DISCLAIMER - This story is fan fiction based on the game series "Fallout." I own nothing from it and am creating this content purely out of fun, not profit. Any original characters are from my own creation, but characters from the game are owned by Bethesda.
"I don't like the quiet Aaron." A hushed voice came from off the roof of the Boston Bugle building. Luckily there had been a rusty fire escape that both Aaron and Jerry decided to utilize for scoping out what they could of the city of Boston. It seemed like a solid idea from the ground, but now that they were up here, it was clear it made little much difference.
Jerry's comment flew away with the wind, as Aaron did not react to it. He watched his friend gazing down the scope of his .45 caliber rifle, waiting anxiously. He wasn't sure how much longer he could handle being up here. Every passing minute seemed like another chance of an ambush like yesterday. After that excitement, they spent time clearing the road and slowly getting the truck through the streets jammed with rusted vehicles. They didn't make much progress, as the roads here had more cars than the outskirts they had passed by. Most of the work was done by Tom, who used the power armor again. Jerry had been on defense detail with Aaron, while Piper made sure to have Nat protected. Tom had only gotten maybe twenty feet of street cleared until night fell, and they had to camp out in another nearby building. Jerry had claimed a row of office chairs for his bed, which was great until one of the wheels broke and shifted the chair suddenly forward. He didn't fall, but it jolted him awake and was harder to get back to sleep.
A yawn escaped his mouth, once again breaking the quiet. He wanted to leave his mind to wonder how many times they would have to scout the streets like this. The caution was nice, and he was all for it, but the suspense killed him. The raiders that jumped them yesterday had surprisingly not followed them, which made him wonder why. As stated repeatedly, a working vehicle was a commodity in many places. Any person that could have the capacity to learn how to work a truck could have miles of an advantage over anyone. Especially if said vehicle had a trailer that could be filled with supplies like theirs. So why had they not chased them? Surely, they outnumbered them, they had weapons and ammo to encircle and end the gang. The more Jerry racked his brain on it, the more jittered he became.
He turned his head suddenly when he saw movement out of his peripherals. It only turned out to be Aaron lowering his rifle. "Clear." He said sharply. That made Jerry feel a little better, if only slightly.
A metallic whining noise came from below them, and they both looked down to the street. Tom had walked out of the trailer with the power armor. He made a habit of putting a vehicle back on the road behind them every so often in case they needed the extra cover. At least, that was his reasoning. Jerry couldn't help but feel it just made them feel more in control of their situation, rather than lost in a ruined city.
"That tin-head is going to get us killed." Aaron said in disgust.
"We don't have a choice. The road is blocked by too many cars and debris to drive. It's not like we can abandon the truck after all this."
"I know. I know." He sighed. It seemed the city was getting to him too. "We better climb down. We won't find anything up here anyway."
Jerry couldn't disagree with him, he only went up here because he didn't want Aaron to be alone. Anything could happen in a place with so many hiding spots. However much like Tom, Jerry didn't like staying still for too long. He'd rather keep his hands busy. They went down the building's fire escape, taking their time. The steel structure looked secure enough, but the rust painted all along the rails and walkway kept them from believing that. If it wasn't the rust, the metal creaked and groaned through each step. Right as Jerry had planted his boot on the last step of the ladder, it gave way. He fell onto the ground on top of Aaron, onto the concrete ground. They both let out painful mumblings and curses.
"Get off me asshole." Aaron rasped out.
Jerry did and helped Aaron up. "Luckily I don't think anyone saw that." He said, dusting himself off.
"Right, the last thing I want anyone to do is make fun of me in this place." The sarcasm was crushing. Jerry looked at Aaron, who had that hardened expression he had back at the Super Duper Mart. He had forgotten that out of all of them, he was the only one that could take his game face on and off whenever he wanted. His friend by him was working on it but was far from being free of it. Tom, well, always had his game face on. It was hard to tell otherwise considering the situation.
Jerry thought a lot about how they've changed since they left their home. Though he felt like the only one that honestly changed was him. At first it was freeing, for all of them. However while that feeling seemed to stay with Aaron and Tom, it didn't last long for himself. There were often times where it felt like they were just running away from their past instead of trying to move on. Times like this where the same guy he knew that would smile and cut up jokes was instead that same scout that killed a whole town without even entering it.
While Jerry wanted to talk to his friend, now wasn't the time. "Let's go check on the others." The two rounded the corner where Tom had just finished moving a sedan across the street from them. There were three left, and another two ahead of them from what he could see from the ground level.
Aaron pointed further down the road. "The road curves there. There will be more no doubt, does the map say how much longer we got?"
"Well the shorter route is blocked off. I'd have to look again to get a better idea, but at the rate we're going it'll probably take us another two days to get there. That is if we don't have any nasty surprises."
"Perhaps a pleasant one is too much to hope for?" They turned around to see Piper walking up to them from the truck. Behind they could see Nat in the driver's seat twisting and turning the wheel. Probably thinking about how Tom was driving the vehicle while they were being shot at. It was amusing how she seemed to have latched onto him, but the thought of another person becoming like Tom in this world seemed irresponsible.
"If there ever was such a thing in this damned place." Aaron readjusted his rifle strap on his shoulder. "I'll be going up that building on the corner to scout around it."
However before Jerry could scold him for trying to go off alone again, Piper beat him to the punch. "I'll be going this time. I'm sick of staying with the truck in anticipation for an explosion to go off."
He looked to his friend, who he was expecting to hear him argue, but he didn't. "Just stay low and keep quiet." Jerry lowered his eyes at how harsh it sounded. Though Aaron didn't apologize and just walked on, not even waiting for Piper to grab her pistol. Looking at her hurry to catch up, he couldn't help but laugh at how it seemed he had been unwillingly chosen to defend the truck. However he shrugged it off and made his way to the truck and sat on the rear bumper, pressing his gun to his chest. Still strapped, that was all he needed to feel to trick himself into thinking he was safe.
It didn't take the two long to climb to a good observation spot on the building. There were a couple of ghouls hiding underneath desks, but Aaron had dealt with them before she could get off a shot. Piper didn't always choose violence, but she had to admit, she was a little disappointed she couldn't shoot at least one. She thought she had proven capable enough to not just be a tag along. Now it seemed Aaron hardly noticed she was there to do anything but follow.
Don't get it wrong, this wasn't to prove anything to him. Piper didn't want to seem like some sheltered kid like so many people seemed to have thought she had been. Just because she was lucky enough to be raised in a wall settlement doesn't mean she couldn't handle herself. The last thing she wanted was to feel like she had to completely rely on someone, trust or not. She looked at Aaron, staring out of the opening through his scope. He hadn't said a word since she told him she was coming. It was the same as the ghoul nest they cleared out. Too serious for her taste, after all while she understood the need for this with scouting, it just felt wrong for him.
Piper leaned her head on the wall she had been sitting by for the past half hour. She was guarding the door while her compatriot was looking at the road below them. Occasionally she would hear the sound of metal scrapped along the street from Tom, but otherwise there was nothing. 'This really is going to be the next few days?' Piper thought to herself. So different from how it was nearly a week ago.
"See anything yet?" She looked to Aaron, but no answer came. He just continued looking through his scope. For a moment she thought it was because he was taking aim for a shot. When no shot came, she just accepted he was ignoring her. Just because she understood the situation, didn't mean she had to accept the rudeness. So she got out of her place and moved to just the other side of Aaron, where she would be in line of sight if he ever looked away from his scope. There was no reason to worry more about the door since she could still see it from where she moved to.
She would like to think she did the mature thing by waiting for him to be comfortable and look away. That would be a lie since she started making faces at him to see if he would ever see. Sticking her tongue out, stretching her eyelids, flaring her nostrils. If he did see any of it, Aaron didn't react. Sighing, she admitted defeat and looked out the opening to see what there was to see.
It wasn't too different from what you could see from the ground, just that you could see more. More ruined cars layed about the road like corpses, buildings still trying to stand despite the disease of decay and rust, and the road slowly being buried by dirt or sand. The truck was moving, albeit only a few feet at a time, but progress was progress. She wondered if they would ever find a time where they could all ride like they had on the highway. The freedom she felt as the wind blew through her hair, she didn't realize how much she would miss that. It was no wonder those three decided to travel around, perhaps she would consider doing the same one day. If she could find a working vehicle and learn how to drive it, which would happen around the same time the radiation would completely disappear.
When the view grew too boring, Piper turned back to see if Aaron had moved at all. To no surprise, he was still looking through his scope with the same focused expression. She tried to imagine him being a raider again, looking decked out in the same torn clothes and makeshift armor. Rather than trying to defend anything but ambushing his prey from a place like this. The way he had cut her old escort's throat after shooting him in the knee. It was more precise than the ones she had seen that day they tried to take over her old settlement. However it was easy to forget the quiet and calculated ones when you are being beaten over the head with a spiked baseball bat from one of the loud ones. She continued to look at him, how stiff he seemed to be.
"Does this bring back any memories?" The question hung in the air, and for a while she thought Aaron would just ignore her again. Then he lowered the rifle, and it seemed that the hard exterior was melting away.
Rather than looking down the street or the rooftops, he looked up in the sky. "Only reminders. In a place with so many different spots to shoot or hide, you must be aware of any and all. If I were by myself then I probably wouldn't be so paranoid."
"Paranoia tends to keep us alive, but too much may make you into a psycho." She was happy to see a chuckle out of him, albeit a dry one.
"I think all of us are insane to be doing this. It makes me wonder why anyone would make a settlement in the middle of this place."
Truthfully, Piper had been thinking the same. It couldn't be easy living in this city. If the dangers of raiders and mutants didn't kill you, then starvation easily could. You would have to constantly rely on scavenging to find food, which would go increasingly further the longer you stayed. Settlements only lasted because they found a stable source of food and water. Otherwise, it would become more lucrative to just travel as a nomad. This place didn't seem the proper room or irrigation to be able to grow anything.
"Do you think it'll be a good place to call home?" Piper asked.
"I hope so, otherwise all this travel would be for nothing." He lowered his head to meet her eyes. "What do you think? Afterall you were the one that heard it before us."
She shrugged. "I heard it was the safest place to be in the Commonwealth. The walls are too high to climb, and the only good entrance is through the front. I imagine it must be well guarded if any of that holds weight. It's also really big, so there is plenty of room for people to move in."
"That all sounds like a sales pitch."
"If we stay in this place any longer, I may begin to agree with you."
There was silence between the two, and it made Piper uneasy. Talking was an easy way to calm her nerves. That and digging up the truth out of someone. She thought of another question after watching Jerry move the truck another few feet forward. "Do you think you could get used to staying in one place?"
Aaron gave no immediate response. After letting another question hang in the air, he shrugged. "No idea. It hasn't worked so far, but all we can do is try."
"That's what is really bothering you, is it?"
"It's not bothering you?" She couldn't give an answer. Up until this point, Piper just assumed anywhere would be a good place. The safest place with huge walls seemed like the best place to be. Yet, she still wasn't sure if she could respond to the question. Where would she go if Diamond City turned out to be a bust, and did she really have the option to look elsewhere?
She was torn from her thoughts when she noticed Aaron stand up. "The truck is far enough to move on. I think we can climb up to the next roof from here." Before she could retort how uncoordinated she was, Aaron was already balancing on the edge of the building and making his way to the next one. There was nothing about unorthodox methods to navigate between observation spots mentioned when Aaron said he would come here. Then again, he was probably doing this on purpose to see if he could scout alone.
Piper wasn't going to let Aaron escape her company, which was weird, because she imagined it would be the other way around. She started by getting her balance on the edge of the opening and trying to keep her grip on the outside brick. It didn't look too far to get to the rooftops next to them, but from her position, it seemed further. Aaron was already testing how stable the windows were before pulling himself up. She took her time moving her feet forward along the slim molding, trying her damndest not to look down. When she did get to the next building, she practically lunged to its wall. Looking around, it seemed Aaron had disappeared before she could call him out to wait. He must have already made it to the rooftop.
"Asshole." She muttered. Piper tested the stability of the window apron, the piece jutting out from the frame seemed strong enough to hold her. Granted, she never found a reason to increase her upper body strength. If she was going to shove a boot up her partner's ass, she could make do. She pushed down on the apron, forcing her body upward. To help she planted her feet on the wall to aid in climbing up. It was strenuous, but eventually she did get her body through the window.
She sat there on the window for a minute, catching her breath. Everytime she thought she had everything she needed to survive the wasteland, it proved to her just how lacking she truly was. Making a mental note to work her body out more, she stood up and looked at how high the next window was. It was probably the same height as the other one, and would take as long to get up. Piper managed to get up with little trouble, same as before. Then she noticed that the edge of the roof was higher, and the edge came out from the wall. She would have to jump off to grab it, which was not something she looked forward to. However if that jerk could do it, so could she. Probably.
Piper leaned back while holding onto the window frame to see how far she could reach. Luckily it seemed she could grab enough of the edge with one hand, now she just needed to muster the courage to grab with the other. She grabbed it, but only after slipping off the window. Now she was dangling from the side of the roof. What also didn't help, was there was another foot of concrete that must've been the railing around, so that was more she had to climb.
Weighing her options, she suddenly noticed a shadow cast over her. Looking up, it was Aaron, raising an eyebrow to her. "What are you doing?"
A grunt came out of her from trying to lift herself up, but to no avail. "Hanging around. What does it look like I'm doing?"
"You know there was a staircase in the room below right?" He let out a smile, which confirmed that Piper was blushing. "I take that as a no."
"Just get me up there!"
He helped her up, grabbing her arms and hoisting her up as she pressed down on the edge of the roof. Her arms were on fire from dangling. When was the last time she did anything close to that? Sure there was that time she was sneaking around her old settlement to find dirt on the bastard who killed her father, but that didn't require as much parkour. When she could finally plant her feet on something solid, she bent over and tried to calm down from the intensity.
"For what it's worth." Aaron began. "I say another year of training and you could do that all on your own."
She stomped on his foot with the little energy she had just regained. Piper heard a stifled grunt from him, which would have to do. "I would appreciate it if you communicated with your partners more." It wasn't what she wanted to say, but she didn't have any more aggression in reserve after hitting him.
Only once she calmed down did she notice the wind blowing gently through her hair. With all the buildings around, she thought it would be too much for any wind to pass through. When she got closer to the edge, she could feel enough to make her short hair sway. It was nice and cool, without any burning feeling from nearby radiation. The view was not much different from their previous spot, but she saw more rooftops and different paths along the road. It was nice, the higher she went, the more in control she felt. Like the world below her was too busy stuck on their level to ever bother looking up to see her.
"You know you would have been shot by now if there was a sniper around." Aaron said, killing the moment.
"Seems I'm still around, so I guess you have nothing to worry about. Do you not enjoy being up here?"
"It may seem like we're safe, but that means we're exposed to anything above us, and trapped if anyone below storms the building. You can't be too careful." He walked beside her and gazed down to the street. Tom had just finished moving another vehicle, but now had to contest with an eighteen-wheeler that was flipped over, trailer and all. It wasn't wedged between the buildings, but it wasn't going to be easy to move. "If you aren't careful enough, you die. Simple as that."
"Yet you wander off on your own. That doesn't seem very careful to me." He didn't say anything to that, so Piper supposed he didn't care to have the same argument with a different person. "What's really going on with you? You have been up and down since we entered this place. Emotional whiplash can't be healthy."
Aaron pointed out to a tall, blue building just around the corner from them. It stood higher than them, and near the top jutted out what seemed to be a balcony. "There's one. There's another." He continued to point out different spots around them in various buildings and windows. "All good spots to shoot long range weaponry or take up a firing position. Knowing these things is my specialty, it's kept me alive. While it may seem like I'm all jokes, I can't be like that here. Ruined cities give me far too much anxiety to think even a chuckle is worth it. If I don't see an enemy before he sees me, I'm dead. The city has too many spots someone could use to steady a shot and kill you, even if it's down on the street."
While it was understandable what he was saying, Piper couldn't help but feel this was a little too paranoid for what she ever knew. "How bad was it down there?"
For a second she thought the question too inappropriate, then Aaron let out a deep breath. "I was on the hunt for a group of people stealing supplies from one of Gourmand's warehouses. It took about a day, surprisingly, as food thieves are normally squatting somewhere close. I ended up in the outskirts of New Orleans and found the trail ended by an old hotel. The boxes carrying the supplies were empty, and there was no sign of where the thieves went. I went to look out the window to see if I could spot anything, and a second later I got shot right here." He tapped his right shoulder, just below his clavicle. "Next thing I know I'm being fired on in three different directions. It was a rookie mistake to look out that window, one I didn't make again. For the whole day, I was held up in that hotel until I could get a clear shot at my opponents. I came up with a few more wounds than just the initial shot, but I got them, and was rewarded with their bounty. Not even close to the amount of caps I probably should have deserved. My point is, never think you are under enough cover. Always assume someone is waiting for the perfect shot, and you are about to line up perfectly in their scope."
Though the story was interesting to Piper, it didn't sound much different than the wasteland she already knew. It was strange, to hear of another place constantly full of danger as the three men described it. Perhaps to her, what made it more dangerous was that she knew nothing about it. It was so far away, it may as well have been a mystical land, no different than that in books. This place, though she had never been here before, didn't make her half as nervous as she originally thought. Probably because the one danger they came across, they were able to outrun. Maybe she was just blindly believing they would all get to Diamond City unscathed, and live happily ever after.
Now Aaron was resting his rifle on a concrete rail, looking out into the desolate city. Piper sat next to him, soaking in the silence until she felt it was drowning her. "What will you do, when you get to Diamond City anyway?"
Her friend raised his head away from the scope and shrugged. "Probably find a source of income first. Security, mercenary work, they all seem to be pretty common with us. Though maybe finding a place to sleep in wouldn't be too bad. What about you?"
She matched his shrug. "Don't have too many talents." An idea came to mind, she could spread propaganda like she did in her old home. Maybe that would score some caps. Piper chuckled at the prospect and Aaron raised an eyebrow to her. "Was just thinking I could look around and dig up dirt on people like I used to."
"That the real reason you left? Got kicked out for having blackmail on everyone?"
"No. I-" She stopped, she hadn't told anyone the reason why she and Nat left. It wasn't a pleasant memory to say the least. "It's a long story."
"Well we can share more stories when we get to a bar. If Diamond City even has a bar."
Pipe stood up and stretched her legs. They were feeling sore, but better from her acrobatic feat. She looked around in their field of view and saw nothing that stood out. By now it would be noon, she guessed, and they only moved a few feet compared to the rest of their journey. Looks like she will be doing this tomorrow too. And the day after that. And the day after that. Perhaps she'll actually remember to bring binoculars next time, so she doesn't feel useless.
That's when she spotted something. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she saw anything at first, as it was far away from their current position. Squinting her eyes, she could see a low green building with wire hung about with little balls on the end of them. The balls began changing color from a dull gray to a bright white. She realized then those were lights, and they illuminated two figures around them that seemed to be messing with the wire.
"Aaron, down there, it looks like some sort of clinic." The building was low with only one floor, but that was all she could see from where they were. She thought she saw a red cross somewhere on a sign, which was the only reason she guessed the buildings pruprose.
He moved his rifle towards where she was pointing. "Ya, I see it. Looks like two people, similar to the ones that shot us across the river. Another one just walked up, and they are currently chatting." He put his rifle down. "We need to warn the others, we'll come up with a game plan after."
Piper nodded, but before she turned around Aaron grabbed her wrist. "I think the stairs will do."