The group then left the audience room shortly after, Adam with a new impression of the Duke that was highly favorable. He did temper his impression, however, as, in better circumstances, he might not be the underdog but instead doing the same thing Mr. Cantelli was doing to him. However, for the moment, he was indeed the underdog. And who doesn't want to root for an underdog?
However much as the Duke had said, the settlement really had nothing of value. The market place which Adam had visited when disguised as a member of the cult had only one open stall, and what was sold there was affectionately considered junk. Honestly, even if Adam wanted to sell his guns here, he doubted anyone would have the caps needed to purchase them. It was fair to assume the people here were being extorted by the Guild by paying higher prices for the food they were forced to import. Hopefully they will be able to get their farms restarted soon. Unless the Guild sabotaged that… man, he was glad he was not in the Duke's position. Adam felt bad for him, and even though he did want to help he lacked the means to. He was a merchant too, in a way, being barred from trading at Midway, or worse, not even allowed into the city, would be pretty damaging to his trade routes. It was certainly an effective threat, even on him.
For the moment though Adam was simply satisfied to know people were living safely here again, albeit not comfortably. The Duke seemed smart though so, given time, he may turn the situation around. Adam left soon after, getting back in his APC with his friends to head to his next destination. The Federal Ration Stockpile.
The trip there was actually simpler than most others had been up until now, the road was mostly clear so it was more or less a straight shot and he arrived with time to spare. Arriving outside Adam was able to see some immediate changes. First of all, outside the building were some moderate defenses. Nothing too substantial, but a line of concrete barriers that had been moved for the guards at the front to use as cover if needed. Of which there were two, both seemed to be at least moderately well armed. Armed well enough that they could fight back, at least. In addition the protectron he had sold them was patrolling casually around the immediate entrance looking for danger. Lastly there were lights on inside, proving that they did, indeed, get a fusion core from somewhere and power the building on.
However, that was all just at the entrance. He also noticed a makeshift stairway had been constructed leading to the roof where some people were working while bent over. It was up high so he could not say for certain but judging by context clues, like some buckets left on the edge, or the gloves they were wearing, it was a fair guess to assume they had a farm started up there.
Adam pulled up nearby and hopped out of the APC, the guards did not even flinch at the arrival of the APC. Though the one on the left looked surprised.
"Well well well, look who came back." The ghoul on the right said. As Adam drew closer he realized it was Greg, the ghoul who was the only real security from the group last time. It did make Adam feel a bit racist. He was wearing different clothes, but it was hard for him to tell ghouls apart, they even all had very similar gravely voices. So the fact he did not recognize him right away was understandable albeit disappointing.
"Greg, good to see you again." Adam said, without missing a beat, hand outstretched to meet him. Doing his best to cover up the fact that until now he didn't recognize him.
"Good to see you too." He grinned.
"How are things at the FRS?" Adam asked.
"Not bad, not bad." he said, nodding a bit. "You were right when you brought us here. Building's in good shape, power and water work great, plenty of room to spread ourselves out and right on a nice stretch of road so merchants can easily reach us. Honestly, I never thought I'd be thanking a smoothskin, but you did us a solid by getting us out of that highway hellhole."
"And I see Salvatore taught you guys a thing or two." Adam smiled.
"Yeah, Sal did us a solid. Got the kids in shape and kicked me in the ass for the first time in a decade. It ain't much, but we certainly are more confident now, that's for sure."
"Living conditions comfortable?" Adam asked, curious.
"Well mostly. As I said power and water are easy, so those are two of the biggest things sorted. There's no real way to farm around here though, it's all concrete as far as you can see. So we started a farming plot on the roof, I know nothing about that though." He shrugged. "There are plenty of rooms to choose from so everyone has their own space but it's not exactly the most homey setting." He chuckled. "We made it work, but the real issue was getting rid of all the super mutant bodies."
"I was actually wondering about that." Adam laughed.
"Well considering you left the cleanup of an entire super mutant behemoth to us, it wasn't easy I'll tell you that!" Greg said back, though not with an accusatory tone, just a joking one, showing that he wasn't really bothered. "Took a while to get them all out but once we did it started to actually feel nice."
"Any chance I can get a tour? Arden still around?" Adam asked. However Greg seemed to pause a bit, looking hesitant.
"Ah well, yeah Arden is still around. I can get him if you want but as for a tour…" He then paused, looked at the ghoul to his right and then sighed. "Truth is I can't let you downstairs." He frowned.
"What? Why not?" Adam asked, not feeling offended but more just confused.
"Truth is it's not safe for you." He paused again. "We took a whole bunch of radioactive waste barrels and scattered them around the first floor. It's enough radiation that it would kill a human in minutes. Only ghouls can come and go." He then paused for a moment and glanced at Sgt. Fyre who was holding the rear of the pack. "Or robots, I guess."
"Oh." Adam said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Yeah, I know, I'm sorry." Greg said, sounding apologetic himself. "But there's no better defense than radiation for us. If we ever got overwhelmed we agreed to go downstairs and abandon the ground floor to the invaders. Let them kill themselves from radiation as they descend."
"What about super mutants? Couldn't they just walk right through?" Adam asked.
"Kid, if Super mutants were invading then whether we fight them up here or down there would make no difference, we are all gonna die. That's just a force of nature." Adam nodded slowly, understanding his reasoning. "Anyway, sorry to let you down, but I just don't want a guy who helped us out so much to die helplessly."
"No, I understand. And I appreciate the warning."
"However, the first floor is free of radiation. We even converted it to let us handle our trades with merchants up here, there's even a small boarding house for people to stay overnight if they need. The radiation doesn't reach through several feet of solid concrete from below. As long as you don't open the elevator door there should be no issues on the first floor."
"Because the radiation would leak through the elevator shaft?" Adam guessed.
"No, because we stored more radioactive waste barrels there." Greg laughed. "Can never be too careful. Can even be used as a weapon if planned carefully. Just throw those suckers at the raiders who want our shit and watch as they suffer, then recollect them later." He shrugged.
"Well, sounds like you have it all figured out." Adam chuckled a bit.
"Yeah, we are really trying to make this place work for us. So thanks again for getting us here, it may not be The Ritz but it sure as hell beats most other places I've been forced to stay in." He chuckled a bit. "Anyway, want me to get Arden for you?"