When I finally reach Sanctuary, it's midday. I call MacCready, Preston, and Sturges into my kitchen for an emergency Minutemen meeting. The moment they are all inside, I close the door to my home, making sure we were alone.

"What's going on, General?" Preston asks as I approach the table.

I glance out the window, just in case. Then, when it's quiet: "I've got some bad news," I begin. "The Institute's planning an attack on Sunshine Tidings."

Silence passes in the house and all three of the men's face drop.

The first to speak is Preston.

"No," he whispers. "We are not prepared for something like this."

"I know," I say uneasily. "They're planning the attack first thing tomorrow morning. A team of Coursers."

"Why?" MacCready asks, "Can't they find something better to do?"

I tell them about the SRB, my meeting, figuring out about the escaped synth.

Preston leans against the table, arms folded. "What do you want to do, General?"

"Sunshine isn't safe anymore now that the Institute knows about it," I say. "We need to evacuate all settlers out of the co-op. I was thinking we can relocate them back at Sanctuary. So, Preston, I want you and MacCready coming with me to move the settlers out. And to defend them if it comes down to it."

"One problem, boss," Sturges pipes up. "We might got the room for new settlers, but not the food or the bedding."

"You're right," I say. "Sturges, while the rest of us are out, make sure everything's ready for their arrival. I want you and the Long's to work on assembling some new beds. We can take out the furniture of the neighbors' homes to make room for it."

"How many are you thinkin', General?"

"At most?" I ask, "shoot for fifteen. I didn't get a head count while I was over there last, but there's a lot."

"Fifteen new settlers," Preston sighs, rubbing his forehead. "Goddamn."

"It's what we're working with here, Garvey," I tell him, my voice is shaking. "We don't get to choose, it is what it is."

Preston turns to Sturges, "Maybe we can get that movie projector working by the time everyone gets back here. Good boost for moral, don't you think?"

Sturges discusses it with him for a moment, chattering about how he can get the generator to work tonight if he worked on it long enough.

Sturges keeps talking. My fists tighten, as I fidget in my place. Without a word, MacCready brushes his finger against my knuckles, and I grab his hand. Our fingers lace together. I squeeze—hard. Like I'm in pain. He squeezes back.

I take a deep breath, "Okay," I say. "If this is getting done, it's got to be done now. Everyone knows what they're doing?"

A round of nods. "Let's move out, we've got a busy couple of hours ahead of us."

Preston and Sturges walk out and leave MacCready and me in the house together.

"Hey," MacCready says. "Everything alright?"

"No, I don't think so," I murmur, untangling my hand from his. "MacCready, what if getting them to Sanctuary isn't enough? What if they find us and I'm making a big mistake bringing them back here—"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," he says. He looks me in the eyes, placing both hands on my shoulders. "They aren't going to find us."

"But what if they do?" I ask. "What if one of the Coursers sees me and tells Shaun? He wouldn't let me back in the Institute. I've been thinking about it, and every decision I could make seems to end badly for us."

"We're gonna win this one, okay? I promise," he says. "And you'll have me, right? Best sniper in the Commonwealth on your side. Does the Institute have anyone who shoots as well as me?"

I smile weakly. He makes it sound so easy, but both of us know it's not easy. "Well, definitely no one with your confidence."

"Hey. They'll be messing with the best," he jokes. When he sees it doesn't get a reaction from me, he looks at me hard for a moment. "Come here," he says, pulling me into a hug.

I wrap my arms around his torso. A moment of silence passes. "I don't know if I can do this," I murmur into his shoulder.

"We can," he tells me. "Of course we can."

I hug him back tight. This is not a matter of if we can win this battle, but that we'll have to. I have a responsibility towards those people—I'm their General. And in that, there can't be room for failure when death is a possible outcome.

Without a word, we break apart. When I look at MacCready, he looks nervous too, despite his big talk.

I step out of the house, MacCready, and Preston following behind as we cross the bridge on the way to Sunshine Tidings.

When we arrive, the settlers notice. I wear the authority of the General, and they recognize my title as they recognize my face.

"General? Weren't you here yesterday?" Asks one of the settlers, walking up to me.

"I need to meet with everyone in the settlement," I tell her. "Can you gather everyone here in five minutes?"

She looks nervous, looking at the three of us. She says she will, and within a couple of minutes, I've got the settlement murmuring among themselves about what this is all about.

I grab a crate from the barn and stand up on it. Everybody's looking at me, confusion written on all their faces. I wring my hands together and look to my side. There's MacCready's reassuring face. I take a deep breath and speak.

"Okay, listen up, everyone," I begin. Immediately, there's a silence in the crowd as they wait to hear. Everybody's listening.

"We've gotten word that the Institute is planning an attack on this settlement," I say as clearly as I can. "I'm calling for an emergency evacuation. Until the problem is dealt with, we're temporarily moving all of you to another settlement up north."

The crowd breaks out in chatter, I hear bits of scattered conversation all involving that boogeyman-inspired-fear.

"What does the Institute want with us?" A voice from the crowd calls.

"Apparently, there were rumors of an escaped synth here," I say. "The Institute wants them back."

"A synth?" One other cries. "We got synths? Who the hell is it?"

"Are they going to hurt all of us?"

"Not as long as I've got something to say about it," I tell them. But there's more chatter, fear, doubt, bubbling among them and threatening to boil over.

"Please listen to me," I say, trying to calm down the crowd. "We're here to protect you. That's our job. What matters is getting everyone out safely until Sunshine is safe again."

Preston steps forward, "We're going to need each of you to collect your belongings. Clothes, blankets, anything you think you'll need. Don't burden yourselves with unnecessary things, only pack what you need." Preston looks at me, and back at the crowd. "That's it."

The settlers look at each other warily, and shuffle off, murmuring amongst themselves.

Preston moves back to me and whispers, "that could've gone worse."

I shrug, stepping off my crate. "We're not out of the woods yet."

For the next minutes, it is spent checking the settlers cabins, helping pack, advising them on what to bring. I remind them to pack light, that the walk to Sanctuary takes two hours, and can't be weighted down by anything unnecessary.

MacCready takes watch by the entrance, just in case. Preston is doing rounds, same as me. All the while, I'm checking my Pip-boy's clock, doing the mental math in my head. If we leave in twenty minutes, we'll get to Sanctuary by this time, and get in around sunset…

As I'm finishing my rounds, I knock on the door the last cabin. "Come in," the voice calls.

I step inside, greeted by that pregnant woman I met a day ago. She's sitting down. "Are you alright?" I ask.

"Just a little dizzy," she says. The woman frowns, packing up a ratty old baby blanket, stuffing inside her backpack. "It all seems so senseless now, on the run from the Institute."

"Desperate times, desperate measures," I say. I stall in the doorway, watching her work. "I don't think I got your name before."

She shakes her head, removing herself from the funk. "It's Jane," she says.

"You going to be okay walking today, Jane?" I say, walking into the room, passing her things to pack. "I can get my people to carry this for you if you aren't feeling well enough for it."

She places her hand on my stomach, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I'll be fine but... General, it's not fair," Jane begins. "People shouldn't have to run from things like this."

"People shouldn't have to do a lot of things," I say.

I know we're both right, but it doesn't make a difference. In a perfect world, the threat of the Institute wouldn't exist, and synths wouldn't be subjected to slavery. In a perfect world, mothers would get to raise their babies, and not worry about the threat of them being kidnapped. In a perfect world, everything would either be black or white, right or wrong, and easy to tell the difference.

But the wasteland is far from a perfect world. There's no place in the world like that, despite Shaun's beliefs. That place is only in our imaginations.

I notice the baby crib to the side of her cabin, all ready for delivery day. "I know running isn't what you want…but sometimes you have to have to do what's right for your kid."

Jane sighs, and takes a seat on her bed, rubbing her forehead, "I can't believe this is the kind of world I'm going to raise a child in."

"It's not gonna be easy," I tell her. But what do I know about raising children in the wasteland? Shaun was all grown up by the time I got to him.

That's when Preston steps into the cabin, "General?"

I turn, "What's going on, Garvey?"

"It's time to go."

I look back to Jane, "we'll be out in a minute," I tell him. "Can you give the announcement?"

Preston nods, heading out. From the windows of the cabin, I can see him standing out a crate, calling out to the settlers.

I watch him talk for a moment, and turn around to help Jane get her things. Suddenly, Jane gasps, letting out a cry.

"What's wrong?"

She grunts, clutching her stomach. "My baby—I think—"

There have been a shitload of oh fuck moments since I ended up in the Wasteland, but this one has got to be the oh fuck-est one of them all.

"Seriously?"

She cries out in pain. I make her lay down, I'm trying to stay calm for her sake, but I'm freaking out. "We need to get you a doctor," I tell her.

The cabin door bursts open, and MacCready runs in, gun cocked. "I heard screams."

"Put it down," I tell him. "She's got contractions."

MacCready lowers his gun. "Oh, fu—frick."

"I can't exactly control it—" Jane begins, her voice twisting into another heart-wrenching cry.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on, calm down," I tell her. "You're gonna be fine, okay? I'll be right back."

I pull MacCready by the arm into the opposite corner of the room, out of earshot. "This is not fine," I whisper. "We don't have anything here, hot water, blankets, not even a doctor that I'm aware of."

MacCready looks back at the groaning woman on the bed, "I can help."

When he sees the look on my face, he explains; "Lucy had Duncan while we were on the road."

I blink. MacCready is a lot more than I give him credit for. "You might need some help," I finally say. "I'll go see if anyone here is a doctor."

I step outside the cabin, running towards Preston at the entrance. "Everything okay?" he asks. "There were screams, I sent your snipe—"

"One of the settlers is pregnant," I say, not knowing where else to start. "She's going into labor."

"What?" Preston asks. "Now?"

"Yes, now!" I say, frustrated, I turn to the crowd. "Is anyone here a doctor?"

There's some murmuring in the crowd before a hand shoots up.

"Okay, that's perfect!" I say as the hand comes forth from the crowd. A wiry young woman comes out, looking nervous.

"I helped with injuries on this caravan I was apart of," she tells me. "I helped deliver a baby brahmin once."

My hope falls flat on its face. "Um. Same basic concept," I say. "I need you to find supplies around Sunshine to help. Anything."

"I'm on my way," she says, turning and running into the settlement.

I turn back to Preston, who looks worried. Preston says, "Don't we have to be out of here before nightfall?"

"We can't move her," I argue. I sigh, rubbing my temples. "Okay, here's the plan. You lead the rest of the settlers back to Sanctuary, I'll stay here with Jane and the others and make sure she's alright."

"What if an attack happens before?" Preston asks. "How long do you think it'll be?"

I shrug, "I'm not sure. Depends on how long she's in labor. We could be here for an hour, we could be here all night."

"We don't have all night."

"I know we don't have all night," I hiss. I stop myself, apologizing. "That's why I need you to get these people to Sanctuary for me. Make sure everything runs smoothly."

Preston looks at me, and the crowd of settlers. "By your orders, General."

I slap his shoulder, "Thank you," I say. Then I added, noticing the group of terrified settlers, "Good luck."

"Same to you," he says, as I run back to Jane's cabin.

I burst through the door, finding MacCready and the doctor getting set up near Jane. From MacCready's instructions, Jane takes a few deep breaths.

As they work, I keep watch by the window. Preston and the settlers begin to move out, heading down the road. Now, the real work began.

The first hour into the labor process is a lot of hand holding. Mostly from me. I swear my fingers are bruised by the end of it. "You're doing great, Jane," I tell her.

She takes a deep breath and then settles. "I need to sit up," she tells me.

I prop her up, and she rubs her stomach. To distract her from the pain I ask, "what are you hoping for? Boy or girl?"

She smiles, "a girl."

I cross my fingers, "here's hoping."

"I'm going to put some blankets on the bed to keep it clean," the doctor says, smoothing the cloth over the mattress.

It's a long process. By the time sunset hits, her contractions speed up. Five minutes apart, long breaks in between. Sometimes, she'll stand up to walk around the cabin, saying she feels claustrophobic.

A few hours after sunset, it's three minutes apart. Then two.

One minute apart. Jane is clutching my hand like it's her lifeline, she's screaming, telling me she hates all of it.

"Breathe! Okay, Jane?" I tell her. "Just keep breathing!"

"You're doing great!" The doctor says, "Now, get ready to push. One, two, three, push!"

The baby's cries fill the room, along with Jane's exasperated sighs. She got her wish. A baby girl.

"You did it, Jane," I smile at her, rubbing her cheek.

She nods, the trauma of birth still heavy.

"You have clothes for her?"

Meagerly, she points to the backpack in the corner of the room. Inside, I find a blanket and a nice cap. I rush back over to the baby.

I wrap some blankets around her, and a wool cap over her head. I make the blankets nice and tight, swaddling her. Then, I turn to Jane, letting the baby rest on her chest.

"Have you ever seen anything so perfect in your whole life?" Jane asks me, tearing welling in her eyes. Her smile, her laugh, it's so genuine and joyful that for a moment I almost forget our situation.

With the baby delivered, it's as if all the day's tension has suddenly been released. The doctor plops on the ground. MacCready cuts the umbilical cord.

I look out the cabin window, MacCready walks up to me. The two of us watch of the sun break over the horizon, obliterating the dark in a burst of golden light. Sunrise.

"We don't have much time now," I murmur.

MacCready looks at me, I can see in the corner of my eye. I look at him too. I flick my eyes back to the window, "Elle—"

Then—Movement. I see it. Slight, but there. I shush him, "hold up," I say. I squint at the horizon, "I think I see something."

He squints too, and together we see a single Courser walking into the settlement, sporting one of those large-looking Institute rifles.

Shit. We're cornered, and with hardly any firepower on my side. I need an infantry. I need an army.

There are two more Coursers that comes up the hill along side him. One points to the other, motioning for him to follow.

I push MacCready's shoulder down, out of eyesight. The cabin goes silent. The Courser's have invaded Sunshine.

The new mother and the doctor stared at me. It is the mantle that comes with General. I am wearing Preston's hand-me-down authority until they realize it doesn't fit.

But it needs to fit, a voice tells me. When the welfare of others matter, of course it must fit.

I look at MacCready, eyes asking what to do. I bite my lip and take a deep breath. Before I can say anything, the doctor whispers to me: "General—"

I shush her. I raise myself slightly to look out the window. The group is clumped together, approaching the barn in the middle.

"General," she murmurs.

"What?" I hiss.

She bites her lip, and spits out, "It's—It's me. I'm the synth they're looking for. If I go out and surrender myself... maybe they'll leave."

I stare at her. There's an ugly pause. Then—"No."

"No?" She shakes her head. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I mean, no," I say firmly. "You may be a synth, but you're a Minuteman first."

She stares at me, and for a split second I regret saying it. Part of me really, really, does not want to fight today. Part of me doesn't want to risk my life in a firefight. But this isn't just about one rogue synth. This is about the Institute taking whatever they want, whenever they want. This is about nobody having the grit to fight against them yet. This is about the Minuteman making a stand.

This is about me realizing for the first time, that just because I love my son desperately, it doesn't mean I have to help his cause.

I turn to Mac, "we'll sneak out the back window, I have a plan."

A few moments later, I'm getting into position. I hide behind the mess hall building as MacCready, a couple feet away has his scope up, pointing at one of the Coursers. He'll continue pointing until I give him the signal.

I keep my eyes focused on the Coursers. The confusion on their faces: "Where is everyone?"

One of the Courser's turn, eye's squinting. "This isn't right."

I check how much ammo I've got in my rifle, thinking about how I'm going to go around this. Just distract them while MacCready fires the shots. Stay out of sight, if they recognize you and get away, Shaun will be the first to know.

I sneak a glance from behind the building, looking into the faces of the Coursers. The face of fear. My panic was gone. My fear dominated. Survival was at hand.

The signal: I shoot my fist up. Without hesitation, MacCready fires from his rifle. A clear shot to the head.

The Courser falls limp, causing its buddies to scatter. Then it's my turn. I pick up a rock, and chuck it at a cabin window, far away from where RJ and I are.

One of them shoots at the window, running towards it. The other hangs back, defensively moving back towards the settlement entrance.

As they scramble, each of them running off to hide, I flip my coat hood up. If one of them recognize me, that's it for me and my free trips to the Institute.

Pock-pock-pock! MacCready's shots whizz through the air, marking their targets perfectly.

I dart behind the settlement homes, coming up near where the second Courser is. In my hand, a frag grenade I've borrowed from MacCready. When the Courser comes close enough, I pull the pin out and throw it. I duck, shielding my head as the explosion rips apart a chuck of the house. I run away, behind another house before I can be spotted.

When I'm far enough away that I'm sure he can't spot me, I hug the edge of a house's wall. Slowly, I peek out from behind the corner of the house to see if I got the Courser. I look around. But I can't find him. I frown—where is he?

Something smashes into the base of my skull. My vision goes spotty, my teeth clack. I see stars. I crash onto the ground.

By the boot of someone's shoe, I get flipped over. There's a squeamish feeling pitting itself in my stomach, pairing badly with the pain settling in my head. Above me, I see the Courser and the barrel of his rifle. Then, there's a slight hesitation in him. "I know you."

I raise a hand above my eyes, "please…"

"The maker's...mother—?"

Pat-pat-pat!

I squeeze my eyes shut when I hear the noise, but when I look again, I see the Courser has crashed to the ground, glassy eyed, and a round of bullets shot into his chest cavity.

My sniper rushes up, offering me his hand. "You okay?"

In that moment, I stared at him like he was the most beautiful man in the world. Who needs an army when you've got a heart like RJ MacCready's?

He helps me up, but I'm still dizzy from the blunt force of the rifle. "I don't feel…" I begin, swaying on the heels of my feet. I have to tug on MacCready's sleeves to stay upright.

MacCready shushes me, throwing my arm around his shoulder. "C'mon, let's get you inside."

I nod sluggishly, "where's the third Courser?"

MacCready stops. "I thought that was the third Courser."

And then, as if right on cue, we hear yelling. MacCready helps me to the side of the house, so we can see what's happening. It's that damn doctor. Her hands are raised in surrender. She's giving herself up.

The last Courser has his gun pointed at her. "A8-30, initialize factory reset," he says. "Authorization gamma 7-1-epsilon."

She goes as limp as a ragdoll.

I go for my gun at my hip. I raise it, lining up the crosshair with his head. I fire a shot. But the Courser is already beginning to relay back. I keep shooting rounds, I get a shot on his shoulder. There's a flash of blue light, and then—gone.

My legs quiver, the shock of it all makes me feel numb. Thank goodness MacCready's still got me linked against his shoulder, because I wanted to fall to the ground and weep. That dumb woman surrendered. And I couldn't help her. They got away too fast.

"They just—" I begin. "They just took her…"

MacCready shakes his head, "C'mon. We need to check on Jane."

He half walks, half drags me back to Jane's cabin. When we open the door, we find Jane slicked with sweat. There's a pool of blood growing under the sheets. "General," she calls weakly.

I unhook my arm around MacCready, walking up to her bedside. I have to sit down next to her to help with my headache. Looking at her closer, I can see what's wrong. Her face is pale, there's a dribble of blood near her mouth. On her chest, the baby whines softly. "General," she moans. "I'm—"

I press two fingers against her neck, feeling for a pulse. Her heartbeat is uncommonly fast. My eyes widen. I look back to MacCready, who approaches the bed hesitantly. "What's wrong?" I ask.

"I don't… I feel weak." Jane turns her head to cough, wheezing for a moment like it's taking all of her energy. "Did you stop them?" She murmurs.

I bite my lip, nodding. What else can I tell her? "Yep. Institute will be on the run, now," I smile weakly. I rub the baby's cheek with the pad of my thumb. "How is she?"

Jane's bottom lip quivers, "General. I can't…" Her eyes begin to droop. "I need you to take her."

My heart clenches. "MacCready, get a stimpak," I finally say. A strangled cry out of my throat. I turn my head. He's just standing there in shock. "MacCready, now."

I turn back to Jane, but she's just shaking her head. "I don't think that's going to do much for me."

"Yes, it is," I say harshly. I don't think I entirely knew what was happening to her, some sort of heavy blood loss. But nothing that stimpaks can't fix. I have had too many losses today, and I can't bear another. I whip my head back. "MacCready, hurry up!"

My yelling causes the baby to cry. Meanwhile, Mac fumbles into his backpack, searching for one. Jane grabs my hand, she squeezes as tight as she can muster. "Listen to me. I want my baby to have a chance. Even a tiny little chance in this big, messed-up world. You've got to promise me."

MacCready finally fishes one out, taking it out, stabbing it into her arm. But something tells me she doesn't need stimpaks. To live, she would need a massive blood transfusion. She won't get one.

I stare at her helplessly. It's more than I can handle. The air seems to be knocked from my lungs. I'm trying to remember how to breathe, to speak. There's no point in telling her she'll be alright, she's not an idiot. Without another word, she passes me the baby. She whines in my arms, her little arms swiping across her face.

Jane, by all means, is a stranger to me. I met her two days ago. But if all that knowledge gets thrown out the window when I looked at her just then. I can see myself in her; that same basic fear every mother must feel when their baby is born. That same fear I felt when Shaun was taken from me. The fear that you will not see your child again, that it's not going to be you raising them.

I notice the blood stains on her sheets. She's bleeding out, she's dying, this I'm sure of. This happened to me too while delivering Shaun, but I had a hospital. Jane does not. Jane faces her demise in an old cabin, dirty, and surrounded by strangers. I press my hand to her ashen cheek. Her skin is hot to the touch.

So the baby is born, but Jane must die because of it. Suddenly, I am reminded of something I told synth Shaun two days ago when he asked what a mother was. A woman who sacrifices her life for another life. At the time, I meant giving up a job, time, comfort. But now the definition becomes very literal.

This is what Jane did. She died in the sacrifice for someone else's benefit.

"I promise," I tell her. And I mean it.