This is my third chapter, once again I hope you enjoy it and please comment! =D
The air was hot and humid when we arrived at Springvale. Springvale was a small town that was only a few minutes away from Megaton. It mainly consisted of a couple of destroyed houses, but there was one still standing, a woman lived there alone and I had helped her out in the past. I could've dropped Megan off there, the woman wouldn't have had any right to complain seeing as how I helped her out, but that woman wasn't fit to raise a child and she'd probably find someone else to leave Megan with anyway. When we got near the end of Springvale, we could see Megaton clearly at this point, Megan had grabbed my hand. I looked down at her with a scowl, but she didn't see it because she was busy looking at the city, which looked large and foreboding. I was about to shake my hand away from hers when I felt someone rest their hand on my shoulder. I looked back to see that it was Janet giving me a death glare. Her face showed that she expected me to keep walking and pretend as though nothing had happened, or else. With a scowl on my face I shook my head and kept walking.
Soon we were standing right in front of the city. The cities' front entrance consisted of two giant iron gates with a large turbine in the middle above the doors. Above the turbine was a platform where a man with a rifle stood guard. The entire city was surrounded by a giant, metal, cylindrical wall. The metal wall was crap though; it was just a bunch of scrap metal put together to make a wall around the city so there were small holes and bits of wood visible from this side. The residents had made sure that no unwanted visitors could get through the holes.
"Whoooooeeee!" Joe shouted. "Ain't this place big? Well, come on everybody lets all head inside." With that he waved a hand and headed up towards the giant gates, which had parted slightly to let us in. We walked into the city and Joe's daughters gasped at the sight of it, even Megan who said she had been there before dropped her jaw in amazement. The city had junk houses circling the entire rim of the walls with a straight dirt path sloping down to the center of the city. Down in the center was a small pool of radiated water with a bomb sitting in the middle. The houses were built with one ring on the ground and one circling around the top part of the walls. I didn't really think too much about the city because I had explored D.C. a couple of times, but for travelers, seeing Megaton for the first time was always an impressive sight. When we walked in a black man wearing a trench coat and a cowboy hat approached us. He had a full beard, which was gray, and a friendly air about him. I already knew the man because I had been here before but I let him introduce himself.
"Well hello there!" He said in a gentle old voice. "My name is Lucas Simms and I'm the sheriff around here. What can I do for you folks?" Joe stepped forward first.
"Pleasure to meet you, Sheriff Simms, my family and I are here to do some trading and stay the night. We'd be mighty thankful if you could point us in the right direction." He said.
"Sure, the Craterside Supply is on the right side of town, Moira will help you with your trading, and there's a common room on the left side of town. Both are on the second level. I should have you know, I don't take too kindly to people who make trouble." He said with a hint of warning at them.
"Oh, don't worry, we promise not to make any trouble." Joe said, and then he turned back to Megan and I. "Well, we'll see the two of you later! Maybe we could all meet for dinner somewhere around here?" I looked at him and shook my head.
"Sorry, but I don't know what's going to be on my schedule for the rest of the day, maybe some other time. It's been a pleasure meeting you're family Joe." He gave me a sort of sad smile and then he and his family left towards the Craterside Supply. After they left Sheriff Simmons turned towards me with a friendly nod.
"It's been a while Adam. Where've you been?" He said.
"I've been going here and there, but I heard a friend of mine was in trouble." After I said this I gave him a faint grin. He was the reason I had come this way. He had sent a letter by means of travelling traders to tell me that this town needed some help. He nodded his head, he already knew why I had come back and I could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good.
"We've been having bad times with Tenpenny again. He's been getting increasingly violent towards our little town and I think he's planning something big. Sorry to call you here on such short notice, but I think we need some professional help for this one." I gave him a nod and immediately I felt dread growing inside of me. Tenpenny owned a hotel to the far north of here. It's a place called Tenpenny Tower. There he houses all of the rich pricks of the wasteland who think that they're better than everyone else. He and most of the people who live there can't stand Megaton because they think that it's an uncivilized town. Word was that Tenpenny had sent his right hand man; I don't know his name, to take care of the town.
"Have you met his right hand man yet?" I asked. Sheriff Simms shook his head in disappointment.
"No, I'm afraid we haven't, but we did get his name. He calls himself Mr. Burke. He's sent his men this way several times with warnings. They've been telling us to leave and threatening to burn us to the ground if we don't. I'm getting worried, Adam; last week we found the bodies of a couple of traders who visit here quite often. They really want us gone." He said with a heavy voice.
"Do they know about the bomb?" I asked. When I said this the sheriff shuddered in fear at the thought.
"As much as I'd like to say no, I really think that they might." This worried me. The bomb at the center of Megaton was capable of taking out the entire city and then some in the blink of an eye. Most of the residents of Megaton didn't even know that he bomb was still armed, and some of them had even built a church to worship the damn thing! If Burke knew that the bomb was active it needed to be kept under close watch.
"Alright, we need someone watching the bomb at all times, I also need to get a better idea of what's going on, and if I need to take action against these people I could use some weapons." I said. Sheriff Simms and I were now ready to start talking business. I needed a battle plan against these people, and I needed to know what he had done to prepare for my arrival.
"I already have Jericho down there at the Brass Lantern watching the bomb, and Confessor Cromwell is down by the bomb most of the day anyway. I also took the liberty of having Moira prepare you some more serious weaponry, and Moriarty would be more than happy to fill you in, if you buy a drink." He said the last part with a smile, he knew that Moriarty and I were used to working together, even though we both only liked each other because we hated each other. Moriarty owned the bar at Megaton, and he was a man who considered everything to be business.
I heard a frustrated sigh down to my right. I looked down to see that Megan was still standing there holding my hand, I could've hit myself for forgetting about her. "Oh, this one's parents had a rather unfortunate run in with some raiders, so I need to find her a home, if one's available." Sheriff Simms looked at me and then at Megan.
"I'm sorry Adam, but times are rough and I don't know if anybody can afford to take in another mouth to feed." He said shaking his head. "You can both stay at my house as long you're helping us out, so go ahead and drop whatever your carrying off there. I need to go continue my rounds, and make sure nobody stirs up any trouble." He said, and then he tipped his hat to us and walked off. I swore inside my head, I had been hoping that somebody here would either want a kid around or be willing to take her in. With a sigh, I tugged Megan's hand.
"Come on, I said, let's go get settled in."
I led the way over to Sheriff Simms house on the upper ring. It wasn't far from the entrance, first building to the right. When we walked inside Harden, the sheriff's son was home. He didn't react to us suddenly walking in; he must've been told that I'd be coming in the next couple of days. He was sitting down at a table and gave us a friendly smile as we entered. The table had five chairs around it and was the only furniture in the front area. A clock hung on the wall and there were lockers to store our belongings in on the far and near walls. I walked over and put my bag and knife in one, I kept my pistol on me just in case. The house also had an upstairs with two rooms, I figured that I would have to share a room with Megan¸ upstairs there was an open area so one could look downstairs if they had to.
"It's nice to see you again, Mr. Adam." He said in a young voice. He was only about ten and his mother had passed away. They had never told me what happened to her and I didn't ask because it wasn't my concern. He had a child's face and the same features as his father; dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. When he noticed Megan he gave her an odd look. "Oh, hey you have a travelling companion now? She can play with Maggie and me!" He said.
"I wouldn't call her a travelling companion, but yeah she's going to be staying here with me if you guys don't mind." I said.
"Oh no, this is great! Now we have enough people to play hide and seek!" he said.
"What's hide and seek?" Megan asked. Harden turned to her with a huge smile on his face.
"It's a really fun game. We'll teach you how to play later!" He said.
"Well, I said, you two have fun and don't get into any trouble. I have some things I need to do, so Megan you stay with Harden." With that I began to walk out the door, but before I got all the way out I felt someone grabbing on to my leg. I looked down to see Megan giving me a hug, and when she was done she looked up at me smiled and waved goodbye. I walked out the door and after I closed it I shook my head. Joe was right, getting rid of her was going to be harder than I thought, but I have more important things to worry about. Right now, I needed to find and have a talk with Mr. Burke.
Woo! I know that chapter wasn't very exciting either, but I promise it's going to get good! In the next chapter I will kick things up a little! Sorry if this chapter seemed a little rushed. Please comment and I hope you enjoyed it!