I quietly thanked Nememiah, sighing. I couldn't help but want to rest, but I refused. I got up and walked over to my pack, I opened it up, pulled out some vodka and took a swig. I just couldn't help it, I needed it so bad. I needed to forget, even Nememiah couldn't help at the moment. It was to late though, I shuddered feeling the memories come back to me. I saw the people screaming as the ghouls and mutants slaughtered them, I shuddered in horror as I realised I couldn't do anything. I screamed out, in my memories and in real life, I fell to the ground and closed my eyes. I couldn't take it, I couldn't take it, "I can't take it! Blood, everywhere, corpses..." I muttered, I realised that one of the shots must've hit something in my head, making old memories return. I shuddered, I almost cried but I ended up choking. "Nememiah, say something, please, get these memories out of my head!" I half yelled, half sobbed at him.

How something like this could happen to a person like me I never would've guessed, but I just couldn't stand it. Not even the man with the strongest mind could've walked away from what I'd seen and still be sane...

Nememiah looked up from treating Sergeant at the ghoul, curled up on the floor. Was it the pain from the shot? No... there were enough painkillers in his bloodstream to knock out a rhino. This was something else. He almost wished it was the shot wound - physical damage, he could deal with. Emotional damage... that was beyond his abilities.

I looked up at Nememiah from my spot on the ground, he was just staring at me, I grimaced, bared my teeth and managed to claw my way up. I walked over to him, then crouched down to his level. "Nememiah, I've seen something that completely screwed up my head, I'd forgotten it for a long time, decades, but I can remember it now. Please, kid, my friend, tell me something to get my mind off it, please, something that would surprise me," I whispered to him, feeling as though I'd collapse again. I brang the vodka to my lips again and took another swig, the alcohol was diluting my whole system, I could feel it. I could feel something else as well, a kind of roughness in my psychic, a kind of gutteral feeling to kill... I shook my head, getting the thoughts out of my sub-conciousness.

Nememiah searched his head for something to say, anything. He stared at Andy, open-mouthed, unsure of what secrets he could reveal that would distract the ghoul. He thought of something, a secret he had hid, even from Andy since the beginning. It was all he had.

"My real name... it's James." said Nememiah. He hadn't heard that name in a long time. It provoked images of Rivet City, running down the metal corridors as a child, his mother, his father... he wiped a tear from his eye. "Pleased to meet you." he said with a pathetic smile.

I looked up at him, James, I half-smiled, "It's nice to meet you, James, thank you, I think you just saved my life," I put my hand on his shoulder, I looked into his eyes, "I'm sorry I probably just made you do something you didn't want to, I just needed to..." I stopped, not going on, not wanting to remember, I grinned, I patted James on the back, "Well, James, I'll still call you Nememiah around everyone else if you want," I muttered, thinking that's what he'd probably want. "Oh and by the way, your a true friend, I owe you a debt, you can hold me to that," I whispered, grinning, "And now, a toast, to you," I pulled out my vodka, took a swig and threw it away, half full.

((OOC: I am going to sleep, poor me, I'll be on... Let's say... 18 hours? Lollollolollloooolololl, ok, night guys.))

Unaware of the goings on for the other half of their party, Taylor fired another shot that penetrated into the heart of a raider and dropped him. Bullets flew through the fence he was using as cover, so he climbed out and ran over to a concrete divider and ducked behind it. Not noticing him, a raider hopped over it and was disembolwed by a quick slash from Taylor's make-shift bayonet. He hazarded a look at the rest of his group before yelling "Move in! We have to break through!" He knew Rice was in charge, but Taylor was pretty good with tactics, and it kind of came naturally. He whipped around cover and did a roadie run torwards the entrance.

Jordan

Watching the scene between the human and the ghoul was strange, to say the least. He couldn't understand how the humans trusted that Zombie to stick around with them.

"Damn, this is like a soap opera. I have no idea what that means but it sounds pretty weird, like this crap" he barked at the party.

He walked up to Jake and whispered to him; "That was always the difference between you and the Brotherhood. Your compassionate, you let that walking corpse stick with ya, if it was me I would have used hi body for target practice. One day its going to come back at you and bite you in the rear Jakey" he tried whispering to Jake. Of course, the voice modulator on his armor amplified the sound, so it was very likely the others heard him.

He looked back at Jake to be met with a blank stare, strange, though he wasn't surprised, Jake was unpredictable in his opinion.

"So what the hell are you folks doin' out here in the armpit of the Capital Wasteland anyway? Got some kinda death wish?"

Edward noticed he was starting to get pinned down. He pulled out his Combat Shotgun and started shooting at any Raider who got close, cutting a bloody path towards the entrance where Taylor was running. He got behind a concrete wall and started shooting at the Raiders inside a destroyed building with Ol' Painless.

(OOC: Sorry for not posting recently. Had a lot of college work to do )

Sam slowly came round from a startling blow from a Raider near the start of the encounter, thinking she was finished the Raider had ran off. She pulled herself up and took cover behind a rock, hearing the gunfire of her comrades and the yells of Raiders. She heard Taylor's shouting and stood up to run in the direction. As she walked around the rock, the Raider she had encountered before swung around from behind the rock, knocking her down with a blow to the head. She rolled onto her back, looking up at the manic looking Raider. "Pretty girl..." He muttered, pulling a switchblade out of her jacket and advancing on her. Sam lashed her foot out, catching him in the abdomen and using his own momentum, sent him over the top of her. She scambled around and lashed down with her trench knife, pinning his throat to the ground. The gurgling sound the Raider could still be heard as she pulled the blade out and ran after Taylor.

Taylor elbowed a charging raider in the nose, sending the bone backward into her brain. He brought his rifle around and shot a raider in the shoulder. He rocked backwards, but kept coming before Taylor could prepare for another shot, so he slashed out with his bayonet and cut his throat open and kept moving. He shot another raider, and picked up the grenade he dropped, pulling the pin and tossing it into a rusted bay (back of a semi when it's hauling), hearing screams and seeing bodies fly out as the frag went off. Taylor again slid behind cover, opening a bottle of Buffout and popping a pill, feeling himself get stronger. He stood again and jumped back into the chaos. He didn't have time to wonder how four people could take down an entire raider camp. This camp was where the Enclave gathered the fighters for the arena Alfons was trapped in. And they enjoyed it, so there was a drastically low number of them.

(OOC: I think it adds reason, and a bit of lore to the situation)

Rice put a bullet in to a raider running towards him. The man stumbled down and quickly died. Rice took cover from the remaining Raiders showering him with bullets. He ran out away from the camp after one particular raider wielding a sword. The man spotted him and fumbled for his pistol. Rice kicked the gun from his hand and lashed with his sword. The man avoided it and swung his own sword. Rice parried and went for another blow. This one connected with the man and sliced of his arm. The man screamed and bled, so Rice finished him with a quick stab. Rice spit on the carcass. Something he enjoyed doing to the raiders. He sheathed his sword and withdrew his assault rifle. He was about to load it with some ammo when he heard a noise. A clinking.... noise. He turned around. It was to late. His face was covered with a rag and he was sprayed with a liquid. Rice tried to yell but it was to late. The last thing he heard was the voice of a man. "This one will do good in the arena..."

Edward finished off the last Raider he could see with Ol' Painless, then threw Frag Grenades he picked off dead Raiders into the building, killing any Raiders who Ol' Painless didn't kill. Edward looked around and could see Sam stabbing a Raider in the throat with a Trench Knife, while Taylor was in the middle of the choas killing Raiders left and right. He had lost Rice in the choas, however. Edward then looked at himself and noticed that other than some dents in his Combat Armor, he hadn't been shot at all. He then noticed that the remaining Raiders were pulling back behind a metal gate. These Raiders were armed to the teeth and sported Metal Armor and Metal Helmets, as well as lacking the drugged out look of regular Raiders in exchange for the look of hardened professionals. Edward then yelled at the others, "The Raiders are falling back, but these guys look like they're professionals, probably former mercenaries, so watch out."

Taylor turned and caught sight of Rice being dragged away by armored Raiders. He took off torward them, firing his rifle. No luck, the bullets bounced off the armor without doing more than making the raiders a bit dizzy. Taylor slung the rifle around his back as he ran, stooping down and snatching up an assualt rifle, firing the remainder of the clip at the men dragging Rice away. Feeling invincible from the Buffout, he looked around for something more powerful. His eyes fell on a sniper rifle a raider had dropped. He ran over and scooped it up. It was a piece of crap, but it would work for a bit. He turned, aimed, and fired, the slug slamming into the head of the raider carrying Rice. It broke through the helmet easily, and he dropped. The others fired back, the humor of his failure at the last attempt gone at the loss of their comrade. Taylor ducked behind what was left of a building before popping around again and taking aim, sighting another raider's head, starting to sqeeze the trigger, until the Buffout wore out. His vision swam, and he felt weak as he used his hands to navigate back into cover. "[censored] it, somone get Rice!"

Edward yelled, "I'll get Rice!", and started shooting at the Raiders who had captured Rice with Ol' Painless, the shots deflecting off the armor. One Raider turned back to look and was shot right through his visor by Ol' Painless, killing him instantly. Unfortunately, Rice was picked up by what appeared to be Enclave Soldiers who ran towards the arena along with the Raiders. Edward tried to kill their leader, but the bullet just bounced off his Power Armor. He could only watch as the Enclave were able to get to the gate. Edward yelled, "[censored], Rice!", and started beating the ground in anger while saying, "I failed, I failed...", as he noticed the others getting closer.

Rice woke up in a small room. He immediately looked around. He was alone. All he had on were some rags. The room was illuminated by one little light. A metal door stood on one side. He noticed his gun was gone, but his sword and knives were still on him. He withdrew his sword and swung at the thick door. Nothing. It was made of solid steel. Rice tried a few more times before he gave up. "How could I let this happen!" He kicked the door to no avail. Rice sat on the metal ground. His eyes were tearing up. "If I get my hands on one of them..." Before Rice could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a booming voice. "Look's like we have new meat! Let's see how he fairs against Bertha and Betty!" Rice screamed. The door opened and he was in a dark circular room. It was quite large. He looked up to see only darkness, although he could tell there were people up there watching. "Is that what you think is entertaining! Is this it?" Rice yelled out. Suddenly an identical door opened. "Bertha and Betty." Rice laughed. But out came something he didn't suspect. Two Yao Guai. Unusually large and covered with fur.

Some distance away now, Nememiah looked up at the newcomer. In the chaos, he hadn't noticed him approach. "Well..." he bagan to answer the question with a dry throat. "Enclave troops kidnapped a friend. We're trying to get him back." He had cut the story short. He didn't feel like reciting a long passage at the moment.

Finding his feet, Nememiah patted the dust off his body, before offering a hand to the stranger. "Call me Nememiah. And you are?"

I looked at the man that James was extending his hand to, well, Nememiah as he wanted everyone else to call him. I just shook my head, this guy didn't sit right with me, I had decent ears, so I heard what he'd said. I scowled, I hoped he'd get torn apart by Ferals. I looked down at my rifle and started repairing it, the painkillers in my system would keep me going for a long time.

Jordan

Jordan took the Wastelanders hand in his, giving it a light squeeze, because anything to hard would have broken 'Nememiah's' hand because of his power armor.

"King, Jordan King, Ex-Brotherhood, pleased to meet ya."

All the while the ghoul stood off a bit to the left glaring at him, he must have heard what he had said. Bloody miracle too, considering how rotten the damn thing was. It wasn't that Jordan had anything personal against Ghouls, but his father had brought him up to not trust them, and the Brotherhood had a 'shoot first ask questions later' policy with ghouls.

Although, achieving something in the wastes was easier with a group, so if they would let him, he'd stick around, and that meant he would have to get used to the Ghoul.

He svcked up his pride and walked over to the Ghoul.

"Jordan King," he said as he stuck out his hand slowly heaving up his bulky armor, "pleased to meet you too." I guess... he thought to himself.

Edward finished beating himself up and stood up. He had a look of grim determination on his face as he turned to the others and said, "Let's get Rice and Alfons and destroy this outpost, but first, let's wait for the others to get here."

Taylor recovered from coming off the Buffout and came back to his feet. He took his rifle from around his back just to feel it's security. "Regroup over here!" he yelled for anyone to hear. Any raiders left were cowards without numbers, so he wasn't worried about that. "Rice is gone, and we need a new leader" he said, not bothering to be political about it "I'd like to nominate myself" he said as well. They needed a leader, and he was willing and able, but of course it was up to the others.

Edward said, " I don't care who's leader, with Rice gone we'll need to modify the plan. Any ideas?" Edward then thought, "Rice being gone definitely complicates things, and I'm pretty sure he still has designs on cutting and running off with the tech, but he's still a member of this group and no one should be experimented on or killed for entertainment."

I looked at the man, extending his hand to me, I scowled. He didn't like me, I didn't like him, but obviously he was smart enough to not want to be on my bad side. I put my hand out, shaking his, "Name's Andy, I already heard yours," I spat out, "Sorry if I don't seem very friendly, I just kind of had a near-death experience," I then dropped his hand and backed off a bit from him. He was ex-brotherhood, which meant he had training. But if he so much decided as thinking about betraying us, I'd make sure he wouldn't walk or breath again.

I decided to voice my thoughts, "Well, Jordan, if Jake's happy with you, so am I, but so much as think about betraying us, I won't be happy, understand?" I muttered to him, "Just cause you have fancy training don't mean nothin' to me, I've had more years than you'd care to know, so keep that trigger finger away from the trigger near me," I grumbled out, I then walked over to Nememiah/James side and stood next to him. Waiting to see what Jake would want us to do.

Jordan

Jordan silently chuckled to himself as the ghoul introduced him. The corpse actually thought it could kill him. Jordan was sure the ghoul was a great fighter, and could take down a number of these wasteland bastards, but when you try threatening a trained soldier with Power Armor and laser technology with an old gun, you were downright crazy.

On the other hand, the ghoul had balls, he had to admit that, at least he didn't cower at Jordan's feet like a lot of these wasteland scum.

Jordan remembered Andy's words about a near death experience, and sure enough he could tell a bullet had hit him in between the eyes.

Damn.

Maybe he had underestimated this guy, he was up and walking after just being shot in the head.

Andy had just taken his first steps in gaining Jordans respect.

(OOC: I don't know where the leader of our party is [Jake] but it would probably be best if we didn't just stand around, so I'm going to get us moving again to keep up the action. Sorry if this upsets anyone)

Just then they realized there was the loud sound of a small war going on somewhere to in the near distance.

"The others..." someone muttered, "we better go help!" the speaker yelled before the new people Jordan had just met started to run off towards the gunshots.

Jordan had no idea where they were going, but they would probably need his help, and he would need theirs, so he took of after them, easily catching up as his Power Armor pushed him forward at a fast pace.

Jordan started running off, so I followed him, James was behind me and Jake was following. Quite quickly I caught up to Jordan, then overtook him, I laughed, "Kid, training doesn't count for everything, but that armor's pretty nice, I doubt you'd even be tired!" I then chuckled, I kept on running past him, I was pretty tall for a ghoul, so my legs were long. James was falling behind though so I slowed down a bit for him, I saw that Jordan had good ears, there seemed to be almost a mini war between the other people in the group and some things I couldn't quite make out. I panted, I was running out of energy after sprinting, James was panting too so we slowed down the pace.

Jordan seemed to be almost in control at the moment so I shrugged, he was young but he knew what he was doing. He had training, but I'd show him what his training would mean if he came up against me, years take preference over fancy technology quite quickly. I laughed, thinking about his smug face being turned into a hollow neck in a split second, I grinned. Then shook my head, I really was starting to turn feral, that'd probably mean I'd start going crazy, killing everything that didn't seem friendly. But when I fully turned, I wouldn't be able to control myself, which means I actually hoped that Jordan could take me down. I grimaced, the other bunch of people who were our 'friends' managed to fight the others off, killing them. I waited to see what Jordan would want us to do, in the mean time, I'd concentrate on keeping the thoughts out of my head.

The bigger one charged at Rice first. Most likely the dominant of the two. Rice dove to one side just as the beast struck the door behind him. It growled and lashed out with filthy fangs. Rice one again avoided the blow. He unsheathed his sword and brought it up. The bear growled louder this time and backed away. The smaller one across the stadium charged this time. Before Rice could dodge it the creature leaped up and caught him on his side. It left 3 huge marks on his side. Blood spilled across the stadium. Cheers from above rang out. Rice felt the pain fluster his side. He cursed and spat on the ground. Suddenly the large one leaped. Rice was smart this time and quickly ducked under the creature. It turned around for another leap but Rice brought up his sword and parried the strike, leaving a gash on the Yao Guai's neck. It stumbled back but did not give up.

The second one came back for more. Rice swiftly avoided the strike. He felt blood seep out from his side. He cringed. Betty, the smaller one as he figured out from the crowd above, was fierce. She let out a stiff growl. Rice growled back drowning out the creature. It howled and went in for another strike. This time Rice didn't dodge it. Instead he swung his sword in a swift, powerful motion. It caught Betty on the side and tore its rib cage in to pieces. Betty howled as she fell to the floor, obviously dead. Bertha howled. A long sorrowful howl. Then she charged at full speed towards him. Rice brought out his two knives he kept in his pockets. One was slim and long for stealthy kills, while the other was a hunting knife armed with a wicked blade. Rice sheathed the smaller knife. "Bring it." was all he said. And the creature did. It sprung high, its blade like claws gleaming in the dark. Rice ducked. His adrenaline took control. He quickly stuck his knife up as he ducked hoping to catch the creature. He couldn't tell if he did. The knife flew of somewhere. "No!" Rice yelled. The Yao Guai hit the ground heavily. It turned it's body slowly. Rice quivered.

God had graced Rice this fine day. His eyes were level with Bertha. A whining noise came from the creature. Rice dropped his sword. He couldn't do it anymore. The wound on his side felt horrible. He couldn't breathe. A single tear fell from his eye as bertha stumbled up. Her eyes were no longer fierce. Suddenly. Suddenly it happened. The abominations chest broke. Blood and guts spilled in front of Rice. He gasped. He saw two men armed with laser rifles come up to him and grab him. He blacked out. He did hear the gasping and muttering from above, though.