Fallout Part Six

The drive back to the Fallout seemed longer than usual. Then again, I did have a complete stranger sitting in the passenger seat, and the silence was a bit awkward.
"Is your hideout this far out of town?" Brad asked when he noticed that I drove out of Fergus.
"Mainly to train the younger kids out in the open without causing mass public panic." I said, keeping my eyes on the road. "And if we wanted to add on to the house, we could add on easily."
"How many are in your group?"
I thought for a second. "Including me and Jack, nine. Of course, if Jack approves of you, then ten."
"Jack?" he asked.
Shit, I thought. I didn't want to give away his name. "My leader."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of him from my cousin."
"Who's your cousin?" I asked out of morbid curiosity.
"His name is Demitri, but he goes by the name of Blade."
Blade!?
I stomped on the brake, involuntarily, jerking us forward and back again.
"What the hell-"
"Your Blade's cousin?!?" I asked not realizing that I stopped in the middle of the highway. It was a good thing that there weren't any oncoming cars.
"Yeah, but what's the big deal?" he asked.
I really didn't know myself, but I said, "Nothing, I guess. It's just that I've known Blade since I was nine, but I didn't know that he had family." I started driving, and it got quiet again. "So if Blade's your relative, why not go to him?" I asked after awhile.
"I didn't have enough money to get me all the way to Minneapolis." Brad said quickly. Something told me that he was lying, but I figured it was personal and didn't want to say anything else about it. But there was one thing that bugged me.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"Huh?"
"Back in the alley, when I ran and you caught up to me. You're the first person to catch up to me, ever." "Simple," he said, smirking. "I followed your scent." He tapped his nose with his finger, still smirking.
"You have the senses of a dog or what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
Brad laughed nervously. "I guess you can say that. It's more like wolf senses actually. It's my Gift." I was getting ready to pull into the driveway when I saw Tekkie and Adam hanging out on the tailgate of Tek's truck.
God dammit. I thought. I certainly didn't want either of them to be at the Fallout right now. *Once they see Brad, they'll go all 'big brother' on me.* Tekkie was the first to notice, his dark eyes were serious. We got out of the car and I could feel them staring me down as if they were burning holes into me.
"Who's your friend, Tifa?" Adam asked, staring down Brad more than me.
And here we go, I thought. "I met him while I was in town and he wanted to join our group-"
"You know what Jack said about new members," he said sternly.
"I realize that," I continued, my temper rising. "That's why I brought him here for Jack to decide what to do."
This is something I'd expect from Brooke, Adam thought.
That made me snap.
I went into his mind and shouted, I'm not a two dollar whore like Brooke! He cringed, rubbing his head."You know I'm better than that, Adam," I said coldly. I turned to Brad, who looked like he knew what happened. "Come on."
We got to the porch- I made him look away when I typed in my code- and went inside. Brooke was coming out of the kitchen wearing skimpy lingerie and pink fuzzy slippers, holding a steaming mug. I saw Brad wrinkle his nose in disgust, but I didn't need wolf senses the smell of alcohol on her.
Just to be mean, I slammed the door as hard as I could, making a loud BANG!
She jumped, spilling some of the contents from her mug.
"Ouch!" she whined, rubbing her temple. "You don't have to slam it so hard!"
"It's what you get when you're out all night drinking, I said holding back the urge to laugh. I don't know why, but Brooke's pain caused me so much joy. "And besides, you're underage." Brooke looked up to glare at me, but then she looked past me to stare at Brad.
"And who are you?" she asked in a sultry voice. She even stuck her chest out and stood in a way to make her look seductive.
My right eye started to twitch; a part of me wanted to yell, "Back off, bitch!" but I decided to hold my tongue.
"This is none of your business, Brooke." I turned to see Jack, leaning against the entryway of the living room. He gave me the same look Adam and Tek gave me. "Get back in your room. I'll have a chat with you later." Brooke just rolled her eyes and went upstairs.
"You're Brad, right?" he asked, glaring at him. "Come with me, I need to ask you a few questions if you're going to be a member of my group." Jack started walking to his office and Brad followed.
And I want to have a talk with you after this. Jack's voice ran through my head.
Good. 'Cause I want to talk to you, too. I retorted. I heard the office door shut and sighed. How long was this going to take? I then heard footsteps running down the stairs.
"Tifa, Tifa!" Eve came running towards me.
"What's up, Eve?" I asked.
"Toby said that he sensed a wolf nearby!" she said, out of breath. "What should we do?"
I had to laugh at her silliness. It was always funny when Eve worried over nothing.
"There's no need to overreact. What Toby sensed was the Gift of a possible new member."
"We're getting a new member?" she asked excitedly.
"Maybe. That's for Jack to decide," I said, looking at the closed office door.
"Oh. Well, I'm going to tell Max and Pyro about this," She said as she skipped up the stairs. I really didn't see the point in telling them, but that was Eve.
I started walking towards the kitchen, when I stepped on a loose floorboard. I looked down, I know it was weird to notice a loose floorboard, but it didn't make a squeaking noise like you'd expect. It sounded hollow. I jumped on the exact spot again and I kept hearing the same hollowness. I knelt down and I saw a small indent in the floor. As I touched it, a holographic keypad showed up.
"What the?" I said in surprise. This wasn't there yesterday, was it? I hesitantly typed in my code- what else was I suppose to put? - and all of a sudden the part of the floor moved.
"Holy shit!" I yelped, inching away from the moving floor. The floor opened up to a square hole with a ladder jutting up. I looked down the hole, it was pitch black. I looked back at Jack's office. The door was still closed. "Well," I said, taking a deep breath, "only one way to find out." I started climbing down the ladder. It wasn't until I was in all the way did my only way out shut, leaving me in darkness. It was only like that for a few seconds, and then a few rows of lights lit up and guided my way down.
When I finally reached the bottom of the ladder, I turned around and just stood there, frozen stiff.
This definitely wasn't here yesterday.
I was staring down a shooting range, the kind that cops used. On one wall there were different guns of different sizes.
Taylor was right, we did have enough weapons for an army. I started feeling a wave of nausea and went down to me knees. All of this bounty hunter business was making me sick.
Tifa, where are you? Jack's voice ran through my head, breaking my thoughts. Come in to the living room. It took me a few seconds to get up from the floor and made my way to the ladder.
Your little meeting done with? I asked, climbing up towards the hole I came from.
Yeah. Apparently, he's related to Blade, can you believe it?
I know, he already told me. I could sense his surprise when I told him that.
Well, he continued, despite that fact, keep an eye on him. He answered all my questions honestly and let me into his mind, but there's something that he was keeping from me. I know it might be personal, but I need to know.
I was finally a few feet from the opening when the lights automatically went off and the floor above my head opened up.