~Chapter Seven: Back to Adventure~

I don't remember most of the dream I had that day.

I think it had something to do with my Initiate training. It would make sense considering what was going through my head when I passed out, and the fact that I remember sprinting with what felt like a hundred pounds on my back, as vivid in the dream as the memory itself.

"Hey, wake up," Kim whispered in my ear as I was waking up. "We gotta go."

I quietly rubbed my eyes and sat up, the pain fresh in my arm from the sting of the needle. Once I was sentient enough to observe my surroundings, curiosity slapped me in the face. "Where is everybody?"

"Dr. Lesko is working on moving out of the tunnel," she explained.

I yawned a bit before I remembered who she left out. "And Jaden?" I asked.

She scowled and sighed at my mentioning of him. "He's taking Bryan to Rivet City if he knows what's good for him."

The venom in her voice woke me up plenty. "What did he do?" I asked knowingly.

"Demanded I put on some…" she trailed off in rage.

I just had to say it. "Lingere?"

The way Kim glared at me made me regret saying that instantly. "You KNEW!"

"He showed it to me when…" I muttered. "…I thought he was just joking. I'm sorry."

Her response was to growl and turn her back to me. "Did he really demand that you wear it?" I had to ask.

"Not really," she grumbled. "Just… gave me a look that reminded me of… yesterday."

Awww. Too soon?

"So, that means we're alone," I sighed.

"Let's just go," she snapped. "We've still got a long way to go, right?"

At least she's finally seeing things realistically. "Yeah. Ready when you are."

The Marigold Metro Station thankfully stayed empty of ants as we made our way out. Add that to the fact that Labcoat boy pretty much came through in his promise of the topside regimen destroying itself, and things were looking up for us so far. Farragut wasn't far off from Grayditch either, so that helped as well. It was once we got inside that reality kicked back in.

"Are those… ghouls?" Kim asked when she saw a group of zombies huddled behind a steel fence.

"Ferals, by the look of them," I pointed out. I almost chuckled at her clueless look; she really was raised in a Vault. "Ferals are Ghouls that have lost their minds," I explained," usually due to prolonged exposure to radiation. Having lost the ability to reason, they generally attack whatever comes into their line of sight that has a pulse, with the sole exception of other ghouls."

"Why aren't they attacking us, then?" she asked calmly as she walked up to the fence.

I kicked the gate to demonstrate that it was locked. "That's why?"

"How do they know that it's locked if they can't reason?" She retorted.

I pointed to the dead flesh dangling on the fence in several areas. The disgusted look on her face proved further explanation unnecessary. "Let's try another way through," I said, while pointing to the door at the other end of our side of the fence.

What we entered was a Pre-War security station – naval-style bunk, desk with a terminal that unlocked the safe beside it, and an assortment of office supplies. The safe didn't have anything of value, a laser pistol, some energy cells, a Pre-War manual on proper laser pistol use… merchant fodder, really.

"Guess we go through the Ferals," I sighed in discontent. I didn't like the idea of wasting ammo on them.

A few discharged 10mm and .44 rounds later and we moved on from this simple encounter. The Ferals were few and far between after that, but they were kind enough to leave a few Raider corpses for us, with plenty of merchant fodder for our collection.

Farragut Metro led straight into Tenleytown Metro, and we managed to find a few still-living friends of the Raider corpses we picked clean earlier. They must've been the rear flank of the group, because they went down quick. Of course, had that been true, the Raiders in this area were smarter than popular belief gave them credit for. Given the chem addiction the Raiders of the Capital Wasteland were famous for, that seemed unlikely. Of course, I might as well have been right, because the challenge came where Tenleytown Metro opened up to Dupont Circle.

I imagine the area is so named by the circular platform that houses the Pre-War statue, but regardless, that's where the bulk of the Raider horde had been positioned. They had spaced themselves out decently, with most wielding conventional rounds. One of them, however, made the difficulty of the battle what it was by bringing a Missile Launcher to the gunfight. Granted, the lack of cover in the area helped with that. Naturally, that particular Raider was the first to go toward the light.

Although it cost us some injury, the lack of explosives raining at us tipped the battle in our favor. Scattered as they were, it was still around eight of them against the two of us – they were outnumbered.

We spent a decent amount of time after the battle healing wounds and collecting merchant fodder, although there were enough .32 and 10mm rounds in the mix to make Kim happy, before proceeding through Dupont Station. Despite the remaining Ferals and Raiders standing in our way, the rest of the trip proved rather uneventful. That is, until we neared our destination.

Once out of Dupont Station, we ran across our first two Supers. Firing .32 Hunting Rifles that they fired from the hip, they were barely even a challenge. But that didn't stop the nearby Brotherhood squad from charging to our 'rescue'. To my surprise, however, the group was led by someone I thought – and severely hoped – that I would never see again.

"Matthew Scott," Sarah Lyons, daughter of Elder Lyons and head of the Lyon's Pride, called to me in her usual authoritive tone. "What a surprise this is."

"The feeling's mutual," I lied. "The situation out here must be serious for the Lyon's Pride to be stuck with guard duty."

"Patrol duty, actually," she corrected me. "And yes, the infestation around the GNR Outpost is worse than usual. But what brings mercenary scum like you out into this warzone?"

"Business as usual," I sneered. Sarah took one look at Kim and her expression darkened.

"Whatever," she scoffed. "Alright, fall back."

The rest of the squad followed Sarah toward GNR. Just my luck.

"Who… was that?" Kim asked pointedly. I shook my head at the prospect of introducing the two.

"Someone I have no interest in socializing with," I sighed. "It looks like we're headed in the same direction, though."

"Crap," she growled.

"Follow close to me and keep quiet," I told her. "We'll let them lead us in, and if we don't draw attention to ourselves, they shouldn't take notice of us more than they already have."

"Okay," Kim sighed as she walked toward me.

Kim must've learned from her experience at the Super Duper Mart, because we didn't have a problem staying undetected as we followed the Lyon's Pride into GNR, even though they made an effort to run into every Super Mutant in the nearby schoolhouse ruins, finishing their tour of mutie death by wasting the group just outside GNR. Seriously, shouldn't the guys guarding that building have taken those ones out before now?

"Ugh, it's right there…" Kim whined. Not that I could blame her.

"Just wait for them to go in," I told her. "Then, we follow. We can probably find Three-Dog insi-"

The interruption came from a concussive blast to our left, the type you can hear from behind several inches of metal. Two others followed, the serenade ending with an explosion and a flying suit of Power Armor, complete with dead human flesh inside.

I took out the Gauss. There's only one thing in the D.C. area capable of that kind of power. "What. Is. That!" Kim shouted as the Brotherhood – guards and patrols – fired upon the Super Mutant Behemoth.

My first shot flew into the creature's ear, but I might as well have been using a B.B. Gun, because it didn't so much as look at me. I figured the impact of the supersonic round would have at least knocked it on its ass, but nothing. I growled as I cleared the chamber and replaced the rounds with a fresh batch, deciding that the lack of effect was probably due to the backpack of shopping carts and assorted junk keeping it weighed down.

"How do you plan – how can you fight that thing – how can you KILL it!" Kim ranted. I shrugged and fired at the behemoth again. Right between the buttcheeks, no effect.

I didn't see Kim looking around for a solution as I reloaded my weapon, but I definitely saw her after my third shot as she raced INTO the battlefield – TOWARD the behemoth.

I grumbled at her as I emptied the canister. I reached for another set of Microfusion Cells only to discover – to my dismay – that I had just spent the last of them. My response to this problem was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever done, but with Kim in the danger she shoved herself into, I saw no other alternative. I grabbed the Xuanlong Assault Rifle, roared at the top of my lungs, sprayed 5.56mm rounds into the colossal beast in front of me, and positioned my body between it and Kim.

The tactic did what I was trying to do; the creature started running toward me. But instead of being tossed across the battlefield by the fire hydrant staff it carried, something flew over me and hit the creature in the chest, ripping it open with a surprising explosion.

I glanced at my six to see Kim loading a Mini-Nuke into a Fat Man. The dead Brotherhood guard lying at her feet filled in the blanks of her new acquisition. As my thoughts returned to the imminent threat before me, a new Mini-Nuke followed them, and the ensuing explosion ripped the creature's skull in twain.

Kim cheered, and I couldn't help but feel relieved as well, though the entire situation begged the question of where that bastard came from in the first place. Still the same question could be asked of any Super Mutant in the Capital Wasteland.

"Did you see that!" Kim asked euphorically. "Man, that was fun!"

A line worthy of coming from Jaden's mouth. "Yeah, it looks like a fun toy to go Radscorpion hunting with. Where did you find it?" I kinda knew already, but why not ask?

"Oh, I found it on this dead guard," she explained. "I think maybe the smaller mutants that that woman killed got to him first."

"Oh. I guess the important thing is that we're both safe. Shall we go inside, then?" I asked.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed as she stowed the Fat Man. Guess I can't complain about her not having any strong weapons, now.

"I always knew you were resourceful," Sarah sneered, "but taking out a Behemoth by yourself is just magical."

I scowled at her, the Xuanlong still in my arms. "You're talking to the wrong person," I growled.

"And you don't think I know that?" Sara chided me. "Damn, you've gotten soft." Yeah, fuck you, too.

"Three-Dog's upstairs, if you still want to talk to him," Sarah added to Kim before walking away with what remained of Lyon's Pride. I couldn't help but notice that the squad seemed smaller than before.

"What's up her butt?" Kim scoffed when she saw the look on my face. I could have come up with any number of retorts, honestly, but it was just too easy.

"Long story," I said with a resigned sigh. "Let's do what we came here for."

Note from the Author: After writing this chapter, I discovered through playing Fallout 3 that SMBs bounce rather entertainingly when hit by the supersonic round of Operation: Anchorage's Gauss Rifle. After contemplating this fun fact, I decided not to change the battle of this chapter, concluding that the extra gear GNR's Behemoth carries offers it the extra weight needed to stay 'grounded'. Maybe I'll test the Gauss on said mutie later on and test this theory, though it will likely prove to be just a creative license on my part. If so, it will probably remain that way.