My mom saw what has become of our house being a pile of twisted metal and stone so I move them into a house with a homemade bunker underneath it. My mom starts construction of a medical center to help the settlers deal with injuries and sickness. With the help of Sturges and Preston the medical center is erected in quick order. I set up a small blacksmithing station to work on tools and other things we will need and one of the first orders is for several axes to help clear the fallen trees in the area. With the help of Kyle Long working on the bellows I am able to get six axes made and sharpened.
"Hey son, can I have a word with you?" Dad asks me as I am cleaning up the forge.
"Sure dad what's up?" I ask him.
"We should check the lake to the north I got a feeling about it and I want you to go with me." Dad says while pointing his thumb at the lake.
We take some of the dried meat and purified water in a couple of canteens as we head to the lake. It turns out that dad was right about being suspicious about the lake, it turns out that Mass Fusion employees were dumping nuclear waste into the lake for some time before the bombs dropped. We figure that if we drain the lake we could get rid of any toxic materials in the lake then it would naturally fill with rain and tributaries. It takes some doing but we erect a small dam in the water way that leads to Sanctuary and we are about to erect some water pumps but we are attacked by Mirelurks which are big crab like things with strong pincers. Dad and I barely make it out of there so dad decides to give the new soldiers a chance to test their mettle against some decent opponents.
We get our ragtag group of soldiers to the lake and we are able to defeat the Mirelurks and to our surprise, their meat is fairly tasty. We take them back to Sanctuary to being butchered and their carapaces are used to reinforce the retaining wall. We head back to the lake and make sure it is cleared out then we get back to work. We get the pumps up and running and over the course of several days, the lake is drained. After popping a couple of Rad-X we get the radiated barrels and old vehicles out of the lake bed.
The water does not take long to fill back in and we check the radiation and chemical levels are at a reasonable level. We make a reservoir at the spot where the lake leads to the River running under the footbridge. I work on a place to make and fix weapons and I wall off a garage to use as a workshop. I fix a few parts of the pipe gun I got off one of the raiders corpses. With a few parts, I make the barrel longer and I make it so the gun has a blowback receiver. I strip and clean the pipe revolver and I scrounge up some extra ammo for it. With two-man cell I head Back to Concord to scavenge needed supplies.
I am able to pry off the boards on the doors and I find that most of the buildings are relatively untouched. We get plenty to trade with and supplies to help shore up the things needed to be done in Sanctuary. It takes some muscle but we get a farm setup and several houses are having tenants. We even have an open-air market.
I find a motorcycle that is mostly untouched and I believe I can find needed parts threw scavenging and trading. Soon the Lone Wanderer motorcycle is roaring to life and I take scouting missions to nearby areas of interest. I head south west along the creek and I find an abandoned forest ranger's cabin. I check it out and it needs some repairs. I see signs of habitation by someone but I can not tell if they are still here. I hear some noise outside so I decide to investigate. I see a humanoid being that is akin to a zombie but looks like to be carrying firewood. I pull out my pipe pistol and I step out to confront her.
"Whoa, whoa, hey there now I don't got nuthin to steal. I only got one stimpack and that is for emergencies." She says hurriedly in a panic.
"I don't have anything." I say to her calmly.
"Hugh?" Was her intelligent reply.
"You said you don't got nuthin to steal. You should have said 'I don't have anything to steal. Anyway my name is Austin Colt and I am not here to rob you I thought this Ranger's Cabin was abandoned." I say to her.
"Oh then if you don't mind could you give me a hand taking in this firewood it's kind of heavy." She says with a pleading look.
"Sure, here let me get that I will just need you to hold the door open." I say as I take to wood from her.
"Lucy." She says quietly.
"I assume that is your name." I say as I stack the firewood next to the fireplace.
"Yes, I was only a teenager when the bombs dropped and when I woke up I was like this. I look like a freaking zombie from a comic book." She says with tears brimming at her eyes.
"It doesn't matter what you look like Lucy it matter who you are as a person." I say to her resting my hand on her shoulder to try to comfort her.
It takes several moments for her to calm down and after I share some of my food with her and she opens up to me more after I tell her about my childhood before the war. She tells me that she is/was a runaway from home before the war. Her boyfriend got her pregnant and her parents disowned her so she ran away. At that point she starts crying again and she sobs into my coat and shirt. I just sit there and rub her back gently until she is able to get ahold of herself. I offer her to stay in Sanctuary Hills if she wants to but she tells me she is used to living alone and would not deal well with people. I leave her some food and the directions to Sanctuary Hills if she needs help. I bid Lucy farewell and I head to Concord to investigate the remaining buildings for supplies.
