Kapitel 5: Lost and Found
I don't own fallout
"We are lost." Satsuki suddenly said, very annoyed, as Swat sighed… again. You try to teach her to navigate the ruins, look for telltale guidance signs, and nothing comes of it.
"We are not lost." Swat said calmly "Relax." And considering he walked these ruins enough times to know his way around he knew what he was talking about, but Satsuki apparently liked to be belligerent. Good thing he was also patient... to a point.
"Relax? We have been wandering around in circles for hours!" she complained angrily. "Just admit you're lost!"
Masha and Casey sighed but said nothing, as Swat eyed Satsuki for a moment and said casually. "Not all those who wander are lost." Masha, Satsuki, and Casey all stared at him like he was crazy. He sighed reluctantly, with a shrug and added absently. "…It's something my mother used to say to me when I complained about us being lost."
"Your mother seemed like a very annoying woman." Casey said airily, taking a seat on a pre-war bench and watching Swat as she held her assault rifle. "No offense." She added, thinking she sounded a little harsh.
"Well, she was a 200-year-old French woman. She did however say she was 150. I like to think that I was just lucky she wasn't trying to eat me at that point. Anyway. Satsuki." He said, pointing down at Raid who was practically sleeping at Swat's feet. "You see him? If he's fidgeting, THEN you need to start worrying. Not before."
Swat had taken the girls out on another training exercise/hunting job. Both were improving, but not to match his ideals. Casey was with them because she didn't have much else to do while he was teaching them. So, she was mainly there on the very off chance that Swat needed help protecting the girls. So, a handful of molerats, ghouls, and a very angry swarm of bloatflies later, and here they were in the center of an old town square long ago ruined by the old world.
"Okay. Then what are we doing?" Satsuki asked aggressively as Masha joined Casey on the bench.
"Well right now I'm looking for a place that looks good to search." Swat replied, viewing around the area. "…Tell you what. You pick." He said, gesturing to the many buildings that looked mostly intact. "Give it a try and pick. We'll go in there."
She frowned at him, but after a moment of looking she pointed at a small shop. "There. That looks like an easy choice."
He nodded in agreement, "All right then. After you?" he asked, she hesitated and he rolled his eyes. "I thought so." And he drew his sequoia. Clicking his tongue; Raid immediately was alert, darting ahead of his master and keeping low.
As they reached the storefront, he paused and looked at her as she took a deep breath. Holding her 10mm as Masha approached behind her. Satsuki picked up a rock and tossed it into the store… there was an odd buzzing, then a handful of radroaches scrambled into the light as the girls lifted their pistols and killed them, the nasty oversized things.
Swat nodded proudly. "Good job… and you didn't empty your clips!" he added as Masha beamed at him, Satsuki sniffed but nodded, proud of herself as well as they all entered. Swat froze as he entered, shelves full of books lined the wall, and almost immediately he began to shift through the many, many burnt books. The girls watched him for a minute curiously, but then shrugged assuming he was just being thorough as they began to look around. Casey sat on the counter, watching him intently as he tossed book after book onto the ground, dust rising up like mini-explosions.
"…Looking for something Terry?" she asked, he rolled his eyes shaking his head. She had been trying to guess his name since last night. Coming up so far with Harold. Ozzy, Ben, Billy, and for some odd out of nowhere try, Ingrid... Only occasionally did she address him as Swat or 'hey you'.
"Yes. Actually." Swat replied, tossing another half-destroyed book away. "A book."
"Obviously." She said undeterred as Raid watched his master toss book after book to the floor. His tail wagged happily in the dust, brushing a spot clean, as his bright blue eyes followed the flying ancient old tomes in the succession of each toss. "What for?"
"That's personal." He replied, "You don't need to worry about it…" he sighed, "These are all destroyed anyway…" he mumbled with a sigh, clicking his tongue as Raid darted off further into the store, surprising Masha with a laugh as he stuck his nose between her rear.
"Oh come on." She rolled her eyes, "What are you looking for? maybe I've heard of it or seen it. Some sort of comic book? I got all of the Unstoppables at my house in Freeside." She smiled.
"No. not a comic book. A book, an actual book. A novel." He said shaking his hand as if holding the very thing he was looking for, "A Pre-war book-" but he paused, and leaped over the counter, grabbing her and taking her with him as he held her to his chest. "Get down!" he hissed to the other girls as Satsuki took Masha and dragged her to the floor behind some shelves. Raid had instinctively hidden himself before Swat had even told him to.
"If you wanted to cuddle Stacy you only need to-" but she stopped talking as the footsteps got louder and she pressed her head to his chest nervously. "Shit! Deathclaw!" she hissed into his shirt nervously as he tried to get a good look. "I thought they stayed in old Spud Town. What's it doing this far east?!"
"Just. Stay calm." He said taking deep breaths. "It'll be fine as long as we're perfectly still. It's not even looking this way. It must be hunting for food."
"That's not helpful!" Satsuki hissed as Swat and Casey glared sternly at her, both holding fingers to their respective lips for silence as Satuski covered her mouth slowly with her hands and lay still next to Masha. Who wrapped her arms around her friend for comfort.
The towering monstrosity stomped imposingly outside. Not even looking in their direction, his curved horns twisted with its head as its long, razor-sharp claws flexed. It sniffed the air… once… twice. Three times… turning towards the store for a moment, then…
A collection of hisses suddenly erupted on the other side of the plaza. A herd of ghouls from the sound of it as the monster reeled its head back and roared, Satsuki and Masha covered their ears as the old world monstrosity leaped into the herd easily slaughtering the ferals, like they were nothing as they feebly scratched and bit at the thing. Soon there was moderate silence as the beast began to feed. Hacking and coughing on the ghoul meat, apparently it didn't like the taste. Swat rested his head on the floor, grumbling quietly as he listened for the Deathclaw.
"Swat." Hissed Satsuki.
"What?…" he mumbled, already regretting what was about to come out of her mouth.
"Raid is fidgeting." She noted, sounding both smug and terrified. Inwardly Swat tried very hard not to yell angrily at the situation as he slowly shifted himself.
"Wow, Swat… is that a baseball bat in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" Casey smiled weakly, shivering on top of him but not in a good way.
"…Jokes when you're nervous?" he whispered as she nodded quickly on his chest. She suddenly froze as he stroked her back, replying calmly. "Don't be nervous." He said, comfortingly. As she took a deep breath and nodded. "Get comfy." He added to the others as the Deathclaw stomped around outside.
"Can't you kill it?" Masha asked, crawling on the floor towards him and apparently holding him in much higher regard than he thought.
"In a perfect scenario, yes." Swat replied, "But the last time I killed a Deathclaw I had a few explosives, about a mile of distance between us, and very good help." he sighed, "I just have one grenade and you two have a couple of pea shooters in comparison." I growled quietly. "…It'll just piss it off." He tried thinking, something anything. Was there a backdoor? Could they make a run for it? Was this place its nest or was it passing through?
"…So we're stuck here?" Satsuki grumbled, rolling over to breathe a little better, crawling into a back room, and sitting up out of sight of the Deathclaw.
"Unless there's a couple of frag mines and grenades hidden in the back, yeah." Satsuki rested her head on her knees and was silent. Raid crawled forward himself, resting his head right next to Swat as the Deathclaw stomped as it moved around.
Swat stroked his best friend's head softly as Casey shifted herself slowly on top of him. He twitched. "…Is that… a sawed-off shotgun or are you hiding something from me?" he asked stone-faced as her eyes widened and she pulled out the sawed-off.
"Oh… right, I forgot about this." She replied and he took it. Checked it, and snapped it shut. As his mind wandered again… he rolled his eyes.
"Okay… I have an… inkling of an idea." He mumbled, his mind rapidly moving as he tried to calculate the risk-reward scenario. Raid whimpered nervously next to him, and he stroked his head comfortingly.
"What is it?" Masha asked, eyes wide as he sighed again.
"Something stupid." He grumbled slowly slipping out from under Casey and getting to a crouch and taking off his duster. Letting the heavy thing crumple to the floor as he eyed the surroundings… there was another building. It was too small for the Deathclaw… but it was on the other side of the plaza and there was a DEATHCLAW in the way. "Okay…" he mumbled. "I'm going to go… piss it off." He mumbled, annoyed at its very words. "When it's trying to kill me, make a run for it." He said, Satsuki looked up in surprise as he held up a finger to deter the argument. "I'm going to trust my luck. Admittedly a little more than I should. If I don't meet you back at the apartment I want you to go with Casey." He said, looking at the girls and Raid, who whimpered. "Go with Casey." He repeated to Raid who whined loudly, resting his head on the floor.
Swat sighed, taking a deep breath as he gripped his sequoia. "Okay…" and he darted out of the storefront towards the opposite building. Regretting it immediately as he waited for his moment, he had to wait. The Deathclaw slowly turned, eyeing him with its deadly eyes… then it roared. It was not happy to see him… but excited at the idea of fresh meat.
Swat closed one eye, raised his sequoia… and fired.
The Deathclaw roared as it instinctively covered its left eye. Stumbling as blood spurted across the ground. Then he moved as the thing swung its massive clawed hands back and forth. Swat dived through the storefront window as the beast crashed against it, barely restrained by the wall as a blood claw groped the floor towards him, knocking aside shelves as easily as swatting bloat flies.
…He chose not to recognize that thought. He pulled out the grenade as the beast roared hungrily and angrily at him. He pulled the pin and threw it just underneath the monster as he dove for cover as it exploded. Inwardly, Swat regretted the action as the shrapnel pierced into it from between his legs, not to mention the ringing in his ears as he pulled out the sawed-off. Aiming down its mouth as it slowly recovered.
He debated for a moment a one-liner. Like, 'Sawed-off!' or, 'Eat this'.
But his ears were still ringing, and honestly, he didn't really care… the creature fell, blood pooling at his feet as he pulled away the smoking gun. He eyed the thing, the back of its head horribly mangled and its body still. He watched it closely, waiting briefly, as its dead eyes stared blankly into nothing. He sighed in utter relief. Mumbled quietly as he checked himself quickly for any injuries that adrenaline might be hiding, found none, and he crawled hesitantly over the dead Deathclaw. But paused at the sight of the large twelve-inch-long claws on its hands. He stared at it for a moment, taking the ring finger of its hand and taking out his combat knife, carved one of the claws off the finger. He eyed the menacing thing, before looking at his combat knife, "…Nothing personal." He said to nobody, but mainly the combat knife.
"Swat!" the girls shouted as they saw him, Masha and Casey threw their arms around him as Raid yipped happily at his heels. Even Satsuki looked happy to see him. Who promptly handed him back his duster as he tossed it on.
"You killed a fucking Deathclaw!" Casey laughed, eyeing the claw in his hand. "What's that for?"
Swat handed Masha his combat knife. Holding the Deathclaw claw in his hand, "These things are razor sharp. Some duct tape and filing down and this thing will cut easier than that knife." He smiled, pointing as he helped a smiling Masha with her new knife belt.
"Seriously? A Deathclaw claw knife?" Casey laughed, "You say the weirdest things Sam."
He rolled his eyes, "Not even close. And it's the truth." He said leading the girls back home, "My mentor has one… well as far as I know, he does like to gamble.."
"Your mentor?" Casey smiled, as Masha took his other side as both of them silently tried to pull the information from him. He sighed again, someday he'll try and shut up… "Come on now. You can't drop a hint like that and not follow up."
"…A close friend of my mother's, a man named One-Eyed Jack." As he said it Raid barked cheerfully, "A former Texas Marshall if you believe him, then he was a… cowboy entertainer? Apparently, he used to travel with some old traveling show pretending to be someone named Wild Bill..." He said as Casey grinned at the very idea. "After my mom died, I went back to see him…" he pulled the sequoia from his belt, "I was a fairly lucky shot, but he made me a damn good one."
"What kind of name is One-Eyed Jack?" Raid barked happily again, as Masha asked with chuckle, but then Casey suddenly frowned. Scratching her chin in thought.
"…An old ghoul? Weird accent?" she covered her right eye with her hand, "One eye?" lifted her left leg and let it wobble around. "Prosthetic left leg? Lives in Novac?"
Swat laughed and shook his head, "Someone's met Jack." Raid barked again.
"The guy's kind of an ass." Casey noted flatly as Masha tried to hold back her laughter and Raid's cheerful skipping, waiting for them to say Jack again it seemed.
"You've definitely met Jack." Swat nodded with a grimace. He stopped walking and seemed to think on it, deep in thought. "…I should drop in. It has been a while since we last saw Jack." Raid barked happily again as Swat scratched his head. "I get it, you want to see Jack, give it a rest." Raid stopped barking grinning happily at Swat as he walked beside him.
"Wow, he must really like this Jack." Masha said, expecting Jack to bark but merely smiled when she didn't.
"Jack hates him." Swat said flatly as Raid suddenly darted ahead. "Says he reminds him of the days he used to have a full head of hair." He whistled as Raid barked and dashed around, "Now. If you don't mind. I'm tired… and I just want to relax for the rest of the day."
Raid soon returned, carrying what looked like a sack of potatoes. Swat sighed, and lifted the back, rubbing Raid's head. "Let's go home."
The evening came and went, Masha and Satsuki playing some sort of board game they had found in the house as the smell of roasted potatoes filled the room. Swat was using an old rock to file down the claw, sharpening the claw to a point before beginning to wrap the end with duct tape, making a grip as Casey watched.
"That's more like a powder ganger shiv than a knife." She noted as he threw the knife hard at the well, watching it sink into it easily as he smiled.
"And yet. Still effective." He said sitting on the couch next to her as they watched the potatoes.
"So." She smiled, leaning on his arm and grinning sweetly at him. "Book." She said, "Spill, what's the title."
"No idea." He added, answering so quickly she was taken aback. He took a deep breath, it had been a while since he spoke about it. With people who listened and could talk back at any rate. "…Really." He added when he saw her skeptical look. "When my mother was a girl. Long before the bombs fell. Her parents would read her this book every night before she went to bed. When she grew up, she would read it every month or so… she knew that book from back to front." He waved his hand, smiling as Casey grinned. "So… when she and Jack found me in the ruins of Detroit with my Raider... parents... beating me senseless…" Casey's grin faded as he said it so casually. "She would… tell me. That story… but she never mentioned a title. It was something to get the poor stupid kid to sleep at night…"
"…Swat." She said apologetically but he shook his head.
"She named me after a character in the book. When she and Jack found me I didn't have a name I was just 'shithead' to my birth parents. But she told me a lot of that story… until I became a teenager." He laughed at the memory, "I was a dick. She stopped calling me by name and started calling me garcon, it means boy in french. She never finished the story again either…" he mumbled. "So… I'm looking for that book." He said, smiling disarmingly at her as she stared at him. "And then I'm going to finish it…" he stood up, walking towards the potatoes as he pulled them from the fire with a fort. "And take it to mom."
She watched him as he passed out the potatoes, "…That's a pretty sad story Swat." She noted, watching him pityingly but he shrugged absently, taking the Claw from the wall and tempering it in the fireplace.
"…Welcome to the wasteland." He replied bitterly, absently scratching Raid's head. "…Come on, before they get cold." They all ate in silence for a moment, then softly. Casey spoke, pulling out a deck of cards.
"…Let's play a game." She said suddenly, "Texas hold-em." She grinned sweetly at Swat as he smiled, taking his new knife from the fire and tossing it back into the wall. "It'll be fun." She smiled, pulling a low table between them as they all played long into the night. Even Raid managed to win a few games...
She was right. It was fun.
End of Chapter.
Just a little world building chapter. A little backstory. and A hint or maybe two of Swat's real name
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein