Lone Wanderer

Chapter 3 - Friendly Encounters

I was walking across a broken and busted road with traces of blood and ammo ejected casings littered on different slabs of pavement miles down. Judging that I was in Lincoln County, I had many, many miles to travel before even getting close to Charleston. As I was walking, I saw the bare dirt move in a small area. I could only recognize this as one wasteland creature. The Mole Rat. These were the same creatures that almost put our vault into an extinction. I raised my gun and held a firm stance. I was ready to face this horrible creature.
The mole rat poked his head to the surface and located my presence. He showed his teeth and emerged quickly out of his burrow. He had started to sprint towards me, but a single shot to the head stopped him dead in his tracks. I was surprised, and now worried about the safety of the people in the vault. These creatures are weak, and nearly harmless, and the vault can't stop ten of them? Disregarding the memories of the vault and it's dwellers, I moved forward.
About a mile down the road from my mole rat encounter, I had crossed paths with a group of people. They were decently armed and had six people that were in the group. As I passed, they asked," Did you see that raider tower collapse?! I could only think of the beast that brought it down. It's residents have been terrorizing settlements since the bombs stopped dropping." I had contemplated my answer for if I would tell them it was me or keep my mouth shut and move forward.
They had seemed pretty grateful for what had happened, so I decided to tell them that I had done this act of heroism."Actually, I was the one that took down the camp. I didn't think it was that big a deal."
"Wait, YOU took the tower down? I don't believe it, you're just a kid. And you're wearing a vault suit from vault 46. Judging that I've never seen a dweller from 46, you're probably new to the wasteland, and even the wasteland's top survivors have failed to take down those raiders." A man replied. I had guessed he was the leader, since he was in the front and seemed to have slightly more advanced armor than the rest of the group. He was African-American and carried a long barrel sniper rifle.
"You expect that I'm new to the wasteland, right?" I questioned,"Well then how do you suppose I got this suit of power armor? I would've had to have gotten it from an advanced camp, and, for the record, the camp was just outside of the vault."
"Wow, okay kid, you have me convinced. I'm still in awe that a newbie would be able to take down a camp like that. Those raiders have been attacking our camps for months, so we definitely owe you one."
"I mean, it was pretty easy. There was a propane holding room and I, just, chucked a frag into it and the propane lit up."
"Clever plan. By the way, that suit of power armor looks pretty rough. I've found some scattered power armor add-ons in the wasteland, but we don't own a suit. Maybe you could take them off our hands and use them, because god knows we don't need them."
"Thanks! So, I guess we're square?"
"Sure, pal."
We shook hands and he gave me a smirk. I asked, "So, what group do you all work for anyways?"
"We work for the Lincoln County Panthers." The leader replied,"We bunkered at the old high school and it's coming along well."
"Are you taking in new members?" I may not stay for long, but I'd like as many people to trust me as possible. It's a harsh world, so it would be good for someone to have my back.
"We don't usually accept people in, especially if they are new, but I think you're an exception. I'd be glad to recruit you."
"Thank you." He shook my hand again and told me the path to the old school. He said he would've showed me himself, but his team was on a scavenging mission and weren't supposed to wander off track. As I had walked down the road a ways, I checked out the add-ons that he had given to me. He had given me a T-45 helmet, right arm, left leg, and torso. I had equipped them and continued on my journey. I would pass the high school on my way to Charleston, so it worked out perfectly. Anything that can give me a better chance of survival is always worth taking the opportunity.