A young adult with a hardened expression now sat in her own room. She had sunburned, freckled skin and a gnarly scar of a gunshot wound on her left bicep. Her brunette braid she wore as a child was replaced by a bald head. Her eyes were stern and had envy green irises with blue circles surrounding them. Sinful hands continued to grasp a book twenty years after the devastation of her father’s death. His thirst for knowledge was passed onto her, and she also inherited his need for revenge.
“Julie!” Someone called from the porch below.
The young woman stood up off her mattress in her large bedroom. By the head of the bed there was a chem box with buffout and other hidden drugs tucked inside. On the left wall there was a dresser with a bobby pin and an ashtray sitting beside it. A red loveseat sat in the corner across from the dresser.
“What do you want, Claire? I’m busy,” she responded whilst trotting down the steps to the first level of the house.
“You have an assignment.”
“They sent me out yesterday! Can’t they find someone else?” Julie huffed and swung open the beaten front door.
The mechanic that greeted her had bold red hair that was twisted into a bun, and blue eyes that naturally smiled. “I’m happy to see you too,” she smirked.
“Ha ha,” Julie mocked. “Let's go.”
The pair walked down the patrolled streets to the museum where Silas, the head of the colony, dwelled. Claire opened the front entrance and beckoned her partner inside.
“He should be upstairs,” Claire stated and sealed the door behind Julie once she was inside.
She scanned the foyer with fragments of debris scattered across the floor. She sighed into the empty atmosphere and walked up the steps and through a closeby doorway to her right. The hallway was dimly lit, and it led to a larger room. She then walked through two other rooms before emerging into an open area with a grand staircase that lead up to the balcony, and Julie discovered Silas in a room on the right off the staircase.
“You wanted to speak with me, sir?”
The man turned to face his inferior and spoke, “There is a gang of raiders to the Northwest. I need you to take them out before they get here.”
Julie retorted in a quiet voice,“Sir, I was on assignment yesterday.”
Silas scoffed, “You are my most trusted assassin, Julie. I expect you to act like one.”
The woman bowed her head in embarrassment and began to walk out. “I will leave now, sir.”
“Good,” Silas vocalized. “Report back to me when it’s done.”
Julie met Claire again outside the museum. The other woman’s face was bright with curiosity as she spoke, “What did he tell you?”
“To take out another group.” They talked as they walked back to Julie’s house so she could retrieve her gear. “I don’t understand why I have to go and why he can’t just wait until the patrol takes them out. He said they were advancing towards us and there’s only six of them. I don’t get it.”
“Silas just doesn't want his streets dirty.”
“Another group wouldn't be able to overrun us anyway. All of the other raider gangs are imbeciles.”
Claire furrowed her eyebrows. “What’s that?”
“Nothing, I read it in a book. It just means they’re stupid.” Julie then walked up her porch steps and escaped up the stairs to fetch her rifle hiding behind the dresser.
“Why do you read anyway?” The other girl shouted from the porch. “It’s a waste of time.”
Julie came back with her rifle slung over her shoulder, a double barrel sawed off shotgun holstered in her belt, and a knife tucked in her boot. “My dad taught me…” She paused. “It doesn't matter. I have to go.”
“Good luck.”
She nodded her head, but before she began to head down the road she signaled to someone on parole. Julie considered herself a loner. When the gang colonized Concord, she chose the house furthest away from organized civilization. If opportunity presented itself, she would always choose the job the farthest distance away where she could work alone. Julie’s only friend was the mechanic, whom she didn’t show much love for, but Claire knew she was appreciated in Julie’s life. Ever since her father died, Julie was very closed off, and that was how her loner mentality had evolved. On the days she sat alone reading, she felt completely herself.
A gruff voice then said, “That asshole is going to regret crossing me!”
Julie ducked behind a rusted car at the prospect of a strike. She positioned her rifle over her shoulder and nested the suppressor on the shattered car window. When the pair of gangsters came into view, Julie lined up the crosshairs with their temples. A muffled ‘fffump’ belched from the mouth of the gun and the two thudded onto the cracked concrete. Julie then inspected her handywork lying on the ground. The one bullet went clean through both bastards’ heads. Finally, she liberated the bodies of their Psycho and pipe guns and continued to her destination.
A few hours had passed, before the sound of footfalls were echoing near Julie’s location far beyond the rusted car and dead raiders. So she slunk into a thicket of brittle branches and awaited the gang. She laid on her tight core and positioned her rifle on the ground. The sniper sometimes became too arrogant and messied her job, but they always got done.
The voices were becoming clearer and the footsteps were becoming louder. Julie inhaled a buffout and peered through the scope preparing for the attack. The first one appeared in the sights and she took her shot. A scream of agony swelled from his mouth as he grasped at his arm. Another bullet went through his skull and he fell.
The remaining five got out their guns and searched the wasteland for the aggressor. Julie killed a second, but then the raiders saw the woman in the bushes.
“You’re dead!” One screamed.
When he turned to face her, she blasted him between the eyes, so only three remained. The next victim was wearing welding goggles and shot at Julie, but all the bullets went screaming past her. Advancing towards him, she shot twice at both his kneecaps with her shotgun, but before he fell she locked him in a chokehold as he wiggled and cried in her grasp. The two free raiders fired their guns, but only executed the third filth instead, shooting him through his leather armor. Julie yanked a pipe pistol off the deceased body and shot the two. They fell to the ground, and she unhooked her arm from the body’s neck and it fell limp. Julie again looted the bodies and turned to head home, satisfied.
“I’m glad you got the job done,” Silas nodded once she emerged into the museum. “I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience for you.”
He was referring to earlier in the day when Julie had complained. She picked up on this and beat herself up. “I’m sorry, sir. It won’t happen again.”
“Don’t apologize. Just get the job done next time.”
Without oral response, she nodded and proceeded to exit out the door. Silas slunk back into the darkness puffing on a cigar. Without running into any more confrontation, Julie returned to her house and grabbed a Nuka Cola from the fridge and popped the lid. As she enjoyed her beverage, she stomped up the stairs and emptied the drugs into her chem box and shoved the raider leathers into her dresser. Then she shrugged off her rifle and replaced it behind the battered wood. Finally, she sat on her mattress and finished chugging her soda.
The sun was setting over the Commonwealth. The ruins of Boston were blanketed by darkness, and stars faintly shone through the shadows. The irradiated animals hid, and the exposed humans closed their eyes to dream of cities free of toxic air and of healthy, happy families. The empty glass in Julie’s hand slipped from her calloused fingers as she drifted to sleep. 
The next morning the young woman quickly exited her house and squatted behind a tree. The sky had not yet dawned, so the valleys were set deep blue. Julie fastened her belt minutes later and retired back to her bed where she slept until the sun rose. She fell asleep in her reinforced leather armour that she seemed to live in. Julie convinced Claire to sweet-talk a tanner into making armor for her when she was hired as an assassin. Most raider colonies wore long johns and harnesses, but the Concord gang was more efficient than other groups that were full of mercenaries and bandits that pillaged small towns for thrills. Concord raiders had more organized jobs, but although more advanced than gangs of half a dozen, they still were not more intelligent. They pillaged, but mostly only murdered people who deserved it. 
After a few hours the sun beat down on Julie through the window and she grumbled awake in response. Then she hobbled downstairs and ate a salsberry steak while sitting in a nook off the kitchen. She heard the porch steps creek and then a knock sounded across the house. Through the gaping hole in the door, Julie caught Claire’s eye, and hiding her displeasure, she opened the door for her friend.
“I saw you walking back to your house yesterday,” she observed as Julie plopped down on the couch and continued to eat. “I didn’t say hi because you were walking too fast.”
“Just wanted to get home,” Julie shrugged as she took another bite of the brown meat.
“Did your assignment go well?”
“Yeah, I shot some guy in the kneecaps. It was pretty fun.”
Claire frowned. “I can’t tell if you’re joking.”
Instead of responding, Julie just took another bite and sunk deeper into the cushions. Claire sat beside Julie and gazed at her, and when she didn’t receive a reaction, she fiddled with her fingers in her lap. “So what are you doing today?”
“Probably getting stoned,” Julie shrugged.
Claire dismissed her comment and rolled her eyes. “I’m just trying to start a conversation. You always shut me down like that. Can’t you give me something?”
“I’m not doing anything today, Claire. I never do. And then when I ask you about your day you just talk about how Nathan blew you off again-”
“Like you do,” Claire mumbled, and added, “All the time.”
“Fine, get out then,” Julie said agitated.
Claire stood up fiercely and crossed her arms. “I came here to talk, and here you turn it into a fight!”
Julie got up into Claire’s face and screamed, “Get out of my house!”
The mechanic stormed off and slammed the rickety door behind her. She retreated down the road and Julie returned to her breakfast. A few hours later a merchant with a gruffly beard and wide set eyes passed through the edge of town. Julie hopped up off the couch and rushed upstairs to collect her stolen belongings to sell and also grabbed her cap stash to buy .308 rounds for her modded combat rifle. The man hurried along with his two-headed brahmin trailing behind him. Julie stopped the man to barter.
“I have all this raider armor and pipe pistols-” she started.
“I’ll give you 100 caps for all of it.”
“No way!” Julie said flabbergasted. “All this is worth at least 200!”
“150, final offer.”
“Fine,” she said and completed the trade. “I also need .308 rounds.”
“I’m low on ammo,” the man said with a huff. “150 caps and buffout for one cartridge.”
“You’re full of s***,” Julie spit and retreated back to her house. She only had 200 caps saved from her travels, and couldn’t afford ammo at that price, even if she was in dire supply. “Asshole.”
When she got home she commenced to read a book she had snatched from a house raid. The title read Astoundingly Awesome Tales issue eight. The pages were brittle and some of the graphics were smudged, but Julie enjoyed it all the same. Comic books were more standardly found, so the majority of what the woman read were thin magazines. But she preferred the more heftier books, the ones her father raised her on. Many she discovered were burned and unledgible, but periodically she found the thicker books she relished in that were in good condition. All of them in her possession however had been read several times. The remainder of the day was spent reading and smoking marijuana upstairs. Most days Julie wasted away in her room, blocking herself off from the world. Sometimes Claire would come to visit, but Julie didn’t expect her to stop by anytime soon. She flicked her blunt out the window and an animal started to howl. Seizing her shotgun, she peered out the window and saw a wild mongrel barking up the siding. Taking aim she shot the dog five times before the noise ceased. Julie then climbed down the stairs and then outside to fetch the dead mongrel.
“What was that?” A woman asked whilst approaching her.
“Mongrel,” she answered and attempted to yank the body away from the house, but her movements were uncoordinated and slow due to the effects of the drugs.
“Do you need-”
“No,” Julie breathed.
She managed to rest the dog on the porch before passing out on her mattress just as the sun went down. The next morning Julie stumbled down the stairs to discover the dead mongrel had disappeared. She waltzed further into town to find a raider scum cooking the stolen meat over the fire in front of his house.
“That’s mine,” she proclaimed. “I shot that thing last night!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man retaliated.
“You son of a-”
“Julie!” A familiar voice interrupted. Julie whirled around to see Claire with a blue cooler in her hands. “It’s not worth it, come on.”
Julie grumbled and followed Claire a block away to her own abode. It was in better condition than Julie’s house. There was only a few stairs that led up to the door that the pair stepped through. Inside there was a wire coach frame, a small kitchen, and a small table and chairs. Claire set the cooler on top of the wooden surface and sat down, inviting Julie to sit across from her.
“Nathan brought me some baked bloatflies. I thought you might want some.”
“So you and him are friends now?”
“Well,” Claire began. “We’re not really friends, I think he just was being nice.”
“He wants to get in your pants,” Julie said bluntly and searched the cooler. Claire opened her mouth but Julie stopped her. “He doesn’t really like you. You’ve always told me he’s rude to you right?”
“Well yeah but-”
“He can’t get Avery so he’s going after you. Don’t let him,” she said and took a bite of the bloatfly. “Thanks for sharing though.” Claire smiled because she never was audibly thanked by Julie. But her friend shook her head and said, “Don’t push it.”
“I’m sorry about yesterday by the way.”
Julie shrugged. “It’s okay. I was being rude too.”
“I’m not doing anything today. Do you want to go hunting or something? This is the only food I have left.”
Julie furrowed her eyebrows. “Then why am I eating it?’
“You don’t get to be modest now,” Claire laughed.
“Sure, I only have Sugar Bombs and a Quantum left in my fridge. Oh, but I’m low on ammo. Do you have any? You barter right?”
“What do you need?” Claire asked standing up, and went up the stairs to rummage through her chest of gears and other mechanical tools.
“.308,” she said following her.
“Actually I have one cartridge.”
Taking the box from her Julie said, “This one merchant yesterday wanted 150 caps for one box! Can you believe that?”
Claire shyly smiled and laughed, “No, that’s crazy.”
“You need to wear more than just long johns if we’re going out.” The pair exited the house and strolled to Julie’s shack before they departed. “I sold all my other armor though.”
“Well I don’t have anything either.”
“Maybe I’ll just go alone and bring back something.”
“I really want to go,” Claire begged. “It was my idea anyway.”
Jule went inside to fetch her own rifle. When she came out she clarified, “You have your gun?” Claire nodded. “Well, stay close to me and don’t get shot.”
“I thought we were just going hunting,” she shivered.
Julie didn’t respond, and the pair began warily walking through the yellow wood. Julie was not naturally cautious. If something ever were to happen on one of her assignments, her carelessness would be her own downfall. However, this time if she stepped out of line, the safety of her only friend would be jeopardized. Claire was terribly understocked and vulnerable.
At Julie’s signal, Claire ducked behind a boulder and squeezed her eyes shut, clutching her pipe pistol. Her partner positioned herself off the rock and took aim at a radstag through the trees. Unexpectedly, a loud sneeze exploded from Claire’s snout, scaring the radstag away.
“S***,” Julie cursed.
“Sorry-”
“Whatever, let’s keep moving.”
Soon they happened upon another radstag grazing in a nearby field. This time Julie successfully shot the beast and Claire offered to head home. Julie obliged, satisfied with their trip and seeking to lose her paranoia, they arrived back at Concord.

Julie relaxed in the downstairs nook with her field stripping kit laying beside her. Her most prized possession was situated on her leather lap, and she stared proudly down at it. Carefully she stripped the rifle, cleaned it, and oiled it. The process took until sundown, but the weapon was what kept the woman alive, so she made certain it remained in peak condition. Silas beckoned Julie to the museum the next morning so she arrived in his office early to acquire her new assignment.
“You requested me, sir.”
“Yes,” he commenced. “Patrol saw a group of raiders not far from here. Said they saw eight roughly. It’s no small task but I’m sure you will see it done.”
“Where is the location of these raiders, sir?”
“Ah, south aways maybe.”
Julie was unimpressed with the lack of information but did not act on her displeasure. She did not want to make the same mistake again, so instead she nodded and stepped out of the room. She tightened her leather armor once she was in the solitude of her home and then assembled her gear. Unclear of the time this quest may take, Julie wasted no time. Soon she was on her way south where Silas speculated the folk to be. Using her stealth to her advantage, Julie critically shot a mole rat before it sensed her. After she withdrew the meat from the carcass she proceeded down the winding path once more.
After hours of uneventful walking, Julie’s feet ached and her throat was scorched from the dry air. She took a tired swig of dirty water and cringed at the foul taste. The sun was at its highest peak and the warm atmosphere caused sweat to drip from Julie’s pores. She cursed under her breath, vexed that she had yet to find the scavengers. Her complains of the monotonous day were answered when a mutated beast appeared from the cover of the trees. He stood on its hind legs and roared, throwing his gnarled head into the air. Julie sprung into action and fired her rifle at the Yao guai. The first bullet pierced his rough shoulder, causing him to stumble backwards, but he quickly advanced toward her. She fired another shot and missed. It was dire for Julie to collect herself, but unfortunately she was out of time. The bear clawed at her face, leaving a bloody gash spanning across her cheek. In a quick motion she yanked out her knife and slashed the beast’s snout. But seemingly oblivious to Julie’s counter attack, he thrusted her to the ground. She grappled with the Yao guai, and with every grunt of effort to untangle herself from the bear, he threw her skull back onto the concrete.
With all the strength Julie could muster, she curled her legs into her body and slammed her feet through the stomach of the beast and he fell backwards. With her newly freed appendages, she snatched her shotgun and shot him between the eyes. His lumbering head collapsed on her chest and Julie exhaled in relief. 
“Peek-a-boo!” Someone called in a gravelly voice.
Julie’s neck snapped toward the noise. A gang of eight raiders all stood down the road and lifted their weapons toward her. Julie ducked behind the bear carcass as bullets traveled past her. She loaded her rifle and poked the noise over the Yao guai to blindly fire, but silence errily gripped Julie before she shot. The dumb bastards were reloading. She popped up and hazardously shot three of the eight in the groin before she had to take cover once more.
“Come on out, coward!”
The man’s language did not settle well with Julie, so then with howling rage, she raced towards the assailants. She fired her rifle into mass of raiders while opposing bullets sunk into her armor. One fell, his gas mask biting the ground. In a confident movement, Julie then slid her knife out of her boot and punctured the closest raider’s skull with the blade. Holding him as a shield, she blasted bullets into the throng. A third died, clawing at his throat. A sharp pain shot up the woman’s leg suddenly, and blood gushed from her wounded right calf. A scream of agony erupted from her mouth as she fell to her knees. The gang was overwhelming her, but she was stubborn.
Taking better precaution, she peered through the scope and sniped one. Four down. But now they were on her. So close she could breathe their repulsive air. Shoved to the ground, she fell with the deceased raider flopped on top of her.
A man with a scar for an eye said, “See you in hell!”
Julie shot him in the forehead through the torso of the dead body. Bloody spurted across Julie’s face as he fell beside her. Then releasing her arm from underneath the raider’s remains, she pulled out her shotgun and murdered the next two.
“This ends now, asshole!” The last one yelled.
Courageously she stood, and gripped her knife. He cried out as his gun crashed against Julie’s blade. Before her injured leg failed, she thrusted her knife towards him, the weapons still clashed, but her deadly blade was inches from the bandit’s tender flesh. With a smirk, she sliced his neck as she yanked her body to the right. He collapsed on the ground, and Julie’s leg shriveled and fell. She sighed with pain and pure exhaustion. There was no time to rest however. It was imperative to travel to Concord and receive medical aid before the incision on her cheek and the bullet wound got infected.
A tree limb rested off the side of the road and Julie spotted the branch and hobbled over to it. As a provisional staff, it served her well on the road back to Concord. When she reached home, a man on patrol noticed her and held the crippled woman up with his arm and walked her over to the museum. The pair attracted much attention as they limped along, including Claire’s, who scooped up her opposite shoulder and helped them into the building.
“What happened?” Silas shouted from the balcony.
Julie’s weak body rested on the front steps as a loosely trained medic tended to her wounds. “She’s been shot in the leg and there’s a gash on her face,” the doctor informed. “I need someone to fetch some whiskey.”
Claire immediately volunteered and bolted outside. Soon the girl reappeared with sickly brown liquid. With newly hygienic needles, the medic began to stitch up the wound on her left cheek while Claire occupied Julie. The doctor tied the knot to the thread stitching and reverted his attention to the bullet wound.
“You might want to hold her down,” he said before he began pouring the whiskey onto the wound to sanitize it.
He then offered the alcohol to Julie who winced as the bitter fluid burned her chest when she took a swig. Julie’s eyes squeezed shut and she clenched her jaw in anticipation. Next came excruciating pain when the medic ripped into her skin to dig out the bullet fragments. The blood circulation to Claire’s hand was cut off when Julie twisted Claire’s hand into her fist.
“Hang in there, Julie,” Claire encouraged. She looked down to see the gaping hole in her leg and attempted to remain optimistic. “He’s doing his best.”
The woman being operated on wanted to scream liquid fire. It took at her all willpower not to curse. Silas walked down to the foyer to witness his assassin being tended to. This had happened once before: when Julie was younger and more reckless. She still had a scar as evidence.
“Get me some rebar.”
Claire sprinted out of the museum in effort to aid her friend. Once again she returned with a red- tipped metal pole. The medic snatched it from her and pressed the burning hot rod on Julie’s skin. If the patient screamed, her snitches would snap, and seconds passed before he took the rebar off her leg. Julie exhaled once the surgery seized.
“I’m going to dress your wounds,” the medic began before wrapping her leg in clean gauze. “Then you can go home. Make sure you drink plenty of water and get some rest while your body heals.” He completed swathing her face with bandages. “There you go. Be careful on the way home.”
“Can I talk to you for a moment, Julie?” Silas questioned. Julie stiffly walked toward him and he continued, “Who did this to you?”
“Don’t get all sentimental,” she laughed but quickly changed her tone. “It was the raiders you sent me out to find, sir. They’re taken care of.”
“I’m glad you’re safe.”
Julie nodded and turned to see Claire who speedily came to her aid, but Julie waved her off. She was under the impression that there would be a gaggle of people outside to watch her departure from the building, and she was too prideful for them to see her with any help, even in her unfortunate condition. The pair walked out of the museum and passed raiders eyeing them. Julie and Claire arrived at Julie’s house and both disappeared inside the rickety establishment.
“I’ll be back with some water,” Claire suggested.
Julie nodded and hobbled up the stairs, collapsing onto her mattress once she emerged onto the second floor. Immediately she rolled up a joint and puffed on the freshly lit marijuana. A few minutes passed before Claire entered the upstairs room with carton of water.
“What are you doing?” She furiously screamed.
Julie shrugged and took another drag. “I just got shot, Claire. I think I deserve to relax.”
“Whatever,” she spat. “Here’s your water. I’m leaving.”
Suddenly, eerie sounds of gunshots rang in the air from the east; not far from the house. Julie stomped on her blunt to extinguish the flames and grabbed a 10mm pistol she looted off one of the bodies earlier that day. She turned to hand the gun to Claire, who looked into her stoned eyes, horrified.
“Take this,” Julie urged. “And wait here.” The gunshots continued to fire while Julie equipped her weapons and went downstairs.
“Julie, how are you supposed to fight with your leg?” Claire trembled before following her down the steps.
“I have to,” Julie proclaimed. “I’ll be back soon, so just stay here.”
“I’m scared,” Claire admitted.
Her friend embraced her in a confident hug before departing. Before she exited out the door however, she stated, “Don’t be afraid.”
Julie clenched her jaw to try and numb the pain in her leg. She slunk along the curb of the road whist scanning the sector. She spotted a raider bolt out of the corner lot up ahead, but before he rose his gun, he materialized into a pile of saturated ash. Quickly, the woman ducked behind a heap of sandbags, and tipped her gun over the wall. A man in a beige uniform, equipped with a peculiar rifle that buzzed with red energy, appeared from the opposite side of the road. Julie centered her sights on the man, but before she pulled the trigger, he disappeared from whence he came. She briskly attempted to follow him, creeping down the street. The man entered the museum however, before she ventured to take another shot. The other raiders surrounded the museum and some daring individuals trailed the foe into the building. Soon gunshots sounded from inside the building, but outside was silent. Julie inched down the side of a store to the right of the museum. Out of the blue, another outsider joined the fight. The character wore a skin-tight suit and carried a pistol. The after effects of the drugs affected Julie’s performance, and she was unable to wound the person advancing on the institution. They murdered all the bandits in the neighborhood, except for Julie, who for the first time, withdrew to her home.
Once she arrived, she frantically searched for Claire. Her body was found on the steps inside the house, slumped with her limbs haphazardly scattered in all directions. Julie cried in defeat and scooped Claire’s body into her arms. For the first time in the woman’s existing memory, she wept. It was the most vulnerable she had ever been. Julie cradled Claire’s head and pressed her ear onto her sorrowful heart. Regrettably, Julie was aware she had to escape before the intruders killed her, so she collected her caps stash, kissed Claire goodbye, and left Concord, never to return.
Julie never ceased to search for the men who killed her father or the strange creatures who slaughtered her friend. Years later she found the being in the blue suit, and by their hand she was murdered. Julie died with a cold heart and one-track brain. After Concord she lost her humanity to be transformed into the scum of the earth that Claire kept her from. She was already gone when she perished.