Joshua stood at the entrance of the hall, a smoking .38 revolver in his shaking hands.
It was clear the boy had never killed before and behind him was a trembling girl around the same age as him clinging to his back.
"Kid? Uh... thanks I guess." Never thought I would have my life saved by a child but it is what it is.
"Is it... over?" He asked nervously.
I could still hear the diminishing sounds of gunfire outside so the battle should be over soon.
I looked around the hall and counted the bodies. 'Looks like all the enemies are accounted for in here.'
Over at the other side of the room, slumped on the floor was the raider chick. She was still breathing.
"Yeah. I think so. The only thing left is to disable the collars. We were pretty lucky this fucking guy didn't have time to detonate them."
I said as I hobbled over to the back where the woman was laid.
My AP was returning but I still felt exhausted and my wounds were in the process on healing.
I stood over the woman and thought about ending her right there. 'But wouldn't this be a waste of human resources?' I thought.
I flipped her over and pulled her hands behind her back and then tied them together. I also stripped her of her weapons and threw them into my inventory.
"Kid, if she wakes up and tries anything, go ahead and shoot her." I said as I grabbed the gun from his hand and reloaded it with fresh rounds before handing it back to him.
I then kicked in the door leading to the back room where the terminal I was looking for was.
Inside the room was a dirty mattress, garbage and a desk with the terminal.
"Heh, too easy." It only took a few moments with my currents skills to crack this one and I opened the program files.
I found the link to the collars and ordered them to deactivate which would allow them to be removed without issue.
With a satisfied smirk I then stepped back and exited the way I came.
"Joshua look!" I heard the girl say as she pointed at his collar. The dim flashing red light on the collar had gone completely dark.
Joshua looked at her collar and noticed the same.
Tears welled up in both thier eyes and they didnt waste time undoing the clasp and throwing the collars to the ground and hugging eachother.
'Tch. This brat has a girlfriend at his age while I'm still single. The world is unfair.'
I picked up the collars and put one of them into my inventory.
I held the other in my hand and glanced towards the unconscious raider woman, with a predatory smile.
I pulled out the Pip-Boy I had gotten earlier and then fastened it to my left arm before turning it on.
Lines of green text and the iconic Pip-Boy mascot appeared before it loaded to a home screen.
The display was more like a terminal than a game interface which made sense since this wasn't actual game equipment.
I looked through the files but everything had been reset to the default setting before I even picked it up, I guess.
I connected the Pip-Boy pin to the slave collar and then connected the collar to the Pip-Boy.
I had to create a new macro but I was able to make it so that the Pip-Boy could detonate the collar remotely.
The distance without some kind of signal amplifier could only reach half a kilometer at most since the core components of the device were limited but I added a geofence for the collar centered around the Pip-Boy so if the wearer of the collar got out of range, it would automatically explode.
Still smirking I took the collar and then clamped it around the woman's fair neck.
"Well sleeping beauty... what should I do with you now?" I whispered more to myself than her.
I lifted her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then exited the town hall with the two liberated children following behind me.
Outside the sun was still hanging in the center of the sky, which caused the puddles of blood to shimmer in a beautiful crimson rainbow.
There were many bodies littering the main street and a crowd of slaves were hugging each other and crying like the kids did.
It was clear they were celebrating thier new freedom and the deaths of their oppressors.
"Joshua! Beatrice!" And old man with graying hair and and a short beard limped towards us looking anxiously towards the children.
"Doc!" Both children yelled in excitement and ran up to him and hugged him from both sides which he bent over and returned the hug.
I could only rub my nose in slight embarrassment at all the sentimental displays of affection.
'I'm not good at these kinds of things. Maybe I should just leave...'
I started walking passed the hugging trio before a hand reached and grabbed my arm causing me to raise an eyebrow at the old man.
"Wait! Please wait!" The old doctor stared into my eyes as if evaluating me but also seemed to hold a gleam of gratitude.
"Don't leave just yet. We still have to repay you..?"
"Frankie Winter. And you old man?" I had stopped and turned towards him.
"James Burns, but everyone calls me Doc. Been that way for over twenty years since I started messing around with medicine." The Doc said with a kind smile and slight chuckle.
"I see."
'This guy is quite old, maybe around 50 or 60. He might have been alive when the bombs dropped.' I thought but another thought crossed my mind right after. 'Maybe he has some answers about the vault suit and Pip-Boy...'
"Twenty years huh? Then you must have known the boy's grandfather?" I asked.
He nodded, "Yes. He was my best friend."
"Hm... Then can you tell me where he got these?" I asked holding up the Pip-Boy and pulling the 76 vault suit from my inventory and showing him.
His eyes widened for just a second before shifting to understanding. Not questioning a suit appearing out of thin air. He had probably seen much crazier stuff, since this is Fallout after all.
"So Joshua gave you those, eh? That's fine, you saved us all so there's no problem with you having them. But if this old man is gonna tell a story, it's better to move these old bones to somewhere comfortable. Follow me."
The old man began hobbling over to what I can only assume was his home, a ramshackle looking apartment that matched the post apocalyptic aesthetic.
He stepped over dead raiders as he walked, as if they were merely trash in his path.
"Come on Frankie! Doc's stories are always really good!" Joshua grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
"Fine, but stop pulling me!" I forced my arm out of his grasp and he just laughed sheepishly.
The rest of the slaves were still celebrating but there were some who were already dragging the raider corpses off to be disposed of. Not my concern since my job was pretty much done here. I'm not helping with cleanup!
I followed the Doc into his home and noticed the place was also used as a makeshift surgery for when he had to attend patients.
A couple doors were at that the back that probably led to private bedrooms.
The Doc walked over to a refrigerator and pulled out some bottles of beer and handed me one before sitting down lazily on a chair.
"Go on, you sit too. Since you're our hero, I'll tell you all about Old Charce."
My eyebrow shot up immediately. "Charce?" I asked with surprise. I threw the chick I had been carrying to the ground and took a seat in front of the Doc.
'That's got to be a coincidence right? I named my main character in F76, Charce. It couldn't be the same though right?'
"Yup." Doc James continued, "Charce, Joshua's grandfather. I met him 25 years ago at a settlement called Foundation, over in Appalachia. At the time, I was barely struggling to survive and when I heard that people were going back to Appalachia, I made the journey there."
'Okay that all sounds right so far...'
"Things were different then. People had originally left because of the Scorched Plague. Ah, that was-"
I cut him off. "I know about the Scorched, just tell me about Charce and how he got these."
Doc James rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Okay. It's not like it's a secret. He was a vault dweller that emerged from Vault 76 at that time. He and a few hundred others. That was the biggest reason people started going back there.
The vault dwellers had begun fighting the Scorched and were doing a pretty good job, too. Eventually, several factions returned and aided in the battle. The settlers at Foundation, the raiders at Crater and the Brotherhood of Steel.
Everyone wanted to live in Appalachia due to how untouched it was by radiation. So they mostly got along, albeit barely.
The scorched was a threat no one could ignore and needed to be eliminated before anyone could think of staying there permanently."
"And Charce?" I asked, "What was his role in everything? Why did he end up here instead of settling there?"
The old doctor's face turned grim but answered me. "Appalachia was scarred by the aftermath of fighting the Scorched. There was a stockpile of warheads that were used to destroy them but they also wrecked the environment as well. Leaving the place no better off than the rest of the country.
There might still be some people living there but I'm sure most have already moved on. Charce was one of them. He left and settled here. Said he wanted to get away from there. Too many bad memories. I, and many others had followed him."
I sat deep in thought. 'Well' that doesn't answer the biggest question in my mind, but it was enough. I doubt the old man could answer it anyway.'
"Thanks for the story, Doc. I think that's all I needed."
"You're really leaving Frankie?! So soon?" Joshua stood up in alarm.
I smirked and answered. "Yeah, my work here is done. I've got my payment and it looks like you are in good hands." I then turned to look at the little girl at his side. "In more ways than one..." I chuckled causing the two kids to look at each other and blush.
"Well. This is it." I said as I stood and then picked up the raider chick and threw her back over my shoulder causing the old man to raise a brow but he said nothing.
"I see." He said. "Then on behalf of our people, I'd like to thank you sincerely. I'm afraid I dont have anything of material value to give you..."
"Forget it! I got enough!" I walked out while the two children and the Doc followed me out.
The other slaves who saw me and parted like the red sea as I walked towards the settlements entrance.
All of them offered words of gratitude but I paid it no mind as I prepared to depart.
"Will... will we ever see you again?" The little brat asked with new tears forming in his eyes.
I smiled and patted his head. "No. You probably won't... take care kid." I turned and started walking. I'm really not good with emotional shit.
Shouts of more gratitude followed me before it all faded into the distance.
[Quest Complete!]
'Yes! Things are going to get more interesting from here on out. I can't wait!'
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[A/N: End of Volume 1. Hope you enjoyed the story so far. I struggled to write compelling gun battles and a satisfying end to this side quest. On the whole I was content with it. Maybe I could have done better? Curious to know what you think. Well my normal schedule continues. 5 more chapters are expected to release around 4-15. Thank you for your patience with my odd chapter release schedule. Until next time!]