THE CAT'S TRAIL

Date: 10.9.2224

Location: South Lafayette Corridor

We hadn't gone far before the earth answered first.

BOOM!

The ground erupted beneath our boots.

Mud exploded into the air.

Broken pavement cracked apart.

Then they came.

Mirelurks.

Their armored shells burst from the swamp-soaked earth, claws snapping, mandibles clicking like rusted machinery coming back to life.

Clancy stumbled backward.

"What the—?!"

Before I could answer, Larry was already moving.

Gunfire echoed through the corridor.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One Mirelurk dropped.

Another charged.

Larry pivoted, fired again, blasting through its shell before it could close the distance.

A third lunged from the mud.

Larry emptied the rest of the magazine.

Silence.

Only smoking shells and twitching claws remained.

I looked over.

"The power is yours."

Larry lowered the rifle, breathing hard.

For once...

...he wasn't bragging.

He simply smiled.

"Anybody need some extra Mirelurk meat?"

"I do."

We harvested everything worth carrying.

Pinball opened a storage compartment inside his chassis while I packed away the fresh meat.

"Inventory updated!"

"Protein reserves significantly increased!"

He punctuated the announcement with a cheerful horn.

HONK!

For a brief moment...

...morale improved.

Then reality returned.

The fight had churned the mud.

Chuck's footprints were gone.

Clancy frowned.

"We lost the trail."

Pinball drifted ahead, optics sweeping the ground.

A few moments later he froze.

"Object detected."

Caught on a broken fence post hung a familiar jacket.

Or what remained of it.

\

Pinball's voice softened.

"Sir..."

"Is it possible Chuck is..."

"...dead?"

Clancy knelt beside it.

"I'd say probable."

He studied the tears carefully.

"But I'm about thirty percent certain..."

"...he was attacked by Mirelurks..."

"...and somehow escaped."

Larry reached into one of the ripped pockets.

"Huh..."

He pulled out two items.

"Day Tripper."

"And RadAway."

"Good."

I looked at the chems in his hand.

Then at everyone else.

"Every shortcut promises relief."

"Every addiction borrows tomorrow to satisfy today."

"A clear mind will outlast any chemical courage."

Larry interrupted before I could continue.

"...Chief."

"You forgot the power armor this time."

I blinked.

"...We'll go back for it."

Clancy sighed.

"Pinball..."

"Forget the sermon."

"Focus on the mud."

Pinball's sensors swept left.

Then right.

Suddenly—

"I FOUND FOOTSTEPS!"

All of us rushed over.

Hope lasted exactly three seconds.

They weren't human.

They belonged to a cat.

A very...

Very...

Large cat.

Larry scratched his chin.

"Mmm..."

"The last cat I had was Sensational..."

Clancy groaned.

"Don't remind me."

I rubbed my forehead.

"Man.. Oh man"

Before anyone could say another word, the cat darted across the street.

Pinball spun excitedly.

"FOLLOW THE CAT!"

The animal disappeared behind a stack of shipping crates beside an old post office.

Clancy raised a hand.

"Hold."

He pointed toward the entrance.

A thin trail of fresh blood stretched across the concrete...

...and disappeared beneath the front doors.

Nobody laughed anymore.

Nobody joked.

Weapons came up.

Safety catches clicked off.

Without another word...

We entered the post office.

— Big Chief Mike Marcel