» Fri May 27, 2011 11:43 am Andy crouched among the rock outcroppings of the wasteland desert, trying his hardest not to make any noise. The night was silent and still, and any sound would have clearly echoed across the land and drawn the attention of the Spike-worm down the mountain. Thats what he called it anyway, as far as he knew nobody else had named them. A few weeks ago he had spotted the strange creature through the scope of his sniper rifle on the way to Arefu to trade. When he had asked around town about it nobody seemed to know what he was talking about, which didnt surprise him. Anybody that close enough to this creature to see it probably didnt live to tell about it. Even from a distance it was a fearsome sight.
It was huge, easily twice the size of a Giant Rad-Scorpion but much longer. It looked slimy, its soft pale pink skin gleamed in the moonlight in sharp contrast to the jet-black spikes that jutted out of its back. Each spike was easily three feet long, blunted at the ends but even in the moonlight Andy could see that they were dripping with slime. It was probably some kind of poison. From this distance he couldn't see a face, eyes, ears, or a nose, but he knew for sure that it had a mouth. The last time he had seen it outside of Arefu it was chasing down a wild Brahim. When the Spike-worm caught up to it the entire front end had opened up like the petals of a flower, devouring one the creatures back legs in a single bite. The Brahim didnt have a chance as it fell to the ground and the rest of it was quickly eaten alive, the screams of the beast had been heard clearly by every resident of Arefu even though they didnt know about the creature that caused it.
Just as before he didn't see any legs on the creature but it slithered across the ground like a snake. It looked slow but Andy wasn't fooled, it had chased down that Brahim with ease. His only hope was that it wouldn't be able to climb the rocky outcropping he was on now, but he wouldn't count on it. He cursed himself for not bringing more firepower with him that night, but he hadn't ventured far out from Megaton and he hand't planned on being gone for long. He had decided earlier to go out on a night hunt in hopes of chasing down a few Mole-Rats to eat. His caps were running low and he didn't want to spend the precious few he had on food, he needed those caps to repair his sniper rifle and buy bullets. So instead of forking over the caps to Jenny Stahl to buy some squirrel stew he grabbed his old hunting rifle and set off into the night. A decision he was kicking himself for now. That Spike-worm probably ate .32 rounds for breakfast.
Thankfully he didn't think the creature had seen him yet but it was moving in his general direction. It occured to him that the Spike-worm might smell his kill. He had finally caught a Mole-rat out in the desert earlier and had cut out the thickest slabs of meat he could from it, placing them in his backpack. He gripped his rifle tight in anticipation, he wouldn't give up his kill unless he absolutley had to, he hadn't eaten in several days. The only weapons he had on him was his hunting rifle and his machete, tools not nearly big enough for the job. His broken sniper rifle was at home but he also kept a pretty reliable shotgun in the gun-locker, he wished that he had it with him right now.
The worm was getting closer to the outcropping of rocks he was hiding in. Nothing but open desert surrounded him, if he made a break for it the creature would easily see him and chase him down. No he would wait it out, or wait till it got close enough to shoot it in the face. As it got close he could see that the creature did indeed have eyes, glowing red bulbs in the front of its face that made it look like nothing less than a demon straight from hell. He couldn't even imagine what this creature might have been before the nuclear fallout. Andys father had given him an old pre-war zoology book that his grandfather had given to him, so Andy knew that the creatures of the pre-war world had generally been much tamer than the ones of today. However this beast didnt resemble anything he had seen in those dusty old pages. The beast continued to get closer, and even though he was still too far away to be sure he could have sworn that those glowing red bulbs had locked on to him.
BOOM!
A gunshot. Andy jumped, had he gripped his rifle too tightly and accidently fired a shot?
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three more shots. No handn't fired, Andy had heard enough gunshots to know that that was a 10mm, it had just sounded louder because it was the only sound in the night.
He turned in the direction the shots were coming from and saw, in the distance, another of the giant Spike-worms. It was coming from the east and looked like it was about to descend on his hiding spot as well, possibly trying to surround him or maybe just trying to meet up with its brethren. In either case the second Spike-worm was being attacked by a group of wastelanders. He couldn't be sure but from here they didn't look like raiders, they lacked the distinctive armour or the gleeful shouts and hollers that raiders usually made when they were trying to kill something. However there was no doubt in his mind that they were stupid enough to be raiders.
Five of them were trying to ambush the worm, Andy heard several more 10mm shots but nothing more heavy-calibur than that, and as he watched one of the idiots actually rushed up to the thing with a baseball bat. Andy decided that they must be stone-cold retarted. Who would try to ambush a creature that size with nothing heavier than a 10mm? Even with multiple 10mm's theres a good chance you were gonna die.
Just as he thought this the creature let out some kind of horrible squeeling noise and rushed at the guy with the baseball bat. They must have been fooled by the creatures size into thinking it was a slow, slithering beast. It proved them wrong as it lunged at the guy with the baseball bat, his whole torso was engulfed in the creatures huge mouth, legs dangling in the air as it reared its head up and let out another horrifying squeel. It swallowed the last remains of it victim and slithered lightning-quick at one of the guys hold a 10mm. In the last second the guy lost his nerve, dropped his gun and ran but it was too late. The worm had already dragged him to the ground and was chewing on his legs before his buddies realized the futility of their fight and ran. The remaining three scattered, two of them running in a generally eastern direction while the third bolted straight to the west. Straight at Andy.
The coward probably had seen the outcropping of rocks and figured it was a good place to hide. It might have been a good idea, except for the fact that the first worm Andy had seen had taken notice of the gunfight. It was moving around the side of the rocks to intercept the wastelander running in its direction.
'Now is your chance', Andy thought.
He watched as the guy sprinted towards the rocks as fast as he could, desperatley trying to outrun the screams of his dying friend. Running right into the jaws of the next worm
that sat silently near the base of the rocks and to the side, just waiting for its prey to come to it.
'Now while its distracted. Get out of here. RUN!'
Before he knew what he was doing Andy stood up, turned his rifle down towards the worm at the base of the hill and fired.
BOOM!
His first shot went wide and he heard it snap of one the large boulders to the left of the creature. With the skill that comes from years of practice he swiftly reloaded and fired again.
BOOM!
This one struck. A small spurt of blood jetted from the creatures back. The front end of the creature reared up and turned towrds him. Its massive maw opened and let out another horrible squeal like the one its friend had made.
Reload. BOOM!
Andy wasn't sure if the next round struck or not, but either way the creature turned and started slithering up the rocks fast. Andy backed up and fired another round.
BOOM! Another miss.
Relo-the gun jammed.
Andy let out a cry of frustration and scrambled up the rocks behind him, his only retreat now. The worm appeared to have a hard time making it up the rocks, but that wasn't slowing it down for long. Andy climbled the rocks as fast as he could with the rilfe in one hand, making it to the top well before the worm did. At the top of the outcropping he stopped and turned to look down at the creature. It was already at the spot where he had sat just moments ago and getting closer by the second.
Andy gripped the rilfe in both hands, cleared the empty shell from the breach, and tried to reload but nerves got to him. He fumbled with the bullet and dropped it, it bounced and fell back down the hill. He reached back into pocket to grab another round but the worm was already there. Its horrible misshaped mouth opened and let out another squeal, its glowing red bulbs were locked on to him for sure this time and the spikes on its back flared up in anticipation of the kill. Now he could see the slime up close dripping from the spikes, coving the whole the creatures disgusting body. It smelled like rotting meat, a smell that only got stronger when it opened its mouth and lunged for him.
Andy dropped the rifle and drew the machete from its sheath, making a wild swipe at the worm at the same time.The blade connected and cut one of the Spike-worms lower lips, spraying thick red blood all over Andy. The worm drew drew back...and started tumbling down the hill.
The rocks beneath the worm had given way, the beasts weight caused them to shift and fall dragging the worm down with them. Andy watched the worm fall back down the way it came, being caught underneath several tumbling boulders along the way. Its skin ripped and burst, splattering blood all over the hill and leaving scraps of skin along with it. Its squeel was silenced when it reached the bottom and was buried by rocks. Andy could see the back end of the worm squirm beneath the rocks. Squirm...and finally stopped.
There was nothing he could do but stare down in amazement. His heart was beating a hundred times a minute, he could feel the blood pulsing through his head and body. His adrenaline was overloaded, he had thought he was going to die. He had come as closer to the end than anyone he knew and still lived. He did nothing but stare down at the crushed worm before he remembered about the other worm.
He turned to look but it was heading in the other direction, an arm hanging out of its mouth as it dragged its meal away. Maybe it was full and didn't want to fight, or maybe the wastelanders had actually suceeded in wounding it, but whatever the case Andy was glad to see it leave.
The lone wastelander stood shellshocked not more than 15 feet from the base of the hill. He had not moved the entire time.
After a minute Andy grabbed his rifle and started walking down the hill. As he walked up to the wastelander he could see the look of blank horror on his face, he stared at Andy like he had seen a ghost.
"Th...Those..Things..", he tried to talk but he couldn't get out any more than 'those things'.
Andy asked him, "Whats your name?"
The wastelander blinked, shook his head and finally answered, "Butch".
"Alright", Andy slung his rifle over his back, "What the [censored] were you doing?"
"I...we.."
Andy cut off Butchs stutters, "How stupid do you have to be to attack something like that with pistols? What were you thinking?"
Butchs eyes lit up, it seemed like whatever shock he was going through was wearing off, "Hey watch it buddy, you dont know who youre talking to. Im Butch, leader of the Wasteland Warriors, the baddest gang in all of the Capital Wasteland!"
"Your retarted is what you are", Andy said.
He had no idea why he had stuck his neck out for this guy. His dad, back when he was alive, had always taught him not to be a hero. Heros dont live long. The number one rule of the Wasteland was look out for yourself and your family. Everybody else was responsible for themselves.
Yet when he had seen this Butch running towards his death he had felt the overwhelming urge to do something. To help this guy. Nobody had every done anything like that for him, it was an incredibly rare thing int the wastes for anybody to stick there neck out for another person. Didn't this guy realize that? And now he's gonna give him an attitude?
"You better...", Butch started, but Andy took a step closer too him and cut him off.
"I better what? Youre friends are dead, and you would be too if I hadn't just saved you"
That gave Butch pause, and he finally muttered, "Wally...Thomas..."
"What?"
"Their names were Wally and Thomas. My friends", said Butch.
Andy looked at Butch for a minute then finally asked, "Where are you from? Youre dressed pretty strange, and your definatley not from around here".
"Im from the Vault. Vault 101"
Andy shook his head, "No you arent"
Butch looked up, "Yeah I am I swear. I was born down there. They wouldn't let us out until the old overseer stepped down and Amata took over"
"Really, whats it like?"
"It svcked man. Everybodys always telling you what to do, how to act, its like a prison. Everything is chosen for you. They told me I had to be a hair-dresser. A freaking hair-dresser!"
Andy realized that it made sense. If this guy had been born in a vault then he wouldn't know the first thing about hunting, what animals were good to eat and what weren't, and what the proper edicate was out here in the wastes. Thats why he had just stood shell-shocked the entire time, he didn't know how to deal. His brain overloaded because he didn't know how to handle it a real life or death challenge.
"So what are you doing out in the middle of the desert then?" Andy asked.
"Me and my buddies blew that joint after Amata opened up the doors again. We started up the Wasteland Warriors, we were gonna go out and make our own mark on the world but...we got lost. We were wandering the desert for days with nothing to eat, when we saw that big worm. It looked kinda slow, we thought we could just shoot it, maybe whack it a couple of times in the head and just kill it. How was I supposed to know it was gonna go all physco!"
Andy shook his head. The sheer stupidity of this guy amazed him.
"Where were you trying to go?"
"Some place called Megaton"
Now he couldn't help but laugh.
"What...Its not funny!" Butchs fists balled up and his jaw clenched.
"You idiot! Megaton less than half a mile away from the Vault. You would have had to go in the complete opposite direction to miss it! You've probably been circling it for days!"
Andy started laughing even harder.
"Oh yeah smart guy, then how do I get there" said Butch
Andy stopped laughing, "What were you gonna do in Megaton anyway?"
"We were going to, ah, trade, like for supplies and stuff. For food! Do you have any food?"
Andy looked at Butch and saw that he wasn't carrying a backpack, no supplies except for the clothes on his back and the pistol he still had in its holster.
"What were you gonna trade with?"
"What?"
"What were you gonna trade with. You dont have anything but that gun, and thats your only protection out here. How were you gonna get supplies?"
Butchs tone suddenly got defense, "What do you care? Do you have any food or not?"
Andy knew exactly what they had planned to do. These idiots from the Vault probably expected to waltz in to Megaton, wave their guns around and take whatever they pleased. They would have been riddled with bullets in seconds.
"No, sorry"
"BULLSH*T", Butch drew his gun and pointed it at Andy's temple, "Empty your pockets now! The backpack too! And dont try anything or I'll shoot!"
"Alright then", Andy calmly put his hands up. He dropped his right shoulder and let the backpack slide down his arm. Butchs eyes darted to the backpack, as soon as they did Andy grabbed the barrel of Butchs gun with his left hand, twisted his body out of the way and pulled the gun toward him. Butch managed to get off a shot that hit air, but Andy got his other hand on the gun and twisted it out of Butchs reach. Andy pointed the gun at Butch.
Butch dropped to the ground and put his arms over his hands, as if they would protect him from a bullet.
"Alright man, alright! Im sorry, please, Im sorry. Im just so hungry, please dont shoot me man." said Butch as he cowered in the dirt.
Andy kept the gun pointed at Butch for a minute, but finally decided he was too pathetic to shoot. He picked up his backpack and started walking towards home.
Behind him, he could hear Butch get to his feet
"Hey wait!" Butch yelled out behind him, "How do I get to Megaton?"
Andy turned around and stared at Butch deadpan, "If you ever show up at Megaton I will shoot you. And dont follow me either. If I were you I would go back to your little hole in the ground and just stay there".
Andy turned and kept walking. Before he was out of earshot he yelled back over his shoulder, "Whatever you do, dont stick around here either. Something will show up soon to eat whats left of that Spike-worm. And maybe you too"
The look of shell-shocked horror returned to Butchs face, and Andy couldn't help but grin as he walked away. His life in the Wastes was hard, but meeting Butch had made him realize it could be worse...
