Metanoia

Chapter 1: Lonely Walls

    The blood-red sunset bled into the horizon, soaking across the sky hues of crimson red and rusted orange. A haunting reminder of the flames that once ravaged the world nearly two centuries ago. Below her, her shadow stretched across the desolation, and merged with the ruins of a bygone era. The skeletal remains of the skyscrapers loomed in the dying light, reaching their metal tendrils towards the sky. The autumn wind swirled in her hair and carried the smells of a world that had burnt itself out. All was well, all was quiet, and chaos still played in the shadows.

At least that's how she imagined it, the skyline of forsaken Boston painted itself in her thoughts as she leaned on the back bar. Lost in her own world as the barroom lived on around her. Wanders, nomads, cultists and traders gathered around her for one last drink before they hit the road seeking shelter from the winter to come. Her attention was grabbed by two men at the front of the room. Drunk off one too many shots of moonshine that she poured herself. Clashing over a perfectly preserved pie by the entrance, one kicking the machine that imprisoned the golden crusted delight while the other yelled drunken slurs at him.  Their faded acid-washed jeans, bloodied knuckles concealed under dirty bandages, and their dust-covered goggles told a story of their own. Quiet when they came in, now as rowdy as ever. They always tipped better when they were drunk.

An empty glass slid beside her on the bar, pulling her attention now to the woman across from her. Piper. Tapping her pencil against her notepad, an anxious rhyme as she tried to ignore the chaos behind her. Her index finger curled a lock of her raven hair as she spoke, "How long have they been at it?" her voice steady, eyes still lingered on the bartender

"About 20 minutes," the bartender replied, picking up the glass and mixing another drink for her. She glanced at Piper's scribbled on notepad. "Anything juicy tonight?"

Piper huffed, eyes drawing away from the bartender and back to her notepad, "Unless you count drunken groaning and death threats, then no. It's been too long since anything exciting happened. I'll be lucky to get a paper published this week." Piper threw down her pencil, her finger letting go of her hair as her arms crossed, her red trench coat crinkling under her.

The bartender chortled lightly, placing a fresh drink in front of her, "I thought your article on poisonous algae was great. I even read it to Leo and Riley the other night."

Piper forged a false smile, brushing her pad aside as she picked up her drink, "I'm glad you liked it." Her tone almost mockingly, shooting back her drink before speaking again," I had three different people tear it apart in my face after. The guards haven't done anything about it, either." Her gaze wandered to the scribbled lines on her notepad, "Maybe everyone's right, Clem. Maybe it's time to hang up my reporter's cap."

Clementine, who was unlucky enough to be working the bar that night slid the notepad a little closer, her fingers brushing against crossed out words, "Come on, Pipes." Her eyes ran across the scribbled page,"This idea about The Minutemen? That could be a solid story with the right interviews."

Piper shook her head, an edge of bitterness creeping into her voice. " No, no, no." She slid her glass back at Clementine, who began work on another drink for her," I already did an article about the Minutemen, that was about as well received as the algae article. No one wants the most well known headline in the Commonwealth, life is still shitty."

Clementine gave Piper's drink one last good stir before setting it in front of her. The Nuka-Cola and whiskey that was always Piper's regular, hadn't even stopped swirling in the cup when she shot it back.

"Piper's really done it this time, folks..." Nervous Travis's voice crackled through the radio on the bar next to them, unintentionally cutting through the conversation.