I do not own fallout. The rights belong to Bethesda.


Chapter 5: From bad to worse


Albert took a moment to adjust the lenses over his eyes. It was mostly uncomfortable to wear them around his eyes. His head was a little sweaty from the helmet and the heat of the wasteland made it unbearable. For someone who had grown up all his life in a shelter it was a strange environment from a safe and clean environment to a wild and dirty one.

Among some rocks he saw what he thought were giant rats because of the pink fur with no hair, teeth in the jaw, tiny black glowing eyes. In the center of the head were two nostrils with whiskers. They emitted whistling and squeaking noises. When they saw him they rushed towards him.

Albert quickly drew his pistol and began firing at them, killing two with a few shots to the head. There were two left and he finished them off quickly.

They're clumsy' he thought as he finished them off while he stomped his foot on the lifeless body.

He reloaded his gun and kept moving forward, seeing a lake in the background. As Billy had said the waters were irradiated and it would not be safe to swim in them. So he had to take an alternate route passing under the auto bridge and in the background what he thought was a neighborhood.

He passed that location to advance north as he entered what he thought was a train zone where among the trains were two mutated scorpions eating the corpse of a Brahman. He advanced carefully so as not to attract their attention. But the clanging of a metallic object caught his attention and when he looked down his instincts were activated to throw himself forward when he felt the heat of the explosion. He looked up to see a looter being followed by two others with blunt weapons such as sledgehammers and machetes. Albert pulled out a fragmentation grenade to remove the pin. He counted the time needed before throwing it.

"Cui-" The grenade exploded killing the two escorts leaving the other screaming in fury and rushing towards him. Albert jumped up and stepped to the side to avoid the axe attack and pulled out his pistol to aim at the left side of the axe and finish off the looter.

Albert made sure there was no one else or a new one joining the fight.

Luckily nothing.

Albert put away his gun and inspected the body only finding two grenades. He checked the axe and it was in terrible condition as was the rest of them.

I hate looters' he said as he shook the dirt off his clothes.

Albert kept moving forward leaving the bodies behind.


"No! Wait!" a man shouted before being riddled with bullets by a female looter.

"Smith! Light a fire, today we're going to eat well" She said, but as she turned to look at the body something bit her throat.

As the body fell and saw the cause, the animal looked at them with its brown and blue eyes and showed its teeth as it growled. Only to then rush towards them.


"What are those things?" I ask when I see two fly-like animals flying over the corpse of a looter. Wanting to avoid an attack from these he pulled out a grenade and threw it between them so they would die from the explosion.

Albert only saw the mutated flies and continued on his way to what he thought was Minefield. As he went on, it looked more like a car wrecking yard because of the amount of scrap metal. As he passed through a pile of them he heard gunshots and drew his weapon. As he approached the source he saw a looter drowning in his own blood and the gunman was wounded. It was a dog with gray and brown fur and two different colored eyes. It seemed that he was wounded in one leg because he was bleeding from it. When he saw it he tried to stand his ground while growling at it.

"Shhh, easy boy," said ALbert as he took off his backpack and pulled out a bag of iguana chips and put it in his hand. The dog came over to sniff the object and when there was no risk he ate it. He did it again and petted it. "Quiet. Let me see this wound," he said to calm the dog down.

As if he understood, he let him see the wound. The wound was from a 10mm bullet, luckily it came out and didn't get caught inside, but it did damage the bone a little. Albert took out one of his stimulants and injected it into the dog and wrapped his wound in a clean bandage.

The dog, feeling better, started barking happily and licking Albert's face, who laughed at that.

"Shhh, easy boy" said ALbert as he took off his backpack to get some iguana pieces from a bag and put it in his hand. The dog came up to sniff the object and when there was no risk, he ate it. He did it again and petted it. "Quiet. Let me see this wound," he said to calm the dog down.

As if he understood, he let him see the wound. The wound was from a 10mm bullet, luckily it came out and didn't get caught inside, but it did damage the bone a little. Albert took out one of his stimulants and injected it into the dog and wrapped his wound in a clean bandage.

The dog, feeling better, began to bark happily and lick Albert's face, who laughed at that. "Hahaha, easy boy," he said as he pulled him away. He saw the bodies of the looters next to the lifeless body of the man in the jacket with multiple pockets. "I guess that's your master isn't it?".

The dog whined in response. "I understand. Don't you want to travel with me?" he asked.

The dog barked in response as he wagged his tail happily. "Very well, but first you need a name...How about Albondiga?"

The dog barked happily. "Hehehe, all right Almbondiga. Let's go."

Albert and Albondiga walked out of the car wrecking yard and saw a reinforced village in the distance. But before entering Albondiga barked because when he looked down. Albert saw a land mine. "Thanks kid" He said to crouch down and following the deactivation steps he would turn it off and put it away. "I think we'll get a little closer.


The barking alerted old Arkansas who got up from his mattress and picked up his sniper rifle and saw through the sights a boy in blue overalls and his dog. They must be slavers. They had already taken all his neighbors, but not him. They would not take him, not without a fight and while he breathed he would continue to protect Minefield.


"Whoa!" he shouted as he dodged a shot that hit a car. And to his terror it started to catch fire. Albert ran as fast as he could to the wreckage of a destroyed house as it exploded along with other mines nearby. Albert pulled out his hunting rifle as Albondiga growled. "Get him boy!" he shouted.

Albondiga sniffed and getting the scent ran towards the area. The man on top of a ruined building was surprised to see the dog. But he tried to aim at him, but the dog was faster as he left a path of explosions and avoided the gun shots. Albert focused his gun to where the dog was and when he was sure he fired, he managed to hit him in the neck. This by the action of holding his neck would fall to the ground right next to a mine that would explode killing him.

"Good job Albondiga!" he shouted in approval.

"Woof!" Albondiga said so he could approach his new master who stroked his head while happily wagging his tail.

Albert approached the lifeless body of this one to see that he had a destroyed key and a .308 sniper rifle, He inspected it a little and it was in good condition along with some ammunition that he would buy for later. He took the rifle and went with Albondiga to the sniper's eagle nest.


As he was taking things out of the ammo boxes a sniper saw them, but didn't shoot "Son of a bitch... "He muttered to himself.

He had been trying for three months to get into Minefield and kill Arkansas, the craziest and most difficult of targets who had been trapped in Minefield and had killed anyone who came near him with his rifle. And now this guy and his dog show up out of nowhere and kill him in five minutes?

He had suffered countless injuries at the hands of Arkansas's rifle and his damned seemingly inexhaustible supply of land mines. And he'd turned that into a game, trying to get into Minefield and claim his title as the country's master sniper. But instead of that dream coming true, he now felt like a complete and total idiot for having wasted all that time.

But he only considered that he had wasted his time for a moment. Now he had a new goal.

Or should I say two, but only if he felt like eating dog that night.

He wanted that sniper rifle the man was carrying. It was his by right. He would kill them and keep that rifle, yes! But not now, no. Not yet. He had, in his own twisted sense, a sense of humor and honor. He believed the boy had earned the right to live for killing Arkansas. He would let them walk free; to him, it didn't seem right to attack them now.

He also knew he couldn't do it alone. He made an effort to contact his old and friendly rival, Laszlo Redford. He would help him locate these two.

After all, how hard could it be to find a vault dweller with a large 101 number on his back?

Not hard for a sniper like Sam Warrick.


"Shit..." was all Albert could say. Albondiga groaned.

The entrance to Megaton was filled with smoke and people were moving everywhere. As he approached, one of the colonists called out to him.

-You! -He said, coming closer. This is all your fault, damn it!

-Yes!" shouted another, who approached the first. Then there were three, then four, all yelling at Albert. Russ began to bark fiercely, but did not attack.

Albert didn't know how to react. What was going on?

"Hey! Everybody stand down!" a loud, booming voice shouted. The crowd backed away from the boy and his dog as Lucas Simms appeared at the entrance to Megaton. "Everybody get back to work! We need to get this door back in place, now move it, damn it!"

Grumbling, they resumed their work, though more than one glared at them with hatred. Albert saw that they were screwing and welding metal to plug the hole.

-Lucas... What the fuck happened here? -Albert asked, approaching the sheriff and the mayor of Megaton.

"I think you should come with me."

He walked into Megaton in the direction of Lucas' house. As they did so, a man outside threw an empty bottle at Albert, but missed. The bottle flew past him and crashed into the wall. When this happened, Lucas rushed them both inside; if you counted the dog.

When the door closed, Albert spoke first, "What's with those people?"

Lucas sighed. "Have a seat," he instructed. He would sit down and Albondiga curled up at his feet.

"Lucas, what happened here, I leave early in the morning, come back late in the afternoon and Megaton goes to hell sometime in between?" Albert asked.

"That's exactly it" He took a slow puff and expelled the smoke from his lungs before continuing-. A group of extremely tenacious and ruthless mercenaries, known as the Talon Company, came to rescue Burke from here. They broke in, shot and killed a good number of good people.

"Oh my..." said Albert.

"They took Burke out and we couldn't follow them. Not with the wounded we already had to tend to. A small group of assailants from Springvale Elementary School attacked us, killed seven more people and injured more."

"Springvale Elementary School?" asked Albert. "Passed through there before crossing the river..."

"All told, we lost a lot of people today... and many of the survivors blame you, because Burke is who they came looking for."

"Me?" Albert whispered. Lucas nodded.

"The Church of the Atom started spreading rumors that your actions were the direct cause of all the trouble. Burke's capture was the main catalyst."

"Yes, but I also disarmed the pump and fixed the water in this city" Albert almost shouted. "Burke was going to blow up this city and we got rid of him! I couldn't have known that this..."

Lucas threw up his hands and interrupted Albert, saying, "I know, I know. But some people can't see past the dead bodies we're still dealing with. Jenny lost her brother. Maggie was shot in the leg during the attack by the assailants."

"Maggie? Billy's adopted daughter?" Albert asked. Lucas nodded and Albert gasped a head down in defeat.

And guilt.

For a moment, all was silent.

"Am I still welcome at Megaton?" asked Albert.

Lucas shook his head. "I don't know. I think it would be best if you stayed away from this place for a while. I can't predict what might happen if you stay. I can't recommend many places to go, but there are a few other settlements that aren't far away."

Albert took off his combat helmet and goggles. "I'm sorry, Lucas...for everything."

"It's not your fault" Said a new voice coming into the shack. It was Billy Creel.

"Billy, I..." Albert began . Billy held up his hand.

"Don't do more than is needed, Albert . It's not your fault. Maggie's been cured and she'll be walking again soon."

Albert nodded. "I'm glad to hear it."

"I'm sorry it's come to this point, Albert. I really am. Sometimes people can't see beyond the moment, you know?"

"Yeah."

Billy put his hand on Albert's shoulder. "You're an ace to me, Albert. You have my blessing in all your travels."

"Thank you, Billy," Albert said as he stood up.

Billy nodded to the assembled company and then left. Lucas turned to Albert. "I'm not going to lie to you, Albert. As long as Talon Company is on Burke's payroll, they will come after you. You won't be safe out there in the badlands." He took a moment to take a puff on his cigar. "That's not to say the badlands are normally safe, but when a company of mercenaries is after your head, things tend to get tougher."

"I almost died several times today," Albert said. "As far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed in the wasteland."

Lucas nodded, but then changed the subject. "I wrote a letter to some people I used to associate with before I settled here as sheriff and mayor. They're called the Regulators."

"Regulators?" asked Albert.

"They'll investigate Talon Company's relationship with Burke and see if Littlehorn Associates is involved in any way."

"Littlehorn, so what?" asked Albert.

Lucas closed his eyes. "There are a lot of things on the moor that you don't know about yet. I've seen a lot in my days as a Regulator. I've seen the worst out there, and the Talon Company and Littlehorn Associates are two of the worst. Littlehorn is an assassination-for-hire company that hires mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins to kill people they consider "good". The assassins then collect the victim's ear and sell it to Daniel Littlehorn, a very disturbing and elusive man.

"Why would anyone in their right mind create something so horrible?" asked Albert, horrified by Lucas' description of the company.

"The Regulators have long been at secret war with Littlehorn. If their connection to the Talon Company, something we've long suspected, is a real fact, then the Regulators are in serious trouble."

"And if Burke controls the Talon Company, he'll have a lot to say about Littlehorn, won't he? "Albert asked. Lucas nodded.

"Then both the Talon Company and Littlehorn will come after me."

"That is my fear, yes," Lucas confirmed.

Albert nodded and sadly accepted the reality of the situation he found himself in. -I will not stay in Megaton, Lucas. I will not endanger these people by simply being here and being a target for them.

"I want you to have this," Lucas said, holding up a bag. Albert took it and opened it. It was filled to the brim with plates.

"Two thousand" Lucas said. "All my personal treasure."

"Lucas, I...I can't accept this" Albert said. Lucas shook his head.

"Take it, buy Jericho's services and have him take you to DC and maybe, after some time passes, you can come back. Your house will always be here. I'll make sure no one touches it."

Albert looked at Lucas, who gave him a sympathetic look. "I will come back, Lucas. But only after I've settled things."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucas asked.

"I'm going to make a promise, Lucas, here and now, to destroy the Talon Company, Littlehorn and Burke as well. They won't get away with the things they've done."

Dogmeat groaned.

"You don't have to do anything of the sort," Lucas told him. "It's foolish to face such odds. It's suicidal. Talon has numbers we can only guess at, and Littlehorn will never give up his hideout without fighting with all his might."

"Yes, I know. It's too late for me, Lucas. I didn't want to get caught up in your invisible war, but here I am. There's no turning back now."

Lucas was quiet for a good while. "You know, kid, you remind me a little of myself. I was stupid once, too. Brave, but stupid. I got hurt. I lost more than I could have kept if I hadn't acted the way I did."

"You're still here, aren't you?" asked Albert.

"It's not always about surviving to tell the story, boy. Sometimes it's about losing what you love most."

Albert swallowed hard and took a moment to calm his nerves. "Yeah... All right. Let's focus on that."

Lucas pointed to the badges. "I'd take the money and leave before dark," Lucas advised. He tossed the cigarette aside and said, "God help you."

"Thank you, Lucas. For everything," Albert said.

"You're a good person. You didn't deserve any of this, but at least we all know where we stand."

As they turned to leave, Albert looked at Lucas. "Are there still raiders at that school in Springvale?" he asked. The sheriff nodded. "Good. Not for long."


"Don't even think about starting with me, Jericho" Jenny said as she wiped the countertop with the brass lantern. "Leave me alone and go get drunk as usual."

"Look, all I said was I was sorry for your brother, okay?" said Jericho. "He didn't deserve to die the way he did."

"Shut up."

Jericho shook his head. Deep down, he knew why Jenny hated him so much, because of what he had tried to do in the past. Since then, they had ignored him and never talked much beyond Jericho ordering food every day. He sighed, stood up and walked away. He turned around and said, "I'll make it up to you someday, Jenny."

"Jericho!" shouted Albert. The old mugger turned and saw him approaching. "I got your money."

"Shit, boy, really? That was fucking fast" Albert threw down the bag of caps Lucas had given them.

"That's twice your amount. Buy yourself something really nice, Jericho, because we're going straight to Springvale Elementary and we're going to kill every last fucking mugger there" Albert spoke loudly so anyone nearby could hear him. He turned and walked off towards his house.

Jericho couldn't believe his fortune - two thousand badges? He didn't even know what to do with that much wealth. And talk about killing all those muggers at Springvale Elementary...

Jericho looked at Jenny. He didn't say anything, just looked at her. He picked up the bag and walked quickly away, excitement guiding his steps.


Albert went home to get all the supplies he could, along with the only change of clothes he had. As he put everything in his backpack his anger towards the looters, Talon and Littlehorn asocciates. He would kill them all out of revenge for the people of Megaton.

Just thinking about them made his blood boil.

Calm down, don't go into that corner Albert.

That same voice made his thoughts calm down. He was almost back to that same similar situation when he was told that he was born in the wilderness. Now with a calmer mind he took a deep breath and exhaled and continued to prepare for what he would do at Springvale School.