[color=fff200][b]Rick Noel – Finch Farm [/b][/color] Rick woke up early in the morning. It was hard not to, as it seemed to be quite lively outside. He sat up on the old mattress, and stretched his arms as he tried to alleviate some of the pain and tension on his back. The mattresses at Vault 88 were far more comfortable than these so called beds. The vault’s mattresses had been in vacuum sealed storage containers. Why no one made new ones surprised him. He hadn’t gotten a chance to see where he had arrived. After a long day he headed straight to this little guesthouse and rented a room. He grabbed his bag and headed for the hall. He looked down both ends and saw a room marked *Bathroom/Showers* and had the male symbol on it. He headed for the room and stepped inside. He cringed his nose at the smell; it definitely wasn’t Institute quality clean. It dawned on him, he would now have to get used to such accommodations and quickly went about his business. After using the toilet and taking a quick ice cold shower, he left the guesthouse and found himself by the market of the settlement. It was quite busy as people were coming in and doing some shopping. He looked around and the vast array of vegetables surprised him. He perused the various stands, and saw stopped at a clothing vendor. He saw a pair of blue jeans and some white undershirts that were his size and he decided to purchase them. To most this would seem like a mundane transaction but to Rick it was exciting making his first purchase. He would now get to buy clothes, rather than putting dirty clothes in hamper and retrieving clean clothes from a freshly stocked communal bin. As he walked around he spotted a pair of sunglasses. *These glasses look similar to the ones X1-25 used to wear while deployed to the field.* He purchased them and put them on. It wasn’t a sunny day, but he liked the way they looked. He made his way to some caravans, and heard them talk about heading to Salem. He had read of the small town from early reports, about a town, but where only one man was left, rest had been killed or left. However, from the sounds of it, peoplpe were settling there again. It piqued his interest, he had option of staying at Finch Farm or head for a new settlement. He tapped them man that seemed to be leading his caravan, "I'm sorry, I heard you're headed for Salem, can I accompany you on the trip?" "I dunno kid, we aint in the protection racket. But can't stop you from trailing us. Just make sure you know how to use that gun of yours." "Don't worry I know how," Replied Rick as he adjusted the straps on his backpack, "Name's Rick." "Daniel Finch, just try and keep up. It's about 2 hour walk, but we try to move quickly and get there sooner." ---------------------------------------------------- Daniel wasn't kidding when he said they moved quickly. They were close to jogging not walking. At least it was a steady pace, and rick was able to tail along. The stillness of the Commonwealth was almost palpatable, for the most part it was dead silent aside from the sound of the wagon wheels and their footsteps. Rick could see a lighthouse closing up in the distance, but rather than head straight, they made their way leftward, and away from the main road. Instead of jogging, they slowed down and were careful. It seemed the area was well known for raids. They passed the area as quietly and as quickly as possible. Soon they were back on the road to Salem. They were close to the Museum of Witchcraft, and oddly enough a growling sound emanated from the inside. Daniel looked back at Rick, "Stay away from there, some terrible Joojoo in there." Rick nodded, but he stopped in his track and looked to the northwest. A strange pull called to him in the distance. He looked back at Daniel, "Thanks for the company. But this is where we part ways." "Good luck, and remember stay out of that building." Daniel shouted back as he continued on his way. Rick continued in the direction of the pull, and soon found himself outside an old quarry, a place called Dunwich Borers. He carefully made his way forawrd, but there didn't seem to be anyone there. He got on all fours and carefully made his way to the edge. He looked around him again to make sure no one was around then looked down. He could hear slight chanting of sorts, and a group of hooded people stood at the bottom of the deep pit. He couldn't make out what they were saying but they congregated among something, but he couldnt make out what it was. He jumped to the walked way below him and quietly began to make his way down to get a closer view. He was closer now, and there appeared to be two groups. One group off to the side, was using the machinery to continue digging, the other group was before a monolith of some sort, a small obelisk much like the one located in Bunker hill, but it was roughly 12 ft tall, and looked like it had been dragged there. Whatever the hooded men chanted, he couldn't understand. However, every so often he felt a wave or pull coming from the obelisk. He had enough and started to make his way back up. As he left, he heard shouting, and he looked back. Hooded men and woman started to give chase and they were beginning to pull out weapons. Rick started to run, and he pulled his bag forward and opened it. He pulled two plasma cells from his pack, and quickly zipped it and put it back on. He grabbed the cells and smashed one and pulled some filament and wrapping from one and released it. He wrapped the other cell with the metal copper with the positive side facing negative and vice versa. He tied the fillament and soon the cell began to get hot, and very quickly too. He reached the top, and quickly he threw it down on the landing below. As soon as it hit landing, a sizeable explosion emanated, and the the planks collapsed. He had prevented them from chasing him for the time being. He continued running south as fast as he could and not looking back. Whatever he had seen was not normal, and whatever it was no one would believe.