Chapter 3
A couple more weeks had passed since Nora invited the rag tag Quincy survivors and their Minutemen leader back to Sanctuary Hills. In two weeks, they had planted a rudimentary garden of tatos, mutfruit, and corn. Sturges cleaned out and repaired a hand operated water pump, and Preston and the rest of the gang worked on assembling rudimentary shelters out of the collapsed houses.
The work was hard, but Nora could feel herself getting stronger. The small amount of post-pregnancy baby weight that her body had held after Shaun's birth disappeared and Nora's physical endurance increased with each passing day.
Yet, no matter how tired she was after a day's worth of hard work, Nora's last thought was always of Shaun and Nate. She hoped that Nate was proud of how she had survived her first month in this new world.
Then on a cold, rainy morning Nora decided that she had to go back to Vault 111 one last time. She needed to bury Nate.
Codsworth knew that she had been planning this for a while. He planted the seed into her mind when they were reminiscing about the "old days." When she was recounting the story of their first date, Codsworth interrupted her.
"Mum. Forgive me for saying this but I think we need to give Sir a proper burial."
Nora was taken aback at first. Her anger at Codsworth's suggestion flared but fizzled as quickly as it came. She couldn't be angry at Codsworth. He was taking her late husband's last wishes into account. Before he left for Anchorage, he left behind written instructions about what he wanted done with his body should he die in action.
The instructions were simple and clear: Bury me, remember me, and live your life.
Yet, the nearest graveyard was about five miles outside of Cambridge. It would be impossible to get Nate's body there and buried before other wasteland beasts or savages would try to take advantage of her vulnerable situation. No, burying him in Sanctuary Hills was the safest bet.
Nora explained the situation to Preston and the Quincy survivors. She figured that if they were going to live here after she had moved on, they should at least consent to having her dead husband buried beneath the giant tree in the center of the cul-de-sac.
"Nora, I think that is a fine idea. We owe you so much; you saved our lives. We can even arrange a small funeral procession."
Nora choked out, "That's not necessary, but I'm grateful for it anyway."
Late that afternoon, Preston, Codsworth, Sturges, and Nora climbed the hill back to the top of Vault 111's entrance with a piece of roofing that Sturges had welded four handles to so they could carry her husband's body back. Codsworth found the framed American Flag that Nate recieved for his service to the country and presented it to Nora. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mum."
When they got to the entrance, Sturges entered the control booth that was tucked off to the side of the fenced off perimeter. Preston, Nora, and Codsworth stepped onto the platform with the makeshift casket.
"We're ready when you are, Nora." Preston replied.
Nora nodded mutely and felt the platform lower her back into the bowls of the vault once again. The ride down was silent, save for the sound of the rusty elevator being forced to life. When they finally reached the bottom and the security gate opened, Nora felt like she had descended back to Hell.
"Nora, we can find Nate. You don't have to do this you know." Preston offered. He was offering her a way out, and Nora wanted desperately to take it. Yet, she knew that if her places were switched that Nate would've led the charge to rescue her body. Hell, he would've lauded her as a saint rather than mourn her as another casualty of the Great War.
"No, I need to do this." She replied.
Nora led them through the main room. The radroaches that she had killed on her way out were now dried out and crumbling. Preston accidentally stepped on one and it made a sickening crunch which echoed through the corridors.
The lights in the containment room were flickering and some were out completely which bathed the normally sterile hospital-like room in eerie darkness. Thankfully the sirens had died a long time ago. Nora led them to Nate's cryo pod and looked upon her husband's face for the first time since his murder.
His skin was grey and was beginning to discolor as his body began to decompose. The rusty stain on the leather behind his head was the only trace of the crime scene. Nevertheless, he looked … okay, for a man who had been dead for over a month. In a small twist of fate, Nora realized that the refrigerated cryo pod was what actually kept his body so remarkably preserved.
"Oh, dear… Mum, I am so sorry." Codsworth put a consoling claw on her shoulders.
"Yes, Nora. Please, take all the time you need." Preston's voice was low and sympathetic. He had seen a lot of death and misery in the wasteland, but despite its frequency, it never got any easier to deal with.
Nora swallowed the lump in her throat and took in a shaky breath. Nora had very little experience with death prior to this. She had to put her family dog down, but that was expected because he was old. Yet, she remembered crying when she felt the lack of life when the dog finally passed on. There was no life radiating from Nate's body, no aura or soul. He was simply an empty vessel that use to be filled with exuberance and light.
Nora never prescribed to a specific religion. Her mother was baptized in a nondenominational church but never took the family. Her father was an atheist and tried to instill good morals into her without coloring it with religious doctrine. Yet, Nora prayed to any and all Gods that if there was a heaven or an afterlife, that Nate was there.
The trio stayed for a moment longer before Preston gently lowered Nate's body onto the metal roof. Nora covered Nate from head to toe with the American Flag, taking one last glimpse at her husband's face before the fabric enshrouded it. Codsworth followed dutifully behind them as Preston and Nora carried Nate's body back to the elevator.
The trip back was uneventful, and Nora barely remembered any of it. Thankfully the rain had stopped and the sun began to peak through the parting clouds.
Marcy and Jun had dug a six foot tall and five foot deep pit. Mama Murphy had dug up a large boulder from Mrs. Parker's old garden but was too frail to move it to the head of the grave.
Nora and Preston slowly lowered Nate's body into the grave while Sturges moved the boulder and nestled it in between the roots of the giant tree. He then took a blowtorch and burned the words Nathan. Dear Husband and Father into the rock.
Nora wished that she could've picked some flowers for a bouquet, but all that grew in this new world were purple hubflowers so they would have to do.
Codsworth once taught Nate and Nora an old lullaby so they could sing it to Shaun when he had to be shut down to do routine maintenance on his processors. Both Codsworth and Nora sang it — off key and broken by Nora's sobs — which Mama Murphy said was the most beautiful thing that she's seen.
Preston stepped forward and removed his hat to give the eulogy. "I never met Nate, although from what little Nora has told me about him, he would've been the type of guy that this world needed. He served in the military. He was a devoted husband and father. He obviously cared for the people around him. Even in death, Nate is a hero because without his sacrifice, Nora wouldn't be here. So Nate, if I'm indebted to Nora for saving our lives then I'm just as indebted to you too. Thank you, sir."
Nora dropped the pile of hubflowers that she had picked into the grave before Preston, Jun, and Sturges began shoveling the dirt. Nora was frozen to the spot until the men had filled it in completely. Eventually everyone dispersed without much talk. Sturges patted her on the back. Marcy's eyes were red and swollen from her tears, and Jun looked paler than normal and stared at Nate's fresh grave like he had just buried a member of his own family today as well.
When the sun set, Codsworth draped a blanket around Nora's shoulders and left her a plate of warm salisbury steak and tatos that remained untouched. As the sun rose over the hills and the dawn peaked through the foggy morning, Nora hadn't moved from her vigil besides her husband's grave.
"Mum?" Codsworth began. He was concerned. As a robot, Codsworth knew how to empathize because it was in his programming, but he didn't actually feel grief. There was nothing in his processors that told him how long it would take Nora to be okay.
"Hey, Codsworth." She replied. Her voice cracked and shaky. "You fancy a trip to Diamond City?"
"Diamond City, Mum?
"Yeah, that Great Green Jewel, or so they say. We need to look for Shaun now that Nate has been put to rest."
However, she didn't wait for Codsworth's reply. Within an hour, she packed a large military bag with some medicine, food, water, and extra ammo, and a change of clothes that she had stolen from Mrs. Parker's bedroom. The t-shirt was a bit big, but the jeans fit fine despite having a hole in one of the knees.
Before she left, Sturges caught her attention from the house across the street. He was standing next to a workbench that had tools scattered around everywhere.
"Look, I know you're hurting right now but I borrowed your gun and made some modifications. The receiver is more powerful so you'll do more damage. The ammo cartridge is now spring triggered to eject quickly when you press the switch near the handle, and the barrel is a little longer so you'll have greater accuracy."
He handed her the gun and then turned it over in her hands so the side of the handle was facing up. Sturges cleared his throat awkwardly, "I, uh, I also named it for you. Consider it a Commonwealth superstition. Naming your weapons will bring you good luck."
Nora read the words that we're engraved there: Nate.
"So … uh. That way you'll always have him with you."
Nora was speechless. She threw her arms around Sturges's thick neck and held him tightly and then broke away to wipe the tears from her eyes. Sturges's ears were red and he tried to evade Nora's gaze.
"You come back here if you ever get yourself into trouble." Mamma Murphy called out. She was sitting in a broken lawn chair next to the small garden and was smoking a cigarette. "This place will always be your home."
Nora raised her hand in farewell and set out towards the entrance to town. Codsworth met her at the bridge and she went to take her last look at Sanctuary Hills.
"Hold up, Nora!" A voice called from nearby. Preston scrambled down the guard post he had created and met them at the bridge.
"You headed out, Ma'am?" He asked.
"Yeah, Preston, I am." Nora replied, "I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me during these past couple of days. Nate would've still been back in that Vault if it wasn't for you."
"Don't mention it." He replied, "I'm just happy we could give him a proper burial so you could say your farewells."
"Preston, I don't think I'm coming back, but my offer from before still stands. This can be your new home. Maybe the town will be come a community once again."
"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." Preston replied. He looked a little nervous and couldn't meet Nora's eyes. "Look, I appreciate everything you've done for us. We are forever in your debt. But I was hoping that you could offer a helping hand to the rest of the Commonwealth as well. There are other people out there who are in pain and need to know that the Minutemen are still here for them. I want to offer you a job."
"Preston…" Nora began. She wasn't keen about where this conversation was going.
"No, no. Just let me finish." Preston continued. "When the Minutemen disbanded and when our General died, I thought that I would probably die out in the wastes like the rest of them. But I didn't. I had a community of people to support me. We relied on each other and protected each other. I need to stay here and protect these people, but I was hoping that you could go to the nearby settlements and show them that the Minutemen are not dead. Would you be our new General? The Commonwealth needs you, Nora."
Nora sighed, "Preston. I just buried my husband. As you said, he was the man that this world needed, not me. I'm not the person you think I am. If this was Nate, I know that he would've jump at the chance to help anyone besides himself, but I am not a hero. You don't want me to be your General."
"You may not want to be a hero now, Nora, but heroes are made not born. Please reconsider. We need you!"
"No, Preston." She didn't know the man that well, but Preston looked personally wounded at her rejection. "I need to find my son. He is my first priority. I can't accept the responsibility right now."
"You can't, or you won't." Preston replied darkly. His words stung but she chose to let them roll off her back.
"I'm sorry, Preston. Good-bye."
Nora started across the bridge and followed the road down to the Red Rocket gas station. Codsworth followed close by and tried to comfort her, "Miss Nora?"
"Not right now, Codsworth." She ordered. She wouldn't feel guilty about this choice. She needed to set her sights on getting to Diamond City in once piece. She couldn't afford other distractions in her quest to find her son.
Preston and his Minutemen would be fine without her. Or, so she hoped.
~/~
The path to Diamond City was long and hard. It took Codsworth and Nora nearly a week to reach the outskirts of the city because they had to make such a wide detour around Cambridge and Lexington. Nora figured that avoiding larger towns and built up areas would prevent them from running into trouble that they couldn't handle. Plus, being on the open road meant that Nora could spot trouble at a distance and then plan accordingly.
Of course, seeing all of the people of the wastes didn't help assuage Nora's guilt about blowing off Preston's offer to help the Minutemen.
She watched as a woman was murdered by two thugs because she refused to give them money that they thought she owed them. Her son, a drug addict, valiantly tried to fight back against his mom's killers but he was murdered on the spot.
Then Nora came across a woman who had been living with a horde of cats. The five little graves outside of her shack and the woman's crazy rants about being poisoned by the potted meat she bought from a trader clued Nora into the macabre nature behind those five little graves.
Yet, the strangest experience of all happened right outside the diner that Nora had met Nate. She felt compelled to go there even though traveling too close to her old campus was dangerous. Although the diner still stood, the place was in shambles. She was resting her feet in the old corner booth that she use to eat at when she wanted to be close to Nate. That was when she heard someone cry out in the alleyway outside.
"Help me! He's gonna shoot me!"
Nora reacted before she could process whether running blindly into the alley was a smart idea. Outside, two men who looked identical were facing each other. One man had a shotgun pointed at the other.
"Hey, what's going on here?" She asked. Maybe she could defuse the situation if she could get the one with the gun to calm down.
"Stay the fuck out of it." The man with the gun growled, "You're a fuckin' freak, you hear me. You come into my life thinkin' you can replace me!"
"Hey, c'mon woman. Help me. He's gone crazy. He's a synth. He's gonna murder me so he can replace me."
Synth
The word was alien to Nora but she thought she could try to reason with the armed man.
"Hey, look. How 'bout you put the gun down and we all can talk this —"
BANG
The man retched back as the slug obliterated part of his head. The man's cranium painted the concrete behind him with bits of brain and skull.
Nora looked at the assailant, realized that she was unarmed, and prepared herself for a painful death, but thankfully the man holstered the weapon. His muddy brown eyes bore into hers.
"You saw nothing." He growled. Nora nodded mutely and watched as the man sauntered down the alleyway and turned the corner.
"Mum?" Codsworth asked cautiously, "Shall we report this to the authorities?"
Nora bit back a bitter laugh. She was learning quickly that there were no authorities in the wasteland. The only authority was whoever had the more powerful gun.
"We saw nothing, Codsworth. Let's go."
The sun was setting by the time Nora and Codsworth reached the ruins of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. Before the war, Nora never bothered too much with the place. It was well known as the most prestigious technological college in the world, but most of the students there were far too neurotic and abused too many mentats for her liking.
Nora's Pipboy told her that Diamond City was only a short walk to the south so she decided to make the trip rather than make camp in the ruins.
Nora snuck across the broken lift bridge and walked down the deserted street while fiddling with her Pipboy. The green iridescent glow was bright enough to act as a flashlight in the setting sun, but Nora didn't realize that its brightness meant that she was a target for other unsavory characters
"Who's there?" A gruff voice asked. Nora's blood ran cold and she shut off her Pipboy. "You don't need to hide. C'mout, I wont bite…hard."
Nora ducked behind a low cobblestone wall and grabbed her gun tightly.
"Codsworth," She hissed, "Hide."
The robot's eyes moved around frantically as he searched for a nook or cranny that could hide a robot of his size. Unfortunately, he was too late.
"Hey, there's a robot over here." The man shouted to a woman nearby.
"No shit? Let's kill it and use it for scrap." The woman's laugh was shrill and cruel.
The bullets bounced uselessly off Codsworth's metal casing, but he still tried to escape down an alleyway.
"I'll get him!" The woman cried.
With the woman distracted, Nora came out from her hiding spot only to have a large, grimy hand cover her mouth and knock her off balance.
"What do we have here?" He chuckled. The man smelled of urine and cheap booze. Nora wanted to gag, but she was afraid to open her mouth. "You look all dressed up and with no where to go."
He eyed Nora's body hungrily. "Mmmmm." And so soft too. The raider roughly groped her breasts over her dirty t-shirt and roughly pushed himself against Nora's back. "Whaddya think, girl. Ya wanna party with us? I'll show you why they call me Slab."
He laughed lecherously until Nora bit down hard on his hand.
"YOU STUPID CUNT" He roared and backhanded her across the face with his other hand. Nora's head spun and her vision blurred from the pain. Nora swayed where she stood and blindly fired her gun at Slab.
A strangled cry rang out in the night. The shot wasn't fatal but it was wounding. Nora took off down the alleyway that Codsworth went down and found Slab's female companion polishing Codsworth's aluminum and steel casing which had a large gash in the side from her bloody machete.
Nora took aim at the blond's head and fired. The shot missed and instead grazed her shoulder.
"You stupid bitch." She sneered. "If you're gonna shoot someone, make sure you kill them on the first try."
She threw Codsworth's shell back at the robot who was beeping frantically; his eyestalks were trembling in fear.
The woman grabbed Nora around the neck and pinned her against the wall. The blond unsheathed the large steel machete that was at her hip and put it to Nora's face.
"Let's see here." She sneered. "Should I make this quick and boring or slow and fun?"
Nora wasn't sure what 'slow and fun' meant, but she knew that it wasn't anything good. Pain bloomed along her temple before Nora realized that the raider had cut her along her left eye. Blood began to cloud her vision and Nora struggled even harder against her captor.
"Yes, squirm little girl. No one's gonna help you now." The woman's grip on her throat grew tighter and she was losing consciousness quickly as the blood in her neck couldn't circulate to her brain.
Nora had seconds left before she blacked out. Her next shot had to count. Nora rose her pistol to the raider's neck and shot at point blank range through the only non-armored part of her body.
The woman let out a sick gurgle and coughed blood in a red mist that peppered Nora's face. Her face contorted into a feral snarl as she dropped Nora and brought her empty hand to the hole in her throat.
In her death throws, the raider blindly swung her machete at Nora which cut through her flimsy t-shirt and sliced through the skin in her right hip.
Nora sank down the brick wall. She whimpered in pain when she put pressure on her hip. Her body trembled and her left eye was completely blinded with blood.
Codsworth flew over to her and pulled her by her ruined t-shirt. He beeped and chirped frantically; his voice modulator had been damaged. Without his protective metal casing, Codsworth's insides sparked periodically.
Nora knew what Codsworth wanted. They needed to move before other raiders came to investigate the shooting. She forced herself to her feet and grabbed Codsworth's damaged metal casing.
They took off further down the alleyway and then Nora spotted graffiti on the wall which pointed the way to salvation
"This area is protected by the wall." The white paint said. There was en emblem painted next to it of a solid diamond outlined with another larger diamond.
Off in the distance, city streetlights illuminated a heavily fortified checkpoint. Nora staggered down the street and tried to get the attention of two guards who were armed with umpire equipment. Unfortunately, they had heard shouting and gunfire down the next street and took off to investigate.
Then Nora heard a voice from behind two watchpost barricades. "C'mon Danny, you can't keep me locked outside forever. I live here dammit!"
"Sorry, Piper. I'm under the Mayor's orders."
"Oooooh, the Mayor." She sneered, "The all powerful man himself wants to keep me out?!"
Piper would've continued her rampage if it wasn't for the bleeding woman who collapsed near her feet.
"Please, help me." Nora croaked out. Her pulse was pounding in her head and Nora's eyesight was closing in on itself.
"Oh shit! Hey, uh. Blue? Shit. Shit. DANNY! DANNY!"
"WHAT PIPER?!" The man had yelled so loud that he had created feedback in the intercom. The man was at his wit's end with Piper that evening.
"Open the god damned gate. A woman just collapsed. I think she's bleeding to death."
"You better not be joking, Piper." He grumbled. "That would be a new low, even for you."
The sound of the giant hydraulic doors met Nora's ears before she lost consciousness.
She and Codsworth had survived and had made it to the Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth. Now all Nora tried to focus on was staying alive long enough to find her son.
