[color=ed1c24][b]Ace Makovich - Salem[/b][/color]

Ace headed back to the diner as it was getting late. In front of his door was a cooler, and inside the remains of a mirelurk. *It seems Rook has left me a gift. Why is that mutant trying so hard to get us to accept him.* He scratched his head as he pondered the question, but nevertheless, it was something he could use to cook. 

Rather than head to bed he prepared the mirelurk to later use in milelurk cake and chowder. As he was working, he heard the newcomer called Adam, run down the dark streets calling for Rook. Ace shaked his head in disbelief, and said to himself, "Just who would seek out and wake up a sleeping Super Mutant. He must be new around these parts."

Soon he was done and headed to bed. He looked at a terminal, and saw he had received a message. *Payment received. Expect delivery soon.* Tom's courier had done his job and delivered the case. As he laid on his bed, his thoughts turned to Brandy. *What am I doing? I can't stop thinking of Reggie... I don't want to hurt Brandy, like I did Reggie.*

------------------------Next morning--------------------

Ace woke up early. He turned in his bed and grabbed a small flask and took a quick drink of whiskey. As he sat up on his bed, he opened the small drawer and pulled out a picture. It was him and Reggie embracing, with the ultra-luxe in the background. He started to get teary eyed, and imediately placed the picture back in drawer. 

He grabbed a pair of semi clean military fatigues and headed upstairs. The sun was just starting to rise in the sky, and the town was quiet. He holstered his pistol, after ensuring it was loaded. He grabbed a bottle of water and a small towel and headed out the diner. He locked up and started a steady jog. He headed south of Salem, past the Witchcraft Museum and avoiding the crater, to avoid the Children. He ran about an hour heading down the old 107. The jog reminded him to ask Tom to look for sneakers for him.  

Soon he would be at Finch Farm. He could see the main watchtower in the distance, the one that extended to the broken down highway above it. He arrived at the main gate, and a queue was forming for people to go in. Every visitor had to check in, after all it was just a settlement, but a Minutemen Outpost. 

Finch farm marked the nothernmost point of influence in the area. They controlled the farm and the highway overpass above it. The wait for him was but a mere formality, he had gotten to know most of the guards, as he often jogged here on a weekly basis. One of the guards saw Ace, and motioned for him to step forward and the big metal gate was opened. A large wall of mixed material sourrounded most of the farm, it reached the water line, and there spiked metal rail wall stretched the length of the coast, mainly used to stop mirelurks. 

Ace passed headed for the market next to the shack owned by the Finch family. They were some of the first to join the revamped Minutemen, and were more than eager to allow their land to become an outpost. Daniel and Jake were arguing, which was pretty common sight, so Ace didnt pay them much mind. He headed over to the stand being run by Abigail, "Well good morning Abby. Listen I'm running low on milk, can you send someone to salem with 3-4 crates."

"Nice t see you bright and early Ace. Why I'll have daniel Head out there as soon as possible. I need him to get some Mirelurk meat from Barney anyhow, plus i had Barney tinker with Abraham's favorite rifle as birthday present." Abigail responded as she threw her arms around him and gave him a friendly hug.

Ace nodded his head, and headed over to their shack. Right next the Finch's shack was a large building. In it were rooms and stalls. Ace's main reason to go there was to take the elevator to the overpass command center. He boarded the elevator along with some minutemen guards, and headed up. The structure was solid, but rickety, if the commonwealth was ever hit by an earthquake, he doubted it would stand, but this area of the country didn't have to worry about that. 

He arrived at the center and headed inside. He knocked on a door that read Captain, "Abraham, how's it going this morning?"

Ace stepped inside and saw Abraham by a radio, "Well Ace, I've asked you a milion times to call me Captain... Whatever. Have you heard the recent reports on the radio station? About the assault on Mass bay Medical? Just got word from the Castle we've taken the place. No easy feat, we lost about 10-20 guys and quite a few injured. Can't say the same for the Gunner's. They were caught off guard, and quite a few were killed and many more captured."

"What's going to happen to the captured?" Ace asked as he sat on a chair and put his feet up on Abraham's desk.

Abraham pushed Ace's feet of and shook his head, "Well Preston and the higher ups hate Gunners. I imagine they'll be put on trial. I imagine some will be given option of recruitment. After all most those guys seek room and board in order to stay out of the wastes. Others will probably be hanged, especially the officers. Most of them have committed heinous crimes."

 "Tell me Ace, when will Salem join the Minutemen Innitiative? The more settlers join, the stronger our resolve and our mission will be." Abraham says as he began to light up a cigar and took a seat on a couch next to a window that oversaw a great view of the commonwealth.

"look, if it was up to me, I'd say maybe. Barney wants to have everyon in town make such a decision, he doesnt want to make it himself. Listen I got to go. Lots of hungry mouths to feed and many caps to be made." Ace shook Abraham's hand headed for the door. As he made it back down to the ground, a new caravan had arrived. 

Luckily for him, it came with the new weekly edition of Publik Occurences. He grabbed a large stack and placed them in a backpack loaned to him by Abigail. He put it on and headed back towards Salem.

Once he arrived to the the outer edge of the town, he could finally see the wall Rook had been working on. It was crude, but it would do. He pulled out the small tin from is pocket and swallowed a pill. He looked at the wall and made some mental notes, and started to pponder what to do about the gate. He walked over to the diner, but the door was unlocked. 

He pulled out his pistol and headed inside. He could smell eggs and went over to the counter where he saw a plate of eggs, and a note. He went back over to the door and turned on the lights and flipped door sign to open. He took out the papers form the backpack and placed them on the counter. It looked like inside the paper there was what seemed an addition, a last minute article on the battle of Mass Bay Medical. It had basic info, no mention of casualties but mainly due to fact battle hadn't been over when it printed.

He took out a fork and storted prodding the eggs. He read the note and it was from Brandy. *Crazy girl broke in here. I hope she didnt use my kitchen...I better check she didnt leave anything on.* Ace checked everything, and it looked like she didn't cook it there. His concern was the fact Brandy tended to be accident prone. 

He ate the eggs, and they weren't half bad. Oddly enough they were slightly burnt at the edges. *Odd, it's not easy to burn eggs.* At least he knew she had eggs, and could use some for his cooking. Ace turned the juke box on and put in on Diamond City radio. he went over to the old coffee pot and started to brew some coffee. The smell of coffee tended to lure people in.