"DIE HUMANS!"
I was startled awake by the sound of that voice and rapped gun firer. My ear rang first, Brahmin bawling, Claptrap already shooting its laser, and the sounds of the others shouting. "VAULT MOUSE GET UP!"
"Positions! Move your arses!" Rose's voice cut through it, as I grabbed my charge pistol and jumped out of the wagon, Hands shaking. Another roar, closer: "SMASH! HUMAN MEAT!"
I turned to the voices and saw that the others were shooting at. Super mutants. One with a bent rebar with a chunk of stone on it. One with a pipe rifle. One in a chest plate made of hubcaps and metal, shooting us with a laser musket. Another with a wooden plank and the last one with two sledges.
Rounds chewed the concrete by my knee, barely missing me. I rolled behind a busted red rocket wall, well, what was left of it, my shoulder thumping hard enough that it would probably bruise. A shot took a chunk off the top edge, and I felt the breeze parting my hair as a bit of blood started to drip down.
"J—Jesus," I breathed, useless, and my voice sounded wrong. "J—Levi—"
"I'm here!" he said, his voice high-pitched. He flattened himself behind a wheel stop. And I noticed he didnt have any kind of weapon on him. "What do I do?"
"H—head down," I snapped.
Claptrap clanked past, "ENGAGING HOSTILE," and shot a super mutant's arm off. The smell of burning flesh was being blown down by the wind and made me gag. The giant swore and kept coming, its chunk of stone on metal raised up and aiming to slam into Claptrap's face. Karma shot her SMG from the left into the super mutant. Trig popped out from behind the wagon and tossed two grenades at it. It exposed and took one of the mutants down.
"SOFT," Another mutant shouted as it watched one of its members die. Rose fired once from the bench she was hiding behind. The pipe-rifle mutant's shoulder jolted back; he roared and sprayed wildly. A round pierced my ear.
I took a shaky breath as I lifted my pistol and shot towards them. My shot hit the Wooden Plank bastard in the inner elbow, and he screamed and ended up dropping his weapon.
"Dont fucking stop, KEEP SHOOTING!" Karma yelled.
I peeked, and the sledge came down where my head had been a second ago. Levi had tackled me out of the way, and what remained of the wall crumbled. My wrist went numb for a second from the shock. We skittered backwards. I brought the pistol up and fired out of pure panic. Blue punched a thumb-deep crater in the sledge's haft. The mutant howled, dropped it, and kicked me and Levi.
"SMALL HUMAN WILL DIE!"
"N—nae," I hissed. Levi tried to make himself smaller. Claptrap took a round in the chest and staggered, plating hissing. Luckily, he didn't go down. He turned and shot a laser repeatedly into the mutant's thigh. Carson shot from somewhere high, and the pipe-rifle fell silent with a grunt and a wet sound.
"Two left!" Trig shouted. "Plated and Hammer!"
"Plate's still moving!" Karma snapped. "Cover fire!"
The plate carrier charged with his head down like a bull. Bullets sparked off his hubcap chest. I leaned out and put a few holes into his side gap. It hit. He stopped like someone had put a bar through his wheels and looked at me.
"YOU," he said, delighted. He reached for me. Karma kicked a bucket, an actual bucket, under his foot, and he stumbled, while Trig shoulder into the knee. They tumbled onto the floor. I pushed Levi off of me and stood to take the shot, and a round tore into my leg. I ended up falling back onto the ground and let a weird noise cry out of me.
"Vaultie!" Rose snapped. "Cell check!"
"S—still alive!" The board bastard had found the other one's pipegun. He grabbed a traffic sign and hurled it like a frisbee from hell. It sliced the air over Levi and bit into the tarp. Levi's breath came out in a sound that might've been a laugh if it wasn't terror. "Nope," he said to the universe, flattening. "Nope nope nope—"
"Levi," I said, not looking at him, "I need you to move me, i cant stand by m—mysel—"
"Fuck, give me a sec," he squeaked.
The hammer mutant roared back to his feet, one hand on the ruined haft, the other reaching for my head. I shot him in the wrist. It punched a hole right through. He jerked away with an animal grunt he swung his stump at me. But Levi had hit him across the face with the broken sledge he found.
Carson's rifle cracked again, and the plate carrier's head snapped, and he dropped. Trig rolled away, panting, spat blood, and yelled, "One!"
"Two," Karma corrected, as she had ran over and while the one near me was kinda of fucked up from Levi's blow, she shot him point blank in the ribs. He folded hard enough to bounce.
There was this ringing in my ear as I looked around. The Brahmin kept moaning, low and awful. My heart banged the inside of my throat like it wanted out. Claptrap's voice drifted across the ruined bit of road, staticky "HOSTILES… ZERO."
I swallowed, and my mouth was dry as hell. Levi's hand was on my sleeve. "Are you—are you shot?"
"Yea..h," I said, breath hitching, and my own voice sounded strange. "Bring me my bag." Levi scrambled, hands shaking, and dragged my pack over the cracked asphalt. Rose slid in beside me on one knee, eyes already scanning the hole in my leg.
"Through and through. Lucky. Stimpacks—everyone." She ordered.
Karma jogged past, slapped a red-topped injector into Rose's palm, then tossed two more to Trig without looking. Carson whistled once from the rise—clear, I guessed—and started down. Rose popped the cap with her teeth. "This'll sting. And you're going to feel hollow."
"I already know," I muttered, then hissed as the needle went in.
My head swam; my mouth went dry like I'd swallowed chalk. The wound knitted close, muscle pulling string-tight. I watched a thin line of fat along my thigh pull inward and vanish like a sucked milkshake. The world went sharp and floaty at the same time.
"Water," Rose ordered. Levi fumbled my canteen into my hand. I chugged and still felt like I hadn't had a drink in a week. Trig kicked the nearest mutant to make sure it stayed dead, then crouched by the hubcap corpse. "Musket's intact," he said, pleased. He worked it free and held it up. "Laser's clean. Six-crank special. Call it a win."
Carson joined us, already dragging a dented ammo box and a sack that clinked. "Caps, two decent pipe mags." Levi had worked his way to Claptrap. Our little idiot knight was leaning on one corner, legs spasming and then locking. I leaned down, checked his undercarriage with quick, practiced fingers. "Actuators are cooked. He's not walking that off."
"We'll lift him." Trig and Carson got under the chassis and, on Rose's count, heaved Claptrap into the wagon bed. Claptrap made a tiny "whee" that cut off when his speaker stuttered. "Brahmin?" Rose asked.
"Shaken, not dead," Karma said from the yoke. She checked the straps and rubbed her nose. The beast huffed, low and miserable, but steady. A hollow ache spread from my gut like a yawn I couldn't finish. I could've eaten a whole Brahmin with the way I was feeling.
Rose saw my face and handed me a bar. "Two bites now, small sips. Save the rest for the road."
"Where are we going?" I asked, voice still thin.
"One of our regular stops." Rose slung the musket over her shoulder.
Agter we gathered all we could we started moving again. I doubt id be able to go back to sleep. But Rose did say once we reached the farm i wouldnt have to do any night watch for a while. Rose did say we were around two weeks before we reached the Commonwealth.
Claptrap would need repairs so for now I had powered him down until i could get the parts i needed. Plus it would save on his battery.
Not that i expected it to die anytime soon but still, save where you can right. The steady clop and grunt of Brahmin was all the noise I heard as everyone was on high alert.
Levi walked near the wagon wheel, my old 9mm tucked in his waistband. I'd pushed it into his hand and gave him the clips i had for it. I dont know why he didnt have one before hand but ill be damned if we get into another fight and he isnt armed.
"Where almost there." Rose said, it was already close to sundown when the fence came into veiw. posts with plenty of wire cables strung tight around it and strips of old tin rattling low in the wind. A handmade sign leaned a little: HARLOWE FARM—THEIVES WILL HANGED.
I hoped that was just a sign to scare people. But then again this was fallout.... Someone had painted flowers along the bottom. Under the paint, bullet divots.
Two guards stepped out from behind a barricade of tires and welded plate. One human, brown cowboy hat, sunburnt nose. One ghoul female, she was kinda of pretty. Both with hunting rifles. Both relaxed as they eyed rose.
"Morning, Rose," the human called. "You look about three hours of sleep past ready."
"Am," Rose said, lifting her three fingered hand. "Brought your order."
"Then you're twice welcome." The ghoul's smile. "Open the Gate. Miss Rose is back."
The cable winch whined, the fence mouth opened, and we rolled in.
I looked aroubd and saw lines of tatos that sat in raised beds with strips of black tarp for moisture. Mutfruit trees. Corn stood high as my shoulder.
Sixteen people, twelve ghouls from what i had counted, but there could aways be more. A boy with a shovel kicking the earth. A ghoul woman guiding a tiller along a lane. A pair of men up a ladder tightening a light string, i could hear the generator running somewhere. A Mister Handy drifted past on a slow arc, two claws full of seed trays, saw buzzing in its third arm as it trimmed a snapped stake to a better fit. Another Handy further off chased a flock of weird chickens with soft "shoo-shoo" noises like a disappointed aunt.
"No safer place to relax for miles," Rose said, which counts as praise from her. She hopped down. The guards clapped her shoulders like family. The radio on the post coughed a burst of static, then settled into an old song Id never heard before...
The farmhouse was two stories of stubborn wood. Porch wide enough for plenty of people to sit and rest. An Assault rifle leaned against the doorframe, Next to it a man as broad as a stump stared us. Wait he wasn't even looking at Rose but at--
The front door swung. She came out first.
"Levi!"
He did a thing with his shoulders like he'd been yanked on a string. "June." His voice cracked and I couldnt help but raise a eyebrow.
This June was Pretty in that efficient farm way. Southern drawl, Shirt tied at the waist, sleeves rolled to show forearms that had muscle. She bounced the last two porch steps and stopped very close to Levi.
"You look like you ain't slept," she said, grinning. "Storm catch y'all or did you finally see a deathclaw?"
"We, uh—ambush," he said. "Mutants."
Her eyes flicked up and down his body. "And you didnt get shot kr shoot yourself. Proud of you."
His ears went red. "That was one time."
"Mm." She let the sound hang, then brightened. "Hi, Rose!"
"June." Rose tipped her chin toward the porch. "Your dad gonna let me inside if I track mud on his floor?"
June's smile twitched toward wicked. "He's in a mood. But for you? He'll just stomp about it."
Behind her, the big man shifted his weight. His hand rested near the assault rifle, I hadn't even seen him pick it up. His eyes slid to Levi. A look that id seen in one to many movies. I felt the hair on my arms tick up.
One of the twins drifted towards my side. It was Lena and she whispered while pointing. "Levi tried to flirt with her last month."
"Mm?" I said.
"Her daddy racked the rifle and nearly shot him cause he caugh them about to kiss," the other twin finished.
"Aye," I said, watching Levi try to be taller. "Checks out."
We rolled the wagon to the porch. Rose popped the latches on a crate. Inside: wrapped impellers, gasket kits, bearings—good irrigation parts. A smaller box of vacuum tubes. Two tins of seeds sealed in wax and string.
June made a noise, palms pressed to cheeks. "Daddy! She got the bearings! And the tubes!" Then to Rose, softer: "You're a saint."
"Just on Tuesdays," Rose said. "And only if paid in caps."
The man on the porch, grunted and stepped down towards Rose, and offered her a hand. "We got the Food stock and the caps, same as agreed."
"Good." She jerked her chin. "Twins, unload. Trig, sit before you fall over. Karma, don't let Trig Gamble. Carson, im sure Susan's around why dont you go see her. And Vaultie—"
"Aye?" I said.
"Don't go touching any machines without asking first."
I made a face I hoped counted as obedient and not I am about to immediately do that.
June circled Levi once in a way that would have been predatory if it wasn't so cheerful. "You get taller, city boy?"
He looked at me like I might save him. I turned and looked at a Mister Handy across the yard.
"Hi," June said next to me, bright and flat at the same time. "I'm June. You must be Vaultie."
"Aye. Good to meet you."
"Pretty," she said, eyes flicking from my hair to my boots and back. Not friendly. Not hostile either. Measuring. "Levi's told some about you."
I clicked my tongue against the back of my teeth, and made my face blank. "Oh aye? All lies, so."
Levi groaned. "June, stop."
"Why?" She cut him a sideways grin. "It's fun."
Harlowe from what i heard Rose called him, his gaze kept walking back. At Levi's hip where the 9mm was.
"Rose letting that fool have a gun now?" He turned to look at her. "Kid needed one besides Im not the one that armed him" She replied.
I eased a step away from them both and toward the robot that had snagged my eye the minute we'd rolled in.
Three Mister Handies on farm. Two were running smooth. The third one not so much…
It cursed softly—"Conf—confound it, sir!"—when a tray slid, then corrected, fussy but competent. The tilt on its body corrected too hard, then steadied.
I looked at June. "One of your Handies is… off."
She followed my line of sight without trying to hide it. "Patch? He's been wobblin' since the storm. Won't stay steady. Daddy says it's fine."
"Could be a gimbal bearing," I said. "Or… alignment drift. He'll burn a coil compensatin' if it keeps."
June's eyes flickered with a thing I knew too well, protectiveness for a machine that's earned its keep. "We don't have spares for the gimbal."
"It might not even need a full replacement." I tapped my pack. " I can jury-rig if Harlowe doesn't mind me takin' a look."
"You can fix that?" Suspicion warred with interest. "You're… not like most folks."
"Robots get me," I said, "So I made sure I get them."
She snorted, which helped. "So your saying you can fix em easy?" Levi tried a laugh. It came out strangled.
"Bring him in," I said, nodding to the Handy. "Im not chase him around the yard with a wrench."
She opened her mouth to say something. and Harlowe cut in, voice a dry saw. "June."
"Daddy."
"You can let Rose's girl patch Patch." His eyes stayed on Levi when he said it. "In the shed there are some spare Tools and Mister handy parts. Rose said you have your own Bot so im taking a chance on ya, dont go letting me down."
"Yes, sir," I said. We took Patch to the shop. The room smelled like oil and cow shit. Tools hung in neat rows. A Protectron chassis—picked clean to bones, maybe i could ask if they have parts around after i fix this Mister handy.
"Ma'am," Patch chirped, obedient, and floated onto a sling they had rigged. His thruster died in a slow sigh. I put on the gloves that were on the table and thumbed the pack flap. June hovered exactly as close so now I know where Levi picked up that habit....
I pulled the lower panel. The gyro mount looked like a drunk had put it back after a cleaning, only two screws tight, one bearing hairline cracked, a few of the screws were missing. "There you are," I muttered, and forgot June for a minute.
"You got steady fingers for someone who shakes in a fight," she said, ah, i see Levi couldnt keep his mouth shut about that.
Heat crawled up my neck. "Shakes are normal."
"That so?" She leaned a hip against the bench. "Levi sure didnt shake when he saw Daddy's rifle."
"June," Levi said from the door, helpless.
"Truth ain't mean," she said.
I swapped the bearing from one of Rose's delivery kits with a quiet apology in my head to someone's future pump, torqued the mount the right way, added a the missing screws. Patch would hold level now even if a Brahmin sneezed under him.
"Try hovering," I said. Patch did as I asked. The wobble was gone. He rotated a full turn. "Madam," he said, voice a hair lower then i had expected, "you are a marvel of practical engineering."
I couldn't help it. I smiled. "Aye, Im glad i could help Lad."
June's eyebrows climbed—at the smile, I think. She bit her lip around something like a laugh and looked away like I'd caught her. "You're alright," she said, almost grudging.
"Dunnae know about that," I said. "But he's right now."
Levi eased into the room. June crooked a finger at Levi. He walked closer to her. "You keep that pistol pointed at the dirt, hear?" she murmured, low enough that only I, a foot away, caught it. "Daddy ain't forgotten you askin' me to show you the still last spring."
Levi turned a color I didn't know he could. "I asked about the process."
"You asked if I was 'good with my hands.'" She mimicked his cadence perfectly. "In front of Daddy."
Levi looked at the ceiling like God might help him. "I'm never going to live that down."
"Nope." She bumped his shoulder with hers, then didn't move away. "You eat yet?"
"No."
"Then you will. After you help me haul feed. You owe labor tax."
"I—yeah. Yes."
Her eyes slid to me. Not mean. Just… keeping a perimeter. "You can eat too," she said. "Id say you earn that with helping Patch and all."
"Aye," I said, watching Patch back to work. "Appreciate it."
We stepped out into the yard. The ghouls had finished one line and were moving to the next. One of them, cheeks hollow as a cave, eyes bright, tipped me a slow nod, I nodded back.
On the porch, Rose and Harlowe seemed to finish talking. "Shift in schedules," she said, handing me a folded scrap as we passed. "We're staying here for two nights. Work for our keep. No one gets cute with the fences after dark and try to leave."
"Aye."
"Good work on the robot."
"Wasn't hard," I stated.
She grunted, and ruffled my hair. Afternoon stretched into that gold just as the sun is about to set. June put Levi to lifting sacks that looked heavy. He was doing good until she smirked and made him carry two at once. She watched his hands. He watched her face when he thought she wasn't looking. Every time he glanced toward the porch, Harlowe was there, cleaning a bolt that didn't need it. June never turned to see, but I'd bet caps she felt it same as the rest of us.
The twins vanished into the farm. Karma traded half a box of .45 for a sack of tato mash and came back chewing and some jerky. Trig was flirty with Karma once she got back and took a bite out of the jerky she had in her mouth.
I found a corner of shade and made a list of I could trade, two microfusion cells if I had to, if my caps didnt cover the total for the parts id need for claptrap.
Night finally landed. String lights blinked alive. Someone set a pan big enough to bathe in over a cook fire and the smell of brahmin stew went up strong enough to make my already hungry stomach even more hungry. The radio on the porch threw a laundry list of road notices between songs. "Bridge at Miller's Ford is out, cause of some fucking raiders" a woman said. "If you try to jump it, I will name you on-air after I fish you out, bless your heart."