No time for fancy shit, you just have to RUN! You run and don't look back, though you can still hear them chasing you, and other Horde members start popping out of other sewer gratings.

Eventually you get to the Dust District, but they're still chasing you, that's when you hear shouting coming from in front and above you as well.

"ALRIGHT START THROWING AND FIRING!"

Suddenly from up high bottles crash to the ground releasing gouts of fire. Molotovs. Next comes the sounds and flash of machine gun fire from everywhere.

"OH SHIT!" you shout and duck down and roll into a nearby building. The Horde was still chasing you, but most of them got burned by the Molotovs, the shrieking is unnatural sounding, but it's soon put to an end when the flaming flailing bodies are shot by the machine guns. After it's all over you pick yourself up only to get kicked in the ribs and a rifle shoved in your face.


"Don't fuckin' move Shadow scum!" a uniformed mutant orders.
"I'm not…"
"Silence!" another kick, this time to the nuts. While you hold your crotch in pain, another uniformed mutant arrives, but this one has a higher rank.

"Alright Private, that'll do for now, let's see what this fucker has to say about his buddies…what the fuck? This ain't no Shadow! He's too fuckin' pretty for one thing, and not nearly muscular enough."
"(Groan) I'm not, I live in this area! I was scavenging Downtown with another and we got caught after dark…he's dead." You say picking yourself up.
"Yeah, that's usually what happens. Woulda happened to you too had we not set up base here in the Dust District. This place will be completely safe from now on as it is officially under direct protection by the Zeropolis Guard. I'm Captain Salazar."

Well that explains the uniforms.

"…yeah I heard of you guys. I also heard you only had scouts in the area though."
"Well we move fast, and we needed a new base camp. Our last position was steadily being overrun by Ferals during the day and the Shadow Horde at night. But I think here is a good position to make a stand. This area doesn't have as many sewer entrances, Feral activity is low, and best of all there's the abandoned factory and plant nearby. Maybe one day we can power up the entire City again, but for right now we're trying to just get power to this district, though even that will take awhile. The Zeropolis Guard is dedicated to bringing order to this city and I think this is the best place to start."
"Hey that's great, okay I've had a hard day; I think I'll just go home now…"

Captain Salazar suddenly stops you.

"While you're free to go back home citizen, I can't help but notice your weapons…now while I certainly understand the need for personal protection, especially given this unstable situation and your current choice of profession, so you may keep your pistol. However, your assault rifle would be of great use to us. We need all the maximum firepower we can get to better defend this area."
"Well it doesn't have many bullets left though." You say, but Salazar merely smiles at your attempt to keep your rifle. The private who kicked you looks at you like he's anxious for you to try something.
"That's alright; we have plenty of ammo suitable for it. However, if you wish to actively join the Zeropolis Guard, then you certainly would have need for such a weapon… do you wish to join?"
"Uh no. That's okay." You say helplessly handing over you weapon. Salazar takes it.
"Pity, you seem like you'd make an excellent solider. Still, our offer is always open and I'm sure you'll be able to easily find us. You may return to your home."

You make you way back home, in fact you'll be really glad to get home, today wasn't very fun, reminds you of why you always preferred your own company. You sort of wonder though about how things might change with the Guard messing around in the area. While this warehouse is sort of in an isolated part of the Dust District, you can only imagine that it's a matter of time before the Guard start snooping around here and given you have a generator and water recycler, they'll probably want this place for themselves and you'd have to go live in one of the crappy neighborhoods like everyone else.

Of course you might be able to swing things to your benefit if you did join the Zeropolis Guard, though that might mean they'll be sending you on missions where you can get yourself killed.

Before you fall asleep, you think about the future and how you're going to deal with this situation.

You stay out of it

You decide to stay out of this little war they got going, plan on just keeping a low profile. Hopefully they'll never come scouting around your warehouse to closely.

A few months pass and The Zeropolis Guard discovers your little slice of solitude one day, you awaken to the sounds of your door being blown off its hinges and soldiers coming in.


"Holy shit, there's someone living here!" one of them remarks.
"What the fuck man? You blew up my door!" you shout trying to gather your wits from being asleep.
"Yeah? Well what the hell are you doing down here anyway?" a mean heavily scarred mutant asks.
"I live here! What's it to you? Don't you have Ferals to kill or some shit?"
"We were looking for some and we found this place…looks like you got quite the set up here. Generator, water recycler…this place would make a good living quarters for the Captain."
"What? HELL NO! This is my home! You can't just…"
"Quiet civvy, this place is now the property of The Zeropolis Guard, you got a problem with it, tough. Maybe if you join up though you can help protect the place, but for now you better get your shit and leave AND you can leave that pistol right there as well. You're under our protection, you don't need that anymore."
"Fuck you! I've spoke with Captain Salazar before and even HE let me keep it!"
"Yeah, well things have changed since then, we're uh…having a weapon shortage, so shut the fuck up and get the fuck out! You ain't winning this one and if you persist in this act of civil disobedience I'll fuckin' just shoot you right now!"

You have little choice in this matter. You grab what little belongings you can still take with you and get evicted from your home. You eventually find an abandoned building in one of the neighborhoods to dwell in, but its not nearly as nice. You try to go complain to Captain Salazar personally, but you just get stonewalled and blown off all the time. They just tell you that if you really want a weapon that badly you should officially join instead of complaining. In fact they begin to warn you that if you don't like being under their protection, you can leave and see how much you'd like it elsewhere.

That is a tempting thing to do because you'll be damned if you'll join these fuckin' fascists at this point. Though you're mad enough to try to do something a little more proactive as well.

You leave the Dust District

You don't really have the connections to start inciting revolutions. You wouldn't know where to begin and chances are you'd end up getting yourself killed immediately. As much as you don't want to leave, you can't live under such oppression anymore, so you decide to travel to another part of Zeropolis.

You travel quite a bit, before remembering again that the rest of the City isn't nearly as safe as the Dust District! You're attacked by Ferals at nearly every turn, and worse you don't even have any type of long range weapon to fight them off with. Even the mutants that aren't Ferals have a gang like mentality that is hostile to any not in their immediate group. After running and hiding many times, and being wounded as well, you come to the conclusion that you'll have to grin and bear it and return to the Dust District.

Sadly you never make it, as a particularly large group of Ferals ambush you and proceed to make you wish you never came to the City in the first place.