Chapter 209 - Rubble, Shotgun, Action!

*Creeaakk*

*CRACK-TUK!*​​

The pieces of wood blocking the exit to the machinery are unceremoniously torn away, allowing light to flood inside, almost blinding the duo momentarily. Seems like they'd been down here all night, or perhaps for longer...

"Aha! Got it open bois!" a Fiend shouts and sticks his head down to look inside the treasure trove he'd presumably found.

His dirty face immediately pales when he is presented with three barrels, one from Karl's LMG and two from Afton's Sawed-off Shotgun. *BANG!* He isn't even able to utter a scream as buckshot tears his face to pieces, the flesh being rendered away in a fraction of a second, metal pieces piercing their brain and killing them instantly.

[Blind Fire : Shoot the eye's of your enemies : 5/100]

The digging around them stops after Afton had fired his weapon, all presumably looking over to where it'd occurred.

"OI! Lenny! The fuck are you firing a shot off for!" one shouts from the side as Afton struggles to reload his gun... Without his right arm he's forced to hold it in his armpit and shove another buckshot into the empty barrel. Fortunately his [Rapid Reload] Perk still had him looking like a blur of movement, but it wasn't ideal. He'd need to get working on some kind of replacement for his arm eventually.

Once he'd reloaded it Afton pops his head out of the ditch they were in and uses VATS to take a look around without wasting any more time. Around him were piles upon piles of rubble, the large building that'd previously been there had entirely disintegrated, leaving nought by scraps of metal and wooden splinters.

There was also a veritable army of Fiends around them, all of which seemed to be lacking their primary armaments, they probably didn't expect anyone to survive it, let alone still be capable of combat. This was good though, it would allow the duo some breathing room before shit got too nasty too fast.

Taking a closer look around, he could see many piles of rubble that they Fiends had likely been tossing stuff onto, each could potentially make good enough cover for a proper shootout should it come to that. His initial plan of trying to sneak away had gone up in flames when that idiot stuck his head inside the machinery and forced his hand.

Not to mention it was around high-noon and sneaking around at this time in broad daylight would be impossible. He glances at the slumped over the body that was currently missing its head and sighs, well, at least he might be able to do something with this fool.

Deactivating VATS he ducks into the shadow of the small trench and shifts the corpse out, making sure it's headlessness was revealed to all before slipping back into the safety of the inside of the machinery Karl was still within.

It doesn't take long for someone to notice the state of their buddy, "H-HOLY SHIT! LENNY'S LOST HIS HEAD!"

"What!? He's crazy but not that-OH BABY JESUS!"

Quickly upon hearing the exclamations people start gathering around the body to inspect and see what'd happened. Even now the possibility of someone still being alive under all the rubble doesn't cross their minds. Instead, most think that one of the traps they'd set before the building imploded had been set off by him.

Of course, the Fiends that hadn't known about the booby traps that might still be active were rightfully angry about not being told, as they were literally risking their lives by digging.

As soon as the group had descended into arguments, Afton pulls something from his Deathclaw leather bag, a plasma grenade he'd previously repaired with his [Mechanicus] Perk. He smirks at Karl and bites onto the pin before tossing it out of the hole towards the group, retreating back into the makeshift metal bunker.

"Wha-"

*BOOOOM!*

The ground shakes and shudders as plasma spews forth from the explosive, liquifying those close to it and horribly burning everyone else. The few people who were lucky enough to not be caught in the blast were presented with the sight of their friend's bodies imploding in a spectacularly gory fashion.

Afton hadn't even known the explosion would be so powerful, he'd forgotten that his [Uncivilised Weapon] Perk affected ALL Energy weapons, doubling the damage the plasma grenade did!

With that Afton dashes from his hiding spot, his [Masterful Movement] Perk and 10 Agility making him look like a blur of movement as he gracefully flips out of it. Firing off both shots of his Sawed-off Shotgun at some nearby Fiends, the buckshot not killing them but wounding them enough to put them out of the fight for a while.

[John Wick Style is in effect]

Activating VATS he scans the area, grimacing at the glowing green residue left behind by the 'too powerful' grenade he had thrown, the only other colour being present in the blast zone being the crimson red of his enemies liquified bodies.

Shaking his head, his eyes lock onto a pile of rubble that was large enough to be used for cover, turning off VATS and heading towards it.

Karl follows somewhat closely behind the younger man, he wasn't agile enough to make the same movements as Afton, but he made up for it by spraying his LMG at anything that looked even vaguely humanoid.

*DAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAG!*

If the Fiends were unaware of their presence before, they certainly were now! The combination of the explosion and subsequent gunfire had attracted the attention of all those in the region within earshot. This was good and bad, good as if Boone was still around he'd know they were still alive, and bad because most of the people around aren't likely to be their allies.

Afton growls as he tucks the shotgun in his armpit again to reload, vowing to himself to rebuild an arm as soon as possible. Once loaded he puts the weapon back into its holster on his bandoleer, it's range was far too limited now so he'd be better off using his pistols...