At The Precipice Of Something New

Something Stolen

The Commonwealth
May the 2nd, 2288
9:14

Taking one last look over her shoulder at the fading visage of Diamond City in the distance, Nora Jacqueline Norwich tightened her hands around her revolver. They were really doing it.

Wherever Kellogg was, he couldn't stay hidden forever.

Having sat down, staring expectantly at the detective, the lawyer, and the former cage fighter, Dogmeat happily barked when Nora reassuringly pet him around his ears. When she stopped, he waited for her to begin again only to suddenly begin sniffing the half smoked cigar and dirty ashtray Nora presented him with. Barking again before starting to take off, Nora dropped the cigar and ashtray back into their zip-shut plastic bag, and handed them off to Nick, who slipped the make shift evidence bag back into his inner coat pocket. Then, they were off. A bit too enthusiastically, Cait was never more than a few paces behind Dogmeat, only pausing every so often to swap out which weapon she wanted to have at the ready, pulling one out and dropping the other back into her bag. When she finally settled on a pair of twin knives, she had a mischievous glint in her eye, almost as though she were itching for a fight. Herself much more stricken by fear of what they would or would not find, Nora put as much of her energy as she could into focusing on the act of tracking rather than the reasons for it. Forgetting why they were doing what they were began to grow all the more impossible as it continued to whisper at the edges of her thoughts, however, and Nick's warning rang out in her ears again.

Kellogg is dangerous because he thrives off death, destruction, suffering, violence, and pain.

Shaken by the fear which bolted through her at the thought of Kellogg having done much worse than simply separating her family, Nora tightened her grip on her revolver and closely eyed the surroundings she, Cait, and Nick passed by, pursuing what Dogmeat had managed to get a trace on. Following him out of the city had felt strange, at first, not only leaving behind safety but the known. Yet running through the streets, past old buildings, burnt out street lamps, and lifeless traffic stops had still felt almost normal. It was when they were over the bridge and the city well behind them things began to feel out of place. Everything feels out of place. How could it not? She kept running, but began to slow her pace when she began to feel pain rising in her chest. As she slowed, she saw Dogmeat had paused, looking around for her, Nick, and Cait. When the creature realised the three were still with him, he began barking again, waiting for them to follow. Wary of their surroundings, Nick hesitated, startling when Cait all but chased after Dogmeat, who had begun circling an area near an old, burnt out car and a covered, mostly intact RV trailer. He called out to her, warning her to be careful, only to be startled when she cut him off, waving him and Nora over, Dogmeat still circling the area.

"Lovely place for a campsite," Cait said dryly, stepping into the trailer. "I, for one, would feel incredibly safe sleeping out here in fuck all –"

"It ain't the prettiest place, but it's covered and has a lock," Nick pointedly reminded her, raising an eyebrow when he noticed the table behind her. "Well, would you look at that. Seems someone cut themselves up real bad."

Cait whipped around, nearly slamming herself into the refrigerator. Nora grimaced, but soon found herself just as surprised as the detective. Left on the table, alongside an assortment of useless things, were dried yet bloodied bandages, bent as though they had been once wrapped around a human hand. Slipping off her backpack, Nora pulled out a pair of leather gloves, slipped them on, and carefully peeled the bandages off from where they had been left on the table. Dogmeat perked up when he saw what she was doing, and began to circle around her legs, barking. He stopped when she knelt down and presented the bandages to him, frantically sniffing them. Once he was satisfied he recognised and understood the scent of blood left and dried on the bandages, Dogmeat jumped out of the still open door into the RV trailer, and waited for the detective, lawyer, and former cage fighter to follow him. Nick took the bandages from Nora, who removed her gloves. Then, he slipped the bandages into another zip-shut bag, dropping it into his inner coat pocket alongside the dirty ashtray and half smoked cigar. No more than a minute later, he stepped out of the RV just behind Nora and Cait and quickly followed after Dogmeat, onto the road again.