Travis saw everybody jumo from the vertibird. He needed to meet up with them. "Hey!!!!" Travis called loudly. To make it more clearer, he called louder. "HEY!!!!"

"Lets find shelter first before we worry about who wants to kill us!" river shouted over the blowing sand. He then immediately regretted it as his mouth gained about a quarter pound of grit, removing his mashed hat and using it as an impromptu filter River continued "this is the sort of weather where a Radscorpion can walk up right behind you, keep your guard up." the sand was getting into rivers eyes placing a hand over them lessened it but also cut his vision "I know we were supposed to head for a garage or something like it but unless you have a compass we might as well find something to hide in then get to it after the storm dies down."

"Where is everybody?" Travis said to himself. Mel was the only one who knew exactly where to go, but Travis knew things would be safer if they all regrouped. Travis pulled his 10mm from its holster, and fired a shot into the air, in hopes that someone would hear.

John turned his head and looked at Erin, he gave a shrug in respones, "Doesn't matter, we're down here," John said, "But we arn't out of trouble yet, who knows who was firing at us, and they may search the area." John carried on, and pushed through the wind, it was picking up still, he cursed under his breath, they needed to find some shelter soon otherwise there may be problems.

"Bastards!" Travis yelled in anger. Travis unhooked the backpack from his shoulders and trudged through the storm. "Alright, if they don't wanna meet up, then we gotta get moving. Come on."

Mel looked at Travis, who was truding away. "We either need to find the others or run like hell from the raiders. I've had business with these people here before, and they actually take prisoners." Mel said. He than began following Travis in through the storm.

"Well they're probably going on without us. Where's the directions to this place anyways?" Travis asked.

"Ive heard that its west of Evergreen Mills" Mel replied

"Then we gotta go all around the damn place. I'd say we're halfway up the north side of Evergreen Mills." Travis said. The sandstorm was picking up and it wsa becoming harder to see.

"Yah, we do." Mel said "If I had known we were gonna be fighting raiders, I woulda brougth my old Talon Combat Armor, not my vest." Mel then trailed off, and started thinking about the others.

Damn... I hope they're OK. I dont want to lose a team of good men, like back with Talon Company...

"Damn, am I the only one that brought armor?" Travis asked with a laugh. He knew they were on Raider territory, so he unstrapped his assault rifle.

After walking through the sandstorm for what seemed like eternity Erin saw something through the veil of sand. It was a house of some sort.

"Look," she said pointing to the outline of a house, "You think we can find shelter there?"

It was risky, considering raiders may be stationed inside, but they needed a place to regroup with the others.

Travis still had the parachute backpack. He searched inside for anything of use. He found a couple of purified water bottles, but the most unexpected was a HAM radio. Travis tossed a bottle of water to Mel, and dropped the backpack since there was nothing left in it. He held out the large part of the radio to Mel. "Could you hold this for me while I broadcast to any nearby radios?"

John looked at the building, it looked unused, "Only one way to find out," he said. Going forward, John unslung his rifle, going up to the door he pushed it open with the end of his rifle, keeping it steady just in case. John stepped back as the door fully opened and something came barreling towards him, pushing past it ran off into the storm, "Dam mole rats," John mutter, then shouting to Erin, "It's clear!"

John went inside, not much was there, just the usual furniture from before the war, it looked like a scavanger had set up here in the past at some point with all the empty tins littered about the place. John searched the building, a large hole in the bottom allowed some sand in, but other then that the building was inhabitable.

Mel held the main component of the radio. "You sure this is a good idea? What if the raiders have one of these?" Mel asked "I dont feel like dying or being captured as a slave any time soon. But I guess if we have one, the others will too."

"If raiders have one, We'll have to take the risk. As long as the others still have their backpacks they'll hear us. Or at least if theres a radio nearby." Travis began to fiddle with the knobs on the main component until it was turned on and he was broadcasting. He began to speak into the microphone he was holding.

"This is Travis Phillips of the Ragtag Reapers. We need to find the rest of our members. If anyone is out there, please respond." Travis paused for a few seconds, then tried again. "If any of our members or if anyone who can help is out there and listening, please respond."

"Seems safe enough," Erin said quietly to herself as she entered the house.

It looked like a pig pen, but that wasn't unusual for a house in the Wasteland. There was a couch and chair that appeared to be in decent condition. Erin took a seat on the couch and looked around the house. It was dark and musty and had a bad smell to it, but it was better than being out in the elements. She pulled her sunglasses off and tucked them back in her pocket, and then unbuttoned her coat.

"Should we wait here for the others?" Erin asked as she pulled one of her boots off to empty it of sand.

"Hm.... I think the others have ditched their bags" Mel said


________________________

"The vertibirds down boss, should we head towards it?" A raider asked a man dressed in black, hidden in the shadows

"No. Look for the survivors. They're probobly far away from the crash by now." The man dressed in black said "I could use a few more slaves"

The radio in Mikhail's backpack started to recieve signal, " This is Travis Phillips of the Ragtag Reapers. We need to find the rest of our members. If anyone is out there, please respond." It stopped for a few seconds then, "If any of our members or if anyone who can help is out there and listening, please respond." He pulled the radio out of his backpack and broadcasted back, "This is Mikhail, I read you. Where are you located, i'll come over to you."

Travis sighed. Thank God, he thought. Travis talked back into the mic. "Hey, Mikhail. Me and Mel are to the northeast of Evergreen Mills, we are not far from the cliffs. You should probably hurry, the Raiders could be here any second."

"I copy. Moving to your position." Mikhail saw Evergreen Mills a few hundred yards away and headed to the northeast of it. After about 10 minutes of walking he saw an old shack and assumed that was where his crew was, but jsut in case, he pulled out his laser rifle and put it up to his shoulder. "He opened the door and looked inside. When he saw Enfield he slung his rifle back onto his back and said, "Man, am I glad to see you guys."

Three raiders moved throught the sand. These 3 raiders were on a mission. To find the surviving crew of the vertibird. They had there guns ready to shoot at anyones legs that they found, so they could capture them. They started their ascent up the hillside to the cliffs.

"Enfield, Erin, where's everyone else, Travis, River, Mel??? Travis was on the radio, is he still contacting the other members?"

Travis began to broadcast whilst walking. "Hey, Mikhail, you still there? Where are you?" Travis and Mel weren't far from the cliffs overlooking Evergreen Mills. They would need to move fast or they'd be spotted.

The raiders were up on the cliffs, and had began looking through their scoped assult rifles to find any survivors. They had spotted an outline, like two people walking by the cliffside. They were a while off, but the raiders began moving immediatly,