Part 32: Jefferson Part 1: Mutants and Mastermines

My writing quality seems to be taking a general nosedive.

Post 32: Mutants and Mastermines

Dear Diary,



Today we cleaned out another insipid little town. Well, they're all little towns, aren't they? They ruins might be rearranged and the bad guys might change, but it's always something small and wicked. Much like humanity at large, I guess.

Flashman left to guard the Shwimmwagen he called it, while he and Stumpy ran out to clear the building. He never changes - no stacking up on the door, no grenades, nothing from out training. Just drugs himself till his eyes are nearly black and runs forth, frothing all the while.

And here I only ever get flat pre-war beer. Typical.



Stumpy cleared out the mines - seems like he's finding a lot more use these days. No longer just a beatstick and a nice piece of ass.

Flashman told him to clear out the first floor, while he ran upstairs, Was he not afraid of mines up there? Might be that he's so high, he doesn't even notice them. I think it takes all his strength to still give commands, instead of just running off to kill, kill, and kill till he dies.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Flashman embodies humanity more than these little towns.



Sure enough, he found company. It's always so similar, when he reports his encounters on drugs. He always describes it as a red tinged blur, pinkish shapes moving till they suddenly stop.



Stumpy is much more eloquent. He's as intelligent as Flashman (or perhaps Flashman is as intelligent as Stumps).



To hear him tell it, it was boring. "Mines on every door" he says "nothing special inside". The hubris of that man! Mines, boring!

Maybe I should hand him my medicine, maybe he'd find going after the wounded to be more rewarding.



Then again, he told me he found some himself. Some grenades, too, and .50 cal ammo. No doubt I'll see Flashman taking the links from Stumps and loading them in the M2.

A man of rage and a block of steel. Almost abstract in their element.

I'm happy enough with my sleek little P90. So strange, so complex, so sexy and deadly... why, it's the perfect weapon for a girl like me!





And apparently Flashman used the time to carry out a classical maneuver.

Running up to Super Mutants and blasting them at point blank.

I bet the elders are all slapping their foreheads and going "of course! Why didn't I think of that?"



"All for nothing", that's how Flashman described the loot.

The man has been obsessed with snagging every last bit of stuff we find. If it's not bolted down, we take it and sell. People can hardly walk after the missions, good thing we have that humwee... well, APC now.



Stumpy, on the other hand, discovered that the rest of the building has actual nothing.



Of course, Ice - wonderful, lovable Ice - spotted some company ahead, likely an ambush.



I wonder what those muties were thinking while they waited for us.





Doesn't matter. We could hear explosions and gunfire coming from the roof. It's likely that our fearless leader found some mutants and rushed in.

Only fools rush in love, but what do they say about those who rush into gunfire?





When I next saw him, he seemed to be happy to have found more RPG rounds.It's hard to see him smile, what with the constant gnashing of teeth while he's sky high, but he was happy.

Must be a guy thing. He can't even see clearly enough to fire those rockets at anyone. Must be a guy thing.

He also had a bag of grenades. I almost wish I had had some training with them, the mutants seem to be shedding the stuff left and right.



It was sleek, metalic and cold, our first laser pistol. I've heard about lasers before, especially when Flashman told us how he pummeled a turret back in Preoria.

He was smiling when he told us the tale. Not five minutes after explaining how his brother died from scorpion poison.

A cold man, that Flashman.



He took Ice, he did, and told her to work her sniping magic on the mutant ambush. I think he stayed with her, for a while.





Ice is so cool. Never flinches, never shows fear. Calm, collected, just sending shots downrange.

I don't think I've ever seen as happy as when Flashman handed her an actual sniper rifle.

Oh Ice.



Anyways, the rest of us had to move up since the building was mostly considered clear. Ah, but it was still dangerous. Stumpy had to run around disarming traps on doors.





"The strangest thing" he said commenting on one door "I kept disarming the trap, but it kept rearming itself. Have never seen that before".

Heh, I guess we should be happy that mines don't rearm themselves, dear diary.



It was then when pointed out to Flashman that the building was actually connected to the one beside him... and he stormed off, machinegun in hand. I hate it when he does that, but, well, that saves me from getting shot at, and Stitch dresses most of his wounds anyway. No sweat off my brow.



Apparently he noticed a mutie patrol in the nearby ruins and orders came for us to get in position to ambush them.





Ice was to relocate on the roof. She found one of those things called "helicopters". A sort of ancestor to vertibird, as Flashman told us.

The muties put a mine just in front of the pilot door.

Muties with a sense of humor, who would have thought.



Of course, Stumpy had to deal with with the more strategically placed mines that barred the exit from the second part of the building.

"Like digging up green deadly taters" he said "so just like digging actual taters, when you think about it".



Meanwhile, Stein got ready to ambush the muties with his MG. Stein... he's a good enough soldier, enough, but he's still so immature. Give him a gun and he thinks he can take on the world.

Flashman has to take drugs to get in that mood; Stein has no excuse.

Boys will be boys, even after the world has died, I guess.



The man himself joined Stein, but...



Running that high on drugs, Flashman gets bored FAST. Managed to clean out a building while waiting for an ambush.

I think this will end with an another week in the desert of him sweating, shitting and puking, but it's "worth it".



He did manage to get back to the ambush in time, which is nice. I don't want to face mutants in my leater armor, not one bit.

However, Flashman also broke out the RPG. It's like he has a fetish or something. Aaah, so male of him to lug around a shoulder mounted phallus.





The muties did spot them, no surprise and charged in.



Now, Flashman managed to hit one of them with an RPG round, and the MG fire finished him off, as well as scything down another mutant.

The reaper stalks the land these days, but her cold tool has been replaced by a cold black machinegun.

No, considering the war, it must be a minigun. Can't reap that many people with a scythe.



Though Flashman tries with his M2. Think he burned through the last of the ammo that Stumpy found right there.





The mutants weren't exactly helpful, either. If they're not slinging grenades or steel pipes, they're likely armed with SAWs and 7.62mm.

And everyone's already swimming in 7.62.

Though that isn't nearly as pretty as Ice taking a bath in all that money...



Well, enough of that or excitement. Stumpy was sent out to clear the nearby rubble, seeing how mutants mine everything. Things of note:

a dead Nuka Kola truck

cheeky graffiti about secret doors.



Otherwise, it was empty and boring.

Flashman decided to split the squad:

He, Stitch and Stein would check out the train station back at the bend of the road

Me, Ice <3 and Stumpy would stay here and provide rear guard, just in case.





Of course, this actually meant that Flashman would run head first to the station, and Stitch would be left to hang around with Stein.

Stitch, Stumpy, Stein... I'm a little concerned with the prevalence of "S" names among our squad.



We didn't have to time to chitchat, dear diary, no. First, we heard shots from the station. Long, sustained fire - sounded like Flashman. Likely he found one lonely mutant.



And we had our own problems, too. Apparently, there was another mutant patrol, a very small one. Just a pipe armed mutie and his dog. Ice spotted them, but it was mostly for me and Stumpy to deal with it.

I moved to cover the entrance to the booth where Ice was set up. I wonder if she noticed... Ah, those cold blue eyes...



I don't even remember what color Flashman's eyes are, that's how jacked up he's most the time.

Stitch later told me that he ran off to finish off a mutant that Ice knocked out...



...and stormed an entrenched position all by himself.



Stitch would know, he had to patch him up. I always wonder how does the armor survive his adventures.



...and the great leader proceed to run off and find some more drugs. I swear, that man can sniff out drugs and trouble wherever he goes.



All the while, Stein got attacked by... well, something.



Flashman went to check it out (he slices, he dices, he charges into ambushes without back up!) and found two dead mutants.





One of them had grenades, but the other one was hilarious. Spears! In this day and age! It's almost like the time when Macombians tried to get us with rocks.





He also picked up a flamethrower somehwhere... this is not going to end well.

Back when he was still punching people... well, at least then I avoided the smell and it used to be Stitch who clean up any stray bits of skull or brain matter from his armor.

Flamers... they stink up the place,



And of course, he went and found another mutant... and an another mindefield.

Ah, but he had to wait there, oh he had to.



That's because Stumpy was going through a field of death taters nears the station. Now why would mutants mine a random patch of ground that leads nowhere? It's a mystery.



I also heard that Stitch found an another sniper rifle. Maybe I'll be able to get into a sniper duo with Ice. Just like we used to do, before Flashman took away my hunting rifle and gave me an SMG.

Laying side by side, picking off targets, listening to her slow breathing...



Ah, well. Well, Stumpy arrived and Ice had to provide sniper cover...



Which she did perfectly, but you could have already guessed that, diary. Oh, if only I could have seen that, instead of being relegated to my post...



Why, the mutant was dead even before Stumpy started demining proper!



After that little adventure, we were finally closing in on the first generator we had to destroy.

And by "we" I mean Flashman, because of course he ran ahead.



Strangely enough, the generator was guarded by two muties, primitive ones, no gun or anything.



Just grenades. Sad, sad grenades that don't really faze Flashman. I'd say that it's the armor, but he did run into to that other 'nade chucking maniac back in the raider base.

I guess it's just all Flashman, then.



Well, at least he found some medkits. Gave me one, too.

Probably the highest point of the mission right there!