Relics of the Wasteland: Fallout 4 Highlight and Story

Welcome to Live Love Play and this highlight from Fallout 4. In this video I find a campsite littered with bodies and crawling with giant roaches. What happened here? Keep reading as I tell you the tragic tale.

A Lovely Campfire

“Attention Commonwealth residents. Are you looking for a safe place to settle? Are you tired of living in fear of Raiders, Mutants, and Ferals? Home in on these coordinates. Protected Settlements are being established every day. If you’re willing to work hard, we can make the Commonwealth a better place, together.”
“Will you turn that off already?” Duncan moaned from the driver’s seat, “I’m sick of hearing it. Why can’t we listen to Diamond City Radio? Hell, I’d even listen to that Classical station at this point.” Chloe rolled her eyes as she manipulated the radio receiver, narrowing down the location of the signal.
“Do you want to find this place or not, rads-for-brains? I need to tune into the signal to track it.” The couple were on the road for over a week, coming from the ruins of Harvard. Not long ago an old apartment building collapsed releasing a pack of ferals trapped beneath it. The town was no longer safe. They scavenged what parts they could to repair a pre-war station wagon, got it running, and hastily packed. To preserve their fragile repairs they kept an easy pace but entropy and decay made the roads to Boston treacherous.
“Welcome to the outskirts of The Commonwealth.” Duncan said with the flare of a radio host.
Chloe rose an eyebrow and looked quizicaly at her husband.”How can you tell? It all looks the same to me.”
“Look to your right, see that heap of broken robots? That’s the old disposal grounds. Its one of the first landmarks on the map. Then there is the old satellite array just ahead. If we see a quarry on the right we’ll know we’re on the right…” He trailed off and brought the car to a slow creaking stop.”uh oh.”
“What is it?” Chloe says as she climbs over into the passenger side and looking ahead.
“Roadblock, looks like some kind of pre war checkpoint. Just take a look at that vehicle blocking the road.”
“Are those guns poking out all over it? she pointed to the multiple barrels jutting out of the rusted APC. The large bulbous transport sat across the right late, blocking transit. Staggered ahead of the APC was a concrete barricade and retractable metal gate. By the look of it it was rusted though and inoperable.
“Maybe, I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Want to get out and look around?”
“No, lets keep moving. I’d like to find a place to camp before it gets dark.
Further down the road, camped among a collection of wrecked vehicles, three men huddled around afire pit. One, dressed in worn road leathers, stooped over the pit flicking a lighter with growing frustration. “Light damn you, light!”
The second, in dirty army fatigues and leather shoulders, chuckled as he lowered himself into a cross legged seat across from the first. “Maybe we should break out the twigs and rub them together instead?”
“Screw you Phil.” retorted the first as he flicks again.
The third, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, shook his head at the banter. “Seriously Phil, Reggie. Its going to be dark soon, we need that fire.”
“What we need is a real score for a change, Jeff.” says Reggie. “We’ve been picking in the robot junkyard for weeks but that place was cleaned out years ago. We’ve got no caps, and we’re almost out of food and water. At this rate we’ll starve to death before the caravan makes their way back.” He flicked the lighter again, “If we don’t freeze first”
Jeff gives Reggie a stern look. “I know what our supplies look like. I just did the inventory. We’ve been in bad spots like this before. We’ll manage like we always do.”
Reggie threw his lighter to the ground with a frustrated grunt and stood, pacing to the edge of the camp. “Jimmy was right, there isn’t any caps in scaving anymore. The Commonwealth is dried up. We should have gone off with Joni and Jimmy when we had the chance.”
“Really? You think joining up with a raider gang is a better idea? You remember what happened when we got too close to Quincy, the things they did to Nikki? Do you really want to be a part of that?” Jeff ended his statement with a reproaching glare. Reggie didn’t reply, instead he bent over to pick his lighter back up and gave it an experimental flip. It ignited immediately to his chagrin.
“Heads up.” Called Phil, “Pair of lights getting closer. I think its a car.”
“Is that a campfire up ahead?” asked Chloe. “Might be raiders?”
“I don’t know, I don’t see a roadblock or anything like that so maybe not. Keep your hand cannon ready, just in case. I’m pulling over.” As the Highwayman came to a screeching halt Duncan cranked down the window and called out. “Hello out there, you boys friendly? If not this thing has reinforced armor and the glass is bulletproof. I’ll run you down faster than than you can run away. His voice shook slightly as he spoke. He didn’t like fighting, he liked killing even less but he would do what he had to do to to protect himself and Chloe.
Jeff stood up, hands raised palms open. “We’re friendly enough, so long as no one’s picking a fight. We’re here scavenging in the junkyard up the road. We haven’t got much but if you want to share the fire, you’re welcome to.”
Reggie grabbed Jeff’s arm and gripped tight. “Are you kidding me? We just talked about out supply situation and now you’re inviting a couple strangers into our camp? The could be thieves, or raiders, or Synths!”
Jeff shook him off and turned to face him. “I’m not about to turn away a couple travelers, we’re still human beings. Besides, when was the last time you saw a raider in a working car?” He turned back to to the highwayman, “Its starting to get dark, why don’t you camp with us tonight? The fire is warm and there’s plenty of space. What do you say?”
Duncan turned to Chloe and spoke quietly, “What do you think?”
She glanced over his shoulder and looked over the campsite from the passenger seat. “Its too dark to stay on the road and if these guys were raiders they would be shaking us down by now, that or they’ve be shooting.”
Duncan nodded and shut off the engine and stepped out of the car with his hands raised to show he wasn’t a threat. Jeff waved him off. “Need a hand with any bags?”
“No thanks,” Duncan replied, “We’ve been living out of the car as we travel, its as safe as it gets out there in the wasteland.”
Phil rose and smiles at the strangers, lifting his own hands in greeting. “Don’t we know it. We fought off a small swarm of bloat-flies a couple days ago. They came out of nowhere…”
Reggie paced on the edge of the firelight as Jeff told his story, embellishing as usual. He stared at the car for a long moment. It was far from new, no doubt about that, but a working vehicle was a rarity in the commonwealth. He doubted anyone he knew has ever seen one in their lifetimes. The fuel needed to propel that machine would be a good score, alone. But to bring a functioning car in would be the haul of a lifetime. Those rich snobs in Diamond City would pay a small fortune in caps for a car like that. Better yet, what would the Gunners give him for it? They were a tech savvy group, well equipped with pre-war military gear, including robots.
Chloe kept the car between her and the strangers as Duncan spoke to them. He was a people person, more so than she at least. She was the paranoid one, the person who kept them alive in tense situations. The scavengers seemed friendly enough, except for the one on the edge of the campsite. He seemed to disagree with their leader. But their weapons were all holstered and none were bigger than a 10mm pistol. Duncan called to her for a second time.
“Chloe, do you think we can spare a some rations for these guys? Chloe, hello.” He called with a hint of knowing amusement. She was always looking at the big picture and it sometimes distracted her from the moment. Her face snapped to meet his and her mouth opened to reply but nothing came out and her jaw snapped shit as she wend over their supplies in her head.
Reggie made his decision. He was done scraping by, picking though two century old piles of garbage for a handful of of scrap, peddling junk with meager returns, living like a vulture feeding on the skeleton of a long dead world. He drew his pipe pistol and fired, taking Phil in the head. His friend crumpled like a sack of tatos. He fired again and struck Duncan in the chest. He fell back into the open hatch of his car and slit to the ground.
Jeff turned, 10mm in his hand. “What the hell are you doing?” He shouted as Reggie fired again and again. The first shot clipped his knee and the leg gave out. He heard a cry from the car as the second shot struck Chloe. The pain in his leg nearly overtook him, but he held it together as she looked up to see Reggie standing over him. He spat at his feet. “So this is how its going to be, huh, You a killer now?” Reggie didn’t reply, he reloaded his pistol and took aim and fired.
Chloe coughed up blood. The shot took her in the cheek and neck, leaving them in ruin. She didn’t know how she was still alive. She wouldn’t be for much longer. Rage billowed inside her, giving her focus. She looked up to see the man who shot her husband. He stood in the firelight, weapon smoking. She gurgled, her throat unable to form words, as she raided her .45 revolver and unloaded all six shots into his chest.
Reggie staggered as all six bullets tore into his body. He sank to his knees wide eyed and numb as his life drained from his wounds. He murmured to himself softly, “It wasn’t supposed to end like this. I was finally free…guess I am now… in a way…anyway.” He fell on his face with a wet slap, dust rising around the corpse.
Chloe crawled over to her Husband’s body. He lay on his back, empty eyes gazing up at the stars. She hugged him tight, taking in his scent and savoring the sensation as her own life ebbed. A tear fell from her eye yet a smile crept across her face. She wouldn’t have to wait long to see him again. Her final breath escaped her body and a cold stillness settles on the campsite. Only the crackling of the campfire could be heard but this too would eventually flicker and fade into silence.