Chapter Text
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Slammed back into consciousness, the first sensation that returned was a fierce burning sensation. The second thing that quickly followed was the smell of sizzling flesh. Everything was centered around her head. Instinctively, Dust raised her left arm and pushed the hot metal plating off her face, the momentum of the action rolling her onto her stomach. Her ears rang, her brain was fuzzy, and not the kind of good chemed out kind of fuzzy either. Quickly thinking back, the last thing she remembered was turning to her right to see Davis… no Davin? Whatever his name was… he was shooting at something past the fence. Right after that, his head disintegrated in a fine red mist, and the turret next to her exploded. She didn’t even remember hitting the ground.
Great… just fucking great.
The ringing began to die down, and the sounds of a firefight filtered through the chaos of her head. Her hands were empty… where was her pistol? Desperately, she looked around, the skin of her face viciously protesting the sudden movement and stress. She had to get some idea of where the danger was, and which direction to scramble for the nearest weapon.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of blue. It was a distinct shade of blue, with yellow accents that triggered an instantaneous recognition. A Vault dweller? But Vault dwellers were soft and terrified of the real world… unless…
Dust moved her arms under her body to push herself up, but quickly found her that right arm painfully protested the additional stress. Almost as quickly she froze, the distinct realization that a gun barrel was pressing into the back of her head. Double barrels, in fact.
Wordlessly, she slowly spread her arms out away from her body, her hands open and empty, defeated.
“Found the straggler, Sunshine.”
The voice as gruff, ghoulish. She didn’t dare move to confirm her suspicion.
Really? Dust asked herself. After all this I’m going to die face down in the dirt, snuffed out by a ghoul of all things. Pathetic. Why didn’t I pinch that Ultrajet from David when I had the chance? That would have been the way to go. High as balls.
She concentrated on the imagined high as a second set of bootsteps came closer.
“This one doesn’t seem to have much fight left in ’em.”
A pair of blue clad legs crouched down next to her in her limited field of view. Dust combed her limited bits of gossip about the reputation of strange Vault bitch who had randomly appeared in the Commonwealth. She couldn’t remember anything about her taking slaves, but a whole lot of stories involved her wiping out raiders. Not good. The pain in her face was starting to overtake her senses. If she didn’t know better, if felt like it was still burning and growing in intensity. It was getting harder to think straight.
“If you’re gunna off me, just do it.” she spat, the dry dirt filtering through the bandanna tied around her face. The metal at the base of her skull pressed a bit harder.
“Is that a request?” threatened the ghoul.
Dust winced.
“Enough, John.” The woman’s voice was firm but somehow gentle. The ghoul took half a step back. “Can you sit up?”
Dust nodded. The woman backed up, allowing her to pivot.
“Slowly,” warned the ghoul.
Dust made a show of holding her hands open before her as much as she could as she inched to a sitting position. Even though she wanted to keep her right arm up, the most she could muster was to keep it a few inches above her lap. She gave up the fight and just rested it on her knee. The woman, crouched down again in front of her, studying her. It made Dust a mix of nervous and uncomfortable.
“My ass isn’t worth a lot of caps, if that’s what you’re thinking.” Dust slouched, trying to make herself look even smaller than she was.
“What?” The woman looked confused and shook her head. “No, that’s not…no.” The ghoul grunted out a laugh.
“Let’s try this again.” The woman put a hand on her chest. “I’m Nora. And you are?”
Dust answered simply. “Dust.”
“My handsome companion there is Mayor Hancock.” Nora nodded at the shotgun wielding ghoul, who tipped his hat slightly. “That’s one nasty burn you’ve got going there.”
Pain was pounding behind Dust’s eyes, the left one nearly swollen shut. Her skin felt like it was melting off, but she dared not make a move. The Vault dweller just looked at her, waiting for some kind of response. Dust had no idea what she wanted to hear.
“And?” Dust prompted. Vault people are strange, she thought.
“Raiders,” she muttered under her breath. Nora smiled and shook her head as she opened a large leather pouch on her belt. She pulled out a small glass container and unscrewed the lid, a strong medicinal smell filling the air. “Put some of this on the burn. It will help cool it and speed up the healing.” She handed the pungent pot over to Dust.
After inspecting the ointment, Dust put it on the ground. Using her good hand, she pulled off her bandana and started to smear the translucent goop on her face. After the initial sting, it cooled her angry skin to a manageable level.
“Your arm?” Nora pointed to right arm resting on her lap.
“Broken, probably. It’ll be fine.” Dust knew nothing in the world came for free, she just wondered what this vault dweller was going to want in return for all this.
“Nonsense. We’ve got a stimpack to share.” She pulled out the syringe, handing it to Dust.
“You’re doing it again…” Hancock said, rolling his eyes. His tone was half scolding, half joking.
Nora looked up at him quizzically. “Doing what?” she asked.
“You have a habit of adopting strays.” He smiled warmly. “You’re doing it again.”
She smiled back at him. “You wouldn’t have it any other way, and you know it!”
Chapter 2
Summary:
Dust travels with Nora and Hancock to a new settlement.
Chapter Text
Photo by Stephan Müller from Pexels
Dust watched as she sat on the ground, the pain in her arm slowly melting away. Her eye had even started to open a little, the throbbing ignorable with a little effort. The ghoul, while coolly leaning against a rotted wooden post, effortlessly held his shotgun at the ready. The woman shuffled things in and out of her pack, shifting through the junk laying around and seeing what would fit. Nora grumbled to herself before picking out several rolls of duct tape, replacing it with a pristine looking camera.
“You sure you want to leave those?” the ghoul asked. “You normally hoard those things.”
“Yeah, I know.” Nora answered. “But the new Jamaica Plain settlement needs a settlement beacon. I’m missing crystals for the emitter.” She glared down at the rolls, frowning. “It’s not exactly like I was planning on hauling more crap after everything we scavenged back in Quincy.”
Dust’s jaw dropped. It took her a second to process what the vault dweller was saying. “Wait a minute… Quincy?” Her dark hazel eyes glanced between the woman and her companion. “What did you do in Quincy?” Dust’s mind raced. Everyone with more than a couple of brain cells knew to stay away from that place. The Gunners who camped there were basically their own army, easily raining death on anyone and anything that stepped close.
“Oh, the General here decided it was time to clean that place up. Gunner green was so last season.” The ghoul smirked as he shrugged. “So we did.”
“No fucking way!” Dust blustered, thinking. “Just the two of you made it out?”
His smirk grew into a wide grin. “Just the two of us went in, too. We had one hell of a blast, didn’t we, Sunshine?”
Nora laughed at their inside joke. “We sure did.”
Dust mulled over the implications of their words. It didn’t seem like they were lying to her. “If you guys are so tough you can take out a fucking Gunner camp without breaking a sweat, why the fuck did you attack us?” Dust motioned to the handful of raider corpses that had been moved to one end of the trench they had called home.
“We were trying to sneak around, to be honest,” Nora shook her head. “but I guess someone spotted someone with a huge red target on his back.”
The ghoul just rolled his eyes and shrugged again. “What can I say? No one can get enough of my threads. Either way, you guys shot first.”
That seemed true enough. Most of the time you didn’t live long unless you adopted a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ attitude in the wastes. But… if these two really offed all those Gunners…
“Hey,” Dust pushed herself up on her knees slowly. She didn’t need to give anyone another reason to start shooting. “If you really need all that stuff, just load me up. I can truck it wherever you need it to go.” In the corner, Dust could see the ghoul step forward. “To pay you back… for not killing me and shit.”
Hancock nodded to Nora, his eyes never leaving Dust. “Your call.”
Nora’s eyes studied her for a moment.
“How much can you carry?”
Dust stood up. She knew her short frame could be deceiving. She barely came to the vault dweller’s shoulder. Over the years, quite a few people learned the hard way that every square inch of her was packed full of rock hard muscle. Walking over to a weathered table, she pulled out a large military rucksack tucked underneath it.
Confident in her abilities, she simply stated: “Fill’er up.”
Twenty minutes later, Dust was trudging across the wasteland, the stuffed rucksack slung between her shoulder blades. Hard points from the objects inside pushed against her ribs like a sack full of elbows, but she shrugged it off. She thought better than to complain that she was not given a weapon. The woman took up point in front of her, the ghoul a few steps away taking up the rear.
After a while of walking in silence, Nora piped up.
“So, how long had you known those guys?”
“Um,” Dust tried to shove her shoulder against the most offending corner, trying to force something to shift into a more comfortable position. “I think about a week or so.”
“A week?” Nora shot a look back at her before turning back to scan along their path. “What made you join them, then?”
“I needed something to eat.” Dust replied flatly. She didn’t understand what was so confusing about the concept. “Plus, they had a good supply of chems.”
Hancock nodded. “Can’t argue with that logic.”
“What were you doing before that?”
“I ran with a different crew before that. Good bunch of guys. Hard as fucking steel.”
“What happened to them?”
Damn, this bitch is chatty. Dust thought. “We made a pretty good living hitting caravans. Sneaking up on them at night, that kinda thing. One night, we were stalking a real juicy mark when we ran up on a pair of sleeping yao guais. I barely made it out after one of those fuckers took a chunk out of my leg.” She frowned at the memory. “But at least I made it out. No one else did.”
“What about before them?”
Dust was getting frustrated with all these questions. “Why the fuck does it matter?”
“I’m just trying to figure something out,” She answered. “Like, what makes a person turn to raiding.”
“You do realize ‘raiders’ fuck and pop out brats, right? Those little fuckers learn real quick what it takes to survive out here… and it ain’t playing nice with soft townies. Not if you want to get your share of something to eat.”
That shut her up. They walked in silence for a few more hours. The light in the sky started to dim. Even though they were close to wherever they were going, it was decided to find a secure place to hole up for the night and continue in the morning. They found some kind of old shop and boarded up the door. Dust took off her heavy load, sitting in a corner. After starting a fire in an old metal trashcan, Nora began to prepare a few cans she pulled from her pack. Mayor Hancock took off his coat and began to clean his gun in the fire light. Once the food was warm, the vault dweller brought a can and spoon to Dust. She took it with a cautious nod, sniffing what looked like beans before shoveling them into her mouth. The other two chatted as they ate, occasionally glancing over at her.
Dust ignored them. She kept to herself, trying calm the sneaking itch in her brain. She couldn’t help focusing on how long it had been since her last hit of jet. It took all her concentration to keep her leg from bouncing. Instead, she repeatedly twisted the ends of her bandana in between her fingers,a nervous habit she had picked up as a child.
After a while, Hancock walked over to her. “I’m taking first watch, Nora’s taking second. You should get some sleep while you can.”
Even though that made sense, Dust knew her feet and back ached something fierce, she was far from exhausted enough to sleep. Not when she was like this.
“I’m good,” was all she answered.
The ghoul seemed to study her. “Since we are almost to Jamaica, you might want to rethink that make up job of yours.” He pointed to her face.
“What’d’ya mean?”
“The locals know us… but you?” His mouth tightened into bit of a grimace. “Well, they tend to shoot raiders on sight… and right now your face screams ‘I’m here’ ta fuck you up’.”
It had been a while since Dust had smeared broad swaths of black kohl across her face, but come to think about it… not a lot of townies she’d run across marked themselves like that. She supposed the ghoul was right.
“Fine.” she asked. Dust untied her bandana.
Hancock pulled out an open carton of water and handed it to her. With a good dash of water, she rubbed most of the paint from her face, pinpricks of pain reminding her of the tender new scars forming over a good portion of her face. When she thought she was done, Dust turned to the ghoul.
“Good?”
“You still look you’ve got two black eyes, but close enough.”
Dust nodded. She thought the ghoul would return to the other side of the room, but he stayed by her. Her pointed to her hands.
“Are you sure you’re good?”
Looking down, Dust realized that she was continuing to violently twisting her soiled bandana in her hands.
“Yeah, well ya know… the Jet will make you jittery.”
This time it was Hancock who nodded as he reached into a pocket.
“There ain’t much left in this one, but here...” He handed her a red inhaler. “I don’t need you jonesing all night.” He got up and returned to fire.
Dust turned over the canister in her hand. Food and chems… well, she could have done worse. She had in the past, and for less… but then again, you don’t get anything for free. She’d just have to wait and see what that price was going to be.
She put the plastic mouthpiece between her lips and inhaled. She felt a small burst of chems coat the inside of her mouth and throat, it’s burning kiss burrowed into her blood through her lungs. The flickering flames across the room slowed to a languid pulsing. A wash of heat traveled like lightning through her body, soothing her frazzled nerves.
Any exhaustion from the stress of trekking across the wasteland she might have been feeling evaporated. The only problem with all this added energy was she had no outlet to use it up. The only thing at hand was her dirty bandanna. Quickly, she ripped the flimsy fabric into a handful of thin strips. Nora stirred at the noise but turned over after Hancock put a hand on her shoulder. Dust ignored his scowl, focusing on weaving the red strips into thick braid she could fit around her head. After a few attempts, she had something that would keep the sweat and hair out of her face. It took long enough to burn of the remainder of her Jet-fuel energy binge. Soon, she scooted herself into a corner, propping herself up in a sitting position to doze the rest of the night.
Early the next morning, after a quick breakfast, the group headed out again. It was just before lunch when they reached the new settlement. It wasn’t much more than a half-collapsed building with a patch of dirt on the side. Two thin figures poked their heads out from behind a crumbling corner, gun barrels trained on them, but they waved a hearty welcome once they saw the vault dweller in the distance. She waved back. Soon Dust’s bag was off her shoulders, the contents spread across the dusty floorboards.
Dust parked herself in the corner on a stool, studying the scene playing out in front of her. The pair of settlers eyed her suspiciously, but begrudgingly ignored her as Nora pulled out random bits of armor and weapons for them to try. Soon, the two were outfitted with a ragtag collection of gear marginally better than the rags they wore underneath it all. After that, Nora got to work explaining what she needed to make them this tower beacon thing. Soon, everything was collected and piled together on the sidewalk, ready for assembly. Before work could begin, they sat down to eat.
“Here you go.” One of the settlers held out a bit of scrambled Cram and eggs. When Dust didn’t move, she put it down on the broken windowsill next to her with a shrug. It smelled good, but Dust did not touch it. She felt strange. Out of place. An imposter.
“Don’t be rude, now.” Hancock nudged her.
Dust sheepishly gulped down the food as fast as she could. The settler who had handed her the bowl came back to collect it.
“Guess it wasn’t too bad, eh?”
Dust shrugged.
“Not much of a talker? That’s alright.” She flashed a small smile at the silent Dust before shuffling away.
Dust felt like every eye was burning on her, even though she could clearly see that their attention had turned to construction of the tower. She skulked away to the other side of the building, away from the imaginary stares. She scanned around the perimeter of the ‘settlement’. There was a giant blind corner and holes in the perimeter everywhere she looked. This place was an easy mark, just ripe for an attack from nearly any direction. She’d burned plenty of settlements just like this to ground for less than the lunch she had just been given. Hearing gravel grind into the pavement, she turned around to see Hancock stepping around the corner.
“You okay back here?” Dust shrugged again. “You thinking about taking off?” he asked.
Dust shook her head. “I’m just no good at building shit. That’s all.” That part of was true, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. Before the ghoul could say anything else, she pointed to the blind corner across from them. “This corner is a death trap, if no one is watching it.”
“And you should know…” Even though it wasn’t an accusation, his words stung. “I’ll see if we can rig up a trap or something. Nora’s a damn genius when it comes to that kind of thing.” He looked at her, like he was trying to read something on her face.
“They wouldn't want me over there… if they knew me.”
“They know you helped us make their life easier. Hell, you’re even going to make their home safer for them.” He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered her one.
She took it and mulled over his words. They stood and smoked in silence. Eventually, Hancock dropped his spent cigarette, grinding it out with the heel of his boot.
“We need to haul that scrap over to Hangman’s Alley. Think you can make the trip?” he asked.
Dust had no idea where the fuck that was.
“Sure,” she replied.
Chapter 3
Summary:
The group get a surprise visit on their way to Hangman's Alley.
Chapter Text
Photo by Squeeb Creative from Pexels
Dust woke to the sound of a hammer plinking away on metal. Nora was up with the sunrise, building some kind of contraption she hadn’t had the time the previous night to start on. Dust groggily puttered over to her. As she approached, Nora turned to her.
“Can you hand me that blowtorch?” She pointed to a pile of tools.
Passing the tool, Dust watched the woman work. The vault dweller was definitely mechanically inclined, bending the scrap metal to her will before moving onto fitting gears and cogs together. From Dust’s perspective, the pile of random bits of broken office equipment and old body panels materialized into a deadly turret in the matter of an hour.
Nora stood up, wiping her dirty greasy hands off on a rag. She eyed her work and smiled. “Thanks for the help,” she said, offhandedly.
Dust shrugged. “I just handed you something. Not much reason to thank me.”
“I wouldn’t have had enough gears, there was no way I could have made it.” Nora put a hand on lightly her shoulder. “Those strong shoulders carry a lot.”
Nora turned back to the building. After a few minutes, Dust joined her. After breakfast, the trio trudged back into the crumbling ruins of the city. Dust marched behind the Vault dweller with Hancock covering the rear. Broken buildings loomed overhead as they picked their way through the deserted streets, their eyes scanning constantly for signs of danger or ambush. That fact didn’t stop Nora from rummaging through every trashcan and mailbox they came across.
They had stopped at the side of some forgotten store so Nora to dig through a pair of dumpsters. Hancock calmly took a cigarette break as Dust took a moment to set her pack down, giving her shoulders a good stretch.
“Is she always like this?” Dust asked.
“Yeah,” the ghoul took a drag. “But you wouldn’t believe the shit she finds. Best scavver I’ve ever seen.”
Nora popped out of the dumpster holding a small blue cooler. “Damn straight, I am!”
“Score!” Hancock quickly snuffed out the butt, taking the cooler with a smile. Before he could rifle through whatever chems might be in the cooler, his grin suddenly faded.
“Get down!” he hissed, grabbing for his gun.
Dust followed his gaze. Down the road, a trio of large green super mutants had rounded the corner and were walking their way. Dust, having to think quickly, took cover behind the large metal bins and began to look for anything that might serve as a weapon. She heard Nora’s boots on the ground next to her. The next sound made her heart sink. The loud reverberating bellow of a mutant hound rang in her ears.
“Shit… shit… shit…”
Nora and Hancock scrambled, taking up defensive positions in front of the store, shooting at the mutants as they rushed forward. The air exploded with gunfire. The only thing Dust could find laying within hand’s reach was a rusty pipe. Between the noise of the bullets and occasional shout, she heard a faint noise that chilled her to the bone.
Beep
Beep
Beep
Frantically, Dust looked around. Down the dark narrow alley, a super mutant ran full tilt at them, a mini nuke tucked securely in the crook of its thick green arm. Nora and Hancock were solely focused on the threat in front of them and did not hear telltale signal of imminent death approaching from behind. Dust, in an act of desperation, ran to the cooler Hancock had tossed aside. Ripping open the lid, without looking, she grabbed a handful of needles and jammed them into the side of her thigh.
A near instantaneous wave of pain shot through her body like a lightning bolt, replaced just as quickly by a rush she so powerful she crushed the empty syringe barrels as her hands balled into fists. Time stopped around her. The sound of the blood rushing through her body deafened her, but with each heartbeat pushing the cocktail of chems through her she became even more laser focused. Nora. The gun fight. The buildings. Everything fell away except for the beast frozen before her.
Dust sprang from the ground, rushing towards the snarling mutant, pipe in hand. Slowly, the monster seemed to break from spell, his legs slowly hitting the ground with lazy thumps. Dust had to stop it, had to keep it from dropping the nuke at their feet and killing everyone nearby.
She swung at its leg, forcing it to topple forward as its kneecap exploded, the pipe bending with the force of her blow. Dust easily ducked under as the creature tried to grab for her. The drugs ripped even more of the world away from her, leaving her only able to focus on a single thing.
KILL IT. KILL IT NOW. FAST. BLOODY. KILL IT.
Behind the mutant, she leapt from the ground onto its shoulders, wrapping her legs around the giant’s trunk like neck. She forced the pipe under the thing’s chin and pulled. The creature tried desperately to dislodge her, clawing at her legs, growling and gasping for breath. Bone fractured. Blood gushed. Muscled ripped. Dust didn’t notice when the mutant collapsed, tumbling limp on top of her, she continued to use the pipe as a crude pry bar. She would rip this things’ head off or die trying.
With a sickening pop, she felt the skull dislodge and with one gratifying tug, the deed was done. Time snapped back into place, violently, but she ignored it. Dust roared in victory. Looking around, she saw Nora staring at her in shock and disbelief. Hancock kneeled on the ground next to her, looking at the open chem cooler.
“What the fuck did she take, John?” Nora’s voice sounded small and far away.
“More like… what didn’t she take…” He grimaced as he sifted through the remnants of the chems. “Looks like… Overdrive? Psychobuff… and maybe Fury? Damn.” He shook his head. “We should probably want to stay still and keep out of her way…”
Dropping the mangled head on the ground, Dust put her boot through what was left of the face before storming off to detroy the nearest body, breaking the rusted pipe in the process. Dust began to slow as her energy began to lag, but she refused to stop until every one of the green monsters was nothing but a pile of mush in her wake.
Huffing and puffing, she stomped back to her dropped pack.
“Fill’er up, Vaultie! This shit ain’t going to fly itself to… wherever the fuck we are going.” She stared at her companions, thinking they would snap to, filling their arms with rifles and sledges… but they just stood there with stupid looks on their faces.
“What?” Dust tried to hide her annoyance. It didn’t work. “Is there something on my face? Brains? What?” She took a filth covered hand and rubbed her face.
“Uh, not really…” Hancock peered at her. “You feeling okay?”
The question surprised her. “Hell, I feel fucking great! Let’s get going. We’re burning daylight and all that.” What is his deal?
“You’re looking a little pale. Sure you don’t want to sit down?”
Dust rolled her eyes. “Oh, for fucks sake… I saved your wrinkly ass, didn’t I? I’m fine.”
The ghoul shook his head and shrugged. Nora took his lead. Soon enough, they had gathered what they could salvage from the super mutants and headed out.
At first, Dust’s could hardly feel the heavy bag on her back, the cocktail of chems still singing their sweet song though her veins. She even took the lead a few times… but that didn’t last long. She had thought when her adrenaline filled mutant mashing trip ended, that would be it. She’d be sore and muddled for a few days, but she’d be fine. She had miscalculated.
Mid step, all the strength left her body. She stumbled. Sweat began to pour from her clammy skin, the world spinning. It was like someone had pulled out her fusion core. Hancock ran to her side.
“Here we go…” he muttered under his breath as he slid the straps of the pack off her shoulders.
“I’m okay… just need to catch my breath…” She was gasping. Her stomach started to cramp.
“John?” Dust could hear the woman’s voice, but she didn’t dare look up to see where it was coming from. She was too busy working on losing a battle with her guts.
“She’s crashing. We need to get her somewhere with a doctor. Fast.”
“No… just wait… I’ll be fine.” Dust struggled to get her feet under her to hold any weight. For a moment she was upright, holding on with white knuckles to Hancock’s arm. The effort was too much, and she collapsed again, this time horking up that morning’s breakfast. She tried to get out a few more words, something to reassure them, to not waste the time and caps on something that would just pass, but the world fell away into blackness.
Chapter 4
Summary:
Dust wakes up somewhere she did not expect to be.
Chapter Text
Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels
Flashes of consciousness cut through the darkness that surrounded her. Lights. Shouting. Chills. Pain. Horrible muscle spasms rolled through her body in waves. Dust’s body eventually cooperated enough that she could unroll her eyes and ease them open. The light from bare bulb felt like stabbing knives. From what she could tell, she was surrounded by walls and laying on a bed. Somewhere out of her sight, she could hear people speaking.
Dust had meant to ask what the hell was going on, but all she could manage was a bit of a groan. The effort brought with it a swell of nausea. When she could open her eyes without the world turning green, Nora and Hancock were looking down at her.
“Welcome back to the land of the living.” The General said while she put a hand on Dust’s forehead. A hand Dust quickly swatted away.
“More like land of the assholes.” The ghoul next to her muttered.
“As soon as it is safe to move her, we’ll leave, John. I promise.”
“20 caps says we get thrown out before that happens.”
Nora rolled her eyes.
“Can the two of you shut up? My head feels like it’s been run over by a sentrybot… well, maybe all of me.” Dust tried to cover her head with a nearby pillow, but she only managed to push it awkwardly to the floor. In frustration, she draped her arm over her face in an attempt to block everything out. That didn’t work either. If either of the other people in the room were talking to her, she wasn’t paying attention.
“Ugh…” Giving up on trying to disappear into the mattress, she decided to try to fill in the blanks of her memory. “Where exactly are am I?”
Nora returned with a can of purified water. “Home Plate.”
“What?”
Hancock helped her to sit up enough to take a few sips.
“Diamond City. Nora’s got an apartment here.” He scowled. “It was closest settlement with a doc.”
Dust’s mind struggled to accept the information. She never thought she would see such a huge well defended settlement from the inside… and to have an actual doctor fix her up? Insane. Her thoughts about how she would be paying for it, a loud knock came from the door.
“Fuck, who is it now?” Holding the bridge of her nose, Nora opened the door. Dust couldn’t see who stood on the other side, but she could hear the gruff guard on the other side.
“Mayor McDonough wanted to remind you that you are still in violation of the Diamond City ordinance by harboring outlawed persons in your domicile.”
Hancock pulled the door open wider to look the guard in the face. “Tell the ‘mayor’ he can walk his fucking face down from the stands and kiss my wrinkly ghoul ass.”
Nora turned to her companion. “That’s enough, John. This isn’t going to help. Go sit on the couch.” The ghoul didn’t move. “Please.”
For a tense minute, no one moved.
Finally, Hancock’s balled up fist relaxed, and he stormed off to another part of the house. “What a fucking waste of time.”
Dust caught bits and pieces of the conversation at the door, arguments presented and promises made. She wasn’t sure, but a few caps may have even been passed hands. After a few minutes, the door closed. As she locked it, Nora let out a little sigh.
Dust piped up. “I’m sorry if I’m causing you trouble.”
“Oh hun, that wasn’t about you,” she replied softly.
“I bet McDonough would welcome you with open arms…” Hancock groused from across the room. “You’re real Diamond City material, unlike yours truly.” The words dripped with vitriol as he stomped the remains of a cigarette into the floor. “I’m worth less than the dirt on the sole of your boot here.”
“What?” Dust asked, confused.
“Ghouls aren’t allowed in the walls.” Nora clarified. “I got him in because you were just about dead by the time we got to the doors.”
“Plus the General’s good deeds pull a lot of weight with citizens here, such as they are.” Hancock lit another cigarette, this time taking slower drags. “It wouldn’t look good to his constituents to throw a local celeb out on her ass when she needed help.”
“That being said, our time here is limited.” Nora sat on the edge of Dust’s bed. “As soon as you can manage it, we need to leave…. But don’t push yourself either. I don’t want you have a stroke or something out on the road.”
Dust’s throbbing head made it hard to process what was going on, but she was managing. “Can we just start over from the beginning,” she asked. “What exactly happened to me?”
“Well, after you collapsed—”
Hancock interrupted. “From pushing a whole pharmacy’s worth of chems in your veins!”
Nora gave a little grunt and shot a harsh look at the ghoul on the sofa before continuing. “We carried you to the nearest place with a doctor.”
Dust managed a nod. “Diamond City.”
“Yes. The doctors…” she stuttered a bit and corrected herself. “um, doctor. You were barely breathing, but he managed to stabilize you enough to administer some Addictol with the help of a nebulizer.”
Dust got stuck on a single word.
“Addictol? Shit.” That wasn’t a word she wanted to hear. Addictol was well know for its ability to completely clear your system of chems and the accompanying addiction, but the price was steep. For the foreseeable future while the cure stuck around in her body, any additional chems were going to make her extremely sick. Even helpful chems like Stimpaks would be chancy to take unless absolutely needed. Most guys she knew would rather die than take the stuff.
The ghoul glanced her way. “Looks like your partying days are behind you for a while… but gotta say, that was some epic shit you pulled. Really saved our collective asses back there.”
Taking a last drag, he held out the cigarette, but Nora gently intervened. “Ashtray, love. I just had that part of the floor replaced last time I was here.” Hancock nodded in acknowledgment.
“Oh yeah, sorry.” He snuffed it out in the ashtray on the low table in front of him before picking up the crushed butt off the floor and depositing it.
Nora waved it off. She returned to her previous line of thought. “You’ve been pretty much out of it for about a week and a half. Now we just have to get you well enough to make the trip to the next town.”
“Where’s that?”
“Goodneighbor.”
Chapter 5
Summary:
Dust makes her way to a new town.
Chapter Text
Photo by Isaac Weatherly from Pexels
Less than a week later, Dust finally had the chance to take in Diamond City as she walked out behind the General and Hancock. Dozens of eyes stared at them as they passed, several residents stopping in their tracks. A few even scuttled out of their path, disappearing down dark side alleys to avoid them. She figured it was the combination of having a stranger and a ghoul brazenly strut through their pristine streets. Hancock, for his part, flashed a viciously sarcastic smile as he walked, giving a quick barrage of obscene gestures towards some upper offices as they passed.
Dust rubbed her shoulders. Her muscles complained painfully as she trudged up the mountain of steps to leave the city through the giant green metal door. Still, it felt good to be on the move again. They were barely outside the walls before a flurry of footsteps came up behind them. A woman in ruddy leather trench coat and brown hat called after them.
“Blue!” she huffed. “Wait a minute, will ya?”
“You had plenty of time to interview the Commonwealth’s favorite Popsicle before now, Piper,” the ghoul quipped.
“I don’t want an interview, John. I found a lead.”
The General perked up. “Lead?”
The women quickly fell into conversation. Dust tried to follow, but between the speed and the foreign subject, she quickly gave up. Stepping away, she sat on a nearby concrete platform under an ominous metal statue of a man swinging a bat. Hancock soon joined her. He held out a cigarette. Dust shook her head, knowing that even smoking could throw her body into rebellion..
“Oh yeah, sorry.” He lit it up for himself.
He slowly puffed away. Dust listened to the birds as she watched the guards slowly patrol the edges of the square. After a while, he grumbled, flicking the butt into the weeds.
“We might as well get on our way.”
“What?” Confused, Dust looked to the General and then back to the ghoul.
“I’ve been traveling with Nora long enough to know that look. That reporter’s hooked her good. She’s got something better to do now.”
Before Dust could respond, Hancock picked himself up and yelled across the courtyard.
“Hey, guys! We’re taking off.” He nodded to Dust. “Take care of ‘er, Piper. I don’t want to have to sneak past the guards to chew you out if Nora comes back in pieces.”
“You’ll have to get in line!”
The General, flustered, began to walk in the ghoul’s direction before being waved off.
“We’ll be fine. I know my way back home. Have fun! Stop by when you have some new tales to tell!” Hancock clapped his hand on Dust’s shoulder and lead her away.
Once they were out of sight, Dust asked, “Those two going to be okay out there?”
“Don’t worry about Nora. The freaking apocalypse couldn’t stop her if she put her mind to it.”
“What about the other one?”
“Piper?” He chuckled to himself. “She may look soft, but she’s a survivor. She’s like a radroach that way. They’ll be fine.”
Hancock led her through the twisted crumbling streets, carefully avoiding open spaces and chokepoints. Dust quickly found herself turned around.
As they rounded a corner, Hancock gave her a warning. “We’re almost there. Just don’t make a wrong turn here.” He pointed his thumb down the left fork at the intersection lit up with neon lights. “For some reason, feral dogs love to set up shop there. It seems like every couple of months we have to clear out a bunch of them or they start bothering the caravans.” Dust took a moment to scan the tight alley for eyes reflecting in the dark shadows, but nothing jumped out to snap at their heels.
Hancock waved her into Goodneighbor through a rickety metal door.
“Hey Daisy! Hey KLEO!” The Mayor greeted the two shopkeepers warmly. Dust was surprised to see a decidedly deadly looking robot wave back at him.
“Hey Hancock,” the assaultron purred to the ghoul. “Who’s the newbie?”
Hancock walked over.
“You bringing home strays again?” The other ghoul behind the counter of the other shop chimed in.
“You know how Nora is….we picked Dust here up while we were out in Quincy. Good thing we did! She ended up saving our bacon from a suicider!”
“No shit?” The ghoul smiled. “I think you earned yourself a nice little discount here. We appreciate anyone who helps Hancock make it back with all his pieces attached.”
If it was possible to shrink and fall through the ground, Dust would have welcomed the chance to disappear. Instead, she ended up just shrugging.
An urgent voice behind them took the spotlight off Dust.
“Hancock,” A serious woman walked steadily across the small open square. Whomever she was, her heavy looking metal armor made Dust take a step back. “’Bout time you got back.”
“Fahr! How’s it hangin’?”
“We’ve got a problem,” she stated bluntly. Hancock’s cheery face dropped slightly.
“Back to the grind so soon? I haven’t even had a chance to show our new friend around.”
The woman only glared at him with a dissatisfied grimace. The ghoul shrugged.
“No rest of the wicked, it seems. I’ll catch you later.” Hancock and the woman disappeared inside a large building, leaving Dust alone. She looked around to get her bearings.
“Dust, was it?” The ghoul behind the counter grabbed her attention.
“Your name was…” Dust wasn’t sure who Hancock was referring to when he greeted the shopkeepers.
“Daisy. Goodneighbor isn’t that hard to figure out.” She pointed to the large building across the way. “That’s the Old State House. Basically, that’s Hancock’s pad. You’ll most often find him on the second floor. You can find some place to crash in the attic if you need to. Best of all, there’s a bar in the basement.”
Dust nodded.
“Round the corner, there’s the Memory Den and the Rexford Hotel. Not much else, to be honest, but it’s our own little slice of heaven.”
“Thanks.” On their way to Goodneighbor, she had managed to scavenge a few things. She pulled them out of her pocket. “What can I get for this?” Soon, Dust had a handful of caps. It would be enough to last her a little while as she figured things out.
Dust hurried down the grungy street. It felt strange to be openly welcomed like this. She wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to it.
She found herself under fire from her senses. Every time she stepped past a dark alley, sweet rancid smells wafted over her. Black birds flew above, quickly flitting between broken abandoned apartment windows, cawing when one offended another one in some way. Residents and guards nodded and waved to each other, even occasionally to her.
Daisy was right; there was not much to this town. Was there even enough space for one more, given the mattresses that lined the streets? Could she afford to take up more room?
Dust’s stomach rumbled. The street met a dead end, the outer wall built right in the middle of the road. Next to a few metal shacks was a large cooking pot hung over a fire. A man in rags stirred the thick stew that bubbled inside.
“How much for a bowl?” Dust asked.
“You must be new.” He took the ladle and poured the steaming soup into a cracked but clean bowl. “Sister, this is the community pot.” He handed it over along with a bent spoon. “Doesn’t cost a thing to eat here, though you never know what might get!”
Dust took the food and thanked the man.
This place is weird, she thought to herself. Finding a spot under an awning, she ate. It was an unidentifiable mix, bland but filling.
This place was odd, but so far, it felt safe to be behind guarded walls. Dust decided to give it a few days to see how she felt before making a decision to stay or not.
Chapter 6
Summary:
Dust starts to find her place in her new surroundings.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Photo by Michael Tampakakis from Pexels
Dust spent the rest of the day just studying the citizens roaming the streets of Goodneighbor, trying to get a handle on what the people here were like. She watched friends greeting each other, a jilted man screaming across the street at his old lover and dealers filling their pockets with cap from their plentiful clients. The guards roamed the town with tommy guns at the ready, but for the most part the people seemed to settle things on their own.
As the sun began to fall in the cloudy sky, Dust gave some thought about checking out the bar the ghoul had mentioned earlier, but decided against it. She felt a bit jumpy, her nerves where frayed. She was not in the mood to be inside with a bunch of strangers asking her questions.
Instead, she began to look for an open spot to spend the night. Many of the choicest places on the street, like those under over hangs and awnings, where already taken. Down an alley, she found a spot to sit next to a rusted dumpster. Tucking herself tightly in the corner, she lightly dozed for most of the night, waking whenever she heard a nearby noise.
The dawn was gray and overcast. Persistent sprinkles of rain slowly soaked into Dust’s clothes, sapping away what little body heat she had. Annoyed, she took matters into her own hands. The shape and weight of the metal box fought her attempts to tip the dumpster onto its side. With a bit of sweat, she rocked it repeatedly before it finally fell over with a large echoing bang. After clearing away some garbage inside, Dust found her new little home shielded her from the dreary weather. If she felt like it, she could even tip open the lids like little awning, even if she could not close them all the way. In her mind, she made a short list of improvements to the tiny space should she run across anything useful.
Midmorning, the sky cleared enough that Dust felt the urge to start her day. Wandering over to the community pot, she got herself some breakfast. A group of residents all with their own bowls huddled around a corner radio. Curious, Dust walked over to see what everyone was so interested in.
Galaxy News Radio!
“I hear Kent’s got a new one,” one of the listeners remarked.
The person standing next them playfully jabbed an elbow in their side. “You always think that… and you’re always wrong!”
“Shut up! Turn it up, it’s about to start!”
When evil walks the streets of Boston
One man lurks in the shadows…
Everyone seemed to lean in closer.
Shielding the innocent!
Judging the guilty!
Several of the people mouthed along with the words, completely enraptured.
That guardian is…
The SILVER SHROUD!
Dust studied those around her. They were all listening so intensely, they even forgot to eat, the food in their bowls growing cold. Dust didn’t understand. Next, a deep voice came gasping from the radio.
Jasmine, chamomile, pain... ecstasy. This can only be... The Parlor of Mysteries.
Shoulders dropped and a few listeners turned away.
“Told you. Kent never plays anything new.”
Dust stayed, compelled to continue to listen. A woman seemed to be caring for the deep voiced man before being cornered by an angry crowd. Dust pushed closer to find out if they made their escape, when a song started playing.
“Wait… what?” Dust turned to the man next to her. “That’s it?”
“Yeah, until the next episode ‘round lunch.”
“Episode?” Dust was confused. It must have shown on her face because the man smiled kindly.
“This the first time you’ve listened to a Shroud radio play?”
She nodded. “Radio play?” This guy was looking at her a bit sideways. Dust felt like a dumbass for asking a clearly stupid question.
“You must be from outta town. Kent broadcasts these prewar stories between news and stuff. He’s been a card carrying member of the Silver Shroud fan club for centuries at this point.”
“So… that stuff isn’t-didn’t really happen?”
He shook his head. “Nah, but sometimes it’s fun to think someone out there fucking up bad guys and stuff, ya know?”
Dust didn’t really know what to think, so she just shrugged. She finished her food and, with a nod, she wandered back down the street. She mulled over why everyone seemed so interested in listening to some 200-year-old story, it seemed like a waste of time. However, she had to admit she was curious to hear what happened next.
As she walked into the square with the two shops along the side. Even if the town was relatively safe with the guards roaming around, Dust still felt a bit naked without some kind of weapon on her. An old board or bit of pipe would do in a pinch, but she’d keep her eyes out for something more substantial that wouldn’t fall apart with a good swing. Maybe if she picked up some odd jobs she would be able to gather enough caps to see what the assaultron had in stock.
Luckily enough, Dust noticed the shopkeeper who had helped her with directions the previous day was struggling with something behind the counter. She walked up and tried to get her attention.
“Daisy was it?” Dust put a hand on the counter, leaning over to get a better look at what the ghoul was wrestling with. “You need some help there?”
Daisy looked up from the bent mass of metal. “Hey… yeah. I’m trying to salvage some of these armor pieces from the power armor frame… what’s left of it.” She motioned to the wrench in her hands.
Dust walked around the counter, stepping around a scorched shoulder pad Daisy had managed to get off. The remaining pieces were still bolted tight to the remnants of a broken and twisted frame. It look like someone or something had set it on fire before ripping the metal suit in half at the waist.
Dust pointed to the tools. “Can I try?”
“Be my guest.” Daisy stepped aside. “My guess is the heat from whatever cooked the guy inside melted a lot of the bits together.” She wiped her scarred brow with a rag. “Might not even be worth the scrap after all this trouble.”
Dust took a good hard twist on the wrench. The bolt did not budge. Looking up, she noticed a dingy yellow power armor stand not that far away.
Dust pointed to it. “You tried that thing?” She’d only seen one used once to scrap a dead suit, but she assumed she could figure it out.
Daisy shook her head. “It’s a pain to get a power armor lined up right when it still has legs on it. I had a hell of a time just getting it in the shop as it is. Damn thing’s heavy.”
Daisy manned the counter, supervising Dust’s work between customers. It seemed to fight her with every attempted twist and pry of the tools. Dust found her frustration fueled her determination to rip the thing apart. With Daisy helping when she could, it took Dust until mid-afternoon to get all the various parts off the twisted frame. Covered in a sticky layer of sweat, dirt and grease, Dust smiled as the last panel came off with a satisfying pop.
Coming over, Daisy gave her a grateful thump on her shoulder with one hand and handed her a bottle with the other. “You’re looking like you could use a Nuka.” Realizing that her hand had picked up a coating of grime, she quickly wiped it off on her slacks. “And a bath.”
Dust grabbed her elbow and stretched her aching muscles before opening the soda and taking a satisfying sip. Looking around at the jumble of scrap and tools scattered around the shop floor, Dust smiled, pleased with her work. Even though she was sore all over, her head felt clearer.
Daisy slipped a few caps in her dirty hand. “Clean up the mess, and I might even think of giving you a tip.”
Dust nodded. Soon the tools found themselves dropped back in their boxes and the scrap piled in the back corner, waiting for whatever the ghoul had in mind for them. Daisy was in the middle of haggling with someone, so Dust waited. Laying high up on a shelf, something caught Dust’s eye. She thought she could see a wrapped wooden handle poking out behind a display of cans.
“See something you like?” Daisy asked her.
Dust squinted her eyes. From the angle she was at, she couldn’t quite make it out. “What’s that?” She pointed. Sometimes being short had it’s drawbacks.
The ghoul easily reached up, pulled down a light brown bat and handed over to her. Dust looked the weapon over. It seemed to be only lightly used, the only visible wear on the red leather wrapped handle. She gave it a swing.
“Nice…” Dust grinned at the ease it traveled through the air. She was a little reluctant to hand it back across the counter.
Daisy just waved her off. “Then it’s yours. Consider it your bonus.”
“You sure?”
“You did good work, kid.” She smiled at her. “If you stick around, I might have some more work for you. If you’re up for it.”
Notes:
I think I may put this story on the back burner for a little bit while I focus on Absolute Zero. I find going between the two characters 'voices' really hard at the moment, so I want to try to stick to one, get that finished, then come back here. Angela is much more analytical and uses a much larger (and very different) vocabulary than Dust. I hope that comes through in the style of the writing, but it is very hard to switch between the two of them like I originally had planned. Don't worry, I will be back to finish up Dust's story soon!
Saberwriter on Chapter 2 Mon 03 May 2021 06:13AM UTC
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fuzzyizmit on Chapter 2 Mon 03 May 2021 04:57PM UTC
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