Fallout 4: AR

59. Conflicted

It had been one of the most awkward evenings I had ever lived through. As soon as Sturges and MacCready had laid eyes on each other, the tension crackled almost audibly. MacCready was too perceptive to not have guessed the topic of discussion, especially when Sturges hemmed and hawed his way through an awkward on-the-spot invitation to set the two of us up in the spare bedroom... with no linen... or pillows... or even a bedside table to hold my glasses. Knowing the rest of the settlement was full up, I had no other real choice but to agree with as much grace as I could muster.

Dinner was a brief reprieve from the emotional strain. MacCready and I retreated to the very back corner of the communal dining hall, lingering mutely over our meals of grilled radstag and stewed vegetables. When I tried to express thanks to my partner for securing such a tasty main course, he had shrugged indifferently, focusing on his tray. Nettled by his behavior, I slowed down to try and savor the rare meal that didn't cause me nausea. We sat there all evening, for all the world looking like two companions enjoying each others' company, yet locked in our own private mental fugues. When the hall closed for the night, we made our silent way back to Sturges' home, arriving to find a small pile of necessities piled on the freshly dusted bed for our use, and the door to the other bedroom shut tight.

Even when he's embarrassed all to hell, Sturges is still a true gentleman, I thought restlessly while I made the bed. MacCready dropped off our packs from the living room and went to use the facilities in the bathroom. Neither of us deserve his hospitality or his help. And yet, he's still cordial enough to open his home. He even had a damn suggestion of where I could find a power source! When the tension of MacCready's arrival had lessened enough to allow for conversation, I explained the latest developments in our search, forcing myself to ignore the bitter sulking of my companion.

"Huh," Sturges had remarked from the second couch, scratching his head thoughtfully. "Well, if it's power you need, have you tried looking for an old vault? Those things woulda had to have had a lot of power to keep people alive and safe after the bombs fell."

I had heard them mentioned many times in my travels, but was finally able to get the information I needed. Vaults were an invention by a company called "Vault-Tec" and were supposedly exclusive underground dwellings created to shield the residents inside and their descendants from the destruction of a nuclear holocaust.

"Are you crazy?" MacCready had burst out, finally breaking his brooding silence. "Vaults are insane! I grew up next to Vault 87 back in the day. Those are some seriously bad memories I wish I could forget."

Unfortunately, it appeared that almost all of the Vaults and their residents were victims of unknown and usually dangerous experiments created by the Vault-Tec scientists and whatever organizations they may have been working with. For example, the Vault MacCready had grown up next to was the source of a Super Mutant scourge plaguing the Capital Wasteland. Mac had been very reluctant to talk about his past, and only grudgingly told his story when directly pressed to do so.

The conversation hadn't improved much from that point. The best knowledge I could glean from my reluctant informants was that a vault might be a good place to look for a reliable source of substantial power, and that there was a vault somewhere to the south, and west of Diamond City, that occasionally traded with outsiders. MacCready was blatantly against the idea, and even Sturges advised caution.

"Vault dwellers are an odd bunch, even the 'normal' ones. If you do go look for them, just be careful. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to you." Sturges had held up his hands defensively when MacCready whipped his head around to glare at the mechanic. "Relax, MacCready. I worry about my friends, okay?"

By the time I finished my own evening ablutions in the bathroom, MacCready had already gotten in the bed, facing the far wall. He barely acknowledged when I slipped in next to him, but clutched my hand almost absently to his bony chest when I spooned into his back, tucking my arm around his warm body. "I'm sorry, RJ. I had no idea he felt that way... it just... I froze up!" I wailed quietly, muffling the sound into MacCready's shoulder blade as we lay stiffly together on the spare bed. I could feel his quickened heartbeat and the tension in his body through the palm splayed against his torso.