Lost and Found
Prologue
Before the War
Forward- This is my first attempt at a Fallout Story. I have been on a hiatus from writing for a good while. And this is what I am coming back with. So, if anyone has any criticisms or any feedback, I would really love it. Thanks, and enjoy.
When I was a kid, there was a lot of turmoil. Constant fighting and lots of inequalities between the poorest of the poor and the rich. And the myriad political conflicts even inside the United States. When I was born, my father was a mechanic for a Red Rocket and my mother worked as a waitress in a small Diner.
I was a curious child as a kid and it showed in my studies. But, I was often bored, and never had money for much. My family had bills to pay and even the Basic Necessities were sometimes hard to come by. So, I turned to a gang to help get money. My parents didn't know where the money came from, but they didn't quite care. I was getting us some extra cash and making sure we didn't get evicted.
My mother always told me to never harm another without cause but eventually, I was too big to run packages or break into places. So, it was either dealing drugs or becoming muscle. At least for me. So, I turned to more violent crimes. I learned how to shoot, stab, and beat people however we needed. And I did well, I was smart, and I was strong. I was well respected.
But, I was too good. I got caught because of how good I was. I was 19. And I was facing some serious crimes. It was either rot in jail for the rest of my life, become a rat. Or enlist. And that I did. I enlisted in the army. I was used to fighting, tough times, and taking orders. So, I did oddly well from what everyone else would think.
I took two tours of duty in combat scenarios and was relatively unharmed. Then I was rotated back home. For various administrative and clerical duties as they evacuated me for Staff Sergeant. And then in turn, they sent me for further weapons training. And an offer. To work with my former commanding officer on a secret military project to beat the foes of America no matter what happens. I accepted and was sent to a top secret bunker up north, I didn't even know where it was.
The bunker was well stocked, filled with soldiers and doctors and all sorts of technicians and even some civilians, scuttlebutt was that they were from Vault Tech, but no one believed that. Probably some military super-secret doctors and scientists working on the project. Mostly it was training and random checkups. And "vitamin" supplements and pills we were supposed to take every day. Some of the guys complained about them but we all signed up willingly, so we took them. And after a while, we improved. We got faster, and stronger, and yet. We weren't quite at home in our bodies.
The doctors assured us that it was a normal side effect and told us to take it easy outside of the tests. 'To give our bodies time to adjust.' Was their reason, but we were suspicious, for good reason. No one we talked to had been any part of the subsections below level 20. Yet people said that boxes kept getting sent down there. And the scientists who were there the first day weren't around anymore. That we knew of.
Everyone paid attention to the news. The stories of worsening conflicts, and the stock market steadily plunging down lower and lower. Civil unrest and panic was at an all-time high and there was talk about the government failing its people. And all the while, Vault tech was constructing massive underground vaults for the lucky, the rich, the important, and the politicians.
No one was ready for when it happened, we got early warning, and it was early. Most of us were still in our bunks or eating. There was little panic, we had been trained. The mountain was sealed, all outside contact was cut off. And people started being brought into the sublevels. One by one at first. The rest of us kept on, worried and acting like everything was normal. Until, when the bombs hit.
The mountain shook, people fell, and lights blew out. And then the panic set in. Repair crew were sent to check every inch, and nearly everyone was tasked to fix what we could. We rushed things, patched up what we could, jury rigged what we didn't have the parts for, and left alone what couldn't or wasn't important to fix. And yet there was still panic. Some wanted to open the bunker doors and send out teams into what was now probably a hellish landscape. Others wanted to continue to seal us in and start working on making sure we could last until the outside was safe, some said it would be weeks, others months. But most knew, it would be years.
Then one night, as I was settling in to sleep after a long shift when they came for me, they called my name and led me to an elevator. The main one actually. And handed me a small bottle full of pills and a can of water. 'Take the Pills Staff Sergeant Barringer.' So, I took them, and then we went down. Whatever the pills were, they made me drowsy and it was hard to pay attention. All I remember was being led past rooms full of boxes and barrels. Past sealed metal bulkheads and empty bunks. And rooms of computers and machines. And then they sat me in a chair and started to give me injections and help me out of my clothes and into new ones. Some sort of jumpsuit and boots. With pads and such. Underwear and an undershirt too. But I only realized that after I woke up. And the last thing I remember is laid back at an angle in a comfortable place. And metal and glass coming over my head to seal me into a small chamber. Then I finally drifted off asleep.
Cheers guys
Wolf