As the green mist continued to pour down from above, Adam did his best to hold his breath and prevent as much skin as he could from contacting it. He was not sure what this was, but anything that glowed bright green couldn’t be healthy for you. Not at all like the light blue glow of a refreshing Nuka Cola Quantum. Damn, he would kill for one right now.
Though paid thought advertisements aside, Adam found that he was able to hold his breath quite easily. He had not even considered it but his lung capacity was probably at the level of a professional swimmer thanks to his enhanced genes. So with quite some ease, he outlasted the mist, which lasted for about a minute, until it ended. Once the mist ended Adam, along with all the others at the congregation put their arms down. He subtly wiped his hands on his robe, the only place he could not cover from the mist with any effectiveness and maintain his charade. As he and the rest settled back down the man at the front spoke up again.
“Thank you, my children. May you find salvation. Blessings be with you.” He said with a saintly tone, to which the rest of the congregation returned in kind. He then left the stage through the side that he came from as the congregation began to disperse.
Adam did his best to try to make his way through the crowd back to Mira. He almost made it there, only a few people between him and her, however then he saw the man whom he had met during the fight against famine. The leader of the cult’s army at the time. Wearing his inverted colored robes, walking towards Mira and a handful of other women congregated near here, that Adam assumed she had blended in with.
Adam was quick to turn away so that his hood hid his face from the man, but he did not leave the area, he needed to stay nearby if Mira needed an assist.
“Confessor Cromwell!” One of the women near Mira said with jubilation.
“Blessed be, faithful.” He said back, warmly. “I always find these moments of contemplation after a riveting sermon to be quite spiritually uplifting don’t you think?”
“Yes!” Another woman said with excitement, as if she was talking to a superstar. “And may I say you are looking fantastic today as well, it seems the elixir has taken quite well to you!”
“Oh now, Father Hope loves us all equally. I believe it is simply my purity of faith that has kept me strong.” He then paused, Adam was still not looking at him so he had no idea what he was doing so he had to simply wait for him to continue to speak. “Perhaps some special meditation and time to pray will help you feel closer to salvation.” He said with a slow, almost sensual tone.
“Oh yes! I would love that!” One of the ladies said, the others seemed to sound equally excited.
“Then please, follow me to the prayer room. We will share a time of reflection and prayer together.” With that he stopped speaking and it sounded as if he had turned to walk away. The women all seemed to be going with him. Adam chanced a peak and saw Mira largely stuck in the group of women, unable to find an excuse to break away on her own. Adam looked at her worried but she simply mouthed: I will be fine. To him to which he offered a small nod and then broke off, leaving the room quickly. He had no idea what her plan was, but she was the experienced one, not him, so he just trusted she would figure it out. Instead Adam decided to take the time to snoop around himself. Until they met back up he was on his own, and he didn’t come here for nothing. There were still too many questions left unanswered. He could tell Mira knew more than he did but until they met back up he wanted to gather some clues too.
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Exploring the former school once more Adam was more thorough with his inspections this time as the mood in the settlement was more relaxed since the sermon was no longer on the horizon. He even visited the ‘marketplace’ he saw before and was simply handed a carrot for free by one of the stall owners as he passed. He thanked them and they thanked him back. A strange exchange but they moved on to someone else and handed out another piece of food to another prompting Adam to leave. He stashed the carrot in his robe and continued his exploration. He was curious how this market operated, but he was not about to start asking questions. It was enough to simply assume that all cultists got the food for free and this acted as a communal pantry or something. In either case he moved on.
For the most part the school was almost entirely accessible. Almost every room had its doors wide open and free for anyone to enter as they pleased. However there was one space Adam was curious about, a place he knew all schools were built with, and would be the best place for something to be hidden. The fallout shelter.
In the event of nuclear war, the Governor had ordered all public schools to build a fallout shelter in the basement of the building, or, if they lacked a basement, to build one. It was a precautionary measure to protect kids. As it turned out, it was a good idea since the bombs did indeed fall. Though there's no telling if they did their job or not. Greed and subpar construction companies existed even in the old world.
However what surprised Adam the most was, as if to give credence to his theory, that the stairwell to the fallout shelter was locked. So far the only door that had been locked. Even the door to the roof was unlocked though there were two armed cultists that stood at the entrance. It dissuaded him from going up there. So he knew there was something down there that they wanted to keep secret. Or at least locked up.
However since the door was locked that meant he would have to rely on his abysmal lockpicking skill. If he had all the time in the world this would be fine, however he was in plain sight of everyone. It was not as if time froze while he would be working, he would be spotted in seconds. He was in luck though as there was a keycard reader next to the door, allowing access for anyone with a card. The issue was now that he lacked the card to get through. However finding a card to steal was a far better idea than trying to lockpick so he walked away and kept exploring.
He figured that if anyone was to have a keycard it would have to be one of the people with the inverted robe colors. The issue was he was not great at pickpocketing. Luckily, at least for the moment, there was no time pressure, but without any solid ideas besides just breaking down the door, Adam was at a loss for what to do. So instead he decided to wait for Mira.
A few hours later the sun slowly began to set. And Adam, who was waiting at the entrance, finally saw Mira show back up. Though she looked quite shaken.
“Mira what-” Adam began as she walked over, Mira, with a big frown and disturbed look in her eyes, put a finger to his lips.
“Not now.” She said quietly, both from trying to be subtle and because she was looking off.
“I may have found a lead.” Adam said softly, deciding to let the matter drop and speak to her about it later. Mira looked up at him now, still low energy but clearly listening. “The fallout shelter in the building, its-” Adam started before he noticed another cultist walking by and changed tracks immediately. “... it's not like I wanted him to buy the food! I told him It was for the brahmin!” Adam said boisterously as if he was telling the end of a joke, laughing all the while to sell the point.
The cultist walking by did not even glance at the two of them as they passed so as soon as they were once more out of earshot Adam continued, speaking quietly again.
“I found the fallout shelter, it's the only place that is locked, but I need a keycard to get in. I don’t know how to get a keycard though. But I have a suspicion that whatever is going on here is hidden down there.” Mira nodded slowly, took a deep breath, and then seemed to steel herself.
“Alright, leave it to me. I will get the keycard. Meet me here tonight, 4 hours from now, we will do it then.” She said with a firm nod, perhaps more to herself, before she then turned and left, leaving Adam, once more, alone.
