[IC] Fallout: The Outer Banks (Always Open)

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire

Aurora was already wheeling inside, Chase behind her as she looked through the shop with a determined gaze. "Can't handle a 50 calibre, thing will launch me across the room, so you guys take those, I'll stay inside and use whatever I can to cover you. If I get caught I'll be useless to you guys." She was already looking for something to use, her options limited due to the wheels rolling whenever a gun in her hand would be used.

Chase was already holding the rifle when she found it, a smirk on his face yet his eye uneasy, yet the red head kept looking outside trying to figure out what to do. "You can't stay together, got to shoot it from different sides and hope it don’t go for you. Thats the best chance we got, it doesn’t look like the climbing type so try to get to some higher ground okay guys? I can buy you some time but if it gets in here I'll be killed in three minutes tops."

[Sohtem]

@CloseEnough

Reese just stared at her for a moment, unable to contain a small chuckle as she spoke, he could tell she was quite the tough customer, though it didn't really bother him, everyone had a story as to how they developed into who they were, well almost everyone, he didn't know who he was, not yet anyways, though he liked to believe that his old personality was much like his current was.

“I'm sure you can, I just figured I could help you out, no doubt a lot of other people in this town will need it...I'm Reese by the way, nice to meet you.” He spoke as he took off his bag and dug into it, finding an old bit of cloth he had left over and tied it around his injured ankle, making sure it was tight so as to try and stop what bleeding there was.

He glanced down at the beast still atop the dead bandit leader, “Look I know that man wasn't someone that could have been allowed to live, but being torn to shreds like that...well it's something I always try to avoid, I feel everyone should be given a chance and if they continue how they are, then at least a quick death.” He spoke more seriously to her as he put his bag back on and then got his own rifle.

He then added, “I take it, what's her name? Aurora is it? She's your family like a sister or something?” It may have seemed out of the blue, though it had been on his mind a bit, the two did share some similar traits, it was only a guess though, a shot in the dark, however if he was right, he'd understand better why killing these threats was so important to her.

“I met her before all this chaos in the town started, she's quite nice.” He lightly smiled to her, continuing to look down at the destruction that the day's events had caused, “We'll need something strong to take that thing down, I don't have the ammo to really pump into it, but I'll help any way I can, just will need to be careful I don't get caught in that things path and I know what you said, but after all this, I would like to just examine your injury, doctor code and all that.” He spoke as he glanced at her with a small smile again before looking down at the disheveled streets of the town.

[CloseEnough]

@Sohtem

Mentioning her sister Eden glared a bit, eyes narrowed as she looked at him from the corner of her gaze before getting the beast back into her sights. "Anything that has a chance of hurting her will be cut down." She didn't comment on anything but her goals, her voice even yet a hint of a threat at the edge of her tongue.
Nothing good has ever come from being nice to someone. Aurora was not stuck here in this hell hole because she decided to be nice to others. She just wanted to go back home, back home and forget this only for another bit of chaos to take it's place.

"Its a natural part of life, that thing would have died of starvation if it did not eat, and once it's taken down than it will lengthen the lives of survivors." Mind of a huntress she clicked her tongue, she hunted down the creatures that would have been the stuff of nightmares, only to find them caring for their young as dedicated mothers. "These guys are all the same, they don't like something so they'll take everything down to kill it. I feel more bad for the animal down there."

Holding the barrel she steadied her breathing as it began to finish. "It was only trying to live another day."

A sigh escaping her lips she shook her head at the offer. "Your best bet is to stay up here, its legs are shorter in the front, built for speed, not for climbing, its on the ground its not getting back up without help." She was just hoping that Aurora was finding something big, the lock of her gun sounding through she let out a long breath, the male telling her his name only to gain silence in return. She was never too fond of talking about herself.
It only took one bullet

A yell of her own sounding through the air she got it's attention the moment it went looking for more. A roar challenging her, Eden went to the other side of the building, launching herself to a near by platform barly landing right only to shoot another bullet to buy the other's more time as it clawed and scrapped the walls to try and end the nusence that was shooting it. "Thats right, stay with me."

[Crossfire]

@Sohtem @CloseEnough

Brick sized up the weapons on the table in front of him.

"Outfitted the 50 cal with a bipod a while back, should minimize kickback, but we only got 4 rounds for it, so make it count. Everything else should be good to go, I recommend moving out one by one. I'll head around to the left, get up on the first shack there and draw its attention. When the path is clear, someone else come out, draw it away from me, I'll reload, re-position, and resume fire. Wish me luck"

He hefted an ammo backpack over his shoulder and strapped it on. With a reassuring nod to his comrades, Brick grabbed one of the miniguns, eased the door open, and headed out. He saw the beast trying to get at Eden and hoped she could hold out for just a minute longer. Making it to his destination, Brick saw Joe crouched nearby, he waved the bodyguard over.

"We finished off the raiders that kept fightin' and I sent everyone still standing back inside Angie's, told em to barricade it and keep guns at the ready"
"Good man, help me get this minigun up on the roof"

The two of them were easily able to shove the weapon up overhead, Joe interlocked his fingers and gave Brick a boost up, then the weaponsmith leaned down to return the favor. After one last check over, Brick was ready. He bellowed out as loud as he could.

"HEY UGLY!! COME GET SOME!!"

And with that he opened fire. BRATATATATATATAT The barrels churned and pumped out bullets like torrential hellfire. Brick smiled as he saw the beast recoil and spin on the spot. It roared and began to dash rapidly towards the source of its annoyance.

'Now for phase two'

[Sohtem]

Reese glanced over at Eden when she spoke, seeing how, at least to him, it appeared she had more sympathy for creatures and beasts than for people, Reese was almost a polar opposite to her, sympathizing with people more often than wild creatures such as Deathclaws and predators like them, but perhaps she had a reason for that he didn't know, though he might try to find out later, now wasn't really the time, not with that creature still about on the streets.

“Those men may have done some wrongs, but no one should have to be killed like they were, not to mention that creature isn't completely innocent, it came barreling through the town, I don't know if it harmed anyone else as it was going on it's rampage, but this town doesn't deserve that, regardless of how the creature was acting.” He responded to her sympathizing comment about the creature.

To him, at least at the moment, the creature was less important than the people of the town who didn't even asked to get involved in the chaos of two gang attacks plus the rampage of whatever species the creature was, not helping that he felt guilty about the gang that had been after him, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now, all he could try to do now was help take the beast down before it caused anymore trouble.

“Alright, I'll stay here and try to provide supporting fire, I just hope it doesn't take a lot to take that thing down.” He responded back as he hobbled over to a position where his gun wasn't obscured. He watched as she started to shoot at the beast, watching it focus it's attention on her and then started to take aim at it, figuring that perhaps if it was slowed down, if not completely incapacitated all together, the threat of it would be reduced a bit.

He fired off four shots, aiming for the back of it's legs twice before suddenly hearing the loud sound of the minigun as it spit bullets at the beast. “I guess that's one way to do things.” He spoke to himself before starting to shoot another bullet at the beast's back before hearing a CLINK, the sound indicating that he used up the last bullet in that magazine. He ejected it, putting the empty cartridge back in his bag before pulling out another, “Last one...well I better make it count.” He spoke to himself once more and then put the mag in, giving it a firm smack as it clicked into position, taking aim at the creature once more, breathing in and out slowly to steady his aim before firing at it once more.

@Crossfire @CloseEnough

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire@Sohtem

Once Brick was out Chase was already making his way to another spot. Armed and loaded he found a ladder climbing with all he had left he hissed in pain from his shoulder till he climbed up to the roof. The sound of the minigun echoing through the air once again turning the place into a war zone.
The roar of the beast followed soon, turning in a bray of dust as it tried to claw at the wall, salivating with a look of crazed eyes trying to get whatever was causing it pain. "Time to take you down" a click of the gun he narrowed his gaze, letting out a shot right into the beast's hide. A roar following once again it charged to his spot, "holy shit you're stupid."

It was like a game, trying to keep the beast from the other shooters between Eden, Chase, Brick, and Reese. Even Aurora took in a sneak attack once it was getting too interested in the minigun. Another click Eden felt her shoulder take in the recoil, her gaze that of focus, each bullet going into his joints. "Come on, just go down quickly." She was tired of causing it so much pain, yet another click caused her to see that it was empty. Loading quickly she was about to give another shot only for the ground to give out under her.

Claws, scales and teeth where all that she saw on her way down. A piece of steel was all she had for protection against that thing, her only barrier as she fumbled for her blade. "Come on come on" the sound of the steel coming through to the air was the sweetest sound she had heard in some time as she used all her strength to stab it through it's throat, a howl of pain it throw up it's head, crimson leaking through as it back up only for a moment. Turning back it snapped it;s jaws, anger seething through it's core.

[Crossfire]

@CloseEnough @Sohtem

Brick saw Eden go down and panic began to set in, he raised up the minigun and frantically pulled at the trigger, only to be greeted with a rough grinding sound.
"SHIT!" he yelled "It's jammed!" He saw the creature close in on her location, then saw it roar and back off a little. Eden still had some fight in her it seemed. Brick rushed to clear the jam, then he fed another belt through the receiver.

"Joe" he said, moving to hand over the minigun "Give me the shotgun. Take this and cover me. Aim carefully, because if you shoot me in the back, I'll fucking kill you"
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the older man asked
"Something stupid I'm sure" he replied as he leaped down to the ground and began running across towards the beast. The minigun roared back to life behind him and he saw the beast turn, crimson blood flicking from its wounds. Brick had little time to aim, so he just started shooting, blasting the creature twice in the knee. He saw it take a swipe at him, so he jumped back, narrowly avoiding being torn in two. Or so he thought. Searing pain tore through him as he dropped to the ground, one of its claws had ripped down his right shoulder as he dodged, leaving a nasty gash through which blood began to flow. Brick saw the creature moving in for the kill, so he let instinct take over. He jabbed the butt of the shotgun into his wound and began firing in the general direction of the monster's face.

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire

Eden found herself more than relived for a breath when she saw the beast turn, only for her to feel her legs move on their own, grabbing her blade as she saw one of the other shooters staying too close in it's range.
She was trying to reach him in time, hands frantic yet practice she used the same rope and wrapped the hilt again before running only to see it take a swipe at the male. His wounds leaking he froze, only to injure himself even further for a boost of adrnile, she had to admit, she was impressed, an instinct that was given in.
The smell of gun fire and decay over powering, Eden used everything she had to climb back on, his hide slick with blood she used the toe of her boots to dig in causing it to turn and snap at her for a moment before trying to get back at the next meal. Trying to prevent the needless death she swung her arms forward, the blade glistening like a beacon for a moment as it hovered right in front of her mount's eyes as it screeched.
With a roar of her own, she pulled back, feeling herself fall backwards even with the amount of effort she gave as she felt the weapon lodge right between its teeth, forcing it back and unable to bite against the seering pain of irradiate blood ripping into flesh. It only taken one stubble for her to lean on the other side in time for the mini gun to push it to the ground.
"Shoot it! Its stomach, shoot it!"

She had no idea how long she could keep that up, she could feel the rope digging into her forearm, rubbing through her cloths and into her skin till it was raw, the beast crushing her leg it's fat was like a cushion but she had no idea how long till her luck ran out for it to break.

[Sohtem]

Reese saw the struggle going on down on the streets, he couldn't help but feel conflicted, on the one hand, he knew he needed to help the others, but on the other, if he went down there, no doubt if the beast focused it's attention on him, it'd be difficult for him to hold off or escape the beast, his shoulder was still killing him and his injured ankle would make it near impossible for him to run away, not without seriously hindering him anyways.

“Damn it, shoot, screw it, I've got not other choice.” He spoke to himself as she started to quickly limp across the top of the roof, jumping down to the ground, wincing as he applied to pressure to his sore and slightly swollen ankle, “Come on, just don't give up on me yet body, after this beast is taken care of, you'll get a good rest.” He spoke to himself once more, trying to encourage himself to push through the pain and fatigue.

“Hey beast, over here!” He shouted to it as he took aim, taking Eden's advice, he started to shoot at the beast's stomach, counting the rounds as he fired into it, '8, 7, 6, 5' He thought to himself, making sure he didn't lose track, no doubt if the beast didn't go down, he'd need a few spare bullets, this was his last magazine after all. All he could really fall back onto was his knife and he doubted that would be much to take it down considering it had already been stabbed, shot by a minigun and before that it had taken multiple laser shots to it's body, the thing was tough, that was for sure, he didn't know how the thing was still alive after all the punishment it had received.

@CloseEnough @Crossfire

[CloseEnough]

..

[Crossfire]

@Sohtem @CloseEnough

Brick redirected his aim downwards towards the beast's stomach and pulled the trigger until the shotgun clicked empty. The beast had backed off just enough for him to make a dash of it. With pain ripping through his arm, he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled back a few feet. He reached across and pulled out his revolver.

'Just you left now. Arm's useless, can't reload' he thought as he brought up the handgun and began shooting. Up above, Joe was definitely earning his pay as he continued the stream of hellfire from the minigun.

"Damn thing's gonna go down any second" he said out loud, even though he knew no one could hear him. It was more a reassurance to himself than a comment to be heard.

[CloseEnough]

@Sohtem@Crossfire

Still thrashing above her Eden kept pushing back, seeing Reese in the corner of her eye yet she could not think of anything but hanging onto the beast. Adrenalin pumping through her veins the sound of her left arm being pulled from it's socket caused the woman to scream for a moment yet the rope tied made it so she kept holding on.

Chase wasted no time in taking advantage of the weakspot along with Reese, the beast couldn't move and its underbelly looked far softer than the rest of it, emptying his magazine into the creature's belly she felt his thrashing start to weaken, it was no glorious death, no great triumph like it would be explained in a book, he simply began to grow tired from the pain as roars turned to whimpers in what seemed like hours but could have simply been minutes. His body growing heavier she found herself falling to exhaustion as she laid back on the cooling dirt floor. His breathing larboard she groaned. "Someone needed to slit his throat, his head is plated, bullet would piss it off again, sword is in his mouth still if you need something."

Trying to get her breath back she looked to the sky, her body hurt but what else was new? "Chase? Chase where is she?" Thats all she cared about, not even really about the beast that was crushing her, she couldn't get out yet, not with it still alive and not with her arm pulled out of it's socket. All that mattered to her at the moment was her sister.
"Shes fine, still inside the shop."

"good, thats good"

[Sohtem]

Reese watched as all of their fire finally started to weaken the beast, he was glad for that, he had only about two bullets left and he doubted that they'd be able to take the beast down if it got a second wind again.

He limped towards Eden and the beast, listening to her speak, he pulled out his knife, though by this point exhaustion had completely set in, he didn't have anymore energy left, he was honestly surprised to have lasted this long, the day had been one long adventure but he was glad that it was finally over. “Here...use my knife.” He spoke with a pant, his body feeling heavy as he continued to try and stand.

Eventually he dropped to a knee, his body shaking as he tried to stay conscious, he could tell the others were exhausted just like him, not that it'd be held against them, today was very hectic, no doubt about, it'd be a great story to tell though, “I'll gladly...patch you guys up,” He was in the middle of speaking, unable to complete his sentence as he fully collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious, finally succumbing to the fatigue he had been holding off.

Reese would most likely need just a few hours of rest and then could get to work on treating other people, no doubt others were more exhausted and wounded than him, this was his first time though facing so many challenges, so he wasn't used to working his body so hard, but he was at least glad he pushed himself past his limits to help out the others, at least he didn't feel completely useless.

@CloseEnough @Crossfire

[Crossfire]

@Sohtem @CloseEnough

Brick had one bullet left when it finally went down. He wandered over to the nearly dead beast and listened for a moment to its whimpers sneaking out through labored breaths. It's jaw went limp as he stuck his hand its gaping maw inside to retrieve Eden's blade.

"May as well put it out of it misery" he said, drawing the blade across its exposed throat. With a horrible squish, the flesh separated and flopped apart. If the thing wasn't killed immediately, it would be in a matter of seconds.

"Fuck it, might as well make sure its gone" he said as he knelt in close and jabbed the revolver's barrel right up against its eye and pulled the trigger, emitting a wet sounding bang. Satisfied, Brick moved to help Eden out from under the thing, as Joe came over to help Reese.

"So" he said, hoping to lighten the mood ever so slightly "What're we doin' tomorrow?"

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire@Sohtem

She could feel it draw it's last breath, one last jerk gave off when the male shot it through the eye, making his way over she was thankful for the help of getting out. Taking the blade she cleaned it off using the end of her shirt before sheething it. It was a long day, one that she was not too happy about. Reese passed out next to her and everyone licking their wounds, a dead beast and a litter of bodies.

Taking her arm a sicking series of pops followed by a snap took to her ears as she hissed in pain only for a cool relief when her arm was put back in place. Shaking her limbs she patted Chase on the shoulder who was talking about the beast asking what it was as she walked past. The question that was given earning a harsh answer.
"I'm taking Aurora back home and forgetting this entire thing happened."

"No we're not."
Looking over her shoulder Eden took in a deep breath at the sight of Aurora. Still in one piece, not a single injury on the woman, before she knew it Eden had engulfed her in a hug. "I love you to Sis, but I'm not leaving, everyone needs some help, Brick and I just finished Furago and I need to pay him, its not right to just leave."

Pulling back a bit to see the younger sister Eden found gold to meet gold, nether budging on the topic at hand.
"Do you even realize how close you were to being killed?"
"Not as bad as you thought. Brick here loaded me up with weapons and kept me in the back."
"You killed someone"
"Its the wasteland, its kind of what everyone dose."
back and forth the sister's argued, the older wanting to put the younger back in her garage while the red head wanted to finish what she started. "I'm one of the only people who could use Fuago anyway! Shes not a gun, let me help open the vault and I promise I'll go back to the garage!"
Even Chase was taking Aurora's side, asking if it was so bad to let the woman gain some character and adding how she held up aright in the chaos. Eden looking like she was going to end the older man began to growl, yet she was not in the shape to keep up the act. "The moment we're done with the vault is the moment you head back home."

the red head looked like she was just given a puppy. A grin spreading from ear to ear she thanked her sister as she began to wheel away. The chair bumping from the uneven road yet persistence gotten her to the dead beast. "Oh man, that is one messed up Radtor, least I think thats what he is."
Getting a good look at him now he seemed like the drawing, but he was still off..she couldn't put her finger on it but all that mattered was that it was dead.
Instead she looked to the others that stuck around, poor Reese passed out and Brick uneven on his feet. Even Eden seemed tired yet the woman was too stubborn to show it. Looking to Brick she gave a sigh, "sorry, about my sister I mean. Shes been like that ever since we came here. But a better answer to your question is that we're gonna try to get Fuago to that vault."

[Crossfire]

@CloseEnough @Sohtem (OOC: Last one from me for tonight, everyone else good with jumping to the next morning for our next posts?)

Brick nodded at the young woman.
"Maybe a day or two to get everything straightened away here, but I agree 100%, we gotta get Fuago over there just as soon as we're able to travel"

He looked over to Joe "Wanna run on ahead to Angie's? Get Travis to help you bring Reese down there. If he hadn't bought himself a bed already, tell Angie to set him up on me, and if he has, then she's to give him back his caps when he wakes up"
"Stuff that wound" Joe said as he passed by. For the 2nd time in as many hours, Brick followed the medical advice of the bodyguard, leaning down to tear a strip of fabric from a dead raider's sleeve. He held it tight against the gash in his shoulder and turned back to speak to Aurora.

"You and your sister can stay up at the shop. My bed should be plenty big enough for you guys. Chase can have the spare bed if he wants, and I can grab the couch. Reese'll be fine down at the inn, but I don't trust the general population of this place when it comes to matters of dealing with women respectfully. Not that I have any doubts about your skills in that area, but it'd make me feel better personally. Hell, its the least I can offer after everything we've been through tonight"

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire@Sohtem (Count me in, I got nothing ta do tomorrow.)

"So you're still up for helping us at the vault than?" A smile on her face Aurora found herself looking at a rare person in the wastland, one that you could actually count on. Feeling Eden's gaze on her back she looked over her shoulder to no surprise in finding the older woman leaning against a wall as she kept a close eye on the red head. "I don't think its right to kick you out of your own bed, after all your more hurt than I am."
Though she was grateful for the offer. The idea of dealing with people that he just described did not sound vary pleasant, poor thing might stay awake through the entire night if that was the case.

Raising a brow at the wound she sighed. "Still have that stempack I gave you? Bet ya someone here would call you a god if you helped em with it."

[Sohtem]

@CloseEnough @Crossfire (Yeah, I'm fine with that as well, I don't think there's much else that can or needs to be done currently.)

Reese was still unconscious as he was helped up and started being taken to the inn, though he had already paid for a room there, he managed to regain consciousness temporarily, something inside him driving to say something to the group of people he had fought with to protect the town from the crazy events that transpired, “Before I pass out again, just wanted to say thanks to you all and...when I'm hopefully awake tomorrow, I'll help anyone that needs some treatment...I know comparatively my wounds aren't much, but this is the most I've worked my body past it's limits.” He weakly chuckled before his head dropped again, once more falling unconscious most likely until the morning.

[CloseEnough]

@Crossfire@Sohtem

Keeping a close eye on Aurora, Eden was found cleaning up the bodies near by. Looting the corpses to find caps, ammo and random pieces for craft. Handing the red head something that resembled a lever the woman's eyes lit up from the gift. "Oh, its a distress pulser, willing to bet that they got it from a set of power armour or something."

Patting the younger sister Eden went back to tossing bodies, even dragging the one that Auora killed in the back. Hours passing by in licking their wounds Eden found herself on the porch with a drink in hand, someone saying she saved his life so it was on him yet her gaze was still glued to the girl in the chair as she kept speaking with the one named Brick.

[Crossfire]

@Sohtem @CloseEnough

"Oh yeah here" Brick dug out the stimpack and laid it in Aurora's lap "Give it to your sister, or Chase, or Reese, or hell, whoever needs it" He began walking back towards the shop "Offer's still on the table for you guys"

THE NEXT MORNING

Brick woke up on the floor of the workshop. He must have passed out before making it to either of the beds, or the couch. Someone had found him like this though, and stuck one of the couch cushions under his head. He groaned as he felt a jolt of pain through his stiff shoulder. The wound had clotted over, making the cloth bandage stick to him like glue. He pushed himself to his feet and walked outside, stopping to grab a bottle of water on the way.

"Oh, good mornin" Joe said, greeting him at the door "How's the shoulder?"
"I'll live" Brick replied. He nodded down towards the town "Whats the damage like?"
"Not counting raiders? About 25 casualties. Population of this place just dropped by about half"
"Arthur?"
"He was one of them, yeah. The OBR Riflemen, 7 or 8 of the guys who helped us fight, and the rest were civvies"
"Shit. This is all my fault"
Joe rounded on him and looked him square in the face "You stow that shit right now. Right now. This isn't on you"
"I killed Hardy, drew them here"
"Even if you didn't, somebody would've come eventually. That other group wasn't here because of Hardy, they were just doing what raiders do"
"I can't help but feel responsible"
"We all feel responsible kid. The question is, what are you gonna do about it?"
"We'll move forward. More guards. Build up some real walls. And someone to mind the shop while I'm away. How's the clean-up going?"
"They dumped the raiders outside town, planning to burn em. Dragged that creature out there too. Douglas and Dan are preparing graves"
"That's good. You ok with being in charge of things here for a week or two?"
"I guess so"
"Spoken like a true leader" Brick said as he walked down the porch steps and headed off.

'Check in on everyone, then to find Bullock and Starr'