Chapter 5...
The journey to The Hub was difficult for Lincoln and his friends, navigating out of the mountains, but near the end of the rockies they share a camp with a traveler who sang a song that lifted their spirits, they were ambushed by raiders a few times, but they survived and continued eventually reaching their destination: The Hub, a bustling trading oasis in the Californian desert, Rusty gave Lincoln, Liam and Charles the tour of the town, by showing them the shops, a watering hole called the Maltese Falcon and the headquarters of the three major trading companies, The Crimson Caravan, The Far Go Traders and the Water Merchants, there was also a hospital run by an mysterious organization, the adventuring party's next stop was the residential district called Old Town, they came across a weapons dealer named Jacob in which they traded some weapons they salvaged for a sniper rifle, which it was given to Liam while Lincoln is still armed with the Red Ryder LE BB Gun, then they went back downtown and Lincoln bought some BB Ammo from Beth, a weapons merchant working alongside the Far Go Traders, and helped a man named Irwin in eliminating the raiders who taken over his farm and got a powerful .223 pistol in return in which it was given to Rusty, Lincoln traded his mouser pistol and ammo to Mrs. Stapleton, the bookstore owner for a guns and bullets magazine to help him sharpened his small guns skill, afterward they went back to Old Town and explore the neighborhood for a bit until they stopped near a house and went inside and met its dweller: A male ghoul who is sitting on a chair lost in his thoughts until Lincoln got his attention...
"Uh, hello?"
The ghoul turned his gaze at Lincoln and pleaded...
"Spare change, old friend, old pal? Can you help a poor mutant down on his luck?"
"Yes, of course, here you go." said Lincoln as he handed the ghoul 25 caps.
"Oh, kind of you friend, very kind." The ghoul thanked the white-haired vault dweller. "You know, if I could clear the gunk out of there, you, just might find a tear in Old Harold's eye."
"Why? What's wrong?" asked Lincoln.
The ghoul now known as Harold coughed and said...
"Rest of the Hubbers' been picking on me like a bad booger since I came back to town. I can't leave, though. When the deals are done (wheez) it's still my home."
"I don't want to pry, but can you tell me your story?" Lincoln asked the ghoul.
"Well, after the Great War, my Vault was one of the first to open." Harold told his story; the ghoul took a deep breath and continued... "Whew. Long time."
"Tell me about those days." Lincoln asked out of curiosity.
"All started with the sirens. I was young, but ohh, I do remember that." Harold recalled his memories about the war. "Lotta terrible years followed. And I remember walking outta the Vault late one morning."
"What do you do after leaving?" asked Lincoln.
"Well, I was a trader. Did pretty good making a circuit between survivors." Harold told Lincoln and his friends about his career. "Lost a lotta good people, though."
Harold coughed as Liam asked...
"Who's been attacking ya'll?"
"Gangers got'em. Scavengers attacking the caravans. And mutants, son of a dog, if they weren't springing up like rabbits with a mission." Harold answered Liam's question then coughed as he continued afterward... "Had to have an army of guards with, just to do a deal."
"Didn't the guards help?" asked Lincoln.
"Course they helped, ya bonehead!' Harold snapped. "Just too damn many to handle!"
"How did you survive all that?" Rusty asked.
"Didn't. Got killed." Harold joked as he laughed and coughed. "Love that joke!"
"Shouldn't have seen that one coming." Rusty said feeling dumb.
"Really good one, though." Lincoln chuckled.
"We mounted an expedition. God, Richard, Richard Grey." Harold continued his story. "Led a small group of us up there."
"Do you know which path you fellas took?" Liam asked.
"I can't remember the route or anything." Harold tried to remember. "But I am damn sure it was northwest, though...I think."
"Tell me about your friend." Lincoln asked.
"Richard Grey was a doctor, little older than me and friend was he smart." Harold told the boys about his friend. "He found the source."
"What was it?" asked Rusty.
"Some sort of old military base." Harold told the men about the party's discovery. "We lost a lotta folks getting in there."
"What did you face in there?" asked Lincoln.
"Robots and such. Lot of'em." Harold answered. "Damn surprised they was still running after all this time, what with the war and all. Whooa boy they tore us a good one."
Rusty and Liam looked at each other as Lincoln said...
"But you did get past them, right?"
"Yep, we got pretty far inside." was Harold's answer as he continued his story. "Wasn't a lot of us left by then. Grey, me and couple of others."
"What happened next?" asked Lincoln.
"One of them robots got Francine. Mark was wounded, sent him back to the surface." Harold replied. "Then it was just me and Grey."
"Please go on, it's getting really good." said Rusty.
"We made it to some sort of central core, like a plant of some sort." Harold continued the story. "That's when it happened."
"What?" asked Lincoln.
"A robot crane crashed into us." said Harold. "Last I saw of Grey; he was flying through the air in-into some sort of acid bath. I was in bad shape and... well I passed out."
"And how, may i ask, did you survive?" asked Lincoln.
"Didn't. Got killed." Harold joked again as he laughs and coughs again. "God, I love that joke!"
"Yeah, good one, my friend." said Lincoln as he laughed lightly.
"All joking aside, how did you even get out of there?" Rusty asked Harold.
"Well, I have no idea. Woke up in the wasteland, barely hanging on." Harold replied cluelessly. "Got lucky and some traders I knew found me days later. Good thing, since I was already changing. They brought me here, and here I've been since."
"You don't know how you changed?" asked Lincoln.
"Nope, all's I know, is it was something inside that base." Harold responded.
"Do you think it's radiation?" Lincoln theorized.
"That might be a possibility." Liam voiced his opinion.
"How the hell should I know? Grey would've known if anybody could." Harold said as he sighs and finished his story... "Anyway, that's how the deal went down."
"We gotta go, thanks for the story." Lincoln said thanking Harold.
"Yeah, see ya, i guess." Rusty said bitterly.
"Well, thanks for letting me tell it." said Harold as he watches Lincoln, and his friends leave the house. The men went back to downtown and followed Rusty to the office of the Far Go Traders where they met the head of the company, Butch Harris, a bald-headed man with a small beard who said...
"What do you want?"
"Got a minute, Harris?" Rusty asked his acquaintance.
"Time is money, chit-chat is not money." Butch responded. "You here about the job or what?"
"What seems to be the problem?" asked Lincoln.
"Well, some caravans have been disappearing on us lately." Butch explained the details of the job. "Damn if anyone can figure out what happened to 'em."
"And what is the job?" asked Lincoln.
"Simple. Find out who's doing it, and tell me, or take 'em out." Butch said the objective of the job. "It makes no damn difference to me. Just get that job done!"
"Sure, we'll let you know if we got anything." Lincoln said accepting the job.
"Done and done. Now get on outta here but come back and talk to me when you've found something." Butch finished as he watches Lincoln and Liam leave.
"It was nice to see you again, by the way." Rusty said dryly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Rusty." was all that Butch said as Rusty joined them outside, they met a man named Rutger who gave them the details of the job...
"The job pays 500 Hubbucks when you can tell Butch exactly what has been happening to all of the caravans that have disappeared recently. So, collect any proof you might find. I personally think it's those damn Water Merchants or those gun freaks at the Brotherhood of Steel. Butch thinks it's some Claw of death or something. Check with Beth, she would know more about that."
"If we find anything, we'll let you know." said Lincoln as he and his friends returned to Beth's shop and asked her about the deathclaw, Beth replied...
"The Deathclaw is the most evil thing to rise out of the ashes after the War. Some say it's a powerful ghost from the war that haunts the land. It's no ghost, it's as real as you and me. It's 20 feet tall with teeth as big as your arm. It's some kind of demon that found its way here when the world was engulfed in fire."
"I heard them stories too, those are some nasty critters." said Liam.
"Yeah, pretty amazing, isn't it?" said Beth. "It's down to the southwest somewhere. There's an old mutant in Old Town named Harold who actually saw this thing in its lair. Nicest Skag I know. And there is also Uncle Slappy in Old Town who talks about it sometimes, but he's a crazy old fool."
"Thanks, Beth." Lincoln thanked the merchant; he turned to his friends and tell him. "Let's go back and see Harold."
"Aw, hell." Rusty groaned.
The wasteland adventuring party returned to Harold's house, Harold saw who returned and said kindly...
"Oh, hey, it's you again."
"Here, i thought you might need these." said Lincoln as he gives Harold 20 caps.
"Anything i can do for you?" Harold offered.
"We need info on the Deathclaw, and we heard you're the one." Lincoln asked the ghoul.
"Oooh, that thing. Friend, that is nightmare city." Harold shivered at the name. "Why the hell are you asking about that?"
"We been hired to kill that beast." Lincoln explained.
"Yeah, it's just that ugly thing against the three of us." Rusty chuckled nervously. "What can go wrong?"
"Okay. Well, it's like a damn big man, is what it is." Harold told them about the deathclaw. "Got spikes and claws that can cut through the heaviest armor. But don't let the size fool ya, it's quick."
"Does it have any weak spots?" asked Lincoln.
"Well, from what I've heard, maybe whack it in the head?" Harold replied. "I'd try the eyes. 'Course, there's a problem there."
"What's that?" Liam asked.
"You can't look at 'em!" Harold warned the boys. "It is said the Death Claw can hypnotize just by lookin'. Then it walks up and "boom", you're et!"
"Great, thanks Harold." said Lincoln.
"Good luck to you." said Harold. "You're gonna need it."
Lincoln and his friends left the house and hired Uncle Slappy to lead them to the cave where the Deathclaw resides. Inside, Lincoln lights a flare and he and his friends carefully walked forward, halfway through they heard growling sounds causing them to quietly hug the cave wall to avoid detection, Lincoln throws his flare across the cave, he soon hears movement, Rusty and Liam stood silently for a moment before taking a peek and saw the reptilian monstrosity known as the deathclaw who is distracted by the lit flare, it was then that Rusty whispered...
"Oh, fuck this, we got to get out of here."
"I'm with you." Liam agreed as he turned his head to find Lincoln gone. "Hey, where the hell's Lincoln?"
"Over here, you guys." Lincoln whispered as he silently joined his friends.
"Where you been?" Liam whispered.
"We're about to get out of here." said Rusty.
"Picked this up from a dead giant mutant." Lincoln said showing a holotape before putting it in his pocket.
The three amigos soon heard growling and then shuffling as it was getting close to them, they turned and saw the Deathclaw standing in front of them.
"Holy shit!" Rusty said in fear.
"Run!" Lincoln shouted as he dodged a swipe from the deathclaw and fled with Rusty and Liam.
The party races out of the cave shooting at the deathclaw that is pursuing them, they reached the entrance as they continued firing at the deathclaw who is rushing toward them, Liam aimed his sniper rifle at its face and took a shot, the bullet hit the deathclaw's eye and its was wreathing in pain, Liam fired again... direct hit in the other eye! The deathclaw collapses on the ground and dies within moments.
"Jesus christ! That was fucking close!" Liam said in shock with a bit of ecstatically.
"Yeah..." said Lincoln as he moved toward the dead deathclaw and examined it to make sure it was truly dead. He turned to Liam and said... "Gotta say, that was damn lucky shot."
"You said it." Rusty agreed. "Excellent shot, Liam."
"Thanks, guys." said Liam.
It was nightime as Lincoln, Rusty and Liam returned back to Butch Harris at the Far Go Traders in Downtown and the man who deliver the news was Lincoln...
"We got the proof on the missing caravans."
"Really? Who?" Butch demanded.
"It was those big, tall mutants." Lincoln answered.
"What, do I look a crate shy of a load?" Butch said not amused. "Did you even see the Death Claw?"
"We already seen it... and killed it." Lincoln replied.
"You...you guys killed it?!" Butch said in shock.
"Yeah, you should have seen it, i shot that ugly motherfucker right between the eyes." Liam boasted.
"Damn...That must have been a lucky shot." said Butch trying to process the info from the men. "Uh, where did these mutants come from?"
"This holotape has evidence of an outpost in the mountains." Lincoln said showing Butch the holotape.
"An outpost?" said Butch. "Well . . . um . . . well uh. I'll have to talk to the Committee. Yeah . . . yeah, they'll know what to do. You better take that holotape to Rutger. Now if you'll excuse me, i gotta send some messages."
Lincoln and his friends give Rutger the holotape and got their pay and left. Rusty sighs and said...
"I could go for a drink."
"You and me both." Liam agreed.
"Here, you guys go on ahead." said Lincoln giving them the bag of bottlecaps. "I gotta check something out."
"Alright, we'll be at the bar." said Liam.
Lincoln returned to Old Town alone and explores thinking about a way to get the funds for the water shipment to his vault, he soon stumbles onto a big that has a stairway leading down, he climbs the stairs and enters a room with a door in front of him.
To Be Continued...
Author's note: I'm gonna stop here and say that Lincoln and his friends defeated a mighty foe known as the Deathclaw. Next time on Fall-Loud: Lincoln will meet the Thieves Circle and travel to Necropolis with his friends.