Rainbow In The Wastes

"All I'm saying is, if Pat broke your car, you should tell him to fix it. Be assertive."

Holding up the small blue car, Matt sputtered, "But-but he doesn't listen to meeee!"

The raider face-palmed, "Matt, stop your crying. If you want, I'll try to find some Sugar Bombs for you; will that make you feel better?"

Matt sniffled loudly, still grasping the toy car, "I..I guess...."

The raider gave a solemn smile, "There ya go. Now, go get Nat and Louis, tell 'em dinner's ready."

Matt nodded vigorously, "Thanks Rick! You always were my best buddy!" he raised a hand, which Rick slapped immediately. As Matt fist-pumped the air, he suddenly looked back at his friend, "Wait, who did you want me to get?"

Turning around from walking away, Rick replied, "Nat and Louis. Clyde still has about an hour left before his shift is over."

Matt nodded once again, a childish smirk plastered on his face, "Okay! I'll go get 'em," he about-faced, "and I'll be sure to grab your beer, like you asked-"

Matt's head suddenly flew back violently, an arrow lodged firmly within his right eye-socket. Rick turned once more, and was met with a merciless .44 round to the forehead by a cyan intruder.

Nonchalantly walking toward the two, Carter remarked, "Good shot again, Dashie."

Holstering her still smoking revolver, the mare replied, "Thanks."

The Lone Wanderer idly kicked Matt's corpse, bending over to retrieve his now twice-bloodied arrow. He withdrew it with ease, a small amount of eye material flying out onto the floor below as the projectile exited the raider's now devastated right eye.

"So, Dashie, how long do you think it'll be before the other raiders come to investigate your loud gun?"

Examining the long hallway they stood in, she replied, "What with that echo, I'd say about ten seconds."

Looking at his Pip-Boy, Carter said, "Good. That gives me enough time to get my shotgun out," and reached into his duster, his hand re-emerging with a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun. Cracking open the break action with a draw of the hammer, he once again reached into a pocket on his bandolier, coming back out with a pair of 12 gauge shotgun shells. He loaded both into the barrels of the firearm, and then closed the break action with a flick of the wrist.

"Wow. Where'd you get that?" Rainbow asked, her assault rifle grasped firmly within her hooves.

"This was actually a regular double-barrel at first; I just sawed off the stock and some of the barrels to make it fit in my duster. I haven't fired this in years, so it might malfunction when I do this. Now, listen to what I say in a couple of seconds, it'll help us get through this easier."

The mare stood curious, but quickly went into her ready position, preparing for whatever crazy idea the man was about to hatch. She soon heard footsteps coming from the hallway to the left at the end of the hallway they stood in, and Rainbow automatically aimed at the wall behind where she assumed the raider would emerge. Instead, the Wanderer's hand slowly put her weapon into her normal carrying position, and she looked back at the still smiling man with a raised brow, "Just watch, and do what I'm about to say."

Holstering her rifle, the mare watched in curiosity as the man gradually stepped toward the approaching footsteps, and once the raider emerged from the corner, the Wanderer swiftly ran into the surprised victim, slamming into the wall at the end of the corridor. Carter brought up his shotgun as the mare ran up to him, and he calmly said, "Rainbow, close his mouth," and inserted the business end of the shotgun into the raider's mouth as he struggled to break loose of the old man.

Rainbow quickly did as she was told, bringing both forehooves up to clench the raider's mouth shut, and as he screamed into the dual-barrels of the shotgun inside him, Carter pulled the trigger, blowing out the unfortunate raider's mouth as he fell to the ground limply, the muffled shot of the shotgun going unnoticed by his compadres. As blood began to pool out the large hole in the back of his head, the Wanderer wiped the slobber off from the end of the gun with a gloved hand, stuffing it back into his duster once he was satisfied with its thorough cleanse.

Breathing heavily, Carter smirked, "G'job Dashie. I'll make a Wastelander out of you yet," the man innocently tussled the mare's mane, the mare in question not-so happy about his choice of idle activities.

"Well, at least we know that it works now," Rainbow deadpanned, reaching her head around to her right flank, grabbing her revolver from it's holster. The mare placed her hoof inside the cuff as she raised her left foreleg to assess her inventory. Scrolling back to the Items section, she found she had 4/57 rounds for her revolver, which she noticed was simply spelt, ".44 Magnum Revolver". The mare frowned at this; she needed a name for her gun, desperately. ".44 Magnum Revolver" was a bit too bland for her.

The same was for her knife, plainly called, "Combat Knife". Her frown deepened; she needed a name for that as well, "Hey, Dashie. Get over here."

The mare in question looked up from her Pip-Boy, watching as Carter was crouched against a wall to her left, "There's another one coming, you wanna take him, or should I?"

Stealing a glance back down at her revolver, she saw her reflection staring back at her from the newly cleaned body. Splotches of blood were caked across the left side of her face, her mane matted against her brow from sweat. This Rainbow was most certainly not the same Rainbow she once was, she was a killer now, no matter how evil her victims were. At least seven raiders had lost their lives to her, and she couldn't quite tell whether it was a blessing or a curse. It was probably best that she didn't know, "I'll get 'im."

Giving a grin of approval, the Wanderer said, "I'll be watching."

Rainbow reared up on her hind-legs as she watched the corner with an eagle eye, not daring to move from her spot. Her peripheral vision slowly blurring itself from its existence as she focused on the corner that her victim would soon come from. The only thing she heard was her heartbeat as she raised her revolver, aiming at the end of the hallway. The mare breathed out, and her opponent soon rounded the corner and stared right at her.

Instinct kicked in, and with a defiant glare, the mare pushed the trigger, watching as the bullet slowly exited the now flame-engulfed barrel, straight toward the raider that had a hunting rifle aimed right back at her. The round flew straight and true, and before the raider could so much as think about pulling the trigger, he was dead, a .44 round buried deep within his skull. As the now lifeless body plummeted to the ground below, Rainbow suddenly began to regain her senses. Her adrenaline-filled moment was over faster than it started.

"Carter," Rainbow began, lowering her still smoking revolver, a deep sense of anger evident in her voice,

"Let's go get 'em."