FO4 | Book 1: Bombs on Monday Morning ✔️

Ch 13: Bad Neighbors in Goodneighbor

"The Institute and their Synths!" yelled a drifter in the crowd.

"That's right! Who said that?" He searched the crowd and pointed at the woman who raised her hand. "You've earned yourself some Jet. The Institute! They're the real enemy! Not the Raiders, not the Super Mutants, not even those tools over in Diamond City."

"I don't know, Hancock," yelled the guard again with sarcasm. "I'd sure like to give McDonough a kick in the ass!"

"Hey, we all know I have my own personal beef with that lardhead, but stay focused." He adjusted his hat on his head and grinned. "Now, I want everyone to keep the Institute in mind. When someone starts acting funny. When family starts pushing you away for no reason. We all know who's behind that kind of shit. And the only way to stop it is to stick together. They can't control us if we're not afraid! Now, who's scared of the Institute!"

"Not us!" yelled the crowd.

"And which town in the Commonwealth should the Institute not fuck with?!"

"Goodneighbor!"

"And who's in charge of Goodneighbor?!"

"Hancock! Of the People, for the People!"

Hancock raised his fist high in the air as the people cheered for him. Then he walked back into the State House as their praise continued from below.

My curiosity was piqued. It was clear Hancock hated the Institute, but I wondered just how much he knew about them.

I walked around the State House and into the side door. Once inside, a guard grumbled to me, "You're lucky the mayor likes outsiders," putting me on edge. The other guards looked none too happy about my presence. As I made my way up the spiral staircase in the middle of the building, I thought of how ironic it was that the mayor of Goodneighbor was nicer than his people, but Diamond City's people were nicer than their mayor.

Inside the room at the top of the stairs, I could hear Hancock and someone else having a conversation. I quickly recognized the other voice as I rounded the corner and peeked into the room. It was the woman with red hair that commented to me after the incident with Finn.

The inside of the room consisted of two couches facing each other with a low coffee table int he center, a work desk at the back of the room with papers strewn all over, a loveseat at the side of the doorway, and a few filing cabinets. The woman and Hancock sat across from each other on the couches.

"I'm thinking the Super Mutants are getting too friendly. Maybe we should round up a crew and thin them out?" he suggested.

She shook her head. "Too aggressive. They will have a home-ground advantage, plus our fighters are disorganized. When they aren't defending their homes, discipline and morale plummet."

"So, what? We just turtle up? That's not my style..."

"The only thing that's 'not your style' is losing, Hancock. Trust me. We keep the game a defensive. A simple castle strategy will draw the mutants to us."

He rubbed his chin. "And we can knock them off slowly... I like it..."

"And another thing... I could have handled Finn, you know."

"Yeah, but it's better if people know I can still get my hands dirty. Besides, it wasn't personal. No need to torture the guy."

"You always keep me from having fun."

I knocked on the door, a light tap.

The woman's face turned instantly sour, but Mayor Hancock stood from the couch and welcomed me with open arms.