Jane, You're Early: Ch. Four
The Target: Enter Lucy.
“Alright, listen up,” Ghoul stopped her before entering town. “Filly ain’t no pony ride, got that? You gotta stick close and listen good. Don’t. Let go. Of my hand.”
El nodded, grasping his sleeve. “What’s pony?”
“I’ll tell ya later, kid. Get a move on.”
Before he could reach the run-down building, El started tugging his hand and whining. In his focused hunt on Dr. Wilzig and the old woman shielding him, Ghoul had missed the third person standing on the porch. A young woman with the biggest doe eyes was watching him. And she was wearing a Vault uniform.
“Shit,” he growled to himself. He shoved El under the flap of his duster, hiding her from the trio’s eyes as quickly as possible.
Ghoul stopped a few paces from the porch. Locals were already starting to scatter at the sight of him. “Now you wouldn’t happen to be a doctor, would ya? ‘Coz I happen t’be lookin’ for one.”
The old woman stepped forward, a steeled look in her eye that spoke to many years of experience with men just like Ghoul. “You know your kind ain’t welcome here.”
“Well… maybe not. But I’m gon’ make myself welcome. Last night a bounty came in through all six agencies, a hefty price for the head of a man that fits the description of that fella right…there.”
The silence that followed was heavy. Wilzig wasn’t even paying full attention to the bounty hunter in search of his head. His gaze was more focused on the little girl hiding in his coat. Ghoul shifted, drawing his duster further over El.
“Now I may not know much,” he continued slowly, “but I do know a biddin’ war when I see one.”
“Maybe.” The old woman lifted her chin. “But I’ve been paid a lot of caps to provide this man safe transport out of Filly–”
Before she could even move a finger, Ghoul had drawn his weapon. A single blast went off as blood and viscera sprayed the porch. He’d shot Wilzig’s foot clean off. The doctor cried out and stumbled over the sudden loss of limb.
El flinched at the echoing shot. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Ghoul’s side to hide from the smell of blood and smoke. She felt a familiar rough hand press her firmly against him to prevent her from bolting.
“Change of plans, I guess.”
The old woman peeked out from over the metal barrel she’d ducked behind. She’d grabbed her shotgun and was hastily loading it. “Don’t shoot ‘im yet! He’s got a hostage!”
Ghoul’s brow furrowed. Hostage? He didn’t have no damn–
Oh.
El. They thought he’d taken El hostage to use as a shield.
For a moment, nobody moved. No one wanted to be the one to shoot first. No one wanted to take the chance of hitting the kid. Ghoul took the opening to turn and shoot his own gun at the scavengers creeping up from the sides. That was all it took for all Hell to break loose.
El could feel the tears sliding down her cheeks as she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sounds of rapid gunfire and screams. Every time Ghoul had to dodge or hide, he scooped her up with one hand and threw her towards where he planned to go. Always putting her first to ensure she didn’t catch a single one of those stray bullets hitting him in the back.
He shoved a handful of cherry tomatoes in his mouth before dumping El behind a toppled over vendor stall. A man bleeding from the neck had already collapsed there, his eyes going wide as the bounty hunter got close.
“I’d offer you one,” Ghoul shrugged, “but you got a hole in your neck.”
He dumped some caps out of his cowboy hat before sitting it on El’s head. “Hang tight, sugar.”
A bark caught his attention as he hurried away from the vendor. There weren’t many folks left to fight aside from that old woman, but he needed to draw the remaining fire away from El. A dog ran forward and clamped down on his leg. He drew his pocket knife and stabbed the beast, forcing it to let go.
A silence fell over Filly. Everyone was either dead or sufficiently injured. Even the old woman had lost her bite, a bullet lodged in her leg.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave him alone.”
The young woman’s voice rang out from the porch. She was the last one standing and the last to draw her weapon. A tranquilizer gun was clutched nervously in one hand. But she wouldn’t allow her nerves to make her back down. Not now, not when it mattered.
She spoke fast, reciting the script she’d learned since grade school, “Now, I acknowledge that I’m unfamiliar with your circumstances. But, at first glance, your treatment of this man appears unfair, and I’m obliged to intervene. Furthermore, you seem to have a young child with you who doesn’t look very happy to be here.”
A low growl rumbled in his throat. He was surprised at how much those words offended him. This Vault brat didn’t know El. She didn’t have a clue whether the kid was willing or not. El gripped his belt as she tried to hide from the woman in blue.
“Now, if your instinct is to harm me, as a person simply trying to deescalate a conflict, then I’ll have to assume, of the two of you, you are likely the primary aggressor. In which case, I think everyone in this town would agree that force is justified. Unless you willingly stand down now.”
Her hand shook as she raised her tranquilizer, but she aimed precisely for his chest. Right where she could be sure she wouldn’t hit the kid on accident. When Ghoul took a firm step forward she fired.
El yelped, watching the tranquilizer embed itself right in his chest. Ghoul pulled it out easily as though it was just a splinter. “Well that is a very small drop in a very, very large bucket of drugs.”
The authoritative look on her sweet face wavered. It was clear the Vaultie hadn’t thought past this point, and had clearly never dealt with a ghoul since coming out of her vault. Ghoul raised his gun with a much steadier hand than her own,
“You keep your prissy hands away from my–”
“She said stand down, Ghoul.”
Another voice caused both of them to freeze. A heavy suit of armor descended in the distance. The silver steel looked a little worse for wear, but there was still a strength to it. It took a special kind of strength to wield those suits, The Ghoul would know.
The suit stepped closer. “Knight Titus of the Brotherhood of Steel. Either stand down, or be cut down.”
“You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin’ me,” Ghoul drawled with a wry smile.
The Vaultie smiled faintly herself, making eye contact with the eye holes of the armor. She clearly knew whoever powered it, trusting them to handle the situation. She nodded sharply and her eyes darted towards the vendor cart.
She was running before Ghoul had a chance to dodge the power armor charging at him. His focus was caught between backing away and watching as that damn Vaultie picked up El and ran inside the building with her.
“FUCK!” he cursed, dodging again. Whoever this was, they were clearly inexperienced. Their movements were slow and clumsy as though still adapting to the controls. But they were still blocking his path towards the building.
He needed to get in there, now.
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