A/N: Thanks to Argente for reviewing.
Disclaimer: All trademarks belong to their respective owners, including Fallout 3 to Bethesda, various real life trademarks, and of course for mine and other characters that are featured in this story. I don't plan to earn any money off of this. Please read and review.
"People try nonviolence for a week, and when it does not work, they go back to violence, which hasn't worked for centuries." -Theodore Roszak
Chapter 12: Charlie Ain't Beautiful
Megan's Point of View:
I hardly moved from the spot I was set down by Todd and Ari hours ago. I don't remember how long I've sat here while Todd was scavenging for supplies in the wastes, or that's what he told me. He should be back soon. Damn him, he seems to be pretty poor with anticipating how long he's going to be out there doing his own business. To be honest, I should be with him to prevent him from doing something stupid, like nearly getting himself killed half the time. But there wasn't really anything I could do about my gunshot injuries; the stimpack had to do its business and I just had to wait. Stimpacks usually don't take this long do they? I didn't want to rip it out and make things worse than it needed to be.
But Walt though, he was an interesting man to talk to, despite being stuck behind an opaque glass panel that probably got that way because of the smoke. He and I would talk about history, arts, culture; anything except guns, violence, or whatever sardonic comments came out of Todd's mouth. He probably had the most extensive pre-war cultural knowledge all to himself. I don't know anyone else in the wastes that would have such an appreciation for the pre-war stuff. They probably were too focused on mindlessly killing each other than to stop for a moment and read a book. To be honest, I'd think they would rather use a book to beat someone over the head with than have the patience to read it.
Ari mainly kept to himself, only walking in a couple times to make sure the both of us were okay before he went back to his post.
As the room I was sitting in got progressively darker, I turned my PIP-BOY light on while Walt stood up and lit an old-fashioned wick lamp, likely to continue his browsing in the night hours. The small flame struggled to shine beyond the opaque wall. Maybe that's how it got like that.
"Walt, are you related to Ari?" I asked curiously.
"Biologically, no," Walt gruffly said. "But I'm afraid he might see me as a father figure, despite our physical separation."
"Then how did you meet?"
I heard Walt tapping his fingers, as if he was jogging his mind for that one particular memory. "Well, I was in this chair like I always have, browsing over theCorpus Aristotelicum, when I heard his irregular footsteps coming down from the hall. Even with the barrier between us, I could tell he was in terrible shape and told him to go farther down the hallway to find some medical supplies. Long story short, he got better and he thinks he owes a personal debt to me."
"That's because in my mind I still do, sir," Ari stood by the doorway with a lantern in hand, apparently catching at least the last bit of our conversation. "And I believe it was Plato's Republic, not Aristotle."
"I keep telling you; you don't need to call me 'sir', Ari." Walt reminded him. "I'm just a grizzled old man stuck behind a pane of glass."
Ari didn't respond, instead quietly excusing himself from the conversation, probably to return back to his post. That was weird; he acted normally when I got shot but why did he act so strange around Walt? Reluctance to follow through on that question nagged me; I didn't want to delve deeper.
"I'll never understand him," Walt commented. "He likes to run off and do his own thing. I'm sure you feel the same way concerning your partner don't you think?"
I sighed. There was no point in denying it; it was true. Why does he manage to get us into inconvenient or precarious situations? Forced deals and hostage situations were just the start. We could go off and split our own separate ways, but what good would come out of that? Damn, this guy seems to push the right emotional buttons. Even if he was intentionally trying to, I wouldn't have figured it out.
"Maybe," I shrugged unconvincingly. "I guess I'm forced to trust him. He's the only reliable person I know in this wasteland since we left the Vault."
"I see."
"But if I had a choice to pick again, it would still be Todd," I hopelessly admitted. "I just wish he'd let me make some more worthwhile decisions once in a while." Looking out over the darkened Charles, I wondered if my words were a true indicator of what I really felt or being drugged up by the stimpack and all. "Please don't tell him, okay?"
"You have my word."
Forcing whatever amount of strength I could muster into my legs to make me stand; I tried not to look at the humongous needle that was inserted into my arm. It nearly freaked me out just by looking at it. My legs were feeling stiff and were telling me that I've been sitting down for too long.
"I'm going for a short walk," I said to no one in particular.
"Sure thing," Walt replied, casually smoking another cigarette.
Damn it, what was taking him so long? Walking down the dreary hallways seemed to tempt me to finally give in, abandon all hope, and maybe return to Vault to attempt to live like none of these events ever happened. But I couldn't do that, the overseer was going to make a perfect example of me. Pushing my bangs out of my face, I wandered to sit on the same stairs that Todd and Ari carried me up.
Looking down at my rust colored hands stained with dust, sweat, grime, and blood, I kept wondering on what it would've been like if the vault was perfectly normal. Finding the guy of a girl's dreams was the thing to do in a metal hole in the ground, but I don't know if any guy would've appreciated my imperfections. Catching the eye of Evan didn't help either.
Hearing a slight whistling sound, I perked my head up. It instantaneously turned into a loud shriek before an explosion ripped throughout the whole building. My body was violently thrown down the stairs I was sitting on. What the hell was that? A sharp pain pierced through my arm, no doubt it was the stimpack stabbing deeper. I yanked it out of my arm and tossed the still oozing stimpack to the side and made a primitive tourniquet around where the stimpack's needle was in my arm.
Getting out of here was my first priority. Going back to see if Walt was alright was going to get me killed. Another explosion rocked the place, requiring me to put so much pressure on my good arm to prevent me from getting injured even further. I ungainly trembled down the stairway, running into Ari at the bottom.
"What's going on? Where's Walt? Is he alright?" he panicked, dropping his lantern at the sight of me. His husky hands clamped down on my shoulders. "Do you-"
"I don't know!" I yelled in his too close for comfort face, trying to get him to calm the fuck down.
"Walt must be still in-"
"He would've told you to save yourself, Ari!" I yelled louder. God, this guy was too concerned about an old geezer than his own young life. "You fucking idiot!"
Another explosion ripped through the building. It was going to collapse any minute and we were both standing here! Anxious to get out of this place, I started running, but Ari defiantly still had his hand on my shoulder. That naïve son of a bitch!
"Let me go!" I demanded.
"But- " He still kept trying to convince me to go along, unbelievable!
I've had it with this person! "If you want to play fucking hero and save Walt, go ahead!" I spat, managing to break his grip on me. "Don't drag me into this! Use your Railroad friends instead!"
My legs ran as fast as they could, trying to escape Ari's grasp and more importantly, getting myself out in one piece. The hallways were a blur as I tried to escape to relative safety. What a help Ari was! The first time he saw me, he ran over and helped me like it was nothing. Now whenever his old geezer was in danger, it was him over me and his own life! I'll never understand his blind devotion to a person he hasn't seen entirely in the flesh.
Running out into the cool darkness was a wonderful feeling, if not for the pain radiating throughout my arm. Another explosion caught me off guard, nearly sending me to the ground. I didn't know who'd want to raze the entire area to the ground, but a few missiles weren't going to do the trick. Thank god I was still armed if I had to fight anybody. Having a perfect shooting posture didn't matter; I could still fight, especially with VATS in hand.
It was a starless night tonight, with only the light of my PIP-BOY leading the way. There was a blown off brick building down the street, good enough to rest my weary body for the night. Not wanting to hurt my arm any further, I kicked down the door, stumbled through the cluttered store and up the steps to the blown off second floor. More explosions lit up the night sky and shook the ground. Just what the hell have I got myself into? There was supposed to be the Railroad around here right? I hope Todd had better luck than I had.
Todd's Point of View:
The simulation somehow turned from out of the ordinary and entertaining to cruel and unusual punishment. Those faceless dummies would never fail to try to get me caught so I could shout in pain and beg for mercy. Time seemed to pass too slowly; I don't remember how long I've been trapped in here. My guess is I've been stuck here for 16 hours. I'm guessing all that since the clock in the simulation has melted down into plastic.
Instead of having a lovely dinner without being concerned for my safety, it nearly blew up in my face. That was their way of tormenting me, a little marshmallow that spawned in the middle added insult to injury. So yeah, that's what I was up against. At least it was a simulation, just one horrible nightmare, or so I want to believe.
Another buzzer sounded and I was up and running again, trying to escape whatever cruel and unusually sadistic punishments they had for me. Surprisingly though, I didn't hear any footsteps, so I walked. A black mask with clear eye goggles materialized out of the air and quickly attached itself to my face. I looked around; trying to figure what was going on. Something sharp hit the back of my head. Reaching back behind my head, I felt something ooze.
The next one hit me right where it hit the most. "Shit!" I yelped before I ran with my hands between my legs. It turned into a barrage of hits, I was completely lit up.
"Stop! STOP!" I pleaded, curling up on the floor. God, they love torturing me! I was left to lie there motionless, groaning at the pain.
A few minutes passed and that stupid cross-dresser came out again in a very feminine nightgown, dangling three keys from his outstretched hands.
"Ah! Kitties!" he squealed. "I got hotel keys as a treat to my well behaved cats!"
They immediately grabbed the three keys and took off, like I even had a chance to even compete for those keys when I was still on the floor. Damn them.
"I'm so sorry, Markie!" he said, faking a poorly disguised look of sympathy. "You're going to have to sleep here tonight."
I shrugged; it couldn't be that bad could it? Giving this place up for a more comfortable hotel wasn't a bad deal. Hell, even the gym was a better place than being out in the elements. Despite my reluctance, I agreed and made the best of an unfortunate situation, to put it mildly. But what I didn't count on though, was being constantly attacked by more of those tortuous goons and their punishments while I was trying to sleep! Making other people feel miserable must be so much fun, especially in the dark!
By the time breakfast rolled around, I was nearly ready to snap and beat the crap out of all the virtual people. On top of that, I still had no idea what time it was outside of here. My spirits lifted as that cross-dresser finally dressed in something closer to his gender, albeit with a humongous clock around his neck.
"Surprise, surprise, surprise!" he chirped. "It's nearly over! Countdown everyone!"
Finally, it was going to be over! What a relief. I didn't participate in the countdown as my body floated off the ground and my vision turned to black. As soon as I could see my hands, I frantically pushed any and all sorts of buttons, anything to get me out of this faster.
When I finally forced myself out, I immediately scrambled for the nearest way out of the place, unsure if I was really back in the wasteland or that computer double crossed me and I was still trapped in the simulation. I burst out of a steel door and immediately into the dark and dusty, but strangely comforting, wasteland. Fearing that I might've grown a few extra mutations, I patted myself down, relieved that I still was not worse for wear. Looking down, I was relieved that my PIP-BOY was still attached to my arm. Despite all this, I had to get back.
The ground rumbled underneath my feet again, either it was an earthquake or it was another artillery strike. A loud shriek pierced through the darkness; I turned my head to the sound of that. My eyes focused on the fireball to the north.
"Crap! Crap! Crap!" I muttered. Abandoning all common sense and rational thinking, I rushed toward where the action was; across the irradiated Charles River once more. My PIP-BOY loved to tick if I went anywhere near the water.
Not long after I crossed the river, another loud shriek pierced through the night and I braced up against a brick wall. The noise and the shockwave nearly squashed me against it. It could have been much worse.
When the barrage paused for a moment, I ran the rest of the way back, only to find a pile of rubble where the building once stood. If Walt and Ari couldn't have survived that, neither could've Megan. She was… dead?
Hopelessness and defeat hung over my head. I walked into the nearest building, the one with its floors blown off, and stumbled up to the blown off upper floor, wondering if I should do the same with my head. I took out my pistol and clutched it with an iron grip. However, my arms trembled violently as I brought it up to my the end though, I couldn't do it. I let it drop to the floor.
"Damn it!" I pounded the floor. "Why am I such a failure?" I muttered. God, I'm pathetic. A simple food gathering mission turned into this!? I'm so pathetic!
"Goddammit!" I collapsed on my knees. "Why?"
"Jesus Chirst, Todd. You talk too much." I sprang up, waving my PIP-BOY light all over the place until I focused it on Megan. She was resting against a partially blown out wall, her hand clutching her arm.
"Are you alright? Are you hit?" I said frantically.
"Thank god you came," she coughed weakly. "I'll be fine but, Walt… I think he lied to us."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't see a Railroad group. Do you?"
Going into VATS, it didn't seem to lock onto any human targets. Maybe she was right. "Have any ideas?" I asked.
Before she could respond, we were cut off by another loud scream and I immediately dived to the floor. Another deafening explosion nearly knocked me out, no doubt another shell landing too close for comfort. I hated those things. It only reinforced how powerless we were against those things. I knew even VATS couldn't target them.
Staying here was out of the question. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah," she grumbled, forcing her legs to stand up. "I told you, I'll be fine."
One of her knees gave in and she fell into my arms. Obviously she wasn't okay, especially with the wrappings on her arm. We weren't going to fare so well if she was going to be tripping every ten feet. I helped her down the crumbling stairs by the light of my PIP-BOY and stopped at the bottom.
"I'm not an old lady, you know," she fussed.
"But you're walking like one," I pointed out. "C'mon, we gotta get out of here." I bent down. "I'll carry you. I don't wanna have you killing yourself every three feet."
After taking longer than a few awkward moments to come up with how to carry her without freaking her out, I inched out into the street. Carrying her torso across my shoulders wasn't too bad at first; she wasn't complaining. It got a lot harder from there, with me continuing on what borrowed strength I could muster. My hands were moving all over the place; I was tired and they knew it.
"Don't touch my ass, you pervert!" Megan squealed. Damn it, now she complains.
"That was nowhere near your ass."
As if things couldn't have gone any worse, gunshots echoed through the night. Fearing the worst, I headed toward the nearest building and kicked its rotten wooden door down. I let Megan down in a pinstriped back room, hopefully out of sight from whoever was patrolling around this area. Crossing that damn radioactive river would have to come tomorrow; I was not looking forward to that.
"Can you still eat?"
It looked like Megan tried to say something but her coughing interrupted her response; she nodded instead.
"It's not much," I sighed. My shoulders felt sore as I grabbed that small jar of honey out of my pocket. "But here, eat up. At least it's something."
Megan smiled and wordlessly took the small jar from my hand and began eating from there. My stomach growled. Goddammit, I knew I should've taken something from that simulation though I wasn't sure if it would've shriveled up into dust when I took it out.
My eyes were feeling heavy and I had a terribly long day on top of that. Trying to summon up one last push of energy was useless. I crumpled to the floor, my head resting on Megan's firm thigh.
"Todd! What the hell are you doing?" she hissed. With that tone, I'm guessing she wanted to strangle me.
"Just shut up and get some sleep," I yawned. I switched my PIP-BOY light off. Tomorrow was going to be a just as long and confusing day. At least I know now not to carelessly trap myself in a simulation ever again.
Morning couldn't have come soon enough for me, waking up at any hint of sun's rays making their way through this place. Obviously, I still wasn't used to having natural light being so pleasant in the morning. I sat up and rubbed my eyes; at least I could still see out of them. Planning for the journey ahead, I checked my PIP-BOY and especially my dosimeter, which was the only one that could tell me how much radioactive crap my body was bombarded with. Thankfully, I could try and barely attempt at least one more crossing.
Megan was still sleeping peacefully against the pinstripe wall I set her down against last night. My stomach growled again, longing for the lovely meals I had in the simulation. I heard footsteps coming down the street, which unfortunately got progressively louder. Good thing Megan was still asleep when I rushed back into the back room and dragged her by her collar, hopefully out of sight and out of worry. Then it turned into an agonizing period of waiting behind a goddamn counter so full of dust and other funny smells that it might've made me sneeze my own piss out of my nose.
Eventually after a few more agonizing minutes though, someone did come in. No wait, more like burst in.
"Jimmy you dipshit! Come out and fight like a man!" he yelled. "Dropping Castrol oil down my pants is all you can do!? Come out and fight!"
This guy is hilarious how he worded that whole thing. Unfortunately, the rank smell was not. My head was succumbing to the nauseating smells and I wanted to sneeze so badly. I was afraid I was going to do both. Oh crap, I couldn't hold in anymore. I sneezed; that was probably the worst one of my life.
"Who's there!? I don't care who you are, come out you cowardly bitch!"
Crap, crap, crap! Of all times! I heard something rattle. It couldn't be his rifle right? If it was, he was terrible, just asking to get jumped and strangled. I inched my head up as far as I could without being noticed. He had an R91 assault rifle clutched in a death grip, his clothing and spiky hair matching the equally brown stock on his rifle.
Having some fun with my bare hands to strangle the poor bastard sounded like a whole lot of fun but my cover was blown and VATS was much simpler. Scooting back so I could get a clear shot at him, I aimed two shots at his head and let VATS do the fucking magic. He dropped dead to the floor and his lovely, used assault rifle was mine for the taking, full automatic power at my fingertips. Jimmy would love to see this, if he existed.
"AAAH!" Megan screamed and blindly rushed out of the back room, freezing at the sight of another body in the front. Gunfire was such an abnormally efficient alarm clock.
"The perfect Wasteland start, gunfire and dead bodies in the morning! "I cockily smirked, trying to suppress my growing feeling of busting out and laughing.
"You-"
"Want some fries with that?" I grinned maniacally. I chuckled before letting seriousness take over. "Well, he was armed and ready to shoot," I quipped. "Better him than me."
More importantly, I went to the necessary task of searching the corpse for anything of use. I made no effort to hide what I was doing away from Megan. She would have to do it soon; maybe when I find a female corpse to make the whole process easier on her. Other than the assault rifle, there wasn't anything much left on him, just a few extra bullets and a meager amount of stashers. Certainly extremely disappointing since we lost all our stashers but it was still better than nothing.
We walked down to the Charles River and crossed without too many problems. If there wasn't a firefight or if somebody didn't lose one of their limbs then it was all good. I managed to hold my tempter and avoid a fight with more of those bulletproof crabs. With all the grass they pick up and eat, it must taste delicious.
Jesus, how does the wasteland get so dry, dusty and hot? The longer we walked sweat trickled down my face, my cracked throat was begging for something other than spit, my head throbbed from I don't know what. So much for that original estimate; I'm too damn optimistic. There was no way I was going to find him or stumble upon the Railroad at this pace; I was going to die before accomplishing any of those goals.
The shriveled stumps weren't particularly appealing to see either. Their branches looked more appealing for someone to hang themselves on if they ever ran out of bullets. Now a ruined brick building sticking out of the landscape however; looked a hell of a lot more appealing. We meandered through the mess of brush, rubble, and rusted trucks and shipping containers and keenly invited ourselves in, heading up the metal staircase to the second floor. Hopefully, we would be out of the way in case a firefight started down below.
There were a few ghouls in this place unsurprisingly, but taking care of their sorry asses was not a problem. I didn't have to fire a shot; bashing their wrecked bodies in with my fists, feet, or my rifle worked just fine.
We took a break in a room that had some holes in the ceiling; the paint was peeling off in most places, but otherwise looked structurally sound. I sat down on an old and squeaky swivel chair and kicked my feet up onto the desk. Sleepiness wanted to knock me out right there, but I couldn't let it. Megan sure wouldn't.
"I gotta find some raider chicks to kill," I said. "To help you practice looting some booty from a body."
"Don't be stupid," she crossed her arms. "That's not going to happen. You know me."
"I'm not being stupid; you've been ignoring that fact ever since we left the Vault. It's inevitable Megan, whether you like it or not."
"Stop treating me like a kid!" she spat. Okay, where did this argument come from? I'm certainly not treating her like one.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't lie to me you stupid son of a bitch! You know damn well what I'm talking about." Holy shit. As if I needed more drama to deal with. "I can tell Walt about my nagging thoughts and misgivings. Why can't I with you? Is it because you're the biggest smartass this fucked up world has to produce?!"
That was it. I can take abuse but after all that I had done for her, all bets were off. I instinctively punched her in the forehead. She needed that, to get her back to a little something called reality. Megan stumbled back and fell onto the cracked and dirty linoleum floor.
"After all this," I growled, stalking over to her. "This is how I get rewarded? With cheap insults?!"
If she wanted to make me feel like shit, I could certainly return that favor. What she could match in words, I could certainly match with action. I raised my foot over her face, but stopped at the sight of her hand trying to defend her nose and mouth. Her green eyes pleaded for me to stop and forget that this all happened, but I couldn't just let this slide and totally forget all this.
"Get away from me!" A scream echoed throughout the building. It definitely did not come from Megan; my ears would've bled from that distance.
Setting my foot down, I walked to go investigate that noise. Maybe I could find a new companion that actually respected my thoughts and actions as well as theirs.
"Todd, wait!"
I stopped and rested my hand on the doorframe. I didn't look back, I didn't want to.
"I'll give you a choice Megan. If you want, I intend, from my end, to work things out between the both of us. I'll admit it won't be quick, cheerful, and certainly won't be free from conflict. Otherwise, you're free to do whatever the hell you want. If we do meet again though, it will be on much less friendlier terms."
Not looking back or quivering during all of that, I went down the hallways and corridors of this place, alone. Uncertainty popped into my head from time to time but I couldn't let it cloud my thoughts. Time was not on my side; I couldn't let this opportunity to scab resources off another person, good or evil, go to waste.
The voices were loudest beyond that blue door. Checking my PIP-BOY, there were five dots behind it. I needed all the element of surprise I could get. Slipping the door open just wide enough for me to slip through, I took out my pistol and stayed in the shadows. I was on a catwalk above the ground floor, giving me a clear view of all the action. Squatting down helped my stealth even more; this was perfect.
A black haired woman with a dirtied lab coat was tied up and kneeled down on the floor. There was a female wastelander with spiky green hair having fun with her prisoner.
"So you're the famous Dr. Madison, Madison Li?" she cackled, pointing her gun in her prisoner's face. "Com'on then! Give us some of that Project Purity water you keep mouthing about! Crazy bitch! Oh, I know! Can you shit pure water out of your ass? Go on! Do it!"
The rest of them laughed. There was another male wastelander standing behind Dr. Li. I couldn't tell if he was armed. There was another one walking on the same catwalk as I was. The last one must be outside; there's no doubt he's armed, or at least he should be. Four on one, huh? They didn't look too burly. With all the built up emotions ready to be unleashed on five poor shits, I was ready to give all of them a bad day and shove their heads into the ground for good measure.
Still squatted, I sneaked up behind him and immediately weaved my arm over his shoulder and forced my hand over his mouth while I struck him over the head with my pistol in the other. The loot was nothing special, just a few rounds of ammunition that didn't look like it could fit into either of my weapons. I holstered my pistol and eased my brand new assault rifle off my back. Breathing shallowly, I braced myself for the anticipating shootout to follow.
That green haired bitch forced Dr. Li's chin up and pointed her gun squarely between her eyes. "I wonder if your blood is just as pure as your water. I know heads make great fountains."
This was it, showtime. I went into VATS, targeting the green haired lady with a three round burst and the guy next to her with another one. VATS did its job beautifully, crunching the numbers, reducing the loud cracks of gunfire to a dull drone, and just out anything to make killing so strangely detached and wonderful at the same time. They went down without a problem.
VATS loved to sap my strength though. The sights on the rifle were swaying. I fired a few non-VATS shots randomly, hopefully tagging him behind the sheet metal wall. He was pretty good though; my shots were missing him and his were certainly ricocheting off the catwalk. I dropped down from the catwalk. A bullet grazed me while ducking in and out of cover, anything to get him to blow his own. My chance came as he bent down to reload, with me being on my last few precious shots. I aimed at his exposed foot and fired.
He dropped his rifle and screamed in pain, must have hit his Achilles tendon or something. I ran up to him and pointed the gun at his forehead. His red hair and brown eyes told me he knew it was all over.
"Life is too short, ain't it?" I said before firing.
Dr. Li was lying on the floor but she was still tied up, freeing her was not my priority. I don't trust outsiders, especially if they're saying they are a doctor. Any doctor could mouth some kind of bullshit and I'd be forced to trust them. Dead men though, were the easiest to trust. It's not like they would rise from the dead. Stashers, some partially emptied magazines, and some were all that I found. Damn it, no food or stimpacks, though I wouldn't expect everyone to carry stimpacks. I casually sat down on one of the bodies and wordlessly loaded my magazines. It was an awkward silence with the clacking of the rounds being loaded echoing throughout the room. It would make any sane person scared.
Dr. Li was the first to break the silence. Her brown eyes looked intensely at me. "Hey, are you fucking blind?! Let me out of here!"
"It depends," I raised an eyebrow. "You claim to be a doctor and you kept spouting shit about Project Purity and clear water. I'd say you're mad and you deserved to be shot long before I came along. Why should I trust you?"
"I'll give you caps!"
"We don't play with bottle caps here."
"Don't play dumbass," she retorted sternly. "You have a PIP-BOY on. Shouldn't you be in a Vault?"
"I don't need to be reminded of Vault life, lady. I've had enough with it."
"You should be still in a Vault but there should be a Brotherhood of Steel detachment set up someplace; there was one in DC. I'd never trust them again and neither should you but they'll take good care of you. I guarantee it."
Brotherhood of Steel? Washington DC? Taking care of me? On top of all the other bullshit? Lies. All of this crap can't be true. I got up from the body I was sitting on and loaded a fresh magazine in my rifle. Walking up to her, I pointed the gun at her face. She needed to be gone from this one and I will make sure she does not spread these poisoned lies to others.
"I haven't heard of a Brotherhood of Steel and gallons of pure water," I said with a cold calmness. "Are they all true?"
A gunshot rang out, followed by a thump and a clang. Looking down out of the corner of my eye, I saw a knife resting by my ankle with the tip of the rusted blade pointed dangerously close to my feet. Had I not been saved by that, that knife would have plunged into my head, or worse. Not to mention being used against Dr. Li as well.
I raised my rifle up to my shoulders, my sights scanning around the upper floor, where I was just on.
"Who's there?" I yelled.
Megan came out of the door with her dimmed PIP-BOY light on, clearly exposing herself in the shadows. She rested her hands on the railing. I don't know if she was trying to stare me down or what.
"Oh, it's you," I scowled. "What do you want?"
"Todd, I've made up my mind," she announced, brushing her bangs out of her face. She took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled out.
I…
TO BE CONTINUED...
References: There are more so happy hunting!
"Surprise, surprise, surprise!" is a famous catchphrase uttered by Gomer Pyle (played by Jim Nabors, not Vincent D'Onofrio) in the classic TV series Gomer Pyle, USMC and The Andy Griffith Show.
There is also a reference to the Castrol Edge commercial "Think with your dipstick." If you haven't seen it yet, you don't know what you're missing.