When people think about post-war shelter in Fallout 4, their first inclination is likely Vault-Tec. Despite their dubious intentions, there’s no doubt that the corporation has built decent nuclear shelters. Plus, no one wants to stick around while war and radiation ravage the world above ground.
However, some people have other options — ones that trump even what Vault-Tec is offering. Though, of course, it would require a lot more resources. This is the route Mayor Hildenbrand of Boston took before Fallout 4’s Great War began. Though it ultimately led to his demise.
Fallout 4: Before the Bombs Fell
Not much is known of Mayor Hildenbrand’s life before the events of Fallout 4. He lived in West Everett Estates, which is north of Bunker Hill and just past the Charles River. There, he lived with his wife and children in relative peace.
Mayor Hildenbrand also seems to have been active in the city’s economic affairs. A terminal entry in Faneuil Hall, for instance, notes that the mayor pushed for security Protectrons to be installed on the premises. This was to guard against potential shoplifters. In addition to this, he has special access to the Boston Public Library as an employee, and the system knows him by name (something the Fallout 4 player can use with enough charisma).
In the year 2077, the mayor and his family were becoming increasingly aware of the chances of nuclear war. Wanting to keep his family safe, Mayor Hildenbrand had an underground bunker built in the far west of the city (the western border of the Fallout 4 map). It was a large shelter, structured to fit the mayor’s entire family, some personal guards, and resources to last them a long time.
The post-war Fallout 4 bunker was to be entered from above ground, through a remotely controlled door connected to a nearby security building. The mayor assigned some of his personal guards to this security station. Inside, they’d have to walk through tunnels dug into the earth, with very few supporting structures keeping the soil above them from collapsing. This suggests that the entrance to the bunker was yet unfinished.
Luckily, the tunnels didn’t give way and Mayor Hildenbrand managed to evacuate his family to the inner section — the bunker’s actual living space. An elevator ride would take the family deeper into the earth, where their new home was. The place was furnished with a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and bedrooms for all the inhabitants. It even had an entire basketball court in the lower level, complete with a pair of hoops. In short, the bunker was luxurious, at least as far as post-war shelters went. They were safe there, even after the Great War of Fallout 4 began, but it wouldn’t last for long.
Storming the Mayor’s Luxury Bunker
Soon after the bombs fell, the surviving citizens of Boston found out about Mayor Hildenbrand’s bunker. At this time, Fallout 4’s protagonist was still frozen in time. Outraged that he was using taxpayer money for his own selfish reasons, the survivors gathered around the entrance to the bunker. Though the security guards were able to hold them off for some time, the angry mob eventually broke into the shelter’s upper levels and worked their way to the mayor and his family.
In a last-ditch effort to placate the people, Mayor Hildenbrand decided to take his own life. He submerged himself in the water of their bathtub and left a recorded message to his wife, stating that she was to present his dead body to the angry crowd. The mayor believed that his death might convince them to leave her and the children alone. After leaving his holotape, he drank copious amounts of alcohol, evidenced by the empty beer bottles that littered the floor next to the bathtub. Then, he dropped a radio into the water.
Unfortunately, Mayor Hildenbrand’s wife would never find the holotape or his body. One of the personal guards would find the mayor’s body first and lock the bathroom door. In the guard’s personal log, he says that he did it because he didn’t want the wife to see her husband like that. With the angry mob fast approaching their level, the guard instructed the mayor’s wife and children to hole up in the utility room next to the basketball court. There, she’d leave Mayor Hildenbrand one last message, bringing this Fallout 4 story to a close.
In the holotape, the mayor’s wife wonders where he’s gone and blames herself for the mess they’re in. It’s revealed that it was the wife who wanted the post-nuclear shelter and its lavish facilities to save them from the Great War. She simply convinced her husband to have it all built. In the last part of the recorded message, the mayor’s wife decides that, when Mayor Hildenbrand comes back, they should leave the bunker and let the people have it.
He’d never be back, of course. It’s unknown how the mayor’s wife and kids perished in Fallout 4. Though it’s not farfetched to believe that the angry mob got to them after fighting off the mayor’s remaining personal guards.
The Boston Mayoral Shelter in Fallout 4
In 2287, should the Fallout 4 player stumble across the Boston Mayoral Shelter, they’ll find the door to the above-ground building ripped away by a rusty bulldozer. Inside, the tunnels are, surprisingly, still solid, and the elevator down still functional. The mayor’s old home is in a state of disrepair, with dirt and debris scattered everywhere. There are also plenty of skeletons, including the ones belonging to the mayor and his personal guards.
The player can fully explore this Fallout 4 area, picking up the holotapes that tell the whole story. However, the place is teeming with synths, which the player will have to dispose of if they aren’t allied with The Institute. They can also find a dirt tunnel leading out of the basketball court, where there will be a Fat Man and a deathclaw waiting to attack.
The Boston Mayoral Shelter tells the tale of a foolish political family who thought that they could get away with their crimes just because the world was seemingly about to end. However, their greed didn’t get them far, as the people they blatantly robbed came back to punish them for their actions. It only goes to show that in Fallout 4’s post-apocalyptic wasteland, there are still morals at play, just ones very different from what people had pre-war.
Fallout 4 is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
