//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 Making Friends // Story: The Strange Pair, a story from the wasteland // by Wubsy //------------------------------// Author’s notes: Why so much wanting to have the courier to play a major role? I wrote him in to make damn sure people didn’t think Darius was him… But if you keyboarding monkeys can give me a good reason to in the comments I will let him play a major part if not then no. Also Taken was a good movie… and if you can’t tell I love movies… ~ The cruelty of my Brothers in arms actions was only overshadowed by Twilight’s somber mood and the graying skies as we walked out of Hidden Valley. The skies began to weep the life giving tears known as rain, something quite rare in the Mojave. For as long as I have lived in these wastes, I have never seen the land this bleak without sun. Maybe it was my own sadness slowly causing me to see the world around in a darker light but regardless, a storm was coming and we needed to get out of its sights. The land around us was bear of any life save for some sporadic plants and tumble weeds. The roads and sand dunes were for better or worse clear. We walked through the broken field of rusty decaying airplanes like a destroyed image of an almost forgotten past. Twilight and I trekked through the chunks of torn up metal in an attempt to cut time from the trip to Prim. “A great short cut.” I said angered as it started to lightly rain. Twilight seemed to still be concerned with my emotional wellbeing, but I tried not to show any weakness. I won’t fail her or myself. A large wing fell from one of the planes with a thunderous noise causing Twilight to jump a little in fear as it fell near her. I raised my hand to show her to stop as I pulled the shotgun from my back and leveled it to scan the planes for movement. The sound of creaking metal was almost deafening accompanied by the thumps of heavy footsteps. Then almost as suddenly as the sound started it stopped when Twilight spoke. “Is something wrong?” She asked but I merrily put a single finger over my mouth as a sign to cut the chatter. I stood ready and cautious but soon felt as if the supposed danger has past. I lowered my weapon as Twilight spoke again. “Look out!” She screamed with the sound of heavy footsteps closing on my right side. I turned to see a Nightkin holding a metal pole that looked like it was just pulled out of the ground as a weapon. The creature was a true mutant; azure blue skin, mouth covered by a red bandana, it stood two feet taller than any man I’ve ever met and coming out of the cloak with muscles tensed mid-swing. I raised my shotgun to block the hit only to be thrown into a plane’s cockpit, glass shattering as I flew through it. I felt warm blood start to soak into my right sleeve as I got up to see the mutant standing raising his weapon to the air cheering. “Yeah HA-HA!” It bellowed as it charged again. I pulled the shotgun up as he leapt with inhuman strength onto me… I fired a single shell tore through his stomach spraying blood and splinters of bone out from the cockpit. Twilight must have been afraid as she called my name when it happened. He was a heavy son of a bitch but I flipped him off of me put one hand onto the metal support to gain leverage and pull myself out of the plane. Twilight sighed then spoke. “Thank Celestia.” She trotted over to me. The metal bending sounds once again grew louder in number and intensity. “Fuck it RUN!” I screamed pushing Twilight forward to get her moving. We bolted off trying to out run these inhuman monsters. We ducked, dived, jumped over or slid across the obstacles in our path. One came down upon Twilight like the fist of an angry god. Twilight screamed I turned back to try to save her. It held Twilight in its hand by a good portion of her torso it turned to look at me as I ran towards it. I jumped and put my full force and weight into a tackle. I hit the mutant like he was a brick wall. I didn’t even move him more than a few inches only getting myself stuck on the ground next to him. I heard a small chuckle as he grabbed me by my head with a strength that would soon crack my skull open like an egg. I raised the shotgun up with my right arm shoved it into his mouth and pulled the trigger spattering the bastard’s brain against the side of a toppled plane. He fell to the ground releasing Twilight from his grasp. I grabbed her, helped her to her hooves and got back to running. The rest must have been slowed down by the obstacles since we were smaller and more nimble and could bypass the random parts and metal chunks easier than they could. With the end of the field in sight, I looked back seeing just glimpses of blurs. They all had stealth-boys and were damn near invisible to me. A streak of light flashed across the sky above followed by a loud peal of thunder. Then the rain started to pour. Our feet and hooves made splashing noises as we crossed through the quickly forming puddles. I looked back I saw the outline of two Nightkin in the rain. I raised the shotgun with both hands, pumped it and fired a shot at the Nightkin. Getting nothing but another flash of lightning and the crash of thunder meant the shot must’ve missed. I ran with Twilight, the rain falling around us in a vicious torrent as the Nightkin started to gain on us. I stopped, then started aiming at the Nightkin again. I motioned Twilight to run for it but she only stopped with me and started to push me forward. “Don’t be a hero!” She yelled pushing me with her magic away from the Nightkin who now at this point could be seen as walking waterfalls with all the rain falling from of them. “Just go damn it! I got this!” I said trying to free myself from her powers. Prim’s outer walls were within sight now only eighty feet away as I could see the NCR sentries guarding its newest conquest. I looked back at the Nightkin knowing that if we slow down we will be torn apart. Twilight let go with the spell and I was free once more so I continued to run towards the town with Twilight in tow. I turned back with shotgun raised as I heard the steps grow ever closer. An immensely large Nightkin, a king among mutants if you will, was in mid swing coming out of cloak. I fired a shot as lightning once again flashed above. The Nightkin stopped for a second in pain but must have brushed it off as it continued to follow. I slung the shotgun onto my back and pulled out the M1911 stopping to really aim the shot. Twilight stopped to watch me apprehensive about my actions since she seemed too tired to pull me forward once again with her magic. I unloaded a mag into the bastard yet he just took the fire like I was throwing pebbles at him. I holstered the pistol then pulled the shotgun out from the sling on my back. I fired shot after shot pumping a new shell into place to drop the inhuman freak but soon, the dreaded click came. He still charged at a quick pace in spite of his heavily bleeding wounds. I pushed myself to get back to running as Twilight lead the way back to town which was now only forty feet away. I was reloading a mag into the pistol having slung my shotgun onto my back unable to reload it while maintaining this pace. I turned around to fire a few more shots into the large freak. He came close to another swing as he raised his arms with a piece of rebar. I let loose six shots almost expending the mag. The Nightkin freak ran a few more steps before finally succumbing to his wounds still crawling towards me. I heard Twilight scream as I prepared to put this mutant out of its misery once and for all. I turned around to see another Nightkin holding Twilight like a child’s toy in a giant’s hand. “Human… give up… or purple one dies!” The Nightkin grunted out. “Put her down or I will shove this handgun so far down your throat that you will be shitting shell casings for weeks.” I said in an angered tone as I leveled the pistol with one round in the chamber and a spent mag. “HaHaHA.” He bellowed, “Human… think… he big.” It said tightening its grip on Twilight making her yelp in pain. It could rip her in half well before I could reach her. If I ran, I only had one shot, so I had to make it count. Lightning cut through the sky as I took aim and fired. Twilight fell from his hand as the bullet grazed his skull cutting the skin and chipping the bone. He grabbed his face with both hands and yelled out. I meant to shoot him in the head, but that worked too. I put the pistol away and got out the shotgun loading a single shell into it and pumped it into the chamber. I ran up to the beast and shoved the shotgun into its open mouth covering my eyes with a hand and firing a shot. Thunder rang out, muffling the shot. I didn’t need to look at him to know it was over. The need to make it to town was still there as the rain only seemed to get stronger. With the clear and present danger taken care of, I looked to Twilight to see she was ok. She seemed fine if not shaken from the ordeal. I reloaded my weapons as I waited for her to get on her hooves. “Why do you keep risking your flank to help me?” She said as she made it to her hooves. “Because I have a heart of gold.” I said with a sarcastic chuckle. “Really.” She said plainly. “You wound me,” I said mocking pain in my shoulder only to have it replaced with true pain and the warmth of blood on my hand as the adrenalin faded away. She looked at me like some kind of physician, “Stand still.” She said as her horn glowed a light lavender color. “Why I’m fine… Aaahhh! The fuck are you doing?!” I said as she used her magic to pull something out of my shoulder. “You had a piece of glass stuck in you. I had to pull it out before the wound got infected.” She said with a kind smile. “I want my lollipop.” I said jokingly while holding my shoulder. She laughed coyly, “We’ll see.” We walked in the harsh rain until finally making it over to the crossing into Prim. A lone broken down bridge with boards of wood to cross the parts where the concrete gave way stood before us as I heard footsteps quickly running towards us. I reached for my pistol leaving my right hand on it when I saw a NCR trooper running over to us. He a saluted us then said, “Lieutenant Hayes wants to see you sir.” My hand twitched over the .45 pistol when I heard him speak. What could a trooper lieutenant want with me? Do they know I’m from the Brotherhood? No, no, no they couldn’t? Just to be safe I’m keeping my gun ready. Twilight interrupted my thoughts when she spoke. “Do you mind?” She said scaring the trooper. “Holy shit…” He said in a low voice. “Look trooper, I just want to find a bed to sleep in then go about my travels.” I said trying to find a way out of this meeting. “I understand sir but you have to see Hayes first. His tent is just down this road past the destroyed building.” He said pointing out the building with his hand. “Okay, I will see him later.” I said trying to walk past the trooper. “Don’t worry sir I will lead the way there.” He said as he waved us to follow. I sighed then followed with Twilight close behind. The troopers around the tent seemed to get ready for a coming battle all checking their service rifles and armor. Their armor was a tan color to blend in with the sand of the wastes, but that was the most of the protection it gave since the armor was just cloth reinforced with a small metal chest and back plate. The troopers seemed to not care as we passed them. When we reached the tent, the trooper that lead us spoke. “Okay the Lieutenant only wants to see you she will have to stand out here.” He said opening the tent flap and ushering me forward. Twilight seemed worried but I dropped to a knee before her to comfort her. “Don’t worry. I will be out soon, just read a book or something to pass the time.” I said in a calm voice but even I felt a bit afraid of the situation. The Brotherhood of Steel has few friends and many enemies out here. The NCR is one of the biggest enemies to date. Sure the Brotherhood and NCR both stopped the Enclave from taking over all of California, but hatred and differences on how the salvaged tech should be used soured relations until war broke out between us. We held fast but soon got swept aside by their ever growing number of troops and territory gain. For me I personally, felt that the NCR had a good plan help others, collect taxes, bring law to the land and grow, but the Brotherhood never really worked on anything past collect tech to survive. I walked into the tent and saw a young man same armor with the rest of the troopers. The only difference being a gray, white, and black camo cover on his right shoulder. A green beret with a two headed bear a symbol of his republic sewed onto it was worn proudly on his head as he sat at a small table and motioned for me to sit. I took a seat and removed the pistol from its holster and slowly propped it under the table just in case things went sour. I looked as his eyes, a look of deep thought was all I could discern before he spoke. “Look, we need your help…” His voice trailed off a little. “Really? Well how’s about a ‘no’ then? I just want to go to bed and then leave for the next town in the morning.” I said leveling the pistol at his gut out of sight under the table. “I didn’t want to have to play the bad guy here, but if I have to, I will.” He said sternly. “You’re a big, bad soldier boy. You can take on anything in the name off your republic right?” I said with a sarcastic tone. “One of the sentries saw your fight with the Nightkin before you made it to town.” He spoke coldly. “And?” I said shifting in the seat nervously. “Well that fact you took out two Nightkin by yourself makes you either well trained or lucky and that’s what I need.” I interrupted him before he could continue, “I don’t see the point here.” “The point is the man known as the Courier cleared this town of Powder Gangers several weeks back and we were put in charge by brass back west to protect the town. But with the rest of the Gangers just down the road held up in the prison they made into a fortress. Raids have been an issue ever since we took this post.” Hayes said with a sigh at the end. “And this is my concern why?” I said plainly. “This is your concern because the trooper who saw your fight also remarked how well you tried to defend your purple pet…” I interrupted him once again, “I have a very special set of skills. If she ends up hurt, I will find the bastard that hurt her, and I will kill him. Then I’ll use said skills to find and kill you.” I said grimly. “I am not trying to be the bad guy. We have the Legion for that. We will even pay you. But we need your help taking out those Gangers… They have killed and burned so much around the town that we have to take the fight to them just to get some breathing room.” He said getting a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it up to take a long drag of it. “I don’t want to hurt your friend and I won’t. I’m just saying that if you are willing to fight for more than yourself, that means you’re something the Mojave needs more than ever.” He said cigarette smoke expelling from his mouth. “And what would that be?” I said now calmer. “A person with a conscious heart.” He said taking a drag of the cigarette. “So you’re playing on my sense of civic duty then? My good nature?” I said sarcastically. “Yep.” Hayes said with a smile. “Well I would love to wipe them from the roads and make it safer for people to travel but…” He raised an eyebrow, “Yes?” “I can’t just lead her into a fight. She doesn’t need to see that side of humanity again.” I said sadly remembering the chance encounter before we made it to the Brotherhood bunker. “She can stay back here. I promise you nothing will happen to her while she’s in town. I will personally see to her needs if you choose to help us.” He said in a friendly tone. “Well, I do need the caps…” I said contemplating the offer. “So you will help?” He said anxiously. “Sure. But only if you make sure she gets whatever she needs.” I said as I holstered the pistol and stuck out my left hand. Hayes shook my hand, “You doing this good turn for the NCR, we will remember this.” “Thanks. Just have the caps ready.” I said as I rose from the seat and headed for the door out. “Take your time getting ready. Tell your friend bye for the moment and maybe get that wound checked out before you head out.” Hayes said as I pushed open the tent flap to walk back into the rain. Twilight stood in the doorway of a building just in front of the bridge to Prim. She was shaking herself dry. I ran over to her and stepped into the dry space under the building’s roof. The troopers seemed to not mind the rain wearing thick covers over themselves to keep the water from soaking through. “Is everything okay?” She asked but then stared at my shoulder were I was still bleeding from, “Your still hurt.” “You’re perceptive.” I said winching in pain as she magically grabbed some cloth from her bag and covered the wound with it. “So what’s going on?” She asked tentatively. “You’re going to have to stay here. While I go out to get us some money so we can stay in beds tonight and not out in this rain.” I said rubbing the covered wound with my left hand. “Why do I have to stay here? Can’t I come along?” She asked confused. “I don’t want you to get attacked by those blue monstrosities again. Besides this will give you time to read.” I said with a nervous laugh as her eyes narrowed. Her expression changed in a flash as she smiled, “Okay then. Your right though, it’s better I stay. Just let me cast a spell for good luck.” She leaned in and with a glow then a flash from her horn I felt, I felt as if nothing happened to me at all. Some of the troopers who saw this stared in amazement before returning to their duties. “Okay… well let’s eat before I head out.” I opened a can of fruit something she and I could share. The can was an old prewar relic with a worn label with the picture of peaches on it. Twilight seemed to not like it when she ate a piece. “It’s not fresh…” She said making a face as if I had given her radroach meat. “Well it’s the best taste you can get when the food in question is two hundred years old and contains enough preservatives to mummify a small dog.” I said as I ate another piece and handed her one more. She and I both sat to eat the canned fruit. She ate not so happily finishing the can about to start another with me until a trooper walked into the doorway with water dripping from his body armor. “My names Sergeant Lee. Are you the one who’ll accompany us?” He said in a professional tone. “Yes I am.” I got up from the floor and looked at Twilight. “Don’t worry, I will be back soon.” I said as I gathered my things to head out. “Just don’t stay in the rain too long or you’ll catch your death.” She said kindly while the trooper stared at her. Yeah the rain will do me in and not the bullets… Twilight glared at me mad as if I had said it to her. Maybe she was just mad I had to do this alone? I patted Lee on the shoulder snapping him back to reality. “Are we leaving or not?” I asked Lee. “Yes sir.” He said leading me out of the building. I turned back to Twilight to see her standing in the doorway. I waved good bye at her and she waved back. Hopefully this won’t be a final good bye. Me and ten troopers left the NCR camp right in front of the town of Prim. As we marched through the rain to the NCRCF, I felt bad for lying to Twilight. She didn’t need to see that life here was cruel and these sadistic people were making it worse. Not to mention we kinda needed the money to eat and pay for lodging. I couldn’t shake the felling that I was being watched by someone. But seeing as I was wearing my black Kevlar vest also with my non-regulation weapons and hair cut amongst the NCR tan colored troopers, I stood out. I brushed off the feeling, chalking it up to paranoia and the fact that I was surrounded by a group of people who hated the very people I had once called family. With the target getting ever closer my mind drifted off into less foreboding places as I marched with ten fresh-faced troopers who looked like they were thrown into this hell right after they had finished training. I thought back to Twilight and how I met her. How everything seemed so cheery and interesting through her eyes. I was sad to leave her behind. Maybe if I bring her a book back she wouldn’t be so mad for me running off like that? As much as I knew she did not like our world, I really didn’t want her to leave it. For the first time in my life I had felt happy while treading the fine line of death that was ever present in the Mojave. I was walking into, for all intents and purposes, a death trap. The fact I was doing so was simply for the fact that with these caps I would earn, I could bring a smile onto her face with a new book, or maybe some fresh fruit and vegetables. I just wanted to return the happiness she gave me, to protect her and hold her close once more yet I still knew she would have to go home … A sense of sadness overcame me but not just mine I felt as if a voice had echoed my exact thoughts. The prison was in sight now. It had large, rusted, barbed-wire fences to keep out all but the heavy rain. The watch towers held a small number of guards; one man per tower with a varmint rifle lazily scanning the land with their eyes. The large main building of the complex must have been the control center for the leader of the Powder Gangers. The rain gave us great cover as it showered the land harshly leaving most held up in doors. Lee stopped the troopers and myself with the raising of his right hand as he turned around. “Okay Alpha team, move to your first objective and wait for signal.” Lee said as half of our number ran off to flank the prison from the back. “The plan here is to kill Eddie, the leader of the Powder Gangers. Gangs without leadership die quickly out here. If we do this right, the Mojave will be a little more stable.” Lee said as he pulled a detonator from his pack. He checked the time with an old wrist watch using his hand to keep the rain off. “For the republic!” He cheered as he pressed the button on the detonator. Small explosions tore away chunks of the fence leading into the prison. We charged in with the sounds of service rifles blazing against the ill prepared gang’s defense. The gangers came out of every building rallying for a charge. As we made it through the breach in the fence the troopers split apart into smaller two-man teams. I ran up the stairs of the tower overlooking the breach to get a better look of the battle field. My boots clanged loudly as I ascended the flight of stairs, only to see a ganger with 9mm pistol drawn. My shotgun was already raised but he got the first shot off. The round hit my vest with a force that could break bone, yet I was fine save for the loss of breath. I fired back with my 12-gauge tearing into him and throwing him over the railing onto the ground below. I continued to climb the stairs until I reached the top of the tower and saw no one just a small windowed room before me. I entered the room with shotgun drawn only to be hit in the chest with one of the varmint rifles the watchmen where using. The weapon hit me with crushing force knocking me onto the floor. The ganger kicked the gun from my hand into the corner of the room as he lowered the rifle and pressed it into my neck choking the life from me. I gasped and thrashed about trying to throw him off of me. But soon my struggle started to come to an end as the world around me started to fade into black. As I felt my last breath slip away I thought about Twilight and I my head said sorry for the last time… But then on the verge of death I heard her voice tell me to fight back, to live and that she wanted to see me back safe. I started gasping then jerked up for a moment knocking the ganger off me who already must have thought me dead because his guard was dropped. I leapt at him from the floor with renewed vigor and started to punch him viscously in the side as I slammed him into the wall. The rifle fell from his hands while he reacted by punching me in the mouth, knocking me back in to the doorway. I spit blood from my mouth as he pulled a switch blade from his pocket and began to flick it to expose the blade. I grabbed a bottle from the table smashing it against the table to leave the end sharp. The ganger laughed, “You think you’re going to beat me in a knife fight with that?” “No. That’s why I brought another gun.” The ganger’s eyes widened as I threw the bottle at him while pulling the .45 pistol out from its holster. The bottle broke over his crossed arms as he tried to shield himself as he charged at me. I leveled the pistol at his chest and fire two shots. He dropped to the floor with thunder in the back ground. The sounds of battle were everywhere as I grabbed my shotgun putting it on my back so I could grab the rifle he dropped. The weapon was in bad repair but it still showed some promise of help as I heard a trooper yell out in pain. I searched the dead man’s pockets to gather up two mags of ammo for his old weapon. I ran out of the room to the balcony to get a proper look at the field. The troopers from the side I came in on where not doing so well. Two of the five were dead face down in the wet dirt. One man was wounded in the leg behind the cover of some kind of mine cart and Lee was with the only other able bodied trooper being suppressed behind a set of flipped over tables by three gangers. I leveled the rifle at the gangers suppressing Lee. The rain still fell harshly around them as I fired the first shot. The 5.56mm round tore through the chest of the ganger closest to the watch tower as I pulled the bolt back the other two gangers began to shoot up at the tower. I dove for cover the bullets tore through and bounced all over the balcony. One grazed my leg causing a slight pain. I fought through it as I rose up again to take another shot. This time I fired at the one closest to Lee. The round tore into the ganger’s stomach causing him a lot of pain as he fell to the ground. I readied another shot, pulled the trigger and nothing happened. The rifle must’ve jammed. I dove back into cover as the last ganger started the suppression fire again. I popped out to see Lee and the other trooper charge over their cover and lay into the ganger with their service rifles. The ganger thrashed about as the rounds tore through him and he finally hit the floor. I tossed the piece-of-shit varmint rifle off the balcony and charged down the stairs to meet back up with Lee and the rest of the teams. I saw Alpha was doing well until a well thrown piece of dynamite blew the legs and right arm off a trooper as he ran forward. The rest of the troopers surged forward and soon the gangers started to hide behind cover in fear of the NCR’s wrath. The troopers laid a torrent rounds into the surviving ganger’s cover of tables and flipped over metal mine carts. As I reached Lee, he was rallying his men for one last push I heard the tail end of his speech. “Do you apes want to live forever?!” He said with a roar as he charged forward weapon blazing with the seven remaining troopers towards the ganger’s positions. Those who stood up out of cover to fire were torn apart. The troopers rushed forward even faster when they saw that the ganger morale had faltered and they began to retreat with their proverbial tails between their legs. The troopers cut them down like rabid dogs as they ran, leaving none alive. I ran over to Lee as he and his men posted up at the door leading into the main building of the complex. “Okay everyone check your weapons and ammo.” He said as his men prepared to breach doorway. I looted the body of one of the runners that they gunned down to find a stick of dynamite, an engraved lighter, some caps and a kitchen knife. I took the caps, lighter and dynamite. I heard the sound of one of the troopers yell as he kicked the door in only to be met with a hail of bullets. The 9mm’s hit him like the rain hitting the earth. They all must have had submachine guns. Lee pulled the trooper out from the doorway and checked his pulse. “Damn…” He mumbled as I posted up on his left side and to the right was the doorway. “Any ideas?” Lee asked as rounds hit the frame of the door making him shudder as bits of wood and concrete chipped off the cover. “One.” I said as I showed him the dynamite. I turned away from him and crouched to try to make a space dry enough to get the wick lit. I shielded the wick from the rain and after three attempts it lit. I rain started to let up before I threw the stick into the building. Various screams of vulgarity accompanied the sound of the blast as Lee’s men charged in. The surviving gangers were disorientated. But those few the blast killed were blown apart, their blood and body parts strewn about the floor. The two standing guards were mowed down by the troopers 5.56mm rifles. The two other guards lay broken on the floor. “First room clear!” A trooper yelled out as they charged through the blown-open metal bars. Sporadic gun fire and screams could be heard as they made their way through the rooms of the first floor. After a few moments the sounds stopped and the troopers eagerly posted up before the stairs leading up to the final floor. “First floor secure!” Lee said proudly to his men stopping to look at me. “Okay big hero, you ready for the next one?” He asked sarcastically. “Why not? I have shells to spare.” I said to the rousing cheer of the troopers. “Great. First rank, then second rank up those stairs!” Lee yelled out and the troopers started up the stairs. I was the second man on to the stairs as the first turned the corner only to be shot by a ganger wearing a vest not too similar to my own, with sunglasses and a small 9mm submachine gun. The trooper fell to the ground coughing up some blood as I pulled him from harm’s way as the ganger fired another burst at where he was laying. The trooper thanked me and handed me his weapon with a few mags to work it with. He coughed again blood coming out of his wound and mouth. “Work… *cough* you’re magic.” He said as another trooper the one who was shot in the leg started to work feverishly to patch the wounds. He lay on the ground for the moment while the would-be medic tried to save him. I grabbed his helmet and put it on the end of the rifle’s barrel and stuck it out to get the ganger’s attention. It worked as he fired again. So he was still in the stairway, but where? I asked for a piece of glass or some kind of reflective surface to use. One of the trooper passed a pair of sunglasses along the chain of people. They looked rather nice but still had some age to them. The lenses were quite shiny and very reflective. I lowered them to the floor and angled them to let me see where the enemy was. He stood at the top of the stairs. I ran my finger along the wall blocking off that side of the stair case to what was the approximant top. I put away the shotgun and leveled the rifle at where he should be. Then I let lose the whole mag emptied after witch I heard the sound of a body falling down the stairs. They looked at me with joy as I shrugged, “Lucky guess…” The troopers rushed by the body of the ganger leaving the two injured troopers behind to tend to their wounds. As they made it up the stairs I heard the sounds of more gunfire then an eerie silence. A lone person ran down the stairs quickly. I raised my shotgun and aimed for the way they would come out but I didn’t have to shoot as I saw it was Lee. “Eddie’s a deady, we can take it from here. I radioed ahead and told Hayes of your good work.” He saluted me then went back up the stairs. I put away my shotgun and gave the injured trooper his weapon back. As I was leaving the building I saw a room off to the side with medical supplies and beds with random stack of books on the table off in the corner next to a lone chair. I went into the room to take anything of value as bonus for a good days work. Of the things I found were mostly destroyed and ruined books but the few stimpacks I found did make this not a total waste. Within the stack of charred and worn books I found a lone book still in readable condition the cover said ‘Psychology: a guide to understanding the human mind’ I shrugged and threw the book into my bag along with the stims. I walked out of the building and back into the wasteland. The rain had started to calm down and the sun showed itself once more as a rainbow appeared.Just before I set off back to Prim to collect my reward and to give Twilight a gift for being patient with me I put the sunglasses on...