Crawled Out Through The Fallout

Chapter 26

It took a few minutes to find which direction to go, but soon the beeps became more and more frequent. The beeping became a humming noise, and we stopped in front of a tall building. I looked up at the skyscraper, the top of it lost in the clouds.

"Greentech Building. The Courser is in there."

I pushed open the heavy doors and my hand rested on my gun holster.  We walked around the lobby. There were a couple of bodies behind the front desk, so I gestured for Deacon to check them out while I searched the room for anything useful. I stashed everything I found into the trashcan at the front, so I wouldn't have to carry it all the way through this building. When I finished, Deacon was already standing next to me.

"It's not good, boss. Those are Gunners. They're scarier than your average Raider, smarter too. And we'll have to watch out for them as well as the Courser."

I breathed in, thinking of a plan. 

"Alright, it isn't the hardest thing we've ever done."

"Really? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it is. These are mercs we're dealing with, on top of a machine built to hunt."

"We can do it."

Deacon didn't look too convinced, and I wasn't either. Truthfully, I wanted to run and come back when the Courser had killed more of the Gunners. But, I  had a reason for being here. There was a crackling noise as the P A system went on, and a commanding voice spoke.

"The Courser has moved to the second level! Barricade all stairwells and hallways!"

I glanced at Deacon, then ran to the nearest stairwell and climbed through the small gaps. Deacon had a harder time with it. I took his arms and pulled him through the last bit of debris, toppling us both on to the floor.

"Ow."

"You'll live. Come on, we have to get to that Courser."

He scrambled to his feet and followed me as I started running through the halls. I bumped into a pair of Gunners, who immediately began yelling and shooting at me. I ran into the next room over and got my gun out. When they walked in, I shot them both in the head a few times. I took their ammo and aid, then kept moving. There were a few traps that I disarmed, and a few more Gunners who tried to kill us. But by far the most frustrating part of this place was the fact that it was a maze. I was going in circles and it was driving me crazy. After a while longer, we walked into a large open room with several walkways going across it at different levels. There was more yelling when Deacon and I were spotted, and the bullets came flying at us. I pulled Deacon by his shirt behind the wall with me and leaned my back against it. Deacon adjusted his shirt and frowned.

"So I'm guessing we aren't exactly welcome here."

"You think?"

Then the P A started again.

"We have another intruder, on the second floor. Accompanied by a man in sunglasses. Shoot on sight."

I rolled my eyes.

"So I'M the intruder?"

Deacon chuckled.

"It is kind of your fault we're here."

"Not helpful."

I reloaded my gun and peered around the wall at the large room. I made observations about where the windows and turrets were, and where the doors were. I nodded to Deacon, and began shooting at the soldiers. I used V.A.T.S. to kill as many of them as I could, then began shooting rapidly in the general direction of the others. There was a lot of shouting, and sarcastic battle cries from Deacon. 

"You'll pay for that!"

"You know, ammo isn't cheap. Can't we just pay you to play dead?"

I grinned at that one. A few of the Gunners jumped the railing of the bridge above us and landed on our level. They sprinted into the room where we were taking cover. Two of them went after Deacon, and three came after me. I aimed from the hip and shot their legs, crippling them. Once they were laying helplessly on the floor, I gave each of them two shots in the head. You know, the whole 'two in the head, they stay dead' thing. It's a rule to live by. As well as checking bathroom stalls. Deacon was fighting off the two Gunners, swinging at them. I walked behind one of them, and clocked him with the handle of my gun. The other one got a shot in the chest from Deacon. He shot the one I knocked down, and we went back to trying to clear out the room on the way to the Courser.

After about a hundred bullets, several grenades from Deacon, and a lot of close calls, we made it through that room. We high fived like the dorks we really are, and continued on through the building.