"Can you grab the sugar bombs for me Codsworth? I can't reach the cabinet." My hand could barely reach the edge as I struggled to grasp the box. Even on my toes, it was out of my reach.
"Miss Joanna, I did overhear your mum advise you to stay clear of the sugar bombs. You did have them for breakfast yesterday," Codsworth remarked to me as he poured a kettle of piping hot coffee into a matching pair of mugs, "And the day before that."
I grumbled to myself and gave the best pout I could manage, "But it's a Saturday! Do me a favor please?"
He chuckled in that strangely robotic yet lively voice of his, "Alrighty, my lady. But just this instance!" His arm extended and flipped open the cabinet door with ease, lifting the box of cereal and placing it in my hands.
"Thank you Codsworth," I smiled as I rushed over to the fridge for some milk. He set a bowl and spoon on the counter, and I couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks again pal."
"I do have a weakness for good manners," I heard him reply as he set the kettle into the coffee maker.
Suddenly, the door opened with Dad coming through, a bundle of envelopes and the newspaper scrunched up in his hand. But when he turned, I saw a magazine folded in his back pocket and I nearly spit out the half chewed up cereal in my mouth.
"Dad! Is that the newest Grognak comic?" I rushed over to him, practically jumping up and down. I'd been waiting for the latest issue for two months. They usually come out by one!
"You guessed it," he grinned wickedly, "Finish your breakfast and I'll let you read it."
"I'm almost finished with it," I ran back and plopped onto my chair, chugging down the last of the milk and tossing the bowl and spoon in the sink. Dad sat down in the couch, about to unfold the newspaper until I promptly sat next to him, awaiting for the new and glossy comic to be handed to me.
"Good morning sir! Here's your cup of coffee. Careful, I just poured it out of the kettle." Codsworth floated over with the steaming hot mug. I could smell the bitterness and I scrunched up my nose in disgust.
"Thanks Codsworth. Grab the controller for me, will you honey?" Dad asked, taking a sip of his daily morning drink. I walked over to the T.V and placed the remote in his hands.
"Comic please?" I put out my hand expectantly.
"Here you go, kiddo." He placed it in my hands and let himself sink into the couch, watching the news with a concentrated look while drinking his coffee.
"Thanks Dad," I said, flipping through the pages of freshly printed comic. Grognak the Barbarian and the Jungle of the Bat Babies. I knew this was going to be a good one. I walked into my room, about to immerse myself in Grognak's adventures when Mom walks in with Shaun wrapped in her arms.
"Jo? I need you to hold Shaun for a minute. Play with him while I make his bottle," Mom placed him in my arms gently. I groaned in disappointment, but it was better to follow her word for the best.
The doorbell rang. Dad yelled, "I got it," but Mom walked to the door anyways.
"I'll be back in a second. Take good care of your little brother," she spoke with a stern eye before leaving my room.
"Promise," I replied back to her, rocking Shaun in my arms and cooing at him. He was awake, and giggling as I continued to make funny faces at him. I stuck my tongue out, and he was ecstatic. I laughed with him. It was nice to have a little brother. Being an only child was a lonely life.
I found myself wandering out to the living room with Shaun in my arms. There was a strange man with a funny yellow coat outside the door talking with Mom and Dad. When he saw me, he tipped his hat and smiled at me. I smiled back, but I sat in the couch to hide with Shaun. Still, I listened intently to every word. He was talking about Vault-Tec. It was something my parents seemed very interested about.
"Here's the young master's bottle, my dear Joanna," Codsworth came over to me with the baby milk. I thanked him again as I pressed the tip against his tiny mouth, and he began drinking out of it graciously. I sat there for a few minutes, eavesdropping on the conversation my parents were having with the Vault-Tec guy while watching the news. I was going to ask Codsworth to change the channel to the Saturday morning cartoon channel, but I didn't.
Then Shaun spit out the bottle and began crying. I accidentally dropped the bottle, and I tried burping him like how Mom showed me. That's when I began to smell a familiar stench.
"I think Shaun pooped," I exclaimed to Codsworth. I heard Mom apologize to the Vault-Tec man as she quickly rushed over to me, lifting him out of my arms.
"No biggie! I'll help Mum clean up," Codsworth happily followed Mom to Shaun's room. That's when Dad shut the door. He sighed heavily, walking over to the kitchen to grab his coffee again.
"Who was that man, Dad?"
"Oh, just a Vault-Tec representative. Your Mom and I signed up for a spot inside one of their fallout shelters, just in case. Nothing to worry about, Jo." He sipped his coffee, settling beside me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, "How 'bout we all go to the park this afternoon, huh? Weather seems pretty nice today."
"I still have to find a halloween costume for Marie's party though," I informed him, "I want to be a soldier in power armor! Maybe I could make my own out of cardboard."
Dad chuckled, but there was a distant look in his eyes, "How about something more halloweeny? Like a vampire or something."
"That's boring," I shook my head in disagreement, "Maybe I could be Grognak!"
When Dad heard that, he laughed, "I don't think your mother would like that, sweetheart."
"Nate! Could you lend me a hand?" Mom shouted from Shaun's room, ending our discussion.
"I'll be back in a second, Jo." Dad stood up, ruffling my hair before leaving me alone in the living room.
I leaned onto the arm of the couch, not paying much attention to the reporter talking about how sunny it would be for the rest of the day. Remembering the Grognak comic, I started to head towards my room.
But then a chill ran down my spine. I turned around from the hallway, walking towards the T.V. I walked closer and turned the volume louder. The newsman was coughing out phrases, mumbling words I couldn't understand.
"Spit it out already," I muttered in frustration. As if on cue, the man composed himself, his back rigid and his voice steadied. Were his hands shaking?
"Followed by...flashes. Blinding flashes. Sounds of explosions. We're...we're still trying to get the confirmation," the man read off the paper handed to him off camera.
The sounds of helicopters could be heard in the distance. One look out the window, and I saw military trucks and soldiers lining the streets. There was one approaching the door.
My breath hitched. I dashed to Shaun's room. There was a lump in my throat, and my hands began to feel clammy. My skin felt cold.
"Joanna? Is something the matter?" Mom was holding Shaun, but her brows were furrowed in worry. Dad seemed equally distraught.
"T-there's military outside. There's soldiers. The reporter says there's bombs…" I faltered. My parents looked at each other, as if displaced. They rushed over to the living room and watched the T.V with fearful eyes.
"...confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania…" The reporter continued.
"Oh my goodness." Mom whispered under her breath. She was tearing up. Crying. I felt my eyes water too. Why did this have to happen now? Why today? What was even happening?
"We need to go. Now." Dad spoke in his low, quiet voice. He never spoke like that unless he was scared.
"What about Codsworth?" I was about to run down the hallway, but Dad grabbed my hand so hard it shot sharp pain up my fingers.
"We're leaving. Let's go." He slammed the door open and pushed Mom, Shaun and I out the house.
As soon as we stepped outside, there were sirens blaring everywhere. It hurt my ears. The neighbors were scurrying in and out of their houses, people were carrying their important things and their loved ones to safety. Soldiers were rushing people to the vault.
"Joanna! Run faster!" Dad was dragging me across the pavement. My heart was racing. I could feel my pulse in my ears. I struggled to catch up with him, but they were running so fast. Everything was a blur. I felt hot, wet tears running down my face. I held onto him tighter.
"This way!" Mom shouted to us. She pointed up the hill, across the bridge. Dad lifted me off the ground in frustration and we raced towards the vault. He was shaking so badly. He was clutching me so tightly I could barely breathe.
When we reached the top of the hill, I saw the Vault-Tec man. He wasn't going to be allowed in. What about the rest of those people? Would they be able to make it?
"We need to get in! We're on the list," Mom snapped at the soldier blocking our way. She was shaking just as badly as Dad was.
"Infant...child...adult female...adult male. Alright, go ahead." The soldier read off his clipboard slowly.
There were soldiers in power suit armor right behind him. My jaw dropped. I couldn't stop looking at them. Then my eyes darted to my neighbors, who were being pushed aside like trash. Was that Marie I saw? No. that couldn't have been her.
"Thank you," Dad nodded to the soldier as we finally reached the top of the hill.
"Good luck sir," I saw the soldier salute us with a rock hard face. Would they make it out alive?
We stepped on a huge metal disk, Vault-Tec painted on the shiny steel. Dad let me down on the ground, but I never let go of his hand. I grabbed for Mom's hand too, and I prayed for the people outside the gate. Marie and her parents weren't standing on the disk. People started pounding on the metal fence. A helicopter overhead was making the trees around us sway and bend, the leaves flying everywhere.
"Alright that's it! Send it down!" I heard a Vault-Tec officer shout out.
"Mom?" I squeezed her hand and she did the same to mine.
"It'll be okay Jo. I love you," The way she looked at me made my heart shatter. She was biting her lips to keep herself from crying. Dad embraced all of us in a big hug.
"Is Shaun alright?" Dad asksed her, kissing her cheek to comfort her.
"He's fine. We're all going to be okay." Her voice quivered. He held us tighter.
The bomb dropped. The ground shook like an earthquake. It knocked the breath out of my lungs. My head whipped toward the bright light, the mushroom cloud. When I stuck my thumb out, the cloud was already too big. Everyone was screaming and shouting.
"Send it down! Now!" The officer bellowed.
Dad forced me on my knees as everyone crouched. "Don't look Joanna," he murmured to me. I saw Shaun's face, and he seemed so unbothered.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god," a woman repeated again and again.
"Can't this thing move any faster?!" A man shouted.
I was shaking. I crouched my head under my arms and shut my eyes tightly. I didn't look up. I heard a roaring sound, like a lion's roar. Only louder.
As the platform descended, we continued to lower deeper into the ground; Into nothing but darkness.