A/N: Uh... Hello, I guess. This is my first foray into fanfiction and, honestly, I'm not sure what to say right now... I guess I'll just ask you to point out any imperfections you find. If you find any pop-culture references, be aware that they may or may not be intentional. If you spot any, give yourself a box internet cookies.
I like to think that I've got a somewhat original premise (In case you haven't guessed from the summary and title: the Lone Wanderer is two people - twins - in this story), though I'm probably wrong on that one and this has probably been done a thousand times. I just hope I can make an entertaining story to be enjoyed by people.
P.S: I've seen some other authors throw in s disclaimers around this point. And I'm nothing if not a bandwagon jumper, so...
Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Fallout. If you think I do, you should feel bad. ^_^
One: Growing Up, So Very, Very Fast
War... War never changes.
Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage.
In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation.
But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes.
In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as vaults. But when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them - all except those in Vault 101. For on that fateful day, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened.
Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves.
21st April 2258
"The gene projection is ready, James." Said a female voice, muffled by a surgical mask. Nearby, a baby was squalling, having recently been birthed.
"Catherine... Catherine, this is our son." A tall man with dark hair and a neatly trimmed beard excitedly dragged a computer screen into place above a woman who was panting heavily. James Lightman was a brilliant scientist, with incredible ambition and wonderful plans for the wasteland. Fate, however, is a fickle thing and he would be forced to play a different role from what he had intended.
"Oh, how handsome..." She chuckled. "He's going to... look a little little like you, James..." It was true, the baby would have the same jaw line when he was eighteen as his father, similar hair (though closer to his mother's in colour), and the same greyish eyes.
"Look like me..." James mused, "How about Luke, for a name?"
"I..." Catherine suddenly began panting heavily, "James... I-" She cried out in pain.
"Catherine, what's wrong?" James was frantic, desperately looking to his peers for answers.
"I don't think we're done here." The female voice from before declared.
"What do you mean not done?" James demanded, holding his wife's hand tightly.
"I mean there's more to come, James." The woman said. "Twins." She clarified.
The first baby continued to cry, a chorus which was soon joined by that of his brother. Unfortunately for them both, and for the Capital Wasteland, their mother expired shortly afterwards, her body unable to cope with the stress of birthing two children and lacking proper medical facilities. The scavenged medical equipment available was dated and poorly maintained.
In the end, the two boys were given the names Matthew and Luke, coincidentally, also the names of two gospels of the Bible, their mother's favourite book, though she was not particularly religious. She allowed the text to influence her work and dreams. This dead woman's faith, her husband's ambition, and her sons' determination would change the wasteland forever. The children were raised by their father, alone, in Vault 101, one of 122 Vault-Tec vaults scattered across the old United States, ostensibly in order to save at least some Americans from the horrors of atomic warfare. In truth, however, their purpose was far, far darker.
Matthew and Luke Lightman were fraternal twins, so they didn't look exactly alike. As they differed in appearance, they did so in personality also. James would come to love them both equally; everything he did, he did for his sons. He had immense pride for them both, and in all their achievements, no matter how small. They were frequently read too by their father from any and all books which were available from a young age. One particular passage from the Bible was drilled into their memories - Revelation 21:6: "I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." To the children, it was just a favourite passage of their faceless mother, to Cathernine Lightman, it represented everything she dreamed of for the wasteland, a dream shared by her husband.
While James was the vault's chief physician, he frequently came into conflict with the vault's Overseer, Alphonse Almodovar, who held differing views on what the interests of the vault's inhabitants were. One was idealistic to the point of naïvity, the other stuck firmly to his autocratic principles. This conflict did little to stop James' children forming a friendship with Alphonse's daughter, Amata. This friendship changed over the years, with Matthew coming to distance himself from Amata, instead becoming friends with a certain Freddie Gomez, another child of the vault.
As their friendships changed, so did the brothers personalities. Matthew became something of a rebellious teenager, often getting himself and Freddie into trouble. He was witty and sarcastic; a class clown, he was also slightly egotistical. He was also selfless (in his own way), and very clever, though not especially book-smart. Despite being rather outgoing, Matthew was always suspicious of people - all people, with the sole exception on his brother.
Luke, on the other hand, never acted out much, being thought soft as boring by his brother. He was very much a B student, though he was diligent and pragmatic. He lacked the sharp wit of his brother, most of his jokes succeeding only in getting people to laugh at him, but was good at talking to people; a charmer, one might say. He too was selfless, and quick to forgive other people, perhaps too quick. He was much less prone to bouts of pessimism or cynicism than his sibling.
As they approached sixteen, their appearance differed in more than a few ways. Luke was possessed of sandy blonde hair, with grey eyes. His hair was messy and unkempt, looking a little like a mop. It curled at the ends, making it difficult to work into anything resembling a real style. Bedhead would have been an appropriate description. His brother had darker hair, brown like their father's. He changed his hairstyle frequently, but on their sixteenth birthday, it was close cut. Both of them were quite tall, Matthew was just under six feet tall, 5'10 exactly. Luke stood a couple of inches shorter, at 5'8.
10th April 2273
"Hand me the wrench, Freddie." Matthew whispered, kneeling before the pipes.
"What are you going to do?" His friend asked, an excited, if worried, look on his face.
The two teens had entered the private bathroom of Herman Gomez, Freddie's father and a vault security guard. Freddie had come to Matthew a few days ago, asking for help with a prank. Most of Freddie's ideas were boring, our outright lethal (such as the one which would replace his father's medicines with sugar pills), so Matthew had stepped in to help. They had "borrowed" a tool bag from the engineer's quarters and were currently in the target's bathroom.
Matthew placed the wrench onto the fixing and tried to twist it out if place, it took some effort, but eventually, the fixing came loose, cold water began to drip onto the floor.
"This is going to be a classic..." Freddie giggled, watching over him.
Matthew slid out from underneath the sink and stood up.
"Let's go, it'll be a while until your dad gets back, in the mean time, we'll go shoot some roaches down in the reactor level."
The pair left the bathroom and the Gomez apartment, walking through the vault while attempting to look inconspicuous. Security Officer Kendall passed them as they neared the cafeteria, Matthew hid the tool bag behind his back, smiled, and nodded at the Officer, who merely blinked in response.
As they descended to the reactor level, Matthew dumped the tool bag by a large piece of machinery 'someone'll find it eventually,' he thought to himself.
The boys entered a room which was used for storage and adjoining the Vault's Geothermal Reactor chamber. Matthew walked over to an overturned, rusted locked and pulled it open. He withdrew the BB gun and cocked it.
"Let's hunt roaches!" He grinned at his friend.
As they trecked through the vault's dark maintenance tunnels, they talked and took turns sniping at radroaches. Most of the smaller roaches only took a shot or two to kill, and the bigger ones always scuttled away before they could kill them. It was good fun. While they walked, they also talked about the important issues of the week. Important for two fifteen year old boys, anyway.
"So..." Freddie said, breaking a short silence which had taken hold. "I've heard things about your brother and Amata."
Matthew chuckled as he fired a shot at a particularly puny insect, causing its head to implode. "I've heard things too. They're probably not true."
"Probably? But not definately?" Freddie asked, taking the rifle from Matthew and searching for a target.
"No, they're definately not true. There's no way anything is going on between them." He responded.
"But what makes you so sure?"
"Well..." Matthew considered what he was about to say. "Luke says they're just friends."
"What Luke says-" Freddie cut himself short as he quickly aimed his rifle and fired at a scuttling radroach. "Damn." He sighed as the roach fled, unharmed by the pellet. "What Luke says and what Luke does are two different things."
He grinned and handed the rifle back to Matthew. "Maybe it's just wishful thinking on your end? Are you jealous?"
"No!" He said, aghast. "No way."
"Why? What's wrong with Amata?"
"Nothing, its just..." He struggled to think of a response.
"You prefer Christine Kendall?" He teased. "So do I."
Matthew growled and shoved Freddie with the butt of the rifle. "No, I-"
The boys froze when they heard voices and footsteps impacting off the concrete. They thought quickly and stuffed themselves into a locker.
They peered through a gap in the locker and watched two people come to a halt just before them. Their faces were obscured by the darkness, but their voices were unmistakable.
"Your so-called experiments are a waste of time, Doctor Lightman." A voice called out. It was the Overseer, unquestioned, unlimited leader of Vault 101.
"These experiments can work, Alphonse. They will work." Said James, Matthew's father and the vault's head of medicine.
"Even if they do succeed, my first priority is the well being of the people of this vault, not the health of savages."
"Don't insult me, Alphonse." James crossed his arms.
"Enough!" He slammed his right fist into his left palm. "You will address me by my proper title, Doctor; I will not continue to tolerate your insubordination like I have for these past fifteen years."
At that, the Overseer stormed away, footsteps ringing through the concrete. James simply stood there, watching him for a long time until all was quiet but for the soft dripping of a leaking pipe. James looked towards where Matthew and Freddie were hiding, they both held their breath. The Doctor's face was expressionless, unreadable. Just as Mattew felt like his lungs were about to explode, his father walked down the tunnel, moving quickly, almost jogging.
The boys tumbled out of the locker as quietly as they could, taking in great lungfulls of damp air.
"What the hell was that all about?" Freddie whispered, in between gasps.
Matthew shook his head, simply watching the pin-prick of his father as he moved around a corner.
He picked up the BB gun. "Come on, there aren't many roaches today."
14th May 2274
The light was blinding as his father shined it into his eye.
"As far as I can tell, you're a perfectly health sixteen year-old boy, Luke. So yes, you have to go to class and take the exam." Dr Lightman didn't look particularly pleased.
"But I can't - I'm sick, really." Luke said, doing his best "sick voice" and coughing a little.
"No, you're not. Really." He said firmly. "When I started studying medicine one of the first things O learned was how to spot a kid pretending to be sick to not have to take a test."
"Somehow, I doubt that, dad." Luke rolled his eye.
"Come on now, I know you're nervous, but you're sixteen now so you have to take the GOAT. Besides, it's not so bad, and everybody has to do it. I had to, you have to, and your brother has to."
Luke sighed and forced a smile. "Fine, if you say so dad."
"Hey, I don't make the rules." James put his instruments aside and crossed his arms.
"Maybe if you did," he imitated his father's stance, "this place would be a little nicer."
"Don't talk like that. The Overseer has his job for a reason, he-"
"Shelters us and protects us from the fires of the wastes. Gives us life where there is death, et cetera, et cetera. Yes dad, I've heard it all before." He rolled his eyes.
James smiled. "Okay, okay." He relented. "But listen son, this place, this vault... It's the safest place in the world and its the best place for you. You can't ever leave here."
Luke remained silent for a moment. "What's it like up there?" He thumbed upwards, towards the ceiling.
James seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I imagine its like hell. People scrounging for irradiated food and water, struggling to survive against mutants and raiders. Killing each other every day, smothering their own children to spare them the pain of life..." He quieted, his face was unreadable.
"But how do you know? What if the world is better? What if there is a bustling city up there, with healthy, happy people. Just waiting outside the door for us to open up, and go outside?"
James laughed. "If only that were true, son." He looked down at his pip-boy. "Now go, quickly, you wouldn't want to be late."
"Bye, dad." He said as he left. He looked around the room, he had stepped into. Stanley, the vault's chief technician, sitting on a bed in the corner. Jonas, Dr Lightman's assistant, was tending to him, examining his throat. Luke briefly wondered what was wrong with him as he left the medical room.
Turning to his right, he continued down the corridor towards the classroom. 'Trouble ahead,' he thought. In the distance, he could see Amata, his lifelong friend surrounded by Butch DeLoria and his "gang" the "Tunnel Snakes".
Standing beside Butch was Wally Mack and Paul Hannon. All were wearing their signature leather jackets. Luke sometimes wondered where they had had those jackets made, but never bothered to ask.
"How'd you like to find out the real meaning of the 'Tunnel Snakes,' Amata?" Butch air quoted as he said Tunnel Snakes. Luke hated it when people did that.
"Hey, Butch." Luke said, tapping him on the shoulder. The boy turned around to face him. "Is there a problem here?"
Butch cast a sidelong glance towards his peers, them returned his gaze to Luke. "Nothing which involves you, loser." He said, icily.
"Loser?" Luke asked. "I'm not the one harassing girls in the hallway, Butch. Not got anything better to do? Did your mom waste the ration tokens on booze again?"
"What the fuck did you say?" Butch asked, pressing his forehead against Luke's. Luke returned the gesture
"I said, 'did your mom waste your rations on booze again?' What is it this time, Butch, vodka or whiskey?"
Butch didnt answer with words, he simply shoved Luke in the chest and swung his fist towards his face, it hit Luke square in the jaw, staggering him.
"Say it again, Loser!" Butch spat, clearly quite angry.
Luke ran at Butch, head butting him in the stomach. They both hit the cold metal floor and began rolling around, punching each other. All the while Amata was yelling for them to stop and the other Tunnel Snakes jeered and shouted encouragements to their leader.
Luke eventually managed to bring his knee up into Butch's groin, who cried out in pain. Luke pushed him over, knelt on top of him, and started punching at his face. He only managed to get in a couple of punches before Paul and Wally grabbed his arms, pulling him back.
"You're dead, kid!" Butch shouted from the floor, using the wall to support himself as he stood up. Luke struggled against the Tunnel Snakes as Butch approached him, his fists curled into balls. He keeled over onto his knees as Luke kicked him in the midsection. Luke wrenched his arm free of Wally Mack and elbowed him in the face, before swinging his arm at Paul, who ducked out of the way and fled down the hallway.
Wally backed away and pulled Butch to his feet. "This isn't over, kid. Not by a long shot." Butch spat, literally, as he walked away.
Luke turned his attention to Amata, she sighed in relief. "Glad that's over." She said. "Thanks for getting rid of those assholes." She smiled.
"I'm glad I could be your knight in shining armour." He smirked checking to see if he was bleeding.
"Don't flatter yourself, Luke. I could probably have handled them in my own, you know. You just saved me the trouble."
"Oh really? How would you have dealt with it?" He asked, still smiling.
"Knee them in the crotch." She said simply.
Luke winced in imagined pain as he thought back to Butch's face. "Well. I won't be messing with you, that's for sure." He held out his arm, "but anyway, shall we get this over with?"
She took his arm in hers and giggled. "Yes, let's." They walked into the classroom together.
"Ah, here we are, the last two students." Mr Brotch said as they entered, clapping his hands. "Heard a little commotion out there," he rolled his eyes, "anything wrong."
"No, Mister Brotch." They both said.
"Okay then. Are you ready for the test, Luke, Amata?" He looked at each of them in turn.
"Yep. I bet I'll ace it!" Luke grinned.
"I'm sure you will, seeing as its multiple choice with no wrong answers." The teacher rolled his eyes again and Luke moved to take his seat.
He looked around the room, there were twenty students, sitting in two rows of ten, facing a screen at the end of the room. Luke was seated in the third seat on the right, Matthew was on the eighth seat kpon the left. Mr. Brotch slowly walked to the front of the room and held out a sheet of paper in front of him, whereupon he began halfheartedly reading out questions,
The GOAT was a pretty strange test. Mr. Brotch read out a serious of scenarios, for which Luke was supposed to select his response by circling A, B, C, or D. Few of the solutions offered seemed to be very practical or logical, Luke pondered what kind of formula or equation was used in determining one's final result.
Both Luke and Matthew circled random letters throughout most of the test. The last question, both brothers recognised as merely an exercise in propaganda. All the answers were "the Overseer." Luke chose option A. Matthew scrawled "E. Matthew Lightman" beneath option D.
"Well, it looks like you'll be working with Stanley, Matthew. Vault Technician. I hope you can finally get that old jukebox fixed."
Matthew wasn't exactly thrilled with his new job, it involved a lot of grease and oil and dirt. Still, it could've been worse, so he accepted his position graciously.
Luke tapped his foot as he waited for his results.
"Wow. Wow. It says here you're going to be the vaults marriage counsellor." Mr Brotch suppressed a laugh. "It almost makes me want to get married, just to be able to avail myself of your services, Luke." At that, he could suppress it no longer, he burst into laughter, tears began rolling down his face. Luke marched away, unhappily.
Amata ended up getting a position in the medical facility, fast tracked to becoming the vaults new chief physician, while Butch became a hairdresser (though he never called himself anything other than a barber).
Life in the vault continued for the two brothers, they tried to keep themselves busy with their new jobs, but that was easier said than done, particularly for Luke, as few of the couples in the vault had problems. James, their father, continued his own - secret - work, against the wishes of the Overseer. All the while, he prepared to meet what he believed was his destiny.
24th May 2277
Matthew rolled over in his bed, burying his face in his pillow, he heard the door of his room hiss open.
"Five more minutes, Dad..." He groaned. He was enjoying his dream and would have been happy to remain in bed for the rest of the day. He could hear voices, but he did his best to block them out.
Quite suddenly, somebody shook him violently awake. He opened his eyes with a start. He saw Amata standing over him. 'What a coincidence,' he thought.
"Wake up! Come on, get out of bed." She said, she looked distraught.
Still lying down, Matthew looked over at the other bed in the room, his brother was dragging himself out of it, groggily. "Funny I should see you here, Amata." Matthew said, "I was just dreaming about you..." He smiled wickedly. His head jerked to the side as she slapped him.
He brought his hand to his face, it really hurt, but he was awake now.
"Now's not the time, Matthew." She said. "This is serious, my father's men are out to get you! You've got to get out of here! They've... They've killed Jonas. I managed to get away, so I could warn you." She began to sob. Matthew sat up in bed, supporting himself with his elbows. Luke moved over to his friend, hugging her, holding her in his arms.
"What... What's going on, Amata?" Luke asked, his face was pale.
"It's your dad. He's gone! He's left the vault."
Both of the brothers felt like they had ran into a brick wall with those words. Matthew struggled to think of something to say. Luke spoke for him. "What!? Why?"
"You mean... You don't know, he didn't tell you?" She asked, looking at each if them in turn.
They looked at each other, trying to see if the other one had any more information, anything to clear up the confusion. Without words, they knew that the other was just as clueless as them.
"We had no idea." Luke said softly.
Amata removed herself from Luke's embrace. "It doesn't matter now. You've got to escape, or my father's going to kill you both. I have a plan to get you out of here."
"What plan, Amata?" Matthew asked, still lying in bed.
"There's a tunnel. A secret tunnel which starts beneath my father's office. It goes all the way to the front door." She paused. "You'll need to hack the computer to open it. And you'll need someway to open the door to his office." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a gun. "I... I stole my father's pistol. Just in case." She looked sheepish as she held the gun out to Luke.
He took it from her, slowly. It was light, but it made him feel... Powerful. It was like he had power over death itself. He didn't much like the feeling, it unnerved him greatly.
"I'll only use it as a last resort, Amata, I promise." He tried to force a smile.
She nodded slowly in response. "Okay, you've got to go now, I'll meet you there. Watch out for security. And stay safe." She hugged him again, before turning his attention to Matthew.
"Why the hell aren't you up yet?" She asked, shaking in anger. "Can't you see this is serious? People have died, Matt."
Matthew shifted a little in his bed. "I'm naked under here, Amata." He said simply. She blushed slightly, turning away.
"Just get dressed, Matt." Shaking her head as she left the room.
The two brothers hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Luke decided to seize the initiative, he grabbed his jumpsuit and began putting it on. He looked at his brother, still lying in bed.
"You going to get up sometime today?" He asked, irritated.
"Not with you standing there. I need privacy to get dressed." He said, as if Luke had just said something blindingly stupid.
Like sighed and left the bedroom, heading for the medical cabinet in the other room. The were a few supplies inside, Med-X, a couple of Stimpacks, and some bandages, all inside a first aid kit. He took it and held in his hand, the 10mm gun in the other. He looked at the gun, keeping it pointed away from him, as if it would discharge at any moment. He was wary of the power it held, and he didn't like it all that much. He wondered how many times he was going to have to shoot it.
His musings were interrupted by his brother leaving the room. He was carrying a duffle bag which looked to be partially filled. He was running a metal comb through his hair.
"You're worried about how you look?" Luke asked, incredulously, not expecting an answer. "What's in the bag?"
"Stuff." He said, simply. "Clothes and... Stuff." He shrugged, shouldering the bag and stuffing the comb into his pocket. He picked up a baseball bat on the floor. "What now?"
"I guess we leave."
Neither of them moved, worried about what awaited them. "I guess I'll take point." Like said, marching towards the exit.
"Take point?" Matthew asked. "Sure thing lieutenant," he teased.
"Shut up. I'll say what I want to say." Luke blushed as he turned to the right. He froze, "fuck," was all he could say at that point.
Officer Kendall was standing at the end of the hallway, he spotted Luke as he exited the apartment. The officer wore a regular jumpsuit, but with a black armoured chest piece and a black helmet with a plastic faceguard, as well as black leather gloves. The man had a baton in his hand, his eyes narrowed.
"You! You and you're brother are going to pay, you think you can just leave whenever you want, you son of a bitch?" He began walking towards him, baton at the ready.
Luke pointed the gun at him. "Get back, Kendall." He croaked. The officer hesitated for a moment, but simply smiled and kept coming. "I'll shoot you, officer. Don't think I won't." Even as he spoke, Luke knew he was lying. His hands were shaking, he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.
Kendall was only a couple of meters away. He raised his baton, "all right, now you'll pay you little-" he was cut off by the baseball bat which struck the side of his helmet, he staggered away, holding his head.
Matthew stood in front of Luke, bat at the ready. "Stay back, Kendall. Or I'll hit you again." The officer looked up at him, fury in his eyes, he charged, a wordless war cry ululating through the hallway. Matthew shoved him backwards with the end of the bat, winding the officer, and then pressed the officer up against the wall with the bat across the man's chest. The man's arms were trapped, he couldn't move. He struggled fiercely, shouting obscenities.
Matthew wasn't sure what to do, now that he had the man trapped. Luke called out to him from the other end of the hallway. "Leave him, just come on." He took off, footsteps echoing down off the walls.
Matthew grabbed the officer, and threw him towards the other wall, he smashed into it and fell backwards in a heap. The man quickly recovered and got to his feet, his hand still gripping the baton.
"You're dead, kid!" The man shouted, flipping up his faceplate.
"Guess what Kendall? Christine puts out!" Matthew taunted.
The officer reacted badly. He charged at Matthew, who simply swung the bat up at him. The wood connecting with the man's chin. Kendall fell backwards, sprawled across the floor unconscious.
Luke skidded to a halt as he saw Butch run out in front of him. "Please, you gotta help me."
"Oh, Butch. If only you knew what the word 'irony' meant." Luke said, viciously.
"Yeah, yeah. I know how it looks alright? But you gotta help me. My moms in there, there's radroaches." He looked desperate. "I... I can't go back in there, there are roaches and... It's dark and..."
Luke heaved a sigh and pushed past him, entering the apartment. Butch was right: it was dark. He fumbled through the rooms, until he heard a shout.
"Help me!" A woman shouted. Luke heard the chittering of radroaches, he could jus about see them, crawling across the floor. The woman cried out in pain. Luke fired the gun at the floor. The noise stunned him, he hadn't expected it to be so loud. He thought he hit something, but he couldn't see. He fired his gun twice more, recoiling at the noise each time.
There was silence, for the most part. The radroaches weren't making any noise, but Butch's mother was sobbing slightly. Luke decided that the must have either been killed, or driven off by the noise. He quickly stumble out of the apartment.
"You did it!" Butch cried as he saw Luke leave the apartment. "My mom's gonna be okay and you're the best friend I've ever had." His mother stumbled out of the apartment, holding her arm, it was bleeding a little. Butch didn't seem to notice.
"Look, Luke, I know it isn't much," he took of his leather jacket, "but I want you to have this. Go, take it!" He held the jacket out to him. Luke took it sheepishly and tried it on. It was a good fit and it was pretty comfortable.
"Thanks, Butch." He said, but he had already gone back inside with his mom.
Luke glanced up the corridor as his brother came charging down it, feet slamming against the floor. Luke joined him and they ran together. Thundering down the hallways, the saw some more radroaches, but they ignored the, for the most part.
"Nice jacket," Matthew said, breathing heavily.
"Butch gave it to me." Like responded.
Wordlessly, they continued running down the corridors until the spotted officer Gomez fending off radroaches, baton in one hand, pistol in the other. He had just put a round through one of the bug's heads when he saw the brothers. Matthew readied the bat, remembering Officer Kendall.
Gomez holstered his weapons and held up is hands, showing he meant no harm. "You two are lucky it was me who found you. The others won't be so forgiving." He said. "Look, I don't know what you or your dad did, but I don't want to know, I've got radroaches to deal with here. So go on, get outa here and I'll pretend I never saw you." Gomez turned his head away from them, surveying the dead radroaches.
"As far as I'm concerned, Gomez, you're a murderer, just like the rest of them." Matthew spat as he walked past him into the clinic.
Andy, a Mr Handy robot, hovered into view from behind a metal girder, radroach blood staining his circular saw. "Hello good Sir!" He said in his polite accent. "I believe the good Doctor has gone outside for a spot of air. It's a nice day outside, I imagine."
"Be careful, Luke." Stanley, the chief technician of the vault said, as he came out from behind the robot. "I hope this mess can be cleared up."
Luke made to follow his brother, but Gomez grabbed his arm.
"Look, kid." The Officer said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about Jonas, what Mack did to him was... I can't believe the Overseer allowed it, he must be going insane. But you and your brother don't deserve that any more than Jonas did. I don't know what your dad did but..." He sighed and took off his belt, "here, take this." Luke took it from him cautiously, strapping it around his waist. He attached the first aid kit to it, glad to have a free hand. "I hope you find your dad, Luke."
"Thanks, Officer Gomez." He said meekly. "I-"
"No need to thank me. Just go, find your brother. I'll make sure none of the other officers come your way." Luke nodded and moved towards where his brother had gone.
He found him standing in their father's office, duffle bag at his feet. The room was a mess.
"There's nothing here!" He shouted. "Why the hell did he just leave us here to die?" He swung the bat at the computer, smashing it and sending the contents of the desk skittering across the floor. Luke picked up a Vault-Tec Vault Boy Bobblehead Toy an pocketed it.
"I..." He sighed, not knowing what to say.
"Well? What is it, Daddy's boy? Where's he gone?" Matthew asked, pointing the bat threateningly.
"Don't talk to me like that, Matthew." Luke said, too tired to raise his voice.
"Or what, Luke? Huh?" He swung the bat again, it hit a framed quote, shattering it. Luke knew what it had said.
"I am Alpha and Omega. The Begnning and the End. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the waters of life freely." He said, quietly.
Matthew looked at him, slightly less angry. "I just don't understand." He shook his head and allowed the bat to drop to his side. He looked at where the passage had been framed, there was a safe behind it. "Great," he said, "more secrets." He tried the lock, entering a random combination, it achieved nothing but an electronic buzz to let him know he failed.
He turned his attention to the belt Luke was wearing. "Going to share those pistols?" He asked, distracting himself from the current situation.
Luke nodded and handed him the gun he was holding. "We'll need to find more ammunition. We only have... A few magazines." Using the new words carefully, he had never used such words frequently.
Matthew shrugged. "C'mon, we should keep going."
The pair continued, walking down more corridors and hallways until they reached the Atrium. Luke couldn't stop himself and careened straight into a fellow vault-dweller, sending them both tumbling to the ground.
"Tom!" A woman shouted, it was Mary Holden. Luke remembered her, she and her husband, Tom, had come to him a few months ago when he was the vault's marriage counsellor.
Tom coughed and rose to his feet. "It's you! You're leaving aren't you?" He asked, looking at the brothers. "We'll, we're coming with you." He looked at his wife; she nodded firmly.
"What? No. You can't we-"
"Why not, Doctor Lightman? You're dad left and now you're leaving. Why can't we?" Mary asked.
"First of all," Luke said "call me Luke, Doctor Lightman is my father." He chuckled bitterly, nobody else did. "And secondly... We're only leaving because the Overseer is trying to kill us. Is he trying to kill you?" Tom shook his head. "Then you shouldn't leave. It's safe here."
As if to simply prove him wrong, two security guards ran out of the hallway at the end of the Atrium. "There they are! Kill them!" One of them shouted to the other. They aimed and started shooting. Tom, Mary, Matthew, and Luke all hot the deck.
"God damn it, Tom. I told you we shouldn't have left the apartment!" Mary shouted at her husband.
"Calm down, Mary." Luke said as a bullet ricocheted off the floor and amsahed a window a floor above. Remember what I told you last November, you're marriage has come so far since-" Matthew hit him on the back of his head.
"Shut the fuck up and shoot back!" He shouted and began firing blindly from behind the pillar.
Luke rubbed the back of his head and drew his pistol. He slipped around the other side of the pillar and dashed along the wall, slipping into an open storage room, going completely unnoticed by the guards, who had taken cover; one behind the doorway, and the other behind an overturned table on the opposite side of the Atrium.
Luke aimed his pistol and fired at the one in the door way. A single shot hit the officer in the arm, he yelled in pain. The other man spotted Luke and began firing at him, Luke ducked behind cover.
The second officer had revealed himself to Matthew, who then unloaded the rest of his magazine on him. Almost all of the shots missed, but one of them was sent through the plastic face plate, tearing a hole through it and spattering the insides with blood - the man fell to the floor in a heap.
The first officer had recovered at this point, ignoring his pain, he began firing on Matthew, who was forced back behind cover. Luke poked his head out once more, aimed, and fired one more shot. It struck the man in the thigh, and he fell to the ground, screaming.
The four vault dwellers remained behind cover, Mary and Tom holding each other in their arms, Matthew crouched beside them, and Luke staring at the wounded security guard in morbid curiosity. A large pool of blood was forming at the door, the man's artery must have been pierced. He would be dead soon, Luke knew. He made no move to help him, but simply stared at the man, as he slowly lost consciousness, forever.
For almost a full minute, the quartet remained stationary, before Matthew took a few tentative steps out of cover. He approached the nearest corpse, the one he had killed, and picked up his gun. Tom came up behind him.
"Go home, Tom." Matthew said forcefully, pushing the gun into the man's hand. Tom nodded and hurried away, taking his wife by the hand.
He looked at Luke, who was still staring at the body. He ignored him, for the moment, and set about taking the security guard's belt from him. He was glad he couldn't see the man's face for the blood, otherwise Matthew was sure he would vomit, he was almost ready to do so anyway.
Grimly, he tried to pull the guard's body armour off of his body, fumbling with the straps. He looked up as he heard angry footsteps approaching - it was Luke.
"What are you-" He was cut short as the fist connected with his face. He went tumbling to the floor.
"What the fuck was that for?" He cried, holding his face in his hand.
"He's dead!" Luke pointed at the body. "He's dead and you're... Looting him!?"
"He's dead, Luke. We need it more than he does." He picked himself up off the cold metal floor.
Luke stared at his brother for a few moments before saying, "This is wrong."
"What they almost did was wrong." Matthew countered.
"What we did was wrong."
"Only because they were about to do something wrong."
"Does that make us right?" Luke asked.
Matthew shrugged. "That makes us alive." He pointed out. "And this armour will keep it that way." He returned to attempting to remove it from the officer, Luke didn't interfere.
When he eventually managed to get it over his own jumpsuit, he found it was an okay fit, not particularly comfortable around the crotch, however. It restricted his movement a little, but not too much. He then set about taking the man's ammunition and gun, he stuffed them in the duffle bag, which he threw over his shoulder. Then, he decided to deal with his brother.
"Luke," he called out, walking over to him. He placed his hand on his shoulder "come on, we've got to get going." Luke shook his head, tearing his eyes away from the security officer whom he had shot, he noticed his brother's new attire, and looked horrified.
"It was necessary, Luke. We're going to need it. You should take his, too." He thumbed towards the other guard.
Luke returned his gaze to the officer, not wanting to say anything. He began walking towards the body, his finger on the trigger, wary of him coming back to life for revenge.
Slowly, over the course of five minutes, Luke removed the man's armour and put it on. He took the man's ammunition and gun too. Matthew took his helmet, and tossed it into the duffle bag. With a look of disgust upon their faces, both Matthew and Luke continued.
The primary door to the vault exit was locked, they were forced to detour and ascend a flight of stairs towards the Overseer's office. As they came into a maintenance area, they were attacked by another security officer, wielding a baton. He managed to give Luke a nasty bruise on the arm before Matthew smashed him over the head with the baseball bat. The man collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The brothers left him next to the body of an engineer. They both knew that the radroaches would find him, but neither brother wanted to think about that.
As they continued, the boys heard a scream from down the hallway, Luke recognised it instantly, and ran off towards the source, Matthew followed, struggling to keep up.
Luke skidded to a halt and looked through a window. Inside, Amata was strapped to a chair, with the Overseer and a security officer standing over her.
The Overseer was talking to her, but not looking at her. "Please, Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell us where your friends are so we can talk to them."
"He's the one who murdered Jonas," Luke whispered to his brother. Matthew nodded.
Amata was crying, Luke felt a pang of guilt, feeling responsible. "I... I just wanted to help Luke, he had nothing to do with this, I swear!"
"And that's why we need to talk to him, Amata. He and his brother are in danger from the residents, they're angry with Doctor Lightman, and with good reason too. We need to know where the brothers are, so we can help them."
Amata stayed silent.
The Overseer sighed and turned his head away, "Once more, officer."
Mack swing his baton, hard. It hit Amata across her face, she cried out in pain and continued to cry. Like wasn't willing to stand and watch. He ran for the door, his brother trying and failing to stop him.
The Overseer turned to face the disturbance, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw Luke charge in and tackle Officer Mack to the ground. He watched the pair wrestle on the ground for a few moments, then reached for his gun. Only to find it missing.
"Looking for this, Alphonse?" Matthew asked him. The Overseer whirled around and saw Matthew pointing a gun at him, a baseball bat was in his right hand. It was the Overseer's gun, Matthew knew; it had the word "Almadovar" written along the side.
"I hope you've come to turn yourself in, Luke." He said, despite the evidence to the contrary. He was projecting a paternal air of authority and ignoring the scuffle going in behind him. It was actually a little intimidating for Matthew.
"I'm Matthew, you idiot." He said. The Overseer looked insulted, but said nothing.
Luke lifted up Mack's face guard and whacked him with his own baton, knocking out a few teeth. He grabbed Mack's gun from his holster and stood up and pointed it at the stunned officer, backing up slowly. Amata remained tied to the chair. Mack slowly got to his feet, holding his jaw.
"That's quite a swing you've got there, kid." He said, as he spat blood on the floor.
"Shut up and stand over there." He motioned with his gun towards a holding cell. Matthew was doing the same to the Overseer.
"You two are already in a lot of trouble, you know. Don't make things worse for yourselves." He said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Get in the fucking cell, Alphonse." Said Matthew.
Reluctantly, the Overseer stepped back into the cell, along with Mack. Matthew moved over to the door controls and locked them, he then turned his face away and shot the controls with his pistol, destroying them in a shower of sparks.
"That ought to hold him." He smiled to himself, Luke wasn't listening, he was already untying Amata.
"Luke," she said as she stood and hugged him.
"I'm sorry, Amata. This is my fault, I'm sorry this happened." He said, holding back tears.
"No. It's not your fault. It's my father, he's insane." She glanced in the direction of the cell, the Overseer was staring out of the window, fury in his eyes. Amata's face was bruised, Mack really hadn't held back. Luke found himself disgusted with the Overseer's complete disregard for his daughter's well being.
Matthew spoke. "Don't mean to interrupt you and your girlfriend-"
"She's not my girlfriend." He explained, Amata nodded. "We're just friends."
"Sure thing." Matthew rolled his eyes. "But we need the password to get into the terminal. And I don't think he's going to give it to us." He thumbed in the Overseer's direction.
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I suppose." Luke said, smiling at Amata.
"Okay then, but the bridge is just ahead." He said, adjusting the duffle bag and leaving the room. Luke and Amata followed him.
As the trio entered the room which led to the Overseer's office, they all gasped. In the centre of the room was the broken, lifeless body of Jonas. There was blood everywhere, and his leg was bent in an unnatural way. They all knew he had suffered before he died. Matthew approached the body, and began searching his pockets, Luke and Amata gasped, but he ignored them. Eventually, he found an audio disk in Jonas's lab coat.
He inserted the disk into his pip-boy and waited a few seconds as it buffered.
"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for neither of you to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're adults now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."
"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."
"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you, both of you."
The brothers remained silent. Amata broke it. "I'm sorry, really." She said, looking at them both.
Luke looked into her eyes, tears were forming for both of the teens. "I killed somebody, Amata. I shot him and watched him bleed to death. I... I killed him."
He began to sob, Amata started crying too; they hugged each other tightly. Matthew turned away, not wanting to reveal that he was ready to cry as well.
"You did what was necessary, Luke." Matthew said. "He attacked us, he tried to kill us and Tom and Mary. If you hadn't killed him..." He trailed off and ran his free hand through his hair. Luke didn't say anything, he just stood there with Amata.
Matthew walked away, tears slowly streaming down his face. He searched through what he guessed was the Overseer's room, stuffing anything useful into the duffle bag; 10mm ammo, Stimpacks, some bottles of water, spare jumpsuits, etc. the bag eventually became heavy, so he stopped looting. He found a key in the room, he guessed it was for the Overseer's office.
Luke and Amata were waiting for him, having broken their embrace.
"I found a spare key," he said simply, "lets get the hell out of this place." The others nodded and followed him into the office.
The office had a large, circular desk in the centre, with a large terminal behind. In front of the desk was a circular window looking out onto the Atrium, Luke walked over to it. Down below, several security officers were gathering, one of them spotted him and pointed, he dived for cover. They all began firing at the window with pistols and sub-machine guns. The glass held for a few moments, but the barrage was too great and it shattered.
The bullets suddenly stopped firing. Luke poked his head out and saw the officers running up the stairs. "We're going to have company." He said. Matthew grunted.
His brother was slaving away over the terminal, attempting to hack into it. Luke took a spare pistol from the duffle bag and handed it to Amata. "Just in case." He said. She swallowed and nodded slowly.
Matthew laughed as he cracked the computer's password and began searching through the files. "What was it?" Amata asked.
He seemed to hesitate for a moment. "It was Amata." He said simply, before returning to work.
Luke looked at his friend, trying to read her face, she seemed sad. "He really loves you." He offered.
She shook her head. "No. He used to love me." She pointed at her bruised face. Luke winced and nodded.
"Jesus Christ..." Matthew muttered.
"What is it?"
"N-nothing. I'll tell you later." He jammed a wire into his pip-boy and began downloading something. Once that was done, he pressed a couple of keys and stepped back.
The Overseer's desk moved, rising upwards, supported by pistons. The stone floor slowly shifted, creating a set of stairs which led down into a dark passageway, a few lights flickered to life.
They stared at the staircase for a while, but were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching. The trio ran down the stairs and Matthew flicked a switch at the bottom which caused the desk to lower once more, hiding the fact that they had ever been there. The security officers entered moments after the desk had settled. They quickly moved on, searching for the kids.
The group eventually came to the vault entrance. A massive steel cog blocked the exit. There was a mechanism which would allow the door to be opened hanging in front of it.
"This is it..." Amata breathed.
Luke walked over to the controls and pressed a button. Nothing happened.
"Open it, Luke." Matthew said. He pressed another button. Nothing.
"God damn it Luke, I'll do it myself." Matthew nudged his brother out of the way and pulled down a lever, the room shook with the sounds of machinery. A yellow light began flashing, accompanied by an electric buzz.
The mechanism locked into the cog, and slid it across the floor. An ear piercing screech was heard as it did so. Amata and Matthew covered their ears. Beyond, was dark, stone cavern. At the end was a tiny sliver of light.
There was a banging behind them, and muffled voices.
"Time to go," said Matthew as he leapt down the small set of stairs and ran for the door.
Luke hesitated. He turned to look at Amata. She looked back. "Go, Luke."
"What about you?" He asked.
She swallowed. "I..."
"What do you think will happen when we leave? There will be chaos! It won't be safe."
"I can help people... I can lead them." She said without confidence.
"But you won't be safe." He said. "Come with us. Come with me." He took a step backwards and held out his hand"
"How could I be any safer out there?"
'Because you'll have me to protect you.' He thought.
"Because Matthew and I will protect you and I..." He trailed off.
She looked at him, expecting him to finish. He didnt. He hung his head and avoided her gaze. He dropped his hand to his side and turned to leave.
"I'm sorry, Luke. But my duty is here, with these people." There were tears in her eyes as Luke looked back at her.
They continued to watch each other as the vault door screeched back into place, closed once more. Even after they had lost sight of each other, they stared at the cold steel until, inevitably, they were forced to leave each other.