Sorry that chapter 19 and this chapter took so long to upload guys and gals. The site has been acting up for me the past couple of days and wouldn't upload right, but it's fixed now so enjoy and tell me what you think!
Chapter 20: Betrayal
The next few days of our travels didn't go much smoother, and despite the fact that I had told Rebecca that I had someone waiting for me she still cuddled up with me every night we stopped to rest. After the third night I decided that if she did it one more time I would set things straight and make sure that she wouldn't try it again.
Kirk's health seemed to deteriorate with each passing day, but every time I tried to confront him about it he told me to stop worrying about it. I worried about him, but what more could I do when he remained so stubborn about it. I didn't really know how to handle each of my companions. I had spent such a long time travelling by myself that I haven't gotten used to dealing with others while journeying across the wastes.
I had become so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even realize that we had been spotted by a Raider scouting party until a bullet flew past my head. Kirk ran forward and tackled me to the ground.
"Get your head out of the clouds kid!" he shouted as we hit the ground.
Rebecca had become separated from us and crouched behind a rock with her Laser Pistol at the ready. I cursed under my breath at allowing the Raiders to catch me off guard, but it did me little good to beat myself up when we were under attack.
"We've got you outnumbered you little shit. Throw down your weapons and we might let you live!" a female Raider shouted from our front.
Three other raiders, all of whom were female, cheered aloud and fired a few rounds in to the air.
I looked over and realized that Rebecca was no longer taking cover behind the rock. In fact, I couldn't see her at all. Maybe she was trying to sneak up on the Raiders and give us a chance?
A few more bullets grazed the top of the boulder Kirk and I had taken cover behind.
"You can't hide forever!" the Raider shouted.
I pulled a frag from my belt and pulled the pin, "When this thing goes off, we pop up and fire like mad!" I said to Kirk.
I lobbed the grenade in the direction where I had last seen the Raiders before we took cover. It went off with a deafening bang and I heard one of the Raiders scream in pain.
I nodded at Kirk, and the two of us came out from behind the rock guns blazing. The women immediately dispersed and tried to find cover from our bullets. I saw a single female Raider lying near a spot of blackened earth grasping her leg. The bottom half of her left leg had been completely blown off, and she was losing blood fast.
I lifted my AR and aimed it her way, but for some reason I couldn't muster up the will to pull the trigger, so I let the weapon fall to my side. The woman lifted her hands and begged for her life. Tears streamed down her face, and her complexion grew pale. She wouldn't last long from all the blood loss, so I told myself the humane thing to do would be to end her suffering. I had to actually give myself a reason to kill this cold blooded killer.
I hesitated at first, but I slowly brought my rifle back up and looked down the sights.
Bam!
I placed a single bullet in her forehead, and she went limp. If this had been a male Raider, I wouldn't have hesitated…but there was just something about the fact that she was a woman that stayed my hand at first. It's not like she acted any different than a male Raider, and she was probably just as cold, but I couldn't pull the trigger at first.
The sound of someone cocking their gun came from behind me, and I turned to expect one of the other Raiders holding a gun to my face, but to my surprise, it was Rebecca.
"You bastard…you killed her! She was helpless and begged for her life but you killed her anyway!" she said through her teeth.
"She was dying Rebecca; if I didn't kill her she would have suffered a slow and painful death." I explained.
Rebecca shook her head and came a few steps closer, "You killed her…you killed my sister!" she cried.
Kirk had a surprised look on his face, and I'm sure I did as well. "What are you talking about Rebecca? Your sister was killed by Super Mutants remember? Have you lost it or something?" I asked.
Her pistol wielding hand started to shake and she continued to shake her head. I put my hands out in front of me signaling that I wouldn't try and hurt her, and Kirk did the same.
"Easy Rebecca, just put the gun down and relax." I said as I tried to approach her.
She placed her finger over the trigger, "Stop! Don't come any closer!" she shouted. She lifted the Laser Pistol and shifted it back and forth from my head to Kirk's.
I looked back and noticed that the three remaining woman from before were approaching, but Rebecca made no sign that she wanted to harm them, and they likewise made no sign that they were going to harm her.
"Glad to see you're okay Becky." The one who seemed to be the leader said as she circled around me.
Rebecca, or Becky, or whoever, wiped a tear from her eye and kept her pistol focused on me.
"Yeah, those damn mutants killed Carol." she replied.
The leader stood at her side and looked me over, "Is this him?" she asked, and Rebecca nodded.
"I knew I shouldn't have let you come with us." I growled.
Rebecca smirked, "Shut up, don't you dare judge me after what you just did. They call you the Savior of the Wastes, but really you're just as cold as the rest of us."
I shook my head, "I ended her suffering! God damn it, are you choosing not to hear what I'm saying!" I yelled. Yet even now, I had started to doubt myself.
"Tell yourself whatever you want, but that doesn't change the fact that you killed one of my sisters." she replied.
"Keep your gun fixed on them Becky, the girls and I are going to discuss what we should do with them." the leader ordered.
The other Raiders stepped a few feet away and whispered amongst each other.
"I saved your life." I said while giving Rebecca a cold stare.
"And I might've been a little more appreciative of that fact if you had saved hers." she retorted as she nodded towards the Raider I had killed.
Could I have saved her? If I had chosen to check her over and offer my help would she had lived? God, what is wrong with me? Don't listen to her, she's just messing with your head! They're Raiders, they deserved to die for all the crimes they've commited right?
I grasped my head and cursed under my breath.
This is probably why she decided to come with us. So she could mess with my head by trying to get close to me and get me to drop my guard. Well, it looks like it worked.
"This is some bullshit." Kirk muttered.
"Keep quiet old man before I force you to." Rebecca scowled as she aimed the pistol at him.
The Raiders walked back over and the leader whispered in to Rebecca's ear, which got a sneer from her.
"Turn your weapons over, you're coming with us." Rebecca demanded.
We had no choice but to comply, they outnumbered us four to two, and I didn't want Kirk's blood on my hands should I fail at trying to escape.
"You win this round." I grimaced as I handed my weapons over to one of the Raiders.
Kirk was reluctant at first, but he soon gave up his weapons and placed his hands on his head.
Rebecca pushed against the back of my head with the barrel of her gun, "Get moving." she ordered.
The Raiders pushed us along the barren of the wastes until late in the evening. As we journeyed through a particular part of the wastes that was dense in trees, a large silhouette caught the corner of my eye.
"Shit, get low, there's a Yao Guai over there." the Raider leader whispered.
"You want us to take care of it boss?" another Raider asked.
The leader shook her head, "No, let's just slip by unnoticed. Those things are nasty in a fight, and even nastier when cornered."
An idea suddenly came to me, and I looked over at Kirk who seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Hey, over here!" I yelled out as loud as I could.
Rebecca suddenly kicked me right in the balls and i fell like a sack of bricks. I heard loud growls coming from our left and knew that my plan had started to work.
The large Yao Guai darted through the trees and the Raiders unloaded their weapons on it as it grew closer. The mutated bear suddenly leapt forward and got one of the women right in the gut. She fell on her back and screamed in agony as her insides poured from her wound.
When the beast landed it did a quick turn and headed back towards us. It roared aloud as bullets tore in to its hardened flesh, and it took another swipe at the Raiders cutting her clean across the throat. The woman grasped her neck and gurgled as blood trickled between her fingers and down her arm.
"Kill that fucking thing!" the leader shouted.
When it came back for a third round, it finally took enough bullets and laser bolts and collapsed on the ground just inches away from the leader.
Rebecca came up to me and pressed her heel against my throat, "You're fucking dead after pulling a stupid stunt like that!" she said coldly, and then pressed against my throat even harder.
She aimed her gun at my head and grinned maliciously, "So ends the tale of the Lone Wanderer." she spat.
I quickly grabbed on to her leg and flipped her on to her back before she could pull the trigger. The leader aimed her gun at me but promptly received a bullet to the temple and she crumpled to the floor. In all the chaos Kirk had grabbed a 10 mil off one of the dead Raiders.
Rebecca scrambled to her feet and placed her weapon against my stomach. She grabbed me by the collar and brought me to my feet and then placed the gun against my cheek.
Kirk held his pistol at the ready.
Rebecca laughed hysterically, "Put your weapon down old man, or I put one in his brain." she threatened.
Kirk stood perfectly still, looked me in the eye, and then smiled ever so slightly. I knew what he was thinking, and I knew it would hurt like hell. Sweat poured down my face, and after a few moments, I tilted my head to give him the go.
"Sorry about this kid." he whispered, and then fired a single bullet in to my shoulder which had no plating covering it, and it went straight through and hit Rebecca. I dropped to my knees and grasped my shoulder in pain while Rebecca staggered back. Kirk placed two more bullets in her stomach, and with one final breath, her gun fell from her hand and she fell to the ground.
"Damn, what a waste of a fine piece of ass." he said half jokingly.
Kirk tossed the gun to the ground and came to my aid. "If you woulda listened to me back at the church we wouldn't be in this mess." he scolded, but I just laughed.
"Now I have a bullet wound in each shoulder, that'll make a cool scar." I joked.
Kirk took a Stimpak from his bag and injected it near the entrance, and then used some ant-bacterial fluid to clean it out before wrapping it up in bandages.
"You still want to head to Little Lamplight in your condition?" he asked me with a concerned look on his face.
I gritted my teeth at the searing pain in my shoulder and nodded, "I don't have much choice. Maybe we can rest once we get there."
"Hangin' out with a bunch of brats huh? Sounds like loads of fun." he replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, yeah…just help me up and we'll get going. We shouldn't be too far off now." I said, and Kirk helped me to my feet. We gathered our weapons and other belongings and started off once again.
As we reached the edge the dead forest I checked my map and saw that we were only a few miles away from Little Lamplight. A loud humming caught my ears, and I looked around to try and find the source. My eyes went wide when I realized what was making the noise.
Two of the same flying machines I had seen at the purifier the day my father was killed flew overhead and were heading in the direction of Little Lamplight.
"No…they must know where the G.E.C.K is! Come on Kirk, we need to pick up the pace!" I shouted, and the two of us broke in to a sprint and ran towards our destination.