In the very near future, I am going to go through the previous chapters and do some editing. Not sure on many of the details of what I plan but I will be sure to let you all know of important changes.

Jenna shook her head in disbelief, gripping the railing in front of her. Two guards stood to her right, looking at her impassively.

"Who took her," Jenna muttered.

"We believe Riley, the head of the scavenging team took her."

Jenna nodded, opening her mouth to speak but a lanky figure appeared from around the corner of the scafolding, his boots thumping on the floor. The smile he wore faded when he saw Jenna's expression, fading even more so when he saw the guards walking away.

"What happened," Jackson questioned.

"Marie is gone."

He seemed to freeze, eyelids fluttering briefly before he leaned forward. "Excuse me?"

Jenna shook her head, hastily (angrily) pulling her apron from her body. "Riley took her," Jackson jogged behind her as she jogged down the stairs. "Where is her husband?"

"H-He's in the kitchen. Jenna - what do you mean Marie is gone?"

"Where are we going?"

Charon grunted and Marie sighed, loyally following behind him over the crest of a hill. She didn't know how long they had been walking but it felt like hours. Earlier that morning, after breakfast was tucked away and dishes were clean, Turnip and Riley insisted she go out with Charon. He had a few errands to run on Turnips behalf so Marie figured why not, be had also offered to teach her a few tricks of the trade.

The tricks of a mercenary, not a bad offer.

"Wilhelm's Wharf."

Marie looked away from the passing Eye-Bot to the back of Charon's scabby head. "Huh?"

"Wilhelm's Wharf," he paused at the edge of the building dubbed Super-Duper Mart. "That's where we're headed."

There were several people milling about the old parking lot of the Mart, some working with sparks on the doors on opposite ends of the building. Some people patrolled with assault rifles and the robots that belched the proud declarations of someone that called himself Eden; his voice was so slow and droll, it made Marie yawn. The other people that were in the parking lot were working on the few cars not burnt from radiation and their own explosions caused by one too many nicks of a passing bullet.

"What's Wilhelm's Wharf?"

"Old trading post along the river," Charon waved two fingers at a man with a bald head and frown lines. "Gotta drop off supplies for the newest shipment of Fixer."

Marie's nose crinkled as she and the ghoul picked their way slowly down a twisted road, the river in view. "Fixer?"

Charon nodded, adjusting the full pack over his shoulder. "It's a solution developed for junkies, Doc Church needs a steady shipment and Grandma Sparkle gets easy trade from the Mojave."

"Mojave?"

Charon sighed. "Kid, don' you know anything?"

Marie shrugged though he couldn't see her. "I've only known my home in the Pitt...never needed to know anything else."

Charon hummed but didn't say anything else, they had apparently arrived at their destination judging by the way Charon slammed down his pack on an old plastic table. Marie stopped at the edge of burgundy colored bricks that trailed to a roughly thrown together shack that kept it's door open; the smell of beef and cooked carrots wafted through the air. There were several other chairs and table scattered around the wharf where a few people sat and talked, ate. Marie looked at the sign in front of her. There were two pieces of wood slapped down on two wooden post, the top read Captain Paglia and the bottom said Dockside Bar & Grill.

Not Wilhelm's Wharf.

She shook her head and sidled up to Cbaron's side while he unloaded the contents of his pack into a large cloth bin on wheels that was held by a middle-aged man with a head wrap and an eye patch; he looked so familiar to Marie.

"28 cans of beans, 14 packs of Salsbury Steak, 10 boxes of Insta-Mash and Mac N' Cheese," Charon named off the provisions to the man. "Three cases of Nuka-Cola and two cases of Whiskey."

The man nodded. "Hey thanks man, I'll be right back with the Fixer. Grandma was lookin' forward to your visit, go say hey."

Charon nodded and waited for him to roll away the supplies before looking down at Marie. "Wanna meet Grandma Sparkle?"

Marie nodded and started following him towards the docks. "I love her name."

Charon chuckled, but only for a second. "Something you should know, this woman is almost 83 years old and blind. So, don't be freaked out."

Marie raised an eyebrow as they stopped behind a chair where a woman sat, thin strands of ashy hair ruffled in the breeze Why would she be freaked out?

"Charon? Is that you, sweetie?"

"Yes ma'am."

The old woman let out a raspy chuckle and wobbled to her feet, hunting rifle sliding on her back. "Such a gentleman."

Marie froze.

So that's why she...this woman's eyes were white. Not like a ghoul's, a ghoul's were ok compared to this. Marie could see the faint outline of blue irises that were now obscured by this gross, mucus-y white color. Around the edges of her eyes were traces of molted skin, like she had been burned or something.

"Oh," Marie muttered, realizing what happened.

The old woman turned her hazy attention to Marie, unable to blink but able to narrow her eyes a little. "Charon? You brought a guest?"

Charon cleared his throat. "Yes...this is Marie."

The woman's face seemed to light up but before she could speak, the man with the eye patch came blundering in on their conversation.

"Hey man, I got your stuff ready on a pack Brahmin."

"Oh Billy," Grandma Sparkle tsked, blindly taking a hold of Marie's hand. "Tie that thing up and get us some drinks."

Billy hesitated. "Uh..."

Marie smiled, taking the older woman's hand more firmly. "Yeah, get us some drinks."