FO4 | Book 0: The Diaries of Anarchy ✔️

October 3, 2282

Being the mayor wasn't too tough. It was nice, actually. Cleanin' up the Old State House of rotting corpses and bloodstains was actually the hardest part. Everyone received their two-hundred caps, I paid Fahrenheit about a thousand, and we kept the rest to attempt starting up commerce.

It was all well and good until we had a Super Mutant raid, and none of Vic's boys were here to defend the city. We all had to work together, which wasn't as easy as just takin' Vic and his boys out. Super Mutants are big, dumb, brutal, and chaotic. We lost a few good people in that first raid. Fahrenheit made a point to protect me, so she doubled as my bodyguard from then on out.

Good thing, too. There were people who actually had it out for me after a while. I showed the town justice myself; I was a hands-on type of mayor. When someone did somethin' wrong — I mean really wrong — I was there to show 'em the knife.

Eventually, I earned a lot of respect in town. No one called me John McDonough anymore. They called me Mayor Hancock.

I got a few thugs together and hired them to be my neighborhood watch. We cleaned up the Third Rail, got Charlie a better stash of alcohol, and got a second bouncer so ol' Ham wouldn't have to do all the work.

Later on, a songbird by the name of Magnolia came into town. Real head-scratcher, that one. She didn't talk about herself much. She sang about herself — said the story was in the songs. Though I flirted and flirted with her, she wouldn't touch me. Not because I was a ghoul, she said, but because she was searchin' for the right man. I offered her a job at the Third Rail and a free, permanent room at Hotel Rexford.

After recruiting some traveling musicians here and there, formin' 'em into a band, the Third Rail became one helluva bar.

More drifters started comin' through town. The only thing people had to fear from Goodneighbor was freedom itself. We lived freely, did what we wanted. I preferred if people took justice into their own hands. Someone stole from you? Cut their fingers off. Someone beat your girl? Blow their damn brains out. I praised those who stood up for others and rewarded them with their choice of caps or chems.

I was swimmin' in chems. I could afford all I needed. People started askin' me for favors. It got so outta hand, I had to start collecting. Half the citizens of Goodneighbor owed me somethin' — and still do to this day — whether it was those caps I lent or those chems they asked for. Shit, I was a generous guy, but I wasn't gonna let my own citizens walk all over me.

I had shipments comin' in from different traders throughout the Common'. I eventually had to do paperwork in my office to keep up with the shipments. Some were to simply keep the town stocked. The people had to eat and drink somethin'. The rest went to the shops and the bar. I made quite a bit of caps. No matter how you look at it, I was a better mayor in every aspect of the word than Vic ever was.

A few years went by, and I noticed some key differences in how people treated me. See, when I was human, I wasn't noticed very much, and I became even less noticed as a ghoul. When I became the mayor, all of that changed. Sure, I was blind to it and didn't question it for a while. I had everything I could have ever wanted — money, drugs, booze, girls, and respect — but I wouldn't toe the line of love. Not like it was. Maggie scarred me deeper than these radiation burns ever could.

Sex was a different story. Girl after girl, night after night, I started feelin' less and less satisfied. I went back to heavy drug usage because of the stress that came with the job. Fahrenheit did a few with me, but I wouldn't let her get addicted. I kept a good stash of Addictol around the office just in case.

Fahrenheit was a strong-willed young woman and was pretty damn good-lookin', but I never thought of her as a romantic companion. Even if she wasn't a lesbian, I didn't think I could bring myself to try anything with her. She was too damn close to being a sister to me. I had great respect for her because she was always there when I needed her, and I returned the favor. Fahrenheit proved to be a true companion.

The years went by. Fahrenheit was getting a little older, and I hadn't changed a bit. We both got stronger, but it became apparent that I really wasn't aging at all. Fahrenheit had to cut her hair a few times, even gained a little weight and muscle, got bags under her eyes from stress. Fahrenheit was almost thirty years old.

Speaking of aging, I wondered sometimes about my brother. It had been so long since I last saw him. He was gray-haired the last time I spoke to him. I guess you could say we became rival mayors, both stuck in our lonely towers. At least I had more going for me than he did.

Lonely was somethin' I had grown accustomed to. Sure, I had Fahrenheit and had made a few other friends here and there. However, I always felt alone in everything I ever did.

Luckily, I had regained my confidence. Rebuildin' myself into John Hancock was the best thing I had ever done. I could reimagine myself as whoever I wanted to be, start fresh and portray myself with all the strong qualities I wanted to have when I was young. The only things my new identity didn't fix were the painful memories I couldn't escape, so I continued to run from them and chase new highs.