by M. P. Pubs
Marcus was still trying to comprehend what had just happened when he cautiously took Clover's hand. After helping him to his feet, the slave girl began sifting through Eulogy's corps and pulled out the .44 revolver which he used to kill Jeanette. She then went over to one of the guards and removed his AK-47 and combat vest. Clover handed the revolver to Marcus and they both headed for the hotel's entrance. They had just reached the lobby when an explosion just outside the door sent both of them to the ground behind the counter. Marcus suspected that the hotels outside turret had just been taken out by a missle, and confirmation came in the form of three slavers kicking in the hotels door. The lobby's turret immediatly openned fire and killed one of them, but the other two began blasting the turret with their assault rifles. As Marcus watched the turret begin to spark and sputter, Clover popped up from behind the counter and fired her AK-47, killing one of the slavers. Marcus got up on one knee and fired the .44. The power of the revolver suprised him, and Marcus gripped the gun with both hands as he fired two more rounds, putting down the third slaver.
Both he and Clover ducked back down and stared at each other. "We can't stay too long, honey." Clover said. "It sounds like they're making quick work of your turrets."
Marcus took a moment and listened to the chaos going on outside, and it was clear that the gun fire from the turrets was dying down, but the small arms fire from the slavers was not letting up. "So what do we do?"
Clover reached down her shirt and removed a key, which she handed to Marcus. "Upstairs is Eulogy's room. He has a small arsenal in a wardrobe closet; use it!"
Clover tried to move passed him, but Marcus grabbed her arm. "Why are you helping me?"
Clover responded with a seductive smile. "We'll talk later, lover. But right now, I have to get us some transportation."
Marcus released her and watched as she ran through a side door of the lobby and disappeared. 'Transportation?' he thought. An explosion outside compelled Marcus to run up the stair case of the hotel, and he found himself standing in what must have been the honeymoon suit. It didn't take long to find the wardrobe, and he used the key to unlock it.
"Holy shit!"
It was an understatement. Inside were two AK-47 rifles, a combat shotgun, advanced black leather body armor, and a 40mm grenade launcher. Marcus removed the bulky grenade launcher and examined it. The weapon had a huge barrel which held eight of the 40mm shells, and after quickly reading the instructions, Marcus realized that it was ready to fire. A sinister grin crossed his face, and he headed for the double doors leading to the hotel's balcony.
* * *
Outside, the last of the turrets had been destroyed. The remaining slavers, about a dozen total, were in the center of the compound; cowaring behind what ever cover they could find. One of them, a female named Violet, poked her head up from behind the pile of sandbags she was hiding behind. "What the fuck was that?"
No one answered. The double doors on the balconey leading to Eulogy's room sudden burst open. At first Violet expected to see her boss, but her hopes were quickly dashed as she saw the Vault 101 jumpsuit. "It's that Vault kid, shoot'em!"
Marcus looked down at the cowering slavers and openned fire. They were like fish in a barrel, and 40mm grenades full upon them like steel rain. Marcus showed them no mercy, and within seconds every raider in the compound below was dead or dying. Over in the holding pen, the slaves cheered at the sight of the slaughter. But the celebration was cut short when Marcus heard the sound of a 5mm mini gun spinning up. He spotted the slaver at the top of the tower, and as 5mm rounds tore into the balcony, Marcus dove back inside the hotel suit and hit the ground. As bullets were flying all around him, Marcus checked his weapon, and saw that he had one grenade left. He paitently waited for the minigun to run out of ammo, which didn't take long considering it's firing rate was 3,000 rounds a minute. As the slaver struggled to reload the massive weapon, Marcus appeared at the balcony again and actived his VATS. He locked onto the slavers torso and pulled the trigger. As the grenade sailed through the air, the doomed slaver raised his hands and screamed. A moment later he was atomized in a tremendous explosion, which also destroyed the minigun.
Marcus took a moment to catch his breath. It was over. For the second time in as many days he had cheated death; and had brought death to many others. Marcus didn't know what to attibute his fortune to. Lord knows he had never been trained for any of this, yet here he was once again: the last man standing. Marcus didn't know if their was a higher power watching over him, or if it was all dumb luck. One thing was certain: he wanted to find his father soon and get the hell out of this hell before his luck ran out. He quickly removed the Vault jumsuit and put on the advanced leather armor that was in Eulogy's wardrobe. Marcus took the grenade launcher, one of the AK-47's, and all of the ammo he could. He even found more ammo for the .44 revolver, which he put in the armor's holster.
As he headed down the stairs, he noticed a purple glow coming from under the stair case and he decided to investigate. He found crates filled with glass bottles, some where glowing purple, and others had just a black liquid in them. Marcus picked up one of each and read the lables: the black liquid was called Nuka Cola, and the glowing one was labeled Nuka Cola Quantum. Marcus had read about Nuka Cola in the Vault; that it was a very popular drink before the bomb's fell, but he had never heard of the Quantum. Deciding not to drink the glowing stuff, Marcus downed the regular Nuka Cola. It was very good, and he decided to have another. After quenching his thirst (and a few belges), Marcus walked outside into the compound. He began to search the slavers to see if any of them were still alive. Most of them were not, and the ones that were he took care of with a bullet to the head. A moan to his left caught Marcus' attention, and he soon found a slaver lying on his back still alive and missing his left leg. The slaver tried to remove a double barrel shotgun from a holster strapped to his right leg, but Marcus stepped on the man's wrist, prompting another moan. As he was about to put him out of his misery, Marcus looked at the man's face and he realized that he knew this man. He then looked down at the slavers shotgun- and Marcus' blood ran cold. That was Lucy's shotgun, and this was the man who killed her.
Without saying a word, Macus knelt down and removed the shotgun from the slavers hand. He then placed the barrel on the man's forehead. "Her name was Lucy West."
Before the slaver could cry out, Marcus fired both barrels.
"Damn! I think you got'em, lover."
Marcus spun around and saw Clover walking towards him. She had disgarded her slave girl outfit and was wearing a rather scantly suit of leather armor. "What do you say we collect what we can and get out of here, suga."
Marcus continued to point his AK-47 in her direction, forcing Clover to stop. "Why did you help me?"
Clover's otherwise playful demeanor suddenly gave way to one of anger. "For five years I was this pig's slave! Five years I had to give into his...needs, and pretend that I enjoyed it! For five years I waited for my chance to get away from that animal, and that bitch Crimson. YOU were that chance. Why else do you think I distracted him while you were at that terminal?"
Marcus was caught off guard by the last statement. "How could...how could you have known..."
"I didn't. But I knew what was on that terminal, and you looked like someone who was pretty resourceful." She stepped closer and slowly pushed the gun's barrel away with her hand. "So I rolled the dice and hoped you were as smart as I thought you were." She took a look around at the carnage. "Looks like it paid off."
Marcus lowered the weapon, and Clover stepped even closer. "So between that, and saving your ass from Crimson, you owe me."
Marcus looked into her eyes and thought about everything she had said. At first he thought she was just an opportunist, and he could still be right, but it was true: he did owe Clover his life. "Alright, what do you want?"
"To travel with you. Where ever you go, I go."
Marcus was not expecting this. "Don't you have any where to go? Any f
amily?"
The look on Clover's face immediatly made Marcus regret asking that. "No." she said flatly. "Now can we go?"
Marcus nodded. "Okay, but we have something to do first."
* * *
After using Eulogy's terminal to deactive the slave collars, Marcus used the keys found on the slave chieftain's body to remove the one around his neck. He then went over to the holding pen where the jubelant slaves were waiting. "You're slave collars have been deactived." he declared as he unlocked the gate. "You're free."
The slaves cheered and mobbed Marcus, and after an endless chorus of hugs and thank yous, he was able to remove all of their collars. "Take what weapons and supplies you need and head out, we don't know if any more slavers are on their way."
The liberated slaves did just that, and before long they were running for the main gate and freedom. Penny and the rest of the children stopped to say goodbye to Marcus.
"Thanks alot, mungo. You're alright."
Marcus smiled and knelt down to her level. "It was my pleasure."
Penny gave him a hug, which took Marcus by surprise. "If you're ever near Little Lamplight, come and stop in. I'll tell Mayor Macreedy to let you in."
Marcus nodded. "I just might do that. Goodbye kids."
"Bye mungo." they said in unison.
As Marcus watched them leave, he suddenly felt a sense of joy and pride. He had not only saved himself and the Vault, but he had also saved these slaves and countless others. Dispite all of the death and destruction, good had come out of it.
"If you're done saving the world," said an impatient Clover, "we should get going."
Marcus walked up to her and present the key. "Here you go."
Clover stared at the key and then shook her head. "I think I'll...keep it for a while."
Marcus gave her a confused look. "Are you sure?"
Clover nodded. "Yeah. Come on, let's go."
She turned and quickly walked away. Marcus stood there pondering what had just happened. Why in the world would she keep the collar? She couldn't have wanted it as a suvanier. Then again, after five years, who knows what kind of brain washing Eulogy had done to her. Maybe it wasn't that Clover didn't want to get rid of the collar, maybe she couldn't! Marcus decided he would talk to her about it another time, and he put the key in his pocket. "Hey what did you mean earlier when you said you were getting transportation?" he asked as he caught up to her.
Clover smiled. "I'll show you."
* * *
Clover brought Marcus to Paradise Falls' gun store called "Lock and Load". Just outside the stores owner, Pronto, was lying dead; gunned down by one of the turrets. There was a large garage door just off to the side of the shops main entrance, and Clover lifted the door open. Marcus could not contain the look of wonderment on is face. "No way!"
Inside the shop was a large pickup truck, with the letters GMC on the front. It was painted grey and had steel fencing mounted on it's windows, and inside the trucks eight foot bed was a mounted .50 caliper machine gun.
Marcus walked around the battle truck speechless. Clover leaned against the hood with her arms crossed. "Impressed?"
Marcus nodded. "What does it run on?"
Clover walked over to the truck bed. "Micro-fusion cells, suga." She reached inside the bed and pulled back a tarp, revealing over a dozen cells. "And we have enough to drive to California."
Marcus could not believe their luck. "Clover, I could kiss you right now."
Before he knew it, Clover rushed over to him and locked her lips to his. At first Marcus didn't know how to respond to the woman's sudden move, but when she slipped her tonge inside his mouth, he grabed a hold of her and responded in kind.
Clover released her hold on him. "There's more where that came from, lover."
As she walked away, Marcus took a moment to compose himself. "Um...what do you say we load up what we can and get out of here."
Clover agreed. "Sounds good to me. Where to?"
"GNR."
She shot him a smile. "Cool, I always wanted to meet Three Dog."
After loading the truck with food, water, and enough weapons and ammo to start a small war, the two travelers got into the truck and speed off. Clover was driving of course, seeing as how Marcus had never driven anything before. As they left Paradise Falls behind, Marcus spoke to his new companion. "Listen, I need to make a detore. There's...something I have to do before we head to GNR."
"No problem, suga."
* * *
It was right around sunset when Marcus finished buring the remains of Lucy West next to her brother Ian. Needless to say, there wasn't much left to bury. Marcus had Clover drive to the outskirts of Vault 106, where he found what was left of her. The slavers had stripped her of all she had, including her cloths. The local "wildlife" had picked her body to the bone. Only the body's location and few remaining strands of blonde hair confirmed to Marcus that it was Lucy. As Clover, who was not happy about driving with a rotting corps, waited by the truck, Marcus said his final goodbyes. When he was finished, he took Lucy's sawed-off shotgun and placed it in the hip holster he took from her murderer. He then turned and walked back to Clover.
"You ready, honey?"
Marcus nodded and got inside. "Let's do this."
Clover started the engine, and with the setting sun to their backs, they headed towards the heart of the Capital Wasteland.
Chapter 9: It's Good to Have Friends
For the third time this morning Marcus was staring at the scares Crimson had left on his face through the truck's rear-view mirror. In the 18 hours since he and Clover escaped from Paradise Falls, Marcus had completely healed from his ordeal. But Crimson's fingernails dug deep into the right side of his face, and though faded, the scars remained.
"Stop worrin' about it, suga." Clover said as she carefully navigated their battle truck through the blasted out streets of downtown D.C. "Most girls like scars on a man. I know I do."
Marcus grinned and shifted his gaze at the former slave girl. "Does that explain last night - and this morning?"
Clover only responded with a smile and a wink. Marcus sat back and a sigh escaped him as he thought about that night. As soon as they were far enough away from Paradise Falls, Clover had made her move. Up until that point Marcus had only been with one woman, Amata, and although they had only been sleeping together for two years, Marcus considered himself to be experianced in the art of love making. Clover, on the other hand, had shown him that he still had a lot to learn. The former slave girl did things to him that would make Amata, and most women he surmised, blush. The experiance left him drained, satisfied - and hungry for more. Still, Clovers "skills" were not the only difference he noticed. Something was missing from their love making, and it didn't take Marcus long to figure out what it was. He called it love making, but what he and Clover were doing was fucking, and while he was growing very fond of Clover, he couldn't see himself feeling anything close to what he felt for Amata. He also guessed she would never feel that way about him. Rather their relationship was based on a mutual need; a need to feel wanted, free and sane in an insane word - if only for a few moments.
Clover broke the silence by turning on the trucks radio and tuning it to GNR. "Gooood morning Capital Wasteland! It is I, Three Dog, your lord and master! Hear me and obey! Oh, sorry that's that other radio station. News time children. Well, he's done it again folks. The kid from Vault 101, that crazy sonofabitch has done the impossible again!
Marcus sat straight up in his seat. "He's talking about me!"
Clover shushed him and turned the radio up. "Now you all remember last night I told you about reports of gunfire and explosions coming from the slavers haven of Paridise Falls, right? Well a small group of runaway slaves are reporting that the kid from Vault 101 found himself in the clutches of that maniac Eulogy Jones. Now the details are sketchy, but it seems that our 'Lone Wanderer' not only escaped from his bondage, but he took down Eulogy and every slaver in the compound. He was see
n leaving Paradise Falls with a female - companion in tow. Hey Wanderer, where ever you are, thanks for fightin' the good fight. Until next time, this is Three Dog, awwwww, and your listening to Galaxy News Radio! Bringing you the truth, no matter how bad it hurts. Now, some music. Jon Bon Jovi is wanted, dead or alive!"
Marcus turned the radio off. "Wow. 'The Lone Wanderer", hu?"
Clover responded by rolling her eyes. "He made it sound like you took Eulogy down by yourself."
"He mentioned you...sort of."
"Oh yeah, right! Your female companion. Is that all I am?"
Marcus moved closer and put his arm around her. "Relax. You and I know what you did, and so do those slaves. When we see Three Dog, I'll set the record straight."
Clover turned and gave him a playfull smile. "You'd better."
They kissed and Clover continued to drive the truck through the ruins. Marcus noticed that the deeper they went into the city, the more difficult it was becoming to navigate around the debrie. He knew they eventually would have to hide the truck and continue on foot; something he was not looking foward to since their first encounter with two super mutants. The creatures were just like how Clover had described them: large, humanoid type creatures with green skin. In many ways they reminded Marcus of a character in one of his comic books called The Hulk, but unlike David Banner, these creatures were not the good guys. Clover explained that people believed the super mutants were once men, but no one knew where they came from.
He and Clover had rolled up on a small camp near a group of abandoned army trucks. As soon as the mutants spotted them they let out a battle cry and charged. One was armed with a hunting rifle, and the other had only a large club with spikes on the end of it. Marcus climbed through the truck's back window and manned the .50 caliber machine gun. Two quick burst later, the super mutants were shredded by the powerful shells. When he and Clover searched the camp they found a young female wastelander tied up and crying in a tent. Marcus cut her loss, and after thanking them up and down, she offered to give them what meger supplies she had. Marcus was quick to refuse, and the woman was even more surprised by the generosity. She thanked them again and ran off towards the Potomic River. When Clover bluntly asked why he didn't take them, Marcus explained that they had more than enough, and she would need them more then they would.