Let's Play: Fallout 3

[Krylo]

Spending the Holidays with the Family Pt. 1

"Get over here before they see you!" He waves his arm gesturing me over.

I decide that he isn't going to shoot me anymore and head over, though I keep my hand on my side arm.



"Who the hell did you think I was?" I ask, with maybe just a little more anger than was entirely necessary.

He sighs a bit, "Sorry about that, really I am, but it's just... this goddamn gang. The Family they call themselves. Been patrollin' around here and harassin' us. Normally it's just a bunch of stupid bullshit, bustin' shit up, makin' lots of noise, scarin' people, you know, nothin' big but," he gestures wildly toward the bottom of the bridge, "They gone killed our Brahmin! That's goin' too far! They're our lifeblood out here in these wastes yanno!"

Gangs? Apparently assholes like Butch exist everywhere. At least their name isn't as stupid. Tunnel Snakes. Jesus...

"So if they're just a gang, why don't you just take them out?" I mean, he's obviously got some decent weaponry considering the dust cloud he blasted up in front of me.

"Nah, there's somethin... not right about them. I don't know, they're stronger than us and they got bigger guns. Got the weapons and the muscles. Why the hell don't they just take us out? What the hell do they want!? It's got me goddamn creeped out!"

"Yeah... well... I was just passing through so..."

"Hey, if you don't mind... I ain't heard from the Wests in awhile. They live in the house all the way to the back there, and I can't leave my watch. Could you maybe check on them? Tell 'em Evan King sent ya." He seems genuinely worried, and I figure, it's just a quick little walk.

"...Yeah. Why not?"

"Thanks a lot, miss... we're in a bad way out here, and I can't risk those hooligans gettin' at the citizens."

I just wave and continue into the town.



...What a terrible place. And it's under attack... isn't there any place decent in these wastes?



Sun's setting. Maybe I can find someplace to sleep... the wasteland is bad enough during the day. I don't want to see what it's like at night.



Welp... this looks like the place.



...And this explains why King hadn't heard from them in awhile...



I can't tell what killed them, but I have trouble believing it was human. They're pretty messed up...

I turn the light on my Pipboy and take a closer look around...



The Family.

...But... wounds like these, it looks like they were attacked by a wild animal or something. This... isn't good. Best let Evan know.




I inform him that Mr. and Mrs. West are dead, AND that 'The Family' was written in their blood on the wall. I also mention that it looks like a wild animal tore them apart.

He goes pale. "Ah hell... they... attacked? But I've been watchin' this the whole time, and there ain't no bridge back there how'd they... Shit, you said Mr. and Mrs... you didn't see no kid there did you?"

"Um... no, just the two terribly mutilated corpses... why?" I ask, a bit confused by his sudden leap of logic.

"The boy! They had a son, and I seen him talkin' to the family down there... Ah hell, he was always such a nice boy too... he musta snuck them in somehow. God only knows what they're doin' with him now. Listen... I'm... I'm too old for this. Could you help me out... just find the boy and bring him back, and if you happen to kill some of those freaks along the way I ain't complainin'."

I look out over the wasteland for a few minutes thinking about all the things I've seen up until now. The terrible things that have made me so desensitized in two fucking days that I can look at what The Family did to the Wests without feeling even a little sick. Fuck it. I need someplace to sleep.

"Tell you what, you get me a bed and I'll bring you a couple of heads. Sound good?"

He looks a little surprised by that. "That's... that's it? Just like that?"

"Listen, I'm really tired. Don't test my giving nature, alright?"

He nods quickly and then thinks for a minute, "Well... ain't really no place to sleep 'round here... though I guess The Wests won't be needin' their place any time soon, and I doubt The Family's gonna try to kill 'em again..."

I just sigh heavily. "Yeah... great... thanks. Fuck it, I'm going to bed."

I don't listen to anything else he has to say as I turn back toward the murder scene.



Then again... there is one more house, and Evan said he's not leaving the barricade...




Nice place Mr. King...



I decide to relive him of a little ammo while I'm here. Sure, it's not the most... moral thing to do, what with The Family and all, but I figure as that I agreed to hunt them down for him, it's the least he can do to give me a few bullets.



...Even the bed is wonderful. Hope the old man doesn't walk in on me while I'm sleeping, god knows what the old crazy would do to a young thing like me... fuck it, I'm too tired to care, and I can be reasonably sure he's not gonna kill me at least.



I wake up and head out. It's just after dawn and the wastland is positively hideous. God I hate my life. Whatever. Best get after the Family... where the hell would they be?

Maybe Evan would know?



"Yeah, about that... any idea where I'd start lookin'?"

He thinks for a few minutes. "Well, it's pretty dark when they attack, but they usually seem ta come from the east someplace. There's a few places out there. The Outdoor Movie Theater... the old Baseball Field... and uh... the Mersetti Train Station, I guess. Don't really know where exactly. They're all somewhat to the east. Station's on the North Side of the river here, while the other two are down on the south."

Great. Well... the Theater and Field I've been to... so that gives me a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for, and more or less where it is. "That helps a lot..."



As I leave town I wonder why the hell I agreed to help them...



Welp, over the river and through the woods, to the crazy murderers I go...



What the fuck is that thing!?






I fire my minigun into it, bullets chipping away at it like a jackhammer, but it barely seems to notice.



More bullets! ALL THE BULLETS!




It finally dies. Jesus. What the fuck was it?



I toss out the old ammo box and reload my nearly empty minigun. Odd that they call it that. It's pretty fucking huge, after all.



I decide to check out the dock and find a medkit. Grab some stimpaks from it, and a few bandages. However, as I'm pocketing them I hear the dock boards creak behind me.



Goddamn, another one of them. My back's to the water, and they seem to be aquatic. Gonna have to stand my ground.







I'm panting as it finally falls to the ground. I'm running low on ammo in this thing. I'd best g--



Shit.



Double shit. How many of these things are there? No time to think now. I start backpeddling and shooting. It's difficult to do with the weight of the gun, and its considerable kick. Thank god I spent so much time learning how to handle a rifle--gatling gun ain't the same, but without some basic understanding I'd probably be on my back being torn apart by these things.

The bullets rip through their carapaces, but not fast enough, and the whine of the spinning barrels turns into an offensive clicking noise.



I turn to run while stripping myself from the harness as quickly as possible, letting it drop to the ground behind me, while I reach around to pull out that assault rifle from the police headquarters. . .





One goes down, but it clicks empty, too. I toss it back on my back in the sling, and draw my side arm.





I'm panting, and trembling as I stumble away. My breath is ragged and I just want to be away from there now.



After what feels like hours of wandering around I find something that seems pretty familiar. I must be just north of Big Town... but there's a train yard, and this does seem east.



Hey, another human, and he's not dressed like one of those psychos. Ain't seen that in the wastelands before. Convenient too...

"Hey!" I shout while waving one hand, the other on my pistol, ready to pull it and blow his ass away if he was like every other crazy I've seen so far.



He's not.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asks, leisurely. Apparently some people HAVE gotten used to this place.

"I'm alright," I respond half heartedly, "getting used to the wasteland..."

He looks me over an eye cocked, then smiles, in what I hope is recognition, "Ah yeah. Vault Dweller, eh? Didn't know there was any vaults left locked up, well, welcome to hell," he says taking a drag of his cigarette, "'course, even in hell we can always have a little fun, eh?"

I groan inwardly, resisting the urge to punch him, "Yeah... I've seen just a few too many unholy terrors the last two days to even think about anything like that... but um... is this the Mersetti Trainyard?"

He looks a little disappointed as he answers, "Yeah, this is it... why?"

"I'm hunting down a band of crazy killers."

He stops for a minute looking me over, and then laughs a bit. "Yeah, well, maybe it's best you turned me down. Radiation musta already gotten to your head. Well, good luck kid, you're gonna need it. I'm getting the hell outta here before those 'killers' of yours notice there's me."

With that he waves and walks away. Maybe he's right and I am crazy. Then again, I managed to blow apart quite a few super mutants, so maybe I'm not. Guess it doesn't really matter. Not like this hell hole of a world is any better than death.



I turn back toward the train station imagining myself being torn apart by murderers. Strangely, the thought doesn't bother me as much as I feel it should.

"Whatever..."

I head in.



Nice place. Great decor.



I decide I'd best proceed as quietly as possible.



Well, someone lives down here, judging by the fires...



And the traps.



A baby carriage?



Oh. Well. Guess I'd best get the hell away from that.

I feel the heat of the explosion on my back and turn around to check the devastation.



. . .And so my nightmares for the next month have been decided.

After all that, I decide I'd better keep my eyes peeled. Can't risk turning on the light, though. Lot of good avoiding traps is going to do me if I get killed in a hail of gunfire.




An automatic pitching machine? Really? Clearly set up to shoot down the choke point created by the trains.

Amateur hour.

I grab a sharp rock and jam it into the bottom wheel, making sure it's wedged in good and tight. That oughta break it.

Good thing, too, as a second later I feel a pull on my ankle and hear its motor fry out behind me, as it tries to lob something at my back.

Need to be more careful.




Well hello thar Mr. Tripwire. How are you this fine evening? Just wonderful you say? You certainly hope no one breaks you and causes some kind of awful trap to go off in their face? Well alright then Mr. Tripwire, I'll just step over you nice and carefully.



Well shit, the traps are getting a bit more dangerous now, aren't they? Good thing I noticed that wire or I'd be meat.




I can hear a radio... must be getting close.