Idyllic is the word he would use to describe Sanctuary Hills. Since his parents had immigrated from Germany he'd been shuffled around from city to city, never having any time to put down roots. It was that reason he joined the Army in the first place, to regain a sense of order in his life. He'd risen through the ranks at a staggering pace, getting a field commission to Lieutenant in just five years. For that he was the target of much mallus from the lower ranking enlisted. Despite the ridicule he had to endure at first, he had relished his time in the 101st Airborne. He came to love his men like brothers, and they him.
He was on currently on extended leave at the moment due to injuries endured in the Yangtze Campaign. With that in mind he stared intently at the burn scars that marred his face. A Chinese Inferno unit had gotten the drop on his platoon as they made their way up the Yangtze river to rendezvous with the 82nd. The flames had burned Carlson and Kowalski to ash before anyone could react. Jameson was caught in the periphery of the flames and his face melted clean off his body, while the rest of his squad was pinned by Chinese riflemen. The flames had licked at his face and burned away the outermost layers of flesh on his left cheek leaving an ugly layer of burn scars on his otherwise average face. He was broken from his revelry when a hand gripped his shoulder from behind.
"Staring at them isn't going to make them go away, you know?" came the melodious voice of his wife, Maria.
"Yes, yes, I know, I know. Still, they really help with the grizzled veteran look, eh?" He replied, letting a bit of deadpan sarcasm leak into his voice.
"Oh yes, so Very intimidating. Now are you done hogging the mirror? You still need to get dressed, and I still need to take a shower."The snark was palpable.
"Oh, I don't know? Maybe I need another shower, hmm?" he suggested, eyebrows waggling suggestively.
"Yeah, no. You need to finish getting ready or we'll be late, and I'd like to be on time for once."
"Oh fine, you're no fun you know that?" He lamented with false disappointment.
She laughed before shoving him out of the bathroom and closing the door. Chuckling to himself, he wandered into his bedroom and opened his closet. Inside hung a standard U.S. Army dress uniform with the Lieutenant's insignia and the Eagle of the 101st. On the left breast pocket was a name, Weiss. Quickly dressing, he grabbed his hat and made his way for the Tea he knew would be on the counter.
"Ah! Master Ludwig! How are you on this fine morning? Oh, and not to worry your tea is as you like it, two sugars and piping hot!" Said the excitable Mr. Handy, Codsworth.
"I am well Codsworth. And thank you, your tea making skills remain unmatched." he replied.
"Why thank you, sir." Codsworth said, perking up in all the pride a robot can show.
"Ludwig! Could you check on Anna really quick?" Came the voice of Maria through the bathroom door.
"Yeah, give me a moment!" He replied before making his way into Anna's room. The little one and a half year old was sleeping in her crib at the moment, but opened her eyes when he came near.
"Hey there, little one." Picking her up, he continued. "Let's go get you some food, eh?" He brought Anna into the kitchen and set her in her high chair before Codsworth swooped down with food. With that taken care of he sat down on the couch and started flipping through channels.
"Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!-"
"We will build a Great Wall and make Chi-"
"Mr. House, I'm pregnant. And you are the-"
"The weather forecast for the next two days is looking to be sunny with highs of 85 degrees." Ludwig finally decided on the local news.
"Anna is done..ah..eating, sir. I shall take her to be cleaned up now" Codsworth announced, carefully picking Anna up with his actuating arms and taking her to her room.
"Alright Codsworth, just be careful when picking her up."
"Not a worry sir" he said, to the giggling of the little girl.
A knocking invaded his ears as he tried to settle into a comfortable position. He stood up and went to the door. Opening it he found Randy, the Vault-Tec rep who had a place in Sanctuary Hills.
"Good morning Ludwig. How are you on this fine morning?" He asked, as excitable as always.
"Good morning Randy, I am well. We're getting ready to go to the VA event in Lexington." Ludwig replied.
"Oh, then it's a good thing I caught up in time. I need you to look over and sign some last minute forms for your place in the Vault."
"Alright, let's see them." He said. Inviting Randy inside, he took a look at the papers and signed where he needed. He made extra care to read all the terms and conditions. He was a bit unsettled by the "increased reproduction for the survival of the human species" clause, but otherwise things seemed to check out.
"Here you go Randy, I'll see you this afternoon" he said, before ushering him out the door.
"Again? You'd think the first bunch of forms would have been enough" Maria said from the kitchen.
"Apparently they want to be thorough. At least they didn't want another stool sample, that was weird" he said with a slight shudder.
"Little Miss Anna is cleaned and dressed" came Codsworth's voice.
"Good, now Cod, remember to watch her like a haw-" Ludwig was cut off by the sounding of the air raid siren.
The color drained from Ludwig's face before he yelled "Run, we need to get to the Vault now!" Maria grabbed Anna out of Codsworth's "arms" and ran out the door. Crossing over the bridge towards the Vault, they came across the gate that led to the Vault.
"Please, please you have to let us pass" came the panicked yells of the people outside the gate.
"I'm sorry, but only those on the list get through, you are not on the list. Now move along, or we will be forced to open fire."
"Sergeant, what seems to be the issue here?" Ludwig asked.
"Oh! Lieutenant! Um, sir. Well, these people aren't on the list, sir."
"How many people have entered the Vault?"
"About a hundred, sir."
"Vaults are built to house upwards of one thousand people, sergeant, those twenty will not harm anything. Now let them through, that is an order."
"Uh, Yes Sir! Of course, sir."
Ludwig had sent his wife through beforehand so after that exchange, he and the grateful survivors made their way towards the Vault. Once at the elevator, he reassured his wife before it started down. When the elevator arrived at the bottom of the shaft, the overseer of the Vault looked over them with surprise.
"There are more of you then expected, though that's no matter. There's plenty of room for everyone! Now please, make your way to the decontamination center."
With that in mind, Ludwig and his family made his way down further into the Vault. When they approached the decontamination pods he started to feel uneasy. The pods looked familiar. He had seen something like them in Germany. At Munich University, test pods to preserve cadavers and comatose patients in cryogenic suspension. 'Though, maybe they only look the same, hah not likely.' he thought. 'Still, if we are suspended for long enough to wait out the fallout, it may work out quite well. Yeah, that must be what these are for' he rationalized, it's not like they could just leave them in there forever. Deciding to take the plunge he climbs into the pod and waits for the sweet embrace of the cold.
And so he slept.
