Next morning Nora set up a terminal with instructions on it, then set a letter on the desk to let new settlers know what they needed to do. The Recruitment Beacon was powered up and running, but there was no telling when the first resident would arrive. First thing they ran into the on the road was the Lonely Chapel. The small church appeared over the hill they were walking up. And as soon as they saw it they were under fire.

 

Nora went to a knee and started flashing hand signals to her people. Barb to the left, Dogmeat along with her. Heather to the right with Dewey. While Nora went up the middle and drew fire. From the sound of the weapons they were using pipe rifles, which wouldn’t have the power to do much to her armor.

 

Rounds pinged off her armor and Nora was tempted to send a grenade into the church through a window. The scream of a young child halted that motion, and she ran at full speed to the entrance to the chapel, arriving just as Barb and Heather moved into position to cover her.

 

Nora went through the door, rifle at the ready, shooting one of the Raiders through the head, then pivoting to put a quick burst into the chest of the other. As soon as she killed them she regretted it. They had left this life too easy, she thought, as she looked at the several small bodies burning in the fire, and the one fresh one laying on the bed, her clothes ripped off. The girl’s genitals were red and swollen, and a large dildo lay next to her. Recording equipment was set up, and it was obvious to Nora what had been going on.

 

She exited her armor and stood over the child, tears coming to her eyes. “They were making snuff porn, just like Big Al,” she told her followers as they walked in and stared with open mouths. “Motherfuckers.”

 

“You want us to strip them?”

 

“Take their weapons and ammo, and nothing else.” Nora climbed back into her armor, then hoisted one of the bodies into the air and position the man with his ass facing out. She had snapped off the one of the legs of the camera, and now used the strength of her suit to push its pointed end thought his ass and into a wooden wall, pinning him there. She did the same to the woman, only jamming the pinion through the bitch’s pussy.

 

“Take some blood and write on that wall. Death to Child Pornographers.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” said Barb in a hushed voice.

 

Nora threw some more wood on the fire, then gently laid the child’s body in the flames, making sure the bodies of the rest were arranged for full incineration. Barb had finished the sign in record time. It wasn’t elegant script, but it was legible enough.

 

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” said Nora, her voice cracking in a sob. “I’m going to kill every one of these assholes. Slow, if possible. Now let’s go say hello to Red.”

 

A couple of more miles, another hill, and they were looking down on a Raider camp, cobbled together shacks and walkways running over the cargo boxes that had ridden on trucks. Nora was ready to burn the whole place, down, but said some calming mantras. The Alliance needed every resource she could find. She picked out several turrets and thought of the gears she could get from them, then a Protectron and a Handy, or maybe a Gutsy, and considered the high-quality circuit boards she could, with luck, salvage from them. They needed all of those parts. The Handies and Constructons they were currently building were mostly Stupid Version 1.0. With the better boards they could be programed with a better AI that would allow them to operate without someone holding their mechanical hands.

 

“Barb. Take down everything to the right. Heather, the left. I’m going to take out any concentrations with the GL. If you can get to the turrets take them, but try to control your fire so we have more parts. Let’s get to it.”

 

Barb immediately took a Raider on a walkway under fire, dropping her dead body over the side. Heather ashed another in a watch tower. While Nora dropped a grenade into the only cluster of Raiders, relaxing in one of the shacks. When the round went off their bodies were relaxing against the side of the shack, slack in death.

 

“Motherfuckers,” screamed a woman, running up a ramp so she could get at the invaders, waving a Ripper. The hand held chain saw might have been deadly at close quarters, but it wasn’t the weapon of choice to charge people with good quality weapons. Barb hit her with a burst at the same time as Heather burned off an arm, and the woman fell dead with a quick death rattle.

 

“I guess your mother fucked you brother to get an inbred moron like you,” said Nora, kneeling to pull the Ripper of the woman’s arm. The turrets and robots were surprisingly easy to kill, and yielded up some valuable parts.

 

“Any of these people look like Red to you?” she asked her people.

 

“Red’s the big boss, so she’s probably in the stockpile, underground.”

 

“Of course she is, Heather,” said Nora, feeling stupid. “So let’s go crash the party.”

 

Nora hacked into the terminal and opened the door, while Barb and Heather looted everything in the outer office. The inside was dimly lit and filled with trash, just like everything else in the Wasteland. That surprised Nora, since the site had been run by the Feds and was well sheltered from blast effects. She figured the Raiders could ruin a wet dream, and everything they touched was trash. They started running into supplies almost immediately. Food, water, packs of energy cells, even liquor. No ammunition, which surprised her, but she figured it might be further in. The shelves were about three quarters empty, by they had been designed to hold a large amount of supplies, and even a quarter left was quite a bit. And the stockpile stretched ahead, more and more shelves lining the walls into the distance.

 

“We’re probably going to be sending settlers in here for weeks to strip this place,” said Barb. “You might want to build a secure facility to store all of this.”

 

“I’m going to build just that at Sanctuary Hills, and assign someone to keep track of everything. If a settlement has a need, we’ll stick it in the QESS for them to access it. And we’ll do the same with the surplus from the settlements.”

 

“Thought I heard something out here,” said a man, stepping into the light with shotgun in hand, another male beside him. “Shit,” he screamed as Nora ran her suit at them.

 

The shotgun spoke, but the pellets bounced harmlessly off the carbon armor of the Recon suit, and the mass and momentum bowled the two Raiders over.

 

“Where’s Red Tourette,” she growled at the man with the shotgun, nursing a broken arm as he looked up in fear. “I asked where Red is? And whose idea was using those children to make snuff flicks?”

 

“That was Red’s idea,” said the man. “I told her it was a bad idea, but she wouldn’t listen.”

 

“You lucked out, because I believe you,” said Nora, putting a single shot from her suppressed rifle through his head. “Now how about you? Help a sister out and tell me where Red is?”

 

“You promise not to kill me?”

 

“No. But I’ll promise you an easier end than any of those kids. Now tell me.”

 

“She's straight ahead. Keep going and you can’t miss her. I..”

 

The rifle phutted and a mist of red surrounded the man’s head as he dropped to the floor.

 

“Are you okay, Nora?” asked Heather, coming up and looking like she wasn’t sure what to do with a friend in power armor. She definitely couldn’t hug her. “You sound so damned angry, and I’m afraid you are just making new nightmares for yourself.”

 

“Maybe I am. But I want to be Red Tourette’s worst nightmare, and I’ll work on calming down after I leave her rotting corpse on the floor.”

 

Nora stormed forward, stopping herself from screaming Red’s name. She really didn’t care about stealth, but she did care about turrets and mines, and kept a close lookout, activating her VATS sensors periodically to scan for threats.

 

Barb spotted the ambush, sending a stream of fire into the first Raider she spotted, then ducking down as the other three fired. Everyone made it to cover, even Nora ducking down, trying to keep her temper from leading her into disaster. A couple of shots with the grenade launcher and the three Raiders were gone.

 

“A big woman in that power armor,” came a harsh female voice from ahead. “And a coward. Face me without that armor if you want to prove what a hero you are.”

 

“And you are a sorry bitch who takes her anger out on children. Children. What kind of animal does that?”

 

“The little shits were nothing to me. They were settler kids, who were stupid enough to run away from their families. And so they became actors in my productions. About the only use they could possibly be.”

 

“They were children. They weren’t supposed to be of use. They were supposed to be sheltered, educated, allowed to play, so they would grow up to be useful. Unlike you and your people, who are just a blight on the Commonwealth.”

 

“Oh, go fuck yourself, you coward.”

 

“Then come out and face me. I’ll get out of my power armor and face you without firearms. Would that be good enough for you?”

 

“And how am I supposed to believe you.”

 

“Eject,” said Nora, and the suit opened up. She climbed out as her people protested. “I’m out. Now show yourself.”

 

“And let your people shoot me down. No thanks.”

 

“Then I’ll come to you. Let me pass you barrier.”

 

“Nora,” shouted Heather, eyes wide as Barb stood there and shook her head. “Don’t. She won’t play you fair.”

 

“Of course you can trust me, Nora. So, you are the one who has been taking down the gangs. How special, for a Vault dweller to actually be worth a shit. And it will elevate me with the gangs to kill you hand to hand. You won’t stand a chance, you soft little Vault dweller.”

 

“I’ve got to do this guys.”

 

“No. What happens if you die?”

 

“Then I want you to kill her. As painfully as possible.”

 

“I’m coming through,” said Nora, picking her way past the mines and the turret, then climbing up the stairs.

 

“Stay right there, and keep your hands where I can see them.”

 

“What you going to do, Red?” said Nora in a steady voice, staring into the dead eyes of Tourette. “Did you lie to me?”

 

“No. I want to kill you with my own hands. But I want this to be fair. So get out of that armor. It looks tough enough to stop a bullet.”

 

“Sure.” Nora unbuckled and dropped her pistol belt, the unbuckled her strap on armor. Finally climbing out of her nano-suit and standing in front of the Raider Boss in just her underwear.

 

“You are a pretty woman,” said Red, her eyes roaming over Nora’s body. “If you weren’t so dangerous I would keep you as a slave and let you service me every day.”

 

“You couldn’t handle sex with me, Red. Look at you. You’re a dried-up prune, just like your sister, Lilly. I was surprised to read that Tower Tom dropped her into the brewing vat so she could ferment his beer.”

 

Red was actually a good-looking woman. Or would have been, if not for the perpetual scowl on her face.

 

“What do you know about Lilly?” screeched Red, her rifle aiming in on Nora.

 

“I read about her on Tower Tom’s terminal at the brewery. He killed her. By accident it seems, but he wanted to continue to play you for the fool and get food from you. So just think about it, you fed your sister’s murderer.”

 

“Keep her covered,” Red told her henchman, then put her rifle down on an old desk. She picked up a wire wrapped baseball bat and took a swing, then advanced on Nora.

 

“I’m going to fuck you up, little Vault dweller. You will be begging me for mercy before I put you down.”

 

“Bring it.”

 

Red screamed and ran forward. She was fast, and she aimed a swing at Nora’s body, obviously wanting to punish her. To prolong the torture. Only Nora was no longer in the way of the bat. She dodge away, then circled around Red, aware of where the henchman was. With a quick step she slid toward him, her right leg cocking into her side and striking out, hitting him right in the rifle and driving him off his feet to fall to the floor. Nora dodged away from Red and slid to the side of the henchman, striking him in the throat with a knife hand, leaving him to choke his life out.

 

Red came running at her, bringing the bat down in a blow intended to hit Nora in the head. She was scared now, facing someone fighting like she had never seen anyone do before. Nora jumped away, rolling in the air, then springing up again and landing close to Red, to backhand the woman across the face. Not a hard blow, just enough to sting. Then she back peddled away.

 

“What are you?” screamed Red.

 

“Just a soft little Vault dweller. One with more strength and ability than you’ve ever faced. But don’t worry. I’m going to demonstrate how outclassed you are before I kill you.”

 

Red screamed and swung, and Nora dodged again, then jumped into the air to hit the Raider in the face with a round kick. Again Nora held back her power. She didn’t want this woman to die too fast.

 

“Fuck you,” yelled Red, flinging her bat at Nora and turning to run toward her shotgun.

 

Nora batted the club aside, then jumped into the air and kicked Red in the back, sending her flying into some crates. Nora snatched up the shotgun and flung it away over the crates, then advanced on the Raider Boss. “What’s the matter Red? Don’t like my game?”

 

Red came at her swinging, a swift series of punches. Nora blocked each one, then gabbed the right arm and pulled it close, snapping it at the elbow, then breaking it again at the wrist.

 

“Fuck.”

 

“Having fun yet. The same kind of fun you gave to those children.”

 

Red turned to run, and Nora jumped up and kicked her in the back, then sent a side kick into her knee, snapping the joint. Red went down with a cry, and Nora swept in to grab the woman’s left arm and break it at the elbow.

 

Red fell forward, crying, terrified. Nora knelt down by her and slammed a knife hand into her right collar bone, shattering it. Another strike and the left collar bone was gone, and Red had no control over her arms at all.

 

“I’m going to break all of the bones in your body, Red. And don’t bother begging for mercy, because I have none in me.”

 

A red dot appeared between Red’s eyes, and Nora spun around and up to her feet to see Barb lowering her rifle. “Goddam you,” yelled the Sole Survivor, moving toward Barb, and running into a hugging tackle at the hands of Heather.

 

“Stop Nora. This isn’t you. You believe in the quick kill, not torture.”

 

“I couldn’t stand to see you do something you would beat yourself up for, said Barb, tears rolling down her eyes. The woman walked forward, wrapping Nora in a hug, taking the chance that her friend would attack her.

 

That was something Nora couldn’t do. There two had stood by her through everything. She had wanted to make Red a mewing broken things, and they had realized that the person she would hurt the most would be her. Nora cried, great racking sobs as tears flowed down her eyes. Her friends held her tight, letting her cry it out.

 

“I couldn’t help it. I saw those children and thought of Shaun. What if he had been captured by someone like her. What if he had been tortured.”

 

“Oh, she deserved to die in fear and pain,” said Heather. “Barb didn’t shoot her to end her suffering, but to keep you from prolonging yours.”

 

“Thank you,” said Nora, giving her friends another hug, then climbing back into her armor.

 

“You going to be okay?” asked Barb.

 

“With friends like you, how couldn’t I be. Now let’s clear this place up and loot the hell out of it.”

 

“I really think you’re going to have to work this one as a long-term project.”

 

Nora sent back all she could in one load of Wilson, after making sure the place was clear and killing the remaining two Raiders, cowering in a hidden space that couldn’t avoid her sensors. She set up a turret pulled from her cargo bot at the entrance, and posted a warning to anyone that wanted to loot the place. A sign, with Red’s head on a spike over it.

 

*     *     *

 

They headed to Walden’s Pond, a place Nora had remembered as being peaceful, a place she could sit for a moment and clear her mind. And now a haven for yet another Raider gang.

 

“Son-of-a-bitch,” she yelled as two Raider power armor suits came walking out of the gift shop, both with miniguns. Nora hit one with an RPG penetrator from her GL, killing the operator instantly, then charged forward and hit the other with her nano-sword until he joined his friend in death.

 

“I want this place cleared out. In Emerson’s memory, I want this place free.”

 

They looted the gift shop, and then went through the storeroom that led into a series of tunnels under the area. Nora egressed her suit, wanting stealth over armor, and they took down a couple of groups of Raiders with suppressed rifles.

 

They packed out more loot, then headed for Starlight. Nora was already worn out, physically and emotionally. She had found another survival guide at Walden, which had given her more information that seemed to flow into her DNA. And they found themselves walking down a road she had been down before. There was an old diner to the right side, a couple of people with guns out in front arguing with someone inside.

 

“This doesn’t concern you,” growled the tough looking woman who appeared to be the bodyguard. “Move on.”

 

“I’m making it my concern,” said Nora. “And you better lower that weapon if you don’t want a woman in a ton of advanced power armor to shove it up your ass.”

 

“Back off, Simone,” said the man. “I don’t think intimidation is going to work these people.”

 

“Smart man,” said Nora. “And you are?”

 

“I’m Wolfgang, and I sell chems. I have a dispure with Trudy, the owner of this establishment. Her son bought chems from me, and never paid. And I intend to get the money.”

 

“A fucking drug dealer,” said Nora. “Still a blight on society, even after the war.”

 

“Look,” said the man, looking genuinely offended. “Sure, I sell Jet and other highly addictive meds, always with a caution to use in moderation. Jet is useful for more than the high, as you should know if you’ve ever needed to move fast in a tight situation. I also sell Mentats, Calmex, Buffout, Radway, Rad-x and Rebound, which can be necessities in the Wasteland. So I’m not the bad guy. I provide products to those who need them, and it’s not my fault if some overindulge. I’m not their mama.”

 

Nora took a second to digest what the man had said, and a lot of it made sense. There were chem dealers everywhere. Solomon was an institution in Diamond City. He didn’t have a bodyguard like Wolfgang, but then he was in the middle of the most secure place in the Wasteland. Wolfgang provided a service out here, and people were responsible for their own lives.

 

“Tell the scumbag that he’s not getting another cap out of me. He got my boy addicted.”

 

“Your boy got himself addicted,” shouted Wolfgang. “I warned him to not use too much over a short time and he ignored me. I’m not his mama. That’s your job.”

 

“Can I come in and talk,” said Nora. “I’m with the Minutemen, and not affiliated with Wolfgang.”

 

“Exit your power armor and you can come in. But watch your hands.”

 

Nora ejected from the power armor and walked to the door.

 

“Well damn. You are one fine looking lady.”

 

“Thank you. I’ve been getting that a lot lately.”

 

“That scumbag got my boy addicted,’ said Trudy, a lady on the upper side of middle age.

 

“I’ll never touch that stuff again,” said Patrick, a young man who looked like he had been through hell and back. “Mama helped me to come down and get off the shit.”

 

“Look. This isn’t really my problem, but I don’t want to see anyone getting killed.” Glancing at the products behind the counter, she saw almost all of the chems that Wolfgang sold. These were two merchants, and they did provide a legitimate service. They were needed, and their feud did no one any good. “So why don’t you pay Wolfgang and it will be over. If he promises not to hook your son again.”

 

“Patrick will never get another chem from me,” said Wolfgang from outside.

 

“Look, I’ll even give you some of the caps. How much do you owe him?”

 

“Six hundred fucking caps. I don’t do enough business to cover that kind of cost.”

 

“I’ll pay him half of that if you can come up with the rest.”

 

“Or you could kill Wolfgang, and I’d give you the three hundred.”

 

“I’m not a killer for hire,” Nora told the woman, who she was beginning to realize was not a nice person. Well, one didn’t have to be to gain her protection. “You either deal with me or I walk and let you deal with him. Your choice.”

 

“Okay, okay.” Trudy went to her cash register and counted out three hundred caps, putting them in a bag and handing it to Nora. “Thanks for nothing.”

 

Sheesh, thought Nora as she walked out of the store. “Here’s three hundred from Trudy. Let me get three hundred from my pack and we’ll be square.”

 

“Tell you what. Pick out three hundred worth of product from me and pay me the caps for it. It’s the least I can do for you helping me out. But remember, moderation.”

 

Nora walked away from the old diner wondering if she could have handled that better. Well, everyone was still alive, and she had some chems that might be of use down the road, so maybe that was the best she could have done. She had seen enough killing for one day.

 

“Let’s check out Starlight. Then, tomorrow we’re going back to Cambridge.”

 

“You going to join the Brotherhood of Steel?” said Heather, her tone disapproving.

 

“Well, not really join them,” said Nora with a frown, hoping that she wasn’t going to alienate someone really dear to her with this decision. “Perform some missions for them and gather intelligence on their organization. But I’m still and always will be a Minuteman. Can you live with that?”

 

Nora held her breath as she watched Heather’s face. “I can live with that, Partner. I just don’t want to become part of that oppressive organization.”

 

“But are they really that oppressive?” asked Barb, who hadn’t reacted to Danse and company like the other woman.

 

“You’ll see,” said Heather.

 

Starlight was coming along nicely. There were now twelve settlers, all working jobs that were producing for the settlement chain. The robots had built a refinery, an arc furnace and a chem factory, as well as some scavenging stations they could use to process the materials brought back by salvaging crews. All of the adult settlers were cross training with weapons, so she would have some militia here if needed.

 

The settlers planned an impromptu feast for the team when they arrived. They had two hunters in the settlement, and the hunting to the north of the settlement was good, so the stew they made was meat rich. Cold beer brewed at Sanctuary was on tap, and the people celebrated their new circumstances. After they had eaten their fill, something that happened far too infrequently prior to their joining a settlement, the leader of the settlement, Jona Cutler, stood at the head of the table and asked for the attention of the others.

 

“I want to make a toast to our saviors, and especially to Nora Jane Adams. She came out of a Vault after losing everything she had. And instead of hiding she attacked this world, making it a better place. Food production is up, Raider activity is down, and we have full stomachs most nights. So here’s to Nora, Heather and Barb. May their days on Earth be long, and may happiness be their final reward.”

 

The people then gave Nora their personal thanks, and she retired that night feeling very embarrassed. It had been a hell of a day. She had taken down two Raider gangs, brokered a truce between two merchants, and then received the embarrassing praise of the people she helped.

 

After an hour of sex with Barb and Heather in her quarters, Nora lay between her partners, running her hands over the smooth bodies of the two. With the procurement of hundreds of good quality like new razors from the ruins around them, Nora had taken to shaving her legs and under her armpits, just like prewar. She had trimmed her bush, baring her labia while retaining a strip above. The girls had emulated her style, and all were freshly shaven and clean smelling this night.

 

“Feeling better?” asked Barb, leaning over to lick one of Nora’s firm nipples. Heather had the other breast in hand and was making circling motions over that nipple with her palm.

 

“Much. I’m sorry I got out of hand at the Stockpile. I don’t know what got into me.”

 

“You’re a mother,” said Heather, after sucking for a moment on the nipple she had been caressing. “You’re predisposed to look out for children. I’ve never had one of the little terrors, and it still cut me deep down to see those little bodies.”

 

“Let’s talk about something more pleasant,” said Nora, leaning over to kiss Heather. As she broke the kiss she looked at Heather, then at Barb. “I just want you both to know that I couldn’t have done all of this without you.”

 

“Yes you could,” protested Heather. “You have the smarts, the drive, and the fighting ability to see this through.”

 

“Well, be that as it may, it would not have been so pleasant without the current company.”

 

Heather kissed her way down Nora’s body, ending up with her mouth placed over the Sole Survivor’s pussy, lapping up the flowing juices. Nora hissed in a breath, and the time for talking was over.

 

*     *     *

 

“I accept your proposal,” said Danse, smiling at Nora.

 

The Knight Paladin was in his soft uniform, still offering him some protection with its ballistic weave, but nowhere near what his power armor did. Said power armor was parked in a repair station, still banged up from their mission, though it was obvious that the Brotherhood officer had been working on it.

 

“Okay, so we scout for you while we’re checking out places for ourselves. And clear out spots you would like cleared out, which benefits both of us.”

 

“I would like to give you a Brotherhood rank that you can use if needed, but the highest I can grant is initiate. I won’t bother swearing you in, since I realize your primary loyalty is to the Minutemen, and you are just an auxiliary in our service. Maybe in time you might want to formalize your relationship with the Brotherhood.”

 

“That could happen,” said Nora, giving Danse her best smile. She really wanted to get this one in bed, and while he was obviously attracted, he wasn’t taking the bait. She figured that Danse, like Reese, was wedded to the Brotherhood, and was not willing to compromise himself over something as trivial as sex. Well, to each their own.

 

“Okay, since you are going to search around Malden anyway, be on the lookout for our first recon team to the Commonwealth. They are probably all dead, but if you can come back with any of the intelligence they developed, it could be immensely helpful to us.”

 

“Will do.”

 

“Then go see what Reese and Halen want you to do, and I’ll see you when you swing back through.”

Danse got up from his chair and went back to working on his power armor. Nora had offered him the help of some technicians and hardware, but the Knight Paladin had turned her down. Probably worried about revealing their power armor tech, when Nora thought her tech was so much better.

 

Reese was still angry, but he watched his tongue, realizing that Nora could kick his ass. He handed her a list of locations they knew harbored what the Brotherhood thought of as Horrors. Feral ghouls and Supermutants topped his list, and Nora didn’t feel bad about ridding the Commonwealth of those. “And I don’t want to see your face until those areas are cleared out, Okay.”

 

“Whatever you want, Reese.”

 

Halen, as usual, was much more friendly. “Remember, bring the tech back to me. No taking it to your own people to disassemble, tempting as that might be.”

 

“I gave Danse my word,” said Nora, holding up a hand and putting the other over her heart. “What you point out to me is yours. Everything else is mine. Unless it belongs to the Brotherhood recon team I’m on the lookout for.”

 

Halen gave her a list about the same length as Reese’s, but was much friendlier in her words about wanting to see her back.

 

“You heard,” she asked her people as she walked out of the station.

 

“We heard,” came Heather’s voice over the earbud.

 

Sturgis had built some short-range transceivers for the team, a couple of ounces each with an operating range of about a kilometer. With the devices they could talk in tactical situations, or send signals to alert team members. Nora felt much better with the small radios, though she had to remind herself that they weren’t foolproof, and they might find conditions where the range was restricted to almost nothing.

 

“That Reese continues to be an asshole,” said Barb. “Though I have to admit the other two are civil. Even friendly.  Too bad Danse keeps giving you the cold shoulder.”

 

“Dammit Barb. I’m not trying to fuck every man in the Commonwealth.”

 

“But you can’t tell me you wouldn’t want that man inside of you, can you? And don’t lie.”

 

“Very well. I would jump Danse’s bones in a heartbeat. But he’s having nothing of it.” Even with my pheromones, she thought. That was some willpower there, and she respected Danse for it, even as it drove her crazy that he wasn’t giving her what she wanted.

 

“Same plan?” asked Heather, getting them back to business.

 

“Yep. Through Cambridge to Bunker Hill, then up to the northeast to check out the settlement Preston knows about. We hit County Crossing first, since they had a request, then play it by ear.”

 

Once they established a settlement she would be able to communicate with Preston and the others through the QESS.  Conrad had come up with a way of sending messages back and forth through keyboard. It was still a clunky system, but it worked.

 

She thought they had enough food, water and caps for an extended trip, though there were never any guarantees.

 

“Let’s hit the road,” she told her people after climbing into her power armor, and the three people, two dogs and multiple robots walked away for the police station to the River Road, turning North.