Chapter One:
Freed or Condemned?
Jim awoke to screams. He lay in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Security Officer Gomez burst into his dorm and pulled Jim out of bed. "Listen kid, the overseer wants you dead. I can't explain in detail. Your Dad's left the vault. I'm doing this for your own good because I don't want to see you hurt ok? Good luck out there son." Gomez shouted. Before Jim could utter a word he felt the cold hard metal of a Police baton strike his head. The world clouded over and the sound of screaming faded.
Jim stood perfectly still. A vast expanse of brown stretched out before him. The horizon seemed infinite and never ending in all directions. Bright light burn his eyes forcing him to squint. Jim took a deep breath of warm, stale air. A light breeze gently blew his hair across his face. This was the first time Jim had felt the warmth of the sunlight on his skin. This was the first time in fact Jim had ever felt real warmth. It was utterly terrifying and exciting at the same time. As his eyes adjusted to the light Jim noticed the city. The one he'd read about in books for most of his childhood. A huge mountain range of concrete and rubble. His head still stung from where Gomez had struck him. He rubbed it carefully and began to gaze around. He caught sight of a small backpack that had been left just outside the wooden door that led to the Vault entrance. Jim grabbed it and began emptying its contents out onto the floor. Before him lay a spare vault suit, his leather jacket, two cans of beans, a note and a gun. Jim picked up the gun and examined it. It felt cool to the touch. It was old and worn but still looked evil. An instrument of death. This sent shivers down Jim's spine and he quickly pulled on his jacket shoved everything back into his bag except from the note. Jim took a deep breath and began to read.
"Jim, I'm so sorry for what has happened. Your Father just left. I assume you didn't know otherwise you would of reacted differently? The Overseer ordered me to shoot you on sight! Being a good friend of yours and your Fathers there was no way I was going to carry out such an order. I'm sorry about your head but I had to get you out of the Vault without you making a fuss. I've left you some supplies. I hope it's a start. I don't know what it's like out there buddy. Keep the pistol on you. It's fully loaded but I couldn't get anymore bullets. Best of luck pal. Stay safe! Gomez."
"FUCK!" Jim shouted through a sudden fit of pain and tears. His whole world had just been ripped away. Now he was alone in a new one. With no plan, no friends and no idea where to go.
Jim sat outside the door for what felt like hours. His mind constantly ticking away with fear. Eventually he pulled himself together and began walking. It was late afternoon and the air seemed to be cooling a little. As he walked down a broken road Jim found himself in what he assumed to be a village. Skeletons of old houses were all that remained. Jim imagined the people that must have once lived here. He shivered and kept walking. An old Nuka Cola machine flickered in the distance. Somehow still being powered by some unknown source. It suddenly dawned on him how thirsty he was. Jim approached the machine and pushed one of the buttons. To his surprise two bottles rolled out. Jim leapt for them like an animal! Ripping the bottle top off with his teeth (a trick Officer Gomez had shown him on his 18th birthday). He lifted the bottle to his lips. The cool carbonated liquid seemed to drift down his throat like silk. Each bubble filling his stomach. Jim burped before taking a final gulp and dropping the bottle on the floor. He stuck the bottle cap in his pocket as a keeps sake and shoved the other bottle in his backpack. Feeling a lot better Jim took another look around. Everything was in ruin. Scorched rubble and rotting wooden frames. The roads were barely recognisable and burnt out cars lays all around. A large metal sign stood on two legs next to the Nuke machine. It looked very out of place in the little village so Jim went over to investigate. The sign read "MEAGTON" in huge yellow letters with an arrow pointing east. Jim considered this for a moment. This was man-made and obviously quite recent compared to everything else around him. All he'd been taught in the vault was a lie. There were people out here. His whole life he'd been convinced that the world outside was completely uninhabitable and that the only surviving people were those living in vaults like his. Jim shook the thought from his head. No time for that now, the light was fading away. He pulled the pistol from his backpack and shoved it into his pocket and set off for Megaton.
A good hour later and Jim found himself stood outside a gigantic metal gate. The whole thing was covered in rust and dirt. A strange metallic smell radiated off the place. A robot stood outside repeating the same thing over and over. "Welcome to Megaton". All of a sudden a huge clanging sound game from the gate, then a shout and then a massive bang. The gate split in the middle and slid open. Three men came running out pointing large rifles at Jim. The man in the middle lowered his gun and approached Jim cautiously. He was a tall, dark skinned man with a large beard. He wore a long duster and a cowboy hat that were both covered in dirt. "You there!" the man bellowed. "What is your business in Megaton?"
Startled Jim tried to speak but no words came out. After swallowing the lumps in his throat he managed to string together a sentence. "I, I came from err, the err Vault" he said gesturing in the direction he had came from. The man looked at him for what seemed like an age before speaking. "Okay kid, come inside."