The night exploded around me, and the whine of missiles flying overhead meant one thing. Supermutants. Nick had explained to me what they were on our journey from Diamond City. He'd done his best to steer us around any areas known to harbor the "greenskins". Now there was no avoiding them.
"Go back inside, Brenna!" Preston shouted while cranking up his laser musket.
"Not a chance! You said I'd have to learn to handle myself in active combat someday!" I yelled back, grabbing my hunting rifle from where it sat at my feet.
"Then let's go. Flank them on your left!" he yelled in reply.
Preston took off to the right, firing as he went. I was suddenly grateful that my gun was already set to go. Trying to reload while running was still beyond me. To my left was the little patch of fenced-in garden, and a rusted out set of playground equipment. I ran to hide behind the edge of the nearest house beyond the playground. As I peeked out around the corner of the building, I got my first glimpse of human ingenuity gone awry.
Standing around seven feet tall, an obscenely muscled green creature wielding a giant board took a swing at a man who was wobbling towards Preston. Dammit. It was Leo. He was apparently already stoned out of his mind, and thought the mutants were hallucinations.
Preston saw the idiot veering towards him, and took out the mutant with a practiced shot to the abdomen. It was almost a relief to see Leo finally collapse to the ground and pass out. At least he would no longer be risking his life, or anyone else's for that matter.
A bullet went shrieking by my arm, and I whipped my head towards the source. Another mutant, hollering threats, was shooting a hunting rifle in my direction. Two can play at this game, I thought. I lined up its head in my scope, and squeezed off a shot. Either I missed or the obscenity was unphased by the wound. Probably the former and not the latter. Shit a brick. In my sudden panic at being targeted by this mutant, I fired off two more shots in rapid succession. One more and I'd have to reload.
The supermutant clutched its face, and yelled "STUPID HUMAN!" while falling over, but not before a searing pain went through my right leg. Bingo! Got one! My victory was short lived. I felt blood flowing down to my ankle. Well that's what being shot felt like, I guess. So much for being heroic in the face of danger. I screamed and grabbed my calf, dropping my gun in the process. The ground shook as a mutant sprinted behind me.
"Hit the ground!" a settler screamed at me.
No complaints from me! I ate dirt as I dropped faster than I thought possible. Her sniper rifle blew the mutant's head off. Glancing back at it, I saw that the damn thing was larger than the others storming Sanctuary. What the hell kind of weapon did it drop anyway? Now was not the time for curiosity but I began crawling over despite my better judgment. I waved at the settler who had taken out the mutant for me, and off she ran to assist other hapless folks.
The weapon dropped by the mutant had what looked suspiciously like a small bomb chambered in it. Well, that's out of my league. If I could make it back to Preston, maybe he could use it to our advantage. I looked at my leg, and even though the pain was enormous, it seemed safe to hobble on it. Hoisting my gun on its strap to its accustomed place on my shoulder, I began heading through the shadows towards Preston.
I spotted his hat before I could make out his face. Preston was quite the efficient shooter, and had several mutants either dead or dying near him. It seemed as though the people of Sanctuary had begun to turn the tide of battle. These folks were obviously far more talented in combat survival than I was. I should've hid in my home the way Preston had commanded. Too late now, I guess.
"More greenskins incoming!" screamed a familiar voice.
"Piper?" Preston and I shouted in surprised unison.
Suddenly we could see her and Nate sprinting over the footbridge to join us. Both were armed and ready. It was a relief to have more skilled fighters on our side. Nate came to halt in front us, breathing heavily.
"We heard the ambush as we were on our way, and came running. Saw more mutants heading around Red Rocket towards the river. Have everyone concentrate their fire to the left of Sanctuary." Nate ordered.
"On it, General." Preston said as he took off to gather everyone up.
"Enjoying the Commonwealth, Zombie?" Piper asked with a smirk as she and Nate sprinted away.
"Shit. Here we go." I sighed.
I caught up with Nate as he pulled his ammo out to slide it into his fancy looking pistol. He motioned for me to get down. I was sensing a theme at this point. He took down two mutants with two precise shots, and turned to make sure I had followed his directions.
"Nate, I found a huge gun with a bomb in it over near the playground. Can we use that?" I told him.
He and Piper exchanged a look.
"Blue, get that Fat Man and take them out. I'll stay with her." Piper said.
He ran off, and Piper gazed after him with loving concern. I knew that look well, having given and received the same from my husband many times over our years together. Moments later, a huge explosion shattered the night. I sat back with shock at seeing a small mushroom cloud not too far from the river bank.
"What the blue hell was that?" I asked Piper.
"A mini nuke. Haven't seen one of those go off yet?" she asked casually as if it were absolutely normal to see such things.
A cheer went up from the crowd assembled near the playground. The fight for Sanctuary had been won. Then I promptly passed out.