Chapter 11

To Kill a Killer

As I entered Diamond City, Nat was calling from her soap box as usual. This time, she pointed at me directly with her newspaper when I came close.

"Hey, lady!" she called.

"What's up, Nat?"

"That interview you did with Piper is really selling. Here's your free copy."

"Oh, thanks." I was curious about it myself. I sat down on a nearby bench and started reading.

"PUBLICK OCCURRENCES

"View from the Vault by Piper Wright

"Whenever I take a walk through Diamond City, there are so many things people tell me to be grateful for. Purified water, working lights, electricity, security. True, what we have would have been unthinkable even a few decades ago. But it's easy to forget that, even after all the progress we have made, we are still living in the shadow of the world that was. A world before the threat of radiation. Before the super mutant and the feral ghoul and the synth.

"So, as fortune often has it, I crossed paths with Nora. Vault Dweller. A person who is experiencing the Commonwealth for the first time. What would her fresh set of eyes say about how far we've come? Is Diamond City the 'Great Green Jewel' we have always claimed it to be?

"Before we begin to answer that question, we have to know who Nora is. Where she comes from. To my surprise, she did not have much to say about her life in the Vault at all. Because she spent all that time staring at a piece of frozen glass. Everyday. For over two centuries. That's right, Nora isn't just a Vault Dweller, she's an original Vault Dweller. She spent her entire time on the inside cryogenically suspended.

"So what does Nora have to say about seeing Diamond City for the first time? 'Can you even compare the two? The world out here? It's not even close to the one I left.'

"While we like to think of our city as a shining jewel, it's worth remembering that not everyone comes here by choice. Sometimes people are forced from the comforts of their homes, and as the largest settlement in the Commonwealth, this is where they end up. Most are just looking for refuge, but sometimes they come here desperately looking for something. Or someone.

"You see, Nora has a son. Shaun. And even though they were in the relative safety of a Vault, someone broke in and took Shaun from his parent, and that parent is now risking everything, wandering through this strange and unfriendly world of ours – in order to save Shaun from his kidnappers.

"We all know the rumors and whispers that surround every missing person in Diamond City. The guilty looks we pass to mourning family members as we 'thank the Wall that, this time, it wasn't us.' You can end up dead in the Commonwealth for a million reasons. Why spend our time worrying about kidnappings?

"It's easy for us to be cynical about the missing. We have spent so long knowing the Institute is out there, but knowing so little about them. They are not the only ones responsible for kidnappings, but the fact that they sometimes are, and the fact that we have been so powerless to stop them when they do, causes us to treat all victims of kidnappings as if they are a lost cause.

"But the people left behind, those loved ones, friends, and neighbors, who may never see the faces of those taken from them again, they do not have the luxury of being able to just look away. They have to carry that lost with them, even if everyone else tells them to move on and forget.

"I asked Nora to make a statement to Diamond City. To give us an outsider's perspective on what it means to lose a loved one, and how she feels. Maybe, in some way, it's how we all should feel. Maybe we've forgotten what the right, human response to these tragedies are.

"'No matter how much you want to give up, don't.' She said. 'You have to hope. That you'll see them again. Or at least, that you'll know the truth.'

"End."

A touching piece for sure. I wiped a tear from my eye and reminded myself to go by and thank her once all of this was done. I stood up and shoved the paper into my bag. Then, I made my way to Nick's office.

Ellie was still trying to get me to take on cases for Nick as his partner. Nick didn't seem too enthusiastic about the notion, and I, for one, was too busy with my own problems. I just told Nick that I was ready to face Kellogg, and he wasted no time meeting me at the door. He waved his secretary goodbye, and we were gone.

We took a different route to Fort Hagen this time around. I was more prepared. Preston taught me quite a bit about shooting a gun. Nick and I made our way down winding roads through the Commonwealth, ultimately headed west. We passed the old Chestnut Hillock Reservoir, Mass Pike Tunnel West, and just kept following the railroad tracks from there.

There was a triggerman walking the tracks in our direction. "Hey there, doll," he said in a smooth tone. "If you're interested in making some easy scratch, my boss is putting together a crew for a new job."

"What's this . . . job?"

"You gotta get the details from Bobbi. You know, Bobbi No-Nose in Goodneighbor. I don't know nothin' else about it."

He walked away before I had the chance to ask anymore questions.

"I'd stay as far away from Goodneighbor as possible," said Nick. "Nothin' but trouble there."

I shrugged off the whole experience and kept heading in the direction of Fort Hagen.

Again, we were interrupted. In the tunnel underneath the railroad tracks, we heard voices. When we looked down, some raiders were trying to extort some farmers out of their money. When the farmers said they couldn't pay, the raiders decided to open fire and kill the farmers. The farmers tried to defend themselves, but one took a wound to the head. He was dead within seconds.

Nick and I wasn't about to sit around and watch. We jumped in and started taking out the raiders from the other side of the tunnel. We filled them with lead until every one of them was lying on the pavement.

"You saved our lives," said a farmer. "I . . . thank you. Thank you."

The second and only other remaining farmer approached me as well. "Thanks, stranger. That's more than most would have done."

I shook their hands and gave them each a bottle of purified water for their trip.

Nick smiled. "You okay to keep going? I don't eat or sleep or anything like that. But if you need to, you do it."

"I'm fine. We need to get going before it gets dark."

"All right, lead the way."

We continued our trek yet again. We passed Relay Tower 1DL-109, a dam on the river, city ruins, and many enemies. It was like the world was trying to keep me from reaching Kellogg. I wasn't about to let anything stop me.

Once we finally got back to Fort Hagen, Nick suggested climbing up to the roof to see if there was a way in. And, lo and behold, there it was. A hatch was situated on the far side, and we climbed in.

As soon as we entered, synths that looked a lot like Nick had their guns on us. "Kellogg's secure facility infiltrated. Termination – required."

"Get behind something," said Nick as he pushed me against the wall to dodge incoming lasers.

We fired repeatedly at the synths. They weren't really a challenge. They were about as weak as raiders. I expected them to at least put up more resistance.

"Fort Hagen is under Institute protection. Terminating intruder."

Institute? It was the Institute after all?

One synth started running directly up to me from my hiding spot behind the metal filing cabinets. I panicked and just started firing off bullets from my 10mm. It caught his hand and knocked the metal off, exposing the steel skeleton, much like Nick's. It didn't deter the synth. It ran at me and scratched my face, drawing blood from the tips of his metallic fingers. I felt a deep cut across my lips.

The metallic fingers got caught in my hair. Nick quickly ran to my aid, but I had already drawn my gun up to the synth's face and blew his head off. Metal parts flew everywhere.

Nick helped me untangle the synth's hand from my hair. I whimpered as it pulled strand after strand from my scalp.

"You okay, kid?" he asked, running his own fingers through the tangled mess.

I nodded, wiping the blood from my lip with a brave face. Nothing would deter me.

We continued on. Nothing was going to stop me from finding Kellogg. I was so close now. The synths were still swarming us, however. The deeper we went into the fort, the more synths there were. I had remembered that I had pocketed some frag grenades. I didn't want to wind up blowing us all up with them, so I gave them to Nick to toss at a group of them inside the next room.

When I ran out of bullets for my 10mm, I grabbed one of the Institute laser rifles from the body of a synth and started using it.

"If we survive this, I owe you a stiff drink," said Nick when it finally started to calm down. He lit a cigarette and examined the center room. We didn't have anywhere else to go. He expertly searched for anything we could use, any clues to be found, any potential traps.

He disarmed a mine on the floor. "Remember. Kellogg's a professional. He won't make it easy." He pocketed the mine for himself and continued his search.

I motioned to the terminal on the wall. "Think you can unlock that terminal?"

"Done and done." He cracked his synthetic knuckles and got to work. He made hacking look so easy. "There we are," he said and stepped back from the terminal. "Always had a way with machines."

I checked out the terminal for myself. It had two options. One was to unlock a door, and the other was to turn off all turrets in the building. I chose both. There was a door at the end of the room that unlocked for us. It looked like a caged security room of sorts. Inside were two ammo cases and some stimpaks. We had hit the jackpot.

When we couldn't find anything else, we entered the elevator next to the caged security room. It only seemed to take us down one floor. It led to an eerie hallway lit up with a red caution light and exposed pipes on the wall. Trash littered the floor.

"If I got the chills, this would be the place to provide 'em," Nick said with an eerie tone.

There were already synths in a far room at the end of the hall, waiting on us. We made quick work of them and kept going. Then a voice sounded on a loudspeaker overhead that sent chills through me, down to my bones.

"Well, if it isn't my old friend, the frozen TV dinner. Last time we met, you were cozying up to the peas and apple cobbler."

Kellogg.

"Where the hell are you?!" I yelled. There was no answer.

Further down the hall, after opening two more doors, disposing of two more turrets, and dodging an electrical trap, his voice sounded again.

"Sorry your house has been a wreck for two-hundred years. But I don't need a roommate. Leave."

The double doors ahead led to Fort Hagen's command center.

"Hmph. Never expected you to come knocking on my door. Gave you 50/50 odds of making it to Diamond City. After that? Figured the Commonwealth would chew you up like jerky."

"Keep your guard up," Nick whispered, gun drawn. "He might try to ambush us . . ."

We crept down another corridor and more synths awaited us. We made quick work of them, too. Rage was filling every fiber of my body now. The more I heard his voice, the more I wanted to demolish my enemies. I made almost flawless work of it, too.

"Look, you're pissed off. I get it. I do. But whatever you hope to accomplish in here – it's not gonna go your way."

What's that supposed to mean?

We came across the barracks with another terminal inside. No doubt, it was meant to open the locked door in the room beside it. I had Nick to hack the lock, and he seemed impressed by it.

"This is some serious security," he noted. With a few minutes of concentration, he was able to unlock the door in the other room.

It was a door to another security cage. To our disappointment, it was only locked up so tight because there were stacks of old prewar money inside in a broken safe. We found a bottle of purified water and a stimpak, though, so it wasn't a total loss.

We pressed on. It felt like a dangerous maze that just kept going on and on. It felt like we'd never reach the end of it.

We came to a tunnel in the lower levels, again lit up by red caution lights.

His voice again. "You got guts and determination, and that's admirable. But you are in over your head in ways that you can't possibly comprehend. It's not too late. Stop. Turn around and leave. You have that option. Not a lot of people can say that."

I can't turn back now. He's just trying to psych me out.

Behind yet another locked gate, there was an enormous gun. Nick whistled in astonishment. "Be very careful with that," he said. "That's a 'fat man' – a mini nuke launcher. Your enemies can kiss their asses goodbye with something like this in your arsenal. You may want to take it. Kellogg wouldn't know what hit him."

I picked up the gun, which was extremely heavy. I hoisted it up on my shoulder after inserting the mini nuke and marched out of the room. Nick pocketed the medical supplies that was laying around. Stimpaks, rad-x, and radaway.

With my 10mm holstered, a fat man on my shoulder, and my bag of meds slung over my back, I was more than ready to face Kellogg and whatever he could throw at me.

We passed living quarters. It was complete with a bed, a kitchen area, a living room, furniture, and a bathroom. There by the bedside table was a cigar, a bottle of vodka, and a magazine. Kellogg had a cozy setup here. At the end of the line was a little red door.

Inside was a rounded room, full of old furniture and other junk.

Kellogg snickered over the loudspeaker. "Heh. Okay. You made it. I'm just up ahead. My synths are standing down. Let's talk."

"We're close," said Nick. "I can almost smell that old merc's cigars."

The security door in front of us opened on it's own. Remote access via Kellogg, I presumed. He was practically inviting me inside. He wasn't scared of me at all, and that made me nervous.

Down a hall and up a few stairs, another door awaited us, which was remotely opened for us as well. Another invitation. My heart stopped when we looked on the other side of the door. There, in a dark room, the lights turned on as if on cue. The armed synths came out from their hiding place. Kellogg stepped out with his gun in hand, but his arms were raised over his head as if to plea "don't shoot."

"And there she is," he muttered. "The most resilient woman in the Commonwealth."

I approached him with caution, Nick guarding my back.

"Let's . . . talk . . ."

"You murdering, kidnapping psychopath." My words were laced with as much venom as I could muster. "Give me my son. Give me Shaun! Now!"

"Right to it, huh? Okay. Fine. Your son, Shaun. Great kid. A little older than you may have expected, but I'm guessing you figured that out by now. But if you're hoping for a happy reunion, it ain't gonna happen. Your boy's not here."

"Tell me where he is, damn it!"

"Fine. I guess you've earned that much." He sighed an exasperated sigh. "Shaun's in a safe place. A place where he's safe, and comfortable, and loved. A place he calls home. The Institute."

"The Institute?" My mind swam with more questions – questions I knew that Kellogg wasn't kind enough to answer. How old was he really? Was he safe? Was he well taken care of? Who was taking care of him? Did he ever ask about me? Why did the Institute have him in the first place? Did they do anything to him? Instead, I looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Well, I'll find him no matter where he is. Nothing will stop me."

"God, you're persistent. I give you credit. It's the way a parent should act. The way I'd be acting if I were in your place, I'd like to think. Even if it is useless." He shrugged and changed his tone completely. "But I think we've been talking long enough. We both know how this has to end. So. You ready?"

Something in me changed then. Something snapped. Whether it was because of the godforsaken wasteland, the stress, the rage, or the sickening feeling I got at the look of genuine apology on his face . . . for the first time in my life, I was ready for bloodshed.

"I'm gonna make you suffer," I hissed.

Everything changed then. The room went from tense to full-on hostile. I jumped behind a desk as fast as I could with the fat man in my arm, blue lasers and Kellogg's revolver bullets flying. Nick was already firing at the synths behind me and ducked for cover behind some metal crates. He kicked a Gen-1 synth out of the way and shot him in its synthetic heart. Lasers nicked my shoulders and ribs as everyone aimed for me.

I aimed the fat man as well as I could. As soon as the mini nuke was launched, I had enough time to see the panic on his face before ducking down behind the desk again and take cover. I heard the explosion and felt the force of the nuke push the desk against my body. I dug a rad-x out of my bag hastily and swallowed it dry just in case.

Nick fired at the last synth left standing. As I heard it clatter against the floor in a lifeless heap, I stood up slowly and glanced around the room.

Nick blew on the tip of his pistol and holstered it. "Good job. That bastard won't be hurting anyone else. We should look around. Find all the intel this place can hide."

I dropped the fat man to the floor and just fell to my knees in shock, taking in everything that just happened. I felt as though I was about to start hyperventilating. Nick didn't leave my side for a moment. Instead, he kneeled beside me and held me in his arms.

"You did good, kid. It'll be alright."

We sat like that for a few moments. When I finally came back around, I didn't even feel like myself anymore. I mindlessly started searching the room for anything useful. We picked up plenty of fusion cells for my laser rifle, and even another stimpak and a canister of jet. I saved the best for last. I searched Kellogg's body and took his pistol . . . his clothes . . . everything I could find on him. It was all mine now. He took everything from me; now I'm taking everything from him.

There was something strange on the back of his ear. I put it in my vault suit pocket just in case it was a clue. He had similar gadgets on his arms.

I mumbled absently, "All this tech. You were barely human after all."

I put his clothes on over my vault suit while they were still warm, with no shame. In fact, I almost had a hint of pride. A sadistic smirk played at my lips that I tried to suppress. I could feel Nick watching and judging me. There was a password in his pocket. I used it on one of the nearby terminals – thankfully it wasn't blown to bits by the mini nuke.

"ACCESS LOG

"Access: Local. Login: Kellogg.

Notes: The boy, Shaun, successfully delivered back to the Institute, payment received. New orders to track down renegade, gathered reinforcements, cleared out and secured Fort Hagen. We move out soon."

To my dismay, there wasn't a date on the entry. I couldn't have known how old Shaun was now. Nick mentioned it back in his office that day that Kellogg had a boy with him, and Ellie said that he was around ten years old. I had a feeling that it was Shaun. But how? Was it really ten years?

I clicked on 'Security Door Control' and opened our way out.

On our way out, Nick stopped me to talk. "So, we know where your son is, but even I don't know how to find the Institute. And they built me."

"There has to be a way, Nick."

He sighed and lit a cigarette. "We're in the weeds here. Time to take a step back. Bring in some fresh eyes. Only person I know of that's willing to snoop up the Institute's tail feathers is Piper, the reporter in Diamond City. I say we head her way. Talk this through."

"How could Piper help us?" To my knowledge, she knew as little about the Institute as everyone else.

"Trust me, that dame knows a lot more than she lets on. And she lets on a lot. If I know her, she's done her homework. And we need to talk this through with someone."

"Diamond City it is."

"Hey, chin up." He puffed at his cigarette. "I know the night just got darker, but it won't last forever."

We took the elevator at the end of the hall and traveled up what seemed like six or seven floors. When we exited the elevator, there was sunlight shining through the holes in the roof of the next room. A terminal on the wall awaited us to open the door there.

Finally out of that hell hole, I breathed in the outdoor air. Then, something showed us that we weren't alone. A military blimp went right over our heads with at least four vertibirds in tow.

"People of the Commonwealth," said a deep voice over a loudspeaker. "Do not interfere. Our intentions are peaceful. We are . . . the Brotherhood of Steel.

Nick stood there in a mixture of awe and dismay. "'Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing . . .'" I recognized his literary quote from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven. "Flying that ship into the heart of the Commonwealth. Mark my words, the Brotherhood's here to start a war." He shoved his hands in his pockets as it drove out of sight. "Come on," he said to me, "let's go. There's nothing left for us here. This place has probably been picked cleaner than a brahmin dinner."

While we made our way down the road, we heard a thunder clapping in the distance and some other noise that almost sounded like a low-flying airplane. It rumbled, threatening us as it got closer. Nick told me to take a rad-x in case we didn't make it to Diamond City before the storm hit. I asked why, and he explained that it was a nuclear storm that was full of radiation. With every lightning strike, a wave of radiation takes hold of the body.

I quickly took my rad-x and walked with Nick in the direction of the Great Green Jewel.

The storm nearly consumed us, coloring everything in a greenish-yellow glow. There was no rain, only thunder, lightning, and radiation spikes. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen before. The rad-x definitely helped, but it was still making me nauseous. My Geiger counter spiked every time the crackle of thunder sounded overhead.

It seemed like we took a different route every time we made this trip to or from the fort. This time, I stumbled across an old vault. Vault 81. I marked it on my map and made a note to stop by there sometime, see if there were any more trapped people like me. It still looked fully intact, and it had a campsite in front of it.

The storm was over by the time we made it to Diamond City. Nat was still selling the papers about me.

"Read about the Woman out of Time! Vault dweller wakes up after two-hundred years!"

Nick and I passed her and walked into Publick Occurrences.