Chapter 18: Rescue

We still had about three hours of daylight left when we resurfaced. We sat near an outcropping of rocks where we would be out of sight while we treated our wounds.

My face felt three times its size and throbbed with a pain like no other. I injected a Stimpak in to my neck and it helped to relieve some of the swelling and pain. I took a quick swig of purified water to wash the blood from my mouth and spat it out on the ground. I reached in to my mouth and felt for empty tooth sockets. Two teeth from the left back side of my mouth were gone.

Kirk used his water to clean the blood off his face and then used some anti-bacterial liquid to disinfect the cuts.

He cringed a bit and then laughed, "No matter how many times you do this you never get used to it." he commented.

"Amen to that." I replied.

When Kirk had finished he sighed loudly, "Kid, I hope we never have to visit a place like this ever again."

I shook my head, "Believe me, we won't." I responded.

I leaned back against the base of the rock I sat near and closed my eyes. Madison's beautiful face flashed across my mind, and it brought a smile to my face and helped me to feel a little more comforted.

Kirk cleared his throat, "So, what're you gonna do now that you know there's no G.E.C.K. here?" he asked, which broke my train of thought.

"There's another Vault that's supposed to have one, but it's on the other side of the wasteland." I answered.

"What Vault is that?"

"Vault 87." I answered without opening my eyes.

I noticed something then. There was nothing but complete silence. No sound of the wind blowing, not even Kirk's breathing could be heard.

I opened one eye and saw Kirk sitting there with a grimace across his face.

"Something wrong?" I asked in concern.

"D-did you say Vault 87?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes I did. Why?" I asked back.

He ran his fingers through his long hair and shook his head, "We can't go there kid. I've heard nothing but horrible things about that Vault." he said through ragged breaths.

"Such as?"

"Well for starters the Vault can't even be directly accessed. When the bombs fell one hit right in front of the Vault and now the area is surrounded in a lethal amount of radiation." he started.

"I already knew that. What else is so bad about this place?" I continued to pry.

"Well, it's only rumors, but they say that terrifying creatures dwell within the Vault. People say it was used for brutal scientific experiments and all sorts of abominations are running amuck." he continued.

I leaned forward, "Go on."

"They say that you can access the Vault by another way. A secret tunnel which leads to the back entrance. They call the tunnel Murder Pass. Appropriate if you ask me, since the whole place is swarming with Super Mutants." he finished.

"Would you happen to know where this 'Murder Pass' is?" I asked.

Kirk's face became stern, "You need to go through a settlement known as Little Lamplight. It's supposed to be some settlement inhabited entirely by little kids." he told me.

"Little kids? How have they managed to survive this long?" I asked.

"Hell if I know. They must have one helluva defense set up."

"Little Lamplight, huh? Where exactly is it?"

Kirk made me hold my Pip Boy out to him and he scrolled through the map. "Right here, not too far from Vault 87, so it's still a ways away from here." he said as he marked it on my compass.

I leaned back against the rock again and shut my eyes, "Let's get some shut eye before we set out again. It'd probably be better to travel under cover of dark." I told my comrade, and he grunted in response.

I woke up about five hours later and realized that night had fallen already. Kirk was still asleep and snored loudly. I got to my feet and walked over to him.

"Kirk, let's get going." I said as I shook him.

His snoring was cut short and he jolted awake. "What? Oh, right. Let me just stretch these tired out limbs a bit." he told me.

We gathered our belongings and started our long journey towards Little Lamplight. After only two hours of walking Kirk started coughing uncontrollably and asked if we could stop. He rested his hand against a nearby tree and brought an old rag up to his mouth. He coughed so hard I thought he was going to cough up his lungs.

I walked over to him and patted him on the back, "You okay?" I asked concernedly.

He coughed a bit more and then looked up at me form his slouching posture, "Oh don't worry about me kid. I am getting old after all, just one of the drawbacks I suppose." he tried to reassure me.

When his coughing fit passed he placed the rag in his back pocket and took a deep breath. I still felt concerned about him, but if he said it was nothing than I wouldn't press him about it.

After traveling for some time we spotted an old church building off in the distance.

"Could be a good place to scrounge some supplies." Kirk said as we debated whether or not we should check it out.

"Alright, but keep your guard up." I finally agreed.

We kept low and moved from cover to cover until we were only a short distance away. I brought my AR to my front and looked down the iron sights for any sign of movement.

"Looks clear." I said, and just before I came out from behind cover Kirk grabbed on to my shoulder.

He gestured forward with a nod and I looked at what he had seen. A grotesque looking creature unlike anything I had ever seen before crawled around the outside perimeter of the church.

It had six legs, or rather, a mixture of arms and legs, as well as a thick, round abdomen which led up to a mouthless head. Multiple tentacles protruded from where its mouth should have been and wiggled about in a gruesome manner.

I covered my mouth to keep myself from vomiting. "Dear God, what is that thing?" I asked.

"That there's a Centaur. A mutie watch dog if you will." he whispered.

"I've dealt with my fair share of muties and I've never seen one of those before." I answered back.

"Well, usually only small groups of mutants garrisoned in small buildings use em. So we can assume there are at least two mutants waiting inside."

"As much as I'd love to pop some mutie heads, we've got more important matters to attend to. Let's steer clear of trouble for now." I told him, and we turned to leave.

After taking only a few steps, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming for dear life come from inside the church.

I glanced back at Kirk and he looked back at the church. "Did you hear that? Sounds like someone is in trouble!" I said in a low voice.

"I reckon there ain't much we can do for her. Those muties are probably eatin' her alive right now." Kirk said.

Another scream rang out, only this time it was a male. "Damn it Kirk, there's more than one person in there!" I shouted.

More screams came from within the church and I started to head back before Kirk restrained me.

"What are you doing!? You…" Kirk placed a hand over my mouth, "Shhh, just listen kid. What do you hear?" he whispered.

Nothing. I couldn't hear a damn thing.

Kirk let me go, "Sometimes you just gotta accept that you can't save everyone kid."

I crouched down and placed a hand on my head.

He's right, I can't save everyone…but god damn it that's not going to stop me from trying.

I pulled my sawn-off from its holster and darted off back towards the church. I heard Kirk swear under his breath as I took off, but he soon followed.

The Centaur spotted me just as I approached the building, but I slammed my sawn-off in to its tentacled maw and blew the back of its head out.

A Super Mutant yelled from inside the church and I could hear the creaking of the wood floor as he approached the front doorway. By now I had already reloaded my gun and had it aimed in his direction. I unloaded in to its chest and knocked it backwards.

Smoke poured from the end of the sawn-off as I loaded two more shells. I walked over to it and aimed the gun at its head.

Bang!

The top half of its skull split in two and its brains leaked out on to the ground.

I looked over and saw another mutant running towards me with a giant metallic sledgehammer in hand.

I reached for my AR but it was too late. The mutant slammed the hammer in to my side and sent me flying. I flew in to a tree and then fell to the ground. Everything started to spin and I couldn't even breathe.

The mutant screamed aloud as it charged me again, but Kirk jumped in and unloaded in to it with his dual 10 mil SMGs. Blood spewed from the back of the mutant as the bullets ripped through its body. It dropped the hammer, staggered back, and then fell on its back.

Kirk helped me up off the ground and brushed the dirt off my shoulders. "Damn it kid didn't I tell you to let it go?" he scolded.

I could hear someone crying in the church and didn't have time to answer him. I ran in and covered my mouth at the gruesome sight lain before me. A nameless female wastelander had been ripped in two and bits of her insides littered the floor as well as a wooden table.

Another male wastelander lie dead nearby. His legs had been ripped off but I couldn't see them anywhere. No doubt the mutants had already eaten them.

I trailed my gaze up the large room until I saw a lone woman huddled in the corner weeping uncontrollably. I cautiously approached her, and she screamed in fear when she saw me coming.

"Shhh, it's alright miss, I'm here to help." I assured her.

"They….they killed my sister! Oh god they ate her alive and laughed while they did it!" she screamed in horror.

I took her hand and brought her to her feet, and then pulled her close. I stroked her back and rocked her in my arms.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're safe now, and no one else will harm you." I whispered as she continued to sob.

Kirk stood at the doorway with a sad look on his face and nodded at me. I nodded back and continued to cradle the young woman in my arms.

After a good fifteen minute cry the young woman had finally calmed down enough to where she only sniffled every so often. I had led her outside where she wouldn't have to see the awful sight of her sister's torn body.

"Kirk, get my pack. Let's get her something to eat." I said.

"What's your name?" I asked while Kirk got the food.

"R-Rebecca." she answered, still a bit shaken up.

"I'm sorry about your sister Rebecca." I consoled her.

She didn't answer. Kirk handed me a box of potato crisps and I held them out for the young woman.

She hesitated at first, but then took them from me and started to eat.

"Thanks." she said as she chewed the food.

"Don't mention it." I replied.

When she finished eating she let the box fall to the floor and then curled up in to a ball and went to sleep.

I walked over to Kirk who was leaning against a dead tree smoking a cigarette. "How's she doin?" he asked as I came up behind him.

"Alright I guess. Horrible thing to have gone through." I told him.

He nodded, "I hope it was worth almost getting yourself killed over." he commented.

"If even one life can be saved by my actions you can be damn sure it's worth it." I replied in a serious tone.

Kirk took the cigarette from his mouth and blew a ring of smoke outwards. "What're we gonna do with the girl?" he asked.

"For now we'll let her rest here. We'll keep watch while she collects herself, and then decide what to do when she wakes up." I told him, and he nodded.

I walked to the opposite side of our little encampment and sat down near a broken sign and kept my AR on my lap.