NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 13
I turned left after crossing a red light towards the sound of gunfire. Another explosion occurred, this time much louder since I was much closer now. Coming up to a T junction, I could hear the gunfight around the right corner. Jogging over to the corner, I leaned against the wall and took a deep breath to calm myself. My instincts still doubted what I was doing, but someone needed my help. After steeling myself, I turned the corner and was shocked by what I saw.
The battlefield was roughly 150 feet away from my current position, with each opposing force taking one side of the road. On one bank was a group of five raiders with what looked like dumpster-grade armor. The other side comprises a group of three robots and a lone defender. One of the robots was an eyebot currently zipping through the air, proving itself a problematic target for the raiders on the ground. The other two robots were some hodgepodge of parts from various sources. Assaultron arms placed upon a protectron body moving under the power of robobrain tracks.
Both sides have taken casualties, with several blown-apart robots and two raider corpses haphazardly strewn across the street. The raiders seem to be winning the fight as they have pushed across the middle line, closing in on the sole human hiding behind a car. The raiders seem to know they have the upper hand and start taunting their opponent.
"Hey, girly! We're about to make mince meat of these garbo bots you built! Ha!"
"Yeah! You built jokes, you dumb broad. Talk about poor quality."
The person defending against the raiders seemed to be a woman. She was wearing baggy green clothing that appeared to be mechanics' clothing. She had short hair that ended right below her chin and a pair of heavy-duty goggles on her forehead. There was a strange calmness to her as she crouched down and reloaded her pistol. As if being in a gunfight was just an everyday occurrence.
Hearing the raider's taunt, the woman stood up, gave the raider the bird, and threw something toward the pack. The round object hit the ground before the group of raiders and rolled into the center. Looking closer, I realized she had tossed a grenade right into the vicinity of the remaining raiders. The raiders must have noticed the grenade too, as they immediately scattered and jumped behind cover.
Not a split second after the raiders managed to hide away, the grenade exploded and destroyed everything within a 10 feet radius. I'd been sneaking up while the firefight continued and was now very close to the battlefield. I felt the shockwave of the fragmentation grenade rushing past me.
It was apparent to me now that this was a raider ambush. The woman seemed capable, but it looked like she was on the back foot. Raiders were easily one of the most diverse factions in Fallout. They were also notorious for their cruelty.
Taking advantage of the fact that my existence wasn't known, I accessed my inventory and took out one of my frag grenades. Looking around, I found two raiders hiding behind the same abandoned truck roughly twenty feet from me. Tossing the grenade up once in my hand to get a feel for the weight, I pulled my arm back and threw the pineapple-shaped explosive.
Sailing through the air, I saw the grenade stay true and hit the car's trunk. The grenade rolled across the vehicle and landed right at the feet of the two raiders. The grenade blew up two seconds later, and I watched the two raiders instantly turn into red meat paste. The remaining three raiders all turned toward the direction of the explosion. Seeing the heads of the raiders, I aimed my combat rifle and started sending rounds toward them.
My bullets impacted and created holes along the car's roof, suppressing the raiders and forcing them to stay hidden. The woman must have realized that I was on her side, and she took advantage of the momentum swinging in her favor by yelling out orders to her robots.
"Junkbots! Rush the raiders, NOW!"
Junkbots? Do you call them that yourself? Not very confidence-inspiring. The amalgamation automatons picked up their speed and moved towards the remaining raiders, blasting away with the laser rifles integrated into their arms as they approached. Deciding this was my moment to pounce, I lept over the hood of the Corvega I was taking cover behind and advanced. The robots were pushing on the right side of the station wagon the raiders were hiding behind, so I decided to move to the left side.
The raiders were too scared to peek out, so they pushed the gun above their heads and shot mindlessly. This didn't bother me initially because their accuracy was hot garbage, but that idea quickly left my mind as a few shots grazed the asphalt next to me. Just because they weren't aiming doesn't mean they can't get lucky. Retaking cover, I advanced more cautiously on the survivors.
Once I reached the end of the concrete barrier I had hidden behind, I peeked out and saw that the woman had also pushed up. She used her robots as walking shields and took shots from behind the safety of her creations. One of the raiders lost their cool and, in an attempt to save themselves, broke cover and ran for the hills. I quickly snapped my sights to the fleeing man and put two shots into his back. The impact caused him to stumble and then drop dead.
The last two raiders seemed to have realized their chances were diminishing, and one of them raised their gun above their head and yelled out their intention to surrender.
"FUCK! OK! ok. We give up! We're done, alright? Let's talk."
I stood up with my rifle still aimed at the raider. I looked at the woman I helped and made eye contact with her. The raiders held to their words and no longer shot at us, but both of them still hid behind the station wagon. I pointed my chin at the two raiders and raised my shoulders questioningly.
She was the one ambushed, and it's up to her how she wants to end this. The woman seemed to understand my meaning, lowered her 10mm pistol, and nodded. Seeing her willingness to negotiate, I focused back on the raiders and started walking toward where they hid.