I had a life before The Great War and Vault 111. I don't remember much of it, but I can still remember the way my mom sang in the shower, and how my dad was always working on the car. He had a thing for modifying the engine, to get as much mileage per gallon as he could. We weren't poor, but we weren't rich either. What we did have was each other though. At least until the bombs fell.

The day the Great War began was the day my life ended.

Well, the life I knew.

Mom was frantic, afraid to leave something we might need behind. Dad was cool as a cucumber, but then again he always was. He had signed us up for guaranteed entry into the vault a few weeks ago, and asked us to pack an emergency bag and leave it somewhere we could easily grab and go, if need be. I had packed a change of clothes, my tooth brush, my teddy bear, and some candy. Mom said I should only pack the essentials. Those were the essentials, to a twelve year old girl.

When we arrived at the Vault, they took our belongings and made us change into their blue and yellow Vault Suit. We were then escorted to a big room with many strange looking pods. We later found out they were called Cryo Chambers, or something. I didn't pay much attention to that part, I was too excited to climb inside one of them. The padding inside looked really comfy, and it had all sorts of important looking buttons I wanted to push.The Vault people helped each of us to climb in and get settled, before closing the pod doors and activating something. I could see mom across the isle from me, she mouthed "I love you" to me, and I mouthed it back. She looked scared. I couldn't see dad, he was on my right. I bet he was glad he had signed us up for this though.

There was a humming sound, the same one our fridge makes. The chamber was beginning to cool down. Condensation was forming on the glass, blurring the outside world. I was suddenly so very tired, my eyelids felt heavy, and darkness crept in from the edge of my vision.

The world went black, and all my senses dead.


2277

It felt like no time had passed, maybe 5 minutes had. It was still cold inside the cryo chamber, and opening my eyes was probably the most painful and drawn out experience I'd ever had. They felt so dry, and there was something cold and crusty, like frost, on them. It felt as though my eyes were glued shut, with ice. A groan of pain and annoyance managed to escape my throat. That hurt too.Bringing my hands up to my face, I rubbed my eyes, in hopes that would help to warm them up and make it easier to open them and see.

I could see that there was a man standing outside my pod, "Dad?" I croaked, confusion muddling my already hazy mind.

"Don't worry, everything is going to be alright."

That didn't sound like my dad. Who was that? Why were they standing there? What did they want? Where was mom and dad?

"Who are you?" I asked, terror creeping into my voice.

He turned away slightly and shifted something he was holding. His voice came back to me, slightly muffled, "I'm here to help you."