Katherine climbed over the bridge that separated the suburbs from Boston itself. She stood over the wreckage of the Riptide. Raiders, dead at her feet, one even clad in power armor. Katherine quickly cleaned a wound with bottled water she brought in her pack and wrapped it with some cloth. She grabbed her laser musket and stepped over the Raiders' bodies. She slid down a part of the hull and made her way towards the heart of Boston. Was it even called Boston now?
She could no longer wait for James. He'd been gone for three days and she needed to get along with looking for Shaun. Deep down, she held some doubts about ever being able to find her son, but she'd heard of a detective in Diamond City and how he may have some leads.
Katherine reached the roads and looked up at some of the riverside stone buildings that were modeled after colonial architecture and then saw them contrasted to the metallic high rises typical of American cities before the bombs fell. Most of them still stood the way Katherine remembered them the last time she drove into Boston with Nate. She sighed. That life was over now. Katherine continued walking down the street. It was eerily quiet. No sounds. Nobody moving. Nothing. It was surreal compared to the small, gated community that James built with some help from Preston and Sturges. Sturges may know how to fix things up better than James and Preston knows how to set up defesnes and what-not, but the real reason most people came was because of James.
"Hi. My name is James." James's voice came from over the radio. Huh, usually that's just by Sanctuary. Why this far out? She'd been listening to Diamond City Radio to get a feel of the city. It had a pretty good selection from what she'd heard. "Like many of you out there in the cold, dark Wastelander, I'm just a survivor. And the one thing I've always wanted? A home. Come on by the Red Rocket Station just North of Concord and we'll see about getting you into a safe, guarded community. But don't just take my word for it, say hi to Preston Garvey, leader of the Minutemen."
"Uh, just a Minuteman, actually. Not really the leader."
"See that folks? An honest and humble man vigilantly watching over us while we sleep. Who could ask for a better deal?"
"Uncle James?" Marie's voice came stopped James.
"What is it darling? I'm recording."
"I just wanted to say hi."
"Then say hi."
"HI!" Both of their voices cried out in a sing-songy manner.
"That's we have time for, folks. Hope you come on by Red Rocket Concord and we might just get you the Sanctuary you deserve to live in." Katherine could imagine James's smile as he said that. Something about that man just made him so charismatic. He could really turn on the charm like an on/off switch and be really persuasive at times. Other times, he's a cold, brooding person that never seems to want anybody else's help, let alone attention. He was strange, he was lonely but didn't want to be.
"Why do you have to be so much like Nate?" Katherine wondered aloud. She passed a machinegun turret. A good sign, Preston had told her that turrets meant Diamond City security. A man strolled past her without shooting. Another good sign.
"Hi, excuse me?" Katherine asked.
"Huh?" the man asked. "Whoa, lady. Excuse me I didn't see ya."
"Oh yeah, could you point in the right direction of Diamond City?"
"Just follow the signs, you're almost there."
"Thanks!" Katherine responded. She began to walk faster. She was excited, outside of a few small settlements and Sanctuary, Diamond City was going to be the biggest settlement she'd ever been to. I wonder if it's actually like a real city.
Katherine reached the entrance. It's Fenway Park. Just how I remember it. Plus some armed guards. Katherine looked up at the old stadium. It hadn't changed much. It creaked a lot more than she remembered though. The doors were closed with only a few men patrolling outside and a woman yelling at an intercom box.
"Dammit, Danny. Let me in!" she shouted. Katherine was about to go walk to the intercom as well when someone grabbed her shoulder.
"Katherine?" James's voice's buzzed from a helmet. Before she turned she guessed he was wearing power armor. She turned and faced a terrible, black faced monster. She yelped. James took off his helmet. "Whoa, hey, it's me."
"What is that?"
"It's a suit of power armor I found while working for Jones. He's right behind me. I just got here."
"That's cool." Katherine commented. Without power armor, James almost stood a head taller than Katherine but with it, he towered over her. Katherine practically straind her neck trying to look up at him.
"So, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I could ask you the same thing?" James chuckled.
"Uh, yeah. Looking for some leads, maybe some work. Really looking for a guy named Nick Valentine."
"Oh really? That's who I'm looking for too!"
"Oh wow, what a coincidence!" James's smile disappeared in a flash. "Is it about your son?" Katherine nodded solemly. James frowned and nodded slowly.
"You want help, or you want me to go with you?"
"Only if you want to." She responded.
"Well, I asked if you wanted me to."
"And I said only if you want to." James frowned. An explosion broke the silence between them.
"Get behind me." James ordered. Katherine looked at him. He didn't usually give her order. James seemed to press his index finger to one of the "ears" on his helmet.
"Morales, what's going on?"
"Super mutant attack on the caravan!" Morales shouted. James could hear laser fire and gunfire. "C'mon you bastards!"
"Morales, I need you to focus. Get them to safety, I'm on my way." James ordered. He looked back at Katherine. "If you want to come, stay behind cover and be careful." Katherine cranked her laser musket twice and nodded. James took off running, the ground shaking with every step. Katherine had never seen this type of power armor before and she thought she had seen Nate wear every one that the US Army had. She watched it move fluidly and unlike a machine. It was much more organic and natural than the ones Nate had worn. This one also seemed more form-fitting and comfortable. Katherine was interested, she'd always wanted to wear a suit of power armor.
James arrived and watched a merchant be snatched up in the jaws of a mutant hound. The hound shook its head left and right, flailing the merchant's body before throwing him away like a piece of trash. James fired his hunting rifle and watched the hound drop. He chambered another round and watched a Brahmin collapse under its own weight from all the bullets it had absorbed.
Jones, clad in his yellow Red Racer jumpsuit and mismatched pieces of combat armor took cover behind a truck. Morales, still in the T-45, guarded more Brahmin and two other merchants. James checked on the merchant he had seen earlier and concluded the man was too far gone to be helped. He drew his 10mm and squeezed off a few rounds at the green humanoids off in the distance. A horn blew and James watched a flood of hounds run towards James position.
James drew a Molotov cocktail and lobbed it high into the air. He aimed and fired his pistol, the explosive detaonated in the air and showered glass and fire on the hounds. It slowed them down and James began to take shots at them with his hunting rifle.
Katherine ran into the street and blasted an arc of red energy straight into one of the towering mutants. The mutant fell backwards, clutching his chest. Katherine hid behind James and cranked her musket twice. James blasted away with his hunting rifle, the hounds were all dead. He felt a round glance his shoulder.
"Katherine, I need you to get to cover, now."
"I'm fine where I am!" she shouted. She rolled out from her cover behind James and lobbed what James recognized as a pulse grenade. It flew into the mutants general, bounced twice before detonating near a car. The car caught fire, Katherine saw it and blasted it with her musket. The car exploded and vaporized most of the mutants. James turned to her and back to the explosion she had produced in five seconds.
James reloaded his hunting rifle and felt the shaking of the ground beneath his feet. Oh no. Not now.
"Get back, get back now." James warned. Katherine stood up and looked at James.
"What? Why? We're winning." James slung his hunting rifle and drew his shotgun.
"No we're not. Just go back there, now." James shouted. Katherine reluctantly retreated to the firing lines several merchants constructed. "Behemoth!" James shouted. He tossed two frag mines before retreating back to the firing line as well. The green giant lumbered onto the straight from an unseen corner and bellowed a loud roar that made Katherine's ears ring. James, with the pistol in his right hand fired at the behemoth a few times. "Alright everybody, don't fire until I tell you." The behemoth roared and slammed its fire hydrant club on the ground a few times.
"Oh. My. God." Katherine whispered. Her eyes wide, she cranked her musket to its maximum capacity. The behemoth began to charge.
"Hold it!" James shouted. The frag mines detonated, causing the behemoth to stumble. "Now!" he shouted, but a before he could fire a round another roar defeaned his order.
"What the hell is that?" a merchant cried.
"Deathclaw!" Morales shouted. James turned and watched the beige creature slink its way towards the firing line from behind it.
"Get out of the way!" James shouted he shoved a few merchants out of the way of the charging deathclaw. James planted his feet in the ground and waited for the deathclaw to ram him with its horns.
The deathclaw roared and used its claw to knock James out of the way. Katherine ducked under one of its flailing claws as it passed her and all of the merchants. She looked up and noticed a brown stripe pattern that she thought was familiar. The deathclaw sank into the ground on all fours before springing up and shoving its claws into the super mutant behemoth.
"James, it's the one from Concord!" Katherine shouted. James sat up dazed from what just happened. He watched the surreal setting unfold before him. The deathclaw slashed at the behemoth while the behemoth punched at the deathclaw. It was seemingly defeding the merchants. But why? The deathclaw speared one of the behemoth's legs and it responded by plowing it into a nearby building with its hydrant club. The deathclaw seemed to get buried by the bricks and rubble. The behemoth lifted its hydrant club high into the air when the deathclaw sprang out of the rubble and sank its teeth into the behemoth's neck.
Katherine rushed forward and took aim at the behemoth's speared leg. She fired at it and the behemoth fell onto that knee. The deathclaww got the upper hand and sank its free claw through the behemoth's chest showering the merchants in blood. James had managed to get in front of Katherine, blocking most of the blood shower. The behemoth sank to both knees with a low groan before slumping to its side on the road. The deathclaw sharpened both of its claws and roared. James stood in front of Katherine with his shotgun aimed in between its eyes.
"James, no."
"What?"
"It saved us."
"It's a deathclaw."
"It's smarter that the ones you're used to killing."
"But hear my words, Kat. It. Is. A. Deathclaw." Katherine ignored and slowly walked up to the reptilian creature. It licked its wounds the way a dog does its own. The sight sickened James. I had no idea it could do that. The deathclaw growled and Katherine slowly placed her musket on the ground.
"See. No weapons." She said soothingly. James lowered his shogun. The deathclaw seemed to drop its guard. It moved its head left and right as if it were studying her. It made the same growling/purring noise that freaked out James. Katherine walked up and held her hand out to it. The deathclaw dropped to all fours.
"Katherine." James warned. The deathclaw lowered its head and Katherine placed her hand on its forehead. It "purred" once more.
"This is really freaking me out." James said as he slung his shotgun. The deathclaw began to nudge Katherine with its head softly. Is it playing? James had to fight every one of his conditioned insticts to run in order to stay so close to the dangerous animal. Katherine began to play with Deathclaw the way she played with Dogmeat. She turned back at James.
"Can I keep it?"