Ch. 17 Exterminator

They were making their way back along the road. They passed Jacklyns body and not much else happened.

Colton found out that the place they killed the gangs at was the Nipton Pit Stop so they just passed through. He's sure he will eventually find the supplies that Boxcars talked about. And if not, who really cares.

They didn't eat lunch in the town due to the obvious. And it was nearing dinner time now, so Colton forced Cass to take a break and eat something. They were going to blow up the ant nest and he needed her at least functional.

They moved along the road until they got to the spot where the Giant Radscorpion was they saw earlier today. It wasn't there anymore, but pieces were left behind.

Colton and Cass sat their things down off the road and took out everything they will need. Colton already sniped the ants outside the nest that were guarding it.

Cass looks at Colton. "Are you really sure this'll work?"

Mines, grenades, flamer fuel, dynamite, and other things were piled and separated in front of the duo.

Colton seems to be thinking hard about something. He turns to Cass after 3 minutes. "Yes?"

Cass deadpans. "Is that a question or an answer?"

Colton raises both eyebrows. "Why can't it be both?"

Cass sighs. Would she really die after finally leaving the Outpost and nearly getting enslaved by the Legion. She didn't think traveling with Colton would be like this, not like she wasn't warned though.

"Anyway, you just need to shoot anything that comes out while I rig all this and chuck it inside. We will have some time before it blows, so we shoot the ants trying to get it out and then when I shout, we book it as fast as we can back here. We don't want to be anywhere near there when it goes off" Colton explains and points at the desert with a mound picking out of the ground signifying the Giant Ant Nest.

Cass shrugs. "Fuck it. We can have a good story to tell and we won't have to carry as much shit back. Even though we're almost there…"

Colton starts putting things together. "That's the spirit my female companion. And who knows, we might even get rewarded some more"

Cass shakes her head as she loads her shotgun and flicks it closed.

Colton takes his time. One fuck up and there'd be nothing left to prove he was ever on this planet.

Cass was making sure they didn't get attacked by anything and checking out the metal statues of the Mojave Outpost. She could see it from all the way over here, she wondered if they will see the show their about to put on.

Colton finishes rigging the explosives as the sun starts to set. He snipes a few ants that came out to check on their fellow ants. And then grabs the explosives in a bear-hug. He leaves his pack, hat, and Purifier behind. He would hate to lose them if they fall. "Ready?" He asks Cass.

Cass stands up from the rock she was sitting on. "Been ready since you started playing with those explosives"

"Let's do this thing then" Colton says as he walks towards the mound in the distance. His heart racing. There must be hundreds of ants beneath their feet. His mask and goggles block the sand from slowing him down. Cass has a bandanna and glasses attempting to do the same for her, but not as well.

They get to the mound and Cass only has to kill one giant ant soldier. It took two shotgun shells to the face. The first took off a man fable and an antenna but only served to piss it off before Cass shot it's whole head off into chunks.

Colton primed the explosives and chucked them down the huge ant hole. "YEET!"

Cass looks at Colton for a brief second before they hear the ants stir awake.

Colton draws his pistol. He remembers a quote from his previous life and can't help himself. "We've woken the Hive!"

[ [Rambo Style] is in effect ]

"No shit!" Cass backs away from the hole. If one of her shotgun pellets hits the explosives it'll either make them detonate immediately, or not go off at all.

Colton fires into the giant ant head like he's playing wack-a-mole. He put a bit of meat on the explosives to get the ants to take it to their queen since they rarely eat what they find and choose to bring it back to the nest. Such as the Giant Radscorpion from before. Only pieces were left after the ants brought it back.

A ticking sound can barely be heard over the noises from the ants.

After Colton has to reload he backs up. Cass covers him as he nearly instantly reloads.

They fire at the emerging ants for a few seconds.

"NOW!"

Both Colton and Cass turn around and start booking it. But Cass isn't fast enough. Colton gets next to her and throws her over his shoulder. And takes off.

His Agility and Perception were increased numerous times due to [Rambo Style]. Even with Cass over his shoulder he was practically flying away.

Cass didn't know what happened. After she heard Colton shout 'NOW!' she turned around and booked it. Colton took off like a bat outta hell and turned around, ran to her, threw her over his shoulder, and continued running. She didn't like having her hips and waist be on his shoulder but she didn't mind since it beats blowing up. She would have to pay him back for coping a feel though. She has a great view of the sand Colton kicks up as he runs. But thanks to the glasses she is able to see the ants begin pouring from the nest. If she doesn't prop herself up with her forearms on Colton's back she's be getting a face full of his ass. She curses Colton for not properly picking her up. She wonders if he did this on purpose.

Eventually the ground shakes as an enormous explosion goes off beneath the ground. Colton doesn't stop at all. He knows that the ants probably made their caves all over the place beneath the surface.

Cass sees fire erupt from the ground before it explodes entirely. The ground then caves in and it doesn't stop. The collapsing follows after Colton who is still running at his top speed. If he didn't have [Rambo Style] he'd be cutting it too close for his comfort.

He makes it to the road, and only then does he stop running. He falls to his knees and legs Cass stand up…. after he dropped her to the ground, but he did it as gently as he can.

"Fucker…" Cass says as she rolls over and sits up.

Colton falls to his hands and then to his back. He hadn't ran that hard or fast ever. And his body was going to make sure he knows that. He was sucking in air as much as his lungs would let him. He looked to the sky and saw it lit up. And there were things moving in every direction across the sky. "Oh Shit!"

Colton pins Cass to the ground surprising her. But then she looks above Colton and sees things falling from the sky. Her eyes widen as sand and chunks of Earth land around them. Chunks of ants also accompany the debris falling.

Colton covers as much of Cass as he can, his increased Damage Threshold from [Rambo Style] coming in clutch. But not much.

He can feel his body get pelted by the rocks and ant chunks. He definitely has broken a few things.

Cass can't see much besides his face, which is covered by the cloth from his cloak and goggles. His hair falls down and tickles her freckles face. Colton grunts but ultimately shrugs off whatever falls on him. Cass feels some things hit her legs, but it's mostly just sand and small pieces of dirt.

After 6 minutes the sky stops dropping on them.

Colton doesnt roll of of Cass, he just collapses onto her.

Cass feels Colton's body go limp.

"Colton?" She moves her hand to touch his head, but when she does it feels dirty and wet. She looks at her fingers and sees that they are covered in red.

She slides out from under him and rushes over to their things. It's a little bit away from where they are but she makes it there swiftly. She finds the medical things that Colton grabbed from the Town and the chems. She doesn't know how to use some of the medical things but fuck it, she will figure it out. She just needed the stimpacks from them anyway.

She returns to Colton who is knocked out but still somehow breathing. "You moron!" She shouts as she sets the things down. She takes 3 Med-X and injects them in various places over his body. After that she takes some stimpacks and uses them liberally. She has to take his armor vest off, and it was tricky but she eventually got it off in minutes. She couldn't take his armor off but the stimpack needles went through it with a bit of pressure.

Cass applies other chems to help Colton heal. But it seems they would be camping out here for the night. She pours some purified water they found over his head to clean the blood off his head.

Colton wasn't exactly unconscious, he felt everything even as Cass stabbed him with various needles. Even with Med-X dulling the pain, he still felt the needles enter his body, he just didn't feel the pain. He was exhausted, and his body was rapidly mending the broken and cracked bones. His vision was blurry and his mind was fuzzy.

Cass was trying to think of all the things she knows of that could help Colton, but there wasn't much. She ran a Caravan, not a hospital.

She took her jacket off and put it as a pillow for Colton and to stop sand from getting on his head.

Cass was amazed to see his wounds heal so fast. Luckily she didn't need to set any broken bones. They weren't that out of place. But his bruises healed at a visible rate.

Stimpacks just speed up the bodies natural healing. So instead of a week to fully heal a cut, it would take seconds or minutes. The stimpack also injects nutrients so the body doesn't burn itself out. That's also a reason why you have to make sure your stimpacks aren't outdated. You can recycle it, but it's not an easy process. But it's worth it in the long run.

Colton just lays there for about an hour or two. He's eventually able to move his arms and legs a bit. Cass has moved their things over to him to at least do something.

Colton moves his right arm to his Pipboy.

"And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive"

Bee Gees 'Stayin' Alive' starts playing.

Cass was watching the surroundings but hear the music. Her head whips to Colton and sees that his arms have moved together like he was flying in a superhero comic. He was still belly down, her jacket still on his head.

"Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk

I'm a woman's man, no time to talk" Colton's muffled voice graces the wasteland.

Cass jumps towards Colton's side and kneels beside him. "What the hell Colton, if your able to sing you should at least let me know you're alright!"

She takes the jacket off his head. His bright eyes look up at her. A small smile on his face. He shuts the radio off but doesn't move much more.

"I would have if I had more blood than chems running through my veins" Colton sarcastically says.

"Better than you suffering like those people at Nipton… I think we're both done with explosives for a while" Cass can't believe Colton can joke after what happened. He's just full of surprises.

"Not done using explosives. Just done using explosives without properly knowing how big the explosion is. We could have just ran away as soon as I threw the bomb and we would have been safe" Colton remembers the ground literally shaking and then nearly swallowing them up. "Whoopsie"

Cass raises her fist. "I'll give you a 'whoopsie'…" She moves her fist to his forehead and lightly flicks him. "…you idiot"

Colton sees that Cass has her ankle wrapped in bandages. "What happened to your ankle?"

Cass touches it lightly. "Not like you could block all of it. I'm surprised you nearly did though. What are you, a superhero from those comics you like so much?"

Colton looks at the bandaged ankle. "I wish…" Colton looks up at Cass's face. "I'm sorry"

Cass looks at Colton. "Damn right you are. Weren't you the one that got all pissy when I mentioned drinking myself to death? And here you are about to blow the both of us up….. but thanks for shielding me….." She pauses for a second before continuing with a slightly happier tone as she tries to bring the mood up. "…I think that satchel of yours saved your life. It covered the majority of your back and took the brunt of the impacts. And it's still intact like nothing happened to it. You really deserve that middle name of yours"

Colton thanks his parents for having the satchel ready for him. It was literally a lifesaver. And he's glad he didn't put the chems in it like he planned to. That would have been bad. "I'll have to thank my parents for it when I see them next"

Cass leans back in her hands as she puts her feet out and stretches her legs and back. "You better. And give them a thanks from me too"

"And why would you want to thank them?" Colton wonders.

Cass smirks. "For giving birth to such a monster. I can't think of many men that can put drink me and also be able to survive bugs raining from the sky onto their head and cracking jokes hours later like nothing happened"

Colton sighs. "Wheew. I thought for a second there you took my pants off and actually unleashed the monster. I only remember bits and pieces after the first hit to the head"

Colton watches as Cass smirks and her eyes squint.

"You were the one who has constantly pinned me to the ground. You weren't exactly gentle, and it's not like you didn't try to hide 'that' monster either" Cass teases. She hadn't gotten exact measurements. But she had a rough idea.

Colton groans. "Aaarrgghhh"

He gets his arms under him and pushes up. Some pops and cracks are heard. Nothing too bad, but like he had been laying down for a long time and finally started moving. He struggled a bit but gets over it rather quickly.

"Are you sure you should be moving so soon?" Cass is concerned about his internal injuries.

"I'm sure" Colton sits back on his calf's. "I owe you that drink don't i?"

Colton stands up slowly and makes sure everything is where it's supposed to be. He's glad to report everything is a-ok. His injuries might have been exaggerated by the adrenaline of the situation.

The explosion was big, and the ground did collapse in on the ant nest. But the projectiles that hit him weren't airborn for that long. And he was far enough away to escape a lot of it, just the really far ones reached them. But that's also why they did a decent amount of damage.

Colton also found out that even with the ants dead his [Rambo Style] still stayed activated for a while after, like it gradually went away over time. But it has an instantaneous activation. Neat.

"We can wait hear you know, we can just get moving in the morning" Cass stands up. She already took a stimpack for her ankle.

"And have to worry about getting eaten out here? No thank you. I can make it to the Outpost, just don't expect me to run back" Colton puts his armor back on. It surprisingly doesn't have any dents. And nothing is torn either, whatever the cloak and armor is made of is durable.

"I don't think I'd be running back either" Cass says as she walks to the bags.

Colton notices she isn't limping. Meaning she's either hiding the pain well, or it actually is healed by now. And giving that she had around 2 hours to let it heal, she probably was fine.

He puts his hat on along with his goggles and mask. His pack, purifier, and various bags get slung over his shoulders.

Since they used all their explosives in that explosion they have a bit less to carry. So Colton carried the difference from Cass's shit.

They made their way back to the Mojave Outpost without incident. And when they got there they were greeted by a squad of soldiers in a defensive position. Sergeant Kilborn was behind the soldiers, he was apparently leading these soldiers in the defense of the base.

Kilborn saw two figures approaching at a slow pace. It was now dark in the Mojave and he barely saw them. In fact, it was Ranger Ghost who spotted them and told Kilborn that Colton was approaching and not to shoot them.

Kilborn told the itchy fingered recruits to stand down but stay on guard, they still had until sunrise to stay posted. Kilborn could be heard muttering: "That Ranger Jackson…. Whys he gotta be such a slave driver…"

Colton and Cass make it to the Outpost after a long and tedious uphill climb. It just gets worse and worse every time he has to walk up it.

Kilborn greets them. "Glad you made it back. Did you see who set off that explosion at Ivanpah Dry Lake and Race Track? We got a bet going. Most of the caps are on Powder Gangers, but there were some saying Legion. There were also some random bets" Kilborn narrows his eyes at Colton. "'Others' bet you two had something to do with it. You wouldn't happen to know anything would you?"

"I…we…..did it…." Colton was running out of breath, his body wanting to get some proper rest finally. "No more Giant Ant Nest!" He cheers in a tired manner.

Kilborn seems surprised at this. He also notices the full bags on their backs. "And what of Nipton? Any survivors?"

Colton looks to Cass for a quick second and then looks back to Kilborn. "There weren't any survivors. No Nipton survivors, NCR survivors, and only 2 Powder Ganger survivors. One is crazy now, and the other won't be walking for the rest of his life"

Kilborn has a shocked expression on his face. "What do you mean? Weren't the Powder Gangers the cause for this? There's no way the idiotic soldiers who were in Nipton were able to hold them off or take their numbers down that much! Unless…."

Kilborn's face turns to one of horror as he realizes what could have happened.

Sure the NCR soldiers who snuck off at night to get their dicks wet, there even were some women who went for the man whores of Nipton. Nearly everyone went to Nipton at least once, only the higher ranking officers were forced to stay at the Outpost. Even the new recruits could sneak to Nipton through the Mojave if they had someone showing them how.

If the Powder Gangers didn't cause the destruction of Nipton, then it would have to be the Legion.

Colton looks at Sgt. Kilborn with a bitter expression and says in a hateful tone. "The Legion happened. Everyone was either killed or captured. It wasn't a small group of Legion either….. they are moving West Sergeant"

[Complete:

- •Spread word of the Legion atrocities•

1/1 Objectives Complete]

[ Quest Completed: [Cold, Cold Heart] ]