9:25 AM, Megaton
I suddenly jerk awake, opening my eyes and looking around the room, my breathing heavy. After taking a moment to compose myself I stand up from the seat I slept in and rub my eyes, letting out a long yawn. Holly is still lying fast asleep on the couch, I decide it's probably best to leave her there for now and head outside. Light creeps into the room as I open the door but I hear a voice behind me before I leave.
"Ah, you're awake." Says Doc Brown, standing at the top of the stairs before slowly walking down. "Your friend's alive, she should be okay to walk but I wouldn't let her leave town for a few days at least." He informs me, crossing his arms over when he reaches the bottom of the stairs.
"Thank god." I respond, letting out a sigh of relief and shutting the door over. "Thanks for doing this." I add.
"Don't thank me, this isn't free you know." The doctor tells me, furrowing his brow slightly.
"Oh, of course…" I mutter, scratching the back of my neck. "How much?" I ask.
"Two-hundred and fifty caps." He declares, a stern look on his face. "No problems with that I assume?" He asks in a smug manner.
"Two-hundred and fifty… " I whisper to myself, taking out the caps I got for the laser pistol and counting out the required amount. "No problem, here." I say, walking over to the doctor and handing him the caps.
"Fantastic." He says, slipping the caps into his pocket. "You and your friends can't stay here anymore though, if you need somewhere to stay then I'd recommend going up to Moriarty's and renting out a room. At least until the girl's fit to go back out into the wastes." The doctor explains to me.
"Well I guess I don't have much of a choice then." I put my hands on my hips and think for a moment, looking back up to the doctor. "Alright, I'll head up there just now. Tell my friend here to meet me in the Saloon when she wakes up, I'll go down to the clinic and pick up Judie." I tell him.
"Hm, okay. Stay safe now." He responds, watching me carefully as I leave his house.
I shield my eyes slightly as I step outside. After my vision re-adjusts I look around the town, glancing at each person going about their business. While heading down to the clinic I catch the Sherriff looking at me with a cold expression, although he doesn't approach. I head through the door of the clinic to find Judie lying on the bed, awake.
"Still alive I see." I say, taking a seat on the chair beside her and smiling.
"It's gonna take more than a bunch of pansy raiders to take this girl down." Judie responds, her thick southern accent accentuating every word she says. She sits up slightly and grunts in pain. "Jesus…" She mutters.
"How are you?" I ask, a concerned expression on my face as she sits up.
"About as good as you'd expect." She answers, the same cheerful expression on her face she always seems to have. "Thanks to you." She adds quietly.
"No need to thank me, it's the doctor who saved your life." I say modestly, shaking my head slightly.
"Well if it weren't for you I'd be roach food by now." She lays a hand on her stomach, cringing. "I hope it didn't cost you much."
"That doesn't matter, let's just say you're lucky I sold that laser pistol to you." I tell her, leaning back in the chair. "I hope you're not too comfy because we can't stay in this clinic."
"That's a shame, we'll just have to move out then, try and find somewhere we can set up a new camp." Judie says solemnly.
"Well you're in no condition to go back out there, we'll have to rent out a room here." I declare. "But there's a slight issue, I've got no caps. So I'll have to make a deal with Moriarty." I add.
"A deal with him?" Judie asks rhetorically. "You know as well as I do that Moriarty's a slimy bastard, surely there's something else you can do."
"Nothing else, unless you want to pay." I stand up from the chair and look down at her.
"All my caps were on my Brahmin; I've got nothing on me." She slowly tries to stand up, letting out a slight grunt. I offer her my hand and help her up to her feet.
"Looks like this is our only option then." We both saunter out of the clinic, heading up to the saloon.
The saloon goes quiet as I open the door, everyone turning and looking for a brief moment before going back to their drinks. I step inside, Judie following closely behind me and shutting the door. "Long time no see smooth-skin." Says Gob (a ghoul working for Moriarty) standing behind the counter and cleaning a glass. "Looking for Moriarty?" He asks.
"Yep, he here?" I respond, scratching the stubble on my chin.
"In the backroom, go on in and see him." Gob says, placing the glass down.
"Alright, thanks." I nod and turn to Judie.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be here." She says, sitting down on one of the bar stools. I turn around and make my way into the back.
Moriarty spins around on his chair and looks up at me, leaning back and smirking.
"Oh, what can I do for you friend?" He inquires, gripping onto the arms of his seat.
"I need a favour Moriarty." I explain to him, stepping a little closer. "I need a place for me and two others to stay, just for a few days."
"A favour? You know as well as I do that nothing comes free, not even favours boyo." He strokes his chin and thinks for a moment. "A room for three people? For a few days? That would cost you a few hundred caps at the very least kid."
"I don't have enough, I was hoping that my good looks and charm were enough to win you over." I respond sarcastically.
"Well, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but you have neither of those things boyo." He stands up and leans on the desk. "Now I'm no psychic, but I'm guessing you want to make some sort of deal with me?" He asks.
"I'm afraid so." I answer, watching him carefully.
"Well it just so happens that I have a job for you. Nothing I couldn't handle myself of course but why should I bother when I could get a strapping young man such as yourself to do it for me. Interested?" He asks slyly, his eyes narrowing.
"What do you need?" I query.
Moriarty shuts the door, lowering the tone of his voice as he speaks.
"I need someone dead, dead and buried. The why doesn't matter, I just need you to do it, yeah?" He explains to me, grinning as usual.
"I'm not an assassin, I was hoping you had something a little more mundane." I whisper.
"Well this is all I've got to offer you kid, you in or are you out?" Moriarty demands, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't have much of an option, who do you have in mind?" I ask.
"A little while west of Super-Duper Mart there's should be a shitty little shack. It belongs to a man by the name of Garrett. A short man, bald with a big black beard, difficult to miss." Moriarty discloses to me. "Take him out and then on his body you'll find a pistol with his name engraved into it, swipe that and bring it to me."
"Sounds easy enough." I say, nodding. My eyes light up and I take the note that I found on the raider from my pocket. "I have another favour to ask, can you take a look at this and see if you can dig anything up about who this Donovan guy is while I'm out?" I request of Moriarty, holding the paper out to him.
"Well since you're being such a good boy for me I'll see what I can find, good luck." He takes the note from me and unfolds it, scanning his eyes over and putting it down on his desk. "Tell your friends they can stay in here until you get back, the room up the stairs and on the left."
"Thanks, I'll see you soon Colin." I say, leaving his room and heading back into the bar.
I spot Holly and Judie sitting beside each other on bar stools, Judie turns her head to me and smiles as I approach.
"Work something out?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, Moriarty says you two can stay here while I'm out." I say, unslinging my assault rifle and handing it to Judie. "Keep this, I don't want to carry too much while I'm out."
"What does he want you to do?" Holly asks softly, almost under her breath.
"Just run an errand, nothing serious." I respond, taking a step back. "I shouldn't be too long, go to the room upstairs, first one on the left. Don't leave until I get back."
"Be careful." Says Holly, standing up and helping Judie to her feet.
"Don't get yourself killed partner." Judie tells me, patting my shoulder before heading upstairs with Holly. I stand with my hands on my hips for a moment, taking in a deep breath before heading out of the bar.
As I approach the town's exit the Sherriff stops me in my tracks.
"I heard you came here last night, with an injured girl." Lucas says, his hands in the pockets of his coat. "Mind if I ask what exactly happened?"
"The camp just down the road, South from here. It got raided, the girl was injured so I brought her here." I explain quickly, eager to leave.
"How many survivors?" He asks, a suspicious look on his face.
"Only three as far as I know, me and two girls. They're staying in Moriarty's just now." I tell him, scratching the back of my neck. "Can I go?"
"Alright, watch your back out there." The Sherriff tells me as I make my way out of the town, taking a quick glance back before the door shuts behind me.
10:00 AM, Just West of Super-Duper Mart
I unsling my hunting rifle, looking around me as I walk down the road. Further up I spot the shack that I'm guessing is the one I'm looking for. I pull a scarf out of my rucksack, wrapping it around my face to keep my identity concealed. Looking around I spot a small hill overlooking the shack, without wasting any time I climb up, going down onto my stomach and crawling over to the edge. I lean the forearm of my rifle on the ground and aim the sights at the entrance. After what feels like forever the door opens and a short man with no hair and a black beard emerges, he takes a cigarette from his pocket and lights it with a match before sticking it into his mouth. I take a deep breath, focusing the front sight on his chest and putting my finger on the trigger. I begin to slowly squeeze, hesitating slightly. I shut my eyes and slowly exhale, firing a round towards the man. Red mist fills the air in front of my target as the bullet launches him onto his back. I pull my face away from the rifle, looking down at him. Satisfied, I stand up and slide down the hill, walking towards him. As I approach I sling my rifle, keeping a hand on my pistol as I inspect him. Before I have any time to react he quickly pulls a pistol from his pocket firing a few rounds in my direction. I feel a sharp pain in my left shoulder as a bullet hits me, causing me to yell out in pain. I quickly sprint to my right, diving behind a crate and leaning back against it. I look down at the wound, blood slowly trickles out of the hole and down my arm.
"Fuck…" I mutter to myself, breathing heavily. I hear heavy coughing from where the man is, being careful not to expose myself I poke my head very slightly out of cover to find that he has dropped his pistol and is lying back, staring up at the sky. I stand up, taking my pistol out and walking towards him. He turns his gaze to my direction, spitting up some blood over himself.
"Why?" He asks, his voice sounding fragile and weak as I aim the pistol at him.
"I'm sorry." I say, firing a single round into his head, blood splattering all over the ground under him.
I slide my pistol back into its holster and pull my rucksack off, reaching inside and taking out my last stimpack. I pull my scarf down and use my teeth to take off the cap before pulling up my sleeve to expose the skin around the wound. As I put the needle into my flesh I breathe out heavily, pushing down the plunger and sighing in relief. I pull my sleeve back down and slowly walk over to my target's corpse, grabbing his pistol and dropping it into my rucksack, picking it up and slinging it over my shoulder. I press my right hand against the wound to stop it bleeding as much, sauntering back down the road, towards Megaton.
10:27 AM, Megaton
I step into Moriarty's saloon, my hand soaked with blood as I continue to apply pressure to the wound.
"Jesus Christ." I hear a familiar Irish voice say as Moriarty pulls me along into the backroom, people in the bar casting me strange looks as he does so.
"He's dead." I say quietly as Moriarty helps down onto his chair.
"Seems like he got a bit of you as well kid." He quips, shaking his head slightly. "You've got his gun?"
"Yeah, I've got it." I shake my rucksack off my shoulder and reach inside it, pulling out the pistol and handing it over to him. "Do you have a bandage?" I ask. Moriarty nods and opens a first aid kit, pulling a bandage out and walking over to me. He unzips my hoodie and helps me take it off, pulling up the sleeve of my shirt and wrapping the bandage around the wound.
"That should stop you from bleeding out." He says, leaning back against his desk. "Right, well a deal's a deal. You and your lackeys can stay here for the next three or four days."
"Did you find out anything about that note?" I ask, looking up at him.
"Well, not a lot but I did find something." He tells me. "Donovan is the name of a raider leader from out North, towards Baltimore. All I can think is that he's expanding his influence to DC."
"Any idea how I could find out more information?" I inquire, standing up from the chair.
"I'd say your best bet is to talk to Jericho kid, though don't expect much intellectual conversation from him." Moriarty tells me, crossing his arms. "He used to be a raider so chances are he might know a thing or two about this Donovan fella."
"Alright, I'll speak to him soon, thanks for your help Colin." I say, nodding to him and shaking his hand.
"Don't mention it kid, seriously, don't." He says, letting out a slight chuckle.
I pull my hoodie back on and head upstairs towards the room Holly and Judie are staying in. Upon opening the door, I take a quick look around the room, there are two beds, one large bed and a single bed. Judie is lying back on the larger bed, looking over at me as I come in. Holly is sitting on the floor, looking down at her feet.
"Back so soon?" Judie asks, sitting up. She gasps slightly when she spots the blood on my shoulder. "What happened to you?" She asks, sounding worried.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." I say, grunting in pain slightly as I sit on the edge of the single bed.
"It doesn't look like nothing, you got shot didn't you?" She asks, although she already knows the answer. "What kind of job were you doing for Moriarty?"
"Look, all that matters is that I did it and we can stay here for the next few days." I explain to her, sighing. "You have my rifle?" I inquire.
"It's in the closet." Judie tells me, crossing her arms over. "I'm starving; do you have any food?" She asks me, her stomach rumbling slightly.
"No, I don't. I'm gonna head to the general store soon and sell this plasma pistol so I can buy some." I tell her.
"Alright, don't strain yourself out though." Judie says softly, lying back down on the bed.
Holly glances over to me before looking back down at the floor, staying completely silent. I run two hands through my hair and let out a long sigh, lying down to get some rest for a little while.
