FALLOUT: Sievert - Vol.4: Divergence

Chapter 39 - Troublesome

I sit upon my knees before I could stand up. I get tackled back down by Claire and she lays over me on her hands and knees as she's done many times before, her tail floofed out. She was wearing a Recon Suit with a hood covering her hair and ears.

"I've been worried sick! Literally, I got sick from worrying. When the Recon team told me you got captured, I knew I had to save you! So, I became a Forward Operations Observer to try and work to getting you back!" She explains off the rail with joy in her voice.

Claire looks around from where we came from. "Let's go before your captors come back!" She says in a forced whisper. As if it would matter now.

I pushed her off me, "No way, I don't think I can trust the Enclave. From what I've seen and heard, I think they're the bad guys here. They destroy towns that don't assimilate and don't care about endangering others!" I say with prejudice.

Claire looks at me then raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Okay, and? We are being taken care of. The Enclave is all we need. Look! I've even been made a Warrant Officer in your place!" She says while pointing at her rank patch on her shoulder.

"No, Claire, I just, can't go back to the Enclave. I don't think they're in the right." I say trying to convince her.

"So what, you're just going to leave me?" Claire says sitting up in a more aggressive tone.

Before I could respond, Blaire comes rushing in with her sword drawn, Claire kicks herself back out of her range.

"Whose this!? Lyn?" Claire panders in a low voice.

Again, before I can respond. Daniel and Mark run out of the foliage, Daniel yelling like the time she fought me, swinging her arms in a pattern fighting stance as Mark had his gun at aim, firing it.

I try to stop them, "No, Wai-" But I see that Mark was shooting other soldiers in the trees further in.

Blaire pulls Daniel back and Mark helps me to my feet before he moves to a tree to my far left for cover.

I hold my hand out. "Please Claire, there's a better way, just come with me." I say with a gentle and needing tone.

Claire looks at Blaire, then Daniel, then at me; Claire had hate in her eyes, "You left me for new friends, huh, then they attack me? Whatever. Enjoy your time with them. I'll lead and push the Enclave to where it needs to go, traitor." As she said this, my face fell and my mouth fell open slightly.

Claire held her chest as she backs off into the fog and forestry with what I saw was a tear run down her cheek, the enemy fire rose thereafter. They couldn't see us but knew our direction. We stayed low and crawled out of the area, back to the barn.

I hopped into my power armor as fast as I could. But for some reason, right when I got in, tears ran down my face and I couldn't help but sniffle as I started to cry. We ran out of the area, following the road west, silently huffing.

...7 hours later...

   Another 7 hours on walking at pace and short breaks. We reached the main road again and headed south, changing our direction to the airport Hanna was at, rather than returning to the South Idaho Guard. We passed what looked like an airport with old pre-war aircraft littering the runway and over-growth reclaiming the asphalt.

We continued through Baker City. It was mostly still intact and full of street stalls and merchant bazaars. We didn't stop till the end of the city, picking up some fruit that I've never seen before, but were apparently Daniel's favorite. I noticed that there were no soldiers in the city, but instead its own police force.

We moved along and tried to not stop too much in worry that we might have a death squad following us. The next 5 days were very uneventful. A lot of walking and a lot of talking. But we finally reached Battle Mountain.

  Walking into the city, it had US Military in Advanced tan-colored Combat Armor, most of these groups of soldiers had R91s, some had Wattz-2000s, while much fewer carried M60s. Some Power Armor units dotted the cityscape and between civilians as well.

As we were reaching the end of the town, I started to recognize the city limits. The overcast made it easy on my eyes. A new military camp went up on the outskirts of the town as well, sporting a shooting range, a helicopter landing area, and a constructible radio tower. I wondered why they were doing all this here, rather than the Forward Operations Air Base just a few more miles down the road.

"Looks like the forward unit that was to go to Trinity was held back and ordered to dig in here," Daniel said, answering my thoughts as if she was telepathic.

As we walked to the end of the encampment, I hear a yelp to my right. I then hear, "Private! Ya-are suppose to be in the messhaw' for la' Captain's overview." An older woman says in an accent I've never heard of before. I stop to turn around, a woman in T-51B Power armor; she had a rank patch on her upper left chest piece. It was 3 stripes up, one stripe down. If I remembered correctly, this was a Staff Sergeant. She didn't wear her helmet that exposed her almost jet-black-looking shaggy short hair and light tanned complexion.

Daniel looks at the woman then counters her, "I'm uh. Not in this unit, I'm passing through."

"Yeh just happen the be passin' through, in full battle gear? Bull dah shit! I am order'n yah to get to la' messhawl! Now!" She starts to raise her voice.

Daniel tries to convince her, "N.no really! I'm here escorting the VIP for First Sergeant Hanna!

"I don't know, no Sergeant Hanna; Get To The Messhaw', NAOW!" She lifted Daniel by her collar off of her feet.

I fully turned around looking at the woman; I ran a quick thought through my head, 'Maybe I could pull rank on her to get her to understand.'

"First Sergeant, I appreciate your duty, but we are not a part of this unit, we are needing to report to the FOAB as soon as we can."

Before I could push with my plan 2 men in Advanced Combat Armor and 'M.P.' On their chest, rushed up armed with R91 in hand. "What's going on here?"

The First Sergeant looked over at me, "The FOAB? It ma job as MP to prevent any desertin'. No one here is to report to the FOAB, we're standin' by to push into the enemy! You would know that if you were at the Captain's speech right now!"

"Look, were not part of this group, were just walking past." I state.

Daniel backs me up, "Ya! I said that too!"

The First Sergeant then swings her fist, I didn't move, she planted a clean right hook into my helmet's muzzle device, pushing my head to the right. "Or maybe, yer all just a bunch of SPIES! Yer in full combat gear!"

I looked back at the woman who struck me, then see the MPs; they raised their rifles. "Guard unit, arrest these traitors!"

I then got confused. "First Sergeant... No, Sergeant. Explain yourself now before there is court-martial added to your punishment." I looked over at the MPs, 1 was a young man the other a young woman, they both looked to fit each other in low confidence.

She repeated her last order for us to be arrested. Before they could move, I reached into my bag to pull my Warrant officer patch out. I then hear a hysterical tone of voice come from the woman in power armor "She's reaching for a gun! shoot! SHOOT!"