Tallahassee was the last man Viktor had talked to besides an innkeeper he spoke to later that day to reserve a small one bed room for the night. The owner of the building went through making extensive repairs to turn it into an operational inn. Viktor's room was on the first floor just to the right of the check-in counter of the small two story building and could have easily been mistaken for a supply closet due to its size. Viktor didn't mind though, all he wanted was a place to get some much needed safe and sound deep sleep. But in the Wastes one is never that lucky.
He awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of small arms fire. At first he dismissed it, but it kept coming, and Viktor realized it was not some strange occurrence, the town was under attack. Viktor hurried to get his clothes and gear on while the gunfire kept getting closer. By the time he finished the small window near the top of the wall had been shot out by stray gunfire. As he reached his hand for the doorknob he heard the door of the building get kicked in and screaming coming from the atrium, screaming that was soon cut short by what sounded like a rifle butt to the head. He could hear one a man shouting orders to the others to clear the rooms.
Soon after there were more screams and several gunshots from what Viktor could hear. He could not do anything but let it happen, knowing he was outnumbered and presumably outgunned. Nevertheless, they were still raider scum, so Viktor loaded his pistol and prepared to face a fight when they realized they hadn't opened his door yet. As soon as the thought had crossed his mind, footsteps began getting closer to his door. He stood against the wall next to the door, absolutely silent and frozen.
A man kicked the door open, breaking off the flimsy hinges and falling to the ground. The bandit rushed into the room and next found himself being thrown against the wall, weapon flying out of his hand. Viktor full on tackled the bandit, feeling something in the man’s body crack upon impact. While the bandit shouted out in pain, Viktor had managed to get him into a hostage-type chokehold, with one arm around the bandit’s neck and the other one gripping his pistol aiming out the room.
Viktor figured when there wasn’t any cover, he had to make the best out of what was available. He knew it was a risky as hell move, but these bandits are rarely ever trained well enough to know what to do in situations like this, much less never trained in hand to hand combat except for bar crawls. It was a bet, but a safe bet.
The bandit in the entry hall was visible from the doorway to Viktor’s room, and by the time he had figured out what was going on, there was a bullet in his chest and he was gasping for air. Viktor dragged the man in the entry hall, yelling at him in Russian to further intimidate him and get him to reply to the commands. By the time the pair was in the entry room, another bandit rounded the corner and began spraying rapidly into the room. Viktor turned the man in time to absorb the bullets coming from the bandit’s rifle. Viktor put the bandit’s head in his pistol sights and not a moment later the wall behind the once-alive figure was covered in blood. Viktor’s ‘friend’ by this point was quickly dying and Viktor was the only reason he was still standing, so he simply let the man fall to the ground and put a bullet in his head to make his death quicker. Viktor figured he earned it.
Viktor immediately began searching the rest of the inn for survivors and found himself a surprise. After making sure the first floor was clear, he headed upstairs to check the rooms on the second floor. After entering the second room, a bandit followed Viktor into the room and placed his revolver against the back of his head. Viktor’s entire body immediately froze. This is it. Rat bastards. was the only thought that went through his head. When the bandit pulled the trigger however, nothing happened. Whether the gun had jammed or was out of ammo, Viktor didn’t spend the time to ponder on why this chance had happened. He grabbed the man’s arm with both hands and used the leverage to hurl the bandit over his back, laying him out on the ground in front of Viktor and sending the gun sliding across the floor. Viktor drew his pistol once again and put a bullet in the bandit’s head without a second thought.
After finishing his sweep on the second floor, Viktor decided he had seen enough of bloody mess the badnits made of the people occupying the rooms. He headed backstairs to see if the lady who had been hit was still alive, which in fact she was, just unconscious, and head trauma could wait until the town is secure. Viktor continued to search the bodies for whatever ammo he could use for his pistol they may have contained. After only finding four usable rounds, he loaded them into the clip and headed out into a street whose lights were apparently completely off. Guiding himself by the dim light being put out by the night sky and the flashes of gunfire going off in the street, he found an alleyway where he could properly assess the situation.