Disclaimer – I do not own Fallout 3 or any of it's irradiated and violent content.
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Chapter 17
Amata sighed. She walked into her dead Father's office, and sat glumly down in his chair. She contemplated for around ten minutes whether or not to believe Kylar and Marisa.
She had known Marisa all of her life. She had always been a trustworthy friend, and been blunt and helpful about the things that went wrong or happy and encouraging about the things that didn't. And that's what was bugging Amata. Marisa didn't stay to comfort her. It might've been the Wasteland. It might have messed with Marisa.
That was why Amata couldn't trust Marisa as well as she should. The Wasteland might have changed her. Amata didn't know what to think of Kylar. He could have threatened Marisa to tell him where the Vault was, but that didn't make sense. He left as soon as he could have.
"Fucking Wastelanders…." Amata moaned silently. She needed somebody to speak to. Someone to talk to. Anyone. She was going to get up, when she stopped short. She didn't have anyone. She didn't have any friends anymore. With Marisa and Micheal gone, she was all alone.
This fact was a slap in the face. Amata, wide eyed, sat down. The truth of the fact slowly sank in. It's lonely at the top.
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"You are in big trouble." Marisa growled. She was following Kylar to Megaton, and the town was a kilometer away, at most. "You know that, don't you?" Kylar nodded from the front. "Yup." "We're going to have a long talk about this once we're back in Megaton." "Alright."
Marisa exhaled angrily, and blew a lock of black hair out of her face. Men. They approached the gates, and Kylar banged on them. "Open up Stockholm." A face peered over the railing, and he took a bored stance. "I don't know Kylar. You stir up a lot of trouble when you come around these parts. I'm not sure Simms would be happy 'f I let you in."
Stockholm's taunt cut deeper than intended. "Open the doors Stockholm." Kylar said tiredly. "Please." As the plane wings slowly slid upwards, Kylar shook his head. "Swear to god, that man gets more annoying each time I come here." They walked inside the town, and walked down the hill. Marisa, having been here only once, marveled at how the town was constructed.
"I don't see the big deal." Kylar commented. "It's been here for years, and it's going to be here for years." "But don't you see how almost half of the town depends on just one piece of metal?" "Yes, but I'd say that's a bad thing. If it were to fall, break, or be sabotaged, then half of the people living here would be homeless."
Marisa thought on that, and Kylar led her to Doc. Church's clinic. "Hello?" He called. "You here Doc?" A shadow emerged from the wall, and a gruff voice dominated the room. "Of course." "How's Micheal doing?" Kylar asked, gesturing towards the figure on the bed. "Well, he seems to be recovering quickly, even without medical help. He must still be tired, and is probably-"
"Hungry." Micheal said, propping himself up against the wall. "Very hungry." Marisa smiled, and even Kylar grinned. "Nice seeing you awake sleeping beauty." Church said. "Though you still shouldn't get up." Against the doctor's recommendation, Micheal tried to get up, and sat back down. "Wow." He panted. "That's pretty pathetic." Kylar nodded. "I know how you feel. Stick to the small movements, don't exert yourself. I'll get you some punga." He walked outside, leaving Marisa in the clinic.
"How are you feeling?" Marisa asked softly. Micheal tried to shrug, but grimaced from the pain. "Not bad. Could be better." He managed a smile. "And you?" Marisa sighed, and she sat down. "Do I have a story to tell you." With Doc Church out to lunch with Kylar, she could tell what had happened in Vault 101 in private.
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"…and that's it." She finished. "Well….what should we do? He seemed guilty, and we've been able to trust him this far, but you never know." Marisa sighed. "No. You never can." Kylar said, stepping from the shadows near the door. Marisa jumped, and Micheal cursed. "Damn. I could've sworn I saw you." Kylar shrugged. "Props to you. How are you?" Micheal rolled his eyes. "I collided face first into a steel toed boot. How would you be?" He asked sarcastically. Kylar shrugged again. "In pain." He tossed Micheal one of the oblong shaped fruits, which he caught without any pain. "You seem to be getting better."
He leaned in close to Marisa, and put a hand on her shoulder. "On your guard Vaultie. Watch the doors. Don't let anyone asides from Simms, Church, and myself in. I'll be back. I need to check something." With that, he left hurriedly for the door.
Marisa turned to Micheal. "What did he say?" Micheal asked suspiciously. Marisa frowned. "We aren't supposed to let anyone besides the sheriff, doctor, or Kylar in, and to be on our guard." She glanced over her shoulder at the door. "What do you think's going on?" Micheal shook his head. "No clue. Hey, hand me your pistol." Marisa handed it to him, and he put it underneath his arm. "You never know." He said, quoting Kylar. "No." Marisa said distantly. "You really can't."
Kylar hunted through town, searching for the one figure who he wanted to talk to. Finding Simms near the Brass Lantern, he pulled him asides. "Lucas." He said, starting his conversation. "There's a light on in my old house." The Sheriff glared at Kylar. "Yeah. Some wanderer bought it a few weeks ago. And as I recall, it was only your house for a day. So stop your whining." He walked away, and Kylar swiftly caught up. "What's his name?"
"Don't know, don't care. He's quiet, and doesn't cause trouble. Unlike some mercs I know." He said, casting a meaningful glance at Kylar. "Stop the funny talk. This is important. Did you notice anything off about him?"
Simms, knowing that if Kylar was this interested in something, it really meant something, thought hard. "Yeah." He said, nodding slowly. "He had some weird kind of sword, short, with a curve on the end."
The change in Kylar was horrifying. His face drained of blood, and for a moment, he was terrified. The next second, fury slowly spread throughout him. He cracked his fingers meaningfully, and took quick deliberate steps towards the house. Simms, knowing what he had in mind, unholstered his Chinese assault rifle. "Hold it Whitlock." He said, taking aim. "I don't wanna do this, but if you go up that hill, I'll kill you." Kylar stopped. He turned around, and walked up the the black man.
"If you aim that at me again, I will break you." Kylar hissed. He turned on his heels, and stalked up the hill. Simms had seen terrible things in his years. Raider torture victims, or Super Mutant captives. The poor slaves of Paradise Falls, people starving to death, and ghouls slowly going mad. Lucas could comfort himself, knowing, that in children and other beauties of the world, such horrible things could be cancelled out.
Lucas could not comfort himself about the enraged man heading towards the hillside house.
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I know, this was a short chapter. But I felt that it should end at that line. If you don't like it, then alright. For those of you that might or might not be confused, I have deleted the fic, "Scourge". I don't want to spoil some of the things that come nearer to the end of "The Survivors", so I have deleted it for now. Don't worry, when I finish "The Survivors", it'll come back up.
I just want to put this out there. Last month, there were 292 seperate people who read The Survivors. That's boss. But you know what's not boss? The fact that only 8 of you little bastards reviewed. Eight. That's one out of thirty six and a half! No, I'm not going to be a review whore. But, I will say this. The more of you that review, don't care if it's just saying that you hated/liked the chapter I just put out, your opinion of it, or thinking that there should be more explosions. Any feedback is welcome. As most of you with fics know, it's food for the writer. Without it, writing out more chapters is so much more difficult.
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Frost