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The sun had set by the time the group had settled down within the Common House. It was a decent sized building, containing more filthy mattresses and various worn footlockers. They shared their space for four other waste landers, who did little more than avoid them.
Derek and his group secured the ground floor, which had been vacated in favor of the upper levels. The Common house was known for thievery and even assault, but after the exploits of the group had been told around the bar, many became very wary of these teenage travelers. Taking on raiders took balls. Taking on raiders with only your bare hands and little to no armor and winning without a scratch was reminiscent of wasteland legends like Daring Dashwood, the Jury Street Widow, the Ghost of Ridgefield and the Arlington Face Stealer.
The group therefore, had the entire lower level of the building to themselves. They huddled up in a circle and went over their game plan for the next day.
"Lydia, what the hell were you thinking?!" Scott asked her exasperatedly. "You don't know how to disarm an Atomic bomb!"
"No, not yet at least. If I hadn't have piped up, they would have had no other reason to vote for us."
Derek was unmoved. "Moira wants Danny's research skills, and Walter wants Erica's handywoman skills. Manya and Billy would have voted for us regardless."
"And Moriarty voted for Erica because of her tits." Jackson deadpanned.
Erica frowned at him, while Boyd gave him a low growl.
Derek gave Jackson his alpha glare and looked back to Lydia. "We don't need to have any wild card chances here Lydia. I won't put the pack in danger needlessly."
Lydia was unchallenged. "Right now Simms will use us for our work, and then he will toss us out. What happens when we aren't needed anymore? I'll tell you what will happen. Simms will throw us out of Megaton. He doesn't like us and he doesn't want us. If we can do something incredible for Megaton, than he will reverse his opinion of us. We don't know anything about this wasteland. The next settlement could be a hundred miles away in and be three times as small. This place is the best we've got at the moment, and we should invest in it accordingly."
Derek growled and moved to reply when a knock at the door startled them.
A young blonde woman who Danny recognized from the bar opened the door. "She looked towards Derek and asked. "I need the caravaneers Derek, Lydia, Erica, and Daniel to come with me." She looked incredibly nervous, and looked behind her constantly.
Derek wondered what awaited them now. Perhaps Simms was planning on getting rid of them. Or maybe the Pastor thought they needed to be snuffed out. He could see every step of it before his eyes.
"Why do we need to come with you?" Derek shot at the girl.
She sighed in frustration and moved inside the door ever so slightly. "Because I can help you. You have greater allies in this town that you know. You have to trust me."
Derek did not like the feeling of it at all. Lydia also looked skeptical, but Danny decided to take the plunge. "All right, I'll come with you." Isaac moved to join him, but the blonde girl stopped him. "I'm sorry, but only Derek, Lydia, Daniel, and Erica have been asked to this meeting."
Isaac growled at her. "All the more reason to suspect a trap."
The girl gave him a hard stare than turned back to Derek. "You can choose to stay here and not listen to me, or you can take a risk and have it pay off. I'm not with Cromwell, and I'm here to help you. Come or go, you decide." Her tone was final, tinged with hints of panic and nervousness.
Derek paused, if only for a second, before motioning for the others to get up. "If this goes south, I will rip your throat out." He whispered to the blonde girl when he came within earshot of her. She turned pale and nodded, but remained stable.
The group of five left in the middle of the night. Derek noted that there were no stars in the sky, or at least they were being obscured by the grayish haze that hung over the sky. The girl lead them down a ramp, past the bus house and into a two story shack that looked just like every other shack in the town. As they entered the shack a familiar timbre sounded and Derek turned to view the speaker, his eyes narrowing.
"I suppose its time we had that talk."
The sheriff was sitting at a table with Billy Creel and Manya Vargas surprisingly enough. Derek instantly grabbed the blonde girl by her throat and demanded she explain herself.
Simms slowly stood up and raised his hands calmly. "Derek, please let me explain…"
He was cut off by Billy who had his weapon trained on Derek's forehead, and Manya who had stood up quite quickly for her age and barked at Derek. "You will release that young lady, you will apologize for your misbehavior, and you will sit your ass down and listen to what I have to say!"
Even Derek was taken aback by the old woman's tone. He had believed her to be more of a bumbling, kindly grandmother, but it seemed as though she was more than she was letting on. The look in Billy's eyes was cold, and devoid of warmth. Simms actually looked frightened by the whole exchange. All of this made Derek stop and put the Blonde girl down.
Turning to the group he quietly asked them to explain themselves. Danny, Lydia, and Erica were also bewildered by the situation unfurling before them, and remained stark silent in the face of it.
Manya was resolute. "Apologize to Lucy. Now."
Derek scowled at her, but turned to Lucy and apologized. Lucy merely nodded weakly. This dark, brooding young man had an iron grip. And an iron body now that she got to see him up close…
Manya cut Lucy's leering short. "West, go upstairs and fetch our guests several Nuka-Colas. It may take you awhile to find them." She added, her voice remaining steely.
Lucy nodded and moved upstairs. Manya turned to the group once she had disappeared and motioned for them to sit down. Lydia, Danny, and Erica all took seats at the table. Derek leaned against the wall in clear defiance, anger rolling off of him in waves. Manya ignored his hissy fit and turned to the rest of her table.
"I'm sorry for the little show with the Council, a dreadful formality, rooted in a time where Megaton was less political and more democratic. Back then though, we were about two dozen strong and under assault from twice as many threats as there were people, so Democracy came easy. Still, you had some quick thinking that saved your hides." The group nervously nodded. Derek remained scowling.
"But don't think you are out of the storm yet. The sheriff and I see great potential in all of you, and Megaton is in need of potential these days. For every Billy we have three Colin Moriartys and a dozen Leo Stahls. Corruption and ineptitude plagues Megaton, and if this town is to survive, we need an influx of fresh, talented blood to keep us strong. Simms, go ahead." She leaned back and took a sip of a bright orange liquid in a glass in front of her. Derek could smell the drink, and knew it was whisky, and that it was slightly irradiated.
The sheriff nodded at her and began to speak, turning towards Derek first. "Young man, I am sincerely sorry for the way I treated you when you arrived earlier today. I have to put on a mask whenever new arrivals come into town. Moriarty is already a suspicious weasel, and he has a habit of ferreting out weaknesses in his enemies. What you and your friends did today was greatly appreciated, and I only voted the way I did for looks. You are all right in my book."
Derek was taken aback. Was Simms trying to trick him? His heartbeat was steady. He wasn't lying either. What the hell was going on here?
"You all are a very talented group of teenagers, and if your companions are any indication, you will hardly fail to deliver. We have a proposition for you, just the three of us.
Political games, well there was an easy angle, Derek thought sourly.
"We need the bomb diffused. The Church of Atom has never had a majority following. They were instrumental in building the town, but they have outlived their purpose. Now obviously we can't just kick them out now for following their religion. But we do need to clip their God of his power."
"Won't they notice if the bomb is gone?" Erica asked earnestly
"The bomb won't be moving, but it will be disabled. For too long it has stood as both a landmark and a ticking timer. Megaton's greatest attraction will also be its undoing. All it would take would be an immoral psycho with some explosives experience to make the whole town go up in a mushroom cloud. It has to be disabled."
Billy nodded in agreement. "I don't want my little girl growing up with the shadow of death hovering over her. The bomb needs to go."
Manya looked to Derek and his group and smiled. "What do you say kids, feel like being heroes?"
Lydia was the first to speak up. "Maybe. What's in it for us if we diffuse the bomb for you?"
Manya smiled. "This girl is after my own heart. We'll give you 600 caps as your commission, a discount at Craterside supply, and most importantly." Manya stopped and smiled at Lydia. "We will give you a room to call your own."
Derek raised his eyebrow at Manya. It was her turn to scowl at him. "There is a house by the front of Megaton, to the left as you come in through the main gate. Nearly three levels high, somewhat supported on stilts. Has a large balcony-"
Derek stopped her. "We'll take the job."
"Excellent. Now word of this cannot get out in town, or the backlash will be significant. Tomorrow, I want You." She pointed at Derek. "And this nice young man to take a small group with you to Craterside Supply. Moira has some errands she wants you to run. Given what that girl is cooking up, you may want to consider taking your best fighters along. You will most certainly need them." Manya turned to the girls next. "You two will arrive at Walter's Water Purification Plant tomorrow early. Leo Stahl is helping his brother run the brass Lantern tomorrow, so Lydia will be free to use his workspace to start coming up with a plan to diffuse the bomb. Erica, you will be put to work fixing pipes and being a repair wench." At this Erica made a face. Manya was unmoved. "If you would so like, I can arrange for you to work in Moriarty's Saloon, where you can be a real wench, like Nova." Her tone was so acidic that Erica instantly backed down and nodded.
"Can I trust Doc Church?" Derek asked, ignoring Manya's blatant threats. Erica would kill the first man who touched her, assuming Boyd didn't beat her to it.
Manya scoffed. "Church has even more bluster than my idiot husband. Your boy has been his primary patient. He might as well be in treatment at the Rivet City Clinic, or the Citadel with all of the medical care Church is lavishing on him.
This woman was a puppet mistress if Derek had ever seen one. She was unfazed by nearly everything Derek threw at her, and she had effectively ordered his pack into solving her problems. He decided to see how far back he could push.
"Scott, the young man with the black hair who fought with me this afternoon, will be working as an assistant in Churches Clinic. He is Stiles' best friend, and he can look after him."
"Fine, but I had better see Isaac bright and early tomorrow morning. I have a special job for him. If it were dangerous I would have told you, so stop giving me that damn scowl. You're lucky I haven't thrown you out on your ass for all of the head pains you've given me."
Derek was relieved to know he had some wiggle room, but he was far less happy to know that it was not very much.
"I'm glad we were able to iron out these little details. Lucy! Our guests haven't gotten a chance to eat since they came into town. Give them something they can take with them back to the common house!"
Lucy reappeared at the top of the stairs with a crate full of glass sodas.
"Awww sweet, more Nukas! Thank you Manya!" Danny was grinning at the old woman, while the others looked at him quizzically.
"Anytime dearie. Derek, if you will take those please, and Danny if you will help Miss West with her cart, she will deliver some food to your no doubt starving companions. After all." She gave Derek a knowing smile. "Young boys have such ravenous appetites."
Derek took the crate and motioned for the group to leave.
Their meals consisted of several cooked squirrels, in stews or roasted whole, a platter of pork like meat fried in lard, a cluster of cold crab cakes, which tasted very salty, and two boxes of "Dandy Boy Apples" and "Fancy Lads Snack Cakes". All of the food contained radiation, which was beginning to affect the human members of the group. To drink they had the crate of Nuka Colas and a full bottle of water. At first Derek thought one bottle rather skimpy, but he couldn't detect any radiation in it. Purified water must have been a bitch to come by here in the wasteland. Derek made sure Lydia, Danny, and Allison all stuck with the water.
Lydia and Jackson swallowed their snobbery and got down to eating the foods in front of them. Jackson took an immediate liking to the pork-taste-alike, while Lydia devoured two of the crab cakes. Scott and Allison shared a squirrel. Danny, Erica, and Boyd had the stew. Isaac helped himself to the pork imitator and a whole roast squirrel. Derek contented himself with a Nuka-Cola before telling the group their roles tomorrow and sending them to bed. He made sure they all went to sleep before leaving the common house and heading for the Clinic.
When he arrived, he found the door unlocked. He walked inside and moved straight into the patient room. Stiles had regained much of his color, and looked unbelievably healthier than he did earlier that day.
Despite his obvious recovery from the brink of death, it was clear to Derek that Stiles was still feeling the effects of radiation poisoning. He was slightly feverish and stank of perspiration.
Derek pulled a chair to the side and sat with him. He stroked Stiles forehead gently, soothing him with the tender words.
Church worked considerably late hours, so he was awake for Derek coming into the clinic. He didn't try and oppose the temperamental young man. For all of his anger he seemed to be a good person, and if the redhead in his group was truly capable of disarming the bomb outside his small clinic, he would look past Derek's intrusions. After all, that damn bomb only added to the sheer volume of radiation that engulfed Megaton. Old timers like the Vargas's and Walter had built up tolerances to the radiation. Younger folks like the Stahl girl and Harden Simms were very much affected by the radiation, needing constant supplies of Rad-X and Rad Away just to be able to function. As if that wasn't enough, he knew that that bomb was capable of wiping out the one good thing he had sought to establish in his entire life. The kids from the NCR were sticking their necks out for Megaton, even if it wasn't entirely pro bono.
What a twist! Next up: fun times with weapons!
Thanks for reading my favorite people! :D