CHAPTER FIVE: A HUNTER'S WISDOM

Hey folks this is Travis "Lonely' Miles, comin' at you with your morning report. I gotta be honest with you people, it's hard to stay as 'Lonely' Miles with how cramped it's getting here in Diamond City. Yessiree, the number of new faces in the Commonwealth continues to grow and doesn't show any signs of stopping. Not that that's a bad thing, unless you're the antisocial sort.

I've got some news about the Lexington Horde. The Commonwealth Council is meeting today to discuss the issue and potential solutions. They're expected to reach a final decision whenever The General returns to Sanctuary City.

That's all I've got right now folks. This one's for the antisocial types who just wanna get away from all the new people. Here's Civilization by Danny Kaye.

Summer's POV:

I thought you were supposed to feel all refreshed and invigorated after a good night of sleep. My body had not gotten that message. My legs felt stiff as a board from the prior day's walk and my back hurt from carrying the pack. My hair was a mess and there was only so much James' 'really cool switchblade-comb' could do. I resigned myself to a bad hair day for the foreseeable future.

I grumpily chewed my breakfast of razorgrain toast and scrambled eggs while James cleaned Ada.

"So we need to hitch a ride with a trading caravan or preferably a provisioner's caravan that's headed north," he rubbed furiously at a suspiciously red substance on Ada's arm before continuing, "A trader might charge us a fee for traveling with them and we're a bit short on caps right now." He paused for a moment to carefully clean Ada's eyepieces.

"We would have plenty if you hadn't spent them all on that toy," Ada interrupted. Though her voice was generally expressionless, it wasn't hard to detect the obvious annoyance.

"That guitar is a legitimate expense! And I got it on the cheap, a few performances and it practically pays for itself!"

"Whatever you say James, I'm not the one who has to eat."

James rolled his eyes, "As I was saying, the roads can still be pretty unsafe around here so its best if we stick with a group. Even with Rust Bucket here, I don't want to chance it."

"I wouldn't be so rusty if you took better care of me."

"Yeah yeah Ada, I know, I was kidding." He finished his maintenance by applying a drop of motor oil into Ada's left shoulder joint.

I couldn't help but smile at his antics. It was so very different from what I had witnessed the night before. I pondered if what I had seen last night was just guitar practice or something else entirely while I munched my toast.

Satisfied with his cleaning job, James plopped down in the chair across from me. We were in the lobby of the inn, which acted as a small restaurant sort of thing on the side. James reached over for some of my toast.

"Aww come on! I'm starving," he whined after I slapped his hand away, "I've hardly eaten anything today!" That was a lie. He'd gobbled down at least two boxes of snack cakes before cleaning Ada.

He continued to plead with big brown puppy dog eyes so I rolled my eyes before throwing a slice of toast at him.

"Fanksh Shummer, you're the besht!" James beamed with a mouthful of toast. I couldn't help but laugh.

As he munched on the last of the toast, he unfolded a map on the table, knocking away plates and snack cake wrappers as he did. The map looked like it was prewar, with dog-eared edges and deep creases where it had been folded many times before. James pointed to a little crossroads south of a bridge and east of the river with black printed letters 'Egret Tours Marina.'

"That's where we are right now- Egret." He explained. His finger trailed south along a railroad track before stopping in the middle of nowhere. "That's where the battle happened," he once again trailed his finger north up past Egret, across the bridge, and along a smaller road west of the river that led north.

"We'll head across the bridge and take this road north until we hit Weston-Oberland. We can probably stop by Forest Grove or some other town if we need to rest. But first we gotta see if any caravan will have us along."

I nodded my understanding before he went over to the innkeeper to pay for our food and return our room key. I looked closer at the map. Although prewar it had multiple pen markings that James or someone else must have added.

Up in the northwest corner there was a large ring around a town once called 'Concord' which James had labeled with a large 'S.C.' Southeast of there, a large red ring had been drawn around 'Lexington' which James had simply labeled 'No-Go.' with several cartoonish skulls around it. I rolled my eyes at that. All along the eastern coast of the map there were several small peninsulas each with their own name, from 'Salem' in the North to 'Warwick' all the way south. West of Warwick there was a green circle around a town called 'Quincy,' once again with a 'No-Go' written in it. Off the coast was a sizable island labeled 'S.I.'

James had returned and had slung his new guitar and case on Ada's back, making her look like some kinda of robot folk singer. I tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to a large elevated highway marked on the map that ran directly north. I gave him a questioning look. Why couldn't we just take that? It was bound to be safer. He glanced to where I was pointing before making a face and stating

"Oh that thing. We can't use that. It's mostly destroyed now and I hear they spotted some Gunners making campon what's left of it." Whoever or whatever they were, I decided I'd rather not meet these 'Gunners.'

James slung his pack over his shoulder and handed me mine. My meager belongings consisted of my tattered Institute uniform, a half dozen fusion cells, an extra pair of socks (courtesy of James), two cans of purified water, and a box of Cram.

I grimaced at my lackluster supplies, and ran my hands over the old laser pistol James had given me. He insisted I name it but I couldn't think of one. It felt strange to name a thing I'd eventually have to use to end someone's life. I pushed aside the thought as we left the inn and joined the morning crowd of traders and townspeople, looking for a caravan to take us.


We had been asking around for about two hours. No one would take us. Damnit. Most gave excuses about how they didn't have enough supplies, or that Ada would be too slow (I had thought they'd love to have a robot with a laser with them but I guess I was wrong). James had told me rather sadly that it was most likely because I was a synth. Apparently the people of The Commonwealth still held some fear over The Institute and a lot of people had seen me in my uniform yesterday. James had seemed almost disgusted by the way some people looked at me with such morbid curiosity.

But regardless of reason, we still didn't have any caravan to ride with to Sanctuary City and James had begun to seem discouraged, and by lunchtime he was completely out of ideas. We couldn't afford any trader that was willing to take us with them and we didn't have enough money to stay at the inn until the next provisioner caravan left in a week.

We ate our lunch of 200 year old Cram in silence, sitting on a bench overlooking the busy docks that sheltered ships from the river's current. All hope seems lost! Were we doomed to stay in Egret? Were we going to have to risk it on the road? What if we ran into those Gun Guys James had talked about-HOOOONK!

I nearly dropped my Cram as the sound of a boat's foghorn startled me out of my panicked spiral. An old green tugboat had pulled into the marina, a blue flag waving proudly from its mast. Along the prow of the ship I could barely make out the name 'Hannah' crudely painted just above the waterline.

I turned to get James' attention but he had already started an excited walk to the dock the boat was moored to, a big grin on his face. Grumbling internally, I grabbed James' forgotten pack and Ada and I quickly followed him down to meet the captain of this mystery boat.

Once we were at the docks, I could see the tug in more detail, more specifically its contents. Hanging from large steel racks welded to the deck were large and terrifying crablike creatures, with massive claws and huge shells. Mounted atop the small shelter covering the steering area, there was a massive mounted harpoon gun.

My careful observation of the boat was soon interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps walking over the creaking deck of the vessel, as a tall imposing figure dressed all in black came into view. If I could've squeaked I'm sure I would have, the man was tall and dressed in a heavy woolen black overcoat and wore a woolen cap, which covered his gray hair. He sported a manly gray beard which only added up to his intimidating appearance. He looked over to me first, eyes unimpressed, apparently not noticing James, who was obscured by one of the great crabs.

He looked awkward and unsure for a moment before a deep gravelly voice said, "Uhm, hello? Can I uh, help ya miss?" I quickly shook my head, feeling slightly embarrassed for having stared so long before swiftly pointing to James.

"Well gee Longfellow, all ya need now are some flashlights in these things and you've got yourself more Red Deaths" said James good naturedly, gesturing to the crabs.

The man immediately broke into a big goofy grin, lessening his intimidating appearance (albeit only slightly) before barking a loud, hearty laugh. "Well I'll be damned, if it isn't the little Harborman 'imself! How ya doin' kid?"

Longfellow stepped off the boat, onto the deck, and over to James in seemingly one motion, without even a glance at me. The teen and old man briefly shook hands firmly before Longfellow remarked, "Look at ye! All dressed up all fancy like one of them Minutemen-speaking of which, didn't ya say you were on some sort of assignment in yer last letter? Some nonsense about synths or whatnot?"

"Actually Longfellow, I'm on one right now!" James proudly stated, "I'd like you to meet my friend, Summer! Formerly known as X7-77!" he pulled me over from where I was standing a few feet away, and put his arm around my shoulder. I couldn't help but blush at all the sudden attention and contact. Longfellow raised one eyebrow before putting out a hand for me to shake.

"Well then Ms. Summer, pleased to meet ya" he said expectantly. I shook his hand lightly, taken aback by his extremely firm handshake. "I trust James is takin' good care of ye?" he asked. I nodded my affirmation. Longfellow faltered slightly before saying awkwardly "Don't talk much do ya?"

"Don't take it personal, she's a mute, my friend" James explained, "we're heading to The City to get her looked at, any chance you could spare us a ride?"

Longfellow scratched his beard and thought for a moment, "No I s'pose that's alright, just let me take care of a few things first. Go ahead and get yerself loaded up. I'll be back in a bit" he said before heading off into the town with an empty bag in hand.

James must have seen my inquisitive look because he quickly turned to me and explained "That's Old Longfellow! He's a Harborman just like me. When The General first came to the Island he acted as his guide" His voice was practically dripping with respect for the man. "The rest is history, he was on that boat with the rest of us that came to the Commonwealth."

I decided I liked this Longfellow. James seemed to be a good judge of character so far, and I liked seeing him happy.


After helping Longfellow unload some of the crabs (I carried the smaller ones they called hatchlings) we set sail. It took plenty of slow, painful maneuvering getting out of the crowded dock area without hitting anything, but once we were out it was smooth sailing. It was slow going, since we were going against the flow of the river, but I still enjoyed it. I listened as James played songs that they would sing on the Island. Ballads like 'Molly Malone' and drinking songs like 'Wild Rover' filled the air around our boat.

It was nice listening to James' soft and melodious voice harmonize with Longfellow's low gruff one. For one of the first times since waking up that fateful morning, I felt at peace. I had stretched out on an old lawn chair on the deck and was drifting somewhere between consciousness and sleep. The movements of the boat, the sound of water gently lapping its side, and the music created a calming vibe that was nearly irresistible.

Ada seemed to be experiencing the opposite. She was less than thrilled to be surrounded by water. I could overhear occasional grumbling from the pilot house about the dangers of mixing water and electronics.

I sat relaxed, watching the river banks slowly move past us as we continued north. Seeing caravans and travelers alike moving up and down along the roads east of the river, and a huge elevated highway to our west, tall and foreboding in the distance. I was so busy just enjoying the sights that I almost didn't notice the tall dark figure of Longfellow taking a seat beside me. In the background I could hear James' cheerful whistling as he took control of navigating us north.

The man seemed awkward for a moment, staring down at his boots with clasped hands before taking a breath and saying hesitantly, "So uh, how has James been? Notice anything… strange? Off?"

What was he talking about? I gave him a quizzical look, tilting my head to the side. He continued with, "Like I mean uh-he-um lost some- alright listen, somethin' 'appened to him. Lost something important. All I'm askin' is to keep an eye on the lad for me. Can ya do that? Please?" That only raised more questions than it answered, but regardless, I nodded my head and smiled reassuringly. He smiled uncomfortably at that, thanked me, and went back to the wheelhouse.


The rest of the trip I pondered over Longfellow's words, deciding then and there to keep a closer eye on James for who knows what. Eventually we came to a massive canal lock. Longfellow informed us that it was still undergoing repairs and that this was as far north as he could take us.

We docked and James and Longfellow had another hearty handshake before James helped Ada down the ramp onto the dock. I could've sworn I heard Ada say something along the lines of 'Hallelujah' as she made it to dry land. Just as our merry trio was about to start up the road north to whatever 'Weston-Oberland' was, Longfellow pulled me aside.

"Remember, keep an eye on 'im." I nodded, before catching up to James and Ada.