บท 217: Don't butcher the messenger...

After Dr Hildern left Afton had tried to leave his bed, only to be glared at by both his companions. Apparently they wanted to him to rest for a day or two to prevent another bout of 'Bleeding' from occurring. Obviously he couldn't just tell them what i actually was so he'd reluctantly agreed, no point in completely ignoring them for something so trivial.

In the meantime, Afton started playing around with his Pipboy, more specifically the map and his new Perk [Explorer]. Before him was everything of note inside and outside the Mojave, every single residence was named under their owners, whether it was meant to be kept secret or not.

Of course, the millions of ruined houses weren't individually named, only those that currently had owners or held significance of some kind had unique names. This helped somewhat to find specific places on the overwhelmingly saturated map.

Unfortunately, the Pipboy map didn't come with a search function, nor did it have any way to assist the user in finding anything. So, he was left with a map chock-full of useless information and places.

...

The only silver lining was the fact unique locations usually had unique icons that he could somewhat make out in the chaos. Vaults for instance, their gear-logo was immediately identifiable which allowed him to quickly locate every Vault in the Mojave, these being Vault 3, 11, 19, 22, and 34.

This would help a lot when he finally decided to track done those ventilation components and return to his family... Of course, only if they'd have him back. He wondered what they currently thought of him, whether or not he had been 'tainted' by the wasteland, or if he was just a straight and simple traitor.

Whatever the case, he'd do his best to alleviate their concerns... Though, if they tried to force him back into the same situation he had been in before he left, he'd leave for good. There was no point hiding in the Bunker when there were so many opportunities to be had on the surface.

Shaking his head at the thoughts of his family, he focussed on the various Vaults on the map. These would not just hold ventilation components, but would likely have intricate parts that could be used for cybernetics. It might take a while to acquire such machinery but it'd return his arm to him, something he wouldn't scoff at.

He continued making and breaking plans until he drifted off to sleep, the comfortable bed beneath him somehow seeming unfamiliar from his time in the wastes...

Suddenly, he was awakened, his eyes darting open as he scanned his surroundings... The airport terminal being almost entirely empty apart from the NCR guards protecting the place.

He tried to sit up but stopped when he felt something crinkle under his remaining hand... Picking it up and looking at it, he discovered a rather badly written note obviously meant for him. It read :

"Meet in Freeside Fiend Sewer. L"

...

"Fiend Sewer?" Afton muttered to himself, wondering where it could mean... The only place he could think of would be the Freeside Sewer that the Fiends had managed to break into and were subsequently trapped. Last he was down there he'd seen an army of Mr Houses robots repairing it...

If they truly were asking him to go to that place then they had to be someone who knew about the involvement he and his companions had with killing the Fiends there... Though, Afton sincerely doubted it was Karl or Boone who'd left the message.

Another thing he was puzzled about was who it was from, he'd not met anyone who could be put with 'L' that would do something like this...

Regardless, he now had a choice... Whether he went to meet with whoever it was or not. He could already imagine the angry faces the Boone and Karl would show him if he just up and left without any notice at all. Plus, Afton himself wasn't exactly in top fighting form, was this just a ploy to capture him?

No. He wouldn't sit around and wait for shit to happen, he'd go and see what this person wanted and decide how to deal with them there and then. Afton quickly sits up and pulls the curtains to conceal him from the rest of the terminal. Walking over to Dr Kemp's vacant desk and tearing a piece off of one of his documents before writing a small message for his companions...

Afton nods to himself as he places it on top of his pillow, it read, "BRB" and had Afton's best attempt at drawing a Vault Boy with a peace sign... Yeah, he wasn't any good at drawing so it just looked like a shoddy stick figure.

He throws off his patient gown and starts putting on his equipment that'd been left beside his bed. Of course, he only grabbed his armour, weapons, drugs, ammo, and other essential equipment. Leaving his bag, Anti-Material rifle, and other heavy or needed things behind.

Afton expected to be back in the morning or tomorrow at least, plus, he'd need to sneak out of here, so carrying an excess of equipment would be counter-intuitive.

Honestly, it was like the NCR guards weren't even paying attention. They didn't bat an eye when he snuck out one of the shattered terminal windows and climbed over one of Camp McCarren's walls... That, or his 100 Sneak Skill had something to do with it.

Not to mention how difficult it actually was to climb a wall with only one arm... At least the guards on the wall didn't hear him grunting and spluttering in an effort to pull himself up with only his left hand.