Chapter 3: The Underground
~Mei's POV~
I woke up the following morning. I was thinking about the bomb all night, and I had an epiphany. There was a wire that was odd. It looked kind of special. I had a feeling that that wire was the one. I would have to take a look at it after I had breakfast.
My muscles screamed in protest as I sat up. My body wasn't yet used to toiling in the burning sun all day, but I would have to press on to GNR Studios, wherever that was, in order to find my dad.
Kari was nowhere to be seen, but I knew she couldn't have gone off too far. As I went down the stairs, I saw my younger sister sitting on a stool, talking to the barkeeper. She held her pip-boy up, and he was pointing to various places. I went over and sat next to her.
"And take care, kid. Be sure to watch for the Super Mutants. They tend to rip your kind to shreds. Don't interact with anyone unless it's a caravan. Be sure to watch for Raiders. They tend to shoot and questions later."
"What are Super Mutants and Raiders?" she questioned. "And Caravans? How will I know when I see them?"
"Super Mutants are giant green monsters. You'll know when you see one. Raiders are humans that have sadistic needs and enjoy torturing other humans and ghouls," he stated. "The usually wear very... revealing armor covered in spikes. Caravans are what we use to trade goods and such. They usually have a Brahmin carrying their goods and some sort of guard. Trust me when I say you'll know when you see them."
"Thank you, Gob. I'm going to leave after I stock up on more ammo and go wash my clothes. Have any idea where I can do these things?"
"You can go to Moira's at Craterside Supply for the ammo, then just go to the bathroom to wash your clothes."
"Thanks," she replied before turning to me. "I've got the location to GNR, so we can go as soon as we're ready."
My sister nodded before she headed out to find Moira Brown. She had the caps, and I was no good with the ration coupons down in the Vault. I would always use them up if I got my hands on them, so I was never really allowed to touch them. The same would probably happen with the caps. As I was about to leave, a man in the corner of the bar motioned for me to come over to him.
"My, my. Just when I had all but given up hope. My dear girl, I am very happy to make your acquaintance. I am Mr. Burke," he introduced. "And you, well, you are not a resident of this putrescent cesspool. That makes you a rather valuable individual."
I could tell he wanted something. "Look, I'm kind of in a hurry. If you want something, just spit it out."
"Very well," he continued. "I am looking to employ an individual with no ties to Megaton, no interest in its future. You see, I need Megaton to... go away, and you are going to see that it does."
"Wait, you're going to destroy the town?"
"No, no. I am merely a recruiter. YOU get to have the real fun," he stated. "As you know, the bomb for which this town is named is very much alive. All it needs is a little... motivation. I have in my possession a Fusion Pulse Charge, made especially for this occasion. Once rigged, it will be detonated by you at a safe location. Easy money."
Judging by the way he was presenting himself and the body language he was using, he was trying to seduce me into doing the dirty work. This stuff had already been tried on my back in the Vault by the other kids. Well, let the games begin.
"Well, Mr. Burke, I must say that I have a proposition of my own. Would you care to hear it?" I asked in my most seductive voice.
"Color me intrigued. Go on..."
"Well, you see, I live here, lover. Surely, a man like you wouldn't want to hurt little me..."
"W-well... Of course not. I mean, I've never met a woman quite like you before. This... This changes everything. I'm not... not sure what I'm going to tell Tenpenny... I'll think of something," he stuttered. "You wait here. I have some important business to attend to, my dear, but you won't be waiting long. I shall send for you soon. Still, should you change your mind..."
He slipped an odd device into my hand as he stood up to leave. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but I had plenty of time before I decided exactly what I did want to do. I stared at him, curiously wondering why he had given in to my advances so quickly. I knew I was pretty, but I guess I was kind of interesting, too. Most people could tell that I wasn't your average wastelander.
I fingered the device in my hand, debating on whether or not to detonate it rather than deactivate it. It would be much easier, and I would be done quicker, but we had to leave soon. We probably wouldn't be going back any time soon, and I didn't have any grudge against the people of Megaton. Maybe someday I would, but not at the moment. If we came back to town someday, I might make a decision then. I felt the power of the device speaking to me. It told me just how much power I had over the people here. I could kill them in an instant, and they would never know that it was me. Or, I could be a goody-two shoes and deactivate the bomb. Whatever. I'd decide later.
Instead of going to take a look at the bomb, I wandered around town. I somehow ended up in front of the exit. I wondered just what lay outside the walls, but I had practically no ammo for my gun. Kari was getting that. She was probably getting something else, too, for herself, and I would guess that she would see about more medical supplies. I sighed before returning to the saloon.
~Hikari's POV~
Moira Brown was a rather... enthusiastic individual who requested my help with some kind of book. I turned her down, saying that I didn't have time. Truly, she seemed pretty crazy, but I ignored it and purchased all of her 10mm ammo and a .32mm pistol for myself, along with the ammo. I had to sell my BB gun and the ammo for that, but it was for the best. The gun was nowhere near as powerful as some of the ones that people out in the wastes used. She then gave me some kind of armored Vault 101 jumpsuit, but I have no idea why. It offered more protection, so I took it and thanked her. I noticed that she had a small kitchen in the back. I asked her if I could use it after I took a shower. She agreed readily and I bade her farewell for the moment.
After taking a shower and washing my clothes in the women's restroom, carefully watching my radiation level while doing so, I went back to Moira's to make something for my sister and I to eat. Again, I thanked Moira before heading back the saloon to say farewell to Gob and give the food to my sister. I was surprised to see that she was sitting at the bar, seemingly deep in thought. She didn't notice when I walked up to her and sat next to her. She didn't notice me until I set the bowl of Blamco Mac and Cheese in front of her.
"Oh, thanks," she muttered.
"You seem really out of it," I observed. "What's on your mind?"
"Nothing," she lied as she turned to the food.
"Mei, I've known you for over nineteen years. Something is up. What is it?"
"Nothing I want to talk about," she said.
"It's not healthy for you to keep your emotions bottled up. You know you can tell me anything, right?"
She nodded. "Honestly, it's nothing of concern. I was wondering if we'll ever see dad again."
"Me too," I stated. "Well, once we're done eating, we can go. I've already got things in order. I've got your ammo and I bought myself a new gun, but we can trade if you want."
"Nope. I'm good," she said through a mouthful. I was honestly surprised that I could understand her.
"Well, kid, I guess this is goodbye," Gob stated.
"I guess so," I replied. "We'll be leaving once Mei finishes."
"Well, good luck," he said. "And be careful. The wastes change people. Don't do drugs; don't pick a fight, all that stuff. If you ever find Underworld, tell Carol I said Hi, and that I'm doing well."
"Thanks," I replied. "And I'll be sure to do that."
"You, too, Mei," he said, but it was more of a threat than a warning, judging by his tone.
She nodded, only half-listening. Something was up with her, and I knew it wasn't my place to pry, but I wanted to help her with whatever was bothering her.
The walk was rather hot. I was debating on removing my armored jumpsuit and just wearing my tee-shirt and shorts that I had underneath, but if I came across any that wished me harm, I would be very vulnerable. I suffered through it until I came across a place my pip-boy identified as Springvale elementary. A few red blips appeared on my radar. I glanced around. On top of the school, I counted three people, all in rather revealing armor, covered in shoulder spikes. Raiders.
I showed Mei before we crouched down behind a nearby dumpster. Luckily, they hadn't spotted us yet. We carefully took aim, activating our Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, or VATS. Green glazed over my vision as time seemed to slow down and the usual numbers popped up, telling me the percent chance of hitting each limb of each raider. I aimed for the right leg of the one on the right.
Our first shots rang out, signaling them to our presence. The first shot was lucky and hit the target, crippling his leg, nearly taking him out with one shot. I quickly fired two more, taking him out. We would have used VATS to help take out the other two, but my battery required charging. Luckily, it charged over time on its own. I manually aimed at them while avoiding their shots, which proved to be more difficult than I had originally thought. Mei was a much better shot than I was, and she wasn't hesitant with her shots. I didn't feel right.
I had been grazed by a couple bullets on my right arm and cheek, not to mention the fact that I had used a full clip of ammo after finishing them off. My pip-boy beeped, signaling that I had a full battery again. I glanced over at Mei. She had seemingly no cuts or injuries.
I sighed and went to attend to my wounds with a stimpak, but there were no wounds to attend to. I thought for sure that I felt the sting of the bullet, but there was nothing. Maybe I had imagined it in the heat of battle, but I shrugged it off. Mei had walked over to one of the Raiders that had fallen off of the roof. She smirked and pulled a couple rounds of 10mm ammo. I didn't want to go near the body, so I didn't know if she had anything that I would find useful.
We arrived not much longer after that, descending down the stairs into the dark, cool tunnels below. It felt so much better than being in the beating sun, but the cold was a bit too cold. I hugged my jumpsuit closer to my body, thankful that I had kept the armored one on. Entering an old ticket booth, I looked at a decrypted map, plotting my best course and getting a rough map for the tunnels. From the looks of things, most of the tunnels would be caved in, but I'd try my luck. I don't really know how long I walked through the tunnels, nor did I know how many feral ghouls, raiders, or radroaches Mei had killed before we were too tired to go on. We were starving and freezing, but had nothing to cook with, nor any more clothes. We decided to eat our last bit of sugar bombs, and while searching through my inventory, I noticed that I had a Tunnel Snakes Jacket. I didn't really want to wear it because it had belonged to my childhood bully, but I was desperate. I took it out and slipped it on. To my misfortune, it smelled just like Vault 101 and the disgusting cologne that Butch used to wear when trying to seduce Christine or Susie. It made me slightly sick to my stomach, but also comforted me in a strange way. I would never go back, ever. The Overseer would have all of his guards on alert, not to mention the fact that I needed the password to enter, but I didn't want to go back. They had kicked me out, and it was their loss, not mine. I was the only thing close to a doctor since they killed Jonas and Dad left. Andy might be able to be reprogrammed, but I doubted that after my 10th birthday when he destroyed the cake.
I sighed and shut off my pip-boy light, curling up with Mei in an abandoned supply closet nearby. It was cold, but I somehow managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.
The following morning, at least, I think it was morning, I awoke to gunshots. By the sound of it, it was a rather big gun; definitely not a pistol, but not anything really big, either. Probably just a two-handed gun, but the sound reverberated off of the walls, making it louder than it was. I could hear cries of pain and anger from Raiders, some shouting things along the lines of, "Die, zombie!" The only time I had heard that insult was back in Megaton when some of the rather rude residents were referring to Gob, so I could tell whoever it was, was a ghoul.
Mei was already peeking around the corner, so I quickly brought out my gun and turned the safety off. Once it was cocked, I slowly looked out the door and around the corner. Someone was taking on a bunch of raiders by himself with only the wall for cover. It was hard to make him out in the dark, but if he was taking on raiders, then we had a common enemy. The way he handled his gun, I could tell he was an expert, and definitely no feral.
From my vantage point, I could make out the forms of the raiders. Mei had already begun to attack the Raiders before I activated V.A.T.S. and quickly disposed of one. I ducked back into my shelter, waiting for the battery to refill, but it was slower than usual. I guessed it was because it was partially solar-powered. I turned my attention back to the battle and fired off the rest of my clip before taking cover again. The Raiders just seemed to keep coming, and I feared that Mei and I would soon run out of ammo. What had we just gotten ourselves into?
The Raiders had just seemed to notice Mei and me, and began to fire upon us, as well. We were forced to take cover in between shots, but the gunfire seemed to be letting up. I hoped that they were finally either thinning out or running out of ammo. Both would be best. I had only two clips left by the time the firing seemed to stop. The figure carefully entered the room before firing a couple shots. I watched as he then proceeded to turn to where we were hiding. Not knowing how he would react, I ducked back in, clutching my pistol tightly in my hands. It wasn't until he entered the room that I realized how big he was. I guessed him to be nearing seven feet, with muscle literally showing through his clothing. He was packed solid, and he held a combat shotgun. He pointed the gun in our direction and motioned for us to stand up. He stood head and shoulders above me as I stood, my hands up and my gun placed on the floor.
"Pick it up, idiot," he said in a gravelly, almost mocking voice. "You lower your weapon to any wastelander that comes near you?"
"No," Mei stated, picking up my gun, handing it to me before I turned on my pip-boy light on so I could get a better view of my temporary ally. "It's just that we're almost out of ammo after saving your butt, and she'd rather not get into a fight at the moment."
He stared at me with his filmy blue eyes. I returned the stare, intimidated, but not letting it show through. I knew that we were completely at his mercy, but I wouldn't back down. I had to find my father. He was the only other person besides Mei that I had left. Suddenly, the ghoul turned around and headed down the tunnel.
"Hey, wait, where are you going?" Mei called after him. "We just saved you and didn't even get a thank-you!"
"Kid, I am not allowed to converse with anyone other than to tell them that I cannot converse with them," he stated, his gaze turning blank.
"Whoa, you act like you're a slave... Are you?"
He ignored us and turned back around, entering the gore-filled room. Something told me he was. Unfortunately, my pip-boy told me that I needed to pass through the room that he had just entered. He continued to ignore us as he dug around the room and searched through the bodies. He collected caps, but left everything else.
"Why are you only taking the caps when it's pretty obvious that you have the same kind of gun and ammo as that Raider?" I questioned.
Again, he ignored us and only took the caps. I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. Neither Mei's nor my gun had caused as big of a mess as the one we were standing in. The smell and sight made me want to empty the contents of my stomach on the floor, but I suppressed the urge. Mei might not be as sensitive as I was, but if I threw up, then she would, too.
Mei glared at him, but scavenged some ammo for our gun and a couple more stimpaks and med-x, all of which she added to my bag before continuing on our way. I could hear the footsteps of the ghoul from earlier coming from behind us.
"Why are you following me?" Mei asked without turning around or stopping.
Still, he gave her no reply. I wondered if he was almost feral. That would explain the silence and seemingly lack of understanding. Mei stopped and turned around to face him. As he neared us, I noticed that his arm was bleeding profusely through a hole.
"You're bleeding," I stated rather stupidly.
Being a doctor's daughter and medical lab rat, it was my instinct to pull out my medical supplies. He protested many, many times and tried to keep walking, but I forced him to hold still, telling him that I was a doctor. It took a while to get him to relax just enough for me to take care of it. I got the feeling that he didn't like or trust me at all, but I didn't care. He seemed to realize that I wasn't going to stop until he let me. It was my job to take care of injured people when my father or Jonas couldn't back in the Vault, even if the person being treated didn't want to. My father also said that I had something called "Maternal Instincts," so I would have urges to help people in need. Since Jonas was dead and my father was missing, my years of internal programming kicked in.
I wrapped the wound tightly in gauze after cleaning it up and bandaging it. After that, I pulled out two syringes, one of med-x and a stimpak. I ejected them both just before the wound into the exposed muscle. Gob had told me about ghouls and how they worked in my brief free time back in Megaton before I left, and he told me that meds didn't work well on ghouls, but radiation heals them and makes them stronger. I didn't have any kind on me, so I couldn't help him other than that.
I noticed that the ghoul's skin was rather rough, and not squishy like Gobs. It made me wonder if the hardness of the skin showed how long someone had been a ghoul. Ghouls fascinated me. I realized that while I was tending to his wound. Before coming out of the Vault, I had never imagined anything like that. I kind of liked their deep, rough voices and the colors of their eyes. They were sort of creamy shades of light, pale blues and greens. Also, I find it fascinating how a ghoul can live without half of their skin to hold their muscle together. And how do the veins function without the skin to protect them? They are very fragile from what I've read up on, and yet they can withstand as much pressure as someone with skin has. I learned that one from Gob. They were also healed by radiation and were much sturdier than the average human being. I wanted to study the ghouls, but I doubted than any one of them would let a, "Smoothskin," like me do any kind of experiment on them.
The ghoul, his arm now getting better faster than it would have without my help, walked at a faster pace than us and left Mei and I behind with our pip-boy lights to guide us through the dark, dank underground.
"Why did you help that ghoul?" Mei asked. "He probably would have been fine."
"I don't like seeing people that way," I stated. "What if the situation was reversed, Mei? What if either you or I were hurt and he was able to help? You'd want him to help. I know you would, even if the one harmed would have been fine."
She sighed, but dropped it.
~Mei's POV~
We made it out around noon-time, but there was no sign of the ghoul anywhere. I shrugged it off and carried on through the ruins of Downtown D.C. We had to find GNR by nightfall. Gob had told us about the Super Mutants, and those sounded like something I didn't want to meet. As we pressed on, we unfortunately did meet some of the freakish muties. They were huge, and pretty immune to my bullets, but quite a few well-places shots to the head tended to do the trick, if you could pierce the skull. I was nearly out of ammo by the time I had killed my first couple.
Soon, we met up with a couple of people in odd armor. I first thought they were another form of mutants, but I saw them attacking the Super Mutants with energy weapons and approached them.
"Stand back, civilian. This place is off limits," one stated.
"But we have to get to Galaxy News Radio," Kari stated.
The woman seemed to find us odd. "Are you crazy? This place is infested with Super Mutants!"
"I don't care," I replied. "I have to get there because that's where our dad went!"
She sighed. "Fine, you can tag along, but if you get killed, it's your own fault, and we won't stop for you. My name is Sarah Lyons, by the way."
I nodded and we followed her and her squad further into the ruins. I watched her take down the mutants with only two shots with her rifle. I wished I could be of more assistance so we could get there faster, but my ammo was nearly depleted. As we passed through the wall of a decayed building, I saw a few more grenades and mines sitting in a broken locker. I scooped them up and placed them in my bag. Leaning against the other side of the locker was a hunting rifle and tons of .32 ammo. My pip-boy read it to be in good condition, so I grabbed and loaded it after giving the pistol to Kari. She would need it more than me, now.
We had to run to catch back up with our current traveling acquaintances, and they said we were nearing the station. I could feel something in my gut, saying that something was wrong. I didn't know what, but everything seemed to be going too smoothly. I could tell that something was about to go awry.
When the studio came into view, I saw a dead body lying at what appeared to be a broken fountain. A gigantic gun lay on the ground next to him, but I ignored it and went up the stairs. As I did, the ground seemed to tremble beneath my feet. It took me a moment to realize that the ground really was shaking. The tremors were growing stronger and stronger with each one. Suddenly, they stopped. The truck on the ground to my left suddenly exploded in a mushroom cloud. One of the knights flew, blood spurting out in various places. Reddin, I think her name was. In front of us, a giant Super Mutant Behemoth stood, many guns and grenades attached to its back. We all stood still for a moment before it let out a battle cry.
Everyone began to shoot at it, but to no avail. It seemed immune to the bullets, even more so than the regular sized giants. It threw a couple more initiates into the air with its fist, not even bothering to attack with its weapons. We were losing numbers, and fast. It was then that I remembered the big gun by the fountain. Surely a gun that big could take out the giant monster. I ran for it, dodging the bullets that flew out from the agitated behemoth. With one scoop, I heaved the gun onto my shoulder and shot one at the Super Mutant. It hit the monster's torso and erupted with a giant mushroom cloud, green blood, gore, and other bits of behemoth flying everywhere. The kickback and the blast from the explosion knocked my backwards, and my Geiger counter was clicking at me.
Everyone stood up slowly, having been knocked down by the explosion. Most of the remaining knights were covered in the gore, and so was I. Kari seemed to have avoided the blast and remained mutant-gore free. Lyons approached me with a sad smile.
"You did it," she stated. "Thank you."
I nodded, storing the gun and mini nukes in my pip-boy. The weight would definitely slow me down, but the gun may come in handy someday.
"I'm sorry about Reddin," Kari said.
"So am I," Sarah replied. "But there was nothing any of us could do. You can go in now and see Three Dog. He'll be at the top of the building."
I gave a curt nod before heading into the building. Finally, I would be able to confront the person about my father. Hopefully, he was still there, or at least, he hadn't gone far. Knowing my father, he probably wouldn't have stayed, but I was ready to find him. Kari and I climbed up the stairs inside the building and went through a door. There were another set of stairs where I could hear the same kind of music from the saloon back in Megaton coming from the upstairs. I knew we were in the right place. A man walked out of a back room as I reached the top. He wore a red head-wrap and glasses.
"Well, I'll be," he said in his familiar voice. "The saints from one-oh-one."
"E-excuse me?"
"You're James's kids, aren't you? You look just like him. From what I hear, you didn't kill Silver, and you even helped out a ghoul in the underground. Not to mention that you killed the gigantic mutant outside," he stated. "My people are everywhere, reporting anything they see news-worthy to me. You are quite the saints, miss one-oh-ones."
"My name is Mei, not one-oh-one," I stated. I thought it was kind of weird that he knew about everything Kari and I had done so far. "And this is Hikari."
"We're looking for our father," Kari stated. "We were told he came here. Do you have any idea where he is?"
"He was here, but he's gone," the disk jockey responded.
"Well, did he say where he was going?" I asked.
"Well, you see, he's heading somewhere, but I require a favor in return for the information," he stated. "You see, I have a dish on top of the Washington Monument, but a Super Mutant thought it would be fun to shoot the big, shiny round thing on top of the tower. You can guess what that is. Anyway, I now require a new dish."
I hated when people did this. Why was it that whenever we needed something, people always wanted something else in return? Wasn't there such a thing as charity in the wastes?
"I hear that there is a new one in the Museum of Technology," he continued. "If you can get it and install it, I'll give you the information."
"Alright," Kari said. "We'll get it."
"Great. It's located not too far from here," he stated. "It's just southeast from here, about an hour or so away. If you had a map-"
"We've got one programmed into our pip-boys," I interrupted. "As long as you know the location of the place, you can set it to guide us there."
Alright," he said as Kari pulled hers up. "You want to go through a metro station located about here-" he made some gestures to her screen- "And then you want to take the route to the mall. After that, you'll end up about here. You then want to travel here. You can overcome the obstacles that stand in your way."
I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Sure he believed in us. He believed we would die against the Super Mutants and other creatures that prowled the area. If we didn't, then he would make a great profit of more people listening to his radio and receiving the signal. Whoop-dee-doo.
"And if you come across any holotapes of pre-war music, I'll pay you plenty for them, so long as I don't have them," he added.
"Come on, Kari, let's get this over with," I said.
She glanced over at me and nodded.
~Hikari's POV~
Mei didn't like Three Dog, and I could see why. He wanted something in return for the information, and I was okay with it. That's how things worked out here. You wanted something; it was going to cost you. I still carried faith with me, though. There had to be someone other than myself who did things for others without anything in return. I was determined to find someone like that. Sure, I wasn't perfect, but I still tried my hardest to remain on the, "Light," side of my mind. Evil things had crossed my mind, but I had shut them out, not having the heart to put them into action. I had wanted to shoot Moriarty back in the saloon for what he had done. He was well suited for the word that Silver had used to describe him, but I didn't have it in me to lob a bullet through his skull. Mei, on the other hand, could probably do it without a second thought or any regrets. All I would have to do was ask her and she would do it. Still, I wouldn't want that weighing on my conscious. I had a rather advanced sense of perception, and I could just tell that Mei was being changed out here. I would glance over and she would appear to be deep in thought. She would shrug it off, but I knew that it was bothering her, whatever it was.
We pressed on through another set of tunnels, most of which of were collapsed. Mei killed a few ferals before we picked up some more ammo from a crate sitting nearby. It was 10mm, so I pocketed it. It would come in handy if either Mei or I ran out. I'm not sure how long we trudged along before we came across a small group of Raiders. There were about 5 of them, but Mei disposed of them before I had a chance to help, but I kind of preferred it that way. I detested killing, and Mei relished it. She grew from it while I got sick from it.
Regardless, they had ammo and automatic guns, which Mei and I picked up to use, along with their armor to use over our jumpsuits. The jumpsuits and our weapons were in pretty rough shape, and we were in desperate need of new items. I let Mei do the honors of collecting said items off of the bodies. Just looking at them made me nauseated.
We plodded along for a while longer before we finally found the exit. Off in the distance, I could hear shouting and guns firing. There were three sets of shouting. One group was of Super Mutants. The second was of humanoid origin, and the last I recognized as that of a Brahmin.
"Sounds like someone is in trouble," I stated.
"So?" Mei asked.
I could feel the need to help those in trouble off in the distance. I could make out about five different weapons firing, but only two different human voices. That meant three mutants. I forgot everything as I ran off towards the sound, my weapon fully loaded and ready to go.
Upon arrival, there was one human, one ghoul, a Brahmin, and three mutants. Dad always did say that I had superior hearing. There were three dead mutants already, and the ghoul and human had already taken numerous hits. I began to fire my assault rifle at the mutants, aiming for the thick skull. After a few seconds of rapid fire, some of the bullets penetrated the skull. Mei soon joined in by my side, shooting her assault rifle as well. Unfortunately for us, there was no cover, and our gunfire seemed to attract more of the giant green mutants. We unconsciously grew closer to the caravaners, and them to us.
I felt a stinging pain rip through multiple spots in my torso, and Mei shouting my name. Everything began to fade away, but my gun kept firing. The noise faded into the background and became one with the black.
After Notes:
Chapter 3 complete! Hm... My chapters are getting longer and longer as I type them, except for the last one. That one's the shortest, but I tried to make it longer. Oh well. It'll be a while before I get around to uploading it.
Please let me know what you think of the story or if you spot any grammar or spelling issues through a PM or Review. Much appreciated, HikariMei.