It was a very good meal, in fact the best meal he has had since he woke up in the vault. The meal was a bit pricey, 45 caps, that was with the free drink, but certainly it was worth it. Honestly if it wasn't a many hour walk outside of Midway it would be worth coming again. However he could tell, instinctively, that this was not the sort of place he should stick around. Even if everyone inside was passive that didn't mean they would remain so, so as soon as the two of them were done eating their meal they continued on. Surely Adam could have stayed and asked some questions, especially of Belphegor. However he didn't want to get bogged down here, since Lilith knew nothing he probably didn't know anything either, besides it was best to get moving, it takes about a day of travel to get from Midway to The Pier, so he wanted to move before it got too dark.
As they walked along the shoreline next to lake Michigan Adam took in the sight of the once beautiful lake. It still looked pretty, even now. But the dark blue water had turned greenish and it looked less appealing now than it had before. Not that he would have drank the water from the lake directly anyway, but now, it was probably even more unsafe.
The journey the rest of the way was just as uneventful as the path up till now, no new clues popped out at either man.
Eventually they arrived at a grand Neon Sign lit up brightly with argon gas making it glow a brilliant shade of purple. It proudly read: "The Pier" There was no doubt that they were in the right place. Though of course this was never in contention as a long concrete dock spread out in front of them. Navy Pier. That was what this place used to be called in the old world. Unlike Midway it looked reasonably unchanged, aside from the wear and tear. And of course the 12 foot solid concrete wall that blocked the entrance to the pier and wrapped around the front into the water for about 20 feet, preventing someone from hopping over the corner.
There were two guards in front of the wall, both were wearing some kind of heavy metal cuirass, heavy leather jackets, a gas mask without goggles, and some kind of metal helmet. They looked well armed too, the man on the right carried a grenade launcher and the man on the left a light machine gun. They certainly looked a bit more apocalyptic survivor looking than the guards at Midway. These guards clearly were using whatever they had on hand to make the armor, however they were much more well armed and armored than the guards of Naper, who were much the same but not nearly as well funded.
The guard closest to him waved them over.
"You two new to the area?" The guard asked them casually.
"Yes, actually, first time here." Adam said with a nod.
"Okay, well just a heads up don't stick your feet in the water, the Lakelurks like to drag people under when they get a chance. If you need a boat head to the opposite end of the dock to see a captain, and, it goes without saying, we don't take kindly to people who cause problems so if you act up our next conversation will end with a bullet in your head." He finished, still casual.
"Understood." Adam said with a polite smile. "We have no intention of causing trouble." The guard shrugged.
"Well this is The Pier. Expect a little trouble." He grinned. "Just don't make me have to come talk to you, that's when I'm less pleasant."
"Understood, thank you for the warning." Adam replied. The guard then turned a bit to look at the giant concrete gate and cupped one hand around his mouth, clearly intending to shout.
"HEY! OPEN THE DAMN GATE YOU LAZY BASTARD!" He yelled to whoever was on the other side of the wall, possibly not doing their job by the sounds of it?
The gate slowly began to open, smoothly, and impressively as the scene opened up before them. It wasn't so much a surprise as Adam could see the place from the shoreline but it was still impressive. The long several buildings laid out along concrete path with people milling about doing whatever sort of tasks they needed to handle for the day. Right at the entrance was a small flower shop with a little girl selling flowers. An identical courier service to the one in Midway was also visible not too far away along with an outdoor fish vendor. There were several boats docked alongside the pier, some small, some large, and, most impressive, a whole US Navy Destroyer. Then of course there was the large ferris wheel still standing off to one side of the pier. It was not functioning and had clearly seen better days, but it was standing tall still, as if a monument to this settlement's ability to endure.
Of course none of this caught Adam's eye first. He had seen a good chunk of the buildings upon their approach. What caught his attention the most was the creatures around here.
First of all there were seagulls. But they were not like the seagulls he was used to from the old world. These looked sickly, gross, they had tumors growing all over their bodies. Their feathers did not have their natural sheen and their eyes were bloodshot. Their beaks were also notably longer than a normal gull's too. They honestly looked pretty scary, clearly mutated by the radiation. However they were just seagulls, and they were acting like seagulls, but they were not the only creature he saw.
Next he saw what he could only be described as a heavily mutated pelican. The bottom of its mouth was a whole foot from the top, it was also larger, about twice the size of a normal pelican. And then to top that off it had a weird bird-like pair of arms it hid under its huge wingspan. The only one he saw at the moment was trying to fight a dock worker for a fish and losing.
Then there were the fish themselves. There were normal… ish, looking fish in baskets throughout the dock. They were what you would expect from the lake. However then there were creatures that were anything but expected.
There was one creature that seemed to be dolphin-like, however its mouth extended much further like a swordfish and its teeth were razor sharp. And it was larger than an average dolphin too, it was huge. It hung upside down from a pole, clearly being prepared for later. Then there were the lakelurks. Boy, there were a lot of them.
The majority of the dock space was taken up by what were likely industrial grade dumpsters filled to the brim with the radcrabs stacked on top of each other like toy blocks. And unlike the lakelurks he fought in the mall with Salvatore, where there seemed to be some uniformity among the creatures. These had far more variety. Some were big, some were small, some had more arms, some had bigger shells, some were elongated. It truly was a very colorful collection of dead crabs.
However none of this, from the mutated creatures to the dock's buildings, phased Deccanus at all, he looked completely placid at the sight. Perhaps he was just used to it being a former Legion soldier. Or perhaps Adam was acting like a tourist. Either way he decided to stop gawking.
"Alright." Adam said as he turned to Deccanus now. "Have you been here before?"
"I have not." Deccanus responded quickly.
'Okay then…" Adam checked his pip-boy. "Lets split up, try to find an inn for tonight since it's already getting late as well as begin to start gathering clues, though we can work on it more tomorrow." Adam then turned to the ferris wheel and pointed.
"Let's meet up at the Ferris wheel in an hour, hopefully that will be enough time to find an inn."
"Understood. I will be there on time." Deccanus said before he turned to walk away. Adam chuckled to himself and then began to walk away himself, ready to explore this new settlement.