Disclaimer – I don't own Fallout 3 or any of its extensive insane or confusing content.
Chapter 14
Kylar walked out of the Vault, with Marisa and Micheal in close pursuit. "Kylar, about what you saw, it's not what you thought it was." "Hey, that wasn't what it looked like!" "It was a misunderstanding." "You're not pissed are you?" The stream of excuses and proclamations of innocence streamed out of the two, until Kylar turned around and held up both hands.
"I get it. Now shut up." He kept walking, with a grin on his face. "Damn." The two Vaulties relaxed, and took the time to take in what they missed when Kylar returned to the kitchen. He'd changed his clothes, and some other things as well.
He'd changed his old duster with a newer one, which was in much better condition. Unlike the old one, it was more black than brown. On the way out, Kylar knotted a strip of cloth around his head, roughly the same color. He'd dropped off his tanto in exchange for another blade, this one around ten inches long, something engraved into the blade in another language, with a curve at the end. The hilt was wooden, a rare property in these days.
The tranquilizer pistol was now gone, in it's place was a silenced M9. On the side of the gun was a symbol, or an emblem, which Marisa pointed out. It was a blade, no hilt, just the same thing but upside down. Under the double bladed symbol was a crosshair, with the center dot above the blades. Underneath the Crosshair was a skull, one eye on each side of the blade. "What does it mean?" Marisa asked.
"It's my calling card." Kylar answered simply. "Meaning?" Marisa said slowly. "Meaning that if somebody's been assassinated and you find that on their corpse, then you would know it was me. Meaning that if you have one you're either a close friend of mine or I owe you a debt. Meaning that if one shows up on your doorstep you're a dead man."
He turned around. "Get it?" Marisa's eyes widened, and she nodded quickly. "Got it." "Good. Now let's go. It's going to be a while before we eat, and I want to get a head start."
In place of the Mp5k, there was a gun that Marisa didn't recognize. Marisa eyed it curiously on the walk for the next few minutes, and Kylar caught her eye. "Never seen one before?" He questioned. She nodded. "Not surprised. Only four in here, including this one. Apparently they were standard issue the British Military."
Marisa nodded thoughtfully, and Micheal shook his head. "It's just a gun." He muttered. "Right." Kylar added, hearing him. "A gun that can shoot a four hundred meter target accurately, which can fire on either semi-automatic or full automatic."
Marisa sighed longingly, and again, Micheal shook his head. "Gun nuts."
The three of them had been walking for a most of the day when a large structure rose into view. A giant hunk of metal, standing out along the horizon. A blotch, obscuring all that stood around it, controlling your eye's attention. "Whoa." Micheal said. He looked up and down the thing and whistled. "Huge." "Is that it?" Marisa asked, gesturing towards the landmark. "Rivet City?"
"Nope." Kylar said happily. "Megaton. You guys should've passed on the way out of the Vault." Micheal did a double take, and Marisa's face fell. "Megaton?! What the hell! We were going to Rivet City!" Micheal raged. "I know, I know." Kylar said, holding his hands up. "But I already explained this to Marisa. Partly. I'm….not exactly welcome in Rivet right now, so we're going to spend a few days here, and then head back south. Alright?" Kylar looked pleadingly from Micheal to Marisa, when Micheal gave.
"It's up to Marisa. I don't care, as long as we don't run into any unnecessary trouble." He claimed. He planted his foot back on the ground, and looked at Marisa. She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Fine. We'll stay around here."
"Good." Kylar said happily. They three walked towards Megaton, and upon nearing it, heard gunshots. Micheal frowned. "What's that", and Kylar held up a hand. "Uneccesary trouble. Get ready." The three readied their weapons, and Kylar slowly walked forwards. He lead them behind a rock, and he slowly peered out.
The sight amazed him. A force of raiders was attempting a full on assault of Megaton, probably another plot to make it Raidertown. "Fuck." Kylar said, cocking his gun. "We have to help." "Why?" Micheal asked, readying his pistol. Marisa was about to scold him, when Kylar held up a hand. "Good question. I'll make it fast. In the wastes you look out for yourself. Nobody else. But, another goal of these raiders is to make their way into Vault 101, to live in comfort for the rest of their lives. They'll kill every and anything in there. So we help Megaton."
Before any of the two could respond, Kylar stepped out from behind the rock, crouching, and started firing on semi at the mob attacking the gates. "Spread out." He cautioned. "If an explosive hits one of us, it could take out someone else nearby." Marisa climbed the rock, and was lying down, firing at every raider she could. Micheal went around the other side of the rock, and was firing as accurately as he could into the mass.
But they weren't to go unnoticed. Raiders split off from the group to destroy those who were flanking them. "Micheal, shotgun. Marisa, down." Kylar shouted. He changed to automatic, and started firing at the advancing Raiders. His gun clicked, and he ducked back behind the rock. "Cover me." He said, reloading.
As he said that, four raiders rounded Micheal's side of the corner. Micheal got off two shots, taking down three. The next shot was wild, and missed the raider. Marisa was taking too long to react, and Micheal had to reload. The raider took out a bat on his back. "I'm going to grind you into dust." He growled. He leaped at Micheal, and swung wildly at his head.
Micheal was dodging best he could, blocking occasionally with his arms. "Kylar! Little help?!" But Kylar was dealing with his own problems. More raiders were coming from the his side, and he could offer no help. Micheal ducked a swing and jumped into the raider. He saw it coming. The raider turned to his side and lashed out with his boot, cracking Micheal in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground.
The raider raised his bat, about to bash in the helpless man's head in when his was severed from his neck. Marisa had drawn Kylar's blade, and slashed at the Raider. The wave slowly trickled down to none, and Kylar stood, panting. He'd been fighting off a few raiders with his hands, and he had a few bruises. He turned to Marisa, and he saw her holding his bloody knife. He immediately knew what had happened.
"Marisa? It's okay. He would've died if you hadn't done that. He deserved death." He said in a hollow voice. "Come on. Get him up and let's go." Marisa nodded sharply, and tried to wake Micheal. "Kylar?"
"Mm?"
"He's not waking up." Marisa said, hysteria edging it's way into her voice.
"Fuck." Kylar sprinted over, dropping his gun. He dug his pockets for a stim, and injected Micheal with it. "That's all we can do for now." Kylar said. He picked his gun back up, and then hoisted Micheal over his back. He groaned. "Damn! He's heavy." He started for Megaton. "Have to get him to Doc Church." Kylar panted.
"Or he'll die." Marisa asked nervously. Kylar paused for a moment. He didn't want to upset her, or make her panic. "Yes. He will. So help me carry him." The next few minutes were spent in a hurried effort to get Micheal to the gates. When they were within fifty yards, a voice called out. "Take another step and die, Raider scum!"
"Shut the hell up Stockholm!" Kylar shouted. "It's Kylar, now open the damned gate. Get Church here, now!" There was a pause, and then the gates began to open. "Move." Kylar muttered to Marisa.
They worked their ways to the Gate, and were finally inside the city. Doc Church was waiting just outside with Lucas Simms. "Thanks for the help back there. Might not've made it if not for you."
"Yeah, yeah, no problem, etc. etc. Church! He took a boot to the face, and he was moving towards it at the time. Fix him up." Kylar said angrily. These idiots were wasting valuable time.
Church took a look at Micheal, who was groaning unconsciously. "Alright. I think I can do it. Take a while though, an hour or two. Then a week to allow for natural healing to take place. Get him down to the clinic."
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Hourse later, Church stepped from the clinic to hunt down Kylar. He found him in Moriarty's, drinking in the corner with the girl he'd come to town with. "Kylar. Your friend'll be fine. He has a concussion, a broken nose, and a fractured jaw, but with bandaging and a week's rest, he'll be back up."
Kylar let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Doc." He turned back to Marisa. "Where was I? Right. So I'm still in the shadows, with these two raiders arguing over wether or not you could have six aces in a game of Five Card Draw. A third raider says that six us two less than seven, which is a couple under five. The second claims that five is the same as six, but different wording, and the first-"
Doc Church cleared his throat. "My fee, Kylar." Kylar turned back to him, and nodded. "Of course. How much?"
"With supply cost, time and effort put in, and something extra for me, six hundred caps."
"Alright." Kylar said. He pulled a bag from the floor, and handed it to Church. Leaving a stunned Church there, he turned to Marisa. "You owe me five caps." He said happily. "So the first raider says that six is one higher than five, and the other two call him an idiot. One thing lead to another, and the second and third are about to kick the shit out of the first. So I step in, and agree with the second raider. They're too caught up in their fight to notice I'm a stranger, and the second starts bragging to the other two. The first and third start strangling the second, and within minutes he's dead."
"They're happy with themselves, when they notice something on the deck of cards. It's a grenade. It went off, and the game ended. I was out of the building before it went off." Kylar chuckled. "Funny stuff."
Marisa was slightly disgusted, but after seeing raiders for herself, she decided they got what they needed. "Yeah, it is." Kylar looks outside, and swore. "Fuck. It's late. C'mon Marisa, let's hit the hay."
She followed him to the common rooms, and there they spent the night.
Chapter 14. I've changed Kylar's looks, but that will be explained in the next, or second next chapter. For those of you who enjoy my writing, I have published an Oblivion fic, Ratem M, Forest. If you have not played Oblvion, I do not advise you read it. Lots of confusing stuff to an outsider.
Apathyninja – Thank you for the review, and your support.
JohnLink – Again, you have the longest reviews. Not that that's a bad thing, it's just unexpected. No, there will not be an in-game Fallout reference, such as a bobblehead or a torn puppet. Sorry. But thank you.
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Frost