#her leg is a bit wobbly (referencing her seeming walking problems in canon)

[bfb-wc-designs]

barf bag

[chemaddictedghoul]

Chapter two: Parson Gravey of the Minutemen

Word count: 2941

Warnings: violence, slight language

Summary: Concord. It looks fine from afar, until you’re face first in a battle between those strange guys calls raiders and the man in the balcony. Just what Anne needed.

A/N: TWO HOURS I SAT DOWN AND WROTE FOR TWO HOURS IT WAS A STRUGGLE AND MY ASS HURTS FROM SITTING ON THE FLOOR BUT I DID IT. I would like to apologize and just warn From here on out, any dialogue from canon characters is just referenced. Nothing is exact. The “plot” reason is that I want characters to have different conversations and such. Some lines will still be the same. The real reason? My computer crashed when I tried to look up Preston’s dialogue. So nope. Sorry.

While the hike to Concord was short and relatively peaceful, that didn't mean Concord itself was. Case in point, the man that she was caught in a firefight with. He was shouting random things at her as he shot, probably trying to draw her out. Anne kept crouched behind the makeshift shelter, reloading her gun slowly. A bullet flew right by her head, piercing the cement block. Anne yelped, rolling forward. Several of her bullets rolled out of her hands, scattering on the ground.

Anne cursed quietly, pulling the gun close to her. The dog from before was snarling, but he seemed smart enough not  to run headfirst into a barrage of bullets. Anne tightened her grip on the half-loaded rifle, and jumped up. He stopped his shooting, probably not having expected Anne to just jump up. It gave Anne enough time to run forward, shooting at him. If she was gonna die, let it be in some dramatic and heroic way.

But of course she didn't die. She  just shot the man in the arm, and by the time she was close enough to bash his head in with the rifle, the dog had grabbed him and was tearing at his flesh. That was the first time Anne killed a man.

She looked down at his body, laughing quietly. The dog beside her whimpered, bumping into her leg. She reached down and was about to give his head a scratch when there was a voice. "Hey! Up here!"

Anne looked up at the balcony, and standing there was a guy she didn't notice before. She raised her gun, about to shoot, when she noticed his clothing. He wasn't dressed like the guy from before, or any of the other randomly dead bodies, and he had lowered his own gun. Anne did the same and tilted her head. "Yeah?!"

"I got a group of settlers in here! The raiders are almost at the door! Look, grab that laser musket and come help! Please hurry!" He turned around and disappeared inside the building, leaving Anne alone. She hummed and picked it up. The gun emitted a low buzzing sound, but when she tried to shoot it nothing happened. She then noticed the crank at the side. She wound it up and the buzzing got louder. When she fired again, a red laser shot out. She yelped, nearly dropping the gun.

"Well... This seems pretty good." She slung her own rifle around her back using the strap, and wound up the gun until the crank seized. She then picked up the random orbs on the ground, presumably the ammo, and she was ready. "Let's go, boy. To save some random people we go!" She pushed open the door...

And instantly she was being shot at. The only good thing about the situation was the fact that the people shooting at her didn't have the best aim right away. Anne had enough time to duck behind a corner, a bullet hitting right where she had been just a second before. Anne panted, wiping her hands on her jacket. She peaked around the corner and managed to get off a shot before she was forced to hide again. On the plus side, one of the people had disappeared. In their place was a bit of smoke.

"Jesus fucking christ, buddy..." Anne cranked the handle again, and crouched down low. She swallowed and moved around the corner, shooting at the other person. They nearly hit her several times, but none hit. The person flew back, not vaporized or something like the first person. Anne stood up, feeling a cocky grin spread across her face.

And then she felt a bullet burying itself in her leg.

She crumpled to the floor, her "laser musket" going flying out of  her hands. They flew down to her bleeding leg, but it didn't hurt like she expected. It burned though, bad. Anne looked up, gritting her teeth, as a woman walked forward. She was holding a small pistol, aiming right at her head. The woman had a cruel smirk, several scars and burns decorating her face. She looked just about ready to shoot, when she lowered her gun. She then simply stepped over Anne, and walked out of the building.

Anne took one bloody hand away from her leg, and grabbed one of the stimpacks from her pocket. She jabbed it into her leg, and almost instantly that burning sensation went away. Anne pushed herself up, wobbling a bit before she was steady. The dog whimpered, but a quick head pat from Anne had him panting. Anne walked over, picked up the laser musket, and was back in business.

She started jogging, finding a pair of stairs. She climbed them slowly, dropping to a crouch when she heard voices. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but they appeared to be arguing. No matter. Anne cranked the handle until it stopped moving, and jumped up. The furthest guy barely had time to let out a warning before Anne shot him. The other guy whipped around, and Anne bashed him multiple times in the head with her gun. He crumpled to the ground, leaving the two of them in silence. Anne reached down, grabbing up all his ammo before they started moving again. The dog gave a tiny bark, licking her hand.

They dropped to a crouch when they heard a banging on the door. Anne cranked her rifle again, not even trying to hear what they were saying. She moved a little ways ahead, pushing open the nearest unlocked door before she shot at both of them. This time, one of them managed to get a single bullet off before she fell. Anne walked forward, lowering her gun. The locked door clicked, and it swung open.

Inside the room were around five people. There was a guy hunched over a computer, an old lady sitting on a couch, a woman pacing about, and a man sitting on the floor holding his head. And then there was the guy from the balcony. He was wearing a tanned coat and a hat, pinned at the side. He gave her a friendly smile, which she felt damn near obligated to return.

"Man, I don't know who you are, but your timing is impeccable," He said. "Preston Garvey of the Commonwealth Minutemen."

"Glad I could help." Anne reached down and scratched the dog's ears, keeping eye contact with Preston.

"Well if you really mean that, then we could still use your help. I--"

"I don't need all the details. Just... tell me what you want me to do. I'm in a helpful mood." Anne played it off like she was joking, but for some reason Preston seemed like the person who would lay out his whole life story the second somebody accidentally bumped him in the halls. Or maybe she was just that bad at judging people.

"Well, there's more raiders out there, and if you really do mean that... We could use your help clearing them out. But we have an idea. Sturges? Tell her." He nodded at the man at the computer, who spun around.

"There's a crashed vertibird up on the roof. Minigun's still attached. There's also a suit of power armor still up there. If you could get into that power armor, then you could rip that minigun off and use it."

"I like it." Ever since Nate told her what power armor was like, Anne had been dying to wear some. She grinned, when a sudden wave of sadness hit her. She blinked rapidly, pushing it away. Who cares? She was going to get to use power armor!

"I knew you would... Only problem is the power armor is dead. And that's where you come in." He drummed his fingers on his leg. Preston stepped in.

"What you would need is an old pre-war fusion core. And lucky for you, there's one right below up. We would've gotten it ourselves, but we couldn't get through. Do you think you can do it?"

"I know I can. I'll be using that suit of armor before you know  it!" Anne stretched, before she gave the dog another scratch. "Wait for me in here boy, okay? Don't want you getting hurt on accident. I'll be right back." Anne stood up straight, walking forward. The old lady lifted her head, about to call at her, but Anne ignored her. She had to focus right now. Really, it was because the thought of using power armor was making her sad.

Nate always talked about it. It was probably one of his only pleasnt memories from that time. Anne shook her head and bit her lip, walking out of the room. From there, all she had to do was trace her steps back and she arrived at the locked door. She looked at the box of bobby pins beside her, grabbing them up. There were five in there. Five chances. Anne walked over to the door and knelt down to be eye level with the lock, inserting  the bobby pins.

While she ended up breaking the first one, the second one gave a satisfying click and the door swung open. From there, all she had to do was pull out the fusion core and she was on her way. The lights flickered on and off before they went dark, but that was fine.

She walked back up the stairs, back to the room, and then to the door up to the roof. Anne pushed it open and walked up. Sitting there, rusted and missing several parts, was a suit of power armor.

She stepped forward slowly, walking to the back of it. She pushed in the fusion core, pushing until there was a loud click. She backed away slowly and looked at it. It was ready. She had to strain to hear, but there was quite a lot of yelling. There were more of those people, more of those "raiders". Anne swallowed and grabbed the hatch of the power armor, twisting it until it opened. She then grabbed the handles on the inside, and stepped in. she slid her arms into the holes, feeling it close around her. She took one last deep breath before the hatch shut down behind her, and she was in.

The whole world was tinted yellow,  a large compass flashing at the bottom of her view. She walked in a circle, watching the compass change. She giggled quietly, and then yelped. She could hear her own voice, and it sounded weird. She walked forward, a large thud echoing. She walked up onto the vertibird, holding her breath. But it didn't fall, and she was safe.

Anne walked over to the minigun, wrapping her hands around it. Despite it being like some crazy suit of armor (it's in the name, after all), she still had some good mobility with her hand. She leaned back and the minigun ripped up pretty easily. That's when she noticed a man standing in the building across from her. He was pointing at her and yelling.

He didn't stand up long to the minigun. She then ran forward, and jumped up. She didn't make the jump, missing by a long shot. She plummeted towards the ground, screaming in terror. This was it she was going to die she was going to die she was going--

But she hit the ground with an earth-shattering thud, actually breaking the street. Even better, she didn't hurt at all. At least not physically. She had no time to worry though, as several raiders were shooting at her. She hardly felt anything, just heard the soft tings of bullets hitting her. She just raised her minigun and shot at them, people falling to the ground before her.

Pretty soon, there were almost no raiders left. Just the occasional straggler trying to get away from her wrath. Anne was about to turn back to find Preston, when the ground started to shake. Earthquakes? Here? That can't be happening, can it?

Luckily, it wasn't an earthquake. Unluckily, the sewer grate was starting to open. A large scaled hand burst forward, digging claws into the ground as the thing pulled itself up. A reptilian head emerged, followed by the rest of it's monsterous body. It was a dull green, looking almost grey in the light. Anne just stood in amazement as it walked forward. Was it friendly?

"HOLY SHIT, DEATHCLAW!"

Oh.

It wasn't.

Anne barely had time to start backing away when the deathclaw started charging after her. Anne tightened her already iron grip on the minigun, and started shooting.

The deathclaw was barely deterred by the bullets, shaking its head as it lunged forward. Anne stopped backing away, digging her feet into the ground to brace herself for the impact. She didn't even realize she was screaming at the thing until her throat started to hurt. Just as the beast was upon her, gaping maw prepared to bite her, all its limbs stopped working.

It tumbled over itself, flying past her. The deathclaw hit one of the cars, and there was a moment of blissful silence before the car exploded. Anne was just far enough away to not get hit by the shockwave or the flames, so she could admire the sight. The deathclaw was launched a few feet into the air by the explosion, the scaly body catching on fire. It hit the ground and rolled a bit ways away, burning quietly. Anne shrugged and started to walk away.

She wanted to start screaming again, but it probably wouldn't be smart to lose her composure right now. She could do that later, when she was alone.

She opened the door to the museum, the small group she had rescued sitting around what looked like a small fire. Anne pushed a button in one of the gloves, and the hatch on the back of the power armor opened. She jumped out and coughed loudly, closing up the power armor. The dog from before came running up to her, jumping on his back legs and throwing his front paws on her. Anne laughed and scratched his neck before she walked over to Preston. He watched her approach with wide eyes.

"Wow. That was an... impressive display. I'm glad you're on our side," He said, smiling again. She laughed, running a hand through her hair. It felt greasy and dirty now. Like a true wasteland hero.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Like I said, I was happy to help."

"Well you can't have too many friends... Here, listen. I know you just said you were happy to help but... please. take this. It's not much, but it's what we can afford." He handed her a bag full of some clinking metal, as well as a large pouch of the ammo the laser musket used. Anne smiled, and pocketed it.

"Thank you."

"Hey, listen. I get it if you don't wanna help, but... We could use your help again. Getting set up. We found a new place to head to. It's called Sanctuary. Could you maybe come back with us, help us set up?"

Anne hummed, and shrugged. "Alright Garvey. I'll help. But in a bit. I need to do something before I can help." She smiled again, and slung the laser musket around her. The straps choked her a bit, until she adjusted them. She was about to turn around, when that old lady called out.

"You're a woman outta time, but ya still got hope, don't ya?"

"Excuse me?"

"You're energy. I can feel it, kid. You're searching for something, ain't ya?"

"Y-Yes, I am. My son." Anne turned to face her, tilting her head. "Why? How did you know?"

"It's the Sight, kid. The chems give me the sight."

"W-Wait... Can you h-help me?" Anne knelt down to "get eye level" with her. Really, she felt like her legs couldn't support her body any more. The old lady shook her head.

"I'm too tired... but I don't need the Sight to tell ya where you should start looking... Diamond City... The great green jewel of the commonwealth." She leaned back. "If you could bring me some chems later, maybe I could tell you more."

"Thanks... thank you." Anne looked at Preston, who was shaking his head. He started to berate her about chems. What were chems, anyways? Probably drugs. She was about to start walking away, when the dog nudged her hand. She sighed, and rubbed his head.

"Why don't you go along with them, okay? Protect them!" She knelt down and smiled at him, and he licked her chin with a slight whine. But he walked over to the group, and sat down beside the old lady. Anne got up and walked out of the building without getting back into her power armor. That was a one-time deal.

She walked a little ways away, before she pulled up the map on her pipboy. Everything looked... completely different. Like it got an upgrade or something. Anne shuddered, and scrolled a bit. And then, there it was. In bolded text. "Diamond City."

Anne clicked a button, setting a marker to there. Then she exited out of the map, and looked down at her pipboy. A compass had appeared, pointing her towards Diamond City. She smiled, and began to walk. Two guns on her back and all alone.

Maybe the place wasn't so bad. What was it that old lady called Diamond City? The great green jewel of the... Commonwealth. So this place was called the Commonwealth...

Yeah. Maybe the Commonwealth wasn't so bad.