Adam looked at the gate confused. There was a woman standing in front of the check in desk but there were no obvious signs that this was a place he could stay other than the name "The Delta" painted in gold lettering on a sign hanging above the gate door. The kid laughed at Adam's confusion.
"Don't worry about it, trust me, this place is great." He said with some pride in himself. "It's a little on the pricey side but you get privacy, a bathroom, and plenty of space to lay about." He paused, checking Adam's reaction. "If you don't like it I can lead you to a more traditional hotel but you will have to pay more, water is a premium here. Bathrooms ain't cheap." He said with a nod to himself.
"No, no. This is fine." He then smiled. "Thanks for bringing me here." He laughed and then pulled out another cap from his bag and flipped it to him. "If you stick around until I'm done to lead me some more i'll tip you a second time." Adam said with a grin. The kid brightened up as he put the cap in his pocket.
"Don't worry sir, I'll be waiting right here!" He said with a bright smile. Adam nodded to him and then walked to the receptionist, who was very much within earshot of that entire conversation but was politely staying out of it.
"Excuse me ma'am, do you have any rooms available? I got a stellar review for your place from that young man over there."
"Why yes we do!" She said with a smile. "We have two room types available: Business class and First class."
"What's the difference?" Adam asked curiously.
"Business class comes with a bed, a desk, window views, dresser, bathroom and shower, and complimentary snacks once a day. The first class has all of that plus complimentary wine, larger rooms, and a larger bed." She smiled. "We do have a third room type. The Delta suite; but that is currently booked at this time so it is unavailable." Adam paused to think.
"How much are the rooms? Also, any chance I could see them before I pay?"
"Certainly sir!" She said with some pep as she turned to the side and gestured to the gate door. "Please follow me." She then led the way inside and Adam followed. He did turn around to see if the kid was waiting and found he was, flipping a cap between his fingers as he leaned against the wall.
Once Adam had walked through the tunnel, interestingly, Adam entered a plane, which was immensely confusing, that is until he actually got inside and saw the isle.
The entire plane had been gutted, no seats, no headrests, nothing that made it resemble a passenger plane. Instead the plane was set up like a train passenger car. There was one moderately thin hallway that ran the entire length of the plane and then rooms made up of the space left over, each surrounded by its own wall and with its own door. Somehow it actually looked pretty nice. There were some signs that it had been made in the apocalypse, a few imperfections here and there, but largely it had high craftsmanship, it was actually impressive.
The woman led him to the third door and then opened it, ushering him inside to look.
"This is our business class suite." She said as Adam stepped inside. "Only 100 Caps a night." The room was large, especially considering the limited space on an airplane, but considering it took up 7/8ths of the entire cabin width of this monstrous sized plane it made sense. There was more than enough room for him to do whatever he needed even if that was to work out. In addition the bed looked nice and well cleaned, and there was a small attached bathroom and shower. Though 100 caps seemed a bit steep for what he was getting, the room was smaller than the one in Naper, even if it was nicer. He then turned back to the woman and she gestured for him to follow, which he did.
She then led him to the back of the plane where more rooms lay, but it was clear even from the outside these rooms were bigger, lengthwise they were about 1.5 the size of the business class rooms.
"This is our First class room." She said as she opened the door for Adam. "These run 150 caps a night." Adam stepped inside and was none too surprised to find it looking very similar to the Business class. Everything was nearly identical in design though the noted differences is that the room had a bit more decor and was, as she had said earlier, much bigger. The bed was also a queen instead of a double, and the sheets looked to be finer, with a higher thread count. The bathroom too was bigger, though it might be hard to notice. But the installed shower was even more luxurious with a marble tiled floor. Adam took a moment to consider before he returned to the woman.
"Alright, I think I will take the business class." Adam said as he emerged from the room. He had decided that 100 caps a night was already quite a bit of money and paying 50 caps more a night for some more leg room was not worth it. The free wine sounded nice but he could buy wine with the money he saved. Besides, he didn't plan on staying in his room all day so the extra room was meaningless. A double bed was fine.
"Wonderful sir!' She said as she clapped her hands together once and smiled. "Please come with me and let's sign you in and get your key!"
Once back at the reception desk she handed Adam a form to sign and pointed to the room she would be giving him. "Please sign your name here, if you can't write I will gladly do it for you." She said kindly.
"No, that's okay, I can do it." Adam said as he took the pen and signed his name.
"And how long will you be staying with us sir?" Adam considered for a moment before responding.
"Just 2 nights for now, When is checkout time? And am I allowed to continue to rent the room the next day if I want?" Adam said as he reached into his pocket for the caps.
"Of course sir. That will be 200 caps." She said handling the first matter first. "Checkout time is at 12pm, any and all belongings inside the cabin at the time of your checkout will be confiscated and no longer considered to be your possessions, we are not responsible for any lost or unclaimed luggage. If you wish to continue to rent the room please just let us know before 10am on the day of your expiry, otherwise you run the risk of someone booking your room next."
Adam placed down 2 of the Midway vouchers that he had gotten from Chuck for 200 caps. She looked at them for a moment and then smiled.
"Wonderful! I hope you enjoy your stay with us as Air Delta!" She said as she handed Adam the key to his room. 105.
Adam looked back at the kid for a moment who was still just waiting. "Give me a minute to set my gear down, when I'm back I'll be counting on your services again." He said to him which got him an enthusiastic thumbs up.
Adam then went back down the tunnel into the plane to go to his new room and take off all his gear. Rifle, gasmask, binoculars, most things he stashed in his room, but he kept his 10mm pistol and holster on him, the town seemed a bit more… unpredictable than Naper did. He didn't feel as safe walking around unarmed. Besides he was hardly the only one to do so, he had seen plenty of folks walking around with weapons on their backs or hips so he would have plenty of company with his paranoia.
Once he had fully gotten himself stripped back down to his vault suit he walked back out to once more link up with the young guide he had hired for himself.