Author's Note:

So sorry about the later than usual chapter! Life got in the way of writing this weekend. All is well, I've just been busy. Enjoy!

Chapter 26

Watch That Man

"Yeah

I was shaking like a leaf

For I couldn't understand the conversation

Yeah

I ran to the street

Looking for Information"

Watch That Man - David Bowie

Lydia stood in the basement of the Memory Den with MacCready and Doctor Amari. After speaking with Nick in Diamond City that morning, he'd told Lydia to ask Amari about the courser chip. The detective had also said that if the doctor couldn't help, she'd likely be able to point Lydia in the direction of someone who could.

Holding out the chip to Amari, Lydia asked, "So, do you know anything about decoding a courser chip?"

"You fought a courser? Oh my god," Amari remarked, taking the chip and turning it over in her hands. "Unfortunately, I can't help you. I've worked on a lot of synths, but never a courser. I don't know what that chip does, let alone how to decode it."

The doctor handed the chip back to Lydia, who placed it back in her pack with a sigh. Amari motioned Lydia closer, speaking lower as she went on. "But there are people who might. I work with a certain group...they're the only ones I know that even have a chance at cracking Institute security. They're called the Railroad."

"Who are they?" Lydia asked.

"They're a group of people that help synths escape the Institute. I don't know who they all are. Usually an agent of theirs just shows up with someone who needs new memories. One of them gave me a code phrase to find them if there was ever an emergency: 'Follow the Freedom Trail'."

"The Freedom Trail…" Lydia whispered in thought. She remembered walking the old tourist path with her father as a child, but couldn't remember where it ended or began. But she did know that she'd seen one of the old trail markers right outside Goodneighbor. "There's a marker right outside town," she said aloud.

"Yes," Amari confirmed. "But I'm not sure where the trail goes from there. I've never had to follow it, myself."

Lydia nodded. "Thanks for your help, Doctor. Again."

Leaving the Memory Den, Lydia and Mac stopped at the entrance of the neighboring alley to smoke. "You ever heard of this Railroad?" she asked, lighting a cigarette and blowing smoke toward the early afternoon sky.

"No. I have heard that phrase: 'follow the Freedom Trail', but I never knew what it meant."

"I remember walking it with my father as a child but I don't remember where it begins or ends, just that it denotes important landmarks from the American Revolution."

"Guess we're going to find out," Mac said. He took a drag of his smoke. "Wanna head out in the morning? We can go get a room at the Rex for the night," he smirked.

Lydia felt the familiar warmth at the sight of Mac's signature expression. "No, let's go now. I want to start as soon as possible."

"Okay," Mac sighed in mock disappointment.

"That smirk of yours drives me crazy you know," she admitted with a smile as she dropped her cigarette and crushed it under her boot.

"Oh yeah?" Mac raised an eyebrow and took a step toward her. "How so?"

"In the way that makes me want to get that room now, anyway," Lydia blushed.

"Oh really?" Mac raised an eyebrow and smirked again. He used his body to push Lydia up against the brick wall, leaning down to kiss her roughly. She brought her arms up to rest around his neck as his facial hair scrubbed at her face. Mac bit down gently on her bottom lip and she moaned softly, feeling weak in the knees. Finally breaking away, he smiled and said huskily, "So let's go get that room, then."

Groaning, Lydia leaned her forehead against Mac's. "Don't tempt me. I have to do this."

"I know," Mac sighed, giving her another quick kiss before releasing her and stepping back. "Let's go find the Railroad."

"Choo-choo," Lydia remarked sarcastically.

She led Mac through the gate and out of Goodneighbor. A few yards away from the door, Lydia knelt down in front of a brass seal on the ground. The round marker was inscribed with the words "The Freedom Trail - Boston". A number "6" and an arrow pointing to the "o" in the word "Freedom" were painted in red over the image on the metal.

"Six-O," Lydia murmured, making a note in her Pip-boy. "Guess we have some more clues to find."

"How many of these are there, anyway?" Mac asked.

"I'm not sure. At least a dozen I think. Maybe more," Lydia replied, standing from her crouch. She eyed the lines leading away from the seal, both heading in different directions. "Which way should we start?"

"Well, we know that way leads back near Diamond City," Mac said, pointing in the direction they'd traveled to reach Goodneighbor. "Let's go that way," he pointed to the other path.

"Alright," Lydia shrugged. She unholstered her pistol and began walking down the red line. "I always wondered what would've happened if Dorothy had followed the red brick road."

"Huh?" Mac asked.

Lydia chuckled at her own joke. "Never mind."

Mac followed Lydia up the steps to Bunker Hill. What should've been a short walk had taken them the entire afternoon, having had trouble with a small band of mutants in an old brick building that Lydia had identified as Faneuil Hall. A lengthy fire-fight and a few Stimpacks later, the pair had come away victorious.

They'd followed the Freedom Trail to its end at Bunker Hill but there had been no more brass seals or clues after they'd passed Old North Church.

Mac could sense Lydia's frustration as she led him to Savoldi's bar and took a seat at an empty stool. Sitting down next to her, Mac watched her pull up the notes she'd made on her Pip-boy of the clues they'd collected.

Looking over Lydia's shoulder to study their clues, Mac was interrupted when Tom Savoldi came over to take their drink orders. The bartender raised an eyebrow at Mac in surprise when he ordered a water, but shrugged as he pulled out a can and slid it over to the merc. Tom set the vodka Lydia had ordered down in front of her and walked away.

"So what's with the not drinking anymore?" Lydia asked as Mac sipped his water.

Mac hung his head. He'd hoped to avoid having to tell Lydia about his addiction, but knew she'd ask eventually. "After I left you at the interchange, I was...in a bad way. All the guilt I carried over Lucy's death, Duncan's illness, and then leaving you...it was killing me. Whiskey and I became best buds for a while. Daisy dosed me with some addictol after a particularly bad bender that almost got me exiled from Goodneighbor. I haven't had a drink since," Mac finished, taking a sip from his can of water.

"You should have said something sooner," Lydia scolded, giving him a light shove. "Does it bother you when I drink?"

Mac shook his head and smiled at Lydia, trying to lighten the mood. "Nope. You're pretty fun after a few drinks. Maybe I can get a repeat of last night," he winked.

Lydia laughed and leaned over to kiss him. "I can still do that without the booze," she whispered against Mac's mouth. He felt a twitch down below his belt, and he pulled Lydia closer for a more intimate kiss.

After a minute, Lydia pulled away. "We need to figure this out," she changed topics, bringing the arm with her Pip-boy in between the two so they could study the clues noted on the computer. "We have 6-O, 3-I, 5-R, 8-D, and 1-R. We're missing numbers two, four, and seven, and whatever letters are associated with those numbers. There may even be more than eight. But maybe we can figure it out without having to go back and find the others."

"In order it's R-I-R-O-D," Mac spelled.

"Wait a second," Lydia muttered, pulling her arm back and turning dials on the computer. She held her arm back out to Mac to show him the screen.

R_I_RO_D

"It spells 'Railroad'," Lydia said, rolling her eyes.

"Well that's just ridiculous. Doesn't tell us sh-uh anything."

As if on cue, a bald man in a dirty flannel and dark sunglasses leaned over from the neighboring bar stool, elbowing Mac in the side. "You looking for the Railroad?" he whispered.

Mac eyed the bald man. "Maybe," he answered slowly. "You know where we can find them?"

"Me? Nope, never heard of 'em," the man said before downing his remaining drink and standing from the stool.

Mac and Lydia shared a confused glance as the man turned to leave. But he turned back, leaning down in between the two.

"It's getting dark. You'll need a lantern to light the way," he said in a low voice before leaving the bar.

"Well that was strange," Lydia remarked as they watched the man walk away.

Mac frowned, taking a drink of his water. "Yeah, what a…" he trailed off as a thought occurred to him. "Wait a minute!" Mac said excitedly, turning to face Lydia. "There was a lantern painted on the wall of that old church! And that was the last page we came across an intact seal. Do you think that guy was trying to tell us where to find them?"

Lydia's face lit up. "Mac you're a genius! Let's go!"

Taking a handful of caps from her pocket and setting them down onto the bar, Lydia hurried to the exit of Bunker Hill, Mac following behind.

It was fully dark when they made it back to Old North Church. "You were right," Lydia pointed to the white lantern painted on the bricks. A lit lantern sat under the painted one, shining its yellow light onto the door. "This must be the place."

Mac readied his rifle as Lydia turned the handle and opened the door. The foyer beyond was also yellow with lantern light, their shadows playing across the room as they crept through a large hole in the wall and into the main part of the church.

The larger room was mostly dark, the only light coming from the foyer and a patch of green glowing mushrooms that had sprouted near a fallen balcony. Mac noticed another white lantern painted onto the half-wall of the downed balcony, but before he could point it out to Lydia he heard the muted pop of her pistol. He glanced over and saw a feral fall on the other side of the room, and a second come out from behind a pile of debris. Another pop from Lydia's gun and the second went down as well.

Movement from above caught Mac's eye, and he raised his rifle to take out a third ghoul before it had a chance to dive over the balcony near them. After a few moments with no further movement, Mac nudged Lydia and pointed to the next lantern marker. She nodded and moved forward.

They followed stairs down to the catacombs below the church, the green glow from Lydia's Pip-boy the only light in the otherwise dark halls. A few more ferals guarded the dark passage, but were easily dispatched before they had even gotten up off the ground.

Lydia stopped when they reached a dead end. The only thing on the dark hall was a large seal on the wall that matched the brass Freedom Trail markers.

"What now?" Mac asked as Lydia studied the round seal.

"Look here," she pointed to a red wire tacked onto the bricks. It started at the brass ring and led a few feet away before disappearing into the wall.

"Is it a button?" Mac pointed to the middle of the seal. There was a distinct break in the rings. "Maybe it opens a door."

Lydia pushed on the center of the seal and it sunk in, but nothing else happened. "One-R," she mumbled to herself, running her hands around the outside ring. "That's what the letters were for," she explained, turning the ring so the letter R was at the top. She pushed on the seal again and a series of clicks sounded behind the wall.

"The Railroad's secret password is 'Railroad'?" Mac raised an eyebrow as Lydia pushed the large button on the last letter. The bricks slid open to reveal a dark room beyond. "How clever," he quipped.

Lydia entered the room, the light from her Pip-boy only breaking through a few feet ahead of them in the darkness. "Can't see a goddamned thing," she murmured.

As Mac opened his mouth to tell Lydia to be careful, a bright light suddenly washed over the room. Mac raised his rifle, blinking furiously in an attempt to force his eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness.

"Stop right there," a commanding woman's voice echoed through the stone room. Silhouetted against the bright lights, Mac could see three figures standing across from them. The woman in the middle was the speaker. On her right was a second woman, pointing a large mini-gun their way. To her left was a man holding a much smaller gun. "You went through a lot of effort to arrange this meeting," the woman continued. "But before we go any further, I need you to answer my questions. Who the hell are you?"

"Dorothy," Lydia answered without missing a beat, "and that's Toto," she nodded to Mac. He glanced to her in confusion. "So now you tell me: are you a good witch, or a bad witch?"

The woman regarded Lydia with narrowed eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a hearty laugh echoing from the hallway behind her. She turned to face the laughing man who came to a stop beside her. Mac recognized him in spite of the change of clothes and the ugly black wig he wore over his bald head. He was the man who had given them the last clue to finding the Railroad not an hour earlier in Bunker Hill.

"You're not in Kansas anymore, kid," he smiled, eyes hidden behind his dark glasses.

"Let me guess," Lydia said, boredom in her tone, "the great and powerful Wizard of Oz?"

The man laughed again. "Naw," he drawled, "but I am the man behind the curtain."