Jericho and men returned a day later in the late afternoon to Megaton. The patrol found nothing on the route to Evergreen Mills. Once they made it halfway, they turned around. Simms approached them, and Jericho told him they found nothing. "I figured as much since we now know the exact location of these raiders." Simms told him. "Oh? How did you find out?" Jericho asked. Simms told him what Micky said and about Kirk. "Who the hell is Kirk?" Jericho asked. "The kid from the vault, looking for his dad." Simms answered. "Well, that idiot is dead then." Jericho said. "We will leave first thing in the morning to wipe em out." Jericho said, lighting a cigarette. "Stockholm will come with you, let him know. Also, keep an eye out for a lookout at their lair. He is a good shot, it seems." Simms said and walked off. Jericho nodded while he enjoyed his cigarette. 'Raiders, huh? Wonder what gang it will be.' he thought blowing out smoke.
Kirk stood over more dead raiders. His knife dripping with their blood. Silver watched him kill seven raiders alone in this hallway. She wondered if he really was just some kid from the vault. Did he lie to her? How can a kid from a vault kill this many raiders with just a knife? It just so happens that Kirk was wondering the same thing. 'Is it really this easy to kill someone?' he thought. He didn't like how easy it was. He was trained to save a life, and here he is murdering people in cold blood. 'No, not people...monsters. That's what they are. Monsters.' he thought.
They made their way down more hallways until they found a stairwell. As they got to the bottom, they found a door barricade. "What do you make of this?" Kirk asked. "Not sure, but can't be the way out." she answered. He agreed, but when they turned to go back upstairs, two raiders were standing over them. They let out a roar and charged them. Kirk grabbed Silver and shoved her out of the way into a corner. Kirk slashed his knife at the first one, cutting his face, but the other tackled him against the door, stabbing him with a small shank in his side. Kirk yelled in pain and headbutted the raider on the nose. Kirk was about to stab him, but the other swung a wooden plank at his arm, knocking the knife to the floor. Kirk began throwing punches at both of them, and they did the same. Kirk kicked one away and staggered the other one with a jab to the ear. Kirk took the opportunity to grab him and slam him against the door, which broke through. "Oh shit!" the standing raider said and ran away upstairs. Confused Kirk looked down the hall of the door he just broke open to see a few mutilated dead bodies strewn about. Loud bangs erupted upstairs, and the raider who ran fell down the stairs dead. Kirk looked up and saw a bigger raider standing with a pistol. "Coward! Running from a slut and a- ah fuck..." he said staring at the broken door. Kirk recognized this raider as Buzzcut. His blood boiled but then froze when he heard clicking noises behind him. Buzzcut took off as Kirk turned back down the hallway. At this point the raider he smashed through the door was coming to. "Oh no no no no." he said trying to find his footing. It was too late. A giant monster that resembled an ant pounced on the raider and snapped him in half with its pincers. The raiders screamed and screamed as he dragged his upper torso away from his legs. Kirk was mortified, he couldn't move. He watched as more ants came down the hall and finished off the raider. Silver grabbed Kirk yelling, "SNAP OUT OF IT! RUN!" Kirk followed her up the stairs and ran.
Jericho, Stockholm, and four other men geared up and left for Springvale early in the morning. "Got any issues killing your old friends?" Stockholm asked. Jericho rounded on him quickly and got an inch from his face. He growled after a few seconds and walked on. Stockholm let out the breath he was holding and made note not to say that again. After an hour or so, they found a house with the door broken in. Jericho motioned for two men to investigate. They came out with nothing but informed them it looked like someone was living there. "This must be Silvers place then. It looks like they got captured here." Stockholm explained. "Yeah, tracks show that two people were dragged out of here." Jericho mentioned. "Tracks lead up this road. Let's go." he said, walking on. "Please be alive, you guys." Stockholm said to himself and followed.
Kirk and Silver ran down the halls as the ants chased them. They ran into more raiders who were grabbing gear from a room. Kirk recognized some of it as his and had an idea. He charged at them but at the last minute ran past them. By the time the raiders dropped everything to get their weapons out, they realized their mistake. Three ants swarmed the group as they tried to fight them off. Kirk only heard their screams as they ran on. They saw a room with an intact door open and ran in there and slammed it shut. I'm hoping no ants noticed them hide in there. Kirk and Silver worked on catching their breath. He was at his limit. His torture wounds were starting to bleed again. He already gave Silver one Stimpack, which left two for them. He decided to inject himself, but the door was ripped open by Buzzcut. "Fuck!" he said pulling out the pistol. Kirk charged and knocked the gun from his hand and went to stab him, but the raider kicked him backward and pulled out a strange tool. The raider hit a switch and the tool whirled to life. It looked like a spinning knife with multiple little knives attached. Kirk readied his knife and prepared himself.
Jericho and the team found themselves outside a big building. An elementary school, to be precise. They waited in cover for Stockholm to find the supposed lookout. Stockholm had set up on a ridge further away and was searching for him. A quiet *THWIP* was heard, and a raider fell off the side of the building dead. The plan was for Stockholm to keep watch outside for patrols while Jericho and his men entered and cleared it out. As they got ready to enter the building, they heard screaming getting louder inside, and Jericho told the team to back up and get ready to fire. As they did, the doors burst open with a handful of raiders pouring out. Both sides of men froze, and then ants came out behind them. "Open fire!" yelled Jericho. They mowed down the raiders and the ants shortly after. "Well, now we know what caused the commotion for the guy to escape." Jericho said. "Well fuck, raiders and now ants. That boy and the whore are definitely dead now. Alright we still need to wipe em out. Let's go." Jericho said entering the building.
Kirk and Buzzcut slashed at each other over and over, hoping to get a hit in, but they both had been lucky in dodging. Kirk knew one hit from that ripper would be the end of him. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. They continued to fight until they heard gunfire. Buzzcut confused look behind him, he knew he was the only one in the gang with a properly working gun other than their lookout and he was outside, so who the hell was shooting? Kirk took this chance and rushed forward to slash his wrist, but he was ready and dodged the attack. He laughed and punched him and brought the ripper down on him. Kirk didn't have time to dodge, so he blocked it with the knife. The ripper grinded on the knife, and sparks flew. Kirk knew the knife would break eventually, but his balance was off when the ripper came down on him. He could only stand there and wait til the end. A loud crack was heard, and the ripper fell off the blade. Silver had smashed a piece of wood over the back of his head. Kirk siezed the opportunity and grabbed the pistol off the floor. The raider stood up and saw the sight of the barrel and froze.
"Please, I'm sorry, let me go, and you will never see me again." he pleaded. Kirk squeezed the pistol tighter in anger. "Let you go!? After what you did to us?! To those people!?" Kirk cried his pistol shaking. Why does this feel so different? "Shoot him! If you let him live, he is just gonna do it again!" Silver yelled. She was right. He knew that, but he couldn't pull the trigger. "I-I won't, I s-swear. No more raping or killing, I will change my ways!" the raider pleaded, turning off the ripper. Kirk lowered his gun. He couldn't shoot him. In this fucked up place, Kirk was hoping the raider was telling the truth. The raider smiled and lunged forward, turning on the ripper. "JACKASS!" he yelled, laughing. Kirk raised the gun and fired twice into the raiders chest, but he was too slow. The raider dug the ripper into his shoulder, making Kirk scream out in pain but let go, turning off the ripper as he was shot. "Fuckkk...so close." he moaned, falling to the ground dead. The ripper was still lodged in Kirk's shoulder, and he fell to his knees. 'I am such a idiot.' he thought as he grabbed the ripper. He was so tired, the stimpack effects wore off long ago, and his wounds from the torture sessions were fully bleeding again. He didn't know how he was still conscious. The ripper was in deep, but he decided it best to leave it, or else he may bleed out faster than he already was. He went to stand, but then he heard clicking. "OH SHIT, LOOK OUT!" Silver cried. Kirk turned and saw an ant charge him. It was too close, he wouldn't be able to get away. Kirk roared in desperation and charged back firing at the ant.
Jericho and the crew had finished wiping out the rest of the ants near the basement when they heard yelling and gunfire. "Must be raiders fighting ants." one teammate said. "No, it's rare for most raiders to have working guns. If they do, they are usually lookouts, which we already took out." Jericho said. "It could be the kid!" one teammate said. They then heard a yell and more shots. The team hurried to the voices, and all went quiet as they rounded the corner to see a grisly scene.