Crawled Out Through The Fallout

Chapter 33

We were about to go under a highway when Paladin Danse stopped suddenly. I nearly ran into his back, but instead I stopped and stood next to him.

"We're not alone."

He ran forward and began shooting his laser rifle at the group of raiders. I followed after him, took cover behind a car and began taking them down one by one. I watched as he charged towards the raiders, knocking them on their asses and shooting them. I was impressed, he is pretty awesome in that power armor. I decided I needed a set for myself. I watched him kill all the raiders, then wait for me on the other side of the road. I ran around and took all the ammo, stimpaks, and valuable things from the raiders. Then I jogged to catch up with Danse.

"That was some good shooting. Remind me to take you with me next time I need to clear a place out. Or perform a heist."

I joked and looked up at the tall guy in power armor. He narrowed his eyes, unamused. I gulped and kept up with his jogging pace. I followed him silently the rest of the way, not wanting to make him dislike me. We arrived at the front of ArcJet Systems. Paladin Danse turned to me and took out his helmet.

"Listen up. We are here to retrieve the transmitter. We may be faced with enemies, so watch your fire. I don't want to get hit by any stray bullets. Last,  no heroics. You are of no use if you are dead. Got it?"

I frowned at the condescending attitude, but responded like a soldier.

"I hear you."

"Good. Let's go."

He pushed the helmet on and opened the doors. I followed him inside.

The first room was open and filled with debris. I began picking through it for useful materials. 

"It was corporations like these that put the last nail in the coffin for mankind."

I nodded to him as I got up.

"I see."

He walked through a door into a lab. I watched as he tried to open the next door, but failed. 

"We need to unlock this."

I found a terminal that unlocked that door, but no password. I searched the room, and found the password written on a notepad next to another terminal. I entered it in and unlocked the door. I was proud of myself for figuring it out. I looked around the room and noticed Danse had left me behind. I ran to catch up and accidentally bumped into his back. He looked down at me.

"See those robots? Their security has been taken down."

I looked at the destroyed robots.

"Someone got here before us. Are they after the transmitter as well?"

"The fact they are here before us isn't important. The problem here is that there is no blood."

I nodded. 

"So whoever is here, they're either very good at this, or they don't bleed."

Danse nodded.

"My guess is synths. We must proceed with extreme caution."

"You got it, Paladin."

I followed as he made his way through the ruined hallways. I wasn't used to following someone else's lead, especially someone so stiff. At least he knew how to take down enemies easily. 

We made it to the bottom of the tower where the transmitter would be. Danse stopped me.

"I will stay here and keep watch while you find the transmitter. Try to hurry."

I nodded and began searching the control room. I found a locked trunk, so I began picking it. Once it opened, I took out the transmitter and the other goods. I started searching the room for other good stuff, but was interrupted by lasers going off. I rushed to the window and saw Paladin Danse surrounded by a group of around twenty synths. They were attacking from all sides, and I could see his armor starting to show signs of weakness. 

"Do something! Anything!"

He yelled to me. and I started to search for a bomb or something. What I found was a button that said ignition. I pressed it, and the doors to the room slammed shut. There was a countdown, then a large fireburst. When the fire dies down, I saw Paladin Danse kneeling on the red hot floor. I ran in as soon as the doors opened. 

"Oh my god! Paladin, are you alright?"

He groaned as he stood up slowly.

"Yes, I'll be fine. I would have been roasted alive if I didn't have this armor."

For what was at least the tenth time today, I thought to myself that I needed armor like that.