Chapter Text
The sounds of gunfire could be heard from a few blocks ahead.
The survivor ducked into a side alley and shouldered his rifle, before re-entering the street and continuing on his way, more cautiously. After what he'd seen just trying to make it this far, he wasn't taking any chances.
The shots sounded low calibre, like the pipe guns favored by raiders and those mutant, things. The snarls he soon heard as he continued reinforced the idea that is was the green-skins. However, the yelling and sounds of turret fire confused him. Something about, "don't let them near the gate?"
He upped his pace to a jog, checking every corner for signs of the firefight. It was louder, he could definately make out different voices amidst the gunfire. Still no visual sign, though.
Rounding a corner, he could hear the fight dead ahead. And now he could see who was doing the shouting. There was a group of men in catcher's pads armed with pipe rifles taking cover behind make-shift barricades, while turrets on scaffolding behind them sent a hail of lead towards what he could guess were mutants by the howls. Yep, there was one of their hounds, charging the position despite the multitude of weapons firing at it.
It leapt over one of their baricades just as the survivor raised his rifle. A man screamed as the creature fell on him, only to realise the blood now coating him wasn't his own.
Lowering his smoking rifle, the survivor ran, ducked low to the ground, behind the wall where the man he had saved was. Not a moment too soon, as the ground just beside them exploded from the impact of multiple rounds.
"How many of them are there?" He shouted over the noise, as the blood soaked man just stared at him.
"How many?" He yelled again. The man stood, trying to get the hound off him, only to fall to the ground, his head half missing.
"Fuck's sakes." The survivor grumbled, as he blind fired his last few shots from his pistol.
Searching for rounds in his coat, he found nothing but the last of some molotovs from Concord. "This'll do."
The sound of glass shattering was followed by the howls of a green-skin he'd set alight.
'Burn in hell.' He thought darkly, before spying the dead man's rifle. ".38's better than nothing." He muttered to himself as he slid over to grab it. Checking the magazine, he figured he had 20 rounds. "Damnitt, it'll have to do."
He looked towards the other barricades, waiting for the others to rise. When close to a minute passed and not one did, he swore before vaulting his own cover.
"Come and get me you ugly motherfuckers!" He yelled, firing away.
'2 rounds each.' He thought, as mutant after mutant fell. He slid into cover again, around the corner of a building. Catching his breath, he checked his remaining rounds. "Fuck." He swore as he saw there were just six remaining. That's when he froze at the sound of one of the mutant's hounds running towards his cover. He held the rifle as best he could with his left hand, while his right grabbed for the knife on his thigh.
The hound that skidded around the corner was met with every round he had left hitting it in the skull. He threw the rifle away, trying to figure what to do next, when the second hound came for him. He barely had time to get his arms up before it knocked him flat.
As he struggled to keep the beast from mauling his face, it grabbed hold of his left arm. The creature bit down where, luckily, his Pip-Boy was strapped. The chunk of steel kept the hound's teeth from him, giving him time to slash it's throat open with his knife. It kept shaking his arm from side to side, attempting to dismember him, as he kept stabbing and slashing it's neck. The beast gave a gutteral roar as, finally, his blade found it's jugular.
Weakened from blood loss, the jaws of the beast loosened, allowing him time to get his arm free and shove the beast off. Looking up, he saw the other men charging across the square at the remaining mutants, emboldened by his success. They quickly overwhelmed the remaining mutants, killing all of them. A sudden weight overcame him as he stumbled into the street, the exhaustion of the last week becoming known as the adrenaline faded.
The cheers of the men grew in volume as they saw him emerge from the alley. Through the crowd of men celebrating their victory he made his way to the fallen guard whose weapon had saved them. When they noticed what he was doing, the guards fell silent.
The survivor knelt next to the man's body,where he placed the rifle at the man's feet. Before he stood, he etched eight tally marks next to those already present on the weapon. As the survivor stood, he felt eyes on him. Turning to the crowd, a guard stepped out and spoke.
"Mark was my friend." He said simply. "Thank you for trying to save him."
Looking him dead in the eye, the survivor replied. "I only did what any decent person would do."
The guard exhaled sharply. "Well that's the thing innit? A decent person seems to be a rare sight out here."
The survivor chuckled at that. "Ain't that the truth. I best be off, need to get back on the road."
Nodding, the guard asked. "Where are you headed?"
"Diamond City. Trouble is, got no clue where the fuck I'm headed."
A few guards snickered at him, while the one talking just grinned.
"You're pretty damn close. Just follow the signs now. And keep Mark's gun. Little welcome present."
The guards began dispersing as the survivor walked away. As he rounded a corner, he spotted one of the oddest things he had seen since leaving the vault. There was a woman about ten metres from him who appeared to be ranting at a wall. That opinion quickly changed when he heard the wall talk back.
"I'm sorry Piper, but Mayor McDonough's really steamed. Says that article you wrote was all lies. Whole city's in a tizzy."
An intercom then, he figured. Good to know he wasn't insane yet. Deciding to sit this one out as he was still exhausted, the survivor leaned against a scaffold and watched.
"Ooh, protecting Diamond City means keeping me out, is that it? Oh look, it's the scary reporter, huh? Boo!"
The survivor stood a bit straighter. A reporter could be exactly what he needed to find information about Shaun.
"I'm sorry Piper." The man on the other end repeated, causing the woman to make a rather pissed off sound, before her shoulders slumped.
She looked about tiredly, before spotting him.
"You, you want into Diamond City right?" She whispered, motioning for him to come closer.
The survivor nodded, too exhausted to bother speaking.
The woman, who he assumed to be Piper, smiled. "Just, play along." She leaned back towards the intercom, and resumed speaking, although much louder this time. "What was that? You're a trader up from Quincy? You have enough supplies to keep the general store stocked for a whole month! Huh. You, you hear that Danny? You gonna let us in or are you going to be the one to explain to crazy ol' Myrna about missing out on all this supply?"
"Alright Piper, I'll let you in. No need to make it personal. Gimme a minute."
Piper turned to him again, now grinning slyly. "Better head inside quick before ol' Danny catches onto the bluff."
Smiling weakly, he said, "After you."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
As they entered the city the survivor veered away towards the ticket booth. There was a guard standing there infront of an intercom. Piper appeared to be argueing with a rather stout man in a dirty suit, but in his tired state the survivor didn't bother listening in. He just wanted to get things cleared up with the local law-enforcement and find a bed to rest in.
"Danny, is it?" He asked loudly, trying to find the guard. A red haired man looked up from the booth.
"That's me. I suppose you're that trader from Quincy? Or has Piper tricked me again?"
"Which answer doesn't get me locked up?" The survivor asked with a weak laugh. Danny had a small chuckle, so the survivor figured he was safe.
"Don't worry about it. You're not the first person she's roped into something they didn't understand. Word of advice though, don't pretend to be a trader out there. People will either shoot you when they find out you aren't, or shoot you because they think they'll get a nice haul off you."
"Appreciate it," The survivor went to say more, but the yelling behind him caught his attention.
He turned to see that the man Piper had been arguing with now had a small group of guards behind him, while Piper admirably stood her ground.
"Why don't we ask the newcomer?" He heard her say. Shit, what had they been on about?
"Do you support the news? Because the mayor here is threatening to throw freedom of speech in the dumpster." Piper looked quite pissed, which was something he didn't want directed at him. Helped that on this topic he didn't have to think about his answer.
"There used to be a list with all our rights on it, including freedom of speech. I may have issues with some on that list, but I was always for free speech."
Piper turned back to the man, who the survivor figured was the mayor, now smirking. The mayor, however, looked panicked, and began stammering to the survivor.
"I didn't mean to get you mixed up in this sir. No, you look like fine Diamond City material. This is a fine place to come, spend your money, settle down. Don't let this muckraker here tell you otherwise."
The survivor sighed in irritation. If this ass was anything to go by, corrupt political rulers hadn't died out with the rest of the world.
"This coming from the one who locked the supposed problem out with the mutants and raiders?" Too tired to care about how he sounded, the survivor was now practically growling at the man. Stunned by his outburst, the mayor and his guards stepped back, some of the latter raising their rifles. Even Piper's smirk disapeared.
"The same mutants even your men couldn't hold off without losing one of their own?" At that some of the guards lowered their weapons.
"You know, I've seen a lot of shit in my life, but this takes the cake." The survivor scoffed before adding, "Muckraker, what the hell is that even supposed to mean." His voice trailed off, as McDonough attempted to retain his dignity by returning to Piper.
"I've had enough of this Piper. From now one consider you and that little sister of your's on notice." The mayor said sternly, causing the survivor's head to shoot up. Did this bastard just threaten a child? Before he could say anything however, the mayor had walked away. Though not before Piper had the last word.
"Yeah, keep talking McDonough, that's all you're good for."
Piper turned to the survivor. "Nice that the mayor stopped by to welcome you to Diamond City. You feel honored yet?"
"Surprisingly yeah, though it has nothing to do with that asshole. What kind of person threatens to throw a child out into the wastes?" Piper shrugged.
"Why did he lock you out in the first place anyway?" The survivor asked, the thought that he may have done something wrong forming.
"I take it you weren't listening to the start of that wonderful conversation? I run the newspaper here in Diamond City, Publick Occurences. We're the hard look at the truth, and McDonough would prefer if I never printed anything more serious than a Silver Shroud episode."
"Newspapers, I'd thought those would've died out ages ago." The survivor said thoughtfully, recieving a glare from Piper.
"You have a problem with the news?"
"Only when it makes my life harder, and I don't think knowledge does that." He said, remembering the 'news' tabloids of his time.
"Well in that case, stop by my office later. I've got an idea for an article you'd be perfect for."
"Wait!" He called after her as she walked into the city. She turned to the survivor, with a questioning expression.
"Know if there's anywhere with a bed for rent?"