I decided to move my story from http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=977030 to this new one as the title on the last one was very goofy. Kind of a dumb reason to start a new post I guess, but of well. Anyway, this series of journal style entries are my attempt at sort of filling in the game's story. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, think the story elements are awesome, but being what it is, it can't hold the same detail and emotion that you can get from writing it out like this. I wanted to capture the more human elements of it all, and turn the character of the Lone Wanderer into a real person with her own thoughts and emotions as she struggles to adapt and survive in this strange new world. I mean, here's a kid who's entire world is turned upside down within a few hours, everything she knew is gone and she's in a harsh, dark, horrible place where drinking the wrong water will kill you, not to mention everything else that wants to kill you out in the wastes as well!

I hope I can capture her emotions and thoughts through this narrative, and I hope you will enjoy reading them. Even though a lot of it will mirror the quest lines in the game, I hope to change them enough to make it seem new again. As the story goes on, it will part from the game quest lines more and more, and by the end, I plan on introducing completely new plot lines and adventures. I also hope to change the writing style up a bit. As Roll matures and grows, she will sound less and less like a teenager, and more like an advlt with real world experience under her belt. At some point I may even leave the journal style writing in favor of a 3rd person style, and will work the reason into the story line.

I have here a re-post of all the previous entries, plus the newest chapter, where the young Roll (yeah that's her name) heads towards The Pitt, and hopefully we explore the slavery theme of the Fallout world in greater detail, being an element of some importance to the overall story and feel I'm going for here.

So again, I hope you guys will enjoy this, and feel free to give me some creative feedback. I won't bother responding to immature or idiotic comments, so keep it friendly!

08.17.77

So, today I lost my dad and left the Vault. Yeah, I know, total change up right. What happened? Amata's dad went nuts is what happened.. Well ok, there's more to it then that I guess. Dad left the Vault. Just took off in the middle of the night without a word. Then, next thing you know, half the Vaults gone crazy and the damned Overseer sent everyone on the security force after me! Amata woke me up and told me what happened with my dad? and that they killed Jonas. I still can't think about it without my throat drying up. I'll get to that though.

So Amata wakes me up, tells me all hells broken loose, but says she can help me get out of the Vault to find my dad. I don't think I really thought about it at the time. Exactly what that meant I guess, getting out of the Vault. But the sirens were blasting and my longtime friend is pushing a gun into my hands. I could see her eyes were swollen and red, like she'd been holding back tears, and of course that made me feel like [censored] too. I was almost relieved when she told me she would meet up later, with me with a key to her dad's office. Apparently there is a secret way out through there.

I gathered up a few things, cloths, childhood artifacts and the like. Didn't even think about anything like food or water? stupid. As I walked out of our unit though I saw Mr. Kendall. He was dressed in full security gear, and it was obvious he was there for me. As soon as he saw me, he ran my way, baton raised high and ready to strike. I held Amata's gun in my hand, unable to move, thinking, "He's about to hit me with that thing, and its gonna hurt like hell.." when suddenly some rad roaches attacked him. It was all so surreal. I saw him turn to fight back, and almost without thinking, I raised my gun with both hands. Everything felt like it was happening real slowly. I didn't even notice pulling the trigger. Next thing I know, the wall is covered in blood, behind the falling, limp figure of officer Kendall.

I'd killed him.


It was so easy. One moment he was there, a man I'd known since I was a child. The next he was gone, and by my hands. I didn't have time to deal with it then though, as a couple of the rad roaches were still alive, and I had to take care of them..

Anyway, I slowly made my way through the Vault, probably for the last time, trying to get to the Overseer's office and the promised way out. And Kendall wasn't the only one I killed along the way.. Security Chief Hannon, Mr. Park, Mr. Wolfe, Mr. Mack? all died by my hands. Mr. Lewis and grandma Taylor were both killed by rad roaches.. It was all just crazy. I confronted Amata's dad after I found him and Freddy Mack's father threatening her if she didn't turn me in. I don't know how bad that would have gone if I hadn't killed Mr. Mack, but well, he killed Jonas.. that [censored]. I don't know why I let the Overseer live when I killed so many others.. Maybe out of respect for Amata? not that I'll ever see her again.

It was after leaving the Overseer behind that I found Jonas's body. I think this was the first time it all really hit me. I had to sit down for a minute. It was all too much. I felt sick.. Again I held back tears. This man raised me. He was like a second father, always there, joking with me, playing games, teaching me about computers and medicine, and how to shoot my BB gun.. and those bastards killed him. As I was looking at his dead, bloody body, I saw something in his hand. It was a note from my dad.. He said he was leaving, that he couldn't tell me why, and that.. well, I was on my own now. I don't know what to make of it all yet.. Eventually, I found the strength to get out. I don't remember too much of it. It was kind of hazy after finding Jonas..

Like I said, I left the Vault today. When the giant, thirteen ton gate opened, there was a rush of air? I don't know, but it felt different. It felt like something completely new. Not at all like the air in the Vault.. I could see a long tunnel in front of me.. a cave I guess, and at the end was an old wooden door. I could see light seeping through the cracks and seam. Like a dream, I moved towards it, and before I knew what was happening, I was pushing it open, and stepping out?

The light was blinding. It was, I don't know, this is all kind of crazy, but it was like I was born again. One minute, I was in the dark tunnel leading out from the Vault, covered in so many people's blood, gun clenched in one hand so tight that it hurt, and then the next minute, I walked through pure, white light, and I was outside.

It was like nothing I'd ever seen before? Like a giant, open space! I don't know how else to describe it. It's all so big! And there are rocks, and dirt and, old buildings, and all those things I grew up reading about and watching movies about.. but I never even imagined I'd see it. There were trees and bushes around! They were dead and dry, but, I could touch them? I don't know, like I said, it's all crazy. In the distance, I could see a tall, dark building. It stood above all else on the horizon. I don't know what it is, but it really stuck out in my mind. Maybe I can check it out sometime. Oh but there are so many places to check out. Hell, even now, I'm writing this in a town near our Vault called Megaton!

Oh man, this place is awesome! Its like, where the Vault was clean, and cold and sanitary in every way, this place is dirty, hot and? I don't know, kind of savage. I mean, the people who live here seems normal in many ways, like the people living in the Vault, but everyone dresses differently, and they all carry guns, and everything is covered in dirt.. I don't know, but it feels kind of liberating. I noticed that my blue Vault 101 jumpsuit was causing people to react kind of funny to me, so I traded it, and a few other things I had thanks to my flight from the Vault, to a trader in town named Moira. I think everyone already knows I don't exactly belong here, word travels fast and all, and at least I don't stick out in these new cloths as much.

Oh but Megaton! The whole place is built with rusted old scavenged parts from all over the area.. the Capital Wasteland as its called according to the local sheriff. I've been here for only a few hours, and already I've made friends with sheriff Lucas Simms. See, Megaton is built around a giant unexploded atomic bomb. I'm not [censored] kidding, a real live atomic bomb! Well, it was a live atomic bomb until yours truly took care of it. When Simms told me about it, I offered to take a look at it, see if I couldn't disarm it. I figured my knowledge about science and technology from my schooling in the Vault might give me some chance of figuring it all out, and I was right. It took a little while, but they had a sort of fail safe built into the thing, and once I found that, it was pretty easy to de-activate.

I wanted to tell Simms about it, but he was nowhere in sight, so I thought I'd check out the Saloon in town. Moriarty's. It had a giant sign that you just couldn't ignore, and well, I wasn't really allowed to drink alcohol in the Vault, so I figured I'd try my luck here while I waited for the sheriff.

As soon as I walk into the place though, I saw a freakish sight! A man with.. I don't know how else to put this.. but a man with his skin melted off was banging on an old radio, yelling about it not working right. Without thinking I reached for my gun, but then I noticed that no one else seemed to be startled by all this. It was like he was totally normal here. I guess with all the radiation that must have covered the area after the nuclear war, some people could have mutated. Jonas and my dad taught me about that sort of thing. I just couldn't believe I would see something like it before now.

Well, as I was staring at this guy, (His names Gob by the way, and there are more like him. They're called ghouls!) a man sitting in the far corner of the bar motioned me over. He introduced himself as Mr. Burke, and immediately I didn't like him. He had a creepy vibe you could pick up a mile away. Just rubbed me wrong right off the bat, you know. And as though to confirm my feeling, he offered to pay me to blow up the [censored] nuke! I couldn't believe what I was hearing! I mean, I'd only been out in the Wasteland for a few hours, and I was totally unaccustomed to the ways of this world, but even I knew that it wasn't normal or right to do such a thing. He even insisted that I not warn anybody!

As he was telling me about this "job," I felt this inner strength I'd never felt before well up inside me. I didn't even think about it, just agreed to take the job, took the strange device he offered to rig the bomb to blow, and with a simple "See ya," left the bar. I immediately went looking for Simms. I'd forgotten all about disarming the bomb and quickly told him about Burke. Well, Simms wasn't too happy about it all, and he invited me to go with him and see how they, as he put it, "Administer justice in the Wasteland." (Ok, it sounded real cool when he said it!)

Simms confronted Burke and put him under arrest. I watched the whole thing from a few feet away, and felt sort of tense and almost overly aware of everything as it happened. I think everyone in the place knew some bad [censored] was about to go down, but no one dared move lest they drew attention to themselves.

Just when I thought things were going to get crazy, Burke seemed to agree to come along with Lucas. I don't know why, but Lucas lowered his guard a bit then, and turned around to lead Burke out of the Saloon. All of a sudden, there was a gun in Burke's hand, and he was pointing it at the back of Simms' head. I reacted so quickly right then? I didn't even know I had it in me? but I had drawn my gun and was shooting before I even knew it. I could feel people moving away all around me, hear the screams somewhere in the background of my thoughts as they tripped over each other to get away from the shooting, but my attention and focus was on the gun, and on the bullets flying through Burkes body.

He fell to the floor, and there was a moment more of calm in my mind, the sense of seeing everything in slow motion, before it all came back into focus, and the screams became louder in my ears, and I saw the chaos we had caused. Fortunately Simms got everything under control real quickly. The inside of the bar felt hot and stuffy, and I excused myself and went out on the balcony in front of the saloon. Simms followed me out, and I was sure I was going to be in trouble for the shooting. But instead, he thanked me for saving his life. And when I told him I had disabled the bomb as well? well, he gave me a house!

I mean it's not so much a house as a it is a rusted up old shanty built with scavenged debris, but its a lot more then most people in town seem to have, and it's surprisingly sturdy.

As he was showing me the place, I realized just how exhausted I was from my day. It seemed like Simms saw it too, and he excused himself so that I could enjoy my new living environment for myself. I went straight to bed. As I lay on the old mattress, I thought about all that had happened. I'd killed people today. That stuck out. But, I had also saved a man's life. A good man who helps keep a lot of other people safe. And I helped those same people too, by disarming the nuke, I may have potentially saved all their lives. Does that justify the killings? Burke deserved to die, and maybe even Mr. Mack. But I still don't know about the others. I could say it was all in self-defense, and it was, but maybe there was another way. Maybe if I just hadn't shot Kendall, helped him maybe when he was attacked by those roaches, maybe this would have all gone differently.

It was with these thoughts I fell asleep.

Until Next Time,
Roll :wub:

8.18.77

Ok, life in the Wasteland? continued! Sorry, I wanted a cool intro? don't know if it worked.

Well, I slept like a dead girl well through yesterday until about noon. I woke up hot, sweaty, and confused. Once I realized where I was, a rush of emotion came over me. My dad, who abandoned me, Jonas dead, the Vault - a thing of the past, the killings, the chaos, the Wasteland, and now me, in my new home, in Megaton.

I lay in bed for a while, idly messing with my pip boy, looking over my last journal entry when I decided to do something kind of weird. I deleted all my old journals. I don't know why I did it, maybe as a way of completing this transition into a new life. I'm not the girl who lived in Vault 101 anymore. She is no more. I'm now a woman living in the Capital Wasteland. I've killed people, deactivated a nuke, and am almost like a deputy (or so Simms seemed to imply when he gave me this house) in a town that feels like an old western film... Well, like I said, it's a new life and I'm a new person. Deleting those journals gave me the strength to get out of bed that morning, I think? Must be strong.

There is so much to do and see now. Such a large world to explore. We used to play all kinds of games as kids, pretending to be outside in the real world, doing the things we saw the hero's in the action movies doing. I never thought I'd actually get to do any of that. I figured it was assumed I would take on my dad's responsibilities when I got older. Him and Jonas thought me some things about medicine and science, and it was all laid out? Now? now I don't know what I'll be doing.

Enough with all this revealing my soul [censored] though, they have radio up here! There's a station called Galaxy News that plays the coolest music. It's not just the happy big band stuff the Vault PA would play over and over again! It's new music I've never heard. Well, new to me anyway, I guess it's all really from before the war though. The signal isn't all that great, but still, its great to hear it!

Also, I spent the day helping an old man named Walter fix the water system for Megaton. He'd heard about the things I did yesterday, and figured if I could disarm a nuke, I could handle some plumbing, and he was right. It paid well by Wasteland standards, and it helped the people of Megaton (including me) have safer drinking water!

Frankly, I'm already pretty popular around town I think. Everyone heard about the nuke and the shootout in the saloon, and three different guys bought me drinks tonight! I suppose it helps that I'm a new young woman in town, but I know it's more then just that! I gotta say, my heads spinning a bit though?

I think tomorrow I'll go out and explore some of the Wasteland. There is so much to see, and after all I've been through, I feel like I can handle anything!

Until next time,
Roll :wub:

8.19.77

As I write this, I'm hiding in a pile of rubble somewhere north of Megaton, and my legs below my knees are a bloody mess. Until now, I've been lucky, in my escape from the Vault, the shoot-out in Moriarty's, I got away with nothing more then some bruises and scratches. I got cocky, I can admit that. I was feeling like a [censored] movie star, and looking back on my last two entries, it seems I was thinking I was one. Well, as I'm huddled now in the middle of all this [censored], the pain stifled only with the help of two stimpaks, I don't feel at all invincible?

I left Megaton this morning with thoughts of fame and adventure in my head. I randomly picked North and started walking. It's so beautiful up here. I mean, it's not like in the old movies exactly, since everything is destroyed. If it can be related to any of them, it would be the westerns I guess, since it feels like I'm out in a desert wasteland? which I guess I am. But there are ruins of old towns dotting the landscape. Rotted wooden beams and rusted metal sticking out of the earth, a haunting reflection of the pre-nuclear world. And the plants. I mean, they're all dead, but they've hardened somehow, and still stand, though dark and nothing like the pictures in the old books. The only green here was the occasional pool of irradiated water I would walk past.

I came out here with very few meds to deal with radiation. I have a few Rad-Xs and a couple RadAways, but I don't think it was enough now. The Wasteland practically glows with radiation! It's a wonder humanity has survived at all?

Well, as I said. I was exploring, and I saw a man in the distance. I didn't know what to expect, and I started to cautiously walk towards him. I could see he was dressed differently then most of the people I had come across in Megaton. He had leather straps running all across his body, with plates of metal and other hard materials sown into them. It was as though he had pieced the thing together from the waste, reveling in its harshness. The straps seemed to dig into the man's skin, and I couldn't imagine what he was wearing could be at all comfortable under the hot sun.

Well, the guy was obviously not too normal, 'cause the moment he noticed me, he pulled out some sort of metal stick, and came running right at me. I leveled my pistol towards him and shot twice. He fell, and as I backed off, I could see he was still breathing. He wouldn't live long, but he would live for a little while still, under the hot sun with two bullet holes and at least one punctured lung.

I walked away and left him there, and now, as I write this with my bloody and torn legs, I regret not having put one last bullet through his head, and ending his suffering. By the time I was able to use my Stimpaks, my legs had been torn up for at least five minutes. And in those five minutes I felt pain like I'd never felt before. But I'm sure a punctured lung hurts far more then that?

It was these freakish creatures, small and pink. They looked almost like the pre-war pigs I learned about, only their flesh looked like it had burned under the desert sun, and was now broken and covered in? I don't know, just horrifying skin. And they had these, grotesquely large upper teeth.

Like I said, I'm not invincible, and I don't really know what I'm doing out here. I was dikeing around with my Pip-Boy, and not paying attention to my surroundings, when I noticed a new radio signal. It was a repeating message from a man named Wernher. He was saying something about having valuable information for someone who would help his people or something? I don't know, I should listen to it again? See, it all happened as I was first trying to hear it.

Three of them came out of nowhere, running straight at me. Those horrifying, little, pink monsters. I started shooting, but was only able to kill one before the other two were on top of me. I fell against some debris, and without thinking, put my legs up so as to protect myself with my shins (stupid idea, huh?). Oh my god, how it hurt when they first bit into my skin. Like searing hot fire tearing through the flesh. I lost control for a sec? It was all kind of crazy and messy? I remember shooting blindly, wasting ammo that I didn't have much of. Went through a whole clip before I gained any control. I hadn't shot either one, and they were still relentless, tearing away at me.

Somehow? somehow I got another clip into the gun, and put bullets in both their ugly little heads. Afterwards, I lay there and cried, without even the strength to push the limp, dead bodies of these beasts of my bloody legs. It took a few minutes to gain control of myself again, and, unable to stand, crawled to where I am now, hiding in a pile of old, rusty, [censored]!

I administered antibiotics and some first aid to my shins. I pumped them full of painkillers, and then did one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. I stitched my legs back up. It didn't hurt. Not really, with all the pain killers, but it felt horrible. Oh god?

I've been writing since then to try to help deal with it all. I think I'm well hidden away here, and it's starting to get late. I'll sleep in this rubble tonight, and then see if I can walk in the morning. Let's hope this is isn't my last entry, huh.

Roll?

8.19.77

I woke up in the middle of the night, and my legs were hurting. I had to use two more stimpaks for the pain. A part of me lamented the waste of the few that I have, while the other realized that I may not be alive in the morning to worry about it. At least I could die without pain?

But I didn't die. Which is how I'm writing this. In the morning, the pain was bearable. I took a minute to listen to Wernher's message again, and recorded it to my Pip-Boy, in case I fell out of range on my way back to town. This man seemed like he was desperate for help. As I listened to his plea, my heart reached out to him across the vast expanse of the Wasteland. What was his people's plight? And what was this "valuable information" he mentioned as possible payment for the help. I really wanted to see what this guy was about, but I was still in pretty bad shape, so I carefully crawled out of the pile of rubble that had been my sad little bed last night, and took a few unsteady steps forward.

It hurt like hell, but I was able to slowly head back south, towards Megaton. I'm so glad my Pip-Boy has a working navigation system, otherwise, I don't think I would have had any idea on how to get back.

The going was slow, and I had to keep to the shadows and rocks so as not to attract attention to myself. The last thing I needed was to try to run from more of those little pink monsters. Well, I was fortunate to avoid them the whole way back, but I ended up running into something much more dangerous.

I'd been moving though a rocky area, using the boulders as cover so as to not draw any unnecessary attention to myself, when I heard voices. They sounded human, and I slowly snuck closer. I was hoping to find some friendly faces, maybe someone who could help me out, but after meeting that deranged, leather clad man yesterday, I wasn't about to take any chances.

As I drew near, I leaned around the large rock I was hiding behind, and? I don't know how I didn't scream, or make any noise then. I'd seen those strange pink monsters, and I'd met Gob, the ghoul, and as strange as they both were, these creatures made them pale in comparison. There was two of them, standing maybe seven feet tall, with green, and ridiculously muscular bodies. They were nothing short of a mockery of the human form, similar, but in every way deranged. They wore cloths, like people, and they spoke our language, though in rough, guttural voices.

I stood against the boulder, watching in horror as they spoke to each other. I could understand the words, though through my fear filtered ears, it sounded like. All I knew was that I wanted to run, but I couldn't even move from my spot, let alone move very fast with my crippled legs. It felt like hours passed, though it couldn't have been more than a moment, when I felt enough strength return to my legs for me to move back behind the rocks.

I had to do something. I didn't want to try to just run away, because I knew if they saw me, I wouldn't stand a chance. On the other hand, I had the element of surprise right now if I attacked them. I dug through my sack, and found a frag grenade I'd picked up in the Vault on my way out. It had fallen to the bottom of the bag, and somehow I'd missed it until now.

Wonderful how these things work out sometimes.

Holding the explosive tightly with one hand, I stood out from behind the rocks. The giant green monsters, noticed me immediately, but I didn't give them time to react. Before they could pull their weapons out, the grenade was flying through the air, headed right for them. The explosion sent plums of dirt up into the air, and I saw one of the creatures flying off its feet, while the other was knocked against some rocks.

I quickly pulled out my pistol and started shooting for the closer one, as it shakily stood back up on its feet. It was like my bullets were hardly even grazing it. That skin was much harder than human skin, I could see that now, and to my horror, it pulled out a large stick it had strapped to its back. I could see the heavy end of the stick had a bunch of nails hammered into it. There was only one use for such a device, and that was to bash people's heads in. I wasn't about to let it take a swing at me though, so I aimed for his arm, and shot three times. It was hard, as he was running towards me, but I managed to shoot his weapon from his hand.

The creature stopped for a minute, as though surprised by what had happened, and I raised my gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

Click.

Yup, no ammo. I reached for another clip, and noticed I had none. It was at this moment when both the frightful monster and I realized the only real weapon between us was the large stick. I reached for it, and somehow (maybe because of the grenade, or maybe because it was still kind of surprised by my attack), I grabbed it before the monster could. Before I could get a good hold on it however, the creature was swinging its huge meaty fist at me. I rolled out of the way, and he hit the ground next to where my head had been a moment ago.

I jumped to my feet and swung the weapon. The heavy, nail ridden end made contact with the creature's head, and I felt the shock of it run through my arms. I don't know why I was surprised that its head felt like a solid wall, but despite my momentary shock, I pulled back and swung one more time. The club smashed in the side of his skull, and blood started spraying from the large wound. The creature screamed and fell to the floor.

I didn't have a chance to relax though, as the other one was now recovering from the grenade blast, and a few feet from its reach was a rifle it had been carrying. I ran towards it without thinking, and swung for its head. I knew what to expect by now, and was able to control my swing to do maximum damage without the shock to my arms.

The second creature fell to the floor, and I collapsed to my knees next to it. What the hell was wrong with the world. Nothing I'd read or learned about in the Vault could have ever prepared me for this. These alien, and mutant beings that inhabited an earth once under the firm control of man. And yet, this was all our doing, and I knew it. Man's short sighted ways led to the war that created this harsh reality, and it was a wonder we were given another chance. Another try at this sick game of life.

Eventually, I stood up, gathered a few things from the creatures dead bodies, ammo for the rifle, and the gun itself, and continued to Megaton. Thankfully, the rest of my trip was uneventful, and I made it into town by dusk.

Simms took me to see the town doctor, a guy they all called Doc Church. He patched me up far better than my novice skills had allowed, made a few less then friendly comments about being disturbed, and then sent me home with instructions to take it easy.

Which is where I'm writing this all from. I made Simms promise to tell me what the hell all those things out in the Wastes are tomorrow, so I'm better prepared next time.

What, you think I'm gonna be scared away from this one bad experience? You know how it goes, what doesn't kill you? I know if I'm better prepared, I can do better next time. I fell asleep listening to Wernher's message on my Pip-Boy. I do need to be better prepared next time. How else am I gonna help him and his people out?

Until next time,
Roll :wub:


8.20.77

Man, I had a long talk with Simms today. He came by with his kid, Harden (who is adorable, if a little quiet), and told me about some of the stranger things in the Wasteland. Some quick notes:

1. The ugly little pink things are called molerats. No one likes them much, and though they're eatable, Simms said they "Taste like ass."

2. The big ugly green guys, they're super mutants. Not the most clever of names, but fitting I guess. Simms said most people think they come from mutated humans, but I guess aside from some crazy theories, no one really knows where they come from.

3. The leather-clad man was possibly a "raider." This is a collective name given to packs of violent gangs that live out in the Wasteland who do nothing but cause trouble for most normal folks. When Simms mentioned it, I realized the DJ from Galaxy News radio said something about how dangerous they are as well. Seems the common way to deal with them is to shoot first.

Simms also told me about a few other things to look out for, namely giant flying bugs that shoot deadly sludge at you (no kidding) and packs of wild dogs that roam the wasteland. Oh, also rogue robots from before the war can be dangerous. After hearing all this, I couldn't believe I made it out in the Wasteland at all on my little excursion. I need to get more supplies if I want to carry out my plan to look for Wernher tomorrow.

Oh yeah, did I mention I'm going out to find him? I don't know what it is, but every time I listen to his recording (and I've listened to it a lot now?) I just want to go and help him out. He sounds like? I don't know, I just want to meet him. Wonder what he looks like?

Also, Lucas made Doc Church come by my place and look at how my legs were doing today. He said they were healing real well, and that I had done a pretty good job with the first aid. This got Church and I talking about medicine a bit, and the doctor seemed to warm up towards me a bit. Guess all those lessons in treating burns and cuts and broken bones had other unforeseen advantages!

But now to the bigger news from today. I finally met the infamous Colin Moriarty, the proprietor of the Saloon, and a complete [censored] head. I guess he'd been out of town the past few days (which I heard was very uncommon for him). Anyway, when it started getting later in the day, I went over to the Saloon with the intention of talking to Gob, the ghoul bartender. The other night when I'd been hanging out up there, (did I mention the Saloon is built about 3 stories above the ground and on top of a bunch of other houses and stores?) I completely avoided the bar tender and let others buy my drinks. I was acting all tough and everything, but really, I was scared [censored]less of the ghoul. Not tonight though, considering no one else seems even slightly afraid of the guy. If anything, he seems to be somewhat lower on the social totem pole in Megaton then most people.

Well, I walked into the saloon, went straight to the bar, sat in front of Gob, and asked for a beer. I don't know what I said, but he was somewhat taken aback by my politeness. I mean, that's just how I was raised in the Vault, but people out here react strangely to how I talk. Anyway, once I really got to talking with Gob, I realized he's just a human with messed up skin. Like a burn victim or something. Except he also gets a greatly extended life span. He was telling me about a ghoul town called Underworld where some of the resident ghouls have been alive since before the war. Imagine talking to those people! I would have never even imagined it possible to get first-hand accounts of what the end must have been like. The feelings and thoughts they must have had when they thought they and everyone they knew were gonna die. And then, somehow not only surviving, but being given this duality of both the gift of an incredibly long life, and the curse of looking, well, like a burn victim. I wonder if I will have a chance to visit Underworld someday and talk to some of these people?

Gob had just started telling me something about feral ghouls, when the [censored] himself, Colin Moriarty, came into the bar. He walked up right next to me and dropped his bags on the counter with a loud crash. Everyone sort of shut up right then, and before a word could be said, he started yelling at Gob. Things like "I don't pay you to sit on your deformed ass and chat up the customers!" and just a string of insults and obscenities. Even in the Vault, if someone said some of the things he said, it would have resulted in a fist fight! But Gob just sat there and took it, even offering up apologies and whimpering like some sad bastard!

Now Moriarty was yelling all this less than a foot from my head, since he was standing next to me and all, and after a minute of this abuse, I just couldn't take it anymore. I pushed my stool back, stood up on his side of the seat so that I was inches from him, and all [censored] like said "I don't appreciate the tone in which you're talking to my new friend here." Ok, so I watched a lot of westerns in the Vault, and this scene was just begging for a heroic and cool line like that.

Well, if everyone had been quiet before, they really shut up now. So did Moriarty in fact, creating a moment of almost absolute silence in what was only minutes ago a loud and raucous room. He slowly turned his head to face me and I got my first good look at him. He didn't look like a friendly guy. His steely, unwavering gaze made me lose my nerve for a sec. Somewhere in the background I could hear Gob apologizing on my behalf, and saying something about my not knowing better, but I don't think anyone was paying attention to him.

"And who the [censored] are you?" I swallowed hard, trying to come up with an answer but really, it was taking everything I had to not lower my gaze and mutter an apology myself. I mean, the guy was intimidating. I think he noticed I wasn't as tough as I'd been trying to sound a moment ago, and he pressed on. "What, you had no problem mouthing off before, you chicken [censored] little [censored]."

Somehow, that seemed to help me though. Him calling me names got me just pissed off enough to answer back, "I could ask you the same thing. So tell me now, who the [censored] are YOU?" Oh man, it looked like his head was gonna blow he was so pissed. I don't know what he would have done, if the woman at the other end of the bar didn't rush up and grab his arm, pulling him closer. She said something like "Oh, Moriarty, she's just some dumb Wastelander, not even worth the hassle, come on, you've been away for days, and I missed sleeping with a real man. Why don't you forget about this trash here and show me how an Irishman screws?" My first thought was, "Who's she think she is calling me trash!" but then I realized she was trying to save my ass. I also realized for the first time that the man I had just pissed off was the owner of the place. Way to pick my fights, huh.

Anyway, Moriarty kept staring at me for what felt like an eternity, before finally succumbing to the woman's pleas. He started to let her pull him away, but then suddenly stopped. "You aren't a Wastelander, are you?" he said, looking right at me.

"No? No, I'm not" I replied, and for the first time diverted my eyes from his. He smiled, and it made him look meaner and scarier then when he was angry.

"I know who you are," he said with that evil smile. "Your James' kid aren't you." I couldn't [censored] believe it. This guy knew my dad! "What the [censored]?" you may ask. Well, with the entire bar listening, he told me that he had met my dad almost twenty years ago. He'd met my dad, my dad's "Brotherhood of Steel friend" as he put it, and he'd met me as a baby.

It didn't make any sense. I mean, as far as I knew, my dad and I had never left the Vault. No one had! This [censored] eating little snake was lying to me. And I told him so. I was pretty pissed by this point, maybe 'cause of how he'd turned the whole thing around. But when I called him a liar, he only laughed. Said I was brainwashed in the Vault and that I didn't know [censored].

He told me not only did he know my dad from back before we'd entered the Vault, but that he'd recently seen him again when my dad visited him here in Megaton. I couldn't believe what this creep was saying to me. I wanted to ask him more about the encounter, but the scene was ugly, and I didn't think I would be able to get anything out of him. Maybe it would even encourage him to keep quiet about what he knew out of spite for my confronting him as I did. He smiled again then, and started walking away with the woman holding onto his arm. "You want to know more about all this don't you, about what your dad was up too?" he told me. "I can see it in your idiot stare." He paused for a sec, and somehow his grin became wider, showing more teeth. "I'm gonna forgive this little incident today 'cause I like you daddy, but if you want any info from me? well its gonna cost you. And I know I have what you want."

With that, he went upstairs with the lady.

I sat back down, kind of dumb founded by the whole incident. Gob put his hand on my shoulder, though slowly, as if he knew I was a bit weirded out by him. He thanked me for standing up for him but told me it was best to keep quiet about those sorts of things. And then he told me something really strange. He didn't say it outright, but he kind of suggested that perhaps he didn't just work for Moriarty, but in fact belonged to him. Like a slave. Yeah, I know. They would teach us all this stuff in school about how slavery existed in this country before the war, and how after all sorts of unrest and fighting, people had abolished it. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that it exists again now, the way things are? but I don't know, it was very disturbing to think I was sitting here talking to a slave. In fact, Gob's bondage to Moriarty suddenly made him seem stranger to me then his being a ghoul.

He also told me the woman who pulled Moriarty away was Nova, a prosttute who was also "indebted" to that [censored] bar owner, and was working it off with him by working there. I don't know, just another thing about the Wasteland I need to get used to I guess. Such a different place then the Vault.

Well, I'm getting kind of tired. Time to call it a night. Tomorrow I'm going out to look for Wernher. I wonder what he's like?

Until next time,
Roll :wub:

8.21.77

I woke up early today, blew most of the caps I had left with the traveling traders outside of town, picking up some more weapons, ammo, and supplies. I'm not going out there empty handed again. Oh yeah, and they use bottle caps as currency out here. I must have thrown away a small fortune in the Vault growing up drinking Nuka-Colas?

Anyway, so I started traveling north again. I knew the transmission was coming from that direction, and once I got close enough, my Pip-Boy would be able to give me a good idea of where to look. This wrist computer has proved far more helpful out here in the wastes then it ever did in the Vault!

I kept low again, avoiding wide-open areas, and sticking to the shadows as much as possible. It seemed to pay off, since I avoided any trouble during the journey. It was as the transmission was just starting to get strong that I found another Wasteland town called Paradise Falls. I figured a quick peek wouldn't hurt, and maybe I could even sit and have a beer before I continued north. Well, I walked up to the entrance and some guy stopped me. And as though to stress the events from last night, he tells me this is a freakin' slaver town! Told me I wasn't allowed in unless I paid him five hundred caps! I told him I wouldn't go in if it were free, and carefully walked away. I don't know how these [censored]s decide who they will hunt down as a slave, but I wasn't about to take my chances.

It had sort of ruined my mood, and I was feeling down for the next hour or so, as I kept making my way north. Oh, but then? I saw a train! I couldn't believe it! I mean, it didn't run anymore, and I've already seen old rusted up car remains and stuff, but a train! I don't know, it was just really cool! I think it was parts of some sort of transport section, and one of the train cars had fallen off the tracks, and I don't know, it just looked real cool!

Well, about this time, my Pip-Boy had a much better read on the transmission's location. I was so excited, I hardly even paid attention to the large satellite towers I passed by. In hind-site though, they seemed real interesting and I wish I'd stuck around to check 'em out more. Well, maybe on the way back! Provided I make it back in one piece that is. I have to admit, things are actually a little crazy right now, but I'll get to that in due time. : )

The sun was setting on the Western horizon when I finally made it to the region of the distress single. I stood still for a moment, and sort of took in my surroundings. It looked much like most of the Wasteland: rocks, dirt, dead trees, bushes, and dry yellow grass. There was a short rock face in front of me, and boulders scattered around here and there. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

I was starting to think this was all a bad idea. I mean, here I was walking what felt like clear across the wastes trying to track a radio signal that could have been setup a hundred years ago! All because I thought something about the man's voice on the recording "spoke" to me. I guess I can be real naive. It was thoughts like these going through my head when I heard the gunshots. First one shots, and maybe a second or two of silence. And then an explosion of shooting that was coming from somewhere behind the rocks in front of me.

I pulled out Amata's gun and started running up a side path of sorts that let me get around the large rocky mass, and get to the action. I came rocketing around the corner and had to stop short as I'd almost come right in the midst of the gunfight. There was a man on the far end shooting from behind some rocks, and in between him and I were three people who I recognized as raiders. They wore leather and scraps of metal in a similar manner as the first one I'd "met" a few days ago. On the ground near them was a fourth raider, possibly the victim of that first gunshot. The wastelander on the other end may have had the drop on the raiders, but he didn't stand much of a chance on his own, and neither group had noticed me yet, giving me a distinct advantage.

I dropped into a sort of crouch next to a large boulder, and took aim at the raider closest to me. Its times like this I'm most thankful for the BB gun my dad and Jonas gave me for my tenth birthday. I spent so much time fooling around with that thing that now, I'm actually not too bad a shot! The first bullet hit the guy in his right shoulder, which caused him to drop his gun. I took one more shot, aiming for his head, but only grazing his ear. Maybe not the kill shot I was going for, but it did cause a lot of bleeding at least, and the guy dropped to the ground in pain, trying to hold his shoulder and ear with his one good arm? wow, what's happening to me, I almost thought that was funny writing it down just now. Is the wasteland hardening me somehow? I guess its not very realistic to think I'm just gonna be the same girl from the Vault while living out here. Things just aren't the same, and if I don't toughen up, well, I guess I could just curl up and die somewhere.

Anyway, having now surrounded the raiders between myself and the other wastelander, it was pretty easy taking the remaining two down. When the shooting was over, I carefully walked up to the still breathing figure of the first raider I shot, and put one last bullet in his head. I knew I couldn't let him live. I mean, even as he was, he had this crazed look in his eyes. Like all he wanted to do was tear out my throat. I don't know, maybe I'm just trying to justify to myself my shooting a defenseless man dead, but on the other hand, it all goes back to my need to toughen up to survive out here. What would those Vault dwellers think of me if they saw me now, armed to the teeth, dressed in crazy outlandish outfits covered in the blood of the people I've killed? ok, not exactly covered, but there is blood on my shirt, and its not very easy to wash out!

The other man came out from behind the rocks, and put his gun away. He said something like "Well, what do we have here." And I told him I was looking for a guy named Wernher, who had a radio distress signal transmitting from around here. He sort of stepped aside and pointed to a strange little machine he had behind the rocks he'd been using as cover. "Well, that's my transmitter, and I myself am the very same Wernher you were after. I take it you came here looking for that reward." He smiled then, and for a brief second, I had an image of Moriarty flash through my mind.

Looking at this man in front of me, well into his thirties, covered in dirt, and missing one eye, which he covered with an eye patch, something occurred to me that should have been obvious from the start. All this time I was after this transmission, looking for this desperate soul in need of help out here, I was imagining a young, well tanned man. Handsome, kind of rugged? ok so I had an exact image, carefully crafted in my mind of my dream guy by the time I made it to the real thing. And well, it was really kind of a let down I guess?

But I was here, and he mentioned a reward for the help, so I figured why the hell not. I told him I had indeed come to help, and asked him to fill me in on more details. He seemed kind of upset that I was alone, like he'd been expecting something more, but he went on to tell me he was from a place to the far north-west of the Capital Wasteland, (almost two hundred and fifty miles in fact). He went on to say his people were slaves to a harsh tyrant there, and that he'd been sent out here to the wastes to find help. The men we just killed were slavers sent out to hunt and capture him. I don't know what's going on but this is the third time I'm dealing with slavery out here! I just can't believe how rampant it is!

"We have a plan," he told me. The leader of the slavers in The Pitt, a man named Ashur, apparently had a cure for human mutation. I mean, I'm new to the Wasteland, and even I could see the implications of this sort of thing. "We know a way we can get someone close to Ashur to steal the cure, and once we have that, we can bargain for the slaves freedom. You know what something like that is worth? You've seen the mutant freaks that used to be people living out here. Imagine being able to put a stop to all that!" he was getting kind of worked up as he was delivering his speech to me. And the thing is, it did feel like a speech, like he'd practiced this all before as some sort of sales pitch. I can see that now in hindsight, but at the time, I was kind of enchanted by it all. Basically right back to where I was a few days ago, thinking about fame and glory. Roll, savior of the Wastes! Well, guess who agreed to travel The Pitt.

I asked him why they couldn't steal the cure without outside help, and he explained that the slaves were all too weak from mal-nutrition and constant over-working. Most of them had little to no experience with weapons and would be incapable of dealing with Ashur's guards. I was wondering how Wernher seemed to be so comfortable with his gun if he'd been one of these slaves, but wasn't able to ask him. He sort of had this way of talking that was this consistent, almost unending pvssyr that didn't allow you to get your thoughts straight. I don't know what he was doing, but I couldn't even get any good questions in. What sort of mercenary takes a job knowing so little about it?

Anyway, he told me at some point he couldn't do it himself, because he was already known as a trouble maker, and would never be allowed anywhere near the cure. He ended the whole thing by promising to share the cure with me.

"It's not exactly caps," I remember him saying, "but you bring that back to the wasteland here, and you'd become one of the richest people in the area! Now how is that for a reward!"

Well, like I said, I agreed to take the job, pretended that I was some slick merc that could handle anything thrown at her, and am now on my way to The Pitt. Wernher took me to an old subway station near where we were, and there was this manually powered train car there on the tracks. With two people on either end of this seesaw like lever mechanism built into the center of the platform, you could alternately push the two sides up and down in a repetitive manner. This creates the force to move the thing forward through a series of gears and such connecting the lever to the wheels.

We loaded our things onto the car, and spent the next few hours speeding through the subway tunnel with it. Its real dark down here, the only light source being an old lantern Wernher had attached to the train, and the light from my Pip-Boy. Most of the trip so far has been a silent one, with the only sounds being the smooth noise of the train wheels on the track, and the light squeak of the seesaw lever as it's moved up and down.

We finally stopped for rest around 1:00 am, and that's where we are now. Wernher's sleeping about ten feet from me, and I think I'm about ready to call it a day myself. My arms hurt like hell from the train car, and Wernher said we'd have to keep doing this for most of the day tomorrow before we get to The Pitt. Looking back on it all, I don't know how I agreed to all this so easily, going who-knows-where with this weird guy, but hey, maybe I could save some slaves, get the cure for mutation, and become the hero of the Wastes! That or die in a dark underground pit somewhere between the Capital Wasteland and The Pitt.

Until next time,
Roll :wub:

8.22.09

Well, I can't say today was a great day. Actually, this may well have been one of the hardest days of my life. I don't even know how to start. The slaves? I couldn't believe the things I saw. Such cruelty, such unspeakable cruelty? I don't know what it is that drives these people to enslave, and beat, and torture, and? god I don't even know! It was just horrifying. But let me start from the beginning. I think it will help get my thoughts collected, maybe help me deal with what I saw today.

My Pip-Boy alarm woke me up at 7:00 am this morning, and as I came to, I could swear Wernher was trying to hide something from me. Almost like, he was doing something near me he shouldn't have been, and with the sound of my alarm, was caught off guard and had to quickly cover up his actions. I still don't know what he was up to, but he seemed to have been crouching uncomfortably close to me. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, after all, he could have just not expected my Pip-Boy to suddenly come alive with sound like that and simply been startled, but still... Well, after a short tasteless breakfast of some pre-war boxed food (I don't know how this stuff is till eatable, if you can call it that), we continued on the manually operated train car for what seemed like a very long time. Like I said in the last entry, it was completely dark, and real quiet. Your mind can go to some strange places when you have so much? I don't know what to call it, like, empty time. So much empty time. I thought about the Vault, and Megaton, and the Super Mutants, and the pain of my shredded legs, and of all the people I've killed so far. I don't want to get all spooky horror-movie here or anything, but if I wasn't careful, I would imagine those dead faces looking back at me from the darkness of the subway tunnel. Ok, so that does sound kind of spooky, but the monsters in my head can hardly compare to some of the real life ones I met today.

I seemed to be spending most of my time trying to not think about things that had been waiting behind a thin wall of doubt in my head. Like what the hell had I gotten myself into. I mean, Wernher was proving more and more to be a creep, I had no idea where I was, where I was headed, and what I would find there. I didn't really know what the plan was yet. I guess I was expecting some sort of advanced resistance movement, with all sorts of maps of the enemy compound and intelligence on what they were up to and the best time to strike. I don't know, spy stuff like in pre-war movies and books. Yeah, if they had all that, why would they need to hire someone like me to help. Yet another demonstration of my naivety in action.

At some point, we started slowing down, and as the train came to a stop, Wernher signaled me to keep quiet. Not that we'd spoken more then a few words to each other all morning though. As we got of the train platform, I reached for my bag and Wernher shook his head no. He told me that I wouldn't be able to bring my things, and that the plan was to sneak me into The Pitt as a slave. Well, this was the first I was hearing of this, and I immediately didn't like it, but arguing the point proved fruitless. As that bastard said, I was here, we didn't have a better idea, and he claimed everything was planned out and I wouldn't have to worry.

"Well, how the hell am I supposed to free anybody without any guns or ammo!" I insisted, and he told me that he would find a way to get my gear back to me at the right time when I would need it.

"If you try to get in with your stuff right now, the slavers will just beat you down and take it by force," he said, "so trust me on this. You will be better off without it. Anyhow, I have a small knife I can hide in your cloths for you, in case anything happens."

I found myself reluctantly agreeing, and this is when he pulled out this ridiculous outfit. It was like some poorly made undergarments. I mean, they barely covered my body... literally like I was in my underwear, only it was made of some rough, uncomfortable leathery material, held together by scraps of thin rope and metal.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" I pleaded, raising my voice to above a whisper, which prompted him to again tell me to keep it down, anger crawling its way into his features.

And then he showed his true colors I think. He said something like, "Ok, listen here you stupid wastelander [censored]! You have two choices here. Either you do as I say and follow the plan, or I send you out their by yourself, and you're either shot down on the spot, killed by troggs, or actually picked up as a slave, and left to work yourself to death in The Pitt's steel mills. Now which option sounds preferable to you?" As he said all this, he rested one hand on the hilt of his .45, like he was daring me to argue with him.

I realized I'd gotten myself into this mess, and I really didn't have much choice. I would have to trust this man far enough to do what he said right now, and hope for the best. I grabbed the skimpy outfit, and went behind the train car and further into the shadows to change. It was still pretty hard to see, but I swear that little [censored] stared at me the whole time. I doubt he saw much, but he still made me feel very uncomfortable. When I finished putting on the new outfit, he gave me some beat up leather sandals to wear, and we started walking away from the train, and closer to the dim light coming from the far end of the tunnel.

"Oh, I almost forgot that knife I promised," he said, leering at me as he pulled out a short, rusty blade. It looked like nothing more then a sharpened piece of steel with thick tape wrapped around one end, a simple makeshift hilt. "There is a special hidden pocket in your shorts, I'll just slip this in there and we can be on our way." He must have seen the expression on my face screaming "No!" at him, 'cause he followed it up with, "And no, you can't do it yourself. If you screw this up, and the slavers catch you with it, the things they do to you will be far worse then me slipping my hand in near your ass. Now turn around so I can hide this, or would you rather go into The Pitt unarmed." Yeah, this guy's a real creep. I let him hide the knife on me, and though he may have rested his hand on my lower back a bit longer then I cared for, he didn't do anything too gross, and I did appreciate the feel of the blades weight on me. A little bit of insurance in case one of those slaver [censored]s decided to get fresh, or hell, even creepy old Wernher here.

As we approached the exit, he came to a stop. "Need to let my eyes adjust to the light a bit more before I go out there," He said. "Wait here while I take care of something." He started walking out of the tunnel, and I remember being washed over with a feeling of complete dread. I mean, here I was in this dark tunnel wearing the most embarrassing outfit ever, and about to be sold into slavery. I don't know, considering the whole day has been full of misery and dread, I guess this was kind of the beginning.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunshots. I could tell it was Wernher's .45 by how it sounded. One, two, then a third shot, followed by quite. I saw someone come back into the tunnel's entrance, and heard Wernher's voice call out. Walking towards the light, I don't think I was ready for what I was about to see.

The air was thick with black smoke, which erupted in thick plumes from long dark exhaust towers on the horizon. Industry! They were actually operating factories! As far as I knew, and what Simms had told me, was that people just didn't produce anything anymore. All the old factories were destroyed or inoperable, and if you wanted something, you scavenged it. But here was the pollution of production, instead of the common nuclear waste! I mean, there was plenty of that around too, but I didn't think I would see working factories.

The area immediately around the tunnel entrance was an old train yard, and the gutted, rusty, smoke blackened remains of the old transport cars that delivered steel to the mill in the old days littered the earth. The bodies of two slavers lay nearby, pools of blood slowly growing around them from the large bullet holes left by Wernher.

He pointed ahead, and told me we had to part ways. As much as I disliked the man, I also didn't want to be left alone out here. I think the outfit had a lot to do with my quickly diminishing sense of self-confidence. Its amazing how much humiliating someone like this, uncovering their bodies, taking their things from them, can effect them. With each passing moment in those cloths, I felt more vulnerable, more defenseless, and I found myself looking to this man whom I didn't like for protection and support.

I think he saw the distress in my eyes though, and it seemed to give him a sick sense of satisfaction. He looked at me with an all-together distasteful gleam in his eyes, and that creepy Moriarty smile flashed again. I found myself backing away from him, and decided to use the moment to finally break free. Though I was scared out of my mind, I tried to calmly and gracefully turn around and walk in the direction he'd pointed me towards. As I moved away he called out to me, saying I should look for a slave named Midea when I made it into the compound, and there I would get my next instructions.

Well, it only took a few minutes to completely shake the feeling of dependency I had towards Wernher, and I carefully made my way over a long bridge that connected the train yard to The Pitt. It was overrun by rusted out old cars, long abandoned by drivers who had died in a previous age. The bridge was also littered with booby traps, like landmines and bear traps, but I got the sense they were meant more to keep people from leaving The Pitt then getting in. Below the bridge, a river ran slowly, glowing bright green with radiation.

When I finally reached the end of the bridge, I was greeted by a tall gate and numerous slavers armed to the teeth, who ran up to me as soon as I was in sight. I had no idea what to expect, but I think being immediately hit with the butt of one of their rifles wasn't it. I fell to the ground, my head spinning with the fresh cut on my forehead. I could hear them talking, and laughing as I struggled to get back on my knees.

One of them hit me again, this time on my back, and as I fell, I figured it would be safer to stay down. "So you thought you could escape? Is that it?" I heard someone say. "Well, we know how to treat slaves that try to run." Someone kicked me in my ribs, and I found myself crying. I was so scared then. These men were crazy. I knew they would kill me without a second thought and at the slightest provocation, and I had no idea how I was supposed to get out of this mess. Right there, they could do whatever they wanted with me, with no one to stop them. In this crazy place, they were the authority figures.

I heard another voice tell me to stand, and I was forcefully pulled to my feet. They had to hold me up, as my knees still felt weak and my head was spinning. The blood from my cut was starting to seep into my eyes, but since they were holding me by my arms, I couldn't wipe it away, and my head just drooped down between my shoulder's. "Spook, take her to Midea. She's to be put on collections duty." They all laughed at this. I knew the joke was at my expense, and I shivered at the thought of what these foul creatures found funny.

Spook was a female slaver dressed in dark leather clothing hair died blood red. She shoved a gun into my back as the two slavers holding me up released my arms. I stumbled forward, felt my knees go weak and my head spin, and almost hit the floor before managing to gain control of myself enough to stay on my up.

I was marched forward through the remains of a large building that was filled with trash and human waste, a motif I would soon learn was a common one in The Pitt. As we exited the structure, we found ourselves in a sort of courtyard, greeted by the sounds of machines and metal on metal. All around me, slaves dressed in clothing very similar to mine toiled in the dirt, digging holes, moving piles of steel on their backs, and generally being victimized by the slavers who pushed them onward at every step, driving them to work harder, move faster. The slaves were skinny, miserable creatures, with their heads always lowered, and their skin clinging to their bones from malnourishment and overwork. Everyone and everything was covered in black sooth, an obvious by-product of the mill's polluting smoke. I found that I was having trouble breathing, and a feeling of claustrophobia was creeping into my senses. I couldn't understand how any of the slaves could work under these conditioned. How they didn't just curl up and die.

A man who seemed to have gained the displeasure of a few slavers was being beaten in one of the pits. I could see them hitting him over and over with their rifles, his hands crushed, his face bloodied and swollen. Blood ran down from his mouth where it was obvious his teeth had been knocked out. The man didn't make a sound through out all this, and as he wasn't really moving, I hoped he was either unconscious or dead. Anything was better then what was happening to him there. As I was shoved forward, I saw one of the slavers pull out a pistol and shoot the man in the head. I think it was one of the kindest acts I've seen these savages perform here.

As we moved forward, I could see that those slaves not working slept in piles of trash and debris. They looked diseased, and I noticed many of them were covered in scabs and boils, their skin a mess of infection. I noticed my captor also had these spots on her skin, though not as bad as most of the slaves. I know what this is now, though at the time I just figured it was normal skin problems resulting from unsanitary conditions, over-exposure to radiation, and the lack of medical attention.

We finally made it to Midea's shack, and Spook kicked the makeshift door open with a smile on her face. "Hey Midea," she yelled at an older woman dressed in rags who was huddled in one corner of the room. "I got a new volunteer here for collection duty. Why don't you set her up, eh!" and with that, she shoved me into the room and slammed the door behind me.

I stared at the woman in front of me, and I could see the closest thing to human compassion that this evil place had to offer in her eyes. She quickly got up and put her arms around me, and I realized just what a mess I must have looked like. My face covered in blood, with clear streaks running from my eyes where the tears had washed some of the red away. My body already accumulating dirt and sooth from this place, and my shoulders slumped in absolute defeat.

Midea sat me down on an old dirty cot, and for the next fifteen minutes or so, she quietly cleaned my wounds with an old rag, and held me when I broke into fits of uncontrollable tears. Her presence probably saved me from giving up right then. This was my hope, she would have the rest of the plan, and we would be able to overcome the slavers soon, and I would have my revenge against these horrible people. And though this was who Wernher had told me to seek out in the hell-hole of The Pitt, she seemed like a gentle loving person instead of a creep like he was.

Like I said, this has been the crappiest, hardest day of my life. And even more has happened since I met Midea. Even as I write this, I'm huddled in a small storage room in some old building out in the uninhabited part of this place. I was sent out on collection duty, to round up steel ingots from the wilds of the Steelyard, a part of town infested with the mutated monstrosities of previous slaves, too infected with the disease that eventually turns everyone out here into what Wernher and the others called troggs, to exist with the rest of the people in the mill. With the mutation comes insanity, and as their bodies are covered in sores and radiation burns, these poor creatures lose most of their cognitive abilities, and become mindless and primal animals interested only in screwing and killing. The only difference I can tell between them and the slavers though, is that the slavers wear some semblance of clothing, whilst these troggs run naked, hunting the dark alleys and halls of this industrial wasteland for their next victim.

I want to write about how I got here exactly, but I'm tired, and I need to sleep. I'll fill in the rest tomorrow morning. God, what have I gotten myself into?

Roll

8.23.77

I'm getting better at adapting I think. Whatever this world has to throw at me, I will overcome. I will bend and sway with the winds of change, accept strife as it comes my way, embrace it and eventually conquer it. I've seen and done things now that would make my old Vault-mates' heads spin. And every one of these things has made me stronger. I looked over what I wrote yesterday, before I started writing this, and already I know I've lost a lot of that despair and sadness. I suppose killing a mutant freak with nothing more than a makeshift knife and your bare hands can make you feel pretty tough.

But I'm jumping ahead of myself again. When I left off yesterday, I'd written about meeting Madia after a long, crappy day. She'd given me comfort when I needed it, and helped me pull myself together. I was already exhausted by that time, and wanted nothing more than to lay down and rest, but she urged me onward, saying if she didn't get me to the Steelyard quickly, the slavers would get suspicious? or just use it as an excuse to beat us both to within an inch of our lives. Either way, she helped me through The Pitt's downtown district, past all the slaves trying to work despite their obvious fatigue. I kept wanting to reach out to them, help them somehow, but I was hardly in any better shape after my beating. The slavers eyed us with contempt, daring anyone to make a stupid move, look at them the wrong way, or just collapse to the ground, too tired to continue. I swear, I'm starting to think it's better out here with the troggs.

When we reached the doors to the giant steel mill, Madia hugged me, and as she rested her head on my shoulder, whispered quick directions telling me how to get to a sort of safe house established by the slaves out in the steel yard. I would have to make it there in one piece, and everything I would need would be there, including further instructions. Until I reached it though, I was on my own, and at the mercy of those wretched troggs.

I said my farewells, and walked into the Mill. If I'd thought the outdoor air was stifling earlier, it was only because I hadn't yet experienced the steel mill. The immediate sensation upon entering the colossal structure was the heat. So thick, it was like wading through heavy syrup, making it hard to breath or exert one's self. I found myself almost glad to be wearing the skimpy slave outfit. Even here, the slaves worked endlessly. Operating giant machines that were used to melt raw metals found out in the wastes and the steel yard, and re-forge them as bullet casings. It was as though the whole place was preparing for war.

The same human suffering I saw outside could be found here, only with the added hazards of molten metal spilling on you as it splashed from one giant machine to another, going through processes I didn't understand to reach its eventual shape as a small package of death. These people worked harder then the Wasteland traders' pack animals, and as I saw it, all for a mad, power hungry tyrant, soulless and inhuman. If a slave was hurt or unable to continue, they would be shot and killed, maybe [censored]. If slaves died, they could be replaced with any poor bastard found out in the wilderness.

As a walked down a sort of main path in between shelves of metal inventories and blackened machines of industry, I could see heavy vats of molten steel being moved far overhead by mechanical lifts. As they would come to jerky stops and starts along their rail paths, large drops of the red hot liquid would spill out over the edges and fall to the ground far below. I could see several slaves that had been burned by such spills, and wondered how many more had died a painful death as their skin burned and melted.

I was following the spray painted signs on the walls directing me to the steel yard. Approaching the gated area leading to the yard, I saw a large hole in the floor of the mill. It was covered by metal grating that rose from its' edges and met in the center like some chain linked monkey bars. Whatever happened in that hole was bloody and dangerous, and it looked like people watched it all from up here, reveling in the bloodshed far below.

I was approached by a slaver near the steel yard entrance who said he would show me the rest of the way. Either I was expected, or this was just his normal job here. He pvssyd me up during the short walk from the mill through a gated up outdoor area, talking about nothing in particular, but somehow saying a lot about the steel yard at the same time. Said a few things about the dangers of the troggs, that I could find other dead slaves and slavers who had been thrown out there on collection duty as punishment, and would possibly have some weapons I could use to survive the area. "Eh, what am I saying, you don't have a chance," he almost chuckled, "No one gets out of the yard! But hey, good luck anyway." It was surprising, but he actually didn't seem like that bad a guy. And it made me wonder. What would these people have been like in a different world. One where their survival didn't depend on subjugating those who were weaker or less fortunate to their will. Where they could have a normal job like people had in the Vault, greeting their neighbors in the morning, raising their kids and building families instead of bullets. They couldn't all have been born maniacal [censored]s who took pleasure in tormenting others. Were they simply victims of their environment, doomed to an endless cycle of hate and destruction? What would happen to a slaver who tried to quit? Would they too become slaves? What if they never wanted to join in the first place, and simply came to a point in their lives where they actually had a choice to either be the ones holding the leash, or on the other end? Not to mention there had to be well over a hundred slavers here. Could they all be equally horrible? Were there those who disliked what they did, but did it anyway having no alternative? They couldn't all be so vile as to take pleasure in all this!

It was with these questions in my mind that I finally stepped out into the Steel Yard. All my thoughts came to a crashing halt with the sound of the gate closing behind me. Suddenly, I was outside, by myself. I felt cold all of a sudden, weather from getting out of the stifling mill, or from some dire premonition concerning my newfound environment. Stupid slave outfit!

Compared to the endless noise from the workers in town and in the mill, the Steel Yard was eerily quiet. I knew the place was crawling with troggs, and that I needed to get to the safe house. Madea's instructions were to head past the trains in the main plaza, and work my way up a series of stairs until I found a large metal door with an X painted on it. I could see the trains up ahead, probably the end of the line from the tracks Wernher and I took to get here.

I started moving fast. After all, I was pretty much unarmed and had no armoring, protection, or medical supplies. As I passed row after row of old unused train cars, I felt a sort of sixth sense warning me of trouble, and from somewhere behind me I could hear a the scampering sound of long nails (or claws) on concrete. Something on all fours was behind me, and it was closing in. I picked up my pace, and ran straight to the stairs two hundred yards or so ahead. With every step, I could here my hunter getting closer. My exhaustion didn't help any, and I could feel burning pain in my chest as I struggled to catch my breath. I dared look back and saw my first trogg.

It was humanoid in shape, but ran like an animal on its hands and feet. Its skin was pink and scared, similar to the mole rats, but with a distinct human quality. Patches of boils and bumps covered it, as though the creature was the victim of severe radiation burns. The trogg wore no clothing, and I could see its shriveled genitals, a mockery of the human form in every way hanging between its legs. Considering the condition of its skin, I was surprised they hadn't just dried up and fallen off. The most frightening thing about it though was its face. It was the most human characteristic about the thing, and yet like an evil mirror image of what it once was. Its features were curled and twisted, with a look of absolute hatred directed at me, as though I was a symbol of its lost humanity, a reminder of the cursed existence it was now subject too.

I was absolutely terrified at the sight of this thing, and tried desperately to run faster, all in vain as it slowly closed the distance between us. Just when I thought I might have a chance, three more troggs appeared in front of me, descending the same set of stairs I'd been running towards. My path was blocked, and I had to think quickly. I abruptly made a ninety-degree turn to the right, jumping in between two train cars. I could hear my pursuer slip a bit as it tried to adjust its direction, and then quickly catch up again. I kept moving, turning every which way in a futile attempt to lose the trogg in this accidental labyrinth of useless relics from a dead era. Somewhere not too far behind, I knew more of these mutants were closing in, and if I didn't find shelter soon, things would end badly. This was when I saw the door to this storage shed I've been hiding in. Relief was quickly replaced with terror as I realized the trogg was going to catch up with me before I made it to safety. I had only one option at that point. In one fluid movement, I reached for Wernher's hidden knife, whilst pirouetting around the surprised trogg flying through the air passed me. Had I been a second too slow, it would have thrown me to the floor, and torn me to pieces. It crashed near the door of the storage shed, and quickly rebounded, heading towards me again. This time I had my knife out though and was ready for it.

As it leapt through the air, I carefully side stepped, allowing it to go barreling past me, but not before my knife made contact with its torso, near the ribcage. The creature howled in pain, and I remember thick saliva dripping from its mouth as it looked at me with crazed eyes. It hadn't been expecting me to fight back, but I knew it wasn't going to be so careless in its next attack. I was slowly backing up towards the door, keeping my weapon in front of me in a threatening manner. It knew the knife was dangerous, but as was apparent, it would take a lot of stabs with that small blade to take it down, and it only needed one good blow to defeat me.

It leapt again, and this time I wasn't fast enough. I felt its weight as it hit me, and a stumbled back, falling hard on my ass and hitting the door with the back of my head. The door! I was almost there, but I had to deal with the trogg on my chest trying to tear my limbs off. I stabbed blindly at its face, and somehow struck its right eye. It screamed in pain, and somewhere from behind the trains I heard its brothers call back, their wild cries ringing in my ears. The trogg wasn't about to let a knife in the eye stop it from getting its meal though, and it reached out with its clawed hands at my throat. I reacted by smashing its sad, shriveled genitals with my knee. In this one way at least, it was very much like a human. It let out another painful scream, and I was able to push it off of me. I stood up, and without thinking, started smashing its head in with my sandaled feet, as it writhed on the ground in pain. After three or four stomps, it stopped moving, blood and brain matter sprayed around its flattened skull, but I saw the other three troggs circling around the side of the closest train. I remember thinking "Please let this door be unlocked!" as I spun around and grabbed for the handle. There was a brief, terrifying moment when knob wouldn't turn, and then suddenly the door was open and I was falling forward into the room. I hit the ground hard, and quickly spun around on my back to kick the door shut. The troggs were a mere two or three feet away, and I heard them crash against its hard surface as it slammed into place. I didn't know if the little freaks could work a doorknob, and didn't want to find out, so I quickly bolted it, and was finally able to fall down in exhaustion. It was tough. Real tough? but I'd made it here.

I still had to get to the safe house, but now was not the time. After writing last nights entry, I curled up and slept in the small room. It wasn't a long rest, but I got work to do, and I've spent too long writing in this journal. Its time I went out there again. I'm pretty sure the troggs got tired of waiting, and the way should be clear. Maybe their dead comrade outside satiated their hunger for the time. Too bad my knife is still wedged in that things eye socket. I hope its still out there. Guess I'll see soon enough.

Hopefully until next time,
Roll

8.23.77 Evening

Not too much happened today. I made it to the safe house where I'm writing this journal. All in all, the trip here wasn't too difficult. When I left the storage shed I'd been hiding in, the troggs were gone, and it came as no surprise that they had cannibalized the carcass I'd left out there. My little knife was still wedged in its eye socket, and I yanked it out before slowly and quietly making my may back to the stairway.

Unlike night when I had tried to run through the area, I took it real easy today, keeping to the shadows and waiting for small packs of troggs to pass me by before continuing. It took a few hours of travel like this before I found the safe house. Along the way I came across numerous bodies, mostly dead slaves sent out here on this senseless mission. One of them had a .32 pistol on him and some ammo. I don't know how he'd snuck it past the slavers, but I took it for myself, immediately feeling safer. I even found a slavers body, one of her arms torn off and a look of terror on her face. Must have died in a very unpleasant way. Hell, I don't like these slavers, they're the lowest of the low, and yet I couldn't wish this sort of death on any of them.

Death by trogg. Wonder if I'll go like that too, before I ever make it out of here. I felt kind of weird doing it, but I took the slavers cloths and some frag grenades she had on her. I don't feel all that comfortable looting corpses, but I need everything I can get to survive out here, and frankly I'm tired of wearing these ridiculous slave cloths! I kind of look like a slaver now, but hey, what the hell, better then looking like some S&M weirdo.

It wasn't long after that, when I finally found the door with the X painted on it. Inside was a bed, a small communications radio, some food, and a few pistols and hand guns, with about 30 bullets. There was also a small first aid kit with a few meds in it. Not much, but it could save my life down the line. A note was left next to the radio instructing me to leave it on and wait for someone to contact me. I spent the next few hours tinkering with the various pistols I had in my collection now. The .32 I'd found outside seemed to be the coolest of the pile, and I took the others apart, to replace some of the older or damaged pieces in the .32. When I was done, I had the sidearm I found outside, a 10mm similar to the one Amata had given me, a few grenades, and a couple boxes of ammo for each gun. Ready to kick some ass!

Well, it feels like forever since I slept in a real bed so time to get some shut-eye. Not much more I can do until I hear from these guys on the radio.

If only they could all be this easy,
Roll :wub:


8.24.77

I was rudely woken up a few minutes ago by Wernher's voice on the two-way. "You actually made it this far! I gotta admit, I really didn't think you would get this far," he said with a chuckle. Man, this guys a creep. He told me it was time to head back. Apparently, the giant hole in the mill, the one with the monkey bars built on top of it : ) is used for gladiator style battles to entertain the slavers. Once a week, they throw a bunch of slaves in there, and make them fight it out with the promise of freedom to the one who survives. Wernher said it was that time again, and that the slaves would be volunteering me for the part. I guess along with freedom comes an audience with Ashur, the lord of The Pitt. The plan was to get me near enough Ashur to steal the cure.

"The slaver that you last talked to, the one that showed you to the Steelyard," Wernher continued, "His name is Everett and he's working for us. Give him all your weapons when you get back. He'll hold on to them until the time is right. You can trust him."

He said everything from this point on was set, and as long as I survived the Arena, we would have the cure by the end of the day.

"How the hell am I supposed to get the cure from Ashur? Its not like he'll just hand it to me." I asked.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head now," again that vile tone he'd used when I'd last seen him angry. "I got a little diversion planned that should keep Ashur and his cronies busy while you're in there. Getting the cure will be a cakewalk after that.

I started gathering my things when I heard his voice again. "One last thing," he said. "There are some steel ingots under the bed. Take them to Everett. We don't want to raise suspicions about what you did out here, now do we."

Guess its time for me to go back out there. Things are about to get crazy again, I just know it. I need to start enjoying the short peaceful times I get out here when I have them. Moments like this don't seem to last long before I'm thrown back out into madness.

I hope to write some more once I'm done with the Arena. I don't know what's gonna happen out there today, and I don't know how long it will be before I have another chance to write, or if I'll ever live long enough to do so. All I can do is wish myself luck I guess, and head out for some gladiator action.

Until next time,
Roll :wub:

great job,
I am stiing here at working and waiting for more.

What. I thought you couldn't post on this thread. WOW pretty long 8.5/10

Nicely done. Nicely done indeed. :thumbsup:

8.25.77

A lot has happened since yesterday. I suppose I have a lot to say about it all, but let me put down the events as they happened, so that I can keep some sort of order to all this. Suffice to say, an important lesson to learn out here is this: Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Trying to look at things as black and white, good or evil appears to be a foolish mistake I won't be making again. In the end, maybe everyone is just selfish and messed up due to the harsh environment people live in out here. I'm not happy about how things worked out in The Pitt, but as much as I can hate myself for my actions, I know I was a pawn in other people's bids for power. If the weak have to suffer for the strong to succeed, so be it. Or so the philosophy of the Wastes appears to be.

I left the safe house with my guns and ammo, and a sack full of steel. I have to admit I was feeling pretty [censored] now that I had some guns and wasn't wearing the slave cloths. I walked back to the Mills entrance with no pretence of caution. The few troggs that came close had their heads blown off. Sure, it was all kind of cool at the time, but in hindsight, probably reckless and incredibly dangerous. I think the rush of holding a pistol in my hand instead of a homemade knife may have gone to my head.

I made it to the Mill without any real trouble though, and knocked loudly on the metal door. Everett answered, making sure no troggs were around before letting me in. Once we were inside, he looked me up and down and commented about how I'd done well out there. "Most people, slave or not, don't make it more then an hour out there," he said with a smile. "You not only survived, but came back with weapons, cloths, and ingots! Should've never doubted you I guess?"

"Now look," he went on, "they ain't ever gonna let you walk around out there with all that gear. You should leave it with me until you finish with the arena battles. Hell, if you can survive the Steelyard, then you have a good chance fighting in that hole too. If you do win, I'll get your stuff back to you before you see Ashur."

I wasn't too excited to drop my new found loot so soon, but he had a point. And at least Everett seemed kinda friendly. If I was gonna leave it with any of the slavers?


I walked out of Everett's? office I guess, and headed past the arena to meet up with Madea downtown, where she had her living space. I was back in the skimpy slave cloths, but what can you do, huh.

As soon as I left the Steel Mill, I could see things were different downtown since the last time I was there. The slaves seemed to have been given a moments rest and were all gathered in the courtyard near Madea's place. I spotted her in the crowd, and walked over.

"You're just in time," she said with some urgency in her voice. "Ashur's about to announce the weekly battle." She pointed to a platform high above the crowd, and I got my first look at "Lord Ashur."

I gotta admit, my first impression of him wasn't what I'd expected. The man stood tall, commanding respect with his very presence. He wore armor that I soon realized was the old pre-war power armor that the U.S. had developed to fight the Chinese. I'd read about the power armor units in the army. They were supposed to be the badest ground troops we had, able to withstand a barrage of bullets, radiation, gas, or anything else someone could throw at them. Unfortunately all the power armor in the world couldn't save anyone from nukes?

Ashur's armor had seen better days. There were missing parts, scratches, and dents all over, but he wore it like it was the finest outfit you ever did see. I don't know if the armor gave him the awe-inspiring presence, or if he made the armor look more powerful. Maybe it was a bit of each, but man, the guy was something to behold.

He started talking, and his voice carried across the courtyard, strong and proud. He kept calling the slaves workers, which I didn't really understand at the time. Talked about how we were all working for a better tomorrow and a bunch of other nonsense propaganda that I guess was supposed to be some sort of slave pep talk. He finally got to what we'd been waiting for when he said, "Everyone here has it in them to achieve more, to step out of the muck that is his lot in life and attain freedom, fortune, and recognition. You can all earn this right, and you have a chance to do so now." His voice seemed to get louder as he continued, "Who here will accept my challenge. Who's ready to become more then what they are now. Who will conquer the arena, and become a champion amongst the men!"

Madea called out from next to me. "We have a champion right here! She will fight in your hole!" Some of the slaves turned to look towards me. I looked at them all, and saw nothing but defeat in their eyes. These people had no hope, and I wondered how many of them were even in on the plan. I doubt too many new much about it. The ones that would take part knew their roles, and would execute them when the time came. But until I succeeded in making it out of here and had my audience with Ashur, they would continue living in misery. Their eyes told me all this and more. I found I couldn't hold their gaze, that too much sorrow filled my heart with their collective sense of defeat, and looked instead back towards Ashur.

For a brief moment, our eyes made contact, and it was as though Ashur saw into my soul. I panicked then, and could swear he'd somehow read my mind. Like he knew our plan, and that the slavers would fall in on me at any moment, and beat me to death for thinking I could oppose this god of The Pitt.

It's amazing how much the roles we are given affect our behavior. The slaves were given humiliating outfits, forced to live in squalor, and men and women who would otherwise be just like me, or anyone in the Vault or in Megaton, turned into these base creatures, unable to even look another human in the eyes, jumping to keep their masters happy. They were given the role of a victim, and they so easily all fell into it. On the far other end of the spectrum was this man with armor that spoke of power. He had authority and respect amongst his men, and every inch of him oozed of godliness. But what would Ashur be if he were to replace one of the slaves. How soon would he too fall to their level, whimpering and cowering in the shadows any time a slaver walked by. And how soon would these slaves become heartless despots if given Ashur's position. How many of them would forget their suffering over night, and embrace their newfound power and position, having no problems causing the daily suffering that took place in The Pitt.

Was Ashur really an evil man? At the time I would have said yes, of course? but was he really any different then the people he subjugated to his will? In the end, if we were all thrown into a room, naked and without rank or class distinction, would you be able to tell slaver form slave?

I lowered my gaze from Ashur's, and I knew he'd won a small victory right then. He would remember this moment if we met later, and he would use this early win to his advantage.

"Well, are you ready for the arena?" Madea said to me. I could hear the desperation in her voice, see the general sense of defeat in her eyes that was shared amongst all the slaves, but there was something else too. Maybe not exactly hope, but something damn near it.

We started heading toward the arena in the Steel Mill. As we walked she explained what I should expect. "You'll have to win three matches. The first will be against other slaves who have volunteered." She saw the look on my face.

"You mean I have to kill other slaves!" I said with obvious anger and frustratio. " No one ever said anything about killing slaves! What other goddamned surprises you guys gonna throw my way before this is all over!"

"I'm sorry," she said, and I could see she meant it. "I know you don't want to do this, but you have to understand, these arena battles happen weekly, and every week, more slaves die in there, with very few ever winning their freedom. The only way to stop this cycle is to let it play out one last time." I felt miserable. I knew what she was saying was true, and that I had to do this. "Please Roll, we're all depending on you."

"Ok," I said, "what happens after the first battle then?"

"If you win? no, when you win, the second fight will be against a trogg. They have a few of them locked away for this purpose. Most slaves left standing after the first battle are already in pretty bad shape by the second fight. Few survive." She let this sink in for a moment before going on. By this point we were in the Mill, and headed to the arena battle prep room. "Your final fight will be against a slaver. A man named Gruber. He used to be like you, a slave fighting his way out of this hellhole. I don't know what happened to him after he won his freedom, but he's volunteered to be the final fighter in the arena against anyone who makes it past the troggs, ever since he won. No one has defeated him yet?"

This was looking worse by the moment. I had some tough fights ahead of me it seemed. We were finally in the prep room, near the door that would lead into the arena. The Slavers were gathering at the mouth of the arena's hole, yelling, drinking, spitting, and behaving in a generally uncivilized manner.

A slaver in the room in charge of prepping the combatants came up to us and said, "Is this slave ready to get her ass handed to her yet? We don't have all day you know!"

"She's ready," said Madea, and she reached over and hugged me tight. "We're all counting on you," she whispered in my ear. "Go out there and kick some ass." It sounded funny coming from her, but it gave me the strength to go on.

"They will drop a bunch of melee weapons down on you as soon as you enter," she told me as she lead me to the door. "Careful not to let anything fall on your head? and good luck!" She hugged me one last time, and then the door was opened, and I stepped out into the arena.

Lights from up above illuminated the hole, and showed me three other points of entry into the area. Each was blocked by a small fenced in area were the combatants waited to be released into the arena. This allowed them to open all four doors at once, so that the hapless gladiators could run out at each other at the same time. My opponents were two men and a woman. I'd seen one of the guys out digging holes when I first arrived at The Pitt. The other two slaves looked unfamiliar, but the prospect of running out there to try to kill them did not become any easier. The arena itself was nothing more then a deep hole, with dirt on the ground and various hazards hastily installed into it, like spikes planted into the walls and large pieces of junk thrown in randomly as obstacles. Dried blood caked most surfaces, and it didn't look like they ever bothered cleaning up after a fight.

I could hear an announcer talking somewhere, pumping the already rowdy crowd of slavers up for the oncoming bloodshed. I didn't pay attention to what he was saying though, instead trying to stay focused. I have to admit, I was pretty scared. The crowd, the smells, the other slaves looking at me with no emotion in their eyes, as though all that mattered was victory, or a final release from this wretched existence that would come with death.

All of a sudden, the chain-linked doors were being raised in front of us, and we all moved out into the arena. I looked up and saw the slavers throwing weapons down at us. Crude, rusty tools like hammers and axes. I quickly picked up a long spear like weapon that fell near me. It was nothing more then a metal pole with a sharpened edge, but the weight of it felt right in my hands.

The two male slaves seemed to have decided that they stood a better chance against the girls, and one went after the other female slave, as the second ran for me with a small hatchet in his hand. He had his weapon raised high above his head and was doing some sort of war scream, but it was immediately obvious he was no fighter. He wasn't paying attention to any opening in his defense, or even that I had a superior weapon compared to his. I braced my self and planted my feet firmly on the ground. As he approached, I lifted the pole in front of me, and quickly stabbed forward. He made a clumsy attempt to dodge the spear, but wasn't ready for it, and before I knew it, blood was spraying out from a deep wound in his chest, and he was screaming in pain. I stabbed once more, this time harder and aiming for his head, and he immediately fell to the floor like a lifeless rag doll.

The other male slave had cut his opponents throat open with a rusty old sword he'd picked up, and was turning his attention towards me. Something about the way he approached told me he was going to be more of a challenge. He didn't run blindly, but instead took his time, as though measuring me up, looking for a weakness. Suddenly he was flying at me. He was quicker then I would have expected from someone who was so poorly nourished, and I was only able to raise the spear up in front of me to block his attack. He didn't stop there though, and kept relentlessly swinging, trying to wear me down. With each blow against my spear, I could feel the shock of metal on metal running up my arms. It was making it difficult to keep up, and I know I had to get on the offensive before it was too late.

I saw my chance, and went for it, thrusting with all my might, but the bastard was ready. He'd mealy feigned an opening so that I would lower my own defenses. He quickly swung again, and managed to knock the spear out of my hands.

It was one of those moments where I was so close to death? like so many times before, I got lucky I think. Or maybe not? My opponent figured I was defenseless, and I think he got careless. He sort of smiled with a victorious look about him, and lowered his sword for a moment to take it all in. I used this opportunity to reach behind me and pull out Wernher's knife. I saw his eyes bulge with the realization that it wasn't over, and before he could do anything, I threw the blade with all my strength straight at him. It found its mark on his sword arm, near the shoulder, and he dropped his weapon in surprised pain. I wasn't about to miss my opportunity and I ran towards him. Using all my weight, I pushed him off his feet, and kept pushing him back as he desperately tried to regain his footing. He didn't have a chance though, as I'd soon found my target, impaling him against some of the spikes coming out of the walls. I think he died instantly.

The first fight was over. The announcer was shouting and the crowed was making all sorts of noise, shaking the cage above the arena that they were watching from, calling out to me, throwing bottles that crashed against the barrier and sprayed alcohol all over the place. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, and I was breathing hard. Blood covered me from head to toe, but fortunately, none of it was mine.

I heard the announcer say trogg, and realized I wouldn't be getting a break in between fights. They were releasing the creature into the arena, and I had only seconds to prepare.

I grabbed my last opponent's sword and held it out in front of me as the beast ran forward, wild and screaming its primal challenge. I think my first fight with one of these monsters had given me some insight as to how it would behave, and I got ready for it to leap into the air in its attack. It did so, but when I tried to move out of its way, it reached out with its claws and managed to tear into my left arm. I cried out in pain, and blood began to pour out of my wound. The trogg had quickly turned around and seeing me hurt was coming back for the kill. Again, it was luck that he hadn't hit my sword arm, and this time I was able to stab before he came close enough to reach me. It howled as my sword cut the flesh near its head. The crowd was going crazy, and the screams from above were drowning out all other sounds, like a depraved sort of white noise, lending an eerie quality of quiet to the environment. It was easy to drown out all distractions as I rode the fervor of the sound, letting it guide me as I moved forward. The trogg hadn't expected to see me take the offensive, and hesitated for a brief moment. That was all I needed, and with one clean cut, I had my sword wedged halfway into its neck. It let out one final scream, and fell to the floor, as the crowd above went crazy, caps quickly changing hands as bets about the fight were resolved, and new wagers were placed.

The announcer was feeding their fervor, saying things like "Ladies and gentleman, she's survived the second challenge! We all know how few make it this far, and we're in for a real treat here. Gruber's gonna have his hands full with this one!"

Unfortunate, I was loosing a lot of blood from my wound. I didn't think I'd be able to keep on my feet too much longer, and I pulled my sword out of the troggs neck as I turned towards the gate from which a well armored man came rushing out. Its no wonder he kept winning the matches, as he held an old, pre-war chainsaw in his hands. How the hell was I expected to beat him with my cruddy old sword!

Gruber came running towards me with the energy of someone who was well fed, well rested, and hadn't just been fighting for their life for five minutes straight. I felt despair starting to creep its way into my thoughts and emotions, and started slowly backing up. Within a few steps however, I was dangerously close to the wall spikes, and knew I needed another tactic if I was to survive this. As he approached me, I threw my sword right at him, knowing full well it wouldn't do much, but instead using it as a distraction to allow me to move around him. It worked! He raised his chainsaw to deflect the sword, and I used the chance to roll towards my original weapon, the spear. I picked it up off the ground, got to a half standing position on one knee, and raised it up in front of me just in time to block the whirling chainsaw blades from slicing me in half. The force of the two weapons colliding was massive, and the spinning blades some how seemed to get caught up against the spear. Before we knew it, both weapons were flying out of our hands.

I was so surprised, I stopped for a second, and it was all he needed to tackle me. Suddenly I had a large, heavy man on top of me, reaching for my neck. His hard armor pushed up against my skin in painful ways, and the stink of his breath filled my nostrils, overpowering all the other smells in the hole. I tried desperately to push his hands away, but instead succeeded in getting one hand away from my neck and on my right eye instead. He pushed his thumb into my eye, and I felt such pain there that I almost blacked out. I was gonna die. I just knew it. It hurt so much that I'd closed my other eye, partly because I just couldn't really take it any more, and partly because I just wanted it all to end right there. I was so tired, and my body hurt all over. I was quickly loosing more and more blood from the wound on my arm, and I was likely now blind in one eye. I felt his weight lifting, and he stood up, as though to bask in the crowds wild cheering.

It was one of those moments again, where I found myself reaching deep inside of myself, almost unconsciously looking for a hidden, final reservoir of strength. I opened my good eye and could see Gruber had turned his back to me, arms raised in triumph. I could see the sword a few feet away, and used every last bit of willpower I had to slowly start crawling towards it. I didn't have much hope really, but refused to die without at least attempting to fight back. Gruber noticed me going for the weapon and laughed. He slowly walked towards his chainsaw, taking his time with each deliberate step, toying with me, enjoying the sense of power he must have felt. He picked it up as my hand closed around the sword hilt, and walked back towards me while pulling the starter rope on the chainsaw in order to get the blades spinning again. The crowed was absolutely crazy by this point, and their screams were deafening. My opponents figure grew larger in my sight as he got closer. I had only one chance, and I took it knowing he didn't really expect me to fight back. As soon as he was within reach, I kicked out at his foot. He lost his balance for a brief moment, and there was a look of mild confusion on his face, as though he couldn't really comprehend what had happened. He stumbled forward, not enough to fall down, but enough so that I was able to raise my sword and let him sort of sink onto it. His weight pushed against the tip of the blade, and next thing I knew, he was slowly impaling himself, chainsaw falling from his limp hands, inches from my head.

By the time my sword came out of his back, having completely torn through the abdomen, his head was inches away from mine. I tried to move out from underneath him, but an intensity in his eyes held me in place. He was still alive, and was looking at me with a mixture of confusion, anger, and finally, acceptance.

"Wernher sent you here, didn't he," he said, and I felt a chill run down my spine. "What you look surprised," he sneered. "You think you're the first person he's recruited to do his dirty work?"

"What do you mean," I stammered. "What the hell are you talking about!"

"Oh yeah, he hired me for this job too. Months ago." He coughed and blood shot out of his mouth. He was dieing, but he was saying something real important too, I just knew it. My pain forgotten, I listened intently. "Yeah, your just his pawn you know. The cure isn't what he said it would be. I found that out the hard way. That's why I didn't do what he wanted, that son of a [censored]. You'll learn too, don't you worry. Once you meet Ashur, everything will be revealed and you'll feel about as used as I did."

"What the hell are you talking about," I demanded again. "What the hell is the cure! What's going on!" I insisted, but Gruber just laughed, and rolled over off my body and onto his back. As his throat filled with blood, his laughter turned into a sick gargling sound that will likely haunt me for the rest of my life.

He was dead, and the through the haze of shock and pain, I could hear the crowd and sensed some people coming into the arena. I felt hands grab me and pick me up, and that was the last thing I remembered before blacking out?

8.25.77

I woke up in an unfamiliar room. There were some recognizable elements to it, but it took me a few moments to realize it was a doctor's office. In contrast to my father's office in the Vault, which was always clean and well organized, this room differed very little from most of the other places in The Pitt. In fact, the only distinguishing features to show it was a medical environment was an old army cot I was laying in, some simple surgical tools, and a much unused jar of old tongue depressors. All of a sudden I realized I'd been looking at everything through one eye.

I reached up to feel bandages running around my head, covering up the injury I received from Gruber. It was then I remembered everything, the fight in the arena that had left me in pretty bad shape, but somehow alive. And now, if what they said was true, I was also freed from slavery. I slowly sat up and saw that my arm was also bandaged, covering what was likely some deep cuts. My head was spinning, and I sat there for a minute, letting things kind of normalize before trying to stand.

The door to the room opened, and a slaver I hadn't seen before walked in. He seemed much older than the rest. He wore thin rimmed glasses, and was sporting a white beard. "Ah, I see the our pit champion is awake," he said with a smile.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, somewhat put off by his apparent friendliness.

"Oh not too long considering how much blood you lost. It's about 7:00 am, the beginning of another lovely day in The Pitt." I could hear a trace of sarcasm there, but ignored it.

"What's up with my eye. Is it out of commission for good?" I asked, though I think I already knew what he was gonna say.

"I'm afraid so champ," he said with a look of disappointment in his eyes. "Gruber did a number on it. Maybe if I had a more advanced facility? I don't know though, even then I think it was likely hopeless."

"So an eye for my freedom huh? seems fair in a sick sort of way?" I trailed off, my thoughts getting gloomy with images of being a one eyed freak for the rest of my life. It's funny though. I was pretty upset at the time, but now, I don't know, it's like a strange badge of courage to me. Like I survived hell and I have this to show for it.

"Hey, hey!" the doctor said, "Now don't you worry about it. You can still see almost as good as before and you have an appointment with Lord Ashur! He was watching the fight you know, and I hear he was really impressed!"

Oh my god! Ashur! The Slaves! THE CURE! I was supposed to be meeting Ashur and carrying out the last part of the plan, but I was also supposed to meet with Madea one last time before I did any of that. Where the hell was she, and for that matter, where the hell was I? I asked the doctor, who told me I was in Uptown, the section of The Pitt the slavers lived in.

"Yeah, Ashur told me to send you over to his office as soon as you were able to stand on your own feet. Oh and Everett dropped of some things for you here. Said you'd gotten them out at the Steel Yard. In fact, I think he said, 'If she can survive the Yard, bring me steel, and become the new arena champion, she should at least have the gear she found out there,'" doing a pretty good impression of Everett in the process. He pointed to a satchel in the corner of the room. I steadily got to my feet and found I was ok to stand. The doctor said I was cleared to go and to check back in a few days to see how things were healing up. And with that, he left the room.

I opened the bag, and sure enough, Everett had remained true to his word. I quickly got out of my bloodied and torn slave outfit and put on the cloths I'd found in the Yard. After arming myself with what was left, I walked out and found myself on the 4th floor of a gutted out old building. Most of the exterior walls had long been destroyed, either from the war or by whatever madness took place since then, and I could look out over the city from the openings, to see many more building just like it. They were connected to each other by a series of walkways constructed from scavenged goods the slavers had found. Well, more likely the slaves? I can't imagine the slavers doing any work like that?

A very mean looking guy who'd been sitting in an old chair nearby smoking a cigarette noticed me, and immediately walked over. "Lord Ashur want to see ya," he said, and sounded every bit the part of the "goon" from the old films.

"I need to go back downtown to grab some things before I can see him," I said, hoping to meet with Madea once more, but his look told me it wasn't going to be an option.

"I said Lord Ashur wants to see ya, and Lord Ashur don't like waiting," he said as he moved a little closer in an intimidating manner.

I wasn't in the mood to be messed with, and now that I had some guns and cloths, I felt a lot of my confidence had returned. So I turned to face him directly, looking straight into his eyes. "Listen meathead," I began, "I just earned my freedom fighting and defeating all sorts of nonsense. I lost an eye, and took some pretty bad scratches. Now if you think some second rate rent-a-pig is gonna intimidate me with his stank cloths and ugly haircut, then you must be even dumber then you look." Oh man, he looked like his top was about to blow, but I went on. "Now if 'Lord Ashur' wants to see me," I said, making sure the sarcasm was understood, "then I'll go see him, but you don't need to act like an ass to make it happen. Now get the hell out of my way!"

I was pretty sure he was gonna hit me right then, but instead he stood to the side, and muttered something about "that way" as he pointed to a large building. I gave him the stink eye for a few more seconds before walking past him and down a series of ramps until I was on the street.

Ashur's palace as some called it, was at the end of the street. There was a courtyard in between the two with a large flaming statue of a man in the center that was set up to continuously burn thanks to some unseen fuel source. I guess it was meant to be intimidating or something, and it was tall enough so that you could walk between its two legs without getting burned. As I came closer to it, I could see slavers walking around as though they lived normal lives. Some of the ground floor rooms of the buildings had even been converted into shops and bars and the like. It wasn't really all that different from Megaton. I mean, to an outside observer, these were just people, men and women, trying to survive in this harsh world with what they had. Only they happened to also have slave, whom they abused constantly, forcing them to work like dogs!

I reached the palatial doorway and took a deep breath before knocking. When no one answered, I opened the door and walked into a beat up old lobby filled with trash and a few slavers hanging around. I'm pretty sure they were guards, but their relaxed, uncaring manner made it hard to tell.

I found the one that looked like the leader of the bunch, and walked up to her. "I'm here to see Ashur," I said, expecting things to get nasty. Instead, the woman's face lit up.

"Oh yeah, you fought in the hole! That was freakin' nuts in there!" she said, and called the other slavers over. "Hey look, it's the new champion! Man, I've seen a lot of fights down there, but that had to be one of the most exciting, I swear!" The other slavers had approached us by this point, and they started congratulating me, telling me they thought I was awesome and so on. It was all real surreal. I mean, just twenty four hours ago, any one of these people would have gunned me down for looking at them funny, and now here they were treating me like an old friend, all because my label changed. I wasn't a slave anymore?

"Go ahead, Ashurs got someone in there right now, but he should be almost done," the head slaver said, and pointed towards the large double doors opposite the exit. I thanked them and walked to the door. As I pushed it open, I heard Ashur's voice from a room at the end of a short hallway.

"Look, I don't care what you think, but we can't push any harder!" he seemed to be arguing with someone. "We already treat these people like dirt, if we come down on them any harder than this whole operation will fall apart!"

"But boss," I heard another angry voice chime in. I was getting closer, and could now see Ashur sitting behind a desk, and a large heavily armed man standing opposite him. "I'm telling you," the big man was saying, "The slaves are up to something, they've been acting real strange lately, and we have evidence that shows they're making crude weapons out of some of the tools and such they use in the Mill. Spook even broke up some sort of meetin' they were havin' out behind the machines. I'm telling you boss, there's trouble brewin'!"

"Don't you think I don't see it Krenshaw!" Ashur insisted. He saw me waiting just outside his office then and told me to wait a second. "Look, tell the men to be on high alert, and I promise we'll deal with this soon. Get the commanders together for a meeting at noon. We may have to resort to some extreme measures before this is all said and done. Now get out of here, I have an important guest I wish to talk too."

Krenshaw didn't seem too pleased with this, but muttered a "Yessir" as he walked out, not even looking at me as he passed by.

"Come in champ!" Ashur said, and I walked into his office. He stood up from his seat, and came around the desk to shake my hand. I have to admit, I felt like a kid sent to the overseers office. The guy radiated power.

"You want a drink? Scotch, gin? Or are you a whisky girl?" Man, it was all so weird. Why was he being so damned friendly! I took a small cup he handed me with some foul smelling liquid and slowly sipped at it, whilst he drank his in one shot.

"Sit down, sit down," he insisted, motioning to the chair in front of the desk, as he sat in his own seat again. So, hey what's your name by the way, I never caught it."

"Why would you," I said, "after all I was just a petty slave wasn't I?" I hadn't meant to do so, but my words practically dripped with venom.

His eyes grew dark for a split second before returning to normal. "I suppose I deserve that," he said. I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. "Look, I'm sure your upset about the whole forced labor business," he started to say.

"I believe it's called slavery," I replied. Again that flash of frustration in his eyes.

"No, I like to call 'em workers. You see young lady?" he again started.

"Roll," I interrupted once more. "My name is Roll."

"Of course," he said, "How rude of me. You see, I don't intend to keep these people as slaves indefinably Roll. In fact, as soon as I achieve my goals, I hope to free all of them and hire them on as paid employees. The operation is just not there yet?" I couldn't believe what he was saying. What the hell did he mean "free them."

"The look in your eyes tells me you don't believe what I'm saying," Ashur continued. "Let me explain. I guess I should start at the beginning. I came here to The Pitt about twenty years ago with the Brotherhood of Steel. You familiar with the Brotherhood? Bunch of guys dressed in power armor scaving old pre-war tech where ever it can be found. Well, we'd come here looking to gather goods from the Mills. Man, you wouldn't believe what The Pitt was like back then. Troggs roamed wild and free, and what sad remnants of humanity existed were a joke?" He paused for a moment, remembering what he must have seen.

"You see, the people out here can't have kids. Not really, considering children are highly susceptible to the radiation that turns people into troggs. It only takes a few weeks before 98% of all babies are mutated freaks. None make it past their 5th birthday? In fact, when we got here, there were very few people who hadn't succumbed to the mutation. To top it all off, raiders constantly attacked, piling even more misery on top of their pathetic lives?" another pause.

"When the Brotherhood showed up, they pretty much shot any and all mutants that came their way, took what few infants they could find who weren't yet mutated, and left as soon as they could."

"And why did you stay behind?" I asked. "Saw an opportunity to instill yourself as a minor deity here?"

"Well, look at you!" he said, and instead of anger, he was smiling. "Minor deity! Hah, we got ourselves an educated Wastelander don't we." He laughed again, and then continued. "No, there was an explosion. A bunch of rubble fell on me, and I was trapped. I can only assume my brothers assumed I was dead, and left me behind. When I came to, some of those raiders were digging me out of the rubble, hoping to scav my power armor. When they saw I was still alive, well, they pretty much thought I was the badest guy they'd ever seen, which was probably true considering the crap holes they lived in. I mean, they were hardly any better off than the people they robbed and terrorized."

"Anyhow, with my gear and training, it was pretty easy to whip them all up into a more organized force, and show the gang leaders who was in charge. We drove the troggs out of the Mill and the parts of town around it, set up all the electricity and lighting equipment, and in a few months we had a small working town here. Troggs can't stand the light, you see. Best way to keep 'em out of town.
We had another problem though. Like I said, people here can't breed, since all their kids turn into monstrous freaks, so I knew it was only a matter of time before we ran out of people able to work the Mills."

He must have seen the look on my face. This was a lot of information to take in all at once. "You were down there. You saw what I've got going here. Working factories! As far as I know, this is the only place within a thousand miles that is able to produce new goods! I look at those plumes of smoke rising from my mill, and I see a future where people from all over flock to The Pitt for a better life. I know what you're thinking, I mean this place is still crap right now, but in a few more years, I know I can turn it all around. It will only be a matter of time before we can start re-building the world with the goods we produce here! Can't you see it!" And I could see he really believed what he was saying. There was passion in his eyes as he spoke, that was unlike anything I'd seen out here in the wastes. After so much hopelessness all around me, seeing someone who really seemed to believe in the future was, well, it was almost unreal.

"And what about the slavery." I said, "you still haven't explained why you need to enslave and terrorize all these people in order to build your happy future?"

"Ah yes," he replied, "Let me explain. First off, I hate using slaves. I deplore slavery in every form. Hell, I tell you, I expect I'll have to pay for this someday, but you have to believe me when I say there is no other way. We just don't have enough people out here to make this all a reality. And the zero percent birthrate doesn't help that at all."

"How about the slavers, you can't use them to run the Mill?" I asked.

"Well, that's what we did at first, but someone has to go out and find food and supplies and ammo to keep the troggs at bay, and well, running a town requires lots of man power and resources? two things we didn't have." He stopped and lit two cigarette, handing one to me.

I'm not really used to smoking, but I took it without thinking, and didn't notice what I was doing until I started coughing. He ignored it and went on.

"That first shipment of slaves that came in from Paradise Falls? It was one of the hardest days of my life. I think the guilt caused me to age five years that night. I've never been the same I don't think since then?" Again he went quiet, and I could see he was re-living that day in his mind. Was this guy for real. Did he really mean all this. Being forced to go against your own beliefs for the sake of the greater good. Struggling with your actions every day knowing that it would lead to a better world tomorrow. A world free of the very sin you committed to achieve this goal.

"So you bought in the slaves to work the Mills, and used the remaining raiders to scavenge food and goods to keep everything going, and one day this will all be a happy world again thanks to your tireless efforts, is that what you're saying?"

"Well, there is one more thing." He smiled at me, and the smile said many things, few of which I was able to pick up on right then. "There's one thing that's going to change all this." He leaned in closer, like he was about to tell me a huge secret, though I thought I already knew what he was talking about.

"We have a cure."

Damn, Wernher was right.

"Well, it's not ready yet, but soon? soon we will be able to cure everyone of the mutations. Soon, people out here will be able to have children again, and they will be able to watch their kids grow to be proud men and women who work in the Mill, making an honest living and making the world a better place." He smiled, and looked right at me. "We're close. Very close. As soon as we finish the cure, we can make this a habitable environment again. And when we can start going as a town, when people can have kids again, then, I will free all the workers, and things will be better."

I can tell you, I was pretty blown away by it all. Was this guy for real. I mean all this time, I'd directed so much anger and hatred towards the evil slave master hiding in his palace, living off the labors of the poor people he owned! Owned! But here he was telling me a different story. What was I suppose to do. For that matter, what was the plan. I'd never been filled in on the next step, and had no idea what Wernher's diversion would be, or how I was suppose to get my hands on this cure. Is this why Gruber had turned against Wernher? Because of Ashur's plan? But what had he meant by saying I didn't even know what the cure was?

My thoughts were interrupted when Ashur spoke again. "Well now, I've been very open with you, bearing my soul if you will, and yet I know nothing about you. Tell me Roll, what's a Wastelander like you doing out here. Something tells me it wouldn't have been so easy to just take you as a slave." He again leaned forward, only this time instead of divulging his secrets to me, it was meant to work the other way around. "How did you get here Roll. Who bought you here?"

Did he know? Was there some way he'd found out what I was really doing here? I had no response, so he continued on. "It wouldn't be the first time my old partner tried to send someone up here to steal the cure you know."

A blind man would have seen the terror in my eyes. He knew! He was referring to Gruber and? Wernher? Was Wernher his old partner? He'd told me he was a slave. What else could that bastard have lied about?

Ashur looked at me, "Look, you don't have to tell me anything just now. You have a lot of new information to process, and you haven't even seen the cure yet. Why don't we go meet my wife, and she can tell you all about it?"

He was interrupted by the intercom on his desk. I recognized Krenshaw's voice on the other end.

"Sir! The slaves are revolting. They've already killed some of our men! Where the hell did they get weapons! Damn it! We need you out here Ashur!"

"Damn!" Ashur said as he slammed his fist on the desk. "I don't need this right now." He pushed a button on the intercom and spoke into it. "I'm on my way."

He stood up and picked up a rifle resting against the wall behind his desk. "Look, why don't you go meet my wife, I gotta go deal with this mess. She can show you the cure. I think you need to see it to understand everything." As he walked to the exit, he turned around one last time.

"Just remember, if Wernher did put you up to this, he's not a good guy. I mean, I know I'm not one to talk, being king slaver out here and all, but watch your back with that one?" And with that he walked out of his office.

Well, things were pretty crazy by this point, but I had one last surprise. I walked through the door he'd directed me towards, and saw another door at the end of a hall that had the word "Lab" written on it. Must be where his wife was working on the cure.

I knocked on the door, and a voice from the other side told me to come in. I have to say, the lab was a bit of a shock. I mean, the entire Pitt was covered in filth and debris, but this was the first room I'd seen that was clean. And not just clean, but it felt like I was in the Vault again. The equipment on the walls and tables was far more advanced than anything I'd seen so far out in the Wastes. The tiled floor was swept and immaculate. The walls even looked like someone had recently applied new wall paper to them!

A smiling, happy woman in a white lab coat greeted me at the door. I was about to say hello when I saw it.

It was a small baby. A beautiful, healthy baby!

"But, Ashur said people couldn't have kids out here?" I began to stammer. "How? I mean? is the cure complete? Did you cure this baby!" I asked the smiling woman.

She laughed and put a friendly hand on my shoulder. "He didn't tell you did he?" she said. "No, we didn't cure her. Let me introduce you to our baby girl. Meet Marie, or as my husband likes to refer to her, 'The Cure!' Marie is completely immune to the radiation."

8.25.77

A freakin BABY! The cure I was supposed to steal was a damned real life baby! Goddamned Wernher! I knew that son of [censored] couldn't be trusted. Man, I was so pissed! (In case the exclamation marks don't properly express that).

Well, I had a pretty serious dilemma on my hands. On the one hand, I really didn't want to take these people's baby. Ashur may be an idiot (the guys a slaver no matter how pretty a picture he paints) but he claimed to be trying to do something good. Argh, I swear no matter what I'd done then, it would have led to regret and guilt. I mean, if I took the baby/cure, then I would have some upset parents who would likely respond with what they knew best out here in the wastes, violence. On the other I couldn't just leave it behind. The slaves weren't revolting because they stood a chance at freedom that way. It was just the diversion I'd been told about. If I left this baby behind, all those people would die, the revolt would end in disaster, and every one of their miserable lives would be the worse for it.

I had to steal a baby from a man who had just invited me into his home, and laid out a plan that was likely the best damned hope for the entire region. I think if I'd just walked in there having never seen the horrors the slaves went through, I would have excepted Ashur's ideas, maybe even joined up with him. I don't know now, but there seemed so much more potential for good at the time if I took the kid. I thought maybe the slaves could negotiate something. Better conditions or freedom or something. Maybe even find the cure themselves. I just don't know now.

Ashur's wife was saying something about being able to use their child to develop a cure when I just blurted out, "I have to take you baby. I'm sorry."

The mother's eyes immediately narrowed and she moved between me and her child. All the friendliness was gone, replaced by a mixture of fear and hate, directed at this outsider who'd come to steal her offspring.

"You stay the hell away from Marie!" she insisted, but I brushed her aside somewhat more forcefully then I'd wanted to, and walked to the crib. The little girl was sleeping quietly, sort of svcking on one end of her blanket. God, it's so rare to see babies. Even in the Vault, a new baby came around about once every few years. Just not enough space for too many people. And though I hadn't been out in the wastes for too long, this was still the first baby I'd seen here. Under normal circumstances I'd be smiling and cooing at this little gem of life, reveling in its cute little hands and feet, and her button nose. But now, I was about to do one of the hardest things in my life.

I carefully picked up the infant, making sure to support her head and neck like I'd learned in the Vault. I held this little person close to me, and slowly turned around to see Ashurs wife in tears, holding a gun.

"You leave my baby alone," she half sobbed, half screamed at me. "You leave my [censored] baby alone!"

"You don't want to shoot me," I heard the words coming from my own mouth and was shocked at how cold they sounded. "You shoot me now, and you know there's a good chance of hurting your kid."

I could see she understood this, read the recognition of it in her crazed eyes. She was in some sort of primal protective state, refusing to even blink lest I disappear with her kid. I slowly began backing up out of the room, and for every step I took, she mirrored it with her own, following me out into Ashur's office.

"Ashur's gonna kill you when he finds out what you've done," she screamed at me. "Give me my baby! Please, just give me back my baby!" She was hysterical, making angry threats followed by desperate tear choked pleas for her child. I hated myself. Every tear, every horrified word out of her mouth felt like a stab in the heart. God, I didn't want to be doing this. But if I stopped now, all the slaves out there would be dead! I also had another dilemma. I couldn't hold a gun too well with this delicate little thing in my arms. How was I supposed to get away from the kids gun wielding crazed mother, and make it through what was likely a complete war zone outside. As though she could feel her mother's distress, Marie began crying. I did my best to ignore it.

I didn't really have a plan, and so I continued moving towards the exit. All the slavers had left the building with Ashur to deal with the revolt, and it was only me, the baby, and its mother. As I reached the final door leading to Uptown, I realized this woman wasn't about to stop following. "My husband has snipers all over Uptown!" she was screaming. "As soon as you step out there, they'll fill you full of bullets without harming one hair on Marie's head!"

The snipers were busy with the slaves though, just like everyone else that could have stood in my way. If I can't say anything else about Wernher, the man can orchestrate a good diversion. I pushed the door open and stepped outside.

It was madness. Bodies lay all over the place slave and slaver alike. Many of the slaves had gotten guns, and many more were using tools and improvised weapons to fight the slavers. Despite the chaos, it was obvious they didn't stand a chance in the long run though. They'd taken their masters by surprise, but even now I could see the slavers were re-organizing, and the tide of battle would change in the next five minutes. If I didn't hurry up with this kid, everyone of these slaves would be dead.

I kept moving slowly as I crossed the courtyard, Marie's mom following me every step of the way. As we passed under the burning statue, there was this moment of calm, like everything slowed down, and reality faded to the background somewhere. Even the baby stopped it's wailing. For that one moment, it was again just the three of us, me with the kid, and the hysterical mother pointing her gun. And then, a strange serenity crept into her eyes. She lowered her gun a bit, almost seemed to smile as she mouthed the words "I love you" to her child. Crimson sprayed out from one side of her head, and her feet seemed to float inches above the earth for a brief moment. I could feel myself calling out to her, begging her not to be shot, but words weren't actually coming out of my mouth. Marie's mother collapsed to the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming around her head.

I remember kneeling besides her as bullets flew overhead. There was a calm in her lifeless eyes, like she'd foreseen her own death, and found acceptance in it a moment before it happened. I never even caught her name. I slowly stood up, now oblivious to the violence that surrounded me. I just wanted it to all end right then. I felt so tired, and confused, and angry. But mostly just tired. I walked through the fighting like a ghost. Everyone ignored me somehow as I held the child close, and made my way towards Downtown. I could feel tears that refused to drop, just building up behind my eyes, making them hurt with the pressure. I didn't want her to die. I didn't want any of these people to die. Not even the slavers?

As I approached the doors leading downtown, Madea burst through them moving quickly towards me. She had a few armed slaves with her, and I think they'd been looking for me.

"Oh, thank god we found you," she cried with relief, "And you have the cure!" I was taken aback. I don't know why, but somehow I hadn't imagined that she knew the cure was a baby. She'd been so good to me, so gentle and caring when I needed comfort, that I just couldn't imagine her encouraging a kidnapping! I figured Wernher was the only one. I felt betrayed by her, by Wernher, by all the slaves.

"You knew didn't you," I said in a cold emotionless voice. "She looked at me with an expression I didn't recognize. She was studying my face, trying to read me.

"Well yeah, of course I knew," she said in a slow and calm tone. "The cure is Ashur's kid. It doesn't change anything though. This child is the key to our liberation."

"Why didn't you tell me!" I insisted, and my voice was no longer calm. It was full of deep seething rage. The armed slaves who'd up till that moment been keeping watch of our surroundings suddenly turned their attention to me. Would they shoot me for the baby? I didn't doubt it for a second. "Where is Wernher?" I asked.

Madea relaxed a bit, hoping maybe despite my anger, I would still carry out the plan, take the child to Wernher, and let them do what they needed with it. "He's at the safe house in the Steel Yard," she said. "He's waiting for you there. We have a lab set up to begin tests on the kid. It won't be long until we have the cure and our freedom! Why don't you hand the baby over, and we'll take her to Wernher together."

"I think I can take her myself," I said, and saw that they weren't going to let me do so. I looked at the armed slaves who I was liberating, and who were now ready to shoot me without hesitation. Things were about to get ugly again.

That's when the lights went out.

"Oh my god, he already did it," I heard Madea say.

"Did what," I insisted, "What just happened, why are all the lights off?" I could hear the shooting dying down. Everyone was looking around, and a new kind of fear was making its way onto their collective consciousness.

"He killed the lights in Uptown!" I remembered then what Ashur had said. The troggs! They were kept out of the residential areas of The Pitt with the lights. No lights meant this whole area would be overrun with mutants!

"Wernher did this? Is he crazy! He'll kill everybody," I yelled, anger filling me to the brim.

"He was supposed to wait until the slaves were all out. Why did he do this so soon!" Madea looked distressed. This was obviously not part of the plan.

"No," I said, realization dawning for the first time. "No, he killed the lights at just the right time." She looked at me, dumbfounded. "Wernher wasn't gonna wait to give his former fellow slavers a chance. He wants them out of the way for good." Even as I was saying this, I could hear screams coming from the other end of Uptown.

The troggs were here.

"Oh my god," I heard Madea panicking. The other slaves with her were frantically looking around, trying to see into the darkness, searching for the inevitable horde that would swarm the area any second.

"You still want me to take this baby to Wernher?" I asked venomously. "He seems awfully willing to sacrifice the lot of you for his personal gain doesn't he." Recognition was dawning on her and the others slaves. They'd been duped. All of them were merely hapless pawns in Wernher's plans. He'd used slaves and slavers alike in his bid for power, and he didn't care who died along the way, or about the damage done to The Pitt in the process. All the progress Ashur had made over the course of twenty years was destroyed in less than an hour, and I allowed it to happen. I MADE it happen!

"This place is finished," I said to the slaves in front of me. "I suggest you guys try to get as far from here as you can. There will be no more Pitt by the end of the night." The slaves looked at me with despair. They had found hope after years of hell, and just as soon as it had manifested, it was gone. In place of the cruel life that existed here before was a new horror. The Pitt belonged to the troggs once again. "Go! Go now before it's too late! Before I have your deaths on my conscious as well!"

They looked back at me, dazed and confused, and then one by one, with Madea leading the way, they turned around, and walked away. It was over and they knew that. The screams were getting louder. The troggs were well into Uptown now, and slave and slaver alike were being torn to pieces out there in the darkness.

Wernher! That bastard! It was time to end this. I started making my way back to the Mill, going through Downtown. The lights were off here as well, though I don't know if they were meant to be. No lights anywhere meant even Wernher was stuck with no escape. No, whatever his plan may have been, the lights going out everywhere wasn't part of it. This was a mistake, and one that would likely cost the lives of everyone in The Pitt. The Mill was deserted. Everyone must have been Uptown. God, how many of them must have died up there? Everyone I guess. Every last goddamned human was dead or dying.

I walked through the Steelyard without seeing a single trogg. They must have been stepping over each other with anticipation at the abundant food source that was given them with the death of the lights. I reached the stairs leading to the safe house, and slowly began to climb, a million thoughts running through my head. What the hell was I supposed to do now. Every ounce of me wanted to go in there guns blazing, and take that [censored] down. But I held Marie in my arms still, and I doubted she would have stopped Wernher from doing something stupid. The guy was willing to kill every last person in The Pitt for his "cure," what other steps would he take.

Before I could come up with a plan, I was there, facing the door. I didn't know what I would do, but I knew I needed one hand free in case it came to a shooting, and the loaded weapon at my side was itching to fill Wernher full of lead. I positioned Marie in a way so that she was resting in the crook of my bandaged arm. It hurt, but I ignored it. I was thankful that the baby had kept quiet so far despite the chaos we'd gone through. In fact she hadn't made a peep since her mother died.

I took a deep breath, and opened the door. It was as though another force controlled me in that room. I remember walking in, and without thinking, I had my gun pressed firmly on Wernher's temple before he could even react. He'd been sitting in front of the radio, doing something with it, and his gun hung from its holster out of reach near the bed. He looked at me with his one eye, and smiled that old evil smile of his. The one that had reminded me so much of Moriarty.

"So the hero of The Pitt returns," he said, never losing the smile. "What's the problem hero? You seem upset."

"Screw you Wernher!" I yelled. "Everyone is dead you bastard! The Pitt is finished! What the hell did you even have to gain from all this! What do you get out of killing everyone!"

"Oh come on, don't be stupid!" he yelled back, and I found myself suddenly feeling afraid. This man was crazy, I could see that now. I didn't know how I'd missed it for so long. "It's about the money baby! I thought you'd figured that out by now. You know how much this baby is worth! I have buyers lined up back in the Capital Wasteland just dying to give me all their caps for this brat. Tenpenny, Eulogy, hell even one of the ghouls in Underworld wants this kid. I could walk out of this with a hundred thousand caps easy!"

"You bastard!" I screamed. "Is that what this has been all about! Goddamned bottle caps! Hundreds of people dead because you?" I couldn't even finish my thought. All this suffering, all this madness and death. Ashur's plans for a better future, the slaves hopes for liberation, everyone's dream of a cure, all of it, destroyed by one man's greed.

"Come on! You'll get your reward too! We can split the profits when we sell this little brat off! You'll be richer then you can imagine!"

"I don't want your riches!" I screamed. "I didn't want any of this!" Then Marie began crying again, and tears were welling up in my own eyes too. "You goddamned bastard, you selfish evil bastard!"

I think he realized I wasn't going along with it, because he suddenly reached for his gun. It was a stupid move. I pulled the trigger and the wall behind him was instantly covered in bits of skull and brains. His limp body fell off the chair, and I too fell to my knees next to the bed. I held Marie close and sobbed. We cried for some time I think, cried for everyone who was gone, for all the damage that was caused by shortsightedness and greed.

I found the rest of my things there before I left. Wernher must have brought them with him. Amata's gun was there, along with my other weapons, ammo, and supplies. There was also some baby food and dry milk there. I gathered it all up, and as a final memento of this sad set of events, I took Wernher's eye patch from the remains of his head. I pulled off my bandages and put the patch on instead. It would be a reminder, next time someone offered me a job like this, nest time I thought I was going to run in somewhere and save everyone and play hero, I could feel this eye patch and remember what had happened here.

There was only one more event worth mentioning on my way back to the train yard from which this had all begun.

I was walking through a part of downtown next to a tall chain link fence when Ashur suddenly appeared on the other side. He looked at me with sad, empty eyes, and I could see all his dreams were gone. He was as desperate and hopeless as the slaves that crowded these streets only yesterday.

He put his hands on the fence and looked at me and his baby. "You'll take care of her wont you," he said, and the sadness in his voice made me want to cry again.

"Ashur, I'm so sorry?" I began but realized how meaningless my words were now.

"Don't be," he said. "I told you I expected my punishment to come one day. I needed to pay for my sins, and now, with my wife dead, my city in ruins, and my baby out of reach, I've gotten my just reward. I wanted to say something, to tell him he didn't deserve this, that there was no justice here. But I just stared back. "Please, look after her. Raise her well, and know that I only wanted the best for her, I wanted to raise my baby in a better world then this. I'm sorry?"

I wanted to yell out, to tell him to come with us. No one need know what he'd done here. Another life could be had in the Capital Wasteland with his daughter if he wanted it. But his face told me that wasn't really an option. This was simply a shadow of the great Lord Ashur in front of me.

As I looked at him, I could hear the sound of claws on concrete. The troggs were coming. Ashur took one last look at his child, said "I love you Marie, please forgive me?" and he turned around to face the gathering horde behind him?

The Pitt is finished. I'm writing this from the tunnel somewhere on the way to the Capital Wasteland. Marie is sleeping soundly next to me. I guess I'm gonna have to find a home for the kid. Maybe I'll have to raise her myself. I don't know. It's likely a lot of other people will come looking for her when they don't hear from Wernher. Oh well. I can think about all that tomorrow. Right now, I'm tired, and need to rest. I'm so very tired?

Until next time,
Roll

And so it was that Uptown fell, and the Pitt was no more, and as I looked upon the madness that one man wrought, I thought it a damn shame.

Amazingly good, two thumbs up. It really gave me an inspiration to play some more and maybe write down something like that.
I have to admit though, I really like the style of your writing and the language was pretty good. I'd love to read more of the Roll journal.
I was awed the entire time that I was reading it. Once again exellent job.

Thanks for all the feedback guys, really appreciate it! I think I'll be taking a break from it for a few days, and then plan to take it all somewhere pretty different. Maybe in a new post, though I'll make sure to link the two. In the meantime, I hope you can enjoy what I have here, and keep the feedback coming, it means a lot!

Growing Up...

After the incidents at The Pitt, Roll changed in many ways, one of which was to cut down her journal entries significantly. She was more withdrawn and quiet as well, and though she went on to do many great things, a part of her was lost in The Pitt that would never return. The following are selections of journal entries from the next eighteen years that report significant landmarks and events in her life.

8.26.77

I reached Megaton with Marie today. I've decided to raise her myself, though most people here seem pretty excited about having a baby in town and I think finding people to help take care of her will be easy. Here's to my new life as a mother.

11.05.77

Marie started crawling today. She's already making sounds and responding to toys and such. Gob's gift of an old teddy bear is her favorite. Manya looks after her when I go out scaving. I've started selling things I gather in the wastes to merchants in Megaton and Rivet City: an old inoperable aircraft carrier that's been converted to the largest city in the Capital Wasteland.

11.23.77

Attended Angela Staley and Diego's wedding today, a young couple living in Rivet City. It was a beautiful thing in this sometimes ugly world. I wish them the best.

12.13.77

Stumbled upon a place called Big Town today. It's inhabited by teenagers, and is in bad shape. I plan to make regular stops here to trade. I'll sell cheap to these poor kids, since they can use the weapons and supplies more then the better established cities.

02.17.78

Crazy Wolfgang and Crow, two traveling merchants took me to Canterbury Commons today where I met a man named Roe who's established a sort of network of merchants in the area. We discussed advancing the business and investing caps to help it grow. As a result, we founded the Merchant's Guild, a loose network of traders working together and coordinating supply routes for better efficiency.

05.05.78

Since I don't actually know Marie's birthday, I decided to celebrate on May 5th from now on. A lot more people showed up then I'd expected to her party, but I guess it's a pretty big deal with her being the youngest person in Megaton. She's already walking and calls me Mama. She's claimed Manya as "Nana."

8.17.78

Diego and Angela had a baby girl today. They've named her Straw. Rivet City's been trying to incite me to move there. I love Megaton, but I could be more effective in expanding the Merchant's Guild from Rivet City.

9.30.78

As far as we know, every merchant in every major establishment (excluding slavers and raiders of course) has joined the Merchant's Guild. Tenpenny refuses to associate with us and we have decided to not send traders there. After we held elections, they voted me president of the guild. Considering the amount of work I've been doing with the Guild so far, this was more of a formality to acknowledge my responsibilities then any real addition of power or position.

4.12.79

Using Guild dues, we've hired Reilly's Rangers (a local mercenary troupe of some repute) to patrol and guard the trade routes. Already seeing better trade conditions!

05.05.79

On Marie's second birthday, we officially began calling the Guild the Capital Traders as that's the name most people call us anyway. Marie is already talking. She really likes interacting with the robots in town.

09.15.79

Established a major trading post in Big Town today, including hiring full time guards to protect the place. Not only will this help the town prosper, but its location is ideal as a midway point along numerous trade routes.

04.24.80

Slavers from Paradise Falls attacked Big Town today, and captured numerous citizens plus our local trade manager. They also killed two guards. We've decided swift action is the best was to deal with this, and set an example.

4.25.80

With a group of Reilly's Rangers, security personnel from Rivet City, Lucas Simms, the trader Lucky, and myself, we attacked Paradise Falls. They weren't expecting such a force to be mobilized so quickly (or at all) and were taken completely by surprise. Most of the slavers are already dead, with a few holed up in Eulogies home. It's only a matter of time before we get that bastard.

4.27.80

After intense negotiations failed to resolve anything, we went in by force. Eulogy, two of his officers, and a total of fourteen slavers were captured and put under arrest. They will be transported to Rivet City for the first Capital Wasteland trial. We were also able to rescue all the kidnapped people from Big City, plus five more slaves. One of them, a boy named Bryan Wilks claims to be the last survivor of an old settlement called Greyditch. He's being taken to Rivet City to stay with Vera Weatherly, the local innkeeper.

05.05.80

Marie made her first visit to Rivet City with me yesterday. I needed to be here for the Slaver Trials (as there being called now), but didn't want to miss her 3rd birthday. She's curious about absolutely everything, and never stops asking questions. The trials have begun with the slaver grunts today.

05.13.80

All the slavers have been found guilty. They have terms of five to twenty five years in the prison established in Rivet City. Eulogy will be executed tomorrow at dawn. I don't agree with this decision. There is already enough death in the Wasteland, but I fear a mob would just lynch him if we didn't finish it ourselves. At least this way it's done in a structural system, and enforces the rule of law. On a side note, Marie and Straw have been playing together and hanging out since we got here. It's good for Marie to have a friend closer to her age.

05.05.81

Capital Traders has been very prosperous. We've since established a new settlement in Paradise Falls, and officially changed the name to Paradise, to distinguish it from its dark past. Big town has been growing rapidly (almost too fast), and the locals are doing very well. They were talking about erecting a statue of me in the center of town, but I persuaded them to abandon that plan. Who said good deeds couldn't lead to financial earnings!

Tenpenny's Tower has agreed to join the Traders at last, as their local economy was stagnating without outside trade. It was a harsh way to gain their cooperation, essentially placing sanctions against them, but I think I can help everyone there now that they have agreed to work with us.

Finally, Marie is doing great. Manya acts as her tutor, teaching her all sorts of things from pre-war books we sometimes find on our scav missions (we've created scavenger squads to comb the wasteland looking for goods). She spends a lot of time with Moira, the town mechanic and member of good standing with Capital Traders. Marie almost gets a second education there, learning about machines and repairs and the like. Moira says she's real talented. Her closest friends in town are Billy Creel's adopted daughter Maggie and Lucas' son Harden. The two are about seven or eight years older then her, but include her in all their games and look after her.

07.16.82

Marie built a device that can shoot junk up to 10 feet today. Well, I guess she's been working on it with Moira (who insists Marie's done the bulk of the work) for a couple weeks now, but I can't believe a five year old can put together such a thing. Hell, I can't even build anything half as good. The best part is, she did it with scavenged junk from the area! I guess Moira was right to say she's really talented. The kids have been launching things all afternoon outside the city gates.

09.12.82

Marie has developed her Rock-it Launcher (she made up the name) to the point where it's become pretty dangerous. It can shoot a small rock through sheet metal at close range. Moira suggested mass producing the thing as a defense system for towns. Plans to make a larger version that can be mounted like canons around city gates are being drafted by her and Marie. Again, how the hell is that kid doing it!

12.13.82

The first shipments of Rock-it Launchers were sent out to all the towns and cities in the Capital Wasteland today. We have established a separate business called Eirem Supplies (Marie spelled backwards) to produce more and develop new products that can be built with scavenged junk parts. Moira and Marie have been working on new designs already.

03.01.85

Billy Creels daughter Maggie died today when a poorly built structure collapsed on her. Marie was standing right next to her when it happened. I can't believe I almost lost my little girl! Billy's been a complete mess. I don't think I'd ever seen him drink liquor until today. Maries pretty upset about it too, but I think Harden's taking it much harder as he's older and understands death better. Also, him and Maggie were very close, almost inseparable. It's a dark day in Megaton.

03.03.85

Billy Creel has been missing since yesterday morning. No one knows what happened to him.

6.23.86

Just an update. Capital Traders has become one of the most powerful organizations in the region. Thanks to our efforts, the local cities and towns are all safer and more prosperous. Slavery is almost completely non-existent here, and most of the raider groups have been broken up, destroyed, or arrested. We've even established good relations with the Brotherhood of Steel, discussing plans to clear the DC area of super mutants.

Moriarty died of a heart attack a few months ago, and since then Gob and Nova have taken control of the saloon. No one's complaining. I never talked to him about my father since my first meeting him, and have likely spoken less than ten words with the jerk since. I've heard nothing from my dad since I left the Vault. I suppose it is what it is. Maybe I'll never know why he left, why he abandoned me.

Marie has developed a number of products at this point made from scavenged junk. Eirem Supplies is doing great, having become a household name in the Capital Wasteland.

Our trade caravans have been going farther and farther out of the area with each passing season. We've established trade relations with numerous towns in neighboring regions. Capital Traders is quickly becoming anologous with hope for a better tomorrow. Its all putting pressure on me to see it succeed even more. I'm just so glad I can help people out like this!

I spend half my days in Rivet City now, and Marie regularly travels there with me. Her and Straw are very close friends, with Straw even coming to Megaton sometimes to stay for weeks at a time.

Finally, I've secretly had the Rivet City science team begin researching blood and tissue samples from Marie. I held off on this for a long time fearing it would attract attention to her, and endanger her life, but considering how much safer things are around here, and how much good a cure for mutation can do for the people in the Wastes, I feel it needs to be done. Still, we are trying to keep it very low profile.

1.29.88

Using a large cache of weapons and supplies our scav teams found, we've built a small army comprised of people from the Brotherhood, Reilly's Rangers, and locals to sweep the DC mall and clear it of super mutants. The first squads begin deployment tomorrow.

Also, we have established the 1st Capital Wasteland library in Megaton, containing over five hundred pre-war books. The people here seem to really appreciate it, and I think it will help with the overall education levels of everyone in the region!

05.05.88

Marie is eleven years old today. She travels around the Wasteland with me on a regular basis. Last month she even took down her first mole rat with a modified BB gun of her own design. I won't let her play with guns, but told her a BB gun was ok. I should have known she would modify it to become more powerful then some standard handguns.

We've suffered significant casualties in the Mall, but I can safely say that 90% of the mutant threat has been contained. It's only a matter of months before the Mall will be safe for people to travel through!

Harden Simms has become the informal sheriff in Megaton. His dad still holds the title, but Harden takes care of most of the duties. He's become a real good shot with a rifle, and has proven to be wise beyond his eighteen years on this earth, dealing with local trouble effectively and mostly without having to resort to violence. Despite his popularity in town, he remains withdrawn and quiet, something Lucas constantly worries about.

Progress has been slow on finding a cure for mutation. Despite having the best science lab this side of the Americas, we still don't know enough about genetics to really understand how her system is immune to mutation. Still, we are moving forward, albeit slowly.

10.27.89

Dave of the Republic of Dave died due to a rad scorpion sting last week, and the people who lived there have been relocated to Rivet City, Megaton, and Big Town seeing as Dave was the only one really holding that place together. We weren't really allowed much access to the republic before Dave's death, as he had a strong isolationist stance, but seeing the horrid conditions they'd been living in all these years, I'm glad the old despot finally passed.

05.05.91

Things have been moving forward steadily. People from all over come to the Capital Wasteland with the promise of jobs and a better life. Its difficult dealing with the huge influx of immigration to the area, but we welcome all new comers with open arms, and do what we can to help them get established.

Though progress on a cure for mutation is still slow, the scientists in rivet City have made great leaps in cleansing radiation from soil samples. They think we may begin pilot farming programs as early as the spring of 92. The introduction of widespread agriculture could do wonders for people around here!

Straw's parents let her come along on a lot of trade caravans with Marie and me these days, and where Marie excelles at machines and building things, Straw is an electronics genius. The two girls have been working on something for months now in Marie's garage. She built a large work area for herself with some of the money she's made with her inventions. They keep asking to go out scaving on their own, but at fourteen and thirteen years, I think they are way too young. The Wastes may be much safer these days, but still? I just hope they don't sneak out to do it.

02.12.92

The girls finally unveiled their project to a crowd gathered outside Megaton today. I can't believe it, but they've actually put together a working vehicle! They used a small bus frame for the body and it runs on treads like a pre-war tank. Its powered by solar energy, using advanced solar panels we've scavenged and can go up to about 25 mph under ideal conditions. They built it with transportation of goods and trade in mind. It's really a marvel of engineering and electronics. Unfortunately, many of the parts they used are pretty hard to find, so mass production of any sorts isn't in the immediate future. As proud of the two as I was, I immediately noticed a number of parts on the thing that none of my people scavenged, leading me to believe they have been going out into the wastes on their own. I'll have to have a talk with them about it tonight.

05.05.92

After a number of modifications and upgrades, the TankBus (their idea for the name, not mine!) made its first test run today from Megaton to Rivet City. Aside from getting stuck in some debris at one point, it proved to work great! It can carry as many goods as eight strong brahmin, can be operated by a single person (though can hold up to six passengers comfortably), and is much safer against attack then being on foot. The girls have already begun making plans for improved traction to avoid getting stuck again, and said something about mounting weapons on its roof.

05.05.93

I noticed I haven't had an update since Marie's last birthday, so here goes.

She had her first boyfriend. A cute little kid who she would spend all her time with for a few weeks until he broke up with her. How do you explain to a teenager that life goes on after her first break up. Well, within a few weeks she was back to her old cheerful self, tinkering away in her garage. She actually hired Moira as a full time employee to help her and Straw out. I couldn't believe that when I heard it!

The TankBus has developed into something much more fitting of its name, with a large gun mounted on its roof that shoots train spikes. We've had a number of chances to test it out with attacks from Mirelurks and feral ghouls, and the thing works great! We've been searching for parts to try to make a second one, but progress is slow.

The first farms have also been built outside of Megaton and Big Town. Its providing a lot of jobs for the immigrant influx, and we hope to have the first crops of radiation free potatoes, corn, and tomatoes within a few months!

Capital Traders is doing better then ever, and talks of paving new roads have begun to better connect the local settlements.

07.09.93

Two reasons for celebration! Along with a very successful first harvest, we received news from the Rivet City science team that they've been able to develop a drug that significantly reduces the effects of mutation, though a full cure is still a ways off.

Only the scientists and I know Marie is to thank for the discovery, and we intend it to keep it a secret. I still worry though that some people may get suspicious. Wernher had told me a lot of people were interested in getting their hands on Marie, and I doubt they've all forgotten about it.

It really seems to upset some people that we are providing the drug for so cheap to the public. Still, my primary mission is to help the people of the area, and I make more then enough money as it is.

04.29.94

Invited merchants from the town of Gravel Flats, a place roughly 90 miles North West of Megaton, to join the Capital Traders last week, and after some negotiations, they are our first members from outside the Capital Wasteland. I believe our work with agriculture and irrigation systems are attracting a lot of people who want in on the tech. The merchant union will be a good way to move this stuff outside of the Capital Wasteland and into different regions. A Mr. Robert Burns will be our main contact there and has been elected head trader by the locals. We hope to have regular trade lines established within a month. It may be too late to set up farms and clean the radiation out of the local soil this season, so that part of the deal won't be fully operational until early next year, but we hope to use it as a model to "sell" other communities in the area to join with us. This could be the beginning of a new network of allies.

We are also in talks with a few towns south west of Tenpenny's tower including The Warren and Hotstown. I don't know who names some of these places! Anyhow, its actually been thanks to Allistar Tenpenny and his efforts that we have these places interested. Maybe that old coot is finally coming around and cooperating more.

06.15.95

Marie is taking on more and more responsibilities in running Capital Traders. I have to admit, after 17 years serving as president of the company, I'm tired and looking to retire. I never imagined Marie taking over things and figured she would want to just tinker with machines in her shop all day instead. But that girl is full of surprises. As she's gotten older, she's really expanded her portfolio of accomplishments. She's even driving the TankBus to Gravel on trade runs and says the next town over, a place called Oak Hills wants to join Capital Traders as well. Her and Straw are going over there next week to hammer out a contract. I think in a year or so, the other board members will be ready to vote her the next president. They may even be ready to do so now considering how much she's done for the company, but I'd rather they have no doubts about her at all when it comes to the vote.

Oh and The Warren and Hotstown have joined the Capital Traders and we are in the process of improving trade routes and local agriculture there right now.

07.01.95

Disturbing news. Marie and Straw returned from the settlement of Oak Hills today. The deal went through well, and we have yet another town signed up with the Traders, but on their way back, they were attacked by Talon Company mercs. We had thought Talon company had faded away with Reilly's Ranger gaining so much prominence in the area, but it seems a small band of them fired a rocket on the TankBus and tried to take it by force. To their credit, the girls did a great job repelling the attackers, but its got me worried. I mean, the rocket didn't hit the bus directly, but missed its target by just enough that no one was hurt and damage was minimal, but that was luck. Next time, it can be on target. Marie's already started on improving the structural integrity of the thing and says she's better enforcing the hull, but I'm still worried.

Also, the thing that really disturbs me is why they were attacked in the first place. Talon Company doesn't do raids, or small time operations. The only thing that could be valuable to them or anyone who would hire them would have been the TankBus, but then why shoot a rocket at it? They must have been after something else. I just hope it's not what I think it is?

9.12.95

Troubling reports from the south west. Tenpenny's been acting up, wanting to pay less dues and get larger chunks of profit and aid. He claims his help in bringing more Trade members into the company should give him more standing. I should have known he would never change. After all these years, I still find myself expecting more out of people. Greed will always be a factor in people's decision making though, wont it.

11.23.95

More trouble brewing. I've had reports of Tenpenny conspiring with the Warren, Hot Town, and some of the smaller trading posts in that area to succeed from the Capital Traders and form a separate trade union. The bastard has got to be a hundred years old and he's still trying to make power grabs.

Despite my protests and doubts, Marie has convinced me to let her handle it. She's putting together a plan with some others as to how to deal with it. I think they are going to have a meeting with Tenpenny and the other trade managers from the break-away group to see if this can't be settled somehow.

11.25.95

The situation with Tenpenny's has escalated. The trade caravan that showed up yesterday was denied entrance to the tower. When they turned around to leave, Tenpenny's guards opened fire on them. We lost 3 good men, and only one trader made it back to report what had happened. This is bad.

We will have a meeting tonight with the board and regional managers to see what to do about it, but my best guess would be that we deal with it like we did with Paradise Falls back in the day.

11.26.95

The problem seems to be getting worse all the time. I don't know how long Tenpenny's been at it, but he seems to have bribed enough board members and managers that we couldn't reach a decision to use force against his tower. A lot of the members he bought in strongly support him. Another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow, but every day we waste on this is another day Allistar can prepare. Word must have reached him about the possibility of an assault by now. What are we going to do?

* * * * *

This is the last entry in Roll's journal. The events that follow happened the next day?

A very nice post,however, I do prefer the old style of one day at a time format of the journal with longer and more descriptive writing. Best of wishes for addition entries and I'll be sure to read them all.

Chapter 01

The sun was rising on a chilly November morning on the prosperous town of Megaton. Some of its citizens were already awake and at there business, opening shops and eateries, putting out their wares, doing general maintenance work on the buildings and many ramps that connected the multi-leveled structures. The cleaning people were removing trash and debris from the streets and walkways, collecting resident's garbage, and emptying the trash cans set up around town. Things had changed a lot over the years, and with the help of an outsider and immigrant woman named Roll, the town had become a major trading hub in the Capital Wasteland.

Gob, local bar owner and the most prominent and successful ghoul in town, was opening the doors to his own business. Seemed like it was never too early for decent folk to start drinking, and he had a lot of liquor to provide.

Manya, known by some as the oldest woman in Megaton, leaned against the railing outside her small home. Her place was a pre-war trailer she shared with her husband for many years, until he passed. She still lived there, but alone now. She looked forward to her time schooling some of the children in the morning. What had started out as a small tutoring gig had turned into a school for children. There were still a few hours until the kids started showing up, but she'd felt restless all night and having trouble sleeping, was now taking in the morning air.

Though it was probably untrue, many residents claimed the new farms built outside of town were improving the air quality here. True or not though, Lucas Simms, the old mayor of Megaton, enjoyed his morning walk, when the early chill did make the air seem fresher somehow. He passed through the center of the trade hub, and thought briefly of the giant nuclear bomb for which the town was named that used to sit in its place. They had moved that out many years ago. As the place grew and trade increased, people just didn't see a reason to waste so much space on the useless relic. It was taken far into the wastes and buried deep underground. Only Simms and a few others knew where it was today.

Moira was opening the steel shutters to Eiram Supply's garage. She no longer ran her own shop, but had people who worked for her and took care of her sales. She spent all her working hours here, where there were better supplies, more space, and a lot more scavenged junk to pick through for parts. She still couldn't believe she was paid to just tinker with and build things all day.

It was pretty much a normal day in Megaton, except for one thing. An outsider would have missed it, but anyone who'd lived there for a while could feel the negative energy in the air. Word traveled fast about the traders that were killed in front of Tenpenny's tower, and it made people nervous. Then for reasons most of them didn't understand, the trade company board and members had voted against taking action to deal with the problem. This left people feeling a mixture of confusion and anger. Things had been going well for Megaton for a long time now thanks to Capital Traders though, and most people believed the company would fix things soon enough.

With the sun also rose the massive metal gates of Megaton. Two men armed with assault rifles stood to either side of it, but were mostly there for show. Within an hour throngs of merchants and shoppers would be streaming in and out of these gates, and the town would be bustling with sound and activity.

Roll was sitting outside her door on a chair she put out there years ago. Next to it was a small caf? style table with a mug of hot coffee and some trade magazines lying on top. Her home was a third story place Lucas had given her when she first moved here. She looked down over the railings at the growing crowd. Roll had almost single handedly transformed the entire region, and here was but one small microcosm in the large trade network she'd built. She wasn't thinking about these things right now though. Her mind was on the meeting they would be having later today to discuss the situation with Tenpenny shooting their traders. The merchant queen was angry with herself for not having seen earlier how much influence Tenpenny had garnered in the company. She's figured the prosperity she'd bought, with one successful campaign after another, would be enough to convince members of her judgment and wisdom. But greed and money could influence some people more then good deeds and long-term growth plans, and a lot of palms must have been greased to fix yesterday's vote.

Simms walked up and leaned against the railing next to her table. "Mornin' Roll," he said, smiling cheerfully. "You look like you haven't slept so well. What's the matter, that vote got you down?" She looked over at her longtime friend and did her best to smile. It was true that she'd tossed and turned all night, getting almost no sleep. Simms continued, "Look, Roll. I've seen you face down an entire town of slavers, fast talking wasteland crooks and tough guys, and some of the savviest business men and traders in the area, and you always come out on top. I know you can fix this, we all do. Tenpenny will be dealt with and then things will be normal again."

"Yeah, you're probably right," she mumbled. "I just didn't realize how quickly so much of Capital Traders has come under Tenpenny's control. Not to mention the vote was pretty damned close. All I need are three members to switch their ballot choice and I know of at least five who I could possibly convince."

Lucas' grin broadened. "See, you're already at it! I swear, I sometimes think the people of Megaton are gonna' saint you when you die." He let out a loud chuckle at his own joke, helping bring a real smile to Roll's face.

"I'm just glad Marie's in Rivet City right now, and not having to put up with my mood."

"Yeah, but she could pull you out of a bad mood better then anybody, and you know it."

"You're definitely right there," Roll replied and she let her gaze sweep over the town again, at the crowds that were getting bigger, the traders calling out their deals and bargains, Wastelanders with brahmin loaded up with supplies. It was indeed true what Lucas was saying, her adopted daughter Marie brought her more joy and comfort then any other force in the Wastes. Years of working hard to make things better for everyone and expanding her business had left little time for relationships or an active social life. Some days, Roll's only casual, non-work related conversations were with her daughter. She was thinking about Marie and just how much the girl had changed her life, when she noticed one of the guards on the wall above the gate waving his arms in their direction.

"What do you think that's about?" she asked, pointing the man out to Lucas.

"I don't know," he replied, "but I'm thinking trouble. The crowd seems to be getting worked up too. Let's go see what's happening." As Roll got up from her seat to see what the commotion was about, Harden, Lucas's son, came running up to them. The young man was usually steel faced and hid his emotions, playing it cool like a sheriff out of an old western. Which is why his panic was so disturbing to the two older friends.

"Dad, dad!" he was yelling out as he came up to them. "Dad, we got real big trouble brewing out there!" he exclaimed somewhat out of breath. "You guys should come quick." Lucas smiling, relaxed face hardened with his son's news. Within a moment, the cheerful old man transformed into the hardened wasteland lawman Roll had first met all those years ago. They followed Harden to the guard platforms near the gates that looked over the wasteland.

What they saw brought real fear into both their hearts. On the horizon was the largest gathering of people anyone had ever seen in the Capital Wasteland. What looked like thousands of raiders were all headed for Megaton, armed to the teeth and angry. The crowds below seemed to be aware of the oncoming trouble, and panic was already setting in, with the guards below desperately trying to Shepard people in so they could seal the gates.

Roll looked over at the two Simms, and saw the kind of worried, unsure expressions on their faces that she didn't know they were capable of. Despite her experiences and many successes against overwhelming odds in her life, or perhaps because of it, she knew that the army headed their way would be too much for them to handle. Megaton was well defended, but even with guards on every wall armed with mounted machine guns, Rock-it Launchers, and rail guns, it would only be a matter of time before they were overpowered.

"What the hell?" was all Lucas could manage, as he looked at the growing sea of black leather and metal spikes headed their way.

Roll managed to pull her senses together a little faster then the two men, and immediately began barking out orders on her communicator to the city guard. "Alfie, get the rest of those people in through the gates, we need them shut as soon as everyone is inside! Peterson, wake up the guards in the barracks, we need every man on the wall with a gun in two minutes! Bonesaw, bring all the ammo you can to the guns, we have a lot of shooting to do! Common people, move move!"

She took one last look over the wall at the raiders headed their way. The swarm of attackers was massive. She couldn't understand how it had happened. The Capital Wasteland had been cleared of most of its raiders and gangs. Even at the height of lawlessness in the area, gathering a force this large would have been next to impossible. It just didn't make sense! These invaders must have come from somewhere else, but why! And who was able to muster such numbers? In all her years, she'd never heard of an army this big. Something huge was happening all right, and she had a job to do now to deal with it. The Simms seemed to have come out of their daze, and where switching to auto-pilot issuing their own orders to the city guard. Lucas looked at the crowd below, noticing the increasing sense of hysteria sweeping through the masses. "I'll take care of crowd control," he yelled, moving towards a ramp that led to the ground floor. "Gotta' make sure we don't have a full scale riot down there!"

"You muster up the remaining forces," Roll snapped at Harden, who gave a brief nod in response before heading to the guard barracks. He was a tough and smart kid, but this was much bigger than anything he'd dealt with in the past. Roll started walking along the walls, yelling out orders and words of encouragement to the guards, everyone of them now almost paralyzed by fear at the unstoppable odds marching their way. It looked like the crowds outside had all been ushered in, but for some reason, the gate was still open. She got on her communicator again, and contacted the gate operators saying, "Guys, I have a wide open hole in our defensive wall below, can we hurry up and close that up now!" No response. She looked over at one of the commanders on the wall, told him he was in charge until she got back, and then quickly started running to the gate control room.

At thirty-five years old, she wasn't as limber as she used to be, and found herself breathing a little heavier and sweating a little more then she used to. Nevertheless, she was still in great shape compared to others her age and wasn't going to let anything slow her down. She pushed her way through the crowd, and could see the fear in all of their eyes. They had to take control of the situation fast, or else the people inside the walls would prove to be more trouble then those headed their way outside. Lucas was standing on a platform trying to get the crowd under control, but the situation was near hopeless. If she could only get those damned gates closed! What the hell was going on in the gate operating room?

She reached the door and pushed it open without knocking. "What the hell are you people doing sitting on you lazy?" she let her words trail out as she saw the two dead guards on the floor, one with a split throat, the other shot in the head. Her feelings of unease were quickly growing. They had enemy assassins in town. How had someone been able to get the drop on two armed men though. That's when she saw something in the shadows. It looked as though a patch of reality was being distorted in the corner of the room, causing light to bend in strange ways and making it hard to focus her eyes. "Stealth-Boy!" she thought and quickly dropped into a crouching position. She couldn't have moved any sooner, as the sound of a bullet coming from a silenced gun led to a small hole in the wall behind her.

Instinct took over, and Roll reached for the six-shooter at her waist, whilst rolling over to another corner in the small room as more shots flew over her head. The would be assassin got two more out before Roll had her gun and was firing. The blurry figure fell to the ground, and the stealth-boy deactivated to reveal the bloodied body of a now dead Talon company merc. This was getting worse every minute. What was a Talon assassin doing here. Was this related to the attack on Marie's transport a few months ago? What the hell were they after. Roll found herself feeling a sense of relief that her daughter was safely away in Rivet City.

She stepped over the bodies on the floor, and looked at the gate control switch. It was smashed in, beyond immediate repair. "Yup, getting worse by the minute," she said to herself, before getting on her communicator, and using a limited access private channel to talk to the Simms and the guard captains. "Guys, we got some bad news here," she said, her mind racing to figure out what to do. "I don't think we'll be able to close the gate." There was silence on the other end. She could imagine every one of their faces after hearing this, cold and emotionless as they tried to hide the ever growing fear they surely felt inside.

A large explosion rocked the room, and the sound of screaming crowds grew to deafening proportions. Roll ran outside to see a part of the wall in flames. The guards opened fire with their guns above, shooting wildly into the crowds of approaching enemies. How had things spiraled out of control so quickly! Who was responsible for all this? What the hell was going on! One question led to another in her mind as she raced to the gates, looking around frantically. There was a manual gate release, but she'd never actually used it, and wasn't even sure where it was. She looked out over the horizon, and saw that the approaching army was much closer now. Crazed, hate filled faces staring back at her as they ran, weapons held high, the chilling sound of their combined war cries sweeping over her.

Roll knew she had less then a minute to get these gates closed, but had no idea how to do it. "You wanna' close the gate don't you," a small voice said from behind her. She spun around to see a young woman staring intently at her. The girl looked familiar, with long dark hair tied into buns on either side of her head, but Roll couldn't remember where she'd seen her before.

"Yes!" she almost screamed, "Do you have any idea where the manual controls are!" The young woman kept looking at her, almost devoid of emotion. When most everyone around them was frantic and crazed with fear, this girl somehow kept her cool. She raised a hand at a small box attached to the wall near the gates.

"The switch is in there," she said coolly, "I've seen the guard use it in the past." Roll ignored the questions popping in her head about how this girl knew these things, and ran to the control box. Please let it be unharmed. If the Talon merc had reached it before going to the control room, this battle would be over much sooner then she would have liked. Roll really didn't have much hope for survival against the troops amassed outside, but she wanted to take as many of them out with her if she could, and the gate would help her achieve this a lot more efficiently.

Relief flooded her as she saw it was indeed untouched. She pulled the switch, and the heavy metal gate started slowly coming down. Roll stared at the approaching army her mind going blank for a moment, unable to compute the unbelievable sight of it. Her eyes caught a raider near the front of the masses lifting a missile launcher to his shoulder. She froze for a second, unable to react to the explosive tipped projectile moving towards her. The missile flew through the gates before they were completely shut. An explosion rocked the ground directly behind her, and she felt herself lifted up into the air. Everything went black.

She regained consciousness for a moment to see the young lady who'd pointed out the gate controls crouched above her, doing something at her side. Rolls eyes looked down to see she was covered in blood. The girl was trying to stem the bleeding, with the cold emotionless eyes never blinking, focused intently on the job at hand. Her vision went dark again, as she passed out into the black.

How is this not 2 pages yet?

Chapter 2

Marie walked out of the meeting room frustrated. Despite numerous attempts at contact, Tenpenny kept ignoring their calls, leaving negotiation out of the question. Some of the other trade members wanted to discuss further steps they could take, but it was very obvious to her the old man had turned against them, and no deal of talking would change his mind. Marie considered herself a logical person, using reason and common sense to guide her decision making, and only acted on impulse on rare occasions when it felt like the right thing to do. Which is why Tenpenny's actions made no sense to her. She knew for a fact his profits had increased by almost 300% since he'd joined Capital Traders, and the people living in his sky rise tower appreciated all the goods brought there by the merchants. Her mother Roll said it was a power grab, but it still didn't make any sense. He had a good thing going, and re-establishing the trade networks and dealing with the schism that would surly occur in the company, would take more years then the old man had left before he was making significantly better profits then now. Logic lead Marie to think there was another reason for his sudden hostility.

Her thoughts raced to and fro, trying to pin down a motive, some sort of explanation. There was always the possibility the old man had snapped, played on the initial hostile interactions the Traders had with him. She was walking up to Rivet City's hanger area as she contemplated his motives. The city was built in the large complex of hallways and rooms inside an old aircraft carrier and she'd long found that the flat roof of the complex, still littered with piles of junk and parts from pre-war aircraft, gave her a sense of peace and a place to escape with her thoughts. She stepped out on the hanger platform and her muscles seemed to immediately loosen up.

She could see on the far end of the hanger, three people were playing base ball, and walked in the other direction. She needed to think right now. Marie had told her mother that she could deal with the Tenpenny problem, and she was resolved to do so. Roll was a hero to the people of the Capital Wasteland, and had tirelessly given every bit of herself to make the lives of people in the area better for years now. Marie hadn't told her mother this, but she hoped to take this responsibility off of her mother's back soon, and give her a well deserved rest.

She walked down a set of steps on the south wall of the ship's hull, unto a smaller platform that served her as a balcony she could stare out at the ocean from. The figure of a tall skinny man lay on the ground, head leaning against a wall as he sang a song Marie didn't recognize.

"Yeah I'm the wolf and everybody in the world,
Trying to find out who I prowl"

The man was either drunk or a jet addict, in the depths of his high, and seemed oblivious to anything around him. His black, dirt covered shirt and pants made him almost meld with the shadows. The brim of a straw cowboy hat covered his face.

"I'm the wolf and everybody in the world,
Trying to find out who I hound"

She did her best to ignore him as she leaned her arms up on the railing trying to relax. Marie wanted to head back to Megaton and talk to her mom about some ideas she had to deal with the Tenpenny issue, but Straw was down below working on the scientists' computers doing regular maintenance, and she would have to wait till the girl was done. Straw's knowledge on electronics and computers had surpassed everyone else in Rivet City by her fifteenth birthday, and now she was regularly commissioned to fix computer breakdowns and crashes, and sometimes to even write new programs. Marie could wait a few more hours while she finished up.

"Well you know they can't see me at night,
But they can hear me howlin'"

She lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. Roll didn't know Marie smoked, and it was one of the few things the younger woman kept secret from her mother. She didn't know why, considering even her mom smoked from time to time, but it was just one more way she tried not to disappoint.

The sound of footsteps coming down the stairs behind her caused her to jump. She'd been lost in thought again, and didn't even notice Harkness, rivet City's security chief, coming her way until he was a few steps away.

"Trying to sneak up on me?" she said with a smile. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and thick muscles, who'd worked as security chief here for as long as Marie could remember. She didn't know how he did it, but he didn't look a year older then when she'd first met him as a child. She'd been wanting to ask what his secret was, but somehow the opportunity never seemed to come up. Harkness returned her smile but Marie sensed it was forced.

"Sorry Marie," he said. "Didn't mean to startle you." He looked at the inebriated singer in the corner, irritation crossing his face. "I don't remember letting this guy in here?" he muttered to himself.

"I take time when I'm prowlin'
Wipe my tracks out with my tail"

"So what brings you around to these here parts," Marie smiled, "Come to pay a lonesome girl a visit?" Harkness was much older than her, but it didn't change the fact that he was a handsome man, and Marie enjoyed casually flirting with him, in part because it made him so uncomfortable.

Harkness forced another smile, and she could tell he wanted to tell her something, but was struggling to find the words. Finally he said "Look Marie, I have some bad news?" She looked at him, eyes hardening as she mentally prepared to hear him out. "We received a radio transmission from Megaton a few hours ago. It sounds crazy, but the place is under attack." Marie blinked, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"That's in order that no one discover,
Whoa lord he can't cross my trail"

"Reports are coming in that an army of raiders has amassed outside the town gates? they've attacked without warning. We lost contact with them shortly after getting the news? I'm sorry Marie, but Megaton could be under raider control. Maybe even destroyed. We just don't know."

She couldn't fully process what she was hearing. "What do you mean an army of raiders. How the hell does an army show up outside of town without anyone noticing!"

"I don't know, we don't have too much information yet, just the few transmission we received before the connection was lost? I'm sorry Marie, but I thought you should know," he apologized again, as though he was somehow responsible for what had happened. "We're trying to contact them, but have been unsuccessful. Our people in Big Town and Paradise don't seem to know anything about it, and we have been unable to reach our spies in Tenpenny's tower. We have reason to suspect they came from that direction, but we just don't know anything for sure?"

Marie's mind was reeling with the news, trying to make sense of it. "I have to go," she said suddenly, "Oh god, my mom! Damn it, I gotta go help!" She was suddenly feeling frantic, and Harkness could see it. He put a strong, but gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Please don't do anything rash," he pleaded with her. "If your mom found out I let you go out there, she would skin me alive. Stay here in Rivet City until we can find more information. We may be able to assemble Reilly's Rangers and get some help from the Brotherhood of Steel to make an assault, but it will take some time."

"And all the while, raiders will be [censored] and killing everyone in Megaton! No I gotta go help!" Her face showed an intensity that even Harkness found intimidating.

He mustered up his most authoritative voice and said, "Now I know you to be much smarter than that girl. Show me the logical young lady I know and quit acting like a child. If Megaton does fall, we'll need your help all the more. I can't have you rushing out to your death blindly." She started to protest, trying to explain how she could help her besieged hometown, but unable to come up with anything. "Please Marie, just wait a little while. We should have some more info soon, and I already dispatched recon teams an hour ago to see what we can learn."

She started to calm down, logic taking over as she realized she was acting foolish. "I guess your right Harkness? you're right? I know your right," she stopped, tears welling up in her eyes suddenly. "I'm just worried about mom? oh my god, I hope she's ok," she broke down, burying her face in the security chiefs shoulder, as he held her awkwardly.

As she cried, she also began to notice the drunk in the corner had stopped singing. Had he passed out, or was he listening to everything they were saying. She pulled her head back, and turned around to look at the figure still sprawled out on the floor, when she heard a loud gunshot. Harkness shoulder exploded in a spray of blood, right where her head had been seconds ago. The man cried out in pain, his right hand coming up to cover the wound that was quickly covering his shirt in blood.

Marie looked up where she heard the shot coming from and saw three men on the upper railing by the stairway. They all wore combat armor, the familiar image of a white eagles claws stenciled on each of their briasts. Talon Company mercs. But what were they doing here. She reached for her blaster, and realized she'd left it in her room for the meeting earlier. Another shot rang out, and a bullet whistled past her ear.

Despite his injury, Harkness acted quickly, pulling her down against the wall with him, where they would have some cover. He eyes scanned their surroundings, looking for an escape, but finding none. It was either face the men that somehow showed up on his ship, or jump in the radiated waters below. "Marie, take my rifle," he said, his voice emotionless, "I can't fire it well with one arm. I need you to hold them off while I call for reinforcements."

She nodded wordlessly, and took his weapon. Heavy footsteps could be heard from the stairway, as the mercenaries advanced on them. Marie shot the first one that came into view in the face, and the man's head exploded covering the stairway with blood, bits of skull and brain matter. The other two quickly retreated up the steps and took cover. At least the odds had improved, but though Marie had shot the occasional raider attacking their trade caravans, she knew these were professionally trained killers, and she wouldn't be able to hold out long against them.

"Teams alpha and delta, report to the hanger on the double. We have hostiles, I repeat, we have hostiles on the hanger!" Harkness yelled into his radio as Marie tried to steady her nerves, and get ready for another assault. She heard something land next to her, with a light metal on metal sound, and saw a grenade rolling on the grating. Without thinking, she kicked at it, and it flew over the rails, exploding in the air before it could hit the water below. She could feel the force of the explosion and knew she would have been dead if she'd reacted any slower. The two mercenaries were coming down the steps again, hoping to catch them off-guard. Marie was ready for them though, and took two more shots before they retreated back up the steps. Her position was favorable in that she could see them a second before they could see her, coming down the stairs the way they were.

What the hell was going on! The thought raced through her mind. It seemed like everything was going crazy all around her. Tenpenny killing their traders, Megaton attacked, possibly destroyed, and now Talon Company trying to kill her and Harkness. This was her second encounter with these ruthless mercs, having held them off as they'd attacked her TankBus a few months back on a trade run. She had the help of their security team back then, and managed to repel the attackers, but with Harkness' arm shot and one gun between them, things weren't so favorable this time. No one had even seen a Talon merc in years. Where did these people keep coming from!

The drunk was still in his corner, not moving. "He must be really stoned," Marie thought to herself as she waited for the next assault.

"Team alpha, do you copy! Damn it Rodriguez, where the hell are you!" Harkness was still yelling into his radio, unable to get a response. "What the hell is wrong with this thing! All I'm getting is static!"

"They're using a dampener," Marie said, "Your radio won't work." She had a few in her garage back in Megaton, pre-war short range jamming devices that could scramble all transmissions within a fifty yard radius. "Try moving back to that corner, farther away from them. You may have more luck getting through."

"Come on out of there little bird!" she heard one of the Talon mercs yell down at them. "We promise we'll treat you real nice?" the two men laughed at what they considered a joke.

"Ah, screw this," Harkness said, and reached for a large knife strapped to his boot. He stood up, and quicker then Marie thought possible, jumped out from their hiding place. In a flash the knife was flying through the air, and Marie heard one of the mercs yell out in pain as the security chief fell back next to her.

"Is he dead?" she asked nervously.

"Well, unless he can survive a knife in the eye," Harkness said and laughed out loud. "You never feel bad killing mercs," he said, and laughed once more. Was he actually enjoying this? The sound of an automatic rifle filled the air as bullets streamed over their heads. The final Talon couldn't actually see them, but was shooting wildly in their direction. "He's getting sloppy," Harkness said, serious again. "I don't think they were expecting trouble from us."

Marie looked towards the drunk again, wondering if he was hit with all the bullets flying around. The man seemed to acknowledge her for the first time, slightly tilting his head in her direction. His eyes were hidden by his cowboy hat, but the smile he gave her was clearly visible, with large pearly white teeth gleaming at her. Who the hell was this guy she thought. He was starting to make her uneasy, but she couldn't give it much more thought as the Talon merc made another advance down the steps. They exchanged fire for a few seconds before he fell back into a defensive position.

It looked like they were in a stalemate, and as Marie tried to figure out what they were going to do, she heard shouting from above, followed by gunfire. The mercs body suddenly collapsed down the steps, bloody and riddled with bullet holes. Marie was momentarily confused, but then Harkness stood up, and walked calmly over the body and up the steps. She followed him, though more hesitantly, and they were greeted by five security officers upstairs.

The man in charge of the group quickly came up to Harkness, examining his wound. "You alright sir?" he asked, looking worried.

"Yeah, I don't think it hit anything vital. I'll head over to the clinic in a minute and be as good as new in no time," Harkness smiled. "Now though, can anyone tell me what these three murdering bastards were doing on my ship?

"I don't know sir. I have no idea how they got on?"

"I want a full investigation and a report on my desk first thing tomorrow. Now though," he looked over towards another officer and continued, "would you escort our young friend down to her room Adams. I think she's had a bit too much excitement for one afternoon."

Marie's mind was still reeling with the events of the last five minutes. The people playing baseball on the other end of the ship earlier were no longer there. Could they have been the Talon mercs? She started to turn around, looking at the bodies of the three dead men, when she noticed the drunk was no longer in his corner. "Wait, where did that man go?" she asked.

Harkness looked around and realized the man was indeed gone. "I don't know," he said slowly. "Do a sweep of the area as well," he told his men. "Look for any more Talon company or any suspicious people.

"Yes sir," the officers said and began following their orders, with Adams walking up next to Marie, to escort her down stairs.

"I can walk on my own just fine," she mumbled to no one in particular. The adrenalin rush was fading, and she started to feel tired. "I need to find Straw. She'll want to know about Megaton and Talon Company?" As Marie started walking back to the door that lead into the ship, her would be escort tried to follow, only to be stopped by Harkness.

"Let her go, she'll be fine," he said. "Why don't you help with the search."

"Yes sir," came the reply, and Adams joined his fellow officers.

Marie's thoughts were screaming with questions she couldn't answer. As she went looking for her friend though, the drunk man's large toothy smile kept flashing in her mind.

* * *

Wow, kind of surprised at what they censor on here... I don't know a better way to describe sixual conduct taking place with an unwilling participant aside from the one totally-not-a-swear-word word that I used... Anyone have a better word for what I'm talking about, rhymes with cape. : D

Not that I am aware of. It makes sense to censor it as it might not be appropriate concept all in together for minors.
As for the story - again a change of style from journal to storytelling, different from what I was expecting but good none the less. In fact this way it more resembles a book thus the separation into chapter rather than dates of journal entries. There are some moot points to best of my understanding, for examples spies in different locations like tenpenny tower and yet a surprise of drastic actions taken by the man, secret mustering of thousand sized army made of untrained raiders and their sudden appearance just in sight range of Megaton. There might be some more that I am forgetting now but it hardly matters because in spite all of that I still enjoyed reading it. So bottom line - a good piece of reading either way.

Thanks for the post Jerom, it's actually helpful to point out things like that to help me do a better job with some of these things. To help clarify, the giant raider army will be explained in greater detail as the story progresses, so I don't want to say anything about it till then. As far as the "spies" I don't know if any significant mention will be made of them, but what I was thinking was this. The spies are actually just residents in the tower who also happen to report back to Rivet City (in the case it was mentioned by Harkness). They aren't covert ops teams or anything like that, and could just as well be dear old granny living next door if you get my meaning. I imagine informants like this exist in most of the major town and cities as they do in many if not all major countries today, reporting their findings or suspicions back home, but otherwise normal citizens. I figure Tenpenny in particular would draw the kind of attention that would have cause Rivet City to approach the residents there with a "spy" kind of offer. I hope that's a bit clearer and makes more sense!

As for the change of style, there are two reasons there. One is that I feel I can deal with multiple story lines and characters in an easier way like this, as opposed to the journal style which can be a bit more limiting for that sort of writing. The second is simply to change it up and do something different. : D

Again, thanks for the comments, and I hope you guys continue to enjoy these. I'll have the next chapter or two up later today!

Oh, that make sense but the word "spy" does threw me off track. I'd imagine something along the lines of "contacts" ,"informats" maybe bit less and "loyal folks" would be more suitable to describe them.




I am glad to hear that and wish you best of luck. Can't wait to read it.

Straw was busily working away at a large computer mainframe terminal. On one side of her was a table set up with two additional computers and her Lil-Pip 3000, a lighter smaller version of the Pip-Boy 2000. Unlike the much coveted Pip-Boy 3000 that Roll had, Straws model was a hand held device that could be worn on the wrist only with a leather strap she had built unto it. The Lil-Pip was her pride and joy, and she'd kept it close for seven years now, ever since she'd received it from Roll and Marie on her tenth birthday.

Marie and her had been friends as long as she remembered. Marie was only a year older, and with their darker toned skin, dark hair, and similar builds, they were often times mistaken for sisters, a misconception they would sometimes propagate as children for fun. And though they were both sociable and friendly people, their personalities differed greatly in that Marie was usually serious and down to earth, and Straw was carefree and impulsive, and almost always smiling.

She was so absorbed in her work, that she didn't even notice her best friend walking into the room. She jumped from her seat when Marie said in a loud voice, "I've been looking all over for you, how much longer is this gonna take?"

Turning around to face her friend, she smiled happily. "What's with you grouchy? Relax, I'm almost done." In explanation, Marie proceeded to tell her everything that had happened, from the meeting going poorly, to Megaton being attacked, and the second attack from Talon Company. Straw's cheerful smile slowly vanished with every bit of news, and when Marie was done, she said, "Give me fifteen minutes to wrap this up and we can head over to Megaton right away. The programs gonna be a bit buggy, but they can deal with it. It's a processing software to compile information regarding that treatment they found for radiation poisoning, you know there's some real interesting stuff there?" Straw stopped when she noticed Marie looking impatient.

"I don't know, "Marie began, "I promised Harkness I'd stay put until he had more info on the whole mess, but I can't just sit around and do nothing. I'm worried about mom?" She felt her chest tightening at the thought of what could be happening out there in Megaton as they waited comfortably in Rivet City.

"Well then, we'll just go part of the way to see if we can't find any clues as to what this is all about," Straw replied, smiling again. "We don't have to actually go all the way to Megaton, just far enough to see." It didn't make too much sense, but Marie wasn't in the mood for sense right now.

"Alright, you convinced me."

"Wasn't very hard," Straw beamed at her. "Now let me finish this up. Go prep the TankBus and I'll be there in a few."

Marie walked out of the room and made her way to the entrance of Rivet City. A long bridge extended from the main doors to a station built on the other end on land. Below the ramps and platforms there, was the receiving area where trade goods were checked in and most of the deals took place between merchants and buyers. The TankBus was parked next to all this, and as usual groups of people were gathered around it. No matter how many times she parked there, people still came to check out one of the only working vehicles this part of the Wastes. Children would play around it, as people discussed the possibilities of going for a ride. The TankBus looked a lot like the name suggested, comprising of a small bus body built atop treads, much like an old pre-war tank. On its roof was mounted a large railway rifle, capable of shooting train spikes hundreds of yards with surprising accuracy. Surrounding the gun were a series of solar panels that powered the thing. There was no worry of anyone stealing the TankBus as every merchant knew who it belonged too and would never allow anyone to harm it.

Marie walked up to it and smiled. If Straw had her Lil-Pip, she had the TankBus. She'd spent years modifying and repairing and tinkering with the thing. She knew it inside and out, and had worked on every inch of it at some point. She'd even had Straw show her how a lot of the computerized elements worked.

One of the rear stabilizers had been acting up lately, and she kept meaning to deal with it, but just couldn't find the time. It wasn't too big a problem yet, as it only caused the vehicle to bounce around a bit, but if it went out completely, it could be a mess to fix, not to mention completely out of commission until a replacement was found.

She was looking at the faulty part when Straw walked up, a small backpack with some of her things slung over one shoulder. "Ready when you are," she said.

"Did you tell your folks what you're up too," Marie asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Nah, they'd just worry about it," Straw replied with a devilish grin.

"Alright then, let's get going." As they got into the TankBus, Marie noticed Harkness slowly walking their way, a disappointed look on his face.

"You're not going where I think you're going, are you ladies?" he said as he walked up to Marie's window.

"We just want to get close enough to see what's happening Harkness. With the TankBus, we'll be able to get their faster than any of your scouts, and we'll be safer as well." Marie gave him an innocent smile. "Don't worry, we'll be back before nightfall."

Harkness shook his head, and stepped back from the vehicle. "I didn't think I'd be able to stop you any way short of locking you up. Look just be careful out there, and don't do anything foolish. Christ, your mom's gonna kill me! Just, just go take a look and come right back ok."

"No problem, we'll be back before you know it!" Marie said cheerfully, not wanting to show any doubts. "See ya later Harkness."

As they lumbered forward, Straw stuck her head out of her window and called back, "Please don't tell my mom and dad where I'm going, ok Mr. Harkness!" Marie could see him shaking his head again in her rear view mirror.


Chapter 3

The girls rode quietly, each caught up in her own thoughts, wondering what the coming days would bring. Straw worried about her best friend, knowing that whatever attachments to Megaton she had, it didn't compare to Marie's feeling for the place. Marie had grown up in Megaton. It was her home, and her mother aside, a lot of people living there were like family to her. She didn't want to imagine the apprehension and worry her friend was feeling.

Most of the ride went without incident. It was when they were driving over a hill a few miles outside of Megaton when they saw the raider army. Marie quickly turned off the engine and hopped out of the TankBus. The raiders were a ways off, and would be hard pressed to see the dirt-covered vehicle, at such a distance. She quickly pulled out her binoculars to get a better look. It was like nothing she'd ever seen. Even with some of the trade conventions she'd been too with every trader, merchant, wholesaler, and businessman in the Capital Wasteland in attendance, she'd never witnessed so many people gathered in one place. The raider army was marching away from Megaton. They didn't move like a well disciplined fighting force though, but behaved more like a large disorganized mob, with groups of varying size clumped together.

She scanned the front lines, trying to discern the leader or anyone who could be directing the way, but it all looked the same. Who the hell was telling these people where to go? That's when she saw him. A large super mutant, covered in metal armor and wielding a giant sledgehammer on his back seemed to be at the head of the group. It didn't make sense how a super mutant could be leading the group. From what she knew, the mutants would crush the skulls of any human they could get their hands on, or drag them off to wherever they took their human prisoners, and raiders were no exception to this rule. How had such a situation arisen, where a super mutant led an army of raiders. One thing after another that just didn't seem to make sense.

As she scanned more of the army, she saw near the back of the mass a tall metal boxlike structure on wheels. It stood well over twenty feet tall, and was being pulled by either slaves, or raiders who were very low on the food chain. On one end was a massive steel door with thin slats near the top.

"Where do you think they're headed?" asked Straw as she carefully came up behind Marie.

She hadn't thought about it until that moment, but the answer was immediately obvious. "They're headed to Rivet City." She heard Straw gasp behind her. "Get on the radio and contact them immediately. Can our signal reach them from here?"

"I'll go see," Straw said in a cold emotionless voice. Marie realized the younger girl must be feeling exactly what she had been up till now, knowing an army was attacking her home. But what had happened to Megaton? She scanned the horizon in the direction of her hometown, and was surprised she'd missed it until now. A thick, black plume of smoke cut a line through her binoculars' viewfinder. Her heart sank in her chest, and she ran back to the TankBus.

"I think we're just within range," Straw said as Marie jumped into the driver's seat. "I'm sending the transmission right now. Should be done in a few seconds."

"Straw, I want to go check out Megaton real quick." Marie spurted out, "See if I can find my mom. You don't have to go any further if you don't want, and I could be back in a couple hours to pick you up if you want to stay behind." She felt bad for putting this on her friend.

"Are you kidding?" Straw responded with her regular smile. "I'm gonna want you to come back to Rivet City with me as soon as your done in Megaton! Now how could I ask you to do something like that if I don't come with you now?"

"I don't know how you stay so upbeat at times like this, you know that," Marie said as she started the vehicle up. "And anyhow, there's no guarantee some part of the army wasn't left behind. We could still run into trouble when we get there."

"I know," Straw said cheerfully, "But that's why we have a giant gun built on top of this thing."

Marie was able to laugh, and they continued towards Megaton. As they got closer, the dark smoke plume grew larger, and pretty soon, the air was thick with it. They couldn't see more than fifty yards in any direction, and so when the piles of dead raider bodies started fading in through the haze, it wasn't immediately obvious exactly what they were looking at. As the girls stared, the piles grew larger, and they realized the fields and farms surrounding the town were covered in bodies. Unable to advance without running over all the corpses, Marie stopped the TankBus and hopped out. She quickly wrapped a rag around her nose and mouth to try to keep the smell of death and burning bodies at bay. Straw was doing the same, but Marie couldn't wait for her.

She started first walking and then running towards Megaton, the bodies blurring at the edges of her vision as her eyes filled with tears. Her home was a smoking wreckage. She could hear people crying out, raider and resident both. People screaming in pain all around, some just crying, curled into a fetal position or holding broken and bleeding body parts.

She reached the gates, and saw a blackened shallow crater in its place. Marie stopped, her head was spinning and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. Slowly, she started walked forward, trying to spot something familiar, someone who could explain what the hell had happened here. They'd destroyed everything it seemed, indiscriminately torching anything in their way. She saw the library building, with one wall blown out and the inside black with char and sooth, the collection of books nothing more then ash. Most of the third story houses and shops had collapsed on top of the lower levels, and she could imagine all the people trapped under the debris, dead or dieing even now, and her helpless to do anything about it.

"They just kept coming and coming," she spun around at the voice, to see Harden Simms standing there, blood and dirt covering most of his clothing, his dark face paled by what he'd seen. "They had no organization, or strategy, or anything. Just wave after wave of people, crazy and blood thirsty. We shot and killed so many, but? but they just kept coming, overwhelming us?"

"Oh my god, Harden are you all right," she cried out, grabbing her old friend and holding him tight. His body felt stiff, every muscle tense and hard.

"Your mother?" Marie's heart skipped a beat.

"Where is she? Is she all right?" she pleaded, afraid to hear what he would say.

"Something was wrong with the gate? it wouldn't close, but she used the manual controls and got it to go down? that was the last time I saw her?" she could see him reliving every moment as he described it, and he was having trouble continuing. Straw finally came up to them as well, eyes wide and her skin almost white. "There was an explosion right behind her. I? I don't know if she survived the blast? I didn't see her, but Marie? it was really close to her..."

And this time it was Harden who had to hold her close, as she burst into uncontrollable tears. Her home was destroyed, her mother and friends dead. She was an emotional wreck. A part of her was coming through though as she cried that started as a whisper but got louder with each heaving sob. It spoke in her mind saying, "There sure are a lot of people in need of help out there. A lot of work that needs to be done to help Megaton? we could be helping the? should be making our selves useful. We could still save many lives?"

She slowly pulled herself together. This was going to be really hard, she realized as much, but they needed to start working. Megaton was a mess, and as far as she knew, they were its best hope right now.

"Are there any others who survived and able to help Harden? Where's your dad? Is he ok?" She knew the answer by the look on his face.

"No, no he's not ok? They? god, they hung him in the center of town? they shot him over and over, even long after he was dead?" the two girls stared at their friend in horror as he spoke. "I saw the whole thing. I was hiding under some debris, the remains of Gob's Saloon actually. I was hiding because I was scared, and I watched them kill my dad, and I was too damned scared to do anything." The young man was crying again. As she held him, Marie realized there would be many tears that day, and the ones to follow.

"Oh my god, Harden I'm so sorry? please you don't have to talk about it anymore," she began to say but the sheriff of the destroyed town controlled his tears and looked back at her.

"It's? it's ok. I'll deal with this? it's ok, and um, there is one more thing." He paused, collecting himself a bit more before continuing, "One of them was a big super-mutant. He seemed to be in charge somehow, I don't know, but? he put this in my dad?" he held out a bloodied holodisk, gripping it tightly in his palm. "I?I haven't listened to it though. Maybe you should take it." He didn't know why he was offering it to Marie, after all he was the sheriff, and it was left in his poor fathers' corpse, but it suddenly felt right to be rid of the thing.

Marie took it from him, looking at it for a moment as though it was the strangest thing she'd ever seen. The story about Lucas made it hard to think clearly. Lucas Simms was one of her mother's closest friends, and in some ways like a grandfather to her. That these people would do this to a sweet gentle old man like that, was beyond all reason. How could anyone be so depraved and evil? Her mind couldn't wrap around it, even with all the things she'd seen out in the Wastes over the years, Harden's story, and the images she saw all around her were beyond reason. She couldn't believe people could really behave in such cruel ways.

She handed the holodisk to Straw and asked her to play it. Straw inserted the disk into her Lil-Pip and turned the volume up so they could all hear it. The voice that spoke on it was thick and guttural, revealing itself to be a super-mutant, likely the same one leading the army.

"We want the cure. We know the places she frequents. If we can't find her here, we'll go to your next settlement and destroy it. We'll kill everyone there, set fire to it, and move on to the next town until we have her. Bring us the cure if you want this to end!" and that was all it said.

The three stood around the small device listening to the message over and over, failing to understand anything. Harden finally turned around and walked off by himself. The two girls stood, still trying to make sense of it all. Who was the cure? What did that even mean? How could a cure be a person? Once again, Marie found herself thinking how it just didn't make any sense.