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 the fateful day, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened.
It was here you were born. It is here you will die. Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters and no one ever leaves.
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.
I am Alpha and Omega.
We are Alpha and Omega.
"Well say goodbye to August 16th." Gary said while crossing off the date on the calendar. He threw his Vault lab coat onto his bed and unzipped his Vault 101 jumpsuit at the neck, to let some air in.
"Well we could thank God for that one," Oliver replied. He unstrapped the vest he wore as a guard of the Vault. He removed his helmet next, and threw it onto his bed near his brother's.
"And why is that? People givin' ya trouble?" Gary inquired; who ever said that twins knew what the other was thinking was total BS.
"Who else other then the Tunnel Snakes? You would think that they would have been things to do then bother guards."
"You're just sore 'cuz they didn't let you join their gang."
"As if buddy boy, I don't need 'em."
The conversation in the bedroom made James lift his head. He looked at they twins, his twins. Gary Micah North, the eldest by a several minutes, stood at 5 foot 11 inches, the same height as his dear ol' dad. He had his brown hair fashioned in a pompadour. He was growing a beard similar to the one that James had currently. Gary had an athletic build even though he worked in the clinic with James. He generally maintained a calm demeanor, with a hint of sarcasm here and there. He was very helpful, which is why he loved his job so much. James could still remember when he ran back from the G.O.A.T. to state his future job…
Then there was his other son, Oliver John North, the "younger" so to speak. He was slightly taller then Gary and himself, standing at 6 foot 1 inch. His hair was a dark brown similar to Gary's, and fashioned the same as the Tunnel Snakes that ran amuck in the Vault. Oliver was currently sporting a goatee, which he groomed with pride. He was slightly bigger then his brother, he stated plenty of times. He worked as a guard in the Vault and tried to throw his muscle around. Oliver never necessarily was a friendly person, unless it would benefit him. He was just as sarcastic as Gary, if not more. The defining characteristic of Oliver was his short fuse, he has a colossal temper that worried James, he had a feeling his son would get into a lot of trouble in the future due to it.
Gary noticed his father looking at them from the other room. "Dad, we interrupting your work? We could quiet down a bit if you'd like."
"No, no it's fine, I'm going to be heading back to the clinic fairly soon anyway." James replied, tidying up the papers he had scattered around the table.
"What for?" Oliver asked. "I'm sure my dear brother would love to help if need be."
"Yea, I didn't think we had that much work left over. I thought it could wait until tomorrow, or was I wrong?" Gary said, walking into the main room of their apartment. He bent down and started looking over the charts that his father had on the table. Just medical papers, things he had looked over that very morning. He then looked at his father. He was growing, old even if he didn't want to admit it. His once youthful face was wrinkling, and his hair graying.
"No, you weren't wrong, but Jonas and I have something that needs finishing." James stated. He stood up and placed the papers into a bag. Jonas was James' other assistant. Even though he was a different skin color, he was practically a part of the North family.
James looked at his two sons. "I won't be back until later, so don't stay up waiting for me, alright?" His sons didn't argue, their father leaving for the clinic and staying there for outrageous hours was normal now, he had made a habit of it.
As James was leaving, he turned back to face his boys, well they weren't boys any more, they were 19, they were men. "Sons, I love you." Gary and Oliver looked at each other and turned back to their father.
"Course dad, we love you too." And with that James went down the hall of Vault 101. Gary returned to the bedroom, Oliver was already getting out of his jumpsuit.
"Did something seem a bit off to you about dad?" Gary inquired.
"Eh, he is just stressed or something. No big deal." Oliver replied. He stood there in his shorts and undershirt, jumbling his jumpsuit up into a ball and throwing it into the corner of the room. Gary unzipped his jumpsuit and looked at his undershirt; there was a blood on it. He stared at it for a brief second, trying to remember where it came form. Gary shrugged, took off his shirt and grabbed a new clean one.
"G'night" Gary said to his brother as he jumped into bed. Oliver got into the bed across from Gary's and nodded.
"Yea, night." Oliver laid on his back staring at the ceiling. The cold metal stared back at him, cold unforgiving metal. He was tired, tired of Vault 101. "Yo, you still awake?"
"I just laid down, of course I'm still awake." Gary replied "Whats on your mind Johnny?" He sometimes called Oliver by his middle name because Oliver used to despise his first name when he was a child.
"You ever think we are gonna get outta here?"
"That kinda talk is gonna get ya crucified man, the Overseer would make an example out of you for talk like that." They both got a little chuckle out Gary's quip.
"You kiddin? Your sleepin with his daughter and I would be the one who is crucified?" Oliver retorted back. Gary threw his dirty undershirt at him from across the room.
"Cram it; I'm going to sleep now."
"By the way, how is she?"
"I'm not dignifying that with a response. Good night." And with that Gary turned his back to the wall. Oliver rolled over and looked back at the ceiling. He would get out of here, with or without his family. He needed more action in his life then disciplining Tunnel Snakes. One day, one day he would get out of here.
One day soon…
But now he would get a good nights rest.
And there goes the neighborhood.
"Wake up! Come on, wake up!" That was Amata's voice. Amata Almodovar was the Overseer's daughter. She was shaking Gary, her favorite out the twins. Gary slowly sat up and opened his eyes. He tried to adjust to the bright red lights and the blarring alarm in the distance. "Come on, you've got to wake up!"
"Hey…" Gary stifled a weak laugh, "I was just dreaming about you." His vision had become clear and now he noticed that her good looking face was wearing a mask of fear.
"Was it a good one?" Oliver added in, now he was up. Can't he go a day without somehow being annoyed by Amata?
Amata basically slapped Gary for his remark. Well hello world. "Now's not the time to be a smart mouth! This is serious!" She threw out her arms to get a point across. "My father's men are looking for you! They've already killed Jonas, the two of you have to get out of here now!"
"What the hell, what are you talking about? Jonas is… dead?" When Amata gave that little piece of info it hit Gary hard. Jonas was a good man, a good friend.
"What the hell is going on here?" Oliver asked, he got up and started putting on his vault jumpsuit.
"Your dad left the Vault!" Well that hit both of the North boys hard. Left the Vault? They turned to each other in disbelief. Gary then shot out of bed and started putting on his jumpsuit.
"Jesus Christ, what is going on here?" Gary stated quickly, jumping and putting one leg in the 101 suit.
"Jonas… My father's men… they took him and… Oh my God… they just kept." Gary stopped Amata, he looked at her knowingly. She was getting worked up recalling these past events; tears were streaming down her face.
"Hey, hey, everything going to be alright. You okay?" Gary put his arm on Amata's shoulder.
"Yea, yea I'll be fine don't worry about me. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. I know that Jonas was a good friend of the both of you. Oliver started putting on his guard vest, looks like adventure was coming all right, and he was going out of the Vault swingin'. Gary started pacing back and forth, mumbling swears while emptying medical supplies into his pockets.
"We have to get you two out of here now!" Amata exclaimed, not wanting to waste time.
"How the hell did dad get out? The door is sealed? Isn't it?" Oliver asked.
"Well not anymore, apparently. But are you honestly telling me neither of you had any that he was leaving? He really didn't tell you?"
Gary put his hand through his hair and let out a deep sigh "We seriously had no clue…" He said solemnly.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain everything to you?" Amata asked sympathetically. All of a sudden her tone changed. "It doesn't matter now. I can help you escape. I haven my own plan!" Gary and Oliver shot each other glances.
"Not another one of your 'plans', Amata…" Oliver stated.
"Just listen! There's a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it." She then took out some bobby pins. "Use these to get into his office. That's how I always get in."
Gary turned to his brother and then to Amata. Decent enough. "Ok sounds like a plan, let's make like a baby and head out!" He started to move forward to grab some stuff off their desk, but Amata stopped him.
"One more thing. I stole my father's pistol. I hope you won't need it, but you'd better take it just in case." She removed the pistol from her pocket and slowly handed it to Gary. He looked down at the 10mm and grabbed it from the handle. He shot Amata a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Amata, it'll only be used on a last resort occasion, I swear."
"Okay. I'll try to meet the both of you at the exit. Watch out for security." She moved in closer to Gary and pecked him on the cheek. She then went over to Oliver and did the same. "Good luck!" And with that she ran out of their room. The twins watched as she left and then they turned to each other.
"Good morning, Gary" Oliver said calmly, cracking his brother a smile.. Gary smiled a bit and ran to the desk. He grabbed the baseball bat at the desk along with the glove and ball that went with it. He turned to Oliver, "You want the gun?" They were both experienced in guns, they practiced with a be be gun since they were 10.
"I don't need it, I got this baby." Oliver brandished his police baton; he was a force to be reckoned with. He did grab the be be gun though and did a baseball bat motion with it. "A bludgeon." Oliver did enjoy hitting things more so then shooting things. Call him cynical but there was a certain satisfaction.
Gary looked at what they had: A pistol, baseball bat, "bludgeon", baton, one set of armor, 10 stimpacks, one med-x, and some medical supplies that he could do quick surgery with. Looks like they would have to make due. Gary grabbed a picture of the family on their way out, it was from their 10th birthday, and his brother would thank him later.
The twins ran out into the hall, only to be angrily greeted by Officer Kendall. "There they are!" He raised a finger and a baton in their direction. He wore the same armor that Oliver did, but unlike Oliver, Kendall had a visor on.
There was a scratching noise on the metal floor of the Vault; it could only mean one thing. "Crimeny, more roaches!" Kendall exclaimed as he started beating on the radroaches with his baton. Radroaches would have gone up to the twin's knees if they stood up, they were simply incredibly mutated cockroaches. There was a hard shell on top to protect their soft underbody. Kendall started flailing with his baton, trying to kill the roaches as they jumped towards him. The brothers nodded to each other and ran to aid Kendall.
The three of them made quick work of the radroaches, Gary saved ammo and used his baseball bat, smashing the bugs with heavy downwards swings. Oliver swiped at the large bugs and got some "juice" on his armor, he thought it made him look tough.
Officer Kendall didn't waste anytime once the bug problem was done with, he turned towards the Norths and launched. "Whoa whoa!" Gary shouted. He brandished his pistol. "I don't want to hurt you Kendall!"
The officer of the Vault ignored him as he kept swinging, and missing. Gary constantly back up, keeping his pistol raised. Oliver was simply watching; standing motionless as his brother was being attacked. Gary pulled back the hammer and shot Officer Kendall in the knee cap, which caused him to drop to the ground on one knee.
"You forced my…" Gary started, but didn't get to finish. Oliver took out his baton and flipped up Kendall's visor. He then proceeded to smash the officer's face in with one strike. Kendall fell over on his back, unconscious or worse. Blood ran down his face and onto the once clean Vault floor. Gary looked up from the gruesome sight and towards his brother.
"What the hell was that?" Gary shouted. "That was totally unnecessary!"
"Man the hell up, he deserved it." Oliver looked at his baton and wiped it off on his jumpsuit leg. He was totally un-phased by the act he just committed.
"You worked with him! You didn't feel anything towards him at all?"
"He was an ass, and he threatened me, it's as simple as that." Gary stared into his brothers eyes, they were cold; this wasn't the brother he grew up with. How could such a person be truly hidden for years? Maybe it was a phase, hopefully it was a phase.
"Is there anyone in this Vault you don't hate?" Gary asked.
"I don't hate you yet, so let's keep it that way." Oliver cracked a smile, ignoring that fact that he just smashed a man's face in and possibly killed him. "Now take him armor, you're going to need it." He had a point. Gary walked towards Kendall, or the body of Kendall, and started to unstrap his vest. He didn't wish to feel for a pulse, fearing that his brother may have just killed and officer of the Vault. Gary put on the armor and took the visor off of Kendall and placed it on his head. He noticed the police baton that rolled onto the floor and grabbed it, placing it on his belt; he was ready for another fight.
Oliver broke the silence. "Let's get going, we need to get out of here ASAP."
"Agreed." And with that, the brothers continued down the hall at a quickened pace, not wishing to be caught by another guard. This time however, it wasn't a guard who slowed them down. Butch, the leader of the Tunnel Snakes Vault gang, came running from around the corner. His usually well kept hair was in his face, sweat pored down his head. His face lit up when he saw the North brothers, he didn't waste any time conveying what he wanted.
"You guys gotta help me! My mom's trapped in there with the Radroaches!" Oliver looked at Gary as he snickered. He wasn't seriously going to help this asshole was he?
"Butch… asking us for help. If only you knew what 'irony' meant." Gary said that because he knew Butch had no idea what it meant.
Butch tried to play it off, "Yeah, so what if I'm asking you? Look. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you, the both of you. You know I never meant any of it, right?" Oliver looked at his brother; he could tell that Gary was going to help.
"Fine, but I'll do this for your mom not…" Oliver didn't let Gary finish.
"Are you fuckin' serious? Help this asshole? You could waste time, but I'm not gonna help him or his mom!" Oliver was pissed. After all this guy had done to us over the years and he was going to help him? Not a chance.
"Yo man, settle down, his mom never…"
Oliver wouldn't have any over it. "She conceived this bitch and that's enough!" And with that, he went walking down the hall. Gary sighed and looked up at Butch, looking jumpy waiting for a response.
"Are you afraid of the radroaches?" Gary questioned.
"No… OK yea but so what? Just help me man!" Gary couldn't help but laugh, so much for the almighty Butch DeLoria.
"They're small, you're big. You could handle them easily. Come on I'll even hold you hand and help if you need it." Butch was amazingly inspired by Gary's sarcasm, he seemed to perk up a little.
"You're right! Let's show them how the Tunnel Snakes do things!" The two of them ran into the DeLoria residence. Ellen DeLoria was hunched over in the fetal position, being mercilessly attacked by Radroaches. The two made short work of the radroaches with Gary's bat and Butch's knife. Gary leaned down to help Butch's mom from off the floor. He then felt a hand clamp on his shoulder. Butch was elated in a way that Gary had never witnessed.
"We did it man, my mom's gonna be OK! You're the best friend I've ever had! Hey, I know it isn't much, but I want you to have my Tunnel Snakes jacket. Go ahead, take it." Butch took off his leather jacket and handed it to Gary. He looked down at this gift and took it, thanking Butch for it. Gary put it on; he knew the pockets would come in handy. With that he left, not wanting Butch to resort to his normal ways. "I'll be attacked even more in this jacket." Gary thought to himself.
Oliver couldn't believe what he just witnessed; his brother just went to the aid of the biggest jack ass in the Vault. Butch was nothing but trouble for the both of them since they were young. They got in a fight on the North brothers' tenth birthday, they got in a fight before the G.O.A.T., and well they generally fought a lot overall. Well Oliver had to look after himself, if Gary wasn't going to join him on his way out, well sucks for him.
Oliver hustled down the hall and around the corner; he figured he should grab some food from the diner before he left. The all too familiar sound of Radroach feet scratching on the floor emitted from the diner to his right. He peaked his head in and found a corpse on the ground. Oliver shook his head and closed the door to the diner, no point in going in. He continued down the hall and up the stairs, only to be greeted by the sounds of battle. "Have at you!" That was that damned robot, Andy.
Oliver took his baton off his belt and readied for the fight. A single Radroach scurried in front of him, but before he could swipe at it, the overly radiated insect combusted in a glorious fire from a nozzle on Andy, the Mr. Handy Robot. "Damned robot took my kill…" Andy floated off and started buzz sawing another bug, showoff. Oliver walked forward examining the carnage around him.
"Oliver!" Guard, he needed to die. Before even looking, Oliver turned around and swung out at the voice. The figure jumped back and held out his hand. "Whoa whoa! I just wanna talk to you son!" Herman Gomez, he was an alright guy. Oliver put down his baton and looked at his co-worker. "Listen, you're lucky it was me who found you, the others won't be as forgiving."
"And I'll pretend our fearless "leader" isn't on a psychotic rampage,"
"I know, I know, that's why you have to get out of here." Oliver looked at Gomez, was he up to something? As far he was concerned, all these guards were the same; which was ironic seeing that he was a guard just a few hours ago.
"There you are!" Gomez and Oliver stopped looking at each other and now stared in the direction of the new voice. Gary came running up the stairs, a new jacket being proudly worn.
"You two best friends now?" Oliver sneered, meaning him and Butch. Gary ignored his brother's comment and looked at Officer Gomez.
"I assume by the fact that you two aren't in a heated duel to the death that you have nothing against us Officer Gomez?"
"Listen, you are both good kids. Neither of you did anything to deserve this, you have to go find your dad." Gary could tell that Officer Gomez genuinely cared for the two of them. He extended a hand, and Officer Gomez met it with his own.
"Thanks, Officer Gomez, I've always liked you." Officer Gomez smiled and nodded. "Could you please tell me what the hell happened?" Gomez ran his hand through his hair and let out an exasperated breath.
"It's all a real shame that it came to what it did. Mack was out of control… what they did to Jonas…" His eyes drifted to the floor and then slowly back up to face Gary, his eyes trying to convey some feelings of reassurance. "You two have to get out of here though, go on, and good luck."
"Yea, enough of the exchange of feeling and what not." Trust Oliver to always say the right thing. The two brothers nodded. Stanley appeared from the clinic for the first time. He took out a rag and started cleaning off the battle-scared Andy.
"Ah good sirs! I suppose you are looking for you father the doctor!" Stanley shook his head at Andy's obliviousness.
"Listen boys, I don't really know what's going on, but I think you two should get outta here."
"Understood Stanley, I just wanna check our dad's office real quick, maybe he left behind something important for us," Gary stated. The North brothers waited for Stanley's reply, he nodded his head.
"Alright, well good luck out there boys." With that, the two brothers quickly ran into the clinic office. The place was already ransacked, papers littered the floor and the computer was turned over onto the floor.
"Someone's been here, let's go." Oliver didn't have time for this, they needed to bail. His brother was staring at the quote that adorned the office's wall.
Gary read the quote aloud. "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." He turned to Oliver, "Mom's favorite passage, Revelation 21:6."
"Yea I would think I would know, we've only heard it a couple thousand times." Gary shook his head; there was no sense in talking to his brother. It was quite obvious that Oliver had a one track mind; nothing was going to get in the way of him and his glorious escape. Just as they were about to leave, Gary noticed a bobble head; it was the Vault Boy holding a very large syringe. He flipped it over and read the text on the bottom, "The smart man knows bandages only hide his wounds." He pocketed the bobble-head motioned to his brother that they could leave.
The brothers said their good byes to Stanley and Gomez one last time before heading out a door to their left. The new area that they now stood in was the Atrium, one of the largest rooms in the Vault. The room contained two floors and a walkway. The Overseer's office was on the second floor, which is where they were heading next.
The brothers noticed Tom and Mary Holden, a young couple, standing in front of a pillar. Tom was speaking hastily to his wife. ""Don't you see? This is our chance! We're getting out of here, just like the doctor!" Tom's wife didn't have the opportunity to argue, he ran towards a hallway on the far end of the atrium, leading to freedom. Tom waved his hands at the guards protecting the doorway. "Hey it's me…"
The guards went for their guns, and Oliver shouted first. "Get the hell out of there man!" Too late. The guards sprayed at Tom with their pistols, his corpse dropped to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
"Tom!" Mary Holden went to run to the body of her dead husband. The guards reloaded and aimed at Mary.
"Christ! Get down!" Gary ran towards Mary and tackled her to the floor, out of the line of sight of the guards. There was a searing pain that passed through Gary as he hit the hard metal ground of the Vault. He turned to his left, his upper arm was bleeding, lucky him, the bullet only grazed his limb. He noticed Oliver concealed himself on the left side of the entrance, waiting for a guard to pass through.
"Stay here." Gary told Mary as he stood up and drew his pistol. One of the guards, Officer Richards ran out of the hallway and into the atrium, wishing to get a better view of his target, Gary. Oliver raised his baton and with all of his strength he bashed the officer on the top of the head. Richards' body hit the ground with a hard 'thud'.
Oliver saw the second officer, O'Brian, point his gun directly at him. Oliver mumbled a profanity as he went to roll out of the way. A string of bullets went off, yet Oliver felt nothing. He heard a loud thud as O'Brian dropped to the ground. His body twitched slightly.
"You alright brother?"
"Well I'll be damned, you could kill someone if you set you mind to it." Oliver was surprised Gary killed the officer, he always seemed like he had a moral high ground that couldn't be associated with anything bad.
"Yea, well you saved my ass with that baton of yours, we'll call it even." Gary tried to hide any sort of disturbance he was currently feeling within himself. He just killed a man with the gun Amata gave him. He tried to put it in his head that his kill was justifiable, but the notion still itched in the back of his head.
Oliver snapped Gary out of it. "How's the arm?" Pointing to the graze on Gary's left arm.
"Ah it's just a flesh wound, no big deal." Gary turned and looked behind him. Mary Holden was weeping over her dead husband's body. He shook his head, "Let's get the hell out of here."
"Music to my ears." Oliver picked up one of the officer's pistols and tossed another over to his brother. He made sure he took all of their ammo because he figured he would need it. The pair hopped over some Radroaches that stood in their way and ran up a flight of stairs, taking two or three steps at a time. They rounded a corridor that led them to the second floor walkway that was above the atrium.
As the two brothers jogged towards the door opposite them, they heard muffled shouting. "You two! This is all your fault!" That was Allen Mack, only an asshole of that caliber could produce two sons that were complete asses. "The two of you and that stupid father of yours! He had to go and leave…" Gary wouldn't let him finish.
"Yea and up yours too buddy!" He flipped him off just to add a bit of 'flair' to it. He wouldn't hear any smart mouth about his father. Oliver smiled and stuck up two middle fingers, and followed his brother into the next room: the maintenance area.
Red light flooded the area, and the sirens were especially loud in this room. Radroaches crawled on the floor, and started towards the brothers. The two of them each shot at a roach each. Gary went ahead first; he noticed the body of Floyd Lewis, an engineer. His body was riddled with Radraoch bites.
"Poor bastard." Oliver spoke aloud. Before Gary could comment, he doubled over in pain as he was hit in the stomach from a baton. He fell to the ground, trying to get back the air that was just knocked out of him.
"You like that?" That was the voice of Security Chief Hannon. Gary expected another blow, but didn't feel anything. He shifted his body a little to see what was going on. Oliver had Hannon at gun point.
"Do it again and I'll splatter your brains over the wall." Oliver said through his teeth. Hannon threw his head up and laugh, mocking Oliver.
"Splatter my brains? You don't have the balls kid. I've seen how you work, your a little-"
Hannon was cut off on the account of his brains getting splattered all over the wall.
"Fucker, you'll know not to try me now!" Oliver shouted. He spit on Hannon's corpse and looked at Gary. His face seemed to lighten up a little. "Sorry about that, I didn't react quick enough." He walked over to his brother and pulled him from off the ground. "You OK? You took a hard hit to the gut." Gary waved him off.
"Yea, yea. Let's just bail… now." Oliver offered to support him but Gary just waved him off again. The walked at a slower pace, they effectively have taken out almost all of the police force in the Vault, they weren't very worried now. As the continued down the hall to the Overseer's office, Gary stopped dead in his tracks.
"They're my friends. I was worried about them!" That was Amata. Gary turned to Oliver and held a finger up to his mouth, motioning him to quite down. They slide up against the wall and slowly went over to the nearest window, the prison. Gary peered inside, Amata was sitting on a chair, she had her head in her hands and she was crying.
"Be reasonable Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell us where your friends are so we can talk to him." That was her father, the Overseer. Amata looked up to her father.
"What do they have to do with any of this anyway?" Amata questioned.
"Probably nothing, which is why you should tell us where they are." Gary noticed someone standing next to the Overseer, Officer Mack.
"I think I should hit her again to knock some sense into her." That's all Gary needed to hear.
Oliver watched as his brother stood up straight and walked towards the door. "What the hell are you doing?" He hissed. Gary didn't respond at all. He took out his pistol and hit the button to open the door. Oliver watched through the window and saw Amata's face light up, and then a single bullet went off. Officer Mack's blood shot from his head and drenched the Overseer in a layer of red. Amata ran to Gary and threw her arms around him.
"Thank you! I told you my father wasn't himself!"
"Get out of here now." Amata looked at Gary, he had a no nonsense look about him. He didn't argue and ran to her apartment. Oliver followed his brother into the interrogation room with his brother. He was impressed with what Gary did, whole different side he rarely saw.
"You two better be here to turn yourselves in…" The Overseer started. Oliver started laughing and he pointed to the corpse of Officer Mack.
"Does that look like we're here to turn ourselves in?"
"If you ever lay your hands on Amata again, I'll make you regret it. You hear me?" Gary stared intensely at the Overseer.
"I place the good of the vault above all other things, even my own paternal feelings. We must not allow sentiment to cloud our judgment! But I admire your protective nature. Very well. I give you my word as the Overseer, and as her father, that Amata will not suffer further because of your actions."
"I'll keep you to your word on that. Now we'll just take the key and password to your office and you'll be out of your hair."
"Oh is that all? Is there anything else I could get you while you two are here?" The Overseer stated mockingly. "You'll get nothing from me. I'll die…"
"I suggest you watch what you promise there Alphons-o. We might take you to it." Oliver cracked a smile as he said it.
"Dammit! Can't you see that we've killed enough people here! I'd think that the corpses of your beloved Vault dwellers could get you to listen to reason!" Gary shouted.
"Another threat? I won't stand for it!" What happened next surprised both of the brothers. A shot rang out, and smoke came from a .32 that the Overseer brandished from God only knows where. Gary turned to Oliver. Oliver looked back at him and looked down. He placed his hand on his stomach and saw that his hand was covered in blood.
"Well sononva…" Oliver let out a little laugh, and fell to the ground before his brother's eyes. Gary stared wide-eyed as his brother, watching the life drain out of him. He turned to the Overseer. He looked down upon the dying North brother, not a morsel of remorse in his eyes.
"I must place the good of the Vault over everything." The Overseer muttered.
Time seemed to cease for a second, and then resume in slow motion. Gary didn't even realize that he drew his own firearm. Shots rang out as the Overseer stumbled backwards towards a wall. The wall was soon caked with his blood as he slowly slumped downwards, drawing more blood on the wall as he fell. The Overseer dropped his pistol to the ground, the last move he made.
Gary looked down; he held the 10mm pistol in his shaking hand. Smoke emitted from the gun, and five shells were on the floor. He then looked at the now dead Alphonse Almodovar, the Overseer, and the father of his friend.
"We got him good didn't we...?" Oliver's weak voice made Gary return to reality. He rushed to the aid of his brother, and rolled him over. He was surprised to see Oliver holding his own 10 mm pistol; several shells littered the ground around him. Gary ignored the overkill and rummaged around his pockets for a stimpack.
"Here lemme help you." Gary tore the hole in his brother's jumpsuit a little wider to expose more skin. He stabbed the stimpack into his brother's body, hoping it would hold him off before removing the bullet. "In a lot of pain?"
"You have no idea." Gary then removed the one Med-X he had from his pockets, and gave it to his brother. Oliver shook his head vigorously, the chems flowing through his body. "Now lets…" Oliver stopped, hearing the clicking of boot heels running down the hall. Amata entered the room and screamed through uncontrollable tears.
"Daddy! No!" She ran past the brothers and to her father's side. She placed her head on his shoulder and cried, heavy, heavy sobs. Gary slowly stood up, and started to walk over to Amata.
"Amata… I… he…" Gary was at a loss of words, a rare occasion for him. He put a hand on her shoulder, wishing to comfort her. How do you comfort a girl whose father you just killed?
"Get away from me!" Amata slapped Gary's hand off her shoulder. "I can't talk to you." Oliver saw his brother's reaction, he truly felt for his brother. Gary's head dropped and he walked to his brother and lifted him up. Oliver put his arm around his brother, getting some support from him. As they walked out, Oliver shouted back to Amata.
"It was all me, I killed him. You can't blame my brother." Gary was surprised, his brother was never one to stick up for him; essentially they looked out for their own hides, never each others. Oliver saw his brother's smile and returned it with a head nod.
The two entered the Overseer's office. Next to a fallen chair was Jonas. His body was bruised and bloodied. His glasses were smashed and there were noticeable bruises covering his face. Blood covered the ground he laid around. Gary set down his brother for a moment and bent down to Jonas. He closed Jonas' eyes respectively and bowed his head in prayer. Jonas was a friend, yet neither brother could bring themselves to cry.
Oliver started rummaging through Jonas' pockets. He retrieved a stimpack and an audio disk. He tossed it to his brother. "We should get out of here."
Gary quickly checked the Overseer's door. "It's locked, gimme a sec." Gary took out one of the bobby pins that Amata gave him along with a screwdriver he had in his back pocket. He opened the door with ease, which cause a minor chuckle from his brother.
"That's not the first time you've done that."
Gary on the other hand wasn't in the laughing mood. "No it's not." He put the audio disk into his pipboy and played it. He then picked up his brother again and they made their way into the main office. The pipboy's audio function crackled to life. The brothers were greeted by their father's voice
"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... I don't really know how to tell you two this. I hope you'll understand, but I know the two of you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you guys not 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 both adults now. You two don't need your father anymore.. 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 and with each other. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."
Oliver pointed to the computer terminal and they walked over to it. Oliver let his brother try and figure out the password and he leaned against the Overseer's desk. Jonas spoke next.
"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."
"Got it." Gary figured out the password after hacking the computer. It was 'Amata'. He connected his pipboy to the computer and started to download files from the computer. He stopped when he heard his father's voice again.
"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you, boys."
Neither of them were emotional types, far from it actually, but both of them were struck with a sudden pang of sadness. Oliver sniffed loudly, and wiped his nose with his sleeve. A single tear ran down Gary's cheek. The words 'I love you, boys.' Constantly rang in his ears. He shook the tear off and clicked the button on the keyboard that opened the Overseer's tunnel.
Oliver jumped when the desk he was leaning on started to rise. Gary caught him and slung his arm around his brother's waist. A staircase revealed itself to the duo. 'We're actually getting out of here.' Gary thought to himself.
Similar thoughts were going through Oliver's mind. 'No more Vault. No more being told what to do. Let's do this.'
They walked down the stairs which led to a lower level of the Vault. There was a lack of light, so the brothers put on their pipboy lights, illuminating the small hallway. There was a few radroaches skittering across the floor; Oliver introduced them to the heel of his boot.
The two eventually came upon the exit to the Vault, and the entrance to the World. It was a large cog made of thick, rusted metal. Attached to the ceiling was a large rod like device, they assumed it would open up the path to their freedom.
Silently, they made there way to the mechanism that controlled the door. Gary pulled down a lever and an alarm similar to the one ringing throughout the Vault blared loudly. A yellow light started rotating, basking the two in light. In the door behind them there was shouting, yet neither of them could make out what was being said.
The large cog-door made a high pitched noise as the instrument hanging on the ceiling hit it. "Well I'll be damned…" Oliver muttered. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye. He tapped his brother on the shoulder, Gary turned and his demeanor changed. Amata ran towards them, but quickly looked away. She turned to the door.
"Oh my God… you two actually opened it…"
"Told you we would." Oliver grunted through his teeth. Amata looked at him and had a look of disgust.
"Well good. You're leaving." She directed the next part to Gary, there was a lighter note to her tone yet certain harshness was still in it. "I guess you were trying to help me. But you…" Tears ran down her face. Gary extended an arm but Amata shook it away. "You didn't have to kill him!"
"I-I'm sorry, Amata. I just reacted, I didn't have a choice! He shot my brother! It's not like I wanted to kill him!" Gary was slowly losing his composure, everything around him was falling apart; the life he once had was gone.
There was a loud screech. The three Vault dwellers looked at the now open Vault door. Amata wiped her tears with her hands. "Just…" She looked down at her feet. "Just get out of here."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Oliver pushed away from Gary and started walking towards the now open Vault door; he used the railing to his left to support himself as he headed down the stairs.
Gary turned to Amata and put his hands on her shoulders. "Amata, please just listen to me. Come with us, there's nothing left for you here." Amata looked him in the eye, the tears still swelling up in her eyes. Gary tried to give a reassuring squeeze. "Please, Amata."
"I- I can't, not now, not after what you did." Gary was heartbroken. He released his grip on her and flipped up the visor on the guard helmet he had on.
"Then I guess I'll see you." Before Amata had the chance to respond, he kissed her on the lips. He felt her tense up from the surprise, but she slowly eased up. Gary's hands ran down her arms, he grabbed her hands and gave them a gentle squeeze.
"No..." Amata pulled away suddenly. She started walking away, but she kept her grip on Gary's hands. "Go…"
"We have you now!" Gary jumped back as two officers opened up the door to their side. He waved his hands to Amata as he jumped down the stairs.
"GO!" Amata ran off in the direction she came from, not before shooting one final glance in the North brothers' direction.
"Shit! We have to go!" Oliver shouted as he pulled out his pistol; he was outside of Vault 101, dirt was under his boots. Gary practically dove out of the Vault as the two guards ran towards him. Oliver pulled the trigger four times, mainly just to make the guards stop. To the brothers' surprise, the guards stopped on their own.
"There's no way I'm going out there!" Said one, he started to back away.
"I'm not that crazy!" Responded the other. Oliver couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the guards, they were afraid. There were skeletons on the ground and several signs reading 'We're dying assholes!' and 'Let us in motherfuckers!' Oliver crouched down and pick up a skeleton, he threw it into the Vault. After that he chucked in a sign.
"Something to remember us by!" He holstered his pistol. Oliver stumbled a little, he felt lightheaded. Just as he was about to hit the ground, his brother caught him. Oliver looked his brother in the eye, Gary shot him a smile.
"How 'bout we get outta here?" Oliver couldn't agree with him more. The two brothers proceed to a wooden door in the distance. Light seeped through the poorly made door, light from the sun. A loud screeching was heard behind them as the Vault door closed.
"No turning back."
"No turning back."
They gave one final look at each other before Gary pushed open the door. Light covered their bodies; they took a step blindly into the Capital Wasteland, not knowing how much it would truly change their lives.