The next day came with the crack of dawn, the light of a new day broke through his window and temporarily blinded him. He woke up shortly after. After getting himself together and grabbing a meal from Eric for 12 caps, he needed to decide what his plans were.
He had almost 1700 caps now. He could certainly afford an upgrade to his gear but realistically he was running out of space for things, all he could really do is get a new suit of armor, afterall, his legs and arms were unarmored. However, casual discussions with Chuck have already revealed that there is simply not enough in the town for him to buy to get fully kitted, he would need to head somewhere larger like Midway.
He also had his initial goal still too, to get to Second Life HQ and see if he could learn anything new about why he was in the vault in the first place. Second Life HQ also happened to be closer to Midway so it made more sense to do his planning from there.
The questions come in on when to head to Midway. Right now he has a rented room for very cheap, friendly neighbors, and lots of caps. There was no time limit on him getting this done, no external factors were pushing him to rush, but he couldn't stay still forever.
The trip to Midway, according to Salvatore, would take 2 days. Hiring Salvatore as an escort was either 250 caps for one trip or 2 thousand caps to buy out his contract, at this point it seemed it would be a better idea to make an extra 300 or so caps to hire Salvatore outright, though then the problem becomes he'd still need more caps on top of that to pay for supplies, and at least a room at Midway, so he'd need even more.
This was his problem, should he head to Midway now with the larger sum of caps he has on hand or should he save up more and hire out Salvatore. He did not have any prescient need to get to Second Life quickly, but he would never feel comfortable until he could get some answers.
The morning, spent with food and drink in front of him, was spent in serious quiet contemplation as he considered his options. He went back and forth on what to do, there were pros and cons to each plan. However, after a long enough time to think, he decided he would stick around town long enough to make at least 500 more caps, giving him 200 caps after paying Salvatore's fee. If he could make that much he'd have an easier time once he gets to Midway. Which meant that, at least, he needed to go on one more scaving run from Naper.
Truthfully though, he was still a bit worn out from the big battle from two days ago. He saw no reason to immediately throw himself back into danger. So he would spend today letting himself relax, he noticed there were these two men in the back of the Inn often playing a card game, maybe he could join them, besides he still had a book to read, and, as he learned two days ago in the bowling alley, one of the volunteer guards named Mick was able to lockpick. He was the reason they could get open the safe in the manager's office where over 700 caps were stored. He could ask him for a favor and maybe learn how to lockpick himself, it was a skill he was eager to pick up on. So, after a long time to figure out his plans for the day, essentially amounting to taking a day off to rest and hone skills, he set off.
Mick, as he found out, was more than willing to teach Adam how to lockpick, however in exchange he wanted Adam to take his shift standing guard at the wall. He refused caps. Adam had to consider his offer but decided to agree as he truly had nothing better to do today anyway, so it seemed a good compromise. A lesson in lockpicking for a shift of work. As it turned out, lockpicking was hard.
Lockpicking itself was rather simple, he understood the explanation well enough and Mick showed it to be a rather simple challenge if you knew what you were doing, assuming the lock itself was not requiring too high of a skill level. But Adam simply lacked the necessary dexterity for it. Which was weird since he was good with his hands as a catch all IT and mechanic during the pre-war times.
Still, despite the setback, he learned enough to get the basics, from there he would simply need to keep practicing and he would get the hang of the skill in time. Like with anything else in life, practice makes perfect. As such while Adam spent time doing a guard's shift on the wall, he spent most of his time with the practice lock Mick had given him, opening it over and over. By the time his shift was over, he was confident enough that if this exact type of lock was presented to him, he could open it in a reasonable amount of time. But before his shift was done Grant came to visit him on the wall.
"How you doing up there?" Grant asked as he stopped at the stairs before the palisade at the wall.
"Hm?" Adam hummed as he turned around to look at who was speaking. "Oh Grant!" Adam smiled as he put the lock down. "Sorry, I learned how to lockpick from Mick and that has become my project all day today. I'm doing well."
"Ah Mick." Grant said with a soft chuckle as he ascended the stairs to be at eye level with Adam. "Well now it all makes sense how you got roped into helping a guard shift, normally folk from outside the town don't stand on the walls." He grinned.
"Seemed like a fair trade to me, I learned a new skill that will probably help me in the future and he got a day off." Adam shrugged. "Besides, I wanted to take it easy today. This was a good excuse to not just sit in the room and stare at the walls." Grant nodded and looked like he had something he wanted to say, but was hesitating to say it for some reason.
"What is it Grant?" Adam asked with a soft tilt of his head.
"Ah it's nothing much but…" Grant sighed and then looked Adam in the eyes. "I just wanted to properly express gratitude to you for all you did for our little town. We are used to taking care of our own out here and I know throwing yourself into a gunfight is no one's first choice." He paused. "But you really showed up when we needed you, and that takes a real man." He offered Adam his hand for a handshake.
"So I just wanted to express how appreciative I truly am of you." Adam smiled and then took his hand, shaking it.
"It's no problem, Grant. This town has been good to me." He then laughs and adds: "And besides I wasn't the only stranger that showed up to help."
"No, I know." Grant returned as he let go of Adam's hand. "But everyone's got their reasons, Salvatore lives here on his down time so it's a given he would show up to help, however Deccanus was just passing through, maybe he just wanted the caps or maybe he hates raiders, either way he came out to help too. Same with that bounty hunter fellow, god rest his soul. I expressed appreciation for Deccanus too before he up and left, but you are fresh from a Vault, aint been in town for more than a week and still put your life on the line for the people here. I'm not a fan of beating around the bush, so I just wanted to be upfront and say that the people here will never forget the help you gave us."
Adam chuckled slightly embarrassed. "Well I um…" he blushed slightly. "I'm not sure what to say, but I'm happy to help. The people of this town have been good to me, and I might have been from a Vault but people are all still people, and this town has really helped prove that to me. I'm glad that I ended up here, and I'm glad I got a chance to pay the town back a bit."
Grant smiled and patted Adam's arm twice. "Just know if you ever decide to settle down somewhere someday, our town would welcome you with open arms."
"Thanks Grant. I mean it. Thanks." Grant then left Adam on the wall, with only an hour left of his shift before he was replaced, now feeling even more appreciated again. The people of this town truly were nice and welcoming. He couldn't have asked for a better introduction to the people of this new world he found himself in, all he could do is hope that everywhere else he visits will be as nice as here.
And with that thought, he took a seat back in the guard post chair, picked up the lock, and worked on the lock the rest of his shift.