Crawl Out Through The Fallout (Fo4 Fanfic)

Standing alone with a prospectors hat

"Erin! Erin! We gotta go!" Fiona, slicked in sweat frantically shook Erin awake. He popped up immediately reaching for his shotgun. Fiona scrambled to the counter. She scooped extensive amounts of loaded magazines into a knapsack. Not only for Erin's shotgun and her pistol but also for the sniper rifle. "Nathan's outside with Preston, let's go." She ushered Erin out the door along with her. She didn't give him time to be confused. 
       Fiona and Preston we're very clearly distressed. And it must've been  important if Fiona had to wake Erin up, after how hard she tried to get him to sleep. "Whats going on?" He asked, still waking up. It was still dark, most likely around midnight. "We've received word from the Castle. Apparently they've spotted hostiles scouting the perimeter." Preston explained. "It sounded like Institute. So we're heading down there now." Fiona stated slinging the ammo bag over her shoulder. Erin sleepily nodded as he followed closely behind Fiona.

      The group of four traveled in complete silence. Keeping a brisk pace making their way south east as fast as possible. After a while Erin finally woke up completely, he'd never slept so soundly. Shame that the Institute is such a menace. Nathan struggled to keep in pace with everyone but not by much. "I'm too old for this." He huffed jokingly. Erin fought the urge to say 'me too' recognising he's one of the youngest in the group. Fiona was too busy stressing to pay attention to anything but straight ahead.
    
    This isn't good. Fiona pushed her bangs back out of her eyes. With the Institute being involved she couldn't help but blame herself. Fiona was an enemy of the Institute. But the question is, why now? What are they planning? And what the fuck?
      The sun was just beginning to rise as they arrived at the Castle. Being absolutely drenched in sweat by now Fiona was glad she wasn't in long sleeves. Walking out into the courtyard she took note of the increased numbers of Minutemen that had gathered.  So this was definitely quite the threat.  Fiona nervously stepped up to Ronnie. The older woman had that commanding presence that made her so anxious.
   "Glad you made it in time, General. I guess we're about to find out if these new Minutemen really have what it takes. We've seen a lot of those Institute crow-things sniffing around. Looks like they're getting ready to try to take us out.  We've called in volunteers, so we aren't short of people. We'll see how these greenhorns do in a real battle. You've set up a good defence here, you all should get situated before it's too late." She instructed. Fiona took pride in how well she constructed previous defences for the Castle. Building artillery and turrets was genuinely fun for her, Erin not so much. They had only visited the castle one other time.

       "Are you done yet?" Erin complained more than asked. It was an abnormally warm day for the time of year, and he was being absolutely no help at all. "if you're so miserable go inside. I'm not even close to finishing this." Fiona had been assembling the artillery for the past few hours. The bright hum of the radio echoed through the courtyard. Radio freedom wasn't the most interesting thing to listen too but it was better than working in silence. "Nah I'll be here if you need any help" Erin swung his legs over the edge of the wall. "Yeah because you've been so helpful." Fiona laughed to herself. "Don't know shit about this stuff, I'm helping in spirit. And lifting heavy things." He shot her a thumbs up with a sarcastic smile. "it's just a big gun. It's not that hard to understand" she smiled shaking her head. "Engineering is a you thing. Killing shit is a me thing." Fiona couldn't stop smiling. "you're doing great. It looks like a gun." "Yup. That's what it is. How observant you are." She stood straight, taking a step back to admire her work. Erin popped up just as fast. "done?" He asked expectantly. "For now. I need gunpowder from the armory." She kicked her tool box closed before walking off to the staircase.

      Fiona smiled at the memory. Erin was so dramatic.
    After setting up a sniper nest in a far corner atop the wall overlooking the path to the mainland she'd retreated to the armory. She was able to dig up some combat armour and an extra shotgun. After the fiasco at the Institute she found that shotguns were more effective against synths. Much better for crowd control. Her breath wavered as she shoved shells into the chamber. Confidence Fiona, confidence. It can't be that bad right? Everyone underestimates the Minutemen. But now they have Erin, who's crazy good at killing things, Nathan ex special forces. Herself, the scrawny teenager that killed Kellogg (but frankly doesnt remember it) and shit loads of explosives. So whatever happens they could handle it, right? "You sure you can handle that?" Fiona gasped, startled by Erin who was leaning against the doorway. "Y-yeah, it's a sixteen gauge. Yours is a twelve, right?" "You got it." "So this'll be easier to shoot." "Little bit." "Yeah, yeah. I'll be fine." Fiona nodded. "How are you so calm about this?" She asked with a nervous smile. "I'm more worried about you actually." "Haha, why? I'm fine, we get to kill some synths, woo!" She jokingly waved the shotgun. Erin softly snickered dropping his hand on her head. "we'll be fine, can't be too bad right?" "Right." Fiona sighed.