Warning! This chapter contains epic amounts of awesome sprinkled with character development and the story behind Grey's name, also garlic. Now, cook at 450 degrees for however long it takes you to read and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Fallout is not mine. May contain nuts.
Today's adventure finds our heroes in an area the locals call Minefield, a ghost town whose streets are littered with what else but land mines. TheThe final part of Moira Brown's current assignment tasked Carmen and Grey to venture into Minefield and retrieve one of the explosives. Unfortunately, no one that had come here before had survived to tell of the town's other hazard: an elderly man with a sniper rifle taking shots at anyone entering his territory.
Carmen ducked out of sight behind the remains of a bombed-out house after the shooting started, and Grey followed suit.
"Who the hell's shooting at us!" Grey shouted, as if the answer would appear from nowhere just because he asked.
"I don't know," Carmen panted. "But whoever it is, they must have a good reason for protecting this place."
"I hate to ruin your sunny outlook on human nature, Vaultie, but very few people out here do things for GOOD reasons." Taking a chance, he crawled to the edge of their cover and used the scope on his revolver to seek out the mystery shooter. "You're not gonna believe this. It's some old guy with a sniper. Probably trying to get us off his lawn or something."
"Let's just get out of here, Grey. We already have the mine for Moira. We can stay behind the buildings and sneak away."
"Yeah, I guess so. He'll probably die of old age in the next few minutes any-"
Just then, another shot rang out and struck the ground right behind where Grey was laying. He ran his hand over the top of his head checking to see if the bullet had grazed him. He felt something completely different however.
More accurately, it was what he didn't feel that distressed him.
He turned to the ground beside him and stared in shock at what was there: his hat, practically ripped in half by the force of the bullet that had gone through it. Grey's vision turned red as his grief and anger boiled over and he leapt to his feet.
"Son of a BITCH!"
Barely taking the time to aim, Grey raised his magnum and fired. If viewed in slow-motion, one would see the round spin almost majestically through the air before carving a path into the sniper's right eye, up the optic nerve, and into his brain. But the bullet didn't stop there. The momentum it had built up on its long journey propelled it through and out the back of the skull. Behind the sniper's already-dead body was a set of shelves holding ammunition for his rifle as well as several spare land mines. Grey's bullet made contact with one of these mines, arming the explosive and setting off a spectacular blast that sent the Wastelander into a fit of hysterical, some might even say maniacal, laughter.
Then his good mood faded as he remembered what he had just lost. He picked up the remains of his hat and looked down on it with an expression of deep sadness.
Carmen, on the other hand, was puzzled by his apparent attachment to the accessory. "What's the big deal? It's just a hat."
Grey smiled bitterly at the shredded cloth in his hand. "Yeah. Yeah it is, but it's also the only thing I have from my parents."
Carmen instantly regretted what she had just said. This was the first time Grey had brought up his family, so something terrible must have happened to them. "I'm sorry. Are they dead?"
"Hell if I know, I left to live on my own years ago. But my dad gave me this hat for my thirteenth birthday. I suppose it was only a matter of time before it finally wore out to the point of no return. Still, it doesn't soften the blow."
"Grey."
"I mean, do you know how much my coolness is going to go down without this hat? Sunglasses are one thing, but sunglasses AND a stylish hat? There's just no way to beat that. Maybe if I grew a beard."
Carmen sighed in frustration. "Only you would turn something that's supposed to have sentimental value and use it for your own image."
She stomped off, and Grey couldn't figure out why. "What? You don't like the beard idea? I don't mean some scruffy survivalist type thing, just some classy stubble."
Sunset was nearly upon them, so the two decided to spend the night in one of the abandoned houses. After checking all of the rooms for Radroaches and other undesirable housemates, Carmen and Grey went upstairs to the bedrooms.
"Dibs," Grey said as they entered the master bedroom, hurling himself onto the bed. He felt something under the blankets next to him, so he pulled back the covers. The skeleton of the bed's former owner stared back at him as if angry at being disturbed. Grey let out a shriek and rolled out of the bed, hitting the floor hard and doing irreparable damage to his pride.
Needless to say, Carmen found the spectacle hilarious. "I thought you of all people would be happy that your new bed came with company," she managed to say between fits of laughter.
"Laugh about it all you want, but check out what I just found." Grey picked himself off of the floor and pushed the bed against the far wall. Set into the floor underneath was the metal door of a safe. Grey pulled out his lockpicking set and had it open in seconds.
"What's inside?" Carmen asked, moving closer to get a look.
"Stuff from the house's owners. Old money, illegible documents, and...Ooh. What do we have here?"
That last part had gotten Carmen excited about what could be in the safe. A treasure map? Keys to another safe? Something they could sell? Whatever it was, Grey was having a hard time getting a hold of it. He was lying on his side with one arm reaching as far down as he could. He finally got a grip on the object inside, and Carmen almost started jumping up and down in anticipation. Grey pulled his hand out slowly, as if afraid to damage the item. That proves it, it must be some valuable treasure. Grey's hand finally cleared the top of the safe and revealed the treasure to be...
A hat. A light brown fedora, to be precise.
"Ha ha! I knew I'd find one eventually. And it looks like it's never been worn." Grey happily put on the new headwear while Carmen gaped in utter disbelief. Finally, she just shook her head and came to the conclusion that she would never understand the workings of her partner's mind.
Down the hall, the pair found a guest room with two beds that were blissfully free of human remains. When Carmen brought up the subject of who would take the first watch, Grey reasoned that since they were in the middle of a place called Minefield, few people would attempt to navigate it in the dark. Therefore, there was no need for them to keep watch.
Even so, Carmen had a hard time getting to sleep. Maybe it was the fact that the house's former owner was lying dead in the other room, or the fear that Grey could be wrong and someone really could make it through the mines. They had done it after all. After about twenty minutes, she decided to try something to take her mind off of it.
"Hey, Grey," she called softly.
"What?" he groaned from the other side of the room.
"I can't sleep."
"You don't say."
"Earlier today, you mentioned your parents and-"
"Oh, here we go."
"What is it?"
She heard Grey moving around before he answered. "Everybody always wants to hear about my parents. Just because I'm on my own, they all assume there's some story to tell. Well there's not. Me and my folks traveled with a caravan, finding things people want and selling them. A few years ago, I decided I wanted to do something more exciting. So I left and became the badass adventurer I am now. Anything else?"
There was something Carmen had been wanting to ask him. "Your name. I know your mother wouldn't name you Grey, so it's either a nickname or it's short for something."
He laughed. "Now there's a story I actually like telling. My real name is Greg, and if you laugh about that, I'll go get that skeleton and put it in your bed while you sleep."
Carmen bit her lip to hold back the giggle that had almost gotten loose.
"Well, when I got my house in Megaton, the sheriff made me sign the deed. He looked over it, and then said, 'Your name is Grey Hart?' Apparently, my handwriting wasn't very good back then, so the last letter of Greg looked like a Y. I figured that sounded a lot cooler though, so I started calling myself that ever since."
"Wow. That's pretty funny."
"Yeah." A minute passes in silence before Grey asks, "Mind if I ask you something?"
"What?"
"You asked about my parents, so tell me about yours."
The breath caught in Carmen's throat, but she guessed it was only fair. "My mom died right after I was born, so I don't know a lot about her. Dad was a doctor in Vault 101. He was nice to everyone, and always looked out for me. But when he left, everything went crazy."
"What do you mean?"
"The Vault's been closed off to the rest of the world for two hundred years. Or that's what I thought. From what Moriarty said in Megaton, he knew my dad from some time in the past when we lived outside. Anyway, when he left the Vault, the Overseer initiated a lockdown and sent the security officers after me because they thought I had helped him somehow. People got killed, Grey, and I might have too if I hadn't escaped."
"Sounds like you've had it almost as tough as most people out here. Why did your old man leave in the first place?"
"I don't know, but I plan on asking once I find him."
"You mean once we find him. We're partners, remember?"
Carmen looked over, and she could swear she saw Grey's smile glowing back at her.
"Thanks, Grey."
"Don't mention it." He yawned as he added, "Just as long as he's not the type who kills handsome young men who so much as look at his daughter."
Carmen smiled and settled back into the bed. She had forgotten that she'd started the conversation to take her mind off of their surroundings, but it didn't matter anymore as her eyelids started to droop. She knew as long as Grey was around, she had nothing to worry about. For now, anyway.
Awww. Isn't that cute? Time to ruin the mood with an action-packed next chapter. That's right, we're getting on with the plot.