The Survivor’s Guide to the Wasteland

 

"Don't come any closer! Ju- Just BACK THE FUCK OFF!"

A lone raider stood in what used to be a diner, one arm wrapped around the throat of a young woman while his other swung a pipe pistol wildly at the surroundings. A Slocum's Joe sign hung over his head, the giant donut holding a cup of coffee bringing some levity to a rather tense situation.

We had surrounded the lone gunman. I was in the middle and directly in front of the raider, while Isabelle was to my right, taking cover behind a Tankbot. Tanya was also nearby, to my right, hiding behind a pillar with two Radscorpions forming a defensive line before her.

The man constantly switched between who he was pointing his gun at. I wasn't too concerned since he didn't pose any real threat to us. The pistol was barely enough to leave a scratch on my power armor or the tank bot. With the amount of adrenaline in his system, I doubted he could hit even the same zip code Tanya was in.

And who could blame him? All around was the evidence of an already lost battle. Blood splatters and trails were all over the place. Several raider corpses were still within eyesight, some having amputated limbs from the Radscorpions tearing them off. In contrast, others were riddled with bullet holes and laser burns.

And getting to this point was shockingly easy.

The fight, if you could even call it that, started with a pack of Isabelle's Outriders covertly approaching Monsignor Plaza from the air before swarming any raider posted on the roof. While I'm sure, most of these raiders have seen combat and are somewhat privy to maintaining security due to the nature of their 'job' demanding the routine infiltration and dismantling of it, even they weren't expecting a robot assault from the heavens.

The Outriders quickly overran the roof by setting everything and everyone ablaze with their flamers. With overwatch dealt with, Tanya's Radscorpions busted out from a nearby manhole cover. At the same time, Tanya announced herself with supporting fire from behind. With no defenders shooting from a position they could not counterattack, the Radscorpions quickly took control of the South entrance facing the waterfront.

What came next could only be described as a torrent of steel as Isabelle and I stormed the Northern street entrance with an army of bots. While the Tankbots and my power armor served as the vanguard, hammering any close-quarter resistance near the fenced-off area, Isabelle and her Scrapbots performed as scalpels, picking off enemies further back atop the wooden outposts.

Once we secured the outer perimeter, a few Scrapbots were posted to defend the area while the rest barged in.

The raiders just simply weren't ready for such an overwhelming show of force. While some of them met us with attacks of their own, most of the worthless vermin were caught with their pants down, including one raider who was caught literally with her pants down when we busted down the doors of the restroom.

We stormed through the building, destroying any resistance that we met. We also came across the slaves that were being held, and while most of them were OK, quite a few were clearly poorly treated. The damage ranged from malnourishment to broken bones. Some wounds needed treatment as soon as possible, or they might become infected and become worse.

Even with some of our force splitting up to guard the captives and losing two Scrapbots to booby traps, it took us less than an hour to clear out the building until we found mister hostage taker. 

I looked at the girl, she seemed familiar somehow. Her eyes darted wildly as her mouth opened and closed like a goldfish gulping water. Her breaths were quick and erratic, bordering on hyperventilating. I can't imagine it's fun being held hostage by an irrational and cornered raider.

When our eyes met, I addressed her directly.

"Everything will be fine. I promise. Just a little longer."

She put on a brave face and gulped before nodding at me. While she still seemed unsure, I admired how she was able to quickly tamp everything down. I can't even imagine the guts it would take.

Trying not to hurt the girl, I attempted the diplomatic solution.

"Hey, man, let's just talk this through, OK? Take a look around you. There's no way you're shooting your way out of this, so let go of the girl, and we can figure something out."

Hearing my offer, the raider sneered before forcing the girl to face me and pointing his makeshift pistol in my direction as well.

"What? So you can get a clear sight picture and blow my fucking head off? I saw what you fucking lunatics did out there! YOU THINK I'M DUMB ENOUGH TO LET GO OF MY ONLY LEVERAGE!!!"

Spittle flew out of the raider's mouth as he yelled that last part. Well, he was right in not trusting me. There was no way I was going to let this guy go.

"OK, OK. But you'll have to let her go sooner or later, right? So let's do this. Why don't you tell me how you want this to play out?"

My offer to negotiate seemed to have calmed him down as the raider took some time to think about his plan.

"I- I want you to get out of your power armor, an- and then I want those crazy fucking insects and robots to back off. I'll walk out of here while you all stay in the building. When I'm far enough away, I'll let the girl go, and you can grab her."

"What's your name?"

"Gri- Griswold. They call me Griswold."

"OK, Griswold. I want to help you out, but you have to be reasonable. If we stay inside the building, how do we know you'll stay to your word and let the girl go? I can get out of my power armor, and we'll let you out of the building, but you have to meet us halfway, bud."

Being called bud seemingly enraged the man since he returned to screaming at us and wildly jerking around while flailing his pistol all over the place.

"I'M NOT YOUR FUCKING BUD!!!"

Yeah, I can't let this go on any longer. Putting two hands up placatingly, I tried to step back my words and de-escalate.

"OK! Sorry, Griswold. That's my bad. Let's all calm down. How about I show we're sincere? I'll step out of the power armor, but you have to promise that you stay calm."

That seemed to settle the raider down a little. Griswold simply gulped before nodding, nervously keeping his eyes on me as I set my minigun down and exited my power armor. Once outside, I stepped around the suit and held up both hands.

"See? Everything is cool."

"Al- alright. Now I want your bitches to move back to."

Tanya and Isabelle gave me a look, and I simply nodded before they slowly started withdrawing from the scene.

And while Griswold ignored me and focused on what he believed to be the biggest threat, I chose a moment when he and the hostage weren't facing me to strike.

As if by magic, I pulled the scoped bolt action rifle out of my inventory. The long gun appeared in my hands, and I activated V.A.T.S. immediately. In the span of a blink of an eye to the rest of the world, I designated Griswold's head as my target, took aim, activated one of my banked critical hits, and pulled the trigger, drilling a tunnel clean through the side of his head.

As Griwolds grey matter and bits of his skull ejected from the side of his head and the bullet lodged into the wall, the shot echoed through the concrete halls and rang everyone's ears. There was a moment of silence right after the shot, Griswold's corpse standing upright before the arms around the girl's neck loosened, and the body collapsed to the ground.

The girl stood there in stunned silence, crimson blood matching her hair and contrasting her green eyes splattered across her face. When her brain finally caught on to what had happened, her legs gave out as she collapsed to the ground and started sobbing.

She held it together surprisingly well, but the tears rolling down her face and sniffling and shivering made it obvious she was not OK. Thankfully, my girls were quick on the uptake, and they both hurried up to the young woman to comfort her.

With the place finally secured, I slung my rifle over my shoulder and let out a sigh of relief. When the girl could stand up again and was mostly in control, I hopped back into my power armor. Now, we needed to deal with all the people we rescued.

A Few Hours Later

It was now a few hours past noon, and Tanya, Isabelle, and I finally got to catch our breath as all the freed slaves were busy eating a late lunch and not bothering us. We gathered everyone in one of the large rooms and cleared the place of bodies and rubble so we had space to eat.

Very early in examining the captives, it became abundantly clear that our most significant shortcoming was our support abilities. On top of the seven we counted this morning, we found another five people being kept in the building. And while we brought a dozen robots and half a dozen Radscoprions, only three of us could clean wounds or hand out food and water.

If it hadn't been for some of the better-off captives helping us out, we would have been completely overwhelmed with meeting the needs of 12 people who needed help.

It also highlighted that we needed more medicine. I had thought we stocked up on a good amount, but when met with a dozen people in need, each requiring some kind of medical attention or sustenance, we damn near ran out of what we brought along. It's good that we erred on the side of caution and brought most of what he had scavenged over the past month.

Tanya and Isabelle were eating with the captives, and their calming and reliable presence kept everyone rooted. It's another reminder that we each have our own strengths.

Most captives were women, presumably because female saves were easier to control and had higher demand. I somehow doubt that what these people wanted right now was a male presence, considering the abuse they probably experienced from the raiders.

Surprisingly, one of the girls who seemed better off was the hostage taken by Griswold. But maybe that's not surprising since she was the type of tough gal who could bounce back from anything. And how could I possibly know that, having just met her? Well, because she was Cait.

That's right. Somehow, through sheer luck or fate, Cait was amongst the captives of the first raider camp we took over. Serving as another reminder that this world was different, this Cait, was also different.

She still had her trademark Irish-Scottish mix accent and dark red hair, but instead of cutting it short, this Cait hat had a ponytail and side bangs out front. Her eyes were a more vibrant green, and there was a youthfulness to her appearance. She was skinner, her skin brighter, and slightly more unsure of herself compared to the older Cait I know.

From what we gathered, her story was basically the same as the game's. She had been sold into slavery when she was 18, and now, being 20, she has been peddled between slave merchants for the last two years. Despite all that, she never gave up. She has been stealing caps here and there, gradually saving up and working toward her own freedom.

She had helped us take care of the rest of the group when it looked like the three of us weren't enough.

"Basil! Stop staring and come over here!"

Tanya, who was eating next to Isabelle and Cait, saw me looking toward them and called me over. Hearing my name being called out, Cait quickly looked up at me before ducking her head back down.

"I'm good over here. I don't want to make it uncomfortable for anyone."

Seemingly unworried about me not wanting to intrude on the personal space of a group recovering from a traumatic experience, Tanya simply tossed the question to the group.

"Well, everyone, would you feel uncomfortable with Basil here?"

The reply was a smattering of 'nos' and 'nuh-uhs'. Seeing Cait not respond, Tanya gently nudged the younger woman.

"Well, Cait. Do you have a problem with Basil coming over?"

"Uh- well... no."

Cait squeaked that last part out like a mouse, making me think she might be getting peer-pressured into it. Despite that, Tanya gave me a look that said 'trust me', so I decided to believe in her decision and walked over to sit with the rest of the group.

As we ate, I started getting into the small talk and learning about the people we had saved. Cait was the only one who was distinctly quiet throughout. 

When we finally finished our rations, it was time to move on. We still had to figure out where to send these people and how to get them where they needed to be. We worked through the rest of the day, forming groups, getting people geared up, and making plans for everyone. When we were done, it was night, and we all decided to move, clean the place up, and stay the night.