And She Continued Pt 1

Quiet is Violent

Dogmeat growled, his fur standing in a line down his back.

"What is it boy?" My voice was hushed, a whisper in the dark house.

I had been doing really good on making progress on finding Shaun... until I decided to travel alone again. As soon as I made that decision I found myself stopped by a minute man, who sent me back to Sanctuary where Preston had sent me to another settlement, where I had then been sent on a job to find some old scrap parts, then I got sidetracked trying to find supplies for the damn settlement. Now I was endlessly lost in this mansion. I heard the familiar groan above me, behind was the scoffing taunt:

"Fucking coward."

Trapped between a rock and a hard place. I raised my sword and began creeping up the stairs, grimacing at every creak and moan from the aged wood. Dogmeat ran ahead, silently dispatching one of the ghouls. As they swarmed him I rushed in, machete brandished, slicing throats and arms. Without hesitation I patted the corpses down. Mostly garbage, but a couple caps. One had some ammo on him, which was awesome useful when I needed to use my gun.

"Now to get the other baddies."

Dogmeat growled in response. I smiled without mirth, humans were so much harder to kill than ghouls. I could justify the actions with vigilante justice, but it didn't excuse the fact that I was taking life. And getting better at it every day. Nimbly I leapt from the banister, wincing as I landed on the first floor, narrowly avoiding the hole that led to the dark below. For a moment chills crept across my skin at the thought of plunging into whatever was beneath me.

"There you are, girl!"

I felt a wicked grin cross my face as I pulled out my 10 mm, a second to aim and BLAM! His partner gasped as I leveled my gun on her.

"Oh no you do-" The bullet splitting her mouth apart interrupted.

"Well!" I grinned, pulling off my armor and trading it for the better pieces on the raider, "I think I just found the door!"

Dogmeat yipped his excitement, swirling around my legs. I took a deep breath once we were outside. For some reason all the houses with ghouls smelled like rotting meat, and Raiders didn't smell a whole lot better. I pulled out my PipBoy, curious for directions.

In my old life I had been hopelessly lost, in this new world I wasn't in a much better state despite three months living on and off the road. I started walking, looking between the map and the road, looking up only when an irritating pink glow caught my eyes.

"What the..." A relic from my time glowed harsh in the dull wastes. "A neon sign?"

Intrigued I followed the path until a huge gateway stood before me. Inside loomed the old state house, I could hear people chatting and metal bits clinking around beyond. Were the people here friends or foe? I'd been deceived before by the sounds of thriving civilization – mostly in the form of Raider camps and Children of Atom.

"Goodneighbor?" I hesitated for a minute.

Valentine never said it'd be this obvious... then pulled open the doors.

For a moment I was dazed. A community. A non-hostile community. I had seen them before here and there, some of them were damn straight up crazy... Covenant took that cake, Diamond City not much better though I had to admit I loved the Russian brothers and that Piper was a trip and a half. What I wouldn't give to just chill and get drunk with them on a Friday night. Best friends a girl could ask for.

But this community was different. An assaultron and a ghoul were in side-by-side shop fronts. The overall air was damp, smells of people and food and chems hung over everything. Aside from the state house and the shop fronts there wasn't much else to see. A darkened narrow street led to the other side of the large, imposing building to my left. Judging by the sounds drifting over I'd bet the rest of the town was hidden from direct view. A clever design. I looked around at the people, trying to get my bearings. If I'd learned anything about the new America, it was that your attitude had to match those around you.