[M] [IC] Fallout: Ain't That A Kick In The Head?

[LupusSilvae]

Stephen's mind was racing with half-formed thoughts consumed by a deep-seated panic. It was difficult to make his body do much of anything, but he somehow managed to make himself lift Dani up and toss most of her weight over his shoulder. The contact made his inner turmoil even worse, though externally he remained pale and emotionless. Rhea, fortunately, was too concerned about her master's state to worry about food. She stayed where she had been told, but her tail swished anxiously as she fed off of Stephen's emotions.

[UserError404]

He ran with blurry eyes down the empty streets of Vault City. Nikola's feet dragged as his legs struggled to carry the weight of his body. His chest burned as his breath eluded him. Where had he run to? Remembering to breathe, he whipped his face and gathered his composure. Everything had disappeared. The buildings that lined the streets were swallowed by an insatiable darkness that extended its tendrils and threatened to devour him as well. In front of him stood a lonely house. His house. The last remaining bastion of safety. As if his legs had made a pact with the darkness to lure Nikola into its cold and lifeless grasp, they refused to take him to safety. The darkness grew ever closer, growling with unbridled hatred. If he could just get to his house. But, his glorious refugee had abandoned him too. It drifted farther beyond reach, leaving him to his fate.

A strong and warming touch met his wrist. His fate apparently had other plans. Opening his eyes, he was in his living room. Slowly standing up, he steadied his shaking hands. Nikola had a job to do. A task so complicated and a burden so great that no man should have to bear it alone, and yet, here he was. It had to be done. Venturing to his room, he grabbed a backpack and gathered supplies for a trip he wasn't sure he could make.

The world is a desolate place. Humans had destroyed themselves and the few who survived were trying to finish the job. To him, Vault City represented a new start. With technology that was ahead of its time even before the Great War, they truly had the power to make the world a better place. But some sought to extinguish their light. To subjugate them into a corrupted government that had destroyed the world once already and to use their technological gifts as a means to eradicate those who dared oppose them and solidify their rule over the human race. He was the only thing standing in their way. The only one standing against the NCR. But now, there was something standing in his way.

"Where are you going Nikola? Don't you know your father will be home any minute now? You can ask him that 'rather urgent' question of yours." His mother's warm smile stood in the doorway of his room.

[Holocene]

As Stephen descended into the basement, with Dani across his shoulder, the stench of blood and decay grew. The basement was dimly lit with a single light bulb, the light barely penetrating to the edges. The air was dry and musty.

At the bottom of the stairs, there were boxes with various supplies and materials that Ernest had gathered, including one with a Hunting Shotgun and Varmint Rifle lying atop it. But Ernest pointed to the opposite side of the basement, where a small section was guarded by metal bars.

Inside sat a White Legs warrior, with his arms chained to the wall, and his legs sawn off up to the thighs, bandages wrapped around the stumps.

"He and his friends found this place, tried to take it from us. But even scoundrel filth like him, and like y'all have a purpose. Out here resources, food, are difficult to find. But those who try to steal can inevitably provide. This is what happens to those who try to take this place."

Ernest pointed his shotgun at Stephen, and growled, "Do you understand me? We're not monsters, we don't go hunting people, looking for trouble. But people like you, who have the gall to come to MY land, enter MY house, with the lowest of intentions? You WILL provide!"

By now it was apparent that Ernest had lost the few marbles he had left, and there was a hateful vengeance in his eyes. Whatever he was planning to do, it wasn't going to be good, nor likely sane, and Ethel was not present with her calming personality, assuming that was not just an act too.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani awoke and froze. Her vision was skewed and she realized she was hanging over Stephens shoulder. she listened quietly and stayed completely still as Ernest ranted. She could hear the insanity in his voice but from her position she couldn't see him or whatever Stephen was facing. She could however, feel the tension and fear in Stephens body and she swallowed, trying to push back the rising fear and also her bodies wish to slip back into unconsciousness.

She resisted the instinct to groan in pain as her injuries from falling on the stairs hit her. She could feel blood dripping down her temple and her arm throbbed. She took a small steadying breathe and gently tapped Stephen on the back to let him know she was awake and about to attempt something. She strained to see past his body without alerting Ernest. She caught a glimpse of Ernest and her fear grew exponentially as she spotted the dismembered man chained to the wall behind him. Her stomach turned again but she held it back and her mind raced trying to come up with a plan.

She didn't want to endanger Stephen, but she had to do something to get her group out of here with as little damage as possible. She heard Ernest raise his gun with the line, "You WILL provide!" and she knew she had to move now. She prayed the old man wouldn't have the greatest reaction time. She quickly rolled off Stephens shoulder and kicked him in the side as she flipped to try and throw him and herself towards opposite sides of the room and out of the line of fire. She landed in a ball on her bad arm and cried out but without hesitation pulled her knives from their holsters and pushed herself forward and towards Ernest's ankles, going for his Achilles tendons.

[LupusSilvae]

Ernest's tirade and dark pastimes left Stephen speechless. The metallic scent of blood combined with his own fears and tension lured him towards unconsciousness, but he remained stubbornly in the land of the living. Dani's gentle tap gave him a slight jolt, which he masked with a discomforted shuffle, but her movement was far more unexpected. The blow to the side sent him tumbling across the room, throwing him into the boxes of supplies. The collision left him dazed, but more than that, it cleared his head of the whirling thoughts and phobias. While Dani went low, Stephen took the opportunity to go high. Grabbing the hunting shotgun that had all but fallen in his lap, he aimed at Ernest's head and fired, hoping it was a high enough shot for the slug's spread to miss Dani.

[UserError404]

"You know where I am going mother." Nikola said coldly. "I can't just sit around and live my life in blissful ignorance. Father and the city council still can't decide what to do about the NCR. Everyday they pressure us more and more. I hear the two of you talking about it. I'm going where I have to. I'm doing what I need to. I don't know where that will take me or what I will have to do... I have to try because I don't know what else to do!"

Choking on tears, he managed to scream his final sentence with vigor and conviction. His mother's figure faded away in a ghostly manner and his path was clear. He swung open the door of his house, took a deep breath, and walked towards the city gate. As if the city understood his mission, the intricate mechanisms of the gate rumbled to life, pardoning his abrupt departure and wishing him well on his journey. The sun peaked through the clouds, as if watching him through a window like a newly wed watching her husband being sent off to war, uncertain if she would ever see him again but waiting ever patiently for his triumphant return.

The solemn departure was interrupted by what stood on the other side of the gate. An army of mindless warriors. Cogs in the machine that lowered the gate to war and subjugation. The NCR's army was waiting for him. An older uniformed figure with gray hair stood leading the army with a face that wore the scars of battle, both physical and mental. "Let me ask you one more time: Where ARE you going?" the commander took a step forward to meet Nikola.

Feeling watchful eyes behind him, Nikola turned to see his parents standing there. His mother spoke up "Please dear, just come back inside. There is work to be done. Let your father handle the NCR."

His father added "I don't know what you are about to do son, but you can't wage a war by yourself. Sometimes the most powerful tool you have isn't a nuclear bomb, but diplomacy."

"Why don't you listen to your parents, kid? We are only visiting after all." The commander leaned in closer "But don't worry. We will be coming for your precious little city soon enough."

"Mother. Father. I'm sorry." A shot rang out. The smell of blood saturated the air. The commander's eyes went dark as he fell to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Nikola looked down at his hands to see a smoking pistol and an empty shell next to the dying man. This shot was followed by a far more powerful one. As if someone had fired a shotgun next to his ear, his senses were numbed. His ears rang and his arm burned. An old saying suddenly ran through his head: 'An eye for an eye'.

His arm dangled in a bloody mess, barely holding on to his body. He had been shot, but surely he didn't expect to kill an NCR commander in front of his army without repercussions. His parents quickly ran to his side as he heard their distant cries slipping further away. Their faces stood over his and blocked out the light from the retreating sun, who had closed her cloudy curtains to mourn her loss. It was not long after until they too caught a swift bullet to the head. NCR soldiers marched into the city, all the while Nikola was forced to watch. Helpless. Dying. He closed his eyes one last time.

Back in the land of the living, he now understood. The gunshot he heard was real, as was the pain in his arm. Not because of a gunshot, but because of the gnawing of a gecko. Niels lay pushed up next to him, eyes closed, but mouth around his arm. The smell of blood was also all too real. What had happened? With blurry eyes, Nikola made out the figure of the old women and strained his eyes to see what she was doing and maybe get a clue as to what was going on.

[Holocene]

The shells in Ernest's shotgun exploded forwards into the spot, where, only a moment earlier, Dani and Stephen had just been. As Dani out maneuvered him and plunged her daggers into his ankles, he let out a blood curdling scream and fell backwards, catching a small part of Stephen's blast in his shoulder.

"God damn you!" he yelled, dropping the shotgun and reaching for his own knife, as he tried to wrestle free from Dani and give her a knife wound of her own. The old man was surprisingly resilient.

Upstairs, as Nikola began to regain his senses, Joe also suddenly awoke form the sound of the two shotguns. He shot up, and began groggily looking around, trying to break the daze he was in.

Ethel also jumped at the sound of shooting and with her gun shaking in her hand, yelled, "Ernest! What's going on down there!?" She got up, turning her back to her prisoners, and went to the top of the stairs, where she heard the ensuing struggle. She screamed out for Ernest, and began descending the steps as well.

[abbiejlee95]

Dani wrestled with Ernest and wrenched his arm behind him, trying to make him drop his knife. She knew ethel would probably be coming down the stairs any moment as she heard her call out for her husband. She maneuvered herself behind Ernest and put her knife to his throat as Ethel appeared on the stairs.

"Drop the gun Ethel! I don't want to kill him. I just want me and my friends to be able to leave with our lives. We are just trying to survive. Just like you."

She pushed Ernest to his knees and kicked his gun far from his reach. She knew he wouldn't be able to pursue with both Achilles tendons severed.

She kept her knife at his throat as she continued to speak calmly to Ethel. "We will leave right now and we won't hurt either of you. As soon as you put down your gun."

[LupusSilvae]

Since Dani had handily dealt with the situation, Stephen fortunately had little to do. He picked himself up and kept a tight grip on the borrowed shotgun, backing himself against a wall so he could focus on Ethel as she came down the stairs, but had Dani and Ernest in his peripheral vision in case something went wrong. A slight tremor in his hands betrayed his otherwise stoic exterior, but he would not give up just yet. It was only a matter of waiting for Ethel's response and hope they would be able to escape unscathed.

[UserError404]

Seeing Joe was also awake, Nikola proposed his plan, "Hey Joe, you good? I don't know what the hell is happening, but I have a feeling we are going to need our weapons. Think you can distract these geriatric lunatics long enough for me to run outside? I don't know about you, but I think I remember where I threw mine."

Getting back on his feet, he brushed himself off and shook out his remaining grogginess. He waited for a response from Joe before he went over to carefully and quietly open the door, looking for any sort of traps or alarms that would comprise his plan.