"Wake up! Come on you have to wake up!"
The words echo in Cress's head. The girl rolled over in her bed covering her head with a pillow to block out the sounds of the alarm. Wait. Alarms? She jolted up, her dusty grey eyes darting around everywhere but her friend.
"W-what's going on?" Cress stood up, "What's happening?"
A teenage girl with dark olive colored skin and midnight black hair grabbed Cress by her shoulders, looking her directly in the eye.
"Cress, you need to get out of here!" the panic in her shaky voice was clear. Her heart sunk. She had never seen Amata this terrified before.
"What do you mean? What's happening Amata?" Cress was on the verge of tears, her small body trembling.
"Your father left the vault! My dad is going crazy. You need to escape! They…" She cut off for a second as if what she was about to say would end the world, "they killed Jonas" Tears welled up in Amatas eyes, "and if you don't leave now, my father will do the same to you."
Cress froze. Her father left? The overseer killed Jonas? She had to escape?
Amata shook her violently, "Cress, I know this is a lot to process, but you need to listen to me."
Amata handed her a 10mm gun. Cress's breath caught in her throat.
"Only use this in an emergency." She handed her some small black bobby pins, the ones she used to hold her hair up, "Here, you'll need these to break into my father's office. You need to hack into the terminal, and open the secret tunnel to the entrance." Tears streamed down Amata's face, "I'll try to meet you there, but don't wait for me. Be careful"
Then she was gone, leaving Cress scared, hurt and confused.
Cress looked down at the two dead bodies on the cold hard floor. They shot at her first. She had too. It was self-defense. Blood pooled around her vault boots, she felt like she was going to vomit. Her shaking hands lowered the gun that now felt like a hundred pounds as she backed away. She glanced back once more at the bodies before she dashed away.
Amata's screaming seemed muffled as she stared at the overseer's body, laying across officer Macks body. She just killed her friend's father, but she was attacked by him. She had too. It was self-defence. She was protecting Amata. She should be grateful. Amata began yelling at her, but she ran to the overseer's office, password and keys in hand.
An orange light flashed along with a blaring alarm as the sound of the squealing door echoed throughout the room. Cress watched breathlessly as the 20 ton door opened.
"Oh my god, you actually did it. You opened the vault." Amatas voice was raw from crying.
Cress didn't respond for she was just amazed as she was. The squealing stopped as the officers began to bang on the other side of the steel main door.
Amata looked at her, "Go"
Cress spoke in a soft voice, barely to be heard over the screaming alarms, "I'm so sorry Amata. He a-"
"I understand," She cut cress off, "But right now, I can't forgive you. Leave, go find your father. I have to bury mine."
Chapter one
Cress looked back to see the vault door closing. All the memories. All her friends. All her home and safety is now locked up and taken away forever.
It felt like someone poured hot lava into her eyes when she opened the old rotten door. She shielded her eyes with a shaky hand and began to stumble down the hillside. Cress's eyes finally adjusted to the bright sunlight and what she saw horrified her. A small town was burnt to the ground, broken and torn apart from what she guessed was the nuclear war. With a disgusted shudder attempting to ignore the rusted tricycle in the middle of the road, she began to walk down the broken asphalt.
The sound of a radio filled the dusty air. Cress's head snapped up from where she was watching her own feet walk, and jumped slightly at the sight of a small flying robot. Political music became louder as the robot approached. Cress dove behind a rusting, faded blue mailbox, unsure if the robot was friend or foe. The metal bot just flew by, not even acknowledging she was there. Slowly she rose from behind the mailbox, and cautiously continued to walk down what was left of the main street.
She walked up to a red rusted sign with big yellow words that spelled "MEGATON", with an arrow painted under it, pointing towards a large metal town that was behind some rocks. She stood there in the hot sun debating on if she should go. Was it a trap? Or are they nice people. She let out a small sigh and headed towards the small town. She had nowhere else to go. She had to find a place to sleep and eat. Maybe her father had stopped by the small town. She could ask questions. Cress un-holstered her gun and held it tight in her blood-crusted hands.
She slowly walked up to the metal town's front gate, an old protection repeating different welcomes in a country accent.
"The bomb is perfectly safe, enjoy your stay" it said as the gates to the town slowly opened. Though Cress could barely hear it over the sound of the metal gate opening, she froze. Bomb? The old robot chirps another welcome and turns away from Cress. She forced her legs to move towards the metal gates. She kept her gun in hand, just in case this town wasn't like her. She wasn't risking anything.
Cress looked around the town. Houses that seemed to be made out of old plane parts were built on top of each other, making it seem just a little crowded. At least it was better than the town she just had walked through. Or what was left of it. She looked down a dirt path and gasped. A nuke bomb right in the middle of the town. Was it still dead? Was it still active? How the hell do people sleep with that thing right outside their door? Her thoughts were interrupted by an overly friendly man in a cowboy hat and duster.
"Hey there young lady. Welcome to Megaton. We don't get many friendly visitors. As long as you stay out of trouble, you're welcome to stay as long as you want. I'm the sheriff of this metal heap. Name's Lucas Sims." He smiled at her, his teeth oddly white for one to be out in the wasteland.
She didn't respond, scared she was going to say the wrong thing.
His kind expression faltered slightly, "Oh, well. I hope you're not a crazy silent psycho killer. I don't want to kill anyone anytime soon." He gave her another smile, which she returned to show she wasn't that bad.
"Sorry sir, I'm just not sure what to say, because I don't want to say the wrong thing." Cress's words were barely audible.
Lucas peered at her. "Did you just crawl out of one of those vaults?"
Cress stayed silent, but nodded.
He stared at her for a moment then shook his head, mumbling something to himself. "I suggest you visit Moria. She could help you. A lot."
Cress nodded then let her gaze drift back to the bomb sitting in the middle of the rusting town, Lucas followed her gaze and frowned. "If you're wondering if it's still alive it is. I don't trust the locals around here to tinker with it. I just wish I could do something about that damn thing. It's hard to sleep at night knowing it could go off at any moment." He shook his head, "But we have no other place to go, this place makes enough money to make a living off of. It's better than getting mauled by a Yaoi Guai or enslaved."
Cress stood there, her mouth slightly open as she gawked at this man. Is nowhere safe? Her heart sunk. If it's so dangerous, then her father could already dead. Her father never seemed to be one to put up a good fight sadly. He was just a doctor. Or so she thought. Maybe he was something more. She gritted her teeth as the friendly man started talking about the people of the town. Her father always seemed distant. Like he was scared if he spent too much time with her he would tell her something. Suddenly Lucas said something about a man about 30 years old visiting not too long ago.
"Wait, what about the man?" She suddenly became interested in what he was saying.
He stared at her for a moment then repeated what he had said, "I said that a man that was wearing the same vault suit just left here a couple hours ago. I don't know where he was headed though, you're going to have to ask Moriarty, he's in the bar in the upper part of town. Why are you so interested in this man?"
Cress looked at him with serious grey eyes, "He's my father. He tried to leave me in Vault 101. Now I'm tracking him down. I want answers."