FO4 | Book 0: The Diaries of Anarchy ✔️

July 2, 2280

I was layin' on my couch at home with a canister of Jet in one hand and the other hand behind my head. I was starin' at this one rusty stain on the ceilin' that always reminded me of a camel, but if I turned my head it kinda looked like a sock puppet. Maybe it was just the drugs, though. It was usually the only spot on the ceilin' that I stared at when I was high on the couch.

I couldn't believe that I had turned into what I never wanted to be — a boring citizen that did the same thing day after day, night after night. I had become my brother.

Guess it wasn't a bad thing. I had peace, I had caps, and I had a decent stash of chems to myself. I didn't have to worry about someone takin' what was mine. But damn, after a decade of playin' the good little citizen, I was bored outta my mind. That killer instinct was slippin' away. I barely ever left the comfort of the Wall anymore, and laziness was startin' to set in like never before.

I started feelin' anxious in my own house when it was quiet for too long. My mind wandered through its memories and dredged up old feelings that I wanted to keep buried down.

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When my high wore off, I decided to go into the ruins and sharpen up my knife as well as my instincts, get some exercise and maybe do something interestin'. Before I could get to the gate, however, Piper — the seventeen-year-old reporter with a nose for trouble — came runnin' toward me with bright eyes. I knew that look. I knew I was about to be bombarded with questions.

"John McDonough!" she called on her way over. In one hand was a notepad, and in the other was a pencil. She had taken to donning a press cap to make it official. Piper had a rosy complexion with little freckles across her face, brown eyes with long lashes, and straight black hair.

"What, Piper?"

"Sheesh, don't let me rain on your parade, John," she said, noting my lack of enthusiasm. "What are you busy with right now?"

"I'm about to leave the city for a while, probably do some hand-to-hand with the raiders in the ruins. Why?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You're actually looking for raiders? Don't most people avoid them?"

"I ain't most people."

"Would you mind if I asked you some questions first?"

I groaned. "Piper, don't you have somethin' else to do right now? Where's your sister?"

"She's at home taking a nap. I have to get these questions in quickly. Please, it'll only take a second."

I shoved my hands in my pockets and nodded. "Alright, alright. Shoot."

"Yes! Okay, first question: about how many chems would you say you take a day?"

"Wait, are these personal questions or generalized questions?"

"I've asked other people in town these questions — I'm not singling you out."

"Hmm... Well, I'd say I take chems three times a day. Not counting the cigarettes."

She short-handed everything down on her notepad. "And how do you acquire your chems?"

I blinked. "Piper, I'm not sellin' out my dealer."

"No, no, you don't have to. That's perfect — so you have a dealer." She jotted that down, too. "Where does your dealer get his chems?"

"I dunno. Probably Goodneighbor or a local chemist. I ain't one to pry."

"Would you say that the chems coming in from Goodneighbor are smuggled?"

"Hell, yeah. Anyone in their right mind could piece that together."

"I just needed a forward statement, that's all." She wrote everything down before asking her next question. "Would you say that Marowski has anything to do with the influx of smuggled chems into the city?"

"Yeah, I'd say so. He's been a pusher since I can remember."

"Okay, that's all the questions I have for now. Thanks, John."

"Why are you askin' all this stuff, anyway?"

"I'm working on another paper and need some information regarding the drug trade around town. Word is, the mayor's chem tax is the reason most of the chems that make it to Diamond City are getting smuggled in. I wanna know who's doing the smuggling and why. All evidence points to Marowski, a former resident of Diamond City that was banished after Nick busted up his drug deal and a civilian was injured."

"Who told you that?"

"I asked around town. Why?"

"Of course, no one would say what really happened." I shook my head. "His daughter was involved in the chem deal, and I was the civilian that got injured. He had my dealer murdered to get rid of the competition."

"Really? Oh, this is so going in the paper."

"Shit. No, don't publish that last bit. It's old news and doesn't need to be brought up."

It was just another memory that I didn't feel like diggin' up in detail. I didn't know why I bothered correcting her in the first place. I should have known she was gonna make it a big deal. She treated info like an eight-year-old treated candy — she just couldn't get enough.

"It might be old news, but if no one knows the truth — the real story — then what's the point? I aim to set that story straight. Besides, it could be linked to what's happening now."

"Piper," I groaned, "just leave it."

She pouted. "Fine... If you won't give me all the answers, I'll just interview Nick for them."

"Do what you want. I'm not sayin' any more."

"For fear you'll ruin your reputation?" she poked with a sly grin.

"What reputation? The one I ain't got?"

"Everyone knows you're the town's biggest... chem enthusiast."

"That's the nicest way anyone has ever told me that I'm the biggest junkie they've ever met."

"W-Well, you know what I mean... Anyway, I'm going to get started on writing this paper. Nat will be up from her nap shortly, and I don't like leaving her home alone for long. See you later, John."

"Yeah, see you later, Little Miss Nosy."

She shot me a glare before trotting off toward her house — or, I suppose I should say, her workplace. She just got a new sign installed over her building that read, "Publick Occurrences." I, on the other hand, continued toward the city's gates to find some trouble to get into.