The trip East was uneventful, after all, a fully functional APC going at a fast pace through the ruined streets of Chicago was not the sort of thing any rational group would tangle with. Adam did end up running over a few small groups of feral ghouls as he moved to where Salvatore was directing him, the center of the mass of ghouls as he knew it, but none of them impeded his path, there were far too few bodies to gunk up the tires. Once there Adam parked the APC inside a pile of rubble and turned it off.
"I'll be back soon kid." Salvatore said as he opened the hatch and jumped out, planning to head to somewhere he can get a birdseye view of the scene.
Adam was left alone, in the quiet APC cockpit, staring at a wall of rubble while he waited tense moment after tense moment. It was beginning to take a long time for Salvatore to come back. How far he went, how much he had to do, Adam had no idea, but he was getting worried.
However, just as he was about to do something to try to find Salvatore the hatch opened up from above. Adam put his hand on his gun but was relieved when he saw Salvatore climb back in.
"Welcome back." Adam said, relieved.
"Yeah well, I wouldn't welcome me back so quickly." He frowned and then leaned back on the chair. "I bring bad news."
"Is it just as Mira said?" Adam asked.
"Maybe worse." He sighed. "God kid, I can't see the end of them, and they are all on the move."
"Your estimate on how long we have before they are a danger to the citizens of Chicago?" Adam asked.
"I don't know, that's not my specialty. But you said Mira estimated a week or two? I'd venture to say that's right, though scattered ferals might start to wander in much earlier than that." He sighed and then turned to Adam seriously. "You gotta get out of here, kid. It won't be safe for humans soon." Adam looked at him for a moment and then sighed as he turned on the APC again, beginning to back it up. Get full chapters from ๐ท๐ธ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ตโ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎโ๐ท๐ฎ๐ฝ
"Listen to me, kid!" Salvatore said seriously to him, reading what was on his mind at the moment. "This is no time to play hero! Soon the entire Chicago area will be overrun with ghouls! It won't be safe for you here! You can load up some friends in the back of the APC and take 'em far away, head to the capital wasteland or back west to NCR territory, either way you can't stay here." Salvatore said loudly, practically begging.
"I can't do that Salvatoreโฆ too many people are going to die if I do nothing." Adam said back, his eyes on the road, his voice calm and measured.
"No!" Salvatore shouted. "Kid this isn't the time to be playing white knight, you can be a good guy all you want but not to the point that you get yourself killed!"
"I gotta try Salvatore!" Adam shouted back. "My home is about to be destroyed by an army of feral ghouls. I can't just sit back and let people die!"
"Sure you can!" He yelled back. "Fuck others, they ain't done shit for you anyway, all that matters in this life is that you can make it to the next day, and you won't if you try to stick your nose into this! You can hide in your Vault if you want, but don't try to stop this, it's over."
"I refuse to accept that!" Adam said back forcefully. "You can run and hide but I'm not giving up. Sure, you can tell me I owe these people nothing, and you'd be right, but this is my city, my home. I slept through the first destruction of my city and the next 200 years of strife. I can't sit back and watch as my home is destroyed again! I'm not going to hide in a vault, nor am I going to run away, I will make a stand."
"Jesus, kid." Salvatore said, aggravated, as he leaned back in his chair again. "You are gonna die." He said more somber now.
"Maybe." Adam said back. "But if I do it will be on my feet, trying." He said, resolved. The silence in the car remained for a few minutes while each man sat in their own thoughts before Salvatore spoke up again.
"Do you have a plan?" Salvatore asked, calmer now, resolving himself to do what he can to ensure Adam didn't die a dog's death on this path he had chosen for himself.
"I do." Adam said seriously as he continued to drive fast through the streets, hoping to get back within a few hours. "Mira said nothing short of an army would stop this oncoming hordeโฆ I plan to build an army."
"How the hell do you plan to do that?" Salvatore asked, surprised.
"By getting all the forces of Chicago together." Adam said back.
The rest of the trip, just as the one out, was uneventful. Salvatore had given up on convincing Adam to drop this stupid plan and Adam was busy thinking of all of the logistics. By the time they got back he saw his group waiting outside for him. Though it was probably the case that Pearl was not likely to be let inside even if she did want to. The merchants and loot were all gone, alongside the onlookers. As Mira said, she too had disappeared as well.
Adam rolled up to where he parked the APC last time and then hopped out with Salvatore.
"How was the East?" Deccanus asked as Adam emerged.
"Bad." He admitted. "But I have a plan, I will have Salvatore here fill you in but there is someone I need to urgently see now." Adam said before he took off to the city to meet the one man who he believed had the power to help him more than anyone else.
"I need to speak to Mr. Cantelli. Tell him it's urgent." Adam said as he stopped in front of one of the Black suited men outside The Guild's area.
"Mr. Cantelli has asked to not be disturbed right now." The man returned calmly. "I'm sorry, but you will need to come back later."
"This is a matter of extreme urgency, the very fate of Midway hangs in the balance." Adam insisted.
"I'm sure but you can't see the Boss anytime you want." The man repeated. Adam groaned audibly before he changed tactics.
"Tell Mr. Cantelli that I'm here to cash in my favor."