2 | IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY / Sailor
Whump4tober Day 2: Sole makes an unwise pit stop in Libertalia. It takes longer than intended.
I swapped around a few of the days in the Fallout 4tober prompt list for artistic reasons, sorry /shrug
In hindsight, it probably hadn’t been the best idea to try to clear a raider hive alone on a city made of boats linked by poorly constructed gangplanks. And definitely not with just her swatter instead of the .44. But Nordhagen had been increasingly concerned by their violent neighbors, and Sole had been in the area on the way down the coast to the Castle, and what was one more raider clearing?
Now, she was locked in a cell, cuffed for good measure, on a barely-floating deathtrap of a boat. All of her possessions gone, including most of her clothing, even down to her hidden bobby pins. And she’d been there for days now, parched and hungry, enduring the jeers of the raiders that swaggered by to gawk at their prize. They hadn’t touched her since she’d been thrown in the cell, though. They were smarter than that. They knew the bars were to protect them from her.
She wasn’t sure how much longer that would be true, though, especially if they kept giving her no more to eat than old bread and the occasional carton of gross, slightly salty water. She wasn’t a hand-to-hand fighter on a good day, and now? She barely had the strength to stand, much less fight her way out.
One of them slouched outside the gate, leering at her. His dress was near obscene in tight leather pants, a ridiculous leather harness that left his whole torso exposed, and a sailor’s hat cocked at an improbable angle. The whole ensemble, raider included, looked like it spent most of its time in the irradiated sea without a wash. But the easy grace he used rocking with the ship’s movements, and the sinister knife currently picking at his nails, dissuaded any thought of an easy target.
“What, you not gonna gimme a smile?”
Sole bared her teeth at him and stayed silent.
“Aww, come on now. We don’t get many pretty little girls like you in the brig. Pretty little heroes.” His gaze turned predatory. “I got lotsa plans for what to do with pretty little heroes.”
Despite the panic building in her gut, Sole had noticed the amount of space the raider still kept between himself and the bars of her cage. She leaned forward where she sat, pretending it didn’t take all of her scant energy, letting the predator burn in her eyes as well. “Why don’t you come where I can reach you and try it?”
His eyes widened in fear.
Then, shouting rang out from outside the boat, and gunshots. Over the flurry of pipe pistols, Sole caught the bam of a shotgun…and the thunder of a laser musket.
Her grin turned feral. “Sounds like plans changed.”
The raider bolted from the room.
The sounds of fighting grew louder and louder, and then abruptly stopped. Soon after, the door to the room was violently kicked in and Hancock and Preston tumbled in. At the sight of Sole, who immediately slumped in exhausted relief, they began clamoring over each other.
“Sunshine! Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes. Let’s get you out of there.”
“Sole! You’re here! Thank goodness we found you. Are you hurt? What did they do to you?”
She managed a smile as Hancock set to work on the lock and Preston stood guard at the far door. “Had worse. They were too scared to lay a hand on me…How did you find me?”
“Smarter than most,” chuckled Hancock as the lock clicked open. “Not that it was enough to save them. You didn’t meet us at the Castle, Preston had a hunch, and here we are. Let’s get you up. Whoa, easy there, easy. Are you sure you can stand?”
She tried, desperately willing her legs to work. We’re still in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of a raider camp, who knows how many of them are left. I’ve gotta be able to fight out. Her legs weren’t convinced though, and they quaked and gave way, draping her heavily against Hancock as he struggled to catch her.
“Hey, uh, Garvey? Gonna need you on this. I’m good, but I’m not sure I’m ‘carry the princess across the ocean to shore’ good.”
She struggled feebly, muttering protests and admonitions and swearing that her legs worked, just give her one more try, but Preston swept her up and across his shoulders with ease. And she found that her energy drained with each word, and it was just so tempting to give in to the sense of safety offered by the warmth and comfort of the muscles beneath her and the hands bracing her. She fought to stay awake, just long enough to see Hancock salvage her belongings and then the shore of Nordhagen on the horizon, and then she finally slipped into sleep.
