Crawled Out Through The Fallout

Chapter 25

When we got back to Sanctuary  Hills, we were greeted by the other people I had made friends with. Most of them were the settlers I had helped on my first day out of the Vault. I was happy to see Sturges, who always helped me around the town. I walked up to the tall guy, remembering just how much he towers over me.

"Hey Sturges. How's it going around here?"

He smiled and looked proud.

"Everythin's in working order, General. And I have a present for you."

I looked interested, he usually had strong guns to give me. Guns. Heh. His big muscular arms. I tried not to giggle at my terrible pun, and watched his muscular arms reach into the bag of tools he carried.

"Here it is. A laser rifle."

He handed it to me, and I took it gratefully.

"Thanks, Sturges. It's really great."

I really was appreciative of it, but I had no intention of actually using it. I carried the weapon to the workshop, where I stored everything I was carrying that wasn't useful during my travels. I searched through my weapons cabinet to find the strongest gun I could. I found it and stuck it in the holster on my side. I went into the run-down house to look for Deacon. I found him lounging in a chair in the bedroom, relaxing. I walked over to him, and realized he was snoring. I leaned over him and poked him gently in the chest.

"Hey. Wake up. Dee."

He shifted a bit, and kept sleeping.

"Fine. I'll just find another way to wake you up. Like stick random things I find in your  ears. Or nose. Let's see what I have in my pockets. Some ammo, bobby pins, oh, and a combat knife."

"I'm awake, no need for drastic measures."

I laughed and smiled at him.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"So you think I'm pretty?"

"Maybe. Not what I came here to talk about, however."

He stood up and stretched.

"Okay. So what are you here to talk about?"

"We have a Courser to hunt down, remember?"

He grinned at me, and I couldn't help but to smile a bit.

"So you want me back on deck, huh? Gotta admit, things have been pretty quiet without you."

"You missed me? I was gone for barely two days."

He shrugged.

"Seems like a lot longer when you're bored."

I nodded. That makes sense. But, I missed him too. Not that I'd tell him that. I looked at Nick, who walked in.

"Hey, Nick. Deacon and I can take it from here. I'll see you around."

Nick nodded, and gave me a quick smile before leaving the room again.

"So where to, boss?"

I checked my Pip-Boy for the location.

"CIT ruins. We'll have to walk from Diamond City."

...

After stopping by Diamond City Market for some supplies, we started walking towards the ruins. We had walked for about half an hour when I noticed something was a bit off. I glanced around for Deacon and waited for him to catch up.

"You're being uncharacteristically quiet, Deacon. What's up?"

"I've just been thinking."

"About?"

"You don't seem to like travelling with me. Why?"

I looked confused at him. Why did he think that? Sure, I tease him, but I was never cruel to him.

"What? Of course I like travelling with you. I've just had a lot going on lately."

"Okay. If you don't want to travel with me, just say the word."

"I know. I just needed to do that case for Valentine. And it was easier to have him with me for it."

Deacon nodded. I smiled reassuringly at him.

"Alright."

We kept walking to the CIT ruins, quiet for most of the way. When we got there, I did as Virgil instructed and set the radio to pick up the Courser's frequency. The radio gave a beep, and another beep after several seconds.

"And now, the hunter becomes the hunted."

"And we're totally going to die."