Vengeance — Hive

Trapper Walsh Series

Part 8 here: https://steemit.com/story/@olmech/warpath

If I intended to track these Raiders down that had killed my folks, I needed to be on my way. The problem was that the only gun I had now was the mini gun and it is only useful as long as I was in my power armor. Since the Raiders had taken the extra ammo for the gun as well as the fusion cores for the power armor, both were useless to me. I had picked up the weapons and armor from the dead Raiders, but it was mostly junk. I had found an automatic rifle with a fair bit of .308 ammunition and decided that was going to be my best option. The rifle was in poor shape, so I took it to the weapons bench to work it over. The barrel rifling was good for the first twelve inches but deteriorated rapidly for the last six inches or so. I cut the barrel down to twelve inches and threaded the end for a suppressor. I then cleaned the action, putting a fine polish on everything that moved. I lightly oiled everything and re-assembled the rifle. Since this was not going to be a precise weapon, I opted to finish it off with a reflex sight. I tuned the sight to the rifle bore and knew this would get me in the ballpark. If I had more time I would have re-blued the metal and re-finished the wood hardware. I settled on polishing most of the rust off just so the gun was not so damned ugly. When finished, I looked the rifle over and satisfied it would do the trick I only needed to make sure it would work.

I set up three targets at ten, fifty and one hundred yards. I mounted the vise that would ensure the rifle remained steady on the handrail of the porch as I had often done with Pops over the years. I pulled up a chair from the kitchen, sat down and aimed at the ten yard target. I squeezed off one round which hit about four inches high and two inches to the right. I adjusted the sight and squeezed off another round. This one was right on the money. I re-adjusted the vise and aimed at the fifty yard target. I squeezed the trigger and the round struck about an inch high, but was centered otherwise. Once again I re-adjusted to get a look at the hundred yard target. I fired three rounds slowly at the target and again found I was hitting a little high, but the grouping was decent. I brought the sight down one click and fired another round. It was not spot on but it would suffice well enough at this range. Next I wanted to check the full auto function of the gun. I removed the rifle from the vise and shouldered it. I cranked off five round bursts at all three targets hitting them all. Recoil was very slight and accuracy was acceptable. I was very pleased considering the crappy ammunition I was using. It was a fine weapon even though it was reborn in haste.

The sun was going down, so I went inside and sat down in the workshop. As I sat there thinking of how this might play out I began to take stock of the armor I had pulled off the Raiders. It was mostly junk but there was a full set of metal armor here. While looking at the pieces, I noticed the chest piece had a dent in it the size of a Nuka Cola bottle. Pops had hit this one with the .45-70 but the bullet had failed to penetrate the armor. We load those rounds hot...considerably more powerful than most anything found in the Commonwealth. The fellow that was wearing this was put flat on his back by the impact and his head had received the follow up shot from Pops. Even so a little extra protection might make a difference in a firefight. So, I spent the rest of the night hammering on it making it fit and added padding to it. Satisfied that I was as ready as I was ever going to be, I turned in to get a few hours sleep.

I woke up at seven the next morning and geared up. I went to the shop and pulled the weapon bench away from the wall. Beneath the bench was the floor safe where I kept my cap stash. I did not bother to count, but I filled my pack with caps. I also grabbed a bottle of water and some jerky. I began the familiar trek down the mountain knowing exactly where I had to go. The items taken by the Raiders would bring a good price in Diamond City. I also knew they would not be allowed in the city and it would take some time before they could get someone to do it for them. I knew the rifle they took from Pops would end up in front of Arturo sooner or later and Mom's jewelry would find its way to Myrna or Becky Fallon. These items would be what leads me to the vengeance every particle of my being now required. If only I had not concealed the safe, this would have been over with already. The Raiders would have still been there trying to get in it when I came back from my hunt. Oh how I would have loved to turn that big wheel gun loose on them...

It was dark when I arrived in Diamond City. Not knowing how long it might take to trap my quarry, I figured it would be wise to go ahead and rent a bed. A lady at the noodle joint directed me to the mayor's office and told me they were the ones to see about a place to stay here. So I took the elevator up to the office where I was met by the mayor's secretary, Geneva. She was slender, sharply dressed and had hair so blonde that it was almost white.

"What business do you have here in Diamond City" she asked without ever looking up from her desk.

"I need a room for a few days" I replied.

Geneva then looked up at me and leaned back in her chair as though she were studying my soul.

"There is such demand for housing here that we are forced to charge a lifetime fee. You pay up front and the place is yours for as long as you live. When you die, ownership is reacquired by the city. I have one, unoccupied dwelling at the moment but it is the nicest in the whole city and the rental price reflects that. The fee is 12,000 caps."

"12,000 caps! You do not understand. I just need a place for a few days" I said.

"Take it or leave it. That is all I can offer you. Do know that it is unlawful to sleep outside a residency and if you are picked up by security, 12,000 caps will seem like a bargain for what it will cost to get out of jail" she replied.

This time it was me looking down at this extortionist with searing eyes. As I pulled my pack off and began counting out the caps I could not help but think what a sweet racket they had going here. They basically sit on their asses and count money made off the backs of others. Geneva was cold and emotionless but if she were not squeezing me for caps I might say she was beautiful.

"You gonna come by and tuck me in later on tonight?" I asked.

" Your residence is located at home plate on the old baseball diamond. Welcome to Diamond City and good night sir." she replied as she pointed me back to the elevator.

Knowing when to cut and run was a way of life for me and I did not need to be told twice. I smiled and winked at Geneva as I picked up my gear and headed for the elevator but when I pressed the button I turned back to her offering a parting shot.

" I'll leave a light on for you darlin."

She slammed her fist down on her desk breaking her pencil.

"Good night....sir!"

I chuckled as the clunky elevator took me down. It had given me a great deal of satisfaction to get under her skin like that. She may not think well of me, but she was thinking of me and that worked out in my favor. Were she to be pressed by anyone about my business here, her emotion would give way to all the wrong answers.

More to come...

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