บท 194: Nailed

The group stayed hidden in the tunnel as they watched the slowly dimming sun rays coming from the manhole. No one knew if the Fiends would be aware of what'd been happening in the sewers, nor if any more would be coming down. As such they simply held the position until they had an opportunity to leave.

Fortunately, the Fiends didn't seem to have a patrol system, or indeed any other routine that one would consider vaguely organised. Afton wondered how the Fiends hadn't simply collapsed in on themselves after seeing how they generally operated... There were only so many crazy drugged up hooligans you could have in one place without it deteriorating into a shoot-out.

Regardless, night soon came and Afton snuck up the shaft and lifted the manhole cover to take a look around. He found himself in the middle of the street surrounded by desolate and ruined buildings. What once was a large prosperous city had devolved into this mad-max like situation.

He shakes the memories of the movie from his head and observes the surroundings for any Fiends. He didn't know how active they would be during the night, but judging by what he'd seen so far he guessed that a significant portion of their forces would be active now.

He could hear small voices off in various directions, but none of them seemed close enough to be immediate threats. He looks for a good, well-hidden spot where the group could go to take a gander at where they were. His Pipboy's map was rather skewed due to them being underground for a good amount of time. Though, after giving it a moment, he was apparently slightly south of the Fiends main base of operations. Vault 3.

Strangely enough, wasn't Vault 3 the place where his own Pipboy had come from? The Fiends taking it over would've been a good reason for the original vault resident to try to escape, eventually leading to Afton acquiring the device. Shaking his head, he refocuses on the task ahead and gestures down at Karl before silently climbing out of the sewer shaft.

The group clambers out of the shaft and places the manhole back into position before heading to a nearby building Afton had spotted. It wasn't inhabited and the stairs looked relatively intact, allowing them to get a better vantage point over the area.

It was good that they'd decided the more subtle way of entering the area as the whole place was infested with Fiends. They were like rats, and Afton had no idea how so many had accumulated here... Perhaps people who'd spent all their caps in New Vegas decided to join the Fiends as a way of getting back at them? Or perhaps most people addicted to chems eventually found their way into the Fiends arms.

Regardless of the reason, the group was currently surrounded by hundreds of them, currently most seemed to be slowly making their way towards camp McCarren. It wasn't surprising as Boone had said that the Fiends would occasionally come by and take potshots at the base, it wasn't an assault, simply the Fiends trying to start trouble.

The group could use this rather pointless aggression though, it would be relatively easy to sneak through as they'd already know where most Fiends were heading, making potential routes fairly easy to plan out.

There was one problem though, the group were still unsure of where Violet currently was. Sure, the NCR reported that she was usually holed up in some Trailer Fort, but that wouldn't always be the case.

No, they'd probably need to kidnap a Fiend and interrogate them. Fortunately, both Karl and Afton had the skills to pull this off fairly successfully. A group of Fiends walked by the building they were currently in, but one seems to have been left behind... The reason for this? They were horribly drunk, stumbling over themselves and barely able to hold their own weapon.

"Target acquired" Afton muttered to himself as Karl gave him a similar look. Boone was left on the second floor to keep watch while the duo snuck through the first-floor ruins to wait for the drunk Fiend to pass.

Once he was within arms distance Afton kicked the man's pistol away and grabbed his mouth to prevent him screaming. Karl assisted and secured the man's arms as they pulled him into the ruined building.

They squirmed to try and escape, but didn't seem to be putting up much of a fight... Either this had happened to the man before or his drunken state didn't allow him to recognise the mortal peril he was currently in.

The duo dragged the man up the stairs and dumped him on the floor, Afton staying close enough to prevent the man from screaming should he try.

"W-What in fu-ghk" he wretches slightly as if he's about to vomit, but swallows whatever had erupted from his stomach, causing Afton to give them a disgusted look.

"Tell us where Violet is." Karl states in a low tone, threatening enough to get the point across but not loud enough to draw attention towards their position.

"M-marko? This another fuckin' prank? I'll b-beat your ass tomorrow!" he says, apparently confusing Karl with someone else. Afton just shakes his head, the man had gotten slightly too loud for his liking, and he'd need to force the fear of god into him so he'd start being more 'negotiable'.

Getting Karl to hold the man's mouth, Afton slipped his knife in-between their fingernails. Once it was firmly dug under the nails and into flesh, he brutally twisted it, tearing the nails off.

The man's eye's opened wide as he gave a mumbled scream, Karl making sure nothing too loud would escape.

They gave the man a couple moments to compose himself before letting him speak again. "Where is Violet?" Afton asks while giving the most sadistic grin he could manage.

"V-violet?" the man muttered, but Afton took this as a negative answer, having Karl hold his seal his mouth again while he went to work... Unfortunately for the drunkard, the night was still young, and he was currently in care of someone who didn't seem to be aware of how brutal they'd become.