A heavy morning fog greeted them the next morning, making visibility almost nil. Nora decided to delay their departure for an hour, hoping it would lift. While it did thin out just a bit, visibility was still extremely poor. Finally she gave up on the waiting and started them off. Anyone who saw them would have to think there was something off about the party. Two attractive women in combat armor, actual prewar weapons in hand, large packs on their backs.  A pair of dogs, one living, one a robot, acting much the same as they forged out to the front and sides to check everything out. And three robots floating in the air behind them, two of them looking like overlarge eyebots, the third a Mr. Handy.

 

Nora was loaded down with everything she needed to barter and perform minor repairs that the farmers might need. She had nine hundred caps packed away, most of what they had found in Sanctuary, Concord and the Red Rocket. And Barb had an absolute talent for spotting things along the way. Caps, stimpaks, ammunition, if it wasn’t buried in the ground she found it. They passed by a tall water tower about an hour into the walk, probably the one that had served Concord with its water, and possibly Sanctuary as well. That brought thoughts of putting it to use, but she would have to wait on that.

 

There were a couple of houses along the way, one with signs of occupancy. From the discarded Jet inhalers and empty beer bottles she would have guessed Raiders, but there was no sign of them having been here recently. They took everything of value from the houses, packing bottles, cans and other junk into the Wilson robot. When it was full she would send it back to Sanctuary. Within an hour it would be back for another load. The other bot was filled with items she needed for this mission, including extra ammunition, food and cans of water. A hundred pounds of stuff, enough to weigh her and Barb down to the point of exhaustion if added to what they already had on them.

 

Barb pointed out more herbs on the way, as well as wild vegetables that could be domesticated over time. They came across another form of inimical insect, Stingwings. Barb had difficulty hitting the fast moving insects, but Nora and VATS had no trouble at all, as long as she engaged at a distance before they got close enough to overwhelm.

 

Just before they got to Abernathy the fog lifted, revealing a wooded landscape that the original settlers would have felt at home in. The vegetation had definitely recovered, though Barb was quick to point out that it wasn’t true everyplace in the Commonwealth.

 

“The Abernathies have been farming out here for generations,” said Barb as they caught sight of the line of towers that had carried power into Boston prior to the war. “Connie always has something for sale. But I wouldn’t want to live in such an exposed place out here.”

 

Then maybe we can talk them into a mutual assistance pact, thought Nora. Preston had broached the idea to her just the other day. If the settlements could attract people, build defenses, and assist each other, they might prove too much for the Raiders to fuck with. She had to admit, though the man didn’t have any formal military education, her knew his strategies and small unit tactics. Enough to take over the Minutemen? She hoped.

 

The farm itself was a singular building, a rough shack built among the girders of the tower. Some people were working in the fields to the front of the farm. Tatos, Nora thought they were called, a cross of the potato plant and the tomato. Very hardy and a rad sponge when eaten.

 

“Hold it right there, stranger,” said a tall and very dirty man, coming to the edge of the farm with a pipe pistol in hand. “We don’t want no trouble, but be warned. We are armed.”

 

A middle aged woman moved to the side of her man, a shotgun in hand, while a young woman took up a position at the front of the shack.

 

“We’re peaceful,” said Nora, keeping her weapon pointed down. “I'm with the Minutemen.”

 

“I didn’t think you fellows were still around. I’m Blake Abernathy. This is my wife, Connie, and our daughter Lucy is at the front of the house. Welcome. And I sure didn’t know you fellows were still around.”

 

“I think they’re women, dear,” said Connie with a laugh.

 

“I know that,” said Blake with a frown. His eyes locked on Nora, then moved to Barb. “And very pretty ladies at that.”

 

From the look Connie gave her man she hadn’t liked that last comment, and Nora thought she should say something to distract her. “Preston Garvey is reorganizing the Minutemen. We’re setting up in Sanctuary Hills.”

 

“I wish you had been around a couple of months ago,” said Blake, looking down at the ground. “If you ever decide to farm, be aware that you have to constantly be on watch. Why grow food when you can take it from hard working people at gunpoint.”

 

“Having trouble with Raiders?”

 

“They killed my oldest daughter a couple of months ago,” said Connie, a far away look in her eyes. “She tried to get in their way and they gunned her down like a dog.”

 

“I am so sorry. I know what it’s like to lose a child.”

 

“Sorry to hear that, uh.”

 

“Nora. Nora Jane Adams.”

 

“Sorry to hear that, Nora. No parent should have to bury a child. So, are you from around here?”

 

“Look at her Pip-Boy, honey,” said Connie. “She’s from a Vault.”

 

“Are you?” asked Blake, looking at her with new suspicion in his eyes.

 

“Vault one eleven, on the other side of Sanctuary Hills,” she admitted, letting out a sigh.

 

“Any others of you coming out of there?”

 

“I, I was the only survivor. We were all in cryo, frozen sleep, and everyone else died before they could wake.”

 

“That’s horrible,” exclaimed Connie.

 

“Frozen, huh. So when did you all go in?”

 

“Right when the bombs were dropping.”

 

“You’re from before the war. Sorry you had to see the world like it is now.”

 

“Do you have anything I can help with. I have a Handy robot who can perform repairs.”

 

“Our well pump is just about to go down,” said Blake, looking over at the hand pump.

 

Nora entered some commands into her Pip-Boy and the Handy floated over, performed a diagnostic on the pump, then deployed a cutting torch.

 

“Thank you. But if you really want to help, you could get Mary’s locket back. The bastards took it from her body, and it’s been in Connie’s family for generations.”

 

“Do you know where they went?”

 

“I think so. They mentioned Olivia. That old USAF station to the north of Concord. But I would be careful. No telling how many of them are up there.”

 

“I’ve got business in that direction, Blake. I’ll swing by and take a look. If I think I can take them, I’ll do it.”

 

“Nora was a warrior before she went into cold sleep,” said Barb proudly. “I’ve never seen anyone who could move so quietly, or shoot so well.”

 

“So what were you doing when the bombs fell,” said Blake in an accusatory tone.

 

“I had retired after having a baby. My husband was back from Anchorage with a severe case of PTSD. He was an infantry officer, in power armor.”

 

“And you?”

 

“I was a fighter pilot. I learned how to hunt from my granddad. In fact, I think we took some game right here, two hundred odd years ago.”

 

“Imagine that,” said Connie. “Well, do you want to trade.”

 

“I’m looking for seeds, so we can start growing crops in our settlement. We have a few melons, gourds and a couple stalks of corn starting up. But I could sure use more.”

 

Connie gave them a discount, and she walked away with a couple of hundred seeds for forty caps. She asked about the workbench and chemistry station that sat on the farm. The Abernathy’s had no idea where they had come from. Only that they had always been here, and that they couldn’t make heads not tails of them.

 

She said her goodbyes and started off for Gorsky’s cabin. Immediately out of the farm Nora found a small herd of radstags. She took down six of them with her rifle before the others fled out of range, then started back to the farm to let them know they had a largess of meat waiting for them. Connie refunded her caps with thanks, and everyone was happy.

 

*     *     *

 

They walked the eight miles to Gorsky’s in three hours, alert for anything that might attack. Blake had warned them of ghouls at the cabin. Nora wasn’t sure what she was facing, but Barb seemed to show some anxiety at the mention of the creatures.

 

“Watch out for them, Nora,” she told the Sole Survivor as they walked. “They’ll shamble along, slow as a cripple. Then suddenly they’re on you. They hit like a supermutant, and will pull your down with numbers.”

 

“So you think we should avoid the cabin?”

 

“It might be a good idea. But knowing you, you’ll want what Gorsky had on his computer. So we need to go in slow and careful, and make sure we take care of any ghouls that might get in behind us.”

 

That sounded like a sensible plan to Nora. They passed several houses along the way, exploring them for loot. One had a pair of Raider women who were surprised that they had unexpected guests. They went down easily, and Nora packed up some lighters, cigarettes, bottles, even some beer, as well as a couple of pipe pistols and the always welcome ammo. Another cabin had a pair of sleeping ghouls that they spotted through the ruined walls. A couple of head shots and she had access to a safe. It took a trio of broken bobby pins, but the safe contained a couple of copper bars, a .357 pistol, and some technical manuals dealing with some of the more common vehicles from her time. She might not be repairing any of those, but it would help her in salvaging those vehicles when she was able.

 

Gorsky’s cabin seemed to be ghoul central. Nora took out all she could see at a distance, which attracted even more of them. They did remind her of the zombies of bad horror flicks, moving slow and clumsy as they tried to orient on the invaders. Her and Barb took more down, while the dogs moved in to drag some down and make them easy targets. As they got close to the cabin a couple of ghouls came out of the woods, moving at full speed. Nora got one in the head, but the second closed with her too fast to handle and swung a hard hand into her helmet, knocking her to the ground. Dogmeat jumped on the creature's back, and Nora, head spinning, pulled her .45 and shot it in chest. Two more shots and it went down, letting her know that anything other than a head shot was wasted ammo.

 

There was another ghoul in the house, sleeping. Nora decided they were like cats, though not as cute, sleeping through the day when there was nothing to catch their attention. She took out the ghoul with a shot from her pistol, then looked over the cabin. There were some odds and ends, but nothing that paid her for the trip. Then she found the hatch leading down to the basement.

 

As soon as she was down the Pip-Boy Geiger started to go wild. She knew she needed to get whatever was handy and get out. Working her way down a hall, the counter showing more rads the farther she penetrated, she came to a locked door. What she came for had to be in there, and she took a radaway, then some water, before clicking the lock open.

 

“What the fuck,” she exclaimed as a bloated, glowing ghoul turned her way and started forward. She emptied an entire magazine into it from the rifle, cursing herself a moment later for wasting so much ammo. But it was now dead, and the treasures of the basement were hers. Including pieces of a homemade nuclear weapon and a number of technical manuals. And, sitting on a table, an M79 grenade launcher. With a couple of dozen forty millimeter grenades stacked next to it.

 

Nora shoved the weapon and ammo into her bag, then the pieces of the nuke into a lead box sitting next to it. The computer had Wayne Gorsky’s Manifesto, stating how he knew the power lines were affecting his mind, and his plan to get back at the government. There was nothing else on the computer, but the dozen or so holo tapes on the desk went into her bag for later perusal.

 

She started feeling sick when she went up the ladder to the cabin. Her stomach emptied on the floor of the cabin as a concerned Barb came rushing to her side.

 

“Eat these,” said Barb, pushing some colored pills into Nora’s hand. She chewed them up and swallowed, and immediately started to feel better.

 

“You need to watch your rads, honey. Now, was it worth it.”

 

“I think so. I got a grenade launcher and a nuke, along with a bunch of tapes to look over later. Give me a couple of minutes to rest and we’ll be on our way. I want to go back by Concord and see if anything has developed there.”

 

They took out some more Raiders, the stupid bitches without enough sense to use any kind of tactics. The two tattooed woman ran at them with baseball bats, and Nora and Barb calmly took them down with their pistols. They spotted her first Supermutants a half mile down the road. They were large, frightening, and even more stupid than the Raiders. The one with the minigun stood out in the open and pounded on his chest with his free hand, as if challenging Nora to shoot him. Nora obliged, and a long burst of 5.56mm to the head put him down. The minigun clattered away, and the other Supermutant scrambled to get it. To take a long burst of 10mm into his head from Barb’s Mac 11.

 

Nora inspected the minigun, which, though in poor shape was still serviceable. She took a moment to pull the barrel assembly and the feed mechanism from it, along with the trigger, leaving behind the heavy outer casing. Those parts and the five millimeter ammo went into Wilson, taking up about half his space, if not his weight allowance.

 

“I think we need to get back to Sanctuary,” said Barb, anxiously looking over their surroundings.

 

It was starting to get dark, and Nora didn’t want to be out on the road at night. Unless they could find someplace to sleep, though she preferred her own bed and a warm body next to her. Gunshots in the near distance, along with people yelling, changed everything. She took off toward the sound, alert, the dogs running just ahead. To see a woman with a pair of Brahman in a firefight with a pair of Raiders. Nora found a good angle and took the two men out, then cautiously approached the woman that she took to be a trader. A man in leather armor lay dead next to one of the brahman, what Nora thought must have been her one caravan guard.

 

“Well,” said the sad faced woman, her weapon lowered as she took in the arms and armor of the newcomers, as well as the robots that accompanied them. “Here to trade, rob me, or just ask direction to Diamond City.”

 

“Just looking for love, sweetheart.”

 

“Well, you’ve really come to the wrong place. My loving days are far behind me.”

 

“You mentioned Diamond City.”

 

“Just head to the river and cross. When you see the lights you’re almost there. Now, how about some trading. And I’d be interested to know where you got those bots.”

 

“I found the robodog in a bunker, and my own bots and some tech manuals helped my Tinkerer put together to cargo bots.”

 

“Nice. Well, I’m Carla. And what do you need? I got a little bit of everything.”

 

“You don’t happen to have some Stealth-boys.”

 

“I sure do. Three of them. Not many in the market for the expensive little buggers.”

 

“How much?”

 

“Three hundred caps, each.”

 

Nora whistled. That would just about break her. But she really needed them, until she learned how to make them on her own. With three of them she could stealth Wilson and have two cargo bots with her, giving her two hundred pounds of immediate carry weight as well as the shuttle ability of Wilson. And best of all, not making her expensive bots easily taken down targets. “How about a discount. You know, for saving your ass. Then you can follow us to Sanctuary Hills and have a secure place to set up.”

 

“Okay. Two hundred each for the Stealth-boys. And I’ll take you up on the setup. I could do with a break from the road.”

 

Nora was sure that the settlers could do with access to some luxuries. She wasn’t sure what the junk merchant had, but with two heavily burdened brahman she had to have something of interest. In fact, she didn’t know how the big two headed cows could handle burdens like they were carrying. But they seemed placid enough, calm and obedient.

 

It took three hours to get to Sanctuary with the two brahman. There were lights ahead, and she thought the robots had handled their tasks for the day. The center of the suburb now had working streetlights. Attracting attention, but also giving the settlers some comfort at night.

 

“How did it go,” said Preston, coming up to her, then doing a double take at the two oversized, overburdened cows. “And I see you got us a trader.”

 

“For as long as she wants. And I was able to procure a bunch of seeds. Tatos, melons and gourds. I would like to clear a couple of acres for farmland and get them into the ground.”

 

“Good thing you got them,” said Garvey. “Three people came in while you were gone, following the beacon. A young couple and an older gentleman. From what they said, they had a rough time of it on the road and were happy to find us.”

 

“No chance that they’re Raiders?”

 

“I doubt it. They don’t give me that vibe. The older man actually reads books, which I’ve never heard of a Raider doing. So we’re growing.”

 

That was good news. The more people they had, at least if they could support them, the harder they would be to take out. What she really wanted was fifty to a hundred people living here. It might take some time to get there, but she thought it would happen.

 

“The Abernathy’s wanted me to get a locket back from the Raiders that had killed their daughter. I think they might be on board if I can do that.”

 

“Don’t forget about Ten Pines Bluff,” said the Minuteman. “They should be your priority.”

 

“I say what my priority is,” she told the man. “I’ll get to it, right after I clear out Olivia.”

 

She reached into her backpack and pulled out the grenade launcher. “And now I’ve got some additional firepower.”

 

“Is that a prewar grenade launcher? Nice.”

 

“I have two dozen rounds, but I think I’m going to need more. And I have the Stealth-boys to equip three bots. So I want Sturgis to get on them as soon as he’s up. The faster he can get the Stealth-boys installed, the sooner I can get on the road to Ten Pines. And after that, I’m heading to Malden.”

 

“I think that’s a mistake, but it’s your call.”

 

As usual, Barb was just what she needed that night. She woke in the morning with a smile on her face to find Sturgis busy installing the Stealth-boys into the robots, including a brand-new cargo bot that her newly made Handy had run off. She spent the day going over the tech schematics she had brought from Gorsky’s cabin, and discovered a particularly useful holo-tape for use on the road.

 

The Wasteland Codex was a tape recorded by a Knight of the Brotherhood of Steel who had a particular interest in the history of the Wasteland. The man had commentaries on just about everything of interest, and the holo-tape would play the entry that corresponded to her most recent discovery. The other tapes gave her more schematics, including how to build a resource station and several other useful benches. And she felt that she had learned more during the night, her brain unlocking new information about weapons, armor and science that had been contained in her Pip-boy. She still wasn’t sure how it worked, only that it did, and she kept growing in her abilities. Nora wasn’t going to question it. The more she knew, the better she could equip herself and use that equipment. In fact, she thought she might see if she could improve her weapons and armor before hitting the road again. And make herself some more 40mm so she wouldn't be carrying around a useless weapon after a couple of intense firefights.

 

Another day, buying from Carla, spending some time with the new people to get to know them, another rested night. She was happy to welcome Ben and Stacy, who had been farmers, and Conrad, who had been a chemist in his younger years. Skills they needed, and she was sure they would inch closer to becoming a self-sufficient settlement. She set the programing of her construction bots to clear out some more wrecked houses, then build a couple of more. One would be a factory, a place to put the workstations for her people to produce items. The other was a heavily walled resource storage station where she could store weapons and equipment, including the power armor she would improve over time.

 

She was up before the dawn, packed and ready to go. Her and Barb had sleeping bags and a small tent. This time she would be out for several days, maybe longer, depending on Barb’s instincts to find secure places to stay the night.

 

“Let’s go kill some Raiders,” she told her partner as they headed across the bridge and off the Sanctuary Hills island.