28/10/2287 11PM
A lot's been done around Sanctuary in the last three days, it even kind of resembles a neighborhood now. We started by cleaning out the few houses nearest to our base that still look solid enough not to fall on our heads when we are sleeping, and making them as livable as we can.
The couches and armchairs that we salvaged were very smelly, but the cloth wasn't ripped and the stuffing was, well, stuffy. I turned that into shinny beds that didn't fall apart the second I put weight on them, all without prior knowledge, and I'm fucking proud of it.
Next we took out our sledgehammers and completely demolished the houses that were too destroyed. It generated a good amount of material that will be essential to expand our settlement, but that's for later on.
My little one-person farm now produces enough to feed the six of us and Dogmeat, with food to spare. Marcy and Jun offered to be our farmers, so Codsworth asked to come with me next time I leave. A Brahmin even showed up the other day, I wanted to kill it and have a barbecue, but nooooo, milk is more important. So now we have our own cow, whom I named Bessie, following our old pre-war cow-naming customs.
During the first night, Preston and I stayed up planning the defenses we'll be adding to Sanctuary as it grows. I'm going to mention that Mama Murphy mumbles in her sleep, and it's nothing short of creepy.
The second day Garvey and I went over the defenses again, and started crafting the first two turrets, one that now guards the entrance, just after the bridge where Garvey is too, on his own guard post. Sturges, meanwhile, has ambitious plans to expand our Settlement as more settlers arrive, taking full advantage of the huge amounts of wood and concrete we scrapped from the houses. We built and powered up a recruitment radio beacon; new faces should start appearing soon.
Today I took Codsworth and Dogmeat to the settlement Garvey said needed help. A little shitty place called Tempines Bluff. They were being shaken down for caps and supplies by raiders in the Corvega assembly plant, in Lexington; a place I thought I'd never see again. Raiders weren't the only to give us trouble there.
There were ghouls too. I'd never seen one before and kinda wish it had stayed that way; Garvey had told me about them of course, back in Concord; but it was still a huge shock because they are ugly, smelly, attack in groups and are largely unpredictable. Zombies, this is what those things were called back in my time, were really popular in movies, comics and games; but instead of radiation, zombification was usually instead caused by viral, or fungal infections. They acted pretty much the same way ferals do, with the exception that the smallest scratch from a zombie was enough to get you infected and zombiefied. Lucky me that feralism isn't infectious, I guess; because by the time we finally got rid of all of them, they had scratched and bit me all over.
I'm quickly learning Raiders aren't exactly the brightest bunch, and are always either high or drunk, or both. A particularly drunk one that, I suppose, was guarding the door to the factory's upper level shot himself in the thigh trying to shoot me, then his buddy tripped right over him, puked and passed out. Another raider though Dogmeat was a yao guai, she freaked the fuck out and fled in terror. It was pretty entertaining to watch.
I have no idea what a yao guai is, but sounds Chinese.
Shooting is getting easier. Not that I didn't know how to, I did. Learned on Nate's insistence. For my safety, he said; so he could have peace of mind while overseas, knowing that I could defend myself if I needed. Killing people, though, is not getting any easier, I don't think it'll ever get. After it was all said and done and the leader of the gang had a bullet between his eyes, I finally took the time to look around me, there were piles of corpses littering the floor; some were missing limbs and some were charred from Codsworth's flamethrower. The sight, as well as the smell of burnt meat was enough to make me lose my lunch. I'm just going to have to get used to scenes like this.
Speaking of Codsworth, I think he got bonked in the head during the gunfight. He keeps hoovering into walls, his buzzsaw goes off at random times, and he had a full conversation with a floor lamp just now. I'll just leave him be.
A while ago while resting I was messing with my Pip-boy and found out it has a built-in radio; not sure how I missed it in first place since it has 'radio' printed on the knob. It picked up two radio stations; one only plays classical music. No DJ, breaks or anything so I'm guessing it's a pre-recorded pre-war station. If anything, it makes it great to listen to when working on crafting and building. Two compositions that I definitely remember played; one was The Blue Danube, and I don't remember that name of the other one, but definitely listening to it in a cartoon.
This is making me want to listen to my favorite one, Poet and Peasant Overture by Franz von Suppé. Maybe one day.
The other radio station, called Diamond City Radio, is post-war and, obviously, based in Diamond City. Plays a really good selection; a bit outdated if you ask me, but it's impressive that they could even find music in good enough condition to be played so long after the war. The real problem is the DJ.
"You're listening to, uhh... Diamond City Radio. If... if you're listening at all, I mean."
It's fucking painful listening to this man stumbling over his words, makes me have secondhand embarrassment so bad I want to poke a hole in my eardrums.
29/10/2287 10AM
Why the hell is it so hot? It must be over 90F today, and I'm almost desperate enough to strip naked and go for a nice, refreshing swim in the river.
Now, I don't claim to be a climate expert, but it's almost November, and I remember the temperature being among the 40s and 50s this time in the year. I don't think I would like it either if it was that low when I have little protection against the cold, but I also don't like sitting on a chair and sweating.
I'm not sure it if has anything to do with the heat, but Codsworth was spinning in place a while ago; after I'm done here I'll have to ask Sturges if there's anything him or I can do to fix him.
29/10/2287 3PM
I told Garvey earlier today that I dealt with the raiders giving that settlement trouble. In return, he asked me to be the General of the Minuteman. I almost laughed in his face.
I have no idea why this jackass treats me like his Lord and Savior, or why he thinks I'll do his dirty job for him, but I can safely say that I don't give a shit about him or the Minuteman. I have many other things to worry about, like finding my son.
Garvey himself said he was the last one standing, if so, then it's his fucking job to rebuild the Minuteman, not mine. His response? "OK, then. I'll just stand here until you change your mind." Not exactly that, but pretty close. Get a fucking chair because you'll be standing there a while. Codsworth would be upset. He really respects the Minuteman, and surely would have given me an earful about it…if he wasn't singing a lullaby to a corn.
Sturges found me before I found him, he was concerned about Codsworth's behavior, who was still drunkenly waving that corn around. I explained that a raider might have damaged him in the assembly plant and that I wasn't sure what to do. The man pulled out a robot repair kit, that by the way looks like some weird rod torture device, and called him over. He stabbed him with the repair kit, Codsworth then immediately collapsed in a pile on the floor, and was up on his thruster again not even a second later. Sharp as ever; even gave me a can of water. The corn too.
Sturges gave me the spare kits he had and wrote schematics so I can make my own too. I have nothing else to do here now, so I'll head out to Diamond City.
Mama Murphy said my baby might be there. I hope that son of a bitch is there too; can't wait until I can put a bullet in his brain.
30/10/2287 10PM
Turns out it takes more time to get to Boston on foot than driving, who'd know?
I though deathclaws and ferals were the worst this wasteland can offer me. I was wrong. I was fucking wrong. First it was the scorpion. IT WAS THE SIZE OF A CAR. A FUCKING CAR. I don't even know anymore. I'm not scared of cockroaches, but I'm deathly afraid of scorpions. Terrified. So yeah, I let Dogmeat and Codsworth do the fighting while I cowered in absolute terror behind a bush. To be honest I'm even a little surprised that I didn't piss my pants.
Then it was those. Things. They called themselves Super Mutants. Big, green and ugly. If they had hair, and weren't green, I would think they're some sort of cavemen. I can only guess they're the result of some sort of experiment; there's no way radiation alone can do this to humans in only 200 years.
They had bags of what is that even? Parts of who-knows-what all mushed together in a gory mess? And here I though the way raiders display corpses like trophies was bad enough, silly little me.
There were prisoners too. Some were already dead and half eaten.
Worst of all is that I wasn't paying attention and walked right into their camp. Didn't realize what was happening until one yelled something and charged right at me with a board. Got me pretty good, I think he broke my nose. His buddies just blinked dumbly at me, and I at them, while Codsworth and Dogmeat tore him apart. Then it was over and we all scrambled for our weapons at the same time. Luckily there was just two of them. Only one of them got a chance to shoot at me before they were both dead on the ground. Still, I managed to get nicked by a bullet.
I let the settlers go; they were all as dumbfounded as I was. One of them actually cried and hugged me. They said they are from the nearby settlement of Oberland Station, and offered me a bed for the night as a thank you. From the super mutant camp, I could probably reach Diamond City in a couple hours or less, but my legs were feeling like jelly, and I did receive a blow square on the face. So I decided it would be safer if I went with them, they seemed to agree. Codsworth proudly declared he would stand guard all night and I shouldn't worry.
We killed a Brahmin and grilled the meat to celebrate. I was completely right and we should have had a barbecue back at sanctuary. I didn't work out the courage to drink the milk, but the steak is totally better.
Tomorrow morning I'll set out to Diamond City.
31/10/2287 3PM
I made it to Diamond City in one peace! Didn't think I had it in me, but turns out I'm tougher than expected.
the guards all wear repurposed baseball gear and wield baseball bats.
Arriving here was interesting. There was a crazy woman gesticulating wildly and yelling at the wall, I thought she was tripping balls or just plain crazy; but in reality she had some beef with the mayor. He apparently got fed up with her shenanigans and ordered his guards to lock her out. Naturally, we conspired together to get her back inside, which we successfully did. The mayor must have known the woman – Piper, was there because he was waiting for her with a couple of security guards. An argument ensued, and I learned that Piper runs a paper and accused the mayor of being a synth on said paper. I have no idea what a synth is, but given his reaction I take whatever it is, it's not good.
Piper and the mayor exchanged a few jabs; he threatened her some and I found out she has a kid sister. I'll admit that I was pending towards siding with him, dealing with a grown woman is a thing but when there is a child involved things change. I might want to stick around a little while in case he tries something like that again. Piper invited me to her office after the man left. I wasn't planning to, but since asking around for someone that could help me with a missing person case came to nothing, I did.
Piper's office doubles as her house, where she lives with her tween sister; it's…cozy. Reminds me of the studio I moved into after I finished college.
My first time ever living alone; no parents, siblings or roommates. I had no furniture other than a twin bed, a nightstand, a dinner table and one chair; my cabinet only had two cups, two plates and two of each cutlery. I didn't even have a mug for tea and coffee.
Eventually I got a ratty, torn couch someone replaced with a nicer one and just left by the sidewalk, and my parents old TV and radio.
All my money went towards paying $45,000 worth of student debt, which was upped to $80,000 by the time I finished Law School. Joke's on me; I could, have spent that money on booze and drugs, since the world would end not long after. Now that I think of it, I could have dropped out of college too, it's not like I could use my Law degree to ward off a crowd of ferals. It wouldn't have made a damn difference.
I didn't mean to just spill everything to Piper, it just happened. I told her how I woke in the morning of October 23rd to news that bombs had been dropped throughout the United States, and that war against China had been officially declared; told her that my husband and I barely had time to make it to Vault 111 with our infant son before our own bomb was dropped in the area I now know as the Glowing Sea. How we were promised a new life underground, and were tricked into getting into these pods that put us into cryogenic sleep for 210 years, but were awoken at some point in time so that a man could pull my baby right from my husband's arms and shoot him in the head for not being cooperative; all while I was forced to watch from my own pod without any way to intervene. How by some miracle I was able to get out of my pod alive, and now I'm after that man so I can kill him and get my son back.
No one I've met so far has cared enough to sit down and actually listen to what I have to say, they all just want to dump their problems on me. I know Piper only wants the story, but still, it felt nice to just tell someone.
She directed me to Detective Valentine's agency. I headed there full of hope that I'm finally getting somewhere on the search for my son. It was a huge let down. Detective Valentine is missing too.
This is a fucking nightmare. It has to be. I'm still at home in bed with Nate, Shaun is sleeping in his crib, and Codsworth is in the kitchen brewing the coffee to perfection, 173.5 degree Fahrenheit. The alarm is going to go off soon, and I'm going to feel really silly.
Valentine's secretary says he was investigating a case when he went missing, and was probably taken by the same people. She let me look at the case files so I can get an idea where he might be.
After this blow, I'm in dire need of a drink. Good thing there is a bar here in Diamond City. I'll rent a bedroom in here for the night, and tomorrow morning I'll set off after Valentine.