VERONICA - Reality
The first thing I saw as my eyes slowly opened was white.
White walls, white ceiling, white clothes. My abdomen ached, and my hand instinctively flew to check the wounds there - but there was nothing at all. Panic began to set in and I sat up quickly, eyes darting across the room for clues. The sheets were white, too. And the floor. Was I in a hospital? I was ina gown, no shoes. How had my gouges disappeared? I frowned, remembering meeting Father and learning that my son was an old man, and a small laugh escaped my lips.
It wasn't real! I had dreamt the whole thing, and now I was in an asylum! That had to be the explanation. I laughed and laughed and laughed until my stomach couldn't take any more, then I stood up shakily. My legs were wobbly and I was only just able to take the weight. I felt heavy.
Nate should still be alive. And Shaun would still be a baby. Had the bombs even been real? This room was far too clean and sterile looking, it certainly didn't scream 'pre-apocalypse' to me. There was a sink in the corner so I made my way over and ran the tap to refresh myself. A small mirror above the basin reflected my dishevelled face back at me. I was still so pale, so tired. My once bouncy auburn locks hung limply to my shoulders and my cheeks were gaunt. I looked haunted, a ghost of my former self.
My mind flitted over the strange events I had experienced in my mind. The Minutemen, The Brotherhood, MacCready... oh, MacCready. Had he not been real either?
No, he was. He had to be, he couldn't have been a dream. But if he was real, then everything else had to be too.
Suddenly confused and still very exhausted, I shook my head rapidly and tried the door, which led me out into another glaringly white corridor. The first thing I saw on the wall opposite was a green banner. The words scrawled across it hit me like a hammer to the forehead.
Mankind Redefined.
Oh, no. It wasn't a dream. Not one single nightmarish detail. I whispered a curse and hugged myself, unsure of where to go from here. My room hadn't been locked, so I wasn't a prisoner here. I'd expected to be killed if I was caught, but instead I was shown mercy. I remembered meeting Father - Shaun - and learning the truth about his role in all of this. And then I'd passed out from blood loss. I touched my stomach in confusion and anguish.
I had to speak to him.