Thanks, it will return smile too my poor face
and hope to my dark soul
... and as I said, another chapter... It's so boring to post it by keyboard, but I'll do my best. Sorry again for my mistakes - I see them, but I have no strength to delete them. I hate to rewrite something...
Chapter 3 - An hour of red cup
Outskirts of Den had little difference from it's downtown - couple of ruined buidings, piles of junk and other trash, wasteland... The main difference was that there were no people. They afraid to walk here - even slaver tried not to go here too often. Nobody said about it, but there was a legend about... who know about? Everybody talked about their own shit, but people disappeared here and it was fact. Dark hole was seen near ruins one of the buildings - so it meaned that some fools would go there saving this blasted town. Tod looked at the crowd with hatred and crawled into the hole.
The hole was rather large ordinary man could crawl easily there. The walls of it were smooth and greasy. The hole was leading little by little under the ground and was becoming large. There were seen no signs of danger. Finally our friends stood up and began to walk by foot. It was not a hole, but tunnel with bricked walls. It promised nothing good. The tunnel was very old - some brickes crumbled in dust at their's eyes - but overall the tunnel was clean... too clean. Kath looked around and there were fear in her eyes.
"We must return" - she said quietly, falling back. Nobody heard her and continued the way. The end of the tunnel was seen already ahead. A young woman struggeled for a moment and than joined them.
"STOP... wait... HALT" - an old man was runing by the tunnel, shouting loudly.
"Good. Now the man, who began all that stuff will join us..." - Fred smiled meanly. He was the same man, who gave them their "quest"...
Friends looked at him with no words. They all had something to tell him, but kept silent, waiting when he came close enough.
"I think that my dagger will cut off his thin neck in a second. Anybody bet me? No? Than I'll prove it to myself..." - Brian smiled happyly and checked his lovely weapon, hanging on his belt. Craig looked at his friends and came to the visitor. They really could kill him.
"What do you want, old man?" - he asked coldly. If look could kill, than he would lie dead already.
"I am Smitty" - he answered happyly. He looked at his angry stare, than at his friends and continued with more caution- "... and I was sent here by people above to... help you." - he looked back with hatred and than looked at them again. - "May be I'll wait here and you will call me when you free the way..." - Craig looked at him coldly and cried:
"Brian, come here. Smitty have something to offer you..."
Everybody gathered around manehole leading into the darkness. An old, rusty ladder was disappearing in dark tunnel below. There was some source of light, but not strong enough to see something from here.
"I think Smitty want to go first" - said Fred with evil smile and looked at old man. His nose was broken, his eye was beatn hardly. All his look was very unhappy and he said nothing, but began to come down by the ladder.
"Stop. Fred - shut up." - Craig looked at old man with sorry and took his place. He began to come down first - everybody else followed him.
"What's the place is it?" - asked ghoul quietly. They were standing in the middle of large empty room. The walls disappeared in darkness, small light was coming from somewhere under the floor. This light was rather strange - very pale, cold and lifeless for sunrays.
"I don't know" - Smitty muttered - "We knew about this place for a long time, but nobody dared to go here. There were a lot of rumours about it - graveyard of ancestors, underground vault, storehouse of pre-ware technology. When I heard that you appeared in town I thought that you are like that fool... Save people, crawl in every hole to do something... I suppose I was wrong." - he looked at his broken nose and sighted deeply.
"You was wrong, old man." - growled Brian angryly and then lower his voice, looking around with fear - "You must thank our ghoul that I didn't kill you. I wish I could smash your guts..."
"Brother!" - Cree looked at her brother with reproach. He looked at her became silent.
"So, Smitty - why have you gathered all these people there?" - asked Tod with happy smile. All this stiff began to like him more and more.
"I thought that you will be happy, that so many people will know about your heroic deed." - he looked around in search of way to retreat. - "There is something bad here. We should return... A lot of people went here... and nobody returned." - he made one step to the ladder they came down from, but met Brian and jumped away quickly.
"You will not survive their thanks to you, hero!" - muttered Fred - "Lead us, oh great Smitty" - an old man looked at him with hatred and came into the tunnel, seen ahead in the darkness.
They were coming slowly in the darkness. This tunnel was much more dirty, than the other one above. There were some junk under the feets, several big rats were runing nearby, but they were not interested in eating their guts. It looked like that had enough food here already. Strange smell of grease was felt in the air around. Floor and walls were covered with strange goo. There were almost nothing seen in the darkness, but there was something else there with them. Everybody felt it, but kept silent. They thought that it was their imagination...
Small light was seen ahead. The tunnel was not so large, but our company had to went by it very slowly. There were a lot of some unknown junk under their foots. Some of them could easily broke his leg or neck there:
"Fucking darkness. How can anybody see something here" - whispered Brian with hatred. - "I could swear that I felt something alive here. What a fuck is going on..."
Large shadow jumped at him from the darkness and threw hardly to the wall. He couldn't dodge it as it was unexpected and it hurted him badly. Brian fell back trying to go away from the danger and get into the pile of the junk. It was...
"Bones..." - he muttered quietly, losing his senses...
"Hey, Brian. Are you ok? What has happened?" - Cree was siting near him and was looking around with uneasy stare.
"What..? Where are we?" - he stood up quickly. He was hurt badly, but nothing was broken. Several fresh scars and bruises. Blood had already stoped runing. He was unconsciousness for half an hour and all that time the company were waiting for him patiently. They didn't want to know go forward until they would know what has happened.
"So, pal. What's the problem?" - expresses common thought Tod. He drank almost all bottle and began to express at least some interest to outside world.
"Nothing... nothing to you" - he growled angryly in response. "Craig, we have a problem..." - his voice changed and was full of fear - "This tunnel is like graveyard. All floor is covered with bones... And that thing, that atacked me. It was a robot. I saw these things already. Nasty stuff - they will broke all your limbs and you are helpless against him..." - stimpacs, Brian had, made good work with him and he was almost healthy.
Craig looked at him and said nothing. He continued his way, leaving Brian. Everybody else joined him soon. There were heard only their footsteps in the darkness:
"We had no choice" - his sister whispered and helped him to get up.
"Oh, great storehouse..." - cried Fred meanly - "Congratulations, Smitty. You are a proud owner of pre-war junkyard." Our company stood in the huge hall, full of all kinds of jarbage - food, hich tech, magazines, all other sorts of trash - mountains of it. Small light was coming from several working lamps. In dark air would-be riches of "happy" Smitty were seen not so clearly. But this hall was really big. Craig tried to imagine how large it is, but couldn't say it. Far away walls were not seen.
"Are you sure that this stuff, that atacked you, was robot. Who will place something like that to protect junk?" - asked Cree with doubt. Brian answered nothing and kept silent. Everybody stood around without knowing what to do.
"So, are we returning home? My booz is almost ended" - said Tod with interest. Ghoul looked at him angryly and asked Smitty:
"Do you know another exit from here? There is something - I feel it and we need to get out of here..." - an old man kept silent for some time and then answered. - "You know, may be I know something useful. I own some junk in the town... and one day I found that manhole... may be it's leading somewhere here. It looks like that my junk is a small part of these "riches"" - he looked at grining Fred and smiled happyly - "Yes, it must be the way here. I am sure."
"Than we should get out of here quickly" - said Kath. She was quiet all this time, but now suddenly began to talk - "this is really pre-ware junkyard. Often there were working robots-scavangers. They were cleaning the junk, taking care about radioactive stuff, defend it against..."
"So I was atacked by some scavanger..." - Brian smiled - "this thing was much worser, than these robots in NCR."
"They were developed as destroyers, cleaners of the sewers from all kinds of mutated and normal life form... including humans" - began to talk Chris suddenly. Everybody started from it - he was silent most of time. His voice sounded so strangely, espesially here... - "A lot of poor people lived in underground complexes below the site. In the end government decided to create these machines... they had body of bug with sensors of movement, strong armour, that was able to protect them from all harshes of underground sewers and radioactive stuff, and powerful nuclear engine. They are true hunters for alive creaures. I thought that they all had been destroyed already..." - he looked at his friends and became silent once again.
"Great." - Brian whispered. He looked at his scars once again and noticed that they were caused by very sharp weapon. The edges of it were clean and plain...
"Hey, Fred, I am sure that this stuff is looking for you. You are so lucky. May be that's why this thing released me." - Brian laughed. They were coming slowly through the piles of junk, looking for exit. Everybody was frightened, but tried not to show it. They were cheerful, but their worry look said everything without words.
"Oh yeah, go suck your jet. This stuff should rid the world from your sorry ass..." - was the answer of Fred. His voice was even more meaner than usually. He looked around with fear. Everybody else try to keept silent. Kath took in hands metal tube and was waiting for something. Fred with Smitty were searching the junk around for some treasures. Most of it were useless junk, but who knows. Brian's sister were coming with him, hanging his hand and looking around. Chris and Tod... they were busy with their own toughts and didn't care much about anything else. Craig was going the first and looked around with caution. He had the best weapon in the party - hunting rifle. He knew that this stuff was helpless against robots, but he hoped that they didn't meet it again.
"Hey, Tod, look - a good present for you." - cried Fred and threw him a red cup. It was a simple cup with strange word "Nescafe", written on it's cover.
"What does it mean, I wonder?" - Tod said and began to turn it in his hands. It was so interesting to examine ancient relics of the past, that he continued it for some time.
"Hey, I see exit" - cried Smitty happyly. I knew that it was somewhere there. He ran to one of the piles of junk and showed tiny ladder, leading upstairs at the incrediable distance.
"Well, much better than..." - Craig couldn't finish his words. Loud noise of broking junk was heard nearby. He looked around, but knew what he would saw there... Loud noise was coming to him too quickly...
Kath was coming after Craig. She knew that robot will accomplish it program - kill all life forms. It was only matter of time. She wanted to run away, but there was no way to run. Kath cursed herself that she didn't take something more serious weapon than her fists. Her father offered her plasma pistol, but she said that her wit was weapon enough. She grined. Smitty began to cry something and suddenly she noticed the large robot... It was beatiful. His dark, smooth armour shone in small light by dark colours. His strong, but beatiful and graceful limbs were working as alive. He looked so impressive, that Kath forgot about everything. Like some dragon from the tale, she read in the childhood, this robot was lieing at the pile of "treasures", he was set up to defend. Robot waited for several seconds and began to atack...
Chris heard the robot. It's quiet and graceful moves - "peoples of the past surely knew how to build things" - he thought and took one of the stones, lieing nearby. His sceptical smile showed his thoughts, but it was best avaible weapon.
Brian and his sister were standing near the ladder and talked with Smitty. Tod was standing nearby, hanging the cup in his hands. Fred was near with his mean smile at his face, as always... The noise attract their attention from old man and they with fear looked at the coming robot. Brian ran forward, crying something about hiting to the eyes, but he was not heard, as a large pile of junk fell to the ground... Cloud of dust rose in the air and nothing was seen. Everybody prepared to be torn apart by terrible claws of metal monster... expect Tod.
When Smitty found ladder, he lost all interest to this blasted cup. It was so boring. It had no use - it was cracked, it had no interesting stuff, it was ordinary cup. He threw the cup and began to look for his bottle. Only it could return good mood to him. Large noise of falling pile of junk made him turn around. He did it just in time to watch as huge robot was buried under the pile of junk. There were a lot of metal junk there and it left no chances to it:
"Nothing can withstand power of mighty cup and mysterious "Nescafe"" - whispered Tod with admire. He didn't notice that cup accidently fell to that pile of junk and made it to fall to the robot. He saw only broken remains of robot.
"I held it in my hands..." - muttered Fred with jealous...
***************
World of FO is coming... too fast for my liking
Anyway, my plans have changed and now I can spent some more time at fan fic... You know, it consumes all my time. I think about it every day - new story tortures me as hot iron needle in my ass. I need to post in here to stop it. Of course, only few will read it - it really sucks to read this text from the screen, but it suits me fine - I am so shy person 
BB, I can promise you that you will tired to read the whole story. Usually I write a lot and when I have inspiration, it's even worser. But it is good to be noticed by such profs...
:2gunfire: :snipersmile: 
