Since he had time, Adam decided to stop at Doctor Abbas' clinic to stock up on supplies. He had no idea how much he would need but he was not exactly strapped for cash at the moment, even with the promised 3000 caps to the fighters from Hell. He ended up buying 10 stimpacks and 5 Med-X, figuring that playing it safe was the smart play. Thanks to Abbas' discounts Adam only had to pay 250 for the stimpacks and 175 for the Med-X, it was a really good deal, far better than what he got at Midway. Adam considered mentioning he had met Doctor Abbas' former fiance but decided it was not a conversation for today so instead left it at that.
Adam set out with the moderately large group of people an hour later. It was a decent chunk of the town who asked to come to the Vault which was not an overwhelming number but certainly made Adam feel like he was leading an exodus. The back troop compartment still had the three giant turrets but it definitely had space for a few people, especially if some were willing to cram closer or were willing to stand. The elderly and pregnant got to ride in the back while pretty much everyone else walked alongside the APC, including Pearl, who was delighted to be relied upon as the 'head of escort security'. A title Adam made up for the sake of giving her purpose. Still, she was on lookout so that Grant and the 3 guards who came along could focus on helping everyone else.
If Adam could go a normal speed in his APC he could have arrived at the Vault in about an hour, maybe more, but since he was escorting people his vehicle was forced to slow to a crawl, the journey would take that much longer. Still he and the people were optimistic. He still had misgivings about bringing people that he didn't explicitly know to the Vault, especially since the Vault was not in a really livable state yet, but even after explaining that to them they did not seem to mind, so he was willing to put such thoughts out of his head.
Eventually, after stopping twice to let the people catch their breath and maybe have a quick bite to eat, Adam arrived at the entrance to the vault. A non-descript pile of rubble in the outskirts of Naperville. It truly was not that far from Naper overall, but as with many places in Chicago, the ravages of war have made the once easy routes hard to traverse. Still, it was close enough that when the battle was over and these people were ready to go home, they could do so quite easily.
Adam hopped out of the APC after parking it near to the Vault entrance, but not directly next to it, and then walked over to see Rae conversing with one of the Naper citizens.
"I apologize, please wait for Sergeant Baxter before proceeding any further, I have orders to not let anyone get closer to this location. I do hope you will forgive me." They said with a pleasant tone as the construction protectron puttered around the area and Buddy sat slumped up against a pile of rubble. He also saw something very surprising. Another protectron.
Though calling it another protectron might be a bit much considering the state it was in, as it was just the top part of the protectron with one arm and nothing else. It looked as though it had crawled along the ground with one arm to get here. Adam was confused about what it was doing here but it certainly didn't seem hostile. Then Adam saw it, the paint job on it, the blacksuit and white tie style paintjob that he took from the office in the Chevron factory. The protectron he had sent in to distract the super mutants that were about to spot him. The protectron he had no expectation would ever make it out of that situation alive and had completely forgotten about. That same protectron he had given the location of Vault 42 just in case he ever came back was here, was ready to serve, as broken as it was. It was nothing short of a miracle, especially since that means that somehow it survived the fight with the super mutants at the time, even if it did not survive intact.
"Rae!" Adam called out as he walked over.
"Sergeant!" Rae said happily as they rolled over to him. "It is wonderful to see you again sir! Rae was worried you may not return!" They said with an almost saddened tone through the chipper voice. Adam smiled.
"I wouldn't do that to you." He said with a smile to them before then looking over at the mostly broken protectron and then back at the group. "Alright, we need to walk through this opening right here, apparently it used to be a coffee shop but you know, bombs and all." Adam shrugged. "Be careful, Vault-Tec didn't exactly design stairs for this place, so the descent is both steep and uneven. Let's get inside." He then turned to Rae again.
"Rae, can you carry buddy down? And also that protectron too?" Adam said to them which Rae responded to with a salute. Before heading down Adam walked over to the broken protectron and issued an order:
"Recognize Adam Baxter." Adam said with authority.
"Recognized." The protectron responded, though the sound was a bit muffled since it was face down into the dirt. But at least its response confirmed it was still somehow functional.
"Transport will arrive soon, remain in standby mode until I give new orders."
"Understood, entering standby mode." The protectron said after which it continued to do nothing.
Adam then turned and began to descend into the depths of the tunnel where the Vault entrance lay. He did not have to walk for long as he was soon met with the visage of that door that once led to his freedom, now, perhaps, his new home. Though he was not yet certain of that.
He had been fine with returning here in every conversation he had up to this point, but it wasn't until this moment he began to reconsider what he was doing. This was the vault he was made, this was the vault where his life began, this vault still scared him, there were so many secrets here, so much unknown, he… still hated it… and yet he couldn't back down now, he had a crowd of people who were counting on it for safety.
Adam took a deep breath, steeled himself and then plugged in his pip-boy and hit the button. With a loud siren the door began to slowly open and reveal the interior left just as he remembered it when he stumbled out of the vault into this post-apocalyptic future he awoke in.
"Alright." Adam said as he turned around to the group behind him. "I will need to figure out how to fix the reactor, but the rest of you can go find rooms, they are down the hall to the right, there are signs overhead that will direct you, I'd suggest you stay out of any area labeled 'lab' for the time being. The place is a mess, as I've mentioned, so just do what you can to get comfortable. There is only emergency lighting and whatever else works until I can fix the reactor, so get comfortable. Adam said before he began to usher people in, keeping his pip-boy plugged in to the console so the door stayed open.
"Wow… I've always wondered what was inside these vaults… a lot more metal than I expected." Grant said as he walked up to Adam and let everyone else get inside first.
"Yeah, I had seen Ads for them on TV so I knew what to expect but metal walls in every direction doesn't exactly scream 'cozy' does it?" Adam chuckled.
"To have a place that is safe from the radiation, deathclaws, and raiders? I think I'd take a lack of 'cozy' personally." He grinned. He then turned towards the door. "I'll get folks corralled and see what we can do in the meantime while you get the generator working." Adam then nodded and was about to head inside but was stopped before doing that by a familiar face walking down the path towards him.
"Hey kid, not late am I?" Salvatore grinned as he flicked a finished cigarette off to the side.