Author's Note: As always, I'm sorry for how long this took. School has been rough and I've been watching an unhealthy amount of Alchestbreach videos... As for news on From The Vault, I've been trying to piece a storyline. Since it started as a one-shot I didn't exactly think it all the way through. I've gotten Alex's background established and I'm working on the storyline, which is coming slowly because I've mostly been thinking of Wasteland Survival. Anyway, enjoy this major chapter!
Wasteland Survival Part 14
The gun store Sarah had mentioned was a rather small shop. Nothing too impressive, so it was possibly locally or family owned before the atomic fire consumed the world.
"Sarah, I'm not sure if you noticed this or not, but the front door is boarded up and the windows have bars and boards on them," Jericho said somewhat mockingly, approaching the door and pulling at the boards.
"I already knew that Jericho. I already knocked you on your ass once, are you trying for a second time?" Sarah asked back tauntingly, casting a sidelong glare at Jericho's back.
"Guys? Can we pry our jaws away from each others' throats and act normal for five minutes?" Ray interrupted.
"Fine. But I think you should know that she started it," Jericho grumbled, a playful grin on his face.
Sarah groaned. "Nice to know we're all adults here," Sarah said sarcastically, leading the way around the squat building to a large L-shaped vent on the side of the faded brick. Slinging her Laser Rifle on her back, she approached the vent and began scaling it with her usual grace.
"No way in hell that I'm trying that. I'll just keep watch down here; I've climbed enough shit for a while," Jericho announced to the two before he turned to lean against the side of the building and light a cigarette.
"Suit yourself," Ray mumbled, looking at the vent and hauling himself up onto the lowest part of it. The vent dented and made somewhat loud metallic sounds as it bowed under his feet. He jumped again, one hand landing on the top of the vent and the other landing on the rooftop. Sarah grabbed his arm and hauled him up with a grunt.
...
After finding a loose panel on the roof, the duo moved silently through the small store, smashing Radroaches and grabbing ammo off the already looted shelves. The store was mostly empty, but they managed to find some Microfusion Cells, 5.56 rounds, 10mm rounds, and a damaged 10mm Submachine gun. Looting the safe had given them 30 caps, Pre-War money, and a Scoped .44 Magnum with no ammo. The rest of the store was a mess, with shelves toppled and various worthless items scattered around.
Ray climbed back up through the hole in the ceiling first, chivalrously helping Sarah up. She gave a small smile and nodded to him, before jogging and vaulting off the side of the building. Ray dashed after her in shock, looking down to see her perfectly okay and staring up at him expectantly.
"What? It's a one story building. Not a skyscraper in D.C." She laughed, giving him a cocky smirk.
"Touchè ," He called, before climbing down the air duct. Ray and Sarah walked back to the front of the building where Jericho was keeping watch. Jericho had his back turned to them and was obviously drinking something.
"Jericho!" Ray yelled at the older man.
Jericho whirled around, hiding the bottle behind his back and choking on the amber liquid as he feigned innocence. "Yeah?"
"You're drinking the "missing" Whiskey, right?" Sarah asked sarcastically, giving him a smirk.
"No sir!" Jericho said in a military tone, saluting with his right arm and hurling the empty bottle on top of the gun store with his left. Ray rolled his eyes jokingly before walking past Jericho, slapping him on the shoulder as he went. "Great job keeping watch."
...
The walk back to the hotel was shorter than expected, Sarah watched for the glare as they traveled, but she didn't see it. Either the sniper got smart, or he wasn't a Talon after all. They reached the hotel as the sun dipped behind the clouds, setting the horizon and its neighboring clouds on fire. "Did you see anything, Sarah?" Ray asked as entered the hotel.
"No. If he was a Talon he repositioned so that the sun wouldn't glare on his scope."
"Maybe he was just a curious Wastelander and nothing to worry about, like I told you paranoid jackasses," Jericho grumbled, obviously getting irritated because the walk had made his knees hurt.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last remark. Anyway, that wouldn't be the first time I've seen that happen, nearly had one of my team take out some Waster watching us through his scope, then he saw our sniper aiming back at him and he nearly shit his pants before he started yelling that he was just watching us. It was pretty funny actually," Sarah giggled at the memory.
"Let me guess, you didn't laugh at the time, but told the grunts to shut up while you laughed inside?" Jericho asked sarcastically.
Sarah gave a small grin but spoke in a businesslike tone. "Military leaders are supposed to be serious and never be too lenient. I just told the grunts we have to keep our guard up."
Jericho grunted in response and heaved himself on his bed with a sigh of relief. "Sorry if I'm being more of an asshole than usual. My knees are fucking killing me."
"Sarah, have I been drugged or did Jericho just apologize?" Ray asked jokingly, feigning confusion.
"I think he did. What the hell is going on?" She said, giving Ray a confused look before laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't expect it to happen again," Jericho snapped back.
"Oh, we found some 5.56 rounds for your rifle," Ray said, tossing the box at Jericho, where it landed on his chest.
"Thanks kid," Jericho mumbled, putting the ammo on the floor by his rifle.
"Want me to show you guys how to do some better upkeep on your weapons? It would help us get it done faster when we have to clean or fix them in the future," Sarah offered.
"I could use it. Pretty much taught myself to do it and all my weapons fall apart," Ray said with a chuckle.
"Nah. I'm good for fixing my weapons," Jericho said with a yawn, kicking off his boots and laying on his bed.
"Then why do I always do it?" Sarah responded.
"Because I'm lazy," Jericho grinned before turning over and saying goodnight.
Sarah rolled her eyes and moved to sit on Ray's bed to help him fix the 10mm Submachine gun and the two pistols.
...
The Talons had moved closer and their spotter was looking at the hotel room through his binoculars. "So when should we attack them?"
Rilon chewed his cheek in thought for a moment. "When they go to sleep, then we'll move in to take them."
...
Ray and Jericho had retired to bed and Sarah sat in a chair, looking out the small window as she firmly gripped her Laser Rifle. She was tired, and a quick look at the watch her father had given her showed that it was 2:12 A.M. She sighed. She had always hated keeping watch, mostly due to the boredom that ensued.
Her head drooped again, a loose strand of hair tickling her cheek and startling her awake. It was too early for this! She clenched her jaw and bore her eyes into the darkness, her mind wandering, unaware of the sniper that had her in his sights.
...
"The girl is falling asleep. It's now or never," the sniper announced gruffly.
"Alright let's move in!" Rilon barked.
The young spotter couldn't help but feel heavy guilt. He had only joined up with the Talons because his father had been one, so there was heavy pressure for him to follow in his father's footsteps. "Are you sure about enslaving them? It just doesn't feel right."
Rilon turned to glare at him. "I've had it up to here with your shit, Daniels. Why did you even join the Talons? You're a pussy and you've got no balls. If you undermine me one more fucking time, I'm going to shoot you right in the face," He seethed, his face inches away from Daniels'.
Daniels looked at the ground and gave a stiff nod.
...
Sarah had dozed into a deep dreamless sleep, but she was suddenly startled awake by the sound of glass breaking. Her eyes flew open and she saw that the window was broken. She flew out of the chair and looked at the object that was nearby on the floor. "Flashbang!" She yelled before the grenade exploded and blinded her and the other two who woke at her cry.
She fell to the floor, ears ringing as she struggled to blink the spots from her eyes. Ray and Jericho writhed in their beds, rubbing their eyes and letting out cries of panic. Sarah had experienced flashbangs before, but Ray and Jericho hadn't.
If they weren't temporarily blinded they'd see the Talons kicking in the door. They were only aware of the Talons when they were being hauled up and handcuffed. They were roughly pulled outside and forced to sit in the dirt while they waited for their senses to return.
When the ringing stopped and vision was returned they looked up to see about 10 Talons. Three were looking down at them while the others threw their bags outside. "If you can see or hear me, say something," Rilon barked.
"How about this? Fuck you," Jericho spat acidly. Rilon smirked at him, then cracked him across the jaw with his fist. Jericho fell onto his side, spitting blood into the dirt.
Rilon moved to stand before Sarah. "What about you? Can you hear me?"
Sarah clenched her jaw, saying nothing but glaring at the man before her. "Not everyday that I get a pretty blonde on her knees in front of me. Better say something before I take advantage of that," He said smugly, flashing a lecherous grin.
"Leave her alone asshole!" Ray seethed at him.
"Ooh! Our target has a bite to him!" Rilon laughed as he strolled casually over to Ray. He stooped in front of Ray and stared him in the face. "Did you tell me to leave her alone?"
Ray clenched his jaw, but when Rilon continued to stare at him, he spat in his face. The Talon's eyes went wide as the saliva splattered on his face, and he was immediately seeing red. He jumped at Ray, getting him in a brutal chokehold, and flicking out a switchblade. He held the knife right near Ray's left eye, and looked at Sarah with a pure expression of sadistic joy. "Now, you're going to tell me. Can you fucking talk or not? If you don't answer me, your boy here is gonna need a motherfucking eyepatch."
"Yes! Just let him go, please!" She shrieked at the leader, trying to ignore the fact that she was begging to a Talon.
He gave a smile before closing the knife and roughly heaving Ray to the ground. "Get these assholes on their feet," He barked to his men. Three burly Talons came over to haul the trio to their feet.
"Now. It's time for the friendship necklaces," He said with a small laugh. He produced three Slave Collars from a nearby dufflebag, and clicked them a little too tightly around their necks.
"What in the hell is this?" Ray asked, shifting at the bulky metal around his neck.
"A Slave Collar. If you run he can hit a remote control and blow your head off," Sarah said flatly.
"Well aren't you smart? Yeah, you even think about running and I'll pop your head like a fucking zit," Rilon responded.
"What's the point of all this? Weren't you supposed to kill me anyway?" Ray said, angry and confused.
The Talon shook his head. "I was supposed to, but you guys are some very valuable people. With the exception of him maybe," He muttered nodding his head at Jericho.
Jericho glared and spit blood at the lead Talon's boots, but he sidestepped the liquid.
"How are we valuable?" Ray questioned further.
"In the slave trade, obviously. You stupid or something? Now shut up, we got some miles to cover."
"Where are you taking us?" Ray pushed.
"Oh my god. Shut up! We're taking you to paradise," He barked, "Now shut the hell up before I cut your tongue out!"
Ray opened his mouth to retort, but Sarah gave him a look that silenced him. He clenched his jaw and nodded. "Alright. Let's move out!" Rilon ordered the others.
Thanks to everyone so far:
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