Anyway, I then crossed the bridge and fought a giant radscorpion on the way across. That was hard and I died a number of times.
After dealing with that, I found myself near Big Town. There were a couple of Super Mutants at the crossroads. I killed one with my Gauss rifle, but strangely, the other one just stood there, muttering to me as they always do, but not attacking or moving. After I killed it, I entered Big Town and noticed another Mutant standing there, near the guard post with the mattress lying on the ground. This one was about two feet above the ground, again, not moving. He didn't react or even say anything. I found that I was unable to even attack him with VATS. Also strange was the fact that all the residents were missing. I went into Red's clinic and found no one inside. I came out and the Mutant was gone. There were a couple of 'bots, but still no humans.
I have read in the Wiki that sometimes Big Town residents will be killed by random hostiles, so I suppose that explains their absence. But where were the bodies? And has anyone encountered this anomoly with the Mutants before?