"Are you going to be okay here?"
Sarah snapped out of her gaze at Piper's question and sighed. Focus! "Yeah, sorry. I was just lost in all of this for a moment." The woman watched as Piper pulled her door shut and began to walk towards the market. "After I got out, all I couldn't help but stare at everything. All the places I remember, the places that filled my memories. I quickly realized that if I didn't stop doing that, I'd end up dead pretty quickly. Almost got taken out by a ghoul as I stared at a cash register in Lexington. Just thinking of the small talk we used to make." Sarah shook her head. "Guess I let my guard down here. But hell it makes a nice change, nothing trying to kill me."
"The night is still young!" Piper held up her hands at the look that flashed across Sarah's face. "Sorry, it's a bad joke. I'm pretty certain we'll be okay here. There aren't many attacks on the city these days, not since the wall was fixed up good and proper. You see the guys with bats?" Piper nodded towards one of the security guards fixed up in baseball attire. "They're good at what they do. Any trouble flares up and they'll handle it, fast."
"That's good to know. Three strikes and you're out?"
"Er... sure?" Piper shrugged.
"Sorry, I do bad jokes too. It's a baseball thing."
"Oh, of course, right! You should talk with Moe. He runs the Swatters store. I bet he'd love to pick your brain on baseball."
"I probably couldn't tell him much that he doesn't already know" said Sarah with a slight grimace. "That was Nate's true love. We all came second to the Sox..." Sarah attempted to shake off the subject. "So I heard the Mayor say something about you having a sister?"
Piper smiled. "Yeah, Nat. She'll be in school now. You'll meet her later I'm sure."
"Diamond City has a school?"
The reporter nodded. "It does. There's not many kids here, but it's a requirement for those that are. McDonough wasn't lying earlier - we've got a lot here. You probably saw the chapel opposite my place. There's a couple of bars, a clinic.. everything you need really."
Piper stopped in the middle of the market, just outside a noodle bar that was being run by a protectron and motioned for Sarah to take a seat. "This is Takahashi. He doesn't understand anything but yes, so don't even try to bother."
A Japanese robot serving noodles? Well sure. Sarah smiled at the robot. "Kon'nichiwa."
"Nani ni shimasu ka?"
Errm...
Sarah looked towards Piper, the reporter only offering up a smug 'told you so' smile in response.
The question came again. "Nani ni shimasu ka?"
"Yes?" Sarah watched as the robot began to prepare the noodles. "Is there like a choice or.."
Piper shook her head. "Nope. You get what you get. It's good though. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of things pretty quickly around here."
A comfortable silence fell between them as Sarah took in her surroundings. It was odd for her to be without Dogmeat, her normal companion staying put in Pipers office. He deserves some rest. Guess he trusts Piper? He'd have kicked up a fuss otherwise. Sarah noted the 'Swatters' shop that Piper had eluded too earlier. It was next to what looked like a weapons shop. She turned her head to the right, locking eyes with a woman who was staring directly at her. Piper seemed to notice straight away.
"Ah don't mind Myrna. She's just a little paranoid when it comes to newcomers. I'm sure you'll get on fine."
Sarah tore her eyes off the woman, laying them back on the reporter. "You sure about that?"
"Yep. Trust me. Ah! Here we go." Piper smiled at the bowls of noodles produced by Takahashi. "Xiè xie."
"That's Mandarin. Not Japanese."
"Mm?" Piper looked up from her bowl towards the woman with a mouth full of noodles. "It is? Huh. He never said anything."
Sarah rolled her eyes before smiling at the robot. "Domo arigato."
"Nani ni shimasu ka?"
"Hope you're hungry, he's going to make you more now." Piper grinned as she tucked into more of her noodles.
Son of a bi...
That wasn't half bad actually.
As Sarah finished off the last of her (second helping) of noodles, she watched as Piper paid before quickly whisking the vault dweller away before she accidentally ordered even more noodles.
"Next time they're on me."
"You're damn right they are." Piper scoffed. "It's like you haven't eaten in two hundred years or so." She paused. "Too soon?"
Despite the jokey nature of the statement, there was a slight hint of alarm written in the reporters eyes. Sarah understood it. She was growing fond of Piper in a short amount of time: her quick witted nature meshed well with hers and it'd been weeks since she laughed, or even smiled, with another person.
"Hey if you want me to finish that interview I might need all the noodles."
"Bribery!" Piper moved her hands to her mouth, her face instantly in shock. But the worry was gone, the reporter clearly thankful that she hadn't offended her new friend. "And I thought our elders were supposed to be the ones to look up to."
"Don't push it, kid." Sarah laughed, Piper soon joining in. That's a nice sound.
Piper clasped her hands together. "Right. We've wined and dined. Do you want to finish the interview or get a tour of the city? You know, if you want to and all. You're free to go and um, do things yourself of course."
She actually sounds nervous? "Lets finish the interview first. Unless you want me gone after so you can do some work?"
"What? No! I mean, yes I'll have to do some work sometime but I won't kick you out or.. okay, interview first. Tour later. Deal?"
Sarah nodded. "Deal."
"Besides I was going to offer to.." Piper cut herself off.
"Offer what?"
"Forget it, silly idea." Piper shrugged. "Well maybe, no, I'll see later. Okay?"
Er.. okay. Note - noodles make Piper mad.
"Okay. So your office?"
"Mm?" Piper mused. "Oh, yes, come on. Time-a-wastin. Ah crap. I just remembered. The Mayor's doing a speech like, er, now. I've got to see what he has to say. It'll all be bullshit but.."
"That's your job" finished Sarah. "Lets go then. I'll keep you from storming the stage."
"You're no fun, blue."
Blue?
Sarah didn't have a chance to ask before Piper was walking towards the large green wall. "He likes to do these things in the open. His ego demands it." Sarah tried to take note of the buildings she was passing while trying to keep up with the reporter. "Damn, he's already started."
"Ah Miss Wright, so good of you to join us. After all, you are the one who caused all this nonsense to begin with." Mayor McDonough was on a raised platform in front of the wall, many of the residents now turning from in front of the stage to look at Piper and in turn, Sarah. "I'll start again for your benefit."
"Asshole" muttered Piper under her breath as the Mayor began to speak to the congregated masses once more.
Sarah listened to the man as he started his speech. Even after 200 years, politicians still spew the same BS. I shouldn't have eaten before this. She glanced around the crowd again, taking in the different faces. Once more she spotted Myrna glaring at her before the woman turned her attention back to the Mayor. What's her problem? She was momentary distracted as Piper began tapping her foot impatiently next to her before returning her attention to the crowd.
And then Sarah saw him.
It can't be..
The man who killed her husband and stole her baby was staring directly at her from across the courtyard.
It's him. I.. I..
Her legs were moving before she even knew what was happening. She could hear the shouts from the crowd as she barged through the number of residents but she ignored them as she attempted to reach the man who had destroyed everything she had left. Piper's desperate voice mixed with the Mayor's as she barged past another resident, locking eyes directly once more with Nate's killer.
The man simply smiled at her and pointed to her right.
She felt the ground a second later as she was tackled, loosing sight of him as Diamond City security took her down. She punched and kicked, attempting to force her way out. "You don't understand! I need to.."
The sedative kicked in almost instantly as her shouts began to die. "You don't.." Sarah's voice was only just above a whisper now. She could faintly hear Piper attempting to reason with someone as darkness began to swell around her. As she looked up at the sky, the shocked faces of Diamond City's residents looked down at her as they congregated to show their disgust before more security guards escorted them back.
Please.. Please.. Piper...It's...
As the man appeared above her, his smile was now gone. Their eyes met once more as Sarah tried to fight her way back up but was left utterly motionless on the ground. Shaking his head almost in disappointment, he disappeared from her vision as she finally succumbed to darkness.
