Ian

Chapter 1

Run. That’s all he said. Run. From what, I asked? He wouldn’t say, but his eyes told me I was in danger.

~~~~~

I was standing in the field, crops all around me. Mr. Edwards, the owner of this farm, was taking a well deserved rest from working hard and watching the farm last night. He works so hard on this farm and he helps so many people but, I’m the only one who works for him now. All the others either left or died from the attacks. The attacks mostly were by raiders wanting the food and clean water, not caring about the people they kill. The last attack, though. The last attack was different. It was a slaughter. They, the things…

Synths.

Synthetic Humans. They came out of nowhere. All the others were working on the fields while I talked to Mr. Edwards inside his house about my upcoming trip to Goodneighbor. The sound of the screams caught our attention. Our heads snapped to the door to the fields. I wanted to check out side and walked a couple feet to do so but Mr. Edwards grabbed my forearm and dragged me to the basement that was under a large, ragged rug before I could do so. When the synths finished slaughtering​ everyone, they went into each house and building looking for something, someone. Then the synths finally went into Mr. Edwards house and into each room, together. Their steps fast and frantic. One pair was slow, calculated. They finally went into the room we were under. All the footsteps stopped and silence ensued.

"Ian, I know you're here. Come out." It was a voice unlike the broken synths. Calm, but cold.
I looked to Mr. Edwards. Who’s Ian? Why did they come here, kill everyone, and then start calling for an Ian?
We waited and waited, everything calm and quiet. Then, as soon as they came here, they left.
After awhile, when we knew they were gone, we went outside to look around. Outside the house was filled with ash and blood from the bodies left behind. I outright sobbed. I cried in fear, in mourning for the people we just lost, for the friends I, we, lost.

“Markus,” he said to me after seeing everything to be relatively safe, “Markus, everything is going to be okay.” Everything wasn’t okay. Everything is in ruins.

~~~~
I was so tired from running from who knows what. I found a secluded place filled with shadows and sat down, trying to calm my breathing. My head was pounding so much I could hardly see. As I calmed down I started to realize that I tasted iron and… acid. I grabbed my stomach and tried to hold it back, getting up and running a little ways away. Everything forced its way out and landed before me into a big, disgusting mess of vomit. I walked away after but didn’t get far before I fainted from exhaustion.

~~~~

Mr. Edwards was packing supplies and the goods we were going to sell onto the brahmin named Eliza and Beth. Once a month I went to Goodneighbor with Eliza and Beth to sell and buy supplies to keep the farm going, since he can't because of his back and old bones. Now with only two people, it will be more difficult to keep up our end of the deal.

“Remember,” he said, “you need to get copper for the wires to be able to connect with the engine and lights. Light bulbs would be great as well. More ammo and guns and parts for the guns, as they’re falling apart. Also, soap would do some good on you. Just a little reminder.” Mr. Edwards smiled while waving his hand in front of his nose, teasing as he always did.

“Yeah, and I’ll get you a hat because your balding head is beginning to turn into a ‘tato . Just a little reminder.” I laughed when he made an offended look, then he began to laugh as well. When we settled down I said my farewell and went off to Goodneighbor.

Goodneighbor was the slum of the Commonwealth but people still live there peacefully. The mayor, a ghoul name John Hancock, is, so far, the best leader there. I’ve never met the guy and don’t know much about him besides his love of chems and him being the mayor, but he sounds reasonable enough. The people adore him and do as he says, willingly of course. Goodneighbor doesn’t have much room for crops so Mr. Edwards and a couple other farms trade with each other.

Finally arriving to Goodneighbor, I see a long haired ginger enter through the entrance, along with a German shepherd at his side. I’ve never seen him before so obviously Finn will try to scam him. He’s a real piece of work, Finn is. When I entered Goodneighbor, all I saw was blood splattered around Finn, though it wasn’t the new guy in town that did the stabbing. It was Mayor Hancock. Apparently he had enough of Finn doing his scamming on the new people. What a sight. Bending down to wipe the blood off the knife, his coat flowing over his small body, he told some of the guards to grab Finn and dump him somewhere discreet.

The mayor turned and introduced himself and  apologized to the new guy, Vince, if I overheard correctly. He talked to Vine for a bit and then the mayor turned to me.

“Sorry you had to see that, brother,” Mayor Hancock shook my hand and smiled, “he just didn’t follow the already few rules. They're not that hard to follow, you know?" I nodded. "So, what do you have for us today?” I explained to him about our situation at the farm while saying we still had things to sell and trade, and he nodded for he understood.

“Damn synths. That’s sad to hear, Markus. I’m just glad that you and him made it out alive. Well, head on over to Daisy and do your thing. Happy to have you back.” Mayor Hancock patted my back while nodding his head at us, Vince and me, and walked over to Fahrenheit and entered the Old State House.

Before I went to Daisy, I introduced myself to Vince.

“Hello, name’s Markus. So what brings you to Goodneighbor, since you already know why I’m here, if you overheard I mean?”

“Hi, my name is Vince. I’m just looking around the Commonwealth to get a grip on things. I’m… new to the Commonwealth, sort of anyway.” He gave a toothy smile with dimples on the sides. His teeth were white and looked like military gravestones, unlike most people of the wastelands. “So I heard you live at a farm?"

“Yes, actually. Mr. Edwards runs it. We used to have a lot more people helping before the synths attacked. Now we’re just getting by. The Minutemen used to help defend or at least rebuild from an attack. Since Quincy, they haven’t been able to help others as they only have a few people left. I heard, though, that they have a new general and are working from ground up.” Vince gave another toothy smile, along with blushing cheeks.

“I’m the new General of the Minutemen, believe it or not. If you need help rebuilding, I’ll be happy to help.”

“Well, alright! That’s great to hear. I bet Mr. Edwards would be thrilled to finally have more help. Meet me here tomorrow at around dawn, is that okay?” Vince nodded his head along with that large smile of his. We said goodbye to each other and I went to Daisy’s store.