Chapter Three

"Howdy."

She did not seem to be amused at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the gun had inched just a bit closer to my face. I felt my pistol be relieved from it's holster by someone but I kept my eyes firmly planted on hers. I was hoping that they would let me live. It'd suck if I died the first day here.

"Who are you? Why did you help us?" she finally asked after a pair of hands had patted me down for more weapons.

"I'm a wanderer and I helped because I think it's fun to pop some Mutie heads," I replied, noting that my nose and mouth were still covered by the wrap. I had expected the reaction I would receive as her rifle barrel began to dig into my flesh. I felt my heart beat quicken and I struggled to keep my outward appearance calm.

"Name, age, and what you were doing out here," she demanded, putting a little extra pressure behind the rifle for emphasis. I gave a sigh,

"Tyler Odom, 17, and I was looking for some work. I saw the battle, saw you guys and thought that you guys looked too official to be some small, one-time merc band," I gave a small shrug, "Guess I thought that y'all would let me join if I showed ya my worth."

"You gave us a show alright," chimed in another female voice from outside my field of vision. A couple of deep chuckles followed. A look from the woman holding the gun to my face silenced them. I felt the pressure behind the rifle relax before the rifle was lifted from my face and aimed at the sky above.

"Get up," she commanded. Sitting up, I had to stop for a second as pain flared up in my side. However, soon I was on my feet. Turning around to where she was standing, I could see her, another woman, and three men standing there and staring at me. The first woman had a look of curiosity on her face. As if she was debating on why she let me live. I found myself thinking the same thing. The second woman, who made the show comment, had a smile on her face as if she was planning something. One of the men looked indifferent as he looked me over, his arms crossed over his chest. Another, a big guy seemed to be staring daggers at me, as if I was intruding on his turf by standing here. The last guy scared me the most. He had a hunting rifle cradled in his arms and seemed to be staring through me, instead of at me.

The woman in charge motioned something towards her squad and I found my pistol being tossed at my chest. Catching it, I looked up to see my bag and helmet fall to my feet, followed by the clattering of my rifle. Holstering my pistol, I picked up my rifle to see that it was bent at almost a ninety degree angle with the vertex being just forward of the magazine. Well, now I know why I was still able to move after that Mutant smashed me with the damn hammer, I thought to myself as I ejected the magazine. Holding the mag in my hand, I looked at the loaded bullets before tapping the side of the magazine against my pauldron. This was to ease some of the dirt out from between the rounds. After tapping it about four or five times, I stowed the magazine in a pouch before tossing my rifle back to the ground.

Looking down at my pack, I noticed that my Sniper Rifle was missing. Grabbing my helmet, I slid it onto my head before walking past the Talon mercs and to the house wreckage. I heard the lead woman calling my name but didn't stop as I moved to my sniping position. There, I saw a glint of metal sticking from the rubble. Moving to it, I dug off the rubble to find my Sniper Rifle. Miraculously, it was still intact. Taking it in both hands, I walked back to my pack. Ignoring the woman some more, I walked past the mercs and crouched by my pack. Breaking the rifle into two parts, I attached the parts to my bag before shrugging it onto my back.

That's when I finally turned back to the merc squad. The woman in charge seemed frustrated, as did the big man. The other woman seemed amused, if not curious. The average sized man still seemed indifferent, but I could swear he wore a ghost of a smile. The marksman seemed interested by my rifle.

"Are you done?" asked the squad leader, her voice giving way to her irritation. I looked to my pauldron, to see my empty sheath.

"Where's my knife?" I asked, looking back at the squad. I instantly saw the marksman fidget from foot to foot. Their squad leader seemed to take notice as she walked over to him and held out her hand, like a parent might do to a child as she asked,

"Can you give it to me, please?"

The marksman looked at me, almost pleading to keep it. He than looked at his squad leader and, seeing that he was defeated, took it from somewhere behind his back and handed it, hilt first, to her. Flipping the knife around to hold it by the blade, she walked over to me and held it out to me. Grabbing the hilt, I took the knife in hand. After looking it over for any damage, I lined it up with my sheath and slid it in. After clasping the safety thing, I looked at the squad leader and nodded my head,

"Ready."

"Follow us and stay close," she said, nodding back. After that, she motioned for her squad to move and they all started to head east, opposite the way that they had came. Making sure the cloth covered my mouth, I shrugged the pack higher up on my shoulders before following behind them. Giving one last look at the house ruins, I gave an elongated sigh as I looked east. I knew that my life would never be the same again, but it wasn't enough to keep my thoughts from wondering to back home.

After only a few minutes, I pulled my goggles over my eyes to hide my tears.