Crawled Out Through The Fallout

Chapter 3

We got back to the detective agency, and Ellie gave Nick a hug as soon as he walked in. I leaned against the doorframe, watching.

Ellie let go of Nick and walked up to me.

"Thank you for saving him. Here, take these."

She put a bundle of cloth and a hat in my arms. I looked at it, and saw it was a trenchcoat just like Nick's, and a hat like his. Wonderful, now we can be twins.

I thanked her, and Nick walked over to us.

"That was pretty brave of you. Any reason why you came to the agency?"

I nodded.

"Yes, I'm searching for Shaun, my son. I think the Institute has something to do with it."

He nodded slowly, and asked me questions about what I knew so far.

"A man pulled him away from my husband. He had a metal arm, and was bald. There were people in lab coats with him."

Nick looked at me, not blinking.

"I believe that the man you are describing is Kellogg. A ruthless killer and mercenary. He works with the Institute."

"Kellogg. I might have heard that name. Do you know where I can find him?"

"He has a house up on the hill. I'll take you there."

I nodded, and turned to Piper.

"This might take a while. Wait for me at Sanctuary."

Piper waved goodbye before heading out, back to my main settlement.

I gestured to Nick for him to lead the way.

He left the agency, and I followed him. He walked to the outskirts of Diamond City, and up a long ramp.

We walked to the house, and I crouched by the keyhole. I stood up, and looked at Nick.

"There's no way I can pick this."

He looked at it, and shook his head.

"I can't either. We can ask the mayor for a key. He has a copy of every house key in a safe in his office."

I nodded.

"Great, let's go then."

He lead me back down the ramp, and up a different ramp with numerous signs that read Mayor, with arrows. I stepped onto the elevator, and pushed the button. There was a slight jerk before it slowly raised us up several stories. I got off, and walked into the Mayor's house. I saw the Mayor, so I approached him. There was security everywhere, so I had to be careful.

"Mayor, I need a key to one of the houses. It's abandoned, and may hold a clue to find my son."

He shook his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I can't give someone a key to someone else's house. We respect privacy, even if they no longer reside here."

Well that didn't work. I thanked him anyway, and turned to leave. Then I saw the safe in the corner of the room. I crouched, and slowly walked to the safe, making sure not to be seen by the security. I picked the lock successfully, and took everything in the safe. I stood up, and walked out with Nick.

We got on the elevator to go down.

"He didn't give it to you."

"No, but that's alright."

He frowned.

"We can't get in with out that key."

I grinned, and dangled the key between my fingers, holding it in front of our faces.

"You mean this key?"

He gaped at me, then started to scold me.

"You didn't have to steal that. There was another way."

"Yeah, I tried that. Didn't work. My way worked just fine."

He closed his mouth, and didn't argue.

We walked back to Kellogg's house, and I opened the door with the key I stole. I pushed the creaky door open, and observed the room. It was strangely empty.

"There isn't much left in here."

Nick stated.

"There isn't."

I agreed with him.

I looked for clues, searching the walls, the floors, and the furniture. I found a lever under his desk, which I pulled.

A panel in the wall pivoted to reveal a secret room. I entered the room, and searched for clues.

There was a lot more stuff in this room than the other one. I noted the large number of beer bottles, cigars, and cigarettes. I picked up one of the cigars, and read the brand.

"San Francisco Sunlights. Not many people have this brand of cigars."

I handed it to Nick to examine, and he nodded in agreement.

"Dogmeat can track the scent, which will lead us to Kellogg. Come on, let's go to Sanctuary to get him."

We left Diamond City and walked back to Sanctuary Hills.