A search for Vicky

Part Four

After they cleared the traps for transport they headed out, Vic laid out all the details.

A very advanced piece of equipment was on its way to Washington DC in the days before the Great War. Due to the likely hood of DC being hit hard it was then diverted to vault 88 in the Boston area. The route into Boston proper the vehicle would have had to take was interstate 90, a stretch of approximately 50 miles. This would be their first place to check. Then potentially onwards another 450 miles to Winchester where the courier had stopped for the night before the tracking was lost.

The first few hours of the journey was quite easy, only a couple bloat flies, a joke about flyers, and a rad roach in an over turned lorry. They were not 100% sure what the vehicle looked like but Vic had explained due to the nature of the item it would be required to be safely held, so would be in a container within a lorry. The laser pistol Vic had brought along would make easy work of the lorries locks that they would be checking all along route 90. After one hour, two miles and four lorries they realised the size of their task.

After a few hours and skimming the edge of an area called Cochituate they crossed a small land bridge leading to a suburb. A heavily populated area before the great war, now it was just a population of ghouls due to the radiation being blown west from the glowing sea. They would have to be quick and quiet. They finished searching the first truck in the area and Vic had an idea. She knew Asra’s rifles zoom was good for a few miles, given the right elevation. A little way down the road there was an office building, whilst fairly damaged on one end it looked as if it could still have roof access. Four stories up, they would be able to check the highway for vehicles or plot a way around that’s safe if anything was there.

The front door of the building was still intact, though the lock was bust the door was held with a loose chain. They pulled on the door till the gap was large enough for them to slip inside. The building inside was dark, dust had saturated the windows. Asra pulled his silenced 10mm and Vic her razor sharp combat knife. Subtlety was never a high priority for her, but the dangers that could lurk here required stealth to access. They located the stairs on the inside of the building and quietly pressed the door open. Sound! It was a throaty rasp, like someone trying to dislodge congealed blood from their throat.

Ferals!

As they moved slowly up the stairs, they saw the door on the landing above them was open wide and held with a fire extinguisher. As Asra started up toward the door, he moved cans aside so they had a quiet path. He checked through the door and down the end of a long hall was a broken window letting light shine through. A shambling form groaned and lurched into the hall, he tucked back. Ferals do not see well in the dark, though they will run towards any noise that is not their groans or shambling’s. He reached across to grab the extinguisher… Clink, a can moved behind them, it was kicked, on the landing behind them. Vic jumped up the stairs past him, Asra spun raising his pistol. The ghoul already a few steps up lunged at him, it clipped his knee before he could get a head shot off. The bullet slipped through the ghouls’ chest but barely slows the abomination. Vic turned at the landing as the ghoul and Asra hit the floor. Looking over the fighting mass she saw the other feral lean forward as it screams and began to sprint. Grabbing the extinguisher, she hurls it at the leg of the sprinting feral, crack, the ferals knee folds and it slumps to the floor, still clawing to travel in their direction. She concentrated on the ghoul that had bit into his collar now; he pushed it up and away from him as she brought her blade down into its skull. The rotting corpse now slumped and he shoved with his legs sending it down the stairs. With no time to relax he twists onto his side to look at the crawling ghoul almost through the door.

Boom!

Her shotgun bellowed as the rotten carcase shredded and slid away from them. There goes the element of stealth. More corpse like shouts came from that floor and at least one from farther up the stairs.

‘To the roof! Fucking run!’

Asra shoved the door shut and kicked the handle clean off, hopefully that would stop them, he chased up the stairs behind Vic. As she reached the top she could see at least one feral close behind him. He jumps in the door and she slams it behind him; they hear the ferals clash into it. Vic slams a brace bar into place as Asra checks the roof for threats. Upon realising the door is secure and no threats were on the roof they searched. The door would only lock from the outside if this had been used as shelter by someone. Sure enough a pack was over the wall on a ledge, alongside this was a whiskey bottle two empty jets and a sleeping bag. He peered over the edge and at the floor was a corpse, whose user had chosen its own demise.

‘Shall we get some rest? I gotta patch my fucking shoulder anyways.’ Asra winced.

‘Sure, pass me your 50, I will check for lorries and a quiet way through. ’Vic replied whilst viewing the stretch of road they needed to search next.