(Aftermath - Chapter 13!)
Jericho - Part 11
20th of February 2078 - Evening, Jericho:
Once the group returned home, Kaidan had Heather, Jake, Eric and the former con-soldier, Maggie Mullen, to the medical centre in the settlement, to make sure they didn't have any lasting damage. He also had Jake ask Doctor Kandel to come and see him at once, as he needed to see her. Whilst that was happening, he informed Alice, the Lau sisters and Benitez what was going on, he also told them that with Roberts, minus Heather Lau, he wanted them to set up with the Spectres defences around the dome, the mine and the entrance of the settlement. Seeing how they were their key areas. He also had Benitez inform those at the guards at the towers that Kaidan set up at the bridge as lookouts, to be ready to blow it up should they even see a hint of New Bern. As if those from New Barn were going to take that road, Kaidan wanted them to take as long as possible to get there.
As for Heather Lau, Kaidan had to create a small group that would be a go-between for the groups, sending out any help they might need. But those at the mine should be left alone, and only be asked for help if they had no other option, as their job was to keep the animals there calm when the fighting started. As if the animals won't calm, in the small space, they could end up killing each other. And they needed to keep as many animals alive as possible so that they would have what they needed in the future.
As they left the new mayor's office, Doctor Kandel entered the office looking worried, seeing how Jake informed her what was going on. Which made things easier, as Kaidan quickly informed her that he wanted her to create a small group of medics who were not only good at their job but fast on their feet, as they'll be field medics for the foreseeable future until they know the battle that was coming has ended.
Now Kaidan was sitting in his office, with Anna May, Jake, Robert, Johnston, and a few others, talking about what to expect and when. Seeing how they had no idea when Phil Constantino was going to make his move. All they knew was thanks to him, everyone was worried about what was going to happen. So, all they could do was sit and wait and talk.
As they were talking about the possible actions that Constantino could take, Stanley Richmond, one of many volunteers to agree to help in the fight, came in with a young rough-looking teen no older than fifteen.
"Who's this?" asked Kaidan, wondering if he was a refugee.
"Says that he's from New Bern." Stanley informed them, "Wanted to talk to you."
"So, kid, what do you want?" asked Kaidan, wondering if he came here for refuge, or if this was something that Constantino cooked up.
Instead of answering, he took a radio out of the hold that he was carrying and turned it on before putting it onto the table. Everyone was looking at it suspiciously, wondering what was going to happen next. They didn't need to wait for long, as Constantino came over the static, "Henry, can you hear me?"
"Yes, sir, I'm here." the boy now known Henry informed the man as he picked up the radio and answered.
"Good, you can come home now, son, be careful." Constantino told the boy.
And without another word, Henry was about to leave when Kaidan stopped him. "Wait a moment Henry, I would like you to take your townspeople with you. I'm a man of my word. Now that I have my people back, I want you to have your people back too." then turning to Stanley he said, "Take him to his people and then lead them out, then give them a car so that they can return home as soon as possible."
Stanley and the others were going to ask was this wise, but one look from Kaidan they knew that he was, he also said, "I told them that I would send them home once we have our people back, I want to show them that at least I do keep my word and don't break them." That was when they realized that this action had a hidden meaning to this, to show them that he wasn't a bad person. He hoped that by doing this, they could stop whatever Constantino had planned, and fewer lives would be lost. So, Stanley did as he was told.
"Henry has left Constantino, and he is bringing home your people, just like I promised I would once I got my people home." Kaidan said he picked up the radio and talked to the mad man.
"Good to see that you're a man of your word Commander Kaidan." replied Constantino.
"Unlike some." Kaidan muttered without pushing the button on the radio, so Constantino didn't hear him. But as he pushed the button, he asked, "So tell me, Constantino, what's this all about? I don't think you would do all this so that we can talk."
"I want to let you know that we're cleaning up the blood of the deputies off the streets that you and your men killed today," Constantino informed them all, "but I wanted you to understand our position. When we are done with that, for payment for their deaths, we want…"
"Oh, I fully know what you want Constantino," Kaidan interrupted the man, not wanting to hear his so-called speech, "you want some of our land, settlement, food and at least half if not all of the salt mine, right?"
"It's good to know that you understand this, now…" Constantino said happily, more than likely believing that Kaidan was going to give it up, but he was wrong, Kaidan once again interrupted him, "I can tell you this now, fuck off, you're not getting anything from us. Those deaths were down to you, I warned you that if you didn't give back our people when we asked for them, what happens next would be down to you and not us."
"Is that how you're condoning the deaths of our people because we won't give your people back when you demand it?" Constantino asked angrily.
"No, I'm condoning our actions because of what you really were up to," Kaidan sneered, "we knew that you were torturing our people for information about our town. We knew that you were making motors and planning to use them. But I had hoped that if I tried to do things nicely, we wouldn't have to force our hands. So, once again, what happened was down to you. If you let our people go when asked, none of this would have happened."
"Not like you can talk, you're making weapons." Constantino blurted out angrily, not liking how Kaidan was talking to him.
"That's true, but you forget two important things Constantino," Kaidan said smugly, "one, we never hid the fact that we're making weapons, in fact, we were selling them in the Black Jack Trading Post, where you and others were buying them. The second thing is this, we were never planning to use our weapons to start a war with others. That's right, we knew that you were planning to start a war between our towns, but you had to find a way to justify your actions to the rest of your town. Unfortunately for our people, they give you that reason when they learned of your plans and tried to prevent it, but failed. You're using this for your own agenda, to take what you want, even if it means others are hurt because of it. So, if you really want to do this, want to invade our town, and force your way in, please, try as you might. But know this, we have our own weapons, some of your mortals and skilled Spectres on our head. So, if you think you can defeat us, please try, I can tell you now, we won't back down."
"Oh, you think you're so big because you have a few Spectres on your side," Constantino said in disbelief, "let me tell you, my town too has Spectres helping us too. In fact, from what I hear, we have more than you do. So, for the sake of your people, I'm asking you to surrender." then with that, the radio went dead. It would seem that Constantino cut the radio off.
"Damn that man," sneered Faye, "who does he think he is to think we would give up without a fight."
"Hasn't the man heard the saying, quality over quantity?" asked Alice, "He might say he has more Spectres, but are they all that skilled?"
"This isn't the Phil that I knew of, this one has become delusional to even think this would work." Johnston said sadly, disappointed and saddened at how far his old friend had fallen.
"As they say, desperate men do desperate things." Kaidan said with a sigh, he went on to say, "Listen, we have until sunrise at the least before Constantino makes his move. So, I want you all ready for what is to come. Heather, I want you and your sister to work on getting ammo and or support items to the people who need them. Kandel, are the Healers ready to hit the field when the time comes?"
"They are scared as suspected, but they are ready." Doctor Kandel informed them.
"Good," Kaidan sighed with relief, "Listen, I don't care if the injured are ours or them, I want all of them brought back here." Then seeing the doctor about to raise a concern about this, he went on to say, "I'm not telling you to bring the New Bern people here if they are going to fight you, but if they surrender to you then bring them in. Then once they are healed, send them to a cell with a Healer to make sure they stay that way. Once this is over, we can decide what to do with them."
Kandel nodded at this.
"Anna May, you'll be my runner," explained Kaidan, "like normal, I'll be sending you out to the different groups here with messages or orders that I might have."
"Understood, Master." Anna May said with a bow.
"Robert, Jake, I want you two with a small group of men at the entrance of the settlement." Kaidan told them as he gave them their orders, "Whilst Benitez's men are going to be outside, I want some people inside just in case Constantino's men somehow find a way in."
"Understood!" the two men said at once.
"Benitez, you know what to do, kill them if you need to, but if possible, capture them alive." Kaidan informed the man, "The only person I really want dead is Constantino."
"Wouldn't it be better if we capture him and put him on trial, so we can show people we're the better people?" asked Alice.
"You know better than anyone else here, that in cases like this, it's better to cut off the head of the snake as soon as possible. With him gone, we should lose fewer lives this way." Kaidan pointed out his reasoning, which Alice could understand, but she also didn't want to make things harder for them later on when things are dealt with. "Would I like it to put the bastard on trial? Yes. But I don't think he'll go down without a fight, a fight to the death. So to save lives, it's better to kill the one man who is the most dangerous."
"Understood, Commander." said Alice.
"Now, unless there's nothing else. Get things ready as fast as possible and get some rest. By sunrise, we might be at war." Kaidan informed them all. With none of them having anything to say, they all left to let Kaidan think and rest up for the battle to come.
o0OoO0o
It was early morning, and people were getting ready for the battle to come. They had decided to go to the town hall on the surface. Sure, it was very cold, but Kaidan wanted them to get used to this so that their bodies would be ready for when the fighting starts. Kaidan had border patrol on duty going around the key points outside the wall around the town, to check if Constantino's men were about. But with the group being small, it was taking time and might miss something. So far Kaidan had heard no news, making him worried as to when and when Constantino was going to attack.
With no news, Kaidan decided to give his people one last talk before sending them out in the cold to their posts. Sure, the heating crystals that they have will help, but they could do so much with this type of cold.
Once he finished his speech, Kaidan watched his people leave the town hall to get to their posts. Some were talking to each other and wishing each other good luck. He saw Jake talking to Emily Sullivan about her friend Heather Lisinski, seeing how they hadn't had the chance to talk the day before. Emily was happy that her friend was safe and sound.
But before anything else could be said between the two, there was a strange whistling sound coming closer. It was only Jake, Kaidan and Johnston who realized what the sound was, and so at once they called out, "Everybody, take cover!"
It wasn't much time, but those who heard them were able to take cover seconds before the window exploded open. Running outside, Kaidan saw the carnage that happened, a lot of bodies all over the place. The only bright side was that they were fighters, not the innocent bystanders, they were in the settlement. But it was bad enough.
As he was calling out orders to help the injured, one of his deputies came out of the town hall and informed him, "Constantino. He's on the radio."
Hearing this, Kaidan ran to his office and as he picked up his radio, he yelled, "Constantino, you son of a bitch. What the hell are you doing?"
"I'm sorry for your troubles." was all Constantino said as if it was nothing too big.
"Is this how you handle negotiations?" Kaidan asked darkly, "We've got a dozen or so injured people on the street here. One might not last for the next hour or so."
"You can count that to one of the deaths that you owe us." Constantino informed them, "I warned you what would happen if you didn't meet our demands."
"Warned!? Demands?!" Kaidan asked in anger, "You didn't contact us to see what our answer was going to be. If you did, you would learn that I was willing to try and negotiate a decent deal for both sides, so that there would be no more bloodshed than necessary. But instead, you just bombed us out of nowhere."
"I'm not calling you to negotiate as you want, but I'm calling to inform you that I want half of everything that you half." Constantino explained to Kaidan. To Kaidan, it sounded as if this man knew things he shouldn't. He didn't understand it, but his gut was telling him that someone was informing Constantino about things they shouldn't. "I know you think you're smart and clever, but you're not. I'm giving you an hour to surrender half of everything, the mine, the settlement and the dome and anything else you might have.
"So you know, we just used two mortars to attack you, but next time, it'll be three." Constantino informed Kaidan, "Try to retaliate or refuse our demands, we'll send more. We'll do this day and night, for however long it takes to get what we want."
"Listen, Constantino, don't do this." Kaidan begged, "Let's talk this out. We don't want any more bloodshed over this. There's been too much death already in the last few months, we have to keep those who're still alive, alive. Do this, and there's no going back."
"Then give us what we want and there won't be any more." said Constantino, not backing down on this. "You have one hour, give us what we want, or we attack." And with that, the radio went dead.
"Damn that bastard." Kaidan said as he slimed the radio onto the table. "Okay, from what I've been told, it would seem that they fired those mortars from the west. So, Jake, I want you to get a small group of the Rangers and head out and look for those bastards."
"What about me and my people?" asked Jonah Prowse, he and his people have been acting as scavengers, looting and finding whatever they can for their town. "I think we should go and help them."
"Not right now, right now this is a scouting mission," explained Kaidan, "having too many people will tip our hand. We need to know how many we're dealing with before we act. This is more than like the first wave, should we have too many people out and we're attacked by a surprise attack, we need as many people as possible here to defend the town."
"Understood." said Jonah, who understood this was the only option they had right now.
"Go Jake!" Kaidan yelled at the man. Once he was gone, he looked at Jonah and Robert and said, "Listen, Jonah, Robert, I know both of your backgrounds and I know you have weapons and ammunition hidden away for a rainy day. Well, today is that rainy day, so I want you to get them here as fast as possible. I'm giving you two as many trucks as you need to get them here within the next hour. If things go as bad as I fear it might, we'll be needing as many weapons as we need."
"Jonah, do you think this is wise?" asked one of Jonah's men, "Those weapons are there should we decide to leave this place and set up on our own."
"Sure, you could do that, but think about it for a minute." Kaidan acknowledged the man's thoughts, "Here, whilst the food and water are rationed, you still have more than others here because you're our fighting force and so need to stay strong. But if you go and set up for yourself, with things as they are right now, your resources will only last a few months if you're lucky. If you help us, we could have years living in peace, no need to worry about food and drink."
"Which is why I'm happy to help where we can." said Jonah, "There's too much unknown danger out there, something I'm unwilling to put my people in. Other than keeping guard of the settlement, you have asked little from us. So lending you some weapons to fight isn't a big deal. It's the least I can offer."
"Thanks." said Kaidan, with Robert just nodding in agreement, not wanting to talk about his past or how he got the guns. Without another word, everyone got ready for what was to come in an hour, hoping that Jake would be able to prevent the next round of mortar attacks.
o0OoO0o
Things didn't go as planned though, a few minutes before the next attack, Jake and his team were able to find the mortars, but they stood to watch to see how many people there were. Kaidan was worried that if they attacked without knowing the right numbers or at least an estimate, they could get hurt. If they did set off another round of mortars, it's not like they would kill anyone. As until the mortars were dealt with, Kaidan had the attack force in the mine, the dome or in the basements.
The problem was that before they could do anything, they were attacked, it would seem that someone had warned these people. As Jake and his group made no sound or movement to alert the attackers, they were attacked and two of them were killed. It was only because of his L'Cie ability that Jake wasn't hurt all that much. That meant that they had a snake in their town, someone who was giving the bastard Constantino information about their movement. But the problem is not having any suspects or very few people in the fighting force, there was very little he could do about this other than keeping an eye out on people when he could and relying on those, he trusted to do the same.
But with the attack on his people and after another round of mortars hitting the town, Kaidan ordered a full attack on them. He had Jake, who wanted to return and pay them back for what happened, and Jonah and his people, with a few Spectres to destroy this mortar and those with it. But he also gave them orders that should they surrender, they should capture them and bring them back, with luck, they could find out who New Bern is working with.
Thankfully, this time around, they were able to capture a truck from New Bern that was going to the next area that the mortar was meant to go. It had food and drinks for the people. Unfortunately for Kaidan, none of them were willing to surrender and so were killed.
When Constantino learned of them destroying his mortar cannon and killing his people, he wasn't a happy puppy, no indeed. He said what was to come would be down to them, that there would be no deals, no mercy. Kaidan couldn't believe the man said that and reminded Constantino that what happened was down to him and not him, Kaidan, or those of Jericho. All they wanted was a peaceful relationship, but he, Constantino, wanted nothing about this and had planned to take everything from Jericho by force from the beginning and lied about his plans to his people and those at Jericho.
Constantino was either delusional or he was with someone, as Constantino called him and those at Jericho liars. The last thing that Constantino said before he cut the radio off, was that they were coming and there would be no mercy. So that night, Kaidan had scouts searching the areas around the town looking for Constantino's forces. During this time, he and Johnston Green give the people of Jericho hope. Not only that but ask for those who are over the age of sixteen and able to fight to join the battle ahead, as they needed every able body to help as they had no idea how many people Constantino had and they needed all the help that they could get.
During this time, Stanley Richmond returned with news of Constantino's forces, it would seem as of right now, from the latest news that they were able to gather, Constantino had over three hundred people or so - no idea how many Spectres Constantino had on his side. And that's at the camp alone, who knows how many more would be coming to their aid. They alone had only two hundred, about twenty of them were Spectres. But more were slowly coming in, but it was feared it wouldn't be enough. The only thing that they had going for them was that they had power armour and weapons. But then again, they had no idea what Constantino was able to get his slimy hands on.
It was decided that they would make a stand at Stanley Richmond's farm. As it was the last place before the road divides, and they would be able to take up ground faster than they could keep up with. Plus, it was the highest point in the whole area, so they would have the high ground.
So, in preparation for the war, Kaidan had a few of his men work through the freezing cold night, building defence towers, trench and other defensive structures in key areas around Stanley's farm. He even had them build settlers too, for healing. sleep, food and weapons. As they had no idea how long this war would last for and so, Kaidan wanted things ready should it last for a long time.
Kaidan also had the dwarfs create heating crystals so that they wouldn't have to worry about the cold too much. Sure it would be there, but Kaidan wanted to limit the cold as much as possible. He hoped that this would give them the edge in the upcoming battle, as he didn't think that Constantino forces would have many on their side.
Now, other than these defences, Kaidan decided to use the tanks that they got with the power armour. They had the mortar rounds and seeing that they might need some extra kicking power, Kaidan believed that the tanks would help. It helped that Robert informed him that he was able to lock into a C.I.A satellite, that he could use to help them. But the only conduction he had was that no one was to find out about it, as he feared what might happen if the wrong people got their hands on the satellite. Kaidan was all too happy to keep it to himself, only those close and trusted would know about this.
So with everything sorted, all Kaidan could do was to sleep and hope for a better day when he gets up.
Unfortunately, that day never came. A few hours after the sun rose, they were ready to fight at the Richmond's farm. At the time, people were slowly getting there, and they had a problem getting the tanks up and running. Kaidan was worried about what would happen, should Constantino's forces come with his full forces. Would they be able to hold them off and push them back? Or would Constantino's forces overrun them, and they would lose everything? Some wanted him far from the battle at all costs, as he was the leader of the Spectres and the Settlement, but Kaidan wasn't one to run from a battle.
Watching the road to Richmond's farm, Kaidan saw two men appear, scouts, standing there doing nothing. But then, a few moments later, the men signal the men behind them to come forward, which revealed three army trucks and two pick-up trucks. Altogether, there were around thirty people that came from them and started to attack.
Even with the defences, with having a few people there now and New Bern having some L'Cies, the start of this battle wasn't going as planned. They only survived the battle thanks to one of the tanks appearing and using the mortar to destroy one of the trucks and killing at least five of the people hiding behind it. Seeing this, the people of New Bern made a run for it.
Unfortunately, whilst they were able to kill at least five of Constantino's men, they had one loss: Johnston Green. During the shoot out, he was shot and injured badly. The problem was that the Healers hadn't arrived yet and before they were, Johnston died because of his injuries. But not before talking to his sons one last time, wishing them the best and apologizing to Jake about how he had treated him over the years and pushing him away. But he was glad that Jake came home and was proud of the man that he became. These were his last words before dying.
After informing about Johnston's death, it lit a fire in the townspeople who knew the man. For almost everyone there, he was their loyal and beloved former mayor and for many, they still see him as their mayor. For the others, they were his friends and were upset to see him die. Because of this, many wanted Constantino and his people to pay for attacking their town and the death of Johnston. Jake said that he would personally make Constantino pay for his father's death.
From there, people finally arrived and from that moment, so that nothing like this happened again unless they were dead or no longer able to fight, Kaidan wouldn't allow the fighters to leave the farm again until this was sorted.
During the rest of the day, as they got ready for the next wave, Jake and the others tried to get Kaidan back to the underground settlement. As of right now, his life was more important than anyone else's, he was the mayor of the town and the commander of the Spectres, so the real leader of the place and they couldn't risk losing another important figure.
But Kaidan wasn't having any of it, saying that he might be an important figurehead, but he was more important as a fighter right now. He could take on at least ten L'Cies with ease better than one normal townspeople could, and with Constantino gaining reinforcements, they needed every able body to fight this war. As much as they hated to admit it, they knew that Kaidan was right and had no option but to allow him to fight him.
Shortly before the next wave, Robert informed them that there was a train with three cars full of people coming from New Bern. Hearing this, Kaidan had someone use one of the tanks to blow up the tracks, to prevent the train from arriving at the battle. Kaidan didn't want to kill any more people than he had to. If they attacked the town, then he was more than happy to stop them, kill them if he had to, but he preferred if he could take them in alive if possible. But when it comes to war, he knew it wasn't that easy and people would die. He had seen it way too often.
Either way, within the next thirty minutes of ordering the tracks to be destroyed, the deed was done and the war between Jericho and New Bern began. It would last for about a week, death happened on both sides, be it because of the cold or because of battling each other. It only ended when Constantino was captured, and his right-hand man Deputy Perkins was killed.
Kaidan agreed that because of so many deaths in town, those from New Bern who didn't take part in the war would be allowed to live in the settlement. They would be watched, just in case they tried to do anything funny, but they would be allowed to live there - Russell and his family were one of them. But those who took part in the war were left out in the cold, Kaidan couldn't risk them doing the same thing again.
As for Constantino, Kaidan learned how Constantino got information about him and the war effort: Gray Anderson. It would seem that Anderson wasn't happy with Kaidan being mayor, so Anderson and Constantino made a deal. Whilst Constantino would be mayor of the settlement when he took over, would be one of his inner circle and would be in control whenever Constantino wasn't around.
Learning this, he left Constantino in the capable hands of the Green Brothers who showed what they thought of Constantino in the most painful way possible. By the end of it, it was well known that no one should ever get on the bad side of the brothers.
As for Anderson, Kaidan went up right up to the man and slit his throat and threw him outside, letting him slowly bleed to death. Everyone was shocked to see this happen, they knew Kaidan had problems with the man, but they never thought he would kill him in cold blood. That was until he informed them that Gray Anderson was the reason that Johnston and so many others were killed.
Hearing this, they wished that Kaidan would give Anderson a slower death, to make him pay for the deaths. Kaidan then warned them that if he ever found out that anyone helped Anderson or was thinking to do the same thing as him, they would share the same fate as him.
After this, with the world getting colder, they settled down and hoped that they could live through what was to come.
To Be Continued!
Author's Notes: Here ends another chapter of Magical Fallout, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This is the last chapter before the epilogue, which as you can see is below. As it'll be a short chapter.
(Aftermath - Saga Epilogue!)
With the war with New Bern done with, things slowly got back to normal, as normal as things can be with the world getting colder. With it getting colder, people were forced to stay in the settlement and only the hunting parties looking for food and other resources went out in the cold. They even went searching for things for the settler, wood, clothing and the like, anything that would help them. Sadly, there were a few deaths because of these hunts. Not all of these deaths were from the cold, in fact, they came from the wildlife.
Although most of the wildlife was destroyed during and after the Great War, there were a few that lived on but were mutated. Like the fly-like creatures that they learned about back at Black Jack, which they were now calling Bloatflies, huge ants that they called Giant Ants, and cockroaches that people were now calling Radroaches, just naming a few insects that were mutated.
These few insects were hunted for their meat. Sure, they weren't the tastiest food and they could make you very ill if the meat wasn't cooked properly. It was strange, these insects were now able to live at least three times longer and laid more eggs. It would seem that the radiation altered them more than expected, so they were often easy to find in old buildings. So the meat wasn't too hard to find, even if you didn't like eating it.
These mutated creatures might have been weak before, but now, they were stronger and unless trained to fight or had powers, they could be hard to fight. Even if a few might be weak, they often appear in groups and so would need to be careful as to how you would fight them.
Those of Jericho didn't like the meat, but they knew if they wanted to live, they would eat it. For the first few months, it was hard, as that was the only thing they could eat, seeing how the vegetable gables that they were growing still needed time to grow. Sure, they could have used the animals in the salt mine, but they were mainly used for the milk, fur and such, so they had to take care of them instead of killing them. They would only use their meat when they had more than needed or were no longer able to do what was needed from them.
Within a few months, it had become too dangerous to travel around the land. Not only with the cold, but because of the wildlife too. So, it was decided that they would stay in the settlement, apart from hunting for food and other resources, where they would stay close to the settlement, only travelling at least ten to twenty miles from the settlement. As the years passed, they discovered, apart from the creatures that escaped the underground facility that was now their settlement, a few mutated animals, bears, cows and deers, just a few of the rare few animals that were still alive. So far they had no new names and the people of Jericho didn't see a reason to. Some of these animals were dangerous, so extra care was needed.
But before Kaidan made it so that they stayed close to the settlement, they made one last trip to Black Jack, where they brought some mutated seeds. They were calling the plant that grows from it, Elemental Lotus. The plant itself looked like a lotus, but in the centre of it, it held a glass orb filled with an elemental essence. It would be some time, but Kaidan's team would learn that they could make weapons and bombs from these essences.
Now the last that Kaidan heard about Black Jack, although they had set things up to prevent many things, most of them were killed and the remaining people there set off looking for a settlement that would take them in. But Kaidan didn't know if they were able to or not.
Either way, although the outside world is getting colder and more dangerous, those in the settlement got into a new routine. It was rough, such as death happening often and having a lack of food and water didn't help, but over time, the years got somewhat better for them. It took some time, but other than meat, in a year they had new vegetables thanks to the dome that Kaidan created.
Sure, it wasn't much to start with and so was limited to how much they could have, but at least they had something else to eat. Over the years, as things got sorted, they were able to grow more vegetables and was able to bring in more refugees that the hunters found in the wild. Sure, not as many as Kaidan would have liked, but at least he was able to help some of them. These refugees were from other settlements that were out there, they were kicked out of the settlements either because there were too many people for them to handle in the settlement, or they stole food, water or clothing, small things trying to stay alive.
As much as Kaidan hated it, he could understand why the leaders of these settlements did this. Even he had to kick a few people out for stealing from the settlement, as they had limited resources. They were only now able to bring more people in as things got better, but he would do the same thing again if things got bad again or too much was taken. It was a hard thing to do, but for the greater good of the place, he would do so. As for space, for now, they were fine, seeing how they could hold a few thousand people.
Finally, about the ghouls, as years passed, Kaidan did some tests on them like he said he would, to find out our feral ghoul came about. Unfortunately, those tests showed very little as each ghoul was different. Only a rare few of those who went into radiative areas became feral ghoul, one took a month, whilst the other two took over five years to become one. But then there were those living in the settlement, who were kept away from radiative areas. There were two of them that turned into feral ghouls in about a few months.
They had no reason for this, it just happened, then there were three others that over the years turned into feral ghouls. So there was no evidence as to why a ghoul would become feral. It would seem that each one was different and was like a ticking time bomb, where when the time was up for them, they would become feral ghouls.
Because of this, the settlers were worried about them attacking them one day. It took a lot of work, But Kaidan was able to prevent the ghouls from being thrown out of the settlement, but they had to keep away from the other settlers as much as possible. Living on the third floor, away from the rest of the humans. Only a few humans like Kaidan, Jake and Robert would work and be close to them without fearing them.
But during this test though, they did find out a few other things. Like, the radiation that would normally harm humans, for the ghouls, being in it gave them a regeneration ability. This allowed the ghouls to heal over time. They also learned that if they didn't have any radiation to feed off, they become hungry for real food and need to drink. But after testing it out, it would seem that as long as the ghouls had a decent source of radiation, they don't need to eat or drink. So to save on the little food and water they had, Kaidan created a cave on the third floor where he place enough radiation items in there for the ghouls to soak in so that they don't need to feed or drink.
They also found out that whilst most of their bodies were altered or damaged, the ghouls were able to keep their sex drive. But the problem was that because they were ghouls, humans had no interest in having sex with them, at least not at first. Over time, a few of the women gained a ghoul fetish and so they were willing to have sex with them, although a few wanted to be paid to sleep with them. Unfortunately, regardless of their capacity for intercourse, they found that over the years, the ghouls were sterile and found that they couldn't procreate. Any children that they may have had and were now ghouls, were ones that they had before becoming ghouls.
Kaidan tried to test the ghoul's DNA to see if that showed how they turned into ghouls and a possible key to them becoming feral, but that didn't work either. Their DNA was too damaged from radiation, so it was impossible to learn about this, same with the mutated animals, their DNA was too damaged from radiation to give them any answers either.
They also tested how strong they really were and found that ghouls were three, maybe four times stronger than an average person. But that's only when they had absorbed enough radiation, otherwise, they were the same as humans, maybe even weaker. Because of this, Kaidan created the radiation cave. But this meant that they had to keep an even closer eye on them. As if they become more aggressive than normal, it was a sign that they were becoming feral. But seeing how each transformation has a different time period, it was hard, seeing a change could happen over time. But so far, they were doing well.
Now, let's talk about a few of the people in the settlement.
Let's begin with Jake Green, Maggie Mullen, Heather Lisinski and Emily Sullivan, it took a while, but the four of them got together over the first year. Although with Maggie, after what she tried to do, it took time for them to trust her and allow her to join them. Both Heather and Emily remained as schoolteachers and used Memory Crystals to teach the children of the settlement, but they didn't teach them the things that they used to. Sure, they taught English, Maths and the other basic classes, but with how things are in the world, they thought that they should teach them things to live on the surface once they returned. So they taught them how to hunt, build and some other survival skills that they thought they might need.
As for Jake and Maggie, Jake was the lead hunter for hunting things on the surface, as his L'Cie skill made it easier for him to hunt in the cold than anyone else and was able to hunt out of the safety area for hunting and only with those he trusted to help him. As for Maggie, she was Jake's backup, as although she was a retailer before the war, she wanted to be of some help and make it up to everyone for what she tried to do and so become a hunter.
The three of them had three children, the three of them came from Heather, as Emily had an unknown medical condition that prevented her from having children, and Maggie didn't want any with the way the world was and living in the settlement. Now there were two girls and one boy. The boy and one of the girls became a teacher like their mother, but the other girl became a hunter like her father, as she had the same L'Cie power as her father.
The next set of people are, Eric Green; April Green and Mary Bailey, unlike the first Jake and his women, whilst they were now together, it took longer for it to happen. Because of their past, it wasn't easy, there were many arguments because of the past. But after a while, they finally ended up together. It wasn't always easy, but they had a decent life. Eric was part of the settlement guards, April helped run the medical wing with Doctor Kandel, Mary ran the bar.
Apart from Eric's and April's daughter, Pamela, they had three other children, two boys and one girl. Pamela, because a doctor like her mother, whilst the two boys became barmen and the other daughter became a farmer in the salt mine, looking after the animals.
The next group was Doctor Kandel, Benitez and Alice, like the other two groups, they too got together. Whilst Kandel dealt with making sure people were well and healed, Benitez was the leader of the guard whilst Alice was one of the guards. But unlike the other groups, they didn't have any children, not because they didn't want any, but during a night patrolling the town wall, some mutated bears attacked the town. Whilst Benitez and the other guards were able to kill them, it came at the cost of Benitez's life.
It would seem that New Bern lured the bears into the area to try and get some of the guards out there so that they could kill them. It didn't fully go to plan, as they and the bears were killed, but not before they could kill Benitez first. So that left a spot for a new leader. Alice didn't want that, as she didn't want the problems that came to leading people, she only wanted to help the leader. So, Kaidan had Robert Hawkins become the leader, who was happy to do so.
As for Robert, he was one of three men in this group that didn't have another woman in his life. He was married to Darcy Hawkins. The two of them had two children, Allison, and Samuel. The family had problems before coming to Jericho and so didn't want to create more problems with adding another woman into the family. Either way, Darcy worked along with Heather Lau to keep the settlement running, making lists of items for the hunters to find whilst they were hunting, letting the technicians know if there were problems and the like. As for Allison, she joined her father in the guards, wanting to help protect her family and town. As for Samuel, seeing how he loved to create things, he became a blacksmith who created new weapons, armour and whatever else needed to be made.
Then there was Stanley Richmond, he was the other man who only had one woman that he loved and married, Mimi Clark. Both lived in the dome area with Stanley's Bonnie, as farmers. They made sure that the settlement had the veg that they needed. Stanley and Mimi had two sons, who also became farmers.
As for Bonnie, although she did have a boyfriend for a while, he died from the cold and after that, she didn't feel like having another one. At least for now.
Then there was Dale Turner, he was the last person in this group that only had one woman, Skylar Stevens. They ran one of the shops on the first floor, they were also blacksmiths and cloth makers. They did this so that they had something to sell. They had no children, not because they couldn't have any, but because they didn't want any in the settlement, but did think about having some should they ever return to the surface.
Then there was Jonah Prowse, he wasn't the marrying type, all he cared about was surviving and fighting. He would often visit the brothel that was set up on the third floor. He had a decent life and wanted very little. Over the months that followed, he was able to mend some fences between him and his daughter and were able to talk to one another. But as things were getting better for the two, Jonah fell ill and because of the limited medical resources, he died about a year later.
As for Gail Green, she never remarried, as she was never able to get over Johnston's death, instead, as a former nurse, she spent her time in the medical wing helping where she could. But on the first anniversary of Johnston's death, not being able to live without her husband anymore, she walked out of the settlement that night and went to her husband's grave and spent the night there and died.
Last but not least, Kaidan, Anna May, Faye and her sister Heather Lau, got together within a few months after the war. Heather first and then shortly later Faye. Normally Kaidan wouldn't even think about being with Heather, because of her age, but with the world, as it was, he decided to live for the moment as they could be dead at any moment. As years went by, Kaidan reminded the mayor of the settlement, seeing how he did everything that he could to protect the settlement and its people, with Anna May by his side most of the time unless sent on a job or mission. As for Faye and Heather, Faye along with Darcy to keep the settlement running as smoothly as possible, sending hunters outs to find things that people need or need to fix something,
They had seven kids between them, two from Heather, two from Faye and three from Anna May. The children from Anna May were also Khajiit. The children of Faye and Heather went on to help their mothers with the running of the settlement. Anna May's children became hunters, with their skill set, they were good at it.
Now it would be fifteen years after the Great War before it was deemed more or less safe to go back to the surface. Sure they would need to wear protection against the sun, seeing how looking at it would make them blind and allowing it to touch the skin for too long would make them ill and could kill them. But other than that, it would be safe to go back up and slowly start building a life again. However, they would find that most of the Mammothodons had moved out of the area over the years, a few each year with a herd of mammoths. The reason for this, the Mammothodon wanted to send out mammoths all around the land, so that people could use them like those at Jericho did. So each group of Mammothodons would set off to a different part of the US so that the herd of mammoths could grow in that part of the land.
So here ends our story, the story of how a small town dealt with the aftermath of the war and what they went through. Whilst they would still have to stay in the settlement for warmth and protection, they could now start rebuilding their small town and trying to find other survivors.
But that… is a story for another day!
THE END!
Author's Notes: Here ends the first part of Magical Fallout, I hope that you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm sorry that it took so long, but as I believe as I said before, I am a slow writer. So you know, I had other things that I wanted to add but either I forgot what they were, or I wasn't able to fit them into the story and so had to leave them out.
I'm thinking about doing at least two bonus chapters, to show a few ideas that I'm thinking of using. So if you have any ideas for bonus chapters that aren't connected to future fallout games, I would like to hear them. Say there's something written in this story that you would like me to write more on, let me know and I'll think about adding the chapter.
Now I would like your help if possible. I'm trying to figure out a title for the sequel but as of yet I can't think of anything and so I'm hoping you can help. The sequel will be Fallout 1 & 2 combined, with a few of my own twists to the story. The Vault Dweller, I'm planning to make him as a mercenary of sorts, looking out for himself and his vault, doing what must be done. As for the Chosen One, not too sure, like in the game he never went far from his village, and he's unaware as to what the world is really like. But I'm planning it so that the Chosen One becomes corrupted and looks out only for himself and his needs as he looks for the G.E.C.K for his own gain.