The morning had that washed out look. A damaged building sat behind them. They'd used the third floor last night because it only had one stairwell that wasn't collapsed, and because the roof had a clear view. Now it was ten in the morning, and they were about to start moving again. Paladin Kells stood at the busted window, watching the street for a full minute.
"Alright, time to move." They filed out, three sets of power armor first, T-60. Voices came through speakers. The Knights moved between them, rifles ready, heads turning. The Scribe went in the middle, close enough to be grabbed if something went wrong. Scribe Larkin's pack looked like it weighed as much as she did, with a radio rig strapped to the top.
Paladin Kells took point, stepping into the street. Paladin Rourke, with a big laser rifle locked across his chest, moved to the left side. Paladin Shaw covered the right. Knights Mercer and Doyle stayed back, rifles up, eyes on windows, doors, anything that could be used as cover to attack them. The last to step out was Larkin, and the moment her boots hit the sidewalk, she flicked her eyes up.
Crows? Three of them are on a sagging power line, two more on the skeleton of a streetlight. She watched them a second too long. Knight Mercer saw it and didn't look away from the street. "Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You didnt have to, they're just birds." She snorted under her breath and tightened her grip on her strap. "I'm allowed to look at birds."
"Sure," Mercer said. "Just don't start shooting them." Larkin opened her mouth, then closed it. She had been thinking it. The way they watched, maybe she was just unnerved about this place that every small thing screamed danger to her. Paladin Kells didn't even glance up. "Eyes forward." The street was cracked open in places, weeds punching through the ground. They moved past a bus with the windows blown out. Past a storefront where mannequins lay in pieces on a dusty tile floor.
Then the radio on Larkin's pack crackled. It was the local air. A man's voice, "—and that was 'Atom Bomb Baby' on Diamond City Radio—". Paladin Shaw made a noise that wasn't quite a laugh. "That's what passes for morale out here?" Larkin reached back and turned the volume down a hair. "It's a civilian station. They'll broadcast whatever they think keeps people listening."
Knight Doyle, the quieter of the two Knights, finally spoke. "It's not even good." Mercer huffed. "You want 'good', you go back south and find Three Dog. That guy could sell you a funeral and make you thank him." Shaw's helmet tilted a little. "Three Dog would have a field day here." Larkin, though, couldn't stop herself. "He'd still be better than this." The radio voice kept going in the background, like it didn't care who was alive to hear it. "Remember, folks, stay safe out there." Mercer muttered, "I'm already safer with it off." She just said, "Leave it low. I want to know if it changes. If someone starts screaming about 'Brotherhood' on the air, I'd like a warning."
Larkin nodded and kept it at a level where it was more low background noise. They turned down a side street where the buildings leaned closer together. The sound of their steps bounced off the brick, and every clank of armor felt louder. Kells lifted a fist, and everyone froze. Kells angled his helmet toward a dark alley between two buildings. One of those alleys that looked like it ended in nothing but trash. A sound came from it. A scraping and dragging noise as something heavy moved, then paused.
Larkin held her breath without thinking as they lifted their weapon. Mercer shifted his rifle a fraction. Paladin Rourke stepped forward one slow step, laser rifle steady. Another scrape, then a low, wet snarl. Shaw's voice came through her speaker. "Mongrels."
"Doyle," he said. "Left window. Mercer, right. Rourke with me." Larkin stayed where she was as she wasn't stupid enough to improvise when it was their job to keep her safe. Rourke and Kells eased toward the mouth of the alley. A dog-shaped lunged out. It leapt toward Kells. Kells didn't flinch and lifted his armored forearm, and the mongrel hit metal with a dull thud, scrabbling for purchase. Its teeth snapped against the plating.
Rourke fired once a red beam cut through the alley, and the mongrel dropped, smoking, twitching. Two more came right behind it. Mercer's rifle cracked twice. One dog spun and collapsed. The third tried to run past them, right for the softer center of the formation. Larkin's mouth went dry as she stepped forward, raised her laser pistol, and fired point-blank. The dog's head snapped back, and it folded, falling back before more shots were fired into it.
Larkin looked up again without meaning to. More of them had gathered, now. At least ten, spread across a roofline, a power line, the lip of a broken balcony. Knight Mercer noticed and actually grinned behind his helmet, or at least his voice sounded like it. "See? Just normal birds."
"They weren't here two minutes ago," Larkin said. "They're always here," Mercer replied. "You just don't notice until now." Kells stepped over the nearest carcass. His boot left a dark smear on the pavement. "Let's keep moving," he ordered. "We don't stop here." Shaw's helmet turned slightly toward the crows. "Let them eat it. Keeps them off us and our scribe won't be losing her mind." He joked.
They started walking again. Behind them, a crow dropped from the line and landed near the carcass with a soft hop. Another followed. Then another. Black shapes are bending their heads down. Larkin forced her eyes forward. The airship was twelve days out. They needed to find a good stop for the ship to dock at. If they picked a bad approach, the airship would take fire. If they missed something dangerous, it wouldn't just kill them. It would kill men and women who weren't even here yet.
That was the weight in her pack. The responsibility of this mission. They reached a broader road. A shattered highway ramp rose to their left, half-collapsed, leading to nowhere. A sign hung from it by one bolt. CAMBRIDGE in chipped letters. Knight Doyle spoke again, voice rough like he didn't use it much. "That direction?"
Kells nodded once. "We cut through but don't take the main road." Rourke's speaker hissed softly with his breath. "Are we still doing the marker drop?"
"We are," Kells said. Larkin felt that little pull in her stomach. "For Paladin Danse group."
"Danse and his team," Kells corrected. "They're a week behind, but they're moving light. They'll cover ground fast if they don't get pinned." Mercer said, "He's bringing a Knight and a Scribe, right?"
"Knight Rhys. Scribe Haylen," Kells confirmed. Shaw made a small sound of approval. "Haylen's solid. She'll keep the comms from turning into a mess, plus having some friendlys around wouldn't be a bad thing." Larkin didn't say it, but she liked hearing that. She'd heard of Haylen. People talked about her before, and she just hoped she was as good as they said. They moved into an area where the buildings thinned out, and trees pushed in.
The sidewalk buckled around roots. A mailbox sat sideways, stuffed with dirt and dead leaves. Shaw slowed and pointed without speaking. A set of footprints in mud. Fresh enough to be crisp. Not boots, but more like feet. Smaller. Uneven. Like someone walked with a limp. Kells crouched slightly. "Human-like," he said. Mercer's rifle stayed up. "How fresh?" Kells paused. "Within the day."
Larkin swallowed. "Do we follow?" Kells rose. "No." Mercer's voice held a tiny edge of disappointment. "Could be intel."
"It could be a trap as well, or ferals," Kells replied. "We're here to do our job." The radio murmured low in the background. "And if you're heading toward Lexington today," Mercer muttered, "This guy never shuts up." Shaw said, "At least he's consistent." They came up on a small intersection. The street sign was bent, but readable. A rusted delivery truck sat half on the curb, back doors open.
Paladin Rourke lifted a hand slightly. "Hold." They stopped again. The truck's interior was shadowed. Empty, mostly. But there was movement inside a shape shifted, then another. A feral ghoul slid out of the truck. Its skin looked like dried meat. Its mouth opened, and it made a sound that always turned stomachs. A second ghoul followed, then a third. Larkin felt the hair on her arms lift under her sleeve. Mercer's rifle snapped up, sight aligned. "We need to keep moving. If there are three, there are more around." Rourke's laser rifle hummed, ready.
Shaw fired first, one red line, one ghoul dropped as they all started moving away. The last thing they needed was a horde on them. Mercer took the second with a quick burst. Rourke got the third. It spun, fell, and got back up, more shot's rang out as they reached a low concrete building with a door that had been forced in. Kells stopped in front of it. "We can hide in here for a bit." As they all moved in, killing the last ghoul on their ass, but the noise from more around began to be heard, so they blocked the door and took cover. Larkin's stomach tightened for a different reason now. She shrugged her pack down and unlatched the side pouch. Pulled out a small metal case and a strip of bright paint, Brotherhood orange.
Mercer glanced around. "We got time?" Kells checked the street from a window as a horde of feral ghouls rushed down the street. "Two minutes." He whispered. Larkin knelt by the door and pressed her fingers to the nail heads. She slid a flat tool under the edge and pried, slow, careful. The board popped free with a soft crack. She didn't open the door all the way, just enough to slip the case inside.
Inside smelled like mold and cold damp. She slid the case in, then pushed the board back into place, and then she painted. Just a small mark on the brick near the frame, an angled line with a short cross. She stood and wiped paint off her glove. Mercer nodded once. "Danse will see it."
"Move before that horde turns around and comes back this way." They kept to the side streets. They crossed through a small park where the grass had grown tall and uneven. Larkin's feet hurt, but she didn't mention it. Nobody else did either. They reached a spot where the city opened up again, and a taller building rose ahead, an old communications office, half its windows intact, a satellite dish slumped on the roof.
Kells pointed. "That's our next stop; we can hold up in there after clearing it." Larkin's attention sharpened. "If the dish is still connected…It doesn't have to be perfect," she continued, more to herself now. "It just has to be high enough. Clean enough. I can rig a burst relay that pings the airship."
They approached the building with slow caution just to be safe. They didn't walk right up the steps. They checked the windows. They checked the doorframe for tripwires and listened but heard nothing. The door was locked. Shaw stepped forward and put her armored hand on the door handle and she applied pressure. The handle snapped, allowing you to see the inside to more easly force it open. The door cracked open enough to reveal darkness inside. "Inside," Kells said. The lobby was wrecked. A reception desk flipped over. Old terminals smashed and papers were scattered, a few skeletions laid near their desks.
There was a staircase to the right and Mercer's voice came low. "You hear that?" Larkin listened. Nothing but their own movement. Then a faint sound, higher up. A clatter. Like something small knocked something over. Kells lifted his fist. Everyone stopped in place and listened. A second clatter then a whispery little sound. Shaw spoke softly. "Just critters." Kells waited one more beat, then lowered his hand. "Alright lets head up, for now." And so they climbed. The stairs creaked under their weight.
The second floor was offices space, Small cubicles and a few skeletons slumped in chairs. Not much here so they moved to the third floor, it was more of the same. By the time they hit the fourth floor, the light had changed. Sun poured in through a cracked wall, the air was warmer here.
Rourke's speaker hissed. "Roof access should be around here somewhere." Larkin nodded, already reaching for her tools. They soon found the roof door, It was chained. Mercer looked at Kells and Kells looked at Rourke who stepped forward and put his armored hands on the chain. He yanked on both ends, the links groaned, then snapped. After giving the others a look he pushed the door outward, and sunlight hit them full.
Larkin's walked toward it the dish fast and knelt by the base and wiped grime off a panel. Her fingers found wiring that she could connect to her radio system "Okay," she murmured. Mercer stood a few feet back, watching the skyline. "We got a view." Shaw looked out, too. "Good lets get a few of us set up on each corner while another watches the stairs."
Kells moved to the roof edge and scanned with his helmet optics. From here, the Commonwealth stretched out, Low buildings, strips of road. Green swallowing concrete and a haze in the distance. Larkin set her pack down and started pulling out equipment. A portable antenna, a small power cell and a hand-crank backup. She spoke while she worked, "I'll set a beacon pattern, With this dish it should boost the signal, by how much im not fully sure. But hopefully enough so that we can get in contact with the others."
Kells didn't comment. He just stood guard. For a while, it was just the sound of Larkin's tools clicking and the distant murmur of the radio still tucked in her pack, barely audible. Minutes passed and thankfully nothing had happened. She connected the last cable, then leaned back and looked at the dish. "Alright," she said softly. "Let's see if you still work as intended."
She flipped a switch and a tiny light blinked on. Larkin's mouth went dry. "Okay. you still work good." Kells stepped closer. "You have a signal?"
"Not to the airship at least not yet since its still too far out." She tapped a dial, eyes focused. "But I can run a test burst to see if our relays are still active." She moved her fingers over the panel of her radio and waited. For a while nothing happened. Then her receiver clicked, and a tone came back. Weak, but there. Larkin let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. "Good, seems our relays havent been messed with." she whispered.
Kells nodded once. "Log it." She did, grabbed her holo tape, She would have to go inside to grab one of those working computers to do it, So one of the paladins followed her inside.