Wasteland Survival Part 4
Ray struggled to force the metro gate shut. The group of feral ghouls on the other side of the gate pushed back at Ray, their hands clawing hungrily at him. They howled in his ears and forced their decaying hands through any gaps they could find. With a loud grunt, Ray slammed his shoulder into the gate and pushed harder and harder until the gate slammed with a sickening crunch. One of the ghouls howled in pain and jumped away from the gate as it cut the ghoul's hand off. Rich crimson stained the rusted gate and the ruined concrete where the ghoul's severed hand lay.
Ray gagged and jumped away from the severed hand. The ghouls continued to howl and gurgle. Ray turned and dashed away from the gruesome sight. "You'd think that I'd be used to this shit by now," he mumbled to himself.
...
Ray was approaching the ruins of a building that had clearly taken the full punishment from the Wasteland, when suddenly a gunshot cracked through the air and a bullet buried itself in the ground just inches away from Ray. He drew his 10mm and turned to deal with the source of the bullet, until he saw it had come from a group of super mutants.
Ray's heart leapt into his throat. His 10mm and .32 wouldn't make a scratch on the mutants. He didn't even want to think about getting close enough to use the machete. Ray panicked, looking around for a place to hide. Then he spotted a Pulowski Personal Preservation machine.
Ray took off towards the machine, the mutants in hot pursuit. He reached it and clumsily slammed his hands into the slider to open the door. When he smacked it hard enough, the doors flung right open. He threw himself inside, the door sliding shut behind him.
The mutants reached the box shortly after Ray, their massive hands grabbing at the door. "HOW HE GET INSIDE?" One mutant asked stupidly. They slammed, pulled, punched, shot, and shook the machine. Ray crouched inside, feeling much like a caged rat, or a canned dinner. It was only a matter of time before they got inside.
Suddenly something slammed into the machine, it sounded like a rock or some kind of small thrown object. "GRENADE!" A mutant hollered in his ruined voice. A massive explosion sounded outside of the Preservation System. There was a mutant cry of pain and sounds of gunfire being exchanged.
Ray pulled out his 10mm. "Please don't let it be Raiders," He quietly murmured to himself. The door to the System slowly slid open. Ray pointed his gun at whoever stood in the doorway while shielding his eyes from the bright sunshine with his free hand.
"I'd suggest that you get that gun out of my face if you want to keep on breathing," A female voice snarled.
Ray slowly lowered his gun and hand. "Oh, thank God," Ray breathed. A member of the Brotherhood Of Steel stood outside of the System. A laser rifle was gripped tightly in her hands, her light blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail. The Brotherhood Of Steel was the closest thing there was to any sort of army in the Wastes. They were the "good guys" and the Enclave were the "bad guys." Ray didn't care much for politics but he could've kissed the Brotherhood's gleaming power-armored feet for saving him.
"What the hell are you doing out here? Surely you realize that you're in the hell-hole slash war zone that is DC?" She hissed in an irritated tone.
"I'm sorry, I just have some scavving to do and errands to run," Ray quickly apologized.
She sighed. "Well you picked a bad time. Anyways, I'm Sentinel Sarah Lyons of The Lyon's Pride section of the Brotherhood. We are headed to Galaxy News Radio. You're free to follow us if you like, but don't get in the way or try to attack us. I'm stressed enough as it is, I don't need some idiot trying to kill us while we're not looking."
Ray nodded and bent down to scoop up the hunting rifle that one of the mutants had dropped. Sarah turned and set off at a brisk pace that the rest of the members of the Brotherhood group matched easily despite their heavy power armor. Ray jogged after them. A member fell back to match Ray's pace.
"Don't worry, you're in the hands of the best outfit in the whole damn Brotherhood. Initiate Reddin at your service," A muffled female voice said in a friendly tone from behind the heavy helmet that she wore.
"I'm Ray," he responded with a light smile.
"So why are you out here?" Reddin asked.
"Do some scavving, deliver a letter for a friend," Ray said, giving a light shrug.
"That's nice that you came all the way out here. You show some real initiative. The Brotherhood is always looking for new recruits," Reddin said.
"Oh shut up Reddin. We don't any more recruits. This kid's so green he couldn't even take out a couple of muties," a male voice snapped.
"You try taking out those bastards with a 10mm and a .32!" Ray sniped back.
"I'd do it with my bare fists!" He hissed back.
"Fu-" Ray began, but was cut off by Sarah Lyons.
"Yes we know you both are all hopped up on testosterone, but you better calm down before you both get your asses kicked by a girl," Sarah said with a light grin.
The rest of the group laughed.
"Sorry Sentinel Lyons," the man said without any trace of apology in his tone as he gave Ray a hard glare.
"Let's move," Sarah announced to the group. She led them out of the alleyway and out into the open street. A grenade sailed through the air, landing by a destroyed car. The Brotherhood dove for cover. The grenade exploded and blew up the car as well. An enormous blast of heat washed over the group. The Brotherhood rose to their feet, surprisingly unscathed. They opened fire on a building across the street, several muties falling from the destroyed building.
"All clear! Let's move, keep an eye out for signs of muties!" Sarah commanded. Ray struggled to reload the hunting rifle, inwardly cursing himself for this lack of a skill with a rifle.
...
They soon entered another decrepit building. "Geez, how many of these things can there be," The man who had argued with Ray earlier complained, as he blasted a mutant in the face.
"Keep shooting!" Sarah snapped back, as she blew another mutant off of a ledge above them. Ray hastily cocked his hunting rifle and shot a mutant in the gut, causing it to tumble of a ledge. Another unnamed member of their group shoved a new cartridge of bullets into his mini-gun and unloaded at the mutants.
...
A few minutes later they had stepped into GNR Plaza and were met by three mutants hastily firing at the building that was Galaxy News Radio. Another Brotherhood Of Steel group crouched behind sandbags and fired back at the mutants. Lyons Pride easily took the mutants by surprise and soon GNR Plaza was clear of all threats.
"Great job guys!" Sarah praised. Several members were dragging dead Brotherhood troops towards GNR. None of the members in Ray's group were killed, but obviously many holding down the fort at GNR were.
There was hardly time for a breather when a thunderous scraping, booming sound could be heard coming towards them.
"What the hell is that?" Reddin shouted. She turned from the group and made her towards a bus that seperated them form the sound, her hands pulling at its decayed doors so she could look for the source of the sound.
"Reddin get back! BEHEMOTH!" Sarah shouted, her voice full of fear as a shadow fell over the bus.
'Behemoth? What in the hell is a behemoth?' Ray thought to himself.
A massive super mutant kicked the bus, its leg smashing through it as if it were a child's toy. The gas tank ruptured and the lasers from the Brotherhoods' guns turned it into a bomb. Reddin was tossed through the air by the explosion, her neck breaking with a sick crack when she slammed head-first into the fountain.
"Reddin!" Ray shouted. He was drowned out by the massive roar that the behemoth released. The behemoth was at least five stories tall, it carried a massive club that was topped by an incredibly large sized fire hydrant.
"GET THE FAT MAN!" Someone shouted frantically, pointing at a large gun that lay by the fountain. Ray carried himself towards it, hardly realizing what he was doing. He scooped up the gun, which looked like a missle launcher. A mini-nuke was nestled in the gun, ready to fire. It looked like a much smaller Megaton. Ray turned back towards the behemoth, about to pull the trigger, when suddenly it rushed forward, grabbing Ray in its enormous fist and tossing him to the side. Ray held on to the Fat Man for dear life. He didn't make a sound as he flew through the air. He closed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and prepared for impact. The sensation might've even been fun if he was going to be caught by a soft mattress. He smacked into the hard concrete of the ground like an asteroid slamming into the Earth.
Stars exploded in his vision. He had landed on his stomach. His breath was roughly forced from his lungs. He bit his tongue and spit out a mouthful of blood. He pried his eyes open only to see red. Blood trickled down his forehead and into his eyes. Pain was erupting everywhere. He let out a weak cry and grabbed the Fat Man. He rolled onto his back which made the pain even more excruciating. He aimed at the massive back of the behemoth and fired. The mini-nuke soared gracefully through the air, much as Ray had a moment ago, and exploded against the behemoth's back. There was a flash brighter than the sun and a blast of heat unlike anything Ray had ever felt before. The behemoth fell with a finishing bellow of death and then slammed onto the ground below.
Ray let his head fall back and let the Fat Man fall from his grip. "He did it!" Someone shouted. There was the sound of power armored feet running over to him.
Sarah Lyons stood over him. "Oh my God. You're bleeding everywhere! We need a medic! Get him inside!" She called to the others. She fell to her knees beside him. Her hands frantically trying to wipe the blood from his eyes.
"Is everyone all right?" He asked weakly, spitting out another mouthful of blood.
"Everyone seems ok, except you and Reddin..." She trailed off.
"I'm sorry about Reddin," Ray managed to mumble.
"I know. It's always sad to see your comrades die. She was too young, cocky, and pretty sure that she was indestructible. A lot of Initiates are like that. They die the most," She trailed off again, "But stop talking now, you're pooling more blood into your mouth."
Several members of the Brotherhood rushed over and scooped Ray up causing him to moan in agony.
"It'll be okay. We're almost inside. You'll be fine," One of his carriers said in a reassuring voice. Ray had doubts about that, but couldn't voice them before everything went black.
Authors Note: Is this -gasp- a cliffhanger? Why yes, yes it is mwahahaha! -clears throat- Sorry about that, I couldn't resist! I really hope you liked this chapter, and please review!