Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from the Fallout franchise and am just borrowing them to create stories.
Stella
The air was pungent, but Adam couldn't identify what the scent in the air was related to. He did notice that his mouth was starting to taste like he was sucking on pennies. It made him want a drink. Even with the roads in their current excessive state of disrepair, Adam recognized where he was and headed towards a Super Duper Mart that wasn't too far from the diner. He figured he had seen Nuka Cola, and people had to be getting it from somewhere. He couldn't think of a better place than a grocery store.
When he finally got to the area the store was in, he was surprised to see the giant plastic display letters on top of the building. Two hundred years had passed, and they were only slightly faded and covered in a thin layer of dust.
"This used to be the favorite store of the missus," Codsworth mused.
Adam nodded, "It was pretty popular. I don't think Minnie or I went to any other stores."
He followed the edge of the building to the corner entrance and was surprised to see the doors still on the building, but not surprised to find them unlocked. After all, the bombs dropped during business hours. Who would have had time to lock the store up?
He pushed the door open and was met with a cloud of dust and stale air that smelled like rotten food. He coughed and fanned the dust out of his face.
"Looks like the shelves have been picked clean," he muttered as Codsworth and the dog followed him into the building.
Adam felt uneasy in the store. He thought it almost felt too quiet until the dog growled at a sound that came from between the shelves in the store.
"Shh," Adam responded. "Be quiet, boy."
The dog laid down and put his head between his front paws.
"Don't be mad," Adam sighed.
"Sir…" Codsworth said uneasily.
"Yes, Codsworth?" Adam said turning to the robot.
Codsworth moved his body to gesture behind Adam, "It seems as though we have a visitor."
Adam turned around and was immediately shocked to see what looked like a person in rags aimlessly ambling between the rows of shelves and the cash registers. But as the figure moved closer, he noticed its face was horribly disfigured.
"Codsworth?"
"Yes, sir?" Codsworth asked, unperturbed.
"What the heck is that thing?"
Codsworth moved his eyestalks, "I believe that is a creature colloquially called a 'ghoul', sir."
"A ghoul?"
"Yes. You see, sir, some humans couldn't make it to safety when the bombs dropped and many who were left to the elements succumbed to radiation," Codsworth said matter-of-factly.
Adam looked at the ghoul with a sad look, "Oh, I see."
He took a step toward it, wanting to see what the fate of so many people looked like after the bombs had fallen and he was tucked safely inside a cryogenic chamber in vault 111. He accidentally kicked a metal shopping basket that was in the middle of the entrance to the store. He looked down at the basket and heard the dog growling again.
"Hey," he said disapprovingly, looking at the dog still lying on the ground.
The dog ignored him. In a flash of teeth and fur, the German shepherd leaped at the ghoul that had run toward Adam and was lunging at him. The dog bit the ghoul right in the middle of the forearm and pulled it back into the store away from Adam.
Adam walked in behind the ghoul, "Stop, boy!"
He froze when he heard the almost imperceptible sound of a gun being cocked. He looked to his right and saw a gun that had been hobbled together pointing right at his face.
He looked past the barrel and straight into the eyes of an angry young woman.
"Hey, hey," he said holding his hands up. "You don't need to point that at me!"
She scoffed at him and then promptly aimed the gun at the dog and ghoul who were still fighting feet away from him. She closed one eye momentarily before shaking her head and opening it back up.
Adam took a step back and the woman took a breath and pulled the trigger. The bullet made a wet squelching noise when it hit the ghoul. Do bullets always make a sound like that?
The ghoul dropped to the floor and the dog barked at it again before trotting happily toward Adam.
"D-Dogmeat?" the girl whispered.
The dog stopped halfway to Adam and looked at her for a split second before bounding right toward her. Dogmeat wagged his tail and jumped through the air toward the woman. He landed on her with so much force she fell backward, and her body thumped to the ground.
"Good to see you too, Dogmeat," she laughed as the dog licked her face.
She let it continue for about ten more seconds before gently nudging the dog off her. He lay next to her and rested his head on her thigh.
She fixed her eyes on Adam's face. He looked back into the smoky grey eyes and swallowed, intimidated by her stern expression.
"Good shot," he said.
"Thanks," she responded shortly and looked him up and down.
She noticed his clean appearance and awkward, uncomfortable stance. His eyes darted around as though he was looking for another ghoul to pop out of the ground, and she looked around too because that was always possible in a place like Super Duper Mart.
"Who are you?" she asked when she was confident no more ghouls were sneaking up on them.
"I'm Adam Herzog," he said. He wiped his hand on his vault suit leg and held it out to her.
She stared at it a second before continuing, "Herzog? That's a funny name."
"I mean, it's just my last name," he said, frowning at her.
"I've never heard that kind of name before," she wrinkled her nose up. "It's not bad, I guess. You from a vault?"
He looked down at his bright blue suit, "I guess it's kinda obvious, huh?"
She snorted, "Those clothes are just a fancy way of drawing attention. You might run into someone who would shoot you over a ghoul looking like that."
"Any suggestions?" He said, appreciating the advice from someone who had clearly lived outside of a vault.
She scratched the back of her head and stood up, giving Dogmeat a pat on his head, "Go back home, vault boy."
She tried to walk around him, but was stopped when he grabbed her upper arm, "What if that's not a possibility?"
She shoved her pistol in his side and then peeled his fingers off her arm and threw his hand away from her, "Not my problem, pal."
She walked toward the door again and yelled over her shoulder, "Dogmeat, come!"
"Wait, who are you?" Adam said to her back when Dogmeat started to follow her.
She paused and then turned around bowing at him rather elegantly for a woman covered in grime, "The name's Stella. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Why are you taking my dog?" He asked, feeling more bothered by someone trying to take the dog away from him than he thought he would be.
"Because he's not your dog, Adam," she said. "He is a Minuteman dog."
"Minuteman?"
"I don't have time to explain this to you," she said, annoyed by being held up for as long as she had been.
"Is there anyone who has time?"
"Well, shoot," she stomped her foot on the ground and turned back toward the door. "Just come with me. I'll tell you on the way."
"The way to where?" Adam said, following her.
"I'm heading up north," she replied. "I'm looking for Preston Garvey and the rest of the Minutemen. I owe them."
Hello again! I hope you enjoyed the new chapter in the story! I am not sure what has been going on technically with , but I've had a hard time uploading things and haven't gotten to see any reviews since last week, however, I appreciate everyone who is reading and commenting, and I hope to see your reviews soon!
Please continue reading this story as it updates. Depending on my schedule, you can expect updates on Wednesday AND/OR Friday.
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See you later lovelies!