The news that the Brotherhood would not assisting the Minutemen did not go over well.
The meeting room had filled with bodies; not only those of her usual team, but many of the Minutemen and settlers who had come to hear the news. The attack from the previous morning had left them all on edge, and they'd piled into the room looking hopeful that Evelyn had found answers.
Not only had she failed to find any information on the creatures, but she'd failed to secure any help from the Brotherhood as well- aside from Danse's promise of backup, that is. She had let her temper get the best of her and probably ruined any chances she had of swaying Elder Maxson's decision.
So she sat in the meeting room for an hour after speaking her part, listening to the arguments, the suggestions, the anger and fear. She understood; despite all the work she had put into Sanctuary, it no longer felt safe. To someone like Maxson, a couple of murderous prowlers- that's what the beasts had been nicknamed in her absence- might seem like a minor inconvenience. And yet they were perhaps the most dangerous creatures in the Commonwealth now, and to know there could be more lurking outside Sanctuary was making everyone nervous.
But to talk about the Brotherhood wasn't really the reason she called this meeting. She never expected the Brotherhood to become guardians of the Minutemen, after all- even if it would have been nice for Maxson to actually pretend like he had a real interest to keep the Commonwealth safe. The Minutemen needed to keep themselves protected. And so new defenses were decided, new guard schedules were arranged, and by the time the last of the team was trickling out the door, it seemed that some of the nervousness in everyone had subsided- for now.
Evelyn found her feet carrying her towards the smell of food, stomach growling as if it just remembered it was hungry. The sun had fully set by now, and with darkness all around, it seemed that no one was keen to wander off on their own too far from one of the well-lit buildings near the center of the neighborhood. Dogmeat plodded along beside her, nose up in the air to take in the smell of roasted vegetables that drifted on the breeze.
She maneuvered her way between the crowded tables of the makeshift mess hall, doing her best to dodge conversation attempts when settlers noticed her approach. The last two days had been hectic and stressful; she just wanted to have a hot meal and try to relax a bit. There was so much riding on her shoulders these days that it was far too easy to feel overwhelmed. A tiny, selfish part of her sometimes wished she could just run off into the wasteland and leave her responsibilities behind.
Her eyes landed on her group of friends, huddled together at a table while Hancock regaled them with another one of his greatly exaggerated stories. A smile tugged at her lips to see them all laughing with one another. Those guys were the real reason she would never run away from any of this.
Evelyn gathered some food onto a plate, helping herself to a pile of the delicious-smelling veggies and some scraps of what looked like mirelurk meat. Dogmeat was practically stomping on her feet, begging for a handout. "Preston said he already fed you," she chided him, but peeled off a shred of meat to toss him anyways.
She slid onto the bench beside Nick, stuffing some roasted tato in her mouth to satisfy the grumbling in her stomach. Cait sat across from her neck to Hancock, scoffing at some of the bold claims he made as he told them about the time he and Fahrenheit supposedly fought a super mutant behemoth. Evelyn grinned at the casual, familiar feeling around her; it was a nice distraction from everything else.
"How you holding up, kid?" Nick asked, turning himself to face her better. Evelyn shrugged, chewing on a tough piece of meat.
"A little rough, I guess," she admitted. She looked out over the mess hall around them. "Just wish I could do more."
"You're doing more than enough already," Nick assured her, patting her hand comfortingly. "You let us know when you need a hand."
Evelyn grinned again, surprised at how easy and genuine it was. "Of course. Thanks, Nick." The synth nodded his head warmly before shifting his attention back to Hancock and Cait, now starting to bicker over some detail of Hancock's story that Cait was insisting he made up.
After shoveling down the rest of her meal, Evelyn left her companions to their chatter, Dogmeat still hovering around the table waiting for someone to take pity on him and his big, sad eyes. She wanted to find MacCready; she owed him a proper apology for snapping at him after fighting the prowlers at the Super Duper Mart. She'd been told that he'd gone back to guard duty after the meeting. He had agreed to take on some extra guard time since he was their best long-range gunman in the settlement, and it seemed to ease some of the settlers. She knew he'd be in his usual spot for it.
Evelyn circled around one of the old buildings near the end of the road in Sanctuary, finding a good spot to climb using a window sill as a foothold. As with most of the buildings, the settlers had begun to build around and on top of it, crafting additions out of wood to expand space for storage and sleeping. Evelyn made her way nimbly up to the roof where a few wood walls and a ceiling had been erected, an open side facing out towards the dark forest beyond the settlement. A perfect vantage point for anything approaching Sanctuary from this side.
MacCready had obviously heard her coming, head turned in her direction as she approached. He was sitting on an old sleeping bag, rifle across his lap. A lantern sat beside him, but he hadn't lit it, instead seeming to prefer to sit in darkness.
"Hey, boss," MacCready greeted her as she came to join him, sitting down cross legged beside him and leaning back to put her palms against the cool concrete roof beneath them.
"I told you to stop calling me that," Evelyn huffed, grinning at him. Sitting around the table with their other friends had put her in a good mood. She wasn't normally the best at talking things out, but with spirits higher than usual and warm food in her belly, she was feeling confident.
"Right. Sorry," MacCready apologized, turning his gaze out to the dark woods in the distance.
Evelyn pulled a foot up to unlace the boot there. "You prefer the dark?" She asked, gesturing to the unused lantern beside them. She loosened the laces enough to tug the boot off, discarding it to the side and starting on the other.
"Easier to see," he explained, nodding towards the trees. "Lets me have a long range of sight in case there's anything out there." He tapped on his rifle.
She bobbed her head in a nod, pulling the second boot loose and setting it aside before stretching her legs out in front of her. "Smart," she commented, flexing her feet in the cool air. Even with socks on, having them removed from the confines of the boots felt much better. "See anything interesting?"
"Only if you find molerats interesting," MacCready snorted in response, stretching his legs out to match her position.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, gazing out at the forest as Evelyn considered how to word her apology to him. But before she could get into it, MacCready turned his head to look at her again. "How's your head doing?" He asked quietly. There was a touch of guilt to his voice, and she immediately felt bad.
"Doing fine now," she assured him, but went on quickly before he could reply. "Mac, I'm sorry I was such an asshole to you about it. I was upset, but not at you," the words came out in an uncertain rush. "You saved my skin back there and I really appreciate it. I don't know why I lashed out at you." She bit at her lower lip, meeting his eyes briefly but turning her gaze back to the woods again, unable to hold the eye contact.
MacCready nudged his shoulder against hers. "Hey, I get it," he said. "You got a lot to deal with. Most people would crack under that kinda pressure a lot more often than you do." He smirked at her. "Next time, though, we'll try and find you a punching bag to take it out on."
Evelyn let out a breathy laugh at that. "That's not a bad idea," she admitted, grinning at him finally. His eyes twinkled at her, amused. "Even better if we can dress it up like Maxson."
MacCready broke into laughter, and Evelyn laughed with him. She had to admit, MacCready was one of her favorite friends to travel with. He was a great shot and he shared her sense of humor, and she enjoyed the way they could share a comfortable silence. She leaned back to rest her weight on her palms once more, watching him recover from his laughter.
She hadn't yet told MacCready the truth about Shaun. She wasn't quite sure why- she'd told Nick, Cait, and Hancock within the first week of returning from the Institute- but despite how much she trusted MacCready, she had somehow lacked the courage to tell him. He deserved to know; she just needed to find the confidence for it.
They sat together for a bit longer as the heat from the day faded and cooler air finally began to wrap around them. Evelyn tugged her hoodie up over her head to keep her ears warm, but she actually found that she liked the cold these days. The world seemed constantly hot no matter the weather due to the oppressive radiation that seeped out of every crack in the earth; the night granted a reprieve from some of it, at least.
Evelyn tugged her knees close to her chest, leaning against MacCready's side and yawning. He started slightly, as if forgetting she'd been there- or perhaps he'd been lost in thought, staring out at the quiet trees.
"Maybe we should go out on an errand together again," Evelyn suggested, grinning sleepily at him. "Just the two of us. It's been awhile, and I could use some escape from… all of this." She threw a hand back to gesture at Sanctuary. It wasn't that she didn't like the place, but she just really needed some time away to put her thoughts back in order.
MacCready glanced sidelong at her. "I don't remember a time we ever travelled together when it was just us. You used to never go anywhere without Dogmeat," he remarked, a grin tugging at his mouth.
"Oh, yeah," Evelyn nodded, chuckling. "I guess you're right." She was silent again for a moment, grin fading. "But seriously. There's not much to be done around here except more construction work and turret building. I could really use some time away, clear my head."
"Hey, you're still the boss," MacCready pointed out. "Just say the word."
Evelyn groaned loudly, pushing herself upright again and climbing to her feet. "Ugh, if you keep calling me your boss I'm definitely not bringing you along," she huffed at him, mouth twisting playfully. She extended both hands down to him. "Come on, I think you've done your fair share of guard duty tonight."
MacCready looked like he was ready to argue, but she scowled at him and wiggled her fingers, so he caught hold of her hands and let her pull him upright. Not that it was exactly necessary- he stood a few inches taller than her, and she had to lean back on her heels to help him up. She collected her discarded combat boots but elected to carry them. Sanctuary was one of the few places she could walk around without shoes in relative safety; she missed the days when she could go barefoot outside and feel the grass.
They walked in silence towards their rooms. MacCready also had a room on the floor above the meeting space as well as Evelyn. Cait also had a permanent room there, and there was an extra guest room for any of Evelyn's other close friends who came through town, but Preston had elected to sleep with the other Minutemen instead. It made Evelyn feel a touch guilty for having her own room, but having her own space to retreat to in Sanctuary was one of the few things that kept her sane.
A settler noticed their approach and hurried towards her, reminding her just why she liked having her own room so much: less disturbance. And yeah, she would totally admit that part of the reason she sat with MacCready so long tonight was to hide from all of the questions and requests she usually received when she sat around in the open here.
"General," the settler greeted as he approached, coming to a stop before her. Evelyn bit back her sigh; they'd made it so close to the rooms. "We've been dividing up materials for the turrets, but we need some stuff to repair the water purifier as well. We're running low on some things after sending out supplies to help the construction at Starlight Drive-In."
"Put together a list for me of what you need," Evelyn said. "I'll see what I can salvage next time I'm out. And I'll have Preston arrange for some caravans to bring more material in."
"Thank you," the settler said, looking grateful. "I'll get list for you." Evelyn just nodded her head, murmuring a quick goodnight to the man before her and MacCready made their escape and slipped into the building beside them.
"I don't blame you for wanting to get back on the road," MacCready commented as they made their way up the stairs, stepping quietly in case Cait was already asleep. Evelyn just nodded her head again, too tired to get into a conversation with her bed so close.
They went their separate ways to their rooms, and once her door was shut Evelyn promptly stripped off her jeans and flopped onto the bed, sighing. It had been a long day; she didn't know what time it was, but it had to be close to midnight by now. The meeting with Maxson this morning already felt like it'd been so long ago.
She snuggled deeper into her hoodie, closing her eyes with a sigh. Hopefully tomorrow was a better day.
Evelyn couldn't decide if fighting raiders first thing in the morning was a step up from having to deal with Maxson.
She'd set out early that day with MacCready, striking south from Sanctuary just after breakfast. Raiders usually didn't come around this part of the Commonwealth so much these days due to the strong foothold that the Minutemen maintained here, but these ones must have decided to test their luck. It was a mistake.
It was a small band, but they had scattered the moment MacCready downed one with a headshot. Raiders were usually quick to charge into the attack, so these ones must've been nervous from the start.
Evelyn pressed back against the tree she was using for cover, feeling the friction of rough bark against the spots on her arms that armor couldn't cover. She clutched a rifle in her hands, steadying her breathing and waiting for a pause in the shooting to return fire. The raiders were using a rocky outcropping for cover downhill from them, and with all the bullets coming towards her she'd guess there were at least five or six raiders.
MacCready mirrored her position on another tree, reloading his gun before glancing up at her with a smirk. Evelyn grinned back. Maybe it was a little messed up to delight in mowing down raiders, but the adrenaline rush always gave her a bit of a thrill. Besides, these raiders deserved it; no doubt they were planning on targeting one of her settlements.
When the shooting slowed down for a moment, Evelyn and MacCready both took the chance to lean out and take their own shots. Three of the raiders went down, but only one was her kill. It had been eight months since she'd crawled out of that vault, and her long range still sucked. She scowled to herself, glancing at MacCready. He was still smirking, and held up three fingers, then pointed at her and held up one. She mouthed the word asshole to him, unable to help but puff a laugh. Just wait until they got up close, and then she'd level the score.
Bullets whistled past her head, one glancing off the tree near her shoulder in a spray of bark that made her squint. MacCready leaned out and took another shot, then wordlessly held up four fingers to Evelyn. She rolled her eyes at him.
Evelyn swung out from her cover, falling into a couch and levelling her rifle. It took two tries to take down the raider nearest to her; her first shot went wide. She pivoted, her third shot hitting the next raider in the chest and sending him sprawling. The shooting had stopped now, though. She listened, peering intently at the rocks, but saw nothing. MacCready crept to her side and they made their way down the hill as one, each covering a side in case any more raiders appeared.
One raider was still alive- he'd only taken a shot to the shoulder, and was scrambling for his pistol when Evelyn appeared. She finished him off with a shot to the head, then popped up to her feet, pointing at MacCready as he rounded the other side of the outcropping. "Ha! That counts as mine," she declared.
He glanced down at the dead raider, frowning. "No way. That was my…" he trailed off, cocking his head and then leaning in to study something.
Evelyn eyed him. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure." MacCready used his foot to push the raider onto his side, revealing his uninjured shoulder- and above it, two pairs of small puncture wounds with a blue-green tinge around the edges and trickles of drying blood down his back. "Weird," he commented.
Evelyn crouched down to study the wounds. "Looks like something bit him recently," she commented, tilting her head and glancing up at MacCready. "Maybe something irradiated?"
He grunted in agreement, raising his head to look around them. "I hope it's not a bug. I hate those glowing bugs," he muttered.
"Not any bug I know of," she mused, straightening up. As far as she was aware, none of the bugs around here had mouths full of teeth, and those wounds looked an awful lot like tooth marks. "Let's keep going, and stay sharp."
"Aye aye, boss," MacCready grinned when she shot him a withering look, following after her as they continued south.
She was supposed to check on Graygarden and make sure they had recovered from the raider attack a few days ago, as well as have them send some supplies to Sanctuary on the next caravan. But after Graygarden, she was going to drag MacCready to Diamond City, get a hot bowl of noodles, and give herself a day to relax a little bit. And after that- well, she hadn't quite decided yet. She would have to wait and see where the road would take them.
They had fallen into their usual silence as they walked, keeping an eye out for any glowing bugs or other unfriendly things that might be lurking nearby as they skirted around Walden Pond. Despite some mongrel dogs sniffing around a Brahmin carcass, nothing else gave them any trouble, and Evelyn felt some of the tension leave her shoulders as Graygarden's familiar greenhouse came into view. She hadn't forgotten that there could be more prowlers wandering around the wasteland; being back in a calm, familiar place made her feel a bit better.
They arrived well after noon and ate a lunch of fresh, cooked veggies along with some of the radstag jerky MacCready had brought along. Evelyn left him behind to inspect and clean his gun while she spent some time circling the settlement with Supervisor White, listening to the robot drone on about the repairs they had made and the crops they were already replacing. The raiders had caused a bit of destruction when they attacked, and Evelyn was glad that the robots never needed to sleep; they were much quicker at fixing things up, and Graygarden was already getting back into shape. This place was a major food supplier for some of the nearby settlements, so it was important that it be kept up and running.
Evelyn was just wrapping up with the supervisors when she heard the distant, metallic thumping that could only mean power armor. She twisted to look at MacCready, who met her eyes and tilted his head towards the sound questioningly. She shrugged. This close to the police station, there was a good chance it was just a patrol of Brotherhood knights. But with the raider troubles around the area recently, it was better that they check it out just in case.
The pair made their way towards the source of the noise, drawing closer to the river until they could make out three shapes: two in power armor, and one in standard Brotherhood combat armor. Evelyn relaxed, lowering her rifle and nodding to MacCready. They straightened up and approached slowly; she didn't want to startle the group and end up with a bullet through her skull.
They were still a little ways away from the group when they were noticed, guns snapping up to point in their direction. "Halt!" One of the soldiers in power armor shouted to them. "What's your business here?"
"I'm a knight of the Brotherhood," Evelyn called back, not bothering to stop. "Knight Evelyn Blake, and a friend."
The guns were lowered warily, but the Brotherhood soldiers didn't relax until she was close enough for them to recognize. "Knight Blake," the same soldier said. "My apologies. We've been having more run-ins with raiders than usual in this area."
"You too, huh?" Evelyn said, chewing at her lip. That wasn't good news. She studied the three soldiers, but didn't recognize any of them. "Is Danse- er, Paladin Danse at the station?"
"Negative," the soldier said. "Took another scouting team north this morning, not expected back until tomorrow."
Evelyn tried not to let the disappointment show on her face. She was hoping he and Haylen might have found something in those files from the Prydwen- and, if she was being honest, she just wanted to see him for the sake of it. She owed so much to Danse, but with all of the responsibilities taking up her time now they rarely ran into each other.
MacCready nudged at her shoulder, and she glanced at him quizzically. He was staring at the other soldier in power armor who had not yet spoken; she followed his gaze, confused for a moment until she noticed what he was looking at.
"What happened to you?" She asked, staring at the bandage plastered across the side of his neck, right where it met his shoulder. The soldier scowled at her question.
"Minor injury," he stated stiffly. Evelyn held back a sigh. He was a touchy one.
"Something bit you," she guessed. The soldier's scowl suddenly become uncertain.
"We don't know what happened," the first soldier said. "Knight Puckett fell asleep on guard duty last night, woke up with that," he said, shooting a disapproving look at his fellow soldier. Knight Puckett looked sheepish.
"At the police station?" Evelyn frowned. How could something have attacked someone there without alerting the other guards?
"No," Puckett jumped in before the other soldier could answer for him. "Our team was out by the Weston Water Treatment Plant. Camped out," he explained.
Evelyn crossed her arms. "Can I see it?"
Puckett looked startled. "What? The bite?" When Evelyn nodded, Puckett looked puzzled by her request but peeled back the bandage. Evelyn walked right up to him, catching ahold of his arm and tugging him lower so she could take a good look at it.
She spun around to face MacCready. "Same as the other one," she told him. Now Puckett looked startled.
"Other one? What other one?" He asked quickly.
Evelyn described the wounds they found on the raider earlier, then pointed out the strange blue-green coloring to the other Brotherhood soldiers who had now become much more interested. Puckett just looked nervous, and rather uncomfortable with everyone sticking their faces in close to his neck.
Evelyn finally backed off, leaving the soldiers to talk amongst themselves and retreating to where MacCready waited several paces away, studying the scene in silence. "That's strange, don't you think?" She commented quietly to him. "Same bite in the same spot."
MacCready nodded, eying her. "You want to go to the water treatment plant, don't you?"
She chewed at her lip. "Yes," she admitted. "The raider with the bite wound was coming from the south. He might've been bit around that area, too. It's too close to the caravan routes; I don't want anyone else to get bit." She looked up at him. "I don't like the look of those wounds, Mac."
"Me neither," he agreed with her. "The treatment plant isn't all that far away. We should be able to check it out and still make it to Diamond City today."
Evelyn nodded, looking lost in her thoughts. "We should get going, then."
The trek to the water treatment plant was slower than normal. Evelyn wanted to make sure they didn't miss anything; whatever creature had made those bites couldn't have been very big, and if there was something that small wandering around here they could very easily pass it by without realizing.
It proved to be pointless; by the time they reached the plant, it was later in the day than planned, and Evelyn was damp with sweat from the heat of the sun beating down on them for the last few hours. Evelyn kicked debris aside absentmindedly as they walked slowly along the perimeter of the area, eyes scanning ahead to search for any signs of life, but nothing appeared.
After another hour of searching the plant and the area around it, Evelyn was starting to feel exhausted. The heat wasn't helping.
MacCready trudged along behind her, obviously not having such a fun time either but not voicing his complaints. "Maybe whatever it is, it only comes out at night," he suggested, pulling his hat off to run fingers through sweaty hair.
Evelyn did the same, peeling strands of hair away from her sticky skin and pulling her hair up into a loose bun on her head to keep it out of her face. "Could be," she murmured. "Don't worry, I don't plan on hanging out here to see," she added when MacCready started to look a little uncertain. She was feeling a little irritable that they'd found nothing after walking around in this humid, hot air all day, and it must have showed on her face.
"You look like you could definitely use those noodles now," MacCready suggested. Evelyn nodded her head.
"Yeah, guess we should go," she agreed. "It'll be faster if we go south and cut across the river there."
Evelyn led the way. The pair opted to follow the riverbank instead of the road; less chance they would run into more raiders, and the close proximity to the river let them feel some of the cool air drifting off of the water, even if it wasn't much.
They had just about made it to the bridge when a flicker of motion caught Evelyn's eye. She turned her head instinctively, watching as a dark shape careened rapidly towards them through the air, wings flapping. For a moment, she was just confused; was it a crow?
MacCready was quicker to react than she was, swinging his gun up as the thing came at him and firing off a shot. It missed.
Evelyn pulled her pistol from its holster at her hip, levelling it towards the creature as well- but faltered, because it was going straight for MacCready, and she didn't want to risk shooting him instead.
MacCready ducked and side stepped, managing to dodge the creature when it swooped for his head. It curved back up into the air and wheeled around in a tight maneuver, uttering a squeaky hiss as it plunged back towards him. MacCready tensed, but instead of ducking, he swung his rifle at it, clubbing the little thing and knocking it to the ground, stunned.
Evelyn leaped after it, firing two quick shots from her pistol to make sure it didn't get back up. The creature twitched, but lay still.
She exchanged a nervous, bewildered glance with MacCready. "What the heck?" He said. "Is that the thing that's been biting people?"
Evelyn approached the fuzzy dead thing, toeing it warily to make sure it was well and truly dead before using her foot to flip it over.
"It's a bat," she burst out, surprised. MacCready stepped up beside her to peer down at it. His eyes darted between her and the creature.
"Uh, you mean like… those things the guards in Diamond City carry?"
Evelyn frowned. "No. Bats were a pre-war animal," she explained, kneeling down the study the body.
Her initial reaction was partially correct. The thing was a bat- sort of. It had thin leathery wings with several finger-like projections extending from each limb and a compact body, but its face was blocky and its ears were simply holes in the side of the head. It had a large nose with wide nostrils as well as slits that ran down the sides of its neck; they almost looked like fish gills. A layer of dark, velvety fur covered the body, which was quite a difference from the usual mostly-bald wasteland beasts she had encountered. But most startling were its eyes- big and oily black, now overlaid with the glassy sheen of death.
Evelyn lurched back from it, and MacCready's arms caught her around the waist before she could tumble backwards. She grabbed ahold of his jacket with both hands, clenching the material while she sucked down several breaths. Just like the eyes of the prowlers- the one in her dream, bearing down on her as that beast threw her on the floor-
"Hey, it's okay, Eve, it's alright," MacCready was speaking soothingly to her, looping his arms loosely around her while she held on to him. She forced her heart rate to slow down, pushing even breaths-in and out, in and out. Slowly, she unclenched her fists, releasing MacCready's jacket. She could tell he was a little uncertain about having her in such close proximity like this.
"I'm okay," she managed after a moment, pulling back a step. MacCready released her immediately, lowering his arms and scooping up the rifle he'd dropped. He probably thought she was losing it; she hadn't told anyone about that awful nightmare she'd had.
MacCready stepped around her and knelt down to pick up the pistol that had slipped from her hands, extending it out to her. She couldn't quite meet his eyes, instead just accepting the gun with a murmur of thanks and sliding it back into the holster at her hip.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" MacCready asked after a moment, crouching down to study the bat creature instead of facing her as she spoke. Was it because he could see how uncomfortable she felt, or because he couldn't quite meet her eyes, either?
Evelyn swallowed, flexing her fingers to ease the tightness after clenching at MacCready's jacket so hard. "It's the eyes," she said quietly. "They're the same as the prowlers."
MacCready used the nose of his rifle to flip the creature onto its back. "Huh," he commented. "I guess they do kinda look the same."
"They are the same," Evelyn said, stepping up beside him but trying not to focus on those dark eyes. "That's exactly how they looked. I remember."
MacCready shot her a curious look, but didn't disagree. After a beat of silence: "Should we take it with us?"
Evelyn chewed at her lip again. She had a bad habit of doing that. "I don't think Diamond City security will appreciate us marching in with a carcass," she said. "But maybe we could take it to Graygarden for now, until we decide what to do with it."
MacCready wrinkled his nose, looking up at her. "Guess that means you want me to carry it, then?"
Normally she might've laughed at the face he was making, but she felt sick to her stomach after seeing those eyes. "We can find something to put it on," she suggested.
MacCready sighed heavily, but to Evelyn's surprise he just rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the thing by one of its small, hooked feet. "I'm gonna need to use some of that fancy smelling soap you have in Diamond City after this," he commented, giving her a lopsided grin. Evelyn couldn't quite muster the will to return it, but she appreciated his effort.
The walk back to Graygarden didn't take long now that they weren't stopping to check for clues so much, though they did scan the skies often to make sure more of the bat beasts didn't show up to avenge their dead companion. By the time they'd dropped the creature off for some very disgruntled robots to watch over, the sun had dipped close to the horizon.
Evelyn stood at the edge of the settlement, facing in the direction of Diamond City as if she could see it through all those buildings. She wrapped her arms around herself. It was a lot of dangerous ground to cover between here and there.
MacCready appeared beside her, wiping his hands on his pants. "I never want to touch one of those things again," he grunted.
Evelyn looked sideways at him, managing a slight smile for his sake. "Thank you, Mac," she said, turning to gaze off into the distance again. She nibbled on her lip. "Maybe we should stay here for the night."
MacCready didn't reply immediately, and she looked back at him again to find him studying her. She shifted uncertainly under his gaze, but he smiled softly at her. "Hey, I said I was getting you to Diamond City tonight," he said, stepping up beside her. "I'm not about to fail my job."
Evelyn held his eyes for a long moment, and finally found herself smiling back a bit. "Wouldn't want that," she agreed. MacCready's grin widened, and he unslung his rifle from his back, stepping ahead of her.
"Follow me, boss."