Deacon approached the house, observing the robot off in the distance on the other side of the neighborhood gathering supplies. At least she has some help he thought. He cautiously peeked through a window where a faint whimpering could be heard. Sitting on the ground with her forehead resting on a dingy blue crib Nora was crying. The little rocket mobile above her moved slowly from the ever present draft in the house. There was a book in her lap… large and square he could only make out the word "SPECIAL". She was fidgeting with two small gold objects in her hand. She sat up straight and took a sip of the purified water next to her. Her eyes and nose were swollen and red. That small pinching sensation returned to Deacon's stomach.
Codsworth returned with a sleeping bag and some moth eaten blankets. He had also managed to find some food. "Worry not mum. We are sure to find young Shaun. We will head to Concord tomorrow. I've seen people there before."
"Sure thing Codsworth," she replied quietly. She crawled into the sleeping bag and curled up with the book in her arms and closed her eyes.
Deacon made it back to his makeshift camp near the vault, leaving the Mr. Handy unit to watch over her until morning. He knew it was a terrible idea for them to head to Concord. The place was always run by one Raider group or another. No one was king of that hill for long.
As he sat and ate a can of Cram his thoughts drifted back to Nora. He knew what it was like to lose everything in a matter of hours. This first night was going to be terrible for her, but so would all of the consecutive nights. He thought of her husband in the cryopod. He looked like the sort who'd easily break a guy's nose in a bar, but choose to walk away instead. Something about Nate drew parallels with Deacon's past, yet here Deacon was and there Nate was… dead and unable to do anything for her. At least he didn't have to watch his wife die, then try to live with the fact he had failed to protect her.
Slow down Deacon. Don't need to swim in dangerous waters for no reason. Don't want to drown in whatever sleep you manage tonight.
It was pre dawn when Deacon sat up from his sleeping bag and cleared his camp. He had made the decision last night that he would follow her to Concord, and wherever else she stumbled through the Commonwealth. She had some ties to the Institute and he was going to find out what they were. The terminal near their pods had shown a manual override for Nate's pod, but hers had been opened remotely. Someone was pulling the proverbial strings from elsewhere.
When he got to the house he could hear a man's voice faintly coming from inside. He crept up carefully to see who this new person might be. In the ruins of the living room he saw Nora standing alone with the pip-boy lighting up the room when the voice stopped. She popped the holotape out then back in.
Oops, haha. Keep those little fingers away... Ah, there we go. Just say it, right there, right there, go ahead. Ah, yay! Hi honey, listen...
Nora's head hung low and her hair obscured her face. Deacon knew this was a private moment. He needed to get out of here but any potential intel kept him rooted to the spot.
I don't think Shaun and I need to tell you how great of a mother you are. But, we're going to anyway. You are kind, and loving, and funny, that's right, and patient. So patient, patience of a saint as your mother used to say.
Nora shoulders shook and sharp sobs could be heard over the man's voice on the holotape. All he wanted to do was walk right into the house and lie. He wanted to tell her it was going to be ok. Instead Deacon headed off to his next camp by the Red Rocket truck stop to eat some breakfast. He no longer wanted to hear the conclusion of this message.
Look, with Shaun and us all being home together it's been an amazing year but even so I know our best days are yet to come. There will be changes sure, things we'll need to adjust to. I'll rejoin the civilian workforce, you'll shake the dust off your law degree. But everything we do no matter how hard, we do it for our family. Now say goodbye Shaun. Bye bye, say bye bye. Bye honey, we love you.
Nora took a deep steadying breath. But everything we do no matter how hard, we do it for our family. She let the line repeat in her head. She went to Shaun's room, or what was left of it and rolled up the sleeping bag with the blanket inside. She took the pack Codsworth had found and filled it with food, water, and ammo from a neighbor's root cellar. With her sleeping bag tied to the top, she set off with Codsworth to see what other horrors this world she had woken up to could offer, and hoped that somewhere and somehow Shaun was safe.
The pair approached the large iconic red rocket launching from the truck stop. A German Shepherd came bounding towards them barking playfully stopping just short of her. Nate had always wanted a dog and insisted they get one when Shaun was older.
"Hey there boy. Lost your owner?" Nora stooped down and let him sniff her hand. The dog licked the offering and took off in the direction of Concord. Stopping just before they might lose sight of him.
By the time they reached the edge of Concord they took a small break inside a boarded up house.
"What a good boy you are," Nora cooed at the dog. "He has such bright, intelligent eyes don't you think so Codsworth?"
Before he could reply gunfire broke out two blocks down from the house they were in. The dog whined.
"Let's get to the roof and have a look." Nora scurried up the stairs and easily jumped the gap between the two buildings. She was two buildings away from the history museum. There were two men shooting from the steps of the building while four people ran inside. One of the men was shot square in the chest and collapsed to the ground. The last man standing was in a duster and ran inside only to reappear on the balcony above to continue firing.
The group taking the offense looked dangerous. Their armor had spikes jutting out. Their movements made them look a little haphazard and wild. Despite the man's best efforts some of the group made it inside. Nora stood up to head towards the stairs that would take her back inside the building and down to the street. She wasn't all too sure what to do, but it seemed like they had unarmed people with them and needed help.
"Hey you! Up here on the balcony," the man yelled looking straight at Nora and her small party. "I've got a group of settlers inside! The Raiders are almost through the door! Grab that laser musket and help us! Please!"
"Reinforcements," yelled one of the Raiders below shooting a shot off at the building Nora was on.
Great this guy had just painted a massive target on this woman who had not even spent a full day in the Commonwealth, Deacon huffed adjusting his sniper rifle from his perch.
He saw her reach the street. The Mr. Handy cut into the Raider that had gotten too close with a pool cue. The dog had gone for his ankle and pulled him down. Nora was taking cover behind a sandbag wall. The Mr. Handy was calling out where the Raiders were coming from.
At least she knew to not run out into the open during a firefight.
He had been grimacing the whole way to Concord when their little trio had been walking and talking so out in the open.
Deacon let out a breath and pulled the trigger. The bullet buried itself in brick after making a path through a Raider trying to enter the building. Nora unloaded three rounds into another Raiders face. She ducked back down for cover and reloaded. He picked off two more, careful to fire when the man on the balcony did. Those laser musket blasts where a racket in this quieter corner of the Commonwealth. Codsworth took down another with his saw blade. Deacon looked back at Nora just in time to see another Raider land a hit to the side of her head. She let off two rounds which hit her assailant in the stomach. Deacon shot the Raider in the head just to be sure. She got up quickly and ran for the laser musket. She cranked it twice and carefully opened the door letting the Mr. Handy peek in first with an eye stem. Deacon only saw three Raiders make it into the museum. She seemed more capable than he had initially thought. Not the meek Pre-war civilian he thought he was following.
He saw her step out onto the balcony with the man in the militia hat. There were more Raiders coming now. She ducked back in as a shot fired in their direction. Deacon switched buildings and picked one off when the man came back out.
There was some sort of noise coming from the roof. Deacon turned to see someone in power armor ripping the minigun off a crashed Vertibird. The man in the duster continued to fire off his laser musket at the oncoming Raiders. The person in the power armor dropped down from the roof and let their minigun fly. The Mr. Handy followed. Deacon didn't want to believe that Nora was in that suit, but the Mr. Handy stuck too close suggesting otherwise. She might be an antique, but she was no fine china, Deacon thought shaking his head. The last Raider was running away when the explosion happened.