Barney Rook

Barney Rook is the last remaining resident of Salem and the commander, quartermaster, sergeant at arms and scribe of the Salem Volunteer Militia in 2287.

Background
Barney Rook is a native resident of Salem, where members of his family have lived for generations in their family home. After the war, his parents worked hard to maintain the community's safety, initially succeeding in becoming one of the safest towns in the Commonwealth. As a consequence, the townspeople became lax in their defenses.

Seeing this shift occur, Barney begged the town council to let him train a militia, to teach the citizens how to shoot and fend for themselves. These requests were denied, as the council thought he was just paranoid. The town was therefore not prepared when a threat did occur in the form of mirelurks from the ocean. Despite his best efforts sniping the creatures from the roost atop his home, for every person he saved, three were lost. Over the next few years, he has done his due diligence in suppressing threats to the town, despite being its last human inhabitant.

Even though he has not had a guest in months, he cannot imagine himself living any other place. As he was alone, and could not be everywhere at once, he set up the series of turrets around town at strategic locations, so he could stay at home most days. He recently took the turrets offline to conserve ammunition since the mirelurks were quiet lately. The Sole Survivor: "Who's Reba? Are you talking about your gun?" Barney Rook: "She's not just a gun! She's top of the line, best gun in the Commonwealth. Made her with my own two hands. Oh, where are my manners? Introductions! Barney Rook, commander of the Salem Volunteer Militia, at your service. I'm also the quartermaster, sergeant at arms, and scribe for all official meetings. This here is Reba. But you two already met when she saved your life." The Sole Survivor: "Thank you, Reba. And thank you, Barney." Barney Rook: "No thanks needed, sir. The Salem Volunteer Militia is at the service of the people of the Commonwealth. Duty is its own reward. Reba says you're welcome. Now, I'd love to sit here gabbing all day like a couple of house wives, but we've got some work to do. And by we, I most definitely mean you. Before you showed up, the Mirelurks had been mostly quiet. And those that were a problem were quickly dispatched by my turret defense system. Since things had been quiet lately, I took the turrets offline to conserve ammunition. Obviously, they need to be reactivated. And that's your mission, soldier. I'm going to continue to hold down the home front while you go reactivate the turrets." The Sole Survivor: "Sounds good." Barney Rook: "Of course it sounds good, I'm a tactical genius. Smartest man in town, as a matter of fact. The turrets should be easy enough to find. They're up high in strategic locations around town. Just be careful. All your noise probably woke up more crabbies and other mirelurks. The town could be crawling with them by now." (Barney Rook's dialogue) With the town seemingly empty the Sole Survivor tries to explore, causing the mirelurks to stir. Rook, not wanting another person to die while he was protecting the town, sprung into action, and leads the Sole Survivor to the safety of his bunker, believing that they froze upon seeing the danger "like a deer in headlights." He is also a talented gunsmith, and has made himself a personalized hunting rifle he calls "Reba," and a sister, "Reba II."

Bugs

 * Upon entering Salem, the player character may find Barney dead at the top of his house. Sometimes Barney's body falls down onto the overhang above the front door. This is noted by receiving the quest "kill the mirelurks" upon approaching Rook's house, even if they haven't spoken to him. The quest "kill the mirelurks" may not appear, however. Resurrect him before killing the three mirelurks and the quest can be completed normally. On PC, he can be revived by opening the console, clicking on his body and then using console command and then  to solve the Talk To Barney line.
 * After finishing Barney's quests he may disappear from Salem. On PC, he can be returned by using console command.
 * After talking to Barney and accepting the sidequest, he may immediately open the door to the room with Reba II, allowing the player character to take the weapon without having first activated the turrets.
 * Barney will simply not exist, with two dead mirelurks at his house, and the "Inaccessible" gate open. This makes interacting with the quest, and his basement, impossible. can be used to spawn him manually, on console, however, this is not an option.
 * Opening the hatch to the bunker requires his key. Since it never spawns with him, unlocking the hatch is impossible without the command.
 * One may go upstairs and flip the circuit breaker to the gate however this appears to do nothing as well.
 * When he is missing, Barney's turrets are invincible. Shooting the combat inhibitors of the turrets makes them hostile, however that reverts on the next visit.