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Glow a Little Brighter	By : Kitkat534 Category: +A through F > Fallout (Series) > Fallout (Series) Views: 1753 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Chapter 1
- 2-Chapter 2
- 1
- 2
Beth was running through the ruins of Boston, ducking and diving for cover from stray bullets whizzing past her head. Shadows of monsters, too huge and cruel to comprehend, danced on the walls of bombed out buildings as she ran, screaming for her baby in this foreign wasteland. It felt like she’d been running for years and it was getting painful to breathe, a stitch digging into her side. She was in agony, hoarse from shouting and desperately tired, but she had to keep going. She had to, for Shaun.
Suddenly she hit a dead-end and slammed against the wall. She pounded her fists against it in desperation and cried in anguish when she heard her baby’s cries coming from the other side. But she couldn’t get through, and the monsters were getting closer, and the bullets were ricocheting around her. She couldn’t get through.
“Wakey wakey sunshine.” The gravelly voice rudely crashed through Beth’s subconscious, shocking her from her nightmare. She was sweating and shaking with fear, and murmured something incoherent as she laid her arm across her eyes in a vain attempt to calm her thudding heart. With her other arm she reached out, seeking the warm, safe embrace of her husband.
Instead her hand found something rough, foreign and undeniably living. Lifting her arm she opened her eyes only to find two black orbs staring back at her, embedded in a grey, scarred face that was hovering over her. She shot upright with a strangled cry in her throat, fumbling at her waist for her pistol. It was gone.
“Woah, calm down sunshine I ain’t going to hurt ya.” Beth’s wild, crazed eyes focused on the strange figure in front of her and she curled up on the sofa she’d woken up on, pushing herself as far back as she could. The memories came rushing back, the images of her husband and baby Shaun being ripped from her life playing through her mind on repeat.
“Get back!” She shouted at the strange figure in front of her, shaking as her mind struggled to grapple with this newest encounter.
“Ah, you’re going to find that you’ve come to the wrong town if you hate ghouls.”
“…What?” He frowned at the taken-aback look on her face and stroked his chin, musing.
“…You do know what a ghoul is, right?” More blank stares. The… man, yes, definitely a man, sighed and rolled his eyes. He mused for a moment, watching her curiously before his lipless mouth broke into a good-natured grin.
“Name’s Hancock, I’m the mayor of this lil’ show, and right now I must say you’re being rather rude to your gracious host.” She stared at him with a frown, disbelief slowly overcoming her fear. Eventually he sighed and held out his hand. “Care to start again?”
“Are you going to kill me?” The question was quiet but blunt. She was slowly coming to terms with the situation, stuck on a sofa with a stranger between her and the door, but what could she do? So she took his hand, flinching at the surprising warmth of his hand. What had she expected? Warm but rough, his strong handshake was somehow reassuring and she felt a stab of regret for her actions.
She took the moment to look at him, really look at him, tracing every groove and feature on his face. He started to look uncomfortable and pulled away, laughing uncertainly.
“Now I’ve told you my name… do I get to hear yours?” Beth swallowed and adjusted her position on the sofa.
“Beth… Williams. You… you said you’re a, uh, a ‘ghoul’?” The man, Hancock she reminded herself, looked embarrassed for a moment.
“You really don’t know, do you?” She shook her head.
“Well uh, someone told me about,” Beth frowned as she tried to remember the term, “ferals? But the guy told me there were mindless, a bit like zombies I suppose.” Hancock eyes her suspiciously.
“Well, I guess I oughta thank you not for bolting as soon as you saw me then, if that’s what you got told… You seriously ain’t seen a ghoul before?” She quickly shook her head and he sighed. “Christ, you been living under a rock or what?” If he noticed the sudden panic in her eyes he didn’t show it. “Yeah, I guess I’m a ghoul. Gotta whole lot of rads coursing through my veins, keeping me going ‘til Judgement Day. The ugly mug you see before you is just one of the small prices I get to pay for a nice, long life.” At this he grinned cheekily. “Unless my sexy, king of the zombies look does something for you?”
A squeak of a laugh escaped her and his eyes glinted. “In all seriousness though, you don’t want to go messing around with a feral. They used to be human but as far as I can tell the rads have broken them, made them more beast than man. You see one, you put it down before it spots you else you’ll be on the menu. Understand?”
Beth nodded, feeling herself beginning to relax. His casual confidence reminded her of Nate and she could feel herself being sucked in, wanting to believe she’d finally found a good guy in this fucked up wasteland. Maybe… maybe he could help her?
“Feeling better?” She glanced at him as he broke her out of her thoughts and nodded again, trying to guess his motives.
“Yes I…I’m sorry for before. I didn’t mean to offend I just, well, there’s been a lot to take in recently. I guess, I guess I’m still learning.” Hancock cocked a hairless brow at her and she quickly looked down, worried he might start asking questions. She needed to change the subject.
“So where exactly am I?”
“What do you remember?” Beth frowned, chewing on her lip in thought.
“Well… I was running through the ruins; a raider gang were chasing me, then I saw a uh, a sign to Goodneighbor, and I thought, can’t be worse than out here. So I ran through the door, and then…” Beth paled slightly at the memory. “…You killed that guy. In cold blood.” She whispered.
Hancock smiled and dropped onto the sofa next to her, ignoring her questioning gaze as he pulled a Jet canister out of his pocket. He began to play with it, distracted.
“That guy was a scumbug.” He said suddenly. “I won’t have newcomers extorted before they’ve even had a chance. It ain’t right.” He glanced sideways at her and grinned, puffing up his chest in mock pride. “I got a reputation to maintain you know: badass mayor, defender of the downtrodden, ‘for the people, of the people’.”
Beth laughed despite herself, glancing curiously at Hancock. “What? Eh, I know it’s cheesy but they seem to like it.” His eyes flicked down her lithe frame before meeting hers again and his smile widened. He leaned in conspiratorially, nudging her shoulder with her own.
“Now,” his voice lowered to a husky whisper, “what’s a ghoul gotta do to get a Vault suit like yours?” Beth stood up with a start, taking a wary step back. Shit, so that was his game? Flattery will get you everywhere, her mother’s voice echoed in her head. How could she have been so stupid?
“I think I’ve wasted enough of your time. I better go.” Beth took a step towards the door and Hancock quickly stood up and moved in front of her. Her eyes flashed in anger and he held his hands up in surrender, smiling apologetically.
“Relax , I ain’t going to stop you. Though I’d recommend hanging around Goodneighbor a day or so, I find raiders get pretty pissed if their lunch fucks off.”
“That a threat?” Hancock grinned and plucked an invisible piece of dirt off her shoulder. Suddenly aware of how close he was, she felt her body responding to the closeness of another human being, a feeling she didn’t realise she’d been missing. Her pulse quickened and a faint flush brushed her cheeks. She felt like an animal caught in a trap but felt unable to step back, to free herself from whatever game he was playing. He was clearly enjoying his effect on her, a smile in his eyes that angered and turned her on in equal measure.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Oh you’d know if I was threatening you.” She swallowed and darted her tongue out to lick her lips, trying to ignore her rising goosebumps. Hancock tilted his head to the side, watching her like a spider with its prey, then suddenly stepped back, breaking them out of the moment.
“Tell you what,” his voice back to normal, “hang around for a bit, eat, shop, maybe shoot some Jet. Swing by the Third Rail later and I’ll trade you for your story.” The moment now well and truly gone, Hancock tilted his hat at her, flashed his smile at her once more and sauntered out of the room.
“Shit.” Beth whispered.
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Glow a Little Brighter