The Time-Traveller's Life
Nora stood atop the entrance to Vault 111, surveying what was left of Boston's skyline. The destroyed city was dark against the warm pink of the sunrise. It had been a year since Nora had left the vault. She rubbed the wedding rings on her finger, a nervous tic she had developed after leaving the vault. Nodding to Codsworth to activate the lift, she closed her eyes. The familiar swell of the hydraulics set her on edge. Her eyes meeting Nate's as they were lowered into the vault over two hundred years ago. Shaun fussing as they entered the vault, the neighbour's weeping echoing through the cold steel halls. The cold chill that ran down her spine as the pod closed.
The elevator juddered to a halt. Opening her eyes, Nora stepped out into the dusty entryway of the vault. Some of her friends had offered to accompany her, but Nora knew she was alone in her understanding of what had exactly happened to her. There was no way that she could explain any of the vault, how it felt to have safety assured, and then torn away from her in what seemed like moments.
Her pace quickened as her heart began to race, moving towards the cryo pods she had thought would grant her young family safety. It had been a gamble, having a baby in a political climate that was so turbulent. Nate had returned from service unharmed, and they had married in the spring after a long engagement. She had been so giddy when she discovered she was pregnant, both of them excited about what the future could bring. They had bought Codsworth during the pregnancy, as their pre-baby jitters began to creep into their minds. Now, her son's face resembled her father's. He had grown up under the supervision of strangers, molded into brilliance deep underground. It had taken a year to find him and now he was a man, a man she didn't know.
The cryo pod had remained pristine in her absence. The flowers she had left on Nate's birthday had frosted with the chill that still lingered in the depths of the vault. She had not brought anything with her today. How do you acknowledge the anniversary of your awakening in a post-apocalyptic world? Her face began to burn as tears welled in her eyes. A stifled whimper escaped her throat.
She had cleaned the blood from his frozen forehead, leaving the bullethole as a dark blotch against his blue-tinged skin. Now, she was scared to open the pod, as there was little chance the cold in the vault could have kept him from decomposing. The thought of her husband falling apart made her choke slightly, refreshing the stream of tears that had began to flow down her cheeks. Tomorrow, she would get Codsworth to help her remove him from the vault and give him a proper burial. Tomorrow.
Climbing back into her own cryo pod, Nora spun the wedding rings on her finger. From her Pip-Boy, she initiated the shutdown sequence for Codsworth. She would rather that he didn't find her. Closing the cryo-pod, Nora pulled her pistol from her holster. Pressing it against her temple, she prayed that perhaps her son would understand why.