Steel Waste

Afton was awoken in the middle of the night as some kind of explosion went off at one of the entrances, he sighs and pulls the pillow over his head... The NCR had not sent anymore troops to their untimely deaths, instead, they'd just been occasionally chucking grenades into the entrances.

Afton had heard of this kind of tactic in the past, exhaust the defenders and keep them on high alert so when you do attack, it'll be significantly easier. The tactics weren't used all that much in the wasteland as superior resources and firepower would usually determine the victor.​​

He just wanted to run out there and start shooting at them, it was so incredibly annoying to finally fall asleep, only to be awoken by yet another fucking explosion. His parents still hadn't returned to their quarters, which was slightly worrying as they should've been allowed to rest, perhaps they had more important duties to attend to though...

This continued for the next few days, everyone was constantly on high alert as another attack could be coming at any moment, Afton himself had spent most hours of his days straining his eyes at the entrance, carefully listening in-case he caught the sound of charging feet.

He'd met Miles and Melissa in the cafeteria as well, Miles looked relatively ok, if a bit shaken, but Melissa? There were bags under her eyes and it appeared that she'd been crying recently... Not something he'd expect from the usually jovial girl.

Miles had been training and waiting for this day to come, so it wasn't surprising that his first kill hadn't affected him all that much, this was probably also the reason Afton was able to rationalise it so quickly. Whether he intended it or not, his mind had constantly been on the NCR lately, the fact that they'd invade and he'd have to defend himself was obvious.

Melissa wipes her eyes and sniffs before looking at him, "Afton... How are you?" she asks, as she pokes her food with her fork.

"Good... You guys holding up well?"

Miles nods, "Yes, I'm finally able to avenge dad, those bastards will get what's coming to them." he states.

Melissa slowly nods, "Yeah... What Miles said." she says, glancing away at the last moment.

"You don't have to act tough Melissa, what you're being asked to do is awful, you need to understand that someone our age shouldn't have to kill. That's what you're torn up about, right?" he asks.

She nods slightly, "It, it all happened so fast... One moment I was poking Miles arm, the next the doors explode and we're shooting at people... I think I hit some, I had my eyes closed though." she admits shamefully.

Miles places a hand on her shoulder, "You did what you had to do, they came here to kill all of us, how would you feel if you hesitated and they killed me, or your parents?"

Her eyes widened momentarily at this, her expression darkening before she slowly nods. "I..."

"I think you should speak to your parents or someone in the med-bay Melissa, it'll help, trust me." Afton says, giving her a reassuring smile.

She nods and scoops the rest of her food into her mouth before standing, "I'll... I'm going to see my parents." she says before hurriedly leaving.

Afton stands afterwards, "You be safe Miles, try not to get yourself killed." he remarks before heading towards where he'd been stationed. Miles giving him a small nod in reply.

The Chapter didn't really have a plan to survive this... The Elder was occasionally on the intercom to reassure everyone, but it was starting to feel like false promises. He'd not seen Veronica since the conflict started, the Elder was probably working her to exhaustion every day in an attempt to get the ARCHIMEDES weapons operable.

Afton knew that wouldn't happen though, they didn't have the Range Finder, and even if they did, there was still much that needed to be repaired underground. He reckoned most of it was fixed, but as they weren't able to leave to gather materials and components, the repairs have likely halted.

It'd been a week since the siege started, food was beginning to get low, with water being rationed even more so. Things weren't looking good, but a smile came to his face when he finally spotted Veronica in the cafeteria. He was instantly at her side as she slowly ate her food like a sloth, clearly exhausted.

"Veronica! Where have you been!?" he asks, semi-demanding.

"Quiet, eat." she states, not even looking at him.

...

Afton waits at her side as she slowly finishes her bowl of food, once she's done she takes a sip from the bottle of rationed water and looks at him expectantly.

"You alright?" he asks, not liking the weird way she was acting.

Veronica nods, "I am... I've just been working non-stop for days, I've been eating nothing but junk food while doing my best to repair everything the Elder tells me to alone. Feels like he doesn't trust anyone but me." she admits.

"And... What's the Elder going to do about the NCR on our doorstep?"

...

Veronica shakes her head, "I don't know... I think he's starting to lose it, while I work I can hear him muttering about not being able to find something... He's ordered me to open up the walls so he can check if anything is inside them... I'm worried Afton."

"As am I, the only hope we have is if the Elder can make something happen, we're sitting ducks here and are already running out of food. Sooner or later, we're going to have to act." he says with a frown. "Do you honestly believe the Elder can do anything?"

...

"No." Veronica finally says after a moment of silence.

Afton exhales out of his nose and nods, "Then we'll need to find another avenue to get out of this situation... I think I know just the person to talk to." he says, grabbing Veronica's attention.