Little Lamplight

I should have just killed that damned Mungo. They've never been anything but trouble. Everything was fine until he showed up.

He came walking in, a sword strapped across his back, two different pistols in holsters on each side of his waist, and a dog following him. He was dressed up in this long trenchcoat, and a cowboy hat and sunglasses on his head. I stopped him near the gate, like all the others. He says he just wants to get to the Vault, nothing else. Yeah, right. I tell him what I tell the others, no Mungos allowed inside. He kept arguing, saying he needed to get to what was inside, saying he could pay, before storming off.

A few days later, Sammy and Squirrel, who had been taken by slavers, show up. They were in bad shape, but they were alive, and that was reason enough for celebration. They tell us this story of how this other kid, called Bryan, got put in there with them one day. He said he's from somewhere called Grayditch, which was being attacked by "freaky ant THINGS that spat fire". He was running from them, trying to find help, when one of the slavers must have caught him.

Thing is, Bryan's collar was damaged. Squirrel was able to mess around with it, eventually finding out how to deactivate them. Then, under the cover of night, the three of them made their escape. They got out of Paradise Falls through a sewer pipe, but they popped out near some slaver on patrol. Bryan throws himself the guy, tells them to run, and they ran.

There was talk about going back for Bryan, but I pointed out that he was probably dead by now. Sammy and Squirrel insisted on going anyways, but they were in no shape for a rescue operation. I had to beat that point into them, but a leader's gotta look out for those under his care.

Three days ago, who should show up but Bryan. Sammy and Squirrel were ecstatic. The kid was in even worse condition than they were when they showed up. I thought he'd bleed to death, but Lucy managed to patch him up. He didn't talk much, just said that he managed to knock the slaver out cold.

That night was when it happened. I'd woken up to let Dale get some sleep, but he was already dead. Bryan was there with a knife. He looked at me, frowned, and opened the gates before slicing his own throat. Before I could do anything, a bunch of slavers are everywhere. Zip tried to jump one of them, but he got whacked on the head and carried off. Pri- Angela, kept yelling at them, until she was hit with the butt of a rifle. Biwwy managed to kill one of the slavers, but his head got blown off- I can still see that brief look of terror in his eyes before they shot out his sockets. Me, Lucy and Eclair tried to keep them from the Great Chamber, where most of the others were hiding, but we were overwhelmed. I struggled with one of them, but there was this flash of light, and it was over.

I woke up the next day with a collar around my neck. All the other kids and I were crowded into this cage. One of the slavers- Eulogy Jones- was talking about how we were a great catch, and he and his men would be swimming in gold. That's when I saw him. That same Mungo that showed up at the entrance over a week ago was with him. I blew a fuse at the sight of him, and started thrashing at the gates, trying to get close enough to beat him to a pulp. The Mungo just walked over, looked me in the eyes, smiled, and punched me in the groin.

The next two days... were a nightmare. Anyone who spoke up was beaten. Joseph got looked in The Box. Lucy, Angela, Knock Knock, Bumble- poor Bumble- were taken, one at a time, to the Slaver's bunker. None of them would talk about what happened. They just sat in a corner together, recoiling at the sight of a slaver. Knick Knack was the first one sold, but others would follow.

I can't stand it anymore. I am Mayor Robert Joseph MacCready. The kids of Little Lamplight are under my protection. Tonight, I'm breaking into their armory. I will murder every last one of those slavers, and lead my people back home. And if I ever see that Mungo again, there will be hell to pay.

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The child lay on the ground before him. Even in death, there was nothing but pure hatred on his face.

Perhaps this was for the better. MacCready was a leader, a paragon, for the other kids. With him dead, the rest would learn their place. They would cause no trouble, once his body was put on display.

Secure in the knowledge that no one would ever find out about his part in things, the Lone Wanderer left once more to Little Lamplight.