by M. P. Pubs
Marcus took her hand and stood up.
"You're pretty good - for a wastelander."
Marcus looked at the carnage in the plaza. "Thanks. You guys don't screw around!"
Just a hint of a smile appeared on the Sentinal's face. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Marcus heard a groan to his right, and he spotted Clover lying on the ground with Quinn kneeling beside her. "Clover!" He took off running, leaving Sarah Lyons in the middle of the plaza. When he reached her, Quinn was injecting her torso with a stimpak. "I think she broke a couple of ribs."
Marcus gently placed his hand on her cheek and wiped away a tear. "You saved my life...again."
Clover let out a small chuckle despite the pain. "That's two you owe me, lover."
Marcus smiled and gently kissed her on the lips. Clover was a tough one, no doubt about that. He turned and saw Sarah Lyons staring at him. She quickly looked away and called the BOS medic over. "Take her inside as soon as the area's secure."
The medic saluted and began treating Clover's wounds. Marcus walked back to where Lyons was standing. "Thank you."
He held out his hand, but Lyons was all business. "As soon as the area's secure, you can go talk to Three Dog. Our people will take care of your friend." With that, the Sentinal walked away.
Marcus stood there and wondered just what he had done wrong. Could she be jealous of him and Clover? As he gathered his weapons, Marcus shook that idea from his head. 'No way', he thought. No way a professional soldier like that would be jealous of a wastelander and a former slave girl. Could she? Marcus had to admit, when Lyons saw him kiss Clover he felt a hint of shame as if he'd been caught doing something wrong. He couldn't explain why he felt that way. He and Clover where consenting adults, so why should Sarah seeing them together make any difference?
When he finished gathering up his weapons, Marcus made his way over to Quinn and Clover when a loud roar caught their attention. They heard the roar a second time; louder and getting closer. Redding, the BOS' new recruit, ran towards wher the roar was coming from, and stopped by a pair of overturned buses. Quinn suddenly placed his arm underneath Clover and yanked her up, causing her to yell in pain.
"What the hell are you doing?" Marcus yelled.
"We gotta get out of her now!" Quinn responded as he forced Clover to her feet. "It's a super mutant Behemouth!"
They heard the roar for a third time, and whatever was causing it seemed to be right ontop of them. Vargas was screaming for Redding to get back, but the recruit only locked and loaded her assault rifle.
Marcus turned to Quinn. "What the hell is a Behemouth?"
The answer came in the form of a tremendous explosion which knocked all of them off thier feet. When Marcus' eyes had adjusted, he could see the area where Redding had been standing was obliterated. But what he saw walking through the smoke and reckage terrified him beyond belief. A three story tall super mutant, wielding a giant club with a fire hydrant on the end of it, advanced into the plaza. Lyons and the rest of the Brotherhood were already on thier feet. "Open fire!" she screamed.
A hail of bullets and laser fire peppered the behemouth. The creature responded with an earth shattering roar, and he brought his club down on two BOS soldiers, crushing them both.
"Get Clover out of here," Marcus yelled, "now!"
Quinn nodded and half dragged Clover back into the Dawn elementary building. Marcus ran across the plaza towards where the Brotherhood had taken cover, blasting away with his AK-47. The creature only seemed to be annoyed by the firing as it rampaged through the plaza. Marcus dove behind a pile of sandbags that Sarah Lyons was using as cover. "How the hell do we kill that thing?" he yelled over the sound of gunfire.
"We need to use the Fat Man over there!"
She pointed at the fountain, and Marcus could see a dead BOS soldier clutching what looked like a rather clumsy weapon. "A Fat Man! You mean like a nuke?"
Lyons fired another burst from her laser rifle. "You know of anything else that could take that thing down?"
Marcus watched in horror as the Behemouth grabed a screaming BOS soldier and bit him in half. He put down his rifle and took off his pack. "Cover me!"
Before Lyons could object, Marcus darted off towards teh middle of the plaza. Lyons gritted her teeth. "Covering fire!" she screamed.
Every BOS soldier left openned fire on the Behemouth, distracting him long enough for Marcus to reach the fountain. He grabed hold of the heavy weapon and looked it over. There appeared to be one bomb loaded into it, and a lever marked safe and fire was in the safe position. But as he was about to ready the weapon, the Behemouth's shadow fell on him. Marcus looked up and saw the creature raise the massive club over his head. Marcus ran and leapted with all his might, just as the club came crashing down ontop of the fountain; shattering it to pieces. The Behemouth saw Marcus on the ground, and as the creature moved in for the kill, Quinn appeared in the third floor window of the school blasting away with his combat shotgun. "Come on you ugly bastard!" the ghoul screamed.
The Behemouth roared and turned his attention to Quinn, who jumped down to the second floor just as the creature's massive hand punched through the wall. Quinn's distraction gave Marcus the seconds he needed to ready the Fat Man, and he stood up with the weapon slung on his shoulder. "Hey ugly!" he yelled.
The Behemouth turned and face him.
"Say aaaaaa, motherfucker!"
The creature roared and raised his club. Marcus activated his VATS and aimed for the creature's open mouth. He fired and the Fat Man sailed in a perfect arch right into it's gaping mouth. The Behemouth stopped suddenly and grabbed his throat, trying to swallow the large bomb. Just as it had succeeded, the top part of the Behemouth was blow apart in a tremendous explosion. Blood, guts and gore rained down on everyone in the plaza, but Marcus got the brunt of it. Any sense of victory he had disappeared as he tried not to be sick. The BOS soldiers, on the other hand were estatic dispite being covered in super mutant. All of them ran up to Marcus, and after a few rather hard slaps on the back, Sarah Lyons approached him. "Now I am impressed."
Marcus handed the Fat Man to her, but Lyons shook her head. "Keep it; you earned it."
Marcus looked down at the weapon. He wasn't sure if he wanted to lug this thing around the wasteland, but it did have one hell of a punch. "Thanks. I'm...sorry about Redding."
Lyons hardened her jaw. "She died well. In the end, that's all that matters. So, what's your name, wastelander?"
"Marcus Lincoln."
The BOS soldiers became unusually quiet, and were staring at him as if he was a rock star. "That kid on the radio, from Vault 101!" one of the soldiers said.
Marcus began to blush; he didn't know if he would ever get used to this.
"Well, well, "Lyons said. ",the famous 'Lone Wanderer'. I guess you'll be wanting to see Three Dog, then." She addressed the soldiers. "Okay everyone back to work. Secure this area."
The soldiers headed off to their duties, leaving Marcus and Lyons. "Are you looking for recruits, Sentinal?"
Lyons looked him up and down, then gave him a slight grin. "I don't think so. Not sure if you're Brotherhood material."
She turned and began to walk away, leaving behind a confused Marcus. "I just took down a Behemouth."
Lyons stopped and shot him another grin. "There's more to being a Knight then just blowing shit up. See you around, Wanderer."
As she walked away, Marcus hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
Chapter 10: Tourist
The lobby inside the GNR building was heavily guarded by Brotherhood Knights manning miniguns behind make shift barricades. As Marcus walked inside the Knights greeted and thanked him for his help. Up on the second level was a small infirmary where the medics were treating Clover. Marcus was directed to the main radio room, where an African-American man wearing glasses and a leather jacket was waiting.
"The look on your face says it all. You're wondering who the heck this guy is and why you should
care. Well, prepare to be enlightened. I am Three Dog jockey of discs and teller of truths. Lord and master over the finest radio station to grace the Wastes Galaxy News Radio. And you, well... I know who you are. Heard about you leavin' that Vault, travelin' the unknown. Just like dear old Dad, hmm? Met him already..."
"Holy shit! You're that guy from the radio!"
Three Dog smiled. "I don't usually have exposure to the public like this. It's nice to know someone's listening."
"Is my father here? Can I see him?"
"He heard old Three Dog on the radio, figured I knew what was what out here in the Capital Wasteland. And he was right. So I filled the old man in. But he split. Looks like I've got my way of contributing to the Good Fight... and he's got his own."
Marcus' heart sank. He had been so close. "What is this 'Good Fight' you keep talking about?"
Three Dog cleared his throat. "Imagine a picture, okay? A picture of the Capital Wasteland. All that brick and rock. A whole lot of nothing, right? There's people out there trying to just barely make it by from day to day. Fighting to stay alive and make something of what they got. But then you've got all kinds of shit... Slavers, Super Mutants, Raiders... They all want a slice of the pie too and aim to take it by force."
"So, people fight back?" Marcus asked.
"They can't, not against those kinds of enemies. They just run away and hide or they stay and die. It just ain't right."
As Marcus listened and he began to get a sense of the man in front of him. "So you fight the Good Fight with your voice on Galaxy News Radio."
"Well, holy shit! Aren't you a chip off the old block? You ARE as smart as your dad."
"If you know anything that can help me find my Dad, please just tell me..."
"You want to find your dad, and it just so happens his location is known to yours truly. He was here, at Galaxy News. We had a great conversation. He's a real stand-up guy. If you want to know more, you're going to have to contribute to the Good Fight. I have the name and the talent, but what I don't have are people to run out and do the stuff I need."
Marcus let out a sigh. "I know where this is going."
"There are different fronts to every fight. Galaxy News Radio is one of them. I need help with the old girl, though, cause she's hurtin'."
"What do you need?"
"Galaxy News Radio is my baby. I love it, I feed it, I keep it changed. But there's one problem, no one outside D.C. can hear her cry. You see, some brainless Super Mutant thought it would be funny to shoot at the shiny round thing on the Washington Monument."
Marcus rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, it was your radio relay?"
"You got it. It needs to be replaced and there's only one replacement for it: the dish off of the old Apollo 11 Lunar Lander in the Museum of Technology. You find the dish and hook it up at the Washington Monument, and I'll tell you where your dad went. Do we have a deal?"
Marcus let out another exhausted sigh. He knew he had little choice and stretched out his hand to Three Dog. "I'll fix your relay."
* * *
Marcus made his way to the infirmary and found Clover lying in a bed asleep, with Quinn sitting beside her. "How is she?"
"She's tough. Doc says she should be able to move in a day or two."
Marcus made his way over to a chair and nearly collapsed into it. "That's good." He wearily said.
Quinn looked him over. "You look like you're ready to keel over, kid. Why don't you get some food and rest for a while."
Marcus let out a sigh as he could feel the exhaustion hitting him. "That's not a bad idea. Three Dog wants me to go to the Museum of Technology and find some kind of satellite dish so that I can fix his radio."
A look of dread crossed Quinn's face. "That's right in the heart of the Mall, kid. That place is a war zone."
Marcus laughed. "This whole city is a war zone."
Quinn shook his head. "No, no, no you don't get it! The place literally is a war zone in the classic sense. It has trenches, bunkers, booby traps and two...no three sides killing each other trying to take it. The Brotherhood, the super mutants, and those Talone Company mercs."
Marcus closed his eyes and shook his head. "Shit! It can never be easy can it?"
Quinn didn't answer. Fighting against the fatigue, Marcus stood up and walked over to the ghoul. "Could you mark the route to the museum on my PIPBOY? I'll leave in a few and when I'm done I'll meet you two in Underworld."
Quinn was surprised. "You don't want me to come with you?"
"No, I don't want her left alone here." A bitter chuckle escaped him. "Besides, I am the 'Lone Wanderer' after all, aren't I?"
* * *
After getting four hours of sleep and eating a 200 year old Salisbury steak, Marcus was doing his final preparations for leaving the GNR building. He had used up half of his ammo and all of the 40mm grenades for his launcher. The Brotherhood gave him what they could, including four frag mines, but his pack was lighter then it had been earlier. After giving Quinn the grenade launcher to bring with him to Underworld, Marcus headed out. According to Quinn's information, the best way to get to the museum was to take the Dupont Circle Metro tunnels behind the GNR building. It was just like the other metro: dark with the exception of a few emergency lights, smelling of death and infested with feral ghouls.
Being alone made the trek even more terrifying for Marcus but he managed to keep the fear at bay. He had decided to use the darkness to his advantage and tried to be as stealthy as possible. The experience reminded him of an old comic book series he'd read called "The Walking Dead". It had been deemed too violent by the Vault, but his father had managed to smuggle a few copies inside. Marcus would drive his combat knife into the feral's throat or skull, killing it before it could alert the others. This not only helped Marcus avoid being overwhelmed, but it helped him to save precious ammo that he knew he would need at the Mall.
When he finally emerged at the Museum Station exit, he immediately heard the crackle of gun and laser fire nearby. Marcus slowly climbed the concrete steps out of the metro and peered over the sidewalk. Quinn was not exaggerating when he said it was a war zone. The area between the Washington Monument and the Capital Building was now a series of trenches, bunkers and machine gun nests. At the base of the monument were several BOS Knights behind sand bags, gunning down two super mutants who tried to rush them. While the mutants seemed to be in control of the center of the Mall, Marcus could see another battle taking place at the Capital Building. A small number of men wearing black body armor were charging up the capital's steps; trying to fight through the super mutants who were waiting for them at the top.
Marcus could only shake his head. "War never changes." he sighed. Fortunately he would not have to cross that battle field since the museum was just a few yards up ahead. After taking a few deep breaths he darted out of the metro and sprinted for the museum entrance; the whole time expecting to be shot in the back. But the fatal bullet never came, and Marcus felt an enormous relief as he shut the museum door behind him. Unfortunately the feeling would not last long because at the other end of the atrium, behind the remains of an old bi-plane, was a super mutant armed with a club. "Found you!" the creature yelled as he charged.
Marcus calmly raised his AK-47 and blasted the super mutant into the next life. But he failed to notice the super mutant at the top of the stairs to his left, and a 7.62mm round from an assault rifle struck Marcus in the arm. "AAAHHH FUCK!" he screamed as he staggered to get behind cover.
"Hurry up and die! I'm hungry!" the super mutant yelled as he fired another burst.
As bullets landed all around him, Marcus dove behind the atrium's marble counter. The pain in his arm was excruciating, and he was unable to raise his AK-47. The creature stopped firing his rifle and made his way down the steps. Marcus dropped his rifle and pulled out his sawed-off shotgun with his right hand. He took a few deep breaths, got up on his knees and fired both barrels over the counter, blowing a hole in the super mutant's chest.
&n
bsp; Marcus ducked back down and fought the pain in his left arm to reload his shotgun. When he finally managed to do so, he stood ready behind the counter and waited for the next attack. When it didn't come, he sat down and looked at his arm. The bullet had passed through his bisect, so Marcus took out his first aid kit and began cleaning and dressing the wound. It was difficult trying to do it one handed, and he ended up using his teeth to tighten the bandage. Once the dressing was on he injected a stimpak directly above it. Marcus knew that the stimpak would hasten the healing, but for now his arm was useless - which made his rifle useless as well. 'I can't have this thing just flop'in around.' he thought. After looking around for something to use as a sling, Marcus decided to use a piece of the biplane's canvas. Once his arm was secure, he hooked the rifle to his pack and grabbed his sawed-off. One handed weapons would have to do for now.
After searching the bodies of the two super mutants (he found a few 7.62mm rounds), he carefully made his way deeper into the museum. As Marcus explored, he was fascinated at the marvels that were still intact. There were models of the space shuttles, vertibirds, robots used for everything from cooking to combat, and the mars rover. Marcus even came across an exact replica of a Vault-Tec Vault, complete with an audio tour. "Maybe I could make this my new home." he joked. Still, as he marveled at these wonders of science, Marcus was reminded that the same genius behind them was also the cause of earth's destruction. How the same species capable of such grand inventions was also capable of such killing was a mystery no one could solve. As Marcus pondered this, he heard movement coming from the staircase just up ahead of him. He slowly opened the door with his shotgun at the ready. The staircase consisted of three levels. A super mutant, armed with an assault rifle, was on the first level. Another mutant with a hunting rifle was standing on the third - and Marcus was on the second floor between them.
"Yaaaahahaha!" The mutants screamed as they opened fire. Marcus ducked back inside as bullets shattered the remaining glass on the door. He realized that two shots were not going to be enough, so he holstered the shotgun and drew his .44 revolver. Marcus waited for the firing to stop, and as the mutants were reloading, he burst through the door and activated his VATS. First he targeted the head of the mutant below and locked in two shots. Then he switched to the mutant above and locked in a third shot on his exposed throat. Marcus fired, and all three hit their mark. The first mutant's head was blown apart, and the other grabbed his throat and died in seconds.