Note: I am sure everyone is wondering when Danse will come in to the picture. I promise you the next chapter will have him.
EDITS: Sorry again.. I had to redo a few things. Epic fail on typos. Hopeful this is not as painful to read.
By the time she made it to a cross the bridge and greeted by a corpse of a man and what could only have been a dog at one point. She gagged at the smell of death and tried to move as fast as she could away from it. Only to encounter largest blood sucking mosquito ever. "What the fuck!" she reached for her pistol a 10 MM and aimed. Luckily her target was flying towards it and made it easier to aim and kill the nasty thing. "What is next? A giant lizard?!" she muttered as she checked her to make sure they didn't cause any damage. Her eyes narrowed as she saw in the distant a Red rocket station. "Perfect, I can pick up milk and get direction." She mused to herself trying to keep her sanity in check. As she approached she heard a bark she stopped and saw a dog trotting up to hear and barking. She knelt down to him and offered her hand for the animal to sniff. "No owner? You are alone too?" She reached up slowly and rubbed his head and then behind his ear. He was surprisingly healthy and his fur soft and well kept. She stood up and look around just in case but nothing. Just them and the wind between them. "Well if you want to come along boy." He wagged his tail and seemed to be content with this option as she walked by her side as she moved towards the station.
She stopped for a moment and thought she felt vibrations under her feet. Then was more alert seeing the dog growling and following the sounds. It only took a moment to discover what it was. It was like a small army of giant hairless rodents. "Are you serious?!" She yelled out as she started to fire at the group of them. The furry companion helped with the kills as well. Locking his jaw around their necks and snapping them. One of them leaped at her with a greenish tint. She staggered back and fired until she started to hear clicks. "Fuck!" she push the grotesque thing back with her forearm only to feel its teeth sinking in. the Dog tackled it down and shook it like it was some rag doll to play with. Gracie looked at her arm and saw blood dripping down, she wrapped her hand around it and stood up looking around to see if there were more coming. Luckily that was the last one. "Okay, it's official this world can bite my ass." She hissed out as she pulled back her sleeve of her vault suit to see how bad it was. A few hours later and more rummaging around. She improvised a method to clean and treat it with some stimpack that were in a fist aid kit nearby that the dog had sniffed out.
That night she made a fire and was roasting the little bastards as her own way to cope with the day's events. She shared her spoils with her new friend who was completely happy with chewing on them and getting his ears rubbed. "Tonight we enjoy our spoils! Tomorrow we head to Concord." She said in a deep voice and holding up a roasted leg. She laughed as the canine tilted his head at her with curiosity. "Yeah I know, I am strange, but never a dull moment with me." She laid back and look up at the starry sky and sighed softly. Never in 210 years has she seen the sky so bright and clear. She felt a bit at ease and started to drift asleep next to the fire.
The next day they both head out to Concord, with extra mole rat meat and a few other supplies. Gracie was starting to regret eating the little hairless rats but she kept her mind off it and muttered about sleeping on the ground. Once they hit the edge of town there was the sound of gunfire and yelling. She knelt down and started to hide behind corners and peeking every so often. She tried to see how many threats were there and what was their target. The Dog whimpered slightly and nipped at her fingers to her attention. She look glanced at him and he started to go another way. "Uh...boy. I guess your owner is up there?" She slumped her shoulders and followed him carefully hoping not to get their attention. They were just across the street now from the building and she looked up and saw a man fire a laser musket down at them. His clothing was strange, but so was the attackers as well, she really couldn't judge her vault suit wasn't very couture for this time it seemed. The Dog ran into action before she could collect herself and really assess the situation carefully. "Well there goes subtle out the door." She rolled her eyes and ran after the furry cavalier with her gun drawn and ready to shoot anything that was remotely a threat to her or the dog.
First one to go down was a raider that had charged behind the canine to hit it with a cue stick. She fired at him until he dropped, then turned her attention to the target that was now on the ground being chewed up by the dog. She fired a shot in his chest and he laid there limp. Her hands started to shake slightly from the adrenalin rush and for the fact her moral compass was in conflict for a moment. Somehow her gut told her she was right to do that. "HEY! You down there! There are still more raiders inside. Grab that Laser musket and come up here and help!" She glanced up and saw the back of a person walking back in. "Well okay then." She started to head into the building that once was a museum of American History.
There was a litter of gun shots, swear words and people yelling at each other. She tried to be quite as possible to make sure she didn't draw attention to herself. "If I make it out of here alive, I will never take another cup of coffee for granted again." The dog sat next to her and looked at her in a questioning manner as if he understood what she was muttering about." She nudge forward not giving it much thought. A grizzled voice was heard around the corner and she took another step forward and slow crouched down and peeked over the display case. "I think heard something over here." suddenly the interactive display triggered and there was prerecorded music and voices. She sucked in a breath and cringed hoping it was them and not her. "What was that?!" the voice was next to her. Here hazel eyes locked on him and he was still looking up. She slammed her foot into the side of his knee. "UFF" He staggered and she aimed her gun at him. "Don't Move!" She growled out aiming the gun at his face, her finger was on the trigger and she looked pretty resolved that his head would leave his shoulders if he moved. The guy stood there holding up his hands. She approached carefully when another one came in the room. As she turned her head she felt a rough hand reach for her. She took a step back just as her partner leaped into action and sank his teeth into his forearm. She fired a several rounds into his body and then turned to the other one lung at work. He hit her pretty hard making fall back. She greeted her teeth in pain, but was overwhelmed with such fury she pushed up and slammed her shoulder into his gut knocking the air out of him and punching him repeated times.
She stood up panting and brushing her hair back. Her hands cut, bleeding and aching from the assault. "Alright, let's get the rest of the bastards. I am don't with this bullshit." She grabbed their weapon and pushed on. As she made it to the next level it became a bit easier to just sniper from a distance. As she fired with the musket, she would watch as each of the raider fell or turned into a smoldering pile of ashes. The door opened showing two men waving for her to come in. As she rushed over looked around briefly to see other people sitting around. It looked like they really did need her help. "Man, I don't who you are, but your time impeccable." He looked at her and offered a smile." Preston Garvey of the Minutemen of the Commonwealth." She nodded and paused as she realized what he said. "Did I go back in time? Minute Men?" Preston looked a bit confused and glanced at the other man that was on the computer clicking away at the keys." We could use some more goodwill. As you can see we are in a bit of a mess here" Preston asked her as she looked back him. "Uh Sure, I can help." Why the hell did I say yes? I need to find my son?! She was mentally kicking herself but knew someone needed to help these people. "About a month ago there was twenty of us. Yesterday were there were 8 and today 5." She glanced around and felt guilt and looked with. "Sorry that sounds rough." For a moment Preston looked a bit baffled by the compassion and empathy she was showing him on the situation. "Thanks, it's really good to meet someone that cares." She nodded and licked her lips slightly. "So what is the plan? How can I help?"
"Sturges, Tell her the plan." The man in overalls turned around and looked at her. She was impressed at his built but was very surprised by his accent. She only blinked a few times listening to his plan with power armor and a mini gun. "Well, I like it so far." Sturges smirked and nodded slightly. "I know, right! Just it needs to be powered up again and that is where we are stuck." She lipped out Ah, realizing this is where she comes in. Preston leaned in as he spoke up. "We need a Pre-war FC, A Standardized fusion core. There high grade nuclear battery used by the military and companies way back when. We know where to get one" Gracie kind of felt odd about Preston stating that, she knew what they were but her way back when was like a few days ago, not 210 years ago. "But we can't get to the damn thing." Sturges added looking a bit annoyed with that reality. "It's locked in the basement behind a security gate." She raised a brow as Sturges and tilted her head at him. "Look I tinker and fix stuff, by passing systems isn't my forte." Sturges replied before Gracie would ask. She took in a deep breath and looked all around. "Okay then, I will give it a try. " She put her things down before going back down to the basement for the fusion core. "Oh gee Dogmeat found us some help. Look at yah, not what I expect, but glad you are hear." Gracie turned and saw an elderly woman with pale blue eyes greeting her. "So, he's your dog?" the old woman shook her head." Oh he ain't my dog. No sir. Dogmeat he's what you'd call his own man." she only looked at the dog smirked thinking he certainly was his own man. "You can't own a free spirit like that. But he chooses his friends, and sticks with'em. He'll stay by you now. I saw it." Gracie rubbed her temple and laughed slightly. "Saw it?" What Gracie didn't realize was this old woman was going to open up a few more options to her to finding her Son.
This is a bit long winded and sorry about this. The dialog is from the game mostly for set up reasons. Before anyone ask me if I hate Marcy in the game. Let's just same this, my husband placed the PC version, I play the console version. As a gift to me he altered his game so I could kill her in the game. Which was very cathartic for me after a long day at work. I am sure everyone has that one annoying character they just want to show aggression to.