Crawlout Through the Fallout - Ch. 04

Twenty seconds.

I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

Nothing happened.

My heart plummeted. I moaned and almost dropped the launcher--and then the light bulb in my brain went on.

Shit, the safety switch!

I thumbed the switch off and raised missile launcher again.

Ten seconds!

I squeezed the trigger.

The missile lurched from the tube, streaked across the roof, and slammed into the transmitter tower, right above the terminal. A gout of orange flames lit the night. Bits of metal and plastic shot past me. The tower trembled, held still for a second, then with groaning metal and whipping cables, collapsed over the side of the roof, and crashed to the ground below.

I slumped to my knees. I didn't know if I had been in time, or even if I had done enough.

"Beth?"

I looked at the door.

Nick stood there. Chunks were missing from his plastic skin and his long coat was in tatters but his eyes were clear and focused. "You okay?"

"Are you?"

"I seem to be. I don't think DeLaurier's signal got out--or he botched it, somehow. I smashed his terminal downstairs and it looks like you did a real number on his transmitter. You did good, kid."

"Baxter?"

"Unconscious but if we can get her help in time, she might make it."

I started to respond but a steady whup-whup-whup of propeller blades beating the air drowned my words. I glanced up to see the veritbird, almost on top of us. The reinforcements he summoned! "Shit, Nick! Watch out!"

Flame burst from the transport's side as the door-mounted gun opened up. Nick dove inside the door and stairwell, though it was too far for me. I curled into a ball and tried to protect my head, knowing it wouldn't be enough.

Just as the fire slacked, I heard the distant crack of a rifle, then a second one. I glanced up in time to see a Brotherhood member topple from the open door of the vertibird.

David.

The transport wheeled toward David's location. I saw someone else moving up to the gun and training it out in David's direction.

In retrospect, it's funny that when they were shooting at me, all I could do was curl into a ball and hope I didn't soak up a bullet. But the instant the threat was on David, I was on my feet and looking for a weapon. I guess that reflected how much I already cared for him.

I scrambled for the missile launcher as the minigun fired again. Rounds sprayed over the ground and my heart quailed. Nothing moved in the spot from where David had been shooting and I hoped he had found cover. I fumbled for a rocket and got the thing loaded again. I wheeled, aimed at the vertibird, and fired. The transport juked the second I did and the missile streaked past it and into the night.

"Shit!" I stuffed the last missile in the launcher and tried to draw a bead on it but the damn thing was too nimble, changing direction too quickly. I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't--

Jet.

The inhalers were right where I'd placed them, in my belt pouch. I withdrew one of the plastic tubes, jammed it in my mouth, and inhaled hard as I stabbed the plunger. The tang of burning plastic invaded my lungs. I coughed... and everything slowed down. My vision blurred along the edges and my heart pulsed in my ears. The rhythm of the vertibird's propellers beating the air became deeper and spaced out, with several seconds between each echo.

This time, I tracked the vertibird with ease. I drew careful aim and waited until the transport cut sharply, then fired my last missile. The projectile crawled across the intervening space at an infuriatingly slow speed... and collided with the vertibird's right engine. The explosion expanded slow enough that I could pick out individual scraps of metal moving away from the blast--and then time resumed normal speed.

The vertibird staggered in midair, spun in a circle, and careened to the ground in the open space before Poseidon Energy. I ran to the roof edge and braced, expecting it to detonate in a massive explosion but the transport simply broke and tumbled into several pieces, some of which burst into flames. The impact propelled the remaining engine into the building, which rocked me on my feet. Several bodies tossed in the air.

Nick joined me. "Excellent shot."

"I got lucky." The scorched-plastic taste in my mouth remained. "Damn lucky."

"Whatever works."

A figure staggered from the wreckage. I recognized the man and my mouth flattened into a thin line.

Nick saw him too. "Kells."

I recalled the man's smarmy look when his soldiers had dragged the poor soul from the Goodneighbor caravan and executed him. He'd bought all this upon us and maybe even killed David. My fingers dug into my palms.

Kells glanced up and saw us. He wobbled, unsteady on his feet. "You bastards! You'll pay for this, in the name of the Brotherhood!"

I growled between my clenched teeth. I'd left my rifle downstairs and he was too far away for an accurate pistol shot--for me, anyway. "Nick, shoot him!"

Before either of us could do anything, a streak of green bolted from the building. I gasped. Strong was covered head to toe in bleeding wounds but he looked angrier than ever. He bounded across the space and grabbed the Lancer-Captain in both hands. Kells reached for a weapon but Strong slapped it away. The super mutant pressed his face into the terrified man's until they were nose-to-nose. "Brotherhood leader! You die now!"

What followed was not pretty. My stomach flopped and I looked away, though my ears could not tune out the dying man's screams. A moment later, I heard Strong say, "Girl-human! Roboman! Come down, we find boy-human."

We hurried downstairs. As we passed through DeLaurier's control room, I paused long enough to pick up Pops's rifle and spared one glance at Charlene Baxter. She was still unconscious, as Nick had indicated, though it looked like her bleeding had stopped.

"Don't worry about her," Nick said. "Warwick Farm is a little east of here. I'll go see them, bring back a few settlers with a stretcher. They'll take her in until she's healed enough to travel. I'll wait until then to deal with her."

I nodded without slowing down. We trotted along the catwalk, then down the steps. I avoided looking at the carnage about the room but ran out the gaping hole in the wall. As I stepped through the gap, a wave of nausea assailed my gut. I staggered and would not have fallen had Nick not caught me.

"Just the rads, kid. Let's get clear." He dragged me from the impact area of the mini-nuke. Passing out of the area of higher radiation alleviated the worst of it but I could tell I'd still taken some damage. Nick said, "Don't worry, it's not permanent. Let's get you comfortable and I can get you set up with some RadAway."

A figure moved in the gloom. I peered into the night, the fear in my heart driving the sickness from the front of my mind. The figure resolved itself into David, weaving his way towards us. A streak of blood covered his face. He saw Nick and me, and grinned. "Okay, boss. What's next?"

For the second time in less than an hour, I dropped the rifle--though this time, it was followed by my shrieking leap into David's grasp. His strong arms held me so close I could feel his heart beat. I clung to him with my remaining strength. "You're hurt."

"I got caught by a piece of flying debris but it's just a scratch. I'm fine."

I raised my head and looked in his eyes. At that moment, I knew I didn't want anyone but him. "You promise?"

His lips grazed mine. "I promise. Are you okay?"

"Just a little radiation."

"Hopefully a few kisses will hold you over until Nick gets the RadAway ready." He jerked his head at our synth friend, who was attaching a plastic tube and needle to a bag of solution.

"That will hold me over just fine."

"Ha!" Strong bellowed, joining us. He encircled both of us with one massive arm and squeezed so tight I'm sure my eyes bugged out. "Fighting done and we win! Now you have mating time. Breed powerful offspring, make Strong proud uncle!" He let us go.

I stared at David. We both smiled and I said, "That sounds like an idea."

#

I blinked my eyes open. Thin, filmy sunlight penetrated the thin curtains I'd pulled over the window the night before. Even so, I could tell it was early dawn's light and that the sun had not crested the horizon.

I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. The release of my muscles was pleasant, though a slight sore twinge between my legs brought a smile to my face. I looked over my shoulder at the man in bed beside me.

David slept on his back. His handsome face looked at peace in the dim light. My eyes traced the curve of his cheek and the squareness of his chin. I drifted lower to his muscular arms and chest and felt fresh stirrings of lust. That thought widened my smile; my hand snaked under the sheet, down his abdomen, until I encountered his soft, battered cock. Despite the copious attention I'd paid it the night before, it immediately started to harden at my touch--and I felt my own juices start to flow.

His eyes twitched and he groaned. His voice emerged, thick with sleep and budding lust. "You didn't get enough last night?"

"I never get enough of you." I gently stroked him. His cock got harder and I got wetter. "You got enough for a happy wake-up before we get started today?"

"I don't know," he said, though his prick rose to the occasion. "Maybe."

"You put in a lot of effort last night. I can do the work this time."

A moment later, his manhood stood at full attention. I loved looking at his cock, touching it, licking it, and--most of all--the sensation of it stabbing into me. I swung my leg over his hips, placed my knees by his side, and positioned myself. David's hands found my hips while I reached behind and slowly guided him into my sopping box. I slid down his cock, letting it fill me. When I rested my ass on his pelvis and he was fully inside me, I sighed in satisfaction.

"You okay?"

"When you're in me, I'm always okay."

I leaned forward and placed my hands by his head, tossing the braid of my hair out of the way. I lowered my face and kissed him even as I began to slowly rock my hips back and forth, massaging his cock with my tender wetness. Gentle waves of pleasure pulsed through my stomach and hips. I stared into David's eyes, touched his face and continued to kiss him. I altered my pace and angle, so that my clit would rub against his pubic bone and as usual, that's all it took. Between that and him being buried inside me, I came in seconds. A minute later, his hands gripped my hips a little harder and he tensed, groaning softly.

I wiggled my hips. "Didn't feel like you came very hard."

"You wiped me out last night. I'm not complaining, though." He brought his hand to caress my cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The night before had been the first time we'd said it to each other. It had led to a non-stop fuck session that got so loud I wouldn't be surprised if the family in the next house complained about us.

I gestured at the window. "About time to get up."

"I know. I just... really enjoy us like this."

He looked at me with such love that I almost cried. "Me too, David."

We stayed there for a few more moments before surrendering to the inevitable. We got up and each ran through the shower, each only taking a minute or so. There was no time to fool around in there; unlike Diamond City, here at Sanctuary, every house had water rationed.

After everything that happened, David and I wanted to get away from Diamond City. There were still elements of the Brotherhood around and even with Lance-Captain Kells dead, the rest still pursued their insane anti-synth agenda. Worse, both David's and my names had been been bandied about and we'd been targeted by rogue Brotherhood elements, making it dangerous to even step outside the city.

It had been Ellie who had suggested the settlement at Sanctuary, which had been built on the remains of a pre-war housing neighborhood. It was an established town, if on the small side, and a long ways from downtown Boston. We'd both jumped at the chance.

We'd left Diamond City quietly, without much fanfare. Somehow, Piper and her sister Nat found out and were waiting at the exit the morning we left. I chalked it up to reporter instincts. Piper had extracted a promise for me to return when things were safer and give her an interview. I found it was an easy promise to make, and one I planned to keep.

Nick had then escorted us to Sanctuary. David and I had both apologized for leaving him short-handed but had said that we needed to move on. Nick being Nick, he'd only replied that we had to do what was right for us, thanked us for the help on his cases, and that we should feel free to call on him if we ever needed help. I knew then we'd made a reliable friend for life--something else I'd never really had.

We'd arrived at Sanctuary by late afternoon and were met by a man named Sturges, who had some seriously wild sideburns, and who claimed to be the local mechanic. He and Nick had spoken privately for a moment, and when they emerged, Sturges had said, "Y'all are welcome. We have houses where we can put you up. You two are married, aren't ya?"

David had started to say something but I'd grabbed his hand and said, "Yes."

"Good, one house. Come on, then." We'd said our goodbyes. Nick had merely touched the brim of his hat and said he'd be in touch.

The last two weeks had been a whirlwind. We'd gotten to know everyone in the settlement and they had all been welcoming. We'd been given a house and assigned jobs--me farming, David helping Sturges tinker and repair things. As settled as I felt with David in my life, I discovered I didn't even mind farming. We both took our turns on security patrol, though I had yet to see why. Sanctuary was peaceful and we hadn't seen so much as a radroach. The four dozen members of the community were quiet and happy.

I smiled at the recollection as I dressed. It had easily been the best and most peaceful days of my life since Pops died. The night before, David and I had at last said that we loved each other and my life felt complete.

Well, not complete.

I touched my belly. I hadn't ever wanted a child or thought I could have one. Odds were still against me. But if it happened now, I'd be happy to have one or more with him.

We emerged from our house as others were doing the same. Most of them gave us pleasant greetings, which we returned. A warm sense of belonging and satisfaction settled over my mind. David gave me a kiss and headed to the south end of the settlement, where a small river lay. "Sturges and I are going to try and get that second water purifier working this morning. If we can, he said we'll be able to ease up on the water rationing."

"Good luck. I have weed duty in the mutfruit field this morning, and patrol duty this afternoon."

"Be safe. Love you."

"Love you too." We both grinned. Now that it was out, it seemed that neither of us could say it enough.

I passed a young boy, maybe ten. His name was Shaun. He waved to me. "Hi, Beth!" I smiled and waved in return. He seemed like a nice kid. Sturges had told me his mother was away at the moment. I couldn't believe any mother would leave their child alone in this world but the people of Sanctuary really did appear to look after him, so what did I know?

The low-lying mutfruit bushes were tough and hardy, and produced a lot of the purple fruits that were tasty and filling, and easy to preserve. The plants, however, did seem to encourage a lot of weed growth which would eventually choke out the bushes themselves, so me and two other settlers planned to spend the morning beating back some of the worst intruders. We'd only been at it an hour when a clear ringing pealed across Sanctuary.

We all stood up straight, dropping our trowels and shears. The two settlers with me--a brother and sister--looked at each other. I said, "What is that?"

"The alarm bell." The woman took off running. Her brother and I followed. I spotted David and adjusted my speed so he could catch up and run alongside me. He flashed me a reassuring grin and took my hand.

A cluster of people crowded around the pole-mounted bell. All of them looked nervous, which only made me more uncomfortable. David and I slowed. I addressed one woman. "What's going on?"

She looked away from me. "Visitors."

The crowd parted.

A man in his early fifties stood there. He was tall and broad-shouldered, though he had a paunch born of consistent good eating. He stroked his mustache and close-trimmed beard with one hand. A pistol was tucked in his belt. The man's eyes lit in amusement and triumph when he saw me. His voice was a purr. "Ah, Beth. So good to see you again. It took a long time to track you down."

I froze. It couldn't be. It was a nightmare, yet I knew it wasn't.

David glanced at me. "Beth?"

The man stood straighter. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Jim Bradson, the mayor of Ratchet Falls. I'm here for my property."

I blinked. My whole body trembled. "You... you can't be here."

Sturges arrived. He took in the situation and introduced himself, which Bradson reciprocated. Sturges jammed his hands in his pockets. "What's this all about, Mr. Bradson?"

"Miss Beth Arnaut owes me a great deal of money. I'm here to collect." His tone was slick, oily, and cold. "She can return my caps--with interest, of course--or she can come back to Ratchet Falls and pay off her debt."

I wiped my sweaty palm on my pants. "I'm not giving you shit."

"Oh, but you will." Bradson pointed to a group of men standing a few feet away, all of whom were armed with short rifles and shotguns, and who wore black combat armor.

Gunners. Oh God.

Bradson saw the realization come over me and gave me a mocking nod. "You see the truth, Beth. I hired this squad to make sure I got what I'm owed."

"Well, let's not be hasty, Mr. Bradson." Sturges looked nervous. "I'm sure we can reach an accommodation of some sort."

Bradson laughed. "Are you and this community prepared to pay back the three thousand caps she owes me?"

"Pops never owed you that much," I yelled. "You lying son of a bitch!"

"Beth, you're just making this harder on yourself." Bradson's grin was vicious. "Mister... Sturges, was it? I'm taking Beth with me and I recommend you don't get in the way."

Sturges shook his head. "I can't allow that."

"I don't want to order my employees to shoot up the town but if you persist in annoying me, that's what I'll do."

I looked around at the settlers and my heart sank. I could see the truth on every face. Though they didn't want to hand me over, they were not equipped--in terms of weapons or fortitude--to take on a dozen hardened mercenaries. Most of the townspeople didn't even carry their guns when not on patrol.

Sturges scratched his chin. "Now look, Mr. Bradson, we--"

Bradson's pleasant demeanor vanished. "Enough talk, you backwoods cretin. Hand over the girl."

David's lips pulled back in a snarl. He stepped in front of me. "Over my dead body."

Bradson sneered. "That can be arranged, boy."

"What's going on here?" The new voice was soft and feminine but carried an unmistakable hint of command.

"Oh, thank God," Sturges muttered.

The squad of gunners parted, revealing a trio of dissimilar beings. I stared at them

On the right, on all fours, stood a wolfish-looking brown and black dog that probably weighed a hundred pounds. Powerful muscles rolled under its fur and its triangular ears stood erect as it surveyed the situation. Its eyes held an intelligence far beyond what I had seen in any animal. It looked at me as if it was cataloging my presence and I felt a fresh bolt of fear. The dog made no aggressive move but something told me if it was so inclined, it could tear out my liver without a second thought.