"Harley you're a real bitch you know that?" The insult itself was randomly thrown out due to how irritated Troy is.
The three of them just now entered the basement. Harley smiled and held her head up high. She was able to convince Troy to help out the ghouls after all. Griffon on the other hand was ignoring the two and looking very restless with his assault carbine out. It could be boredom, and/or that he's looking to let some anger out. Troy and Harley almost forgot about the downfall of Nipton which heavily affected him.
Suddenly, Griffon stopped and turned his head. "Ya'll know how to deal with Nightkins right?"
The two answers were completely different with Harley giving a straightforward "Yes" and with Troy giving a unmotivated "Don't know."
Griffon uttered a sight. "Oi Harley. Cover Troy's back. I got the front" he'd calmly order.
The three found themselves in front of a door. Griffon cautiously opened it while aiming his rifle. He led the group into a hallway. The group's rifleman stood still and would focus his eyesight to look for anything out of the ordinary. He'd look back at Troy and Harley to motion for them to follow him into the hallway. Everybody followed while having their weapons raised. Griffon led while Harley watched their back. Troy remained in the middle and felt a little out of place. The courier felt that he doesn't really belong in the position his companions put him in. It was probably for the best though since Troy doesn't really know what he's up against.
Griffon suddenly stopped causing Troy to walk right into his back. There was an odd feeling on the courier's nose. It didn't take long for Troy to realize that it was pain. He was ready to lash out at the big guy, but the sigh to of a large blue humanoid body without a head caught his attention. Troy felt that there were more around, so he kept his mouth shut.
"Yo, Harley. Got any pins for this?" Griffon asked. Harley, while aiming down the corridor approached the rifleman. She lowered her bag and searched through it. She ended up losing her sight of the hallway.
Troy however kept staring. A certain area down the hall suddenly looked blurry to him. At first, Troy thought it was his eyes deceiving him. He knew that wasn't the case when blur continued to grow. He looked back at his friends wanting to warn them. They were too busy with the door and ignoring him. The courier rolled his eyes as he took out his 9mm. He'd carefully aim down the sights before firing a couple shots at the blur.
A sudden roar startled the courier. The blur started to flicker until a figure like the dead body he stood next to appeared. This figure actually had a head. That and a giant hammer looking object. Without hesitation, the monster charged at him.
"Oh fuck" Troy exclaimed. He continued to fire his gun, but widen his eyes as he saw the blue monster taking on the bullets like they were pebbles. Eventually, the gun clicked. Troy frantically pressed a button on the gun causing the magazine to fall out. At the same time, he grabbed a second one and loaded in. Troy pulled the receiver back, but the moment he looked up the monster had its hammer like object raised. It was too late.
The loud sound of a shotgun caused Troy's ears to ring. The monster's head suddenly exploded which led to blood being splattered on Troy's face.
"Get in!" Griffon screamed. Without hesitation, Troy turned and ran into the room his companions managed to open. The moment he and Harley were inside, Griffon closed the door. Troy was panting since he nearly died... again.
"Here's a tip. Use a stronger gun" Griffon teased.
"Come and get it, you big dumb - " the sound of a ghoulish voiced made the group turn. Up on a metal balcony in the room was a ghoul more heavily armed the Jason's group. "Hey! You're not one of those things out there" the ghoul noted. "Who are you?"
"We're just some explorers" Harley replied. By now it's obvious that she's taken the negotiating job of the group. "So what brings you here?"
"Maybe you noticed a bunch of invisible monsters out there?" Troy shuttered at the ghoul's response. "I've been in here trying to to get dead."
"How'd you end up trapped down here?" Harley asked.
"First off, I'm not trapped" the ghoul jumped to his own defense. "This was a tactical choice, all right?" he determined. "I'm no match for those things out there, so I found a good defensive position, and I've been defending it, right?" The ghoul suddenly groaned. "Aw, who am I fooling? I'm trapped" he'd admit in defeat. "Name's Harland. Pleased to meet you."
The ghoul, who is now known as Harland, began to tell his story. Troy looked restless obviously not wanting to hear it. "What happened was, I was escorting folks down to work when those things attacked us. Most of the fight was upstairs, but some folks panicked and made for the basement. And I went after them. Well, turns out there were even more of those bastards down here then upstairs, and things went to shit fast. I couldn't find the others, so I fell back to this room and set up a nice little kill zone. End of story." Troy yawned and rubbed his eyes. The day was starting to get to him. He was ready to pass out.
Harley took noticed of Troy's body language. She was ready to wrap it up. "You in Bright's group?"
Harland nodded. "I never really bought the religious mumbo-jumbo with the robes and all that shit." Troy's head shot straight up. Was he hearing that this ghoul and him might possibly have something in common. "It gets lonely out in the wastes, okay? And I don't have to tell you that Bright's group has some fine-looking ghoulettes in it!" Troy felt like he gagged. Perhaps he and this ghoul can't get along after all. Harland noticed Troy's reaction and realized what he just said. "Eh... or maybe I would have to tell you..." the ghoul shook his head with embarrassment on his face. "Anyways, I helped them out, and they kept me supplied with ammo and pleasant company."
After the lone ghoul's continued story, Griffon was also starting to look bored. Harley took note of it, and even though she wanted to wrap things up so the two boys could stop pouting, she'd feel guilty to just leave Harland here. "So why are you hold up here? Anything we can do to get you down?" she'd ask.
"Ha! Well you're polite, I'll give you that" Harland said with a smirk. "If this was just between you and me, I'd do as you ask. But it's not" Harland's voice went back to a dark tone. "I had a friend with me when those mutant bastards came out of nowhere."
Troy quietly muttered under his breath with an annoyed look. "Of course." Harley punched Troy's shoulder while staring up at the lone ghoul. Even though it didn't hurt, Troy couldn't help letting out a yelp. "Ow!"
Even with it being loud enough for the ghoul to hear, Harland continued his story. "She panicked and ran the wrong direction - further into the basement." Troy and Griffon both couldn't help but roll their eyes at this. It was good for the both of them that not only Harland, but Harley especially didn't notice. "She's probably dead," Harland went on. "But I ain't leaving until I know for sure. I'd have gone looking myself, except I wouldn't last a minute out there. You three on the other hand, seem pretty resourceful. Find my friend, and I'll get out of your way."
"Again, why the hell do we have to help him?" Troy complained.
"Can you just stop acting like a child?" a distressed Harley responded as she looted a dead Nightkin they just now killed. She's starting to look under the weather. That's not good since nobody in the group is now feeling motivated.
Griffon got ready to back Harley up. "Manny wanted ALL the ghouls gone. Harland counts too ya know?"
Troy rolled his eyes as he approached a closed door. When opening it, he jumped and nearly screamed by the sight of a non-invisible Nightkin holding a brahmin skull.
"Antler says you are the one killing my kin. Antler says you must die!" the Nightkin threatened as it pulled out its weapon. Unlike the other Nightkins, this one held a large sword. Something that scares Troy a lot more.
After loading an entire magazine into the Nightkin, Troy threw his hands up in the air seeing how the beast was still charging at him. "Oh come the fuck on!" The monster slashed at the courier, but thankfully Troy was quick enough to duck and dodge. The courier noticed how much faster he is compared to the beast. Troy tried reloading his 9mm, but instead he saw the barrel of the gun shatter. The next thing he saw was the sparks created by the blade's impact with the ground. "Again, come the fuck on!" The Nightkin kicked Troy's chest which hurled him back against the wall.
"Die!" the Nightkin roared. It suddenly stopped and let out a cry of pain after it's back was being loaded by Griffon and Harley. It stood still for a few seconds before finally collapsing in front of Troy.
Griffon ran up and crouched down in front of Troy. "Ya good buddy?" Troy groaned. He then suddenly felt discomfort in his arm. The courier turned his head and noticed Griffon injecting Med-X. "There ya go" he'd say before helping his friend up.
Troy took off his bag and dug through it. He pulled out Lucky, loaded it up, and spun the receiver. "Let's just hurry this shit up."
The three would then continue further into the basement with Griffon once again leading. In the middle of a corridor Harley quickly stopped Griffon by grabbing his shoulder. When he turned to find out what her problem is, Harley pointed. Both Griffon and Troy took a look. At first they didn't see much. Suddenly, an outline of an obvious silhouette was there. Griffon shrugged and simply aimed and opened fire.
The Nightkin's stealth boy deactivated as the now breathless creature dropped to floor.
"Man, they're easy" Griffon taunted. He noticed another blur ahead. "You ain't that good at staying hidden" he'd mock. The Nightkin appeared all of a sudden. Griffon lowered his gun and gulped. The Nightkin grinned as it raised some big ass device. "Great. A flamer."
Troy and Harley pushed Griffin into a maintenance room before the Nightkin pulled the trigger. They watched flames erupting in the hallway.
Troy quickly got up and watched outside of the door. The flames suddenly stopped. He took that moment and jumped out of the room with Lucky out. He aimed at the Nightkin and fired. The monster's head bounced back before falling forward.
"Holy shit" Griffon blurted out. "That was badass!"
Troy looked back with a grin. He shrugged. "I don't know what happened. My body moved on its own."
Griffon opened his mouth to give out more compliments, but Harley was the first to speak. Surprisingly, she sounded angry. "Yea, yea. You made yourself look good. Let's just hurry up and find Harland's friend!" Troy and Griffon both stared at her in disbelief. Neither of them expected an outburst. Perhaps her current stress level is a lot worse than the two could have thought.
"I see. Well, spare me the details." Harland had a saddened look on his face. "Damn it, I'm going to miss that crooked, yellow smile..."
Griffon and Harley both had guilty looks on their faces while Troy looked like he could care less. A lot less.
"All right, you did your part. I'm going to make a break for the topside. Harland then rand down the stairs and sprinted pass the three. Troy blinked a few times speechless. "He could have just came with us" he muttered.
Griffon and Harley were to upset to respond due to Harland's reaction. Troy was very confused. He didn't understand why there were so sad, but felt it was best to not ask them. Instead, he followed his companions back to the Bright Followers. All three of them were happy to finally be done. Troy especially.
"Is the way clear?" Jason asked with a concerned tone.
"Those 'demons' are gone" Griffon answered. It took stress off of Harley. She looked like she had enough talking with these religious freaks. Turns out she also finds the fate of their's bizarre.
"Praise the creator!" Jason celebrated with joy. "And bless you, wanderers! The way is clear." Jason would all of a sudden grasp Griffon's hand and wildly shake it like a little kid. "I want you to know that we will remember for all eternity how you delivered us to the threshold of the Great Journey. Our prepartations are nearly complete, but the rockets that will carry us to salvation are yet missing vital components."
Chris walked up next to Jason to help him finish. "We need you to find an intact, shielded container of am igniting agent of Isotope-239 along with a set of thrust control modules. That was it. Jason and Chris soon turned to walk off.
Griffon and Harley looked at each other with distressed looks. They both sighed and figured they might as well continue. They walked passed Troy, who had a grim look on his face along with a different idea.
The courier's blood would boil as his companions walked off. They already did so much for Jason and his followers. Yet, they still want more from the three? Troy's pissed. First, they had to kill the ferals, then they were requested to kill the Nightkins. Suddenly, one of their own asked to look for his dead friends. And apparently that's not the end of their bombardment of assignments. After thinking back some more. Thinking back all the way since he's risen up from the grave, Troy has been doing needless requests for almost everyone he's met. Ringo, Nash, Ghost, Manny, and now fucking Jason. Well Troy's done. In fact, he's lost it.
"I am not your fucking errand boy!" he suddenly screamed along with Lucky slowly being pointed at the glowing ghoul.
Jason, his followers, Griffon and Harley. All of them slowly turned towards Troy. Each and every one of them widen their eyes. Troy had his finger on the trigger. He didn't even hesitate.