A search for Vicky

Part Two

The evening was closing in as he neared the interchange; he decided to wait till night to clear out the raiders. He spied until darkness and tracked a raid heading out, this meant there was only a round five left at sentry points and a couple had just lain to sleep. He would start quiet. The first couple, still on the ground, were dispatched easily with his machete. The top would prove to be trickier as the only ways up are either a three mile walk, or the raiders own lift. If they were to have captured Vic it would only be a matter of time before they killed her, speed would be key. He replaced the holstered 44 with a silenced 10mm he kept in his pack and stepped onto the lift. He reached the top and luckily, the top three raiders were walking away, as they heard the clunk of the lift and began to turn. He had already started squeezing the trigger and got nine shots off before a single one of them could un-holster. Two left. There was a twinge of regret in his conscience as he took them from sleep to death without rousing them. The size of the group that had left was larger enough that they would be hitting a settlement this night. The most likely was the star light drive in quite a distance to the north. He had plenty of time to search for Vic, there was no sign of he, he collected supplies and moved along the road towards the west.

He stopped and rested at a military facility called fort Hagen; there were turrets on the roof for defence, though the hack was easy as he had stayed here on previous occasions. He slept till the sun was quite high. The turrets were still whirring as they scanned the area. He packed his kit and left the turrets operational as he hoped to stay again, that night, after finding another clue, or preferably Vic.

He headed west walk parallel with the highway, scanning with the small scope of the 44. There was a small clearing that caravans would use, for a short break, before headed north to a settlement called sanctuary. There were shotgun cartridges littering the ground. 8 had been spent, maybe. A trail of them lead away from the camp. At the end he found the huge corpse of a giant rad scorpion. Accurately placed shots had crippled the creature's legs on one side and a pincer was clean off. This was Vic; she had walked backwards, leading the creature, whilst filling it with shot. He searched the area for any clues; the creature's blood was fresh, not yet dried by the midday sun. She could be no more than an hour ahead. He thought about this, she would not have been missing for longer than 24 hours and people, regularly, took days to search facilities. Was she looking for something particular?