She blinked her light blue eyes as to clear away the frost that still clung to them. Weak. She felt as fragile as shattered glass when the pod door went gliding open. Her mind was fogged and her muscles ached with each passing breath. How long has it been?
She stepped out of the pod, swaying for a moment when she stood. Her sister, she remembered. Her eyes landed on the pod to over her right shoulder.
She could tell something was wrong by the way none of the other pods opened along with hers. A glance into her sister's pod confirmed her fears. A bullet hole clean through the left side of her head with blood frozen and clumped in her dirty blonde hair. Her hazel eyes were still stretched wide open in a look of panic. Shaun wasn't with her. Maybe Nate. Someone had to be alive with her.
She peered over her shoulder and looked into her sister's husband's pod. Shaun wasn't with him either. Yet, she couldn't see any wounds on him. Not a single scrape. With quick fingers she looked at the control panel and pressed the release button. A groan issued from the pod and soon it flung open.
Her brother-in-law slumped over and she caught him. She fell down when her weak muscles gave out beneath her. Then she stared long and hard waiting for any sign of life in his body.
She didn't even know how long she clinged onto that hope. Maybe a half an hour, maybe two hours. All spent in denial that she might not have family anymore. She knew she couldn't spend much longer. Without even realizing it she let the tears to cascade down her cheeks. She wiped them off with the back of her hand and stood, gathering herself before turning her back to them. No matter how much she hated it she could mourn when she was in a safer place. Even find them a place to finally rest.
Soon, when she turned through a number of hallways she encountered creatures. Roaches the size of a housecat clinging to the walls of the vault. Grabbing the nearest weapon, a security baton, she flicked it out with a swing of her arm. Whatever else was in this world could be worse. How bad could bugs be, she told herself.
Sneaking along the wall behind some wooden crates she brought strength to her muscles. A harsh whack across the roaches back sent it's gut splattering over her. The need to wretch pushed on her stomach but she contained herself. There were four more of the wretched bugs and they were all gliding towards her. She ducked before one of them could latch onto her shoulder and smashed it with the baton. By the time she was turning around another was flying towards her. This roach was able to grab onto her leg and bite into her suit. She could feel its pincers tearing through the rough material. With luck a hard swing of the baton sent it spattering on the floor. Two more to go.
The next had snuck up behind her and lunged for the scruff of her neck. Its pincers scraped at her neck, the collar of the suit protecting her. She dove and rolled, trying to dislodge it but this one jumped off before being squished. Clever one. Both roaches sprung at the same time. All she could do was swing wildly to fend them off and to her surprise, it worked. Both got hit so hard they nearly split in two.
Done exterminating those wretched things she was covered with roach juice and a few tears littered her suit. The goo even decided to cling to her platinum blonde hair despite it being shoulder length. She tried her best to wipe off what she could with a stray piece of cloth and pushed forward.
She entered a larger room, the vault's first room and the exit. Finally. She rushed over to the console and pressed the button to no avail. Something glowed faintly in the corner of her eye; a pip-boy. She quickly grabbed it, strapped it onto her left arm, and plugged it into the console's outlet. Pressing the button again the vault door emitted a long deep groan and an alarm sounded. The elevator was revealed before her. She didn't hesitate to walk across the platform to her freedom.
Several creeks followed the elevators rise and the hatch above opened dramatically. Light filtered down, light too bright for her unacclimated eyes. She shielded her face with a forearm, peering up. When she reached the top at first all she could see was a blinding white blur. Then her eyes adjusted and focused.
Shock spread across her face, jaw gaping in wordlessness. A scene covered in shades of rust, of death. Everything was dead, drained of color from the blast and years of aging; how many years she didn't know. A part deep down in her didn't want to know. She tore her gaze from the ruined land and stepped off the platform slowly.
Memories from the day of the disaster flashed in her eyes and made her head throb. She put a hand to her forehead to try to stop the pain. Her mind tormented her with flashbacks of her sister Nora when her feet carried her to the house. The house was in shambles and - Codsworth? She rounded the corner of the house and spotted him.
"It's… it's really you!" He nearly shouted.
"Codsworth…" She choked, not able to get any other words out. Her throat was too dry and scratchy and her mind too occupied.
"But, where are the Mister and Missus, Erin?"
"They… they're dead, Codsworth." She made a valiant effort of keeping her tears contained.
"Miss… this terrible thing you're saying. I… I believe you need a distraction. Yes! Something to calm this dire mood." She felt bad, so bad for him. He continued, "It's been ages since we've played a game. Maybe checkers, your favorite game, Miss Erin. Or charades… Shaun always enjoyed that game, especially with you. Where is the lad… by the way?"
She crumbled, his reminiscing only made her flashbacks haunt her again, threatening her to break. "He's… gone too."
"It's worse than I thought. Hmm… You're suffering from hunger-induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two hundred years will do that, I'm afraid."
The tidbit of information caught Erin off-guard. "Wait… Two hundred years?" She lowered a brow inquisitively at him.
"A bit over two hundred ten actually, Miss." He paused a moment. "That means you're two centuries late for dinner! Ha ha ha. Shall I whip you up a snack? You look famished, miss."
She knew the poor robot was hiding something although he tried to keep his spirits high for her. No matter how good food sounded she needed to know what he was holding back.
"Is there something wrong, Codsworth?"
"I… I… Oh, Erin… It's been just horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve…"
She quickly calmed him down before he went on a tangent. He was known for the occasional rant and, truly, she just wanted to collapse somewhere safe and stay there if only for a day. To come to terms…
"Enough feeling sorry for myself. Would you like to search the neighborhood together? It might hold something useful for you, Miss."
"Codsworth. I really just need some time alone, please."
"Ah… Of course. I'll search alone for now then. Do feel better."
She turned through the open door of her sister's house and immediately collapsed on the familiar red sofa. She could worry about washing up later.
The snapping of several twigs sent her shooting up from her slumber. It was just after dusk now, the dull moonlight filtered through the many holes in the roof. She couldn't shake the feeling of dread coming across her. Something, maybe even someone was watching her from the unending shadows. Just then Codsworth came hovering from across the ruined street, from where she'd heard the snapping. She relaxed. Everything was in her head, she told herself.
The robot arrived with a gun in tow, a 10mm pistol. It hadn't been the first time she'd seen a gun. In fact, she had taken shooting lessons at the local police station and made friends with the police after proving herself a good shot. So good they gave her an award in her small class.
"Here. I didn't want you going anywhere without a way to protect yourself should the need arise. And… although I don't want to scare you… Everything has become rather dangerous around here."
"Thank you, Codsworth." She took the pistol which was lodged in a holster and strapped it around her waist. "Tell me. Are there… friendly people around here? A town or farm maybe?"
"Well… There is Concord. The people there only shot at me a few times."
"I'm going there." There had to be some good people there, anywhere.
"But, Miss. You could get hurt or… killed."
"I'll be fine." She knew she probably wouldn't, but what was there for her to lose. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. "Farewell, Codsworth. I'll be back eventually."
Before he could convene or interrupt her she ran far from the house and across the bridge where she paused to look behind. No Codsworth, it was best that way. She couldn't take staying in this neighborhood anymore. She just wanted to run, to find sanctuary with some nice folk and forget all about life before this all happened.
It took about an hour, but she found herself just outside of Concord with gunshots in the distance. She skirted around the edges of town, keeping to the shadows as she inspected from afar. Poking her head around the side of a brick building she observed the rather one-sided battle going on. She inspected both sides. The one on the left looked like a group of thugs, one of them was even defiling a corpse by shooting it repeatedly. The other was organized, a man shouting orders from the balcony of the central building.
Just then the man caught sight of her in the shadows and looked in her direction briefly. He didn't give any indication of shooting but instead shouted at her. "I've got a group of settlers inside! The raiders are almost through the door! Help us, please!" Desperation and worry coated his voice as he ran back in through the doors.
Maybe this wouldn't be nearly as bad as she thought. Maybe she could find her place even in this new world.
With the coast clear she made her way to the double doors and quietly made her way into the Museum of Freedom. A raider nearly shot her in the leg when she emerged through them. She ran to the nearest cover to her right, a hallway leading to an exhibit and leaned out from her cover to take a shot. Only one shot and it went straight through the raider's forehead. From what she could see all the others were upstairs so she moved on. Sneaking through a couple exhibits before a raider lunged from his cover and fired from a close range. She hid behind what looked like a ship's mast and pulled the trigger with the sights landing on his neck. The bullet launched itself through his windpipe and she could hear him gurgling on his own blood.
Now she was to the next doorway, peering at the backs of two more raiders who were on the third floor. She took her opportunity and focused sending a shot through one of them; a gruesome pierce through the lungs. His friend now turned around with a look of disbelief. Little did he know he'd only given her a more accurate shot and soon he followed his friend's fate, squirming on the wood floor to die.
Seeing as the area was clear she charged up to the flights of stairs and veered left. Down another hallway to yet another exhibit. One more, this time equipped with a pipe for melee. All the more easier when a bullet hole was torn in the left side of his chest.
Another two flights, a raider killed, and now she was on the top floor. The last three at the top all killed in a matter of seconds too. God, she must've seemed like a monster to them. It wasn't her fault they had chosen such a horrible path though. Her head snapped when a voice yelled to her right, the man from before. "Come on!"
She sprinted through the door and shut it. Only then did she notice the blood spatters staining the blue suit.
"I don't know who you are," The man spoke. "But your timing's impeccable. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen." An introduction and a quick one at that.
"The name's Erin. But… What are the Minutemen?"
"'Protect the people at a minute's notice." That was the idea. So I joined up, wanted to make a difference. And I did, but… things fell apart. Now it looks like I'm the last minuteman standing." He paused. "There were twenty of us. Yesterday there were eight. Now, we're five. It's just me, the Longs - Marcy and Jun - that's old Mama Murphy on the couch. And this here's Sturges."
"Sounds awful. Look, if I can help... I don't have anywhere to go. I think I know a good place to stay."
"Thanks. It's good to meet someone who really cares. Anyway, we figured Concord would be a safe place to settle. Those raiders proved us wrong. But… well, we do have one idea."
"What's the plan?"
"Sturges, tell her." Preston looked towards the other man to his left and he turned around.
"There's a crashed vertibird up on the roof. Pre-war." He leaned against the desk. "Well, looks like one of its passengers left behind a seriously sweet goody. We're talking a full suit of cherry T-45 Power Armor. Military issue."
"Look. I know what I'm doing. Just hand me a rifle and I can do this." She never liked that fancy technology. Technology that started wars. She would show them just how skilled she was without it.
Preston interjected. "You seem like a nice person. We can't have you dying already."
"Hey. I'm sure she wouldn't go off alone if she couldn't handle this. Right?" Sturges sent a questioning look in her direction.
"I'll be fine. All I need is a distraction."
Sturges picked up a rifle with a scope attachment and handed it to her. "Good luck. We'll have your back."
She inspected the magazine and looked through the sight. Perfect.
"Trust me. I'll stay alive."
If you enjoyed this story and want to support it you can help by making it a favorite, following, or reviewing. I plan to update "Far From Sanctuary" whenever I get the time; as I have a Black Butler story in progress as well and I'm very busy. I might add romancing to this story, although nothing serious. Thank you for your help!
~Polychrome