Chapter 21

The Dying Bull

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

-Thomas Jefferson

My main concern was resistance on the way to the camp. I had a bad feeling that we'd be pestered all the way to the rafts, or maybe they'd send off the rafts. I wouldn't care either way. I'd take as long as I needed to get to Caesar, and I was willing to swim to the fort to finally deal with that turd. I'd also soon be free of Nikolai, who, upon meeting Boone, almost got himself killed by calling First Recon "a bunch of little girls".

I had to silently pray that Boone wouldn't shoot Nikolai as he rode off for the Cove. That he was flipping us the bird until he was out of sight did not help.

I was wrong to some extent. We only found a few Legionaries on our way to the Cove, and they were all dealt with swiftly (we even found a few that Nikolai must've ran into as he galloped, and you can interpret that as he ran past or he ran through them).

Whenever I tried to get Boone to open up to me, I was unsuccessful. He was a decent human being, for sure, but... he was also the master of one-word responses whenever a question was asked.

Veronica later told me that I didn't do anything wrong. Boone just wasn't a very outgoing person. I asked her if he would ever shoot the breeze with me. She told me her theory that, when he isn't killing people, he just stands in a storage room and waits. I glanced at Boone, and... he heard her, but he didn't react. He just kept walking.

We were all shocked by the state of things at Cottonwood Cove when we got there that night (save for Boone). The stench of death hung heavy in the air. Flies buzzed around the bodies, though decomposition was not horribly obvious yet. Not even Legionary mongrels were spared the slaughter. Their bodies littered the ground, as well.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Veronica. Dogmeat pressed his head against my leg, making sure I wasn't getting sick again (I was).

Boone bent over a body and picked up a pistol lying near it. He checked the magazine and chambered a bullet, and then tossed the weapon to me.

"M1911. That's a classic," he said. I caught the gun, but I didn't respond to him. I was too fixated on the bodies all over the camp. Some of these corpses were literally blown in two, and their entrails littered the ground and only served to make me even more queasy.

"Nikolai... did all of this?" I asked softly.

"And so quickly?" asked Vernoica.

"No," said Boone. "I did."

Veronica and I stared at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Told you I was going hunting," he said.

"How did you find time to come all the way out here... do this... and then come back?"

He ignored my question (no, I never found out the answer). I heard a horse whinnie and saw Nikolai's mount galloping right towards us. I was about to dive out of the way, but it stopped in front of us.

"...do you think something happened to Nikolai?" I asked. Dogmeat stared up at me and Veronica shrugged.

"Boone? Do you think he's dead?" I asked.

"I hope so," he said without hesitation.

When we got to the docks, there was one less raft, and I could see Nikolai on a raft waving his arms back and forth at us.

Boone muttered, "Damn it."

I stared at the remaining raft. This is it. Either I leave on this raft and return on it, or I leave on it and the Legion returns on it.

"When we get there, there's going to be trouble," he said. I nodded. Boone and Veronica boarded the raft. I looked down at Dogmeat.

"For Cord," I said. He barked at me in response.

For Cord...

I stepped onto the raft and Dogmeat followed. We shoved off, and all we had to do then was wait.

The trip was silent for a while. We found no Legionaries on the water.

I almost jumped when I heard two shots fired about one hundred feet ahead of us. There was a loud explosion, and it sent shockwaves through the air. The raft creaked and whined, but it managed to hold up.

My ears were ringing, and I nearly fell into the water, but I was fine. There were no other gunshots yet.

"Nikolai?" I called.

"I am fine! Scum had a howitzer... shit! Watch the cliffsides!"

I heard a splash and then some more gunfire. Boone brought up his rifle, as did I, and Veronica readied her Falafel, though not without an annoyed 'huff'.

"101, Targets, 10 o'clock high!"

I only managed to get my scope on the team of two Legionaries on the cliffside. Before I could pull the trigger, my ears were treated to another explosion, and my eyes were treated to the sight of two human beings nearly exploding.

Veronica fired at a few other Legionaries on the cliff face that were already shooting down at us. Had Nikolai not taken out that howitzer operator, we'd probably be dead right now.

We had to keep fighting until we were about five minutes away from the camp. All in all, none of us were seriously injured on the way to the camp, though Nikolai managed to land a few minutes before us, and being the self-reliant dick head he was, he didn't bother waiting for us to show up.

Not long before we hit land, we heard gunfire. There were nine shots from land, and then all was silent. No, the bullets were not fired at us. I thought of Nikolai.

When we hit ground, I started running in the direction from which I heard the gunfire, hoping he saved Caesar for me. I ran up a hill, finding four Legionary bodies on the ground. When I got to the top of the hill, I saw it.

The body of Lanius was lying in a growing pool of blood, his body mangled and his leg all but blown off. That Model 500 of Nikolai's really packed a punch...

Nikolai.

Not more than fifteen feet from the body of Lanius sat Nikolai, the handgun lying on its side just next to him. He was bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound in the waist and appeared to be in much pain.

Even Dogmeat let out a yelp of surprise at his condition. He was sweating, breathing heavily, and his hands were shaking. It looked like the bullet caught him in the liver. I immediately stopped by his side and went to try and stem the bleeding, but he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Go after that pig," he said. "He ran up the path, and is probably waiting in ambush. Don't fight fair... just win."

I stared, silent, even as Veronica started calling for me, and I started hearing a high pitched beeping. Nikolai breathed out through his nose.

"Sorry. Did I forget to mention that I am attached to explosive device?"

He pulled me a little closer, as I was still struck mute.

"You should go now," he said, and then he released my arm with a shove. Dogmeat and I started sprinting, and we managed to cover enough ground to avoid the blast. The last I saw of Nikolai was him holding his pistol to his head, preparing to pull the trigger. He didn't want to give Caesar the satisfaction...

...but he failed. There was an explosion that sent me to the floor in surprise, and Nikolai was no more.

Instead of moving immediately, I stared in silent shock at what just happened. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left. He just wasn't there anymore. As I stared, Dogmeat slowly got up and nudged me, and Veronica ran to my aid. She pulled me to my feet and looked at the charred ground where Nikolai sat a moment ago.

"Milly, let's get moving. He's dead, okay? There's nothing you can do for him. Now, let's go!"

I stood, and Veronica grabbed both of my shoulders and looked me in the eye.

"Are you hurt?"

I shook my head. Veronica nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

She started walking ahead of me and I began to follow, but I looked back over my shoulder at where Nikolai was moments before. I looked down at Dogmeat, and saw him eyeing the burnt patch of ground, too... but on his face, there was a look of respect. He looked up at me as if to say "Let's finish this," and so we were off again.

We found three tents, two smaller tents and one larger one, pitched in between the two smaller ones and a little further back. Three Legionaries came out of the tent on the left. They didn't get a shot off before two were killed by Boone, who had found a nice perch one he got off the raft. The third was killed by Veronica's power fist not three seconds after the first two fell. She went to check the tent they came out of for anybody else. I readied my M1911 and I stepped towards the tent on the right.

Before I could open the tent flap, however, another .50 caliber round tore through the side of the tent, causing me to stumble back in surprise. Then there was another, and another... and then I heard a thud from inside the tent, and I wasn't sure I wanted to go in there anymore.

I was certain I didn't want to go in there anymore once Boone shot into the tent one more time for good measure. It was good he did, because I heard another thud.

I started walking towards the big tent, and when I went to open the flap, M1911 drawn, I was suddenly thrown backwards by a Legionary. I lost my grip on the pistol and soon found myself trying my best to keep the man pinning me from stabbing me through the heart with a Jim Bowie.

I struggled with him for what felt like ages, but wasn't more than ten seconds. My arms burned and I slowly gave way to the weapon against my devices. I would have probably succumbed had Dogmeat not been there to save me. He tackled the man that nearly killed me and ripped his throat out, only he was more enraged in that one moment than I'd ever seen him before.

Veronica ran to my aid at the commotion and quickly helped me up. She handed me my gun and said something to me, but I didn't really listen. I was staring at the large tent before me. I wondered why Boone hadn't opened fire on that tent like he did the one I recently investigated. At the time, I thought he was offering me the chance to kill Caesar myself, but he later told me it was because his perch did not give him a very clear shot of more than the front of the tent, where I was located.

Veronica entered first, and almost immediately there was a gunshot and a curse from Veronica. She stumbled out of the entryway and moved to the side, clutching her right arm.

I moved to try and look at it, but she waved me off.

"It's a graze, don't worry... but damn, it hurts."

I nodded. Three more bullets came flying through the flap I almost entered through.

"Come quietly, Caesar! I've got a bone to pick with you!" I shouted. There was silence.

"Caesar?" I called again. There was nothing. I smacked the front flap with the gun to try and get him to shoot again, but there was nothing. Dogmeat poked his head in, and then the rest of him followed. I followed him at Veronica's encouragement, and found the tent now empty, but the back cut open.

"Shit..."

Dogmeat and I started running for the rear of the tent, and I saw a shape running for cover behind five more Legionaries. They raised their weapons to fire at me, but I took aim at the fleeing silhouette and I emptied the clip.

At least four of my shots met their target. He went down for a moment, staggered to his feet, turned around, and prepared to fire at me. I dove behind a nearby boulder as he and the five Legionaries opened fire.

There was a distant "CLAP", and the five reinforcements were narrowed to three. Boone was a damned good shot, and a quick relocator.

I was out of ammo, though. I only had the one magazine for the M1911, and I had no chance of hitting Caesar with the Beretta Tomcat. I found myself hoping Boone would finish him, but he seemed to be focusing only on the reinforcements, for each time I heard a "CLAP", the fire keeping me behind the boulder narrowed.

"Milly," I heard from inside the tent. An FN FAL slid out, and it was actually within reach.

"Do it!" she shouted. I grabbed the gun, waited for a final "CLAP", broke from cover, and I pulled the trigger...

...but I hit nothing. The man I shot with the M1911... he was on the ground already. Boone didn't hit him. I found myself running to his side.

Caesar did not commit suicide as I thought, and he did not get killed by Boone. I was the one that shot him. It was me.

"That's it?" I asked his body. I saw his chest fall once, and that was all.

The four bullets that I caught him with did not kill him instantly, but he went the way Autumn would've went: he bled out. One of the rounds entered his back and exited his chest, and it suggested to me that one or more of my bullets were responsible for an aortic rupture. He'd managed to get up, turn, and shoot at me, but the wounds must've caught up with him quickly.

"That's it?!" I asked again.

Veronica had to lead me away from Caear's dead body. She reassured me that I did manage to kill The Bull. I managed to cease its expansion. It was through the dedication of many, though, that their influence was crushed forever, and those many were of The Kings and those of a small ramshackle bar called Comrade's.

I did it. I did what I wanted to do ever since that day that feels like ancient history now... I did what I wanted to do since I weeped over Cord's dead body...

...so why do I feel so empty?

End of Chapter

2,481 words.

I know it took me a long time, but it would take you a long time too if you were helping shoot short films. One of the ones I'm helping with has one more day of shooting, and is supposedly scheduled for release in Spring 2014. It's called Apple Pie Ala Mode, if you're interested. And NO, I wasn't a main, and NOOOO, I'm not saying what I did in it.

I couldn't make the fight with Caesar so drawn out, and so... refreshing upon conclusion. That's not how most revenge plots work out.

I've got one more chapter for you, but it's purpose is only to tie up loose ends. It will not be long, and there will not be much interaction in it. It's factual, at least regarding the part of the SeeThatCanon that these Fallout stories embody.

After this shorty next chapter, there will be trivia. Also, please go to my channel here and vote for your favorite characters if you've got any. You can choose up to two, and your choices will be answering a question I've had for a long while now.