Aim to Please

8 | Long Road Ahead, Part 2

If the outsides were any indication, Feral Ghouls infested the insides of Med-Tek Research. On arriving at the medical building, the radiated zombies swarmed Aurora and MacCready. They weren't hard to kill—just quick and scary—but MacCready killed them with an intensity she hadn't seen before—Duncan's cure possibly lay within, and he would get it.

They entered Med-Tek Research cautiously and on silent feet; the lobby was in shambles with fallen pieces of the ceiling, statues lay broken, shredded sofas and chairs, and debris and yellowed papers everywhere. The receptionist's desk sat intact, with a still-working terminal. Their scan of the room revealed no sleeping Feral Ghouls.

"Alright, let's find that executive terminal; Sinclair said that was the only way to override the facility's lockdown," MacCready whispered.

They went over to the computer and found it the wrong one, since it didn't require a password to open. Their silent approach proved crucial since Ferals slept nearly around every corner and room. Once they cleared a room and spotted a functional terminal, they would head over to find that a password wasn't needed.

The pattern continued the further up they went: kill Feral Ghouls, find a terminal, be disappointed, then head to another room. One of the last offices they entered looked more neatly arranged than the others, like it had more importance. After wiping out the sleeping creatures, Aurora headed over to the large desk with a live computer. She hit a key to wake it up; it asked for a password.

She grew excited. "This is it; it's asking for a password."

MacCready reached into his coat's internal pocket as he walked over; he pulled out a slip of paper. "Sinclair's password better work or we're screwed," he said as he handed it to her, then turned to stay on guard.

Aurora typed in the password and waited for the terminal to accept it; she sighed in relief when it took her to the main screen.

"It did." She looked at the options of folders she could open; she chose the one that said 'override security lockdown'. After unlocking the basement, she went back to the folders and clicked on each 'research test'. MacCready had been right: Med-Tek had infected certain zones to raise sales. The one she read where the infected exhibited blue boils had a cure called Prevent, and one bottle still sat in storage; she told MacCready.

He looked infuriated that Med-Tek had done that to his son. "Those bastards are all dead now so I can't get revenge but finding that cure will be like giving the finger to their legacy. Come on."

Going down to the Sub-Level became even harder than that above: they not only had to fight even more and stronger Ferals, but they had to deal with laser turrets and old generators that emitted dangerous levels of radiation. They tried to avoid the generators but when they had to pass them to continue, they would run past them with their breaths held and collapse in the safe, adjoining room, feeling sick and drained; once they recovered, they'd go on.

It was eerily still when they descended a flight of stairs and met a wall of another room built in the room they were in. On their slow trek around the room, cloudy windows came into view—a strange green glow radiated inside but MacCready couldn't see anything when he looked in. He described what he saw to Aurora, and she felt positive they had found the research lab holding the Prevent.

Rounding the second corner brought the entrance to the lab in view; sounds of Ferals waking up echoed out of the room. With a growl, MacCready rose out of his sneak and ran into the room; Aurora ran after him.

Five Ferals woken up charged at the intruders; Aurora and MacCready fended off the attack. Strangely, it seemed like the green glow grew closer. Aurora looked to her right to see a sight she had never seen before: a Feral Ghoul completely glowing, emitting the green glow of radiation through its skin—the poison had literally become its blood.