"How long do you think it will take to finish training them?" Adam asked as he turned back to look at Paxton, still gauging the readiness of the Vault Guard.
"Some time still, I'm afraid." Paxton said back with a serious tone. "They are taking the lessons seriously and more than one is putting their full effort in, which is commendable. However the type of people who want to join the Gunners are usually the more combat oriented types who already have some form of experience. Former raiders, newer mercs, town guards, that sort of thing. However these are all just refugees. It will take them extra time to reach the level where I am satisfied."
"I apologize for taking so much of your time." Adam said with an apologetic smile. "I hope you don't mind the accommodations at least."
"Not at all." Paxton said with an unabashed response. "In fact I find my stay here to be the most pleasant I have ever stayed in since we left Boston. Not to mention the free food. If I were not already a Gunner I would be requesting a permanent stay of residence with you." He said with a small smile.
"Shame you are then." Adam laughed.
"Indeed. But had I not already been a Gunner you would have never hired me for my expertise." Paxton said back.
"True." Adam let off a single chuckle. "Well as long as you don't mind sticking around until they are trained."
"If anything you should be questioning if I am milking the situation." Paxton said with a slight grin.
"Honestly, even if you are, so long as you keep doing your job and training the Vault Guard. I don't particularly mind you sticking around longer than needed. Having extra hands is always a good thing." Adam smiled.
"On a separate note…" Paxton began, now looking more serious. "I would recommend you pick a quartermaster for the Armory. Someone who has the skill to maintain and repair the arms so that when the Vault Guard deploy they know they have the means to fight back. I have been doing it on my own time but I can not be your permanent Quartermaster." Adam paused to consider.
"Can the Vault Guard themselves not do it?" He asked.
"They could take shifts, or perhaps one could be elected within them to take up the role. But I am told you also have fought in an organized group in some capacity, I'm sure you know the issue of having too many people managing inventory. Furthermore even if one were selected that would mean they are relegated to non combat duty. Of course this is fine. But it would be best to find someone else to take up the role. I can teach them what they need to know if they are lacking skill." Adam nodded slowly.
"Alright, I can ask around."
"Excellent." Paxton said with his professional tone back in full force. Adam mentally remarked just how similar Paxton was to Harrison. They were not the same person by any means but Paxton definitely carried himself in a very similar way to Harrison. Probably because he either idolized Harrison or because he simply was trained by him. In either case it was just something interesting to note. Both men were always so serious.
"Mind if I stick around for a bit and watch them train? I finally finished all my work in the Vault so I can finally be free to spend my time as I want again."
"By all means. Just stay out of that area over there. That has become our shooting range." Paxton said as he indicated with his finger where he was referring to. Then he turned back to the group at large.
"Alright! Break is over! Move to the next station!" He yelled. Most of the Vault Guard immediately snapped to attention and moved to their next job. A few were more sluggish and one finished his entire Vault 42 canteen of water before following the order but after only a minute or two the training was back on.
Adam stayed and watched for about half an hour, watching how Paxton coached the Vault Guard in their training. It was mostly focused on handling combat situations or skills rather than simply trigger discipline or formations and range shooting, but then again this was the post-nuclear apocalyptic world. There was very little need for the extra fluff of the old world and instead actual combat skill mattered more.
However after a while of watching Adam was satisfied and went back inside.
Adam's next task was finding a quartermaster for the armory. Someone who could work the job full time. Luckily he had a lot of people who were without jobs at the moment so a huge population pool to sift through. As it turned out, most people had at least a small understanding of gun handling and maintenance, since it was a required skill for survival out in the wasteland. However very few knew anything more than the very basics. And fewer still wanted to take up the role full time. However eventually, after asking around for a while Adam found someone perfect for the role. Jebediah Arnolds, or just Jeb as he preferred to be called. Jeb had some knowledge on how to manage weapons, more than most folks anyway. However whatever skill he lacked Paxton had said he would teach so it was fine. The most important thing was that he was more than happy to take up the role and help the Vault Guard without directly joining their ranks. As it stood now Jeb and Adam were the only two people in the Vault who had full access to the Armory. And, with the Pip-Boys moved out to a different space, the Armory was once more freed up so that Jeb could do proper maintenance and handle inventory on the computer, which Adam just needed to install.
However while searching for a quartermaster Adam also found a perfect person to handle the other job in the Vault he knew needed to be dealt with. Inventory Management.
Simply put the Vault had so much stuff, not just weapons, but food as well. Adam did not have it within himself to ensure that the food stocks were always enough for the people here. Nor did he have the time or will to calculate how many days they had worth of food. So getting someone for that job would be essential.
Originally Cass, the main woman in charge of the cafeteria was happy to take up that role, however she was already pretty swamped with feeding over 100 people everyday. So instead Peyton took up the job instead. She had mixed feelings about moving off the cooking team and into stockroom management but didn't put up much of a fight once she learned it was a request from Adam. Which was interesting. However, while her job primarily was to ensure that there was always a count on how much food the Vault had on hand and if that would be enough to keep the Vault sustained and for how long, her secondary job was to take inventory of everything else. This second part could have been a much slower process if not for the multitudes of extra people she could call on to help her take inventory of the entire Vault. In either case Adam was quite satisfied he was in good hands with Peyton.
Now, with his work out of the way, he had one more person to have a conversation with before he could start his plans to leave. Hades.