Fallout 2 - Navarro Ch. 05

"You sure you know where were going?!" Dornan shouted to Kali.

"That's the fifth time you've asked me in the last hour!" Kali shouted back. "Stop worrying! I'm a tribal; I could find my way in the dark on a cloudy night!"

"Sarge!" Quinn shouted, slowing the truck to a stop.

Just outside the perimeter of the lights was a large pack of death claws. If they'd run over any of them, they'd have had a big problem. Thank god Quinn had the eyes of a hawk.

"Four adults and six or seven little ones," Quinn whispered to him.

"Back up slowly," Hunter whispered.

"Don't back up, Quinn!" One of the grunts whispered desperately. "Two big one's behind us."

Kali reached beneath her seat and pulled out a large box, flipped open the lid, and pulled out an upgraded plasma rifle. She handed it to Hunter who stood up on his seat and took a bead on one of the death claws. She handed the other rifle to Dornan who moved to the back and took aim at one of the death claws that was pacing at the back of the truck.

Kali reached for her own plasma pistols and the three grunts that came with them had theirs out as well.

"A direct hit with your rifle will kill one," she whispered to Dornan and Hunter."

"What about ours?" one of the grunts asked not looking away from the outside of the truck.

"Yours won't. So you better make the shot count."

"Quinn, when I tell you to I want you to start driving forward slowly." She made her way over to Quinn and covered him.

"Let's hope they realize that we're bigger than they are," Kali heard Dornan mutter.

"Now, Quinn. Start slow and then speed up."

Quinn started the truck rolling forward and some of the death claws got out of the way. It didn't quite deter them though; they obviously knew lunch was inside the big rolling thing. They paced alongside the vehicle and one of the Death Claws in the back became agitated and charged the truck. Dornan took a well aimed shot at it, hitting the thing square in the chest. The Death Claw gave a terrifying shriek and lit up like a million volts of electricity was being passed through him. Then he disintegrated before Dornan's very eyes.

"Damn!" Dornan said, whistling his appreciation.

Instead of frightening off the other Death Claws it simply enraged them and they attacked en mass. Everyone started firing their weapons at anything that moved outside the truck.

"Floor it, Quinn!" Dornan shouted taking another shot.

"Plow through them Quinn! The Truck will make it!" Kali shouted as she kicked a small Death Claw off the hood of the truck.

Quinn hit the gas and plowed head on into the Death Claws too stupid to get out of the way. There were some screeches and some bumps but the truck didn't stall or quit. Hunter and Kali ran to the back of the truck and helped Dornan pick any off that were still after the vehicle.

Quinn slowed the vehicle to a stop after they made it another ten miles or so. He and Kali pulled out a couple flash lights and started inspecting the vehicle for damage.

"You boys did well," Kali heard Dornan saying to the grunts. "I couldn't have asked for better soldiers on this trip."

Kali knew that when Dornan gave a compliment to a person, he truly meant it. She had a feeling that when she got back into the truck, the grunts would all be sitting a little bit taller than they had been.

Dornan joined Kali and Quinn at the front of the truck. They were staring at the blood and gore that coved the grill and bumper of the vehicle. Most of those Death Claws had been picking themselves up off the ground after they'd been run down by the truck.

"Tough sons of bitches," Dornan said to them. "You see the size of their claws. Like damn daggers."

"Death Claw is an apt name for such a creature." said Hunter joining them. "Our tribe was farther north so Tracker and I never saw one until we really started traveling."

"It's the same with me." Kali said taking out her pistols and reloading them. "When I was seventeen I traveled with a caravan from NCR to San Francisco, before I joined the Enclave, and we met up with one. It killed two others before we killed it."

"Dornan, the grunts, and I were all Enclave raised," Quinn said looking at Dornan.

"Yeah." Dornan shook his head. "This isn't our first encounter, mind you, but they've been few and far between."

"We should get going," Hunter said looking out into the dark. "Death Claws bounce back fast and travel even faster."

"You okay?" Dornan asked Kali after they had all piled into the truck and started back on their journey.

"My father once told me that a person will never get used to being attacked by wild animals. Watchful and wary, but never used to it."

"Wise man." He smiled. "We had little mole rats that ran around Alpha Base. A lot of the others would use them for target practice but not me. Their antics of popping in and out of their holes never stopped amusing me."

"They actually taste pretty good too."

Dornan looked over at her then looked at his gun.

"When you're surviving out in the waste you learn what taste good and what doesn't." She smiled when he still didn't speak to her.

"Those critters are cute" said one of the grunts." Edward Deeds. "I would find something else to eat."

"She's right though, they are tasty," said another of the grunts, Taka Valens.

"Since when have you eaten a mole rat?" Asked the third one, Jesse Jones.

"My dad and I used to catch them when he was on leave and we'd go camping out in the wastes." He shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.

"Your dad took you camping out in the wastes?" Jesse asked horrified.

"Yeah." Taka shrugged again. "My gramps was a tribal before he joined the Enclave. He taught my dad the ways and my dad taught me."

"If I remember right Caleb Valens was one of the best scouts around," Dornan said. "Now I know why."

"Yeah, my old man was great." Taka said with pride.

"What about you?" Dornan asked. "He taught you to scout?"

"Yes, Sergeant, he did."

"It's good you came along then," Dornan said. "Kali and I are going to be busy with the vault and Hunter will need a bit of help scouting the area."

"I'll do my best, Sergeant." Taka said puffing out his chest just a bit.

"See that you do soldier." Dornan said. He pulled a rag out of his pocket and started polishing his rifle and all conversation ended.

000

"Quinn, slow down!" Hunter yelled standing up in his seat.

"What is it?" Dornan asked as Quinn brought the vehicle to a stop.

Kali popped up next to Hunter. She adjusted the sights of her helmet to a binocular view and looked to where Hunter was pointing.

"What the hell are you guys seeing!?" Dornan barked. "Don't make me ask again!"

"Quiet, Sergeant, you'll scare them off." Hunter said and pointed again and Dornan adjusted his view.

"Geckos?" Dornan spat. "You stopped us to look at geckos?"

"Don't lose it, Dornan." Kali said. "They're golden geckos."

"Their skins are really good for trading." Hunter told him.

"Trading?" Dornan asked confused.

"We have everything we need now but in the future we may have to trade for the things that we need." Kali told Dornan.

"I hadn't thought that far."

"We have," Hunter told him.

"They're going feral already Sarge," Quinn joked.

"Okay, both of you sit back down and that's an order."

"Dornan we-"

"We have time for this later," Dornan interrupted Kali. "For now we're on a mission."

"Fine." She looked at Hunter and shrugged. "Mark it on the map I guess."

"Let's go Quinn." Dornan said.

"Hunter and I will teach you guys how to skin geckos," Kali told the three grunts.

"I didn't know there were two kinds of geckos," said Edward.

"There are three." Taka told them.

"Really?" asked Jesse.

"Yeah. Regular geckos, golden geckos, and fire geckos."

"Fire geckos?" Jesse asked curiously.

"They spit fire." Kali said.

"I'd liken it to a flame thrower," Hunter said from the front seat.

"Wow," said Edward.

The three grunts put their heads together and Taka started telling them all about Geckos. Kali laid her head on Dornan's shoulder and told him to wake her when it was her turn to drive.

Kali woke to the truck coming to a halt.

"My turn to drive?" she asked sleepily.

"No. Sit up though." Dornan spoke quietly which made Kali go into alert mode.

Hunter and the grunts held their weapons at ready. Dornan hopped out the back of the truck and walked to the front. He came to a halt twenty feet from a trio of people in power armor. Carrying a decent amount of camp gear.

"Identify yourselves," One of them told Dornan.

"I think you ought to identify yourself first, considering we have superior numbers and arms." Dornan told them.

"Steel knights?" the one who spoke before, asked looking at the rigged up truck.

"Hell, no! We're enclave." Dornan removed his helmet, showing some trust. "Sergeant Dornan Mackay."

The three seemed to sag with relief and removed their helmets too. They walked up to Dornan.

"I'm Captain Chris Hale. The two behind me are privates Cord Dautry and Crissy Sykes. We were out on patrol and lost contact with Alpha Base. We're headed for Navarro.

"We're from Navarro." Dornan told him.

"Do you know what's going on with Alpha Base?"

"Alpha Base is gone." Dornan said.

"What do you mean gone?" Hale asked

"There was a large explosion at the heart of the base." Kali said coming to stand next to Dornan. "The place was almost completely leveled."

"Leveled?" The trio echoed the word together.

"I know you can't be lying." Hale said as he shook his head. "If it had been anything else Alpha Base would have been back on line by now."

"You're more than welcome to join up with us." Dornan told Hale.

"But you're going away from Navarro," private Sykes blurted out earning her a dark look from Dornan and Hale.

"Navarro won't sustain us for more than a year at the most." Dornan told Hale.

"Especially if we pick up any more enclave patrols," Kali said thoughtfully.

"So you're looking for a new place to settle," Hale said nodding at the sound logic.

"Yes." Dornan motioned toward the truck. "Hop in and we'll talk.

They all got in and introduced the newcomers all around. Quinn got the big truck going again Kali fell asleep again listening to Dornan and Hale speak.

000

"This monster is amazing," Hale said looking over the truck when they all stopped for a break.

"Quinn and I had to use the shell of an old pre-war army truck," Kali told Hale. "But the engine is state of the art."

"I wish we'd of had a little more time to get it ready though." Quinn said from on top of the engine block, as he changed the battery. "I'm sure we could have made it a bit more fuel efficient."

"How long did it take you to put it together?" Hale asked.

"Three days." Dornan told Hale irritably.

"You did this in three days?"

"Yeah. And don't mind the Sarge," Quinn said laughing. "He's only mad because Kali spent most of her time working on the truck instead of him."

Dornan looked over at Hale who was trying not to laugh and curled his lip. He walked over to the side of the engine and bumped the stick holding up the hood. Which promptly fell on top of Quinn.

"Oww. Not nice, Sarge," came from under the hood of the truck.

Dornan and Hale talked while Kali went to rescue Quinn from the innards of the truck.

"She's yours?" Hale asked nodding at Kali.

"Yeah. Compliments of my commander."

"What?"

"She's an egghead. Doctor Kalianna Taylor."

"One of the Enclaves most brilliant minds."

"Yeah." Dornan said with pride. "She gets wrapped up in her projects and doesn't take care of herself though. My commander was worried that she was going to just waste away."

"I take it you don't let her?"

"No." He smiled. "I don't let her get away with much. What about you? You have anyone?"

"Not at the present." Hale was looking longingly at Crissy.

"She taken?" Dornan asked.

"Yeah," Hale said with a possessive look. "She just doesn't know it yet."

"I'll inform my grunts." Dornan told him.

"I'd appreciate it," Hale said gratefully. "So tell me about this vault."

"It's vault 13. It was occupied not to long ago but Frank Horrigan went in and eliminated the inhabitants."

"Frank Horrigan. That big bastard from secret service?"

"Yeah."

"I really didn't like that guy," Hale said and shuddered. "There was something wrong with him."

"He was a mutant." Kali said hopping down from the bumper of the truck.

"What!?" Both men asked at once.

"Frank Horrigan let himself be genetically altered by my predecessor, Doctor Schreber."

"How do you know this?" asked Dornan.

"Lab D was his. All of his stuff was still there when I came to Navarro. Including his holodisks detailing his work."

"And you knew this all along?" Dornan asked her.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I never dabbled in genetics though."

"But you say it like it wasn't a big thing." Hale said.

"Like I said it wasn't my field." Kali started picking up the batteries that Quinn had tossed down to the ground.

Hale opened his mouth but Dornan gave a small shake of his head and motioned for Hale to walk with him to the back of the truck.

"That's why my commander thought that she needed a keeper."

"Wow. She seemed almost oblivious to it."

"You should see her when she is working one of her projects. She could tune out nuclear war."

"That's some kind of gift."

"Not really." Dornan looked over at Kali. "She ends up tuning out her needs as well."

"We're ready to go," Quinn came and told Dornan.

"Let's roll out!" Dornan shouted and they all piled into the truck and headed out.