Fallout 3 Short

Claws of Death, Prologue

As much as she hated the ruined structures of the houses that scoured the wasteland, she was happy to have been caught in her current predicament with them nearby.  She'd managed to grab her two Frag Mines and arm them just outside the broken doorway she'd squeezed through before finding shelter behind a mostly intact shelving unit.
Dogmeat had gone and hid in the nearby brush cover at her command and would stay there until she called for him.  How fortunate that she had trained him in a few advanced commands before setting off to the north of the wastes.  It gave her time to retreat to cover and hunker down after being spotted.
The beast was huge, twice the height of any human and as far as she was concerned looked like a devil.  Horns protruded from it's head above two black eyes which themselves rested above its snout lined with razor sharp teeth.  It's huge arms were taught with muscle and it's hands ended in several black scythes.  The tail of the beast swung back and forth almost mimicking it's head movements.  It was searching for her.
As quietly as she could she un-slung her hunting rifle from it's makeshift pouch at her back, loading five caliber rounds into it's small chamber.  She'd only get three shots at most until it broke through the already dead and brittle wood structure, slashed through the shelf and sunk it's teeth into her.  The only hope she had was that something, a molerat or Raider or anything else that roamed the wastes passed by and caught the thing's attention.  She'd learned that fighting a Deathclaw was something you only did as a last resort.
If it kept coming down the shadow of a path towards her shabby makeshift bunker she would have no choice but.  The mines might slow it down, either by disorientating it or crippling one of it's legs, but slowing one of these creatures and killing one were two entirely different things.  When they pursued prey, they did not stop until they tasted it's flesh.
She aimed the rifle at it's head as it slowly approached the two mines.  As soon as the mines beeped proximity warnings she'd fire a shot, and with any luck that the wasteland had left to offer the Deathclaw might just figure she was too much trouble to chase.
Beep, Beep, Beep Beep Beep-Beep - BANG
She fired right before the mines exploded and felt herself thrown backwards onto the ground.  Grunting she pulled herself upright while the Deathclaw roared to the heavens.  With effort she aimed the rifle back where the beast had been a moment before and waited for the smoke to clear enough to see her target.  She could hear the Deathclaw moving and saw it's outline appear in the dust cloud and adjusted her aim to where the head might be.  That's when she heard the barking.
The Deathclaw growled and turned away from her, looking for the source of the noise, looking for her companion and best friend, Dogmeat.

"Over here you mutated freak!" she fired before standing up and shouting, "Come and get me!"

She fired her remaining three shots before kneeling behind the shelf once more, grabbing some more rounds from her satchel bag.  She could tell the Deathclaw had returned it's interests in hunting her as it stomped over to the thick wood panels and studs that shot skyward from the ground a mere three feet from her.
Keeping her attention on her actions, she loaded the rounds as the Deathclaw took out the boards and quickly fired at it's head again.  The shot went wide and she brought the gun to the crook of her shoulder before firing off the next shots as fast as she could.
The Deathclaw swiped at her, barely missing as she rolled to the side, fumbling for her pistol.

"Here boy, come and get him Dogmeat!" she shouted.

Dogmeat had been her saving grace more than once.  She'd been ambushed by Talon mercenaries outside the Arlington Library.  She'd only survived the encounter thanks to Dogmeat rushing them and causing them to falter in their attack.  She'd dropped one and injured a second as the third had been set upon by Dogmeat.  He'd screamed until his throat had been ripped out.  The injured Talon merc had pleaded for his life which had been spared at the cost of all his gear and equipment.
Her thoughts returned once again to the Deathclaw, which was now having trouble chasing her through the broken structure of the house.  She shot at it wildly with her pistol but as she expected, it did not do much to slow the beast.  As she went to slide through a hole in the wall her shoulder got caught on a couple nails and to her dismay, held her fast.  She could feel the Deathclaw inching closer as she struggled against her own clothing trying to free herself.
Dogmeat appeared at her side whimpering and barking, as if encouraging her and warning her of the impending doom they both faced.  He grabbed her free arm in his mouth, biting as gently as he dared in order to pull her to no avail.  She kept reassuring him with supportive words as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Run boy, go home." she said, her voice weak and fearful, "Go see Moira boy, run!"

Dogmeat whimpered as he let go of her, not wanting to obey the commands he'd been given.  He barked and growled in defiance as the Deathclaw appeared against the wall.  She looked up and saw it's face hanging over the wall, one clawed hand resting above her head.  She brought her pistol up with her free hand and shot it in the face as pain racked her captive arm and shoulder.  Dogmeat kept barking as she felt herself go numb, the pain was leaving her body, and so was her life.
Before she blacked out a loud bang sounded followed by the zaps of laze fire.  Dogmeat barked loudly as she fell free from the wall and landed on the ground.  The Deathclaw roared once before a second loud bang silenced it.  Dogmeat licked her face as she tried to pet him, her body growing weak.  He was a good dog.

"Quickly, we got a live one!" she heard a voice say.

The last thing she saw were giant silver figures hovering around her.  The last thing she felt was Dogmeat laying down beside her, his whimpering filled with fear at her encroaching death.  

Pride of Lyons, Epilogue

She'd lost a lot of blood, her arm was sliced open from shoulder to wrist and her side had been punctured.  But she was alive.
She tried to call out but her voice would not come.  She opened her eyes and was met with a blurry, foggy reality.  Lights hung almost above her, not bright enough to cause pain, but she squinted to help her eyes adjust.  The room was dark and grey, she could tell there was at least two more tables or beds the same as the one she now laid upon.
As she looked around she saw Dogmeat lying next to her and a chair next him was piled with her belongings, the hunting rifle was leaned against it.  As if she had called to him, Dogmeat sat up and looked at her, whimpering as he stood up to lean on the table and licked her face.

"Hey boy." she said straining, her lungs hurt, "Guess we got lucky again huh?"

He barked in response and then dropped back down to turn to the doorway.  She followed his gaze and saw that a silver figure with a head of blonde hair leaned in the doorway looking at them.  It was a woman and her armor bore the mark of the Brotherhood whom she'd come across in small patrols when she had explored the ruins of D.C.

"Quite a dog you have there.  Never left you for nothing."
"He's been with me through a lot." she replied, "Where am I?"
"You're in the Citadel." she answered stepping into the room, "Brotherhood of Steel command for the Washington D.C. area."
"I wasn't anywhere near the ruins, how'd you find me?"
"Well, we'd heard a satellite relay was still functioning up north and thought we might try to get our hands on it before the Outcasts.  But we ran into you two instead." she smirked, "You got some stones on you, fighting a Deathclaw like that."
"Well, I wasn't trying to fight it."
"Don't I know." she turned around and before closing the door behind her said, "Well when you get your strength back, we're going to have a talk about that thing on your arm and where you got it."
"That's a story." she replied before returning, "What's your name?"
"Sarah Lyons, captain of the Lyons Pride.  We're the ones that pulled you out of the mess." and before the door finally shut, "You're welcome."

She leaned back down on the table, sighed and closed her eyes.  Dogmeat jumped up onto the table and laid down next to her, licking her face before resting his head on her good shoulder.  She put her good arm around him and gave him as good a scratch as she could muster before letting sleep overtake her.  She had a feeling both of them would be seeing a lot more of the wastes and ruins than they'd ever want to.