Author's Note: First of all , I would like to thank Andrew . was . here and Shadow knight1121 for their kind reviews :) I would also like to thank anyone who has read so far. Anyways, I was planning on uploading this later on in the week, but I decided I would upload it now because I'm so impatient. So, I hope you enjoy :D
Wasteland Survival Part 3
Ray pulled the door to his house shut. He shoved the key into the lock and turned it until he heard the click of the lock sliding home.
"Gob's looking for you," Lucas Simms said as he walked by on his usual patrol.
"Ok then," Ray said with a hint of confusion in his voice. He'd only lived in Megaton for a week now and the closest friend he had was Lucas Simms. He'd only talked to the ghoul bartender about two times. Gob worked for Colin Moriarty, the owner of the only bar in town. Moriarty was cruel to his employees and anyone who walked into his bar. And, according to Andy Stahl, he also pissed in his still. Worse yet, his employees were slaves. And not in the figure of speech kind of way. Gob and Nova were employed to Moriarty until they could work off their debts. This was impossible because Moriarty charged them for room and board, and on top of that he kept whatever wages they made. They would work for Moriarty until either they or he died.
...
Ray pushed open the door to Moriarty's Saloon and was hit with the combined scents of cigars, booze, and body odor. This was part of the reason he tried to avoid this place as much as possible. That and the fact that you were likely to get in a bar fight with a drunken patron.
Moriarty was nowhere to be seen. He was most likely lounging in his office counting his caps, or he was upstairs in his bedroom nursing a hangover. Gob busily wiped down the counter while a bored looking Wastelander sipped lazily at whatever poison was in the glass perched in his hand. An unfamiliar man sat in a chair in the corner of the room. A dark fedora sat neatly on his head while sunglasses covered his eyes. What made him even stranger was that his skin was absent of any dirt or sunburn and that he wore a whiteish-gray pinstriped suit. He looked up at Ray with interest. He waved Ray over.
Ray cocked an eyebrow at the strange man that was waving him over. Gob looked up at Ray and was about to say something, but Ray raised a finger, telling him to wait. Gob sighed with impatience amd went back to wiping the bar. Ray made his way over to the man in the suit.
"Ahh, just when I had all but given up hope. Please, take a seat. I'm Mr. Burke," he said in a smooth voice.
Against his better judgement, Ray sat in the chair next to Mr. Burke.
"Umm, its not that kind of bar stranger," Ray said.
Burke burst into laughter. "Of course not you fool! I'm here looking for an employee,"
"If you're looking to order a drink then talk to Gob," Ray said simply.
"No. I represent an individual with certain interests in this... Megaton. And I'm certain I've never seen you around here before. That makes you a very valuable man," Mr. Burke said with a grin.
Ray decided to play along to see what Burke had in store.
Ray gave a simple nod. "I'm listening."
"You are new to this town right? No ties to its inhabitants? You see, the atomic bomb for what this town is named for is still very much alive, all it needs is a little... motivation," Burke leaned forward a little, the grin on his face becoming a twisted smirk. It was now clear to Ray that Burke had no idea that he had disarmed the bomb. "I have in my possession a Fusion Pulse charge. My employer wants to see this little mistake erased from the horizon. I think you get the picture. Simply attach the Pulse Charge to the bomb, activate it, meet me a pre-determined location, watch Megaton go boom, and be paid handsomely," Burke concluded, a devilish grin plastered on his face.
Ray swallowed the lump in his throat. "What's the offer?" Ray asked.
"1,000 caps and a suite in the best, safest place in the Capital Wasteland," Burke said, taking a sip at an amber colored liquid in his glass.
"I'll have to think about it," Ray said, rising up from the chair.
"I'll be waiting, and don't think about ratting me out," Burke said in a dangerous tone.
Ray swallowed another lump in his throat and made his way back towards Gob. A terrorist was in Megaton. Ray knew that Burke couldn't detonate the bomb, but who knew what damage the Fusion Pulse Charge could cause. Ray sat down at a barstool and steadied himself on the counter.
"You okay? You look pretty pale," Gob said, completely oblivious to what had just happened.
"No, just a little tired," Ray lied, giving a weak smile, "Lucas said you need to talk to me?" Ray said, quickly changing the subject.
"Yeah, I have a small favor to ask. I heard you go into DC sometimes when you need to scavenge. Well, there's this place there called Underworld. It's in the Museum Of History, it's a city of ghouls. There's this ghoulette there, Carol. I need you to take this to her if you can," Gob said, an apologetic tone in his voice. He held out a neatly folded piece of paper with the name Carol written on it in elegant cursive.
Ray took the note. "Do you have a family out there, Gob?" Ray asked.
"Well kinda, Carol's the closest thing I've got to family out here. She's been like a mother to me," Gob said, sadness touching his tone.
"I'm sorry. I'll be sure to get this to her," Ray said, placing the note in a pocket on his worn backpack.
A smile broke across Gob's ruined face. "Man, I can't thank you enough! I thought it would never get delivered! The caravans refuse to help," He said.
"Glad to help," Ray said.
"GOB! WHY IS YOUR ROTTING ZOMBIE ASS GABBING INSTEAD OF WORKING?" Moriarty thundered from upstairs.
"Sorry sir! You better go, Ray. You don't want to see Moriarty when he gets pissed," Gob quickly said.
Ray gave a nod and got up from the barstool, quickly turning around and ducking through the door with one final glance at Burke.
The door slammed shut behind him as he ran straight into a very intoxicated Jericho.
"Oh! I'm sorry," Ray apologized.
"What the hell is your problem? Can't ya see I'm walkin' here?" Jericho snapped. He roughly shoved Ray backwards, his head connecting with the side of Moriarty's Saloon.
Ray gripped his head. "God damn it Jericho! Why do you always have to start fights with everyone?" Ray hissed back.
Ray hated Jericho. The reason was obvious. He was completely wasted half the time and he used to be a Raider.
Instead of responding, Jericho rushed forward and smashed his fist into Ray's stomach. Ray's body tried to double over, but he knew that would make him more vulnerable. He bit back the pain that nearly pushed the contents of his stomach out of his mouth, and decked Jericho in the face. Jericho stumbled backwards and nearly fell over his own feet in his drunken hit Jericho again, catching him in his jaw this time.
Jericho growled with rage, shaking off the blow and grabbing Ray around his neck. He spun Ray around and pressed Ray's back against the thin railing that kept him from falling to the ground, a few stories below them. Ray struggled for air. He was panicking, the ground below was certain death and he couldn't escape Jericho's death grip. Jericho growled and forced Ray further over the railing, his feet had left the walkway now. Ray brought his leg up hard and kicked Jericho between the legs. Jericho let out a gasp and released Ray's neck to hold the pain exploding between his legs. Ray gasped in a deep breath and dropped back onto the walkway, coughing and sputtering for air.
A gunshot boomed through the air. Lucas Simms approached, his rifle clasped tightly in his hands. "What the hell is going on?" Lucas' deep voice boomed.
"I think it's pretty obvious," Ray croaked.
"God! I can smell him from here! Do you bathe in Whiskey, Jericho?" Lucas said. He walked over to Jericho and helped him to his feet. "Get home and sober up," Lucas barked at Jericho, shoving him in the general direction of his house, which was unfortunately right next to Ray's.
"If he wasn't such a good shot I would've thrown him out by now," Lucas said.
Ray rubbed his aching throat. "I need to talk to you about something serious."
"What's that?" Lucas asked.
"We should probably talk somewhere more private," Ray said.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, but followed Ray to his house.
...
They walked in silence until they finally sat down on the worn couch at Ray's house.
"So what is this super serious business?" Lucas asked.
"I met this weird guy in Moriarty's. And he wants me to blow up Megaton," Ray started bluntly.
"You better not be messing with me,"Lucas warned lowly.
"Why would I? I'm serious, he just doesn't know that the bomb has been disarmed," Ray said.
"Well the bomb's been disarmed. Tell him that and this wack-job will probably leave," Lucas said.
"He wants me to attach a Fusion Pulse Charge to Megaton. A Fusion Pulse Charge is a explosive that would cause a chain reaction with Megaton's core. Megaton is disarmed so it can't go off, but the Fusion Pulse Charge can. That Charge is still dangerous," Ray quickly explained.
Lucas sighed. "No matter how hard you try to keep a town safe, there's still someone trying to kill them all," He said sadly, taking off his Stetson to clasp it between his hands, "We need to kill this guy and get that charge," Lucas finally said, his hands clasping his hat nervously.
"Agreed. But if he sees you, he'll know that something is up. I'll tell him that I'll do it, bring the charge to you, then tell him that that bomb has been disarmed, or kill him if he goes ballistic," Ray said.
"I'm ready if you are," Lucas said, placing his hat back on his head.
"As I'll ever be," Ray responded hesitantly.
...
Ray walked back into Moriarty's Saloon and walked directly to Burke's table, his stomach doing nervous flips.
"I'll do it," Ray said simply.
"Excellent!" Burke said excitedly as he pulled the Charge out of his jacket, "It should be pretty straight-forward about what to do, but in case you are thick, like most Wastelanders, Mr. Leo Stahl can hook you up with some Mentats. Tell me when the task is complete," Burke said.
...
Ray carried the charge back to his house and gave it to the waiting Lucas Simms. Then he headed back up to Moriarty's Saloon.
"Sorry Burke, but it looks like the bomb has been disarmed," Ray said.
"WHAT?! How long? Who did it? Was it you?" Burke snarled.
"About a week. I don't know who did it. I heard some settlers talking about it. The guy who did it came and left," Ray lied smoothly, adding a shrug to his shoulders for effect.
Burke quickly stood from the chair. He cleared his throat and straightened his tie. "Well, my employer will not be satisfied. You better hope that I don't find that you had anything to do with this. You have no idea who I am," Burke warned. With that, he stormed out of the Saloon.
Ray watched Burke until he left town, then headed back to his house.
"It worked," he announced to Lucas.
"Great! I'll hide this charge in a safe until we figure out what to do with it. Once again, you saved our sorry hides. Here's 300 caps. Don't spend it all in one place," He grinned and clapped a hand on Ray's shoulder.
Ray followed Lucas outside and looked up at the stars that had begun to light up the night. Gob's letter could wait until tomorrow.