Athena Swallows: A Short Narrative Fiction

Deacon decides he needs to get closer and begins to sneak after Athena.

She crosses the bridge and arrives to Sanctuary.

“Codsworth!” She calls as she continues towards her house.

There he is, right in front of their rusty home. Athena pants a bit and smiles widely at seeing a dear asset to the family alive.

“As I live and breathe. . . It’s . . . it’s really you!” Codsworth exclaims once seeing Athena. At first he thought his circuits were malfunctioning but it seems like it really is her. She’s still alive!

“Codsworth! I’m so happy to see you. You survived . . . that means there must be others, too.” She gives a sigh of relief.

“Well of course I’m still here,” he assures her, sounding as lively as ever. “Surely you don’t think a little

. . these things you’re saying. These . . . terrible things . . . I- I believe you need a distraction. Yes! A distraction, to calm this dire mood. It’s been ages since we’ve had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. I-Is the lad . . . with you?”

“Oh Codsworth,” Athena swallows her bubbling emotions and continues, “Shaun- Shaun was kidnapped inside the Vault. I-I know it sounds kind of impossible but I’m- I’m going to find him.” She combs her hair out of her face with her fingers and sighs. “I’m going to get my baby back.”

Codsworth continues with his skepticism, “It’s worse than I thought. Hmm -Hmm. You’re suffering from . . . hunger induced paranoia. Not eating properly for two hundred years will do that, I’m afraid.”

The new information hits Athena like a pile of bricks to the head. “Two- two hundred years? I-It’s been two hundred years?” Her stomach twists at the thought.

Deacon’s eye-brows raise. Two hundred years? And he thought he was old.

“A bit over two hundred ten actually, mum,” Codsworth corrects. “Give or take a little for the Earth’s rotation and some minor dings to the ole’ chronometer. That means you’re two centuries late for dinner! Ha, ha, ha. Perhaps I can whip you up a snack? You must be

I believe people refer to them as ‘radroaches’ due to their size being the product of the radiation from the bombs.” Codsworth explains.

“So that’s what kids are calling them now-a-days.” Athena huffs.

“Speaking of nasty vermin.” Codsworth turns into a house containing a couple of very large, mutated bugs.

Athena makes a disgusted face and shoots at them with her pistol. They burst when pierced by a bullet. “Gross. What are these called?”

“Bloatflies . . . they’re quite ghastly, aren’t they?” He kills the last one.

“Yeah. . .” Athena answers under her breath. The world has changed so much. It’s mind-blowing how creatures she could only compare to horror movie monsters are real now.

After looking around a bit Codsworth states, “Well, nothing here but a few flies. Wait . . . my sensors are picking up movement in another house. Follow me!”

“Right.”

They leave the house and enter another one to find more bloatflies. She manages to dodge they’re shots and, with the help of Codsworth, she exterminates the pests. Athena looks at the ground where one shot at.

“Oh God, is that . . . is that it’s larva?” Athena is kind of scared to hear the respond to that question.

“Indeed it is. Bloatflies shoot out their larva at their enemies, quite horrific is it not.”

“No kidding. .