Fallout: Great White North

[Baloth-Kul]

Rick pulls the pin on the frag grenade, and the lever detaches, falling to the cave floor. An inaudible scream reverberates through the cave, as he dives into Yama. Boom.

"R...i..i..i...i...c...k...R....u...u...u...n".

His dying comrade's plea broke through Rick's thoughts, and he threw the idea of a suicidal last stand aside.

'American'? Rick pulled the pin on the frag grenade as he staggered to his feet, the lever falling to the cave floor. He dared one quick look into Yama's face, the welding visor staring back at him.

1. He turned around. 2. He put a foot forward as he prepared to run. "Vive le Canada!" Rick shouted.

3. The Black Cat tossed the cooked grenade at Yama's feet, and sprinted towards the back of the cave, before diving to the floor.

[Kerr]

Yama roared as Rick ran from him, the grenade landing between his legs. A huge burst of flame chased Rick as he ran and dived through the archway just as the explosive detonated. As expected the shrapnel ruptured the fuel tank and a massive explosion flooded the clearing which once housed a cougar. The section of cave shook as the ceiling collapsed burying the entirety of the ovoid clearing and blocking entrance from both ends.

Rick felt himself land on something surprisingly soft, and gooey. A warm section of lower ghoul leg. Next to it was a 45. Auto Pistol. Clearly remnants of his earlier explosive handwork. This section of cave was rather large, dead ahead was a 15ft drop to a big pool of water which now housed a floating body. Any other raiders in the cave must have retreated following the first explosion with only Yama pressing on.

Rick could see the lower cave entrance from where he was, unlike its upper counterpart this entrance was rather large and as such light flooded the chamber. He could hear shooting coming from outside, Constance and her men had arrived. If Rick was feeling adventurous he could jump into the pool of water and hope it was deep, but the rock leading down to the entrance severed as a natural staircase of sorts which would more than suit his ends.
---
The members of Bravo Team outside the cave heard a massive explosion and the movement of rocks as the section of cave was buried. They all knew Rick and Jan were still inside and Grace knew about the flamer wielding raider.

[Baloth-Kul]

Hidden:

I'm going to presume a bunch, and move along with my post, so if anything interrupts me, feel free to correct me.

"Ughhh..." Rick groaned, as his ears continued to ring. He patted himself down, making sure that he was still whole, with no shrapnel jutting out. Satisfied, he began to pick himself up off the cave floor (and the leg). Remembering that his sidearm was now likely buried under a ton of rock, he picked up the .45, and checked to ensure that it was in working order.

He slowly paced towards the back of the cave, checking over any and all bodies as he went. If any of the Restless Dead were still clinging to life, he would execute them with a shot to the head.

Once he made his way to the drop, he elected to take the rocky staircase, carefully descending into the back of the cave. He kept his eyes fixed towards the exit, as he didn't make it this far just to be shot by a fleeing raider, or one of his own comrades.

[Unionhack]

"Rick!" Luke shouted from his not-very-advantageous vantage. It was clear to him what seemed to have happened, and even if it weren't so, there was no way he would be able to move the rocks to save Rick from any injuries he may have sustained.

Anderson, however, was another matter. Though it had been a while and triage would be difficult even without the threat of a sniper, Luke figured that the reinforcements would give him the best shot. If he waited too long, he doubted Anderson would be able to hold on.

"I'm going to help Anderson!" Luke said to the others, waiting for a reaction before making his move. Perhaps they had seen something that he had not.

[Kerr]

In the Cave.

Rick picked up the pistol and examined it. It appeared to be in working order with 6 bullets left in the clip. There weren't any bodies on his way down towards the entrance of the cave, but once again he could see a body floating face down in middle of the large pool of water. The water of the cave looked rather deep and Rick would have to swim over if he wanted to examine the body. He couldn't see anybody right outside the cave entrance but did see a large field of corn that was at shoulder height dead ahead. Remembering what he'd seen from up above, he knew the camp proper was on the far side of those fields.

Blood was still gushing from Rick's broken nose, he'd done nothing to treat the damage Yama had caused him.
---
Outside The Cave
"He's not moving! Looks like a lotta blood though!" Sophia shouted. She looked out from her cover for a few seconds, no doubt searching for whoever had shot Anderson. As she ducked back in she spoke up once more. "I saw him! Get to Anderson and I'll try to take him out!" Sophia held her rifle in a tight grip.

Hidden:

Here's the map again. Rick is at the lower purple circle, the yellow rectangle is the fields of corn and other crops.

[Baloth-Kul]

Holstering the pistol, Rick pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, trying to assess the damage.

"Oww. [&@%!]." Blood that had accumulated on his lips spattered as he cursed. As if circumstances had suddenly changed, he once again touched his nose. "[&@%!]!" Rick had only ever re-set a nose on one other occasion, and it wasn't even his own. He wasn't about to worsen the bleeding by twisting it around. He considered at least splashing his face with some water from the pool, but the gore accumulating within it dissuaded him.

Rick crept out of the cave, into the light, and looked around for threats or allies.

[Unionhack]

Luke nodded to Sophia and sprinted to Anderson, setting his doctor's bag to the side and beginning the process of treating field trauma.

Hidden:

I'm not, like, a medical professional or anything, but I imagine it involves opening the shirt, inspecting the possible organ damage, stopping the blood flow, and digging the bullet out, etc. This is, of course, assuming he's alive at all.

[Aarah]

Hunkered down up until now, only moving to jump at the sound of the explosion inside the cave, Chris was extremely relieved to hear the sound of the Alpha squad down below.

When Sophia shouted the order, Chris would wait to check that Luke reached Anderson safely and without being targeted, before he would crouch run to join him.

[Kerr]

The bleeding from Rick's nose continued. While he was likely wishing he had a stimpak, he did have a water canteen if he was still interested in washing it. Rick left the cave taking a look around before walking into the shoulder high corn for cover.

Rick didn't see anyone when he left the cave but he could hear gunfire from dead ahead and see the palisade to the south. If he was planning to leave, south would be the way to go, if he wanted to join his comrades in the fight he could continue through the field to the east.
---
Luke and Chris made their way over to Anderson. From a quick examination they could see him lying face down on the ground his head surrounded by a pool of blood. After closer examination they saw he'd been shot in the neck, he was unconscious and in bad condition but he was still alive. Luke bandaged the wound and kept pressure on it, when Chris caught up he injected Anderson with a Stimpak.

"How is he?" Sophia asked.

[Baloth-Kul]

Rick moved slowly through the cornfield, towards his allies. He would hit the dirt if any bullets came his way, but beyond that, he kept quiet. The Black Cat gripped the pistol in his right hand, and with his left, he kept steady some of the stalks of corn he was brushing through.

Cornfields were a great hiding place, but not with the tops of the stalks swaying, as if to say 'Shoot here! Shoot here!'

Hidden:

As opposed to the sign at the Restless Dead's community garden, which reads 'Shoots here! Shoots here!'

[Aarah]

After Chris injected the stimpack, he answered Sophia.
"Not great. They got him in the neck."

As the medication took effect, he leaned closer to the wounded man.
"Anderson? Can you hear me?"

Chris took a quick look around him for safety, his pistol now resting on the ground beside his doctor's bag.

[Unionhack]

Luke continued to keep pressure on the wound. "He's lucky to be alive, for certain. I hope he can stay that way." he added. He still felt quite tense given the current state of affairs, but doctoring had a strange way of calming him down despite the severity of the profession.

[Kerr]

"Good, but you might want to move him. Some of these guys are running north, they might loop around." said Sophia. Her breathing rate showed her stress. "Or you two could get off your asses!" Sophia shouted at Grace and Lester. With that out of the way she returned to covering the lumber mill.

Anderson wasn't responding, it looked like he was still out cold, but the bandaging by Luke was eventually strong enough that he didn't need to hold his hand down on the wound to stall the bleeding. It looked like the bullet went through the front of Anderson's neck and out the left hand side. The stimpak was sure to help with the healing process too.

Despite Sophia's concerns Chris couldn't see any raiders or wild beasts in his immediate vicinity, at least not for now. Sophia fired off a shot and let out a cheer.
---
Rick made his way through the field and got a glimpse out the other end. He saw an individual wearing a suit of T-51b Power Armor and wielding a Bozar commanding the troops next to the southern most cabin and near the two trucks, he was close enough to hear them. He was reminded of the first time he met Rhodes and Constance. A soldier wearing combat armor and wielding a service rifle ran up to his commanding officer.

"Cabins all clear Sergeant, a few fleeing north but it looks like everyone who's left is in that lumber mill. Really caught 'em with their pants down." said the soldier to the figure in Power Armor.

"Sniper's down!" came a shout from inside the cabin. "Bravo squad really came through."

"Alright, everybody we're going get a team into one of these trucks. We're gonna drive it around and smash through their front door, wipe up everything that's left." Constance ordered, her voice was somewhat altered by the Power Armor helmet but Rick could tell it was her. The path from the field he was in to Constance looked to be clear. Alternatively he could try to remain hidden.

Hidden:

Constance and Co. are at the southern most tip of the 4 cabins. It's where the trucks are too, Rick in the fields right next to them.
---

As opposed to the sign at the Restless Dead's community garden, which reads 'Shoots here! Shoots here!'

I should make the Restless Dead inexplicitly keep a land mine in their corn field for that.

[The SheoDovah]

Having followed the others, Grace kept her guard up for any threats. She suspected what would have occured if she fragged the flamer and did not like the confirmation after Rick did so. Though that was an assumption on her part. "We'll provide cover if Luke and Chris can lift him." She told everyone with her revolver raised as she kept an eye out for any signs.

[Baloth-Kul]

Rick holstered the automatic pistol, and walked out of the cornfield with his hands raised, at least until Constance and her men realized he wasn't an enemy combatant.

"...Then let's mount up! Bravo took one casualty, at least one wounded, but I think that's it. Cave entrance on the far side is blocked off." Rick didn't look pleased with his next words, but he at least felt satisfied. "Yama is dead."

Hidden:

Straight back into the fire!

[Aarah]

Chris gave a nod. He certainly didn't want them to be caught off guard by looping ghouls.

"You want to get his shoulders?" He asked Luke.

As he went to grab Anderson's legs, Sophia's shot and cheer made him jump.
"Whoah, gees. What're you trying to do to me?" He muttered breathily.

[Unionhack]

Luke luckily had his hand off of Anderson when he had a start from the gunshot.

He nodded to Chris. "Yeah. Carefully now." he agreed. Moving someone with a deadly injury was a dangerous proposition, but little could be done. Even with the sniper apparently out of the picture, one could never be too careful.

[Kerr]

A duo of soldiers climbed into the back of the truck, one got into the front and took the wheel. "Christ Rick." said Constance, startled by his appearance. She looked at the driver of the truck. "Braus, stimpak!" Constance shouted holding her hand up. Rick recognized the driver, Private Braus, the woman who's brother Harry had killed and the person standing guard outside the armory when he'd fiddled with Major Cooper's Power Armor. Braus obliged by tossing a stimpak to her commander. Constance turned back around and placed it in Rick's hand. "Good to hear, here, sort yourself out. We'll check on Bravo team once we're done. Now, get in the back or join Braus up front." Constance said in an authoritative tone. "We're moving out!" She was brief and to the point. Constance left Rick and climbed into the back of the truck.
---
"Head to the slope!" Sophia shouted at Grace, making motions with her hand in a northerly direction.

Chris and Luke carried their patient over to the treeline, they placed him down behind a bush. While it wasn't perfect cover, at least they were no longer out in the open. Just after they placed him down, Anderson opened his eyes. The ghoul unleashed a gurgly cough and seemed to be extremely distressed, his eyes dashing about quickly likely trying to figure out where he was and what was going on.

[Unionhack]

Luke slowly raised a finger to his lips and made a soft 'ssshhhh' noise before explaining the situation to the ghoul, using the same finger to catch Anderson's eyesight to draw it to Luke's own gaze; to keep him steady and focused, if nothing else.

"Easy there, Anderson. We just patched you up a moment ago; you took a nasty shot to the neck. It'd be best if you didn't talk or exert yourself for now. You're going to make it just fine, but again, you need to take it easy."

[Baloth-Kul]

Rick carefully injected himself in the arm with the stimpak, and discarded it (once empty) with decidedly less care. He hastily opened his water canteen, poured some into his hand, and washed some of the blood off his face. Screwing the cap back onto the canteen, he clambered into the back of the truck.

"Any .45 clips or a spare sidearm? Most of my arms are back with Bravo." Rick checked over the .45 auto pistol again. 1 in the chamber, 5 in the clip. He also patted himself down, and ensured that his remaining grenades were still secured on his person.

[Kerr]

Rick's grenades were still there, as were his knives. The two soldiers in the back of the vehicle shook their heads. One was carrying a Service Rifle, the other a 9mm SMG. The vehicle took off heading quickly toward the lumber mill.

"Only clip is the one in it." said Constance tapping the holster on her waist which contained a .45 Auto Pistol. "You desperate? Can have it if you are but, I don't wanna be caught without a side arm using this thing." Constance held up the Bozar.

Hidden:

I'm waiting just a little longer before making a post on your end Union, want to see if TSD or Aarah will post.

[Aarah]

While Luke spoke to Anderson, Chris stood beside the bush and kept watch around the trees.
He had his pistol held again; although feeling calmer, he still feared a surprise attack could occur at any moment.

"What's the plan now?" He said to Sophia and Grace.
"Are you going to check the cave to look for Rick and Jan?"

[Baloth-Kul]

Rick shook his head. "I'll manage." He wasn't about to put Constance at risk--even as well equipped as she was--just to cover his own ass. He kept one hand on his pistol, and the other on the edge of the seat to brace himself for the impending crash. He also hunched over, to try to avoid being shot if a hail of gunfire tore through the canopy.

[The SheoDovah]

Grace keep her ears and eyes open as she escorted them and continued to maintain constant vigiliance. "He can handle himself and he has the will to do anything he pleases." She looked at the cave. "And this may sound cold but if he is wounded, it would be a death sentence to attempt to get him out." She gripped her revolver. "I've seen it happen and have had it happen. Raiders seperate a group, use a wounded survivor to lure them out and wipe out the rest via overwhelming firepower." She looked at Chris and Luke. "If he isn't wounded and he seems to be a wanted man, it would give him the perfect chance to fake his death or give him more then enough time to get away before anyone can verify his body." She didn't like how quiet it seemed. "But it's a bit too quiet for my liking and you best be on your guard. They could be sneaking up on us as we speak or planning a nasty surprise."

[Kerr]

The truck smashed through the front doors of the lumber mill, Rick was able to keep steady on his seat. The vehicle screeched to a halt after a couple of meters. Looking out the back of the truck Rick could see the front doors which had been busted open, support beams and the doorway to the stairs which led to the upper level.

"Head upstairs, I'll handle things down here!" Constance shouted as she jumped out of the truck. Constance started walking toward the front of the truck and opened fire. The soldier with the service rifle went to join her. However the man with the 9mm sub machine gun ran away from the truck, heading for the doorway which headed to the stairs which would bring him to the upper level.
---
"You call this quiet?" Sophia asked. A rifle shot from the north hit off the rock Sophia was hiding behind. Sophia crawled around the rock to take cover on the southern side. Nobody had seen the shooter but presumably they were in the woods to the north.

For Rick and Chris the gunshot was louder, they could tell it was nearby and to the north, but they also didn't see the shooter.

Hidden:

Oh boy, Grace is all heart isn't she? I mean, that's pretty cold.