With Amy more than happy to stay at the old Robco plant like she had the last time, Drew and Jack once more headed into town, leaving her under the protection of Suzy and the two Gutsies. They wanted to hand over the parts to the folks at the water treatment plant, then move the rest of their stuff before finally handing over the keys to the old place.

Since they got up early, they managed to arrive at Colville well before midday, giving them plenty of time to do everything they needed. Even so, they wasted none of it and headed straight to the water treatment plant.

“Where the hell have you been!?” was the greeting they received the moment they stepped through the door.

The one who had spoken was a wrinkled old miserable piece of shit by the name of Nigel.

“I quit,” Jack said with a shrug.

“You can’t quit. You have work to do!”

Drew took off his backpack and began to remove the components, placing them on the table to the side.

“We’re here to deliver these,” he said. “They’re the parts you wanted.”

The man grumbled as he walked over and looked at the parts. “Yeah, these’ll do.”

“I’m glad,” Jack muttered.

“Our payment?” Drew asked.

“Charlie!” Nigel yelled.

Charlie stepped in from the back room. “What’s up?”

Out of everyone that worked there, Charlie was the only one that wasn’t a complete asshole. Sure, he could be a little short with people at times, but considering who he worked with he was like a monk in comparison.

“Got those parts we need. Get the reward payment.”

“Sure thing!”

Not a minute later, Charlie was placing down a box of caps. Nigel opened it up and gathered a handful, placing them down on the table by the parts.

“There you go.”

Drew stared in disbelief. “Twenty caps? That’s it?”

Nigel squinted. “That’ll get you a few beers.”

“Sure, but I was expecting more gratitude considering without these parts you’re screwed.”

“Yeah, and so are you,” Nigel responded with a limp shrug. “You need clean water as much as we do.”

Charlie clenched his jaw. “Just give them a decent reward.”

Nigel folded his arms with a sniff. “Why? They’re lucky I bothered giving them a reward at all. Jack left us in the lurch, remember? I could charge him back the cost of the reward for that alone.”

“We could just take these parts back,” Drew said. “Until we take the caps the exchange hasn’t happened.”

“You dare and I’ll have you thrown out of this town!”

Charlie stepped over and picked up the box of caps. “There’s two-hundred in here. The parts are more than worth it.”

“Don’t you dare!” Nigel shouted, jabbing a rigid angry finger in Charlie’s direction. “It will come out of your wages!”

Charlie pointed a finger right back. “If we want to keep the purifier running then we need a steady supply of parts. We don’t get that if we stiff the ones getting them.”

“It ain’t stiffing,” Nigel objected. “If they want to keep drinking clean water then they’ll get us the parts.”

“That’s not how it works,” Charlie said as he held out the box. “We pay people who do us favors.”

“Thanks,” Drew said, taking it from him.

Nigel stormed off in a huff while Charlie rubbed his eyes with an exasperated sigh. He didn’t deserve to have to deal with all the drama. Unfortunately, it just so happened that anyone that walked through the doors ended up having to endure rudeness and outright hostility.

“You’re one of the good ones,” Jack said to Charlie. “Please don’t turn into a sour old bastard like the rest.”

“I’ll try not to. See you both sometime. And thanks for the parts.”

The two of them offered a wave as they left the water treatment plant and headed out into the street.

Drew glanced down the road. “I want to head to the mayor’s office to hand over the keys to our old place. First, though, I want to make a tally of what we’ve got left to move.”

“Sounds good,” Jack said.

Stepping inside the old house for what could be the last time felt strange. They had only been there for around two years, but it felt like a lot longer and in a way, it had become home.

With everything they still wanted to keep placed near the front door, Drew made his way over to Leanne’s garage. Unfortunately, she was busy so he had to book a truck for another day, paying in advance for the stuff to be moved before he headed back to the house, telling Jack the situation.

With that, they locked up the old place for the final time and made the walk to the mayor’s office.

After waiting in the foyer for a good few minutes, the receptionist finally allowed them through. The mayor, a man by the name of Brenner greeted them with a warm smile and an outstretched hand.

“Good to see you, Drew. How are things?”

“As well as can be.”

“I guess you’re here to hand in your keys?”

“How did you know?” Drew asked as he held them out, them jingling in his hands.

Mayor Brenner took them and placed them down on his desk. “I keep track of these things. Sorry to see you go. You have been a great asset to the community.”

“I still will, that won’t be changing. I just feel that I can do more good if I bring that old robot plant back online.”

“Yes, I agree. I’m aware of the rumors that there may be deathclaws in the area. Not sure what they are exactly but from what little I’ve heard they’re not pleasant.”

“They’re not,” Drew said. “Up to nine feet of muscle, claw, teeth, and horns. Can outrun a man and their thick hides make them difficult to kill. Most who come across one meet their death.”

The mayor shuddered. “Terrifying.”

“It’s why I decided to make the leap and not wait any longer. Once the claws get settled, it could be difficult to get rid of them. We need to remove the threat sooner rather than later.”

“Agreed,” Mayor Brenner said with a nod. “I’ve been speaking with Jarik and he said a similar thing. The problem is we don’t have the weapons or the men needed to deal with it.”

“I hope to get you those weapons in the form of Gutsies and maybe some Protectrons. Still have to look at what the plant can manufacture, but we might also have some Sentry bots or even Assaultrons to send your way in the future.”

“We could certainly do with more of those,” the mayor said.

“We’re still weeks off, but as far as I’m aware, deathclaws are slow to breed so if we’re lucky we still have time.”

“I just hope one doesn’t attack us in the meantime.”

“You’re well enough defended to scare it off or at least take one down.”

“But how many will die doing that?”

“A lot, probably,” Drew conceded. “And if more than one shows up then you’re in a lot of trouble. Short of finding a way to concrete a wall around the entire town, you are at risk and that’s not to mention the farms.”

“Then I hope you’re able to get the old place back online before they attack anyone.”

“I feel the same, but that’s up to the claws.”

Mayor Brenner held out his hand. “Good luck.”

Drew shook it. “Same to you.”

“Anything else?” the mayor asked.

“Just one more thing. Tomorrow, Leanne and a few of her guys will be wanting the keys to pick up the last of our things.”

“That’s fine. I’ll make sure they get the keys.”

“Thanks.”

After the mayor shook Jack’s hand, the two of them headed out, stopping by the cafe near the main gates to grab something to eat before they headed out.

Roughly an hour into the walk back home to the Robco plant, Jack stopped in his tracks and placed a hand on Drew’s shoulder, halting him.

“What is it?” Drew asked.

“You hear that?”

Drew’s ears strained as he listened. At first, all he could hear was the wind, but with a moment of calm, he heard deep rhythmic thumps from somewhere up ahead.

Drew recognized them almost immediately. They were heavy footfalls from a large animal and by the rhythm of each step, it sounded like it was bipedal.

“Shit.”

“What do we do?” Jack asked.

Drew grabbed his friend’s arm and pulled him into the treeline where they both squatted behind a fallen tree. There the two waited, their hearts racing in their chests as the deep pounding footsteps grew louder and louder.

Neither of them spoke. Both held their weapons tightly against their chests, neither daring to steal a glance over the log they hid behind. It sounded like a deathclaw and a huge one at that. If it saw them or even smelled them, it was likely that both of them would be dead soon after. Drew just prayed that the wind stayed settled.

To their combined horror, the pounding footsteps stopped. Drew held his breath as he focused on Jack. His friend’s eyes were wide and the pistol he held was shaking in his grip.

Time seemed to stop as they both waited for any sign of movement. There was nothing, at least at first.

A deep thump echoed through the ground making Jack jump in fright. For a moment, Drew feared he was going to accidentally squeeze off a round but thankfully he didn’t.

With a second thump, then a third, and a fourth, it was clear the creature was once more on the move. Both continued to stay as quiet as possible, listening closely to make sure it wasn’t headed their way.

To their combined relief, the heavy thumps of the creature’s footfalls grew quieter and more distant as it continued on to the south. Even so, they both remained where they were, not daring to move just in case it returned.

“That came from the direction of the plant,” Jack whispered, after what had to be several minutes of silence.

Drew felt his stomach drop. “Shit, you’re right. We need to get back.” He stood up cautiously, his gaze to the south.

“You think the claw attacked?” Jack asked.

“I don’t know,” Drew said, silently cursing himself as they both broke into a run.

He had seen one of them by the factory before, and it had even tried to get in. He had knowingly moved Jack and Amy into the plant despite knowing of the danger. Worse, he hadn’t even told them, keeping it to himself. If anything had happened to Amy, he knew that he would never be able to forgive himself.

As fast as they could, they ran back to the Robco plant. Even when Drew’s legs began to tire and his stomach started to ache, he didn’t slow down and neither did Jack. At least not until they were both in the parking lot of the old robot factory.

“Amy!?” Drew shouted the moment they were inside. “Are you here!?”

A scarce fifteen seconds had passed when they heard the pattering of footsteps. A moment later they saw Amy round the corner and run towards them.

“You’re back!” she said sounding shaken.

“Are you okay?” Jack asked, giving her a hug.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said returning it. “One of those green deathclaws stopped by.”

“Did it attack?” Drew asked.

Amy shook her head. “It was chasing a woman. Suzy says she knows her. Sarah or something. I thought we were dead.”

“A woman?” Drew asked, wanting more information.

“Yeah, Sarah or something. I let her in and the Greenclaw lost interest and ran off. It was fucking huge.”

“Yeah, we heard is stalking back up the highway,” Jack said. “Absolutely fucking terrifying.”

“No kidding,” Drew said. “Where is this Sarah now?”

“In the nurse’s office. She collapsed the moment she got inside.”

“I want to see her,” Drew said.

“Sure, this way.”

Amy led the way back to the nurse’s office. Just as Amy had said, the woman was there on one of the beds clearly unconscious. The blue coveralls and the Pipboy on her arm didn’t escape his notice. She was clearly a vault dweller, though he didn’t know of any vaults around here other than the one by Colville, and that one had been abandoned for the last fifty years or so.

The Miss Nanny, Suzy, turned to him. “Ah, you are back.”

“Yeah, we are.” he said. “What can you tell me about her?”

“She is ze nice lady who was at ze ’ospital a few days ago,” Suzy said. “From what I can tell, she overexerted ’erself and ’as collapsed because of it.”

“Yeah,” Jack said, staring at the unconscious woman. “Running from a deathclaw will do that.”

Drew couldn’t say he was exactly comfortable with the prospect of a stranger being there.

“Keep an eye on her,” he told the others. “The moment she’s awake, I want to know.”

“Oui,” Suzy said excitedly. “I am so ’appy to ’ave a new patient after all zhese years.”

Drew didn’t respond. He left the office with Jack and Amy following him out.

“Ame, I want you to stay with Suzy and the patient.”

Amy frowned. “You think she’s dangerous?”

“Potentially, yes.”

“Suzy thinks she’s nice,” Amy said.

“Maybe, but I can’t dwell on it now. I have work to do. It’s only a matter of time before the Greenclaws start killing people, if they haven’t already, and we need to be ready to deal with them. The roads aren’t safe at the best of times but with them about they have just gotten a whole lot more dangerous.”

“I’ll keep an eye on her. See you at dinner, then,” Amy said as she stepped back into the nurse’s office.

Jack sighed. “You think it’ll come back?”

“Maybe,” Drew said. “But not for a little while. Claws are smart. If they think it’s worthwhile, they’ll find a way in.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“We’re close to bringing some turrets online. Time to fix and activate them.”

Jack thought for a moment. “Why do you think they’re green?” he asked. “The deathclaws, I mean?”

Drew made a guess. “Mutation, I suppose.”

“Last time I saw a big green monster it was those super mutants.”

Drew shivered. “I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“What if someone was messing around and somehow mutated them?”

“Super mutant deathclaws sound terrifying.“

“You think it’s possible?” Jack asked.

“I have no idea and I don’t like what that could mean. If there is a pack of super-claws out there, then we might be fucked. Deathclaws are tough to kill as is. A super mutant variation might make them near impossible to take down.”

“So I guess we better hope that their skin color is just a mutation.”

“A benign one at that.”

Jack shrugged. “Whatever that means.”

“It means that it doesn’t come with any more alterations. If it’s just skin pigmentation then they will be just as easy, or rather, just as difficult to kill as a regular one.”

“If it does come back with more, are we in danger?”

“We’re always in danger while deathclaws are about. Thankfully, this place was built like a fortress.”

“I guess that means we’re somewhat safe.”

“Somewhat is a good way to put it. Come on, let’s get to work.”

Jack rested a hand on his stomach. “Can we have something to eat first?”

“Sure,” Drew agreed as the two started towards the cafeteria. “Then we need to get on the roof and take a look at the dysfunctional turrets. I want full coverage before the week is out.”

“I’ll definitely feel safer. What about the two Protectrons that meander about outside?”

“I’ll bring them in for reprogramming eventually. For now, though, they’re fine doing what they’re doing.”

They stepped into the cafeteria and headed straight for the kitchen. Drew opened up the temperamental refrigerator and pulled out two mutfruit’s, passing one to Jack.

“We got anything else?” Jack asked, looking at it with a frown.

“Sorry, no. We have some meat, but it’s uncooked and we still need to fix up at least one of the ovens.”

“I guess it’ll do,” he said, sounding disappointed as he took a bite.

As they left the cafeteria, they heard the patter of footsteps on the hard concrete floor.

“Drew!” Amy called to them. “She’s awake.”

Jack gestured towards the ceiling. “Do you want me to take a look at those turrets while you talk to her?”

Drew thought for a moment. “Sure, you go take a look. I’ll be up shortly.”

Jack headed off to the roof while Drew and Amy made their way back to the nurse’s office. Inside, he found the woman whom Suzy had identified as Sarah sitting up in bed, her fingers webbed as they rested on her lap.

She looked over at him, a concerned expression etched on her face.

“Um, hello,” she said nervously.

“How are you feeling?” he asked courteously.

“Feeling okay, I guess. Just exhausted.”

Drew nodded, understanding. He would be exhausted too if he had run from a deathclaw.

“Sarah, right?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Drew,” he said pointing at himself. “Amy,” he said, gesturing to Amy.

“Pleased to meet you.”

Drew decided not to beat around the bush and got straight to the point. “What can you tell me about the deathclaw?”

“Is that what it’s called?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s what it’s called.”

“Well, I don’t really know all that much. I found a Red Rocket Mega Stop and decided to see if there were any supplies I could get. I wanted to sell them down at the Riverside settlement further south.”

Riverside was a makeshift settlement. Fishing was its trade, and they did pretty well by it.

She continued. “That’s when I heard a growl. I see the thing stalking towards me. That’s when I notice two more and one of them was huge. Like toweringly big. Like a walking building big. I turned and ran as fast as I could.”

Amy looked at Drew, fear in her eyes. “The size of a building?” she asked with a quiver in her voice. “That can’t be true.”

Drew hoped not. Even so, the fact there were three there made him wonder if it was a nest. There was food and shelter there so it made sense. The fact that Sarah had described one as being the size of a building was definitely concerning, but he imagined that she was exaggerating. Fear often made things look bigger than they were.

“There is one thing I can tell you,” the woman said with realization. “I don’t know much about deathclaws, but they appear to be some kind of lizard.”

“Yeah, they are,” Drew confirmed.

“Well, something is very wrong with their anatomy because I’m pretty sure… Well-I…”

“What?”

Sarah held her hands out in front of her chest. “They had breasts, and big ones at that. That’s a mammalian feature. Lizards, reptiles, or anything else doesn’t have breasts as they don’t produce milk. In fact, it was a human feature considering the placement on the chest, size, and shape.”

Drew and Amy exchanged a glance.

“Are you sure it’s not a growth?” Drew asked.

Sarah shook her head vehemently. “Absolutely positive. I saw areolas and nipples and they were on all of them. The underside looked almost soft like human skin, with thick scales and spikes along the spine. They scared the shit out of me. I ran as fast as I could until I got here. The thing was right behind me the whole way.”

Drew was skeptical. “All the way from the Mega Stop?”

“Yeah. I ran and didn’t stop. I thought the thing was going to kill me.”

“That’s a good four or five miles you must’ve run,” he said.

Sarah stared at him for a moment. “I didn’t realize it was that far.”

Drew rubbed his chin in thought. Something wasn’t quite adding up. “There is no way you managed to keep ahead of a claw all that way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I don’t think it was trying to catch you.”

Sarah shivered. “Are you saying it was toying with me?”

“I don’t know. But for it to stay right on your tail for four or five miles? Either it should have caught you or you should have escaped. There’s no way that your running speeds matched up like that.”

Sarah looked past him at the wall then shivered. “Why would it do that?”

“I don’t know,” Drew admitted. “Perhaps to see where you would run to?”

“Are they that intelligent?” Sarah asked, fear creeping into her voice.

Drew shrugged. “How intelligent deathclaws are is up to debate. Some say they’re just dumb beasts, others say they’re calculating and unnervingly smart.”

“What do you think?” Sarah asked.

“I’d say they’re generally somewhere in between. Either way, it’s best to avoid them at all costs.”

“Unfortunately, they know we’re here now,” Amy pointed out.

Sarah looked down at the floor. “Sorry I led it here.”

Drew slowly shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It does mean we have to fix up and reactivate the rest of the turrets, but it’s best to do it now rather than later. Speaking of which, I should probably get to that.”

As he turned to leave, Sarah spoke up, stopping him. “Wait, I need to ask you something!”

Drew turned back around to face her. “What?”

. “Do you need a doctor?” she asked, as she started to play with her fingers. Drew put it down to nerves. “I’m medically trained,” she continued. “I’m from a vault.”

“I guessed that from the jumpsuit and the Pipboy,” Drew said.

Sarah looked at his left forearm. “Are you from a vault, too?”

He shook his head. “No, but my dad was. This was his.”

“Was?”

“Dead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. He’s been dead a long time. Killed on the other side of the country.”

He shivered as he remembered the giant Mirelurk Queen that had risen up out of the water. It was a monstrosity he hoped never to have to face again.

“I’ll think about it,” he said finally, not wanting to mentally relive the details of that attack. “Your offer of being our doctor, I mean.”

Suzy spoke up for the first time, offering her support. “Oui. Please do. It would be nice to be able to work under a doctor again and Sarah is very nice.”

“Like I said, I’ll think about it.” He looked at Amy. “Keep an eye on her.”

“Sure thing.”

He stepped out of the room and made his way up to the roof. There, he found Jack studying a defunct turret. From the looks of it, the thing was seized up solid.

“How’s it going?”

Jack looked over at him. “Rusted up. Water seeped into the housing.”

“We can replace the parts,” Drew said, squatting down next to him.

“So, how’s our guest?”

Drew grunted. “Fine, I guess. Ran all the way here from the Mega stop.”

“Holy shit,” Jack uttered. “That has to be four miles away.”

“Yeah. Four or five. I guess people can do the impossible when they’re scared shitless.”

“I guess. No wonder she collapsed.”

“Yeah. Says she’s a doctor trained in a vault. Has the jumpsuit and the Pipboy, so I’m inclined to believe her.”

Jack gave him a sideways glance. “You don’t trust her, do you?”

“I don’t trust her enough to let her stay here, no.”

“But you do the Nurse robot?”

“It’s a Miss Nanny, and robots don’t tend to be conniving pieces of shit like humans can. Remember Rebecca back a Paulson? The shit she pulled just because her dad was in charge. She did her best to fuck everyone over as much as she could. Glad her dad wasn’t an idiot otherwise she might have succeeded.”

Jack shrugged. “Sure, humans can be pieces of shit, but robots can malfunction, and when they do they have this unfortunate tendency to want to kill everyone around them.”

“I’ve gone over her code and fixed a lot of errors. As long as I do maintenance on her, she’ll be fine. Same with any robot.”

“And I’m sure this Sarah will be fine, too.”

“You think it’s worth the risk?” Drew asked.

“We could do with a doctor,” Jack pointed out. “We’re gonna be dealing with a lot of heavy equipment. One of us is bound to get hurt.”

“We have Suzy,” Drew pointed out.

“Suzy is nowhere near as dexterous as a person. I think she should stay.”

Drew clenched his jaw. “Fine, I’ll feel her out.”

Jack raised his eyebrows.

Drew rolled his eyes. “Keep your mind out of the gutter. What I meant was her personality; what she wants, what she’s after.”

“It’s up to you. You’re in charge.”

“I know, but I value your opinion. Amy’s, too.”

“Then give her a chance.”

“Okay, okay,” Drew relented. “I’ll give her a chance.”

“I hope so,” Jack said standing up. “So, we gonna fix this?”

Drew nodded. “Yeah, let’s get to it.”

With that, they got to work.