My name is Piper Wright, and I guess you could say I'm as normal of a teenager as a kid can be in the Commonwealth. By that, I mean that I am making it day to day, surviving, and protecting my kid sister, Nat, as best as I can manage. The post-apocalyptic, dystopian world just wasn't a very kind place to live, but I made do as best I could.
Oh god, there I go again, getting carried away with myself. It's a bad habit. I tend to get wrapped up in the moment and world around me. Let me tell you about myself.
I'm 16 and look after my kid sister (wait, I already mentioned that). Our dad met with an unjust and untimely death when I was 13. Long and short of it is, my dad uncovered the local mayor's corrupt plot. He had my dad taken care of, but I was able to get the word out to the community. The plan was, the gate was supposed to be "Accidentally" left open, and it would just so happen that there would be a raider attack that same night. Of course, the mayor was going to get a cut of the deal. Well, that night, the gate was open, and the raiders did show. But to their surprise was a swarm of pissed off and betrayed citizens. Not one raider walked away from the raid, and the mayor was strung up in the middle of town after he was dismembered and decapitated.
I made my first (several) kills that night. The town even gave me the honor of putting a bullet between the son of a bitch's eyes. They say blessed are the merciful, but I felt my vengeance was a far bigger blessing.
After that, it was just me and Nat. Mom abandoned us not long after Nat was born. I was 10, and had no idea bout babies. Dad was a champ, but let's face it: a man's body is made to feed a baby. It was hard keeping 2 kids fed. I even tried to keep myself taken care of to ease dad's burden. I don't know if it did help, but it showed me a lot about the adult reality of our world.
By the time Dad died, Nat was a chubby 3-year-old with a sharp tongue and attitude already. After my success of getting word out about the mayor's plan, I decided to be a reporter. It was bold for a 13-year-old, but we all start somewhere. I wrote about any and everything I could find out about and I sold each paper for a cap each. By the time Nat was 4, she demanded to help. I refused at first, but sales boomed when she helped. I think people bought papers out of pity. Nat was utterly adorable. I didn't question it; after that it was me and Nat, out to save the world.
Let's be honest though, this settlement was no place to make a life. Not for people like me and Nat. I'd heard stories about Diamond City: The Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth. My goal became to move there and start a newspaper. I already knew what I wanted to call it, too: Publick Occurrences. That was the first paper published in this state in 1690, almost 600 years ago. I thought it was a good name to restart a paper circulating in the Commonwealth with.
After I paid for food and clothes, the rest of the money I made from the paper was saved. It would be our token out of here.
So in the meantime, I also had to attend school. All kids did. The new mayor mandated it. It would be a great idea, if it wasn't so primitive. All kids, aged 5-18, were taught together in one room. It reminded me of the old books I read about people in the 1800's, when people moved west, this was all they had for school.
I was one of the oldest students, and was also the most bored. The teacher was barely older than me, and was a flat out idiot. I think I beat him up once or twice when we were kids. I could care less what he said.
There was one other student my age, Danny Sullivan. He was a quiet, red headed boy who barely had a spine. He was nice though, and was a good listener. He didn't seem to mind my rants and raves, or if he did, he never did let on. So I continued.
A few weeks into the year, I found out Danny liked photography. It was hard for him to pursue as materials were scarce, but the work of his I saw, I liked. He had a way of capturing images that brought things out the naked eye could never see. It was a gift.
"You know, Danny," I said, as we walked home after school one day, "We should work together and start a school paper."
"I dunno Piper," he answered, "My parents wouldn't approve."
"Oh forget your parents, Danny! Live a little!"
"Yeah Danny!" Nat, who was walking with us, chimed in. I smiled at her.
"It's not that easy for me. My parents are strict."
"And if you never stand up for yourself, they'll keep controlling your life. Do something for yourself for a change. Rove to them you can!"
"Alright Piper, fine, I'll do it," Danny finally conceded. I jumped up and down and clapped happily.
It wouldn't be easy. I had to hand type each edition of the paper, and several copies at that. We might be lucky to get one full set of relevant photos per paper. Maybe I would find a way to display them as I distributed the papers. Well, I could figure that out later. I had a photographer. Here comes the school paper! That was the important part. Details tend to work themselves out.
"How about you come over tomorrow after school, and we can start planning our stories! Maybe you can come help me with the city paper too!"
"One thing at a time, Piper," Danny said.
"Alright," I said.
Shortly thereafter, we got to Danny's home. We said our goodbyes, and Nat and I headed home.
I was extremely excited about everything coming up. So much so I could barely focus on my work for the city paper. I couldn't sleep that night either. I was ready to start brain storming with Danny. The next day couldn't get here soon enough.