Day 2 - February 5th, 2083
Rockets.
Scrambling, I yanked ED-E down and dove behind a large chunk of concrete pavement that jutted out from the ground. The explosion from the rocket was deafening, sending bits of shrapnel zinging in all directions. I yanked my gun from its holster, grinning at the current situation. I was a guy with a pistol fighting at least two guys with rocket launchers.
They were at a disadvantage.
I sent a spray of cover fire in their direction first, making them duck for cover as ED-E actually managed to flank them. As they whirled to fire upon him, I dove out of cover, aimed, and took them both out. Bam. And bam. Their friends that showed up a moment later were a bit tougher. I was surprised at the large man who ran up to me with a large sledgehammer. I shot him point blank in the face. And he kept coming. That bastard might have taken a chunk out of my skull, because I was too stunned that he'd actually survived that shot to move out of the way. Fortunately, ED-E had my back. He electrocuted him, stunning him for a moment as I emptied my gun into his head. Finally, he went down.
I raided their bunker, set into the dilapidated remains of a two story office building. On the roof, I found what I was looking for. It was the item Ulysses said would be there.
The detonator.
I had what I needed. The first part was finished, and I could continue on my way into The Divide. I wanted answers, and the only person who could give them to me was stringing me along like a cat chasing a mouse. Not the best situation in the world. But, I've been through a lot of shit. A whole lot. And I wasn't about to let this God forsaken place kill me.
I walked the road with ED-E, and soon we came to the roadblock that I knew would be there. Ulysses told me that, too. And there it was. A large pile of vehicles. Skeletons of vehicles really, but they were piled up high and they were blocking the road. And in the center -- the warhead. There are no words that I could possibly use to explain what happened when I used the detonator, so I will show you. Fortunately, my Pipboy is still capable of capturing video.
That certainly stirred up a hornets nest. After the explosion died down, we were swarmed by those marked men. Probably a half dozen of them. No surprises this time. I knew what to expect. Most of them never even saw me.
From there, it was a straight shot. Well, mostly. The road was still winding, and there was debris and wreckage everywhere. But I come from the Mojave. It's nothing I'm not used to seeing every single day of my life. The surrounding buildings were all infested with marked men. I cleaned them out before I moved on. It seemed like the only logical thing to do. No point letting the vermin continue to infest these buildings.
ED-E and I had a rest in one of the buildings, ate some food from our well stocked supplies, checked our ammunition, and had a nap. Feeling refreshed, we continued, making our way through this foreign wasteland. For so long I'd known only the Mojave. I felt like a foreigner here. I had no idea how ironic that would turn out to be.
Soon, I reached the top of a hill, able to look out over a large chunk of the divide. It gave me chills.
More marked men found us. These guys were really starting to piss me off. This pack gave us quite a fight, too. I was actually hurt when the shooting was all over. Still standing, sure. But hurt. It's been a long, long time since anything's been able to hurt me. Hasn't happened since this armor was given to me by the Brotherhood. I was shaken.
But, a few stimpacks, a salisbury steak, and a few can of beans, and I was good as new. ED-E was pretty beat up too, but I repaired him like new with the scrap metal and electronics I'd found back in Hopeville. Found another upgrade for the little guy, too.
After a short rest, we moved on. Blew up another couple of warheads along the way. It disturbed me a little to be using up the very things that ended the world during The War. But, there was no other way to get through and cross The Divide.
Soon, we came to a collapsed underpass. There was a way through, somehow I knew that. I didn't know -why- I knew that, though. Ulysses hadn't mentioned it. But in any case, ED-E and I entered. Looking back...I honestly wish I'd looked for another way. This tunnel was the stuff of nightmares.
Things started out just fine. We were attacked by a large Deathclaw right near the entrance, but I've dealt with those clawed sonsabitches plenty of times before. Even fought a Matriarch. Took the bitch down, too. After seeing one of those, you never look at the normal sized ones the same way again.
ED-E played me a recording from his creator. Told me more of his story. Seems he was experimented on a long time ago, before The War. The higher ups didn't feel he had any feelings, because he was just a machine. His creator felt otherwise.
So do I.
As we delved deeper into the tunnel, I began to notice strange holes in the ground. I was looking at my Pipboy to take a reading on the current radiation levels around us when I heard something. That's the only reason I was able to catch it on video. I flipped the record button when things started coming out of the ground.
That was just the beginning. Several moments later, we were utterly swarmed by the things. ED-E never stood a chance -- he was knocked offline in a matter of seconds. I emptied round after round of bullets into them, and they just kept on coming. I honestly don't know how we survived. At one point, after I had shot at least nine of them dead, three of them jumped on top of me and knocked me into a crevasse. I dropped my gun, landing on my back as the wind was knocked out of me. I could hear them scratching at the walls of the crevasse, crawling down towards me. I groped around in the darkness, finding my gun after a few moments of panic. Then, I fired one shot to light the place up, and three more to place a bullet in each one of their heads. Clamoring back up to the surface, I quickly dispatched the few that remained (most of them injured from the ensuing firefight that had occurred before I was sent sprawling), and tended to ED-E.
We were all right. But man, that was a close one.
Then...those words again.
And then, we were out. My relief was short-lived, though, because it seems my second day in The Divide was destined to end just like the first -- with Ulysses talking to me through ED-E. That son of a bitch.
This time, there was a tingle of annoyance in his voice. Anger, even. Perhaps he truly believed I'd be dead by now. I don't know. What I do know is that this entire thing is playing out like some ironic Old World tragedy play.
The Divide? It used to be a trade route. A supply line that linked the Mojave with the West.
It's creator? Me.
Back then, it seems I knew what was going to happen. With The Divide. With the Hoover Dam. Now...the shoe's on the other foot. I know nothing, only what Ulysses tells me. And he has all the answers. I'm getting piecemeal, and I don't mind saying that it's pissing me off.
He says I knew what was coming back then. And he says that he knows what's coming for me now.
We'll see.
After the bastard had given me back my robot...no...my -companion-, I looked ahead and saw where I was going.
That's where I'll be headed tomorrow. Through the rubble. Further into The Divide. Across the route that apparently -I- created.
One step closer to Ulysses. To answers. And maybe....to home.
To be continued...
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