9. Black: Nora wears a little black dress.
Nora crawled out of bed, making sure to not disturb Dogmeat as she stood up. Her leg had healed nicely after Dr. Sun had taken a look at it. It had gotten infected and was starting to collect radiation. Hancock had smacked her upside the head once he was done hugging her.
She promised to take better care of herself, which is why she found herself awake at this ungodly hour. She'd go for a walk and be back before anyone else could wake. At least, that was always her plan. Something inevitably came up and she'd make it back in time to see Hancock strapping up for war to find her.
Nora passed through the living room, stopping at the couch to look at Hancock. Today one of his arms was wrapped around his midsection and his other arm was hanging limp of the side of the couch. His hat had fallen off in the middle of the night, so Nora walked around and picked it up off the floor. She toyed with the idea of putting it on, but decided to just lay it on the ottoman.
"You're perfect wife material." Nate's jokes echoed in her head. Nora ignored him.
Hancock breathed deeply, and for a moment Nora was lost in watching his diaphragm rise and fall. "He looks so peaceful." Her heart pounded wildly, but Nora pushed her emotions aside. She had other things to worry about. She smiled as she walked back around couch and slipped outside.
Nora decided to walk east towards Salem. Every step was painful, but the pain dulled as she continued to walk. She passed by an old radio tower, stopping to turn it on so Radio Freedom's reach was stronger in the area.
Nora's feet worked on autopilot and before she knew it she had come across a small camp. There were five small tents pitched up in a circle with duffle bags, sleeping bags, cooking supplies, and other miscellaneous junk scattered about.
"Odd," she checked her Pip-Boy but hadn't marked this on her map her last time through. "Must be recent." She told herself. She raised her rifle, ready to fight, but found the camp had been abandoned.
There were no signs of a struggle, and Nora was starting to wonder if the owner of the camp had simply wandered off to do an errand when the smell of rotting flesh hit her. Nora pulled her colonial scarf up over her nose, suppressing a gag. It wasn't the dull rotting smell Hancock and most ghouls had about them. This was a fresh rotting smell. The kind that, if not taken care of, would attract something big, and dangerous, and hungry.
Nora peeked into one of the tents and found a holotape. Scrawled in the title box were the words "I'm sorry." Nora made sure the area was secure before sitting on a stump just outside the clearing, away from the smell of rotting flesh, and popping the holotape in her Pip-Boy.
"Hey," a young girls voice came on over the holotape, "I don't know if anyone will find this, but it doesn't feel right to just leave with no explanation." The girl's voice shook as she took a deep breath. "About two weeks ago John, the love of my life, was killed by a pack of feral ghouls down in Concord. I've tried to keep going. For him, for his parents, for our girls. But it's hard. Mom hasn't eaten since it happened, and the girls keep crying. I don't know what else to do. If someone doss find this, I'm so...so sorry." Nora didn't realize she'd started crying until the holotape popped out. She tucked the player into her backpack and stood up. She tightened the scarf around her face and stepped back into the camp. In the tent to the right of the one with the holotape, Nora found two small bodies in a large puddle of blood, the one next to that held the body of an old woman, and the next had the body of young woman. Nora opened the fifth and final tent to find supplies kept dry and safe from the elements.
By some stroke of luck, Nora found a shovel. She dug into the hill all morning and clear into the afternoon. She crawled out of the last hole and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She returned to the camp and gingerly lifted the older woman from her spot. The bodies were rotting quickly in the warm spring weather and Nora held her breath as she lowered the woman as carefully as she could into one hole. She went back and did the same with the younger woman, placing her into a second grave. Nora was on autopilot by the time she peeled the first little girl out of the puddle of blood, and by the time she'd gotten the last girl into her grave she was numb to the world around her.
Burying the family took time, but Nora wanted to make sure they were safe in their eternal resting space. She finished and sat beside the row of graves, watching the sun beam down overhead. It wasn't until the sky began to turn red that Nora remembered Hancock was probably gunning down anything that moved between them to find her. She stood up and looked at the grave of the mother, "rest easy." Was all she could say.
The walk back to Sanctuary was quiet, save for a run in with Lucas Miller.
"Your blood?" He asked once he recognized it was her and had his guards stand down.
"What?" Nora looked down and noticed her arms and chest were stained with blood, "oh, no, it's not mine." She didn't want to get into it. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the blank dead eyes of those little girls.
"What can I do for you?" Lucas asked.
"Have any kind of mourning clothes?" Nora hugged herself.
Lucas raised an eyebrow, but he wasn't one to pry. He looked through his bags and packs. "The only black thing I got is a dress. Not good in terms of protection."
"I probably won't wear it. I just," Nora wasn't sure why she felt the need to mourn a family that wasn't hers, but it felt wrong to simply forget them. They'd existed, they'd lived, and now Nora was the only one who knew that. "I just need it." Nora finally finished, letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She handed Lucas the caps he wanted and bid him safe travels.
Nora clutched the black dress to her body as she walked numbly back to Sanctuary. Her leg had stopped hurting, but now another pain shot through her body. She crossed the bridge to Sanctuary and waved off those who came up to her.
"General," Preston ran up to her as she neared her house, "Hancock's gone, but said he'd be back tonight." Nora glanced at the darkening sky. "Said he needed chems." Nora rolled her eyes.
"Thank you, Preston." She slipped back inside her house as quietly as she had slipped out that morning.
"Hello mum," Codsworth greeted her, "Mr. Hancock isn't here currently, but worry not," he motioned to a sleeping Dogmeat, "I've fed the pooch and tidied up a bit."
"Thank you, Codsworth. Say, could you do me a favor?" Nora asked.
"But of course, mum!" Codsworth nodded his optical units in unison.
"Gather a couple of candles and turn off the generator outside. I want a quiet night." Nora rubbed her temples.
"Right-o!" Codsworth hovered out of the house, making sure to close the door behind him as he left.
Nora went to the bathroom and held up the dress Lucas had sold her. It was a simple, skimpy, knee-length dress that Nora would have never worn before the war. She took off her blood and sweat soaked clothes and slipped on the dress. She looked at herself in the grimy mirror and saw a glistening band around her neck. Nate's wedding ring had become a familiar weight around her neck. She didn't even notice it anymore, though her scarf usually covered it from sight. Out of sight, out of mind.
She touched it lightly. Nate. Every time her thoughts went to him she felt an aching, empty feeling in her chest. And then before she'd know it she would be stifling her cries in a corner away from everyone else. Nora forced her hand away from the ring and took in the little black dress she'd put on.
It was snug around her chest and hips, but a quick look through the bureau gave her a long, baggy, bomber jacket to hide her body. She tossed her dirty clothes into the laundry room out of habit, and placed her boots under her bed before wandering back out to the living room. Codsworth was just done setting up a group of candles when she flopped down onto the couch.
"Shall I play some music, mum? Or perhaps make you a nice meal of tatos and hound meat?"
"No, thank you, Codsworth." Nora curled up, flexing her toes to curl out the pain. "I," she took a breath, "I'd like to be alone, if you don't mind."
"Of course." Codsworth understood, thankfully, and hovered back out talking to himself about assisting Sturges or Preston.
Nora sat curled up in the dark. Only the candles providing any kind of warmth or light. She got up and wandered to the fridge after realizing some food would go bad if not kept cold.
"Oh well, just means I'll have to scavenge for more food while I'm out." Nora thought as she pulled out a few bottles of wine. Even through this hellish landscape Nora paid the extra caps to have a glass of wine. It was her preferred drink before and she'd be damned if this world tried to change that.
The sun was setting as Nora finished her third bottle of booze. She heard hell come to her door and Hancock kicked it open seconds later.
"Nora! Where have you been? Do you know how worried I," he slowed when Nora turned to look at him. "Was." He finished. All the energy completely drained from his shoulders.
"Hancock," Nora gave the couch a few pats, "sit." He gave her a once over, she noticed his eyes lingering over the empty bottles, her legs, and finally landing on the ring around her neck. He sat on the other end of the couch. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I know I wander off. It's just." She had no excuse, and her heart was beating wildly in her ears. "What I do."
"As your partner, I kinda have to watch your back." Hancock said, leaning against the arm of the couch. "So when you go running off I worry. What if you got shot again and couldn't make it home?"
"I know," Nora nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry." She said again. She thought back to the holotape. "Hancock?" He was lost in thought, looking into the distance.
"Yeah, babes?" He turned to look at her, she pretended not to notice the slight flicker of his eyes as he glanced at the ring.
"I don't know what I'd do without you." Nora admitted quietly. She raised a hand and gingerly fingered the ring. Nate would have liked sober Hancock, she was sure. He'd be grateful that Hancock protected her in the wasteland.
"Hmm?" Hancock leaned closer to hear her better or perhaps he was still looking at the ring Nora now held in her fist.
Nora sat up on her knees and moved over to him, Hancock sat back, eyes wide. Nora ignored how hot her chest felt. Thoughts entered her mind without a filter, and the buzz from the booze was starting to kick in.
She pushed his shoulders back with her free hand and straddled his lap. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She leaned over to whisper in his ear, her arm wrapped loosely around him. She didn't know what had come over her, but she blamed the liquid courage running through her veins.
Hancock's breathing deepened, he kept his hands up like he was afraid to touch her.
"Babes, if this is the alcohol speaking, you gotta learn your limit." Hancock teased with a nervous laugh.
"You're so cuddle-y when your tipsy." Nate's voice teased.
Tears burned the corners of her eyes. Nora ignored him, "I'm a fossil of a lost world. I'm the only one who remembers the people I loved. If I die, so do they. Again." She rested her cheek on top of his hat, "Thank you for having my back. I don't know what I'd do without you." She repeated. She cared for Hancock so much, she just hoped he understood that. She continued to repeat herself until her mumbles became incoherent and the world went black.
Hancock didn't tell a soul about Nora's drunken night on his lap. He waited until she was asleep on his lap before he hoisted her up onto his waist. She instinctively wrapped her arms and legs around him and he carried her to her room. Hancock tried not to let his hands linger on her body as he lowered her onto the bed.
Black looked nice on her.
