Chapter 21: Little Lamplight
When we were just a few hundred yards from our destination, we could see the two Enclave flying machines, or Vertibirds as Kirk said they were called, settled on the ground. There were at least fifteen Enclave soldiers of different ranks and looks roaming about outside the entrance to Little Lamplight. Kirk and I took cover behind a pile of rubble and debated how to best approach the situation.
"This is suicide kid. There's no way we can take em all without either one or both of us gettin' killed! Besides, you're shoulder's still freshly wounded, and that'll throw your aim off since that's your gun hand." Kirk chastised.
"Fuck…I was afraid this would happen! We need to get past these guys and get the G.E.C.K. before they do!" I half whispered, half shouted.
"Maybe I can help with that." a familiar voice said from behind me.
I turned around to see the Mysterious Stranger standing as tall and proud as ever. Kirk drew his weapon on him as soon as he saw him, but I held my hand out and told him he was a friend.
"I'll distract these goons out here so you can slip inside, but once you're in there, it's up to you to get the G.E.C.K." the stranger suggested.
"You're crazy if you think you can take on fifteen Enclave soldiers friend." Kirk cut in.
"Kirk…he's the Mysterious Stranger, the one they talk about on the radio." I explained, and Kirk's eyes went wide in amazement.
"Holy shit! I thought the people who said they'd seen him were trippin' on Psycho or somethin'!" Kirk shouted.
"Enough with the introductions, we've got work to do." the stranger interrupted.
He drew his .44 Magnum from his trench coat and checked his ammo. With a slight smirk, he walked passed us and took aim at a nearby soldier.
His Magnum fired off with a loud bang and blew a hole through the soldier's head.
"Intruder alert! Everyone open fire!" an officer shouted from within the group.
Within seconds every other soldier had their sights focused on the stranger. Kirk and I took this as our cue and climbed over the rubble we were hiding behind. We snuck behind one of the Vertibirds to keep out of sight and headed for the cave entrance. One of the soldiers managed to spot us, and right as he took aim the front part of his helmet exploded in to a bloody mess.
"Plasma out!" a soldier shouted as he tossed a plasma grenade at the stranger.
The stranger held his hand out and caught the grenade and then ran towards the soldier who threw it and slammed it in to his visor before jumping away. The grenade went off and incinerated the top half of the soldier.
I spotted the chain link gate which led underground and pointed it out to Kirk. We made one last mad dash for the gate and kicked it down upon arrival. A few more magnum rounds blared from behind us, and then we heard nothing.
"You have got to get me his autograph one of these days kid." Kirk said to me through ragged and tired breaths once we were underground.
I laughed quietly under my breath and nodded in reply.
Strands of lights hung from the roof of the cave and I could make out crayon drawings all over the cave walls. Undoubtedly this place had indeed been run by kids. We passed a wooden sign which read, "Little Lamplight: No mungo's allowed!" Whatever a mungo was, I had no idea.
The next thing we found was a makeshift metal gate which lifted up off the ground to grant passage to visitors. It was unmanned, and had already been opened. I spotted an Enclave soldier smoking a cigarette who had let his guard down.
I'm going to enjoy this.
I quietly pulled my sawn-off from my thigh and pressed it against the back of his skull. "Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you anything you want to know!" he begged.
This almost made me want to pull the trigger right then and there, but I kept my cool and decided to get a bit of info from him.
"What have you done with the children?" I interrogated.
The soldier had already began to shake in his armor and held his hands over his head.
"W-we rounded them up and p-placed them in a temporary holding area in the b-b-back!" he managed to say through his fear.
I pressed the gun against his head, "You didn't harm any of them did you?" I asked in an intimidating voice.
He shook his head, "N-no, I only stood by while they gathered them all. There were three others who were assigned to it." he explained.
"One last question…what are you looking for?"
"I d-don't know…I'm just a lackey, they don't t-tell me much." he replied.
I slammed him in to the wall and placed the sawn-off under his chin, "You're lying! I know you're trying to find the G.E.C.K. so you can power the purifier and put your little scheme in to action!" I shouted in a fit of rage.
The man began to cry, "I swear to God I don't know! I only know that it's high priority and failure won't be tolerated!"
I threw him to the ground and then turned towards Kirk.
"Thank you for sparing my life!" the soldier praised with a look or relief on his face.
I turned to face him and gave him a scowl, "Who said anything about sparing your life?" I said coldly.
I aimed the sawn-off at his head and passed my finger over the trigger.
The man held his hands out, "W-wait! I told you what you wanted to-"
Blam!
The shells tore through the soldier's face and his brains spilled out the back of his skull. I slowly lowered the gun and placed two more shells in the chamber. I looked over at Kirk who gave me a semi-frightened glare.
"Damn kid, I've never seen this side of you before, and I'm not sure I like it." He commented.
"I hate them Kirk. They took my father and I hate them. They all deserve to die, every single one of them." I spat.
Kirk just glared at me for the next few moments before finally shrugging it off. What could he do about it in the end?
The rage I had felt that fateful day at the purifier had returned, and even though I had killed this soldier, it only grew with each passing moment we trekked through the cave.
We caught two more soldiers off guard. They threw their hands up and tried to surrender, but I felt no pity for them. I fired three bursts from my AR in to each of them and sent them crumpling to the cave floor.
Kirk grimaced at how cold and heartless I had become, but he kept silent.
Finally after we had walked a good distance in we found three soldiers standing guard outside a steel door. These must be the soldiers who had rounded up all of the inhabitants.
"Drop your weapons!" I shouted as Kirk and I came in to their line of sight.
The soldiers lifted their weapons and returned the order. A smirk came across my face.
Finally some Enclave bastard's who weren't a bunch of pussies.
We stood at a stand still for a good five minutes before I finally squeezed the trigger and painted the walls with one of the soldier's blood. I caught a plasma bolt in the chest, but luckily the armor plating took most of the impact; though it did warp the metal quite a bit. Kirk pumped another soldier full of lead before receiving a bullet to the stomach. I got the last soldier with a sawn-off blast to the chest.
Kirk went over to the wall and leaned against it for support. He coughed and wheezed as he cringed in pain.
"I knew it would only be a matter of time before I caught one to the gut." he said in a joking manner.
I ran to his side and pulled some Med-X, some insta-clot, and a few Stimpaks from my pack. I injected the Stimpaks in to his aide and then injected the Med-X in to his arm. The insta-clot helped to stop some of the bleeding but it would start up again if not treated properly.
I helped him to a nearby bench and sat him down. He continued to cough profusely and a bit of blood leaked form his mouth.
"How do I look kid?" he asked with a grin on his face.
"Like shit." I replied, which got as chuckle from him.
I finished treating his wound by wrapping it in the last of my cloth bandages and handed him my last bottle of purified water.
He opened the bottle up and took a swig, but ended up spitting most of it out. He cringed again as the liquid ran down his throat.
"Hand me a beer would ya kid? There should be a couple in my bag."
I took a bottle from his bag and handed it to him. He popped the cap off and downed half of it in one go.
"Ahh, that's gonna help numb the pain and slow the bleeding." he told me.
I could hear voices coming from behind the door. I had almost completely forgotten about the children. I shot the lock from the door and kicked it open. The room was completely dark, so I turned my wrist light on and shined it in. My heart sank at the sight of the helpless kids huddling in the corner of the room.
"Leave us alone you fucking maggot!" one of the not so helpless kids wearing an off green bucket helmet and a green jacket that was clearly too big for him yelled.
I was a bit taken aback by his attitude, as well as his choice of words. "Easy kid, I'm here to help you. The Enclave soldiers who were watching guard are dead, and it's safe to come out now." I told him.
"Fat fucking chance! How do I know you won't try anything funny!?" he asked.
I went back out and drug an Enclave soldier's corpse over and showed it to him, "Look, he's dead, I killed him." I said to help try and convince him.
"Hmm, gimme one of their guns and I'll trust you." he demanded.
I rolled my eyes and then picked one of the scattered guns off the ground and handed it to him.
"Do you even know how to use that thing kid?" I asked sarcastically.
"Of course I know how to fucking use it you moron!" he shouted, and then turned to tell the others everything was alright.
All in all there were about ten kids who had been captured, and they all jumped and skipped about when they realized they were free.
The foul mouthed kid from before approached me and held out his hand in friendship, "You know, you ain't that bad for a mungo." he said.
"Mungo? What's that?" I asked.
The kid laughed, "You are, didn't you hear me call you that just now?" he asked matter-of-factly.
I shook my head, "Whatever…you got a name kid?"
"Name's MacCready, and that's Mayor MacCready to you." he replied.
"Name's Jason. I'm impressed that you kept so calm and put yourself in front of the others when you thought I might be a threat." I complimented.
"You're damn right you're impressed. These kids are my responsibility. What kind of mayor would I be if I ran away like a little bitch whenever they're in danger?" he asked rhetorically.
Despite his foul mouth, I could tell that he really did care for the others and maybe this tough front was some sort of guise he wore while in front of them so they would trust him with their lives.
MacCready glanced over at Kirk, "Who's the old man?" he asked.
"Oh that's Kirk, he helped me take these guys out and rescue you." I replied.
"He doesn't look too good." MacCready commented.
I looked back and saw that Kirk's complexion had become pale, and he looked incredibly fatigued.
"Shit, you doing alright Kirk?" I asked him as I knelt by his side.
"Don't worry kid, it's just the booze kicking in." he said, but I wasn't convinced.
"You just take it easy for now." I told him and then turned to MacCready, "You wouldn't happen to know anything about treating wounds would you?" I asked.
He shook his head, "Sorry mungo, none of us really know anything about that. He can rest here if he wants and we'll keep an eye on him." he replied.
I had expected as much. I sighed aloud and then placed a hand on Kirk's shoulder, "You'll be alright here with these kids won't you?"
He looked around at all the kids frolicking about and smiled, "I think I'll manage kid. I wish I wasn't so banged up so I could help you finish your task." he said.
"Don't worry about it. You've helped me plenty up to this point, and I think you've earned a rest from all the fighting."
He took a hold of my wrist and tightened his grip, "Make your dad proud kid, I'll be rootin' for ya." he said in a serious tone.
I patted his chest and nodded, "I'll see you later."
MacCready led me to the deepest part of the cave where another metal gate laid waiting. It too had already been opened and no doubt more Enclave soldiers would be waiting for me. Not to mention the Super Mutants that Kirk had told me about which also resided in the next part of the cave known as "Murder Pass". Maybe the Enclave had been wiped out by the inhabiting Super Mutants, although I'd rather pop some Enclave heads instead of muties.
I shook MacCready's one last time, "Good luck mungo, I hope you find what you're looking for."
"Thanks MacCready, you're alright." I replied.
I then turned to face the narrow passage which led to Murder Pass and cautiously made my way down. I heard the gate creak shit behind me, and I knew the only way to go now would be forward.