Jacob Burns and the Order of the Algorithm #Wattys2017

Chapter 17: A Eulogy for Jacob Burns

Hancock had to be crazy to use one of them, that or really, really pissed off...

"So there, fella, you wanna to cooperate now?" The man said.

"Grrr," he growled his reluctant assent and got to his feet, docile once more.

"Now then, why don't you help our good friend here to his feet so we can get moving?" The mutant nodded and before I knew it, he had me by the ankles and my head was dangling inches above the ground.

"No, I meant... ah, forget it. Just carry him inside, you idiot." The mutant grunted in what I could only assume was another 'yes' and we began moving once again. As we headed back down the road, I alone heard his gruff whisper.

"I not Idiot... I Strong..."

************

The mutant called 'Strong' carried me like that the rest of the way, until at last, a towering steeple came into view. The large brick building sat in shambles, like the bones of a great beast with its maw open wide, ready to swallow me whole. In an instant, I knew where we were. This was none other than Old North Church... Its grand history had spanned the centuries, being the oldest building in the country and the site of the fabled lanterns that had once warned Paul Revere of the coming British. Looking at it now, it was an absolute miracle it was still standing after all these years, but it wasn't the antiquated tales of tyrannical invasions from far-off lands that concerned me. No, this wasn't just some cheap tourist stop anymore, this... this was the site of a massacre.

This was where the Railroad had ended.

Inside, the place was a mess, a shell of its former self. The once beautiful building had been long left to the ravages of the Wasteland, and every inch of the room showed it. As we entered, the mutant sidestepped a large pipe organ that sat smashed to pieces on the ground, no doubt having fallen through the moldy floorboards long ago. Likewise, a great gaping hole grinned at us from the ceiling above, the pale morning light flooding into the room and filling it with an eerie glow amidst a haze of dust and debris. As we walked down the aisle, the air heavy with the stench of death and decay, I suddenly realized how much like gravestones the pews looked half-buried in the wreckage...

At last, we stopped before the altar and the great brute dropped me on my head without a hint of warning. I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could only to find myself completely surrounded. Watchmen lined the balconies above, whooping and hollering as they waited for the show to begin. Wild, raging, and drunk, they were armed to the hilt as they cried out for blood... My blood. As I gazed back towards the entrance, I saw Fahrenheit, that icy bitch, with a cigarette in her mouth and a smile on her face as she took up her position in the back. No way out, no escape.

Suddenly, a slow clap began to echo throughout the room, cutting through the tension like a sharp knife. Before I knew what was happening, the entire hall had exploded into cheers and applause as Hancock appeared out of the shadows, that smug yellow-toothed smile on his face as he slowly ascended the up steps to the podium. With all the flair one could expect from the ringleader of this two-cent carnival, he raised his hands high above his head and an excited hush fell over the room.

"Friends! Brothers! Freaks of the Wasteland!" Hancock cried out like a preacher at the pulpit, "We are gathered here in the holy light of Fuck-All to honor and mourn the soon-to-be-departed, Jacob Burns. Murderer, traitor, coward... and the last dumb asshole to ever screw me over," he added as he raised up a flask, letting out a hearty laugh that echoed throughout the room.

"So then, what can be said about dear Mr. Burns, eh?" Hancock continued, that smile of his growing wider by the second, "Why, practically a legend in his own right, the man ensured his place in infamy the day he single-handedly brought down the great airship Prydwen, damning his own brothers to die engulfed in flame. Not content with this shame, he had a particular penchant for showing up where he wasn't wanted, until he finally found himself cast out of every vestige of civilization in the Commonwealth, left to die out in the unforgiving wastes alone."