[X] Stay in Sanctuary for the night. None of the buildings provide the greatest of comfort, and they're going to have to take turns keeping watch to prevent themselves from being ambushed by raiders, but they'll make the journey to Concord beneath the protection of that hateful yet welcomed daystar.
[X] Stay in Sanctuary for the night. None of the buildings provide the greatest of comfort, and they're going to have to take turns keeping watch to prevent themselves from being ambushed by raiders, but they'll make the journey to Concord beneath the protection of that hateful yet welcomed daystar.
-[X] one of the other houses in Sancuary had a root cellar, that should hide you from hostiles and the weather if it hasn't collapsed.
[X] Stay in Sanctuary for the night. None of the buildings provide the greatest of comfort, and they're going to have to take turns keeping watch to prevent themselves from being ambushed by raiders, but they'll make the journey to Concord beneath the protection of that hateful yet welcomed daystar.
-[X] one of the other houses in Sancuary had a root cellar, that should hide you from hostiles and the weather if it hasn't collapsed.
[X] Stay in Sanctuary for the night. None of the buildings provide the greatest of comfort, and they're going to have to take turns keeping watch to prevent themselves from being ambushed by raiders, but they'll make the journey to Concord beneath the protection of that hateful yet welcomed daystar.
[X] Stay in Sanctuary for the night. None of the buildings provide the greatest of comfort, and they're going to have to take turns keeping watch to prevent themselves from being ambushed by raiders, but they'll make the journey to Concord beneath the protection of that hateful yet welcomed daystar.
One nit-pick: The only sloshy red liquid that can be found with any commonality is a blood bag, which wouldn't be terribly useful under the current circumstances. RadAway is an orange intravenous solution that bonds to radiation and purges from the body while also acting as an extreme diuretic. Rad-X, on the other hand, is a pill that fortifies the body to increase it's resistance to radiation.
tl;dr: RadAway - Orange liquid that removes radiation. Rad-X - Pill that increases radiation resistance.
Suffice to say that we're more interested in using imagery that appeals to the kind of aesthetic we're after than we are in sticking entirely to canon depictions of objects.
It's also frustratingly difficult to justify why a pre-war stash would consist of just four Rad-X pills, rather than an entire bottle full of them. Yet I'm not feeling so merciful that I want to give everyone a proper stash of medical supplies without even visiting the Clinic.
It didn't do that for me. Most annoying was going through stimpacks untill I gave up and left Dogmeat while I ran away. He always seemed to get out ok.
Dogmeat got me a cryo-gun and let me upgrade all my base stats up to 10 at the start of the game. That forgives a lot of sins.
Suffice to say that we're more interested in using imagery that appeals to the kind of aesthetic we're after than we are in sticking entirely to canon depictions of objects.
It's also frustratingly difficult to justify why a pre-war stash would consist of just four Rad-X pills, rather than an entire bottle full of them. Yet I'm not feeling so merciful that I want to give everyone a proper stash of medical supplies without even visiting the Clinic.
Nate's leg bounced with frustration as he slumped down on the ruined counter. "I... I just want to be moving. To go after him," he said softly.
"I know," Nora agreed, looking out into the darkness. From the window she could see patches of light in the landscape below, but she didn't think they were the light of civilisation. They were too... green. Areas of countryside that were still so irradiated that they glowed at night - that was her guess. "But Nate. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm still stiff from the freezing process. I... I'm not sure I'm in any state for a cross-country hike right now."
The man nearly snarled in frustration, but slumped, knowing she was right. "Fudge. You're right. I know you are. It's just..."
"I know," she agreed, hugging him close. "But we'll be no good for him if we're puking up our guts because we had to eat some irradiated food or something. We don't even know if there are any animals alive out there for us to hunt. And if they are, they might be hostile and I'm not sure I'm in any state to fight."
Nate crossed his arms grumpily. "Dang it all," he muttered. "Well. Right. We don't want them to stumble on us, and we want to be moving before first light. When they're all asleep, we'll grab some food and then get the heck out of this place. It isn't our home any more."
"No," she agreed. "It's not." She tugged on one sleeve. "I think I saw the Johnson's dog house was still intact," she said. "After all, it was made of that heat-resistant plastic and their brute was one of those big breeds. Maybe it'd be better to sleep there. In case they check the ruined buildings on a cycle or something. And it's closer to the edge of the place, so if we have to make a break for it, we'll have less far to run."
It was intact and the Geiger counter in the pipboys just clicked at the background level when they tested it. It was mostly empty. Its former occupant never really left. But once they pushed the ancient, moss-covered bones into one corner, there was just enough room for two people.
"Good boy, Fido," Nate said dryly, patting the dog skull.
----
"Well, looks like we slept in the doghouse last night. Now to check that off the Dad's Bucket List."
"You. Quiet."
Concord had never seemed to be this far away, back before the nukes had dropped. It had been a half-hour drive, forty minutes on a bad day. Far enough away that the daily trip to and from work had been annoying, yes, but it wasn't like they'd been making the trip to New York on a weekly basis.
On foot, it was more like a six-hour walk, even when they cut away from the highway to take the most direct route possible. And under the hot sun, those six hours could feel more like twelve.
Just two hours into the walk, both Nate and Nora were already sweating heavily in their hiking outfits. They'd decided against putting their ballistic vests on during the walk, figuring that they'd be too stifling. The added risk of being shot wouldn't matter much if they collapsed dead of heatstroke before they even made it to Concord.
Nate wiped the sweat from his brow for what must have been the twentieth time during their hike, scowling unpleasantly at the sheen of perspiration left on his hand.
"I told you we should have brought water with us," he said, anger faintly bleeding into the tired words. "'No, Nate, we can't risk alerting the bandits!' Fuck the bandits."
"Fudge," Nora corrected him sharply. "Fudge the bandits. Oh, and shut up."
He sneered at her, but it quickly became too much effort to maintain it, and he let it slip away into a mopey expression again.
"This is going to be a long walk," he sighed.
"And it will be longer if you don't move your legs!" Nora snapped irritably.
----
Concord had definitely seen better days, by the time they got there. Most of the windows were boarded up - assuming there were any window-esque features left to board - and numerous walls were blown out. The bricks weren't bleached and flaking, though, which ruled out another nuclear strike. Any damage that wasn't worn by time and wear and tear looked recent, and repair attempts had already begun, although the most recent repairs appeared to be months old at best.
"So much for bustling Concord, right?" Nate scoffed in disbelief.
"There should be something left," Nora replied. She looked about the ruined street, and tried to get a feel for where this place once was, so that she could reference the map of Concord she drew in her mind centuries ago, though for her it was only relative days since she came to this town.
They began their search through the ruins of the once-busy city, never quite the size of Boston but still far more than the sleepy town of Sanctuary Hills. It was difficult going. While the streets were the same, signs had long since fallen down and rusted, and many of the landmarks the two had used to navigate the city way back when had likely been gone for more than a century.
It didn't take long before Nate's keen eyes picked out the silhouette of a man above them.
"Man above us," he said quietly, not taking his eyes off the road in front of them. Nora's gaze jerked upwards before she caught herself and stared ahead, glaring at the ruins of an old Super Duper Mart.
"Friendly, or another bandit?" she replied, keeping her voice quiet but unable to hide the frustration burning in her.
He gently shook his head, turning to peer into the ruins of the first floor of a small apartment building. "I don't know," he said grimly. "We should-"
"Hey!"
Both of them swivelled their heads to the left, where the voice had hailed them from. Nate immediately took a step back, his hand falling to the butt of the rifle he was holding in his hands.
Perhaps it wasn't the wisest move, but when he saw someone with what appeared to be some kind of energy weapon pointing at him, he couldn't help his reactions.
"Hello," Nora called back, turning to eye Nate off. He scowled, but didn't raise the rifle. No use in engaging them just yet- he would bet any amount of money that he was faster than them, anyway. "Will you identify yourself?" Nora had no room to judge him, anyway. He could see her hand moving down to where her 10mm pistol was holstered.
"Michael," the man replied, stepping forwards out of the shade of the building he'd been standing in. The sun lit up his uniform a bit, showing off a blue vest and plain brown pants. "I'm with the Minutemen here in Concord. Care to tell me your names and why you're here?"
Eyeing him distrustfully, Nora nonetheless answered him, if a bit stiffly, "I'm Nora, and my husband is Nate. We're headed to Boston."
Michael smiled at them, a lopsided smile that hit Nate with a sudden blast of nostalgia for his old friend from the Army, Pete. "Nice to meet you, Nate and Nora. Concord's a bit of a mess at the moment, so it might be difficult to get you through to Boston, but I can take you to our leader. He can tell you the safest way through, and I might even be able to escort you through. It'd be nice to have someone who isn't a raider around, anyway."
Nate and Nora turned to each other, each questioning the other with their eyes. Minutemen hadn't been around since the War of Independence, but who knew what had happened in the time they'd been asleep?
[] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[] Decline Michael's offer and attempt to make their own way through Concord. The mention of raiders unsettled the two of them, but they had both trained in the Army. They may be able to make their own way through the city, and even find a terminal along the way without having to go all the way to Boston.
[] Decline Michael's offer and cut their way around Concord, avoiding the town entirely. They'd hopefully avoid encountering any raiders along the way, but being out in the wilderness for days as they travelled to Boston would necessitate hunting local creatures, and their supply of Rad-X would likely disappear even if they didn't get lost along the way.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just haveto hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just haveto hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
[X] Accept Michael's offer. The talk of Concord being unsafe and his mention of raiders had the two unsettled, but having an escort through should help- and their leader might have seen whoever took Shaun, or know something about it, which would be worth it anyway. Nate would just have to hope that Nora's hero complex wouldn't kick in.
