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Fallout Wasteland	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Fallout (Series) > Fallout (Series) Views: 28950 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
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Viper Crushed Underfoot, Farewell To A Friend.

Fallout: Life In The Wasteland

Part 7 - "Anti-venom"

By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson

Original Date Written: December 12, 2010

"John! The NCR's here, they're just down the street! They're shooting!" True to the man's words, shots were ringing out every second or so from outside the building. The man named John looked over. He was a tall man dressed in a unique-looking suit of metal armour mark two. His suit simply had a different design to it, being thicker and more protective over his torso. Instead of golden detailing, his armour had dark blue steel for the details. John's suit also lacked the three spikes protruding from the left pauldron that almost every other raider with similar armour had. In an almost reaver-like fashion, the man had strapped various plates from a suit of combat armour to his arms with leather belts, helping to protect his fairly exposed limbs. He wore the lower body section of a suit of Power Armour, the man's body being covered in quite thick steel from the waist down. His hair was a bit lengthy and shaggy, hanging down around his neck in straight, black, locks. He had a short layer of stubble along his jaw, the stubble just as dark as the rest of his hair.
His face had four long scars going along it, the scars reaching from the middle of his forehead, going over his right eye, down over his cheek, and stopping at his jaw. Because of the scars, there were four thin gaps in his right eyebrow, the scar tissue there not allowing new hair to grow. It would seem as though his eye had been injured along with the rest of his face, as his right eye was not only useless to him but also scarred; the iris and pupil of his eye were gray, his other eye being blue tinged with green. Not being able to see through his right eye did little to deter him as a warrior, however. A large plasma rifle was slung over the man's back. A customized Thompson submachine gun hung in front of the man's stomach by a black strap made of tough fabric. The weapon was customized so that, instead of a box magazine or a simple single-drum magazine, the weapon had a double-drum magazine, giving it incredible amounts of ammunition to fire. It was also cosmetically customized so that the usually brown wooden parts of the weapon's frame were painted red, so the weapon was red and graphite in colour. The man appeared to be in his late thirties.
His face was dark. "Christ, they have terrible timing." He spoke with a gruff voice. The man that had informed him of the NCR held his arms out wide by his sides. "What do we do?" He asked. The two of them were in a room at the top of the Shark Club, being on the third floor. John was smart enough to realize that if the NCR had reached the Shark Club at the heart of the city, they had probably killed off everyone in their path. John asked "Are they coming from everywhere or just a certain direction?" The other man lowered his arms, saying "Ah...Just the south and the east, they're not coming from the north or west." John ominously said "...Set the timers for five minutes. We'll get out of here by the rooftop bridge. I'll get the others. If the NCR wants this building, they can have it in pieces. Go." The raider nodded, turning and rushing off. John rolled up the map on the table, flattening it a moment later, folding it up a few times. He slipped it under one of the belts on his left arm, the snug belt keeping the map pressed against one of the plates on his arm. Leaving the room like the other man, he went to round up the other leaders of the Scaled Hiss.
Arthur rushed down into Second Street, bullets flying down the street from the Shark Club as well as Salvatore's Bar. Soldiers in the street stormed the nearby Jungle Gym, bursting into it's interior, raiders apparently being within. Arthur took four bullets as he ran for the Golden Globes studio nearby, two bullets hitting him in the chest, another hitting him over his stomach, the last bullet grazing the side of his helmet. The last bullet, the one that neared his head, shocked him slightly, forcing him to run like the wind towards the Golden Globes studio. He ran inside, panting slightly from exertion, looking around at the opening room. A few dead bodies lay within, the bodies belonging to those that used to live, breathe, and reside within New Reno. Arthur saw two doors nearby, neither of them open. He ran to the nearest one, raising a foot, launching it into the door near it's handle. He broke open the door, the door swinging open. Looking within, he raised his assault rifle. Adrenaline was pounding through him. "Freeze!" He shouted his word with authority, pointing his rifle at one of the men within. A thick man with dark skin stood in a red housecoat, standing near the chair of a desk.
A raider stood by him, holding up a revolver, pointing it into the dark man's face. The raider had wide and almost insane eyes. In his haze of adrenaline, Arthur could hear the raider slowly begin to squeeze the trigger of his weapon, the hammer slowly being pulled back as it prepared to fire. Arthur pulled the trigger of his weapon, holding it, the weapon burstfiring. The raider didn't have time to react, his makeshift armour being blown through by the bullets of Arthur's M16A1, the raider's body falling to the ground, leaning against a shelf slightly. Before the man in the housecoat could speak, Arthur had left the room, rushing over to the other door in the building. Several more soldiers began to enter the building, at least ten walking in behind Arthur. Arthur stood by the doorway, reaching over and twisting the knob of the door, quickly pushing it inwards. A hail of bullets flew over in a snap, blood flying out as a soldier took a bullet to the face, the bullet hitting him in his left nostril and blowing clear through his head, the soldier's helmet letting out a deep metallic sound as the bullet hit the back of it. The rest of the soldiers got out of the doorway, letting the bullets fly around the passageway in the wall.
When the fire began to ebb, soldiers rushed in, firing off quick rounds at any raider they saw. Arthur stayed by the doorway, letting the others rush in before him. Suddenly, a deep, booming voice shouted out "Hah hah, these little men with their guns think they can kill me? That's funny!" A moment later, what sounded almost like claps of thunder began to rapidly burst out within the room, Arthur hearing shouts of pain coming from within every few seconds. Glancing within, his eyes widened slightly at what he saw. A super mutant armed with a massive rifle of sorts stood near the entrance to a hallway, holding the rifle up in just one hand, throwing bullets at any soldier he saw. The soldiers' armour just wasn't tough enough to stand up to the weapon's powerful slugs from such a close distance, blood spraying out as the soldiers were mowed down. Arthur saw that, on the other side of the room and near another hallway, another large figure was appearing, but this second figure wasn't a super mutant. Bullets began to fly towards the doorway once more, Arthur getting behind cover with the few soldiers that hadn't rushed through the doorway right away. Arthur heard a sound that caused cold prickles to appear on the back of his neck.
It was the sound of a flame. He blindfired through the doorway, emptying his magazine, popping it out and grabbing it as it fell, pushing it into a pouch on his left thigh. Reaching to his right thigh, he felt into another pouch, grabbing another filled magazine and loading it into his rifle. His blindfire had caught the gunmen inside to pause slightly and get behind cover, but the booms of the super mutant's gun still shook the air. Arthur chanced a quick peek through the doorway once more. He saw a tall figure dressed in armour that covered them from their head down to their feet, no skin being visible at all. They were dressed in some sort of environmental armour, a suit of protective casing all around their torso and extremities, the armour dark green and orange in colour. A helmet covered the figure's head entirely, a large black plate of glass over their face for them to look through. The helmet seemed to also act as a gasmask, as their were two air purifiers on either side of it's front, clear thick tubes running from the sides of the helmet to large oxygen tanks on the figure's back. In their arms was a Flambe 450 flamethrower, but it looked like it had been customized and was using specialized fuel.
Arthur got back behind cover as the lead began to fly once more, a bullet pinging against the side of his helmet. The figure in environment armour had been slowly and uncaringly walking towards the doorway, it's flamethrower ready in it's arms. "That super mutant's got a fuckin' Bren gun!" Arthur roughly said "He can die just like anything else, we just need an opening! A flamer's coming this way though, watch out!" Suddenly, the gunfire died immediately, even that of the super mutant. Arthur instinctively ran a few steps away from the doorway's side, turning and looking at it a moment later. He spotted the figure in the environment armour jump through the doorway, spraying out fire at four nearby soldiers, the soldiers screaming out in pain. They were writhing as they hit the ground, trying desperately to extinguish the flames covering them, not realizing that the fire was caused by a sticky fluid that the launcher had sprayed at them and that their attempts were in vain.
Arthur raised his assault rifle, the others left doing the same. They all burst bullets at the torso of the figure, the environment armour catching many of the bullets, some of them getting through. Feminine cries of pain came from the figure, muffled by the helmet. The figure turned the flamethrower towards Arthur, Arthur's eyes widening slightly as he tried backing up as much as he could, still firing at the figure. A loud crack sounded out suddenly, a bullet hole appearing in the middle of the figure's helmet, in the middle of the glass front of it. The figure promptly crumpled down in a heap, seemingly dead. Everyone looked over to the doorway, seeing a sniper to be just lowering her rifle. The figure had been Simone Cole, Simone having been drawn by the sounds of the super mutant's Bren gun.
Simone held up her rifle again, seeing a raider through the doorway, firing off a shot and hitting the raider through her head. Simone got closer to the wall on the far side, getting some cover, looking over to a nearby soldier as he said "Hey, sniper, there's a bunch of raiders in there keeping us pinned here! There's a super mutant in there with a big-ass machine gun, and if we try to run in there to kill the raiders, he'll blow us apart! Can you snipe the raiders from here so we can take down the mutie?" Simone nodded, saying nothing. Another soldier nearby reached over and gave Simone a pat on her shoulder, about to voice out a thanks when Simone suddenly whirled around as if in a panic, facing the man, her eyes wide as she loudly said "Don't fucking touch me!" The soldier raised his hands up in a submissive pose, saying "Jesus, I'm sorry! I was just gonna say thanks for the help!" Simone didn't apologize for what she had said, saying nothing else, looking away from the man, her eyes relaxing slightly and closing a bit.
Arthur watched her raise her rifle, crouching down and slowly inching her way across the middle of the room so she was looking through the doorway. Arthur saw her form shake for a moment from the recoil of her rifle, Simone having launched out a bullet. The fire from the room beyond began to stop, someone shouting out "They've got a god damn sniper! George, go show that bitch the fucking door!" They all heard a deep booming laugh come out from the other room, loud footsteps slowly beginning to make their way across the room. Everyone realized that the super mutant, George, was coming right for them. Simone was nervous about facing off against a super mutant from such a close range, especially when the mutant in question was apparently armed with a huge weapon. Arthur looked to her, speaking quietly as the din of combat had more or less dissipated, the only shots now audible being the ones outside, near the Jungle Gym and the Shark Club. "Hey, sniper-chick! Get in that room over there, let us take care of this guy!" Arthur nodded his head towards the door to Rocky's office, Simone glancing over for a moment before nodding.
She rushed over to the door, quietly pulling it open, stepping through the doorway, closing the door just as quietly behind herself. Arthur breathed out a few more words as the mutant's loud footsteps reached even closer. "When he pops out, unload on the fucker!" Everyone nodded. Arthur felt full of adrenaline, but others were clearly not as prepared as him to face off against the approaching behemoth. Several soldiers had deeply nervous faces, some of them closing their eyes and trying to breathe calmly, trying to force themselves into relaxing. Suddenly, the super mutant appeared, crashing through the doorway with a bloodthirsty shout. Everyone opened fire on the beast, bursting bullets into him. None of them seemed to faze the mutant, however. Standing well over eight or nine feet tall, the figure's height was only impaired by a bit of a hunched back; however, the super mutant was still much taller than any ordinary human in the room. The mutant was extremely bulky and wore pieces of scrap metal torn from cars as armour, large pieces of fabric strapped to his body in other places. The figure was totally hairless, his eyes a murky gray and brown colour.
The mutant's skin was clearly green, a bit of gray appearing around the eyes and ears. Holding the large Bren gun in his right hand, he began to fire, booming out shots at nearby soldiers. Arthur saw the Bren gun's bullets tear through the combat armour of his fellow soldiers, their blood spraying out as they fell to the floor in death. Arthur began to aim around the super mutant's head, his bullets crashing into the super mutant's makeshift helmet. The mutant's gun ran out of ammo just before it swung a fist around, Arthur's eyes going wide as the mutant hit him in the stomach with the power of seven men. He was knocked back a few feet, his back hitting a wall, Arthur falling down on his ass, sucking wind at the pain blasting through his form. Still being shot at, the super mutant let out a growl. "Where's that damn sniper?" The mutant dropped his Bren gun, looking around at the soldiers in the room. More soldiers began to swarm in from the front door, the mutant angrily kicking into a nearby soldier, causing them to collapse to the ground. The mutant looked towards the door to Rocky's office, beginning to walk towards it. When he reached it, he raised a foot, kicking into the door and knocking it off of it's hinges.
The mutant let out a laugh as it saw Simone backed up against Rocky's desk. Simone raised her rifle, firing a shot, her powerful slug blowing through the mutant's armour, actually ripping through the mutant's chest. She had narrowly missed the mutant's heart. Seeming a little surprised for a moment from the pain, the mutant gritted it's teeth a second later, thundering towards Simone while shouting out "Fuckin' bitch!" Before she could get another shot off, the super mutant had rammed a huge fist into the side of her head, shards of dark glass flying out as she was knocked straight to the ground. Simone had almost been knocked unconscious from the powerful blow, the left half of her helmet's visor having been totally shattered, exposing her deep green left eye. She had kept her hands on her sniper rifle, and as she lay on her back, she raised the weapon upwards, pointing it at the super mutant. She fired another shot, blowing another hole through the super mutant's torso. The mutant kicked her rifle, knocking it out of her hands, the rifle hitting the wall behind Simone and landing out of her reach by the desk.
Rocky suddenly stood up from under the desk, bravely shouting out "Hey asshole!" The mutant looked over, seeing Rocky to be armed with a M3A1 submachine gun, commonly referred to as a "grease gun". He opened fire on the super mutant, spraying bullets at the huge figure. The super mutant didn't seem fazed by the bullets at all, but when a stray slug hit him in the side of his jaw, his face grew furious. He moved towards Rocky, Rocky backing up towards a bookshelf behind him, his weapon now out of ammo. The mutant grabbed Rocky in his hands, raising him up and throwing him nearly all the way across the room, Rocky smashing into a bookshelf near the doorway. Standing behind Rocky's desk slightly, the figure turned around just in time to see a soldier crouched in the doorway to the room, armed with an M79 grenade launcher. The figure shot their grenade at the mutant, the grenade hitting the mutant in the chest and bursting with ripping shrapnel. The super mutant had been blasted into the two bookshelves behind him, the mutant's size causing him to break the shelves.
Wounds had been opened all along his chest, but an especially deep gash had been opened up right over the mutant's chest from the actual explosion of the grenade. Simone had been safe from the grenade's shrapnel due to the desk between herself and the mutant, and although Rocky wasn't exactly safe from the shrapnel, none of it had hit him. A soldier ran in and grabbed a wheezing Rocky, helping him stand up and rush out of the room. The mutant was still alive, growling slightly with rage as he looked towards the soldier in the doorway. The soldier rapidly reloaded their grenade launcher, popping it open and sliding out the spent shell, pushing another one into the weapon's frame, snapping it shut. The soldier aimed a little higher, aiming for the super mutant's face. Firing the shell, the super mutant didn't move to try to evade the grenade. It hit the mutant square in the face, blowing away a third of the mutant's head. Blood heavily ran down the mutant's throat and chest as it fell to it's knees, collapsing down on it's chest a moment later. Arthur rushed into the room as the soldier in the doorway reloaded his grenade launcher once more.
He had been about to try helping Simone up when he remembered her reaction to a simple pat on the shoulder, simply asking her if she was okay. She let out a light groan as she sat up, nodding for a moment as she raised her hands to her head. Arthur watched her pull off her helmet, the sniper turning her helmet around and looking at the partially shattered visor. Looking along her face, Arthur had to admit; the girl wasn't ugly. Despite the visor being damaged, she pulled her helmet back on, the piece of equipment still effective enough to keep her safe from headshots. She stood up on her own, walking over to her rifle, bending over and picking it up. She ejected the magazine, catching it in her other hand, resting her rifle down on Rocky's desk. Reaching a hand into a pouch on her right thigh, she grabbed a few loose bullets, beginning to push them into the magazine in her other hand. Arthur had an eyebrow raised slightly as he said "I get the feeling you don't talk too much."
Simone glanced over to him from the corners of her eyes, shaking her head slightly for a moment before looking back to her magazine. Arthur had been about to say more when he heard an explosion deeper in the studio, looking over towards the nearby doorway. He saw soldiers rush deeper into the studio, firing off hasty shots. Arthur himself had to reload by that point, so he ejected his magazine and began to reload like Simone. She finished much sooner than he did, only having to replace a few bullets. When she was finished, she left the room. Arthur looked over his shoulder, watching her leave. Standing out in the front room, she glanced towards the room that led deeper into the building, rapid firing sounding out as the soldiers mopped up what was left of the raiders inside. Arthur saw Simone leave, the young woman walking over to the door at the front of the studio, heading back out into the street.
Walking along the third floor of the Shark Club, the raider named John as well as several others walked out through a door, now outside on the roof of the building. Walking beside a large pool, they approached a large construct that the raiders had created a while back. It was a makeshift bridge formed from several long planks of metal, held together by quite a few pieces of rope. The bridge spanned the distance between the Shark Club and a nearby multi-storied motel, resting on the ledges at the edges of the buildings. Reaching the bridge, a female raider got up on the construct, holding her arms out by her sides as she slowly began to walk across the bridge. A male raider near John doubtfully said "I dunno about this, Darkwater...We fall and we're dead."
John looked over and said "We stay and we're dead. We're getting out of here, the NCR won't show us any mercy. Trust me, I've used this thing before. We go one at a time and don't go too fast, and we'll all get across just fine. Look, Tanya's getting across just fine." The female raider named "Tanya" reached the other end of the bridge, jumping down the small drop to the roof of the nearby motel, quickly spinning around and looking at everyone once her feet had touched the roof. "Come on, ya pussies!" She called out. The male raider by John let out a slow "Ahhhh...." John said "Look, I'll go next, just watch me. It's easy, don't be a pussy." John got up on the bridge, everyone watching as he slowly crossed. He made it to the other side, turning around and calling out "Let's go, time's running short!" He and Tanya watched as another person got on the bridge, slowly beginning to cross...
A few minutes after the Golden Globes had been cleared, the soldiers were all focusing on the Shark Club, the multi-storied casino absolutely full of raiders. There seemed to be dozens within; any time a soldier managed to kill a raider, there always seemed to be two to replace their fallen comrade. The Shark Club had very few windows to it, so most if not all of the gunfire was centered around the main entrance to the casino. Arthur had emptied another magazine, having fired several bursts at raiders within the casino. Corpses littering the street and the entrance to the casino, soldiers and raiders alike moved around the bodies of the slain, acting as if they weren't even there, only reacting to them if they happened to trip over one. The raiders on the first floor of the casino began to withdraw, going deeper into the building, seemingly rushing to it's higher levels. Arthur saw most of the soldiers in the street rush into the casino through it's front doors, Arthur having been about to join them when he suddenly heard Veronica call his name.
He looked over his shoulder, seeing her running towards him, Arthur walking backwards towards the casino. He was still angry with her, but he had cooled off enough that he was willing to listen to what she had to say. Reaching him, she was panting softly, her voice determined as she said "Artie, wait! Let me talk to you!" Arthur kept walking backwards towards the entrance to the casino, Veronica following him. "I bust my ass trying to keep you safe from some raider, and the first thing out of your mouth is shit, you don't even thank me!" Veronica grabbed Arthur's shoulders, stopping him from moving any further. "That's what I'm trying to do, dumbass! I'm trying to thank you!" Arthur completely stopped moving, looking to Veronica's eyes. She caught her breath, saying "I know I reacted stupidly, and I want to thank you. There. Thanks." Arthur figured that what he had gotten out of her was the best he'd get on the subject, so he simply gave her a short nod, Veronica lowering her hands from his shoulders. A moment later, they were both knocked to the ground as the Shark Club almost entirely exploded, the building's remains going up in flames as debris was launched everywhere.
Hitting the ground a few feet to their sides, they had been launched in the air slightly from the explosion, Arthur's mind going dark a moment after he hit the ground, a small brick of concrete from the building flying over and ramming into the side of his helmet, cracking his head against the ground and knocking him out cold. Veronica tried to get up, another small explosion sounding out, debris scattering out into the street around what used to be the Shark Club. A long and heavy plank of wood fell on Veronica's legs, also falling on Arthur's, pinning them both to the ground with it's weight. She cried out in pain, the plank feeling like it was crushing her legs. Veronica tried moving the plank, but every time she pushed it, her legs shot flares of pain up along her nerves. She called out for help, trying to rouse Arthur with a hand, shaking him gently...
When Arthur awoke, he could hear running footsteps all around. He opened his eyes, groaning slightly. His head was throbbing with pain, it was almost unbearable. His legs felt a bit weak, he couldn't move too well. He slowly began to sit up, hearing Veronica speak beside him. "Oh, about time you woke up...It's been nearly half an hour." Arthur gritted his teeth, shutting his eyes tight, raising his hands to his head. "Christ, what the hell happened?" he heard Veronica call out for a medic before speaking to him once more. "The Shark Club exploded, God knows why." Arthur opened his eyes, looking over. The Shark Club was indeed ablaze, looking rather demolished, chunks of it in the street. The two of them were down the street between the Jungle Gym and the Golden Globes studio, sitting down on a sidewalk. They had both been undressed slightly, the torso pieces of their armour removed and resting by their sides, showing the simple white muscle shirts they wore beneath. Their helmets resting by their torso pieces, their heads had been resting on folded up pieces of fabric to keep them off of the rough cement.
"The medic'll give you some Med-X, just wait a sec, Arthur." He heard Veronica say. Arthur coughed gently, saying "A drink wouldn't be too bad, either..." Veronica smiled a little. "Well, you're in luck. Apparently the rest of the raiders are running away, they're leaving New Reno. And with us in this state, there's not much fighting we can do, anyway." Arthur smiled a little, lying back again, his head coming down on the folded fabric. A few seconds later, a medic came over, giving Arthur as well as Veronica a shot of Med-X each. Arthur used his right away, Veronica taking her's as well to help ease the pain in her legs. They both knew that the soldiers would be staying in New Reno for a bit longer, making sure that every raider was gone, taking a bit of time to relax as well. They'd stay in New Reno for maybe two or three days before heading back off to the NCR, to the congratulations of President Tandi...
Sparkling white walls. People in blue and yellow jumpsuits dragging him along. A syringe of glowing green fluid. These images torturously flashed through Kid's mind several times before he awoke with a start, opening his eyes quickly. He felt an unnerving coldness spread through his body, slowly fading away. He was alone in the Highwayman, but the others weren't far off; they were all outside preparing lunch. Kid had slept in rather late, Dawn having left him with her trenchcoat. The nightmare had been the first that Kid had gotten in a while, and it reminded him of something; Judas and his consort Marylin were still alive. Ronald had told Kid, with Dawn confirming his words; they hadn't killed anyone by Judas' or Marylin's descriptions. Judas had been the mastermind behind everything at Vault 17, or, at the very least, he had been the one running the experiments with the green fluid. Kid as well as Dominique had never seen Marylin away from Judas' side, so the two of them simply assumed that she was a partner of Judas'. Kid wasn't comfortable with the idea of the two of them still being alive, with the notion that they might continue their experiments on other people.
He raised a hand to his face, sighing softly, closing his eyes once more. He had washed off his facepaint about two days before, Libitina acting a little upset to see him without her markings but quickly getting over it. After a few more moments, he rubbed at his eyes, yawning again gently. He stretched, arching his back, letting out a deep exhale afterwards. His clothes resting in a pile by his side, he got dressed and got out of the Highwayman, walking over towards the rest. He glanced towards Dominique's cart. She was the only one eating by herself, everyone else was around the fire. Kid felt worried about her. Over the last few days, she had grown more and more quiet, putting more and more distance between herself and everyone else. Kid had tried to talk to her a few times but, surprisingly enough, she had told even him that she had wished to be alone. Libitina had joked around in the beginning, saying that it might've been "that time of the month" for Dominique, but after a few more days even Libitina began to notice something was wrong. Kid joined the rest, kissing Dawn to start the day off with a smile, lounging and eating with all the rest. Eventually, Dominique finished, slowly walking over with her plate, knife, and fork.
As she handed her dishes to Dawn, Ronald said "C'mon, Dom...Sit here with us, talk, what's eating ya?" Dominique simply shook her head a little, her face clearly showing her to be depressed. She walked off, heading back to her cart. Kid watched her leave silently. Dawn whispered to him, saying "Kid...Something's really wrong with Dom..." Kid said "I know, but...She doesn't want to talk to me...." Dawn said "Try talking to her one last time today...If she doesn't say anything, then...Guess all we can do is just let her come around on her own." Kid said "Alright...I'll try later on..." Dawn nodded, the two of them going back to eating. When everyone was finished, they stuck around and talked, washing their dishes with just a little bit of purified water, wanting to save as much as possible. After a few minutes, Kid got the attention of both Dawn and Ronald, telling them about his fears regarding Judas and Marylin. Looking at one another, Dawn and Ronald could see that Kid was serious. Dawn offered to take Kid back to the vault in order to finish things and make sure that they never hurt anyone again. Kid thought about her offer for a few seconds before accepting her offer, saying he'd like to head over there one last time.
Ronald offered to go with the two of them, saying Stitch, Ice, and Krypt could come along as well. Dawn said she could take them, but that didn't mean that they would be willing to go along to the vault. Calling them over, Ronald asked them if they would. Stitch and Ice said they were willing, but Krypt said he was interested in finding out the state of New Reno. Dawn proposed that Ronald check out New Reno, saying that NCR troops might have reached the city by then. "Alright, I'll check on the place...Krypt can come with me. I suppose Libby, Dom, Marv, and Heather are going to come with me unless you want to take one of them along." Kid said "Why don't we bring Dominique? It might help cheer her up to get out of here and come along." Dawn said "Sure, go on and ask her, I'll get the car started." Kid nodded, walking off and heading for Dominique's cart. When he reached it, he saw Dominique to be sitting inside quietly, not doing anything, doing nothing at all. Kid said "Hey, Dom...Dawn, me, and a few others are heading back to Vault 17...We're going to make sure Judas and Marylin don't hurt anyone anymore. Since you and I...Since we were there together, I figured you'd want to come along. Do you?..."
Dominique didn't react for a few seconds before she slowly shook her head. Kid's face showed he was a little disappointed. "Dom, what's the matter?...You've been so quiet lately, it's-" Dominique cut him off, softly saying "Can I see your book, Kid?...The one you write in every little bit?..." Kid curiously asked "What for?" Dominique didn't even look at him as she softly said "Please...Can I just see it?...I'd like to...Write you a bit of a note...." Kid slowly said "Um...Alright...Just give me a second, let m-me go get it." He turned and walked off, wondering what it was that Dominique wanted to write. Heading over to the vehicle, Dawn having started it seconds before, Kid opened the passenger's side door and grabbed his book. Dawn was sitting in the driver's seat, looking over and asking "Did she say she wanted to?" Kid shook his head, saying "No...She just said she wanted to write something in my book. I don't know what's wrong with her...I'll ask Libitina if she wants to come along, though." Dawn nodded, Kid closing the passenger's side door with his book in tow, walking back over to Dominique's cart. He handed her his book, Dominique opened it up to the last page Kid had written on, his pencil resting there inside the book.
She took the pencil, turning the pages until she reached the last one, quietly saying "When I'm done I'll hand it back to you..." Kid took the hint. She had more or less told him she wanted him to go away while she wrote. He headed for Libitina's cart, deeply curious over what Dominique wanted to write. Libitina had headed over to her cart once she was finished eating, having missed what Kid had talked about with Dawn and Ronald. She was sitting in her cart, simply minding her own business, Kid walking over and saying "Hey Libby, want to-" She cut him off, getting up on her knees in the cart, grabbing him in a hug. Kid didn't react, his face sort of blank from the unexpected embrace. Libitina was grinning with closed eyes. "Heyyyy." She said, holding her word and making it sound playful. Kid raised an eyebrow, hugging Libitina back, saying "Eh heh...Hi...I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to come with me back to Vault 17." Libitina quickly released Kid, looking him in the eyes, her grin dying. "W-Wha...What do you mean?" She asked softly. Kid seriously said "With Judas and Marylin still alive, other people could be put through what we went through, including the stuff that made us lose our memories.
Dawn and I are taking a few people back there so we can end this." Libitina's eyes grew filled with worry. "I-Isn't it enough that we got away? Remember what happened before? Tansy and all the rest...They're....We all got captured! What if it happens again?" Kid calmly said "Dawn and Ronald killed a lot of them when they came for us, there probably won't be as many guards this time around...And with Dawn around, I doubt we'll get captured, she's too tough for that." Libitina's eyes didn't show that her fears were placated. Kid added "And...I'll make sure you're safe. Personally." Libitina blinked. Her eyes began to show a little more optimism. "Do you really think it's a good idea?..." She asked quietly. Kid said "Maybe, maybe not...But I had another nightmare before waking up....I...I don't know, maybe they'll finally stop for good if those two are stopped, too. It's worth a shot, I mean, even if the nightmares don't stop, at least those two won't be able to do to others what they did to us."
Libitina looked downwards, nodding slightly. "My last nightmare was just a few days ago...I want them to stop..." Kid and Libitina could feel one another's pain, they could sympathize with each other. Kid slowly put his arms around her, Libitina holding him back, the both of them closing their eyes. They hugged for a few moments before releasing each other. Looking to one another's eyes, Kid said "C'mon, then...I think we'll be leaving like...Right now, actually. Let's head to the Highwayman, Stitch and Ice will be coming with us." Libitina nodded, getting up from the cart, hopping down by his side. The two of them walking towards the Highwayman, Kid could see Dawn standing by the vehicle's side, speaking with Ronald. Every now and then, Ronald would shoot a glance towards Dominique's cart, his face betraying that something was wrong.
Walking over, Kid asked "What's wrong?" Ronald and Dawn both looked to Kid. Ronald said "Dominique...I don't really know what's up with her. I told her that if she wasn't going with you and Dawn, that she'd be coming with Marv, Heather, Krypt, and myself as we head to New Reno. She just shook her head. I asked her if she didn't want to go, and she just said that she wanted to see you, that she had your book." Kid saw Ice and Stitch in the backseat of the Highwayman, looking to Libitina, saying "Libby, go on and get in the back of the car. I'll get in too, I just need to talk to Dom." Libitina nodded, walking over to the driver's side door of the car, pulling it open and getting in the backseat, closing the door behind herself. Ronald said "My brahmin are anxious to get a move on. Hasn't been very often that we've stayed in one spot for so flippin' long. The others are ready, we're fine for getting a move on, I just need to know what the situation with Dom is." Kid said "I'll go see her, just wait here, guys." He turned and headed for Dominique's cart, seeing her to be standing beside it, looking down into Kid's book. Walking over, Dominique placed the pencil in the book's form, closing it. She looked up to Kid with sad eyes.
When he reached her, she held the book out, saying "Take it...My note is on the last page." Kid reached over and took the book, about to ask a question when he saw tears to be in Dominique's eyes. Her bottom lip quivering, she shook her head slowly, saying "...I...I can't do it anym-more, Kid...Read my note..." Kid didn't know what to say. What was going on? Dominique came closer to him, closing her eyes, planting a gentle kiss on his right cheek. When she pulled away, she simply looked into his eyes for a few more seconds, saying nothing. Tears ran down her cheeks as she turned and began to walk off, starting to head off into the wasteland. Heading to the southeast, she didn't look back, she simply walked on. Kid, not knowing what else to do, opened his book at the last page. Glancing along her note, sadness rising inside him with every word, he shouted out Dominique's name, looking up to her form as it walked off into the distance. She didn't look back, in fact, she began to run, leaving with haste. Tears welled up in Kid's eyes as he looked back to Dominique's note, reading it over again.
"Kid, it hurts me to write this letter...I never thought I'd ever have to do such a thing. I love you more than life itself, I would do anything for you, but I'm not the one that has your heart...Dawn is the one with that blessing. You love her, I understand...I read some of the things you wrote in this book, it's clear you love her. You even wrote that you didn't love me...You care about me as a friend. While that makes me happy, I can't just settle for being friends...I care about you more than that, much more. I can't stand the pain in my heart anymore, I can't deal with the pain of seeing you and Dawn love one another. I need to get away. I'm going back to Rister, I'm going to try to help the other reavers there...I think I understand why the Holy One had me follow Dawn now. Following the Beautiful One allowed me to taste love and the pain that can come with it. If that was his plan, then I accept it. I love you, Kid...I think I always will. Try to come and see me some day. Je t'aime plus que n'importe quoi dans le monde, mais je il faut que j'essaye de te laissez aller. J'espère que tu peux comprendre. Goodbye...Take care. From Dominique."
Kid shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the stinging tears. He didn't know what the French part of her letter meant, but it was surely more sadness in written form. He slowly closed his book, turning and beginning to walk back to the Highwayman. Heather, in a nearby cart, could see the sadness on Kid's face. "Kid? What's wrong? Where's Dom going?" She called out. Kid didn't answer, not finding the will to. Ronald and Dawn had seen Dominique run off; they figured out well enough that Dominique was leaving. Neither of them knew the exact reason why Dominique was leaving, but they could both tell it was having a deep effect on Kid. Reaching them both, Kid said "Sh-She's leaving!...She..."
Dawn brought Kid closer to herself, hugging him, Kid burying his face into Dawn's chest, hiding his face as he wept. Dawn wasn't outward with her own sadness, but she too was sad Dominique was leaving; Dawn hadn't said it too many times, but Dominique had become a friend to Dawn. Kid had his hands on Dawn's hips, Ronald taking a step closer and resting a hand on Kid's shoulder. Libitina could see Dominique leaving, feeling sad, herself. Just like Dawn, Dominique had become a friend of Libitina's, as well. Dominique kept moving, tears rushing down her face, Dominique never daring to look back lest she change her mind about leaving.
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Fallout Wasteland