Aim to Please

2 | Proving Ground

Aurora didn't hold a conversation with MacCready as they headed north, other than to tell him their job: kill a band of Gunners led by someone named Clive. He listened and took it without question; he wasn't talkative either, so Aurora wasn't forced into being chatty—she had never been social.

This certain group of Gunners had always given her trouble: she would track them down, attack, then flee from almost being killed. When she returned with hired help, the Gunners ended up killing her companion, and Clive would be gone. Everything pretty much repeated when she found them again: Clive would have new Gunners, she'd have to buy another mercenary, they'd die, and the leader would be gone again. Killing Clive had become a personal need for her—she wouldn't stop until he was dead.

But this time, Aurora changed the routine: she tracked Clive to a satellite base his Gunners had taken over, then went and got MacCready—Clive wouldn't have a heads up. She just knew she had him this time.

Her vendetta against Clive consisted only of him being a bastard who raided settlements, raped women, and killed everyone. She had made a personal promise to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. Many leaders of Raiders and Gunners had come before him; his time to die had just come.

Unconsciously, her hand drifted to her neckline, but she caught herself and dropped the hand before MacCready could see. She didn't know him—he could be apt to stealing when one showed they had an object of value. Best to stay focused too, not become distracted by thoughts of the past.

On their journey north, they came across many creatures: Feral Ghouls, Bloatflies, Stingwings, wild Mongrels, and Yao Guai. None of them posed a problem for Aurora and MacCready; she was pleased to see that MacCready could shoot and shoot well. She just wondered how good he was when the enemy shot back...

The moon had long disappeared when they reached the satellite base Clive and his Gunners were holed up in. Aurora and MacCready watched the camp from afar, hidden within a cluster of dead and skinny trees; she had attached the night-vision scope to her rifle with the coming of night and now looked through it, observing their opposition.

The night-vision turned her view green and nothing could hide from her in the dark. Everything reflected in shades of green; things closer to her being the lightest and the shades grew darker the further they were. The things that blinded her emitted light; in this case being a campfire with a cooking spit over it, two spotlights, and a few working lightbulbs.

"How many?" MacCready whispered.

She had counted two by the campfire, one walking across a wooden bridge linking one satellite dish to another, one asleep in a shack built hanging beside a dish, and some others. She saw a shadow pass by the window of the building, but because of the light, she couldn't see if there were any others inside or if it had been Clive.

"Eight; Clive usually has two of his closest men with him, and I'm guessing they're in that building—so eleven."

"I'll start with the one on the bridge," he said before sneaking off to prop against a tree to steady his aim.

If you can hit her, she thought as she steadied her aim on one by the campfire. She slowed her breathing as she settled the crosshairs on the back of her sitting-Gunner's head.

MacCready's rifle cracked, shattering the quiet night, followed by the boom of Aurora's. The Gunners at the campfire didn't have time to react before one of the heads exploded like shooting a melon. Aurora saw the limp form of the female Gunner falling off the bridge high in the air as she turned her sights on the other by the fire. The male Gunner had jumped to his feet but fell back with a hole in his chest. MacCready's rifle went off again, and another body fell from the sky.

By now, the camp had come alive; Gunners came out from everywhere, all with their guns ready. They had pinpointed their location and fired blindly at the clusters of trees. Her rifle only held a capacity of two bullets, so Aurora reloaded as she sprinted to a tree to take cover. She poked around the tree hoping to snipe another one.

A bullet whizzed by her and dug into the nearby tree—they had a sniper with a night-vision scope. Aurora ran to duck behind a tree stump, much wider than her, so it hid her from sight completely. She poked around the stump to find the sniper; she found him lying down in one of the wooden shacks built into a satellite dish. Just as she focused the crosshairs on his head, it exploded—MacCready had shot him.

Without the threat of an enemy sniper, Aurora and MacCready became bolder in returning fire. She preferred staying in the shadows and firing from afar; MacCready stayed among the trees at first, but when the numbers dwindled to a few stragglers, he abandoned the safety and charged into camp. She provided cover fire by killing those high above him.

When the higher Gunners were dead, Aurora ran to go join him in the camp. He fought the last Gunner who wielded a machete; he shoved him off with his gun and when the man stumbled back, MacCready shot him point-blank.

The night became still again with the ending of the gunfire. It relieved her that their ambush had done so well—the Gunners were dead, neither of them had gotten hurt or killed, and MacCready had proven his worth as a good sharpshooter. And he had done it all without the aid of night-vision—she was impressed. But she had one thing left to do and this night would be perfect: find Clive among the dead.

She told MacCready Clive had a strange sun tattoo on the back of his left hand so he could help in the search. They checked every body, even those still up in the air on the bridge or in the shacks. None held the tattoo.

Aurora kicked a body in frustration. "Dammit! I knew he was here! That son of a bitch ran off again; how did he know I was coming? Now I'll have to find him again, and I don't even know which direction he went! How the hell did he know?"

MacCready just watched her rant and storm around without a word.

She stopped stomping about and forced herself to calm down. Even though she didn't get Clive, ten more Gunners were dead—in her book, that meant she had saved ten more lives. At least that counted for something.

"It doesn't matter; I'll find him again."

MacCready finally spoke. "Look, you hired me for a job, and it's not finished yet. You'll have me until it's done."

She looked at him. "I hoped I didn't have to pay you again."

"You don't have to pay me, but I see a lot of items that can."

"Take what you want." She smiled. "You are an excellent shot."

He smirked. "Told you."

"The others said that too, but didn't do so well dodging bullets." Aurora joined him in taking guns and items off the bodies that could be sold for some caps.

When they started to walk out of the camp, one of the spotlights saw them; it started beeping and tracked their movement. She just pulled out her silenced pistol and shot it. The light broke and fell from its bolted stand to crash on the ground.