Chapter 17: On the Trail

"Last call everyone!" Gob yelled out from behind the bar. "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here."

Marcus lifted his head up off the bar and looked around. There was no one in the place except for him, Gob, and Nova, who was sitting on the bar stool next to him with her head on his shoulder. His own head was pounding, and he was tempted to punch the ghoul for yelling so loud in the obviously empty bar. Instead, he lifted his empty shot glass. "How bout one more...Gob?" he slurred.

The ghoul continued to clean the empty glasses and put them away. "I think you've had enough, kid. In fact, I think you had enough about four hours ago."

Marcus, being careful not to disturb Nova, looked down at his PIPBOY, which showed that it was 2:50 am. Marcus let out a belch. "Fuck!"

It was true, the time had gotten away from him. He remembered leaving Vault 101 for the last time at around 8:00 that night, headed straight for Moriarty's, and immediately began doing shots of whiskey. Then rum. Then Vodka. Then some of the people started buying him beers...'Jesus!' he thought as he placed his head back down on the bar.

As if reading his mind, Gob leaned forward. "Take my advise, kid. A light weight like you should never mix drinks. Pick one poison and stick with that for the rest of the night."

Marcus groaned. "Don't worry...I'm never drinking again for as long as I live."

Gob chuckled. "Hu, if I had a cap for every time I heard that, I'd be able to buy this place."

Marcus felt Nova stir and the red haired prostitute was faring no better then he was. He remembered Nova sitting down and asking him if he wanted to quote: "rent a room for the night". As heart broken as he was, Marcus wasn't interested in that kind of company, and instead paid Nova to sit at the bar and listen to him spill his guts about Amata, (leaving out the part that he volunteered to be exiled, of course). To her credit, Nova was a great listener, and after a while she began to open up to him about the lost loves in her life. They talked for hours like old friends, and the drinks kept flowing. After a while Marcus couldn't tell if Nova was actually interested in his stories, or if she was just playing the part for the money. Or perhaps she was just happy to have one night where she didn't have to fuck anybody. Either way, he didn't care.

The GNR radio station was on, and a song named "One for my Baby", was being sung by a man named Frank Sinatra. It was about a man in a bar late at night, trying to forget about the girl he'd lost. The irony was not lost on Marcus as he sat there listening to the sad tune. About halfway through the song, he couldn't take it any more. "I think...it's time to go." he sighed.

Nova opened her eyes and lifted her head up. "Yeah...it'a about that time."

Marcus carefully stood up, and Nova kissed him on the cheek. "Take care of yourself, hon."

Marcus nodded and began heading for the door, but he bumped into Moriarty instead.

"Well, well, if it ain't the hero of the Wasteland." The gangster sneered. "Boy, if your darling fans could see ya' now."

Marcus struggled to stand up straight and faced Moriarty. "You know what...Moriarty...I may fall into the gutter from time to time...but you fucking live in it!"

He turned to leave, but Moriarty stepped in front of him. "Oh no, lade, I don't live in the gutter...I run the bloody thing." He leaned closer to Marcus. "And don't you forget it."

Marcus chuckled and staggered out of the bar, where Charon was waiting for him. "CHARON!" Marcus yelled as he slapped the ghoul on the shoulder. "How the hell are ya?"

Charon turned his head, as the smell of Marcus' breath nearly knocked him over. "I'm fine, but you look like hell."

Marcus smiled and dismissively waved his hand. "Nonsense...I'm fine!"

He then passed out in Charon's arms.

The next morning, (or in Marcus' case, afternoon), the Lone Wanderer staggered into the bathroom, and after throwing up the contents of his stomach, he sat down and tried to piece together the night before. The last thing he remembered was talking to Nova and Gob at the bar, and the next thing he knew he was waking up in his house. Since this was his first hangover, Marcus couldn't understand why there were so many drunks in the world. After sitting on the couch for what seemed like quite a while, he forced himself to get undressed and began cleaning himself up as best he could in the bathroom. It seemed like forever since he'd had a real shower, and he was tempted to travel all the way to Underworld just to have one. Once he was refreshed, Marcus donned his Ranger armor and made his way to the Brass Lantern, where Charon was eating lunch.

"Well, well - it lives!" Charon said as Marcus slumped down on the stool to his right. The ghoul pushed a small bowl in front of him. "Here, I ordered you some noodles."

Marcus gaged. "God no!"

Charon insisted. "You have to eat; it will absorb the booze that's still in your stomach."

Reluctantly, Marcus slowly began to eat, and Jenny Stahl handed him a cup of water. "Rough night?" she asked.

Marcus forced down a mouthful of noodles. "Rough life."

Jenny nodded. "Can't say I blame ya for hittin' the sauce after what happened."

Marcus looked up. "What are talking about?"

Jenny answered by turning on the radio, and the familiar voice of Three Dog came through the speakers. "We interrupt our regularly scheduled program for some news. Who says you can't go home again, huh? The kid from Vault 101 did, but it looks like the prodigal son's return didn't last all that long. He was seen coming OUT of the vault, AGAIN, and headed God knows where. Don't let that revolving door hit you on the ass on the way out..."

Jenny turned off the radio, and Marcus pushed the bowl of noodles away in frustration. As much as he liked Three Dog, there were times he wanted to punch the man in the face. Jenny decided that now was the time to leave, and she headed for the back. Charon put his hand on Marcus' shoulder. "Sorry about that kid; I guess it's the price of being famous. So...are you ready to head to Vault 112?"

It didn't take long for Marcus to decide. "Yeah...let's get the hell out of here."

Marcus was silent as he and Charon drove into the wilderness towards Vault 112. According to his PIPBOY's old world map, the only garage located west of Evergreen Mills was a place called Smith and Casey's, located in the mountains about fifty miles from Megaton. The terrain was tough, but the GMC battle truck's four-wheel drive was more then adequate to over come it. After about thirty minutes of awkward silence, Charon decided to ask the question that had been on his mind since yesterday. "So what happened down there?"

Marcus kept his eyes straight ahead as he drove. "It doesn't matter; that part of my life is over. Time to move on."

Figuring that was the best answer he was going to get, Charon decided to drop it. After all, he of all people understood that sometimes a man didn't feel like talking. They drove for a while longer, and were less then ten miles from Evergreen Mills, when Charon saw a hulking creature appear from a cave about a hundred yards in front of them. "Stop! STOP!" the ghoul yelled as he practically jerked the wheel from Marcus.

"What is it?"

Charon pointed straight ahead, and it was there that Marcus saw it. The creature stood on two massive legs, and was at least nine feet tall, with scales covering it's entire body. Two large horns protruded from the top of it's head, and the creature's claws were the largest that he'd ever seen. It was by far, the most hideous abomination that Marcus had ever seen; and that was saying a lot. "What. The Fuck. Is that?"

"They're called Deathclaws; for obvious reasons. Thankfully they generally avoid the D.C. area, because they are the deadliest creatures in the Wasteland. A few years ago I saw one tear three Super Mutant Masters apart like they were nothing."

Marcus stared at the creature, and was both in awe and horrified by it's appearance. "Where did they come from?"

"No one really knows. Some people think they're another mutation, others think they're the result of some military experiment before the Great War. Some people have even said that when the bombs fell, Hell was cracked open, and these things were set loose upon the Earth."

After seeing this abomination, Marcus suspected that the answer was all of the above. "How hard are they to be killed?"

Then, as if it had heard him, the creature stood up straight and stared right at them. The load roar that followed signaled to Marcus and Charon that the creature was going to attack.

"You're about to find out." Charon said. He scrambled to climb through the truck's back window. "Reverse, and step on it!"

Marcus saw the Deathclaw begin to charge, and the speed of the massive creature stunned him. Putting the truck in reverse, he pushed down at the accelerator just as Charon opened up with the .50 caliber machine gun. Bullets slammed into the Deathclaw causing him to howl in pain, but the beast continued to close the distance. Charon shifted his aim and tried to shoot the creature's legs out from under him. A few rounds hit the right leg, and for a moment the Deathclaw stumbled, but got right back up and was now only a few yards away.

Charon fired a few more burst before the machine gun went dry, and that's when the Deathclaw pounced. The creature suddenly leaped into the air and landed ontop of the truck's hood.

"HOLY FUCK!" Marcus screamed as he stared at the massive teeth and fangs of the Deathclaw. The creature used his massive claws to rip the steel fence covering the windshield away as if it was made of paper. Marcus had to think fast, and he yelled at Charon to hold onto something. As the creature raised his claws to bring them down on the windshield, Marcus jerked the wheel violently to the left, causing the Deathclaw to loose his footing and was thrown off the truck's hood. Marcus stopped the truck, and watched as the creature began to slowly get up. Putting the vehicle in drive, Marcus gunned the accelerator and drove straight at the Deathclaw. The impact knocked the creature into the air and it landed on the ground with a loud thud. Marcus backed the truck up about twenty feet, grabbed his 40mm grenade launcher on the seat, and stepped out. The Deathclaw was clearly wounded, but it was still trying to get back up. Activating his VATS, Marcus aimed for the creature's torso and fired three grenades, and the Deathclaw was finally put down for good.

Charon jumped out of the truck bed and stood next to Marcus. "Looks like we got'em."

Marcus lowered his weapon and let out a sigh of relief. "I fucking hope so. You weren't lying; these things are hard to kill."

"Yeah, we should get move'n before we run into anymore."

Having no argument from Marcus, the two continued west towards Vault 112.

Evergreen Mills' size and location made it the perfect Raider's haven. Tucked inside a notch surrounded by mountains and ledges, there was only one way in or out, and from what Marcus could see through the sniper rifles' scope, it was mined and heavily guarded. "It'll take time for us to go around without being seen," Marcus began, "but I think that's our best course of action."

Charon nodded. "I agree."

They were about to get back in their truck when Marcus spotted an armed caravan approaching the entrance. It didn't take him long to realize that it was a caravan of Raiders, and from the looks of things, they were returning with captured loot. But it wasn't the loot that made Marcus' blood boil, it was what they had with the loot: two men and two women bound with ropes.

Marcus handed the rifle to Charon who observed the captives being loaded up into a small rail car. A Raider standing guard on a catwalk above the entrance pulled a lever, and the cart began to move and entered the Mill. "Poor bastards; they're as good as dead."

Marcus clenched his fist. "We have to help them."

Charon put down the rifle and sighed. "Marcus, I know you want to help every stray puppy in the Wasteland, but even you have limits."

"I'm aware of that; it's not like I was planning on charging in there guns blazing. We'll wait till night fall and scout the place from the cliffs. If it's too dangerous, we'll move on."

Charon reluctantly agreed. "Alright. We should stash the truck in the brush over there and head out on foot."

When night fell Marcus and Charon made their way up on the cliffs that overlooked the Evergreen Mills facility. The massive yard was littered with rusted, derailed rail cars and shacks made of sheet metal. Just off to the left of the entrance, Marcus could see the cage where the captives were being held. Directly opposite from their position was the main building, which was built directly into the mountain. There were about ten Raiders loitering around in the yard, three on the catwalk over looking the entrance, and who knows how many more were inside. But what shocked both travelers was the large, electrified cage in the center of the yard that contained a Super Mutant Behmouth.

"How in the hell did they manage to capture that thing?" Marcus asked.

Charon shook his head. "No idea. I don't see how we're going to be able to do this. Even if we could sneak in there and free the captives, the only way we can get them out would be to use that rail car through the mine field. No way we could do that without being seen."

Marcus looked out over the heavily armed camp and sighed in defeat. "You might be ri..."

A scream from the captives holding cage caught their attention, and they observed one of the prisoners, a male, being dragged out of the cage and brought onto a catwalk that was over the Behmouth's holding pen. The man was begging for mercy, and the other captives were screaming and crying. The Raiders laughed and taunted the man before throwing him over the rail and into the cage. A loud crack was heard when the man hit the ground, and Marcus knew that he'd broken his leg. The doomed prisoner let out a blood curtailing scream as he was crushed and ripped apart by the massive Super Mutant. The entire scene sickened Marcus, but it also gave him an idea. An idea so sinister a grin appeared on the Lone Wanderers face.

"Uh-oh," Charon said, "when you grin like that it usually means shit is about to hit the fan."

The grin never left Marcus' face as he turned to look at this friend. Shit was about to hit the fan.

It was sometime after midnight when most of the Raiders had decided to turn in for the night, leaving only a handful on guard duty. Still perched in the same position on the cliffs, Marcus propped the .308 sniper rifle on a ledge and prepared to fire. He knew he had only one chance to make this shot, otherwise the whole plan would fall apart before it could begin. He took a few deep breaths, look through the scope, and activated his VATS. The number above his target read 76% - not as good as he would like, but at least it was more then fifty. He held his breath and squeezed the trigger. The round sailed through the air and struck the generator that powered the electric fence surrounding the Behmouth. The sound of the rifle echoed through the entire valley, and many of the Raiders stirred awake. They were so busy trying to see where the gunshot had come from, that they didn't notice the generator spark and sputter until it eventually died. The Behmouth on the other hand did notice, and the beast crashed through the gate with a loud roar. For a moment the Raiders stood in shock as the creature they had caged and tormented for weeks was now charging at them, hell bent on revenge. Some of the Raiders chose to fight, others chose to flee, but either way it didn't matter. The massive creature tore into his captors without mercy, tearing them limb from limb, crushing them with his massive feet, or throwing them around like rag dolls. Marcus watched as the creature picked up a large piece of the iron rail road track, and began swinging it like a club; crushing the unfortunate Raiders caught in it's path to death.

Charon waited in the darkness on the cliff just above the catwalk that overlooked the entrance to Evergreen Mills. When the Behmouth began it's rampage inside the canyon, two of the three guards ran inside to help, leaving only one to stand watch. As soon as they were out of sight, Charon leapt down on the catwalk, taking the guard by surprise. Charon disarmed the guard and snapped his neck before the Raider had time to scream. Now he had to wait for Marcus, who was moving as quickly as he could over the cliffs and back to the entrance. Marcus was grateful that he had left most of his heavy gear in the truck, because trying to make his way through the terrain turned out to be harder then he thought. At one point he nearly lost his footing, and banged his knee pretty bad against a rock. Fighting to ignore the pain, Marcus finally made it to the rail car and climbed inside. Charon hit the switch, and the car went inside.

By now more Raiders armed with heavy weapons came running out of the facility, determined to put the Behmouth down. But the giant Super Mutant had no intention of going out easy, and more Raiders fell to it's rampage. Marcus took full advantage of the chaos and made his way to the captives cage. The remaining two women and one man were cowering in the corner when Marcus appeared.

"Everyone get down!" He drew his sawed-off shotgun and blasted the cage's lock off. At first the captives didn't move. "Come with me if you want to live!"

The captives quickly began to file out, and Marcus smiled inwardly. 'I always wanted to say that', he thought. As the captives began loading into the rail car, one of the Raiders saw what was happening, and despite the rampaging Behmouth, turned his attention on the escaping prisoners. "Hey, the meat's getting away!"

Another Raider, a female, saw the escape in progress, and both opened fire just as Marcus jumped into the rail car. As bullets bounced off the rusted metal, Charon pulled the lever and car began to exit the valley. Marcus waited a few more seconds and popped up with the sniper rifle, targeted the two Raiders with his VATS, and fired. The first round landed between the eyes of the first Raider, blowing the back of his head out. The other shot when wide and took the left ear off the female, causing her to drop her gun and scream. A roar from behind got her attention, and the wounded Raider turned around just as the Behmouth's iron club come smashing down on top of her.

Marcus let out a deep breath and slumped back down. The rail the car soon came to a stop, and the escaped prisoners followed Marcus to his truck; where Charon was already waiting for them. As the three Wastelanders climbed into the trucks bed, Charon noticed Marcus limping. "Are you alright?"

Marcus winced as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. "I'm fine; let's just get out of here before we have every Raider in the Wasteland on our ass."

Charon nodded, and the ghoul started the engine.

After putting some distance between them and Evergreen Mills, the group found a trading caravan making it's way east toward D.C. that agreed to take the three former captives to Megaton. After many thank you's and goodbyes, the two heroes continued west toward their destination. They were halfway between Evergreen Mills and the garage when Marcus spotted a strange metal sphere, with antenna's protruding out of it, floating near some trees. "Hey Charon, let's check that out."

Charon parked the truck near the strange object, and they both got out. As they got closer, the sphere began to speak.

"Let's talk about government, shall we? Or, more specifically, YOUR government, dear America - the Enclave. Just who is the Enclave? Why, now, that's simple. The Enclave is you, America. The Enclave is your sister, your aunt, your friend, your neighbor. And, well, yes... the Enclave is me, as well. Haha aha. As your President, it's my responsibility to preside over our great democracy. So, as your President, I am the voice, I am the heart and soul of the Enclave. That is to say, I am the voice, heart, and soul... of America. But only together, TOGETHER, can we hope to reach our full potential. The way we were before the war. Whole. Beautiful. Powerful. One Enclave. One America. Now... and forever."

The sphere began to float away, with the melody of Yankee Doodle playing in it's wake. Marcus stared at the strange object until it was out of sight, and he tried to fathom what he had just heard. "I thought the American government was destroyed when the bombs fell."

"It was; those are just some pre-war propaganda broadcast on a loop. The garage is just a few miles ahead, we should keep moving."

From the outside, Smith and Casey's looked like any other garage in the Capital. When Marcus and Charon entered, the only living things inside were a few mole rats that they quickly dispatched. After searching for any sign of a secret door leading to the Vault, the only thing they found was an old broken computer terminal and empty parts lockers.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Charon asked.

Marcus slammed a locker door shut. "If my father said the entrance to the Vault is in this garage, then it's got to be here somewhere."

"Okay, okay. There must be a switch or button somewhere that opens it."

They continued to look, but to no avail. In frustration, Marcus slumped down in a broken chair and stared at the wall. He began having his own doubts about his father's information. 'Have I come this far only to hit a dead end?' As he pondered this, Marcus noticed a small notch in the wall he was staring at and went over to investigate. After brushing away the dirt and debris, he realized it was a USB port. He looked around and didn't see anything nearby that it could've been connected to. 'Why are you here?' he thought. Deciding to take a chance, he inserted his PIPBOY's wireless plug into the port and held his breath. A moment later, the words "Access Granted, welcome Vault-Tec personnel" flashed across the PIPBOY's screen. Suddenly the entire garage began to shake, and a large platform in the floor opened up; revealing stairs heading down. Marcus was so excited he nearly forgot to remove the USB plug, and both he and Charon quickly made their way down into the Vault.

When they made inside, they were greeted by a Robo-Brain, a robot that had a living human brain that served as it's AI. To Marcus it looked like an oversized trashcan on treads, with two large hose-like arms. The Robot approached him and began to speak. "Welcome to Vault 112, resident! According to sensors, you have arrived 202.3 years behind schedule. Please re-dress into your Vault-Tec issued Vault suit before proceeding. If you have misplaced your suit, there are replacements in the locker to your right. Once dressed, please proceed down the stairs to the main floor so that you may enter your assigned Tranquility Lounger"

Marcus thought that the request was peculiar, but if it would help him to see his father...

"Okay, thank you." After dressing into a Vault 112 jumpsuit, he followed the robot into the Vault's atrium, where a massive computer was sitting in the center of the room. Surrounding the computer were twelve human-sized pods, all of which were connected to the computer. As Marcus and Charon began to investigate this mysterious sight, they realized that eleven of these pods contained people.

"Are they dead?" Charon asked.

Marcus studied the monitors attached to the pods, and they reminded him of the heart monitors in his father's clinic. "No, they're alive. It looks like they're in some kind of suspended animation."

Charon was confused. "You mean like they're hibernating?"

Marcus nodded. "In a way yes. According to these monitors these people have been here for over two-hundred years." He walked over to the computer's main terminal and plugged in his PIPBOY. "This whole thing doesn't make any sense. They should've woken up by now...unless..."

Charon could hear the dread in his voice. "Unless what?"

Marcus began to type on his touch screen. "I discovered that Vault-Tec used many of the Vaults to conduct human experiments without the residence knowledge." He finally managed to access the files detailing the computer's basic function. "According to this the pods not only keep the residents alive, but they also act as a virtual reality simulator."

Charon stared at the pods. "So while they're bodies are asleep, they're minds are in some virtual world?"

Marcus nodded as he admired the amazing technology that was in front of him. This kind of thing was only seen in the scifi movies he watched when he was a kid. It still didn't explain why they had not woken up by now, and the computer was not allowing him to access anything about the Vault's mission. It did give a list of names of the residents in the pods - all but one of them. Pod number 11 was listed as: unknown.

Marcus' heart skipped a beat. 'Could it be?' He ran over to the pod and looked through the glass. The middle-aged man looked peaceful as he slept, and although his eyes were covered by a visor, there was no mistaking the number 101 on the jumpsuit's left sleeve. "Dad!"

Marcus began pounding on the glass in a vain attempt to wake him up. Realizing the futility of it, he ran back over to the main terminal and tried to access the computers program. Each time he tried, the words "Access Denied" appeared, and Marcus frantically tried to find some kind of manual release on the pods. There was none.

"Damn it!" He cursed. Marcus frantically tried to think of some way he could get his father out of there. For a moment he thought about destroying the main computer, but that would most likely kill his father and everyone else in the simulator. Having no other option, Marcus decided on his only course of action: he would have to go into the simulator and get his father out.

"Charon, I'm going to have to go into the empty pod and try to get my father out of there."

Charon, while not surprised, was still horrified by the idea. "Marcus that's crazy! If you're father couldn't make it out of there, what makes you think you can?"

Marcus made his way over to the pod and began placing his gear on the ground. "I want you to give me one day to get my father out of there. After that, drive to Rivet City and get Doctor Li." He opened the pod and climbed inside. "Maybe she and her team can hack the computer and wake us up."

Charon placed his hand on the pod's hatch. "You don't know if she or anyone can hack this program. Going back into Vault 101 was one thing, but this..."

"I have to!" He stared into the eyes of his friend with determination. "I'm so close, Charon. I'm not going to give up now."

Charon knew that there was no convincing Marcus, and as much as he wanted to, he was not going to force him; he had no right to do that to his friend. "Alright." He shook Marcus' hand. "Good luck."

Marcus sat back in the pod and braced himself. Once Charon had backed away, he pushed the button and the pod began to close. It was halfway shut when an explosion was heard outside the atrium. Marcus aborted the simulator, and jumped out of the pod as Charon rushed over to the doorway with his shotgun ready. He spotted a squad of Talon Company Mercs entering the Vault's main passage way. The Robo-Brain that greeted them fired it's lasers, killing one of the mercs, but was taken out by a pulse grenade.

"It's Talon Company! They must've tracked us here!"

Marcus cursed as he picked up his Tri-beam laser rifle and crouched down behind the pod. 'How the hell did they find us?' He looked over at his helpless father lying in the pod, and he gritted his teeth. 'This is not going to end like this' he swore.

The Talon Company Mercs were right outside the atrium. "We know you're in there you little fuck!" the commander yelled. "Bounty or no bounty, we're going to put your head on a fuck'n platter!"