"What do we do about the children?" Adam asked his friends, now gathered, close to leaving.
"What do you mean?" Eve asked curiously.
"I mean we have 12 kids between the ages of 1 to 5 all of whom are now orphans." Adam said back.
"So?" Mira asked back with a shrug. "Thats not our problem, they are just unlucky. Happens all the time." Adam glared at Mira for a moment with a frown.
"It is our problem because we killed their parents." Adam said seriously. Mira seemed to roll her eyes and cross her arms. She seemed to be in a bad mood ever since yesterday, when they freed the prisoners. Adam couldn't guess why though.
"Handsome, it's adorable you want to care for the little ones, but orphans are made all the time out here. You can't be bothering yourself every time one pops up." Eve chimed back in.
"I'm not saying I'm going to take them in, but what are our options? Can we bring them to another settlement to be looked after?" Adam asked her.
"I don't know if you noticed but there's not really such a thing as an 'orphanage' anymore. Children either learn to adapt and survive or become another casualty of the wasteland." Eve said back with a shrug.
"That's horrible." Adam said, his hand covering his mouth now.
"That's just the way it is, honey. I wouldn't overthink it too much."
"So there's no care system in place in Midway? What about the Pier? Or the raft? Or anywhere?"
"No, there's nothing." Mira said with a frown of her own, a light sigh breaking through her lips. "After all, who would foot the bill? And who would want to foot the bill?" Adam paused to consider.
If there were no orphanages then he couldn't just drop them off at a random city. He might be able to go to Naper and get their help. They were exceptionally friendly people. But the town was small; they probably couldn't take in more than 2 or 3. The other option was just leaving them here. But that's assuming they would even take care of them. There's no way to guarantee that. Maybe it was the way of the world now, but Adam was not just about to let a bunch of toddlers and little children die due to negligence. There had to be a better solution.
"If you are that concerned just take them in." Deccanus said with calm.
"Like, take them back to the Vault with us?"
"The Legion used to do this all the time to expand their numbers. Take the children of conquered tribes and raise them as Legion. Their growth would fuel more manpower for the Legion."
"The Brotherhood does the same thing." Mira added, softly. "A child raised within the ranks, even if they were born to an outsider, would be no different than any other brother or sister."
"Pearl think we should help the little humans!" Pearl said, as if protesting or stating a point. But considering her only real memory of being human was having a child of her own it made sense she was so protective of them.
"Its your call, handsome. Raising children is not easy, trust me, but you can't deny you are growing a community in that little Vault of yours. If you want it to thrive you can't let it peter out, there needs to be someone to inherit it when you all pass on." Eve said casually before pausing and adding playfully: "except me, of course. Because I'm immortal~." She teased, not at all doubting her own ability to survive what may come in the future.
Adam took this all in. He did not want the kids to be left to their own devices but he truthfully did not have any parenting experience nor did he want that responsibility. However, while thinking it over, it dawned on him. He had an untapped population that he could call on, the refugees.
"Hang on, I might have an idea." Adam said with a smile before running off to have a chat with the numerous War refugees who asked to move into the Vault.
Adam told them that the condition on which they were allowed to join the Vault was contingent on them being caretakers for the 12 children that survived the battle with the cult. The group response to his demand was mostly positive. A few were seemingly overjoyed at the prospect, one or two seemed to be quietly disgruntled, but the mood overall seemed as though they readily accepted his conditions.
Adam decided to leave the specific details to them. Whether the kids would be adopted or raised collectively didn't matter to him as much as knowing that they would be cared for in some way. The Vault's population was about to get a lot bigger when he got back. Between the Ranger, Dr. Tott, the 12 kids, the three female prisoners and the additional 35 refugees the Vault population was going to triple. And that's not even mentioning the fact that Lieutenant Paxton and the Gunner robots were going to be living there for some time.
Adam had offered to let the mutated man to live in the Vault with them too but unlike the women who asked to join directly, he said he was going home, back south. Adam chose to respect his decision.
To think that he originally had the intention of simply living in the Vault alone, or mostly alone anyway. And here he was now, undeniably making a new settlement in Chicago. Things have certainly blown up in a way he has not expected. Not that he was complaining, mind you. But he was now something of the breadwinner for the Vault, it was more pressure on him than ever. Still, seeing a society rebuild itself, giving people homes, and a safe life to lead did make him feel good about his choices, so he couldn't complain.
Adam had one last thing to take care of before they all left. Blowing up the FEV vat in the basement.
With Mira's help and scavenging enough chemicals and explosives they blew the entire vat up with enough force to rock the building. There was some mild panic that followed by those who still remained in the church but once the situation was explained not a single person complained. After all, everyone agreed that the less FEV there was in the world, the better. Mira certainly seemed to perk up a little bit at least once it was gone. Like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.
Finally, now that all the issues were settled Adam and his large group gathered everything they could carry in as many bags as they could take. It was not a small amount of loot, however two things hindered them. First, Adam recognized that, regardless of the reason, people had moved back into this building as a new home as soon as the fight ended. He was not so altruistic to deny himself hard earned spoils of war, however it needed to be done in moderation. If he took everything of value the people here would be left with nothing. He was not that cruel. Second, and far more importantly, there were just not that many backs able to carry stuff. Sure Adam and his friends could grab things along with some of the refugees. But most of the refugees had bags of their own, belongings they had traveled around with. Most of them were already too burdened with their own things to carry even one more gun. Not to mention that the children had to be carried for this long walk too. In addition all his friends were at least somewhat injured so there was a limit they could carry too.
Adam certainly made it out of the base with a notable stockpile of worthy things to sell, but was leaving behind an equal number of perfectly good things to sell simply due to lacking the space management. If only his APC was here. which was another issue.
His APC, for all its benefits, had a maximum number of people it could move. There was no universe where everyone in this convoy was able to ride the APC back once they arrived. So instead he would have to either make multiple trips back and forth with the APC to grab everyone, like he did with the ghouls now living in the FRS. Or he would have to drive the APC slowly alongside them like he had done in the past. The one saving grace was Adam did not have to solve this problem now, he still had a day and a half of time before he would be forced to make a decision. How he ended up the one calling all the shots he could only guess.
As they all set out Adam noticed that his movements were being watched by The Guild members who had come with the former Duke. It was not a simple case of curiosity, no, it was very blatantly some variation of keeping an eye on him. He did not know what this meant for him but he knew, at least, they had no intention of trying anything. So, after making eye contact with one of The Guild members to make sure they knew he knew, he set off, ready to finally go back home.