Fallout: Desolation
Episode One - The First Day
As Michael slowly awoke on the cold metal floor of the Vault, his head throbbed in pain.
"Wh-what happened?"
Michael's vision was somewhat blurred, from being hit in the head, but he could make out some of the things that were happening. There were other Vault Dwellers running around, yelling. The Vault's alarms were blaring as well.
A bright object moved around in the corner of Michael's eye. He turned his head to see the object, and his vision began to clear up. The bright object was a man on fire. More specifically, it was the Overseer. Overseer Hale had been long contested, but no one expected anyone to do anything to him.
However, it was Hale and he was cooking to a crisp as he ran through the Vault screaming.
Michael slowly stood up, as his head still held a dull pain. He caught someone right as they ran by.
"Hey! Jim, what the hell's going on?" Michael asked.
Jim responded, "Fuck, man. You must've gotten hit harder than we thought. Come with me, I'm going to meet Sarah. We're gonna get the hell outta here."
"Okay, lead the way." Michael responded.
Jim led Michael to a bunk room where they saw Sarah shoving items into several backpacks.
"Shit, you're back. Hey, Mike." Sarah said.
"Sarah, Mike's coming with us." Jim told Sarah.
She was somewhat confused.
"What? We've already agreed to take Chris with us. We won't have enough supplies for the four of us." Sarah replied, poorly attempting to hide her slight anger.
"More people increases our chance of survival, Sarah." Jim replied.
The thought hadn't yet crossed her mind.
Sarah sighed heavily. "Fine."
She went back to burgling the other Dwellers' items. As Jim walked over to Sarah, he grabbed a backpack and tossed it to Michael.
"Load your stuff. We're outta here in ten minutes." Jim said.
Michael walked over to his small area of the bunk rooms and began packing up.
"Where's Chris at?" Sarah asked Jim.
"He's over in the second bunk room, packing up. He said he'd meet us at the Vault door."
"Got it."
Michael shoved the few things he held onto inside the backpack, mostly mementos of a childhood long gone, and walked over to Jim and Sarah.
"I'm ready when you guys are."
"Hold on…" Jim said as he hurriedly pushed his belongings into the worn backpack. "Alright! I'm ready."
"I am too. Let's go." Sarah said with a breath of relief.
Michael, Sarah and Jim rushed towards the Vault's entrance. As they ran through the Vault, they passed people practically skinning each other, shredding them for what little sustenance they could scrounge, as if overnight, any and all traces of their humanity had dissipated.
The food supply in the commissary had begun to dwindle in these last few months, and had recently run out nearly entirely. Sarah had stolen the last small amount of food for her and her accomplices' lives on the outside of the Vault. However, this meant that the Dwellers in the Vault had resorted to cannibalism to survive.
As they were nearing the entrance of the Vault, they passed former Overseer Hale's charred corpse. Michael could faintly hear the crackles of the embers left on Hale's cooked body.
"Fuck, that's gross." Michael thought.
The trio ran through the corridors of the Vault, passing screaming Dwellers, fighting with each other, hoping to survive. As they arrived at the Vault's entrance, they encountered Chris, who was holding a Vault Security Officer at gunpoint.
"Stay back!" Chris yelled as the Security Officer inched forward.
"Mr. Martinson, don't do something you'll regret." The Security Officer said nervously.
"Shut up—" Chris stopped speaking when he saw the trio that had arrived.
"Finally. You're here." Chris said to the trio.
"Let's get out of here—" Chris went silent when his finger slipped.
And he heard the sound of the gunshot. His finger had slipped on the trigger, and Chris had shot the Security Officer in the neck.
The Officer fell to the ground clutching his neck. He made gurgling sounds as blood seeped through the cracks between his fingers. Chris was visibly shaken.
"Uh… Le-let's go." Chris said as he holstered the handgun.
Jim walked to the control panel and hit several buttons, which prompted the Vault door to open. As the giant steel door slowly creaked open, Chris spoke up.
"I… I-I don't know if I can do this, you guys."
"What? What do you mean 'You don't know if you can do this'?" Sarah asked.
"Yeah, Chris. You just shot a guy. You really think they'll be keen on letting you stick around? Best case scenario: you leave with us. Worst case: they kill and eat you." Jim said ominously.
Chris was worried. He could stay in the Vault and risk death, or he could go out into the Wasteland and risk death.
Chris didn't object after that, and followed the trio ahead of him out of the Vault. As they stepped out into the true world for the first time, they were greeted by a dead world. The trees were nearly gone, most had disintegrated in the initial blasts. The trees that survived were mere shells of their former selves. In a world that barely provided, they were among the first to go.
The four Dwellers walked down the small hill that lead to the Vault door. As they reached the bottom, they were finally in the midst of true carnage. Husks of cars strewn across the area close to the Vault, houses which had been almost completely obliterated by the raging atomic fire. This wasn't the world that they had heard existed many decades ago.
The sun was hot as they traveled. Wearing only Vault suits and backpacks, they had little protection against the harsh elements. And, of course, it was hotter than Hell outside. This was it. They'd left the safety of the Vault. The rest was up to them.
Written by Cherry Coyote
Characters, Locations and many Ideas are original, but inspiration is drawn from the canon Fallout games.