Letting go of Old Tales (Fallout: New Vegas X Undertale)[Unfinished]

[Blitzkreug]

So this is the disclaimer. Been feeling a bit nostalgic so I've been going through my old google drive and actually proofreading/editing old stories.

This here is an idea I worked on with my co-writer. Second person pov, you're Chara sharing a body with Frisk who somehow ended up, in the middle of a half geno run in the underground, woke up in the Sierra Madre. We only got 2 and a half chapters in before various issues caused us to drop it. Original idea was experiencing the world of fallout through some traumatized kiddo's eyes, explore, expand New Vegas to fit its concept art of a proper city instead of 3 streets of 3 casinos. Our favorite bit was when 'you' were going to eventually meet Joshua in Dead Hearts and argue about god, faith, what it means to be a demon, redemption and so on.

No plans to continue it.

 

[Blitzkreug]

You sat on the balcony, overlooking the fountain plaza, eating some Salisbury Steak that you got from a vending machine, thinking. You've been stuck here, the Sierra Madre going by all the signs, for a week now. Or several months, depending on how you counted it, but you tended to not bother trying to count it that way. Things get depressing if you do, and it gets ever so easy to lose track.

Anyways, you've been here for a week now, the longest time yet, so you are currently just enjoying your steak, thinking about Life, The Universe, and Everything. You had little idea how to leave; this place was on top of a surprisingly treacherous mountain surrounded by a harsh, unforgiving desert with no roads or signs of life for days worth of walking around. Not helping matters was the thick dark red fog that even now is trying to melt your lungs and made it nigh-impossible to see anything. But you learned to ignore that. You had found many things in your time here, and to celebrate surviving so long, you are taking a break, thinking about what you should try next, where to explore, how in the world you got here, and so on.

You were distracted from your steak and ponderings when you heard the distinct rattling of metal. Not the rasping of the zombies in hazmat suits, not the timely cling of a spear hitting the ground like a cane that they used so often, or the silent padding of them trying to hunt you. No, it was chains and heavy thudding footsteps, almost the opposite of those zombies. You laid down by the edge of the balcony as the thudding came closer, and the rattling was louder and louder, peering your head barely over the edge.

Until finally, you saw the thing making the noise, a giant blue monster that reminded you of the Hulk, full of bulging muscles and rippling tissue. Yet covered in scars, a chain wrapped around his neck and clanging with every step he made, a bear-trap shut tight on his right arm, completely hairless. What bits of his skin that wasn't covered in metal or ripped cloth, was covered in scars and scratches. Hunched over and dragging a dark-skinned man behind him, face limply rubbing against the red-colored bricks of the Sierra Madre.

The dark-skinned man was wearing a white jumpsuit with a giant red X on his back and a metal collar on his neck. After a few moments, you also noticed the… thing on his arm, like a giant oversized watch that was bigger than his hand. And as you strained your ears, you could hear someone talking, an old and raspy voice. "-ow beast, when you put the man at the fountain, I want you to head into Puesta Del Sol and grab my Holorifle, do you understand?"

Then the blue Monster responded, making you wonder where the other person was because the dragged man obviously was not the one talking. For the Monster spoke with a gravelly eager voice, "Yes Master, Dog will listen. Dog missed Master." It was a few more seconds until the Monster reached the fountain and tossed the man to the fountain, him rolling a few times limply across the ground before landing at the feet of the holographic lady standing in the center of the fountain.

The old man yelled from an unseen place as 'Dog' did that, "Stupid beast! Be careful with him! I can't have him dying on me already!"

And Dog visibly wilted at that, cringing like it was afraid of being hit. "Yes Master, Dog is sorry Master, Dog won't do it again. Dog will get Master's rifle." You silently watched as the scarred blue hulk of a beast ran off to do as told, afraid of some old man. Leaving you curious as to what and who the old man was. And what the collar was.

Since the blue hulk was gone, you carefully slide off the balcony ledge to the lower floor and slowly walk over to the guy.

"Hmm, alive." You quietly note, seeing the rise and fall of his chest. You slowly approach closer to see if he has anything on him of interest.

Only to have the old man yelling again and making you jump back in surprise as it sounded like he was right there. "Get back from him, you brat! Or I'll blow you to pieces!"

"Yeah? And who the heck are you!?" You yell back, looking around while your cheeks flush with embarrassment at being shocked so easily.

"Who I am matters not child, nor does it matter who you are. What matters is you get any closer to this man, and I'll set off the bomb I have on him." The old man practically hissed.

"You probably shouldn't be such a scumbag since nothing is stopping me from simply shooting this guy from a distance. You sound like you really want him alive." You retort angrily, having realized that the sound is coming from the thing on that guy's wrist.

"He is expendable, just as the beast is expendable. You don't scare me." He growled. "Just as you can shoot him from a distance, I can disintegrate you. Do you think I can't see you?"

"He can't be that expendable if you are willing to waste a bomb on me and threaten me so much to make me stay away. If you really think he's expendable, then you'd have no problem with me expending him right here!" You retort angrily, pulling out your pistol meaningfully. Frisk is trying to calm you down, but you aren't going to let this fucker talk to you like this.

The old man remained silently for a few seconds before he slowly explained, enunciating each syllable. "Because child. I don't feel like waiting another month for another recruit. But if you want to replace him. I can have the beast put a collar on your neck instead." He threatened again.

"There, now you are being civil and not an ass-hat. So what the heck do you need him for anyways?" You say curiously. "If it's to get out if this trash heap, I might be willing to help."

Again he remained silent for several seconds, seemingly thinking. Then he explained. "You see that large building behind the fountain child? That's the Sierra Madre, a building frozen in time from before the Great War. Inside is technology, money, weapons, everything anyone can want. Bringing hundreds of people, including yourself here. Wh-"

You interrupt him, "I did not come here for any of that stuff. I have no idea why I'm here, just woke up here one day. And I'd very much like to leave, but the mountains outside prove to be surprisingly treacherous."

"Then you are of no use to me. You are being a hindrance to my plans though; prove to keep being one, and I'll have you removed like the other denizens of the Sierra Madre. That collar on his neck is a bomb. That bomb is more than enough to kill you if not by the explosion, then the shrapnel will."

"So you were just talking out of your butt earlier about having me replace him? Damn, was hoping to finally have something to do in this garbage heap." You were quiet for a moment in frustration; before you focus on something else he said, "And what do you mean you removed the other denizens? The zombies are still everywhere! I keep killing them, but more keep coming out of nowhere!"

He seemed to laugh. "You have to do more than shoot them or stab them. They're resilient tough. Every time you knock them down, they will get back up. To actually kill them, you need to-"

Again you interrupt him. "Yeah yeah, I know. They only die if you cut them into pieces. Damned annoying, makes regular stabs pretty much useless except to stun them. Have to do a lot of hacking. Makes my arm sore sometimes." You say, rubbing your arm in remembrance of all of the stupid cramps it got after you had to hack apart a dozen of so of the zombies.

You could hear a gentle thinking hum from the wrist-mounted device as the old man seemed to think once more. "You're actually able to kill some of them? Then you may be of some use after all. You want to leave this mountain child? Escape the Sierra Madre? Help me and this man break into the Sierra Madre, then I will show you the way off of the mountain." He offered to you.

"So you weren't talking out your butt. Sure. This place sucks, so many stupid mines and traps and zombies, not to mention this stupid fog. The only upside is all of the cheap food." You reply as you wander over to a wall to lean against.

"Then protect the man until he awakes. The Ghosts, holograms, should scare the Ghost People away, but one can never be too sure with those things."

"I guess the Ghost People are the zombies? Why the heck do you call them Ghost People when you have another thing you call Ghosts? Just call them Zombies."

"They're the remnants of the workers who built this city, trapped forever in those hazmat suits of theirs, mutated into beasts worse than Ghouls. They're the ghosts of the old world made flesh, and there's hundreds of them, compared to the silent holograms that dot the Sierra Madre." He explained.

"You know what Ghosts made flesh are called? Zombies. Old forgotten people rising again due to some unknown malevolent force, lacking mental capacity and any sensation of pain, wanting only to murder the Living. Zombies." You retort with perfect logic. Seriously, Ghost People is just dumb.

"You can argue with the skeletons of the others who called them Ghostpeople. Or perhaps that old ghoul in the residential district. I don't care child."

"What, there's a Ghoul in there? Never saw anything except Zombies and all those traps. Did he put up those traps? If he did, I'm going to stab him. Those are such a pain to work around."

"Don't!" He snapped at you, causing you to jump a little. "That ghoul is another recruit with his own collar. Him, a mute woman in the Medical District and that dumb beast are all people needed to get into the Sierra Madre. One dies, they all die."

"... Then why the heck did you say this guy was expendable? You'd lose all your people." You ask in bafflement.

"The curse to this city is more than the beasts prowling the streets or the Cloud slowly poisoning everyone and everything. It's greed. Those before you thought they could escape. But over time they instead stared at the Sierra Madre, thinking of how they could take everything for themselves. Some left gifts to help others trapped in this city of the damned. Others made traps before those gifts, killing those who desperately needed help, or themselves cutting off the only help they could have received. Ironic at times.

"To rectify that, I've come up with a singular solution. Try to kill the others; take it all for yourself? You'll end yourself. And what greater greed is there than for one's own life? You though, how am I supposed to guess at what a child is in the Sierra Madre for? The closest settlement being weeks away, the only thing attracting others here being their greed. I can't risk you ruining my plans, one way or another." He said with faint pride shining in his voice.

"You don't have to worry about me. What I mainly want is out of here; stabbing the asshole who got me blown up a dozen times would just be a nice side benefit. Do you need him afterwards?" You try to make it a point to kill everyone who has killed you before. Eye for an Eye and what not, every life of yours they took you take one of theirs. It's the closest thing to fair you can get in this stupid world.

You could hear the faintest of chuckles from the wrist-mounted device. "No, no as soon as we finish this, you're all more than welcome to treat each other however you want."

"Good." You reply simply. And the quiet static that accompanied his voice shut off. Presumably, meaning the old man was done talking to you.
So you waited a bit. And waited. And waited. And got bored. You paced around the fountain some, but you've been here so many times that there was absolutely nothing new to look at anywhere. Attempts to poke the sleeping guy were warded off by the old man telling you to stay back, but apparently, while he CAN see you, he can't see you very well, judging by the fact that he didn't say anything about you tossing gravel at him. You managed to get a good covering of rocks on him before you heard the heavy thudding and clanking metal from Dog returning. You placed yourself by the door of a building with a fair few traps in it if he decided to come at you. You knew where they all were, but his lumbering frame wouldn't be able to get around them in a hurry.

And as he came back and you were ground level with him, you could see far more clearly the scar tissue covering his body, most notably of which was his name carved into his chest. DOG in all capital, very old scars.Then you noticed the large gun he was carrying and small bag alongside it. Silently you watched him put the gun and bag down, a few things spilling out of it as he did so. Then he turned towards you, cocking his head, with a small smile. "Who are you? You're not Master." He said very matter of factly.

"No I'm not." You said as his smile grew wider, teeth almost shining as he looked at you. "I'm here to help him do… whatever it is he's doing. Hey, Old Man! What ARE we doing now that Dog is back?"

The radio on the man's wrist crackled as Dog took a step towards you. "You're not allowed to eat them dumb beast!" Dog visibly cowered away from you as the old man yelled at him. "Go eat one of the ghost people if you must."

"Yes Master, Dog is sorry Master." Dog said pathetically as he scrambled away towards the police station as the old man sighed.

"As useful as the reject is, he is almost more trouble than he is worth sometimes." He muttered before seeming to return his attention to you. "If you must call me something, then call me Elijah. As for what you are doing now is waiting for that man to wake up and for Dog to eat and not be idiotic. The ghoul has survived two-hundred years by himself he can survive a few more hours, the other hasn't moved in days but is still alive so no worry there either." He explained. Sort of.

"Why wait for him to wake up? I could wake him up right now." You ask, getting very bored with waiting and doing nothing. Wanting something to do was half the reason you agreed to help him after all.

"Because." He emphasized. "He's not asleep; the chemicals I used to knock him out take time to dissipate. Slapping him repeatedly will sooner cause brain damage than wake him up."

"Well damn. Can't I just go ahead and do whatever needs to be done while he's unconscious? No need to waste time if there's a chance to use it constructively."

"No, because I need him awake child." He said in an annoyed voice. "It shouldn't take him long to awaken, so just occupy yourself."

"... Fine." You grumble, entirely unhappy about having to wait. After waiting forever, you get an idea. Slapping him awake might not do anything, but you heard that if you cover someone's face with cloth before throwing water on them, that proves VERY effective at disturbing, and presumably waking, people.

Plan made, you went to collect a shirt that was left lying around that you didn't turn into a token yet, and got a bucket which you filled with bucket water. As you were lugging the bucket, you realized you probably should have filled it with the fountain the man is beside, rather than one of the others, but oh well. Since Elijah keeps yelling at you whenever you get close to the guy but apparently can't tell when you are throwing stuff at him, you tossed the shirt on the guy's head from a distance and was prepared to heave the water when the guy started stirring. "Huh, he's finally waking up. Darn."

He finally started groaning as a bolt of thunder rang around you before he started coughing like he was choking, flinging the shirt off his face as he bolted up into a sitting position. Several moments passed as the man became adjusted to the Sierra Madre's air and he finally stood up, clutching at his throat. Then the hologram of the woman in the fountain flickered twice before disappearing,a painting-like image replacing her. It constantly shifted and flickered, but you could easily make out what it was.

A old, old man, head creased with wrinkles and age, misshapen hair that looked like he hadn't showered in months, a scraggly beard covering his face and a high collar of some uniform he was wearing. And then the old man's voice echoed both from the man's wrist and from seemingly all around. "Are you listening? Good. From now on, when I talk, you will listen," He hissed as he said listened, starting to sound a bit insane, "and follow my instructions. Play stupid, play clever, ever make the mistake of saying no? That collar on your neck'll go off and your head with it." He hissed again as the collared man slowly raised a hand to said collar.

"You know, I get having to threaten people to make them do stuff, but you don't have to be a butthead about it. It just makes-"

"Quiet brat!" He snapped at you as the collared man half-turned to look at you, confusion and fear evident in his eyes. And you could see his face, two white round scars evident on his forehead. Down the right side of his neck, you could see another single long scar running down his neck and disappearing under his shirt collar. Along with a grizzled face and rough facial hair, you pinned him as some fighter. But you paid more attention to Elijah.

"-them more likely to do shit." You finish loudly, ignoring his order. You were about to continue when the ground next to you exploded, rocks and bricks launching into your legs with white-hot pain. You were already bolting however, pushing through the pain with practiced ease, to the inside of a house. The bolt that exploded the ground came from the large tower, so that's where the fucker was watching you from, and you don't want to give him an easy shot. "Fuck! Do you WANT me to screw you over, dude! As I was GOING TO SAY, SPITE makes people do SHIT!"

The Old man had seemingly ignored you as he was continuing with some rambling as the collared man dove behind the fountain, holding the gun that Dog had brought and loading it with those cells. Well, fuck that. You pull out your gun, and shoot at the guy. You miss because you didn't even bother to try to aim, but you don't really care. He took note of your presence as you shot at him and with a curse, rolled over the edge of the fountain, into it, rusty water splashing as he hid from you, you ducking back down as well. "HEY! DO YOU WANT ME TO SCREW YOU OVER!? IT'D BE FREAKING EASY, I KNOW WHERE ALL THE TRAPS AND STUFF ARE, AND YOU NEED HIM ALIVE!"

"What the fuck!" You could hear a new voice yell, which coming from the fountain, you attributed to collar guy.

"Ignore the impertinent brat; they're of no consequence." Oh no he didn't.

"I'M OF GREAT CONSEQUENCE! COLLAR DUDE, LISTEN! THIS GUY IS THE ONE WHO KIDNAPPED YOU, HE ALSO KIDNAPPED TWO OTHER PEOPLE! HE'S A FUCK-NUGGET, AND MADE IT SO IF ANY OF YOU DIE, ALL OF YOU DIE!" There was a gunshot noise hitting somewhere outside, but you kept going while ducking down further. "HE WANTS TO USE YOU TO GET ALL THE MONEY AND TECH IN HIS PLACE FOR HIMSELF! AND SINCE HE'S OBVIOUSLY PSYCHOTIC, YOU SHOULD SHOOT HIM THE FIRST CHANCE YOU GET!"

"You should leave. Now. That screaming child is going to attract the ghost-people soon. Look at your pip-boy; your first task is to go to the police station, I've marked it on your map. I will explain more later. Now get moving before that collar of yours explodes!" The old man echoed across the fountain.

"OH, LIKE IT'D BE SO HARD TO FOLLOW HIM! I KNOW THIS PLACE INSIDE AND OUT! HECK, IF I WANT TO SCREW YOU OVER, I DON'T EVEN NEED TO MESS WITH HIM! ONE OF THEM DIES, THEY ALL DIE! SHOULD I GO FIND ONE OF YOUR OTHER LACKIES!? IGNORING ME AIN'T HELPING YOU NONE!" You yell as you move across the building. You know, a quick, though slightly roundabout, way to the police station that you can take that won't take you in sight of the big center building.

You go through various windows holes in walls and jump over an alleyway to a neighboring balcony before climbing in a window of the second floor of the police building. Along the way, you could hear the distinct report of gunshots exploding and echoing all around you. You weren't sure if it was from the old man on some rooftop or from that new guy, just that it was somewhere close. But more importantly, as you ran towards the police station, you could hear the bells and alarms of the police station screaming.

Someone had turned on the sirens, and it was going to attract a swarm of the zombies. But. You were far more interested in screwing over that stupid old man. So covering your ears, you resumed your sprint over to the police station.

After a minute of running, you finally climbed in the window of the second floor of the police building, not even inside for more than a dozen seconds before the front door below you was kicked open. You weren't sure if it was him until you flinched at the bang of his gun, followed by the groaning of those zombies. Followed by the screech of metal, you yelled down at him through one of the many holes in the floor, "Hey! You might want to be careful! You don't know where all the mines and other traps are!"

"I'm fine!" He yelled hoarsely in response as you heard more screeching follow his words. That in itself was accompanied by the distinct sound of ghost-people trying to bash the front metal door down. Their metal spears smashing against it, bear-trap fists scratching against the surface. The alarm was probably attracting them. Or maybe he was the one that was too gun-happy getting here.

"Try saying that when your leg is blown off! Sure is too bad that Elijah couldn't stand some criticism! Maybe if he just apologized, I'd be willing to help again!" You shout, figuring that since Elijah was speaking from that guy's giant watch, he could probably hear through that too.

There wasn't a response for almost half a minute, leaving just the rush of blood in your ears, the siren of the station and the banging of the ghostpeople zombie things. Until finally, he yelled back, "Elijah, the old man?"

"Yeah, the jackass! First, he said he wanted my help, then he tries to blow me up at the slightest criticism!"

Again he was silent for a half-minute. All the while the banging from the Ghost-people just got louder and louder. You idly wondered how long it'd take for one of them to show up with their bombs. "Maybe don't sass the man who thinks putting explosive collars on people is a great idea?" He offered after his quiet half-minute.

"If he can't stand a little sass, then he's gonna die! Of old-age from all his recruits dying if nothing else! He deserves it!" You return.

"What makes you think he'd live just because I do?!" He yelled.

"How would you do anything about it!? He's got a Bomb Collar on you!" You shout back. But he doesn't say anything, and given the continued banging at the door, he must have gone downstairs to the basement. Darn. Nothing to it but waiting. And after several more minutes, he still doesn't say anything, you wonder…

That thought was quickly proven wrong as you heard the loud crack of gunfire, much louder than your pistol and that sniper the old man used. Much, much closer than that too. Immediately following it was a dozen more, sending you to the ground for cover before you figured out it was below you, centered at the room just a door over. Sprinting over, you could see the wooden floor ripped open, bullet holes riddled through it. "Dog!" You could hear him yell. "Rip that hole open to get through!"

"Yes, Master!" And sure enough, you could see those massive blue hands coming through the floor, gripping the wood boards. Crunching and tearing at the floor, the hole just enough for a hand quickly turned into a hole that you could climb through with ease. And it just kept growing as the hands clawed away at it. Not even twenty seconds and the hole was big enough that Dog started to climb through.

You made sure to position yourself on the other side of some mines, so if they came charging at you, they'd get blown up, while also giving you a path out to run WHILE they were getting blown up. You don't exactly want to get blown up with them. Once Dog was through the hole you could watch as a massive rifle was poked through, easily two feet taller than you. And then the collared man clambered through, the white suit with red X gone now. Instead, he was wearing that Sierra Madre Riot armor you found a while ago. Yellow undersuit with large paddings of armor covering the chest down to the groin, knee pads, boots and shoulderpads. His face was hidden behind the helmet with a glazed silver visor, but you could see how it didn't quite fit on all the way because of that collar he was wearing.

"Greetings. You might want to watch your step as you're going around." You say calmly, gesturing towards the mines in front of you. "Unless Elijah feels like adm--"

He interrupted you as he pressed a button on his giant wristwatch thing. And a new voice appeared, growling and authoritative, very much not the old man. "Dog, back in the cage." And Dog whimpered as he seemed to double over, clutching at his head, skin and scar tissue going bone-white. Dog kept whimpering for several seconds before his hands relaxed and he stood up to his full height, a foot or two taller than you thought earlier. And the voice that came from the man's watch, came from Dog's throat. "Human." He growled at the man. "I should break every bone in your body." He seemingly warned.

"I was talking?" You interject before they can say more, Dog looking at you with interest and the man digging through a cloth bag strapped over his shoulder. "Is everyone extremely rude in this god-forsaken place?"

"How about we argue," The man said behind his visor, the wooden shotgun on his back coming into view as he half-turned, resting the rifle on a couch so he could put something in it. "After we're not all about to die?" He said, pulling back a lever until the rifle clicked. "I get you want to kill me God, you don't like people. I get you," He said, looking to you now. "Seem to think I give a damn how you feel about Elijah. We-" You interrupted as he slung the rifle over his back, replacing it with the shotgun.

"Not really. I'm talking to you because I'm rather certain that Elijah is listening." You correct, gesturing towards his wrist thing.

"Yeah, talk on the way or don't. Not interested in being stabbed to death." He stated plainly. Just as the building shook, a large boom sounding right from where the front door was and covering you all in a brand new layer of dust from the rotting ceilings. That would be the ghostpeople's bombs. A collection of fire extinguishers, gas cans, actual bombs, really anything that was remotely explosive in this red hellhole. "Or that apparently." He added.

As he began moving off, you said loudly, "You are just as likely to die rushing as you are to those things."

"The child is right; you need to watch your step." Dog…? Said, stepping in front of him. "I can't have you dying on me before I kill the old man." He continued, walking into the other room, the floor somehow managing not to creak under his weight.

"Now, if only there was someone around who knew where the traps were." You say, as you personally turn around and walk off. If they don't catch the hint, oh well. Them dying screws over Elijah.

"Kid, either help out or not. Strength in numbers only works if people try to work together. Your semi-hostiley indicating you can help doesn't make me think you're of help." He said floors creaking under him as he eyed the mines you left behind you.

"Whatever losers, stay behind. If you feel like getting a move on though, you can get around those mines by going to your left." You shout over your shoulders as you reach the window, which you hop through to an opposite balcony.

You paused in the balcony to see if they would follow. Sure enough, they appeared behind you, Dog leading the way and the dude, gonna call him Collar, close behind with his long rifle pointed at the floor as he kept glancing around. You watched as they neared the window, Dog taking a moment to inspect the actual window itself, followed by looking at you with a half-sneer. You watched, mildly surprised, as he fit his massive frame through the window, twisting his chest through and using his foot to launch himself to the balcony beside you. He didn't even touch the window frame itself, hands or brushing against it. Collar was less spectacular as he threw both of his rifles across before tucking his bag to his chest as he jumped on through after. Pleased that they are finally giving you the time of day, you turned back ahead and led the way to a location you learned from extensive experience is safe. No zombies or poisonous clouds or anything. Said place just so happened to be in someone's bedroom, so that made it a convenient place to sleep when you had to too.

After a few minutes of hopping through windows, across roofs, and avoiding the poisonous clouds and you arrived. "Alright, unless you blow something up, the Zombies never come around here." You tell them as you all arrive.

Dog sniffed the air as Collar dropped his rifles on the floor and slid against the wall. "It's clean in here." Dog stated, stalking over to the intact windows and peering outside.

"Thank goodness." Collar replied in a huff, pulling his mask off and dumping his pack out on the ground, bullets, glass bottles, needles, cans, frigging four grenades, scotch according to labels on the bottles and an assortment of random junk. "A moment to breathe while the air isn't fire." He sat against the wall and drew a hand against his head, brushing off some sweat.

"So, is that Old Fart able to hear us somehow? He was talking through your oversized watch." You ask, wanting to know how much you can plan with these two.

Dog whipped his head around to stare at the watch with a growl as Collar lifted it up and wiggled it. "Pipboy. And yes, he can hear through it and talk through it," He said, looking to Dog, who narrowed his eyes at him. "So barring us being underground, behind a shit-ton of walls, or near that police station, assume he's listening and able to hear." He explained, dumping the ammunition out of their boxes and counting them one at a time.

You watched in silence as he spent a half minute counting through ammo, before eventually speaking up. "You there old man?" Eyeing his watch, he paused in his loading of ammo into the bigger of the two rifles. Another half-minute of silence before he shrugged. "Well we are kind of in a corner of the villa, maybe this isn't connecting." He fiddled with it, changing a knob until it started to play static. "Huh, deadzone. Lucky us."

Dog growled. "But at any other time, the old man will order us around, use us as his tools." Collar nodded as Dog stalked up in front of him, looking down at him. "So give me a reason to not break his new tool."

"Could just take it off and leave it behind. That way, he can't hear us or talk to us." You chime in. While you are hardly opposed to murder anymore, it'd be easier to work with them to get at Elijah.

Collar looked at you from around Dog's frame. "Need it to track the other members of our 'gang' down. With how dangerous it is here, I don't feel comfortable with the fact they can die at any time, and my collar goes boom with it." He stated. "Plus map, rad counter, VATS, too much shit for me to throw it away." Looking back at Dog he continued, "And the old man needs me, needs the pipboy for his plan. Actually needs it. Meaning we are going to meet him one way or another God." He finished, slamming the magazine back into the rifle and pulling back a lever again.

Dog, who might actually be God, but you were pretty sure you heard him be called Dog quite often, especially since it was written on his chest, growled and stalked back over to the window muttering, "You had better be right."

Collar went back to counting his objects, grenades in a pile and ammunition in another. "So kid, why are you here?" He asked, eyeing you. "No collar on you."

You shrugged. "Woke up here a while ago. Didn't die and couldn't leave. Saw Dog drag you in, investigated, Elijah said he could get me out if I helped you and him, you know the rest."

He grunted as he had seemingly finished his counting. Because he had begun putting his things back in his bag, grenades going to pocket and a bottle of scotch being drunk down before he capped it. "And you're helping me now because?" He asked, pulling his helmet back on and slinging the rifle back over his back, the other rifle not from the fountain held in his hands.

"Because I hope that you will get me in a situation where I can stab that fucker." You replied simply. "Far more effective way of screwing him over than simply killing you."

"Lovely." He said sarcastically, the end of the rifle going to rest on the ground as he looked at his 'pipboy'. "Okay, closest one here is… Medical District. Good place for supplies." A quiet sigh and mutter of, "Shame couldn't scavenge the damn police station more." He turned to Dog/God and asked, "Ready to go?"

Dog/God grunted, and Collar turned to you. You replied, "As ready as I'll ever be." You tightened your fist as the thought of stabbing that bastard Elijah filled you with… Determination.

 

[Blitzkreug]

"Alright," Collar said, looking at his oversized watch once more. "So Elijah. Or this tomb's security systems updated my pip-boy to have maps of the place, and between the two other recruits, the closer of the two is in the medical district. Head there first, stock up on whatever medical supplies are left, and then head out to the residential area last."

The medical district wasn't an area you'd visited yet, so you weren't sure what was in it. Not too much of a reason to get bandages when the zombies normally ran you through with a spear, blew you up, or dragged you kicking and stabbing into the red smoke of death. "Knives are sharp enough if you get stabbed, you're probably dead."

He looked toward you for a second before shrugging. "Stimpacks are good regardless. Maybe some chems. Usually find water in them from the places I've scavenged in the past."

Dog/God scoffed as Collar opened the door and stepped through, "Ah, just a lowly raider are you human?"

"We're all, well, four of us," He corrected, glancing back to you as he shut the door behind the three of you. "Are all dependent on each other's capabilities for survival, I would feel much better if we had chems available in what is seeming to be a horror novel." Holding up his pipboy, he pointed down the stairs opposite where you three had all came from. "Med's this way."

And so he led the way, not that you were going to complain, sure you had an infinite amount of tries, but you were pretty happy to not be the first one liable to get stabbed in the face for some idiot that got himself collared and a trigger happy geezer. So you hung in the back while Dog/God took up the middle, glancing every which way as they passed, seemingly muttering to himself. Yet you were curious as you watched the blue Hulk in front of you walk, noting just how eerily silent each step was, no rocks crunching underneath his hulking frame. Comparatively, Collar was an elephant, kicking rocks out of the way or nearly tripping on gravel as he kept looking at his giant watch.

Thankfully as you followed the two of them down the street, it appeared as if all the noise and racket from at the police station worked in your favor, having attracted the attention of most every zombie in the vicinity. "You'd swear it was Spring, way all these tourists keep rolling in." A staticy voice you weren't familiar with said, gut instincts making you brandish your knife at the ready.

"Hm. Seems the collars all have radio signals in him." Collar announced, tapping his watch again, with an echo of his voice playing from it with another tap. "Elijah might have a pip-boy too in that case."

"Ah, how wonderful, a collar of his very own then. Maybe I'll wear it as a trophy." DoG announced, a hand wrapping around his own neck, "After I rip it off his still-warm body."

"If I can hear one of the others now, chances are he can hear us too." Collar stated before tapping his watch again to the sound of high-pitched whining sounds like a chainsaw, metallic knocks sounding off as someone was hitting a wall. "No idea what this person is doing. Either of you two know any saws around here?"

DoG shook his head, leaving Collar to look to you. "No."

"Mm. Don't like it." He said, hurrying forward slightly faster. "While we're on the move, tell me about Elijah God?"

"The Old Man obsessed with the Sierra Madre? Riddled with greed that human is… hoped you would be him when I woke up." DoG snarled as he stopped by a doorway, flicking a finger through a wiretrap. "But no, all you are is his tool, another leash to pull me and Dog with. You, humans, are all the same kind of greed. All of you follow the radio, the ghost's promise of a new life, and now you're here. Lost. Confused. But soon enough, you'll learn."

"Hey, I'm not greedy. I have no idea why I'm here, didn't follow no radio signal or nothing. Honestly thought I finally died and was in hell for a bit." You interjected.

DoG looked down to you as Collar stopped at an intersection, peering around either corner. "Then perhaps you are paying a debt you owe child. For once, you are a human I don't recall dragging here, and Dog has long exhausted all the nearby human settlements."

Even with his helmet on, you could feel the glare Collar was giving DoG. "So you're the one that brought me here."

"Me? Haha, no. Dog brought you here while I was locked in the cage. Every human but that one, every time I see one of you I know exactly how you got here, none of you could help yourselves, just like how Dog couldn't help himself with his collar." He snarled again, spit making the red walls drip down like blood. Or maybe it was blood. He obviously didn't take care of his teeth. "You hear the voice. You hear its promises. Then every time one of you walks into the Old Man's traps. And everytime Dog comes for you. So eager to obey his Master." He punctuated with a quiet stomp. Which, to be fair, was a lot louder than his otherwise silent walking.

Since he seemed to be done, for now, you finally decided to ask a question that has been bugging you. "But, you ARE Dog, aren't you? People keep calling you that. Or do you have an identical twin or something, and you keep trading places when I'm not looking?"

DoG laughed as he paused in the street to fully turn to you and placed a hand to his chest. "We are one and the same. And not. I, God, am the one that keeps him controlled, I keep us safe from manipulative humans like the Old man. Keep us from slaughtering a village just for something to eat. I am the half that thinks. Dog… on the other hand, is instinct." He closed his fists, arms tensing as he squeezed the air tight. "He knows how to use this body, but he doesn't think of the damage he causes. He does nothing but hunger, hunger for orders, hunger for a Master, hunger for anything to eat. Dog tries to keep me away and hidden by pain. This?" He said, tracing the word carved into his chest. "Is an attempt to keep me locked away, to tell him that he's Dog, the slave. So we are twins in a way. But no, so long as the Old Man is alive, both I and Dog are pulled along on a leash. That. Is why I will kill him." He stated with a growl.

You nodded along as he explained. That made sense. You didn't think you'd ever meet someone who was in a situation like yourself, though it seems like his 'roomate' sucks. Which leads to one more question. "So which one of you died and possessed the other one's body?" What are the odds of meeting someone else like that? Maybe this actually is hell, just a really complex one that doesn't want you to realize it's actually hell.

"He's not possessed," Collar called out from down the way, yet another long rifle slung over his shoulder. "Delivered some mail to a doc once on the coast, messed around with Stealth boys doing research. Super Mutants known as Night Kin," He nodded to DoG. "Use them a lot. Use a Stealth Boy too much, and it causes a lot of brain damage, something about the field it projects around you, the Doc told me."

You frowned at that, trying to decide whether or not you should talk about yourself. After all, it's not just your secret. While they have been taking a back seat since everything sucks big time currently, Frisk is still there. They feel your thoughts and nervously offer their approval. Things never worked out any other time the two of you told anyone, but if DoG is the same…

DoG shook his head with another low snarl. "You humans always use the same excuse. Pre-war Technology, always the cause of every ill, mind, and body. Why blame yourselves now when you can blame the past." He said, pushing his way past Collar.

Making the decision, you say, "It does happen. I died, part of an ultimately futile attempt to save my family, and after seeing everything fall apart I woke up in Frisk's body. Ghosts are real dude."

DoG paused in his stomping away to look at you with a puzzled expression before shaking his head. "Ah, breaking your own even at this point. Then may you two get along better than I and Dog."

You shrug. "Yeah, Frisk is best, doesn't deserve any of the shit that happens to them. My condolences for what you have to put up with."

He grunted. "Maybe I'll have Dog talk to you two then. When we're full at least, now… now he'd most likely try to eat you." He said with a laugh before pausing to think. "Human. Do you know when you arrived here?"

Collar stopped his stare at you to look back to God. "What? No, why?"

God appeared ready to say something before shaking his head and waving Collar forward. "Nothing. Let us keep moving before the Ghosts catch us." That spurred some life back into Collar's step.

The helmet didn't stop you from hearing him mutter, "--In hell, ain't done yet with checkers." But you didn't bother asking as he resumed leading the way through the winding streets and stairs of this blood-red zombie city. There was a time or two he held you up to pick up more random things he found on the ground. A few chips, the occasional bullet, and another knife. It was good to scavenge, you suppose, but the amount he had on him started to seem like he might be a hoarder.

After ten silent eery minutes of creeping through the town, the three of you came before a medical district door. Sign glowing bright attracting anyone who would be dumb enough to wander there now. Which was the three of you, you supposed now. Collar led the way into the medical district, long rifle sweeping the area in front before walking forward. The three of you coming to an immediate stop as Collar's watch crackled to life with the Old Man's voice. "Careful. Villa's comm speakers have all aged poorly, like the Madre. Pre-War Junk. The speakers emit a signal that'll set off your collar if you stay too long."

You watched as Collar started looking above, not having glanced up much before now. "There are damaged speakers and shielded ones… the damages ones you can destroy at range - don't get too close, you can't switch them off like a radio." And just like that the watch shut off again.

"Kind of figured that out from the police station already thanks," Collar muttered, staring at one piece of graffiti on the archway before you. "Would explain some of this before you go ahead. Ha jokes with blowing up. Ha." He said dryly before walking forward, under the graffiti of 'listen before you go ahead!!!' the ahead part written in what seemed to be blood.

Unlike Collar, you stayed, having noticed DoG's silent gripping of his head and growls, before ultimately he relaxed and looked to you, then to Collar. "Master? Where is Master?"

Collar paused before turning back around. "Not going to be annoying at all that. Dog! I have an order from Master."

You watched as DoG broke out into the most horrifying smile you'd seen. "Oh, Dog is happy to obey Master. But.. where is Master? Did you eat him?" Dog asked as Collar flicked through his oversized watch. "Dog gets hungry too sometimes."

"Ah here ya go. Master says listen." Collar announced before jabbing his watch.

To a more familiar raspy DoG. "Dog. Back in the cage!" Whimpering Dog hunched over, hands again going to his head to cradle it as if in total and utter pain, shaking it side to side before growling and whipping a hand out to grab Collar by his watch and lifting him up.

"Hey, hey, what the he-" He was silenced as God lifted his meaty hand to clamp over Collar's mouth.

"I do not. Like. Your pipboy human." God straightened up, lifting Collar fully into the air now, his gun having dropped to the ground. "It is another leash to the Old Man. It is another relic of the Old World. Give me a reason to not just leave you crumpled, bones broken and limp, where I can just walk away out of your collar's range before you die."

With that, he released Collar's mouth to let him have an answer. To which he immediately stabbed a finger towards you. "Them."

"Us?" You asked in confusion. "Why? It's not like I'll die if you die or something."

God looked to you, then back to Collar with a snarl. "Indeed, what are you on about."

"You keep talking like there's been countless people in here before, all caught in his traps right? The connection for all of them being collars. Have to obey, have to listen, or everyone blows up." Collar said with a nervous smile. "He uses his pipboy to track and listen to us. But that can go both ways. And we have someone who isn't collared. Trackable. Hearable. We stay alive; kid can kill him. You said you wanted to kill him, right kid?" He asked, looking to you.

You nodded, still confused. "I mean, yeah. He's a bastard who loves screwing people over, including himself. But I still don't understand why that requires you to be alive."

"You can't trace back his signal." He said to you then looked to God . "Nor can you, I do believe and there's nothing saying the other two can. We get everyone with a collar together somewhere safe, I can rest and work on tracking him. Or we break him in and leave the kid by the entrance to stab him while he thinks we're all somewhere else. No me, no tracking him down, meaning he gets away with it." He announced as God frowned, thinking it over.

After a half-minute of deliberation, he finally dropped Collar, who immediately scrambled back up to his feet and holding his long rifle again. "If you are lying to me about tracking human."

"I'm not, I swear." He said, holding up one hand in a calming manner. "But it relies on us surviving, so let's find the other people shall we?" Then off he went, walking ahead of you fast.

Immediately stopping as a high-pitched beep sounded, and he lunged back. The beep quieted as he did so while he lifted his gun up again. "There's a radio then." Inching forward, his collar sounded once more before he shot at the ceiling, a small explosion sounding off with glass shattering into the ground. "Nearly forgot about the damn things."

He waved the two of you forward as he resumed guiding the way forward past a dead tree and a skeleton lying on the ground. Considering that those radio things could instantly kill your two companions, you offered, "I could lead the way and take care of those radios for you."

He seemed to mull it over as he slowed and bobbed his helmet back and forth. "Radios, yes, appreciated, but I'll be keeping point. Not used to traveling with folks, prefer to keep you out of the way of a gun I haven't used yet."

You shrugged in response. You offered. "I could say much the same, but alright. Ain't my head on the line if you walk a bit too fast."

That said and handled, you passed the entrance to the medical area, which you could see through a rubble-covered gate, barely. Whoever built this place did a shit job with the amount of crumbling walls that kept getting in the way. The sound of the techno gasps of zombies made you suddenly more alert than you were before, drawing your gun along with your knife. You hope you won't have to kill it; doing that makes your arm really sore. "It's round the corner of the next door." Collar stated, looking to his watch instead of ahead. "Getting only one. How good are you at fighting God?"

God shook his head. "I'm clumsy in this shell of a body. Dog is the fighter."

"Think you can handle one?" Collar asked, edging along the wall and forward. "Best to preserve ammo for any more swarms," God grunted and followed closely behind as the trio of you came to the corner by the door. And now you saw that it was one of the exploding ones, the kind that tended to throw gas containers around without thought to their own well-being. "Hell's that an oxygen tank?"

Frowning, you replied, "Yeah, they like to cause explosions. I might be able to get it before it can set any off, but hacking these things to pieces is always such a pain. Is there any way around it?"

"Explode huh?" You watched as he lowered himself to the floor and kicked up the end of the gun, two stands popping out from the end. "Reggie always did say you could do this." You hear him mutter, positioning the rifle against his shoulder. A few seconds passed before he squeezed the trigger, and you heard the not quite loud explosion of its gas tanks, a meaty splat following it shortly as you imagined that was its body. "Wouldn't mind seeing more of them, to be honest." He said, standing back up and once more leading the way.

You, however, paused as you noticed something out of the corner of your eye tucked away in a corner. Ammo boxes underneath more graffiti of the light-hearted variety, apologizing to anyone reading it. But you moved on with the group because you didn't need ammo. At least not in this timeline, might need to use them to cause an explosion in some future one. A few more arches went by silently, with Collar checking his watch repeatedly before he slowed, crouching slightly and looking up. "Boom." He read some graffiti sprayed on one of the arches, leaning forward, his collar beeped, and he just as quickly leaned back. "They can bother putting up graffiti but not shooting the damn things. Really. Hey kid, sign says it's straight-up, but I can't see it, could you?" He asked, jerking his head forward.

Shrugging, you sauntered forward. "Sure." You slowly walked forward, keeping an eye out for any mines or shit, while you followed your ears towards the radio. You finally spot it, straight above the arch on the second floor glowing a bright blue, so you get nice and close, take aim with your Empty Gun, and pop it in one go. Once it explodes in a pretty burst of sparks, you call back, "There we go, easy peasy."

Collar nodded to you as God followed behind, Collar immediately stopping as he noticed a sign. "Sec." He said, walking up to the door and pulling it open to look inside. You looked at the sign and noticed it said gift shop of all things, the inside filled with the concentrated red venom in the air, so thick you could barely see.

"Now's really not the time to be buying souvenirs." You joked, curious why he was interested in the Gift Shop.

He seemingly ignored your joke, and after a few seconds, he shut the door and pointed opposite him. "Just ahead, and we'll get our fourth." He glanced once again to you and God before shrugging and adding. "Or sixth, I guess. No idea at this point." Grabbing the rifle again with both hands, he led the way in before freezing as you heard more zombie gasps ahead.

He hugged the wall and checked his watch instead of around the corner, again for some reason. "Got three ahead," Collar announced before finally checking around the corner. "Spear. Spear. Beartrap fist. No bombs." You came up beside him to see, and saw the same. Two zombies lurching around with spears stabbing the ground for footholds, the third inspecting the ground and holding a rock up to its face.

"I'll handle this." You say, stepping around him and preparing your knife and gun, starting to psych yourself up. You've fought far more difficult things than these zombies; knocking them down is pretty easy. Things only get difficult trying to dismember them, to make sure they stay down.

"Hell, you mean you'll-" He began to question, but you were already charging into the courtyard, your mind falling into the familiar rage and bloodlust of Combat. Beartrap barely notices you before leap at him, driving your knife through his face while you kneecap Spearguy A. Spearguy B tries to stab you, but you backflip off of Beartrap over Spearguy B's head, letting loose a trio of shots into the back of his head. When you land, you quickly turn towards Spearguy A, who was slowly stumbling back to his feet and shoot him in the face five times. Nothing wrong with being sure they're 'dead'.

Hearing the others rush towards you, you take a deep breath and carefully shove away Combat Mode. You don't want to kill these two… yet. They might be human or human equivalent, but they haven't screwed you over yet.

GoD, for one had narrowed his eyes, said eyes roaming the three bodies on the ground then flicking up to you repeatedly, the beginning of a frown creeping across his face, while the bottom of his jaw grinded back and forth. Collar held his rifle limply pointed towards the ground with the butt of the gun buried into his shoulder, looking at you. It unnerved you a bit to be unable to read him, beyond his neck tightening as he seemingly inspected your handiwork. Not being able to tell what someone was thinking was annoying, after all how could you predict someone you couldn't read. "See? Easy." You said cheerfully.

"Impressive." GoD stated flatly, stomping over next to the bodies to look them over while Collar kept standing still.

Finally, after a few seconds, he sniffed, and he too walked over next to the bodies and dropped into a crouch next to them, rifling through their pockets. "God, you don't have the finesse of Dog but you do have the strength, right? Mind being ou-" He was cut off as God wrapped his claw-like hands around the heads of each zombie and squished them with a silent pop. "Thanks, big man." He looked up to the building behind you, the one glowing bright with a big health sign and Medical blinking in the eerie afternoon, while he blindly searched the last one's pockets. "Saw noises and medical, our fourth might be dealing with a haywire Mr. Handy or the like." You watched as he took a knife out of the pocket of one and stuffed it into his belt before he stood back up.

"... What, like the pokemon?" Mr Handy always creeped you out; something was going on with him and Coal's mom. Weird red, white and blue gremlin that was overly feely.

"No idea what a pokemon is," Collar said, kicking one of the zombie's corpses as God had already opened the door into the clinic to look around. "Handys are robots with saws, laser cutters, and flamers." He informed you following after God, rifle being traded out for the thinner and smaller one he had recently picked up.

God, a Robot Mr Handy. You forcibly shoved that horrifying image out of your head as you followed them in shortly behind, GoD stopped at the door leading down a hallway sniffing the air and Collar messing with his watch again, walking around the front desk. You could hear the high pitched whine of a saw now, along with seemingly panicked thuds against metal from down the hallway that God was smelling, and in the opposite corner of that doorway you spotted a bone-white handprint on the wall, announcing the presence of someone's stash behind a couple of overturned chairs.

"So." Collar started walking up next to God, who moved out of the way for him. "Rescue person from the Mr. Handy or med bot. Probably in a closet by those sounds. Search place for supplies. Catch a breath, eat, and whatnot. Last guy is perfectly fine going off radio chatter. Sound good?" Collar asked, shouldering his smaller rifle and aiming it down the hall, looking to you and God.

"Already tired human?" Joked God with a low rumbling chuckle. "You won't survive long like that."

"Yeah, why stop after this one? Let's get everything done so we can hurry up and kill that old geezer." You agreed.

He sighed and shook his head before walking through the door, sweeping his rifle first to the right with a muttering of "Fucking christ." Before sweeping it back to the left where the saw was sounding from, ignoring the rest of the hallway straight ahead. Going through that doorway he disappeared with God following close behind with a growl towards the right door.

Following behind them, you glanced to the right room to see what all the hubub was about… and stop dead in your tracks when you see them. Two bodies, missing their heads. You could pretty easily guess what happened to them, considering the blood splattered everywhere. And, oh god, one of them was pointing towards you. You could see down its throat.

"Child." God startled you as he had silently crept up behind you again. Whirling around, you looked up to him as he looked to the bodies you had been looking at. "This. Is the handiwork of the Old Man, the greed of old fools like him. Keep it in your mind of what humans will do to each other. We will kill the Old Man." He said in a softer voice than normal of when speaking of the geezer. "He will pay for his deeds soon enough, to us and others." He added, nodding to the corpses. "I trust I can rely on you to help me in making him pay his debt?"

Nodding you replied. "Yeah, yeah you can." You start walking forward again as you wipe away what are totally not tears in your eyes. "Sorry, I'm usually not such a wimp. It's just it's usually my blood, so it's a shock."

To your surprise, God patted your head for a short moment, making you stiffen upright. "Humans tend to war with each other more than any other kind. It is only a shame that you see it this early." You nod silently, rubbing at your eyes a few more times. What was wrong with you, you're a demon! You've killed your own mom more times than you can count! Why is the sight of some stupid dead bodies shaking you up so bad?

You could hear Collar approaching from behind God and peered around his massive frame, helmet watching you once more. "Hindsight tells me I should have closed that door. Sorry young'un." You didn't say anything wiping off your face. "Seems our fourth is stuck in an autodoc end of hall. Radios shielded, can't break it so we gotta find the power switch in this place. As unlucky as it is, we're lucky the autodocs are so thick blocking the radio signal. You want to check up or down for a switch or working terminal?"

God looked back down the hall where you came from before grunting, "I'll go up, I have had enough of cages today." With that, he marched back towards the entrance, leaving Collar and you alone.

"Ya alright?" He asked simply with his rifle end laying on the ground.

You nod again, not really paying attention as Frisk did their best to help soothe you. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just something to get used to."

He looked down the hall where God wandered off to, to head upstairs. "I'd say we've got five, ten before we find the power for the radio. Feel free to catch yourself."

You nodded again, already mostly compartmentalized. He nodded lifting his rifle again and half shouldering it, half letting it hang in his arms, and walked down the hall, with you following shortly after. He glanced back at you, you could tell that much at least from his helmet turning to look at you, but continued on, pausing to fling open a tool cabinet door. Nothing in it he moved on, pausing at an intersection between a once luxurious set of stairs leading up, and steel, steep stairs leading down.

Stepping down sideways with his helmet moving between the stairwell down and up, you watched as he tried to jiggle open the handle. He grunted and dropped to a knee to look at it, knocking on the door a few times. Leaning his head on the door he knocked again with a sigh. "Reinforced, lock's a bit too much to pick, don't think God is gonna be able to kick it open easy, so we gotta find a key for it."

"I got a key." You offered. When he looked at you curiously, you waved him out of the way, drew your gun, and opened fire. Two quick shots reduced the lock to smithereens, and a gentle push opened it.

A few moments passed as you waited for him to lead the way, as he had insisted already for, before he asked simply, "What kind of ammunition do you have in that?"

"None." You answered simply. You aren't sure you could handle the recoil of an actual gunshot.

Again a few moments of silence as the helmet turned only once to look in the room that you had opened before he asked, "May I?" With an outstretched hand.

"No." You answer, holstering your gun again. No way you're going to just hand your only gun over.

He cocked his head to the side for a second before shrugging and shouldering his rifle again, sweeping the dusty basement once. It was a small room, two generators humming to the left, with a window to a much larger generator sparking with electricity behind them. While a workbench and some cabinets to the right. The wall beside you that you entered was full of shelfs, half of which had collapsed on top of each other and the far end had a single glowing monitor.

Collar slung his rifle over his shoulder and marched straight to the monitor, typing some things in, leaving you to look over in detail at the room for anything you might need now or in another timeline. Duct tape, a non ruined magazine which was rare, scrap metal, something you were sure went on a broken arm, a disgusting looking knife in the corner on the floor. Nothing too important for you to grab, so you simply walked up beside Collar and watched as he went through the computer. You read some stuff about power statuses for Auto-Docs, security holograms, speakers and a large assortment of other things.

A button click and he arrived at a menu and clicked into another menu, rapidly pressing the button that turned the building's power off, the humming of the generators gently quieting and silencing themselves. "Alriiiight." He said, drawing it out flicking back to the power systems to see some of the things still had power. But the part that was worrisome for your crew, the radios, had lost power. "Hopefully, God didn't run into whatever this security hologram is."

"I did." Announced God from the doorway making you and Collar jump, you drawing your weapon and almost shooting him. He grinned down at you, crossing his arms, you noting some new wounds and raw flesh on them. "Worry not child I am not here to eat you."

"What happened to your arms?" Collar asked, slinging his weapon back over his shoulder beside you, haven drew it alongside you.

God patted the area around the burned flesh. "The reason the Ghost people are so afraid of the Ghosts of the past seems to be the security holograms. It wandered the hall above and was invulnerable to my attempts to handle it, shooting me twice for my troubles. If a hologram glows yellow, it is a security hologram." He informed before gesturing back up the stairs. "I have barricaded the only other door out, so this building should be safe for the other hopeless Human."

"Need a stim?" Collar asked, walking by you and up the stairs with God walking up in front of him.

"The bear trap on my arm is more painful than these little marks." God informed to which Collar just shrugged as you stepped up behind him.

"Alright, well anyways, no offense big guy, but you should wait back here," Collar said as you all came to the doorway leading down the hall to where the pounding and sawing was coming from. "You know most people don't have good experiences with Super Mutants." God gave a curt nod, stomping back towards the front door while you followed Collar down the hall.

Taking a look into each room, you saw metal tubes in each, all wired to small generators of their own, presumably, the Auto-Docs mentioned on that computer downstairs. One tube was crushed by rubble, but overall they all seemed functional, which was proven to be true as you and him came upon the last open door with the pounding. Inside, you could clearly hear someone trapped, with the tube doing it's doctor work on them, albeit a total absence of screaming or calls for help that somebody might expect. Collar walked up to the small terminal on the right of the tube, and with a few keystrokes, the doors popped open to reveal a carving pumpkin of a woman.

A white sleeveless shirt splattered with blood, a saddlebag and a belt full of circular tubes, the lady looked exhausted, as if she'd been through her own hell, scars crisscrossing the top of her head and just the hint of bloody cuts along her neck. The arms of the machine dropped her, bloody saws retreating from her as she stumbled slightly inside and came out. Disoriented, she blinked, then winced as if even that pained her.

Collar stayed silent as she gained her bearings, which after a few seconds she did, eyes looking over the two of you and opened her mouth to speak. To which nothing came out. Eyes widening she traced the fresh bloody scar on her neck, her free fist clenching the side of the tube she'd just come out of. Evidently having decided that was enough time for her, Collar spoke up, "Sorry to say but we had to take a bit to get you out of that Auto-Doc."

Seemingly reminded of its presence, she looks back to the Auto-Doc and recoils from it, shaken from her time inside it. Looking back to the two of you, you notice her fists tightening and eyes narrowed, as if accusing you having done it. "We didn't shove you in that thing gal; we just got here. Figured the person banging to get out, wanted out."

"Yeah, we also need your help to kill an old geezer." You add.

As you said that, she narrowed her eyes, focusing on you, studying you further. Then she looked back to Collar as her hands brushed her own explosive collar. Her hands roamed along the collar, but before she could do anything Collar calmly stated, "It's a bomb, don't." She gave a silent question, nodding to his collar. "Put simply, a crazy old geezer named Elijah has abducted me and you to break into a casino. His past 'volunteers'" Collar said with air quotes, "Killed each other instead of slaving for him, so his ingenious idea is if one of us dies, everybody with a collar dies. You wouldn't mind helping us with handling him, would you?" He asked cheerfully as the woman seemed to go into deep thought.

As she thought over it all you could see a few things go through her face. Anger. Worry. Annoyedness. Curiosity. Then more anger at the end before she gave a silent sigh and nodded to Collar then to the door.

"Great. Shotgun or this weird holorifle?" He asked, half turning his back to her. No second passed before she grabbed the original rifle he had at the fountain, inspecting up and down its length, adjusting the sight, and just investigating it. "Alright, well, since we're at a medical place we'll scavenge for supplies, get some info, then head out for our fifth member."

She narrowed her eyes and tapped her collar before making an explosion motion with her hands, then tapping her wrist intently. Collar shook his head, "No rush, my pipboy can tune into his signal and hear him. He's only complaining about how long we're taking to show up, and haven't heard a single gunshot from'im."

She frowned seeming to think it over before nodding and gesturing him forward, eyes glancing down to you for just a moment. "Just a heads up, we got a Nightkin in our party, friendly." He said as a warning. Leading the way once more he led the three of you back to the main lobby where God was waiting, having found the suitcase you noticed earlier, its contents spilled out on the floor.

"Oh what's this?" He said with a smile looking over the newest party member. "Such a sweet little doll. Were you carved by a craftsman, or mauled by a drunk who didn't know his tools?" He said, making light of her scars.

You could see her grip tightening on the 'holorifle' that she'd been given, eyes narrowing and legs lowering slightly to more of a crouch instead of the more regular walk. "God, give her a break, she's just got out of an autodoc."

He growled in response, tossing the now empty suitcase behind him. "Do not. Order me human."

"Hey, hey it's a suggestion, we're all stuck together, better to not have everyone wanting to kill each other ya know?" God sneered but remained silent, but you could tell it wasn't an agreeing silence, more of the kind where he didn't have a retort. "Now we're in what seems to be the only medical center in this god forsaken city, so before we leave, I say we scavenge every last inch of this place. Any disagreements?" Mute lady shook her head, already turning back around down the hall you'd just come from. God sneered the corner of his lip but stayed quiet, stalking into the bathroom, while you didn't disagree. It was good to get any supplies after all, and this was the first time you'd been here, so at the very least, it was a good opportunity to memorize where it all was. "Alright, buddy up or see if you can't get under some rubble kid?" He asked.

You just shrug, before wandering over to where the mute lady went. She's new, and you don't exactly feel like crawling around in the dirt for supplies you probably won't need. You stopped at the door to the corpse room, a blush heating your face as you had almost walked in on her undressing. You quickly turned your back and just waited instead, wanting an opportunity to talk. Or well, with a moment to think on it, more mime with her. You could hear the shuffling of clothes and, after a few moments, the stomps of boots as you assumed, she put pants back on. But still, you wanted to give her privacy so you only turned around as she tapped your shoulder.

As you turned around you could see a massive change in how she looked, most likely because of the armor she seemingly found in the corpse room. Green army padding covered her knees, chest and shoulders, packs for putting ammo or supplies into adorning her belt. The padding was thick looking and hard; you could tell just at a glance that the bits of her outfit were not covered in armor or padding, were instead covered by a thick black material. Looking at it, you noticed that it seemed to be missing a helmet, as there was a 'collar' of sorts around the neck that looked like an astronaut's helmet should fit into, with even one of those sci-fi breathing things situated in front of her mouth.

Raising a hairless eyebrow, she pointed to the ground, and half-cocked her head with her hands splayed out to the side. Feeling your blush creep back up, you reply "You were changing." A half-smile she shook her head before repeating the motions, with hands splayed out more. "Oh, are you asking why I'm here in the Sierra Madre? I don't know." You reply, shrugging, your blush slowly fading. "I just woke up here. I have a theory that this place is actually hell, but a hell that doesn't want you to KNOW it's hell."

She quirked her lips again, thinking that over before shaking her hand in a maybe symbol, before pointing at you, then to herself, and once more splayed her hands, which you were recognizing as her asking something. To which you shrug again "You're new, and more interesting than the other two. Especially Collar, he's a bit of a jerk."

She raised a brow at that as she started opening some of the drawers in the room, tossing aside rusted blades and medical instruments, occasionally putting something into one of her hip pouches. As you watched in silence, she looked back up to you and mimed grabbing her neck, followed by an inaudible growl and snarl, fists going up before splaying her hands once again. "Kinda self-centered. Acts like he knows best. Hasn't done anything too shitty; it's why he's just a bit of a jerk."

She nodded before miming big muscles and splaying her hands again as she shut the drawers she'd been looking through and stood up seemingly ready to leave the room. "He's not too bad. Simple and direct, smart, speaks his mind. I like him. He has an alter-ego though, Dog, who's really dumb."

Again she nodded, before pointing to you and splaying a hand before leading the way upstairs. Puffing up your chest slightly as you follow, you give a completely accurate and unbiased assessment "Completely badass."

She threw a small smile your way as you reached the top floor, seeing the tail end of Collar entering a room down the hall. So Mute lady led the way into the office closest to you, what you would imagine as any office, walls covered in file cabinets, a desk with a computer sitting in the middle. Well of course, with the addition of a small hole in the roof, several file cabinets and their contents spilled out on the floor, and the monitor having a giant hole in it.

"Were you always mute, or did that machine do that too you?" You ask while she started tearing into the insides of the file cabinets. She took a moment to shake her head, miming scissors across her neck and a silent gasp, before going back to looting.

"Ouch, sorry." You say in sympathy, you know from experience getting your throat slit hurts, and you can only imagine what having your vocal cords ripped out must be like, while also being a bit disappointed that Frisk won't get to show off their ASL. She nodded as she dumped a small pile of chips she had found into her satchel.

You tried thinking of questions that she could answer with her inability to speak or sign language before getting an idea. You quickly looked around for a notepad, and when you found one you grabbed it and a pen and presented it to her. "Here, you can use these while your voice doesn't work."

She gave you a small smile and traced a scar on her head, before taking the pencil and notepad and scribbling on it, before shaking her head, causing you to frown. "Damn. Do you perchance know sign language?" You try once more.

She shook her head, before writing out something on the notepad. She handed it back to you, and you could recognize the symbols as numbers and math. "Well… that's something. Shame I'm not a computer, I can't speak math. Can you draw pictures? Pictionary is a bit easier than Charades."

She wiggled her hand as a maybe, before drawing a pretty good tree for you as a seeming demonstration of her Pictionary skills. For how quickly she did it, she might even be better than you. "Great, so that will at least help out." You said, nodding to yourself.

You could hear Collar coming down the hallway before he popped into the doorway. "'Ey good news for you, once we get these collars off, the Autodocs are able to repair vocal chords." He announced with a small bit of cheer, a new bag hanging off his back with a medical symbol displayed on it, and a wine bottle tucked into a pocket on his side.

"How do you know that?" You questioned. "The last one did a banged-up job, after all."

He jerked a thumb down the hallway he'd just been going through. "Some Dean fella from before the bombs fell was harassing the medical staff here because he was worried some singer was going to injure her voice. Read a journal entry on the doc's computer and all the autodocs are equipped for fixing a torn vocal cord, so collars off, check the coding to make sure they're programmed right and presto, you can speak again." He said, looking over the room that you and Mute had occupied.

That was oddly convenient. "Also if the neck still hurts I got the codes to some Med-X if ya need it." He offered to which she shook her head. "Nice armor, by the way. Sit down for a bit or good to go?" he asked as she was already tapping her wrist for time. "Swear I'm the only person who gets tired."

With that, the three of you went back downstairs to see God sitting in a comically undersized chair, undersized for him at least. "Are we ready yet?" He growled.

"Yep. You?" Collar asked to which God handed him the same suitcase that he had tossed aside before. Collar clicked it open and glanced inside with a nod. "Good haul." Clicking it back closed he wrapped the handle up in a string and tossed it over his shoulder, beginning to look more and more like a packrat. "So last person, then we figure out what Elijah wants with us. Ready folks?"

"We haven't exactly done much to become un-ready" You kinda complain. Man, how lazy can that guy be, always wanting to take a break.

 

[Blitzkreug]

As the four of you now headed out the door, you could already hear the gasps of the zombies, the rest of your group raising their weapons, or fists in GoD's Case. You readied your pistol and Knife as one came whirling/stumbling around a corner, spear already launched into the air even as you snapped a shot into its head and sent it tumbling to the ground. GoD let out an angered yelp and growl as it landed squarely in his shoulder before he marched forward and began smashing the body.

"Fuck. Reading seven-plus contacts. They've been following us. Move." Collar announced, beginning a half jog down the way you had came from. You weren't about to argue with staying, so you followed Mute in a jog of your own, both their guns raised and at the ready.

Ahead through an archway was another pair of zombies, to which Collar raised his rifle and sprayed a mess of shots into them, ripping open part of their suits, one dropping and the other stumbling onto the ground. As Mute's blue shot collided with it, you watched as gravity ceased to exist for the zombie, and it floated back from the shot, its body turning bright blue like a hologram before melting entirely.

Weird rifle, you thought as God sprinted past you and slammed a foot into the non-puddle zombie. Collar dropped a magazine and slammed afresh one in as the four of you entered a hallway, Collar glancing again to the watch on his arm, slowing for a moment. "Nine. Ten. Run n' gun folks." He said before resuming his jog forward.

So you fell back on your instincts with running and gunning. Gun at the ready and Knife held close you ran alongside them, eyes peeled open for any zombies. Your eyes roamed the red clouds, the blood-red stains on the wall, the collapsed dusty buildings and grates all around. Anywhere and everywhere they could be, as you distantly noted, Collar call out more and more numbers.

As you fell into the familiar haze of Combat, Collar's voice tuning out, you finally ran into them. You turn a corner and hard-learned instinct forces you to your knees as a spear jabbed overhead, causing you to slide under the zombie as you knee-cap him with your Knife. You faintly note gunfire, but it isn't directed at you, so it's quickly forced out of your head as a bear-trap zombie tries to punch your face, rusty teeth almost glinting in the red light. You roll and fire off a quartet of shots at the zombie's face, hopefully putting it down for now, before getting to your feet and shanking the first zombie in the back of the head. You continue a bit further before again being assaulted by another pair of Spears, who you trick into stabbing each other before shoving them hard towards a Bomber. Another round of bullets ignites his arsenal and kills the three of them and a Beartrap Friend who was standing nearby.

As you heard footsteps coming from behind, you whipped your Gun around, quickly pulling your finger off the trigger as you remember the rest of your compatriots. Collar checked his watch as he caught up, hearing him pant slightly under that armor of his, before announcing "Clear, no targets for now."

Mute was giving you a funny look as GoD seemed to give an approving nod to your actions, causing you to blush with pride. If there is one thing you are good for on this god-forsaken planet, it's killing things.

Collar walked forward, leading the way again without further comment as you followed again, Mute taking the rear and glancing every which way, obviously not trusting Collar's call regarding it being free of zombies. He nudged the door open with his foot and checked either way before slinging his rifle back over his shoulder, pulling out his smaller shotgun instead. "Kid, God, you two have been around for a bit right? Am I right in thinking noise attracts them?"

GoD grunted. "The way you've been having us go human, you'll wake the sleeping hive beneath this city soon enough."

Wait, what? "They got a whole hive down there? I knew there was a lot of them, but didn't know they went all Necron." You ask, slightly surprised.

GoD raised a brow questioningly at Necron. "This city has been giving its siren call for two hundred years, with immortal Ghosts roaming the streets, with most would-be treasure hunters failing to kill them. You," He said looking to Collar. "Are 'lucky' in that the Old Man is guiding you. The hundreds of others before you. Not so much." GoD stated as you all slowly headed towards the fountain, the one seemingly safe place in this city.

"So if they're attracted to sound, they should all be flocking back there right?" Collar asked, jutting his thumb back over his shoulder, stopping as he noticed a dispenser. "Ya got any coins on ya kid?"

You reach into your pocket and grab a handful, and hold them up demonstratively. "Yeah, why?"

Tapping the screen you watched him flick through the menus quickly. "Codes for ammo and some kits for fixing the guns. Mine and hers are a bit rusted and fucked." He held out a hand. "Got about fifty or so?"

You frown; you got a lot of them, but still. "Do you really need the ammo? You've been scavenging like a hoarder."

"I've got ammo for shotgun and pistols." He said, nodding to your Gun. "Be a bit better to have a spare clip for the rifle. Her rifle has some ammo at the fountain. God just beats them to death."

You sigh and relent. "Fine." You start counting out your chips, handing over every stack of ten as you go, till you get to fifty.

"Thank you." He said, punching in the codes and having the machine spit out some box with the symbol of a gun on it and a smaller orange box. "So idea, since we made plenty of noise over here, and this last member's on the other side of town we go silent. It should have drawn most out and I assume we're all competent with a knife or spear?" He asked, looking to Mute who nodded. "Drop excess supplies at fountain since Holograms scare the freaks, grab the last guy then meet at Fountain last time to see how we get into the casino."

"We would have been silent if it weren't you making so much sound shooting them human," God said, crossing his arms as Collar stood back up, his supplies shoved into a pack on his back.

"I'm perfectly happy to stick to stabbing, I just started shooting because you were." You chime in.

Mute shrugged, not having a voice to join the two of you. Collar nodded and pulled out one of the spare knives he had grabbed and handing it to her. "Sharp." He said as if it weren't already evident with it being a knife. Slinging her rifle over her shoulder, she gave a few practice swings and stabs with it before nodding and putting it into a hip holster.

All that done, Collar decided to finally shut up and move on, despite him just saying to be quiet, he still held out his shotgun, looking to the catwalks up above and the open doors on the ground with him. Other than that it was quiet, besides the constant low drone of the sirens of the village, distant cyber grunts of the zombies sounding, but Collar not pausing or halting your group as he checked his watch. You all stopped for a moment at the fountain for Collar to drop off some of his scavenged supplies, keeping the shotgun and grenades, Mute picking up the scattered round things that you assumed was the sci-fi rifle's ammo.

Moving on once more, you walked in silence until you were passing near the Shop and you got an idea. "Hey, if you want to trade all that junk you've been collecting for some tokens, we can go visit the Shop down there." You say, pointing with your thumb.

"A shop?" Collar asked, looking back to you.

"Yeah, a Shop. You know, a place to exchange money for goods and services?" You answer a bit sarcastically.

He stayed silent for a moment, Mute also looking at you with curiosity, before he asked incredulously. "There's someone running a shop?"

"No, it's a Hologram, who I'm PRETTY sure isn't sentient." You answer. "Could just be really quiet, though."

"Huh. Alright, lead the way." He told you.

You oblige and do so, it's just a short walk, after all. Turning to the left instead of straight ahead towards the residential district, where you tried your best to hide the entrance to the Shop and your Home. It was a crappy tarp, brown and dust red just like all the walls of the village, it did cover the entrance and if anyone was running by or not paying attention then they wouldn't notice it. Pushing it aside, you let them into the clearing before the Shop, an empty bit of space without anything in it. Catwalks ringed the walls above, with only one way up to them, while the other entrance to your safe haven was boarded up and covered by someone else long ago.

Leading them to the right and open door, you introduced them to the Shop, shelves bare and empty, one overturned in the corner. Not that any of it mattered to the flickering blue hologram of a balding man standing behind the counter. You did notice God narrow his eyes and slow as he noticed the hologram, maybe thinking it was like the security hologram he handled back in the medical district. "Tada, here's the Shop."

"Neat." Collar stated, his mask already roaming over the shop, seemingly looking for supplies that you hadn't noticed in your weeks of living here. "What do you sell?" He asked, to which the hologram nodded and a menu flashed to life behind him. The group looked over the offered items, before God spoke up.

"This hologram offers less than the dispensers child, what is the point of bringing us here?"

"Like I said, he can sell his junk here. Get tokens to buy stuff elsewhere. He hoarded a bunch of stuff, should be able to get a bunch of tokens." You reply.

"Dropped my stuff off at the Fountain." Collar replied, eyes roaming over the menu before glancing to the stairs leading up to your home and stash of supplies. "How much you scrounge around here?" He asked, turning to the stairs and walking up it.

"A lot. Don't take anything without asking, that's my stuff up there." You say, following. "Got a big gun I can't use you can probably have."

While you followed Collar up to make sure he didn't take everything, Mute followed behind, God storming out the door to wait while you all explored your Home. The Store's presumable storage area where the people put everything before all dying, had turned into your storage area. Water, clean and dirty, chips, chewy and gritty steak, mac and noodles, plenty of ammunition. It had turned out you weren't the first one to think the Store was a good place to store items, there being three hidden caches of items all-around in its vicinity.

He nodded in approval of your own stash, most of the shelves covered in food or water. Since you couldn't use the bigger guns or the ammunition, what with your small stature. Getting your box of grenades, you said, "You'll probably like these as well. Haven't been able to figure out how to use them without blowing myself up yet."

He looked at your offer before asking as he inspected the grenades in the box. "Don't know how to use a 'nade?"

You shake your head. "Less that, more throwing it in this maze without it just bouncing back. You got more experience with that stuff, I'd assume."

He cocked his head at you before taking the offered box of grenades and pulled one out looking it over. "A bouncing grenade?" He idly tossed one up into the air, much to your tensing and uncomfortableness. You could hear him mutter, "Maybe it's the material."

"If you promise to try to not blow me up while you're using them, you can have them" You say. If he DOES blow you up, you are not going to give him anything next time around.

"Nah, we're going silent. If we need more than three fragmentations, we're dead even if I brought this many." He said, putting it back on the shelf, stepping aside as Mute took one of the mentioned grenades and putting it in her pack. Great, they were both packrats. "I do like the place, though. Homey." He joked with a bit of sarcasm and approval at your Home as he wandered over to the rifle you had dragged here from another rooftop across the way. He inspected it, pulling up the small legs and seeming to wince slightly as it gave a small scream against the movement. He shook his head before looking your storage room once more. "Nothing I can use. You?" He asked Mute.

Mute silently beckoned to you, gesturing towards some of the weird cartridges you had found in one of the stashes, which now that you thought of it looked a lot like the weird ammo she used in her sci-fi rifle. "Sure, not even sure what those were." You had just felt they were important being part of someone's stash, which was a good thing you did take it.

Grabbing a number of them, she pocketed them before nodding to you with a small smile as Collar walked back downstairs. "Alright, anywhere else important you know of Kid?"

You shook your head. "Nah not unless you count death traps as important." Which, well, they weren't for you, but not so much for people that had one life.

"Well, what do you know about Residential?" He asked heading back out the door, where God was waiting and leaning on the wall, evidently not wanting to see your storage area.

"Mines, traps, spikes, shotguns. Lots of traps. Haven't bothered looking there much because of it." It was one thing to fight zombies and Monsters, it was another trying to notice every tripwire, figuring out which exact rock was a mine, or trying to run through the Cloud of death hanging everywhere just to have a rusty bear trap slice into your legs. Too dark, too cluttered, and oftentimes, too many zombies around to take it slow enough to make any progress into that area. So you just didn't bother looking much after the first five or so deaths.

"Ah, as if the Ghost People and the few traps around here weren't enough already." He sighed, checking his watch again before heading back towards the path to Residential. Clicking the watch's screen you heard the static of a radio before it turned back to the voice signal of the final part of the group, his barely audible voice filling the silence all around you, as you all headed down the short street to Residential.

"Shouldn't have set that radio on repeat." Collar held up a hand peering around a corner, sounds of rocks tumbling down that street. You and the other two paused as he held up a finger for a few seconds before hurriedly speed walking past the open archway. "Hope that tourist is hurrying, I haven't got all day."

Collar edged open the Residential door peeking through before marching through, his watch calling out, "At least this one seems like a straight shooter… Or a sucker."

His watch suddenly let out a high-pitched whine before a burst of static then the barking noise of that old man. "Picking up signals near your location. Detonators. Watch for traps." You looked back to God to see him going through the change again clutching and clawing at his head as the old man's voice triggered Dog.

"Back in the cage Dog." Sounded the tape from Collar's watch yet again ase he seemed to stare up to the casino sitting high above the villa. He didn't move for a half minute as God collected himself, his voice having scared his more primal self back down.

"You've never seen Elijah, right kid?" Collar asked, clicking his watch back to the fourth's radio signal.

"Just that hologram picture thing." You answer.

He grunted, crossing his arms still staring at the casino. "Gal rifle if ya could?" Mute obliged and handed over the rifle, which he took and aimed down the scope at the casino for several long seconds before handing it back. "Alright, let's go, burning Cloudlight. You said you been here before Kid? Remember any traps for us to tip-toe past?"

"Yeah. They're pretty hard to forget." You grumble the last part mostly to yourself. Getting exploded is exceptionally unpleasant. The beginning of the Residential district didn't offer much in the way of going. To the right was a dead-end towards some apartments, yet another stash down that way that you had grabbed since it was close to Home and a vending machine. There were no traps, no zombies unless you went too far through the collapsed apartments. Straight ahead to the left was a locked gate leading to a clearing full of Cloud, bear traps, and mines. Straight ahead up a flight of stairs was the first trap. Tripwire to a shotgun on the doorway, while across some planks leading to another roof, was another tripwire with a shotgun.

Stepping over it and waiting by it you quickly realized there was a slight issue with the whole trap-filled maze that was a Residential District. That being the blue hulk GoD looking down to the tripwire. "Something that might be a problem. GoD, how graceful are you?" You ask a bit rhetorically.

He gave a low chuckle as he ducked under the doorframe and avoided the trap. "Child, my kind are best at these things, I once set up fields of such traps, albeit mine were more. Explosive." He picked up and ripped out the shotgun from its bolted-on position on the table by the door. "Once we get to where you stopped, I shall lead the way."

You eyed his bulky form again. "... Alright then. That's a nice surprise, at least."

Through the room, you stopped at the grenade bouquet hanging from a ceiling, strung to another tripwire, as Collar and Mute looked over the inside of the room, Collar turning his watch into a flashlight. It bathes you all in an eerie green light as you merely gestured to the grenades, not sure how to get them down at your height. Which God solved simply by lifting them up with a hand.

And so on it went, a once stressful and tenuous thing, reduced to just going slowly as three pairs of eyes joined yours, along with a green flashlight. Up and down the stairs you went, pressure plates, machetes taped to sticks that would launch out of the wall, fragmentation mines with just the barest hint of glowing red. The only time you came close, or more accurately, DoG, to setting something off is when he was hurrying through the Cloud and nearly stepped on a pressure plate on the other side. Instead, he tripped over slightly and fell against the wall.

Otherwise, the streets were creepily devoid of the creepy zombies, which in all honesty made you uneasy. Sure it made sense with all the traps around, grenades, mines, and spikes, but still, you had grown near used to one always in the next street or two over. Until finally, you arrived at the location of the fourth. Another clearing, except this time it was decorated with Christmas lights all around, on every roof and catwalk, strung around the dead tree in the middle.

And up at the top, you could see someone leaning over the edge, sitting down it looked like. "Well now we know why he was safe, I guess." Collar muttered. "Lights scaring off the freaks." He slowly crossed the clearing, God taking the lead once more as the green light scoured the ground.

Yet there was nothing as you all neared the stairs leading up and into the person's house. But your party froze as the last man called out from above, "Ah ah ah, only one guest in my humble abode if you will."

You were about to yell back as Collar held out a hand towards you. "Hey. City of the Dead, populated by murderous adventurers or ghosts, four strangers marching into his home. It's a reasonable request."

You pout scowl in protest. "No, it's not. You never split the party." It's the most sure fire way to get someone killed, and in this instance it means everyone (besides you) would be killed.

"He tries anything he blows up too. You guys hang out in the clearing you can see me, I can see you all. Alright?" He asked, gesturing back the way you came.

You let out a big sigh. "Fine. Watch for bombs though, I bet he's the asshole who set up all the other traps."

He nodded before heading up the stairs without you, as God scowled and muttered, "Humans and Ghouls." Mute simply shrugged before walking back into the courtyard.