Chapter 8
Human Nature
Her boots splashed through the muddy water as she ran through the rain. Grey clouds rolled across the sky. Dogmeat sprinted ahead of her towards the remains of an old building. Only the stone foundation remained, with crumbling pillars holding up a concrete ceiling, the rest of the building lay in ruin behind it. She dropped her backpack heavily on the ground next to a pillar and slipped off her rifle, propping it up next to it. She ran her fingers through her hair, shaking the wetness from it.
Dogmeat mirrored the sentiment, pelting water everywhere as he shook himself dry. She threw the dog a toothy grin, shielding her face as he splashed her, blissfully oblivious. A satisfied bark in her direction, before he turned his attention to something behind them.
It was then that she noticed the pair huddled in the corner. A woman holding a small boy protectively in her arms. Their clothing faded and dirty, a bloody bandage around the boy's calf. The woman pulled the boy closer and froze when Leona turned to them.
She must have appeared rather threatening, standing tall over them, dressed and armed as she was, her eyes hidden behind dark tactical goggles.
The woman had the look of a deer in headlights while the boy seemed barely conscious, eyes half lidded as his head lolled on the woman's chest. Dogmeat sniffed in their direction as he circled them, the woman's eyes darting between her and the Dog.
Leona held up a hand to them as she approached slowly, seeing the fear in the woman's eyes. "Hello. It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you", she knelt on one knee in front of the woman.
"I can help him", she held out her hand to the boy, "can I see?".
"Who are you?", the woman finally asked, her voice hoarse.
"My name is Leona".
"Tessa", the woman answered after studying her for a moment, leaning forward to let her check the boy's leg. "This is my baby, Troy".
Leona offered her friendly smile, "He's a handsome young man". Tessa's expression softened, if just a little.
She cradled his leg and carefully pulled back the bandage, while Tessa gently rocked the child in her lap.
It was a bullet wound and clearly infected. "How did this happen?", she asked, turning the leg around in her fingers.
"We got caught up in a firefight yesterday, we were travellin with a group of traders…".
Leona gently released the boy's leg, turned and walked over to her bag where Dogmeat lay, keeping watch on them.
"We stopped over in Lexington for the night", the woman continued. "The gunfire started in the middle of the night. They weren't shootin at us, not until we tried to leave the city and got caught in the middle. Then they were shootin at anything that moved".
She came back over to the woman and knelt down on her heels, resting a carton of purified water next to her and unwrapping a cloth bundle with medical supplies.
"He's running a fever?", she asked Tessa.
"Ye…yes since this morning", the woman nodded, cupping a hand over his forehead.
"Try to get him to drink some of that, you too, after we're done here", Leona nodded to the water, before cupping his leg again, resting it in her lap and retrieving one of the unwrapped items.
"Is the bullet out?"
"Yes, m…my husband took it out this morning".
"Your husband? Where is he?", she asked.
"He went ahead to make sure it was safe, and to look for food and water. A few of the traders made it out, but we lost them in all the confusion. He thinks they might be hiding nearby".
"I see", she replied flatly.
"Tessa, honey, I need you to hold him, this will sting", she held a small l bottle in her hand.
"What is that?", Tessa asked.
"Something to fight the infection before I give him a stim", Leona explained, waiting for Tessa's approval as she held her son close, whispering in his ear and running her fingers through his hair.
"Thank you", Tessa whispered, through teary eyes, her gratitude sincere, her face reflected in Leona's dark goggles.
A pained whimper from the half conscious boy as she cleaned the wound, his mother whispering soothingly in his ear.
"There we go sweetie", Leona cooed, patting his thigh before injecting the stim, watching as the wound began to close.
Tears of joy, tremors rocking her chest as she watched her son's wound begin to close in the stranger's lap.
"Thank you, thank you so much".
"You're welcome, your little man should be alright now", she smiled. "Just let me replace the bandage so it doesn't get infected again".
"Tessa! Get away from her!", Dogmeat's bark alerting her before she heard a man's voice.
He ran in, out of the rain, a cutlass in hand, stopping short on hearing the vicious, almost feral growls from her canine companion.
Leona rose to her knee in an instant, a hand on the grip of the sidearm holstered to her thigh. Her other hand still cradling the boy's leg.
"Kent! Stop!", Tessa screamed with a shrill voice, holding up a hand to her husband. "She's helping Troy, she helped our baby".
The cutlass shook in his hand as he shifted his gaze between the strange woman and the dog that seemed only few seconds away from tearing him to pieces.
He held up a hand in surrender, crouching down and dropping the cutlass on the ground with a clang.
"Easy, boy", she called over to Dogmeat, the dog's growls subsiding, but he still eyed the man like a hawk.
Kent slowly made his way over to them keeping a cautious eye on her before kneeling down next to his wife. "Are you okay? How's Troy?"
"I'm okay, Troy's gonna be okay", she squeezed her husband's arm. "Thanks to this lady".
Leona let herself relax just a bit, settling back down as she set to work bandaging the boy's wound.
"You a Gunner, lady?", he asked.
"Honey!", his wife scolded.
"Gunner?", she looked up at him, "Why would you ask me that?".
"You look like a Gunner, it's one'er them Gunners what shot my boy".
"Kent! Stop it", Tessa hissed.
"This yours?", he asked, ignoring his wife, picking up the water carton and giving it a shake.
"It's yours", she corrected him. "Get your boy to drink some when he wakes up, he looks a bit dehydrated, you all do. I'll get you some more in a minute".
He couldn't see her eyes through the goggles as she worked on the bandage, but she could see him eyeing the backpack behind her, against the pillar and the rifle next to it.
"You have more?", it wasn't really a question.
"Your wife said that you got caught up in a fire fight in Lexington", she changed the subject.
"Yeah, a buncha raiders and Gunners fighting over god knows what", he spat. He was staring at her but she kept her face neutral.
"All done", she patted the boy's leg, letting his mother take him once more.
She picked up a few of the medical supplies and wrapped up the rest. "I'm leaving these with you", she placed the bundle in Tessa's lap. "You'll need to change the bandage again in the morning and give him another stim".
"I don't know how to thank you, if it weren't for…"
"Don't worry about it", Leona smiled, playfully pinching the sleeping boy's toes, watching him draw closer to his mother in response.
"I'll be right back", she stood and turned, making her way to her backpack.
Dogmeat's alarmed bark followed by Tessa's scream of "No!", alerting her. She saw Kent's charge from over her shoulder and turned just as he swung a knife in a wide arc at her midsection. The cold blade cutting into her flesh, sending a shiver across her body. She managed to avoid what would have been a much more serious wound in her attempt to dodge the swipe. She grabbed his wrist as it passed her. Using his momentum to wrench his arm to the side until his back was facing her. A kick to the back of his leg forced him to one knee as she slammed his arm against her thigh forcing him to drop the knife. She bit back the sting in her side and pushed down on his shoulder, twisting his arm just short of the breaking point, her knee digging into his lower back.
His pained cries drowned out by Tessa's frantic pleading. "Please! Stop!", she was on her feet, the boy In her arms stirring upon hearing his mother's panicked screams.
Leona looked up at her, seeing the panic in her eyes. With a pained growl she grabbed the man by the back of his collar, roughly dragging him to his feet and sending him stumbling away from her with a stomp to his back. She withdrew her sidearm and leveled it at him before he regained his balance and turned to face her.
Dogmeat dashed towards him snarling and growling. Rows of razor sharp teeth at the ready.
She whistled to her canine companion, holding up a hand when she caught his attention.
"No! Don't! Please!", Tessa ran to her husband, standing between him and the gun. "Don't shoot! Please!". Kent grabbed his wife and child, pushing her away from the line of fire. "Kent! Please miss he didn't mean it!". The boy was awake now, screaming into his mother's chest as she held him tight.
"Stay back Tessa", Kent stood his ground, cradling his shoulder. His attack had failed and he seemed to have resigned himself to her mercy.
Leona watched as he knelt in front of her, his palms up.
"Please…just…just spare my family", he pleaded
"Kent! No!", Tessa cried.
Leona's breathing was becoming shallow, a chill running across her body.
She ground her teeth, tightening her grip on the pistol, "And how long do you think they would survive out there without you?", she growled at him.
He looked at her, confused.
"Get up!", she ordered.
Kent looked at his wife then back to her before he slowly stood. Tessa was terrified, muffling her sobs and burying her tear stained cheeks against the head of her screaming child.
"The water and medical supplies, pick them up", she nodded to the carton and the wrapped bundle off to the side.
He did as he was told, cautiously walking over, careful not to make any sudden movements. He picked up the items and held them out to her. "Those are yours", she repeated. Her world was starting to twist and turn. She was losing blood.
"Move", she directed him towards his wife.
"I don't understand, I just tried to kill y...".
"Quiet!", she cut him off, and watched him move to stand in front of his wife.
Dogmeat practically foamed at the mouth, claws scraping the stone floor, ready for her signal.
It was becoming difficult to focus. She kept her gun on them as she made her way to her pack and knelt, one hand fishing through its contents. A blue sash tumbled out of her jacket as she searched, and draped across her thigh.
"You're with the Minutemen?", Kent asked in surprise as he stepped forward.
"Stay there!", she grabbed the sash and stuffed it into her pack before finally retrieving another carton of water and two tins of canned food. She tried her best to suppress the pained whimper that escaped her clenched teeth when she pushed herself to her feet and approached them.
She set the items on the ground and backed away, "Take that with you, do you have something to carry it in?".
"I..uh….yes…", Kent stepped forward, cautiously kneeling before taking his tattered shirt off and depositing everything in it, using it as a makeshift sack.
"Why are you doing this?", Kent asked as he stood.
"Take care of your family, and think next time, before you do something stupid", she said simply.
His expression apologetic, mixed with both confusion and relief.
"Thank you…", he nodded, "I'm sorry for… you gonna be okay?". She scowled at his concern as he leaned forward, clearly debating whether to approach her, but wisely deciding against it.
"Just go", she stated flatly, her gun still on them. "The rain is over".
One last nod from Kent before he turned. "Come on Tess", his hand around her arm, nudging her away from the shelter, but she wriggled free and turned around to face Leona. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry", she cried. "Thank you, bless you", she bowed her head, her son's legs dangling from her arms as he sobbed into her neck.
"Good luck", Leona replied, her face expressionless.
"No boy", she called, stopping Dogmeat as he tried to run after them, instead giving her a frustrated whimper.
She watched as they disappeared into the wasteland, before she stumbled over to the pillar, picking up one of the stims she'd dropped in the scuffle, jamming it into her thigh as she leaned back against her backpack.
She slipped off the goggles and took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling, her eyelids growing heavy. The sound of Dogmeat's, concerned whimpers as he trotted over, sniffing at her before lapping at her face. She closed her eyes, straining to lift a hand up and scratch his neck.
"I'll be okay, boy. Just need to rest a while…just a little while", she let herself surrender to sleep, her hand falling to the ground. Dogmeat whimpered, nudging at her cheeks and shoulder, trying to rouse her, before finally settling next to her. His eyes looking up at her for any sign of movement, his ears keyed to her breathing and any potential threat while she slept.
"Dammit, $85 a gallon, can you believe that", Nate complained, reading the headline before tossing the paper onto the empty table next to them. She leaned back in his arms, looking up at him before planting a kiss on his cheek, "If you didn't do that, I would have", she laughed. It was late in the evening. They sat at an outdoor café, a low hedge separated them from the street behind, and a small recreational park beyond that.
He shook his head, taking a sip of coffee, "It's always the same headlines lately, pretty soon we'll all be riding bicycles and growing our food in the backyard".
"Oh stop, here how about this one", she pointed to a suit from the magazine in her lap. "This guy says the tie really speaks to him. What do you think?"
"Oh yeah…yeah it definitely speaks to me", he agreed, setting his cup down on the bench.
She grinned, rolling her eyes at the faux seriousness in his voice.
"It says, 'Hell no'", he whispered in her ear, playfully biting her earlobe. She leaned into him, craning her head back to taste his lips. "Focus, big guy", she turned the page, "You can't show up to the dinner in a leather jacket and jeans, my boss would kill me".
"What about the suit I have at your apartment, that's more than good enough, unless you threw it out when I wasn't looking".
"You know, I should have", she considered. "You can see the stitches on it and the cuffs are faded".
"Alright, alright", he squeezed her shoulder, his arm around her, pulling her close. "I think you just like dressing me up", he grinned.
"Of course I do", she smiled up at him, slipping a hand inside his jacket and running her palm across his chest. "Can you blame me?", she planted a quick peck on his lips before turning back to the magazine.
"Here, how about this, I think this shade suits you, you'll definitely look…."Honey?", she looked up at him. His gaze focused somewhere behind her, across the street.
"Nate?". No answer, his brow slightly furrowed in concentration, the muscles in his jaw tense.
"Honey?", she brushed her palm over his cheek.
"Huh? Sorry", he apologised, taking her hand and kissing her fingers.
"What's wrong?", she asked, looking over her shoulder, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
"It's nothing", he assured her with a smile." That one doesn't look half bad", he pointed to a dark blue suit.
She'd seen that look in his eyes before, that laser focus, a sort of hyper vigilance.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine", he pressed his lips against her temple. "I just thought I saw…"
The explosion rocked the street behind them, the shockwave throwing them forward unto the ground, knocking down benches, tables and chairs and bathing the café in a blinding light.
Dazed, a sharp ringing in her ears. Something heavy being lifted from her legs.
Nate's voice sounding distant and muffled when she opened her eyes. He was leaned over her, brushing the hair, littered with shards of glass, from her face. She tasted blood on her lips, cuts on her arms and legs. Nate was bleeding from his forehead as he looked down at her, his lips moving, an almost panicked concern on his face as he handled her like porcelain doll, helping her to sit up.
"I'm alright", she managed, leaning back against him, barely hearing her own voice.
Panicked screams, crying and shouting, sounds of gunfire and shattering glass.
Small cuts dotted her legs, her skirt was torn and her ankle radiated pain along her leg.
"Leona!", she could hear his voice clearly now. "Honey, look at me. Are you alright?"
"I'm okay", she swallowed, looking up at him. "What happened?"
"A Car bomb. We have to leave, honey. Can you stand?" he asked, taking in their surroundings for any immediate threat.
"I think so", she winced, bracing herself against him as she tried to stand. A cry escaping her lips at the explosion of searing pain in her ankle.
"Easy, shhh", he soothed , easing her back down, running a hand over her calf, down to her ankle, carefully slipping off her heels.
"Ankle's sprained, the leg isn't broken, but it might be fractured."
"It feels like it", she groaned, trying to wiggle her toes.
"It's going to be alright. Come on, I got ya, honey", he slipped his arms under her and scooped her off her feet, taking a moment to analyse their surroundings.
"Nate?", her worry clear on her face.
"Don't worry", he smiled, pressing his lips on her forehead. "We'll be fine, honey".
The flames consuming the steel husk of a car on the sidewalk, bathing the night in a flickering orange light. She took in the chaos around them as Nate navigated the destruction.
Gunfire coming from the park, masked men beating people in the streets, firebombing buildings, breaking down store windows, people scrambling through the streets in panic. Another car exploded further down the street, followed by screams and more gunfire.
They hurriedly made their way along the sidewalk, dodging people scrambling away from the chaos and looters. Suddenly Nate stopped, she turned to see two masked men as they jumped down out of a store window and turned to face them, baseball bats in hand, the sound of glass crunching beneath their feet.
She felt his grip on her tighten as he backed up and turned to cross the street, but two more thugs approached them from the road, trying to box them in. He had no choice but to go back the way they came, keeping a brisk pace as he scanned each building they passed.
"Nate, they're following us", she whispered, looking over his shoulder, her arms around his neck.
"I know, hold on", she turned so see him kick in the door to an apartment complex, splintering the wood and shattering glass. An upscale building, the front desk empty and the lobby barely lit. He carried her over to the elevator, gently setting her down on her feet inside of it.
"I'll come get you soon, honey".
"What? What are you…", she asked, confused.
"I need you to take the elevator up a few floors, I'll come find you as soon as I can, I promise", he explained, stepping out of the elevator, but she grabbed his arm, almost falling over as she pulled him back in.
"No!, Nate, you're coming with me!", she pleaded. He held her, his lips meeting hers, his hands on her hips as he inched her towards the back of the elevator. "I won't be long", he flashed her that confident playful grin of his before stepping back suddenly, hitting the button for the fourth floor on the way out.
"Nate!", she staggered forward, reaching out to him as the door closed on his smiling face. "Nate!", she screamed, hammering on the keypad.
The door slid open on the fourth floor and she stumbled out, falling to her knees in her haste. She looked up to the sound of doors slamming shut along the corridor. The residents no doubt terrified at the chaos in the streets below. She pulled herself up, looking over the railing to the lobby below. Nate was nowhere in sight, but there was movement in the dim light. The sound of a baseball bat being dragged over the tiled floor before one of the masked men stepped into the light, then another, both brandishing bats. Another one lingered behind them holding a pistol at his side. It wasn't long before they looked up and noticed her. She couldn't make out their words but one of them pointed to the elevator.
It was then she saw Nate walking up behind the man with the gun, kicking him behind the knee and wrenching his arm back, disarming him before backhanding him in the temple. One swift and smooth combination without skipping a beat.
A wide swing from one of the other men, the baseball bat narrowly missing Nate's head as he ducked and punched him in the nose before grabbing his arm and landing another punch to his ribs, doubling him over and kneeing him in the face.
He turned just in time to avoid the swing from the third Red Sox hopeful, slamming a fist into his stomach as the bat flew by, before knocking him out with a powerful left hook to the temple.
She could see the rise and fall of his chest as he caught his breath, flexing his fists as he surveyed the men on the ground before looking up at her, flashing her a cheeky grin. Tears running down her cheeks, a hand over her mouth to muffle her sobs of relief.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw movement in the shadows behind him. He knew something was up when he saw the shock on her face and turned just as she screamed his name, "Nate!".
Another masked man tackled him from behind, pushing him into the front desk. Nate swung his elbow back, catching the man in the head, causing him to release his hold and stagger back, but he recovered quickly. The masked man threw another punch, but Nate caught it and pulled him in, backhanding him in the face before tackling him as they both disappeared into the darkness, out of sight. Time stopped when two shots rang out, causing her to jump, her eyes wide in shock. She couldn't speak, couldn't call out to him. She could barely remember the mad dash to the elevator, biting back the pain in her ankle as she struggled to stay standing. Her knees weak with the fear of what 'might be'. Her vision clouded by tears, as his face flashed before her eyes. Her heart felt like it was being held in a death grip in her chest, on the longest elevator ride of her life.
The elevator opened to the lobby. Bodies on the floor as she frantically scanned the room, her breath catching in her throat when she saw him in the dim light, talking with two officers as they handcuffed the fourth masked man.
He was alright. He was safe. "Nate!", she cried as she stumbled into the lobby, tripping over her own feet. "Leona!", the warmth of his chest on her cheeks as he caught her. His powerful arms holding her up. She threw her arms around his neck holding him tight, biting back her sobs, her face buried in his shoulder. "You're okay…you're okay", she repeated, her knees finally giving out as they both sunk to the floor.
"It's over honey, everything's alright now. We're okay", his voice reverberating in his chest sending tremors through her own, calming her as he cradled her head against his shoulder. It felt like an eternity that they sat there on the lobby floor before they broke their embrace. He smiled, looking into her eyes as he brushed the tears from her cheeks. "I told ya hon, nothing to worry about", he grinned.
With the torrent of emotions she was feeling , she wasn't sure if she wanted to kiss him or slap him. She jabbed him in the side, making him jump, before burying her head in his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist, holding him tight. "You're a god damned jerk, you know that?", her voice muffled.
He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her once more, "I love you, hon", he whispered in her ear.
"I love you" she whispered, before their lips met.
NOTES :
Corrected a few errors in most of the previous chapters, rewording or just modifying parts to hopefully improve readability.
I know I've been horrible with the updates. Real life has a habit of sneaking up on you and slapping you in the face sometimes, lol.
So, to anyone that's still following the story. I apologize for the sparse updates in the past and I want you to know that I'm still very much interested in this story and I intend to see it through. Thank you for your interest in this fic, hope you enjoyed these latest two chapters (7 - 8). As always, if you have any criticisms or comments, by all means, I look forward to hearing them.
That being said, I'd like to show off my Sole Survivor. My inspiration for Leona Reinhardt. And to show you I still play the game dammit! XD
The flickr and myalbum links are in my Profile. You should be able to copy/paste them from there.
myalbum dot com/album/fCZLrwUQ3h5A
just replace the dot with a . and no spaces.
