So here's the first part of my story, think of it as a prologue. Also, I wrote it in the way I did for a reason, don't worry later parts won't be written quite like it was. Lastly, I appreciate all criticism, don't be afraid to tell me it svcks. No gets better by telling them they are the best. Oh by the way, I'm not sure what the average length you guys like is, so if this is too long just tell me. If you don't mind if its longer tell me that as well because I plan on having several pages per post.

His vision was a wall of jumbled images, to add on that each image was blurred. A piercing sound rung in his ears, almost like an alarm going off inside his head. His arms and legs became wobbly, his grip loosened on the shotgun in his hand. As his vision cleared and the ringing ceased he was able to think straight. The first word that popped in his head was concussion. He vaguely remembered the captured Super Mutant smashing him in the head with its fist.

He looked up and marveled at the sight before him, before his vision starting going he never fully appreciated the almost majestic views that surrounded him. Before, the Wasteland had been just that, a wasteland. Only seconds of vision loss had opened up his eyes to just how tranquil the Wasteland looked, he finally realized that for the first time in ages the sound of distant gunfire couldn't be heard.

The Lone Wandered had sure done a number on the Super Mutants and the Enclave. Ever since the Brotherhood took out Vault 87 and that giant crawler of the Enclaves the amount of bloodshed and murder had gone down considerably.

With two of their biggest adversaries virtually destroyed, the Brotherhood had taken up the empty position of Protector of the Wastelands. Or made it up, he wasn't sure if there ever was that position. Anyway, the Brotherhood's new vigilance had caused many Slavers and Raiders to quit their day job. Or at least that's what a lot of people thought seeing as how the Brotherhood suddenly had huge amounts of new recruits just after the number of Slavers and Raiders plummeted.

Even so, many of the criminals had stayed around, using places like Paradise Falls and Evergreen Mills as hideouts. Until of course there came word that the Regulators had joined with the Brotherhood. The Regulators had been trouble enough as a poor crime fighting organization, now with technology and money on their side there was no place for criminals to hide. After that, Evergreen Mills emptied out. At least three quarters showed up at Paradise falls, the other quarter became Brotherhood recruits.

In only two years the Lone Wandered had done what the Brotherhood couldn't in over twenty. People had begun looking at him as a messiah, Jesus come again. What nobody thought to consider were the rumours that the same man had been involved in slaving and other malicious acts. Of course there were also rumours that he had killed the leader of Paradise Falls and found a new headquarters for the Temple of the Union. No one was really sure about what he did in his spare time. Hell nobody knew if he was even a man! Some said he was a man and others said he was a woman. Whenever someone asked if he was a man or a woman, people who knew him just shook their heads and laughed as if it was a big secret that they had to keep.

Only a month after the Enclave had been wiped out he, or she, disappeared off the face of the world so nobody could find him. There were theories of where he went, some said he went back to Vault 101; others said the Brotherhood had sent him away on a mission. There were even crazy rumours that aliens had kidnapped him. Others just said that he had died, his job was done and now he had left.

He paused as another wave of nausea hit him, this time he almost fell over. The three others with him finally noticed his state; they offered him a stimpak, but he declined. They were getting close to Arefu. Simone, one of his companions, was friends with someone who lived there so they had a place to rest. No point wasting a stimpak when they were about to come to a place to rest.

He remembered when going to Arefu and the places surrounding was a sure way to get killed. By a bridge just over a hill on the far side of the village was a camp of Raiders who made it almost impossible to come from Megaton. Then there was the problem of the river below Arefu, it was filled with Mirelurks. The Mirelurk gave Arefu a huge advantage and disadvantage. They kept the close by Raiders from getting too close to Arefu, but they also kept traders away. If Arefu wasn't so far above ground, and away from the water, the Mirelurks probably would have attack them long ago.

Still with these problems Arefu got along pretty well. Until the psycho Cannibals decided it was a ripe feeding ground. The West family had been slaughtered and eaten, except the son who had been taken by the Cannibals to convert. Once again the Lone Wanderer came around and saved the boy. What happened to the Cannibals no one knows, but Arefu has become as safe as it was. Rumour had it that someone was guarding Arefu, most thought it was a Brotherhood member, but no one had ever seen him or her to find out if it was.

Simone raising her gun caused him to snap out of it. He was surprised to find that he was standing at the base of the large highway that Arefu was situated on. One of his other companions asked Simone what was going wrong. She said that there was usually a man named Evan King that kept guard higher up the bridge, he was only gone when it got too cold to sleep outside. Not only that, but the chair he usually sat one was knocked over.

All four people raised their guns; he had a shotgun in hand so he was the one to run forward fast and take out hostile that were hiding. Another of his companions had a sniper rifle and so he made sure no one popped up to take a shot at the man who was too far away for his shotgun to do anything but make a loud noise.

He raced up without a problem, just when he thought that their concerns had been unfounded he got around the block of cement King had been positioned behind. A bloodied corpse with a mashed up face looked up at him. It was obviously King, or at least it should have been. A closer investigation revealed several holes in his chest. Blood had come from the chest wound, but there was no blood pooling by the head, which meant the gunshot to the face had been delivered post-mortem. So someone had either wanted to hide the identity of the dead person on the ground, or had simply done it for [censored] and giggles.

He looked back at the others and pointed his thumb to the ground, a sign that someone was dead. Even from where he was standing he could still see the look of fear overtake Simone's usually indifferent facial expression. He motioned to them to come up, she ran as fast as she could. The others were only halfway up when she was all the way up.

He told her that she had better calm down, if she let her emotions go out of control it was going to do more harm than good. She only nodded in understanding.

The group walked forward and searched each house. In one house they found two bodies, both had their faces blown in. Another house had a single woman in it; once again the face had been reduced to mush. The second last house was empty; Simone said it had been King's house. The final house held a scene of disgusting horror.

The lone resident had been nailed to the wall. Blood had pooled under the corpse, the young man had still been alive when he had been put up. Jammed into his chest was what looked like a wooden stake. Unlike the other victims, this one's face was still, for the most part, intact. His teeth had been smashed out and his eyes had been gouged.

Simone took one look at the man and ran outside crying, the sound of vomiting drifted into the house. At her reaction each of the men still in the house knew that this had been her friend. By the way she talked about him before he suspected they were more than friends. It made the shock of seeing what stood in front of them even the more difficult for her.

He exchanged looks with a companion, telling him to go and comfort her. Only moments after the companion walked out the door he was flung back inside. The scent of burning flesh filled the room; one look at his companion told them he was dead. A small hole of seared flesh had taken the place of the man's stomach.

The end of a Laser Rifle came through the door, one of his companions jumped for it. An axe swung around from the other side of the door and embedded itself into his companion. Knowing a direct attack against at least two people was foolhardy, he slid under the bed right before the two murderers entered the house.

They looked around the room and once they were sure no one was still alive they left. He waited for a moment and then slowly came from his hiding spot. He raised the shotgun and walked through the door, to a scene of terrible cruelty.

Simone's pants had been partially ripped off, and a lone man took her as his partners watched in excitement, waiting for their turn. She screamed in horror and possibly pain, the screams just drove the bastard behind her on.

The scene in front of them made the six murderers unaware of their soon to be killer. He raised his gun and took aim, just as he pulled the trigger the silver butt of a Laser Rifle smashed into the side of his head. As he went down he saw the rapists head explode.

The person who had hit him picked him up; he closed his eyes waiting for the end. A rush of air told him something wasn't right. He opened his eyes and saw the highway Arefu sat upon quickly rush away. His vision began to blur as the water enveloped him, before he blacked out he saw a blurred white shape moved amongst the blurred blue around him.