~ Dear readers, if there still are *sniffle*, the reason due to my absence is because of my computer had deiced to 'Malfunction' so it took me awhile to get it fixed and back into working condition seeing how i got a few PMs' awhile ago about when the next chapters are coming continue the story and i couldn't at the moment but, yay its's here now! Chapter 5, deiced to make this part way from the long chapter so you actually have something to read, but it's still continuing on with the Arc's journey, nothing else really, other hope you guys had good holidays! Also for those of you who are reading my halo story, It's going to be behind for a while so I can actually right the the story out and split it up into chapters. Other then that there in nothing else to say. Reviews would be much appreciated Enjoy! ~

*Disclaimer: Look here I will send a Deathclaw to your house if you don't know whats what already*

'A Dark Sorrow'

The battered and exhausted folks of Goodsprings around the town were slowly cleaning up the small ravaged battlefield. Some began scavenging through the bodies of their attackers feeling little to no sympathy for the rowdy group of convicts. Only anger, pain, and hate on their face, others that didn't scavenge cleaned up the burnt derbies from dynamite explosions and began carrying the few who didn't make it through up towards the graveyard to lest them to rest with a few prayers and farewells.

Trudy and Sunny where helping Easy Pete and other locals remove and dismantle the makeshift defenses they had sent up in front of the saloon. Some of the makeshift defenses still stood in decent condition besides a few mere bullet holes that had been through them, but another set didn't seem to be anything of worth as it was riddled with either bullet holes or blown away from dynamite explosion.

The townsfolk that were injured with minor or serious wounds where sent or carried up to Doc Mitchell's place, which did end up filling up the entire his entire place, except for his single-seat chair which he used since he had offered his own bed up to his injured patients.

Everyone else had their minds focused on their task at hand, except Arc. After seeing that people where more focused on their task at hand he had been able to quietly walk off back around the blown through building he had ran through earlier towards an old shack, just on the southern edge of the small town. As he approached the shack, he let out uneasy breath. Just as he placed his hand on the door handle and pull it open, the pump of a gun directly behind him made him freeze in his steps.

Arc mentally cursed himself for not making sure he wasn't being followed, he steadily turned around to see the barrel of a shotgun, which had been pointed in between his shoulders blades, was now aimed between his neck and collarbone. He looked up from the gun and let out a small grunt towards the person pointing it up at him. . . Karma.

Arc's P.O.V.

The stand still silence between us was filled with an aura of anxiety of nerves on edge, mainly from me seeing how I was the one stuck between the barrel of her gun and a metal door behind me. Stuck between a gun and a hard place. . . fate really has a cruel sense of humor doesn't it? He thought. She didn't make any movement for the moment, only stared at me with those, unsettling bright yellow eyes and a scowl on her face as if she stepped in something putrid.

After of her staring, maybe trying to talk to her would do best for both parties.

But then again, that could also lead to my certain death as well. . . better make the best of this situation.

Mustering up the courage the best I could, started in a calm manner, "Now, I don't know how you managed to go about and get the drop on me, but I'm impressed." I actually couldn't help but let small smirk show, but that did little as her eye twitched and now the gun came to full contact on my collarbone with a good amount of force pressing down as well, that is when I knew I was walking on thin ice here, "Okay, okay, take it easy now. No more witty remarks from me." I assured her, but that did little to comfort her as I only felt the gun slightly press down more. "Is there something you want from me?" Arc asked calmly keeping the nervous feeling I felt out of my voice. Even though I think I know what she's after, or who to say. "Where. . . where is Ringo?" she spoke with cold sting in her voice still with her gun still bearing down on me.

I scratched the side of head having being correct about what she was going to ask. Thinking for a moment started to wonder on whether or not it would be a good idea to have her around him. "I don't know if that's a good idea, especially after seeing that you're the one put a bullet through his shoulder."

Stating my point, of the earlier altercation. Karma slightly shrugged at the thought "He thought I was going to give him to them those low life scumbags, then he started to swing at me with a knife, managed to wrestle it from him, then I shoot him, didn't kill him. So now I'll ask again. Where the hell is Ringo?!"

I became curious, why was Ringo so important to her? And the way she said it seemed a tad bit off, so I decided to press the matter. "Why does he matter to you so much?" She didn't give me an answer she just stood there as the scowl on her face scowl turned into anger. "Well, wh-"

"It's none of your damn business! This is something personal, so all that matters is that you tell me where Ringo is and stay the hell out of my way!" Karma's short outburst made me to flinch and she pushed the gun down with more visible force, showing that she was stronger than she actually looked

Well...that's a lost cause, wait, maybe a different approach could work, she might even know who wear's checkered suit out here in these waste, but then again. . . I still have this gun on me, which is really starting to hurt bit.

"OK, fine then, seeing that this is very important to you how about we make a deal?" I hope that this plan would work and that wasn't going to try to gun me down right then and there. She went into thought for a moment she looked as if she was going to put down the gun, but suddenly she push the shotgun's barrel down harder in between his neck, right onto my trachea, nearly causing me to choke, but then she said what I was hoping to hear, "What KIND of deal?!" she said putting sharp edged tone in her voice.

"If I let you see Ringo," I managed to croaked out "You tell me. . . what you know about a man in a checkered. . . suit and these other people known as Khans?"

The sudden question caught Karma off guard. Slowly she pull let her gun sling down to her side with a baffled and confused look on her face. Arc started to rubbing the middle of his neck, letting out an uneasy breath. Her expression changed from surprise and shock, to a stern glare, which answered his question right of the bat. "Since the look on your face pretty much confirms you do know who I'm talking about, I'll let you see Ringo, but when you come back out I'll be expecting some answers."

Karma only muffled her words as he pointed to the building behind him. She took a minute to breath, which confused Arc even more as to way she was doing it, then walked past him without uttering another word as she shut the door behind her into the old rusted shack.

An hour pass since she had gone in. No sounds had emanated from the shack, not even the sounds of shuffling or hushed whispers. Arc decided to sit down and wait for her rather than have to walk all the way back from the saloon. The weather had started to blow a slight breeze towards the west, cooling down the desert heat just a bit, but not by much. Seeing how there wasn't much to do but wait, he looked down to see if he could pick anything up from the radio on his Pipboy. As he turned on the machine attached to his wrist, a song had begun to play which the radio host called it Blue Moon. He found the song enjoyable and it to put him in a calm state of mind.

He was staring off into space for no real reason, then he found the idea of reminiscing through his mind, to see if he could bring up the lost memories. Arc was thinking and searching his mind the best he could, to see if he could remember anything specific. He racked at his brain seeking out objects or people that didn't come to him as a blur, but to no avail nothing came back to him. As time was still moving his eyes grew heavier and the light around him had begun to fade away into dark spots. Realizing that he was becoming more tired by the minute, he yawned, rubbed his eyes, and then looked back towards the shack

Maybe I could catch a few moments of rest, this day has been. . . kind of tiring, but I still need to find out where that bastard went.

Arc slowly stood up feeling the ever more tired doing so, he trudged himself to the front of the shack door and grabbed on to the handle and was about to open it until her heard the soft sounds of quiet sobbing and thought about why was she crying. Instead of just barging in like he planned to, he decided to knock instead not wanting to risk the chance of getting shot at.

"Hey, it's going to get pretty dark out here soon. . . mind coming out here for a moment?" trying to keep his words as non-threatening as possible when he asked after knocking on the metal door, a few seconds went by and she answered back "Um, yeah just uh. . . give me a second."

Arc nodded to himself, now satisfied with that he'll be getting some answers soon he stepped over to the right of the door and sat up against the wall and waited, again, for Karma to come out of the shack.

He checked his Pip-Boy for the fifth time about a good few hours had gone by as the sun had just began to go into its sunset stage.

Time flies by doesn't it? Or maybe this thing needs to be fixed, it was noon earlier. . . must've dosed off by accident. . . ah forget it. I'll get checked out anyway when I able to do so. He let a sigh out as the feeling of exhaustion came and waned over him.

Time seemed to last forever, but his exhaustion was increasing ever more and he felt like he could just sleep right then and there on the cooling dirt ground. It was winning over his body, slowly bringing him down towards the ground, but just as he was about to let it win him over and settle for a dirt nap, some of his energy came rushing back to into him as he finally saw the shack's metal door open.

Oh, finally! Thank you wasteland gods! Raising his hands in ominous praise, but when he stood back up from his hunching from to his full height and looked over to his right he saw Karma, covered in fresh wet blood. It had covered over nearly the entire length of her arms and her face had been splatter with it. Some of it even partially covered her neck and parts of her body.

Her eyes were completely blood-shot red, with tears running down the side of her face. Once she fully stepped outside, she stared straight ahead out at nothing in particular.

What the hell?! Was All he could think with a look of shock on his face, but what really took him into more of a shocked state was that she had a sad and shallow smile appear on her face and softly spoke, "I'm sorry. . .I-I. . .couldn't save you Gina, Jet. . .I'm so sorry" She turned to Arc, "I'm sorry." she said to him before her irises turned back to their original yellow color and the rest of her eye turned back to its normal white. She then fell onto on knee then fainted falling down towards the ground, but Arc quickly caught her.

A tiny part of him began to panic again for some reason, but he waved it off and shook her slightly, "Karma? What the hell happ-," The words where taken right from his mouth as soon as he looked into the open shack doorway. There in the middle of the shack, lying dead, Ringo or what was left of him. He was covered in blood with his jaw hanging open as if he was screaming, but you wouldn't be able to tell it was Ringo himself anymore, since his face and entire body had been mutilated.

Flesh and skin were torn crudely from his face as pieces of him lay on the floor around his body, some in smooth sliced cuts, other parts looked torn while leaving his the sensitive flesh of the right side of his face exposed to the air to rot, dripping with blood. His chest embedded with a large jagged knife which had sliced through the middle of his chest, which sported out his broken ribs, some attached together. Ringo's left leg had been completely cut as if it was being cut in half, but never went all the way through and his right leg had a deep gash all the way down to his knee.

Then he wondered how or why he didn't yell or scream for help at all then he noticed his neck. There was a large cut it in, precisely right in the middle of his throat, but still raggedly cut. Arc couldn't tell why for a moment, then realized that his vocal chords must have been cut which would be why he didn't his screams for help.

"What the hell made her go this far, to such. . .degree." He turned and looked back to Karma. He stared at her, still baffled by her actions, and now he knew that this was something big. "Now I now this damn waste is going to be hell to get through if there are people who'd go to extreme measures to do this kind of shit."

~ Yo! Be sure to check out my profile to check out the up and coming stories and coming up and if I stop writing for any reason It'll be posted there! Please do review, all are excepted! Enjoy your day! ~