Chapter 146

The two of them decided to split up for a while, since they were done investigating for the time being they needed to kill time. Adam suggested that they do a run tomorrow and Deccanus agreed, so the rest of the day would be spent pursuing their own interests. Adam noticed a guitarist sitting at the very end of the pier singling while he played a lovely tune to accompany it. He had a bucket out in front of him for tips and there was a food stall nearby. Adam decided to indulge, bought a meat skewer for 7 caps and tipped the guy playing music two caps as he enjoyed the music.

The song he sang was about a man who fell deeply in love with a woman, but only heard her voice over the radio. He tuned in everyday to the radio, at exactly 7:13 to hear her sing. After she was done singing the station immediately went quiet again. Every day was a different song. 

Eventually the man, driven by his desire to meet this woman, tracked down the source of the signal, an old Nuclear missile silo, only to find that the woman he had fallen in love with was a reprogrammed Ms. Nanny.

The song ends with the trials and tribulations that the two of them went through before they eventually got hitched and settled down. Now the radio plays songs with the two of them singing in duet. Honestly it was a very nice song, though it made him wonder if it was based on a true story, the details were oddly specific. 

However, as Adam was listening to the man begin his next song another man, dressed in a patchwork light brown leather duster and in a torn cowboy hat walked up to him, nearly tripping over his own shoes as he could barely stand up straight. The man was drunk. It was obvious even from a glance.

"Youuu." He slurred out as he walked up to Adam pointing at him. "I can smell the scent of it on you." He said with an accusatory tone as his finger pushed up against Adam's chest. Adam looked at him super confused.

"Um, excuse me, what are you talking about?" He said, not thinking he smelled bad, he showered this morning.

"No no." The man insisted as he poked Adam's chest again. "You can't hide it from me. I know what you are." I stood up straighter and looked Adam in the eyes. "You have the smell of destiny on you, I can see it, your future. You will change many lives. You will face death, you will decide the fate of everyone!" He proclaimed loudly enough for even the musician to turn to look at him confused. But no one was more confused than Adam who was beside himself, having no idea what this man was talking about. He had never met this man before and he was spouting such nonsense. Of course he was drunk, so that must account for it. 

Adam was about to open his mouth to tell the man he needs to get some sleep because he was drunk when a klaxon began to sound on The Pier. He could hear the sounds of the turrets near the docks turning on and begin to scan for foes, and he saw many of the residents grab weapons from stashes around the area, either inside chests, on walls, or just from their person,l as they seemed to arm themselves for a fight.

Adam too took out his pistol, ready to fight off whatever sort of enemy was about to show up, which was what he assumed was going on. He then heard rounds being fired from the many many turrets on the other side of the pier and took off in a full sprint, wanting to help out if he could.

When he arrived he saw what could only be described as a ladder made of lakelurks. They had crawled on top of each other creating a bridge from the bottom of the lake to the pier and were using this bridge to invade. The defenders were doing a great job to fight them off but were not holding them off enough to stop them from making landfall.

A few of the lakelurks that made it onto the pier proper began to break off to attack elsewhere. Adam threw himself into the conflict, running past a fish stall and stealing the meat cleaver right off the table and then planting it into the tiny face of the first crab he ran into. It cried out in pain for a few moments before it fell over dead.

Adam then felt a heavy blow hit him from behind as one of the lakelurk claws backhanded him into the wall of the nearby building. He hit the wall hard enough that it made him dizzy for a moment. However, even with his head spinning he managed to roll out of the way as the pincher then tried to cleave him in half. On the ground he emptied his entire clip from his 10mm into the crab, killing it with the last bullet. He deeply regretted that he left all his stuff back in his room. He wasn't told to vacate in the morning, like he was in Midway, so he could keep his room for 24 hours. So now here he was, with a gun with no ammo, no armor, and no weapons in the middle of a slowly growing battleground as more and more lakelurks began to emerge.

"Hey, boy!" An old Irish voice called out from nearby. "Catch!" As Adam turned to look to the voice to see a grizzled old man wearing a dark navy blue sailor's jacket, a white captain's hat, and a large wooden peg leg instead of a left foot. Adam caught the shotgun he was being tossed in his lap.

He didn't have time to think about the details right now, he just needed to fight, so fight he did.

He fired the shotgun into the crowd of lakelurks as they fought the residents of the town who were handling themselves well. Three were hit by the spread of the buckshot, only one died. He wasted no time and fired again after pumping the shotgun once. And then again, and again, and again. Once his shotgun was empty he flipped it around and used it like a club to help fend off the attack.

He began to engage the lakelurks with as much force as he could muster, hitting them with the stock of the shotgun like a medieval club. It was more effective than he had assumed it would be, however it was not a perfect solution. 

While Adam was in the thick of it a familiar spear flew through the air and impaled itself into the small face of the crab nearest him, killing it instantly and buying him the breathing room he needed to back up and not get surrounded. 

Deccanus joined beside him, machete drawn, cutting through enemies like a war machine. The bodies of the lakelurks were beginning to stack high on the docks and pier, it was getting increasingly hard to maneuver, though the people fighting alongside Adam were definitely culling the horde.

As the crabs were slowly dwindling in number it became clear to the residents they were winning, but it seemed so too did the lakelurks notice as well. So, just as swiftly as they came they retreated back down into the watery depths below. There were some congratulations and some pats on the back for the random folk who helped out, Adam and Deccanus included, getting some cheerful smiles and some hearty thanks from the folks before being swept away with the crowd for a drink at the bar.