I do not own Suite Life, Fallout 3 or any other characters/settings that may turn up in this story of survival, loss, death, horror, and slavation.

Time can get away from you when you're on a teen cruise with your brother and a lot of friends. Sometimes things that are significant seem unimportant. That's exactly what it was like for Zack Martin. In the last leg of the trip for the Semester at Sea when they had about a week left and the only port left was there last, Boston, things happened that should have seemed significant to the passengers and crew, but were blown off as if they were nothing. They would often see several exhaust trails in the sky at once, heading in every known direction. Most thought this was a bit queer, but dismissed it as nothing more than military testing. Just hours after the first trail, land stopped making contact. Again, no one glanced twice at this.

That is, until they docked. When they docked in Boston, there was no Boston, just a smoldering crater that glowed like a glow-stick on a drug high. Here and there they spotted hollowed out husks of buildings, but other than that, there was no sign of life whatsoever. Finally, everyone aboard the S.S. Tipton realized just what they had blown off.

The war with Russia, China, and Palestine, otherwise known as the Four Powers War, had escalated to new heights. It finally reached breaking point and at the climax, each of the 4 major countries in the war launched every nuclear device they had. Just about every other country excluding Mexico, those in South America, and those in Australia, which had stayed out of the war, had sided with one of the four super-powers that were fighting and launched their nuclear weapons as well. The planet had become a living hell in a matter of hours.

Realizing this, everyone decided to stay aboard and see if they could find a bit more intact of a dock. After going several miles south, they came upon Washington DC. It was a barren Wasteland devoid of vegetation. Luckily for the passengers, it was not completely gone. Buildings still stood, though most were just shells of their former selves. The Potomac River was not burned away so the ship sailed on. After going a few miles inland, they found what seemed to be a settlement along the river. Mr. Moesby and the rest of the crew, along with a few passengers, went to scout it out. Zack, Cody, and Bailey stayed aboard, fearing that the settlement was not all that it seemed.

An hour had passed since Moesby and the others had entered the settlement and they had not made contact yet so Cody decided to lead another party in to investigate. Zack and Bailey decided to go with him because they trusted in Cody's quick thinking to get them out of trouble.

The group set out and came to the gate leading into the settlement, made out of solid steel plates crudely put together. Cody slowly pushed it open and they walked inside. Immediately, a group of humans, all in their early to mid twenties jumped out and attacked the group with crude flaming swords and baseball bats with spikes on them and all manner of other weaponry. Three of them grabbed Cody and started beating him with bats, axes, sledgehammers, and the like. He desperately tried to fight back, but was outnumbered, outgunned, and overpowered. Zack jumped on one of the men's backs and ripped his mask off. They started struggling for control of the man's weapon. Zack grabbed the man's wrist and started to pound him in the head with his own weapon. The man double over in pain and passed out, his head bleeding badly. Zack ripped the spiked bat out of his hands and tried to save Cody but it was already too late. Only Bailey, Zack, Woody, and London were left to watch the horror that ensued, which they couldn't stop.

They stood stone still in fear and anger as the men ripped Cody to pieces and beat him into a pulp with their crudely horrific weapons. The gang somehow regained their sense of self-preservation and bolted back through the gate. They headed for the ship, only to find more of the murderous cannibals slaughtering the remaining people on the ship and burning it down.

All they could think of doing was running. They didn't need to look back to know that the killers were following them. They stumbled upon a gun store that hadn't been looted yet and smashed the window. Once inside, they grabbed whatever they could find and grabbed ammo for the weapons and ran into the cellar, locking the door behind them.

Inside, they found a few other survivors who had hidden in there. They explained the situation and the other survivors grabbed weapons and prepared to help the friends fend off the "Raiders" as the others called them. They heard footsteps and cursing overhead and shouldered their weapons, ready to fire. Zack ran up and unlatched the bolt locking the cellar shut and pushed the door open. Everyone rushed out to be greeted by people in bulky, metal armor with blinking lights on it. The survivors stooped and told the friends to stop as well because these people helped people like them. The armored soldiers introduced themselves as the "Brotherhood of Steel" an organization devoted to the study and development of technology and the salvation of those in the Wasteland with good will. They were apparently the remnants of the U.S. Army and tried desperately to maintain as much order as they could in the hell that had become of Washington DC. They offered protection as long as they agreed to help the Brotherhood's cause. Fight the Good Fight as they called it.

Everything seemed to have become a little bit better for the survivors.

Ok, first chapter of a new story. This is not connected to my other story from the Suite Life series, it is its own story. It will also be very long because it is about struggles in life after the death of a world. I know it may seem to get better from the end of the chapter, but believe, this story is not for the faint of heart. It doesn't seem gruesome now, but it will get bad, trust me. The Wasteland, as it is called, is all 8 levels of Hell on Earth at one time and yes there are 8 levels, the usual 7 and then the one that is the setting for this story, irradiated, nuclear, post-apocalyptic United States. Thanks for reading, please review I want to know your thoughts. I love suggestions. I think that's it.

Thanks - Pie