Dean inhaled as deep as his lungs would allow him, it felt as though he hadn't used them in a century. "Sammy…" his voice was dry and just as unused as his lungs. He could hear his brother coughing from nearby, but his vision wouldn't clear well enough for him to make out more than blurred shapes. "Sammy!" he tried to call louder.
"Here Dean," Sam's voice was just as ragged as Dean's felt. "I am right here."
He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, "what the hell is happening?" His vision began to slowly clear, he could make out the cement floor beneath them and the huge tanks across from the one he had been shoved in only minutes ago.
"I have no idea…" Sam's voice broke again in a fit of coughing.
Dean turned his head to look at his brother, "where's Cas?"
"Try to act more natural, Cas," Sam glanced worriedly at their friend who was fidgeting with his tie. "Remember, we aren't feds this time, we're here as customers."
"I understand," he released his tie and tried to stand in the same manner as the Winchesters, holding his arms out awkwardly.
"Yea, you can't just zap yourself out of trouble anymore…" Dean's words trailed off as his face contorted into bewilderment. "What are you doing?"
"I am trying to stand more naturally…" Cas shrugged.
"We don't stand like that," he shook his head at the graceless angel, "I don't stand like that." He looked to his brother for confirmation, but received only a shrug. "I don't stand like that," he grumbled gritting his teeth.
"Hello gentlemen!" the blonde woman in the blue jumpsuit smiled at them looked down to the clipboard nestled in her arms. "Names, please?"
"Uh, I am Mr. Ackles," Dean returned the girl's smile.
"Mr. Padalecki," Sam nodded.
"Mr. Collins," Castiel tried to smile.
"Let's see," the girl's eyes trailed down her list as she checked them off one by one. "Very good, welcome gentlemen to Vault-Tec's vault 111. Are you ready for your tour?"
"Please," Dean motioned for her to lead the way.
"First, before we can begin, we ask that all visitors take a Vault-Tec jumpsuit and go through our decontamination units so that we can keep any harmful bacteria out of the inner vault," she motioned to the crate of suits just like hers. "I know the blue isn't particularly flattering, but it insures safety."
"Of course," Sam smiled and took his suit first.
"I don't understand, what is wrong with our clothes?" Castiel frowned.
"Just listen to the lady," Dean growled dug a suit out of the crate.
"Something must have gone wrong with the machines…" Sam's breathing was labored, "There is… something wrong, Dean."
Dean struggled to regain his bearings as he looked around at the other tanks. "Where are all the lights?" he wrapped his arms around himself, "and why is it so damn cold?"
The tank next to where Dean was shivering began to groan as the lights came on and the large glass door began to lift.
"Cas!" Sam lurched towards the man, catching him as he fell forward.
"What the hell is happening here, Sammy?" Dean grunted. "Where is everyone?"
"I know as much as you do," Sam lowered Castiel to the ground as he coughed until his stomach emptied itself all over the floor.
"Awe, man," Dean gagged.
"I am sorry," Castiel's voice was almost a whisper, "I don't know why I feel so sick."
"It's alright," Sam patted his back, "we don't know what is going on either."
"We need to get out of here," Dean began to move down the walkway to where they had been led in.
"These are uh, a little snug…" Dean smiled at the woman who was waiting for them outside of the changing area.
"They are meant to be snug," her smile was just as wide as it had been when she first met them. "The fabric helps to regulate homeostasis, and to protect the wearer from mild radiation."
"Radiation?" Sam frowned.
"Yes, Mr. Padalecki," the girl motioned for them to follow her, "this is after all a fallout shelter. In the case of nuclear fallout, there will be residual radiation for quite some time on the surface, and we here at Vault-Tec believe in insuring our client's safety above all else."
"Oh, right," Dean nodded, "radiation, of course." He smiled at Castiel who only frowned deeper as he trailed behind the brothers.
They followed her down a narrow cement walkway that was lined with giant capsules. "These are our decontamination units, the cutting edge of technology recently perfected by our Vault-Tec engineers." She continued to smile as she helped Sam climb into his. "In just a few minutes you will be cleared to continue on your tour of the facility."
Castiel was helped into his pod by a man dressed in a matching jumpsuit and looked worriedly towards Dean.
"It's alright," Dean nodded, "we are right here." He smiled to the girl as she reached up to grasp the edge of the tank's lid, "he is easily rattled."
"That is no problem," her voice dropped as she closed the glass lid. "In a few minutes it won't matter anyway," her lips pursed together as she leaned in closer so Dean could hear her over the hiss of the gas entering the chamber. "See you in a few months, Mr. Ackles."
"Wait," Dean could feel panic rise in his chest as the temperature in the tank dropped rapidly, "what?" He tried to raise his arms, to force the door open, but he found himself unable to move. The more he fought it the faster his vision faded.
"Dean, we need to get out of here," Sam had pulled Castiel to his feet as they tried to make their way back to the elevator.
"There is something wrong with this door," Dean strained against the unmoving metal. "Where the hell is everyone?!" the strength had returned to his limbs, adding fuel to the anger burning in his veins.
He pushed away from the door and turned to make his way towards the terminal he could see from where they were standing. He hadn't moved five steps when his feet tangled in something heavy and he landed face first on the cold floor.
"I am so sick of this place!" he yelled, kicking his feet, "who the hell just leaves people in an underground…" his voice caught in his throat; tangled around his boots were the bare bones of a human skeleton shoved into a bold, blue jumpsuit.
"What the hell!?" he pushed himself up from the ground and began to stomp his way through the empty hallways.
"Dean!" Sam called as he helped Castiel follow the raging man.
"I don't like being lied to Sammy!" he yelled as he banged on every door he passed. "I don't like being lied to, and I sure as hell don't like being used!"
Finally one of the doors gave away, only to lead to another room full of skeletons.
"What is going on here?" Sam looked around. "Everything looks so old and unused…"
Dean ran his fingers along one of the counters, "I would say it hasn't been used," he wiped the layer of dust that was covering his fingers on the jumpsuit.
"We need to find our way back to the elevator," Sam lowered Castiel to a bench.
"Hey, hey!" Dean pulled a black metal baton from the hands of one of the skeletons. "Here you go Sammy," he tossed it across the room.
"Thanks, but what about you?" Sam flicked his wrist, extending the baton out to its full length.
"Did you think I would have let them take me down to the lower levels without some security?" he pulled the demon blade from inside the jumpsuit.
"Where were you…?" Sam raised an eyebrow.
"Don't ask," Dean's face turned to the still wheezing angel. "Are you alright?"
"I…" Castiel struggled to pull in any air, "I don't… think… so…"
"Come on," Sam helped him back up.
The halls seemed to stretch on forever, with nothing but skeletons in empty jumpsuits scattered around. The trio slowly made their way through the vault, room after dimly lit room.
"Finally," Dean's shoulder's relaxed once they found themselves back at the entrance to the vault.
"You know," Sam looked behind them. "We never found any way to the lower levels."
"Doesn't matter…" Dean punched some of the controls, "we are getting the hell outta here." He frowned and hit the buttons harder, "if the stupid thing would turn on!"
"I think… you need…" Castiel wheezed, "one… of those." He pointed to the device wrapped around the skeleton's wrist at Dean's feet.
"What is it?" Dean struggled to get it off the protesting arm.
"It's probably something that allows them to interface with the system here," Sam lowered Castiel to the ground and took the device from Dean. "If this whole place is meant to continue operating after a total power blackout, it would stand to reason that it has its own interface and processing systems."
"Nerd." Dean knelt down and helped the angel back up.
Sam clipped the large piece of hardware to his wrist and pulled the connector off the back. "Uhhhh, oh, here," he plugged it into the control panel, injecting life into the seemingly dead system. "There we go!"
An alarm began to go off from somewhere deep in the compound as the giant wheel blocking their path began to roll away.
"Finally!" Dean made his way down the metal walkway with Castiel as Sam pushed some buttons on the control panel, disconnected himself and followed.
"It should just go up on its own," Sam joined them on the platform.
"So, do we just stand here, or…" the shuddering of the elevator coming to life cut Dean off.
The air began to clear and sunlight began to pour down the shaft as they were taken higher and higher to the surface.
"I am telling you Sammy," Dean chuckled, "never again…"
Silence settled over them as the glare from the sun faded, allowing their eyes to adjust to the view.
"Where the hell are we?" Dean breathed, holding an arm over his head, shading his eyes.
Castiel pushed himself away from Dean and hobbled forward. "I knew…" his breathing was still labored. "I knew… nuclear war… was… inevitable… but I," he stopped on the edge of the platform looking down at the wasteland below them that was once the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. "But I never… would have guess it would be like this…"
"Stay right where you are!" A voice yelled from behind them.
Dean and Sam swung around to face the three girls with their guns pointed at them.
"Weapons on the ground now," the shortest one gritted her teeth, "nice and easy."
"Whoa!" Dean held the knife up and began to slowly lower it down.
Sam did the same with his baton.
"Where are we?" Dean asked as he stood back up from placing the knife on the platform.
"What do you mean, 'where are we?'" the same girl spoke, "you are in the Commonwealth, you know… Massachusetts."
"They're from a vault, Boden," the redhead spoke quietly to her friend, her sniper rifle remaining on them. "They may not know… anything."
"You mean they don't have anything," the first girl sighed and lowered her shotgun.
"Oh, I wouldn't say that!" the third girl with green hair grinned. "Look at that PipBoy!"
"What would we do with a PipBoy, Ellie?" The dark haired girl glared at the one who was excitedly staring at Sam.
"We wouldn't do anything…" She rubbed her hands together greedily, "but I could have a whole lot of fun!"
"We aren't raiders, we don't just take things from people," the redhead shoved the other girl, breaking her trance on Sam.
"Oh, but Lou!" she pouted. "Just this once! They don't even have any guns!"
"Exactly," Lou slung her rifle over her back. "They don't need us making things worse for them."
"Your friend doesn't look so good," the short girl motioned to Castiel who had slumped to the ground.
"Who are you?" Sam asked as he stared bewildered at the girls.
"Cas!" Dean called to the angel who was beginning to black out. "Cas!" he knelt next to the gasping man.
"Here," the redhead moved forward as she pulled a needle from her belt.
"Sharing stimpaks?" Boden raised an eyebrow, "a little assuming isn't it? We don't even know these people."
"If we refuse to help people who need it, we are no better than raiders," she glared at her friend, "and you know how I feel about them."
"Okay, okay," she held up her hands. "It's your stash anyway… do with it as you please."
"Here," she handed the syringe to Dean.
"What is this?" Dean stared at her, confusion written all over his face.
"It's a stimpak…" her eyebrows raised, "it will help him."
"Well, what the hell do I do with it?" Dean held it over his chest, "here?"
"No!" Lou grabbed the needle back from him. "No! That could make his heart explode!" She chuckled as she knelt next to the angel. "Like this," in one motion she shoved the two inch needling into his arm, there was a sharp hiss as the dial on the end of the syringe dropped lower and lower, emptying the red fluid into his system.
"One more time," Sam inhaled, frustrated, "who the hell are you?"
Castiel jerked upright as his lungs opened and he inhaled deeply.
"Apparently, we are your saviors," Boden snickered. "Welcome to the wasteland."
