Fallout 4: AR

69. On the Road Again

As we walked along, I caught my partner occasionally glancing at me with a tiny smile teasing the corner of his lips. At first I merely smiled back, matching his agreeable mood, but eventually I just had to know what he was smiling about. "Your thoughts?"

"Don't mind this hike." He gestured to the relatively flat, easy path we were following, and the crisp blue sky overhead. It was cool still, perfect weather for traveling across the ruined city. "Helps, being in such good company." The smile widened to a broad grin as I felt my face heat up in response to his flirtatious addition. Chuckling, he bumped his shoulder against mine affectionately and resumed his not-quite-languid stroll.

We had reached about the halfway point between Diamond City and Goodneighbor when MacCready gestured for us to stop, moving towards a partially blocked alleyway. "Trouble up ahead, Boss," he warned.

I nodded, checking my rifle. "What do you see?"

He grumbled under his breath, peering through his scope at the junction farther down the street. It sounded a little like cursing without actually using any curse words. He frowned, gripping the scope tightly.

"MacCready?"

"Damn raiders have set up another one of their oh-so-clever toll roads." He leaned back against the wall to reattach his scope. "Every so often they block one of the caravan routes and demand payment to go past."

"That's ridiculous!" I scoffed. "Especially since it was the two of us who cleared the ferals from this stretch if I remember correctly."

He blinked in surprised remembrance. "It was, wasn't it?" Pulling his cap down to shade his eyes, he stretched out on his belly, bracing his sniper rifle on a chunk of blasted concrete. "This'll teach 'em to take credit for someone else's work."

I peered around the corner as subtly as I could while my partner set himself up to snipe. There were only a couple of figures standing near a barricade with an obvious stop bar leveled across the road. Both were holding long-barreled weapons, but were standing at ease. Slightly behind the bar lay a wooden pallet, haphazardly covering what used to be the manhole entrance to the sewers. I didn't see any shelters or obvious sleeping arrangements. I think they're using the sewers as a base of operations, and I'll also bet there's more than just the two I can see.

My stomach lurched slightly when I realized the raiders were humans. Ferals and Super Mutants were one thing, but humans, sentient Ghouls, and even the Gen 3 Synths (if indeed we had fought any) were something else. I shook my head, thinking hard. Crouching down, I tapped MacCready on the shoulder.

"What's up?" My partner raised his head.

"You said they demand a toll from travelers?"

He nodded, looking a little perplexed at my question. "Yeah. They don't let you pass otherwise."

"So they won't immediately fire on anyone who approaches." I looked up the street at the two raiders.

"No." MacCready shuffled a little to face me better. "Why?"

"I want to talk to them first."

"What?!" he hissed, sitting up to pin me with a gimlet stare. "Are you crazy?"

"Mac, those are people. I want to at least try to talk them out of this path. Maybe even get them to join a settlement or something." I could tell by the stony expression on his face that he thought I was nuts. "Call it my compassionate nature."

A quiet groan was my initial answer. "Those raiders set up that toll road because they're lazy. It's the easiest scam going- threaten travelers and traders for caps. They aren't going to want to work at farming." MacCready spoke confidently, and I believed him, but I couldn't just... murder people without a good reason.

I nodded. "You're right, but I still want to try." At his skeptically angry look, I added quickly. "Besides, did you see the pallet over the manhole? I'll bet you caps they've got a base down there."

"How many caps?" The sudden light in his eyes called forth a grin on my face.

I plucked a grenade from his belt, shouldering my rifle for the time being as I palmed the explosive, removing the butterfly clip. "Let's say... 100 caps if there's more of them inside the sewers. 150 if they have any goodies."

MacCready looked a little green at the amount, but nodded. "Deal. We pool our caps together anyway. What's the grenade for? I thought you couldn't throw."

"I can't. This is Plan B." At his inquisitive head tilt, I explained. "You see, I have the best gun in the Commonwealth backing me up in case things go south. But, not even he can hit a target that's underground." A sage nod and a thoughtful frown. "If we absolutely have to, you take out the two at the barrier, and I roll this little baby," and I mimed tossing the grenade, "into the manhole."

"Risky, Boss." He grabbed my free hand. "You could get hurt."

"You're right," I agreed, squeezing his hand affectionately. "I don't want to get hurt. But I also don't want to indiscriminately kill sentient people without proof of wrongdoing."

MacCready rolled his eyes. "There you go again, looking for the good in people that just isn't there. Boss, these are raiders. They set up a toll road in the middle of the caravan path through the city! They're extorting honest travelers! What other proof do you need?"

I sighed. Mac's right, I know he's right. But I can't help but think if these people were only offered a better way, they'd take it. "Promise you'll let me talk to them first? Then when things go south," and they inevitably will, "we can take them out with a clean conscience. Clear case of self-defense."

"I promise, angel." He reached up to caress my cheek. "I think this is a bad idea, but I have your back, okay?" he murmured quietly. "If nothing else, you can say you tried... and I can say 'I told you so' over and over again as we loot the place." He gave me a mischievous grin. "You do make a wonderful distraction for my sniping."

I leaned down and we pressed our foreheads together, a quick intimate gesture. "I love you, dear sniper of mine."

"Love you too, crazy hopeful lady." He settled back down into the scattered rubble of the alley, sighting his rifle on the barricade. "Just be careful. I don't think I could stand seeing you injured."