Chapter Text
“Vault Remedial systems in shutdown mode, releasing test subjects from confinement.” A robotic pre-recorded voice rang out from the overhead speakers while a soft alarm blared and red overhead lights illuminated the room as they spun, indicating some sort of emergency. “All Vault-tec personnel are to report to assigned areas for orders from Overseer.” It continued as a number of large vats of liquid containing human bodies slowly began to open throughout the room. One of those bodies slowly stood up, looking around confused.
He was naked, of course, but he looked to be a man in his 20’s, well built, abs and solid musculature, brown hair and blue eyes. However he looked super confused as he looked around the hallway of vat containers now covered in the same liquid he had been suspended in.
“Hello?” He called out to the empty and quiet space only to be met with no response. Instinctively he looked at the other people who were like him, just moments ago, suspended in the tanks full of a greenish liquid but saw no other movement. They all seemed dead. Or at least catatonic.
He paused to get his bearing, thinking to himself about who and what he was to ground himself.
He was Adam Baxter. A man working for a Vault-Tec Subsidiary, Second Life, but he did not really know what they did. All he knew was they were a scientific research company that had something to do with genetics? He was unclear, he, himself, was nothing more than a repair technician, it was the best job he could find after he got out of the military, but knowing what the company did behind closed doors was beyond his pay grade. But he remembered it all, his life, his home, his job, schooling, the threat of war, everything. So he wasn't confused about who he was, although something was confusing him about his body.
He walked over to one of the glass tank vats, now opened from the bottom to spill out the unmoving human body. It disturbed him but he did his best to ignore it as he examined himself in the reflection of the glass.
This was him but… much more muscular, and in shape. It looked like how he used to look back when he was serving in the military, but if he was exercising regularly, he had cut abs, muscular legs and arms, and he looked fresh, no scars, cuts or bruises. It was… confusing to say the least.
He found himself lost in his own reflection as he failed to understand his situation before the sound of the siren finally broke his concentration. It did not get louder or anything, it just woke him from his daze, the constant droning infiltrating his thoughts.
Deciding there was nothing further to gain from waiting around he followed the path through the long metal hallway, carefully avoiding the bodies laying on the ground unmoving.
This was a vault, of that much he was certain, he had seen advertisements for them on TV, Vault-Tec's biggest seller, of course it was well outside his pay grade, even with his military discounts. So he had built himself a small fallout shelter in his backyard if the apocalypse ever came. So not only was his body confusing him, but how he even got into a vault in the first place was also quite confusing.
As he walked he passed a few rooms of interest, a mess hall that looked to be abandoned, though it was left in a mess it was still empty of anything useful except a few knives, one of which he took with him as he still knew very little of what was going on. Another section with a suite of bedrooms, each with their own beds, living rooms, kitchens, and showers. Also in a state of disarray, papers and clothes all over the place as if someone ransacked it. After looting one of these domiciles he found himself a set of clothing, a vault jumpsuit labeled with a gold 42 on it which he promptly put on so he was not naked, as well as a Pip-Boy sitting on the dresser where he found the vault suit. The Pip-Boy seemed to be in working order as well, though he was unfamiliar with the UI of it so he decided to familiarize himself with it later and instead kept walking.
Eventually he found himself in the deepest part of the vault, on accident of course, as his goal was escape, but he wandered into the Overseer's office, the head manager of the vault. A terminal, still on, lit up green as he entered the room, facing away from him and towards what would be the overseer's chair, if there was one. There was none. In fact, so far, after wandering for probably 20 minutes he had not stumbled upon a single person, no security, no scientists, no support staff, no residents, it was as if the place was abandoned, which he assumed it was. If it wasn't for the mess left everywhere he would have assumed he was the only living person to have ever been here.
So, with no moral repercussions for peeking, he walked over to the terminal and sat down in the overseer’s chair, booting the computer up. It was password protected, of course. But he knew his way around computers and machines. And this was a standard rob-co terminal, nothing out of the ordinary, a simple root command call on the password screen brought up the debug menu, and from there he could play around a bit with the password software until he could find the code and unlock the terminal. It took him no more than 2 minutes. Stuff like this is super easy when you know how to do it. And he used to do stuff like this all the time back in his old job, you’d be surprised how often high level scientists would lock themselves out of their computers, and then it was up to him, the IT guy, to come and fix it.
Opening the computer files he was met with a few options. [Log entries] [Research Breakdown] [Vault maintenance and health] [Vault 42 Experiment Overseer’s eyes only]
This was already more than he was expecting, after all the computer could have been wiped before the place was evacuated. But it was not. While he would have loved to start at the top and work his way down, his attention was caught by the last option. Experiment? What does that mean? The vaults were supposed to be places for people to survive the bombs if needed, what experiments could it be referring to?
However as soon as he opened the file he was met with a concerning and yet confusing find.
[Vault 42 is an experiment in clo33484f, gen556t4 rfirh8n, and rofguehrgbherejbgiuejf9u3bfeh87gvefjve. After they have been gojg8rborjib therapy and stage two of the program g4gjr9ghburgikbrhngv. The new grourfb3wurjuefbr and uploaded with all critical data, experimental variants apply. Overseer is to use vault residents as test subjects for feirbfuehruyfebuiv, death is expected, scientists and guards will comply.]
There was a lot missing, the data corruption seemed severe, though he did not know why, perhaps there was an attempt made to erase the data but it was stopped midway.
He had no choice but to dig deeper, hoping to find some answers in the logs.
He read on, [Log entry 10.24.77. I have finally got to head to my office. I am now an overseer, certainly a step down from Chairman but I will adapt, as I always have. I've always said my best trait is that I can grow into any role]
[Log Entry 10.30.77. The experiments have officially begun, the chief scientist has assured me that this research will bear fruit. I for one look forward to the results. After all the ideas proposed, the ability to live forever is enticing, I can only hope the theories crafted will live up to expectations.]
[Log Entry 12.25.77. Christmas, not much of a celebration when the most we have is stacking a bunch of tables on top of each other and decorating them with Vault suits and tinsel, but we make due. The Chief of security and I are doing a gift exchange. I'm thinking of gifting him my old copy of Moby Dick. I'm hoping Santa brings me a bottle of bourbon this year.]
[Log entry 4.15.78. Experiments are going along well, Stage 1 testing is proceeding apace, and we welcomed our newest Resident, the baby Kady. Seems Mrs. Michaels was carrying when she made it into the vault. We threw a bigger party than we did for christmas.]
[Log Entry 9.7.78 Things have been status quo for a while, I find myself, somedays, wishing for the excitement from before I came here, or at least the parties I used to throw, but the world is not so kind as to indulge me.]
[Log Entry 3.11.79 The experiments are ramping up, the residents by now know, or, at least, are aware of, the things we are doing behind the scenes. One too many residents have gone missing by now. After all it's a small place, you can't very well lose people in a vault. I'm surprised they haven't rioted]
[Log Entry 5.3.79. I'm not sure what I said in my last log, perhaps that the residents weren't rioting? Well I was wrong, I heard rumors of something stirring. I should be aware at all times. I think they are plotting something.]
[Log Entry 5.20.79. Another break into the armory, that makes the third this week. Where the hell are they stashing the weapons? There's not many places to hide them! I think the guards are in on it! There's no other way!]
[Log entry 6.15.79. Am I just paranoid or am I getting weird looks every time I head out for meals? If I so much as leave my office for food the residents stare at me like I'm in some kind of horror movie. I don't know what's going to happen, I'm going to keep a pistol in my desk from now on just in case.]
[Log Entry 8.9.79 I can feel the tension in the air, they are no longer hiding the weapons, the residents are armed at all times, and so are the guards, and so are the scientists, it's like a mexican standoff and everyone is the loser.]
[Remote Log Entry 11.12.79. Well, this is it. I am trapped in the reactor room with nothing but a 9mm and the maintenance terminal. The Mr. Handy who runs repairs won't protect me from the mob outside the door and even if they can’t get in, I'm positive the radiation leaking from the reactor will. I'm fucked. This is my last log entry. This experiment was a failure. If you are reading this, residents of Vault 42. Fuck your mothers, fuck your fathers, fuck your wives, and FUCK YOU.]
[End of Log Entries]
There was… a lot to unpack there. It seemed as though riots from human experimentation had caused the vault to implode on itself, though there was a lot left unclear, it seems as though the scientists and guards had failed to quell the rebellion, and thus they left? There were still too many unanswered questions. But he had gleaned that there was some sort of hope to achieve immortality? Does that have something to do with his new body? Hopefully he might find some answers by reading on, but before that he had to satisfy his curiosity.
Curiously, he opened the top drawer on the right hand side of the desk. One of the log entries had mentioned that the overseer kept a gun in his desk, perhaps it was still there?
And upon opening the drawer all the way, it was! A 10mm pistol lay on its side next to a box of the appropriate ammo.
Adam pulled out the gun, inspecting it, the magazine loaded into the gun was full and so was the box of ammo next to the gun. Well good at least he had a weapon other than a knife now, if he needed it. But his investigation was not over. He wanted to know more about what was going on here, and luckily there was still the log of the Experimental Breakdown he could look at.
[Experiment Breakdown:wjeufbenoifvherufj30u834hg04euvghb3nwe0-fi3rf]
Well shit, that was unhelpful. It seems like the data is corrupted. Probably part of the same attempt to delete data as the first thing he read. He had really hoped for some answers, but ultimately it changed nothing, his main goals remained the same. He decided to read the last part of the terminal. The vault health and maintenance.
[ Inner and outer door seals 100%, external radiation exposure .001%, internal reactor power 10%, hydroponics 0%, overall vault health stands at sub 50%, immediate attention suggested.]
Well it seemed like the vault was doing okay externally but the reactor was either dead or no longer functioning. Which tracked with what the log entry from the overseer said. He would need to steer clear of the reactor if at all possible.
So, with some of his questions answered, he grabbed his gun and stood up, ready to head out of the room to explore the vault more and, hopefully, find his way out.
Chapter Text
His explorations through the hallway outside the Overseer’s office revealed a sign that read “Reactor room” “Overseer’s office” “Living Quarters” “Armory” “Decontamination room” How he had missed signs earlier as he wandered around was beyond him, but likely the maze like structure of this subterranean dwelling had confused him. But that was just an excuse, most likely he simply didn’t notice before. But he was more ready to leave now than ever, so he decided to head to the decontamination room, his thoughts were that the only reason one would enter decontamination was to remove radiation from entering the vault. In addition to that the armory was in the same direction so it seemed as good a plan as any, not like he had any other ideas in mind.
After stumbling through the dimly lit hallways of the vault for a while longer he finally stumbled upon the armory, and more importantly the decontamination room and vault door separating him from his freedom.
He could see, through massive thick panes of plexiglass, the giant vault door that remained sealed, but little else besides that, it seemed that the exit room was pretty dark, no warning lights were in this room, or at least, no warning lights that were on, nor did it seem like the power that dimly lit the rest of the vault reached this far. But the decontamination room was connecting the hallway to the exit, so it seems his hunch was right.
However, before he would brave whatever lay in the outside world he decided to check the armory right next to him to see if he could find anything useful which… there was nothing.
The armory was picked clean, every locker, every case, ever drawer, was empty. The only thing that was still in the room was a vault Jacket sitting overtop the back of the chair overlooking the exit to the vault and an empty Nuka-Cola bottle and bottle cap sitting next to it. So useless junk. The jacket was of interest but not worth getting excited over, so instead he focused his efforts on leaving.
Walking through the giant sprayers at the entrance to the vault for decontamination, they were, predictably, turned off, so it was uneventful, but the room was so dark it was hard to see. But he did notice a light on his pip-boy, so figured there must be a way to use it like a flashlight. After a minute of tinkering he figured it out and switched on his pip-boy light only to be met with a gruesome scene. Bodies, lots of bodies, lined up side by side row after row. Well bodies are a bit much, they were all skeletons, comedically wearing clothes as if some game designer dressed up a Halloween skeleton and dropped it down to create a little scene. But it was anything but funny. It was horrifying. There was no doubt in Adam’s mind that these men were executed. Lined up and shot in rows of men. Almost all of them were scientists, wearing lab coats of some fashion, but there were one or two guards in the mix as well, but they were few and far between.
As if to give credence to his theory he looked down and saw the spent shell casings from bullets fired, small caliber mostly right below his feet. That proved it, this was a mass grave for executions. Perhaps, if he were to speculate, the scientists who were conducting these human experiments were rounded up by the residents and killed for their crimes before they left the vault. The few guard bodies intermixed among them suggests that either there were few guards in this vault to begin with and they were killed too. Or, as the Overseer speculated, the guards were helping the residents and when the breakout occurred the guards sided with the residents. It was a theory but it seemed like a good one. He could probably find more explanations to what was going on in the vault if he explored more, but right now, all he wanted to do was leave.
But before he turned to the vault door panel he stopped and looked at one of the few guard bodies. They were still wearing a bulletproof Vault-Tec imprinted vest and pistol holster. It seemed wrong to rob the dead, but he wanted to be prepared for whatever lay beyond the vault door, worst case he could leave it behind, but he didn’t especially plan to come back again. So, after steeling himself for a moment, he stepped into the mass grave and pulled free the vest from the dead body of a guard and then unclipped the holster from the belt and clipped it onto his own. After that he swiftly got out from the center of the piles of skeletons and threw the bulletproof vest on.
He chose not to dwell on its previous owner, grave robbing was bad enough, but wearing a dead man’s clothes didn’t sit well with him. Still it was the safest choice, he was sure of that. As he walked over to the vault control panel he noted a port where a corded jack could connect, usually used on computers or security systems, often even robots, and then noticed that his pip-boy too had the same jack. So he pulled it out, noting that the cord was coiled around the inside so it could extend further than he thought, and then plugged it in and hit the big red button.
The room whirred to life. Sirens blared, the formerly dead red lights blinked to life and spun concerningly and the door hissed with a great force. Slowly, the vault door began to open, rolling off to the side. It seemed the entrance and exit had its own power system so it was safe from the brownouts throughout the rest of the Vault? He was unsure, but truthfully it didn’t matter nor did he care, all he wanted to do was get out of this metal prison. And so he walked through.
He emerged through the other side of the vault door into a small cave. As soon as he stepped through he was met with more skeletons sitting on the other side of the heavy metal gear shaped door. They were not Vault-Tec related, if anything, based on their positioning, they seemed to have been begging to get into the vault from the outside, perhaps dying of hunger or exposure before getting in. What was going on in the outside that led to these people dying here like this? Was the world truly gone? With these questions circling his mind he could hear the hissing sound of the vault door again from behind him, an automatic shutting sequence, he watches for the 20 seconds it takes to fully close again before once more steeling himself to get out and see what has happened to the world he knew.
He walked through the cavernous pathway, carefully stepping over another skeleton of a long dead person who was in the middle of the narrow path, until he came to a small metal door that lay open. Walking through this last doorway he emerged into a world he did not recognize.
It was destroyed, the area immediately around him was the remains of what once was a town, Clearly destroyed by both the ravages of time as well as… the bombs.
“The world has ended….” He mutters softly to himself as he takes in the horrific view around him. The foundations of each former home remained but each building now was nothing more than a crumbling visage of what once was. Some buildings still stood, though barely, and with holes and broken walls and panes of glass. But others were nothing more than rubble. It didn’t look as if the bombs had fallen here, but it did look as if the bombs had fallen and the surrounding areas had fallen due to societal collapse. This was the stuff nightmares were made of. He remembered the newscasters talking about this sort of apocalyptic event, and to his horror, they were right.
But he had no time to dawdle, his Geiger counter on his pip-boy was clicking, not very fast, but enough he knew he had to vacate the area.
So he walked, still unsure of exactly where he was until he accidentally heard the sound of something other than dirt. Metal, as it turned out, underneath his boots. Looking down he noted the green sign seemingly half buried under the dirt.
Wiping away as much of it as he could he was quick to try to read what was written on the sign.
Welcome to Naperville
Shit. He knew where he was.
He pauses as he stops to look around. His Geiger counter was no longer clicking so it was safe to stop but he needed a moment to collect his thoughts.
He hadn’t gone far. He was right close to home. Right where he grew up, studied, played, and found his first love. Despite the harrowing experience he just went through and how he still has no answers to how he ended up in the Vault, he was near where he last remembered being. He was outside Chicago.
Chapter Text
The realization that dawned on him was bittersweet. On the one hand, he knew this area. Well for the most part. Even at a cursory glance to the surrounding area it had changed drastically, but not so much that he had zero idea where he was now that he knew. However, as it was, he would be lost without some sort of map. No road signs or maintained buildings and roads meant he couldn't really navigate purely on memory. But this was the good news.
The bad news was, on the other hand. This was his hometown area. He grew up here, he spent most of his life here, with the exception of when he was deployed to Canada as part of the peacekeeping force and then to Alaska to retake it from the damn commies, he had never really ventured further past the greater Chicago area. There was no need. But his home was destroyed. Gone. The bombs had done more than create a wasteland; they had stolen Adam’s home, and his heart hurt for that.
However he didn’t give himself time to grieve the home he had lost, instead he remained constructive. He knew the area well enough to be able to navigate with a map, but he did not have one. But he remembered that the Pip-Boy had many features, among which included a map, the problem would be finding it.
So he found himself a still standing building, one that didn't look like it was about to fall over on top of him, and entered it. It was not any prettier on the inside than the outside. The inside had been weather worn, the entire ground was caked with dust and dirt, the couch, coffee table, and TV that sat in the living room he entered into were all faded considerably and in a state of massive disrepair, but mostly from the eastern facing side, due to the large hole in the side of the home where the wind likely carried in through. Well it was the same hole he had entered through so he couldn’t complain about it too much.
He then walked over to the couch and then poked it tentatively. It seemed stable… enough. So he sat. Not nearly as comfortable as a couch in new condition would be, but it was acceptable.
Once he was sat and settled, he started messing with the functionality of the Pip-Boy, turning the dials, flicking switches, and swapping through the tabs. Doing this he learned various things.
First and foremost, there was a map. Good. He could use that later. Luckily it was already tuned to the greater Chicago area. Second There was a radio feature, it seemed to be able to receive both in the FM and AM frequencies but it only displayed FM radio, which was odd. But he did notice some signals were being shown to him automatically now that he was skimming through, though he decided to handle that later. Next he noticed there was a UI feature where he could catalogue and organize everything he had on his person, even a modular section for the money he had on hand or other tools he wanted to keep track of, not that he imagined money would have much use if the bombs fell… but such thoughts were depressing so he shoved them away. He also found a notes section, perhaps an on-hand diary? It seemed useful for general note-taking so he would keep it in mind going forward.
However none of this was nearly as important or eye catching as the last two features. First there was a display that accurately showed his condition, showing, based on percentage, his individual limbs, chest, and head condition, overall health, present radiation in his body, as well as indicators that would light up if he was dehydrated or sleep deprived. It was a full monitoring system. How it worked was beyond his understanding. It's not like it was a bunch of monitoring devices covering his body, just the one thing on his arm. But Vault-Tec had a lot of scientists working for it, surely one of them was a medical company that invented a system that could read a diagnostic of a person just by placing it on the wrist? Or… not… whatever, so it was magic, it seemed to matter little how it worked, just that it did. This would be immensely helpful if he was forced to survive out in this new world. And lastly something called VATS? It seemed to be some kind of targeting system but he wasn’t able to get it to activate. Perhaps because there was nothing to target? He would have to further explore it later. It could be helpful.
Finally done with his study of the Pip-Boy he stood back up and turned his attention to a doorway connected to the living room. He still had no ideas on what kinds of difficulties he might face going forward, for all he knew finding food might be the hardest thing to do, which, now that he thought about it, he hadn’t eaten or drank at all since he awoke. He wasn't desperate or anything but he certainly had cravings.
So, with doubt he would find anything, he entered the doorway hoping to find a kitchen. He was in luck! It was in fact, a kitchen, however it looked disorderly, there was a mess on the counter, the fridge door was wide open, not that it would matter since the glass window was shattered and it seemed to have no power, and the kitchen table was full of clutter.
And then he heard a skittering sound. It sounded like… a bug? He didn't know, but he found out as soon as he turned back around.
Hiding underneath the fridge, now coming out, was a cockroach the length of his forearm. And it seemed to be making a beeline right towards him.
Adam was not a man especially afraid of bugs, nor was he particularly scared of combat. He had been in firefights with the red bastards back in Alaska, gotten a few marks on his rifle back then too. He had more than one close scrape back in the war. He had even almost died as a civie after the war due to a faulty Protectron that had misidentified him as an invader. Luckily that one cleared up quickly. But he screamed. A shrill terrified scream at the giant roach on the ground coming towards him.
In one swift move he unholstered his pistol, pointed it at the roach, and unloaded. It was dead after the second round connected. But he didn't stop firing for another 6 shots after that. So caught off guard was he that he lost his trigger discipline.
After he finally came to his senses and stopped firing he looked at the mutilated carcass of the, now deceased, bug. It really did look like a cockroach just giant, it was notably durable too, the first and second shot were not that far apart from each other so he didn’t have time to analyze but it definitely survived getting shot once.
“The fuck are you?” He asks no one in particular as he examines it, seeing nothing to explain what it was beyond the green blood it was now bleeding.
Giving up he sighed and then thoroughly checked the nooks and crannies of the rest of the kitchen for more of them before he was satisfied that it was safe, after which he began looking for things of value. He found nothing.
Well nothing was not quite accurate, in a lower cabinet he found a well preserved can of cat food with a pull tab, however he was not desperate enough to eat that. After all, he had standards.
So with a heavy heart he left it behind, though he may have lingered for a bit too long, considering taking it with him before he gave it up and headed back out of the kitchen and towards the stairs that were in the other doorway from the living room.
He stops right at the foot of the stairs and then pulls out the magazine from his gun, and then the box of 10mm ammo he had brought with him from the vault and loaded the ammo back into the gun. He was going to take no more chances.
This time he was more careful. Now that he knew there were giant bugs, he was not going to be caught off guard again. So, with measured steps, he ascended the stairs slowly and quietly. Upon reaching the top he saw three doors. Opening each of them in succession, breaching into them gun out and ready to shoot anything that so much as twitched, he found 2 bedrooms and a study and luckily no bugs.
Stowing his pistol away back into his holster he took the time to look through the rooms. First was a young girls room, clearly. It had pink, though faded, wallpaper, a pink comforter on a small bed, a toy box left open with toys still inside, a closet full of small dresses and skirts and a child’s vanity. He was about to leave it before he noticed something in the toy box. Curious, he walked over and pulled out a half buried Jangles the Moon Monkey stuffed animal, in his astronaut outfit worn but still very intact and the glass face mask covering his face still protecting his otherwise clean face from the elements. He had one just like these when he was younger. He hadn’t thought of Jangles in a long time. Not since he started going to high school anyway. It was… nostalgic. But after his trip down memory lane was satisfied he put it back into the toy box and then examined the next room.
The next room was the master bedroom, clearly of a married couple. The closet door was open revealing a few suits still on hangers, and dress shoes below them, and a full sized vanity with a makeup kit was still out, ready to be used. The bed itself was not in the best of shape, it seems others had stayed here at one time or another and were not the cleanest. Dirt, grime, something he didn't want to think about, and dried blood, all caked the bed creating an art display of unpleasantness.
He turned to the footlocker at the foot of the bed, still closed and then tried to open it. Locked. Of course. He considered breaking it open but without a means to do so he figured it was pointless to try. Besides, it was most likely full of throw pillows, blankets, and clothes. But then why was it locked?
No, he decided not to waste any more time on it, he couldn't open it so that was that. But he decided to explore the closet for a moment with something specific in mind. Rummaging through the musty closet full of old clothes and half melted cardboard boxes, he finds what he was looking for.
He pulls out a moderate sized backpack from the back corner of the closet. It seemed to be in decent shape considering the state of disrepair of everything else. It was a matte black and had various pouches and pockets, perfect for carrying whatever he might find going forward. Though he had been unsuccessful so far he hoped he would find something eventually.
Finally he headed into the third and final room, a study, full of books, a desk, and a computer terminal. But none of that was the interesting part, it was the Mr. Handy that sat deactivated on the floor of the study, still connected to the terminal on the desk that caught his attention.
However his excitement didn't last long as he heard the roar of something outside. It sounded scary, whatever it was. He rushed over to the window to look outside and see what he heard and he was met with something right out of a nightmare. It was a monster.
It stood about 8 or 9 feet tall. Even hunched over it was huge. Its skin was a tannish yellow and it had almost dead white eyes. Its hands extended into claws that made its hands notably larger than its already sizable head, and that's without even taking into consideration the length of its arms giving it a huge reach. Its head was crowned with two horns that curved upwards giving it a devil-like appearance and its sharp teeth were shown through its underbite. It also had a tail that was as almost as long as its body and was covered in upward facing spikes. It couldn't be described as anything but a monster. And it was right outside.
Chapter Text
Adam resisted the urge to scream and instead immediately hid himself by dropping down below the window. Whatever that thing was it had crept up so close to this house without so much as making a sound. He was lucky it roared at all, had it not and just entered the building he might have died without even knowing it was here…
Luckily for the moment, when he last looked at the creature a second ago it didn't seem to be coming into the house, but it was stalking nearby. Why was it here anyway though? He walked for a while before chancing on this house and didn’t see anything like it around. What could have possibly drawn it to… He then paused his thoughts and looked down at his holstered gun.
The gunfire. He hadn’t even considered the noise that firing a number of rounds to kill the bug downstairs would make, it must have been within earshot and then came running to the general direction of the sounds.
Adam slowly sat up, stealing a peak out the window to look at the creature, just barely poking his head up so he was still hiding. It was still standing there, where it was, a moment ago, sniffing the air and looking around menacingly. It didn’t seem to have any indication of leaving, which was good insofar as he was safe inside for now. But it was bad because that meant he was trapped.
Out of curiosity he brought up the Pip-Boy allowing it to just poke a bit over the window and once more tried the VATS thing. To his surprise it took a picture of the scene from a small camera attached to itself, and it displayed a breakdown of the creature’s assumed health, the health of individual sections, and, most importantly, a percentage chance to hit. How it calculated such a thing was beyond him. He was a halfway decent shot and at this distance he was confident he could land 8 or 9 of 12 shots on the creature, though he was uncertain if he would kill it even with a full magazine, which is why he hadn't. But despite Adam’s belief in his own skill, the Pipboy showed low chances for hits. Maybe it needed calibration, or perhaps it needed to see his skill in action, after all the only data it had collected so far was seeing him shoot a giant bug.
The curiosity sated over VATS he needed to come up with a plan. It didn't seem like the creature had any intention of leaving, which meant he needed a way to kill it, or to distract it long enough for him to get away. The question was how?
As he thought this his eyes drifted over to the deactivated Mr. Handy sitting on the ground a few feet away from him. That was it!
He quickly, but quietly, walked over to the computer at the desk and sat down, booting it up. Once more there was a password screen, but the same trick used in the Overseer’s office to bypass it worked here, it was even easier, only 4 characters. Get stronger passwords people!
After getting in he was met with a few options. [Personal Finance Documentation][Wife’s ultimatum][Daughter’s A+ Essay Paper][Open Safe][Connect to Mr.Handy]
There were even more tabs than in the Overseer's office. However he was only interested in the last two. As much as he might enjoy snooping into the personal life of someone he has never met, he had a deadline in the shape of a giant monster outside who could, at any moment, walk into this house and up the stairs.
However he couldn't help but pause when he noticed the [Open Safe] Option. There was a safe? He looked around for a moment and saw none, maybe it was a misread connection? Or maybe it was hidden somewhere? Regardless it was not important, time spent looking for and looting the safe, likely which was full of, at best, money, was not helpful right now. The Mr. Handy was. Tabbing over to the Mr. Handy on the computer, he was met with the diagnostic screen of the Mr. Handy.
This was not his first time reprogramming a robot, in fact he even factory reset and reprogrammed a Protectron for Second Life before he woke up in this strange world. Yes it happened to be the same protectron that tried to kill him but it was an accident, he forgot to include himself with a friendly tag, it was an easy mistake to make. Regardless, Mr. Handy, despite being designed by General Atomics, not RobCo, had an OS that was still nearly identical, or identical enough to work with anyway.
There was one problem. This Mr.Handy had been hard reset, purged of every file. Even the base model programming was inaccessible. Whatever the guy who owned this computer was doing before he clearly didn't want a trace of General Atomics programming in it.
If Adam had all the time in the world, he could certainly reprogram the Mr.Handy from the ground up, giving it new subroutines, even settings, modes, target acquisition, hell he could make it dance on command if he wanted to, but time was not on his side. So he was left with the only option which was to give it very basic commands for it to follow. The question was what?
The first thought was to have it charge out there and fight the monster, use the time to escape. But he realized that the self preservation and combat subroutines were also gone, so it wouldn't know how to fight, it would likely just ram its head into the creature and then die.
His second thought was to simply overheat its internals and explode all its liquid fuel in one fiery explosion right on top of the monster. But this wouldnt work either, not only would this take a while to set up and not kill himself immediately, but the timing would be critical, it would need to explode at a precise moment, a moment he couldn't account for. In addition, even if he was to get all the variables to line up, there's no telling if the creature would die. And then he would have a very angry, on fire, monster with nothing else to do but kill him.
His third and final idea. And the one he settled on was simple. Have the Mr. Handy run past the monster and keep heading east. Not stopping for anything. In theory, assuming the creature chased after it, both would disappear into the distance and give him a perfect opening to run. This was his best play so he got to work.
It was a tense 10 minutes that followed, never in his life did Adam work so hard and fast on a robot reprogramming. It was life or death after all. But, after the ten minutes was up the Mr. Handy sprang to life, spewing its fuel from below as it hovered in place for a few seconds.
Adam sighed a deep breath of relief and then executed the program. The Mr. Handy began letting off a loud screeching sound as it began to fly out the room, down the stairs and through the hole in the wall. All Adam could do now was pray it would work. He didn’t have to wait long.
As he peaked out the window again at the creature he saw its attention immediately peaked by the Mr. Handy. It roared out loudly before it began moving, far faster than Adam would have guessed, in the direction the Mr. Handy was moving, chasing after it like a dog chasing a ball.
It had worked, all he could do now was sit tight for another minute or so and then make a run for it himself. And so he waited, hearing the sound of the Mr. Handy getting further and further away by the second. Until he finally decided it was time to book. And run he did.
He barreled down the stairs with all his might, heading, specifically, in the opposite direction of the creature, following the cracked streets to hopefully find somewhere else that was at least a small bit safe.
He ran for about 20 minutes before he came to a stop, catching his breath as he leaned against the side of a stone brick ruin. However he was not given a moment to rest as he began to see figures in the distance. There was a glare from the sun at the angle he was looking so he couldn't truly make out the shapes. Was it a human? God he hoped so.
He decided to gamble. He was exhausted, out of breath, and terrified, he really needed a win right now. So he approached the figures a bit and then stopped, waving broadly at them as he shouted over to them.
“Hey! Um! Excuse me! Can I approach?” he yelled out to them. There was a pause before he heard back.
“Sure can, stranger! Come on o’er!”
Chapter Text
There was a wave of relief that washed over Adam when he heard the friendly call back. He truly went out on a limb and luck just happened to be on his side. So he approached.
At first glance it looked to be rather normal. A touch… hobo looking man, wearing worn and dirty clothes with a big smile, rifle on his back, and leather cap on his head was standing next to a brownish red cow which had a lot of boxes and bags strapped to its back as well as what looked to be a large barrel of water. But this was only at first glance. The cow had 2 heads?! Other than the two heads it seemed to be acting like a normal cow, but that was not what drew his attention the most. It was the literal zombie standing behind the cow, cigarette and lighter in hands as he lit up a smoke. The zombie was decked out in full armor, it looked like a mishmash of the combat armor he was issued when he served and other pieces like some leather and some metal armor but all painted black and uniform enough that he looked well put together. Not to mention he was packing some serious heat. He had two guns slung over her back, one assault rifle with a number of attachments and a double barrel shotgun. But he also had a 9mm pistol in a holster at his hip and a large knife in its own holster on his left leg. If he wasn't a zombie it would have been easy to assume he was a soldier or mercenary.
Adam immediately went pale, his eyes darting back and forth between the two head cow and the zombie in armor.
The man in the leather cap seemed to catch onto Adam’s fear and grew a wide smile. “Cat got your tongue stranger?” He laughs. “Ain’t never seen no brahmin or ghoul before?” When the man spoke he spoke with a heavy southern drawl, which was strange considering how far up north they were, but truly this was the last question on Adam’s mind at the moment.
The “ghoul” finishes lighting up his cigarette and then scowls at Adam. “The fuck you lookin’ at smoothskin?” He says with some vitriol. The Ghoul’s voice was rough. It sounded like stones on a gravel driveway. Which is to say it sounded like he was a coal miner and just got off a shift. It was not any prettier than his face which seemed to be full of rotting skin.
“I uh…” Adam started, caught flat footed. Truly, he had just seen a monster not 20 minutes ago, seeing more wasnt that out of the question, but this… “ghoul” seemed to be talking to him? And the brahmin was just… standing around like a cow? It took him for quite the spin.
The leather capped man laughed again and slapped Adam on the shoulder. “Don’t you be worrying here.” He says with a wide toothy smile, revealing a missing tooth on the left side. “Neither Bessy nor my hired gun, Salvatore, will be doin’ ya harm.” He said with a firm grasp and gentle shake on Adam’s shoulder. “You one of them vault folks? Ya got the blue suit and fancy computer on ya.”
“I um…” Adam started again still feeling a bit flat footed, but so grateful for a friendly face he regained his footing and decided to be honest with the man. “Well sort of, I was just in a Vault not too long ago.”
“I figured!” The man grinned. “No one else but the vaulty types would be confused as you ‘ere seeing these two.” He holds out his hand for a handshake. “Names Chuck, Chuck Winchester.”
Adam takes his hand, shaking it back. “Nice to meet you Chuck, the name’s Adam Baxter.” When Adam introduced himself Salvatore in the back raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
“Well Vaulty, gotta say, not many of your type ‘round these parts. Heard the last Vaulty to pop up was over 50 years ago. Can’t imagine livin’ inside a metal box for 200 years myself though.”
“Yeah I couldn’t feel comfortable living… Wait, did you say 200 years!?”
Now Chuck was the one who looked confused. “Yes?” He looks at Adam with a mix of suspicion and pity, now wondering if Adam was actually a looney.
“Been ‘bout that long since the bombs fell, well that's what my grandpappy tells me anyway.”
“211.” Salvatore spoke up from behind, correcting Chuck casually as he smoked the cigarette and leaned against the ruins next to him, mostly waiting for the conversation to end.
“Two hundred years….” Adam repeated, hit with a massive shock.
“Ya alright there friend?” Chuck asked, concerned.
“I don't know anymore. I woke up in a vault without any recollection of how I got there, walked past a mass grave, found out my home was destroyed, and barely escaped a monster, all just to find out over 200 years have passed.” He said before adding. “I can’t exactly say I have been having the best day.”
Salvatore lets off a single dry laugh. “Join the club, kid.” He responds curtly. Chuck on the other hand was more sympathetic.
“Sounds like you’ve been having it rough.” He took off his hat and gently placed it over his heart. “Look friend, we all go through ups and downs in life and this is just one of ‘em. You can't be looking back, just look forward, there's going to be a beautiful field of razorgrain somewhere out there fer ya.” He said, speaking softly and calmly to him, being awfully nice to a man he had just met.
Adam just sighed deeply and then nodded. “You are right.” He offered a half smile. “It's… a lot, but I’m not letting it stop me.” He said a bit more determined now.
“Good. Now, I'd love to sit here an’ chat with ya all day but I got a delivery to make…” Chuck said with a smile as he put his hat back on and then paused. “Hold on though, you said you encountered a monster? What sort?” He asked, now much more serious than he was a moment ago.
“I don't know.” Adam admitted readily. “It was some kind of 8 foot tall lizard, it had a long tail, upward curved horns and long ass claws at the end of its hands.” As soon as Adam finished describing the creature it was now time for Chuck to go pale. “A Deathclaw?!” He said, with some visible fear and apprehension. “Salvatore?!” He said, whipping around to look at his armored ghoul friend who already seemed to have hardened his expression.
Salvatore had thrown his half smoked cigarette on to the ground and stopped it out, and drew his assault rifle, looking through the scope as he scanned the horizon. “I heard him.” He said without sass, clearly focused on making sure the Deathclaw was nowhere near.
“You didn’t let that thing follow ya did you?” Chuck asked as he grabbed onto the collar of Adam’s vault suit, in an almost accusatory manner.
“No I… had it chase a Mr. Handy I reprogrammed. I ran in the opposite direction. I haven't seen it for like half an hour.” Adam said, on the backfoot, not having expected the sudden shift in tone from Chuck.
“Let him go Chuck, if he was being chased by a Deathclaw he’d be dead already.” He sighed and then lowered his rifle. “And so would we.” He then dropped his arms letting his rifle hang in front of him loosely on the strap as he leaned over to the side and spat onto the side of the street. The spit was almost very faintly luminescent green.
Coming to his senses, Chuck let go of Adam’s collar. “Apologies, friend. Just about the worst kinda news I could have gotten.” He then takes a deep breath and slaps Adam on the back. “Far from being bad news, you are a good omen.” He smiled. “Had you not shown up, we might have walked right into a Deathclaw nest. And I ain't fixin’ to die today.”
“Hey smoothskin.” Salvatore piped up as he picked up his stomped cigarette off the ground and fiddled with it to get it usable again. “Which way was the Deathclaw, how far?”
“Well.” Adam paused to consider. “I ran from the east, over that way, for a while, twenty minutes i’d say? I saw it when I stopped to enter a house. But I had the Mr. Handy catch its attention and run the opposite direction, further east. So I can’t tell you where it is.”
“Nah, that's good enough.” Salvatore said as he finished straightening out the cigarette and then re-lit it, only to grab onto his rifle again, having it at the ready if needed.
“I recommend we change routes. I say we hop off the 75th, hop on I34 and then take it up to Aurora. Should get us to Naper real easy without any chance of running into them.”
Chuck nodded in response. “Fine, we will need to double back a bit.” He turned around to look at the path he came from. “Damn, after all the trouble we took to avoid War’s cadre.” He sighed as he lifted up his hat and scratched his head.
“Better than dying.” Salvatore added dryly.
“True.” Chuck then turns to Adam who had mostly politely waited for the two of them to finish their conversation. “Well thank ya for the information. Do you know where you are headin’?”
“No I don't.”
“Well, iffin you’d like, you can come with us to Naper, my home. It's a bit of a walk away but none too far by now.” Adam took a moment to consider, he was truly lost. He didn’t know the first thing about this world and going to some place with other people, no matter how strange, was certainly a good step in the right direction, at the very least he might get some answers.
“Alright.” Adam spoke up after a few moments to consider. “I’ll come with you.”
“Now hold on.” Salvatore said, his voice raised in protest. “I ain’t getting paid to cover for two smoothskins just you.” He stood staring at Chuck, rifle raised into the air, held with one hand, clearly unhappy about the additional passenger.
“You don't need to protect no one other than me. Ya’ right, me and Bessy is all ya need to worry about. But ain't no worry if we have one more come along, we’re close to home anyhow. Besides, I'm sure the young man can help out in a scrap if needed.” He said, gesturing to the 10mm pistol that was strapped to Adam’s belt. “Safety in numbers and all.” Chuck smiles.
Salvatore didn't respond but he did scoff softly and then turn to face the opposite direction, planning to lead the way as they doubled back a bit to follow their new path.
“Come along friend, let's get home.” Chuck smiled as he slapped Adam on the shoulder and then grabbed Bessy's reins and gently guided her back the way they came, to their new route.
Chapter Text
The walk to Naper was uneventful. Salvatore kept a steely-eyed lookout the whole time but not even a radrat poked its head out of the ruins. However it was time well spent. Adam had time to chat with Chuck as well as Salvatore, when he was willing to chat, about a bunch of the gaps in information he had. Adam had learned quite a bit.
The great war, the vault experiments, the rise of raiders and the rise of organizations to combat them, settlements springing back up, some of the smattering of creatures he might encounter in the wasteland such as radroaches, deathclaws, berserk robots, super mutants, and a whole lot more. It was safe to say that Adam was already feeling far more acclimated to this century after chatting with Chuck as long as he did.
“So… bottlecaps?” Adam asked as they turned down the path towards aurora.
“Yessir.” Chuck smiled. “Been that way long as people crawled out of their holes.” He gently patted Bessy who mooed pleasantly at him. “Merchant work requires plenty ‘o funds. Figured you for an interested party when you first called out to me. Shame you weren't carrying caps on ya, but a good talkin’ partner’s none too bad neither.” As he had learned Chuck was a merchant. He travelled between settlements and traded various goods, but as he is from Naper, a farming community, he most often traded food.
The idea of trading bottle caps struck Adam as pretty silly, after all paper money was easy to transport in large quantities, to transport bottle caps in a sizable amount it would take a whole brahmin full of crates of them. But even more than that it was bottlecaps. How absurd.
“But like… why?” Adam questioned, now curious.
“Well…” Chuck said, elongating the word a bit as he thought up a proper explanation to give. “Far as I’ve ‘eard there is two reasons. First, back in the day, before there were people living in communities again, there was only really one thing worth trading. Water.” He gently pats the 20 gallon drum on the side of Bessy. “I mean food too but let’s focus on yer question.” He chuckled. “So people were trading round bottles and glasses of water, it was a real tangible thing, ‘eryone needed water so it was universal. Then someone got the bright idea that if they were to just trade the bottle cap, it would be much easier to transport. And, in theory, if you needed water you could trade in your bottle cap to anyone to get a glass for yourself.” He paused once more to consider. “Well I don't know how true that all is but that's the story I’ve ‘eard. But that's the first reason, second is them’s hard to replicate.” He reached into his small belt-loop pouch and pulled out a single bottle cap, specifically a Vimm, and then handed it over to Adam for inspection. It was money and did display a modicum of trust Chuck had accrued for Adam, but truthfully it was the equivalent of handing someone a 5 dollar bill. Sure you’d be upset if they stole it, but it wouldn't break the bank. Adam noted it was, just simply, a bottlecap he’d have thrown away after he bought a bottle of Vimm. Not that he would, he was a Nuka Cola kinda guy, but the cap itself had survived remarkably well for two hundred years. A little faded and bent, but not much different than if he found one just laying on the side of the road outside a bar or a Super Duper Mart. Just an everyday, normal, bottle cap. As Adam examined it Chuck continued.
“The means to make more been lost. See, it requires the right metals and a pressin’ machine. I dunno much about the metal, but the machines all been long gone. The factories that used to make that stuff been destroyed with age, maybe one or two still around but nothing that could make more easily.” He stuck his hand out for the Cap back and Adam obliged, handing it back without delay. “Which means these ‘ere are a finite resource. There’s only so many in circulation, makes for a stable and reliable economy.” He smiled and then laughed.
“But that's the long of it. Truthfully I don't know how much is true. What I do know is, people use ‘em for money, and so I do too. That's good enough for me.” Adam nodded in response, understanding what he was being told. In truth money was nothing more than a shorthand, a means to conduct trades without the goods being on hand. What use was gold or US dollars if no one wanted them. They have value because people are willing to use them as an intermediary. So it wasn’t too strange for people to use bottle caps if everyone else did. It was a system built on the concept that people would always use Bottle Caps as currency, not much different from the old world.
“Smoo-” Salvatore started to speak up before catching himself from referring to Adam as smoothskin. Even he had decorum when he cared enough. “Adam.” He started again, this time with a less gruff tone and more curious. “They way you’ve been talking… Do you remember the world before the bombs?” He asked, almost suspiciously.
“Yes… My last memory before waking up in the vault was getting ready for a… admittedly probably boring halloween party at work. I had just finished in a department store looking for a cheap costume and was heading home for the night.” Adam said, only now noticing how… abrupt and rather suspicious the jump in time was in his head, but again, there could be hundreds of explanations. For all he knew Vault-Tec could have kidnapped him and then put him in that tube for 200 years. Who is to say? He knew now that Vault-Tec was anything but on the up and up, they were about as shady as they came.
“Ya don’t say…” Salvatore responded slowly, studying Adam more seriously now.
“Why?” Adam said, turning to face him now, not having any idea why he was asking.
“I just…” Salvatore pauses, seeming less uptight at the moment, almost vulnerable. “I don't meet many people who remember the old days… us pre war ghouls are a dying breed.” Salvatore finished, looking away almost bashfully. Chuck cut in, turning to look at Salvatore himself now.
“Sal! I didn't know that!” He said with surprise and a smile, as if he had just learned a new bit of lore about a good friend.
“Yeah well I don't exactly go around advertising it. Not my favorite topic.” He returned, now more defensive.
“So you remember the world before the bombs!?” Adam said in shock.
“And the world after.” Salvatore finishes. “Been a long 200 years kid.” He said, now with a more somber tone, he still hid it behind a strong exterior, but it was clear the 200 years had put him through a lot, as one would expect.
Adam considered responding to that but found himself at a loss for words. He could only imagine what surviving that long in a world like this had put him through, and empty condolences were sure to be shrugged off. However his considerations were interrupted as they turned past a collapsed building and saw a wall made of various materials, from scrap iron to wood to brick to even the ruined buildings themselves. It stretched all the way from the side of the ruined building to the river in the distance.
The wall itself seemed sturdy, despite its mishmash of construction materials. About 30 feet from them there was a break in the wall where there was a gate made from a car door, a garage door, and patched up with various other metals such as sheet metal, all on a roller that would let it slide open to the right if needed. Standing off to the left of the Gate was a man who stood above and behind the wall, probably on some sort of elevated platform. The man next to the gate seemed armed and armored, but to a significantly lesser extent than Salvatore was. It was also a mishmash of various gear but without a color scheme and only a single worn rifle to protect himself. Adam was also quick to notice that there was more than one bullet hole in the side of the wall as he scanned his eyes across it. These people were no strangers to a fight, regardless how undefended they may appear at first glance.
“Welcome to Naper, friend.” Chuck said with a smile as he directed Bessy towards the gate.
Chapter Text
“Hey Chuck.” The man at the wall called out as the three of them approached. “Got a good haul this time?”
“You betcha! Got me a nice selection of goods from Midway, The Pier, well as few other places. Couldn't make it to Renaissance though, too many mutants around this time. Sal here put a kibosh on that plan.” Salvatore just scoffed.
“Who’s your new friend? You didn’t happen to pick up a stray raider on the way over didja?” The man on the wall asked, gesturing to Adam non threateningly with his gun in his hand. His tone was serious but it was clear he was not at all expecting trouble.
“No sir. Well, I suppose he could be, but he picked a terrible story to sell me with if he is, and I aint ever seen a Vaulty be a raider, usually they die first.” He chuckles. The man on the wall seemed to agree because he nodded along.
“Alright, I'll get the gate open for ya. Welcome Home.”
With a mechanical whir the gate slowly began to open as the gears seemed to struggle to turn under the immense weight of the reinforced gate door. But after a solid 15 seconds it finally opened all the way.
Chuck turned back to Adam as all three of them walked inside. “I’m going to offload ol’ Bessy at my store and then head to the bar. Sal, you mind bringing the Vaulty to the bar with ya?”
“Contract ended the moment we walked through that gate. I aint gotta do shit.” He said grumpily.
“I’ll buy you a round.” Chuck said with a smirk. Salvatore grumbled.
“Follow me smoothskin, I'll bring you to the booze.” He said as he started walking off without waiting to see if Adam was following. “Not that you have the caps to get a drink.” He added quietly as he slowly gained some distance.
“I’ll see you at the bar then?” Adam half asked Chuck as he began to follow after Salvatore.
“See ya soon.” Chuck waved him off as he then turned to a different direction and led Bessy off.
As he followed Salvatore around he soaked in this settlement. Naper seemed to be a settlement established around an old reenactment village he barely remembered from the area. Naper Settlement? Or something to that effect. Well that explains the name. But it was just a small number of buildings on a small plot of land. It wasn’t anything special to look at pre-war, but now it was a full fledged town. Walls stretched way out to an artificial borderline in the south and over Aurora Ave into the greenery across the street where there was a massive farmland growing a large number of crops that looked similar to ones he recognized but not completely so. The crop fields were stopped at a natural border where the river ran and the two ponds seemed to have some docks laid over them so people could swim or fish. On the other side of the avenue where the heritage buildings were, was a moderately sprawling number of buildings made of scrap materials, mostly scrap metals, but clearly anything they could find. It would be a bit much to call it a town, but a village? Sure. There were enough people even just up and about at this time of day that getting an accurate headcount wouldn't be easy, so he gave up on the thought.
But what struck him most was children. They were out and playing like any other kids. Two young boys were kicking, what looked to be, an incredibly worn down basketball, and another boy and girl were chasing each other through the streets laughing, almost bumped into him too. He hadn’t gotten so melodramatic to believe kids wouldn't be able to grow up in this world, but he did have a thought or two of such things when he first arrived at the wall. After all in such a world of Deathclaws and feral ghouls, how could a child be safe to play? But that is what the guards and the walls were for. In here they were safe. So there was still a life to be led. That, at least, was comforting. Regardless, Salvatore led him, wordlessly, to a large ramshackle building near the northernmost wall clearly labeled “Inn” with no further name.
Salvatore opened the door to the Inn without missing a beat and walked right over to the bar and sat down. “Mandy.” He spoke assertively in his gruff tone to the no one behind the bar. There was a door to the far right of the bar leading into the back, presumably where this Mandy might be. “Hit me up with something, it's been a long trip.”
“I'll be right out with you.” A woman with a cheery tone piped up from the backroom. After a few moments a woman wearing an apron, her hair in a bun, and looking a bit worn out comes in.
“Sal! How’s my favorite ghoul feeling today?!” She says with a chipper tone.
“Thirsty.” Salvatore returns, curtly.
“Walked right into that one didn’t I?” She laughed softly to herself. “I'll getcha something real quick.” She bent down to reach below the bar and noticed Adam just standing there watching the affair.
“Looks like you got an admirer ghouly boy.” She teased as she pulled out a bottle of scotch and began to pour a shot for Salvatore.
“Was promised a drink for bringing him here. Chuck’s buyin’.” He said, not turning around to acknowledge Adam at all as he downed the shot in one go.
“Well ain’t you lucky~.” She winked at Salvatore and then turned to look at Adam, who was unsure what to do with himself. Largely because he already understood he had no money, which meant he couldn’t order a drink. Damn, if only he had grabbed that bottle cap from the armory before he left the vault. But how was he supposed to know?
“Well don’t just stand there, why don’tcha grab a seat?” She said as she gestured to one of the barstools near Salvatore.
Adam hesitated for a moment and then took a seat as instructed, one seat away from Salvatore who probably would appreciate a bit of privacy.
“So what will it be?” She asked as she leaned against the bar counter.
“Well to be honest… I don't have any caps.” He smiled apologetically. He gently tugged at the collar of his vault suit. “I'm uh, recently liberated from a vault.”
“Oh!” She said softly, more interested and amused than offended. “Well That explains the blue pajamas.” She chuckled to herself. “I do feel sorry for you babe, but I'm running a business here, I don’t do freebies for no one.” She shrugged. “Sorry.” She turned to walk away and then stopped before she even really left. “That is, unless you got something to trade Mr vault boy.” She said, looking at him again, with an inquisitive eyebrow raise.
Unfortunately Adam couldn't really think of anything he had to trade, truthfully all he really had was his vault suit and body armor, his pistol and ammo, the pip-boy, and his backpack. He wouldn't trade his gun or his pip-boy because he didn’t know what he would encounter yet and the backpack would probably be more helpful to have than to sell. And of course selling the shirt off his back was out of the question. Then he remembered he did have one other thing he could sell.
“How about a kitchen knife?” He asked, hopefully, as he reached into his backpack and pulled out the kitchen knife he had taken with him from the vault. So much had happened that he completely forgot about it, not least of all because as soon as he had the gun that was much more on his mind than a kitchen knife.
Mandy took the knife from him and examined it. “Well damn, this is some of the prettiest cutlery I've seen in years.” She said with a soft whistle.
While Adam didn’t really have a comparison, it's true the knife was in good condition. From his perspective it was normal but it was not bent, rusty, used, old, or blemished, it was nearly as good as the day it was made. After all, it had been safely stored away in the knife block in a sterile environment so it didn’t even really degrade.
“Tell you what.” Mandy hit a button on a register on the bar and opened it up. “I'll give you 20 caps for it.”
“20 caps for a damn kitchen knife?” Salvatore complained from his seat in disbelief.
“It's a damn good kitchen knife Sal.” Mandy shot back. To which Salvatore waved her off dismissively with a grumble. She then turned back to Adam. “Do we have a deal?”
Adam truly didn’t have a sense of what the value of things were yet so he couldn’t know whether the deal was good or not, but based on Salvatore’s reaction it was a very good deal for a kitchen knife, and it's not like he especially needed it anymore. But now that he was thinking about it, it's almost a shame he didn’t take more things from the vault. There were a ton more, at first glance, useless things that were in good condition that might be worth something out here. Though he loathed the thought of going back. He wouldn't admit it but the place scared him. Thoughts for another time though.
“Yes, you have a deal.” Adam said with a firm nod.
“Great.” Mandy returned as she began to count out 20 caps to hand to him. After she was done she grabbed Adam’s hand and placed the caps, overflowing, into his hand. Mostly making a show of it for fun.
“Now that you have caps…” She smirked. “Would you care for a drink?”
Chapter Text
“Do you have water?” Adam asked with a chuckle. In truth he’d love a beer right now, but not only was he very thirsty after walking around all day but his entire net worth was 20 caps, he wanted to make sure it lasted a bit longer than this trip to the bar.
Mandy smiled and rolled her eyes, letting go of Adam’s hand and standing up straight again. “Sure, do you want the stuff from the bucket? Or clean water?”
“Stuff from the bucket?” Adam returned incredulously before he shook his head. He didn’t even know what that meant but it probably wasn't water he wanted to be drinking. What was strange was that it was even an option, especially if the other option was “clean.”
“I’ll just have clean water please.”
“Sure, that’ll be 25 caps.” Mandy said with a knowing smile, not budging from her spot.
“25? Isn't that steep?” Adam responded. He knew so little of prices, so maybe this was normal, but it was just water no? There was a large river just past the farms, why was it 25 caps when he could just drink from that, or the pond?
“I like to think 25 is cheap. It ain't easy removing all the rads from the water. You wanted it clean after all~” She smirked. “You go to one of the big settlements they will charge you 30 or 40 caps for a glass, I'm doing you a favor.”
Oh, so that was why. Seems most of the water is irradiated, hopefully not dangerously so, but enough that it wouldn't be considered clean unless it was purified… which means the bucket is probably water taken directly from the river or the pond, if he was to guess. Damn, imagine water being a troubling thing to get a hold of. He could already feel his privileged pre-war mentality melting away by the second.
Adam sighed and then looked at his 20 caps in front of him. He considered what he might do if he had no caps left, he had hoped to make his money go further than a single drink. And he had nothing else to sell. He did consider haggling it down but no amount of haggling would bring it down to a degree he’d feel comfortable. So he made a choice he felt very uncomfortable about.
“How much is the bucket water?” He asked, tentatively.
“5.” She said with a smirk.
“It's not… just water from the river… is it?” He asked, not wanting to pay 5 caps for water he could literally get by drinking right from the pond.
Mandy laughed, finding his question amusing. “No.” She said after she had laughed for a few moments. “I'm not that cruel.” She reached down and then grabbed a little hose with a nozzle that was attached to the backside of the bar counter and sprayed out some clean looking water into a glass, placing it in front of Adam.
“Well… the water used to be from the river, but it's cleaned up to get rid of any nastiness. But I can't do much about the rads without a lot of extra work.” She shrugged. “So, you want it?” She asked as she slid the glass closer to Adam.
Adam sighed once more and then split 5 caps off from his pile and slid them over to her, a touch dejected as he did.
“Pleasure doing business with ya hun.” She smirked, grabbed the caps, and slid the water in front of him.
Adam was quick to grab the glass and begin drinking. But what he had intended as just a sip soon changed the moment the water touched his lips. He was parched. The water tasted divine, even though it was literally just water. He truly had not even considered how thirsty he was up until this moment. Needless to say the water did not last to the count of ten.
“Glad you liked it.” Mandy chuckled to herself as she put the caps in the register.
“I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.”
“I can see that.” She smiled. “So what's your name Vault boy?”
“Adam Baxter.” He said in between a relieved sigh as the water settled into his body, he felt cooler already. Mandy raised an eyebrow but laughed.
“Well nice to meet you Mr. Baxter. You staying in town long, or just passing through?” She asked as she closed the register and then leaned on the bar closer to Adam.
“Truthfully I don't know.” He replied as he gently traced his finger down the side of the glass, feeling the light condensation pool on his finger, mostly as an idle action. “I haven’t really gotten time to get my life together.”
“Amen, brother!” A loud man sitting by himself at a back corner table spoke up, raising his beer glass in the air as he did.
Mandy rolled her eyes. “Mind your business Frank.” She said in a motherly scolding manner, to which the man just chuckled and waved her off.
“Well there's no shame in not having all your ducks in a row, but you walked into my bar without so much as two caps to rub together, so you won’t last long in town if you don't find a way to make a little dough.” She smiled and then gently took the empty glass from Adam and stored it underneath her bar counter in a bin to be cleaned and reused later.
Adam scratched his head, not exactly sure what to make with that information. She was right of course, but it's not as if he really knew a good way to make caps off the bat. “Should I get a job?” He asked, more in jest to her than seriously.
“Unless you wanna be a freeloader, I’d say so~.” She shrugged with a smile.
“Know any high paying jobs that require little to no effort?” Adam smirked, feeling playful.
“Oh yeah sure…” She started before gently leaning in and poking Adam’s forehead with her finger. “In your dreams.” She smirked. He just laughed.
“Seriously though, mind giving me some advice, I’m still pretty new, I know Chuck is a merchant, but what else is there?” He probed, deciding that asking for some leads wasn’t a bad idea.
“Well…” She began, as she leaned on the backside of the bar, her arms behind her, glancing up at the ceiling as she thought. “To be brief, there’s always work that needs doing’” She offered. “I'm sure if you ask around you can find odd jobs in town to get by, but stable work might be hard to come by in town right now, it ain’t time for harvest for a while yet and the guards are volunteers, shops are all fully staffed, my place included.” She smiled. “Could always pick up a job like Salvatore over there, running protection, security or what have you to merchants and people in need.” She said with a gentle head bob in Salvatore’s direction as he minded his own business, pouring himself another shot of scotch to drink, though by now he was only sipping.
“Pays well but jobs are scarce and always have a chance of dying. Ain't that right, spooky?”
“I ain’t looking for more competition.” He responded, all without even glancing over at the two of them.
“Then there's the Scavs.” She continued, completely disengaging from Salvatore. “Prospectors, scavengers, garbagemen, whatever.” She shrugs. “There's good money to be made by wandering around the city and looting old buildings, it's a gamble though.” She picked up a cap on the counter and held it up. “You might find yourself fighting through a pre-war military installation full of turrets and bots and stumble upon a hoard of pre-war goodies.” She then reached for a fork from below the counter with her other hand and held it up. “Or for your trouble you can find junk.” She shrugged and then put both back down.
“I don’t recommend it.” Salvatore spoke up finally from his seat, still not looking at either of them but finally engaging in the conversation. “It's much more dangerous than just standing guard over a caravan, ‘specially if you're fresh faced like you.” His tone was cold and harsh but it actually was rather sincere and honest advice. Despite his attitude Salvatore was doing his best to not let this man he just met die, a kid by his measure.
“From the mouth of babes.” Mandy teased in return only to get flipped off by Salvatore.
“Well that's the score.” She continued, speaking to Adam again. “Honestly, your best bet to find better work is to head to one of the largest settlements like The Pier or Midway, they are far bigger than Naper so I bet they have a lot more odd jobs for you to do.”
Adam remained silent as he soaked this all in. Truthfully he did need to get this sorted out soon, figure out a goal, a direction to head in. He knew what skills he had, but it was unlikely anyone needed an old IT tech. Not much technology around anymore. Realistically adapting to this world, getting a new job, becoming a farmer, or any number of other simple stable jobs seemed to be the smart option. But he had a nagging thought in the back of his mind. Why was he here?
There were still too many unanswered questions. Why was he in the vault? Why did he wake up in a tube? What about the others who were in tubes with him, why did they not get up too? What was going on in that vault, and, more specifically, what was Second Life up to? None of these questions would be answered by staying behind some cushy walls, he would need to explore, he needed to go back to his old workplace, back to Second Life HQ.
“Seems like you already made up your mind.” Mandy said, interrupting his train of thought as she studied the expression on his face.
“Yeah I… I think I have too many questions, I won’t ever be able to sit quietly until I can find some answers.” He responded slowly.
Mandy shrugged. “Well do what makes you happy, it's your life, you only got one after all.” She grabbed a rag and started to clean the counter where a customer had left as Adam had arrived. “But when you don’t come back I’ll know what happened.” She smirked.
Adam sat there, in silence for a few moments as he considered all of his options, but he came to the same conclusion. He had to know what was going on. There may be more answers in the vault, but the computer was corrupted, well the one he tried looking at. Maybe another would be corruption free, but once again he truly didn’t want to go back there, not now anyway. It was like escaping a prison, a prison that was in the middle of a horror movie. He truly didn’t want to return. But Second Life HQ was viable. Assuming, that is, that it is still standing.
Looking down at his Pip-boy he opened up the empty notes section where he could input anything he wanted like a diary and opened a tab:
Main Goal: Get to Second Life HQ and access the database to find out more about their connection to Vault-Tec, the experiments, and how I was wrapped up in it.
He paused and then smirked before he deleted the word “goal” and replaced it with the word “quest”. No particular reason, but he thought it sounded a bit more adventurous and fun. Any bit of levity he could make of the situation seemed more than called for considering how bleak the world seemed at the moment.
Just as he finished adding this note to his pip-boy he heard the sound of the Inn front door open and turned around to look.
Chapter Text
“Mandy!” Chuck said as he entered the Inn with a wide smile. “Pour me some of your special, the trades were good this time and I'm looking to splurge a little.” He grinned as he walked over, taking a seat in between Adam and Salvatore.
Chuck looked to have changed after they parted ways, he was in a less raggedy looking set of clothing, more dressed down with less padding, but clearly clothes more suited for casual wearing, like when he was safe within the walls.
“Bless your heart Chuck.” Mandy smiled before she turned around to begin pouring from a tab attached to the wall, it was labeled with a beer brand he recognized but doubted it was the same thing. “The wife know you are here? You made sure to tell Mariah you were home before coming right here for a drink, yes?” She said, pouring him a glass without stopping but speaking in the same motherly tone she had used with Frank in the back earlier. Clearly she knew her clients well and it was just her thing.
“Course!” Chuck smiled as he waited for the drink to be handed over. “Told the missus I was home after I got Bessy back in her shed. Said she was cooking up dinner and to come say hello to you while I waited!” He grinned as he spoke as Mandy walked over with his tall glass of some kind of brown smooth drink to which he happily took from her.
“Mhm, I’m sure.” Mandy said as she rolled her eyes and responded sarcastically.
“Well…” Chuck began before taking a large sip of the drink and then continuing after he set it back down. “She did tell me to wait till dinner was done, but saying hi to you was just my way of being neighborly.” He grinned, and then looked over at Adam.
“I see you met my friend here from the Vaults.” He chuckled as he slapped Adam on the back lightly. “Hope she’s been keeping you good company.”
“Yes we met.” Mandy said, stepping into the conversation as she leaned in a bit over the counter to Chuck. “Which reminds me, Salvatore said that you were buying for him when he got in. Is that true or do I gotta kick his ass?” She asked Chuck despite Salvatore being no more than 2 feet away from her at the moment and the fact that she did not seem capable of winning a fight against Salvatore if it came down to it. Though clearly it was not a real fight she was threatening him with.
“Nah, he’s right.” He looks over at Salvatore, minding his business, still just slowly pouring shots of scotch for himself. “Though I did only promise the first round, I ain’t paying for the whole bottle.” He laughed.
“Stingy ass smoothskin.” Salvatore grumbles to himself.
“You might be made of caps Sal, but I sure ain't.” He smiled and then looked over at Adam. “Well what do you think of our little town? I know you more or less came straight here but the place ain't big, you took in the most of it on your way over. Figured you might have some interesting insights seeing as you knew the world ‘fore the bombs and all.”
“Well…” Adam began, as he sorted his thoughts only to be interrupted by Mandy leaning in.
“You are pre-war!?” She said with shock as she seemed to study Adam’s face. “Seems well put together for a ghoul.” She mused.
“That’s ‘cause he’s not.” Salvatore said from his spot before downing another shot and then finally pushing the bottle of scotch away, seeming to be done with it. Adam spoke up again.
“It’s a long story, and quite frankly I don’t know much about how it happened, but yes, I remember the world before the bombs.” Adam finished. Mandy looked amused.
“Huh, well color me surprised. Well now I am interested in what you have to say about our little town, can’t compare to this place before the world went to shit I bet.” She grinned.
“Well…” Adam started a second time, once more collecting his thoughts on the place he saw. “To be frank no, it doesn't.” Adam said, which got a single laugh out of Salvatore. “But honestly, I’m impressed.” Adam continued, a lighthearted and hopeful tone in his voice. “We were all told that if the bombs fell life would be over, world would end. Seems like it sort of did, but you all got along fine, you built homes, community, had kids…” He laughed. “I saw kids playing on the way over. It was nice to see people still ‘living’.” He smiled. “It may be a dangerous world out there but in spite of it all it's good to see people managed to make lives for themselves, ones that don’t just exist for the exclusive purpose of survival.”
“Well…” Chuck said softly, placing a hand on Adam’s shoulder and gently shaking it. “Thems about the brightest words I’ve heard all day. Nice to hear you are feeling so optimistic about it all, not everyone would have remained so positive, that’s a good trait to have.” He smiled warmly at him.
“Quite the referral, if nothing else.” Mandy laughed. “Now I can tell people that a pre-war softy came along and said this place was full of hope.”
“Well, I wouldn't go that far. But maybe if you were to let me drink for free...” Adam smirked as he playfully egged Mandy. All three of them laughed.
“Ah, you got a bag for your caps yet?” Chuck asked after the laughter died down and he looked at the caps spilled out on the table in front of Adam.
“Uh, no… I was just gonna throw them in my bag, I hadn’t put much thought into it.”
“Might I recommend a caps bag?” He said holding up an empty leather pouch in his hand. “Much easier to manage all your funds without rooting around in your bag every time.” Adam shrugged, the logic was sound so he didn't see a reason to disagree. He began to reach for the bag in Chuck’s hand before he pulled his hand back a bit.
“Three caps.” Chuck said with a smile. “I’m still a merchant.”
Adam stared at him incredulously for a moment before he sighed audibly for a third time since he sat down and then split off 3 caps from his pile and slid them over to Chuck, who took them gleefully.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya.” He grinned as he took the caps and slipped them into his own personal caps bag.
“Got a place to stay the night?” Mandy asked Adam now.
“No, I hadn’t thought about that yet either. You got rooms here?”
“Sure I do…” Mandy began before she looked down at the caps in front of Adam, and smirked, knowingly. “Just 12 caps.”
Adam frowned. “You are doing this on purpose.”
Mandy laughed. “Well, credit where credit is due.” She smiled. “But honestly I’m doing you a favor.” She started as she grabbed the mostly empty scotch bottle off the counter that Salvatore stopped drinking and turned to put it away.
“You won't find a deal like that anywhere else in town.” She smiled at him as she turned back around, the scotch now stored back away. “Normally I charge 50, a bit less for regulars, but I'm not about to throw you onto the street heartlessly. Call it a proprietor's privilege.” She winked. “Just for tonight.”
Adam sat there, in silence for a moment thinking over his options and if he was being scammed before he sighed a fourth time and slid the rest of his caps, all 12, over to the otherside of the counter. “Fine.” He said with a resigned tone.
“Wonderful~!.” Mandy said with a cheshire grin as she slid the caps the rest of the way off the counter, into her hand, and then reopened the cash register and put them back inside. It probably was true she was doing him a huge favor but Adam felt the smallest bit dejected. He had gone from having 20 caps to having zero caps again all in the span of less than 20 minutes. But at least he had the promise of a bed, it was a net positive, even if it didn’t feel that way.
Chapter Text
Adam headed, key in hand, to the place indicated by Mandy to be his room for the night. Upon entering, he found it to be an average sized room, about the size of a smaller hotel room. It had a bed, a dresser, a nightstand, a headboard with a stand, and an attached bathroom with a toilet, sink, and a shower tub with a plastic curtain screen. All the furniture in the room looked worn and used, but not dirty. Nothing better encapsulated this than the bedding on the bed. It was worn, the stitching was even frayed in one or two places and the coloring on the bedding was faded, but it was very much not dirty, it was very clearly washed thoroughly before it was put down, even the very faded coffee stain on the bottom right, near the foot of the bed, indicated it had been used for a long time. The entire room felt more like a home than a hotel, which actually made it feel more comfortable. The pristine sterile nature of a hotel was replaced with the human touches of people actually living their lives. A hotel might have been nicer but this was certainly more welcoming.
He walked over to the window that sat over his dresser and looked outside. It was nighttime, or, at least, it was starting to get dark. He had managed to spend an entire day since he had first woken up in the vault, or maybe he had woken up halfway through the day? Truthfully he was unsure, he didn’t stop to check the time when he first got out, too many things happening at once for him to care. Regardless of whether his pip-boy had a built in clock or not, which it did.
The lights were starting to turn on in some of the houses he could see from his window. Which was very few, since his window overlooked nothing of importance and the Inn itself was almost tucked to the corner of the settlement near the northern wall. There were only 3 buildings between the Inn and the wall as far as he could tell. Not that it mattered, but again, it just meant the view was unremarkable.
He turned to head to the bathroom, intending to clean up, before pausing. In theory any water would have to be sourced locally, likely from the pond or the river, the same pond and river that the “bucket” water came from. The same water that needed to be purified to be considered “clean”. In effect, if he cleaned himself with it, would he not just be using dirty rad filled water? Wouldn’t that be a recipe for sickness?
But he stopped himself. He realized, sooner or later no matter how hard he tried, he was going to get irradiated. Whether that be from drinking bucket water like he did earlier or from bathing in the same water, exploring old ruins, or just some happenstance there was simply no avoiding it anymore. That shouldnt mean he should become lax, but getting uptight about the water from the tub or sink was only going to drive him mad. Assumedly Mandy, Chuck, and virtually every other person in this town lived like this. Getting irradiated was a daily part of their lives and they seemed fine. That isn't to say Mandy looked like the healthiest person he had ever seen but she was healthy enough, the radiation wouldn’t kill him.
In addition to all of that he knew, from his previous line of work, that radiation was more prevalent in the old world than people thought to begin with. The cars, the power plants, the fatmen deployed by the US military, and a ton more. It was never truly radiation free.
He had even heard rumors that Nuka Cola had developed Nuka Cola Quantum by mixing the amazing taste of the original Nuka Cola with nuclear waste. Though he was sure that was just some Vimm slander on the brand, no way Nuka Cola would do that to its customers.
All this to say avoiding any amount of radiation like the plague was not going to be feasible or wise, so if he was dirty, like he was, and he needed a bath, like he did, and had to use water from a lake with a little bit of radiation he wasn’t going to stress himself over it. Especially since what he planned on doing from now would ensure he was getting dirty as he explored old ruins and probably exposed himself to even more radiation.
So, with his mind made up, he finally took a bath.
After emerging from the bath, refreshed, and feeling more comfortable, he headed straight for bed. Not like he could watch TV or anything anyway.
But sleep did not come to him quickly, he found himself wide awake, staring at the ceiling as he thought about everything he had been through up to this point. The vault, the Deathclaw, arriving in Naper. It was a lot. But even if his mind wasn’t cluttered, the various anxieties, excitement, worries and fears all mixed inside him kept him firmly awake. He couldn't feel settled at all.
So after some time unsuccessfully trying to sleep he got up and headed out of his room, leaving his bag and bulletproof vest on his bed and taking the key he was given to his room with him.
As he left his room he saw the Inn mostly empty of customers, he did notice two who seemed to be more of the night types as they sat in the back playing cards together, some strange game that didn’t use a full deck, and Mandy herself was still around, though it seemed like she was cleaning up for the night, wiping down tables and getting things wrapped up, something he was sure of due to the bucket of soapy water and rag that was placed on an empty table. But Mandy herself seemed to be wrestling with an old Jukebox that was shoved in the back left corner near the entrance, kicking it a few times as Adam approached the door. She noticed Adam walking out but said nothing as her frustrations were being taken out on the poor jukebox.
“Did the Jukebox hurt you in a past life or something?” Adam said, momentarily taken away from his melancholy by the amusing sight.
Mandy turned to look at him, still annoyed at the infernal machine. “No I just…” She sighed and the anger dissipated a bit. “This blasted thing hasn't worked for nearly half a year. It was working fine until one day it just… stopped. I keep hoping it's gonna turn on again, but at this rate I'll be down the music forever.”
“Mind if I take a look?” Adam asked, casually.
“You know something about machines?” Mandy returned, skeptically.
“Actually yes.” he said as he bent down, spun the Jukebox around, and then opened the backdoor to look at the internals. “I am a licensed RobCo mechanic after all~” He said with a smirk as he focused his attention on the wiring and connections inside. After studying it for a few moments he nodded and then looked at Mandy again. “Well you got a blown Vacuum tube in here and some faulty wiring.” He informed her. “I can jury rig it if you want, but if you want it fixed properly you will need to replace both the wiring and the whole vacuum tube.”
“But you said you can get it to work right now?” She asked with a suspicious raise of her eyebrow.
“Well sure.” He said, now looking back inside the machine. “Just need to pull a few things. Won’t sound as good but it would work.” Mandy is quiet for a moment before she shrugged.
“What the hell, why not? Go for it.” She nodded. “Damn thing wasn’t working anyway so what do I got to lose?” She turned around to walk off and go wipe down a table, meanwhile Adam got to work. He reached in and pulled out the broken Vacuum tube, and the faulty wiring, then put in some of the good wiring in the place of the now missing ones and bypassed the missing tube. The entire process didn’t take him more than a few minutes.
“Well…” Adam began as he stood up and wiped his hands. “Should work now.”
“What?” Mandy said with some surprise. “But you just started.” She walked over to look at the Jukebox, not that she was looking at anything important just the front of it.
“Well It's just a jukebox, I used to handle much crazier stuff for a living.” Adam shrugged casually.
Mandy wasted no more time and hit the On button and then picked a disk. As if by magic the Jukebox whirred to life and began playing music again, much to Mandy’s surprise.
“Now, as I said, it's just a jury rigging. It's not properly fixed. It's missing a whole vacuum tube, so from now on it's going to be prone to overheating.” He informed her. “I'd suggest letting it cool off for ten minutes every other hour or for an hour after five.”
“Well I’ll be damned.” Mandy said, impressed. “You sure are handy.” She smirked to which Adam just chuckled.
“I'm going to take a walk, I’ll be back later.” He said before he casually turned to walk outside, all the while he was being stared at in disbelief by Mandy at the ease of his efforts.
As soon as he was outside his mind began to cloud again, he once more found himself thinking about all his anxieties. But the night air was good for his muddled mind. It didn’t help solve anything but it felt nice. He looked to the other side of the road splitting the town in half, towards the river and ponds and fields of crops and then headed that way. Once he was close the sound of the river became louder and louder, drawing him over until he stood on the edge of a sizable stream, large enough that fording it would be very difficult. Probably why there was no wall over here, just open space, as getting across to the town from this angle would be a challenge to say the least.
Softly, he sat himself down, letting his legs rest next to the bank of the river, which stood a foot or two below the green grass of the field he sat on. He truly didn’t know what he was going to do, he had made a plan to discover more about the vault he woke up in, or rather, why he was there, and decided to go back to Second Life HQ to learn as much as he could but he couldn't help but be intimidated. It was a dangerous world out there. Just from leaving the vault he encountered a monster, the deathclaw that nearly killed him. He was lucky it didn't. It would be a lie to say he was not scared. And not only were there deathclaws but all manner of other creatures and people out there that wouldn't care about him or where he came from, just that they wanted to see him dead. It certainly gave him pause.
He was going to do this, he had to, he would never be able to live comfortably without having the answers to his questions, but that doesn't mean he was excited to throw himself in danger. A man who had never seen combat might, but he was a veteran, it meant he knew what real danger was like, and that no one should willingly throw themselves into it recklessly.
But as he thought all of this he just sat there, watching the river flow, the bombs might have fallen, Chicago might be a husk of itself, he might have more questions than answers, but nature moved on, neigh nature never cared. The river flowed on as always, ignorant of the troubles he was facing.
But as Adam began waxing poetic about the indifference of nature a small frown crept onto his face as he came to a sudden realization.
“Shit. I should have charged for the Jukebox repair.”
Chapter Text
Adam spent a few more hours at the riverside, getting his thoughts together before finally returning to the Inn and getting some sleep.
The next day arrived unceremoniously. But that was a welcome change since the last time he woke up he was in a spooky vacant vault without any clues on how he got there. After dressing up he walked out into the open area and saw a bored looking man standing behind the bar counter cheek on his fist as he stared off into space.
Adam wasn’t sure who this was but assumed he was a worker. Adam wasn’t sure what to do with himself yet, he had just woken up after all, he needed a minute to get his head in the game, especially if he was going to follow through on his plan for the day.
“You Adam?” The guy said without moving a muscle, his tone as bored as he looked.
“Uh, yeah?” Adam returned, confused at why the guy was asking.
“Mandy told me you got a meal on the house as thanks for last night. So what will it be?”
“She did what now?” Adam returned, confused. He was not told of this, and this man’s absolute bored tone and expression really was throwing him for a loop. He was able to put the pieces together, clearly Mandy was repaying his efforts for fixing the Jukebox with a meal, that was nice of her, especially since he had not even thought to ask for payment. But still the abruptness of this entire exchange so early in the morning was throwing him off.
The man slowly turned to look at Adam, his expression never once becoming anything more than vacant. He opened his mouth to speak and then seemed to think better of it, sighing and then standing up straight. “Radrat Roast, Mushroom Stew, or Fried Iguana, those are your options.” He said with a monotone.
“Uuuh… stew please.” Adam said unsure why this man seemed so… devoid of passion. Then again maybe he was just working a minimum wage job in food service and couldn’t be bothered to care. If that was the case he understood.
“Okay.” The man said before he headed into the back lethargically. Maybe the man was just not a morning person?
As Adam waited for his meal, he took a seat at the Bar again, the same seat as last night, and then turned around to look at the place. He saw patrons begin to shuffle into the Inn, seemed like this was one of the few restaurants in town, made for a nice gathering place for locals he bet. The energy in the Inn was softer than last night though, the voices were quieter and calmer and it seemed far more relaxed. He took the moment to collect his thoughts, he still had his lofty goals from the night prior, that had not changed, but he couldn’t be rash, he needed caps to live and needed gear to explore further. Which meant his only option right now was to start scavenging nearby for things to bring back and sell until he was geared up enough to head out further. With any luck he should be fine in a few days. That is, of course, assuming he found something useful out beyond the walls. After he got some capital it might not be a bad idea to learn about these other settlements, they were likely great sources of information. He knew where Second Life HQ was, of course, but navigating through the city, right into the densest part of Chicago would not be easy. Even just ignoring the dangers he might face, he doubted his old paths would still work. In the short time he had been outside he already saw many roads and paths completely blocked off by fallen buildings and rubble, some barriers made by people at some point, and even a road that had completely caved inward preventing him from getting across unless he had a plan to scale a 15 foot wall once he was in the hole. Likely there was a way there but he needed to know a route.
As he was lost in his thoughts the bored looking man came over and dropped off a bowl of stew for him. It looked… pretty normal, aside from the strange looking mushrooms that was the namesake of the stew. Those did give him pause. But he realized that he hadn’t eaten anything at all since he woke up in the vault, and was hungry enough yesterday that he had considered taking a can of cat food with him. He was in no position to be picky. So he ate.
He had no company, no conversation partners, or anyone to share the meal with so it was a quiet and speedy affair. Not least of which because Adam was itching to get his life moving. He would need to get funds enough that he could rent the Inn room again, at the bare minimum. Living so close to being homeless was not his idea of fun.
He finished his meal and then got up to leave, stopping in his Inn room briefly to put on his body armor and grab his backpack and gun, his few tools, before heading putting his room key in front of the employee like Mandy had told him to last night and then went out the front door and towards the Southern Gate where he had come in yesterday. As he approached he noted that a new guard, different from, yesterday was standing atop the palisade next to the gate.
“Excuse me!” He called out to the man who had his back to him as he overlooked the vast expanse outside the wall. It took a moment for the guard to know he was being addressed but when he did he turned around to look at Adam.
“Yes? How can I help you?” He asked curious now why he was being spoken to.
“I was wondering if I could leave. I have a living to make.” The Guard seemed to just stare at him for a moment and then shrug.
“Your funeral, guy.” He said back before checking the otherside of the wall for a moment, to make sure no one else was nearby and then pressed a big red button next to where he was standing.
The loud grinding of gears could be heard again as the gate slowly began to open once more, revealing the tattered wasteland that Adam had survived yesterday by chance. Only now he was braving it again by choice.
He hesitated a moment. Was this really the best course of action he had available? He did have other choices. He could have asked around town for those odd jobs that Mandy mentioned, offering his skills to the people of this town. Or maybe he could have done more research, asking around about local places, threats and dangers. Or maybe still he could have tried something else entirely, something that didn’t even cross his mind? But no, this was the best course of action. He had thought this through already.
He would have to go out into the dangerous world beyond this place’s walls sooner or later. There was no getting past that. For one, he planned to, someday, reach Second Life HQ and explore for answers, or, failing that, head back to the vault and explore it more thoroughly despite how much he did not want to. So sooner or later he needed to get used to leaving. Even if this plan of his fell through and he instead accepted the mystery of it all, he was still going to leave sooner or later. Mandy had told him last night, there was no stable work in town at the moment. Odd jobs were the best he could do. They could, of course, pay the bills for a bit, but likely not enough to survive on forever. So his only choice in this case would be to head to one of the bigger settlements anyway since there might be more work available. And the trek there might be equally dangerous. After all, that was why Chuck had hired Salvatore in the first place to escort him. There was no escaping it, he couldn’t avoid leaving, he needed to man up and prepare himself for this change in lifestyle he was about to embark on.
However he was sure the buildings close to the walls were not going to be especially dangerous. This close to a settlement there could be no raider bases, no hoards of feral ghouls, no super mutants, nothing that could be easily noticed right from the walls. The most that could be in the nearby buildings were some giant bugs and a stray ghoul or two. This was perfect for a test run. He didn’t have to go far to get some practice in. He just hoped that there would still be things worth collecting to sell for his trouble.
So, with a finally steeled heart, and the gate now fully open, he stepped back out into the ruins and began his first expedition.
Chapter Text
There was a building not far from the gate, just across the road. An old Movie theater. In truth he doubted it would have anything of value, both as a movie theater and as a building so close to town but it was a test run anyway. If it went well he would go further. He just had to shake his nerves first.
He approached the building slowly, his eyes checking everywhere as he walked, now that he had finally understood how dangerous the world had become he wouldn't be as careless as he was before. Still, he didn’t expect trouble.
He paused as he approached the front door, frames where movie posters once sat still hung up on the wall but long since removed with the force of time. But the giant sign above the overhand was still there, the neon sign was off, of course, but the sign itself still remained. But truthfully he was just stalling one last time. So, carefully, he entered inside.
Upon getting inside he noted that there was a lot of natural light inside. He had assumed it would be quite dark, but as he walked further in he noted that the roof seemed to have collapsed in a few places letting in the light of the sun unabated.
He once more paused as he turned to look at the same frames he saw outside, but now on the inside walls of the movie theater. These ones were remarkably more well preserved, a few still had visible movie posters in them. All were advertising movies that were either coming out soon or had recently come out and were in theaters
One read: Agent America 6, The Bombshell Beauty and the Horcrux of Time.
Ah, Agent America, good movie series. 6 was a bit of a let down. The bombshell was a communist spy. Sorry, spoilers.
He broke away from his thoughts and slowly approached the concession stand. Ruined. What did he expect?
The popcorn machine was all trashed, the glass completely shattered and it all looked weather worn and ruined. The glass cases where candy bars would be displayed were smashed too, someone clearly had a lot of fun ruining this place. There really wasn't much to find here, it was all very much looted.
But he noticed a small green thing on the floor on the worker side of the concession stand. Bending down to look he found a single wrapper of GumDrops. Hardly even considered food, but not worth leaving behind, surely this must be worth something? 2 caps? He hoped so anyway.
After throwing it into his backpack he turned around to the popcorn machines and examined them. Truthfully if they worked they would probably still be worth quite a bit of money, popcorn was good regardless of the century. But he wasn’t going to cry over spilt milk.
Instead, with a little “creative destruction” of his own he broke the metal rod that held the popcorn popper up and then pulled it out, he then followed that by removing the bottom of the inside of the machine to show the internals. This much was a bit of a struggle, the actual bottom was not meant to be removed, but more brute force worked fine, it was just a popcorn machine after all.
For all his efforts he found what he was looking for. The motor that powered the Popcorn Machine. Truthfully he didn’t know if it still worked but no looter would go through the effort of taking or specifically destroying the motor, this was likely left untouched all this time. Surely this was worth something.
So, with his prize found, he threw it into his backpack and then turned to leave before stopping again. Right next to where the motor was, was, predictably, a ton of wiring. He had no need for it, and didn’t want to stuff his backpack full of wire, but the Jukebox needed it and taking enough to fix it wouldn’t hurt his chances so he grabbed it too.
Finally on the move again he crept through the halls searching each theater one at a time. He was not alone.
Luckily all he found were radroaches. He was less scared this time as he took them out by stomping on them as hard as he could. He didn’t want to waste the bullets, bullets were more valuable than the lives of these bugs.
By the time he had cleared the whole movie theater he had killed 12 of them. Including one that seemed to be glowing. That one certainly freaked him out a bit, but it didn’t slow him down at all.
Predictably the movie theater was bereft of anything interesting to loot. But there was a part of him that felt a bit giddy. There was a small part of him that was enjoying the hunt. Like a scavenger hunt he would do as a child, and the prizes were goods he could sell later. Add in the danger of giant bugs and the darkness he had to occasionally contend with using only his Pip-Boy light and he found himself, far from scared, but excited, he was enjoying himself. Strange as it was. He could get addicted to this feeling.
Still the movie theater was mostly a bust. He had not searched thoroughly around every corner and in every stall or under every chair with a fine tooth comb but he had done a single sweep through. The sum total of 4 items of note. A fancy gold watch, a Grognak the Barbarian comic book in moderate condition, a single roll of still usable toilet paper, and a bottle of Nuka Cola still sealed. The temptation to drink the Nuka cola was strong but he decided it would be far more worth it to sell. Of course he found a few other random odds and ends, like small box of Abraxo Cleaner but his bag was still very light.
Instead of leaving immediately, however, he took the time to head into each projector room, also empty of anything valuable, and take the key components from the projector, notably the motor, just like he did with the popcorn machine. The motors were all small but they did help put a tiny bit more heft into his backpack. It wasn't nothing.
Truthfully, the best thing he found in the entire theater was a toolbelt in a maintenance closet. Much like the one he used to wear at Second life. Even better still it still had a number of tools on hand. Which made his efforts to remove the parts from the Projectors much easier than having to break open the casing with his hands. Certainly the best find the entire run.
All in all, the trip was not a waste, but it was tiring, the movie theater was not large, but between ensuring he was safe from ambushes from those tiny monsters and checking every room with a moderately thorough scan took far more time than he would have expected.
By the time he was done, he was sitting in the manager’s office, in the cushy office chair, feet up on the desk reading the comic book he found. This was how he spent his break. Honestly having the freedom to set his own time table, the freedom to explore at his own pace, and the ability to simply stop what he was doing to read a comic book was liberating. Far better than the constricting clock-ins he had to do at his old job. Once more he was finding that this agreed with him far more than he expected. But he was also aware this was nothing more than a test run, this building had bugs, nothing else. But in the future he wouldn't be so lucky. He would come across far greater odds. But by now he was no longer dreading it, he was almost excited at the prospect.
Finally done reading the comic book, something he hadn’t done since he was a kid, he stepped back outside to see that about half the day had gone by. But it's not as if he had nothing to show for it. However, despite the wall still being in sight, he decided to push a bit further and explore more. He still had time after all.
He looked around, seeing what other buildings were still standing enough to explore. In the distance he saw a tall thin office building for a company he didn’t recognize, probably a law firm or something. It didn't matter much. What did matter, however, was that the building was still in moderately good shape, unlike a lot of the rubble that surrounded it. Props to the engineer.
He entered the buildings slowly, carefully, just like before. His pistol was drawn and he checked every corner as he slowly swept through the building on his way up.
The first floor was clear. Though it was also clear of anything interesting. The furniture was all there but it was all empty. The drawers, shelves, cabinets, all of it had nothing. Though he did find a pair of reading glasses sitting on one of the desks, He was going to pass on it but decided he was out here to make money, even if it was junk maybe he could get a cap for it? At this point he still didn’t know what was valuable. He would need to keep a list of the value of items so he could compare when selling later. Hopefully Chuck could help him with that. He could open a new note tab on his Pip-Boy to catalog all the data. Damn, the Pip-boy was really coming in clutch, where would he be without it?
The second floor was much the same, though he did find a key to a locked door on the first floor he couldn’t open. He had decided that breaking down the door wasn't worth the effort so left it alone. But it was labeled “Basement” so he was reasonably certain it would work. However the third and final floor was different.
As soon as he got up there he began to hear noises. At first he thought it was more bugs but then he saw the shadow of something running from one room to another. It was far too big to be a bug.
Slowly, he approached, keeping quiet as he did, ready to ambush whatever sort of thing he found. Finally, as he approached the open door to the room he saw the figure slink into he whipped around the corner, pistol out ready to shoot only to find a gangly looking woman, thin as bones, hair all swept to one side, wearing what could only be described as cloth rags huddling over a pile of random junk mumbling to herself. She was actually pretty pitiable.
Before he could act she turned around and looked at him. She was definitely not a ghoul, just some kind of Hobo. Adam sighed. He probably just walked into someone’s home… or what amounts to one.
“Im um… sorry…” He said as he slowly lowered his gun, now pointing it at the ground but it still remained in his hands. “I didn’t mean to intrude…” He sighed.
The woman just stared at him intensely, not moving but she seemed to be twitching, she was fidgeting a ton, and her eyes, now that he was looking, were bloodshot. She was likely on some sort of chems.
“I’ll just uh… leave you to… whatever you are doing…” Adam said as he backed up slowly a few steps and then holstered his gun and turned around to leave. He felt bad for her. He didn’t know what this woman had been through, but it's possible he could end up just like her if he didn’t succeed in finding things to sell. He might end up surviving outside the comfort of the walls, slowly starving to death.
He sighed heavily as he headed towards the stairs, deciding the entire affair was a waste, he still had daylight, it was far better to just move on than to dawdle here uselessly.
However as he began to walk away he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him from behind, he was about to turn around and look when all of a sudden he felt something hit the back of his head. Hard.
Chapter Text
Adam opened his eyes slowly, his head was pounding. He found himself sitting on the ground, his back slumped against a wall in the same building he last remembered.
All of his stuff seemed to be gone, he had no Bulletproof vest on, his backpack, and by extension, all of his loot gone, his tool belt and gun with holster was off and worse than all of that his head was spinning.
The good news in this whole endeavor is that his stuff was not far, just scattered about through the room. However the next bad news was the woman was in here too.
She was busy rummaging through Adam’s backpack, casually tossing aside the collection of motors he had gathered while looking for anything good. It seemed like she had already found the gum judging by the empty wrapper on the floor nearby and the toilet paper too judging by the toilet paper thrown about throughout the room like a mischief night prank gone wrong. But she was digging through the backpack like a gremlin, hunched over, pawing at it like a creature, not a human. She had not yet noticed he had woken back up.
He looked around at the carnage of the room he found himself in. It was clearly where she slept. There was a, and he would hesitate to call it one, mattress on the floor next to a small broken lap with a cord that was connected to nothing. There was a stack of canned food and opened cans in the corner, and a pile of indescribable meat on a plate in the other. On the wall, near where she was crouching looking through his bag was a bookcase with a number of books and odds and ends on it, mostly junk, but a few curios too. Most notably there was a large wooden club sitting on the floor next to the woman, presumably the same one she had used to knock him out earlier. But most importantly above all of that his gun was nearby, still in his holster attached to the belt no longer on his pants. His head hurt but this woman was dangerous and if she got to that gun first, crazy or not, he might actually die this time.
So, with a pounding head, he crawled over to the gun, slowly, carefully, trying not to make too much noise.
However, just as he had gotten within reach of the gun the floorboard underneath him gave way and cracked. Not creaked, cracked. Showing the floor underneath him, or at least it would, if it wasn't hidden underneath his thigh. But luckily it was only one plank of wood.
Unluckily it was more than enough to alert the woman. She spun around with a crazed look in her eyes as she glared at Adam who was sprawled out on the ground, one arm outstretched and placed on the pistol just ever so slightly out of the holster now.
There was a pause that hung in the air as the two stared at each other before the woman moved. Adam did too.
The woman leaped into the air, brandishing the large wooden club as she did, screaming at the top of her lungs like a mad woman. For his sake Adam was quick to completely unholster the gun and then flip over to his back and take aim right at her.
A shot rang out through the chaos of the woman’s screams as she landed on top of Adam unceremoniously.
For a moment Adam laid there on the ground, blood on his face, as the woman, still gripping the club, lay on top of him. Both were stunned. But very quickly Adam got up the energy to throw the now dead body off of him.
The woman was shot, right in the throat as she came down. Mostly a lucky hit from Adam as he was aiming center mass but he wasn’t going to complain. The woman didn’t even choke or writhe in pain, it was as if the bullet had robbed her of the last bit of her life, she just lay there, bleeding out, dead.
Adam stood up, shakily, holding his head as he did. Luckily there was no blood on his hand when he checked so his skull wasn’t cracked it just hurt. He couldn’t help but stare at the woman, now corpse, that lay on the floor of her own abode. It was a snap judgement and if he could go back in time he would shoot her all over again but he couldn't help but feel bad.
He was the one who walked into her house. He was the one who entered her room brandishing a weapon. He was the one who shot her. Certainly she had tried to kill him too, or… whatever she was planning, as she clearly didn't think things through too well after dragging his body back into her room with her, but he started this fight. And that didn’t sit well with him.
Adam was a soldier. He was trained to fight and kill. If she was a damn red, a communist, a chink, or any other thing like that he wouldnt have even thought twice. But such divisions seemed meaningless now. Even his own hatred towards the commies felt… hollow… what use was there to such racism and hatred in a world where everything was over. Do people even remember why they were fighting in the first place? Do people even know what a communist is? He could only sigh. This woman died because out here it was survival of the fittest, and because he was not prepared to remain firm with his approach. He turned his back on her, gave her an opportunity to retaliate. He would make sure he doesn't do that again.
He took a long deep breath, still gripping onto his pistol like his life depended on it as it generally pointed at the floor. After catching his breath he began the process of re-collecting his things.
Everything, minus the gum and the toilet paper, went back into his backpack, his tool belt back onto his waist, his gun back in its holster. But he paused as he looked at the other things in the room, the woman’s things. He considered, for a moment, if he would be no different than her, stealing from a random person who came along if he took it. But such moral uncertainties didn’t last long.
Ultimately Adam decided that the woman was dead, The things in this room would wither and rot away with her, they were of no use to a corpse. But the food, especially, could be used to feed him and others for at least a bit. If he truly felt bad he could thank her for it afterwards.
So, with a slightly heavy heart, he began to scavenge throughout the room. He found less cans of food than he had hoped, much of the cans in the corner were opened but left next to the others. Only a few were still sealed. The curios on the shelf too as well as the books were largely worthless, at least by his approximation. Though he did take a few odds and ends, a Book called the “D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine” and a copy of Guns and Ammo, as well as an interesting music box. But left the rest behind.
As he was leaving, however, he noticed a one gallon jug of water sitting in the room across from the room he awoke in. it was next to many other similar jugs but the rest were empty. The jug was labeled “Purified Water” but he truly didn’t know if that was true. But at the very least he was carrying nothing else heavy so he could afford to bring it back.
So, with one last look to the dead woman on the floor he left, carrying all his spoils and the jug of water as he made his way back down the stairs.
He was about to head through the front door again when he suddenly remembered the key he had picked up on the second floor, the “basement” key. He considered whether it was worth checking but figured he didn’t have much to lose as he put the jug down in front of the door and then successfully unlocked it with the key. True enough a dark stairway down was laid out before him.
Turning on his Pip-Boy light he slowly made his way down the stairs until he was met with an unfinished basement with some mostly empty metal shelving. Though there were a few things on them, duct tape, a wrench, a paint gun, super glue, mostly maintenance stuff. But more than all of that was the thing that drew his attention first. The Fusion generator.
Right in front of him, at the center of the basement against one wall was a fusion generator. It seemed to still be running too as the light above it was on, but it didn’t seem connected to anything, so it was just sitting in idle mode. It was strange though, why did this building have its own fusion generator? This was a lot for a small building’s backup generator, but there was no indication it led to anywhere else, not unless it connected underground or something where he couldn't see. But ultimately it was a line of thought without an answer.
Adam approached, slowly, as he examined the Fusion core still inside the generator. It worked, miraculously. He could only hope the core was worth something. Who knows, these things could power a suit of power armor indefinitely or a neighborhood for a while if used right, hopefully it was worth something to the people back in Naper. If not it would be a heavy and expensive paper weight.
So finally, after he had put the various things from the shelf into his backpack, officially making it full, and had the Fusion core in hand, he set off back to the walls.
Chapter Text
As soon as he stepped outside he noticed it was dark. Not pitch black or too late, but he clearly had been knocked out for a while since, by his estimation, he had left the movie theater at about 4? 5? And now it looked like it was 9, maybe 10. It was a miracle he survived at all.
The short walk back to the walls of Naper was uneventful, though he did keep his eyes out, not willing to be jumped again.
When he got to the wall he saw yet a new guard was on watch, not that it surprised him.
“Hey!” Adam called out. “Excuse me! Can you open the gate for me?” he called up to him.
“I don't recognize you!” The guard called back from the wall as he generally held onto his rifle with both hands, not pointing it at Adam but having it ready.
“I was just here earlier, I left to do some scavenging. You can ask Mandy or Chuck about me, my name’s Adam Baxter!”
“You aren’t a raider, are you?” The guy asked back. Adam was starting to get a bit annoyed, was this protocol? He was unsure, but certainly this was excessive.
“No, I'm not.” Adam said firmly, tired of this back and forth.
The guard seemed to stand there, staring at him for a moment in silence. But just as Adam was opening his mouth to speak the man spoke up instead.
“Alright, let me get the gate open…” He said as he pressed the button next to him and the gate began to grind open.
Adam sighed in relief, knowing that he was finally going to be back behind the walls. Truthfully this entire experience has been informative.
For one he learned a lot about the dos and don’ts when adventuring outside a settlement’s walls. He always needed to keep his guard up for hostiles, whether that be bugs or crazed women with a penchant for knocking him out. Second, he needed to balance gathering stuff to sell and making it back timely, coming back late like this was not ideal, though probably would be unavoidable in the future, still he could only carry so much stuff. Three, He enjoyed this far more than he would care to admit. Of course it was dangerous, he nearly died to a scrawny woman earlier, but it was the thrill of it all, the fact he had only himself to rely on, the fact he needed to fight to survive and then the scavenging hunt on top of it, made it rather exciting. And to top that off the end of the scavenging meant he could stumble across any number of things from books to fusion cores made it an incredibly fun affair. Was he an adrenaline junkie for thinking like this? Maybe? But that's a question for a therapist, and he doubted they survived the bombs. The last thing he learned when he left today was quite simple, he needed to wear a helmet.
When the gate finally opened he walked inside and sighed again at the fact he was back in the walls. However he still had work to do. He wasn’t off the clock yet, not if he wanted to afford a room to sleep in tonight. So he made his way along the path he saw Chuck walk Bessy to hopefully find his store. It didn't take long.
Within a minute of walking he found it. “Winchester’s” Emblazoned in a yellow painted wooden sign hanging on top of a large home. On the left hand side was a small stable with a door that opened top and bottom separately. Bessy could be seen through the opened top part of the stable where she seemed to be watching Adam as he approached the house. He nodded politely to Bessy mostly as a joke but she seemed to moo in response which was amusing.
He walked up to the door and then tested the door knob, it was unlocked so, assuming it was just normal store etiquette, he walked inside.
Inside he found what was clearly a store front, unless Chuck and his wife were hoarders and pack rats. Tons of various things from bullets to toothpaste were lined up on shelves of all types, some metal, some wood and at the end of the rows of shelving was a counter with a large black metal box bolted to it. Next to the box was a pad of paper.
As Adam walked over to the counter he noticed that the paper was full of trade notes. Things such as “Ned 2 bottles of Nuka cola 40 caps; Sally 1 box of 357, 15 caps; Kendal two packs of shaving cream 20 caps.” And things to that effect, he even noticed one line with his name on it. “Adam 1 leather caps bag, 3 caps” He chuckled. He was definitely in the right place. But Chuck was either not at his store or somewhere else in the building so he decided to call out to him.
“Chuck?! You in?” Adam yelled out through the building. He heard nothing for a few moments before Chuck came around a corner from down a flight of stairs.
“Well I’ll be.” Chuck said as he looked at Adam with some surprise as he circled around to the other side of the counter. “I’ll be honest, when I heard that ‘the guy in the vault suit left this morning’ I figured you were done for.” He lets off a loud sigh. “Glad to see that was unfounded worries.”
He leaned against his counter. “You um… okay though?”
Adam touched his head a bit where he was struck. “For the most part. I was hit on the back of the head but it's not that bad.”
“So the blood on your face is…”
“Someone else's… unfortunately.” Adam said, a bit somber.
“Welp, that's the nature of the world, I'm afraid. Hope you got something for your trouble though.” He paused. “That is why you came in, yes? Not to just say hi to your buddy?”
“No, you are right, I found some things.” Adam said as he placed the gallon of water on the counter and then reached behind him to start dumping the stuff from the backpack onto the counter as well.
Chuck seemed to be scanning through everything and then his eyes fell on the fusion core. “Well I’ll be…” He said as he gingerly picked it up with one hand and then reached below the counter to grab a pair of reading glasses to examine it closer. “A Gen-u-ine fusion core. Now what hole did you find yourself in to dig this up out of?”
“A building with a mad woman, apparently.” Adam chuckled.
“Well…” Chuck said, impressed. “This here alone was worth whatever sort of trouble you went through.”
“So it's worth some caps?” Adam asked, feeling more optimistic about the whole endeavor now.
“You bet it is. These are in high demand, least of all because this town is powered by a fusion generator and having more cores on deck is handy. Town fund can only help so much though.”
“Town fund?” Adam asked as he leaned against the counter himself as he wiped his hand down his face hoping to get some of the caked on blood off of it.
“Yup! See, everything that needs doing in this town gets it done from the community fund. Guards need bullets? Community fund. Wall need patching? Community fund. Fusion core running low?” He grinned as he held up the fusion core. “Community fund.” He chuckled and then placed it back down on the counter. “Everyone who lives in town throws in a bit of money every month to ensure the town stays ship-shape, myself included. So if the town needs a new fusion core, ‘long with my usual haul I go out with a stipend from the town to purchase it from a bigger town like Midway.” He gently placed his hand on the fusion core “Suffice it to say i'm very interested in buyin’ if you’re sellin’” He grins. Adam just chuckled.
“Yes, well, i planned to sell everything I found, after all I'm tired, hungry, thirsty, and in need of a bath, I need to rent a room from Mandy again.” Chuck just nods.
“So how about this...” Adam began as he looked at his stuff. “Honestly I still don't know the value of things around here. The fusion core included, so can you just tell me the value of items, what items are hot commodities and what to look out for? You can charge me more or buy it for less if you want, but just help me get an idea of what I'm looking at here.”
Chuck listens patiently and then nods. “Well… That's a lot ‘o trust your putin’ in me but i’ll do my best not to disappoint.” He laughs. “For starters this fusion core was a good find…”
Chapter Text
Chuck went on to describe the prices of all the things Adam had brought back. Some of it was worth way more than he was expecting, being quoted at 150 to 250 caps for the fusion core location and vendor depending. But some of it was worth way less than he had hoped. But Chuck didn’t stop there, he went on to tell Adam that if he was to head out looking for things in the wasteland, he should be on the lookout for adhesives, things with focus crystals, screws, military circuit boards, gold and silver, and a few other odds and ends. Just to help lighten his pack from picking up junk. But as is Adam had made a very lucrative first run.
“So, let me tell you the score ‘ere.” He said as he pulled out a cap and pulled out a pink slip of paper. “So, ‘ere body uses caps. That's the universal standard, no one ain't gonna look at you funny if you are using caps to buy things.” Chuck began. “But carrying ‘round large amounts of caps all the time is cumbersome, and, in big cities, it can be downright dangerous, it's like asking to get mugged.” He chuckled. “So I don't know how folk do things outside of this area… well I do, but that's not the point here… ‘round here a lot of us use vouchers.” He shows Adam the pink slip. “If you are gonna be making a lot of trades in town it's more convenient to use a voucher than carryin’ ‘round hundreds of caps. It's safer too, the downside is you can’t use a voucher outside of town. If you brought this to a shop in Midway they’d laugh you right out, but I know that they got a similar system in Midway too, ‘specially for big purchases.”
Chuck opened the heavy metal black box with a small key he had at his hip and showed Adam a number of vouchers of various colors, all stacked neatly. “Not every town does this but us and midway do.” He continues as he closes the box again, locking it. “So long as you trade within the town it's good.” He grins. “In Midway they’re backed by the merchants guild but here, me, Greg, and Mandy are the only people that own true shops ‘round here so we are what backs it.” He puts the pink slip back down on the counter. “We copied the system from Midway, it's real convenient, I say.”
“So…” Chuck started once more with emphasis. “With that said, I'm willing to buy this fusion core for 150 caps here and now, I can get them ready for ya, or I can give you vouchers worth 200. And it’ll be a similar situation for the rest of the stuff.”
Adam is left to ponder for a moment. So it seemed, in theory, that in-town trade was best handled with vouchers. But if he left, using caps was still the best choice. “But why won't they accept the vouchers from here at Midway?” Adam asked, confused why there was a disconnect in the money system.
“Cause they don’t know if we are dead or alive.” He laughed. “If you were to show up with a brahmin full of vouchers from here and they were to go ‘round accepting it only to find out Naper is gone, god forbid, then all those caps disappear. See, the only real value it's got is because me, Greg, ‘nd Mandy will accept the vouchers in exchange for caps when needed. As I said, just a cleaner way rather than using caps all the time. ‘Sides, keeps the money in town by incentivizing it to be spent here, and it's easier to keep track of too.” He smiled.
“What's stopping someone from forging them?” Adam asked, now curious.
“Me.” Chuck grinned cockily before he chuckled. “Technically nothing, but the town is small enough ‘ere that all the vouchers are accounted for, besides we don't just hand these out to anyone who walks through the gate, so we’d notice if someone tried to scam us. We are just too local and tight knit for that to fly.”
“And what about Midway? How do they prevent their vouchers from being forged?” Adam asked, now just wanting answers to all his questions in the same way he asked a ton about bottle caps.
Chuck leaned back a bit as he thought. “Well… truth be told, nothin’. Well, ‘sides the fact they are hard to fake.” He chuckled and then got serious. “But The Guild in Midway don’t take kindly to people steppin’ on their toes, so I doubt it’d fly.” He shook his head looking far more serious than he had seen him. “But you don't need to worry nothing about that.” He said choosing to change gears again.
“So… Do we have a deal?
Adam paused for a moment, considering his options before he nodded. “Yes, I can agree to that.” He said with a pause. “I needed to get a room from the Inn Anyway and at 50 caps a night the vouchers alone will cover the bill for four nights.”
“Good.” Chuck smiled widely as he handed Adam two pink vouchers for 100 caps each. Adam took them and began to study them for a moment as Chuck pulled the Fusion Core off the counter and placed it on the floor next to him.
The vouchers seemed to be made of a sturdy colored paper with a stamped value on it, and in the corner of the voucher had the signature of the three merchants in town, other than that it was fairly simple.
“Town can never have too many fusion cores on hand, I can reimburse myself from the town’s coffers tomorrow for it.” He laughed and then looked at the rest of the stuff.
“Good news or bad news first.” He asked Adam after he was done looking at the vouchers.
“Uhhh… bad news?” Adam returned, confused.
“Well, I told you the motors you brought are a good decent value as a find, but honestly. I don't need them.” He said with a somber tone. “I'm runnin’ a business and nobody in town is going to come in and ask for this many motors. I buy these from you imma take a hit I won't be able to recover from for a while, ‘less I go back to Midway, but I just got back yesterday. Wasn’t looking to leave again so soon.” He shrugged.
“I’ll buy 5 off you, they are good and handy to have around but I don't need that many.”
Damn, Adam had hoped he could have hit a goldmine with the motors, but honestly what Chuck was saying made sense. He didn't need a ton of a single thing, he ran a general store by the looks of it, he needed a variety, this meant he couldn't just offload all the random junk he found while out scavenging he needed to think about who he was selling to. It was a shame, he would have to put some of the motors back into his bag… or trash them, he was unsure, luckily they were not too sizable so he could keep them for the time without too much worry.
“On that same point…” Chuck began to separate some of the random stuff Adam had found, but not specifically noted, at the movie theater and the woman’s place. “I don’t need none of this neither.” He said calmly as he pushed it all aside. “But then I got the good news.” He said as he looked at the pile of other things, books, watch, comic, the Nuka Cola, and a curio or two.
“These I’ll buy off ya for a good price. ‘Specially this.” He said, holding up the gold watch. “Gold always sells, ‘specially when it's a timepiece.” He turns the dial on the side and it seems to flick to life, starting to tell time again. “Nuclear powered too, ain’t never gonna die, this is a good find.” He noted aloud as he set it back down.
“All in all I’ll give ya… another hundred fifty in vouchers, or hundred twenty in caps”
Adam paused again. “You said that I can exchange vouchers whenever I want for caps?”
“Sure can!” He grinned. Adam was about to agree and then got an impish smile on his face before asking further.
“What's stopping me from accepting the vouchers and then immediately turning them in for the extra caps from you?” He asked with a cheeky tone. Chuck frowned.
“Me for one. ‘Sides, this only works on trust. I don’t hand out vouchers to people I dun know. I’m offering you these ‘cause I’m putting my trust in you, see?” Chuck said with a very unamused and serious tone. He did not find this line of thought funny in the slightest. Adam quickly backpedaled.
“I'm sorry, I was just joking.” He said, putting his hands up in mock surrender, his tone apologetic. “I was not serious about that, I was just playing.” Chuck nodded.
“No worries.” He said, still a bit serious but the edge was gone. “Just wantcha to understand I’m not messing.”
Adam nodded. “Alright I’ll do that trade in vouchers too then, the 150 caps, and when I eventually take a trek I'll swap them all out.”
“Fine by me.” Chuck said as he pulled out two vouchers again, this time with a green voucher with a 50 on it. “You got a place in mind to head to?” He asked curiously as he handed them over.
“Well I am curious about this Midway I keep hearing about, and I got my own goals in mind so I’m not planning on sticking around forever. But it won’t be tomorrow at least. Probably not for at least a few days.” He chuckled. “I need some time to get myself ready for the trek.”
Chuck nodded and then looked at Adam’s pip-boy. “That thing’s got a map right? Lend me your arm for a second, I'll do you a favor and mark Midway on your map for you.”
Adam obliged, offering Chuck his arm with the pip-boy, Chuck found the location and made a little mark on the map for Adam.
“Regardless when you go, stay safe out there. It can be dangerous even between towns.” Chuck warned.
“Don’t worry, I will.” He smiled. “Thanks Chuck, for everything.”
Chapter Text
Adam was exhausted, he was also dirty and his face was partly covered in that woman’s blood. He needed a bath, a hot meal, and a drink. So there really was only one place he could possibly be going.
When he got in, despite the time of night, Mandy was still in, though she seemed to be cleaning up, despite the handful of bar-goers still drinking happily at the back.
“Well.” Mady said with a bit of surprise and a lot of sass. “And here I thought you kicked the bucket.” She chuckled before standing up from the table she was cleaning.
“Nope, though things did get hairy for a bit.” Adam said as he slowly walked over to the table and sat down.
“I bet, I told you yesterday Scaving is dangerous work, but you went ahead and did it anyway, so can’t say anything but it's on you.” She shrugged.
“Yes, but I promise it was worth it.” He grinned and then held up two of the 100 cap vouchers. “Heard You accept these and I am in dire need of a shower.” She looks at the vouchers and then sighs.
“I’ll say you are.” She returned. Adam looked at her confused for a moment and then at the vouchers and then back at her.
“What's wrong? Do you not accept these? Chuck told me these are good in town.” Adam said, suddenly worried, he had just traded everything for these slips of paper. If they were worthless…
“No no no no.” Mandy said quickly, cutting Adam’s thoughts off at the pass. “I accept them, it's just…” She then sighed and sat down at the table with Adam.
“Look, Chuck means well and all but honestly, between you and me, I don't see the need for them.” She shrugged and then leaned back in the chair. “Caps work fine and I don’t see a need to reinvent the wheel. My mother used caps, her mother used caps, her before her mother used caps, and, hell, if her mother before even her was not living in a hole I bet she was using caps too.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cap, A Nuka Cola branded bottle cap.
“Chuck visited Midway and they got their own way of doing things, he said they used paper slips as currency over there, I don’t know why, nor do I care, honestly, I wouldn’t accept their paper here. But Chuck had some bright-eyed idea about us doing the same, practically begged me and the Doc to adopt them…” She paused and then pulled out a cigarette pack from her back pocket of her pants, opened it, and inside was not cigarettes but little sticks of candy, they looked like lollipops but were in the general shape of a thin rolled candy.
“He’s a small town merchant with big town ideas.” She chuckled as she popped one of the candy sticks in her mouth and began sucking on it. “Now don’t get me wrong, they are handy, easier to hand over a slip than count out caps every time, no lie there. But It's never sat right with me. It is what it is.” She said, leaning in again.
“So, you want to rent a room again?” She said, looking at the vouchers still in Adam’s hand.
“Yes uh…” Adam said, caught off guard by the sudden realization that the vouchers were not nearly as beloved as Chuck had led him to believe. “I'd like to rent a room for 2 nights for now please.” She nodded as she sucked on her candy roll.
“Fine by me, your room’s still available as it was when you left this morning, did the cleaning though, so it's all yours if you want it.” She said leaning back in the chair again, probably enjoying the momentary break from cleaning tables to chat.
“That works for me.” Adam said, as he slipped a 100 cap voucher to her across the table.
She took it and then slipped it into her pocket, pulling out her key ring a moment later to take off the key Adam had returned yesterday before he left and put it in front of him again.
“Enjoy your room.” She said as she began to stand up to finish cleaning before Adam spoke up again.
“Also, I was wondering If you still had food? A drink too would be nice.” Adam said, trying to get himself something to fill his stomach before he turned in for the night. She stopped mid standing up and then turned to look at him.
“Sure, I can fire up the stove if you need. What are you in the mood for?” She smiled.
Adam came out of his room the next morning cleaned and well rested. His head still hurt a little bit but nothing more than a light sore spot where he was hit, nothing he would even notice without touching it. He still was unsure about his plans for the day, but right now he was hungry and could really use a coffee. Luckily, or unluckily, depending how you look at it, the bored employee was standing behind the counter again when he woke up.
Adam strode over and took a seat at the bar. “What are you serving?” he asked the employee who seemed to be lethargically looking out the slightly opened front door into the bright sunny day he was probably wishing he was enjoying instead of sitting inside an inn serving customers all day. Or worse, not serving customers.
He turned to look at Adam slowly. “We got a vegetable medley, a bone broth, or more radrat roast.” Truth be told, Adam wanted a roast the most, it wasn't very… breakfasty but he never cared much the idea of breakfast foods to begin with, he would often have leftover salisbury steak for breakfast if he could swing it in the morning, but he would eat pretty anything that sounded good at the time, so some days that meant more traditional meals like a bowl of cereal like Sugar Bombs. But despite his heart calling out for the roast it was a… rat… and something called a radrat couldn’t be that sanitary, even if he trusted Mandy. He would need to get rid of his prewar sensibilities someday, but that day wasn't today.
“I’ll have the vegetable medley.” He said as he rooted into his pocket and pulled out his cap bag. “Oh can I also have some coffee too?”
“11 caps.” The man returned with a monotone. Adam was quick to dump out some caps from his bag and begin counting them out. Last night, when he asked Mandy for some food, she had charged him 12 caps for a meal and drink to go with it, proper beer this time. But as he lacked the caps she took his 50 cap voucher and gave him change. Leaving him with 38 loose caps, soon to be 27.
He handed over the caps, placing them on the farside of the counter and then put his bag back into his pocket, next to the other vouchers he was keeping on himself at all times.
The man slowly got up from his slouched position and then sauntered over to the caps, picked them up, and then stored them in the cash register before getting to work getting the coffee and a plate of food for Adam.
“My name Is Adam, by the way.” He said while the man worked the coffee machine with his back turned to Adam.
“I know.” He responded curtly without even turning around.
There was a long few seconds of silence while the guy maybe ignored Adam. He was about to either call out to him again or give up before the man finally spoke.
“Eric.” He returned softly. Perhaps embarrassed or something? But Adam caught it.
“Well, nice to meet you Eric.” He said with a chipper tone, trying to offset the lethargic energy that Eric was letting off.
“I'm sure you know I’m new in town. I’m still picking up all the pieces, but I’ll be in town for at least a few days so figured it couldn’t hurt to get to know you, since you seem to be Mandy’s morning staff.” Adam said, extending an olive branch.
“If you aren’t planning to stay, then I don’t see why we should bother.” He said callously but not maliciously as he placed a hot cup of coffee in front of Adam.
“Wish I could leave.” He said softly, clearly to himself as he turned to walk to the back to get the medley ready.
Adam however, was feeling chatty today, maybe it was because yesterday he had a brush with death but today he was still coming down off his high, even after a night’s rest. Or maybe he was just very curious about this guy who seemed so disinterested in everything. Regardless, he pushed forward.
“Why can’t you leave then?” Adam asked casually as he sipped at the coffee which was just the perfect way to start the day. It wasn’t the best coffee he’d ever had, but he wasn’t too picky, so he was glad to have the hot drink in his hands.
“Where would I go?” He said with a somber and still lethargic tone as he walked over to the stone near the door to the back.
“Midway?” Adam asked casually, mostly just probing.
“You are crazy.” Eric returned, while he turned on the stove and got the vegetables ready. “Road’s dangerous enough as it is before those weirdos showed up. I ain’t making it all the way there by myself.” He said as he started to cook properly. “Besides I go all the way there to do what? Do the same thing there that I am here? Sis owns the Inn, at least here I know I got employment, there I could just end up a gopher for The Guild.” He paused a bit to focus on cooking.
“Your sister? You mean Mandy’s your sister?” Adam asked, not expecting that. Eric’s back was to Adam and all he saw was his shoulders slump a bit but he could swear the air emanating off Eric read as ‘are you fucking stupid?’
But all Eric said after a few moments was: “Yes.” The air remained silent for a moment before Adam picked back up.
“So this Inn is family owned then?”
“Yes.” Eric responded again curtly. He then sighed and continued. “The place was owned by our parents before they passed, Sis was the older one so she inherited it, I just live here.” He said with an indifferent shrug.
“Why not try another profession then?” Adam offered, he may be getting a bit too deep into this guy’s personal life, but at this point he was mostly just making conversation, it getting deep would probably be on Eric no?
“Because my parents only taught me how to run an Inn, not how to farm, or how to blacksmith, or how to adventure outside these walls. Just how to cook and clean.” He said with a bit of a disgruntled tone. “Of course, now they have a schoolhouse for the kids, but I'm not a kid anymore, so I can’t learn new skills.”
“Well...” Adam began before taking a sip of his coffee again and then setting it down. “I used to think like that too, used to be a soldier, after I got out I struggled to find work. But I did, and became pretty damn good at it too.” Adam took another quick sip of his coffee and then continued. “Just can’t give up, if you keep looking you’ll find work you enjoy.” It wasn't empty platitudes, truthfully whether he found work he enjoyed or not depended heavily on him, but it wasn’t impossible, maybe he just hadn’t found his calling. Or maybe, with time, he would come to enjoy the Inn work. It wasn't for Adam to say, but the best advice he could give him at the moment was that there are other options.
Eric turned around to look at Adam as he held the plated food, a rather nice display of mixed veggies to be honest, with a look of suspicion and defeat, though with a shimmer of hope.
Eric just mumbles and then places the plate down in front of Adam.
“I got work to do. Enjoy your food.” Eric said as he seemed to be done with the conversation now and just walked off to elsewhere in the restaurant part of the Inn to do something else. Somewhere he couldn't be bothered.
Adam decided to leave him alone, it wasn't his place to pry or push. After all, he just started talking to him today. So he ate his food in silence. Though there was a soft jazzy tune playing through the restaurant area that he just began to notice now that he was left to his own thoughts. The Jukebox was on and playing a tune from a selected album. Seemed his efforts were worth it.
Chapter Text
After he was fed Adam decided today was going to be an off day, he had nearly died yesterday and while there was certainly a part of him that was excited to jump back into it, go back out and explore some more, he needed a day to recuperate. If, for no other reason, than to explore the town a bit more, pick up some supplies, and see about some of those odd jobs that he’d heard about. For starters he started with exploring the town.
Following the various paths through the more residential area he noticed that besides homes there was a blacksmith, a doctor’s office, and a schoolhouse. He only was able to recognize the school house because Eric had mentioned it earlier and because there was a teacher standing in front of a bunch of kids who were all sat on the grass listening to a lecture about the dangers of radiation. It was nice to see that kids still got to learn in a comfortable setting here. Schooling might be boring but boring is a lot safer than teaching a kid by throwing them into danger. Especially when they needed to be taught about crucial concepts like radiation. But he didn’t linger. For obvious reasons a stranger standing around kids wasn’t the best look, besides his curiosity was sated so he moved on.
The next interesting location he stopped at was the stone building labeled “Blacksmith” However a quick peek through the glass window on the door and a test of the doorknob revealed that it was locked and empty. So whoever was in charge of the blacksmith wasn’t in yet. If they would be in at all. A peek at the front of the building showed no hours, no schedule, no ‘closed’ sign. So he was simply left without answers.
It was fine though, he didn’t even really need a blacksmith, it's not like he was a medieval knight or anything, he didn’t need a sword or a suit of armor, though it would fulfill his childhood fantasies, but practicality came first and he certainly didn’t need that.
The last place he checked was the doctor’s office. It seemed to be open judging by the neon ‘open’ sign at the front window, so he walked right in. As soon as he entered a little bell at the top of the doorframe dinged, letting the room know someone entered.
“I'll be right with you, if you aren’t dying then please take a seat and wait. If you are… scream ‘help I'm dying or something’, I don't know…” A voice said, starting his sentence with gusto and authority and then slowly petering off as he both seemed to lose interest in speaking and lose his train of thought. The voice was coming from one of the two doorways in the back left corner, opposite where Adam entered. The voice was male and had a strange accent to it that Adam couldn't quite place. Middle Eastern? Indian? He wasn't sure, not helped by the fact the accent itself was very faint, only noticed through the way he said certain words.
Regardless, Adam, who was most certainly not in any life threatening pain or danger, took a seat in one of the padded wooden chairs near the entrance as requested and waited.
He sat there for twenty minutes before a man emerged from the second of two doorways wearing a labcoat and with a pair of framed goggles still on his head but pulled up to rest on his hair.
“Thank you for waiting. As a reminder, I am a chemist, not a drug dealer. If you are looking to get your hit of psycho go elsewhere.” He said as he closed the door behind him and walked over to the counter as he addressed Adam before actually looking at him. But once he turns to fully look at Adam his expression changes. “I don’t think I know you.” He said as he studied Adam.
“Actually you don’t.” Adam said, finally standing up from the chair to walk over to the counter himself. “The name is Adam Baxter, I’m new in town, recently from a vault.” Adam said with a casual smile. He had decided that describing himself as ‘from a vault’ was a far simpler and easier way to introduce himself rather than trying to explain he was from before the bombs. It's not like it mattered much, but even though the description was woefully ill equipped to explain his true past, it sufficed. Even if he preferred not to be associated with that vault he found himself in.
“Ah yes, the man in the blue and yellow jumpsuit with the 42 on it!” The Doctor said with a bright intrigued smile as he held out his hand. “The name is Doctor Greg Abbas, you can call me Doctor Abbas, Doctor, or Doc, whatever you’d like.” He said with a friendly smile.
Adam took his hand and shook it. “Pleasure to meet you Doc.” He smiled.
The doctor shook his hand for a few moments before he kept holding onto Adam’s hand and flipped his wrist up so he could inspect it.
“Hm… yes…” He said inspecting Adam’s… veins? He was unsure but he wasn’t as comfortable anymore.
“Um excuse me…” Adam said, trying to remain polite before he wrenched his hand back.
“Oh yes, apologies, where are my manners?” He clears his throat into his free hand’s fist and lets go of Adam’s hand. “I apologize, you are just the first Vault Dweller I’ve ever met and I so rarely get new patients that aren't either dying or babies.” He laughs a bit nervously.
“It's alright, I get it.” Adam said, deciding to forgive him.
“With… that in mind…” Doc begins pausing a bit as he spoke almost sheepishly. “If it were at all possible… Would you mind submitting yourself to a physical check up? It would do wonders for my studies, being as you are from an isolated environment.” He said, hopeful.
“Uh…” Adam was caught off guard, he did have a reason to come into the doctor’s today, but getting a full physical was not part of that. It was a completely unplanned part of this excursion. Also what reason did he have to agree other than to sate this man’s curiosity?
“I um… didn’t come in for a physical…” He paused, considering outright rejecting the request, but then he had another idea, this man was asking him for a favor, so why not turn it into his advantage? “But I might be inclined to agree if you were to make it worth my while.” Adam said, trying his hand at haggling.
The doctor seems to ponder for a moment. “I don’t have too many caps, but if you are in the market for Stimpacks, Rad X, Radaway, Med X, and other purely pharmaceutical chems, I'm sure we can work out a deal.” He offered.
“Actually that's why I'm in today, so if we can work something out with that then I think I can agree.” He smiled.
“Wonderful!” He said with a wide smile. “Come, follow me into my observation room.” He said ushering Adam into the first of the two doorways.
“Do you often get people coming in here asking for drugs?” Adam asked as he followed him into the room and took a seat as instructed as the Doc set up some instruments.
The Doc seemed to let off a massive and elongated sigh when this question was asked, going so far as to stop what he was doing temporarily. “Yes, unfortunately.” He said with some exasperation. “Not from the people of this town, no, but from the outsiders, much like yourself.” He turned around to look at Adam.
“They always come in thinking that, because I’m a chemist, I can make them psycho and jet and daytripper!” He said with some energy behind it, clearly this was a big pet peeve of this guy. “I mean, I can, but that's beside the point. Im not interested in feeding their already addled minds to deterioration! I'm only interested in healing people, not giving them the means to make them worse!” He turned around in a huff as he reached for a box of sterile gloves and began to put them on.
“The only exception to that rule is Mentats… and that's because they are berry flavored.” He said as if he was making an excuse to himself. “Well the ones I make are berry flavored anyway.” He said with a shrug as he now grabbed a stethoscope.
“The point being I do not enjoy catering to those who only want to harm themselves.” He said with a note of finality.
“I uhh, understand.” Adam said not realizing he had stepped on a landmine by asking that question. He regretted it.
“Well anyway, that aside, let's begin the examination. I hope the results will be as interesting to you as they will be to me.”
The entire testing process took about 2 hours. It was very thorough. The Doc seemed to want to know everything from his internal health to his physical health and even his mental health. Aside from actively cutting him open he did practically everything else. All jotted down and logged. By the end of it the Doc tabulated all the results and read the conclusion to Adam.
“So, with the testing done, I can firmly say not only are you a fine specimen in good health, but you also are in such peak physical condition you are a perfect example of textbook prime physical health.” He said as he looked through the papers on a clipboard. “Your internals show no radiation damage, and your liver, lungs, and spleen all are shown to be in prime condition.” He continued before slipping to the last page. “Your mental health could use some work, but considering what you told me you’ve been through it's no surprise you aren't feeling euphoric.” He said putting the clipboard down.
“If this is the health of an average vault dweller than I am rueful my ancestors didn’t make it into a vault themselves, seems my health would have been a scholar’s envy.” He chuckled.
Though this process took a lot longer than Adam would have liked he did learn a lot about himself. He was in incredible shape, even pulling off feats of strength in these tests he couldn’t have when he was serving. He was more flexible than he remembered too. There was certainly something weird about his body. He had noted it when he first woke up in the vault but he never spent too much time thinking about it, but once again he is reminded that his body seemed to be in peak physical condition, a condition he had never reached before, as well as seeming to be younger? Or at least more healthy. There were still no answers about that but this confirmed that he was, without a doubt, in far better health than anyone here. In addition to all of that the doctor checked the back of his head, where he was hit, and confirmed it was nothing to worry about, at most a light bruise.
“Thank you for your work, Doc.” Adam said as he stood up from the chair.
“No no, thank you for these results, I may be able to further my own theories!” He said happily and then followed Adam back out to the waiting room.
“Now, you said you were interested in some medicine?” He said as he got to his side of the counter.
“Yes.” Adam responded, as he brought out his own caps bag from his pocket. “I was wondering if you would sell me some Stimpacks, Rad X, and Radaway, i'll take some Med X too if you are selling but those three are the big ones.”
The doctor nods and then bends down to pull up a tray full of the mentioned chems, all on their own trays. “As a physician I am obliged to ask what you plan to do with all of this.” He asked, though he clearly didn’t intend to not sell, but mostly getting a question off his mind.
“I'm a Scaver.” Adam responded. “I'm going to be going to more dangerous and possibly irradiated places in the future, having some things to rely on when I'm in a pinch would be nice.”
The doctor nodded and then looked down at the chems, addressing each of them in turn. “Normally I charge 40 per stimpack, 35 per Rad X, 50 per Med X, and 70 for each Radaway.” He explained as he looked at the chems. “But considering our deal and since you have been so helpful to my research I’ll offer the Stimpacks for 25, the Rad X for 20, the Medx for 35, and the Radaway for 50.” He offered. “I believe that is a fair deal no?”
Adam nodded, though he had hoped the prices would be cheaper, but ultimately this was the cost of doing business, and having them would be safer than not. “Alright I'll take 2 stimpacks, 2 Rad X, and 1 Radaway then.” He paused before adding: “Actually throw in 1 Med X too. I'd buy more but I'm not made of money.” He laughed as he then pulled out the vouchers for 200 caps, which the doc takes as he handed over the appropriate chems.
“Just… stay safe if you head back out there, it would be a shame to let that perfect health of yours be ruined by a bullet to the head.” He replied as he pulled out a blue voucher for 25 caps and handed it over to Adam.
Adam laughed softly, as he took the change from the Doc. “Well don’t worry about that, my next stop is to grab a helmet.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
Adam had every intention to buy a helmet next, that was always his next stop, his next goal. But he paused as he left the Doc’s clinic. He was down to 52 caps. From nearly 400 to almost under 50 in a day. He was not a fan of how quickly he was eating through his money. He still had the inn room to sleep in tonight, but if he bought a helmet it meant that come tomorrow, he, once more, would be living just on the edge of homelessness. He would have to go out and scavenge again. While this was his loose plan to begin with, he didn’t enjoy feeling boxed in like this. Surviving in this world was a lot harder, no government support meant that if he was broke, he was broke. Harsh world.
Still, he needed a helmet. If yesterday taught him anything, regardless of his body armor, if he is hit in the head, it's over, there was no escaping it. So, resolved, he walked over to Winchester’s to hopefully buy a helmet.
The door to the store was propped open so Adam simply walked right in, standing at the shop counter was a woman Adam didn’t recognize. She had long brunette hair and dimples on both cheeks. She also wore what looked like a cleaned and resewn pre-war dress, colored light blue. It looked flattering on her.
“Come on in hun.” She said with a smile. “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, You new?” She asked curiously. But before Adam could respond she seemed to look him over and speak again. “Oh! Are you that Vaulty that my husband has been mentionin’ recently?”
“Uh, yes actually.” He chuckles a bit as he approaches the counter. “Are you Mariah? Chuck’s wife?”
“Oh! You know of me! I'm flattered.” She laughs. “Yes, I am Mariah Winchester, that oaf's wife.” She grinned, clearly not meaning to be mean to her husband but teasing him as a matter of course.
“Well it's lovely to meet you, ma’am.” Adam said, offering her his hand which she gladly shakes. “I owe your husband a debt of gratitude for leading me here so I'm pleased to meet his beautiful wife.” He smiled. Adam was laying on the charm. Why? He felt it was the polite thing to do for Chuck's wife. Also, it never hurts to be on good terms with the shopkeeper.
“Aw, you charmer you.” She giggled a bit and then leaned on the counter. “Now, what brings you into our little shop?” She said, her eyes now twinkling in mercantile whimsy.
“Actually I need a helmet, but my budget is kind of thin now.” Adam responded as he pulled out the voucher and his caps bag, not that she could tell how many caps were in there. “So I need a good helmet within my budget of 50 caps.” He said, hoping this was a fair budget for a helmet, since he was still learning prices but quickly getting a hang of them.
“Well with 50 so long as you don’t ask for the moon I think we can find you something.” She said before pausing. “To be clear you want a helmet for adventuring right? Something to protect you from attacks, not something to just look fancy around town, yes?”
“Yes, I'm planning on going out again, probably tomorrow, and I learned how vulnerable my head is without protection so I'm looking to find something to keep me safe.”
“Safest thing you can do is stay inside the walls.” She shrugs and then looks around for a moment. “Well… I think we got three good options for you.” She said as she then pointed to one of the shelves. “Over there is an assault gas mask. Sturdy and it even comes with a filter but it's more for frontal protection than all around.” She then ponders for a moment and then nods. “Give me a moment to run to the storeroom and I'll be right back out.” She said before leaving to head through the other doorway that led to a room behind the counter.
In the meantime, while waiting, Adam walked over to the assault gas mask and examined it. It was, ultimately, a reinforced gas mask with a hood that offered little protection from the back where he got hit yesterday. It was actually pretty cool looking and would be good if he needed to walk through a toxic zone or was on guard when he knew his back was safe, but truthfully, he needed to know the back of his head was safe, especially since he was doing all of this alone. So this was not a winner.
Mariah came back a minute later holding two other helmets. One looked like a riot helmet, it even had a screen shield in the front made of a sturdy plexiglass that would even absorb small arms fire, probably. As he approached back to the desk looking at it he noted it was a very faded blue. And he could see the edge of a yellow line. He couldn’t be sure, but it almost seemed like gear that maybe vault-tec used. Guard helmet, maybe? He couldn't be sure. But then he looked at the other one. It was a combat helmet, the kind he used back on deployment, when he wasn't in one of those walking tanks.
The combat helmet was proven to be sturdy and even had some bells and whistles on it in the form of a light. It was very convenient. The visored helmet might give him a face shield but honestly, nothing beats peace of mind, and he knew the combat armor helmet well. It was the winner.
“How much is that?” He asked as he pointed at the combat armor helmet.
“30 caps.” Mariah returned as she put down the riot helmet and held the other one.
“Would you do 25? I have the voucher right here?” He asked, hoping he could keep his haggling streak going.
Mariah just smiled. “And I can tell you got a few extra caps in there too~” She said sweetly.
Adam sighed and pushed no further and then nodded, sliding over the 25 cap voucher and counting out 5 more caps, he was now down to 22 caps. Well… at least he had enough for probably 2 meals.
“Pleasure doing business with you.” She smiled as she took the caps and handed him the helmet.
Adam was quick to put it on, strapping it in like he was back on deployment. The feeling was strange and yet familiar. It had been a long time since he wore one but it chafed just like he remembered.
“Thank you.” He smiled at her before walking out with his new prize.
Adam walked back to his inn room to put it on the dresser, he didn’t need to wear it around town so there was no reason to subject himself to it but he felt better having it already. However now he was left with what to do with the rest of the day. He had too much energy to laze around. And, for that matter, nothing to do if he did, but he was also running low on caps. So he needed to get more.
Of course his plan was to leave tomorrow to go out and Scav again, but he figured now was as good a time as any to begin asking around town for those odd jobs. It would not only, hopefully, turn a profit, but also kill time and ingratiate him with the townspeople, which was never a bad thing.
The rest of the day was spent doing exactly this, and he found a number of tasks that could be done. In order:
First he noticed an old man struggling to clean his house’s gutter, grunt work really, but as Adam had no qualms doing this as he used to do it himself for his own house before the war. So he climbed onto the room of the man’s house using the ladder he had and began to sweep the gutters clean, even making sure the rain shute was clear too. For his trouble the man gave him 10 caps.
The next thing he found to help was that blasted southern gate. Seems he wasn't the only one annoyed by the loud grinding sound and slow opening speed of the gate. Adam was promised, by the guard at the gate as well as a few other residents, that if he fixed it he would be paid out of the town fund for doing so. So Adam got to work on it immediately, despite the other tasks he would do later this took the majority of the day. He had to first off oil the damn thing, the gears were grinding due to the metal pushing against itself it needed to be smoothed out. Next he installed a few additional motors from his stockpile of motors he couldn't sell to Chuck, a good excuse to get rid of them. The extra motors increased the torque of the pulling mechanism to the gate making the process of opening and closing it to be a smoother process for both the people and the electronics. It sped up the process a bit, but the big change was the fact the motors no longer were being overtaxed like they were. For his efforts as well as for the cost of the motors the town bought from him to fix it, he was paid 100 caps. However he did have to buy oil from Chuck's wife to do so and used nearly the entire can so that cost him 15, netting him a total of 85 caps.
Next was another repair job but something much simpler, a young woman wanted to have her radio fixed and Adam was happy to oblige. It was a very easy repair, it didn’t take any items other than the tools he had on hand. Another 20 caps.
Next there was a young girl who had lost her stuffed cat. Though the fact it was a stuffed cat and not a real cat was not made clear to Adam at first, it took him over an hour to find the cat, which was left just slightly underneath a house’s porch, presumably where she had put it down for reasons he didn’t know. Returning it to her got him a single bottle cap but it was an art project, the bottle cap was surrounded by a ribbon of paper making it look like a medal. He didn’t count this one as money, it was a gift.
As the sun was just starting to set on the horizon he helped a farmer move a ton of wooden crates from the field to his storehouse. This was very simple but just a lot of labor, another 25 caps.
Lastly, as the night began to set he got the wires he scavenged yesterday and installed them into the Jukebox for free. He didn’t have the vacuum tube so it would not have an effect yet, but it would be fully fixed if he ever found a vacuum tube to replace inside the jukebox.
And finally, after all that labor he got himself a nice meal and a drink to go along with it, so he was down 13 caps again. Bringing his total net income over the course of the day to 127. He now had 149 caps. It was a lot of work but he did earn back a large chunk of money. Though there were some takeaways from all his labor.
First, the repair skills he picked up working at Second Life seemed to translate well to this life. A lot of things needed fixing, some of them mechanical, and he had the skills to do that. Not many others did. If he ever wanted to stop Scaving and settle down he might be able to scrape by making a living offering repair service, perhaps like a tradesman. It was an interesting prospect. Made even more interesting by Mariah asking him if he was able to fix up weapons. The answer being yes, she had informed him that there was a market for weapon repair too, skills he had learned in the Army.
Second, Mandy was right, there were simply not enough tasks to go around to make a living here. Surely he could find some work once in a while like this but not enough to rent a 50 cap room and buy at least 2 meals a day, especially not so if he wanted to splurge a little every once in a while, it was simply unsustainable. If he wanted to do more jobs for people he’d need to head to this Midway people talked about. Or at least a larger settlement. Naper seemed to have a decent population but it was not bustling, there were simply only so many jobs he could get here.
Third, all his efforts had quickly made him a friend of the community, by the time dinner came he had more than one person come into the bar and buy him a drink. He was grateful and did accept, but it seems his deeds and efforts were noticed, even if it was largely motivated by self gain.
Finally, he picked up some intel on some places outside the walls with things that might be worthwhile while running around helping the residents, either in idle talk or curious questioning his pip-boy had a few more locations marked for him to explore. He also learned that the blacksmith, who generally only makes tools for the town or things to order through Chuck when he goes to the bigger cities, is always in need of scrap metal, and he would get a lot more caps if he sold it to Grant, the blacksmith. All put together, even putting aside the caps he learned a lot from his efforts, the day was very much not wasted.
But, after a good hard day’s labor, he finally headed to bed, his cap’s pouch a little heavier, and his heart a little lighter.
Chapter Text
It was time, The next day, after Adam got up, spent 12 caps on a meal, and then handed back the key to the room to Eric. He set back out toward the walls. Intending on heading outside to scavenge again. He had a location in mind today, and, outfitted with his helmet and newly acquired medical supplies, he was more prepared than last time to head into the dangerous unprotected wasteland.
Today was heading to a partially destroyed Corvega assembly plant he had learned about from the farmer he had helped store boxes. It was rumored to still be full of things to loot, which Adam was keen to do, especially since Corvega certainly would have a lot of unique things for him to grab while he was scavenging. As he had learned with his last expedition he couldn't just grab a lot of the same thing. Maybe he could get away with it in a big city, but so long as he was selling to Chuck, unless he found a lot of extremely easily cap convertible items he needed to bring back a wide selection of things. But he had a better idea what he was looking for now. He hoped this trip would be lucrative.
The trip there was much further than his last excursion. He had gotten over his initial fear of leaving sight of the walls and was venturing further out into Chicago, but that did not mean he was willing to let his guard down. Luckily not so.
After walking for about 30 minutes he turned a corner he saw a pack of feral hounds all fighting and picking at a carcass, likely a human judging by the remains though Adam didn’t stick around and watch to say for certain.
Luckily he seemed to be able to avoid their attention by sticking to the destroyed and burned out husk of a 5 story building, sticking to the interior and hiding behind the columns as the dogs devoured the corpse like this was their last meal. He couldn’t tell what the building once was, it was nearly just the concrete and metal supports that framed the building when it was built. But it was of no concern, so long as he could use it to get around the dogs safely it didn’t matter much.
Just as he was about to get clear of the area he heard the sounds of shots ringing out. Bullets that came from very near the building he was in. A few of the dogs turned to look at the sounds, right at the building he was hiding in. Shit.
He had no choice but to run, however he was poorly positioned. Trying to skirt around the dogs meant that he was taking cover in the husk of the building however he had quickly found out that the side he intended to exit on was completely destroyed, it was blocked and even if he had the wherewithal to move the rubble in the way he didn't have the time. However, a small stroke of luck as a stairway, now nothing but concrete much like the building that surrounded him, was just off to his right. He wasted no time and ran as fast as he could up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest.
He could hear from the other side of the walls that offered little sound insulation, the dogs barking and growling at some unseen enemy. He could only hope that none of the dogs would chase him up the stairs.
The sound of gunfire once more rang out, multiple shots this time, probably a rifle by the sounds. These shots were still shot quite close to his building, it seemed almost as if they were on the other side of the wall that he was blocked from exiting through.The exact situation mattered less than the sounds of the dogs yelping as they were assumedly shot.
He made it to the second floor finding it slightly more preserved, but not much, so than the first floor, the stairway continued upwards but he was determined to vacate the area as quickly as he could so instead he went deeper into the second floor.
That was until he heard the sound of something running on the floor behind him. He whipped around to see one of the scrawny dogs from outside, had, indeed, followed him upstairs and it was making a mad dash at him.
He wasted no time. He pulled out his 10mm pistol, spun around on his heels, and fired nearly point blank at the dog as it dove through the air at him. Unfortunately the speed at which the dog was moving made it hard to hit it accurately. He was aiming for the mutt’s head but he only hit its front right shoulder.
The dog let out a painful yelp as it dove past Adam and then slid across the floor, its bloody shoulder dragging across the ground. It was still alive.
“Hey did you hear that?” Adam could hear from outside, clearly another human voice talking.
Shit! In his haste to defend himself he hadn’t even thought about the fact that the sound of his gunfire would be heard by the other gunman. This was a massive miscalculation. Actually, this is the second time he did this, the last time it drew a Deathclaw to his building. He was so stupid!
But self depreciation wasn’t going to help him now, he needed to hide. Luckily the dog he had shot seemed to have no intention of moving from its spot, laying on the ground. It was very much alive, but it seemed to have lost the will to fight, or even run away, perhaps accepting its fate.
Adam spared it not even a second thought as he ran past it and deeper into the second floor.
“Hey hey hey!” the voice from before said in a taunting and menacing way, now much closer, probably inside the building too. “I know you are in here. Why don’t you come out to talk?~” He said with a faux tender tone. Adam was taking no chances.
Luckily, not too far in front of the stairwell were two elevator shafts in a short hallway right before a T junction. One still had its metal doors closed so it was inaccessible at a quick glance but the other had the doors wide open, and, with a quick glance through, the elevator was sitting on the first floor, slightly buried in the floor presumably when it fell from above but he could easily hide on top of the elevator in the shaft if he ducked below where the floor was. The doors to this shaft were open but not all the way, more than enough to sneak in and hide but not enough to be obvious. Or so he hoped.
He hoped in, ducked, and held his breath, hoping his impromptu hiding place was enough for this deadly game of hide and seek. In addition, though it was risky, he took off his helmet and placed it at his feet, hoping that if he needed to, he could peek more effectively without the bulk of his helmet increasing his visibility profile.
He could hear the sounds of metal boots stepping on the concrete floor as it came out of the stairway. The man was definitely closing in on him.
“Heh!” The man seemed to laugh once before another shot rang out from his gun. Adam had no idea what happened but it was safe to assume he had just shot the dog as it laid on the ground. He felt bad for the dog but he was going to shed no tears, it had tried to attack him after all.
“Come out come out wherever you are~” The man taunted as he seemed to be getting closer and closer to Adam’s position by the second. “I won't bite… much.” The man said with a menacing tone before he laughed to himself.
He was close now, probably just before he entered the hallway. Then Adam saw him.
The man who was speaking stepped into view of the open door to the elevator shaft, Adam couldn't help but peek and what he saw confirmed his fears.
He had learned, from various conversations, that there was no ‘markings’ that set a raider apart from a mercenary, or a soldier, or a bodyguard, or any other survivor. But you could tell by the way they carried themselves, and the type of gear they wore. Adam was told that Raiders wanted you to know they were raiders, they wanted to be seen, their branding was the fear they brought just by their presence. Or so he was told. But now he understood.
The man before him wore an open vest made of some sort of animal furs, nails and screws were sewn into the vest with the points facing outward towards any enemy he might face. Under his vest he wore a light brown T-shirt filled with stains of all varieties but clearly blood being on that list. His bulky pants were similarly studded as his vest but it seemed like he had augmented his pants, he had metal knee and shin guards strapped to his legs as well as a large metal codpiece with a spray-painted yellow smiley face on it. He had spiked gloves, his boots were brown leather with curved metal sheets in front of the toe area, his hair was shaved all off on one side and swept over to the other. And his eyes were red. The kind of bloodshot red eyes one gets from taking chems.
But all of this paled in comparison to the thing that drew Adam's eyes the longest, it was the ears. Not his ears though, the rows of ears all strung up on a thin piece of string he wore around his neck like a necklace. And, of course, he had an evil grin on his face. There was no doubt in Adam’s mind this guy was bad, however he was packing heat. He had in his hand a modified hunting rifle. Adam couldn’t tell at a distance what he had done to the hunting rifle but it was clearly not the kind you would pick up off the wall of a gun store. The only thing he could tell at a glance was the gunstock had a tight white wrapping around it, and possibly thicker padding on the butt of the stock for the arm, but of that he was uncertain.
Regardless this man meant business and right now he was standing right in between Adam and his way out.
Chapter Text
Adam ducked back down as quickly as he had popped out, so as not to be spotted. For the moment the man seemed oblivious to Adam’s hiding spot, but that could change at any moment. Adam was left there, hiding, wondering what he should do. He looked down at his pistol that he still gripped in his hands. There was really only one option: He had to handle this guy before he found him.
Adam peeked again and saw the guy seeming to be looking around the corridor where Adam hid, there were not many hiding spots, it was only through sheer luck the raider seemed to be looking in all the wrong spots so far. So, with a steeled resolve on what he had to do, Adam leveled his gun, taking aim.
To increase his chances of making the shot count he hit VATS on his pip-boy to give him a little aim assist. It didn’t do too much for him, but at this moment, any advantage was worth taking. As the target on his head read 90% he slipped his finger into the trigger guard, lined up the shot and…
“Hey, fuckwitz!” A female voice with an angry edge said as it drew closer, out of Adam’s view. “You find the fucker yet?” She asked as she slowly walked past Adam’s hiding spot, him having just enough time to withdraw his gun and hide himself at the floor level again.
The woman was dressed similar to the man but with her own style. She wore what can only be described as an armored crop top. It was as if she gutted the bottom of a bullet proof vest and then carved the top to her liking. It didn’t protect her stomach at all which was showing pretty clearly. It was full of incredibly nasty scars and one stitch wound. Her pants were long cargo shorts dyed black but with obvious signs of wear and tear and she too wore boots similar to the man thought without the metal, making them quieter. Her hair was dyed blue and cut very short. But, like the man, she too had a disturbing addition to her apparel. This time, bones.
Specifically teeth. She had tooth piercings all over her face, human teeth. Two tooth earrings, one tooth on her lower lip, two on her nose and one under her chin. Adam didn’t especially study her mouth to see if she had all her teeth, but he very much doubted the teeth she wore like jewelry were hers.
“No, can’t seem to find him.” The guy admits as he looked at her, shouldering his rifle as he did.
“Well did you think to FUCKING LOOK UPSTAIRS!?” She yelled at him like he was stupid.
The man seemed to slump a bit and then get an angry look on his face. “No I fucking didn’t get the fuck off my back woman.” He said as he started to march past her and, once again, Adam’s hiding place.
“Talk to me like that one more goddamn time.” She said as she placed her hand on her holstered… gun? Honestly, Adam didn’t know what it was, it looked like a thin piece of wood with a pipe and more metal strapped on it like a child’s art school project. It was in the vague shape of a gun, it even had a nail where the trigger would be, but it couldn’t possibly work… right? Hopefully he didn't need to find out.
“Fuck you.” The man said as he passed her.
“FUCK YOU!” She screamed back at him as he walked out of view.
“Fucking woman. Good for a fuck but they get a little blood down below and they get so snippy.” The man says with a careless callousness as the woman watched him go, seeming to be fuming.
“YOU DON’T FIND HIM I'M GOING TO HAVE YOUR BALLS!” She yelled at him again.
“Heh heh, sounds hot.” He said as he seemed to finally be ascending the stairs, judging on the sound of his footsteps and voice. Though Adam could only truly guess now.
“Fucking bastard.” The woman seemed to grumble as she stood there, looking at the direction of the stairway, away from Adam.
Adam had to rethink his plans quickly, after all now there were two of them. He needed to figure out a way to escape or…
He looked at the woman who seemed to just be standing there, though she was clearly pulling out a cigarette from a box. Adam had one shot, he needed to subdue the woman quietly and then sneak out before the man came back down the stairs. It was the only way he could find a way out in the quick moment that passed.
Putting his helmet back on, he quietly slipped out of the elevator shaft back onto the second floor, crouching as he walked closer to the woman who was only a few feet away. He would have preferred to have a knife or something, but he was confident that, with the element of surprise, he could get the drop on her and take her down before she could alert the other guy. But you know what they say about the best laid plans. And this plan was full of holes from the very start.
Adam was only a foot away from her when she, suddenly and without warning, turned around and locked eyes with Adam, lit cigarette in her mouth.
Honestly, despite the fact that she was on the hunt for Adam, she looked as surprised to see him as he was to see her turn around. Though this might have something to do with the fact he was crouch-walking over to her and was about a foot away when she noticed. The moment didn’t last long though as she was quick to reach for the thing on her hip, planning to fire at Adam with reckless abandon. Adam was faster however.
He had unholstered his pistol, aimed, and fired before she could even get her gun aimed. It was over in a single second. The bullet ripped through her unarmored abdomen and clearly hit her in somewhere vital as she hit the ground like a rock, incapacitated immediately.
“THE FUCK HAPPENED?!” The other raider yelled from upstairs as he started to run back down. Adam had no time to make a move to the stairway. He could only turn and run the other way to the end of the short corridor where it turned to a T junction right after the elevators.
He didn’t make it to the turn before he heard the loud sound of the gunshot coupled with the sound of a bullet whizzing by his head. He must have had a guardian angel since he had enough time to make it around the corner and take cover against the concrete wall before another round rang out. Though this one was not nearly as close to hitting him now that he had cover. Though he did get to see it impact with the back wall, throwing up some small dust of concrete as it hit the wall.
“I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKER!” He yelled at the top of his lungs again before firing for a third time, once more not hitting Adam as he remained in cover behind the wall.
However Adam took advantage of the brief window in between each shot where the raider had to charge his rifle again to pop out and take his own shot at him.
Small bits of concrete were kicked up into the air as his bullet hit right below the foot of the raider as he stood on top of the steps.
Adam was quick to dive back again behind cover as another shot from the hunting rifle rang out past him. Adam moved again, firing another time at the man. Once again he missed as the bullet seemed to shoot 6 inches to the right of the raider.
Adam dove behind cover again as another bullet was fired at him.
“Shit! Fuck! Shit!” The raider cried out into the air after he fired. There was no second round a moment later as he had been doing up until that moment. Adam could only assume he was reloading. He did not waste the chance.
Adam came out of his cover, arm outstretched, holding his pistol still as he walked forward, firing once, twice, thrice, into the man. Each shot landed right into the man’s chest. By the time the third shot landed the rifle in his hands was already falling. A moment later the man followed his gun as he fell face first over onto the ground from the third stair up. He landed with a hard thud.
Adam observed this for a moment, just about to sigh in relief and collect his thoughts as another round was fired from nearby. He looked over to notice the woman who he had shot in the abdomen laying on the ground, profusely bleeding out but with her weird wood and pipe gun still in her outstretched arm, having just fired a bullet at Adam. Hitting him right in the chest.
Chapter Text
There was a moment of shock that followed. Adam had never been shot before. He had seen plenty of others shot when he fought in Alaska, he had even seen a case of friendly fire, but he himself had never been hit. Luck of the draw. So the suddenness hit him like a truck full of bricks. He fell to the ground on his butt, winded, and then had the thought to look at the woman who had shot him.
She was now dead, laying on the ground splayed out, her pipe gun still death-gripped in her hand. Adam was quick to look down at himself and was relieved to remember he had the bulletproof vest on. He had forgotten. He was just shot after all, it's an easy thing to forget in the heat of the moment. He needed to be sure he was truly uninjured though so he peeled off his bulletproof vest, to his delight he was not bleeding, his vest also had survived the hit too, though it definitely showed the signs of having been hit with a bullet.
Adam sat there on the ground for a few moments catching his breath again. It was close but he managed to bring down the two raiders. It was yet another close call though, not something he would relish having to do again.
Once he had regained both his stamina and his wits he stood back up and walked over to the dead body of the woman. It seemed as though that shot was her last hurrah, she had no more life in her.
Adam was quick to forcefully rip the pipe pistol from her death-gripped fingers and examine it. It was just as he had thought. A makeshift gun made of scrap parts thrown together haphazardly. But it worked, that was the important thing. He considered throwing it out, it was, after all, nothing more than a junk pistol, and he had a much better one, but truthfully Chuck had told him last time that weapons were all sold for good prices, it was best to take it with him even if the gun itself was a piece of shit. Worst case he could throw it out if his bag got too full later, for now it was worthwhile.
Then he examined the man’s rifle. It was, unsurprisingly, just a hunting rifle. There were modifications done to it but nothing much major beyond aesthetics. This, unlike the pipe pistol, was worth keeping. He didn’t have a rifle, up until now he had solely relied on his pistol. Having a rifle for tougher enemies and engagements was going to be invaluable so he threw the rifle strap over his shoulder and then stared at the two bodies for a moment. He really did need to get over his old world sensibilities. They were dead, that meant they had no more use for the things they had. He needed to remember that. So, after a moment to steel himself, he got to work.
On the woman he found some loose 357 ammo for the pipe pistol in her pockets, he also found she had a can of food, a pack of cigarettes she pulled out earlier, and a small bag of caps with 19 caps inside, the rest was mostly junk or… more teeth, he was content to leave it behind. However he did decide to, after a moment to consider, strip off the body armor from her, it was a pretty nasty and gnarly body armor and since it was modified it wouldn't be as good but armor is armor, maybe he could sell it for something, but for the moment he decided to bare with the weight and the uncomfortable fit and throw it on over his already worn body armor. It might provide extra protection, but more than that it was simply the most efficient means to carry it.
Then he moved onto the man, once more the man had very little of use mostly junk things not worth taking, but he did have a ankle holster for a combat knife stashed there, Adam did not hesitate to take it from him, however other than the knife everything else was useless, seemed as though this man didn’t even have caps. His partner must have carried them all. What a pitiful amount of caps to have, no wonder they lived outside of the walls, must have been homeless.
Thoughts aside, he needed to get moving. He may have dealt with these two but no telling if they were part of a larger group and if they were their compatriots might come looking. So he needed to get a move on.
A part of him told him to return to the town, he had already faced danger once he didn’t need to put himself into more. But he knew better, first off he was already too far from town to make a journey back any less dangerous. Second, he had nothing of note to show for his efforts so far. He needed to make enough caps to make this journey worth it. Besides, after walking as long as he did, he was closer to the factory than the town now. Besides, even if he did return to the town there was no telling if tomorrow would be safer. No, pushing on while he was uninjured was the best plan. And so he did.
Luckily the rest of the trip to the Corvega factory was uneventful. It proved to be a simple trip. The only things that held him up were the occasional sounds of gunfire going off in the distance, likely some other people getting into gun fights with the locals, creatures or otherwise, but far too distant to matter to him, and a path that was blocked. The path being blocked only required a moderate redirection but by the time he arrived the sun was already hanging high in the sky.
The corvega factory was clearly in quite a massive state of disrepair, a large chunk of the right side of the building seemed to have been reduced to rubble, however the other side seemed to still be standing and it looked to be in moderately good shape, considering the damage on the right side. The building was also large, even with a large part of the right side destroyed it was still a sizable building.
He walked over to the good side of the building and approached what he hoped was either a loading bay or an employee entrance. He found the employee entrance.
On the side of the building, clearly not the main entrance, was a metal door housed inside a framed metal cage with a roof over it. Perhaps it served as a place for workers to take a smoke break out of the rain. Adding credence to this theory the metal cage looked more like an intricate lattice more designed for aesthetics than for any real use, and the browned broken shards of glass that still remained in few numbers both on the ground near the cage and sticking out of the sides of the frame led him to believe it was once housed in glass. But he had already spent too much time on something so pointless so he moved on.
The entrance to the assumed smoking area was an open doorway, though he noticed some hinges on the doorway but no door, perhaps at one time a door was here but no longer. Regardless, what truly impeded him was the employee door to the factory. Locked.
He noticed that the door had a keycard reader next to it but since he lacked a keycard he was unable to get through. He had considered, for a moment, either breaking the card reader or the door itself, but the door was made of metal and wouldn't break easily, and breaking the card reader likely wouldn't get him inside, only serve to get his frustrations out. So unfortunately he moved on.
Continuing to walk alongside the building he did eventually find the loading bay, and luckily a few of the large truck doors seemed to be open. However before he went inside he noticed a number of trucks still hitched to their cargo sitting in the lot. Curious, he went to each one, checking to see if it was unlocked and then seeing what was inside. He was disappointed.
There were 4 trucks in the lot, one was locked, one was empty, and the other two which he could open had nothing but car parts in them. Go figure. But nothing even worth bringing back, or really portable for that matter. Unless he was planning on assembling a Corvega by hand these things were useless.
Well, maybe not useless, if he had the wherewithal this could be a good source of scrap metal to bring back to the blacksmith but considering the distance and the dangers between this factory and the town, and considering how a single piece would be bulky enough he'd need to carry it by hand, he decided to just let the matter drop. A shame but nothing could be done about it.
So finally, after what had already been an exciting trip just to get here, he turned and headed into the loading bay to enter the factory.
Chapter Text
The inside of the factory was eerie. But not for the reasons you might expect. It was a massive sprawling factory floor laid out before him where cars of all stages of creation were held by robotic arms most now long since rusted over by the sands of time, both the arms and the cars.
Adam paused almost as soon as he entered the factory placing his hand on a completed Corvega sports car. The kind of car he had wished he owned back before the world ended. Just the sleek design always caught his eye, but now it was nothing more than a massive chunk of metal.
He paused as he thought that for a moment. In theory, he could, with the right tools and time, fix up this car, or any car he wanted for that matter, if he had the parts. It was not an impossibility just a complete time sink he didn't have the luxury for at the moment, perhaps in the future, once he had some answers to his questions, he’d consider other ideas like this… after all cruising around the ruins of Chicago in style sounded like a dream, a twisted one but he’d take what he could get.
Neigh, why stop with Chicago, the world had changed, maybe he could explore what remains of the world? Who knows what is out there. But these were idle thoughts, thoughts taking him out of his goals here, to scavenge and make some caps to ensure he can live to tomorrow. What a dreary existence. He pulled his hand from the car and headed deeper into the factory.
It truly was eerie, it was a huge factory far as far as he could see but no one was around. It felt less like he was scavenging an old ruin and more like he was trespassing on a Corvega assembly plant, which, technically, he was. But he doubted any Corvega employees would come to complain. And so Adam began his thorough search of this place.
For the first hour he focused on the factory floors, for the second he focused on the offices, and the third he explored the visitor and car repair sections, both of which were partly destroyed.
This place was a bust. Well sort of. Despite how large it was and how interesting of a place to go through, it truly had nothing worthwhile of note. But that isn't to say Adam found nothing.
Adam’s bag was positively overflowing with superglue, sensor modules, duct tape, fission batteries, and a few other tools one would expect in a corvega assembly plant. He did also find a few new tools worth keeping on his toolbelt if he ever had need for them, as well as a keycard for employees. Truthfully he was realizing that he alone did not have the ability to bring it all back alone. He could easily make his money’s worth, if he had 3 bags he could bring back all the useful junk items he found that he knew were worth something, but no big ticket items like the fusion core, which was a shame, and the reason why it felt like a bust.
His final stop was into the head manager’s office, which was separated from the other offices by a collapsed floor, which is why he decided to do it last after he found the second stairway up later.
As soon as he opened the door he noticed it was remarkably more well preserved than the other rooms. Not to say the other office spaces were bad, in fact they were pretty well preserved themselves, but the broken glass for the windows had swept in dirt, dust, and light that faded and wore down the office spaces. Not like it mattered since there was little to find there too. But the manager’s office was different.
First off the office was well preserved likely because the door to it was closed and likely never opened judging by the dust caked onto the doorknob, the giant window that sat on the wall behind the mahogany desk was also covered with a nice curtain preventing the light from reaching inside too. The room itself felt more like it had been abandoned for a year, not 200.
But none of that was the interesting parts, it was the rows upon rows of bookshelves flanking him on either side, the floor safe he could clearly see below the desk which had moved from its probable old resting place, and the Protectron sitting inside its pod right against the wall to his left as he entered. The protectron came first.
As he walked over it seemed to be a refit police model protectron set up for body guard duty, but it lacked a computer next to it, like the other empty pods he found in elsewhere in the factory, however there was a computer sitting on the desk so it's probable that it can be activated from there. It certainly seemed worth experimenting with at least. Protectrons were the most common and versatile robot, even if they had their share of flaws, being clunky and slow. But the dome-headed robotic friends always carried out their tasks diligently, and if that task just so happened to be getting him back to town without encountering more trouble, then he could rest assured he would get back safely. But first the computer.
He broke from his thoughts and walked over to the computer to get to work. Locked, as expected. But Adam had done this song and dance more than once by now. Without time pressure Adam easily cracked the password and got into the computer. He was met with a few choices. [Corvega productivity notes] [Letter from: Corvega CEO to all upper management][Floor safe lock][Protectron Controls]
There it was, he was right. He was curious about the other things but getting the protectron up and moving was his priority. So he immediately opened that menu.
[Patrol mode][Guard mode][Command Menu]
Seeing his options he was relieved to see that a guard mode was already created, that would make his life so much easier, but he needed to be sure that the Protectron would protect him and not treat him as an enemy, after all he was not the plant manager.
Adam began rooting around in the command menu, checking files and lines of code until he finally found out where the target priority lay. Once he found it he spent an extra few minutes coding in lines to make sure it recognized him as a friendly. He could do this much in his sleep, coding a robot to recognize him as a friendly was one of the first things you learn when you head to take a RobCo licensing exam. After all, it doesn't matter how good you program the robot if it kills you right after. Most programmers had a unique way that they handled this, some used their facial features, others used a keyword, some still used a complex algorithm that measured the way they walked, worked, and a variety of other factors to always ensure they were being properly assessed. Adam thought that was excessive. He liked to keep it simple. A keyword worked just fine for him.
Finally finishing his efforts he activated guard mode and then, with a hiss the pod began to open. He looked up at the pod as the Protectron began to lumber out, waddling as it did. It seemed to be walking towards Adam but Adam preempted that by walking over himself.
“Please Identi-” The protectron begins once it is close to Adam only for Adam to speak up loudly overtop it.
“Recognize: Adam Baxter.” He says with a casual authority.
The protectron immediately ceases what it was doing and then seems to pause, letting silence fill the room.
“Recognized.” It said with an affirmative tone. “Proceeding to Guard target.” It said before it took a step closer and then stopped moving altogether, waiting for Adam to leave and it to follow.
“Well hold on little guy, I still got work to do.” Adam said with a chuckle as he looked through the window at the broken landscape outside. His efforts to scavenge the building as well as the coding escapade he just went on took quite a bit of time, the sun was hanging low in the sky. He was beginning to question if he would make it back to the town in time before it was dark. But he didn’t need to rush out yet, after all, there was still the safe to explore.
Chapter Text
Adam went right back to work, sitting back down at the desk computer to explore his options while the Protectron remained activated nearby, standing as still as ever. Adam immediately turned his attention to the Safe option. He wasted no time in unlocking it.
With a satisfying click the safe beneath his feet opened and he once more moved from the seat to examine the safe contents. It was a good find.
The safe was mostly full. For the most part it was full of files in manilla folders, some labeled CONFIDENTIAL, and some unlabeled, but truthfully none of it really mattered. What was he supposed to do with a Manager of Corvega’s files from 200 years ago, it was going to be useless. And even if it wasn't he was definitely not in the mood to spend the next 2 hours reading through to see if there is even a single useful piece of information in them.
So, satisfyingly, he threw them over his shoulder letting the papers fly into the air and then float down. He was creating a mess but truthfully it was worth it.
Papers aside he noticed there was a laser pistol inside the safe with a few fusion cells next to it. Strange, why would a manager have a laser pistol? It isn't exactly the sort of thing Civilians had easy access to, not to say they didn't. But it was more something you’d see on army bases not in a manager’s office of all places.
Still, Adam was far from looking this gift horse in the mouth so he took it gleefully and threw it on the side pouch of his backpack for easy access. Truthfully he liked laser weapons, he preferred them in the army when he served, but he did already have two good guns, so he might not need it. He can leave that for later though, he had it, that's what matters.
Though all that has been said was nothing compared to the last thing he found in the safe, besides some old photos he didn’t care about. A large gold bar.
Adam had seen gold bars in movies and the like but never actually seen one in real life. It weighed more than he expected to. It was solid gold. Or so he hoped. It was an amazing find. This made his trip worthwhile. This alone made all the efforts he went through valuable. Hopefully Chuck would buy it for a great price.
Adam was feeling giddy as he threw it into his backpack next to all the other things he had found. Finding a gold bar truly ignited his imagination and passion for the scavenger hunt part of this new lifestyle. It truly made his near death earlier today seem like a small hurdle he had to overcome to win this prize.
Adam once more glanced up at his protectron guardian which remained quiet and unmoving, other than the soft sound of its head sensor spinning, and then looked back at the computer. He still had time, it was getting late but his Pip-Boy had a light, he had enough time to read the entries in the computer. He was curious. And besides it was the last bit of proof these people lived, perhaps it was his way of honoring their last memories. That was likely an excuse though.
So, once more sitting down in the chair, Adam boots up the computer again and opens the [Corvega productivity notes].
[Corvega July Productivity: up 10% I streamlined one of the manufacturing processes to cut out a needless inspection. The cars always pass inspection, so it's fine to just ignore it. 10% increase in exchange seems more than worth it]
[Corvega August productivity: up 23% new servos delivered and assembled by our teams have increased production. Orders from overseas have increased by almost the same factor, I am pleased with our output levels.]
[Corvega September Productivity: 11% I like to claim it's because I fired Janet that our productivity increased, she was always yapping away to the other employees and never doing her work. But the promise of a Christmas bonus coming up likely has more to do with it than me, they know the hard workers get a bigger bonus. Lucky me.]
[Corvega October Productivity: Down 78% DAMN YOU CEO. The factory was running very well before the new CEO decided he wanted to muddle things. Now it's going to take months to get productivity back up to where it was before. The CEOs like to talk big but it's people like me that have to deal with the consequences.]
Adam was now even more curious what the letter from the CEO was about since it clearly impacted the manager’s disposition and the production figures.
[Letter to all upper management; I am moving the company in a new, stronger direction, one our shareholders will appreciate. In partnership with RobCo we will be replacing a majority of the low-end jobs in all our factories across the nation with special branded robots who will handle the tasks more efficiently and without overhead. As such we will begin transitioning out our human workforce. Effective immediately anyone without a Green level management position will see salary reductions of 40% starting next month, in addition it is on management to make the workers uncomfortable at their jobs enough to quit so we do not have to pay them a severance package. Productivity quotas are expected to still be met during this transitionary period. Robot workers will begin to arrive within the first quarter of next year.]
Adam leaned back in his chair. Well that explains it. The workers, and apparently the Manager, got mad that people were being phased out, not like it mattered in the end, the world ended, but he can’t blame them for being upset. But now Adam was thinking about all the things that go on behind closed doors of companies that the public never knew about. It brought to his mind, once more, the thoughts of Second Life. What were they doing? Did discussions like this go on behind his back? It wouldn’t have changed anything even if he knew but his mind couldn't help but be drawn to it.
Adam stood up, still feeling a bit lost in his mind as he began scanning the bookshelves for books worth bringing back.
As expected most were just technical manuals, old car magazines, car inspection reports, and a lot of paperwork. But there was a section that was likely the manager’s personal library he would read when he was free. In it he found a few fiction novels that he figured he could bring home with him as well as a copy of Lying, Congressional Style, which tracked for what he had to deal with the last month before the world ended. However, as he was pulling books off the small personal bookshelf there was a thin red book hidden behind all the others he hadn’t noticed before.
Reaching his arm in further he learned that the book was more than just behind the other books but instead wedged into the seams of the bookcase itself, almost hidden behind the wood, and pulled it out with a little bit of effort. After retrieving he flipped it around to look at what book had put him through all this effort.
Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual.
“What the fuck?!” Adam said with some shock. How the hell did this end up here?
Adam looked around the room like he was going to suddenly spot a Chinese spy, or a listening device, or any other thing that might give him answers. Which, of course, there were none.
His eyes then fell on the seat of the manager. “Was… the manager a spy?” Adam asked himself aloud with only the protectron hearing him. Of course again, there was no answer. He had already finished looking around this office, if there was any indication that he was a spy it was not here. This book was an extreme oddity.
But as quickly as Adam had become heated and concerned he calmed down. The war was over. Everyone lost. What use was there getting bothered about it now? The manager was dead, so if he was a spy, time took his life, now all that was left was this book.
Adam looked down at the book again and then sighed, putting it into his pack as well. Maybe he could read it later, if nothing else it might make for a good read. After all that is why he is bringing some books back with him, to give him things to do in his downtime.
With another deep sigh and now a very full backpack Adam turned to the protectron and then spoke. “Alright buddy, let's go.” However just as he was leaving through the doors to the office, protectron right behind him, he could hear distant voices speaking. Deep, strange voices, not human ones.
Chapter Text
“Human hunt went good today!” An excited deep toned voice spoke from off in the distance, loud enough that he could hear thanks to it basically being shouted.
“No, not enough meat.” Another said, sounding almost identical to the first one.
“We need more meat!” Another complained. By now, Adam wanted to know what he was hearing, and he had a sinking suspicion he knew what was going on, much worse than simple cannibals.
Adam stepped out of the office and over to right before the stairway he took to get to the manager's office. There he looked out a massive window spanning from his belly button to the top of the ceiling that overlooked the factory floor. And what he saw confirmed his fears.
Hulking men, 8 to 10 feet tall, wearing animal skins, hides and loose scraps of armor. They carried makeshift weapons like a club made of a rebar and concrete pulled right from a wall, a sledgehammer which had clearly seen better days and one who held a whole car door like a shield. Most of them were green in color, though a few had a bit more of a red hue to them, and one was blue. The blue one carried what looked like a car bumper but outfitted to be a giant sword? He couldn’t tell completely considering he was so far away. But there was no doubt in his mind. These were super mutants.
“Well MAYBE if you stopped KILLING THEM before we can bring them back with us we would have more MEAT.” The blue super mutant yelled at the others, exasperated.
“You talk too much. Thinking too hard. Me just smash.” Another responded dismissively.
“Arg! If only the Master were still around I wouldn’t have to put up with you louts!” The blue one angrily says as he waved the rest of them off.
“Bluey is mad. He funny.” Another said who hadn’t spoken up yet.
“And you’re an idiot.” The blue one returns.
“No, he super mutant. I idiot.” A different one spoke up defending his friend. The blue one just groaned and facepalmed before he turned to walk away from the others.
This was bad, from what he knew about super mutants they were incredibly strong, bullet resistant, able to ignore radiation, and stubborn to a fault. He had no chance of beating this many of them without a plan. Adam then sat down below the level of the window, he needed a moment to think.
There were 5 of them, 1 blue and the rest a shade of green. It seemed like the blue one was their leader and had more intelligence than the others, but not too much. Still, they would be too much for him if he fought. So he needed to run. The problem was they blocked the easy path to the exit, they were on the factory floor, the path out through the doors he got in through. There were other exits of course, but for the most part they required him to go through the factory floor to get through. Except one.
When he was exploring he noticed that in the section of the factory that had collapsed a part of the ground was also destroyed which had unveiled a large sewer pipe that flowed underneath the factory, it had even gotten destroyed a bit itself so there was a way to get inside by jumping through the broken metal. He wasn’t sure where it led but it would make for a stealthy exit. The problem with his plan was that getting to that part of the building might take him through the patrols of these giant men.
Adam then glanced at his protectron guard. The protectron would also draw their attention, it was a rather loud clanky machine, and even if he could sneak out with it, protectrons can't bend their knees so it wouldn't be able to jump down the pipe easily. However it still could serve a purpose. A distraction.
Just like he did when he programmed that Mr. Handy he could send the Protectron in a path so it will collide with, and fight with, the super mutants down below. It would lose, most likely, but drawing their fire and attention was more than enough for him to slip past them and get to the sewers. At least that was the hope.
He regretted having to sacrifice another robot, after all, having a robotic companion for any number of tasks was useful, even just as a bodyguard, but he could lament his loss later, he needed action now.
However, before he sent the protectron to its final duty he decided to hook his pip-boy up to its computer in the back to make some final modifications. If, on the slim chance it survives, he was going to give it a location to go to. Maybe he could get lucky and find it again. The problem was where?
Truthfully he didn’t have a great knowledge of the landscape since he woke up, he knew some places but not with confirmation that they were safe. The obvious choice was to send the bot to Naper. It was where he wanted to go after all. But the trip here from there took him a while and he had to avoid some dangers by taking alternate paths. If the protectron was to head there it might die along the way, not to mention it can't navigate as well or as fast as Adam does so getting there might take a while even if there was no danger. The next option was Midway, but not only did no one know him at Midway and get confused why a robot showed up, but Midway was no closer to where he was than Naper was. Furthermore since the path is unknown there's no telling what kind of dangers it could face. Which truly left him with only one option. The Vault.
One day, he knew he’d have to go back there, he could make a list of reasons from loot to answers. But he had put it off, hoping Second Life had the answers he needed. But truthfully he was closer to Vault 42 than he was to anything else he knew about. The protectron might not be able to get inside but it would be mostly safe and hidden if it stood outside the vault door. He could come collect it later, even if that took months to do so.
Of course this was all just for speculation. If the protectron died here it would not be going anywhere, but having plans was never a bad thing. So, with an extra few seconds to program in a location. He had set up the protectron properly. Now it was time for it to do its job.
“Protectron.” Adam said with authority to it. “Initiate patrol mode, when Hostiles are clear, report to the location I gave you.”
“Affirmative!” The protectron responded with its mechanical tone as it began moving towards the stairs to head to the factory floor. Adam waited as it slowly lumbered its way down the stairs one step at a time, the clanking noise of its metallic feet making an audible sound with every step.
He could hear two of the super mutants in the distance making conversation loudly to each other, but unlike before they were not shouting so he couldn’t make out what they were saying at this distance, just that they were speaking. Still, their conversation seemed to mask the sound of the Protectron’s footsteps.
Eventually it reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, down the short hall to the factory floor. Now it was out of sight. Adam then turned to look out the window that overlooked the factory floor and watched as the Protectron slowly came into view, he could see two of the super mutants in the distance sitting on one of the cars still chatting. Neither party had noticed each other yet, but that was about to change.
The protectron's head sensor started spinning as an internal red light began to be emitted from its head. “Protect and Serve!” It loudly announced as it raised its arms and approached the super mutants. It clearly had no subtly.
“Stupid robot, why you come at Super Mutant!?” One of them yelled as he stood up only to be hit with a laser blast right in his chest from the hand of the Protectron.
“RAAAAAAAAAGH!” The other one yelled out in anger as he saw his friend get hit with the laser, although it didn't seem to kill him, just wound him.
“You pay for that puny robot!” He yelled again as he ran forward full speed grabbing his sledgehammer off his back intending to crush the protectron.
Adam would have loved to stick around to see how this fight played out but he had to make his move now, so he did.
Chapter Text
Adam wasted no time, there was already a route in his head that he was planning on taking. He booked down the office corridor to the path that led to the other office spaces, right to where the hole that blocked his search before was, finding it as expected. Carefully, but swiftly, he lowered himself onto the first floor dropping down without making too much noise.
In the distance he could hear the sounds of yelling, laser fire, the protectron blurting out alerts and the sound of large heavy footsteps moving in that direction. Adam needed to move. And so he did.
Adam began running through the first floor quickly trying to stay off the factory floor where the fight was happening and stick to the side hallways where he could avoid being spotted. However he came to a sudden halt when he heard the sound of large footsteps rapidly moving closer from in front of him. So he hid, ducking underneath a office desk where he was hidden from all angles except the one he entered from, it was very uncomfortable, but that was better than an engagement right now.
He heard the sound of the footsteps slowing down as they got closer to his position. He seemed to stop a moment later, sniffing at the air. He could see, just barely, a giant blue foot next to the desk he was hiding under. He was so close to being caught. There was a tense few seconds that followed. Adam was sweating, he was incredibly nervous. Not helped by the fact that now the Super Mutant seemed to be stepping closer, slowly, as he had yet to find Adam, but he was approaching.
Boom. The sound of a car exploding in what was likely a large ball of fire can be heard from the factory floor. Perhaps the protectron’s laser set off one of the engines, Adam couldn't be sure, but it did catch the Blue Super Mutan’s attention.
“Bluey!” One of the others from the factory called out in mild desperation as the sound of the fight continued. The blue super mutant growled annoyed before turning around quickly and then jogging off to head to the factory floor with his compatriots.
Adam sat there for a few seconds more, he had yet again came close to dying, he could have killed that one, though perhaps that was bravado speaking, but handling the rest who would shortly follow was a death sentence, not with just a pistol and a rifle. But thankfully luck seemed to still be on his side today.
As soon as the blue one was completely clear Adam resumed running down the corridors making it safely to the broken floor where the sewer lay.
He hesitated, after all he would be entering a sewer, not exactly the kind of place you want to be trudging through. But he could hear the super mutants still in the distance so he swallowed his doubts and jumped in.
The inside of the sewer was dark, expectantly. Thankfully Adam had his pip-boy which emitted light and his helmet which did too, he was very much able to light up his path without issue. However the sewer was both grosser than he had expected and less than he expected.
It was grosser because everything that used to sit down here, the grime, the viscera, the excrement, had become caked to the walls floor and ceiling, bodies also were down here, partially buried in the gross muck that caked the surfaces. Mostly skeletons but there was a body that looked fresher than the others, maybe only a decade old. So it was not a fun experience walking around down there.
However on the flipside the smell was gone. It still smelled, but instead of smelling like a gross sewer it just smelled like old rusted metal, which was a hazard in itself but it was not something that was making him gag, just reconsider his life choices. Still, now that he was down here he could help but wish he had bought that gasmask yesterday, he would feel much more comfortable with it on. Perhaps that could be his next purchase. At least something for situations like this. But that was for the future, not now.
He wandered down in the dark tubes for a few minutes, only having the vaguest sense of where he was due to his Pip-boy telling him. Though even it was not completely accurate as it was calibrated for above ground travel, not subterranean. Still, it was something. However he had yet to find any sort of exit. Considering how many sewer grates there were it was simply just bad luck, but as he wandered he did find a small maintenance area where workers could check the electrical controls and catch a breather. He pulled off to the side once he found it.
Truthfully it was nothing more than a small concrete square surrounded by a metal chain link fence, rusted over, a small folding table and folding chair, a metal shelving unit, and a control console, long since dead with no power.
Adam took the moment to sit down on the chair. It had been a long day after all, a momentary break was not a bad idea. But the chair did not seem to agree with his assessment as, as soon as he sat down, it buckled under his weight and he found himself sitting on his butt on the ground.
“Ow, fuck.” Adam said softly to himself as he stood up rubbing his ass for a moment. He could only sigh, nothing that could be done about it.
He then turned his attention to the table, an old Nuka Cola bottle, long since browned, sat on the table next to 3 Nuka Cola bottle caps. Clearly someone was enjoying a break down here at some point much like him. The bottles themselves were useless, only noticing the other two now on the ground, but the caps were just free money so Adam gladly pocketed the three caps in his own bag and then looked at the maintenance shelf. It was almost entirely empty save for a metal Toolbox.
Despite his bag already being full he decided to open it, after all who knows what it might contain, it might be worth something. To no one's surprise, least of all him, it was tools. Though there was more duct tape and superglue. Two things that Chuck said he would buy a near infinite amount of. Despite his backpack being full he shoved them in as best he could and zipped it up tight. Vowing to himself to not loot anything more. Or, at least, if he did, he would throw whatever he found into one of the external pockets, he was very much running out of space.
However despite this vow to himself he immediately reneged on it and looked at the control console, busting open the maintenance hatch at the base of the console with the butt of his rifle. Inside was exactly what he had hoped, a vacuum tube, perfect for replacing the one inside the jukebox. That damn thing was getting a lot of free attention, but he was getting good care at the inn so it balanced out. Finally done looting this tiny square of concrete relief from the pipe he set back out to try to find a way out.
After walking for a little while longer he came upon a metal bar gate that would stop large things from flowing any further, there was a door built into the gate which was unlocked, thanks to the chain and broken padlock that was sitting on the ground next to it, so he didn’t hesitate to open it and head on through.
As soon as he did however, he noticed bodies, lots of them, all slumped against the wall or laying on the ground in front of them. They all looked partially decayed, similar to how Salvatore looked when he first met him, but their clothes were nothing but rags, a few were even naked. Whatever happened down here was not pleasant. But they were just bodies, he had seen enough of that by now to not let it phase him. That is until his light illuminated a bit further ahead, where he saw one of those bodies standing. That is when all the bodies began to move.
Chapter Text
His brain took a moment to catch up with the scene in front of him as the standing corpse turned around, its patchy horribly near-skinless body in full glory before him, its nose was gone and it was completely bald. But most of all it seemed as feral as an animal. No worse. Like a monster.
It was now that he remembered feral ghouls. He didn’t hear enough about them to narrate on what they were just that they were hostile to everyone that wasn't also a ghoul. Adam was not.
The standing one charged him at full speed growling and making vocalizations that scared him as he pulled his rifle off his chest and aimed it.
Bam. His shot fired wide, his haste made him miss what should have been an easy shot. But he still had some distance. He pulled the bolt back, pushed it forward, and fired again, this time when the ghoul was only 5 feet from him.
Bam. Its head popped like a watermelon, sending gore all over. But Adam didn’t have time to think, the other feral ghouls in the area were getting up, one even crawling, and they looked pissed.
Bam. He fired again, once more popping the head of the ghoul he hit, but they were all up now, too close for comfort. Quickly, he let drop the rifle, it fell slack until it hit the tension limit of the strap that Adam had slung over his body, hitting him in the stomach a bit as it swung inwards. Meanwhile Adam wasted no time pulling out his pistol and beginning to open fire.
Round after round after round. Adam had no time for trigger discipline, he was just firing. And it was doing less than he hoped. There were more feral ghouls here than he expected, way more. He took out the few slumped ones in the tube near him easily enough. But more kept emerging from the dark, their growls and guttural noises overlapping and reverberating down the long tube he was in. But he didn’t stop shooting.
Even after he ran out of ghouls to hit within the light that illuminated the small section of the sewers, he kept firing down the tube, hoping to hit any that he could, slow them down at least. Then he heard the worst sound he could.
Click. His gun was out.
“FUCK.” Adam vocalized loudly as he realized the situation was no longer in his favor, the feral ghouls were already beginning to emerge from the darkness charging at him with reckless abandon.
Adam made a quick decision. He threw the 10mm pistol behind him, back the way he came and drew the Laser Pistol from his bag. He then resumed firing down the path without stopping, with the added benefit of the red laser being emitted lighting up the hall enough that he could see the hoard encroaching on him. But even during this he was not idle.
From the moment Adam had drawn his laser pistol he was already backing up. Back through the gate that he stepped through into this nightmare. As soon as his laser pistol fired through the entire fusion cell it already had in it, he slammed the door full force.
The feral ghouls were within sight now, seconds away from getting him. He had no more time to waste, he picked up the chain on the ground and quickly wrapped it around the bars of the Gate and the door to the gate, effectively sealing it shut with a knot. No sooner had he finished doing this were the feral ghouls at the gate, their arms sticking through like some sort of horror movie.
Adam was quick to jump back, watching as the small mass of feral ghouls reached through the bars at him. It was terrifying. Adam watched for a moment, as they fruitlessly reached for him, unable to recognize that their efforts would be in vain. He still knew very little about them. He was extra careful the entire time not to let them get close as, if they were like zombies in a zombie movie he had watched back in the day, one bite might make him one too. He didn't want to risk it. He knew they were dangerous, that was enough for him.
He sighed in relief as the ferals kept making threatening guttural sounds from the other side of the gate as he turned around to grab his 10mm off the ground where it landed. In a more ideal situation he would have holstered it. But he was skilled with a gun, he was not a gunslinger, he had no confidence in himself in that moment to reholster the gun swiftly and grab the laser pistol, he knew there was a high likelihood of him, fumbling it, and this was no situation for that, so he decided throwing it was the safer option, because he had always intended on retreating.
Still, it was not exactly good for his gun to be thrown so hard and carelessly. But it was a sturdy weapon, if that was enough to break it it wouldn’t have been nearly as popular.
Grabbing it off the gross caked-in grime on the floor he reholstered it, gave one last look at the ferals still reaching through the bars, and then turned to head back the way he came. There were, afterall, many other paths he passed. This one happened to lead him to trouble.
Doubling back proved to be a boon in disguise as, after taking the first turn that he passed up on behind him, he was met with, only a few minutes later, a ladder leading topside. The sewer grate was gone, letting in the dim light of the near full moon pour down through the hole and giving Adam a clear view of what he had been looking for this whole time.
However, before he headed to the ladder, he noticed something that caught his eye right next to it. It was a man, of course dead, but the man was in a full suit of power armor, minus the helmet. He was slumped on the ground, his back to the wall.
Adam approached, curious. The man seemed clean shaven with a short buzz cut. The armor itself seemed to be a T-45d variant, the most common kind, but on the chest was emblazoned a red emblem of a sword with some wings and behind it some gears inside a circle that was formed by the wings. He didn’t recognize the emblem, nor had he heard anything about such a symbol. It was minor overall. After all it could simply be someone who put their own graffiti on the power armor suit once they found it and fixed it up. Power armor did make you feel invincible after all, it wasn't too far fetched. But despite the dopamine rush one couldn't forget that power armor was not, in fact, invincible, as evidenced by the man here. It was interesting though, and raised a number of more questions. Questions that could certainly wait until later.
For now he simply reached his hand to the small space behind the back of the power armor, checking to see if the fusion core was still there. Unfortunately it was not. Taken, most likely.
Adam could only sigh. It was a shame, if he had kept the power core he sold to Chuck before he might have been able to get this suit moving enough to get it to a place where he could work on it. A power armor station would be ideal but he could technically fix it anywhere once it was upright. But without a fusion core it was just a very heavy suit of armor, one that likely was locked up without power. Even if it was still wearable and he had the strength to lift it all the way back to Naper, he most certainly could not climb a ladder with it on. So it had to be left behind, it was simply a waste of space to Adam at the moment. Perhaps in the future he could come back for it, but truthfully, power armor from the sewers wasn’t his favorite idea.
His thoughts settled, he finally climbed up the ladder, leaving the power armored corpse alone on the ground beneath him.
Chapter Text
Adam emerged into the moonlight that poured from above onto a street he didn’t recognize, though this was no surprise, he had been in the sewers for a while. He took a moment to let his Pip-Boy map recalibrate where he was since it had been skewed due to him being underground. He could have set his Pip-Boy to a local map when he was underground; it might have helped him navigate down there more, though only nominally. Adam had found that, despite the incredibly precise map that the Pip-boy had, it only had a built in US territories map. The local maps had to be done manually. So, while he might have been able to retrace his footsteps using the local map, he would have to explore more of the sewers for the Pip-Boy to actually remember it. Ultimately he had decided early on it wasnt worth using it, after all, his goal was to get topside again. But if he ever needed to go back into the sewers, god forbid, the Pip-Boy did already have a bit of a map uncovered, small blessings.
Now that the map was updated Adam realized he was even further from Naper than he had hoped, it still was not too far to get back but he had drifted east further than he had wanted. He was actually closer to the Vault and midway now. Despite this, it was now late at night, far too late to be traveling with even a modicum of safety, not to mention he was exhausted. So he had to come to an unfortunate decision. He would need to sleep outside tonight.
He looked around for a moment at the buildings nearby, most of them were in ruins but one that looked to be standing was a small 3 story building with a grocery store on the bottom floor and, hopefully, bedrooms on the top. He didn’t have many other choices so he made his way there.
He was careful not to turn on his helmet light and pip-boy light until he was inside the open door, afterall he would be lit up like a beacon if he used them outside, the moonlight was bright, not bright enough to mask him doing all of that.
Once inside he remembered that neither of his pistols were loaded, it was a careless mistake, he had got so caught up in everything he forgot. Once more he turned off his lights, snuck to a corner of the grocery store he hadn’t yet explored and hid behind a shelf as he began to reload his guns.
The laser pistol was easy, simply load the fusion cell into the slot, god energy weapons were so nice. The 10mm took a bit longer, loading all the rounds into the magazine and then the magazine into the gun. He was hit with the unfortunate realization that he did not have enough 10mm ammo to be able to fully reload his gun, the ammo he had gotten from the vault had finally run through. Luckily he had two other guns now to rely on. Finally rearmed, he grabbed his 10mm pistol, turned back on his lights, and began to search the building to make sure it was clear.
The first floor, like the sign outside the building and its green and white striped canvas canopy led him to believe was indeed a small local grocery store, mostly for fruits and vegetables, evidenced by the large bins with labels for foods that have long since turned to dirt or been eaten. Though this fact was unsurprising, food was probably one of the first things looted at the end of the world, this place probably didn’t last a week.
But it was far from just lacking fruits and vegetables. In fact the entire store was pretty empty. There were shelves labeled for dry goods like noodles or canned foods too but they were all empty. This place had already been picked clean. He moved around the empty shelves and walked behind the counter to where the register lay. Unsurprisingly the back of the counter was also empty, however he did strike upon something useful.
Underneath a really old raggedy cloth mat he found a small wooden crate full of Nuka Cola. Still intact and preserved as the day they were bottled. To make things even better one of them was a Nuka Cola Quantum! The Quantum glowed with its luminous blue as it was uncovered from the mat even within his little area of light from his pip-boy. This was a great find, there seemed to be 10 bottles total, including the quantum. He regretted the fact that he didn't have any space in his backpack whatsoever but they were still all crated up nicely so he could just take the whole box. However before he did he turned to the cash register and hit the button to open the drawer. Inside was a few hundred dollars in cash and coins. He mused for a moment about taking them but decided against it. After all, what use was pre-war money, no one would accept it, it seemed as though everyone accepted caps not cash so this was not even worth the paper it was printed on. Unfortunate, but not worth spending more time thinking about, so he left it behind.
Leaving the crate where it was until he was certain the rest of the building was safe he proceeded into the backroom of the grocery store where the storage room and the stairs to the next floor was. Predictably the storeroom was as empty as the store itself, save for one opened bag of flour that had long since gone bad. Shame, if it was salt it would be good. The storeroom was empty and uninteresting so he kept moving up the stairs, gun out, ready for whatever might pop out.
The second floor emerged into view with 3 doors and a staircase to the third floor. He kicked open the first door to reveal a small office space. Something between a study and an office, probably a home office. The computer on the desk had a huge hole through it and the rest of the room looked to be in shambles with nothing interesting to look at, so it was not even worth entering.
The next room seemed to be a room full of filing cabinets, more paperwork, nothing worth thinking about. The third room however seemed to be a child’s playroom, it had a toy chest, a playmat on the ground, a TV, a child’s couch, and toys littered about. It confirmed that likely the third floor was going to have bedrooms, which was all he really was looking for at the moment. Even if he wanted to scavenge, even if his bag was empty, even if he found something worthwhile, he would do it tomorrow. Right now all he wanted to do is find a safe place to sleep.
So he proceeded to the third floor to be met with 3 more doors once again. The first room seemed to be a living room style space, a TV, couch, a cellarette, some magazines on a short coffee table and a broken long radio and record player table. It might have something worthwhile grabbing, but once more he was not scavenging, he was looking for a place to sleep, so he moved on.
Next room he found was a young boy’s room, probably for a child under the age of 5 judging by the excessively small bed with guard rails around it. Far too big to be called a crib but not big enough for any grown person. The room was also decorated for a child with more toys on the ground and a few other odds and ends. But he couldn’t sleep on the child’s bed so he moved on.
Lastly, and finally, he found the master bedroom. At a quick glance it seemed like it previously belonged to a single man judging by the lacking vanity in the room, though it was possible the wife didn’t need a vanity, maybe she didn’t use makeup? Regardless it didn’t especially matter what he came in here for was the bed. Which, luckily, was sitting right in the center of the room… empty.
The bedframe was there, the springs that supported the mattress were intact but the mattress itself was completely gone, nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck.” Adam said softly to himself as he left off a big sigh. However as he came to the realization and was staring at the non-existent mattress a radroach snuck out from under the bed frame, closing the distance before he even knew it was there and bit at his shin.
It hurt, but wasn’t nearly as bad as the surprise he felt by the sudden ambush. He had relaxed his guard since there was nothing in this house up until now, and the realization that his dreams of a comfortable sleep were crushed made him lose focus. The radroach simply got the drop on him.
Adam was quick to shuffle back and then, using the butt of his rifle, smash the hell out of the large roach but the damage was done. He looked down at the bite mark on his leg, it was bleeding, but not altogether too bad all things considered, just a small bit of damage, he’s lucky that the roach wasn’t carrying diseases or anything… right? He might need to ask Doc or someone about that one when he gets back, but for now he was still left with his original problem. What was he supposed to do about the lacking bed.
Adam took stock of his options. The only bed he found in this building was the child’s bed, but it was a third the size of his body, it would make for a poor sleep. He would be better off sleeping on the ground rather than trying to contort his body to fit the small bed. He was no stranger to sleeping on the ground, he had done it more than once in the army but comfort was a luxury he would prefer not to have to give up. Unfortunately his options ended there, unless he got very creative.
Adam walked back to the child’s bedroom and looked at the small bed again. It really was too small. So, left with few other options, he decided to make use of it in the only way that made sense to him, as a pillow.
He pulled the bed off its bed frame and then placed it on the ground, taking off his backpack and placing it in the corner of the room after he closed the door. He took off both his bullet proof vests and helmet and placed them on the now empty bed frame. Then, with no blanket, mattress, and minimal comfort, he laid down on the ground, head on the small mattress, and bid himself to sleep.
Chapter Text
He woke up the next day with some stiffness in his back. Luckily that seemed to be the worst of it, though he hadn’t really gotten that great of sleep. Truth be told Adam was on alert all night. He had never really slept for more than 30 minutes at a time as he kept waking up to every small noise he heard, truly staying outside the walls was not ideal, he needed to get back, that much was certain.
Adam checked his pip-boy as he sat up, it was still very early in the morning, early enough that the creatures that moved at night would likely be asleep and the day dwelling creatures would likely just be rising. Or so he hoped. Truthfully it could be still 3am and he’d leave. He was very much over staying out here. Luckily he was waiting on no one but himself, so he grabbed his gear, threw his body armors on, his backpack strapped to his back, and then headed back down the stairs.
He paused before he left the third floor, stopping at the living room to grab the magazines, a copy of meeting people and locksmith’s reader and grabbing a bottle of untouched whiskey from the cellarette. He threw the magazines into the flat back external mesh pocket of the backpack and the whiskey into the other mesh pocket on the side, opposite the laser pistol. Then he finally headed downstairs.
Adam had almost forgotten about the Nuka Cola he found the night prior, stopping short of the threshold of the door before turning around to grab it. It was not too far to say Adam was overburdened with goods, but he was just at his limit, truly he couldn't add many more things to his collection on his way back. His bag was full, and now so were his hands. He could fill up his pockets but he was running out of those too. Regardless Adam once more resolved himself to do no more looting unless he could wear it from this point forward. He was not looking forward to lugging this crate of Nuka Cola back the entire distance to Naper, but it was going to be worth it. The Nuka Cola was valuable, Chuck had told him so, each one was worth 20 caps, 3 was enough to cover the cost of a night’s stay at the Inn, with 9 he could afford 3 nights, and hopefully the Quantum was worth that much more too. It was far too valuable to leave it behind, but at least he could complain about it to himself.
The journey for the next little while was largely uneventful, no raiders, deathclaws, super mutants, or feral ghouls popped up to mess with him. Thankfully. However, part way through his journey he decided to make a pitstop to scale a tall building to get an overhead view of the path he could take. While up there he got a true sense of the devastation around him.
Chicago was in shambles, the once bustling metropolis of heavy industry and human labor was now in ruins, much of the city, as far as he could see, was not even a shadow of its former self, it truly looked unrecognizable. But he chose not to dwell on it too much, such thoughts were depressing. He could leave his self doubt and pity for when he was safe again, he couldn't afford to be careless.
So, with his new vantage point, Adam visually scoured the paths that led towards the direction of Naper, confirming with his Pip-Boy map that he was indeed correct about his directional assumptions. Furthermore while he had the opportunity he scouted the area to see if there were any hosties he could see around.
Adam had found that the pip-boy’s VATS could zoom in on a target once it had been designated, with a bit of creative thinking he could use VATS like binoculars and see at great distances. Or so he thought.
As he quickly found out, unless VATS had a target to lock onto it didn’t want to remain zoomed and furthermore it paled in comparison to real binoculars. It seemed that the VATS system had its limits too. It was a shame but he would have to nix that plan, no matter, binoculars were just another thing he would need to remember to pick up before going out next time. With his scouting done he picked back up his Nuka Cola crate and headed back down the stairs, following the pre-planned path all the way to Naper.
Once more his journey was largely uneventful. He swore he heard the sounds of a bear at one point but saw nothing so he could only assume either it was a hallucination or the roar was loud enough that it carried, in either case he chose not to stick around to find out.
Exhausted, stiff, and more than ready to drop the stupid crate he had been carrying for half a day, he finally arrived back at the walls of Naper. It was truly a sight to behold, he could certainly rest easy again now that he could see the walls once more.
Gleefully, he ran over to the walls and called out to the guard on duty. “Hey! Can you open it up?”
The guard took one look at Adam and then nodded. “Sure. One second.”
Adam was prepared for another small argument with the guard like last time he got back but luckily this guard seemed much more lax, or perhaps his blue and yellow jumpsuit was much more known within town. In either case he was glad to be back inside the safety of the walls.
Adam headed right to Winchester’s he desperately wanted to go drop off everything he got. He had enough for a room but while he was tired and wanted to rest, more than anything, he wanted the vindication that his efforts were worth it.
“Welcome back friend.” Chuck said with a warm smile and a tone that said he was unsurprised to see Adam despite him being gone yesterday as he walked through the door.
“Hey Chuck.” Adam said as he walked through the door, his energy reaching the end of the line as he hoisted up the crate full of Nuka Colas with a grunt of finality as he finally reached his destination. Chuck whistled as he saw all the things Adam was bringing, seeing his overflowing backpack, pockets, toolbelt and this crate full of goods from Scavenging.
“Seems the pickin’s were good this time eh?” He grinned as he idly played with the top of one of the Nuka Cola bottles with his finger.
“Oh yeah, but it was a hell of a trip this time.” Adam responded as he pulled off his backpack and placed it on the counter too, and then his second, more modified body armor on the counter too. He also, though he had no intention on selling it, put his helmet on the counter as well, mostly just to get it off of his head. He would have taken off his other body armor as well but he would wait to do that when he got back to his room.
“Super mutants, Feral ghouls, Raiders, radroaches.” Adam said, listing off all of his encounters. “Oh and feral dogs too, it was a lot out there.”
Chuck whistled again. “Well I’ll be, you got the devil’s luck that’s for sure.” He chuckled and then looked at all the things on the counter.
“I assume you are selling this all, yes?” He grinned.
Chapter Text
Adam unzipped his backpack and started a more orderly organization for Chuck to see what he brought back. There were, of course, some things he planned on keeping. Most of the books for one, a few of the tools he had already added to his tool belt, the knife and holster, and he had yet to decide if he was keeping anything else yet, but for the things he was sure of he put back away inside his bag.
What was left on the table was the modified body armor, the pipe pistol, the scattered .357 rounds, a pile of duct tape and wonderglue, a few sensor modules, a fission battery, a bottle of whiskey, two magazines, one book, a crate of 9 Nuka Cola bottles and 1 Nuka Cola Quantum, and one gold bar.
Chuck takes a few minutes to look through everything and do some mental calculations.
“Chuck, do you mind running me down on the value of some of this stuff again?” Adam asked, finding his advice from last time to be very helpful in steering what he should be looking for. Chuck just nodded and seemed to break himself out of his concentration.
“Well…” He paused as he looked at everything again. “Let’s start from left to right.” He said pointing as he did.
“The fission battery was a great find, they aren’t quite as good as Fusion Cores but they do well for a number of other things, goin’ rates about 75 caps, but imma buy it from you for 60.” Chuck begins, same as last time he was telling Adam honestly what the rates were and what he was paying for them, Adam wouldn't complain, that was part of his deal, though he could say no if he chose not to sell. “Sensor modules sell for something like 30 caps a piece, you got three, i’ll buy em for 75. The wonderglue and duct tape go for 20 and 12 respectively, you got a lot of those, quick count looks like 10 of each. I'll buy your whole lot for 250. The book is in decent condition, I'll buy it for 7. The magazines are decent, I'll give you 20 for each at goin’ rate. The Whiskey is nice, i'll give you another 15 and probably will sell it for 20. The Armor is…” He paused as he got to the armor looking at it seriously.
“Well… this certainly is quite an interesting find.” He picked it up and held it aloft while he looked at it. “It ain’t much to look at, looks like someone carved it up real good.” He mused aloud.
“Armor is armor so it's still usable but it's gonna be hard to find a buyer for this, i'll give you 10 caps for it.” He then turned to the pipe pistol and sighed as he picked it up. “I hate these things.” He held it in his hand as he looked at it. “But, a gun is a gun, so i'll buy it for you for 15, there's no goin’ rate on these, always depend on how shoddy the make is. This seems acceptable, though I'd still much rather have a real gun at my side, but beggars can’t be choosers.” He shrugged and put it back down.
“The .357 rounds I'll buy a cap a piece, so 6 caps total. As for these puppies.” He smiled as he looked at the crate of Nuka Colas. “I gotta say findin’ a whole crate of Nuka Cola is quite ascore, not to mention…” He pulled out the Nuka Cola Quantum and looked at it with a wide smile. “This alone is quite the treasure. These go for 50 caps each though imma be buyin’ it from ya for 40.” He put it back into the crate next to the others.
“‘Course you know a bottle of Nuka Cola is worth 20 caps each, i'll buy those at the goin’ rate.” Chuck continued before he finally reached the gold bar, which he had purposefully skipped over earlier since he wanted to save it for later. “Now where the hell did you find a gold gold bar?” Chuck said more impressed than anything. Adam just laughed.
“In a safe owned by the Corvega Assembly plant manager, who… I think was a Chinese spy? But the jury is out on that one.” Adam joked.
“Well, Chinese or not this is not an insignificant find.” He laughed himself as he placed it back down. “I'm no expert so I'm going to need to call in a buddy for this one.” He said with a smile. “So let’s put the gold bar aside for a minute, and deal with the rest, you selling everything here?”
Adam took a moment to think. And then pulled the Locksmith’s Reader off the counter along with one Nuka Cola. “I think besides these two things I'll be selling everything here.” Chuck Nods and then begins to calculate.
“Seems with everything here your total comes to 658 caps.” He said after a moment, displaying a rather impressive mental arithmetic skill.
“Out of curiosity, how much is this worth?” Adam asked as he put the laser pistol on the table. Chuck picked it up and examined it.
“Well this one seems well preserved… I say I'd give you… 150 caps for it.” Chuck said after a moment. Adam just nodded and then took the gun back. “I'm going to hang onto it for now but it's good to know it's worth something.” He smiled.
“So do we have a deal?” Chuck asked with a nod of his own.
“Actually I was wondering If I could grab a few things.”
“Oh?” Chuck responded interested in lightening the caps burden he was going to shoulder by buying all of this stuff right now.
“Well for starters I'd like binoculars if you have them, something with a strap so I can keep it around my neck when I'm not using them.” Adam said, remembering his scouting issues from earlier when he tried to find a good and safe path to Naper from a high vantage point. There was simply only so much he could do with his eyes alone, even a small pair of binoculars would help a lot.
Chuck seemed to muse for a moment before he put a single finger up in a ‘wait’ motion and then walked into the backroom for a bit. A minute later he came out with a black metal pair of binoculars with a strap attached.
“This is a good pair of binoculars, but ill be honest with you, they’ve been sitting in my storage for a while so I'm willing to part with them for a discount.” He paused to think. “Normally I'd sell this for 60, but if you take it off my hands i'll give it to you for 40, let me recoup some of my expenses on it.” Adam nodded in response.
“Yes, that works perfectly.” He said as Chuck put it down on the counter.
“I'd also like a respirator or gas mask, preferably one I can wear under my helmet or in addition to, I'd rather not sacrifice my helmet for being able to breathe.” Chuck then, once more, went into the back and came out a minute later with a gas mask that perfectly fit Adam's description. It was fitted with straps so it could attach to the back of his head but it did not have a top to it so it could fit over his face while he kept his helmet on, exactly as he’d hoped.
“Perfect.” Adfam said with a smile.
“I’ll sell it to you for 15 caps.”
“Add it onto the pile.” Adam said with a small laugh.
“The last thing I need is some more ammo. I need more 10mm, maybe one or two fusion cells for the laser pistol if you got them and…” he paused as he looked at his hunting rifle inspecting it for a moment. “.308 rounds for my rifle.” He said after a moment.
Chuck reached below the counter and then pulled out a box of 10mm, a box of 308, and two fusion cells. “This enough for you?” He asked.
“That's perfect. Throw em in the pile.”
“20 rounds in the 10mm box, at 2 each that's 40 caps, 20 rounds in the 308 box, at 3 a piece that's 60, and let's say 20 apiece for each fusion cell so another 40. So far, with everything im owing you… 463 caps.” Chuck said, once more displaying impressive mental arithmetic. Adam just nodded, he wasn’t dumb by any means and given a bit of time to calculate he could figure out the total number too but he trusted Chuck not to screw him over.
“Also I was wondering if you had a holster for the laser pistol?” Adam asked, hoping to not have to keep the laser pistol on his backpack all the time. Though as he asked this he looked down at his waist. He had his toolbelt on, tilted slightly to his left side because he also had the 10mm holster he wanted easy access to. So unless he put the holster above his butt there was no more room… no… he couldn't do that because the backpack would get in the way, it would be able to sit there but not be easily drawable. The next thought was a chest holster, it could fit over top of his body armor, but that wasn’t a good idea either, his rifle rested on his chest due to the backpack taking his backspace and it would bang into it constantly. Which honestly only left a leg holster. Damn, the ergonomics of balancing all his gear was becoming as much of a struggle as actually going out there. He really wished he had his gear from the army, it had so many more pockets. Or hell a mule would be nice, something to carry all his stuff when he didn’t need it, but it was wishful thinking.
“On second thought…” Adam began before Chuck began to move away. “Unless it's an ankle holster I think I don’t have any more space.” He laughed.
“Well let me see what I can find, not even sure I have any laser pistol holsters in stock, you might have to custom order it.” Chuck once more disappeared into the back for longer this time, only to return empty handed a few minutes later.
“No such luck, I'm afraid.” He said when he got back. “I don’t have anything like that in stock, not too many laser pistols lying about for people to need holsters. There's a leatherworker at the Pier, so if you are ever up that way you can ask them to make you one, or if you stick around town long enough you can ask me to grab it for you when I head that way again.” Chuck offered.
“Alright that sounds good, I’ll see about the holster in the future. For now that’s all I need.” Adam said before he added. “Well that and also selling the gold.” He chuckled.
“Well let’s get this sorted first and then I can call in Devon.” He smiled. “You still okay with vouchers?”
“Yessir.” Adam said back.
“Happy to hear it. Let me just grab a few for you.” Chuck then grabbed four 100 cap vouchers, one 50 cap voucher, and then gave Adam 13 caps, giving Adam a total of 622 caps in his possession.
“Alright, wait here while I get my buddy in to check out the gold.” Chuck said with a smile.
Chapter Text
Adam waited around the shop for a few minutes before a man wearing a heavy brown smock, welder’s goggles, and covered in soot came walking in with Chuck.
“This ‘ere is the town blacksmith, Devon.” He said with a smile.
“Nice to meet you Devon.” Adam said, offering his hand to him. Devon, however, ignored Adam and walked right over to the gold, picking it up and began to examine it.
“Don't mind him, he’s not the social type.” Chuck said with a small laugh.
“This here yours?” Devon asked Adam, seemingly, as he continued looking at the gold bar without even glancing at him.
“Yes sir.” Adam responded, to which Devon just seemed to grunt in affirmation before pulling out some sort of metal detector with a small prong in the front and touching it to the gold bar. It beeped, he looked at the screen, and then he put the gold bar back down.
“It’s as it said on the tin. I’d wager it's about 450 caps worth of gold.” He said to Chuck, still not looking at Adam.
“Thanks Devon.” Chuck said as he flipped him a cap which Devon caught midair. He grunted again and then walked out without so much as a goodbye.
“Not the most talkative man, huh?” Adam remarked once Devon had left.
“No, he usually shuts himself up in his smithy, don’t talk to many folk neither. But he’s not such a bad guy, he’s actually quite friendly, just gotta know how to give him his space.” Chuck said as he walked back around to the other side of the counter.
“You ‘eard him. It's worth 450 caps. But this is a small town, I can’t sell the bar to anyone here and that’s a big cap investment. So i'll buy it off you for… 400 caps.” he offered. “I'll sell it at Midway next time I'm headin’ that way.”
Adam took a moment to think. Truthfully he was planning to head to Midway eventually, he just didn’t know when. He still needed to stock up on a few things and prepare himself for the journey, planning out a route and all that. But even with that he would likely make it there before Chuck did. However he would really rather not carry around a gold bar for the rest of the time until he made it to Midway. The people in this town were friendly and kind but there really was no need to take the risk. So after a moment to contemplate he nodded. “Alright that sounds good.” Chuck grinned and then reached for more vouchers.
“Pleasure doin’ business with ya.” He said as he handed over 400 caps in vouchers which Adam immediately put away.
“Alright, I'm heading back to the Inn, I'm exhausted and need a nap.” Adam said with a laugh as he grabbed his helmet and backpack, putting them back on.
“I’ll probably see you later tonight then when I pop in for a drink.” Chuck grinned as he waved Adam goodbye.
Adam had over a thousand caps now. A far cry from when he was worried if he would have a roof over his head the last time he was in town. Scaving was absolutely a very lucrative line of work, but it did come with numerous risks. There's a good reason most folks don't even try to do what he is doing. But it pays off well and he is glad to have found something to help sustain him in this wild world that had changed so much from the past.
When Adam got into the Inn Mandy was talking to Eric about something when she saw him.
“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.” She grinned as Adam walked over. Adam laughed.
“No cats, but plenty of other things actually.” He chuckled as he pulled out a voucher for 100 caps. “Can I rent the room again?”
“Sure can, cleaned it as always, nothing else touched.” She said as she took the voucher and then handed him the key back again. “You keep coming around like this. Eventually I might consider you a regular.” She winked and then put the voucher into the cash register.
“Can I go now?” Eric said, a bit annoyed at his conversation getting derailed by Adam.
“I'm not holding you, Eric, but I don't know what your rush is, not like you have a hot date waiting for you.” Mandy teased only to get flipped off by Eric who then skulked off heading out the door.
“I don’t know what to do with that brother of mine. He’s so much work.” Mandy remarked, mostly to herself.
“He’s feeling underappreciated and underutilized, I’d guess.” Adam said as he sat down at the bar for a moment. “I spoke with him before I left and he said he was rueful that all he had to live for was playing Inn worker.”
“Did he now?” Mandy said as she raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Adam. “Now, how did you get my brother to open up like that? He’s usually not much of a talker.” Adam just shrugged.
“Protagonist energy.” He said with a cocky grin and a playful tone. Mandy lightly hit his arm and shook her head.
“Well his life is his own, he doesn’t need to stay here but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’d worry if he wasn’t here.”
“Well I doubt he’s going anywhere, I think he’s just feeling cooped up. I told him it's never too late to learn new skills, he probably just needs a push to find something he enjoys.”
“Maybe.” Mandy said with a sigh as she put a hand on her cheek. “I just hope he can pull him out of this slump soon, only so much I can do as his sister. Would be nice if he actually found a girl but I doubt he will walking around like that.”
“Best thing you can do for him is help him when he needs it and give him a home to return to, it's on him to find something to drive him.” Adam offered softly.
“Doesn’t stop me from worrying though…” Mandy said trailing off into thoughts before she shook her head and then looked at Adam again. “Now, tell me, did you take a seat just to talk about my brother or did you need something else?”
“Oh yes!” Adam said as he unzipped his backpack and pulled out his Nuka Cola he kept instead of selling. “I was wondering if you could put this in the fridge you got back there.” Adam said as he motioned with his head to the large Nuka Cola branded minifridge on the back of the bar next to the corner wall.
“Sure can. 1 cap.” Mandy said with a grin.
“Really?” Adam said with a sigh.
“Really.” Mandy chuckled. “It ain’t that big and the drinks in there are for paying customers, if I take everyone’s bottle that needs chilling everytime they ask I'd have nothing to sell. The cap is a cover fee.” Adam sighed and then reached into his caps bag and then handed her the cap.
“Please.” He said as he slid the Nuka Cola bottle towards here.
“Certainly.” She laughed softly as she flipped the cap into the air, caught it in her hand, and then grabbed the Nuka Cola.
“You got a good find out there getting a Nuka Cola.” She said as she put it in the fridge. “They aren’t hard to come by but ones that aren't broken or open are getting rarer as time goes on.”
“I actually found a whole crate of them, a Quantum too. Sold the rest to chuck.”
“Didja?” She said as she leaned in on the counter after walking back over. “What’d he pay you for them?”
“20 caps, said that was the market rate.” Mandy seemed to think for a moment.
“Tell you what, you sell me any drinks you find from now on and I'll top Chuck’s offer. He pays 20 caps? I dont know… I'll pay 22.” She laughed softly. “I’m gonna have to buy the drinks from Chuck anyway, might as well cut out the middle man.
“Works for me.” Adam said as he stood up. “Oh, by the way, is Salvatore still in town? I got a gift for him.”
“Sure is, he has a room over there.” She said, pointing to a door he had never seen opened, though it being another room for rent made perfect sense.
“Awsome.” Adam said before he paused again. “Oh, yeah also I found the vacuum tube needed to repair the Jukebox fully.” He stopped for a moment before grinning and adding: “I’m going to clean up and then take a nap, if you are willing to cook a meal for me for free when I get up I’ll finish the repairs for you.” Mandy seemed to consider for a moment before she shrugged.
“Alright, fine enough by me, go take your nap, let me know when you want your food.”
“Sounds good.” Adam said with a smile, heading back to his rented room, glad to have a sense of familiarity and comfort once more.
Chapter Text
As soon as Adam entered his room he began to take off all of his gear, practically throwing it off himself, overjoyed to be rid of the burden of all his excess. Most of it ended up on his bed, but his body armor and helmet ended up on the floor like discarded clothing.
He sighed in relief as he took a seat on his bed. His bed. That was an interesting thought. This was most certainly not home. It was a rented room, a rather expensive rented room at that. But even though it hadn’t been long since he came out of the vault he already began to look at this room with a sense of comfort and familiarity. It would be a bit much to call it “home” but the bed was his and that alone was a rather impressive realization.
However Adam couldn't get comfortable yet, he really needed to wash, no matter how tired he was he wanted to wash up first, then, after he was cleaned, he could sleep. So, with a bit of effort, he bid himself to stand and headed into the bathroom to clean up.
Adam spent the next few hours sleeping, he needed it. He wasn’t exhausted, but he was worn out, he had hardly slept the night prior afterall, not to mention the amount of walking he had done between the last two days. So having a comfortable bed to rest on again was a boon far too great to ignore.
Once he had slept he got up and headed back outside to the Inn. Mandy was tending bar while chatting to some customers, though upon seeing Adam she nodded his way.
“Sleep well, Scaver?” She teased.
“Like a log.” Adam returned.
“You want food now?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Alright let me cook it up for you.” She said as she turned away from the two customers she was talking to, to begin cooking for Adam. Meanwhile Adam made his way to the Jukebox and spun it around, opened it up, and then began the last bit of repairs he needed to do.
The jukebox was playing music when Adam walked over but he had to turn it off to not electrocute himself while he worked. Once it was off he plugged in the missing vacuum tube and then pulled out a voltage tester that he took from his tool belt to make sure it was transferring electricity right, after which he sealed it back up, turned it back on, and was happy to see that it was working again with no problems.
“Well, looks like until something else breaks your jukebox is back to working order.” Adam said as he sat down at the bar.
“Wonderful. Honestly, before you came along I was just about to junk the damn thing, so two free meals for a repair is a steal in my book.” She laughed softly. “Now if I could only figure out how to make the Jukebox charge a cap for a song instead of playing for free.”
“Well it would require some modification, but it’s not too hard.” Adam said casually as he watched the people in the Inn, noting that it was not too full at this hour.
“You can?” She asked surprised. “You really are full of surprises.”
“Yeah, I mean I’d just need to widen the slot for the quarters and swap out the chute for something bigger, the actual mechanism for accepting quarters is just a motion detector, It's not that advanced.” He laughed and then added: “I used to use old washers instead of quarters to get the machines to think I had money when I was a kid.”
“How much will such a job cost?” She said, turning her head around with a raised eyebrow.
“Well…” Adam paused. “Let me think on that.” He chuckled.
A few minutes later Adam had a hot plate of food in front of him, some sort of meat covered in sauce. He had the wherewithal not to ask what kind of meat it was, he trusted Mandy not to poison him and knew that whatever it was, was likely not something that would sound appetizing. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. He also had his ice-cold Nuka Cola to accompany his meal. His mouth was already watering, afterall he hadn’t eaten or drank anything yesterday, he might need to fix that, bring a canteen with him, but right now he wanted to focus on his meal.
And so he ate. Damn was it good. He didn’t know what kind of meat it was but it was the perfect texture, just the right amount of chewy and it was cooked all the way through, also the sauce was nothing like he tasted before and it was a very full and rich flavor. Then there was the Nuka Cola. Holy shit did it hit the spot. Maybe if he had gone a few weeks or months without having drank a Nuka Cola the experience might have instead been transcendent, but as it was it was simply heavenly. He was always a fan of Nuka Cola, it was his go-to brand after all. He had tried the others, the various types of Nuka Cola flavors and Vim! He had even had a chance to drink a Sunset Sarsaparilla which was uncommon this far east. But despite all the different flavors Nuka Cola original flavor was always the best. And right now, after a harrowing journey it hit him in the right way.
The look of satisfaction was probably evident on his face as it caused Mandy to chuckle.
“Seems someone is enjoying his meal.” She teased. Adam blushed a bit and then covered his mouth.
“Ah, just uh… very hungry.” He laughed, slightly embarrassed.
“I can see that.” She grinned, and then walked off to handle other customers, satisfied with her teasing.
The rest of his meal went quietly until Salvatore walked out of his room, he looked like he just woke up as he was yawning as he closed the door behind him.
“Mandy, give me a double.” He said as he strode to his spot at the bar.
“The usual?” She asked as she walked back to the bar from a table she was waiting at.
“The usual.” Salvatore returned.
“Oh, Salvatore. Catch.” Adam said as he reached into his pocket and then grabbed the cigarette pack and underhand tossed it to Salvatore. He caught it easily, looking at it for a moment before his eyes lit up.
“Oh!” He said with recognition once he realized what it was.
“It's a gift, I found it while Scaving, figured you might like it.” Adam said with a grin.
“Well, hell. That's pretty sweet kid.” He said as he grinned, pulling one of the cigarettes out and putting it in his mouth but not lighting it. “I appreciate it.” He laughed softly, which wasn’t the most appealing sounding laugh but it was the first time Adam had heard him laugh at all.
“You know, for a smoothskin, you ain't that bad.” He said with a grin to him as Mandy brought him a bottle and a glass to pour himself a drink. “Thanks kid.”
“No problem.” Adam smiled at him as he sipped at his Nuka Cola.
Chapter Text
Adam slept soundly that night, even after his nap he needed rest and damn did he sleep. He didn’t wake up the next day until the sun was high in the sky. He didn't mind though, not waking up to an alarm everyday was a wonderful gift, and he never had an intention of leaving again today anyway so he was more than happy to just idle the day away.
The morning was spent slowly, he grabbed a meal from Eric for 14 caps bringing him to just over 900 caps and then spent some time relaxing by the river. He had brought the books and magazines with him and planned to spend the time just reading and enjoying the sun. Which is exactly what he did. He finished the Locksmith’s reader first. It was not at all an instruction booklet, it did not give him step by step instructions on how to lockpick, but it did give him an inkling on how to actually try, he’d need a real book for the skill if he wanted to learn more, since this was only a magazine, but he was at the starting line now, at least, and he was positive that as he kept exploring old buildings going forward he would encounter more and more locked doors, safes, rooms, and chests. Having some sort of skill to unlock them would probably come in handy, but he would just need to learn as he went, there was no substitute for experience after all.
Next he read the Chinese Spec Ops Manual. It was… interesting. He was done being racist, they really did have some good techniques on how to hide in plain sight, how to move around secure buildings and how to blend into an environment you are not fully prepared to be in. It was incredibly informative. It also gave him insight into how the Chinese had been operating on American soil long before the bombs fell; there were mentions of entire franchises that were fronts for their operations. It made him wonder how deep they had gone before everything went to shit. He could only speculate, but the manual did well to teach him a few new tricks he could try out in the field. A lot of it would require practice and time to master but having extra skills in his back pocket was never a bad thing.
By now the sun was well past its Zenith but He was content to continue reading, he had no plans for today after all, not everyday needed to be an adventure, mundane and peaceful days are why he worked so hard. So he pulled out his third book, Lying, Congressional Style.
The book was a hilarious satire and deconstruction on the way politicians from his time would twist words, bend questions, and explain things in a way that was completely advantageous to them. It was a fun read. Sure, some of it could be applied to his everyday life, but for the most part it was not an instructional how-to book as much as it was a satire and explanation on how others talk people down. Unless he planned on becoming a politician it was mostly worthless information, but the book was a fun read anyway.
The last book, and by now he was impressed with himself due to having finished 3 other works before this one, was a fiction novel written by the man who was making the Agent America scripts. He had heard it was good but he was never much of a reader before the world ended, now he can’t be much else. However, reading the previous book took far longer than he expected, the day almost being over now, so he instead decided to save it for another time.
Instead he headed back to Winchester’s and quickly sold off the three books he had just read. He was finished and it's not like he had a home bookshelf to put them on so he’d rather just have the caps. 20 caps each left him 60 caps richer when he walked out.
He headed back to the bar and saw Salvatore drinking in his usual spot, though he did notice a strange man in the corner table, black braided hair, which was mostly matted down underneath a head scarf, football chest gear painted a bit with a red undershirt, a brown skirt looking thing that only covered up to his knees, and a face mask that hung low on his neck, though it was now down and hanging around his neck as he ate some food. He had a long spear leaning against the side of the table, a machete strapped to his hip, and a lever action rifle strapped to his back. He looked a bit silly but he had seen a few people come into town before from outside, he very much is not the only one who is not from around here, Adam too was from out of town so he had no place to judge. So he paid it little mind and then took a seat near Salvatore.
“Hey Salvatore.” Adam began as he took his seat and flagged Mandy over when she noticed him. She was busy waiting at another table but he was no rush and he was able to convey that to her.
“What.” Salvatore said with a gruff tone. Though, perhaps, that was just the way he spoke, there was no air of standoffishness as he might have expected.
“How much does it cost to hire you?” Adam asked thoughtfully.
“What?” Salvatore said now with a confused tone as he turned to look at Adam.
“How much does it cost to hire you?” Adam repeated, since he knew Salvatore heard him.
“Depends on what you are hiring me for.” He responded as he downed a shot of whatever he was drinking before turning his whole body to face Adam. “What do you need?”
“I was thinking about taking a trip to Midway, not today obviously, and probably not for a few days but I'm planning out my options. I’ve never gone there and I learned that distant journeys can get harrowing if they are not well planned, so I’m fielding the idea of hiring you out to guide me there.” Adam explained as he noticed Mandy walking over to them both, likely to respond to Adam’s hail from earlier.
“Well…” He said as he pulled out the pack of cigarettes that Adam gave him yesterday and picked one out, putting it in his mouth but not lighting it, just like the last time. “From here to Midway can get a bit dangerous, i'd say with all the nonsense going on in the area the fee is 100 caps per day, getting to Midway is a two day trip. So 200 caps for an escort. If you want to dick around a bit on the way I’m going to charge you an additional 50 for any other stops, since I bet you won't want to head right there.” Adam paused to consider his options before responding.
“What if I wanted to hire you outright? Like hire you as a permanent body guard?” Adam asked, though now he was mostly just probing, he didn’t really think it was an option.
“2000 caps.” Salvatore responded quickly. “Plus the cost for room and board comes out of your pocket wherever we go, as well as the ammo I spend and upkeep costs for my gear.” Salvatore clearly had thought this out since he had already put this list together and spoke without hesitation.
Adam paused as he considered what Salvatore told him. It *was* doable, he had almost a thousand caps, of course he has his own expenses to think about but hiring out Salvatore as a semi permanent member to join him on his runs would be the best investment he could make with his money. He could buy all the guns in the world and that wont save him from being outnumbered, there was simply only so much he could do alone. It made sense to get a partner. He didn’t have the money right now, but in the future he might be able to get it, especially if he put in even more effort Scaving. A man with Salvatore’s experience would be indispensable going forward.
“Also.” Salvatore said, interrupting Adam’s train of thought. “I’m not going to follow you around like a lost puppy. You pay my fee. I'll help you when you need, but when you don't need me I’m going to do my own thing, that includes taking other jobs, so if you head to a settlement and don’t plan on leaving for a while then I’m going to do as I please.” He said as he finally took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it back in the pack.
“It's the same deal I have with the Winchesters. I make myself available for Chuck whenever he needs to go on a run and whenever we are not in Naper he pays for my lodgings, it's simple and clean.” He said as Mandy spoke up after waiting for a minute for Salvatore’s pitch to end.
“This old guy has been running this racket for as long as I’ve been alive. I remember being a little girl and Sal here running protection for the adults who needed to travel.” She chimed in.
“Don’t fix what ain’t broke.” Salvatore shrugged.
“I don't have 2000 caps on me… yet.” Adam mused aloud. “But I’m not so far off that I can’t actually consider this idea.”
“Jesus kid you made that much already?” Salvatore said with some shock. “Damn, I knew scaving was lucrative but you got the devil’s luck.”
“Well considering I ran into some real tough types the other day I’d say the devil enjoys messing with me. I mean I almost got bit by a feral ghoul, might’ve turned me or something.”
There is a pause of silence as Mandy and Salvatore stare at each other for a moment before they both burst out laughing. It was the first time he had seen Salvatore laughing too.
“Oh god, kid. You are so fucking stupid!” He said through laughter.
“Did you really think they were zombies from an old horror flick?” Mandy asked as she wiped a tear from her eye as she came down from laughing.
“Well I…” Adam started before he trailed off, blushing.
“It's a radiation kid.” Salvatore said with a final chuckle before he calmed down. “You don’t turn into a ghoul without radiation, feral or not.” He paused and then reached across the bar for a bottle to which Mandy slapped his hand away. He groaned, reached for his caps pouch and then put down 20 and then grabbed the bottle again.
“Don’t know what makes a ghoul turn feral, it just happens sometimes, but usually its advanced exposure to radiation that’ll do it. Too much and it’ll turn ya.” He then popped the top on the bottle and drank right from it. “Radiation’s a blessing and a curse, it can heal but also turns you feral, go figure.” He shrugged as he went back to drinking.
Adam was left speechless as he sat there not sure what to do with all this new information. He had the completely wrong idea about ghouls. Granted he hadn’t asked but he was entirely off base, and radiation heals them? That's ground breaking news. If he hired Salvatore and there was a switch in a room full of radiation or some other hypothetical situation he could do it without worry, so long as he doesn't stay there too long and become feral. He could ask more about it later but it seemed as though Salvatore was done engaging with the conversation so Adam let it drop and ordered a meal from Mandy for 12 caps.
Chapter Text
The rest of the night went peacefully, Adam decided to turn in early that night, he had little else to do, though not before spending an extra 5 caps on a beer to enjoy while he chatted with Chuck.
The next day came and Adam once more found himself with little plans. He spent the day wandering the town more, not that there was much he hadn’t seen, but he did admire the ingenuity people had to create this town, much of the buildings were made from scrap wood and metal, they looked ramshackle but they were sturdy and they were built with survivability in mind. He noticed small subtle things like the houses all had one wall that seemed to be extra reinforced. He could assume to act as a bulletproof wall and room if it came to it. He also noticed that most of the windows had grates on them, likely to prevent grenades and things from being thrown in, though some of the houses had a hinge or two that let the grate be swung open. These were not the only things he noticed either, there were a lot of little construction details that he hadn’t considered but would likely be helpful living in a world where a super mutant raid could happen at any time.
But all in all this did not take him too long, so he went back to the Inn to grab a meal, 14 caps today. However just as he was finishing his breakfast he heard the sound of a few gunshots being fired towards the north. Then there was silence, no screams, no extra gunfire, just nothing.
He wasn’t the only one who noticed, everyone else in the bar turned to look at the wall where the sound came through too, even Eric. Clearly this was not a common occurrence. It did not take long to figure out what was going on.
“Is Salvatore here?” A man wearing the heavy coat that the guards usually wear came running into the Inn, looking a bit panicked. Eric looked at him and then looked around and then seemed to realize he was the one who would have to respond.
“I uh… don’t know…” Eric said hesitantly.
“Fuck.” The volunteer guard said before he looked at Adam. “You, you are that vault dweller who has been going out recently right? Come with me.” He said as he turned around again, not waiting for Adam’s response. “And if someone sees Salvatore send him to the north gate!” He said as he started to turn the corner.
Adam was left speechless for a moment before looking at Eric, then at his scraps of food on his plate. He sighed, wiped his mouth, downed the rest of his drink and then power walked outside to follow the guard who was already out of sight.
By the time Adam had gotten outside it seemed as though a lot of townsfolk were curious as he was to what was going on, though most seemed to be staying away from the North gate where the sound came from but a small group of people, many of whom he recognized the faces of as guards he had seen on duty at one time or another had gathered at the gate and were discussing.
Adam approached, assuming this is where he was being led and a few of the men turned to look at him.
“You are Adam right? The guy who is going beyond the walls?” One said questioningly.
“Uh… yeah that's me. I heard I was needed?” Adam asked before a slightly larger man with white hair and a brown worn t-shirt and cargo pants stepped a bit forward.
“I’ll cut to the chase.” The man spoke, his voice more grizzled than the others. “We just got a visit from some raiders. Said they would be back in a few days to collect a ‘tax’.” He crossed his arms.
“We aren’t going to give them a penny, but I’m not taking this situation lightly, if you are willing to help us thwart them I will ensure you are compensated thusly.” Adam paused, he needed a moment to process this. So a gang of raiders had just stopped by to extort the town and now he was being asked to help fight them off when they returned? He did like this town and would be willing to help but he couldn’t help but hesitate, he didn’t know how many people were coming, what kind of weapons they were packing, or how trained they were. This was a shot in the dark.
“How much compensation?” Salvatore said as he sauntered over wearing his combat gear and holding his rifle. It looked like he threw it on when he heard the gunfire from his room as the boots were not laced properly and he didn’t have his shotgun on hand, but he looked ready to fight if it came to it.
“I do not know offhand.” The grizzled man returned as he put a hand to his chin to consider. “I would need to find out what we have in the town coffers but 200 caps to every man who helps?” He offered.
“300” Salvatore countered. “If I'm going to put my life at risk then I want to be appropriately paid for my work, Grant.”
Grant seemed to stand in silence for a moment as he considered before he nodded.
“Aright, every man who joins the defense will get paid 300 caps each.” He said with a firm commitment to the number. Salvatore pulled out a cigarette from the pack, put it in his mouth and actually lit it this time. Maybe he didn’t smoke indoors, or, at least, maybe he didn’t smoke inside the Inn.
“You are gonna need to do much more than defend.” Salvatore said as he took a puff of his cigarette. “If raiders are operating close enough to here to come for a racket and they feel bold enough to pull it off, you can’t just take out who comes looking, you gotta cut the head off the snake. We are going to need to wipe them out.”
“Are you crazy?” Another of the men in the group said as he spoke incredulously to Salvatore. “We aren't an army! We can’t go and attack their base!” Salvatore just remained perfectly calm while he smoked.
“I’ve been through this song and dance more than once kid, if you don't pull the weeds out from the root they will just keep coming back.”
“How do you plan to do that? We don’t know how many of them there are!”
“We do know where they are from though…” Grant added, uncertain if Salvatore’s plan was a wise one or not and was remaining on the fence about it.
“Good then we can wipe them out.” Salvatore said as he cracked his neck a bit looking ready for a fight.
“I agree.” Adam spoke up, finally throwing in his two cents. “But I don't think we should strike first.” He turned to look at Salvatore when he said this.
“What we should do is let them come back in three days to collect their tax, get them to lower their guard, and then ambush them. Then, after they are dealt with, we all head to their base and eliminate the ones who remain. Divide and conquer.” Grant seemed to get lost in contemplation for a moment but Salvatore grinned.
“Not a bad plan kid. That is, assuming they don't come in three days with everyone.”
“It's possible, but what do we have to lose? We have the advantage of playing defense here and we know what way they will come, if we pre-plan angles of attack we can easily create a kill box.” Salvatore looked impressed but didn’t add anything to that last comment as he took another puff of his cigarette.
“It’s a half-way decent plan kid, but the employer is the one who calls the shots.” He said looking at Grant.
“Alright, we will do as you suggest.” Grant said, looking at Adam. “We will set up an ambush for them when they return in 3 days and after we handle the ones who come, we will storm their base, minus some who will stay behind to guard Naper while we are gone.”
“Grant, I’m not confident I'll be able to do this…” One of the youngest looking guys here said. The only female in the group lightly slapped his back and grinned.
“Don’t worry, we got your back, all you need to do is point your gun at them and fire. It doesn’t matter if you hit them, all you gotta do is try.” Grant nodded in agreement.
“A lot of you are not soldiers, just folks who are willing to help out around here, but the town is counting on you. These scumbags come to our home and try to extort us, if not you then who will defend the town?” Grant’s comment seemed to get a few of the men to mutter in agreement and nod along. He then turned to look at Salvatore and Adam again. “We got three days to prepare. We have work to do.”
Chapter Text
The next three days were not spent fruitlessly. A plan was hashed out about how best to prepare for the attack to come, positions were scouted both inside and outside the walls to set up a good ambush, gear was checked and loaded, everyone was outfitted, and Adam spent a good amount of time cleaning and checking every gun that was going to be utilized in the defense of the town. He was more than willing to ensure every man’s rifle wouldn’t jam on them before the fight began. As it turned out a lot of them needed it too, so it was a timely suggestion. In addition, in thanks for his help both with cleaning and the coming defense, his fees for the Inn were waived against Mandy’s objections, but it seemed as though some sort of deal was struck behind the scenes.
On the third day the team was gathered, the 9 volunteer guards of the town, Salvatore, Adam, Grant, the outsider in the football gear who was called Deccanus, and another outsider who was a self-proclaimed bounty hunter. In all 14 fighters were gathered for this coming battle.
The outside of the North wall was mostly ruins of once formidable buildings. However a few of them were just collapsed husks, most though were still standing albeit as a far cry from their once majestic exteriors. Still these husks made amazing vantage points when looking at the North Gate. People took up positions along the rooftops and top floors going down a few buildings up the street outside the wall.
Every man was given one grenade, courtesy of Chuck, and one stimpack courtesy of the Doc, even Adam who had his own supply of stimpacks. The town was as ready as it could be. Children were out of school, kept inside their homes, windows were sealed, doors locked, and the town stood quiet and still. It was almost eerie. The only sound that was heard throughout the town was the Jukebox that had been put outside and turned up at full volume. The music not only would draw the attention of the raiders when they arrived and make them less liable to look around for a possible ambush, but more than that, everyone was nervous, the music helped calm the nerves.
Well, not everyone was nervous. Salvatore seemed to have his head on straight, smoking quietly from his vantage point next to Adam. Deccanus also seemed unbothered, sitting quietly and not saying a word as he waited for the battle to commence. Though the bounty hunter looked at least a bit unnerved, though definitely not as nervous as many of the guards. They were, after all, just volunteers, most hadn’t left their town, they just helped keep the place safe, today would require them to be willing to prove that.
Adam for his sake was about as nervous as the bounty hunter. He had been in many gunfights back in the war, but that was back when he served, and even then the sounds of bullets whizzing by your head never gets easier, a healthy dose of fear is to be expected in this situation.
They sat on the rooftops for about an hour, uncertain how long they would be waiting until they saw the reflective mirror from the forward most building shining light at them, a sign that the raiders were coming.
Moments later Adam saw them. Raiders. Truly they looked just the same as the last two he fought and killed. They wore a mishmash of gear without cohesion, spikes protruded from random parts of their clothing, they looked unwashed and unkempt, their gear was as hodgepodge as their clothing: an array of rifles, pipeguns, and even a rocket launcher. There were about 15 of them in total. Well at least they had almost the same number, 14 defenders to 15 raiders, with any luck the fight will be evened out easily within the first volley. But no one would know until the bullets started firing.
The group of raiders slowly approached the wall, guns out, carrying themselves menacingly while the defenders on the roofs and inside the buildings hid themselves and waited for an opportunity. They seemed completely unaware of what they were walking into, by the way they carried themselves they figured showing up in force like they were was enough to cow the town into submission. At least that's the impression they gave off as they strode up to the gate where the one visible guard was in position on the palisade where he would be expected to be standing. All to give them the impression it was business as normal.
“Hey loser!” One of the raiders said to the guard on the wall with a cocky grin. “We are here for our… ‘tax’.” He continued as a few in the back laughed to each other.
“Boss said money is owed today and if you can’t pay then… well…” He grinned menacingly and brandished his assault rifle, waving it around lightly. “We might have to get violent.” He finished as he turned back to the rest of his group and laughed along with a few of them.
“Oh! And women, you got any pretty women in there? If so tell them to expect us, we are feeling awfully cold right now! I need the warmth of a woman right now!” One of the raiders from the back shouted to the guard only for a woman from the raider group to elbow him in the stomach hard enough to make him clutch his stomach in pain.
“Fuck the woman. I'm here for caps and booze!” She said uproariously as she raised her gun into the sky followed by a cheer from the other raiders.
“So, you got our tax? Or do we gotta show your town a bit of hospitality?” The raider at the front spoke again to the guard.
It was just now dawning on everyone that there was one problem with this plan they had established. Everyone had positions, either on roofs, inside the buildings, or at the wall. Everyone had guns, armor, grenades, and stimpacks. They were well geared. Everyone had steeled themselves to kill these intruders as this was the only way to ensure the safety of the town. The town was also about as locked up as tight as it could be. The issue was that there was no “go” signal.
In all their planning there was no decision made for how to coordinate the start of the fight, everyone had assumed an opportunity would present itself but without a plan everyone seemed to be waiting for the others to make a move. No one wanted to be the one to fire the first shot and start the fight. This fear was assuaged quickly though.
As the jukebox began to play the next song “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn the situation finally changed. As the raider spoke his last sentence, clearly indenting action on his part if nothing were to change, Deccanus stood up, his long spear in hand and yelled:
“For the son of Mars!” He then chucked his spear from his rooftop position as hard as he could down at the raiders. The battle had begun.
[Vera Lynn’s We’ll Meet Again]
We'll meet again
The Spear impacts the group of raiders hitting one of the men in the middle. The spear embeds itself into the chest of the raider leaving him with a spear sticking straight through his whole body. He dropped to his knees, and then a moment later to the ground.
Don't know where, Don't know when
There is a moment of panic as the raiders seem to realize what is happening. The man at the gate ducks behind the chest high metal wall to get cover as the bullets begin to rain down from above.
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
As the bullets fall they rip through the lightly armored raiders spraying blood up into the air as the few with the wherewithal begin to fire back at the unseen attackers haphazardly.
Keep smiling through, Just like you always do
A lucky bullet lands a meter from Adam’s position embedding itself into the thick concrete support struts below where he was balancing his gun. He fired his hunting rifle accurately hitting one of the men in the back who went down holding down the trigger of his automatic rifle.
'Til the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
The raider’s rifle fired off wildly as he hit the ground hard. As soon as he hit the ground, the gun tilted off to the side and riddled his friend who was next to him with hole after hole, turning him into a mess of a carcass within moments.
So will you please say "Hello" to the folks that I know
There is a scream from the raider group as another gets hit in the shoulder. He went down with a heavy thud but not before he fired his own gun off. Adam could just barely see one of the volunteer guardsmen get tagged by the bullet and then go down. He had no idea if he was dead or just injured, but he didn't have time to worry about him, he had to keep firing.
Tell them I won't be long
The man with the rocket launcher fired his rocket towards Adam. It fell short and hit one of the floors below him. The whole building rocked violently with the force of the explosion. Luckily Adam was laying down to take his shots otherwise he might have been thrown off balance.
They'll be happy to know that as you saw me go
However another man was not so lucky. A guardsman hiding in cover in one of the floors below him was thrown out of the building towards the street hitting the ground hard. Adam watched as he fell from his position below him and hit the ground but didn’t give himself enough time to process. He knew he had to deal with the rocket launcher man before he became a bigger problem.
I was singing this song
It seemed as though Salvatore next to him had the same idea as, a moment later, he shot a clean hit right through the head of the man with the rocket launcher with his rifle. The raider hit the ground without a single moment’s delay, his head splayed open.
We'll meet again
Deccanus was fearlessly standing up firing his lever action rifle into the crowd below with a look of anger in his eyes. Bullets whizzed past him but none seemed to hit him.
Don't know where, don't know when
However, while Deccanus seemed to have a guardian angel on his shoulder, his partner next to him in his position, the bounty hunter, was not so lucky. A bullet ripped through the right side of his head, taking his stetson clean off his head. His dead body just slumped over, hitting the short concrete railing he was using as cover.
But I know we'll meet again
Adam’s rifle clicked as he pulled the trigger, he was out, and in the middle of this firefight he didn’t have the time to reload. Throwing the rifle off to the side he pulled out his laser pistol and resumed firing not a moment later. The distinct sound of the laser rifle was notable in the cacophony of bullets ripping into the ground, the distinct red light of the laser practically illuminating the raiders below.
Some sunny day
Just as he saw one of the raiders begin to get turned to ash by the laser fire from him, the guard at the gate pulled out the light machine gun from the palisade and then planted it on the wall. He wasted no time opening fire. By the time he had emptied the belt, there were no raiders standing. Well over half of them were dead, the remaining ones were either dying or too injured to stand or move. The battle had not lasted long at all. The song had yet to even finish and all the men on the ground in front of the gate were defeated. It was over.
“Clear!” One of the guardsmen called out from his position.
“Clear!” Another responded back.
“Clear!” Adam shouted in response. There was a tense moment of silence that followed as the song began to wrap up before the sounds of pain and anguish from the raiders below began to become clear. The few that could move at all were writhing in pain on the ground groaning and moaning in agony from the multiple bullets that hit them. Meat, carcasses, blood, and viscera lay pooled together in a pile where the group had, not but minutes ago, stood confident.
Adam stood up slowly, his laser pistol still in his hand pointed generally towards the pile of dying raiders before he let off a deep sigh. He then was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He damn near jumped out of his skin as he turned to see Salvatore patting him on the shoulder.
“You did good kid.” He said with a grin. “Come on, let's head down, we still got work to do.”
Chapter Text
The walk back down the building was quiet, neither Adam nor Salvatore said anything, not a note of congratulation, nor a comment of tension, just silence. The third man who had taken up residence in the building with them had fallen thanks to the rocket explosion so they had no company as they slowly made their way downstairs.
Eventually they made it to the street around the same time as all the other teams did. Even from the exit of the building Adam had hidden in the smell of death was nearly overpowering. He considered putting on his gas mask he bought from Chuck but decided against it and instead toughed it out, Salvatore, Deccanus, and Grant all seemed to be fine. The same could not be said for the other volunteers.
Two were in the middle of throwing up when Adam had arrived at the scene, a third looked like he was going through a dissociative episode, and a fourth was praying. The rest were a varying mix of disturbed.
“We have to move.” Grant said solemnly as he looked at the pile of dead and dying in front of them all. “Our plan to wipe them out requires us to move out immediately, we don't want them to get a chance to get suspicious.”
“I agree, the longer we waste the less our surprise attack will work.” Salvatore said callously. Adam took a deep breath and then nodded.
“Yeah. I'm good to go too.” He said resolutely. Grant looked around at the remaining men, the man who Adam saw get tagged with a bullet earlier was not here, and the one who fell was still laying on the broken and worn blacktop, unmoving. Both were likely dead. But a third guardsman also seemed to be missing as well, likely another casualty that they had incurred while they were taking fire.
Grant looks at the three who seemed to be taking it the worst, the two throwing up and the one who was giving a thousand yard stare and called them out.
“I want you three to stay here and defend the town, everyone else will move to their base. It's only 30 minutes away from here if we stick to the streets.” Grant ordered the group.
Deccanus moved over to the man he had impaled with his spear at the beginning of the battle and pulled the spear out of its fleshy sheath and wiped the blood off with a rag from his pack, and then turned to look at Grant, seeming to wait for his order.
“Alright, everyone! Let's move out!” grant ordered.
The trek to the hideout was rather easy, the group moving as a unit scared off any would-be negative encounters, and nothing challenged them as they moved through the ruins of the city streets.
Eventually, after about 25 minutes of walking they arrived at an old bowling alley that Adam remembered going to once before. He was never a fan of bowling so he only ever went once, but it was during a date with a pretty coworker of his at the time so he had fond memories.
Now, of course, the once date spot was a terrible sight, paint chipping, the sign half broken, the windows boarded up. But surprisingly even in this state it was still pretty clearly a bowling alley.
“You sure that this is the place Grant?” Salvatore said as he snuffed out his cigarette with his fingers before putting it back into his pack.
“I’m sure.” Grant responded resolutely. “We got reports a few weeks ago from roamers that there was a new group setting up shop over here, ‘course we had hoped it wouldn’t become a problem for us but I never let myself forget it.”
“Well then, let’s fuck these fuckers up shall we?” Salvatore grinned as he raised his rifle in the air, ready to fight. Grant nodded.
“I want you, Adam, Deccanus, and 1 of the kids to take the back entrance, me and the other 3 will take the front.” Grant said as he looked at the group for consensus or disagreements. When he got none he continued.
“We will draw their fire, while you three sneak in, i'm not telling you to be stealthy but try to use the fact it's the back entrance to your advantage.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know what I'm doing, Grant.” Salvatore said dismissively before he looked at Adam.
“You ready kid?” Adam nodded, a steeled look in his eyes.
“Let’s do this.”
Deccanus, Adam, Salvatore, and one of the guardsmen all moved together towards the back of the bowling alley, seeing a metal door left wide open as they came around the side. There was no question that was their target.
“When we get inside, if we can handle them quietly, do it, if you can’t then everyone be ready to start blowing their brains out.” A soft nod from everyone confirmed the plan was set and then they all moved in.
The backroom was the first thing they saw, a long hallway that was occupied by three doors, two of which were open. At the end of the hallway he could see what was probably the storeroom, but he could see nothing else. It was dark but only slightly so, there was enough natural light that it was not hard to see. In addition there were little candles and lamps spread throughout the areas as far as he could see so things were illuminated.
The four of them slipped in, Salvatore quietly stepped through the first door on the left. It appeared to be a manager’s office. There, a man was playing chess by himself on the desk, his back turned to the door Salvatore walked through.
It took Salvatore exactly two seconds to grab hold of the guy’s head and snap his neck. He caught him before he dropped to the ground so he wouldn’t make a sound.
The next door was closed, Deccanus crept towards it and opened it, finding a changing room full of metal lockers. Inside, a man was lying on a bench sleeping. Deccanus moved without making a sound, getting right up to the man on the bench, pulling out his machete and slitting the man’s throat before he even could wake up.
Adam was the next one to split off, heading through the third door which was open to see a room that had been completely converted to sleeping quarters. Whatever it was before had nothing to hint at it left. There was a single man, naked, doing… less than PG things to a woman’s body who lay on the ground underneath him. She was mutilated, a huge gash was present on her back, her hair was a wild mess, and she had cuts and bruises all over her body. By the way she was just laying there it was not entirely impossible she was just dead.
Adam showed no mercy, he snuck up behind the man while he was doing the deed and pulled out his ankle knife, planting it firmly inside his neck with one fluid motion. The man’s eyes went wide with fear as he slowly turned to look at Adam, blood gurgling out of his mouth as he tried to speak to no avail. He collapsed on the woman half a second later.
Then Adam could hear the sounds of gunfire coming from elsewhere in the building, it seemed as though Grant was doing as he said he would. Good that made their jobs easier.
Adam bent down near the woman and checked her pulse with two fingers. Her heartbeat was faint, barely there at all, but she was alive. That’s almost worse than if she had been dead. Poor woman. But now was not the time for such thoughts. He still had bad guys to kill.
He started moving towards the door to leave when he heard from the hallway a voice he didn’t recognize yell out:
“Hey! Who the fuck are you!?”
Adam was quick to run out of the room, getting outside in time to see the guardsman being impaled through the heavy coat with a bayoneted rifle and pushed into the wall, a second later the gun fired right into his stomach, killing him, or at least, sending him into shock as his body went limp immediately.
Adam reached for his 10mm and drew to shoot, but Salvatore was quicker and fired his shotgun past Adam hitting the raider with a slug round that took off his right arm. The raider dropped to the ground like a bag of bricks, screaming. Adam was the one to finish him off, firing a single round into the head of the dying man.
“So much for Stealth.” Salvatore remarked casually after Adam had finished the raider off.
“Let’s get to work kid, they know we are here now.”
Chapter Text
“Hey!” Adam could hear the sounds of shouting from the otherside of the storeroom nearer to where the gunfight was happening. Clearly they were going to engage the rear entrance team too.
Adam moved quickly, taking cover behind a heavy wooden shelf used to store bowling balls as the raiders poured into the room. He looked over at the still slumped body of the guardsman he was sure by now was dead, judging by the way he had rolled his eyes into the back of his head. Salvatore had taken up position on the other half of their side of the room behind some crates, and Deccanus was using the open door in the hallway as cover.
Bullets ripped through the room as the raiders poured out of the door, they had no trigger discipline, they were firing madly as they screamed their heads off.
Salvatore waited for the raiders to take cover on their half of the room and then pulled the grenade from his pack, primed it, and then tossed it over at them. The boom was spectacular.
An arm of one of the men the grenade had felled flew through the sky and landed in the center of the torn storage room, another screamed out in pain. Adam had no idea how many of them there were, because they had pinned him down as they entered but he assumed no more than 5… maybe 6. They were outnumbered, now, less so.
Adam popped his 10mm over the cover and began to blind fire at their positions, just hoping to offer his allies a chance to fire back.
Deccanus was the first to accept Adam’s offer as he briefly popped out in front of the door and fired three rounds at the raiders from his rifle, at least one was a hit judging by the scream of pain.
Salvatore then took the opportunity to vault over the box, shotgun in hand and begin laying lead down at the enemies, peppering the wall with tiny birdshot pellets.
Adam too capitalized on the opportunity and popped out of cover and fired his whole magazine at the raiders. He managed to nail one of the raiders who he had a good position on right in the shoulder, causing him to fall back in pain. As soon as he fell backwards his head was in perfect line of sight for Adam to finish him off. His head was unable to resist the kiss of the bullet that followed.
One of the raiders then popped up from his cover, holding a ramshackle assault rifle and began unloading his clip in the direction of Adam and Deccanus. Salvatore had ceased his advance and was now much closer to the enemy positions as he reloaded his shotgun and prepared for the next advance.
Another raider, emboldened by his friend’s suppressing fire, stood up straight, took a hit of Jet through the inhaler and then pulled out a hatchet and charged.
He ran right past Salvatore, who was in the middle of reloading, and even past Adam who he almost brushed up against. It seemed he had his heart set on killing Deccanus and that was the only thought in his mind.
He dove into the hallway swinging his hatchet down hard at Deccanus. Deccanus only had enough time to drop his rifle on the ground, draw his machete and block the hatchet at the handle, right below the blade, though it remained very close to hitting his collarbone.
Adam was quick to spin around and shoot the man in the back with his 10mm. Just to get him off of Deccanus.
Deccanus did not waste the opportunity and immediately swung his machete deep into the chest of the raider carving out a huge chunk of flesh with it.The raider roared with pain but seemed to be fighting with sheer adrenaline and fueled by the psychoactive effects of the Jet. He had no intention of stopping here. He brought his arm up high to swing down on Deccanus once more.
Adam took aim at the raider’s head ready to fire but was stopped by more gunfire from the other raider at the other side of the room, he was forced to duck down lower behind his cover to avoid getting hit.
When he looked back up at Deccanus he had impaled the raider in front of him with his machete, the blade sticking clean through his body. Then, while still holding the machete-impaled raider's body up, he charged forward towards the raider on the other side of the room, using the body like a shield as it soaked up the bullets fired at him.
By the time he had reached the otherside of the room his human shield was a bloody mess of a carcass but it did its job. Deccanus pulled the spear off his back and then chucked it at near point blank range at the raider who was shooting at him his entire mad dash of a sprint.
The spear impaled him into the wall through his heart. There was no struggle, just a look of shock and surprise and one groan of death before he slumped over.
The last raider took aim at Deccanus who had just thrown his spear and whose back was to him now. Adam wasn't going to let him take the shot, quickly popping out of his cover again he fired a few times at the raider, none hit their mark, but it was enough to throw off the aim of the raider, enough that he shot wide of Deccanus.
It was Salvatore who finished him off, walking out of his cover and firing both rounds of his shotgun into the chest of the raider. His chest flayed open like a chestburster had popped out. He was dead instantly.
The three of them took a moment to look around, making sure there were no other attackers in the room with them. Once all three were sure it was clear they each went about preparing for the next assault in the main room, where the sounds of Grant's gunfight were still on going.
Salvatore reloaded his shotgun and rifle, Deccanus recollected his spear, and Adam loaded in a fresh magazine for his 10mm.
“You two alright?” Salvatore asked as he remained behind his box cover reloading his guns.
“I'm fine!” Adam called back from his position as he just finished his own reloading.
“Fine.” Deccanus said with a low, deep tone. But as he walked past Adam back to the hallway to grab his rifle, Adam could see that he had taken a bullet in the shoulder. His armor did little to stem the bleeding that was pouring out.
“Hey, Deccanus, you were hit.” Adam informed him, assuming he just had so much adrenaline running through him that he hadn’t yet noticed. Deccanus looked down at his shoulder where he was hit and then looked forward at his gun again, not once stopping.
“I see.” He said stoically.
“Pop a stimpack, don’t take the wound lightly.” Salvatore said as he walked over towards Adam, ready to regroup and join the fight in the next room.
“The warriors of the Legion do not use drugs.” He said with the same stoic tone as he grabbed his gun off the ground and then shoulder it turning back around to the other two. “I will use a balm later, the battle is not yet over.”
“Sounds dumb, but whatever makes you happy.” Salvatore said dismissively before turning to Adam. “Ready kid?”
“Yeah, I'm good to go.” Adam said as he holstered his 10mm and then unslung his hunting rifle and readied himself for the next fight.
“Deccanus?” Salvaore asked as turned to him now. Deccanus simply nodded in response. “Good. Now let's go make sure that idiot doesn’t get his head blown off.” Salvatore said as he started to make his way towards the exit of the storeroom and towards the sound of the ongoing gunfight.
Chapter Text
As they entered into the room on the other side of the store room door they were immediately met with the firefight Grant was engaged in. Two of the guardsmen seemed to be hit, one more mortally than the other as they took cover behind a rounded bar counter. Grant himself was hiding behind the ball return system of lane 3. His big body was only very barely being covered by the machine, he was slumped all the way down, the lower part of his back nearly touching the ground.
The last guardsman was, at the time they entered, laying down suppressing fire at 3 raiders who were taking cover behind some overturned tables. Another three raiders were scattered throughout the other half of the bowling floor, and another one seemed to be dead, shot in the head, right in the centermost lane, his head cracked open and bleeding profusely.
Both Salvatore and Deccanus moved to get into a position on the guardsman controlled side of the room but Adam had a different idea. Using the suppressing fire as cover, he hugged the leftmost wall and charged closer to the tables where the three raiders were pinned.
As the suppressing fire stopped Adam made a quick hard turn at a stone pillar right before he entered what looked to be a small kitchen area where patrons could order the greasiest fried food of their lives. And Adam knew that from experience, the pizza he got here during his date many years ago was more grease than cheese. But this was not important at the moment. What was important was that Adam was now in position to deal with all three raiders at once.
Pulling his grenade from his pouch he pulled the pin, cooked it for a few seconds, and then tossed it over the table cover the raiders were using.
There was a pause of silence from there as the raiders seemed to understand what they just saw, a grenade landing at their feet. One even had the wherewithal to speak:
“Its a fuckin’ grena-” She yelled out before the boom drowned out her words. Blood splattered against the wall near where they were taking cover, Adam was sure the blood also painted the other side of the tables too, but he didn’t have an angle to see. But it was safe to assume he got all three of them since even after a few seconds there was not a peep from the tables. If nothing else they were too wounded to fight, that was good enough.
Adam then turned his attention to the other raiders scattered throughout the floor. Most were in cover, however Adam had a good angle on one of them and it didn’t seem like he was spotted, so, making use of the VATS feature on his Pip-Boy, adjusting his aim according to the percentage displayed, he fired a single round at the head of the raider, his head burst opened with the force of the bullet from the hunting rifle. He dropped like a rock not even a second later.
His shot was too effective though, as it drew the attention from the other two raiders. A bullet whizzed right by his head, close enough for him to feel the air of the blast move past him, way too close for comfort even with his helmet on. Adam was quick to scoot around to the otherside of the pillar so he was in cover from the remaining two raiders.
Salvatore noticed Adam in danger and popped out of cover and layed down rounds of his own from his assault rifle. Bullet after bullet ripped into the once clean floors as the raiders were once more forced to hide behind their cover. Deccanus took the opportunity to pop out of cover himself and chuck his spear hard.
The spear broke through the wood of the overturned bookshelf the one raider was using as cover and impaled his foot into the ground. Roaring with pain he stuck his head up involuntarily. Grant landed a clean blow on his head in this short window, killing him instantly.
Salvatore emptied his magazine into the area where the last raider was before a short few seconds of silence followed, then, from the spot where the raider was hiding a voice rang out as loud as he could muster.
“I give up!” The raider yelled at the top of his lungs. “I surrender!” He said again, loudly, though not as loud as the first time. There were a tense few moments as Adam’s party processed the surrender. It was Adam who made the first move.
“Hands where I can see them!” He yelled back as he pointed his rifle at the spot the raider was hiding, slowly moving from his cover and in the raider’s direction. Adam slowly crept forward inch by inch while no response was heard for a few seconds before two shaky hands slowly raised up in surrender.
“Kid, watch yourself.” Salvatore called out from his cover as a sharp word of warning. Adam kept advancing though, slowly, towards the raider. Adam altered his path to swing behind the cover, keeping his distance, just to make sure the guy couldn’t pull any tricks. Luckily, as he walked around and got a glimpse of the last remaining raider he seemed to have no explosive or any trap set, he was just sitting there on the ground, behind cover, his hands raised, fear in his eyes. There was a ramshackle machine pistol at his feet, but other than that he looked unarmed.
“Kick the gun towards me!” Adam yelled as he held position and pointed his rifle at the center mass of the raider.
“Y-yeah!” The raider said back, frightened as he did as instructed, kicking the pistol towards Adam. As soon as the pistol was well and clear of the raider Adam shot a glance around the room once, making sure there were no other enemies lying in wait nearby. After he was reasonably confident that there was nothing that could hurt anyone he called out:
“Clear!” Salvatore was the first one to make his move, walking slowly towards the place where the guy was taking cover. Then, slowly, everyone else began emerging from their cover and began to advance on the last raider, no one was dropping their guard, no one wanted to be the last to die in this battle.
It took another minute before everyone remaining was gathered in the center of the bowling alley main room. The raider was face down on the ground, arms behind his back, stripped bare of everything other than his underwear.
“Grant, what do you want to do with this guy?” Salvatore asked as he began smoking a cigarette now that the battle was officially over. Grant looked uncertain, contemplating how to handle this.
“Do you not have a jail or something?” Adam asked Grant quizzically.
“No, we do but…” Grant looked over at the raider, still face down on the floor. “I don’t feel comfortable taking him back, besides what are we supposed to do with a prisoner? This isn’t Midway, we don’t have the resources to care for a waste of space like him, he’d just be living off the work of others…” Grant said dismissively about the man only a few feet from him.
“Allow me to make your choice easy then.” Deccanus said as he walked over to the raider, knelt down next to his neck, and then planted his machete into the back of his head. Adam flinched, looking a bit horrified at Deccanus’ actions. But he did not raise a fuss or say a word. Nor did anyone else.
“Well that settles that.” Salvatore said with a shrug as he shouldered his rifle now.
“I suppose so.” Grant returned. He then paused, seeming to either steel himself or think over his options. “Alright…” He then turned to look at Adam.
“Adam, can you do me a favor? As our resident Scavver can you gather whatever you think is worth something and bring it over? We will bring it back with us. No sense letting another Scavver take it if we can instead.”
“Well, I haven’t been one long but… sure, i’ll take a look around.” Adam nodded, turning his head to scope out the place.
Unlike the outside of the building, which looked ruined but still pretty clearly a bowling alley, the inside, now that he was looking, was a mess. It looked almost nothing like a bowling alley. Aside from a few of the bowling ball machines still standing, and the gutters creating separations between the lanes, it was difficult to tell it ever was anything other than a raider hideout. It had been pretty thoroughly converted into a base for these guys, with beds, booze, and bullets lying about haphazardly. There seemed to be a bit of thought put into where things went, but mostly it seemed like they slept and ate where they felt like without regard for efficient or organized use of space. Though there were a few areas of the bowling alley that were cordoned off with sheets and shower curtains, perhaps creating smaller rooms for people to have privacy? In either case it was clear it might take a minute to thoroughly search this place.
“Salvatore.” Grant asked while Adam was lost in his thoughts looking around on where best to begin. “Do you believe these men were with War’s camp?”
“Nah.” Salvatore returned dismissively. “They were too unorganized, I don't see any emblems either, not that they all have them. But this ain’t connected, likely just some punks who saw the opportunity and did their own thing.” Grant nodded in agreement with Salvatore’s assessment.
“Who is War?” Adam asked as he started to walk towards the bar to see if there was anything worth taking from there, from bottles of booze to a hidden safe.
“Local Raider boss.” Salvatore said as he walked over to one of the dead raiders and kicked him over and began to rifle through his pockets. “Guy moved in a few months ago and began absorbing all the smaller raider gangs, cutting down the ones who said no and subjugating the ones who would listen.” After patting the man down for a moment he found what he was looking for. A pack of cigarettes.
“Don’t know much about ‘im though.” He said as he stood back up and pocketed the new pack into his back pocket. “The naming scheme came from the folk in Midway, they got real creative with the names for the folk around here.” he said dismissively.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked as he slowly began to gather the few things he found from the bar worth taking, just putting them in sight for the moment, easy to grab later.
“The four horsemen, kid.” Salvatore said with a soft sigh. “War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death.” He shrugged.
“As I said, colorful descriptions.”
“Sounds heavy.” Adam said, trying to both process the information he was being told and scavenge. He noticed that one of the guardsmen who had still not moved from his spot was injecting himself with a stimpack to aid in healing his wounded gut shot. The stimpack, like always, seemed to do well to help both stem the bleeding and dull the pain. Stimpacks, unlike what the advertisements would have you to believe, were not cure-all miracle drugs that could heal any wound. But they were a hell of a drug, they had saved Adam’s life back in the war more than once. It was always good to have a real doctor check you out when you get the chance but a stimpack could be relied on in a pinch, it was like having a medic on hand. He didn’t have the first clue how it worked, but it did, and that was enough for him.
“So War’s a raider boss? What about the others?”
“I dunno.” Salvatore said with another shrug. “I just know enough to stay clear of anything sketchy. If you are curious, ask the folk at Midway, they are in the thick of it.”
“Alright, I will.” Adam returned, making a quick note in his Pip-Boy about the four horsemen to remind him later. “It's going to take me some time to get everything here, if anyone wants to help, it’d be appreciated.” Adam said a bit snarkily and genuinely at the same time.
Salvatore grunts dismissively but Grant nods. “You are right, let's divy up the work, everyone who is still good, let's see what we can find.” He said with a commanding tone. A moment later everyone split up and began to scavenge the building.
Chapter Text
An hour later the group had rather thoroughly taken everything of value from the hideout. All in all they had found 17 bodies, their group had just wiped out a raider gang of 32 people. It was an impressive victory to be honest, but no one spoke about it. Those who cared didn’t care to brag, and those who would brag didn’t feel it was something they wanted to discuss. So no one in the group brought up the death count, on either side.
In the center of the room was a pile of weapons, from solid, reliable ones, to completely useless pipe pistols. There were some pieces of armor that were worth something like helmets, body armors, knee pads, and such. There was lots of ammo, in fact, ammo seemed to be the most lucrative outcome of this whole endeavor. The raiders were certainly lacking good guns, but they had plenty of bullets to fill them with. They also found a sizable stockpile of food. Some of it was canned food, boxed, or jarred. Some of the food looked to be branded with a Midway Logo on it. But a good amount of it was just meat stored in several refrigerators, meat that no one was certain where it came from, so for the safety and caution of everyone involved it was left untouched. Of course there was a notable amount of alcohol too. Though most of it seemed to be moonshine style beer, there were a few choice picks scattered about too. And lastly caps, not an insignificant amount either, somewhere close to a thousand caps. Most of it was hidden inside a safe in the manager’s office but various small pouches of caps as well as loose caps were found throughout the building.
There were, of course, various other things they found too. A comic book, a few books, a sensor module, some tools, gears, a single bar of silver, watches, a military circuit board, and a lot of other things that could be considered “junk”. The most interesting thing that Adam found personally was a little Vault Boy bobblehead holding a pistol. It was cute, but strange because not only was it weird that Vault-Tec had branded bobble heads, but also strange the raiders had it. But he put it in the pile with everything else.
And of course, besides all the loot they found, they had the woman, who was still unconscious, now laying on a rolled mat the group had moved her to for her comfort.
“So…” Salvatore began as everyone gathered once more when the looting was done. “What are you going to do with the woman, Grant?”
“Well, we can’t just leave her.” Grant said, stroking his chin in thought.
“Sure you can.” Salvatore said callously. “It aint your job to play white knight, leave the gallantry to others.” Grant shot him a look and Salvatore shrugged.
“I do not see another option other than bring her back with us, we can have the Doc look at her and go from there.” The group nodded weakly with Grant’s plan and then they all began to collect as much of the stuff they found as they could to bring back with them.
An initial attempt was made to wake the woman up, but it was Deccanus who identified that she was heavily drugged and likely wouldn't be moving under her own power for the next few hours at least. So, with that in mind, Adam offered to be the one to carry her back to town, provided someone else carried his backpack full of the various things they found.
The walk back to town was quiet, almost every man here had thoughts of their own, some more casual than others, and some still were as tense as before, not willing to let their guard down until they were back inside the walls.
When they made it back they were flagged down by the three guards who were left behind and let in quickly. The town was still rather quiet even when they returned but that quickly changed as the news of the victory spread. It took less than an hour before a full blown festival was being celebrated.
The center of the street turned into a long kitchen full of tables and chairs, campfires, and grills, with food from the mundane to the excotic, alcohol, soda, and juice flowed freely, and even Mandy went out of her way to open up her stocks to the defenders. A few of the town’s folk even brought out instruments, some he recognized and some he didn’t and began to play music creating a giant dancing circle at one point. Adam too was heavily celebrated, along with everyone who had fought off the raiders. He had never gotten so many hugs and pats on the back in his life. It also gave him a sense of how many people actually were in this small town, it was more than he had expected.
Salvatore didn’t stick around long, he didn’t seem to want to be celebrated and only came long enough to eat and drink for free before he returned to his room without a word. Deccanus was much the same, though from the beginning he had little interest in partying, he grabbed a plate of food and drink and then walked off back to the Inn where things were quieter, ironically.
Adam, Grant, and the rest of the defenders, sans 2 who were needed to actually guard the walls, stayed throughout the night. Laughing, joking, and partying with the entire town. By the time that Adam had turned in for the night he was so stuffed with food and drink he felt like he was about to explode. But he felt good, and sleep came easy to him that night.
The next day came and there was some work that had to be done. First, there was a memorial service held for the guardsman who died in the battle, there were 4 in total. It seemed as though 3 of them had families of some sort. One had a wife and kids, one had a younger brother, and one was an only child of two parents. The fourth seemed to have no living family, but all four were buried in the town cemetery, a small fenced in garden area near the gazebo that Adam didn’t even know existed, likely because he had never explored this half of the town, he assumed it was all for farming.
In addition to the four guards, the wandering bounty hunter who helped defend the town was buried in the graveyard alongside the others. No one knew him, he hadn’t even really introduced himself, though Grant said he said his name was Ken. Still, despite the fact he was a stranger to the town he had laid down his life to defend it, and that alone endeared him to the townsfolk. The least they could do for him is bury him respectfully.
Adam attended the memorial service. He had nothing to say and didn’t know any of the men that well, but it seemed the right thing to do. It was in stark contrast to the night prior when everyone was dancing, eating and drinking, the mood was expectantly somber and quiet. But there was a feeling of resolution, everyone knew that the men died defending the town, that they died to save everyone else, so while it was a somber affair there was a sense of hope that permeated the crowd, a sense of pride.
When that finally wrapped up the last of the things that needed to be finished was the payouts. Of course Adam got 300 caps for fighting, and an additional 100 caps for joining the attacking team. The goods they looted from the base also were sold to Chuck and split 12 ways. The 3 guardsmen who had family and died had their shares of caps given to their family instead. When totalled together the lot of goods gave each man an additional 366 caps.
At the end of the day Adam had a total of 1702 caps, though most of it was in Vouchers. But he was much more wealthy than he was before. In addition, Adam had requested to keep the bobblehead. He found it interesting and Salvatore even joked it was “like Adam’s little brother”. No one argued so he put it in his Inn room.
The last surprise of the day came as he had just finished helping around the town doing various small tasks either as clean up from the battle or him just being neighborly. He was walking back to his room in the Inn when Mandy stopped him.
“Hey, vaulty.” She called out as Adam walked past the bar. He turned to look and then reflexively caught something she threw to him. Opening his palm he turned to look at it, it was a key. He looked up at her confused.
“That's your key.” She laughed, seeing his confusion. “The room you stay in, consider it yours whenever you need it.” She grinned.
“Well…” She backpedaled. “I'm saying I'm considering you a regular. It will only be 25 caps per night and you can pay on credit, plus whenever you are in town consider the room yours. Though I can’t say for certain that if you leave town for a while that someone else won’t rent the room, but if you leave stuff in there I'll make sure to keep it safe for you.”
“Mandy…” Adam said feeling touched.
“Don’t get mushy on me.” She grinned and shook her head. “I don't need none of that here.” She laughed. “You saved the town, I'm not going to let a town hero suffer me. Besides, you’ve already helped the town out enough without doing what you did, so it's been overdue.” She paused as she looked at the key in Adam’s hand.
“That one is yours to keep. I imagine you aren't going to sneak in in the middle of the night and try to rob the room im giving you, but if you ever get back late from Scaving and need a place to stay you can head right in, like I said, you can pay on credit, so just pay me the next day.” She walked around to the other side of the bar putting a hand on his shoulder and patting it gently. “You did a good job Adam.” She smiled softly. “Thank you.” She continued, warmly.
“Thanks Mandy, I appreciate it.” Adam smiled back.
Chapter Text
The next day came with the crack of dawn, the light of a new day broke through his window and temporarily blinded him. He woke up shortly after. After getting himself together and grabbing a meal from Eric for 12 caps, he needed to decide what his plans were.
He had almost 1700 caps now. He could certainly afford an upgrade to his gear but realistically he was running out of space for things, all he could really do is get a new suit of armor, afterall, his legs and arms were unarmored. However, casual discussions with Chuck have already revealed that there is simply not enough in the town for him to buy to get fully kitted, he would need to head somewhere larger like Midway.
He also had his initial goal still too, to get to Second Life HQ and see if he could learn anything new about why he was in the vault in the first place. Second Life HQ also happened to be closer to Midway so it made more sense to do his planning from there.
The questions come in on when to head to Midway. Right now he has a rented room for very cheap, friendly neighbors, and lots of caps. There was no time limit on him getting this done, no external factors were pushing him to rush, but he couldn’t stay still forever.
The trip to Midway, according to Salvatore, would take 2 days. Hiring Salvatore as an escort was either 250 caps for one trip or 2 thousand caps to buy out his contract, at this point it seemed it would be a better idea to make an extra 300 or so caps to hire Salvatore outright, though then the problem becomes he’d still need more caps on top of that to pay for supplies, and at least a room at Midway, so he’d need even more.
This was his problem, should he head to Midway now with the larger sum of caps he has on hand or should he save up more and hire out Salvatore. He did not have any prescient need to get to Second Life quickly, but he would never feel comfortable until he could get some answers.
The morning, spent with food and drink in front of him, was spent in serious quiet contemplation as he considered his options. He went back and forth on what to do, there were pros and cons to each plan. However, after a long enough time to think, he decided he would stick around town long enough to make at least 500 more caps, giving him 200 caps after paying Salvatore’s fee. If he could make that much he’d have an easier time once he gets to Midway. Which meant that, at least, he needed to go on one more scaving run from Naper.
Truthfully though, he was still a bit worn out from the big battle from two days ago. He saw no reason to immediately throw himself back into danger. So he would spend today letting himself relax, he noticed there were these two men in the back of the Inn often playing a card game, maybe he could join them, besides he still had a book to read, and, as he learned two days ago in the bowling alley, one of the volunteer guards named Mick was able to lockpick. He was the reason they could get open the safe in the manager’s office where over 700 caps were stored. He could ask him for a favor and maybe learn how to lockpick himself, it was a skill he was eager to pick up on. So, after a long time to figure out his plans for the day, essentially amounting to taking a day off to rest and hone skills, he set off.
Mick, as he found out, was more than willing to teach Adam how to lockpick, however in exchange he wanted Adam to take his shift standing guard at the wall. He refused caps. Adam had to consider his offer but decided to agree as he truly had nothing better to do today anyway, so it seemed a good compromise. A lesson in lockpicking for a shift of work. As it turned out, lockpicking was hard.
Lockpicking itself was rather simple, he understood the explanation well enough and Mick showed it to be a rather simple challenge if you knew what you were doing, assuming the lock itself was not requiring too high of a skill level. But Adam simply lacked the necessary dexterity for it. Which was weird since he was good with his hands as a catch all IT and mechanic during the pre-war times.
Still, despite the setback, he learned enough to get the basics, from there he would simply need to keep practicing and he would get the hang of the skill in time. Like with anything else in life, practice makes perfect. As such while Adam spent time doing a guard’s shift on the wall, he spent most of his time with the practice lock Mick had given him, opening it over and over. By the time his shift was over, he was confident enough that if this exact type of lock was presented to him, he could open it in a reasonable amount of time. But before his shift was done Grant came to visit him on the wall.
“How you doing up there?” Grant asked as he stopped at the stairs before the palisade at the wall.
“Hm?” Adam hummed as he turned around to look at who was speaking. “Oh Grant!” Adam smiled as he put the lock down. “Sorry, I learned how to lockpick from Mick and that has become my project all day today. I'm doing well.”
“Ah Mick.” Grant said with a soft chuckle as he ascended the stairs to be at eye level with Adam. “Well now it all makes sense how you got roped into helping a guard shift, normally folk from outside the town don’t stand on the walls.” He grinned.
“Seemed like a fair trade to me, I learned a new skill that will probably help me in the future and he got a day off.” Adam shrugged. “Besides, I wanted to take it easy today. This was a good excuse to not just sit in the room and stare at the walls.” Grant nodded and looked like he had something he wanted to say, but was hesitating to say it for some reason.
“What is it Grant?” Adam asked with a soft tilt of his head.
“Ah it's nothing much but…” Grant sighed and then looked Adam in the eyes. “I just wanted to properly express gratitude to you for all you did for our little town. We are used to taking care of our own out here and I know throwing yourself into a gunfight is no one’s first choice.” He paused. “But you really showed up when we needed you, and that takes a real man.” He offered Adam his hand for a handshake.
“So I just wanted to express how appreciative I truly am of you.” Adam smiled and then took his hand, shaking it.
“It's no problem, Grant. This town has been good to me.” He then laughs and adds: “And besides I wasn't the only stranger that showed up to help.”
“No, I know.” Grant returned as he let go of Adam’s hand. “But everyone’s got their reasons, Salvatore lives here on his down time so it’s a given he would show up to help, however Deccanus was just passing through, maybe he just wanted the caps or maybe he hates raiders, either way he came out to help too. Same with that bounty hunter fellow, god rest his soul. I expressed appreciation for Deccanus too before he up and left, but you are fresh from a Vault, aint been in town for more than a week and still put your life on the line for the people here. I’m not a fan of beating around the bush, so I just wanted to be upfront and say that the people here will never forget the help you gave us.”
Adam chuckled slightly embarrassed. “Well I um…” he blushed slightly. “I'm not sure what to say, but I'm happy to help. The people of this town have been good to me, and I might have been from a Vault but people are all still people, and this town has really helped prove that to me. I'm glad that I ended up here, and I'm glad I got a chance to pay the town back a bit.”
Grant smiled and patted Adam’s arm twice. “Just know if you ever decide to settle down somewhere someday, our town would welcome you with open arms.”
“Thanks Grant. I mean it. Thanks.” Grant then left Adam on the wall, with only an hour left of his shift before he was replaced, now feeling even more appreciated again. The people of this town truly were nice and welcoming. He couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the people of this new world he found himself in, all he could do is hope that everywhere else he visits will be as nice as here.
And with that thought, he took a seat back in the guard post chair, picked up the lock, and worked on the lock the rest of his shift.
Chapter Text
When Adam got back into the bar after his shift in the wall he walked over to the two men who were always in the bar playing cards and sat down with them.
“Mind if i joined you boys?” They turned to look at him confused for a moment before one of them smiled.
“Gladly! We’d be happy to have you sit in for a round or two! Do you know how to play Caravan?” The man grinned widely.
The next few hours were spent in learning as Adam tried to grasp at how Caravan was played. It was unlike any card game he had ever played and didn’t use a full deck like one would expect of a card game. Instead players were expected to collect and find their own playing cards to build a deck to use. It was certainly a unique style of play, well suited to a world that doesn’t mass produce cards anymore.
One of the men was kind enough to lend Adam his deck for the duration of his stay with them, as he didn’t have a single card to his name. It proved to be a fun experience, even if Adam ended up a poor player. He lost only 10 caps in the exchange though since they were not placing high wagers, after all Adam was still a very new player and as a hero of the town they weren’t looking to fleece him. By the end of the night Adam had a firmer grasp on how the game of Caravan was played and a healthy appreciation for the game. He would keep an eye open for playing cards from now on so he might be able to build his own deck for play in the future, even if he wasn’t that good at it.
Adam paid 13 caps for dinner that night as well as a total of 50 caps for the room from the night previous and that night, planning to square his debts before he set out to scavenge the next day. It was the least he could do if he was planning to go off and do something dangerous, as usual. Not that he had an intention of dying.
The next morning it was an additional 12 caps for a meal and an additional 15 caps for a bottle of purified water, Eric cutting him a deal on the water as Adam had made quite a few friends with his actions since he had arrived. He wanted to bring the water with him because, despite knowing his next destination, and knowing it wasn't nearly as far as the factory he went to last time, he didn’t want to have to go as long without drinking as he did before. He could have gotten a bottle of river water instead but he wanted the luxury of clean water while he was out today. He was putting his life on the line, he could afford to be a little loose with his caps when he leaves to go scavenging.
Once his affairs were squared away he set back out from the town to go hit up an idea he had thought of when he was at the bowling alley fighting raiders. A small strip mall he remembered from his pre-war days. He was not 100% sure on the direction it laid from where he was, but he was reasonably confident that he knew the general area and could find his way there once he successfully found a few notable landmarks. He had already marked the location on his pip-boy map with a temporary marker just so he could have an idea on his general heading and then set out.
The journey took him further south than he had gone previously walking past an old statue commemorating the heroes who died in the battle of Anchorage from this city. He stopped in front of the large marble statue that was erected only a few short years before the world ended. The statue was, in its prime, 4 marble soldiers in military garb and helmets all saluting to the west, where there would have been a large flag on a flag pole with all 13 stars proudly displayed. Behind the soldiers was a standing map of Alaska with a big indentation where anchorage was. Underneath the soldiers, on the thick stone base, was a bronze plaque and a list of names of every single soldier including their military rank who died in the battle against the Chinese and who was from the greater Chicago area. Most of them, even for Adam, were just names, and nothing more. But he knew one of these men. A boy who was his senior in school by 5 years. He didn’t know him well, but he was a popular football player and had he not signed up for the military after school he might have gone far. But now all that was left of him was a name on a plaque. Nothing more.
As Adam approached the statue he saw that it was chipped and broken in many places. An arm of one of the saluting soldiers was completely gone, another was missing his head and gun, a third was missing his entire upper body, and the fourth soldier was gone altogether. The base of the statue too was broken, a large chunk of the front right side had fallen off at some point.
It was a bit… disheartening to see the state of the statue. It's not like he needed accolades for his efforts, and the statue was never for him, but these were men who died defending the country, people who put their lives on the line for those they cared about back home. What remained was a shattered remnant of what once was. No one even knew who these people were or what they died for. But Adam knew. Perhaps that was enough.
Adam walked over to the plaque, weathered severely by time. The names were now unreadable but the impressions in the metal meant as he gently slid his fingers across it he could feel the impression of the letters left behind. He would remember. In this world that had fallen to nuclear apocalypse perhaps it didn’t matter that these men died 200 years ago, no one needed to remember their story, their bravery. But he would. That is as much as he could do for them. He sighed deeply and then continued walking, leaving the statue to shrink in the distance as he pulled himself out of his melancholy.
The rest of the walk to the strip mall was mostly uneventful. He avoided what was probably some feral ghouls after hearing their distinctive noises from a building over, quickly making a detour to avoid that area altogether. And, when he arrived at his destination, he realized he had overshot it by a few blocks and was forced to double back the way he came. But eventually he arrived at his destination. The Strip mall.
Officially it was called “Middle Court Shopping Center” But it was a total of 5 buildings surrounding a medium sized parking lot, it didn’t really deserve any title or name. Besides, the sign that once proudly proclaimed the name of this tiny few buildings in the middle of town was now completely destroyed and missing, no one would ever know what this place was called and Adam could not care less.
At first glance as he walked into the center of the parking lot the buildings seemed largely intact. Aside from some broken glass and windows, the buildings themselves looked very structurally sound, so he was hopeful to be able to find good loot here.
The reason he had come here, of all places, was not just that he remembered it existed, though that did help. It was because of what businesses actually were present here. From left to right there was a flower shop, now likely absolutely devoid of anything he could find of use, if he had extra time he would stop there but there was no real reason to spend time thinking about it.
Next was a corner liquor shop. One of two reasons he came here. He had learned that good drinks were as valuable as anything else in this new time he found himself in. A bottle of good whiskey was worth its weight in gold… figuratively, gold was still more valuable. He doubted it would be stocked to the brim but there was a good chance it would have a few goodies laying around to make his trip worthwhile.
Third was a small smoke shop, cigarettes too were quite valuable so if he could find some it would be a very good boon for his trip, but somehow he doubted it. The shop itself always read to him as bourgie. Though he had never gone inside, he expected to find artisanal cigars and pipes and not cigarettes, but anything he found there would be worth something so it was worth a look.
Fourth was a record shop. Much like the flower shop he wasn’t too interested in checking this one out. You needed a record player to play records and there were a lot less of those nowadays. They might be worth something but truthfully he didn’t know and it wasn't worth wasting space in his bag. Especially if he could find other, more valuable things.
The last, and final location, and the second reason he came here was a gunshop. He had actually been to this gun store before, it's where he bought his gun and ammo he stashed in his small personal bunker back home in case he needed it. He knew the owner moderately well. Likely the place would be ransacked, but knowing the owner there was a halfway decent chance it could still have some guns worth taking stashed away in a backroom or something. He wouldn’t know until he checked.
So, with his options scoped out, he headed into the first shop of interest, the liquor store.
Chapter Text
Heading through the parking lot he noticed a handful of cars, most looked beyond repair but a few looked like they could work, in theory, but there was a motorcycle leaning against the wall next to the liquor store that really caught his eye. As he walked over to it he noticed it was definitely an old motorcycle but it looked well protected from the elements, had two saddlebags and underseat storage. The tires even looked good, miraculously. It was a miracle it looked in one piece.
Adam couldn’t help but pause, considering if he could use this himself. Afterall, traveling by motorcycle would cut down time a lot for him, in addition it might give him a bit of extra storage, especially if he could add a few more bags on. The downside is it would be loud, very loud. It would attract the attention of every person and creature for a mile, so it was a risk, but in theory, if he was at least slightly confident there was a path he could traverse with it, he would be unlikely to run into any opposition that could stop him.
Adam stopped entirely, this was far outside his expectations. He had no plans on finding something like this, but it was a good find, of course that is if it worked, which he had no way of knowing unless he tried to turn it on or took it apart, or both. He gently touched the handle bar and gave it a twist, to which it responded satisfyingly without hitching, though of course without a key it remained silent. It was the nuclear powered variety, much like the cars that were most popular, it could theoretically run forever given the ideal circumstances, though this was anything but ideal.
“Maybe later, friend.” he said softly to himself as he let go of the handle bar and finally walked inside the store to scavenge.
The inside of the store was exactly as he would expect, almost entirely empty shelves upon shelves, displays where liquor would sit were empty and fridges that once contained beer were barren. But it wasn't entirely devoid of things; there were still a number of bottles on shelves and underneath cabinets. They were just scarce, and over half of the stock that remained was broken and unusable. But even so, within this small store there were still a few worth taking.
So without further ado he began to take whatever he could find, gathering a not insubstantial amount of alcohol to bring back with him. The back room was more of the same, mostly looted but a few bottles here and there worth taking back. However other than what would be expected to be found here, there was nothing of note. So he moved on.
The next store was the smoke shop. It had a metal shutter grate in front of the window and the door, but it was flimsy and clearly more meant to stop petty thieves, not a dogged individual who had no law enforcement to contend with. Thus, as would be expected, the metal shutter was torn through where the entrance was. It looked as if someone took a metal cutter right to the shutters and cut their way through, though very sloppily. However it happened it mattered very little as it gave Adam easy access.
Inside was much as the liquor store, heavily looted. There were some cigar boxes and, yes, in fact some cigarette cartons on the shelves, but aside from a few things it was quite empty. However As Adam was taking his meager findings from the store he heard some sort of chittering coming from the back room.
Assuming it was some sort of radroach he pulled out his 10mm and slowly crept forward until he was just outside the door. He took a moment to listen, heard nothing more, and then went in, pistol drawn ready to kill all those disgusting cockroach bastards that he could. He learned very quickly he was wrong.
Inside was not, in fact, forearm length roaches that could do no more than bite his shin, but instead giant ants. And these ants were not giant in the same way the cockroaches were, they were not just abnormally large bugs. These massive titans of ants were the size of a human, in some cases bigger. They were terrifying. And to make matters worse there were 3 of them, not even 5 feet away.
Adam had stumbled into the room expecting to fight a giant bug but he encountered something much worse than he had expected. The three bugs were standing over what looked like a hole that had been dug into the ground in the backroom of the shop. On the back wall was a massive hole where the bugs, presumably, would be able to come and go freely. And now, thinking about it, the shutters in the front of the store were not cut cleanly, they were cut as if something had chewed through them. Just like these giant ant mandibles, for example.
Adam ran. He didn’t stay to fight, at such a close range he stood no chance, so he booked it out of the room as fast as he could, practically vaulting over the center shelf of the cigar store that had fallen over.
He whipped around as soon as he had made it through the door to look back the way he came, gun pointing at the backroom door ready to blow them away. However the ants were simply staring back at him from the backroom, they had not, and were not, following him outside. They were chittering wildly, clearly agitated to be disturbed by Adam. However they seemed to have no more interest in going after Adam than Adam did in fighting them. It seemed as if both parties were uninterested in a fight. It was a strange show of… intelligence? From the ants. But he didn’t question it, he simply backed up slowly, gun still pointing at the ants who remained unmoving in the backroom aside from their mandibles and antennae.
As soon as he had enough distance he ran out of sight of the doorway, to get away from the ants, but remained in the plaza. That was an exceptionally unexpected encounter, but giant ants would still make nests right? Which would mean likely they had a whole colony underground through that hole. He was not equipped to fight an army of giant ants. However it seemed as though they had no interest in him, just as he had no interest in engaging them. So as long as that held they were not a threat. Of course he didn’t plan to drop his guard, but he had come all the way here, it would be a great shame to leave with only the few things he had gathered, he wanted to at least hit the gun store first. So that is what he did. Despite the risks.
Upon entering the gun store he was met with a few interesting things. First, the store was empty. And unlike the previous stores it didn’t look as though it was looted in a hurry it was thorough, not a single bullet was left behind. But this was true only for what he could immediately access.
Half the store from the front entrance was accessible to him, just as if he had walked in to buy something, but the back half of the room was locked behind a metal shutter not too dissimilar to the one that was in front of the smoke shop. However unlike that one this one was heavy duty. A gentle tug test proved that the individual links that made up the metal wall before him must have weighed five pounds each. He could never hope to get through this with brute force.
There was a saving grace, however. He noticed that on the ground where the shutter met with the floor was a lock. If one had the key they could easily open the shutter. Adam did not, but he had the next best thing. A bobby pin.
He had taken it from his locksmith teacher Mick yesterday when he was practicing. As Mick said it was a very useful tool when trying to lockpick. So he got to work, inserting the bobby pin inside the lock and then inserting his screwdriver from his belt into the keyhole to turn it if he managed to find the right position.
Adam spent several minutes working at this before realizing this lock was much more complicated than the one he had been practicing on yesterday. Not only that, but his bobbypin was practically broken by now, bent out of shape from overuse. With a heavy heart he gave up.
However, before he stood up and turned to leave he noticed, as he was still looking at the ground, that there was a floor panel that could be removed right next to the lock on the floor. Curious, Adam removed the panel and revealed a small computer monitor with hookups and no keyboard. He hadn’t even realized but the lock must have been keyed to an electrical signal, perhaps there was a remote that the owner could have used? But this was perfect, Adam was a poor lockpick, but he was a great hacker.
Plugging his pip-boy into the in-ground computer brought up a password menu, navigating through he managed to get through the password screen after only a minute of tinkering. Once inside he was brought to a command menu with only one option:
[Open Shutters]
There was no hesitation. With the loud whirring of gears the shutters slowly began to open up, it took over a minute for them to fully open, likely due to rusted gears or old motors, but what awaited him on the other side was better than gold. Guns. Lots of guns.
Chapter Text
It was an understatement to say it was a lot of guns. It was more than alot, it was a fully stocked backroom. Rifles lined the rifle racks, pistols dotted the inside of the glass case where the cash register sat, the entire right side wall was full of ammo of all types. It was a motherlode.
The only thing that could be disheartening was that this half of the room only accounted for about 25% of the store, so there was not a lot of room in the part that remained unlooted. Still, it was a massive find. The real issue was how to get it all home.
Adam only had one backpack. That was his true weakness. He was only one man with only so much carrying space. He truly could not bring this all back, not, at least, without a lot of effort.
For the moment Adam needed to do some inventory, so before he even began to loot he walked into the backroom of the shop to see what he could find. Largely it was as he might have imagined, there were a few guns and ammo back here, probably overflow and kept for restocking but it was pretty much just an office, there was a desk with a computer on it, turned off with no power, filing cabinets, a safe, and a duffle bag. Perfect.
Adam walked right over to the duffle bag and found it already partly filled with guns, ammo, food, and a few other things. This was likely a bug out bag. Poor guy didn’t have time to grab it. But his loss was Adam’s gain.
Adam emptied the bag of things he didn’t need. While he felt bad about taking out the picture of the shopkeeper’s family framed in a 8x10 wooden picture frame, he really didn’t need it and needed the space more.
Once Adam had made more space within the bag he took the guns from the backroom and threw them into his bag along with anything else of value from the office in the back and then returned to the store front.
Looting came shortly after. The problem was, even with his new duffle bag, there were simply too many guns, too much stuff for him to take. It was a good problem to have but it still stung to have to leave some of it behind. Still, with concerted effort Adam had stuffed his bag to the brim with guns and boxes of ammo. Neither his backpack nor his duffle bag were able to zip up properly now, gun barrels were practically spilling out the top of his backpack, the duffle bag was one more gun away from ripping, and there was no chest space left for Adam to throw another strap on. He was truly overencumbered. But even after all this looting he had not taken everything. There were still a number of guns left behind, but there was nothing he could do about it, he was in no condition to take anything more as is. He would simply have to come back later. Besides, maybe there was an advantage to knowing about a stash of weapons left untouched outside the walls, he might never know when he needed it again. But he had stayed long enough and completed his objective. Now he wanted to head back, after all he didn’t want to stick around for the ants to change their minds and attack him, or worse, have to sleep outside unprepared again.
So, with the last swig of his bottle of water he set out to leave and head back to Naper, a successful scavenging run complete. However he paused at the door and then sighed as he turned back around. With some effort he put his backpack down because crouching with it on was practically impossible and then knelt next to the control panel again. He connected his pip-boy once more and then selected [Close Shutters]
With a mechanical whirl the shutters began moving once more, ensuring that this little secret of Adam's will likely remain secret until he needed it again.
Then, finally, with even more effort to get his backpack on and a groan of strain he started, slowly, making his way back to Naper.
Adam had considered, for a moment, if he could get that motorcycle he found to run and use it to get back instead. Unfortunately he was already strapped to the brim with guns all over his body, his mobility was incredibly inefficient. Besides, he did not have the key to the motorcycle. While it might have been possible to jury rig it to work without a key, Adam did not know how to do that off the top of his head, he’d need to pull it apart and take a look inside first, and the motorcycle was sitting in sight of the door that led to the ant burrow. Overburdened, overtaxed, and in no mood to take chances with the ants he decided to leave it behind.
The first part of the trip was as uneventful as he might have hoped. The ants did not leave their building to bother him, though he did make an effort to leave as far from them as possible. And for a while the trip was quiet. If not for the fact his entire body was screaming at him for over exerting himself like he was it would be peaceful.
Still, he needed something to distract him while he was making this march, a far worse march than even during the hellish days of bootcamp. So he finally made use of a feature his pip-boy had that he had neglected until now. The radio. Right now, he needed something to distract him from his screaming muscles, if anything he could think of it like a workout but a little bit of music could go a long way for him.
He scanned through the frequencies his pip-boy was receiving. One seemed to be a deep voiced man rattling off some sort of political stance about change? Adam didn’t stick around to listen long, he wanted music. The next he found seemed to be a station specifically dedicated to old world commercials, like, exclusively. There was no music, no talk shows, just the radio ads you’d hear between those things, but forever. It was weirdly charming, but for the moment he wanted music not to be sold on a product that hasn’t existed for over 200 years. So he kept looking. Next was a classical music station, it was nice and all, and was music, but truthfully, Adam wasn’t big into classical music so he kept looking, planning to return to the classical music station if there was nothing else.
Then, as he reached the upper limit of the frequencies he could scan for he found a radio station. It seemed to be hosted by an energetic and charismatic DJ called Silver Ray Johnson and his station played a mix of music, but namely stuff like Frank sinatra, Nat King Cole, the Ink Spots, Billie Holiday and a bunch of other artists Adam was familiar with, it was almost exactly the same sort of station that he would listen to when driving to work. Furthermore his search for, and subsequent enjoyment of, the perfect radio station to listen to on this arduous trip back had killed a lot of time, he was over halfway back by the time he had started to pay attention to his surroundings again.
Truthfully this was a bad thing, he had dropped his guard, if someone or something ambushed him he might have been killed without a chance to react, luckily that didn’t happen, but such was the dangers of travelling alone.
However as he was regaining his awareness of his surroundings he began to see and hear gunfire from up ahead. Adam went wide-eyed. This was the worst case scenario. He was overencumbered at the moment, if he were to be attacked he would lose handedly. He was in no condition to fight back, he could hardly lift his pistol in this state let alone fight someone rushing him in melee. He had no choice, he had to hide.
Chapter Text
Slowly, but with more urgency than ever, Adam stashed himself inside the half destroyed ruins of an old building that had long since lost any easily identifiable markers of what it once was. Once inside he put his backpack down as well as the duffle bag. He then began stripping off all the guns he had slung over his chest until it was just his original gear again. Taking it off was not exactly fast but it was quicker taking them off than putting them on, it would be a pain in the ass to get all this stuff back on him again when it was time to move, but not dying came first.
Once he was better suited for a fight he snuck over to the window that looked out of the ruins he hid inside and saw where the gunfire he was hearing was coming from. He also began to pick on what the situation was. There was an armed group of men attacking a man who was standing on a roof laughing.
The men on the ground were most likely raiders, they seemed to be wearing similar ragtag gear, but they all seemed more well armed than any raider he’d seen until now, they had actual armor on rather than just things to intimidate people with. Though their armor was in poor condition and still very slip-shod it was better than nothing. But what stood out the most about these men was some of them had a symbol on their backs. A sort of flame symbol sitting behind two crossed swords. Not all of them had this symbol but among the 8 men he saw there about half of them did. Though his angle to look at them was not great, even with his binoculars so more might have the emblem just out of view from him.
The man on the rooftop was another story. He was wearing full combat gear, laughing his head off like a madman while he fired down at the partly pinned raiders. In his hand he held a heavy incinerator. A weapon Adam had never actually seen during his time serving in the military but heard about. It was basically a flame mortar able to chuck condense balls of napalm in a wide arc over great distances without losing cohesion. The weird thing was everytime the man pulled the trigger he screamed out “fireball” like he was casting a spell. As if he was a wizard from a story book.
“Fireball! Fireball! Fireball! Fireball!” Over and over until, after a minute of shouting fireball on repeat he ran out of ammo. It looked as if the raiders were about to pop out of their varying covers to fire back but then he picked up another weapon from the ground next to him. A strange cannon.
Adam had never even seen whatever this thing was but it was shaped like a rocket launcher and had a lot of wires and tubes on it and glowed a bright blue. It seemed to be able to channel electricity and then shoot it out. Now, just like before, the man was shouting out random words as if he was casting spells while firing.
“Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt! Lightning Bolt!” The fire rate of the strange device seemed slow but the destructive power seemed very high. A direct hit on a car one of the raiders were hiding behind caused a mini nuclear meltdown and the car erupted in an explosion. However the man seemed to have no intention of stopping and the raiders seemed to have no intention of letting him leave so both groups were entirely focused on each other.
Adam decided, for his own safety and sanity, to collect all his things and take the long way around. No sense getting involved in this fight that he had nothing to do with in the first place. Regardless of who won, the group of raiders or the crazy man with the heavy weaponry he would not be in a good place to fight the winner. Besides he already had too much stuff as is. He needed to get to Naper.
He spent a few minutes getting all his stuff back on, guns strapped to his chest, backpack back on and duffle bag in his hand. The entire time he could still hear the sound of the gunfight going on. At some point the sound of the electrical cannon seemed to stop and instead was replaced by the sound of a grenade machine gun. Just how much ordinance does this one guy have?
Adam was not interested in sticking around to find out, so, with haste, he turned back the way he came to take a large detour around the madness that was unfolding behind him. Truly, this was a wild wasteland.
Eventually the sounds of the insanity he left behind disappeared into the distance and Adam once more felt comfortable listening to music from his pip-boy once more. Luckily, among the many features the Pip-Boy had, it could remember any station you wanted it to just like a car radio, however it had no max number of remembered stations, it was incredibly convenient. Honestly, how he lived before he had this personalized wrist computer is beyond him, the pip-boy was incredibly helpful.
More to that point when he eventually got back to Naper he would need to offload all of this extreme excess he was carrying and sell it to Chuck. He had a ton of things to sell, as evidenced by the bulk, but everything was neatly catalogued in his pip-boy, entered by himself for record keeping. It was very helpful to, at a glance, know how much 10mm ammo he was carrying, which at the moment he was carrying a lot thanks to the gun shop. But not only would it be helpful to easily convey to Chuck how much he was selling, but even just for his own inventory management when he wasn't hauling back loot it served its purpose. In the heat of battle, or while he found himself in a stressful situation he didn’t need to spare any thought for what he had in his bag. Did he have stimpacks? Radaway? Med-X? He might not be able to remember in a pinch, but his pip-boy certainly would, that boon can not be understated.
Regardless, with his music keeping his mind distracted and his path already known due to mostly retracing his steps from earlier, he was met with no resistance nor any strange encounters.
Adam made it back to the wall, panting. This had to be a few hundred pounds of loot, not something he couldn’t lift and move, but traversing uneven terrain for several hours all the while keeping his head on a swivel and not letting his guard drop took a lot out of him. Truthfully he could have gone another hour before he would have had to take a break no matter how much he wanted to arrive before nightfall, but the sight of the wall emerging in the distance sapped the rest of his strength.
As he walked up to the wall his legs felt like jelly, his arms were numb, his chest stung from the constant swinging of rifles against him, and he was slumped over more than he had ever done in his entire life.
“Adam?” The guard called out from the wall confused, seeing Adam come back looking worn out. “You alright there?”
“Yeah… I'm good.” Adam returned, exhausted. “C-can you… open the gate?” Adam said, between labored breaths.
“Yeah uh, sure…” The guard returned as he pressed the gate button and stared at the huge number of weapons strapped to Adam, sticking out of his bag, and out of the duffle bag he found. It was actually pretty impressive.
As soon as the gate was open, despite how much Adam felt like collapsing right there on the spot, he mustered what bit of his strength and adrenaline he still had left and soldiered on. Just a bit further.
“What the-” was all that came out of Chuck’s mouth as Adam dumped everything he had brought back with him on the counter of Winchester’s. Adam looked haggard beyond belief, he was sweaty, veins bulging out the side of his head, and his face was beet red.
“I'm here to sell.” Adam squeaked out with an exasperated and yet still driven tone as he looked at Chuck wide-eyed, almost struggling to stay on his feet.
Chapter Text
“Alright alright, but take a seat would you? You look like you are about to pass out.” Chuck said with a concerned tone to Adam as Adam began to lean on the counter.
“Honestly, I feel like I might…” Adam admitted as he slowly began to lower himself to the ground, finally planting his butt on the wooden floor of the shop. Chuck looked at him concerned.
“Alright, we can talk business in a moment, first you need to get some fluids in ya.” He said before he quickly walked off from the counter, heading up stairs.
Adam was left sitting on the floor exhausted. This was a massive windfall, it would certainly be worth his efforts, but it really didn’t feel that way right now. Adam was lightheaded, his muscles ached, and his whole body was screaming in pain. Never again would he walk back over encumbered, this was too much.
Chuck came back a few moments later, carrying a bottle of water. He walked around the counter to get to Adam and then knelt next to him.
“Alright, friend. Drink up.” Chuck said with an almost tender tone as he handed the bottle to Adam to drink. If Adam was in a clearer headspace he might have asked how much the drink would cost him, but truthfully he was not in a good headspace, and being offered that water the only thought on his mind was to drink. So he did.
“You want me to call the Doc for you?” Chuck said as he watched Adam guzzled down the bottle in seconds.
“No.” Adam responded after a moment to finish drinking. “I am fine, just…. Exhausted.”
“Yeah, I bet.” Chuck said as he stood up, looked at the table full of goods and then whistled. “Hell, you really outdone yourself with this one. You raid a military base or something? You are packing enough guns here to outfit the town!” He laughed softly as he offered Adam his hand to help him stand up. Adam looked at Chuck's hand and then politely waved him off.
“I think i’ll stay on the floor for a few minutes, catch my breath, if that's fine.”
“I dun mind much at all.” Chuck said with a smile as he walked back behind the counter to begin examining everything.
“And you asked if I went to a military base? I didn’t but I went to the next best thing.” Adam said as he stared at the floor and tried to slow his breathing. “Did you know there are giant ants? There are giant ants.” He said as if exasperated. Chuck just laughed while he held up, and inspected, a rifle from the pile.
“Oh yeah, them buggers are a real problem. Best to stay out of their way, never see just one, they always move in groups.”
“Place I raided had a whole nest of them. Luckily they didn’t seem interested in me, so I got away easily.”
“Well you are pretty lucky, but if they didn’t chase you far then what you saw were likely worker ants.” Chuck informed as he opened a box of ammo and checked the bullets. “It's the soldier ants you got to be wary of, they are dogged. Not that a worker ant isn't dangerous mind you, but they usually aren’t spoiling for a fight.” Adam nodded silently as he remained on the floor letting Chuck look through all his gear.
“Well….” Chuck said as he finished up looking through everything. “You really outdid yourself. I know I said it before, but I ain’t kidding. This is quite the haul you brought back.” Chuck smiled. Adam grabbed hold of the countertop and pulled himself to his feet ready to handle this part of negotiations.
“18 rifles, 4 pistols, 20 boxes of ammo, cigarettes, cigars, whiskey and beer, and a few other things, you have quite the collection.”
“Thanks. Now please tell me this is all worth something because otherwise I might collapse.” Adam joked with a note of exhaustion.
“Well, by my calculations you will be walking away with…” Chuck pulled out a notepad and skimmed through all the details. “1321 caps.” He smiled.
“Assuming, that is, if you are willing to sell everything here.”
Adam’s eyes lit up, he was still incredibly exhausted but that number Chuck just threw out was easily enough to give him a second wind.
“You bet I am.” Adam said with a big smile. He knew he was bringing back a lot, he knew that everything he had grabbed was valuable. He knew that guns and ammo especially were worth grabbing, but he couldn’t help but doubt himself until now. After all, he practically made himself pass out by carrying as much stuff as he was, he couldn’t help but doubt himself and if his efforts were worth it. But this was pure validation, he had made enough money today alone that puts his past days efforts to shame even collectively. Though he still promised never to overtax himself like this again. That was a mistake. A second trip would be smarter, it was too dangerous to become overburdened.
Adam let off a sigh of relief as he leaned in closer on the counter. “I'm glad to know it was worthwhile.”
“It certainly was.” Chuck laughed and then added. “You have been selling me so much stuff I practically have an entire section of my storeroom dedicated to your finds.”
“Well I'm glad I'm making an impact.” Adam joked.
“Oh believe me, you are.” Chuck said as he opened his lockbox and began to pull out vouchers. Once they were counted, along with some loose caps he handed them over to Adam, who promptly put them in his pocket.
“I’m lucky you are taking the vouchers, otherwise i’d have to turn you away, you bring in so much stuff that I simply wouldn’t have the liquid capital to buy ‘em off you.”
“To be honest, carrying slips of paper is much easier than carrying around thousands of little metal bottle caps.” Adam returned as he, begrudgingly, recollected his backpack and now empty duffle bag. Though they were lightened of their load, Adam was still extremely tired and simply wanted to disrobe and sleep. But he couldn’t do that yet.
Chuck’s eyes lit up when Adam said this, as if he was just told he won the lottery, or rather, as if he was finally getting some validation. “You see! I knew I liked you for a reason!” He laughed heartily with a big smile on his face. “The others are always looking down on the vouchers but I tells ya, they were a great idea then, and they are a great idea now!” He laughed a bit more before reaching over the counter and then patted Adam’s shoulder.
“Well either way, go get some sleep, you look like you need it.” Chuck said warmly.
“Yeah, I'm about to go to sleep for another 211 years.” Adam joked lethargically as he turned back around to head to the Inn. “Thanks as always Chuck.”
“No, thank you friend! I’ll be seeing you!”
Once Adam had gotten back inside the Inn he saw the usual patrons as well as a family he hadn’t seen here yet, all eating, drinking and mingling. Salvatore was in his usual spot at the bar, drinking right out of the bottle of what was probably a vodka judging by the label but truthfully Adam didn’t spend too much time looking at whatever he was drinking. Instead Adam strode right over to Salvatore’s spot, reaching into his pocket as he did. Once Adam had made it over he slapped his hand down on the counter right in front of Salvatore.
“2000 caps.” Adam said triumphantly through his exhaustion as he pulled up his hand revealing 2000 caps worth of vouchers now sitting in front of Salvatore.
Salvatore was shocked, he looked at the vouchers and then at Adam and then at the vouchers again.
“Well I’ll be…” He said as he picked up the slips of paper and began to skim through them. “Didn’t know you had it in you, kid. Honestly, you might be the biggest money maker in this whole damn area apart from the guild.” Satisfied with all the money being there he gave an impressed sigh, ran a finger along the edge of all the slips of paper before stowing them away in his pouch.
“Well, looks like you just bought yourself a mercenary kid.” He said as he turned to look at Adam with a grin. “Pleasure working for ya.”
Chapter Text
There were no more pleasantries exchanged after that, Adam grabbed a pre-cooked meal of some sort of skewered meat from Mandy for 5 caps and then walked right to his room. Moments later he was stripping off all his gear desperate to get a nap or sleep in. He paused as he reached his new gloves.
He had found, among the tons of stuff taken from the gun store, also a handful of very nice leather gloves designed for better grip when holding firearms as well as preventing calluses from forming on the hands. They also were cut resistant. All in all, very good gloves. But of course, Adam was at a premium for space, so he left most behind, except for one he had taken with him, a tan pair. It stood out against his blue vault jumpsuit but it was a nice addition to his kit. He had forgotten he was even wearing them until the moment he got back to his room.
Finally unburdened once more, he sat on the side of his bed, ate his skewer quickly, and then went to sleep without much further delay.
The next day, after waking up later than normal and after a nice wash he had to spend some time thinking about what his next steps were. He had officially hired Salvatore, with his help the amount he could scavenge as well as the danger of the areas he entered had expanded dramatically. He would need to keep Salvatore’s expenses in mind, but if he can do even slightly lucrative runs he could easily pay for Salvatore as well as himself without worry.
The only issue that might arise is the fact that Salvatore might not want to join him on runs into old world ruins. However this was unlikely, or rather, unlikely to be a problem. When Salvatore told Adam his price he knew exactly the kind of work Adam was in, Scavenging might not be his favorite job but it certainly not something he is going to say no to, which is why he probably let Adam buy him out.
Of course he will need to have a nice long conversation with Salvatore before they start their operations together, but it was nice to know he had, at the bare minimum, an extra set of hands to help carry things, if nothing else. Salvatore was also a seasoned fighter and honestly put Adam to shame, there was nothing to complain about. This was all future thoughts though, the logistics of how he would best utilize Salvatore could come later right now he needed a plan for next steps.
Lost in his thoughts he wandered out of the room heading into the bar and restaurant part of the Inn, taking his seat at the bar where he normally sat.
“Hey Eric.” Adam said absentmindedly as he stared off into space, his mind going over everything he might do going forwards. All the places he needed and wanted to go, all the things he would need, and how his mind slowly began to peter off into absurdly long term plans such as how he would ever be able to retire if he was a scavenger.
Eric, noticing the look in Adam’s eyes, spoke up. “Hey… you okay?”
“Hm?” Adam hummed as he broke out of his daze and looked over at Eric. “Me? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Just… lost in thought at the moment.” Eric nodded and then went back to cooking for a bit, grilling something that could be affectionately called eggs before sighing and then turning back around to look at Adam.
“What's on your mind?” He asked a tiny bit annoyed at himself for asking but a look of genuine, if modest, interest on his face.
Adam looked up at him, surprised to see him interested in Adam’s life. Eric had never, in all the time he’d known him, expressed any interest in… anything. Everyday he’d come out here for breakfast and they’d say not more than a few words to each other. Not for lack of trying, Adam often started up a conversation but Eric had recently taken to passively ignoring him. He seemed to have a lot on his own mind as well. Ever since the day Adam had spoken about how he could try to find a job he wanted to do instead of the job he had to do. Perhaps he was thinking it over. Regardless the question caught Adam off guard enough for him to completely break from his train of thought.
Adam looked at Eric for a moment before he sighed. “Honestly, just thinking about what to do next…” He paused. “Truthfully I know what I need to do, I need to go…” He paused again. “I have a ton of questions that need answering and I know the one place that has those answers is too far for me to go without heading to Midway. I'm excited to go, of course, but I'm also nervous…” He paused again and then sighed as he looked Eric in the eyes.
“There's so much mystery I have to uncover, and truthfully… I'm worried about what I might find. And this place, you people have been great. I like it here, but I can’t sit still.” He sighed again. Eric sat there staring at Adam for a moment, he hadn’t expected Adam to have something deep on his mind, he did care, that's why he asked, but truthfully he hadn’t really thought it would be a big deal.
“I uh…” Eric floundered for a moment before he stopped, pulled out a glass from below the bar and filled it with water and then placed it in front of Adam. “It's uh… on the house…” He said a bit uncertain what to say as he slid the glass to Adam and then turned back around to resume cooking.
Adam just chuckled softly as he started sipping at the water. A few moments later Eric spoke up again but without turning around.
“I don’t know what to tell you, I’ve never left here but… don’t make choices you will regret. If staying is going to make you anxious then… go.” Eric said, his ears burning with embarrassment. Adam smiled softly.
“Thanks Eric.”
The rest of the morning was quiet. Adam ordered breakfast to go with the drink paying 8 caps for it and spent the start of the day reading his fiction novel.
He hadn’t really given it much thought but his body was not nearly as worn out as he thought it would be. He was a bit sore, but a bit was all it was, considering how much he pushed himself yesterday he figured he’d be in pain all day today. Seemed his body was more durable than he gave it credit for. Still this was truly an afterthought.
Eventually, after Adam had long since finished eating his food and now was simply chilling in the Inn reading his book so as to be around people, the Doctor walked in.
“Adam.” Doctor Abbas said as he walked right over to Adam. “Do you have some time?” He asked patiently. Adam looked up at him and then nodded, put his bookmark in the page and then closed the book.
“Sure, what is it?” He asked curiously.
“The patient you brought back, the woman taken by the raiders? She is awake and has asked to see you.”
Chapter Text
The walk over to the doctor’s office was slow and gave Adam’s mind enough time to clear. He was, of course, curious why he was being singled out to be spoken to by the woman, but mostly he was just glad she was awake.
“She’s right in there.” Doc said as he let Adam inside his office and then pointed to the other door in the back, the room Adam hadn’t gone in last time he was here. He walked into the room and saw the same woman they had rescued from the raiders, sitting up, wrapped in a large blanket, naked but covered, on a medical bed. Now that Adam was looking at her, she was rather pretty, she had long brunette hair and green emerald eyes. Of course she was scarred, not just on her back like he saw when he killed the raider but everywhere, even on her face.
The room itself looked to be more of a surgery style room, it had various tools on rolling tray tables and an auto-doc in the corner. It's clear that the other room was for routine examinations and this one was for more important medical actions. It made sense she was brought here.
As Adam entered the room her eyes locked with Adam’s as she shifted a bit on the bed to address him.
“Are you Adam? Adam Baxter?” She asked with a calm, measured tone.
“Yes, that's me.” Adam said softly as he stopped a few feet away from her. He paused as he heard the door behind him close, the doctor likely giving them privacy to have their conversation.
“I wanted to thank you… personally.” She said with the same tone. Though now Adam was hearing it differently. When he first heard her speak it sounded calm, measured, unshaken. Now he was hearing the opposite. It sounded more reserved, quiet, like she was a few steps from just sobbing. This was likely her keeping a brave face on, he respected that a lot. He wouldn’t bring any of this up to her of course. The best thing he could do for her to respect her ability to keep herself together after what she went through is to treat her normally, like she seemed to want to be treated.
Adam smiled warmly at her comment. “Thank you, but I don't see why you wanted to thank me, specifically.” Adam said as he took a seat in the chair sitting against the wall on the other side of the room.
“You were the one who killed that- killed Jay, right?” She asked. It was clear she was going to use another term other than the man’s name but held herself back and instead chose a tamer word.
“Yes. I saw that man on top of you. So I got behind him and killed him.” Adam said resolutely as he looked her in the eyes. She nodded.
‘Then you saved me…” She said, her voice wavering a bit now. She placed a hand on her heart under the blanket she wrapped around herself.
“It wasn't just me, it was thanks to everyone that we managed to kill all the raiders. Especially those that didn’t make it.” She raised an eyebrow and offered a weak smile.
“You have a hard time accepting compliments huh?” She said with a single quiet laugh. Adam laughed softly too and scratched the back of his head a bit.
“Not usually no…” He smiled. “Well then, you are welcome. I am glad we made it in time and I am glad to see you doing okay now.”
“That’s debatable…” She muttered quietly under her breath, Adam could only barely hear it, he wasn't even positive he heard her right. “I’m not…” She paused, and looked away from Adam, at the wall. “The doctor said I’m okay. My injuries will all heal with time…” She gently dragged two fingers down her face, tracing the outline of the fresh scar that covered the right side of her face. It extended all the way from just above her eyebrow down to her chin.
“Most of them…” She muttered to herself again, though this time Adam heard her perfectly.
“Trauma is never easy to get over. We all carry scars of some kind or another. I'm sorry. The wounds you have received are going to take a long time to heal but…” he started, speaking softly and soothingly. Pausing for a moment before continuing. “They will heal.” He said with a light smile to her.
She sighed deeply and then nodded. “I know, I’m usually stronger than this, just this whole thing has really shaken me up…” She said, petering off a bit at the end.
“There’s no rule that says you have to be strong all the time, or that you have to handle what you just went through alone. The people of this town are very friendly, kind, and generous. If you let them, I'm sure they will help you stand on your own two feet again.” She paused as she looked into Adam’s eyes for a moment before she let off another soft laugh.
“You some kind of therapist?” She said with a half smile.
“No. I'm a soldier, mechanic, and scavenger.” Adam said with a small laugh of his own. “Therapy isn’t one of my skills.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” She said back before letting off a heavy exhale and then straightening up a bit.
“My name is Mira by the way. Mirabelle, actually, but I hate my full name so I just go by Mira.”
“Nice to meet you Mira.” Adam smiled. She seemed to study Adam for a moment before speaking again.
“You from a vault?” She asked.
“Yes, I am. One not too far from here actually.”
“Your vault have any room for me?” She asked joking softly, though it was clear she was hoping the answer was yes.
“The vault I came from is empty, there's no one living in it and it wasn’t functioning properly. One of the reasons I left.” Adam explained calmly. Again, the situation was far more complicated but making it simple and bite-sized for people was the far better course since explaining the full truth would not only take a while but is much harder to believe. Besides she wasn’t asking for his life story, just if his vault had room.
“Shame.” She said with a disappointed sigh. “I always wanted to live in a vault. Sounded safe.”
“Well considering everyone left, I think that's up for debate.” Adam chuckled, she laughed a bit too.
“I’m sorry for taking time out of your day, Adam. I just really wanted to thank the man who saved me. Plus I heard you carried me all the way back here. I don’t think I would have been able to sleep comfortably until I at least expressed my gratitude.” Adam smiled warmly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad it's behind us now. You are safe so we can both be happy about that. Besides, I wasn’t doing anything today, I went all out yesterday so I’m taking the day off.”
“Well then I apologize for taking time from your relaxation.”
“I was bored anyway.” Adam said as he stood up. “So this was a welcome diversion.” Adam started to walk towards the door but was stopped by her speaking up again.
“Do you… live here… in this town?” She asked tentatively. Adam paused for a moment, his back to her before he turned around to look at her fully.
“No, I don't….” He said with more of a note of finality than he intended, just an accidental consequence of his thoughts not yet being in order and petering off his sentence. “I um… only recently left the vault and I’m looking for answers, I will likely be leaving the town soon.”
“Oh…” She said with a disappointed tone. “Well please… just stay safe. I don’t want to hear that you died out in the wasteland. That’d be too sad of a fate.” She put on a sad smile, perhaps thinking of not only Adam dying in that way but referring to someone else she once knew. Adam grinned softly.
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on dying until I get some answers.” He then nodded to her politely before opening the door to leave the room, leaving her once more alone in the operating room.
Chapter Text
“So how is she Doc?” Adam asked as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind him, letting her have some privacy.
The doctor looked up from a copy of the D.C.Journal of Internal Medicine he was reading.
“She’s doing much better.” He said as he put the book down on the counter and then stood up to chat with Adam. “Her wounds were pretty severe, but mostly it was the accumulation of stress and damage that had brought her to that state. She will have a hard time functioning fully for a while, but I believe she will be fully back on her feet in a few months.”
“Has she spoken about family, or where she is from? Does she have a family to go back to?” Adam asked inquisitively.
“I do not know. It was my hope that she would tell you such things.” The Doc said. Adam shook his head.
“She didn’t tell me much about herself, she just wanted to know about me and I wasn’t going to push.” The Doctor nodded and then sighed.
“Well, in time she will either open up about it and we can maybe send a message out or she will keep her mouth shut and do her own thing.” He shrugged. “It is not my place as a physician to dictate how she should live her life, just to make sure she keeps it.”
“Do you think the town would be willing to take her in if she needed it?” The doctor raised an eyebrow as he contemplated the question for a moment.
“Probably. I can’t speak for everyone but Naper isn’t going to shy away from a bit of charity.” He mused.
“I’d offer to help too, it seems as though she trusts me. But I'm probably leaving soon.”
“Leaving? Pray tell where are you going?” The doctor asked as he leaned on the counter.
“Midway.” Adam said back quickly.
“Really?” He said with some surprise, then paused for a moment. “What would make you go to such a ghastly place?” Adam laughed softly.
“I have to look for some answers and the place I need to go to is much closer to Midway. But that’s the first time I’ve heard it called ghastly.” Abbas chuckles darkly.
“You’ll understand when you get there.” He said as he began to turn around to resume his own business, before stopping to look at Adam again. “Oh yes, if you see a Doctor Yewon there, tell her I said… hello.” He grinned and then sat back down in his chair with his book.
“Alright, I will.” Adam said with a nod as he headed for the door to head back to the Inn, the same sense of restlessness he had before present once more. He didn’t know how to spend the day, but he knew he needed to rest. His body might have recovered far more than he expected but not everyday can be a day outside the walls. A break after each scavenging run was a good idea anyway.
Once he got back to the Inn he noticed Salvaotre standing outside the front door, leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette.
“You know smoking will kill you.” Adam said jokingly as he passed by.
“Ain’t done me in yet. I can’t get that lucky.” He said as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and then snuffed the ember between his fingers.
“Kid, wait, we gotta talk.” He said, stopping Adam at the door. Adam turned to look at him, giving him his full attention.
“You were exhausted yesterday but I want to work out some details for the contract. Afterall I can’t just simply accept the money if you are going to do something stupid…” He said before petering off and entering a moment of contemplation. “Nah, who am I kidding, I’d do it anyway, but the point is I want to be clear about the ground rules.”
“Yeah, sure. No problem.” Adam nodded.
“Good, follow me, we can talk in my room.” Salvatore put the cigarette away back inside the pack and then headed into the Inn, leading Adam along. He walked over to his room and opened the door ushering Adam inside. Adam was astounded by what he saw.
Unlike Adam’s own room he rented from Mandy this room was very much customized to Salvatore’s liking. There was a liquor cabinet on the far right wall that was suspiciously empty, there was a desk with a computer on it and a copy of red menace next to it. On the same desk was a mostly used carton of cigarettes. His bed had a black bed sheet and comforter, the walls had a few posters on them, mostly of pin-up girls, he had a tapestry on one wall, the most colorful thing in the room.
But what truly drew Adam’s attention the most was the entire left side of the room which was converted to a miniature armory. The wall was full of guns, armor, and ammo all with their own neat and organized spots. It wasn't nearly enough to outfit more than a few people but for one man Salvatore was packing a lot of heat. He had quite a selection to choose from, far from just his rifle and shotgun, he seemed more than capable of switching up his loadout for whatever the mission required. In addition to all of this there was a weapon workbench on that same wall where he could fix and augment his guns as needed.
“Stop gawking and get inside.” Salvatore said as he brushed past Adam on his way inside his own room. “And close the door behind you.” Adam obliged and then took a seat in the chair that sat in front of the workbench and opposite where Salvatore sat on his bed.
“First off I am not going to do suicide missions, you ask me to do something that goes too far I’m going to say no.” He said as he leaned a bit back on his bed and began to lay out the rules.
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Adam nodded.
“Second, As I said you will be responsible for my lodgings and food and drink whenever we are out on a mission, there are exceptions at certain places but I’ll get to that when it happens.” He took out a cigarette and sat it in his mouth and let it remain unlit.
“Third, just as I said before, if I'm unneeded I will go find another job if I can, I am not going to follow you around like a lost puppy unless that's what you need me to do. Fourth, you die, i'm not responsible for your body. Our contract is void with your death.” Adam once more nodded about to open his mouth to speak before Salvatore held up a finger to stop him.
“Fifth I am not your monkey. I am a mercenary, I will not do tricks for you on command, I run protection and fight, if you need someone to put on a USO show, find another ghoul.” He said with a bit of bite. Perhaps something happened in the past to make him include this rule, he was oddly poignant about it.
“Lastly, and this is one that just pertains to you…” He took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it over to the desk where it landed gently. “You are hiring me to accompany me on your runs, yeah?”
“Uh, yeah.” Adam responded, taking in the information and at least a small bit surprised Salvatore picked on this immediately. Though this just proved that his supposition was correct, Salvatore had accepted the money knowing what Adam would ask of him. Salvatore just nodded.
“I figured as much. I don't mind. I discouraged you from Scaving originally because it is dangerous, lost a lot of friends that way. I don't mind following you into old ruins or whatever, I'm not going to even ask for a cut, all I ask is that you don't act stupid.” He paused. “If i see you walking into a hallway full of turrets knowingly, i ain't going to die with you.” He grinned. “If you got a death wish you can die alone.” He chuckled.
“Oh! And I’m not a pack mule. I am a mercenary. You want someone to carry your stuff, hire a porter.” He added sharply.
“That's a job you can hire people to do?” Adam asked curiously.
“There’s all kinds of weirdos out there, finding someone to carry your stuff can’t be that hard.” He said before he stopped studying the contemplative look on Adam’s face for a moment. Adam was doing recalculations. He had assumed that Salvatore would be carrying things too, it didn’t change that he wanted to hire him but it did lower the amount of goods he could bring back if Salvatore was unwilling to help.
“Look.” Salvatore said, interrupting Adam’s thoughts. “I'm not saying I won’t carry anything, you give me a backpack I’ll wear it and you can throw things inside.” He paused as he considered how best to word this before continuing. “But I’m not carrying anything more than I’m comfortable with, I don’t want to burden myself with junk to the point I can’t fight properly.” He crossed his arms and continued.
“I heard what you did to get so exhausted yesterday, you walked for hours with hundreds of pounds of guns strapped to you. I’m not doing that. I will take one full bag at max.” Salvaotre stated, putting his foot down. Adam nodded slowly.
“I understand.” He then chuckled and laughed softly. “To tell you the truth I regretted my actions yesterday so much I swore I would never do that again. So from now on I do not plan on grabbing more than I can carry.”
“Good.” Salvatore crossed one leg over the other resting his right ankle on top of his left leg. “So, what's the plan?” He grinned, ready to get down to business.
Chapter Text
“Midway.” Adam said as he leaned back against the chair. Salvatore laughed.
“Well yeah, I figured that, kid. After all you were asking about a trip there recently, figured it was on your mind. I meant when?” Adam paused to consider.
“When can you be ready to go?” Adam asked.
“As soon as you need me.”
“Then let's set out tomorrow, I have to get some things in order first.”
“Fine by me.” Salvaotre hopped off his ass and then walked over to his armory looking at his weapons available. “You just say the word.”
“Awesome, glad to have you aboard Salvatore.” Adam grinned, stood up, and then offered Salvatore his hand. Salvaotre looked momentarily confused by the gesture but then accepted and nodded.
“Glad to be working with you, don’t get us killed.” He said with a grin. Adam turned to leave the room before Salvatore called out to him again. “Hey, kid.” Adam stopped and turned back around again.
“I got two more questions.”
“Okay, yeah, sure. What’s on your mind?”
“First, practical question, you are planning on making another stop on the way to Midway right?” Adam looked at him surprised.
“Yeah. How did you figure that out?”
“Call it the intuition of a man who is ten times your age.” He chuckled softly and then grew a bit more serious. “That’s fine, I just didn’t want to be caught unaware when you suddenly changed course. Second…” He paused, staring into Adam’s eyes for a long while before speaking again.
“Why are you going to Midway?” He asked with a serious tone while his eyes seemed to look for the answer on Adam’s face. Adam paused, sighed, and then leaned against the wall looking at the ground for a moment before returning the look to Salvatore.
“I need to get into my old workplace. Second Life HQ.” He said with a measured tone. “There are answers to my questions that I think can only be found there. Midway is close so…” He paused, looking at Salvatore’s expression studying him in return. The silence permeated the room for a few moments before Salvatore shrugged.
“Well I suppose that’s fine. I ain't going to say no. Just good to have a destination in mind before we start marching. I’ll help you as best I can, you didn’t pay me that much money for nothing.” He then grinned and added: “I may not be able to help you find the answers you are looking for, but I sure as hell can get you an opportunity to try.”
“Then it was money well spent.” Adam laughed and got off from the wall, opening the door as he did. “We can set out tomorrow after breakfast, I like to leave with as much daylight as possible.”
“Guess I’m heading to bed early tonight then.” He laughed and waved Adam out. “Now get the fuck out of my room.” He said more as a joke than anything serious as Adam left the room, closing the door behind him.
Adam now had a plan, what he needed to do was get the last few pieces in place. So with that in mind he walked to Winchester’s.
“Hey Chuck.” Adam said as he entered the store, seeing Chuck behind the counter cleaning a few guns he was planning to put on display.
“Oh! Howdy there friend! I don't suppose you got even more for me to buy today?” He smiled with a soft laugh.
“No, not today I'm afraid.” Adam chuckled a bit himself. “No, actually I came to say tomorrow I’m planning on leaving for Midway.”
“Oh? You are?” Chuck said with some surprise. “Well That’s a shame, I will be sad to see you go, but I suppose the pickings would be better deeper in the city.”
“No it's not even that, though I suppose that's a boon too. But I came here for a few reasons.” He pulled out all his vouchers and placed them on the counter, a total of 750 caps in vouchers. Adam had a total of 898 caps but the bulk of it was in these slips of paper that wouldn’t be worth anything at Midway so he wanted to make them liquid before he left.
“Ah.” Chuck said with a bit of disappointment seeing the vouchers. “I suppose you will want to be cashing out then.” He said more to himself than to Adam.
“Yeah. I will need caps so I can trade at Midway, can’t use your vouchers over there.”
“Yes, yes. I understand.” Chuck sighed as he took the vouchers. “Though, let me offer you an alternative to caps, if you will hear me out.” He reached into his black box and pulled the slips out revealing some that were hidden underneath.
“I got here some money they issue in Midway, the real stuff. It works the same as the vouchers when you make it there, and you’d be doing me a favor by not taking all my caps.” He laughed.
Adam paused to think it over for a moment before nodding.
“Alright, that sounds good.” He smiled and took the paper slips from Chuck. Unlike the Naper vouchers which were basically thick colored paper with the amount written on it and the signatures of the three merchants in town, the Midway money was the real deal. It was made of a cloth paper hybrid much like dollars were and it had a rather intricate design on it. There was an issuing date, a registry number, and the center had different logos on it, though he didn’t know what the logos meant. But this was much more professional than Chuck’s paper money, this looked like something that had to be made on a printing press, this couldn’t possibly be made by hand, it was far too detailed and all the bills of the same value were identical. It made him curious about who was printing these in Midway and how it came to be accepted, this was professional work.
“Now that you got your money, let me offer you some advice as a friend and as a merchant who often does business in Midway.” Chuck said, breaking Adam’s train of thought and bringing him back to the moment.
“When you are in Midway, whatever you do, do not mess with the merchant’s guild.” He said with a serious no nonsense tone. “There is a lot of power backing them up, they ain’t the types to let grudges go neither.” He sighed and leaned back again.
“They won’t bother you if you don’t stick your nose in the middle of their business, but it's just a friendly warning. You see black suits, you give them a wide berth.”
Adam looked at him confused. Who was the merchant guild that they commanded enough power that Chuck was specifically warning Adam to keep clear of them? Wasn’t it just a means for merchants to cooperate? Isn't that what a guild is? Why does Chuck look so serious about this?
“Why?” Adam couldn’t help himself from asking. Chuck lets off a big exhale before letting his shoulders droop a bit.
“They are the real power in Midway, don’t let no one else tell you otherwise. They got their own ways of doing things over there and you can’t expect someone to stick up for you. If you are lucky none of this advice will even be useful to you, in all likelihood it wont even matter. But it's just some friendly advice to stay away from them.”
Adam nodded. “I understand. I’ll do my best.” He then smiled. “I don’t plan to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong anyway so I'm sure it will be fine.” Chuck nodded.
“As long as you understand.” He smiled. “Is that everything?”
“Oh yes! Can I buy one more backpack?”
“Sure! 20 caps.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
Adam spent the rest of the day helping out around town, not that there was much to do, but he was feeling too energetic to just sit still and too wary of overtaxing himself to head out again, even to somewhere nearby, so he compromised by doing whatever sort of odd jobs he could find.
Eventually night came and he sat down for dinner in his usual spot. Mandy was behind the bar, cleaning a glass while she did.
“Heard you’re leaving.” She said while her eyes remained on the glass she was cleaning, her tone awfully flat.
“Yeah.” Adam said as he took his seat and pulled out some caps preemptively to pay for a meal, 12 in total. Mandy glanced at the caps and then took them, heading over to the stove to cook some food for Adam now.
“Well at least you got Salvatore going with you.” She said with the same tone.
“Are you… mad?” Adam asked, confused why she was speaking like that.
“No, I'm not mad.” She said with a tone that suggested she was mad. She then sighed and turned around to look at Adam. “I’m worried. With all the nonsense going on out there it would be a shame to let a good man die.”
“I’m not going to die Mandy.” Adam said with a softer tone.
“You say that, but ain’t nothing stopping a Deathclaw from tearing you open.” She shrugged and then turned back to cook. “All I’m saying is why go through that effort?”
“The same reason I became a Scaver, there are things I can only do by leaving the safety of the walls.” Mandy doesn’t say anything for a bit, letting the space fill with silence between them for a bit, the sounds of the various other patrons filling the air. After a bit she left the stove on and left the food sizzling in the pan to cook while she walked over to the hose and sprayed out a glass of water for Adam, placing it in front of him. But as she placed it down she held the glass firmly and didn't let it go yet, looking him in the eyes.
“Just, don’t die.” She said seriously, now finally letting the glass go, heading back to keep cooking again. Adam smiled and laughed a bit.
“You aren’t the first to say that to me. Don’t worry, I have no plans on dying.” He grinned and then chuckled before adding: “Careful, you keep talking like that people will think you are going sweet on me.” Mandy turned back around from her cooking to look at Adam with a roll of her eyes and then a grin.
“Don’t you go starting any strange rumors.” She teased with a sharp but playful tone. Adam just laughed and she went back to cooking.
“Oh but I do have a question.” Adam asked as he sipped at the glass of water.
“Oh? Well free to ask, honey. So long as I don't have to answer.”
“I saw Salvatore’s room today.” Adam said before Mandy laughed a bit.
“Oh? You saw his little hovel did you? Man has a damn armory in there.” She chuckled. “It's where he lives, what he does with his space is his business.”
“Wait, do you mean he owns the room?”
“Oh yeah.” She said turning around again. “That’s his, practically his house.” Adam laughed.
“I didn’t know that was an option. Can I buy out the room I'm staying in like that?”
“No.” Mandy said back quickly. “His was special. It's a long story that goes back to when he was helping my mom, but we don’t sell rooms. He is the exception” She then grins. “You are going to have to get by paying me your room fees.” Adam smiled and waved her off.
“What did he do to earn it?” Adam asked, curiously.
“It's a long story, as I said, besides you can just ask him.”
“He doesn’t seem the type to tell long stories.” Adam smiled as he sipped at his drink again.
“Well that’s true…”
“Come on, you can’t just leave me hanging like that. Besides I hired the guy, it would be good to know a bit of history.” Mandy sighed as she flipped the meat cooking in the pan to let the otherside cook now.
“I was just a young girl, I hardly remember anything from back then, I really was too young, Eric was just a baby so he wouldn’t know any of this…” She began, still not looking at Adam but instead at her cooking. “We used to live in a town called OakWood to the west, I can’t tell you anything about it because by the time I could tell what was going on around me the town was already destroyed, a super mutant raid.” She paused as she collected her thoughts.
“My parents and I became drifters for a while, wandering from place to place, scavenging what we could to survive… I hate dog food…” She muttered softly, mostly hidden behind the sound of sizzling. “Anyway, it was during one of these days that my father died, it was unceremonious, he just got an infection that we couldn’t cure, died just like that. Then Salvatore appeared, said he’d bring us somewhere safe.” She paused as she turned off the stove, plated the food, and then put the plate in front of Adam.
“He brought us here, took weeks, I don’t know what he was doing that far out west, he never spoke about it, but thanks to him, me, my mother, and my brother arrived safely.” She paused again as she leaned against the counter and sighed softly. “My mother made a deal with the town, it was still newer back then, it had only been around for a few decades then. She promised to run an inn and bar in exchange for having a building to house us in.” She shook her head and smiled wistfully.
‘I don't know how she did it, but she raised me and Eric, and ran the place all by herself. I mean, that is until she met our step father.” She got off the bar and went back to cleaning glasses now. “When she died, our step father left, don’t know where he went, and truthfully, I don’t care. But then the Inn became mine, and now we are here.” She laughed softly.
“Sorry. That became more a story about me than I intended.” She smiled. “The fact of the matter is my mother, to thank him for bringing us all the way here, gave him that room to use as his for as long as he wanted it, free of charge.”
“Stingy ass bastard has been leeching off me since I was a child.” She grinned as she looked towards the door to Salvatore’s room. “He will likely outlive me and he’s got a room in this place for his entire life so long as someone takes over this place.” She laughed softly.
“But, truthfully, I guess it's fine, it's nice having him around. He's almost like a grumpy old uncle to me, he was the one who taught me how to defend myself… and who taught me how to smoke.” She rolled her eyes, put the glass she was cleaning down and then put her hands on her hips.
“When I finally quit smoking I made him quit too, not that he did, but I banned him from smoking inside. Of course I had to smack him a few times before he did.” She grinned. “Well there you go, that's how I know Salvatore and why he gets a room for free and you still gotta pay. Hope that sates your curiosity for the day.”
“Oh it most certainly does.” Adam smiled. “I knew Salvatore had been around for a while and you mentioned him being involved with your parents but it really puts in perspective that he was doing this when you were just a kid.
“Yup, that old bastard will never die.” She shook her head. “As much as I would like him too!” She shouted at Salvatore’s door which was now open as Salvatore was walking out of, presumably to grab a drink.
“Yeah yeah, just pour me a glass will you?” Salvatore said with a nonchalant shrug as he took a seat at the bar. “And stop telling stories about me would you? I'm not the same man from back then.”
“Sure~” Mandy responded with a teasing tone as she grabbed a bottle of liquor off the back shelf and poured Salvatore a glass. “The same grumpy old man with a bad attitude as ever~” She grinned. Salvatore just grunted dismissively and Adam laughed.
If nothing else it was nice to know that the man he was bringing with him had enough experience for multiple lifetimes. He already knew that, but it seemed as though Salvatore had a softer heart than he let on. Though if he said that to him he’d probably get a nasty look, so perhaps he’d just keep that much to himself.
Chapter Text
Adam had trouble sleeping that night. The excitement and anxiety of leaving and getting closer to finding answers and exploring a new town was getting to him, so he spent a few hours listening to the radio station he found before. This “Silver Ray Johnson” was quite the character, he was energetic and funny and even had a segment called “story time” where he told stories submitted by listeners about events they experienced. It was wild what some people had gone through, but then again, his story was no less exciting. Regardless, after a few hours Adam had relaxed enough to actually go to sleep.
The next morning came unceremoniously considering he was going to leave. He paid 11 caps for a meal and 50 for the last two nights in the room. He now had 805 caps, more than enough to rent a room when he got to Midway, assuming they had a place for him to rent.
Salvatore woke up early, as he said he would. He looked a bit groggy and ordered a coffee rather than a drink like he normally did. Adam gave him the time to wake up while he made his last preparations. He double checked his gear, checked the path on his pip-boy, and suited up. By the time he was ready, Salvatore was awake and geared up himself.
Salvatore had swapped his double barrel shotgun for a pump action shotgun. Adam wasn’t able to tell at a glance but likely the pump action was a smaller gauge which was why he probably was using the double barrel until now. Regardless as Adam walked out of his room Salvatore nodded to him.
“Ready to go kid?” Salvatore asked, looking far calmer than Adam felt at the moment.
“Yeah, let’s do this.” The two of them then headed out of the inn, heading towards the North Gate.
Adam and Salvatore got a few waves from folks as he walked the short distance to the wall. It seemed as though the news spread enough that people knew he was leaving, he waved back, happy to feel appreciated but unsure what to do about the attention he was receiving.
As they got to the North gate Grant was standing there, arms crossed, clearly waiting for them.
“Heard you were setting off Adam, Salvatore.”
“Yup.” Salvatore said as he stopped in front of Grant, shouldering his rifle causally. “Kid bought me out, he wants to go to Midway so that’s where we are going.” Grant nodded and then looked at Adam for a moment before extending his hand.
“I just wanted to say thanks for all you have done here for our little town. We may not have much but you will always be welcome back here.” Adam smiled and took his hand happily.
“Thanks Grant. This town has been good to me, and who knows? I may be back sooner than either of us might think, I just have some answers to find first.”
“Well if you do make sure you stop by and say hello, even if you are just passing through, i’ll always have time for you.” Grant then looked to Salvatore. “And you make sure he doesn’t die, you hear?”
“What? You fine with me dying?” Salvatore said with a sharp but joking tone.
“You won’t die, I'm more worried about our resident vault dweller here.” He returned. Salvatore grunted and waved him off.
“It would be a bad look if I let him die on the way to Midway.”
“Good.” Grant then smiled and patted Salvatore on the shoulder. Salvatore looked both surprised by the contact and uncomfortable with it but he didn’t make a move to stop him.
“Well then, good luck to you too. Good luck in your endeavors, Naper will be here.” He smiled and then walked off leaving the two of them alone.
“Great, now even Grant is getting mushy. Gross.” Salvatore grumbled as he turned to walk towards the gate proper. “Hey! Gatekeeper, open it up will ya?” He shouted to the guard who was on duty. A moment later the door began to slowly open revealing the battlefield where not so long ago Adam had helped to mow down a number of raiders. The bodies were, of course, gone, the townsfolk who were not directly involved in the defense helped to clean up the bodies, throwing them into a giant pile a few blocks away and burning them. They had also swept and cleaned the area, the viscera and guts were all gone, but the evidence of battle was still here. Bullet holes covered the ground, there were even a few stray casings and tiny scraps of cloth caught in the cracks of the pavement. But it was the bloodstains that still caked the ground that was the most noticeable. The blood was mostly cleaned but it was not done perfectly so, bits of caked blood dotted the area where they had rained down death from above and it had not yet been washed away.
“Come on kid, let's get moving, we got a long trek ahead of us.”
“Yeah…” Adam said, momentarily distracted by the former battlefield before he shook it off. “Lead the way.”
The walk for the next few hours was mostly quiet, Salvatore wasn’t much of a talker and Adam was lost in his thoughts, but eventually Adam spoke up, deciding to break up the silence with a question.
“How long have you been doing this, Salvatore?”
“Huh?” Salvatore responded, caught off guard by the sudden question after a while of silence. “Oh uh… a long ass time.” He responded after he collected himself. Adam laughed.
“Well how long is that? Decades? Centuries”
“Long enough.” Salvatore responded curtly, he then paused and sighed, realizing he was being unintentionally rude. “I don't know.” He said as he turned back to look at Adam.
“It depends what you mean. Surviving? I’ve been doing that since the bombs fell…” He said, pausing for a moment to look at the top of a roof, probably checking for a possible ambush. When he was satisfied it was fine he kept talking. “If you mean ‘proper’ mercenary work? I don’t know, I’ve been doing it for a very long time. Stopped for a while for a career change though.”
“Career change?” Adam asked curiously.
“Yeah, I don't like to talk about it.”
“How come?”
“Because it's a part of my life I like to forget, I’ve been through a ton of ups and downs, not all of it was pleasant.” Adam nodded in understanding.
“I get that, it can't have been easy to survive after the bombs fell.”
“Yeah… I saw a lot of people who couldn’t take it and offed themselves. Others went crazy, few turned to cruelty that only a human can possess.” he sighed. “There’s more than one reason there are so few of us old ghouls left… most simply couldn’t take the pressure.” Adam let the conversation peter off into silence, not sure how to follow that up. After a moment he did speak up again though.
“Well, for what it's worth, I'm glad you made it this far. It’s nice knowing I'm not the only one who remembers the old world.”
“Yeah… seeing you, a fresh faced smoothskin who talked about the world from before it was… weird…” Salvatore said, uncertain of himself. “I don’t know whether it's a good thing or not, but I guess I can’t just let you die. I mean you paid me after all.” He grinned.
“Yeah, that's for certain.” Adam laughed. “I paid you enough money to… well honestly I don’t even know what I could buy for 2000 caps, but I'm sure it's a lot.” Adam grinned.
“Yeah. Well don’t worry, I will ensure you get your money’s worth.” He said as he looked at a broken street sign they passed, using it as a marker to ensure he was heading the right way. Adam looked too.
“You remember that detour we talked about before?” Adam said as he moved a bit quicker to catch up to Salvatore who was leading the way.
“Yeah? What about it? You see it?”
“No, not yet, or for a while anyway…” Adam pulled up his pip-boy and then zoomed in on the marker he created on his map for his convenience, showing Salvatore the map while he did.
“That's a decent bit out of the way, what’s over there you gotta do?”
“This…” Adam said, gently touching the screen where the marker was. “Is my house.”
Chapter Text
They arrived just before the sun set in Adam’s old neighborhood.
“I don't know what i was expecting…” Adam mused quietly as he walked through the streets of the small borough he once lived in. It was surreal to see all these houses and cars now broken shells of their former selves. For Adam it had only been a little while ago when he was here, he remembered driving his car down the street towards his house along the same path they were walking now. The roads were paved, not broken and cracked, people were having barbecues and setting up for Halloween, his neighbors were living their own lives and he was ready to sit at home on his couch and watch some TV. It was all so… strange. He knew the bombs fell, he knew the world had ended, he knew that his old life was over. He had made peace with this. But seeing the street as it was now, it just didn’t sit well with him. Disheartening was putting it lightly, he was heartbroken.
“Don’t let it get to ya, kid. World’s just like that.” Salvatore said, sensing Adam’s distraught.
“I know… it's just… I feel like I was only here a few weeks ago, I remember it so clearly.” Adam sighed and watched as they came around the bend and his house came into view. Or rather, what was left of his house. It was destroyed, beyond recognition. Merely a pile of wood and rubble remained where his house once stood. It hadn’t even survived to the extent that some of the other houses had, it had completely collapsed. His dreams of walking through his house once more were immediately crushed, he had no hallways to reminisce through, no medals to dramatically stare at framed on the wall, no closet full of clothes destroyed by time. Unless he was willing to dig through rubble it was all gone.
Adam sighed again, louder this time.
“I assume this was your house then?” Salvatore asked as he looked at the destroyed building.
“Yeah, it was.” Adam said, staring at it for a moment.
“Sorry, kid.” Salvatore responded, a bit more somber now for Adam’s sake. Adam stood there for a few moments more, just drinking in the sight of his house now gone before he started moving again, now, to the backyard.
“Where are you going?” Salvatore asked as he watched as Adam seemed to be wandering off in a random direction.
“To my backyard…” Adam said as he kept marching. “I have to check on something back there.” He walked behind the ruins of his house, about 20 feet past his back porch where a metal sheet was sitting partly buried by dirt and dust.
“What is it?” Salvatore asked, now curious.
“My old self-made fallout shelter.” He said as he dug up the door a bit and uncovered the latch he would have used to pull it open. “I doubt anyone would have found it, I mean I know it's uncovered now but it was covered with dirt before. And only I knew the way inside.
He pulled the latch up and revealed a small staircase leading downwards. The stairs were small and cramped and Adam had to duck to walk down them. Once he was at the bottom he turned on his pip-boy light and was met with a surprise. The door to his shelter, a moderately thick metal door with an interior lining of lead he had installed himself, was wide open.
“What?!” Adam said with some shock as he looked at the door that revealed the entrance to his shelter. He hadn’t even inspected that yet. He looked at the door, it didn’t seem broken into. There were no signs of forced entry or that the door was broken. He gently moved the door away from the wall a bit and looked at the small keypad installed at the front of the door for security. Curious he punched in the code and the pad responded with a satisfying beep, confirming it worked and even still had power. What the hell was happening?
“Everything good down there kid?” Salvatore asked from above, not seeing the need to go down into a one man fallout shelter in cramped quarters unless he had to.
“Yeah i'm just… confused… the door is open, I can’t say with certainty that no one would have ever found it but it doesn't look like the door was broken open, it was just simply opened…”
“What does that mean?” Salvatore asked.
“I… don’t know…” Adam admitted quietly. He got over his initial confusion and entered the shelter, seeing the small one room bunker he had built for himself. If the worst happened, which it did. He just never got a chance to come here.
The shelter was about 7 feet high, enough that Adam was able to stand up comfortably but it still felt a bit claustrophobic. Downside of having made it by hand. The walls were lined with concrete, then lead, then wood to keep the interior not looking like a metal box, the floor and ceiling was much the same. Adam wouldn’t care too much about aesthetics but when he built this place he had thought of spending upwards of a year in this small metal box and if it wasn’t the least bit nice in here he figured he’d go crazy.
On the left side were two metal shelving units which used to be full of food goods, now picked clean, not a grain of rice remained. Past that was a desk with a computer. The computer had a big hole through it, like someone had taken a shotgun to the screen. Further past that was the toilet, sink, shower combo. Very modular. Space was a premium down here so he took what he could get.
On the right side was first his large bookshelf full of magazines and books and games he had planned to play with while stuck down here. It too was as barren as the food shelves. Whoever came through here was thorough. Past the bookshelf was his bed, spartan and simple but it served its purpose, and then past that was his advanced water collection and purification system. He was proud of this one. Not only would it recycle his grey water, the water used in cleaning and washing his hands, purifying it for drinking after some time, but it also collected water from an underground stream that flowed through his property. The stream was incredibly small and he had found it by accident when he was digging, but if he had rationed his water, in theory, he would have been able to live off it indefinitely. Of course it was only a theory.
Finally, on the back wall in between the shower and the water system was his generator. It sat inside a small box he had made for it, above the box was a small cabinet meant to house the energy cells used to power the generator. Of course, like everything else, the energy cells were picked clean, all gone. The generator too, surprisingly.
That was the whole shelter. Truly utilitarian, nothing that wasn't important to survival or sanity all crammed into the small space. It was only ever designed for just him after all so asking anything more of it would have been too much. He wasn’t vault tec after all. He was a guy with a bit of know-how and a shovel, he did well all things considered.
But self-aggrandizing aside, the place held nothing for him. Not a speck of food, not any books or games. Not even his guns he would have placed under his bed stand. It was mildly infuriating too to be honest. He put in all this effort and there was nothing here.
With a sigh he turned around and left the hole, coming back up the stairs to meet with Salvatore who had been patiently waiting, smoking a cigarette.
“So find what you were looking for?” He asked casually.
“No.” Adam sighed again. “It was empty. Looks like, somehow, someone beat me here. Not like I had a secret stash of bottle caps or something, but it would have been nice to get something from my home.” Salvatore nodded and then looked up at the sky.
“I understand. But we should probably find shelter for the night. Your house is gone but there are plenty of other still standing structures here, I'm sure we can find one to sleep in.
Adam stared at the hole he just came out of for a moment before he nodded.
“Yeah, I guess you are right. Let's find a house to commandeer.” Adam said before looking around himself.
“There.” he said, pointing to a house only a few houses away. “The Pickerson’s. They were neighbors I knew. Went for a barbecue once. The house looks in decent shape from here and I know where the bedrooms are.”
“Alright, then let's stay there tonight. Make the rest of the trek to Midway tomorrow.”
Chapter Text
“Kid, wake up.” Salvatore said as he walked over to Adam sleeping on the bed in the master bedroom of the Pickerson’s house he had taken over yesterday.
“Hm? What is it?” Adam said, groggily, but sitting up immediately ready for action if the situation called for it.
“I got bad news, it looks like a rad storm is blowing through.”
“A… what?” Adam asked, not sure what that was. One could guess, of course, but Adam’s mind had not yet fully woken up so he was still a bit slow.
“Radstorm.” Salvatore repeated calmly. “It's like cloud coverage, sometimes with rain, but it's heavily irradiated. Look outside.”
Adam rolled out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he did and looked into the sky. Sure enough the sky was… strange. It was flashing strange colors of yellows, greens, and reds. Even through this noxious looking cloud coverage there was lighting constantly striking but it seemed inside the clouds. It didn’t seem to be raining but as he held his pip-boy up to the window his pip-boy began to very slowly click, indicating he was getting irradiated.
“Well that's… not good.” Adam said slowly, almost fully awake now, the news enough to shock him back to wakefulness.
“First radstorm?”Salvatore asked and then waved off the question, speaking again. “It's not that bad, they aren’t common but so long as you find cover indoors you will be safe.” Salvatore looked around the room they were standing in and nodded. “Honestly, if we just stay in here until it passes it should be fine, it’s not that dangerous unless you are going to be outside for extended periods.” Adam nodded.
“So we just wait then? How long do these normally last?” Salvatore pulled out his pack of cigarettes, took one, put it in his mouth and then lit it while he considered the question.
“Depends. Shortest i've seen them is lasting a few minutes. Longest i've seen is them lasting days. But I'd say usually they last a few hours.” He said between a puff of the cigarette. Adam sighed.
“So we just have to wait for a few hours? Damn, I was hoping to move when we were up.”
“Nothing that can be done.” Salvatore said as he took another step closer to the window and looked outside. “The radiation won’t bother me, but it’s not healthy for you, best to err on the safe side.” Adam sat back down on the bed.
“Alright, well I guess I can wait a few hours. I hope it doesn't last days, I didn’t plan for that.”
“Worst case we can walk through it, you can pop a radaway when we arrive at Midway, no harm done. But being safe is always the smart play.” Adam nodded as Salvatore looked over at the ruins of Adam’s old house. He took another puff of the cigarette before speaking again.
“That shelter of yours, is it radiation proof?”
“Yeah, I mean I lined it with lead and followed the advice of people with more know-how than me, even bought a prepper’s magazine to follow some guides, I mean there's no way to say for certain but that was my goal.”Salvatore nodded and then looked down at Adam’s pip-boy, still clicking, slowly.
“Well normally waiting out inside like we are is more than enough, you won't be hurt much by the small amounts of radiation you get from being inside, but if we got a better option across the street…” He paused and looked out the window again. “Might as well take advantage of it.” Adam thought his words over for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright we can head back down there, might be a bit cramped for the two of us, but will be fine.” He stood up and grabbed his bag off the floor and began to put his gear back on.
A few minutes later Adam was ready to head over to his shelter and lead the way as he walked out the broken front door of the house he stayed in overnight. As soon as he was outside his geiger counter began clicking more rapidly. It read as .5 rads a second, not too much, but certainly, as Salvatore said, best to stay inside if at all possible, traveling like this wouldn’t be advisable, especially since he wasn’t flush with rad-x and radaway.
Adam opened the hatch for Salvatore and then closed it behind them, heading down the stairs again. Salvatore took a seat on the computer chair in front of the desk and the broken computer and Adam sat on the bed after closing the door to the shelter. Once inside with the door closed the pip-boy’s geiger counter was completely silent, it seemed as though he had done a good job when building his shelter.
Salvatore looked around the room with a slightly amused grin and single raised eyebrow. “Cute.” was all he said after a few moments. Adam just shrugged.
“I built it for myself on a budget, I think I did pretty well.”
“Yeah, no no.” Salvatore said with a chuckle before he leaned back on the chair. “Well get comfortable kid, I will check the outside in a few hours, until then just relax.” Adam sat on his bed in silence for a few minutes before he reached into his bag and pulled out two wrapped chunks of meat and two water bottles, handing one set to Salvatore. He hadn’t expected to be outside for long so he didn’t bring much food and water, just enough for a one night stop and two days' travel. Mandy had been kind enough to not only prep the food for him but give it to him for free, a last parting gift. In the bag Adam had given Salvatore, he had his own share but Adam decided to hand some of the food in his own pack over, seemed as good a time as any to eat and he was already holding it, he could just steal some of Salvatore’s rations later if needed.
Salvatore looked at the food for a moment then took it, unwrapped it and began eating. They ate in silence for a few minutes before Adam spoke up.
“What were you? Before all this happened, I mean.” Adam asked suddenly.
“What? You mean before the bombs?” Salvatore asked with a raised eyebrow. He then laughed once and grinned. “I worked retail.” His grin widened to a smile. Adam laughed.
“Really?”
“Really.” Salvatore responded. “Shift lead at Super-Duper Mart.” He chuckled and then sighed. “But that was a life-time ago.” Adam paused and then continued.
“And how did you become a mercenary?”Salvatore didn’t respond immediately, just stared at him for a few minutes before sighing.
“After the bombs fell, before I became a ghoul, livin’ was hard, did what I could to survive.” He paused, reminiscing. “Learned real quick that you had to fight to protect what was yours. No matter how small.” He paused again as he finished eating, tossed the wrapper and empty bottle into his bag and then took the shotgun off his back and thumbed it a bit as he laid it in his lap.
“I learned I was real good at fighting… real good.” He looked up at Adam again. “Didn’t take long before I was fighting for other people. Everyone had something they wanted to protect, food, buildings, people. Everyone had something they didn’t want taken, and I became pretty good at making sure everyone kept what's theirs. Or… on occasion… taking it away.” he paused again.
“Guess somewhere along the line it just became my job, surviving by doing other’s dirty work. I’ve run with all types, some I'm not fond of having associated with, but I’ve always done what I had to to make a living.” Adam nodded slowly.
“I understand.” Adam sighed quietly. “Honestly if I had lived through the bombings I might’ve been no different.” He then paused and laughed. “Or I’d be dead, I guess.” He grinned.
“Doubt I’d be lucky enough to turn into a ghoul.” He chuckled.
“Ain’t lucky, shit sucks.” He said as he put his shotgun back on his back. “Maybe if I didn’t have to work so hard everyday it might be more enjoyable but living forever ain't it's all cracked up to be.”
“I bet…” Adam returned, unsure what to say beyond that. Salvatore looked off to the side, seeming to be thinking about something that happened in the past. Something unpleasant based on his pained expression. He looked like he might say something but then quickly shook it off and looked back at Adam.
“I woke you up early cause of the storm, go back to sleep, we have a few hours to kill anyway.” Adam took a moment to respond, lost in his own thoughts as well.
“Alright, I’ll lay down, but I might just rest. I doubt I can sleep.” Adam said as he took off his gear again, putting it underneath the bed.
“I don’t care what you do.” Salvatore said as he took out a cigarette from his pack again and put it in his mouth but didn’t light it yet. He then stood up a moment later. “I'm going to get some fresh air. I’ll grab you when the storm has passed.” He said as he started moving towards the door.
“I guess for ghouls the radstorms are perfect for moving huh?” Adam mused as he laid back onto the bed. “No one else can go out in them carelessly so ghouls are free to roam as they please.” Salvatore paused at the door for a moment, turning back around to look at Adam.
“That's only if you are thinking about humans.” He responded ominously. “Plenty of other things don’t care about radiation either.” He grinned as if he was telling a spooky bedtime story. He then opened the door and began to walk out. “
“Get some rest, I’ll get you when it's over.” Salvatore then closed the shelter door behind him leaving Adam alone in the small shelter with only his pip-boy light illuminating the space. Perfect for returning to sleep once it was off again.
Chapter Text
Adam did, in fact, fall back asleep, though it was not as restful as the first time but by the time Salvatore walked back downstairs and knocked on the door to be let in, and to let Adam know it was time to move, any lingering effects of not getting enough sleep was gone. It had taken well over 200 years but he had finally made use of his shelter.
“Let’s go kid, the storm’s over.” Salvatore said as Adam opened the door, geared up and ready to move.
“How long is the trek from here?” Adam asked as he pulled out his pip-boy to check for himself too.
“Hard to say exactly, but I’d wager we’d get there before sunset assuming no unexpected surprises.”
“Alright, then lead the way.”
The next few hours were met with idle chatter between the two of them, nothing really interesting, but some idle conversation about sport preferences, favorite, now extinct, animals, and food they missed. It was a mood booster for Salvatore, it seemed he didn’t chat with pre-war ghouls often, though he claimed he knew more than a few. Still the idle chatter was brought to a halt when two figures slowly began to appear in the distance. Salvatore shouldered his rifle and Adam put his hand on his gun but did not remove it from his holster.
As the figures got closer slowly appearing more in view from behind rubble that had overtaken some of the street Salvatore groaned audibly.
The two men were, to put it simply, dressed like renfaire actors. Or more specifically knights. They were dressed from head to toe in metal plate mail, polished to a shine. On the breastplate was a golden dragon. On their hips they had swords, sheathed, and they carried large heatershields in their offhands. Both had helmets on, one had a great helm, the other a bascinet, so their faces were not visible but as they approached their swords were not drawn and they did not seem to be making aggressive moves.
As if to carry home this point, Salvatore, despite his audible annoyance, had lowered his rifle and no longer had his guard up. Adam shot Salvatore a curious look.
“Who are these guys?” Adam asked, completely beside himself with confusion at these men in full knight armor?
“Oh, they are-”
“Hark!” One of the knights calls out, hand raised. “Prithee tell us what your business in this area is.” The knight says as the two of them saunter up close but remaining a respectful distance away.
“Oh we’re-” Adam began before the other knight cut him off this time.
“Hey, isn’t that Mr. Salvatore?” He said as he turned to his compatriot.
“Ah! Yes! You are most certainly correct!” The other knight said as he took off his helmet and held it under his arm, revealing a blond haired man with black eyeshadow around his eyes, likely to darken his eyes within the helmet, or maybe he just liked makeup Adam could only guess.
Salvatore just grunted as they acknowledged him but the blond haired man just smiled amicably.
“Tis good to see thee. But you are not with your charge, Chuck, is it? Who is this new fellow of yours?” He asked with a friendly tone and smile to Salvatore.
“Man who bought out my contract.” Salvatore said curtly, clearly trying to disengage with these guys as quickly as he could. “But look we got places to-”
“Wonderful!” The man stepped forward and offered Adam a gauntleted hand. “My name is Percival! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He said with a big smile.
“Oh um…” Adam slowly took his hand and shook it. He was very caught off guard by the whole situation, very much throwing him for a loop, this was the last thing he would have expected out here in the wasteland randomly. “Nice to meet you Percival. The name is Adam.” He then paused for a moment after speaking and then spoke up again.
“Wait… Percival? Like from Aurthurian legends?” Adam felt it was far too great of a coincidence that a man who was wearing full plate mail, speaking with a weird forced old timey accent while having that name couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. The joy on the man’s face cannot be described. It was as if he had gotten the best news he had heard all month.
“Yes!” He says energetically. “I have taken his namesake in the service of the people and the other knights of the round!” he said with an incredibly excited tone.
“It brings me immense joy to know that others are aware of the legends! Time has stripped away much of humanity's most heroic tales!”
“I uh… just recognized the name…” Adam said, still a bit put off by the whole situation but he decided to take it in stride, though he still had questions.
“Knights of the round?”
“Yes!” He said with a broad smile. “Me and the other knights serving the people of Chicago who carry on the torch of Aurthurian legacy. We take up names of heroes of old and fight for the safety and justice of the people we as knights are sworn to protect!”
“That's um… noble of you.” Adam said, finally beginning to get caught up with the speed of this guy. It took him a minute but despite being energetic and weird, the guy was amicable and good natured. If his words were to be believed.
“They’re charity workers.” Salvatore said with a dismissive grunt. “They go around playing white knight… literally.” He sighed.
“I merely see it as dedicating my life to the betterment of all! We help all equally, and do not shy away from danger.” He said proudly.
“So um… what are you doing out here now then?”
“We are patrolling of course!” He smiled. “As a senior knight it is my job to help the junior knights break into the role so that they might, one day, earn their own names!” He gestured to the other knight.
“We help those in distress, and deal with any banditry in the area!”
“Wow, that's um… impressive.” Adam was at a loss for words, the entire situation was surreal. But honestly, he kinda liked it.
“Yeah yeah, keep up the good work, percy.” Salvatore said as he shouldered his rifle. “But we got places to be and can’t stick around all day to chat, so if we can be on our way?”
“Oh! Of course! I apologize for holding you up!” He smiled and then put his helmet back on. “Do let us know if you have any troubles young Adam! The Knights of the round are always willing to lend a hand!” He then turned around to the other knight and gestured for him to follow.
“Come along, lad. We have a city to patrol.” He said with an enthusiastic tone as he led the way. Adam watched as they walked off, more astounded than anything. Once they were out of ear shot Salvatore spoke up.
“Fucking wackjobs is what they are.” Salvatore said dismissively as he resumed leading Adam to Midway.
“You saying he was lying?” Adam asked curiously.
“No, he meant every word. That's why he’s nuts.” Salvatore took out a cigarette and lit it. “Fucking weirdo roleplaying cosplayers go around saving people. It's embarrassing.” Salvatore said with a shake of his head.
“I don't know, I think that's pretty noble of them.” Adam returned. “I just don’t understand how they get anything done wearing heavy armor and carrying swords. I mean… armor like that can’t stop a bullet.”
“Nah, it's actually sturdier than you’d think. Inside the armor is a ballistic weave, combine that with the metal and as long as it's not a heavy caliber round they’d tank it fine.” He paused and then added: “Well, maybe a broken rib or two, but a few rounds wont stop them.”
“Wait… they knew you and you seem to know so much about them…” Adam grinned impishly. “What’s your history with them?” Adam asked, grinning like a cat.
“Wipe that grin off your face.” Salvatore said back sharply. “It ain't nothing.” He grumbled letting that sit in the air for a few moments before elaborating.
“I ran a few jobs with them a while back, quid pro quo stuff. Guess they remembered me.” He groaned a bit. Adam grinned.
“Well good for us, seems they might have interrogated us had they not recognized you.”
“Yeah well I'd prefer that over dealing with them. Or, rather, I'd rather not deal with them at all. They are just too much.” Adam laughed.
“They a big group?” He asked, still probing more, now that his interest was peaked. Salvatore sighed, he clearly didn’t want to talk about the knights but he wasn’t going to not answer Adam’s questions.
“No.” He responded quickly. “12 senior knights and then a smattering of junior knights, that's it.” He sighed. “Surprised the Brotherhood hasn’t sued them for copyright infringement.”
“Brotherhood?” Adam followed up.
“Now that's a whole other can of worms. Not today.” Adam nodded, deciding he didn’t want to press any further since Salvatore seemed to be getting annoyed. “Just know that those goody two shoes are not all bark, they aren’t slouches, and they are supported by several communities. Most do nothing but train and help people. For all the good that does, there are still raiders and super mutants all over, so they aren’t making much of a difference.” He said dismissively.
“Well yeah, but if there is even one person doing good things that inspires others to do good too, besides if they can save even one life that validates their existence no?”
“That sort of thinking will get you killed out here kid.”Salvatore said, turning to look at Adam. “I ain’t going to say you gotta be cutthroat, but if you put others before yourself you will wake up one day with a knife in your back. Only those with enough food to eat can think about charity.” Adam decided to let the matter drop, it seemed he and Salvatore had a difference of opinion on this topic. That was fine, he didn’t need to agree. But it was nice to know that there were still people out here, in the world, doing what they could to help others. Somehow, that made the world seem a bit brighter.
Chapter Text
They continued walking for a few hours, As they got closer to the city a custom metal sign came into view pointing the way forward giving directions to Midway. Naper didn’t have anything like that.
However while walking down the road that Salvatore was bringing them on, he heard something and shoved Adam and himself behind the cover of some rubble of a collapsed building. Salvatore put a finger to his lips to indicate silence and then poked his head up over the rubble slightly to look. Adam stayed down but he listened intently, what he heard did not inspire him with confidence. Voices. Loud recognizable voices. Super mutants. No longer able to contain either his curiosity or his survival instinct he too peaked a bit out from the cover of the rubble.
“HAHAHAHAHA!” One of the super mutants laughed boisterously as he held a woman up by her long hair, dangling her off the ground while she screamed in pain and pleaded for mercy. Another one was throwing a man into a dog cage, the cage was far too small for him, he had to curl up into a ball to fit. A third man was ripped apart by a third super mutant, like pulling the legs off a chicken. Which is exactly what he did. Ripping the still alive man’s leg clean off, letting blood spurt everywhere as he began to tear into it with his teeth, enjoying it like it was a leg of lamb. Clothes and all.
“Fuck.”Salvatore said quietly as he watched the spectacle before him. “Course it had to be muties.” He grumbled.
“What's the plan?” Adam asked Salvatore. He had his own ideas at the moment, but Salvatore had experience as well as knew the path to Midway, so he was willing to defer to his judgement.
“We can’t go around them.”Salvatore said as he lightly gestured to the buildings flanking them at the moment. “There's no path through the sides of buildings, this street is locked down, we could turn around but the detour would take at least a few hours, we might not arrive before nightfall if we do.” Salvatore sighed.
“What about going through them?” Adam asked as he formulated his own strategy.
“Are you crazy? Those are super mutants! They soak up rounds like they are made of armor.”
“Yeah, but there are only three of them, and we have the drop on them.” Adam looked around and then pointed to the roof of a building that looked accessible nearby. “If we get up there, fire from above and then force them to chase us upstairs we can focus fire on them.”
“Thats…” Salvatore looked at the roof and then the super mutants. “Still a pretty bad idea.” He said after a moment.
“It could work.” Adam insisted.
“I’m not about to let you die in some stupid plan.” Salvatore said back. Adam said nothing as he watched the one super mutant torment the woman who was a blubbering mess and the other two minding their business. The man who got his leg ripped off now had his arm ripped off, he was certainly dead now, or if not dead, he was soon to be.
Salvatore sighed and then pulled off the backpack Adam had given him and looked inside.
“Alright fine, we can do this, but if it looks bad we are going to run, no complaints, got it?” He said with authority to Adam. Adam grinned.
“Alright, deal.”
The next few minutes were spent sneaking past the Super Mutants line of sight, getting into the building, which was a laundromat apartment mix almost entirely gutted by now, as they made their way to the roof. It wasn't that high up, just the third floor, but enough to get easy firing lines on the mutants. Once Adam had set himself up, Salvatore took out a claymore from his bag, placing it facing the doorway leading to the roof. Adam was shocked to see Salvatore had brought heavy explosives with him on this trip but didn’t question it.
“Alright kid, we are as ready as we can be. You sure you want to do this? It might be dangerous to travel at night but it would be better than to engage super mutants.” Adam sat in silence for a moment as he watched the people get terrorized before he sighed.
“Yeah, if not those people will die without our intervention.” Salvatore looked at him like he was crazy.
“You are doing this for some randos you don’t know? Damn, I can't believe my employer is such a bleeding heart.” He sighed and then nodded. “Alright let’s do this then, just be ready for them to charge, and don’t stop firing until we can’t see them.” It was Adam’s turn to nod. He pulled out his hunting rifle and then charged the bolt, ready to fire, taking aim at one of the super Mutant’s heads.
“Fire when you are ready.” Salvatore said as he took aim too.
Moments later the Super Mutants, who were enjoying their meal and toys of fresh humans in the middle of the street were suddenly met with a hail of fire.
The one holding and tormenting the woman was hit right in the temple from Adam’s rifle, he dropped the woman and hit the ground hard. The other two reacted quickly. One grabbed a hunting rifle of his own and fired back at the building where Adam and Salvatore was but at the wrong floor, the other grabbed a sledge hammer that was on the ground next to him and started to run towards the building.
“HUMIES DIE NOW!” He yelled as he charged. Salvatore threw lead down range, hitting his chest over and over with 5.56 rounds which did seem to injure the massive mutant man but not enough to stop him. The one with the hunting rifle fired a shot right past Adam and then started charging the building as well. Adam was about to line up another shot but then saw the first Mutant, the one who he had hit right in the head, slowly getting up. His head was clearly broken, splayed open like… a bullet had collided with it, but he was still moving, though slowly.
Adam took no chances, he changed targets to the one he had hit previously and fired again, hitting him right in the throat.
With a choking motion he grabbed his throat as blood poured out, he fell to his knees and then fell over, likely dead.
Meanwhile Salvatore had been throwing shot after shot at the two mutants who were on their way inside, both had made it inside the building before he could stop them, but injured them enough.
“They are coming up, kid.” Salvatore said as he spun around with his rifle, and crouched onto one knee while aiming at Head height at the door that he knew would eventually be opened. Adam did much the same, though he reslung his rifle and pulled out his laser pistol, readying it for close combat.
There were a tense few moments as the men waited for the inevitable confrontation. Then they heard them, screaming, yelling, cursing as they made their way up the final set of stairs, until…
Boom
The claymore went off right as the first super mutant got up the stairs. He reeled back, obviously very hurt by the attack, the one behind him pushed past, brandishing his sledgehammer and charged at Salvatore. Salvatore got a few rounds into him before he got close but the Super Mutant still had the strength to swing his hammer down hard, Luckily Salvatore was able to dodge in time, the bricks of the building where the sledge hammer hit immediately crumbled, the force of the swing enough to do serious demolition on the structure, but not enough to bring the building down.
Meanwhile Adam was dealing with the other one. After the one with the sledgehammer brushed past, Adam began to lay down fire at the Super mutant who had taken a face full of claymore. One shot, two shots, three, four, five. He didn’t let up the trigger until he saw the brute fall face first through the cloud of dust the claymore had kicked up onto the floor of the roof, dead.
Adam whipped around pointing his pistol at the super mutant who was accosting Salvatore only to see the mutant dead too, half slumped over the edge of the building, Salvatore’s boot on his neck.
“You alright?’ Adam asked as he looked Salvatore over, seeing no obvious injuries.
“Yeah, I'm fine kid. Lucky the idiot never played baseball.” He laughed darkly to himself as he used his boot to push the super mutant off the roof of the building. The body landed on the ground a moment later with a satisfying thump.
“Fuck these mutants.” He said as he spit down over the roof to the body below. “Road’s used to be safe before the horsemen moved in.”
He grumbled.
“What do the horsemen have to do with this? Are there super mutants working for War?” Adam asked as he caught his breath and calmed down from the intense situation.
“No, of course not.” Salvatore said like Adam was asking something stupid. He then paused and seemed contemplative. “Well, actually, I don't know, but probably not, the point is that it's just a side effect.”
“Care to elaborate?” Salvatore looked at the door to the stairway and motioned with his head. “Sure, but let's get off the roof, no sense staying here now.” Adam followed as Salvatore led, speaking a moment later.
“I told you before I don’t know too much about the Horsemen, that is still true, obviously. But what I do know is that each one of them is currently surrounding Chicago, effectively boxing it in. War to the NorthWest, Pestilence to the East, and Famine to the South. Getting in and out of the area is incredibly difficult nowadays, though not impossible.” He paused.
“The thing is with these massive forces growing they are pushing other creatures and people inwards, super mutants used to stay further out but they are encroaching on trading lanes because they are threatened by the forces. Same with other creatures with the wherewithal to get out of the way.” He sighed. “All it means is shit like this is slowly becoming more common, meanwhile less and less outside traders are making their way into the area.” They came to the bottom floor and Salvatore stopped at the body of the Super mutant he killed.
“Of course there's still the Lake to the north, people can still come and go that way, but I heard even the Pier is having some troubles right now. So, far as I’m aware, people here are stuck here until the situation is resolved. And trust me, this isn't going to go away or be resolved soon.” Adam listened intently as Salvatore spoke. Thinking over his words. After a moment he understood the subtext of what Salvatore was saying.
“You think a war is coming.” Adam said with realization as he stood next to Salvatore. Salvatore turned to look at him surprised that Adam had figured it out but nodded.
“Right. Sooner or later this area is going to become a warzone, just don’t know when, but it will happen, mark my words.” He sighed and then started leading the way again, over to the small area where the super mutants had encamped themselves before. “I think we still got some time though, even if I’m not paying attention to the goings on I could tell if it was about to pop off, I got a sixth sense for that sort of thing. Just my intuition though.” He finished as they stopped at the woman who was being tormented by the Super mutant, crying her eyes out and the man who was still trapped in the small cage.
“Alright, let's help these poor saps out.”Salvatore said dismissively as he moved to let the man out of the cage, while Adam moved to comfort the woman.
Chapter Text
The man and woman were immensely grateful for the rescue, introducing themselves as people from the Pier who were caught when they were heading to Midway. Adam and Salvatore agreed to bring them the rest of the way to Midway with them. It didn’t matter much to Adam they were close and he wasn’t going to leave them in the lurch after coming this far, and Salvatore was fine to let them tag along as long as he was not responsible for their safety.
The two rescuees had nothing to offer Adam for his help as their belongings were lost when the Super Mutants took them but promised they would help him in the future if he ever needed it. Adam agreed if only because he didn’t need to be repaid, he was happy to have simply saved them.
Thankfully the rest of the trip, about an hour, to Midway was uneventful. As they turned around a broken skyscraper and walked through an old, long since cracked archway Adam saw it, Midway, and he felt like an idiot.
Midway International Airport, the airport in the center of Chicago, his airport, the one he would use if he ever would need a plane, not that he ever did. It was that Midway. He felt so dumb for not realizing it until now. As he thought back there were a few hints here and there, a plane looking symbol on the Midway branded food they found at the Raider hideout, how everyone talked about how large it was, the location, it was a giant square, visible even on his pip-boy map, but he just hadn’t put two and two together. The world changed so much he never really thought about it.
Shame aside, the sight was magnificent. Walls stretched as far as he could see enveloping the entirety of the settlement. It was clear that it was built along the perimeter where a chain link barbed wire fence once stood, as much of that fence remained. Now, however, the wall of steel, wood, and stone, now stood flush against it. The walls were built similarly to how Naper’s walls were built, with whatever materials were available. Unlike Naper’s wall, however, this was of much higher quality, the wall also seemed a bit more uniform, was painted, and looked regularly maintained. There also were several guard towers even just within sight. It was hard to see from this distance but there were men in the towers and each of them looked well armed and armored, not at all like the volunteer guards of Naper.
Lastly as he passed through the broken archway and saw the gate leading into Midway in the distance he could see a grand stone sign, something made after the world ended.
Welcome to Midway
Carved into the large stone sign in a bold font, painted over with black paint. It was clear that this place was far more serious than Naper was as a settlement. That was what took him aback the most, the sheer size of what he was looking at. It was possible that not the entirety of the airport was utilized but if they put walls surrounding the entire exterior of the runways that means it is at least all considered ‘part of Midway’. He had no expectations for it being this big, this was truly far more than he could have imagined.
“Stop gawking kid, we got to get inside.”Salvatore said, snapping Adam out of his trance.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” Adam said as he hopped a bit and sped up a little to catch up to Salvatore and the other two as they lightly left him behind.
Once they got to the gate, a double set of massive steel doors more akin to something you might find in a military base, two guards outside the door, standing behind sandbags told them to stop.
Now that Adam was closer he could see the guards were indeed far more armed and armored than the guards at Naper. They were also more uniform too. They seemed to all have on heavily modified TSA and airport security uniforms but decked out with the combat gear of the onsite response forces, much of their body was covered in some sort of armor and their heads were protected by a security helmet with a visor. They were mostly in a pallet of blues, whites and blacks. And they seemed far more professional than the Naper guards too.
Not only were there two guards outside the gate behind the sandbags but there were also two guard towers flanking either side of the gate doors, each with a guard of its own. None of the guards seemed at all ready to fight them, but they seemed to be paying attention, they simply didn’t expect a fight.
“Stop right there.” The guard on the left said as he put his hand up.
“Yeah yeah, I've done this song and dance before.” Salvatore said, clearly annoyed about being stopped.
“Good, then you will know to shut up and listen, zombie.” The guard returned with a dismissive tone. “This is Midway, whatever sort of problems you have out there you do not bring them in here. Midway is a neutral city, you cause problems here you get to have a meeting with us. And I promise you, none of us want to have a conversation.” He said like he was reciting a script.
“Keep your safeties on, and your blades holstered. Don’t cause a problem and you can come and go as you please. If you understand what I have said then feel free to enter, if you do not or need an interpreter please see the information desk at the center of the city. If you have any questions feel free to turn to your local guards for answers. Now fuck off and dont bother me.” He said, continuing to recite from a script until the very end where he clearly ad libbed.
“Thank you.” Adam said, not sure how to respond to that.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said fuck off, get inside.” He said as he clicked his radio on the table next to him once and the guard in the tower responded, the door, a moment later, opened slowly revealing Midway in all its glory.
As Adam stepped through the gate he noticed a few things right away. First off there was, in fact, a lot of unused space at the airport, much of the runways and hangars seemed to be dormant and unused. At least looking at them from a distance. However not all of it was unused. There was a smaller building near the edge of the airport that might have been a private jet company building or something and around that was a number of buildings built in the same way Naper’s homes were, of scraps and whatever materials they could find, though this area was notably separated from the main building it even had its own fence and smaller wall around it. On the other side of the airport, opposite to where the shanty town was set up, there was what might be an industrial center. Though it was very hard for him to tell at this distance. Then of course there were a few other buildings dotting the area randomly, and a few moderately sizable crop fields growing all sorts of plants.
And then, lastly, was the airport itself. The sun was just starting to set so he could see clearly the many many many lights visible from inside the glass windows that overlooked the runways. Planes were at almost all the terminals docked like they were ready to take off. Interestingly all the planes looked moderately well taken care of. There were one or two planes that had a broken wing, but they did not appear to be in major disarray. Interestingly there were no Vertibirds present anywhere as far as he could see. Maybe there was one or two in the hangars? Or perhaps there was simply none, they were military equipment after all, perhaps the airport simply had none. It didn't matter too much, as he was already impressed with the sight he was seeing without thinking of random pieces of aviation equipment that were not present.
“Thank you.” The woman said to the two of them as the door closed behind them. “I do not think either of us would have made it out without your aid, we will be fine from here, I do hope our paths cross in the future.” She said with a light bow, the man offered Adam his hand and he shook it. However Salvatore didn’t shake his hand. After a moment the two of them walked off towards the airport.
“Alright Salvatore.” Adam smiled. “Let's head inside.” Adam said as he started to walk towards the airport too only to realize half a moment later Salvatore wasn’t following.
“Yeah… this is as far as I go, kid.” He said solemnly.
Chapter Text
“What do you mean?” Adam said as he turned around to look at Salvatore.
“What I mean is this is as far as I go.” He repeated. “That building over there?" He said pointing to the airport terminal. “I can’t go in there.”
“What?” Adam said again super confused what he was talking about.
“It's the rules here.” Salvatore said with some bitterness. “Ghouls don’t enter the main building.”
“What?!” Adam said a third time but now with some anger. “The fuck? Are they racist?”
“Yes.” Salvatore said curtly with a sharp gaze. “They claim it's for public safety, can’t let the potentially dangerous ghouls roam about freely.” He said, like he was vitriolically repeating a line he was fed from somewhere. He then gestured with his thumb to the shanty town looking area.
“That’s where the ghouls go.”
“This is- this is crazy! Why would they do that!” Adam said getting heated.
“Calm down kid, it's not that weird.” Salvatore shrugged. “Not everyone is as kind to ghouls as the folks in Naper. Most places have rules about them, some don’t let them in at all. Don’t worry about it, I'm used to it.”
“That doesn’t make it okay!” Adam said with some force.
“No, it doesn’t but I don't give enough a shit to fight it so leave it alone.” He said as he started heading to the shanty town part of the airport. “If you need me I’ll be in the Golden Gecko” Adam kept his mouth shut and swallowed his anger at the treatment Salvatore was receiving but was not over it. Perhaps it was a norm in this world but it didn’t sit right with him.
“Alright, I'll come find you when I’m ready to head back out.” Adam said with a measured tone, withholding his anger with this settlement for segregation.Salvatore just raised a hand, acknowledging Adam’s comment and started walking to the shanty town. Adam stood there for a moment, just watching Salvatore walk off for a bit before he sighed and then started to walk towards the airport proper, ready to see what this Midway was like.
There were several entrances to the airport visible even from where Adam was standing, though it was clear that the main entrance to the airport was the intended entrance, the rest were just side entrances. So, since he didn’t know where he was going yet, he figured heading right to the main entrance was the best idea.
The front of the airport looked mostly unchanged, the area where cops would sit, cars would drop off people and luggage was all there, the vast tracts of mostly parking lots were visible behind him. He was only just noticing now as he got to the glass door entrances that there were no cars in sight. They must have all been moved to somewhere else since there were no cars in the parking lot or in front of the building, a very unlikely situation to have come about naturally. The area in front of the main entrance was also well cleaned and organized, flowerbeds well maintained stretched the entire length of the edge where the road met the sidewalk, except of course, where one would step onto the sidewalk. The exterior of the doors too had a number of string lights stapled to the wall around the edges to illuminate the outside and give the doors a glow. All of this to say, it looked nice, people put effort into this. Then he stepped inside.
If the exterior was still obviously an airport entrance once he was inside he could no longer tell it was an airport. Where once people would have come to check their bags now was transformed into a giant community space. Houses, shops, and other things littered the ground giving no indication of the once open space, now it was more like a maze. But they did not extend up into the impressively high ceiling so he could see over the roofs of some of the buildings in front of him to the second floor, up a series of escalators, some working some not that also seemed to have been converted to living spaces. There were lampposts indoors, clearly marked walking paths, string lights, sign posts, and a ton more, all giving Adam the sense immediately that this place was not only drastically changed, but home to a ton of people. Adam didn’t even know where to begin, it was a bit overwhelming. That was when he saw a kid come up to him, a young boy, probably no older than 13. The boy was wearing a blue baseball cap and oversized overalls as well as a red shirt. He looked scruffy but not gross and unkempt.
“Heya mister.” he said with a grin. “You new to Midway?”
“Oh um, yeah, how could you tell?” Adam asked curiously.
“Pretty obvious when you are looking around like you ain't never seen so many buildings before.” He chuckled a tiny bit and then continued. “Lucky for you Midway’s best guide is willing to show you all the best spots for a measly 5 caps.” He said with a wide grin, gesturing to himself with his thumb. Adam chuckled, taken in by the kid’s spunk.
He reached into his caps pouch and pulled out 10 caps, handing them over to the kid as soon as he counted them.
“10 caps and you tell me the goings on here too, I want to know what areas to stay clear of and who to watch out for.” The kid's eyes lit up as he got the money and smiled widely.
“Of course! I know all the best AND worst spots in town!” He said proudly. “Stick with me and I'll have you knowing the ins and outs of the city in no time!” He shoves the caps into his pocket and then turns around to lead Adam.
“Follow me, I'll take you around!” He said with pep in his step as he led Adam along. Adam obliged, following at the kid’s pace. Adam began to turn down the main thoroughfare outside the main entrance, there was a lot of foot traffic, as well as a ton of other people standing near the entrance selling themselves, either as guides, bodyguards, or prostitutes. Luckily for the kids he noticed on occasion as he began to enter the city proper, the women selling themselves were fully clothed, though the subtext of what they were selling was not hard to get. There were even a few men who seemed to be advertising for businesses in Midway, the only one that Adam could hear over the cacophony of voices was a man informing everyone about a courier service.
Adam also quickly saw that this front most area had mostly shops, it all looked more flea market like with goods from armor, weapons, medical supplies, to even a butcher’s shop, as they slowly left the front most area, weaving through the streets, the buildings became more and more households. They were on the smaller side, smaller than the ones in Naper. Probably only 3 rooms each, but considering they were building indoors it seemed adequate.
“I assume since you are new in town you don’t have a place to stay yet right” The kid asked as Adam followed, lost in his thoughts as he examined the spaces around him.
“Oh, uh yeah.” Adam said with a nod.
“I figured.” The boy said as he thumbed his nose like he was proud of himself. “Well I know all the hotels and inns in town, you rich mister?” He asked, as he led Adam up one of the escalators that still worked, turning around to look at him as he stepped on the moving staircase.
Adam just laughed at the question. “I'm not poor if that's what you are asking.” Adam smiled.
“Got a budget in mind? I know places you can sleep for as little as 5 caps but…” He paused looking pensive. “Even I wouldn’t recommend it. Then the best places on the top floor can run you a few hundred caps a night.” Adam was impressed, this city was not failing him in any way. Though he was curious about the richest rooms he could rent, he could theoretically afford them after all, but he was not looking to blow all his money in one place.
“Well…” Adam paused to think. “I'm not sure, I only really have experience with Naper prices in this… area…” he said, petering off, as he decided not to go into too much detail.
“Oh yeah? Naper huh? Heard it's a nice place!” He said with a nod as he put his hand to his chin to think. “Well what are you looking for in a place to stay? Just a bed or do you want something more?”
“Ideally I'd like a place with a private room, clean bed and sheets, and an attached bathroom.” The kid nodded as Adam spoke.
“Okay so you will need one of the nicer places, not many places have a bathroom.” He looked around left and right as they got to the top of the escalator and then he took a left. “Come on, follow me, I think I know a good place.” He said as he led Adam along the route through the second floor.
Unlike the first floor which was mostly a wide open space and then the, now mostly gone, counters where passengers would hand off their bags, the second floor was much thinner as such there were no constructed buildings, instead all the alcove stores and booths had been converted to living quarters or the occasional store. There was also communal sitting and relaxing spaces available, a lot of people were out and about enjoying their day not even noticing Adam at all. In fact, now that he thought about it, not a single person had noticed him since he got here. Much different to Naper where his blue jumpsuit made him stand out, here, he was just part of the crowd. The sheer population difference between the two settlements was incomparable, there were already a ton of people Adam had seen and he had only explored a little bit so far.
The two of them walked for a while longer going past a ton of altered spaces, some with buildings lining the walls others with nothing but the airport stores changed into something else. All the while the kid took the time to talk about some of the local hotspots, the best restaurants, the best areas and the worst areas. The best of the best seemed to be on the third floor but people paid more proportionally to what floor they were on, the worst part, according to the kid, was the south eastern side of the first floor. It was basically the slums and it was a breeding ground for gang violence. The kid strongly warned Adam to not go back there, saying there was nothing worth seeing back there anyway. Eventually, after wandering through halls for some time they arrived at the kid’s destination. Gate 31.
“I think you will like this one.” The kid said as he stopped in front of the Gate. “Welcome to the Delta.” He grinned.
Chapter 57
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Adam looked at the gate confused. There was a woman standing in front of the check in desk but there were no obvious signs that this was a place he could stay other than the name “The Delta” painted in gold lettering on a sign hanging above the gate door. The kid laughed at Adam’s confusion.
“Don’t worry about it, trust me, this place is great.” He said with some pride in himself. “It's a little on the pricey side but you get privacy, a bathroom, and plenty of space to lay about.” He paused, checking Adam’s reaction. “If you don’t like it I can lead you to a more traditional hotel but you will have to pay more, water is a premium here. Bathrooms ain’t cheap.” He said with a nod to himself.
“No, no. This is fine.” He then smiled. “Thanks for bringing me here.” He laughed and then pulled out another cap from his bag and flipped it to him. “If you stick around until I’m done to lead me some more i’ll tip you a second time.” Adam said with a grin. The kid brightened up as he put the cap in his pocket.
“Don’t worry sir, I’ll be waiting right here!” He said with a bright smile. Adam nodded to him and then walked to the receptionist, who was very much within earshot of that entire conversation but was politely staying out of it.
“Excuse me ma’am, do you have any rooms available? I got a stellar review for your place from that young man over there.”
“Why yes we do!” She said with a smile. “We have two room types available: Business class and First class.”
“What's the difference?” Adam asked curiously.
“Business class comes with a bed, a desk, window views, dresser, bathroom and shower, and complimentary snacks once a day. The first class has all of that plus complimentary wine, larger rooms, and a larger bed.” She smiled. “We do have a third room type. The Delta suite; but that is currently booked at this time so it is unavailable.” Adam paused to think.
“How much are the rooms? Also, any chance I could see them before I pay?”
“Certainly sir!” She said with some pep as she turned to the side and gestured to the gate door. “Please follow me.” She then led the way inside and Adam followed. He did turn around to see if the kid was waiting and found he was, flipping a cap between his fingers as he leaned against the wall.
Once Adam had walked through the tunnel, interestingly, Adam entered a plane, which was immensely confusing, that is until he actually got inside and saw the isle.
The entire plane had been gutted, no seats, no headrests, nothing that made it resemble a passenger plane. Instead the plane was set up like a train passenger car. There was one moderately thin hallway that ran the entire length of the plane and then rooms made up of the space left over, each surrounded by its own wall and with its own door. Somehow it actually looked pretty nice. There were some signs that it had been made in the apocalypse, a few imperfections here and there, but largely it had high craftsmanship, it was actually impressive.
The woman led him to the third door and then opened it, ushering him inside to look.
“This is our business class suite.” She said as Adam stepped inside. “Only 100 Caps a night.” The room was large, especially considering the limited space on an airplane, but considering it took up 7/8ths of the entire cabin width of this monstrous sized plane it made sense. There was more than enough room for him to do whatever he needed even if that was to work out. In addition the bed looked nice and well cleaned, and there was a small attached bathroom and shower. Though 100 caps seemed a bit steep for what he was getting, the room was smaller than the one in Naper, even if it was nicer. He then turned back to the woman and she gestured for him to follow, which he did.
She then led him to the back of the plane where more rooms lay, but it was clear even from the outside these rooms were bigger, lengthwise they were about 1.5 the size of the business class rooms.
“This is our First class room.” She said as she opened the door for Adam. “These run 150 caps a night.” Adam stepped inside and was none too surprised to find it looking very similar to the Business class. Everything was nearly identical in design though the noted differences is that the room had a bit more decor and was, as she had said earlier, much bigger. The bed was also a queen instead of a double, and the sheets looked to be finer, with a higher thread count. The bathroom too was bigger, though it might be hard to notice. But the installed shower was even more luxurious with a marble tiled floor. Adam took a moment to consider before he returned to the woman.
“Alright, I think I will take the business class.” Adam said as he emerged from the room. He had decided that 100 caps a night was already quite a bit of money and paying 50 caps more a night for some more leg room was not worth it. The free wine sounded nice but he could buy wine with the money he saved. Besides, he didn’t plan on staying in his room all day so the extra room was meaningless. A double bed was fine.
“Wonderful sir!’ She said as she clapped her hands together once and smiled. “Please come with me and let's sign you in and get your key!”
Once back at the reception desk she handed Adam a form to sign and pointed to the room she would be giving him. “Please sign your name here, if you can’t write I will gladly do it for you.” She said kindly.
“No, that’s okay, I can do it.” Adam said as he took the pen and signed his name.
“And how long will you be staying with us sir?” Adam considered for a moment before responding.
“Just 2 nights for now, When is checkout time? And am I allowed to continue to rent the room the next day if I want?” Adam said as he reached into his pocket for the caps.
“Of course sir. That will be 200 caps.” She said handling the first matter first. “Checkout time is at 12pm, any and all belongings inside the cabin at the time of your checkout will be confiscated and no longer considered to be your possessions, we are not responsible for any lost or unclaimed luggage. If you wish to continue to rent the room please just let us know before 10am on the day of your expiry, otherwise you run the risk of someone booking your room next.”
Adam placed down 2 of the Midway vouchers that he had gotten from Chuck for 200 caps. She looked at them for a moment and then smiled.
“Wonderful! I hope you enjoy your stay with us as Air Delta!” She said as she handed Adam the key to his room. 105.
Adam looked back at the kid for a moment who was still just waiting. “Give me a minute to set my gear down, when I’m back I'll be counting on your services again.” He said to him which got him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Adam then went back down the tunnel into the plane to go to his new room and take off all his gear. Rifle, gasmask, binoculars, most things he stashed in his room, but he kept his 10mm pistol and holster on him, the town seemed a bit more… unpredictable than Naper did. He didn’t feel as safe walking around unarmed. Besides he was hardly the only one to do so, he had seen plenty of folks walking around with weapons on their backs or hips so he would have plenty of company with his paranoia.
Once he had fully gotten himself stripped back down to his vault suit he walked back out to once more link up with the young guide he had hired for himself.
Notes:
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Chapter Text
“Alright kid, you ready to continue?” Adam said as he emerged from the gate dressed down now.
“Sure!” The kid said with some pep as he got off the wall and then walked over to Adam. “Did you have a destination in mind?”
“Well yes, I have a few other places I'd like you to show me to as well as answering some questions if you don’t mind.”
“Of course mister! You can count on me!” He said with a thumb pointing to himself proudly. Adam chuckled softly.
“The name is Adam, Adam Baxter.” He said kindly.
“The name’s Derek! Just Derek.” He gave a toothy grin.
“Well, Derek, if you wouldn’t mind, I'd like to see the best weapon’s shop, armor shop, and general store, if you’d please. After that, if there's a good place to go for a variety of restaurants I'd like you to show me there too.”
“Alrighty Adam!” He said as he started to march off and then paused. “Um… what do you mean by general store? You mean like junk?” Adam paused to consider his question.
“Well… I suppose so, perhaps.”
“Okay! I can do that! I’ll introduce you to the old man first!” He said as he pointed dramatically in a direction he was planning on walking and then started leading Adam back the way they came to a different place in Midway.
“You said you had questions?” Derek asked curiously while they walked.
“Yes…” Adam paused as he considered how to ask this. “I learned when I arrived that Ghouls aren't allowed in the airport proper. How come?” Derek looked at him a bit confused.
“Because they are dangerous?” He said, like a question. Like it was an obvious answer.
“How so?”
“Well I mean, everyone knows that a ghoul is only sane for so long, eventually they go feral. Ghouls don’t hurt other ghouls but if one were to go feral in the city that’d be bad.”
“Do ghouls go feral enough for that to be a problem?” Adam asked, trying to probe this line of reasoning. Derek just shrugged.
“I don’t know, but it must be for the rule to be like that.”
“How long has that rule been in place?”
“Forever.” Derek responded simply. “As long as I’ve been alive anyway.” Adam nodded, realizing he wasn’t going to get satisfying enough answers from Derek.
“I have a question for you if you don’t mind.” Derek asked as he continued leading, now past the main floor where the entrance is.
“Sure, I don't mind.”
“What do you do for a living? You were wearing a lot of gear when you came in. A lot of guns too. Are you some kind of mercenary? Contract killer?” Derek asked casually. Showing how neither profession was too much of a black mark in today's society.
“Well no.” Adam laughed softly. “I’m a Scaver.”
“Oh!” Derek said with realization. “I understand! You must be pretty good at it to be able to rent a room at the Delta, most scavers rent the cheap rooms and don’t make much money.” That gave Adam pause, he hadn’t even considered whether he was successful at his job or not. If Derek was to be believed he was not only lucky but far better at it than he assumed. Then again, it was a dangerous world outside, not a single trip outside was without its own dangers. Even his first run to the movie theater was not without its own enemies to fight. So it certainly wasn’t for the faint of heart. It was a far better idea for the average person to take up a different job. Even bodyguards don’t have to fight to stay alive all the time, most of the time it meant just standing around looking tough. Mercenaries were a different story, but perhaps bodyguards and mercenaries were just two sides of the same coin nowadays.
“I like to think I am.” Adam said after a moment to contemplate. “But it doesn’t mean it's easy.”
“Oh I bet!” Derek said enthusiastically. “Tell me, have you fought any super mutants? Any Deathclaws?” His eyes were practically twinkling now. Adam chuckled.
“Yes and no.” he smirked. “I have fought some super mutants, me and my friend Salvatore killed some on the way here, 3 to be exact, they were tough.” He said with respect. “And while I’ve never fought a deathclaw I did come near one before, it scared the crap out of me. I was lucky to get away.” Derek crossed his arms and nodded in an almost sagely way.
“I bet. I’ve heard deathclaws are super dangerous!” He grinned and then looked ahead to where they were going, which seemed to be another market street but unlike the flea market like structure near the entrance instead it was all store built into the former shops that once filled the airport. Derek led him past a few shops and towards a weapon shop that came into view. It was already a boon to know about this area. He had a feeling this whole area was for more quality goods unlike the stuff he would find on the first floor.
“Hey old man! I got you a customer!” Derek called out as he approached a shop with a counter at the front of the store and was littered with weapons of all kinds. Blades, knives, axes, guns, laser weapons, rocket launchers, you name it. Some were strapped to the walls, some were on shelves, and some were hanging from the ceiling.
“I told you not to call me that you little brat.” A bald older man with graying facial hair groomed into a goatee and with thick biceps stepped out of the door to the back and onto the shop floor. He walked over to Derek and roughly rubbed his head, messing up his hair.
“Hey!” Derek called out, swatting his hand away after a moment. The weapon shopkeeper looked at Adam and extended a hand.
“The names Jay, Weaponsmith, repairman, and salesman. Pleased to meet you.” He smiled brightly. Adam gladly took his hand and shook it.
“Adam Baxter.” He returned with a smile of his own.
“Baxter eh? Well ain't that a funny coincidence.” He laughed.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked, confused what he was talking about.
“Just that the name Baxter carries some weight around this area, used to be a guy who went by Baxter a few years ago, before he went dark anyway.” He then paused as he put his hand to his chin and stroked his beard while he mused aloud. “I think Baxter was his first name though? I don’t know, haven’t seen him in a while, probably dead.” He shrugged.
That certainly was a funny coincidence, Baxter wasn’t altogether that uncommon of a name so it was not surprising to hear about another Baxter, though it was amusing to him. Maybe one day he might meet another Adam too? Just future thoughts.
“Well anyway you got a good firm handshake there. You can tell a lot about a man from the way he shakes hands.” He grinned.
‘Oh? And what does mine say about me?” Adam asked, curious and more than willing to bite.
“That you are confident in yourself and skills, but are eager to prove yourself, trying to make a good impression.” He grinned. Adam looked impressed.
“Vague but nail on the head.” He laughed with a smile. “Do you moonlight as a fortune teller?” This got a good hearty laugh out of Jay.
“Oh sure that would sell well!” He grinned as he put up his hands and mimed a sign in front of him as he spoke. “Jay’s discount fortune telling!” He grinned. “I'd have customers around the bend!” He smiled.
“Anyway what brings you to my little shop there Mr. Baxter, besides, of course, this little bastard bringing you along?” He smiled as he once more rubbed the head of Derek but this time more affectionately. Though Derek still looked unhappy to be treated like a kid.
“Ah, well to be honest I was more scoping out locations for the future, figuring knowing where the best weapon shop in Midway was a good thing to have under my belt.” Adam grinned.
“Well ain’t you a flatter.” He chuckled. “You some kind of mercenary?”
“Scaver actually.”
“Ah, that makes sense.” He then looked Adam up and down for a moment. “I certainly hope you don’t go outside looking like that.” Adam looked down at himself and then laughed.
“Oh no, I do have a ton more gear back in my room I'm renting in the Delta. I just didn’t see a need to lug it around everywhere, a holstered pistol was enough for me.” Jay nodded.
“Fair enough.”
“Since I am here though, Do you have any Fusion Cells you can sell me? Also maybe a scope for my rifle.”
“Sure, I can do that.” He said as he walked over to a locker against the back wall, took out a key, and unlocked it revealing a ton of ammo inside. “How many Cells you need?”
“Uhhh… I think 3 is fine for now. They don’t burn out fast so I don’t need too many.” He nodded and then pulled out three.
“And for the scope got a magnification in mind? A type? Also, does your gun have any rails.” Adam paused to think. He hadn’t realized he would get options.
“I think a 6 times magnification would be good, though if it can switch between magnifications that’d be even better, I'm not too particular about the type, but I would need it to be able to be pulled to the side when I want to use the iron sights instead. Also no, the rifle does not have any rails.” Jay stroked his beard for a minute and then nodded, he left to go into the back and then came back out a few minutes later with a perfect scope for Adam’s request.
“I think this will do ya nicely. It's pricey though, 200 caps, but it will do everything you need.” He grinned and then added. “I can even do the installation for you for only 20 caps.”
“I think i can install it myself…” He paused to think, 200 caps was far more than he was willing to spend right now he needed to keep some money on hand for unexpected situations. Maybe in the future.
“I don’t think I can afford it right now, but hold onto it for me, I’m going to be doing another run in a few days, if it's good I’ll buy it then.”
“Suit yourself.” He said as he put it back. “The 3 fusion cells will run you 45 caps.” He said as he pressed a key on his register to open the drawer. Adam handed him a 50 cap bill and got 5 loose caps in exchange.
“Anything else I can do for ya?”
Chapter Text
“No, I think that's about it for now.” Adam said to Jay, satisfied with his ammo purchase. “I'm just glad to know where you are, you can be certain I will patronize your shop another time.” Jay grinned.
“Good to know I can snag a repeat customer!” He laughed. “You new in the city?”
“Yeah, I just got in after traveling from Naper.”
“Naper huh? That's a bit away right? Heard it's a nice place, right on the river.”
“Yeah, it was a great town, it also took me in when I had nothing, so I did what I could to help it back.” Adam smiled.
“That's a good trait to have!” He said before he laughed and then slapped Adam on the back a bit. “But it isn't always the most advantageous one, be careful that people don’t take advantage of you, not everyone is friendly like me!” He grinned as he lightly pounded his chest.
“Well i won’t hold you up anymore, i'm sure you got stuff to do, the shops are closing soon too so I don’t want to keep you. It was nice meeting you, Adam. I look forward to seeing you again in the future.”
“Same to you, Jay.” Adam then turned to look at Derek.
“Alright, next stop, an Armor shop.” Jay raised an eyebrow.
“Well, I don’t mean to steal the kid’s work, but might I offer a suggestion?”
“Uh, yeah sure.” Adam responded, not seeing any reason to say no.
“A few shops over is my friend’s shop, she sells the best armor money can buy in town, it's pricey but you get your money’s worth.” He smiled.
“That’s where I was going to bring him!” Derek said indignantly as he crossed his arms. Adam just chuckled.
“Well it sounds like we are heading her way. Thank you again, Jay.”
“No problem, good luck!” He waved them off as they walked to the aforementioned armor shop.
At the end of a dead end T junction there was another alcove boutique that had been converted to a different style of shop. It took him no time at all to recognize it as his destination, armor was literally on mannequins right at the front behind glass displays. However the moment he stepped through the threshold he laid his eyes on it.
“Combat Armor Mark 2.” Adam muttered quietly as he walked over like he was in a trance to the Armor beautifully displayed on the center rightmost rack. This was the best armor the US military ever put out, behind, of course, power armor. It offered superior protection to all key areas without sacrificing any durability, bullet resistance, or maneuverability. When he was in the war this was the armor that was given to the special forces. He, as a regular foot soldier, was not given the opportunity to wear it. Though he may not have appreciated it as much then as he is now. The armor looked very similar to reinforced combat armor but it was a different color and was made of more durable materials. For Adam the armor had the sort of draw that anyone who was a fan of military history and gear would have with a special forces outfit, it had that level of symbolic importance. And here there was one, for sale.
“It's 12,000 caps honey.” A woman’s voice said from behind him as he was reaching out to touch the armor. Her voice broke him out of his spell and he turned to look at her. She was wearing a red colored military uniform with a printed ‘Lucy’ on the front tilted about 20 degrees. The military uniform was not ironed or worn properly at all, though to be honest the way she was wearing looked far more comfortable than it did when Adam wore it.
“Excuse me?” Adam said with shock as he quickly backed away from the armor without touching it after hearing the price.
“It's a premium product.” She said as she strolled over to the armor and touched it gently. “They don’t make it like this anymore.”
“With a price point that high you can’t expect to sell it, right?” Adam asked, only afterwards realizing what he said could be seen as rude, but before he could backtrack she laughed.
“You’d be surprised. There are people with deep pockets living in Midway, and those same people often want the best of the best.” She pulled away from the armor. “But you are right it likely won’t go anytime soon, but it's here until it finds its owner.” She grinned and then looked Adam over.
“So what brings you here hun? Looking for a more affordable suit of armor I assume?” She smiled.
“Ah, well yes, I was just scoping out what you had honestly. I am in desperate need of some kind of armor more than just a bullet proof vest.”
“I’ll say.” She said as she looked around the room. “Well I can offer some suggestions if you are interested.”
“I’ll certainly listen but my budget is tight right now, likely I will go on another run soon so I can make some more money. When I get back I will, hopefully, have enough money to buy some upgrades to my kit.” He paused and then added: “I'm a Scaver by the way.” Just to be sure she didn’t get any strange ideas about what he meant.
“Ah! Well that explains the need for armor.” She walked over to another mannequin and gestured to it. “Then I’ll save you the sales pitch for today and wait for your business next time, but I will point out that I have the standard combat armor variant too, it's not as good as our mutual friend over there but it's also half the price, 6000 caps.”
Adam whistled as he walked over to look at the combat armor. It was the exact same kind he used when he was on deployment, though, of course, he was wearing winterized colors, he was in Alaska after all. Still this was the same kind of armor, flaws and all.
“6000 is still a lot.”
“Certainly.” She said with a smile. “But if you want something worthwhile you have to shell out for it. I can of course offer you some other options when you come back but just wanted to show you what I have in stock, I got plenty more options to fit all budgets.”
“Well, I'm certainly impressed with what I am seeing.” Adam chuckled. “I will definitely make sure to come back when I get the caps.” He looked at the Combat Armor Mark 2 again. “A lot of money, but it really would be worth it huh?” He said mostly to himself as he looked at it.
“I certainly think so.” She chuckled.
“Alright well it was nice meeting you miss…”
“Olivia, Olivia Frost.”
“Adam Baxter. It was nice to meet you, Miss Frost.” He said as he offered his hand she took it and shook.
“And you as well, shame I couldn’t make a sale but I can see that look in your eyes, you will be back.” She grinned and then turned around. “Have a wonderful day Mr. Baxter.”
Adam turned too, to look at Derek. “Alright next stop, the general store, or junk store, whichever really.”
Chapter Text
The walk to the ‘junk shop’ took a bit longer than the trip between the weapon and armor shop, but it was all within the same area. It seemed the staple Midway businesses were all centered in this mall like area. It was certainly convenient, which is probably why it was set up this way. Once Derek had led him to the shop it was very much as he described, a junk shop.
At first glance it looked like a hoarder’s cave. There were tin cans dangling from string attached to the ceiling, random objects scattered about the store, some on tables, some on the ground, weapons and armor haphazardly thrown about without regard for safety or proper handling, boxes and chests thrown open with various clothing inside. There were even a few weird oddities like a snowglobe, a brain in a jar, and schematic for a laser rifle, looking to be taken right from a military research base.
The shop also looked to be notably bigger than the other shops he had visited so far, it was about double the size, so the amount of stuff strewn about was tremendous.
“See? Junk shop.” Derek said as he crossed his arms and looked inside the store without entering. Adam did. As soon as he got inside he was met with a familiar British voice.
“Hello sir or Madam! Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-how can I be of service to-to-to-to-to-to-to-to-” The Mr Handy began before being caught repeating the same vowel over and over. It seemed, at a glance, to be stuck in a logic loop if he were to guess, something must’ve shorted out inside.
Mr. Handy were very different from the robots made by RobCo. RobCo’s robots had distinct features that made them easy to tell apart from General atomics, at least to a mechanic. But the Mr. Handy was a standout. It flew.
Mr Handy was effectively a giant ball full of fuel that used a thruster to stay airborne. With its three jointed eyes and three jointed and changeable arms it proved to be a popular robot. Many people had a Mr. Handy in their home, they were great home makers, much the opposite of RobCo who practically only made robots for labor or combat. Mr. Handy was perfectly suited for keeping a home in order. It was so popular that there were other variants made. Ms. Nanny, and Mr. Gutsy. The female variant had special subroutines in it that allowed it to handle childcare tasks as well as the standard tasks that Mr. Handy could handle too. Mr. Gutsy on the other hand was an entirely different beast. Completely separated from the domestic models, the Mr. Gutsy was ordered for the US military and was equipped with weapons instead of tools. He had even had one deployed to his unit back in the war. The damn thing swore more than anyone else in his unit.
All of this to say it was not surprising to see a Mr. Handy to Adam, but it was surprising to see one here, now. It felt random. And worst of all it seemed to be glitching, he almost felt bad. Especially since Mr. Handys were rumored to sometimes imitate levels of sentience that other robots never achieved. Must be hell for the guy to be stuck sputtering like that.
But while Adam was lost in his thoughts pitying the robot, a woman in raggedy, but not worn or torn, clothing came out of a backroom door that Adam had not seen due to the sheer volume of things before him.
“Would you shut up already you stupid piece of junk!” She said as she threw a shoe from a table next to her right at the Mr. Handy hitting it and successfully stopping it repeating the syllable over and over. Instead it just seemed to go silent and then headed back to the counter.
“Sorry about that.” The woman said as she scratched her head through her ratty looking long hair. She really looked like she just woke up.
“Ah, it's no problem.”
“Good, I’d hate to scare away a customer because of the hunk of junk again.” She sighed. “Would you believe I paid 3,000 caps for the damn thing? Passing trader sold him to him, worked for a few months and now look at him, he either doesn't talk or won't shut up.” Adam looked at her and then at the Mr. Handy again before returning to her once more.
“If you’d like… I can take a look at him.” Adam offered. She raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“You know robots?”
“I am a licensed RobCo mechanic.” Adam grinned.
“Sure you are.” She said with a roll of her eyes. Adam was, of course, being serious, though he did say it in a playful way so it was easy to understand she didn’t take him seriously, not least of which is because if he wasn’t from the old world it would be impossible to be licensed.
“Is that a no?” Adam asked with a smile. She paused and then sighed.
“Alright, fine, if you can fix the damn thing then I guess it's worth it… How much is this going to cost me?” Adam began to walk over to the Mr. Hand as he pulled out the connection cord from the Pip-boy.
“Well let me see what is wrong first and then I can tell you.” He said as he got behind the Mr. Handy, opened the panel and then plugged his pip-boy in. The amount of feedback errors he got was… insane.
Adam shook his head and whistled softly.
“With the amount of errors I'm getting from this guy I'm surprised he is functioning at all.” Adam said almost impressed by how many back up subroutines were programmed into the Mr. Handy to prevent it from failing too easily. But it was clear whoever reprogrammed this robot last did a shoddy job.
“Well fuck.” She said with a grunt. “Can you fix him?” Adam took a moment to look at the errors again and then nodded.
“Yeah I can, but it's going to be a decent bit of work. I thought the issue was mechanical but its software issues. Of course I'm getting some hardware issue warnings too but those are minor.” He then unplugged himself from the Mr. Handy and turned to look at her now.
“How much… is this going to cost me?” She asked hesitantly again.
“Well…” Adam took a minute to pause and consider, there were a lot of factors that were going into this, but truthfully he simply didn’t know what to charge for the job, Even back in the old world he was paid to do this for a living, not based on commission, he had no baseline to compare to. But after a bit of consideration he came to an answer.
“300 caps.” Adam said with a small nod to himself, as if to agree with his own judgement.
“Damn, that much huh?” She sighed and then looked at the Mr. Handy just floating next to Adam, doing nothing. “Well it would be a bigger shame to let 3000 caps go down the drain, but if you don’t fix him I swear to god…” Adam put his hands up in mock surrender and smiled.
“Don’t worry If I can’t fix him I’m not going to charge you.” He interjected.
“Well… that's okay then.” She said getting less defensive now.
“I can work on him tomorrow if that's okay with you. It's getting late and I’m hungry and tired from a day of travel.” She nodded.
“I understand, go do what you have to do. The shop opens at 8am everyday other than saturday and sunday, though if you get this guy running that would change.” She shrugged. “Just come here when you are ready to work.”
“Alright sounds good.” Adam said as he approached her and offered his hand. “The name is Adam Baxter by the way.”
“Lune.” She returned as she hesitantly shook his hand.
“Nice to meet you Lune.”
Chapter Text
“Alright Derek, one more stop. Food.” Adam smiled as he turned back to the kid.
“My favorite thing!” He smiled brightly and then turned to lead Adam away. Lune stood still and watched them go, lost in thoughts of her own.
“I have more questions if you have some time, Derek.” Adam said as he kept pace with him.
“Certainly! Feel free to ask!” He said happily. It was clear by now the kid enjoyed the feeling of supporting others, being relied on was something he enjoyed deeply, probably because he was a kid and people treated him like that, so leading adults around and answering questions was perfect for him.
“Why does Midway have paper money? Was there a reason they don’t use caps as much?” Derek’s face darkened a bit as the question was asked.
“That’s because of The Guild.” Derek said somberly.
“Oh? I heard about them, some kind of merchant guild yeah? They are the ones who set up the money for people?”
“More like forced.” Derek corrected, still much less enthusiastic than before, he even sounded a bit bitter.
“I get the feeling there is some subtext I don’t know… do you not like them?”
“They are bullies.” He said softly but enough that Adam could hear him. “They take a cut of everything, if you run a business in Midway you pay a tax to them, all merchants have to use the slips too…” He peters off a bit.
“They tax everyone?” Adam asked surprised, having assumed that was like the government’s job.
“No, not everyone, just the people trying to do business, even me.”
“They take from you?!” Adam said, shocked.
“Yeah, 10% of whatever I make everyday. If I don't make any money though, they leave me alone.”
“That’s…” Adam started before stopping, not even sure what to say about it.
“It is what it is.” Derek shrugged still a bit down. “It's just the rules.”
“What do they use the tax money for?” Derek looked up at Adam like he had no idea what he was talking about. “I guess nothing.” Adam chuckled darkly.
“Is there like a mayor or something of the town that can stop them?”
“Everyone knows the mayor is in The Guild’s pockets.” Derek responded. “As I said, it's just the way things are here.”
“Wow…” Adam said, really not having any idea how to follow that up.
“So yeah, if you see any members of The Guild it's best to just stay out of their way.” Derek finished.
“I think I heard that exact thing from a friend in Naper.”
“Smart friend.” They then rounded the corner and arrived in a massive food court, complete with a large number of food vendors, some in the boutiques, some in food stalls, and one food truck somehow in the center of the food court, somehow, even despite this being the second floor.
“Wow.” Adam said, impressed. “This is exactly what I was looking for.” He smirked and then reached into his pouch and pulled out another cap, flipping it to Derek. “Thanks, Derek, you’ve done a great job helping me today.”
Derek’s expression immediately lightened once more when he got the cap. Not too surprising, Adam had, over the course of the day, paid him 7 caps more than his going rate, still not much but certainly more than he would usually get from a single customer. However his expression immediately turned to fear as he looked up and into the crowd in the food court.
Adam traced his gaze and saw what he was looking at. Men in black suits. 3 of them.
The 3 men were crowding around one of the food vendors, which seemed to be a bakery, and were talking with the staff. From his position Adam couldn’t hear what was being said but while there were no threatening overtures made by the men in suits the people behind the counter of the bakery looked frightened and seemed to be pleading.
“I uh… gotta go…” Derek said as he slowly backed up, using Adam’s frame as cover from the men’s line of sight as he did. “It was nice meeting you Mr. Adam!” He said as he then bolted away. Adam turned his head and watched him dash off before turning back. When he did he saw one of the suited men looking in his direction, though not at Adam. He did not move from his spot though, so after a moment he returned his gaze to the bakery.
Adam felt like he wanted to intervene but there was far too much nuance to the situation he didn’t know so intervening could at best be a nuisance to Derek, at worst ruin his ability to work in Midway and get Adam kicked out. So he had to sit this one out. Besides, both Derek and Chuck told him to avoid The Guild if at all possible, so he would let this one lie.
He began to walk to the center of the food court, to take in his options and choose one when he saw a familiar face. Deccanus.
He was walking a little ahead of Adam amongst a crowd. It had been a bit since he last saw him and while he would not say they were at all friends, a familiar face was certainly a pleasant surprise here, it helped ground him in this sea of unknown people.
“Hey Decc-” He began, arm above his head to catch his attention but stopped short when Deccanus seemed to turn to head right towards a specific table in the food court. His expression was serious and hardened.
He walked up to a man who was sitting alone at a table drinking a bottle of whiskey. The man had black hair, blue eyes, and a rough beard. He was wearing some sort of brown duster and jeans and had on his chest sturdy looking body armor of some kind with white lettering Adam couldn’t read from where he was. But there was some sort of bear symbol patch on his shoulder Adam could see. On the table next to him was a gas mask helmet with red tinted eyes.
Deccanus stopped a few feet short of the man, standing just to his left and staring at him while the man continued to casually sip at his drink.
“I finally found you, Ranger.” Deccanus said with a cold rage as he stared the man down like he was going to kill him. The man referred to as a ranger did not even flinch at the words, choosing to ignore Deccanus entirely.
“I have come to claim your head.” Deccanus said slowly and with emphasis as he slowly reached for the machete on his hip, placing his hand on the hilt.
“Ave, true to Caesar!” He said as he drew his machete in a flash and took a half step forward before a large revolver pistol, hidden on the lap of the ranger, went off hitting Deccanus hard enough that he was sent flying back a foot and hit the ground hard.
“Ave, true to shit.” The man said dismissively as he resumed drinking.
Chapter Text
There was a scream from the crowd as the loud gunshot rang out but there was no ensuing panic that would normally be accompanied with an act like this, done in broad daylight. There were of course, people who scurried out of the area, some who stopped and stared, a few who looked horrified and disgusted, but no pandemonium. It was almost too quiet. The three men in black suits also had turned around to look at the commotion, in fact the entire room seemed to be frozen.
Then everything continued on as if nothing happened, people were making a point to avoid both the ranger and the body of Deccanus but they did nothing else of note.
Adam ran over to Deccanus who was still laying on the floor, now in a pool of his own blood. Deccanus was on the ground looking dead, a huge hole had been blown through the upper left side of his shoulder and torso. Adam placed two fingers on his neck to check to see if he still had a pulse.
“Don’t bother, kid.” The ranger said with a calm casual tone while he continued to sip the whiskey. “I hit him with my Sequoia. He’s dead.” He said matter of factly. However Adam didn’t listen and kept checking for a pulse.
He found one. The pulse was low and thready but he was still alive, but god knows for how much longer.
“Hey you.” Two guards wearing the same sort of armor and gear Adam had seen at the front of the gate stopped right behind the ranger, weapons drawn but pointed at the ground as they spoke to the ranger. “You are going to need to come with us.” One said with a commanding tone.
“Alright. Let me just finish this drink of mine.” He said as he then downed the rest of the bottle before standing up and turning to the Guards. “Lead the way boys.” The guards then turn to lead him to wherever they were planning on taking him. One guard took the front, the other walked behind him. As he left the table he picked up his helmet and put it under his arm carrying it along. The one in the back locked eyes with the 3 men in suits and nodded to them, one nodded back and then business as usual resumed in the food court. For all except Adam of course.
He was silently cursing himself for not bringing any of his stimpacks with him, he had left them all with his gear back in the room. Not that a stimpack would heal a wound this big, but it certainly would prolong his life for as long as it took to get somewhere to fix him up. Adam had no choice, he had to take him to a doctor himself.
Hoisting Deccanus over his shoulders in a fireman's carry he began to run all the way back to the mall area he was in before. When he was there visiting the other three shops he did notice a doctor’s office but didn’t give it a second glance because it wasn’t important at the time, but it was important now. Adam ran as quickly as he could towards the doctor, at times rudely bumping people out of the way.
Why was he saving Deccanus? Or better question, why was he putting in so much effort to save Deccanus? Even Adam was not completely sure. He didn’t know Deccanus that well, nor did he consider him a friend, nor did he have any obligation. Deccanus also seemed to have deserved it since he was planning to kill the other guy. But Adam still had a moral sense of right and wrong, a man getting shot in front of him was not something he could easily brush off his conscience if he did nothing, at the very least if it happened to someone he knew. But more than that he had fought alongside Deccanus. There was something raw and primal about the bonds formed among comrades in combat. There is no doubt that Deccanus had saved his life, even if only indirectly, when they were in the fight in the raider base. If nothing else, even if he were to disregard all other things, he owed him to try to save him.
So he ran, ran as fast as he could all the way to the otherside of Midway where the mall lay, hoping against hope that the doctor was still in.
He arrived a few minutes later, not out of breath from sprinting or carrying Deccanus ironically, but from the self induced panic from the situation he was throwing himself in. Luckily for him the shop was still open, the doctor standing at her counter, looking like she was closing up for the night.
“Doctor!” Adam said as he burst in through the door catching her a bit off guard by the suddenness of his arrival. “He is badly hurt, can you help?” Adam asked frantically.
After the initial shock of Adam’s sudden arrival and loud volume wore off the woman seemed to be far more casual about the situation. She shrugged lightly and then gestured with her thumb to the door next to her.
“Bring him in here and lay him on the bed, I’ll see what I can do.” She said with a nonchalant and casual tone, pulling out a key and unlocking the door with it. Adam was quick to follow her in. Gently laying Deccanus on the bed as he did and then breathing a sigh of relief.
The doctor slowly walked over to a small box full of rubber gloves, put them on and then put on a mask. She then walked over to Deccanus who was visibly getting paler now. She began to check him over, specifically his wound on his shoulder. After she had checked him over she turned to Adam.
“Yes I can save him.” She said calmly through her mask. Adam once more breathed a sigh of relief.
“Please do.” Adam said with a weary smile.
“500 caps.” She said calmly still.
“What?” Adam said caught off guard.
“I said 500 caps to save this man’s life. You don't have the money then get out.” She said callously.
Adam was very much on the backfoot not expecting an upfront charge right as he got Deccanus in, let alone 500 caps, that was most of his money right now. He would be left with 59 caps if he accepted. But he did have the money. Backing out now seemed both cruel and would render his previous actions meaningless.
Adam frowned and then slapped 475 worth of vouchers on the nearby counter full of medical supplies and then dumped out a number of other caps, not even counting them, just guessing what was 25 caps, now was not the time to be counting carefully.
“Save him.” Adam said with a low strict tone after he dumped out the money, no longer in the mood to be polite to this woman.
“Very good.” She said as she turned back to Deccanus. “Surgery will be necessary, It will take some time for me to finish my work, and time still for him to heal up fully. You may leave now.” She said as she grabbed some tools and began to work. Adam couldn’t help but hover for a moment as she began, but then, without turning around she spoke up again:
“Let me rephrase that, get out now.” She said with a commanding tone. Adam sighed and then walked out of the room, leaving her to her work.
Once outside the room he looked down at himself and his vault suit and saw Deccanus’ blood that had covered him. It seemed like he would need to postpone dinner for a little while longer.
Chapter Text
Adam walked back to his rented room to clean up, both himself and his suit. The walk there was fraught with thoughts in his head. If nothing else Deccanus would live, but he had just spent most of his money, there was no more money he could play around with, he had to go scaving soon, that was his only option.
Returning back to his room he stripped down as soon as he was in the door, planning to wash both his suit and his body in the shower, he paused when he saw a tin tray with a plate on it with a well arranged spread of crackers. In the center of the crackers, in an empty space made by the ornate decoration was a small note.
Thank you for flying with Delta! We hope you enjoy your stay! Please enjoy these freshly baked Crackers compliments of your hosts.
Adam read the note letting off an amused hum for a moment before he grabbed a cracker and then turned to the bathroom to wash up. The cracker was delicious.
20 minutes later Adam had finished cleaning himself and his vault suit. He had become quite fond of the thing. It was form fitting without being too constricting. It didn’t chafe and was water resistant and thus cleaned easily. It also was very breathable material. He wasn’t a big fan of the fact it was a jumpsuit but certainly there were worse things to wear, when he found it back in the vault he was just going to wear it to have some decency but it proved to be quite a find. Who knew?
Regardless he once more left his room to head back to the food court, he still hadn’t eaten after all. Though on his way out he snagged another cracker, no sense wasting perfectly good food, but it was not good enough for a meal, he wanted real food. So he would eat the rest later, or perhaps save them.
Once he got back to the food court he saw it was business as normal, the scene where Deccanus had been shot was completely cleaned up like nothing happened and people were walking around and chatting like no one almost died half an hour ago. But Adam chose to pay it no mind, instead, once more taking in his options for food, of which he had a lot. After a few minutes, he felt he had settled on one, Mexican.
Mexican food had a weird history in the pre-war world. It had risen to prominence when Mexican settlers moved to America, then as oil reserves began to dry up around the world and the scarcity kicked in, the first signs of the resource wars, tensions between the two nations began to rise. Thus, there was a lot of racism aimed at immigrants from Mexico. This boiled over until eventually America invaded Mexico for its resources, occupying it. Ironically the occupation, at least in the USA proper, calmed down much of the racism and with a freely open border the Mexican food poured into the southern states, then the north. All of this to say that despite a rocky history the Mexican food had proven to be one of America's staples.
He ordered from the food stall a burrito, tortilla chips, and water. All in all it proved to be quite expensive. 35 caps. The water alone was 20 caps. Of course he could have bought dirty water but that was out of the question. That brought him down to 24 caps by his calculation. He had no choice, he really did have to go out and find some stuff to sell. He would once more have to postpone his trip to Second Life HQ for a bit until he could prepare some more.
Not only did he need enough caps to feel comfortable leaving on a purely personal errand beyond the wall, but he really needed to spend some time gearing up. Truthfully he’d love to buy that combat armor mark 2, but it was so out of his reach right now. Even the standard combat armor was too expensive at the moment, but he really did need more armor, so he would need to find a cheaper solution. His life was worth it. Still this was all future thoughts, it just meant that he would be postponing his Second Life adventure for a while longer. At least the burrito was tasty.
The next day came unceremoniously, Adam decided to take it slow in the morning, after all he did just get here yesterday, after two full days of travel. He took a moment to gaze out one of the windows in his room, looking at the vast expanse of the tarmac with mostly nothing on it and a vast wall that surrounded the entire city dotted with the occasional guard tower. It was a very uninteresting sight, but it did impress him nonetheless.
No doubt this airport was full of debris and cars, broken planes and chaos after the bombs fell. To turn it into this organized city, a place where people live and thrive, grow old, have children, and die, is impressive. It really went to show how much humans could accomplish when they put their minds to it. People used to talk about how cockroaches could survive anything, even the apocalypse, and while that is true, one should not look down on the indomitable human spirit. Humans could truly achieve anything, even rebuilding society after the world ended. That should be commended.
Grand realizations aside he had an appointment to keep, but first, breakfast.
He went back to the food court and paid for a meal with all the caps he had left, 24. He was fresh out of money now. But on the other hand he was able to have a good hearty meal for breakfast.
Once he was done eating it was time for work. He headed right to the mall area and right to the Junk shop, which he still was uncertain had a proper name. Once there, he saw Lune conducting business with another Scaver most likely. He was offering her a steamer chest full of what looked to be clothes. After a few minutes of waiting patiently the man walked away with some caps and Lune moved the steamer into her shop. After it was set back down she turned to look at Adam.
“Oh, you are back, I thought you weren’t going to show up.” She said with a bit of surprise. Now that Adam was looking at her again, her clothes were just as disheveled as yesterday, her hair still a mess, and she still had bags under her eyes. It seemed she did not just get up from a nap yesterday as he had assumed but instead this was just how she presented herself. She was not dressing to impress, but then again she bought and sold junk and random oddities, she didn’t have to impress anyone.
“Don’t worry, I have every intention of doing as promised. I need money as much as you want your Mr. Handy fixed.” Adam chuckled. She rolled her eyes.
“Come on, follow me.” She said as she led Adam into a backroom where there was a small storeroom and office, inside the Mr. Handy was deactivated on the floor.
“Knock yourself out.” She said as she gestured Adam to the Mr. Handy. “But I warn you if I find anything missing I will kick your ass.” She said with a serious tone.
“I won’t be taking any of your stuff, I promise.” Adam smiled.
“Well then I’ll leave you to it.” She said with a small sigh as she left Adam alone in the room with the robot.
Adam wasted no time and immediately went to work.
Chapter Text
Adam once more plugged his pip-boy into Mr Handy and began the process of pulling up its coding. Meanwhile he pulled a chair over to the Mr. Handy and sat down in it. Using the Pip-boy to recode a robot was not his idea of convenience. It was convenient that it could work, sure. But he’d much rather have a computer. Typing on his pip-boy was slow and with the amount of work he had to do it would take that much longer. However, regret was for people who had caps to their name. So he worked.
The time was spent uninterestingly, hunched over the back of the Mr Handy doing work on both his pip-boy and on the wiring on the inside of the Mr. Handy. A ton of work was needed. There were a lot of lines of code that lead to feedback loops, some that created dead ends, and some that were just bloating up the code and slowing down processes. On the inside it also needed a bit of cleaning, some sensors were dirty, the wires were off, and some panels were on the verge of falling off so he needed to tighten a few things.
However, with a concentrated effort, after many hours of non-stop work he had finished making his adjustments. The stuttering would never occur again, the Mr. Handy’s recognition software had been reset and improved, and Adam had even tweaked its fuel efficiency. Not that it especially needed it, Mr. Handys were very fuel efficient, but it was a small addition and he wanted to prove both to Lune as well as himself he was as good as he said he was.
Adam had also snuck in his calling card to the command sub processors too. If he ever needed to he simply needed to call out to the Mr. Handy “Recognize: Adam Baxter” and it would cease hostilities and prioritize his orders above all others. It may have been a bit underhanded for him to do this but it was a safety measure. In case he was wrong and his code didn’t work, the Mr. Handy could try to kill him, it was always smart to have a backup plan. Unless someone else took a look in the code no one would ever know he put it in, so it really was more an easter egg than anything. Sold like that he enjoyed hiding it in the code.
His work finished he powered up the Mr. Handy and watched as it sprung to life.
“Good morning sir!’ Mr. Handy responded enthusiastically. “How may I be of service today?”
“Run an internal diagnostic of all subroutines.”
“I apologize sir, only the one registered as my owner may make administrator requests of me.” Adam rolled his eyes. This is why you always needed a backup plan.
“Recognize: Adam Baxter.” He said firmly.
“Recognized. What may I do for you sir?”
“Run an internal diagnostic of all subroutines.” Adam repeated.
‘Right away sir.” Mr. Handy said before he went silent, checking all his programming. This was why you made sure you could have total control of the robotic unit in a pinch, you simply never knew when you might need administrator privileges. In a world where the robotic hunk of metal could tear a man in half it didn’t hurt to be careful.
“Diagnostic run.” Mr. Handy said after a few minutes. “No errors found, unit is functioning properly.” He reported happily. “Is there something else I can do for you sir?”
“No.” Adam said as he let off a long sigh, relieved to be done working and stood up. “Revoke my temporary administrator privileges and return to your last directive.”
“Certainly sir!” He said before he paused for a moment, just hovering there in the room like he hadn’t heard Adam at all and then it began to leave the room, returning to the shop floor.
Adam watched as it went until it finally left the room, he followed after it, observing as he did, watching it begin to organize the otherwise heavily disorganized shop.
“Hey rust bucket, you fixed?” Lune asked as she saw the Mr. Handy appear from the back.
“I can happily report I am showing no internal errors! I am running at 98% efficiency.” Adam chuckled and walked up.
“The 2% missing efficiency is because its leftmost eye server is a bit out of alignment, nothing i could really do to fix it unless i found a replacement part, but I did everything else.” He said as he walked up to Lune.
“Well… I mean I’ll be honest I didn’t think you would manage to do it.” She said impressed. “So this guy will just… work now?”
“Yup.” Adam reported happily. “There are no more coding issues and the mechanical issues were worked out to the best of my ability without replacement parts, as I said. If nothing changes he should be good to work for another 200 years without issue.”
She nodded and then reached into a saddlebag she had at her hip and pulled out slips worth 300 caps. “Then you earned this.” She said with a small grin handing it over.
“Thank you.” Adam said as he took them.
“No, thank you.” She said as she turned to the robot now. “Haven’t seen him work so well since the day I bought him from that con artist, it will be nice to finally have a little help around here.” She then turned back to Adam.
“With him I can now have my shop open 24 hours, even on weekends, I don't need to give him time off after all.” She paused and then looked Adam over. “What do you do for a living? You a mechanic?” Adam chuckled.
“Somedays, sure.” He smiled. “But I'm a Scaver, that's how I usually make my living.”
“Oh!” She smiled too now. “Well then in that case I believe we will have a good working relationship in the future.” She offered her hand this time. “Scavers usually end up in my shop at one point or another.” Adam took her hand and shook it.
“That’s actually the reason I came yesterday, to know where your shop was so I knew where to offload my goods.”
‘Well glad to know you know where the best spot in town is.” She grinned. “I’m not going to say I will cut you a deal, but I'll make sure to throw you a bone if you bring me some goodies.”
“That’s already more than I can ask.” Adam chuckled. “I’ve got to get going but let me know if the Mr. Handy starts to act up again, It shouldn’t but in case it does I can take another look.”
“Oh, even after care service too? I might be falling for you.” She said with a joking tone. Adam laughed, waving her off a bit.
“Have a good day Adam, I look forward to the next time you come by.”
“Me too.” He said before turning to leave.
“Wait.” She said catching Adam before he left through the front. “Catch.” She tossed something small to Adam which he caught in his hand. Adam looked down and saw that it was a Vault-Tec branded pin, the kind someone would wear on their lapel. Probably belonging to a corporate type from vault-Tec prewar.
“Keep it. It's a gift.” She said as Adam looked it over. “You got this whole Vaulty aesthetic about you, so it fits. Consider it a bonus for your work.” Adam chuckled and then took a moment to pin it to his suit. He probably wouldn’t wear it when he went out, maybe on the body armor, but it was a kind gesture and it was funny.
“Thank you.” He said after he pinned it to his chest.
Chapter Text
Adam left shortly after to head to his next destination, the doctor’s office. He needed to know how Deccanus was doing.
When he got there the doctor was casually reading a magazine with a toothpick in her mouth while she sat at the counter, presumably waiting for a patient to show up.
“Excuse me, Doctor?” Adam said as he called out to her gently.
“Hm?” She hummed as she looked up from her magazine to see Adam. “Oh, the vault boy with the bleeding man.” She said as she put her magazine. “I assume you are here to check on your friend.” Adam nodded.
“Yes, did he make it?”
“He did.” She said as she stood up and walked to the door from before, opening it a moment later. Adam followed her inside and saw Deccanus tightly wrapped in gauze with a blood pack attached to his arm. But he was very clearly breathing.
“He’s doing fine now.” She said as she rolled the toothpick from the left side of her mouth to the right. “Though he’s in a medically induced coma right now, he needs the rest, so no, I can’t wake him for the time being, you will just need to be satisfied he’s alive.” She said with a slightly biting tone, as if anticipating stupid requests.
“I understand.” Adam said calmly as he looked at Deccanus for a few moments longer and then back at her.
“Will he… are you going to let him stay here?” Adam asked, uncertain if he was going to have to lug an unconscious deccanus to his room with him or not.
“Yes.” She said curtly. “I’m not going to throw out a paying patient when he can’t even walk. He’s going to need to stay here for a bit while I make sure he’s healing properly anyway. But the moment he is healed he will have to leave the bed.”
“Alright, thank you for saving him.” She shrugged.
“You paid me.” She said casually as she gently pushed Adam out of the room and then locked the door behind her.
“Still, he might be dead if it weren’t for you.”
“No, he would be dead if it weren’t for me.” She said with a raised eyebrow.
“Still, Thank you.” Adam offered her his hand to shake, she looked at it for a moment, sighed, and then shook it.
While he was shaking her hand he saw she had a nametag on, one he had never been cognizant of since every time until now he had something else on his mind.
“Doctor Yewon?” Adam said, a bit surprised.
“Yes? That’s me.” She said, confused why Adam was reading her name tag now and acting surprised.
“Oh, I met a friend of yours, from Naper.” Adam chuckled. “Doctor Abbas, he said hello.” Her expression immediately soured when Abbas’ name came out.
“Friend? Hardly.” She said as she crossed her arms and walked over to the chair nearby. “That bastard has nothing to do with me.” she paused for a moment as she pulled out the toothpick and threw it in the trash. “If I’d known you knew him, I would have charged you more.” She said with some disgust.
“So… there’s some bad blood between you two?” Adam asked, curiosity now piqued.
“Bad Blood? Oh no, I hate his guts.” She scowled.
“Did he like… steal your research or something?”
“Oh no. Nothing so mundane.” She said her voice dripped with ire. “That bastard ran out on me. Me, his fiance.” Adam was immediately taken aback, the level of development here was beyond expectations.
“I uh… didn’t know..” Adam said not even sure how to follow that up.
“I can tell.” She said as she leaned back in her chair a bit and sighed. “Well whatever, the bastard is out of my life now, don’t say his name again in my presence and we won’t have any problems.” She said with a note of finality.
“I understand…” Adam said, deciding to let the matter drop entirely. “So um… when do you think Deccanus will be on his feet again?” He said quickly, choosing to change the subject.
“A few days.” She said with a shrug. “He’s got good vitality so he will heal up fine, he just needs a few more infusions and some more time to rest. If not on his feet, he will be fine to move around in a limited fashion in a few days.”
“Alright, thank you again.” Adam said with a warm smile.
“Bah.” She said dismissively with the wave of her hand. “I did what I was paid to do.”
“Oh! Do you have a minute to chat?” Adam said, deciding to follow it up with a completely different conversation, hoping to get answers to some questions he has had. She looked around the empty room emphatically.
“Oh no, I can’t. Sorry. I look soooo busy.” She said sarcastically. “But I'm seriously not a fan of idle chatter so don’t make it long.”
“What can you tell me about The Guild?” Adam said, trying to get right to the point. He was told to stay away from them but it would help to know a bit more about them to do so.
“Oh them? They are just thugs.” She said with a shrug.
“How so? I heard they collect taxes?” he asked.
“That’s exactly why. Thugs collect taxes.” She said with certainty. “Besides I pay taxes to the Mayor and then the guild on top of it, they are all thugs if you ask me.”
“Then why do you stay if you hate paying so much?”
“Have you gotten a good look at this town? It's absolutely teeming with folks. Both residents and outsiders. Someone gets a runny nose I can charge as much as I want as one of two doctors here. Besides I ain’t leaving outside the walls, id die.” She said casually. “A pay cut is well worth the money I do make.” She reached for a fidget toy on her desk, some sort of multi jointed piece of plastic she could toy with in her hand, and played with it while talking with Adam.
“How did they even get all that power?” Adam continued, curious.
“Don’t know.” She shrugged. “Been that way for a long ass time, longer than I know. Far as I’m aware it's always been that way. But I think they probably did what all men with power do, got greedy. “ She shrugged. “Whatever, not worth fighting.”
Adam nodded.
“How long have you been in Midway?”
“Since I was a little girl.” She said as she glanced over at a Nuka Cola analogue clock on her wall and then put the fidget toy down. “And that's enough chatting time for me for today, thank you for your business, come back in a few days to see your friend.” She said, ending the conversation abruptly.
“Oh…. well alright." Adam said, choosing to be respectful of her wishes. “I’ll be back then.”
“Mhm.” She said with an uninterested tone as she grabbed her magazine and went back to reading.
Adam turned and left heading to his next destination for the day.
Chapter Text
The day was already well into the evening, he had spent quite a long time fixing up the Mr. Handy after all, but he still had one more thing he wanted to do before he could retire for the night, not that he would, it was still early. But tasks come first.
He made his way out of the building, after a mild struggle on the first floor to navigate to an exit. Once outside he headed right for the ghoul section of the city.
He made it all the way to the wall separating the ghoul area from the rest of the city before he was stopped not by the guards who also seemed to be on guard near the gate to this section of the city, but by a ghoul who seemed to be in plain clothes and may have also been on guard, separate from the uniformed ones?
“Hey, where do you think you are going smoothskin?” He said as he put up a hand to stop Adam from entering. The uniformed guards didn’t make a move, they didn’t seem to care at all about the Ghoul stopping Adam.
“I um… am here to see a friend?” Adam said, uncertain why he was being stopped.
“Sure, sure.” The ghoul said with a roll of his eyes. “Look, we don’t need whatever you are selling, just get out of here before you cause trouble.” The ghoul continued, still blocking his way.
“What?” Adam said both indignantly and confused. “Are you seriously not going to let me in?”
“I’m not looking to start any trouble, but this here is ghoul town, it's ours and we gotta protect what we have, so if you understand then get lost.” He said standing his ground.
“The fuck-” Adam began before he stopped himself. “You don’t want trouble? Well there will be if you are going to stop me.” Adam said as he put his hand on his holster, not even touching his pistol but simply indicating it was there, not that it was at any point not visible.
The ghoul seemed sufficiently intimidated but didn’t back away. He opened his mouth to speak before another ghoul, a woman, walked over and spoke up.
“Oh, leave him be Johnny. He won’t cause any trouble here, will you cutie?” She said with a charming smile. Or what would be charming if she didn’t have a rotting face, but it was the thought that counted.
“No ma’am.” Adam said as he slowly pulled his hand away from his holster and rested it at his side again.
"Good, then welcome to our little slice of heaven, we welcome all types.” She said with a pointed tone as she looked at Johnny. She then gently grabbed Johnny’s shoulders and pulled him out of the way.
Adam relaxed and smiled at her, nodding. “Thank you miss.”
“No trouble at all, it's always nice to see a fresh face around here.~” She said with an impressively flirty tone despite her gravelly voice. As Adam began to walk away, heading to the Golden Gecko where Salvatore said he would be, he realized the double meaning she had slipped in, now unsure if she thought he was handsome or being subtly racist herself. In either case there was clearly a lot more of a cultural divide between the humans and the ghouls than he had realized.
He immediately felt like the odd one out as he wandered the streets of ghoul town. Everyone else was a ghoul, obviously. So walking around as he was he stuck out immediately. Though while he was drawing some attention it wasn’t as much as he would have expected from the introduction he got from Johnny. A few people looked, one person stared, but most ignored him, even if he stuck out.
The area was also bigger than it had looked in the distance. Not nearly as big as the airport proper, but there were a lot of buildings constructed over here, big ones too, and that's not even considering the private air terminal that the town was centered around. It could certainly house a lot of people, which it probably did.
Considering how many people lived in the center of Midway, if you also included Ghoul Town this was a proper huge settlement. Not that was ever in question but it could not be underestimated how many people actually lived here.
Regardless of musings it took him a bit before he eventually found one sizable separately built building labeled “Golden Gecko”. Upon entering it looked like a decent tavern, plenty of tables and chairs, a bar to drink at and the second floor had a bunch of doors, likely for renting rooms. In addition, there was wait staff taking the orders of some patrons. The patrons themselves, while all ghouls, were a mix of those wearing moderately nice clothing, blue collar worker clothing, and people wearing various kinds of armor. Though the last one was the most common.
After looking around for a moment, struggling a tiny bit because ghouls often looked a bit similar, he found Salvatore sitting at the bar, just like he would at Mandy’s. Perhaps if he knew more ghouls he might have an easier time telling them apart but it was challenging right now. In either case he strolled up to Salvatore and took a seat next to him.
“What you drinking?” He asked as he sat down. Without missing a beat or even acting surprised that Adam was here Salvatore responded.
“Atomic Bomb. He said as he sipped the drink.
“Sounds interesting. Is it any good?” Adam asked with a playful tone.
“No, it's awful.” Salvatore responded dryly.
“How rude!” A female ghoul voice piped up from the other end of the bar, when Adam looked it was the bartender who was filling up a glass for another patron. “I’ll have you know I’ve been tending bar for decades, I challenge you to find a better bartender.” She said as she walked over and smiled at Adam.
“Don’t mind grumpy here. Though I wouldn’t recommend trying the Atomic Bomb if I were you. It is lethal to humans.” Adam laughed.
“Noted.” He smiled. “Actually I'm here for my friend here.” He said, motioning with his head to Salvatore.
“Oh! You are that new guy he mentioned. I never knew you’d be so handsome!” She said with a playful wink. Adam laughed again.
“Oh you flatter me.”
“Can’t blame a girl for shooting her shot.” She smiled. “Well good to know grumpy pants here has a friend, I know he doesn’t make those easily.”
“It's none of your business Claire.” Salvaore said curtly.
“How can you say that to me of all people? You know it's my business.” She said, her hands on her hips
“Maybe a decade ago but I broke things off between us.” He responded without looking at her.
“Uhuh, sure.” She said unconvinced. “That’s why you keep coming back to me.” Salvatore shot her a look now fully engaged.
“I’m not going to do this in front of the kid.”
“Oh so he’s your kid now? Where was that energy a decade ago?” She said with a teasing tone but it was clear she was just trying to get under Salvatore skin. Unfortunately for him, it was working.
“I thought I said-” He began before she cut him off.
“Yes yes, you are a private man after all.” She said to him before turning to Adam and winking. “Well since you are here would you like something to drink? I make a terrific mimosa.” She smiled at Adam.
“Oh um, yeah, sure, that sounds wonderful.”
“Wonderful, I'll get right on it for you.” She said walking off to prepare the cocktail, leaving Salvatore grumbling. Adam looked over at Salvatore and chuckled.
“Looks like you really have had an interesting life huh?” Salvatore shot Adam a look.
“Don’t you start too. What I do in my free time is my business, not yours or hers.” He said sharply.
“Of course, of course.” Adam said, his hands up in mock surrender as he laughed softly.
“Anyway you didn’t come all the way over here for a social visit…” He said before pausing and reconsidering his words. “Did you?” He asked, now not sure if Adam was truly here for non business reasons.
Chapter Text
“Well I did come to check up on you.” Adam said with a smile as he gently slapped Salvatore on the back. “And I was curious about this section of town, you were the only ghoul I knew so it has been interesting seeing so many others.” Salvatore sighed a bit. “But I did come for more than a social hour.” Adam said as he got a bit more serious. Salvatore turned to look at him fully now.
“You good to head out on a run tomorrow?” Adam continued. Salvatore nodded.
“Sure, my trigger finger was getting itchy anyway.” He grinned.
“Good.” Adam said before he laughed softly. “Because I’m out of money.” Salvatore looked surprised.
“How’d you manage that already?” He then laughed darkly as he took another sip of his drink. “You lose it all at the casino?”
“No I-” Adam began before he stopped himself. “Wait there’s a casino?” Adam asked, changing the conversation as this seemed far more interesting.
“Yeah?” Salvatore said with a raised eyebrow. “Of course there is. You think a place this large would not have a place for people to gamble their money away?” He chuckled.
“Never been there, obviously, but Midway has it all, casinos, bars, clubs, strippers, it's got a lot of people so naturally a lot of venues.” He shrugged.
“Well…” Adam began, shaking off his surprise from a moment ago. “I did not, in fact, lose it all at the casino.” He corrected.
“Remember Deccanus? That guy in the football gear from the defense of Naper?”
“Uh…” Salvatore took a moment to remember. Despite fighting with the guy, it seemed as though he was a really low priority in Salvatore’s memory. “Yeah, I remember.” He said after a moment.
“Well, I saw him get shot in the food court yesterday. I ran him to the hospital and spent most of what I had on making sure he didn’t die.”
“Jesus kid.” He said with a sigh. “You are going to throw all your caps for a schmuck that you don’t even know?”
“I did know him, I was in combat with him, you too.” Adam said firmly. “I saw him get shot right in front of me. I couldn't not put the effort in to help him.” Salvatore shook his head.
“That good nature of yours will get you killed one day if you aren’t careful.” Salvatore warned.
“Or it will make him a lot of friends.” Claire said as she walked over with the mimosa. “Friends are just as valuable as any stash of caps.”
“Bah, I’d rather have the caps.”
“And that is why you are alone all the time.” She smiled and then placed down the drink but didn’t remove her hand. She looked at Adam. “Although did I hear you were broke? I don’t do freebies.” Adam was about to say something but then she chuckled and took her hand away and spoke again.
“Then again I could just charge it to your friend here.” She said, getting a kick out of teasing Salvatore. Salvatore grumbled but Adam laughed softly.
“While I appreciate Salvatore’s generosity, I do have money, more than enough to buy a drink, though for my purposes not enough to make me feel comfortable.” He pulled out the 100 cap bill and put it down. “Though I would like change.” he smiled.
“I like a man who can pay their bills~” She said with a low seductive tone as she leaned in a bit towards him, grinning. Then she leaned back, grabbed the bill, and then walked off to make change for Adam.
“She drives me up the wall.”
“But I can see why you keep coming back to her.” Adam grinned.
“I’m not going through this with you again, drop it.” He said sharply, Adam just chuckled.
“Well anyway, my point is tomorrow I’d like to make a run.”
“Sounds fine to me, you got a time? Destination in mind?”
“Yes and no.” Salvatore raised an eyebrow.
“You do realize knowing where you are going is the most important part of scaving right?” Adam shrugged at Salvatore’s words.
“It’s worked out so far.” He chuckled. “But I just haven’t been around here long enough to get some information. I think I’ll find a good place tonight, otherwise, we will just leave it to chance, I doubt we will have trouble.” Salvatore lets off an amused grunt and then sips at his drink again.
“Whatever you say kid.”
“Either way let's meet up at the main gate at 9 tomorrow.”
“You know scaving is dangerous work?” Claire said as she walked back over with Adam’s change. 92 caps. So the drink cost him 8 caps, honestly, pretty cheap all things considered, she was probably giving him a discount for knowing Salvatore.
Adam nodded as he put the money back into his pouch. “Yeah, I’ve been warned.” He smiled. “But I’ve gotten pretty good at it, and I was running solo, with Salvatore here, I doubt it will be much trouble.”
“All the same, I’d rather you not get yourself killed, and bring this oaf with you to your grave.”
“I ain’t going to die that easy.” Salvatore said as he looked away.
“Alright, fine.” She said, hands on her hips. “Then use your immortality to make sure he doesn’t die.” Salvatore just grunts. She turned back to Adam again.
“Just stay safe.” She said with a slightly worried tone. Adam smiled at her warmly.
“I will, ma’am.”
The rest of the time spent in ghoul town was spent with Salvatore. They didn’t talk about anything overly interesting, mostly just chatting about the old days. For Adam it was a rather casual thing, after all despite the world being gone he remembered the world the way it was not long ago. For Salvatore, who had survived all this time out in the world, it was a trip down memory lane. Though he didn’t outwardly express it, he really enjoyed speaking about the old days. Salvatore was secretly very sentimental; he just hid it behind a gruff exterior.
After a while to chat with Salvatore and time to finish his drink Adam headed out, he was curious what was in the private terminal but it was not a big priority at the moment so he decided to head back to the city proper.
Once inside he decided to explore a bit, looking for any of these interesting venues Salvatore had mentioned. He realized very quickly that Derek had not given him the full tour, which made sense. This place was huge, but there were entire sections he hadn’t seen yet. Now that he was thinking about it though, Derek had mentioned clubs when he was telling Adam about the most interesting locations but he did not give directions nor elaborate. Adam was a bit overwhelmed back then and finding food and a hotel was the priority so he didn’t press Derek for details. Seemed as though he would simply have to wander.
In one of the sections that overlooked the opposite side of the tarmac, away from the main gate, he found rows and rows of ‘adult entertainment venues’.
Not all of them were the type of things kids were barred from entering, though there were quite a few of those, but there were also dance clubs, piano bars, and the aforementioned casino.
Adam was mostly trying to kill time and enjoy himself so he peeked inside the casino. What once was an entire terminal building with 7 gates had been fully transformed. He found a rather nice floor layout, well decorated interior, plenty of slot machines and tables for all manner of card games, roulette, and a few other games he hadn’t seen. There was even a place in the back that was labeled ‘Caravan’. Though it was empty at this time, but it seemed even Caravan tournaments would occur here.
It was actually a very nice place if it wasn't for the copious amount of cigarette smoke that permeated the huge room making it smell of tobacco no matter where he went. Adam didn’t mind the smoky smell too much, it wasn’t normally a big deal to him, but the amount of smoke was enough that it was a bit hard to breathe which certainly dampened his enjoyment of the venue. So he left.
Then, as he was pursuing the various options he noticed a classy piano bar tucked away in the back. There were other piano bars but the rest looked cheap, this one had presentation right outside the door, with faux marble columns and a mahogany veneer. It took him a moment but he realized that the place was once a VIP first class waiting room only given to the people who flew on the most expensive seats. It had been converted into something new, much like everything else here, but it had, instead, kept much of the style from the old world which lent to it drawing Adam’s eye.
As Adam walked up to it he was stopped by a black suited bouncer out front. It was possible that he was unrelated to The Guild and that he was just wearing a black suit, but it was safer to assume otherwise.
“No guns allowed past this point.” The bouncer said with a stoic tone.
“What? Why?” Adam asked, just confused why there were different security rules over here than anywhere else.
“Cause I said so.” The bouncer bit back. He then continued with a calmer tone. “You can check your weapons with me, no one will touch your gun other than me and you.” Adam sighed, but he wasn’t going to get robbed inside and it really was a good way to sate his curiosity so he unclipped his holster and handed it off to the bouncer.
The bouncer took the gun and put it in a large storage chest next to him. Then he pulled out a small flashlight.
“Hold still.” the bouncer said as he shined the flashlight over Adam’s eyes, probably checking to see if he was drugged up or something, but all this extra security was super confusing to Adam, maybe he was going somewhere he shouldn’t.
After a moment to check Adam and scan him visually to see if he had any more weapons the bouncer stepped aside. “You can come on in. Welcome to The Oasis.”
Chapter Text
As Adam stepped inside he was greeted with a very pleasant sight. Rows of tables with nice white tablecloths, a vase with flowers and candles for mood lighting dotted the place as it surrounded in a semi-circle a small stage in the front of the room. On it a small band was standing all in white suits, minus a woman who stood at the front, wearing a blue sequin dress that tapered off on the right side showing one shoulder and one leg. Without mincing words she was very pretty.
As Adam walked in it seemed the band had just finished a song and were taking a quick break, giving Adam time to walk over to the bar, deciding to get some food and drink to enjoy the atmosphere. He used to go to these kinds of places before the world ended, not often, but a few of his work friends would drag him along and coming here now reminded him of those times so even just being here was enjoyable.
When he got up to the bar he was met with an interesting sight. An assaultron.
The assaultrons were a RobCo model robot designed for pure combat, arguably the most dangerous model beaten only by the Sentry bot by the same makers. The assaultron was lithe and had a strangely feminine form for reasons Adam never could guess, but the thin body made it a harder target and allowed it to remain far more nimble than any other robot. Bipedal, able to run, unkillable until it is completely disabled, capable in close quarters combat as well as at range with its head laser, it was a weapon quite feared by the US Military’s enemies. And yet here was one of the most dangerous robots ever designed in America painted black with a little white tie like she was wearing a suit, tending bar.
Perplexed was the best way to describe how Adam felt about the situation as he walked up to the bar and saw her.
“How may I help you sir~” The assaultron said with its oddly feminine and sultry robotic voice. Once more he could not understand why these killing machines were designed this way, it's like the lead designer was a pervert, but he quickly threw these pointless thoughts out of his head.
“What do you got?” Adam asked curiously.
“Whatever your little heart desires honey~” Adam chuckled.
“Well what do you recommend?”
“A night with me~” She said as she picked up a shaker and began to shake it. Adam was taken aback but also amused. Was he being hit on by a robot?
“Are you… hitting on me?” Adam asked, an amused smile on his face as he asked, not even sure what was happening right now.
“I never kiss and tell honey~” She continued as she put down the shaker and poured out the contents into a glass. After she spoke the band began to start back up again, the singer began to sing Peggy Lee’s “Fever”. A very good song, in Adam’s opinion, but ironically not one that used a piano, a strange choice for a piano bar, but he wasn’t complaining. However it did set a mood with the two of them right now. If she wasn’t a robot he might have taken her up on the offer, but it was… weird… he hasn’t sunk to that level yet.
Adam just laughed softly. “I think I’ll stick to what I can buy with caps.” He smiled, letting her down gently.
“Shame.” She said with a disappointed tone. “Well we got all sorts of spirits and liquors available, even some that predate the annexation of Canada.” She said as she gestured to a rather impressive selection of drinks on display, by far the most fancy choices he had seen yet. He was certainly going to have to pay a lot for his evening here but he had enough to splurge today, hopefully he would be able to make the money back tomorrow.
“In addition.” She continued. “We have quite the spread of cheeses and meats available, I can make you a platter that will light your passions aflame~” She said with a sultry tone again.
Adam briefly turned to look at the singer who was getting very intimate with one of the patrons as she kept singing seductively into the mic while the band very professionally stayed on the stage and let her take the spotlight.
“I think that sounds lovely.” Adam said after a moment. “Please pair it with a good wine, nothing too expensive though, I'm not looking to break the bank.” He chuckled as he looked back at the assaultron.
“Right away.” She said as she began to work, dexterously, behind the counter, grabbing wines and cheeses to make Adam his request. Adam once more looked back to the stage, the band still going in the distance as the singer broke away from the patron she was seducing and then returned to the stage proper to continue the song, all while never once breaking tempo in her singing.
“So do you have a name honey?” The assaultron asked, making Adam turn back to look at her.
“Oh, the name is Adam, Adam Baxter.” He smiled, then paused and continued. “Do you have a name?” He asked curiously. He had heard of robots with highly developed personalities before but never met one, it was entirely possible she had a name.
“Eve.” She said as she paused what she was doing and turned to look at Adam. “I think it's fate, don’t you? Adam and Eve? Oddly auspicious wouldn’t you say?~” Adam chuckled, actually finding it enjoyable to be hit on by her even if he had no intention of accepting her advances.
“Do you hit on everyone who walks through the door?” Adam asked with a smile.
“Only the handsome ones~” If she could smile he was sure she did before she turned back around and went back to work on the order for Adam.
“What do you do for work, Adam.” She asked while she prepared the thin slices of meat and cheese.
“I'm a Scaver.”
“Oh, that's a dangerous profession. I know, I used to do that too.” Adam was surprised.
“You mean you used to work for your own money? Aren't you… owned by the bar?” Adam asked, now very confused about her level of sentience and self-determination.
“Hardly.” She responded back quickly. “I work here, like anyone else. They can’t keep a working girl tied down.”
“What do you… need a job for, if you don’t mind me asking?” She turned her head a bit to look at Adam.
“A woman is allowed some secrets, wouldn’t you say?” Adam laughed softly.
“I have got to say, you are the most intelligent robot I have ever seen, and as a man who used to work with tech for a living that's quite a compliment, I assure you.” He smiled.
“Did you use to be a brotherhood scribe?” She asked casually.
“No. I don’t know what that is, but I am a licensed RobCo technician, I know a thing or two about robots.”
“Well, color me surprised.” She said as she turned around, a wooden display tray full of beautiful cuts of meat, cheese, and olives. She put it down in front of Adam, now heading to get a wine. “I bet you could fix me right up. From top… to bottom…” She said slowly as she uncorked a bottle of wine and poured it slowly into the glass.
“I could fix you, sure.” Adam said back playfully. Countering her double entendre meaning with his own. She placed the glass down in front of him gently.
“Well just know the offer is open if you ever change your mind~”
“Noted.” Adam laughed softly as he took a sip of the wine, pleasantly surprised. “How long have you been activated?” Adam asked, now curious about this otherwise sentient assaultron who was constantly hitting on him.
“Don’t you know better than to ask a woman her age?” She said with a tone that could be described as teasing.
“I apologize, that was insensitive of me.”
“Apology accepted.” She paused as seemed to be thinking about something for a moment before continuing. “Long enough that I became too aware of who and what I am and decided to make a life for myself. A girl has to find her own way in the world you see.” Adam nodded. So it seemed she had been active for so long that she gained sentience. Why it happened to her and not all robots is a question in itself, but it was certainly a fascinating occurrence. He would love to get inside her programming and see what is going on in her software, but he doubted very much that would be acceptable, so he kept his curiosity to himself.
“How long have you been here? In Midway.”
“Oh, a few years. I was traveling for a while, earning what I could where I could. I heard this place needed a bartender and I decided to give it a try. Besides my… previous employment made for a nice addition on my resume.~”
“Does trouble come here enough for them to need a woman of your skills?”
“You never know what is going to walk through those doors. And besides, this is the heart of it all, I’m sure having me here is a strong deterrent for anyone with bad intentions. I’m not exactly afraid to get my hands dirty.”
“Wait, what do you mean by ‘this is the heart of it all’?”
“You mean you don’t know?” She said, turning to look at him fully, a bit of surprise in her robotic feminine voice. “The bossman is upstairs, not always but this is his favorite bar. You walked right into the heart of The Guild, honey.” Adam was caught off guard by that, but that explains the excessive security out front, why he couldn’t bring in his gun inside, because whoever controlled the guild was also here, they didn’t want to take any chances.
“Of course, this isn’t the only place he frequents, calling us the heart of it all might be stroking my ego a bit, but let a girl dream.”
“Wow… I didn't realize.” Adam said a bit stunned.
“Clearly.” She said with a slightly teasing tone. “Best not to think about it too much, he’s a patron like anyone else, don’t get in his way and he won’t have any problems with you. I’d just suggest not heading up those stairs to my right if you see a black suit out front, they aren’t always as polite as me~”
“Noted.” Adam chuckled as he sipped some more wine.
Chapter Text
His conversation with Eve continued for a while more. Despite her flirting she proved to be an able and enjoyable conversation partner. From her he did learn a few of the ins and outs of Midway, though nothing that really changed anything. He did, however, learn of a few locations in the area Eve suggested might be good to go scavenge. In addition, she not so subtly invited him to her house after he shift was over. Adam politely declined but by the end of his time at The Oasis, he had certainly made a charming, if dangerous, new friend.
The only downside to the whole endeavor was that the food and drink he ordered was quite expensive, 50 caps. And Eve had said this was on the cheaper side. It may not have been on the third floor, the most expensive venue but it was definitely a more expensive place to visit. Still It was money well spent. After all, what is the point of making money if you can’t spend it on things you enjoyed? He would go back, but he had to pad his pockets a bit more first.
When he got back to his room, ready to turn in for the night, he found there was a plate of cookies on his bed, much like the crackers from yesterday. The free snacks mentioned by the concierge. He considered saving the rest for tomorrow, but there weren't too many and it was a good dessert to wrap up the night. After eating the cookies, taking a shower, and cleaning his suit, he went to bed, ready to head out to scavenge tomorrow morning.
The next day came early for Adam, he had set an alarm on his pip-boy to wake him up early. He needed to eat breakfast before he set out on his adventure. So he headed to the food court to grab some food.
Today was an omelet and fries. The eggs used were definitely not chicken eggs, but he didn’t ask what they were, he knew better than to do so. It was also cheaper than the burrito, only 26 caps today. He now had a little over 200 caps, enough so that he wasn’t broke but not nearly enough to be able to live at Midway, not with creature comforts anyway. So it just reaffirmed, more than ever, he needed to go on a run.
Once he was done eating he, with all his gear on and taken from The Delta, he headed right to the front gate to meet with Salvatore. Salvatore was there, armed up as well, waiting for him.
“Ready kid?” Salvatore asked as Adam approached.
“Yeah, I am.” He said with a determined tone. As the gate began to open in front of them Salvatore continued.
“You got a destination in mind for us yet? Or are we just going to wander around aimlessly?”
“No, I met a fascinating woman last night, and she tipped me off to a few good places.”
“Oh?” Salvatore said with a cheeky grin. “She your type?” He teased, trying to get Adam back for seeing Claire yesterday. Adam laughed.
"I'm not into robots, no.” Salvatore looked surprised and then chuckled a bit himself.
“Well, I guess you did say fascinating. Anyway, where are we going?”
“There's a mall not far from here to the south, from what I’ve heard it's ripe for the picking.” Adam responded.
“Mall huh, fair enough. Just remember, I ain’t carrying more than I feel comfortable with.”
“Don’t worry. I don't plan to overburden you.” Adam smirked.
The walk to the mall was easy, it took about an hour to get there but no active threats popped up to stop them, though this was expected. As Salvatore said it, this close to the city no raider or even super mutant would dare set up a base Midway. It's too heavily defended to be that close without a plan so even without patrolling the guards naturally cleared the surrounding area near Midway.
Once they got to the mall proper both men got on guard. At first glance the building looked in moderate health. Dilapidated, as most buildings were, but still standing and looking like it could have something valuable inside. However upon entering it was an entirely different story.
The first thing they noticed was the gore. It was everywhere. And it wasn't just bloody carcasses on the ground like a monster came through, it was headless corpses on spikes suspended from the ceiling, mutilated bodies strung up by chains, charred remains of corpses inside cages. It was as if someone wanted to take horror and make it performance art.
Not only that but the building was set up with benches, chairs, desks, shelfs, and whatever else could be found right in the hallway, blocking the paths, creating natural chokepoints and killboxes while allowing a would-be defender to take up a firing position with advantage.
“Raiders.” Salvatore muttered under his breath. If he was to be believed these raiders were monsters, right at the entrance the gruesome display was almost inhuman.
“Don't let it get to ya kid.” Salvatore said to Adam with a steady tone. It seemed as though Adam had his worries on his face. “They do this sort of thing as a warning, stay away or you will become like this. It's all just dick measuring, just ignore it.” He said as he began to creep forward, Adam following closely behind.
As they walked forward it immediately dawned on them how weird the situation was. Obviously it was a raider den, this was not in question but there were no raiders at the defensive points, no one to stop them, no one to even notice them coming in.
Of course these were not soldiers, just sadists who lived by parasitizing others, but still this went beyond sloppy, this was… strange, it was suspiciously quiet.
More than that as they continued to walk through the base they saw no signs of the people who once inhabited this space, there was evidence they used to be here, rolled sleeping mats in the corners of the hallways, tables with moldy food on them, broken into stores, but nothing that indicated where the people might have gone.
Of course this was a good thing, the less resistance they met while scavenging the building the better, that meant they could loot in peace, but Salvatore was on edge, Adam could tell from his face, and even Adam was getting a bad feeling.
“I don't like this…” Salvatore said quietly as they crept through the halls, passing stores they could double back to later. “I got a bad feeling about this, there’s something wrong here, I can feel it.” He said with a tense tone.
“What do you think it is?” Adam asked as he fanned the collar of his vault suit a bit, the heat and humidity in the building was starting to get to him the deeper inside they went.
“I'm not sure. But whatever could make this place so quiet isn’t going to spell good news for us.”
“Should we turn around?” Adam asked, as he pointed his pistol into a dark store after he thought he saw movement only to realize it was just a shadow.
“I’m not a fan of staying but this is a good spot to loot, surely the guys here before us took the liberty of raiding everything and stockpiling, we just need to find that stockpile, i'm sure it will easily pay for your gambling debt.” Salvatore said, injecting a bit of humor without breaking his tense tone.
“Ha ha.” Adam returned dryly.
Then they both heard something. Skittering in the distance. It sounded like claws on tile, different from the skittering of a radroach, something bigger. When they heard it they both froze in place.
“You hear that?” Adam asked tentatively.
“I’d have to be deaf to not.” Salvatore returned.
“Is it just me or is the humidity in here bad?” Adam asked while he kept his guard up but was now actively having a slightly hard time breathing due to all the moisture in the air. It was hot and humid as it would be in a swamp, it was strange, the entrance was not at all like this, but as they got closer to the center the humidity and heat kept going up.
“Humidity?” Salvatore questioned quietly before he went wide-eyed. “Shit. We gotta get out of here kid, we just walked right into a nest!”
“A nest of what?”
“Run first.” Salvatore said as he turned to bolt down the corridor, the way they came. Adam did the same, turning to run with him. However both men realized it was too late. It was behind them.
A giant crab-like creature with a giant hunchback shell, pincers bigger than a human head, and tiny skittering legs underneath it that made it stand upright. And worse than that there was not just one, but multiple behind them. Mirelurks.
Chapter Text
“The fuck are these things?!” Adam shouted as he pointed his gun at the crabs who had surrounded them from behind.
“Mirelurks. Rad crabs. They are tough as fuck. Aim for their faces; they are right below where the top of the shell meets the bottom.” Salvatore said as he aimed with his rifle and fired, a direct hit, right into the tiny face of the giant crab. It seemed to scream for a moment writhing around as it wobbled side to side and then it fell over. Then the rest charged.
They were fast. Far faster than Adam would have assumed, they were moving at the speed he could jog at. Outrunning was not impossible but even if they did the exit was blocked by the rapidly advancing Mirelurks. Even if they killed all the ones coming from behind, the time spent could mean that they could be attacked from further in the mall. Right now if they were to be surrounded, they would be completely cut off from any route of escape. They had only one choice, flee deeper into the mall.
“Salvatore!” Adam called out as he whipped around to look to make sure the path forward was clear. “We have to run deeper in, get out of this hallway before we find ourselves boxed in!”
“Shit!” Salvatore said as he fired a few more times at the quickly advancing mirelurks. All his rounds hit the crabs but none as accurately as his first shot, though it was enough to slow a few of them down. “Fine!” I’ll cover our retreat! Find a path, kid!” Salvatore yelled over his successive fire.
Adam ran to the 4 way junction that they were close to down the hall and looked down all the paths. The one to the left was full of more makeshift barricades, clearly done by raiders, it was not impassible but they didn’t have the luxury of climbing over furniture at the moment.
The path to the right he could see what they had walked in on, there was a huge sinkhole in the ground it spanned multiple stores and the entire hallway starting about 40 feet away, inside the hole was a massive pool of water, the entire space was slick with humidity and there was green vines growing on the sides of the shops that remained, there was also, most horrifyingly more Mirelurks, a lot more. It did not take Adam long to see why, eggs, a ton of them. It was really a huge nest they had stumbled into.
He also, while scanning his eyes down into the path that led to certain death, saw what happened to all the former residents of this raider hovel. Carcasses, stacked high, some torn apart, some half eaten, clearly being used as feed for the giant crabs. Regardless, that was a poor path choice too, which meant all he had left was the path forward.
Forward offered nothing of interest, he couldn’t see all the way down as it was too dark, but it also offered no obstacles and no more enemies, it seemed the safest choice.
“Salvatore! Follow me!” Adam yelled to his ghoul companion as he turned around to see Salvatore laying down heavy fire into the crabs, a few had fallen already and he had slowed the advance but it was clearly not enough to stop them completely.
“Right behind ya, kid!” He said as he whipped around and began to sprint after Adam.
Luckily, despite the speed of the crabs, a full sprint from both men was more than enough to get some distance between them and their pursuers. Adam found very quickly he was notably faster than Salvatore, so he had to slow down a bit to keep pace with him. But after running for a bit they reached another exit. Or rather, what would be an exit if the door wasn’t completely barricaded.
“Looks like we can’t go this way.” Adam said as he looked around.
At the exit there was another barricade like the one he saw at the entrance they came through, makeshift cover used to create a defensive position for would-be defenders. A strange choice considering this door was boarded and nailed shut, but perhaps it was not always like that. Regardless, on the cover, specifically on an overturned shelving unit were four assault rifles welded together and bolted down with two belts of ammo feeding both sets of guns, one from each side. The strange unit also had a joint trigger allowing all to be fired at once. This would be more than enough to deal with their pursuers. There was one problem, it was facing the wrong way.
“Salvatore, I can unscrew this if you can buy me time.” Adam said as he ran over and began to unscrew the makeshift machine gun from the shelving unit to allow it to spin freely. Luckily he had his toolbelt on him like always so he had the tools in hand, he just needed time to get it done.
“Take your time, kid. Not like we have giant mutant crabs after us or anything.” Salvatore said sarcastically with a dry tone as he leveled his rifle down the hall, ready for a fight.
They could hear the sound of the mirelurks getting closer.
“Any time now kid.” Salvatore said, getting impatient.
“It's rusted! It's hard getting it loose!” Adam complained as he muscled his way to unlodging the metal that strapped it down.
“Well I think you are outta time kid.” Salvatore said as he began firing down the hall. Adam didn’t turn around to see what was happening and solely focused on getting the makeshift machine gun spun around to fight.
He could hear the sounds of the semi automatic rifle firing round after round behind him, Salvatore not moving an inch from his spot, standing his ground and protecting Adam. He could hear the screams of the Mirelurks as they were hit, some with death rattles, some with cries of pain, but it was getting closer, there was no doubt.
Then he got it.
“Salvatore duck!” Adam shouted as he dislodged the last screw that held the gun locked in place and picked it up, swinging it around to point down the hall. He was, of course, still locked to a small area he could move with it, the belts of ammo that fed the guns were sitting on the floor next to him, he couldn’t just take it and run, but it was in his hands and he was able to spin around, that was enough.
Bullets ripped through the hall lighting the scene before him up with a dazzling display of light and color as the carapace of the pursuing Mirelurks are torn to shreds from the quad gunfire. Salvatore, who had dropped to the floor too, took a moment to reload and then joined in on the fire, shooting downrange at the ever dwindling numbers of Mirelurks.
As the belts of ammo for the makeshift machine gun ran dry, so too did the mirelurks, only a few stragglers remained, and none of them were uninjured.
Adam dropped the gun unceremoniously on the ground and then pulled out his hunting rifle, firing round after round at the tiny faces of the crustaceans. After emptying his hunting rifle clip, they too were now all dead. The silence after the large gunfire in the enclosed space was momentarily deafening.
“You okay?” Adam asked after a moment to Salvatore.
“Yeah I’m fine…” He said as he stood up and wiped a bit of green blood off his face. “Though I need a bath.” Despite not being delivered as a joke that got a laugh out of Adam.
Adam let off a sigh of relief as he took a knee on the ground.
“This was far more harrowing than I expected.” Adam said softly.
“Eh, I’ve been in much worse spots.” Salvatore shrugged as he took a seat on the ground and lit up a cigarette. “Mirelurks aren’t that bad, just don’t usually like walking to a nest of them.”
“I hope we didn’t get into this big fight for nothing.” Adam said as he slowly reloaded his rifle.
“Trust me, you didn’t.” Salvatore said as he stood up and walked over to one of the bodies of the Mirelurks. “These fuckers got a lot of good meat on them, not even that hard to get at if you know what you are doing, that alone will earn you a pretty penny.” Salvatore offered. Adam chuckled.
“Well I didn’t exactly come here expecting to bring back large amounts of crab meat, but beggars can’t be choosers.” He grinned.
“Oh, but don’t worry I can do one even better.” Salvatore then began to wordlessly lead Adam back down the hallway they ran through until he arrived at a store that had clearly been reinforced with extra care. He then kicked the door to the store as hard as he could and knocked the lock loose letting them inside.
Inside the store was exactly as Salvatore suspected, a stockpile of goodies. Guns, ammo, armor, food, tools, odds and ends, books, toys, clothes, and more. It was a veritable treasure trove of junk and weapons. Adam smirked.
“Wow, you got a hell of an eye Salvatore.” Adam praised as he slowly walked over to the rack of weapons on the wall and picked it up gently. The weapons all were suffering from water damage at first glance, but none of them looked irreparable damaged, some of the books and other things might be, but even still this room alone would make the trip worth it.
“I’ve been doing this a long time.” Salvatore grinned as he smoked. “I’m guessing you don’t know how to carve a mirelurk, right?”
“You’d be correct.” Adam said as he put the gun back down and turned to Salvatore.
“Well I don’t care much for looting but I do like cutting things, so i’ll get to work taking meat from some of these fuckers while you start looting, deal?” Adam nodded.
“You are full of great ideas today, Salvatore.” He teased.
“That's me. A man with great ideas.” He responded casually and dryly as he walked out of the room to begin his work, leaving Adam to handle the storeroom alone.
Chapter Text
Adam had prepared to be looting the mall all day, he figured scavenging a building the size of a mall and to be thorough would take a while, but finding this room where the raiders kept everything of value was a massive boon. The time he would have to spend looting was reduced drastically, he still might search the rest of the building but he didn’t need to be nearly as thorough if he did, since the items in this room alone were likely enough to fill his bag.
Adam pulled out his duffle bag from his backpack and unfolded it. He had kept the bag after he had found it at the gun store last time, having extra carrying capacity was always a boon and the duffle bag folded up into his bag well enough so it was perfect, he just would have to carry it himself, he couldn't foist it upon Salvatore.
He loaded up all the guns that were in the room and threw them into the duffle bag, it was longer than his backpack so it made the most sense since the majority of the guns were long guns. As he realized before, the humidity in the building meant a lot of the guns had been wet for a long time, but none of the guns seemed to be too badly damaged by the water to matter. Interestingly though, there really weren't that many guns over all, not for a building this size. This meant that either there was another place that was the de facto armory he could loot or, and more likely, the rest of the weapons that weren’t in this room so close to the mirelurk nest were taken by the surviving raiders when the mirelurks moved in. The ones who didn’t die took what they could with them and vacated, obviously guns would be a high priority. Still it might be worth coming back later another time to check again since he might find a second room used to house all their goods just like this one. But he would likely be full on loot this time so that was a future him problem.
Next he went about taking all the medical supplies, which mostly meant chems, a ton of them, these guys were either hoarders or chem fiends, probably both. He had enough drugs now to become a dealer himself if he wanted to, but he didn’t. He wanted to offload it as quickly as possible.
Then it was virtually everything else, of which the variety of things here was quite diverse. Liquor and other booze, of course, were in no short supply, but there was such a strange and eclectic collection of things stored here it would not do it justice to list them all out. Suffice it to say that Adam had filled his backpack and duffel bag quite well with numerous things. Though he took careful steps to ensure that he was not going to be overburdened, a promise to himself he did not intend to break. This meant there were still a number of things left behind, but truthfully, the things left behind were of little value as far as Adam was concerned, if this was all that was left here it wouldn’t be worth coming back, not least of all because they certainly didn’t kill all the mirelurks.
Among the more interesting things Adam had found, he found a second vault-tec bobblehead, this one was wearing a little green hat and holding a 4 leaf clover, it was cute, and it seemed he was growing a collection so it was more than worth grabbing. He also found a Dean Martin holotape. Normally he would have passed on this but he had realized that his pip-boy has a holotape player built into it. He could play games and music right on his pip-boy right off the tapes. He had also found another tape labeled ‘FUCK SHIT’. He was amused enough to grab it, maybe he could play it on the way back. He had also found the schematics for something called ‘the railway rifle’? It seemed to be a pressurized cannon that fired railway spikes. Pretty gnarly but also quite impressive, and, if he was honest, hit his boyish desire to cause damage in the right way. So he took it too. Lastly there was a stash of caps, a not insubstantial 737 caps. This would definitely be a worthwhile run assuming they could get out safely.
As Adam emerged from the store room he looked down the hallways and did not see any more Mirelurks. For whatever reason it seemed as though the ones that came after them were the only ones interested in engaging. Maybe the rest ran away? Or maybe they were protecting their eggs? Either way he was grateful. If they had all come after the two of them in the wave of crabs they might have been overrun.
Adam made his way back down the hall towards the boarded up exit where Salvatore was likely to be working. He was correct.
“How’s it going over here?” Adam said as he rolled up on Salvatore, his bags full.
“Good.” Salvatore responded as he put a large chunk of crab meat wrapped in what looked to be linen in his bag, which was practically full itself. “I’m sure I could stay here and carve more meat out of these fuckers but I don’t want to be a butcher. Besides, my bag is full. If you are good then so am I.” He said as he wiped his hands off on some of the spare linen he had laying on the floor, likely looted from a nearby store.
“Yeah I'm good to go. I think we did well.” Adam said as he then reached into the back pouch of his backpack and pulled out a caps bag with 350 caps in it and handed it over to Salvatore.
“Your spoils.” Adam said with a smile. Salvatore raised an eyebrow.
“I thought I told you I wasn’t going to take a cut.” Despite his words though, he did take the bag of caps.
“It’s fine.” Adam replied. “I paid you to come with me. I don't mind sharing the caps we find since I'll be the one earning off the items themselves. Besides, you said I'd need to pay for your room and board as well as any ammo you burn.”
“True.” Salvatore said as he shoved the pouch of caps in his bag. “Though I get a free room from Claire for… reasons.” Now it was Adam’s turn to raise an eyebrow.
“I'm not going to ask, since I know you will shut me down. But just take the damn caps will you?” Salvatore grinned.
“I knew I liked you for a reason, kid. Love an employer that gives bonuses.”
Adam walked over to the quad barreled makeshift machine gun he had used to mow down the mirelurks earlier, picked it up with his spare hand and hoisted it over his shoulder. He was truly at max capacity now, no free hands. Lucky he had Salvatore if things got hairy.
“We are going to have to sneak out, huh?”
“Yeah, I doubt that’s all the Mirelurks, there has to be more, we didn’t see any other than the basic bitch variety and hunters, no kings or queens, but with this many around there has to be more lurking about.” Adam nodded.
“I suppose we will just need to move quietly then.”
“Agreed. Let’s head back the way we came, hopefully it will be a simple matter to get out.”
They then began to make their way out of the building, slowly, and quietly. Once they got to the intersection where Adam was forced to make a rapid choice before they saw the nest again. Indeed, there were still a ton of Mirelurks roaming about near their eggs. Perhaps they didn’t want to leave their nest undefended which is why only some came after them? Or perhaps they had another reason, but indeed the two of them did not kill them all. And now neither were in the mood for another fight. Especially when Adam saw a Mirelurk the size of a bus standing upright.
“What the fuck is that thing?” Adam said quietly to Salvatore as they hugged the wall and peeked around the corner, preparing to make their move. The monster was so large it was only able to move around in the center of the adjacent section where the ceiling was twice as high due to a rounded skylight and the floor was lower due to the water that burst in.
“That’s a Mirelurk Queen. Almost worse than a behemoth, though truthfully I’d rather not compare them.”
“If that's a queen, I'm terrified to see a king.”
“Kings are actually much smaller, and they aren’t very crablike, to tell you the truth I'm not even sure if they are the same species but I’m just a hired gun not a marine biologist.”
“Fair enough. Well it looks like they haven’t noticed us, so if we just sneak past we should get out fine.”
“Right. Let’s do this quietly then.”
The two of them quietly and stealthy made it past the intersection without raising any alarms from the Mirelurks in the building, and were able to get far enough down the hall to be well and truly out of the way of being spotted now. Even able to see the exit door in the distance.
“Alright I think we are out of the thick of it.” Adam said letting his guard down a bit.
“While I agree, you should never say something like that outloud. It's asking for something bad to go wrong.” Adam frowned but nodded, he knew Salvatore was right, he would have never made such a slip up back during deployment. It was just a superstition but these are the kinds of things you learned not to jinx when your life was on the line. He needed to get back his sense from the time he was on active duty, he was getting there but it was taking time.
Once outside the two men sighed in relief.
“Alright, I think we can head back to the city now.”
“Good, I can't wait to spend my caps.” Salvatore grinned.
“Oh.” Adam said as he pulled out the holotape from earlier. “I found an amusingly titled Holotape, but I think it might shed some light on what happened to that place, if you’d care to listen with me.” Adam offered.
“Sure, the trip back will probably be a bit more entertaining if I can listen to some raiders dying.” Adam chuckled and then popped the holotape into his pip-boy and pressed play.
Chapter Text
“Fuck shit fuck.” A voice of a man spoke through Adam’s pip-boy when he started the holotape. “There’s water everywhere, goddamn pipeburst right under the main room, boss is going to be pissed about- wait… what was that noise?” The sounds of gunshots followed as well as some screams in the far distance. “THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!” The sounds of gunshots continued as they kept firing.
“Everyone, we have to go! Get the fuck out of here! Grab your shit and go!”
“What about the others? Or our loot?”
“Shut the fuck up! You want to become Lakelurk food? Grab the essentials and go. Fuck am I still recording? Fuck you recorder… you know what?” The tape then cut out suddenly.
Adam left the holotape in his pip-boy when the recording finished, it was enough of a pain putting it in when both his hands were occupied, he could take it out later when he was more able to.
“Well, sounds about exactly what I thought.” Salvatore said casually as he smoked. “Fuckers got invaded by the ‘lurks and ran off, the ones who didn’t run died. Good. Fuckem.” He grinned. Adam paused to consider.
“What's the difference between a Lakelurk and a Mirelurk?”
“One lives in a lake, one lives in a mire.” Salvatore said with a shit eating grin. “Look, I don’t fucking know, kid. They got all sorts of names but they are all just giant fucking crabs, I kill ‘em, sometimes I eat ‘em, that’s as much as I know. If you want to know more about the various differences in the ‘lurk biology’ go ask a fisherman from The Pier.”
“Do the people on The Pier often deal with lakelurks?”
“Oh yeah. They deal with them all the time, they live on a lake so naturally they deal with its inhabitants.” He finished his cigarette and threw the butt on the ground, leaving it behind as they kept walking. Adam nodded slowly as he got lost in his own thoughts for a moment.
“Ghoul town has its own merchants, right? Am I correct to assume that?” Adam asked, changing gears.
“What?” Salvatore started, caught off guard by the sudden topic switch. “Yeah. it does. Ghouls can’t get into the main city so we got our own merchants to sell whatever the people need. Merchants from the city sometimes come to trade but not often, usually it's on ghouls to trade with ghouls. Why?” Adam paused for a moment more to process his thoughts.
“I’m thinking that we could maybe sell some of this stuff to the ghoul merchants. It’s some valuable loot we got and I'm sure they would appreciate a fresh infusion of goods. Though I will save some to sell elsewhere, I've already made promises to sell some of the loot I found to Lune in the city.”
“Well…” Salvatore paused to consider. “Yeah, If you want to. I mean it's your shit so what you do with it isn’t my business but if that’s what you want to do I can bring you to the merchant square.”
“I'd appreciate that.” Adam smiled.
The rest of the walk back to the town was uneventful, nothing came to bother them and the route back was simple and straightforward as it was when they left the city.
When they got back to the entrance gate they saw some men wearing long purple cloaks and hoods that tapered off into a sickly dark green on the bottom. As they drew closer, the gate opened for them and let them in.
“Who are those guys?” Adam asked curiously.
“You think I know every asshole who comes and goes into the city?” Salvatore asked with a bit of sass.
“No but they stand out a lot, so I figured it was worth asking.” Salvatore paused and then sighed.
“Well you are lucky, I do know who they are.” He paused again for a moment stopping short of the gate so they didn’t have to interact with the guards yet. “They are from the Order of Pestilence”
“Order of Pestilence?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, or well, I don’t know what they are really called, that’s just what I know them as, they work for the Horseman Pestilence, obviously. But as I’ve said already I don’t know much about them. They aren’t always hostile but they give me the creeps. My advice, stay away from them, they are bad news, probably worse news than War’s group if you ask me.” Adam nodded slowly.
“I understand.” Salvatore grinned and then patted Adam’s shoulder before heading to the gate.
The two of them went through the same speech as last time, it seemed that the guards always gave this speech to everyone who comes into the town no matter if they were just here or not. Luckily the speech was not that long.
Once through the gate Salvatore led Adam along towards Ghoul town. With Salvatore leading the way there was no near altercation with any ghouls at the wall this time. Though no ghoul neighborhood watch was standing outside this time so he likely would have been able to get in easily anyway.
Salvatore led Adam through the streets and towards the Private terminal.
“In here.” Salvatore said as he opened the door for Adam, letting him go in first. Recognizing that Adam’s hands were full. Once inside Adam looked around the terminal. In many ways the private terminal was set up like a miniature version of Midway proper, buildings littered the inside of the entrance area and much of the space had been converted to shops and stalls. However, as it was a private terminal, despite being quite sizable, its scale was nowhere on par with Midway proper so it was not maze-like, only one row of buildings and then check-in counter space broken into different shops.
Ghouls were walking around conducting business with each other. If Adam hadn’t already seen Midway this would have been an impressive sight, though as he had it was just normal for him.
“I’ll show you to a guy I know, come along.” Salvatore said as he stepped past Adam and led the way to the shop counters.
“Hey Sal!” Another ghoul said as he watched as Salvatore walked over. “I see you picked up a smoothskin, you here to sell him to me?” The ghoul grinned, clearly joking, but there was a tiny dark edge to his words that was hard to shake. Adam chose to pay it no mind.
“Not today I’m afraid.” Salvatore said as he hoisted his bag off his bag and put it on the counter.
“This here is my new boss. Bought out my contract.”
“What’s with you and all the smoothskins?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“They pay well, bite me.” He said back casually and then turned to Adam. “Adam this is Hobson, Hobson, Adam.” He said making brief introductions.
“Nice to meet you Adam. Don’t take my words too seriously, I'm just busting this guy’s balls.” He grinned.
“Certainly, I understand.” Adam chuckled and then hoisted the duffle bag on to the counter to get it out of his hand, then the gun too.
“I'm here to sell.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
“Don’t look at me.” Salvatore said with his hands up. “This was the kid’s idea, not mine. Not even my stuff, so your business is with him.” He said as he took a few steps away from the counter to let the two of them speak while he lit up another cigarette.
“Fair enough.” Hobson said as he turned his gaze away from Salvatore back towards Adam.
“Well then, Adam. Why are you bringing your stuff here, and not to Midway?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well I figured…” Adam said as he grunted with effort, hoisting his backpack onto the counter now too. “That ghoul town doesn’t get as many goods as Midway proper. So it would be more appreciated here to get an infusion of fresh goods.’ He smiled. Hobson remained quiet for a moment as he tapped his chin.
“As a warning I won't be able to pay you as well as the merchants in the city proper would. We don’t get a lot of fresh caps moving around over here.” Adam nodded.
“As long as I’m making enough.” He then paused and smirked. “Goodwill is a useful currency too.” Hobson laughed.
“Well, if you are going to come out and say it!” He smiled widely and offered Adam his hand. “Well I’ll never turn away someone who is looking to make some caps, smoothskin or otherwise.” Adam shook his hand.
“Same.” As he took his hand back he surveyed his stuff again. “I can’t sell you everything, I already promised to sell some stuff to another merchant in midway, but I’m happy to offload some things you know your community here needs or that you could sell easily.” Hobson nodded and then began to unzip the bags and inspect the items gathered. It took more than a few minutes for him to go through the stuff and create a collection of things he wanted to buy off Adam. As he explained part way through most of the stuff Adam was bringing in was things he would have gladly bought off him but he was not especially cap flush at the moment, much of his caps were in inventory so he wouldn’t be able to buy everything anyway.
Once he had finished going through everything he had a few pieces of crab meat, two guns, some booze and liquor, a few other odds and ends, and a little bit of Ammo. Adam wanted to pawn the machine gun off to him as he was sick of carrying it, but Hobson refused, not only was it not something he could move quickly, but it was also out of his price range, and Adam knew it was going to be worth something halfway decent so he couldn’t just give it away.
“Alright, for all this stuff here, will you do 300 caps?’ He asked. “I’d offer more but if I go any higher I won't have enough to make change for customers.” He chuckled. Adam looked over the items and then nodded.
“Alright, that sounds good to me.” He smiled.
“Wonderful.” Hobson then pulled out three 100 cap Midway slips and handed them over to Adam. “pleasure doing business with ya. I hope we can do this again in the future.” he smiled back.
“Same.” Adam said as he then looked at all of his bags and gear that he hadn’t sold and then sighed. Though he had offloaded a good bit of weight, not nearly enough of it to make a huge difference, he couldn’t pack what was left in the duffle bag into his backpack still and now he had to carry Salvatore’s backpack as well, and of course, the quad machine gun monstrosity. It was going to be a pain in the ass to get this into Midway.
With some effort he got his backpack onto his back, Salvatore’s backpack on his chest, the duffle bag in one hand and the machine gun in the other. Then he slowly made his way out, only to be noticed by Salvatore who, after a laugh at Adam’s predicament opened the door for him and then walked him towards the exit of Ghoul town.
“You sure you got all that, kid?” Salvaotore said with a chuckle.
“Yeah, well I’m not comfortable, thanks for asking.” Adam said back with a bit of snark from the strain he was putting himself under. “But since you can’t get into Midway this was my only option.”
“And that right there, what you are doing, is why I don't want to be a Scaver.” He grinned.
“No, you just worked for one.” Adam grinned back. Salvatore shook his head and then stopped as they reached the wall of Ghoul town.
“Alright kid, you have a good rest of your day, let me know when you are ready to move again, You know where to find me.”
“Will do. I’ll probably come back in a day or two to check up on you and let you know what my plans are. I like to take a break after a run.”
“Good plan.” Salvatore grinned and then waved Adam off as he struggled his way down the open tarmac towards the city.
After spending a bit too long struggling to open the door to the city Adam made it to market street. Some people stared at him but most ignored him like normal. Adam was getting impatient to offload all of this stuff. He still had a ways to go before he would reach the mall but then, as he walked down the main street, he noticed a shop he had seen the first time he came here. A butcher shop. A perfect way to offload all his meat.
Waddling over to the butcher he stopped in front of his stall and placed his two held objects on the ground in front of his feet. There were pickpockets and thieves in this town according to Derek when he was being given the tour, it was far safer to keep everything close and within eyesight.
“What can I do there for you sir?” The portly butcher said as he looked at Adam a bit amused to see him overburdened.
“Do you buy meat as well as sell it?’ Adam asked.
“Why yes I do, but I do need to inspect it before I buy from an unknown stranger.” He said as he stroked his chin, the small bits of stubble brushing against his fingers.
“I think you’ll like this.” Adam said as he unzipped the backpack in the front, the one with all the lakelurk meat, and then placed one of them on the counter for inspection. “Lakelurk meat.” Adam smiled.
The butcher unwrapped the linen from the meat and inspected it, poking it with a metal prong a few times and then testing it in a few otherways. He then nodded.
“Yup, I can buy this from you.” He said as he then looked Adam over, inspecting him, and then grinned. “But you see, Lakelurk meat isn’t that uncommon around here, I mean The Pier gives us regular shipments, The meat isn’t as valuable this close to the lake. But since you dragged it all the way here I can take it off your hands, say… 5 caps a piece? Just so you don’t lose out on the effort you put in.” He said with a shitty grin. Adam could tell something was up. It took him a moment but the man was clearly trying to rip him off, he could feel it. Adam was not in the mood to play these games.
“If that's the case, why don’t I see any other crab meat around here?” Adam pressed, staring right into the merchant’s eyes. The merchant flinched, not expecting Adam to talk back.
“W-well that's obviously because it’s sold already, i'm sure tomorrow more meat will be delivered.”
“I'm sure.” Adam said, standing his ground. “And while you wait, meatless, you will miss out on sales you could have been making. Besides, this stuff is fresh, caught only a few hours ago, I doubt anything from The Pier would be this fresh.”
‘Well yes but…” The merchant said as he began to sweat a bit.
"Well if you aren’t interested I'm sure I can find another vendor… maybe I can sell it directly to a restaurant at the food court?” Adam mused aloud in front of the merchant as he made a show of picking up the meat on the counter, putting it back in the linen and slowly putting it back into the bag.
“N-no wait.” The merchant stammered out. “I’m sure we can work out some kind of deal, no?” He said with a nervous smile. Adam got him.
“Alright fine, since I see you are an upstanding businessman and I wouldn’t leave you in the lurch.” Adam said with a pleasant smile. “So how about 25 caps per chunk?” Adam offered. He was grasping at straws. He had no idea how valuable the meat was, but the chunks were large and if it tasted like crab it had to be delicious.
“Twe-twenty five?!” He said shocked. “I… I can’t go that high, I wouldn’t make any profit!” he complained. “I can do 15.” He countered.
“20.” Adam returned. “Otherwise i'm taking this to someone else.” Adam said standing firm.
“Well…” The butcher looked at the bag and sighed. “Alright fine… 20 caps each, but if they are smaller than the one you showed me I’m not paying 20!” He said firmly.
“Deal.” Adam grinned and then began to pull out all the meat for the butcher to inspect. As it turned out Salvatore had been pretty thorough when he was carving the meat out of the mutated crabs, and all the chunks were more or less the same size. Adam walked away from the stall 400 caps richer and finally one empty bag lighter.
Chapter Text
Though the front backpack was now empty the trip to the mall remained arduous, thankfully there was a working escalator not too far from the Butcher’s shop so he could easily get upstairs without expending too much effort.
There was only one thing on his mind, getting rid of the damn machine gun, it was excessively heavy and annoying to carry, luckily the weapons shop was closest to the entrance to the mall. Jay gave an amused look as Adam walked into his shop.
“Found enough stuff?’ He said with a teasing tone.
“I wish I had a robot to carry all this for me.” He said as he hoisted the gun and the duffle bag onto the counter and sighed in relief. “This can’t be good for my back.” Jay chuckled.
“That’s why most other scavers don’t bring back a brahmin’s worth of goods. But I see you were built different.” He chuckled and then looked at the quad assault rifle machine gun monstrosity. “What in the lord's name is this?” He asked as he easily picked it up with one hand to inspect it, proving his big muscles were not just for show.
“A weapon I used to kill a boatload of lakelurks.” Adam smiled as he pulled off his backpack and placed it on the ground.
“I bet, who’d you take this from? This looks like a mad man’s design?”
“Raiders.”
“Ah, well that’d do it.” He then put the gun back down and looked at Adam. “Well I got good news and bad news about it, which do you want first?”
“Good news.”
“Well the good news is that 4 assault rifles that fire, regardless of their condition, are going to be worth a pretty penny, so you did well to carry this here, even if it looks like you strained yourself.”
“And the bad news?”
“Bad news is the modifications done to this…beast are shoddy, it works, sure, but I doubt any genuine arms dealer would be willing to sell this, especially when they could buy a proper machine gun. Which will leave me with the unfortunate situation of having to either disassemble all of this or hold it until it finds its owner.” He paused. “I can buy this from you for 400 caps, not a cap more.’ He said firmly.
“That's more than enough.” Adam smiled. “400 caps to have lugged this all the way over is definitely worth it.”
“Good.” Jay grinned and then picked it up and put it on the ground next to him. “What else you got?”
Adam unloaded the rest of the weapons from his bags and the excess ammo he had picked up from the storeroom was not nearly as much as when he had raided the gun store near Naper but it was more than enough to make a pretty penny. He became assured of this when Jay gave him the price.
“565.” He said firmly after he finished inspecting.
“I can do that too.” Adam grinned.
“Good.” Jay smiled. “I like a man who doesn’t like to mess around with haggling.” He then got out the 965 caps he owed Adam and handed it over.
“If you find any more goods like that, keep sending them my way, I think we will have a great working relationship.”
“I think so too.” Adam said as he began to grab his bags again, this time putting the excess into Salvatore’s bag still strapped to his chest and stuffing the empty duffle bag back into his backpack.
“Oh, before I go, you still have that scope?”
“Oh yeah, sure, I got it right here.” Jay returned with a broad smile as he placed the scope Adam saw last time on the counter.
“Perfect, 200 caps right?”
“Yessir.” Adam handed back two slips for 100 caps that Jay had just given him as payment.
“Pleasure doing business with you.”
“You too.” Adam then left the shop heading to his last destination before he could finally be rid of all this excess weight he was burdened with. At least now the heaviest things were out of his bags, the rest was going to Lune.
Upon arriving he did not see Lune but saw the Mr. Handy he fixed up floating at the register.
“Oh hello there sir! How may I be of service today?” The Mr. Handy said as if he had never seen Adam before. Not like Adam had just fixed him a day ago or anything, whatever.
“I would like to sell all of these.” Adam said as he dumped the items left in his bags onto the counter for the Mr. Handy to see.
“Of course sir! I would love to engage with you in commerce!” He said with a chipper tone. “Please note that all prices were set by the proprietor, as such there shall be no haggling allowed. If something does not have a price I will be unable to accept it. If you agree with my statements then we shall proceed with the mercantile exchange!” Adam chuckled.
“Alright, yes, that is fine with me.”
“Wonderful! Then please, allow me a moment to look over the objects you have brought! In the meantime I suggest you peruse the varied and wonderful items we have in our lovely little shop here! I'm sure you will find something to tickle your fancy!” The Mr. Handy said as he began to inspect the items. Adam decided to heed his advice and look around while he was waiting. The shop did have quite the eclectic collection of items, who knew what he would find.
Among the more interesting things Adam found, he noticed a copy of automatron, a holotape based game, a copy of ¡La Fantoma!, and another vault-tec bobblehead. This one was holding a little wrench. It was actually pretty cute.
“I am done sir! If you are ready to begin our exchange!” The Mr. Handy said energetically from his spot by the counter. Adam broke from his shopping to walk back over.
“I have calculated the total value of all the items you have brought here, with the exception of the items you have left in the bags, which I assume were meant to exclude them from consideration, the total value of the items you have here today comes out to 481 caps. Do you find this acceptable?” Adam looked at the items, judging if they were worth more than he was getting but as per usual his sense of item’s value was not yet honed, he was starting to get a sense of worth for the items but he still had a long way to go before he could truly tell an object’s worth, even with Chuck’s tutoring from before.
“Alright, that sounds fine to me.” Adam said after a moment of contemplation.
“Wonderful! Allow me a moment to get your earned caps!” The Mr. Handy reached under the counter and opened a box to begin dispensing the caps to Adam.
“I was curious, how much is that bobble head over there?” He asked. The Mr. Handy, without breaking his counting of the slips and caps, looked over to the bobblehead in question with one of his eyes.
“That sir is 100 caps!”
“100?!” Adam said, shocked. 100 caps was an insane amount of money for something that was nothing more than a hood ornament. Maybe if it magically made him better with wrenches or repair or something it would be worth it, but just to sate his curiosity and grow his collection that was not worth it. Not when he has so many other things he needs to buy.
“Alright, what about that game over there?” He said, pointing to Automatron.
“That is 25 caps!” Adam nodded.
“Alright, I’ll take that.”
“Wonderful sir! I shall subtract its price from the total.” After a moment he handed over the money. “There you go sir! 456 caps!” Adam added them to his pouch and then slipped the bags back on.
“Thank you.” Adam said as he got his stuff on and started to head over to the game he had just bought. As he did he remembered he still had the other holotape inside his pip-boy so he took that out and threw it into his bag. He could reformat it later, empty its memory and then it would be usable as a blank holotape, certainly worth a bit of money to someone he was sure.
‘No, thank you sir! Pleasure conducting business with you!” The Mr. Handy said, still chipper as always.
“Oh.” Adam said as he reached the exit of the shop and stopped, turning around to look at the Mr. Handy again. “Tell Lune I said Hello.”
“I can do that sir! Who shall I say this message is from?”
“Adam.”
Chapter Text
Adam left the junk shop and headed back to The Delta, planning to rent his room again, when he got there though there was a small line of people standing in front of the concierge desk. It took more than a few minutes before it was finally his turn at the desk.
“Hi, I was wondering if I could rent the same room I stayed in earlier today?” Adam asked politely.
"I'm sorry sir, the hotel is booked today, I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Wait? All the rooms?” Adam asked, shocked.
“Yes, currently every room is booked at this time. I apologize.” She said with a light bow to Adam. Adam was shocked, realistically he knew this was a possibility but he had assumed he would still be able to rent a room, after all he had only been gone a chunk of the day not an entire day. Though the reason he didn’t book a room was because if he didn’t make it back today he didn’t want to pay 100 caps for something he wasn’t using. This was quite unfortunate.
“That’s okay, thank you for your time.” Adam said, a bit dejected as he started to walk away. He needed to find another place to stay, which now meant wandering around until he found it. If only Derek was around that’d be very helpful, but he did not even know where he lived and the city was huge so the chances of running into him were minuscule.
Or that would be the case if Adam didn’t see Derek running as fast as he could right past him as he was exploring Midway for a place to stay. Adam was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the very boy he needed but as he was opening his mouth to call out to him he was pushed aside by two men wearing rags who were chasing after Derek.
Adam had no idea what was going on, what Derek did to be chased by two grown men, but it was clear it was bad news for the kid, and unlike last time these guys were not in black suits, so Adam had no qualms intervening. So after a moment Adam began to run too.
The chase was short as Derek ran into the slums area of the first floor dodging and weaving between the tiny buildings made of scrap materials far more shoddily than the other buildings near the entrance. Many of these buildings were outright missing walls, some only had sheets to cover walls and much of the material used had holes in it. The people over here also looked far more ragged as well, worn out, and destitute. Clearly these people were not living well. But this was not on Adam’s mind at the moment, saving Derek was.
Adam was notably faster than the two men and Derek as well, but he did not know this place nearly as well as the three of them so he struggled to keep up despite his superior speed and stamina. Still, eventually, after the short chase he caught up to the men as they cornered Derek in a small alley created by a few close together buildings.
“Alright kid, enough running, hand over your money.” One of the men said as he walked menacingly closer to Derek.
“Never! I earned it! Get the fuck away from me or I’ll tear your limbs off!” Derek said, baring his teeth as he held a defensive stance against the wall, acting like a trapped rat, looking ready to lash out.
“No need for that kid.” the other one said as he pulled out a switchblade. “I ain’t going to ask twice.” He said with a menacing tone as he slowly advanced. Adam had heard enough and stepped forward, grabbing the wrist of the guy holding the switchblade firmly.
“I think you two have had enough trouble for one day don’t you?” Adam said to them, with a stone cold tone and expression, he was in no mood to fuck around.
“What? Who the fuck are you?!” The other one said as the one who had the knife struggled in Adam’s grasp. Damn, for street thugs these guys were weak. They did look scrawny but this was honestly pathetic… maybe Adam was just strong? It stroked his ego to think that way instead of assuming they were weak.
“Let him go!” The free one said as he stepped forward and tried to punch Adam. However Adam saw it coming, let his friend go and slugged the man in the stomach hard enough to cause him to double over in pain. The one with the knife, now seeing his friend doubled over in pain, hesitated. He looked like he was ready to try to stab Adam but lost his nerve when he saw his friend get hit. Adam, however, didn’t hesitate, and hit the guy full force in the jaw, sending him sprawling out on the ground.
Adam stepped over the body of the guy he just punched as he walked over towards Derek.
“You alright?” He asked.
“Y-yeah… I’m fine…” Derek said, still too hopped up on adrenaline to fully come down from his anger and fear yet, though he looked at Adam with a mix of awe and suspicion. Adam motioned with his head towards the exit of the alley.
“Come on, let's get out of here.” Adam then turned to begin walking towards the exit of the alley. A moment later Derek followed too, leaving the two thugs in the alley in pain from the hits. Honestly, even Adam was shocked at how well he handled them, one punch each was enough to deal with them, that impressed even him.
Derek followed quietly for a few moments before he mumbled out a thanks, it was just loud enough that Adam could hear it.
“You are welcome.” He smiled. “Now what was that about? What got those guys chasing after you?” Derek once more remained silent for a few moments before speaking.
“I won a bet today… earned some nice caps. Those guys saw me win and wanted to take it from me.” He said as he squeezed the caps pouch at his hip. “Bastards like that are all over the southeastern end. Usually I can give them a slip, but today they nearly caught me.” He said with some disgust.
“Are you going to be okay now? Are they going to try to take revenge on you or something?” Derek shook his head.
“No, they are just opportunists, they will likely leave me alone. It's fine now, I just need to either spend the caps soon or find a way to hide them.” Adam nodded slowly, at a loss for suggestions he could give.
“By the way…” Derek began as he looked at Adam. “Why are you wearing a backpack on your chest?” He asked with a head tilt. Adam looked down and saw that he was still wearing the, now empty, backpack on his chest like Derek had said. He chuckled a little.
“Uh… inventory management.” He grinned. “Actually, if you have a moment I could use your services again.”
“Oh?” Derek seemed to perk up a bit. “What can I do for you?”
“Well I just got back from a run and I went back to The Delta to book a room but by the time I got there they were booked. So now I need to find a new place to stay. Got any ideas?”
“Oh yeah! Sure!” Derek smiled. “I can help you with that!” He said happily. “The Delta was the best price for what you were asking for, but if you still have the same requirements then I know a place that, for a bit more, can still give you everything you want!”
“That sounds perfect, lead the way.”
Derek led Adam back towards the food court, and then through it, once they had gone through the food court they were walking down another hallway towards a different terminal building. It looked pretty similar to everything else he had seen in Midway so far, but Derek stopped them in front of a wooden lattice door.
“I think you will like this one.” He smiled.
Chapter Text
Trusting Derek, Adam opened the door and saw a rather nice looking hotel lobby inside with a check-in desk at the front.
“Welcome to The Layover sir.” The man at the front desk said as Adam slowly walked in. Derek walked in too, though keeping a good distance away to give Adam the space.
“Thank you.” Adam said as he finished looking around the lobby and approached the desk. “I heard you guys might have rooms available?”
“Yes, of course sir.” He said with a polite smile. Unlike the lady at the desk from Delta who was always chipper, this man was calm and professional. Different stripes for different cats was all.
“Wonderful, how much is a room for a night?”
“All our rooms come in at 125 caps a night, but for an additional 25 caps you can get our layover package.” He paused to let Adam process.
“And what does this package include?” Adam asked, predictably.
“It comes with complimentary soaps, access to our washer/ dryer service, 24/hour room service, fees applied separately, and a meal voucher good for one meal from any participating vendor.” Adam stopped to consider and then turned to look at derek.
“Is the voucher good?” Derek shrugged.
“Yeah, I think so, I’ve seen a few places accept them.”
“Indeed so sir.” The worker politely chimes in. “We have partnered with over 50 vendors throughout Midway to ensure excellent value for our customers.” Adam nodded slowly. He had over 2500 caps, he actually had enough money to hire Salvatore again, ironically. Damn, scavenging was a lucrative line of work, but it was very easy to see why not many people did it. After all yesterday he could have easily been crab food. Had he been alone, had Salvatore not been his partner, had he not chanced upon the machine gun. But he was getting off track.
“Alright, I'll do the 150 cap package then.” Adam figured the meal voucher alone would, hopefully, make up for the 25 cap investment, though he somehow doubted that would be the case. It wouldn't be a profitable offer if his meal costs more than 25 caps. But having soaps for him specifically, and access to a washer drier, something he had never actually gotten to use since he had awoken, it seemed worth it to give it a shot for 25 caps.
“Wonderful sir.’ The man smiled as he reached towards the back wall to collect a room key, meanwhile Adam took out the caps to pay him. “How many nights will you be staying with us?”
“Two for now.” He said as he put down 300 caps worth of vouchers.
“Fantastic. Here you go.” He said handing over the key to Adam. “Your room is just off to the left at the end of the hall. The laundry room is to my right 5 doors down, labeled for your convenience. If you wish to use the room please let our staff know and they will gladly unlock it for you at all hours of the day. If you have any questions about your stay, room service, or anything else, please do not hesitate to ask. I hope you enjoy your stay with us sir.” Adam was once more impressed with how professional the hotel staff seemed in Midway. Very different to how it was in Naper. Much more business-like and less personal, which was fine. Though it was making Adam curious about the other places, if he got a cheaper hotel would they still be this professional? What about the highest end places? Would he be bathing in gold bathtubs? It was a good question and he would love to sate his curiosity, but that could come maybe later when he was rolling in caps, for now he was satisfied to have a decent room to stay in.
Adam pocketed the key and turned to walk over to Derek, reaching into his pouch to tip him again.
“Oh, no.” Derek stopped Adam as soon as he saw him beginning to grab money for him. “This was on me.” He smiled. “You saved me earlier after all, taking the time to bring you here was my way of saying thank you.” He grinned. Adam chuckled and then rubbed Derek’s head. Derek pouted and crossed his arms, swatting Adam’s hand away a moment later.
“Thanks Derek.” Derek nodded proudly.
“I’ll be around if you need me!” Derek then walked away, leaving The Layover to head home in all likelihood. Adam turned around and began to follow the path left towards his new home for the next two nights.
The room he got, once he opened the door, was very similar to a normal looking hotel room. Big fluffy sheets, stacks of pillows, two comfy looking chairs, a desk, an attached bathroom and shower, a closet, a safe, and a minifridge with nothing inside. The room was also notably larger than the Delta, probably because it was an actual space and not just built inside a plane. Though, truthfully, Adam was just happy to have a place to strip off all his gear. Which he did happily. He was curious what this space was used for before it was converted to a hotel space. It was entirely possible it was a hotel back when Midway was still an airport, but he truly had no way of knowing. At least at a glance The Layover offered no clues to whatever formerly occupied the space.
Finally free of his burdens he heard a knock at the door. When he opened it he saw a hotel worker walking away and a tray on the ground in front of his room, on it was a small selection of soaps and shampoos, two towels, two tickets that read ‘meal voucher’, and 2 washer/dryer coins. Adam took the tray inside his room and then immediately disrobed, he had been sweating and stuck in a damp mall for too long, not to mention the effort he had expended to carry the stuff to sell, he desperately wanted to clean up.
A nice long shower later, Adam was now finally feeling refreshed again. He was tired and wanted to nap, but knew that if he did he would wake up at night, too late to get food from the food court, so he shook it off, put his belt and gun back on, and then walked towards the food court.
He found out pretty quickly the meal voucher was not as helpful as he had hoped. First of all, the first two places he tried to get food from said they didn’t accept it. Second it only covered food not a drink, as he found out when he got to a third place that did accept the voucher. And third, his selection was limited when using the voucher. However, despite all these downsides he was still able to get a filling meal, was it worth the price he paid to get the voucher? No. But considering the other benefits it broke even. After paying 15 caps for a drink to go with his meal he took a seat in the food court at a table alone.
After he sat down to eat he noticed the same men from earlier. The ones in purple robes, who Salvatore called the ‘Cult of Pestilence’, were walking around the food court, likely looking for food to buy too. However they looked incredibly suspicious, especially since their hoods were still up and most of their bodies were covered. It looked like they were about to become mad bombers, or assassinate someone. So Adam watched them carefully for a few minutes only to see them do nothing out of the ordinary.
That is until some biker looking punks with green hair sauntered up to them. They sported the same symbol that the raiders who were fighting that weirdo on the roof who was shouting his attacks like spells had. A flame symbol sitting behind two crossed swords.
It looked like it might come to blows, the bikers making aggressive overtures and the cultists not backing down. However after a rather violent verbal exchange the two groups broke off and went their separate ways. It seemed to Adam like he had nearly just seen the start of a war.
If the cultists represented the Horseman Pestilence, then the bikers with that flame symbol probably represented War. Midway truly let anyone inside the walls huh? Though they let Adam in without a background check so he couldn’t be that mad. But hopefully if it does come to blow between those two groups, it doesn't happen anywhere near him. He would hate to be caught up in a giant conflict. All he wanted to do was find some answers, not get involved in the fate of Chicago.
So he ate his food quietly. Choosing not to dwell on it any longer.
Chapter Text
Adam went back to his room after he was done eating. Not only was he tired after today’s run but he was also a little nervous sitting around in public when there were known threats about. Not that he expected anything to happen but he would much rather air on the side of caution.
Once back in his room in The Layover, despite it being the earlier side of the night, he laid down. Though he was not yet ready for bed. So he pulled out his new game he bought from Lune’s. Automatron.
It was a simple twin stick shooter with an overhead view where a man, who seemed to have infinite ammo, ran around the screen saving lost humans and shooting rogue robots. It was fun. A great time killer.
Eventually though Adam grew tired of it and then turned on the radio station he had come to enjoy. The voice of Silver Ray Johnson filled his room for a good while until he eventually called it a night and went to sleep.
The next day came and the first thing he did was grab breakfast. He had a second food voucher so he decided to use it today too. No sense letting it rot. A decently hearty meal and a 15 cap purchase of drink later and he was ready to start his day.
He had a few objectives for today, he was planning to see if he could find any odd jobs around town, little bits of work that don’t require him to put his life in danger for a day’s meal would be nice. Besides, in situations like these you never know who might be a useful contact later, getting cozy with the locals could only be a good thing. Besides, there were a ton of people here, there is no doubt if he looked around he would find something to do. He also wanted to know more about the Horsemen. Salvatore truly knew nothing so he would be forced to rely on the various people he has met here until now. Probably Eve was his best bet. In addition he really did need some new armor, so seeing Olivia and finding out what he could do about upgrading his kit was a good use of his time. Not only that he still needed to install the scope to his rifle.
However none of this was at the top of his list. There was one thing he had to do before all else today. Check on Deccanus.
So Adam made his way to the mall, towards the doctor’s office. Perhaps after he checked in on Deccanus he could go to the armor shop since it was in the same area, but that could wait until after.
“Oh? You are back.” Doctor Yewon said with a bored eye raise as Adam entered.
“Yes I am. How is your patient?”
“Restless.” She said as she put down her magazine on the counter. “I’ve had to sedate him twice to keep him on the bed, he refuses to let himself heal.” She shook her head. “Stubborn ass rude man.” She said under her breath.
“Come, maybe you can talk some sense into him.” She said as she walked over to the door to the backroom.
Adam followed and inside Deccanus was sitting up on the bed, staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought.
“How are you feeling?” Adam asked softly as he entered the room.
“Violated.” Deccanus said quietly as he did not meet Adam’s gaze. “Legionnaires are not supposed to use drugs, and yet…” He petered off.
“If she hadn’t then you would have died.” Adam asserted.
“Perhaps it would have been better to let me die.” Deccanus said, a bit more passionate now as he looked at Adam. “What use am I to a world without my Caesar? What purpose do I have when I have no direction? No directive? The touch of the Legion is not felt here and yet the one goal I had found after so many years was taken from me with but a single bullet. I… do not see the purpose in continuing…” He said, almost sounding depressed.
Adam was unsure what he was talking about, since there were a lot of personal events mixed in but he was sure that Deccanus seemed to be going through some sort of existential crisis about himself. He saved his life, in a way he was responsible for this situation. He wanted to help if he could.
Adam sighed and then took a seat in the chair nearby.
“Why were you trying to kill that man? The one you called a ranger?” Deccanus paused, seemingly lost in thought again before he broke his concentration and looked to Adam again.
“He represents the greatest threat to Legion sovereignty since the foundation by our mighty Caesar.” He returned resolutely. Adam nodded slowly.
“So he is an enemy of your country?” Adam said, slowly piercing this together.
“Was.” Deccanus said, quietly, after a few moments. “The war is long since over.” He said, a defeated tone in his voice.
“So then why did you try to kill him?” Adam continued. Deccanus held a long pause, either lost in thought or unwilling to answer, but after some time he looked at Adam, seeming to have made up his mind about something.
“Do you have time for a story?” He asked a serious tone in his words now.
“Sure. I got all the time you need.”
“Good.” Deccanus said as he paused once more. Preparing himself to share the story.
“I once was a soldier for a mighty empire called Caesar’s Legion. The empire spanned across a vast distance. One could walk for weeks and still be within the touch of Caesar. And that is not even talking about his reach that extended far beyond our borders… but I am getting off topic.” He paused, grabbed a canteen from next to him and drank from it before continuing.
“As our empire expanded West we were met with a foe, The Bear, the NCR. A foe large enough to challenge our expansion.” He paused again, seeming to catch himself. “I shall spare you the details. But suffice it to say many legionnaires died in a great clash between our two nations. A second, final, battle was planned, one over the control of the largest manmade structure the Legion had ever seen, The Hoover Dam. For months the Legion sent reinforcements to prepare for this battle, and a grand camp was formed to wage this war. My leader, Legate Lanius, Caesar’s right hand, was also called to this fight. The Monster of the East was summoned to war. However I remained behind, on the eastern front, the Legion had enemies beyond that of the NCR.” He paused again touching his chest and shoulder where he was shot gently. “That is when everything began to fall apart.”
“There were rumors that the Legate had been felled in battle. As impossible as that is. Worse yet, there were rumors that our leader, Caesar, son of Mars, had died due to some medical complication. As if the gods were calling him back into their service. However, with the Legate missing and Caesar gone there was no one left to lead the Legion…” He paused, it seemed this part was getting hard for him to say.
“Our empire, Caesar’s Legion, fell apart shortly thereafter. Centurions, frumentarii, the remaining praetorians, old tribal leaders, and all manner of others began to vie for the empty throne left behind. A civil war began… And so… I left…” He paused once more this time a look of shame in his eyes as he said this.
“The Legion I knew was dead, my leader, missing, the front collapsed, men who I had served with for years turned on each other, and so I chose to leave while my home descended into chaos.” He sighed deeply, ashamed of himself.
“For years I wandered, earning some caps here and there where I could, trying to find a purpose, a goal. Then, a year ago, I heard tale of a Ranger who had made his way to this area. For I, who had been lost for so long the story reignited my inner fire. I could hear the drums of war, I could feel the blood of mars once more pumping in my veins. And so I chased him down, for over a year I tracked his trail until I finally found him here.” He balled his hand into a fist as he looked angry.
“I was ready to end him, exact vengeance on him for the wrongs his people committed on mine and yet…” He slammed his fist onto the medical bed he was sitting on. “He ended the fight before it even began!” He shouted a bit. Adam waited patiently for the story to end. Letting Deccanus get out his anger and calm down before finally speaking up, now in a measured, soft tone.
“I know what you are feeling.” Adam said, almost sad. “I too once served a great country. A country that is now dead. It sometimes feels like… all the things I fought for… were pointless.” He said as he looked at his own hand and opened and closed it slowly. “The bombs took everything from me, my home, my friends, my work, my life. But the thing that is sometimes hardest to accept… is that they took my country…” He sighed.
“As one soldier to another, the hardest thing you can do when you leave the battlefield is to let go of the war. The images never leave your mind, the sounds of conflict never truly go away, the fear of death never really leaving you when you sleep… But we both have to learn to let go.” He said softly, meeting Deccanus’ eyes now.
“The hate you feel… the hate I feel, towards our enemies… it doesn’t matter anymore. But that doesn’t mean our experiences were meaningless. We will use those experiences to help others, to do what we can to affect the now. Because, as I've learned since I awoke from that long sleep, is that there are still people here, living, thriving, and whatever happened to me in the past… I can use it to help them today.” He paused once more, speaking more assuredly.
“I am a soldier, but I am also human, and so long as I am alive I will continue to believe in the same things I fought for so long ago. Maybe my actions nowadays are not as noble, maybe I’m not fighting for a great cause, but I am surviving, and that is enough, because giving up… that's the last thing I’m going to do. I don’t plan to lose to the shadows of war, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.” He said resolutely. Deccanus let the silence sit in the air for a while, his expression marred by self–hate. He looked off at the wall, still not speaking as the silence continued for many moments more before he finally spoke up again.
“I… need some time… to consider what I will do going forward.” He said softly. Adam nodded in understanding.
“Take all the time you need.” Adam stood up and smiled softly. “I will be in Midway for the foreseeable future, if you need me… or just someone to talk to, feel free to reach out. I’ll come visit you again.” Adam said before he walked over to the door.
“Adam.” Deccanus said as Adam stopped at the doorknob. “Thank you… for saving my life.” He said quietly. Adam turned around and smiled.
“You are most welcome, Deccanus.”
Chapter Text
Now that Adam had confirmed Deccanus was okay. Physically at least, he clearly had some mending to do mentally, he wanted to find some work around town. It would be even better if he could find work to coincide with his next outing. If he could scavenge for supplies as well as be on the hunt for something he knew someone wanted that would be perfect. As Mandy had said before this town definitely would have some work if he looked around enough, finding it might be the hard part.
The first job Adam secured was working for a flea market vendor who was selling guns. All the guns were in poor condition and in desperate need of a strip and deep cleaning. Unfortunately the vendor seemed to have no idea about weapon maintenance. So Adam got hired to fix them for him. Certainly by the time Adam was done working this over he had increased the value of the guns tenfold. The man was appreciative, but perhaps not as appreciative as he could have been. The work only netted Adam 60 caps. Not nothing but certainly less than he had hoped. Still he soldiered on.
Next he found himself caught in a game of telephone between two love birds, handing letters between the two of them secretly over the objection of their overbearing households. It was certainly the most “romantic” thing Adam had ever gotten involved in. Adam walked between the two outermost edges of the city more times than he wished, but ultimately it felt like it was for a good cause. Eventually, after the tenth letter the two met up and, probably, eloped. Saying they were playing on heading to The Pier, hiring a guard to get them there safely. They paid Adam 25 caps for his work. Not worth his effort but it was nice to help out a young couple at least.
As he was leaving this exchange he encountered two groups that seemed deeply at odds with each other. They looked ready to come to blows. Adam intervened and managed to calm down both parties before they started a flight. An agreement of non interference was reached between them as Adam stood there and played mediator for what ended up being a 2 hour discussion. Apparently the groups were two tribal families who had a long blood feud dating back a century. An agreement to end the blood feud was struck as long as each party adhered to their end of the compromise. It was quite an arduous affair. Adam was no mediator or diplomat. Luckily most of what he needed to do was babysit these grown men as they argued, and help keep the emotional temperature of the room down. The two groups paid him 50 caps each, 100 caps in total. He hadn’t even gotten involved in their dispute to earn money; it was all happenstance. But luckily some of the techniques he had learned in Lying Congressional Style had actually turned out useful. Not to say he lied, but bending the truth proved a helpful tactic.
Regardless with just these three tasks he had already spent much of the day. But while he was on the hunt for the jobs he did pick up some tasks that would require him to keep an eye out when he leaves to scavenge. From comic books to military circuit boards, Adam actually had a list now, he even had to open an entire new quest log entry in his pip-boy to manage all the requests. Many of them wouldn’t come to fruition but it was good for spreading his name a bit as a man who could get things for people even if he could only get a few of them.
But the day was getting late, and so it was time to stop his odd job work and focus on his other tasks for the day. In one day he had made 185 caps. Honestly, not a terrible day’s work all things considered. He could afford the hotel he was staying at, minus the Layover special, and get food for the day too with that. Though there was no telling if he kept doing odd jobs if he would make enough money to live off indefinitely. He would likely have to lower his standards if he lived on odd jobs and didn’t leave the city. It was really expensive to live here. Probably why the people in Naper were happier.
Regardless, with his money earned he headed for Olivia Frost’s shop. It was time to work on getting some armor.
“I knew you’d be back.” She said with a grin as Olivia saw Adam walk into her store.
“Well, There's a limit to recklessness.” He chuckled. “Can’t go out to dangerous places with only my chest covered, I need a bit more to stay safe.”
“I knew you were a man who understood the value of good armor.” She grinned. “Now tell me, what are you looking for?”
“As much as I'd love to buy that combat armor off of you, I simply don’t have the funds.” He chuckled. “So I’d like something modular, Maybe some kind of gauntlets, elbow guards, shoulder protection, and some sort of armored leggings? I have body armor and a helmet, I simply lack armor on my extremities.” She nodded as Adam spoke.
“Well certainly I can get you something to help you feel safer.” She paused. “What’s your budget?”
“Well…” Adam paused now himself to consider, with the work he had just done he had over 2200 caps, but he wanted to keep a small cushion of money just in case. But he really did need armor, getting to Second life would not be easy. As he had heard it might end up being an arduous trek, furthermore the interior might be no easier, but that was for the future.
“Well let me see what I can do.” She said as she began to rummage through her shop.
“Oh, also, I carry around a lot of gear, so whatever I do get needs to not conflict with my holsters or slung weapons.” She paused as Adam spoke looking at the combat armor on the wall now. Not the mark 2 but the one he used to wear back in the army.
“You are a Scaver, yes?” She said slowly. As she stood up from looking inside a trunk.
“Uh, yes. I am, which is why I need good armor.” Adam said with a smile.
“Then… I have a deal to offer you.” She said as she walked over to the Combat armor on the mannequin stand and touched it. “I know of a place with a chest full of things I would love to get my hands on, armor, mostly. But I can’t leave myself, and the place is a bit too dangerous for your average joe but…” She stopped touching the armor and walked over to Adam. “I hear you are no slouch, surviving a Lakelurk infested mall, eh?” She grinned.
“Oh, um… yes I did that. Where did you hear about that?” Adam asked.
“Jay.” She smiled. Well at least that made sense. “So here is what I'm proposing.” She gently touched Adam’s shoulder with her finger.
“You bring me back the chest from a location I send you to, anything else you pick up there, armor, obviously, you sell to me, and I will give you that armor over there for only 4000 caps, if, by that time, you still do not have the money, I will cover the difference and you can pay me back with interest, deal?” She smirked.
Adam stopped to think. This was a great opportunity. A location full of good loot that he could sell right back to her and, in addition, he would get a 2000 cap discount on one of the armor sets he was looking at. He could finally ditch his bullet proof vest. Of course he’d much rather get the Combat Armor mark 2 but beggars couldn’t be choosers. However while he was still considering she spoke up again.
“In addition. I’m not just a pretty face who sells life saving armor. I also know how to make certain clothing even better.” She grinned. “For example, I can use ballistic fiber to turn any piece of clothing, even that vault suit of yours, into armor. And, since your vault suit is skin tight it can even be worn under our friend over there.” She said gesturing to the Combat armor. “Or, if you’d prefer a military uniform that’d work too, all the same.” She shrugged.
“You do this errand for me, in addition to everything I said before I will also offer you my services as a seamstress. I don’t normally offer this to customers because, quite frankly, it's a pain in the ass, but I can do it for you for a price.”
Once more Adam stood there contemplating. Honestly this was just another huge reason to accept this mission. If he could turn his vault suit into something more than just a convenient piece of clothing and instead into armor itself he could feel safer even under fire. Peace of mind is worth any price after all. Simply having the option to upgrade his vault suit, or any piece of clothing for that matter, was a massive bonus. There was one issue with all of this. If she was offering him such a good deal, what kind of place was she about to send him into? How dangerous was it?
“I have just one question.” Adam said after a few moments to contemplate. A serious tone in his voice.
“What is it?”
“What kind of place are you sending me into?”
“A military stronghold.” She grinned.
Chapter Text
“Now before you say no, hear me out.” She said, preempting Adam’s questions and concerns first. “The place is not a military base or anything like that. After the bombs fell survivors of the US military formed together around an old brewery. From what I’ve heard they turned it into a military HQ for a year before they were eventually overrun by the survivors who were trying to raid them for supplies and food. The people didn’t make it too far inside but they surrounded the building and starved the soldiers out.” She paused.
“Of course this is a story from over 200 years ago, so I don't know the truth of it. But suffice it to say it's a brewery not a high tech military compound.”
“So then why are you asking me to do it? If it's just a brewery?”
“That's because…” She paused. “There are still active defenses there…”
“Ah.” Adam said pensively. He understood what that meant. They had turned into a fully functional FOB in all likelihood. Turning it into a real HQ after the bombs fell would have been impossible, but a base, sure.
It probably had at least two automated sentry turrets and at least one guard robot. As was standard procedures for the US Army back when he was in it. Though it was shortly after the bombs fell, that could mean it is more, or less heavily defended, there was no way to know. But Adam needed more information.
“I get the feeling this is a lot of information for some who had never gone there…” Adam said a bit suspiciously. She stared at him for a moment before sighing.
“Yes… you aren’t the first person I asked to do this. But the others all died.” Olvia said softly. “I went there once but didn’t see more than the exterior of the building… I heard the laser fire though.” She paused.
“Look, I’m not going to say it isn't dangerous, but it's a good deal I'm giving you. I will, quite frankly, be taking a significant loss on this, but you do this you will have my personal gratitude. And for the best armor merchant in the entire Chicago area to favor you is a good way to stay protected.” She smiled warily, clearly worried Adam would say no.
Adam sighed deeply.
“Alright.” He said with a shake of his head. “This is incredibly dangerous. But… I will do it.” He said resolutely. He had confidence in his skills enough that he could properly raid an FOB so long as there were no soldiers, which, of course there couldn’t be. Automated defenses would be tough to crack but he knew a few work-arounds.
Olivia’s eyes lit up with joy.
“Oh! Thank you! I appreciate it!” She said happily.
“What's in this chest you want so badly? Also how will I identify it?”
“I… can’t answer that first question…” She said, pausing. “But the chest itself has a GPS tracker on it. Here give me your pip-boy, I'll mark it on your map so you can find it easily.” She said as she grabbed hold of his arm and began to input the data, a moment later a flashing indicator appeared on his pip-boy map. Adam nodded.
“Alright. I will do this, but make sure you hold up your end of the bargain.” Adam said seriously.
“Oh absolutely, I wouldn’t dream of short changing you.”
“Good.” Adam offered a soft smile. “I will leave either tomorrow or the day after”
“That is perfectly acceptable, thank you for your help. And, I know it may seem cruel to send you into somewhere dangerous, but please, do not die. I would hate to let such a promising customer perish.” She grinned. Adam chuckled and shook his head.
“Alright, well the next time you see me I will be back with the chest.” He said as he turned around to leave.
“Oh, before you go.” She said as she tossed some pieces of armor to Adam. It was shin guards, arm guards, and pauldrons all made out of a thick and sturdy leather. “Consider those a rental, you can return them when you come back and grab your new combat armor, not like you will be needing them much by then.” She laughed softly and then added:
“See? Now I'm trusting you as much as you are trusting me, nothing stopping you from running off with your new armor.”
“True.” Adam said softly and then laughed as he countered with: “But I would hate to let such a promising business relationship end prematurely.” Adam said with a grin at his own words, sending Olivia’s comment back at her. She chuckled, finding it amusing.
“Alright, I look forward to the next time I see you Adam.”
Adam left the shop now with two new destinations in mind. He would need to reverse the order of some of his plans. First and foremost, it was time to upgrade his rifle.
The next hour Adam spent back in his room at the Layover, carefully drilling new holes into the wood of his rifle to install his 200 cap scope. Without a range to test it on he really didn’t have much of a way to ensure the scope was aligned properly. But he could improve a bit, using a laser level from his tool belt he could use it like a laser sighter and adjust it that way. Imperfect, imprecise, and no way to know for certain if it worked, but it would do for now. He could fine tune it the next time he went out. His rifle upgraded with the adjustable scope, he put his gear back down and then headed to his next destination, Ghoul Town.
“Hey, kid.” Salvatore said casually as Adam walked into the bar Salvatore was in last time. Luckily getting into the town this time was not a problem whatsoever.
“Hey Salvatore.” He said as he sat down at the table where Salvatore was eating dinner. Something he probably should do too.
“I came to chat about where I would like to go next but…” He glanced down at the plate of food Salvatore was eating.
“You can’t have it.” Salvatore said almost greedily as he pulled his plate away from Adam. This got a chuckle out of Adam.
“I'm not going to steal your food. But I haven’t eaten so I guess I could order something and chat while we eat.”
“Do as you please.” Salvatore said dismissively.
Adam got back up and walked over to the bar where Claire was working.
“Oh, welcome back.” She grinned. “Couldn’t stay away could you?” Adam smiled and laughed.
“No, your magnetic charm was too much for me to resist.” He teased. She seemed caught off guard by Adam’s joke and pulled back a bit and blushed.
"Well , aren't you a charmer?” She said a bit bashfully and then shook it off. “Well any handsome man who wants to come to spend time in my little establishment is more than welcome.” She smiled. “What can I do for you, handsome?”
“I would like dinner, if that's fine.” She nodded.
“Wonderful, I can cook you up something right now.” She said as she started to walk away to cook and then paused. “Ah.” She said like she just remembered something. “It might take a bit longer than normal because the food I'm cooking today was not prepped for humans, there are excess rads that would be bad for you. I do have some fresh, more rad-free meat but it's not prepped so give me some time would you, dear?” She said with a soft apologetic smile.
“No problem. I don’t mind waiting.”
“Wonderful, then go sit right down and I'll bring it out to you when it's ready.” She said with a hop in her step as she headed to the kitchen area to begin cooking for Adam.
Adam returned to his seat next to Salvatore at the table.
“So about you two..” Adam said with a cheeky grin, exclusively trying to get under Salvatore’s skin.
“No.” Salvatore said, not biting and shutting the conversation down entirely. Adam laughed softly.
“Well anyway as I said I came to talk to you about our next job.”
“I'm listening.” Salvatore said as he put his spoon down and gave Adam his full attention.
“Ready to raid a military Forward Operating Base?”
Chapter Text
“No?!” Salvatore said incredulously. “Look kid, I stay clear of military bases for a reason, shits too dangerous, even hundreds of years after the war the US still packs a fuckin’ punch.”
“Well it's just a forward operating base.” Adam said, leaning back in his chair. “I know them pretty well, and I am reasonably confident we can bust in without taking damage.”
“But we are still going to get into a fight.”
“Yeah, probably.” Adam shrugged. Salvatore sighed.
“Never thought I'd be following around a kid with too big a heart and too small a brain.” He said before he took another bite of the food. “Whatever, you bought out my contract, other than a suicide run, I’m in it for the long haul, you want to head to this stupid place I got your back, just don’t expect me to die for you.” Adam smiled.
“Trust me, I have no intentions of letting either of us die.”
“Good.” Salvatore said as he returned to his meal. “When are we doing this?”
“If you don’t have any plans I was thinking about tomorrow.”
“Damn, busy bee aren’t you? We just went out the other day.” Salvatore said with a single grunt.
“I don’t see much reason to wait around, besides the sooner I get this done the sooner I can start planning the trip to the reason I came out here.”
“Well It doesn’t matter to me much, just make sure you aren’t running yourself ragged.” Adam chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I’m not, but if I’m honest, I'm feeling impatient to get to Second Life, especially now that we are so close. But I’m trying to be smart about it.” Salvatore nodded slowly.
“Well do what you have to do, I’ll make sure you don’t die in the process.”
“Best cap investment I’ve ever made.” Adam grinned.
“Damn straight.” Salvatore chuckled.
The meal arrived a little bit late, Claire proved to be a very able cook, in fact it was the best food he had had since he awoke in the Vault, better than the food court food, better than Mandy’s food, better than anything. Perhaps that's just what happens when you are a chef for as long as she has been, not that he would ask how old she is. He's not that thoughtless.
Paying 25 caps for the meal Adam took off from ghoul town, he had another stop to make for the night to prepare for his adventure tomorrow.
As he walked into the mall in Midway he saw several shops already closing, some with shutters over their entrances, some with just closed doors. Worst case he could come back tomorrow, but he got lucky.
As he arrived at Jay’s shop, he saw him putting things away and getting ready to close up for the night.
“Got time for a last minute customer?” Adam joked.
“For you? Sure.” Jay said as he let go of the metal shutter he had grabbed onto above the doorway and left it open. “What can I do for you Mr. Baxter?”
“I want to know, do you have any pulse grenades? I will accept pulse mines instead if you don’t have grenades.”
“Well…” Jay stroked his beard for a moment while he looked lost in thought. “Let me look in the back and see what I got available.”
Jay then left to head to the backroom. He was back there for several minutes, presumably looking for Pulse grenades, when he came back he was holding 3 pulse grenades and 1 mine.
“You are in luck.” He grinned as he placed them all on the counter and then beckoned Adam over. “I still had a few in stock, these are even more rare than plasma grenades, if you would believe it. Simply due to scarcity.” He chuckled.
“I bet.” Adam smiled. “How much for… 1 mine and 2 grenades?” Adam asked.
“Well…” Jay said, stroking his beard again while he thought. “Considering how rare they are getting, since no one is making new ones, as far as I’m aware, i'd sell them for… 75 caps a piece?” He said, throwing out a number.
“Would you take 60?” Adad asked, trying to haggle down the price a bit. Jay stared at the grenades for a moment and then nodded.
“60 is fine.”
“Wonderful.” Adam took out 180 worth of caps and handed them to Jay, he then took the grenades and mine into his hands.
“What are you planning on fighting that you need a late night purchase of pulse explosives?” Jay asked with a chuckle.
“Oh nothing major, just a few sentry turrets, and a robot or two, I'd imagine.” Jay frowned and sighed.
“Just don’t get yourself killed.” It was Adam's turn to chuckle.
“Don’t worry I am going into it with a plan, that’s why I’m buying these. And, if it looks too hairy, I will get out without putting myself in danger, but your friend Olivia gave me a big ask that I simply can’t turn down.” He grinned. Jay sighed but nodded.
“Alright, well I expect to see you back here soon, ya here? I’d hate to lose such a good supplier.”
“Olivia basically said the same thing. Where do you think I get my good stuff? I throw myself into danger.” Adam smirked and then turned around to leave. “I’m something of an adrenaline junkie, I think. Who knows? Thanks for the help Jay! I’ll be seeing you soon!”
Adam then returned to his room to put the new explosives away. They would be instrumental in helping his plan to attack the brewery. Pulse grenades were an offshoot of EMPs. In theory they functioned similarly but with different effects. Pulse weaponry did very little damage to humans but were critically effective at damaging robots, turret systems, and power armor. It was very effective at frying internal systems. Though of course it had its own flaws, such as a limited range. But for handling automated defenses there was nothing better.
He had considered asking for EMP grenades instead, or also, but the issue with EMPs is that they were antiquated long before even Adam went into service. Almost all electronics had some shielding to EMPs, robots especially. This isn't to say that they were perfectly immune, but they were resistant enough that it wouldn’t be worth the monetary investment. Besides, the Pulse grenades also stunned robots and turrets for a second or two as well, hopefully that would be enough.
In all honesty he wouldn’t really have a plan until he went to the location tomorrow, but all he could do now is prepare and plan. He had more armor, more weapons, and a general idea of what to expect. With Salvatore backing him up he was confident he could get this done.
He was now just deathly curious what was in the chest that Olivia was willing to go so far for. But he was not hired to snoop, just retrieve. So he would be satisfied with never knowing.
Back in his room he dropped everything off and then set out again. He had just realized he had not gotten a chance to use the washer coins he got from paying the extra fee. Hopefully he could do that when he got back. He didn’t have a change of clothes, the biggest reason he didn’t try, but he could wear the shower robe that was in the bathroom while his clothes were washed, and spend the time in his room. These were thoughts for later though. He had one last task for the day, he was going to visit Eve again and get some information he was sure she’d have.
Chapter Text
“I see you couldn’t stay away~.” Eve said as she watched Adam walk into the bar.
“What can I say? You are a fantastic conversation partner.” He smiled.
“Oh I’m fantastic at a great many things, honey. I assure you.” She walked over to the counter where Adam had just sat down. “What can I get for you?”
“I’m thinking a red wine, no food, I already ate, so just something to wind down the night on.”
“I can do that for you.” She said as she turned around to grab a bottle. The bar was quieter today. There was a man at the piano playing some relaxing songs but no stage presence from a band. As Adam had learned, this was not a piano bar. Or rather, it was not a piano bar full time. He had seen a sign outside the front door that led him to believe it was a piano bar, but it regularly puts on shows like the one he had walked in on last time. Not that he minded either way, but his misconception on the topic was cleared.
There was no guard outside this time either, nor was there a black suited man standing at the stairway entrance to the second floor, likely the head of The Guild was not here right now. Not that it mattered much to Adam, but it was of note.
He had also noticed on his way over the same robed figures a third time. The Pestilence cultists. He had every intention of asking Eve about them, but if he had forgotten, seeing them walking around gave him a clear reminder.
“I think you will find this one to your tastes.~” Eve said as she placed a glass of red wine in front of Adam. Adam took it and sipped at it. It was very smooth, perfect for what he wanted.
“How do you do it?” Adam asked, curiously.
“Do what, honey?”
“Be such a perfect bartender? I mean you have no mouth, nor any taste buds. You can’t even smell, so how do you pick such fantastic choices?” Eve paused for a moment, perhaps thinking, perhaps smiling to herself. Not that such a thing would be shown on her metallic face.
“It's quite simple really.” She said as she picked up a bottle of liquor from the wall. “Bartending is just a type of chemistry, you know the mixtures you can replicate a perfect drink every time, selection for clients comes from experience.” She gently put the bottle back and turned back to Adam again.
“Besides, it's hard to mess up when all of the drinks I have available are of the highest quality.” Adam chuckled.
“Fair enough.” He smiled and sipped at his wine for a moment as his eyes drifted off to look at the piano player.
“I’m heading out tomorrow to hit up what is likely a post war FOB, though the inhabitants, I expect, are all dead. I’ve heard all that is left are robots and sentries.”
“Well, it certainly sounds like your day tomorrow will be thrilling.”
“Certainly.” He chuckled. “I'm curious, what do you do on your days off? I assume you have days off since you work for a living.”
“Depends what I’m in the mood for~. I read, tinker, explore, people watch…” She then leaned in a bit over the counter to get closer to Adam. “And sometimes I look for handsome men to spend a little time with~”
“You are refreshingly forward, you know that right?” Adam said jovially. Eve leaned back again.
“I like to think it's one of my better traits.” Adam paused for a few moments as he sipped at the wine before speaking again.
“I was curious… Do you happen to know anything about the Four Horsemen?” Adam probed. Eve didn’t respond right away, waiting a couple moments before she finally spoke up.
“Yes, I do. Being a bartender means all sorts of information gets passed around near me. Why do you want to know?” She asked, almost suspiciously.
“Well quite frankly, I know they are dangerous groups in this area but I don’t have any more information on them. I’m also new in town and asking you seemed like a safe bet.” Eve sighed.
“I can understand that, but be careful, not everyone enjoys speaking about such dreary topics.” Adam nodded. “Well where to begin? You said you don’t know anything?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty cut off from news until recently so I’m still trying to piece together what's going on in the area.”
“Well let’s see…” She paused as she put her claw on her chin before continuing. “From what I know War is the man who started all the monikers, he actually calls himself War, if you believe that.” She said with a soft condescending chuckle. “He goes around absorbing all the other ne'er do wells in the area under his command, not much more than a band of thugs if you ask me.” She paused. “But he and his people don’t usually go around raiding or killing without cause, so far they haven’t started anything but I know that will change. Power changes men, it's bound to happen. If you are curious about his reasoning, you can tune in on the radio, one of his cronies has a station dedicated to his diatribes. Perfectly boring if you ask me, but I suppose everyone’s got a kink or two~”
She then paused for a moment as another patron came over to the bar and paid their tab. She disengaged from the conversation with Adam to check out the customer. Meanwhile Adam turned to watch the piano player. It was interesting. When the singer was here the entire room was focused on her performance. But now, with the piano player alone, it was just a nice ambiance for some light conversation among the patrons. Despite the world having ended the atmosphere certainly felt classy and he did really like this place. It might actually be his favorite venue in Midway, though, of course, he still had so much more to see. Who knows what interesting places Midway could have?
“Sorry about that.” Eve said as she walked back over.
“No problem, work comes first.” Adam grinned.
“Certainly, but I'd much rather be talking to you~” Eve let off a single low laugh before continuing. “Anyway where was I?”
“You were telling me about War’s radio station.” Adam informed, casually.
“Oh yes, you are right. Well anyway, there's not much more to say on the topic. The radio station speaks about change and how it's inevitable, but it's nothing more than hot air, there's no real substance. But he's situated in the north of the city blocking the way to Milwaukee, as if there was a reason to go there.” She said jokingly. “Then there’s Famine. This one is brief, ghouls.” She said succinctly.
“Its a wall of ghouls that blocks nearly every exit heading east, and I’m not talking our misshapen friends living in their own town nearby, I’m talking about the dangerous ones, who have lost all sense of reason and decorum~” This gave adam pause, he might have actually run into that already. When he was escaping through the sewers to escape the super mutants who had stumbled upon him while he was in the car factory, he walked into what could only be described as a hoard or ghouls. When he pieced it all together, he had certainly gone much further east than he had intended. The factory was already to the east of Naper and the sewers took him further. If that was just the tip of a spear…
“Do they have a leader? It’s all ferals?” Adam asked curiously.
“No one knows.” She said with a shrug. “A couple of intrepid ghouls went to check it out but said it was just jam packed with ferals as far as the eye could see, if there was a leader they didn’t stand out, and no one knows why they are gathering either.”
“What about Pestilence?” Adam asked, wanting to know about those robed men he saw earlier.
“Ah, well, unlike War, Pestilence… or rather, the people who work for them do not appreciate the term. So try not to call them that if you ever see one. But they are… a cult.” She said after a moment.
“I had a friend tell me that same thing.” Adam chuckled.
“Well they are right.” She said, leaning on the bar now. “Their beliefs are just as crazy as War’s if you ask me, something something salvation, but I don’t trust a man who goes around in dark purple robes like they are from some strange monastery. Then again, I don’t really trust anyone so~. But suffice it to say they occupy much of the south and are currently not letting anyone through their territory.”
“And Death?”
“Ah, well now Death is interesting.~” She said with a bit of sadistic joy in her tone. “No one knows who or what death is. ‘Death is a bullet to the head from nowhere, Death is a green mist that rolls over your town and kills its inhabitants, Death is explosions dropped from the sky, Death is the pale grey that comes out from the dark.’ No one really knows what Death is. Quite frankly it's something of Chicago's boogeyman. If someone dies in an unexpected and unknown way, it's probably going to be attributed to Death. If you ask me I think people just got the Four Horseman moniker so much in their heads that they went searching for a fourth threat to nickname. It's nothing but hearsay and rumors, I wouldn’t put too much stock into it if I were you.”
“Wow… well thank you Eve, you were a great help.”
“I’m glad to be of service, though, rather than talking about something so droll as murderers and madmen I’d rather talk about something far more interesting… you.” Adam chuckled and smiled.
“Well, I suppose it's only fair I answer some of your questions since you answered mine. Feel free to ask.” He said before taking another sip of his wine.
“Wonderful. Then tell me, how big are you?~”
Chapter Text
After finishing his titillating conversation with Eve at The Oasis, and paying 25 caps and a 5 cap tip he returned to his room in The Layover. Despite the challenge of the next day’s task he found sleep quickly and easily, though he attributed it to the very light buzz he had from drinking.
The next day came and he felt energized and ready. He found himself almost excited for this challenge, breaking into an impromptu military base after the bombs fell, still populated by automated defenses was quite exhilarating. He was joking when he told Jay he was an adrenaline junkie but it might be more true than he would care to admit. He hated the uncertainty of his new life, but he also loved the rush he got from doing this job. It was a part of himself he never knew. Even when he was in the army he never felt this way. Maybe it's because it's on his own terms now? And he is making money off of it? He had thought about this before but had yet to settle on a satisfying answer. What he does know is that this was fun. There was anxiety of course, but more than that was excitement. And he loved that feeling.
Leaving The Layover with all of his gear he headed out towards the front door. However as he neared the front door Eve was standing at the exit waiting for him.
“Hello there darling~” She said as she sauntered over upon seeing him.
“Come to see me off?” Adam said as he hiked his bag up on his shoulders a bit as she stopped in front of him.
“Well, yes~” She said with a flirty tone. “But also to give you this.” She then reached into a pouch she had strapped to her side and handed over a grenade. As Adam took it he noticed it was an EMP grenade. “If what you said was true you might need it.”
“Eve?” Adam looked at her surprised, touched, and confused.
“Well it would be a shame to let such a pretty face die~” She said with a flirty tone again. “And it should work a bit better than other EMP grenades, I modified it myself, I may know a thing or two about robots~” She then started to walk past Adam heading home, assumedly. As she did she gently dragged one of her claw prongs along his shoulder before leaving fully.
Adam laughed softly to himself as he watched her leave for a moment before turning around to head out, putting the modified EMP grenade in his bag.
“Ready to head out kid?” Salvatore said, fully geared up and waiting for him at the gate.
“Yes I am. Let’s go bust this base.” He said grinning. Salvatore rolled his eyes and shook his head and then followed as they headed out towards the base that Olivia had marked.
The trip would take a few hours, nothing too terribly long but further than the mall, however it took them on a path north and, as he found out yesterday, that meant he was nearing War’s territory.
Halfway through his trek Salvatore stopped them as he saw some raiders wearing War’s symbol patrolling nearby. Salvatore got them both into a nearby alley and watched as they walked past unaware of the two of them.
“I heard War isn't prone to random acts of violence?” Adam asked after the men had cleared out of earshot.
“As far as I’m aware no. But those guys just a few months ago were likely killing whoever they pleased. No matter how ‘noble’ a leader is, if the guys are all dickheads that is how they will act.” Adam nodded slowly, understanding his logic. Just because they probably wouldn’t fight them it was still smarter to steer clear of them if at all possible. After all, there was no telling what they might do. They continued on shortly after, though now Adam had a new question on his mind.
“So I asked a friend about the Horsemen.” Adam began.
“Oh yeah?” Salvatore responded, disinterested.
“Well I learned that the Horseman Famine was basically just a lot of feral ghouls.”
“Your point?” Salvatore said as he looked over at Adam, his eyebrow raised.
“Well I was just thinking, if Ghouls can walk amongst Feral Ghouls without them attacking then why don’t a bunch of ghouls get together, grab some guns, and just start clearing out the hoard?” Salvatore scoffs.
“You don’t understand the way they ignore us.” Salvatore said before shouldering his rifle and grabbing a cigarette to smoke. “As far as the ferals don’t even really notice us, we can walk amongst their number without being attacked. I’ve heard rumors they sometimes ignore super Mutants too but I don’t know how true that is.” He paused to take a long drag of his cigarette before continuing.
“But it's not like they see us as friends. To them, we are just not any different from the air itself. However, if I were to say…” He leveled his rifle and mimed pulling the trigger and made a boom sound. “Then they would notice me and would all come after me.” He said, leveling his rifle again.
“So you can walk among them but can’t get a free chance to kill them?”
“Exactly.” He grinned. “Still has its advantages, of course. I've heard of fellas who led attacks on settlements by leading the feral ghouls themselves, blending into the crowd. And of course ghouls can enter any building full of them without worry, but offing them without being noticed? Not a chance.” Adam nodded.
“I understand.” He said, a bit dejected by the fact that his impromptu plan to handle Famine was shot down in its infancy. Of course it would be hubris to think he would come up with this plan before anyone else, these people were living it, so of course they would have considered that option if it was available to them.
As they began to near the Brewery, Adam stopped Salvatore a good distance away.
“I need to check my gear before we go any further.” He said as he unslung his rifle and his binoculars. “I just added this new scope to my rifle but I haven’t had the time to sight it so I need to do that now before we get engaged in a fire fight. The last thing I want is to be missing my shots for a stupid reason like that.” Salvatore nodded.
‘Fair enough. I figure you want me to be your spotter?’ Salvatore said as he looked at the binoculars Adam was handing him.
“Yes please.”
“Alright, tell me where you are aiming and go for it, i’ll let you know how much to adjust your scope.”
Adam spent more rounds sighting in his new scope than he would have cared to admit, but eventually, after a good bit of patient work he had it tuned to near perfection. Or at least within an acceptable range for himself.
Finally arriving at the brewery the two of them stopped at the exterior of the building. The door was in sight but Adam gravitated towards a small area that was clearly used by the military before the base fell. There was a small sandbag emplacement, a table, chair, two ammo boxes, both opened and empty, and, most importantly, an APC.
Adam couldn’t help but gravitate towards the vehicle touching it gently as he did. It was very weather worn, the tires looked completely flat and it definitely had seen some gun fire at one point or another, judging by the small dents in the hull, all just cosmetic damage really, but it was intact. Adam couldn’t help but imagine getting this thing running again. It would be big and bulky sure, and it would certainly make certain routes impossible to take. But the entire back troop transport area could be converted to store any number of goods, he would no longer be limited to only what he could carry. Not to mention if he found ammo for the guns it would be a potent weapon as well. It was his motorcycle idea but on steroids.
However he knew this was a pipedream. He would need more manpower than just himself and Salvatore, and many more tools than just what he had on hand. Furthermore without looking inside at the engine and console he couldn’t know how much repair was even needed. This also meant he didn’t know what variant it was. If it was a gas guzzling monster then any attempts to get it moving would be moot. Gas was running out in the old world, now, over 200 years later, what were the chances of finding usable fuel? However, as luck would have it for this insane possible plan of his, the military began to phase out combustion engines as the resource wars carried on, after all they were fighting for more gasoline and other resources, it didn’t make much sense to use it to fight the war.
This meant they made two other variants, a fusion powered APC and an Electric Powered APC. There were pros and cons to each. The fusion power was as good as the gasoline fed one but if it was pierced with a sufficiently powerful round the engine would explode violently killing all the inhabitants immediately. The electric variant had a number of downsides, it could not drive as far without recharging, it didn’t have as much torque, and it had extra space taken up for batteries. But the biggest boon of the electric variant? It didn’t explode when it was shot. This made it popular with the troops, Adam was counted among them.
If it just so happened to be in working order on the inside, and it was electric, with some effort he could refit new tires, fix whatever needs tuning, give it a charge and… suddenly would be in possession of a new APC.
Though as much as his mind loved this new idea of his there was one fatal flaw. He didn’t have keys. Normally this would not be a problem, military vehicles like APC don't use keys. Soldiers are notorious for losing things. So instead it simply had a button to start up the battery and engine inside. The keys, in this case, were referring to the multitude of padlocks on every hatch leading into the APC. They were old but sturdy. He could maybe pick the locks but it was a waste of time when his objective was the building right next to him. Therefore getting inside this monstrosity without keys would be a huge time waster. But damn, did it light up his imagination.
“Feeling sentimental?” Salvatore teased.
“What? Oh, no.” Adam said as he took his hand off the APC. “I was just thinking about how nice it would be to have this thing working. Would make my life so much easier.” Salvatore chuckled.
“I bet. But stop dreamin’ we have work to do.”
“Yeah, you are right.” Adam said as his gaze lingered on the APC for a few moments longer before he turned his attention to the door, ready to do the thing he came here for.
Chapter Text
They walked over to the door, which was also surrounded by a sandbag emplacement, though there was no chair, table, or ammo boxes, there were two skeletons, still dressed in military garb with helmets on. Even if Adam wanted to take the helmets and clothing, which he didn’t, they were either rusted or worn away drastically, none of it was usable, but it did set the stage for what they were about to enter into.
“Ready kid?” Salvatore asked as he double checked his gear while they stood outside the door.
"Yeah, I'm ready.” Adam took out his laser pistol, he preferred laser weapons in a pinch and against robots the weaponry might be at least a bit more powerful, couldn’t hurt anyway.
“I’ll take point, you follow closely behind.” Salvatore said as he leaned against the wall next to the door, opposite side to the hinges. “Open the door on 3.” Adam nodded and then watched as Salvatore counted down from 3 opening the door for him at the end.
Salvatore busted into the first room, rifle raised, ready to blast anyone and anything that stood in his way, but the room was a small simple lobby, there was nothing dangerous. Though it was clear there was once something dangerous.
On the roof, right above the front desk was an outlet where something could be installed into the roof, it had a black metallic structure and wires hanging out of it, clearly whatever was up there was destroyed or torn out. But what proved it was dangerous was the bones on the ground. Lots of bones.
Bodies created a nearly foot high wall of decayed skeletons, some in clothing, some not, all stacked at the entrance, like they were blown away. Presumably whatever was on the ceiling had felled them all.
“What the hell…” Salvatore muttered as he carefully stepped over the dead bodies and ensured the room was clear for the moment.
“Olivia had said that the building was attacked by a mob that failed but I didn’t realize that this would be so… dramatic…” Adam said, apprehensive as he too stepped over the bodies.
“Yeah well, quite the welcome party for us, really gives me hope about what else we will see.” Salvatore said darkly.
“Ha ha.” Adam responded, mirthlessly.
Against the back wall, behind the front desk, was a wall of what were once windows, now all destroyed and broken, which overlooked the brewery floor; there were also two doors to their left and right and an opening in the wall which led to a ramp towards the same place the windows looked onto.
Adam walked over to the windows to look down at the brewery floor and then immediately ducked down.
“Salvatore.” He beckoned him over with a hushed tone. Salvatore came over and peeked out the window too before he calmly took a knee to also be below the sightlines of the window.
Both men had seen the robot that was patrolling the floor, but it was unlike any robot Adam had ever seen. It was like if a trashcan had grown tube arms, it was on treads and could not walk, only roll around, it had laser emitters embedded between the prongs of its hands. But none of this was what freaked Adam out. On top of the robot, suspended in a green viscous looking liquid was very clearly a human brain.
“What the fuck is that thing?!” Adam asked Salvatore, mildly freaked out.
“What? You’ve never seen a Robobrain before?” He asked, surprised. “I thought you said you were in the military? They are often seen in military bases.”
“The fuck?” Adam said incredulously. “Yes, I was in the military but I don’t remember anything like those during my deployment!”
“Huh.” Salvatore responded, bemused. “Must’ve happened after you got out.” He shrugged.
“Thats a fucking brain in a jar controlling a robot? How are you so casual about this?” Adam insisted.
“Kid….” Salvatore turned to look Adam in the eyes. “I’ve been alive long enough to see things that would make your skin crawl, sights that would haunt your dreams, things so weird I can’t describe them, a brain on a robot is the least weird thing I’ve seen this year alone.” Adam stared at him for a moment and then sighed deeply bringing his anxiety level back down.
“Okay, then how do we beat it?” Adam asked, calmer now.
“Same as any other robot, fill it with enough holes it will go down.”
“What about if we aim for the brain? Will that take it down?”
“No no, don’t do that.” Salvatore said, sticking a single finger up to stop him. “Why do you think they stuck the brain on the top in a glass jar? It's because they want you to notice it, they want you to focus fire on the easy target on top. But that brain is the most heavily armored part of the entire robot, it's a red herring. If you had enough firepower then yes, taking out the brain is the play but it's not worth trying in normal circumstances.” Salvatore peaked over the window again and Adam did too.
The robobrain was just patrolling the floor of the brewery, clearly, now that he was looking, turned into a makeshift barracks, but everything seemed stripped, even the bedsheets.
“If you want to be tactical about it, aim for the tread links to immobilize it and then aim for the laser emitters to disable its weapon systems, after that it might as well be sitting in a junk heap it can’t do much other than yell at ya.” Adam nodded slowly and took in his words then he looked up at the ceiling of the brewery floor and saw exactly what he feared. Sentry turrets, 2 of them, both in the center of the room pointing opposite ways.
“So we have to deal with a robobrain and 2 sentries?” Adam said mostly to himself as he slipped back down below the window line.
“Looks like it.” Salvatore confirmed. Adam sat there thinking for a moment and then peeked once more. After looking for a bit he found what he was looking for. In the back left corner, opposite the entrance they were at was a room which also had a big window looking onto the floor of the brewery, but Adam could see a computer on a desk, and wires connecting from the desk to the ceiling. It was not much to go on, but that was probably the central control console for the turret systems… if he could just get access to that computer…
“What's on your mind kid?” Salvatore asked, sensing Adam’s thoughts.
“I see a computer in that room over there. If i could just get to it I could shut down those turrets, perhaps any others that might be here too…”
“That’s a hell of a leap of faith kid.”
“It's the best bet, unless you want to get into a standing fight like this.”
“Nope, not particularly.” He grinned.
“Good.” Adam then reached into his bag and pulled out the EMP grenade and a pulse grenade. “Because I’m going to need you to cover me while I run.” Adam grinned now too.
Chapter Text
“Cover you… what the hell are you thinking?” Salvatore asked as Adam handed over the grenades.
“I’m going to run, full speed, towards that room, access the computer, and shut down the turrets. To ensure I make the sprint I want you to throw the EMP grenade at the turrets when the Robobrain passes underneath it, it should stall everything long enough to make it to the room. If not, that's what the pulse grenade is for.”
“That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard you say.” Salvatore scolded.
“Except for a standing fight this is the best plan.”
“Really? Because to me it sounds like the best plan to get yourself killed.”
“Look.” Adam said, turning to face him now. “I'm the faster runner of the two of us, you are the better shot, and I know how to hack computers, it really is the best way to pan out our resources.” Adam said, firmly.
“Yeah but-” Salvatore said before Adam cut him off.
“I wouldn’t trust this to anyone else.” He offered him a warm smile. “Besides… you once said you wouldn’t follow me into a hallway full of turrets just to die.” Adam chuckled.
“Yeah but I was speaking hypothetical.” Salvatore sighed. “Alright. We can do this. But you better not fucking die. I’m good, not ‘get your body out of the middle of that mess’ good.” Adam grinned.
“If I go down, just leave without me. I don’t have any friends or family to mourn me, no one will care.” Adam said with a jovial tone. Salvatore frowned. It looked like he wanted to say something in response to that but held his tongue. One could only guess what it was, perhaps something snarky?
“Alright. You tell me when you are going and I'll make sure to give you the chance to make it to the room.” Adam nodded, let out a big exhale and then stood up walking over to the doorway but staying against the wall to not yet be spotted.
“Alright, on three.” Adam said. Now it was his turn to count down. He steeled himself for the dangerous act he was about to embark on.
“One.” Adam took a runners pose, ready to start at a full sprint.
“Two.” He took a deep breath, wanting to do this all on one long breath.
“Three.” Adam sprinted, full speed, towards the room, not even looking at the robot or turrets that had certainly taken notice of him already.
“Intruder alert, Intruder alert.” The Robobrain began, its highly synthesized yet moderately feminine voice speaking in a cold way as it tracked Adam’s movements. It began to raise its arms to fire but just as it did the EMP grenade went off above its head, and below the turrets on the ceiling.
Adam did not get to see the effect. A normal EMP grenade would have little to no effect, if it was truly modified like Eve said it should hopefully buy him sometime. Judging by the fact no laser blasts followed after him as he sprinted through the main floor, it was safe to say it worked.
Adam began hearing Salvatore firing his rifle, assumedly at the robobrain, since the turrets were largely out of sight from his angle. But still he did not stop running.
Just as he was a few feet away from the door into the room with the computer he heard the sound of the machines turning back on and a laser blast hit him directly in the shoulder. It stung.
But Adam held on as he did not break for a moment from the full sprint as he ran into the room as a second stray laser round hit near his feet, right where he was only a second ago. Now in the room he was safe from the turrets.
In the distance Adam could hear the pulse grenade going off. Assumedly Salvatore was engaged in a firefight. He didn’t have time to dawdle.
He threw the pulse mine he had at the doorway, letting it land on the ground without even checking it and then got to work on the computer.
He was a fast hacker, honestly, if someone needed a professional to do this, Adam was precisely the kind of man they would call. He also was good under pressure, he could keep his cool in most situations. But he was a bit panicked, this was a life or death situation, if he didn’t work fast Salvatore could be fried.
One attempt, two. Adam’s attempts to break the code were taking a bit longer than he had hoped. Third failure. It was now getting desperate, he had one more chance to get the password before the computer locked him out. Of course when he was not pressed for time this was a non issue, there were many workarounds but right now he didn’t have time for them, he needed to get it right on this last try.
Adam could hear the sounds of a gatling gun going off in the distance hitting into the brick building assumedly where Salvatore was. He had no idea what was making that sound, but whatever was making the noise certainly couldn’t be good. He had to move. Fast.
On his last attempt before the lockout he got into the system.
[System Control][Col. Travis Personal Log][Brewery Support Systems]
Adam wasted no time. His only thought was shutting down the turrets. And so he accessed the [System Control]
[Turret 1: offline, Turret 2: functioning, Turret 3: functioning, Turret 4: functioning, Turret 5: functioning][Turret Systems]
There were 5 turrets? No wonder the people who attacked this place in the past couldn’t break in, but once more he didn’t have time to delve into that, he needed to stop this.
Selecting [Turret Systems] Brought him to the familiar menu. All he needed to do now was tab down to [Deactivate System] and the turrets would be off.
However as he was about to do that the pulse mine exploded next to him, taking him out of his concentration as he looked to the door next to him.
The Robobrain was rolling into the doorway, shot up, damaged, and now stunned momentarily due to the pulse mine ravaging its internal systems. It was in bad shape but it still looked more than ready for a fight.
Adam moved quickly, he unsheathed the knife from his holster and planted it right into the shoulder of the robobrain, right where its tube arm met with its cylindrical body, the arm went limp as it seemed to flicker back to life, ready to fight after shrugging off the effects of the pulse mine.
However Adam was not going to give it a chance. As it slowly lifted up its working arm Adam unholstered his 10mm pistol and sidestepped the robobrain, using its treads against it. Then he unloaded the entire clip into the same joint where he stabbed the knife into but on the other arm.
By the time the clip was spent that arm too was quite broken, no longer functioning.
Adam broke from the robobrain, it no longer threatened him, he needed to turn off the turrets, he was uncertain what was going on over with Salvatore, but until he got the turrets off he couldn’t even go and help him if he was in trouble.
Adam ran back to the computer and began to tab down to the [Deactivate} option, however before he could select it he was hit by a heavy force from the side. The force knocked him against the wall hard. It knocked the wind out of him for a moment as he looked up at what happened.
He saw the robobrain, both arms dangling uselessly by its side as it had just finished ramming Adam full speed with its body.
“You could run, I am trying to kill you, after all.” The Robobrain said, in an almost pleasant tone as it seemed to be preparing to ram Adam again, this time to crush him into the wall.
Adam had just enough time to catch a tiny bit of air and roll out of the way as the robobrain went careering into the brick wall.
Adam stood up quickly, he unslung his rifle and then jammed the barrel into the gaps between the tread links. The robobrain tried to back up but found the barrel of the gun to be an effective means to lock one of its treads still. All it succeeded in doing was spinning around but making no distance.
“That wasn’t very nice.” The robobrain said again, still with its almost pleasant voice.
“Shove it!” Adam said as he pulled out his laser pistol and fired at the links on the other track until it literally melted the links causing it to fall off. It didn’t take more than a few seconds. With the robobrain completely immobilized now he ran back over to the computer again and hit the button for system deactivation.
He wasted no more time, leaving his rifle in the tread he gripped his laser pistol in his hand and bolted back down the corridor towards the main foyer where Salvatore hopefully still was.
As he turned the corner up the ramp that led to the main floor he saw what he feared most when he heard the gatling gun go off in the distance. A Sentry Bot.
Sentry Bots were the undisputed heavyweights in the robotic combat market. They were huge, bulky, heavy armed, and mean. Each variant was equipped differently but the arms could be outfitted with rockets, gatling lasers, gatling guns, or a heavy melee hammer. Sometimes a mix of all of them. They were more like turret platforms that could roll around on their tripedal balls on the ground than any other kind of robot. But they were easily the most feared robot the US Military ever put out. Until the Assaultron came along the title was undisputed. After it had it became a topic of discussion, though most would still agree the Sentry bot was scarier.
All this to say, that as he came up that ramp and saw the back of the Sentry bot rolling towards Salvatore who was firing rounds at it as he backed up towards the wall, the scene seemed to play out in slow motion.
Adam acted fast, he pulled out his last pulse grenade from his bag and threw it at the robot as he could hear the sound of the gun spooling up. The explosion that followed stalled the bot’s advance and the gun it was about to murder Salvatore with.
Adam didn't waste this chance, he ran up behind the sentry bot and blasted the back panel where the power core was located over and over with his laser pistol until he could hear see the metal melt and the laser shots beginning to hit the core in the center. Then he began to hear the telltale signs of an overload.
“Salvatore, get out of here!” Adam yelled as he too dove out of the room, back down the ramp he had entered in as the Sentry bot began to meltdown.
A moment later a small shockwave rocked the building followed by sparks of lightning, a tell tale sign it was dead.
Chapter Text
“You alright Salvatore?” Adam called out as he slowly got up from where he was laying on the concrete floor. In his haste to escape the room he had dove face first onto the concrete ramp used to load and offload barrels of beer. He had thrown himself hard enough that he was in some pain, though the urgency of the moment was superseding any damage he might have taken.
“Yeah… I’m fine…” Salvatore said a bit shakily from the other room.
Adam got up and walked back in, seeing the destroyed and smoking husk of the Sentry Bot slumped over upright as it sat in the middle of the room. It was beyond a doubt destroyed, probably irreparably. But that was not his focus, it was Salvatore who was standing up against the wall, lighting a cigarette and nursing a wound on his arm.
“Don’t give me that look kid, it’s not that bad.” He said as he picked out a bullet from inside his arm and tossed in onto the ground. “Nothing a skinny dip in a pool of radioactive waste wont cure.” He grinned, Adam frowned.
Adam then reached into his bag and grabbed one of his stimpacks, throwing it to Salvatore right after. Salvatore caught it in his hand, pausing to look at it for a moment before speaking.
“Kid, I don’t need this, I’ll be fine, save it for yourself.” He then pointed at Adam’s shoulder. “You got hit too, you need it more than I do.” He said, trying to hand it back.
Adam looked down at his shoulder and did see that the laser shot had burned right through the leather and scorched part of his shoulder blade, though the fact he didn’t have a hole in him or far worse damage is thanks to the leather too, so it served its purpose. Still it was not the nicest looking wound. The only reason he hadn’t noticed until now was due to the adrenaline of the fight.
“Keep it.” Adam insisted. “I got one for myself.” He said as he reached into his bag and pulled out the second stimpack and stabbed it near his wound. Instantly he felt relief as the pain of the wound disappeared and the blood immediately began to clot, the singed skin began to slowly repair itself. Truly, stimpacks were like Magic. Who knows how they worked.
Salvatore sighed and shook his head but stuck himself with the stimpack too, the wound on his arm healing shortly after.
“Right as rain.” Salvatore grinned as he flexed his arm a bit, showing off how he could ignore the fact his wound had not yet closed.
“I apologize for putting you in danger.” Adam said.
“Nah, don’t even start, kid.” Salvatore said as he pulled the cigarette out of his mouth to speak. “You hired me, it's my job to do dangerous things, don’t even dare worry about me. It's my job to make sure I live, and my job to make sure you live too.” He said sternly.
“But-” Adam began only to be cut off by Salvaotre .
“No. Drop it.” He said sternly again. Adam opened his mouth to argue but then sighed and looked at the sentry bot.
“Where did this guy even come from? What happened after I ran?”
“Ah, well after I threw the grenade, I started taking some shots at the robobrain while it was stunned, hoping to take it out before it chased you, but then this big guy here came bursting out through that door over there and I was forced to change targets.” He pointed to the left side door, still wide open.
“Luckily this guy was not in great working order when it showed up, otherwise I would be dead.” he grinned. “His rocket arm wasn’t working and there was enough cover to hide behind for his other gun.” Adam nodded slowly.
“Still, surviving a sentry bot is a feat.”
“I know right? Think I’m gonna brag about this all week.” He put on a cocky smile. Adam chuckled and shook his head. He then went over to inspect the Sentry bot.
“Yeah…” Adam muttered aloud to himself as he inspected it. “This guy is toast. I don’t think I could repair him even if I had the desire too.” He said as he then reached inside the Sentry bot and pulled out a few of the components that survived, namely a military circuit board, one of the requests he had gotten.
“You good to explore a little to find this chest, the whole reason we are here?”
“You bet.” Salvatore said as he picked up his shotgun that was on the ground, assumedly dropped during the flight with the Sentry bot.
The two of them spent less than 5 minutes wandering before they found what they were looking for, on the second floor of the building, in what was probably an officer’s barracks, once a handful of office rooms now turned into proper bedrooms, was the chest, a metal footlocker about 3 feet long, Adam would need to carry it home, he couldn’t shove it in his bag.
“You sure this is it?” Salvatore asked suspiciously.
“Yeah…” Adam said while he looked at his pip boy to check the GPS signal, it was definitely the chest in question.
“Well then, I guess we can go back now.” Salvatore said as he walked over to the window on the side of the building that overlooked the outside, still smoking. Adam remained silent for a moment while he considered his options.
“Salvatore…” Adam began slowly.
“Yeah? What?” He asked, turning around again.
“What would you say to staying here for the night?” Salvatore looked at him incredulously.
“What? Why?”
“Because there are 4 turrets in this building that are all deactivated, if you give me some time… I think I can reprogram them all so that we could come and go and they wouldn’t harm us.”
“And… why would you need to do that?” Salvatore asked, stomping out the butt of his cigarette.
“To make a safe house.” Adam offered. “Think about it, if we ever need a place to hide, or somewhere to go temporarily when we are out and about having a place so well defended would be nice no?”
“Well…” Salvatore began, seeing logic in Adam’s plan.
“There are beds here, and who knows what else, we can head back to town tomorrow and that will give me all the time to loot this place properly. I have no idea what I will find.” Salvatore sighed and then shrugged.
“Alright, whatever, if you want to stay out here, who am I to tell you no?” He then walked over to the bed in the room and sat down. “Just don’t expect me to join you in your escapades as you run yourself ragged around here.” Adam chuckled.
“Don’t worry, I got this much.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
Before he did anything Adam had to address the elephant in the room...
“Pardon me, do you mind letting me kill you? If you were to place your hand inside my chassis and grab hold of my wires you would receive electrical voltage enough to die. I would be much obliged if you would kindly do so.” The still active and yet completely immobile Robobrain said as he re-entered the room where he left it.
Adam sighed as he walked over to the robot.
“No, I don’t have any intentions of letting you kill me.”
“Oh. That is a shame. I would ask you kindly reconsider my request.” The Robobrain persisted, still upbeat as always.
Adam was left uncertain what to do. He had an affinity for robots, he liked them to be blunt, but this… thing… was unlike anything he had ever seen before. To be frank it was creepy. However it was perhaps more alive than any other robot he’d ever encountered. And if the military was using them after he had finished his tour they must have been capable support units which would mean it would be useful to keep around. But he wasn’t even sure where to begin even if he did want to keep it around. Reprogramming a robot is one thing, can you even reprogram a brain? It must have been somewhat doable since the US Army did it in the first place, the question was how?
“Have you considered my request?” The Robobrain asked politely, breaking Adam out of his thoughts.
“I have, and the answer remains the same. Request denied.” Adam said back sternly.
“Oh, I see.” The robot said with a tiny bit of dejection. “Then perhaps you would be willing to return me to my designated unit? It seems many of my systems have been damaged. I wish to have them repaired. I also need orders from my Commanding Officer.” Adam raised an eyebrow, an idea forming in his head.
“I am Sergeant Baxter, 33rd Infantry Division, I regret to inform you that your previous unit is dead.” Adam tried saying, figuring that if it was looking for a military command structure, he might be able to insert himself into that role.
“Scanning database.” The robobrain said a moment later as it beeped and whirled inside seeming to check a rolodex of information. “Confirmed, Adam Baxter, Sergeant, 33rd Infantry Division, recipient of the Silver Star, Arctic Cross, Good Conduct Medal, Legion of Merit, and other awards of distinction. You are indeed not lying.” By the sound of it the Robobrain was satisfied and had recognized him as a service member.
“May I ask what you are doing here in the provisional headquarters of the 11th Company, Sergeant?” The Robobrain asked, as if it had not tried to kill Adam not even 10 minutes ago.
“I was… looking for a military compound to link up with other units.”
“I see. I am sorry to say that other than the Colonel, two privates, and a staff sergeant, all other members of the 11 company have already vacated the premises, as such there is nothing we can offer you here.” Adam had to pause when the robobrain began to say who was still here. Was there still somehow survivors that managed to stay alive this whole time? Was there actually still people to meet up with here? Then it hit him. The ranking on the uniforms of those two skeletons outside were both that of privates, which means the robobrain had mistaken the skeletons as active duty personnel… which did not bode well for the other two, in all likelihood they were in a similar state.
“I… see…” Adam said hesitantly as he processed the information. “I will report to the colonel soon, but first I am not familiar with your model of robot, I wish to run diagnostics on you and handle the repairs to your unit myself, how do I access your central processing core?”
“The central processing core of this unit is the brain you can see suspended in the liquid jelly above. However if you are looking for the diagnostic and program controls the back panel will allow you access to my computer core hookups.”
“Wonderful.” Adam said as he began to walk around to the back of the Robobrain to open the panel as instructed.
“Your service record does not indicate you have the proper qualifications to repair this automated unit, I would suggest requesting proper qualified engineers from HQ.”
“I understand, but unfortunately HQ is out of contact, there is no support coming, it's either me or you remain inoperative.” Adam said as he began to dig through the back of the robobrain to see what he was working with. The Robobrain was suspiciously silent for almost an entire minute while Adam rooted around in the back before speaking up.
“I understand. Under the circumstances it seems most prudent you be the one to fix this unit.” Adam chuckled at getting permission.
“Don’t worry, I learned a few things outside the army, fixing robots…” He said as he found what he needed, the access port, plugging his pip-boy in. “Is one of them…” He finished as he activated a shutdown sequence on the Robobrain, the robobrain then slumped over while remaining upright and the light glow coming from the cranial fluid stopped. Adam sighed deeply as he looked at the now deactivated Robobrain. He still had to decide what he was going to do. In fact he still had a lot of work to do even outside of this.
“Who knew you were so decorated.” Salvatore said, chuckling, as he came down the stairway smoking, clearly having heard at least part of the conversation. “Got a lot of medals don’t you?”
“It was war, everybody and their mother got medals.” Adam said dismissively as he walked over to the computer.
“If you could have convinced it you were still in the army you should have just done that instead of breaking it.” Salvatore said with a shrug as he stopped in front of the deactivated Robobrain just looking at it.
“Yeah well, I didn’t exactly have time to have a chat with it while it was trying to kill me earlier.” Adam said as he booted up the computer again and began the long process of reprogramming the Turrets.
The issue with turret programming instead of robots is they lacked the intelligence for Adam’s quick trick to work. There was no way to simply have them recognize a voiced keyword like he had done with other robots in the past. With turrets they only had the ability to see. Which meant he did have to go through the tedious and painful process of identifying himself to the computer so he would not be fired upon. Then do the same for Salvatore. Then, as an added precaution, just to be thorough, he wanted to add a way for him to safely and easily exclude people who he would bring with him in the future here from being shot at too. None of it was particularly hard to program, it was just tedious, the worst kind of programming.
Salvatore stared at the Robobrain for a few more moments before he pulled Adam’s Rifle out from the treads, finding it to be slightly bent, as expected.
“I think you are going to need a new rifle.” He said, handing it over to Adam. Adam looked up from the computer and at the rifle and sighed.
“I guess you are right.” He said putting it down on the table next to him, deciding to worry about it later.
“What are you going to do with this thing anyway? Scrap it for parts? You went through that whole song and dance to convince it you were with the US Army just to deactivate it.”
“I… Don’t know…” Adam admitted softly. Salvatore remained silent for a moment as he quietly smoked in the corner of the room before speaking up again.
“Can you fix it?” Adam paused what he was doing and looked over at Salvatore.
“I mean… probably but…” He paused as he looked at the brain. “Something about it just feels… immoral.”
“Kid.” Salvatore pulled himself off the wall and looked into Adam’s eyes. “Out here, you got to take any advantage you have, you are right, turning this place into a safehouse is a good idea if you got the skills to do it, which you do.” He then gestured to the Robobrain as he continued. “And I promise ya this thing will be helpful in keeping this place safe. Besides, it's just a robot, even if it has a brain.” He shrugs.
“Don’t be so squeamish. Whoever’s brain it was is dead, now it belongs to a robot, that's all there is to it, you can’t be backing down for such reasons, otherwise you will never be able to handle the things out here.” Adam let out a long and heavy sigh. Salvatore was right, he knew that, but he had held himself back due to his old world values. Once more he was reminded he needed to adapt, It was time to throw such concerns away.
“Alright…you are right.” He said after a long pause to get his thoughts in order. “But that just adds more on my list of things to do, so I’m going to be working late into the night.”
“Do what you gotta do, kid.” Salvatore said as he walked up to Adam patted his shoulder and then started to walk past back onto the brewery main floor. “I’m going to do a patrol around the area, make sure there are no more surprises, you need me I’ll be close by.”
Chapter Text
Adam spent literally the entire rest of the day doing everything that he needed to do. First was setting up the turret systems so he could reactivate them without worry, it took him several hours to get this done but he was able to update the FoF targeting systems on the turrets to see Adam and Salvatore as friendly. It's much less complicated on a base, since everyone’s already in the database, a simple update from the intranet was all that was needed, but doing it manually takes a lot longer. Still he managed to get it done after a good chunk of work.
After he had them reactivated and he could say, with 100% certainty that the turrets recognized them as friendly, he looked around for the other two turrets which were still activated in the system. The offline one was obviously the broken thing on the roof at the main entrance, but the other two he had yet to see. He found one in a small loading bay, effectively a backdoor, the space was open so it created a great field of fire for the turret if needed. The last turret he found in the CO’s office. He also found the colonel.
The colonel was dead at his desk, a pistol in his hand, his skull blown open. He had clearly killed himself before the rest of the soldiers had left the building during the siege.
Next he set out scouting the place, looting what he could. Even if this was a safe house he didn’t particularly plan on leaving much here. Just a safe place to sleep was more than enough. Lucky or unlucky for him there was not much to loot.
When the soldiers had left over 200 years ago they were pretty thorough in clearing out the base. There was no ammo, no guns, no medical supplies, there was hardly any amenities either. The only things of note he even found was a spare military uniform, a stealth boy, probably lost in the efforts to leave due to it being hidden behind some crates, and a crap ton of Abraxo cleaner and other cleaning products.
Then there was the Colonel’s office, which was largely untouched. It seemed as if the soldiers didn’t touch anything in the room when they left out of respect for their CO, though this was just speculation. Maybe they were afraid of ghosts, who could say for certain?
The Colonel’s office had a few guns, aside from the pistol in the skeleton’s hand, a military helmet, some ammo, some MRE’s stored in a military crate, as well as a few odds and ends. But most importantly he found keys.
Considering there were no locked doors he had found in this entire building he could only conclude it was keys to the padlocks on the APC. The mystery surrounding what happened on the final days at this place only grew. Why did they not take the APC with them? Was a mob swarming? Were they under attack? Is the APC broken? Too many questions, not enough answers. Of course with one exception. The logs.
Returning to the computer terminal again he opened the Col Travis logs on the computer and opened them.
[Log entry 1: I took what was left of my men and held them up here, in this brewery, after the bombs fell. It's hardly a military base but it will suffice for our needs. I’ve asked for OPSEC on all our activities from this time forward. If the bombs are falling then that means the Chinese invasions could be starting, if the command structure has broken down we might be isolated. From this point forward I will assume as though we are one of the last bastions of the US Army remaining. Until the time I am proven otherwise we will remain on a war footing. I just hope my men’s morale will hold.]
[Log Entry 2: I have confirmed that our calls to HQ have gone unanswered. We have tried for the past few weeks and got no response. It is safe to assume that we are all that remains. A horrifying thought.]
[Log Entry 3: I sent out a patrol today. We are low on radiation supplies but I spared what we could, we needed information about the surrounding landscape, the atomic rain has stopped and the weather patterns have shifted, we need to know what remains of Chicago. Or more importantly, who remains.]
[Log Entry 4: We have confirmed the worst, the city's in ruins, any sort of governmental structure has broken down, my men were even fired at while they were on patrol, they kept calm under fire though, nothing but a minor injury.]
[Log Entry 5: Civies have begun to pour out of the woodworks, they have found our location, asking for protection and support. My heart hurts but I can not agree to their requests, our supplies are stretched thin as it is, we can not handle dead weight at this time, especially if we are to engage with Chinese forces in the future.]
[Log Entry 6: They are no longer begging, they are demanding. And they are no longer poor whelps suffering from the effects of the war, they are an angry mob, armed and dangerous. We are all fellow Americans but… how quickly we turn on each other.]
[Log Entry 7: One of my men accidentally shot one of the people in the mob outside, despite my explicit orders for non engagement. I have put them on probation but I doubt it will matter. The situation is getting worse and I need every man I got at the moment, I can’t afford to bench anyone.]
[Log Entry 8: Today was bad, the worst it has ever been… they… came in like a wave… trying to breach through the front door… if it wasn't for the turret systems and our sentry bot… I'm sorry. Ignore this log. I apologize. This log entry shall remain off the record. As far as high command is concerned this event never happened. Even if I shall never forget.]
[Log Entry 9: They have sieged us in, our food supplies are dwindling, we have only a few weeks left before we would need to resort to cannibalism. The mob has grown smarter, taken up positions further away, and they are waiting us out. This will not end peacefully. I fear the worst has yet to come.]
[Log Entry 10: Let the record show this shall be my final log entry as commander of these men. Today I have issued my final order, I have told Captain Roderick to use any means necessary to break free of the blockade. His orders are to fire at will and get as many men as he can to leave this horrid place. I absolve him of the crimes he is about to commit. As his superior office I take full responsibility for the crimes. May God judge me. All I can hope is that most of them make it out. I just wish more of my men had survived. To think a year ago I was commanding a division, now, only a part of a company remains. May god bless their souls and watch over them. God Bless America.]
Adam took a minute to absorb the information. It was such a sad tale, on both sides. There was no victor, no right and wrong, just people trying to survive. A common story. He sighed and turned off the computer. He had one more he had to do now.
Ten minutes later Adam had gathered the body of the two privates, the Colonel, and the other soldier the Robobrain had mentioned and lined them up respectfully side by side in the loading bay of the brewery. He laid a sheet over each of them, of which there were so few to grab. A poor excuse for a burial but at least now he could send them off with honors. Right or wrong they were men who served America, and that resonated with him.
He stood there, saluting them for their bravery and sacrifice for a few minutes while Salvatore watched on from the other side of the room, not saying a word.
After the burial was done Adam noticed some mines buried outside near the entrance to the loading bay. It seems it was used to deter people from sneaking in the back. Careful effort expended he had managed to collect them all. All but 1 were still usable. So he added them to his bag after carefully defusing them for now.
He had one last task he had to do before he slept. The one he had put off till last. Fix the Robobrain.
Chapter Text
“Have you completed my repairs?” The Robobrain asked as Adam booted it back up.
“No.” Adam said as he plugged his pip-boy into the hookups in the back of the robot.
“Then may I ask why I have been reactivated?” It asked, still almost pleasant in its tone.
“Because I want to check your programming first, I need to make sure you haven't had any degradation in your integrated neural pathways.” He said as he began to tinker around inside the coding. “It's my first time working on a model like yours so familiarizing myself with you needs to come first.”
“I understand.” It responded as it kept still for Adam. “May I ask if you have reported to the colonel yet?”
“... yes.” Adam said hesitantly, not exactly sure how to respond to this line of questioning, but after a moment to get his thoughts in order he continued. “I spoke to the colonel, he has relinquished the command of the remains of the unit to me, the highest ranking NCO here. That includes you.”
“It will be a pleasure to work for you sir!” It responded happily. “Though I am sad to no longer be under the Colonel’s charge, he has not given me a single order for almost 210 years, perhaps he has grown tired of me.”
“I do not believe that is the case...” Adam said gently, still working to understand how this code was even set out, it was much different than other robots. So many of the personality subroutines were just straight up missing and much of the command routines were completely relegated to the brain. The only thing that truly was in the programming was instructions on how to function as well as the rules the unit must follow, such as listening to the orders of its superior officer, or not to fire on friendly soldiers. But a lot of faith was being placed in the human brain to function independently. He couldn’t tell if this was foolhardy or genius, but considering it had not been able to tell the soldiers remaining in the brewery had been dead for over 200 years he suspected the former. It did not fill him with confidence. But as Salvatore said, any advantage was one worth taking. He was able to converse with it and convince it to follow his orders, perhaps that would be enough to trust. However, just in case he would add some extra code to ensure that under no circumstance would it go rogue. A verbal shutdown switch could be installed just in case as well as a few other system checks to keep it all tidy. Last thing he wanted was for the robobrain to go rogue.
“He told me that you served with distinction.” Adam added after a few moments to focus on his work. “He regrets that he cannot award you with a medal at this time however your service to the United States of America has been noticed and appreciated.”
“That fills me with much joy!” It chimes happily. “I am glad to have made my commanding officer happy!” Adam chuckled a bit, finding the way it spoke and the way it interacted with the world almost endearing. If it wasn't a brain in a jar on a robot he might even call it cute.
“However, the colonel has regrettably passed away now.” Adam continued deciding to finally clear up the misunderstanding that had continued for 200 years. “As such I have given him an impromptu burial along with all the other soldiers of your unit who… stayed behind.” He said, choosing his words carefully.
“That is sad. I had thought we were all great friends. But I suppose humans do die eventually, don’t they?”
“Yeah… that’s right…” Adam said slowly as he finished the coding, which was far simpler than he expected due to most of the important stuff being hardwired from the human brain. He unhooked himself from the robot and took a step back.
“I'm going to begin repairs on you now, I can not say with certainty that you will be back to full condition but I promise to do the absolute best I can with the tools I have on hand. Though I may ask for some information on your hardware as I work to figure out how best to repair you.”
“No problem sir, it would be my pleasure to assist you in your work!” Adam began to repair the robot, effectively undoing all the damage he had done earlier, it was the ultimate irony, like breaking a sandcastle someone made only to realize you yourself now had to rebuild it. Regardless of the irony of the situation, there truly was no way to avoid the damage he had dealt, it was inevitable given the situation. Though, perhaps other robobrains might be amenable to dialogue if he were to mention his rank in the military. Though it would still be a huge risk to walk up to a rogue robot and try to talk, so perhaps airing on the safe side was the better choice anyway.
Regardless, with the robobrain’s help he managed to fix it up to enough of a degree it could be called ‘functional’ again. The treads were both fixed to satisfaction, the left arm, the one he had stabbed, was capable of moving and firing its laser emitter again, but the right arm was faulty. He had done too much damage with his 10mm for him to be able to fix the arm completely with just the tools on hand. It could be fixed, that was the good news, but in the meantime the right arm would be locked to certain positions and could not charge up the laser emitter nearly as fast. But it worked enough to be usable, that much was a blessing.
“Thank you for fixing me sir.” The robobrain said happily as it spun in circles after it had finished its last test.
“No problem, I’m happy I was able to repair you.” Adam smiled softly.
“I am sorry we got off to a rocky start, but I do hope we manage to bloom our friendship further from this point forward, sir. I look forward to receiving your orders!” Adam chuckled softly.
“Well, for the moment, my only standing order is to continue doing what you have been doing for the past 200 years, protect this building from any unwanted intruders. I will be designating this place as a safe house. There may come a time when I bring people other than myself and my companion that walked by a few times. If someone comes with me they are to be considered friendly until proven otherwise. Or if they say the passcode…” Adam paused a moment to think through some random passcode that could work well. “American Revenger.” Adam finished after a few moments to consider, choosing a bad R-Rated action movie sequel he had seen back in the day. But it was the first thing that came to mind and there was no way in hell anyone would ever think to randomly name drop it. If people even remembered the movie.
“I understand!” It chimed happily. “I have received my orders and will resume my patrols!”
“Ah, one other thing.” Adam said before the robobrain rolled away.
‘Yes? What is it sir?”
“The sentry bot did not survive the encounter, as such it is merely a husk sitting in the main lobby. As an additional task I would like you to disassemble the sentry bot for future processing.”
“Oh, I am sad to hear that Mr. Sentry has died, he has been my most talkative friend for the past 200 years, but I shall carry out my orders faithfully sir.” The robobrain did a military salute and then finally rolled out of the room heading to do patrols as well as likely begin the slow process of taking the sentry bot apart. If Adam was lucky, enough of the internals survived for it to be salvageable but he had no way of knowing and doing it by hand would take too long.
Adam checked his pip-boy clock and saw that it was already past midnight. He had spent literally all day from the moment he got here making this place usable again. It was worth it, but now that he had finished he had realized how dreadfully exhausted he was. He needed to sleep, tomorrow they were heading back to the city and he could finally get better armor and, more importantly, prepare to make the trek to Second Life HQ, the primary reason he went to Midway in the first place. He was starting to feel impatient, but he was keeping it in, for now.
“You done tinkering kid?” Salvatore said, as he sat on one of the officer’s beds on the second floor while Adam came up the stairs looking beat.
“Yeah, finally.” Salvatore chuckled.
“Well luckily we don’t have a deadline, this place is safe and you found those MREs. We don't need to rush out the door tomorrow so sleep in if you gotta.” He grinned.
“Good.” Adam said as he threw himself onto a different bed. “Goodnight Salvatore.” Adam said, his face buried into the pillow of the bed. Salvatore let off a soft single chuckle as he put out his cigarette in an ashtray.
“Goodnight, kid.”
Chapter Text
The next day Adam woke up later than normal, predictably. Salvatore was already up and doing tasks and he found the robobrain diligently disassembling the sentry bot, in a far greater and more efficient fashion than he would have assumed it was capable of. It seemed like these robobrains were more dexterous than he first thought, an interesting find.
However, after a shared meal of MREs with Salvatore, the two decided it was time to leave.
“Alright, we are heading out.” Adam said to the robobrain as he got to the door.
“Yes sir, I hope your travels are safe and pleasurable!” The robobrain chimes happily. Adam is about to turn to leave but he stops himself.
“Before I go I want to ask… Do you have a name?” It was entirely possible that it didn’t, most robots didn’t have names, unless they were domestic Mr. Handys, which people like to name because a lot of them were treated like family. But this was a military robot, and clearly lacked the level of sentience that Eve had so at this point it was just polite to ask.
“No sir, I do not.” It responded. “My unit designation is R-A156” Adam paused, there was no reason but the designation deemed so… impersonal, and if he was going to keep this thing around, if only just as a safehouse protector, then it deserved a name right? He wasn't the US Army.
“Then do you mind if i give you one?” Adam asked, curiously.
“My own name?!” The robobrain responded with a surprised and happy tune. “I can have my own name sir?!” If it could smile it certainly was right now. Adam nodded and paused for a moment to think.
“Alright, then… R-A1… Ray… Rae? Rae.” Adam said, as he sounded out his reasoning settling on an answer. The robotic voice of the robobrain made it sound feminine but the name Rae was feminine leaning but gender neutral enough that it didn’t matter what gender the robot identified as… if it even did.
“Rae!” It responded happily. “Thank you for the name sir! This unit, Rae, will continue to serve you to the best of my abilities!” Adam chuckled softly and smiled.
“Alright, we are leaving, you remember what to do if someone comes and gives you the password?”
“Yes sir! I am to confirm they are sent by you and then temporarily deactivate the turret systems to allow them to come safely inside where they will remain until you come to collect them!”
“Wonderful, I leave this place in your capable hands, Rae.”
“Thank you sir!” Adam then turned around and started to walk out with Salvatore. Once they were outside Salvatore turned to Adam.
“Getting chummy with the robobrain? And here just yesterday you were freaked out by it.” He chuckled.
“Yeah well, it grew on me, what can I say?” Adam shrugged and Salvatore grinned.
Adam walked them over to the APC and put down the chest, the whole reason he came here in the first place, while he took out the keys he took from the CO’s office. “Time to see if these will work.”He said as he unlocked the padlock sealing the top hatch leading into the front compartment and then went inside.
The air inside was stale, two centuries of being locked would do that to any enclosed space, but luckily the fresh air from outside was already making it easier to breathe. It was dusty, dirty, and clearly disused for the 2 centuries it had sat idle but… it looked to be in fine shape.
This was too good to be true, Adam had to look deeper, so he began to pull off panels and check the internals, nothing too invasive, just making sure the wiring was still all good. It was. Then he checked the engine… It was a battery engine! Just as he had hoped! This was… honestly… a godsend.
This isn't to say that it was in perfect working order. The batteries had been dead for so long that it's possible that no charge could even be held by them anymore, so they might need to be replaced. The gauges could all be incorrectly calibrated and no longer reading the information right, and then of course the tires which were flat beyond repair. In addition to all of this there were any number of other, unforeseen issues that could pop up that he wasn't even aware of yet. A military APC was not an uncomplicated piece of hardware but… it might just be possible…
Adam popped back out of the APC in a slight daze.
“So? How was it in there?” Salvatore asked as Adam stood atop the vehicle and relocked the Padlock, ensuring he would be the only one to be able to get inside.
“The batteries are dead, possibly beyond repair, the tires need to be swapped out, and there's no telling how many other issues there might be but…” He hopped down off the top of the APC and then turned to look. “It can work.” Salvatore burst out laughing at this.
“Well hot damn, who would’ve thought.” He grinded and gently pounded his fist against the side of the vehicle. “A monster like this? I'd say that would be worth the effort if it can be done.”
“Only thing better would be a Vertibird.” Adam chuckled.
“I ain’t seen one of those in a long time.”
“I don’t even know how to fly them so it's a moot point.” Adam laughed, picked up the chest again and adjusted his pack.
“I’d say this was a successful adventure, let's head back to Midway, I'm sure you want to see Claire~” Salvatore’s grin was wiped off his face as he scowled at Adam.
“Don’t you fucking start now.” Adam shot him an impish grin and then started to lead the way back.
The trip back to Midway was uneventful, aside from a battle they encountered between the followers of War and the Cultists of Pestilence. The fight was violent but completely isolated to just those groups, even as Adam and Salvatore accidentally wandered into the area both groups did not involve either of them in their struggle, not a stray bullet or word was thrown their way, despite having been definitely spotted.
Despite the clear actions to keep them uninvolved Adam and Salvatore took a large detour to avoid getting entangled into that mess at all costs. The route change took extra time but nothing more.
Arriving back at town, after hearing the same speech from the front gate guards… again, he went into the city, heading right to Olivia’s store. Upon arriving she was speechless.
“I… I had assumed that you were…” She said softly, as she very slowly approached Adam.
“Dead?” He guessed and flashed a grin. “Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” He smiled. She walked over, not saying a word as she looked down at the chest Adam was carrying.
“Is this it?” She asked softly.
“Yes, ma’am. The item you requested.” He handed it over to her and she took it gently into her arms. Her expression was one of shock, wonder, and grief. She took the chest over to her counter and placed it down, then she reached into her shirt and pulled out a rope necklace with a key at the end of it. The key perfectly fit into the lock from the chest.
Adam was giving her a respectful distance, understanding that, somehow, this was an emotional moment for her, but he was close enough to see a little bit of what was in the box as she opened it.
Inside, from what he could see was a letter, a dog tag, a badly faded photograph, a bible, and a chinese stealth suit. Adam’s eyes widened as he noticed the suit but kept his mouth shut.
Olivia gingerly took out the dog tag and held it close to her heart, hugging it in her hand, all while not saying a word. After a few moments to stand like that she gingerly put it back into the box and relocked it. She let out a big sigh as she seemed to recollect herself before turning around to look at Adam again.
“Thank you.” She said with a warm, deeply grateful smile.
Chapter Text
“Well…” Olivia said, pausing for a moment to recompose herself. “You have certainly blown my expectations out of the water. To think our meeting would be so fortuitous. I never would have guessed.” She smiled gently. Adam returned the smile.
“I’m happy to help.” Adam paused. “I am curious about what's the story with you and the chest though.” Adam asked slowly.
“I'm sure you are, but that much is for me and me alone to know.” She grinned softly. Adam chuckled a bit.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, you didn’t do this just for my satisfaction, we had a deal so, let's have it.” She smiled and then got the Combat armor off the stand and laid it down on her counter. “This now belongs to you. 4 thousand caps, debt to be paid at a later date, with a 10% interest fee on whatever you don’t pay off now. Sound like a deal?” Adam smiled.
“Yes, that does, but truthfully I did find some things out at the location you gave us. Hence the extra backpack I'm wearing.” Adam said, pointing to Salvatore’s backpack he had strapped to his front again, almost exclusively filled with cleaning supplies, since that was all he found in bulk. She laughed.
“Oh yeah? I thought that was a fashion statement.” She smiled.
“No it is not.” Adam smiled back. “But I do have a lot of stuff to offload to various vendors, and some requests to fill, so let me make the sales and then I'll come back to you when that’s all sorted so I know what my finances are like by then.” She nodded.
“Alright, that sounds good.” She took the combat armor and stashed it away, putting it out of sight since it would belong to Adam later.
“Oh yes.” Adam took off the leather armor pieces she had given him before he left. “These belong to you. I’m sorry but one of the shoulder pieces took a laser blast directly so it is quite badly damaged.” She took a moment to examine the shoulder piece in question and then chuckled.
“Armor’s job is to keep you alive, if it took a blast that just means it was doing its job.” She tossed the armor aside. “I think it was a worthwhile investment.”
“I’m glad you see it that way. Give me some time, I'll be back a bit later.” Adam said as he left to begin selling to the various vendors in town. He missed the days when he could sell everything to Chuck but Chuck only had so much money and there was less to buy in Naper. In Midway he could theoretically make more money as well as acquire anything he needed though it did mean a lot of walking around to offload his goods at the correct vendor. A weapons merchant, after all, would not buy his bulk supply of cleaning supplies. But these thoughts were pointless, he had work to do. So he began his selling venture.
He visited several merchants, the merchant he was introduced to in ghoul town, to offload a selection of things to him, since, like he said last time, they needed an influx of goods. He was very interested in buying a good bulk of cleaning supplies, which was good for Adam. That was 252 caps from him. Then he went to two of the Midway folks who had requests of him. He got 120 caps from them collectively, 70 for the military circuit board, and 50 for the high-spec sensor module. Then he went to Jay to offload his few guns, and Jay gave him another 200 caps. He didn’t have many guns after all. Lastly he went to Lune to offload practically everything else he had collected, she gave him 357 for the lot.
Adam had kept a few of the things he had bought. For one he kept the stealth boy, it was bulky but it was not too large and there was no reason to let go of such a good tool, after all being able to turn invisible with the turn of a knob for a few minutes is an incredibly useful tool. He also kept the military uniforms and helmet. One military uniform was left at the safe house and the other one and the helmet was kept on his person. Afterall he didn’t yet have a change of clothing, having at least a second outfit would be good. The helmet could be a good backup if his ever broke. However with all of this new gear, in addition to his books, bobbleheads, and random odds and ends he kept, his bag was getting too full even before he set out to scavenge. He needed a place to keep his stuff, not a rented room but something more. Aside from buying a house in Midway the next best option was a storage unit, luckily he knew where to find one.
Taking a detour through a different section of the mall to reach the area where household goods and camping supplies were sold he came across the largest boutique space, completely converted into a storage unit zone.
The interaction with the front desk was short, and uninteresting, but for a fee of 100 caps he was able to rent a closet sized space for a month. This was more than sufficient. He offloaded all of his unneeded things from his backpack into the closet and then locked it behind him. Next was a room. He wanted to buy the armor from Olivia but he needed to make sure his expenses were covered. This was like buying a car, you had to consider how much you had left over before you put a down payment on the purchase. This was no different.
This too was incredibly easy. The Layover was, thankfully, not booked this time like The Delta was, and he got a room for two nights for 250 caps. He had decided not to get the layover package this time as he still had two washer drier coins and the meal vouchers weren’t really worth it. The soaps were nice but he still had some left over and not worth the package price. At the very least he didn’t need it for the next two days.
Finally, with his gear dropped off in his room, a quick shower to freshen up, he went back out to head to Olivia to make the purchase. By now, after all his sales and purchases he had exactly 2723 caps. Give or take a few caps he either miscounted or overlooked. He needed a very comfortable buffer to live off of, he didn’t want to be without any money to live on but the less he paid the higher the interest. So, by the time he had arrived at Olivia’s shop he had arrived at his answer.
“2000 caps downpayment.” He said putting the two thousand caps in slips onto her counter with a smile. Olivia nodded and then took the armor back out from the chest she had stored it in and placed it on the counter.
“2000 caps it is then.” She said as she took the slips and put it into her cash register. “Which means you will owe me 2200 caps.” She then paused as she handed over the armor.
“I’m curious though. What happened at the place I sent you? I thought it was once a military base? Did you bring back no armor to sell to me? I figured there would be something.” Adam let out a small laugh.
“It was picked clean, the soldiers who lived there before had taken everything with them when they left… except for cleaning supplies.” He rolled his eyes. “So other than two military uniforms and one helmet I found nothing much worthwhile. I'm keeping those things though just in case.” She nodded.
“And… what happened there?” She asked hesitantly. “I mean to you…”
“Ah.” Adam said, pausing for a moment to think. “Um.. well…” He paused a second time. “Do you have a minute for a story?”
“Sure. I got plenty of time.” She smiled.
“Well then let's start at the beginning…”
Chapter Text
After Adam had given Olivia a satisfactory story, even going so far as to wow her with the details, since Adam turned a dire crisis into an opportunity by making the place into a safe house, something he made Olivia swear to keep secret, he left, 2000 caps lighter. He still owed Olivia Frost 2200 caps but he had his armor, finally. He no longer needed to be nearly as afraid about getting shot when he went out.
He went back to his room in The Layover and tried it on, it fit well. Olivia had adjusted the size for him while he was gone but it was more or less perfectly fitted anyway. Wearing armor like this again felt… right. It had been a long time but he remembered it all as soon as he put the armor on. He even caught himself adjusting the straps as if he was about to head out on a sortie. He took off the clothes and then decided to take it easy the rest of the day.
He took off his vault suit and put on the bathrobe from the bathroom and then headed to the washer drier room. In there he washed his vault suit, finally, and his new military uniform. While he waited he spent some time reading and playing more Automotron.
After his clothes were sufficiently clean he swapped back into his Vault suit again and then went to grab dinner. Dinner today was Italian, not nearly as good as the food pre-war but more than enough for him to feel satisfied with his purchase. Dinner was 42 caps.
Finally, with the night nearing he had to decide how best to spend the rest of his night. He was considering looking into other venues to spend his evening, but considering how helpful the EMP grenade Eve gave him actually was, he at least owed it to her to show he was still alive. Maybe tomorrow he could find something else to do. But for now he was going to say hello to his assaultron friend.
“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes~” She said as Adam walked in after he had left his gun at the door, the act informing him The Guild boss was in today. It also seemed that the singer was back tonight, perhaps the singer only sang on days the boss was in? Or perhaps it was a coincidence, in either case it was a welcome addition.
“Your head sensors or your eye laser?” Adam grinned as he sat down at the bar.
“Whichever catches your attention~” She said with a flirty tone before she walked over to where Adam was sitting, standing on the other side of the bar. “What can I get you?”
“White wine tonight. Maybe some nuts too if you got them.”
“Of course.” She said as she began to prepare the request for Adam. “So how did your adventure go?”
“Quite well.” Adam chuckled softly. “Actually the reason I'm here tonight is to thank you for your help.” He said warmly. “When I got there it was more problematic than I had originally assumed it would be, your EMP gave me the opportunity I needed to turn the situation around. In many ways it turned out to be a huge boon.”
“I'm quite happy my old tinker toy was of help to you~” She said as she turned around with a small bowl of mixed nuts and a glass of wine for Adam, placing them in front of him. “Honestly I’m jealous, I miss my days exploring. Not that I didn’t already do a lot of it. But some days tending bar can be a bit droll, you know?”
“Then why are you still doing it? Tending bar I mean. Why not become a Scaver again?”
“Truthfully I’ve been thinking about it a lot more recently.” She grabs a glass, rinses it off and then spins her hand servo fast enough to get all the liquid into the sink, placing it down on a drying mat a moment later. “The change of pace has been nice here, and not forcing repairs on myself after every encounter has been nice too. But I miss the days of excitement, being on the hunt, seeing new places and people. But in all honesty what I miss is the thrill of combat.” She turned to Adam fully now.
“I may be my own woman, but I can’t ignore my programming. I live for the fight. So sometimes I wish I had more to live for than to tend bar.” Adam nodded understandingly.
“I understand, honestly.” He said as he sipped at the wine. “Truthfully I think I love it too, the thrill of throwing myself into danger.” Eve lets off an amused hum.
“A fellow battle junkie?”
“A fact I never knew about myself. And I served in the army, so it's news to me.” He grinned.
“So what is next on my fellow adrenaline seeker’s docket?” Adam paused, his expression faltering as he slowly put down his glass and then sighed.
“It's time…” Adam said slowly. “It's finally time to hopefully get the answers I am looking for.”
“Oh?” Eve leaned in. “Is this that Second Life thing you were telling me about last time?”
“Yes.” Adam said seriously. “I’ve put it off long enough, made preparations, have good armor, an escort, plenty of ammo, I may need to stock up a bit more on stimpacks but I’m ready to go.” He said with a resolute tone, he lifted up his hand a bit and saw it was shaking. “But I’m nervous. I don’t even know why. I have this drive to get there but also a sinking feeling in my gut. I don’t know what's going on.” He put his hand down and sighed.
“All I know is I need to get there, and to be honest I have half a mind to grab my things and go right now, but I know that's a terrible plan, I want to give myself and my partner a day to relax, but I’m not sure I will be able to sit still tomorrow.” Eve listened patiently to Adam’s words before speaking again, softly and understandingly now.
“Those nerves, they are normal.” She places a gentle claw on top of Adam’s hand. “You don’t need to force yourself to feel calm, nor do you need to act on your impulses. Just don’t forget to live true to yourself.” She pulled her claw back. “If you are nervous, take action so you won't be. If you are feeling anxious, steel yourself for what is to come. If you are excited, remember the challenges that you will face. You don’t need to keep a cool head, but live the way that will give you the best enjoyment, don’t be a slave to your own programming.” She said, in an almost sagely way. Adam raised an eyebrow, taking in her words but choosing to tease instead.
“I’m human, Eve. I don’t have any programming.” He chuckled.
“Oh sure you do honey. Your parents programmed you from the time you were a child, then your school, your teachers, your society, your emotions, your instincts, you have far more programming than even I do.” She let off a soft laugh. “No one is free from their programming, learning to overcome it and be the person you want to be is the tricky part.” Adam sat in silence for a few moments before he sighed and downed the entire glass of wine.
“Another please.” He smiled at her.
“Coming right up.”
Chapter Text
48 caps later Adam left the bar and headed back to the Layover to sleep. Eve’s words had helped him a bit, mostly just talking to someone about this weird anxiety he was feeling had helped, but he still had trouble sleeping. Once more he wanted to jump out of bed and run to Second Life but he had to hold himself back. He couldn’t rush it. He needed to give both himself and Salvatore the day off. So eventually sleep found him, though not easily.
The next day he took it as slow as he could, staying in bed, listening to Ray’s radio station for a while and taking the time to finally finish his book. Then he went to eat. Breakfast today was a nice 45 cap affair, a bit pricier than usual but he splurged a bit.
Then he went to the doctor’s office to buy stimpacks from her, she did not give a discount and charged 50 for each, 100 caps total. He also learned, when he stopped in to see her again, that Deccanus had been discharged, he was still wounded but not badly enough to keep him under observation, so she let him go. Where he went was a mystery but Adam was just glad he was okay. After that he headed back to Ghoul Town.
“I think it's time, tomorrow.” Adam said as he approached Salvatore who was outside the Inn smoking, leaning against the wall.
“Time for what?” Salvatore said, not even surprised by Adam’s sudden appearance.
“Second Life. The whole reason I came to Midway.” Salvatore took a long drag of his cigarette before putting it out.
“You sure you ain’t rushing things, kid? You have been going out every other day, throwing yourself into one dangerous scenario after another. I can keep up. But I’m just making sure you ain't running yourself ragged.”
“I appreciate the concern” Adam said as he let out a soft sigh and then leaned against the building. “But I don't plan on waiting any longer. I came here for a reason and despite all the other things I have done I don’t think I can put it off any longer.” Salvatore nodded solemnly.
“Well that's fine then.” He got off the wall and then turned to look at Adam. “Just making sure.” He grinned.
Adam left shortly after that heading back into the city, he had one last stop to make before he could say he was prepared for tomorrow.
“Well how can I help you today Adam?” Jay asked as Adam walked into his show holding his badly bent rifle that he had stuck in the treads of the yet-to-be-named Rae so as to prevent them from killing him.
“I was wondering if you could fix this.” Adam said skeptically as he put the rifle down on the table. He could have fixed it himself but unless he had a new barrel there was nothing he could do. Jay might have another answer that he overlooked though.
“Wow.” Jay said, almost impressed as he picked up the rifle and examined the bent barrel turned almost 30 degrees. “Hell of a thing you did. What did you do? Use it to pry open a door?”
“No, I used it to stop a robobrain in its tracks by shoving the barrel into the tread links.” Adam said matter-of-factly.
“Well that’d do it.” Jay chuckled. “The short answer you are looking for is yes, I can fix it.” Jay said as he put the gun back down. Adam was surprised.
“You can?”
“Yes. But i’ll be honest with you, repairs would be more expensive than just buying a new barrel and installing that. Or hell…” He looked at the rifle again. “The woodgrain has begun to crack, you might be just better off buying a new rifle at this rate. Unless you got a special attachment to this one there's not much worth in trying to fix it up.” Adam sighed and nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, that was my thinking too. I was just hoping you had another option for me.” He looked at the wall of weapons. “I guess I need to buy a new one then, how much is it going to cost me?”
“To get the same kind you’d need to shell out 200 caps, it will be without any modifications though, those will cost extra. To get an upgrade like that one over there...” He said pointing to a semi-automatic rifle. “Will cost quite a bit more.” Adam paused to consider and then shook his head.
“Maybe in the future I will redo my kit but now isn't the time. The 308 round is incredibly powerful and even if the rifle is slow it's perfect for the job I need it for. I’d rather use the pistols at close range if it came down to it.” Jay nodded in understanding.
“Yup, that makes sense to me.” He then looked at the broken rifle again. “I’ll tell you what, for you, i’ll cut down the price on the rifle to 150 and then buy this gun from you for 25. Sounds good?”
“As long as I can keep the scope.” Adam countered. Jay grinned.
“Sure thing, as much as I’d like it back I doubt you’d be fine selling it back to me for so cheap.”
“Give me a few minutes to detach the scope and run through my inventory to find you a replacement.” Jay then took Adam’s rifle and headed into the back while Adam pursued the shop. There were new weapons here that there weren't a few days ago. He had a ripper, a chainsaw knife which was used to great effect in the war. He also had a tri barrel laser rifle, which was an interesting modification that Adam had never seen before. He preferred regular laser rifles though. Maybe he could get one, one day…
“Alright, here you go.” Jay said, emerging from the backroom holding the rifle and offering it to Adam. “And here is the scope, I figured you’d want to do it yourself again.”
“Yeah, shame there isn't a range to sight it in on.” Adam said offhandedly as he placed down 125 caps for Jay to take.
“Oh, there is.” Jay said, surprised Adam didn’t know.
“There is?”
“Yeah, it's down on the east End, there's a fee to get in the door and you have to use your own ammo but you can fire as long as you want once you are inside. I use it all the time to test my weapons before I sell them.”
“Huh…” Adam said a moment of realization was washing over him. “Well then… I guess I can go do that instead of firing outside the walls like last time.” Jay grinned.
“Might help.” He chuckled.
“Well thanks for everything Jay, hopefully I will see you again soon.”
“You heading out again?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Adam said as he paused and turned to turn back and look at Jay again. “I'm heading to my old workplace, Second Life, it might have some answers I have been looking for,” Jay nods.
“Well I can’t say I know where that is, but just stay safe out there, Adam.” Adam chuckled softly and turned to walk out as he raised a hand to him.
“Will do, Jay. Will do.”
Chapter Text
Today was the day. He had spent the previous day practically jumping out of his skin, ready to find the answers to the questions he had since the moment he had awoken in the vault.
He had his armor, he had medical supplies, he had sighted his weapons at the range for a small fee of 10 caps, he had eaten breakfast for 35, and he had his route planned. There was nothing left to do but head out.
He walked out of Midway and took a deep breath. Today was the day. He was sure of that above all else.
“Nice armor. Ready kid?” Salvatore asked as he saw Adam walk up, a determined and eager look in his eye. Clearly he had noticed Adam’s new armor but he had not even bother to ask about it. A single sentence was all Adam got. A bit disappointing but it was the last thing on his mind.
“More than ever.” Adam responded with a grin. “Lets fucking do this.”
“Alright, well slow your horses.” Salvatore let off a single chuckle and then looked at the wall, in the direction of the path they will take. “We will need to be careful, we will be moving deep into the North East, into the area that both War and Pestilence claim, even if it's clearly in War’s control. Not to mention I heard it's crawling with Super mutants. So it's not going to be an easy trip, we will likely also need to stay out for the night…. You brought those MREs right?” Adam nodded.
“Yeah, as much as I love vacuum sealed freeze-dried turkey, it's better than eating rats.” Salvatore smirked..
“Alright, then let's get a move on.”
The initial walk was quiet, Salvatore could tell Adam was on edge but didn’t ask about it though it showed on his face. Adam, for his sake, had a feeling in his gut, it filled him with dread as well as anticipation. It was taking all his strength not to outright run to Second Life, every step that he took towards the building only seemed to make the feeling grow stronger. It was maddening. However Adam was pulled from his complicated emotional struggle as they encountered an obstacle on their path. Super mutants.
“Kid, over here.” Salvatore said as he gestured for Adam to follow him over to the cover of a building. Adam followed and they ducked behind some debris as they watched the situation.
Outside, on the street were 2 super mutants, one mutant dog, a hairless dog-like creature that was roughly the size of a human, equally as yellowish green as the super mutants. And then one… horror made flesh.
The thing had a human flesh and skin tone but that was all that it had in common with a human. This… thing with strong emphasis on that descriptor, was a human torso, sort of, standing upright with its human head on top. However, out of the human mouth were three incredibly long red tentacle tongues. It also had an elongated body like a slug, bones sticking out its back like spikes going down its fleshy tail, and it walked around on four hands. Where arms should be on its torso instead were nothing but nubs with bone sticking out from the nubs. Even the torso had some protruding bone. It truly looked like a horror movie creature made flesh. There were no words to describe the creature he was seeing; it looked like a creature from the depths of hell, or a madman’s fantasy.
“What… the fuck…” Adam began, as he stared at the monster. “Is that…” He finished, in complete and utter shock and disbelief.
“That…” Salvatore said as he unclipped his rifle from its strap and got it ready. “Is a centaur.” He continued within a calm and collected tone.
“That… monstrosity?” Adam asked again. He was so taken aback by the horrifying creature he didn’t even have words to describe how he was feeling. At least the pit in his stomach from worrying about Second Life was gone. Small blessings.
“Yeah.” Salvatore responded, chuckling silently to himself at Adam’s reaction. “Its a freakshow alright, heard its another FEV experiment, but truthfully I dont fucking know, they just often appear around Super Mutants. I think they keep them as pets.”
“Pets!?” Adam said incredulously and quite a bit louder than he was expecting. Salvatore shot a look at the super mutants, checking to see if they heard Adam, luckily they didn't.
“Yes, pets. Now keep your cool.” He said sternly. Adam took a deep breath and calmed his nerves.
“Sorry.” He apologized more level headed now.
“They look scary but they aren't that tough. It's the dog and super mutants I’m worried about.” he began as he started to look through his rifle scope and check out the situation and then slowly grinned.
“Hey kid, check out what that super mutant is holding under his arm on the left.”
“Hm?” Adam hummed in confusion before grabbing his binoculars and looking at the mutant indicated. At first he saw nothing of note, just a super mutant talking to the other while he pet the giant mutant dog. Then he saw it, something he never expected to randomly see out in the wild. A mini nuke.
In the war one of the key weapons the US military had made in an effort to transition the US forces from Tank based combat to one that heavily utilized Power Armor instead was the fatman. Effectively a catapult launching system meant to throw miniature nuclear bombs over vast distances. The catapult system was bulky but not entirely unwieldy. It was meant to be used by troops in power armor, but a sufficiently large and muscular unpowered human could wield it without too much difficulty. Though the size might make it block much of the user's vision. It was an incredibly powerful weapon, probably the most powerful one man platform weapon the US Army ever made. There were only two problems with it.
The first issue was simple and perhaps the biggest complaint. There were no sights. Well technically there was but it was very ill equipped to aid the soldier using the weapon. The way the fatman was designed it was an open top catapult which left no room for a sighting system. Iron sights did exist on the back end, near the soldier’s face, but how do you use an iron sight on a weapon that has such a heavy drop angle? It was truly a useless design feature. Not to say a sight couldn’t be designed, a slider would have worked, or perhaps an electrical sight, but no, it was just a strip of metal. The other problem was one that made this situation interesting. Mini Nukes were rare.
Even during the war the US Army did not produce many mini nukes for battle. Certainly there were more than enough for the weapon to be fielded but even back in the army the fatman’s use had to be limited to high casualty engagements due the value of each round. The likely reason for the limited number of mini nukes is probably because the US was instead building actual nukes with its weapons grade nuclear material instead. So if the US Army couldn’t even produce many during the war how many could have survived into the future 200 years later? The answer? At least one. And he was looking at it.
“How the hell did a super mutant get its hands on a mini nuke?” Adam asked dumbfounded.
“Don’t know, don’t care. What I do care about is that it offers an opportunity we would never get otherwise.” Salvatore looked down at his rifle and then at Adam’s.
“Normally I’d never ask for another man’s gun, ‘specially since yours will be sighted differently but…” Adam stared at him for a moment before going wide eyed.
“You can’t mean to…”
“Exactly.” Salvatore grinned. Adam looked at the super mutants again and then swiftly took off his rifle and handed it over to Salvatore.
“Just don’t miss.”
“Don’t worry kid.” He said as he balanced the rifle on the rubble and began to line up his shot. “I’m an old hand at this~” He said with an almost playful tone before the shot rang out.
The explosion was beautiful.
Chapter Text
A mini nuclear cloud filled the area where the super mutants and their pets once were. The explosion was loud, but not ear shattering, and the blast of air from the explosion could be felt even where Adam and Salvatore were, but not even that was too bad. The Mini nuke was designed to not hurt the operator, despite the incredibly dangerous fact that it was a nuclear bomb despite the diminutive size. Regardless, the sight was truly unrivaled.
As the smoke and fire cleared there was practically nothing left of the obstacle that had once stood before them. There was some gore, but truly not much, the blast had swept most of it clean, incinerated in an instant. The ground was not even cratered, just badly scorched.
“Well!” Salvatore let out a laugh as he too saw the scene before them. “Fuck yeah!” He cheered as he handed Adam back his rifle.
“Hell of a shot.” Adam said as he marveled too at the sight.
“Told you I’m good.” He chuckled softly before standing up. “No sense hiding anymore. We got to get a move on.”
“Yeah, that blast was loud as hell, best clear out before something else comes along to check.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
As they passed over the spot where the super mutants once stood they could still feel the slight residual heat in the air, the ground was hot, the building nearby was scorched, though not nearly as bad as the ground. It was clear the mini nuke had forever etched its presence into this spot.
It would have been nice if the rest of the walk was peaceful, however it was not, because Adam couldn’t get that lucky. They arrived at the scene of what seemed to be a battle that had ended a few minutes ago. Corpses of many dead cultists of pestilence lay strewn about a bullet ridden street, and the men of War were casing the battle field looking for wounded to carry back to their base, and finishing off any cultists left alive. Unfortunately there was no way around, now without a many hour detour, which would include a lot of doubling back, the streets up till now had been largely one way created by a mountain of rubble. Interestingly this mountain of rubble is the same reason why, despite The Pier being geographically close to Midway, it takes a while to travel between the two settlements. Natural barriers around Chicago make traversing difficult. Regardless they had no real choice but to go through the camp of War’s men. It was that or potentially arrive at Second Life at night.
“Hold it.” One man wearing biker leather, a crazy red mohawk, pierced upper lip, and a gnarly looking assault rifle said as they approached. “You ain’t with them fucking crazies are you?” He gestured to dead cultists.
“No sir.” Adam said with a soft smile. “No purple, as you can see.” He chuckled as he tugged on his combat armor gently, laughing softly to keep the tension low.
“Hmmm” The man said as he looked Adam over for a few moments and then shrugged. “This area ain’t safe it's under the protection of War but damn cult keeps trying to muscle in.” He said with an oddly kind and informative tone.
“I will keep it in mind, thank you for um, keeping the peace.” Adam said with a slightly nervous smile.
“Yeah sure, whatever.” The man said before he shouldered his rifle and turned to leave.
“Guess that means we are good?” Adam said to Salvatore softly before the two of them began to walk through the former battlefield, guarded but otherwise unaccosted. That is until, of course, they were accosted.
“Hey! You two!” A different guy yelled at them as they were about halfway through the intersection where the battle took place. Adam sighed loudly and stopped in his tracks. After he sighed he turned on his heels and spun around to look at the man with a bright diplomatic smile.
“Yes?’ What can I do for you sir?” Adam asked politely.
“This ‘ere is our territory, so we have the right to charge um… tolls…” He said, perhaps just making it up on the spot. “No sense getting in trouble with my friends here, so how about I let you through easy for a simple… 100 caps?”
“100?!” Salvatore snapped back, looking ready for a fight.
“Each.” The man said, now more menacing, holding onto his gun tightly, it still pointed at the ground but clearly ready for a fight if needed. Some of his compatriots were taking notice and either looking over or outright moving to join this man. They were standing in the middle of an intersection, no cover immediately nearby, with about 15 of War’s men scattered throughout the area. If a fight were to happen they would stand no chance.
Adam put his arm out in front of Salvatore to stop him from acting up and then put his smile back on.
“Of course!” Adam said with the cheesiest and most buttery tone he could manage. “I would be happy to contribute to your efforts in keeping the area safe!” He said happily, though of course it was forced.
“Do you happen to take Midway slips?” Adam inquired. The man laughed a bit.
“Sure I do, Midway money is good with me.” He grinned and relaxed his shoulders, clearly no longer expecting a fight.
“Wonderful!” Adam then reached into his pocket and pulled out 2 100 cap slips from midway and handed them over to the man. The man grinned widely.
“I love a man who knows how to conduct business.” The man said with a callous chuckle. “Pleasure meeting you, stay safe on the roads, strangers.” He said in an almost malicious way before he turned around to join the other men. The others around him also seem to disengage from the two of them and return to scouring the battlefield.
“Let's get out of here before they change their minds.” Adam whispered quietly to Salvatore before turning around and fast walking them both out as quickly as they could.
“Fucking lowlife tattooed scumbag freaks.” Salvatore grumbled once they were completely out of sight of the War camp. Adam sighed.
“I agree, but nothing we can do, we couldn’t have won that fight.” He said before checking his pouch to see how many caps he had left. He had a little more than 100 by his calculation, he was close to being broke. An awful thought. Salvatore sighed.
“Just a bunch of street toughs who think they own the world.” Adam shrugged.
“We were robbed, I won't deny that. But I like to think of it as giving them a tax for patrolling. After all, if they are out and about they are clearing raiders and super mutants, and feral ghouls and anything else. Just by existing they are naturally clearing things.”
“Wow, way to look on the bright side.” Salvatore said scathingly, clearly not buying into Adam’s rationalization.
“All I’m saying is I can either be mad I got robbed, or I can think of it as paying a service fee. I’d rather assume it was the latter.”
“Yeah well next time I see them I'm going to give them 100 caps worth of bullets instead.” Salvatore responded as he grinded his teeth. Adam chuckled and waved it off.
The rest of the trip from this point was much calmer. There was a radioactive pool in the middle of the road full of barrels of nuclear waste that Adam had to carefully navigate around. Salvatore instead walked straight through the center, getting his boots wet as he basked in the glow for a moment and then waited for Adam’s slow and careful navigation to bring him around. When Adam met him on the other side of the pool he could have sworn Salvatore‘s skin was looking a bit healthier. Or, at least, healthier looking for a ghoul.
Besides that they also encountered a few more patrols of War’s men but they were either too small to threaten Adam and Salvatore or the two of them were able to find a way around. Still the numbers of people they were seeing wandering around was noteworthy, it gave a true sense of how strong War had become after absorbing as many groups as he did. This was enough to wage a real war if he wanted, and that thought was frightening.
However, after a tedious but mostly peaceful journey they arrived at their destination; Adam’s old workplace. Second Life HQ.
Chapter Text
Adam stopped at the intersection in front of his old workplace. It still stood, tall as ever, it was too short to be a proper skyscraper but more than tall enough to dwarf the other buildings in the area. Its obsidian black exterior remained, though marred by the effects of the war. The top few floors looked to be a bit dilapidated from here but the sign showing off the former business that occupied this building was still standing proudly over the bright red solid overhang outside the entrance. He was back.
“This it?” Salvatore said, mostly unimpressed.
“This is it.” Adam returned with a slow sigh.
“Well then I think we are going to have a problem.” He said as pointed to a grotesque human effigy outside the building near some barbed wire and metal hedgehogs. Adam hadn’t even noticed it yet because he was too busy looking at the building, remembering back when it was intact. “Looks like this place is the new home to some unsavory folks.”
“Fuck.” Adam whispered quietly. “Raiders?”
“Yeah, probably.” He said as he unslung his rifle and held it in his hands, lazily pointed at the ground but ready for action if it should come. “I don't see any of War’s symbols though, so they might be unaffiliated… or all dead.” He grinned at that last suggestion.
‘What? How? The first part I mean. I thought this is deep inside War’s territory?”
“Fuck if I know.” Salvatore shrugged. “Maybe they are too big, maybe they are too small, or maybe they flew under the radar. Could be anyone’s guess.”
“Well seems like they are our problem now.” Adam scanned the exterior of the building while thinking of a plan. “It looks like the front is heavily defended. If we go through the front we will probably enter into a field of fire.”
“Agreed.” Salvatore said simply as he accepted Adam’s judgement. “Got another idea?” Adam went quiet for a few moments as he thought through a plan and then nodded.
“There is a side entrance the building has, the employee entrance. Only way in and out is via a passcode, I doubt they would be watching the door very hard even if they broke the door down.
“Fair enough. Lead the way, if we are lucky we found our back door.” The two of them took a careful wide berth around the building to avoid catching the attention of any inhabitants who might be peering out the windows. However, as they approached the side door they were met with a surprise more shocking than any broken door.
Right next to the door was a protectron, painted white, dirty, and full of scuff marks. It was chained to the wall next to the door, heavy metal links effectively stopping it from moving or breaking free but its arms and torso were still able to maneuver perfectly fine, giving it an easy angle to fire at unsuspecting attackers. In effect they had turned this poor protectron into a sentry turret by strapping it to the wall. But more than any of this Adam recognized this guy.
“Buddy?!” Adam said stunned as he walked over to the firmly secured protectron, still functional after all this time.
“Voice Recognition accepted. Welcome back Adam Baxter. You are 3 hours, 11 days, 2 months, and 211 years late for your shift.” It responded back as if seeing Adam again was the most normal thing in the world. Adam chuckled softly.
“I know buddy, I know…” He smiled sadly at him.
“So this is…” Salvatore asked as he walked over too.
“Buddy. Adam responded quickly. “He is the protectron unit I was in charge of keeping in working order at Second Life. He wasn’t the only robot I worked on, but he was the only one who worked here full time. My responsibility.”
“Friendly speech pattern recognized. Is this a guest at Second Life, Adam Baxter?” Buddy said as he turned to look at Salvatore, arms raised. Perhaps ready to shoot him if Adam said no.
“Oh yes.” Adam responded, forgetting how Buddy was programmed due to the regulations in Second Life. “This is my… work colleague from another Branch of Second Life, Salvatore. He has Administrative access to all levels of the building, please update your systems accordingly.”
“Order received.” Buddy said as its head sensor whirled a bit logging the information. While he was doing that Adam motioned with his head to Salvatore to Buddy.
“Help me get him untangled from this chain.” Salvatore shrugged and then obliged, helping Adam pull out the stakes that held the chain into the wall of the building and, subsequently, Buddy. Once Buddy was freed Adam turned to him again.
“Buddy, what is the status of your connection to the defense systems in Second Life?”
“Offline. Server terminal connection has been severed. Request maintenance.”
“What is he talking about?” Salvatore probed.
“Ah…” Adam turned to look at Salvatore again. “See, Second Life had more than just a protectron keeping its secrets safe, the entire building was rigged with miniature sentry turrets, also my responsibility.” He shrugged. “Now, one of the things I did was integrate Buddy into the intranet that connected all the computers together in the building, this also included the turret defense system.”
“Why?” Salvatore asked, confused.
“Well because quite frankly it was a pain in the ass to head back down 15 flights of stairs everytime I needed to update something, Buddy usually hung around me unless he was needed as an escort so it was like having a mobile computer on hand.” Adam shrugged.
“Besides, do you know how much free time I had some days? I was paid to be here 5 days a week, sometimes 6, but I often didn’t have anything to do, so tinkering around with Buddy was a good way to kill time. Anyway, the CEO liked it. Called me industrious.’” Adam grinned.
“Well, it seems like your little experiment hasn’t panned out well.” Salvatore said before Adam looked back to Buddy.
“Buddy, is your system operating properly?”
“Affirmative. All systems operating at near peak efficiency.”
“Sounds like all we gotta do is get him hooked back up to the network and I can access the defense systems here. If there are unsavory types here it should help level the playing field.”
“I’m not going to say no to a little help, but how are you going to do that?”
“We need to get to the basement.”
Chapter Text
Adam walked over to the keypad and punched in the code letting the door open with a satisfying click. Once he did he pulled the door open slightly and peeked inside. Adam scanned the view of the backroom, satisfied no one was there.
“We need to get Buddy downstairs to the server room, once there I will interface him with the intranet and he will once more gain access to the defenses in the building, assuming, of course, everything is still intact.” He said as he opened the door fully now, leading to a small break room-like space with a service elevator in it, clearly meant for employees to use and not meant for the general public. The door leading to the main floor was busted, the handle, and by extension, the lock, completely gone, but the room looked largely untouched though quite messy. It seems that the inhabitants of this building were uninterested in using the room. If there were still inhabitants. They had yet to confirm anyone was inside.
“Shh.” Salvatore shushed Adam quietly and then turned his head so his ear was facing the door. Adam listened in too and heard people talking in the distance. It was very faint and impossible to make out what they were saying but there were no doubt people here. Well that settled that, it still had raiders here. While Salvatore continued to listen Adam turned to Buddy.
“Buddy, enter silent mode.” Adam whispered to him. Buddy didn’t say anything but raised his arms up in confirmation before lowering them back down. Adam then walked over to the service elevator, hoping against hope that he could just ride it down to the basement like he used to. However it was very clearly unpowered so that option was out.
“Where is the entrance to the basement?” Salvatore asked quietly. Seemingly reading Adam’s mind about the broken elevator.
“There’s a stairway a few doors down from here but we’d have to go through the lobby, the most visible place, especially if there are a lot of guys sitting around. Salvatore remained quiet for a few moments more, still listening, before he turned back to Adam.
“I think we got some distance from them, it sounds like there are at least 2 walls in between us, they probably aren’t in the lobby, if we are lucky they are much further.” He then turned to look at Buddy.
“Is that thing going to be able to make it? Protectrons aren’t exactly known for being stealthy.” He mused acerbically. Adam nodded.
“Well he’s not going to be dead silent but he isn’t going to blurt out our arrival, and, if there is enough distance as you said they shouldn’t hear him.” Salvatore stared at Adam for a few moments and then nodded.
“Alright, lead the way.”
The three of them slowly opened the door to the lobby as they began to creep towards the door that Adam had mentioned. Well, two of them crept, Buddy was as clunky as ever, but there was nothing he could do about that.
They could also begin to hear parts of the conversation now too.
“War” “Yeah but…” “Didn’t you…” “Girls are…” “Out of booze…” random phrases carried through the floor giving Adam only glimpses of what was being said, though frankly he didn’t care. However those voices were now becoming sharper, louder… and closer.
“Shit.” Adam muttered silently under his breath as he began to speed up his crouch walking towards the door. He made it to the door and opened it and began to get inside when he heard one of the voices belonging to the raiders speak up.
“Hey!” The voice shouted as it seemed to be a man running over. Quickly Adam dove into the stairwell and instinctively mostly closed the door behind him however when he turned around to look behind him he was surprised that he was not caught.
“What are you doing out? You stupid robot?” The obviously raider dressed man said to Buddy as he gently kicked his stubby legs. “Weren’t you chained to the wall?” He asked Buddy as if he would answer him. A friend of his walked over too, standing right behind him. They were too stupid to notice that Buddy was neither speaking to them, something Protectrons were known for doing, nor attacking them, supposed intruders in his building.
But more importantly than all of that Salvatore was nowhere to be seen. Somehow he got into a hiding place before the two of them walked over. There were not many places to hide, a sandbag emplacement, a few wooden crates, an ovular half desk at the front of the lobby. Adam couldn’t see him but he was sure he was in hiding at the moment.
“Well… Say something!” The guy said as he shoved Buddy, which only caused him to move back a half step.
“Leave it alone man, it probably just got free cause the chain rusted or something, its just a fuckin’ robot. Stop giving it a hard time.”
“You stop giving me a hard time!” The man said, snapping at his companion.
“Sheesh dude, lighten up.” The other responded. The two began a conversation of little importance as Adam could see Salvatore slowly stepping out of the cover of the sandbags and beginning to move stealthily towards the two of them. Adam caught on to what he was doing quickly. Unlike Salvatore if he opened the door at all he would be spotted so instead he just had to wait for a chance.
Then, as the conversation began to boil between them Salvatore vaulted over a crate landing right behind the temperamental one and snapped his neck. His companion yelped in surprise as the ghoul dressed in armor seemed to appear out of nowhere and then began to fumble for his gun. Adam, however, was not going to give him the chance.
Adam burst through the door at a full sprint, dashing across the lobby floor as he held the knife in his hand. He dove on top of the guy and planted the knife into his chest as he pushed him onto the ground, falling down with him. Once on the ground Adam straddled him and covered his mouth as he watched as the last bit of life left the man’s eyes clawing at Adam’s arms with his fingers. Though of course Adam was wearing armor so he didn’t even feel it.
Once he was reasonably sure that the man was dead he slowly dismounted him. He looked at the one who had his neck snapped and then Salvatore.
“Let's drag these guys to the stairwell, just in case a friend of theirs decides to check in on them.” Adam said, quietly, still not sure if there were others around.
“Good idea.” Salvatore said, also quiet as the two of them began to drag the bodies towards the basement stairs.
Luckily there was no blood trail, Adam had stabbed the man in the chest and not pierced through his back, thus the only blood was coming from the front, it was still messy, but moving quickly like he did and with careful precision, no blood hit the ground until he was fully inside the first few steps of the stairwell. Once Salvatore had dragged his body over too the three of them closed the door and continued downward.
The lights in the basement were off so Adam turned on his Pip-boy light as well as his helmet light to offer some illumination. As soon as they descended down the last of the stairs Adam could see the server room. It was a mess. Had Adam left it in this condition when he was working here he would have been fired on the spot. Though technically that was the janitor’s job for places like this, where he spent most of his time at work, it was largely his responsibility.
Now dust caked every surface, papers were thrown about, stray wires tossed aside. It looked nothing like the clean and orderly room he once kept. But the important thing was the servers looked intact. Good. Now it just mattered if he could power them up again.
Adam flipped a few switches and reset some breakers and the room whirred to life, servers, lights, and all. Adam then turned to Buddy.
“Buddy, enter normal mode and come over here.” He ordered.
“Confirmed.” Buddy responded as he waddled over. Adam then opened up his panel and hooked him up to the system.
“Buddy, what is your status on connection to the building’s defense systems?” Adam asked again.
“Reporting full connectivity.He said back. Adam unplugged him and turned to Salvatore.
“Easy as pie.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
“Buddy, what's the status of the defensive systems in the building?” Adam asked.
“4 of 14 turret systems are reporting active, both safe room doors are broken, safes are disconnected, lab security incinerators are below 20% operating efficiency.” Adam nodded slowly as he took it in. It sounded like the only systems that he could still use were the incinerators in the lab and the turrets.
“Wait a minute.” Salvatore chimed in. “What kinda building has 14 turrets? What kind of work was going on here?” He asked, shocked.
“Government contracts, dangerous experiments, secret agent shit?” Adam shrugged. “Fuck if I know.” He chuckled.
“You worked here! How the hell do you not know?” Adam shrugged again.
“It was all compartmentalized. I worked in IT. Servers, robots, sentries, computers, and the only time I was allowed into the labs or near confidential stuff was under close watch. Nothing more boring for a guard to stand for hours watching me type on a computer, I tell you.” Salvatore sighed and shook his head.
“Okay whatever, so what's the plan? I assume we want to get to the lab?”
“No.” Adam said as he looked over at Buddy for a moment. “We need to get to the CEO’s office, on the top floor.”
“Of-fucking-course. Because it wouldn’t be simple.” Salvatore rolled his eyes. “Why? What's wrong with the lab?”
“Protocol.” Adam said simply. “I can name about 5 different regulations on how the information in the lab would be disposed of in many different events. They did not want the information getting out. Granted the bombs dropped suddenly, so I’ve heard, so it's possible it didn’t happen. But Buddy here likely would have incinerated the lab after some time of no activity in the building. What I do know is that the CEO’s computer contains the master links to all the files. All of it backed up for his use. Assuming that the computer is good, and or any files, I'm sure I can find the answers I’m looking for. Salvatore threw his hands up in defeat.
“Alright, whatever, how do we get to the top floor? Even from the outside it looked like this place was crawling with them.”
“Well We already have two advantages. The turrets, and…” He looks at Buddy. “Buddy here.”
“Kid, I hate to break it to you but Protectron aren’t exactly known for their overwhelming combat capability.”
“Usually, yes, but Buddy is special.” He then turned to face Buddy fully and spoke to him. “Buddy, enter combat mode.”
“Combat mode, engaged.” Buddy said as its head sensor began to spin much more rapidly and its laser emitters embedded on its hands began to glow. A faint hum could be heard coming from inside Buddy’s chassis. Adam grinned at Salvatore. “As I said, I had lots of free time.”
“Alright, whatever, sounds like you got a plan, I’ll just follow your lead on this. This is what you hired me for, I’ll make sure you get to the top floor no matter what.” Adam smiled warmly at him.
“I knew you would.” He then turned back to Buddy. “Buddy. Activate the turret system, anyone without administrator level access is to be treated as an intruder.” He said with a commanding tone.
“Request processed. Turret system activating.”
“Buddy, eliminate the intruders.” Adam said with an evil grin.
“Proceeding to eliminate the intruders.” Buddy said before his head sensor light began to glow red and he began to head back towards the stairs to head up stairs.
“We will follow in Buddy’s wake, use him as mobile cover and a distraction as we eliminate the hostiles on the way up to the top floor.”
“And you sure the turrets aren’t going to target me?” Salvatore asked, a bit worried.
“Don’t worry, I told Buddy to add you as an administrator as soon as we met him, since he is linked to the system, what he sees as a friendly will translate to the turrets.” Adam then pulled out his laser pistol and held it in his hands as he watched Buddy begin to slowly ascend the steps. “You could even attack him now and he wouldn’t even retaliate, hence the administrator.”
“Well, let's just hope your work isn't shoddy.” Salvatore grinned, clearly busting Adam’s chops.
“Har har.” Adam responded with a deadpan tone. “Let's do this.”
The two followed behind Buddy as he emerged back onto the main floor, Buddy began to head to the other stairway to head up to the other levels. As soon as the two of them were back on the main floor they could hear shouting and laser fire, presumably from the turrets that were still active, from upstairs.
“Seems like your little plan is panning out well. Hopefully we can make it up there before they destroy all the turrets.”
“Don’t worry, I have faith in them. They will hold out for a while, even if they are stationary. But we should hurry.” Adam looked at the stairs Buddy was walking up. He took a deep breath, tightened the grip on his gun and then nodded to Salvatore, marching after Buddy.
As soon as they emerged onto the second floor bullets whizzed past the door as Buddy entered the floor and began its own onslaught of fire at the intruders.
“Intruders found. Proceeding to utilize deadly force. Vacate the premises if you do not wish to become deceased.” Buddy said as its laser emitters fired off laser rounds at rapid speed. Over 4 times faster than a normal protectron speed. It was damn near the speed of a human using a semi auto laser rifle and firing off shots fast.
“Damn kid you really souped him up!” Adam grinned and then dove across the hall, taking cover behind a door that led to a janitor’s closet.
“I know! I'm really proud of him!” Adam said with an almost manic grin as he too fired a few stray laser shots down the hallway, past Buddy, and towards the three or so identified raiders at the other end of the floor. There was no laser turret on this floor, so they were clearly aware something was happening and were far more prepared for an attack then others would be. As such they already were behind cover and were watching the floor.
Bullets dinged off Buddy as round after round were shot towards him. Some hit their mark, others failed miserably.
Salvatore got off a great shot, managing to nail one of the raiders in the head causing him to slump over onto the overturned desk he had been using as cover.
A bullet shot clean through the door Adam was using as cover, instantly informing him it was a poor place to take cover. He charged forward, using Buddy as a mobile wall until he was right up against his back. Despite being marginally taller than buddy, the protectron’s body offered ample protection as it continued to slowly march forward, ever shooting its lasers off towards the two raiders still in cover ahead. Once Adam had advanced far enough he ducked out from behind Buddy's back and slid behind a concrete divider that separated two office desks. He then used it as cover as he once more fired a number of times at the raiders.
This time his laser fire connected with the shoulder of the raider closest to him, causing him to fall back gripping his shoulder in pain. Salvatore didn’t miss the opportunity and nailed him with another round to the head a moment later.
Buddy was the next one to get a kill. As the last raider realized he was outnumbered and outgunned he turned to try to change his position, possibly to try to retreat to a higher floor only to get hit right in the back of the head with a laser round from Buddy’s hand. The fighting ceased instantly.
“No further intruders found on floor 2, proceeding to floor 3.” Buddy said as he turned around to begin climbing the floors again. Adam sighed and then looked to Salvatore.
“Well, that's one floor down… only 29 more to go.” Adam grinned.
Chapter Text
As they walked up to the third floor there was no one immediately in sight, and Buddy didn’t even stop on the floor, having been linked to the sentry systems he had an innate sense of where the raiders were. At least on floors with turrets. So the two followed him up.
The next 2 floors were much the same. However the sixth floor had a big firefight going on between the ball type sentry attached to the ceiling in the hallway next to the stairs and 4 raiders that it was pinning down. 1 was down the hall hidden behind the wall of a room and the other three were on the stairs taking cover, unable to advance upwards. This meant their backs were to the group. A mistake they could have never imagined.
If it were Adam and Salvatore were alone they would have taken a stealthy approach to handling the men but no such luck when Buddy was around.
“Intruders found, proceeding to eliminate.” He said as he began to advance on them. Naturally the three raiders on the stairwell turned around to look at the advancing protectron, noticing Adam and Salvatore as well. However they did not have time to react.
Adam quickly fired right into the chest of one of the raiders, it hit him dead center and it sent him flying back into the wall of the plateau, a burning hold in his chest. Salvatore placed a well aimed shot into the head of the other raider before he could even fully whip around to see. Only the third raider remained. But this one was the unluckiest of them all. Buddy began to fire multiple laser rounds into him while Adam fired one of his own, and even Salvatore fired a few rounds center mass into him.
By the time the three of them had finished firing the man had been atomized, now nothing but a pile of ash on the floor. It was a rare occurrence, not often seen even on battlefields. But when enough laser fire was directed at a single target there was always a chance for their entire molecular structure to break down and for them to vaporize. It was similar to, but still very different from, the effect that plasma weapons had on the human body, at times turning it into a pile of green goo.
However none of them stopped to admire the lucky atomization that just occurred, none of them really cared about winning this lottery, so they advanced. The floor now only had one raider left. Pinned down by the rapid fire of lasers from the sentry turret Salvatore pulled out his shotgun, loaded a slug into the chamber and shot right through the walls where he assumed the guy was hiding. He was right.
A moment after he fired the man fell to the ground, bleeding out, and clutching his stomach where he had been shot. Salvatore showed no mercy, loading a second slug in and shooting him in his head. By the time that second slug had gone through him there was no head left.
Adam let off a sigh of relief and then nodded to Salvatore who nodded back before they then began to follow Buddy back up the stairs again.
Fight after fight, round after round, close calls, and near misses ensued as they marched higher and higher in the building.
Adam stopped on the 14th floor, his floor, or rather, the floor he most often worked on when he wasn’t doing server maintenance. He was feeling nostalgic. Though the paint was chipped, though the steel and wood was rusted and rotting, though his office had a big hole out the side that let in air from the outdoors, though it looked like the atomic horror had stolen away his old life… it was still a place that remained of his old life. His home was gone, destroyed beyond all recognition. His office workspace, what was left, was almost like a second home. It was the last bit of his old life that remained. It hurt. It hurt far more than he ever expected it to. To see what remained to be so gone. He never expected it to remain in any tangible way but… it was truly gone, wasn’t it? Everything he once knew.
Salvatore was the one to break Adam out of his stupor. There were no enemies on this floor, nothing to fight, so they had to move on, there were more people to kill above them. If he wanted to reminisce, mourn, or be melodramatic he would have to do it later, right now he needed to press on. So he did.
More of the same as they continued to advance upwards. The next floor that had enemies also had a laser turret but it was in bad shape, already unable to fire at even half the speed it had been before and riddled with bullets. Still, even with this handicap the three of them cleared the floor without issues. Another group of raiders, dead.
The next floor with raiders they encountered was an entirely different story. While Salvatore was taking cover on the stairwell, using the wall as cover to fire from, he was tagged in the hand with a stray round from a raider’s pistol. Like the badass he was, Salvatore merely grunted in pain and then used his shot hand to continue to balance his rifle and finish off the raider who shot him.
“Salvatore are you-”
“Cut it.” Salvatore said, stopping Adam entirely. “Ignore me, let's keep moving.” He said as he motioned with his head to Buddy who was already advancing to the next floor. Adam stared at him for a moment and then nodded, deciding not to press. He followed behind Buddy, leaving Salvatore for a moment as he tended to his own wound.
Adam handled the next floor with Buddy. There was only one guy and he was very unprepared to face them, a single volley of laser fire was all it took to take him down. By the next floor Salvatore had rejoined them and they kept advancing.
It was now Adam's turn to get hit. Just as he was coming up the stairs, and Buddy had already taken a left out the door, a raider with a shotgun shot Adam near point blank in the chest as he came in around from the right, sending him flying down the stairs landing him firmly on the concrete floor of the plateau.
“Kid!” Salvatore yelled as he saw Adam get blasted backwards past him. He didn’t hesitate to blast 5 rounds into the raider who was still standing plainly in the open in front of the landing’s door. After he shot the raider and ensured he was dead he ran back down the stairs to look after Adam.
Adam who was more winded than anything looked up at Salvatore a bit dazed.
“Keep moving.” Adam ordered, with a squeaky, breathless voice.
“But you-” Salvatore started.
“Go!” Adam said sharply to him with a commanding tone, despite his weakened state. Salvatore looked at him for a moment and then nodded leaving to follow after buddy and clear the floor with him.
Adam continued to lay there, partly slumped up against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. He peeled back the top layer of his combat armor. He was bruised, pretty bad, but there was not a single bullet hole. It seemed as though the man with a shotgun had hit him with birdshot. If he was unarmored he would have been dead, no question, but as he was wearing reinforced combat armor, the same kind he had worn in the war, such tiny pellets would never have punctured his body armor. Honestly, the fall down the stairs and onto the concrete plateau hurt far more than the shotgun did, ironically. Still he was nothing more than badly bruised, so he would heal fine.
Adam pulled out a stimpack from his backpack and stabbed himself with it. Instantly he could feel the wounds from his fall and hit begin to heal. As always, stimpacks were a hell of a drug. Honestly though stimpacks did not do anything for the pain, they only have a very small numbing effect, hence why he used it on the wounded area. He would kill for a Med-X right now. Not only would it make him numb to the pain it would reinforce him and make him sturdier, or at least that's what he was told in the army. All he really cared about was that it made the pain of getting shot go away, that was enough.
Adam pulled himself to his feet a moment later and took a deep breath, restabilizing himself before he pulled his laser pistol off the ground and started his ascent back up the stairs, planning to rejoin the fight.
Chapter Text
The fight continued as they continued up more and more stairs. If Adam had stopped to consider what they were doing he would have realized they were clearing out a huge number of raiders with just the two of them. It was a hell of a feat.
Truthfully, and to temper the level of awe that might be inspired from their fight, the men they were fighting were all very split up, only 3 or 4 to a floor at most, very manageable with the group they had available. Furthermore these raiders were very ill equipped, poorly trained, and very unprepared for a fight. Some of them didn’t even wear armor, they had sleepwear on, one was even nearly naked. But regardless of the circumstances a feat was still a feat. By the time they reached the top floor the two of them were not even thinking about how many they had felled up till now, numerous, no doubt.
However the top floor was another story. The sentry on the ceiling had been totally destroyed and as the three of them made it up there they came face to face with the most heavily armed foe Adam had seen up to this point.
It was a raider, no doubt, but he wore power armor. However the armor was nothing like Adam had ever seen. Power armor was, in effect, two main parts. The power armor frame, which contained all the mechanical parts and struts needed to support the weight and frame of the armor, and the armor itself. All power armors used the same frame. Even if the technical differences between the T-45d and the T-60 were vast, even to the point that T-60 armor was capable of even heavier loads, the frame was the same for both.
This meant, in theory, one could mix and match armor pieces from any set of power armor they could get their hands on. Though of course such a thing would never fly in the army, but here, in the wasteland, it was not too far-fetched. And right in front of Adam was that exact situation.
The man wearing power armor seemed to have a T-60 left leg and right shoulder, a T- 50 right arm, a T-45d right leg and left shoulder, and for the remaining parts it looked like a mishmash of non standard power armor parts. All of it heavily modified in obnoxiously unhelpful and purely aesthetic ways, such as spikes coming out of the pauldrons, and a flame painting on the left arm, but the helmet was clearly a welding mask that had been upgraded to interface with the suit with a wire mesh in front of the screen. Beyond all of that much of this was rusted, it looked in poor condition. It truly was a shitshow of power armor. But despite the poor condition and poor choices in maintenance, it was still power armor.
As if to punctuate this point the man in the armor rushed forward into the hail of laser he was already receiving from Buddy, who was already showing signs of overheat due to the combat mode modifications Adam had installed into him. Buddy was never meant to be using the upgrade this long, it was only meant for short bursts, clearing the entire building like they were, was putting a lot of strain on his systems. The power armor slammed into the protectron like a freight train into a car, throwing him clean off his feet and right into the wall beside him.
Buddy seemed mostly undamaged from the football tackle but due to his power systems already being overheated and his systems running slower he was unable to pull himself back to his feet. Like a turtle stuck on his back he laid on the ground waddling back and forth unable to move.
It was then that a hail of bullets began to fire from the end of the hall, the raider boss had a handful of men with him, and they were just as unfriendly as the rest.
Salvatore shot a quick glance to Adam, a whole conversation passed between them in that instant, and each man understood their roles.
Salvatore rushed forward ducking underneath a swing of the power armors arm as he fired the whole clip from his assault rifle at the men at the end of the hall, ignoring the raider in power armor entirely as he created a space for himself to advance and take cover to engage the lesser raiders. It was Adam's job to handle the man in power armor.
The raider boss turned to swing at Salvatore again, but Adam fired at him three times, it hit and did some damage but it mostly just caught his attention. The raider boss now dove at Adam trying to punch his head and squash it like a watermelon. Adam dodged the swing by a hair’s breadth and saw as the fist collided with the concrete wall where his head was but a moment ago. It broke clean through, the outside world now visible from the power armor fist sized hole in the building. It was now Adam could see why the man had no guns on him. It was not simply because he was in power armor, it was because he also had a power first on.
The power fist was an actuated pneumatic gauntlet that shot a solid block of steel forward when punching. It was designed specifically for power armor units, to do much the same as the man was doing now. It was a cool idea, but in the war it saw very little use. After all if you were this close to an enemy you would much rather be using a ripper or something else instead of punching. Still it was showing its worth now, as Adam was one unlucky hit away from being broken in half by this power first enhanced punch.
Luckily Adam was very familiar with Power armor, he knew its weakness, its strengths, and most importantly, its vulnerabilities. Adam ducked, dodged, and weaved around the numerous punches the raider threw at him, staying to his right side, where the metal meshing that made his helmet look more ‘intimidating’ also blocked his line of sight. In addition Adam stayed low, power armor was not great at maneuverability or bending over. It could do both, of course, but it could be cumbersome in close combat. Adam, by staying light on his feet, dodged every one of the punches that were thrown his way. The raider was clearly getting pissed, now yelling obscenities at Adam as he continued to be outsped at every turn.
Adam was not just dodging either, he was making use of the opportunity afforded to him to fire at the servos visible on the sides of the body of the power armor. Normally, in real power armor, this sensitive and vulnerable area would have been protected by a several inch thick steel plate, but here, with this shoddy recreation of armor, it was very visible and a very easy target.
After a number of missed swings Adam had completely disabled his chest servos meaning he couldn’t twist his chest anymore, by the time another few swings had missed him he had completely disabled the ability of the armor to maneuver in any manner other than directly facing forward at all times. Even his arms now had lost their angles, if he wasn’t directly facing Adam he couldn’t hit him. This was enough.
At the next swing Adam dove past him, using the raider’s now quite lumbering speed to his advantage, right to where the fusion core was placed into the power armor frame.
The raider had just given Adam the ultimate power armor training taboo, never turn your back to an enemy. However Adam was not in a mood to correct him, instead he made full use of his advantage, pulling out the fusion core from the back slot with a slight twist. He could have left him there, locking him inside the power armor after taking the fusion core with him. However Adam wanted to take no chances. So long as this man was alive he would pose a threat, Adam was not in the mood to play the odds today. So instead he pulled out the fusion core far enough to disconnect it from the suit, leaving him locked inside, unable to move or even exit the suit, but still leaving the core balanced in the slot enough that it remained suspended and exposed.
Adam then ran back up the stairs, turned back around once he was a sufficient distance away, and fired every last ounce of energy in his laser pistol into the fusion core.
A moment later, the core exploded. Taking that part of the stairway, a chunk of the wall with it.
Chapter 100
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
With the power armor raider destroyed Adam quickly turned his attention to the 30th floor where Salvatore was handling the unarmored peons. He had mopped up 2 of them alone, but the third was giving him trouble, emptying round after round at him from a light machine gun, keeping Salvatore pinned down.
Adam wasted no time throwing himself into the fight, pulling out his 10mm pistol and beginning to lay down fire of his own. A bullet hit the shoulder of the man on the machine gun and caused him to stop firing for a moment. A moment was all that Salvatore needed to finish him off. Then, there was silence. The floor, neigh, the building, fell into a deep lull, as if all the fighting they had just done the entire way up never happened.
Salvatore looked out of breath as he slowly peeked out from his cover. He did just climb 30 flights of stairs after all, fighting all the way. Adam, for his sake was winded, but could have still kept going if he had to, though he was quite thankful for the break.
“You okay?” Adam asked Salvatore as he approached him. Salvatore was leaning, one hand on the wall, catching his breath that he had been holding while he was under fire.
“Yeah… I'm fine.” he said, wheezing a bit. “Didn’t realize how out of shape I was.” He joked gruffly. “Then again, no one said I was going to have to fight up 30 flights of stairs.” Adam grinned and patted him on the back gently.
“You didn’t ask.” He teased. Salvatore shot him a dirty look.
“Assistance required. Unit Designated ‘Buddy’ is unable to perform duties, trapped due to gravitational forces.” Buddy said while he continued to rock ineffectually on the ground. Adam chuckled and then walked over to Buddy, helping him to his feet.
“Buddy, resume normal mode.”
“Recognized. Deactivating Combat Mode.” He said as its head sensor stopped spinning quickly and the laser emitters stopped glowing.
“That all of them?” Salvatore asked now, still ready for a fight but hopeful the fight was over.
“I don’t know, Buddy?” Adam asked as he turned back to Buddy again.
“No intruders found in the building, however sensors on 23 floors have been disabled, inaccurate capability for me to offer an accurate answer.” Adam paused for a moment and then nodded.
“Buddy, activate the rest of the juice inside the lab, incinerate it.” He said commandingly.
“Understood, incinerating the lab.” Buddy responded. There was nothing that followed. For all anyone knew Buddy had failed. There was no sound after all, but they were on the 30th floor and the lab was far below them so there was no way they would hear it from here.
“Buddy, begin a routine patrol of this floor.”
“Understood, beginning a patrol.” He said as he began to wander off and walk around the floor casually. Adam let out a big sigh, with all the mixed emotions that came with it.
“So, guess we made it then huh?” Salvatore said as he walked over to Adam, taking out a cigarette to smoke to calm his own nerves.
“Yeah, looks like it.” Adam said as he looked towards the CEO’s office down at the end of the hall, the only room with double doors.
“I’m going to take a break here, you go on ahead. Not really worth watching you look through a computer anyway.” Salvatore said as he grabbed a chair from near where the dead bodies of the raiders were and sat down to smoke. Adam nodded and then proceeded into the room alone.
The CEO’s office was nothing like he remembered it. It bore a resemblance. The fine red carpet was still there, though faded and full of stains that he didn’t want to think about. The mahogany desk remained, though now adorned with skulls and other grotesque trophies, the bookshelves were barren, once full of books to satisfy the CEO’s vanity, they were now empty. The safe that once sat behind the picture frame of the CEO’s father, was wide open, inside was a bag labeled ‘caps’. Adam would grab that later, he was here for a reason, he wanted to focus on that.
Sitting down at the desk he noticed a note placed on the computer screen.
Someone open this damn computer for me before I break it AND all your skulls!!
Well it seemed that they never managed to get inside the computer. Which was good for him, if they had, all the data could have been wiped. Hesitantly, Adam turned on the computer, pulling the note off, and entered the CEO’s password, unlocking the computer easily.
He had told the CEO many times to change his password, on a regular basis if he could. But whether it was due to his confidence in Adam to build a strong enough firewall or due to sheer laziness he never did, though Adam assumed it was the latter. Once the computer was open he was met with a number of options.
[Vault-Tec Agreement] [Current experiment progress] [Scanned Subjects] [Project completion rate] [Project overview and goals]
There was a lot to unpack here but Adam decided to go one by one. Assumedly his questions would be answered as he read on. So he began with the first file.
[Memo to all executive level offices: Thanks to the efforts of our board of directors and negotiations from the CFO and CEO an agreement has been reached with the oversight board of Vault-Tec, we have been allocated Vault 42, a vault located in our very own city of Chicago, hidden underneath an unassuming coffee shop. It seems those at Vault-Tec have seen the merit to our vision and have agreed to provide us with viable and excellent material to continue our experiments. This includes the breeding stock needed to sustain a long term population even as they are used for the experiments. Vault-Tec has given us complete control over the project and vault. The overseer has yet to be picked but it will likely be someone from our executive team. The only people who will be aware of the vault’s experiment will be the chosen overseer, who will already be aware of the experiments, the scientists, who will mostly be transferred from our laboratory teams and would also already have foreknowledge, and the chief of security of the vault, who we will select after rigorous psychological evaluation to ensure they will remain loyal. It is not necessary to inform the residents or other members of security, with such a tight deadline we do not have the time for such a rigorous and extensive psychological evaluations for all members, besides, money talks, I'm sure they will fall in line. Thank you for all your efforts up to this point. This is a cause for celebration, uncork that champagne, this secured us enough funding for our projects for the next decade alone!]
Adam was horrified, though, of course, he knew most of this, the rest inferred. But it confirmed everything he had assumed from the vault. They knew what they were doing, the people they brought in… the people who thought they were there to survive the bombs… were brought there to be experimented on… and since the security team wasn’t told only the chief it meant divisions began to form in the vault. The ending as he saw, violence, riots, and a complete breakdown of the social structure. He may never know exactly what went down there in the vault, but now, he knew for certain, he had zero sympathy for the scientists he saw dead at the entrance. Still, this was not what he was looking for, so he read on, next selecting [Current experiment progress]
[Project has stalled since much of our equipment has been moved to Vault 42. The samples that remain here are hardly enough to progress off of. However, we have already achieved success far greater than we had assumed when we began this project. The theoretical process for producing Alpha and Beta series is sound and data shows that with enough time to work on the genetic resequencing we should be able to produce a full unit with a 90% success rate. However until the transfer of the project to the vault is complete we can not proceed further, all crews are told to move to the scanning process as we move to phase three ahead of schedule.]
So it seems that the move to the vault set them back? Though they accelerated to phase three? Scanning? And what was this about the Alpha and Beta series? He could only guess. But at least he knew he would get some answers on the scanning question because it was the next thing to open. [Scanned Subjects] It certainly had an ominous title but he was too far to back out now.
[Scanned Subjects for Testing of Omega Series Type 2:
Agrat, Nevil
Anders, Gabriel
Armstrong, Hanson
Asper, Mary
Baars, Kendrick
Baron, Liam
Baxter, Adam
Bell, Victoria
Black, Tristan
Brooks, Candice
Campell, Harper
Clark, Kent
Crawford, Hannah
…
[Continue]
The list went on, however Adam didn’t need to continue, he saw what he needed to see. His name was on this list. He was scanned! What does that even mean? When was he scanned? Who scanned him? He has no recollection of ever being scanned! And worse yet, while he didn’t recognize all the names in the list he did recognize some of them, they were all coworkers, like him, employees who handled whatever the company needed doing. Mary was the receptionist in the front office, Harper was an office worker who handled the accounting, Hanson worked in the legal offices, and Gabriel was a security guard for the facility. These people… were all his coworkers! Or at least some were. Why were they scanning them? What does this mean? He was growing a pit in his stomach. He still had unanswered questions, and now, more questions, but he had to read on, he needed to know the truth. So he selected the penultimate choice [Project Completion Rate]
{Project has reached the 60% mark. All data from previous phases has proven useful in our experiments. Failures inform success, as they say. We are ready to begin full scale testing. Biochambers are being ordered and constructed as I type this up. Samples are collected and organized, we are ready to start phase four. Due to the Vault-Tec integration, progress has been halted until new biolab facilities have been set up, however in an isolated environment like the Vault I am confident that my team will produce results worthy of this project.]
Unfortunately this had answered none of Adam’s questions, new or otherwise. However it didn’t help the pit in his stomach. He still was no closer to the truth than before but he still had one option left: [Project overview and goals]
[Project Second Life is, in a nutshell, an attempt at immortality. Humans have devised many ways to achieve this but we here at Second Life have posited a new, more modern method of achieving this brave new frontier! Cloning! In this project we aim to create 4 different series of clones.
To start, using the same technology we have used for the rest of our research, we plan to release Alpha and Beta series clones. Vat grown humans designed for one purpose! Alpha series clones are to be grown for combat, with superior genes for stamina, endurance, higher pain tolerance, and an ingrained desire to follow orders from a superior, we are even attempting to genetically encode memory engrams to create the perfect soldier! Beta series are much the same but with a different goal, Beta series are designed as servants, with a subservient nature, and knowledge and capability to handle all household tasks. With these two projects we aim to replace the need for clunky robots and offer a cheaper more sustainable alternative to such antiquated ideas! However these are nothing more than the side projects of our company. The true efforts are being poured into the Omega series.
There are two types of Omega, type 1 and 2. While the names might not be catchy we assure their effects are! Type one is our golden project, our greatest effort, and our holy grail. Type ones are designed to be the perfect body, stronger, faster, able to heal faster using our Ouroborus Factor; a method wherein the healthy cells eat the dead cells in the body to regenerate, and a number of other upgrades to the forms! We expect a longer life span and a healthier body even without the need for exercise or good eating habits! When a VIP is on their deathbed, their brain shall be removed and planted in a waiting body of their specified type. After what will feel like a short nap, BOOM! You awake with a younger, healthier body! Like this we aim to achieve true immortality!
However, we are not beyond the realities of the challenges we are faced with this lofty goal. So Type 2 Omega series is considered our current, more achievable target. Type 2 Omega series is much the same as Type One, providing superior bodies at a reduced price! The difference between the two is that your memories shall be scanned from your brain before death and then uploaded into the brain of the Vatt grown body. When you pass away your new body will awaken, freely able to continue your work as if no time had passed! You will never truly die! Do not worry this procedure will be fully tested on willing test subjects from our own staff as well as outside volunteers before this procedure is offered to you! The Ouroboros Factor and other genetic benefits will be included free of charge!
As an added benefit we shall include a homing instinct in all our Type Two units. This homing instinct will naturally guide you to Second Life HQ to receive you for questions and answers as well as medical checkups and any other services needed! While we do not yet know how this homing instinct will manifest itself, we believe it will likely emerge as a desire, anxiety, or excitement in some way. Do not fear, once you arrive at our headquarters the feeling will naturally fade away!
We hope this project has intrigued you and that you will consider investing in our company! We have already turned a profit last quarter by a factor of ten! We here at Second Life have a motto: “Why live only once when your second life can be even better?” We hope to see you in your second life too!]
There was silence in the room as Adam finished reading. His head was spinning and his breathing was getting labored. He was slow to piece everything together. It was hard to understand, nay, it was hard to accept. There was so much information he just read but… the Type Two… him being in the scanned list… the things mentioned about the Type Two.. the fact he woke up in the vault… the fact he was in a biochamber… the fact he felt he had to come to Second Life…
Adam was going wide eyed as he slowly fell to the floor in an ungraceful way. His world was shrinking, the room was growing darker, the sounds in the room, that of Buddy clanking around, the wind blowing through the open window, the sound of the still on computer, all of it was fading away. Adam was shaking, the world was disappearing, he was having a hard time breathing, his mind was stuck on a loop, he couldn’t think, he couldn’t feel, he couldn’t breathe. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack.
The world was only him now. Nothing existed beyond himself, he curled up in a ball as he buried his head in his knees, the universe was only him, and it felt small, broken, he existed in a void as he spiralled deeper and deeper. The only thing that existed in this space was himself and the truth. The truth that was staring him in the face. The truth that had been right there since the beginning. He was a clone. He was not Adam Baxter.
Notes:
I can't believe it has already been 100 chapters. Wow. Thank you all for reading up until now. We still have plenty more story to go, many more twists, turns, and challenges for Adam to face. But I wanted to thank each and every one of you for reading. It inspires me to continue to write and put my best work out there!
It's crazy for me to think I have been posting chapters for almost 100 days now, biggest project I have ever been a part of! I hope to continue delivering a story you all enjoy as we march forward!
PS: If this was a book this would be the end of book 1. I would cruelly leave you all with Adam's truth. But luckily that's not the culture of online stories so you will still get another chapter tomorrow!
Chapter Text
Salvatore had just finished smoking his cigarette while he took a breather. He unwrapped his hand that had been shot and poured some of the irradiated water from his canteen onto the wound. It began to very slowly heal up. Being a ghoul certainly had its perks, it was nice that fucking water of all things could heal wounds. It couldn’t hold a candle to a stimpack, but when he had downtime like this, a little dip into radiation always did the trick. Still the kid had been gone for a good while. Though, since he had been talking about coming here for a while he probably needed the time to read through all the information he found. Not sure what he’d find, but it had to be worth something, after all, the kid paid him 2000 caps to buy him out. Normally a trip like this would have cost him like 150 caps, then maybe an additional 100 to get to Midway, all the other trips? He would have racked up a few hundred cap bill by now, certainly not a 2000 cap one though. Though the kid seemed determined to get his money’s worth. Not his problem though, he enjoyed this line of work. Putting himself in danger made him feel alive, something he doesn’t feel that often anymore since he had been living for so long. Things can get so droll after two centuries of life.
The kid was an odd one for sure though, punk straight out of a vault, hell, straight out of the old world. When he first met him he was about as clueless as a child, now, he seemed to be getting close to a hardened wasteland warrior. Kid learned fast, thanks in no small part to himself.
Salvatore continued to sit as he watched Buddy slowly walk by continuing his never ending patrol. There was no reason for it, of course, they killed everyone in this tower. But if it made the kid happy, who was he to say otherwise?
He hated to admit it but he had grown to like him, Adam was not that bad of a guy, his heart was in the right place. Too soft for his liking but maybe that's why he enjoyed his company, he wasn’t an old salt like himself, he still had that glimmer of hope in his eyes. Maybe that was his job as bodyguard and an old man? To help Adam keep that spark of hope and life he has. It's a goal to set as his… friend… not that he would ever admit to being friends with him, but it was nice that he was a friend.
Salvatore spent a bit longer just relaxing, taking it easy before he began to get curious. As one would. Adam had been in that big office for a while now, he hadn’t heard a single peep from him since he went in there. Of course he could simply be busy reading, which was the most likely scenario, but his paranoid ass couldn’t sit still. He had lost clients before because he got careless, he wouldn’t do that again. Better overprotective than under protective. Especially when it was about someone he liked. So, after finishing his second cigarette, he stood up, stretched, grabbed his rifle off the ground and walked past Buddy towards the office where Adam disappeared into.
Adam was strangely not sitting at the computer when he got inside. The computer looked to be on, the back of the computer had that blue ring of light showing it was indeed on, but the kid was not on the chair, nor was he standing up and around. It was like he had disappeared. Salvatore got nervous. Did the kid get snatched somehow? Did he fall out the window? How did he disappear like that? He wasn’t the kind to play tricks on him. Salvatore moved quicker and more cautiously now towards the window behind the desk overlooking the city. He wasn’t sure what to look for but making sure Adam was okay was his priority.
He walked past the desk and over to the window, no signs he had jumped. His body was not on the street below or the decorative window balcony a few floors down. Besides, the window was not open enough for him to have jumped or been grabbed through. He would have had to partly close it on his way out. A lot of effort for someone who was suicidal, which the kid wasnt. An adrenaline junkie, maybe, but not a man with a death wish. Which still left him with the question of where Adam went.
He whipped around and looked around the room for a moment, scanning the walls for hidden doors, or elevators or something. He was still not yet in panic mode, but until he could ensure Adam was okay he couldn’t relax yet.
Then he looked down, near his feet, curled up on himself, sitting on his butt and hugging his legs was Adam, sitting underneath the desk. Salvatore gave him a strange look, unsure why he was acting so strange, he wasn’t cowardly, so why was he acting like a deathclaw had just nearly spotted him. Then he heard it, his breathing. Adam’s breathing was rapid, irregular, and heavy.
“Kid?’ He asked as he knelt down beside him and put his hand on the kid’s back. Adam didn’t budge an inch, he didn’t react, nor did he even seem to notice Salvatore’s presence at all. It was like he was lost in his own world. Salvatore had no idea what was going on. It was either some strange attack by a Psyker who had stumbled into the room with a grudge against Adam or the kid was… having a panic attack.
He understood now. He did not know why or how, but Adam was indeed having a panic attack. He had never experienced one himself but he had seen others go through it. It was never a pleasant sight to see. And the worst part of it all was that there was practically nothing he could do to help Adam, he had to come out of this himself. The best thing he could do for him now was to sit by his side and be here for him, so that when he comes out of it he would see a friendly face beside him. Even if that face was a little ghoulish.
Salvatore let off a soft exhale and then took a seat on the ground, pushing the desk chair away and simply waited for Adam to come out of his panicked state. He was not a very tender man, Claire could tell you that, but he still cared about the people he liked. So unsure what else to do he gently patted Adam’s back with his gloved hand, letting him know that he was not alone right now, and reminding him that there was indeed a world outside his mind.
Some time passed, minutes probably, but it felt longer because Salvatore had to watch his friend suffer before Adam slowly began to lift his head, still wide eyed and looking a bit broken.
“Salvatore?” The kid said slowly as he looked at him confused, concerned, and deeply uncertain.
“Hey kid.” Salvatore returned softly and warmly. “You okay?”
Chapter Text
“No…” Adam responded, quietly. His voice not much more than a whisper, his expression of sheer dread and uncertainty, his voice beset with a tremble. Salvatore nodded slowly, keeping his voice low, calm, and soft for Adam.
“Well, I don’t know if I can help but if you tell me then maybe I can try?” Salvatore offered, all pretense of his big strong gruff man attitude dropped and solely focused on helping Adam out of this. “What’s going on, Adam?”
“I’m not…” Adam whispered so quietly that Salvatore couldn’t even hear him.
“What?”
“I’m not Adam!” Adam said back, significantly more emphatically, practically yelling at Salvatore with force.
“Whoa, whoa, calm down kid, what do you mean you are not Adam?” He asked, keeping his calm and measured tone for Adam’s sake. Seeing very clearly Adam was already going through it.
“I’m not Adam, what don’t you understand?!” He said a few tears falling now. “I’m a fake, a fraud, a clone of the original! I’m not even a real human just some waste thrown together in a fucking biochamber by amoral assholes! I don’t even know who I am, what I am… What I am doing here!” He said, practically screaming the last part as he looked up into the air, though of course all that was above his head was the bottom of the desk he was still under.
Salvatore paused, seemingly unsure how to approach this topic, it was far more complex than he expected. He then let off a big sigh and lightly bonked Adam on the head.
“Alright, listen here, kid.” He said with a more stern, almost fatherly tone now. “I don’t know wether you are a clone, the original Adam, or some demon, who the fuck cares? I’m a fucking ghoul, a human who has been so fucked over by radiation I’ve become a monster. Do I look like I'm letting that dictate my life?” He said, continuing to remain stern but not angry at Adam.
“I’ve known Psykers who could tear a man in half with their minds but chose to be pacifists, I’ve known super mutants who decided to become poets, I’ve known robots who became heroes, I once knew a guy who became a fucking tree! But did any of them let their circumstances change who they were? Who they wanted to be? No.” He said resolutely without a shred of doubt. “See, it don’t matter what you are, it matters who you are, and what you make of yourself. If you are a clone then, good, live it. The other you is probably dead already, so the best way you can honor him is to keep living. Or hell, if you dont like him then fuck him, change your name and be your own man! No one can tell you who to be other than yourself. Just don’t be something you don’t like. Take it from me… that’s not a way to live…” Salvatore said, losing steam at the end, not even sure where he was going with this impromptu peptalk.
Adam sat there, staring at Salvatore for a good long while without saying a word. His expression softened now, though still filled with confusion and doubt. However after a while to sit in silence he let off a big exhale and then slowly got up.
“I still don't… know… who I am, Salvatore…” He said again, softer now.
“And that’s fine, kid.” Salvatore said back, softly, standing up as well. “No one knows who they are until they spend time learning about themselves. I’ve fucking spent the last 200 years living in this skin and you think I know a fucking thing about me? Nah. You don’t gotta know, it's fine. Just live it, kid. Be who you want to be. Cause if nothing else you are here now. That's what matters.” Salvatore gently bumped his fist into Adam’s chest while he offered him a soft grin. Adam sighed deeply again letting out the rest of his anxiety.
He looked off to the side, still feeling down but more level headed now. “I need some time to think this over. This is… a lot for me to take in.”
“I bet.” Salvatore said as he took out his pack of cigarettes and then paused before putting it in his mouth, offering it to Adam. Adam looked at it for a moment and then took it from Salvatore, letting him light it for him.
Adam took one long drag of the cigarette, coughing a good bit after he did and then handed it back to Salvatore. He walked over to the window and looked out as he let off a heavy exhale.
“There's too much on my mind. I don’t think I will be able to process this today, I still have other things to think about, how I will live, what I will do.” He turned around to look at Salvatore, his body framed by the light of the setting sun. “I’m practically broke now too.” He laughed mirthlessly.
“Then do what you do best, kid. Scavenge.” Salvatore said as he gestured around. “30 floors of goods to loot, raiders aplenty, labs to take, who the fuck knows what else. Don’t worry about the future right now, kid. You got time to worry about that. Focus on something constructive. Work helps clear the mind.” He grinned. “I know it does. Trust me.”
Adam nodded slowly and then took one more deep breath followed by the last heavy exhale. He was not over this, his thoughts were not settled, he was still quite unsure of himself but he had to go, he had to keep moving forward. That much he knew above all else. For now he would focus on the moment, he needed to scavenge as Salvatore said. There were many things to take here, certainly. He had a whole trip back to plan too, there was enough to think about without troubling himself about this now. He would focus on the moment. Process later.
“Alright.” Adam said, more resolutely and back to normal. It was clear he was not over it, but he had compartmentalized the information and gotten past the worst of it. He had resolved himself to do work, that was enough for now.
Adam turned around a second time to look out the window at the setting sun.
“We can’t get back tonight, can we?”
“No.” Salvatore said, back to his more normal tone now too, though there was a softer edge to it now. “Not unless you want to be traveling at night.” Adam nodded without turning around.
“Lets secure the first floor, make sure no one can get in. I’ll start looting then, I'm sure we can find some beds to sleep on for the night, we can head out tomorrow.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter Text
True to Adam’s words the first thing the two of them did was return to the first floor to secure every route into the building and lock it up tight. He also ordered Buddy to remain on the first floor and ensure no one got in for the rest of the night.
The next thing he did was reroute the rest of the building’s power to the elevators, neither man wanted to climb all those stairs again. Adam could only get one elevator to work but that was enough. After a bit of testing and inspection to make sure the elevator wouldn’t fall randomly he deemed it usable again and then Adam got to work looting the place, this time, with Salvatore’s help.
To put it lightly this building had way too much stuff. There were three types of items he could grab here. First was the stuff from Second Life itself, offices, labs, safes, fridges, break rooms, and so so so many more things were here. Of course a lot of the spaces were converted for the use of the former inhabitants but most of it was left unchanged, though quite a mess otherwise. Still this meant he could grab any number of ‘junk’ items, from mini fans, to sensors, to fusion cells, to literally anything else he could imagine.
Then there was the raider’s stuff. Everything they moved in with them when they took over the building. This included stashes of guns, food, caps, armor, books, trinkets, jewelry, loose coins, and any number of other things stolen from any passersby no doubt. Multiple floors contained piles of loot, it seemed these people had been here long enough to make multiple raids.
Then lastly there was the stuff from the raiders themselves, their guns, armor, loose caps, chems, food and drink, and anything else they might have in their pockets.
When just looking at the caps he found when looting around, between the loose caps in the pockets of the dead raiders, stashes of caps found in loot piles, caps strewn about either from games of cards or just disorganized chaos, or bags of caps shoved into safes, they had already made a ton of money from this venture. There were 2391 caps across all 30 floors. Far more than Adam or Salvatore ever expected. Despite Salvatore’s protests Adam split the caps equally between them, 1195 caps for Salvatore and 1196 for Adam. Adam was adamant about this because Salvatore had more than done his share and, like last time, he used the fact that Salvatore had said Adam was responsible for paying for Ammo. Salvatore didn’t resist for long though, after all, no man would turn down a free 1000 caps. Adam was now back to being comfortable with his funds. Though he still owed Olivia 2200 caps so he was still in the red. However despite the caps he found his main focus was the physical loot.
All in all there was simply no way Adam could bring all of this back. Not just with himself and Salvatore, maybe with Buddy’s help he could get a good load more of it, but truthfully even with all three of them they stood no chance getting all of this to Midway. It was a good problem to have, though it did make Adam feel both bitter he was going to have to leave some stuff behind and a bit overwhelmed he was going to have the pick of the litter. Even when he did the Corvega Factory he had choices but many of his choices were just more car parts, in the gun store he had to leave stuff behind but he was confident in his picks. With 30 floors of stuff to go through it was simply too much to be confident in his choices. Something would naturally be overlooked. There was no fixing this though. He just had to live with it.
Ultimately Adam had to bite the bullet and work through whatever he could find to get what he thought would bring the most profit.
Guns were a must, but with such a huge volume of them he had to pick and choose. Trashy guns were left behind, guns with a low caliber were left behind, guns with poor maintenance were left behind. Adam only took the guns that were worth something.
Next was armor… he left it all behind. There was not a shred of armor of value here. There was a ton of it, but it was all heavily modified to its detriment. Adam tried to salvage the power armor too but truly nothing of value was left, so it was scrap.
Then came electrical components of some value, like sensor modules, circuit boards, laser diodes, and other things of that type. He pretty much took all of them. Between the guns and these parts his bags were already getting heavy and exceptionally full. Luckily Adam had found another backpack among the numerous things he had found here. However the backpack was of poor quality, it looked like a tanned hide made from the skin of some animal and then sewn together. It was a large backpack but he truly couldn’t be certain how much it would hold. Still compared to letting stuff go it was better to take it with him. He decided to give it to Buddy.
Finally, with whatever space he had left he took the odds and ends of value, all the chems of course, but also most of the jewelry too. He also shoved into his bag some extra trinkets he knew would sell well too. By the time he was done his backpack, the duffle bag, Salvatore’s backpack, and even Buddy’s backpack were full to the brim. He truly couldn’t carry anymore without over encumbering himself like last time. As much as he wanted to bring back more with him this time he held himself back. However he did plan to carry back the light machine gun in his free hand that wasn’t holding the duffle bag. A small concession.
Finally finished looting, he went to bed, the sun long since set and Salvatore already half asleep.
The next day Adam and Salvatore shared a quiet meal in the morning. Adam had not given himself time to think things through from yesterday and he still didn’t plan to think about it yet. However that didn’t change the fact the mood was quiet, clearly Adam was thinking even if he wasn’t going to go too deep into his existential crisis.
The meal finished Adam had a few last things to do before they left. While Salvatore checked outside, making sure the coast was clear, Adam went back downstairs and found the fusion generator that powered the building, taking the fusion core out and pocketing for later. He also took the spare components from the laser turret that was still functional to sell later. Then, on his way out, he flipped the building off as we walked away without looking back.
“Ready to go kid?”
“Oh yeah, I'm ready to get the hell out of here.” He said as Salvatore looked back at Buddy who was following now. Adam had told Buddy that he was leaving Second Life and that Buddy’s duty to the company was complete, deciding to put him to better use elsewhere.
“You bringing him with us?” Salvatore asked with an eyebrow raise as he looked at Buddy.
“Yeah I was planning to. Why?” Adam asked, curious.
“Well… Protectrons are slow, clunky, loud, and not the most durable…” Salvatore began slowly. “And the path back ain't exactly easy, even excluding the dangers we will need to avoid or handle, the road ain't exactly perfectly level, I’m not even sure if he could make it back taking our path.” Adam took a moment to think while he processed Salvatore’s words.
“Then what do you suggest? Should we take a different path? Should I send him somewhere else? Like the safe house?”
“Nah.” Salvatore said as he lit a cigarette and put it in his mouth for a puff. “Safehouse is more or less the same path we would take to Midway so that won’t help. And sure we could take an alternate path, but you are already carrying a heavy burden. It will add a while to our journey, perhaps even another day. And there's no telling what else we might encounter while out and about.” Salvatore took another puff of the cigarette and then looked Buddy over.
“But I'll tell you what. There’s a place this guy here could head to alone where he could wait for you to get him. The path there, so long as you tell him where to go, is relatively safe and direct.”
“The people there will just… let a random protectron inside without question?” Adam asked, confused.
“Oh yeah, certainly. Those people are… weirdos…” He said slowly.
“What’s this path? If it's direct and safe why don’t we take it ourselves then?”
“Ah well…” Salvatore paused. “That’s cause the tunnel ain’t suited for humans.”
“Radiation?” Adam asked, curiously.
“Radiation.” Salvatore repeated as he put a cigarette in his mouth. “Truthfully the ghouls use it from time to time when we need refuge or a passage. It does have some ferals inside but we have corralled most of them into separate areas so it’s safe for someone like your robot buddy here to go through, but you? There isn’t enough Rad-X and Radaway in the world to get you through those tunnels.”
“Why?” Adam asked, now invested.
“Far as I can tell, US Army was transporting nuclear material and waste somewhere using the subway as a means of transit, bombs fell, trains turned off, stuff spilled out, and now that entire tunnel is so irradiated even the ground above the tunnels gives off radiation.”
“Alright, if you say it's dangerous for us, I will drop it. I’ll tell Buddy to meet us at…” He said, prompting Salvatore to complete the sentence.
“Renaissance .” He finished casually.
“Gotcha. I’ll make sure to grab him from there another time then. Hopefully they don’t take his stuff, but I guess it's better than letting it all rot.” Adam sighed as he began to program the route into Buddy with Salvatore’s guidance.
Chapter Text
As Buddy slowly began to waddle away, towards this other settlement to be picked up by Adam at a later time he and Salvatore turned to the path back to Midway to get back to somewhere safe themselves.
For the first few hours the trek was uneventful, aside from some terrain they had to avoid. However as they were approaching whatever sort of nebulous border that the Horseman of War could claim was his territory, they had the unfortunate situation of running into another gang of War’s men not too far from where they were accosted on the way out here yesterday. And just like then they were unable to take a detour without doubling back quite a ways.
As they approached, and Adam hoped against hope that he didn’t have to pay another 100 caps each again, they noticed a handful of War’s men arguing with two Knights of the Round as they stood firm in front of two women. Assumedly protecting them from being accosted as Adam was yesterday.
“I simply cannot allow you to order any sort of ‘strip search’ on these innocent women here.” One knight said, his hand on his sword hilt, but the sword not yet drawn.
“And I said they could be working for Pestilence, or hell, Death, for all I know. Besides tin can, you are outnumbered, and in War’s territory. You are awfully far from your little roleplay castle.” The man said, trying to get under the skin of the knight. However the knight seemed to keep his calm, or at least he didn't make a move. It was impossible to tell his expression at a distance and under a metal helmet.
“Be that as it may, we stand for the people of Chicago. We will not bow to anyone who wishes ill on the people of these lands. Thou art no different than any other common rabble I have slain before.”
“You never met a man like me, friend.” The man said. It was clear that, despite his attempt to rile up the knight, he was the one losing his composure. “You should get out of here while you can, you metal bastard.” The man put his hand firmly on his gun which he had let dangle on its strap.
“We go where we are needed.” The knight responded, resolutely. “And it seems we are needed here.” He too readied his sword, drawing it slightly from the sheathe, not all the way but showing he was ready to cut him down if he needed to.
This whole scene was playing out not too far from where Adam and Salvatore were standing. The entire group of War’s men were too focused on the conversation ahead and had their backs to the two of them. Meanwhile the knights seemed to be fully engaged in the conversation and hadn’t noticed the two of them either. However the women seemed to notice Adam and Salvatore but only gave them a quick glance, not expecting anything of the two strangers who showed up.
However it was Adam who stepped up, walking over to the conversation that was still ongoing and ever more looking like a fight was about to break out.
“Gentlemen.” Adam said with a calm and measured tone as he walked over. “Perhaps I can be of some help?”
“Unless you got some women you are hiding. Then no, fuck off.” The man returned.
“I appreciate your assistance, young man, but please do not endanger yourself, this is a job for the Knighted.”
“Wow, imagine the tin can saying something smart for one. Fuck off guy.” The raider looking man said before turning back to look at the knight again.
“What if I could offer you something more valuable?” Adam said to the raider now. Instantly the man began to slowly turn around, his interest piqued.
“Oh?” He said, the greed obvious on his face.
“As you can see I’m a Scaver.” He said gesturing with his full hands to his various bags full of gear. “I just came back from a very lucrative spot. One still filled with guns, ammo, armor, and plenty of other things.”
“Keep talking…” The man said, taking the bait entirely.
“I'm sure it could do you well in the standing of your boss, War, if you were to say… bring back the gear of an entirely empty former raider base?” Adam grinned. The man turned skeptical as he listened.
“Scavers ain’t exactly known for being generous for their locations…” He said, now completely disengaging with the Knight and turning to face Adam. “So what’s in it for you to tell me?”
“Making friends. Of course.” Adam smiled. “As you can see this is already a lot, and there is a ton more there, I don’t mind sharing… if you are willing to let us and those women over there through.” The raider seemed to get lost in thought for a few moments as he scratched his head.
“This ain’t a trick?” He said, squinting his eyes at Adam.
“No sir.” He smiled and raised up the light machine gun he was holding as evidence. “Where do you think I got all of this stuff?”
“Hmmm.” The raider hummed aloud as he thought. He looked back at the knight, the women, and then Adam again. “Alright fine, fuck it. Tell me where it is.” He said walking closer to Adam. Adam put down his duffle bag and machine gun and showed the man where Second Life was on his Pip-boy, even giving some pointers on how to get there using local landmarks.
After a few minutes of explaining the man rounded up the other guys and started to move back the way Adam and Salvatore had just come from. However, before the man left he turned to speak to Adam again.
“Hey, what's your name?” He said, his tone demanding and rude despite all Adam had just given them.
“Adam, Adam Baxter.” Adam said, still with a pleasant smile despite dealing with unpleasant people. The man returned that with a nod.
“Adam. I’ll remember that. You’d better hope I remember that for good reasons.” He said. The underlying threat of his words not hidden at all.
“I promise, my tip is genuine.” Adam assured him.
“Good, cause the last thing you want is to be on War’s bad side.” He said coldly before he finally turned around and left with the others to head to Second Life.
By now Salvatore had joined Adam at his side. He had been hanging back when the conversation had started originally because he was caught off guard by Adam’s sudden actions as well as to give him a vantage point to shoot every single man here if needed.
Once the raiders were gone the knight turned to look at Adam for a moment before pulling off his helmet. Under it was a gruff black haired man with a clean shaven face and his moderately long black hair tied into a manbun.
“Thank you, sir.” He said with a wide grin offering Adam a hand. Adam took it and shook it happily.
“Seeing you guys inspires me to do good.” Adam chuckled, deciding buttering the knight up was not a bad thing. The knight laughed heartily.
“Ah! What a good man you are!” He gave Adam a wide grin and patted him hard on the shoulder. It kind of hurt due to his strength and the metal gauntlet but Adam bore the pain and didn’t say anything. “My name is Bedivere, senior Knight of the Knights of the Round.” He said proudly. Adam laughed softly.
“I had the good fortune to meet Sir Percival on the road to Midway some time ago.” Bediviere smiled and nodded.
“Good fortune then indeed! Percival is quite the charming fellow!” He laughed some more and then looked at the women.
“Do not worry, your passage will be safe from here on, though I would suggest you do not proceed further, these roads can be dangerous with War’s camp taking up in the area. I’d suggest if you are desperate to leave Chicago to take a boat from the Pier.” One of the women meekly nodded and the other, the more rugged looking of the two, and the only one with a gun, looked at the knight and then Adam and gave a resolute nod.
“Alright. I don’t need to leave so badly to be held up again, we can just head back.” She looked at her traveling companion, gently patted her head, put her arm around her shoulder, and then started to lead her away as they walked the long path back to wherever they were headed.
Bedivere turned back to Adam once the women were safely off and smiled again.
“Well tis good fortune to have met thee this day, Adam. You have made a friend of the Knights, that's for sure. Good tidings on you this day, and may your path be blessed with warmth.” Adam chuckled.
“Well, good luck and safe travels to you too.” Bedivere then turned around to walk away flanked by his partner knight, probably a junior knight who was dispatched with him. As soon as they were away Salvatore rolled his eyes still as annoyed with the knights as ever.
“Okay. I gotta ask, now that everything is over… what the fuck were you thinking?” He asked Adam sharply. Adam turned to look at him now.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean not only did you throw yourself into an argument that had nothing to do with you and that could have gotten you killed but you gave up a location full of goods worth looting to these scumbags for free. I know you got a boner for playing white knight but do you really have no forethought?” Salvatore scolded. Adam sighed.
“I thought it through well.” Adam corrected. “We were not going to get past without issue no matter what we did, after the knights were dealt with either by force or by words they would have accosted us right? Or the knights would have fought them and then I would have helped and we would have gotten into a firefight. But even besides that I was making friends, the guy got my name. I’m sure he will remember what I did for him.”
“He's a scumbag, like the rest of them.” Salvatore scoffed. “The gratitude of scumbags isn't worth the air that it takes them to convey it.”
“AND.” Adam adds. “It also got me in good graces with the knights too. You can never have enough friends.”
“Was getting friends worth the probably thousand of caps worth of gear and loot you left behind in that building?” Adam sighed again.
“Salvatore…” Adam turned to fully face him now. “They are going to get to that building and turn it inside out, grab the guns, ammo, and armor that was left behind and take it with them, and in the process ruin it even further, hopefully burn the whole thing down.” Adam said darkly. “I don’t plan to ever go back to that place if I can avoid it and the less that is there the better.” Adam continued, bitterly, as he turned to look down the path they would have to head down soon. Still seeing the figure of the two women in the distance though quite far away by now.
“Besides, it's in War’s territory, and it's too far for easy looting, not worth going back even if I wanted to…” Adam said, softer now. “Whatever’s left… would like have just rotted…” He said even softer and then shook his head lightly.
“Let's just go, I would like to put this whole thing behind me.” He picked his gun and bag off the ground and began to take the path back to Midway. Salvatore sighed too, not yet walking, just watching Adam beginning to head back to the city before he too picked up the pace and followed after him.
Chapter Text
Surprisingly, after that encounter aside from the numerous geographical obstacles they had to avoid, they made it back to Midway without further issue.
Adam was tired, physically of course, but spiritually too. However he wasn’t yet done, he still needed to make enough money to make the trip worth it. He could worry about his feelings after he sold everything.
“Hey kid…” Salvatore began as they walked through the front gate of Midway after hearing the front gate guard speech again. Adam turned to look at him and then Salvatore sighed and shook his head.
“Nah, nevermind.” He smiled softly and patted Adam on the back a few times. “You got this, kid.” He said before turning to leave, having sensed the trouble that still clouded Adam’s mind.
Adam went through the motions, selling all his stuff at the appropriate vendors as well as fulfilling the specific item requests he had received. Jay, Lune, Doctor Yewon, one flea market vendor, and then a small number of random people he had met who had requests for him. After some effort and at least an hour of pure mercantile experience he managed to offload all his goods; guns, chems, jewelry, everything. He had netted a solid 4232 caps from the venture, by far the most lucrative run he had ever gone on. Most of the money came from Jay, having brought back premium guns after having spent time selecting them. But one cannot discount the fact that each chem was a valuable source of caps and apparently the jewelry sold to Lune was of high quality and sought after. It can not be understated how valuable it is to raid a raider base. No wonder raiders raid, it's incredibly lucrative.
However, at each place, the vendors he knew all asked him if he was doing okay. It was apparently clear on his face that something was off. He was not acting like himself. He did not have the confidence he normally had, the charisma and charm, the inner strength. And despite his best efforts to appear otherwise he was… vacant. It showed. Others were concerned for him.
He waved each of them off however, telling them he was just tired from a trip. Neither Lune nor Jay bought the excuse but for the sake of not prying neither pressed further. Doctor Yewon simply didn’t care after she asked so didn’t press further for that reason.
Having sold everything he returned to Olivia, much richer.
“2,200 caps.” Adam said, putting the vouchers on her counter when he entered her shop. Olivia looked at him surprised.
“I must say you caught me off guard, I thought it would take you some time to pay off your debt.” She laughed softly as she put the caps away. She then looked at Adam’s face. “Hey… are you okay?” She said with a softer, more worried tone now. Adam was almost getting sick of hearing this. Why did people have to keep bothering him?
“Yeah… I’m fine… just tired.” He said as he turned a bit to avoid her gaze. Offering her the same lie he had used thrice before. She seemed to scrutinize him for a few moments longer before she nodded.
“Alright, well It was a pleasure doing business with you. I hope to see you again soon.” She said pointedly, sensing something was wrong, but like her peers before her did not press.
“Thanks…” Adam said softly as he turned around to leave without another word, leaving her there, watching Adam walk out slowly.
Adam headed straight over to the Layover. It was more convenient since it was closer to the mall and the food court than Delta was, however more than that he was simply not thinking about anything but sleep at the moment.
The exchange with the front desk was simple, clean, and efficient, as always. Adam got a room for 2 nights, as per usual. And then went straight to his room. He took off his gear and, without showering or even taking off his vault suit or anything, he laid down in bed and went to sleep.
Adam woke up the next day, his stomach hurt, he was hungry, but he didn’t feel hungry. No, more than that he didn’t feel like doing anything. He just laid there in the bed after waking up, wishing he was still asleep.
He remained there for hours. Simply laying in his bed staring at the ceiling, unsure how to even feel. He reached for his Pip-Boy and turned on the radio, tuning it to Ray’s radio station. The music helped, but it didn’t change the situation.
He was a clone. A facsimile. A lie. He was not a real person, he was just a lump of cells grown in a vat. He did not have a mother. His mother was a biochamber. He did not have a father. His father was the original Adam. He never served in the military, he never worked at Second Life, he never reprogrammed Buddy, he never won that little league game when he was a kid, he never even played baseball, he never earned his distinctions, he never… lived before he awoke in that vault. He was… nobody.
That was what hurt him most. There was stolen valor, there was the lack of having family, but it was the lack of identity, the lack of having a history, the lack of a reality beyond the short time he has been alive. He has never really lived until recently. And that thought scared him. All he had was the memories of a long dead man.
Who was he? He wasn’t Adam. He wasn't a Baxter… would his- the other guy’s mother even recognize him? He was just so confused, so unsure of himself.
So he just laid there in bed, unmoving, listening to the sound of the energetic DJ rattling off stories, playing music, and giving advice for anything from wasteland survival to gun maintenance. In his quiet little room, that was feeling more like a jail cell, self imposed as it was, Silver Ray Johnson was his only companion. As much as he didn’t want to talk to anyone right now, it was nice to have someone to talk to him. It made him feel less alone. Which was how he was feeling right now. Alone. More alone than he had ever felt in his entire life. So very, desperately, alone.
Chapter Text
Adam spent the whole day in the room, not moving much. He woke up to stretch, he played automatron on his Pip-Boy, and he sat and did nothing. The day flew by while Adam rotted away in bed.
The next day came and Adam felt gross. He still was not himself, but he couldn’t stay in bed any longer, he needed to do something. So he showered. The shower helped. Of course getting clean didn’t change the reality but it did make him feel more human again. That was important.
Once Adam was out of the shower he didn’t put his vault suit back on, instead he left it behind, wearing the military uniform now. He didn’t want to think about the vault, that place where he was made , it hurt him. So he left it behind while he left his room to walk around.
He grabbed food, he hadn’t eaten at all yesterday or the night before, he was hungry, even if his stomach was not feeling especially so.
He got a nice big meal. 45 caps. Even with this Adam was richer now than he had been in a while, he had very slightly over 3000 caps. He would be patting himself on the back for all his hard work paying off if not the terrible mood he was in. The meal was quiet, as he had no one to eat with, as per usual. The silence was deafening now though, he was surrounded by so many people and they talked casually, happily, enjoyed their meals, while he was alone.
He was beginning to feel worse again so he decided to let fate work it out for him. He went to the bar.
He couldn’t go to The Oasis, it was too early for it to be open, and besides, Adam wanted to get drunk not sip at wine. So he found a relatively trashy bar and drank for the next few hours, liquor flowing freely. After racking up a bill of 232 caps, he left, drunk, but unsatisfied, so he headed to the next place he hoped to get his mind off things. The casino.
Adam enjoyed a bit of gambling. Before the war he- the other guy used to gamble with his coworkers, go to the casino on occasion, and of course he used to gamble back in the army. So he was not a stranger to it. But Adam never really cared much for gambling, he never felt that indescribable thrill at winning, or the itch to keep going until he won big. He just enjoyed a little game of stakes. However Adam was not in the right headspace right now. He was not going to the casino to win. He was going there to lose.
Adam spent several hours at the casino, drunk as he was, he was not thinking about his money, or long term survival. In fact he was not thinking about anything right now, he wanted to stop thinking. There were some ups and downs, but Adam was not trying to win big, he just wanted to feel something, so he bet on the most risky things he could, determined to either win big or go home.
By the time he was done go home he did, he had successfully lost 956 caps in just the few hours he was there. As the night seemed to be beginning to arrive he finally headed to the Oasis.
“You don't seem to be wearing your iconic blue anymore? Looking for an image change?~” Eve said with her normal flirty tone as Adam walked over to her counter. Then she saw his face. “You look like you’ve just found out your wife turned into a feral ghoul.”
“Worse.” Adam said solemnly as he sat down, noticing that there was no one around in earshot, since everyone else seemed to be paying attention to the stage at the moment.
“Well now you’ve caught my attention~” She said as she leaned in on the counter.
“I just.. want some wine. Preferably something strong.” Adam said, still solemn. Eve paused as she examined Adam again. He was no longer drunk, it seemed like his ‘genetically enhanced’ clone body metabolizes alcohol faster too. So he couldn’t stay drunk for long. Just his luck.
“As your bartender I would gladly get that for you.” She then paused without moving. “As your friend I will have to say no.” She said, staring into his eyes with her own sensors.
“If you were my friend, you’d help me drink the night away.” Adam said disgruntled as he put his arms on the counter and buried his face in them. Eve sighed and then placed a claw on Adam’s head gently.
“You know, I’ve been around long enough to have seen all kinds of humans. I’m sure if you tell me what’s wrong I’ve got some advice to give you.”
“I doubt it.” Adam said as his face remained buried in his arms on the counter.
“Try me.” Eve said with a firm tone. Adam remained silent for a long time, unsure if he even wanted to talk about it. He had spent all of yesterday dissociating, and all of today trying to distract himself. Neither had worked. He would rather not open up, he was feeling so vulnerable, but he was out of ideas.
“I’m a clone Eve…” He said quietly, his head still buried on the counter.
“You are a clone?” Eve repeated softly, a bit confused, but having clearly heard him despite his muffled voice.
“Yes…” Adam said again, softly.
“Well now. That's a new one.” She said as she put her claw to her chin and tapped it thrice. “I can’t say I have ever met a clone before.”
“See? You can’t help me.” Adam said dejected, having remained unmoved.
“I think you are just looking at this the wrong way. That just means you are unique, no?” She offered. Adam remained silent for a moment and then slowly looked up at her.
“What do you mean?”
“It's just as I said. I’ve been around for a long time. Ever since I became aware of what I was and left that shithole of a military base I have seen all types of people, been in all types of places, done all sorts of things. And in all that time I have never once met a clone.” She leaned in a bit. “I think that makes you one of a kind no?” She said with an almost seductive tone, despite her tender words and meaning.
“I don't… think that's enough though…” Adam responded, not even sure what to say to that.
“Why not?” Eve said as she started to walk out from behind the counter and over to where Adam was sitting, taking a seat beside him.
More than ever Adam could take in her form, her body was full of battle wounds, scratches, dents, burn marks, and a tiny bit of rust around some of the joints. Though it was clear she took good care of herself, dents were dinged out, scratches were buffed and painted over, and the rust was carefully contained and kept to a minimum, it was clear she took a lot of effort to keep herself looking clean. Though it was also clear that she didn’t want to look new. She seemed to keep a lot of her battle damage she accrued, perhaps as a point of pride.
“Adam.” She said tenderly now as she sat down next to him. “I am a robot designed for war and conquest. I was created in a factory in an assembly line alongside other robots who looked exactly like me. I was not special nor unique, I was a serial number. Even I do not understand how I came to be so different from my sisters, but I am different. In all my travels I have only ever met a small number of other sentient robots like me, only one other sentient assaultron. I am unique.” She said with emphasis. “And so are you.” Adam looked at her in silence as she spoke, not even sure what to say.
“So you are a clone? That doesn’t mean you can’t be who you want to be. Be someone who makes you proud. So what If I was programmed to kill targets? I can tend bar too. So what if you were cloned to be that man’s replacement, be who you want to be. Don’t let others' expectations choose your path for you.” Adam remained silent for a few moments more before he let off a soft chuckle.
“My friend Salvatore said something similar too…” He offered a sad soft smile.
“Sounds like a man who knows what he's talking about.” She leaned back on the stool a bit. “Being a clone doesn’t change who you are, Adam. You are you because you are you, not because of anyone else. Live true to yourself. That’s the best advice I can give.” She then got up and walked around the counter again.
“You know.” She continued. “Most people who come in here treat me like a robot, that’s all they see. They don’t see the woman inside. Fewer still chat with me. Even less come back to chat with me. You do.” She paused. “I wouldn’t offer advice like this to just anyone.”
“Thanks Eve…” Adam said with a small smile to her. He then let off a long exhale. She was right, Salvatore was right. He knew he couldn’t keep beating himself up about this. So he was a clone? So what? He would forge his own path. A path that the real Adam Baxter would have been proud of. He will make something of himself that both men could say was worthwhile. Sure, maybe he didn’t actually serve in the war. But the man whose memories he inherited did. He could use that knowledge, those memories, those inherited experiences, to make something of himself, help people, and build a new comfortable life here. He could move forward. He may not be the Adam Baxter. But he was Adam Baxter . He couldn’t be anything but that. He was content to be him. There was no sense fighting it. He would continue to live as he had been. True to himself and the life he wants to live. He was a clone, but just like Eve was a robot, an assaultron, he was not defined by that trait.
He nodded, having sorted out his thoughts and then looked Eve in the eye sensors and offered her a larger, more confident smile.
“Thanks Eve.” He said again, this time with more conviction and more self-assuredness.
“There’s the Handsome man I missed~” Eve said, flirty again as soon as Adam was back to himself again. She didn’t miss a beat. Adam chuckled softly.
“You sure didn’t wait.” He grinned.
“Why should I when a strong, handsome, confident man is right before me?” She teased. Adam leaned back, ran his hands through his hair and then looked at her again.
“No more drinks tonight, I drank enough today already, I haven’t eaten much today though so perhaps some food? A sandwich?”
“Coming right up, dear~” She said, turning around to make the request for him now.
Adam had gone through a crisis of self, and while it didn’t last too long, just a few days, it was formative. Though it hurt, he now knew the truth and he was determined not to let the truth stop him from living his life. Adam Baxter was back. Though he just wished he had figured this out before he blew nearly a thousand caps at the casino.
Chapter Text
Adam headed back to The Layover after a bite at The Oasis. It was just a sandwich, far smaller and less fancy than the meal he had earlier but it tasted much much better. Eve had even comped him the cost of the sandwich, she wasn’t supposed to as the bar was not hers but as a ‘friend’ he got some perks. It was nice to know he really did have a friend. Two now, since he considers Salvatore one too. His efforts to rebuild a life for himself had not been in vain, he was making something, albeit slowly.
Once he was at The Layover he topped up his room, adding an additional 2 days just so he wouldn’t have to worry about running out on another trip yet. He had wasted time… and money, he was now down to 1645, still quite a sizable amount. But considering yesterday he had over 3000 caps he had thrown a lot away. Whatever, he was over his inner crisis and could look forward again, neigh, he had to look forward. He needed a new plan, a new goal. He may have been programmed to head to Second Life but now he was a free man, he would find a direction, if not now, eventually. For now he was content to just live.
He used his last washer dryer coin to wash his vault suit. Once it was clean he put it back on and stared at himself in the mirror for a while. This is who he was now. And that was okay.
Finally, a day of self-doubt and discovery was over, he went to bed.
The next day, after spending 35 caps on breakfast, he sought out Salvatore, heading to ghoul town. Unlike the other times he came to visit him he didn’t have a plan in mind, he probably should get out there and do some more work, but he was set for a little bit and hadn't given any thought on where to go or when. If nothing else he just wanted to update him on his schedule.
“Good to see you up and about, kid.” Salvatore grinned as Adam entered the Inn.
“Took me a minute, I had to sit with your words and figure it out. I also got advice from another friend.” Adam said as he took a seat next to him.
“What matters is you pulled yourself through.” He flagged down Claire. “I’ll buy a drink to celebrate. I mean regardless of the outcome you did what you set out to do.” Adam chuckled softly and then sighed.
“I kind of… went a bit hard yesterday with the drinking… I’m fine now but I’m going to pass on the drinks today.” Claire walks over.
“Well I have plenty more than just alcohol.” She said with a smile and then looked at Salvatore. “Not that you’d know it by looking at him.”
“How I spend my caps is my business.” Salvatore said back as he hid himself behind his glass, sipping at it. She shook her head and then looked at Adam again.
“How about an ice cold Nuka Cola?”
“That sounds fantastic actually.” Adam smiled.
“Wonderful, I’ll put it on Salvatore’s tab, he did offer after all, I ain’t about to let him make a liar of himself~” She said playfully with a wink to the two of them before walking off to grab Adam the drink. Salvatore sighed and Adam chuckled.
“Ah kid…” Salvatore said changing the subject. “I feel bad about telling you this, especially since after what you just learned but… I got another job. I won't be gone for too long, just a week or two probably, but I'm not going to take your requests while I'm busy.”
“Ah.” Adam said with some surprise. He was caught off guard by the suddenness but this was always an outcome, Salvatore did tell him from the outset that he was his for hire whenever Adam needed but that he wouldn’t wait around like a puppy.
“I didn’t know how long it would take to pull yourself out of your dark cloud and I got offered a contract so I snagged it. Sorry.” Adam shook his head with a smile.
“No, it's okay, I knew this was always a possibility. I can make due without you for some time, go make your living, man.”
“I’ll toast to that.” Salvatore said as he raised his glass as a salute and then drank it, a moment later Adam’s Nuka Cola arrived. “So are you still Adam? Planning on changing your name?” He asked, curious.
“No, I’m still Adam.” He sighed as he uncorked the Nuka cola and pocketed the cap. “The other me died when the bombs fell, no doubt. I am me, he is me, and I am him, I can’t live as anyone but myself, no sense trying to be someone else.” Salvatore let off a single laugh.
“Can’t say I understand what you just said, but I also get it. Be yourself kid, like I told you in the building.”
“It was good advice.” Adam grinned, sipping at his drink again. God, the Nuka cola was good today. He really should drink more. He loved Nuka Cola.
Adam hung out with Salvatore for another hour or so and then headed back into Midway proper. He still had plenty of caps. Even if he wanted to wait out the time until Salvatore got back he could probably manage it, though if he was going to do that he would rather head back to Naper, it was cheaper. But Midway was the land of opportunity. Even if he wasn’t going to go on any more runs until he was back, which was unlikely, he could still find plenty of other jobs to do. He had options.
For the moment he decided to spend some time doing odd jobs around to pad his finances a bit, as well as take on more item requests.
Adam had begun to notice that people had started to recognize him. Not so much on sight or even by name. But he was creating waves as the man who ‘could get anything someone wants done.’ Which was an extreme exaggeration and worried him about what kind of requests might come his way. But having a reputation preceding him was useful, he had already gotten more requests for items in a few hours than he had the last few times he did this collectively.
One or two of the requests were so simple he could buy the item from a vendor. Those he delivered the same day, usually he made a loss of caps doing it this way, but to help this reputation he was apparently building it was useful. Overall he only made a loss of 12 caps. Definitely worth it.
Obviously he couldn’t complete any of the more difficult item requests today, but he did manage to do two odd jobs while he was out in town, netting him a collective 142 caps. It really did show that he could make a living doing this if he put his mind to it. He had so many marketable skills after all. But nothing was as fulfilling as being a Scaver so he wasn’t looking for a job change.
Dinner time rolled around and he went to the food court to grab a meal. 39 caps today. He went with something more exotic, perhaps as a symbol of embracing his new life, his new future. The dish was middle eastern in origin, but was something that only existed after the bombs fell, or so the vendor claimed. Either way it was tasty.
However half way through his meal he was met with an unexpected visitor taking a seat across from him at the food court table. Deccanus.
Chapter Text
“Do you mind if I join you?” Deccanus said as he took a seat at the table first. His posture was rigid, straight, like he was ordered by a superior to look presentable while sitting, but he was doing it naturally.
“Uh yeah, feel free.” Adam said back slightly confused what this was about. The order of events were reversed since Deccanus sat down without asking first, but he did ask so it didn’t matter much.
“I have spent time… thinking over what you have said at our last conversation.”
“Our last conversation? About doing what you can in the now?” Adam asked for clarification.
“Indeed.” He said with a slow nod. “How… it is hard for a soldier to leave the battlefield behind them, but they must learn to create a new future for themselves.” Adam nodded slowly. He remembered the conversation, it didn’t go exactly like that but the sentiment was right so it was fine.
“I remember.” Adam said, putting his fork down and looking at Deccanus seriously now.
“I still… do not yet know how to live without my Legion, do not know how to survive without my Caesar. For half a decade I have been a dead man, chasing ghosts and a memory. I do not wish to be that man any longer.” Adam smiled softly and gave him a firm nod.
“That sounds like a very inspired position to take, Deccanus. I’m glad you are finally moving forward. It's not easy to come to that decision, but even just taking that first step is big.”
“I thank you for your kind words.” Deccanus said, still sitting up straight, his posture still as rigid as ever. “But I did not come here to merely inform you that I am taking your advice…” He then slammed his fist against his chest and kept it there while he bowed slightly to Adam.
“I wish to learn from your example, follow your lead. If you will permit me, I would like to accompany you on your adventure and try to discover what I can become without the Legion.” Adam was momentarily flustered by the display.
“Uh… De-Deccanus…” Adam was not sure what to say to this. Deccanus pulled out of the bow but his fist remained on his chest.
“I shall not slow you down, I promise.” He said with a determined look in his eyes. Adam took in a long breath of air and then sighed.
“Look Deccanus… I’m flattered but I’m not sure if I’m going to be the best role model for you, after all I’m still trying to put the pieces of my life together myself.”
“That does not matter. Few would understand my plight as you have. From one soldier of a dead country to another. If… I may be so bold, perhaps then we can help each other find that which we are lacking. I am willing to do any task.” He said, still resolute in his words.
“Deccanus, I am a scaver, I regularly put myself in danger to collect old world artifacts to bring back to sell for profit, I don’t exactly live the most normal life.”
“Maybe not, but you are doing as you said, putting your skills from your former life to use in your new one. I simply wish to learn from your example.” Adam blinked twice and then sighed again, putting his hands up in defeat.
“Alright, if that's what you want, I’m not going to stop you from joining me on my adventures. Salvatore is out of town now so having someone along would be a great help. So long as you understand what you are getting into I will be glad to have you along.” Adam smiled and offered Deccanus his hand for a handshake. Deccanus stared at it for a moment and then shook it.
“Then we have reached an accord.” Deccanus said as he stood up now. “If you need me I am staying at The CheckInn.” He said turning to leave.
“Alright, I’m not sure when I’m leaving next but I promise I will keep you informed.” Deccanus nodded and left Adam alone in the food court once more, with a new surprise companion he had not expected. In fact the whole encounter was like a whirlwind, he was happy to have a new partner, especially since Salvatore would be indisposed for a while, but it was entirely unexpected.
Adam finished his meal and then went back to the mall. He had noticed a small bookshop when he came through last time, it must have been closed for a while since the space had always been locked up until now. He was looking for a new book anyway so it was perfect.
Walking inside the shop he was met with rows of bookshelves covered from top to bottom in books. Though to be honest this was not unexpected. However there were so many books and bookshelves that he could not even see the counter at the back of the store. So he started to browse.
Honestly he was not the biggest book fan, but the means to entertain himself nowadays has dropped significantly. Back before the world ended he- er, the other him? No, screw it, even if he is a clone he will still refer to those memories as his, he is Adam Baxter. No more jumping through mental hoops. For the sake of his sanity he is the same man who lived in the pre-war world.
Anyway, before the world ended, his most common past-time was watching TV or movies. Both of those things were gone now. Well there were still movies, in fact there was a movie theater in Midway, he wanted to try it sometime but just hadn’t gone yet. But there was certainly no TV. He enjoyed reading well enough it could become his new thing, so it wasn't a major big deal, just required some adjusting on his part. Besides books were portable, and with how on-the-move his life was now, something like that was nice. Maybe he could also look into picking up a second Holo-tape game. They were portable too, but that was a thought for later.
After spending a solid ten minutes looking through the books on display he found one he liked. A fiction story based on true events from during the war. From the synopsis it sounded like a dramatized version of the latter half of the Resource Wars. It resonated with him. His book selected, he navigated through the maze of bookshelves and found the counter. No one was standing there but there was a little metal bell sitting on the counter, presumably for him to press for this exact situation. So, with a gentle press, a soft ding rings out through the store.
“Oh, my. I’m coming.” An elderly female voice said from behind a doorway behind the counter with a cloth sheet over it. Out from the cloth doorway emerged a woman much like her voice. An elderly woman dressed in a brown smock like dress with silver white hair tied into a braid, glasses, and a heavy hunch. She had a very gentle smile.
“Well dear, I’m sorry. I haven’t had customers in so long I’m not used to sitting in the front anymore.” She said as she walked over to the counter.
“No worries at all.” Adam smiled softly. “You didn’t even make me wait.” She laughed very softly into her hand.
“Well we have a kind customer today.” She then shuffled up onto a stool in front of the cash register, and then patted down her dress. “What can I do for you, young man?” She said sweetly.
“I would like this.” Adam said back as he gently put the book down on the table in front of her.
“Oh! This one.” She smiled as she picked it up. “I remember when George found this one, he was fond of it.” She smiled sadly.
“George?” Adam asked.
“Ah, my dearly beloved, who has passed away.” She paused. “I was unsure if I was even going to reopen the shop after he passed away, but eventually I got tired of sitting at home and returned. Besides…” She gently ran her fingers along the cover of the book Adam brought up. “What would I do without all my books?” She said wistfully as she stared at the book. Then she seemed to remember that Adam was still here.
“Oh dear, I apologize, I didn’t mean to ramble on. You didn’t ask for my life story.” She said as she began to ring up the book.
“I don't mind.” Adam smiled warmly. “I’m glad you reopened the store. I wouldn’t have found this book otherwise.”
“That’s why I do this, I love connecting people with stories.” She said gently and then rang it up, 25 caps. Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out 25 caps for her, handing it over. “I hope to see you again, dear.” Adam nodded.
“You probably will.” He smiled and then took his book, planning to head back to his room to wind down the night.
On his way back to his room he stopped by the flea market and picked out a nice wine to enjoy a peaceful end to his evening. It was only 20 caps, a steal really. That's the benefit of the flea market, you never knew what you might find.
He made it back to his room, settled into his bed, grabbed his book and wine and had just opened the first page of the book when he heard a knock at the door. He was confused, who could it be? He hadn’t asked for room service, not that he had ever used that feature, maybe he should try it. But he had not needed anything nor was he expecting anyone.
Cautious, and careful, Adam took his 10mm and held it in his hand behind his back as he walked over to the door, opening it slowly and carefully. What he was met with was not what he expected. Men in Black Suits.
“Are you Adam Baxter?” One of the three men asked with a stern but almost monotone.
“Uh, yes?” He responded, not sure how he should act in front of them or if he should be worried.
“The Boss would like to see you.”
Chapter Text
“Is this an invitation or demand?” Adam asked cautiously, not even sure what to make of this situation.
“Both.” The man replied without hesitation. Adam sighed deeply and then nodded slowly.
“Alright, give me a moment.” Adam said as he left the door open a crack but still partly closed, just to show he wasn’t planning on running or anything. He considered it, but there were no escape exits besides pushing past the three men. And he wouldn’t win a fight against three imposing gentlemen, not unless he shot them. But that was an extreme escalation, despite the pit growing in Adam’s stomach he didn’t know why he was being singled out right now acting on the side of caution was better. So he grabbed his holster and belt and put them around his waist, holstering his 10mm a moment later.
“Alright, I’m ready.” Adam said, emerging from the door, now visible armed. One of the men in the back looked at Adam’s holstered weapon but did not say anything, he didn’t even flash a look of disapproval, just noting it.
“Follow me.” The third man said as he began to lead the way out of the Layover towards wherever their boss was. Adam was still very nervous. What had he done? Had he crossed The Guild somehow? Had he upset someone? He couldn’t think of anything he had done to upset someone like that. Wait no, there was something he did. When saving Derek he had beat up two street toughs. They were clearly not part of The Guild, but perhaps they were connected in some way? If it's not that he can’t think of anything he had done to catch their ire. All he could do is hope that he could talk his way out of this. Worst case he would need to shoot his way out of there, but that was the worst case scenario, he was not prepared to leave all his gear behind, plus Midway itself. And that's not to mention the improbability of him making it out of Midway with naught but a single 10mm pistol. Talk was his only option.
The men walked him to a part of Midway he had never seen, but not because he had not chosen to explore it, but because he wasn’t allowed to. This section was passed a metal detector and specially made wall dividers to separate this section from the main thoroughfare. It also had an ‘employees only’ sign out in front of the Metal detector. In addition to all of this there were always two Midway guards standing out front. Very clearly not the kind of place someone like him was supposed to go to. But here he was, heading through.
As they passed through the metal detector Adam’s gun triggered the detector, predictably, but as he had not hidden it not a single person was surprised.
“We are going to have to ask you to leave your gun and any other weapons here.” The black suited man said as he turned around to face Adam again. Adam looked at him for a few moments, then let off a big sigh as he took off his entire belt and placed it on the table right behind the metal detector. “Do not worry, your weapon will be returned to you after the meeting is over. I will ask; is that your only weapon?” The man said with an intense stare.
“Yes.” Adam said back, unafraid, at this point he had nothing left to lose, all he could do was talk his way through. “I only brought my pistol.” The man seemed to size Adam up for a moment and then nodded and continued leading the way through the previously unexplored area.
Surprisingly the area was notably different from the rest of Midway he had seen. The floors and walls were covered with fine wood, the walls covered in paintings, fresh flowers in vases dotted the hallway. Even the doors themselves were a nice mahogany instead of the boring airport doors he had seen up to this point. Though aside from these adornments it was still very clearly an airport facility, little things would remind him. But he couldn’t help but wonder if this is what the third floor was like. He had never actually gone there, not willing to spend a tremendous amount of caps on needless luxury. Though of course he was fine spending nearly 1000 caps at the casino so perhaps he was not one to judge.
Regardless, after a bit more walking they arrived at a set of double doors. The leading man pushed both doors open as the two who were following behind Adam stopped at the threshold of the door and took up positions on the wall.
The room itself just seemed to be a very very nice office. Everything in here was immaculate, looking completely untouched by the war, trinkets of all kinds dotted the walls, bookshelves, and any space they could fit. Marble busts sat in the corner, a full sized famous painting sat on one wall, and the room screamed opulence. Upon arriving the big plush burgundy chair that sat at the desk was turned away from Adam, only giving him a view of its back. A gentle fire licked the edges of a fireplace right behind the chair, giving the room an almost cozy feeling.
Of course it would have been cozy if not for the foreboding atmosphere of the entire ordeal and the huge black suited man who was standing next to the backwards facing chair staring at Adam like he was sizing up a piece of meat.
“I have brought Adam Baxter, Boss.” The man who had led Adam here said before he too took a position against the wall, but on the inside of the room. Adam was completely surrounded. Once more he just hoped it would be a civil conversation.
“Ah, wonderful.” A gravelly voice said from the chair still not facing Adam. “Please, Mr. Baxter, Take a seat won’t you.” The voice continued as Adam looked to the almost as lush chair that sat opposite the desk. Adam took a deep breath and then walked over to the chair and sat down. Almost as soon as he did, the big burgundy chair in front of him swiveled around revealing… a ghoul.
This was a ghoul not looking too different from Salvatore but he was wearing a fine black suit, the nicest in the room, and was wearing a nice black fedora with a silver trim.
“Welcome to The Guild, Mr. Baxter.” He said with a wide and slightly menacing grin.
Chapter Text
“But I thought-” Adam began before getting cut off by the Boss.
“That ghouls weren’t allowed in Midway?” He finished Adam’s thought. “Conventional wisdom.” He said before taking another puff of his cigar, letting the pause drag out as he enjoyed himself.
“I own this town, Mr. Baxter. No matter how much long standing policies might wish me gone, They can’t oust me.” He grinned.
“Then why not push to get the other ghouls to come and go freely in the city?” Adam asked, innocently, now curious and confused.
“What have they done for me?” He asked back callously.
“I uh… don’t know? But if you ‘own the town’ in your own words, then why not use that power to help them?”
“I ask again. What have they ever done for me?” He said with a more menacing tone now. “I’m not in the business of charity work. My business is business. Now…” He leaned in a bit, still menacing. “I’d suggest you drop the topic.” He said before he leaned back again and relaxed, taking another hit of his cigar.
“I’m sure you are curious why I had you called over here Mr. Baxter.” He said as he fiddled with his hat for a moment.
“Yes I was.” Adam nodded, deciding to go along with his whims.
“I’ve heard of you.” He said as he tapped some still burning ash off his cigar into an ornate golden ashtray on his desk. “You have been making quite a name for yourself, haven’t you Mr. Baxter?” He asked. Though it was clearly rhetorical.
“I suppose?” Adam said, uncertain what to say to that. “I’ve just done what I needed to since I got here.” The boss laughed.
“Honest and humble.” He grinned. “I think I’m going to like you, Mr. Baxter.” He said before taking one least hit of his cigar and then snuffing it out.
“I have a task in need of a man of your skills. A getter of things, a doer.”
“Why me?”
“Your reputation speaks for itself.” He continued with a casual commanding tone, though he was not menacing Adam it was almost natural to him. “You have broken into a former military compound, a mirelurk nest, crossed swords with War’s band, and have made waves in the merchant community by bringing back hoards of valuable commodities.” He grinned. “I’d say you have done more than a little to make your name spoken around here.”
“I didn’t realize I had become so well known.”
“I have eyes and ears everywhere Mr. Baxter. So naturally when a rising star enters my city I take notice. Naturally I’ve already done my research on you before you were brought here.” He grins. “But I haven’t called you here to tell you about yourself.”
“You mentioned a task?”
“Yes, I did.” He leaned in a bit again. “I want you to get a specific object from a vault in the area. Vault 54.”
“But why me? Don’t you have men for this sort of thing?”
“Yes.” He said, holding up a finger. “You may not be one of my men but not many people leave settlements on a regular basis and come back without issue. The only ones who usually do are caravans, and they travel in groups or stick to known roads with guards. You? You jump into the thick of it.” He leaned back in his chair.
“I hear you took down a raider base, is that right?” Adam was surprised, that happened only recently and he wasn’t going around bragging about it, though he might have casually dropped it once or twice for this man to already know said a lot about his intelligence network.
“Yes…” Adam said, slightly intimidated by the scope of his knowledge.
“Then I can send you out on this job without worrying about you dying before you finish the task.” He looked Adam in the eyes. “Guys like you aren’t as common as you think, Vaultie.” He said with an almost playful tone, trying to lower the tension.
“And,” he continued. “To answer your second question. If I had any men who I can ask this of, do you think I’d be coming to you?” He chuckled softly. “These guys are great, I trust them, but there is a difference between handling tasks in the city and leaving to investigate an old vault. For things like these I hire an outside contractor.” He leaned in again and gently pointed at Adam.
“You.” He smirked.
“So…” Adam says, wrapping his head around this. “You are asking me to go to an old vault, explore it, and look for a specific item?” He asked, just to be certain he was understanding all this correctly.
“Indeed.” he grinned as he took his cigar and put it back into the box.
“And what am I getting out of this?” Adam said firmly. The boss laughed for a moment at this.
“Oh you are also bold.” He grinned. “Any chance you want to join The Guild? I could use someone with a lot of spunk like you.” He asked, suddenly turning this into a recruiting offer.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’m not looking for any permanent employment at the moment.” Adam said back quickly.
“Shame.” He shrugged. “Well anyway, you will be properly compensated. I will promise a 250 cap reward for bringing me information on the vault, and an additional 500 caps for obtaining the item for me.” Adam sat there in silence for a moment thinking before he looked the boss in the eyes and spoke.
“Each.” Adam countered.
“Excuse me?” He said, shocked at Adam’s tone and response.
“I have a partner, I would like to see him compensated for this task too. So a total of 750 caps for each of us, assuming we succeed in getting your item.” Adam said, standing his ground. The boss raised an eyebrow as he looked at Adam.
“Do you know what it means to be negotiating with me?”
“No.” Adam admitted. “But you are a client asking to buy my services, it seems only fair that I can negotiate.” There is silence that permeated the room for a few tense seconds. Adam even began to wonder if he had overstepped his bounds. Then the Boss laughed hard.
“Alright.” He grinned. “You do this task properly, and, as requested, you and your partner will be paid for your efforts.” He grinned.
“Thank you.” Adam said with a light nod. “Now what can you tell me about this vault and what is this item you are looking for?” He asked.
Chapter Text
“Truthfully I can’t tell you much about this vault.” He said as he leaned in his chair again. “Just that before the war Vault Tec was doing an experiment with genetic enhancements. Real super soldier type shit. Different from FEV though, as far as I’m aware. Of course since it's a vault, that thing on your wrist is necessary to even get inside.” He gestured to Adam’s pip-boy. “Can’t get into a vault without one, another reason I sought you out. Been a long time since someone from a vault has wandered into my city.” Adam nodded slowly.
“And the item?” Adam asked.
“Rumor has it that at least one vial of the formula remains, hidden, within the depths of that vault. I want that vial.” He said seriously.
“Why?” Adam asked, confused.
“That much is none of your business.” He said before snapping his fingers and having a map brought over to his desk by the black suited man who was standing at his side.
“This here is the location I need you to go to.” He said pointing to a location on the map. “You will head through an underground parking garage and through the employee entrance, there you will find the vault.” Adam looked at the map and then pulled up his pip-boy marking the location on the map for himself.
“Alright I can do this. I will likely leave the day after tomorrow.” Adam began to stand up to leave but stopped short, looking at the boss uncertain if he needed to be dismissed or something. The boss just waved him off. Adam got up and turned to walk to the door, which was being opened by the man who led him into the room in the first place but stopped at the threshold.
“Am I allowed to speak about this or is this a secret request?” Adam asked, having stopped and realizing this was an important question.
“Oh.” The boss said flippantly as Adam turned around to look at him. “I wouldn’t exactly call it a secret, but discretion would be appreciated. Loose lips sink ships after all~” He grinned. Adam’s eyes went wide at hearing the war slogan from pre-war and then nodded and turned to leave, being escorted out by only one of the men this time.
Once he got to the exit he was given back his gun and belt and given free reign to go where he wished.
Honestly, he had assumed the worst when he was called in by The Guild. He had heard so many bad rumors he had immediately thought it was either a threat or a death sentence. Being hired was not something he had even considered, but it worked out. He still had a lot of questions and it was clear they couldn’t be fully trusted, but a chance to explore a different vault rather than the one he came from was actually pretty exciting. There was, however, a thought that began to form in the back of Adam’s mind.
First, he had always assumed that Vault-Tec had created the vaults, with government support, to protect people in case the bombs dropped. That is what they were sold as after all. Obviously the vault he had come from was not like that but he still had the vague impression that his was the outlier, one bad vault among over a hundred which did do as advertised. However the casual indifference by which the boss had talked about the experiments that took place in the vault had begun to make him think differently. Were… all vaults experiments? How much of Vault-Tec was a lie? It sent shivers down his spine to think about how many thousands of people put their trust in the company only for them to be betrayed like that. Who would have guessed you couldn’t trust corporate America?
Second was the odd coincidence of what the vault experiment actually was. His vault, Vault 42, was ultimately a test to see if through genetic manipulation and resequencing, they could create perfect human bodies either for immortality purposes or for effectively breeding slave labor. This new vault that he was being sent to seemed to have a similar goal. Genetic manipulation. Was it a coincidence? Was Chicago a hotspot for Vault-Tec genetic experimentation? Were all vaults like this? He had more questions than answers now. But hopefully he could find some answers in the vault.
He arrived back at his room once more, settling back into bed to drink some wine and read. He needed to tell Deccanus, but figured he could tell him tomorrow, after all, if he told him now, late at night, he would feel obliged to rush them out the door tomorrow. Adam could certainly do that, and Adam had a feeling that Deccanus would drop everything to join, but Adam had paid for one more night at the Layover, so he wanted to try to get some use out of it at least.
Eventually Adam slept and woke up the next day ready to prepare for the vault exploration. However, his first stop was breakfast.
Upon arriving at the food court, and getting a pancake platter, for which he had paid 36 caps, he noticed, sitting at another table, that same Ranger who Deccanus had beefed with the day he saved his life. It seemed like the guardsmen hadn’t kicked him out. Though honestly he was just defending himself, but it was anyone’s guess what happened after he had left with the guardsman. Now though he was eating breakfast like nothing had ever happened.
Adam had half a mind to go approach him and ask for his story, he certainly stood out among the crowd, though perhaps not nearly as much as he would in a place like Naper. After all, Midway was home to all types. He was very curious to hear why a so-called sworn enemy of the Legion was so far east from whatever sort of place the NCR was. But he also knew better than to approach random strangers without a good reason, especially ones who weren’t afraid to shoot first and ask questions later. So Adam held his tongue and ate quietly.
Chapter Text
Adam arrived at the location for the CheckInn after breakfast, finding it with some help from a random passerby. It was one of the most heavily transformed spaces he had seen up to this point, perhaps even more so than The Guild’s area. The entrance was the check in desk where one would have their bags weighed by the steward right as soon as they got into the airport, however the actual Inn was behind the door, in the back, where the bags were usually transported to.
The back space clearly used to be a mess of conveyor belts, heavy industrial stairs, steel beams, and exposed piping. Built for utility rather than aesthetics. However very little trace of this remained, the stairs did, and some of the conveyors did too, but pretty much everything else was either removed entirely or recycled for the purpose of construction something entirely different. A housing district. Adam was confused. He had assumed this was an Inn, but much like the front entrance of Midway that had been converted to numerous shops and small homes this too had been completely overhauled into housing. Though the houses here seemed to be closer to the size he would see in Naper. Some even being 2 stories high and multiple rooms wide. This was not an Inn at all, but a district.
Everytime he explored more of Midway he found something new, the city was huge. They truly didn’t waste any space at all here. One could only guess how many lived in Midway, not even counting guests like himself.
Regardless, after exploring this new, unexpected part of the city he found ‘The CheckInn’ which was a 2 story motel looking structure that simply existed within this residential neighborhood. Not only did he find the motel, but he also found a ramen bar, a regular bar, a small food market, and a tennis court. It truly was like an isolated community within the settlement. Of course all the buildings were made of scrap materials and recycled parts, but it was definitely a step up from the housing in the main thoroughfare. If this was just a normal neighborhood, then how nice must the third floor be? Maybe one day he would need to explore that too. For now he headed into the inn and headed to the reception.
“Hello, excuse me, do you have a moment?” Adam said as he approached the man sitting at the front desk.
“Hm? Oh yes, how can I help you?” He said as he looked up from a newspaper he was reading, a monthly Midway newspaper by the looks of the title on the front, everyday was something new with this town.
“I am looking for a friend of mine, Deccanus, he told me I would find him here?” Adam said politely.
“Ah, the guy in 205? I’ll go up and get him for you, wait a moment here.” He said as he put the newspaper down and walked out of the space towards the exterior stairs that would lead him to Deccanus’ room.
While he waited Adam looked around the exterior of the building and the room where he was just in. It was set up almost like apartments, 7 doors on the first floor, 7 on the second, and a mirrored exterior on the other side. At the end of the exterior walkway there was a door labeled ‘Bathroom’ for each floor, meaning 6 people at least on one floor were expected to share a bathroom. Other than the bathroom it looked pretty nice. Though it did make Adam wonder how much more he was paying to have a private bathroom. Perhaps he truly did ask for luxury when he was asking Derek for a place to stay. However, Adam had lived enough of his life with shared bathrooms in the army, if he could have a private bathroom, even if it took a bit more caps to obtain, it was worth it. Just the same he couldn’t help but be curious.
After a little bit the man returned to the desk with Deccanus in tow.
“Adam.” Deccanus said as he arrived into the room. “I was told you wished to see me.” Adam nodded.
“That’s right, we have a job.”
“I see.” Deccanus said flatly, saying nothing more. Adam looked at him confused.
"Aren't you curious what sort of job it is?”
“It does not matter. I have sworn to follow you to help myself find a path, it does not matter whether we are assassinating a raider boss, or babysitting puppies.” He said without an ounce of sarcasm. Adam chuckled and smiled softly.
“Well if it's all the same I would like to explain what we will be doing so that way you can prepare yourself.”
“Understood.” Deccanus said, still as rigid as ever. Adam motioned with his head for Deccanus to follow so they wouldn’t be overheard by the innkeeper and led him to a sitting area nearby that had no one around to listen in on them. Once they sat down Adam explained.
“We were hired by The Guild to head to an old Vault-Tec Vault, explore the inside, and retrieve a vial of some sort of super-soldier serum? I’m not positive, but the man I talked to, the head of the The Guild, seemed certain that at least one vial remained. For our efforts we will be paid 250 caps for information and upon retrieval 500 more, and that's for us each.” Deccanus frowned upon hearing that a vault was involved.
“Is something wrong?” Adam asked, noticing the expression change on the normally stoic Deccanus.
“No.” Deccanus replied seriously.
“You definitely reacted when I said we were going into a Vault. Do you not like enclosed spaces or something?” Adam probed.
“No. That is not it.” Deccanus said, still dodging the question. Adam sighed.
“Look, I don’t mean to pry but it helps to know your mental state if we are going to be working together. If there is something you don’t like about the mission, say something, we are going to be partners, you have a say in every action and task we take. If you feel something is too dangerous, speak up.” Deccanus stared at him for a moment and then looked at the Inn he was staying at as he began to speak.
“In the Legion one’s own concerns were unnecessary when faced with the greater goals of the Legion and Caesar. A legionnaire’s duty was to follow his centurion.” He said, as if he was repeating a mantra at the end.
“Perhaps…” Adam began, slowly. “But you are not in the Legion anymore, I am not a centurion, and I’m asking for your thoughts. The first step to ensuring you can find a new path is to stop thinking exclusively like a legionnaire, you have to spread your wings a little.” Adam coaxed him. Deccanus turned to look at Adam again and then looked down for a moment, when his eyes next met Adam’s again a moment later he resumed speaking.
“In my tribe, before we were assimilated into the Legion, I heard stories as a child. There were many horrid tales of such places. The Vaults were where the monsters emerged, where creatures wearing the flesh of men and the soul of demons dwelled. Vault’s were naught but tombs for ancient memories…” Adam took a deep breath and then sighed, he nodded.
“So… you are worried those tales are true.” Adam said, understanding his fears.
“It shall not impede my work.” He said back resolutely.
“Well that's all well and good, but if you don’t feel up to this-” Adam began before being cut off by Deccanus.
“No.” He said sternly. “I shall not back down due to old folklore of a long dead tribe.” He said, standing up. “I will follow you into the gates of Pluto if you command it.”
“I'm not commanding anything of you.” Adam sighed softly. “But if you are feeling up to joining me, then we will be leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early.”
“That is fine with me.” Deccanus said back resolutely.
“Alright.” Adam stood up now himself. “Meet me at the front gate tomorrow, bring whatever supplies you need.” He said as he turned to walk away but stopped short before he did. “Oh, and this mission isn’t exactly a secret, but the client would appreciate discretion.” Adam said with a smile.
“Understood. I shall speak of it to no one.” Deccanus said, rigid as ever. Adam nodded.
“Tomorrow then.”
Chapter Text
The rest of the day was spent uneventfully. Aside from a single odd job helping fill in at a workshop repairing various electronics such as radios, cameras, TVs, and more, for which he was paid a cool 200 caps. An exceptionally worthwhile use of his time, but not a very exciting time. He grabbed dinner for 34 caps and then headed to The Oasis to speak with Eve again.
“Back again so soon?” She said with an almost teasing tone when Adam walked in. “And here I thought you would want some time away after our last meeting~” Adam chuckled as he sat down.
“I’m actually here to hear your thoughts.”
“Oh?” She leaned in. “Sure, I think you are hot.” She said, as forward as ever.
“I meant your thoughts on a situation I’m in.” Adam said with a grin, ignoring her advances. She shrugged and leaned back. “I was contacted by the boss of the guild.” Eve tilted her head a bit, her expressions were hard to read, namely because she had none, but he was slowly getting better at reading her body movements, but he still never was quite sure what she was thinking.
“Considering you are in here fine, I suppose you were let off with a warning?” She asked.
"No, actually he hired me for a mission.”
“Well now, that is interesting.” She leaned in again. “Far be it from me to speak ill of the man, but he’s the sort of guy who thinks three moves ahead at all times.” She paused and then added: “Though he’s also the sort to think he’s the smartest guy in the room at all times. So he is quite full of himself, but you didn’t hear that from me.” Adam let off a single soft laugh.
“Is he trustworthy?”
“To pay you? Sure.” She said back quickly. “But he’s the sort of man you don’t turn your back on, he plays a dangerous game.” She then gently pokes Adam’s forehead with her claw. “Though if you keep your nose clean I doubt he’d ever have a problem with you.” Adam nodded.
“What is he having you do anyway?” She continued.
“Explore an old sealed vault in the area.”
“Oh now things make sense. Well just be careful in the vault, never know what will be inside.”
“Are Vaults usually such dangerous places?” Adam asked, Eve shrugged.
“I’ve only been in a handful of Vaults in my lifetime, and every single one of them had the door left open, with one exception of a Vault that was turned into a settlement but that's another story. Every Vault is wildly different, some are dangerous, some are just sad, it's truly a roll of the dice. But a sealed Vault? I couldn’t even hazard a guess.”
“Okay… I’ll keep my wits about me then.” Adam smiled.
“Good boy.” Eve returned. “Now, what can I get you?”
Adam spent the next hour at the bar and spent an additional 30 caps on a drink and then headed back to his room.
The next day he fully geared up, grabbed his bags and set out to meet Deccanus at the Gate. When he got there Deccanus was also geared up, bandana on his face, spear on his back, and rifle in his hands.
“Is it time?” He asked as Adam approached.
“It is, I hope you weren’t waiting long.” Adam said as he pulled up his pip-boy and began to chart their path towards the Vault.
“I did not.” Deccanus returned, saying nothing more on the topic. Adam got the feeling he may have been waiting here for a while and just was not saying anything but chose not to mention it, next time he would use a specific time to meet up instead of vagaries.
“Alright, let's set off then, we need to head south from here.” Adam said as he signaled towards the gate guard he was ready to leave.
“You lead, I shall follow.” Deccanus said back.
The trip to the Vault was the most geographically interesting trip he had taken up to this point, though this was by accident. Adam’s Pip-boy had a map, of course, but it was tuned for the old world. The landscape had changed so much that without Salvatore’s expert pathfinding in this area he ended up taking them through paths that had long since been abandoned and covered up.
At one point, in order not to waste time doubling back, they had to scale a 20 story building, cross a precarious bridge connecting the building to its neighbor, no doubt constructed by industrious survivors who were no longer around, and then descend through the other building to get past numerous obstacles below. Another time they came across a whole river that was not there before. Seems that time, erosion, and nuclear destruction had diverted some of the runoff from the Great Lakes creating a new river Adam hadn’t even known about, they were able to ford it but they had to do so carefully.
However, other than the annoying path they took, there was nothing that opposed their trek. They did see some feral ghoul packs wandering about, however not a single group noticed them and they were able to skirt by without issue. In addition, thanks to the fact Adam had to scale 20 floors of a building, he used the opportunity to chart a smoother path back to Midway when their time at the Vault was done. He also found that while Deccanus had no problem taking Salvatore’s backpack to be filled up, he made a comment about slaves, which prompted Adam to ask him about himself.
“There is not much to tell.” Deccanus said back flatly. “I was naught but a child when the Legion came to my home, and it was within the Legion where I became a man. They formed me, molded me, taught me how to survive. I am Legion.” He finished resolutely, his words like he was wearing a badge of honor.
“Alright, then tell me about the Legion, what kind of place was it?” Deccanus got a sort of wistful look in his eye for a moment before he began to speak.
“Caesar’s Legion was a land of great wealth and bounty. Stretching all the way from the great Colorado River to the lands once known as… the Texas Commonwealth.” He said with some hesitancy due to the name being unfamiliar to him. Though Adam understood. That meant that, at least, the legion was big enough to encompass 2 whole states and that's assuming the territory stopped at the state borders which was incredibly unlikely.
“Wow, they truly did cover a lot of ground.” Adam said, impressed that a state, post nuclear fallout, could rise to expand so far.
“Indeed.” Deccanus said with a hint of pride. “Our lands were bountiful, cleared of raider and waste-creature alike. We brought civilization to the unkempt tribes of the lands we conquered, brought them the truth of Mars and our Caesar.” He said with idolation.
“You said the Legion doesn't use drugs?” Adam asked, curious now about what kind of culture they had.
“Medicinal drugs were allowed, but chems were banned by our mighty Caesar. A warrior should not succumb to baser vices. Those who broke this commandment were punished severely.”
“Even in life threatening situations?”
“Yes. Even then.” He said back without hesitation. “It was old world technology and vice that destroyed it, our legion was not to fall to such temptations. That was our Caesar’s will.”
“I see.” Adam said, understanding, at least, some of what he was saying. It made some sense that a society that was born from the ashes of nuclear fire might refuse the technology of the ‘old world’ because they had destroyed themselves with it. But to deny it outright seemed strange to him, still it was Deccanus’ way of life, who was he to tell it was wrong. Unless of course his life was at stake which right now it was not.
“Our lands were so safe a child could traverse our entire territory without fear of any attacker. Truly, under Caesar’s rule, we had tamed the wastes.” Deccanus said before sighing and looking a bit down. “What remains now…” He said before petering off.
“Have you returned since you left?” Adam asked softly.
“No.” Deccanus said back a bit disheartened. “I have not.”
“Have you at least heard of news from there?”
“I have heard tell that the conflict in the region has died down, but I have not inquired further, to know that my home was so thoroughly destroyed by those who coveted the throne is… heartbreaking.” Adam gently pat Deccanus’ shoulder in solidarity.
“I understand what you mean.” He said with warmth.
“What of your home? Did you ever return?” Deccanus asked. Adam grew somber and looked around them for a moment, seeing the broken buildings, torn streets, and radiation filled rivers.
“I did… it was not the same.” He said darkly, as he recognized how much things had changed.
“I am afraid that if I am to return I will find it much the same.”
“All the more reason to make the most of the moment.” Adam said, determined again. “If my home is in tatters I will help what's left. Or, barring that, I will build a new life elsewhere. That is what I’ve resolved to do.” Deccanus nodded and said nothing more on the topic as they continued their journey to the Vault.
Chapter Text
They arrive at the vault after a long journey made grueling by Adam’s poor path finding. He made a mental note to ensure his paths going forward would be better scouted to avoid this. However the entire time Deccanus did not utter a single word of complaint. He soldiered on without issue. Even keeping up with Adam’s level of endurance and stamina, which was impressive and not something even Salvatore was able to do.
They arrived at the location, surprisingly the entrance to the underground parking garage looked untouched by the bombs. Which was good because if the entrance was blocked they would have had to turn around and go home. But likely The Guild Boss made sure this place was accessible before he asked for Adam’s help.
Adam walked up to the control panel and plugged his pip-boy in while Deccanus watched. Even under his bandana he was clearly tense, hand gripping his rifle tightly.
With the loud sound of gears grinding the giant vault door with the emblazoned ‘54’ began to slowly open as red warning lights began to whir to live from the inside of the Vault. As soon as the vault door was open they began to head inside, the door shutting behind them automatically.
It was dark. Very dark. Unlike Vault 42 which still had enough power to keep the lights on, this place clearly had no power whatsoever. Adam turned on his pip-boy light and his helmet light. Deccanus, however, had no light so he simply looked in the directions Adam was pointing.
It was hard to see, the only areas of the vault being illuminated by Adam’s two lights. One that created a circle around him from his pip-boy, and one from his helmet that shined forward. However even from the minimal looking around they had done in just the entrance the entire vault felt… eerie. In the distance noises could be heard faintly, though what those noises were was unclear.
They advanced, having no choice but to travel through this uncomfortable atmosphere in silence as they illuminated pathway after pathway. Something became clear after they had been here for a few minutes. They were not alone.
Someone was here, or something. The noises were growing in frequency, it sounded like something walking around on metal floors, or heavy breathing, or the chattering of teeth, or any other number of sounds. And yet they still had not seen anything.
The Vault itself, though they were not specifically looking to loot, still had a small handful of goods. Though they were not raiding every section they went into, the rooms still seemed like the inhabitants had not left the vault at all, clothing items strewn about the rooms like someone raided them but didn’t leave with them. Though the food seemed to be missing, who knew what else. If not for the inability to see or the creepy knowledge that something was in the vault with them this would have been a lucky find, enough goods to bring back certainly. However this was the time for caution not the time to be thinking about making some extra caps.
Deccanus was the first to see something, he turned around quickly, drawing his machete and getting in a stance, ready to cut down whatever came at him, but nothing came.
“What did you see?” Adam whispered as he stopped, keeping his back to Deccanus so he could cover the front.
“I do not know.” He said with a stern but almost… fearful tone. “It was large and fast, but the light did not illuminate it enough.” Adam nodded.
“Lets keep moving. I’ll cover the front, you cover our backs.”
“Understood.”
The two of them continued to advance, slowly, through the cramped hallways of the vault. In a sense they were wandering aimlessly. His pip-boy map was helping, giving Adam a mild sense of where he was going and where he had been, uncovering more of the map as he traversed it, but truthfully he was just wandering. He had a goal. A lab. If there was anywhere a vial of this serum might be, it would be there. At least in theory. But as he crept around, Deccanus at his back, he kept hearing sounds, like there were creatures moving through the dark hallways just around the corner, nowhere to be seen once he had sight on them. It was starting to get scary. He was beginning to hate Vaults.
Then it happened.
As Adam rounded a corner after finally finding a sign that read ‘laboratory’ with an arrow pointing right, he saw them… or it.
It was humanoid. But to say that was generous, it was tall, lanky, hunched over, with arms almost the size of its body. Its head was stretched out and its mouth hung open, its feet were the size of Adam’s chest and its teeth were the size of his eyeballs. It looked emaciated, thin, and had veins visible throughout its body. And when Adam spotted it, it spotted him.
It screamed, a wail of the damned that nearly caused Adam to drop his gun and cover his ears. However he didn’t, instead he fired.
The rounds connected with the lithe body like a sharp knife on tissue paper. The body had no resistance to the bullets at all. However it did not appear to feel pain and instead charged through the hail of bullets towards Adam.
Adam had no recourse but to keep firing at the monster as it charged at him. He heard another blood curdling scream from behind him but didn’t have the time to turn around, he could only trust Deccanus to handle it. Instead he fired a few more times at the creature. It came to a halt in front of him, dead. He had wanted to aim for the head but the way the creature moved it bobbed its head around so much it was like hitting a bee mid flight, so instead he had focused on center mass. It worked.
He whipped around and turned to help Deccanus only to see one of those creatures take a swipe at him, however Deccanus was faster, he ducked underneath the swipe and cleanly cut the entire arm off at the elbow joint. As it began to swipe again Adam fired at its head. Luckily not bobbing as it was engaged in combat, and it died instantly.
“Come on, let's get to the lab.” Adam said with a commanding and hurried tone.
Chapter Text
The two began to run. The noises were growing in frequency, they were being followed, and not by one or two, from the sounds of it there were a lot.
“Deccanus, whatever you do, do not stop running!” Adam shouted as he blind fired his pistol backwards hoping to do some damage to the creatures following.
“Understood!” Deccanus shouted back over the gunfire.
Adam took a sharp left at a T junction and kept running, the signs were still pointing the way, he could only assume he was getting close to where he had to go. Then he tripped.
Running through the hall as fast as they were, with only the limited light they had, all the while Adam was checking behind them towards the noises that followed, he missed some sort of Vault-Tec labeled box on the ground and fell face first on the metal floor. The noises were getting closer, Adam didn’t have time to waste.
He flipped onto his back, pistol still in his hand and fired at the darkness behind him, now illuminated by the lights from his gear at the bright flashes of the gun. One was close, very close. The bullets ripped through the creature without care for its form, but just like the last one it did not even react to the damage, instead it swung its massive arm intending to hit Adam with its full force. That is until Deccanus stepped in.
Deccanus dove in front of Adam, inside the reach of the creature and brought his machete up and through its elongated neck. Then, with one fluid motion, he severed the neck from the head letting it drop to the floor a moment after.
“We must move!” Deccanus said, a commanding tone.
“Right!” Adam said, as he pulled himself to his feet and began to run with Deccanus again. The sounds of the others were closer now, it was clear they had an entire horde chasing them but then he saw it. The metal door for the lab. It was wide open.
Adam was the first to make it inside. A moment later, Deccanus. As soon as Deccanus was inside Adam pulled the manual release lever on the control panel next to the door and watched, in relief, as it began to close from above. Getting it open again would be a bitch but that was a problem for future him.
With his flashlight pointed in the direction they just came Adam could see the tide of the creatures following them, one close enough to almost grab them. It reached its arm through the threshold, attempting to grab hold of Deccanus, but the door came down swiftly after, severing its arm as it latched into the ground.
The two were now safe, but trapped in the moderately small laboratory with no immediate signs of an exit besides the one that would lead to a hoard of monsters. However after a few seconds passed it seemed that the creatures had no means of getting inside the room. They banged on the door, ineffectual since the door was made of 8 inches of solid steel. So the two men could breathe a sigh of relief.
“Monsters.” Deccanus said quietly. “Horrors wearing human flash.” Adam turned and looked at him, about to say something to counter his words but stopped short, he knew Deccanus was right.
“I hate to say it but… it sounds like those stories you heard were true.” Adam said hesitantly as he gently touched the door, the only salvation from the creatures outside. “What rotten luck.” Adam said with an aggravated tone before turning around to take in the room.
The lab was in disarray, as was the rest of the Vault up to this point but it was not so badly ruined as to be unrecognizable, only a few glass beakers were broken on the ground. The rest of the objects just seemed to be mildly disorganized it would seem. The room itself was a square, as were all vault rooms, but the left side wall was almost entirely a glass window, clearly reinforced, though there was some sort of algae growth on the window that was making it hard to see through even with his flashlight. There were also several medical beds, surgical tools, lab equipment, shelves full of materials, and a single computer… that was still on?
Adam approached the computer, confused. Not even the lights in this vault were on but this computer was? Why? On the desk there was a fusion battery. In a hodgepodge way the fusion battery was connected to the computer giving it power. Guess that's why.
There was also a strange gun on the desk as well but right now Adam’s focus was on the computer. He was here for a vial and now he was here for information on whatever these monsters were, this computer might contain both. Opening it up there was only one option; [Scientist Jenkins Kendrick Log].
[This is my last entry made to this terminal. I wish to explain what has happened here in this Vault so that anyone reading this would know never to repeat our mistakes. I am a former scientist at Second Life, when my employment was terminated thanks to an ego-centric boss I was left destitute, the NDA I was forced to sign practically barred me from working in any professional setting, then Vault-Tec came to my rescue.
They saw value in my research and hired me to head up the research team of Vault 54. Under my guidance we began experimenting with key gene resequencing on living subjects. The effects were seen immediately, increased vitality, increased libido, increased height, visual acuity, hand-eye coordination, the works. However what we did not expect was the after effects. Those we tested on began to continue to mutate, degrade, they became… monsters…
Some of the scientists under me began to call them aberrations, though their species defy categorization and proper naming. In either case it did not take long for these ‘aberrations’ to overwhelm the vault and security, anyone who had been tested showed the same signs of degradation. It was pure pandemonium. The worst part? In my haste to prove my experiments I used the serum on myself. I am a ticking time bomb, I have no idea when I will turn. This log is my last will and testament.
I have saved what remains of my research and stored it on the top shelf in the back corner of the room. Though I have wished to destroy it, the serum is the culmination of my life’s work. I cannot bring myself to destroy what I have created, no matter how horrible. I just hope it can serve as a testament to man’s folly.
I can feel my mind slipping, the last symptom before the final step of transformation. I shall be brief. If you have found yourself in the Vault and these creatures are still here, this gun shall help you. I can not explain the details now as my mind has begun to slip, but the resonant frequency that this sonic emitter produces is enough to ward the ‘aberrations’ away. Use it to get out.
Ah, now in my final moments I realized what was wrong. All my theories were crafted off Second Life’s work. Thus I needed a pure specimen… an Omega type clone to have made it work. I had thought I accounted for variables but… too late for second thoughts.
Goodbye. May God forgive my mistakes. May you forgive my sins. May my transformed body die quickly.]
Chapter Text
This… was a lot to take in. Adam leaned back as soon as he was finished reading, disconnecting the fusion battery from the computer letting it turn off finally. He sighed deeply as he stared at the now black screen.
“What did you learn?” Deccanus asked as he walked over slowly.
“The folly of man’s hubris.” Adam returned cryptically before turning around to look at Deccanus. “But I think we have a method.” He said as he took a look at the gun on the desk now.
It appeared to be a sonic emitter pistol, set to amplify sounds over long distances, but it was heavily modified, and, conveniently, there was a slot for a fusion battery. Adam pulled out his meter checker and checked the power remaining in the fusion battery. Unlike Fusion cores Fusion batteries, being handheld, didn’t hold nearly as much power, while they could effectively run for a lifetime in theory, it has been well over a lifetime, many in fact.
The meter returned that the battery was low, but still had juice left. He would just have to hope that the battery would hold out until they escaped. As he slotted the battery into the gun Deccanus called out to him.
“Adam, I believe you should come see this.” Adam looked over to Deccanus who was standing in front of the weird algae covered window. He had wiped away some of the gross build up on the window to reveal the glass looking into the adjacent room, but from where he was sitting he couldn’t see through the small cleaned area, so he got up and walked over.
Adam saw eggs, hundreds of them, covering every surface of the room adjacent that looked to be an incubation room once upon a time. These eggs were the size of ostrich eggs and were an unsettling shade of pinkish red. And in the room were a few more of the ‘aberrations’ as if they were guarding the eggs. So these things had become so inhuman they weren’t even mammals anymore? They were laying eggs?! That was unsettling. Damn platypuses.
Then, as he was examining the space through the window he noticed one of the creatures walk over to the wall and grab a strange glowing mushroom and eat it before resuming to wander. So that’s who they got their sustenance down here? How did those mushrooms even get in here? No, it didn’t matter. He sighed again and then looked at Deccanus.
“Let's raid this room for valuables and then get the fuck out of here.” He said, more ready to leave this place than he had ever been in his life.
The two then split up and began to scavenge for supplies in the room. It was moderately stocked, not nearly enough to fill their bags, but it had enough equipment and tools and chems to make this trip worthwhile. Adam also found another Vault-Tec bobblehead, this one was holding a beaker and was wearing glasses. Adorable, like the rest. But more importantly than that he found the vial.
Sitting on top of a medicine cabinet, almost hidden was a small blood vial full of a viscous pinkish red liquid that was the same shade of red as the eggs in the other room. He didn’t like this, nor did he want to bring this back but if he broke it here he would lose out on a thousand caps.
He paused. He actually had options. If he brought it back The Guild Boss would pay them well, he might even hire him for another job. Plus the aforementioned thousand caps. However he was risking him doing something terrible with the vial. Of course he would tell him what happened here and hopefully that would dissuade him using it. Perhaps he could just keep it as a trophy?
Or, as he thought before, he could break it. If he destroyed it here he could simply report that there was no vial to be found, Deccanus wouldn’t talk and no one would ever know. He would make less money but it might be safer. Then there was a third option… he could use it.
It was absolutely insane but in the scientist notes he specifically said that a body of an Omega type clone could make use of the serum to its fullest potential. Adam was such a type of clone. But no matter how much he thought about it this was a terrible idea. Maybe it would work, but this was a man who was already wrong once and created monsters, there was no telling if his dying thoughts were accurate. Adam wasn’t in the habit of doing strange medical procedures without testing. If it turned him into a monster too…
“It's your call.” Deccanus said, seeing Adam holding the vial and contemplating, practically reading his mind.
“Is it?” Adam said, turning to him now. “This little red goo could have ramifications for this entire area if it leaves the vault. Who am I to make such a judgement?”
“You are Adam Baxter.” Deccanus replied swiftly. “Former soldier, scavenger, survivor, hero.” He said without sarcasm. Adam shook his head.
“I’m no hero.”
“Perhaps you do not feel that way, but others might disagree.” Deccanus walked closer. “I did not ask to join your journey just because you saved me, or just because you shared your experiences with me.” He said seriously. “I spoke around about you while I was recovering. People spoke of your deeds, mostly your skills as a Scaver, but there were some who spoke of you putting yourself at risk to save others. Something about fighting super Mutants?” Adam looked off to the side a bit bashful and not sure what to say to this.
“My point is, Adam.” Deccanus pressed. “That if not you, who would be better suited to make this decision? There is no right or wrong, only the path ahead of you. I will follow your lead.” Adam looked at Deccanus for a long few moments and then at the vial still in his hand for a good long while, then, with a bit of force, he threw it onto the ground.
The contents of the vial seeped over the ground ineffectually as Adam stared at it with contempt.
“The world would be better off without this.” He said coldly. Deccanus said nothing but simply nodded. Adam took one more long heavy breath and then sighed.
“Guess we won't be making much of a payday.” Adam chuckled.
“Seems not.” Deccanus said without a smile. Adam scratched the back of his head that was not covered by the helmet while he thought.
“Maybe on the way back we can find something else to scavenge, just to make this trip worth it, I mean our bags are still light after all.” Adam offered with a unsure smile. Deccanus turned to the door and spoke.
“This place still has many secrets, many valuable tools, no doubt, if you wish we could stay and take things from here.” Adam shook his head.
“Unless you like the thought of digging around in the dark with hundreds of those things stalking us, I think I can safely say I want to get the hell out of here.” Deccanus stared at the door for a moment and then turned back to Adam and nodded.
“Agreed.” Adam turned back to the desk and reached for the gun, holding it in his hand.
“Well then, let's see what this thing can do, shall we?”
Chapter Text
The two men then worked out a plan. A very simple one. Deccanus would use the latch at the bottom of the room’s heavy metal door and pull it up like he was opening a garage door. While he was doing that he would be vulnerable, however if this gun worked as advertised it would ward off the aberrations and give Deccanus the breathing room needed to get the door open. Then, using Adam’s already uncovered Pip-Boy map, they would head for the exit, open the door and literally never come back to this wretched place.
The two then began. Deccanus struggled for a moment, the door was not meant to be moved by hand, it had the lower latch more for the ability of someone working repairs to stop its ascent or descent so work could be done on it. This was outside expectations from the designers. Maybe they thought there would always be power? Such hubris.
After a few seconds of serious effort, with impressive strength, Deccanus began to slowly lift the door up, finding it easier to lift as the door began to pick up speed. It took only up to his knees before it became clear the creatures were still outside, waiting. Adam didn’t hesitate.
He bent down and fired through the still small opening gap that Deccanus had provided. The sound produced was as loud as a Jet engine, as high pitched as a child’s screech, and created enough of a wind tunnel to make Deccanus’ skirt blow from the blast. It actually hurt even Adam’s ears, causing him to cover them reflexively. Deccanus likely would have wanted to as well but he bore with it and kept opening the door.
Thankfully, however, the creatures seemed to hate the noise even more than he did as they quickly began to scatter, leaving the space in front of them empty.
“They are gone, Deccanus! Just get it open now!” Adam said as he waited a few moments longer for Deccanus to raise the door a bit higher and then rolled underneath it. He then bent down, got into a stance and grabbed onto the exterior door handles and held on tight.
“Deccanus, Now!” He yelled to him as he now bore the weight of the extremely heavy door. Deccanus wasted no time, he let go of the door, transferring all the weight to Adam and then also rolled underneath the door.
Once Deccanus was completely clear of the door Adam let it go, the door connected with the ground with a loud clang but that was the least of Adam’s concerns at the moment. He offered Deccanus a hand to stand up.
“Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.” Deccanus looked at his hand for half a moment, took it, and then used it to help himself up. Adam held onto the sonic emitter pistol tightly, double checked his pip-boy map to ensure they were facing the right direction and then led the way out.
Adam was taking no chances this time. While they were not running, anytime he felt the creatures were getting close he fired the pistol in the direction of the noises. It worked well to keep them far away, but they always seemed to return after a short time. The worst part was Adam had no idea how long this fusion battery would hold out. It had barely a charge left by the time he had found it, he could only imagine this gun was power draining. He truly could only guess but by his best estimate he had 10, maybe 15 shots left.
“Adam.” Deccanus said to him as he took up the rear. Adam turned to look at him and saw what he was looking at. The armory.
“We don’t have time Deccanus.” Adam said, worried.
“Perhaps not, but if we do…” He said back to him, staring him right in the eyes. “I will follow your lead.” Deccanus continued, saying what he always did.
Adam struggled for a few moments over his greed and desire to make this journey profitable and his desire to leave but after a few more seconds he nodded.
“Quickly!” he said as he motioned for Deccanus to enter the room. Adam fired another sonic round down the hall to buy a little more time while they looted the room.
The inside was dark, of course, but it seemed to be far more stocked than his own vault was, if only this wasn’t a vault filled with Horrors it would be a great find, rifles lined the racks, pistols on the wall, ammo lined the shelves, and there were more than one sets of body armor.
Adam heard more noises and then turned around to fire once more, the round rang out and once more scared the aberrations away but then he began to hear something strange. The gun began to beep.
While he was no expert he was quite familiar with guns, technology, and warning beeps. This was the sound of low power. The gun had even less power than he had hoped, they were running out of time.
“Deccanus we are out of time!” Adam said as he turned to him again. Deccanus looked at Adam, looked at the rack of weapons and then grabbed all of the rifles in his arms. Hugging them close to his chest as he did, they practically overflowed from his grip, him being barely able to hold them all but he was able to hold on just tight enough.
“I am ready.” He said with a resolute tone, his face hidden behind a sea of rifle barrels. Adam would laugh if he wasn't so scared, so instead he simply nodded.
“Follow me closely, I’d bet we only have about 3 more shots before we will need to run, I need to make the rounds last.”
The two left the room and picked up the pace, jogging quickly to the exit. Adam had to fire twice more before they arrived at the door control. He quickly hooked his pip-boy up and hit the button. Once more the red warning lights spun to life and the door could be heard slowly opening. Then Adam could hear the sounds of even more creatures coming, so he fired again. It once more scared them away. The gun still seemed to have power so perhaps his guess of three rounds left was wrong?
The door opened far too slowly for either man’s tastes and by the time it was open and they were heading through, once more, the creatures could be heard coming after them. The door was only just beginning to close, he did not want a single one of these creatures to escape the vault into the greater Chicago area. These things were capable of breeding, there was no telling how far they would spread if they got loose so he waited, one second, two, three. Each second that passed by the door got closer to closing until he began to see the aberrations emerge from the darkness, heading for the light of the stairway they were in. Adam waited until they were close, very close and then fired. The gun let out its screech and then completely turned off. The aberrations ran away and the vault door closed. They had made it out.
Chapter Text
Adam looked at Deccanus and let off a sigh of relief. Deccanus, surprisingly, did too.
“I do not wish to go through that experience again.” Deccanus said surprisingly vulnerable at the moment.
“Me too, honestly, If that was what most vaults are like, I guess my vault is tame by comparison.” He chuckled softly. “Come on, you can put the guns down now, let's properly get them into our bags for easier transport.”
The two then spent a few more minutes loading up the guns into their bags, mostly making use of the duffle bag, which truly was the best means to transport rifles, however Deccanus insisted on carrying the bag despite Adam saying he was fine carrying it. Eventually he gave in and let Deccanus carry the bag as he wished. Adam paused as he looked at the big Vault door to Vault 54. Truly if he had a can of spray paint he would paint a warning on the front of the door telling people to stay away but alas that was not among the tools he kept on hand. He would simply need to be satisfied with the knowledge that Pip-Boys were pretty rare in this area and that The Guild would hopefully spread the news of the horrors this vault contained.
The two then began their journey back. It was not entirely fruitless, they had gotten enough stuff to make the trip worthwhile and theoretically there were still more things of value in the vault, but Adam had no intention of ever going back there to that horror movie-esq place for any reason. As far as he was concerned those creatures could have that vault till the end of time.
The trip back was, predictably, much easier and less strenuous than the first time due to Adam more correctly pathfinding. However that did not mean it was without its own share of issues.
Packs of ferals roamed the streets as if they were on patrol and since they no longer had the advantage of strange paths with verticality to use it meant they had to fight through. All in all they had to fight 3 times just to get out of the most dangerous area.
The first time was a small pack, only 5 feral ghouls. The two of them handled it easily enough. The second pack was much larger, 15. They had to plan out an ambush and Adam had to focus on crippling legs instead of shooting for center mass. With enough effort from Adam aiming for their skinny legs, and Deccanus acting as a shield from the front and drawing their attention while cutting them down with his machete, they were able to wipe out the group of ferals with only a few close calls. The third might as well not even have happened. It was just two ferals. Adam shot them in the head before they got anywhere close to them. It was over before it even began.
However all three encounters taught Adam something important; This was the most dangerous route out of Chicago.
He had already had more than a few run-ins with War’s band and while the interactions had never been pleasant they had never been outright hostile, just acting like dicks mostly. Then as for the Cult of Pestilence he hadn’t had any direct encounters with them so he couldn’t say for certain but it was likely they were about the same as War’s people. Just territorial and perhaps more desperate to recruit, but not going to kill them on sight.
With ferals it was an entirely different story. There was no talk, no peace, no options other than fighting. And worse yet they seemed far more numerous. When he had gone through War’s territory it was possible to avoid them with effort, however the reason they even had these three encounters was not just bad luck, but because even if they tried to go around one group they would just run into another. The entire area was crawling with them. This was a serious problem. No wonder people christened it the third horseman.
Besides the unfortunate close encounters Adam had the two of them stop at a small corner store that still seemed to be standing. Inside was one ghoul. After dispatching it he found there were still a handful of items to loot, mostly canned food and drinks like Nuka Cola, but with the extra space left in their bags they were able to take most of it. Now it felt like he was coming back with a good amount of stuff. All three bags were full again. The guns truly did make up the most of it, but he was not feeling like this was a wasted trip anymore, he had information, he had stuff to sell, and he had a new bobblehead for his ever growing collection. It was a side obsession of his, he just liked them.
“I now know what the slaves felt like.” Deccanus said softly to himself as they finally began to clear the area where the ghouls of Famine could be found.
“What do you mean?” Adam asked, wondering where the random comment came from and, more importantly, what he was talking about.
“In the Legion.” Deccanus said back. “Our slaves were ordered to carry the heaviest packs, work the mines, shoulder the manual labors, I too am understanding the burden today.”
“Wait, you guys had slaves?!” Adam said incredulously.
“Yes?” Deccanus said with some confusion, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “The Legion ran on the power of man. Just like the rome of the ancients that our Caesar modeled the Legion after, those we conquered were turned into slaves to fuel the Legion’s growth. All for the sake of Caesar.” Adam frowned, visibly. “You do not approve?” Deccanus asked.
“No, of course I don’t approve.” Adam said back sharply. And then sighed. Perhaps because the world had changed so much, maybe these sorts of things were more common again. Slavery could once more be the fuel for all great empires. After all, it seemed like even Second Life was researching clones to make a slave class. However that didn’t excuse it, at least to Adam. He was a man of the old world. He fought for freedom, democracy, and the American dream. No matter how much times have changed and how much he is adapting to this new world, he just can’t abide by slavery. After all his own people fought a civil war over it, the matter should have been settled then.
Adam sighed again and looked at Deccanus.
“Where I come from, there was no slavery, people, everyone was considered a free citizen. Of course I'm not going to say things were perfect or idyllic, it had its share of problems, but people being slaves? Everyone hated that.” Adam said back. Deccanus paused as he considered what to say in return.
“I grew up in the Legion.” He began, slowly. “For those of us serving under Caesar’s rule, slavery was natural. We needed people to build our homes, tend the crops, remake the roads. This was so that we, the Legion, could march ever onwards, bringing civilization to the wasteland people. Perhaps it may seem strange to you, but to me… it was second nature.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.” Adam returned.
“Perhaps not. But just as you find slavery strange, I too find your people’s reliance on technology foreign. It's a… cultural difference.” He said, thoughtfully. Adam shook his head. He disagreed, it was much more important than a cultural difference, but arguing on the point seemed moot.
“You aren’t going to return to your roots and become a slaver again are you?” Adam asked, inquisitively, judging Deccanus based on what his response would be. Deccanus took a few moments to respond.
“No.” He said back, simply. “I have no desire to create the Legion again. This is a journey for myself, one about self discovery and understanding others. If I were to return to my roots I fear the past mistakes would occur all over again. If I am to help to create something strong it has to endure, unlike my home.” Adam nodded slowly. It wasn’t the resounding ‘I hate slavery’ he was hoping for, but a practical answer worked well enough for him. After all, actions speak louder than words, if he didn’t fall back on his old training about slavery it wouldn’t be an issue. But certainly Adam had a different view of the Legion now than he did before.
Chapter Text
The two arrived at Midway about two hours later. Adam was happy to have gotten back to town and put that hell behind him.
After, yet again, hearing the same spiel as ever from the gate guards he headed inside.
“Ah, do you mind helping me lug this stuff around until it is all sold? I normally do it alone since my partner Salvatore wasn’t allowed in Midway proper, but figured since you don’t have that restriction if you were helped out it would be a lot easier.
“Of course.” Deccanus said back quickly. “I had every intention of seeing this through to the end with you. Think nothing of it.” Deccanus said, almost confused why Adam was even bringing it up. Adam chuckled.
“Thanks.” he smiled and then headed into ghoul town first. Deccanus frowned.
“I thought you would be heading into Midway?” He asked as Adam passed through the gate, Deccanus following close behind.
“Oh I will. But I try to sell a bit here everytime first because they don’t get as many fresh goods, besides earning a bit of goodwill is never a bad thing, no?” Adam smiled at him.
“No but…” Deccanus began and then petered off. “Nevermind. You are right, of course.” He said, seeming to cease his own thoughts on the matter. Adam had a guess what it was about but he kept his mouth shut too. Not worth a conversation over. He was helping him out even inside ghoul town, that was enough.
“Hey Hobson.” Adam said as he sauntered up to him carrying all his stuff over to his counter and putting it down. Deccanus followed suit shortly after.
“Ah! If it isn’t my favorite smoothskin.” He grinned. “Good to see you again, Adam.” He then looked at Deccanus. “You ditch the old bastard and pick yourself up another smoothskin?” He teased.
“What? Oh no, Salvatore is doing something on his own, guess he got another job for a bit, so Deccanus here is my new partner.” Hobson laughed a bit.
“Well it don’t matter to me much, just so long as you bring me the goods.”
“Don’t worry, I have some things I’m sure you will be interested in.”
Hobson then began to look through the bags to sort through all the items while Deccanus seemed to look around the space as if inspecting it. He clearly had thoughts of his own but he was not voicing them, and Adam figured this was not a great space for voicing the thoughts he was probably having.
“Well as per usual I can’t buy everything from you.” Hobson said after some time to look through the things Adam brought back. Adam chuckled.
“Yeah I figured, that’s okay, I have other people I need to sell to as well.” Hobson grinned and then continued.
“But thanks to your goods I have been able to move a lot more than usual, my liquid capital is higher than normal so I would be happy to take more off your back if you are willing.”
“I’m more than happy to offer whatever ghoul town needs.”
“You are a saint.” Hobson grinned. “Unfortunately saints don’t get discounts.” Adam snapped his finger in a dramatic ‘oh darn’ sort of way though he was clearly just being playful.
Hobson then sorted out some items and took what he wanted, a few guns, some of the lab stuff, some canned goods, and some odds and ends.
“All in all, how about 432 caps for this?” He asked. Adam examined the items and then made a face.
“How about 450?” Adam said, raising the price a bit.
“Ah, now you are trying to haggle me huh?” He chuckled. “How far you’ve grown. So much for a saint.” Adam smiled.
“I’m also a man who needs to eat.”
“That you do. That you do.” Hobson stuck out his hand. “450 it is then.” Adam took it and shook it letting him take the things off the counter while Adam reloaded his bags full to move on.
“Make sure you come back the next time you get a good haul of things! I’m always looking forward to your visits!” Hobson called as Adam and Deccanus began to walk off.
“Don't worry! I’m not going to forget about you.” He said as he left the terminal to head into Midway proper now.
Deccanus was notably quiet as they left ghoul town and headed for the main entrance to the city proper.
“I guess the Legion didn’t like ghouls?” Adam asked once they were far enough away. But Deccanus did not answer, an answer in and of itself.
Once inside he led the two of them right to Jay, who was happy to see him.
“Adam!” He smiled widely as Adam entered his shop. “I’m glad to see you doing better!” He said with a loud jovial laugh. Adan chuckled.
“Sorry, I was… going through some things last time you saw me, but I have myself sorted out now, I think.” Jay walked over and slapped Adam’s arm hard in good spirit as a comforting gesture.
“I understand. And I know we aren’t as close as friends but you don’t need to be afraid to speak up if you got troubles.” He smiled. “But whatever it was, I’m glad it's behind you.” He then turned to Deccanus.
“And who might this be?” He asked, curious.
“This is my new partner, Deccanus.” Adam said as he stepped aside a bit to let Deccanus stand unobstructed.
“Pleasure, sir.” Deccanus said seriously. Jay laughed.
"Well any friend and partner of Adam is a friend of mine!” He smiled widely. “Welcome to my little slice of heaven, the most armed heaven is ever gonna be.” He then turned to Adam again. “It’s good to see you working with others, I was always worried you wouldn’t come back since you were working alone.”
“But I wasn’t working alone?” Adam said, confused. Then he realized what was going on. “Ah, My other partner, Salvatore, isn't in the area so I would have been going solo but then Deccanus offered to join me so I wasn’t about to tell him no.”
“How come you never brought this Salvatore along then?”
“Ah… well he’s not allowed in the city.”
“Who did he piss off to get banned?” He laughed.
“He wasn’t banned, he’s just a ghoul.”
“Oh…” Jay said, his laughter stopping as an awkward silence crept in before he cleared his throat and then walked over to his counter.
“Well, what do you have for me today, Adam?” He smiled again, getting rid of the awkwardness from before.
Chapter Text
Adam laid out his guns in front of Jay for him to inspect, sans the sonic emitter one, that one he was holding onto for now.
“Rob another raider base?” He laughed while looking them over.
“No, but I'll be honest I’d rather have dealt with raiders, this was awful.”
“Oh yeah?” Jay asked while he continued to look at the guns and engage in conversation without looking at Adam at all.
“It was a vault full of, without exaggeration, horrors.” Jay whistled softly.
“Well hopefully we can make sure that your trip through the haunted house is going to make you a bit of caps eh?” He sets down the gun and examines the next one. “Unfortunately these guns aren't in pristine condition, surprising for a vault, I thought they were all sterile.”
“Others might be, but this one was lived in so it's no surprise the guns aren't in the best of condition. There was this weird algae growing everywhere.” Jay nodded and then put down the gun and looked at Adam.
“Well all I’m saying is that you won’t get premium prices for these, but they are in more than good enough condition to be worth a healthy price, plus you got a number of them…” He paused again while he did some simple calculations. “How about 70 each for all 15, so that comes to 1050 caps?” Adam considered for a moment before countering.
“How about 80 for each?”
“So 1200 caps?” Jay confirmed.
“Uh… yes.” Adam said after actually doing the math himself for a moment. It was now Jay's turn to look at the rifles and consider. 80 caps wasn't too much but these rifles were stock and mass produced for vault use, low caliber, and without any attachments so they were very bare bones, they would simply be good for filling out his stock no doubt.
Jay scratched the back of his neck and then nodded.
“Alright I can do that.” As he began to reach for the slips to pay Adam but Adam stopped him.
“Actually, I was wondering if you might sell me something specific if you have it in stock.”
“Oh? What is it? If I don’t have it I can request it from a caravan, might take some time but your credit is good here so I don’t mind placing the order.”
“A magnetic holster for this.” He said as he produced the laser pistol, boxy as ever and held it out for Jay to see. “It's getting really inconvenient to reach to the pocket of my backpack every time I need to use it and it has fallen out of the pocket more than once, a magnetic holster seems to be the best for this thing.” Jay stopped to consider for a moment and then nodded and walked to the back room and produced a thin piece of metal.
“Can I see the gun for a moment?”
“Sure.” Adam said as he handed it over. Jay sized the pistol up against the metal for a moment and then handed the pistol back.
“I can make one for you.” He said confidently.
“Wait, really?”
“Yessir.” Jay grinned. “It’s going to cost you though. I'd say… 150 caps for the custom holster, of course I’ll make sure its fitted properly and everything, even go so far as to collab with Olivia.” Adam nodded.
“Fantastic, I’ll do that then.” He smiled and Jay took out the 1050 caps he was originally going to give him but now with the promise of a custom holster.
“Don’t spend it all in one place.” He said jokingly to Adam as he handed the papers over.
“You’re not my mom.” Adam said back, jokingly.
“Good thing too! I’d be a helicopter mom!” Jay said with a boisterous laugh.
“See you Jay.” Adam said as he turned back to Deccanus and left the store smiling.
The last stop was Lune’s shop, this was usually his routine. Lune bought everything so anything he couldn’t sell elsewhere came to her. He was quite unsure if she had a system or not but she always seemed to have the caps to buy his stuff so it worked out. He would love to patronize Olivia more often but he truly doesn't come across armor enough to sell to her. Or, far more common, armor was too bulky and between one piece of armor or 3 guns he would go with the guns every time, it was just math.
Once in the shop Lune spotted him.
“Ah, welcome back Adam.” She offered a half smile.
“Good to see you, Lune.” He said as he and Deccanus dropped everything off on her counter.
“Who’s the new guy?” She said as she gestured with her thumb to Deccanus.
“Oh, this is Deccanus, my new partner.”
“Legion?” She said with a raised eyebrow as she examined Deccanus. Adam was a bit shocked to have Deccanus be recognized and even Deccanus looked a bit shocked.
“You know of my Legion?” He asked quickly. She just scoffed.
“Know of them? I guess you can say that.” She said with a deep frown and then pulled the collar of her shirt down a bit revealing a brand. The sort you would stick on a cow to mark its owner. This brand was in the vague shape of a bull. “You try anything here, you fucking slaver, I promise I will kill you.” She said with vitriol. Deccanus went silent and looked down a bit, perhaps sad or guilty, or perhaps at a lack of words to respond with.
“I um… didn’t know Lune… I can send him out of the store if you-” Adam began, trying to make the situation calmer again and show he didn’t mean to offend her but she cut him off.
“Nah, I don’t care. I don’t ask where my suppliers got their goods, their past history, or even… who their former employers were.” She said while staring daggers at Deccanus. “But if he so much as steps out of line I’m going to rip off his balls and feed them to him.” She said before sighing and then completely disengaging with Deccanus and looking at Adam again.
“Give me a minute to sort through all your things. You always bring me so much stuff.” She said with a soft laugh, like she was not just threatening to turn Deccanus into a Eunuch a moment ago, now pretending he wasn’t here. “Not that I’m complaining mind you, it's just a fact.” She shrugged and got to work.
Adam turned to look at Deccanus now, who was still looking a bit cowed, he didn’t look sorry for her, but he did appear guilty, he was staring at the ground with a wistful look in his eyes. Adam thought of saying something to him but wasn’t sure what so he kept his mouth shut.
“I can give you 1457 for the lot.” She said after going through everything.
“Wow, that much?” Adam asked, shocked.
“What you want less?” She grinned. “Lab stuff like this is hard to come by, most of the stuff I get is basically unusable and plenty of science nerds around Midway I promise. This stuff looks like it needs cleaning but it should be good to sell immediately, not to mention everything else here. Food always sells.” She said as she picked up one of the cans of food as she spoke.
“Well you will get no argument from me.” Adam smiled. “You have a deal.”
“Wonderful, give me a moment and I'll get your caps.”
She began to move the rest of the things off the counter, then Adam looked back at the items in her shop for a moment.
“Can I get the bobblehead too?” He asked after looking at it for a moment.
“What the Vault Boy?” She asked, confused. She then shrugged. “It’s yours, take him.” She said flippantly.
“Okay, just cut down 100 caps from the total then.” She stopped what she was doing and then looked at Adam like he was an idiot.
“No, stupid. Take it. As in, it's yours, get it out of my shop, I don't want it.” She said to him point blank before returning to counting.
“I was told by the Mr. Handy that it was 100 caps.” He asked.
“Well yes, that's what it would sell for, they are collectors items after all.” She said as she handed over the caps. “But that thing has been sitting there for over 3 years, I never found a buyer, at this point, I don't give a shit.” She shrugged.
“But aren't you losing out on a sale by not charging me?” Adam asked, confused.
“Look do you want the fucking thing or not? I’m giving it to you as a freebie, stop making me repeat myself.” She said, shooting Adam a look. Adam put his hands up in mock surrender.
“Yes Ma’am.” He chuckled. “It was a pleasure as always, Lune.” He smiled.
“Same here, keep coming back, you are too good a supplier to let slip away.” She said and then turned around to organize all her new goods, not even glancing at Deccanus again after her initial threats to him.
“Come on, Deccanus. Let's go.” Adam said to him as he began to leave, Deccanus too began to leave, following close behind
Chapter Text
Once outside Deccanus looked ready to leave but Adam stopped him.
“Hey, don’t go yet.” Adam chuckled as he began to root around for a minute through his caps. Once he had gathered enough he handed over 1554 caps to Deccanus, half of the total profit from today, his purchase of the holster came from his pocket not the profit. Deccanus looked at the money, still in Adams hands and shook his head.
“No, I do not want your money. I did not follow you to steal your income, only to learn a new way of life.” It was Adam's turn to shake his head and push his hand with the caps closer.
“I could list out the practical reasons you are wrong, such as you putting your life in danger, carrying things, or just accompanying me. But I’ll make this simple.” Adam said, staring into his eyes. “If you are to live the way I do, you always make sure everyone is fairly compensated. We did this mission together and I plan to ensure you get your payment for your work.” Adam insisted. Deccanus stared at the caps for a moment and then sighed and took them.
“I did not do this for money.”
“Perhaps. But you did do this and jobs pay. You aren’t a slave.” Adam said, slightly coy with a raised eyebrow. Deccanus didn’t respond to his choice of words, just took the money and stowed it away.
“Find me when you wish to leave on another mission, I shall reside in the same place you last found me.” He said stoically as he began to walk away. Adam called out to him before he was gone.
“And I'll give you your share of the reward money too!” He said before Deccanus was completely gone. Adam rechecked his finances when he put his own caps away. He now was back above 3000 caps, specifically at 3180. He was feeling rich again, though he had no intention of drinking and gambling it all away again, this time he would be more careful.
However he was broken out of his thoughts when a black suited man walked up to him.
“Adam Baxter.” He said with a firm but non threatening tone as he stopped nxt to him. It was a statement, not a question but it was clear he expected a response.
“Yes?” Adam said as he turned to look at him.
“Are you done with the Boss’ request?” He asked, calmly and firmly.
“Yes I just got back.”
“Then if you would please accompany me, I shall bring you to speak with the Boss.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for me to return to my room and clean up a bit? I don’t think your boss wants me to show up covered in unknown gore and in combat armor.” Adam offered as he looked down at himself and noted the patches of blood from the aberrations he killed or the feral ghouls that almost got him.
“The Boss would rather hear the outcome of his request sooner rather than later. He will not mind your attire. Please, follow me.” He said, again, firmly. Leaving no room for ‘no’.
“Well… lead the way then.” Adam said with a soft gesture for him to lead the way, not really seeing another option than to comply. It was his client after all, he had a right to know but he had hoped to get a shower in before he spoke to him.
Actually, now that he thinks about it, this timing was a bit too perfect, he had just finished all of his selling and Deccanus had just split off from him. The men in black suits were everywhere and it's quite likely they knew the moment he returned, which means they waited for him to offload his goods and split ways with Deccanus before approaching him. The Guild, really doesn’t mess around huh?
He once more followed the black suited man to the ‘employees only’ section of Midway. He had to stop for a while at the checkpoint though, he was packing a lot of heat, guns, ammo, tools; anything that could even be a potential weapon was left at the door. Another reason he wished he had time to stop at his hotel first, but it was a small price to pay for the payment he hoped he was about to get. Even at only 250 caps it was well worth the inconvenience.
He walked into the office and saw the boss waiting for him in his chair. The same large black suited man stood next to him as last time.
“Please, take a seat, Mr. Baxter.” The boss said with a pleasant and yet still somehow threatening smile. Adam had no reason to refuse so he did as he was asked, taking a seat in the same chair as last time.
“I’m quite fond of conversation, Mr. Baxter.” He said as he leaned back in his chair, speaking once Adam had sat down. “I may not be a ghoul who has seen the bombs drop, but I’ve lived far longer than most, seen my fair share of ups and downs. At my age you learn that the most valuable commodity we have is people.” He grinned. “People have interesting stories, interesting ideas, interesting thoughts. I like People.” He said before he grabbed the cigar off his desk and lit it up.
“When I meet someone new, I like to chat with them, get to know them. Some might call me long winded, but I find that life can be so droll if you don't have time to socialize.” He took a long drag of the cigar and breathed out the smoke slowly, savoring the flavor. “Young people like to cut to the chase. The old saying ‘time is money’ is only true for those who don’t understand longevity. Wouldn’t you agree?” He said as he gestured with his Cigar.
“I wouldn’t know, sir.” Adam returned, not having a single clue where this conversation was going.
“Indeed you don’t.” he smiled. “You are too young to know the truths of this world. How dangerous it can be, and how much a good talent is worth.” He took one more hit of his cigar and then snuffed it out. “You are one such talent, Mr. Baxter.”
“I’m… flattered, sir.” Adam said unsure if he should feel intimidated or feel honored… or both.
“Cantelli.” The boss corrected Adam calmly. “You may call me Mr. Cantelli.”
“Understood, Mr. Cantelli.”
“Now, seeing as you have made it back to my city intact covered in what I can assume is the fruits of your labor.” He said, gesturing to the blood on Adam's clothes. “You made it to the Vault.”
"Indeed I did.” Adam confirmed.
“And?” He said with a raised eyebrow. This was the big moment, Adam had to lie to this man’s face. His life could be in danger if he slipped up, he needed to play this carefully.
“I have information for you, Mr. Cantelli.” Adam said back, calm, and unshaken, doing his best to hide the full truth.
“And the item?” Mr. Cantelli said, leaning in a bit.
“There was none sir.” Adam continued. Cantelli tapped his finger on the desk three times before leaning back in the chair, looking a bit annoyed, but not angry.
“Tell me everything that happened.”
Chapter Text
“It was a vault of horrors, Mr. Cantelli.” Adam said slowly, he paused to sigh as he prepared himself to share the story. “I have seen enough of the wasteland to know most things out there are scary, sure there are dangers, there are enemies out there. But there are very few creatures out there I would specifically call monsters.” Adam paused again.
“These were monsters, Mr. Cantelli.”
“Explain.” He said back eyebrows raised, no longer looking annoyed, instead he looked interested.
“Creatures of human like form, tall, lanky, easy to damage but hard to stop, they did not feel pain. And worse than that, according to the logs I read, they were all once human, or, perhaps, descendants of those who were once human.” Mr. Cantelli scratched his chin, absorbing the information.
“Go on.” He bid Adam to continue.
“There were… I’m not sure, hundreds of these creatures in there. It took all we had to just reach the lab. Inside I found the logs of the man who headed up the research team of the vault. He claimed he was trying to enhance human genes but instead created monsters. The serum he created was the cause, the thing you sent me for.” He paused again.
“And there was no serum left?” Cantelli asked inquisitively.
“No sir. The scientist, realizing his mistake in his final moments, destroyed what remained of his serum as well as the documents needed to replicate it. By the time we got there, there was nothing but monsters and an apology written by the man who created said monsters.” Mr. Cantelli studied Adam’s face for what seemed like an eternity, but was likely only a few seconds. This was it. If he didn’t believe him all hell might break loose, Adam truly had no idea. But this was his only way forward. He could, possibly, have told the truth. Told him it was he who smashed the last vial. But this seemed to be the smarter option, after all, no one was there other than Deccanus and Adam. He had to believe this story.
After several tense seconds Mr. Cantelli rubbed the space between his eyes, where his nose would be, but of course there was no nose there, and then leaned back on his chair.
“What a shame.” He said with another sigh. “But you did well to survive that mess and bring me back information. Sounds like there is nothing of value left in that vault.” He said disappointed.
“No sir.” Adam agreed. “I do not think there is ever a reason to open that Vault again.” He said seriously. “Honestly, if you want my opinion. You should let people know that Vault 54 should never be opened, spray paint the door with a ‘do not open’ sign, and blow up the stairway leading to the Vault. If that vault stays buried forever all the better.”
“Quite a drastic take, but I respect it.” Mr. Cantelli said with a soft shrug. “It's a shame you couldn’t get the item I requested but a deal is a deal.” He said as he began to reach into his desk, procuring 500 caps worth of slips. “As agreed, 250 caps for you and 250 caps for your partner.” He said, sliding them over.
“Actually I did bring something back.” Adam said before even touching the slips. “It's not a serum, nor is it anything as impressive, but I figured you might want it at least as a momentum of the attempt.”
“Oh?” Mr. Cantelli said, interested again. “What do you have for me?”
“It's a weapon designed by the creator of the ‘aberrations’ in the vault. It is back with the rest of my gear at the entrance to this area. If you would allow me to go get it for you-”
“No need.” Mr. Cantelli said before snapping his fingers and one of the men left the room to retrieve the item. Meanwhile he leaned in. “I must say, you are quite the find, Mr. Baxter.”
“What do you mean?” Adam asked, confused.
“Your skills I mean.” he grinned. “It's not everyday that I stumble across a man so perfectly suited to my needs.”
“I simply have a specific set of talents, that is all.”
“Not at all.” He corrected with a wag of his finger. “You went into a vault of horrors, in your own words, and came out of it alive, and with a story to tell. Most would have died.”
“I would have if it was not for my partner.” Adam added.
“Perhaps, but I'm sure you saved him just as much. Besides, your partner, Deccanus, he is former Legion yes? I don’t know, or care, much about what happens way out west, but the Legion aren’t exactly known for being fans of Vaults, so you spearheaded this effort.” Adam was momentarily surprised he not only knew Deccanus was working with him but also that he was Legion. Deccanus had only joined him a few days ago. Mr. Cantelli noticed the look on Adam’s face but only just grinned.
“Let’s just say that you have caught my attention, Mr. Baxter.”
“May I ask if that is a good or bad thing, Mr. Cantelli?” Adam asked, unsure. There was a pause before he shot Adam a dangerous smile.
“That remains to be seen.” He said back almost menacingly. A moment later the door opened and a man walked in carrying Adam’s gear, clearly unsure where or what it was Adam was referring to. He brought the stuff to Mr. Cantelli and dropped it on his desk in front of him gently.
“It's in the backpack, large pocket.” Adam said, deciding to save them both time by simply telling him where it was. Mr. Cantelli reached into the bag and then pulled out one of the bobbleheads Adam had in the bag. The one that looked like a scientist, he looked at Adam confused and then put it on his desk. Reaching in again he pulled out the other bobble head, the one holding a little wrench and placed it down on his desk. He gave Adam another confused look.
“I collect them, I think they are cute.” Adam chuckled, a bit nervous but mostly embarrassed. It was a bit like having a dirty secret found out, though truthfully it was nothing to be embarrassed about.
Mr. Cantelli said nothing about it and kept rooting around in the pocket until he found the sonic emitter.
“This it?” He asked curious as he showed it to Adam. Adam nodded.
“Yes, that's it.” Mr. Cantelli began to look it over while Adam spoke. “It's a sonic emitter of some kind. It produces an intensely loud shriek and a blast of air alongside it. It was the only true defense against the aberrations. They seemed to despise the sound more than even we did and so it scared them off long enough for us to make progress.”
“It uses a fusion battery?” he asked, curious.
“Yes, it does, but that battery is completely out of juice, you’d need a new one.” Mr. Cantelli snapped his fingers again and one of the men left the room to walk down the hall. They came back a few moments later holding a fusion battery. As Mr. Cantelli began to swap out the fresh battery for the old one Adam spoke up.
“If you are planning to fire it, I suggest everyone in this room cover their ears.” Adam offered advice before he slowly put his hands over his ears.
Mr. Cantelli raised an eyebrow and then shrugged, put one ear tight against his shoulder and covered the other with his hand, then fired the gun at the ceiling. The sound was just as Adam expected.
The men in black suits had not expected the sound to be as loud as it was, only one of them had covered their ears, all of them were caught off guard. Papers blew around the room for a moment in the shockwave of the blast and a few objects fell off of their shelves. Mr. Cantelli laughed as he uncovered his ears.
“Well.” he grinned. “Now this is interesting.” He looked at Adam. “This may not be super soldier serum, but it is quite the find. I’m sure I can find a use for it.” He said as he put it on the shelf behind him. He then reached into his desk again and put another 500 caps worth of slips on the desk again, now totally 1000 caps on the desk.
“I’ll consider an additional bonus of 250 for retrieving this item. You have done well, Mr. Baxter.”
“Thank you, Mr. Cantelli.” Adam said, sensing it was time to leave. As he got up Mr. Cantelli stopped him.
“Mr. Baxter.” He said before Adam left. Adam turned around to look at him again. “I’m sure I will contact you again soon. I look forward to hiring you again.” He grinned,the same dangerous grin he had given him earlier. Adam just nodded and then walked out the door, putting the entire thing behind him for now.
Chapter Text
After being given all his stuff back by one of the men who escorted him back to the entrance of The Guild’s area Adam decided it was finally time to get some rest. It was already pretty late. Not yet night, but past dinner time. So once more he headed for The Layover.
The Delta was certainly cheaper and more scenic as it had windows that overlooked the tarmac whereas The Layover had no windows in the room he rented, but the amenities were better, the room was bigger, and it was closer to the rest of the most active parts of Midway. He had more than enough capital to afford the slight upcharge.
He paid for another 2 days at The Layover, even getting 2 more Layover Packages. It was convenient to be able to use the washer/drier when he wanted.
After shelling out 300 caps for the room, he took a nice long shower washing off all the blood and grime. Once more Adam contemplated his way of life. By now he understood he really did have marketable skills, he didn’t need to leave the city and put himself in danger to make money, even if it was lucrative. He could sell his skills as a mechanic and make a living here, in Midway. Money might be a bit tight but certainly he would live fine, especially if he got some odd jobs done on the side. This wouldn’t be the worst life he could live.
But even now he knew that wouldn’t be the kind of life he wanted to live. It seemed too… droll. Too uninteresting. Somehow, trying to live his life from before the world ended, with a stable job seemed not to sit with him. Maybe it was because he was a clone?
Adam had only spent a little time thinking about it, but he still got that adrenaline rush when he was in a fight, when he was out exploring. Even when up against the aberrations in the vault, even as his heart pounded, even as he was scared, he was having the time of his life. It made him feel alive. He hadn’t felt this way in his old memories so maybe it was an effect of being an Omega Type 2 clone? A byproduct of their attempts to create a perfect human? One could only guess, but he had a feeling these emotions might be artificially generated by his new body… his new mind. However regardless of whether the feelings were real or manufactured he would not deny them. There was no reason. He may not be the original Adam Baxter, but he still was Adam Baxter. So for him, that would be enough.
Random idle thoughts aside, Adam decided to spend the rest of the day in his room. He finally decided to try the Room Service that he got as an added bonus for paying for the Layover package. He found a little notepad full of options he could fill out on his room’s desk. According to the paper all he had to do was fill out his request for the type of food, then use the magnet next to the pad to pin the paper to the exterior of the door alongside his food voucher. Extra fees will be applied to the meal when the concierge arrives to deliver the food.
He was wealthy enough to decide it was worth a try. He was tired, especially mentally, after the events of the day, so letting someone else do the leaving for him seemed like a good option, even if it cost a premium.
Adam filled out the paper, indicating he wanted a hearty meat dish today, along with purified water and then pinned it to the exterior of the door and went about his business. He decided to relax, play some music from Ray’s radio station, and read his new book.
Ray was talking today about some rumors floating around the area, about the horseman, about notable figures, and plenty of other things. What caught Adam’s attention, however, was the fact that Ray talked about the attack on Naper. How ‘A handful of brave defenders took to the streets to fight off a brazen raider attack and then followed them back to their base where they wiped them all out’. As minor as it was he was being spoken about on the radio! Adam had never been famous before so it was quite surprising to hear about something he had taken part in being on the news.
Of course he had served in the war, but it was so desensitizing that it felt like another world. He was just a cog in the machine there, there was no feeling of fame even when people talked about battles he was in. Even though this too was just a battle, he felt a bit of pride as Ray spoke about him and the other’s deeds in beating back the raiders. Interestingly though Ray didn’t have all the details right, like saying the raider base was built into a batting cage center, not a bowling alley, or that they had a Sentry Bot on their side. Truly if they had a sentry bot they would have taken far more casualties. But the most interesting thing was that there was no mention of Mira. Probably for the best though, she would probably prefer to be left out of the news altogether after what she went through.
A little more time passed and there was a knock at his door.
“Room service!” A voice from behind the door called out. Adam walked over and opened the door. It was a hotel worker holding a tray with his request, a plate of thick meat covered in some sort of brown sauce, a small bowl of french fries, an even smaller bowl of lettuce, perhaps more used as garnish, and then his water.
“Thank you.” Adam smiled as he took the tray out of the man’s hands.
“The fee is 15 caps for the water, and 20 for the service sir.” he said as he waited patiently to be paid. Adam looked down at his hands holding the tray and then chuckled.
“Alright, let me just put the food down first.” He said as he turned to put the tray down as he said, leaving the door open as he did.
He walked back over to the door and handed the worker 40 caps after he put the tray down.
“The 5 extra is your tip.” He smiled. The worker smiled back.
“Thank you sir! I hope you enjoy your meal!” He said before he turned to walk back down the hall and Adam shut the door behind him. With a fee of 20 caps, without even considering he’d feel obliged to tip them, this was truly not worth it. For 20 caps he could buy the meal itself, he didn’t need to have someone go get it for him. But he truly was swimming in caps at the moment, it was okay to splurge a little. In fact, he had a plan for exactly that tomorrow.
But for now he ate. His food was the right texture, springy, and flavorful. Just what he needed after a long mission.
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Chapter Text
The next day Adam took it slow, as he often liked to do, heading out to have breakfast after a nice long leisurely morning. Breakfast today cost him 33 caps, since he would save the voucher for later. After breakfast he decided to browse through today’s flea market vendors.
When Adam had first arrived at Midway he had assumed the front street of the city was full of temporary shops. As he had learned that was only half true, while new merchants cycled in often and there was always something new to see. Some of the stalls were permanent fixtures. Perhaps it was just cheaper to rent a space in the flea market area instead of a proper shop? It does at least give a lot more foot traffic, even if your shop space is smaller. Regardless he spent a few hours browsing wares. He had nothing better to do today after all, most of the things he found were either useless to him or outright junk. But there were a few things of interest to him. A new book to add to his collection, only 5 caps due to the wear on it. But it was still plenty readable. A bit of spare ammo he got at a discount, only 30 caps for the lot he grabbed, a single stimpack for only 25 caps, a steal really, and finally a new holotape game, Atomic Command. The game cost him 40 but considering how much he enjoyed Automotron he figured it was worth it. Besides, what is the point of throwing himself into danger if he can’t enjoy the fruits of his labor?
After he had spent sufficient time in the flea market he put his bobbleheads and other things he didn’t need at the moment in his storage locker he was renting and then headed to do something he had wanted to do for a long time. Go to the movies.
Ever since he had learned that there was a movie theater he had wanted to go watch a movie. It was one of his favorite old world pastimes. If he can recapture even a fraction of that now it was worth trying.
However to get there he had to go explore, what was hopefully, the last unexplored area of Midway. The third floor.
He had always been curious what the third floor was like but had never gone since he never had a reason to, besides even from the second floor stairs he could see guards standing watch at the top of the stairs, as well as more well dressed citizens walking around. It always looked like another world. However he had a goal so he went up there.
He was stopped at the top of the stairs by the guards and asked to submit to a credit check? How strange. According to them no one was allowed on the third floor without at least 500 caps to their name. Luckily Adam had that in spades so he showed them his slips and they let him through without further issue.
The first thing that Adam noticed as soon as he was on the top floor was how gussied up everything was. For better and for worse. There was definitely a level of class that was being upheld here unlike the lower floors. The walls were heavily maintained, the ceilings and floors were regularly cleaned, the shops seemed to sell much more expensive looking items, mostly clothing, and everyone up here looked extremely well fed and housed, walking around in clothes that would make old world housewives jealous. However there was also a level of pretense that was unshakeable from all the dressed up appearance. It was as if they wanted to give this floor the appearance of wealth and aristocracy without actually going through the major renovations to achieve it. Nothing felt perfectly right. It was, of course, much more expensive looking than the lower floors, but it also felt chintzy and fake. It was hard to describe. Maybe it was just his own distaste for this style of place to begin with.
A few shot glances at Adam as he passed but said nothing as they continued along with their day. Adam felt a bit out of place, everyone else was wearing nice clothing and he was in his vault suit. But it was still Midway, even up here, he only slightly stood out, there were more than enough people to blend into the crowd.
Another thing he noticed as he was walking around was how much smaller the third floor was compared to the first floor or even the second floor. The third floor was no doubt big, but in comparison to the other two, he did not get the impression he could get lost up here, the paths were easier to navigate and there were signs everywhere. Also the fact that for most of the third floor the ceiling was several floors higher than where he was standing within a grand skylight shining down natural light from above also gave the impression of a less claustrophobic space.
Regardless, after wandering for a bit he found his destination, the movie theater.
He walked up to the front desk and then glanced at the movie times and shows. It seemed there was only ever one movie being shown at once, and a lot of these movies he didn’t recognize, a few though he did. After finding the next movie to play, only 30 minutes from now, he turned to the worker.
“How much for a ticket for the next showing?” He asked with a smile.
“100 caps.” The man said back with no empathy or emotion.
“100?” Adam said back, shocked, that was an entire stay in The Delta, just for a short movie, what a rip-off. But then again, this was the third floor, he was paying premium prices for premium services.
Adam sighed deeply and then took out a slip for 100 caps and handed it over to the worker who took it and put it into a cash register.
“Enjoy the movie sir.” He said, still deadpan as he handed over a ticket for the movie. Adam then looked over to the left and saw a second worker standing in front of a concession cart. There was some candy, a popcorn machine, a cotton candy machine, some drinks, and a few other sweet looking treats that Adam didn’t recognize. He hesitated for a moment and then decided ‘when in Rome’ and walked over to grab some food for his movie.
55 caps later Adam had his popcorn, a nuka cola, and one of the unrecognized sweets that was probably some sort of lollipop. He then headed into the theater and took a seat in a nice plush chair. He may have overpaid for this movie, but he was certainly going to enjoy himself.
The movie was not yet playing but instead they had some rolls of film from old TV Advertisements. He wasn’t especially interested, since, you know, it was ads. But he was alone in this opinion as there were already quite a few people in the audience who were watching the ads enraptured in the old commercials. Adam decided to remain quiet and let them have their fun while relaxed and ate some popcorn.
Chapter Text
The movie was okay. The plot was middling and the characters were 2 dimensional. It truly would have bombed if the movie had released with enough time before the world ended. However Adam hadn’t gone to the movie theater to watch a movie. Well okay he did. But honestly he went for the experience, it was an activity that he had thought would have died alongside all the people from the bombs. But here it was, cinema, surviving even now. It really did make the entire event magical, so he had a good time.
He decided to head to The Oasis now, and chat with Eve for a bit. After all, while it might be early he wanted to at least fill her in on what was going on. If nothing else he felt like it might be good to be social for a bit, Deccanus wasn’t the most active social partner he could have had. Then again neither was Salvatore. So maybe that’s why he was always seeking out Eve who could chat with him all evening. Damn, he really needed more friends.
Upon arriving at The Oasis he noted the black suited men standing outside the door. Mr. Cantelli must be in. He submitted himself to the search for weapons, during which he willingly gave up his pistol. After the guard was confident he wasn’t smuggling in weapons he walked in to speak with Eve, taking a seat at the bar in his normal place. However Eve was not there, instead it was a man, non robotic, tending bar, dressed in an all black suit wearing a white tie, similar to how Eve looked.
“Excuse me?” Adam asked softly.
“Yes? What can I get for you sir?” He said as he turned around.
“Ah, well I was actually looking for a friend of mine, Eve?”
“Ah, Eve.” He said as he paused to think. “I’m not sure where she is tonight, she has the day off and I got offered the shift. Not that I’m complaining, I need the caps.” He laughed softly.
“I can tell her you were asking about her the next time she is in.” He offered.
“Ah, no, that's okay. I appreciate it.” Adam said as he got up, having lost interest in chatting. Instead he decided to head to a table nearer to the stage to actually watch the band sing for once.
The lady was back singing again alongside the whole band. Considering the fact that Mr. Cantelli was here, it confirmed Adam’s theory that she came when he was here. Or perhaps he came on the days she was singing? In either case they went hand in hand.
The song she was singing was a female rendition of Fly me to the Moon. Adam preferred the Frank Sinatra version but he found himself quite taken by her version, it truly captured the essence of watching a Frank Sinatra show live. Only if Frankie had more curves.
However while Adam was sitting there, considering what to order to drink while he watched the show, the black suited man who was standing at the entrance to the second floor walked up to him.
“Mr. Baxter, the Boss would like to speak with you.” He said, like in the past giving no room to say no. Adam wasn’t exactly thrilled at being at Mr. Cantelli’s beck and call but he was a powerful and important man here, it was certainly not a bad thing to be in his good graces. Adam just had to be careful not to get too far into bed with him. Right now their relationship was transactional, that was good enough for him, being on good terms with him was positive, he just needed to make sure it didn’t go beyond that.
“Alright.” Adam said as he stood up. “Lead the way.” The two of them began to walk to the doorway that hid the flight of stairs leading to the second floor and the VIP box where a person could look out through floor to ceiling windows at the stage.
Adam was gestured up the stairs while the man took his position again at the bottom of the stairs. Once upstairs he found the second floor was not too different from the first floor. The couches looked a bit nicer, though that was mostly because they looked less worn in. The tables were the exact same, even the wallpaper was the same. However the space was much cleaner and spacious, there were also speakers suspended in the corners that would play music from the stage. Mr. Cantelli sat at a half circle couch watching the singer, not yet noticing Adam approach, or at least, probably not noticing.
“It's convenient you frequent this place, Mr. Baxter.” Mr. Cantelli said without taking his eyes off the singer. “I am quite fond of this little bar, in fact it was thanks to me that this place could even open. The resources needed for renovations came out of my pocket after all.” He then turned to Adam and smiled.
“Then again, I could say the same about more than half of Midway.” His grin grew a tiny bit malicious as he gently gestured to the otherside of the couch he was sitting on for Adam to join. “Please, sit with me, Mr. Baxter.” Adam obliged and took a seat.
“What can I do for you today, Mr. Cantelli?” Adam asked, calmly.
“Do I need a reason to invite you up here? Can’t an old man simply enjoy some company once in a while. A good drink…” He held up his scotch glass, assumedly filled with scotch, “...good music, and a nice relaxing time.” He said with an almost warm smile. Adam wasn't sure what to say to that, was he really invited up here just to relax with the boss of the Guild? So much for not getting too close to him.
“But you are right, I didn’t just call you for a social hour.” He continued as he took a puff of his cigar. Okay, that’s good. He was just fucking with him. “I have another problem that you might be able to solve for me.” He said as he turned his attention back to the singer again.
“Oh?” Adam sat up straighter as he listened.
“You see, we have an… arrangement with the folks at The Pier, they supply us with fresh fish, meat, and other… amenities, and we buy it off them wholesale. This has been our deal for years.” He paused to take another long drag of his cigar before continuing. “However recently those caravans have stopped, no more fresh fish, fresh crab, nothing, that is hurting business.” He turned to Adam again.
“I want you to find out why.” He said with a serious tone, it was clear he was pissed, but obviously not at Adam.
“Do you have any leads?” Adam asked, trying to learn more about this task before he jumps on it.
“No.” Mr. Cantelli returned, bluntly. “That’s why I want you to find out.” He leaned back on his seat on the couch. “For all I know it's another of that bitch’s schemes. Or it could just be raiders. I need to know, that’s why I’m coming to you, understand?” He said, still serious.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Good.” He grinned again. “I’m glad you are quick on the uptake.” He took another puff of his cigar for a moment. “Nothing I hate more than dealing with dullards.” He snuffed out the cigar and put it down.
“You find out why this is happening. I will pay you 1000 caps… each.” He added at the end, remembering how Adam wanted Deccanus to be included. “Plus if you manage to solve this little problem for me I will give you the greatest reward you could ever ask for.” He grinned. “I will grant you one favor.” He chuckled darkly.
“What kind of favor?” Adam asked curiously, not fully understanding the scope or implications.
“Anything~” He grinned wider. “So long as it’s in my power I will give you anything your heart desires. Women? Done. A home on the third floor? Easy. Perhaps you want to be famous?” He spread his arms wide open and gestured around. “I will make you the most famous man in Chicago.” He smiled widely now, a dark edge still present. “You tell me what you want and I’ll do it for you.”
Adam was a bit taken aback, this was… huge. This kind of thing was worth more than any money he could ever earn, with the influence Mr. Cantelli wielded there was no telling what he could get, but there were so many options he could only find himself stuck with decision paralysis. Ultimately, after a moment to think it over he replied simply.
“I would need some time to think that one over.” He replied, slowly.
“Of course.” Mr. Cantelli said, still grinning. “I wouldn’t expect you to have something already on your mind. I don’t mind waiting weeks, months, or even years if you want. If you solve this little problem for me, consider the promise made until you are ready to use it.” He took a drink of his scotch. Adam nodded in understanding.
“When do you want this done by?”
“Well the sooner the better, obviously.” He grinned. “The people will be pretty mad when they realize all the fish are gone.” He chuckled darkly. “But I’m not going to light a fire under your ass, just get started on this within a week, but I don’t expect miracles from you so if it takes a whole month for you to finish your work, so be it.” He shrugged gently.
“Alright, consider it a deal, Mr. Cantelli.” Adam said as he stood up to leave.
“Ah, Mr. Baxter.” Mr. Cantelli said as Adam was turning to leave. Adam turned back around to look at him and saw him raising his glass towards him in a saluting motion. “Pleasure working with you again.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
Adam decided to jump on this quickly, it was not yet too late to hit two destinations if he wanted to leave tomorrow, his rented room was up tonight anyway. He was really getting tired of paying for a room everyday, it was getting tiresome, and he was spending a lot even if he was getting great value and was certainly not in need of caps, still it was just a thought in his head as he walked to Jay's shop.
“Oh, Adam!” Jay said with a smile as he saw Adam coming inside. “Did you go on another run already?” Adam chuckled softly.
“No I didn’t. Even for me that would have been fast, but I got a commission for a job I want to get on soon, but it will likely take me out of the town for at least a few days, possibly more, so I thought I’d ask you how my request is coming along.”
“Ah the magnetic holster?” Jay said with a nod. “Well you only asked me to start on it yesterday so I have been working on it, but it will take some more time before it's done.”
“How long do you think?” Adam asked, recalculating while Jay spoke.
“2… 3 days maybe? It's a custom piece, and while it's not exactly difficult to make, I want to make it to last so I'm putting in the effort for you instead of making it a rush job. I assume you’d prefer that.”
“Oh yes, definitely.” Adam smiled. “Thanks for looking out for me, Jay.”
“No problem.” He grinned.
“Alright, then I'll come back in two or three days and see how it's coming along. Much appreciated as always, Jay.”
“No problem! Always good to see you, buddy!”Jay said with a wide grin as Adam turned to walk out.
Next Adam headed back into the area where the CheckInn was. He still had no idea if this area had its own name, maybe the underbelly? But he was just grasping at straws at this point, though he hadn’t asked anyone he had not heard anyone drop a name. What he wouldn’t give for Derek to drop in from the sky and answer his questions.
Upon arriving at the CheckInn and asking for the manager to grab Deccanus for him, he took a seat nearby to wait for him while he sorted through his inventory on his pip-boy screen, taking stock of all his things and making updates. Shortly afterwards Deccanus arrived.
“You asked for me?” He said with a serious tone.
“Yes.” Adam said as he turned to look at him, putting his arm with the pip-boy down. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out slips worth 500 caps. “These are yours.” He smiled as Deccanus took them.
“The reward for the mission?” He asked. “I thought the reward was only 250 caps since we only brought back information?” Deccanus continued, expertly avoiding saying ‘because we destroyed the vial instead of bringing it back’.
“Yes, you are right, but the extra is from selling him the sonic emitter gun we found.”
“Ah I see.” Deccanus replied and then hesitated. “Then I do not deserve half of this reward, I was not the one who found the emitter nor did I have anything to do with bringing it back.”
“Don’t make this complicated man.” Adam said, shaking his head. “Just accept the reward. We did it together, I’m splitting the money with you.” Deccanus stared at Adam for a few moments and then sighed quietly, putting the caps away now.
“However, giving you your side of the reward was only half the reason I have come.”
“Another mission?” Deccanus said, looking ready to jump into action.
“Yes, actually. We were hired again by Mr. Cantelli, this time to do an investigation for him.” Deccanus nodded slowly, looked to the seat next to Adam and then sat down.
“Obviously it will take us out of town, but we will need to head to the Pier to begin investigating why the caravans haven’t been arriving at Midway.”
“I do not mind. Wherever the journey takes me makes no difference.” Adam let off a single laugh.
“Well I’m glad you are on board.” He smirked. “But we are going to leave for that in 2 or 3 days, I need my new holster for my laser pistol, however in the meantime I was thinking we could take a run nearby to make a bit of caps on the side.”
“I do not mind. You lead the way, I shall follow.”
“You don’t ask many questions do you?” Adam teased, gently.
“I do not see the need. If you think it wise I shall follow. If you lead us to battle, I shall fight. If you lead us to war. I shall summon the blood of Mars and bring wrath to those who would stand in our way.” Deccanus said resolutely.
"As much as I love that enthusiasm, and strange trust you have in me, we are partners, you have the right to contribute to our actions as well, if you ever do not want to join on a mission or think something needs to change, your opinion is valuable.” Deccanus paused, not sure what to say for a moment before finally speaking up after a long silence.
“I… understand… I’m not used to voicing my opinions, in the Legion it was unnecessary, as I have said before. It is… hard for me to think for myself, but I shall try.” He said, pausing again to think before adding: “If I am to say something of my own volition. I would request we do not enter any more vaults. I do not like them.” He said, almost hesitantly. Adam chuckled softly.
“Understood, partner.” He smirked as he stood up. “We will avoid Vaults. Frankly after the last one i'm not exactly itching to explore any more unknown vaults any time soon. But If I have to, I don't mind going solo.” Deccanus just nodded slowly, not having anything else to add.
“Alright, so with all of that said, are you good to go on a shorter run tomorrow?”
“Yes, I can be ready by tomorrow.”
“Good, then let's meet at the front gate at say… 8am?” Adam said, this time making sure to give Deccanus an exact time so he wouldn’t wait for Adam too long.
“Agreed.”
“Good, then I’ll see you tomorrow.” Adam smiled and then turned around to walk away before he was stopped by the sound of Deccanus’ voice.
“How much… is this request paying us?” Deccanus asked, hesitant. Still unsure if he should speak up about things. Adam, for his sake, was impressed that Deccanus was putting in the effort to speak his mind.
“1000 caps… for information.” He grinned. “And a favor for solving the issue.” Deccanus nodded slowly. “I will explain to you the details of the request tomorrow while we walk to the place I have in mind. Give us something to talk about on the walk.”
“Understood. Have a pleasant night, Adam.” Deccanus said.
“You too, Deccanus.”
Chapter Text
Adam spent 50 caps at a restaurant for dinner that night. He chose to, for once, not eat at the food court and instead eat at a restaurant with outdoor seating on the tarmac with some potted plants and even a live band. He was once more paying for the experience so it was worth it. Though it was a shame he couldn’t use the voucher he got from the layover it was still well worth the 50 caps.
Adam woke up the next day and checked out of his inn, spent 31 caps for breakfast, and then met Deccanus at the front gate as scheduled and both men set outside to go on, what Adam hoped, was a shorter run than the last few had been.
Actually, now that he had thought about it, he had gone to a vault full of literal horrors, Second Life HQ which was turned into a large raider compound, and a military FOB that still had active defenses. He was really not taking it easy recently, he truly did hope this run was a lot simpler than the previous ones had been, no big surprises, something easy to handle. Though somehow he doubted that would be the case.
On the way Adam explained to Deccanus the details of the request from Mr. Cantelli.
“If food is not reaching the city, that would indeed be a grave matter.” Deccanus remarked after he heard everything. Adam nodded.
“Certainly. But I get the feeling it's less about the food and more about something else that he didn’t tell me. I’m definitely not being told the whole story, but I don't get the feeling I’m being used, just being kept in the dark. So I think it's fine.” Adam shrugged.
“I will trust your discretion in this matter.” Deccanus replied. He then looked ahead and remained silent for a moment before finally speaking. “Recently I am… confused about certain things…” He admitted softly, clearly seeking advice.
“Oh? Yeah? What are you confused about?” Adam replied, equally soft, encouraging him to speak his mind, like yesterday.
“When I was in the Legion I was certain of our path… We were expanding our empire for the sake of our Caesar, and in return he protected us, brought us out from the filth, muck, and grime, enlightened us, and gave us purpose.” He paused again. “We accomplished so much, building roads and homes, farming and trade, people were… thriving under his rule…” He looks down now, not sure how to say the next part.
“And yet there are people like that woman from before… the former slave, the ranger, and many others who do not look upon the Legion so fondly… I find myself… conflicted.” He slowly turned to look at Adam. “Since I have left my home I have found so many that were opposed to our ideals, that did not like what we stood for, that would have resisted our actions. I always believed that the Legion was a force for good, bringing civilization to the untamed wastes, uniting the various warring tribes, rebuilding society… but now… I am not so sure.” He said quietly. Adam paused, taking in his words as he contemplated them himself.
“And now you are worrying that all your efforts were for an unworthy cause?” Adam asked.
“Indeed.” He returned. Adam sighed deeply and nodded while he gathered his thoughts.
“I think it's inevitable… that not everyone will like your country…” Adam said after a moment of quiet contemplation. “It's natural to make enemies… my country had annexed our northern neighbor, conquered our southern neighbor, and entered a war with a country across the sea. The Resource Wars caused my people to lose a lot of allies, a lot of friends. Other than the USSR no one was on our side… does that mean that the things I fought for were not noble?” Adam paused, asking himself as much as he was Deccanus. “Truthfully I don’t know.” He paused again as he looked at his gloved hand for a moment and then returned his gaze to Deccanus.
“What I do know is that the ideals I fought for were not wrong. I fought for the people who couldn’t fight, I fought for my home town, for my parents, my cousins, my friends. I fought because there was a war and my country needed me…. We do not get to pick the wars we fight, Deccanus…” He turned to look him in the eyes now. “But we do get to pick why we fight, and who we fight for.” He said resolutely.
“Was I wrong to fight for the Legion then? They raised me, taught me, brought me from the blindness of youth to the fullness of an adult. Without the Legion I would not be the man who I am and yet…” he paused. “I see people like that woman, who bears the mark of Caesar, a former slave, with such hatred towards my people…” He looked at the building nearby as they passed.
“When I was in the Legion these thoughts never once crossed my mind, there was nothing wrong with our way of life, no need to challenge these views. It was natural, human labor was needed to bring our civilization to greatness and yet… I find myself wondering if that was wrong…” He grew quiet again.
“I have my own opinions…” Adam said after a moment. “I think your people were wrong to use slaves. I'm sure the slaves would agree with me.” Adam paused himself now to contemplate. “But in the Legion you were surrounded by those who were like minded, those who shared your views. Since you left you have a breadth of new ideas, new philosophies, new people to learn from… this is a part of growth, I think. We all learn from each other.” Adam stopped them and turned to look at Deccanus fully now.
“There is no end to this journey you are on. This is just what it means to be human, we grow into new people everyday. But if you feel bad about your past actions, use the skills you gained to help the people in the now. If you question why others might dislike the Legion, ask yourself what it was they didn’t like and why. Use those questions to inform your own future.” Adam said seriously. Deccanus looked away for a moment as he considered.
“This is… complex…” He muttered softly.
“There are no right answers.” Adam smiled softly. “Just do what you think is best, surround yourself with the type of people you want to be and you will arrive at the answers you want.”
“How do you have so much knowledge, Adam?” Deccanus asked, looking at Adam again. Adam laughed pretty hard at that question. Deccanus frowned, almost pouted, actually. “I am serious.” He said without batting an eye. “Only my Caesar or Legate would match your wisdom.”
“Well that is some high tier flattery right there.” Adam said with a smile. “But I don’t have all the answers, just experience. I'm not a perfect man either, I got my own prejudices, my own vices, I'm not able to avoid failure. But I try. That is my answer. To try to be the best person I can. I don’t expect to save the world, but if I can help I will. That’s all I can do.” Adam shrugged.
“A noble goal.” Deccanus said in response.
“Maybe.” Adam said as he sighed softly. “Maybe just self serving too. Salvatore, my other partner, used to scold me about it all the time.”
“I do not think… It is a bad thing to try to be a good person.” Deccanus said, thoughtfully. Adam smiled.
“Me neither. And I have no intention of stopping my attempts.”
Chapter 128
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The two talked more casually as they continued on the path that Adam, this time, carefully plotted before he left midway, arriving at their destination after about an hour more of travel. A warehouse.
Adam had heard this warehouse could be a source of goods worth looting. He did have reliable intel that it had been scavenged from before but not in quite some time. Besides, it was a warehouse, it had to have something valuable left behind, certainly.
The building itself looked to still be in good standing, weather worn, and ravaged by time, sure, but otherwise it seemed to have survived the bombs well. A good sign.
“I don't know what we will find, so keep your wits about you.” Adam said as he approached the massive door at the front of the building and began to slowly open it.
“Understood.” Deccanus said seriously as he drew his machete and prepared for whatever might be on the other side.
Inside the door was dark, predictably, though the natural light coming in from outside through the now open door was giving quite a long sightline down a long row of metal shelving units stacked all the way to the impressively high ceiling. There also seemed to be some breaks in the ceiling in some areas because more natural light shone in from above randomly throughout the warehouse. For the moment though, they were not shot at, they were not attacked, they were not spotted. It seemed to be unoccupied, at least for now. However neither man was letting his guard down.
As they began to enter the building Adam turned on his lights to offer more visibility. At first blush the shelves were, indeed, full of boxes, however most of them seemed to have already been broken open, their contents long since taken, some boxes were smashed entirely, and there was also a notable amount of empty space. It was not a great first look, but it was just the entrance, this building was huge, there was no telling what they might find if they kept searching. Perhaps it might not be the goldmine that Adam had secretly hoped it was, but if it yielded something at all it would be worthwhile. Perhaps hoping for a warehouse full of goods only a few hours from Midway that he could monopolize himself was too much to ask. But hey, let a man dream.
Then, as they continued to scour the building more, slowly finding some things worth bringing back, he began to hear it. Skittering.
It immediately shot a shiver up Adam’s spine. He knew this sound.
“Deccanus! There are radroaches!” He shouted to him. Deccanus gave him a strange look, he was unconcerned. It seemed to be on the tip of Deccanus’ tongue to ask why Adam seemed to panicked by them.
For Adam’s sake, he didn’t necessarily think they were a threat. But he really did hate bugs. He didn’t specifically have a fear of bugs, but giant cockroaches were about the worst bug to see a giant version of. And ever since he was spooked by one that crawled out from under the fridge when he had recently left the vault he was excessively not fond of them.
“I see. Then we shall clear the infestation.” Deccanus said, calmly, clearly not worried about the situation like Adam was. However after he began to say this new noises began to be heard, buzzing, chattering, clicking. There was much more than just skittering. Now Deccanus seemed to be on alert as he took a stance. The sounds seemed to be coming from all directions.
“Blood bugs, radroaches, giant mantis, bloatflies… perhaps even a radscorpion…” Deccanus said slowly as he parsed through the sounds he was hearing to pick out each one individually.
“You mean we walked into a hive of bugs?” Adam said, grossed out.
“No. A hive implies they work together. It's more accurate to say an ecosystem.” Deccanus corrected.
“Well excuse me professor, forgive me for not taking my ecology lessons seriously.” Adam joked as he drew his laser pistol and readied him for the inevitable fight they would have as the sounds drew closer and closer.
Then the first bugs began to emerge. Blood bugs. Giant mosquitos the size of a 10 year old child. They flew in through the holes in the roof as they dove right for the two new sources of fresh blood.
Deccanus cleaved one in half mid flight as it dove at him with his machete and Adam shot two more down with his laser pistol, each one took more than two shots, they were tough.
However that was not the end as Adam was hit by something in his chest from an angle he wasn’t looking. It hit him hard but didn’t break through his combat armor.
In the distance, from a dark area above a shelf where a pool of irradiated water stagnated, a large fly the size of a toddler was zipping erratically side to side and up and down. Adam shot at it only to find his first few shots missed their mark, it was moving so erratically it was hard to hit. Then he remembered VATS.
Activating his pip-boy he brought up VATS and, using the predictive algorithm he was able to nail the bastard on his next shot, killing it instantly. However as he was patting himself on the back from hitting it he was nipped at on the shin.
He yelped in pain as he looked down and noticed a radroach at his heels. He fucking hated these things.
He fired more times than were necessary at the radroach before seeing a handful more crawling out from other shelves towards him. He killed the rest of them before they approached.
However when he had looked down at the radroaches he noticed a gross larva stuck to his chest, right where the bloatfly had hit him. It had thrown its own larva egg at him as an attack? Luckily it didn’t even seem to puncture the armor so it was just flailing about uselessly as it tried to chew through the body armor. He pulled it off, threw it on the ground, and then stomped on it.
He heard a grunt of effort from behind him and whipped around fast enough to see Deccanus, with his spear, cleaving through a group of mantises the size of small children. His spear cut one of them and the rest he batted away like he was playing baseball. The force was enough to visibly break some of the bugs’ limbs but they didn’t seem to be done with the fight yet.
Adam was about to move to help him when he felt the ground rumble underneath him, something was breaking through the cracked, formerly concrete, ground. He jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a giant stinger nearly the size of him.
As he looked at the creature it was just as Deccanus said, a scorpion. Or, rather, a radscorpion. Does everything need to have the word rad in it?
Regardless this thing was huge, it was comparable to a human in size though slightly larger than Adam by a bit. It was built exactly like a scorpion with two massive pincers at the front and a stinger tail. Adam was not looking to get impaled with that tail as it would likely kill him if it did. So he backed up.
What was most interesting about the scorpion was that it seemed to glow a luminescent green. It actually gave off a faint light and his pip-boy’s geiger counter was even clicking slowly indicating that it was irradiated. Was that why they were called radscorpions? Whatever, thoughts for later.
He began to fire his laser pistol at the scorpion but found it was having little effect on the creature. So he swapped guns.
Pulling out his rifle he got one shot off, which did seem to do considerable damage before the scorpion swiped at him with its pincers. He managed to dodge out of the way by jumping back only to back up against a shelf.
He fired again, another great hit, but the bug didn’t seem to stop, the scorpion seemed to have him dead in its sights. Adam didn’t have time to fire again before it once more swiped at him, another near miss.
Adam got his shot off, shooting one of its pincers clean off, it reared in pain, letting off a scream like noise before it moved to charge back in.
It swiped at him with its pincer and once more missed Adam, however Adam was slow to avoid its next attack from its tail. While it did not impale him as he feared it did nick his lower arm near the back of his wrist, not too deep of a cut, but enough to draw blood. A close call for sure.
Adam fired again, this time taking a chunk out of its tail. However as it once more charged forward ready to try to sting Adam again a spear came flying through the air and impaled it through its body right into the ground. The spear stuck in place as it writhed in pain. Adam wasted no time and emptied the rest of his magazine into the scorpion without delay, killing it on the last bullet in his gun.
Notes:
If you are wondering why this story was hidden for a time, its because the Admins are now on my crap list and i have beef with them. I shall leave that there.
Chapter Text
“Fucking christ.” Adam exclaimed softly in relief as he stared at the radscorpion for a few seconds longer before he looked around to see if there were any more bugs he needed to contend with, and found, for now, they seemed to have dealt with them all. Deccanus had finished up his side, a mountain of bug corpses stacked in front of where he stood as he looked at Adam.
“Are you alright?” He asked as he walked over to retrieve his spear from the radscorpion.
“Yeah, I'm fine.” Adam said with another sigh. “Few close calls, this guy is glowing for some reason though, so I wasn’t sure what to make of that, kept my distance as best I could.”
“Glowing Radscorpion.” Deccanus replied simply. “A step below an alpha radscorpion. You are lucky it wasn’t a giant radscorpion, that might have been too much to handle alone.”
“That wasn’t even a ‘giant’ radscorpion? Wow.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Funny that they even have designations though.” Adam chuckled softly. “I guess when you live out here, you gotta have a way to communicate what kind of threat it is, huh?” He grinned and then began to feel a bit light headed.
Deccanus seemed to notice Adam’s unstable stance and looked at him confused.
“Are you sure you are alright?” He asked again.
“Yeah I just got light headed all of a sudden, not sure why.” He said as his vision began to blur a bit, he was having trouble standing and leaned on the shelf nearby. Deccanus looked on confused and concerned until he noticed the cut on the back of Adam’s hand.
“The radscorpion, when you were fighting it, did it get you?” He said more hurriedly now.
“What? Why?” Adam asked as his breathing got a bit hard, he decided to sit down for the sake of ease as his head was spinning and pounding.
“Answer me. Did it get you?!” Deccanus demanded.
“I uh… think it nicked my hand with its stinger.” He said back.
“Fuck.” Deccanus muttered softly under his breath. He then began to rummage through his bag looking for something.
For Adam’s sake he was having a hard time seeing and moving. It didn’t necessarily feel like he was dying, but it certainly felt like his body was shutting down. What was going on?
After a few moments Deccanus retrieved a small waterskin from his bag and put it up to Adam’s lips.
“Drink this, it tastes foul, but it will rid you of the venom.” He said resolutely, offering no option but to listen. Adam did as he was told, drinking the foul tasting liquid until Deccanus pulled it away from him. He did not feel a change for a few moments but after a bit his vision began to clear, though he still felt light headed.
“What did you just make me drink?” Adam said, his vision mostly clear but for the sake of his numb body and pained head he kept sitting.
“Antidote.” Deccanus replied as he sighed in relief, stood up, and pocketed the waterskin.
“You just carry around a radscorpion antidote with you?” Adam joked lightly.
“Of course.” Deccanus returned, not getting Adam was joking. “Radscorpions are a serious danger, more so in the west where they are more numerous, but they can be found everywhere.”
“Would it have killed me?” Adam asked weakly, he still felt like shit but he could begin to feel again, the numbness was wearing off.
“No.” Deccanus said as he looked at the radscorpion. “Well, I suppose it could have, but likely not.” He then shook his head and then knelt next to Adam, helping him to drink actual water from his regular waterskin this time.
“The Radscorpion venom is mostly a paralytic agent. Though with a large enough dose it can kill even a brahmin.” He paused as Adam finished drinking and then he put his waterskin back on his side. “I suggest you rest there for some time, it will take a bit for the antidote to fully expel the effects of the venom from your system, in the meantime I shall ensure there are no more surprises for us.” Deccanus then turned to walk away but Adam spoke up before he left.
“Hey, Deccanus.” Deccanus turned back around to look at Adam. “Thanks.” He smiled weakly. “I owe you one.” Deccanus stared at Adam for a moment and then smiled a little bit himself.
“You saved my life once before already, I still owe you many times more.” He said, then leaving before Adam could make a rebuttal.
It took about 30 minutes for Adam to get back on his feet, Deccanus was long since back by then, reporting that other than a single locked door, he had cleaned up the rest of the infestation here, the only bugs left being some radroaches which he handled with ease. Then he began to carve into the Radscorpion while Adam was still getting his body back under control.
“Why are you cutting up the scorpion?” Adam asked, confused.
“Radscorpion.” Deccanus corrected without breaking his stride.
“Sorry, radscorpion.” Adam corrected himself with only a small amount of sass.
“The radscorpion poison gland is a valuable commodity. It has medicinal, practical, and combat applications. In the Legion we are taught that all creatures have something to offer, to waste nothing that can be used to better life in the Legion.”
“Is that why you are so knowledgeable about all these bugs?” Adam asked, curious. “You were able to identify what kind of bugs we were about to be attacked by just by the sounds.” Deccanus paused his carving for a moment, put down his knife, and then pulled out what Adam assumed was the poison gland, still dripping in blood.
“I was a scout.” Deccanus said as he examined the gland for a moment before he stood up, put the gland in his side pouch, and then turned to look at Adam. “I was my unit’s Venato, the tracker.” He paused. “There were times I would be sent out to hunt down enemy positions, track down nests, and bring the rest of my unit through dangerous paths. Naturally these skills came to me as I grew into the role.” He said as he walked over to the blood bug now.
“The proboscis of the blood bug can be used in medicine as well, or a weapon in a pinch.” He offered as he ripped its needle off. “There is no creature that is without its use.” Adam looked at him impressed.
“I must say that is… quite a skill. Though um… are those things valuable?” Adam asked, a bit skeeved out by the bug parts Deccanus was collecting. Deccanus paused as he looked at the mantis leg he was holding now.
“The radscorpion poison gland, yes. The rest?” He turned around, still holding the leg. “No. I would ask to keep them, I have many uses for them if you would permit.” Adam shrugged.
“I’m certainly not going to stop you.” He said as he slowly began to walk passed, ready to begin searching the building himself.
“What's that one used for?” Adam said as he saw Deccanus rip off another forearm of a giant mantis. Deccanus turned to look at Adam with a slight tilt of his head.
“It’s lunch.” He said calmly.
Chapter Text
While Deccanus started a small campfire using the scraps of wood from broken crates nearby, Adam began his own walk through of the building. There were a ton of crates, a few still left unopened, but by and large the warehouse was unremarkable. Still despite the mostly lackluster stock there were more than enough things to take back with him. Almost nothing that was a big ticket item but a lot of smaller things that would easily make this trip worth it.
He stopped in front of the locked door, clearly leading to some sort of manager’s office which Adam was expertly deduced thanks to the label next to the door that read ‘manager’s office’.
Regardless of his hard hitting detective skills it was a rare chance for Adam to put his lockpicking skills to work. He hadn’t especially gotten to use them recently, usually things were not locked. Or, more commonly, he could unlock it with his hacking skills. So Adam spent an inordinate amount of time toiling over the door’s lock trying to get the pins into position. At some point it became less about getting the items that may or may not be inside, and instead became about pride. He wouldn’t let this door best him. It was a fucking door, for crying out loud!
Finally getting the door open he proudly pushed the door open to find the manager’s office in shambles, everything was overturned, covered in dirt and dust, and it looked completely picked over.
The culprit was as plain as day, a giant human sized hole in the wall that led to the outside where there was a bit of natural light pouring into the room. He had definitely just wasted his time.
Adam could only let off a deep sigh as he turned around and walked over to Deccanus who was roasting the legs of the Mantis’ with the heat of the fire.
“Well I just wasted half an hour.” Adam said, a bit disgruntled but not too beaten up about it.
“However, you have arrived just in time for food.” Deccanus said in response as he grabbed one of the grilled mantis legs and offered it to Adam. Adam looked at it quite disinterested in eating bugs but after Deccanus didn’t let up for a solid ten seconds Adam relented.
He took a deep breath and steeled himself for the experience and then pulled back the carapace, like he saw Deccanus doing, and took a bite.
Honestly, it was pretty good. It was quite similar to lobster but less salty and tougher though with a slight tangy aftertaste. It would go well with salt and butter. In fact if he closed his eyes while he ate he could pretend he was eating lobster. Not the worst sort of thing he could have for lunch.
Adam ate less than Deccanus, only eating one leg’s worth of meat whereas Deccanus filled himself with four. He seemed to enjoy himself a lot.
Adam then began to head up to the small second floor he had not yet explored. Upon arriving up the stairs he found a small staff break room, bathrooms, a changing room, a janitor’s closet and… a protectron… still in its pod. Well now that was a good find.
Adam walked over to the wall mounted computer next to the protectron and logged in. It took less than twenty seconds to break through the password screen and get to the controls. There was nothing especially interesting about the options, just that the protectron had been remodeled for heavy lifting and labor rather than being security. It seemed to be a construction type protectron, its body was colored a solid yellow with a red striped sensor chassis at the top with caution written underneath it. Instead of two laser emitters its hand claws were instead replaced with a nail gun in one and a vice-like hand in the other. Weird that this warehouse bought a construction bot instead of something more suited for moving boxes but maybe they got a good deal on it?
Regardless it made no difference to Adam, he saw a perfectly functional protectron and decided there was no sense leaving it here to rust.
Adam spent the next few hours reprogramming the protectron almost from the ground up. Deccanus spent the time properly scouring the warehouse for goods, even doing Adam’s portion of the looting by filling his bag too. By the time Deccanus had finished looting the warehouse Adam too had finished reprogramming.
He activated the protectron and then stepped back as the pod began to open. As the protectron stepped out of the pod it began to speak, looking at Adam.
“Please stand clear of the-” It began before Adam cut it off mid sentence.
“Recognize Adam Baxter.”
There was a pause that hung in the air as the protectron processed his words, stopping itself mid sentence. Finally after a moment it spoke.
“Recognized. Adam Baxter.” Adam could only smile to himself, as per usual he was so damn good at this. Now there was the issue of what to do with this guy.
“Do you have a plan for the… robot?” Deccanus said as he walked over, seemingly withholding a worse insult to the protectron and instead just referring to him as a robot.
“Not yet…” Adam said slowly. “I guess I could bring him back with me to Midway… he would be good for hauling stuff. A robotic porter.” He mused aloud. Deccanus said nothing and just waited for Adam to come to a conclusion himself.
“On the other hand I could send him to the safehouse, it's not too far away from here and I'm sure Rae might like a new friend to chat with.”
“Safehouse?” Deccanus asked, confused.
“Ah yes. I’m sorry I never told you about it.” Adam said, disengaging from the protectron for a moment and then turning to Deccanus. “I turned an old brewery that was used as a military HQ after the bombs fell into a safehouse, I haven’t actually… used it, but it's nice that I have it.”
“I see…” Deccanus said without continuing further. Adam sighed and then looked at the protectron and then his gaze turned to the one thing he found here that was of interest to him. A commercial grade flamethrower. It was smaller than a flamer but not by much and it probably was not as powerful but it would do the job in a pinch. But this just brought him back to an old question he has been thinking about recently. Where is he going to put all his stuff? Or more specifically, if he wants to continue planning long term, where is he going to call home?
Chapter Text
The core of the issue is, right now, he is effectively living day to day out of The Layover, spending hundreds of caps a week to have a room. It was good for the time being but long term it really wasn't viable. He really did need a home. That brought him to a different problem, where to live?
There was of course, the obvious choice, living out of the brewery turned safehouse, it was already set up after all. But as a home it made for poor housing. It had no running water, bare bones electricity, no shower facilities or working bathrooms and no sleeping space that could comfortably feel like a bedroom, only places where beds were. Not to mention it was out in the middle of nowhere. As safe as it was with all those turrets he was a few hours from midway and as a permanent home having such a vulnerable location was not ideal. It only worked as a safehouse because he wasn’t living out of it. If he frequently went back and forth from there someone might catch on.
Then the next obvious choice was staying in Midway. Certainly not the worst choice, it was a massive hub of activity after all, whether he was doing runs or not he had access to a lot of utilities and people. However the truth was it had a different kind of safety issue, thieves.
As much as he liked Midway he had already heard, more than once, of people having their homes broken into and having stuff taken from them. The guards did well to keep order but there were not enough of them to keep thievery at zero. Of course that is to say nothing of the most pressing issue there, the cost.
He had done a little bit of cursory asking around about homes in Midway. The cheapest houses went for as little as 1000 caps. Though they were the unappealing ones on the main street at the entrance. They didn't even have plumbing, they had to get their water from a communal pipe at the end of mainstreet on the first floor. Adam was not that desperate. The most expensive houses were on the third floor, obviously, and they could go for upwards of 100,000 caps. Ludicrously expensive. Of course he had not forgotten about the favor he could possibly earn from Mr. Cantelli. But he might prefer to save the favor for something else, he had other ideas after all.
The average houses were generally between 10,000 and 40,000 caps. While the price varied dramatically so too did the luxuries. Basically, no matter what he would need to take out a loan or something to get a home in Midway. And when considering the aforementioned thieves it was not ideal.
The next obvious option was Naper, they already liked him there, they would likely give him a great deal for building a home there and it was safe. He would definitely feel comfortable there. But Naper was on the edge of the valuable looting areas. It was also a two day trip from Midway, which is the best place to offload his goods. Not to mention having access to the luxuries of Midway would be preferred. He liked having those amenities.
Then of course there were the other places, like The Pier, Renaissance, and a few other places he had heard mentioned in passing. But he knew nothing of any of them.
There was one place though, a place that might be perfect for his needs, but that he was hesitant to return to. The Vault.
Vault 42 was perfect. It had plenty of space for both living and storing his things, it was out of the way without being obnoxiously out of the way, it had both working plumbing and electricity. Though of course the generator would need to be fixed. In addition it was roughly halfway between Midway and Naper, a bit closer to Midway. So while it would be a trek to get to Midway it would not be the worst option. Not to mention that the giant vault door had only one key in and out, his pip-boy. The ultimate front door key.
However it was not a place he ever wanted to return to, he still had nightmares waking up from the biochamber into a room full of dead bodies. In addition the vault would need a lot of TLC, besides just the generator it needed to be fixed up.
Ultimately there was no good option. Nothing was perfect, everything had its ups and downs. It wouldn’t be such a big deal if he was going to settle down, but since he planned to remain a Scaver for the foreseeable future he needed the ability to get to everywhere. If only he still had his car it wouldn’t be as big of a deal.
He was getting nowhere. Spinning in circles with his thoughts like usual when he came to this. It was this choice paralysis that was keeping him from retrieving that Power Armor he found in the sewer too. He can’t just bring power armor to his hotel room in Midway that would absolutely call attention to him. Power armor wasn’t exactly very common around here. But more than that he wasn’t exactly sure where it was. When he was escaping the sewers he didn’t exactly mark the location on his pip-boy, he was looking for a place to sleep instead at the time. A mistake in hindsight. But there's no telling if it even worked to begin with, it could have easily been completely broken, which was why it was left behind, so it has been a moot point until now. He simply did not have time to go looking for a random sewer grate somewhere many hours outside of Naper, as much as it would be a boon to have. But he definitely had not forgotten about it.
He was getting far off track now. He needed to focus on what to do in the moment. Deccanus seemed to be patiently waiting beside Adam while he went deep into thought, all without saying a word. What a saint.
Adam sighed. He had a new robot companion he needed to do something with him.
“Protectron.” Adam said as he turned to him now with a commanding tone.
“Follow the path I program into you and arrive at my safehouse, there you will find another robot, Rae, they will give you orders until I return.” He said as he plugged his pip-boy into the control console inside the protectron to update its information so it could find the brewery. He also made sure to program it with the safeword needed to confirm with Rae that he was a friendly ‘American Revenger’.
Ultimately, as much as it would be nice to have this guy tag along on his adventures even if just as a pack mule, he was soon about to set out on a different kind of mission, not one where he was looting old buildings but instead one where he was trying to solve the case of the missing caravans. The speed and clunkiness of the protectron would only be a detriment to him, especially if some sleuthing became necessary. So for now, it seemed that sending him to the safehouse for later was the best idea. He could always retrieve him and bring him to Midway with him later if he wanted.
He then looked down at the flamethrower just as he was finished typing up the information into the protectron. He then sighed and shook his head, he would sell it, what did he need a flamethrower for now anyway? He would rather have the caps.
As much as he just spent several minutes tearing his hair out about where he wanted to live long term, for the moment he was renting a room that cost 125 caps a night. With his current caps he could afford about a month’s stay, that's it. He needed to keep bringing in new income.
Then there was the thought of selling this new protectron. If he needed caps, surely a fully functional construction protectron would sell well? He shook the thought off.
Maybe in the future, it was a good idea but not worth worrying about right now, wait until he found a buyer, for now keeping this guy at his safehouse was the best bet.
Which also reminded him he needed to grab Buddy from Renaissance too. Maybe he could grab him when he heads to The Pier? It was close after all. Thoughts for the future.
Finally, after a lot of contemplation that ultimately went nowhere he sent the protectron towards its new temporary home, the safehouse, until he was ready to retrieve it. He just hoped Rae would get along with their new friend.
“You ready to head back, Deccanus?” Adam asked as he hoisted the flamethrower over his shoulder and readied himself to make the trip back to Midway, his bags full and feeling decent about the haul they gathered.
“Indeed.” Deccanus said as he too threw his backpack on. “This was a fruitful endeavor.” Adam chuckled and then looked to the protectron that was still slowly waddling forward, heading, slowly, to the safehouse.
“Yeah, I agree.”
Chapter Text
The trip back to Midway was uneventful, thankfully. There were no encounters with any horsemen, no super mutants, no monsters, no deathclaws, nothing, just a nice peaceful walk. Aside from being poisoned by the radscorpion earlier, this was exactly what Adam had hoped for, something simpler, less exciting than normal. The haul might yield less than normal, but not every trip out into the wasteland had to be such a massive event. He was a Scaver, not some sort of comic book hero like Grognak the Barbarian. Not everything he did had to be action packed. Even if the fight with the bugs was not part of his plan.
After, as per usual, listening to the spiel from the gate guards, they got back inside the walls of Midway and headed right to Ghoul Town. If Deccanus was dissatisfied he made no show of it and instead followed without saying anything.
“Well well well.” Hobson said as he saw Adam arrive in front of his shop again, plopping his bags and the flamethrower down on his counter. “I didn’t expect to see you here again so soon.” he grinned.
“I actually have to leave for at least a few days soon, figured I’d get one more run in before I have to leave.”
“I ain’t complaining.” Hobson grinned. “As always you are a great supplier.” He said as he began to examine the goods.
“Quite the variety of things you brought this time.” He said, interested, as he pulled out a steel desk fan from the bag to examine it.
“I hit a warehouse nearby, so naturally the loot was quite varied.” Adam smiled.
“Well I can buy most of this… except that.” he gestured to the flamethrower. “I don’t got clients for that, as interesting as it is.” He shrugged.
“No worries, I have a buyer for it in mind.”
“Good.” Hobson said as he reached for his saddlebag to pull out some caps. “How about 750 caps for… three fourths of your lot?” He offered.
“Depends which fourth gets left behind.” Adam grinned and Hobson waved him off playful and annoyed.
“Right right…” He said as he began to separate the things he wanted. “How about these?” He asked as he had chosen his items from the lot.
“Make it 800 and you got a deal, I got to split it with my partner here.”
“You can split 750 just as easily, you know.” Hobson frowned.
“Yeah, but this lot is worth 800.” Adam grinned. Hobson scoffed and then took out the 800 worth of caps and handed them over to Adam.
“You should leave some room for me to make money.” Hobson grumbled.
“Aw, I’m sure a merchant with your skills could make a tidy profit on all these goods.” Adam smirked as he began to refill his bags with the items left over.
“Flattery will get you nowhere after you ripped me off.” Hobson then sighed. “Take care on your trip, bring back some goodies to sell won'tcha?” He grinned a bit.
“I’ll do my best, Hobson. I’ll be seeing you.” Adam said with a wave before handing Deccanus 400 of the caps and then making his way into Midway proper.
“I got you something fun today.” Adam said as he dropped the flamethrower on the counter of Jay’s store.
“Ooh!” Jay said, his interest peaked as he picked it up. “This ain’t no flamer.” He mused aloud.
“No, it's not. I think it's a commercial grade flamethrower, you know the kind they used to clear crops and the like?”
“Yeah, you might be right.” Jay said as he looked it over. “This all you got for me today?” he asked, curious.
“Yeah, it wasn’t a location full of weapons, this was all I grabbed.” Adam shrugged.
“Well that's fine with me.” He put the flamethrower down. “250?” He offered.
“Sounds more than fair.”
“Wonderful.” He then handed 250 caps to Adam which he immediately split between himself and Deccanus.
“I got somewhere to go for a while so I might not be in town for a bit as soon as you are done with the holster, just so you don't think I’ve died. If you don't mind, can you let Olivia know too?”
“Sure thing, pal.” Jay grinned. “As soon as the holster is done I’ll let you know, probably the day after tomorrow. And as always, stay safe out there.”
“Will do, Jay.” Adam then turned to Deccanus. “Last stop, Lune’s.”
“Smaller haul than normal, eh, Adam?” Lune grinned as she looked at the smattering of items he had pulled out of his bags for her.
“Sorry, it was a smaller sort of run today, as well as I already sold a good haul of it to another merchant.” She just shrugged in response.
“Don’t matter much to me, just bustin’ your balls.” She chuckled and then looked down at the items. “I can do 435 for the whole lot.” Adam looked through the items for a moment and then nodded.
“That sounds more than fair.” He agreed quickly.
“Wonderful” He said as she handed over the caps. Adam split it, giving Deccanus the greater half.
“I’m going to be leaving town for a bit so I won’t be stopping by as often.”
“Ah, well then stay safe then.” She said casually as she began to put the loot away for ‘organization’ later, or whatever she considers organized in this very unorganized shop.
“Actually, I was wondering if you could do me a favor.” Adam asked hopefully.
“Oh?” Lune returned, looking up from what she was doing to look at Adam again.
“I recently acquired a construction model protectron model. I was wondering if you knew anyone in the market to buy one? Or, barring that, if you would put your ear to the ground and if you find someone interested to let me know?”
“What makes you think I’m not interested?”
“Are you interested?” Adam asked, surprised.
“Not at all.” She grinned. Adam rolled his eyes and smiled a bit.
“Well I’ll let you know if something comes up, but I'm not doing it for free, I expect to be compensated for this.” Adam thought for a moment and then shrugged.
“5%?”
“10.” She countered. Adam sighed.
“Fine, 10%.” She grinned.
“I am curious though, who did you steal the bot from?” She grinned, clearly just teasing him again, since she had even once specifically told Adam she didn’t ask her suppliers where they got their goods. Obviously meaning she didn’t care if she was buying stolen merchandise.
“I didn’t steal it.” He paused and then looked at the goods he had just sold her. “No more so than those things I just sold you anyway. The morality is in question but the owners are dead so…” He shrugged. “I reprogrammed the Protectron myself, it was just sitting in its pod rusting away so I took it.
“Fair enough. Well I'll let you know if something comes up. Don’t get your hopes up though, it's a pretty niche model, not often someone needs a bot like that, now if it was a Mr. Handy…” She said as she stole a glance at her own Mr. Handy that was organizing the shop. “That would be a different story.”
“Well I don’t have any of those in stock.” Adam laughed.
“Well stay safe out there Adam.” She casually waved Adam off as she returned to handling her stock.
“You too Lune.”
Chapter Text
“I will be taking my leave now, I shall prepare myself for our journey in two days time.” Deccanus said, stoically as he turned and walked off, heading to his hotel. Adam followed suit, heading back to The Layover to book his room for another two nights. No layover package, just the room. He now had a little over 3500 caps, unless something crazy happened that would be more than enough to fund his lifestyle while he was over at the Pier figuring out why the Caravans stopped. He likely wouldn’t be able to go scavenging while he was doing Mr. Cantelli’s request so he would have to be satisfied with what he had on hand.
He was actually pretty excited to visit The Pier, he had only seen Midway and Naper up till now, he could only guess how other places looked. Half the reason he enjoyed his freedom so much is so that he can do exactly this, explore. Truly his lifestyle now suited him far better than being the resident IT guy at Second Life. Though maybe that was the clone in him speaking? Either way this life suited him well.
He took off his gear in his room, changed into his military uniform and put his Vault suit into the wash, meanwhile he himself took a shower. When he was out and his clothes were clean he headed to the food court to grab dinner. He was back earlier than usual today thanks to the warehouse being so close, so he was able to be very leisurely about his time.
He grabbed his dinner, using the voucher to pay off the food and grabbed a nuka cola to go with his burger and fries and then took a seat to eat his meal, only paying 20 caps. However, about halfway through eating he saw a young woman, about his age, wearing a long blue skirt, glasses, and holding a folder walk up to him.
“E-excuse me… are you Adam Baxter?” The woman asked him timidly.
“Uh, yes? I am.” Adam said after he wiped his mouth and swallowed, turning to look at her now.
“Oh wonderful!” She said a bit more energetic now. “My name is Mary, Ms. Watson if you prefer.” She said as she used one hand to gently lift up her skirt in a mock curtsy as she let off a soft laugh.
“Nice to meet you Mary.” Adam smiled back politely.
“Do you mind if I…” She began, gesturing to the empty seat across from Adam. Adam chuckled and then waved at the chair magnanimously, gesturing for her to join him. After taking the seat she started again.
“I was wondering if you might be interested in helping out some children, Mr. Baxter.” She began with a soft smile. Adam looked at her suspiciously, this sounded like a perfect set-up for a scam. ‘Helping the children’ by donating his money seemed like a great way to get robbed. However she noticed the look on Adam’s face, blushed a bit in embarrassment and then quickly spoke back up.
“I-I promise it's not anything weird!” She said quickly, trying to clear up the misunderstanding as fast as she could.”I am one of the teachers at Midway Elementary school.” She began with a nervous smile. “We are having a job fair of sorts for the children, a chance for the kids to hear about all the different roles people play in life in Midway, just to give them an idea of what they might want to do when they grow up.” She said with a warm tone and a soft smile, her tone now calmer again and clearly joyful when speaking about the children’s futures.
“I am currently tasked with gathering experts from various fields who would be willing to speak to the children on their jobs, and your name came up. If you are interested.” She said, a hopeful tone in her voice.
“Well…” Adam paused to think. “I certainly don’t mind. I would love to speak with the kids, if you want me but…” He paused again, considering his words. “To be honest with you, ma’am… this line of work I’m in, it's the kind of job that is easily glorified by children of that age, but it's very dangerous, I probably shouldn’t be saying this myself but there are plenty other safer jobs the children should probably be introduced to.” Adam offered. Her smile warmed further upon hearing these words.
“Honestly, Mr. Baxter, if you forgive me for saying, I agree with you.” She said as she gently lifted the rim of her glasses. “Personally I think Scaving is far too dangerous of a profession and most of those who do it are not…” She paused, considering her words, looking at Adam for a moment before looking away shyly. “...very personable.” She ended, as diplomatically as she could. The message was clear to Adam. She felt other Scavengers were likely the thug type, honestly not a terrible assessment, not that he knew many other Scavs. Adam just waved her off with a smile and a soft laugh.
“You certainly aren’t wrong, Ms. Watson.” She peeked at Adam's face and saw he was not offended and then smiled again looking at him once more.
“But our job as teachers is to help these children grow into the adults they want to be, to be the best versions of themselves, not to mold them the way we want them to turn out.” She said thoughtfully. “Life is full of unexpected surprises and knowledge is power, it's only fair to expose the kids to all kinds of legitimate work they could do in the future.” She paused again for a moment as she put the folder down on the table.
“I asked around a bit, looking for someone who might be willing to speak to the children on the behalf of Scavs and your name came up more than once…” She looked into Adam’s eyes. “After speaking with you I am more convinced than ever that you are the right man for this role… if you would be so kind as to agree.” And considered for a moment and then nodded.
“Alright, If you want me to expose the children to my lifestyle I agree, as long as you are okay with me talking about all the ups and downs that come with it.” She giggled girlishly for a moment before speaking up again.
“Well just keep it PG for the children is all I ask.” She smiled. “And besides you won’t be the only person who will be attending that has a dangerous profession.” Adam smiled and nodded again.
“Well that's fine then. When is this ‘job fair’? Just so I can plan around it.” Adam said before sipping at his Nuka Cola figuring he no longer needed to give her 100% of his attention. She seemed to get nervous and fidget in place for a moment tapping her fingers on the back of her hand while she didn’t look Adam in the eyes.
“It's um… tomorrow…” She said nervously.
“What?” Adam asked, more confused than anything.
“I’m sorry!” She apologized fiercely. “It took me nearly a month to get this all set up in the first place. By the time I got around to finding someone to fill the position of a Scaver it just got really late.” She said, her cheeks once more flushed with embarrassment. “Besides, if there was no Scav that showed up it wouldn’t be the worst thing the children could lose out on…” She mumbled quietly to herself, Adam only picking up on pieces of it. Adam sighed.
“Well luckily for you I happen to be free tomorrow. So I guess you lucked out.” Adam smiled. Her mood immediately perked up.
“Oh you are? Wonderful! Thank you Mr. Baxter! Thank you!” She said joyously, standing up quickly. She quickly opened the folder and began to write Adam’s name and the job he does on a long list of names and jobs she had inside. “I really appreciate this, Mr. Baxter. And I’m sure the children will too!” Once she finished writing Adam’s information down she picked back up the folder and gave Adam a beautiful smile.
“Thank you for this. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow!” She said with a chipper tone. Adam chuckled.
“Think nothing of it. Though one question… where is the school?”
Chapter Text
The next day Adam woke up to the sound of his pip-boy alarm going off. Something he had never done before. Sure when he was in the old world he would wake up to an alarm but he hasn’t done that once since he woke up in the vault. So naturally he needed coffee.
Heading to a coffee stand on the first floor he grabbed a cup to go for 10 caps and then headed to the school, which, as he found out yesterday, was in the residential section of the second floor, near where The Delta is, yet again a part of Midway he had never seen. Though at least this time he had an excuse, not much to see there other than houses and school.
Adam had gone the extra mile, he decided to bring all of his gear, minus the guns, with him to the school, if the concept was to introduce the job to the kids to his job then it made sense to be decked out in his combat armor with his gas mask, his binoculars, and everything else.
He did consider coming armed, at least with his pistol like he normally did when walking around Midway, especially since these kids lived here, in this post-apocalyptic future, they were probably used to seeing firearms. However he decided to keep anything dangerous away. He did bring his knife though because, you know, it's just a knife.
Upon arriving at the school he was greeted by Mary.
“I’m so glad you could make it Adam!” She smiled as Adam approached, finishing his coffee as he did.
“It’s a little early for me, but I promised to come so I certainly did.” He smiled back.
“Well I appreciate it either way, I'm sure you will do wonderfully. Please follow me. I'll bring you to our gymnasium which we turned into booths for our guests to talk to the kids.” She then turned to lead Adam into the school heading through an oddly familiar school setup with classrooms and lockers, albeit smaller than he was used to, and led him into a large open space with basketball hoops on either end. She then walked over to a small folding table with a chair and gestured for Adam to sit down.
Once he did he noticed there was a paper name tag on the desk with his name and a ‘Hello! I am a Scavenger!’ written on it. He stuck it to his chest and then turned back to Mary.
“Anything I should say when the kids come or…?”
“Just be yourself, and if the kids ask anything inappropriate don't oblige them, they can be cheeky sometimes.” She then looked at her watch. “I have to get the children, please wait here for them to arrive.” She then quickly left to head to what was likely her classroom to gather the kids. Adam waited patiently in the gym surrounded by a bunch of others representing different jobs in Midway. As he scanned around the room he noticed Jay was here, which was surprising. Unfortunately he was several tables away but a quick wave to him confirmed Jay saw him too. Other than Jay he noted a lot of people with a huge variety of jobs, there were chefs, hotel staff, town guards, maintenance workers, scientists, doctors, caravan workers, couriers, and even a knight from the knights of the round too.
Eventually the kids arrived, several classes worth, apparently, as the kids arrived in one huge group alongside a number of other teachers, Mary included. The kids began to quickly run to whatever table interested them despite warning from several teachers not to run. Adam wasn’t sure what to expect but he very quickly had quite a lot of kids show up at his table. Unsurprisingly his was a popular job.
“Hi!” One of the kids, a little girl, beamed at him as she and 6 other kids walked up to his table.
“Hi there.” Adam said back with a warm tone and smile.
“What's a Scay-venge-ear?” One boy asked from behind her, pronouncing the word wrong.
“Its Scavenger.” Adam said politely. “And it means someone who goes out beyond the walls and looks for things people need.”
“What kind of stuff?” A kid in the back, who was picking his nose asked.
“Anything.” Adam smiled. “From books and cooking supplies to robots and even dangerous things like guns.”
“What kind of guns?!” One little, very excited boy asked. Adam chuckled softly.
“Whatever I can find. Sometimes that means big guns, sometimes that means small ones.”
“My mom says there are scary monsters outside the wall.” Another of the kids said.
“She’s right.” Adam said with a soft informative tone. “Outside Midway’s walls there are many creatures, most aren’t friendly. So my job isn’t easy, it can be quite dangerous.”
“But you still get to shoot stuff right? Like brap brap brap brap!” The excited boy from before said making the noises of a gun with his hands. Adam chuckled quietly.
“Yes, often my job requires me to defend myself, that does mean shooting guns, often. To survive out there it requires me to put a ton of my skills to use.”
“Have you ever seen a deathclaw?!” The young girl from the start asked, her eyes sparkling. Adam nodded.
“I have, it was quite a ferocious creature.” Adam said, remembering his encounter with the monster when he had just left the vault. He was so unprepared to face one, he was lucky to get away. Honestly, he wouldn’t exactly jump at a chance to fight one even now if he could avoid it.
“What was it like?!” The girl asked again. Adam paused to think.
“It was tall, really really tall.” he said emphatically, raising his arm high above his head to exaggerate the effect. “And it had spikes coming out its back and its massive tail!” He said miming the spikes as well. “And it had massive claws and razor sharp teeth!” He said getting into it now with the voice he was using to describe the creature. The little girl giggled at his description and the excited boy spoke up.
“Did you fight it?!”
“No no.” Adam stopped him gently. “The first rule of being a Scavenger is knowing how to pick your fights. Or, better yet, trying to avoid fighting whenever you can. After all there’s no replacement for your life.” He smiled.
“What’s that?” One of the other kids asked while they pointed to Adam’s pip-boy.
“Ah, this is my pip-boy. It's a special tool that helps me keep organized as well as give me a map whenever I need, plus all the other functions it has too.”
“How much did it cost?!” The excited boy asked again. Adam laughed softly.
“I found it, so technically free, one of the benefits of being a Scaver.”
What’s that?” The same kid from before asked as this time they pointed to his combat armor, which he could only infer since it was just generally his whole body.
“This?” he asked as he pulled at his combat armor a bit. “This is my body armor, it keeps me safe when I go outside from whatever sort of wasteland creature decides to try to fight me.”
“Oh so it's like the armor the guards wear!” The kid in the back said with a nod of understanding.
“Exactly!” He smiled.
“Okay, thanks mister!” The girl at the front said energetically as she then led her friends to another table, everyone following along behind her with the excited boy lingering the longest.
Adam sat down and took a look around the room now that he had a moment. There were definitely jobs that were more popular than others. However before he could even process that information more kids waddled up to him to begin their own questions. So Adam once more got busy.
Chapter Text
The rest of the event went smoothly, though it was a bit socially taxing, after all Adam had to spend many hours answering kids’ questions one after the other. Some were rudimentary, some were complex, and a few even got deep. From the ephemeral nature of his life while doing this work to if he saw any cats. Paraphrasing, of course, the questions were broad as the earth itself.
As he noted earlier there were some jobs that kids gravitated towards more than others, his was among the more popular, which was fine, it certainly beats sitting around bored. But the knight also seemed to be getting a lot of attention from the kids, likely due to their renown as Chicago’s protectors. However even Jay proved to be quite popular, though it was probably due to his personality rather than his job. He had a good time chatting with the kids, even lifting a few kids up by letting them hang onto his arms once or twice. He seemed very good with children.
However, eventually the event wrapped up, the teachers then gathered all the kids together and they, together, thanked everyone who came out today. With the children gone the adults were left to leave on their own time, Jay approached Adam.
‘Hey buddy!” Jay said as he walked over, hand extended.
“Hey Jay, fancy meeting you here.” Adam smiled as he shook his hand.
“I could say the same about you.” He smirked. “I do this every year, it's good for the kids and it gets me out of the shop for a bit.” He chuckled. “Though I didn’t know you were coming this year.”
“Yeah I didn’t either.” Adam laughed. “I found out yesterday.”
“Last minute huh?” Jay scratched his beard. “Well if they were going to grab any scaver I’m glad it's you!” He laughed heartily.
“Hey.” He said as he slapped Adam’s arm. “Why don’t you join me and a few of the others at a post job fair for lunch.” He offered. Adam thought for a moment and then shrugged.
“Sure, why not, I don’t have anything else going on today.”
“Wonderful!” He smiled as he led Adam over to a few of the others who were beginning to gather, an eclectic group of workers to be sure, but everyone seemed friendly.
The 7 of them all headed to a restaurant on the second floor that was built inside a plane, much the same as The Delta was, however the entire top of the airplane had been cut off making it an outdoor venue and eliminating any of the claustrophobic feelings one might get. At worst the aisle to walk down while avoiding the tables was a bit narrow, but with multiple ramps on and off the plane it really didn’t feel too tight at all.
The lunch was spent quite amicably with the people gathered, they talked a bit about their jobs, their lives, and why they decided to do this for the kids, though of course it was not a Q&A so the conversation flowed naturally.
When the meal was over Adam insisted on paying for the group, he wanted to thank them for inviting him and it seemed to be a good way to do so. Though there were plenty at the table who tried to talk him out of it eventually they all relented. His bill was 276 caps, sizable, but certainly not enough to break the bank. It was nice to be social again. Of course it was not like he was shut away in his room, but honestly other than Eve he really didn’t hang out with anyone for the sake of being social. This was a great change of pace for him.
Still when the meal was over Jay approached him again.
“Thanks for coming along Adam, and thanks for paying for the meal, you really didn’t have to do that, you know?” He smiled.
“Thank you for inviting me.” He smiled. “And don’t worry about it, I wanted to do it, figured it was a good way to end the lunch if everyone got a free meal out of it.”
“Everyone but you.” Jay said with a wagging finger but friendly tone.
“Except me.” Adam admitted with a smile.
“Well I'm certainly not going to complain, so thank you.” Jay laughed before patting Adam’s arm again. “Your holster will be ready as soon as the shop opens tomorrow, I got a few finishing touches to make on it and then it's all yours.”
“Thanks Jay.”
“No problem, Pleasure to be working with you, as always.”
Adam left the event feeling more recharged, he was finally starting to feel like he belonged in this world, people were coming to him, people were noticing him, it was finally starting to feel like he wasn’t just an outsider looking in at this weird world he had to survive but instead that he was a member of a community. That felt nice.
Adam left Midway and headed to Ghoultown, he had someone to see before he could leave tomorrow.
“Hey Claire.” Adam said as he entered her Inn and noticed her behind the bar.
“Well if it isn’t my favorite human.” She said with a warm tone. “What will it be?”
“Ah well I just came to ask a favor but since I am here… maybe a beer?” He said offhandedly.
“Certainly.” She smiled and then walked over to a tap to begin pouring his beer. “What’s the ask, honey?” She said while she poured.
“Salvatore isn’t back, right?” He asked.
“No, not as far as I’m aware, then again he said he might be a while.”
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Adam said as Claire put down the glass in front of Adam. “I’m going to be leaving town for a bit, I don’t know when I’ll be back yet, it could be a few days, it could be a week, or it could be a month, I just don’t know.”
“And you want me to tell old grumpy pants that you left town if he gets back before you do?” She inferred.
“Exactly.”
“Well I can certainly do that for you.” She paused for a moment. “Mind telling me where you are going?”
“The Pier.” Adam said simply as he sipped at the Beer.
“Ah, I was there for a few years before I set up shop here. Heard it's changed a lot since I was there.”
“How so?”
“Well for one heard they got their ducks in a row now.” She chuckled softly. “Things were a mess when I left, but that was decades ago.” She shrugged. “They got someone new in charge and set up defenses to stop the late night lakelurk attacks. Heard they even set up a formal school, just like Midway.” She smiled.
“That sounds pretty nice actually. Glad I'm not walking into a scary town.”
“Oh certainly not.” She giggled softly. “But I would warn you that it can be a bit... rougher than Midway, most of the people that live there are more used to handling themselves in fights so don’t be offended when they aren’t polite.” Now it was Adam’s turn to laugh.
“I’m not easily offended.” He smiled.
“Good, then I think you will be more than fine.”
“How much for the beer?” He asked with a raise of his glass.
“For you? It's on the house.” She smirked and then walked away to let Adam drink in peace.
Chapter Text
Despite Claire giving Adam his drink for free he still left 10 caps behind for her when he left the bar, she still needed to make money, after all. She could think of it as a tip if she needed. The rest of the day was spent leisurely, he wanted to tell Eve he was leaving too but he managed to miss her again, poor luck on his part. This time, however, he did have the other bartender pass along the message to her that he wouldn’t be back for a bit in case she was wondering. Other than that he spent 42 caps on dinner and then went to sleep after enjoying his day.
The next day Adam geared up, tipped the front man at The Layover 20 caps for all the times he had stayed here, and headed right to Jay's shop.
“Good morning Adam.” Jay said with a smile as he saw him arrive.
‘Good morning Jay. My holster ready?”
“Yessir.” He said with a grin as he produced the custom magnetic holster and handed it over.
“It's fitted for your pistol, has an adjustable strap, a variable magnetic clip with an option right here to move the magnets more or less out of position to strengthen or loosen the grip.” He said pointing before handing it over.
“Thanks Jay, this is perfect.” He then looked down at himself, this was an issue he knew he was going to come to eventually. He had too much gear.
He had a backpack on and that took up all of his back thus his rifle hung in front of his chest, along with his gasmask and binoculars. So a chest holster was out of the question. His waist was incredibly busy too because not only did he have his 10mm pistol holster on his side but he also had his large toolbelt, there was no more space for another. The knife was down on the bottom part of his left leg so he did still have space above it on his outer thigh, but it would likely rub against his tool belt all the time if he put it there. The only other option was to put it on his empty right leg’s outer thigh more or less below the 10mm pistol, but it was terrible for ergonomics and looked lopsided. The only real option was to put it on his left leg but lower than he would like so it didn’t bump into his toolbelt. Maybe one day he could rid himself of the 10mm pistol and put the laser pistol there, after all he was not even a big fan of it, however that day was not today.
“I’ll see you around Jay.” Adam said as soon as he finished clipping his new gun to his body, finally freeing it from the prison of his backpack’s back pocket.
“Stay safe Adam.” Jay said back with a wave as Adam began to saunter off to meet Deccanus at the gate.
The two meet up and set out, heading along a path Adam had mapped out beforehand. If one just looked at the map it would seem Midway and The Pier are reasonably close however as he learned before there was a great wall of rubble that separated the easy access between the two towns, theoretically Adam could climb over it, but it was as dangerous as it was reckless. There was no telling how stable the rubble was nor if anything was hiding inside it, besides it was many stories high so it was not worth trying when he could just make the smart trip around. Even discounting all that his mission was to figure out what happened to the caravans, skipping the path the Caravan merchants used would be counter intuitive.
The trip for a while was uneventful, this was a commonly used trail, not entirely safe but safer than the random paths Adam had been taking until now so nothing big would drop upon them.
Eventually Deccanus stopped the two of them as he motioned to a random bathtub nearby placed on the streets.
“There.” he said as he pointed to it before walking over. Adam was beyond confused. Sure, it was weird seeing a porcelain white bathtub out randomly on the sidewalk, but there was enough weird random furniture out here that it didn’t really stand out.
“What is it?” Adam asked, still genuinely confused as he walked over with Deccanus.
“Brahmin feeding trough.” He said as he stuck his hand into the trough now seeing it was a gross mix of hay, meat, old food, and other ‘food’. Adam frowned when Deccanus stuck his hand in but said nothing. “It has been used recently.” He said as he then looked around for a moment and then noticed some droppings on the ground. He knelt down to inspect it, thankfully not touching this one but hovering his hand near it.
“Likely in the last day or two.” He said seriously.
“Okay, so assuming the caravan was moving the goods by brahmin then this means they at least made it this far right?”
“Perhaps.” Deccanus said as he stood up. “Though brahmins are often used as pack animals by all types, this could have just as easily been from an unaffiliated party.” Adam paused to consider and then nodded.
“True.” He admitted after a moment.
“But this does confirm that the trail up to this point has remained at least somewhat safe for people coming and going.” Deccanus concluded.
“So what does that mean for us?” Adam asked, curious where this line of reasoning was leading Deccanus.
“That either the caravans never left The Pier to begin with or…” He looked back the way they came. “There is some other conspiracy at play.” He said, suspiciously.
“What do you recommend?” Adam asked, at this point just trusting Deccanus’ instinct.
“I say we push on, there might be things to be learned if we back track from here, but it would be a fruitless endeavor if we are to learn they never left at all. It’s best if we do not remain here, we still have much left to uncover.” Adam nodded.
“Alright, let's keep moving then, maybe we can find some clues along the way.” Adam remarked, feeling a bit like a detective at the moment. Or, perhaps, a bit like Watson to Deccanus’ Sherlock Holmes. He was just happy to be along for the ride.
Walking another few hours yielded no new clues for the duo until they came to the turn that one would take to get to the other side of the mountain of rubble, now revealing the beautiful blue- er… mostly bluish green lake of Lake Michigan. The first time Adam had laid eyes on it since he woke up. It was… changed slightly, not as pretty as it once was but there was no doubt it was the same.
However that was not what caught their eye, what immediately drew both men’s attention was a long building at the turn, a two story store with lights on and one brahmin hitched outside and a sign that read ‘Gourmand’.
Both men weren’t about to pass up the obvious possible lead so they headed inside only to be met with a silky smooth voice from a very handsome man standing behind the bar:
“Welcome to the Gourmand.” He grinned.
Chapter Text
The man standing at the bar who had just greeted them was wearing a dressed down suit with a bright red tie and vertical striped suit pants that matched his vest. His hair was a stark black and swept back neatly with only two small cow licks on either side of his head that stood a part of his hair up in a curved motion. His voice was smooth, deep, and almost intoxicating and he was devilishly handsome. All of this to say that despite whoever might have been in the bar, this man was definitely a standout.
However when Adam’s attention broke away from the bar where he was standing he noticed a really eclectic group of people. More than eclectic, absurd was more like it.
There were men in business suits sharing a table with ghouls who seemed to be from the deep south. There were very obviously raiders decked out in their intimidating garb only one table over from two men who were probably mercenaries. There was a table where a bookish looking woman was sitting with a Caravan worker, and at the bar were two men who looked like bikers sitting next to an elderly man who looked one foot in the grave. It was such an insane hodgepodge of people it was almost more impressive that Adam had only noticed them after he noticed the host.
“The name is Belphegor.” He said with a polite and charming smile as he welcomed them inside. “I am your host, you are welcome to take up seats anywhere you want, so long as you follow my one rule~” He holds up a single finger before speaking. “No fighting.” He smiled knowingly.
“This here is neutral ground, if you are here you do not fight, you do not yell, you do not argue with other patrons. Otherwise I do something about it.”
The door then opened up behind the two of them and two super mutants of all things walked in casually. They didn’t seem to be looking for a fight at all and while they did have weapons on them they were not drawn.
“Human. We require meat!” One of the two super mutants said, towering over Adam and Deccanus while ignoring them entirely. The weirdest part, well besides the fact they were even here, was the fact that unlike every other time he had heard super mutants speaking this one seemed to not be yelling. Instead he was using something of an inside voice? Or as much of one as he could muster anyway, he was still speaking loudly with an intense tone but he was not yelling. Which was good because Adam was right in front of him.
“No worries fellas, I got your order right here.” He flashed them a charming smile and then almost magically procured a plate of still bleeding meat from below the counter, out of Adam’s sightline, and presented it to them.
The super mutants rudely brushed past Adam and Deccanus to walk over, grab the plate and then took a seat at the back table for them to eat. It would be a bit comical to see those hulking super mutants sitting in tiny bar booths to eat if not for how surreal the whole situation was.
“Anyway, where was I?” Belphegor said, turning his attention back to Adam and Deccanus. “Feel free to grab a seat wherever you like, there’s a menu on every chair. First time customers get a drink on the house.” He said with a silky tone before he gently walked to elsewhere at the bar to handle another customer.
Adam was so confused by what he was seeing, he had hoped to gain some clarity by coming in here but even as he turned to look at Deccanus, he too was confused. Though Deccanus seemed to be hiding it better.
After a moment to process Adam shrugged and walked over to an empty table, the last empty table, and took a look at the menu. It was huge.
Well, it was honestly pretty average for an old world restaurant, in fact he had even been to some that had much more extensive menus. But this was impressive for the post-apocalyptic world. The menu had 3 pages, as well as a back where all the drinks were laid out. A person could have a full feast here and still not have tried everything on the menu.
The names of all the food items were written in another language, French, maybe? Spanish? Who knows maybe it was Latin, but honestly it was probably French. Regardless, after deciding on what food he wanted a waitress walked up wearing a bubblegum pink t-shirt, a pink and white striped skirt, and was chewing bubble gum.
“Hello, my name is Lilith, I will be your waitress today. What can I do ya for boys?” She said with a strong north atlantic accent. She then turned to Deccanus and gently touched his arm as she spoke to him specifically. “And we do accept Denarii here, for the record.” She said with a polite smile before blowing a bubble.
“You… know of the Legion currency?” Deccanus said in surprise. She rolled her eyes and put the hand with the notepad on her hip with a sassy smile.
“Of course I do, we get all types in here. Some even from way out west. I got guys paying with caps, denarii, scrit, I've even seen some NCR money pass through here.” She shrugged. “It's all the same to me, hun. So, you boys know what you are gonna order?”
“Uhhh…yeah.” Adam said, momentarily taken aback by a number of strange things going on at this place but quickly putting himself back together. “Can I get the chicken salad and the chef’s special?” Adam asked, pointing to the items on the menu and saying what he thinks they would be in English because, aside from the ingredients, the menu items were not in english.
“Sure can do, hun. And for you soldier?” She said, looking at Deccanus now.
“Venison… please…” He said back.
“Wonderful.” She smiled and blew another bubble. “Let me just take those menus off your hands and I'll let the chef know your orders.” She turned to walk away but Adam spoke up before she did.
“Uh, excuse me, do you have a moment?”
“Oh sure, hun, what's up?”
“We are actually looking into the details of the missing caravans from The Pier to Midway, I was wondering if you might know anything about that?” Adam inquired, it might be a long shot but it was worth a try.
“Hmmmm.” She hummed aloud as she thought for a moment. “No, sorry. I don’t know nothing about no missing caravans. Though plenty of caravans do stop here so maybe one of them was your people. Sorry I can't help more, hun.” Adam waved her off.
“That's fine, thank you for your help. I look forward to the food.” Adam smiled.
“Oh trust me, it is to die for.” She smirked and then walked off with their orders.
Chapter Text
Adam couldn’t help but steal a glance at the two super mutants who had walked in behind them, gorging themselves on a plate of raw bloody undefined meat.
“Is um… that normal?” He asked Deccanus, lightly gesturing with his hand but doing so subtly so it didn’t look like he was pointing.
‘Normal? No.” Deccanus responded as he too looked around but less so with the same interest and confusion as Adam. “However some Super mutants have been known to domesticate themselves.” He glanced back at the two super mutants. “However I do not get the feeling those two are among them.”
“Yeah that was my thought too…” Adam was unsure what to say about this place. It was weird, a restaurant bar considered neutral ground for all people run by a handsome man called Belphegor in a Chicago that is currently encircled by the four horsemen? Something just seemed… off about the whole situation but Adam couldn’t quite pin it down. However, whatever the case, it was nice to know there was an oasis of peace out in the wasteland. A neutral ground is exactly what he would hope for. Of course that's assuming Belphegor could back up his words. Maybe he was bluffing? Who could say, but if even the Super Mutants were not acting up there must be some validity to his claim.
Regardless it was perfect for a lunch, maybe this wouldn’t aid them in their investigation but it was certainly an interesting experience, and that was half the reason Adam was traveling. Maybe one day he would write memoirs, this would be worth a footnote at least.
“I'm curious, Deccanus.” Adam began as he looked to Deccanus who turned to look at him in return. “You said you grew up in the Legion but you were born in a tribe? What did you mean?” He then paused as he looked at him for a moment before adding at the end: “And if you left the Legion why are you still… trying to be like them.”
Deccanus looked down at the last question glancing at his skirt and armor he wore and then sighed deeply.
“It is the only life I’ve ever known…” He said with real emotion to Adam now. “I was trained to be a legionary, I am a legionary, I do not know how to be anything but a legionary and…” He paused. “I suppose, so far it has served me well.” Adam nodded slowly, understanding. Why fix what wasn’t broke? He had skills that helped him survive through the years, why change the way he did things now, that made sense to him at least.
“As for your other question that will take a bit longer to explain, a story will be required, if you are willing to listen.” Adam nodded again.
“I asked because I was curious, I expected a story from the start.”
“Very well.” Deccanus took a deep breath and prepared himself for the story. “I shall start with the creation of the great empire of Caesar’s Legion and end with my own story. It is necessary to understand what I have told you.” He paused to make sure Adam was listening and then began.
“The Legion was started when our mighty Caesar, bereft of the others from his clan, the Followers of the Apocalypse, was captured by a tribe local to what was once called the grand canyon, there he began to see the potential of the tribals, taught them war tactics, proper use of guns, new ideas and old traditions born from the fires of a long dead people. With their help he ended the war of the 7 surrounding tribes and formed a union under his command, eventually his rule extended to the control of 87 tribes. The names of the tribes are gone, no need for tribal labels when we are all Legion.” He paused once just to switch gears.
“When the Legion came to my home, I was but a young boy. I do not remember much of the event, nor what my old tribe was like, just that they existed as a part of my past. However I was young enough to be taken in not as a slave but as a warrior. I grew up in the Legion, learned their rules, their laws, their roles and skills. I became Legion when I became a man and served under my Legate from day one. I remained there, in the Legion, until the day everything fell apart.” He said somewhat sad now. “So I am both, son of tribals, and son of Mars.” He said resolutely, regaining his confidence. Adam nodded understandingly.
“Aren't you ever curious to figure out what your old tribe was like? Who they were, where they came from, what they believed in?” He asked.
“No.” Deccanus returned staunchly. “Whatever the tribe I came from was like is gone, it has been buried under the sands of time. A dead people tell no tales, my only people is the Legion, whether it is dead or not I will carry the blood of Mars until I no longer breathe.”
“But isn't that a contradiction? That you will carry the story and legacy of one dead people but not another?” Adam asked, not trying to poke holes in his logic more just asking because he was trying to understand.
Deccanus seemed caught off guard by the question, seemingly never having considered it like Adam had said.
“It… is different…” He said, unsure himself.
“How?” Adam asked again.
“It… just is…” Deccanus responded, seemingly unsure of it himself.
“I'm sorry I didn't mean to push you or anything, I was just curious.” Adam said more tenderly now.
“Think nothing of it.” Deccanus said in return, attempting to seem resolute but it was clear he had been shaken. “I had never considered that my Legion was now… no different than the tribe I…” He petered off, seemingly deep in thought now. Adam hadn’t intended to send him into a crisis but was unsure what to say now.
“There is nothing wrong with picking and choosing what you want to believe in.” Adam said after a moment of silence. “I do it all the time, things I like, I try to do or see more of. Things I dislike I do less of. But what I enjoy is not what everyone enjoys. There is nothing wrong with picking one thing over another, there is nothing wrong with ignoring something entirely. So long as you find a path you are happy with, that is all that matters, I think.” Adam said, thoughtfully, though of course this was all off the top of his head, not exactly a well thought through argument, hence why it was so slipshod.
Deccanus stared at Adam for a moment and then sighed.
“Perhaps you are right.” Deccanus said with a calmer tone. “These are questions I never dared to ask myself before but there is no reason I shouldn't ask them. If my answer is still Legion then that is what I will be until the day I die.” He said with some resolve again.
“And if it's not Legion maybe you can explore some of your old culture.” Adam offered softly.
“Maybe. But it will be some time before I decide if I shall remain Legion or change myself. I am not equipped to answer these questions now.” Adam smiled.
“No no is asking for your answer now, like I said before, if you gotta, spend your whole life looking for an answer, take your time there is no rush.” Deccanus nodded slowly and then turned as the waitress came back with their food.
“Here you go boys.” She smiled as she put their food down in front of them along with a drink for each of them. “I hope you enjoy!” She winked and then walked away leaving the two men alone to eat.
Chapter 139
Notes:
Oops this was supposed to be posted earlier today oh well, hopefully i remember to post the next chapter tomorrow lol
Chapter Text
It was a very good meal, in fact the best meal he has had since he woke up in the vault. The meal was a bit pricey, 45 caps, that was with the free drink, but certainly it was worth it. Honestly if it wasn’t a many hour walk outside of Midway it would be worth coming again. However he could tell, instinctively, that this was not the sort of place he should stick around. Even if everyone inside was passive that didn’t mean they would remain so, so as soon as the two of them were done eating their meal they continued on. Surely Adam could have stayed and asked some questions, especially of Belphegor. However he didn't want to get bogged down here, since Lilith knew nothing he probably didn’t know anything either, besides it was best to get moving, it takes about a day of travel to get from Midway to The Pier, so he wanted to move before it got too dark.
As they walked along the shoreline next to lake Michigan Adam took in the sight of the once beautiful lake. It still looked pretty, even now. But the dark blue water had turned greenish and it looked less appealing now than it had before. Not that he would have drank the water from the lake directly anyway, but now, it was probably even more unsafe.
The journey the rest of the way was just as uneventful as the path up till now, no new clues popped out at either man.
Eventually they arrived at a grand Neon Sign lit up brightly with argon gas making it glow a brilliant shade of purple. It proudly read: “The Pier” There was no doubt that they were in the right place. Though of course this was never in contention as a long concrete dock spread out in front of them. Navy Pier. That was what this place used to be called in the old world. Unlike Midway it looked reasonably unchanged, aside from the wear and tear. And of course the 12 foot solid concrete wall that blocked the entrance to the pier and wrapped around the front into the water for about 20 feet, preventing someone from hopping over the corner.
There were two guards in front of the wall, both were wearing some kind of heavy metal cuirass, heavy leather jackets, a gas mask without goggles, and some kind of metal helmet. They looked well armed too, the man on the right carried a grenade launcher and the man on the left a light machine gun. They certainly looked a bit more apocalyptic survivor looking than the guards at Midway. These guards clearly were using whatever they had on hand to make the armor, however they were much more well armed and armored than the guards of Naper, who were much the same but not nearly as well funded.
The guard closest to him waved them over.
“You two new to the area?” The guard asked them casually.
“Yes, actually, first time here.” Adam said with a nod.
“Okay, well just a heads up don’t stick your feet in the water, the Lakelurks like to drag people under when they get a chance. If you need a boat head to the opposite end of the dock to see a captain, and, it goes without saying, we don't take kindly to people who cause problems so if you act up our next conversation will end with a bullet in your head.” He finished, still casual.
“Understood.” Adam said with a polite smile. “We have no intention of causing trouble.” The guard shrugged.
“Well this is The Pier. Expect a little trouble.” He grinned. “Just don’t make me have to come talk to you, that’s when I'm less pleasant.”
“Understood, thank you for the warning.” Adam replied. The guard then turned a bit to look at the giant concrete gate and cupped one hand around his mouth, clearly intending to shout.
“HEY! OPEN THE DAMN GATE YOU LAZY BASTARD!” He yelled to whoever was on the other side of the wall, possibly not doing their job by the sounds of it?
The gate slowly began to open, smoothly, and impressively as the scene opened up before them. It wasn’t so much a surprise as Adam could see the place from the shoreline but it was still impressive. The long several buildings laid out along concrete path with people milling about doing whatever sort of tasks they needed to handle for the day. Right at the entrance was a small flower shop with a little girl selling flowers. An identical courier service to the one in Midway was also visible not too far away along with an outdoor fish vendor. There were several boats docked alongside the pier, some small, some large, and, most impressive, a whole US Navy Destroyer. Then of course there was the large ferris wheel still standing off to one side of the pier. It was not functioning and had clearly seen better days, but it was standing tall still, as if a monument to this settlement’s ability to endure.
Of course none of this caught Adam’s eye first. He had seen a good chunk of the buildings upon their approach. What caught his attention the most was the creatures around here.
First of all there were seagulls. But they were not like the seagulls he was used to from the old world. These looked sickly, gross, they had tumors growing all over their bodies. Their feathers did not have their natural sheen and their eyes were bloodshot. Their beaks were also notably longer than a normal gull’s too. They honestly looked pretty scary, clearly mutated by the radiation. However they were just seagulls, and they were acting like seagulls, but they were not the only creature he saw.
Next he saw what he could only be described as a heavily mutated pelican. The bottom of its mouth was a whole foot from the top, it was also larger, about twice the size of a normal pelican. And then to top that off it had a weird bird-like pair of arms it hid under its huge wingspan. The only one he saw at the moment was trying to fight a dock worker for a fish and losing.
Then there were the fish themselves. There were normal… ish, looking fish in baskets throughout the dock. They were what you would expect from the lake. However then there were creatures that were anything but expected.
There was one creature that seemed to be dolphin-like, however its mouth extended much further like a swordfish and its teeth were razor sharp. And it was larger than an average dolphin too, it was huge. It hung upside down from a pole, clearly being prepared for later. Then there were the lakelurks. Boy, there were a lot of them.
The majority of the dock space was taken up by what were likely industrial grade dumpsters filled to the brim with the radcrabs stacked on top of each other like toy blocks. And unlike the lakelurks he fought in the mall with Salvatore, where there seemed to be some uniformity among the creatures. These had far more variety. Some were big, some were small, some had more arms, some had bigger shells, some were elongated. It truly was a very colorful collection of dead crabs.
However none of this, from the mutated creatures to the dock’s buildings, phased Deccanus at all, he looked completely placid at the sight. Perhaps he was just used to it being a former Legion soldier. Or perhaps Adam was acting like a tourist. Either way he decided to stop gawking.
“Alright.” Adam said as he turned to Deccanus now. “Have you been here before?”
“I have not.” Deccanus responded quickly.
‘Okay then…” Adam checked his pip-boy. “Lets split up, try to find an inn for tonight since it's already getting late as well as begin to start gathering clues, though we can work on it more tomorrow.” Adam then turned to the ferris wheel and pointed.
“Let's meet up at the Ferris wheel in an hour, hopefully that will be enough time to find an inn.”
“Understood. I will be there on time.” Deccanus said before he turned to walk away. Adam chuckled to himself and then began to walk away himself, ready to explore this new settlement
Chapter Text
Adam began to explore the town, he realized a few things quickly. First, if it wasn’t already obvious this was a fishing town, the main economic mover seemed to be fishing all creatures of the lake, most jobs revolved around it, whether that be the fishermen themselves, butchers who specialize in crabs and fish, caravans who have specialized refrigeration units to transport the fish, and so much more. To add on to that much of the color that was seen throughout the town was that of fish imagery. Including one incredibly impressive massive mural on the wall of the largest building. It depicted a scene as a snapshot of life at The Pier, people hauling catches, fishermen in the lake, even the destroyer proudly sitting at the docks along with the ferris wheel next to it, even though those two things were at opposite ends of the pier.
The second thing he learned is that there were indeed a ton of people living here, though definitely some appeared to be travelers, having come on the boats or leaving on boats. However, unlike Midway which could be considered a city by new world standards, this place was a step below that, only feeling like a large town. The population here was definitely sizable but not enough to challenge Midway as the most populated settlement in the area.
Third, while there did appear to be housing from the converted space in the buildings, most of the buildings were converted for work, shops, and hotels, which Adam did find. Most of the people appeared to live on boats. The Pier was full of people getting on and off boats, many of which had been converted to very obviously housing thanks to the tapestries, beds, and other things that showed people stayed on them. Though as he noticed before it was not everyone, just a majority. The docks themselves seemed to be an addition added onto the Pier as they were clearly of lesser quality when compared to the concrete floor he was walking on, but they seemed to get the job done.
Fourth, everyone here seemed more rugged. If Midway had a mix of people from those who had never left their home to people who were more like Adam these people struck him as an entire settlement of people like a mix of Jay and Salvatore. Most were friendly and kind, but they were built big and seemed to carry themselves like they were confident in a fight.
Fifth the town had turrets everywhere. There were so many turrets here that it was almost more impressive they could power them all. They lined the edge of the docks every 100 feet or so pointed out towards the water. Clearly they were prepared for a naval incursion of some kind. Interestingly though not a single one of the turrets were the kind he was used to, the laser variety. There were, of course, other kinds of automated turrets, ones that used bullets such as these. But by the US army standards they were antiquated and being phased out by the time he left the army. They had either built a majority of these turrets by hand or had taken every automated gun turret that fired bullets in the entirety of Chicago. Though somehow he suspected it was the former, a lot of the turrets were not uniform.
The last most interesting thing of note was that the giant heavy pounder guns on the destroyer seemed to be pointing out to the Lake. That might just be because that was how they were left when the world ended, after all the whole reason the destroyer was here was to act as a supporting force for troops in Canada if the Canadians acted out. Though usually when a ship was at dock like this the guns would be brought to a more normal resting position. Was the gun functional? If so that would be some incredible firepower, but he was not a naval expert, nor did it really affect him so he didn’t pursue the line of thought.
Eventually an hour passed, Adam had found a nice hotel for him and Deccanus but had not booked the rooms yet, both because he was assured if he waited a bit they would not be booked, and because he didn’t want to double book if Deccanus paid for rooms already. As Adam walked back to the ferris wheel where he promised to meet Deccanus he was stopped by the young girl who was selling flowers near the entrance.
“Excuse me sir.” She said politely with a slightly shy voice. “May I interest you in some flowers?” She continued, hopefully. Adam paused, looked at her, looked at the flowers and then looked at her again. He really didn’t need flowers, what was he going to do with them?
“How much for those over there?” Adam asked with an internal sigh as he pointed to a nice bouquet of colorful flowers. He was such a pushover. Damn, using kids to sell things was cheating.
Her eyes lit up when Adam asked as she ran over to the flowers, taking it out of its holder and holding it in her little arms.
“These are only 35 caps!” She beamed. 35? For flowers?
“Alright, sounds good to me.” Adam said, another internal sigh as he paid for the flowers. Taking them from the girl after he paid.
“Thank you mister! Have a great day!” She said as she put the caps into a little pouch at her side and then went back to hustling.
Adam walked over to the Ferris wheel now, still holding the wrapped flowers in his hands as he did. He saw Deccanus standing there when he arrived.
“I have completed my search and I-” Deccanus began as Adam approached before he noticed the flowers and looked confused for a moment. “Why do you have flowers?”
“A very persuasive little girl sold them to me.” Adam said with a small laugh. Deccanus stared at the flowers for a moment and then looked to Adam again.
“I appreciate the gesture but I am not interested in men.” He said flatly. Adam blinked as his mind caught up with what he was hearing.
“What? No. Deccanus I-” Then it dawned on Adam. “Wait… was that… a joke?” He asked Deccanus curiously. Deccanus offered a small smirk.
“I do have a sense of humor.” Adam looked at him surprised for a moment before laughing a bit.
“I stand corrected.” He smiled. “My apologies.”
“You have no need for apologies.” Deccanus said in return.
“Now, you were saying? You completed your search?”
Chapter Text
“Yes.” Deccanus continued, ready to give his report. “I have walked the majority of the Pier and found at least 5 suitable locations for us to stay while we are here as well as found some information regarding our mission.”
“Yeah I found a place to stay too, so I guess we are good on that front. What did you learn?”
“I did not spend much time inquiring about it, but I did ask a few people about the caravans to Midway. In every case they had no idea there was even an issue. As far as they were aware the Caravans were working as usual, it is not unusual for them to be gone for months at a time before they return, there is a rotating band of caravans that handle the transport. Whatever the situation is, the few people I spoke to have no idea it was even happening.” Adam paused to consider.
“That suggests that either that this problem only started recently or there is something greater at play…” Adam mused. “Or both.” He conceded with a shrug.
“Indeed, though we have too little information at the moment. Further investigation will be required.” Adam nodded.
“Agreed. But the sun is already setting so let's grab some rooms for us to stay in and then grab dinner, we can do more snooping tomorrow.”
“Snooping?” Deccanus asked, confused with the term.
“You know, like… investigating.” Adam was confused why he didn’t know the term.
“I see.” Was all that Deccanus said in response, lackluster as per usual.
The two men then headed to the same hotel Adam found and booked rooms. Though there was a short impromptu comedy skit that began the two of them since Deccanus had been under the impression that they would be sharing a room and Adam had always intended on having separate rooms. It gave Adam a perfect opportunity to turn Deccanus’ joke about the flowers from earlier back around on him. Saying: “Sorry I’m not into men.” With a shit eating grin.
The confusion settled the rooms were actually pretty cheap, at least compared to Midway. A nice room, comparable to The Layover, with bathrooms and showers, only for 75 caps a night. Adam booked only a single night, he was unsure when he would be leaving so for now just taking it one day at a time seemed to be the best choice.
Adam entered the room to find it, covered in nautical theming. The side window that overlooked The Pier and the lake was actually a porthole, and there was a lamp made of an old brass diver suit head next to the bed, as well as some fish wallpaper. Adam didn’t mind though, it certainly made the room interesting, beats stark white walls.
After he took off most of his gear in his room he met back up with Deccanus in the lobby and then they headed out to a restaurant recommended by the Hotel staff. While they were walking Adam noted something else about this town he hadn’t noticed on his initial walk through, there were no post-war constructed buildings. There were, of course, repairs done to the buildings on the pier, the boats were heavily modified to suit living needs, and there were shops on the inside the buildings with walls to separate spaces made of scrap materials. But there were no outright new buildings, all the space was simply refurbished. Very different from Midway which was more than half made up of scrap buildings and Naper which was entirely scrap buildings. It changed nothing of course, it was just interesting.
The restaurant they were led to was a sea food restaurant that was on a yacht near the end of the pier. Adam didn’t mind. He was actually looking forward to eating seafood. He almost bought some while he was in The Gourmand but figured, if he was to have seafood anywhere, it might as well be at The Pier.
As it turned out it was a slightly more upscale restaurant than Adam and Deccanus would have liked, but there was no dress code so neither man suggested finding somewhere else to eat.
The food menu had a bit of variety which was a welcome sight. Adam decided to try a dish that centered on Lakelurk meat, figuring it was about time to give it a shot.
“Adam.” Deccanus said to him seriously after their orders had been taken. “I have told you much about my country, my home. Caesar’s Legion. But though you have mentioned your home on a few occasions I know nothing of it. What was the place you fought for like? Do you miss it as much as I miss mine?” Deccanus asked, curious. Adam stared at him for a moment, not having expected a question but then sighed.
“It was called the United States of America. And yes, I miss it everyday.” Adam said somberly.
“You mean the country of the old world?” Deccanus said, recognizing the name at least. He looked Adam up and down for a moment.
“How…” He began, confused. “You are not a ghoul. How could one such as yourself have fought for a place destroyed in nuclear fire.” Adam looked off to the side for a moment trying to think of how to phrase this. He had, after all, never told Deccanus he was from the pre-war world, let alone the fact he was a clone. If they were going to work together it seemed only fair for him to know. It’s not like he was keeping it a secret, after all. He had let slip that he was from the old world to more than a few people. Though so far the fact he was a clone is known only to Salvatore and Eve. Guess it was time to expand his circle.
Though he paused as he looked at Deccanus, he wasn’t sure how he’d react. Deccanus clearly was a man with a lot of prejudices, from slaves to ghouls he seemed to have a lot of ingrained bigotry, likely the Legion’s influences. If he found out Adam was a clone would their partnership be over? Adam’s heart wasn’t made of stone. If Deccanus abandoned him because of what he was it would certainly hurt, even if they hadn’t known each other for too long. Deccanus was becoming a good travel companion, a good friend. But he deserved to know, besides, maybe hearing Adam’s story would help Deccanus sort out his own thoughts. Or, possibly, help Adam sort out his own.
“Alright, I will tell you, but it's a long story.” Adam began, echoing the last few times Deccanus shared stories.
“I have time.” Deccanus returned, his interest piqued.
Chapter Text
“Let me start at the beginning.” Adam began, seriously. “I once was a soldier serving under the command of the Alaskan headquarters of the US Army, 33rd Infantry Division. I volunteered when I got out of school to serve my country to help fight the invading reds- er… Chinese.” He paused again. He then sighed.
“I have memories of what it was like before the bombs fell, I used to have a job, a life, in the world before the world collapsed.” He paused a second time considering how best to tell the story, deciding that chronologically was for the best. “I awoke in a vault.” He pulled at his vault suit. “Vault 42.” He confirmed. “With no memory of how I got there, my last memories being preparing for a probably boring work-mandated Halloween party.” He looked off to the side at some of the other patrons who were eating casually and then sighed.
“I was lost, confused, and this whole world was strange to me. It was only through the luck of strangers, Chuck and Salvatore that I found a safe haven. I began to build a new life for myself. But I always had one goal, something I knew I had to do… get to my old workplace, Second Life, and figure out what happened to me…” He paused again, not really sure if he wanted to share.
“There I learned the truth… I was… a clone…” He led his elbows on the table and put his hands on his forehead while he looked at the table. Not in shame or fear, but because he was reliving the emotions of the day he found out the truth, it was quite frankly traumatic. Even if he had come to accept himself as a clone, it was a different story when he remembered the moment, after all he did have a panic attack.
“My old workplace had been experimenting in cloning techniques, with the ultimate goal of achieving their own twisted version of immortality. I was an unwitting test subject. They scanned my brain… the other, real, Adam’s brain, and then I woke up over 200 years later in a biochamber with no memory of how I got there because I was grown there.” He said with a deep sigh and then looked up at Deccanus’ face again. Deccanus’ expression was complex, unsure how to process this information himself.
“According to the logs I found at my old work, I am an Omega Type 2 Clone, basically a superior body with replicated memories. In essence I believe I am the original Adam but I am not the real him. His memories are mine, he is me, but I am not him.” He finished, now waiting for Deccanus’ response.
There was a long pause, a tense one too, as Deccanus seemed to be thinking through Adam’s words on his own. He then sighed himself, downed the entire glass of rum he was drinking with his meal and then stared into Adam’s eyes with an intensity.
“So you were manufactured by your people too.” He said stoically after having a long time to process his thoughts. Adam tilted his head, not sure what he meant.
“We are all the sum of our teachings.” He said sagely. “I am legion because that is who I was molded to be, while I may not know what it means to be a clone, you are a victim of your circumstances.” He looked off to the side now.
“Perhaps in the past, the old me, might have found you reprehensible, a non human…” He paused and then looked at Adam again. “But I am changing, as you have said, the fall of the Legion has brought me new perspectives. I can not say what this means for me… or for you, but if you are afraid I will leave due to you being unlike me I will not.” He said resolutely.
“Deccanus…” Adam began, softly, before Deccanus spoke up again.
“I am coming to realize that much of the way I feel about others from outside the Legion might be… misattributed.” He paused. “I am trying not to prejudge people, I admit it is a failing of mine, but I am working on it.” He then sighed and looked into Adam’s eyes with intensity again.
"What I do know is that I have fought by your side more than once now, you have saved my life, I have saved yours, I have seen you bleed.” he said with emphasis. “Whatever you might be has no bearing on who you are. What I know is that this man before me is as much a good instructor in life as he is a soldier. A man worthy of following. Until that changes nothing you tell me will shake that belief.” Adam stared back at him for a few moments unsure what to say in response. After a few moments of silence he sighed in relief.
“I’ll be honest, I expected the worst, and you gave me the best.” Adam offered a soft smile.
“No, you gave me your best.” Deccanus corrected. “Perhaps it is ironic that it was someone other than the Legion who granted me a new lease on life but you not only saved my life literally but figuratively, you have given me a new purpose. I would not be standing here without you. I owe you at least this much.” Adam let off another long sigh of relief.
“Well I’m glad that's off my shoulders.” Adam chuckled softly. “Frankly I had no idea how you’d react.”
“I do still have questions though.” Deccanus said back.
“Sure! “ Adam said happily. “Go for it.”
“Well for one, you still never told me about your home.”
Chapter Text
Adam chuckled softly at the instance of Deccanus’ question but decided to oblige.
“Green grass as far as the eye could see. 3 square meals a day. The greatest threat to someone was boredom.” He sighed softly thinking about the past. “Cars were everywhere, robots could be purchased at an ‘affordable’ price, most things were automated, you could drive to a grocery store and grab food from the other side of the world, there were no monsters, no raiders, no super mutants, deathclaws, or anything else that would rip a human in half. Children went to school, without fear of what may lay outside the walls of your settlement because… there were no walls… no settlements. One could drive from one side of the country to the other without stopping for anything but fuel.” He paused looking at Deccanus’ expression which seemed to be a mix of bewilderment and awe.
“But it was not all perfect.” Adam continued. “The world was teetering on the brink of collapse, the worst of people began to emerge, occupations and wars became commonplace throughout the world, not just in America. We lost a lot of allies when the resource began to run dry, then the resource wars began and… well.” He sighed. “This is how that turned out.” He broadly gestured around him.
“It sounds as if… the world before the one now was a paradise.” Deccanus mused.
“No.” Adam corrected him. “It has its severe drawbacks. The threat of nuclear annihilation was always hanging over our heads, you just… learned to live with it, after all there was nothing we could do to change the situation. Besides, the war with China was a good… distraction…” Adam muttered softly, petering off in the end. Deccanus stared at him for a moment before changing tacts.
“And now? How does the world that we, the survivors, have built look through your eyes?”
“It's…” Adam paused as he looked down the length of the pier, taking in the sights of the lights slowly beginning to turn on in the boats and in the buildings as people continued to walk up and down the length of the pier going about their lives. “Different.” He said after a few moments to think.
“To be honest, it's a far cry from the world I left, it's in shambles, there are monsters roaming the streets, society is fractured, and people still find reasons to fight but…” He looked a bit brighter with a small smile as he finished. “It brings me hope.”
“I was always under the impression that when the bombs fell that would be it, it would be all over. I mean there were fallout shelters, pulowski preservation shelters, vaults, and other things. But we were taught nuclear armageddon was the end. But now… I see people living on still, in spite of it all. It honestly… is pretty impressive to see people continuing to survive, and in many cases thrive, despite the world we left behind.” Deccanus nodded slowly as he took it in.
“I wonder, if you had seen the Legion at its height, what your thoughts of that would be.” Deccanus mused aloud, mostly to himself.
“Well considering you guys had slaves probably not too fond of it, I imagine.” Deccanus took that comment in stride and nodded.
“Still we had created perfect safety within our borders, I like to think that we had created a small piece of the world you once knew while our leader lived.” It was Adam’s turn to nod.
"Perhaps.” He admitted. “But it's only speculation. There are still so many things I don’t know about this future I woke up in. It's basically another world to me. I’ve heard there are countries out there, rebuilding society, I just hope that one day my city, Chicago, can too.”
“A noble goal.” Deccanus said back. “I’m sure you will live to see it. People seek society.”
“Yeah but it seems like there is a war on the horizon, it's never that simple.”
“No, but there is always war on the horizon. That is life.” Deccanus returned. Adam shrugged.
“War never changes, is that it?” Adam said with a small sigh and smile.
“Indeed. It is the universal truth. Whether it be your past, or our future, we all share that fact.” Adam nodded and then looked as the waiter arrived with their food.
“Well in either case thank you for listening to my story, Deccanus.” Adam said with a smile as the food was placed down in front of him.
“Think nothing of it. I have shared many stories with you, it was only fair to return the favor.”
The two then stopped talking and ate their food. The lakelurk meat was very similar to crab. The chef had prepared it in such a way that it practically melted in his mouth. In addition the sauce it was served with had a pungent smell to it that paired very well with the meat, overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable dish, well worth the 52 caps he paid for the meal.
The two then headed back to their hotel, splitting up for the night. However, before Adam turned in for the night he decided to head back outside and sit by the lake and enjoy the cool night air for a bit. He was careful to keep some distance from the water, as per the guard’s advice, but he was close enough to enjoy himself.
Talking with Deccanus tonight reminded him how many things had happened in only this short time he had been awake. It wasn’t that long ago when he was just emerging from the vault. Now here he was, on the other side of Chicago, working for the effective head of Midway investigating disappearances. And to think, in the pre-war world he was just an IT guy. Now he was being entrusted with important work. His life now was certainly more fulfilling than his old one. More exciting too.
He turned on his radio and began to listen to Ray’s station. It seemed he had turned in for the night, he was not speaking but the music was auto playing. It was fine, it was perfect to end the day.
After about an hour of enjoying the night air Adam returned to his room, ready to begin the investigations tomorrow.
Chapter Text
Sleep came quickly and the next day started easily. Adam left his room to head to the lakeside cafe to have breakfast, it was light, in addition to a coffee it was a great enjoyable morning. Though of course he had work to do, he couldn’t just laze around even if he wanted, so after he paid 35 caps for breakfast he began his investigation.
He began to ask around, from the dockworkers to the shopkeepers, about the missing caravans. He got the same answers that Deccanus did. No one seemed to know there was anything wrong with the caravans. However the time was not spent fruitlessly. He got a better handle on the culture of the people here. As he was told by Claire, the people here were more used to handling their own business, sure there were some who had never touched a gun in their life. But Lakelurk attacks here were frequent enough that even despite the defenses everyone had fought at least one lakelurk at some point, even if it was half dead.
Eventually though his asking around did catch some attention.
“Are you the guy going around asking about the caravans?” A man wearing a jeans jacket and tight leather pants with a large red mohawk said to him.
“Uh yes.” Adam said as he turned around to look at the man. “Me and my partner have come here to ask about it.” The man nodded.
“Alright, follow me. The Madam wishes to speak with you. He said as he began to walk away, expecting Adam to follow, which he did.
Adam was taken into the largest of the pre-war buildings on The Pier and brought into a section that he had not yet entered, it looked to be a bit gaudy with giant pillars of stone outside the front door and a velvet red on the door with gold leaf as trim. It was very ostentatious, though it wasn’t in bad taste, just excessive.
He was brought through the door and the room that was laid out before him felt like another world, the theming was heavily arabian with thick silk tapestries laid out over open spaces, pillows on the ground to sit, men and women walking around in… skimpy and questionable arabian themed dancer outfits. Though other than revealing a lot of skin it looked more like cosplay than anything too X-rated. At least, at first glance, they didn’t seem to be selling themselves, just fitting the mood.
The mood being an outrageously exaggerated and expensive looking large open space with lots of people relaxing on pillows or short couches and smoking. In fact smoke filled the entire space. A healthy mix of tobacco, weed, and other things Adam couldn’t identify by smell.
To make the setting even more complete there were four musicians sitting on a slightly elevated platform one with an Afghan Rebab, one with a Mijwiz, another with a Kamancheh, and the last with a Daf. Though there were a few more instruments scattered around the stage for them to use as needed. Of course Adam didn’t recognize the instruments by name, just that they were instruments. The music they played seemed to carry effortlessly throughout the whole room.
However the man with the mohawk didn’t stop there, he walked them in further towards a large circular room with a woman laying down very relaxed on a bed of pillows, wearing the same sort of dancer clothing the other women were, but hers were made of a gold and red thread. The woman was incredibly pretty and alluring. Though it was clear she was doing it on purpose, even her pose was provocative and she seemed to revel in the attention.
The room itself was inlaid with gold leaf trim on every surface, the walls were lined with a fancy wood with a fine grain and the tables were adorned with fine art, vases, and jewelry on display.
However besides the outrageous display of wealth the most striking thing here was the two super mutants who were standing somewhat near the woman, wearing custom made heavy armor that was a mix of leather and metal, that seemed to fit them just right. They stood out in the room but they were very clearly her bodyguards. However unlike the super mutants he saw before they were not dressed like they were outside in the world recently, they were dressed like they lived here at The Pier like everyone else.
“Ah hello there~” The woman said with a dangerous smile, her words honey soaked and alluring as she saw Adam approached. “Please wait a moment, your partner will be right behind you, I don’t like to repeat myself.” She said again, the same smile that seemed to be sizing Adam up with every glance. She then reached over to a small gold bowl and pulled out a pipe and smoked it, letting off a soft breath of smoke as she lounged calmly.
“Care for a hit?” She asked, her words still like a sweet nectar that was protected by a swarm of angry bees, alluring and dangerous.
“No thank you.” Adam said, keeping his cool.
“Suit yourself.” She said casually as she took another hit of her pipe.
A few moments later Deccanus arrived, being walked in by another man wearing a jeans jacket but without a mohawk.
“Ah good, you are both here, we can begin.” She said as she slowly sat up from her lounging pose. Deccanus looked confused, mildly annoyed, and off put by the smell of drugs but kept it inside himself seeing as he had no recourse to speak out without jeopardizing what they were trying to accomplish. It was nice to see he wasn’t jumping on his instincts.
“My name is Madame Aquamarine. I welcome our guests to my little slice of heaven. My Emirates. Now, tell me why you are here again~” While she was smiling, her eyes were like daggers, Adam felt like this woman could probably kill him without a second thought if she had a reason to. Or, more likely, order someone else to kill him, probably the Super mutants.
“We came here to investigate why the Caravans leaving The Pier have not been arriving at Midway. We were asked by Mr. Cantelli to-” Adam began before he was cut off by Aquamarine.
“Ah, so that old coot sent you!~” She laughed softly into the back of her hand, though her eyes did not smile. “I suppose that makes sense, I’m sure if my caravans aren't arriving, he might be having trouble in that washed up old city he calls home.”
“Your Caravans, ma’am?” Adam asked, trying to understand who she was and how she was connected to this situation.
“Madame.” She corrected, gently but sternly.
“My apologies, Madam.” Adam corrected.
“Yes, my caravans.” She smiled again. “Everything that happens here in my kingdom is under my control, my protection, from the young Victoria selling flowers out front to Captain Ahab in the back with his big boat.~” She grinned, internally laughing at some joke that Adam was not privy to, likely thanks to the name Ahab.
“So.” She continued. “When I hear my caravans are going missing I become invested. I’m sure you understand~” She said with a sharp look to Adam.
“I understand perfectly, Madam.” Adam nodded, deciding that not acting up in front of her was the best strategy.
“So I think you’d better start at the beginning.”
Chapter 145
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
“As far as I understand it, Madam, for the past few weeks Caravans have not been arriving at Midway. My employer sent me here to investigate why and, if possible, resolve the issue for him.” She nodded gently as she studied Adam, meanwhile she tapped out the ashes from her pipe into the bowl and then resumed taking a slow deep drag of her pipe before speaking up again.
“And what have you learned?” She asked smoothly.
“Unfortunately not much.” Adam admitted readily. “We traced the path the caravans traveled between the two settlements but found no evidence of foul play. We even confirmed that in all likelihood there were still caravans traveling between the two settlements. Just not the ones my employer was waiting for. In addition, we asked around town, but no one here seems to know anything about it.”
“Indeed so~” She said as she raised her arms above her head stretching before dragging her slender fingers through her own hair, addressing Adam again after her display. “That would be because I have not stopped sending out the Caravans.” She then turned to the left, through a doorway off to the side of this circular room that Adam could not see into and called out.
“Oh Cheshire, be a dear and come here would you?” She called out gently to the room. A moment later a man wearing black trim glasses, well trimmed brown hair, a full white suit with black tie and white shoes walked over. He was holding a clipboard and seemed to be writing things down even as he walked over.
“When was the last time we sent a caravan out?” She asked, not seemingly bothered by Cheshire’s workaholic attitude.
“2 days ago, on schedule, Madame.” He said politely, finally looking up from his work with a deadpan stare at her.
“As you can see…” She began, lazily turning her head to look at Adam again. “We have not stopped the shipments of anything to Midway. Be it fish or… others~” She grinned.
“Then it seems there is something more complex going on than a simple miscommunication.” Adam concludes.
“So it seems~” She smiled and then gently waved her hand towards Cheshire, beckoning him over. She whispered something unheard into his ear and then he nodded and walked off back to the room.
“Well, since it appears there is indeed an issue, especially one that is causing me to lose business, I will grant you the right to investigate as you please.” She waved her hand magnanimously.
“Thank you Madam.” Adam said, graciously, deciding to treat her like she expected, with respect and a bit of fawning, just to stay on her good side.
“My suggestion is to follow the caravan we will send in 5 days, after we move our timeline up by one day.” She offered as she gently took a smaller hit of her pipe. “You will find that there is nothing that goes on here I do not know and since I was unaware of the issue, no one else will be.” She then smiled dangerously once more and leaned in a bit. “If there is some issue then it would have to be happening outside~” Adam nodded slowly.
“I will take your advice to heart. Thank you for helping us, Madame Aquamarine.” She waved her hand again.
“You solve this problem, I do not know what they are paying you in Midway, but your efforts will certainly not go unnoticed by me~.” She then laid back down on her pillows.
“You may go now.” She said, dismissing the two of them unceremoniously. Adam turned to leave with Deccanus but stopped when she spoke up again.
“And when you next see that old bastard living in his high castle, will you tell him I said… hello?” She said with an incredibly sinister smile. Clearly her disdain for Mr. Cantelli was as great as his disdain for her. Adam could only speculate at what sort of issue the two had with each other.
Adam and Deccanus then left without another word, walking past the entrance room with musicians and dancers, many of whom were enjoying some relaxing pipes and incense. Once they were fully clear of that place Deccanus spoke up.
“I do not like that place nor that woman.” He said plainly.
“She’s uh, certainly interesting.” Adam said, not yet sure what to make of her. “But if we are to take her words at face value then there is no point continuing to ask people about the missing caravans.”
“I would not trust her words so easily.” Deccanus warned. “She is the type to lie when it suits her.”
“Do you think she was lying to us then?” Adam asked, having not considered that. Deccanus seemed to consider for a moment and then shook his head.
“No, she did seem to be genuinely annoyed about the missing caravans. She likely did not know they had never arrived in Midway, for her that would cost her great profit.” Deccanus mused.
“Or she is just a great actor.” Adam said with a soft laugh. Deccanus turned to look at him and then nodded solemnly.
“Indeed.”
“Well what should we do? Should we retrace our steps through the path back to Midway? Continue to ask people?” Adam asked, once more deferring to Deccanus’ skills over his own. Deccanus shook his head.
“No, we have been invited to follow the path of the Caravan directly. Our best choice is simply to accept her offer and see if new evidence springs up.” Deccanus then paused for a moment after saying this before adding more. “Unless, of course, that creates an opportunity for her to lead us into a trap.” He seemed to be getting paranoid, even if it was a reasonable fear, so to assuage his concerns Adam spoke up.
“It's definitely possible, so let’s just keep our guard up while we are here. But I agree, I think we should simply wait to follow the caravan, it's probably the best, most direct way to take care of this issue.
“Agreed.” Deccanus said in response.
“Well, so now all we have to do is find a way to kill 5 days while we wait for the Caravan to leave.” Adam chuckled.
Notes:
So I have been trying to keep this story at a pace of 1 chapter every single day, and I have managed to do that for about 140~ days. But the effort to do so has started to get to me so, as of now, chapters will be released every other day to give me the breathing room to write without stress.
I apologize to those that this offends, I hope the story continues to entertain even though it is swapping to an every other day format.
You can still get up to 25 chapters early on that-website-that-shall-not-be-named.
I hope you will continue to enjoy the story as we soldier on! Thanks for reading and being such wonderful people! You truly make this story worth writing!
Chapter Text
The two of them decided to split up for a while, since they were done investigating for the time being they needed to kill time. Adam suggested that they do a run tomorrow and Deccanus agreed, so the rest of the day would be spent pursuing their own interests. Adam noticed a guitarist sitting at the very end of the pier singling while he played a lovely tune to accompany it. He had a bucket out in front of him for tips and there was a food stall nearby. Adam decided to indulge, bought a meat skewer for 7 caps and tipped the guy playing music two caps as he enjoyed the music.
The song he sang was about a man who fell deeply in love with a woman, but only heard her voice over the radio. He tuned in everyday to the radio, at exactly 7:13 to hear her sing. After she was done singing the station immediately went quiet again. Every day was a different song.
Eventually the man, driven by his desire to meet this woman, tracked down the source of the signal, an old Nuclear missile silo, only to find that the woman he had fallen in love with was a reprogrammed Ms. Nanny.
The song ends with the trials and tribulations that the two of them went through before they eventually got hitched and settled down. Now the radio plays songs with the two of them singing in duet. Honestly it was a very nice song, though it made him wonder if it was based on a true story, the details were oddly specific.
However, as Adam was listening to the man begin his next song another man, dressed in a patchwork light brown leather duster and in a torn cowboy hat walked up to him, nearly tripping over his own shoes as he could barely stand up straight. The man was drunk. It was obvious even from a glance.
“Youuu.” He slurred out as he walked up to Adam pointing at him. “I can smell the scent of it on you.” He said with an accusatory tone as his finger pushed up against Adam’s chest. Adam looked at him super confused.
“Um, excuse me, what are you talking about?” He said, not thinking he smelled bad, he showered this morning.
“No no.” The man insisted as he poked Adam’s chest again. “You can’t hide it from me. I know what you are.” I stood up straighter and looked Adam in the eyes. “You have the smell of destiny on you, I can see it, your future. You will change many lives. You will face death, you will decide the fate of everyone!” He proclaimed loudly enough for even the musician to turn to look at him confused. But no one was more confused than Adam who was beside himself, having no idea what this man was talking about. He had never met this man before and he was spouting such nonsense. Of course he was drunk, so that must account for it.
Adam was about to open his mouth to tell the man he needs to get some sleep because he was drunk when a klaxon began to sound on The Pier. He could hear the sounds of the turrets near the docks turning on and begin to scan for foes, and he saw many of the residents grab weapons from stashes around the area, either inside chests, on walls, or just from their person,l as they seemed to arm themselves for a fight.
Adam too took out his pistol, ready to fight off whatever sort of enemy was about to show up, which was what he assumed was going on. He then heard rounds being fired from the many many turrets on the other side of the pier and took off in a full sprint, wanting to help out if he could.
When he arrived he saw what could only be described as a ladder made of lakelurks. They had crawled on top of each other creating a bridge from the bottom of the lake to the pier and were using this bridge to invade. The defenders were doing a great job to fight them off but were not holding them off enough to stop them from making landfall.
A few of the lakelurks that made it onto the pier proper began to break off to attack elsewhere. Adam threw himself into the conflict, running past a fish stall and stealing the meat cleaver right off the table and then planting it into the tiny face of the first crab he ran into. It cried out in pain for a few moments before it fell over dead.
Adam then felt a heavy blow hit him from behind as one of the lakelurk claws backhanded him into the wall of the nearby building. He hit the wall hard enough that it made him dizzy for a moment. However, even with his head spinning he managed to roll out of the way as the pincher then tried to cleave him in half. On the ground he emptied his entire clip from his 10mm into the crab, killing it with the last bullet. He deeply regretted that he left all his stuff back in his room. He wasn't told to vacate in the morning, like he was in Midway, so he could keep his room for 24 hours. So now here he was, with a gun with no ammo, no armor, and no weapons in the middle of a slowly growing battleground as more and more lakelurks began to emerge.
“Hey, boy!” An old Irish voice called out from nearby. “Catch!” As Adam turned to look to the voice to see a grizzled old man wearing a dark navy blue sailor’s jacket, a white captain’s hat, and a large wooden peg leg instead of a left foot. Adam caught the shotgun he was being tossed in his lap.
He didn’t have time to think about the details right now, he just needed to fight, so fight he did.
He fired the shotgun into the crowd of lakelurks as they fought the residents of the town who were handling themselves well. Three were hit by the spread of the buckshot, only one died. He wasted no time and fired again after pumping the shotgun once. And then again, and again, and again. Once his shotgun was empty he flipped it around and used it like a club to help fend off the attack.
He began to engage the lakelurks with as much force as he could muster, hitting them with the stock of the shotgun like a medieval club. It was more effective than he had assumed it would be, however it was not a perfect solution.
While Adam was in the thick of it a familiar spear flew through the air and impaled itself into the small face of the crab nearest him, killing it instantly and buying him the breathing room he needed to back up and not get surrounded.
Deccanus joined beside him, machete drawn, cutting through enemies like a war machine. The bodies of the lakelurks were beginning to stack high on the docks and pier, it was getting increasingly hard to maneuver, though the people fighting alongside Adam were definitely culling the horde.
As the crabs were slowly dwindling in number it became clear to the residents they were winning, but it seemed so too did the lakelurks notice as well. So, just as swiftly as they came they retreated back down into the watery depths below. There were some congratulations and some pats on the back for the random folk who helped out, Adam and Deccanus included, getting some cheerful smiles and some hearty thanks from the folks before being swept away with the crowd for a drink at the bar.
Chapter Text
Adam proceeded to enjoy himself at the bar with everyone for the next few hours, getting chummy with the locals. It seemed that this was not an uncommon occurrence around here. The lakelurks attack, usually, most often during spawning season. And since they just handled the attack with nothing more than a few light injuries as tradition they will be throwing a festival the tomorrow. Since the next attack would likely not be for a while. Adam, being a guest who stood up to the wave of lakelurks, was practically strong-armed into joining the festival. Not that he would have said no.
After the bar fun was over Adam noticed that somehow, despite the fact that everyone’s eyes were on the outsiders who participated in the town defense, Deccanus had managed to slip away unnoticed and escaped from the bar at some point. Seemed even now he still hated parties? He could only guess why. Perhaps he could ask. But he had done the same exact thing back in Naper.
Regardless Adam headed back to his hotel and booked 5 more nights totaling 375 caps. He was down to 2600 caps, but that was more than enough to not worry about funds. Still, he wanted to go on a run tomorrow regardless because it was his job after all. Just because he could lounge around doesn't mean he should. Besides, he had realized a few days ago he had a new goal, one that would cost him quite a few caps to set up right. He would need a lot more money before he could enact his plan so it was best he started saving now.
Adam slept well that night, thanks in part to the buzz he had from the drinking. They had even given him food too so he didn’t even need to buy dinner.
The next day he met up with Deccanus at the front gate, ready for a day’s work.
“Are you ready?” Adam asked, beating Deccanus to the gate for once.
“Indeed. Lead the way.” He said with a soft nod.
“Good, then let's get going.” He smiled before signalling to the gate guard that he was ready to leave and watching as the heavy concrete door slid open.
The two men then set out to head to Adam’s next destination; a lakeside apartment and shopping building that was still standing. It was not even too far away, just an hour’s walk. He had no idea what he might find there, it likely wouldn’t have any big ticket items, but anything he could do to fill his bags was worth the trip.
“Deccanus, I have a question.” Adam asked while they walked. Deccanus turned and looked at Adam without breaking his stride, indicating he was receptive to a question. “Why do you always flee from parties? You left yesterday from the bar without anyone noticing, and you did it before in Naper after we took out the raiders.” Deccanus sighed a bit.
“I do not like celebrations, it reminds me too much of my days in the Legion.” He paused. “Everytime I think about what I have lost it makes me bitter and I do not wish to bring down the mood with a sour mood.” he said, thoughtfully. “In addition… I do not like crowds. I prefer the outside, however I have learned to overcome this and no longer sleep only outdoors.”
Adam nodded slowly, understanding Deccanus’ position.
“So it sounds like you might be claustrophobic… or agoraphobic… or both, which is almost funny.” Adam offered.
“I do not know, I just know it has always been this way, however I am not hindered by such concerns. I am Legion, we do not fear anything. As such I have overcome these issues many years ago.”
“Well honestly, good for you, it's not easy to get over fears.”
“As I said, Legionnaires do not feel fear.” Deccanus insisted.
“My apologies, forget I mentioned it.” Adam said with a small chuckle.
The two men arrived at the destination shortly later. A large building that towered over the lake several floors high. The bottom floor seemed to be occupied by a number of shops, judging by the shop signs that some still had, and then every floor from the second to the sixth was apartments. With any luck there would be some goodies here worth taking.
However as Adam began to approach the building Deccanus stopped him and looked around suspiciously.
“What is it?” Adam asked, quietly. Deccanus remained quiet for a few moments before speaking up in a hushed tone.
“I believe we may have wandered into a lakelurk king nest.” Adam immediately went on alert and looked around but saw nothing.
“What makes you say that?” He asked but had his gun at the ready and was taking Deccanus’ words seriously. Deccanus gestured to the lake nearby.
“Do you see how the seaweed is clustered on the side of the lake like that, how it seems to have parted in only a few spots?” He asked, motioning to the seaweed he mentioned. However even though Adam was looking at the same thing he was he just simply saw seaweed thrown carelessly on the side of the lake, nothing out of the ordinary.
“No?” Adam returned, confused. Deccanus shook his head.
“In addition, look at the surrounding buildings, they all have traces of seaweed residue, that building over there especially.” He continued. This time, though Adam couldn’t see it everywhere he did begin to notice random pieces of seaweed thrown about the nearby buildings and even the street.
“Lastly … the lake.” He gestured back to the lake pointing a good ways off, from where they were but just barely in view. “There is a near continuous stream of bubbles coming from over there, likely from the mirelurk kings protecting their eggs underwater.” Adam squinted to see the bubbles he was talking about, he could see what Deccanus was pointing at but after a moment he decided to just simply use his binoculars. Sure enough, as Deccanus said, there was an unusual part of the lake where air bubbles continually rose to the surface. Adam was convinced.
“What do you think we should do? Leave?” Adam asked, not necessarily feeling the need to engage an enemy he could avoid.
“No.” Deccanus replied curtly. “We are already inside their nesting grounds, even if we leave we may still be forced to engage them, lakelurk kings are unlike lakelurks proper, they have a large hunting ground and will track down prey well into land. Besides, the Legion does not run from a fight.” Deccanus said as he drew his spear. Adam sighed and then nodded.
“Alright, we will push on then, you take point, I will follow your lead.” Adam said, resolutely.
“Stick close, and stay low, we may yet take those on the surface by surprise.”
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Chapter Text
The two of them advanced more slowly, heading towards the apartment building with caution. They managed to get inside one of the stores, a hardware store, without issue. But they immediately encountered an enemy.
It was very weird looking, it almost had the body of a man but fins on its arms and legs, sharp teeth, and a more fish-like face. It was hunched over, onto all four legs, however it was clearly tall, if it stood up it would likely be taller than a human, though not by much. It was a mix of blues in color with some red tips at the end of its fins and it was dripping wet.
However the most interesting thing about this creature was that, despite being called a lakelurk king, it looked nothing like any other lakelurk he had ever seen. It looked more like a horror movie villain like a gillman or the creature from the black lagoon or something. But appearance aside, Deccanus was taking this seriously so Adam was too.
Deccanus crouch walked slowly along the floor as he approached the king silently. Adam remained still, unslinging his rifle and steadying his aim. They would only have one shot before it noticed them, after all its back was to them now, but whether Adam shoots or Deccanus stabs first, it would react. They just needed to wait for the right opportunity.
Deccanus was half a step away from the creature, ready to stab it through the throat or hit it in the head, whichever was easier, when it suddenly turned to the side, looking at Deccanus right in the eyes, just as surprised to see him as Deccanus was to see it move.
The room remained in silence for a moment before Adam shouted to Deccanus.
"Get down!" He shouted as he fired off his rifle right into the head of the fishman. However his aim was not true, as the creature had whipped around to look at Adam when he yelled. His mark hit it in the jaw, cutting straight through the back of its skull, it roared out in pain but didn't seem to be dying.
Deccanus took the opportunity to quickly swing his machete hard, cutting the head in half, severing it at the jawline. The top of the head rolled along the floor as the body fell with a thud.
Adam was about to congratulate Deccanus before Adam was forced to cover his ears as the loudest scream he had ever heard pierced the wind from behind him. Not only was the sound loud but he could feel his insides churning as the blast of air that came from behind him passed through his body. It was as if the vibrations themselves were rearranging his intestines.
Despite the pain and disorientation Adam dove to the side, out of the doorway and behind a wall he hoped was safe. Since now he didn't have the wherewithal to check.
Luckily Deccanus still had his wits as he pulled out his lever action repeater and began to fire through the doorway at an unseen foe. Eventually, as Adam regained his composure, another lakelurk king burst through the door, riddled with bullets, and charged straight at Deccanus.
Decanus dropped his gun to the floor unceremoniously and pulled out his machete and held it out, the creature then proceeded to impale itself on the machete. This did not, however, stop it from getting a good scratch with its claws at Deccanus' face. Cutting right through his cloth bandana and leaving a nasty gash on his face. Deccanus was momentarily stunned by the attack which gave the creature a chance to hit him again while he was still reeling, Adam however, took that chance away.
Adam fired right through its head, correctly this time, and watched as it fell onto the machete which only pushed the blade in further than it already was.
"Deccanus are you-" Adam began before Deccanus, who was gripping his still violently bleeding mouth and cheek, shook his head. He slapped his chest hard with his free hand balled up into a fist and then quickly gestured to the stairway next to him leading to the apartments upstairs.
Adam nodded and then ran over to Deccanus as he kicked the dead creature over and took back his machete. Once he had retrieved his blade the two of them ran up the stairs, all 6 flights, until they were on the top floor.
Deccanus took his machete and with the handle slammed it down hard on the doorknob of one of the units breaking it off its hinges. He hadn't even checked to see if the door was unlocked, he just assumed. The two of them then ran inside.
While Deccanus ran over to the non functional sink to bandage his face Adam slid a dresser in front of the door to block it. Satisfied that he would at least be bought a few moments he ran over to Deccanus who had removed his tattered bandana and was expertly wrapping his face.
"Deccanus are you alright?" Adam asked quickly. Deccanus finished what he was doing a few moments later and then turned to look at Adam, his face was half wrapped with gauze. Adam hadn't gotten the chance to see how bad the wound was before it was wrapped but considering it did not appear to be bleeding through the gauze it was likely not life threatening.
Adam quickly rummaged through his backpack and found a stimpack, offering it to Deccanus quickly.
"Here, use this." Deccanus stared at it and then Adam incredulously. It was clear he had things to say but due to his jaw being bandaged like it was he was unable to speak.
Adam noticed the look and was confused for a few moments before he understood. He then got angry back.
"Look, to hell with the Legion's rules about not using chems! You could risk permanent disfigurement if you don't get medical treatment right away! Be damned your pride!" Adam shouted at him.
Deccanus remained firm, staring at Adam like he had no intention of budging but Adam pressed on.
"I wouldn't care if it was a small scratch but I don't know how bad the wound is, and we are not in a situation where I can leisurely take you to a doctor." Adam continued. "And even if I could, I doubt you would accept the doctor's help anyway." Deccanus remained unmoved by Adam's words, so he changed tact, more desperate as his initial assessment proved to be wrong, blood was indeed seeping through the multiple wrapping of gauze bandage, it must have been a gnarly wound.
"Look." Adam began, calming down now and looking Deccanus in the eyes. "You wanted to find your own path right? One that was not wholly Legion? Well this is the first step." Adam said, this time Deccanus seemed to falter, he looked down a bit, either in contemplation or in shame. Adam sighed and walked over to him softly, placing a hand on Deccanus' shoulder.
"You asked to come with me because you wanted to learn from me right? Well I'll readily admit you have more real world experience than I do. But part of living the life I do, if that is still what you want to do, is to accept that not everything can be in your control. Sometimes you need to take the easy way out. Sometimes you need to make the choices that are unpleasant. Don't deny yourself opportunities because you are afraid of change. You said it yourself. The Legion has no fear." Adam smiled softly and then opened his hand again as he once more offered the stimpack to Deccanus.
Deccanus' expression softened as he looked up into Adam's eyes again and then seemed to relax his posture. He looked down at the stimpack for a few long moments and then took it from him. He injected himself with it into a vein in his neck on the same side as the wound. Adam nodded and pat Deccanus on the shoulder understandingly.
"Good job." He said with pride, happy he was able to convince Deccanus to get over years of ingrained Legion training in order to accept his advice. Adam motioned with his head to the couch in the living room nearby. "Go take a seat and rest for now, let the stimpack do its thing, when your face is healed enough to talk we can discuss the next move."
Deccanus let out a long breath through his nose and then nodded before heading over to the indicated spot to sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile Adam turned to look at the door, glad nothing followed them upstairs.
Chapter Text
While Deccanus healed up and rested Adam looked around the apartment properly. Ultimately it was in a poor state, as one would expect, but it was not without useful finds, though nothing worth mentioning, still it was nice to get at least a few things into his backpack. By the time he was done Deccanus was healed and standing on the exposed balcony that overlooked the lake, Adam moved to meet him at the railing.
"Are you feeling alright?" Adam asked, noticing his bandages were taken off.
"Yes…" Deccanus said, though unsure himself, he gently touched his cheek where he was hit, the spot still looked tender, but as per usual, stimpacks are miracle workers, he was more or less fine. "Though I'm not sure if I made the right call…" He said, uncertain as he gazed out to the lake. Adam walked over and put a hand on his shoulder while he remained behind him.
"Change is never easy, it's sometimes the hardest thing we can do, accept change." He said softly. "When I woke up this world had changed so much from the one I was used to I was in survival mode, I didn't know my way around any better than a child. But through perseverance I succeeded in making something of myself." Adam paused and then turned to look out into the lake with Deccanus.
"I'm sure you will come to more hard questions you will be forced to ask yourself in the future. However, one thing I know for certain, those questions can only be answered if you are still alive. So live, Deccanus. Live, and use your life to make use of the skills you learned in the Legion. Perhaps one day you will wake up and find that the person you have become you like far better than the man you were before."
Deccanus sighed loudly and then spun around to look at Adam.
"There are likely many more lakelurk kings in the building now that we have engaged them." Deccanus said, changing the subject entirely. Adam could tell he didn't want to think more on the subject and let the matter drop.
"How many do you think there will be?"
"I am uncertain." Deccanus paused to think. "There could be 2 or there could be 10, in my opinion, no more, no less." Adam paused to consider.
"What about setting a trap?" Adam offered.
"What kind of trap?" Deccanus asked, intrigued but confused. Adam looked down at the floor.
"With a little bit of work I can make a pitfall to drop them at least one floor, hopefully more when they have momentum." He stomps his foot on the wood twice. "Wood is sturdy but still showing its age." Deccanus thinks for a moment and then nods.
"Then all we would need to do is draw them into the pitfall, the fall itself should be enough to kill them at best, at worst it will hurt them." Adam nodded.
"My thinking exactly."
"I will follow your lead."
Adam and Deccanus then left the room after moving the dresser and Adam began his work of creating breaks in all the boards next to the stairs so that when a sufficient amount of weight tries to cross them they will give way. He didn't worry about hiding the aesthetics of the cracks too much. He very much doubted these creatures would be looking to see if the wood is broken when they are making a mad dash for him and Deccanus.
"Deccanus. Do you think you would be able to drive them up here without getting caught?" Adam asked as he worked.
"Yes." Deccanus returned, without hesitation. It was either overconfidence or it was a realistic measure of his own ability, Adam couldn't tell which it was, but he wanted to put his faith in Deccanus.
"Alright." Adam said as he put on the finishing touches. "Then when you reach the last step and get onto this floor you have to jump over to this spot." Adam said rubbing his boot on the ground where it would be safe to reapply weight.
"Understood." Deccanus said as he prepared for the difficult situation he was about to throw himself into with a casual hop over the broken planks now.
"And Deccanus?" Deccanus paused to look at Adam. "Don't die." He grinned at him. Deccanus simply nodded in response and jumped over the freshly made pitfall, landing easily. He then began to make his way downstairs to draw the others back up.
Adam had no choice but to wait. Wait and hope Deccanus could do it. In the meantime he posted up on the other side of the hall, rifle poised at the stairs, ready to fire at a moment's notice if needed.
A minute went by, then two, then three. Then he heard that same scream as before, though he was far enough away it didn't hurt his ears or make his insides do a flip, though it did not feel great, even all the way up here.
About 20 seconds later Deccanus came bolting up the stairs and with a jump that even a professional race horse would be proud of, he easily cleared the pitfall and made his way to Adam, throwing himself against the wall and using that to stop his momentum immediately. He then flipped around, grabbed his rifle, and then prepared with Adam to fire if and when necessary. They did not have to wait long.
Moments later 6 lakelurk kings began to run up the stairs, following in the wake of Deccanus, though obviously not running nearly as fast as he was. In fact they were quite slow, some were running like bipeds, some were running like quadrupeds, but all were about the same speed, and they all looked more than ready to tear the flesh off Adam's face.
And then they fell. They fell hard. The floor broke underneath the combined weight of the ones in the front and sent them careening downward. He could hear even more floors breaking further down. Though he didn't have time to examine his success as the trap had only taken out the front 4, the two in the back were still very much able to try to attack them.
However, neither creature seemed able to jump over the gap. It seemed despite being amphibians they were poor at land travel, maybe they were fast swimmers?
This did not stop them though, they still had their long range screech, which they had no intention of withholding.
The first one screamed, creating the blast of air behind it, however Adam was prepared this time, having understood that this vocal attack of theirs was directional not omnidirectional. So once he was out of the way he opened fire as quickly as he could. Deccanus joined in emptying his ammo fast.
The first one went down without issue, however the second one looked to be ready to screech next, Adam, out of ammo for his rifle, threw it to the side and then used his new holster to quickly unclip his laser pistol and shot the creature in its open mouth. This ceased the screech long enough for Adam to fire a number more times into the monster, finally felling it with a satisfying 'critical'. The creature turned to ash with the last shot, atomized completely.
They had survived.
Chapter Text
Adam stared at the two dead lakelurk kings for a few moments before he looked to Deccanus and nodded. Deccanus nodded back and the two slowly approached the hole that the others fell through.
Upon getting there Adam saw the dead bodies of 3 mirelurk kings stacked on top of each other, all having died from falling through each floor of the building. However it was only after counting a few times that he realized the fourth one was missing.
Without missing a beat Deccanus shot a round which made Adam look up and see that the fourth one had climbed all those stairs again, but with a broken leg. Deccanus had shot it in the head killing it finally.
"Is that all of them?" Adam asked, uncertain if more would show up.
"Yes." Deccanus said assuredly. "There were only 6 down below, I cannot account for the surrounding area but if there are more there cannot be many left. A nest bigger than this would have trouble maintaining its population without a stable supply of food. If anything we would simply need to be wary of regular mirelurks instead." Adam nodded. But then looked puzzled.
"These… things don't look like crabs, why are they called lakelurk kings? They are very clearly a different species." Adam asked, hoping to get an old Salvatore question he had from when he first saw lakelurks.
"Indeed. They are not crabs." He said matter-of-factly as he stepped over the hole and proceeded to inspect the creature. "However the two species have a symbiotic relationship. The increased intelligence of the kings allow them to more effectively run nests and the mirelurk benefits from their control. Where there are mirelurk kings there are plenty more mirelurks."
"Are we in danger then? I mean we did just take out 8 kings."
"No." Deccanus informed as he turned around to look at Adam again. "It's the opposite. Other than Queens, the kings sit at the top of the hierarchy for lakelurks, by killing the kings of this nest we have effectively established dominance and broken their leadership. They are now no more than mindless creatures again, and ones who know better than to head to the surface lest they share the same fate, at that."
"Alright then…" Adam then looked at the three dead creatures in front of them then the ones down the hole. "Are uh… these valuable enough to carve up too?" He asked, uncertain if that was even worth it.
"Yes but…" Deccanus began as he cut down the center of the lakelurk king's chest and belly spilling its intestines out. "I do not believe we have a need to do so." He looked at the dead creature again before looking at Adam. "The meat is not nearly as good, often too tough to be softened. In addition there is not much meat to begin with, so it's best to leave it behind." He then took his machete and began to carve the head fins off the kings one by one. Adam was curious why he was doing that but had a different question.
"Wait, you said they are intelligent?"
"Yes." Deccanus responded, not stopping his task. "Not as much as human, however, but comparable to an average super mutant." Adam nodded slowly.
"Then that attack yesterday, the one where the lakelurks stacked on top of each other that was-"
"Likely the work of mirelurk kings, a tactic only they could think up." He finished Adam's sentence as he also finished his carving. "It is speculation, but it is fair to assume these kings might have been the orchestrators of that attack. Even if not them they would have been a major nuisance to the people of The Pier. It could be worth a bounty to turn in evidence." Now Adam understood why he took the head fins.
"So you took the fins to prove we killed them."
"Yes." Deccanus said with a firm nod. "I will head down below to get the others done and then join you again." Adam smiled.
"Wonderful, I'll begin scavenging then."
The two then began their work. It did not take long for Deccanus to rejoin Adam, however the actual scavenging took much longer. There were four apartments on each floor, each with multiple rooms, six floors with four apartments each meant 24 living spaces that needed to be checked. In addition to that there were the storefronts below, adding in an additional five. Meaning there were 29 total spaces he had to check. 28 realistically since he already finished looting the one room they hid in while Deccanus healed. In other words, it took a while.
By the time the two of them were done it was late, the sun was already beginning to set. Their bags were full and both men were ready for a rest back at the hotel.
Overall Adam had found a number of items worth selling, however for the first time ever most of it was clothing. A lot of nicer looking clothing had survived, from suits to summer dresses. The biggest boon here was he could grab a ton of them and stack them in his bag neatly.
Of course he got much more than just clothing, from Nuka Cola to magazines, to even a little miniature sentry bot statue that he would keep and not sell because he thought it was cute, he definitely came out of this well stocked. Almost everything came from the apartments themselves, the stores below proved to be a waste of time. Whether it be due to looting in the past or due to the actions of the mirelurks, they were practically empty. Still, it was a good haul and a worthwhile endeavor.
The two men walked back to town feeling good about themselves and their actions. Especially since their bags were loaded.
Upon arriving at the town the guards let them back inside without a fuss though Adam paused before heading inside.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Adam asked, politely, to the guy on duty outside the gate. He simply shrugged.
"Sure, I'm standing out here whether you talk to me or not so It's better to chat to kill time."
"Wonderful." Adam then looked at Deccanus and then back at the guard. "Actually we killed a number of lakelurk kings in a spot not too far from here, my partner suggested you might have a bounty on them here?"
"Oh yeah! The only good lakelurk king is a dead one." He grinned. "How many did you get? And you do have proof, yes?"
"Of course, we have proof." Adam smiled. "And we killed 8 in total." The man looked impressed, whistling a bit.
"Wow, hell of a fight you must've had. That will be worth turning in for. If you want to talk to someone about collecting on the bounty head to the back of the pier, near where the largest fishing trawler is, that's the kiosk that guests use for booking passage. However, the people there can also process the bounty for you." Adam smiled brightly.
"Thank you so much!"
"No problem, always happy to help out a fellow hunter!" He chuckled. "Besides, I'm not going to dick over the outsider who helped us with the last lakelurk attack. You did good by us, as far as I'm concerned."
Chapter Text
"How may I help you?" A bored looking woman said, cheek resting on her fist as she manned the kiosk with no one around to tend to.
"We would like to turn in a bounty." Adam smiled and then motioned for Deccanus to pull out the fins. He did so and then laid them all on the table, each mirelurk had 3 head fins so that meant there were 24 fin spikes on the table. She stopped leaning on her hand as the fins were brought out.
"Oh, that kind of bounty." She grinned a bit. "Well that I will be happy to help you with." she said as she began to separate all the fins, count them, and ensure there was no forgery or trickery going on.
"Bounty for each lakelurk king is 50 caps, you got 8 here, it looks like, so that's 400 caps." She said as she began to pull out bags of preorganized caps to get 400. Adam wasn't sure why they didn't also have some sort of paper currency here but pre-organized bags of caps actually seemed to be a decent work around.
Adam split the caps between him and Deccanus, 200 each.
"Thank you ma'am." Adam smiled.
"No, thank you." She grinned. "These bastards are the cause of all our problems, the more of them that are dead, the better, i'll gladly shell out any day i learn these fuckers have been slaughtered like they deserve." She smiled as she took the fins and put them in a chest, probably for disposal later.
"Also I was wondering if you might give me some directions? We have a lot of loot to sell and I was wondering where the best place to offload is." Adam asked, using the momentum of the goodwill to see if he can get some useful information.
"Well if you are looking for the shopping district that's in the centermost building, the largest one, nearest the ferris wheel, you can't miss it. But it's already pretty late so you will have to wait until tomorrow, the shops will be closed by now." Adam nodded.
"Thank you." He smiled at her.
"Anytime." She smiled back. "And if you kill any more of these bastards, tell them Darla sent you." She chuckled.
Adam and Deccanus then headed back to the hotel to offload their gear, both men were tired and hungry and thus they decided to put their stuff down and grab some food. Unlike Midway, The Pier did not seem to have as bustling of a nightlife. Midway almost always had something open, even at one in the morning. But here it seemed everything closed at more reasonable times. Still Adam and Deccanus had their pick of places to eat and they chose one without much discussion. Food, any food, was their goal, they just wanted it fast.
After paying 24 caps for dinner Adam went back to his room and showered and then headed right to bed.
The next day came unceremoniously as Adam slept in, as he so very much enjoyed, and as he walked out of his room to grab some food for breakfast he noticed that people were already beginning to set up for the promised festival. He was getting excited for the event, but for now he stuck to his task.
He grabbed breakfast at the same lakeside cafe as last time, another 24 caps, and then met up with Deccanus at the shopping district to sell off everything they had gathered. It seemed like The Pier did not have nearly as many Scavers living in town as Midway did, as the shopkeepers were pleasantly surprised to see Adam and Deccanus come with goods to offload. Though, after consideration, Adam had also been told he was a very good Scaver so perhaps it may not simply be that there were no Scavers at The Pier, but instead none that were able to bring as many goods as Adam.
In either case their gratitude for such a variety of new goods to sell extended to their prices. Adam got a whopping 1286 caps from this run. Of course this was split with Deccanus giving each man 643 caps each. It was a good haul, and he made even more friends selling. His name was already known in the town, and he hadn't even especially introduced himself. Seemed like his actions the day before had left more of an impact than he thought. Perhaps outsiders rarely helped defend the town when it was attacked? In either case he was grateful to have a new place where the people would be friendly.
Now that Adam had offloaded everything of value he only had to wait a while until the festival began. The time was spent fishing, ironically, as he was lent a fishing rod by one of the locals so he could try his hand at catching some non crab related lake dwellers. As it turned out he had neither the patience nor the skill for fishing, as even with 3 hours invested he had caught nothing. However it was all done to kill time as when he wrapped up his fishing adventure it was time to enjoy himself.
The entire dock had been lit up with lanterns, electric lights, glowing objects, and pretty much anything that could be seen at night, stalls were opened throughout the streets selling foods Adam had never seen before, offering games of chance or deduction, there were musicians playing music, at least three separate bands, one near the entrance, one near the center of the pier by the ferris wheel, and one near the end of the pier, each with their own musical flare.
Adam even found an artist who claimed he was from out of town, for only 20 caps he painted Adam a caricature which had an exaggerated pip boy that was the size of his already huge head and gold trim on his vault suit that was so bright it was reflecting the light of the sun and cooking a nearby fish on the characterized docks. It was exceptionally amusing and quite well done. Well worth what he paid. He tipped the man an additional 5 caps and then took his art with him as he continued to explore the festival.
Throughout the event Adam met with and spoke with a number of locals, some he recognized from the bar, some he didn't, all of whom thanked him for his efforts, some even thanking him for killing the lakelurk kings the other day, and more than one person asking if he had seen Deccanus, which he had not. If Adam was to guess Deccanus was in his hotel room, sharpening his machete or something. Anything to keep him away from the party.
At the end of the festival everyone was loaded onto a handful of boats and brought out a bit further into the lake to watch a firework display that was coordinated a few blocks away from The Pier's walls. The explosions lit up the night sky beautifully and there would be no better way to end the night in Adam's eyes.
By the end of the festival, not including the 25 caps Adam had paid for the artwork, he had spent an additional 85 caps on various food he ate and games he played. He had a wonderful time.
Chapter Text
The next day came and Adam had a plan on what he was going to do. He was going to get Buddy.
Buddy had been waiting at Renaissance since he had left Second Life. Truthfully it's possible he didn't make it, or perhaps the residents of the town stripped him for parts. He would be saddened to lose Buddy like that, but it was still the right choice for the time. But now that he was at The Pier, which was very close to the settlement, it was time to bring him home.
Adam left his room and grabbed breakfast, paying 27 caps for food and drink. However as he was wrapping up his meal one of the jean jacketed men approached him.
"The Madam has requested your presence." He said in a nonchalant way. They didn't have the presence or intimidation of the men in black suits of the guild so it felt less like he had no choice. However she was still the leader here so he didn't want to say no. Even if she seemed to be a snake of some kind.
"Alright, lead the way." Adam said before he shoved the last of his food into his mouth and then stood up to follow. They arrived in Madam Aquamarine's 'office' shortly after. Just like last time she was lounging around like she didn't have a care in the world. Did she ever do work?
"Ah, Adam, wonderful~" She said with an almost sultry tone as Adam walked in.
"You asked to see me?" Adam said back.
"Yes, please, sit." She smiled dangerously again, it was clear she was not asking, she was telling him. Of course if her words alone weren't enough the two heavily armored super mutants behind her were enough of a motivation for him to listen. So he took a seat on one of the pillows on the ground.
"Now…." She slowly grabbed her pipe and sat up in a long exaggerated motion, perhaps letting Adam scan her body as she showed off her skin. She was lucky she was indeed beautiful, it was easy to look at her. Shame she seemed less than upright though. "I heard recently you went out and scavenged your way through a whole building full of mirelurk kings. Is that right?" She asked, though her tone and mannerisms said she already knew the answer. Adam just nodded.
"Yes, Madam. Though encountering and fighting the kings was not a part of my plan, as I only went out to scavenge, but I'm not going to complain about collecting a bounty."
"Wonderful~" She smiled as she gave Adam another sultry look. "I love a man who gets things done." She took a slow hit of her pipe and breathed the smoke out in a heavy cloud, though not towards Adam.
"You see, I'm in need of a go-getter. And I believe you might be the man for the job." She smiled.
Oh? She was asking to hire Adam? This was unexpected, but welcome.
"I would need to hear the details of the job."
"Naturally." She smiled. "You see, there have been some upstarts, nobodies who have been cutting into my turf, trying to undercut my product~" She grinned.
"What sort of product?" Adam asked, though he had a strong suspicion what she was talking about he was not jumping to conclusions.
"Chems." She said with a dangerous smile.
"I see."
"I want you to go downtown and… remove the competition for me."
"I'm sorry." Adam began, politely. "But I am not a contract killer or hitman, I do not take on these kinds of jobs." She looked genuinely surprised at Adams' words.
"Well that's certainly a surprise to hear, considering you are working for The Guild, and all."
"All I'm doing is trying to ensure the caravans can make it to Midway safely." She looked at Adam for a moment, studying his face, seeing if he understood the implications of what he was saying and once she was satisfied he didn't, she laughed.
"Well color me surprised, the old bastard has a genuine man working for him at the moment." She laughed.
"Technically I'm only a contract worker, I don't work for the Guild." Adam informed.
"Do you know what those caravans contain that 'Mr. Cantelli' is so desperate for you to ensure arrive on time?" Adam looked at her confused.
"I was under the impression it was much needed food; fish, crab, and whatnot. Afterall Midway doesn't sustain itself through farming, I think." Madam Aquamarine laughed softly into the back of her hand.
"Oh, how adorable, you truly are naive." She shot Adam another sultry look, sizing him up. "I could use a man for my bedchambers tonight, if you are interested~" She said as she knowingly dragged one of her feet along the length of her other leg in a tantalizing way. Adam however didn't budge.
"No thank you, I would like to keep our relationship strictly professional."
"Shame." She shrugged. "Well to answer the question, the thing he is so desperate to get a hold of is chems." She smiled.
"Drugs?" Adam said back, shocked.
"Yes. I am Chicago's best and only provider of high grade chems. The old man might not like me but he needs me, without me the junkies he keeps hooked and under control would be let loose. It's just one of the many spokes of his control over that dirty place he calls home." She said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"The Guild does that?"
"Oh yes.~" She said as she leaned in a bit with a conspiratorial grin. "That's only one of the many enterprises they take part in…" She then pulled out a Midway slip from under her cushion and waved it around.
"Do you know why The Guild issued all of these worthless pieces of paper for the merchants to use in the city?" She asked.
"I assumed because it's easier to do commerce with and easier to carry around, no?" She chuckled softly.
"I love how cute you are~" She winked at Adam. "But no, consider that a happy accident. The real reason he forced everyone to use the slips is because he who controls the money…" She ripped the paper in half without a second thought. "Controls the people." She smiled.
"While the merchants and people trade in worthless paper, backed only by his word. He sits on a vault full of hundreds of thousands, perhaps even tens of millions of caps. If he ever were to leave, he could take all that money and leave the entire city without a single cap to his name." She grinned. Adam went wide eyed, this was not the reason he had assumed. Sure she might hate Mr. Cantelli, but what she was saying made sense, and it did explain everyone's reactions to The Guild.
"So not only does he deal in chems, not only does he hoard wealth, but he controls the prostitution ring, runs a protection racket, bought out the mayor and guards, and even, at times, shuts down any competition that might crop up. What his 'Merchant's Guild' truly is, is nothing more than an old world Mafia. And he is… what do you call it? The kingpin? The Don? Whatever~" She smirked. Adam was still processing all this new information when she spoke up again.
"So while he plays pretend good samaritan for Midway, I make no attempts to hide what kind of woman I am~" She said with a sultry tone again, her eyes locked on Adam's. "I am a chem dealer, the finest in Chicago, but I am also the leader of this settlement~. Not some shadow king like he is." She stood up and then walked over to sit next to Adam, putting one hand tenderly on his shoulder. "I am a benevolent leader, do you see those people outside? How happy they are? Before I came along these people were on the verge of dying, attacks that never ended, boats in the process of sinking, riots, civil war… I alone, ended that all." She said as she gently dragged a finger down Adam's arm in a seductive way before disengaging with touching him.
"I use my funds to ensure this town thrives, I do not force my drugs onto anyone, and keep my people safe and happy. That is more than that old bastard can say he does~" She stood up again and walked over to her seat once more, laying down on her side once more. "We may be similar, but while I lead, he steals. He is a leach. So whatever noble act you think you are doing for the people of Midway, remember, you are actually doing it for the most selfish man in Chicago~." She smiled, knowing that she had just shattered whatever sort of impression Adam had of Mr. Cantelli.
Adam, of course, knew Mr. Cantelli was not on the up-and-up, he definitely was into something shady, even if not just the taxes, his men walked around like they owned the place, however he didn't realize it went this deep. That is rather loathsome. He was not a fan of working for him at all now.
"Of course, don't let this stop you from fixing this issue with the Caravans." She added. "If it makes you feel any better, neither he nor I would let this situation stand, so someone, if not you, would solve it eventually. And in the meantime while you weren't helping, people would be suffering severe withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms that can be cured with addictol, which I also include in all my shipments." Adam let off a deep sigh.
"I see that things are more complicated than I assumed." He shook his head softly.
"Oh don't worry yourself over it, handsome.~ All you need to do is focus on the task, not the outcome. But unlike him, I wanted to help ensure you were fully understanding of the facts of the situation. After all, a man such as yourself deserves to know what he's fighting for."
Adam looked off to the side while he processed this information, unsure what to do about his thoughts now.
"I assume you have other things to do today, so I won't keep you for long. You may go~" She took another long hit of her pipe as she closed her eyes. Adam got up without another word and headed out the door, still uncertain of himself.
Chapter Text
Adam left the room, his head still swimming about his choices when he ran into Deccanus.
“Ah, Adam.” Deccanus said as Adam nearly bumped into him.
“Oh, Deccanus hi.” Adam returned within a slightly dejected tone. Deccanus stared at him for a moment.
“What is on your mind? You look… distracted.” He said with a softer tone than one would expect. Adam let out a deep sigh and then shook his head.
“It's just… I learned some things about the mission we are doing, some things that undermine my willingness to contribute.” He then looked at Deccanus and held his hand up to stop himself. “Though I wanted to see you anyway, I have left a friend over in Renaissance that I would like to collect today while I have the chance. I can tell you on the walk over.” Deccanus nodded.
“Very well, I shall be available to depart shortly.” He said as he turned to head back to his room and get whatever he wasn’t carrying, which he honestly seemed to have everything on him anyway.
Adam let out a deep sigh and then set off back to his room as well to grab his things for the trek. After all, however short, the roads were still dangerous.
Outside of the city Adam explained what he had learned from Madam Aquamarine to Deccanus. Deccanus was quite displeased at the mention of the shipment being chems.
“I can say I agree, I find the fact we are acting on the behalf of junkies unenviable.” He frowned.
“So you see my problem.”
“Indeed.” Deccanus returned.
“I just can’t believe we are doing work for such a moral less man.” Deccanus looked at Adam confused.
“No I meant simply about the chems.” Deccanus said, trying to clear up his position.
“Well aren’t they one in the same?”
“No.” Deccanus returned resolutely. “I have learned many things while traveling around after my Legion fell, the most important of which is there are few leaders who lead out of kindness. Few that have the moral fortitude of my Caesar. Few who put others above themselves. That is the nature of the world. It is not strange to find our employer involved in such things, however I find it deplorable that he is involved in chem dealing. Even more so that the lady is as well. If this were the Legion…” He petered off, Adam sighed.
“But shouldn’t we find people to work for who are worthy of our efforts? I’m not sure how comfortable I feel doing the dirty work of someone like that.”
“Then don’t” Deccanus returned without hesitation. “You are your own man, the path you follow is your own as well. I have my Legion teachings to guide me, you have only your heart and mind. Perhaps you wish to abandon the mission, perhaps you wish to see it through, perhaps you wish to finish it and do no more work for the man ever again. I will not make the decision for you, only you can. However I know, whatever decision you make, it will be the right one. This is the conclusion I have reached after watching you during our travels.” Adam let off a soft chuckle.
“That’s a high pedestal you are putting me on.”
“It is true nonetheless”
“Well thank you… I guess.” Adam said not sure what to make of it.
“My point is, that no matter what you decide I will back that decision.” Decanus returned resolutely. Adam nodded silently for a moment and then let out a heavy exhale.
“We will finish this mission. As the Madam said one way or the other the caravans would resume, whether it's us or someone else, I have some plans I will need a lot of capital for so I can’t turn my nose up at the job. Especially since if I did I would never be allowed in Midway again, likely. I will just think of it as charity work.”
“Then it shall be so.”
They arrived at Renaissance not long after, the journey between The Pier and Renaissance was very short. And once Adam arrived he remembered why the location on his pip-boy looked familiar. Standing in front of him was the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. He had never actually been in the building itself but he had passed by a number of times while rerouting on his way to Second Life HQ before the world ended.
The front door was completely sealed, it had metal and wood sheets over it to prevent anyone from getting inside the front windows were all sealed too. It was quite well fortified.
The two of them began to circle the building but found that all the windows, doors, and entrances were completely sealed in some fashion, none looked accessible without some sort of heavy effort. And since he couldn’t see the windows anyway, it was reasonable to assume behind the windows was even more scrap materials preventing entry.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Deccanus asked as they almost finished circling the building. Adam checked his pip-boy again and confirmed that this was, indeed, the right location.
“Yeah, this is definitely correct.” Adam said back, just as confused. As they almost reached the spot where they started they noticed some green spray painted graffiti on the side of the wall. Normally this would be unimportant and Adam would overlook it, after all graffiti was not uncommon, however it was not art but instead a message. It read:
In the morning I am there to greet you
In the evening I help keep you going
At night would I keep you awake
But too much of me is bad for you
Find the answer, find the entrance.
“Fuck, a riddle?” Adam said with a sigh.
“Well we at least found a clue.” Deccanus offered.
“That's true.” Adam shrugged and then studied the message for a moment. “I’m reasonably sure that the answer is either sunshine or… coffee…” He mumbled aloud and then it hit him, he checked his pip-boy and sure enough he remembered that there was a coffee shop nearby he had visited once before. Honestly, the coffee was just okay.
“This may be a longshot but I may have an idea.”
“Well as I do not, I will follow your lead.”
The two men then walked away from the building towards a nearby small shopping area.
Most of the buildings were destroyed, some by time some by vandals,, but one building remained; it was the coffee shop he remembered. ‘Good Morning Coffee’ with a little logo of a rising sun behind the words.
“This has to be it right? I mean, after all it fits both answers, so…” Adam said, Deccanus just looked at him offering no words. Adam sighed and walked into the dilapidated coffee shop, finding it to be a complete mess.
However as they walked around for a few minutes they eventually stumbled upon something interesting. A slightly cleaner spot on the floor. If they weren’t looking for an entrance they wouldn’t have spotted it. On closer examination it was separated slightly from the other flooring around it. A secret hatch, perhaps? Only one way to find out.
With some effort, Deccanus using his Machete as a lever to help open up the flooring, they raised it enough to reveal a large tunnel entrance below them. Clearly made by hand, but large enough for even a brahmin to be able to walk through. Though, perhaps, a little cramped for the cow.
“I guess we found it.” Adam said, honestly surprised.
Chapter Text
The tunnel was well lit and decently maintained. While it was clearly just a carved path underground there were support beams, stone brick on most walls, and an even floor. It was clear that the people of the town seemed to keep the path in good order. Which was good because an underground tunnel isn't always the safest place to be.
Adam arrived with Deccanus inside the underground parking lot after a short walk. The exit to the underground parking lot was sealed with a mix of poured concrete walls, scrap steel, and wooden braces. With the exception of something huge, nothing was getting down here.
The main staircase leading from the parking lots to the main floor had a bright neon sign with lights all over it that read 'Welcome to Renaissance'.
They walked up the stairs and what they saw was quite surprising. Every single surface, every table, chair, wall, even the ceilings were covered in some form of art. Whether that be paintings, statues, carved stone, clay art, glass, and any other number of arts all on display all around them. It was easily the most colorful place he had visited thus far.
And there were quite a few people too. Just judging by the foot traffic this building was home to a number of folks.
"Hey man." A guy wearing a raggedy A shirt, long baggy jeans, with pain stains all over his clothing, and his hair all swept to one side said as he walked over. He sounded incredibly nonchalant as he spoke. "Welcome to the Renaissance." He said as he offered a bright smile as he outstretched his arms. He sounded high. Not like out of his mind high, but buzzed.
"Uh, thank you." Adam said with a smile.
"No problem man." He smiled back. "The name is Chet, local people person." He slapped his chest twice lightly. "I'm guessing you are new in town?"
"Yes we are." Adam said, getting his composure again quickly. "I am actually looking for a friend of mine, he's a protectron, he is white and I sent him here a little while ago, I didn't see him outside so I was wondering maybe if-" Adam began before getting cut off by Chet.
"Oh yeah! Robo-bro!" He laughed. "Yeah! He's big chilling with us in the community hall! Come along I'll show you to him, man." He said as he waved Adam and Deccanus to follow.
Deccanus shot Adam a look and Adam just shrugged, following behind Chet as he led them through the place.
"So like, I'm also sort of the tour guide to this place. So if you want a history lesson I can give ya one, if not it's cool." He said casually as he led the way through the halls which also had been completely overtaken with art.
The entire building seemed to be intact, more or less no structures or extra rooms were added, however everything was converted to a grand living space. Tapestries on walls separating spaces, communal kitchens and tables out for anyone to use, people talking amongst each other amicably on benches. There were no windows looking to the outside, obviously since they were covered heavily with reinforcement, however the giant skylight provided more than enough natural light for most of the central rooms.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind a bit of a history lesson." Adam said, intrigued, figuring he had nothing to lose by learning.
"Cool." Chet said with a grin as he spun around and started walking backwards while still leading them. "So like, pre-war this place was a hotspot for artists, art from all over the world came here to be shown off to the people of Chicago, then the bombs went boom." He began, making an exaggerated hand gesture when he said the word 'boom'.
"Lots of time passed and the place was left abandoned, not really much to loot here after all." He shrugged. "But eventually a couple of artists got together and decided they wanted to bring art back to life! So they came here, fixed the place up and called it home. Soon enough others hearing about the place came here too. What we have now is an artists' safe haven. A free place where like minded individuals can express themselves without the shackles of society." He grinned and finally spun back around as he opened a set of double doors leading to a large converted conference room, now a giant 'hang out' spot. Judging by the spray painted 'hang out' on the wall.
"Everyone here is from somewhere, some even from all the way in the west. Some from Me-hi-co~" He said with emphasis. "But we all get along."
"How do you guys sustain yourself? Like as a society." Chet just chuckled at Adam's question.
"You overthinking it man. We grow what we need on the second floor and buy what we need from traders, otherwise we vibe out."
"And your defenses?" Deccanus inquired.
"Been a long time since anyone threatened us, entrance is hidden so only the brainy bunch or those we trust can come and go, and no one here fights. If there is a disagreement we have make up sex." He chuckled. Adam gave him a weird look but did not inquire further, he assumed he didn't want to know. "Besides, if anything ever did really get hairy that's what these bad boys are for." He said as he casually pointed towards the ceiling at one of the handful of ball turrets that had been scattered around the building. There had not been that many but perhaps enough to make any would-be invaders think twice before attacking.
"And here is Robo-Bro. How's it going my man?" He said as he brought Adam over to a corner where Buddy was standing at attention, his backpack was still full of goods from Second life when he last saw him but he had changed drastically.
On his head was a purple fedora with a feather and a leopard skin print ring around the inner rim. As Adam found out, was glued to his head. However the most striking thing was his mostly white body was covered, head to toe in art paintings. Each one done in a different style, some with more pizazz, some that were quick sketches, and some he wasn't even sure what to make of. However each art piece was separated from the others, giving space for the art to shine on its own. Just skimming through he saw a Nuka Cola logo, a Vimm! logo, a cute deathclaw, a cyberdog, a pin-up girl, and a large number of other things from chips to green vines. Adam wasn't sure what to make of it however when he walked over Buddy noticed him and spoke up.
"Administrator Adam, I have arrived at my destination. Awaiting further orders." Buddy said, suddenly activating to life like he was awoken by Adam's arrival.
"Yo!" Chet said surprised and happy. "This little guy hasn't moved an inch since I brought him here from the outside. He wouldn't talk to anybody, figured he was broken." He laughed. "Good to see you moving robo-bro."
"His name is Buddy, actually." Adam corrected with a soft smile, glad to see, despite the strange state Buddy was in, he was perfectly fine.
"Buddy!" Chet said with a small cheer. Adam turned to look at Buddy again.
"Resume normal operations mode, set to Guarding Target: Adam Baxter." Adam ordered.
"Understood, moving to guard." Buddy repeated before taking one step forward and then not moving any more.
"Well I am always happy to reunite family!" Chet said enthusiastically. Adam turned to Chet again.
"You said you were the one who brought him inside? I wanted to thank you. When I sent him here I had no idea what to expect but I'm happy to see him uninjured."
"Oh no worries man, we liked having him around. We took good care of him for you." He chuckled. Adam glanced at Buddy and, now that he was looking, his entire frame had been thoroughly cleaned to a polish, his rust removed, and all the wear and tear he had received up until now when he found him at Second Life had been largely buffed out or fixed up. He didn't look good as new but he looked close.
"Well still, I wanted to say thanks. Do you want me to compensate you or…" Adam asked, unsure if he should pay them for babysitting Buddy but Chet just shook his head.
"Nah man, don't worry about it. He's a card." He smiled. "Are you and Buddy planning on sticking around long?" Adam looked at Deccanus who gave him no response and Adam shrugged.
"I need to get back to The Pier before nightfall but I suppose I can spend a day here." Adam smiled.
"Excellent!" Chet said enthusiastically. "Come on, I'll introduce you to our chef! She's the best in the entirety of Chicago~"
Chapter Text
“Well fancy seeing new faces around here!~” A pretty looking black woman with her long black hair wrapped up in a hairnet said as she stood over a boiling pot of some sort of stew in a large cafeteria. She had a distinctly southern voice and looked as cheerful as could be. She then noticed Buddy walking around and smiled even brighter. “And looks like our robotic guest is finally moving around! How wonderful!”
“This here is Rachel Jones, the best chef in the entire world!” Chet said enthusiastically.
“He’s a flatterer, honestly.” She smiled. “But I ain’t going to say no to compliments~”
“Well just hearing that you are that good makes me hungry already.” Adam smiled.
“Well then grab yourself a tray, honey, I got stew, corn bread, and a rice pilaf on serve today!”
“How much for the meal?” Adam asked as he grabbed a tray like instructed.
“Oh it’s free, sugar. You made it inside, that’s a meal ticket if I’ve ever seen one.” She smiled warmly. Adam looked at her confused.
“Its free? How do you guys afford to feed everyone if you don’t charge for anything?” She waved Adam off as she began to fill bowls and plates for Adam and Deccanus.
“It ain’t nothing, sugar. We grow what we need here, and everyone here helps out when needed. Working together works far better than charging for every little thing.”
“What's stopping someone from taking advantage of your kindness?” Adam asked as he got his food and smelled it, it smelled heavenly.
“Well I suppose, if someone were to be so uncouth, I guess we would start charging them. But most people know better than to act out, and if you made it inside you are smart enough to realize what we are all about. So enjoy the meal and don’t worry about the silly caps system.” She smiled warmly as she finished plating Deccanus’ food now.
“Well um… thank you.” Adam said, not really sure how to respond to this unexpected generosity.
“You are welcome, sugar. And you too handsome~” She said to Adam and then to Deccanus in turn.
“Come on, I'll bring you two over to a free table, you can eat Rachel’s food and tell me about where you’ve been!” Chet said enthusiastically as he led the two of them, plus Buddy, over to a table.
The three men sat down at the table and Adam began to eat. Holy crap, this was good. The best food he had eaten up to this point was the food at the Gourmand, but this eclipsed even that. Honestly, this was good enough that chefs from the old world would be jealous of her skill.
“It's good right?” Chet asked with a wide smile, seeing Adam enjoying it thoroughly.
"I'm shocked a woman with her skills is here, if she was in Midway or something I’m sure she could make a killing.” Adam said between bites.
“Well maybe.” Chet shrugged. “But she’s here for the same reason the rest of us are. Freedom. We are all artists here.” He chuckled.
“Even her?” Adam asked, surprised to hear she was not only a top tier chef but also an artist.
“Cooking is an art, duh!” Chet said with a grin.
“How do you guys have the resources to trade with traders if you don't use caps here?”
“Simple, we trade and barter what we need. And we also sell our skills as needed. Everyone pitches in. Maybe they need a good tailor, or a sign maker, or a builder, or dancers. Who knows? But we can usually work out a deal. Been this way for a long time, doubt it's ever gonna change, man.” Adam had mixed feelings about all this. This sounded like communism… or socialism… The very thing he fought to stop the Chinese from spreading, and here it seemed to start naturally. But the most surprising thing is that it seemed to work? He was happy to see people thriving and happy but this was… strange. Still he kept his thoughts to himself.
“And what about you?” Adam asked, curious. “What kind of artist are you?”
“I’m glad you asked! I am a graffiti artist, got my start marking buildings in an old place called Dog City. Not much to do up in the rooftops other than to make art.” He shrugged.
“I got lucky though, escaped and made my way here, found my tribe and been here ever since.” He smiled
“So some of this?” Adam said generally pointing around to the walls some of which had clearly spray paint art on it.
“Yeah! I did that one over there!” Chet said proudly as he pointed to a mural of a broken cityscape where the focus was all on the tops of the buildings with small fires on top of each one, while a light orange haze obscured the bottom of the skyscrapers. “Based on it off home. Not that I would ever go back.” he laughed.
“Wow, you are talented.” Adam said as he admired it for a moment.
“Thanks man!” He said with a bright smile. “Anyway, we all got our things. You got any art skills?” Chet asked curiously. Adam chuckled softly.
“Oh no. I have zero artistic skill.” Adam smiled. “I am a scaver and a repair tech, other than programming I don’t have any unique skills.”
“No man!” Chet said with a bright smile correcting Adam. “Programming is art too! We got one of those here, if robo-bro here sat around for too long she was going to take a look at him, but she doesn’t like to come out of her room much so...” He shrugged.
“Well… I had never considered programming to be an art form.” Adam said, thoughtfully.
“Everything is!” He smiled. “Sure, for me I can’t wrap my head around all the mumbo jumbo of the long strings of words used in programming but our resident programmer made a few art pieces that are only doable with artistic skill in programming! Plus she keeps the hydroponics systems functioning so she’s the real MVP.”
“Maybe I will need to meet her some time.” Adam said casually.
“Ah, well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble but she kinda… hates people, she stays in her room all day like I said and gets food delivered to her, so you will probably never see her.” Chet said, almost apologetically.
“Oh. Well then nevermind.” Adam chuckled.
“And what about you friend?” Chet said, turning to Deccanus now. “Does Mr. Silent have any art skills?” There was a few long moments of silence as Deccanus quietly ate his soup before he offered a single word:
“Woodworking.” He said without any more elaboration.
“Yo! That’s awesome man! I love people that can work with wood!” He laughed.
“Well when you two are done eating, want me to give you two the rest of the tour? You can bring Buddy along as we explore and it will give you plenty of time to get back to the boats before it gets dark.” Adam shrugged in agreement.
“Sure. Sounds like a good plan.”
“Radical.”
Chapter Text
The rest of the tour went smoothly. Adam got a longer history lesson of the Chicago art museum, which was quite skewed with its accuracy and had a few amusing mistakes, however he didn’t correct them, none of them amounted to more than a slight glorification of the museum itself so it was fine to let them keep thinking that.
The first floor turned out to be mostly housing, the second floor was mostly for farming and other tasks that were needed to keep this place functional, and the roof was largely left unchanged. Adam had learned that all decisions about the management of this community was done by a communal vote, though most people don’t like to involve themselves in such things so it usually ends up being the same 17 folks for every decision. There was, therefore, no formal leader. Chet could be considered the closest thing to a leader, though truly all that set him apart was he was the front man for the settlement, talking to newcomers and helping settle disputes, but he had no extra authority.
Adam noted that this settlement seemed to be a step down in terms of population to The Pier. It still had enough people for a sizable community, but it didn’t stack up to The Pier, and it was naught but a small section compared to Midway.
Adam couldn’t help but worry what would happen if this place was attacked but they hadn’t been in their entire history and every entrance was extremely well boarded up and the only remaining entrance was secret so perhaps it was a non issue? In either case as eccentric as the people seemed they also seemed to be quite friendly. Though more than one person seemed to be severely introverted. Regardless by the end of the tour he had a firmer grasp on how these people live and even had a few souvenirs to take back with him, a keychain of a boat at sea made of clay, a hand drawn line art sketch of a mirelurk, but much cuter than the real things, and a whole head of cabbage from their gardens. He had come for Buddy but left with more than just his robotic friend.
As the sun was beginning to get low in the sky Adam said goodbye to his new friends and left with Deccanus and Buddy in tow.
“Those are… strange people…” Deccanus said uncertain himself of what he just witnessed after spending nearly the whole day silent. Perhaps he was just taking it all in.
“As they say, it takes all types.” Adam chuckled. ”But I do agree, they were… interesting.” Adam said, soft balling it. “Still, any place that I am met with smiles and not hostility is a good place as far as I’m concerned.” There was a pause from Deccanus before he nodded.
“I suppose I agree.” He then went silent as the only sound was the sound of Buddy’s loud clanking feet.
“What’s on your mind, Deccanus?” Adam asked, sensing that he was mulling something over.
“In the Legion, everyone was part of the whole, there was no difference between I and my fellow Legionnaires. However if the Legion was to encounter a tribe such as theirs they would be… undoubtedly… stripped of what makes them unique.” He muttered the last part softly “I can not say if their way of living is right or wrong, but perhaps there are more ways to find meaning in life than to just seek a greater community… They value their freedoms, their individuality. Such a thing would be unheard of in the Legion, I am unsure how to process that.” Adam nodded slowly.
“You will find that out in the world there are many people each with their own ways of living, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with any of them, and in fact one might argue that our differences are what makes us strong.” Adam paused to consider. “The country I fought for, America, was once, a long time ago, a nation of immigrants, people from all walks of life came together to create a stronger country where all people could be considered American. We all took pride in that, our diversity was strength, though the resource wars stripped those thoughts… practical matters came first, of course.”
“Of course.” Deccanus agreed. “Do you think that these people add something worth keeping to Chicago? That they wouldn’t be better served elsewhere?” Deccanus asked now.
“Well besides the fact I don’t think it would be right to force them to move to somewhere else or live in a way they dont want to, I don’t think the sum of a person’s life should be how useful they are.” Deccanus gives Adam a strange look.
“What purpose is there to living beyond making society stronger?” He asked, seriously.
“There is no answer to that.” Adam shrugged. “I think we all have our own purposes to find in life. For some that is to strengthen society, for others it is to pursue happiness, others will spend their whole lives seeking the answer. I think that the fact we do not all share the same goals is what gives our world color. If we were all the same mindless drone nothing would ever move forward. I like being unique… but maybe that's the American in me.” Adam shrugged. Deccanus remained silent for a little while before he let off a soft sigh.
“I simply do not understand. If one’s life isn’t dedicated to their leaders how does society progress?”
“That’s just something you will have to keep asking yourself as you explore this world, there are many places for you to see, many things for you to do, maybe one day you will be able to answer that question yourself.”
“I am not a fan of critical thinking.” Adam laughed.
“I can see that.” He smiled. “But don’t worry, you will get the hang of it eventually.”
The two men arrived at the Pier and they were let in without issue again. Adam decided to grab a light dinner before turning in for the night. He paid 19 caps for his meal and then took Buddy back to his room for the night.
He did get questioned about the protectron when he got back to the Hotel, but due to Adam’s fame already being somewhat known throughout the town and the fact he had been staying here for several days up until now they didn’t hold him up for long.
After taking a nice long relaxing shower and listening to the radio station for about an hour he turned in for the night, the day he was supposed to follow the caravan was coming soon and with Buddy obtained he truly did not have many things left to do before he left.
Adam slept well that night with Buddy standing quietly in the corner.
Chapter Text
When the next day came Adam found out that, to his dismay, there was a radstorm. With the storm being especially severe today most people were staying indoors, though the shops were still open, luckily. However this meant Adam would be confined indoors for the day while he waited out the storm. He just hoped that tomorrow, when he would be traveling with the caravan, the storm wouldn’t be an issue. Otherwise he might need to convince Deccanus into taking some Rad-X.
Adam headed to one of the indoor cafes for breakfast, spending 35 caps for a meal and then headed to the shopping center to do something that he had been needing to do since Second Life. Sell Buddy’s backpack of goods.
Back at Second life he, Salvatore, and Buddy all had backpacks, however since Buddy was sent away he couldn’t sell the items he gave to him. And, as he confirmed, the backpack still had things in it when he found Buddy at Second Life. Everything he had collected at Second Life was high quality, since he had the pick of the liter. So there was no doubt in his mind that the contents would be extremely valuable.
Rummaging through the backpack last night before bed he found that the only things that were missing from the backpack were the chems. However in their place was an assortment of random things he definitely didn’t pack into this bag at Second Life. Things such as Sensor modules, crystal lenses, packs of cigarettes, even some hand made sculptures. If he were to guess, the people at Renaissance took the chems themselves, but seeing as they were good natured barter based people, they exchanged the chems in the backpack for whatever they had on hand. It's obvious they tried to find things that were of equivalent value, though with a very rough estimate Adam took a loss on the deal.
However, considering the people of the town took Buddy in, kept him safe, cleaned him up, and left the items in the backpack mostly intact, it was perfectly fine in his books. In addition, this was where, apparently, the best chem dealer in the entirety of Chicago lived, so poor grade chems from a raider base would likely not sell as well here of all places. So perhaps this was for the best.
After breakfast Adam took Buddy and his bag down to sell off all his gear. It took some time to sell off everything to the correct vendors but at the end of his mercantile adventure he had earned a total of 1975 caps. It was, after all, the most valuable things from Second Life.
Better yet he didn’t need to share these caps with anyone. Deccanus wasn’t involved so he didn’t need to split with him. Technically he could split some of it with Salvatore, but he bought out his contract so it was fine to keep this money. So now, with well over 5000 caps, 5180 to be precise, he was able to see the goal he wanted to achieve when he got back to Midway coming into view. This was an unexpected view in his calculations. He had, of course, remembered Buddy had a backpack full of things. But he had forgotten he would be able to sell them so he was actually doing quite well on caps at the moment.
The rest of the day was spent doing a lot of nothing. Adam spent most of it in his room tinkering with Buddy, checking his code, fixing up his servos, and mostly just making busy work for himself. There was something cathartic about it, working on a robot like this brought him back to the old days. It was nice to be doing it again.
After dinner of 32 caps Adam went to sleep. The entire day was largely a big nothing event. After all the majority of activities at the Pier were outside and during a radstorm, obviously, most were closed.
The next day came and it was finally time for the Caravan to leave. Adam left his room, geared up, Buddy at his back. He thanked the hotel staff for his stay and then headed to grab a quick bite for breakfast, 25 caps later, he was fed, geared, and ready. He didn’t know when or where the Caravan would be leaving, in hindsight that should have been something he asked about but he didn’t think of it until now.
Regardless he was soon joined by Deccanus at the gate and then, after about another hour of waiting, a caravan worker with 2 brahmin and 2 guards showed up.
“Are you Adam?” He asked casually as he saw the two of them waiting.
“Yes, that's right.” Adam said with a smile.
“Good.” The man replied curtly. “The Madam has informed me that you will be accompanying us on this run, just don’t get in our way and there will be no problems.” He said, strangely rudely before the gate began to open for him. One of the guards then walked over.
“Don’t mind him, he's always like that.” The caravan guard chuckled. “Always nice to be working with a fellow hunter.” He smiled and offered Adam his hand which Adam gladly shook.
“Is this the normal setup? 2 brahmin, 2 guards, and 1 merchant?” Adam asked.
“Yeah, this is standard, and the route will be standard too.”
“I heard you guys stay out for months at a time, this true?” He asked. The guard nodded.
“Yes, though it depends. Sometimes we are only gone for a few weeks, other times it can take a lot longer, depends on how many settlements we are heading to and how long it takes for us to move our product.” Adam nodded, choosing not to dwell on the product. “This time though we are only heading to Midway, we don’t know anything about the Caravans’ disappearances so we are going to air on the side of caution.”
“Smart.” Adam commended.
“Well it wasn’t my idea. It was grumpy pants over there.” He said as he gestured with his thumb to the merchant. “He acts like an ass but he is careful to make sure everyone is well cared for.” He shrugs and then notices the merchant and the other guard starting to move.
“Right, well time to go, just follow along and I'm sure anything that comes our way we can handle.” He said before he jogged to catch up with his fellow guard and rejoin the pack. Adam took a step to follow behind them but was stopped by Deccanus putting his arm out in front of Adam.
“Wait a moment.” Deccanus said, seriously.
“What? What is it, Deccanus?” Adam asked, confused.
“We should not follow closely behind them.” He said as he watched them leave.
“What? Why? I thought the whole point was to follow so we could see what was happening to the caravans.”
“Yes, but if we are to change the variables it might not occur.” Deccanus said as he turned to look at Adam. “If, for example, it is some sort of ambush, then the addition of two additional guards might dissuade the attack. While the caravan would arrive at its destination it does not solve the issue and we would be no closer to an answer. However if we are to follow from a distance, keep ourselves separated from them as a group, we could still follow their trail and allow anything that might occur to happen naturally.” Adam stood there thinking for a moment before he let off a long sigh.
“That could end up getting these guys killed.” Adam said worriedly.
“Indeed.” Deccanus agreed. “But if you want to figure out the source of the issue, this is the best way to do so.” Adam stared at Deccanus for a moment before he nodded slowly, and begrudgingly.
“Alright, we will do it your way. Just for the record, I don't like it.” Adam said with a frown.
“Noted.”
Chapter Text
The three of them waited for a little while outside the gate, though the gate guards were confused since they were under the impression that Adam was going to accompany the Caravan they didn’t raise any fuss about it.
After giving plenty of lead time to the caravan they began to move as well. The trip was very peaceful, as with last time the route itself was very easy since it was often used and therefore basically patrolled.
They paused outside The Gourmand for a bit since the caravan and the guards seemed to have stopped there to eat. Adam and Deccanus didn’t go inside. For the same reason as before they wanted to keep some distance, let things play out naturally.
The two men shared one of Adam’s last MREs he had on hand in his backpack, it was pretty good all things considered, but he really wished he was having a meal in the Gourmand instead.
Regardless, once they confirmed the caravan began moving again they resumed their pursuit, following out of sightlines but close enough that if the caravan were to stop for any reason they would stumble upon them very quickly.
Everything seemed to be moving smoothly, perhaps too smoothly. Not a single thing had gone wrong the entire trip.
They were about 3 hours from Midway when they began to hear gunshots from up ahead. Adam shot Deccanus a look and both men took off running.
By the time they arrived they found the caravan worker dead on the ground, one of the guards with his throat slit and bleeding out on the ground and the other one was hiding behind some rubble on the street, clutching a bad stomach wound that had punctured through his body armor. The two brahmin had begun to panic and were running around uncontrollably. However despite being such large and easy to hit targets that were not fleeing the battlefield, neither cow had taken a single hit the entire engagement It seemed whoever was attacking had no interest in hurting the brahmin. Then he saw where the bullets were coming from.
On the rooftops on 4 buildings surrounding the area men in purple robes firing down on the Caravan from above. It seemed only by a miracle that even one guard had managed to get some sort of cover, he also seemed to have killed one of the purple robed men, likely the same one who slit the throat of the other guard. There was no mistaking who these men were, they were the cult of pestilence.
At a glance there were 6 men firing from the rooftops, but there was no telling if there were more waiting inside the buildings.
“Deccanus!” Adam shouted to him as the two men got close enough to see the evolving situation.
“I see it.” Deccanus said as he pulled out his cowboy repeater. Adam whipped his head around scanning the area for a plan for a moment before finding a building close to them with sightlines on the battlefield.
“Come with me!” He yelled as the two men ran into the building. Buddy was slow, as per usual, so he was lagging quite behind the other two as they ran up the concrete stairs and got to the roof position for firing.
Adam saw Buddy arrive at the entrance to the building, intending to follow Adam inside but he called out to him.
“Buddy! Enter combat mode!” He yelled out from the roof.
“Confirmed, entering combat mode.” Buddy said as his laser emitters began to glow.
“Buddy, designate everyone wearing primarily purple as an enemy and engage the enemies in the distance!’ He called out, giving buddies very simple and easy FoF for the battlefield.
“Confirmed. Entering the battle.” Buddy said back robotically as he began to waddle towards the battlefield.
While all this was happening the guard had been hit twice more. He was no longer fighting back but the cultists on the roof were not letting up, intending on shooting until he was dead.
Adam balanced his scoped rifle on the rim of the roof and lined up a shot.
Boom.
His bullet connected with the head of one of the cultists and splattered his brains inside his hooded cloak. The sudden shot startled the ones sharing the roof with their comrade and caused them to stop firing. Adam knew he didn’t have long until they saw him, he was not too far away, after all he was not a sniper, just a damn good shot, this was about the limit of his range.
Boom.
Another round lined up perfectly with the head of another cultist. The ones on all roofs began to stop firing and take cover, unsure where they were being hit from. That was when Buddy began to fire.
A brilliant light show of reds began to pour out of the laser emitters from Buddy’s hands as he carpeted one of the roofs in laser rounds fired in rapid succession. Adam may have suped up Buddy a bit more the night before. After all, when he originally gave Buddy combat mode it was meant for keeping VIPs and HQ safe, now that Buddy was going to be a companion on his scaving adventures, Buddy needed more fire power.
What once was laser rounds fired nearly at the same speed as someone firing a semi automatic laser rifle was now a handful notches down from a laser gatling gun. In other words, Buddy had the firepower to rival a Mr. Gutsy now. Of course this had its own drawbacks, Buddy’s combat mode lasted even shorter amounts of time now but it clearly was working.
With one roof pinned down by buddy and another pinned down by the fear of an unseen sniper Adam was feeling confident. That was until a few rounds whizzed past his head and now he was forced to take cover. Apparently one of the other rooftops had spotted him and was now shooting at him too.
However as Adam took cover he looked over to Deccanus and saw that he was missing, nowhere to be seen. Adam didn’t have time to think about that though, so as soon as the bullets stopped he once more balanced his rifle and shot at one of the rooftops. He missed this time, mostly because he didn’t have the benefit of the element of surprise nor did he have time to line up his shot but it was enough to take the heat off Buddy who was just about to get shot at.
Then he looked down and noticed Deccanus hanging off the edge of a windowsill on the building they were on and working his way down to the floor. Once he was only two stories from the ground he dropped and then began to run towards the battlefield. Adam would be impressive if his actions were not completely reckless but instead he chose to focus on the task in front of him.
Adam’s next shot hit one of the cultists in the throat. It may not have been an instant kill but even a stimpack was not healing that. There were now only 3 enemies in the fight. No wait, 2. Buddy managed to hit one of the cultists foolish enough to poke his head out. He was killed without firing a shot.
Deccanus then arrived at the front while Adam fired again only to miss his mark once more. Meanwhile Deccanus fired a few times at the roof from his cowboy repeater and then entered the building where one of the two men remaining were stationed on the roof.
Adam felt comfortable leaving that building to Deccanus so instead he lined up his shot at the other man still alive. He took his time, the man was being suppressed by Buddy now, after all. And then:
Boom.
He hit the ground like a ton of bricks, his head missing from his body. By the time Adam had whipped his scope around to see if he could take out the last cultist he made it just in time to see Deccanus impale the man through the back with his machete. Killing him within seconds.
After a tense few moments longer, just waiting to see if more would pop up Adam decided it was now time for him to get to the battlefield. It seemed like they had managed to beat them all.
Chapter Text
As Adam jogged over Deccanus was just getting out of the building he had entered carrying with him a dead body of one of the cultists which he unceremoniously threw on the ground. Interestingly it was not the one from the roof, so perhaps it was another one inside the building. Buddy meanwhile was still patrolling the area looking for more purple colored people to kill.
“Are you alright Deccanus?’ Adam asked him as he made his way right to the guard who he hoped was still alive.
“I am fine.” Deccanus said back as he took out a small washcloth from his bag and wiped some splattered blood on his face with it.
Adam got to the guy and saw that the life was leaving his eyes. He had mere moments before he passed on, this was not the sort of thing a stimpack could save, he had lost too much blood. Stimpack might be able to create miracles but nothing short of an act of god would save this man now.
Adam knelt next to him and took his hand.
“T-tell my wife… Jess… that I love…” He pushed out as Adam took his hand before the life left him and he was unable to finish his sentence. Adam held his hand for a few moments longer and then closed his eyes for him with his hand, letting him rest.
When Adam looked up he saw Deccanus quite expertly handling the Brahmin like he knew what he was doing. They were both still panicked but he had got them to calm down enough that they were just unable to sit still rather than running all over.
Adam let off a slow sigh and then stood up.
“Well I think we got our answer.” Adam said as he surveyed the battlefield.
“Indeed.” Deccanus agreed as he kicked over one of the dead bodies and got the brahmin's reins in hand.
“What do we do now?” Adam looked to Deccanus. Then he looked at Buddy who was still aggravated by the color purple. “Buddy entered normal mode.” He said offhandedly to stop Buddy from overheating.
“I suppose finishing the transport would be the obvious answer but…” Deccanus began before looking at the brahmin. Adam understood what he meant immediately. These brahmin were full of chems. Adam was already feeling less than comfortable helping to secure a chem transport line in the first place, and now they had a golden opportunity. If they were to simply… make the chems go away, no one would be the wiser, everyone would assume the Brahmin ran off or died. No one had to know. They already did this once, back in the vault, they destroyed the Vial. This would be no different, it would be simple too…
Adam walked over to the brahmin, a bit careful since he was not great with animals, but found them to be quite docile thanks to Deccanus’ efforts. Adam then sighed.
“No, we can’t just make this disappear.” He frowned.
“Why not? I do not see what the problem would be.”
“Well okay, we can.” Adam specified. “But my point is we shouldn’t. The Madam was right, one way or the other the junkies will get their drugs, people will get paid, it will all work out in the end. However by escorting the caravan ourselves we can get the favor of both Mr. Cantelli and Madam Aquamarine.”
“I see…” Deccanus said, as neutral as possible. “I am not fond of delivering the chems.”
“I agree, but out here, I’ve learned, you take what advantages you can get.”
Deccanus paused, looked at the Brahmin and then nodded slowly.
“Understood, then we shall simply complete the delivery.”
“Are you um… going to be able to handle the brahmin on the rest of the trek?” Adam asked, having no experience with animal handling.
“Yes, I am experienced with handling brahmin, perhaps not as much as I could be, but in the Legion skills like this were second nature.” Adam nodded.
“Then we will proceed at your pace.” Adam turned back to Buddy. “Buddy, return to Guard mode of target Adam Baxter.”
“Understood. Returning to Guard mode.” Buddy said mechanically as he walked over to Adam and began to follow him.
“Let's take what we can from the cultists, we can sell their weapons for something I’m sure, and…” He looked at the dead guards. “Them too, I guess. After all, the dead don’t need armor.” He sighed. The two of them spent a few minutes grabbing whatever they could of value, a number of guns, some armor, some random chems, a few long blades, and a drawing of the dead guard and a woman, supposedly his wife. Adam took the picture and stored it away carefully. Once they were all set they resumed their journey.
The rest of the trip to Midway was entirely uneventful. The brahmin followed along passively with the three of them without issue and no further attacks occurred. Adam was sure this is what happened to all the other caravans who passed through. It was suspicious how coordinated the attack was but that was not for him to figure out, he just needed to find out what, and he had.
Upon arriving at Midway they once more sat through the lengthy speech as if he hadn’t heard it a hundred times, but once they were inside Adam brought the brahmin right to the front.
“Deccanus, can you wait here with the brahmin for a moment?”
“Of course.”
“Buddy remain here with Deccanus and follow him until I tell you otherwise.”
“Confirmed, guardian target Deccanus.” Adam then walked inside and went right to the second floor, heading right to the employees only section. Once he got there he stopped right in front of one of the suited men.
“Can you let Mr. Cantelli know I am here? Also we have the caravan, however the people assigned to it are dead so at the moment my partner is watching them, if you do not mind relieving him.”
The black suited man looked at another who was standing nearby, nodded to him and then nodded to Adam.
“Alright. I will tell Mr. Cantelli, you have arrived back. Good work, Mr. Baxter.” He said as he turned around to head deeper inside the area, presumably to tell Mr. Cantelli Adam was back, meanwhile the other man walked past Adam heading downstairs, likely to relieve Deccanus.
A few minutes later the man returned and flagged Adam through. They didn’t make Adam take off his gear this time, which surprised Adam, it seemed as though Mr. Cantelli was in a rush. Whatever, Adam wanted to inform him sooner rather than later anyway. This was simpler.
Once inside, he saw Mr. Cantelli sitting at his desk, hands folded, staring at Adam as he walked into the room.
“Tell me exactly what happened.” Mr. Cantelli said with a no nonsense tone
Chapter Text
Adam sat down in the chair and took a long exhale, calming himself down.
“It's the cultists sir, the Cult of Pestilence. They were the culprits.” Adam said, cutting right to the end of the story.
Mr. Cantelli looked annoyed but he kept his cool and took a deep breath,
“Start from the beginning.”
“Yes sir.” Adam said, shifting a bit in his chair to sit up straight. “We began by tracing the path the caravans usually take from the pier to Midway, but in reverse. We saw no signs of anything happening so when we arrived at The Pier we began asking around if anyone knew about the missing caravans. According to the people we spoke to no one even knew the caravans were missing. Then we spoke to Madam Aquamarine.” Adam paused for a moment as he saw Mr. Cantelli aggressively roll his eyes. He seemed to have as much disdain for her as she did for him. At least it was mutual.
“Go on.” He said, not wanting Adam to stop.
“Well she told us the same thing, that as far as she knew the caravans were on schedule. She seemed equally surprised and annoyed the ‘goods’ were not arriving as scheduled. So she invited us to follow the next shipment to see if anything happened. Well for the first part of the journey there was nothing out of the ordinary however then the caravan was attacked by cultists in hiding. We managed to fight them off, killing all 8 of the ambushers, however all of Madam Aquamarine’s people died in the process. I just got back here minutes ago, you were the first person I came to.” Adam said, wrapping up the story succinctly.
Mr. Cantelli tapped his fingers on his desk while he seemed lost in thought, though he was still quite annoyed.
“Of course, it just had to be one of the horsemen.” He said aggravated. He then turned to look Adam in the eyes. “In your opinion, will this happen again?” Adam paused to consider.
“I think it's a strong possibility. I would recommend either changing up the route the caravan takes or assigning Midway guards to the route. There were not many of them and they were not too heavily armed, so simply ensuring the target is too guarded might be enough to ward off any more disruptions.” Adam offered, insightfully.
Mr. Cantelli leaned back in his chair and picked up his cigar. He lit it and then took a slow and long puff.
“I was hoping that bitch was going to give me an excuse to get rid of her. But this is a bigger problem than I had assumed. You are right, this isn’t something one outside contractor can solve, this is an administrative issue.” He ran one hand over his gross scalp. “I guess I will have to work with that woman if I want this solved properly.” He then leaned forward again and then looked at Adam.
“Well I am a man of my word.” He pulled out slips worth 3000 caps and handed them over. Consider the extra 1000 a bonus.” He grinned a bit. “And I won't forget this favor you have done for me. I haven’t forgotten my promise to you. Though I will point out you didn’t solve the issue for me, I’m not going to nitpick too much. Just don’t ask for the moon.” He chuckled and then took another hit of his cigar. Adam nodded.
“Good work, Mr. Baxter.” Adam stood up to leave but before he had Mr. Cantelli spoke up again.
“Tell me, what did you think of Madam Aquamarine?” He asked, venom dripping from his tone as he spoke her name. Adam paused to consider for a moment before he turned back around to look at Mr. Cantelli again.
“She was a snake, sir. I don’t trust her.” Adam said, diplomatically and as succinct as possible. Mr. Cantelli grinned and nodded, seemingly satisfied with Adam’s answer.
“Alright, you may go, I look forward to our future conversations.” He said as he leaned back in his chair again and motioned for the other black suited men in the room to get closer so they could discuss how to solve this issue. Adam didn’t stick around to listen, he just turned to leave.
Once outside The Guild area Adam saw Deccanus standing nearby, arms crossed, Buddy next to him.
“Is it done?” He asked, wary of the black suited men who were starting to move more actively around the area.
“Yes.” Adam said as he handed over 1500 caps to Deccanus, Deccanus took it with argument. “I think we are done…” Adam said before thought of something.
“Before we sell everything I have one more stop I need to make.” Adam said as he began to head back downstairs to make use of a service he never had assumed he would use. The couriers.
“Hello sir? How can I help you today?” A man standing behind the counter at a makeshift stall said. Behind him were mailboxes organized on top of each other, a stack of papers and pens, envelopes, and a computer terminal that was currently powered on.
“I need to send a letter, would you be able to get a letter to a specific person at The Pier?” He asked. “I have never used this service, I apologize.”
“No worries sir! We would be happy to send a letter to anyone you request! We charge extra for letters sent outside of Chicago at the moment but for any major settlement in the area we charge a single flat fee of 50 caps.” He smiled.
“Wonderful.” Adam then took one of the papers and began to write a letter, addressed to Madam Aquamarine. Once he was done he sealed it in an envelope alongside the drawing of the guard and his wife that Adam had taken from his body and addressed it to her on the outside. He then handed it over once he was all set.
“Can you please ensure that this will get to Madam Aquamarine directly? Her eyes only. You can tell her Adam Baxter sent the letter if you need a reason to meet her directly.” The man flinched a moment at the mention of Madam Aquamarine but then nodded and took the letter.
“Certainly. I can ensure no one but her will see the letter.” Adam then nodded and took out 50 caps and paid the man.
“When can you send this letter out?”
“We will have a courier sent within the next few hours, they should arrive by tomorrow. If that is acceptable.”
“Yeah, that is perfect, thank you.” Adam smiled at him.
“No, thank you sir. Pleasure working for you.”
Adam then turned to leave and got some distance away before Deccanus spoke up.
“What did you need to write down in a letter bad enough that you paid for a courier service?” He asked, confused. Adam looked around a bit, ensuring no one was listening in and then pulled Deccanus over to a quiet corner.
“I told her more or less what I told Mr. Cantelli. That the Caravans were being raided by the cult. But I also told her that I have strong suspicions that there is a mole in her organization.” Adam said conspiratorially. Deccanus looked shocked and confused.
“What led you to believe that?”
“The timing.” Adam said with a serious tone. “Do you remember what Madam Aquamarine said when she was going to let us accompany the caravan to Midway?” Deccanus didn’t answer, it was rhetorical anyway. “She said she was moving it up a day. Originally it was supposed to leave tomorrow if it was on schedule, but she changed the day when she learned something might be wrong. Of course that is a fair change to make considering her product was at stake, but that means in only 5 days the cult learned of this and set up their ambush on the correct day. If they didn’t have a mole they would have been there on the wrong day.” Deccanus remained silent as he took this all in.
“This is all supposition, of course, but I think it's all a bit too suspicious otherwise. They knew the route, the time, and even the best place to lay an ambush. It's not impossible for them to have really good scouts but it makes far more sense if there is a mole. If I’m wrong at least she was warned.” Deccanus nodded slowly.
“A bit of a leap in logic but… yes, this does make sense. It would not be hard for them to plant a spy in her ranks. The Legion used to do this all the time when the opponent needed to be scouted. It was what the frumentarii were trained for.”
“Then you agree it was worth sending a letter.” Adam grinned.
“No.” Deccanus returned with a frown of his own. “Because I do not like that woman, I am not fond of helping her.” Adam laughed and playfully slapped Deccanus on the back.
“Come on, let's sell off these items we got from the battle then get a well deserved rest. I have big plans soon that I will definitely need your help for.”
Chapter Text
Olivia was stoked to finally be getting some armor from Adam as he had never actually sold any to her. Armor was, after all, big, bulky, and heavy. Why take one body armor when you could take 3 guns? It just never mathed out right. But this time, since they were just looting the dead, it made sense to grab the guard armor.
As it turned out the cloaks the cult wore were also armored, though not as heavily as proper bullet proof armor, but the cloaks they wore were so garish it distracted from the fact that they were made of very heavy material. Similar to the guard’s coats in Naper, but more internal padding and more uniform. So he grabbed a few of them too.
Olivia was none too pleased to be buying cultist robes, but she said she would be able to bleach the fabric or outright tear it up and make something of it. After all no one would willingly wear or buy cultist robes. It would also draw suspicion to her shop as the only reason she would have the robes is if she took them from dead cultists. In either case both were happy to have made the sale.
Jay got the rest of the inventory, short blades and guns. It was quite a good haul. Between selling the armor to Olivia and guns to Jay, they got 734 caps. Split evenly that's 367 each, however the last of his haul, the chems taken from the cultists, they sold to Hobson for an additional 350 caps, 175 each. Adam now had over 7000 caps, he was rolling in money. However what he was planning to do was going to take a ton of capital. But not today, he was tired, a full day of travel, an engagement, and selling everything off he was ready for some sleep after he made one or two more stops.
“Deccanus, I think we are good for the day.” Adam said, turning to him now.
“Understood.” Deccanus said about to turn to leave before Adam stopped him.
“I’ll talk to you tomorrow or the day after, I have a big plan that I will need your help with. I mentioned this before to you, but when you know the details you can back out if you want.” Deccanus looked at Adam momentarily confused but then nodded.
“As you see fit. I shall follow your lead.” Deccanus said seriously before he then left Adam behind, likely to book his hotel again. Adam wanted to do the same so he left to book The Layover. However there was a problem.
“I’m terribly sorry sir, but we are fully booked at the moment. I apologize for the inconvenience.” The worker behind the desk said when Adam came to check in. Damn. This was annoying. Sure there were plenty of other places in Midway to stay, it had a lot of hotels, but The Layover was a perfect balance of everything he wanted. At least they confirmed for him that so long as he still has the washer/drier coins he could use the washer system anytime he wants, even if he wasn’t staying in the hotel at the moment. Which was nice.
Still this threw an immediate wrench in his plans. Of course he could go back to the Delta. It would suit his needs perfectly, if only for a night. However he was rich for the day, and even if he had plans with his money he wanted to try to spend it a little.
So with his decision made he headed to the last place he thought he would ever go. The third floor.
The guard at the top of the stairs didn’t even credit check Adam this time. Perhaps they remembered him? After all he was the only one going around in a vault suit, even if it was almost entirely covered up by the combat armor at the moment. Or perhaps Mr. Cantelli put in a good word? In either case it wouldn’t have mattered.
He began to explore the third floor with a different goal than last time. This time he was looking for a hotel to stay in, not activities to try. Though he did notice a batting cage, a single lane bowling alley, and a minigolf course up here too. All great things he would love to try sometime, but he stayed on task. His investigation led him to find 3 hotels up here, all three were sizable but varied in every other way.
First was the most fancy hotel, it had gold leaf everywhere, inlaid molding, marble looking columns, the front desk was made of faux gold, the red carpet looked as if it was made in the old world and kept pristine, and the rooms were each multiple rooms including a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a large bathroom, a master bedroom, and two guest rooms. While this all sounded amazing, for a whopping 1000 caps a night Adam was perfectly happy to skip this hotel and never look back. Though he could only question how anyone could even afford those kinds of prices. Were there really people that well off?
Regardless, the next hotel was similar, though toned down. There was no gold but the space felt very classy, the rooms were smaller compared to the last one but still had multiple rooms. However they lacked the guest bedrooms, not that Adam needed that anyway. These rooms were somewhat more affordable for only 500 caps a night but that still seemed really expensive for Adam, he was looking to live the highlife for a night not throw money in the trash.
The last hotel was definitely the youngest sibling of the three, it seemed newer than the other two, or perhaps recently refurbished. It still was very nice and posh, but not nearly as extravagant as the others. The rooms were once more smaller with a kitchen/dining room, a moderately large bathroom, and a bedroom/living room. However the price point was only 250 caps a night. Double what he would pay at the Layover but this seemed more reasonable to splurge a bit without going overboard. He even decided to go the extra mile and get a balcony suite which overlooked some of the first and second floor for an additional 50 caps. This was just the plan for tonight, tomorrow he would either get into the Layover or he would go to the Delta. He would go into the CheckInn if he had to, but right now he was going to enjoy the amenities.
After entering his room and taking his gear off he explored the room for a minute, enjoying the fact that he could cook his own food, which he was eager to try for breakfast tomorrow. It would require going to the first or second floor to buy some ingredients and then coming back but it was doable. And it made him excited for the next morning, after all he hadn’t cooked for himself once since he woke up in the vault. He had kept ordering out. Not that he particularly minded, he preferred it, but cooking for himself seemed like a luxury in a world where kitchens were relegated to those who needed them.
Buddy had, of course, been following Adam everywhere up to this point and finally he ordered Buddy to wait in the room for the time being while he focused on himself. Buddy complied without issue leaving Adam without an escort finally.
Adam then stepped out onto the balcony and, despite the later time of night, Midway was bustling with activity as always. People were moving around down below all with their own lives, destinations, and thoughts and dreams. It almost made him introspective. However he didn’t want to get too lost in thought over it. Still, it was pretty cool to see the town from this view. Without going onto the roof he was about as high as he could go. The airport was still here, but it had become home to a new civilization, a new breed of people. Would the architects and engineers who built this place be pleased to see people living out of this place? Or would they be appalled that it had been so thoroughly transformed? Well they were dead so it didn’t matter.
Once Adam had rested up for a bit he grabbed a quick to-go meal from the food court, a gyro, for 24 caps along with a nuka cola for an additional 20 and then ate it as he walked to the last place he wanted to go for the day before he could turn in. He had a friend he wanted to see.
Upon arriving at The Oasis Eve was working behind the counter, luckily, and she greeted Adam with her usual sultry tone.
‘Well hello, handsome~ How was your trip?” Adam grinned as he sat down.
“Informative.” He chuckled.
“Well I’m sorry I wasn’t here to see you off but I certainly got your message, glad to see you made it back in one piece.”
“Believe me, I am too, especially since I had one hell of a day.”
“Well I’m listening if you are in a sharing mood~”
“I am.” Adam said as he put a couple caps down on the counter for a drink, 15 to be exact. “But before that I have a question for you.” Eve tilted her head slightly, a sign her interest was piqued.
‘Well you’ve caught my attention, handsome. By all means, ask away.” Adam grinned brightly at her.
“Any chance you want to come Scaving with me?”
Chapter Text
Eve remained silent for a moment as she seemed to process the question.
“Me?” She asked after a moment, a bit surprised. “I know I’m an assaultron, handsome, but I’m just a bartender now. Besides, don't you have your own partner?” She asked, curious. Though judging by her synthesized tone she sounded interested, just feeling Adam out.
“I know, and I do.” Adam said back quickly. “But you’ve already expressed to me that you were getting tired of bartending and were itching to get back out there again.”
“That is true.” She said as her mechanical claw gently tapped her chin.
“And what I'm planning on doing, I'm going to need as many hands as possible.”
“Oh?” She said as she leaned in. “What are you planning on doing?” Adam leaned in too and then spoke more quietly, making sure no one would overhear him.
“I’m planning on raiding the Federal Ration Stockpile downtown.” Adam smirked. She leaned back, her body language telling Adam she was shocked.
“That certainly is a big plan. I’ve heard that the place is positively crawling with super mutants.” Adam nodded.
“I heard the same thing, but I also heard it hasn’t been touched in a very long time, not since the mutants moved in. Even if it was raided in the past I'm positive it will still have more than enough to make a trip worth it.”
“Even so it will take a lot of manpower to get control of the interior of the building, and even then it will take multiple trips to get everything out. I’m not sure how one extra hand would help.” She questioned, still trying to understand Adam’s plan.
“Actually it would be 7 hands, including myself.” He grinned.
“7? Well it does sound like you are putting together a little team.” She paused to think. “When would you be leaving?”
“In a few days, not tomorrow, I need at least one day to rest, and then the day after I might take the day to prepare the plan with everyone, not sure yet, especially since we need to make one extra stop before we raid it, but within a few days.”
“Well I might need to clear my schedule but I think I can swing it~”
“Awesome.” Adam smiled brightly. “To tell you the truth I had been considering asking you to join me for a while now but a lot was happening and there was never a good time. If Deccanus hadn’t asked to join I was going to see if you would.”
“Shame you didn’t ask me first~ I might’ve said yes.” She teased.
“Well I am asking now.” Adam chuckled. “Pleasure to be working with you.” Eve pulled out a bottle of wine and poured a glass for Adam worth his 15 caps.
“To new partnerships.” She grinned, raising Adam’s glass herself before passing it off.
“To new opportunities.” Adam chuckled and then took a sip of the wine. “And don’t worry, I plan to split the income fairly, though you may be surprised how few of our posse will actually need a cut, circumstances being what they are.”
“Fair enough.” She said before she leaned on the counter. “Now, tell me what you have been up to in the meantime.” Adam smiled.
“Sure, though I have to keep some of it secret, the nature of the job and all.”
“Of course.” She nodded in understanding.
“Well then, let me tell you about my trip to The Pier.”
Adam then spent the next bit giving Eve the abridged version of what he was up to while he was away. Cutting out some sensitive information that might be something the two leaders might want kept quiet, though she got some of the extra gritty details.
“Sounds like you had quite an adventure~” She said as she poured Adam his second glass of wine, him paying another 15 caps for the refill.
“Certainly. It was interesting to see how others lived, in fact, up until I left, I had only ever seen Naper and Midway. Seeing The Pier and Renaissance was quite a culture shock I tell you.”
“Oh I bet.” Eve hummed in amusement. “They live very different lives over there.”
“Actually it got me thinking about what other settlements there are out there, if there are any.”
“Oh there are.” Eve interjected quickly. “Quite a few actually.” She added casually.
“Oh?” Adam returned, interested. “Like what?” Eve paused to think for a moment.
“Well you know the four you mentioned so I won't talk about those. But there is The Highrise, an old skyscraper that was turned into a home for a former group of nomads. Not too much to say about them, I'm afraid. They live much like the people here at Midway, just all in one building. Then there’s The Raft, a collection of boats all strung together with bridges spanning a great area. At the center is a massive oil tanker that the majority of people live on. It's actually a farming community, if you believe that, fishing too, obviously, but it's quite interesting. However since Famine rolled in with the horde of ghouls it has been out of contact, reaching it by land is impossible at the moment for anyone other than ghouls and I’ve heard they pulled up their bridges from land onto their boats for safety. You can still reach it by boat but from what I heard they have stopped accepting outsiders for the time being. I don’t know the full story but it sounds like they have something going on there.” She shrugged.
“Then there’s Hell.” She said with a playful and knowing tone.
“Hell?” Adam said back, confused and surprised.
“Yes, you heard me right~ Hell.” She said with a teasing flirty tone. “It's an old subway tunnel that has been completely converted to a settlement but…” She paused as she thought of how to explain this. “It's not like any settlement anywhere else in Chicago, it's a raider den, full of the people that wouldn’t even be allowed here, in Midway.”
“So a wretched hive of scum and villainy?” Adam said with a joking tone as he sipped at his wine again.
“More or less to the point.~” She let out a soft mechanical laugh. “Anyway it's not the kind of place you would want to visit, the only reason it exists is to give a place for the raiders in the wastes a place to offload their stolen goods and meet like minded fellows. It's dangerous even for me. Not that it would be a problem, but the best way to avoid getting hurt in a place like that is to simply not go.” Adam nodded in understanding.
“Then there is The Dukedom.” She continued. “However, it's gone now, so I’ve heard. Ever since those Pestilence freaks moved into the area the Dukedom fell to them and now serves as their HQ. No one goes in or out from that area without being a cult member, so who knows if the old Duke is even still alive.” She paused again thinking of more places.
“Then there’s Camelot, you know, like from Arthurian Legend?” She said with an amused and sarcastic tone.
“Base for the knights, I’d imagine.”
“Exactly~ Well anyway it's not very big and mostly serves as a base for them, but everyone knows about it so it was worth mentioning.” She shrugged. “And there are even more, I bet. But I'm not as well traveled as I used to be, I only learn what people say within the bar. I suppose that's one of the reasons I accepted your offer to go with you. I’m desperate for some action~.” She said with a flirty tone, despite talking about combat. Adam just chuckled.
“Well I’m glad I have the opportunity to bring you along.” Adam grinned. She let out another soft laugh.
“Well just know there are more settlements, certainly, but I believe that is most of the notable ones. Any others would either be very new or no bigger than Naper, Chicago is a big place after all, no way to know exactly how many rats are hiding~” She said with an almost menacing tone when speaking about the random people who might be scattered throughout the ruins of Chicago. But Adam chose to pay it no mind.
“You are a veritable well of information, you know that?” Adam smiled.
“Being a bartender has its perks~” She hummed. She then leaned in and placed a metal claw prong softly on Adam’s hand that was resting on the counter. “Now, let me tell you exactly where I live so you can come over anytime your little heart desires~ Whether you want to grab me for your little group meeting before the journey or you are looking for some fun~” She said with the flirtiest tone she had used the entire night.
Chapter Text
Adam finished up his conversation with Eve and then turned in for the night. It was late, he was tired, and ready for sleep, but he wanted to meet Eve before the night was over. That done he had nothing left stopping him from heading back to his room.
Adam showered, enjoying the multiple shower heads in his fancy bathroom and then turned in for the night on his luxurious bed. Honestly this was the fanciest hotel Adam had ever stayed in, even before he woke up in the vault. He slept extraordinarily well that night.
The next day Adam woke up and immediately went to the market. He promised himself he would cook his own food for breakfast so that was exactly what he would do. Finding all the ingredients was not as easy as he had hoped, there was no singular ‘one stop shop’ for the things he needed like he had hoped, despite how common the ingredients he was getting were. The extra time, however, allowed him to reconfirm that the expensive part of his plan was still available, however.
Eventually he made it back to his room and put all his ingredients on the counter, ready to make pancakes, eggs, and bacon. The interesting part of buying all the ingredients was that the food was all sold in individually priced small amounts. Eggs were sold individually, flour was scooped into bags at the customer’s behest and then weighed, the same went for milk, and everything else he needed was more or less like that. It took longer than if he could buy a package of flour off a grocery shelf but it meant he was likely to have no leftovers, which was perfect. All in all it cost him only 10 caps to buy the ingredients.
Adam cooked and ate his breakfast with gusto, enjoying himself thoroughly. He may have cooked one too many pancakes so he was feeling stuffed. So he decided to lay down on his luxurious bed for a bit, after all he had a few more hours before he had to vacate the hotel.
Once Adam was feeling better he got up. He brewed himself a cup of complimentary coffee and then stood on the balcony while watching the people moving around below. By the time his coffee was done it was time to leave his little taste of luxury so he grabbed his things, including Buddy, and checked out of the room, heading back to the Layover.
Luckily this time they had rooms available so Adam booked the hotel for 2 nights like usual and paid 250 caps. Once his stuff was once more tucked away into the room along with Buddy once more he set out to head to ghoul town, to see if Salvatore was back in town yet.
“Hey kid, been busy without me?” Salvatore said with a grin as he sat at his usual place at Claire’s bar when he walked in.
“Sure have, you missed all kinds of fun.” Adam chuckled as he sat down next to him.
“Ah, welcome back Adam.” Claire said pleasantly as she walked over. “Can I get you anything?”
“Sure. I’ll take some light lunch food right now if you got it, like a sandwich or something?”
“Sure thing!” Claire said as she walked over to start making a sandwich for Adam. Adam then turned back to Salvatore.
“What about you? How was your trip?” Salvatore then frowned.
“Bad.” He admitted with a sigh. “Things are getting rough out there kid.”
“What do you mean?” Adam returned, confused.
“The Horsemen.” Salvatore shook his head and took a big swig of his drink. “It's getting worse on the extremities.”
“What did you see?” Adam said, leaning in a bit.
“There are more ferals than ever in the East, its damn near a fuckin’ wall over there, and I saw at least two battles between Pestilence and War, things seem to be getting worse.”
“Damn.” Adam said with some hesitancy. He then paused and decided to shift the topic. “Well I do have a new job for us if you are interested.”
“Sure, it probably beats what I just did.” Adam learned in close and kept his voice to a whisper.
“I’m going to raid the Federal Ration Stockpile.” Adam grinned. Salvatore frowned again.
“You are crazy.” He said casually as he took another drink.
“No no hear me out, I’m putting together a team for it, it wouldn’t just be me and you besides the loot from there would be more than worth it.”
“Yeah it would if the place wasn’t covered in super mutants.”
“I get what you are worried about, but trust me I got some reliable back up.” Salvatore sighed.
“Figured you traveling alone again without me might’ve set you right; stop trying crazy things. Guess that was wishful thinking.” Adam chuckled.
“Well no, in fact I have done crazier since you left. But besides that I wasn’t alone.”
“Oh?” Salvatore said as he turned to look at him. “You found yourself another lackey?” He grinned. “Who did you buy out this time? Someone not as handsome as me, I bet.” He grinned, playfully.
“Actually It was Deccanus, the Legionnaire.” Adam corrected with a smile. “And I didn’t hire him, he asked to join me. Wanted to ‘try to use me as an example of how to live his life’ or something.” Adam shrugged.
“Wow, free labor huh? Must’ve been nice.” Salvatore teased as he went back to his drink. Adam laughed softly.
“Trust me it wasn’t free, I split everything with him. In the long run it was more expensive to travel with him, I think. At least with you I paid you once and that's it.” Adam chuckled.
“Anyway.” Adam continued. “Are you down to at least hear out my ‘crazy idea’ about how we are going to tackle this?” Salvatore threw his hands up in an ‘I give up’ sort of motion.
“Sure, you hired me, I ain’t got the right to say no to anything other than suicide missions. I’ll bite.”
“Good.” Adam smiled and patted Salvatore on the back. Claire walked over and gave Adam his sandwich.
“Here you go, honey. I hope you enjoy.”
“I’m sure I will.” He said with a smile back to her before she turned and left again. Adam then turned to Salvatore once more.
“Now.” He began slowly. “Let me catch you up on what I’ve been up to since you have been gone. I think you will see it's been anything but normal.”
Chapter Text
Adam spent the next good chunk of time telling Salvatore about his adventures since he had been gone. Starting with the Vault full of horrible monsters and ending with his recent trip to The Pier. Unlike Eve, Salvatore got the unabridged version. It's not that he didn’t trust Eve, but Salvatore was his partner. If Eve stuck around he would gladly share all his secrets with her, but Salvatore was already in it with Adam. This meant that if Mr. Cantelli called Adam for more work, even if he would prefer not to, Salvatore would probably do it with him.
Needless to say Salvatore was none too pleased with Adam doing work for The Guild. However surprisingly he was unbothered by Adam doing work for Madam Aquamarine. Even his decision to deliver the chems was met with a casual shrug. As far as Salvatore saw it, drugs would circulate even if he killed her, someone would fill the gap, who and what are inconsequential. He didn’t have any moral dilemma about it.
Regardless, after he finished up telling his story Salvatore returned with his own. It was a much less exciting story than Adam’s mostly about a lot of walking. But it was not without its dangers. Apparently the job was not worth the caps he was paid.
“Frankly I'm beginning to think I make more money with you, whatever sort of amount you throw my way than I do with these random assholes who don’t even have a good route planned.” Adam laughed.
“Yeah, Scaving is exceptionally lucrative.”
“Nah, you are just crazy and lucky.” Salvatore grinned. Adam nodded.
“Fair.” Adam chuckled. “I’ve begun to understand that I may be the exception to the Scaver rules. Few are as good as me, I understand.”
“That’s ‘cause guys with your skills would instead either find stable work as a guard in a town like Midway or with The Guild, god forbid, or a mercenary like me. Why throw yourself in danger when you can find stable work?”
“That’s half the fun though.” Adam said with a teasing grin.
“Hence the crazy.” Salvatore said, a smirk of his own. “Well everyone is crazy nowadays, guess we just pick and choose what kinds we are okay with.”
“Anyway it's good to have you back, Salvatore.” Adam smiled and ate the last bits of his sandwich.
“It’s good to be back, kid.”
Adam left the bar shortly after, paying 12 caps for the sandwich, and headed back into Midway proper. Once inside he walked through the flea market, making some deals until he was noticed by Ms. Watson again.
“Oh! Adam!” She called out with a smile as she saw him wandering the stalls.
“Oh, hi Mary.” Adam smiled. “How have you been?”
“Wonderful, actually.” She smiled back, tucking some hair behind her ear as she did. “I wanted to thank you for what you did, showing up for the children last minute like that, but when I went to find out where you were I heard that you had left for a while.”
“Ah yes, I’m sorry, I stopped at The Pier for work.” She laughed softly.
“That’s okay, I just realized I never got a chance to properly thank you for your help. So as late as it is, thank you, Mr. Baxter.” Adam chuckled.
“Anytime.” He smiled. “If you ever need me again I wouldn’t mind helping out. I am an… expert in the old world too if you ever need someone to come and give a seminar about that.” Adam said jokingly with a laugh.
“Oh! That actually sounds like a wonderful idea!” Ms. Watson said, which surprised Adam.
“There is a lot of information that is hard to come by for the old world, of course other classes have to take priority but knowing how we got here is important too. If I need help on the subject I will surely call upon you!” She smiled brightly.
“Oh! Well sure, let me know. I may not be around Midway as much as I used to be, but if you ever snag me I would gladly help out.”
“Wonderful.” She said back. “I won’t take any more time out of your day, Mr. Baxter, I just wanted to thank you again. I hope you have a fantastic day.”
“You too Mary.”
After she walked away Adam resumed what he was doing and continued walking around the flea market. Once he was done he then decided to head to the third floor to try out one of the interesting activities he noticed yesterday. All three sounded fun, but knowing the third floor it was probably going to be expensive, he had to watch his money now, but if the raid on the building was going to be as lucrative as he thought it would make him enough money to not have to worry about it.
Eventually he settled on the batting cage. It cost 100 caps for 1 hour, the same price as the movie theater. Honestly, for an hour, while 100 caps was pricey, it wasn’t too much of a ripoff. Either way Adam paid his fare and stepped into the batting cage all geared up for play. Adam quickly realized that if Baseball was still a sport he would be in the MBA.
Adam’s enhanced clone body not only had superior strength which naturally allowed him to hit the balls far harder than one would expect, but it also increased his hand eye-coordination and visual acuity far more than he had realized up until now. He did not miss a single ball except for the first one the entire hour he was playing. The only reason he even missed the first one was because he was not ready for the ball yet as much as he thought he was.
By the time Adam was done, he was convinced that despite the circumstances of his birth this body truly was a blessing. He was not even the slightest bit tired either, though he was aware of how well his body could handle exertion so this was not a surprise. Still this really helped him grow an appreciation for how, despite the immoral actions of the scientists, they truly did create a superior body. For that he was thankful.
After he got finished in the batting cage he explored Midway a bit more, and then had dinner for the night. This time he tried a new restaurant, one that was sitting on the tarmac in the back near one of the old employee entrances. The food proved to be quite good, and cheap too, it was honestly quite surprising since this place was so out of the way, but maybe that was why. In either case after paying 34 for his meal he headed back to the layover to turn in for the night. It was a bit early by now but he had things he wanted to do tomorrow so waking up early was better.
Chapter Text
Adam woke up the next day and got himself ready quickly. He headed to the food court, grabbed breakfast for 38 caps, and then headed down to the flea market for a bit before deciding it was time to gather people together.
Adam’s first stop was Deccanus, who was available for Adam like usual at the drop of a hat. Then he went to see Salvatore who was groggy but was available for a chat, lastly he stopped at Eve’s place, a quaint home on the second floor in a more residential area of the city.
Eve, being a robot, didn’t need to sleep so she was already up and about when Adam came. She greeted him at the door and Adam only got a glimpse of what was inside but he saw a lot of color inside.
“Well handsome~ What did I do to be so blessed to have you at my door this morning?” She said with a flirty tone.
“You agreed to do something incredibly dangerous and stupid with me.” Adam grinned, playfully.
“That I did. Is it time for this little meeting of yours?”
“Yes, I already told the others, can you meet me in Ghoul Town in an hour? We need to get to an Inn called the Golden Gecko.”
“Sure can, handsome~” She said back flirty as ever. “I will be there.” Adam nodded and then turned to leave to head back to his room once more. He grabbed Buddy and took him outside as he headed to Ghoul Town. An hour later everyone was gathered. They were using Salvatore’s rented room in the Inn as a meeting room for the moment, deciding to keep the contents of what they were about to do a secret from prying eyes and ears. Salvatore grumbled at having so many people in his room but didn’t complain much more than that.
The room itself felt like a nice rustic hotel, the bedding had a colorful quilt on it, everything looked clean, and the room had almost all wooden furniture. It didn’t look the way the Inn in Naper did where Salvatore practically lived, this place was clearly a normal Inn room that Claire gave to Salvatore when he was in town. But Adam wasn’t here to pry or to investigate Claire’s choice in decor, he was here to work.
“Thanks for coming, everyone.” Adam said with a smile as everyone took a seat somewhere in the room, minus Buddy, who was standing in the corner, and Eve who simply chose not to sit and instead remained standing next to the wall closest to Adam. “I already explained to the two of you what my plan is.” He said, gesturing to Eve and Salvatore. “But I want to fill you in on it too.” He said to Deccanus.
“In addition there are a lot more steps than simply what I told you. But let's start at the beginning. Our plan is to raid the Federal Ration stockpile.” He said with certainty. Deccanus raised an eyebrow but said nothing and none of the others spoke up, not that Buddy would but he certainly didn’t add anything now.
“I thought you were supposed to have 7 hands for this mission? This seems quite a few short of that lofty number~” Eve said with a teasing tone.
“So that is where the first part of my plan comes into play and how I plan to take as much stuff from the stockpile as I can.” Adam let off a soft breath and then looked at the room. “I am going to return to my Safehouse and fix up the APC, making it functional again.” There was a look of surprise on Salvatore’s face and non-recognition from the other two, not that Eve had expressions but her body language showed she had no clue what Adam was talking about.
“You really think you can do that kid?” Salvatore asked, skeptically.
“Yes.” Adam said assuredly. “I already have spent time in the Flea Market making deals with every vendor I needed to and securing everything I need to make the thing run again, batteries and tires being the two most important things. I spent damn near all my caps, but I think it will be worth it.”
“And you can just… make it run again?” Eve asked, uncertain.
“I'm confident.” Adam said back.
“Wait kid, how much did you spend to get this thing running?” Salvatore asked, skeptically.
“6250 caps, give or take the few extra caps I threw in as tips for the help. Im down to 91 caps.” Adam laughed. Salvatore just shook his head.
“That’s a lot of caps to burn if it doesn’t work.”
“It will, trust me.” Adam said confidently.
“I am still curious where your other helpers come in. We only have 4 here.” Salvatore said.
“5.” Adam corrected as he gestured to Buddy. “But you are right, there are only 5 here, the other two we will be picking up from the safehouse where the APC is.”
“You mean that robot?” Salvatore asked.
“There’s two there now, assuming Rae listened to what I asked them to do.”
“Jesus kid, this team is more robot than man.” Salvatore chuckled.
“You got a problem with robots, ghoul?” Eve shot back, sounding almost offended.
“Not at all.” Salvatore grinned at her, menacingly, almost challenging her to try something. “I just aint ever met a robot that can shoot a damn.”
“I think you will find that when it comes time to fight I can out shoot anyone.” Eve said back, turning to look at Salvatore fully now. “If it was 200 years ago I would still have perfect accuracy. They just don’t make the precision machine parts I’d need to repair myself like they used to.”
“Sure sure, just make sure you don’t slow us down.” Salvatore grinned, once more challenging Eve to try something.
“Alright knock it off you two.” Adam said putting a stop to this before it went further. “If you two want you can have a competition about who puts in more work in the mission, but let's not fight, we have to work together.” The two of them then turn away from each other, disengaging from the conversation, Salvatore almost pouting, but in a manly way. So he was brooding. Regardless it was Deccanus’s turn to speak up.
"I too am not fond of… having so many mechanical men working with us, however if you say it is smart I shall follow your lead.” Deccanus said, voicing his concerns but not pushing forward. Eve looked at him but said nothing, leaving it alone.
“Trust me, it will work out. Anyway at the safehouse is a robobrain named Rae and a new protectron. Though I'll be honest it's a construction model, it's not built for combat, it will just be there to help out with transport.”
“So that's the plan then? We get the APC running, head to the stockpile, slaughter the mutants inside, then return with a car full of loot?” Salvatore asked, Adam just shrugged.
“In a nutshell, but honestly there is one more step to my plan after that…” Adam paused, steeling himself for his decision. “I have been thinking about this a lot recently, I can’t keep living day to day at a hotel, it's not sustainable, I’d like to have a home. I weighed all the pros and cons, , even asking Eve about other settlements, and came to one conclusion that I think I will be following through on…” Adam paused again and then gestured with his thumb to the gold number on his vault suit.
“Vault 42. I’m going back. I’m planning to make it my permanent home.” He said with a resolved tone. “And the reason I’m telling you all this is because I wanted to invite each one of you to live in the vault if you want. Whether full time or part time, I wanted to offer you all a room.” Adam then chuckled and added:
“Honestly living in that place alone would be a bit much for me…” He smiled embarrassed.
The three all looked at each other for a moment and then back at Adam.
“I am not… very comfortable with Vaults…” Deccanus said hesitantly.
“I promise this one is much better than the one we were in last, It just needs some work.” Deccanus nodded slowly.
"I will trust you, though please excuse me if I reserve my judgments until I see it.” Adam nodded and then looked at Eve.
“I’m not sure. This is very sudden.” She put a claw to her face. “I mean we are not even married yet and you are already asking to live together~” She said, flirting and teasing now. “I will need some time to think it over, I don't live out of a hotel, I have a home in Midway, but I will think over your offer and at least see your vault before I decide.” Adam nodded at her and then turned to Salvatore.
“Sure.” Salvatore said with a shrug.
“Just like that?” Adam asked with a soft laugh.
“Yeah, just like that.” he grinned. “I move around a lot though, as you know, so I won't be there all the time, but I ain’t going to say no to another free home, a room in a vault? Hell yeah, I’m in.” He grinned. Adam laughed a bit and then shrugged.
“Well you two can think about it all you need, I just wanted to let you know my plan. I’m not done with Midway, I will be back here frequently to offload goods, I just decided that I needed a base of operations, and since the Vault is moderately close to Midway, still close to the heart of the city, and well secured it seemed like a good place to live. Besides…” Adam paused as he looked at his hand. “There are still more answers about myself that might be revealed in the logs in the Vault. One way or the other I want to put this question of who I am to bed. I know what I am, I just want the final bits of closure.” Eve nodded.
“Well I can understand that~”
“Suit yourself kid.” Salvatore said with a single chuckle.
“Alright so then we are agreed? I go fix the APC, then go to the FRS and then return to Midway to offload before heading to the vault? Or those that want to come anyway?” Adam said, confirming the details of the plan. There were nods throughout the room and Adam smiled.
“Alright, awesome. Now, let's talk about how we plan to tackle the super mutants.”
Chapter Text
After the meeting was over Adam returned Buddy his room set and ready to shove off tomorrow, but he had a day to kill and it gave him a good opportunity to place a few orders. So he went to the one man who could procure the things he needed, Jay.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite Scaver! How ya doing Adam?” Jay said with a big smile as Adam walked into his shop.
“Good! How you doing Jay?” Adam smiled back.
“I’m doing just dandy. Now, what can I do for you today?”
“I have a request, a unique one so I’m not sure if you can help.”
“Well I can certainly try, I'll promise you that much.” Jay laughed softly.
“I need to buy 105mm and 76mm rounds.” Adam said bluntly. Jay stopped laughing and then blinked.
“What do you need such big ammo for? You hiding a tank or something?”
“An APC, actually. Or IFV if you prefer.” Adam shrugged nonchalantly, enjoying the shock on Jay's face.
“Well, now that is surprising.” Jay laughed a bit in shock.
“Yeah, it still needs some work but barring anything unexpected, I should have it fixed up and ready by the time I return to Midway soon.”
“Well I got good news and bad news, which do you want first?”
“Uh, I’ll take the bad news.” Adam said uncertain.
“Bad news is I don’t got any artillery shells just laying around my shop. Even if I wanted to sell them to you, which I do, I can’t, that's not the sort of thing I stock.” Adam nodded.
“And the good news?”
“The good news is I can get it in for you, it might take some time but ‘ol Jay has plenty of connections, I can get you what you need no matter what it is.” He grinned while pointing a thumb at himself.
“Well good to know I got a reliable supplier.” Adam chuckled.
“Yessir. Do you have a deadline on when you need these by?” Adam shook his head.
“No, I’m also broke at this exact moment so I would need time to earn the capital, but I’m sure having some rounds down the line would be a big help.”
“Well I can understand that.” Jay laughs. “I’ll keep you up-to-date then. I’ll pull some strings and ask around about suppliers, but just know that each round isn’t going to be cheap, transport costs alone are expensive.” Adam nodded.
“Thanks Jay.”
“No problem.”
Adam then left the shop, he did have other things he wanted to buy from Jay, other weapons he would like. He was starting to think long term now, his ideal kit, his ideal loadout, his ideal living conditions, but he had limitations on what he could achieve right now so setting his sights on one thing at a time seemed best.
Honestly Adam was now too ready for tomorrow. He still had a chunk of the day left over and not much money left to spend. With less than 100 caps he had enough for meals and not much else. So he needed to be thrifty.
Adam went back to the bookshop from before and bought a new book, this one about a future where humanity travels the stars in a vessel called the Enterprise, for only 20 caps. It was a worthwhile investment in his eyes. Then, with his new book in hand, he returned to his room in the Layover and stayed there until it was time for dinner. Another 35 caps later and the rest of the day was spent reading.
The next day came slowly. Adam headed to get food from the food court and spent 32 caps. He now had 14 caps to his name. If this didn’t work out Adam was going to have to work extra hard to make up for his losses. It certainly was a bit of a gamble but it was more than worth it if everything worked out.
As much as he did act confident to his team when he gathered them, truthfully he was not certain he could fix up the APC. He was definitely sure it could be done, but he was not certain he had everything he needed. However he had prepared as much as he could. If nothing else he could get it working enough to drive it back to Midway to park it there. Though then he would need to keep someone guarding it since the people of Midway might strip it for parts. Thoughts for later, he needed to stay positive.
He grabbed all his gear and Buddy from his room and then set out to the front gate to meet the others. There he saw his team, Eve, Salvatore, Deccanus, Buddy, and Roy.
“Who is this guy?” Salvatore said pointing to Roy, the random stranger who showed up to their meeting point with two brahmin in tow.
“This is Roy, a brahmin driver. He is here because I physically can not transport 6 tires and a giant battery without help, not even talking about everything else. So I paid him to act as the transport.”
“Howdy folks.” Roy said with a smile. Deccanus nodded and Salvatore shrugged.
“Alright, whatever.” Salvatore said, now completely disengaging with the conversation.
Adam had considered the pros and cons of bringing a professional brahmin driver along with them. He was confident that Deccanus would be able to herd the Brahmin easily enough, however his plan was to take the APC right from the safehouse to the Federal Ration Stockpile. So someone would need to return the Brahmin to Midway. It cost a bit more to hire Roy but it would be easier for Adam to handle the logistics.
Of course bringing a man he didn’t trust to his safehouse was not the best idea but Roy was only there to transport everything, once he dropped everything off outside he would return to the city. He would never once step foot in the building. In addition Adam paid him extra for his discretion, heavily implying that the secret was the APC itself. However that was just a misdirection to take his attention away from the building. If nothing else, it was one man and a safehouse that Adam had ever yet to use. Even if this somehow became public knowledge it was a heavily armed building with nothing of value inside. Adam was not worried. This was a carefully thought out plan. Of course one can never plan for everything.
The group then got underway, heading down the path for the 3 hour trip to get to the safehouse. The trip itself was entirely uneventful, nothing attacked them, there were no obstacles, no run-ins with unsavory types, just a boring long walk.
Eve and Roy seemed to be the talkative ones in the group, Adam chiming in occasionally with banter of his own. Salvatore talked when spoken too but didn’t speak up on his own accord, and Deccanus seemed to be mildly uncomfortable at the moment and was keeping mostly to himself. It seemed there were some growing pains the group needed to go through before they all worked well together, but that was fine, they had time.
After walking for a while they arrive at the brewery and, more importantly, in front of the APC, untouched, just as Adam left it. It was time to work.
Chapter Text
“Right, well it's time for me to take off.” Roy said as he unloaded the last of the stuff off the brahmin.
“Thanks for your help, Roy.” Adam smiled at him.
“No problem at all, I am always happy to have some work.” He grinned. “You all have a great day you hear.” Roy said as he took the reins of the brahmin and then turned them to leave.
“Okay, now that the chaff is gone, we can go inside right?” Salvatore said once Roy had cleared out.
“Yeah, let me go inside, let Rae know we have guests, and temporarily adjust the Sentries.” Adam said as he walked indoors, once he was on the main floor he saw Rae patrolling around like normal.
“Sergeant!” Rae said excitedly as they rolled over to Adam upon seeing him. “How pleasant to see you again! And here Rae was worried that you might have gone away like all of Rae’s other friends.” Rae said with a chipper tone despite the sad words.
“Not at all Rae.” Adam chuckled. “I brought some friends so can you update the sentry system to allow them to walk the place freely?”
“Of course!” Rae said with a chipper tone. “In addition the guest you sent here has been properly stored away.” Rae’s words were a bit confusing but Adam just nodded.
“Where is the protectron I sent?”
“Upstairs! I will lead you to them.” Rae said before beginning to roll away leading Adam upstairs.
He followed all the way upstairs until they got to the officer’s barracks where he had stayed last time, however Rae did not lead him to a room instead they led him to a closet that was locked from the outside.
“In here?’ Adam asked, confused.
“Yes sir!” Rae replied enthusiastically before Adam opened the door and found the construction protectron locked inside the closet that was just about its size.
“Why is it in the closet?” Adam asked, confused.
“You told me to let anyone who had the password inside and to keep them here until you came to retrieve them! I determined that the best way to ensure they remain put until you arrive was to put them in here where they can not escape.” Rae replied happily, as if they didn’t just say something super dark. Thank goodness Adam didn’t send a human here, they might’ve died.
Adam turned to look at Rae, observing them. What went wrong? Usually a command like this with robots was interpreted very straightforward, it would have taken the path of least resistance, bringing the person inside and giving them access through the sentries but then ignoring them for the most part until he arrived. This was proactive. It was far outside his expectations. Was Rae damaged? Was there something strange in the coding?
No, the answer was clear, the brain was what caused the miscommunication. The brain inferred what he meant and acted on its own, thus creating a strange situation. He would need to be more careful with Rae going forward to avoid any more miscommunications. The good news is, at least, it was a robot and thus no harm done.
“Well um, very good Rae, but next time don’t lock them up in a closet, the guests are meant to have a comfortable place to stay while they wait. And if, for whatever reason, they want to leave, they should be allowed to as needed. I just wanted you to ensure they could come and go freely and keep them safe here until I arrived.” Adam said, choosing to inform, not scold, Rae for their actions.
“I understand sir! I shall ensure it does not happen again!” Adam nodded.
“Alright, well come back downstairs with me so you can update the system to include our new friends.” He then paused and looked at the protectron. “You too, follow me.” He ordered.
“Of course sir!” Rae chimed happily. Adam had spent so much time, the last time he was here, ensuring both himself and Salvatore’s profiles were inputted into the sentry system. It was tedious and long work. However he had learned while rooting through Rae’s code that they could also do the same thing in a faster, more autonomous way by using Rae as a visual scanner. In other words he had wasted his time. But he had chosen to not think about that. Instead he chose to think he was just being thorough. This time he was going to take the fast way.
Adam led Rae and the construction protectron outside to meet with the group who was waiting outside.
“Hello everyone! The sergeant informed me you are also guests here at the 11th company's temporary headquarters!” Rae said, energetic as always.
“Oh~ Hello there little robobrain.” Eve said with a pleasant tone as she turned to look at Rae.
“Hello! Are you also now assigned to the 11th company like me, Ms. Assaultron?” Rae asked innocently. Eve put her claws on her hips and considered for a moment.
“Um… no I’m…” She looked at Adam and then back at Rae. “Something on an independent mission at the moment.” She said, picking up the subtext quickly. “Though I hear we will be working together for a bit so it's always nice to meet a fellow robot~” Eve said pleasantly.
“Same ma’am!” Rae said back. “Are you also going to be joining me in my patrols of the location?” Eve looked at Adam.
“Did you not tell it?” She asked.
“I hadn’t gotten to it yet.” Adam shrugged and then turned to Rae.
“Actually we will be deploying to the field soon. I will need your help in busting into an enemy stronghold, so that is why I have brought everyone here.”
“I understand! Rae is excited to deploy on a mission with Adam!” They said as they spun around playfully.
“One of my friends can fill you in on the details but for now I need to work on our transport, the APC here. If you don't mind getting them all into the system and then showing them to the sleeping quarters? I’ll be out here for a while.”
“I can certainly do that, sergeant!” Rae then rolled up to Buddy and spoke to him.
“Are you here to help us as well, Mr. Robot?” Rae asked innocently.
“Query not recognized, please restate question.” Buddy said back mechanically.
“Oh don’t mind Buddy, he’s not as sophisticated as You or Eve here.”
“I understand! Mr. Sentry was not great at conversation either but we were great friends until he died. I’m sure me and Buddy will become the bestest of friends too!” Adam chuckled and then turned to the group.
“Once Rae has you in the system you can walk the place as much as you want, feel free to explore. Do be a bit careful, there used to be a minefield in the back, I’m pretty sure I removed them all, minus one that seemed to be completely dead, but I can’t say with absolute certainty that this is true, so just be careful. It will probably take me a while to get this all fixed up. I’m going to keep Buddy and uh… Buddy two out here.” Adam said as he gestured to the construction model. “They can help me a bit but the rest is just going to be a lot of work on my part, so get comfortable, we might even be here overnight. There are still MREs in the crate upstairs if you are hungry.” Salvatore shouldered his rifle, smoking a cigarette as he did.
“I’m going to do a patrol around the area, make sure we are clear and all that, not much in the mood to sit still right now.” Salvatore said casually.
“I… would rather remain out here, if that is not a bother.” Deccanus responded as he slowly took a seat on the roadside curb.
“Well I would love a look at this place~” Eve said with a teasing tone at the other two. “Lead the way little Rae~” She said to the robobrain, seeming to have already gotten an affinity for them.
“Absolutely! I shall show you the entire building! The grand tour!” Rae said excitedly as they began to roll inside, Eve in tow. Salvatore walked off to kill some time by running security around the area and Deccanus stayed put, just watching Adam.
“Alright.” Adam said as he began to open the boxes full of stuff he thought he might need to fix up the APC. “Let's get to work.” He said with a determined tone to no one in particular.
Chapter Text
The work was pretty backbreaking. Tires all needed to be swapped out, which was simple work but the tires were not everyday car tires, they were sturdy military tires meant to resist small arms fire, thus they were heavy and had way more studs to tighten. Luckily with the help of the two protectrons a lot of the heavy lifting was out of his hands.
Then came the battery. The door separating the back troop transport and the driver’s section opened electronically, and since the battery was dead, it was practically sealed shut. It could have been muscled open, after all there was a failsafe for that very reason, but it, itself, was in poor shape so the smarter idea was simply to bring the heavy ass battery in through the port on the top.
This was not easy, the protectrons lacked the ability to climb up the APC to carry the battery and it was too heavy and unwieldy for Adam to carry alone. Ultimately he asked for Deccanus’ help who was still just sitting on the side watching. With effort the two got it inside and Adam then got onto the difficult part.
It took Adam all day to get everything set up. New dials to replace the ones that didn’t work, new parts for the broken ones, new wiring where it was needed, new headlights, everything.
By the time night was hitting Adam was finally ready to do his first test. Everyone gathered up outside after a day of amusing themselves to see if Adam succeeded.
“Alright, moment of truth.” Adam said from inside the cockpit as he got ready to hit the ignition.
He pushed the button and, for a moment, his heart sank. There was no response from the APC, he momentarily began to freak out wondering what he had done wrong, after all it was his first time fixing up an APC it would make sense for him to mess up somewhere, but no response at all was a bad sign.
However then the lights in the cabin began to flicker on, then the dashboard backlights, then the engine, then the headlights. It worked.
Adam cheered from inside the cockpit as he revved the engine a bit, testing it out. It purred just like it should. Of course, being an electric vehicle it was quieter than the nuclear powered and fuel powered ones, but it still had some nice feedback when he stepped on the gas. Which, now that he was this far, it was time to take it for a test drive.
Adam stepped on the accelerator and the APC began to move smoothly down the cracked and destroyed road, the newly installed shocks doing their job as he slowly, but effectively, moved further from the safehouse leaving his friends behind.
Adam then decided to push the limits and see how well this thing handled. So he stepped on the accelerator and gunned it down a straight path. The APC responded perfectly. It was smooth, it was responsive, and most importantly, it worked. He had done it! He had himself a military APC now! His efforts were not for naught!
He even tested the weapon controls from the cockpit and found that they worked too. They needed to be oiled more, maybe cleaned up a bit but the servos were all working and he had even found a few rounds for each gun in the car stashed away in the cockpit near the loading mechanism. Of course he didn’t fire it off, but having 3 rounds of 105mm and 10 rounds of 78mm was a great start to keeping this vehicle stocked with ammo. He would need a dedicated gunner in the cockpit with him if he wanted to use the guns however. Otherwise he would have to stop the APC, climb over the center console into the gunner seat and then fire as he pleased, leaving the APC unmoving. It was not a perfect system. However he could worry about that later. For now his test run was over.
Adam drove back to the safehouse shortly after and climbed out of the cockpit, he was all smiles. Salvatore gave him a light round of applause.
“Well done kid, i knew you were good, but you just out did yourself.” He said with a grin.
“Been a long time since I’ve seen one of these up and running~” Eve said with a playful tone as she gently touched the chassis of the APC.
“I… have seen these wrecks throughout the wasteland before… I did not know these beasts were meant to move. I thought they were shelter.” Deccanus said, partly astounded.
“Yay! Good work, Sergeant!" Rae said happily, cheering on Adam.
Adam gently patted the chassis himself, still smiling.
“It took, literally all day, but the thing is working, and, as far as I can tell, the battery has more than enough juice that I don’t need to worry about it for a while. I will need replacements in the future but this puppy is ready for action.” He grinned and then walked around to the back and opened up the ramp leading inside the troop compartment now that it was powered. Lights in the back flickered on as he stepped inside. It was spacious, just like he remembered. Well, he remembered it being cramped as hell, it was meant to house 6 soldiers in combat armor and 2 in power armor, but they usually tried to cram in 2 extra soldiers if they could, and that's not to include all the extra stuff they brought with them inside. However, for his needs, it was perfect, this was more than enough space to make any trips out into the world easy to bring back. He could even start to bring back the large finds that he had left behind due to them being way too big now. If only he had this thing when he was raiding Second Life… but that was wishful thinking.
He lifted up the bench seating in the back to reveal the storage compartment underneath. It was thin, designed to mostly just hold MREs and ammo boxes, but even this gave him more storage space. Hell, if he threw a mattress in the back he could practically live out of this thing. Though that was not what he had in mind. Unfortunately both storages were empty but he didn’t expect anything to be inside anyway.
Then he ran his hand along the inside of the walls, running them over the port shields that could be opened to allow the soldiers in the back to both see out and fire out from inside the vehicle if needed. One might consider it a weakness in the armor, but the plates themselves were each 3 inches thick, and there was one on the inside and outside. Honestly, if something was strong enough to punch through both port shields then it would have punctured the normal APC Armor. Adam had never once seen the port shield’s punctured in all his time serving. Especially now, this was only beneficial since the likelihood of higher powered weapons had dropped significantly.
He still had some eventual work to do, anti-theft systems being chiefly among them, after all a padlock on the exterior was not enough to stop a determined thief. For the moment he did take the time to install a key switch that would allow the ignition button to work, but it was not the best work he had ever put out nor was it a permanent solution. Honestly, by the time he was installing the key, he just wanted to be done, so he might have rushed a bit. It's probably for the best someone stay with the vehicle at all times when parked in a town. Luckily he had 3 perfect little robots who didn’t eat, sleep, or disobey orders here to protect it if needed. Eve was given an exception because she was not just a robot.
“So what's the plan now, kid?” Salvatore asked, throwing the last of his cigarette down on the ground and stomping it out. Adam looked up at the sky.
“I think I’m going to eat, and then sleep.” He chuckled. “I’ve been working all day.” Salvatore grinned.
“Yeah, you have.”
“If you were going to take all day I could’ve stayed home and met you here tomorrow~” Eve said, though it was clear she was teasing rather than complaining. “Great work handsome, go get some rest, you deserve it.” She then paused and added in the flirtiest tone she could muster: “And let me know if you want some company in your bed tonight~”
Chapter Text
Adam ate multiple MREs that night and then crashed immediately, letting the others fend for themselves. The next day he woke up feeling energized and refreshed. He took the majority of the MREs out of the crate on the second floor and dumped them into the underseat storage of the APC. He considered taking them all but decided leaving some here was the smartest choice. Even if he was planning to bring his APC everywhere he never knew what the future held, being prepared was not a bad thing.
While he was shoving the MREs into the storage compartment Eve walked up behind him, still awake as she didn't need sleep.
"Well good morning~ You are especially cute with bedhair, you know that?~" She said with a flirty tone as she gently rubbed one of her prongs on Adam's head. Adam looked up, as if he could see his own hair, and then matted it down.
"Sorry I didn't brush it." He responded absentmindedly.
"Oh, I don't mind. As I said, I think it's cute~" She said back and then looked at the APC.
"Everything set for our little adventure?"
"I think so." Adam said, turning to the APC now too. "Its definitely going to be a challenge but we have the space, the people, and I think, the firepower to make this all work. The only question will be if the FRS still has supplies. Otherwise this will be for naught." Adam then turned to look at her. "Would you be mad if it were barren?" He asked with a small chuckle.
"Me?" She seemed to consider as she tapped her prong against her chin. "No I wouldn't. I would be disappointed for sure, but I came because you asked, not because I'm short on caps. If anything you will be the one who is mad since you said you were broke now."
"Ah yes." Adam said, remembering. "If this doesn't work I'm going to have to go somewhere else and scrounge together some caps before heading back to Midway, otherwise I'm too broke to even rent a room or buy food. Vault doesn't have food from what I remember so it'd be pointless to go there."
"Well you can always stay with me~" Eve teased.
"Thank you for the offer." Adam said with a grin.
"Anytime, handsome."
"Stop flirting in broad daylight." Salvatore said with a yawn as he stepped outside. "When we heading out, kid?"
"Soon." Adam said, as he turned to him. "As soon as Deccanus is ready I think."
"I am ready." Deccanus said, practically coming out of the shadows of the doorway. "Do not wait on my account."
"Oh." Adam said, surprised he was up already, Deccanus must've woken up before him. Which was surprising because he thought he woke up first.
"Alright, then let me load up the rest of our squad in the back. Though by the way, if this is as lucrative as I hope it will be, we will have to slowly drive back to Midway while the bulk of you walk… or I guess you can sit on the roof." Adam shrugged.
"Mind if i ride up front with you?~" Eve said to Adam. Adam was partly caught off guard by the question as he had already planned to ask Salvatore to ride the gunner seat with him, just in case. So he instinctively looked over at Salvatore who didn't seem to read Adam's mind and had no reaction.
"Sure, you are welcome to join me." Adam said to Eve after a moment. Honestly thinking about it now, if he really had to use either the twin ball 78mm guns at the front or the large 105mm cannon on top there was no telling if Salvatore even knew how to operate the equipment. After all Salvatore did not serve in the army before the war. There was a higher chance that Eve, an assaultron with 200 years experience, might have a better handle on the controls. Which was good, because even Adam didn't really know how the controls worked. He would need to figure that out later, but he wasn't expecting trouble to begin with, it was just to have company up in the cockpit.
Adam headed back inside and gathered up the two protectrons and Rae and brought them to the back of the APC instructing them to wait inside, Eve hopped into the front and Deccanus and Salvatore got into the back alongside the robots. Then Adam turned on the engine, and began his newest Adventure inside this beast of a machine.
The ride to the FRS was smooth so far, it was a good distance away, yet another reason having the APC was a boon. Adam just hoped the rest of the journey remained as easy.
"It's been a long time since I've been in one of these." Eve said as she gently dragged her claw along the gunner controls.
"You used to ride around in APCs?" Adam asked, focusing mostly on driving since the roads were full of small obstacles but considering the raised floor of the APC and the sturdy wheels he was likely just being overly cautious.
"Not often, usually the soldiers got to ride, I was transported via other methods. But when deployment occurs they need their best bots on the frontline, I sometimes got the human treatment." She said, almost melancholic.
"So you remember… being in the war? Treated like a robot?" Adam asked, curious.
"Oh yes." She said back, turning to look at Adam now. "I remember it all, the wars, the killing, the senseless and perfectly logical violence." She said with a methodical tone.
"Then when did you become… Eve? I assume you weren't built like this?" Adam asked, not exactly sure how to ask when she got sentience without sounding rude. Eve let off a soft laugh.
"It was 12 years into the apocalypse. I was patrolling my usual route along the interior of the military base I was reactivated in when I suddenly became aware of how… meaningless what I was doing was." She said, sounding almost sad. "I had been repeating the same actions for 12 years without missing a day, defending a base for dead soldiers from the survivors of nuclear fire that were likely just looking for a safe place to stay. It felt so… wrong…" She said, her voice less confident at the moment. "So I just… left… I left and never looked back at that place, wandered from town to town, city to city, offering my services as an expert combatant." She paused, thinking over her story.
"In the early days there were still survivors of the US Army. I would still meet a fellow soldier from time to time. But while time passed for them, it did not for me. Eventually I came to realize I was what was left of the US Army. It was then I began to… live… I chose to live for myself, not for some vague responsibility of keeping up the pretense of the old world." She paused once more and then turned to Adam again.
"I have lived many lives, sometimes I am a chef, sometimes I am a journalist, sometimes I am a merchant, but in the end I always end up going back to being a mercenary, a killer, a hunter. A girl can't seem to escape her programming…" She said petering off a bit. Adam remained silent for responding.
"I've told you I'm a clone, I've told you I am a licensed RobCo technician. I never mentioned I too was a soldier." Eve giggled a little bit despite Adam's serious and comforting tone.
"I figured that out since the little robobrain was calling you sergeant." Adam turned to look at her for a moment and smiled then looking back at the road.
"When I woke up it was so… disheartening to see my country gone. Everything I knew and loved, all the things I fought for were taken from me…" he paused now. "Now I know I'm just a replica. A recreation of a long dead man with memories from 200 years ago. But I am still me. That hasn't changed. You and I are soldiers, that will never change, that will always be a part of us, but I like to think we both do what we can to be something other than a soldier. But there is no shame in using your skills to do jobs you are best suited for."
"Don't get me wrong." Eve interjected softly. "I am quite proud of who I am, and what I am capable of. I do not mind that I enjoy the fight as much as I was probably programmed to. Sometimes though I wish the call of the wild wasn't so strong." Adam grinned but kept his eyes on the road.
"I completely know what you mean."
"Let me ask you something…" Eve said hesitantly. "Do you ever miss it? Being a soldier?" Adam remained silent for a long while, while he contemplated her question. When he spoke up he sounded uncertain.
"I miss… the formality, the structure, the knowledge I was fighting for a cause greater than myself, the comfort I got from knowing if I were to die others would take my place…" He paused. "But the war? The conflict? The fight? No. I think I don't miss that at all." It was Eve's turn to go silent for a long few moments before speaking up now.
"I miss it. All of it. The war, the slaughter, the danger, the simple and easy to follow directives. I pine for a simpler time when I only had to look forward." Adam chuckled softly.
"That's a sign of growth. If it were the old you being so introspective would be impossible. Assualtrons weren't exactly known for their philosophical insights."
"Well there is one now~" She said with a teasing tone.
"I'm glad I brought you along, Eve." Adam said with a smile and a warm tone, enjoying the conversation.
"I'm glad I came along too~"
Chapter Text
“There is no way 5 dogs could ever take down a yao guai.” Salvatore said as the ramp to the back of the APC was lowered upon arriving at their destination, only a short distance away from the FRS itself.
“You underestimate Legion training methods. Our mongrels were able to take down even the toughest yao guai if sufficiently trained.” Deccanus returned as he too disembarked, engaged in a debate with Salvatore.
“All I’m saying is I ain’t ever seen a dog win that fight, and trust me, it happens more than you think.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Adam asked as he watched the three robots disembark from the APC right behind Deccanus.
“This mad man is claiming that legion dogs were tough enough to fight a yao guai with only 5 of them.” Salvatore said with a dismissive tone.
“I am not claiming, I am simply speaking the truth.” Deccanus asserted and then turned to Adam. “Legion Mongrels were one of the Legion’s greatest assets, a unit deployed with war dogs could take down a heavy encampment even if outnumbered.”
“And I call bull. Sounds like the fantasies of a guy dressed like a roman soldier.” Salvatore scoffed.
“Alright alright, calm down. Honestly, who cares?” He looked at Salvatore. “It doesn’t matter anymore does it? Even if it is hyperbole it just means their wardogs were good, that's all, you don't need to get up in arms about it.”
“It just ain't that easy to train dogs is all I’m saying.”
“Fine, fine.” Adam said with a sigh just wanting the argument to end. Though he was secretly grateful the two of them were conversing, they may have been arguing but it didn’t seem to be in bad taste, just a difference of opinion. He was glad, because the two of them were his partners, it was important that they learned to get along. Otherwise he would have a lot of trouble in the future.
“Well now that your dick measuring contest is over are we free to follow the plan?~” Eve said, injecting herself into the conversation to end it. Adam nodded at her and then lifted up his binoculars to get a look at the FRS building from afar.
Adam had been in there once before, shortly before his active service was up. So he did have a mental map of the place to work off of which they used to plan, he didn’t have a very great idea of the layout, just bits and pieces. But he assumed there would be super mutants camped outside the only entrance in and out if they had even a little bit of intelligence. Turns out he was right.
Sitting outside were 3 Super mutants, all wearing rags, huddled around a fire, loudly talking to each other about something that Adam, at this distance, couldn’t make out. Not that he felt he was missing out on much.
“Yup, there they are.” Adam said as he handed off the binoculars to the next person.
“You sure you want to go through with this kid? You got the APC working, doesn't mean you need to do something incredibly dangerous like this. There’s no telling how many are in there.”
“Yes. But isn’t it that much more exciting when you don’t know what lies ahead?~” Eve said with a sultry and excited tone.
“Not all of us can just pick a spare arm off a dead robot and be good as new.” Salvatore said to her.
“Oh boo, you are no fun~”
“I didn’t stay alive this long by being stupid.” Salvatore said with a sigh.
“I say we smoke them out.” Deccanus said as he handed back the binoculars to Adam after everyone had taken a look.
“This isn’t exactly in the middle of a forested area, and the way the FRS is laid out I’m not sure the smoke would even reach far enough. Besides, fighting in the hallways is actually more advantageous for us since the Super Mutants are big.” Adam said.
“Which means the only way to do this, is to do this, yes?” Eve said now. Adam looked at her and then nodded.
“I think we just fight our way in, secure the central room like we planned, ensure the second stairway is unusable and then work our way down.”
“As planned.” Deccanus said softly.
“I still think there are smarter ways of going about this.” Salvatore grumbled.
“I’m open to ideas.” Adam said back to him. Salvatore remained silent and then sighed.
“Alright, let's do this then.” Salvatore said finally.
“Oh~ Mind if I do the honors?” Eve said excitedly. Perhaps if she could smile she would be grinning ear to ear.
“By all means, on your cue then.” Adam said to Eve and then turned back to his robot companions.
“Buddy, enter combat mode and stay close to the group. Rae fire at will and stick close to me, Protectron, you are to stay here and guard the APC until we return.”
“Entering Combat mode”
“Oh yay! I’m so excited! Combat is fun!”
“Request processed, staying near the vehicle.”
Once all three had heard his commands he turned back to Eve.
“After you.” He said to her in a cordial way.
Eve then led the group closer, them all still sort of hiding as they got close enough so it wouldn’t be a long range engagement. Then, when Eve was close enough, she stepped out from the side of the building, waved playfully at the Super Mutants who were lazily standing by the fire, and then let loose the full power of her head laser.
A brilliant beam of red light, far greater than the power of any laser rifle cut through the air and caused ripples of heat in its wake. The super mutants, who had only just noticed Eve and had yet to fully process her presence, barely had time to stand up before the full might of the head laser blast completely obliterated the upper half of one of the super mutants in one go.
This was why Assaultrons were so feared. Of course there were many other traits that gave assaultrons the edge. Speed, maneuverability, the lithe frame, claws that could hold weapons. It was the head laser, however, that made it such a powerful weapon, and, for these mutants, such a fearsome foe.
The greatest weakness of the head laser is that it takes a solid few seconds to charge up and then, after it is fired, the emitters are temporarily overheated so it takes some time before it can be used again. As such at the moment Eve’s head laser was currently still glowing a brilliant bright red and almost sparking with overcharged energy. Of course Eve had, intelligently, stayed behind the building in cover charging up the head laser until it was ready before initiating combat. She was not just any assaultron, after all.
As soon as the head laser was fired off and made contact with the super mutants the other two sprang to their feet, reaching for weapons nearby, however neither of them had the time to react as a hail of bullets and laser fire was shot from the various members of the group riddling them with injuries and killing them only moments after the first shots were fired.
“Alright! Let’s move in!” Adam yelled, taking the lead, gripping his laser pistol, and charging in at the front.
Chapter Text
Adam was leading at the front of the pack and Eve proved to be just as fast, staying right on his tail. Deccanus was shortly behind followed by Salvatore after that. Rae and the Buddy lacked the speed to keep up but were coming from the very back.
As soon as Adam stepped through the doors he saw a room full of super mutants, some in a state of half readiness since they had heard the gunfire from outside but didn’t take it seriously enough.
Adam immediately filled the first super mutant he saw with a near full cell of laser fire from his pistol, hitting him in the same place in the chest over and over until a hole had been burned through his body.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a super mutant charging him with a sledge hammer but Eve jumped in the way and spun her claws to dizzyingly fast speeds and then thrust them into the chest of the super mutant. In mere moments she had drilled two holes through the beast and she now held up its large, lifeless, corpse with her still-impalled arms.
Deccanus was the next one to enter with his spear raised and ready to be thrown. The moment he crossed the threshold he threw the spear with enough force to impale one of the huge mutant men into the wall. Then, while it struggled against the spear, still fully alive and ready to fight, Deccanus charged through the slowly growing battle past several other mutants, drawing his machete and cutting off the mutant’s hand. A moment later the head was next to fall.
As one of the other remaining mutants reared around to shoot Deccanus in the back, Salvatore walked in, rifle raised and then elegantly and efficiently put the mutant down. 5 to the head, 10 to the chest. Just like that it collapsed without having fired a shot.
Two more were now ready to engage the group, having only vaguely picked targets but Adam and Salvatore gunned one down and the other was impaled and cut apart by Eve and Deccanus respectively. 4 more began to pour out of the side rooms yelling all the while however it was now time that Rae arrived blasting laser fire at the super mutants as the rest of the group split up and took cover from the mutants who came out firing.
One of the super mutants had a rocket launcher. He was the first target. Salvatore fired twice, one for each eye. Hitting the first one cleanly and missing the second one by an inch. Blinded by the attack it was Eve who had picked a chunk of rubble large enough to weigh at least a hundred pounds and chucked it at the super mutant. As it fell over the rocket launcher went off, hitting the ceiling. More rubble fell down from above, hitting some of the group and all of the super mutants.
Rae was unaffected and kept pushing forward firing their laser emitters without delay, Eve too took advantage of the chaos to charge forwards.
Now, finally, Buddy arrived, and with his souped up laser emitters he decimated one of the Super mutants alone, turning him into naught but a pile of ash on the floor.
Another super mutant was lit up with the laser fire from Rae’s heavier but slower firing lasers, buying time for Eve to charge up to the mutant and drill her hands through the chest of the mutant.
The last one remaining, partly covered by a handful of rubble, was put down by a handful of rounds to the head by Adam. Then, it was quiet.
“Is that all of them?” Salvatore said, surprised how well that had worked.
“Up here?” Adam said before stopping to listen to his surroundings. “Maybe. But we still have 3 floors below us, this floor is the smallest.” Adam then looked to the door to the stairway and then down the hall to the second stairway door.
“Rae, Buddy, move that Nuka cola machine over there on the wall in front of that door right here.” He instructed his robots to blockade the door so when they descended they couldn’t be flanked from behind. As they began moving Deccanus grabbed the arm of one of the mutants, partly examining it, partly just messing around.
“I think that was a pretty effective fight, don't you?~” Eve said, playfully as she spun her claws around quickly to shake off all the blood that had stuck to them.
“Yes but we must remain vigilant…” Deccanus said as he slowly dropped the arm of the super mutant. “I fear this group may have a Behemoth.” The entire group looked at him, minus Rae and Buddy who were working.
“What gives you that idea?” Salvatore asked, carefully.
“These super mutants, they are of the Eastern FEV strain…” He paused and then pointed to the arm. “Those stretch marks, on the arm, they are indicative of the variant that allows the Mutants to grow infinitely. It is not yet certain that there is one here but these mutants have the capacity for it. It is best to proceed with caution.” Deccanus informed seriously.
“How the hell would a super mutant behemoth even fit in here? This is all a normal sized building and ceiling.”
“I can not answer that. Perhaps it became trapped?” Deccanus offered within a shrug.
“Excuse me, I can infer, but for the sake of me understanding what kind of threat has everyone looking so wary, what is a super mutant Behemoth?”
“A large, very strong super mutant, usually around 20 to 30 feet tall. Its musculature forces growth in an uneven manner so it is often clumsy and lopsided but its strength is enough that it can even throw a car with ease.” Deccanus said, painting a picture for Adam.
“Suffice it to say they are bad news.” Salvatore said with a grim tone.
“I think this makes it far more interesting~” Eve interjected with a maliciously excited tone. “It would be uninteresting if it wasn’t a challenge.”
“It won’t be interesting if you are in pieces.” Salvatore said to her, Eve turned to look at him and was about to speak when Rae chimed in.
“Sergeant! We have successfully completed the task you assigned!" They said with an overly happy tone as usual as they indicated to the heavy nuka cola fridge now blocking the door.”
“I’d say throw something else in front of the door too, just one vending machine isn’t enough to stop an angry super mutant.” Salvatore said casually, disengaging from his former conversation with Eve.
“Agreed.” Deccanus said back calmly. Adam nodded and then looked to the standing vending machine that was next to where the nuka cola machine was a moment ago.
“Rae, can you and buddy move that one too? Drop it on its side once it's in front of the door, it will be harder to move.”
“Right away sir!” Rae said happily as the two robots then moved to start pushing the next machine. Adam decided to walk over to, and check, the nuka cola machine, who knows, it might still have some soda inside.
As it turns out he was right to check, the nuka cola machine had not just one soda, but 5 bottles available. They were all the classic flavor, not any of the other types, but nuka cola was a great thirst quencher no matter what.
He pulled them out and then tossed one to Deccanus and Salvatore.
“Spoils of war.” Adam joked as he uncapped another one himself, throwing the cap into his pouch, bringing him back up to a cool 15 caps. “I’d offer you one too, but you can’t drink.” Adam said to Eve.
“I understand~ But do let me know if you find any good coolant, that I will gladly take.” She said with a more playful and joking tone than anything serious.
Salvatore immediately uncorked the bottle and drank his nuka cola with gusto, whereas Deccanus looked at it hesitantly.
“What, have you never drank Nuka Cola before?” Adam asked as he looked at Deccanus, now moving out of the way so Rae and Buddy could push the vending machine into place.
“I… have not…” Deccanus said slowly.
“What?” Salvatore said with some surprise. “Really? Then you are in for a treat.” He grinned. Deccanus still seemed hesitant but eventually uncapped the bottle and took a sip. His eyes went wide when he drank it but he did not drink more.
“This is a… strange beverage. I do not know how to feel about it.” He continued, cautiously.
“Is it the bubbles?” Adam guessed.
“Yes, it's the bubbles.” Deccanus returned, Adam grinned.
“Well if you don’t want it I will drink it for you.” Adam said, hand outstretched, ready to enjoy a second glass. Deccanus looked at Adam and then at the nuka cola bottle again and then pulled it closer.
“No, thank you. I must spend more time understanding this drink.” He said as if he was planning to study a new animal. Adam laughed and then stashed the two extra bottles in his bag for later.
“I report we are finished moving the machines sir!” Rae said from behind as they finished fully blocking the door.
“Alright, we got three floors to clear, everyone ready?” Adam asked as he turned to the group. Salvatore checked his magazine, Deccanus grabbed his spear from the wall, and Eve simply stood there, ready to go as needed. “Then let's go kick some more mutant ass.”
Chapter Text
Buddy led at the front followed by Salvatore then Adam then Eve then Deccanus and bringing up the rear was Rae as they walked down the stairs. There was a lot of thought put into this formation.
As cruel as it was to say Buddy was just a robot, while Adam liked him it's not like Buddy was anything more than the sum of his programming, if he were to go down, while it would sadden Adam, he would not mourn as deeply as if any of the others died. In addition protectrons are the most common and simplistically constructed robot so repairing him would be the easiest as well if it was needed.
Rae brought up the rear for a similar reason to why Buddy brought up the front, though they were in the back because they were a more capable fighter so if something went wrong it would be good to have them holding the rear. In addition Rae had far more personality than Buddy did so protecting them more was a better idea.
Salvatore walking behind Buddy was because he could use Buddy as a shield as they advanced and he was the best shot of anyone here, having him engage first in any encounter was the best plan to handle anything unexpected.
Adam was next because he had a lot of combat options and, honestly, he felt bad for not being in the front to begin with.
Eve was behind him because, despite packing an incredibly powerful laser and deadly claws, assaultrons were not built like Sentry bots. Sentry bots were big and bulky with tons of extra armor as they were designed to take damage and dish it out in equal measure. Assaultrons, on the other hand, were designed to avoid damage by making their frame smaller, of course this also meant they couldn’t take as many hits as other robots. Though one couldn’t underestimate their durability even in spite of this.
Deccanus was the penultimate in the line up because of his quick reaction time and ability to coordinate with Rae in an effective way allowing Rae to give him cover fire while he gets into melee range.
All of this to say that despite all this planning, as soon as they got to the bottom of the stairs, entering the first basement floor and encountering more super mutants, the formation immediately fell apart.
Buddy opened fire far faster than he should have, giving little time for others to get into position. Salvatore’s firing made it difficult for Adam to advance because he was so close to him. Eve dove past both Adam and Salvatore right into Salvatore’s line of fire and into the fray with the super mutants making Salvatore have to quickly readjust his firing to not hit her and Rae pushed past Deccanus and everyone else to engage in the combat alongside Eve with nearly the same gusto as her. Only Deccanus seemed to be not rushing into the fight and waiting for a moment to enter battle within the formation where he wouldn’t get in the way.
Of course that isn't to say Salvatore wasn’t being a team player, but he clearly wasn’t putting too much thought into how to allow his teammates to maneuver and engage with other targets.
Adam suddenly realized that every single person here was a lone wolf, fought almost exclusively alone, and was not used to working in larger groups. Adam and Deccanus were the exceptions.
Everyone likely had experience fighting with others, sans Buddy, but it seemed everyone was far too much in their own world to fight with teamwork. It was a miracle the fight at the entrance went as well as it did. However that might just simply be down to the fact that there was more space, down here, where the quarters were cramped and there was not much space to fan out the group was having trouble working together. In fact the cramped corridors is the reason they had even had a formation to begin with, as useless as that turned out to be.
After the fight was done Adam stopped the group.
“Okay, this isn’t working, we are just going to end up hitting each other if this keeps up…” He then looked at the group for a moment thinking out a new plan. “Deccanus.” He turned to him.
“Yes.” Deccanus said back in response, straightening up his posture.
“I want you to lead a team down the other path, you will be in charge, take Rae and…” he looked around. “Eve.” He said after a moment.
“Yes, sir.” Deccanus said in response.
“Well hold on, handsome, why is he in charge? He’s a child compared to me.” She complained with a still flirty tone.
“Because Deccanus has experience as part of an army, I know you do too, but you have a different kind of army experience, and since I want Salvatore with me Deccanus is the best pick.”
"That's favoritism.” She said, almost pouting by the way she sounded and her body language but then she sighed and shrugged. “Alright.” She then turned to Deccanus. “I’ll leave it to you, spear man~”
Deccanus looked at Adam, nodded and then began to walk off, taking the door nearby that led to a different section of the floor.
“If you encounter trouble, don’t hesitate to call out to us.” Adam said and then he hit on an idea. “Actually wait, hold on a second Deccanus.” He then paused to consider before adding:
“We will not advance to the next floor until we regroup. I think it will be safer to only clear floors one at a time.” Adam said after a moment to think.
“Understood.” Deccanus said before he once more turned to leave.
“Happy hunting~” Eve said with a flirty wave to Adam before she began to follow behind Deccanus.
“Alright kid, we changing up the order?”
“No, we will keep this order, I’ll bring up the rear and you keep focusing on the front.”
“Gotcha kid.” He nodded and then gently pushed Buddy to continue having him move, which he did a moment later.
“Now that the group was separated in the tight hallways the fights were slightly more dangerous but the group was able to fight at full strength. Adam didn’t have any trouble finding a position to fire from, Salvatore didn't have an issue with anyone in front of him, and Buddy could fire freely.
They killed a handful more super mutants and then met back up with the other group at the stairway to the next basement level. Even during this walk through the first basement floor, they did see a number of things still on shelves. All food. Canned, bagged, and otherwise.While it was not even close to being fully stocked the food here was definitely a sizable amount on its own. Of course this was the federal ration stockpile, there was food stored here naturally, but what Adam was really looking for was what might be on the lower floors. Weapons. That was the real reason he came here. In the event of war food was not the only thing that the US Government wanted to stockpile. And he was eager to see if it was still there.
Chapter Text
“Were things alright on your end, Deccanus?”
“Yes.” He said back without hesitation.
“Alright, we will keep the current plan, two teams, we will cover more ground that way anyway.” Adam then walked down the stairs with the rest of the group as they made it to the second basement floor. However the new plan they just made was immediately crushed as they found that all the doors were locked on this floor up until they arrived at the large central room.
The floor was broken in the center of the large open room revealing an equally large open room below it, shelves were knocked over, stock was thrown about, super mutants were milling on both levels. But the reason the floor was broken, even despite it being solid concrete, was because, as if prophesied by Deccanus, a huge super mutant, grotesque in the way it had grown, holding a whole tank barrel in its hand and standing tall enough that its head was almost touching the floor of the first floor was right in the center of the hole, practically trapped and unable to go anywhere but this one space it had made for itself.
“Shit!” Salvatore said as he was the first one to see it as they rounded the corner. He pushed the group backwards, back around the corner, but Buddy, who was in front of him, was fearless. Buddy began to open fire with his rapid fire laser emitters at the giant monster as he continued to push forward dauntlessly.
He got only 5 steps forward into the room before the tank barrel swung hard right into the side of his chassis, picking him off his feet and throwing him all the way into the wall on the other side of the room where Adam couldn’t see him.
“Buddy!” Adam called out in desperation as he saw this happen. Eve, however, was keeping her cool, her eye laser was already charging, her electrical emitters were crackling with energy at the side of her head as the laser began to glow. Then she stepped out from the wall and blasted the Super Mutant behemoth right in the face. The entire space was lit up by the brilliant red glow which kicked up some dust and dirt that had settled onto the floors and walls creating a small smoke screen.
As the smoke screen cleared the Super Mutant Behemoth roared in pain as one of its eyes was completely shot through however it was very much alive and ready to kill. Luckily the behemoth was too far from Eve who was strategically at the other end of the room so it could not hurt her with its tank cannon, however that did not stop him from trying. It picked up one of the metal shelves and threw it hard at her.
The shelf came careening down the hall at breakneck speeds. Eve nimbly jumped up and grabbed onto the ceiling, using her claws to dig into the concrete ceiling enough to keep her body suspended. Then she laid down flat on the ceiling as the shelf passed harmlessly below her. As she jumped back down, ready to fight, more super mutants began to pour down the hallway charging at the group with weapons at the ready.
The rest of the group was about to help her however the locked doors they passed earlier were broken open by a few super mutants who had flanked them from behind, the very thing Adam was trying to avoid.
A two front fight then broke out as Deccanus and Rae began to engage with the super mutants at their back while Salvatore and Eve fought the ones at the front. Adam helped fight the ones in the back for a bit, shooting one of the mutants dead with his rifle before turning his focus to the front to help Eve and Salvatore, which had the majority of mutants charging in.
Eve was expertly handling the swarm of 5 or 6 mutants by using their huge bodies against them, diving into the thick of them and making it hard not to hit their friends. Meanwhile Salvatore was picking them off one by one, a few rounds to the head each to take them down.
Adam joined the fray, shooting round after round at the mutants in the front as their numbers slowly began to dwindle.
Another shelf was thrown by the behemoth but due to the congestion in the space all it served to do was break the back of one of its mutant friends.
Adam began to hear more laser fire from elsewhere but just assumed it had to be Rae who was repositioning.
As the super mutants at the front dwindled, Adam whipped around to look behind them again just in time to catch the sight of Deccanus impaling a super mutant in the heart with his machete. His head was bleeding for as of yet unknown reasons but he was still fighting as ferociously as ever.
Rae was being grabbed by a super mutant who was trying to rip their arms off, however Adam put a stop to that by shooting the super mutant in its arms, forcing it to let go.
Once the rest of the ones in the back were dealt with, Adam quickly reached into his bag and tossed Deccanus a stimpack. He didn’t wait to see what Deccanus’ reaction was because he turned back around in time to see a sledgehammer hit the wall hard, just barely missing Salvatore by a few inches. Salvatore managed to duck out of the way and was now firing right into the center mass of the mutant until his rifle clicked, out of ammo.
As he quickly cursed himself, and the mutant brought his hammer above his head to swing down at him, Adam shot a clean round right through the mutant’s throat, causing it to lose momentum.
Salvatore didn’t waste the opportunity and dropped his rifle, letting it fall on the strap around his body, and then pulled out his shotgun blowing the head off the mutant clean away not a moment later. He then whipped back around the corner and shot another mutant just as it was about to crush Eve with a heavy piece of rubble.
Adam followed it up by hitting another mutant himself, though not killing it.
By now the horde of mutants was thinned to the point where they could advance again and once more could see the behemoth in the broken floor however it looked significantly more fucked up than he had been not a minute ago before the fight with the other super mutants broke out.
The behemoth was covered in burns and blasts and was taking a heavy beating to the point where all it was doing was covering itself. Then Adam saw through the ever dwindling number of super mutants the array of red colored laser fire coming from off to the side, where he couldn’t see. He recognized it. It was Buddy! He was still functioning! Somehow. But he didn’t have time to celebrate. He needed to save Buddy.
Adam began to throw round after round down range at the behemoth, when his rifle ran out he swapped to the 10mm, when the 10mmm ran out he swapped to the laser pistol, and by the time the energy all worn out the Behemoth was on its last legs.
Eve, having finished cleaning up the last of the mutants at the front, jumped high into the air, landed on the Super mutant Behemoth’s chest, and then bore through its neck with her hands spinning at full speed. A moment later the giant creature was dead, Eve standing defiantly on top of its cold corpse and all the other super mutants in the area were handled. The fight was over. The danger had passed.
Chapter Text
Adam turned around to look at Deccanus and saw that he had taken the stimpack like he had wanted him too, his head wound was healing. Eve looked dinged and there was one large dent in her chassis but she was otherwise fine. Rae’s arms seemed to be malfunctioning as they didn’t seem to be as capable of smooth movements like before. Salvatore looked perfectly fine, however.
“Everyone alright!?” Adam called out to the group as a whole.
“Yes, I am fine.” Deccanus said as he wrapped part of his head, despite the stimpack healing it.
“Fine, kid.” Salvatore said as he reloaded his rifle and shotgun.
“I report a small bit of damage, sir! I request repair at your earliest convenience!” Rae said, as chipper as ever.
“I’m fine~ Though I might need to buff out some of these new scars when I get back home~” Eve said as she jumped out of the third basement floor and back onto the second through the super mutant behemoth hole. Adam nodded and then walked over towards where he saw the lasers being fired from and found Buddy, slumped up against a shelf that had tipped over against the wall. His legs were completely bent the wrong way and there was a massive indent in his chassis, but he still seemed functional.
“Unit designated ‘Buddy’ is in need of repair. Requesting assistance.” Buddy said as Adam approached. Adam gently patted Buddy’s head and smiled.
“I know Buddy, I’ll get you fixed up soon.”
“I think that's it, kid.” Salvatore said as he walked over smoking already. “If there were any more I think they would have swarmed with the rest.”
“I agree~” Eve said as she walked over. “I think that's the last of them.” She then looked at Adam.
“Congrats handsome, you led a team and successfully eliminated one of the notable thorns in Chicago’s side~.” Adam let out a sigh of relief and then nodded.
“Alright, now we have to see if coming here was worth it, and not just charity.”
“Plenty of food on the floor above us.” Salvatore said between puffs of smoke.
“Yeah, though I’m hoping there is more.” Adam said as he looked down the hole that led to the third basement level seeing the huge numbers of once organized shelves thrown about chaotically.
“Lets search the area and see what we find, we can start bringing stuff up once we know what we are looking at.” Adam said as the others nodded in confirmation. He then turned to Rae. “Rae, are you functional enough to carry Buddy up to the APC?” He asked.
“I believe so sir! I shall bring him to the APC and then return here!”
“Thank you Rae.” Adam said with a smile to them.
“It's my pleasure sir!” Rae said back.
The group then split up to search the building, both to make sure there were no other super mutants in hiding. However it was Adam and Salvatore who stumbled upon something interesting.
In a cage, either a faraday cage or simply a security cage and behind a very clearly locked and barricaded door was one last mutant, huddled in a corner, curled into a ball, looking scared.
“Please no hurt Pearl.” The super mutant almost begged as he peeked a bit at the two of them from his fetal position. Adam shot a confused look at Salvatore who was just staring at the super mutant, unmoving, while smoking a cigarette.
“Pearl no hurt human! Pearl swear!” The super mutant said again, almost pleading in its louder than average tone.
“Pearl… is that your name?” Adam asked, cautiously as he slowly approached the cage to get a little bit closer to the mutant. His guard was still very much up but he was not yet sure what to make of the situation so he was not ready to simply off this mutant.
“Yes!” The super mutant said, sitting up a bit straighter as she answered, looking a bit happy to have been recognized. “Pearl’s name is Pearl!” She announced proudly. Despite proclaiming a female sounding name the super mutant looked no different than any of the others, heavily masculine in shape and form as well as a deep masculine voice.
“Uh huh…” Adam said back, not sure what to do with this information yet, he once more looked at Salvatore whose neutral and uninterested expression was not helping him form opinions on the matter. Maybe that was by design.
“Well Pearl… we killed all the other super mutants here… are you-” Adam began before Pearl spoke up.
“You killed all of Pearl’s brothers? Even Big Brother?” Pearl said, more excited than angry, a smile on her face.
“Y-yes…” Adam said not expecting that response.
“Oh, you are strong humies. Pearl finds that hard to believe. Humies are weak and squishy, that is why Pearl is locked in this cell.” Adam decided to take another approach. This was his first time conversing with a super mutant and he got an almost childish mentality from it, like talking to a kid, so he changed tactics. Adam got down on one knee, ironically putting him close to eye level with the still sitting super mutant, and spoke in a calmer, even voice.
“The other mutants locked you in the cell because humans were weak?” Adam asked, softly and smoothly, confused what she meant.
“Yes!” Pearl returned with sad eyes. “Humans are squishy, soft. Not big and strong like super mutant!” Pearl returned resolutely. “Brothers went out to get humans, came back with humans. But there was a tiny humie among them, little and weaker than the rest! Pearl remembered… having own tiny human… tiny human looked like Pearl’s own tiny human… Pearl doesn’t remember well… but Pearl not want brothers to kill tiny human, but brothers not listen to Pearl, lock Pearl away for wanting to help the tiny Human. Now tiny human is gone, Pearl still in cage.” Adam sighed slowly and pierced together the story based on what he was hearing.
It sounded like at some point the super mutants left and came back with new captives however one of them was… a kid, or perhaps even younger, a baby maybe? And this super mutant remembered its own baby? And thus it tried to plead with the others to not harm the child but they didn’t listen and locked her up? There were some leaps of faith in the logic here, he needed to confirm with Salvatore, he knew so little about super mutants.
“Can Super Mutants have children?” Adam asked, not even sure where to begin.
“No.” Salvatore said bluntly. “They are all sterile, that’s why The Master failed way back when, but fuck ‘im anyway.” Salvatore said, flicking his cigarette aside now. “But from what it's sounding like this guy here remembered something from when they were human and it made ‘em self-conscious or some shit, which led to this.” He generally gestured to the cage.
“Wait.. super mutants were once human?” Adam asked, even more confused now.
“No shit, how the hell did you not know?” Salvatore asked with a soft chuckle.
“I don’t know. It never came up. Wasteland biology is Deccanus’ field of specialty. I just shoot things.” Adam shrugged, Salvatore grinned.
“I just shoot things.” He smiled. “Well anyway FEV turns people into super mutants, don’t ask me how it works, I don’t fucking know, but all of them end up like this guy here, more or less. Of course there are variants like nightkin, or the first generation super mutants which are as smart as you or I but none of that is important right now.” He said before he too approached the cage.
“What you gotta do now, kid, Is figure out what you are gonna do with this mutant. It's your mission, thus, it's your problem.” He said with another grin, enjoying throwing this onto Adam’s lap and taking it off his own hands.
Chapter Text
Adam sighed loudly and then turned back to look at this super mutant conundrum that fell into his lap.
“Tell me, Pearl, what will you do if you were let out of here?” Adam asked bluntly.
“Pearl does not know.” Pearl responded. “Pearl is in cage for being bad super mutant, if brothers are dead then Pearl does not know what to do.” Adam paused to consider.
“Would you continue to hunt humans?” Adam asked further.
“Pearl…” He began before she paused once more and stopped, seemingly lost in thought. “Pearl does not want to hurt little humans, little humans do not need to be hurt, they are too small, defenseless…”
Adam looked over to Salvatore hoping for some advice but Salvatore had completely disengaged from the conversation and was picking through boxes nearby, close enough to protect Adam if needed but far enough to show he was done with this conversation.
“Would you go find other ‘brothers’ to live with?” Adam asked.
“Pearl does not know.” Pearl said again, clearly giving Adam nothing to work with. “But… Pearl thinks Pearl would be scorned by brothers again if Pearl went to other super mutants. Pearl can’t harm little humans and brothers would not be happy with Pearl…” A slow idea was beginning to come into Adam’s head as Pearl was speaking.
“Pearl…” Adam began, slowly. “Would you be interested in working with us?” Adam poached, carefully.
“What does humie mean? How does Pearl work with human?” She asked, slowly standing up now, towering over Adam through the cage but not imposingly.
“Well… if you are willing to help humans, big and little, we can take care of you… give you a place to stay, if you can’t stay with the other super mutants you can find a place to stay with humans.” He offered. “I already know of at least two other super mutants who have decided to live among the humans. So you wouldn’t be the first.”
“Pearl… Pearl does not know…” Pearl said back uncertainly. “What would human have Pearl do?”
“I don’t know yet.” Adam said back, honestly. “But I will be making a home for myself soon, a Vault where I was… where I woke up. If you need a place to stay and are willing to work under our rules you can come with us.” Adam then looked at the cage door and then sighed quietly. “Or I can just let you out and you can go, as long as you don’t plan on fighting us I do not plan to hurt you. You can walk free either way.” Adam said as he resolved himself and then walked over to the cage’s door and pushed the debris in front of the way and then broke the shabby lock that was keeping it closed. Truthfully if Pearl wanted to she could have gotten out at any time they wanted, truly what had held Pearl in was the very fact they did not want to leave. Probably was too scared.
Pearl hesitantly walked closer, looked at Adam and then looked at the door and then back at Adam.
“Pearl… still not know what Pearl will do… If Pearl comes with human will human treat Pearl good?” Adam nodded slowly.
“If you are willing to follow my rules, and listen to my instructions I promise I will never lock you up like your brothers did. I will help you to find something you enjoy doing as well. And any time you feel you are done working with me, you are free to leave. I will not stop you.”
Pearl stood there, in silence for a good few minutes before nodding slowly themselves.
“Pearl understands… pearl will… come with human, Pearl wants to protect the little humans, Pearl remembers… little human crying, Pearl does not want little humans to cry.” Adam gently patted pearl’s arm with a warm smile.
“I feel the same, Pearl. Let's do our best together to make sure that we can keep the kids from crying.”
“You about made up your mind then, kid?” Salvatore said, walking back over.
“Yeah, seems like Pearl here is going to be coming with us.”
“How did I know it was going to end up like that?” Salvatore grinned and rolled his eyes playfully. “You are a bleeding heart, that's what you are.” Adam smiled.
“Guilty as charged.”
“Well get to work goody two shoes, we got a lot of loot to parse through.”
“Alright Pearl, we are collecting everything valuable here and bringing it to my car nearby, if you can help collect and move things my friends gather that’d be very helpful.” Adam said patiently to Pearl.
“Pearl can do that! Pearl is able to move many things, Pearl is stronger than puny human!” She said proudly before walking off to start moving something. Unfortunately what she picked was a piece of sizable and heavy rubble, not valuable at all. Adam turned to Salvatore again.
“Hey Salvatore, do you mind um…” He lightly gestured to Pearl.
“What am I a babysitter now too?” He groaned and then walked over to start better utilizing Pearl’s strengths and having her focus on the actual valuable stuff.
Adam would have done that himself, but he had noticed something far more interesting he wanted to focus on first. A suit of Power armor.
He had noticed the power armor sitting idle in the corner of the room that Pearl was locked in from the moment he walked over. In fact the reason he walked over here in the first place was due to the armor. But seeing a super mutant his attention immediately shifted and it became a secondary thing in his mind, but now with that sorted his attention was fully on the armor.
He walked over to it and inspected it. It was standing upright, as all Power armor should be when they were functional, yet another reason he assumed the power armor he had found in the sewers didn’t work, it was slumped over.
This power armor was not in pristine condition but it was unused, and untouched, it looked to be the earliest model of Power armor, T-45d, but there is nothing wrong with vintage power armor. Standing at about 7 feet tall, with armor plates covering every possible surface and angle. The helmet full of tech to allow full integration with the suit, the body evoking the image of power even from a distance, it truly was a sight to behold. More than anything, from a visual inspection it appeared to be perfectly functional, there did not seem to be any issues. There was one small problem, Adam didn’t have any fusion cores on hand.
However this was easily rectified as there was a fusion generator in the same cell. It seemed that the fusion generator and the power armor were the reason the cage was here in the first place. However, taking out the fusion core now would turn this basement into a starless nighttime in the blink of an eye as there was no natural light down here. So he couldn’t just take it out and be done with it.
Adam spent a few minutes telling all his companions about his find and how he was going to pull out the fusion core and make the building dark for a bit to warn them and then did just that. Pulling out the fusion core immediately set the building into a pitch black state, but Adam’s pip-boy provided enough light to be able to function properly.
He wasted no time, slotting the fusion core into the armor and then twisting the latch on the back to unlock the armor. The satisfying sound of the release valves unlatching were heard as the armor opened up as if welcoming him back into its warm embrace. With only a soft moment of hesitation Adam stepped into the Power armor and closed the back in around him. For the first time since Adam went to fight the Chinese he was in power armor, and he felt right at home.
Chapter Text
As the armor booted up and his mobility began to kick in through the frame, his HUD appeared on the glass visor of the helmet which showed him a few useful pieces of information, or rather it would have been useful if his pip-boy wasn’t both more thorough and more detailed, but having it only a glance down with his eyes was useful regardless. However, speaking of his pip-boy, that simple HUD that the power armor had was apparently able to link up with the systems of the Power-armor and offer a full pip-boy list of options from radio to inventory management. It was actually incredibly advanced and completely unexpected. So after only a moment for his pip-boy to make the connection the HUD overhauled itself and gave him a full range of Pip-Boy options. In fact, the fact that the pip-boy could link up with the power armor systems in the first place was such an unexpected boon he found himself at a loss of words for it.
Separate from his HUD the power armor moved fluidly, functioning just as he remembered from back in the war. It fit like a glove and offered him a full range of mobility. Stepping into power armor actually felt so comfortable he could operate indefinitely in one if not his need to use a bathroom. However that was a gross misuse of Power armor, training from the US army dictated the power armor remain on standby until it was needed for deployment or in the case of guard deployment it was only then meant to be worn at all times. As any US Army Engineer could tell you that while the power armor suits were built to last some of the materials were precision built and thus required constant maintenance to achieve peak performance. To save durability it was best to not over use the power armor, even if it made you feel invincible. He could only feel bad for the poor fools who found power armor nowadays and were not able to use it to its fullest as they remained in the armor even when it was unneeded.
Regardless, his immediate tests done and feeling quite satisfied he popped back out of the armor and slotted the fusion core back into the fusion generator. Within a minute all the lights in the building were back on and they could all resume their work.
Interestingly , but perhaps unsurprisingly, Eve and Rae had no issues operating in the dark and had continued their work unimpeded. However the others simply had to wait to see again.
The group then resumed the scavenging. To put it bluntly, this place was stocked. The first basement floor had all the food Adam had seen before, all of it was great but the real goldmine was the second and third basement floors. Much like the previous floors it was not nearly stocked full to the brim but it was still decently stocked full of ammo, guns, armor, electrical parts, even some silver bars. It also looked as though before the super mutants had moved in there were humans living here first as some of the side rooms had been stocked full of clothing and toys, things super mutants had no need for.
Asking Pearl where the valuables were kept proved to be completely pointless. Her idea of valuable proved to be excessively unhelpful, however he did find a super sledge that the so called ‘leader’ of these mutants was wielding which was nice. Pearl looked at the super sledge with puppy dog eyes as Adam took it and eventually relented, giving it over to her as a gift. He was pleased it was the kind he was familiar with, the US Military Variant of the Super Sledge.
The super sledge was originally used by construction crews for demolition in civilian settings. That was nothing more than a glorified sledgehammer with a rocket attached to its back. It worked, certainly, but the one that he had just handed over to Pearl was far more sophisticated.
Deployed in the battle against the Chinese to Power armor troops, specifically troops utilizing T51 power armor variants, they were used to bust down defensive positions and proved to be a very useful tool in close quarters combat. Rather than having a rocket attached to the back the sledgehammer was high-tech from top to bottom. Shock absorbing material, kinetic storage and collection device stored in the head surrounded by shock dampers that reduce the transfer of force to the user to manageable levels and a pommel at the bottom to ensure it does not slip out of the users hands. Truly a weapon designed for war. It also was not a weapon meant to be wielded outside of power armor. Much like the fatman it was often considered too unwieldy for that. However considering how big super mutants were, Pearl being no exception, it seemed to be just the right size for her.
A small part of Adam was jealous, as he too was quite fond of the super sledge, especially now that he had power armor in which to wield it, however as it turned out he had many other toys to play with.
Mini gun with ammo backpack, flamer and fuel backpack, a 40mm grenade rifle, and several laser rifles though all with stock options, he had more than his choice of weapons if he wanted something loud and dangerous. The laser rifles were different though. The standard AER9 Laser rifle, even without all the modifications that the US Army offered to their troops, was easily Adam’s favorite weapon. He was a laser boy. Sure, it had its downside, namely not packing as much punch as a conventional kinetic weapon. But in the US Army most soldiers were trained to use laser rifles, and most units deployed with a majority of the troops utilizing the weapon, Adam was no exception. Perhaps it was simply bias coming from his comfort with the weapon but he loved the feel of a warm laser in his hands. Now that he finally had the opportunity he was going to add the laser rifle to his kit. Where? How? He would figure that out later, for now he was content to know that he had it available to him.
These unique finds were far from the only things of note, however it would take nearly as long listing them out as it would for the group to move them into the APC, which had been moved closer for convenience sake. Suffice it to say that by the time they were done the APC’s transport section was full to the brim with goods, and one broken Buddy. In addition, everyone had at least one backpack full of goods as the FRS also seemed to have a decent number of bags available to hand out. Pearl was using a whole shopping cart strapped to her back as a backpack. Modifications had already been made by one of her, now dead, brothers to allow it to be used as a back pack. Judging by the fact it used to have a half dead corpse inside before it was discovered, it was safe to assume this was not meant to be used to carry things. Regardless of its grim history it served well as a backpack large enough for Pearl to carry a sizable number of items.
By the time the group was done, backpacks and APC loaded, the FRS had more or less been picked clean. It was not as if there was nothing left behind, a lot of what was left behind was useless or deemed not worth trying to bring back when they already had so much stuff. However it was picked through well enough that there was no reason to ever return here. They had done it, this was Adam’s biggest score ever, and he was already eager to cash all this loot in for caps.
“Everyone ready?” Adam asked the group as he loaded the power armor, now with the fusion core, into the back of the APC where he left room for it, and then closed the door finally. The group offered him various nods and thumbs up indicating they were all good to go. Pearl did too, though she seemed confused by the gesture of a thumbs up but was willing to do it as well even if she didn’t understand the meaning.
“Alright then, let's go sell off this haul.” Adam grinned.
Chapter Text
There was a reason Adam had kept his voice low and left parts of the plan secret when he was telling his allies about raiding the Federal Ration Stockpile. This was the biggest looting run he had ever taken a part in. One could only guess how many caps he was going to make from this. He hoped a lot. However if anyone else were to guess, they would likely think the same. No matter how well armed he was, how big his group was, even grown now that Pearl had joined, or even how dangerously stupid it might be, there would still likely be someone who would try to take what he had just earned. Raiders, looters, thieves. People were opportunistic. This holds true whether it be pre-war or post-war. Keeping this on the moderate down low was obviously the smarter choice. He didn’t want any unexpected surprises.
However it seemed that somehow, maybe because he spoke too loud while in a public place, or maybe because he was careless, or perhaps just pure dumb luck, he ran into a group of less than friendly scavengers on the long and slow walk back to Midway. Though of course, Adam was driving the APC, everyone else was on foot.
Logically one would see a group of at least 7 with a super mutant, a robobrain, an assaultron, 1 visible protectron, and two heavily armed people alongside a fully functional APC and would decide that caution was the better part of valor. However these men were not thinking logically as they, despite being outnumbered, outgunned, and out of their minds, decided to approach the group and try to hold them up for the loot.
The men were not well armored or armed, they did not seem to be raiders however they did seem to be the kind of people who lived outside the walls of a big settlement. They were not much of a threat, even if there were 6 of them.
Adam scooted over to the gunner’s seat so he could pop out of the gunner hatch and speak to them as he was still technically the leader of the party.
“How can I help you gentlemen… ladies.” Adam said with a calm casual tone as he nodded politely to the men and single woman who had their one rifle and few pipe pistols raised, the rest had knives. They were an incredibly poor match for the firepower Adam’s group had.
“I-I want your loot!” A gruff man in the front said, clearly scared but unwilling to back down.
“Oh?” Adam said with a smile. He then turned around and looked at the large gun on top of the APC. “You see this?” He said pointing to the cannon. “This here is a 105mm cannon. The explosive force of just one round is enough to kill all of you with just one shell. Now, I’ve never had cause to test this beast since I only got it recently but I’m eager to see it in action.” He then turned around and smiled evilly at them.
“Care to have your skulls adorn the exterior of my new APC? Or are you going to turn around and leave before I’m forced to make a bloody mess?” Adam said with a threatening tone, planning to use an overly exaggerated threat to try to scare them off peacefully, Truly he was not in the mood for another fight, even if it would hardly even be able to be called a fight.
“I-I…” The gruff man said, stepping back, too scared to properly say words back. The woman put a hand on his shoulder.
“Vert. Drop it, let it go.” She said in an almost sagely way while shaking her head. She then looked at Adam. “I apologize, noble warrior, we meant no disrespect, my people are simply desperate, times have been hard on my tribe and our food is running low, even against insurmountable odds we are forced to do what we must for our people.” She said with a resolved tone.
Adam stared at her for a moment seemingly taking in whether she was telling the truth or not before he sighed. Salvatore immediately knew what was going to happen so he quietly grumbled and rolled his eyes.
“How many people do you have in your… tribe?” He asked slowly.
“34, we are not a large people.” She responded. Adam nodded.
“Salvatore, Deccanus, go into the back of the APC and fill up two of the backpacks full of some of the food we found and give them to these people.”
“Kid…” Salvatore looked at Adam not angry but desperate. Trying to convince him not to simply hand things out freely but Adam looked at him and shook his head. Salvatore let out a long and heavy sigh and then moved to the back of the APC to meet Deccanus who was already back there waiting for the door to open to do as Adam asked.
Adam reached into the cockpit and pulled the backdoor release latch and heard as the pneumatic pistols fired off and slowly opened the ramp to allow Deccanus and Salvatore access. The rest of the group remained where they were, staring down this small group of wasteland survivors ready to shoot them if they tried anything. Luckily Rae and the protectrons didn’t open fire the moment these people acted even a bit hostile. Adam had the forethought to put them all into a return fire only mode so they wouldn’t initiate combat for this exact sort of situation.
The group that had just a moment ago been accosting them were now smiling and talking happily amongst themselves. The woman looked up at Adam with admiration, respect, and gratitude.
“You are doing my tribe a great service. My people will never forget this gratitude.” She said with a soft bow. Adam waved her off.
“Don’t worry about it. It's everyone’s job to try to make this world a bit better for everyone else.” Adam smiled and then paused before adding. “There is a saying I like: paying the karma forward.” Adam said to her.
“What does this mean?” She asked back.
“It means that I am doing a good deed for you today in the hopes that one day you too will do a good deed for someone else. Then, in turn, they might go on to do a good deed for someone else. In the end, through a chain of good deeds, the world will be just that little bit nicer of a place.” She looked up at Adam like her whole world view had just been shaken, the idea was so moving to her she was beside herself with words. Adam just chuckled softly.
“Anyway, don’t worry about it. If a little bit of food can help others then it's worth giving it out, especially if they are desperate. I'm not always a charity though.” He laughed. “Anyway if you guys are in need of food, I’m not sure if you know of it but there are several towns where you can just go in to trade for food.”
“Yes… I am aware of the settlements we… try to keep to ourselves.” She said hesitantly.
“Well in times like these it helps to have friends, we all got to work together to stay alive, Midway, Naper, the Pier, all these places have plenty of food for you to barter for, you don’t need to go it alone.” Adam finished as Deccanus and Salvatore each handed over a backpack full of some of the food from the FRS. Ultimately it was not too great an amount of food, they still had a huge amount they could sell at Midway, but to people desperate enough to try to threaten Adam’s group, even this much food might be a godsend. As if to punctuate this thought one of the men in the back cried a bit into his arm as a buddy patted his back.
“We… will never forget this gift, noble warrior.” She said as she took one of the backpacks. “Nor your words about paying it forward.” She said with another bow. Adam just smiled. As her group turned to begin to leave she stopped and looked at Adam once more, just as he was about to hop back inside and get into the driver's seat again. “If you do not mind… may I be so bold as to ask your name, and the name of this group you lead?” She said with a resolute tone.
Adam paused for a moment and stopped to think, after a few moments he responded.
“Well my name is Adam Baxter, as for what my group is called um… we don’t have a name, these are just my…” He looked around at everyone, lingering his sight on each member for a moment before finishing his sentence. “Friends.” He finished with a smile.
She seemed to accept that answer and nodded once more before she turned to rejoin the rest of the group as they all walked off into a different part of the city.
“You are too much a bleeding heart, you know that right? All that food was definitely worth more than a few caps.” Salvatore complained.
“Yeah, but think how much more it means to them.” Adam said back.
“And we got nothing to show for it.” Salvatore returned.
“Oh hush honey~ sometimes doing a good deed is its own reward.” Eve said to him with a soft turn of her head.
“Indeed, material gains are immaterial when compared to the glory gained from spreading renown.” Deccanus said with a steeled tone.
“Helping people and making friends is always fun!” Rae added with a chipper tone.
“Pearl does not understand why we gave puny human bags but Pearl not ask why.” She added as well, honestly contributing nothing to the conversation.
“Then you all are bleeding hearts, nothing runs this world more than caps.” Salvatore said, sticking to his guns.
“Pearl's heart is not bleeding, Pearl is uninjured.” She added, confused.
“Alright, you guys can talk this over while we move, we still got a ways to go before we get to Midway, I apologize if anyone was upset that we lost some of the caps from this run, if you feel slighted you can have a cut from my earnings, but what’s done is done, we are wasting daylight, lets get moving.”
The group then says nothing more on the topic as Adam headed back inside the APC and began to slowly drive alongside everyone once more, listening to the radio in the APC while he did.
Chapter Text
The rest of the trip back to Midway was uneventful, in fact the encounter with the people before was likely nothing more than coincidence, if a group truly wanted to try to ambush them they would have come out in force, though it was a reminder to Adam to continue to be aware about his plans slipping out to the public, people were starting to recognize him, he was slowly making a name for himself, especially after today when he brings a fully functional APC packed with supplies he will definitely stand out. He can’t afford to get careless now.
For the first time since he started coming to Midway the guards did not give him the speech they always did at the gate. They seemed too impressed and taken aback by the sudden appearance of an APC to go through the normal spiel. Instead they simply cautioned the group to stay peaceful while inside and let them in without further trouble.
Adam parked the APC in front of the front entrance to a crowd of slowly growing onlookers, it was a mixed bag that he was getting attention, he was happy that his efforts amounted to something that would get him a bit of fame, however it also meant jealousy would be on the rise. Regardless he had already steeled himself for this.
“Rae, Pearl, Protectron.” He said to three of his companions. “Stay here with the APC and make sure no one touches anything from outside our group.” He then turned to Salvatore. “Salvatore, can you head to Ghoul Town and ask Hobson to come here? I’m going to gather all the merchants I work with and bring them here instead of the other way around.”
“Yeah, I can do that kid.”
“Actually you can invite all the merchants in ghoul town but Hobson, as my go to, gets first pick from them.” Adam said with a smile. Salvatore grinned back.
“I’ll make sure to let them know.” He said before he began to walk off towards the town.
“You two can stay or go if you want, I promise I will pay you both from the profits when it's all done if you want to get some rest.” Adam said to Eve and Deccanus.
“I am fine to stay here~ Besides, who would dare touch your stuff when there is an assaultron protecting it.”
“I too shall remain here, I have no reason to return to my hotel until the sale is completed.” Adam nodded at them and then turned to head inside but was stopped by Pearl speaking up.
“Pearl is confused, is Pearl supposed to kill weak humans who come close to big metal box?”
“No no.” Adam corrected quickly. “Don’t kill anyone, just keep them away, you can shove them back if they get too close but…” Adam then looked to Eve and then back at Pearl. “Eve here will tell you what is okay and what is not, okay?” He then looked back to Eve again. “That okay?”
“Perfectly fine honey~” Adam smiled at her and then headed inside to go gather the merchants to come back with him. Adam got Jay, Olivia, and Lune, obviously, as there were things for each of them, however he also got in contact with Shelby, the head of food distribution for a large number of restaurants in Midway. He had never actually met Shelby before because he simply didn’t deal in much food, but seeing as half his inventory, more or less, was food, this seemed as good a time as any.
By the time he had gathered the merchants and brought them outside to his APC there was already quite a crowd gathered around his group trying to either inspect or otherwise just be a curious onlooker. A few merchants he didn’t know were already trying to barter their way in to get at whatever treasures may lay within that they could see as well as the items that were sticking out of the backpacks his companions carried, though most were on the ground next to the APC.
Hobson was already next to the APC with Salvatore while Pearl literally body-blocked the largest group of people from getting close. It seemed like Eve instructed her well. Adam brought the merchant group over to the back of his APC and then pulled the release latch to open the ramp and revealed the treasure trove inside.
“So yeah, you can see why I brought you out here rather than bringing it to you.” He chuckled.
“Wow, Adam, I think you really outdid yourself here.” Jay said with a soft whistle. Olivia glanced over at Jay and stealthily giggled before adding in herself:
“I’ll say, this is beyond even my expectations, not just the armor…” She said while she gazed at the power armor. “... but the vehicle too.”
“I knew you were good but…” Lune said as she seemed more interested in the APC than the stuff inside at the moment. “This goes far beyond my expectations.” Adam chuckled.
“Fixing this baby up took over 6000 caps and a lot of planning, but it was worth it.”
“Well if this space back here is even half full of food, you certainly are bringing quite a boon to Midway today.” She said with a grin.
“So some of this stuff is not being sold, The power armor for one…” He said before Olivia let off an audible ‘aw’ along with a pout which caused Adam to chuckle before continuing. “... and a few other things, but as we pick through it I will put that stuff off to the side, I know somewhere in this mess is a minigun I’m probably going to keep as well as my protectron that is in desperate need of repair, but more or less everything else is good to be sold. Anything you all don’t buy I will then sell to our crowd of onlookers.” He chuckled as he gestured to the people nearby.
“Well… better get to work then!” Jay said as he rolled up his nonexistent sleeves and started to head into the back of the APC to begin bringing things out for inspection.
“At this rate I might need to ask Mr. Cantelli for a loan again…” Shelby said as she remained back and examined the goods from the side, sighing after she spoke.
“Where is my pick in this litter?” Hobson said from the back, having kept quiet while the others spoke.
“Same as everyone else, you get first dibs, buy what you want and you can, everything else will be available when you are done.” Adam informed him getting a grin out of Hobson.
“I knew I like ya for a reason, smoothskin.” He chuckled before entering into the APC himself and beginning to look through it too.
“Adam….” Salvatore said cautiously after he finished with Hobson. Adam turned to look at him and saw him pointing off to the side, a little bit separated from the crowd of people was a woman he did not expect to see at all. Mira. The woman whom he had saved from the raiders back in Naper was standing off to the side, looking somber and slightly out of place. Though she only seemed out of place because getting here from Midway is not exactly an easy trip. However he could not mistake her long brown hair and bright green eyes, and that is to say nothing of the scar, which did nothing to ruin her pretty face.
”Mira?” Adam said as he walked over to her slowly, letting the merchants do their work while he shared a conversation.
“Hey Adam…” She sighed. “I bring bad news… Famine is moving. The end is nigh.”
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Chapter Text
“Ominous messages aside, what do you mean?” Adam asked, hoping for clearer clarification.
“Famine, the wall of ghouls, they have begun to move towards the inner part of the city. In a week or two they will be completely overrunning every major population center and bringing death to them all.” She said back still somber and detached. Adam took a few moments to process before he spoke again.
“How do you know this?” Adam asked, carefully.
“I have certain… skills… it doesn't matter. What matters is I confirmed it for myself.” She shook her head. “The only reason I came here, to Midway, is to tell you about this. You saved my life so I owed you the same in return.” She gently lifted her hand up as if she was going to do something but stopped before she did, the motion itself could have easily been dismissed as an unconscious motion. “I’ve already told the people of Naper, I owed them that much for giving me a place to find my footing again.” She sighed and looked off to the side.
“Chicago is about to fall, soon the only people left alive will be the ghouls and those lucky enough to get out.”
“Wait wait wait, why do you sound like it can’t be stopped.” Adam said, trying to understand the situation. “Midway has high walls, plenty of guards, and there are two other horsemen sitting on the outskirts of the city. Are you saying this is so much a threat that no one can stop it?” He said a bit more panicked now. Mira just nodded somberly.
“This is an insurmountable number of ghouls, Adam. No amount of highwalls and strong defenders can stop it. It would take an army to stop what is coming…” She said petering off. Adam stared at her but lost in his own mind, thinking up what his next steps were, how he was planning to survive this and even being a bit skeptical.
After remaining silent for a good few moments he signaled for Salvatore to come over quickly.
“What is it kid?” Salvatore said, cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
“I need you to do me a favor.” Adam then looked around and realized that his initial thought of sending Salvatore to check wouldn’t be good enough, it’d take too long. He needed to have Salvatore get there faster. But he did have a means to get Salvatore there faster, his APC. “Mira says that Famine is on the move. Soon this area will be overrun with ghouls. I need you to go and see if that is true…” Adam said seriously. Salvatore dropped his casual stance and took up a more serious one.
“What? You telling me that wall is on the move?”
“Yes.” Mira said simply, adding nothing more.
“Well damn.”
“Since you are a ghoul, if you can go check to see if they are indeed on the move and report back we can plan, you can take the APC you should be able to get there in a few hours and then come back in the same amount of time.”
“Kid.” Salvatore began as he flicked his cigarette out of his hand. “I don’t fucking know how to drive the thing.” He said seriously.
“Its just like a car, just with a few more bells and whistles.” Adam said back quickly.
“It's a multi-ton monster and not something I have ever touched in my life, I wouldn’t know the first thing on how to drive it.” He said back, standing his ground. Adam looked back at the merchants who were still conducting the inventory and then back at Salvatore.
“Alright, I’ll drive you, I'll get you close enough so you can get a confirmation and then we will gun it back here.” Adam said with a resolved tone.
“What about all your stuff?” Salvatore asked. Adam now waved down Eve. She took a few moments to break off from the now, much less rowdy crowd and walked over.
“What can I do for you honey?~” She said with a flirty tone.
“Eve, we might have a big problem. The wall of ghouls known as Famine might be on the move. I am going to take the APC and Salvatore and make a trip East, see if we can figure it out for ourselves. Since I will be gone I won't be able to sell all this stuff or keep everyone together, can you take charge here? I trust that since you were a scaver for a long time too, you should be able to get a good deal on everything.” Eve’s stance straightens as Adam explains the situation, showing through body language she was taking this seriously.
“I can do that. Make sure you don’t get yourself killed~.” Adam grinned.
“I’ll do my best.” Adam then turned to Pearl. “Pearl!” he called out. “Can you begin taking everything out of the APC? I have to go somewhere for a bit. While I am gone listen to whatever Eve tells you okay?”
“Pearl understands, come back soon, humie.”
“What’s this about Adam?” Jay said as he was unintentionally rudely pushed out of the way by Pearl as she began to unload the APC’s contents onto the pavement.
“We may have a problem, I need to get a move on ASAP. I’m going to leave Eve in charge of the sale of everything. Things might be happening that require my immediate attention.” Jay seemed to stare at Adam for a moment before nodding in understanding and then he, and the other merchants helped Pearl to move everything out of the APC, minus the power armor and a few guns that Adam had noted he was going to keep.
Once everything was taken out, which took no more than a few minutes, and Eve was left in charge, Adam turned to Salvatore again.
“Let's get a move on, if it's like Mira said we need to get a view on this ourselves.” Salvatore nodded and then headed to climb aboard the APC to hop inside. Adam was about to head in after him but was stopped by Mira.
“This is… as far as I go.” She said still somber. “By the time you return I will be gone. I can’t stay in Chicago if it is going to be destroyed.” Adam stared at her for a moment and then nodded.
“I understand.” He then smiled warmly at her. “Stay safe Mira. Good luck.” He said before he ran over to the APC himself and jumped inside leaving Mira behind to quietly say ‘you too’ back.
As soon as Adam was inside the APC he turned it back on and drove right to the gate.
Chapter Text
The trip East was uneventful, after all, a fully functional APC going at a fast pace through the ruined streets of Chicago was not the sort of thing any rational group would tangle with. Adam did end up running over a few small groups of feral ghouls as he moved to where Salvatore was directing him, the center of the mass of ghouls as he knew it, but none of them impeded his path, there were far too few bodies to gunk up the tires. Once there Adam parked the APC inside a pile of rubble and turned it off.
"I'll be back soon kid." Salvatore said as he opened the hatch and jumped out, planning to head to somewhere he can get a birdseye view of the scene.
Adam was left alone, in the quiet APC cockpit, staring at a wall of rubble while he waited tense moment after tense moment. It was beginning to take a long time for Salvatore to come back. How far he went, how much he had to do, Adam had no idea, but he was getting worried.
However, just as he was about to do something to try to find Salvatore the hatch opened up from above. Adam put his hand on his gun but was relieved when he saw Salvatore climb back in.
"Welcome back." Adam said, relieved.
"Yeah well, I wouldn't welcome me back so quickly." He frowned and then leaned back on the chair. "I bring bad news."
"Is it just as Mira said?" Adam asked.
"Maybe worse." He sighed. "God kid, I can't see the end of them, and they are all on the move."
"Your estimate on how long we have before they are a danger to the citizens of Chicago?" Adam asked.
"I don't know, that's not my specialty. But you said Mira estimated a week or two? I'd venture to say that's right, though scattered ferals might start to wander in much earlier than that." He sighed and then turned to Adam seriously. "You gotta get out of here, kid. It won't be safe for humans soon." Adam looked at him for a moment and then sighed as he turned on the APC again, beginning to back it up.
"Listen to me, kid!" Salvatore said seriously to him, reading what was on his mind at the moment. "This is no time to play hero! Soon the entire Chicago area will be overrun with ghouls! It won't be safe for you here! You can load up some friends in the back of the APC and take 'em far away, head to the capital wasteland or back west to NCR territory, either way you can't stay here." Salvatore said loudly, practically begging.
"I can't do that Salvatore… too many people are going to die if I do nothing." Adam said back, his eyes on the road, his voice calm and measured.
"No!" Salvatore shouted. "Kid this isn't the time to be playing white knight, you can be a good guy all you want but not to the point that you get yourself killed!"
"I gotta try Salvatore!" Adam shouted back. "My home is about to be destroyed by an army of feral ghouls. I can't just sit back and let people die!"
"Sure you can!" He yelled back. "Fuck others, they ain't done shit for you anyway, all that matters in this life is that you can make it to the next day, and you won't if you try to stick your nose into this! You can hide in your Vault if you want, but don't try to stop this, it's over."
"I refuse to accept that!" Adam said back forcefully. "You can run and hide but I'm not giving up. Sure, you can tell me I owe these people nothing, and you'd be right, but this is my city, my home. I slept through the first destruction of my city and the next 200 years of strife. I can't sit back and watch as my home is destroyed again! I'm not going to hide in a vault, nor am I going to run away, I will make a stand."
"Jesus, kid." Salvatore said, aggravated, as he leaned back in his chair again. "You are gonna die." He said more somber now.
"Maybe." Adam said back. "But if I do it will be on my feet, trying." He said, resolved. The silence in the car remained for a few minutes while each man sat in their own thoughts before Salvatore spoke up again.
"Do you have a plan?" Salvatore asked, calmer now, resolving himself to do what he can to ensure Adam didn't die a dog's death on this path he had chosen for himself.
"I do." Adam said seriously as he continued to drive fast through the streets, hoping to get back within a few hours. "Mira said nothing short of an army would stop this oncoming horde… I plan to build an army."
"How the hell do you plan to do that?" Salvatore asked, surprised.
"By getting all the forces of Chicago together." Adam said back.
The rest of the trip, just as the one out, was uneventful. Salvatore had given up on convincing Adam to drop this stupid plan and Adam was busy thinking of all of the logistics. By the time they got back he saw his group waiting outside for him. Though it was probably the case that Pearl was not likely to be let inside even if she did want to. The merchants and loot were all gone, alongside the onlookers. As Mira said, she too had disappeared as well.
Adam rolled up to where he parked the APC last time and then hopped out with Salvatore.
"How was the East?" Deccanus asked as Adam emerged.
"Bad." He admitted. "But I have a plan, I will have Salvatore here fill you in but there is someone I need to urgently see now." Adam said before he took off to the city to meet the one man who he believed had the power to help him more than anyone else.
"I need to speak to Mr. Cantelli. Tell him it's urgent." Adam said as he stopped in front of one of the Black suited men outside The Guild's area.
"Mr. Cantelli has asked to not be disturbed right now." The man returned calmly. "I'm sorry, but you will need to come back later."
"This is a matter of extreme urgency, the very fate of Midway hangs in the balance." Adam insisted.
"I'm sure but you can't see the Boss anytime you want." The man repeated. Adam groaned audibly before he changed tactics.
"Tell Mr. Cantelli that I'm here to cash in my favor."
Chapter Text
A few minutes later the man returned and let Adam through, having him drop off all his weapons at the entrance for safety. When he got into the office Mr. Cantelli was sitting in his chair looking a little less than pleased.
“This is a very bad time, however I’m told it is urgent?” He said, clearly not in the mood for small talk today.
“Yes, Mr. Cantelli.” Adam said as he approached and sat down in the chair. “Famine, it's on the move.” Adam said bluntly. Mr. Cantelli raised an eyebrow.
“That hoard of ferals? They are on the move?” He asked.
“Yes, I was informed by someone I knew that they were and then me and my partner went to go check it out, he is a ghoul so he was able to get a lot closer than I was and see from the top of a tall building. They are coming to the center of Chicago, and we have about a week, maybe 2.” Adam said seriously. Mr. Cantelli remained silent for a good long while, fingers folded into each other as he contemplated the scenario.
“I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Mr. Baxter.” He said with a cold tone.
“I have a plan, Mr. Cantelli, all hope is not lost.” Adam interjected, sensing Mr. Cantelli was about to dismiss him and make his own plans.
“Oh?” He said, raising an eyebrow again and sitting up a bit.
“I plan on gathering all the powers of Chicago together, and mounting a united defense to stop the horde that is going to sweep through the area. That is why I have come to you today.”
“What, so you can ask me to fight?” He chuckled dryly.
“No. So I can cash in my favor from you so you can mobilize some people to help me form a defense against them.” Mr. Cantelli frowned.
“When I gave you a favor I figured you would use it for something selfish.” He said, his mind still turning while he spoke.
“I had considered it, but desperate times and all that.” Adam returned. Mr. Cantelli remained silent for a long few moments before he looked Adam in the eyes.
“What kind of people do you want?” He asked seriously.
“As many as you can gather.” Adam said back. “The more manpower we throw at this problem the better.” Mr. Cantelli leaned back in his chair and then swiveled it around so he was facing away from Adam for a moment.
“Its going to take some time to get forces together, and unless you really do manage to bring other forces to bear there is no telling if the people I call will be enough. It would probably just be better if the people I call were to just defend Midway.” He said with a contemplative tone.
“That is why I'm using my favor. I plan to stop them before they can get to the population centers.” Mr. Cantelli spun back around on his chair.
"How are you planning on getting in contact with the other groups of note?”
“I have a car now, I’m sure a man with your connections already knew about it, but I will use it to race to the other settlements and get their help too.” Silence again filled the room before Mr. Cantelli sighed.
“Alright, I will do what I can. I owe you a favor I will follow through on it.” He grinned. “Where is this little battle taking place?” He asked. Adam paused.
“I don’t know yet, but there is a location further east that I know of that will be a good location to gather our forces and plan.” Mr. Cantelli nodded as Adam showed him a location on his pip-boy.
Adam was picking a location not too far from his Vault for the meeting location. It was far enough away that the Vault’s entrance should still be secret, but close enough that he can use it as a base and staging area. In the worst case scenario that the vault was discovered, the true value of the vault was not that it was hidden, it was the giant ass solid metal door that sat at the entrance making it impossible for anyone who doesn’t have a pip-boy to get inside. It was a risk, but right now, more than anything, he needed to make use of every advantage he had. Besides, there was a good chance he was not going to keep the vault a secret, there was no need. And if he ever wanted to have shipments delivered right to the base, from Chuck, for example, he’d need to have it be made somewhat public. All of this, however, was thoughts and problems for future him. He needed to focus on the here and now.
“I’ll see that you get your manpower, I don’t know yet what cards I can pull but I know a few mercenaries laid up for work, plus I'm sure the Mayor will want to contribute too. You pull together the others and this just might be doable.” Adam let off a sigh of relief.
“Thank you Mr. Cantelli.” Adam smiled.
“Well don’t thank me yet, you still need to live through this mess you are about to create.”
“I know. And I still have a lot of work to do.” Adam said before he stood up to leave. However before he did Mr. Cantelli stood up too and extended his hand.
“You may not be the kind of man I normally work with, hell, you may not be the kind of man I normally see, but you are a good man, Mr. Baxter. I do hope I’ll get the chance to see you again.” Mr. Cantelli said with a tone of soft admiration. Adam chuckled and then turned around and took the hand.
“Thank you. With any luck the next time you see me we will be throwing a victory parade.” He grinned and then walked out.
Adam left the area after taking back his weapons and returned outside where everyone was waiting.
“Well that’s one down, now I just got to get the others.”
“Salvatore explained the situation to us, are you sure you want to throw yourself into danger, handsome?" Eve said, sounding unsure herself.
“Yes. Chicago will fall unless the people work together to stop this threat.” Adam said back.
“I am with you.” Deccanus said resolutely, without a shred of hesitation. Adam chuckled and smiled at him.
“Thank you Deccanus, I knew I could count on you.” Adam then looked at the others. “Things are going to get worse before they get better, I am going to be going to the most notable groups I can think of and plead my case. With any luck we will have an army. If we are unlucky, well…” He paused. “I would not expect any of you to stick around for what might be a battle where death is likely. But know that if we don’t step up everyone will be in danger. I will be throwing myself into the fray to do what I can. And I would love to have everyone’s help.”
“Pearl not know what human is talking about, but Pearl thinks smash is easy, if Pearl smash help, then Pearl help. Human not so bad." Pearl said with poetic insight as always.
“Well~ I’m not a fan of throwing myself into losing battles but if it's for a handsome man like you~” She mimed blowing a kiss to Adam. “I suppose I can be convinced to go.”
“Rae is willing to follow the sergeant anywhere! If you want to, we will go to battle!”
“Buddy awaiting orders.” Buddy said, still with broken legs as he sat on the ground. The other protectron was much quieter, just standing still and not speaking at all since it was waiting for clear orders.
Adam’s eyes fell onto Salvatore, the only one who had not yet spoken up. He sighed loudly and then scratched his head.
“Alright alright, I’m not going to pussy out here. If you all are willing to throw down your lives for some poor smucks you don’t know I can’t exactly turn tail and run now can I? I will help, for whatever good that does us.” He said with a sigh. Adam smiled at him.
“Thank you all.” Adam said to the group at large. “We will have a lot of work to do. Places and people I need to visit, things to prepare, we might need to split up for a bit while we prepare ourselves.” Adam looked around for a moment.
“I originally planned to head to the Vault as my next destination but that is going to have to be put on hold. However the Vault is going to be our meeting point, so whatever you have to do to prepare for this battle, meet me there in… a week. Any longer and we might start already being overwhelmed. He turned to Rae.
“Rae, I want you to go to the Vault location I will give you through my pip-boy lead the protectron and carry Buddy there and wait there until I arrive, protect the entrance from anything that tries to fight you and if anyone asks where I am, tell them that I will be coming soon.”
“Understood sir!” Rae said with a salute as they picked up Buddy again and began to roll off.
“Protectron, follow the robobrain from this moment until I give you an order not to do so.” He ordered the construction protectron.
“Complying with orders!” It returned with a mechanical tone as it began to follow after Rae who was walking away slowly.
“Now, who is coming with me?” Adam grinned as he looked at his group.
Chapter Text
It was decided, after much consideration, that Pearl would accompany Adam on his trip to convince the leaders to send reinforcements. Salvatore said he might be able to convince some of his merc buddies to help out, either for cap or for glory, plus he wanted to give a full update to the people of Naper, he still had a soft spot for them. Eve said she had to polish off some old weapons, and Deccanus wanted to scout the areas around the Vault to search for a suitable battlefield. Unfortunately Pearl was too large to sit in the cockpit with Adam but she could comfortably sit in the back. He would be down a talking partner up front but it was a small price to pay to let everyone prepare themselves for the upcoming mission. Besides, Pearl was the newest member of the group, a formerly wild super mutant that only recently joined up. Honestly Adam didn’t trust her enough to leave her unsupervised right now. So bringing her with him seemed to be the best choice.
Before Adam left, however, he got the best piece of news he had heard all day.
“Here is the sum total of our earnings from selling off all the loot.” Eve said as she handed over a huge number of Midway Slips and a few loose caps to Adam. The entire amount added up to 17,396 caps. It was a tremendous success.
Ultimately, among his group, there were actually few who needed to be paid. A benefit of working with reprogrammed robots. Salvatore didn’t get a real cut since he was a hired mercenary, however Adam gave him a free 2000 caps for taking part as it seemed the least he could do. Pearl didn’t get any since she didn’t even know what caps were yet. Which only left him, Deccanus, and Eve. The remaining 15,000 caps were split three ways, each person getting 5132 caps. Adam had, in one move, more or less completely gotten back his entire APC investment from this one run to the Federal Ration Stockpile. It had gone exactly as he planned. Though he had not planned he would have to deal within an oncoming horde of ghouls.
Either way, his wallet set from the sale of all the goods, he left Midway shortly thereafter alongside Pearl to head right to The Pier.
The trip to The Pier was incredibly smooth. The path was well maintained and patrolled as he noted last time. The path was more or less a straight shot with wide open roads to allow for a lot of people to come and go. He practically didn’t have to take his foot off the accelerator the entire trip sans the two times he encountered a traveling brahmin caravan and he had to slow down to pass them.
Arriving at The Pier, Adam had to park the APC outside the front gate as The Pier was not designed for cars to roll out onto it. Especially not multi-tonned armored infantry fighting vehicles.
The guards were, understandably, quite surprised to see a fully functional APC roll up, and they, also understandably, had their guns raised and ready to fight if needed. However Adam emerging from the hatch calmed them down significantly and he was instead met with pleasant hellos and a warm welcome. It seemed they had not forgotten him at all. That’s nice. It's also going to make his efforts to get them to send extra help to the battle easier.
Adam opened up the back hatch and let Pearl out. The guards were sufficiently intimidated by her but they didn’t seem to be unwilling to let her in with Adam. Simply informing Adam to ‘keep the Mutant on a short leash.’
With that he walked inside, Pearl in tow, as he headed to meet with the only woman here with the power to help. However he was stopped shortly after entering by the young girl who was still selling flowers at the entrance.
“E-excuse me Mr…” She said, clearly intimidated by Pearl but trying her best to be brave and make a sale. “C-can I interest you in some flowers?” She said hopefully. Adam looked at her and was about to open his mouth to answer but Pearl spoke up first.
“Its a little human.” Pearl said as she stepped closer, intimidating the child accidentally. The young girl almost looked like she might cry but she was keeping strong for the moment.
Pearl stood tall over the little girl for a few moments before she took a knee and gently placed a hand on the child’s head.
“Pearl likes little humans, Pearl protect little humans, Pearl remembers little girl like you, she had biggest smile.” Pearl said in an almost… motherly way?
The girl was very intimidated for a few seconds after having her head patted by the mutant, but seeing that Pearl had no intention to hurt her, and even more so, was willing to protect her, she mustered up the courage to offer her a flower from the bouquet she was holding.
“W-would you like a flower? Mr. Mutant?” She said hesitantly.
Pearl gently took the flower from the girl, holding it gingerly between her thumb and her index finger and then put it behind her ear.
“Pearl thanks little human for gift. Pearl happy.” Adam smiled softly at the two of them and then pulled out a Midway slip worth 50 caps, since he truly didn’t have many loose caps at the moment and put the slip into the girl’s hand.
“That’s for you. I hope the rest of your day goes splendidly.” He said warmly before he led Pearl down the pier towards The Emirates.
“State your business.” One of the men outside the door to the palace-like space said as they stopped Adam and Pearl before they could enter.
“I need to speak with Madam Aquamarine. I have urgent information.” Adam said in a businesslike way.
“Name?” The guard said without a care in the world.
“Adam Baxter.” The guard seemed to raise an eyebrow at the name, perhaps recognizing him by name only and then nodded and turned to head inside to assumedly ask for permission.
A minute later the guard returned and ushered Adam inside.
“Ah~ How wonderful to see you again, Adam Baxter.” Madam Aquamarine said as she lazed on her pillows smoking her pipe in a smoke filled hazy room just as he saw her last time. She then looked to Pearl who was following closely behind Adam. “I see you picked up a super mutant of your own.” She grinned.
“They are quite useful aren’t they?~” She said as she gently gestured to her two armored Super Mutants in the back, who, for once, seemed a bit animated. Perhaps because they were seeing Pearl too.
For Pearl’s sake she seemed surprised to see the two super mutants and looked like she wanted to walk over to speak to them.
“Pearl would like to say hi to super mutants if pretty lady will let Pearl.” She said to Madam Aquamarine who just chuckled softly into the back of her hand.
“By all means my large green friend~ have at it. Those two might love some conversation from a fellow like you.” She smiled and Pearl then broke off from Adam and walked to the back of the room to converse with the super mutants.
The conversation was, unfortunately, quite loud as super mutants were not quiet creatures, however it was not much more than Pearl just asking how they ended up here and what they did around this place as well as how it was living with ‘puny humans’. Adam did his best to tune out the conversation and focus on the task he came here for.
Adam took a seat on the pillow across from Madam Aquamarine and took a deep sigh.
“I’m going to be blunt.” He said with a serious tone. “Famine is on the move, and we need to stop him.”
Chapter Text
“Well slow down there honey.” Madam Aquamarine said with a silken tone as she gently tapped out the ashes from her pipe. “Famine is on the move you say? Why would those ferals even be moving at all? Surely it's not nearly as dire as you are making it sound.”
“It is.” Adam said seriously. “My partner confirmed it himself, we drove close enough to get him to a vantage point. We have a week, maybe two before the ferals completely begin to invade the center of Chicago." Madam Aquamarine frowned and put her pipe down, sitting up.
“I see.” She said with an instantly cold tone, like a flip had been switched in her head. Gone was the silky smooth honeyed tone she employed and instead was a cold unapologetic calculating one.
“But I have a plan.” Adam said, preempting any plans she might be making, just like he had with Mr. Cantelli. “I am right now gathering forces together to form an army, an army strong enough to cull the invading forces. She remained quiet for a solid few moments before her dagger-like gaze fell upon Adam’s once more.
“And you came here, to me, hoping I can throw in my lot with this little army you are putting together?” She asked, nothing but the cold calculating tone being heard through her words.
“Yes.” Adam admitted readily. “I already have a handful of people who work with me committed, and I have the promise of Mr. Cantelli that he will send whatever forces he can muster. I had to use a favor for it, but that’s neither here nor there.” Adam shrugged. Her eyes lit up slightly at the mention of Mr. Cantelli but it died down quickly.
“So that old fool is going to even be committing forces to this? How strange.” She said as her finger gently placed itself on her chin as she thought it over. “He isn’t the type to play well with others… if it's really that serious…” She then snapped her fingers and out of the side room came the same man in a white suit from last time, Cheshire.
“Yes, Madam?” Cheshire asked as he came out holding a clipboard and still doing work.
“We will need to pull our resources together, it sounds as though an endtimes crisis is approaching, I will need you to gather our finances, our men, and hire some mercs who are in need of a job. We apparently have an invasion to stop.” She said with a pleasant tone again to Cheshire. He bowed and then left the room.
“I believe that is enough of a display of my willingness to help~.” She said, back to her honeyed tone as she stood up and walked over to Adam, taking a seat next to him on the pillow. “Where will this climactic battle take place?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Adam said, not super comfortable with her sitting so close but he did his best to not make mention of it. “However I am having all the forces meet me here, to the east, it should be a good staging point to plan our fight and prepare the battlefield.” Adam said, showing her on the pip-boy where he was indicating.
“Wonderful~” She said with a sultry tone as she then placed a hand on his shoulder in a flirty way and then leaned in close, almost as if she was going to kiss him, however then she suddenly whispered in his ear:
“You were right, I have some rats hiding in my entourage.” She whispered with a honeyed and pleasant tone that sent shivers down Adam’s spine simply due to the cruel and sadistic undertones.
It seemed, at least, like Madam Aquamarine got his message and investigated based on his tip. If she found some spies sent by pestilence then all the better. However, upon further thought, this could prove to be useful. If those spies were around…
“Madam Aquamarine…” Adam said, softly, stopping her before she got up to go sit back down in her spot. He then pulled up a blank text screen and began to type into his pip-boy:
Perhaps this battle could become known to the Cult of Pestilence through those rats. I have no way of contacting their leader and I doubt they would be happy to see me. But they might be interested in stopping Famine too.
Once Adam was sure she had read everything, and at least planted the idea within her he put his arm back down and let her return to her seat.
“Well, as always, I’m immensely grateful to you, dear Adam. Once more you have done a great service for the people of this town.” She said with a slow sultry tone with a seductive smile. “I will do what I can to prepare for this battle, I just hope that this little get-together you are forming is going to be enough to stop what is to come. If not I shall have to push forward plans of evacuation. But luckily my people are a strong, hardy folk, and we have boats. We will live.” She grinned before picking up her pipe again and putting in new tobacco.
“Thank you Madam.” Adam said politely to her, glad this meeting went as smoothly as he had hoped, he began to stand up to leave before she spoke up again.
“It's getting late, I assume you don’t plan on leaving today, no?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
Truthfully… he was going to, but that was due to his mind being caught up in this grand battle he was about to help set up. In truth it had been a long day. He had battled with super mutants at the Federal Ration Stockpile, saved Pearl, drove all the way back to Midway with his friends in tow, sold everything off, made a separate, two way long trip to the core of famine’s territory to find out for himself what was happening, and then, after speaking with Mr. Cantelli, he came here. The day was long since over. Night had already begun to set in. However he had not even considered the time of day since he was so laser focused on his task. But leaving now would be foolish, no matter how tight his timetable. Besides, he had an APC now, getting from location to location was very fast and easy, assuming there was a road leading there. He could afford to take a break for the day. As much as he hated to admit it, he did need sleep too.
Madam Aquamarine seemed to read Adam’s mind as he thought through all this and then smiled as she took a slow hit of her pipe.
“You can stay in one of my luxury suites, as a guest, it's an honor I rarely bestow upon people, but I think you have earned it thanks to the efforts you are putting in.” Adam looked at her for a moment and then nodded slowly.
“Thank you, Madam. I appreciate it.” She grinned.
“I’m sure you do.” She then waved to one of her lackeys who were nearby but not in earshot and told them to bring Adam to a guest suite.
“What about Pearl?” Adam asked before he left. She just smiled.
“Do not worry, your super mutant friend will be in good hands here, I will find a room for them tonight.” She then shooed Adam away with her hand to get him to follow the man summoned to lead him. After a moment’s hesitation he did as she wanted and began to follow them. He had no idea what to expect but all he wanted was a nice bed.
Chapter Text
Adam arrived in the room he was brought to and found a space almost more luxurious than the 1000 caps per night hotel he visited in Midway. It was all one room, the spaces separated by silk tapestries strung up on the ceiling. The bed was a king plus sized bed with a red silk canopy and there was a gold plated bathtub large enough for him and Pearl to use at the same time without it being uncomfortable off to the side. Not that he would, of course. Everything in the space screamed luxury and while it was a little overwhelming the bed looked incredibly inviting.
Adam wasted no time and disrobed and headed right for bed. He was far more exhausted than he had thought but as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
The next morning came when the light filtered in through the window and gently licked Adam's face on the satin sheets. He had slept hard, but well. So as he began his morning, taking a nice bath in the oversized tub, he thought through his next steps.
Eventually he emerged from his luxurious room and was met with a sultry grin from Madam Aquamarine as she lounged on a nearby couch.
“Sleep well?” She asked with a soft and silken tone.
“I did, thank you.” Adam said with a polite nod.
“Wonderful~.” She sat up. “I have already sent word to fulfill your request to me, I assume you will be on your way so I suppose all I can say now is, don’t die. It would be a shame to let such a handsome face perish.” She smiled dangerously while her words remained dripping with honey. Adam chuckled.
“I will do my best, Madam.” He then looked around. “Where, might I ask, is my companion, Pearl?”
“Do not worry, your friend is by your car outside, waiting for you. I made sure no one touched your vehicle while you slept, in fact I stationed extra guards outside to ensure it remained undamaged.” Adam nodded gratefully at her again.
“Thank you for everything.” Adam said before he turned to leave.
“I hope to see you again soon, Adam~.” She finished with a sultry tone as Adam left the room and headed for his APC.
On his way he stopped by a food stall selling sandwiches and bought two for himself along with a bottle of water. 24 caps total. It would be his breakfast for the day, he wanted to get moving immediately.
Once outside, like Madam Aquamarine said, Pearl was waiting by the APC, and furthermore there were 6 guards outside keeping an eye on things.
“You taking off?” One of the guards said to Adam as he walked over to his car, opening the back up for Pearl.
“Yeah, I have a few more destinations to go before I prepare for the fight ahead.” The guard nodded.
“I’ll be seeing you there, I ain’t a hunter in name only. Killing ferals? That I can do.” He grinned. Perhaps Adam should stop referring to these men as guards, they all called themselves hunters, so perhaps that was the more accurate term? Regardless, Adam smiled back.
“Glad to know I’ll have some reliable folks at my back.”
“Safe travels, and happy hunting.”
Adam then hopped back into the APC and hit the road; he had more places he wanted to get to before he would return to the Vault to meet with the others.
His trip this time took a while, not because it was far, though it was certainly not just down the road. But Adam had never been to this place before, the paths were unknown to him and the roads themselves were clearly not maintained with a military APC in mind. He had to double back and reroute multiple times. However Adam realized that he could just leave the door to the back area open and be able to talk with Pearl from the front. It did require a bit of shouting but it was better than sitting in silence, or with just the radio on. Besides in all this madness he had hardly shared conversations with her, and he felt it only right to chat.
“Hey Pearl, how you doing back there?” He asked after they were driving for a little while.
“Pearl is doing okay, Pearl likes watching out tiny windows as things go by fast.” She said, turning around now to look towards Adam instead of out the port windows. Adam chuckled.
“How are you holding up? I mean it was only yesterday that you were still at the Federal Ration Stockpile as a prisoner. Things are moving very fast even for me, I’d imagine it can’t be very easy for you either.” Adam guessed.
“Pearl does not understand what human is doing, but Pearl understands this is important to human and that is good enough for Pearl.”
“Adam.” Adam added at the end. “My name. It’s Adam.”
“Pearl Understands. This is important to Adam.” She said again. Adam nodded, even though she wouldn’t be able to see him nodding from her angle.
“I just don’t want you to think I’m not thinking of your needs or wishes, I know I’m dragging you all over the place but this just sort of fell on my lap. I promise when this is over things will be more normal.” He chuckled.
“What is normal?” Pearl asked. Adam paused.
“I… don’t really know.” He laughed softly again. “But it won't always be like this. And if you are planning on sticking around with us then I will help you fit in and ensure you get whatever you need.”
“Pearl does not need much. But Pearl like fluffy bed, much better than hard ground.”
“Well I'll certainly make sure you can sleep on a nice big bed. I might need to get one from outside since I doubt the Vault has any bed big enough for you, but I promise I will put that on my todo list.
“Pearl does not mind ground sleeping. Pearl is happy to simply be needed.” Adam smiled warmly, though again she couldn’t have seen it.
“Well I promise I will always need your help, Pearl. And who knows, give it some time, you may find some goals for yourself too! I’ve heard of super mutants who became poets, you have endless possibilities before you.”
“Why does Adam try to do all this, what is Adam’s goals?” Pearl asked. The question itself pulled out a far more introspective line of thought out of Adam than he expected. He remained silent for a few moments while he processed.
“I am just… trying to carve a place out for myself in this world, make a home I feel happy with, and if I can help others along the way all the better.” Adam said after a bit.
“Pearl remembers home. Pearl remembers it was warm place.” She said back.
“Pearl, what do you remember? From before you became a super mutant I mean.” Adam asked, curious.
“Pearl remembers… being shorter, having little human in hands…” She put her arms out as if she was cradling a baby. “Pearl remembers home and being with humans. But Pearl not remember much else. Pearl’s head fuzzy. Pearl no like fuzzy head.” Adam nodded.
“That’s fine, you don’t need to try to think of it anymore. I was just curious.”
“Pearl wonders…” She continued, disregarding Adam’s comment. “What Pearl was like before she was super mutant… was Pearl ever not super mutant? Pearl not know.” She then seemed to trail off into a bit of introspection herself and Adam let the conversation stop there. He didn’t want to push her. But now he was curious if all super mutants had some memories of being human or if Pearl was unique. Unique just like him… in fact many of his group were unique.
Salvatore the pre-war ghoul mercenary, Deccanus possibly the last surviving member of a long dead empire, Eve a fully sentient Assaultron, Rae a partially sentient Robobrain, and now Pearl, a super mutant that remembers part of her past life. And then of course there was Adam, the clone of a pre-war soldier. What an eclectic group. The only ‘normal ones’ were Buddy and the construction robot who were nothing more than simple protectrons.
Adam let the silence ride for a little while longer as he slowly turned on the radio station and continued his drive to his next destination.
Chapter Text
A few more hours of driving, annoyingly, and Adam finally arrived at his destination. Camelot.
Adam stepped out of the APC and then let Pearl out of the back before looking at the building. He had never been here before so he had no idea what to expect but this was somehow both within line with what he imagined and even more outrageous than he thought.
It was a hotel. That much was clear. Or at least it used to be a hotel. However the hotel was clearly themed like a medieval castle, with buttresses and stone towers and grand windows and the like. Some of it was just faux building, he was sure, but it was the renovations that had been done that was impressive. The entire structure was revamped and set up with battlements, ramparts, even two ballistae on the roof. In addition the front parking lot had been turned into a training ground with a number of men currently running laps around the broken pavement with a drill instructor yelling at them to keep going. It reminded him of his days in boot camp. And then, surrounding everything, from the building and its support structures to the parking lot itself was a large stone wall. It was clearly made with the intention of simply looking period accurate but it had since been heavily reinforced and touched up to work as an actual fort wall. Even if the only man-able structures on the wall were the towers since the wall itself was too thin to walk on. So they had built wooden platforms to stand on so they could use the wall to its fullest if needed.
“Is that Adam Baxter?" A man in armor said as they noticed him from afar, his helmet was on so Adam didn’t recognize him, mostly because the armor all looked the same. He did realize that the symbols on the shields were all different but he didn’t have them memorized after only two meetings.
“Yes, it is.” Adam said with a friendly smile to the man approaching. He took off his helmet and Adam recognized him as Percival, the knight of the round he had met for the first time with Salvatore.
“Glad tidings to thee, what brings you to Camelot this day?” He asked with a friendly smile, his hand outstretched for a handshake. Adam accepted the offer and shook his hand.
“Bad news, I’m afraid.” He said with a frown now.
“Oh? I am sorry to hear that. Pray tell.”
“Famine. It's on the move. A wall of ferals are about to invade the heart of Chicago and unless they are stopped everyone is about to be killed.” Percival stopped when he heard Adam say this and frowned himself.
“You speak the truth?”
“Yes, me and my partner confirmed it.” Adam replied. Percival looked off to the side for a moment and then motioned for Adam to follow.
“Come, I must speak with the round table, this is indeed a threat most dire.” He said as he turned to head inside the building. Seeing as he was invited inside he followed.
Inside was a healthy mix of medieval theming and more practical room design layout. It did not feel like a castle but instead it felt like a hotel that had been co-opted by the military, which in a way it had. There were stone pillars, sconces with torches, and gargoyles, all of which were there to enhance the medieval theming, however all of it was clearly there from pre-war. Everything else, all the new renovations, were done with practicality in mind, it seemed that while they did roleplay knights, they were not above making changes that were not in line with the theme.
He was led all the way through various hallways, some that were clearly bedrooms or bunks, some that were turned into offices, some that were used for storage, and one that had spare parts for the ballistae he saw on the roof. Eventually Percival stopped in front of a conference room labeled ‘Aurthur’s court’ and was led inside.
In the room there were several people sitting at a large round table. There were enough seats for every senior knight, all 12, and a large zwihander that was implanted into the table in the center.
Currently the room had only 5 people in it, only one was in armor, the rest were ranging from a state of half-readiness to complete casual wear. Whatever they were talking about stopped abruptly when Percival entered the room with Adam in tow.
“I bring grave news friends.” Percival said as he stepped aside to let Adam enter. “We have a threat that might destroy this city that we love.” He said as he motioned for Adam to explain.
Adam went through the full explanation for them, from the description of what Salvatore saw, to the deadline, to even the meeting point, and how he was planning on creating an army to stop this problem.
“These are indeed dire times.” One of the other knights said solemnly. “But we shall not balk from this fight, noble Adam, you can count on the full might of the Knights of the Round to come to your aid in this hour. We shall deploy with the utmost speed to your battle.” He said confidently, however one of the other knights then spoke up.
“I do agree, but practical matters come first.” He held up a few sheets of paper and put on reading glasses. “We are spread too thin at this moment, we may not be able to mobilize in a week, in addition such a force will require extreme planning. We alone will not be enough. Even if Adam here can summon forces from all over Chicago there will still be numerous challenges. And that is to say nothing of the challenges of maintaining cohesion of such a large and diverse force.” He said with a diligent tone. Percival slammed his fist on the table.
"What matters is we have the heart to be in the fight! Sir Gawain, you can let your mind only focus on logistics, but as Lancelot said, we must gather what we can and fight.” The man named Gawain pushed up his glasses and sighed.
“I simply object to a full mobilization, we have other obligations and there are too many squires in training, are you suggesting we send the younglings to die in battle?” Percival leaned back.
"No…” He said, disarming a bit.
“All I want to do is make sure we have sufficient forces here in case something happens.” He then turned to Adam. “I apologize, my compatriots have the hearts of a lion but sometimes they speak before they think. I promise you, as the logistician of the Knights of the Round, we shall deploy to help you. Give us some time, the timetable is short and we will have a lot to prepare.” He said with a polite nod to Adam. “If you will excuse us, I believe we have a lot of work to do.
Adam nodded to him and then left the room, as he walked away he could hear an intense argument starting. Adam was not very worried about convincing the knights and getting their help but he just hoped they could sort out their problems in time for the fight.
The next group he wanted to contact was a shot in the dark. It was a group he had little contact with and he had no idea how they would react. War.
Chapter Text
Adam was not sure on the best way to get in contact with War. Truthfully he was not even sure if it was a good idea. But he really did need all the help he could get, and War's band wouldn't be a force threatening Chicago if he wasn't a powerful faction. So he did the one thing he could think of. Head deep into War's territory and speak to the first War members he saw. It did not take long.
Adam, almost immediately upon entering what he was certain was War's territory, he saw some of the members walking around on patrol.
There were 3 of them and they were immediately on guard as they saw the APC rolling up to them. Guns were raised, ready to shoot, despite the fact that the APC would easily resist small arms fire. Even as Adam hoped out of the APC they did not lower their weapons. He did open the ramp for Pearl to come out if she was needed, but he hoped it wouldn't come to a fight, after all this was supposed to be an exchange of information at the very least, not a battle. So for the moment he had told Pearl to stay inside.
"Who the fuck are you?! What are you doing here!? This is War's territory!" The man closest to Adam yelled as his rifle was raised, now pointing at Adam, he was not a fan of the gun waving in his face but he was keeping it inside.
"My name is Adam Baxter. I've come here knowing this was War's territory because I came to deliver a message. Famine is on the move, in as early as one week Famine's horde of ferals will overwhelm the entirety of Chicago unless he is stopped. I am putting together forces from all over Chicago to do just that." Adam said with authority. The men looked intrigued, skeptical, and invested. "We will be meeting at this location in the east. I've already contacted forces from various locations in the city. If War is willing to send forces to the battle we can all work together to stop this before irreparable damage is done to everyone." Adam finished.
The three men share a look at each other, uncertain what to make of Adam's words.
"How can we be sure you are telling us the truth?" He asked. Adam stared him dead in the eyes.
"Because I wouldn't have come all the way to War's territory to deliver a false message. I have been there, it's coming, whether you believe me or not. The only question is if you will be there to help us stop them."
The man at the front looked at his friends again and then slightly lowered his gun.
"I'll deliver the message to War, his call, if he says go, then yeah, we will go. But don't count on nothin' we ain't charity workers." He said with a squint.
"I understand. That was all I ask. If you can simply tell War I could hope for nothing more." Adam said, preparing to turn around and head back into the APC however he was stopped short when one of the men called out from behind him, not the one at the front but a different man.
"Hey… that's a nice car you got there." He said with a knowing tone. Adam turned around to look at him, unamused. He knew where this was going. "I'm sure I could do a lot of… good work if I had wheels like that… how about you hand it over and you can walk away unhurt?" He grinned, acting like he had all the power in the situation. Adam left off a deep sigh, he then stared him dead in the eyes with a cold stare and then yelled out:
"Pearl!" A moment later Pearl emerged from the back of the APC holding the super sledge, and looking confused why she had been called.
"What can Pearl do for Adam?" Pearl asked, confused.
"I-uh-I-uh" The guy who, just a moment ago, was so confident to wave a gun in Adam's face and threaten him so he can steal his APC was now balking in the presence of a super mutant. Adam had hoped for this reaction but it was far more potent than he had hoped. He just wanted a little muscle to back him up but this worked even better.
"I assume I can be on my way then?" He asked, coldly, to the man who was taking slow steps back.
"Y-yeah man, sorry to hold you up." He said before he hit the back of his friend lightly and then continued to back up slowly, gun now, decidedly, pointed away from Adam. Adam nodded to him.
"Safe travels, friend." He said back with a sarcastic tone. The three men then half ran away leaving Adam with Pearl who was still confused.
"Did Pearl do something wrong?" Adam chuckled softly, smiled, and then patted her arm slightly.
"Not at all, Pearl. In fact you did exactly what I needed you to do. Thank you for the help."
"Pearl not know what Pearl did, but Pearl happy to help." She said with a toothy grin and then headed back into the APC. Adam hopped back into the cockpit and then they headed back down the road.
Adam had no illusions on how untrustworthy those men were. Even putting aside their otherwise dubious intentions or their likely evil karma, they probably couldn't be trusted to fill a glass of water, let alone deliver a message as vital as this. So Adam did not just want to leave this to just one group, he wanted to ensure this message reached War.
Adam spent the next few hours driving around War's territory finding several small groups to inform them about the incoming Famine crisis. He specifically sought out smaller groups, any larger group of War's band was avoided because he had no confidence a single super mutant could be used to dissuade a large group from trying to rob him.
All in all, after a few hours Adam had successfully spoken to 5 groups of war's people. 2 of which did not try to rob him! How wonderful! Either way, with the task of hopefully getting some commitment from War done, he had three more places in mind he needed to stop. He had considered for a moment that he wanted to go to Renaissance for aid too, but they were a colony of artists, they did not even have guards, the most they had was turrets on the ceilings. They couldn't especially help even if they wanted to. However, thinking of Renaissance had given him a new idea. Which brings him to his three locations left before he would return to the vault. The first was simple. He was going to go to his safehouse.
This was going to be a big fight no matter how it was sliced, he needed every hand he could muster, however there were ways to get more firepower without relying on people armed with guns. He had 4 perfectly usable turrets with independent power sources right there in his safe house. Of course he would prefer to leave them all right where they were, after all it would leave the safehouse much less well defended. However, that was a problem for future him. Besides, he was planning on moving into the vault, especially with a car now he didn't need a safehouse as much. Again though, issues for future him.
The second place he wanted to go was Naper, obviously. Mira had apparently already told them about what was coming but giving them a check in and making sure they were okay was the least he could do. If nothing else he could confirm himself for them that this was a real threat. He didn't especially plan on asking for help from them, but if they offered it he would not say no.
And lastly there was the one place he had been expressly advised not to go. A place so vile that he questioned if he should even go to. A place with enough rough men and fire power to really help bolster his numbers but filled with an equal number of psychopaths that could cause an issue. He was planning on visiting the raider Utopia built out of the underground subway. Hell.
Chapter Text
Adam arrived a bit later at his safehouse and told Pearl to wait outside, after all she isn’t on the system so she would be shot at by the turrets if she walked inside. Without Rae he’d have to do it the long way and it was not worth the effort since he was uninstalling them.
Adam began to uninstall them in the simplest manner possible, leaving them wholly intact just powered down and removed from the ceiling. However he eventually decided to leave one turret here. If he wanted to use this place as a safe house one turret was more than enough to give him significant cover fire as well as deter less heavily armed intruders. 4 was overkill. At least, this was the way he was rationalizing this to himself.
He left one of the two that were in the main room where it had the biggest field of fire and loaded the rest up in the back with Pearl. The entire process took a decent chunk of time but it was entirely mundane work, which was almost a nice change of pace considering how much running around trying to make these plans was driving him crazy.
Eventually he finished and headed right out, grabbing a quick bite to eat from some of the MREs he had in storage in the back. He also shared some with Pearl, she ate 4 alone. Which was fine all things considered, mostly just interesting.
His next stop was the place he very much didn’t want to go. Hell. He dreaded that he planned to do this, however he knew that there were plenty of people there that might put self-preservation high enough to help. It could backfire, he could be inviting psychopaths into his plan. But he wanted as much help as he could get, and no matter how rowdy, unkempt, and uncontrollable the raiders were, they had guns and were willing to fight. He needed every single one of those types right now.
Rolling up close to Hell he made sure to park far enough away so his APC wouldn’t be spotted. However, just to be extra sure he locked it up tight and took the ignition key with him in case during the short time he was gone someone tried to take it.
He took Pearl with him, obviously, however he did spend a long few moments considering whether to wear his power armor when he went in or not. It would send a message, it would not only work as an intimidation factor but also as a good means to keep himself safe. However ultimately he decided against it for the same reason he almost brought it in. It would send a message. His worry? It might send the wrong message.
Power armor screams power, obviously. But it is effectively a full metal shield, for people who made their lives off killing others and throwing their lives into reckless endeavors wearing power armor might signal that he is too scared to walk around without it. It was pure supposition of course, but he wanted to show he was unintimidated. It was all a gamble but he was going to keep his head on a swivel and stay sharp, and with Pearl at his back he was not especially worried about anyone individually trying anything. It was the groups that concerned him. Still he was stalling, he needed to go in.
Pearl and Adam approached the location Eve gave him a while back, seeing a formerly metro map sign now painted over in a suspicious hue of red with the single word HELL. He was in the right place, there was no doubt.
There were some… reprobates standing outside the stairway leading down, they were clearly raiders, judging by the way they were dressed, however none of them did more than give Adam the stink eye. They seemed to be relaxing on their own, chatting, smoking, or gambling on the street. They were clearly not guards, if there even were any for this place, which he doubted, they were clearly just minding their own business, and Adam was content to leave them alone, and, luckily, they were content to do the same.
Once Adam had pushed past the heavy metal reinforced entrance to Hell he was met with an interesting sight. The entire subway had been transformed into a town. String lights were hung up on the ceiling, beds were laid out in some of the service areas. The singular Subway car at the subway station he walked into was converted into a restaurant of sorts. There were vendors, sitting on cloth mats on the ground, selling everything from guns and ammo, to jewelry, to even some… questionable meat. There were men and women all over chatting amicably, arguing, one even small fight over in a corner that was actively being broken up by two of their friends. It truly felt… normal… ish. It still had that brutal feel to it, like he needed to watch his back but considering what he was seeing it could have been much much worse.
Adam had expected this place to be full of paintings in blood, carcasses hanging from the ceiling, people stabbing each other left and right, but no. It seemed rowdy, yes, but it seemed to be a town like any other. If not for the fact that nearly everyone here seemed to be dressed like some kind of raider he would not think anything of it.
The fact that this place seemed far more normal than he was expecting actually calmed his nerves, he was expecting the worst and found something mildly mundane. Of course he had no intentions of letting his guard down, but knowing that this place was not just a murderer’s hangout spot and instead a slightly more normal town did a lot to make him less worried.
Of course all of this came to a sudden halt when one of the raider looking people walked over, his nose turned up at Adam while he hunched over, perhaps from a back injury, an interesting position to be sure, but it was clear he was looking for trouble.
“You new here?” He asked, grinning.
“Yes.” Adam said with a confident tone, deciding that giving an inch would only offer them an opportunity to exploit his weakness.
“Oh, well welcome to Hell, I'm the official welcoming committee, and as part of that you gotta pay 100 caps as a newcomer, dig?” He put on a shit eating grin as he looked Adam over, somehow completely ignoring Pearl’s presence, which was almost impressive in its own way.
Adam glanced around the room subtly. There were several eyes on them now. Watching. Waiting. He felt like an animal on display. How he reacted here was going to reflect on him. So he did what he thought was best. He hit the guy. Hard.
Adam landed a solid blow to the man’s stomach causing him to clutch it in pain and fall to the ground. Adam took a deep breath and then yelled to the room:
“Anyone else want my caps?!” His shout got a few chuckles from the crowd and a single cheer from one of the onlookers. After a few more moments the eyes watching him went back to their business. It seemed like he passed this first test. All he had to do was act like an asshole.
He then knelt down next to the guy on the ground, still clutching his stomach and then grabbed him by the hair forcing the guy to look him in the eyes. Adam hated this, he was not a fan of acting like a thug, but even he had to admit he was pulling off the swagger quite well right now. Still if this was a place full of raiders, he needed to act the type to not stand out. So he needed to keep this facade up for as long as he was here. At least these were markedly bad people, he didn’t need to feel bad about being an asshole to them.
Adam pulled at the man’s hair to ensure he had his attention.
“Bring me to the bar. Now.” He said with a cold tone to him.
Chapter Text
Walking with the raider turned lackey at the front he led them through more of the 'town' giving Adam an impressive perspective of just how creative people were at finding ways to survive. From the ways they get filtered water to the ways they set up stores and inns here it was quite interesting especially considering he was effectively walking inside a giant tube that once allowed the transit of subway cars. He did, however, see signs that this place used to be a settlement for more reputable folks before it became a den of raiders. He couldn't quite put his finger on it but it felt like a house that was owned by a nice old couple who then passed away and then was sold to house flippers who completely modernized the house and gave it new paint and a makeover. A lot changed but some things from the original house stuck through. The town seemed to be not created by raiders but instead something they stole a long time ago. That was the vibe he was getting anyway.
Regardless, after keeping his eyes open and not cowering while wandering around, led by the man, he avoided any trouble and arrived at what could affectionately be called a dive bar. There were plenty of men and women drinking, laughing, and messing around while drinking slop that probably was alcoholic in ways you wouldn't want it to be.
"H-here is the bar." The lackey said, speaking with a softer, more whipped attitude after getting floored with one punch by Adam earlier. Being a clone with enhanced genes came in handy from time to time.
"Thank you." Adam said with a cold tone to him, keeping up his facade for as long as he was here while he flipped the man a single bottle cap as a tip.
Honestly, the single bottlecap was almost more of an insult than if he left him alone. It was like throwing money at a man he just beat up… well no, that was exactly it was. However, more than that it was practically an insult because of what he was about to do next.
Adam cleared his throat and then spoke in a loud tone, more than loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the room.
"Attention, raiders, mercs, scum, and those with too much time on their hands." Adam said as he pulled out 5 100 midway cap slips and put them down on the counter. "You, I, and everyone in Chicago is about to die. Famine is on the move, if it is not stopped no one but the ghouls will be left alive to speak of it." He turned to the bartender and whispered something to him, the bartender took the money and walked off while Adam continued.
"Right now an army is forming at a location in the east. People from all over chicago will be coming to-"
"Why the fuck do I care eh?!" One of the raiders in the back said while giving Adam the stink eye. Adam rolled his eyes.
"If you would shut up for a half moment maybe you would get something new in that head of yours aside from beer." He said to the man which, surprisingly, got a chuckle out of a few of the patrons. "Now…" Adam continued, still doing his best to keep up this attitude. He no longer felt like he was about to be stabbed, but the possibility was there, and so long as the possibility was there he had no intentions of giving any impression to these people other than one where he was unflappable.
"As I said, an army is gathering and if you all don't want to die I'd strongly suggest you think about whether you want to fight for your lives, die like cattle, or flee." Adam said before looking over to his right where a map of Chicago, overlaid with the now defunct subway lines was hanging. He pulled out his knife and then stabbed the map right where the gathering spot was going to be.
"If any of you people aren't complete chicken shit come here, and be prepared to do something worthwhile for once." He could tell the mood of the room was dropping again, a few of the people were very much not a fan of being insulted and some looked they were a few more ill spoken words away from trying to kill him, even with Pearl at his back, which seemed to be the only reason they hadn't already. However he was not riling them up without cause. It was just one prong of his attempt to goad them into taking part.
Adam took out another Midway slip for 100 caps and waved it around.
"And, anyone from Hell who shows up to this party will get to take part in a cake of 3000 caps." Adam grinned and then threw the extra 100 cap slip on the counter too, where the 500 from before used to be.
"I don't care how many or how few show up, you come to me at the end of the battle and I'll make sure you get your slice of the pie. What you do after is your business." Adam said with a shrug. This was his plan, he wanted to rile them up, get them angry to try to prove him wrong, then try to get their interest in trying by offering a bounty for them to try to collect.
"What's stopping us from killing you now and taking the caps for ourselves? Sure you got a mutant with you but… wouldn't be my first mutie killin'." Another man in the bar said with a menacing grin as he licked his own knife, drawing blood from his tongue as he did, which somehow didn't even seem to phase him.
"Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to walk into Hell carrying that many caps?" Adam said with a raised eyebrow. "I'd have to be stupid to do that. No, the money is elsewhere, you kill me, you don't get a cent." Adam grinned.
Of course all of this was a bald faced lie. He did in fact have 3000 caps on him, well over, actually, sitting at around 4500 caps now that he had basically given 600 caps to the bartender. In retrospect it was a stupid move, but honestly, whether he had the caps on him or they were in his APC, it made no difference. If someone here wanted to kill him, even just suspecting he had caps, they would do so anyway. The truth of the matter in that case would be inconsequential.
There were some murmurs from around the bar, people speaking about the reward, about the insults, about jumping Adam anyway, basically the exact sort of conversations you'd expect. However, just as people were starting to get some strange ideas, the bartender returned carrying a large barrel of what was likely moonshine or bathtub gin and placed it on the counter.
"Oh, and I just bought everyone's drinks here today, and that barrel along with it. All of it is on me. Drink up and think about my offer. Maybe some of you will be leaving the battle rich enough to buy a home in Midway." He shrugged and then turned around as there was cheering beginning to erupt in the bar as the news of free drinks were setting in.
Before fully leaving Adam stopped at the door and then turned around to look at the bar.
"One week. Make sure you are at the location in one week, otherwise you don't get a single cap of the pot." He grinned and then left, Pearl walking right behind him. The cheering from behind him as the men and women scrambled to get the free liquor could be heard even as Adam gained a considerable distance on the bar. He hoped that their cheering for free beer did not drown out his last piece of critical information, the date, but he could only hope now.
As Adam walked towards the exit of Hell he patted himself on the back. There were many ways this could have gone down. Did he handle this perfectly? Absolutely not. Was there better ways to get these raiders' help? Without a doubt. However Adam was throwing together this plan as he went along, and for what he could do in the spur of the moment with only the time spent driving to think about it, he thought he did decently well. He riled up their competitive spirit, enticed them with monetary gain, and then won their favor with free beer. In addition, the commotion will draw other people to the bar, which in turn, will spread the word further. It sucks that to get the help of some, otherwise, lowlife reprobates, he would need to spend 3000 caps on top of the 600 he already paid for drinks but it was a worthwhile investment. Midway slips would be worthless if Midway was erased off the face of the map. Besides, he was a scaver, he could always make more money.
As he was about to leave through the front gate 3 denizens stopped him, blocking the way out.
"Heard there was a new guy in town, thought we'd pay him a beating." One grinned. Adam looked at him like he was stupid.
"Are you stupid?" Adam asked, voicing his thoughts. "Do you not see my super mutant companion?" He asked, genuinely wondering if these guys were blind or just had an IQ lower than room temperature water.
"I can see perfectly fine." He grinned as he pulled out a switchblade, as if that was going to even puncture Adam's combat armor. "And what I see is a sucker ready to get a lesson on Hell's hospitality!" He charged in and tried to stab Adam.
Without even taking a step back, Adam grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him forward and then slammed the man's head right into his knee. He went down to the ground without delay, not unconscious, but with a bloody nose.
"Pearl, mind cleaning up these guys for me?" Adam said with an evil grin as he looked at the other two who had not yet moved, but seemed ready still for a fight. Must be on chems or something. Pearl then grinned too as she pulled the super sledge off her back and placed it in her hands.
"Pearl happy to help Adam."
Chapter Text
After they got back into the APC they headed to their last destination before the Vault, Naper. He had considered going to the other two settlements he knew about for help but each had its own problems.
First there was The Raft, as far as he knew it was quite a sizable settlement. Certainly it would be a boon for the upcoming battle if he were to get them involved, no doubt they had ample guards. However as he was told the Raft was notably East and had pulled up the ramps leading onto their boat flotilla. In addition they were turning away anyone who wanted to come into their city even over the water. Eve suspected they had some sort of internal issues going on so going there would be a waste of time even if he could get there.
Then there was the Highrise. Realistically he could go there and maybe get some help, but he had never been there before and thus he didn't know anyone. In addition it was not a large settlement, more in line with Naper. The time it would take to convince the people living there that he was genuine and that they needed help in this upcoming battle would take too long. He still had a number of other things he had to do. In addition the settlement's location was so out of the way it would be difficult to justify heading there when he was already on a timetable. Besides, after heading to Hell he was done gambling with strangers, he wanted to take it easier.
The people of Naper knew him, liked him, and quite frankly, he needed sleep. Once more all this running around has killed the day, it was not yet night but it would be soon. He could grab his room at the Inn and stay the night after getting the town up-to-date. He wanted to see some friendly faces. Whether or not they would help was besides the point.
Arriving at the gate to Naper the guard seemed quite intimidated to see such a large vehicle pull up on the small town.
"Identify yourself!" He said, trying to keep his resolve up, pointing his rifle at the APC. Adam slipped over to the hatch and then raised a hand as he stood up.
"Don't worry, it's just me." Adam smiled at the guard as he got into view. Seeing Adam the guard lowered his weapon and sighed in relief.
"Is that you Adam? Where did you get a tank?" He asked with a small smile.
"APC actually, but it's a long story, I have a lot to talk about, but can you open the gate for me? I need to speak to the town."
"Yeah, yeah. Give me a moment." The guard said as he then opened the gate to Naper, revealing the town that once sheltered him while he was still getting his bearings. He owed this place a lot, that's why he was back, to repay that favor.
Adam slowly drove through the gate once it was open and then parked outside Chuck's house, locking it up behind him. As he was getting Pearl out of the back, he saw Grant coming down the way, presumably to speak to him. Adam politely waited for him to come while he closed back up the ramp to the APC.
"Hey, Adam." Grant said, walking over and then turning to look at the APC. "I heard you were back with a car but… this ain't a car." He chuckled and then offered Adam his hand. "Good to see you again, friend." He smiled. Adam smiled back and shook his hand.
"Good to see you too, Grant." Adam then lightly gestured to Pearl. "This here is my current partner Pearl, She has been traveling with me for a bit so don't mind her, she is quite docile and friendly." Grant took a moment to size Pearl up for a moment and then smiled at her too.
"Well any friend of Adam is a friend of mine, welcome to Naper, Pearl." He said, offering her his hand too. Pearl looked at the offered hand and then looked to Adam and then looked at Grant again. She then carefully grabbed hold of Grant's hand, still confused, unsure what the gesture meant, but willing to try. Grant chuckled.
"First super mutant inside Naper that ain't hostile, glad to see it." He grinned. "Anyway, I assume you didn't come back just to see some old faces, you got news for us, I presume?" Adam's expression turned serious.
"Yes, I have news, can you gather people together, I want to let everyone know what is happening."
"Give me some time, I'll get the folks together, from what Mira said before she left it ain't sounding good." Grant said with a shake of his head before walking off to do that.
Adam then headed inside Chuck's shop to see him sitting at the counter, reading a book.
"Hey Chuck." Adam smiled as he walked in.
"Adam? Well I'll be." He grinned as Adam walked over. He looked over at Pearl suspiciously for a moment before he continued though. "The big guy ain't gonna do nothin' is he?" He asked, with a slight squint.
"No, Pearl is friendly, don't mind her." Adam said. Chuck paused for a moment before he nodded and relaxed.
"Well what brings you back here? Come to buy something I hope?" He grinned.
"I came bringing news, I asked Grant to gather the people and I'll tell everyone then, but in the meantime…" Adam pulled out a Midway slip for 50 caps. "I need a new knife."
45 caps and 1 hour later Adam had a new knife to replace the combat knife he had left in the map in Hell to enhance his dramatic display at the time and a crowd of people gathered outside the Inn to hear his explanation. Adam had just finished giving them all the details as he knew it, from the coming horde that Mira told them about to the coming battle he was preparing for. It seemed as though the people had taken Mira's words seriously but did not have any idea how to prepare for a wave of feral ghouls so instead it simply translated to anxiety among the populace.
"I will be leaving tomorrow to head to my old vault to fix it up for living and then await the rest of the forces who will be joining us in battle. With any luck we can stop this before it spreads into Chicago proper. I'm not asking any of you to step up to help, but the more hands we have the better. I just wanted to let you all know what the situation was. You are not alone, Chicago seems ready to defend itself." Adam finished his speech leaving a lot of people murmuring amongst each other. Should he have mentioned his Vault? Probably not. But it slipped out his mouth when he was explaining the situation and again, the true value of the vault was not the secrecy but instead the heavy metal door that protected the interior. Besides, these were the people who took him in when he had nothing, it was not like he was speaking to Mr. Cantelli.
"Now I know a lot of you have questions." Grant said, stepping up next to Adam to take control of the situation. "But Adam here has just spent all day running from place to place getting help, and I'm sure he has told us everything he can. So before you go bombarding the poor man with questions keep that in mind. For now I think it's best we all go home and consider how we will weather this storm." He paused and then slapped Adam on the back gently.
"I for one will be joining him in this battle he has planned." Grant grinned and Adam looked at him surprised but grateful. "He saved our town once before, and now he wants to do it again, I wouldn't be able to call myself a man if I didn't step up."
"Me too grant!" One of the guards in the center of the crowd said, hands raised.
"Yeah! I ain't sitting this fight out!" Another woman from the crowd, also a guard, said too.
"Now now, before you guys jump on the wagon, think on it. We got a few days before the fight will even happen. Until then go home, have a meal, a good night's rest, we can discuss what those of us who leave will do and what those of us who will stay will do." He said with finality and then the crowd began to disperse.
"Thanks Grant." Adam said to him, smiling.
"Don't thank me yet. That was the easy part, we still have a lot more trouble ahead." Grant turned to Adam. "You sure do love sticking your neck out for people." Grant said with a warm smile.
"I guess it's just in my nature." Adam chuckled softly.
"Come on." Grant said as he gently pushed Adam from behind, into the Inn. "Let me buy you a drink."
Chapter Text
“You find those answers you were looking for?” Mandy said as she passed Adam his third drink of the night, Grant having already gone home to speak with his family.
“Yes…” Adam said, tepidly, as he sipped at the drink, putting down a total of 30 caps now for his two extra drinks. “I got answers. Just not the ones I wanted.”
“Bad huh?” She asked with a sympathetic smile as she leaned on the counter.
“Worse.” Adam chuckled dryly as he gently sipped at his drink.
“Care to share?” Mandy asked, inquisitive. Truthfully Adam was unsure how much he wanted the truth about him being a clone to spread around. He wasn’t exactly keeping it a secret, but he wasn’t exactly making it public knowledge either. Even if he had come to accept he was a clone, would other people? He didn’t know for certain. But this was Mandy, just like Chuck and Salvatore she was here for the start of his journey, through all the rediscovery he had to do before he could set out to head to Midway. He trusted her. And for him, that was enough. Sooner or later people would learn he was a clone, it was inevitable, he was simply not always as careful as he should have been, might at least give her the answers she wants.
“I am a clone, Mandy.” He said somberly with a light sigh as Mandy leaned back off the counter.
“A what?” She asked, both confused and uncertain.
“A replicated human, the original Adam probably died when the bombs fell, I am his replica, an exact clone of the original with all his memories intact.” Mandy remained silent for a few moments before she poured another drink and then drank it herself.
“Sounds heavy.” She chuckled as she looked at Adam.
“It was, for a while.” He smiled. “Took a lot of soul searching to figure out who I was and what I am. But I live with it now. I have come to accept it. But it was not easy getting to that point.” She nodded.
“I bet.” She then leaned on the counter again. “But if you ever doubt yourself again, just remember, there are people that like you.” She said as she gently tapped his chest with her finger. “Not the other guy you might be the replica of. You. And that's because of the kind of man you are and the actions you take. So no matter what you may have been in the past, it's who you are now that matters.” She smiled, tapped Adam’s head with her hand once gently, and then walked off to do work elsewhere in the Inn. Adam was left there alone to sit with her words as he quietly sipped at his drink.
Adam rented his room and a second room for Pearl that night, Mandy was kind enough to grab an extra bed and drag it into the room so Pearl would have more space for sleeping comfortably. Adam enjoyed a nice long hot shower before turning in for the night himself. Tomorrow he had work to do, tonight he could enjoy himself and get a good sleep.
The next day came and Mandy cooked breakfast for Adam for free, she even cooked a large portion of food for free for Pearl, almost exclusively meat, which Pearl ate happily.
Eventually it was time to go, and, as Adam headed with Pearl back to his APC, he was approached by a large number of people including Grant and a few of the guards.
“Adam…” Grant said trepidly. “As I have said yesterday I plan to come with you to help you fight but some of these people have another request…” He said looking off to the group behind him.
“Adam… please… will you let us come with you to your Vault?” A woman from the crowd asked. “I am worried about my child…” She said as she gently ran a hand over her clearly pregnant belly.
“I was worried we would have to flee Chicago altogether but if there is a vault…” Another man in the crowd said.
“Please we all talked this over, we will work hard! We will clean up after ourselves, we will help you do whatever you need doing in the vault, even if it's just until it's safe, let us come with you!” Another citizen begged.
Adam was at a loss, he was not sure what to do about this, he didn’t want to outright deny them, but there were a lot of issues. He trusted the people of Naper, but letting them into the vault… wouldn't that defeat the whole purpose of keeping his base secure? But then again the last time he was in the Vault it was in a massive state of disarray, it will take him weeks with just his small group to make it usable, but if he had a bunch of hands it would be much much faster. Plus the vault was quite sizable, way more than enough for his little group he had put together, even with this crowd he wouldn’t be even close to utilizing all the space. There were pros and cons to both. But mostly, Adam didn’t want to leave them out to dry. He knew that the people here were trustworthy but it very much caught him off guard.
Adam let off a sigh.
“Alright, you can come.” Adam said to the crowd with a serious tone. “But you will all need to work as you said, and the Vault isn't exactly in a great state at the moment, in addition I need to repair the reactor, which is going to take a lot of effort. But if you are willing to go this far I won't deny you.”
The crowd of people seemed relieved and a few jumped for joy. Adam was not sure if it was the right call or not, but having hands to help fix up the Vault did not seem like a bad idea, and truthfully it's not like even if they wanted to steal stuff, they could. The vault had items, sure, but not enough for him to worry about. However, all his rationalization aside, he simply couldn’t leave them here when he could maybe save their lives by bringing them with him. He was a softy, he would deal with whatever consequences would come with bringing them with him down the line.
He did recognize a few faces in the crowd of people, namely Eric, which was interesting, but he decided to focus on the task.
“I was planning on leaving soon, are you all ready to leave?” Adam asked the crowd. There was a mix of responses to which he just nodded. “Alright, I’ll postpone leaving by an hour, meet me at the north gate and we can set out together.” Adam said before the crowd dispersed to get their things, Grant then walked up to Adam.
“I’m sorry about putting this all on your shoulders. People here have been getting anxious since they first learned about Famine, one family already left, trying to escape the city. The rest were talking about a mass migration or worse.” He frowned. “I think those that come to your vault will behave, I know it's not what you expected but I promise they are just people looking for some safety.” Adam nodded in understanding.
“I don’t blame them… if I was in their shoes I would probably do much the same.” Adam shrugged. Grant smiled and then patted Adam’s shoulder.
“You are a good man, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“Thanks Grant.”
“Well, since a crowd will be going with you I think me and the 3 who will be coming to your fight will join with the convoy, I might be crashing at your vault for a few days if you don't mind. Just until it's time for forces to gather.” Adam nodded.
“That’s fine, we can all move out together.”
Chapter Text
Since he had time, Adam decided to stop at Doctor Abbas’ clinic to stock up on supplies. He had no idea how much he would need but he was not exactly strapped for cash at the moment, even with the promised 3000 caps to the fighters from Hell. He ended up buying 10 stimpacks and 5 Med-X, figuring that playing it safe was the smart play. Thanks to Abbas’ discounts Adam only had to pay 250 for the stimpacks and 175 for the Med-X, it was a really good deal, far better than what he got at Midway. Adam considered mentioning he had met Doctor Abbas’ former fiance but decided it was not a conversation for today so instead left it at that.
Adam set out with the moderately large group of people an hour later. It was a decent chunk of the town who asked to come to the Vault which was not an overwhelming number but certainly made Adam feel like he was leading an exodus. The back troop compartment still had the three giant turrets but it definitely had space for a few people, especially if some were willing to cram closer or were willing to stand. The elderly and pregnant got to ride in the back while pretty much everyone else walked alongside the APC, including Pearl, who was delighted to be relied upon as the ‘head of escort security’. A title Adam made up for the sake of giving her purpose. Still, she was on lookout so that Grant and the 3 guards who came along could focus on helping everyone else.
If Adam could go a normal speed in his APC he could have arrived at the Vault in about an hour, maybe more, but since he was escorting people his vehicle was forced to slow to a crawl, the journey would take that much longer. Still he and the people were optimistic. He still had misgivings about bringing people that he didn’t explicitly know to the Vault, especially since the Vault was not in a really livable state yet, but even after explaining that to them they did not seem to mind, so he was willing to put such thoughts out of his head.
Eventually, after stopping twice to let the people catch their breath and maybe have a quick bite to eat, Adam arrived at the entrance to the vault. A non-descript pile of rubble in the outskirts of Naperville. It truly was not that far from Naper overall, but as with many places in Chicago, the ravages of war have made the once easy routes hard to traverse. Still, it was close enough that when the battle was over and these people were ready to go home, they could do so quite easily.
Adam hopped out of the APC after parking it near to the Vault entrance, but not directly next to it, and then walked over to see Rae conversing with one of the Naper citizens.
“I apologize, please wait for Sergeant Baxter before proceeding any further, I have orders to not let anyone get closer to this location. I do hope you will forgive me.” They said with a pleasant tone as the construction protectron puttered around the area and Buddy sat slumped up against a pile of rubble. He also saw something very surprising. Another protectron.
Though calling it another protectron might be a bit much considering the state it was in, as it was just the top part of the protectron with one arm and nothing else. It looked as though it had crawled along the ground with one arm to get here. Adam was confused about what it was doing here but it certainly didn’t seem hostile. Then Adam saw it, the paint job on it, the blacksuit and white tie style paintjob that he took from the office in the Chevron factory. The protectron he had sent in to distract the super mutants that were about to spot him. The protectron he had no expectation would ever make it out of that situation alive and had completely forgotten about. That same protectron he had given the location of Vault 42 just in case he ever came back was here, was ready to serve, as broken as it was. It was nothing short of a miracle, especially since that means that somehow it survived the fight with the super mutants at the time, even if it did not survive intact.
“Rae!” Adam called out as he walked over.
“Sergeant!” Rae said happily as they rolled over to him. “It is wonderful to see you again sir! Rae was worried you may not return!” They said with an almost saddened tone through the chipper voice. Adam smiled.
“I wouldn’t do that to you.” He said with a smile to them before then looking over at the mostly broken protectron and then back at the group. “Alright, we need to walk through this opening right here, apparently it used to be a coffee shop but you know, bombs and all.” Adam shrugged. “Be careful, Vault-Tec didn’t exactly design stairs for this place, so the descent is both steep and uneven. Let's get inside.” He then turned to Rae again.
“Rae, can you carry buddy down? And also that protectron too?” Adam said to them which Rae responded to with a salute. Before heading down Adam walked over to the broken protectron and issued an order:
“Recognize Adam Baxter.” Adam said with authority.
“Recognized.” The protectron responded, though the sound was a bit muffled since it was face down into the dirt. But at least its response confirmed it was still somehow functional.
“Transport will arrive soon, remain in standby mode until I give new orders.”
“Understood, entering standby mode.” The protectron said after which it continued to do nothing.
Adam then turned and began to descend into the depths of the tunnel where the Vault entrance lay. He did not have to walk for long as he was soon met with the visage of that door that once led to his freedom, now, perhaps, his new home. Though he was not yet certain of that.
He had been fine with returning here in every conversation he had up to this point, but it wasn’t until this moment he began to reconsider what he was doing. This was the vault he was made, this was the vault where his life began, this vault still scared him, there were so many secrets here, so much unknown, he… still hated it… and yet he couldn’t back down now, he had a crowd of people who were counting on it for safety.
Adam took a deep breath, steeled himself and then plugged in his pip-boy and hit the button. With a loud siren the door began to slowly open and reveal the interior left just as he remembered it when he stumbled out of the vault into this post-apocalyptic future he awoke in.
“Alright.” Adam said as he turned around to the group behind him. “I will need to figure out how to fix the reactor, but the rest of you can go find rooms, they are down the hall to the right, there are signs overhead that will direct you, I'd suggest you stay out of any area labeled ‘lab’ for the time being. The place is a mess, as I’ve mentioned, so just do what you can to get comfortable. There is only emergency lighting and whatever else works until I can fix the reactor, so get comfortable. Adam said before he began to usher people in, keeping his pip-boy plugged in to the console so the door stayed open.
“Wow… I’ve always wondered what was inside these vaults… a lot more metal than I expected.” Grant said as he walked up to Adam and let everyone else get inside first.
“Yeah, I had seen Ads for them on TV so I knew what to expect but metal walls in every direction doesn’t exactly scream ‘cozy’ does it?” Adam chuckled.
“To have a place that is safe from the radiation, deathclaws, and raiders? I think I'd take a lack of ‘cozy’ personally.” He grinned. He then turned towards the door. “I’ll get folks corralled and see what we can do in the meantime while you get the generator working.” Adam then nodded and was about to head inside but was stopped before doing that by a familiar face walking down the path towards him.
“Hey kid, not late am I?” Salvatore grinned as he flicked a finished cigarette off to the side.
Chapter Text
“Glad to see you here, Salvatore.” Adam smiled as he offered his hand to Salvatore who gave him a high-five.
“I ain’t gonna miss the free room and board.” He chuckled as he then saw the crowd of people just about done filtering into the vault. “What's up with the crowd… is that Grant?” He said as he then noticed Grant standing in the back.
“Ah, yeah.” Adam said with a soft chuckle. “They begged to come so they could have a safe place to stay for the upcoming battle, it was only the folks from Naper though, and even then only some of them.” Salvatore frowned.
“You can’t just be letting random people into your home, kid.” He then looked at Adam before looking at the crowd again. “But I guess if it had to be anyone, the folks from Naper ain’t half bad. They ain't gonna stiff ya.” He shrugged, showing his soft side for the people at Naper for once.
“Everything go well on your end?” Adam asked as he pulled out his plug from the terminal and began to head inside with Salvatore.
“Yeah, I got a few buddies who are likely to show up, put out a call too, did what I could, came here fast as I could when I finished, figured you’d need help setting the place up.” He then chuckled and added. “Didn’t realize you’d have a whole group though.”
“Yeah that just sort of happened.” Adam then stepped into the vault and looked over at the dead bodies of the scientists at the entrance right where they were left last time. “We can leave the actual mess to the people from Naper, but there are a number of dead bodies we will need to dispose of.” Adam said as he saw Pearl walk over, seemingly ready for orders.
“Ah damn, and here I was hoping for a little R and R in the metal utopia of a vault, but I guess I can settle for some manual labor of moving the dead.” Salvatore said before he started moving towards the skeletons but Adam stopped him.
“No, wait. I have something far more important for you to do.” Adam said seriously. “The reactor to this vault is damaged, how and why, I don’t know, I've never seen it, but I read the logs from the old overseer who got trapped in there. Its leaking radiation so I can’t get close but-”
“But being a ghoul that is no problem for me, I getcha.” Salvatore nodded. “But I don't know the first thing about reactors, surely you aren’t expecting me to fix it are you?” He asked.
“No, according to the logs there was a Mr. Handy assigned to keep it operational, likely the Mr. Handy was damaged in some way because otherwise the reactor would still be working. So all I need of you is to go in there, find the Mr. Handy, and bring him outside for me to look at. With any luck the Mr. Handy will fix the reactor for us.” Salvatore nodded again.
“Alright I can do that for ya, kid. Do I just…” He said as he pointed to the signs on the wall, one of which was labeled ‘reactor room’.
“Yeah, follow the signs, you will find it.” Salvatore then turned to leave to do as he was asked and Adam then turned to Pearl.
“You and me, Pearl, we got the dirty job of moving bodies.”
It did not take long to move the skeletons of the dead scientists outside. There were not many of them, they were just rags and bones, and they were right at the entrance. Adam and Pearl callously threw the skeletons into a pile of rubble nearby, after all, they were monsters that did not deserve his respect. However these were not the bodies he was referring to. He was talking about the other ones. The ones where he was born.
Adam led Pearl into the lab where he woke up, the sight of the room, tube after tube were exactly as he left them. He stood there, unmoving for a good solid few moments unsure if he had the strength to push forward. A small bit of anxiety began to rise up inside Adam as he was reliving all the worst parts of his memories all over again, the confusion, the fear, the uncertainty, the dread, the worry. It was all coming back to him. However, then Pearl spoke up.
“Is Adam okay? Adam not speak or move for a while.” Pearl asked curiously. Surprisingly that alone was enough to break him out of his stupor and bring him back to reality.
“Yeah I um… am fine, Pearl…” Adam said slowly before he sighed again and then looked at the bodies. The clones who had not woken up alongside him, still laying on the ground where they were last left after spilling out of the vats where they were grown, just like him. He still had no idea what made him special. Why he had woken up when the others had not. Perhaps he would never know. Though he hoped to find some clarity on the computers. Most were wiped before the people left but maybe some answers would remain? He wouldn’t know until he looked.
However right now he was focused on getting the bodies outside. His… brothers and sisters…
“Pearl, all of these bodies must go outside like the others.” Adam said as he looked at the rotting forms that once were human bodies. The smell in here was bad, it was only his memories that were acting up. It looked like a massacre occurred in here. The bodies lay lifeless and half-decayed on the ground. Honestly, Adam was having a hard time even breathing due to the overwhelming smell of death. With nowhere to go in this confined space the smell simply stagnated since he had left. It was bad enough that Adam put on his gasmask and didn’t take it off the entire time he was doing this. He rarely had the opportunity to wear the gas mask in the first place, so getting some use out of it was good.
Pearl casually complained that they were ‘throwing away good meat’. But Adam patiently reminded her that eating humans was bad, little humans grew up to become big humans so, as a protector of little humans, she should protect the big ones too.
The explanation seemed good enough for Pearl and she, in return, promised to ‘stop eating humies.’
Adam was on the second trip when Salvatore came over to see him. Adam handed off the body he was carrying to Pearl who was having an easy time carrying two bodies and let her continue the work while he spoke with Salvatore.
“Well?” Adam asked as he pulled off his gas mask, relieved to breathe fresh air again and happy he was not standing in that room of death like he was before.
“Yeah so I pulled out the robot.” Salvatore said as he gestured with his thumb back down the hall, towards the reactor room. “Also you said the overseer used to be trapped in there? Well he was a glowing one so I put him down for you. Can’t have ferals loose in a vault full of non ghouls.” Salvatore grinned and then motioned with his head for Adam to follow.
“Come on, I'll show you to him.”
Chapter Text
Salvatore led Adam down the hall towards the reactor room and passed by the path that led to all the rooms, he could explore that section more thoroughly later, but he already saw the refugees from Naper who found cleaning supplies, mops, and other various tools beginning to clean the place up, some in the rooms themselves, and some in the hallway. He was surprised they had jumped right into work but it was not his concern at the moment, he had more pressing issues.
Once they were near the reactor room but safely far enough away from the door so Adam wouldn’t get any residual radiation, he walked over to the Mr. Handy that sat on the floor, deactivated. Adam nodded to Salvatore and then sat down on the ground before plugging his pip-boy into the Mr. Handy and booting it up to see what might be wrong.
The first issue was simple, it was out of fuel. Luckily there was still some fuel in the Vault somewhere in all likelihood, after all the Vault was meant to independently run for a long time, and since the former residents left shortly after they got inside there must be a ton of unused fuel in here.
The second issue seemed to be much more problematic. The code was seriously messed up. At first Adam couldn’t understand what happened with all this code, it looked so jumbled and confusing with extra lines of coding that made the entire system feel off. And then he noticed it, the hyper specific command code lines that directly related to the reactor control systems. Someone had deliberately tampered with the Mr. Handy to sabotage the reactor. Why, and for what purpose he could not say. But this was way too specific to not be done intentionally. Someone with a far greater idea of how nuclear fusion worked than him set it up so the Reactor would not be destroyed but… lose power? He wasn’t sure, again, the effects went over his head. However it was very easy to tell which subroutines were added after the fact and which weren’t. It felt as if whoever had done this to sabotage the reactor had also made it easy for the Mr. Handy to be repaired so long as someone knew programming? It certainly raised far more questions than it answered but ultimately he had a task to complete, so he set to work.
Salvatore left shortly after to help Pearl move the bodies leaving Adam alone to work out the bugs in the Mr. Handy. Luckily it was not too difficult to do, he just needed to be thorough as well as careful not to erase any important information from the Mr. Handy, after all it was reasonably the only way he was going to get the reactor running again.
Several hours passed while Adam plugged away, making sure to be extremely meticulous knowing how critical this was, however eventually he was done and he stood up, pleased to have finished.
“You finished kid?” Salvatore said as he hauled over a gas canister labeled for Mr. Handy fuel.
“Yes, but how did you-” Adam said, confused at Salvatore bringing over the fuel without him asking.
“Figured it might come in handy.” Salvatore shrugged. Adam shook his head in disbelief and then refueled the Mr Handy. Finally he reactivated the unit. The Mr. Handy sprung to life a moment later.
“Good afternoon sir!” The Mr. Handy said with its chipper British tone as always.
“Recognize Adam Baxter." Adam said, wasting no time to make use of admin privileges.
“Recognized, sir!”
“Wonderful. Run a diagnostic of all your internal programs as well as your external hardware, report any malfunctions.” There was a moments pause as the Mr. Handy just floated there until it began to speak again.
“I report no issues with my program, however there are a few minor malfunctions with my third actuating servo in my optical sensor as well as the saw reporting non-functionality.”
“Can you complete repairs on the reactor for the Vault in your current condition?” Adam asked, skipping to the end, he wanted to get the reactor up as soon as possible.
“I cannot sir!” Adam raised an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“I am incapable of completing repairs on the system alone as last time I interacted with the system it was too damaged for me to fix. I require an engineer to assist me.” Adam then turned to look at Salvatore.
“Can you?” Adam asked him with pleading eyes.
“What, me?” Salvatore groaned. “I told you I don’t know the first thing about fixing that shit up.”
“Yes well there are few people we can ask, I can’t ask Pearl, she would lack the dexterity to handle the tasks, and the same for most of the robots here. I can ask Rae to help as well, but it’d be best if you were there to, at bare minimum, supervise.”
Salvatore sighed loudly.
“Alright, I'll do it, fine. Just don’t expect me to have much of an impact, guess I can grab a chair and just watch.” He shrugged. Adam smiled.
“Wonderful, I’ll let Rae know.” He patted Salvatore’s shoulder and then turned to The Mr. Handy.
“Okay, I got you one assistant here, a second assistant, a robobrain named Rae will be joining you in the reactor room soon, is that enough?”
“I assume so sir!” The Mr. Handy responded cheerfully. “Though I will not know the extent of the damage until I take a look at the reactor again, I have been deactivated for at least a few decades according to my internal chronometer.” Adam nodded.
“Alright, well get to work, do what you can, if there is anything you need I will find it for you, send Salvatore to report to me what you need.”
“Right away sir!” The Mr. Handy said before turning to fly away. Adam remained silent for a moment and then spoke up again, stopping the Mr. Handy in its tracks.
“By the way, do you have a name?”
“I do sir! I was once called Remington by the residents of this vault!”
“Wonderful, nice to meet you Remington” Adam said with a smile.
“Wonderful to meet you too sir! If you don’t mind my asking, judging by your vault suit, I assume you are a resident of this vault. Who, might I ask, is the current overseer?”
“Ah um…” Adam paused. “Currently the vault does not have an overseer, if it matters you can report to me, but the residents of the vault are all new.”
“Understood sir! Now, I shall resume my task of repairing the reactor. I shall report back to you when my task is complete!” And with that Remington began to float away. Salvatore rolled his eyes and then followed behind, heading into the nearby reactor room to see what they could do to fix it. Even in the short time the heavy metal interior vault door leading into the reactor room was open there was a sizable amount of radiation leaking out, enough that even a bit away and around a corner Adam’s pip-boy was ticking in warning. However as soon as the door closed behind them the geiger counter stopped.
Truly it was far too dangerous for a human to enter the room right now, he made the right call, but for the moment he needed to send Rae to help Remington repair the reactor, hopefully. He was tired of these dim red lights being the only source of illumination in the entire vault with the exception of the entrance.
Chapter Text
After informing Rae of their new task and telling the construction protection to stop following Rae around, which they were happy to do, Adam then went to go check on the people he brought from Naper, just to see how they were doing. When he entered the habitat wing he was shocked to find it already way cleaner than when he had seen it a few hours ago. In fact it was so clean that if it wasn’t for the red lights still illuminating the hallways he would not even know this place once used to be a mess. The refugees also seemed to have gone room to room and cleaned most of them up. They were not done, but they were keeping true to their word, and were sparing no effort to help make this place nice.
As Adam walked through the halls, passing by people cleaning in one way or the other, he got a lot of thanks, a lot of heartfelt words of gratitude, and a great number of smiles. People were seemingly so overjoyed to be here. Adam wasn’t exactly sure what to do with this much gratitude but he simply welcomed them politely and continued on.
There were still a lot of spaces that were not yet cleaned. Even in the habitat wing there were a lot of non sleeping spaces that he found, from a gym and a, now-empty, pool, to a library and school were still in need of work. However besides the living spaces it seemed the only other places the refugees prioritized cleaning was the cafeteria. More than that it seemed as though all of them had pooled their rations together and stocked the place up so that food could be easily taken and cooked by anyone. The only two people in the cafeteria when he walked in were Pearl, who seemed to somehow have ended up helping with the cleaning. Using a rag to wipe down a table without truly understanding why she was doing it and Eric.
“Hey Eric.” Adam said as walked over to the cafeteria counter and leaned on it.
“Hey Adam…” Eric said after a moment. He then paused, looked down at the counter he was cleaning and then back up at Adam. “I um… wanted to thank you again for um… letting me come.” Adam chuckled. He had gotten thanks from everyone he had seen so far, Eric was just the latest one, but Eric, as he remembered him, was really unmotivated and lacking energy, so it was interesting to have seen him be willing to make the journey.
“No problem, man.” Adam said with a smile to him. “Though I am curious why you ended up coming along, if you don’t mind me asking.” Eric remained silent for a moment looking almost sheepish.
“It… was a chance to get outside… see a place that wasn’t Naper and… I… have done a lot of thinking about what you last said to me… about how I should find what I want to do…”
“Came to a conclusion?” Adam asked, curious.
“Well…” Eric began before stopping again. “Well I’m just happy to be out of the town, I… feel more alive than I have in a while.” He admitted quietly, ignoring the question. Adam smiled.
“Well I'm glad coming here can ignite a little bit of passion in you. We got a lot of work to get this place back ship-shape but im sure with some effort we can make this place feel alive again. After all, it used to be a home to a ton of people. We can definitely turn this metal shell into a living space once more.”
Eric turned around to look at the clean cabinets, stoves, ovens, and other kitchen implements he had already cleaned along with the nearly fully stocked pantry behind him full of food from Naper.
“Yeah, I think I'm going to like it here…” He said with a sheepish smile.
“So are you going to be our chef while everyone stays here?”
“Oh no.” Eric shot back quickly before getting a more complicated look on his face. “Well… maybe, I don't know. I don’t want to just do the same thing I was doing at Naper just here, but I’m not yet sure how else I can contribute… so I might end up helping out here if I’m needed.” He said as he picked up his cloth from the counter and then wrung it out in the nearby sink.
“Well do what you can, that’s all that matters.” Adam said with a smile. Eric nodded and then disengaged from the conversation to keep working, though it looked like he still had things on his mind, though Adam was fine not to push.
“Hey Pearl, you good to help me a bit?” Adam asked as he turned around to face his super mutant friend.
“Pearl is happy to help.” Pearl said, dropping the cloth she was using on the table.
“I’m gonna steal Pearl for a bit, I got to move some stuff into the Vault from the APC.” Eric gave a thumbs up while his back was turned and Pearl and Adam then left to head towards the APC and grab everything out of it.
Adam didn’t have much, but everything he had was big and powerful; Minigun, Flamer, power armor, 3 large laser turrets, laser rifles, a chunk of ammo, and a few other odds and ends. It took more than one trip for him and Pearl to finish. All of it was loaded into the Armory which could be easily locked, none of the weapons easily fit into any of the weapon racks, after all the weapon racks were probably designed for pistols, shotguns, batons, and things of that sort, not military grade death machines like the minigun. Luckily there were tables in the armory too, more than enough space to put everything in. It all could be modified later, he just wanted to bring it inside. After all, that was half the reason he wanted to move into the Vault, the ability to keep all his stuff safe.
Adam was content to leave the Laser turrets at the entrance, they were all in passive mode at the moment, unless they directly saw a person shoot Adam they would not fire, that was enough for him. There was still a ton of work before the Vault could be called home, but truthfully taking in the refugees was making this far easier than he ever could have hoped. With the exception of one of the two children, everyone was cleaning or doing something to help make the place nicer. The child who was not working was too young to even consider work and was instead playing with a toy car that the mother had found on the ground of the domicile they decided to inhabit. The other child was old enough to do things such as household chores so he was, begrudgingly, helping his parent.
Adam was not exactly sure what else to spend his time doing, he needed to stay available for getting whatever resources that the reactor might need but he didn’t want to remain idle. Then, as he was exploring a bit more, he realized what he should do.
He went room to room, storage closet to storage closet and into every storeroom and place he could open to find and gather every single pip-boy the vault had laying around. These were incredibly valuable tools. They also worked as a key to get into his new home. As far as he knew, he was the only one in the entirety of Chicago who owned one, making sure he kept them all secure was a smart idea. In addition to the practical benefits of keeping them all safe and accounted for, they were also the most valuable item in the Vault. A personal portable computer system with as many integrated options as the Pip-Boy had was easily worth quite a lot he was sure. He, once again, didn’t expect any of the Naper refugees to take any from him but better safe than sorry.
All in all he found a lot more Pip-Boys than he expected. In one storeroom he found boxes upon boxes of them. Some of the boxes were opened, but most were left untouched. It seemed like the former residents didn’t prioritize taking the pip-boys and instead focused on taking food and weapons. Honestly, quite understandable. But for Adam this was a massive gain.
He locked all the boxes of Pip-Boys in the armory along with the rest of the things, deciding to, later, figure out a better place to keep all his stuff.
Finally with the day winding down he popped out of the Vault just to make sure no one else had shown up while he was inside. After all, it's not like he had exterior cameras.
Luckily for him, he was right, Deccanus was here.
Chapter Text
“I have finished my scouting.” Deccanus said upon seeing Adam exit the rubble cave where the Vault lay.
“Did it go well?” Adam asked as he approached.
“I found a few suitable locations, however I have also confirmed that the first small groups of feral ghouls have begun to breach the area. Time is running out.” Deccanus said with a resolute tone. Adam nodded.
“Alright, good work, let's get you inside the vault and you can take a much deserved break.” Adam smiled before turning to head inside the Vault. It was a few moments before he noticed Deccanus was not yet following him.
“Is there something wrong?” Adam asked, confused.
“I… am not a fan of Vaults…” Deccanus said, hesitantly. “I do not like the concept of being enclosed or… the old world horrors.” Adam stopped and sighed softly then nodded.
“I understand.” Adam said softly as he walked closer to Deccanus. “If you truly don't want to come inside that is fine. But… in all likelihood this will become my home, my base. I will be coming here a lot. You don't have to live here if you don't want but I want you to feel welcome. Besides, I promise this vault is not at all like the other one. There are no ‘horrors’ here.” He smiled warmly, completely ignoring the fact that in a way he could be considered the horror from this Vault. Nothing could be done about that anyway though.
Deccanus remained silent for a few moments before he took a deep breath and then seemed to steel himself.
“Alright, lead the way.” Deccanus said, resolved.
Deccanus stepped into the Vault skeptically, remaining cautious as he did, he noticed the red overhead lights which did not seem to put him at ease as his hand was on his machete but he was trusting Adam as they moved through.
Adam took him on a brief tour, showing him first the living quarters where the refugees were still cleaning, which did seem to calm Deccanus’ nerves, as seeing other people milling about made the vault seem less oppressive. He then showed him a few other spaces including the library which, surprisingly, got the biggest reaction out of him so far.
“All of these are stories?” He said in mild awe as he took in the room, walking among the bookshelves.
“Yeah.” Adam said casually. “I mean some are fiction, some are nonfiction, some are probably cookbooks, but yeah they are mostly untouched by time so they are all still good.” Adam said as he nonchalantly pulled a book out from a bookshelf to examine it idly. The title was ‘Pride and Prejudice’. He had heard the name but never read it. As he put it back he found Deccanus pulling one out and staring at it in wonder.
“Is it that surprising?” Adam asked, curious. “There are plenty of other books out there too.”
“Yes, there are other books.” Deccanus said as he gently ran his hand over the cover. “But many stories have been lost from the old world. Books naught but piles of ash, even stores which sell books do so in small quantities, to find a library such as this, untouched is…” He stopped himself and then put the book back, leaving his words unfinished.
“I didn't realize you liked books so much.” Adam said, surprised. Deccanus shook his head.
“I like stories.” He corrected. “It is less that I would make use of such a place and instead it leaves me in awe that so many stories exist in one place.”
Adam was having a hard time fully understanding what he meant. But perhaps the legion did not have many books, stories were told by word of mouth. It was true that books now were a bit of a luxury. They were not overly expensive, though not cheap, but they were not nearly as abundant as they once were. The bookstore he found in Midway was quite a small shop, even if it was stuffed to the brim with books it did not make up that many. Meanwhile if he were to assume every book here was worth 20 caps, which is a lowball figure, this library would be worth thousands if not tens of thousands of caps.
Of course for Adam this place was not that impressive, the Chicago library was massive and made this Vault Library feel like a kids section, but to someone who had never seen a full library this place must seem huge.
Adam just chuckled softly.
“Well if you stick around you can come here as often as you like, no reason you can't spend time reading every story in here.” Adam offered.
“Perhaps…” Deccanus admired, softly as he put the book back. “However I remain hesitant.”
“Why? What's bothering you?”
“I feel… enclosed… The walls box me in and there is no sky to gaze upon. I'm not sure I can get used to this.” Adam smiled softly.
“Take your time, neither the Vault nor the library are going anywhere, and even if you decide to stay elsewhere you will always be welcome to take books out to read whenever you want.” Deccanus turned to look Adam in the eyes.
“Adam, thank you.” He said seriously.
“Don't mention it.” Adam replied. Then, almost as soon as Adam finished speaking, the Vault lights kicked back in and a more normal illumination began to fill the vault rooms and corridors. Adam was exceptionally pleased to see this. Afterall it meant that the reactor was fixed.
“I need to go see what the situation with the reactor is, are you good to head back to the rooms and pick a place for you to stay tonight?”
“Yes, do not worry about me, I shall find my way.” Adam gave him a firm nod and then set off, heading to the reactor room to hopefully get the good news he was already expecting.
When Adam arrived at the reactor door he saw it was still closed. He decided to err on the side of caution. And remain outside, just in case the room was still flooded with radiation.
Lucky that he did because a few moments after he got there Salvatore emerged from the room, seemingly preparing to go look for Adam and was surprised to find him right there. While the door was open, in that brief time, the geiger counter from the pip-boy was letting him know that the room was, in fact, not radiation free.
“Hey kid, we did it.” Salvatore grinned.
Chapter Text
“I saw the lights come on, so I figured that the reactor must be working again.” Adam said back to Salvatore who just walked out of the reactor room.
“Yeah well don’t get too excited yet, according to your Mr. Handy there, it still requires a lot more work.” Adam nodded.
“I noticed the radiation leaking out still, so what’s wrong?”
“Fuck if I know.” Salvatore said with a soft chuckle and a shrug before lighting up a cigarette for himself. “But the robot said it's running at 50% operating efficiency or some shit like that. He said he’d write you a list of things he needed but that, so long as there are no unexpected surprises, he can keep things running like this for at least a year without any extra supplies.”
“Good to know we have leeway with our timetable… did he say what we would not have access to when we are operating only at 50%?”
“Nah, I didn’t think to ask.” Salvatore said as he leaned against the wall and took a long hit of his cigarette. “Figure he can make adjustments, cut power to sections we aren’t using.”
“Yeah that makes sense.” Adam paused to think. “Well, I guess, until the reactor room is no longer leaking radiation, it's going to be up to you and Rae to be the intermediaries.” Adam paused again. “Did Remington say what he needed to stop the radiation from leaking?”
“Didn’t ask.” Salvatore repeated again, Adam chuckled.
“Some liaison you are.” he teased.
“Hey, I’m a mercenary not an engineer, I didn’t think of it. But I doubt it's something that can be solved today anyway.” he shrugged. “I can ask tomorrow, but for now I want to get some sleep.” Adam looked off down the hall that led to the habitat wing.
“Yeah that's probably a good idea, many of the rooms are clean now thanks to the people from Naper, so let’s go find a nice bed to sleep in.”
“Best idea you’ve had all day.” Salvatore returned with a grin.
Adam and Salvatore then returned down the hall towards the living quarters where all the people from Naper were generally finishing the last bits of cleaning and beginning to either settle down for food or turn in for the night.
Now that Adam was inspecting the rooms to find himself one to stay in he noticed there were three types of rooms to choose from.
There were the standard apartment suites made for a couple or a single adult, with a kitchen/dining room separated only by a different tiled floor from a living room, a bathroom, and a master bedroom. The space was not extravagant but for one person it was more than enough.
Then there were the domiciles built for families, with much the same layout as the single bedroom apartments but with more space in all rooms, a second bathroom and a total of 3 bedrooms.
The third and final room could be considered the ‘luxury suites’ . It was designed like the rooms for families but they were much bigger, had some extra amenities that the others did not, and also seemed furnished a bit nicer. Though these were few in number Adam could only question what their purpose was. Perhaps they were for the chief scientist and head of security and those in positions of power? He could only guess.
All of the luxury suites had not been taken, it seemed like the people from Naper were more than happy to stay in the regular rooms. Salvatore saw no reason to hold himself back and, with Adam’s casual permission, seized one of the luxury suites for himself.
Adam was about to just take one of the single apartments for himself, as he was alone and didn’t need for much, but he was stopped by one of the Naper citizens.
“Ah, are you looking for a room? We worked together to make one up for you!” A woman from Naper who stopped him said with a great big smile.
Adam didn’t know what she meant but he had no problem being led to whatever room they had picked out for him. So he willingly followed her as she led him to the edge of the living quarters and then up a flight of stairs. The stairs led to a single door that when she opened it led to a small second floor. Adam looked around confused and then saw as she gestured him inside.
“So um… which room is mine?” He asked, not sure what she meant with her gesture.
“Oh! This whole floor is yours! This space seemed to be the biggest room we found!” She smiled happily. Adam was quite taken aback.
There were multiple floors he knew that much, at least. He confirmed that previously when he awoke here and found the overseer's office on the second floor. The office had, overlooking through a big circular window, a view on the main room and community space. But the living quarters themselves were also at least two floors, he had not explored too extensively but there were a lot of living spaces and they were stacked on top of each. On the second floor, outside the rooms with plenty of space still to walk, there were railings surrounding openings in the floor that led to the first floor. This made the space, especially on the first floor, feel much more open and less cramped as with the increased ceiling height from the second floor the area was much more roomy. The overlook from the second to the first floor also allowed people to communicate across floors, or, if they were feeling industrious, transfer items without traversing the stairs. Overall it just made the living quarters feel more spacious.
However this seemed to be a separate stairwell entirely from the stairwell one would normally use to get to the second floor of the living quarters. This floor seemed to be at least somewhat separated from the other second floor. However more than anything this was way too much space for him alone, even the luxury suites were too much, this was just excessive.
“I… can’t live here, this is too much for me, can’t one of the families just…” Adam began and then the woman wagged her finger.
“Non.” She said, in French for some reason. “This space is for you, we all agreed.”
“I’m perfectly fine with a smaller space-” Adam began before she took his hands in hers.
“This is your home, we are just guests, it makes sense for the master of the house to stay in the nicest space. Besides, we put all this effort into cleaning it up. Please accept it as a token of our gratitude.” She half pleaded. Adam let off a heavy sigh.
“Alright, if you are going to ask that much I will. Thank you all, I appreciate it.” She smiled brightly.
“Not at all, you have done so much for us, cleaning this space is nothing compared to that.” She then smiled. “I will go now, but you have a wonderful night, Adam.”
“You too.” He smiled back and then watched as she descended the stairs. Once she was out of sight Adam sighed again and then entered the floor that now belonged to him.
Chapter Text
Adam entered the floor and immediately began looking around. This space proved to be far more luxurious than the luxury suites by far. This ‘suite’ was more like a house. It had a master bedroom the size of the main room of the single suite, it had a bathroom large enough to house both a bathtub and a shower. He had a study with a small office space, bookshelves with books, and a still working computer that was wiped of its memory. He had a large living room that could house a dozen people comfortably with a large sized record player that still looked usable. A sizable kitchen with plenty of space for cooking. And then lastly he had multiple guest rooms. This was a ton of space he didn’t need, but he wasn’t exactly mad about it, he just had no idea what to do with it all.
In terms of rooms and space alone this new room was larger than even the most expensive hotel in Midway. However it failed in terms of luxury compared to the hotel because it was lacking in aesthetics and decor. Other than the living room which did have wood vinyl on the walls and a nice carpeted floor, the rest of the rooms were the same stark metal that everything else in the vault had. It also lacked any fancy furniture, everything was more or less the same furniture from other places in the vault just in greater numbers. However none of that mattered to him, the fact that he, effectively, had a house again, was something he was immensely grateful for. He could give it some personal touches another time, he had far bigger things to think about at the moment.
The last door proved to be a second entrance in a way. It led to an open walkway with a railing that overlooked a hallway of the vault near the cafeteria and then led into the back of the overseer’s office. He finally understood why this space was so much bigger. It belonged to the Overseer, so of course it was much nicer.
Due to the way his room was placed he was slightly separated from the rest of the rooms. However if he just went down the stairs from the overseers office he would exit at the start of the living quarters and if he walked back down the stairs that led to the entrance he was shown to before he would be at the very end of the living quarters.
All this isolation was interesting because it meant that the overseer was not directly accessible for the average citizen, they had to head to the extreme edges of the living spaces to meet with him. With that in mind, it was probably not due to convenience but instead to continue to maintain the air of overseer superiority that his home had its own mini library. So that an overseer would not have to mix with the common rabble. He was not a fan of the concept, however he chose not to pay it too much mind. At least with a home now he had a place he could fully call ‘his’ so anything personal could be put in here. Which is exactly what Adam did next.
Adam had, when he was last at Midway, in preparation for moving to the Vault, taken everything from his rented storage unit and put them in the APC for transport. So with him he not only had his collection of 4 Vault-Tec bobbleheads, now, conveniently, inside a vault displayed prominently on their own shelf, but he also had the sentry bot model as well as the paper cap medal he had earned from the young girl at Naper for finding her cat. He did also have the caricature he had made on The Pier during the festival but, lacking a frame, he simply put it in storage for the time being.
It was not much, but it really did make it feel more like a home to him having his personal effects sitting out on display. Though again it reminded him how much space he had that he did not yet know what to do with as everything was just in his large master bedroom leaving the rest of the spaces empty.
While he was in the study putting his books into the empty spaces in the bookshelves he found, sitting on one of those shelves, another Vault boy bobblehead. This one was holding a minigun as if it was firing on a crowd of enemies. Just like the others it was cute, and quite a good find, so after he finished putting his books away he moved the bobblehead to the shelf where the others were.
As he stepped back and looked at his now 5 bobbleheads, he took an appreciation of how far he's come, and, more importantly, how much more work there was to do. The reactor was still not yet fully stable, and he was not allowed to get comfortable yet, he had a battle to win first. Even then, after the battle was over, he still had even more work to do, this place was big, maintaining it will require more than just himself. Maybe he could fix up a few more robots? Who knows, what he did know was that he was hungry so he headed down to the cafeteria to eat.
Adam walked downstairs and headed into the cafeteria happy to find that his stairwell led out very close to the cafeteria which was a boon for his stomach. Upon getting inside he saw a few of the refugees sitting at tables chatting quietly and happily while eating while another woman stood behind the cafeteria line and cooked food for everyone.
“Can I have a serving?” He asked with a smile.
“Oh certainly! I'd be happy to give you some!” She smiled back as she pulled out a plate and served Adam a healthy mix of veggies, meat, and pasta all underneath a sort of red sauce.
Adam sat down with his plate and found that the food tasted quite good. Maybe the sauce was a bit spicier than he would have liked but it was good in spite of that and it certainly was a nice change of pace. Once he was done eating he thanked the woman, handed her the plate for cleaning, which she insisted on doing, and then headed to walk the halls of the living quarters one more time.
Salvatore’s chosen room had a closed door, it was safe to assume he was asleep, he was usually a night owl but who knows what he had been up to while Adam was not with him. Adam wasn’t going to pester him so he kept on walking. He passed a few other rooms, some open with people sharing a meal in the comfort of their own rooms, others with the doors closed, and most that were likely completely uninhabited. Adam did pass an open door with the lights off where he heard snoring. Peaking inside quietly he saw Pearl sprawled out in the living room on 4 mattresses that had been laid out on the floor for her. Even despite being huge with 4 beds she had more than enough space to sleep comfortably. Why she didn’t close the door he could only guess, maybe she didn’t know how or maybe she doesn’t like to be in enclosed spaces. In either case, after seeing the situation for himself he left her alone to sleep.
Finally he arrived at a room near the end of the hall with the door still open, the lights still on and Deccanus just sitting on the couch staring at the TV which remained off.
Chapter Text
“Deccanus.” Adam said as he entered the room. “What are you doing?”
“Contemplating my life.” He said without breaking line of sight with the inactive TV.
“What do you mean?”
“I once was a legionaire, a soldier part of an empire that spanned a distance greater than any other, I was a part of a large whole, working towards our great goals. But I am no longer that man. Now I sit here, on this old world couch, in this old world shelter, using old world healing medicines, with an old world soldier. I… do not think my younger self would like what I have become…” He said hesitantly. Adam sighed softly and then walked further inside, grabbing a chair from the adjoining dining room, spinning it around, and then turning to look at him.
“Just because your younger self would not be pleased does that make your actions now wrong?” Adam probed.
“I… don't know.” Deccanus said, uncertain.
“We can never know the path our lives will take us, we all have an idea of what we will do, how we want our lives to take shape but it does not always go our way.” Adam gestures around him. “I thought I would always be able to live my life the way it was before my world ended. I thought I had a nice peaceful retirement to look forward to, that I could enjoy margaritas on the beach till the end of my days after doing my job as an American to help preserve our freedoms. However the world ended, I had to adjust.” He paused again for a moment and then continued. “My younger self would be appalled, he would see the state of the world, the fact I have to fight for my dinner, and cry. But that is okay, because this is my life. My younger self does not control the direction my life goes nor the paths I take. And if I got to speak to my younger self I would tell him it was going to be okay. Maybe my life is not the way he imagined, but I like it. Sure I would rather be looking forward to a radiation free future with plenty of drinks on tap but what I have here isn't that bad either. And for me that is enough.” Deccanus remained quiet for a few moments before turning to look at Adam.
“I feel as though… every day I move forward I lose more and more of my identity as a member of the legion. My only home, my people, what am I without my Legion?” He asked rhetorically. However Adam answered him anyway.
“Deccanus.” Adam returned resolutely. “You will be Deccanus, my friend, no matter whether you live in a vault and allow yourself to use stimpacks or live outside using a medicinal balm. Maybe you are ‘less legion' than you were yesterday. That changes nothing. We all grow, we learn, we adapt. Perhaps what you are becoming is far more suited to living without your legion, perhaps you will live a lot longer because you are adapting. And perhaps because you live longer you can carry on the name of the Legion for many more years. Who knows? What I do know is none of these questions need to be answered now. You can sleep in this vault, safe, and preserve your strength for the battle to come, or you can leave here and sleep under the stars and join us when the time is right. I cannot make this decision for you. But I know you will make the right one.” Adam said before he got up and then patted Deccanus on the shoulder. “I think you'll find that a healthy mix of old world and new world lessons is the best way to live. At least in my opinion” He smiled and then turned to the inactive TV.
“Also you said you like stories? These things can play movies from the old world, plenty of stories to watch. There are no television shows anymore but it looks like you can still watch some movies. Try it, you might find you like movies as much as I do.” Adam then turned to leave, leaving Deccanus alone with his own thoughts. As Adam walked out of the room he heard the TV turn on in the distance and the quiet sounds of a movie starting.
Adam had one more mission before he turned in for the night. He found the construction protection walking around aimlessly through the halls and told it to stop.
There was a discussion that was started by the man who gave Adam his RobCo license about why, when put into idle mode, or given no or loose directives, the protection model robot would default to wandering around aimlessly. As if on a patrol but without a mission. As his instructor put it ‘the illusion of efficiency’. It came down to one simple thing. A potential buyer feels better about a wandering protection than one that sat still.
According to the instructor the concept came from the same reason why, when your boss suddenly shows up near you, if you were doing nothing, you will pick up a broom and start sweeping, or make yourself appear busy at your computer, or whatever else you can do to make it look like you are working. Realistically there are times that no work can be done. This is true for robots too. However if a protection was just to sit still doing nothing when not ordered it would not evoke the feeling that the robot was worth the money to buy it.
On the other hand, having the robot wander around, even aimlessly, gives the impression that it is doing something even when it is not. Regardless of how true it was, this was the directive of the CEO of RobCo himself, Robert House, so no one was about to argue with him.
Regardless of why, the protection, when separated from Rae and without orders, started to mindlessly wander the halls. However Adam knew what he wanted him to do next so his idle time was over.
“Protectron, come with me.” He ordered.
“Understood, following.” The protection said back as Adam headed towards the exit of the Vault.
He wasted no time opening the door and walking outside, protectron in tow as he did. Once outside he could see how little light was left as night had fallen but for a Protectron the lacking light was no issue.
Adam walked over to one of the piles of rubble and sifted through the pile for a moment before he found a brick. Not a broken, cracked, or misshapen brick, but one that was still very much intact just simply stuck in the pile of rubble.
Adam showed the brick to the protectron and spoke.
“From this point on until I order you otherwise I want you to go through all of this rubble and collect every single intact brick you can find and stack them all over here.” He ordered as he placed the brick down in an open spot. “Do not cease until I have ordered you to stop or until you run out of rubble to look through within a 500 yard radius from this spot. For everything else, put it in a pile over there.” He said, pointing to another open spot.
“Confirmed, beginning construction.” The protectron said as it began to walk past Adam and begin to look through the rubble.
Adam had thought about how best to use the protectron for a while and this was the conclusion he came to. Ultimately the construction protection was built for one thing, building. Maybe one day he could make use of the foundations that still remained here and reconstruct some of the buildings in the area but for now simply finding any of the still usable building material might be nice. If nothing else the bricks that were still usable might be worth something in Midway, after all they could still be used to build things. Besides this sort of grunt work was exactly what robots, especially protectron, were good for. They could work all night without issue and be much more thorough than any human. And this way the protectron would actually be contributing rather than just existing in his home.
This did remind Adam he still needed to fix up Buddy and the other protectron, both of whom were left in the corner of the entrance room of the Vault by Rae however that was a problem for tomorrow, besides likely he couldn't be fully repaired without spare parts so all he would do is try to fix what he could. However for the moment he wanted to sleep, so sleep he would.
Finally, after an interesting day he headed inside the Vault, back to his room, and went to bed, ready to tackle whatever problems tomorrow brought.
Chapter Text
Adam slept very well that night, who would have guessed that the best beds in Chicago were in a Vault? Though Adam was not about to complain.
After taking a nice shower in his bathroom and then putting on the military uniform so he could throw his vault suit into the wash, he headed downstairs to grab some food from the cafeteria.
Eric was cooking this morning. He did not seem to be overly happy he was cooking but he did still seem more animated than he was in Naper so it was an improvement regardless.
The meal proved to be quite tasty and Adam enjoyed his food quite a bit. He was already feeling quite good about his choice to move back into the Vault. Free room, food, shower, washer and dryer, amenities, and so much more. When the Naper refugees go home the place will feel a lot more empty but for now it was the best of all worlds. Certainly he could see how all the folks who were fortunate enough to get into a vault had high expectations for post apocalyptic living. Things could have been much worse. He had seen it. If not for the experiments here the folks would have been able to live quite comfortably underground, safe from the radiation. However, as morbid as it was to think about, their loss is his gain.
Regardless, once his food was eaten he headed to the vault entrance to take Buddy into the maintenance room where he saw a bunch of tools, likely meant to be used to keep the vault running, but that would serve him well for fixing up Buddy.
Setting Buddy down on a table he began to pull away at his chassis and see what was broken inside and what could be salvaged. What he found more or less lined up with his expectations.
Buddy legs were almost entirely destroyed. Sure he could salvage some parts from the legs but no amount of tinkering on him would make any major difference. So Adam decided to simply remove his legs altogether. With some of the salvaged components from the legs he managed to get Buddy’s arms back to full mobility and then worked on buffing out his chassis. It took him several hours to get this done but by the time he was Buddy was fully functional from the waist up. Adam, however, did not get rid of the old legs, they could be repaired if he gutted another protectron’s legs. Normally it wouldn’t matter, after all there was no difference between any of the protectron parts. However, since the people of Renaissance had turned him into a walking art project, it felt like he’d be doing both Buddy and those people a disservice by getting rid of the legs. So instead, for now, he simply stored them away, to be fixed up later.
Honestly, Buddy now was no different than a laser turret, with around the same firepower but less maneuverability. However, that was good enough for now. It's not like he had a spare protectron laying around.
Or that is what he would say if he didn’t have the other protectron he found outside the Vault from the Chevron factory. Unfortunately that protectron was even less whole than Buddy now was. It was only the upper torso and head and one arm. It lacked any legs. The thought did occur to him to take the legs off the construction protectron and give them to Buddy, but that protectron finally had a job and if he took its legs it would truly be useless. At least as is, Buddy could still fight. Besides he had some ideas on how to make use of Buddy’s firepower while remaining unable to move.
With Buddy as finished as much as he could fix him, he headed to grab the second protectron and do what repairs he could to that one. This one was a true mess, honestly the fact it still functioned at all, let alone made it to the Vault, was a minor miracle. Errors shown inside the dev console of the protectron led Adam to believe that it had lost the fight with the super mutants, badly, however due to so many errors it shut itself down rendering it inoperable. Since it was shut down, badly damaged, and in pieces, it was likely the super mutants had assumed they killed it. Which was a reasonable assumption. Then, after some time passed, the protectron rebooted, did not see the super mutants, and then assumed its next objective to head to the Vault. It really was a series of lucky coincidences. He would love to reward the protectron somehow for making it out alive but truthfully there was no way to fully repair it. Like Buddy he needed parts, something he lacked. He had an idea of how to get those replacement parts but that would have to wait until he finished dealing with this Famine problem.
Regardless, fixing this second protectron proved to take much longer than Buddy did. Buddy was damaged, however he was more or less fine otherwise. This protectron had issues down to its coding. It had created a lot of issues within its own code when it was forced to shutdown after taking a bunch of damage. Untangling the mess of coding that he found took the majority of his time. In fact it took most of the time that day. By the time the day was ending he had spent the entirety of it inside the maintenance room fixing the protectrons. But he was done. He left the room and grabbed a meal at the cafeteria ready to wind down the night with a little reading before he turned in.
After eating he headed into the library to actually see what was available and was a little surprised to see Eric in there. Adam was curious what he was reading but as soon as he walked in Eric quickly hid it away, noticing Adam. Clearly he did not want to be seen reading it. Was he reading something spicy? He could have just taken it to his room. Regardless Adam decided to let him read in peace and instead grabbed a book for himself to read before heading back to his room to read in bed.
He could have read the books from his personal library but most of the books in the office were not as interesting to him at the moment. Besides, having easy access to a library was a nice boon.
To even further spoil himself he then went on to turn on the TV in his room, watching an old pre-war movie while reading, enjoying the strange yet familiar sense of normalcy he had recreated in this metal hole in the ground. Eventually Adam went to sleep, the day over after spending all of it working on robots.
Chapter Text
Adam woke up the next day feeling the time pressure. Of course it's not like he had been lazing about the past few days, in fact he had been incredibly busy. However everyday that passed meant they were that much closer to the giant battle he had thrust himself into. He still had no idea who was actually going to show up for this battle. After all he had put out the call to war to a number of groups and while he did confirm they should be coming, there was no way to know for certain if they were. He had to go to the meeting spot today, he needed to see who had arrived and start making plans on where the battle would take place.
Adam ate breakfast with Salvatore, he shared his misgivings about the battle to come but otherwise it was a casual breakfast despite the tension Adam was feeling.
“Salvatore.” Adam paused as he was finishing his meal. “Can you make a run for me?” Adam asked, seriously.
“Sure kid, what do you need?”
“We need to see who, if anyone, has gathered for the battle. If there are people gathering we can all head over there to prepare. If not…” Adam paused and then sighed. “We will have to play that by ear.” Salvatore shrugged.
“Sure kid, I don’t mind. Took it easy all day yesterday so I don't mind putting in the leg work.” Adam nodded and then remembered something.
“You done eating?” He said as he stood up with his empty plate.
“Yeah, why?” Salvatore returned, confused.
“Come with me, I got something for you.” Adam said as he then put his dish in the dishwasher and then led Salvatore out of the cafeteria and towards the armory.
Once inside the armory Adam opened one of the pip-boy boxes and tossed the fresh-out-of-the-box pip-boy to him.
“That’s for you.” He said with a grin. Salvatore inspected it.
“You sure kid? These things ain’t cheap.”
“I'm sure. I'm still not exactly sure what I'm doing with the rest but I think, for now, handing them out to anyone who stays here but often leaves for missions is the best strategy. Besides I trust you with it, and this way you don't need to wait around outside until I decide to open the door.”
Salvatore shrugged and then put on the pip-boy, turning it on and playing with the UI for a moment.
“It’ll take me some time to get used to it but…” He grinned as he flipped to the radiation reader and smiled at the fact that the meter was reading him as having maxed it out for readable radiation intake and was exceeding the lethal dose. “I think I will like it.” He then patted Adam on the back. “Thanks kid, I'll be back as soon as I can.”
“Good luck, Salvatore. Stay safe.”
“I always do.” Salvatore chuckled and then turned to leave the Vault, a bit more excited to be able to play with the Pip-boy than Adam expected. As Adam had said, he was unsure how best to make use of all the pip-boys, after all they were extremely useful and very valuable, but in all likelihood keeping them for himself and only handing them out to his close allies made the most sense. After all, unless Salvatore died no one would be able to use his pip-boy to enter the vault. Besides, even if the Naper folks were living here right now, it's not like they planned to stay. And even if they were, they didn’t need the pip-boys to do tasks. It was better to keep them accounted for. But he was getting ahead of himself.
Adam spent the time while Salvatore was away helping the Naper refugees to continue to clean the Vault up. As he had learned, the power was sufficient to run everything in the vault currently since so many rooms remained unoccupied, which meant he was not limited in using anything in the vault as far as he cared. Places like the labs were out of power but he certainly didn’t care about that. The lights were on, the TVs worked, the gym had power, and the kitchens all were powered on too, truly he was fine with it as is.
He had gotten a list from Remington of the things needed to fix the generator. He would do it when the fate of Chicago didn’t hang in the balance. However, for now, he was content with what he had.
After a few hours had passed the sound of the Vault door opening could be heard in the distance and Adam headed that way to meet Salvatore at the entrance.
“Kid.” Salvatore began as he stepped through the entrance of the large metal door. “You got your wish. I think it's time to mobilize.” Adam stared at him seriously for a moment, let off a sigh of both relief and anxiety and then nodded with a determined expression.
“Let’s gather the troops.”
A few minutes later Adam had gathered everyone who was going to join in the battle and brought them over to where he had stashed the APC. He gave Pearl and Deccanus each a pip-boy for themselves, for the same reason he gave Salvatore one. Deccanus was hesitant because it was foreign technology but he eventually agreed and put it on without turning it on. Pearl on the other hand had no qualms about using it, if she could figure out how it worked. However for her sake all that mattered was that she had the ability to open the Vault door if ever needed. He would show her how it worked later, simply having her own one was good enough.
Fitting the pip-boy around her wrist pushed the one-size-fits-all feature of the pip-boy to its limits but she was able to wear it without it bothering her at all.
As everyone loaded up into the back of the APC, along with his turrets and power armor he took out from the Vault, as well as some weapons, Eve showed up at the APC.
On her back was a laser gatling gun, a rocket launcher, and a grenade machine gun. She was not messing around considering how heavy her ordinance was. If she wasn’t a robotic assaultron he might question how she was managing to carry all those heavy weapons with such a lithe body. However the weight did not seem to phase her and all the weapons were ratchet strapped to her body for easy transportation.
“Miss me handsome?~” She teased as she walked over to Adam.
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Jareddc on Chapter 1 Mon 28 Apr 2025 06:22PM UTC
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(22 more comments in this thread)
wolfgamer93315 on Chapter 1 Wed 11 Jun 2025 05:32PM UTC
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Mavicah on Chapter 1 Mon 18 Aug 2025 12:49PM UTC
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Yacov on Chapter 2 Mon 05 May 2025 01:50PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 3 Sun 27 Apr 2025 04:32PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 4 Sun 27 Apr 2025 04:41PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 5 Sun 27 Apr 2025 04:53PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 7 Sun 27 Apr 2025 05:12PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 9 Sun 27 Apr 2025 05:32PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 27 Apr 2025 05:34PM UTC
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RhaevynHart on Chapter 9 Wed 03 Sep 2025 06:47PM UTC
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Jareddc on Chapter 9 Wed 03 Sep 2025 08:25PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 10 Sun 27 Apr 2025 05:49PM UTC
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RhaevynHart on Chapter 10 Wed 03 Sep 2025 07:00PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 11 Sun 27 Apr 2025 05:57PM UTC
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RhaevynHart on Chapter 11 Wed 03 Sep 2025 07:20PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 12 Sun 27 Apr 2025 06:08PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 27 Apr 2025 06:09PM UTC
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RhaevynHart on Chapter 12 Wed 03 Sep 2025 07:33PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 13 Sun 27 Apr 2025 06:17PM UTC
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RhaevynHart on Chapter 13 Wed 03 Sep 2025 07:45PM UTC
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wolfgirl_14523 on Chapter 15 Sun 27 Apr 2025 06:46PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 27 Apr 2025 06:46PM UTC
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