Sand and Steel

Chapter one: The Menace

The sun blazed upon the old shack. The worn door was boarded up as to stop anyone from entering. The shack had clearly been red once but years of harsh sandstorms had taken its toll. Jason looked at the old shack. Why anyone would bother blocking the door like that, he wondered. There must be something hidden inside, maybe something of value. He pried open the door with his worn machete. He considered his machete to be his best friend, especially considering how many times it had saved him. It had been used from slaying vicious dogs to cutting open various items such as this door. Jason was an adventurer, or at least that’s what he wanted to be. In reality he was the son of a rich caravaner. His father never let him come along, he wanted him to stay safe knowing just how dangerous the roads were. He had never obeyed.

The door proved to be a tricky one to open. Not only were the boards suspiciously strong, there was a lock behind them. He would never be able to open the lock, not with his machete. It was a rusty lock probably several years old yet it seemed as strong as a new one.

Jason abandoned the lock and returned towards the village. He had been gone for hours, not that anyone would care, he was a grown man after all. In the distance smoke lingered in the air. Jason knew the smoke came from the tavern. The tavern was the center of the village. It was not only a tavern but also a marketplace and storage for food and other supplies. It used to be a school but now it resembled nothing remotely like a school. As he reached the village, Willie met him. Willie was his old friend but considerably more mature than Jason . While Jason preferred to explore and go on adventures Willie made sure the water plant worked. He was the only one in the village who knew how to build and maintain such constructions. His father had taught him but he had perished from illness.

“Well hello there Jason” , Willie said with a big smile on his face. “Been busy looking for treasure?”
“No I looked for food, couldn’t find any so went back home.”
“Is that so? Anyway now that you are back there is someone looking for you at the tavern!”
“Who is it”, Jason asked.
“Don’t know, looked like some cowboy. He was armed though so watch you self!”

Jason hurried to the tavern. Inside the cowboy sat drinking from bottle of Nuka-Cola.

“You were looking for me?” Jason asked with a distance between them. He had noticed the rifle on the man back. It wasn’t uncommon for people to wears guns but they still made Jason shiver at the thought. He had never liked guns since wastelanders had threatened him when he was a kid.
“Yes”, the man slowly replied, “ I am Ben , I work with your father.”
“So what do you want with me?”
“You father has been killed.” The news made Jason cold. Tears slowly filled his eyes.
“H-how did it happen?”
“We were attacked by bandits, they took everything and killed five of us. Your father among them.”

Jason head spun around. His father was everything he had left after his sisters and mother both had been abducted by wastelanders. Jason fell down on a chair.

“Listen , we need your help! We don’t think these bandits were ordinary ones. They seemed to well-armed to be that. I would like to take a look inside you fathers office but the door is locked. You don’t happen to have a key?”

Jason did not react. His mind was full with memories and thoughts. How could this have happened? It felt so unreal to him, like a dream.

“N-no I don’t have a key”, he finally managed to say. Then he remembered the spare key his father had hidden inside an old box in their house. “Wait maybe I do!”

They walked away towards the house.

“ Your father died bravely” , Ben said quietly.
“I don’t want to hear.”

Inside the house, Jason easily found the box. The box contained a handgun with a few rounds, a first aid kit and a canteen and of course the key.

“Here’s the key but I must come with you afterwards!” Jason said with a firm voice.
“No! I can’t have you with me you are too inexperienced.”
“I need to know who killed my father and avenge him!”
“Avenge him?” Ben almost laughed. “You are joking? I can’t let you go and get yourself killed as well. You father loved you too much, I can’t let you.”
“You don’t have a choice I am going with you or alone!”
Ben sighted. “Fine you come with me then. But I won’t take the responsibility for you!” Jason wondered why everyone kept treating him like a kid after all he was 20 years old.
“Good!”

They went to the office and searched it. The office was a fairly small room with only a desk and a safe in it. The window overlooked the town. They opened the safe.

“Look”, Ben pointed at some papers. “It’s a contract for the caravan company. But not any contract, it is a contract for Brago’s gods , the leader of the Blood ravens.”
“The what?”
“The blood ravens. One of the most feared gangs. I think something went wrong with this deal and they had you father killed!” A loud explosion was heard. Jason looked through the window and saw the tavern was surrounded by bandits.
“Blood Ravens!” Ben yelled. The tavern was on fire and the Ravens shot anyone escaping it.
“They will kill everyone!”
“We have to get out of here!”
They took the backdoor out from the office.
“Run to Whitelake! I will see if anyone has managed to get away, we will meet at whitelake! Go!” Ben was serious and a hint of fear showed on his face.

Reluctantly and after some augmenting Jason left towards Whitelake. Whitelake was a small village next to what once was a lake. Now it was a dry field littered with radscropions. It was only a few hours of walk to get there, with luck he would be there by nightfall.

As Jason hastily ran along the path towards Whitelake he heard someone scream for him. He turned around and saw Willie and a girl he knew, Jen, running towards him.

“How glad I am to see you” Jason bursted.
“So are we! They are killing everyone!”
“We have to go to Whitelake until Ben returns!”
“Who the hell is Ben?”
“He is a caravaner , worked with my father. The man who was looking for me remember?”
“Yeah that’s right. Can we trust him?”
“I think so, we don’t really have much choice do we?”
They continued to Whitelake. Evening was approaching.