Chapter 8

Ice crawled back down from the ridge overlooking the Raider compound; the two men were still keeping watch near the dead body of a Mole Rat on the road.

"Looks like a battle took place," said Ice. "I don't see any movement at Charnel House. Whatever killed this thing, took on the Raider clan too. I could make out three bodies, there's probably more."

"Let's do a sweep." she said to Helmoot.

"You keep an eye on the road and the equipment." she said to William. "If you see anything, come running."

Ice and Helmoot worked their way up the ridge to high ground, then disappeared over the ridge. William crept up the ridge to be able to see in both directions. He occasionally scanned down the road, but mostly, he watched Ice and Helmoot's progress. They took turns moving from cover to cover, one moving, the other panning a shotgun from a secure fire-point. They made their way from body to body near an overpass, then worked their way up to the house. Soon they were walking back with shotguns slung and talking as they peered up into the ravine leading to vault 106. Ice motioned to William to stay put and they checked the vault area next. Soon they were back gathering the heavy equipment.

"The Charnel clan are all dead and stripped." said Ice. "Whoever killed them took all their gear. No great loss to us, they were always scouting into our territory to steal shit that wasn't theirs. Looks like whoever did it is gone. The entrance to the vault looks clear; lets get this stuff over there."

The three set up camp up the ravine and away from the road. Ice kept scanning the horizon. Helmoot and William joined her.

"He should have been here by now." said Helmoot.

"I know." said Ice, "We'll stay here tonight, and give him till morning, then we'll head in."

Helmoot walked back to the gear and William said. "Want to take a break? I'll keep watch."

"No, I'm good." Ice answered.

"You said he was your man. Do you think we should stash the gear and go look for him?"

"I said, 'You might say, he's my man'. Nothing to do now but wait."

"Alright then. I'll go ask Helmoot to help me carve up some of that Mole Rat, before he suggests any of the other meat down there."

In the morning, the three were dressed in the firemen gear; it was clear Glen wasn't coming. Ice circled both men, checking the duct tape around the joints in the suits and the straps to their oxygen tanks. She connected the oxygen hoses to the masks and turned on the valve, as a hiss of pressure filled the hose up to the regulator. The two men put on the masks and helmets and picked up their rifles.

"You've got an hour, before I come looking for you." Ice said. "If you're not back by then, I'm coming in to drag you out, so don't blast my ass. If our friends come back, I'll keep them away from the blast door controls."

"Helmoot," she said. "remember what I said about women and kids."

The men nodded and entered the wooden door leading down the tunnel. Ice watched them disappear into the darkness, then closed the door and took up a position overlooking the ravine. She broke off a stick to about a foot in length and stuck it into the ground. Then she smoothed a circular area around the upright stick and traced the line of the stick's shadow. She made another small line a few centimeters away and looked up towards the sun, shielding her eyes.

Inside, William was leading the way. The light was dim, so they progressed slowly until their night vision kicked in. They were past the blast door, and stalking down the hallway towards the security station. All the doors had been left open. Both men zig-zagged with assault rifles at the ready. They made little sound as they advanced, but there was no silencing the steady hiss of the regulator; it seemed to thunder in their ears.

"I want my family alive," William said to Helmoot, as he looked back. "don't kill them."

"As long as they don't make me." Helmoot answered with a shrug.

William recognized the security room, and peered in the open door. Apart from two skeletons, the room appeared empty.

A memory of the room flickered in William's mind as clean and undamaged, as his arms were opening the locker on the opposite wall. He stopped and stood up straight as he took a slow breath listening for possible air leaks around his mask. He couldn't be sure with the regulator hissing. He looked at Helmoot and pointed to the gauge over his shoulder. Helmoot looked at it and gave him 'thumbs up'.

William shook his head and walked over to the locker and opened it. There inside was a set of armor. He looked at it for a few seconds and Helmoot tapped him on the shoulder and motioned for them to keep moving.

They headed down the stairs and around a corner. Then William held up a fist and crouched for a better look. He stepped further down the steps with Helmoot peering in behind him. They looked down the hall and listened, then approached the body on the floor. It was stripped like the raiders outside. Helmoot tapped the dead body's head with a boot, pointing out the haircut to William.

"Mohawk." Helmoot said. "That's no Wastelander. Stripped just like the Charnel crew; somebody beat us here."

A chill ran up Williams back, and he thought, "Am I too late?"

William walked over the the glow of a terminal on a desk, it was unlocked, and a menu was displayed. William clicked through the menu selections under utilities. He found a ventilation option and selected it, but it read, "Offline."

"Great, looks like something is broken; maybe they did it on purpose." William said.

William waited for an answer from Helmoot and didn't get one. He looked up into the lit breathing mask and Helmoot was looking down the hall and already stepping around him with his rifle shouldered again. William stepped into the zigzag pattern again, taking Helmoot's lead. Helmoot cleared a couple rooms then turned to William.

"We were being watched," said Helmoot, holding up three fingers. "I saw them dart down this way. Keep your eyes open."

William stepped back up front and continued the descent until they came to a door at the bottom of the steps. William peered into the darkness. He was getting ready to step in, when Helmoot's shotgun blast echoed in the small chamber. William pushed Helmoot back, and swept the room, but the bodies were already on the floor. He stepped up to three stripped bodies, all men. He looked across the room to the open doors and stepped backwards to Helmoot.

"What did you see?" Asked William. Again no answer. He looked over his shoulder, and saw Helmoot standing straight up, and staring straight ahead.

"Helmoot?"

William tapped Helmoot on the shoulder, and Helmoot slowly looked down at him.

"Can you feel it?" Asked Helmoot.

"Feel what?" Asked William, his eyes growing large.

"It's warm...it's all around us; it's...it's love." Helmoot smiled with sleepy eyes.

William stood staring at Helmoot, who closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Helmoot, I'm going to check your gauge okay?" said William, edging around Helmoot. As he got nearer, he could hear a low hiss. The hose leading to the mask was cracked.

"Helmoot," said William, taking the assault rifle. "We need to head back up. Let me carry that for you."

"Head back up? No, no man; we need to go deeper."

"Ice will be waiting for us," William said, gently grabbing Helmoot's forearm. "we should go get her. She'll want to feel it too."

"No man," Helmoot said, stepping away from Williams grip. "you go get her."

William slung the extra weapon, and glanced at the other rooms, which appeared clear. There was no sign of his family. He didn't know how long he had before Helmoot switched to violent. He watched, as Helmoot wandered away talking to himself. William had a bad feeling, but he left him there and headed off to the Living Quarters; the Women's Quarters. He stepped over more stripped bodies, all men; clearing rooms as he went.

He had another flashback of his arms putting the armor in the locker and closing the door.

He was at a full run now, breathing hard, and starting to sweat; his heavy footsteps echoed into the dark tunnels beyond. The scene before him, unveiling as a faintly-lit semi-circle of stained concrete walls, peeling paint, and scattered debris.

He reached the Women's Quarters, and stepped through the debris and decay of antiquity. He lowered his gun and looked around him. He listened but all he heard was the hiss of his regulator. He calmed himself and closed his eyes.

In his mind, he saw Bethany running ahead of him through the corridors. She was looking back at him. There was terror in her eyes, but she was looking at him. The corridors transformed into the walls of a ruined building. He could hear the pop of muted gun fire from the settlement outside, as an echoing voice said, "Run Bethany, run!"

William opened his eyes.

"They were never here." He said to himself.

He thought of the armor in the locker, it was his. Bethany wasn't his sister, it was why he couldn't remember his Mom's name. They were running from him. He was a slaver. He remembered the caps the slaves brought, and how he spent it all on long sessions of drugs and booze, trying to push all those faces out of his memory. Tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"No, I don't want to remember." He said, but the images flooded back to him. The terrified children; the hopelessness in the eyes of their mothers knowing what awaited them. Then the image of Bethany and her mother being led away in chains at Paradise Falls. He dropped the rifle and fell to his knees, his mask keeping him from covering his face with his hands. He sobbed; all the guilt, all the pain of the outside world was coming back to seek it's revenge on a cruel, wasted life.

"No; no, no, no; No!"

He thought of the chemicals in the air all around him. He tightened his grip on the mask and thought, "Just take it off. It will all go away. You can be with them forever." William could feel the hot tears, stinging his skin, and pooling around his chin. He remembered the tears in Bethany's eyes as she was led away.

Then he opened his eyes, and his sobbing subsided. He let go of the mask and stood. He stood staring; stood thinking; stood wondering.

He picked up his rifle and turned to walk back, and find Helmoot.

'He had to get him out while there was still time.' He thought.

"Even if I have to knock him unconscious!" He thought, as he began to run.

As william headed up the stairs, He heard an explosion. It reverberated through the facility with a fading echo; the percussion made his ears pop and ache. He yanked his rifle up and began sweeping his way to where he left Helmoot.

William saw smoke floating in the air. It was drifting in thick curls from one of the rooms.

In his mind, this room flashed into his memory with a feeling of dread. He had known not to enter this room in the past. He peered in and saw Helmoot in the corner, his legs glistening with the blood that was pouring out of them.

"Landmine." He thought.

He carefully stepped over to Helmoot and checked him. He looked groggy, and appeared to be coming to, and wincing at the pain. William knew Helmoot would never leave, and he reached in his pocket and grabbed three Stimpaks. He injected them into Helmoot's thigh, then took off Helmoot's mask and helmet.

"Breath buddy, breath deep. Feel it; feel the love."

Helmoot breathed deep and seemed to relax, and he smiled.

William stayed with Helmoot and listened to him mumble to himself. Finally, Helmoot raised his arms out in front of him, and said something...a name. Then his arms slumped and he was gone.

William stood and looked at Helmoot for a few moments. He wondered who he had been. What had the Wastes done to him; to Wire; to all of them. He didn't even know their real names. Helmoot, would never have the chance to redeem himself; to find peace.

Then William turned and headed to the security office locker.

On the surface, he opened the wooden door and strained his eyes at the bright light of day. Ice was making his way down towards him. She was eying him suspiciously, noting the extra weapon slung over his shoulder.

"What was that explosion? Where's Helmoot?" she said, as she raised her shotgun.

"Landmine." He answered as he dropped the guns, and armor, and began taking his gear off.

"The place is empty...stripped." He Said, as he sat down on the ground. "The ventilation system is offline too. Don't think I can fix that."

Ice looked towards the wooden door and sat down. "Why am I not surprised?"

"There's more." Said William, "I realized what happened down there; to me, to everyone. This place is rusted out; ages old. There's no way any of the original vault dwellers have lived here for decades, maybe longer. This place, it's like it's alive or something. It lures you in and you never get back out. The promise of a sweet reward; caps, supplies, security...slaves."

He held up the metal armor for Ice to see, "I realized, I was a slaver."

She looked at the armor, and William could feel her tensing.

"What are you thinking?" He asked.

"I was thinking, 'What do you mean was?'"

"I mean, I can't go back to that life. This place if nothing else, squeezed the drugs and boozed out of me. Those memories of Bethany and her Mom, they saved me; they pulled me out of there, or I would be dead and stripped along with the others."

"What will you do now?" asked Ice, still scrutinizing him.

"Last time I saw them, they were at Paradise Falls. If I'm lucky, they're still there; if not, it's the best place to start looking."

"You think you can turn over a new leaf?" Asked Ice. "Just forget about the past, and try to save the people you sold into Hell? I found my slaver; slit him open...real slow like."

"I have to believe I can change. Otherwise, I never would have come back out."

Ice relaxed a little. "Well I suppose I want to believe you can change too; because if you can, maybe there's hope for me."

She looked at him, "Otherwise we might as well pull out the combat knives and dance."

"How about you?" He asked.

"Well; I've got family out there I need to find too. Seems I've suddenly found myself unencumbered and I can do as I please. I'll start looking for Rocksalt."

William thought of this and asked, "Was it really Tank's idea to go back to Old Oldney?"

Ice smiled, "Like I said, I let them think I'm lucky, not smart. Tank said he would never go back there, but only I knew that. All I had to do was appeal to Glen's sense of greed and power. Deathclaws did the rest."

Ice looked at William, who was staring at her.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

He tried to fathom the many layers of her mind, but it was a labyrinth.

Ice smiled coyly and asked, "Hug?"

The End


Epilog

The hot wind rustled the dry scrub brush on the ridge, as the midday sun created waves of heat on the plains. Ghostly, shimmering images danced on the horizon, and a small reflection of light twinkled from behind the vegetation up on the ridge. In the scoped .44, it was apparent the Deathclaw was wounded. The Lone Wanderer accessed VAT's on the Pip Boy 3000. The Deathclaw's leg on the side with the gore-filled gash was crippled. The leg was highlighted and selected. The Lone Wanderer's skin tingled under the Pip Boy with an electric charge. The wounded creature stalked, as it was tracked in the scope. When the image in the Lone Wanderer's brain, matched the selection on the electronic device, a spasm, sent the hammer slamming into the firing pin. The pistol erupted, with a report that echoed off the destroyed, overpass superstructure. The Deathclaw's leg snapped, driving the mortally wounded beast to the ground in a cloud of dust.

The Deathclaw, lie bleeding out; its black eyes reflected the figure walking over to examine the human it had killed earlier.

"Sorry I got here too late, Wastelander."

A folded page was sticking out of the victims shirt. It read, "Deathclaw Gauntlet Schematic." The only other item on the body was a bottle of pure water.

The water was guzzled down, with a welcome sigh, and the Lone Wanderer continued to read, "Medical brace, leather belt, super glue...and one Deathclaw hand."

The figure in the Deathclaw's eyes, flicked through menus on the Pip Boy; a sweet but lonely violin melody flowed into the air. Then the figure stood and approached, withdrawing a Combat knife.


A/N: This was developed as a back-story to one of the 80 mini-encounters in the game. Who was this person from the random encounter, who had the Deathclaw schematic? What was his story? It was an opportunity to create OC's and not rehash the game. Development of the two central characters provided the opportunity for a paradigm shift and change; something emphasized in a creative writing course I'm taking. So I let them live; besides, I like a complex villain.

If you liked the story, feel free to continue writing your own stories of their quests; just refer back to this one so people can see how it started. Thanks for reading, and if you "reviewed", thanks for taking the time. It matters.