Next chapter's here! Thanks for reading guys, I really appreciate it!
Chapter 4
Having finally reached a peaceful state of mind after the past days' events, Alice and I strolled comfortably along a dense tree line. A cool breeze whisked through the noontime air, trees swaying with it as we walked. The world around us seemed peaceful for the first time in years, and all was well. We had passed the trials of New York City, despite coming out empty handed, and were on our way home to a rather large settlement, known as "The Keep", on the southern border of New York and Virginia. We had set out for NYC about a week and a half ago, stayed 2 days, and turned tail home.
"Well that trip really paid out." Alice sighed, cutting through the serene silence.
"Least we're not dead." I chuckled, "Things could always be worse."
"Yeah, that's a plus." Alice spoke softly as she plucked an apple from a nearby branch. She took a bite and tossed it to me. "I wish we had horses or something, this whole walking thing got old a while ago."
I took a bite from the red fruit; it wasn't great, but definitely leaps and bounds tastier than the depressing protein bars and MRE's we'd been living off of. Handing the apple back to Alice, I tried remembering how long it had been since the last time we just sat back and took it easy. The two of us hadn't taken a simple day off in ages; we were always out doing some kind of job or scavenging. Life was hard in The Keep. Although commodities such as food and medical supplies were abundant, the money to afford it was not, and the only thing keeping us above the all-to-common beggars was the fact that we knew how to handle ourselves in the wastes.
Alice and I had grown up in The Keep as next-door neighbors. Well, we lived in tents, but they were grand mansions for all we cared. Best friends at an early age, we spent damn near every waking hour with each other exploring every nook and cranny of the settlement. Our adolescent imagination would go wild as we battled invisible flying lizards from the storybooks our parents read us, and chased down imaginary bandits who had dared cross us. Into our teenage years we became more outgoing, venturing out beyond the sentry borders and into the nearby woods; we would take our slingshots with in hopes of catching something for a meal. The two of us were the best of friends, and once we were old enough, decided to partner up and make a collective living for ourselves by taking a job with the Keep's, leaders, known as the Administration. We soon acquired the nickname "The Keep's Runners"; our job was to travel between the surrounding ally towns with supplies and information. It was good work, and paid decently enough for us to eventually buy a large enough tent for the two of us to share comfortably.
A "Runner" job would pop up every now and then, but recently they had ceased entirely. One of the Keep's long range scouts had discovered burning heaps of rubble at the sites of two friendly settlements; something had plowed through and destroyed them. After that, the Administration shut down all contact with the outside world and tripled its militia. Martial Law was soon enforced and nothing went unchecked or uncertified, and any lawbreakers were banished to the wastes never to be seen or heard from again. The Keep stood threateningly still, waiting for whatever had wiped out its neighbors to arrive at its doorstep. It was impossible for Alice and me to get any legal work that paid well enough to live on, so we turned to more questionable employers. Admittedly, we didn't enjoy the work, but desperation stops for no one.
And that's how we ended up in New York City. Desperation. None of our underground contacts had received any jobs for us in some time; the Administration had cracked down on their operation and arrested most of its leaders, so the rest were lying low for a while. I was forced into police duty while Alice harvested crops. Every day was miserable, and the two of us regularly found ourselves up late, speaking with those few who were still able to sneak out. They talked about their adventures and the great and terrible things they encountered. One man, a wanderer who jumped from town to town selling whatever he could find, claimed to have traveled all the way up to Washington D.C., the capitol of pre-nuke America. I reminisced on the conversation as Alice and I walked.
" It was a nasty trip," the aging man spoke in a hushed voice as the three of us huddled around a small fire several months ago. "I's wit a caravan of tweny or so guys and gals, only eight made it to Rivet City." The traveler's vernacular was spotty at best, and his lack of several teeth didn't help, but we were able to understand most of it.
"Where?" I asked.
"Rivet City. Jou ain't never heard of it?"
"No," I replied." All we've heard about is New York City and all the treasure there."
" Dat's odd, I begun to think ery'one herd o' Rivet City by now. Well, it's dis big ol' pre-war battleship dat got wrecked on one o' dem rivers in D.C. Yeah, bunch o' people got t'gether while back and startid livin' in it. Over de years it gets more pupular and net thing jou know it's damn near de largest, mos well-pretected city in de eastern wastes."
"Whoa, how do they keep it all from falling apart?" Alice stared, petrified with the thought of living on a decaying boat.
"Dey got a group of smart-like educated folks led by 'dis old-world injuneer. Dey scurried up any metal wort a damn from de D.C. ruins and patched her up."
"Amazing," I spoke up, "and it's protected and everything?"
"Sure as a virgin." The old man crudely replied.
"Huh…" Alice trailed off into deep thought, no doubt contemplating whether a trip there would be worth it.
"Well, how'd you get back?" I dug for more information.
"Gettin' back was de easy part. I knew a safe route tru de ruins and how to avoid does nasty mut'nts de got up der. Begger dan any o' de ones you gots 'round dees parts."
"Super mutants, we've heard about them plenty. A raiding party or two of them are seen moving through these parts from time to time. They never get close enough to call for serious concern, though. The trees around here help hide us from any onlookers."
"Yeah you folks got it gud her." The old man slurred as he took a swig from a small flask he had been holding.
I stood and stretched, "So it would seem. Well thanks for the story friend."
"Ma plesur pardner." He stood, shook my hand and gave Alice a polite nod. Then she and I trudged off to our tent and went to sleep.
Back in the present, Alice and I set up camp for the night inside an old gas station. Some sort of animal in the distance howled into the void of stars.