Stop Raiding My Heart

Chapter 24

"So kid what do you want to do while we are here?" Gage asked as he took a cigarette from his pants pocket. He pulled out a pack on matches from the other pocket.

"Shoot!" The child exclaimed. Gage sparked the match and lit the cigarette. He looked down at his child. "Please daddy?"

"Fine but do not tell your mother." Gage said as he took a long draw from the cigarette. "Bout time I taught you the way of a raider."

"Mommy is the best raider! I want to be like mommy!"

"Not necessarily. The best raider that ever lived was Atlas. He let a woman control his mind and his desire, which led to his death." The child looked up at her father.

"I wanna be like Atlas!"

"I think you're just naming off raiders now." Gage chuckled slightly. "Follow me. Stay close." Gage said as he began to walk from the park into the section between all of the parks. He stopped in between Kiddy Kingdom and the bottling plant. They stood in an empty parking lot. "Alright kid the proper stance is like this. Copy me." Gage said as he spread his feet apart and bended his knees. He pulled his rifle from his back and held the stock to his shoulder and his hands had a firm grip on the gun.

"Daddy that gun is too big for me." The little girl's voice grew sad.

"I will prop it up on the ground, but this is just to show you how to shoot in general. If you want to be a good raider you have to know how to stand properly. If you do not hold it correctly you could do some serious damage to your face and arm." Gage explained. He saw an unknown man approaching rather quickly. "Get behind me and hold onto me." He said as he pivoted towards the man with his rifle facing the man. "State your business!" Gage said with aggression.

"Gage you can't recognize me?" The man asked. "It's me Connor."Gage's face was filled with rage. "Who's this little one?"

"Stay away from her!" Gage barked at the male. "You ordered my death, and after all these years you show up. For what? To look at my daughter?"

"Daughter?" The man asked. "Hi daughter. I was your dad's boss a long time ago. What's your name?" The child did not answer, but instead buried her face into Gage's leg. "Shy. That makes a bad raider. So where's her mother? Dead I am guessing."

"No she is not dead. You are in her park."

"Her park?" The man sounded confused. "Who is the child's mother?"

"The Overboss. Who else?" Gage smirked. "She is the strongest leader I have served under."

"I remember when you were power hungry Gage. What happened to that blood thirsty monster? The one who would kill anyone to reach the top."

"Daddy isn't evil!" The little girl said proudly as she unburried her face from Gage's thigh. Gage lowered one of his hands from the gun. He placed his rough hand on her soft head. He nudged her behind him once again. "Mommy!" The little girl said excitedly as a buggy was speeding towards the group.

"Stay here. Do not go after your mother. She is heading to us, so just stay here." Gage said as he kept his weapon on the male. "The boss is here."

"Good just who I wanted to speak to." Conner said as the buggy haulted to a stop. Raiders piled out and surrounded the strange male. All had weapons pointed at him. Iza jumped from the buggy and rushed to Gage's side. "You must be the Overboss."

"I am. Who are you?" Iza said as she placed her hand on Gage's rifle. He lowered the gun to his side. "Do not waste my time. I am a very busy woman."

"I would assume so." Conner looked the woman from her leather boots to her messy auburn hair. "I am Conner. I am sure Gage has raved about my kindness. I mean I made him into who he is today."

"He has told me about you, however never about your kindness." Iza glared at the man once she noticed his wondering eyes. "He has told how you ordered his death when he was trying to help you grow your gang. Where did that get you? Where is your gang now?" Iza said, her voice grew cold and harsh.

"My gang died in an unrelated situatio-,"

"You can't even keep a small gang alive. You are weak." Iza chuckled at the male. "Keep your guns on him." The raiders as a group turned their safeties off. "I will give you two option, because I am no monster. Are you willing to hear my options or will you be reduced to chunks of meat?"

"How did you get all of your raiders to work as one? They all look like they are from different gangs?" Conner asked as he looked at the raiders that surrounded him.

"I take care of all my raiders. I lead the largest raider organization from here to Maine. I lead over tens of thousands of raiders. I control four factories, and hundred if not thousands of settlements and towns. All of them work together, because I listen to my raider's input." Iza said. Conner inched closer to the woman.

"You know I have more experience running gangs than he does. We could rule the Wasteland together." He said as he reached his hand towards the woman.

"That is not one of my options. You have wasted my time long enough." She looked over at Gage and then back to the male. "Violet it is time you see what I do." The little girl peeked around her father's leg. "Fire." Raiders began unloading a clip each into the male. His body hit the ground with a thud. Blood poured from the amounting holes in his body. "This is the truth of the Wasteland. The strong survive the weak die at the hands of the strong."