Colonel Samuels – FOB Fort Independence The Colonel watched as the Children of Atom departed. Their vertibird raising a large cloud of dust as it took off. He turned and headed back to the fort as his Crusader Guards followed close behind. As he went for the door, one of the troopers ran in his direction. The Crusaders clutched their guns, but Samuels raised his hand, and they nodded. The trooper stopped before Samuels and leaned over as he caught his breath. Samuels walked towards another soldier and took the canteen of his belt and handed it to the runner, “I take it you have a message for me?” The soldier eagerly took the canteen and greedily drank its contents, “Sir, Capt. Rogers has arrived, and is bringing up the cargo. We can soon launch first attack.” The Colonel smiled and looked out and saw Brahmin carrying large steel containers. They bypassed the fort and kept travelling to the south east, “Very nice. Our attack shall soon commence. We shall show these heathens what it is to cross Pennsylvania.” - The Brahmin kept a steady but quick pace. The men accompanying the caravan tightly gripped their rifles. They kept a distance from the containers, but kept their eyes on them. Keeping a watchful eye, fearing their contents. They reached the marshes and swamps that surrounded Point lookout. The Brahmin were having a harder time pulling the containers, as the swamps bogged them down. Some of the escorting soldiers pulled on the chains, trying to assist the Brahmin, and carriages gave way after a long struggle. Loud growls and screams could be heard from the containers as they shook. A fog covered the area, and the men were weary. They got to a point where the wheels would no longer give. Captain Smith, the leader of the unit, gave the command to halt. He was reviewing a terrain map obtained from forward scouts, and from the looks of it, this would be as far as their caravan would be able to travel. He motioned for the carts and containers to be moved in position. They aligned the carts so that they formed a crescent facing one direction. The containers had extra doors on the outside that worked as flaps. “Sir, if I may ask, why are we doing this? Aren’t these our brethren? Our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith?” One of the soldier asks the captain as he placed a crate on the ground and opened it. He grabbed one of the electric prods and hesitated. “These things are no longer our brethren. This decay of their skins and their minds is due to their sins on this earth. They turned away from the word of the Good Book. The almighty has punished them and cast them out from his presence. Not even fit to burn in the pits of hellfire. Cursed to roam the earth.” A priest walked toward the soldier and picked up one of the prods. At the banging sound of cymbals, the priest put the prod into a cavity in a container, and turned it on. The container shook as the creatures screeched at the sound electrical current travelling through the metal walls. “Do not pity them as they deserve none. This is an act of kindness. They get to serve their Commonwealth for one last time. If you were accursed as they are, wouldn’t you seek an end?” The men stopped prodding the cages and began to retreat. A Brahmin was let lose, in the direction of Point Lookout. A small set charge on each of the containers went off, causing the doors to fall. As they fell the Ghouls began to move out of their confinement. As they moved a shot rang out from one of the containers releasing a flying cymbal toy, which began clanking. As soon as they heard the sounds the ghouls worked themselves into a frenzy and began chasing it as it began to fall. As it fell, a similar device had been attached to the Brahmin what also began clanking. As the captain stopped in his tracks he looked backed as the sounds of gunshots echoed. Soon there was total silence. He wondered if he heard nothing due to their distance. His men had left the murky swamp and retreated to a clearing on the outskirts. He stood on the edge of the swamp. He had ordered his lieutenant to carry on and meet up with the rest of the company. The captain doubted the efficiency of this act of senselessness, he was just following orders. What weighed him down was the acquisition of the ferals. He began to remove his equipment slowly, tossing aside his uniform. He watched it slowly sink into the mud. The flag of his Commonwealth slowly disappearing. He abandoned his Kevlar vest, his helmet and his weapons, lay them down, letting them sink. He began walking towards where they had condemned the ferals to their doom. His mind raced towards a few weeks earlier, when they had acquired the ghouls. Many of them were sentient ghouls that led lives in a settlement or another. Unlucky one’s that crossed their path. Not enough ferals had been acquired, they didn’t have enough. The officers debated as to what action they should take. As a former researcher Capt Smith made a controversial proposal. He proposed grabbing ghouls and expose them to high levels of radiation. He knew that the ghouls became Feral as radiation ate away at their bodies and minds. A silence took the room. No one had considered such a course of action. It seemed as some were about to protest, but one of the priest stood up. He half expected the priest to condemn his actions and excommunicate him from the church. On the contrary he began to clap and agree with his idea. He gave the same speech he had just heard him give to that soldier. Ferals and ghouls are nothing but animals that no longer are human. He had carried out the plan he had come up with, but it weighed on his soul. For a moment of praise he had doomed innocents to their deaths. For what? For a promotion that may be given? He had sold himself out. He despised the priest for not having condemned him, for praising him, for calling him righteous. He now sought penance for his actions for what he had done. As he walked, a fiery sensation hit his body. He had been shot, and that soon was followed by waves of pain and more fiery burning. The captain fell to his knees as his body began to give. His head soon hit the ground, falling next to a feral. Their two eyes met, but the captains vision went blank as he died.