They give the grand tour of the rundown neighborhood, which they called "Sanctuary Hills", to Jo. Not much to look at, just a few strangers and a Mr. Handy that flew around the area.
"I think Preston should be back from the castle. Maybe you'd like to meet him?" One of the minutemen say to Jo
"Preston?" Jo asks
"Preston Garvey, he was originally one of the last few surviving minutemen. That is before the general came and helped expand our legacy." The minuteman explained
Jo began to think.
So it was true that Zero is the reason the minutemen came back into power. And it wouldn't be long before they got enough of them to overthrow the Institute.
Jo was lost in thought when she suddenly heard one of the minutemen shout with excitement.
"Preston! There you are! How's the castle?" one of them said
Jo looked up to see just what this Preston Garvey looked like, and time seemed to stop. She wasn't sure what was happening as she saw Preston stand there, looking back at her, a small smile on his face. It felt like her and this man were the only two people in the world. And for the first time in her existence; She felt something. She couldn't describe it, but the feeling consumed her.
"You must be new here, I'm Preston Garvey." He said to her
She couldn't bring herself to speak. She only gazed at him.
He raised a brow.
"Are you okay?" He asks
It suddenly all came back to her. Her mission. Her purpose. And she snapped out of her zombie like state.
"I'm Jo. It's nice to meet you, Preston." She said; And time moved again, and she sensed the presence of other people again, and she no longer felt anything again.
Preston sticks his hand out
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jo. If you're looking for a safe haven, Sanctuary Hills is exactly where you find it."
Jo shakes his hand and nods. It was time to get to the matter at hand.
"I've heard a lot about the minutemen and your general," Jo began "Is... Zero anywhere nearby?" She asked cautiously, trying not to alert them to her true intentions
"The general? No, but last I heard she was helping another settlement. If you'd like to meet her, I'm sure she'll be back soon." Preston answers
"I would like that."
A few hours pass and Jo finds themselves at a complete loss for what had happened between her and Preston. She thought it over countless times, but couldn't find the words to describe the feeling she had felt. She shakes her head and realizes it's not important to her. What was important was Zero.
Suddenly the sound of a dog barking and footsteps is heard in the distance. Jo, sits up from the chair they were sitting in and runs over to see who it is.
It's none other than Zero herself. She's with a lower generation synth, and a dog. She is greeted by the people who lived in Sanctuary Hills as they wave to her and give her quick hellos and 'how are yah?'. Zero walks over to Preston and begins to speak with him.
"Helped that settlement with their super mutant problem, looks like they'll be joining the minutemen." She says proudly
Preston speaks to her for a bit before turning to Jo, he says something to Zero before she looks over his shoulder and spots them. She smiles.
"Hey, you must be Jo. I'm Zero. Came here for a safe place?" She asks, her voice somewhat rough yet soft at the same time.
Jo nods her head and holds her hand out. Zero looks at her and smiles again, she shakes the other's hand.
Zero hums to herself before turning around to pet the dog that had came back with her. The dog begins to bark and growl in Jo's direction. Jo is thrown off guard by this and takes step back.
"Dogmeat? What's wrong?" Zero asks concerned as she looks back at Jo, who is clearly a bit in shock.
Dogmeat continues to snarl at Jo. Zero suddenly realizes what's wrong and stares at Jo. Zero narrows her eyes and walks very slowly towards her. She puts one hand forward.
"Look. Don't run. I just wanna talk." Zero says softly, Jo's cover had been blown.
Jo had to think quick, what was she going to do? Her entire life training for this moment, only to be wasted because of a dog? Suddenly, it came to her.
"I'm a synth from the Institute!" Jo shouts
Everyone goes deathly silent and Zero is taken aback by Jo's sudden outburst. Jo continues to speak.
"I ran away. I wanted to do something more with my life then follow their orders. I heard about you, the general of the minutemen, and I knew you could help me. Please. I just need a safe place to hide from the Institute."
Zero stares at Jo, then at Dogmeat, who continued to bark. Zero then sighs and smiles at Jo.
"Yeah. The Institute is a terrible place," Zero says "Don't worry, you're safe here, Jo."
Jo gave a sigh of relief and smiled as well. Zero then hushed Dogmeat and managed to settle his growling and barking. The Gen 2 synth who was with Zero walked up to Jo and introduced himself.
"The name's Nick, Nick Valentine. Nice to meet another synth. Though I can tell you're more tuned up then I am." He remarks and holds out his hand, Jo shakes it and is then introduced to the rest of the people in Sanctuary Hills.
There was a Diamond City woman who called herself 'Piper', then there was the handy unit who called himself 'Codsworth', there was also a ghoul who went by 'Hancock', and many more. It was quite the entourage that Zero had. And yet, to Jo's surprise, despite meeting all of them, no one realized she looked exactly like Zero. Maybe it was the items she wore on her face? Or the because her hair was different? Or the fact that Jo didn't have dark rings under her eyes; which, she couldn't tell if it was makeup or simply bags from the lack of sleep. At this point, she didn't feel like asking.
Night falls on Sanctuary Hills and everyone is either asleep or up talking the night away. Jo kept to herself as she devised her plan. It wasn't until something caught her eye, it was Zero and Nick. The two talked and laughed with one another. There was pure joy on Zero's face as if she wouldn't want to be anywhere else. And gratitude on Nick's face, as though he was the luckiest synth alive. She studied them for a moment before realizing what exactly was going on. Jo walks over to Zero.
"Mind if I steal you for a moment, Zero?" Jo asks
Zero raises a brow as it seemed she didn't want to leave the conversation she was having with Nick, but agrees, she says a temporary goodbye to Nick and follows Jo. They walk over to the top of a hill and sit, Zero begins to stargaze.
"So what's up?" Zero asks
"I need to ask you something." Jo responds
Zero gestures to Jo to ask away.
"You and Nick. What's that like?"
Zero eyes widen slightly before she laughs softly
"I'm afraid I don't understand." Zero chuckles
"You're in love. What does that feel like?"