Bren and his new friend Rick walked through the large metal gate and Bren saw that this town was made of junk and refuge to become a town that was strong, being from the Vault, this was an impressive sight to behold.
"Pretty cool eh Bren?" Rick asked Bren from beneath his helmet
"Yeah, never seen anything like this in the vault." Bren replied looking around
The duo saw an African American man in an outfit that Bren thought made him look like a cowboy from the old prewar books
"Halt, friend or foe?" The man asked looking at the two seriously
"Lucas, you know it's me" Rick said sighing
"Hey can't be too careful Rick, raider might have killed you and took your armor" the man named Lucas said chuckling
"That is as likely as my mother being a Deathclaw" Rick replied and the two men laughed, Bren was just confused
"Enough joking around, who is this guy?" Lucas asked pointing at Bren
"This is Bren, and he is from 101" Rick replied
"I'll be damned, not one but two people from that vault" Lucas said rubbing his chin
"You saw my father?" Bren asked
"If that last man I saw was your father, then yes I did, only I have no idea where he went, might want to ask around Megaton for info on him" Lucas replied
"Say, why is this place called Megaton?" Bren asked
Lucas pointed to the middle of the town
"That is why" Lucas said and Bren saw a huge bomb, he knew what it was, after all, down in the vault, kids at age eight learned that mankind destroyed each other in war with these. Those in the vaults lived while they died thanks to these weapons of war, the A-Bomb.
"Are you insane?" Bren shouted looking at the nuke
"Pipe down, that bomb hasn't gone off yet, but I can't disarm it either" Lucas replied
"Why not?" Bren asked
"The answer is that a bunch of crazies worship it, as the great "Atom" or something like that, even if they were not there, I wouldn't trust anyone with that" Lucas said sighing
"Well maybe I could, I read some books on explosives in the vault, and maybe I could disarm it" Bren said
"You would do that? Tell you what, I will pay you 100 caps to do it" Lucas said smiling
"Why would I want bottle caps" Bren asked
"You just got out of the vault, am I right?" Lucas asked, "Bottle caps are the new currency in the wasteland, that old paper money is only good for as toilet paper"
"I see….well how about for 500 caps; I mean this is a tough job, one false move…." Bren didn't want to finish
"You drive a hard bargain, alright, 500 caps" Lucas said, and he tipped his hat and walked off.
"You sure you can do this, I don't want to find out how the clouds are today" Rick said to Bren
"Yeah I think I can handle it, but first let's go to the bar for a little information" Bren said to Rick
"Can't I need to head to the shop, meet me there in a bit" Rick said walking up a ramp to another building
Bren walked into the bar where he saw what he thought was a zombie banging on an old radio
"Work damn you, I want Three Dogs, not fucking Eden" The "zombie" muttered, his voice was raspy, almost like growling
"Forget it, Enclave comes in ok, but GNR must be having trouble with their system" A woman in skimpy clothes nearby said
The "zombie" feeling defeated turned off the radio and sighed
Bren just stared at it
"What? Never seen a ghoul before?" The creature asked now noticing Bren's stares
Bren shook his head silently
"Thought so, let me guess, you gonna call me a zombie, or flesh eater, or hell even garbage dump, I got called that by a couple of traders from New Arroyo" the Ghoul said to Bren
"Uh no, I'm just curious what happened to you" Bren replied
The ghoul grinned, or at least Bren thought he did, the ghoul was lacking in teeth to tell
"Names Gob, now a ghoul is a person who basically had too much radiation, it's not so bad once you get passed your skin falling off and smelling like a dumpster, but I can at least live longer….course some of us go feral, now those you can call a zombie" He said extending his hand, which Bren shook (Bren wiped his hand on his pant leg)
"Anyway, what do you need? Oh and for being nice, you can have a discount, just don't tell Moriarty" Gob said to him quietly, keeping an eye on the back room
"Sure thing, and nothing but information…I'm looking for my father you see" Bren said to him
"Ah, that I'm afraid is beyond me, ask Moriarty" Gob said
"Will do my good man" Bren said to Gob
"Psst….hey you….101" A voice said and Bren saw a man with a prewar business outfit and what Bren thought looked like a white fedora, his turtle shell glasses gave him a look that he was hiding something, and his voice was pretty sly
"Me?" Bren asked
"No the ghoul, yes you, come here, I have a deal for you" The man said and Bren walked into a side room where the man beckoned him to sit on an old armchair
"My name is Mr. Burke, now I heard Lucas hired you to disarm the bomb, well I have an employer who wants this town to go" He said to Bren, quietly not to alert anyone around
"Yeah, you expect me to blow up a town?" Bren asked, he was angry that he even suggested this
"Now hold on, my employer is extremely rich, what if I told you that you would earn enough caps to live in comfort for life" Burke said to Bren, in his hand was a strange device "This is a detonation charge, put it on the bomb, and then I can activate the bomb remotely" he explained to Bren
Bren got up and then pulled out his pistol from his side
"I rather go to hell then to send this place there" Bren said pointing the gun at the man's face
"My my my, how rude of you, didn't your father ever teach you not to point guns at people?" Burke said pushing his glasses up
"He will forgive me this one time" Bren said pulling the trigger and splattering Burke's brains on the wall, the corpse dropped the charge onto the ground
"Oh my" Gob said
"Sorry about the mess" Bren said picking up the charge
"Interesting, never thought to see James's son do that" An Irish voice said and Bren turned and he saw a dirty man grinning at him
"Colin Moriarty at your service" The man said
"Bren and you know my father?" Bren asked
"Know him? Of course I do, I remember him stopping by with you in his arms, you look just like him at that age" Moriarty said scanning Bren
"But I was born in the Vault" Bren said a bit confused
"Let me guess, Born in the Vault, die in the Vault, not the case with you, think about it" He said to Bren
"….alright I will believe you, so do you know where my father went?" Bren asked still not trusting the man
"Information costs money I'm afraid, sorry to tell you this, but that will cost 100 caps" Moriarty said to Bren
Bren just sighs and turned to the corpse of Mr. Burke
"Is it wrong to loot a body for money?" Bren asks
"Eh, depends, if you're talking about that Burke fellow, then no" Moriarty said to Bren
Bren then rummaged through the corpse's pockets and he found 568 caps which he pulled out 100 and handed to Moriarty, the rest he put in a small pouch he also found on Burke
"Your dad went to a place called GNR, there you will find a man named Three Dogs, he should tell you where to go" Moriarty said to Bren
"Yeah thanks" Bren said walking out
"Hey Gob, clean up this mess why don't ya" Moriarty shouted at the ghoul
"Yes sir" Gob grumbled getting a mop
Bren then walked to the store where Bren saw Rick (still with the helmet on) talking to a woman in a jumpsuit
"….alright Rick, 4 day supply of food and water, along with some shotgun and sniper ammo for your bag of guns and such" the woman said handing Rick a small cooler and little boxes of ammo
"Oh hey Bren, Moira I would like you to meet Bren" Rick said to the woman
"Say, you're from the Vault, tell me what's it like, it would make a great opening for my guide" Moira said cheerfully to Bren
"Well I guess all I can say is that, it wasn't fun, no fresh air or sunlight, not like the real world" Bren said being honest about it
"Interesting, hmmm ok that will work" Moira said to Bren while jotting down a few notes
She then went into a cabinet and pulled out a Vault Uniform, only it had shoulder pads and other modified defenses
"Since you helped me on that one, I want you to have this, it's a vault uniform that I improved" She said," Go on try it on"
"Ummm, maybe I should go into the back to do this" Bren said blushing a bit
The Mercenary guarding the store chuckled a bit; Moira wasn't the brightest bulb, which she then blushed when she realized what he meant
"Oh yeah go ahead" She said to Bren
Bren went into the back and moments later came out with the armored uniform
"Not bad Bren looks good on you" Rick said to Bren
"Thanks, anyway what can I get for this stuff" Bren asked pulling out the .32 pistol, the old clothes (minus the Tunnel Snakes Jacket) and the booze, Bren opted to keep the magnum as another weapon just in case.
"Hmmm, I guess a total of 452 caps, would you like something special, I suggest this 32. Caliber hunting rifle for only 300 caps, and I will even include 50 shots for 100 caps" She suggested
"It's a deal" Bren said and he handed the caps top Moira who in turned handed him the rifle
"Come on Rick, I got the info we need, but first I need to disarm the bomb" He said and the duo walked out.
"Now then I'm gonna disarm the bomb, lets pray that I get this right" Bren said walking into the irradiated puddle to fiddle with the controls
"Let's see….red wire means the countdown, so blue wire is….hmmm maybe I should cut that….ok got it" Bren said cutting a few wires, he then shut the door and turned to Rick
"The bomb is disarmed" Bren said wiping his brow
"Nice going" Rick said
"I agree" a familiar voice said and they saw Lucas smiling
"Finally I can sleep tonight without worry" He said handing Bren a bag which Bren assumed were the caps he was promised
"Here, this is the deed and key to the free house, it's yours now" Lucas said handing Bren a yellowed piece of paper and a key
"Thanks, oh and here" Bren said handing him the charge
"That Mr. Burke guy asked me to rearm the bomb to destroy us" Bren explained
"That bastard, hold on I got to have a chat with hi-"
"No need….you see I kinda shot him and killed him" Bren said, he felt somewhat remorseful about it
Lucas was silent; Bren thought he would be shot
"Bren, it is alright, you did what you had to do, now then if you excuse me, I have to destroy this charge" Lucas said walking away
"So Bren, where too?" Rick asked
"GNR" Bren said as the duo walked out of the town gates.
It was time to find his father