A/N: Hey everyone, is everyone doing alright? I'm back with another update. Lets just say daydreaming in Biology class is at least productive for something. Other than that I have been mostly been busy with all kinds of mid-terms, exams, and other nonsense I had to attend to. I will be in Japan for spring break, a future update will be longer than usual.
I want to extend a thanks to Fire Kunai, Mr Wang 330 (and alerting), and zgreece (even though it was in a PM) for reviewing. I also want to thank oryan1 for faving this.
I must clear up the little jab at Fire Kunai at the last chapter. Was it meant to be an insult? Absolutely not, I was just merely joking. I was toying around with ideas of Ian providing his weird humor. I'll admit, it sounded a good idea at the time. I am aware that there was heavy confusion between me and Ian. I'm sorry. I'd wish I could explain in more detail but I know you read for the story.
Again standard disclaimer: All trademarks belong to their respective owners, including Fallout 3 to Bethesda, various real life trademarks, and of course my (and in this case zGreece's) character(s). I don't plan to earn any money off of this. Please read and review.
I am also open to anything you want to see in this story, just ask. Just PM me or leave it in your review.
"He scorns them now, but oh they'll suit full well
With the purple he must wear in hell."
-Richard Crashaw
Chapter 6: Lazarus and Dives
I stirred around a bit, wondering where the hell I was. a bright light pierced into my eyes, was I still outside? Or more importantly, am I dead? Where am I? I sat up and held my hands to my eyes, rubbing them, getting them used to the sights around me. I still couldn't tell where I was, it was still quiet, though I could hear a murmur in the distance. Someone was coming! I patted myself down, who took my weapons? Is this person going to kill me? I thought at the moment I was screwed. Oh dear God I was screwed!
"Hello, Todd," Megan walked in with a smile on her face. A poorly disguised smile, I could at least see through that. "Feeling better?"
I looked at both of my shoulders. I saw a tiny hole on my left shoulder where I got hit. Another stimpack should do the trick, I'd say the healing would be almost done.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I shrugged. "Where am I?"
"I can answer that," I heard someone coming from behind Megan, stimpack in hand. It couldn't be. "You're in the bar's back room," Ian said. "Little missy whiney-bitch and a couple others dragged you here after your little screw up with mutants. That was a day ago," he explained wiping down the stimpack's needle with an brown and checkered old rag. What the hell was that stupid son of a bitch doing, wiping the needle with a rag!? He certainly wasn't thinking of injecting that into me right?
"At least I don't look like a fucking hobo," Megan growled. "Your clothes look like they were picked from a garbage can."
"It serves its purpose," Ian brushed off. "I'm just hot shit. Now then," he re-focused his attention to me. "Just one more dose of this and it'll be done and over with, I won't make any guarantees on this."
Oh, lovely. He snapped the needle once more and proceeded to inject the concoction of medical fluids directly into my shoulder. Was this even the way it was supposed to be done? I heard that the in the pre-war days that it was supposed to be injected into the arm, not directly into the wound. The stimpack shot into my shoulder, an excruciating pain filled my nerves. At least it was working. I could feel my body tense up a bit when the fluids went through into my bloodstream. It left me with a bit of a tingling sensation afterward, one that would hope not to experience ever again.
"You're a crap doctor, you know that?" I grimaced, zipping up my suit.
"I provide it cheap," Ian frowned. "Be thankful I'm the affordable handy-fucking-man around here as part of the town's crap policy of community-shittin' service." He slammed the door as he went out, probably to tend to his bar once again or to drink himself silly, one of the two. The two of us were left in an immensely awkward silence. She must still hate me for my stupid decision to take on mutants.
I wanted to break this awful silence. "Megan, I-"
"What were you thinking, Todd? I told you not to do anything stupid," she frowned.
"I'm drugged and I just got up after being shot in the shoulder, ring any bells?" I mumbled, still dazed by the drugs that sped toward the almost healed wound.
"Yeah, after taking on a super mutant. Genius Todd, fucking genius," Megan rolled her eyes.
"The raiders and muties pay well, that's all that matters," I straightened up. "I wasn't given any choices whether I could fight or not, but I'd rather have quick death than a tortuous one."
Right when I trailed off I could hear Ian reciting another one of his poems. God help the poor bastard. The son of a bitch probably has to recite that at least daily, if not usually twice or three times a day. The low popping sound of the gun was muffled by the sheet walls. As clean as a shot he could put it most of the time, assuming that he should hit his intended target, he shoots them from a point blank range. I don't know if he did it for pity or anything else. He did it probably just to reduce the number of people that could complain or be naively sympathetic to him.
"Don't tell me," Megan wondered in horror.
Typical Megan. "Yeah. It's like the wasteland breaks every soul that dares set foot on it."
"But he doesn't have to…" she tried to reason.
"The people demand it," I shrugged. "Nothing you can do about that."
"Of course I can't!" Ian dragged in another unconscious body, gave him another injection of a stimpack, and then threw him out into the street without a care in the world. We were both stunned. How could he just throw people out into the streets like that?
"The elements will sober him up," Ian remarked. "Stupid-ass barfighter."
"And speaking of sober," Ian looked at me. "I hope you're sobered up from the medications, can't have you here leeching enormous shit off me."
"I am," I tried in my best convincing tone. "I have to ask you something though; did you see a guy that kind of looked like me?"
"No," he flatly said. "A crapload of things happen to go down in the bar. I don't think…wait, now that you mention it," he changed his mind. "I think a person came in here looked nearly like you..."
"Can you tell me where he went?" I asked.
"Of course not," he flatly answered. "Absolutely not. You have your secrets, I have mine, and I don't want to freaking hear yours."
"Got anything for me to do? Then… I'll work for it," I shrugged. I was really desperate, really out of options.
"I think I have something. There is a person that lives by Brooks Pond who owes me a bit of a sum of money. Whether you get the payment or kill him is up to you. In any case, report back to me and I'll talk."
"Can't you come along with us?"
"My bar is my pride and joy. There is no way I am fucking leaving her to accompany some punks on a simple task," Ian firmly stated and walked back into his bar. "Smell ya' rats ass later! Get killed or something!"
I didn't know where to go, what to expect, and to top it all off, not too much in the way of finances. Sure I had some stashers and a bit of ammunition left over from the previous battle, but it was not much, and it might wear me down while traveling in the burning heat. My shoulder was probably fine and I could still shoot. Shoot like a turd, but at least I could still shoot, there was always VATS to take care of the rest. Deep down inside I was crazy or stupid, probably both. Hopefully this guy has information on wherever my dad ran off to, or even better, how to navigate through this wasteland landscape of acrid dust, barren hills, and lifeless rocks.
I felt a dull thud on my back… oh yeah, and useless, old garbage thrown by Megan.
"Are you deaf?" Megan asked irritably.
"Let me take a piss first and I'll get back to you," I walked out the back door. She is annoying sometimes but I still hold her in high regard. She still thinks the same way as me, but maybe I rubbed off on her a bit. Has my smartass personality really rubbed off on her that much? I'd doubt it.
The two of us had been probably walking for around an hour since we left the Smiling Buddha. I thought Megan didn't like walking in this perverted wasteland. Is she finally sucking it up because of me? I don't know. I asked her earlier if she wanted to stay behind but she came anyway. It was definitely not something worthwhile to argue over. Besides, I wouldn't have liked to have stayed in that room all day just doing nothing; I would've shot something, or worse killed somebody. Then I'd have the town turn on us with their guns and we'd be shot up faster than you could say super mutant.
What kind of place would this be if it wasn't a wasteland? Maybe the lively trees lining the streets or the groomed, manicured lawns that I've seen in our textbooks would be all over. People joyfully driving a Chevrolet, Ford, or Chrysler; things that looked so much fun to do. It must have looked like a great place to live and have kids. It seemed so nauseatingly good back then. They had the time of their lives but suddenly they ended modern human convenience by pressing a few fucking red buttons and made every person's life born afterward as fucking miserable as possible. Maybe they could've tried not to postpone the death of human race by not building Vaults, we'd commit suicide faster.
Here, centuries into post-apocalyptic bullshit, there's always a trade-off, there's no magical free ride here. It was natural selection at its worst, I don't know how people could live with it and just say something like "Shit happens, drive on."
I saw what looked like traders on the road ahead, their weary brahmin resting in a tight circle in front of a barely standing stone bridge. My PIP-BOY flashed green twice in excitement, giving me the message, "You have discovered Trapper's Crossing!" I'd thought it'd be more generic, I don't know, something like "Medford Bridge" according to the signs that we passed along the way. One of them took out a revolver and the other two did the same shortly after that, pointing the barrel in our direction. Magnum would be my first guess but I didn't want to guess wrong.
I put my hands up in the air and motioned Megan to do the same. "Don't worry. We just want to trade," I called out as clearly as possible as we both approached. The center one lowered his weapon first, he must be the lead guy.
"Alrighty, a customer," I heard the trader dust off his arms and blonde hair with his aged hands. He took out a clipboard. "Whadduya wanna buy?"
I had a list of things in mind but Megan cut me off. "I'll handle it, Todd," she said, pulling out a plastic bag full of stashers.
"Where did you get that?" I asked.
"This was your bonus for your services, you were too knocked out to accept it," she smirked a bit, conveniently expecting me to just shut up. "Don't worry Todd, it'll be put to good use."
"Alright, whatever," I shrugged. I waited a few moments as Megan proceeded to clean me of most of my entire hard earned bonus on purified water and a few outfits that we could use instead of our blue vault suits. They were not comfortable to wear at all but at least we could blend into the environment better and looked cooler. I don't know of anyone that loves to wander around in those terrible blue tights.
"Thankies!" I head the trader grin in delight.
"No problem," Megan smiled.
"You guys know where Brooks Pond is?" I asked, hoping that they knew, they were traders after all.
"You'd be wise to avoid that area, lotta men got strangled there," I head one of them say.
"Yeah, don't forget the Aflacs," one of them mentioned, puffing a cigarette.
"Alfacs?" I wondered.
"Yep, 'ts what they call 'em. Description defies belief."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll know what I mean when you see 'em."
"Alright, but where is Brooks pond? It's really urgent." I tried in my most convincing tone possible.
"Cross the bridge and it's to the north-north-west," one of them said. "Don't say we didn't warn ya. It's a terrible screwed up place."
"Thanks," I waved off as the two of us crossed the bridge over the slow moving, brown-colored muck swirling from under us. No doubt that was radioactive and polluted, like most water sources. It had a bad stench to it, like people threw dead bodies into the river all the time. I just hope one of them wasn't my dad.
"Are you sure this is the right place, Todd?" Megan took a sip of some of the purified water she had, looking around for the cabin.
"I think so," I replied, scratching the back of my neck. Damn, these things Megan bought are irritating my neck so badly. "I've been following NNW on my PIP-BOY. Should be around here somewhere…"
"Alright! hopefully we can get this-"
*HONK!*
"Eek! What the hell?" Megan yelped.
Yep he was right, they defied belief. So much for the docile creatures we read about in our field manuals, I couldn't believe it was even possible. Its head was bobbing up and down in the low grass up ahead; its green, beady, reptilian eyes looking around in every direction. It probably knew something was amiss, something was in its territory. It went back to soaking up the blistering rays in the low grass up ahead. I couldn't tell if it was exactly a bird or a reptile, it had hind legs just like a reptile but it seemed to have short stubby wings like a bird. I certainly didn't want my ass crushed by the jaws on that thing. Those rows of sharp teeth on its snout looked particularly menacing, they definitely haven't been cleaned in a while.
Why the hell did I agree to do this? I hid behind a broken tombstone. Good thing the weeds were there to cover us as we inched forward on our bellies toward the shack I could barely discern beyond the rows of lifeless twigs. The first thing that came to mind was a minefield of ugly and pathetic looking animals that could really bite any part of my body off. I'd easily die from the blood loss from losing multiple limbs while these creatures would gladly feast on my body. Not an incredibly pretty picture, like those ones that advertise Shark Week or some shit on a pre-war TV channel.
The both of us inched forward as best we could, taking care to not disturb the aptly disturbing looking local wildlife. After what seemed like a good few hours, a lot of chest crawling, and a lot of dust in both our mouths, we made it to the creaky old porch of the shack.
I gently pried the door open with my rifle, expecting to find a trap behind the door. Thankfully, there weren't any traps behind that old, deteriorated door with its rusted hinges. I crept forward into the cabin with my rifle up to my shoulders, slowly clearing the place. Megan followed me behind with her pistol drawn as well. I don't know if she ever used it since being in the vault, but it wouldn't hurt to have another gun in handy.
The only thing interesting that was there was a radio just playing useless static and the body of a lifeless man slumped over a chair. I checked his pulse and didn't find any. I slung my rifle over my shoulder again and searched the cabin for the bounty of stashers Ian was looking for. Some of the things looked interesting, like a Nuka-Cola truck with its front-left-side tire missing. Megan wasn't too inclined on looking around though she probably imagined who could have lived here.
I soon found the stash of currency under the bed, I reached to grab it.
"Ouch," I said as I cut one of my fingers on the splinters on the uneven wooden floor.
"You alright, Todd?" Megan asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I shrugged off the injury. "Nothin' to worry about. Let's head back."
"Good idea, Todd," she smiled. I followed her out the door. My next challenge was how we were going to get back up without falling on any one of those things.
*Honk…*I heard one of them raise their head, apparently sniffing something. Its head froze, its snout adamantly pointing in my direction.
"Megan, go back inside," I apprehensively ordered her. She must have sensed the fear in my voice. I heard the door open and close behind me.
Another one of them cried out with its irritating shrill. What could be so interesting for them? Was it the clothes I was wearing? Was it the clinking of the stashers hitting each other? One of them was charging down from my right. That was weird, I didn't have anything in my right hand. They looked so undisturbedd a while ago. I looked at my right hand and noticed a faint stream of blood going down my finger, like a drop had fallen off just a few seconds ago. Rubbing my fingers together, I came to a stunning realization.
Shit! They're bloodthirsty.
More like hardcore bloodthirsty, how did they smell that incredibly tiny speck of blood? Raising my rifle up to my shoulder, I shot at the animal through the sights that have seen much better days. I must've hit it in the thigh as it suddenly stopped, frantically trying to pull its head and the rest of its body forward, its hind legs struggling to get traction on the dusty ground. It flapped its short and stubby wings in a desperate attempt to get airborne. Stubborn little bugger.
I decided to leave it there and not finish it off. More approached me; I didn't have ammo to waste to guarantee a 2-round kill for every one of them. I shot the next one and killed it but when I rotated the bolt back, aimed down the sights, and pulled the trigger...
*CLICK*
Crap, don't jam on me now. I hurriedly fiddled with my rifle to try to clear the round out of the chamber when I heard one trying to jump me from behind. I entered VATS, targeted the one right behind me, and took a swing at it as hard as I could with my rifle. I heard a dull thud behind me as I stumbled back into the cabin.
"Todd! Are you hurt?" I heard Megan gasp.
"I'm OK," I said, gritting my teeth. "Damn those nasty little bloodthirsty suckers."
I caught my breath in relative safety; VATS really took a toll on my body. I wasn't expecting to be this tired after entering VATS only once. What a pain in the ass.
"We gotta bust our ass up that hill, Megan. You ready?" I asked.
"Wait, Todd. What are we going to do about them?" Megan frantically wondered.
"Just knock them out of our way! Hurry up, before more come!" I bellowed.
I kicked the door down and we both took off toward the top of the hill, swatting and kicking any of those creatures in our way, jumping over broken tombstones, our outfits getting ripped a little by the thorny underbrush. I saw Megan stumble in the corner of my eye, with another one of those things closing in on her. I pulled out my pistol and shot the bastard a couple of times. I don't know if I killed it but it finally gave up.
We both caught our breath at the top and then set out to return to shove this bag of stashers up Ian's ass. I was determined to get moving this place and to find him. Ian and my dad definitely have a lot of explaining to do. My dad more so but I felt better taking revenge on Ian first.
I marched my way through the dusty streets of the Smiling Buddha. Ian better have a damn good excuse of sending us to do the dirty work for him. I walked up a short hill to the ever so familiar bar run by that cocky son of a bitch. I walked through that familiar rusty, corrugated iron door, making sure to keep both of our heads down in anticipation of the steak knife that would be aimed at us. Sure enough, I felt something fly past above my head, with the sound of two steak knives lodging themselves in the wall behind me. No wonder Ian keeps fiddling with them, they must get dull really fast by getting lodged in those walls.
"Oh, its missy whiney bitch and her fat-ass boyfriend," Ian commented, grabbing another pair of knives. "Thought you guys were another group of barfighters."
I was not amused, dropping the pack of stashers violently on his counter-top. "Cut the crap, Ian. I hope you're prepared to hold up your end of the bargain," I demanded.
"Calm the fuck down," Ian grumbled. "You make it sound like the end of the world." He ruffled his hair a bit. "From what I could overhear, he probably went to Castle Bravo…"
He was silent for a few moments. "Well, where the hell is it!?" How the hell does Ian expect me to know where that is!?
"As in hell if I know," Ian shrugged. "That's what I could make out. I don't have a damn clue where that place is." He lit up another cigarette. "All I know is that there's a metro somewhere to the south east an' that this was left behind in my bar a few days ago which I don't fucking want," he grabbed a dusty holotape from under the bar. "Here, take it fatass!"
I caught it and put in my pocket, I'm definitely listening to it later. "You sure you don't wanna come with us?"
He pounded his fist on the counter, "You must have lost your balls, boyo. I'd never think about closin' this place to babysit some gerbil-looking kids who complain about half a damn! Candy asses," he scowled.
"You…" Megan gritted her teeth.
"Wha's wron' missey bitch?" Ian grinned maniacally. "Cat got yer tongue? I got all the time in the world to kill, unlike your boyfriend there."
Ian can put up a mean bluff, but I wasn't in the mood nor had the patience to call on it or let it get to me. "Whatever, old hag. Good luck making love to the bar," I blew him off before walking out. Megan followed me out shortly afterward, though I guess she wanted to insult his taste in dress one last time. We walked in the last rays of the setting sun in the Smiling Buddha before heading back to our little place at Antimony's to just chill for the rest of the night. It would probably be our last night in the place; I'd probably go down to a ruined metro in the southeast to who knows where. That was the scary part, how long was it to Castle Bravo? Is it even still there?
I ejected the overseer's information tape and popped in the one Ian gave me. What I got was:
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
It sounded nearly like my dad but what kind of bullcrap is this? It made me want to blow my brains out. Who the hell writes this? I quickly put the overseer's tape back in. His notes on the flora and fauna in the wasteland soon replaced the audio screen. I sat down on the chair we had in our room. I rubbed my eyes a bit, it was another long day, and it'd probably be another longer one tomorrow. Jeez.
I felt a pair of hands rubbing on my shoulders. It feels so good but I don't want to fall asleep in the chair. I tilted my head back, "Megan, I appreciate the massage but I don't want to fall asleep just yet," I smiled a bit.
She sighed and slid her hands forward, resting her head on my shoulder. "Todd, you're weird."
"Pssh, so what? I don't have a problem with it," I said. It was true, I have gotten used to it.
I heard the chair creak out from under me. "Sorry Megan, could you get off me?" I reluctantly asked. "I don't want to have a chair leg stuck up my ass the next morning," I weakly smiled.
Megan complied and I sat down on the edge of the much more supportive and dingy bed. Megan joined me and we probably sat around and stared at nothing for a few minutes. She rested her head on my shoulder again. I couldn't help but stay there, if she found relief from the messes of the wasteland by resting on my shoulder, so be it. I could at least endure that.
"Megan…" I murmured.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry…" I apologized, mostly for making her worry too much.
"Todd, you scared the crap out of me," Megan muttered. "I have nobody out here in this wasteland to count on except you. You know that." I knew that, she escaped with me; we swore we were a team in that abandoned sports center.
"You can't rely on me all the time," I rebutted, trying to at least sugarcoat a harsh reality a bit. "You know that as well."
"But you must think I'm just a burden," she mumbled into my shoulder. Why does she think she's a burden to me?
"Bullshit," I wrapped my arms around her waist. "You never were."
"Todd, look at me!"
Crap, I'm trying to comfort her, what does she want? The last thing I need is for Megan to try to extract a confession out from under me. I was not in the mood for another confession. She stared at me with her familiar green eyes, searching for something deep inside me. What was it? She tried to compose herself a couple of times before finally gathering the courage to say something.
"Todd, "she said. I never lost contact with her eyes. "If you say that I'm not a burden, what do you really think of me?"
I couldn't think of a clear answer. If there's anyone out there, HELP!!!
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: The poetry is from Edgar Allen Poe's Poem A Dream Within a Dream.
Aflacs, well...in short alligator + duck, biology class produces some weird things.