Chapter 2 - Road to Patience

I blinked at the man chuckling at me.  I shrugged off his arm and finished my work.  I strapped the plates to my pack and shoved the stinger into my coat pocket.  I pulled out a cardboard box from my pocket, flipped it open and grabbed a cigarette.  I turned towards the others as I lit it and took a deep drag.  "We'd better get out of here, someone or something," I kicked the corpse, "might have heard the gunshots."  The others nodded grimly, gathered their packs and we all set out again.  This time, the man who helped me was the one who walked beside me.

He held out a hand, "My name's Marcus, by the way.  That was pretty amazing back there."  I glanced down at his hand and ignored him.  He snorted and continued to hassle me, "C'mon man, we're all allies out here."  I flicked the ash off the end of my cigarette and blew smoke towards him. "What do you want from me, smoothskin?"  He coughed a little and waved away the smoke, "I just wanna know what you're planning with that s**t you took off that damn thing.  The poison I get, I guess.  But the plates and the stinger?"

I sighed and took another drag, "The plates will make great light armor, and the stinger's going to replace my knife."  He thought for a moment, "Huh.  Never thought of using it like that.  Of course, we rarely fight rad scorpions, much less ones as big as that b*****d."  I growled, "Yeah, I noticed you guys don't think a whole lot."  I turned my head towards him, "How the hell did you people survive out here?  That thing would've massacred the lot of you if I hadn't been there."  He frowned at me, "Like I said, we usually don't face them, usually we run.  Looks like you know your way around them, though.  Do you face many of them?"  I shook my head, so he continued, "I don't believe you.  You took that one down like it was nothing!"

I grunted, "I usually avoid them.  The only reason I took that one down at all was because it didn't know I was there.  I knew how it would react.  If you people studied your enemies at all, you would've seen they're pretty predictable.  Especially the creatures running around.  At least, if you notice them before they ambush you."  He considered that for a while, "We usually don't leave the safety of town very often.  We have walls to protect us."  He shrugged.

We spent the next few hours slowly traveling to the southeast.  I was spared further harassment from my traveling companions until we rested late in the day.  I did my best to eat my ration of meat as quickly as I could, making sure they didn't question it.  As I lit another cigarette and leaned against a boulder, watching everyone else eat, the leader approached me and sat on some rubble in front of me.  I noticed her rifle was on her lap, but she only rested one hand on it.  "I wanted to thank you for saving us back there.  I appreciate the danger you put yourself in for us."  I casually rested my hands behind my head and blew a ring into the fading light.  When I looked at her again, she was staring at the cigarette with envious eyes.  I chuckled darkly, "You too, huh?"

She gulped and visibly shook her head, taking her eyes off the cigarette with apparent effort.  She grinned sheepishly, "Yeah.  I tried kicking it several times, but I keep folding.  All the stress makes it impossible to focus, the cigs really help keep my mind as sharp as possible."  I nodded sagely.  A bad habit, to be sure, but out here, things are always pressing in.  She continued as if I had given a response other than a nod, "My name is Sam.  We're the hunters of Patience.  I'm squad leader of this bunch,"  she hooked a thumb at the others.  "We scavenge supplies, hunt for food and protect Patience."

I squinted past the smoke drifting in front of my eyes, "A dozen people is pretty big for a squad.  You guys draw a ton of attention.  You'd be better off with less people.  Not to mention you need to pay more attention to your surroundings, if I'd been hostile, you would've made an easy mark."  I was expecting her to get defensive and snap back at me.  Instead she sighed and rested her chin on her hand, "Yeah, I've been trying to whip these guys into shape and get 'em more focused.  But we need all the people to fight, not many of them are good at it, so we travel in larger groups."  I saw her eyes drifted inexorably towards my cigarette.  "May I-"

Before she'd drifted off, I pulled out my pack and held it out to her.  She plucked one from the box and put it between her lips.  I flicked open my lighter and struck it.  She leaned forward and lit hers on the orange flames.  She leaned back, taking a drag and closing her eyes.  She moaned in pleasure and blew smoke from her nostrils.  I smiled beneath my wrapping.  "We with sins similar must stick together."  She nodded and started rummaging through her pockets.  Withdrawing a small pouch and opening it.  I heard the familiar clink as she held out three caps, "Nothing in the wasteland is free."  I shook my head and leaned back, "Consider not shooting me on sight or when I drew my knife to fight payment enough.  Or shooting me because of what I am, for that matter."

She raised her eyebrows, shrugged and replaced the money, "Whatever you say.  It was close, though. When I saw you go for the knife, I damn near put one through your head.  When I saw that you were a ghoul doesn't count, though.  We have a guy that comes by in a caravan that's a ghoul.  Donald or Drew or something."

We sat in silence for a few minutes.  Finally, I got around to the question that had been bothering me for some time now, "How long before we get to Patience.  I don't want to be caught out in the open at night."  She yawned, "Soon.  Give it thirty more minutes or so.  You'll see it when we get over that next hill.  Speaking of which," she called over her shoulder, "Alright folks, enough rest, night's falling.  We can rest back home."  She stood up, holding her rifle away from me and held out a hand to me.  I looked at it suspiciously, then took it.  She hauled me up to my feet with surprising strength.

She grinned at me, "Thanks again for saving us."  I shrugged, "Any other time, I probably would've left you to die."  Her eyes widened, then narrowed slightly, "Well, I guess I'll keep that in mind.  Wait, aren't the Wolves supposed to help people?"  I nodded, "Yes, but if the battle is hopeless, I'm not going to get myself killed along with everyone else."  She put a hand on her hip and rested her rifle over her shoulder, "How pragmatic of you.  Are all Wolves as self-centered as you?"  I felt a flash of anger bolt through me and growled back, "If we don't stay alive, idiots like you will wander the wastes oblivious to the dangers around you and get yourselves killed."  I flicked the cigarette away and hitched my pack higher, "If we get ourselves killed in heroic last stands, who will keep the mutants, raiders and slavers away from your caravans?  And your homes?  If we didn't give 'em something else to focus on, they'd swamp your little towns and slaughter everyone.  Does that fit the noble image of the stalwart heroes you've concocted?  Guess what, we're people too.  Some have families they want to come back to."

She mused that over before stubbornly asking, "Then where are you when towns are overrun?  Caravans looted?"  I was seething, "We're doing all we can.  We can't protect everyone everywhere.  You need to realize we aren't a bunker to protect you from everything, we're just a shield to take the brunt of this hell off of your shoulders.  I've seen our numbers dwindle protecting the likes of you; friends and allies killed so you can be ignorant.  And yet you whine and complain we aren't doing more, we aren't there to protect you and your family.  Well, I watched some of our warriors give their lives so other families can get away and live on.  But here you stand, telling me that we need to put our lives into every hopeless struggle so that, what?  They die with everyone else?"

I spat on the ground, angrily flicked out another cigarette and lit it.  My throat was aching at all the work I was putting it through.  The cigarette didn't help that, I'm sure, but it did soothe my temper somewhat.  My outburst, while not loud, seemed to have subdued her.  I could tell she wanted to say something, but I turned on my heel and walked towards the hill.  I didn't look back to see if anyone was following.  When I crested the hill, I saw our goal.  She hadn't been lying about that.  In the distance, I saw lights began flickering on inside a walled town cobbled together from debris and what remained of pre-war structures.

The town was in the middle of my view.  Cupped by hills on three sides and a sheer cliff on the fourth.  The land around the town for fifty yards or so was flat and free of any other structures; aside from a few piles of stones and a partial column.  Scattered haphazardly around the town were several pools of murky water.  They must not have been too radiation heavy, otherwise the town would never have been established here.

I heard footsteps behind me.  I didn't turn as I heard the steps.  Instead, I surveyed the land with a critical eye.  Very few places for anything to hide from the sentries on the town walls.  After a slight pause, Sam spoke up, "I'm sorry.  It's hard for us because we only hear stories about the Wolves or the Brotherhood.  We're alone out here."  I turned to look at her, the rest of the group was out of earshot unless we yelled.  Sam was looking at me.  The light from the setting sun was turning her ragged leather armour various shades of orange and streaks of purple.  She had brown hair that was tied into a high ponytail, but wisps had shifted loose and were now being dragged by a weak wind.  I sighed and held up both my hands and spoke past my cigarette, "Don't apologize.  I get it.  That's why we do what we do.  That's why I'm here.  I'm trying to show you that you aren't alone out here.  I'll tell you the same thing I'm going to tell your leaders: You can call on us.  We'll do everything we can to muster help as quickly as possible."

She smiled, then frowned, "But your help has a long way to travel, through extremely dangerous territory.  How can we call on you and get the help we need in time?"  I felt a wolfish grin spread across my face and jerked my head the way we had come, "Just like I did with that scorpion, we'll find a way."

---

Sam didn't think he realized his wrapping had loosened.  As a result, she was able to see he mangled flesh beneath.  "We'll find a way," he repeated.  She saw his grin and it made a shiver run up her spine.  She couldn't help but believe him.

She normally wouldn't trust him, but after the stunt he pulled, she had made an exception.  Even after what he said about leaving them to die, he had contradicted that mentality by defending them.  She wasn't foolish enough to believe that was done out of the goodness of his heart; he had a mission and needed to find Patience, which he couldn't do without them.  Even so, she couldn't help but admire his ferocious attack on the scorpion.  He still risked his own life before the creature had closed in on the group and been distracted killing them.

"For this next bit, you may want to follow behind me.  The sentries are given orders to shoot first, ask questions later.  If they see me, they'll let us pass."  She started off towards town.  As she moved down the hill she looked towards the west, the sun was getting dangerously close to setting.  At least they were close to town, they'd be at the gate just after sunset.  She told the others and scanned the area while she still had a decent view and light.

Viktor settled into pace beside her, she glanced at him and noticed his wrap was back to covering his face.  He must've realized it was loose and fixed it.  She returned to scanning the area and spoke, "Hey, jackass.  I told you, stay behind me unless you wanna get shot."  He grunted, "As much as I like getting shot, I need to know something.  You're fine with a ghoul, but what of the others?  They'll find out shortly after our arrival."  Sam didn't want to answer.

"You have to understand, people out here are not used to strangers at all.  You'll get more attention than you're probably comfortable with.  If they find out you're a ghoul, I can't say.  The Council shouldn't be a problem, but I can't vouch for the citizens.  Some of them don't like each other and they probably won't like you.  But don't worry, you'll be safe while you're here.  It may not be pretty, but this is our home, and we keep the peace."

He let himself fall in behind her and maintained a brooding silence.  At least, she thought he was brooding, it seemed to be his default setting.  She couldn't get a read on him, and she prided herself on being able to understand body language.  With him, not only were his facial expressions hidden from her view, but his physical expressions were as well.  He simply loomed his way through every interaction.  His raspy growl made understanding his verbal tone nearly impossible.

Before long, Marcus stepped up to her, "Boss, how're we gonna explain him," he jerked his head towards their new companion, "to the Council.  Are they gonna buy his tattoo?"  She shrugged, "Not our problem.  He'll stay under guard at all times while in the walls.  I'll let Paulo know as soon as we leave him with the Council."

The shadows lengthened as they walked until the sun dipped below the horizon.  As the night slowly took over the world the group gathered closer together and approached the gate.  Thirty feet from the gate, she heard a loud clack and bright spotlights flared to life and covered their little procession.  Someone on the gates yelled, "STOP!"  Sam sighed and lowered her rifle, she recognized the voice, "Who the hell gave Paulo gate watch?"  She looked up at the general sound of the voice, squinting, and hollered, "Paulo, you insufferable a*s, open the damn gate!"

There was a pause then Paulo yelled back, "Nice to see you too, Captain!  Find anything out there?"  She heard the familiar creaking as the huge metal door slowly slid up.  She nodded and jerked her head towards Viktor, "Yeah, some food, a little ammo and a plus one."  She turned towards the Wolf and said, "This is the part you're not going to like."  He didn't move, just standing in the brilliant light, hands at his side.  From the walls Paulo called out, "Goddammit, Cap.  The Council's gonna have a s**t fit when they hear about this.  Whatever, if he got you convinced, ain't s**t I can do about that.  Alright, plus one, step away from the group, keep your hands where we can see 'em.  We're gonna disarm you and take your gear.  While in town, you're gonna stay that way.  Got a problem with that, scram!"

Viktor slowly lifted his hands up, palms out and slowly stepped forward.  Sam waited a moment then stepped up next to him and muttered, "Right now you have a dozen guns on you.  Don't talk, don't move, don't sneeze.  They'll blast a thousand holes in you before you can wipe your nose."  He stood completely still, his long coat swaying lightly in a growing breeze.  She looked back at the others and called several of them forward.  They stripped his pack and rifle from him, searched him and took a handgun from a holster inside the left side of his coat and another two combat knives; one from each boot.  She was surprised when they pulled several grenades from his coat pockets.  Jesus, this guy was loaded for war.

She stepped up too him and asked, "Is that all?"  His head quirked slightly to one side and he rasped, "You disappointed?"  When she raised an eyebrow he chuckled, "Now I know what kind of girl you are.  There's another pistol on my other side.  Under my shirt."  She felt her lips tug upwards in a slight smile.  She pulled his coat away and lifted his shirt.  Sure enough, inside the waist of his pants was a holster with another handgun.  She tugged it out and handed it to the others.

They bundled his gear together, flanked him and walked into Patience.