Consider this: you've spent you're life in the comfort of stability, what else was there? Would you really trust anyone in the wasteland? If you do, you're a fool, plain and simple. A pack of cigarettes, laced with jet. Food, poisoned. Drinks, poisoned. Meetings are ambushes, help is just another word for enslavement. Yet being in the Enclave, not all of this was necessarily true. There was definitely a certain naive mindset. Which is why they chose to eliminate most opposition. They simply could not be trusted. Or worse, were prone to falling back into their usual habits.

Captain Hall, a man so entwined in the affairs of the Enclave he could have been General by now. Unfortunately, since the most senior commander was the rank of Colonel, commissions were usually not given except on extraordinary circumstances. This left most at the ranks of corporal. And most units were led by a Lieutenant most likely a sergeant, with Captains assuming a more "executive" roll.

The Captain was not so much insensitive to the horrors of this new world, but contrived them to be nuisances, most of which could be handled with signing death warrants. The wasteland and its inhabitants he saw as nothing more than untapped resources, a mindset which made him very popular, and even granted him limited audience with Autumn. Although indeed he was a father and husband, it was something to really take his mind off his work, rather than challenge him to grow as a person, so most Enclave personnel thought. In Site R, he was a stuffy persona, seemingly untouchable. Championing his family and consorting with only the most prestigious people. But now without all that bogging him down, he seemed a completely different person.

As for Mother, or his birth name, Calvin Popps, he was no doubt a weapon, built for the sole purpose of cleaning up messes and getting his hands dirty. But a child at heart. He was not a senseless killer, strangely enough, unlike Hall, he saw much beauty in the world, yet due to his status, rarely found ways to express his own viewpoints, and his brutal war record reflected everything a obedient soldier should be; ruthless and motivated. Coming from the West, was able to hold his rank of Sergeant. As it was, veteran war experience was a ugly face that he wore like a mask. It gave him personal space, no one bothered him or dare question his motives. He could put it on like a cape, appearing larger than life. Using it to create stories of his own brutal methods, to gain confidence in his superiors. Something he always hated in himself.

Perhaps this free time in the wasteland gave both of the men too much freedom and liberties. Already forgetting whom they represented.

"Mother! Look sharp! Looks like a group of locals." Hall said hanging his head pretending to be fiddling with some junk. A lone caravan approached them on the road. Confrontations happened all the time, and one would think you'd get used to the sight of armed men. Yet the tension building up to a forced meeting, could choke a fucking brahman. He hated to realize how wastelands would feel meeting Enclave soldiers. But seeing the Enclave was like seeing a beacon of hope, wasn't it?

The clattering caravan came to a halt, the man in front quickly pulling a sawed off from his coat.

"Howdy!" The man called out. "Which way to the Commons?" He held the shotgun loosely at his waist.

"Is this some sort of test? Some code word?" Hall whispered to Mother.

"How should I know?" Mother waved to the man. "Over yonder I suppose!" He yelled back. Pointing back where the caravan had come from. The members looked at one another and a small argument seemed to erupt.

"What are you saying?" Hall had pulled the revolver and cocked the hammer into position and set it back in its holster. Mother tightened his sling on his rifle. Looking past Hall to the caravan party.

"Maybe they're lost."

"Lost? They live out here for crying out loud Mother. They look suspicious." Hall looked back over his shoulder, as Mother rolled his eyes. The Captain had very formal training and only saw little bits of life outside. Other than supervising sweeper crews and gathering human specimens, he had little "street smarts". And this agitated Mother greatly. The only reason the Captain was here was to add a bit of official flavor, he thought.

"We got lost in the night. Lost our bearings. Wondering if you know where…where we are!" Called the man, nodding with the other members in his crew. "Come over here, hands up, maybe we have some supplies you need for helping us!"

Hall and Mother looked at one another and shrugged, put their hands up and walked over. They were trained to view most of these vagabonds as harmless; but that was with power armor and heavy weapons. They realized this mid stride, and regretted their decision.

"This is stupid, you know that right." Hall said smiling through his teeth.

"You're commanding officer, just following you. Sir." Mother waved a hand at the caravan, smiling. Spitting viciously to the side, and trying to appear friendly.

"Just be ready to gun and run."

"Copy."

When they finally reached the caravan the man took their weapons and gave a quick pat down. There were two armed women, and another man.

"This here is my family." The man said slowly shifting his gaze, noticing how strangely the men gawked at the people, as if they were aliens. "My wife, Donna, our girl here, we caller her Reese, and this here is my brother, Sonny. You can call me Hank." He nodded his head, where sat quite a nice beige pre-war hat with no visual defects. As a matter of fact, all of them were nicely dressed in prewar garments, not the usual patchwork of pockets and junk, and well armed.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Locke, this here is Gibbons. We're not really from here, came up here in search of work." Said Hall. A natural with people.

"And what kinda work DO you do?" Pried Hank, his family eyeing them back with weapons slung over their shoulders like a casual painting of hunters. Actually spot on, Hall thought, he kinda admired the sight.

"Well, a number of things. Mostly repairing, anything from a radio to a reactor, to a broken guitar. Also been known to do doctoring, if such dire situation demands it!" Said Hall cheerily with a wink. Which only repulsed them a step back.

"Riiiight." Drawled the man. "Welp. Tell you what there, mr. slick hair shiny shoes. You help me repair some of this lot, point us in the right direction, I might have something…" He looked over Hall distastefully. "… More your speed." He glanced back at his brother who nodded. Hall and Mother looked at one another, but were interrupted by the sound of weapons being swung in their direction. "Unless you're just a liar. Waiting to-"

"No, no. Nothing of the sort. Nothing…" Laughed Hall. "We just were in a hurry, not a hurry, late. We were kinda running on a tight schedual and well…well what the hell, you spare some food, we'll get to work." Hall said finally, Mother ready to help untie the bulk load. "You do have tools?"

"'Course we do. Then its a deal! Lets head on over out of sight. Donna! Donna! Get the supper. Hank, grab them tools out the box there. Reese you keep an eye out girl."

"Yes papa." She saluted Hank and shouldered her rifle.

And they set to work. It was actually quite relaxing. They talked about D.C. and its inhabitants, Hall nearly drooling over hearing what the popular mindset of the people was out here as they tinkered with all sorts of things. Converted A/C units, vacuum tubes, T.V. and radio units, coffee makers, portable ovens, generators, and a multitude of rare make assault weapons. A load that suited this band of traders, everything was of unusually high quality.

They sat in a small clearing under a tree that had sprouting a few tuffs of radioactive grass. They were welcoming, all said and done, Hall was taken aback. Mother was preoccupied standing sentry with the girl, Reese. He could see him pointing to different things and teaching her a bit of soldering, as they practiced mock drills. Finally dinner was stewed up: Squirrel bits in Blacmo Mac an' Cheese, absolutely amazing, Hall thought. Must be something else too, the cheese was so creamy and the squirrel really tasted so crisp and seasoned, spicy.

They were not what they had expected to run into, these wastelanders. The girl had strawberry hair tied up in a bun, with not a hair out of place, Must have been no older than 13, and surprisingly had a vocabulary on par with the folks back home, which she used to tell crazy stories of mutants and damsels, unfortunately for Hall, who obviously thought it to be such a waste. His wife Donna was a solemn woman with dark curly hair, and deep set eyes which looked precariously at these new strangers. A bit thick, but well toned, she was quiet as a mouse. Hank and his brother Sonny were alike in appearance except that Hank was bald. Gaunt long faces with big beards that enveloped their faces. They were mostly all business, yet not too versed on maintaining their supplies. It had been a fortunate run in; as Hall was forced to, more than willing, showed them how to fix many things (to conceal their affiliations). They sat in a circle with a small fire, not more than coals, as they talked to one another.

"So this Enclave or whatever. You're saying they do exist?" Hank laughed, and prodded his brother while Hall did the best to suppress strangling the man right then and there.

"From what I've heard. And I hear they are going to reform this entire area back into a real city." Hall said as nonchalant as he could, yet making it seem as though it was truly a possibility.

"Well they better hurry their butts up." Said Donna, unimpressed by this phantom government.

"Right." Sonny nodded in agreement, between spoonfuls of cheesy mac and squirrel.

"So then those eyerobuts were telling the truth, heh. Never paid much mind to robuts. Things just as soon shoot a man then to tell the truth. Like those armored 'uns downtown. Meanest sons of bitches I'd ever met. Just as soon kill a man for having a radio set. Seen it too." His weary eyes glancing up to his brother who silently nodded in agreement. "Those bastards. The day they grazed us with their damned presence, as if things weren't bad already. Now we got these knuckleheads claiming everything they can, ha. Like a dog, pissin' on fire hydrants." He shook his hand like a wild hose.

"I hear they're gonna take care of them too." Hall said, eagerly.

"And how do'you know so much about this Enclave, Mr. Locke?" Hank snapped, obviously annoyed with this Enclave business.

"Well, I've read about them. Part of the reason we're trying to make it to the National Mall. To try to get more information to help them." Hank looked down to his meal while Hall quickly shrugged at Mother who was staring 'danger' at him.

"Hm. Well sounds like a bad idea. Place is a nest of mutants. You ever see a mutant wielding a minigun, or rocket launcher? Sure you haven't, cause that's be the last damn thing you'd see." Mother had started to laugh as Hank swung around to glare at him. Mother pretended it was something caught in his throat and did his best to cough to cover up his laughter. "Like I was saying. Between them metal bastards and the mutants, you won't get far."

"Any way you'd be able to give us some, tips? Maybe a route that is overlooked?"

"Well sure." He looked at his wife Donna who shook her head, knowing that they were walking into their graves. "I mean…Only if you're really sure about going through with it."

"Please, we'd even give you this for any information on those brutish robots as well." Hall twisted around and pulled the bottle of Quantum from his coat. Reese's eyes widened and glossed over the ignited blue florescent glass bottle. She tugged on Hanks shirt.

"Well, just try not to do anything too foolhardy for this Enclave. I doubt they care as much as you think." He drew up a map and told them what he knew of the Brotherhood of Steel activity. It seemed solid, and he had no reason to be lying. They went to bed with Mother on guard.

The next morning they parted ways, it seemed The Commons wasn't more than a few miles away, at the settlement they say the day before. Mother waved Reese over and bent down to her.

"Remember what I told you now!" Mother said in a grave tone.

"Every bullet I don't shoot at raiders is a raider I spare." She recited, trying to remember the exact words. "If they come around, I'll shoot and not stop. Aiming is only something you do when you get better at killing 'em first." She happily chirped aloud. He held out his giant hand and she gave him a high five. They all smiled and shook hands with the each other and parted ways; Hank not forgetting his end of the deal gave them a small package upon departing.

"What a smart girl." Mother said proudly watching the caravan shrink in the distance. "What'd we get?" He peeked over at the package as Hall unwrapped the cloth it was in. It was heavy, which is good, unless it was a explosive. Slowly he peeled back the layers till finally there it sat. An intact and pristine Pip-Boy 3000.

"I could hold onto it." Mother complained as they walked down a hill towards D.C. Hall wore the Pip-Boy as Mother continued to ask why it couldn't be him who got it. Knowing full well his arms were too big to strap the device to.

"I said, that'll be all, Sergeant!" Hall ordered. One thing about the Enclave, which was quite apparent now, was how dependent they are on technology. It was like a cushion, where they were aloof and carefree. The Power Armor, energy weapons, digitizing and computing, all of their lives.

"Looks like there's some sort of signal, up over there." Said the captain adjusting some of the knobs on the Pip-Boy, pointing towards the elevated broken highway.

"Better skip it." said Mother. They were caught in between a small trading community and the defunct Wheaton armory.

"Lose your nerve? We can get a better lay of the land from that elevated position anyway." Hall stumbled across the arid landscape, towards the ramp leading up to where the unknown signal was emanating from. Mother followed, looking around cautiously.

They walked around the twisted metal casks of cars strewn about on the deserted freeway, skeletons lying around in fleeing positions, their burnt remains cast long shadows in the midday sun. The signal was growing stronger, and clearer as they approached a large shipping truck. Finally, when they reached the truth they looked inside to some sort of radio center. It was relatively squared away, and much cleaner, as if it was recently abandoned. There were files and desks, along with a large radio center, the source of the mysterious signal. Upon closer examination, they found piles of documents, all in chinese, along with various training manuals and ammunition.

"Looks like a dead end. Nothing useful here." Hall said throwing the files to the floor in irritation. "Dammit."

"Eh. What do you think they were doing here?"

"Doesn't matter. Must have been some CQ. Wait. Do you hear something?"

"Whaat? No, nothing." Mother continued to brush through the contents of the truck, scattering miscellaneous junk around in disinterest.

"Shhhh!" The captain sputtered out, closing his eyes trying to recognize the noise. Ah. Some sort of timer. Explosives? He started stared overturning the radio equipment in search of the timer. Finally he found it, the digitized red numbers: 23;04:01 slowly counting down. He followed the wires and saw they linked up to some sort of hub.

"Found it." He quickly turned on the monitor on the desk and started to de-crypt the system; his formal education included learning chinese, as a sort of "what if" scenario. (He did not have the proper connections to hook up the Pip-Boy directly, having it do all the work.) It only took a minute and finally the green flicker of the screen came to life. It showed a number of highlighted points on a map of the D.C. area. Must be old intel. He quickly memorized the map, before standing and blasting the screen with his pistol.

Mother was crouched out on the highway looking at the land through the looking glass when he heard the muffled pistol shot. He paid little mind, hopefully that was the last he'll see of Hall, he wistfully thought. Just then the Captain came and asked for a status repot.

"There's definitely activity down of at Wheaton. But otherwise it's quite. Thought I saw your mother." He added quickly.

"Huh?"

"Yeah. Ugly thing, big eyes like saucers, wings, fat and plump, shoots barbed stingers from..." Mother smiled, taking down the glass.

"Give me those." Hall snatched the glass and did a survey of his own. Nothing but raiders. And a few solitary bloatflies drifting lazily by a canister of toxic waste. He lowered the glass and put them away.

"Comedic. On your feet. I want to make it to the outskirts by tonight, and be in by tomorrow."

"How about I carry you on my back as well, Captain." but Hall was too busy finding the best route down into the outskirts of the D.C. metropolis. The twisted buildings created a death maze, yet the Washington Mall was not dug too far in, yet the mention of mutants was disconcerting.

Mutants. Mother knew all too well the brute force of these monstrous hulking bullet sponges. The Gen. 2 Mutants were bad enough, and how they managed to stake claim out here was by nothing more than a accidental miracle. And Vault 87 of all places. The high command was having conniptions of how to deal with the problem. He sat and watched as the Captain looked out on the city. Mother was weary of the trip, and thought of if he could kill the Captain and escape, he would. He pondered this.

The skyline was filled with a dark smoke. Fires were burning all around the city, as distant gunfire could be heard. Sometimes a flare would be seen shooting into the sky, slowly drifting down, like a leaf down a dying tree, Hall smiled wickedly, as he licked his lips and pursed them together, "Finally…" He was ready to see this war first-hand. Ready to kick these ungrateful squatters out. Trying to snuff out every trace of the Brotherhood. He only wished the NCR was here so he could dismantle them as well.

Mother stretched his rifle above his head. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look at my story. I always appreciate the feedback if you have the time. The story should be taking more solid form in the next few chapters, sorry for any confusion as to where the plot stands, in case you're ready to give up on it.