{Symbols Journal: Entry 2}

As I looked down to my newly modified 10mm pistol, I smiled with pride in my work. With the scrap I had collected I was able to add glowing sights, a hardened barrel and a quick eject mag to the gun, excellent. Leaving my remaining junk in the workbench I held my pistol in my right hand and began to scavenge for supplies.

As I stepped into the house where I had found the workbench I heard a faint buzzing and immediately readied my gun. Suddenly a Bloatfly buzzed out of one of the rooms in the house and tried to shoot its maggots at me. I ducked to avoid being hit and activated one of my Pip-Boy's most useful functions, the V.A.T.S function, or more specifically the Vault-Tech Assisted Targeting System. My vision zoomed in slightly on the Bloatfly and time seemed to slow but not stop. Suddenly it seemed like the parts of its body were labelled and I could see the chances of me shooting a specific part of it.

Playing it safe I targeted the body, which had about a seventy percent chance of hitting the creature. My breathing slowed and became more focused as I pulled the trigger. The sounds around me were slowed and blurred out slightly, all focus being on my target. Planting two buckets in the bugs body was enough to take it down.

As my attention was drawn away from my dead enemy things returned to normal and I took a moment to catch my breath. V.A.T.S was useful but it had its downsides, like it took a bit of your energy to use so you had to catch your breath afterwards, and you have to be standing still to use it.

After I caught my breath I yelled out to Cadence to stop her from worrying over nothing. As I searched the house I cam across a lone Radroach, which went down by the heel of my boot. I managed to find a bottle cap stash, and it was pretty big, having about 200 caps inside. Taking the money I put them in my Pip-Boy before continuing to look for anything useful. I found a few food items in the kitchen that were still edible if cooked, some dirty water and purified water and even a bottle of Nuka-Cola. I managed to find two Stimpaks under a bed and a few bobby pins.

After picking up a few pieces of junk and placing them in the workbench I continued onto the next house. I found a few more food items, a Nuka-Cherry, another caps stash only containing twenty one caps this time and a Radaway. When I walked out of the house I saw that Cadence and a Mister Handy robot were starting to search the other houses, however they seemed to just ignore the house that they were in front of, so I decided to investigate it for them, and thank whatever deity is watching over me I did.

As I entered I immediately saw a copy of Gronark the Barbarian, a comic from before the war. Now you may be thinking "What's so great about some old comic book?" Well the thing is with these comics if you scan your Pip-Boy over it you will gain some kind of enhancement, like extra damage or something. So I grabbed the comic and out it in my inventory. As I looked through the house finding yet more food and some scrap I came across a room which broke my heart...a room that belonged to a baby.

I walked in and looked at the ruined crib. "This must have been Cadence's house." I remember thinking, she had told me her reasons for venturing out into the Wasteland before we left the vault, I had yet to tell her mine, and I'm not going to write it down just yet.

After sighing and patting the edge of the crib I went to walk out of the room, until something caught my eye. A You're SPECIAL book was lying on the ground underneath a box. Picking it up I scanned it with my Pip-Boy before placing it in my inventory. It brought up my SPECIAL stats and told me to add one point to my skills. It wasn't really an automated system that allowed you to alter or enhance your body, it was more something that told you how your body's condition was and what 'special' skills you have.

Strength: 6
Perception: 4
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 5
Intelligence: 7
Agility: 4
Luck: 3

Choosing to add a point to my low Luck stat I pressed on, leaving the room and the memories that Cadence had shared with her husband and son behind to either be one day remembered or forgotten.

I began to loot the remaining houses, killing a few more Radroaches and Bloatflys in the process. I came out with a good supply of food, drink, caps, junk and medical supplies. As I exited the last house my eye caught sight of a hat underneath a desk. Pulling it out and dusting it off I found it was a purple fedora. Placing it on my head I found it was a perfect fit. Smiling happily I adjusted it a bit to be placed firmly on my head and walked to the entrance of Sanctuary Hills, waiting for Cadence to finish whatever she was doing.

Once she was finished she came trotting down the road until she reached me. She saw the fedora on my head and giggled slightly, causing me to role my eyes. We stepped onto the damaged but yet still sturdy wooden bridge that connected the small island of Sanctuary Hills to the rest of the Commonwealth. As we reached the other side we were shocked at what we found. There lay two dead bodies of drifters, one man and one mare. I walked over and saw the cause of death was a bite to the neck, they had been attacked by wild mongrels, they didn't stand a chance.

Not allowing their supplies to go to waste I began searching the mans body and told Cadence to search the mares. I found a pipe pistol in the mans pockets as well as some caps, some ammo for the pipe pistol and some Jet...a chem, or drug if you will. I put it in my inventory, not for use, but to sell at a market or to a passing trader. I wouldn't be caught dead using that filth, the only chem I would ever use would be Rad-X, a pill that helps your body temporarily fight off radiation.

I looked over to Cadence to see she had found a tire iron that she was holding in her magic. I told her to keep it in case she ran out of ammo and she nodded before placing it in her own inventory. I then took the drifters overcoat and put it on, having to have as much protection as I could get.

Cadence had a similar idea and took the mares vest, placing it on herself and poking her wings through makeshift holes. We took the bodies to the side of the road and buried them, I personally would have left them but Cadence felt more comfortable if they weren't just lying around. As she was finishing up on the makeshift graves I searched the area, finding a duffle bag in front of a statue of some man I didn't know. I found some ammo and Stimpaks, a good find.

Cadence seemed ready to go so we continued onto our next destination, Concord. But first we would have to make a stop at the local gas station, Red Rocket.

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed. As usual if you want to see these two do a certain quest please let me know.