Chapter 3: Raiders—December 18th, 2161

As we holstered our weapons at the entrance of Shady Sands, a familiar face ran up to us. It was Seth, the leader of the guards. For some reason, he looked hysterical and out of breath. The boy wasted no time in explaining, grabbing onto Ian's shoulder for support. Obviously, something bad had happened in our absence.

"Thank Dharma you're here, wanderer! My girl…" He cut himself off, with a light blush forming on his dark face. "Uh… Tandi, Aredesh's daughter, has been kidnapped. We believe the raiders have her." My heart sunk. No… Not Tandi… Ian appeared shocked and angered at himself for some reason. My comrade fell to his knees and punched the cracked and dry ground hard.

"Damn..." he muttered. "I should've been there to protect her…" Before I could respond, he answered Seth for me. "Where are these raiders?" Ian asked darkly.

Seth looked to Ian and spoke with a tear-strewn face. "They're somewhere in the southwest. Please hurry; I don't know what they'll do to her." Ian grabbed the young man by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. Personally, I didn't like to think about that either.
"Don't worry, Seth. We'll get Tandi back, right Anthony?" I gave Ian an affirmative nod to confirm his promise. Seth looked at me, then back to Ian before giving us a small smile.

"Thank you, guys." He said quietly. "Now hurry!"

The two of us turned and ran off into the desert towards the southwest. Damn, I really hoped that Tandi was okay. If those raider bastards had done anything to her, one way or another, they would pay.

Once we got to the camp in the late afternoon, upon seeing how many raiders there were, I immediately ruled out the option of running in with our guns a-blazing, and Ian saw that too and quickly put his gun in his holster—though, he didn't turn the safety on like he usually did. I followed suit and thought of a different solution since most of the raiders were already glaring at us. We walked casually yet cautiously to the large building in the middle of the camp. Perhaps we could sneak in through the back, find Tandi, and slip away? Perhaps the raiders could be persuaded? There was limited availability in our options, so I decided that diplomacy would be our strategy for today. Ian and I waltzed into the back room where there, sitting on a cooler, was a rather large and muscular man in a shiny metal armor that glinted in the sunlight. He had a bottle of whiskey on the table sitting next to him with two beautiful women that wore torn and dirty rags for clothes. They looked absolutely terrified as he tapped his .44 desert eagle on his boot, eying us suspiciously. He took a hit from the cigarette hanging from his mouth and stared me straight in the eyes, watching me like a hawk.

"What do you want?" he asked, his voice showing no concern. Instantly, time froze as I thought of what I should say. Should I start formally? Should I talk tough? Should I be cunning and use trickery? Should I challenge him one-on one? I began to quickly eliminate the options in my head as I could feel his patience wearing. I would never be able to fight him one-on-one… Or at least, not in my current state. If I acted tough, he'd probably challenge me and shoot me on the spot. If I threatened him, then that's the same deal… Hmm… Maybe… A rough voice snapped me out of my trance. "Hello? Are you fucking deaf? I said, what do you want?" The man looked at his magnum, then back at me.

Nervously, I answered, "Uh, hi. I'm Anthony. And you are?" The brute took his firearm off of safety. I could tell that I was getting on their nerves.

"What's it to ya? My name's Garl. I lead this fine establishment. Now, what the fuck do you want, dumbass?!" He raised his voice a bit, indicating that I was wasting his time. With every word that he said, the two girls at his side cringed, as if he was about to hit them. It sickened me to the very core. I coughed in nervousness a bit, but then stood tall, casting a dark shadow over him.

"I want you to set the girl from Shady Sands free". Ian stared at me after hearing my bold statement. Garl merely looked at me with a curious look of admiration. He chuckled.
"Hah! No one's talked to me like that in years… And lived." I gulped at the last part, but kept my straight face and still stood tall. "Though…" he continued, rubbing the back of his neck. "I admire your courage, Anthony. Now what do you wish to offer for this girl?" Hmm? He hadn't shot me? Oh, well, that's all that matters. Now, we were negotiating over Tandi. I suppose I could offer him some of my supplies, but then I decided against it and took a deep breath before concocting the best lie that I could in my head.

"I represent a threat that you can't even understand. Do you really want to risk our wrath?" I looked as menacing as I could, and Ian quickly caught on, glaring at Garl. Garl blinked a bit in surprise, but then started to rub the stubble on his chin, looking at me, then at Ian (possibly for signs of weakness). Then he looked towards the door, and then at the attractive young female raider in leather armor that stood next to him.

"Gwen…" He finally said, pointing to the door. "Release the girl." I actually did it! Tandi was free. However, we weren't out of the woods yet as he turned back to face me and Ian, flicking his cigarette away. "Hmm… For some reason, I believe you… You may take the girl, but do not return unless you seek our wrath." I nodded, almost positive that we would never have any reason to see these gruesome bastards again. With that, Gwen returned, opening the door. Behind her, Tandi ran in. She took one look at me and gave me a hug, then turned to Ian and followed suit.

Looking into my eyes, she turned towards the exit door and whispered, "Let's get outta here."

After leaving the camp, I could tell that she was tired, so I told her to stop. With a questioning look on her face, she stopped walking and looked at me. I gently picked her up in my arms much like how Ian had when he carried me out of the radscorpion caves. "You need your rest. We'll carry you home." The young girl smiled gently and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you so much," she said, falling asleep into my arms.

The walk back to Shady Sands was quiet and not extremely long. As soon as Tandi had woken up, the walls of the small community came into view, and she told me to put her down. Once her feet hit the ground, she sprinted towards the guard station (most likely to greet Seth and tell him that she was okay). When Ian and I reached the entrance of Shady Sands, Seth ran over to us with a big grin on his face.

"Thank you so much, you two… The community cannot thank you both enough." I smiled at the guard and told him that it was nothing. "If you don't mind me asking…" he said. I figured this was coming. "How did you free her? Did you beat the shit out of their shithead leader, Garl? Did you shoot up the whole camp? Did you silently assassinate everyone in their sleep?" He kept rambling on as his imagination got the better of him.

"Actually," I said, interrupting his fantasies of me and Ian singlehandedly wiping out the raiders. "We just asked for her." His smile dropped into a look of surprise.

"Wait, that works?!" He was shocked above anything else. Shrugging nonchalantly, I looked at him.

"Was I not supposed to?"

"I dunno, we never really thought to try that…" Leaving the confused guard to undoubtedly rewrite his offensive strategies, I went over to the town hall with Ian close behind. Upon walking into the door, I nearly bumped into Tandi who, much like she was when we first met was on her way out the door. She gave me a huge grin.

"Hi!" She said, looking thrilled, yet speaking solemnly. "I was actually looking for you just now. I was afraid that you were gone, and I wasn't gonna get a chance to thank you for rescuing me." Her solemn tone disappeared only to be replaced by an ecstatic one instead. "Aw! That was great!" Wait, what? My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Did I hear her correctly? She actually enjoyed being kidnapped by murderous rapists? Was she a masochist or something? "Action… adventure…" she continued, trailing off. "Anyway, if there's anything that I can do for you, you just ask!"

I was about to ask her for some supplies and a room for the night, but since Shady Sands had already done so much for me, I couldn't possibly ask for more, so I responded "No thank you. I've gotta get going anyways." She looked visibly upset.

"Well… Thanks for talking. We don't get many strangers here, so it's always good to talk to new people. Well… Thanks again. See ya!" The girl gave us a smile and turned back into the house, heading towards what I had assumed was her room.

Walking into the house, we spotted Aredesh, who ran up to us. He tossed a leather bag full of Nuka-Cola bottle caps into my open hand unexpectedly.

"We will be forever in your debt for your courage and your bravery, wanderer. Here is your reward." I nodded as thanks and said my goodbye to him. Just as I turned around, Aredesh spoke up with a quote that I would remember for the rest of my life. "Until we meet again, my friend. May the water you find in the desert not shine at you in the dark."

As Ian and I said our final goodbyes to everyone, we walked off back into the wastes, satisfied with our actions of late.

...

A/N: This was pretty much a filler chapter, but I felt this quest had to be included as this isn't the last we'll be seeing of Garl and his gang. This will also come into play with Ian's backstory a bit. :) Next chapter, "Junktown" is super long! Stay tuned! :D