The past week had been rather busy. Together, Drew, Amy, and Jack had managed to successfully install the purifiers into the water filtration system. This meant they now had clean water coming out of all the faucets, meaning they could now get a drink from anywhere and could even properly wash themselves in the communal showers that the workers would have once used back when the plant was active before the war.

As for Sarah and Suzy, last he heard they were sorting through all the data they had gathered from the hospital. He didn’t envy them. It was a lot of data and he had to wonder how much of it was worthless. He hadn’t bothered sorting what to grab so there was no doubt a lot of useless patient data was on there as well.

Wanting to see if there was an update on that, Drew made his way down to the nurse’s office only to find Jack sitting on the edge of a bed with Sarah looking at his hand.

“What happened?” he asked with a modicum of concern.

Sarah looked around, though it was Suzy that answered. “Jack struck ’imself with ze ’ammer. Very, very silly of ’im.”

Drew smirked. “You hammered your hand?”

Jack’s mouth went into a thin line. “Don’t laugh. It really hurt.”

“Hope it’s not serious.”

Sarah shook her head. “No, he’ll be fine. As long as he keeps his thumb clear of any fast-moving hard blunt objects in the future.”

“It’s not like I went out of my way to smash my thumb with the hammer,” Jack mumbled.

“Well in the future, try harder to avoid it,” Sarah said.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

Drew slowly shook his head with a smirk. “Now that’s out of the way; I did come for an update on that data we got. How’s it been going?”

“There’s a lot of it,” Sarah answered. “We’ve been going through what is needed and what isn’t. Some of it was also not properly indexed, so we’re having to sort through that as well.”

“How long do you think it will be before you’re finished?” Drew asked.

“No idea,” Sarah answered with a shrug. “A while. We’ve been taking a break from it, to be honest.”

“I don’t blame you.” Drew looked at Jack. “Be more careful, yeah?”

“I will, don’t worry about that,” Jack answered.

Drew stepped out of the nurse’s office and made his way back down the hallway. As he rounded a corner, he noticed a door that was usually closed was open. He walked over and peeked inside, finding Amy standing there staring out across the factory floor at all the old crusted up production lines.

“Hey,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“You really think we can bring this place back to life?”

“Yeah, I do. As long as we’re willing to put the work in.”

She gestured at one of the lines. “I was looking around and found some Assaultron parts.”

“I noticed that a few days ago,” Drew said. “I think that line can be swapped between making Assaultrons and Protectrons. There’s a line for Gutsies and one for Sentries. Unfortunately, I didn’t find many parts for Assaultrons or Sentries but I haven’t actually taken an inventory of what we have in the stock warehouse yet.”

“Hopefully there will be some.”

“Yeah, hopefully.”

“So what’s the plan for bringing this place online?”

“Getting the Gutsy line up and running is first priority due to the amount of Gutsy parts we have. I also wanna convert one of the warehouses into a repair shop. But that will wait until after we have all the lines pumping out robots.”

“Don’t expect Jack to help for a few days,” Amy said. “He smashed his hand with a hammer.”

“I saw,” Drew said. “How did he do it?”

“He was trying to make some armor.”

“With a hammer?”

“It was metal armor and he was trying to get a piece into shape.”

Drew smiled. “He used to be good at that back when we lived in Paulson. That, and making clothes. He was practically the town tailor.”

“He wants to get back into it.”

“I could do with some new armor,” Drew said.

He decided not to mention that his armor had been damaged by a Greenclaw at the Mega Stop. None of them were aware that it had been damaged, or that he’d even been there in the first place.

Drew focused back on Amy as she spoke. “Jack’ll need some materials if he wants to start making clothes and armor. He’ll also need a proper workshop otherwise he’s gonna hurt himself again.”

It was stupid to keep the encounter a secret, he knew that, but he felt like he needed to know more about them. He wanted to know their motivations and he had to know if the bigger one had actually spoken or whether it had been just his imagination.

“What do you think?” Amy asked Drew. “You think it’s possible to make a little workshop for him?”

“Plenty of rooms here that could be converted,” Drew said. “Once we’ve got the main factory working, I’m sure we can convert somewhere especially for him.”

“He’d like that, I think,” Amy said with a smile.

Despite how stupid and dangerous it was, Drew needed to see the Greenclaws again. He needed to understand if they were actually a threat or not. If he could open a dialogue somehow, and get them to understand that he meant them no harm.

With luck, they felt the same. Well, the bigger one might. The smaller one had wanted nothing more than to rip out his intestines.

Drew turned for the door. “I’m gonna take a look around. See you later, Ame.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Drew headed back up to his office and scribbled out a note, leaving it on the desk, telling them that he was heading out for a bit. After some internal debate, he decided to tell them he was headed into Colville to see if there were any scavenger jobs for him before he grabbed his coat and his rifle and headed out alone.

With every footstep, he argued with himself. On one side he felt like he had to see them again, but the more rational part of his brain was telling him how stupid he was being. These things weren’t cute stray dogs or cats, or even lost children. These things were deathclaws, yet there was something oddly human about them.

As he got closer, he left the highway and took to the tree line, finding a spot where he could watch over the place.

For a good few hours, he sat there, watching, waiting. Apart from a group of radstags, he saw nothing.

Finally, as the afternoon closed into evening, he decided it was time to go home. The last thing he wanted was for it to get dark before he got back.

Strangely, despite it being the reason he was there, he felt relieved that they hadn’t shown up. In truth, only an idiot would want to meet giant death lizards a second time. He didn’t want to believe that he was being stupid, but if Amy or Jack found out what he’d been up to they would think he had gone absolutely insane.

As he stepped through the front doors of the plant, the sun was fast approaching the horizon, washing the sky a bright orange. He wondered if anyone had even noticed he was gone. He supposed he would soon find out.

Drew made his way to the cafeteria where he found Sarah getting a drink from the water cooler. She turned around and offered a wave.

“Amy and Jack have been upstairs all day clearing out the lounge. I told him to take it easy after he flattened his thumb, but that guy is a dynamo.”

“We have a lounge?” Drew asked, his brow raised.

“Yeah, it’s down the hall from that office you claimed.”

He grabbed a piece of mutfruit from the refrigerator. “I guess I’ll have to go take a look.”

“I’ll show you,” Sarah said, taking the lead.

They both headed upstairs, passing the office and several doors before stepping through the one near the end. Inside, Amy and Jack were sat on an old couch and the room itself looked to have been swept, cleaned, and dusted. He could even smell the telltale odor of cleaning products in the air.

“Hey, Drew,” Jack said.

“Looking good,” Drew said, taking a long look around the somewhat clean room.

“Been to town?” Amy asked him. “Saw your note.”

“Yeah,” he lied.

“Bring anything back?”

“Nah, just checked to see if there were any jobs for me.”

“Why?” Jack asked. “Not enough here for you to do or something?”

“Yeah, but I still wanna earn some caps now and then.”

“Were there any jobs?”

“Nothing worthwhile.”

Drew knew that he was building a pillar of lies, one that could crumble and topple at any moment. He had to start reigning it in otherwise he knew that could easily find himself losing the trust of his friends.

“I’m thinking of checking out the Mega Stop tomorrow,” Drew told them. “See if there’s a nest there.”

Jack rolled his eyes. “You still want to do that?”

Amy shook her head. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I said I’m thinking on it, not that I am for certain,” he said, turning for the door. “I’m headed for bed, see you tomorrow.”

Sarah followed him as he stepped out, before she moved in front of him, blocking his way.

“What?” he asked.

“You can’t seriously be thinking about going over there to that Red Rocket coolant station are you?”

“Thinking on it, yeah,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna waltz in there. I’ll observe from the tree line to see if anyone or anything shows up.”

“What if something sneaks up on you?” Sarah asked.

“What if a Greenclaw sneaks into this factory?” he asked back. “There’s a risk, sure, but I’ve been doing stuff like this for years. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you gonna take those green robots with you?”

“The Gutsies?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re too loud and are about as stealthy as a flare.”

“So you’ll go alone?”

“Safer that way. Besides, as I said last time, I might see if Jarik is up for it.” He smiled. “Thanks for the concern, Sarah. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

She turned away. “I should head back down to my office. Get things in order.”

“I promise I’ll be fine.”

She glanced back at him. “I hope so.”

“I will be. See you tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

Drew watched as she walked off. He appreciated her concern but it wasn’t really necessary. Then again, maybe it was. He was being crazy after all.

With a loud yawn, Drew decided he might as well head off to bed. It had been a long, unproductive yet still tiring day.

* * *

The next morning, he headed out early, and like the day before, he took refuge in the tree line, observing the Mega Stop from the relative safety of the trees.

He sat there watching and waiting until midday when he took his eyes off the place to eat some food. Then, after lunch, he continued to watch until four in the afternoon when he finally decided it was time to call it a day.

Unlike yesterday, though, he decided he might as well get something out of it, so he headed inside to grab some supplies.

Though that was easier said than done.

The place was even more barren than the last time. The shelves were empty and taking a look in the warehouse, most of the crates had been clawed open.

He checked them to find most were empty. Eventually, he found some old cleaning products, which he placed in his backpack before heading home.

The following day, he headed out yet again, briefly telling Amy he was going out for a walk. Thankfully, she didn’t barrage him with questions over his recent excursions, but she did give him a look that said she knew he was up to something.

Unlike the last two times that he was there, he didn’t bother hiding himself away in the tree line to observe. Instead, he continued along the road, following the highway off-ramp to the parking lot.

Like yesterday, he headed into the warehouse and began to search the crates for anything useful.

As he was gathering more cleaning fluids, he felt a deep and ominous rumble. It was faint, at least at first, but it didn’t take long for him to notice that there were not only more tremors rumbling through the ground, but there was a rhythm to them like footsteps. From how they felt and sounded, though, the creature making them had to be huge.

As quickly as he could, he darted out of the warehouse and across the store floor. By the time he reached the exit, the vibrations were so heavy he wondered if there was an army of them, all marching in step with each other.

Stepping out of the front doors, he saw a shadow move from down the side of the building. Quickly, he rushed over to a set of dumpsters and hid behind them. There, he waited in silence, barely daring to breathe.

For a moment, he thought he heard talking, but deep yet still strangely feminine. Then the dumpsters vibrated as impossibly heavy footfalls stomped loudly into the ground before once more stopping.

With his heart thumping in his chest, Drew peered around the dumpster and almost screamed out as he laid eyes on an absolutely gigantic basil-colored Greenclaw. Its body shape was feminine like the others he had seen, yet this one had to be upwards of twenty-feet tall.

It was absolutely colossal. So much so that it took him a minute or so to realize that the Greenclaw that had spared his life was standing right next to it.

He ducked back behind the dumpster, his breath heavy, his heart racing. The big one was so large that he had no doubt that it could practically swallow him whole.

Then the humongous one spoke, its voice deep and rumbling, yet oddly feminine.

“Ayma, bring the crates outside and I’ll pack them into that van over there. Then I’ll carry it home.”

Drew covered his mouth, holding back a gasp that threatened to spill out. They could actually speak. He thought he had heard it before, but now it was confirmed.

He peeked around the dumpster and watched as the smaller Greenclaw headed inside, the larger one standing guard, staring out towards the horizon.

It didn’t take long for the one called Ayma to return with not one, but two crates under each arm, showing him that they had unbelievable strength. She placed them down with a thump before her head raised and she began to sniff at the air.

In an instant, Drew moved back out of sight and held his breath. The last time he’d seen one of them sniff the air like that was because it had smelled him. He hoped that wasn’t the case here, but deep down he knew it was.

“What is it?” the behemoth of a Greenclaw asked, her voice rumbling through the dumpster.

There was no verbal answer, though one did come in the form of heavy footsteps. Thankfully, they were not from the giant, but from the smaller claw. Unfortunately, they were getting closer to where he was hiding.

Knowing that his cover was about to be blown at any moment, He darted out from behind the dumpster and ran around the corner, sprinting around the side of the building as fast as he could.

Seeing no other way to escape, he decided to climb a drain pipe, ascending it as fast as humanly possible. The muscles in his arms screamed out, but he pushed on until he was at the top.

Fatigued, he dragged himself onto the roof and behind an air-conditioning unit where he practically collapsed from exhaustion.

“Where did he go?” the larger one asked.

“Kiki, stop talking. He might hear us.”

Drew felt his heart stop for a moment. Kiki? He knew that name, or rather he had known someone with that name. She had been sweet on him, much to his annoyance. If he hadn’t been with Gemma, he would have certainly ended up with Kiki. She, like nearly everyone else, had unfortunately been taken by the super mutants when they had attacked Paulson.

He felt dizzy. Could it be? No, it was impossible, right? Right? There were rumors that super mutants used to be people and that they had been infected by some kind of virus that had changed them. What if they had done something similar to those they had taken from Paulson and turned them into these monsters?

He felt sick. It couldn’t be possible. He refused to believe that Gemma, Kiki, or anyone else could have possibly been turned into one of those creatures. It wasn’t possible and he refused to believe that it was.

He let out an unintentional gasp as a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see two large clawed hands as they ascended over the side of the building. They came down, picking up dirt and detritus as they landed a mere seven feet away from him. They dug into the roof as the building began to groan under the weight. There, he sat frozen in terror as two large horns and then a head peeked over the side of the building.

It stared at him and he stared right back, clutching his laser rifle against his chest. He had felt intimidated by Ayma, but Kiki was absolutely terrifying.

Without thinking, he jumped to his feet and ran. Up ahead was the edge, but below he could see the tall trailer of a truck.

Feeling he had no other choice, he made the leap, only to not quite make it. He slammed into the side before he hit the ground, hard, knocking himself out cold.