11 Years Ago
The group of 4 stood outside of the makeshift shack. It was beginning to rain.
"Come on out, asshole!" screamed the man shrouded by his black leather duster. He was clutching a young, terrified brunette with piercing yellow eyes at his side. She looked no older than 9, and was screaming wildly for help at the makeshift shack up the hill. He had a knife at her throat. "Girlie, if you don't shut the fuck up, I'll fucking gut you."
The young man nearest to him walked over and placed his arm on the man's shoulder as the girl forced herself to stop crying. "Jesus, Doc, calm down. He said he'd be out with the money in a minute."
"Fuck you, Ty." Said Doc, shaking his hand off his arm. "You know how that prick hates it when we're late on payments. Last time they shot Jamie. You want to be next?"
Ty recoiled at the memory of his friend's execution. "Not my fault we work for a maniac."
A chubby, balding man slowly walks out of the shack clutching a small bag. "This is all we have. Please don't hurt my daughter." He threw the bag at Doc's feet.
"Mack, count it up."
The large man wielding a sledgehammer walked over to the bag to grab it. He opened the bag, counted the caps, and threw the bag to Doc. "200 short."
The girl's father turned white. "No, I swear it's all there! Please don't kill my daughter!"
Ty spoke up to reassure the man. "Don't worry, we won't kill your daughter."
"Exactly right, Ty. We won't kill her." Doc turned to the girl. "What's your name, sweetheart?"
The girl responded through her tears. "Natasha."
"It's nice to meet you, Natasha." He turned to her father. "What's your favorite thing about little Natasha here?"
The man seemed caught off guard by the question. "What?"
Doc pressed his knife harder to Natasha's neck, drawing a small amount of blood. "Answer the fucking question."
The man stumbled over his words. "Her voice. I love her voice. It reminds me of my wife."
Doc smiled. "How sweet." He turned to Natasha. "Your daddy said he likes your voice."
The man began begging. "Please don't hurt my daughter. She's all I have left."
Mack took a step toward the man. "Quiet."
Doc turned to Natasha. "Do you know why they call me Doc?"
Natasha shook her head, holding back tears.
"It's because I'm a doctor. I know how to fix people when they get hurt. Your daddy is going to get hurt really soon if he doesn't help us. Okay?"
Natasha couldn't hold her tears back any longer. She tried to break free from Doc's grasp, only to catch an elbow from him instead, knocking her unconscious.
"Doc, what the fuck!" spoke Ty.
"No!" Her father screamed, running towards Doc, preparing for a fistfight.
"Mack." Said Doc nonchalantly. The hulking man gripped the back of the chubby man's neck and pulled, throwing him on his back.
"Stay." Mack said aggressively.
Doc knelt down at Natasha's side. "You know, generally I put my patients under with gas. Blunt force like that can lead to adverse effects."
The man on the ground began sobbing. "Please don't hurt my daughter."
Doc tilted his head in confusion at the man. "Hurt her? She won't feel a thing. Well, if she doesn't wake up, of course."
The man began getting up to charge Doc again, but was caught in the jaw by a large boot. "Stay." Repeated Mack.
Ty spoke up again. "Guys, we were here for this guy's caps. This isn't part of the plan."
Doc stood up and turned to Ty. "We stopped having a plan when that fucking psycho killed Jamie. You want me to tell your wife you got killed next because you weren't willing to get that fucking dickbag's money?"
Ty started to look angry. "Don't talk about my wife. I do all of this shit for her."
Doc smiled again. "Then you'll have no problem grabbing my surgical tools from my bag."
The young man looked confused. "What are you going to do?"
"Make this asshat over here suffer." He said, turning to the girl's dazed father.
Ty took a step back. "What? No! I'm not helping you with any of that shit!"
Doc shrugged. "Okay. I'll just work without them." He reached for his belt and grabbed his combat knife.
The girl's father sat up and began staring in horror. Doc called out to Mack. "If that asshole moves, smash his skull in. And don't let this goody two shoes stop me either." He pointed to Ty. Mack adjusted his grip on his hammer and nodded.
Doc sized up the young girl's neck before plunging his knife into it. The girl and her father screamed in unison. One in pain, and one in sorrow. Ty stood back in horror as the lunatic he called friend carved into an innocent young girl's neck.
It felt like hours passed, while in reality it was over in moments. Ty lunged at Doc, and the last thing he saw before the darkness was Mack turning towards him, and his hammer speeding closer.
-------------------------------------------------------
Ty shot up in his bed, screaming. He had that insufferable nightmare again. It was so long ago, but he couldn't shake the memory. He climbed out of bed, grabbed his flask, and walked outside. As he sat down on his porch overlooking his small farm, he heard a young girl's voice behind him.
"Tyler? Are you okay?"
He took a swig of his whiskey and forced a laugh. "You shouldn't be the one worrying about me, Ashley. I'm the one who worries about you."
"You woke me up screaming. Did you get hurt?"
"No Ash, I just had a bad dream. You get back to bed, sun won't be up for another couple hours."
"Okay. Goodnight Tyler."
"Goodnight Ashley."
He was glad he wasn't facing Ashley, because there was no way she would have gone back to sleep if she had seen the tears running down his face.
YOU ARE READING
Fallout: Connections of Fate
FanfictionA spinning tale in the wasteland that is the Commonwealth. Interesting characters that have had their lives changed by grand events come together and meet new people and reconnect with familiar faces.
