(AN: So while it doesn't look like I've done a lot of anything lately, I've been doing quite a bit of research into the Fallout lore. Some of it I disagree with, but for the sake of keeping these author's notes short, I won't go into a rant. Long story short, Fallout 1 had an interesting premise as far as "hard science fiction" goes, which I enjoyed and decided to ape for this "little" fic. How? Well, that would be spoiling things, wouldn't it?)
(As usual, trying to make sense out of Fallout 4's map of Massachusetts with a real life one for comparison is difficult. If you notice that I "moved" the Lonely Chapel to southwest of ArcJet rather than northwest, that is my decision based on the nearest church in that area resembling the ones in-game. There is no Fort Hagen in our Boston area, so I plunked it down in the general vicinity and called it a "post-21st century" addition.)
Man Against Man
The walk back to Diamond City was mostly uneventful. Aside from heading for cover as they approached the overpass, not a soul tried to attack them. As they went, Nathan examined his gear. Righteous Authority needed a recharge, for which he was woefully short: somehow, he got the idea that batteries used for laser rifles were in short supply in the Commonwealth. The Triggermen they had gunned down had a few caps on them, which Cait had nabbed while she was making sure they were dead. This meant that once they came back into town, they had enough to at least buy a few things for themselves.
As it took an hour to reach the Park Street area from Diamond City, so it took them an hour to make the return journey. Once they returned, Piper stopped by Publick Occurrences to see how her sister Nat was doing, and then went off towards the upper stands: where the folks with more than a handful of caps to their names dwelt above the common people of Diamond City. Cait, meanwhile, gave Nathan the majority of their caps while she took a few and went to the Chem-I-Care stand. Nick led the way back to his office and was at once met by a very relieved Ellie Perkins.
"Oh God, it's really you, Nick!" she exclaimed.
"Well, it's hard to mistake this mug for anyone else," replied Nick sardonically.
She chuckled ruefully. "I was worried about you. You keep laughing at death, one of these days death'll laugh back at you."
"Not while I have a few friends to back me up," Nick said, turning to Nathan.
Ellie then turned to Nathan and practically begged him to help Valentine with some of his cases. But the cool-headed synth detective was able to talk his assistant down: he wanted to help Nathan with his case first before burdening him with anything else. Ellie offered him a few caps for his trouble, which he took: but his eyes were still on Valentine. Nathan felt a strange feeling of respect for this robot detective: he, not it, was helping him expedite the rescue of Shaun.
"Now then," Nick said. "Let's get down to business. Take a seat, make yourself comfortable. Let's hear this 'complicated' story of yours, from the beginning. Don't worry about time: in this line of work, the devil's in the details. So anything you can tell me will be helpful: no matter how insignificant...or painful, it might be."
Nathan sighed. He feared that he would have to be forced to relive this again, but now the moment came. And there was no one there beside him, only Dogmeat's large brown eyes looking up curiously at him. He almost wished that Piper was here: if her cheerful demeanor wouldn't help, she certainly seemed sympathetic. At last, Nathan grit his teeth and started talking. He went on a brief review of who he was - a soldier of the Old World who fought the Chinese in the War - and how he had met Nora and their child. Then he went into the talk of that fateful day: two hundred years ago, but which felt to him like just yesterday.
"We went into the Vault," he concluded. "Vault 111. I didn't know it at the time, but when we got out, I checked the terminals, trying to make sense out of everything that happened. It was some kind of experiment: a cryogenic testing facility. Me and Nora and Shaun were frozen, along with the rest of the occupants."
"Hmm," Nick mused, taking quick notes with a pencil on a pad of dirty paper. "On ice underground, locked up in an air-tight facility. Quite a few obstacles to get through. Go on."
"We were put inside these...pods," Nathan continued. "Then...everything went white. When I came to again, I was still inside the pod. That's when it happened."
"Go on," Nick replied. Nathan looked up at the machine, feeling resentment at the implacable tone of the synth detective.
"Some men in white coats came," Nathan slowly said. "I didn't hear any names. They...they took my son Shaun! He's only a few months old!"
"I see," Nick noted. "A lot of effort went in to taking someone from your family, and a baby at that. That would mean taking on a lot of care. Anything else you remember?"
Nathan sighed, rubbing his eyelids with his right hand. Wasn't this enough? He had seen death face-to-face at Anchorage, seen many good boys on both sides slain ruthlessly: but then to see that happen to Nora was more than he could be asked to bear. He could still see, burned into the back of his eyes, her eyes frozen open in horror as she slumped into the seat of her cryo-pod: unmoving, uncaring, dead. He couldn't shake the sight of Nora from his mind.
"Nora..." he finally forced himself to say. "She tried...to keep them from taking Shaun...and they killed her! The son of a bitch murdered her!"
"It's okay," Ellie said sympathetically. Nathan's eyes were shut as hot tears poured out of the corners and down his face.
"A couple of cold-blooded killers, but not raiders," Nick noted. "They would have shot first and taken captives later. Whoever set this kidnapping up waited until something went wrong to resort to violence. This wasn't a random kidnapping: whoever took your son had some kind of agenda."
"Who could have done this?" Nathan sobbed.
"Well, there's a lot of players in the Commonwealth who kidnap people," Nick explained. "Raiders, Gunners, super mutants, and of course, there's the Institute. But speculation isn't going to help you get your son back. I need something more to go on. Can you tell me what the kidnappers looked like? You said something about white coats."
"Yeah," Nathan nodded. "All except one. Bald, scar on his left eye. He was the bastard who shot Nora. I'll never forget the sound his gun made..."
At this, Nick suddenly looked up from his notes. "You didn't happen to hear the name Kellogg mentioned, did you?"
"Why? Do you think he has Shaun?"
Nick mused for a moment. "Ellie, let me see what we've got on Kellogg."
Ellie went over to a filing cabinet and removed a folder with the name 'C. Kellogg' on the tab. Nick thumbed through it momentarily before pulling up a single document.
"What is it?" Nathan asked, urgency in his voice.
"Conrad Kellogg," Nick replied. "A mercenary who matches your description. Does a lot of wet work, though no one knows who his employer is. And just a few months ago, he bought a house here in Diamond City: he had a kid with him."
"How old was the kid?" Nathan asked.
"About ten years old," Ellie added.
Nathan sighed in defeat. "A dead end. There's no way that can be Shaun."
"A big difference between an infant and a ten-year-old," Nick conceded. "But that doesn't mean we're on the wrong track."
"Well, if we know where he's at," Nathan returned. "Then let's go over to this house and catch that son of a bitch! I'll make him tell me where he took Shaun if I have to beat it out of him!"
"I admire your enthusiasm," Nick said. "But I'm afraid that's not going to be of much use to us. Last note on here is that Kellogg and this kid he had with him disappeared without a trace." Nathan sighed, hanging his head in defeat.
"Then that's it?" he asked. "There's nothing more we can do?"
"I wouldn't go that far," Nick replied. "We can search his last known address: a shack on the West Stands. Unfortunately, we'd have to get the key for that house."
"Where would I get the key to his house?" Nathan asked.
"Mayor McDonough keeps spares of all keys from the Stands' houses in his office," Ellie noted. "You could try there."
Nathan sighed. "Thanks, both of you. I really do appreciate it." He then rose up to leave.
"If you don't mind me tagging along with you," Nick added. "I want to check out Kellogg's old joint as well. Need to update my files with anything I can find on him."
"Be my guest," Nathan replied.
"Don't be getting yourself into any more capers, Nicky," Ellie replied.
"Ellie, I wouldn't dream of doing anything of the sort," Valentine replied with a wiry smirk.
Nick gave the folder back to Ellie, then he, Nathan, and Dogmeat walked out of Valentine's Detective Agency. While they were on their way out, a figure appeared from behind the corner of one of the shacks. It was a rather nondescript figure: clad in ragged pants and a nearly threadbare jacket and hood, pulled up to conceal its head. A beanie was upon the stranger's head beneath the hood, a bandana upon its face for a mask, and over its eyes were a pair of large, dark sunglasses. The stranger eyed the blue-clad stranger as he made his way out of Valentine's Detective Agency from behind its shades.
They walked the bases over to the open-air market, where Cait was trying to argue with Takahashi over a drink; but the protectron butler would only say "Nan-ni shimasko-ha" in reply to everything she said.
"Bloody machine!" Cait swore. Then, upon seeing Nathan return. "There y'are. So, where are we off to next?"
"The mayor's office," Nathan replied. "We're hoping to get the key to the house of the son of a bitch who kidnapped my son."
"This outta be good," Cait grinned, and left the bar and joined the little posse. They made their way toward the southern end of the stadium. Somewhere between the Dugout Inn and First Base, they found a makeshift stairway which led up onto the Stands. This, Nathan realized, was his first proper look at the stands. These were filled with houses that, while shacks, seemed to be in better shape than the ones on the field. There were a few people up here, and Nathan noticed their clothes were cleaner and less ragged than those below.
But they were not here for the people in the Stands. Up the stairs they went until they found a new addition to the stadium: a lift. The four of them climbed into the long, narrow lift, closed the metal gate behind them, then turned the lever to the up position. The hydraulics were still in good condition, and the massive lift brought them up to what had once been the commentary booth. Only now the glass had been removed and it had been turned into the office of Mayor McDonough. To the surprise of no one, they found Piper arguing with a young woman with blonde hair sitting behind a desk.
"Why doesn't the Mayor come out of his office, huh?" Piper demanded. "He afraid of talking to the press or something? I bet if I said I was with the Institute, he'd come running..."
"Do you ever think," the young woman asked, in her best attempt at a pleasant voice. "That, maybe, you could get a man's attention if you used softer words? Maybe shout a little less?"
"Aww, you know what?" Piper retorted, a scathing look on her face as she gesticulated with her hands. "That reminds me of a little story I'm working on about the Mayor's affair with a certain air-headed blonde!" Nathan cleared his throat. Piper turned about, a bit red in the cheeks at his sudden appearance.
"Oh, hey, look who it is! What brings you to the Mayor's office, Blue?"
"Why are you here?" Nathan asked.
Piper leaned in. "McDonough's been meeting with the same suspicious looking courier every other week. Not from any settlement I've heard of, not from one of the caravans: always in and out before anyone has a chance to talk to him. I'm thinking an errand boy from the Institute; and once I've got this next article out, everyone in Diamond City will be asking about it!"
"Excuse me, Piper," the young woman from behind the desk spoke up. "But if you're quite finished crowding the reception area, the Mayor needs to make time for more...responsible citizens." She then turned to Nathan. "Can I help you with anything? The Mayor will be free to speak with you shortly...as long as you're not with the press."
"I need to get into the house on the West Stands," Nathan said. "Belonged to some guy named Kellogg. Do you know where I could get the key?"
"That house was repossessed by the city after Mr. Kellogg disappeared," the young woman replied. "You'll have to ask the Mayor for the key."
"Isn't there anything you can do to help me?" Nathan asked.
The young woman took the pen from her desk and idly tapped it against the side of her lips. "And if I could, why should I?"
"Oh, I don't know!" Piper commented. "Has anyone ever thought about helping each other in this city?"
"I'll give ye a reason," Cait added.
"Don't listen to them," Nathan replied. After spilling the guts about the death of Nora, he was feeling less harsh and more open. He sighed, and wiped the tears away from his eyes. "Look, the guy who owned the house, Kellogg, he kidnapped my son. I...I want to get him back."
The young woman's blue eyes turned to Nathan, she stopped playing with her pen, but she said nothing. Instead, she reached into her desk as if she hadn't heard him and pulled out a copy of Publick Occurrences and began reading it.
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Nathan asked, starting to grow irritated.
"Yes I did," the woman replied. "But I'm the Mayor's secretary. I'm awfully busy, you know. So much to do, so little time to do it. If I'm not careful, I just might forget about something important." With that, a key fell from behind the newspaper and landed on her desk. She turned in her chair, putting her back to them as she continued reading. Nathan's eyes welled with surprise as he gazed at the key. Piper held back a squeal of amazement and Cait merely looked at him with something between amazement and disapproval. Nathan reached over for the key.
"Your son's lucky to have a father like you," the secretary said, her back still turned to Nathan. "I hope you find him."
"Thanks," Nathan whispered as he snatched the key from the desk. They then made their way back to the lift, with Piper following along after them. While the lift was descending, Cait approached Nathan: her face was unreadable, but not friendly.
"So what's the catch?" she asked him.
"Excuse me?" he asked.
"I was hopin' for a bit of action up there," she said. "But ye jus' sweet-talked that bitch into helpin' ye out. I coulda re-arranged her face for ye: that always gets people talkin'. So what's the catch?"
"What do you mean?" Nathan asked. "There's no catch."
"Then what the fuck are we doin'?" Cait asked.
"We're going after this Kellogg guy," Nathan said. "He took my son. If you want to help me, you're welcome to tag along."
"Uh-huh, yeah," she nodded. "And then what?"
"What do you mean?"
"I ain't stupid, ye ken. If I do somethin' for ye, I ken ye expect somethin' in return. So let's have it out now. What do ye want? And don't be askin' fer a shag, I ain't that easy."
"I want my son back," Nathan retorted firmly. "After that...after that, I don't know." He trailed off, his eyes looking westward toward the tops of the dilapidated cities, slowly sinking behind the stadium. "I guess I have much to think about as well."
"Ye...ye mean yer not askin' a thing from me?" Cait asked. "Not a thing?"
"Have my back in the next firefight?" Nathan asked.
Cait did not answer him immediately. She walked over to the far edge of the lift, a stunned look on her face: it was the first time in a long while since she had not gotten the last word in a discussion, and she was amazed herself. But she was not the only one.
Down from the Stands they went, across the field, and back up again onto the West Stands to Kellogg's house. The key went into the lock, and soon the door was open. None of them expected to find Kellogg waiting for them inside, so they were not surprised to find that the place was empty. It looked like the inside of a box-car with a small second floor made of wooden planks. The four of them searched the area thoroughly, looking for anything that might give them an indication of where Kellogg went. But it was woefully bare, and to Nick's surprise rather small for a box-car.
"Hey, guys!" Piper exclaimed. "I found something over here!"
On the end of the room, far away from the door, was a desk with a chair at it. Piper was kneeling down, examining something underneath the desk. Nathan knelt down beside her and saw what appeared to be a small button attached under the desk. Pressing it slid open a door into a hidden room to the left of the desk. Inside was a kind of personal lounge. A rather nice looking chair with a small table stood inside, with a wall filled with makeshift shelves on the other. To the wall Piper went, eying a shiny Nuka-Cola, while Cait examined what else might be there. Nathan, meanwhile, was looking at the table. On it were a few beer bottles - Gwinnett Stout - several strewn .44 caliber bullets, and a cigar in an ash-tray.
"San Francisco Sunlight," Nathan said, looking at the label on the cigar.
"A runaway from the NCR," Piper mused.
"NCR?" asked Nathan.
"New California Republic," she replied. "They're the power out west, according to some caravans who've been that far and back. Trouble is, few people go out that far and even fewer come back. Tribes and raiders dominate the Midwest, not to mention all the monsters: no one gets out of there alive, so nobody wants to even try."
"Whoever this bastard is," Cait commented. "He's seen some real shite."
"Is this it, then?" Nathan asked. "Another dead end?"
"Not exactly," Nick stated. "Where's that dog you had with you? Dogmeat, I think his name was?" At the mention of his name, Dogmeat walked over and rubbed his back against Nathan's leg.
"Speak o'th' devil," Cait muttered.
"What's your plan, Nick?" Nathan asked.
"Commonwealth dogs can track a man for miles," Nick stated. "And unless there's another person this side of the Mojave who likes Sunlight cigars, that's our best bet at finding Kellogg."
"That's bullshite," Cait said. "There's likely dozens o' smells out there. That mangy little mole-rat'll just lose the scent."
"Only one way to find out," Nathan replied. He knelt down and presented the cigar to Dogmeat. The dog pressed his nose against it for a few moments, then turned around and began walking out of the house, sniffing the air.
"Well I'll be damned!" Cait muttered.
"Let's go!" Nathan said, following the dog's trail. "He'll lead us to Kellogg."
The party of five left Diamond City and began following Dogmeat westward, out of the ruined city. They had left with few provisions, as Nathan was eager to find his son now that the way before him was clear and apparent. Such was the drive of the Sole Survivor of Vault 111 that his companions followed him without a second thought or objections. They were on a quest for vengeance and nothing could stop them. Unfortunately, the journey was not an easy one. Several times Dogmeat came to a halt and Nathan had to present the cigar to his snout before he started off on the trail. More than that, their journey to Park Street Station had taken several hours out of the day and they would be benighted before they left the greater Boston area.
Into one of the dilapidated buildings they made a stop for the night, with Nick taking the first watch. Cait was snoring like a log, while Piper was petting Dogmeat who lay across her knees. Nathan was also awake, the light on his Pip-Boy on as he examined some of the readouts. Piper looked over at him, his face half-green in the light of the device on his arm.
"Hey, Blue," she said. "You have a minute?"
"What's up?" he asked.
"I was just thinking about what you did for Nicky back at Vault," she said, a smile on her face. "Not only did you stick your neck out for him, you managed to get past Skinny and the Fingermen without firing a shot." She chuckled. "Always on good behavior, aren't ya?"
"Didn't realize I had been, to be honest," Nathan replied.
"So this is you not even trying, huh?" she teased. "Still, I shouldn't argue. Not many folks these days wanna be bothered helping others in need." She sighed. "Then again, it's been my experience that if you wanna do real good, playing nice only gets ya so far." She let out a frustrated sigh.
"I mean, look at Diamond City, Blue! I've been trying to warn them about real danger for months..."
"Which is?"
"Institute synths hiding in plain sight," Piper replied.
"Do you have any proof of this?"
"Well...no," she admitted. "Nothing rock solid, at least. But there's a lot of questions that need answering: people disappearing, Diamond City security told to look the other way with the kidnappings, and the Mayor and his private visits. Something's wrong here, and I'm gonna find out what it is." She groaned.
"But every issue I publish, all I ever hear is; 'Oh, Piper, why don't you ever publish anything happy?' 'Piper, why can't you write something nice for a change?'" She completed her frustration with condescending imitations of several noteworthy people of Diamond City, then took the press cap off her dark head. Nathan happened to catch a glimpse of her with her head uncovered and her hair down and stopped pretending to play with his Pip-Boy.
"It's almost enough to make me wanna hang up my hat some days," she admitted.
"Sounds exhausting," Nathan said in a sympathetic tone.
"Heh, no kidding," replied Piper. "But people deserve to know the truth. Sure, it can be scary knowing what's really out there. I mean, hell, a night doesn't go by where I'm not afraid some Institute drone'll decide today's the day to pay ol' Piper and family a visit." She sighed.
"But it's worth it, because I know the truth; and that's what protects us."
"Can't protect your loved ones if you don't know what you're up against, eh?"
"Exactly! Most folks just prefer a comforting lie; not me." She sighed heavily.
"Nat and I grew up in a tiny settlement way out in the Commonwealth," she began. "Our dad was part of the local militia: 'keepin' the raiders off our backs and the 'lurks outta our latrines', as he used to put it." There was a hint of fondness in her voice as she mentioned her father.
"Lurks?"
"Mirelurks," Piper replied. "Yeah, that's right, Blue. You're new to all of this. Big thing, covered in a tough shell with big claws: nasty! I doubt that laser rifle of yours would do much good against them, unless you managed to hit them underneath."
"I'll try to remember that," Nathan said. "Go on with your story."
Piper swallowed hard. "I...I haven't told many people this. So just to let you know how much you mean to me...uh, I mean, how much I trust you...I...geez, did it get hot in here all of a sudden?"
"Just fuckin' shag already," Cait groaned. "I'm tryin' t' sleep 'ere."
Piper frowned at Cait, then gently pushed Dogmeat off and made her way up the stairs to the second level of the dilapidated building that was their shelter. Nathan, curious to hear more of her story, followed after her. On the second level, a wall had caved in and provided a clear view of the starry night sky. Here Piper sat down on the rickety floor and Nathan sat down next to her.
"Go on with your story," he urged.
"It's really hard, you know," she said. "We said goodbye to him, I packed him a meal, and told him we'd be good...then the next thing you know, he turns up dead! His asshole captain, Mayburn, claimed raiders must have gotten him on his watch. I didn't buy it, so I started asking questions, and it wasn't long until I found the truth: Mayburn had sold out, thought he wasn't getting paid enough to babysit the entire town and decided to leave the gates open and let raiders sack the top."
"And take what he wanted in the middle of battle," Nathan mused.
"Yeah, well, my dad found out about that and didn't like it," Piper continued. "He was gonna turn Mayburn in, but Mayburn got to him first. Once I learned the truth, I wasn't about to let that bastard get away with murder. But...the mayor of the little settlement didn't listen to me: so I went rogue. Papered the town with posters: 'Wanted for Gross Dereliction of Duty: Captain Mayburn.'" A look of grim satisfaction was on her face.
"The mayor sure wanted to talk after that. The town through Mayburn out on his ass and were dug in when a very surprised group of raiders finally showed up."
"What happened after that?" asked Nathan.
"We made due on the kindness of others," Piper replied. "Didn't have much choice in the matter. Sis was really young at the time and our mom was...out of the picture. Eventually I saved up enough to book us passage with a caravan and came out to Diamond City and called it home ever since." To his surprise, Nathan found his hand reached out and touching Piper's shoulder: an idle gesture of comfort, but it was not lost on him that she was the first woman that he had touched since...since... He couldn't recall what he was about to say: all that he knew was that she too had lost someone in as sorry and savage a way as he had.
"I'm sorry about your dad, Piper," he said.
"Thanks, Blue," she replied. "It was hard after he was gone, but knowing that he died doing the right thing, that's always made it easier." She then glanced over at his hand and cleared her throat. "Hey, I...I'm sorry if I've been rambling: I just get fired up sometimes. It's just nice to talk to someone who, you know, actually gets it. Now come on, let's try and get some sleep in this dump. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow."
Nathan agreed and the two of them descended the stairs and went back to their corner of the building and tried their best to get some shut-eye in the unquiet and restless dark.
Nick remained on watch all that night. Aside from some bold molerats, nothing troubled his watch. When the sun rose, Nathan was the first one to waken. It was the first good amount of sleep he had had in a while, even though it was against a hardwood floor. He roused the two women, then went to Dogmeat and waved the Sunlight cigar before his snout: he wanted them to leave immediately, without even taking any thought to breakfast.
"Maybe we should lighten up on the throttle, there," Nick commented. "My internal power cells can power me from here to the Capital Wasteland, but the rest of you still have to eat first. You'll need the strength for the road ahead, which I'm pretty sure is going to be a long one."
Nathan allowed a brief breakfast: they finished off the food supplies from Nathan's duffle-bag, with Nathan eating little for himself. Once they were done, Nathan shouldered his burden, gave Dogmeat another sniff of the cigar, then let him take off like a shot. The four of them followed after the dog: Nathan was at the front, going as fast as his military training would take him, and urging the others to keep up the pace. The servo-motors in Nick's legs could carry him just as fast as Nathan with the added bonus of not tiring: however, he kept a steady pace so as to keep an eye on the rear. The two women ran as fast as they could, though Cait outpaced Piper.
The trail led westward, out of the greater Boston area and towards Weston. Several other times they had to stop and have Dogmeat smell the cigar again before heading out. No sooner had Dogmeat found the trail, but Nathan urged them onward, only resting when he could go no further: and even then, he was the first to forge ahead on the trail. His muscles ached and silently begged for a rest, while Piper and Cait huffed and puffed just a short distance behind him.
"Keep up!" he called back sternly to them. "We have to find him!"
"Just...give me a minute, Blue!" Piper huffed. "I'm a bit out of practice."
"Been gettin' fat sittin' on yer arse in Diamond City, have ye?" Cait retorted.
"Hey, I'm not fat! And you're one to talk...outta breath like me!"
"Save it," Nathan said. "We're not gonna wait for you."
"I'll just be a minute, Blue!" Piper exasperatedly answered.
"She'll just be a minute, Cap'n," Cait interjected. "The lady's gotta catch 'er breath. Not used t' sloggin' it rough like the rest o' us."
"Hey, I ain't no lady," Piper retorted.
"Neither am I, princess."
"With a mouth like yours, it's a wonder no one's managed to put you in the ground yet."
"Not yet, though nae from lack o' tryin'."
"Cool it, both of you!" Nathan sharply snapped. They both fell silent, and Dogmeat let out a soft whimper. "This is getting us nowhere! We have to stay focused: find Kellogg, then you two can have it out."
Cait said nothing, but Piper looked at Blue with a mixed look of disapproval and curiosity on her face. Something was wrong and she wanted to find out what it was. But with the way that he was going, she hoped that she wouldn't pass out before she learned what was happening.
After a short break, they carried on the trail, with Dogmeat following on the scent. At one point he paused, sniffed the air, and went in a different direction. Nathan was surprised by this, but did not question it. He was wholly within the power of this adorable animal - as absurd as that thought seemed once manifested. In any case, he was in a strange new world and the only hope of finding Kellogg - and Shaun, potentially - was this dog.
Early in the afternoon, Dogmeat came to a second halt. They were outside the ruins of an old church several miles south of Concord, in what had once been the town of Wayland. Here they paused for a brief moment, as Dogmeat remained still. Nathan had the others search the place for any signs of Kellogg, while he went inside the dilapidated church and looked around. Kellogg was not there, but he didn't expect to find him here either. Instead, he wanted some kind of solace while here in the chapel.
The Halls had been nominally religious: they went to church every Sunday and had their confirmation, but continued to live like everyone else the other six days of the week. During the War, Nathan had seen 'the world' such as it was, and became much more 'serious' about his personal faith. He was going to start taking Nora and Shaun to a little church in Concord - one of the few churches still open - once they had 'properly settled in' at Sanctuary Hills: then everything changed.
"Hey, Blue," Piper spoke up. Nathan was stirred from his thoughts and turned around. Piper was standing behind him, a thought expression on her face.
"Oh, hey Piper," he replied.
"You doin' okay?" she asked.
"Hmm? Oh yes, I...was just thinking."
"About the church?" she asked. "Didn't take you for a religious type. Then again, from what I hear tell, religion was sort of dying out just before the bombs fell. Is that true?"
"Only half-true," Nathan replied. "It seemed the more and more we unlocked the secrets of nuclear power, the more and more scientists and political talking heads saw themselves as gods. Churches were forced to tow the line or close their doors. But..."
"But what?"
"Times get harder, people look for answers," Nathan replied. "I'm sure Nora would have just laughed it off, but no matter how hard you try to destroy something, it always comes back...especially if it's needed."
"That's an...interesting way of putting things," Piper said. "Of course, religion isn't exactly dead out here either: it's just...gotten weirder. Remind me to tell you about the Church of the Atom some time."
At this point, Valentine finished searching the grounds and came back to where Nathan was standing.
"There's nothing here," he said. "If Kellogg came this way, he's definitely gone now. You want my advice, let Dogmeat get a whiff of that cigar again. Maybe he'll find out where he went." Nathan nodded, but made no answer. "You thinking about the afterlife?"
"No, just thinking," Nathan replied.
"Folks need something to get them through the terrors of the real world," said Nick. "And trust me, this world is full of that kind of stuff."
"Just makes 'em soft," Cait added, as she joined the party. "There ain't nothin' savin' yer arse but yerself."
"I'll remember that the next time you're pinned down in a fire-fight," Nathan commented.
"What, ye dunnae believe this shite, do ye?"
Nathan's lips curled into a snarl. "What I believe? I believe that one way or another, Kellogg is going to get what's coming to him."
"Unless we find 'im fast, it ain't happenin'," Cait replied. "I've seen me share o'th' world. Folk as cannae defend themselves get fucked real bad, and those with tha guns make their own rules. There's no such thing as justice or fuckers gettin' theirs."
"Not unless we give it to them," Nathan stated. "Load up, we're heading out."
The others readied themselves to depart, while Nathan let Dogmeat have another whiff of the cigar. After a moment or two of roaming around the abandoned church grounds, Dogmeat gave a bark and took off at a run. Nathan was the first one after him, with Nick following on behind and then the women bringing up the rear.
Another hour passed, and then they came to another Red Rocket truck-stop. Here they came to a halt, for Dogmeat was barking loudly and growling towards the south. They saw a still standing US military fort with sandbags still fortifying the topmost level. From the marquee of the Red Rocket station, Nathan learned that this was a fueling station for the Fort Hagen military base: pre-war, but not pre-21st century. They took shelter behind the wall of the fueling station while Nathan examined the base just beyond.
"Huh, funny," Nick dryly exclaimed. "You'd think an old military base would be bristling with security turrets. But my sensors aren't detecting even a single one."
"What the hell does that mean?" asked Cait, panting.
"It could be a trap," Nick replied. "A skilled slicer could get the turrets down without blowin' 'em up. Of course, scavers might have gotten here first."
"This is the place, though," said Nathan. "The scent is strongest here. Isn't that right, Dogmeat?" The dog nodded his head. Turning to the women, he made sure that their guns were full, then gave them orders to cover him as he went inside the fort first. Taking one last look at the surrounding area, he gripped Righteous Authority and ran towards the fort. Cait and Piper came up after him, with Nick and Dogmeat bringing up the rear. Across the street and the barren, gray and brown field they went, up to the doors of the fort. But there was no resistance: no gunfire, no alarms, no Mr. Gutsies - the war-time variant of the Mr. Handy octo-bot - engaged them. It was too quiet.
Into Nathan's mind came again Nick's words. Could this be a trap?
Inside the fort, they found it abandoned. Each room they went in, they found no trace of anything, living or otherwise. There weren't even signs of struggle, or stirred dust on the floor. At Nathan's insistence, they searched the rooms on either side of the main hallway, looking for some sign of where Kellogg might have gone: Dogmeat remained at Nathan's side, where he hoped he might pick up the scent again. Aside from a rather peculiar piece of hardware that Nick picked up from a locker, they found little else.
They found at last an elevator that was still in serviceable condition, but there was no power to operate it. After much searching, they found a Fusion Core and plugged it into the generator in one of the back rooms. The lights flickered on and the elevator's doorbell dinged. The four of them, plus Dogmeat, made their way into the elevator and Nathan pressed the down button. The doors closed and they started going down, when suddenly a voice sounded over the intercom that made Nathan's blood boil.
"You again," came the voice that had haunted his dreams for the past several days. "I had a feeling you'd find me after a while, if the Commonwealth didn't chew your ass up and spit you out first. Now piss off, if you know what's good for you."
"Not on your life, you bastard," Nathan muttered beneath his breath.
In the bottom of the base they continued their search, passing through rooms full of old computer consoles which, surprisingly, were still operational. But these gave them no clue as to where they were supposed to go. Aside from the way back, there was one other door which was sealed and had no keyhole or terminal to unlock it. After a while, a dry laugh was heard over the intercom.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that," said the voice. "But you're in way over your fucking head. If you know what's good for you, then go away. Leave now."
"Fuck you!" Nathan shouted. Taking Righteous Authority, he looked about frantically for the intercom speaker. He wanted to blow up the speaker, to stop the taunting voice. But he found not the speaker: and his enemy knew that.
"Alright, can't say I didn't warn your ass," the voice said. "Incoming..."
Suddenly the concrete walls, dressed in fading and peeling drywall and wallpaper, burst asunder. From out of them there appeared synths like the ones which Nathan and Danse had fought at ArcJet. They had fallen into the trap.
"Here's the fun part!" Cait smirked.
Cait and Nick were the first ones to charge into the fray. Nathan and Piper gave them cover, sending loud shots ringing in their ears and thunder booms of the laser rifle. Dogmeat stood at Nathan's back, keeping him and Piper safe from any synths that might try to flank them. How many synths were upon them they did not count; they would not rest until nothing else of pale white synthetic flesh was moving. One by one, the machines were torn down until they were lying in tattered scrap around them. They took a moment to take wind, and wipe the oil and dirt-spots off their faces: Nick merely looked down at the machines with an indescribable look in his yellow positronic eyes.
"You okay?" Nathan gasped.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," the synth detective replied.
"You sorry about us killing them?" he asked.
"It's...complicated," said Nick. "But we can shoot the breeze about philosophy later. Kellogg's close, I know it."
There was a loud clank that turned their attention toward the inward door. It was now slowly swinging open.
"Let's talk." said the voice. There was a note of wearied resignation to the voice. "No tricks this time. I'm ordering the rest of my synths to stand down."
The party slowly walked towards the door, but their guns were still in their hands and aimed forward. None of them trusted that what was going to happen next was not a trap. On the other side was a dimly lit office room deep underground: a place of military computers and technicians doing the impersonal activities of the United States Commonwealth. To the left was an elevated walkway fenced on both sides: along its roof was a ceiling lamp that was flickering. In its light they could see a gruff looking man, bald of head and unshaven face: how old he was they could not guess, but he looked roughly middle-aged. There was a modified .44 pistol in his right hand and a squarish device in a leather pouch on his belt, which his left hand was resting idly upon. But the face, those eyes, filled Nathan with rage: this was the man who had shot Nora point-blank and kidnapped Shaun.
"And here I thought I was the most resilient son of a bitch in the Commonwealth," Kellogg said.
"You're a dead man!" shouted Nathan, who kept Righteous Authority aimed at his opponent.
"For what, huh?" Kellogg challenged. "Putting a bullet in your pretty wife's head?" He spat. "I've killed more wives and sons than you ever have, soldier boy. What's one more to me? I'm not gonna fucking cry about it like some little bitch. All those kills made me who I am; and those sorry bastards should be thanking me. You've seen what it's like; this world, this life. A quick death is a better end than choking on blood from rad-poisoning: that's all anyone has to look forward to." Nathan took aim at Kellogg's head: to his surprise, he chuckled grimly.
"Keep your panties on: your boy's safe." Kellogg admitted with a mocking tone. He hesitated for a moment, and there seemed to be something in his eyes that Nathan couldn't quite discern. Was it hesitation? Fear? Regret?
"What the hell did you do to him?!" Nathan demanded.
"I didn't do shit, don't worry," Kellogg admitted at last. "Shaun's fine. Maybe a bit older than you expect, hmm?" He added the last part with a bit of an effort. He then shook his head.
"What is it?" asked Nathan. "Where the hell is my son, you mercenary motherfucker?!"
"To see you standing there," Kellogg grimly stated. "So sure of yourself, that you'll find Shaun and have your happily ever after in this fucked up world: almost makes me laugh. But I ain't a fucking philosopher and they didn't pay me to talk you to death."
"Who's they?" Nathan asked, fuming as his finger moved onto the trigger of Righteous Authority. "Where. Is. My. Son?!"
"You know what?" he coughed. "I think I've changed my mind. Those sorry bastards can go to hell...and you with 'em!"
Kellogg flipped a switch on the box at his belt and suddenly vanished. There was a beeping noise and suddenly four more synths appeared from behind the computer desks. It was a trap. The four of them now stood to defend themselves against the newcomers, while Dogmeat sniffed the air suspiciously. Bullets were flying as the group were being pushed back by the Gen-1 synths: seemingly indifferent to the bullets being fired at them.
The one attacking Nathan lost its left arm from the elbow down from a blast of Righteous Authority. Defiantly, it kept on marching toward him and seized the barrel of Righteous Authority in its metal grip and started squeezing. To Nathan's right, Piper gave a squeal as her 10mm ran out of bullets and the synth attacking her only lost the face-plate. To his left, Nick was exchanging fisticuffs with his synth: the only one of them who could stand toe-to-toe with a machine. Cait was already behind a massive computer console, trying to get the jump on her synth with her shotgun or bat.
Behind Nathan, Kellogg reappeared and aimed his iron at the back of Nathan's head. Dogmeat leaped at the mercenary and bit his right hand before he could squeeze off a shot. Piper reloaded her gun, then rose from cover and shot her synth in the side of its head. Cait rose from cover and swung her bat at her synth: circuits, sparks, and shards of broken metal shattered as its head nearly fell off its neck. Nick had stuck his right hand into the neck of his synth, and it froze up, collapsing onto the ground.
"Ah! Fucking mole-rat!" growled Kellogg, and punched Dogmeat in the snout. The poor beast gave a yelp and released his grip on Kellogg's right hand.
"Aww, now I'm mad!" Piper yelled. She turned to fire at Kellogg, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"Piper!" Nathan grunted, still pinned by the synth bearing down upon him, crushing his weapon. From her right, the synth she had shot was coming for her. She yelped and ducked, just as Cait took out her shotgun and blasted its chest chassis to pieces. There was a loud shout and a stream of curses, and Piper noticed splatters of blood on the farther wall.
"Someone's been hit!" she called out.
"A little...busy right here!" groaned Nathan. Cait dropped her shotgun, picked up her baseball bat and took out the synth's legs. It collapsed and Nathan kicked it down, then drove what was left of Righteous Authority into its head until it ceased moving. Nathan then turned to the synth that was coming for Piper and, picking up Cait's shotgun, delivered a straight-shot to the chest that sent it crumbling.
"Nice one, cap'n," Cait said. The others turned to the synth that Nick had incapacitated.
"What did you do to it, Nick?" Piper asked in an amazed voice.
"Tried to shut it down," replied Nick. "Trouble is, these newer models have tighter security subroutines. Forced it into a system reboot, that should buy us..." At that moment, Cait slammed her bat directly into the synth's head, sending metal shards, broken circuitry, sparks, and wires every which way.
"That outta do it," she said. Dogmeat barked and let out a growl. Nathan ran over to the dog and inspected his snout: there was a bruise, but nothing more serious. But Dogmeat was glaring at something on the ground.
"Who's hit?" Nathan asked.
"Not me," said Piper.
"Nae," Cait added.
"My coolant isn't red," Nick added. "That's blood, which means Kellogg's around here somewhere."
After a little searching, they found a trail of blood leading to the far side of the room, near the stairs going to the hallway. They found the shrapnel-filled remains of the little square device, which Nathan recognized almost immediately.
"I think that's a Stealth-Boy," he said. "I've heard rumors about Marines being deployed with these during the Yangtze Campaign back in the War."
"That's how we couldn't see him," Piper muttered. She stopped short and tugged on Nathan's Vault-suit, pointing towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. There Kellogg lay slouched against the stairs, his gun just a few inches out of reach of his hands. He was vainly trying to reach for it, but just as he almost touched it, Nathan put his foot on it and picked it up.
"Never thought some wet-nosed little bitch would be the one to take me down," groaned Kellogg.
Nathan lifted the gun and pointed it at Kellogg's face.
"Alright, you son of a bitch, start talking," Nathan demanded. "Where is my son?"
"Why the fuck should I tell you?" Kellogg retorted.
"You're bleeding out," Nathan replied, pulling back the hammer and pressing the barrel to Kellogg's forehead. "Do you wanna go slowly or quickly? Where is he?!"
"God, you're persistent!" Kellogg coughed, blood spurting from his mouth. "I wish...agh, fuck! No use now...the Institute has him."
"Holy shit!" Piper muttered under her breath, her eyes widening in amazement.
"End of the line for you...bitch!" Kellogg said to Nathan, spitting blood in his face. Nathan didn't hesitate as he squeezed off the trigger once, twice, three times, plugging Kellogg's brain with enough brass to shatter the front plate of his skull and send brains and bloody circuitry flying all over the steel steps. Nathan did not even flinch at the sight of the desiccated brain, or of Cait and Piper looking at him in surprise and horror. He barely listened to Nick commenting on how he was going to search the computers for any confirmation of what he had told them.
Kellogg was dead: killed in the same way and by the same weapon with which he had taken Nora from Nathan.
(AN: So I am doing an audiobook style read-through of the first book of my main series on YT. Unfortunately, reading that has revealed to me my overindulgent writing style: my chapters tend to get verbose. I hope that you all can at least bear with me, because I do have a reason for the absurd length of these chapters.)
(This chapter has taken months to release, mostly because I've been overwhelmed and side-tracked. Yadda yadda yadda, you'll probably notice that Kellogg's monologue isn't the same as in the game. Well it's not all written down and the YTers who i've been using for dialogue snippets don't have his full monologue. So I winged it.)