Fallout New Vegas - The Lottery The year was 2281. The sun had reached its peak for the day in Nipton, and the Legion were finishing up their duties for the day. Men, women, and children remained kneeling on the blood stained ground, with bound hands. Some were breathing, but most had already suffered their slaughter. Some were meeting their end for hours until it was over, however some people met it in an instance. Behind the never ending row of prisoners lay a fire. A fire in which consumed the entirety of the center of town. This fire was the heart of this twisted game which was being played out slowly over the course of the day, as most residents would meet their end in this blaze. It was the common ending of the game. But what game was this? It was the mind of Vulpes Inculta being brought to life for his beloved legion. It was the lottery. Like every other lottery each player was given a ticket, and like every other lottery, each player hoped for the best.
Evidently this lottery was like no other. You didn't come out with the worst possible result and try again next week. No... You were dragged by machete wielding Legionaries across the dust riddled ground to meet your fate, which was in all cases death. Some people's ticket told them that they would not die, but they would have their limbs severed. Or that they would be imprisoned in a well without food or water for months on end. But no one can survive punishment of that kind, and Vulpes Inculta and every one of his men knew this. However amongst this savagery and decimation of innocents, there was in fact a shroud of hope that lay upon one of these lottery tickets. A shroud of hope that only one man, woman, or child would see. A shroud of hope that was also known as freedom.
In front of every prisoner who was kneeling on the ground lay their ticket, when the number of a certain prisoner was called out they had to state it was them who was to receive that particular fate.
" 49." The entire town fell silent. No words had to be spoken to decipher who number 49 was, due to the sound of their deafening cries ripping through through Nipton like a storm. A young red headed woman stood up from the ground and stood starring at the floor so her tears smashed the ground she had become so familiar with over the last few hours. Her hands shaking so violently it hurt. Every set of eyes in this once vibrant town was fixated on her with the shared expression of deep sorrow. Except one man who sat and starred at her with his face crunched up with anger, until he turned to stare at a recruit member of Vulpes' squad who had just read the number 49 aloud. The imprisoned man then stared at the ground ensuring himself that what he had just heard was correct. After he had done this he rose from the ground and let a roar of disbelief and sadness to the members of Caesars Legion.
"Fuck you all!" Although shackled at the hands like everyone else he sprinted towards Vulpes Inculta in a fit of love inspired rage in attempt to put an end to this absurdity and to save the read headed woman who was in fact his wife for 10 years. But it was no use. All the man would meet was a 308. bullet in the back of the head from hunting rifle wielding sniper in the distance.
" A ticket gone to waste." These words were spoken so coldly and so calmly from Vulpes who had not moved an inch during this whole ordeal. Number 49 was grabbed by two soldiers, one man on each arm and they dragged her away, her ticket was cast upon the fire, and as the paper melted away, the words would read for their final time '49...To be burned at the cross with immediate effect.'
As the residents of Nipton continued to become depleted and in need of food and water another number was about to be read out, and another person's life was to be changed forever, for better, or for worse.
" Number 38, stand!"
Once again everyone fell silent, except this time no screams were heard. A man wearing a white shirt that was buttoned all the way to the top, brown greasy hair and rounded glasses stood in front of the ones who would read off his fate. Clutching to his lottery ticket like a Child's teddy bear he spoke out.
"Just say it! End this now!"
"Silence degenerate, or I will have these savages wiping your face from my boot!" bellowed Vulpes.
A Veteran Legionary stepped forward, the list of numbers and punishments in one hand, and his throwing spear in the other and spoke words that would never be forgotten.
"Number 38... You have been blessed by Caesar. You are free to go. Walk slowly towards us to have your hands unbounded." Oliver immediately stumbled forward towards the recruits, his legs were numb from the day of kneeling so he found it hard to walk. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, a state of absolute shock is what Oliver fell into. A recruit legionary untied his hands and Oliver turned and began to walk away, as he began to leave Vulpes grasped his shoulder and sadistically said
" You will not forget what you have witnessed here today here at Nipton, Oliver, we made sure of that! I hope you don't think there was no purpose in letting you go? No of course not, I want you to spread word of today's events. I want everybody to know that some they they will all be true to Caesar. Spread the word of the way of the Legion!"
" You're crimes are unforgivable Vulpes, and you're nothing but a heartless murderer. A coward. Caesar will fall! As Oliver spoke these words with such passion and emotion he turned to face the remaining prisoners who were kneeling in their own tears and human waste. The sun continued to beat down upon them punishing them further and the fire that sat behind them burned stronger than ever. Bodies that had been nailed to a cross had been hoisted so high they could be seen for miles. Alongside the bodies waved the Legions flag. Soaring so highly and so proudly the legion soldiers stood beneath it and chanted repeatedly,
"Ave, true to Caesar!" Before finishing the atrocities that had started earlier that day. As the chants faded, Oliver Swanick stared one last time through tear filled eyes and spoke his final words of the day to the remaining prisoners.
" I'm so sorry. I really am so sorry!" As he quickly paced himself away from Nipton forever. He walked for miles, hearing screams and death like cries along the way, until... Nothing. He stopped dead in his tracks and sunk to his knees after realizing the town of Nipton had been completely exterminated. Silence surrounded Oliver, as he broke down and started pummeling the dirty ground around him.
Oliver passed out due to dehydration and lay in the middle of the Mojave for hours into the beginning of night. Dust covered his overworked face and a few geckos circled him and began to sniff at his ragged clothes, until a Robot with the face of a human came rushing over screaming at the geckos. They scattered faster than a bunch of 9mm bullets flying through Free Side, and the robot approached Oliver. Still unconscious, the robot scooped him up and carried him through the night, back to the nearby town of good springs . When Oliver Swanick woke the morning after, he was staring into the eyes of a local townsman. He said he was a doctor, and he told him his name was Doc Mitchell.