A/N: Okay so this has been in the works for far too long, and thanks for personal and professional matters (I know you ahve heard that before...) I was very much held up.
There is another Authors Note at the end of this chapter that will state what I plan to bring out within the next two weeks. This is just an apology for the lateness and perhaps the quality of this chapter. Overall, I worked long and hard on editing this but cannot say I am satisfied with it. What does this mean? The next chapter will be much much better. But save that info for the ending.
So thanks for reading and Remember to R&R.
The warm blood ran over his eyes, as he lay face down on the ground. His escorts were not being gentle with him, not that he was expecting to be treated with any kindness now. This was the Pitt, not Vault 101, and there was no such word as mercy to these people. His body was in pain. Having been brutalized and scarred over the last seven days, had left it a mosaic of blood and lacerations. Some fish hooks still hung from the young man's flesh, as his body remained motionless and bare to the other slaves and slavers. He struggled for breath, as a boot rammed into his stomach.
"You really went all out on the fresh meat huh?" Bone said, smiling at james.
"Get the fuck up, you little shit" Mex barked, as James spat blood from his mouth.
James couldn't feel his muscles responding to Mex's order. They had been through so much agony, James wasn't sure if they could still move at all. Mex grabbed James's hair ,and pulled it up towards him. His breath stank of week old milk, that had been left open beside the radiator.
"A slave that can't move, is a dead one!" Mex grinned, as he push James's face back into the hard stone.
The slaves that surrounded them just watched, as James struggled to move. He had thought they would have tried to help him up by now, other than just watch as he suffered at the hands of Mex. James had helped these people, he had shared his food and his medical supplies with these people ,and even defended the weak ones from the slavers. This resulted in his weeklong punishment at the hands of the slavers. And yet, not one of them stood up to try and help him walk. Not one would step forward to help him, because of the fear that Mex made them feel at a glance. James needed to learn that this place wasn't like vault 101. James was now in Hell, and to survive there he had to become like them.
"Is he fucking moving?" A shout from the crowd bellowed, as slavers and slave's alike watched James rise from the ground and crawl towards the wall.
He mustered all his strength and willpower with each move he made, hoping it would not be his last while the slaves watched, and the slavers mocked him. Waves of thoughts motivated him as he moved. The faces of loved ones. The goals he had yet to accomplish. And the promises he had to keep. All these things, kept him motivated to go on.
"This aint fucken possible! He shouldn't be able to move!" Mex shouted, as others crowded to watch the slave crawl.
"Tell him that!" A slave shouted, as James dropped his arm onto a table to get leverage to stand.
The table flipped over on top of him, and once more James was on the ground. Laughter erupted from the crowd as James remained motionless. James was now standing at the edge of the abyss, staring into the darkness consumed by embers of hate and monsters of men. If he were to survive in the Pitt, he would have to embrace the darkness ,and venture down a road that he may never be able to return from. Either that Or die in this hellhole.
"I told you. He aint got no fight left in him. Aint that right Kid? "Mex mocked, as James eyes sprang open.
His muscles ached, his body starved of any strength, his blood smeared over his wounds both old and new, and still he rose from the ground. Like something from a monster movie, he slowly got up from the ground and to his feet. The crowd backed away in fear, as James limped towards them. They all just stared ,as the naked young man walked towards Midea's apartment. Not a word was said, not a tear was shed. As the silhouette of the Lone Wanderer ,entered Mideas apartment.
James awoke with a heavy gasp, as if something had just kick started his heart. He was hooked up to a heart monitor, and had bandages wrapped around his head. His vision was a little blurry, and besides feeling like he had just taken a golf club to the skull, he seemed in decent condition.
"Any-*COUGH*"James coughed heavily, in an attempt to call out to see was anyone there.
Rubbing his throat as he finished coughing, James was greeted with the sound of approaching footsteps and a familiar voice.
"Look whoze finally awake." Jericho said calmly, as he threw a bottle of whiskey onto James's lap.
James stared in confusion at Jericho, and the bottle of whiskey. The last time he had seen Jericho, he had told him to get lost and yet here he was offering him a bottle of Whiskey. James continued to stare at the bottle, before Jericho took it off him again.
"Ya open it and Drink it…You aint brain dead now, are ya?" Jericho explained, as he opened the bottle and handed it to James.
"No…just really confused." James answered, as took the bottle from Jericho's hand.
"Drink up…It will make ya a man faster than Nova on a busy day." Jericho encouraged, with a rather tasteless comparison.
Reluctantly James drank the strong tasting alcohol, and coughed heavier than before once he had finished gulping it.
"Pansy" Jericho grumbled, as he lit a cigarette and proceeded to smoke.
Silence fell over the two, as smoke floated around them. James was unnerved by the silence, and finally broke it by asking the question nether of them wanted him to ask.
"So…about what happened back there-"
"Don't fucking go there kid!" Jericho snapped, interrupting James.
"We'z both know what wentz down, letz just skip the rest. Capisce?" Jericho asked, taking a long drag from his cigarette.
"Ca-what?" James asked, waving the cigarette smoke out of his face.
"Capisce! It means understand?" Jericho explained in irritation, giving James a frustrated look.
"Oh Okay, Yeah Ca-pish." James said with a smile, realising that he was starting to like Jericho's company.
"No…Not Ca-pish…. Capisce!" Jericho stated, repeating the same word again.
"Cat-peach?" James repeated, much to Jericho's continued frustration.
"Ca-pe-esh." Jericho said slowly, continuing the most moronic conversation either of them had ever had.
"Capisce." James repeated, finally getting it right.
"Finally, ya got it right! Thank Gawd!" Jericho shouted, taking a sigh of relief.
"How's our patient holding up?" A nasally voice asked, from across the dimly lit lab.
James recognised the voice from the recordings he had found earlier, and it belonged to the scientist that lived next to Bryans Family. He was a skinny pale man, that looked like he had never seen a fight, much less been in one. He was the stereotypical image of a scientist, which James found rather amusing. It was as if someone had torn him from a comic book, and made him a real boy.
"Dr. Weston Lesko. Pleasure to meet you." The scientist introduced himself, extending a hand to James.
"….James Cole. Nice to meet you." James said, gripping the scientists hand harder then he intended.
"I trust you're feeling better?" The scientist stated, as he shook his hand in discomfort
"A little…I got a splitting headache though." James explained, as he rubbed his head.
"Well, you were hit in the head with a wrench. "Lesko emphasised, as he wrote on his little note pad.
"The good news is that the serum worked." Lesko continued, analysing the various machines James was attached to.
"Wait…What serum?" James asked, as panic gripped his mind.
"The one the doc used to save your life." Jericho stated, as if it was common knowledge among those present.
"Oh it's rather ingenious. You see it splices the DNA of several different forms of Formicidae with that of the Homosapian's, in an attempt to create a new form of enhancement within-"Doctor Lesko rambled, before he was finally cut off by James.
"Hey Hey…Dr. Lesko…Simply put please?" James asked, the long winded explanation making his head ache worse.
"Oh its ant DNA mixed with humans." Lesko stated, pride swelling in his tone.
"WHAT?!" James shouted, springing off his bed in a flash.
"I said I…"
"I fucking heard you!" James shouted, interrupting the doctor once more.
James began to panic. He had seen all those old Horror Holo-vids where a man and an animal swapped DNA. The Beetle was his favourite, where lead scientist Vincent Goldbloom swaps DNA with a Beetle. Since that day, he has hated the idea of teleporters and messing with bug DNA.
"You're making me into some kind of Man Ant!" James shouted, as he expected to grow antenna and extra limbs.
"Don't be ridiculous…. I merely granted your DNA similar abilities to that of an ant to help prolong your life so we could save you. Also…due to some form of mutated gene you possess, you seem have gain some muscle structure and durability. "Lesko rambled, as James began to pace around the room.
"Muta-….Oh" James paused.
Recently, while working on the Wasteland Survival Guide, James suffered a mild radiation mutation. Moira assured him that it was apparently harmless, and maybe even beneficial in some cases. To his shock and fear, Moira was right. That was a terrifying thought.
"No need to worry I have been doing research for months on these creatures." Lesko explained, pride again in his voice.
"Wait…are you responsible for these ants doctor?" James asked, approaching the smug scientist slowly.
"Well not directly but-"
"Yes or No?" James asked, a sense of aggression in his tone.
"I suppose in a way yes. "Lesko admitted with a smug smile.
"GAW." Lesko shouted, as James grabbed a hold of the doctor's coat.
It was men like this that gave real scientists like James's father a bad name. Men who didn't know when to draw the line in science. Men who were obsessed with their research, and put everything else in life aside just to further their obsession. It made James sick.
"That makes you responsible for…." James paused, having just remembered the child that was traveling with them, causing him to let go of Lesko.
"Jericho where's Bryan?" James asked, turning to Jericho as he frantically looked around the lab.
"Bryan!" James shouted, as he felt fear grip his stomach.
"He's asleep kid…" Jericho stated, lighting another cigarette.
"Oh…thank god." James sighed in relief, looking over to Lesko in anger.
"You're responsible for that young boy's father's death! As well as the deaths of all the people of Greyditch!" James shouted as he approached the scientist who showed no signs of regret.
"Sometimes scientific discovery's come at a small cost. "Lesko explained, as he wrote down more results from the machines.
"You call destroying a town and family's a small cost? Why don't we add another "cost" to the already long list of your experiments?" James barked, smashing his fist through a monitor and approached Lesko.
"Stop! I can fix it!" Lesko pleaded, for the first time since showing a hint of emotion that didn't make James what to hit him.
"How!? How can you fix it?" James asked, as his hand clasped around Leskos pencil neck.
"I –Ack Khan stap da Antz" The scientist choked and wheezed, as his life was choked from him.
"What?" James asked, dropping the scientist onto the ground.
"I know how to stop the Ants!" Lesko gasped and exhaled, as he glared at James and Jericho.
"You brutish brat." He said, as he got up to his feet and cleaned dirt off his coat.
"I get that a lot…now explain how we stop these things?" James scowled, as he glared at the scientist.
"Bullet to the fucking head! What else?" Jericho pointed out, drawing from experience.
"Well…yes but I have something more subtle in mind." Lesko stated, fixing the glasses on his face.
"Explain Pencil neck." Jericho barked, as the two wastelanders approached him.
"Well, if I could get close to the queen I can control her pheromone output and bring them all together to reverse the effects of my experiments." Lesko explained, tapping his pencil against his clipboard.
"Okay then…." James asked, wondering what the problem was.
"There's a but kid…" Jericho said, stating the obvious.
"Indeed there is…As with any queen, she has a royal guard…and their protecting her right now." Lesko explained, smiling at the men.
After they had gathered their gear and got some supplies, the three made their way to the entrance of the cave. Jericho drank another bottle of whiskey as Lesko explained the plan once more outside the Ants Lair.
"So you want us to kill her guards? "James asked, looking at Lesko in annoyance.
"But not the big bitch herself?" Jericho asked, feeling the same level of contempt for the man.
"Precisely! Now off with the two of you." Lesko stated, as he walked away from the two towards his lab.
"And good luck." He announced, as James and Jericho looked at each other.
"I'm going to kick his ass when we get back." James said, as he walked towards the door to the queen's lair.
"Get in line." Jericho grumbled, fear grasping his mind as they entered the tight spaced lair.
A/N- 2: Now Announcement, in the next two weeks I will be going abroad the seas to work so I dont know if I can acess this site from where Im heading to, but I assure you I will find a way.
Whats to come?
1. Final Chapter of "The Settlement of Ants"
2. Two Stories set in the Present and Future of James, Dogmeat, Jericho, Butch and Susie. The first entitled.
- "2278 A Space Odyssey"
I frankly love the title. But what does it mean?
3. A story set in the past(but after grey ditch)
4. A big hug to all the fans of my stories who have the most patience in the world. And those who put up with my little notes.