later, he turned his head to the others that were talking. Alvarado, Pop, and LaCroix were sitting together sharing a can of Cram.
Lolli Pop looked over his dinner mates, "I'm Lolli, from Little Lamplight, well Big Town. What about you two?"
"Juan Alvarado," greeted the Hispanic boy with an Aquiline nose as he extended his hand to Lolli, "from Rivet City."
"Anna LsCroix," said the black girl with dark locks that were tucked into her helmet, "formerly of Tenpenny Tower."
Both Lolli and Alvarado whistled, "richie rich, eh," replied Alvarado smiling as he shook his head and took another bit of Cram.
"Like I said, formerly," replied LaCroix as shook a fork at Juan, "once the Brotherhood came by asking for volunteers and I chose to go, ol' Gustavo and Burke decided to revoke my parents and I citizenship."
"What did you do?" Asked Lolli as he slid his fork into one of his combat packets.
"Well, I'm with the Brotherhood," replied Anna, "but they wouldn't house my parents, however they did help them relocate to Grayditch to help re-populate the town."
"Grayditch, isn't that where all those fire-ants are?" Asked Alvarado as he packed up his fork as well.
"Nah, they were dealt with," replied LaCroix, "from the Lone Wanderer himself, from what I heard. I heard he came in and shot them all, then worked with the local doctor to stop their production. The Brotherhood reached out to the egghead, but he turned them down, something about oversight. All I know is, is that there is a Senior Scribe and two Knights stationed there for safety and research."
"So they're really re-populating the area," asked Lolli, "as in it's safe and all?"
"If the Brotherhood is there, it must be safe," said Alvarado firmly, "if it's true for Rivet City, and Project Purity, it must be true. That's why I joined, wanted to add to the safety. Rivet City is great, don't get me wrong, but I've been there for nineteen years, I needed to get out."
"I felt the same way about Big Town," replied Lolli Pop, "the Lone Wanderer helped out as well, fixed up some Sentry Bots, allowed us to train for better weapons, and held off a mutie attack. We were safe, but frankly, it didn't feel right to me."
"Well, look at us now," replied LaCroix as she tossed the empty can away, "initiates to the Brotherhood and lost like hell."
"Well get back to the Citadel, right?" Asked Lolli Pop, Anna LaCroix sighed looking at the other Senior Initiate.
"We'll all make it home," she replied absent minded, "don't panic.
Hannah Newton was talking with Senior Initiate named Schieber in their own corner of the alcove away from the others. The two hadn't talked with each other before, their training spent in books or with weapons with Paladin Gunny. This was the first time the two had alone to converse, granted it was on horrible condition considering the loss for the Brotherhood. She had let her red pony tail out under her helmet and over her shoulder. He was a white man, between twenty and twenty-five years of age that had a five o'clock shadow with dark bags under his eyes that spoke of an age far beyond his years.
"So, where is a pretty little thing like yourself from, Ms. Newton," asked Schieber with a crooked smile that showed his enlarged canine.
Hannah was a little taken aback by his blunt flirting, probably just harmless, she thought as she gave him a little smile, though not unwelcomed, "I'm from Rivet City with Alvarado," she pointed to the Hispanic boy with an Aquiline nose.
"That your boyfriend," asked Schieber with his smile still, "think you out to tell the kid he has some competition."
"Is that so," said Hannah with a giggle, "do I even get to know your first name before you compete for my affection?"
"Now who said I was the competition," replied Schieber, his smile growing larger making him more wolf like than before, "I think you're projecting your interest in me, Ms. Newton. But I'll indulge your question, the name is Quintus Schieber, but please call me Schieb or Quin."
"Quintus, that's an interesting name," said Hannah, "how'd you come about it?"
"I was the fifth kid," replied Schieber, "in a family of thirteen."
"Large family," said Hannah in amazement.
"My dad had three wives, my mom was number two," replied Schieber, his mood noticeably changed.
"I'm sorry I brought up some bad memories," said Hannah as she reached out for his hand, the calluses felt under the finger-less gloves he wore, "we can talk about something else."
"What else is there to talk about," asked Schieber, his smile more melancholic now, "we all have our baggage, Hannah."
There was a rustle coming from up the tunnel way. Roe picked up his rifle and aimed it at the far corner of the alcove that opened to the tunnel. J.R. tossed the butt of his cigarette down and held his gun parallel to the wall, waiting for Dan's go ahead. Zach Zimm showed up, his combat helmet's straps undone as he walked up to the alcove.
"God damn it, Zimm!" Seethed J.R., "I almost took your head off."
Zimm narrowed his eyes at J.R. before Roe called his attention back, "What's up, Zach?"
"Scouted a head," he said still catching his breath as he took his helmet off and sat down next to Roe, J.R, joined them crouching as Zimm unfurled a self drawn map, "the tunnel keep son going off to the right, the left seems to blocked off mostly. I found a service exit here and hacked the terminal. Says it leads to Tenleytown/Friendship Station."
"Good, we can take that to Chevy Chase North to get to GNR," replied J.R., "it's a close outpost for the Brotherhood."
"But far from the Citadel," replied Roe, "Friendship Heights goes above ground, the trading caravans avoid it despite it's location, it's a known Raider camp."
"Are you saying you want us to go to a known Raider camp," replied J.R. in consternation, "you want us to have another firefight?"
"We might not have one," replied Roe as he tapped the Brotherhood insignia on the breast plate of the urbanized combat armor, "might earn us some respect."
"Or a bullet in the ass," retorted J.R.
"I think it's the way we should go," replied Roe, firmly.
"I have to agree with J.R.," said Zach, "GNR is a lot safer than hanging out with some Raider scum.
"Let's have a vote," said J.R., "to decide what direction we'll go in."
They brought the ideas to the rest of the initiates. J.R, and Zach explained the values of going through Chevy Chase North to get to GNR. Putting everyone in the heart of the D.C. Ruins under the safety of the Brotherhood. Dan presented his plan to meet up at the Raider camp and get above ground to see a better way than through the ruins. An upturned helmet was placed on broken power relay with some paper. One-by-one, the eight initiates voted and the votes were read out loud to a tie of four each. J.R. and Roe opted to remove their votes and vote again, this time with one person switching their vote to travel to Friendship Heights. With the course suggested, the checked their ammo and weapons and made it to the station opening and entered.
Roe, having been the one that suggested it, decided to take point and lead the way into the station. He walked slowly, his gun out, shinning light into the darkness as examined the debris filled station. He was able to find the stairs relatively easily and started to walk forward. The were several howls that issued through the tunnels on the opposite side from where they entered. Several beams of line shined into the darkness of the tunnels to enlighten the glowing eyes of feral ghouls.
In between the initiates and the ghouls was the staircase to the upper level of the station to get to Friendship Heights; Roe started to run to the stairs as he yelled back, "up top now, bottleneck them there!"
The initiates broke out into a run climbing the stairs two at a time. The ghouls closed ranks and were nearly on them. Roe, LaCroix and Newton were able to make it up to the second level. Roe covered the second staircase as the feral ghouls attempted to make their way up, though he was unable to stymie the tide of ghouls heading the staircase the other initiates were at. There were nearly a hundred feral ghouls, crowding the area.
LaCroix and Newton were able to give some cover, but they needed to use short burst with their sub-machine guns. J.R. was the next one to make it up, after him Lolli got up top and was breathless. Schieber would climb three steps before turning around and taking down a few feral ghouls with chest shots. Alvarado was only a few steps behind him.
Juan turned around quickly, his combat boot catching the top step forcing him to fall. Panic showed in his eyes as he slid down slowly on his stomach. The wet blood caked his combat pants as he slide down onto the fresh kills from LaCroix, Newton, and Schieber. One feral ghoul reached down and grabbed his left leg, sinking his teeth deep into the fabric and flesh of Alvarado.
The scream caused Schieber to turn around. He raced back down, placing three bullets in the chests of approaching feral ghouls. He got to the ghoul on Alvarado's leg and bashed the back of the creatures head in with the butt of his rifle. He picked up Alvarado by the shoulder, blood seeping out of his leg from the bite wound. Forcing the wounded initiate to grasp onto his shoulder and hobble up with him to the top level. LaCroix and Newton opened fire behind them as they got up and passed them.
"I'm out," Roe announced as he holstered his assault rifle and drew out his N99 10mm pistol.
The others formed a semi-circle as they fell back to the tunnel opening. The daylight shining through the grate behind them. They heard it open. The feral ghouls were on the second level, slowly walking forward, saving their energy and time. A dirty looking man with a large canister on his back and flaming nozzle of a flamer pushed his way between the initiates. He wore mix-matched armor that had a tire as shoulder pad, an arclight helmet to protect the forearm from the flamer, shin pads from what appeared to be a baseball catcher, and strapped sandals that were tied up the calves. A metal trash can lid protected his back, while a sheet of metal scrounged from somewhere protected his abdomen and crotch. He had a short dark Mohawk, a five o'clock stubble, and chewed a short cigar that wasn't lit. He smiled briefly at the initiates before he opened fire, literary.
He turned the flamer on at the feral ghouls, dousing the first line in a torrent of flames. The smell of burning flesh and radioactive organs filled the upper levels. He gave puffs out of his flamer as the screaming of the feral ghouls stopped. The others that weren't killed outright ran away from the flame, fearing both the light and the heat of the napalm. The Raider turned the still lit torch up to his cigar to light it. He held his flamer across his broad chest as he looked over the initiates puffing on his cigar.
"Had a bit of a run in with our neighbors, I see," a gruff voice that spoke of age, tobacco, and whiskey, "looks like you need a doc, son."
Alvarado paled as he held onto Schieber for support. Schieber nodded, as his team member was clearly weak. The Raider looked over the rest as they shifted on their feet, not sure what to say to this large outlaw.
"Well then, best get threw that gate and up those stairs to the Heights," he replied as his pointed the way with his flamer, "I'll be up in a few, just want to check these critters for collectables," he turned his back on the initiates, to check the remains of the feral ghouls for caps, chems, and junk.
The initiates breathed a side of relief as they walked through the tunnel and the gateway to Friendship Heights. The sunlight, what was able to penetrate the clouds, shown on their faces and made them cover their eyes. Instantly they heard the cocking of rifles all around the entrance of the subway station. They were surrounded by Raiders with hunting rifles and assault rifles, a dead super mutant was on the ledge over the entrance noting their proficiency with their weapons.
Roe looked at the other initiates, I hope I wasn't wrong about this, he moved his hand to his pistol counting the number of Raiders, outnumbered three to one, do we even have enough bullets? He already knew the answer was no. He took out his pistol and laid it on the ground, holding his hands above his head. The others looked at him and nodded, as they laid down their weapons and held their hands up.
A female Raider came forward to the entrance, she wore an over shirt similar to a wastelander outfit with a bandolier filled with shotgun ammo draped in front with padded pants and boots, and a sawed-off shotgun cradled in her arms. She was relatively clean, shaved head and gaunt features. Her eyes were ice blue as she stared over the initiates.
Her voice was cold as her eyes, "where's Aden," she asked as the gate opened and the big Raider with a flamer came through with a bag on his shoulder, "there you are, Aden."
"Yes, ma'am," replied as he held up his bag of goodies, "these folk here brought in a good haul. Mustah been some forty or so dead ghoulies down there."
"Who are they, Aden," asked the leader as she caressed her shotgun.
"Their armor says Brotherhood," he replied as he walked forward and slapped Lolli on the chest where the yellow insignia of the Brotherhood of Steel was graphed on, "and one was hurt bad."
The Raider leader turned her head to the Roe, noting him as the leader when he lowered his weapon, "what does the Brotherhood seek with us?"
"We need medical care for our companion, a place to rest, resupply," he continued and looked at the rest of the initiates, "and we need to get back to the Citadel, ma'am."
"We'll see what we can do," replied the woman, "as long as you have trade-stuffs..."