A.N. This fic is meant to explore the challenges our Sole Survivor faced upon climbing out of Vault 111. I want to show personal growth and transformation. Too many stories write our female Sole Survivor as a bad ass mercenary without hardly any explanation as to how she got there.
My goal is that this version of Nora is more realistic. Per-cannon, she still has a law degree while her husband was the one with the military background. Also, Nora and Nate did really love each other, so this female Sole Survivor will deal with grief and will try to process her husband's death as she navigates the wasteland and all of its horrors entirely unprepared an unequipped.
Although, this story will eventually focus on a Nick Valentine/Female Sole Survivor and an eventual John Handcock/Female Sole Survivor relationship. It will take me a few chapters to get us there. Enjoy the ride. Reviews, kudos, and bookmarks are very much appreciated!
Without rehashing too much dialogue, this story will stick closely to the cannon quest lines.
When the heavy metal doors of the vault ceiling opened, the sole survivor of Vault 111 stepped into the blinding sunlight.
At first, all Nora could see was the deep cerulean sky that was dotted with fluffy white clouds. They looked like the cotton candy that Nate loved to get when they went to the Mass Fusion Commonweath Fair before Shaun was born.
Oh God. Nate and Shaun. Nora crumpled to the ground a mere five feet away from the vault elevator. Sobs retched from her body as she held tightly onto the gold wedding band that she took from Nate's frozen corpse. The ring was still freezing cold from the cryo pod, but she embraced the pain and let it fuel the storm that threatened to tear her apart.
What did she do to deserve this? What sins had she committed in her life, or even in past lives, where her husband was murdered in cold blood right in front of her and her infant child was kidnapped for God knows what purpose?
"SHAUN" She cried. Her voice cut through the apocalyptic silence and a flock of birds took flight from a nearby scorched tree.
Tears stained the radioactive scorched earth; the 10mm gun in her hand called to her like a siren's song telling her that she could easily end all of this. Shaun didn't need her. Shaun was probably dead. The likelihood of finding a kidnapped infant in this God-forsaken world was slim to none.
Yet, Nora knew that wherever Nate was that he would've wanted her to keep living. She lived and endured their long separation while he was at war. She lived and endured through Shaun's traumatic and life-threatening birth. She would try to live on and endure this next round of horrors to honor Nate's memory, at least.
Nora steeled her resolve and rose shakily up from her knees. Although the landscape had been ravaged by the bomb, she could easily see the roofs from Sanctuary and the faint glowing red spaceship of the Red Rocket gas station. She wasn't a detective, but she figured that going back to their old home may yield some clues as to what became of their old home.
As she walked along the dirt trail that lead back to Sanctuary, Nora noticed the blackened scorched skeletons of the unfortunate people who never made it to safety. Their bones had been picked clean, but their final dying gestures told the last chapter to their story.
One skeleton was laying over the top of a battered brown suitcase. Another skeleton - a woman, on account of the lime green dress that hung off the body in tatters - was reaching out towards another's remains. The military barricade was tipped over next to them and had been broken into several jagged, wooden pieces. Had one of them tried to breach the barricade? Did the military police respond with deadly force?
Once Nora reached the end of the trail and rounded the corner into Sanctuary,she froze in shock. To say that the town was destroyed would've been an understatement. Of the entire suburb, only five houses remained standing and all looked as though they were about to collapse at any time.
The pale robin's egg blue and lemon yellow paint of the houses was peeling off like birch bark. The streetlights that use to illuminate the nights with their soft yellow glow were broken and some were tipped over. The small playground behind Mrs. Stevenson's house was completely rusted and the swings that the children use to play underdog on were long gone. Cars sat rusted through in their owners' driveways, and human bones dotted the sidewalk like morbid weeds. Sanctuary Hills, her beloved community, was a sanctuary no more.
As she walked over the broken asphalt and overturned street lights, Nora noticed movement off in the distance. Codsworth was trimming the dead hedges outside of their ruined house and was humming to himself.
"Codsworth?"
The robot turned at the mention of his name. "Oh! As I live and breathe. Mrs. Nora is that really you!"
Nora rested a hand against the robot's metal exterior. She would've hugged the robot if she could. Despite being a little less shiny than she remembered, Codsworth seemed to be unharmed.
"Oh Codsworth, what happened? What happened to the town? What happened after the bombs fell?"
"Oh Mrs. Nora, it was so awful! After you, the sir, and Shaun left, the beautiful geraniums were obliterated. The car rusted; it RUSTED mum, and the house is in a hideous state. I tried my best to keep everything tidy, but have you ever tried to polish rust off a car or clean nuclear fallout from linoleum? I regretfully suggest that you, sir, and Shaun stay somewhere else until I can get this place shaped up. Perhaps I need to run some system diagnostics ... or you may need to pick up a replacement Mister Handy at the General Atomic Galleria."
"Relax Codsworth, this isn't your fault." Nora replied. Although Codsworth was a huge help around the house and a valuable member of her family, his artificial intelligence was rudimentary, at best, and he often worked himself up into a tizzy over problems that he couldn't fix.
"Oh thank you mum. You are most kind." Codsworth sighed in relief "Ah, where are Sir and Shaun? I can't wait to sing Shaun another lullaby."
The mention of Nate made Nora's eyes well up with tears yet again. "Codsworth, Nate is dead. He was murdered and Shaun is gone. He was taken from us."
"Oh come now mum, don't be silly. You must be suffering from hunger-induced paranoia. That's what happens when you are 200 years late for dinner." He chuckled at his own joke.
"What? 200 years? That's impossible. We were in that vault for ten or twenty minutes at most." Yet, as soon as Nora said this she knew deep down that Codsworth was right. The world had indeed changed and this wasn't just the result of an atomic bomb detonation. The entire world looked old.
Nora checked the date on the Pipboy that she had found, and sure enough, the date read May 24th, 2287. She had been in that vault for almost 212 years. Which meant that Shaun...
"Oh God, Codsworth. That means Shaun is dead too. My entire family is dead. There is no way that he could be alive 212 years after the bombs fell. I'm alone."
Nora sank against the dilapidated siding of their old house. As her body sank to the dusty ground, the robin's egg blue paint crumbled around her back and shoulders into a fine powder.
She had so many plans for Shaun's life. They moved to Sanctuary Hills because Nate's service to the country granted him access to Vault 111, but also because Sanctuary Hills was the perfect place to raise a family. She wanted to have the house with the white picket fence. Nora wanted to live the perfect American Dream. Now Nora wasn't even sure if there was an America left to dream about.
"Don't disparage Mum." Codsworth replied, putting a consoling metal claw on her shoulder, "I don't think Shaun is really gone. My CPU is telling me that there is a 98.2% change that he is dead, but that other 1.8% chance means that he could still be alive. I think this is what you humans sometimes call "hope."
"That's ridiculous Codsworth." Nora admonished, "How could Shaun possibly be alive? And even if he is, how would I know where to find him?"
"There are some people over in Concord, mum. You might ask if they've seen a man and a baby pass through there, or perhaps they can point us in the right direction to someone who may know more. Even if it seems unlikely, you have to believe that Shaun is alive. Don't lose hope, mum."
In a strange way, Codsworth was right. Even if Shaun was indeed dead, Nora needed to be certain. Maybe he grew up and escaped his kidnappers and made a life for himself. Maybe he had children or grandchildren who were wandering this new Commonwealth. No matter what, she had to find out what became of her son.
"So, to Concord then?"
"Aye, mum. Although I would set out tomorrow morning. Some good food and some rest will set you right."
"Okay," Nora agreed, "I guess I need some time to process all of this. Also, I need a place to sleep for the night that isn't so exposed. The houses may be empty, but what if someone … or something sneaks up on us during the night?
"I believe that Mr. and Mrs. Parker's house has a cellar which would be a perfect temporary shelter. Shall I show you the way?"
"No, its alright. I remember that shelter. The Parkers had it installed as a failsafe shelter in case a nuclear war actually happened. Honestly, I thought she was being ridiculous."
Codsworth floated into their old house and began humming a folk song to himself like he normally did when preparing breakfast for them in the morning.
Nora surveyed the remnants of Sanctuary as she walked farther into the cul-de-sac and towards the cellar. Mrs. Rosa's house still had Halloween decorations taped to the window. The merry jack-o-lanturn waved cheerily at Nora and the banner that Tyler, Mrs. Rosa's son, made hung askew from ceiling.
Nora never really cared for Tyler. He was eight years old and was a brat. Nora tried to rationalize that part of Tyler's misbehavior was due to his mother working two jobs at Slocolm Joe's Diner in Lexington and then at the laundromat in Concord but even her attempts at empathy could never make up for the time when Tyler thew a basketball at her stomach when she was heavily pregnant. His sneer and sinister giggle told Nora that it wasn't an accident, but she knew that a simple basketball that was thrown by a young kid was not responsible for making her go into labor early. Nevertheless, Nora still held unresolved anger and hatred towards that hoodlum child.
The house in-between the Parkers and the Rosas was unoccupied when Nora and Nate moved in. To their knowledge, no one purchased the house before the bombs fell, and now it would never see its first inhabitant; the ceiling collapsed in on itself and the once shiny new red station wagon sat buried under the destroyed garage.
Engrossed in her reminiscing, Nora didn't notice that two figures moved within Mrs. Rosa's house. At first, the loud buzzing sound reminded her of the fat bumblebees that floated from each flower bed. Of course, it was too late for Nora to remember that all of the flower beds were gone along with the bumblebees.
A sharp stinger hit the back of her shoulder and pierced through her blue vault jumpsuit. The pain was sharp and then spread outward along her neck and shoulders like wildfire. Nora fumbled with the 10mm gun at her hip and began blindly firing at the moving enemy before she could realize what she was shooting at.
The insect's shiny red compound eyes were the size of salad plates and looked like the texture of a golf ball. It's lower thorax was grey and bulging as it readied itself to launch another stinger.
The fly that stung her fell to the ground when her second and more focused shot met its mark. The other fly, however, was gaining ground.
So this is how it ends. She thought bitterly. I die getting stung to death by giant mutated houseflies.
Nora squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the pain of another stinger, but as the second bloatfly launched it's projectile stinger, Codsworth flew in front of Nora and blocked the attack. The stinger bounced harmlessly off his metal casing and landed in the dirt. The sound of Codsworth's circular saw pierced through the chaos and it cut through the insect as though it was tissue paper.
"Mum? Are you alright? I came right away when I heard the shooting."
"I — I'm okay I think. But I've been stung by that … thing. It got me in the back."
Codsworth floated behind her to examine the wound. The stinger was pierced a good three inches into her flesh and the skin around it was starting to turn a sickly green color.
"Nothing to worry about mum." Codsworth assured Nora, "I am going to remove the nasty stinger and then get you a stimpack. You'll be right as rain in no time."
Codsworth's gardener sheers appendage was blunt enough after 200 years of use that it could firmly pinch the stinger without cutting through it. In one fluid movement, he ripped the stinger out which caused Nora to gasp in discomfort.
"Sorry, mum. Now, sit tight and I will go get some stims."
Nora sat down on the stoop of the collapsed house and looked at the fly carcass. If common houseflies had turned into monstrous creatures, then Nora wondered and feared what else might be lurking out in this new hellish world.
"Here you are mum, I think a half dose is sufficient." Codsworth handed her an injector with a small red cross printed on its barrel. "Unfortunately, you must do the honors as I don't have opposable thumbs."
Nora picked up the stimpack and removed the plastic cap that protected the hypodermic needle. Her stomach churned. She hated needles because they reminded her of the botched epidural she recieved while she was in labor with Shaun.
Although she wasn't able to reach the puncture wound, she was able to injected the stimpack into the muscle above it. The needle burned as it entered her skin but soon the numbing relief of the stimpack removed her pain.
"Codsworth, could you patrol through these houses and kill any other bugs or creatures that you might come across? I am not ready for all of this." She gestured at the dead bloatfly by her feet.
"Of course, mum. I live to serve! I also took the liberty of whipping you up a small snack. I'm sorry it isn't much, but at least it will be warm."
Codsworth handed her a rusty tv dinner tray with steaming pork and beans. "I'll do a quick check of the Parker's cellar before you turn in, and perhaps I can find some blankets that aren't moth bitten. It may get chilly tonight."
"Thank you Codsworth." She replied before tucking into the warm baked beans. Despite being over 200 years old, the beans still tasted pretty good and eating a warm meal for the first time that day did improve her morale a bit.
Nora surveyed the crumbling town as she ate and began reminiscing over the the memories that her and Nate had made together in their short year living in Sanctuary Hills.
She met Nate when she was a naive undergraduate at Harvard. He worked across the street in a deli near the campus. He was a year younger than Nora and had just graduated high school. Yet, he seemed far more mature than his age. Nora's friends didn't care for Nate because they felt that he was beneath her. He came from a poor working class family from South Boston whereas Nora's family was comfortably middle class. Although Nora's mother stayed at home, she was still widely successful as a door-to-door saleswoman who sold makeup to other housewives in the neighborhood. She had a loyal customer base and was financially independent.
Nora's father, was an employee for General Atomics and had worked his way to a comfortable middle management position. He was close to receiving his pension and had planned to retire to a quiet life of playing golf with his buddies and restoring vintage nuclear fusion cars.
Yet, classism still existed with some of Nora's college friends — many of whom were trust fund children of the Boston elite who only went to Harvard to do something while their parents could prepare a cushy upper management job for them in the Boston government or with some of the local hospitals.
Nora frequented the deli that Nate worked at until it became clear to both of them that she was there for more than just the Tuesday special: Pastrami on Rye.
Nate had a fun sense of humor and loved to laugh. That was until the Nate's number was up and his National Guard unit was chosen to be deployed. Nate and Nora's courtship lasted all of two years before Nate was sent to Anchorage to help fight the Chinese invaders.
On the evening before he was ordered to be vertibirded out, they shared a passionate night tangled in each other's arms. Three months later, Nora wrote to Nate to tell him that she was pregnant. Nora feared that Nate would use this as an opportunity to escape the domestic shackles of parenthood. Nora, herself, was conflicted about the pregnancy because she was three more months short of finishing her law degree.
Nonetheless, Nate was ecstatic about the news. He came home three weeks before Shaun was born and Nora's mother helped them put a down payment on a house in Sanctuary Hills.
Shaun's birth, on the other hand, nearly killed Nora. The baby was breach, the umbilical chord was wrapped around the child's head, and Nora nearly hemorrhaged to death during the delivery. Shaun was delivered via cesarean and Nora had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy to stop all of the internal bleeding.
Nate stood by her during the entire process. He even insisted on putting on a hospital gown and holding Nora's hand during the cesarian delivery. He held her hand throughout her bout with post-partum depression and took on the extra household duties as Nora was confined to bedrest to recover from the birth.
Nate had stood by Nora through every step of their married life and now, for the first time, she was forced to do this next chapter solo.
"Alright Mum. The bed has been made and the cellar is free of those horrible pests. I must insist that you get some rest. Concord isn't far, but you need to be in top fighting shape because the people out there are a little more cantankerous and have lost their old world manners."
"Thanks, Codsworth." Nora said. "And I think it would be best for me to hang around Sanctuary for a little while. The excitement from today showed me that I'm not fit to get into a fire fight when I can barely shoot a gun. Fancy some shooting practice, tomorrow?"
"Absolutely, Mum. What a brilliant idea. I shall fetch some suitable weapons and ammo while you rest."
The air was chill and musty when Nora clambered down the uneven steps that led to the dirt cellar. Once her eyes adjusted, Nora could see a small battery operated lantern, some cans and food supplies, and a large safe which probably contained all of the family's important documents and expensive worldly goods. Unfortunately, Nora was no burglar and couldn't figure out where the lock was hidden on this safe let alone how to pick it.
There was a small twin bed tucked into the corner and placed on wooden pallets. The bed was made up with green scratchy fabric that Nora suspected was once a dining room tablecloth that had been cut into a rectangle shape.
The two pillows on the bed had seen better days. The stuffing was coming out of one of them, and the other one had stains of a questionable origin. Nora spend over an hour trying to will herself to go to sleep, but her body's internal clock must've been thrown out of whack after her 212 year nap.
At around 3:21am, Nora became desperate for some rest and broke the top off of a bottle of bourbon that she found tucked under the bed and poured herself a can full. It tasted like pure rubbing alcohol and burned her nose and throat as it went down. She couldn't stomach more than two swigs of the stuff before she dumped the rest of it into the dirt.
Eventually, Nora drifted off into a fitful sleep where she dreamed of Nate's death as she couldn't do anything but look out the window of her frozen prison cell.