Fallout: Rise of the Lone Wanderer: Book One

by M. P. Pubs

  As Marcus was thinking of ways to hide their truck, the sound of gunfire was heard up ahead. Clover stopped the truck and she removed a pair of binoculars from the glove compartment. She could see the entrance to the Chevy Chase Metro tunnels, and a small camp just to the right of it. The twenty raiders were shooting at a lone wastelander pinned down behind a pile of rubble on the other side of the street.

  "Looks like raiders got some poor bastard trapped by the metro." Clover said.

  Marcus took the binoculars. He could see that the wastelander was wearing a brown utility jacket and a large back pack. Armed with a combat shotgun, the wastelander was trying his best to hold off the advancing raiders. Marcus continued too watch the gun battle, and he soon realized the wastelander was a ghoul - a ghoul he recognized.

  "Quinn!"

  Clover looked at him. "Who?"

  Marcus threw the binoculars on the seat. "I know that ghoul!" He climbed through the truck's back window. "Drive!"

  Clover was shocked. "What?"

  "Drive straight for the raider and put this truck between them and Quinn." Marcus quickly locked and loaded the .50 cal. Clover stared straight ahead at he heavly armed raiders. "And people think I'm crazy." she mumbled. She put the truck in gear. "Hang on!"

  * * *

  The gunfire from the raiders was so intense that all Quinn could do was point his gun over the rubble and fire blindly; hoping for a luckly hit. The raiders were so close to his position that he could hear them taunting him, and he was running out of ammo. "Never thought I'd go out like this." he said to himself.

  The roar of an engine and the sound of machine gun fire got his attention. Quinn peeked around his cover - and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The raiders caught out in the open were torn to pieces as Marcus layed down a steady stream of heavy machine gun fire. Clover managed to mow down the two still standing in the middle of the road. "OOPS!" she playfully yelled as the raiders bounced off the truck like bugs. As instructed she stopped the truck between Quinn and the camp, shielding him from the gunfire. Marcus turned the .50 on the camp, where the last of the raiders were scrambling to take cover. The .50 caliber rounds easily penetrated the plywood and rusted metal they were using as cover, and Marcus began picking them off. The raiders, however, had no intention of going down without a fight. Several rounds hit the truck, and Marcus heard more than one whizz by his head. He spotted a raider shouldering a rocket launcher and Marcus fired a burst, hitting the raider in the chest. The rocket went wide and struck the remains of a building on the other side of the street.

  With the last raider dead, everything became eerily quiet. Marcus took a deep breath and leaned against the now empty .50 cal. 'How many more people am I going to have to kill?' he thought.

  "Hey kid!" a gravely voice called to him. Marcus turned and saw Quinn walking toward him. "Damn, you sure know how to make an entrance."

  Marcus jumped down from the truck. As he clasped Quinn's hand, he noticed the field dressing on the ghoul's right arm. "Are you alright?"

  Quinn just shrugged. "I've had worse. Thanks for the save, kid. I owe you one."

  Marcus shook his head and grinned. "We're even."

  Clover stepped down from the truck's cab and practically jumped into Marcus' arms. "Wahoooo! We rock, baby!"

  She pressed her lips to his, and Marcus returned the favor; all the while being observed by Quinn. "Wow. You've been busy."

  Marcus shot a glance at the collar around Clover's neck and began to blush. "It's not what you think. I..."

  Clover shot him an annoyed look, and he quickly corrected himself. "...we, broke out of Paradise Falls yesterday."

  The ghoul reached into his back pack. "I heard; and so did a few other people." He handed a folded piece of paper to Marcus.

  "What's this?"

  "They're going up all over the Capital Wasteland. There's a bounty on your head, kid. I big one."

  Marcus unfolded the paper - and his jaw dropped. "'3,000 caps for Marcus Lincoln - dead or alive!'"

  Clover whisled. "3,000 caps, hu? Maybe I should turn you in myself."

  Marcus looked at her and for a moment, he couldn't tell if she was kidding. "Well you might want to reconsider; there's a bounty on your head too."

  Clover ripped the notice out of his hand. "Let me see that. '500 caps for the slave girl known as Clover'! A 500 cap bounty on me?!"

  Marcus placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know, I'm sorry."

  Clover crumpled the paper and threw it on the ground. "500 caps! Is that all they think I'm worth?"

  Marcus and Quinn looked at each other and just shook their heads. "Well don't worry sweetheart," Marcus said, "I'm sure you'll raise that number."

  "Damn right, suga. By next week it'll be up to a thousand."

  Clover gave Marcus a kiss and ran towards the raider camp to begin scavenging.

  "So where ya headed?" Quinn asked.

  "Galaxy News Radio."

  "Really? Well it just so happens that's on the way to Underworld. You mind if I tag along - or is three a crowd?"

  Marcus shook his head. "Not at all; the more the marrier. I just have to figure out what to do with this truck and all this gear. We can't carry it all and I'd hate to lose it..."

  At that very moment the answer seemed to appear to him: the rocket that hit the building had blown a hole in th rubble. Marcus and Quinn investigated the openning, and they discovered it led to an old parking garage. Most of it had caved in, but there was still more than enough room to park a truck. Marcus grinned. "This is perfect."

  They returned to the outside, and Clover was just starting to load the gear she had scavenged into the truck.

  "Clover!" Marcus yelled. "Do you think you could drive the truck through this hole?"

  Clover looked the openning over and smiled. "Of course, lover. You know I'm good at squeezing big things into tight spaces."

  She jumped into the truck and started the engine. Marcus was blushing as he could feel Quinn's gaze on him. "Is she good at that, kid?"

  Marcus gave the ghoul a sideways glance. "Shut up, Quinn."

  Quinn just chuckled.

  * * *

  It was a tight squeeze, but Clover managed to manuver the truck through the openning and into the parking garage. Both she and Marcus loaded up as much as they could carry and left the rest in the truck. With Quinn's help, they were able to place enough rubble in front of the openning to conceal it. To make sure they would remember where it was, Quinn used some red paint he had scavenged and painted the letters "LW" on the rubble.

  Confident that their bounty was well hidden, the three travelers prepared themselves to enter the metro. Clover and Quinn told Marcus about the feral ghouls they would not doubt encounter; crazed creatures that attacked a human on sight. Each member of the group was armed to the teeth. Marcus had his AK-47, Eulogy's .44 revolver, Lucy's sawed-off shotgun strapped to his right thigh, the 40mm grenade launcher and a combat knife. Clover too, carried an AK-47, her chinese sword, five grenades and a .308 sniper rifle. Quinn of course had his combat shotgun, and Marcus gave him one-hundred rounds of 12 gauge.

  Quinn led the way into the metro since he had traveled it many times before. The tunnels were even creeper than Marcus could've imagined. They smelled like death and were completely dark. The only light came from thier flashlites, and they were barely enough. Many of the tunnels had collapsed or were being blocked by abandoned train cars. They encountered two ferals not long after entering the metro. The scream they let out shook Marcus to his core, and he fired more rounds then he needed to put them down. They proceeded further in, and encountered a few more ferals which they easily took care of. But about halfway through the metro, they encountered a super mutant standing at the top of one of the tunnels.

  Marcus peeked around the corner and saw that the mutant hadn't spotted them yet. "Clover, hand me your sniper rifle."

  Clover unclipped the rifle off her back pack. "No problem, suga."

  Marcu
s placed the cross hairs on the head of the mutant and activated his VATS. One shot was all it took, and the super mutant fell backwards dead. Marcus handed the rifle back to Clover and had just stepped out into the open when two more super mutants appeared at the top of the tunnel.

  "Found you!" one of them yelled. Both mutants openned fire with hunting rifles and Marcus hit the deck. He and Quinn returned fire, scoring hits on both mutants. Clover pulled the pin on a grenade, counted to three, then threw it with all she had. The grenade landed between the mutants, finishing them off. When they were certain there were no more mutants, the three travelers continued on until they finally reached the exit leading to Chevy Chase North.

  When they emerged from the metro, the sun was just beginning to set. Quinn pointed to his left. "GNR is that way."

  Marcus nodded and he and Clover followed him. They had walked only a few yards when three heavly armed super mutants seemed to appear out of no where up ahead.

  "Hurry up and die! I'm hungry!" One of them screamed as the trio charged straight at them. Marcus raised his AK and was about to fire when the super mutants were cut down by beams of red lights coming from the left side.

  "What the hell?" Quinn asked.

  Marcus carefully took a few steps forward and as he came around some rubble, he spotted a group of six men wearing what looked like suits of armor. They were armed with a variety of weapons, including laser rifles, assault rifles - one was even armed with a minigun. The group parted and a seventh armored soldier ran towards him. Unlike the other's, this soldier wore no helmet, revealing a beautiful blonde woman. Marcus stood there dumbfounded as she addressed him. "I don't know who you are but you don't belong here. The super mutants have overrun our brothers at the Galaxy News Radio building and we're heading there to back them up."

  Marcus snapped himself out of his trance and responded. "Wow, thanks for the assist. What's your name?"

  "Assist? First of all, wastelander, we saved your ass. Second, I'm Sarah Lyons: Sentinal of the Brotherhood of Steel and leader of the Lyons' Pride. We keep the Super Mutants from overrunning D.C."

  Her answer only gave Marcus more questions, but he decided they could wait. "Well we're heading for Galaxy News Radio ourselves, mind if we tag along?"

  Sarah was quick to answer. "I don't think so. The last thing we need is for a civilian, his ghoul and slave girl getting in the way."

  Marcus looked over at his group, and he could see the anger on their faces. "Lyons, is it? This ghoul saved my life, and when's the last time you saw a slave armed to the teeth?"

  Sarah looked them over and sighed. "Look, just don't do anything...stupid."

  Without saying another word she turned and rejoined her men. Clover let out a grunt. "Bitch!" she whispered.

  "Now now, Clover that bitch did save our lives." Marcus said.

  Clover just rolled her eyes. She saw the way that Marcus was staring at her - and she didn't like it. They followed the soldiers down an alley, and they could hear the sound of gunfire getting closer.

  "So Quinn," Marcus began, "who are these guys?"

  "The Brotherhood? They arrived here from California about twenty years ago. At first they were looking for old world tech, but soon they began clearing out the super mutants from the D.C. area. They act all 'high and mighty' sometimes, but overall they're good people."

  They rounded a corner and up ahead they spotted two more soldiers and a third lying on a stretcher. Marcus was wondering if the soldier was still alive, until he saw another reach down with his hand and close his eyes. Lyons was the first to join them. "Jennings?"

  One of the soldiers shook his head. "He didn't make it."

  Lyons looked down at the ground. "Damn! Alright, what's our status, Vargas?"

  "Five more muties released from their torment."

  "Damn right they are!" a female soldier chimed in.

  "Cut the chatter Redding and listen up!" Vargas said.

  "Yes sir.!"

  Vargas continued. "Target building is just up ahead."

  Lyons nodded. "Good."

  Vargas looked over at Marcus. "New recruit?"

  Lyons glanced in his direction. "Just a stray. Listen up! GNR plaza is on the other side of this building so we're going right through it. Redding, you stay with Vargas and do exactly what he tells you."

  "Yes, Sentinal!"

  Lyons continued to address the group. "Hit'em hard and fast, pride!"

  "OOORAH!" The soldiers yelled.

  With Lyons leading the way, the soldiers charged down the alleyway with Marcus, Quinn and Clover following. Just up ahead, Marcus could see a three story building with the name "Early Dawn Elementary" writen above the front door. Two super mutants standing inside a small playground were cut down by the Brotherhood soldier wielding the minigun. But then three laser beams struck the soldier at the same time; penetrating his armor and turning his body to ash. Marcus and his companions took cover, and he observed the largest super mutant he had ever seen in the second story window, firing a tri-beam laser rifle. Marcus fired a burst with his AK, hitting the mutant square in the chest, but it only seemed to anger it.

  "What the hell is that thing?" Marcus yelled.

  "A super mutant Overlord!" Quinn responded as he reloaded his shotgun. "Toughest sonofabitch there is and nearly impossible to kill."

  Marcus put down his rifle and took his grenade launcher out of his pack. "Let's see how he does against this." With his VATS activated, Marcus took aim at the Overlord's chest and fired two grenades; blowing the top part of the creature to pieces.

  For a moment even Sarah Lyons was surprised, and Marcus caught her staring at him. He responded with a wink, and he charged into the building. Sarah let out an annoyed sigh and followed close behind him. Marcus made his way down a hallway and was about to round the corner, when Sarah Lyons yanked him back.

  "The hell...!"

  Marcus was silenced as a hail of gunfire slammed into the spot where he would've been.

  "Clear the corners, rookie!" Lyons said.

  Marcus swallowed hard as he realized what almost happened. "Thanks."

  Lyons turned to her squad. "Redding! Plasma grenade!"

  Redding handed Lyons the grenade and stood back. Lyons tossed it around the corner. "Fire in the hole!"

  Marcus could hear a super mutant yell: "Run away!", followed by a loud explosion and bright green light.

  "Go!" Lyons ordered.

  When they rounded the corner, Marcus stopped at the sight of two piles of green goo that were once super mutants. "Whoa." he gasped.

  They made it through the school and down to the bottom level. A large hole in the wall led outside to the Galaxy News Plaza. Inside the center of the plaza, Marcus could see a stone water fountain. To his left was the GNR building, and ten Brotherhood of Steel soldiers were trying to hold off over two dozen super mutants. Lyons was on one side of the openning, Marcus was on the other. From their position, they were directly behind the mutants; who had no idea they were about to be ambushed.

  "Hey wastelander," Lyons called to Marcus, "you want to introduce them to your little friend?"

  Marcus realized that she was talking about his grenade launcher and grinned. "I think I can arrange that." He took aim and fired three grenades, killing or wounding seven mutants. The group charged into the plaza, shooting and screaming at the top of their lungs. Clover and Quinn each took down a mutant, while Marcus took down a super mutant Brute (though it took an entire magazine to do it.) He was reloading his AK when he spotted Lyons, blasting a super mutant Master with her laser rifle. As the Master fell down dead, another mutant struck her left side with a nail board. The blow knocked Lyons against the stone fountain, causing her to loose her rifle. The super mutant charged again.

  "Lyons!" Marcus screamed as he slapped the magazine in his AK.

  Before the super mutant could deliver the final blow, Lyons shoved a ripper into the creature's gut, and sliced him up to his chest. She pushed herself off the foun
tain, drew a laser pistol, and took down another charging mutant. A third mutant, armed with a sledge hammer, was about to attack her from behind when a shotgun blast to it's face killed it instantly. Lyons spun around and saw Marcus, holding a sawed-off shotgun. For a moment their eyes met, and Marcus gave her a nod.

  "Lookout!" she yelled.

  Marcus turned and fired his sawed-off into the chest of another mutant at point blank range.

  Marcus and Lyons were back-to-back in the middle of the plaza. She was firing away with her laser pistol, while Marcus took down two more mutants with his .44 revolver. A Master charged at him, and Marcus heard the heart stopping click as his gun went empty. "Shit!" he yelled as he dropped the gun and pulled the combat knife form his vest. The Master was almost on him when Clover slammed her sword into it's right side. The Master cried out in pain and with one swing of it's massive arm, knocked Clover across the plaza.

  An enraged Marcus leaped onto the mutant's back and repeatedly stabbed him in the throat. "DIE YOU FUCKER, DIE!"

  The Master fell face down dead, and an exhausted Marcus rolled off the body and onto his back. The sounds of battle had gone, and were replaced with the cheering of soldiers. Marcus just layed there, trying to catch his breath. A shadow suddenly fell on him, and Sarah Lyons was standing over him with an extended hand. "I guess I should thank you."