A few minutes later the man returned and let Adam through, having him drop off all his weapons at the entrance for safety. When he got into the office Mr. Cantelli was sitting in his chair looking a little less than pleased.
"This is a very bad time, however I'm told it is urgent?" He said, clearly not in the mood for small talk today.
"Yes, Mr. Cantelli." Adam said as he approached and sat down in the chair. "Famine, it's on the move." Adam said bluntly. Mr. Cantelli raised an eyebrow.
"That hoard of ferals? They are on the move?" He asked.
"Yes, I was informed by someone I knew that they were and then me and my partner went to go check it out, he is a ghoul so he was able to get a lot closer than I was and see from the top of a tall building. They are coming to the center of Chicago, and we have about a week, maybe 2." Adam said seriously. Mr. Cantelli remained silent for a good long while, fingers folded into each other as he contemplated the scenario.
"I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Mr. Baxter." He said with a cold tone.
"I have a plan, Mr. Cantelli, all hope is not lost." Adam interjected, sensing Mr. Cantelli was about to dismiss him and make his own plans.
"Oh?" He said, raising an eyebrow again and sitting up a bit.
"I plan on gathering all the powers of Chicago together, and mounting a united defense to stop the horde that is going to sweep through the area. That is why I have come to you today."
"What, so you can ask me to fight?" He chuckled dryly.
"No. So I can cash in my favor from you so you can mobilize some people to help me form a defense against them." Mr. Cantelli frowned.
"When I gave you a favor I figured you would use it for something selfish." He said, his mind still turning while he spoke.
"I had considered it, but desperate times and all that." Adam returned. Mr. Cantelli remained silent for a long few moments before he looked Adam in the eyes.
"What kind of people do you want?" He asked seriously.
"As many as you can gather." Adam said back. "The more manpower we throw at this problem the better." Mr. Cantelli leaned back in his chair and then swiveled it around so he was facing away from Adam for a moment.
"Its going to take some time to get forces together, and unless you really do manage to bring other forces to bear there is no telling if the people I call will be enough. It would probably just be better if the people I call were to just defend Midway." He said with a contemplative tone.
"That is why I'm using my favor. I plan to stop them before they can get to the population centers." Mr. Cantelli spun back around on his chair.
"How are you planning on getting in contact with the other groups of note?"
"I have a car now, I'm sure a man with your connections already knew about it, but I will use it to race to the other settlements and get their help too." Silence again filled the room before Mr. Cantelli sighed.
"Alright, I will do what I can. I owe you a favor I will follow through on it." He grinned. "Where is this little battle taking place?" He asked. Adam paused.
"I don't know yet, but there is a location further east that I know of that will be a good location to gather our forces and plan." Mr. Cantelli nodded as Adam showed him a location on his pip-boy.
Adam was picking a location not too far from his Vault for the meeting location. It was far enough away that the Vault's entrance should still be secret, but close enough that he can use it as a base and staging area. In the worst case scenario that the vault was discovered, the true value of the vault was not that it was hidden, it was the giant ass solid metal door that sat at the entrance making it impossible for anyone who doesn't have a pip-boy to get inside. It was a risk, but right now, more than anything, he needed to make use of every advantage he had. Besides, there was a good chance he was not going to keep the vault a secret, there was no need. And if he ever wanted to have shipments delivered right to the base, from Chuck, for example, he'd need to have it be made somewhat public. All of this, however, was thoughts and problems for future him. He needed to focus on the here and now.
"I'll see that you get your manpower, I don't know yet what cards I can pull but I know a few mercenaries laid up for work, plus I'm sure the Mayor will want to contribute too. You pull together the others and this just might be doable." Adam let off a sigh of relief.
"Thank you Mr. Cantelli." Adam smiled.
"Well don't thank me yet, you still need to live through this mess you are about to create."
"I know. And I still have a lot of work to do." Adam said before he stood up to leave. However before he did Mr. Cantelli stood up too and extended his hand.
"You may not be the kind of man I normally work with, hell, you may not be the kind of man I normally see, but you are a good man, Mr. Baxter. I do hope I'll get the chance to see you again." Mr. Cantelli said with a tone of soft admiration. Adam chuckled and then turned around and took the hand.
"Thank you. With any luck the next time you see me we will be throwing a victory parade." He grinned and then walked out.
Adam left the area after taking back his weapons and returned outside where everyone was waiting.
"Well that's one down, now I just got to get the others."
"Salvatore explained the situation to us, are you sure you want to throw yourself into danger, handsome?" Eve said, sounding unsure herself.
"Yes. Chicago will fall unless the people work together to stop this threat." Adam said back.
"I am with you." Deccanus said resolutely, without a shred of hesitation. Adam chuckled and smiled at him.
"Thank you Deccanus, I knew I could count on you." Adam then looked at the others. "Things are going to get worse before they get better, I am going to be going to the most notable groups I can think of and plead my case. With any luck we will have an army. If we are unlucky, well…" He paused. "I would not expect any of you to stick around for what might be a battle where death is likely. But know that if we don't step up everyone will be in danger. I will be throwing myself into the fray to do what I can. And I would love to have everyone's help."
"Pearl not know what human is talking about, but Pearl thinks smash is easy, if Pearl smash help, then Pearl help. Human not so bad." Pearl said with poetic insight as always.
"Well~ I'm not a fan of throwing myself into losing battles but if it's for a handsome man like you~" She mimed blowing a kiss to Adam. "I suppose I can be convinced to go."
"Rae is willing to follow the sergeant anywhere! If you want to, we will go to battle!"
"Buddy awaiting orders." Buddy said, still with broken legs as he sat on the ground. The other protectron was much quieter, just standing still and not speaking at all since it was waiting for clear orders.
Adam's eyes fell onto Salvatore, the only one who had not yet spoken up. He sighed loudly and then scratched his head.
"Alright alright, I'm not going to pussy out here. If you all are willing to throw down your lives for some poor smucks you don't know I can't exactly turn tail and run now can I? I will help, for whatever good that does us." He said with a sigh. Adam smiled at him.
"Thank you all." Adam said to the group at large. "We will have a lot of work to do. Places and people I need to visit, things to prepare, we might need to split up for a bit while we prepare ourselves." Adam looked around for a moment.
"I originally planned to head to the Vault as my next destination but that is going to have to be put on hold. However the Vault is going to be our meeting point, so whatever you have to do to prepare for this battle, meet me there in… a week. Any longer and we might start already being overwhelmed. He turned to Rae.
"Rae, I want you to go to the Vault location I will give you through my pip-boy lead the protectron and carry Buddy there and wait there until I arrive, protect the entrance from anything that tries to fight you and if anyone asks where I am, tell them that I will be coming soon."
"Understood sir!" Rae said with a salute as they picked up Buddy again and began to roll off.
"Protectron, follow the robobrain from this moment until I give you an order not to do so." He ordered the construction protectron.
"Complying with orders!" It returned with a mechanical tone as it began to follow after Rae who was walking away slowly.
"Now, who is coming with me?" Adam grinned as he looked at his group.