After an early breakfast of grilled radroach and deviled eggs, Lillian headed out towards Concord. Codsworth still refused to come along, assuring her that she'd be okay. She wasn't so sure. If there were gigantic bugs in Sanctuary, what else could be waiting for her out there?
The old wooden bridge creaked as she walked across it, but it still felt strong. She'll have to try to reinforce it later. She passed a couple of rusted cars and wondered if any vehicles would still be working after all this time. Not that she'd want to drive on the road if they were all as cracked and broken as the one leaving Sanctuary. She imagined construction crews weren't too bothered with that sort of thing now. That is, if there were any out here, which she highly doubted.
She reached the Red Rocket truck stop and decided to poke around, see if there was anything useful. A large German Shepherd dog trotted out from behind the building and barked at her. He stopped a few feet away and looked at her curiously. Lillian cautiously kneeled and stuck her hand out for the dog to smell. He sniffed it then barked again and wagged his tail.
"Hey boy," she said as she pet him. "Are you out here on your own?" She looked around for any sign of movement.
"Hello?" she called out. "Anyone here?" There was no reply. She turned back to the dog. "So, wanna tag along?" she asked. The dog barked excitedly. "Okay then. Do you have a name? I guess you can't tell me if you do. Hmm, Nate was always better at this."
"What is that?" Lillian asked as Nate carried the puppy into the house.
"Honey, you said you couldn't wait to hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet around the place," he grinned. "I figure this was cheaper and we get more feet."
Lillian shook her head and scratched the puppy behind the ears. The puppy threw its head back to sniff and lick her hand. "Does it have a name yet?"
"He does not," he set the puppy down to let him explore. "I wanted to confer with you to make sure we pick a name we both like."
"Oh god, I'm terrible at naming things."
"Nonsense! Didn't you have pets growing up?"
"I had three goldfish named Goldie, Goldie Two, and Goldie Three. I also had a cat named Fluffy."
"Oh god. Well, we are not naming this little guy Rover. Or Fido. Or Puppy McPuppyface."
"How about Tinkle?"
Nate snorted. "What the hell kind of name is that for a puppy?"
"Well that's what he's doing on your guitar," Lillian smirked and pointed at the puppy who did indeed have his leg lifted against Nate's guitar. Nate rushed over to carry the puppy outside. When he came back in, she handed him a rag.
"Okay, how about Odin?" Nate asked as he cleaned up the puddles.
"Odin? Like from Norse mythology?"
"Yeah. The big boss of all Norse gods, because no pressure on the little guy or anything."
"I like it. Odin it is."
Nate smiled and turned to the puppy who was sitting nearby. "What do you think, little guy? Do you like the name Odin?" The puppy yipped. "I think he agrees."
"Hmm, well I don't think I'll call you Odin, since that was our old dog's name. How about Canigou? My great-grandpa had a dog by that name." The dog barked again. "You like that? Okay. Canigou it is."
Canigou tilted his head at her then trotted back to the Red Rocket building. He barked at her, wanting to be followed. She did so and he led her through to the back room. There was a tin box of Nuka-Cola bottle caps on the desk beside the terminal, as well as some money still in the drawer.
She had found a few boxes and small bags of these bottle caps throughout Sanctuary. Did people collect them now for some reason? It seemed very strange to her, but she had stored what she found in Shaun's room. He could collect them too.
She dumped the bottle caps into her backpack along with the dollar bills. The terminal was fluttering on and off so she turned it off. How it even stayed on all this time is amazing. She started going through other drawers and cabinets, discarding old folders and brittle pieces of paper while keeping a couple of stimpaks, a bottle of Nuka-Cola, and even a can of beans.
Canigou started to growl and crept to the door. Lillian immediately pulled out her pistol and crouched, following him. She listened and heard what sounded like a large animal trying to breathe through a stuffed nose. What the hell was it? Canigou stalked out the door before she could stop him.
A moment later she heard the dog bark and something else growl. She dashed out and saw him fighting - something. It was huge, nearly the same size as Canigou. A giant rodent? A mole? Before she could think any further, another giant rodent burst out of the ground and ran towards her. She fired two shots before it dropped dead. Canigou had killed the other one. A third one burst out of the ground ten feet away which Lillian managed to shoot dead. A fourth and fifth ran out from around the corner. A few shots and some mauling by Canigou killed them.
"Are they all gone now?" she asked Canigou. He wagged his tail which she assumed was an affirmative reply. She put away her gun, wet a clean cloth from her pocket and gently cleaned the blood off the dog's snout. He had managed to get away with only a few scratches. She looked at the dead mole.. rat... things. She took out her knife and cursed as she sliced the belly of one open. She cut out the meat and set it aside. She repeated it with the other four mole rats. If she could eat roaches and flies, she could eat... this.
"Okay, sweetheart, you want to insert your knife here and slice to about here."
"Ew, Granddad, this is so gross!" Lillian was twelve the first time she went hunting with her granddad, much to her parents' chagrin. But she had insisted and whatever their daughter wanted, their daughter got.
"You're the one who wanted to hunt," Granddad looked down at her, "This is part of hunting. We don't hunt for the sake of shooting things. We hunt because we need to eat."
"That's what supermarkets are for, duh," Lillian rolled her eyes.
"And where do you think supermarkets get their meat?"
"Farms?"
"That too, but for wild boars like this one, they're hunted," Granddad kneeled beside her, "Now give it a try."
Lillian hesitated then inserted the knife into the belly of the dead boar and made a jagged cut along its belly.
"Eurgh," she wrinkled her nose.
"Good job, sweetie!" Granddad squeezed her shoulder. "Now I'll show you how to cut out the bits we can eat and we can cook them."
She cooked up the meat behind the Red Rocket, not daring to take a chance of lighting a fire near the nuclear coolant pumps. She tried a bit of the cooked molerat, which was a bit chewy but at least it was edible. She gave some to Canigou who happily ate it. She wrapped the rest of the cooked meat in a worn curtain and stuffed in her backpack.
"Well, let's get going," she said to the dog, "We've got a baby to find and an asshole to murder."
A short bit later Canigou ran ahead barking. Lillian watched two enormous mosquitoes rise up from the corpse of a dead animal and flew away. Canigou chased after them until they were deep in the woods.
Jesus christ, she thought, are all of the bugs and insects huge now? What about spiders? What kind of monstrosities did those mutate into? She never liked spiders. She wasn't quite arachnophobic, but she just didn't like being in the same room as a spider. Nate had always moved them outside, jokingly telling them to go play in the neighbour's yard.
They continued on past the carcass and finally reached Concord. She heard gunfire from the main street, so she crept along the side of the buildings and peeked around for a look. The gunfight seemed to be between some people in the street and someone on the balcony of the museum. From where she was, she couldn't tell who she should help if at all.
"Come on, boy," she whispered to Canigou, "Let's go around." They quickly and quietly made their way around the town. She felt safer once she couldn't hear any more gunfire, but kept her hand on her holstered pistol in any case. As they continued - she decided to try Lexington next - Canigou was exploring the areas just off the road, sniffing for whatever dogs sniff for, but never straying too far. It was eerily peaceful.
She wondered if she could ever really get used to it. The lack of noise. No cars and trucks on the road, no airplanes in the sky. And not just the silence, but having to walk everywhere. She's always been in excellent shape, having been a professional ballerina, so exercise didn't bother her. It's just having it take so long to get places.
Lillian sighed as they passed another rusted car. Canigou looked at her curiously. She smiled and scratched him behind the ear.
"It's okay, boy, just remembering the old days."
The sky was getting darker as they walked closer to Lexington so she started looking for shelter. At first she noticed the train cars and wondered if that would be safe. But the house she spotted off the road looked far more appealing. They approached cautiously when they heard voices.
"If I see any more radroaches, I'm going to stomp them flat!" a young girl said.
"Ha, I bet you will," a man replied wearily.
"Um, hello?" Lillian called out. She heard shuffling in the house.
"Who's there?" the man demanded from behind the closed door.
"My name is Lillian. I mean no harm, I'm just looking for somewhere to spend the night."
The door cracked opened. A moment later a man stepped through, his shotgun aimed at her. His eyes narrowed as he looked her and Canigou over. Lillian held up both of her hands, showing she had no intention of being hostile.
"Oh! She has a dog!" the young girl had appeared in the window.
"Charlie! Get back!" the man said sternly, not taking his eyes off Lillian. The girl crouched out of sight, but Lillian saw her peeking around the door a moment later.
"I'm not having strangers here," he growled, "so you'll have to find somewhere else."
"I understand sir. But if you let me stay here I can share some food and water, and help keep watch." Then she added, "And your daughter can play with my dog."
"I can?" the girl jumped out gleefully.
The man sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this one. "Fine. You don't look like them raiders. But be warned, one wrong move and I won't hesitate to put a bullet in you."
Lillian nodded and followed them into the house. Perhaps it was a bit dirty to use the girl's adoration of Canigou against her father, but at least it got her shelter. And she wasn't lying about sharing her food and water. The girl ran up to Canigou who sat down and relished the new attention.
"Your dog is so nice! What's his name? I bet he keeps all the bad things away. Can we get a dog, Dad?"
The man sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, we'll get one. One day."
Lillian took out the cooked molerat and passed it around. The man was taking small bites, while Charlie wolfed down most of hers then gave the rest to Canigou.
"Sorry, didn't introduce ourselves. I'm Clinton, this is my daughter Charlie."
"Nice to meet you. Is it just you two?"
"Yeah. Her mother passed a while back."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yeah." He chewed his food slowly. "What about you? Lillian, you said your name was?"
She nodded. "My husband was killed and my baby boy was kidnapped. I'm trying to find him."
"Well, we haven't seen any babies lately. Sorry you have to go through that."
They both watched as Charlie threw bits of wood across the room for Canigou to fetch. Lillian smiled at how happy the young girl was, like all her troubles were the last thing on her mind.
"So is this your place?" she asked Clinton.
"Nah, just another roof over our head until the next one. Never know when raiders will hit." That was the second time he mentioned raiders. Whoever these raiders were, they sure sounded like trouble.
"Do you want a more permanent place to live?"
"I don't have money to buy into one of those big settlements," he said sadly. "Thought maybe Diamond City would let us in because Charlie's so young, but nope. Gotta have caps."
"Caps? You mean bottle caps?" Lillian took out the small tin of caps she had taken from the Red Rocket.
"Yeah," Clinton looked confused. "You new around here?"
"Sort of. Long story. So people use these as money?"
"Yeah, you need 'em if you want to buy anything."
"Huh." She put the tin back in her bag. "Well, you don't need to pay for anything. Only a bit of work, if you're up for it."
"What kind of work?" his eyes narrowed. "I ain't guarding caravans and leaving Charlie behind."
"No, nothing like that. Just some farming, general maintenance, that sort of thing. You never have to leave your daughter."
"Okay, I'm listening. And where is this dreamland?"
"Sanctuary Hills. North of Concord. There's a Mr. Handy there named Codsworth right now. And a bunch of houses we fixed up. Not perfect, but it'll keep the rain off you. Pick any house you like. Except mine, which is the blue one in the middle."
Clinton was silent, thinking it over. Charlie had clearly been listening because she piped up.
"You're giving us a house? With a door and a roof and everything?"
"There's no one else there at the moment," said Lillian with a smile, "I wouldn't mind some friendly neighbours when I get back."
"And that robot of yours won't attack?" asked Clinton.
"Nah, he's good. His programming might be a bit wonky these days, but he won't attack unless you attack him."
"Wouldn't dream of it." he turned to Charlie. "So what do you think, kiddo?"
"Oh yes! Can we go tomorrow? Do I get my own room?"
"Of course," he smiled and turned back to Lillian. "Thank you. To think, I was this close from shooting you earlier."
"I'm glad you didn't."
They chatted for a bit longer before falling asleep. Lillian was happy she could help someone out. No child should have to live in fear. It made her more determined to find Shaun.
"How could you?"
"Nate, I didn't mean to!"
"You just let them take Shaun! I thought you loved him!"
"Of course I love him! I couldn't stop them!"
"I tried to stop them and I was shot dead! You didn't do anything!"
"I COULDN'T!"
"Maybe you didn't love us as much as I thought you did."
"Nate, please..."
"Goodbye, Lillian."
Lillian woke with a start, her brow covered in sweat. She wanted to cry, she wanted to go back to Sanctuary, she wanted to go home. But she had to find Shaun. She had to prove to Nate that she still loves him and Shaun.
Canigou laid his head in her lap. She pet him reassuringly and got up. She tiptoed past the sleeping forms of Clinton and Charlie and out the door. She looked up at the sky which was overcast and took some deep breaths to keep herself from sobbing.
It was just a nightmare. Nate would never be angry at her for not being able to stop those people from taking their son. Of course he wouldn't. But it seemed so real. She sat on the steps and watched the sun rise.