Chapter 6: Destination: Rivet City
It didn't take me too long to reach the monument again, and William was even there to greet me.
"We heard the explosion from over here and expected the worst." He told me as I approached him. "I came out here to see if I could spot you amongst all the smoke and debris. I'm glad to see that you've made it back alive." He then offered to take the dish off of my hands, and I was glad to let go of the thing.
"I need something hard to drink. You guys got any liquor lying around?" I asked William as we entered through the front gate.
William pointed to an old refrigerator leaning up against the wall just inside. "Help yourself my friend. I'll take this up to the top of the monument and get it installed and make sure to radio GNR and tell them the good news." He said, then left me to drink myself silly.
I threw the fridge door open and grabbed one of the crates of whiskey that was lying inside. "Ah, sweet nectar." I said as I twisted the bottle cap off of one. The taste was a little off, but I suppose that was due to the fact that it was probably decades old and wasn't chilled.
After drinking about five or so, I stood up and staggered over to a cot that was under an overhang in front of the elevator and passed out.
All I could hear when I finally came to was a loud ringing noise inside my head. I turned myself over and placed a hand on my head. I was drenched in sweat and felt like vomiting. I crawled over to a nearby garbage can, leaned over it, and hurled in to it. I must've puked about three or four times before I finally fell to the ground in exhaustion.
"Jesus kid, you alright?" I heard one of the Brotherhood Paladins ask me.
I threw my hand up and gave him a thumbs up in response, and he just laughed. I crawled back over to the cot and pulled myself up on to it. I wiped the excess vomit away from my mouth and looked around. It wasn't even until this point that I realized that night had fallen once again.
"What time is it?" I asked groggily.
"It's almost ten o' clock. It's been pretty quiet since you passed out." I was told.
"Did William get that relay dish installed?" I asked.
"Yeah he did. He also said that once he radioed GNR to tell them the news he could hear Three Dog going crazy in the background. He's been broadcasting non-stop ever since." the Paladin responded.
Just then I heard the elevator doors creak open and a familiar face walked out.
"Glad to see you didn't drink yourself in to a coma my friend!" William greeted.
I laughed a bit at this, then sat up and leaned against the wall. I cracked open another beer and took a swig. It almost made me vomit again, but I held it down.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" William advised.
I took another large gulp and placed the beer on the ground. "Fuck if I care, at least it helps null the pain." I responded.
William decided to let me do as I pleased then walked back over to the elevator. "Just try not to overdo it alright? You're a valuable asset to the Brotherhood, and to the whole of the Capital Wasteland. It'd be a shame to lose you to something like alcohol." He said to me before returning to the top floor of the monument.
Ha, me a valuable asset to the wastes. The only reason I've even survived this long is because of that damned stranger that keeps showing up whenever I've got my nuts in a vice. Who was that guy anyway, and why did he give a fuck if I lived or died? And where did he learn to shoot so well? Sarah Lyons seemed to be the best shot I've seen of the Brotherhood members so far and even she isn't anywhere near as good. I slowly lay back down on the cot as these thoughts rolled around in my head, and it wasn't long before sleep found me once again.
My eyes suddenly shot open and I realized that morning had come. Everything was a bit blurry, so I sat up and rubbed my eyes until I could see more clearly. I felt sick and groggy from the hangover that I had acquired. I stood myself up and leaned against the wall to keep my footing until I could walk on my own. I walked over and sat myself at a small round table near the front gate where two other Brotherhood members were sitting.
"There anything decent to eat here?" I asked as I slammed down in to the chair.
One of the Paladins handed me a box that read "Fancy Lads Snack Cakes" on it. "It isn't much, but it's better than nothing." He said as I took it from him.
Inside the box I found a couple completely smashed snack cakes. I quickly scarfed them down and ignored the grated taste. They had retained a bit of the sweetness they once had, but other than that they tasted mostly like dirt. I grabbed another box and shoved them in to my mouth, then opened up a beer and washed it all down. I could feel my energy returning already, and burped loudly after finishing off the beer.
"Thanks guys, that really hit the spot." I told them, but they were just staring at me.
"It's probably high time I headed back to GNR to pay ol' Three Dog a visit." I then walked back over to the cot and gathered my things together.
I could hear the elevator coming down and I figured it was William coming to say goodbye. The door opened and sure enough there he stood. "Leaving already?" he inquired.
"I need to get the information from Three Dog as soon as possible. Thanks for all your help." I said as I extended my hand to him.
He took it in kind and smiled, "No, thank you my friend. You've made a lot of headway with what you've done for us. I'll make sure to listen for more of your exploits from here on out." And with that, I turned from him and headed towards the gate.
It slowly slid open as I approached it, and I waved to everyone over my shoulder as I headed back out in to the wastes. It took me about three hours to get back to GNR, and as soon as I entered the building I headed up to speak with Three Dog.
"Hey, the hero of the wastes returns!" he shouted at me as I walked in to his office.
"Cut the shit and tell me what I want to know." I said calmly.
"Alright, take it easy kid. You did your job, and as a man of my word, I'll tell you what you need to know. After talking about Project Purity your dad mentioned something about a Doctor Li and said he was headed off to Rivet City." He explained.
I had no idea where Rivet City was, so I had Three Dog mark it on my map. It lay a good distance from GNR and would probably take a day or two to get there depending on what sort of resistance I might meet.
I said nothing else to Three Dog and made sure to get out of there before I decided to beat him senseless. "Good luck out there kid!" he shouted as I exited his office.
I walked back downstairs and headed out the front door. Dark clouds had settled over the wasteland, but that didn't cause the heat to be any less brutal. I adjusted the strap on my pack for comfort, then headed out towards Rivet City. I suddenly realized that my journey would take me straight back through the DC ruins. At least I knew that some of the area would already be clear of hostiles from my previous journey to DC.
I passed through some familiar metro tunnels, and others that I had yet to visit. Feral Ghouls had laid claim to one of the tunnels I travelled through. I ran in to a few that were wearing remnants of armor. They were once probably people just like me, travelling the wastes while trying to survive and fend for themselves. Some time long ago, but now they were empty shells, void of any emotion except rage.
I shot the last of them down as it charged at me, and I almost felt the slightest hint of pity for the creature when I looked in to its lifeless, milky white eyes. I hoped to God that I would never take in enough radiation to become one of these things.
I crept through the rest of the tunnel and soon found myself back out in the wastes. I checked my Pip Boy and saw that I was about halfway to my destination. It was getting dark, the sun had almost completely disappeared under the horizon. I looked around for somewhere that I could rest for the night.
I found an old semi that had been run off the road nearby. It still had the trailer attached to the back, and I figured I'd better be cautious in opening it up. I readied my pistol and grabbed on to the latch. Nothing but a murky cloud of dust erupted from within the trailer when I pulled the door open. I wiped my brow, and with a small sigh, I was glad to see that there was no danger here. I made my way in to the trailer and closed the door behind me. It was almost completely empty inside, with only a few metal crates lying around. I leaned myself against the wall and rubbed my still sore shoulder. After shifting around for a few minutes, I finally made myself as comfortable as possible and tried to get some sleep.
The sound of gunfire suddenly awoke me from my slumber. And I barely ducked down as bullets ripped through the sides of the trailer.
"What the fuck?" I shouted as I scrambled across the floor to the opening at the other end of the trailer.
I poked my head out and saw four men in black armor firing at the semi like mad men.
"You still alive in there!?" one of them yelled as the firing ceased.
I pulled my pistol out and shot one of them in the head, which sent his brains spewing out all over his comrades. I ducked back in to the trailer as the bullets began to fly once more. As I hurried back in, I knocked one of the metal crates over, and an odd looking device fell in to my lap.
"Get over there and make sure that little bastard doesn't escape!" I heard one of them order to the others.
The doors were suddenly flung open, and the three remaining mercenaries slowly walked inwards. "We know you're in here. Why don't you give yourself up and maybe we'll kill you quickly." one of them said to me.
One of them shined a makeshift flashlight towards the other end of the trailer. "Hey, where'd he go? No way he could've got past us…"
In fact, I had exited the trailer just as they opened the doors. The device I stumbled upon just so happened to be a Stealth Boy, which allows anyone with a Pip Boy to become completely invisible for a set amount of time by inserting it in to their wrist. I took a couple of frag mines out of my pack and placed them at the open end of the trailer, then covered them with sand and rocks.
My Stealth Boy wore off a few minutes later as I was walking away from the wrecked semi. I chuckled to myself when I heard the muffled screams of the mercs followed by loud explosions. Those men must have been hired by someone to assassinate me. I'm thinking it was Burke, who I'm sure had survived the little fiasco back in Megaton. I couldn't be certain though, so I just let it slide to the back of my mind for now.
My mouth had become dry, and my lips cracked. I reached in to my bag for a bottle of water and realized that it was my last bottle of pure water. I drank a quarter of it and decided to ration the rest for the remainder of the journey. I also grabbed some Mutfruit from my bag and scarfed it down. I spit the seeds to the ground as I chewed the edible parts of the fruit. It left a bitter after taste, but I wasn't going to starve just because the food choice out here wasn't what I was used to. Besides, the taste kind of grates after a while.
I checked the compass on my Pip Boy once again and followed the arrow until I came to yet another Metro Tunnel. These various tunnels weren't as freaky to me compared to the first couple of times I ventured through them, but they sure as hell were just as creepy. Who knows what I would meet in this tunnel. Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants, mutated animals, maybe even Raiders. I took a deep breath and opened up the old, rusty metal gates.
I immediately noticed that these tunnels were more stuffy than most of the other metro lines that I had traveled. As I traveled further in to the dark tunnels, I could make out muffled voices coming from even deeper within. I crept through a few more metal hallways until I came across a single, large utility door. I pressed my ear against the cold steel of the door and listened in to whoever was talking on the other side.
"We attack soon?" I heard a deep and hardened voice ask.
"Yes, when big light in sky go down, we attack big boat and take humans in it to the breeding vats." another similar sounding voice answered.
"What about humans with guns? We take them, or we kill them?" another voice asked gruffly.
"Take if you can, but if not, then kill them and we eat them later." The voice from before replied.
Many voices then burst in to deep, bellowing laughter, "Humans not know what coming. It will be greatest catch yet!" a voice yelled, and soon after the other voices burst in to laughter once again.
I had already come to the realization that these were Super Mutants, and it sounded like they were planning an attack on Rivet City. This meant that I must be close to my destination, and even closer to finding my dad. I had to get to Rivet City as soon as possible and warn them of the impending mutant attack.
I stepped away from the door and knocked my foot against a metal can that had been lying on the floor. I cursed at myself in my mind, and took off when I noticed the utility door opening up. "Human know our plan! Kill him!" a mutant yelled out just as I started ascending a flight of stairs.
I could hear them barreling towards me with amazing speed. Their metal boots clanged against the floor of the halls as they chased me down. I could see light pouring through a metal gate a couple hundred feet ahead of me as I reached the top of the stairway. Bullets whizzed past me as I came in to the view of the mutants, and I darted off once again. I didn't dare look behind me to see just how many mutants were chasing me. All I could focus on was getting out of here and reaching Rivet City before these freaks could mutilate me.
I threw a grenade at the gate as I ran for it, and ran through the cloud of smoke it created when it went off and blew the gate open. I stumbled up another flight of steps as I came back out in to the wastes. A giant battle cruiser that had been separated from the hull of the ship now lie before me. The mutants were screaming and yelling from behind me as they too came through the gateway of the metro. I could feel my heart pounding at an astounding rate, and I felt as if my lungs could explode at any moment. I swallowed my pain though, and made one final dash for a ramp that led up to the old cruiser.
My heart sank as I reached the platform at the top of the ramp and realized that there was a sizeable gap between me and the entrance to the ship. I noticed an old intercom panel sticking out of a metal beam near the edge.
I scurried over to it and pressed the large orange button at the bottom of it. "Extend the fucking bridge!" I shouted in to the speaker in a panic.
"I might feel more inclined to extend the bridge if you use a more civil tone with me." a man replied on the other end.
"Fuck using a civil tone. Do you not see the Super Mutants trailing behind me!?" I screamed.
The bridge at the other end suddenly sprang to life and started easing its way towards my end. When it had extended close enough, I leapt on to it and ran towards the ship and screamed at them to bring the bridge back. Two men who wore pitch black armor and black metal helmets with glass visors came rushing out of a large metal door directly at my front.
One of them wielded a 10 mm SMG and the other wielded an Assault Rifle. "Get inside civilian, let the Rivet City Security take care of these brutes!" one of them ordered me.
"Fuck that, I'm getting a piece of this action. You'll need all the help you can get!" was my response. The men nodded and we positioned ourselves and waited for the mutants. It wasn't too long after when the first group of mutants came pouring on to the platform. One of the mutants heads suddenly popped as a bullet tore through it. I looked up and noticed a sniper positioned atop the ship.
A rather large mutant burst forth from within the group of grunts and fired a missile at us. We jumped to the side as the missile whirred past us and made contact with the side of the ship. I got up and fired off a few shots in to the group of mutants. I hit a few of them but it didn't cause much damage.
Another of the mutants who was carrying a large and strange looking device on its back came in to view. It placed the device at the edge of the platform and snapped it in to place. Within seconds, a bridge that they had constructed was extending towards our end.
"No way the mutants are smart enough to make something like that!" one of the guards said in shock of what he was witnessing.
"There's no time to think about it now. We've got to head inside and garrison ourselves against the mutants!" the other guard suggested. The three of us then retreated inside where even more guards were waiting for us. There was also a good deal of normal civilians huddling behind the tables and counters inside.
"What's going on out there?" a rather tall and proud looking man asked the two guards. He had dark brown hair that was slicked back, and had hazel colored eyes. He wore an off green colored set of armor and had a modified Assault Rifle attached to his back.
"Captain Harkness sir, there's a good twenty or so Super Mutants just outside, and they've made a bridge to cross over to our side!" one of the guards told him.
Harkness's eyes went wide in disbelief, "They made a bridge, how? Never mind that, we need to get these civilians to safety!" he ordered. The guards scrambled about and led the civilians deeper in to the ship and told them to hide.
When all of the guards had returned, Harkness laid out the battle plans to repel the mutants from Rivet City. Everyone got to their assigned positions, including myself, and waited in anticipation for the mutants to break through.
A couple of loud bangs rang through the ship, and large dents appeared in the door that blocked the mutants from reaching us. A few more loud clangs and the door was suddenly blown off its hinges. A large, fully armored mutant wielding a Mini-Gun burst through the cloud of smoke and started firing bullets like crazy. It took the legs off of one of the guards that was nearby, and blasted the arm off of another. Everyone fired on the brute as it continued its onslaught.
It laughed maniacally as its Mini-Gun roared over the sound of all the other gunfire. It killed three more guards before we were finally able to take it down. As it fell to the floor, three more mutants poured in to the ship to take its place.
"We've got the leader; now let's sweep up the rest!' Harkness shouted from behind his cover. I threw a couple of frags towards the mutants and blew one of their legs off. The other two were knocked to the ground and were promptly picked off by the guards.
More mutants poured in and a couple of them threw a few frag grenades in random directions. A few disembodied limbs landed near me as one of them went off. I leaned over my cover and fired at the mutants. I managed to hit one of them in the head just as it pulled the pin from its grenade. The other mutants screamed aloud as they noticed the live grenade at their feet. Red chunks were sent flying outwards as it exploded in their faces.
The last wave of mutants poured in, and we could see that these weren't ordinary grunts. They were wearing armor that partially covered their bodies and were wielding Hunting Rifles. One of the guards near me poked his head out, and it was promptly blown to bits. Harkness fired blindly from his cover and took one of the mutants out. He then snuck to the right of them and jumped from the shadows and fired in to them. His bullets ripped through another mutants shoulder and severed its arm. He slammed the barrel of his rifle in to its mouth and let loose. The top of the mutants head blew off and its brains were splattered on to the ceiling.
The last mutant took the other end of its Hunting Rifle and swung it at Harkness. To my surprise, Harkness simply held his hand out and grabbed on to the gun's barrel, then butted the mutant in the face with his own gun. As the mutant staggered back, Harkness blew its knees apart, and then stomped on its skull as it fell to the floor.
I had to rub my eyes to make sure what I was seeing was real. Did a regular human being just stop a mutant's blow with his bare hands, and then exert enough force to crush its skull beneath his boot? I didn't have much time to ponder it, however, when he started to order everyone to remove all the bodies and clean up all the gore.
It took us a couple hours to get most of the mess cleaned up, and there were still people scrubbing the blood off of the metal interior of the ship when I approached Harkness.
I cleared my throat to get his attention. He turned to face me and had a grim look on his face. "What is it? Why aren't you helping with the clean up?" he barked at me.
"I have been helping sir. I was just wondering if you've seen a middle aged man with grey hair wearing a blue vault suit around here?" I inquired.
Harkness thought for a bit when his eyes suddenly lit up. "I think I remember someone like that showing up a few days ago. He said he needed to see Doctor Li, so I pointed him to the Science Labs near the back of the ship. If he's still here, that's where you'll find him." He told me.
I thanked him for the information, and then headed off towards the Science Labs. When I walked through the door to the lab, my heart started to pound in excitement. I could very well be just steps away from being reunited with my father. I heard a man and a woman talking just down a flight of stairs, and my heart started pounding even faster when I saw a man in a blue suit talking to a woman in a white lab coat.