Please Stand By

Chapter 2: Concord Part I

The first thing Charlotte saw outside Sanctuary was the roads. Mother Nature sure did her best at reclaiming the world after the bombs dropped. Most of the road out of Sanctuary was reduced to rubble; large cracks in the concrete made home to new varieties of mutated grass and ferns and rusted stripped cars fostered other plant life she couldn't quite place.

As she made her way past the abandoned Red Rocket something moved out of the corner of her vision. Her heart froze and she lifted the pistol to eye level.

"Hello??" Charlotte called out, hands shaking slightly. The Red Rocket appeared empty save for all the trash and car parts everywhere. It looked as if over the years people were stripping anything they could get their hands on for parts here. She squinted at the service window, taking a few steps forward.

Still nothing. Charlotte let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and holstered her pistol. She continued back down the road to Concord. She didn't get far, a dog bark from behind her caused her to jump. She spun around and came face to face with an excited German Shepard. His tail wagged furiously and it sat back on its hind legs, waiting for her next move.

"Well, hello there!" Charlotte smiled at the dog. "Hi, hi!" she giggled as she knelt to pet him. He licked her fingers. "You all alone boy?" she asked.

The dog barked once. Charlotte blinked a few times. "I... I'm not sure if that means yes or not..." frowning, she ran her hands through his soft dark fur, glancing around the area. No one was nearby and if they were, she couldn't see or hear them. Maybe this dog was the movement she saw moments ago. She hoped he was.

"Well, what do you say boy? Wanna come with me?" Charlotte stood. "C'mon." She began to walk away but glanced over her shoulder to see the large German Shepard bounding after her. She smiled.

As they continued on down the road, she pulled her pistol back out. Suddenly the dog growled, pointing towards a large pink mass in the middle of the intersection ahead of them. Charlotte could make out a buzzing sound but she couldn't find the source. She spun around a few times. The dog then lunged at the pink mass on the road, causing a just as big off-pink insect to jump off the animal in the road. The dog landed on the bug, pinning it to the ground, sinking its teeth into the only meaty part of the creature. Its incredibly long thin legs jerked twice then were still, the buzzing sound dying with the bug.

Charlotte felt her stomach flip as the dog dropped the bloody insect, panting slightly. The closer she looked at it, the more she could feel her stomach turning.

"Oh God, it's..." she nudged the dead bug with her boot. "It looks like a goddamn mosquito." She breathed. The large pink mass in the road reminded her of a cow, but the weird thing was, it had two heads instead of one. "Radiation." She mumbled. Its chest was ripped open exposing the bone, guts, and muscle. The dried blood around the mutated cow looked old but the stench and sight of it all still made her gag.

She turned to look at the dog behind her, who was sitting again, waiting for her. His mouth was wide open and he was panting again, but it made it look like he was smiling. His tail thumped happily on the ground. Charlotte beckoned him with her hand.

"C'mon, before I lose my..." she stopped, confused. What was the last thing she had eaten? Nothing since coming out of the Vault. Before that, it was... well, before the bombs dropped. Codsworth had made her a fresh cup of coffee and she was hoping to have cereal with Nate before the news program. But then the world ended. "I haven't eaten in over 200 years." She exclaimed. The dog cocked his head to the side, confused. She shook her head and continued onward.

"Sorry, I just... let's go," she said, following the road to the entrance of Concord.

Many of the buildings were still standing despite the circumstances much to her surprise. Seeing Sanctuary in such ruin, she had only expected the rest of the world to be like that or worse.