It felt like forever since Drew had last set foot in Colville. He wasn’t there alone, though. With him were Amy, two Gutsy’s, two Assaultrons, and a Sentry bot which had had its missile launcher removed and replaced with a make-shift storage unit.

“Drew, Drew!” a voice shouted.

Both He and Amy looked over as the mayor eagerly strode up to them.

“Morning,” Drew greeted.

“I heard you were here with some robots. Are you here to sell us some? We could really use them.”

Drew glanced at Amy before putting his focus back on the mayor. He sounded desperate. “Yeah, I am.”

“Oh, good. We’ve been losing merchant caravans to attacks from those power-armored hooligans. Just yesterday, Leanne came in injured. They took one of her trucks right from under her! They also raided a nearby farmstead and took the farm bots.”

“They’re becoming a serious problem,” Drew said with a heavy sigh.

“Very much so. Without those farm bots, they won’t be able to produce enough food to feed the town. We’re sunk without them.”

“Which is why we need to take them on,” Drew said. “I’m building an army of robots and thought you could do with some Gutsies and Assaultrons.”

“What about the big one?”

“I’m using that to carry supplies I intend to buy, but from what you said, I’ll come back with a Sentry bot or two if I have the time.”

“Oh, that would be lovely,” the mayor said, clapping his hands together excitedly. “You want anything in return for the robots?”

“Maybe a few things from the armory. I plan on heading to the gun and armor store afterwards.”

“Four robots for something out of the town armory sounds like a good deal,” the mayor said. “We have an old busted Fatman launcher we never got around to fixing.”

“I’ll take it,” Drew said without hesitation.

“Great!” the mayor said. “Follow me, I’ll show you the way.”

It didn’t take long to reach the armory. With a friendly hello to the guards who stood by the front door, they stepped inside. The first thing Drew took a look at was the Fatman launcher. It was pretty battered just as the mayor had said. Still, it would be an easy fix.

After signing over the two Gutsies and Assaultrons to the mayor, he let Drew take a few more things, notably spare parts such as a few Fatman launcher slings and an old diesel motor. The motor itself was useless, but the parts inside were invaluable.

With it all tucked away in the Sentry bot’s storage box, they parted ways and Drew, Amy, and the Sentry bot made their way to the weapons and armor store where he browsed the stock. Thankfully, due to all the guns, weapons and parts, he’d brought in over the years, Drew had developed a cordial relationship and as such got a discount. Even so, with a minigun, two laser rifles, a long-range ballistic rifle, some armor, a lot of energy cells, and ammunition, his cap-purse was certainly feeling lighter by the time he was finished.

After placing them in the Sentry’s cargo, the group made their way to their last stop, which was little more than a junkyard on the outskirts of the city. There, Drew spent the last of their caps on scrap metal, screws, rivets and all sorts of other materials that he’d need.

With no more caps to even buy some lunch, they headed out, meeting up with Gemma and Axa a good thirty minutes later.

“How was it?” Axa asked.

“Got most of what we needed,” he said, looking at the large duffel bags that the two Greenclaws had over each shoulder. “How about you two?”

“Pulled those parts off that bus like you wanted,” Gemma said.

“Gemma was a little rough,” Axa added. “Some parts might be broken.”

“They were rusted up,” Gemma defended. “Either that or leave them in.”

“Let’s just get back to the factory,” Drew said. “We can worry about what is and isn’t broken when we get there.”

The group started to walk along the highway.

“So, what did you get?” Axa asked.

“Some weapons including a minigun and a Fatman launcher along with a lot of spare slings. I plan on converting both so that you Greenclaws can use them. I think Glower would look pretty cool with a minigun.”

Axa cringed. “Don’t know if I’d trust her with a weapon like that.”

Amy disagreed. “I would. She’s actually very smart. And kind.”

Gemma smiled warmly. “She likes you a lot.”

“She wanted to come with me here, but I told her to get some rest.”

“She can talk now?” Axa asked.

“No, but I think I’m starting to understand her from her body language.”

“Aww, that’s sweet,” Gemma said. “I bet she loves being understood.”

“I think she does,” Amy said.

“Glad you’re getting along,” Drew said, truly believing that Glower might be Angela, Amy’s former girlfriend. Still, he was reticent to say anything in case he was wrong.

Amy continued. “I think she’ll be happy when I get back. She gives weirdly nice hugs.”

“Anyway,” Drew said, interrupting. “I’m going to return with two Sentry bots to sell to them.”

“Is that a good idea?” Gemma asked.

“I said I would and I like to keep my promises. Besides, I think we’re almost ready to defend ourselves against any attack the Brotherhood might be willing to throw our way. I doubt they would commit everyone and those they do commit…”

“…If they attack,” Axa quickly interjected.

“Yes, if they attack. Those that they do send, we have to ensure don’t make it back. We have to kill them to lower their numbers. It’s necessary if we want to ever have a chance of striking at their base of operations.”

“What if they have mini-nukes?” Gemma asked.

“The plant is built like a fortress. It should hold.”

“Should?”

“Yeah, should. As long as it’s not near any windows or shutters. They’ll shatter and buckle easily.”

“So not built like a fortress,” Axa surmised.

“Kinda built like one,” Drew corrected. “The walls are tough. The doors not so much.”

“A shame they’re hostile,” Axa said. “Imagine if they weren’t?”

“The dream,” Drew said. “But in reality people are assholes. All we want is to build ourselves a life, one that benefits all of us and they won’t let us even have that.”

“It sucks,” Axa agreed.

“I thought that being this far north meant we wouldn’t have to deal with them, but I guess they’re like radroaches. They’ll show up anywhere and at the worst time.”

“They’re disgusting,” Axa agreed wholeheartedly.

“Good snacking, though, I bet,” Gemma joked.

From there it didn’t take long for them to get back to the old Robco factory. Thankfully, nothing was amiss and it was just how they had left it with the various robots patrolling around the building, including the two Protectrons who waddled about seemingly non-the-wiser to the extra guards.

It was a welcome reminder of just how far they had come since first arriving. Not even the turrets on the roof had been functional.

Drew and Amy headed to the cafeteria to get something to eat before Drew made his way up to the office. He wanted to grab a few things such as the desk fan and telephone and repurpose the components and use them in the weapons he planned on building for the Greenclaws.

As he stepped through the door, however, he found an unexpected and unwelcome guest sitting in his chair behind the desk.

It was Jarik.

“What are you doing here?” Drew demanded, his heart racing in his chest.

“I wanted to see you,” Jarik said. “To see how you were getting on.”

Drew clenched his jaw as he stared at the man. He had wanted to avoid this, but it appeared that Jarik’s curiosity had gotten the better of him.

“Was wondering when you’d get here,” Jarik said as he leaned back in the chair. “Been waiting here for hours.”

“I went to Colville,” Drew said.

“Ah, I see,” Jarik said.

“How the Hell did you get in here?”

“Believe it or not there’s a route through the basement. There’s a pipe that leads all the way to the river. Got in that way.”

“You’ll have to show it to me,” Drew said.

“It is a security risk,” Jarik agreed. “Like a bunch of Greenclaws might find their way in here. Though it would be tight. The pipe is only just big enough for people to get through. Certainly not large enough for a bunch of green deathclaws.”

Drew held his breath.

“But I figured that you’re the one that invited them in here.”

Drew’s initial shock started to turn to anger. “What do you want!?”

“As I said: I came to see how you were getting on. Now, I have a new interest. The Greenclaws. They seem intelligent.”

Drew clenched his jaw. He knew he had reached a fork in the road and yet there was only one direction he could go down.

“Yeah,” Drew muttered knowing he was going to have to come clean.

“How did you find out and secondly how the fuck did you gain their trust?”

“I’m not sure how to tell you this,” Drew said before glancing down at his Pipboy. “So I guess I’ll just play you these logs.”

Drew sat down on the chair opposite the desk to Jarik, and one by one, he played the logs from the imprisoned scientist who was responsible for the Greenclaw’s creation.

By the time he had finished playing the final log, Jarik was staring at the back wall.

“That’s it,” Drew said. “That’s my explanation.”

“So they were human,” Jarik said almost in disbelief.

“Not only that, but I think you can figure out where they got some of their victims.”

Jarik’s brow furrowed before his eyes widened. “Paulson?”

“Yeah.”

“Some of them are from Paulson?”

“I think all of them might be. I’ve already figured out who almost all of them are. And Jarik, one of them is Marianne. She goes by Charan now.”

Jarik stared at him for a moment before he shook his head. “Fuck you, Drew. You knew how much I loved her? She is not some ugly fucking monster. I wanted to marry her.”

“They’re not monsters, Jarik.”

“You have eyes, right?”

“Yeah, I do. I also have a heart.”

Jarik stood up and stared out of the window into the parking lot.

“I know you’re seeing someone,” Drew said. “It must be awkward to know that Marianne is still alive. I should know. I went through the same thing. The same denial, the same hesitation. I didn’t know what to believe.”

Jarik glanced back at him. “I’m not seeing anyone. It didn’t work out.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jarik shook his head and then pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “No, this is Brahmin shit, it has to be. They’re lying to you. They have to be. There’s no way those creatures were once human. Deathclaws with human DNA, sure, but the other way around?”

“You heard the tapes,” Drew said raising his Pipboy arm. “And they weren’t the ones that started to figure it out, it was me.”

Jarik shook his head again. “If those Brotherhood breakaways find out they are here they’ll blow you to shit.”

“They’ll attack regardless. We have robots and it seems they want to seize all the robots and tech in the region.”

“And you think you can defend this place?” Jarik asked.

“Yes, I do.”

“And what about the Greenclaws?” he asked. “Do they pose a threat?”

“It’s complicated.”

“How is it complicated?”

“Well, Charlotte is their leader and she’s like thirty feet tall.”

“Fuck you!” Jarik almost shouted. “Thirty fucking feet? That’s shit your spewing!”

“You can go see for yourself if you want.”

“I’ll pass,” Jarik said as he sat back down. “I know what the Brotherhood are like.”

“Which is why we need to drive them out.”

“And you think the Greenclaws and your robots can do that?”

“I’d prefer not to involve the Greenclaws, but I’m gonna make some weapons just in case.”

Jarik leaned back. “Charlotte was always suspicious and secretive.”

“Well, I’m not making a weapon for her. She doesn’t want one or really need one.”

“Who else survived? Gemma? Kiki?”

“Both of them, yes. Kiki is around twenty feet and Gemma is something like ten.”

“Jeez,” Jarik uttered. “I knew the Super Mutants used to be people, but the Greenclaws? That’s fucked up. If I’d been turned into one of those things I think I’d end it all.”

“They didn’t remember anything at first, so they were able to adapt to their new selves before they realized what they’d lost. It hasn’t been easy, but they aren’t willing to give up. They want to live and they aren’t monsters or anything else. They’re still people in their hearts. Just bigger and stronger.”

“And have horns and sharp teeth and claws and a long tail,” Jarik added. “They also look almost exactly like deathclaws, the scariest thing in the wasteland. I have no idea how you’re comfortable living with them.”

“They’re intimidating, sure,” Drew agreed. “But I’ve gotten used to them. We all have. They aren’t what you think they are. Most of them are really sweet.”

“I have no idea what to think,” Jarik admitted. “I think I need time to think it through.”

Drew knew Jarik well enough to know he wouldn’t tell anyone. He was a trustworthy guy, but also incredibly secretive. Jarik was an enigma that Drew still hadn’t figured out after years of knowing him.

“I need time,” Jarik repeated as he stood back up and headed for the door.

Drew watched him go before he himself stood up and made his way over to the window and stared out. Jarik didn’t trust easily, which could prove to be an issue especially since what he had just been told was bordering on unbelievable. Drew knew the only way Jarik could really make an informed decision, was if he actually met them and he knew that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

Then again, he hadn’t expected to find Jarik in his office.

He started to wonder what had happened to the scarce few other survivors from Paulson. Had they found somewhere to live or had they died out there in the wilderness?

Knowing he couldn’t dwell on the past, he headed out of his office only to stop when he remembered why he had gone there in the first place. He turned around, grabbed the phone and the desk fan and headed out. He needed to continue his work and build weapons for the Greenclaws.