He told Preston everything, his childhood, his time in the military, basically his life story summed up.
Nate didn't know why he was pouring his entire life out to Preston, it just felt like the right thing to do.
Preston listened attentively. Nate stuttered and stumbled through the part about Nora. He was already getting annoyed by explaining this story again, the hurt that went through his voice was getting more apparent.
Preston reacted with the most sympathy when Nate got to the section about his time in the wars, also stumbling his way through.
They stopped at the Red Rocket Truck stop just outside Sanctuary. Preston remarking, "You know, I was always meaning to ask you were you got those scars. I guess I know now"
Nate tried his best to take that comment in a friendly manner, but just gave a half smile in return.
"I don't know about you Preston", Nate said, getting off this topic, "but I could really use some sleep"
Preston chuckled, "You said it".
They crossed the bridge and Nate went into his house. The image of what it once looked like burned in his mind as he stood on the welcome mat.
His thoughts were interrupted by his arm stinging. Nate pressed on it a little and it sent a shockwave of pain throughout his body.
He decided he would go back to Diamond City, to get his arm properly taken care of. But for now, he just wanted to sleep.
He walked inside his house to see the dog lying on the couch, sound asleep.
Nate couldn't be bothered to walk to his bed, so he closed the door and just sat on the couch opposite the dog and closed his eyes.
The nights were always the hardest to get through, because he would always dream of Nora. It seemed like a punishment… dreaming of her. Her voice, her eyes looking into his with love and happiness. The dread that he woke up with was nearly as bad as living it again.
Nate woke up to the dog lying next to him, he smiled and gave the dog a pat on the head.
Nate just looked forward for a while, staring at the rusty wall with patches of nailed on scrap. He slowly got up after a while, trying not to wake to dog, but it seemed the dog was a light sleeper.
The dog yawned and jumped off the couch looking at Nate. Nate knelt down and scratched the dogs head, "I guess you can go with me, god knows I need the company" Nate didn't want the dog to get hurt, but at the same time, wandering the wasteland by himself wasn't a good idea either. The dog seemed to get excited at this notion.
"Come on boy…" Nate said softly, "Let's get going"
He walked out of his house to be greeted by an overcast day, miserable and rainy. He'd rather just skip breakfast and get something at Diamond City. He made a fist with his left arm, which sent another spike of pain through him. He should just stick to his pistol, he thought.
He walked out of Sanctuary with the dog by his side, ready for the walk that lay ahead. It wasn't the raiders that scared him, nor the mutants or ghouls.
It was the loneliness of it all. The dry, desolate wasteland can suck the hope out of the brightest person, and Nate was already running low on hope.
Nate walked mainly on the patchy roads, tripping every now and then thanks to the massive potholes in the way. The trip was uneventful, to Nate's dismay.
Nothing bothered him on the way to Diamond City. He stopped at the gates and tapped one of his pockets to see if he had enough caps. The jingling sound that came out sounded good enough.
He made his way through the massive gates and up the stairs. Nate noticed the air changed as he walked up the stairs, he couldn't quite pinpoint what it was though.
He walked over to the doctor at waved at him. The doctor responded with an eye roll, "You again? What happened this time?" He asked, annoyed.
"No bullets this time doc…" Nate said as he walked up to the platform the doctor was on and unraveled the makeshift bandage on his arm, "… but I don't know if this is better or worse"
The doctor looked mortified. "Good lord!" He said, shoving Nate into a chair. "What the hell happened for you to get this?"
The doctor was looking around frantically for supplies, which just scared Nate even more.
"I-I'm not gonna lose my arm or anything right?"
The doctor had finally found what looked like a cloth and was rubbing some sort of red liquid into it.
"Probably not, however, you are going to wish you have"
"Why's that doc?"
"-Just prepare for some pain, I need to dry this wound".
Nate bit down on his teeth, but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as when it had first happened, but it still hurt a lot.
Nate exhaled as the doctor was wrapping some bandages around his arm. "Now, you seem to have crudely disinfected it earlier, but I'm going to get some antibiotics just in case"
Nate nodded and watched him go into the cellar, wondering how such a sour individual decided to become a doctor of all things.
Nate was inspecting the bandages when he heard Piper's voice to his right. "What the hell happened to you?" She said, smiling.
"Hey Piper. Just had a run in with some ghouls, nothing serious"
"Lemme guess… The Minutemen?" Piper said, cocking her head and raising an eyebrow.
"What?" Nate smiled, "It's not like it's a bad cause or anything... I get how it can seem-"
"hopeless" Piper added, her chin up.
"Yeah, hopeless. But it's only going to work if we all support it, can't see a better way than showing people we can help them?"
Piper leaned against the beam holding the roof up. "That Preston guy must have one hell of a silver tongue"
Just then the doctor came up with a bottle of pills in his hand. "Okay, I found something" He said. "Take these once a day on a full stomach, it should prevent further infection"
Nate took the pills and paid the doctor with the caps he had left. The doctor nodded and went back to his chemistry station.
Just then Piper noticed the dog nearby Nate. "Oh! Whose this good boy" She said like she was talking to a baby and gesturing the dog to come closer. "He's so cute!" She scratched the dogs back.
"I found him by the Red Rocket near Sanctuary"
"What's his name?"
Nate thought for a while. "He doesn't have one"
Piper stopped playing with the dog and looked at Nate. "Seriously, he doesn't? What do you call the poor thing then?"
"He seems content with just 'boy' or 'dog'"
Piper shook her head, "Anyway… Nick told me that he needed to see you, something about the case you brought to him. A case in which I am still not caught up in."
Piper added leaning close to Nate.
"And it will stay that way Piper" Nate said getting up from his chair. "At least for now"
"This mystery stuff has me pretty intrigued" Piper said with a grin.
Nate rolled his eyes and walked off to Nick's place, stopping in the middle to make sure Piper wasn't behind him.
Nate stopped by a vendor that caught his interest, his Boston accent and flair intrigued him.
Nate walked up to the vendor, who greeted him quickly. "Hey there! You wanna buy a swatter?"
Nate patted his pockets, they were completely flat.
Nate silently stood in front of the vendor for a few seconds, who looked extremely confused.
Nate eventually got the idea to sell the rifle Preston gave him, which was out of ammo.
He took the rifle off his back and asked the vendor. "What type of bat could I get with this?"
The vendor took the rifle out of Nate's hands and inspected it.
"This isn't bad… tell you what" He said, turning around to grab a bat. It was a light oak with a rubber handle. "Give me this rifle here and this sweet is all yours"
Nate looked at the vender with a bland expression, fully aware he was getting ripped off.
Eventually, Nate shook his head and grabbed the bat from his hand, walking away.
While going to Valentine's office, Nate looked up and down the bat, testing out it's handle and waving it around.
He stopped by the door, staring at the bat, his face started twitching with anger as he gripped onto the bat. Thinking about why he's here in the first place, the man that shot his wife. He couldn't stop thinking about it now, he just stood there as memories of his wife played in his head, how blissful life was before all of this. Eventually he noticed the dog below him tilting his head, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly, pushing down all the memories and feelings since he wasn't strong enough to deal with them.
He looked up at the rusted metal door and walked inside.
Nick's voice greeting him, "Good, you're here" He said looking back from a pile of paperwork on the filing cabinets.