It's the End of the World

Chapter 4

I woke up in an empty bed, wearing less than usual. I sat up and picked my clothes up off the floor and put them back on. Last night might have been exactly what I needed to keep going. I left the room and headed back to the bar. There were raised voices coming from the room to the side of me.

"How about you and your girlfriend get out? I left for good."

I listened in as I moved to hear better.

"MacCready, that won't work. See, we can't have you becoming our competition."

There was a scoff and then the response.

"And what are you going to do about it, kill me? You wouldn't get two steps out that door."

"We wouldn't kill you here. Nah, we'd wait until you were off on your own then pick you off. When you least expect it."

"Good luck with that. Why don't you two go find a room or something and leave me to it?"

I ducked behind a wall as two men walked past. Once they were gone, I went into the room. There was a man sitting down drinking a beer.

"Are you MacCready?"

"Depends on who's asking."

"A customer."

I dropped a bag of caps on the table next to the lanky man.

"How much is that?"

He eyed the bag, trying to estimate its worth.

"Two fifty. I hear that's the price for your services."

I watched as he stood up and chuckled, tying the bag to his belt.

"You heard right. What do you need?"

"I need someone to watch my back when I'm in less than secure places."

I leaned against the wall and waited for his answer.

"Sounds like you came to the right place. Robert Joseph MacCready, hired gun. Where to?"

He held out his hand to shake and I looked down at it. I didn't shake his hand. Instead, I checked my Pip-Boy and noticed it was recieving a new radio signal. I switched to that station and listened to it for a minute.

"Let's go. I have a few leads I need to check out."

I began walking out of the bar.

"Lead the way. You're the boss."

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him.

"Don't call me that."

MacCready put his hands up.

"Whoa, no need to snap. No calling you that. Got it."

I nod and kept going.

We walked all the way across the Commonwealth, following a path that was longer but safer. Once we got close to the signal's origin, we slowed down. I checked the Pip-Boy for more information on the location.

"That's where we're headed. It's the Nuka-Cola Transit Center. I don't know what is there, so keep an eye out."

"No problem."

I climbed up a rocky hill to get a better view. To my right is a building shaped like giant Nuka-Cola bottles. Straight ahead is a road leading into the center, with an archway made of giant bottles too. I looked through the scope of my sniper rifle. I saw a bit of movement on the roof of the parking garage. I focused on it, following the figure.

"Gunners. I see one on the roof ahead."

I put the gun down and looked at MacCready before continuing.

"Knowing Gunners, they'll be more on the inside. And they'll all be heavily armed. We should stay at long range and knock off as many as we can before heading closer."

He nodded and took out his rifle.

"I'll be glad to take them down. Say the word."

We took aim. I pulled the trigger and the Gunner on the roof fell. The shot rang out, alerting other to our presence. We have the advantage, however. They had no way of knowing where we are. We waited as more of them ran out to find the threat.

"This could take a while, you ready?"

"I was born ready. Let's take those bastards down."