Chapter 8: An Unorthodox Rescue

He gazed unto the horizon as fires engulfed the city. A second dusk illuminated the skies of the Mojave, and he could do nothing but watch and listen as the fire and screaming pierced the night. New Vegas had fallen, and it had done so by his hand. A smoldering plasma pistol rested in his hand as he butchered the last marshal, his gladius piercing through his gullet. Looking at the sanctuary, he sheathed and holstered his weapons as he climbed the stairs. He had done his job. The least he deserved waited for him at the top of the building.

To his delight, he saw the door was ajar. Looking back to the horizon, he watched as the massive tower that pierced the skyline for miles began to buckle under pressure and collapse. Turning away, he threw open the door, startling her.

"Larain, what's going on?" Rosa asked, frightened at his new look and demeanor.

"New Vegas has fallen, my uncle and Kenzie have taken control of the city. They will crush any resistance at their leisure, and it will no longer be safe here," Larain explained, sternly.

Rosa just stared at him, breathlessly. Larain was wearing a drab olive longcoat and cap, a bandolier of energy cells wrapped around his waist. Rosa was just wearing a bathrobe, his sudden intrusion catching her off-guard.

"What are you going to do with me?" Rosa asked.

Larain shut the door behind him. "…I've come to take you away from this," he explained, rushing over to her and taking her in his arms. "We can leave this behind, never look back. With the two of us, we can live as we please, not have to listen to others. Don't you get it? We're free, both of us!" he exclaimed.

Rosa looked at him, nervously. "…Where will we go?" she asked.

"Anywhere we want!" Larain stated, excitedly. "Mexico! Cascadia! The Rockies! Anywhere! We'll never have to see the Legatum or the Liberty Clans or this city ever again! Isn't that what you want?" Larain asked.

"…What I want?" Rosa asked. "Are you sure this isn't just about what YOU want?" she stated, accusingly.

"…What?" Larain stammered. "…I…," suddenly, despite all his equipment and prowess, he suddenly felt a little helpless.

"What's happening out there is what you want," Rosa explained. "You want to keep your people happy and burning that shitty city to the ground is what both Kenzie and Dalton would like to do. But that isn't what you want, is it?" she said as she put her hands on her hips.

Larain paused. Ever since he was a kid, he pined for the approval of his father, who left him and never returned. Then he did so for his uncle, who was so focused on resentment and bitterness to really pay him any mind. Kenzie was more attentive, for the most part, and fun to be around and a decent leader. But Kenzie was always focused on his own plans and ambitions, and by and large expected Larain to reciprocate and give his unyielding enthusiasm to whatever that happened to be. Which left the question, what did Larain want?

"…So, what do I want," Larain said to himself.

"Ayunno," Rosa shrugged. "I just figured you wanted to fuck me again," she said as she dropped her robe.

Larain blushed as he looked away. "I mean, uh, I… guess…"

"You guess?" Rosa repeated, annoyed.

"I mean, it's my dream, I guess I just figured it be a little more… romantic?" he offered.

"…Oh, Larain, take me into your strong arms," Rosa swooned. "Please, may I be yours forever? My heart, my soul, my body is yours to do with, treat them with the most delicate touch so I may…"

"Stop, please, just stop," Larain shook his head. "It's already ruined."

Rosa looked back at him. "If you insist." She then proceeded to shoot out her tongue, piercing his shoulder as his knees buckled from the pain, his mind jolted back into the waking world.

Blood trickled up his face as Larain felt the slimy probe invade his wounded shoulder. He tried to scream, and as he thrashed and struggled, the lizard drew back, looking at him at eye level, though the face was upside down.

"Wakey-wakey, eggs n' humies," Sawney giggled. "I just wanted a lil' nibble fore you go bad."

Larain felt the bonds around his ankles, looking up to see that he was suspended from a powerline, the lizard somehow managing to find a way to tie his feet to the telephone wire. The lizard jabbed at Larain's forehead with its forefinger, just under the claw, swinging his body back and forth as the lizard admired its handiwork.

"Lot o humies near," the lizard explained as he tilted his neck up to sniff. "Big groups have lotso stragglers. One group gits a wiff of ya, and BAM!" he exclaimed as he picked up an uprooted lamppost. "Any tough enuff to live through the BAM can be me new baits, and you, well…" he paused to sniff at Larain's battered and bleeding body. "You won't be lasting too long either ways," Sawney grinned.

Joseph held out his hand, forcing his small group to come to a stop. "What now?" Jimmy asked, growling in annoyance. He passed up an opportunity to sleep in and now he was wandering around in the desert. Ahead of him was the remnants of an ancient suburb. Rosa knelt to scan the horizon as Jimmy reluctantly followed suit. Melody stood by her husband, placing her hand on his shoulder as he put both his hands on his cane.

"Ahead of us lies the Wolf," he announced. "If we fight it, victory is not assured, and not all of us will leave with our lives, not to mention that the Lamb will perish as well."

"Then maybe we should have brought the Twins with us, genius," Jimmy muttered under his breath.

"On the contrary, as opposed to engaging with it, I shall remove the Wolf from the game," Joseph explained as he focused. "You all must move quickly. It is a temporary solution, but I will give you enough time. Go, now!"

"What about you?" Melody asked as Rosa and Jimmy began their descent towards the town.

"I'm not helpless, Mel," Joseph said. "And neither are you. But they're going to need you more down there than I do."

"…I'll hold you to it," Mel said as she slung her bag over her shoulder and followed her impromptu bodyguards.

Sawney was practicing his swings, slowly and gently navigating the iron rod towards Larain's ribs and stomach, drawing back each time before contact. Larain himself tried to struggle out of his bonds, even as he watched as the blood began to pool under his head and gradually felt weaker and weaker. He was out of ammunition, even if he could somehow find his guns again. This creature was faster and stronger than he was and the thought of trying to reason with it came off like a sick joke. The only sensible thing he could think of was to accept death and hope whoever found him was lucky enough to kill this fucking thing.

"La Radaroach-A, La Radaroach-A," Sawney "sang." "Something something humie guts-A" As he prepared a swing. Not that he expected the bait to go anywhere, but there was little harm in making sure he was nice and still and quiet. Wouldn't want him screaming about Sawney to anyone who found him too quickly, did he?

A faint odor wafted into Sawney's nostrils. He tried to ignore it, focusing on preparing his food, when suddenly that strange sense of familiarity hit him. Dropping the pole to his side, Sawney rose his head up and sniffed the air.

Larain looked "down" to see the lizard sniffing the air with a sense of agitation and… something else. The deathclaw let out a slight rumbling sound, somewhere between a growl and a hiss. "…Papa," it said, quietly.

The lizard grabbed Larain's head in its claw, forcing eye-contact as much as it could. "Yuz dint see me, humie! Yuz gats dat! I'z wazn here at all!" he hissed as he broke off and darted towards the houses, ducking inbetween the empty homes to who cared where.

Larain blinked in confusion. The lizard wasn't beyond what could be generously called "mind games," but considering how little he knew about this thing, and how little he cared to remedy that, Larain had to figure that whatever was coming scared the hell out of the lizard, and that whatever it was, it wouldn't do him any good to meet it.

Using the last of his energy, Larain bent his torso up, trying to use his still-freed arms to reach into his boot. As luck would have it, the small handle poked out of the lip, Sawney evidently not seeing it as a threat to its usage of Larain. Straining himself, Larain tried to focus on anything other than the pain. He focused on his hunting trips with Kenzie, Cade, Mickey, Gavin, Amos, and the rest of the boys. He focused on how Dalton taught him how to fight at the earliest age, his harsh lessons paying off to this day. He focused on how Daphne raised him to be a little more than some nutjob with a gun, to act like someone who could pass for a respectable human being. He focused on Audrey and Willow, the camp girlfriends, and Rosa, the weird one who he sort of hoped to see again. These thoughts helped him push his exhausted and tortured body through as he pulled the knife from his boots, and through multiple draining attempts, began to strike at and sever through the cord binding his feet.

The exercise had to have taken about ten minutes and about six attempts. On the seventh, the cord gave way, and before his brain could register that his body should brace itself, dropped and slammed into the ground. Fortunately, he did not land on his neck or head. Unfortunately, he landed on his wounded shoulder. Larain shoved the handle of his knife into his mouth to stall off the scream as the pain finally overwhelmed him, dragging him back into unconsciousness.

Jimmy snaked around the houses with his submachine gun while Rosa covered him with a grenade launcher. So far the only movement either had seen over the last half-hour or so was the odd tumbleweed. Jimmy was growing agitated, and Rosa was beginning to agree.

"Why the hell did anyone want to build a town this deep in the goddamned desert," Jimmy complained. "I hope it was cheap, otherwise it was just stupid. A monument to mankind's arrogance."

"What crawled up your ass and died?" Rosa asked.

"Lamb, Wolf, whatever, don't you get sick of listening to that?" Jimmy welched. "All that cryptic flowery bullshit, would it kill him to just be straight with us for once?"

Rosa wheeled toward him. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I know what its like to see the future any more than I do about God or this "Shepherd" or whatever. But Joe has never yanked my chain. He's never cryptic for the hell of it, he only tells us about what he sees the way he sees it. It ain't any clearer for him, that I believe."

Jimmy snorted. "Whatever you say. His directions sound half-assed, all I'm saying." He turned to look at Melody. "No offense."

Melody shook her head. "None taken. Some days I agree completely."

"You hear that?" Jimmy said as he broke into a crouch. "Backs to the wall, girls! Keep quiet!"

The three pressed their backs to the wall of a house as a large dark shape shot between two houses a block down from their position. It was too fast to get a good look at it, but to Rosa, she could have sworn that it was carrying a lamppost in its mouth. "Was that a dog?" Mel asked as Jimmy motioned that they were clear.

"Looked a little bigger than that," Jimmy retorted. "Much bigger."

"So, what're the chances that shooting that thing will just piss it off?" Rosa asked.

"I don't think I'll take those odds," Jimmy shook his head. "Let's finish this before that thing comes back. Whatever sheep we're looking for, I hope they're fucking grateful."

Joseph watched as the Wolf fled past the limits of the town. The Clutch Killer was a doomed creature, a slave to its basest impulses and appetites, even by the standards of its own kind. At least an animal could be trusted to merely kill for survival. The Clutch Killer did so because it knew of no other way to live. Still, his solution carried a certain risk as well. It was fortune that proved serendipitous enough that the Clutch Killer's greatest adversary was in the area at the time, but that carried its own set of risks. While the Clutch Killer was a guaranteed threat, all Joseph could hope for was that the other's more… reserved attitude would govern his better nature. Best he could do was nudge him in the right direction.

Now, however, he had other, more personal matters to govern his attention. That was the most challenging thing about the nature of his abilities. Even to him, for as long as he had his blessings, things were prone to interpretation. All he could say for certain was that there was a Lamb in danger, and a Wolf that threatened them. But as accurate as his visions could be, precision wasn't necessarily a given. He hadn't told his group that there could be more than one Lamb, and quite a few more Wolves.

He turned as the group of raiders approached him. He tipped his hat with one hand as the other rested on his holster. "Can I help you gentlemen with anything?"

The large, bearded man in front balked at the sight. "What the fuck happened to your eyes?"

"Childhood accident," Joseph smiled. "I presume the eight of you are going north?"

This rattled the seven raiders and hostage, who ceased her struggling over Brodie's shoulder to get a look at the man holding up her abductors through conversation.

"Listen, man, you ain't in much of a position to stop us," Brodie said. "So why don't you just… look the other way," he said as it dawned on him what he said. Some of his men started giggling.

Joseph tilted his head. "Are you asking me to… pretend I didn't see you?" One of the raiders burst out laughing, collecting himself after getting a dirty look from Brodie.

"In a manner of speaking," Brodie admitted.

"So, you're asking me to… turn a blind eye? Aren't you all blessed, I have two," Joseph smiled.

The six raiders started laughing, and even Brodie cracked a smile while his hostage groaned over his shoulder.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Joseph said as he drew his pistol.

The laughter came to an abrupt stop. Brodie stared down the smaller man, an unassuming character dressed like a small-town parson. Come to think of it, it wasn't an unfamiliar sight, as Brodie had spent enough time in Utah to recognize the getup. What he was dealing with right now was a gunslinging do-gooder. A blind Mormon was holding him at gunpoint.

Now it was Brodie's turn to start laughing. The other raiders all eventually joined in, mocking the blind man for his delusions. It continued until the shots rang out. One raider's knee began to buckle as bone snapped and blood spurted out. Another took a shot in the gut, his body armor pierced. Two had bullets graze their skulls, one had an ear torn apart, and the sixth was shot through the neck, his gasps sputtering and halting with every strained breath.

Brodie, purely through instinct, dropped his hostage and charged the man, grabbing him by the collar as he slapped the gun out of his hand. He drew his fist back and prepared to cave in Joseph's head. "Go ahead, if you must," Joseph said. "I never walk alone." At that moment, Brodie felt an ice-cold barrel press against the back of his head.

When Larain regained consciousness, he attempted to get back on his feet. After the fourth failed attempt, he resolved to simply crawl his way into an unoccupied house, where he could stay away from Sawney and die on his own terms. A day ago, this fatalism would have horrified him, now it was the only thing that made any sense. It was an odd thing, to be desperate without a shred of hope. But, such was the reality Larain himself faced.

He felt his knife still in his grip. Suddenly, an easy solution came across his mind. Alone, in pain, and stalked by a literal monster, he saw an easy way out. With tears in his eyes, he brought the knife closer to his neck. After a short but intense mental struggle, he tossed it away from him, determined not to surrender that easily. Freedom was never obligated to be easy, Kenzie's voice echoed in his mind.

Looking before him, all he saw were boarded up doorways and windows. To him, the best bet he could think of was forcing one of those garage doors open and sliding inside to recover, hopefully, the home attached would have water and clothing and somewhere soft to lay and recover. At this point, he still sounded delusional, if only to himself, but he literally had spent the last twelve hours menaced by a giant talking lizard. Sanity wasn't exactly guaranteed at the moment.

A large shadow began to cover his body. Larain, grateful that cloud-cover started to give him a small break from the heat, tried to continue crawling his way to a garage. Then he realized that the "cloud" was breathing. Hesitant to turn around, Larain suddenly decided to just play dead. Then he felt something grab his leg and yank him from the ground.

First thing he was forced to notice was that there was a lot of burlap. Robe mostly covered the entire body, save for the bottoms of the legs, hands (or rather, claws), and the face, even as a single horn peeked out from under the hood. Two yellow eyes stared him down, and Larain found himself wondering what horrible crime he committed, either in this or a previous life, which earned him this fate.

The deathclaw sniffed him. It ran its tongue over its teeth. Its other claw extended its talons. Its prey finally had enough. "GET ON WITH IT!" Larain screamed.

The beast blinked. It dropped Larain on the ground, pain once again shooting through his shoulder. The beast leaned down over its prey and opened its maw. "Where the fuck is Sonny?"

Larain had learned to just accept his predicament. "Who?" was all he could get out.

"That scrawny black asshole with the stripes on his back that did a number on you," the lizard explained. "Don't tell me you're protecting him?"

"He went off somewhere to the west," Larain admitted. "…He… he…" he began sobbing from the trauma.

"Shut up," the lizard complained as it perked its head up, sniffing the air. "…More humans," it growled. It looked down at Larain as he tried and failed to collect himself. "Quit bawling!" it scolded. "I swear, all it takes for you humans to start leaking uncontrollably is one lousy day and I never hear the end of it. "Wah, I got kicked out of my nest! Wah, I'm small and stupid and weak! Wah, I mated! Wah, the only friend I have won't let me kill myself!" It's pathetic, and even humans should aspire to more," the beast growled. "…You want to die, human?" it asked as its talons shot out.

"…If it means not having to listen to you or that other one, FINE!" Larain screamed.

The lizard let out a snort. "Well, at least you have a better attitude," it admitted as it took Larain up in its jaws.

Brodie slowly released the parson as he rose his hands in surrender. As the moans of his men and the thrashing of his bound hostage filled the silence, Joseph pulled himself back up and began to speak.

"Well, now that we can have a discussion like respectable gentlemen, how about I "cut a deal" as I believe you like to say," Joseph said as he approached the hostage on the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked. The gagged hostage tried to answer affirmatively. "Praise the Shepherd," he said as he knelt beside her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Brodie snarled.

"I was never really good with knots, but my wife doesn't appreciate me using knives, so this may take me a while," Joseph admitted.

"She ain't yours to take!" Brodie snarled.

"Nor is she mine," Joseph replied. "Tell me, what is more important to you? Caps or the lives of your men?"

Brodie curled his lips as he heard another pistol drawn, presumably pointed towards his wounded men.

"I guess the real question is what really matters to Brodie Adams," Joseph said. "I know most people don't much care for preaching, and even so, object lessons and demonstrations tend to be preferable."

Hesitating, Brodie reached for his belt. "If your partner will stand down, can I pull out my knife?"

The hostage panicked. Joseph nodded. Brodie pulled out his blade and cut the bonds to Andrea's arms. Freed, she immediately went to work on her legs. Pulling herself to her feet, she scrambled for the pistol on the ground, and after grabbing the weapon ripped the tape from her mouth.

"Guess this'll be the last time we ever meet," she smugly gloated as she huddled behind her savior. "Thank you for the hospitality, but I really must be going back to California at this time." She pulled herself closer to Joseph and quickly whispered in his ear. "We are going to California, right?"

"Since you outplayed me, can I ask what your deal is, anyway?" Brodie asked. "You with a crew?"

"Just a member of the flock, as we all are with or without our knowing," Joseph exclaimed as he took Andrea's arm in his. "Materialism is not worth your life. I advise you learn that before it becomes too late."

Brodie let out a sharp laugh. "Caps are good, but that isn't what this was all about." Andrea glared at him as Joseph decided to humor him. "And what was it about, pray tell?"

"You a Cali man?" Brodie asked. "You don't look the type. She's going to screw you over. We wouldn't have crossed her path if that wasn't what she wanted. Just something to think about before the Bear gets too hungry for its own good."

"Shut up!" Andrea snarled as she took Joseph from the carnage, going down the hill to the town below.

"Hey!" Brodie called out. "What about my men?!"

"They'll be fine!" Joseph called back.

Brodie balked as he felt the pistol leave the back of his head. Wheeling around, Brodie did not see the blind guy's partner. Confused and agitated, he immediately went to check on his men, trying to tend to their wounds.

Down the slope, Andrea held on tightly to Joseph's arm. "That was… incredible," she breathed.

"Think nothing of it," he replied, humbly.

"Why did you get involved?" she asked.

"For your sake and theirs. Had they taken you north, they'd have run into a brewing conflict that would have taken all of your lives. Now, though, they'll have to find a way to make up their losses. Perhaps give them enough time to rethink their lives."

"That's a… pretty naïve assumption," Andrea said.

Joseph shrugged. "Perhaps. It was my gift to them. It will be theirs to squander if they choose to do so. If so, then I will have bought them a little time as opposed to more."

"…Whatever," Andrea admitted, too ecstatic at having been freed to argue with her rescuer. "…So, how do you want me to reward you?" she asked, stroking his arm.

"I'm married," Joseph replied.

"…So?"

Joseph flicked her in the ear. "I think the AEG will be extremely interested to meet you. You being a California girl and all."

"Oh, right," Andrea replied as she rubbed her ear at the gentle reprimand. "…Yeah, that'll do nicely."

As the two disappeared into the town, a lone straggler and an eyebot made their way to the collection of "battered and wounded" men lying on the ground, Brodie darting around them as he tried to figure out what their damage was.

"Boss," Dak announced. "What the hell happened here?"

"Get a medkit or something!" Brodie screamed. "Do you know how to make a tourniquet?"

Dak blinked. He looked around at the men as they lay on the ground and acted like kids who wanted to get out of school. "Are you serious?"

"Just get down here and help me! Dell is bleeding out," Brodie said as he tried to plug the wound in Dell's neck.

"No, he's not!" Dak said as he yanked Dell from the ground. After some sputtering, Dell realized he could breathe just fine. Pulling his hands to his neck, he drew them back and saw no blood on his hands. Slowly but surely, the rest of the men realized they hadn't been wounded.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that?" Andrea asked.

"I didn't," Joseph explained.

"You have to be kidding me," Andrea scoffed. She looked down at the gun she had picked up from the ground and examined it. The gun was in pristine condition and, as she checked under the grip, unloaded. "…How did…"

"Perception is reality," Joseph "explained." "In the back of their minds, they were all prepared for me to fire upon them. Unlikely as it was, the possibility was all I needed. Eventually, they will realize the truth."

"And how long will that take?" Andrea asked.

An enraged scream some distance away reached them. "We should probably find my friends sooner rather than later," Joseph said as he picked up the pace.

"That scream came in this direction!" Rosa announced as she snaked her way around the buildings. Jimmy followed closely while Mel brought up the rear, darting her eyes around every corner in case they were being watched.

Rosa and Jimmy both formed up over the other as they reached a house. Rosa looked back to Jimmy, who confirmed he wanted to proceed. Melody stood back a little, wanting to get clear of whatever was about to go down.

"On three?" Rosa suggested. Jimmy nodded. "Alright. One… two… thr-"

A body tumbled from the corner of the house like a doll thrown by a petulant toddler. As the body came to a stop, a voice shot out from the corner. "YOU CAN DEAL WITH THAT ONE! I'M BUSY!"

As Jimmy tried to get a peek at the identity of the voice, Rosa turned back at the unfortunate lump of meat who was gasping for air. Weakly, his face tilted up to look at hers. She recognized him.

"…Larain?" she said.

"…Angel," he smiled before passing out.

Mel was already on him. "Blood loss and one nasty looking shoulder wound. This guy was tortured," she assessed. "Rosa, get that garage door open. I don't want to risk operating on asphalt!"

As Jimmy and Rosa both went to work on a garage door, two other figures rounded the corner.

"Joseph!" Melody called out. She then noticed the woman on his arm. "Who is-"

"A friend," Joseph said, flatly. "We're taking shelter?"

"This guy on the ground will bleed out if we don't stabilize him now!" Melody said. "You, help me pick him up!"

Andrea and Melody both dragged the wounded drifter into the garage, sealing it behind them. Thirty minutes later, a group of extremely angry mercenary raiders stormed through the cul-de-sac, spraying bullets and threats to no avail before finally leaving empty-handed. As dusk came over the town, members of the Judicial Marshals and the 32nd Guard entered the town on a search and rescue. Upon finding them, all six were taken to Fort Abandon, which was temporarily serving as the AEG's field HQ. During the operation, not a single deathclaw had been sighted.