The Streets of Boston - Chapter 13: Abandoned

  • November 4, 2287

    Well it took us some time and a bit of improvisation but thanks to Sturges’ ingenuity we have connected the Pride’s purifier to Sanctuary.

    I’ll be honest the long line of garden hoses that serpent down the hill to the one faucet we managed to get working is a ridiculous sight, but it works. Sure they needed some patching up but the town was full of them. It actually looked like the town had been left mostly intact as far as scavengers were concerned, damn there was even a functional MrHandy robot. You know, one of those general atomics monstrosities that normally don’t have a clue the war happened at all. This one however was aware of what had happened, said the family he served had been ushered into the Vault and that his old mistress’ lover had emerged from the vault alive just a bit over two weeks ago.

    The bastard had apparently taken the woman’s husband’s place in the program, but seeing all the other dwellers died, he should probably be glad. At least he didn’t suffocate in a glass box on ice. I hope something got to him in the end though, the bastard.

    Marcy and Murphy have even been able to find some gourd and melon plants on the island, so they now have some food as well. All that remains to do is to prepare our gear and give some instructions to the soldiers of the Pride and we’ll be off to the nearby settlements.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off

    November 5, 2287

    The Abernathy farmstead would be our first stop. Preston had served in Concord before we were “constrained” to pull our forces away from the area to protect the areas around Bunker Hill and Diamond city. The council had claimed it was because we were spread out too thin, but Hollis and the rest of our compagnie have always known it was just because the bastards in the bigger towns paid more.

    And so far the results had been catastrophic: Lexington overrun by Ghouls and Raiders, Concord had become a deathclaw nest and raiders had desecrated the halls of the museum. I didn’t even want to imagine what else could have happened around here.

    It was time we took back the area. If Abernathy was ok with it, I would like to have Sturges set up a radio beacon atop their home. According to Preston they had built their home around one of those big power relay towers, if that was true it would make for a great place set up a beacon. And we could really use some more men with us, there had to be more survivors like us right? People who hadn’t turned to raids and the gunners?

    Preston and I have prepared our gear, and have come up with a route: We’ll be crossing the bridge to the red rocket truck station we came across on the way here, then travel west to the farm. From there we plan on following the river to the lake near the Sunshine Tidings Co-op, according to Preston there used to be a farming settlement over there. Apparently they were just lunatics, what pre-war citizens would call hippies, but perhaps they can be convinced of joining our fold.

    If by that time our supplies hadn’t run out we will cross back through Concord and try to reach Tenpines Bluff, another farm to the east. Anyway, we were going to head out tomorrow.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off

    November 6, 2287

    Our journey took a whole different turn to what I was expecting today.

    When we arrived at the farm, we found Blake, his wife and his youngest daughter outside. They were silent as graves if not for their sounds of mourning. As we approached it became clear they were burying someone on a small buff behind their house. I didn’t know what to do, but Preston quickly accelerated his pace.

    The daughter was the first to notice Preston as he quickly approached the grave site. She turned to face him and started crying, her already watery eyes turning into waterfalls. It was all Preston needed to know and he collapsed in place. I believe I heard the name “Mary” escape his lips before he turned silent.

    Blake and his wife immediately turned to him and the woman collapsed as she tried to comfort Preston along with her daughter. Blake just stood there clearly incapable of dealing with the situation. After a few minutes it was clear comforting wouldn’t help and Blake stepped in, pushing the woman away from Preston and offering him his hand. Preston accepted and stood up, receiving a pat in the back from Blake as they stood there silently.

    Blake said something to the woman and he and Preston turned back to the grave, whereas the woman approached me. I had been standing at the back of the farmstead, gawking awkwardly at the whole situation, just as clueless as Blake appeared just minutes ago.

    They brought me inside and sat me down with a glass of water as we waited for Blake and Preston to come in. It took around an hour. But eventually both men came back in, Preston’s eyes were still red from the tears but he didn’t go into any further detail and I didn’t ask. A man is allowed his griefs. They both settled at the table. And Blake spoke:

    “Preston explained your situation, and we have much to discuss, let’s talk.”

    It took a while but after changing the candles and refueling the lanterns once or twice, we had ourselves an agreement, damn that man knows how to bargain.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off.

    November 7, 2287

    Before we went on to the co-op, Blake allowed us to take up the surroundings of the farmstead.

    I left Preston at the farm while I went out to scout the locations Blake wanted us to clear. First of there was a small cabin in the woods, apparently it used to belong to an old government instance, it had been deserted for centuries and to be honest; at this point it wasn’t good for anything but scrap. Blake and I had agreed we would help him take it apart in the hopes that they could use the wood for some extra barns. There wasn’t much there except for a little wildlife; nothing the ol’laser musket couldn’t deal with.

    The next location was the Wicked-Shipping Yard just on the on the other side of the stream. According to Blake a small flock of ghouls occupied the place, and after a short investigation it became clear he was right. I spoke to Preston about it after I came back and he believes we should take care of it now, while it’s still a small group, and I agree. Those ferals aren’t much of a problem in isolated numbers but when a big group sweeps in you can almost guarantee you lost the territory for the next few years at least. I still wonder how we’re going to solve the Lexington situation. But that’s a matter for another day.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off

    November 8, 2287

    Well the shipping yard is cleared for now. I can see why Blake would want the place cleared though. Most of the crates here seem to have remained unopened, sealed before the war, it is clear you would need specific tools to undo it. But I think the protectron that we found there might be able to help with that, once we manage to get it to work. I need to make a note to send Sturges this way, or one of the Pride’s scribes, I’m sure they could work around the security settings on this thing.

    In the meantime Preston still hasn’t mentioned why he was so distraught by Mary’s death. I suspect he might have been involved with here when he was stationed in Concord, but the Abernathies weren’t willing to say anything either. I guess I’ll just have to wait for him to process it.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off

    November 10, 2287

    Another hard hit.

    The co-op was abandoned. Or that’s what it looked like when we approached. It didn’t take long to notice the dead ferals littered around. And some of the remains of the co-ops former inhabitants. Whatever was left of them anyway.

    I ordered Preston to search the cabins that longed the west side of the central barn and I took the eastern ones. I cleared out another few ghouls, and found what seemed to have been the medical bay, yet again no survivors, when Preston yelled that he had found something.

    His eyes were watering again, but this time not from the tears, not just in any case. The smell was horrific and the sight even more so.

    When the horde passed through the town, most of the inhabitants had managed to take shelter in one of the cabins and barricade the entrance. Sadly it seems the horde became aware of their presence and went rampant. I don’t know how they did it but they managed to break through the back of the cabin.

    No survivors.

    Captain Eric Asher, signing off.

Comments

10 Comments   |   SpookyBorn2021 likes this.
  • Mirric
    Mirric   ·  June 25, 2016
    I personally love evil bastards.
  • Jeffrey
    Jeffrey   ·  June 25, 2016
    He would have to not murder a child. And torture her older sister before lighting her house on fire. I mean cmon, how else do you come to respect a man? :p
  • Teineeva
    Teineeva   ·  June 25, 2016
    @Wing, thank you. It is nice to see some people warm up to Asher. As to Preston's relationship, well it's something I added to give the whole "I know the abernathies" story a bit more fleshing out.
    @Jeffrey, really what does a man have to do to make...  more
  • The Wing
    The Wing   ·  June 25, 2016
    Ah! It's great to see good old Asher again. I wonder about Preston's relationship with Mary, though. That is an interesting detail...
  • Jeffrey
    Jeffrey   ·  June 24, 2016
    Loved this! Your writing is absolutely superb so far :) keep it up! Still miss Simon though ;p
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 24, 2016
    Yet again Teineeva you delivered an awesome chapter.
    The garden hoses is one of those little moments which gives everything that sense of realism and desperation. Not just against enemies but for survival as well.
  • Ajani
    Ajani   ·  June 24, 2016
    Great chapter, teineeva. I really enjoyed this one.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  June 24, 2016
    Great job, Teineeva. I'm going to have to sit down and reread this again though, from the beginning and perhaps read a bit about fallout four. You captured Preston's grief very well. 
  • Teineeva
    Teineeva   ·  June 24, 2016
    Well I'm not sure if Shaun was actually in any way related to Vault 111 in SoB, seeing we know who the husband most likely was. He wouldn't have wanted to participate in the Vault experiments anyway though.
    And yeah the minutemen have a lot of work to do.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  June 24, 2016
    Teineeva! You SOB! Right under my nose! xD

    And damn. He most likely took her husband's place. Now that is backstory I never thought about. It makes so much sense now, great way how to create evil character that doesn't care about Shaun.
    ...  more