Nuclear Winter

(Multiple Pov style chapter)

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The heat.

It lasted minutes, the shockwave having blasted him off his feet, followed buy that unbearable heat and then the dust and dirt that fell as the ground shook so hard it felt like he would be swallowed whole.

It felt like an eternity as he shouted over the sound, or lack there of, not counting the ringing in his ears.

Yet it did pass and the man finally stood up on shaking legs, turning to look at the large mushroom cloud that dwarfed the one used earlier.

"Dear god…" the man looked at the blast cloud like it held all the secrets of the universe, his mind in a fog that was quickly wiped away as a strong hand was placed on his shoulder.

Turning to the shouting man, he shook his head and pointed to his ears, feeling wetness he pulled back his hand to see blood.

"I sa-"

"I said le-"

"I said let's fucking move corporal! Don't make me repeat myself!" Rowan shouted to the dazed corporal that was bleeding from his ears, the same one he had been talking to moments earlier. "Geiger counters are going wild, let's move or hearing will be the least of your worries!" Rowan pulled the young man who stumbled.

He himself fighting the urge to look back at the massive explosion… 'if we were still in that warehouse…' thankfully they were at the bare minimum distance, but radiation was still a problem and he and his men would bead a Radaway bath when they got back with how crazy the Geiger was ticking.

'I'm gonna kick that nuke happy idiot in his tungsten ballsack when I see him again.' Alex didn't realize his boys were in danger at that moment.

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"You ok?" Alex got up from behind the highway concrete divider he and Asia hid for safety.

Getting up and dusting herself off, Asia's had a big smile on her face "I'm fine…say can ~"

"No, we can not set of no more nukes, I'm gonna get strung up for the ones we used today!" Alex looked at the dejected young girl.

"I'll by you an Mk19 when we get back, BUT NO SHOOTING IT IN TOWN!" Alex had to emphasize the last bit.

"You're the second best!" Aida gave Alex a hug.

"Second? Who's the first?!" Alex looked at the young girl feeling betrayed.

"Your reflection." She gave him a smirk.

"Cheeky brat.. god why couldn't I have a little sister like you sooner?" At those words Asia froze. "Little sister? You see me like that?"

Alex looked at the girl who was slowly getting misty eyed. "Unless who don't want me too?" Before he could react she was up in his arms giving him a bear hug that could put Keres to shame…seriously, she may have slipped a disk in his back.

"Ok you little gremlin, down before you snap my back!" Alex pushed the clingy girl off him. "We should head to the meet up point, I'm overdue for an ass whoopin." Alex recalled the last time he played with a nuke and one very pissed off older sister. 'God help me'

But god wasn't listening.

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"What the bloody hell was that!" Hsu got up from the floor and shook of some plaster from the terminal's ceiling.

Walking out into the main courtyard, the man's jaw dropped. 'Another one?!' He felt a headache coming at all the paperwork that would end up on his desk. However, noticing the direction of the blast and distance from Mcarren, a smile formed on the man's face.

"Sir!" Dhatri ran up rifle in hand and saluted Hsu. "I'll be taking my squad to assess the situation with your permission!" Hsu looked over his old friend and shook his head.

"Gonna be months before we can go near those ruins, even then, gonna need some radiation gear. Just get some aid stations ready incase we have to use them and need up the guards near the front gate and control towers around the walls."

Dhatri looked like he wanted to refuse, but chose to salute once more. "Understood Colonel." The man turn and ran off just in time to see Boyd and Betsy coming out from the tents where he pulled the sniper away leaving a bewildered Boyd behind.

Seeing Hsu she walked over to him and pointed to the second, much larger, mushroom cloud. "The fuck is that James!" Hsu let out a sigh. "Language Carrie, also, no fucking clue."

"I Can give you a hint…" both turned to a feminine voice behind them, James Hsu feeling a ghost pain in his crotch as his eyes wandered along the smirking face of the woman admiring the mushroom cloud. "Only one man dumb or brave enough, maybe both, to pull that stunt."

Hsu slapped his forehead and mumbled "damn it, couldn't wait to pull this shit till I was back in Cali?" Hsu cave another sigh and looked once more at the cloud. "Guess that's one less threat on the NCRs plate."

"I need another drink." Carrie turned and left for the mess tent to drink before she was pulled into the never ending paperwork and bureaucracy.

"Magic words if I ever heard them, wait up!" Cass sauntered pass Hsu and chuckled. "He's probably on his way here, I won't mind if you give him an earful for pulling that stunt." With that Cass disappeared into the tents leaving Hsu standing there both confused and alone.

"I need to retire soon." With that the man went back into the main terminal to start the long process of paperwork.

Unbeknownst to him, a master Sargent with a handful of papers and an atomic tan curtesy of Alex was on his way to ruin the man's day, further then any nuke could.

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"No! Stay away you monster! AAAAAGGGHHH!!!!"

*CRUNCH*

'I wonder what my no-tail is doing?' Keres chewed slowly on the snack she found, occasionally stopping to lick one of the very few injuries she received from the battle earlier.

"Keres! Let's fall back girl!"

'Ah, the annoying No-tail is speaking to me.' Keres looked down at the no-tail wearing strange skin. 'My no-tail called this one sister, yet he fears her, but will she'll bring me to my no-tail?' Keres nodded her head as she watched the one named Katie let out a nervous sigh.

'She smells of fear.' Keres noted that most No-tails smelled of fear in her presence, but not her no-tail! No he was different However He got mad when Keres tried to kill this female no-tail, when she sensed his fear she wanted to make him feel safe, but he got mad over her wanting to eliminate this female no-tail.

Not like Keres was actually going to eat the no-tail, it had soiled itself. Since then it has been nervous around her, always keeping an eye on her, it made Keres self conscious.

'Maybe this no-tail wants my position in the pack?' The matriarch deathclaw pondered as she fell in behind the quickly moving group of no-tails. Her mind wandered that fateful day as it usually did, the day she met her no-tail, Alex.

He was strong, and treated her well. That day he saved her and let Keres get her vengeance was both the happiest and saddest of her young life.

"What ya thinking about?" Keres looked down at the silver haired no-tail that had snuck up on her. This one was acceptable.

"Grrrr raaaug." Keres spoke with a sad tone as she mentioned her mother and old nest, not realizing that Ava had no clue and was just said and was nodding out of curtesy.

"Well I hope you know that no matter what we're all here for you big girl!" Ava touched Keres side and moved away under the matriarch's gaze.

'This no-tail is nice.' Keres thought on the females words and her mind once again went to her no-tail and his smile.

'I'll protect that smile like he protected me that day!'

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"Hmmm… any news from SearchLight?" General Oliver sat at his dest with straight posture as he shuffled through various reports as the man before him shook his head.

The assistant assigned to him fixed his glasses and continued with an alarming report he had just received. "An unknown faction has been seen near the I-15 harassing weapon convoys. All reports state they are well armed and use military style tactics. A few survivors have noted a strange symbol on the left side of their forehead…" the man put the report in front of the general.

Picking up the dossier, Oliver opened it and read the report himself, his eyes glancing at the symbols that adorned the mystery mercs foreheads. "Hmmm, it's their blood type."

"What?" The assistant looked confused at Oliver who simply let out a sigh.

"Quarry junction, these mercs were seen trying to capture a Deathclaw matriarch, failed to do so, but there's evidence of them all over the place these days." Oliver stood up and went over to the large window overlooking the Hoover dam turbines far below. "They're called the 'Gunners' don't know much about them other then they follow old world military doctrine with a spice of post apocalyptic raider blood lust…dangerous and smart."

Oliver heard the assistant gulp.

"Why would such a force be working alongside the Legion?" Oliver mused as he watched the technicians and soldiers meander down below in the dam. "Send word back to the capital, enemy seems to be hiring outside mercenaries to weaken our forces. Ask that the government investigates other strategic locations along the border… I have a bad feeling.." Oliver turned away from the window and went to his coat hanger. "Seems I have to make a call to that woman." Oliver felt a shiver as he recalled her face.

"Fuck me…"

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"Report."

In a dusty half fallen skyscraper, a man in dirty tan combat armor spoke to another more nervous looking man.

"Squad 23 failed to retrieve the asset, fully wiped out." The man shuffled on his feet as he noticed his commanders face sour.

"Intel?"

"The Beta wave frequency jammer we received from Talon company worked well enough in capturing Quarry Junction and our biological asset…according to the last update from the squad they even got a second asset. Unfortunately the first asset expired, so no net gain or loss." The man watched as his commander went into thought.

"Hm, then?"

"Scout unit code named 'felon' left his post to rendezvous with squad 23, found the body's and missing asset. Clear signs of battle, returned to base of operations and base had been recovered by enemy combatants including missing asset." After a few moments, the commander stood up and walked over to an old shelf and pulled off an old dusty bottle of scotch.

"I'll report to the general on this, but first..what's on your mind?" The commander looked over at the nervous soldier.

"A new settlement has appeared…well an old settlement that was infested. It was cleared and thanks to surviving infrastructure and location has become an important strategic asset." The soldier shuffled around before growing a backbone. "Permission to send scouts for possible infiltration and turning of asset settlement into friendly hands?"

"Granted. What's this settlements name?"

"Winter Haven, sir."

The commander nodded. "Don't fail me."

The commander watched his underling leave and sat down at the old rusted and dusted desk. The musky scent of the old CEO's office filling his nose as his eyes scanned the old room, landing on two skeletons laying in an embrace on an old ratty couch.

The man got up and walked over to the two skeletons, spitting on both he smiled. "Always knew you two had a thing going on behind my back." The man reached for the female skeletons ID card, an old faded photo of a beautiful blonde woman and her secretary credentials. "Would have saved you Becca, but you chose poorly." The man threw the old idea back on the couch and turned to leave his old office.

The last of the light from the window catching the front of the man's armor, revealing a small black crest in the shape of 13 stars surrounding a single letter… E.

"Over 200 years…time sure flys."

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(Authors note)

Didn't like what I had so redid the chapter, sorry for the wait, ended up with a multi pov chapter.

Next few chapters will be more action packed and will shy away from not just Alex, but also the Mojave, one is even set in the past…like 2076…

Anyways hope you enjoyed it and if you have questions or suggestions I'm open to anything.