Chapter Two: Saving the Minutemen

As Rick reached the bottom of the hill he noticed Codsworth, seemingly as content as ever, floating around the street, tending to a flower here, sweeping up some dust there, as if nothing had ever happened. Rick bounded towards him, any concern for his oblivious behaviour being overtaken by the relief at seeing a friendly face, even if it was the family robot.

"Mr Rick, where have you been? You're 200 years late for dinner sir" Codsworth queried as Rick came to a skidding halt.
Rick gasped, "200 years?" shocked at having been away for so long, no wonder the landscape appeared different, God only knows what the residual radiation had done to any wildlife or humans that had survived.
"Yes master Rick you were underground for a very long time, things are different now, but as you can see I've kept the neighbourhood in tip-top condition for the family's return, speaking of which, where are little Shaun and the wife?"
"They're gone Codsworth, someone killed Nora and took Shaun, did you see them? There were two of them, A man and a woman in strange outfits, did you see where they went?"
"I'm sorry sir I have no idea who your referring too, the only people I have seen in some time were in Concord, perhaps they may be able to help you, they may be of a friendlier disposition to another human than they were towards me, I was chased out of Concord like some kind of rabble." His indignation apparent even through the monotone of his robotic voice.
"Thanks Codsworth, I'll be back soon, then maybe we can start rebuilding this place." With that Rick set off on the road towards Concord.

Not a hundred metres down the road was the old red rocket station, Rick decided to check inside for some supplies. Ammo, food, anything that could be useful for the journey into concord. Drawing the 10mm pistol he had recovered from the vault, Rick began sweeping the rooms of the station and found a small amount of food, a handful of bullets and a machete. Rick placed the food and ammo into a backpack he had found and used a belt as a makeshift sheathe for the machete.

Whilst preparing to leave Rick heard a low, whimpering sound coming from behind a coolant pump, investigating Rick found a dog, with a gash running across one of its front legs, its eyes looked up at me, full of pain. Even all the pain he had suffered was not enough to make Rick callous enough to leave a dog, knowing it would die. Approaching slowly he reached out and allowed it to smell his hand, proving to it that there was not a threat, after a short while it allowed it's wounds to be bandaged using a small amount of cloth ripped from Ricks vault suit, leaving some food from his bag, the dog was left to recover in relative comfort. Making a mental note to return later Rick Turned his back on the truck stop and resumed on the road to Concord.

The sun had gone down by the time the town came into view, but in the distance the distinctive red streaks of laser fire could be seen sailing through the air from the town hall. The sound of return fire from the ground could also be heard, clearly ballistic weapons, low caliber. Rick hid behind a car whilst his eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, after being exposed to natural light for the first time in 200 years, his retina seemed to be having a difficult time coping with the different levels of light. The vault having been artificially lit after all. Rick overheard a conversation coming from a building nearby.
"I don't see why we're wasting so much ammo and time on these fuckers" came one voice, gruff and unrefined.
"Because that's what Gristle wants us to do, do you want to go back there empty-handed? Don't you remember what happened to the last guys who came back with nothing,They ended up Gristle's dinner, that what you want?"
"No, just wish we could get back, we ain't equipped to fight Minutemen, not even the one'a them."

Having heard enough to know these were not good people, Rick took the decision to help this 'Minuteman' whoever the hell he was. Rick drew the machete he'd recently found, the blade glinting in the light cast by a nearby fire. creeping towards the door, Rick kept himself low with his weight distributed evenly, upon reaching the door he cautiously peered around the corner, two men were sitting by a fire barrel, one of whom was sharpening a combat knife whilst the other cleaned his gun, both were dressed in what looked like rags that had sheet metal attatched in places, which acted as make-shift armor, they clearly believed they were not in any danger as both had their backs turned to the door, a mistake no trained soldier would ever make. Rick began to sneak through the building, until he was within metres of the men. Throwing the machete at the first man, blade over handle, he watched as it sailed through the air finally burying itself in the throat of the first man, he stood, dumbfounded for a moment and then with a gurgle, crumpled to the ground, by the time his comrade turned to find the intruder, Rick had rushed in close and disarmed him with a blow from the butt of his gun.
"Don't shout, don't move, don't even speak unless I ask you too, understand?" the man nodded. He was even uglier up close, with a multitude of scars covering his face, one of which had clearly taken one of his eyes, running from his forehead down past a milky-white pupil.

"Who are you people?" Rick demanded of the man, watching his eyes his hands, to make sure he didn't try anything.
"Ain't nobody so far as your concerned, ain't no business with you, just wannna get to the Minuteman and his friends, locked up in that there building we're all camped around, you don't look like one'a them, what's it to you?" He looked me up and down, trying to figure me out. "You a vault dweller huh? Look like you don't know which way is up around here, well let me tell you. If you mess with us, we will fuck you up, turn around now, and maybe we don't come looking when we're done here".
He would be no more use Rick realized, since the beginning of this conversation he had been twitching, his eyes were two huge black saucers and he clearly hadn't realised he was in no position to be making threats, knowing the signs of narcotic use and not wanting to waste any more time, Rick raised his pistol and put a bullet between the junkie's eyes, knowing the sound of gunfire would simply blend in as part of the skirmish, not alerting any of his group nearby.

The sound of gunfire did not cause anyone to come running, just as anticipated. After retrieving his machete Rick began to comb through the rest of the building, methodically, just as he had been taught back in the academy, as he had perfected on many tours as a soldier. Having been a member of the special forces, an accomplished marksman and demolitions expert, Rick was confident in his abilities.
He had led platoons of men on missions none had been expected to return from and led those same men home to their families. These degenerates would not be difficult to overcome, no matter how many they numbered. The rest of the first building was clear. Walking back onto the street, practically invisible due to the lack of streetlights, Rick advanced on the town hall, careful to stay away from even the dimmest light being given off by the fires these men had started. The streets were deserted. Whoever was after this Minuteman, they had made it inside.

Knowing that this may be his best chance for answers Rick sprinted the rest of the way to the town hall. He burst through the door, gun drawn. Two men on a walkway on the second floor looked down in shock as He came crashing through the door, they barely had time to react before they were both put down by the superior marksman. The first received a bullet in the neck, dropping his gun as he clutched at his throat, desperately trying to prevent himself from bleeding out. The second had time to fire off a round, which grazed my cheek, before the remainder of Rick's clip was emptied into him, the force of the bullets pushing him back over the railing, he came crashing down to the ground floor. Reloading, Rick checked the corpse for ammo, he was out, as was the dead man unfortunately.
"Looks like I'll be using the machete from now on" Rick thought to himself as he crept further into the building, as luck would have it the building was full of tight corners and cover, perfect for a melee engagement, Rick knew he could be upon anyone he saw within seconds, before they even realised he was there.

Finally making it to the top floor of the building, easily dispatching two of the rabble assualting the buidling on the way Rick reached what he knew was the hallway to the mayor's office, or it used to be anyway. the sound of the door being attacked could be heard echoing down the hallway.
"You wait 'till we get in there, ya coulda had it easy, we woulda killed you quick, but no, you had to get brave, now I'm gonna skin you alive, just you wait" there was an urgency in the mans voice that made Rick uneasy, he had met a lot of twisted people in war, but never anyone who relished the thought of killing quite like this man sounded like he did
"Just get us in there, and then you do whatever you want" came a second voice.

Rick realised that his machete may not be of much use if both of his opponents had guns. It was time to improvise, scanning the room, Rick found a whiskey bottle hidden in one of the desks, someone who had worked here clearly had a problem. Realising that there was some whiskey still in the bottle he took a swig, grimacing as the the liquid hit his throat, It burned like hell, but it felt good after being dry for 200 years. preparing himself for what was to come, Rick counted down from three, throwing the bottle as hard as he could at a wall near the two men trying to break through the door. Whilst they were distracted, Rick sprinted down the corridor, slicing the arm of one clean off, gun dropping to the floor along with it as he screamed in agony, kicking him out of the way Rick rolled across the floor towards the second as he began to fire, clearly shaken by what he had witnessed his aim was awful and as Rick came out of the roll he stabbed with the machete and found his gut, deftly drawing the blade out finishing the man off with a slice to the neck. Turning back to the first, who was still looking at his stump in shock, Rick began to advance on him, looking on with detatchment as the pain danced across his face, as he reached him he lashed out with his fist, striking the bridge of his nose, pulling back for another swing, and another and another. All of the fury and pain that Rick had felt channeled into those savage strikes, until the man was unrecognizable, just a bloody mess on the floor. After a moment to get his breathe back Rick wiped his knuckles on the rags the man had been wearing to clean the blood off of them. Making his to the door they had been trying to breach he gently knocked.
"Its okay, I took out the guys in the building, ones outside too, your safe now. My name's Rick"

The door opened slowly, A man wearing a duster coat and an old hat peered out, a laser musket at the ready.
"I'm Preston, Preston Garvey, and you have impeccable timing".