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Dakota Michelson:

A Fallout 4 Fan Fiction

Chapter 11: The Glowing Sea

I wake up and I'm shivering. But still, it feels like the first time I've had a good night's sleep since I escaped Vault 111. I open my eyes and see Danse still sleeping. His arm is still wrapped around me. His body is so warm. "How can he not be cold?" I think to myself. I take advantage of his warmth and move even closer to him. I wrap my arm around him and he wakes up.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you," I said. He looks at me and just smiles. He leans in, kisses me, and then stands up. I turn over and sit up so I can start dressing myself. Danse walks over to the trunk and pulls out some Sugar Bombs. "It's not much, but it's something to hold us over until we get to the Prydwen," he says. "This will hold us over?" I say to him with a smile. "Unless you'd prefer Mac & Cheese for breakfast," he offers.

I shake my head. "I'm teasing. This is fine," I say. "You know, it's kind of gross when you think about what they put into these foods that makes them still good to eat two hundred years later." Danse chuckles, but doesn't say anything. "You alright?" I ask. "Yes," he says. "It's just… we need to keep what we have a secret. There are severe consequences if this gets out." I stand up and walk over to him. "No one will know," I say. I give him a peck and then hug him. We embrace each other for a while and when he lets go, I know it's time to move out. Danse gets dressed and steps back into his power armor.

We leave the bunker and I see that the sun is out and the snow has stopped. "So what's the plan once we get to the Prydwen?" I ask. "We will report our findings to Elder Maxson and request a vertibird to take us to the Glowing Sea." I nod at him. "Alright. No time to waste then."

We move southeast towards the Prydwen and as we get over a hill, I see the Prydwen. The sunrise behind it is beautiful and I feel a brief sense of serenity until I remember all of the dangers we will face once we get to our destination.

We get to the bridge and start walking through the abandoned streets nearby the airport. I can't help but think how great of a place this could be once it was cleaned up. It has several intact buildings and is in close proximity to the Brotherhood. Maybe after our mission with the Institute is done, we can help the Commonwealth start rebuilding, if Maxson doesn't have other plans already.

We walk through the entrance to the airport. Danse says, "It's good to be back." He has such a cute smile. I quickly turn away and remember I can't look at him that way right now. Proctor Ingram spots us and walks over. "Welcome back, you two. How did the hunt go?" she asks. Danse speaks, "We still don't know the whereabouts of the Institute, but we have a lead. Unfortunately, it's in the Glowing Sea."

Her eyes widen. "The Glowing Sea, huh? Well, luckily for you, I have a few power armor mods I've been fixing up. A few of them will help with radiation resistance. They're up with Proctor Teagan… Good luck." Danse says, "Thank you, Proctor," and we both head up to the vertibird to take us up to the Prydwen.

Once inside, we approach Elder Maxson on the command deck. "Elder Maxson," Danse says. Maxson turns around and Danse gives him the full report. "It sounds to me that we are going to need to give you a suit of power armor then," Maxson says to me. "The Glowing Sea is too dangerous to have you walking around unprotected. I'll have Proctor Ingram get one ready for you. In the meantime, I suggest you stock up on supplies. Ad victoriam."

We go up to the Mess Officer for some food. "Some REAL food," I think to myself. We sit at the bar and chat with him for a bit until Proctor Ingram approaches us and tells us my power armor is ready. I walk over to my new armor and I can't help that I have a stupidly large smile on my face. A sense of relief comes to me now that I'll have a power armor to take with me to the Glowing Sea. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Ingram says. "Try it out." I walk up to it, but I have no clue how to get in. I turn over to Danse and Ingram. She laughs and walks over. "The fusion core is already in there. All you need to do is turn the valve to the left and it will open." I follow her instruction and surely enough, it opens. I step in and put my armors and legs in and then power armor closes down behind me.

"Whoa," I say. Danse and Ingram laugh. I move around in it. It feels weird, but I think I can get used to this.

Danse and I stock up on food, supplies, and ammo. Then we head back to the flight deck, where a vertibird awaits us. We get in and take off immediately.

I've found that I enjoy flying in the vertibirds. It's peaceful and looking over the Commonwealth from this height is very interesting. I see some fields and lots of old buildings. Then we fly over an excavation site. I think I see people there too. Then the sound of a bullet rings on the side of the vertibird. "Raiders," Danse says. He walks up to the minigun and starts firing. They all start running to find shelter. I'm peeking out from behind Danse, but I can't see them anymore. I walk to the other side of the vertibird and start noticing something different about the trees. The trees in the Commonwealth look very much dead, but these look worse somehow. We pass over a group of houses where a small lake has flooded the area.

We fly up to the top of a nearby hill and the vertibird stops, but doesn't land. "Alright Michelson," Danse says. "Jump out." I look over to him with a look that says "Are you crazy!?" even though I'm wearing my helmet and he can't see my face anyway. "You'll be alright. The suit will protect you," he assures me.

I look down and my heart sinks again. I trust him though, so I just close my eyes and fall. The ground moves rapidly towards me and I land. For a moment, I feel like I may have started an earthquake with how loud and heavy that fall was. But I look around and everything is still. Danse lands next to me and I almost fall over. "Goddamn! Maybe a little warning before you land right next to me!?" I say to him. "Let's move out," is all he says.

We walk down the hill and everything is quiet. But it's not like the quiet from outside the bunker. This is tragic. My jaw drops as I look around. I see parts of a few buildings that are still standing, but it's mostly just dirt and debris. The sky is blue, but it has a strange green tint over it. Like a cloud on the ground. We walk down another hill and I see a lake. It has a glow over it. It reminds me of the Aurora Borealis that I've seen pictures of, but dirty. The more we walk into the yellow-green cloud, the more the blue sky disappears. It feels like we've just stepped onto another planet. It's all like nothing I've ever seen.

We keep walking and in the distance I see a giant scorpion. "Danse?" I say. He walks up to me. "What the hell is that?" I ask. "A radscorpion," he says. "Be careful of those. They like to burrow in the grounds and ambush you." I turn my head towards him in shock and then look back. The radscorpion is out of sight now. Thanks to that advice, I feel more paranoid than ever.

We continue walking, avoiding the area where the radscorpion was seen. The Geiger-Counter in the armor starts making noise. It's a very low amount of radiation though, thanks to Ingram's mod. Danse packed some RadAway in case we start feeling sick.

As we keep walking the hills are getting taller and taller. When we get to the top, I realize why. It's the crater. We are looking over the very spot that gave this region its name. The glow I saw from that lake before has nothing on this one. The Geiger-Counter is going crazy now.

We start walking down the hill and I think that my eyes are playing tricks on me. It looks like there are shacks and lights in the crater. I walk towards it and they are still there. It's not a mirage…

We walk into one of the shacks and I see some food and supplies, which seem to be pretty recent. I look over at Danse in confusion and then hear a voice.

"Stop right there, stranger."