[center][h2][b][color=f6989d]Estelle Bennett[/color][/b][/h2][/center]

[list] [*] [color=bc8dbf][i]Location - Commonwealth Road[/i][/color][/list]

Though the war-marred lands of former Massachussetts never fostered much of an idyll scene, Estelle could not help but feel disappointed by the lack of beauty. In the wake of cataclysmic war—the vestiges of which being gelded, charred trees, ugly shrubbery and barren soil—what was now called the Commonwealth had progressed very little in terms of flora and fauna reappearing. All that caught the senile woman’s bespectacled eyes while she sat in a brahmin-pulled cart were the occasional scuttering of animals and the sick, tallowy sky above her.

The recoiling bumps of the cart had kept Estelle awake for most of the journey from Diamond City to Salem, six hours yonder. The man who owned the cart and cattle, a hulking mass of muscle with leonine hair named Russ, offered enough company to keep her spirits up, making small talk with Estelle as she sat bundled up in a thin blanket and wedged between what little belongings she brought. Admittedly, Estelle was apprehensive of the muscular cart-driver initially, for she had only met him today. As they ventured further away from her home of old, however, Estelle felt only relief for having a capable man guiding her. The skulls and remains of less lucky travelers they passed quickly dispelled any distrust.

	[b]“We’re here, Ms. Bennett,”[/b] came the virile voice of Russ. Estelle’s body jolted upwards and she craned her blanket-cocooned body around to see.

	[b]“Well, certainly what I was [i]expecting[/i],”[/b] Estelle quipped. From her view, the small town did not seem to boast very much. 

	[i]Perhaps it is better that it doesn’t.[/i]

The cart halted southeast of the settlement. Unwrapping the blanket from around her, Estelle's feet touched the dusty ground for the first time since leaving the city.

[hr]

[list] [*] [color=bc8dbf][i]Location - Salem[/i][/color][/list]

After paying Russ and bidding him a safe travel back, Estelle hobbled into Salem, her shawl draping her shoulders and suitcases occupying both hands and the crook of her left armpit. She had sent a courier down to Salem two weeks ago, and after an additional fortnight of waiting for a reply she assumed her messenger dead and decided, to her distaste, to simply come unannounced to the town. 

Peering about the area, Estelle cursed herself for having the impatience of her father.