Author's Note: Oh goodness! 2 updates in one week! I've found that writing this story is a great way to distract myself from some current stress. Hopefully I can keep right along with putting thoughts into words. Enjoy!
Shrugging my shoulders to adjust the weight of the heavy rucksack I was carrying, I wondered just how long this journey to Sanctuary would take. I was spoiled by cars, buses, and airplanes. Walking was for exercise, not reaching a destination. Having an inexhaustible travel companion didn't help in the least bit. I've always been somewhat competitive, and I fought the urge to keep going beyond my limits with each hour that passed.
"Hey, Nick? I'm admitting defeat. Time to find our hidey hole for the night?" I asked.
We had been taking our dear sweet time making our way across Massachusetts. Excuse me, the Commonwealth. This was now day five on the road. This slow march was absolutely my fault. The view of a state I knew well destroyed by nuclear war was too much to take in and simply keep going. That's to say nothing of the people and creatures we came across along the way.
Prior to leaving Diamond City, Nate presented me with a 10mm pistol. A gift of survival, he called it. The Commonwealth presented more than enough opportunities to hone my sharpshooter skills. Guess it's a good thing that I played a lot of video games in what I was slowly beginning to think of as my previous life.
"Whenever you're ready, Brenna. We're in luck. This is actually a safe area to stop for the night." Nick said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Cool beans. I feel miserable and a little fire would be good right about now." I said.
We spotted the remnant of a once large house, now reduced to its foundation and first floor. "Here we go again. I'm praying that there are no giant roaches, or zombies. You know, actual scary zombies that want to eat you, not the sort of zombie I guess I am." I said with dread in my voice.
My tone was enough to capture Nick's attention. He came to my side, and gave me the subtly critical once over that I'd become used to in the last week. A comfortable sort of friendship had developed between us. Days spent on the road with nothing to do but talk in between fighting for our lives gave us the time to get to know each other. Nick was easy to talk to, and giving myself permission to trust him went a long way towards our bond.
"How're you holding up? I know this trip can't possibly be easy on you." he asked.
"I dunno. When we're beating feet and just talking, it feels like this could almost be normal, you know? Friends on a hike sorta thing. Then we end up shooting at things straight out of a horror flick or people who've gone savage, and then I think I'm starting to lose my mind. How does anyone survive in this world and remain human, Nick? It all seems unreal." I said as the tears of fear, frustration, and exhaustion began to course down my face.
This world I found myself in had already begun to change me. I would have to find strength I didn't previously have, or I'd crack and end up like any of those raiders we'd been picking off. I took a steadying breath, wiped my eyes on my sleeve, and pulled out my pistol.
"I'm ready to face whatever is in that house. How about you?" I asked, mentally bracing myself for another terrifying encounter with post-nuclear Massachusetts.
"Ready as I'll ever be. Let's make this place ours." he said, unholstering his gun.
We quietly made our way towards an opening in the rear wall of the house. Although there were no sounds issuing from the dilapidated building, I'd learned through hard experience that it was no guarantee of it being uninhabited. Nick motioned towards our right, indicating that I stay low and within his range of sight. The synth took pains to keep me as safe as he possibly could.
While I crouched down by the nearest edge of the gaping hole in what could loosely be called a wall, Nick came around beyond me to face the opening head on. A brief nod of his head was my signal to move to his side. The darkness of the coming night had cast a pall over our prospective rest stop. Anxious to be indoors and off my aching feet, I ducked past Nick's outstretched arm and into what was once the home's kitchen. He muttered something about a "stubborn dame", and followed close at my heels.
"My kingdom for a flashlight. We've gotta start making camp earlier so that we're not constantly wandering through dark buildings." I whispered.
"Or you could do the sensible thing, and let me go ahead of you." Nick retorted.
"Bah. You'll learn that I am rarely sensible. I prefer fun and excitement. That's obviously why I'm in this predicament to begin with. Why have a normal boring life when you can be caught up in a post-apocalyptic mystery?" I teased.
He made a disgusted sound and shook his head.
"I win." I said with halfhearted smile. More than anything, I wanted this day over with. Sleep was now a welcome respite from all the unanswered questions, and the ebb and flow of sadness that filled my days.
We made our way into the former parlor area of the home, shooting a few radroaches along the way. Nick had me begin sorting through the gear stowed in our packs while he secured the remaining rooms of this once sprawling home. The previous owners must have either had a large family or been delightfully well-off. We had more than enough space to spread out for the night. I was unrolling my sleeping bag next to a surviving coffee table when Nick returned.
"The official all-clear has been issued, doll." he declared.
"Fantabulous. Everything safe enough for a fire?" I asked.
A quick glance around the room was enough for us to determine that a fire was indeed a go. I had turned a small steel trashcan that we'd scavenged two days ago into a portable fire pit. Some balled up paper and dried out twigs were enough to get a modest fire burning. The glow of the flames soothed my jagged nerves.
"We should reach Sanctuary tomorrow evening at the latest. I think having more people around will do you some good. Especially after having nothing for company but a worn out old bot." Nick said.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that there's a tinge of regret in your voice, Mr. Valentine. Don't tell me you're nothing less than overjoyed to finally be rid of your charge?" I asked with a small smile.
If I'm being honest with myself, the idea of being around more people pissed me off. I had run through my story with Nick more times than I could count. I knew he was looking for any possible inconsistencies or additional memories, but it was getting old. New faces meant new questions. New questions meant going over the same strange sob story again and again. The thought alone was enough to make me want to head back to Diamond City. At least there I would be grilled only by Nick and Piper.
Pulling up an old chair so that he was facing me from the other side of the fire, Nick sat and just watched me for a moment. I cast a glance in his direction while I finished setting up my sleeping area for the night.
He blew out his breath, and hung his head slightly. How did he even manage to make that breathy sound? Did he even have some sort of mechanical equivalent of lungs? Synths were still a mystery to me, and I had a feeling that I would measure all others against Nick.
"Truth be told, I'm going to miss your company. It's been…refreshing to have a woman who is as open as you by my side. To be treated as just a man instead of a drone or a monster is a feeling I'd almost forgotten." he said.
I was more than a bit surprised. "People treat you poorly? Why? You've been nothing but honorable from what I've seen." I asked.
"That's a long and complicated story, given how unfamiliar you are with the Commonwealth and its attitudes. Let's make a long story short. Folks are afraid. Of synths, and of the unknown. They lash out. Some have it worse than others." Nick explained.
"Damn. I don't know what to say, Nick. How bad has it been for you?" I asked.
"I've gotten the better end of the stick. A cushy little life in Diamond City, and more adventure than any sane person could want. But hey, if it weren't for all that, I'd never have met you. So all things balance in the end." he said.
I felt a heat spread across my cheeks, and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fire before me. I stretched out on my sleeping bag, and thanked Nick for taking care of me for another day.
He knelt down by me, and whispered "Sleep well, Brenna. I'll be here."
I threw my arm across my face, and was asleep in minutes.
Dawn came, and off we went. The last day on the road, and it seemed neither of us were looking forward to the end of our journey. After an hour of completely uneventful walking, it occurred to me that I had no idea what Sanctuary actually was, or what would happen to me once Nick dropped me off.
"So synth sleuth, what can I expect at this Sanctuary place? Will I at least have a private spot to sack out at night?" I asked.
"Synth sleuth, eh? I almost like that. Sanctuary is where Nate lived before the war. It's become a Minutemen settlement most recently. You'll have a little place to call your own until we get you back to where you belong." he replied.
I stopped dead in my tracks. "Whoa, wait. Minutemen? Like revolutionary Boston? Paul Revere, tea party shenanigans, all that?" I asked.
By the grin on Nick's face, I guessed that my eyes were as wide as saucers.
"Yes, ma'am. All of that. Except our own Preston Garvey monitors the Minutemen these days, with Nate as the General. To say that the Commonwealth has been forever changed by Nate's arrival from the vault is an understatement." Nick said.
The more time I spent in the Commonwealth, the more I felt like everything I knew was a lie. My teenage son and I had talked of our personal interpretations of the multiverse theory in the past, and this world had me feeling too much like I was chatting with him once again.
"Every time you open your mouth, I feel more like I'm living in a bad acid trip." I remarked somewhat sourly.
Nick came to my side, and gave me a little reassuring hug. "If that's the case, then you and Mama Murphy will get along just fine." he said with that subtle smile I'd come to love seeing.
"Oh boy. You always know what to say to put me at ease, Nick." I said with an eye roll.
We kept on going down the remains of the road, a comfortable silence falling between us. The day was much warmer than I had been used to for spring in New England but then again, nuclear war had happened. The breeze that blew by and ruffled my hair reminded me of being out with my family in the summer. Memories of my kids' laughter, my husband's kiss, and the rhythm of our home life hit me like a freight train.
I startled when I felt Nick's strong hands guide me back onto the broken pavement.
"You had that thousand mile stare, lovely lady. Penny for your thoughts?" he asked gently.
We had passed by a fallen log moments before, and I doubled back to sit on it.
"Just remembering my life in Connecticut. My Jay, and our kids. I miss them, Nick. In many ways, it feels like this trip from Diamond City to Sanctuary has ripped them from me. Who has time to wallow in sorrow when they're being chased by zombies, shot at by raiders, or attacked by mutated wildlife? But it's gotten so quiet out here, closer to our destination. My brain has never done well with quiet. The memories seem larger than life right now." I told him.
Hey, bonus. No tears when talking about my family. In a way, it felt like a betrayal. How could I end up not feeling crushing heartache every time I talked about them after only a week away from my life?
"Living in the here and now doesn't mean you've forgotten them. You may end up here with us longer than any of us planned but you will get home eventually. If there was a way to get you here, there's gotta be a way back." Nick said.
"No offense, but I'll believe it when I see it." I said.
We had been making our way through Concord, and although I could tell you the history I'd learned in school, I knew nothing of what happened since the bombs fell. Nick pointed out buildings and other spots where post-war history had been made. Before long, we came across an old gas station.
"Red Rocket? Those weren't around in my time, that's for sure." I said.
"They're fairly well peppered across the Commonwealth now. Sometimes they're a safe place to hole up, like this one. Sanctuary is just over that foot bridge ahead of us." Nick said.
"Here already? Damn. I don't think I'm ready for this." I said.
"Give yourself more credit. You've survived this long, and given the things you've been dealing with, I'd say you're braver than you think." he said with an encouraging look on his face.
"Then Sanctuary it is." I replied, and off we went.