Fallout-6: I hate mondays
Part six and still counting. No criticism yet so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. Just a warning thought, the end of the story that I have planned may annoy or disappoint some people,(sorry) but it will be interesting. I think I will just leave it at that to tease people. I haven't name this part yet because it is just improvisation, so lets see where this heads. Just more war stuff, so hopefully some firefights and so forth.
The crescent moon dissipated as the shadow of earth crossed it. David looked up at it intrigued by the event. An odd buzzing filled the air, coming from an unknown source. David flung his hands to his ears to no avail, the buzzing seemed to penetrate deep inside his skull from all angles. All of a sudden a flash of blinding light flooded the immediate area. Senses overwhelmed, David fell to the ground. He landed on a small rock behind him-
David gave a cry and jerked up out of bed. He noticed he was doing a lot of that these days. He rubbed at his sore back. Painful dreams. That's a first.
David was lying on a cheap worn mattress in the back of an old army truck. The vehicle hummed quietly beneath him. David was astounded. It was a rare sight to find a working vehicle in the wasteland. The rest of the occupants of the truck were already awake and had left. David jumped out of the truck and sunk slightly into the shallow snow beneath his feet. Dull light shone from the clouds above him as snow drifted gently downwards. His fellow soldiers were gathered around a campfire, holding their sore heads and talking over some coffee. The cold suddenly gripped David. It was more intense than he had previously encountered. He jumped back into the truck and put on more clothes. He headed over and joined the others, not sitting on a log with the rest of them, but sitting closer to the fire. He basked in the warmth of the fire as it radiated about his body.
A small furry hand thrust a cup of coffee towards him. David turned around to see Arnold holding it out to him with a small smile. Almost a forced smile. He gratefully took the cup with a nod. These people were not used to this kind of fighting. It was still dawning on them what they had done. Loss of innocence. Almost a poetic incident. David remembered the guard he had encountered when he escaped the vault for the first time. He had relived that moment countless times. He flawlessly remembered the resonating echo that filled the cold halls, the flash, the body. The blood oozed from the body slowly. He was still haunted by the face. The cold lifeless face that stared into infinity, the pleading look, 'Why me? What have I done to deserve this-'David shook his head quickly and the thought disappeared. He had learned to rid himself of the thought, but sometimes allowed it to take him over, amongst the sensations of killing and bloodlust he sometimes felt, it was the only part of him that kept him sane. Kept him human.
From what David could work out, they had all been transported back to Megatown overnight. The city lay to the west surrounded by a barb wire fence. Probably just keeps the people happy, gives them a sense of security.
Smith emerged from a nearby tent and gave a whistle and beckoned. Arnold slowly made his way into the tent for debriefing.
"You, Davis!" It seemed David had a new name, after all, sergeants couldn't go about addressing people by first names, and since David had no last name, he was dubbed Davis. "Tent C-13, eleven-hundred hours!" Smith followed Arnold into the tent. David gave a sigh and headed back to the truck to cover up with a blanket so his ass didn't freeze off. Figuratively speaking, of course.
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David observed his new suit. The main part was a mish-mash of white and grey hues. It was similar in shape to his everyday suit. Over top of that though, was a mesh of white that covered his entire body. On top of everything else, he sported the wicked white shades that hid his eyes from sight. He flicked a knob on the side and after a brief flash, all he could see was white. The wall of the tent was white with a lighter shaded shape visible. The shape seemed to burn with intense light as it paced up and down outside the tent. As far as David could see, the glasses combined thermal sensor technology, radioactive wave emitters and an awesome tint to produce a sort of x-ray thermal vision device. David flicked the knob off and looked back to the mirror. "Nice." He thought as he observed his new threads. "Like a ghillie in the mist." He concluded (MW2 reference). He turned to Arnold who was also giving his shades a test.
"Thirty minutes till departure." Sergeant Langley entered the tent. The wulf's face showed no sign of emotion. "It seems that you also have a visitor, Davis, but remember to keep it short." Langley turned and headed out the door. "Thirty minutes."
A few seconds past before a familiar face entered the tent.
"Shawna!" David approached Shawna and gave her a quick hug. "How did you get here? Isn't this some secure military zone? Shawna shrugged.
"I know some people, pulled some strings, y'know?" She said with a smile. Before David could say anything, Shawna cut in.
"No, David." David's mouth snapped shut.
"So how are things?" David asked.
"Boring." She answered with a shrug.
"Well I hope I made it up to you the night before I left." He said with a smile. Shawna gave a short giggle.
"I think y' could make it up to me a little more when-" Shawna stopped when she saw Arnold in the corner.
"Well, I guess I might come visit later then..." She said nervously. As she turned away to head out the door her tail briefly curled loosely around David's leg brushing against his thigh, before uncurling as she left.
David turned to see Arnold's amazed expression.
"What?" David asked with a smile. Arnold gave a low whistle as he shook his head quickly.
"Damn that's a nice catch there." He said smiling. David was surprised at this sudden change in attitude. He had thought of Arnold as the focussed and sensible type, but he now realized how young the forx was. He was probably two years younger than David, so about 19. David then reminded himself that he was 19 again also.
"What are you jealous?" He asked with a sly smile.
"Whatever." Arnold grunted. David didn't have the best people skill in the world, but he knew when somebody was avoiding a question.
"You didn't answer me." He said. Arnold gave a small shrug.
"Meh, maybe a little." He said averting his eyes. David gave a short chuckle.
"Yeah, that's understandable. One damn fine ass, that's for sure." He said smiling as he picked up his sniper and slung it over his back. "Come on, let's head out." He headed out of the tent with the blushing forx in tow.
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A group of burning white figures paced alongside a packed Brahmin. A couple scanned the area warily as they followed the track. This was the third group to pass today. Most of the time the felines headed west towards Megatown, about half of that went back the other way to the east.
"Definitely a supply line." David whispered into his mic. Intel was on the ball. A supply movement on Monday. The earpiece crackled in his ear before Arnold replied:
"Yeah, so what do you reckon?" David thought for a second.
"Let's blow it up." He said excitedly.
"How do you blow up a track?" Arnold asked warily.
"Track the group and find a structural weakness in the path." He stated, trying to make the plan sound more sophisticated than it actually was.
"Dave, our orders were to observe and not to engage." Arnold started. There was his sensible side. He was obviously a sensible person, but sometimes his boyish nature got the better of him. "We should just wait." David shook his head and stood up, brushing the snow off his suit.
"Come on." David ducked low and darted between various piles of rubble and rocks in pursuit of the felines with the forx, again, following.
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David fiddled with the last of his battery bombs as Arnold kept watch. He finished with the IED and hid it beneath a snow covered rock about two metres up the rock face. This time he had brought a proper fuse with him, which he connected to the last of the bombs.
"Dave!" Arnold whispered frantically through his mic. David hoisted himself up onto a small ledge above his head, and from there grabbed Arnold's hand and pulled himself up onto the top of the rock wall with Arnold. The way this trap worked, the explosion should shake loose some boulders from either side of the small valley and block the path. Enemy infantry should be able to climb over the rubble easily enough, but a Brahmin wound find it impossible. Arnold moved further along the top to a hidden position where he could see when the enemies approached, while David moved back to a safe position where he could light the fuse. David waited silently for Arnold's call. It was only a few short seconds before a signal of "Go!", and he lit the fuse. All seemed to be going well. David waited. And waited. He was worrying slightly. Wait, did he adjust the-
"What is-" There was an angry cry from below, and with that he was off. The rifle thumped against his back and his heart thudded in his chest. He could see Arnold running in a different direction, but he didn't have time to change direction as the felines swarmed out of the canyon after them. The group split up 50/50, one group after each. This was not good. Arnold wasn't as experienced as he was. David turned and fired five rounds with his Sniper into the group chasing Arnold. Only one of the group was hit, but the desired effect was achieved. The group turned and fired at David, charging in pursuit.
"Stupid kitties," David thought. "Assault rifles, couldn't hit a behemoth from h-" He grimaced as a bullet skimmed across his arm and fell onto the ground. He lay there clutching his arm and rolling about. He took his hand away and was shocked. There was a long red gash across his arm, but there was no sign of blood. David slowly stood and looked around at the felines around him. They all had their rifles tracking him except what appeared to be the leader. The leader approached him.
"Kneel." He growled. David thought for a second before spitting on the felines shoe and fixing it a blank stare. The feline roared and unsheathed its claws as he approached. Sensing an opportunity to piss it off further, he said:
"Ooh, kitty has claws." The feline leaned forward roared at him again. Sensing the opportunity, David moved. The three claws emerged from between his knuckles and he delivered a lethal uppercut. The three claws pierced the feline's throat, and before the others could react he withdrew his fist and went at them in a furious barrage of slashes and strikes. Through a series of spins and slashes he killed another three. He spun around with one impaled as the remaining fired. The bullets slammed into his meatshield as he kicked it forward, knocking them over. Ignoring the nagging pain of bullet wounds on his arms and sides, he leapt at his downed opponents with a feral roar and impaled them simultaneously. David crouched between his two fallen foes as he panted heavily, unsure of what had come over him. He felt the rage inside him slowly dwindling and his vision became clear again. He could feel the shaking muzzle of the rifle pressed to the back of his head. He didn't know what to do. For one of the first times in his life, he didn't know what to do. All of a sudden pain coursed through his arms. His legs collapsed and he fell to the ground in front of him.
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David woke up coughing and spluttering, he could feel the side of his face grow slightly numb where he had been hit. He looked up at the feline standing over him. The feline stared back at him with a smile that made him feel uncomfortable. David tried to stand up, but of course, he was tied up.
"Comfortable, yes?" He hissed. David tried to shift about a little.
"Oh, yeah, totally." David was pissed. Why the hell did he have to get mixed up in all this? Fucking unreliable bomb. He couldn't have just stayed out of this. He brightened up for a second. Hopefully though, they might take him to Rise city. The feline held up a ring of metal with a beeping red light on it.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked. David gulped at the sight. He had seen enough of them for an entire lifetime. The feline opened the ring and lowered it towards David.
"Dammit no!" He growled as he squirmed about trying to get free. The ropes started ripping a bit, but by the time they broke the collar had clamped shut. David threw back his head with a moan of despair.
"Get up bitch, you're mine now." The feline turned and walked away with another two felines. David stood up and his binding fell to the ground and looked at the felines in front of him. One turned and held up a remote and glided one finger across a red button. David reluctantly followed. Something in the back of his mind was thinking. Monday. I hate Mondays.
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The four trudged wearily across the snow. Nobody spoke, however the felines occasionally turned to make sure David was following still. David would return venomous looks whenever they looked at him. The felines had not told David where he was going. "Hopefully to rise city." He thought. The figures walked long and far. There was the occasional encounter with some giant nasty bugs, no scorpions yet though, but the felines took them out before they got close enough. There was at that time, one thing bothering David.
"Why?" David started. "Why would you go to these lengths just to transport one prisoner?" David asked. He hated referring to himself as prisoner. Two of the felines turned around to look at him, but it was the third one who answered." Because you're valuable." He said without turning around.
"Huh, you could have fooled me." David muttered. "Valuable? How?" The feline spoke over his shoulder.
"I'm sure our scientists will love to have a good poke around to see how you work." He said with another uncomfortable grin.
"Yeah, I'm sure you'd like that wouldn't you." David muttered under his breath. The thought of people trying to dissect him didn't worry him too much. He'd work something out.
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Rise city was huge. Towering grey buildings stood around the outside, separated by various roads and alleyways. There was probably the port behind it. Hundreds of white tents were spread out around the city. Feline soldiers wandered about between them and Brahmin slowly made their way towards the city. David looked around him through his shades as he passed. A couple threw him glances, showing signs of interest, but quickly turned away when he looked back. He followed the first feline through the maze of tents while the second and third followed behind him. The first feline took a right into a large tent, David followed.
A feline smoking a cigar stood over a table facing away from The four who had entered.
"Sergeant." The first spoke. The sergeant continued for a few second before placing the cigar on the table and turning to face David. The two exchanged immediate looks of recognition. This was one of the ambassadors guards he had seen. The sergeant turned to the first feline.
"From what I remember, you had another seven men with you when you left." He looked from one feline to another. "Did this humans squad kill them?" The first shook his head.
"No sir," he paused for a second to think. "He did." He pointed at David, who raised his head a bit in recognition.
"Were you ambushed then?"
"No sir." The first answered. "Their ambush failed. He... stabbed them." The sergeant raised an eyebrow.
"He stabbed them?" He questioned. "How," The sergeant raised his voice, "does one man kill seven soldiers without a gun?!" He yelled. The first looked at the ground and cleared his throat.
"We shot him sergeant." He looked up. "We all shot him. About a dozen times. He kept going." The sergeant turned his gaze to David, who held a content smile on his face.
"That's why we brought him back sir." The first continued. "We thought that the eggheads back in the lab might find him interesting." The sergeant turned back to the first.
"So he's tough?" He asked with growing interest in the situation.
"The bullets seemed to skim off him sir." He said motioning to David. "And another thing. He's got claws." The sergeant gave the first a confused look.
"So? We have claws, do we not?" He asked.
"Big claws, sir." The first said. David out his fist for emphasis. The sergeants watched without expression as the skin pulled apart and three bloody claws emerged.
"It's not my blood." David said with an equally emotionless expression. The sergeant nodded in recognition.
"I think that I may be able to find another purpose for this human." He said. He drew a handful of caps out of his pocket and put them on the desk behind him. "Split it amongst yourselves." He looked at the doorway for a second. "Foley!" A shorter feline soldier wearing a bandana and a large suit of power armour walked inside a few seconds later.
"Sir." Foley saluted.
"Take the collar remote from Johnson. You're watching this guy. Follow me." The sergeant left the tent as Foley took the remote. Foley motioned out the door with the remote.
"Hurry up you two!"
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David followed the sergeant through the city with Foley in tow. The crowds of felines parted in the wake of the sergeant. David strolled along between the two felines as if it were any other day. He waved to a couple of felines he passed and hummed to himself as he went. To be honest, he had been in worse situations. Like that time he had to single-handedly fight his way through the enclave army inside raven rock. Anyway, he wasn't being dissected, so that was good enough for now. The buildings quickly gave way to ships. They were connected by various walkways and improvised bridges. As the three headed further out the ships started getting larger and larger. They eventually reached a huge aircraft carrier. Tall red banners hung from the bridge with intricate gold symbols in them.
The sergeant saluted two guards at the walkway, who returned salutes as he passed. As the three entered the ship, the sergeant spoke.
'I don't suppose you remember me, do you?' He started. David thought about whether he should answer or not. He mentally shrugged. If this guy wanted to talk, fine then.
'You were one of those guys escorting that ambassador. The one who kept looking at me funny.' David said, thinking back. The sergeant nodded.
'Yes, that's right. After we left that city, the ambassador turned to me and she said, "Why do humans stand with these dogs? Why would they when we are so much more sophisticated? Our city is cleaner, and larger and better in every way? We-'
'Just tell me what you want dude.' David cut in. The sergeant fixed him a stare for a second.
'Perhaps it would be in your best interests to fight with us.' He said. David gave a grunt.
'And why would I want to do that?' He asked, assessing the situation.
'I would think it is preferable to the other option.' The sergeant said. David shrugged his shoulders. Whatever happened, he would work something out.
'So where are we going then?' David asked.
'You're going to meet the ambassador.' The sergeant replied. 'If anybody can convince you to join us, it's her.' The sergeant told him.
'Why are you so interested in me?' David asked. 'I killed seven of your men and you're willing to accept me in your army just like that? You don't think I'll sabotage you or something?' The sergeant stopped walking.
'We have great interest in the humans joining with us.' He said. 'One more human in our army means we are one step closer to living alongside all humans.'
'So what is it that's so special about humans then? Why are you so interested in us?'
'Well, you are a perfect example of our reason.'
'What do you mean?'
'Essentially, humans are the means to create our future .'
'Your future? I am the means to your future?' David asked, confused. These felines wanted humans, whatever the risks.
'You are not the means to the future, you are the future.'
'I'm not following.'
'You have claws larger than any of us and bullets bounce right off you. A human is a canvas of biology. What if you could grow wings, or breath fire, the possibilities. Are endless.'
'So you aren't really interested in living alongside us, just using us as weapons.'
'Not at all, many other practical possibilities are available, if you had wings you could fly about quickly, or maybe if you had gills you could live and breath underwater. These humans would then breed with the rest of the society and influence future population, and in time create a better world. An ambitious long term investment, but a good one.' David thought about this for a few seconds.
'So you just want to breed a superior race of custom mutant people?'
'Do you honestly think it's not a good idea?' The sergeant asked. David had to admit, it was an interesting plan. A world of improved people. It probably wouldn't work however. But it was probably worth trying. It couldn't necessarily go horribly wrong.
'Dunno.' David answered, avoiding the question. He didn't want to side with the enemy. The sergeant walked up to a door guarded by two more men.
'The ambassador is in here. A messenger has already described the situation to her.' He turned to the man behind David. 'Foley, you follow him in there, and keep your eye on him. And I mean don't look away for a second. He looks like he's doing something threatening, bang.' He made a button-pressing motion with his thumb. 'He may be special, but not more important than the ambassador.'
'Yes Sir!' Foley saluted and motioned towards the door. David promptly headed through the door. He had a feeling this was going to be an interesting conversation.
The ambassador's room was, well, posh. The walls were covered by the same gold and red banners he had seen outside and a huge gold chandelier hung in the centre of the room. At one end of the room was a huge king-sized bed, decorated with gold, at the other, two scarlet couches sat in front of a large wooden fireplace where a fire burned away. The fireplace was also, of course, decorated with gold.
'Please, join me.' David looked over at the couch where the voice had come from. A feline woman was lying back on the couch, swirling a glass of wine in one hand. 'She's sitting by the fire.' David thought. 'Good enough for me.' David headed over and vaulted over the second couch. He seemed to sink into the couch a little as he landed. He looked over at the woman on his left. She was half sitting, half lying on the couch, lounging with one elbow propping her up. David could tell she had her legs crossed through her semi-transparent red dress, transparent enough that she probably wouldn't wear it in public without drawing attention, but opaque enough that she didn't look slutty. It was actually rather nice, David thought. It too had some gold embroidery on it, low cut v in the front to show off a bit of skin, no sleeves, sort of a sexy-sophisticated look. David averted his eyes towards the fire as he realized he was probably admiring her body a little too much. Back in his old wasteland he had been twenty-one, and he had sort of gotten over that whole "staring at chicks" phase, but he was nineteen again, and it was starting to get the better of him.
The ambassador gave a short polite laugh when she saw him look away quickly.
'Don't be shy, I am quite proud of my body. It is a compliment.' She said. It didn't help him feel any less embarrassed, but nethertheless, he lounged back in his couch also.
'Wine?'
'I'm sorry?' David asked.
'Would you like some wine?' The woman asked. David knew he shouldn't. Things would end up badly, he just knew it.
'Yeah, okay.' Dammit! He was disappointed with himself for his lack of willpower, but he just needed something to drink. Just one glass couldn't hurt. The woman poured him a drink from the bottle on the table and handed it to him.
'It is my understanding,' She began, 'that you are quiet the special human.' She took a sip from her drink.
'Yeah, well I'm sure you already know all about it, so I won't bore you with all the gory bits.' He said taking a sip also. 'So why don't we just cut to the chase and say what you want to say miss ambassador.' The woman smiled politely back at him.
'Please, call me Adeline.' She said casually. 'So this is what she's doing is it? Trying to gain my trust through speaking casually, if she's good she might try to mimic my attitude or something like that.'
'All right Adeline, what is it you want?' David asked, taking another sip and putting his glass back on the table.
'What's your name?' She asked quickly. David paused for a second before answering. There was no point in lying.
'David.' He answered.
'All right David, it's nice to meet you.' Adeline refilled her glass from the bottle as she talked. 'Do you know why we are here together speaking?'
'Yeah, I do. The sergeant filled me in.' David took a large swig from his glass. 'You want to get a bunch of humans, mutate them and get them to have sex with your kitty cats to breed a superior race.' He answered casually. Adeline laughed again.
'You make it sound a lot less fun.' She said as she refilled her glass again. Dammit! Why can't these people be less sexy! 'We simply want to integrate other influences into our culture, don't you think it's a good idea?' She asked as she walked over and sat on his couch with him.
'What? The integrating culture part of the sex?' David asked as he downed the rest of his glass. Adeline giggled a little as she shuffled over towards him further.
'Whichever one you would prefer.' She whispered seductively. It was at that moment that David realised what had happened. Adeline hadn't been refilling her glass; she had been topping up his glass with more wine! Before he could do anything she had pushed him over and was sitting on top of him with the hem of her dress spread out over him.
'So what do you say?' She asked as she ran her hands down her body. David opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was a grunt. A thick scent filled his nose as he breathed heavily, a strong, intoxicating scent. He knew what was happening, his human side and animal side were fighting for control of his mind, and his animal side was winning. His human side wanted to object, but the animal inside of him wanted it. Bad. David felt himself losing control of his mind as Adeline reached for the clasp of her bra on her back...