XxXxX
Grief, numbness, despair.
Despite her best efforts she couldn't help but feel those things at this moment.
It all happened so fast. At least for her.
Not even a day ago she was preparing for a nice picnic in the woods with her family. They were going to go there with her husband and daughter after he delivered his speech at the Veterans Hall in Concord.
Then the sirens started to blare, all of the neighborhood running to the nearby vault. She only could focus on carrying her little bundle of joy, her husband running after her with a small bag of memorabilia they kept packed just for such eventuality.
The blinding flash of light in the distance, the approaching shockwave.
She fell to her knees and covered her daughter to protect her but thankfully the elevator was able to lower in time before they got blown away.
Then the supposed decontamination turned out to be nothing more than a series of human freezers. At some point she gave their daughter to her husband, too tired after sprinting for so long to get to the shelter.
The moment she regained consciousness, trapped in that steel coffin as that bastard...
"We still have the backup." The memory of the grating voice of that murderer sent a strong shiver down her spine...
A sudden noise of clanking metal and the humm of a General Atomics patented silent thruster garnered her attention, her family's trusty robot butler arriving back in their home after patrolling the surroundings.
"I finished patrolling, Mum. Nothing to report." Codsworth's British voice announced, bringing the slightest sliver of hope into her heart.
And to think that she was against buying it when Tai suggested it. Now this clunky little robot was all that's left of her family.
"Mum? Are you alright? I do believe that you should rest. I'll stand guard over you like a true Mister Gutsy would!" The spherical robot announced with gusto, somehow his programming allowing him to act like a truly sentient being.
"Thank you, Codsworth." The sole survivor of the family replied, hugging herself closer under the moldy blanket she managed to scavenge in one of her neighbors houses.
"No problem Ma'am! It's a pleasure to serve you again!" The robot replied, clumsily saluting with one of his claws.
The antics of the robot did help a little, bringing a slight smile to her tired face.
When she emerged from the vault, after fighting off giant bugs, she couldn't move from her spot for quite a while.
The overlook at which the elevator was located showed the devastation of the Commonwealth in full. The vegetation barely started to regain its life, most of the trees just standing as black, carbonized remains of the once lush suburban area.
The ruins of the once great Boston were visible too, most of the skyscrapers in the city still standing but even from miles away she could see that they were heavily damaged.
The memory of the sight only caused her to sigh.
"Mum. I know it's not much but you do need to eat. I do hope that this is still edible." Codsworth said suddenly, bringing her a box of Sugar Bombs. It was clearly old and weathered but still sealed tightly.
Taking the offered box she took out a switchblade she found earlier and started to open the packaging.
It was unbelievable that over 200 years had passed when she was frozen. It was like one of those radio plays about aliens or robot uprisings.
