Chapter 1
Shattered Dreams
Their fingers entwined, her slender hand fit perfectly in his calloused palm, an arm around her waist as they danced across the living room, the setting sun peeking through the open curtains, bathing the room in a soft orange light. His handsome face weathered by experience. The most beautiful hazel eyes, warm and inviting, with a hint of playful wickedness, kept her mesmerized.
Her grin never fading as she watched him lip synch to the song on the radio filling the room, occasionally leaning in close, warm breath teasing her with the promise of a kiss before pulling back, a playful smile playing on his lips.
..cause I'm a wanderer, yeah a wanderer….
As the song came to a close, he leaned in again. She took the opportunity to give him a playful nudge in the side with her free hand, using his surprise to finally steal the kiss he'd been denying her.
"You're mine now big guy", she smiled, hooking her arms around his neck, melting into him.
"Always", he kissed her again.
"Honey, I was thinking…".
"Hm?", she asked, searching his eyes.
"I wanna get started on the baby's room, head down to the store in the morning and get a few things".
She smiled, "Isn't it a bit early to start picking out colours?"
..into each life some rain must fall…
"Nothing like that. Just clearing those boxes out, fixing up that closet, see what we have to work with", he explained.
"This is really happening isn't it", she whispered, resting her head on the crook of his neck.
"Scared?", he asked, wrapping his arms around her as they swayed slowly.
Her warm breath on his neck, "Terrified, nervous, and I couldn't be happier"
He ran his fingers through her hair, "You'll be an amazing mother, honey, and I'm back now, I'll always be here".
"I missed you", she whispered, a hand on his chest and a familiar stinging in her eyes.
"Hey…", he whispered cupping her face in his hands, "I'm not going anywhere".
"I love you", he smiled brushing his thumb across her cheeks.
"I love you", she managed, through the tightness in her chest, before their lips met.
The crack of thunder roared through the skies, jolting her awake from the living room couch. It was dark, save for the fading, sickly green light that poured through the broken windows and the holes in the ceiling above her.
The musty smell of rot and mould.
It took her a few seconds for the reality to hit, when a flash of lightning lit her world in blinding light, followed immediately by another crack of thunder that shook her to the core.
She scrambled for the handgun between the cushions, her heart racing as she sat on her heels, pointing the weapon at the darkness, searching for any sign of movement.
That's right…
The weight of her memories pressing down on her once more.
She lowered the weapon.
How had she fallen asleep in this?
She remembered curling up on the mouldy couch, terrified, crying. A radiation storm, an uncommon occurrence but not unheard of, Codsworth explained, as he gave her a shot to counteract its effects.
The world outside, a roar of thunder and lightning, alien, bathed in sickly green, clouds writhing uncontrollably in the sky, rain replaced by the barely noticeable tingling sensation on her skin.
She had nowhere to hide or seek shelter, the roof above her head barely counted. All she could do was shut her eyes and pray for the salvation of unconsciousness.
She glanced at the Pipboy on her wrist, just past 4AM, her third day outside the vault.
She spent the first day and most of the second, crying between bouts of unconsciousness, camped at the foot of Shaun's crib or slumped next to the bed she and her husband once shared, what was left of it. Awake, unblinking, her mind blank, the living dead.
It was hunger that forced her back to reality. She spent the evening of the second day rummaging through the houses of her ruined neighbourhood, never leaving its borders. Until the storm came, transforming this alien world into something from her childhood nightmares.
It had subsided considerably since then.
During all this time, Codsworth thankfully let her be, silently following behind her as she searched through the ruined town. Standing guard while she slept and wallowed in her despair.
She ran her fingers through her hair, and took a deep breath, trying to clear her mind before swinging her legs off the couch, forcing herself to stand. The damp leaves that littered the floor, crunching beneath her boots.
Codsworth's motion sensors provided some degree of security and peace of mind, but it didn't stop her from keeping the gun at her side, constantly.
It belonged to Nate.
Hidden beneath their bedroom floor, in a sealed, airtight room where her husband kept a private collection of firearms, clothes and military gear. Undiscovered these past 200 years, all she grabbed was the small semi automatic handgun. A little extra personal security while she wandered around the small town.
During those first two days, in the back of her mind, when darker thoughts nipped at the edges of her consciousness, it might have also been an 'option', a' way out'.
But that wasn't her, deep down she knew. As much as it hurt, as much as the pain threatened to swallow and consume her, as surreal as this all seemed, it wasn't in her nature, she would not run from it.
Her baby was out there, in this hell.
She had no idea how long it had been since Shaun was taken, and she was put back into cryogenic sleep.
Was it a few days, was it a century ago, she didn't know and it didn't matter.
He was alive, her baby was alive out there, she needed to believe that.
And the man with the scar, she could see his face even now when she closed her eyes, Nate's murderer.
He took everything from her, she needed that monster to be alive as well.
And she would find him…
NOTES : 17/06/2017 - Edits and minor corrections - I've been going through the earlier chapters fixing things like punctuation, reworking sentences, and generally improving overall readability.
Also added 2 Album links in my Profile featuring my Sole Survivor, the inspiration for Time and Tide's Protagonist, to give you an idea of what she looks like.
All chapters are constantly being edited and refined to hopefully improve quality. Any major changes to a chapter will be noted at the end of the chapter with an appropriate time stamp from here on.
Thank you, I appreciate your interest in this story, and I hope you enjoy the ride XD .