I kind of want to give this fan fiction thing a try... This chapter is pretty much just a flashback of Amata waking you for the "Escape!" quest, and not much else. Not too confident in my writing ability and I'm sure this could be miles better, but it's only the first chapter, right?

Chapter 1: Dad Missing

August 20, 2277, Outside of Springvale Elementary School

It had been what, a week now? How the hell did this happen? I was laying in a ditch with six or seven bullet wounds, and I was losing blood fast. I just wanted to find my dad... I don't know what to do, so I guess I'll just fade away. As I started to fade into unconsciousness, memories of that day flooded into my head.

August 17, 2277, Vault 101: The Lone Wanderer's Quarters

"Get up!" The voice was piercing through my dreams... "Get up, get up!" The clouds parted and I was pulled from my fantasy.

I rubbed my eyes and looked up at Amata who was over top of me. "Hi there," I said, "yunno, if you had these these types of feelings for me..."

"Oh, shut up!" she retorted, "this is serious!" I was surprised by the sharp response. "James... Your dad is gone! He escaped the Vault!"

"But that's impossible... No one can escape the Vault!"

"Apparently not. Your dad found a way," she said. "Look, that's not what's important right now. What's important is that you need to get out of here."

"Me? Why?" I protested.

"Because my father thinks you helped him escape somehow... He wants information from you," she said. "He's got the whole security squad looking for you. They even... They killed Jonas!" Amata took a moment to collect herself, brushing away a few tears.

"Here, take this." She handed me a holotape. "It's a recording of your father... Jonas said it's your father's goodbye, but I haven't listened to it."

I sat up on my bed and popped the tape into my Pip Boy and hit the "Play" button.

"Hello, son." That was definitely Dad... "If you're listening to this, it means I'm already gone. I'm truly sorry for keeping this a secret from you, but I couldn't have you following me out of the Vault, now could I? I need you to be a good boy and take care of my duties as the Vault's medic."

"What?" I said. Dad had taught me quite a bit about being a medic, but not nearly enough to take care of the entire Vault. What the hell, Dad... The tape continued.

"I have unfinished business in the outside world and I don't know if I'll ever see you again." Unfinished business? We'd never left the Vault! Had to be a slip of the tongue... "The Overseer certainly isn't just going to let me come back in the Vault. Just remember that this was for something greater than all of us. Thank you, son. I love you."

I couldn't believe it. I was holding back tears at this point. I didn't know what to do. "I'm so sorry..." Amata said. Amata wrapped her arms around me in an unusually tight hug. I did the same to her and let a few tears roll out.

I broke from her embrace. "How are we going to escape?" I asked. She said nothing and proceeded to load up a 10mm pistol and handed it to me.

"Your going to need this," she said after fumbling with the gun for a good five minutes or so. "There's a hidden escape route in my father's office." She paused for a moment and took her hair down. "Take these bobby pins. That's how I always get in," she said, "The password to the terminal in my father's office is 'Amata,' got that?"

I nodded and started out the door. I grabbed the old BB gun Dad had given me on my tenth birthday and an old Grognak comic book and headed out.