Bleeding Steel

Chapter Six: Recovery

At the sight of the Paladin, Nora breathed a sigh of relief. The Crossing had been quiet for a while, save for the pattering rain and muffled sobbing of the settlers. She and the Paladin had rounded up any survivors they had found, bringing them to the sturdiest shack in the settlement. Those who could still fight manned the windows and balcony, armed with their rifles and pistols, whilst she kept watch from outside.

"Danse, are you alright?" She called, stepping away from her post to meet him. His armour was a bloody mess, all of Burke's (and Tara's) hard work undone. There were numerous indentations where he had been struck by bullets, but he seemed to walk easily enough, completely unfazed by the damage.

"Affirmative." His voice was muffled by his helmet. "On me, Knight." Without another word he turned, marching back in the direction he had come from. Nora blinked, confused. She glanced back doubtfully to the shack where the survivors were huddled, before rolling her shoulders in a shrug and following the Paladin. It had been some time since she had seen a mutant, and Danse wasn't likely to call her away if he felt the settlers were in immediate danger... unless he needed to show her something of great importance.

When they reached the edge of the settlement, he broke into a jog across the flat ground and Nora frowned. Why were they heading towards the vertibird in such a hurry? Had an important radio broadcast come through? Or had Burke...

She pushed all thoughts out of her head and took off after him, watching as the vertibird engines began to fire up at their approach, the red lights flashing in the deepening gloom. As she drew closer, she noticed a small figure sat upon the vertibird bench... and another lying on the floor.

She felt like she'd been punched in the gut. It was suddenly hard to breathe.

No. No. No. No.

Either that was Burke on the bench, and another child, Tara perhaps on the floor... Or...

Danse heaved himself up in one smooth motion, turning back to check on Nora's progress. She was mere steps behind, hands already reaching for the rungs to pull herself up.

"The Prydwen. Stat." Danse ordered, removing his helmet and turning to glare at the pilot who nodded his head, watching as the Knight pulled herself aboard.

"BURKE?!" Nora tried to climb out of her power armour too close to the door and almost fell back onto the ground. Danse watched as she caught herself, sprang around the suit and dropped to her knees beside the boy, tearing off her glove to hold her hand over his mouth, checking he still breathed.

"He's alive, Soldier. But he took a hit from a mutant hound."

"Is he..." Nora looked dazed, shaking her head slowly. The Squire was ashen. Danse had discarded the boys coat out on the street to apply stimpaks, and the shirt he had worn beneath it had been torn and wet, now nothing more than filthy rags discarded on the vertibird floor. The boy was covered by a heavy blanket instead, his eyes closed and his breathing fast and shallow.

"He'll be in pain, but the wounds shouldn't be fatal. The stimpaks stopped the bleeding."

The vertibird jolted slightly as it rose, and Nora turned to regard the girl sitting on the bench. Tara was trembling beneath a blanket of her own, her eyes unfocused and staring into the distance as she squeezed the Squire's hat between her fists. Other than some scratches upon her face, the girl seemed unharmed. Danse followed Nora's stare and sighed.

"I believe she's alive only due to the Squire's intervention. I didn't know what else to with her, so I brought her to the vertibird. There wasn't time for anything else."

"Her mother's in the shack..." Nora said faintly, sitting back on her haunches. For a few moments, she just stared wordlessly at the children, then seemed to startle. "Where are we going?"