"Blood, Sweat and Tears"

[Spaceritual]

Thanks Odile! And uh, thanks...BD. :P

 

I doubt many people will catch my references anyway, but maybe I'll spill the beans later. Perhaps it will inspire some to a little bit of personal research. :)

 

Hint: they are all after the flashback.

 

the only odd reference I found was the use of the term backside...which usually refers to someone's posterior ecept in modern times it is a skating/boarding reference which would I guess be out of place in the 50`s

[AliasTheory]

-edit- Edited December 30, 2010 by AliasTheory

[AliasTheory]

<----- BACKWARD

 

============================

Chapter 15: Thoughts Aloft

============================

 

Saya will forever be known to me as the girl who is a child at heart. The wasteland is so cruel, desolate and anarchic. Postwar, that’s all frankly quite obvious; it is unfortunately still very bloody too. Even as nature speckles the world in green, reclaiming what was once lost, it does so in bitterness and disappointment. Everything and everyone has become cooled, chilled and hardened, but not Saya. It is as if the rest of humanity was – and I guess still is – lost in oblivion.

 

I lend my hand over her shoulder; she quickly grasps it as she slowly wobbles up to her feet. Saya’s palms are a bit sweaty. But even in her sadness, the grasp is a kind one. Her face does not at all reveal itself to me, persistent in mirroring the cracked road. Offering my literal and bodily support, I move closer to her, but she lightly shakes her head in disagreement and gently pushes me away.

 

“It’s alright, Drew. Thank you.”

 

“You’re sure, huh?”

 

“Yes.”

 

I pick up the sniper which had been left on the ground. Lyn and Dogmeat take the lead again as we prepare to descend down into the dark metro tunnels. Small chunks of concrete break off as we go down the steps, the rocks plopping towards the fenced entrance below. Lyn gradually opens the bent rusty gate, accompanied by an eerie creak, revealing a dark, forgotten world both foreign and familiar. It had just been a while since us four had been in one of these wreaks. The light from above is swallowed up by the deafening silence, our footsteps now a stampede. Only a few bulbs dare to flicker, all timid. The air is cool and dusty, the walls and floors ravaged by time. Aged cans, bullet shells and propagandistic posters plague what was once a beautiful, shiny tile floor.

 

“Thought we wouldn’t be here for a while,” I comment. “It looks like nobody has been here for a long time…”

 

“No s***,” Lyn sputters.

 

“Okay, okay, you win,” I surrender. “Not going to say anything else.” I really don’t like arguing or fighting if I don’t have to, even if I emerge as the victor most of the time. Well, at least when it comes to the verbal exchanges. I find it easy for some reason. Every other victory has been a team effort.

 

We continue walking deeper and deeper into the metro towards the station. I feel a strange rubbing on my shoulder, and I notice Saya tugging on the corner of my suit for attention. I angle my head as she whispers into my ear, her hand a barrier to keep things down.

 

“Do you think…do you think sis is okay? Back in the Vault?”

 

As I remember, Amata wasn’t always the kindest girl. She was nice, but had some attitude. Giving a pair of shifty eyes, I pull us to the back of the group, away from Lyn’s presence. Butch and Saori continue on ahead.

 

“Yeah, totally,” I respond. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

 

“I miss her. You reminded me.” Her fingers begin to mingle in anxiety.

 

“Ah. Well, I think that after a few years, anybody will begin to miss anyone. Even if we don’t like them.”

 

A pause. I look over to Saya only to notice her eyes part with mine; we resume walking normally, still at a distance from the rest.

 

“You don’t seem to be missing Lyn that much,” she nervously utters with a dejected face, still at a whisper’s volume. “Lyn’s mean.”

 

“Oh, no, I remember her alright. I miss the old Lyn, that’s who.” Sighing, I proceed. “I really have no idea what happened to her. But I hope I can find that out, and you probably want to as well, right? By the way…”

 

I present the sniper that Lyn had so ignorantly left laying outside.

 

“…I think this belongs to you.”

 

Saya weakly smiles. “Thanks.” She opens her hands, and I gently place the gun in them, almost ritualistically. “I know…I’m such a burden.”

 

I frown in disappointment. “You know that’s not true. Lyn’s just a stuck-up b****.” I cue her with a wave of a hand. “Come on, let’s do some ‘catch up.’ Gotta get to Vault-Tec.”

 

We quicken our pace and reunite with the rest of the gang. It’s still hauntingly quiet other than the stepping sounds and the tin cans rolling about. This world is dead. We approach what should be the metro station, but we are confronted by complete darkness. Lyn takes a deep breath, and then exhales in aggravation to speak.

 

“Hmm…that’s strange. The lights had been on here for quite some time, but I guess they’re gone now. Those inferior beings must be messing with the breakers or something.”

 

She’s referring to the Ferals.

 

“Well, we aren’t going to search for that.”A fast observation of the area, spotting specifically a familiar green light, brings an old idea to mind. “Hey, do you girls back there want to try the Pipboy thing again? The overbrightness mode?”

 

Saori gives me a look fit for an idiot. “Oh, THAT’S a great idea. Let’s do THAT,” she sarcastically dares, eyes fanatically large.

 

“Really…?” Butch questions optimistically.

 

“No,” she mockingly laughs. “Duhhh. You know what happened the last time. The thing overheated and the bulb burnt out, remember? Even though it worked pretty well.” She raises her wrist as if to inspect the Pipboy further. “It only lasted like, five minutes. Not worth it, unless you wanna fix it again, Butch. If so, please do.”

 

I can just see where this is going…

 

“Gee,” he says defensively. “Well excuse me, princess. You can keep your little computer and your rusty, greasy tools to yourself.”

 

“Oh, okay. I got you,” she tenderly rings. “Maybe if I ACTUALLY had tools to work with! Simple TOOLS!”

 

Lyn looks like she’s going to explode again in boiling anger. Dogmeat just whines, moving around in a circle and sniffing his tail.

 

“You still have the computer. So I’m half excused.”

 

“You’re never excused from me. Even if you were the most handsome, best dressed man out there…” she says dreamily.

 

“What is that supposed to mean…”

 

Saori abruptly turns grouchy, wrinkles across her face. “Even if you were a damn handsome…legendary…for god’s sake, HERO…”

 

“ENOUGH!” My voice booms down the metro walls. “Quit it. You both do sound like children. Let’s move onto something new…like here!” I point at a decently sized wooden stick on the ground, though not tall enough for a hiking aid. “Something productive. Fuel for a fir-“

 

In that moment, Lyn lets loose a round from her gun, igniting the end of the stick with the immense bullet friction. It’s the work of that eye again.

 

“Holy s***!” Startled, I fall back on my hind as the bullet buzzes to and away from the nearby wall, smashing the thin mounted glass movie frame.

 

“Pick it up.” Lyn gives me a stern expression. “Let’s go.”

 

Everyone else is petrified, stiff as a rock. So much for the matches. I give a shaky “thumbs up.”

 

“Okay. But less trigger-happy, please. Bullets bounce, you know.”

 

“I do,” she dismisses.

 

“You know what they say,” Butch speaks through his teeth. “Friendly fire, isn’t.”

 

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/imageshare/images/2144141-1290307637.png

 

Accompanied by a warm flame, I take the lead with Lyn into the metro station. Trash and all sorts of survival paraphernalia are scattered about and deserted. We pass through the ticket gates, the structure still holding together but empty in feel. The air is dustier and thicker here, the stray particles dancing about clearly visible. Embers disperse and trickle off the ends of the torch, the cool ground ending their already short lifespan. Waving the flame around, I attempt to illuminate our path, shooing away several Radroaches on the floor. The little critters are fast, but not fast enough; Dogmeat twitches, barks and instinctively reacts, pouncing on one before it has a chance to escape. Feebly, the giant bug squeaks and collapses under his weight. He picks up a part of it, now drenched in saliva.

 

“Dogmeat!” Lyn scolds. “Put that thing down!”

 

Though a ruthless hound, he slowly sits down and gives a bubbly-eyed stare, a big chunk of Radroach in his mouth. I think he’s hungry.

 

“Well…alright. You’ve been a good boy lately, haven’t you? You can have it.”

 

For once, I see Lyn genuinely smile without a hint of malicious intent. Maybe she’s not a robot after all.

 

“Okay then…Vault-Tec.” Lyn turns to face the rubble and junk a floor down; I expect her to pull out a map or something, but she doesn’t. “The headquarters is north from here, so we should be able to follow these metro tracks about a couple miles through. At least if my memory serves me correctly.”

 

I guess Lyn knows her stuff. My eyes aimlessly wander around for a bit, and then recenter. I can see the light of the fire beating on the arched ceiling, my right hand still wielding the torch. I pull out the compass attached to my backpack with my left.

 

“Right,” I say firmly. “Let’s try to keep things down from now on.”

 

We slowly make our way down the broken escalator and head through the tunnel, straight down the middle. All the cars are dead too, so no worries here. The fire continues to burn, a beacon of light in this purgatory. If it goes out, we might as well all be dead if the Pipboys end up failing too. A minute in, out of boredom, I start to kick a small crumb of rock along the tracks to pass the time. Dogmeat continues to wolf down the Radroach meat but notices my playful act; he slips away from Lyn’s side to observe my peculiar behavior. She takes note and glares back at me.

 

“I’m watching you,” she mouths, squinting with an eye paper thin.

 

Come on. What do you think I’m going to do, lady? I give her a quizzical look, panning a hand – face up – across my body requesting a follow up, but she merely turns away, her head slightly readjusted in doubt.

 

I look down at Dogmeat, who is still chewing away, and notice an odd trait. He’s heterochromic; one eye is of an azure hue, the other hazel. The fellow doesn’t look so bad, tail wagging in satisfaction. His streaky black coat and sharp teeth are both clear signs that he’s a dog engineered to hunt.

 

Dogmeat, you’ve been around Lyn for a long time…probably. Longer than us, that’s for sure. I bet you know what happened to her, don’t you? I can bet a whole thousand caps on that, because you’d never leave her side; because you’re man’s best friend. I wish I could speak “dog” for a just a minute to find out what is going on in that head of yours.

 

----

 

An hour passes of continuous walking, and only walking; things are very quiet now. And not a bullet fired since; our journey has been uneventful. Passing by a crushed train car, I slide my hand along the wall. Grime collects on my fingertips. At least we can still see. The torch had given out a while back, so I’m resorting to a small gas lantern whose fuel seems to be running a bit low as of this moment. The tracks merge at a fork up ahead, meaning the station is up ahead. Better yet, I can see some white fluorescent light from the corner. But I begin to hear something ghastly; something animalistic, like growling, nears. Perhaps it was once a real voice.

 

Butch parts the stillness with a hushed tone. “S***…you guys hear that?”

 

“Cool,” I mention. “So I’m not crazy.”

 

The growling gets louder. I glance up ahead and notice three shadows on the far wall: human, but disfigured. But they aren't large like those of a Super Mutant. The shadows diverge into two, and then multiply into two more; moving away from the light source they get larger and larger, morphing to a behemoth of a size.

 

“Aww, no! Ghouls! Ferals! Get to the side!”

 

There’s a small pocket on the side with a door leading to a maintenance room, as indicated by sign plate. All of us quickly dash – perhaps 5 seconds worth – to the right and up the small series of stairs to take some cover.

 

“These guys aren’t even worth a bullet,” Lyn smirks.

 

“Wait!” Saya cautions me. “Put out the light!”

 

“I can’t just put it out, the fuel’s freaking burnin-“

 

Saori starts to get panicky, giving me a worried face. “Close the damn door!”

 

“Then how do we know when they-”

 

Butch, being the tough guy that he is, unexpectedly smacks the lantern out of my hand. It lands outside in the middle of the tracks, spilling into a glob of fire.

 

“…pass…”

 

His expression doesn’t lie; he knows he did something wrong.

 

Butch swears under his breath. “F***.”

 

“Oh gee whiz, that’s the GREATEST thing you’ve ever done,” I say, sarcastic in tone. Saya just looks at the ground in disappointment, and Lyn's palm meets her face in equal frustration.

 

“Yeah, I know right?” Saori adds. “If not, we’re just going to have to put him down for simply great-mmf!”

 

Butch pulls her to the side and covers her mouth with his hand.

 

“Get…your hand…off…my face!” she pouts, her screeching and squealing now muffled.

 

“Don’t listen to her,” I say. (Good to see he took responsibility, but why is Saori so touchy now?) “Everyone just shut up.”

 

The door hangs open as we remain silent. Even Dogmeat is smart enough to know how to act. Sure enough, the growls get closer in proximity and a group of ghouls pass by. They are Ferals for sure, veins bulging and eyes halfway out of their sockets. But not just a few…or even a dozen. Maybe almost twenty. Some of are a toxic green, others of a more fleshy tone. One of them is glowing, oozing with radiation; a giant, lime-green hulk rises above the rest. They all gather around the fiery gas lantern laying about, in awe of its presence. They are reminiscent of cavemen.

 

“There are so many of them…” says an astounded Saori, her mouth still covered.

 

(What part of “shut up” do you not get?)

 

“Look at that one!” Saya whispers, pointing. “He’s so big.”

 

“Zip it!” Lyn scolds. “We’re moving around these idiots. Don’t do anything stupid.”

 

Feral ghouls were never really too bright to begin with, though they aggressively attack in numbers with their weak, flimsy bodies. Thankfully, they don’t have guns. They are not the prettiest things to see in the Capital Wasteland, and they are always in the dark, seemingly abandoned parts of the world. Turns out the metros of D.C. are the perfect place for them. Those eyes are always quite haunting to see.

 

With the ghouls mesmerized by the warm light, Lyn paves the road for us; we easily sneak past them just by hugging the wall closest to the exit door. We have no lantern, and although we have the Pipboys to fall back on, the light of the station ahead is enough to navigate in. It’s as quick as going back up another escalator and through a recognizable corridor to get outdoors again. One last creak of a rusty gate and finally: no more stuffy, underground passages.

 

The sun looks like it has finally retired for the evening and the sky grows dark, and a few stars beginning to creep in. 6:42 PM. No remnants of day left. We stand at the top of the stairs from the metro exit.

 

“There’s Vault-Tec,” Lyn points out. It’s right in front of us, seconds away. The building is very square and bland in appearance; I expected it to look more like a Vault. Well, maybe that was expecting too much.

 

“No time to waste. Let’s get in, and get out. Preferably by 20:00 hours.”

 

We enter the building, closing the doors behind us. But something…something feels very strange about this place.

 

“Guys…”

 

Butch is the first to acknowledge me. “Yeah? What’s up?”

 

…

 

“Seriously. What.”

 

“I think I’ve been here before.”

 

FORWARD ----->

Edited December 30, 2010 by AliasTheory

[AliasTheory]

There are a few references in here again. I bet someone will get at least one this time since they aren't nearly as obscure as last time.

 

[EDIT]

 

At least one is from a video game.

Edited November 21, 2010 by AliasTheory

[Keanumoreira]

A very well written chapter Alias, but there is something I feel I need to say.

 

You had a strong begining and a concrete conclusion, but the middle didn't feel as exciting or moving as your last entries. It wasn't bad, but there were times where just reading it felt like filling the reader up instead of just giving them something to think about you know? It's kinda unusual because you often add points and well moving elements during these moments.

 

It's no biggy really, still very good, and I'm anxious to see how you write about Vault-Tec. :thumbsup:

[AliasTheory]

I see your point. Well, I GUESS so. As someone who has played Fallout, the imagery must be a bit stale. Especially if you've wandered through dungeons for-freaking-ever. The metros have this haunting atmosphere which I love, so some description I thought would be nice.

 

You could say the altered pace in this chapter that creates your apparent impatience is analogous to the long, tedious journey through the metro.

 

[EDIT]

 

Fixed a grammar error in the story post.

 

You didn't see anything...

Edited November 21, 2010 by AliasTheory

[Keanumoreira]

I understand, it must have been difficult to write out this entry, trying to piece together what fits, what you need to bridge things up between point A and point B. Character interaction is still solid, and no clear evidence of grammar mistakes so everything appears to be in their proper place. Edited November 21, 2010 by Keanumoreira

[AliasTheory]

Personally, I really think the amount of description is fine. I've read some stories with just way too much extraneous details that make me want to go to sleep. Because this is all indoors now, I can focus on the micro details rather than the macro. Hence, the screenshot.

 

You'll get plenty to think about in the future. And the reference game is still on. :P

 

On an interesting note, select few of the character conversations I've written are based on real-life conversations with some friends within the past month.

[Keanumoreira]

 

On an interesting note, select few of the character conversations I've written are based on real-life conversations with some friends within the past month.

 

Funny...must be a real advantage for the story. Makes things easier when you have sources to pull from. :happy:

[AliasTheory]

The only part from this particular chapter is this line:

 

“If not, we’re just going to have to put him down for simply great-mmf!”

 

"Whuddya' think?"

 

"Eh, well, that isn't the GREATEST thing I've ever seen, man."

 

"M'kay, just gonna have to put you down for great then."

 

lol.

 

The difference in the story is that it is used in an ironic context. Another one off the top of my head is in chapter 11 and "What's up." Mentioned that a few pages back.

 

I'm going to have fun with this next chapter.