I saw a mod that gives the SS a holotape they can write in using the Pip-Boy, and it gave me the idea to write this.

Pretend Nora has some sort of peripheral keyboard she can connect to her Pip-Boy, or speaks to it, or writes on a terminal whenever there is one handy, whatever breaks your lore less.

The work is based on a survival playthrough.

10/23/2287 8PM

My name is Nora Flynn, 26, born in September 2051. Yes, that's right; you read it right. I was born over two hundred years ago. I'm writing this journal so I can convince myself all of this is true and I'm not actually going crazy.

Just this morning I woke up in bed next to my husband, in a world completely different from this one I find myself in now. I fed my son, showered, got dressed, had breakfast, finally talked to the Vault-Tec rep who was trying to talk to me for days, and was getting ready to go to Concord with my husband. Just another normal day in my life; then an announcement came up on TV, and from one second to the next the whole atmosphere changed. Sirens, crying, screaming. People registered in the vault program were running to the vault on the hill just outside the neighborhood, people not registered were also running to the vault. The skies were very clear that day, so I could actually see how many vertibirds were flying to and fro.

My husband grabbed our son and we ran to the vault. I actually saw it from the vault elevator when the bomb dropped. We just barely escaped the shockwave, others weren't so lucky.

Now I'm here.

It doesn't feel like 210 years passed for me, I literally went to sleep in 2077 and woke up in 2287.

I still don't really understand what happened, the Vault-Tec guy said it was a decontamination pod. He told us to get in before we headed deeper into the vault.

So I get inside that thing and Nate gets into the one directly in front of mine with Shaun, and then I just pass out. Next thing I know I wake up to two strangers opening Nate's pod and trying to take Shaun from him. Nate tried to fight them off, he really did try. "I'm not giving you Shaun!" he said, yelled really. The man with the gun gave him a warning, and then he fired. I could only watch as he slumped back in his pod, blood trickling from the bullet hole in his chest. Then, I passed out again.

My husband didn't make it, they killed him. That man killed him and he took my baby.

I'm going to find him somehow, and when I do, God help him.

So now I'm here in Sanctuary, my old neighborhood. It's unrecognizable. God it's so depressing. It used to be so beautiful and bright. It even had a little playground. The children loved to play at. Shaun was going to play there someday too.

Now it's all gone, everyone is dead, the place was all looted.

But Codsworth, our butler, he was here; trimming the shrubs, of course. I don't even know how he managed to survive 210 years, and I honestly don't care at all, I've never been happier to see a robot in my life.

Together we searched the neighborhood, found nothing but insects.

By the way, when did flies grow to be the size of your head and cockroaches to be the size of your legs? Well, I'm lucky I'm not scared of bugs, I guess.

There was a house set up with crafting workbenches, I chose to set up camp here for now. Codsworth and I built myself a bed to sleep on and a water pump, since the water from the river is radioactive and not safe for drinking. I also found some vegetables, those were planted in the backyard and Codsworth is taking care of them for me.

My old house is just across the street. I could very well just stay there, but I can't even bring myself to look at it, let alone walk in.

I wonder what did they want with Shaun. Why would someone want to steal a baby? What if they killed him too? Oh God. I need to find him fast.

I don't even know where to start looking for him. I don't know how to defend myself, or how to shoot a pistol right. It should have been him. Nate should have survived, not me. He would know what to do, he would surely already be halfway to Shaun by now. HE WAS THE SOLDIER, for Christ's sake! I'm a lawyer, I'm good at winning court cases, not at surviving in whatever the hell this place has become.

I'm heading out tomorrow, Codsworth said there are people in Concord, they might be able to help me find Shaun. I would go now but I'm honestly too tired, and my head is still spinning from everything that happened.

If only I had a nice bottle of whiskey to help me sleep.

10/24/2287 6PM

It was tough falling asleep last night without Nate next to me, but I managed eventually, even if it took time.

Going to Concord this morning, I passed the Red Rocket Truck Station, and decided to check it out for loot, instead I found a dog. Just as I was about to tell it to scram, a bunch of creatures – I'm pretty sure those were some sort of giant mole rats, showed up, and they were no match for the dog, so I decided to keep him.

I checked and he's a boy; German Shepherd, pure blooded by the looks of it. Pretty young too. I don't know what to name him yet, so for now his name is Dog. He's a good boy, but something isn't adding up here; he's too docile to be a stray, well fed, his coat is clean and shiny. Unlike that dead thing by the bridge that barely resembles a dog.

He looks too out of place in here, but then again, so do I.

Anyway, I ended up never reaching concord today because one of the mole rat things bit me pretty badly and it freaked me the fuck out. I ran back to Sanctuary to look at it, fortunately it wasn't as bad as I thought, just a lot of blood. I cleaned it up as best as I could, applied a stimpak and bandaged my arm; I'm just hoping it doesn't get infected, but I'll go looking for antibiotics when I can, just in case. Speaking of antibiotics, I found a chemistry station behind one of the houses, maybe I can find out how to craft stimpaks and other things I'll surely need.

10/25/2287 8AM

I couldn't sleep and my arm had completely healed up, so there was really no reason for me to stay in sanctuary any longer. It was about 1AM when I grabbed my bag and the dog and set off to Concord. It was about a 30-minute-long walk. When we entered Concord the dog's demeanor immediately changed, he started growling, and I heard the gunfire soon after, along with something that sounded weirdly like thunder.

Raiders. Outside and inside of the Museum, they were trying to get to a group of settlers who had holed up in there, I arrived just in time. It wasn't hard taking out the raiders outside, it being dark made it really easy to sneak up to them and the dog helped by distracting.

The ones inside, not so much. I got shot in the shoulder and another guy managed to sneak up on me with a tire iron; but at least I survived, even if my vision is still hazy.

There were two men almost through the door when I got to them, if I took a minute longer all five of them would be dead. Preston Garvey said he's a Minuteman, whatever the hell that is, leading a group of settlers to safety, he's been with them since Quincy. The other four of them are Sturges, Mama Murphy and Marcy and Jun Long. Mama Murphy told me the dog's name is Dogmeat, which is likely the stupidest name I've ever heard and ever will.

There was an old suit of Power Armor there, next to crashed vertibird on the roof, and I'm lucky for it because a horrible, ungodly creature showed up, probably drawn by the sounds of gunfire. I learned it's called a Deathclaw, and while I have no idea what a Deathclaw is supposed to be, I do know that its name is entirely accurate, and dearly hope I never have to face another one. Its claws were the size of my fucking forearm.

Something really weird happened; when I first got to them inside the museum, Mama Murphy said she has "the sight" and she saw "something angry". Then the Deathclaw appeared. After Preston and I killed the rest of the raiders and the Deathclaw, she said my son is alive and that I should start looking for him in this Diamond City place. The thing is, I can't remember mentioning Shaun in conversation. She saw Sanctuary in her visions too. Is this just some crazy coincidence?

The walk back to sanctuary was peaceful, but as soon as we got there, Jun went right back to his wallowing and Marcy started complaining endlessly, I'm gonna punch her in the face. I wonder what happened back in Quincy? I thought Sturges was cool, until he asked me to build him beds.

Garvey gave me bottle caps as a thank you for saving his ass. Caps have apparently replaced dollars as currency. One of these days I'm going to have to calculate exactly how many caps is a dollar worth. He asked me to help out a settlement because he's a very busy man; I guess I'm a Minuteman now?

I've patched my left arm up for the second time in as many days, at least I don't have to wait weeks for it to heal. A stimpak will make it brand new in a matter of hours; it does have the side effect of making me extremely thirsty, but it's better than the alternative. Side note that it's not easy to clean and patch up a wound when your vision keeps getting in and out of focus.