Chapter 8

Finding the Garden of Eden

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants."

-Sir Issac Newton

I felt no different when the syringe left my body. I looked over myself and found no difference. It was the same scarred and battered, yet incredibly strong body I've had for what feels like forever. I stared at Eden, or at least, his computer.

"Patience, dear boy. It will take effect, and you will pass out again. If you continue to take your injections every other day, however, your mutation will be kept in check, and you won't have to worry about fainting again... Well, from the shots, at least."

"Call me "dear boy" again, and I'm going to rip out your spine and floss with it."

"Honestly, what have I done to offend you?"

I stared, exasperated. "What have you done? Your bastard soldiers are the reason I look like this. You assholes come on the radio and spread peace and love, sure... but I only know of one person idiotic enough to listen to your crap, and that's some old guy in Megaton. You talk about bringing America back... yet you sit around and shoot citizens on sight. Only government I can think of that does that shit is a Communist government. Are you a red, Eden?"

"Boy, if you call me a communist one more time, I will have you put in stasis and under Enclave control. We have the means to do that, you know."

"Pushed a button, did I?"

I felt a rush of dizziness and put a paw to my head. I can't describe what I was feeling so well... nausea, aches, dizziness... It was the strangest I've felt since that Jet trip. I stumbled around a little bit and found my balance leaving me. I could feel Eden eyeing me, expectantly.

I thought it would wear off after a few seconds, but it just got worse. Slowly, I fell onto my rear, but eventually my head was spinning so badly that that wasn't even enough. I fell to a side, and my consciousness quickly left me.

.o.

I don't know how long I was asleep for, but when I woke up, she was still out. Sometime during the night she turned and was facing me again, having chosen to put her head just under my muzzle. I didn't want to wake her; she'd been waking up often over the night. She was also having some nightmares. There's something about the link between humans and animals. You just know when your companion is upset or hurting. It's almost an innate feeling; something driving you to help in any way you can.

If the only way to help is to stay close and provide warmth or comfort, you do it. Though I was feeling better with her finally getting a little more rest, the mild apprehension I had for Cord's well-being slowly gave way to pure fear. At one point during the night I even had a feeling of intense dread, like something bad is going to happen. At that point in the night I just wanted to go out and fight something. It made me feel restless and chaotic... and then it left me.

I didn't get much more sleep than Milly. If anything, I got less. Since I wasn't listening at the time, I didn't know what Milly was supposed to do today. I wanted to know how she was feeling today, but I had to guess that it wasn't much better than the night before. I know that death is a normal occurance in the wastes. It's easy enough to say that when the person dying isn't someone you know or love. When it turns out to be that someone... it changes how you feel. I've heard stories of people who were almost as saintly as Milly was, only to lose a family member or close friend and undergo a serious change in character: these people became vicious killers or drug addicts.

I couldn't let her lose herself like so many others before her. She was going to probably worry about Cord again when she woke up. He really should've gotten here by now. I found my fear giving way to acceptance of the worst. Cord was likely dead. When I say "acceptance", I don't mean a feeling of enlightenment or a feeling like I got over an obstacle. It's just a plain acknowledgement of the worst case scenario, and as such is nearly devoid of feeling.

I know that it would hurt her a lot more to think that Cord was dead, though. Rather than appear sad or concerned for him, I decided to act like I was sure he was okay. One death was going to be a handful. Two so close together... I didn't want to think about it.

It was around then that she woke up. I felt her eyes looking up at me. She looked at the device on her wrist again and sighed, draping it over my torso.

"It's time to get up," she said sleepily. Even after saying it, she stayed put for a few more minutes. I licked the top of her head a few times. She slowly turned onto her back and sat up.

"You're right, buddy. The sooner we can get this done, the sooner we can wind down... Cord hasn't shown up yet?"

She was looking around the small room. I could see her visibly slump. She shook her head.

"Damn... Cord... where are you?"

She set her bare feet on the floor and shuffled over to her armor (she put it on a desk). Before making any move to put on the armor, she cracked her back a few times. I got off the bed and did the same. That mattress felt like a pile of rocks. After we both stretched, she slowly got her clothes on, and then her armor. She picked up "Bolt", and headed for the door.

8.7

While we were walking, someone reminded Milly to go see Scribe Rock-something. I didn't know who that was, but Milly seemed to know. She mentioned that we were welcome to the mess hall for breakfast. I had a slight feeilng that these people were not willing to seperate me from her. I would not leave her side willingly, anyway.

When we got to the mess hall, there was still no sign of Cord. Milly asked a few tin men about him, but no one she asked seemed to have any clue as to his whereabouts. We were both reassured a little, though. One of the tin men explained that scouts by the water cleaner reported no disposal of deathclaws. We asked if they knew where he was heading, but the tin man said they got there after the Enclave attacked and Cord's leave; too late to know where he was going, but too soon for the Enclave to have regrouped and disposed of any bodies.

One of the reasons I love Milly so much is the quality of food she gives me. When we met, I was a skinny dog that walked with a scavenging human. Because he was not a particularly capable fighter, I protected him most of the time, and he did what he could to avoid conflict- even walking away from great sources of food. With Milly, though... I eat like a king. Between gifts citizens of the bomb town give her, her skill with weapons, and the sheer hell she unleashes on bad humans, we can replenish our food supplies relatively easily.

Call me spoiled, but I've been growing accustomed to eating so well. I gained muscle and became an even stronger guard dog. We move around so much that any fat I could gain burns off... with Cord, we had to split our food supplies even more, though he offerred to hunt several times. I forgot how well I ate without him around... but that doesn't mean I don't miss picking on the poor fool.

When she dropped the piece of brahmin steak into my dish, I had to stop myself from knocking over the tin man that gave it to her and licking him. Instead, I ate beside her.

She hardly touched her food by the time I was halfway done with mine. I had to stop and nudge her with my snout to get her to eat a little more. From there on, I ate slowly, keeping an eye on her. I had to stop every so often to get her to keep eating. She fought with me a few times:

"Stop, Dogmeat. I'm not hungry."

"Dogmeat, knock it off, will you? I don't have an appetite."

"Bad Dogmeat! Please, just let me sit here and think."

"Fine, Dogmeat..."

By the time I finally got her to eat again, I was finished. When she got to around the midway point in her breakfast, she turned the radio on on that device of hers.

That radio man... he worked me up today, and in a good way. He went ballistic when he was delivering the news about his "last, best hope of humanity". He was furious with the Enclave for what they did to the water cleaner, but even clearer was how angry/horrified he was at what they did to Milly's Dad. I don't remember everything he said, but I can recall some of the stuff, though it may not be word for word:

"...101, if you're listening to this, remember that you can duck in here any time you need to. Mi casa es su casa. I'm real sorry, kid. Hope your deathclaw friend gets back to you. As for you, children of the wasteland, listen to this: If you're not a complete asshole, back 101 up in what's to come, because we all know what she's going to do to the Enclave. If you see her, let her know you feel for her, and show her the kindness that she's been showing all of you since she left that Vault of hers. And if you see her deathclaw friend... remember that he's been helping her, too. Send him in her direction. Doesn't seem like he found his way back to her yet. In other news, I swear I saw a shooting star last night through the hazy atmosphere..."

I could see pain in Milly's eyes again, but she forced back any tears that could've fallen. I gladly would've taken a moment to console her again, but in her eyes, it was time to do her chores- whatever chores these tin men had for her to do.

Now that I think about it, her entire journey has been about chores. Since I met her, she was always doing something for somebody- but that something would always end up to be something for the greater good. She managed to seduce some strange man that offerred her a great prize to blow up the bomb town, and in so doing removed any chances of interference while she disarmed the bomb for which it was named. She actually met the radio host she listened to, and while she could've threatened his life for her Dad's whereabouts, she did no such thing. Rather, she listened to his laments and offerred her assistance. Because of her kindness, the radio host gave her the whereabouts of her father, and also the name she'd carry forever: The Lone Wanderer, some kind of saint that rose out of a bunker to help the world.

I remember when we were attacked by these "Talon" humans. See, they go after most people that are as good as my human is. She put up with their attacks a few times, but when the time came that one managed to injure me pretty badly, she treated me, left me with the metal man in her house, and proceeded to exterminate the man that commanded the Talon humans, with the assistance of the tin men she was now negotiating with. Her daring assassination didn't destroy the Talon humans, but it did send a clear message to them not to attack her anymore.

It was no wonder people asked for her help so much. She was gifted with weapons, likely because she grew up in a place where ammo for guns was plentiful, and she could practice as much as she liked. To be raised in the wastes meant a crude understanding of guns for most people. You can't practice much when you only have so much ammo to spare.

These tin men... they had a lot of ammo to spare. It was why they were so deadly. If Milly insulted one of them... I hated to think what would happen. She was well trained, but these people were well-armed and very highly trained. To take one of them down would be a huge feat. These weren't the bad tin men. They didn't have a hidden base somewhere that didn't require high amounts of training. These people were based in the middle of the hostile wastes. They had to be prepared at all times. What the bad tin men had in technology,the good tin men had in manpower.

She wouldn't insult one of them. I think both she and all the tin men in this place wanted to avoid stepping on any toes, so they were polite to one another. One directed her towards "Scribe Rothchild" (I guess that was the rock-something guy), and she nodded and said thank you.

The room he directed us to was a laboratory with a giant metal man inside it. (I nicknamed it "The Iron Giant"). It was intimidating to look at even from the entry to the room, and it was difficult to tell if it was a decoration or if it was a man-made soldier. It held my interest as long as we were in the room. I could hardly get my eyes off of it. I never saw a humanoid figure as large as the Iron Giant there. When I saw the guns attached to its arms, I felt pity for whoever had to face off with it.

"May I start by saying how sorry I am to hear about the loss of your father? You have my condolences."

"Thanks for your sympathy, but can we just get down to business? I need to find a G.E.C.K. Do you have one?"

The Scribe seemed to falter for a moment. "A G.E.C.K? Well, we have a seemingly endless supply of ammo, armor, and alcohol- but no G.E.C.K. Come to think of it, there's only a few in existence. I recall a story of some fellow prying one from the deathclaws of Vault 13... but why do you need one?"

"My Dad needed it for Project Purity."

"And you wish to fulfill your father's dream?"

Milly nodded. "It's the least I can do for him; for his memory. Now, where is this Vault 13?"

The Scribe chuckled. "Oh, I don't think you'll be getting the G.E.C.K from them. It was taken, as I mentioned, and... well, the Enclave-"

"Got it. Well, do you know where I can find another one?"

The Scribe appeared deep in thought for a few moments. "Well, not off the tip of my head, but you can feel free to access a terminal in the Scribe's chamber. It's down the hall there. It has a list of Vaults in the area, and the equipment they were given. If I remember right, one has a G.E.C.K, but I don't recall which."

Milly nodded, and went to turn towards the hall Rothchild pointed out, but she paused and slowly turned back.

"Wait, 'the deathclaws of Vault 13'? What does that mean?"

"Ah, well, it's a long story, so I'll spare you the details, but basically the Enclave wanted deathclaw soldiers that can obey orders. They experimented on a herd of deathclaw and increased their intelligence- they could talk, think, and understand. These deathclaw were sent to clear out Vault 13, but turned on the Enclave, and hid inside the Vault, welcoming travelers with pure intentions and shunning those without. One day, the Enclave figured out where they were hiding, and went in on an extermination mission."

Milly nodded. "And they all died?"

"Not necessarily. At least one survived; he was away when the attack happened. Before you ask, no, it's not the one you travel with. The one that survived was albino."

Milly appeared deep in thought this time. She slowly shook her head and looked at the Scribe again.

"Thanks, I appreciate your help."

"Come back to me once you find out where the Vault is. I can help you further."

She nodded, and looked down at me. "C'mon, Dogmeat. Let's go."

We turned away and started walking down the hall Rothchild suggested. Milly was starting to come out of her shock. She wasn't changing at all; she was returning to normal- the way she had been ever since I met her.

She sat down at one of the boxes with the buttons and started hitting them. I saw her mouth move a few times, as if she were reading. She'd nod a few times while she read, and then would press more buttons.

We were in the room with the box for about 20 minutes. I could tell Milly wanted to skim through what she was reading, but she had to find something specific, which required her to read everything carefully. I knew that she enjoyed reading as a hobby (she had these books at her bomb town house that she'd read to herself some nights before going to bed.) Sometimes she'd read them out loud to me, but most of them didn't really interest me. The one about the people that guy met in heaven did, though. I'm still waiting to find out why he was shot in the knee.

Whatever was on this box was not very interesting to her, either. Since Rothchild said it listed stuff that those underground bunkers called "Vaults" had, I couldn't blame her for being bored. Imagine reading about everything that someone else has: Guns, pictures, STDs- that sort of thing. It gets boring pretty quick.

When she finally found what she was looking for, she spun around in the chair, stopping herself when she came to face the door. I got up, and she practically skipped down the hallway. When we got back to Rothchild, she regained her composure.

"I need to find Vault 87," she said casually. "Do you know where it is?"

"Vault 87... I know where it is, but you can't go there."

Milly blinked. "Watch me."

"No, you don't understand. The way to the Vault's entrance is flooded with radiation. You would die within seconds. Even if you have the gene that turns you into a ghoul, you would die too fast for it to take effect. That's the level of radiation I'm talking about."

Milly paused for a moment. If Cord were here, he could cut through it and find whatever she needed. Deathclaws are very resistant to radiation. I've seen them pass through irradiated ruins with no reaction to it.

"...There has to be another way," she finally said. Rothchild seemed pleased.

"You share your father's determination, it seems. And in this case, you are right. Entering Vault 87 directly is a fool's errand, though your deathclaw friend could get through it with relative ease. However, there have been reports of caverns nearby full of crazy mountain kids. No, I don't mean they're completely hostile, but they don't let Brotherhood in. If you try to force, they'll shoot. Despite the fact that they're kids, they're pretty good! Not even the Enclave bothers them anymore."

"So, can I take a diplomatic approach?" asked Milly.

It was as if Rothchild could sense that she was not charismatic.

"I... don't think that's a good idea. Ask if there's a way to earn their trust. If you're good with kids, it shouldn't be a problem."

Milly nodded. Rothchild pointed to Vault 87 on a map he was standing by.

"If you use the plug by this map, you can download the locations of the vaults to your Pip-Boy. Just remember to stop by those caverns. They call it "Little Lamplight". It's about 202 degrees southwest of Vault 87."

Milly nodded. "I'll do that."

Rothchild turned away from her. "Very good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some formulas to write..."

I heard him mumbling various letters and numbers under his breath, but I lost interest when I heard Milly walking over to the plug Rothchild directed her to. She sighed in annoyance when she looked at the map again and pointed to one part.

"That's where we are, Dogmeat. We have to get..."

She moved her finger far up towards the top edge of the map.

"...There. That's going to take awhile..."

She paused. "Well, there's no time like the present. Let's head out, Dogmeat."

With those words, we headed up the stairway and out of the tin man base. Milly turned on the radio from the device on her wrist, and we walked while listening to the music play.

It would be a long day.

-Revolution! Revolution!-

"I most certainly am not wearing that shirt, you crazy idiot."

"Then you will go stark naked. Not much of a threat, considering what you've been doing the past few-"

"Bite me. Want me to run something- ah, shit."

"What's wrong? Can't back up your threats anymore?"

"Give me the shirt," I mumbled, defeated. The officer handed me the fabric with "GOD BLESS THE ENCLAVE" embroidered on the back. In typical weird government fashion, a picture of a small kitten was right above the text. I knew an ex-enclave officer once (he was blacklisted), and the Enclave was fond of sending him fruit baskets and "Thinking of you" cards with little kittens such as this one on the front. I put it on.

"Yeah, great. Fuck you very much," I muttered. The Enclave officer seemed amused.

"You've just returned to your original form. I thought you'd be happy."

"Oh, yeah. It's a great big fairy tale. I'm helping a bunch of assholes hunt down one of the only friends I had in the wastes. What a joyous day!"

It turns out that remembering how to walk, run, and perform basic motor functions as a human wasn't necessary. Being human was like riding a bike. You don't forget. Of course, seeing everything from considerably closer to the ground with much less strength, stamina, energy, and senses than as a deathclaw would take some getting used to. I was my old self; obviously much weaker than the deathclaw. My senses were back to what they were as a human (about average), and I hardly recognized my own voice at first. Hearing that booming, powerful sound so much became the norm for me. That primitive part of my mind, however, wasn't the only thing not to return to normal. I figured out that I could still understand animals when we passed two conversing Enclave guard dogs.

"Hey, can I have three boots? I want two for my feet, and one that I can shove up your ass. Preferably steel-toed."

The Enclave officer had a neutral look on his stupid face. "Either wear the loafers we coughed up for you or go barefoot."

I held up the flimsy little shoes. "Yeah, but the thing is, I can't shove these up your ass quite as easy. Boots for Cord."

The officer opened his mouth to say something else, but I interrupted.

"Want me stumbling over every little bump in the road? If I do, we'll never get to Milly. Either get me some boots, or work on your "Sorry, Eden, but we were running late" excuse."

The look on the Enclave officer's face fluctuated ever so slightly; enough for me to know that I made my point. He started walking into another room.

"I'll see what I can find."

When I returned to human, my deathclaw gauntlets were nowhere to be found. They weren't on my hands, and they didn't fall off of them. It was like I never wore them in the first place; like I never turned into a deathclaw. As far as anyone could tell, I was the same green eyed guy with short brown hair as I'd always been. I wished my clothes never tore up when I became the deathclaw, though. That was my favorite shirt...

I already had the idea that Milly was long gone from the Citadel... But I didn't know where she would be going. The wasteland is a big place; hoping to run into her by chance was stupid.

The officer came back with a pair of boots and a gun. I took the boots and started putting them on, and then he set the gun down next to me.

"It's a CZ-75, and no it isn't loaded. Not until we get out of here and there's a squad on you should you turn on us."

I looked up at him. "How do you know that I can't shoot you all before you can shoot me?"

He stared.

"I can be that good with a gun."

"You're not."

I sighed. "Fine, I'm not."

"Hurry up and get ready. We're preparing to leave."

I picked up the gun and started following him. It felt strange holding a firearm after so long.

"What's the plan?" I asked.

"I outfit you- check. Next, I take you to Colonel Autumn and his crew; they will take you a mile or so from the Citadel, you walk up and explain you're affiliated with 101, and that you need to find her. You get her location, we pick her up, ask our questions, and then you'll both be dismissed."

"What about my medication?"

The Enclave Officer pushed a few buttons on a keypad and a door opened.

"You'll come here once a week for a 7 day supply."

"Milly's not going to like this," I muttered.

"Yeah? Well, I don't like this, either. She's killed a great deal of our men in those tunnels, and she took their dogtags. Now we have a bunch of unknown soldiers on our hands, and a mutant. One guess who the mutant is, genius."

"Have I told you to bite me yet?"

The Officer saluted a few other soldiers.

"At ease. Yes, you mentioned that. I assure you I share as much distaste for you as you do for me."

"The whole bunch of you can go burn in hell. The government would steal a penny off a dead man's eye."

"Maybe so, but that dead man attacked us first; put our country in danger."

"Your country? You mean the hunk of debris outside your little clubhouse here?"

The Officer was unmoved. "The very same. We're working on it, Mister..."

I don't have a last name. Come to think of it, not many people do. I can only think of a few: John Henry Eden, Eulogy Jones, and Lucas Simms. There's probably more, but... in the pre-war days, it seemed like everyone had last names.

"Oh, I'm named after my invisibility superpower. It's Mr. Wheredidhego."

The Enclave officer was not amused. "People will be asking that very question if I put a bullet in your head. Nobody will find you."

"Oh, look at me. I'm shaking in my boots. I would be shaking in my loafers, but..."

Without looking at me, he replied: "You'll be shaking in the ground in about a minute. Close your mouth."

"Your threats are as empty as those loafers you tried to give me. You need me."

He whirled around that time, making me stumble back a little.

"We don't need you. We never did. The President is simply allowing you to live. If it were up to me, you'd be in stasis under our control."

As quickly as he turned to face me, he whirled back and resumed walking.

"But it isn't up to you, so keep your stupid one-liners to yourself, and stop trying to feel important."

The Enclave officer hit a button on a door, and it opened.

"Go. The man at the desk in here is the Colonel. Mind your tongue around him; he isn't as lenient as I am."

"I don't think I've ever been less intimidated."

The Enclave officer turned and walked away. I walked in the office and gulped. I was lying; the Colonel might not have intimidated me as a deathclaw, but as a human...

...

Not that I missed being a deathclaw. I didn't.

When I got up to his desk, he was writing in something. He didn't even look up at me.

"Caucasian male, green eyes, short brown hair, named Cord, age 21, parents live in Rivet City."

I stared. Colonel Autumn finally eyed me.

"Is that all correct?"

I nodded uncertainly. "Yes...?"

Colonel Autumn stood up from his chair and started organizing some files on his desk.

"I like to make visitors aware that I know everything about them; that the Enclave has eyes everywhere."

"Is that right?"

"It is. I can read you your hobbies, if you like."

An anxious grin appeared on my face. "That... won't be necessary."

The Colonel turned to me and offerred a hand. "Colonel Augustus Autumn."

Once I didn't shake his hand, he shook a finger at me. "I like you, boy. You don't bend over and take it; don't feel the need to kiss a superior's behind. Just perform your tasks and we'll get along just fine."

"A little redundant, don't you think?"

He ignored me. "Now, you've been armed with a CZ-75. You will receive no live ammunition until we locate Miss 101."

"Hold it, I'm not shooting her. And neither are you."

"I had not intended on shooting her. We need information; our weaponry is just in case any unfriendly creatures wish to interrupt us."

I slowly nodded. "Right, so you're taking me to the Citadel?"

"We will land around a mile from the Citadel, and you will walk the rest of the way. Once there, find where Miss 101 went, and return. If you do not return, we will find you and shoot you sooner or later."

"You guys have the treatment for my condition. Why would I not return?"

He nodded. "Exactly, why wouldn't you? Now, come. The vertibird is waiting."

He led me out a door behind his desk and up a few flights of stairs. We didn't say anything to each other on the way up. When he opened the door at the top to the whirring of the vertibird, though, I gulped again. I felt pretty guilty for what I was doing, but the Enclave just wanted to ask questions, and they were giving me my humanity back. That doesn't mean I enjoyed their company, though.

I've only been able to ride in a vertibird twice: once when I was unconscious and being transported here, and now. I was pretty excited, because I couldn't remember anything about that first trip, but my excitement vanished relatively quickly after we took off. The vertibird is a cramped, loud machine, and the windows are so dirty that you can't see through them. The seats were the only good part; they were heated. Ever sit on a heated seat? It's niiiice.

The trip was dead silent. There wasn't even anything to read on this flight, and my ears kept popping. I busied myself with an attempt at breaking the nail biting habit I developed as a deathclaw, but keeping my fingers out of my mouth became difficult. Nail biting went from a habit to... almost an instinct to me.

The entire flight took about 45 minutes; we were flying against the wind. After I finally grasped that I still retained some instincts that came to me as a deathclaw, I sat around trying to find the positives in what I was doing. On one hand, I had my humanity back. I could see my parents again; have my family... but on the other hand, I was turning my back on the person I owed my life to. I knew that Milly would not know who I was when she saw me again, but I worried about Dogmeat. If he was able to smell my humanity as a deathclaw, he'd know it was me... and if I thought Dogmeat was a tough son of a gun as a deathclaw... he'd kill me very quickly as a human.

I could try to apologize, since I could still understand animals... oh, no. Knowing Dogmeat, he'd try to protect Milly- and he'd get himself hurt in the process, or worse. I tapped Autumn.

"Hey."

He didn't respond to me at first. I tapped him again.

"Hey, asshole."

He turned his head partially.

"Do I need to remind you of your use? Just ask where-"

"Milly has a dog."

He stared at me. "And this concerns me... why?"

"He's not going to be happy that you're taking Milly. He'll attack."

"Then we'll be having dog tonight."

"If you harm a hair on that mutt's head, you have no idea what kind of hell with rain down on you."

"I understand your concern for 101's well being, but if her dog attacks, we'll put it down."

"You seem to be mistaking my last statement for a threat. It's a promise, Autumn. I'm not joking. Milly's already pissed that you killed her Dad, so you've more than likely got a death sentence as it is. Whether or not she finishes you with a bullet to the head or with slow painful torture is up to whether that dog lives or dies, though. Spare it."

Colonel Autumn stared me down, as did his team.

"101 can't kill me. She cannot defeat the Enclave, powerful as she is. Even so, I will humor you. No harm will come to her dog from me or my team. It is up to you to keep it at bay, though."

"Terrific."

I went to relax for the rest of the trip, but Autumn continued.

"Get ready. We're at the drop point."

Since I didn't have any equipment that was heavy or inconvenient enough to have to remove, I simply waited for the jolt as the Vertibird touched down. My ears finally popped all the way, and the door opened.

"You will convince them that you're friends with her. Get her whereabouts, and be quick. You'll have no support, so if you screw up, that's it."

I simply started walking towards the giant building that was the "Citadel". I had worked out what I would say to them to get that information, and I also had a back-up plan. I simply kept reciting to myself what I'd be saying the entire trip, and I tried to keep myself calm. The Brotherhood of Steel kind of creeped me out. All it is is a bunch of nuts who get off to pre-war technology, but they do some cool stuff from time to time. One gave me a bottle of purified water once when I was a kid. A group was visiting Megaton. Nice guy.

Well, the Enclave prefers energy weapons and chainsaws called "Rippers". However, operating a ripper can be fairly difficult and requires some training, or you're going to hurt yourself. I learned that lesson when someone came into Megaton with a ripper, got drunk, and lost three fingers. Next morning, he gave it to this old raider named Jericho (he's very good with all types of weaponry), and even he had trouble using the thing.

He kept mumbling about how there was "a damn clutch on the damn thing". Between priming, starting, and keeping a ripper running, it was more trouble than it was worth. For once, I was going to be better off with a gun. They probably wouldn't let me have one of those ripper things, anyway. Even though I wouldn't be able to use it right, those things looked pretty cool.

Before I actually reached the Citadel, I made sure to turn my shirt inside out. If they saw the "Enclave" embroidering on the back, they might take it the right way and shoot me.

I holstered my gun and jogged up to the Brotherhood guys, slowing down before I reached them so they wouldn't shoot me. One with a big old minigun turned partially to me.

"Halt, citizen. This is a Brotherhood of Steel base. We are not handing out rations, nor are we looking for initiates or pencil pushers at this time. Please leave."

"Sorry, uhh... listen man..." I panted. "I know Miss 101; I know where her deathclaw friend is."

"Well, you missed her by about an hour," said the Brotherhood Paladin. "She went off to get something."

"I need to catch up with her, alright? I promised her deathclaw friend that I'd let her know he's okay."

"You let me know just now. I'll relay the message. Move along."

"You don't get it, man! Please, just let me know where she's off to. There's something she needs to know, and I have to tell her about her deathclaw!"

"Is it dead?"

"No."

"Insane?"

"No."

"Pregnant?"

"What? Hell, no! He's a dude!"

"I can't just tell a civilian where she's gone to. It's classified."

"Dude, it's urgent! Please!"

"Why send you?" asked the Paladin, now suspicious. I scoffed.

"'Why send you'... 'Why send you'... He doesn't want to get shot! Dude, I just need to tell her where he is..."

An idea of what to say next came to my mind, but it made me feel like scum. If I said this, I might be severing all ties with Milly... and I'd be carrying the guilt of saying it for a long time...

"I told you already. Her location is classified. If you continue to harrass me-"

"He says her Dad is still alive!" I gasped out. Inwardly, I died a little.

It was a low blow; lying about someone she loves just to get information... but it worked. The Paladin paused a moment, and I heard a sigh.

"Very well. She is heading for Vault 87. Take Little Lamplight; she'll have gone through it. If I find out that you're lying, though... I'll rip your heart out and hang it on my bedroom wall, are we clear?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you! You're going to make miss 101 very happy!"

With those words, I ran off. The primitive part of my mind started lecturing me now. It was aggressive, yes, but not cruel.

You're a real fucking piece of work, you know that? First you sell your soul to the devil himself, and now you're lying to find your former master. You're pathetic.

"I know," I said to myself while jogging. "That was in poor taste."

Poor taste? That was downright evil. When I was actually a deathclaw and not part of your mind, I killed. Sure. At least it made sense, though. I killed because I needed to survive. You're killing because you want something.

"Killing?" I snapped out loud. I hadn't made it to the vertibird yet, though.

"I'm not killing anyone!"

Oh, come on. Do you really think the tin men are going to set you and your master free after you do as they ask? They're going to kill you both. She doesn't deserve to die at the hands of those "humans". Feel that gaze upon you? That's her Dad staring at you with disappointment. Was his death really just a tool for you?

I was silent as I slowed down when I reached the vertibird. That wasn't right. The Enclave was a lot of things, but they wouldn't do that.

"Report. What is our destination?" asked Colonel Autumn. I was silent.

...They wouldn't do that, would they?

If you tell them, your fates are sealed.

"I said 'Report'. Where is 101?"

...But... no! No, if they wanted me dead, they wouldn't make the FRV... right?

Didn't the screen man say that it was for Super Mutants?

"Damn it, boy. Report now, or you will no longer receive your treatment!"

That's true... but... but... they gave me a gun! Why give me a gun?

Yes, why give you a weapon that they likely know you cannot use properly?

Colonel Autumn pulled a laser pistol from its holster and pointed it at my forehead.

"I'm not going to ask you again, boy. Where. Is. 101? Tell me now, or you will be tortured until you give up the location!"

...if I don't cooperate here, I'll die anyway... but they can't... they won't...

You keep thinking that, boy. You keep thinking that...

"She's heading for Vault 87 via Lamplight Caverns," I finally said. Colonel Autumn lowered his pistol.

"Is that right? When did she leave?"

"Uhh... they said she left a few hours ago. If we fly low to the ground, we should be able to see her. There's no way she could've made it to Little Lamplight yet."

Colonel Autumn turned to his crew. "You heard him. Get on board."

The crew almost immediately responded. Autumn grabbed my arm. I cringed; he had a strong grip.

"Next time I tell you to do something, you do it right away. Do you understand me?"

"Now, when you say "next time", do you mean- Ow! Agh!"

"Do we understand each other?"

I nodded, and he released my arm, practically shoving me towards the vehicle. "Get on the vertibird."

I slowly climbed into the vehicle and acknowledged the primitive part of my mind once again.

...Okay, maybe I did make a bad call here...

-Revolutions do not last-

At the speed we were travelling, getting back to the bomb town would not be a problem. Milly wanted to resupply before we headed out and do some repairs on her weaponry. She only had Bolt with her, and she was talking about retrieving something she called an "M4A1". It would pack a better punch than her typical sidearm, which was almost always a pistol. The trip back to the bomb town would take a few hours under normal conditions, but riding on the back of this deathclaw cut it down to a little over an hour.

It wasn't Cord. For one thing, it was a female, and for another, it didn't seem like she had ever been a human. She told me that she was originally planning to kill us and take us back to her home for a future meal, but she smelled her mate on us. We hit a soft spot. She said her name was Kastine.

To humans, a mate is a partner for reproduction, but among animals, it would mean the equivalent of "boyfriend" or "girlfriend". Seems like he's becoming more and more like a deathclaw, but I don't think he'll ever be close enough to actually stack Kastine. Come to think of it, I think he'd be the girlfriend in this relationship. She seemed pretty intimidating, and Cord can be like a giant baby.

"If you two didn't kill him, then do you mind telling me where he wandered off to? I'm going to kill him."

"That's the thing," I replied. "We don't know. We were at this big water cleaner thing, and a bunch of tin men attacked, and he split off from us. We don't think he's dead, but he never showed up."

Kastine snorted. "Told me he'd be back in three days two months ago. Glad he's still alive, though."

"For our sake, I'm glad you can smell him on us," I said. She snorted again.

"Damn right!"

Milly was dead quiet the entire trip back, but who could blame her? Kastine couldn't speak to her, nor did she care to, and I could tell that she just wanted to get to Megaton as soon as possible. I bet she's glad I was here to convince this deathclaw to carry her. I had a bad feeling in my gut about just walking. I felt like someone was looking for us. Cord? Maybe. The bad tin men? Probably.

"How long's he been like that?" I asked. Kastine squinted.

"I dunno, about half a year?"

"How did that happen?"

I heard a yelp and a whimper. Two wild dogs that may have been planning on attacking me were heading for the hills the moment they saw Kastine. Then again, all a deathclaw has to do sometimes is look at you funny and the next thing you know, your legs are moving in the opposite direction. Kastine answered me without acknowledging the dogs further.

"I wasn't there for all of it, but I remember I bumped into him while he was human. He was wearing the paws of a deathclaw as weapons, and was being de-radiated- irradiated, and he collapsed. Next thing I know, his body starts acting really funny. He was unconscious but groaning a lot, and the deathclaw paws almost seemed to be... throbbing. Slowly, he started getting bigger and his hair started falling out. Those stupid fabrics humans always wear tore apart. His mouth began to bleed; his teeth grew out, his face formed a muzzle, his muscles got bigger, he developed a tail... after a few minutes, you never would have thought he was a human if you couldn't smell it on him. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"How did he take it when he woke up?" I asked. She shot me a look.

"He just kind of asked me questions. Rather than have the entire meltdown then and there, he decided to spread it out over the next week or two. He's lucky I'm the one that caught him crying all those times. Would've got himself killed if someone else saw it."

"Is he over it yet, do you think?"

She snorted again.

"He's my mate. He can't let it get to him anymore, or else he won't be prepared for whatever crap I throw at him. Now, tell me about your human. Moddy, right?"

"...Milly."

"Sure, whatever. Now you talk."

I took a breath and looked up at her, seeing her return my look with a smile.

"She's very sweet and is very good with a gun and healing objects. In fact, she saved Cord from Paradise Falls-"

"That idiot got himself enslaved? Please tell me this is before his... condition!"

"Nope. Never wanted to talk about it with us, so I imagine the method in which he was caught is pretty funny."

"...That's pathetic," she muttered. I looked at her.

"Well, this was when he was still getting used to things," I (maybe) lied. I'm not exactly sure when he was captured, so maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.

She said nothing in return. Instead, she slowed down a few hundred feet from the bomb town.

"I can't go there, for obvious reasons," she said. She got down a little for Milly to get off her back. When Milly was on the ground again, she smiled at Kastine.

"Thanks for your help," she said. Kastine snorted.

"When you find that idiot, send him in my direction, dog. I'll be waiting!"

I nodded partially at her in return. With that, she ran off. I looked up at Milly and she smiled down at me. We started walking towards the bomb town.

Somewhere, off in the distance, a flying machine whirred.

End of Chapter

7,904 words.

I was originally planning on covering Vault 87 in this chapter, too, but I decided against it.

My computer is making a weird clicking sound every once in a while. From what I've read about it, it's probably the hard drive getting ready to go. I sincerely hope I can finish this story before then, though that's not likely. I'll be backing up my stories more often now. I'm also pretty concerned. I have Avast!, and yesterday if I hovered my mouse over its icon on the task bar, it would say "avast! Antivirus: Your system is secured." Today, I look and it says "avast! Antivirus: WARNING, your system is UNSECURED." However, when I look at it, no shields are down, it updates regularly... it's as if it thinks it's down but it isn't... I dunno.

Next chapter covers Vault 87 FOR REAL this time.