Disclaimer: This story is written using the setting and the characters of Bethesada's Fallout franchise, and as such, they all belong to Bethesada. Original characters, fictional locations, and such are all entirely made up and any resemblance to other people/places is purely coincidental. If you find a reason to sue me, proceed. Just be warned, I'm virtually penniless and have a cute little puppy that relies on me for food and a warm place to sleep. A puppy, people. Don't be cruel.
Chapter 1 - Thin Red Line
A Story set in Fallout 76
"We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down."
Eleanor Roosevelt, American First Lady and Activist
"We are defenders from fires of the art which has beautified the world, the product of the genius of men and the means of refinement of mankind. Above all, our proudest endeavour is to save the lives of men, the works of God himself. Under the impulse of such thoughts, the nobility of the occupation thrills us and stimulates us to deeds of daring, even of supreme sacrifice."
Chief Edward F. Croker, American Firefighter
"The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example."
Benjamin Disraeli, British Prime Minister
"Remember us."
Those had been Maria Chavez's final words. As simple a request as any. And so we did, those of us that left Vault 76. Mankind's brightest. Humanity's best. We followed our Overseer into this... this wasteland. We didn't know what to expect but we knew our job. We knew what was expected of us. We knew Vault Tec's plan for us.
Rebuild America. Ensure humanity's continued existence in the aftermath of atomic war.
And so, we followed the Overseer in her decision. We remembered the Responders. We learned from the Responders. In time, we took on the mantle of the Responders... At least, some of us did. The rest of us went down different paths. Walked different roads.
Some tried establishing a new government in what was left of Charleston. Salvage what was left of the old world. Others talked about rebuilding this Brotherhood of Steel. A new order for a new world.
And we continued our good works.
Flatwoods. Morgantown. Sutton and Helvetia. Grafton. Point Pleasant. North Charleston. Camp Adams. We reclaimed them, built upon what the Responders had built, fought against the mutants and the ferals and the monsters. Against the Scorched.
Now... Too many of us are dead. Scattered. No match for the Scorchbeasts. Just too many of them, blackening the skies. Raining death and destruction down on us.
Most of us escaped, though. Made for different parts. One thing for sure, though... The idea of the Responders? That idea's dead again. As dead as the old Responders and some of the new ones.
We were missing something from the start. An edge. We needed one against the Scorched and their beasts. We had eventually found one, but it was too late.
The Fire Breathers were all dead.
They all died at Big Bend. They sacrificed their lives trying to destroy the biggest nest of the Scorched ever. And they were wiped out, not knowing their sacrifice was in vain. Not knowing there'd be no one left to remember them.
Anthony groaned as he climbed up over the ridge, his body screaming in exhaustion after that long trek from Morgantown, fighting through so many Scorched, battling against them on the streets of Charleston. He looked behind him then, quickly counting heads to see how many were still with him, how many had died since then.
Forty seven of them.
Which meant, he realized, that thirty three of them had died in the long, grueling journey. Anthony sighed. The situation was getting worse by the second. Thirty three dead. Supplies and ammunition both were running low. The Overseer was missing.
Vault Tec had saved the best and the brightest for this task, and yet it seemed as if this twisted version of Appalachia was winning the war.
Anthony pulled up another Vault Dweller, a good man by the name of Henry Reinhardt, though most just called him Harry. "You all right?"
"Yeah," Harry grunted as he got pulled up onto the ridge. "At least, for now. We're getting close too, so that helps." He gestured just down the road. "Their headquarters used to be over there."
Anthony nodded. Once Harry and he helped the rest of their party climb over the ridge and they had rested for half a hour, the group of survivors continued their long journey, eager to get it over with now that they were on the last leg of it all.
It was still hazardous, though. Even this far south, the Scorched continued to throw themselves at the survivors. But thankfully, many of them were armed. A necessity, they had quickly learned, in this post-Great War world. For the most part, the majority of them carried 10mm Pistols and Hunting Rifles, while Pump Action Shotguns and Laser Rifles were less common among their numbers, and a rare few had managed to get their hands on the likes of Combat Rifles and one had even somehow picked up a Plasma Rifle.
In the end, they made it to the Charleston Fire Department, minus another two survivors who had died in the last Scorched attack.
Quickly, the rest of the survivors made their way into the huge building. Some found chairs to sit on, others crumbled onto sofas and beds, and the rest collapsed onto the floor, just glad to finally be able to rest.
It didn't take long before Anthony, Harry, and a few others had gotten started on securing all of the doors and windows, as well as sealing off any breaches in the building itself. Within an hour, a preliminary crew of guards had been assembled and assigned to posts. Within six hours, inventory was being taken, cleaning up in process, and repairs being made. Thankfully, there was enough food supplies in the Fire Department to last them for a bit, and the water wasn't too bad once it had been boiled enough with some Rad-X in it, a little trick Helena Sanchez had learned. The Protectrons were more than helpful in assisting the survivors, thankfully. Though they were quite insistent on everyone taking the exam.
By the third day, everyone had recovered enough to start discussing what to do from there on. Some had said they should just push on and make for different parts of Appalachia. Others suggested joining up with other survivors, maybe the New Appalachian Militia that had been formed in Harpers Ferry, or the new Brotherhood of Steel.
Others had even argued simply leaving Appalachia altogether. But most of them knew it was futile. If the Scorched weren't stopped here... There would be no safe place in all the world to hide from them.
More importantly, they did still have control of the three Nuke Silos, and the Overseer had confided in some of them that there existed an automated factory within each one of them, producing new nukes.
That, they knew, would be their ultimate weapon against the Scorched Plague.
The question was how to make best use of that weapon, for nukes alone would not win them this war. If anything, to use yet more nukes would almost certainly be a mistake, or destroy them all.
They had to be the last resort.
And so Anthony walked into the large room then, flanked by Harry and another fellow by the name of Adam Campbell, someone who had been one of the first to join the Overseer in stepping out into Appalachia and had stayed by her side most of the time. Once she had decided to rebuild the Responders, Adam had been her staunchest supporter and had put all of his time and energy into training and building up their defense force, a given since he had been the Vault's security chief.
"Settle down, everyone!" Anthony rang out, calling for everyone to give him a chance to speak.
"Many of you know me. But for those of you who joined up with us since Morgantown... My name's Anthony J. Barrett." He looked around at as many of them as he could, going from eyes to eyes, letting everyone see him. "Listen... I know it's been hard. It's been hard ever since we left Vault 76. These last six months... They were rough. Salvaging what was left of Appalachia, picking up things where the Responders and others left them. We've suffered setbacks, plenty of them."
"But..." He nodded then, "We've made some advances too. We've got the innoculation for the Scorched Plague. It's not perfect, but it's given us a fighting chance against those fuckers. And some of our own are still there, working on improving it further. We're not alone either. There are others, and they're still fighting... Harpers Ferry, Fort Defiance, Pleasant Valley... We may be scattered but we ain't beaten yet! Far from it."
He began moving through the crowd then, seeing some of them nodding along to what he was saying, seeing the hope on their faces. "We still know where all of our caches are, the weapon stockpiles and supply depots. We get our shit together, we're going to be able to fight back. And this time, we're gonna win!"
Cheers answered him then, most of the survivors up on their feet now. Anthony gestured for them to settle down once more. "The Responders died because we weren't ready. Because we didn't know about the Scorchbeasts... And because we didn't know how to fight them. Well... I'm proposing we find a way to fight them and kill them and fucking end them forever! And that's why right here, right now... I'm going to rebuild the Fire Breathers!"
He held up his hand, catching something Harry had just tossed at him, and held it up high. A Fire Axe. "These men and women, they fought for the Responders and they died, all of them, at Big Bend. Responders stood no chance without them. But if we're going to have a chance at reclaiming Appalachia, at ending the Scorched Plague... We need to continue what they started. We need to finish the job they left unfinished."
"This facility is secure. We've got enough supplies for a while. The Protectrons are helping us... but not enough. We rebuild the Fire Breathers here, take on their mantle, and we'll have a hell of a chance here. Who's with me!?"
Many of them cheered again. "Good! We're gonna take their fucking exam, and we're gonna ace it! We'll learn how the Fire Breathers lived and we'll learn how they fought the Scorched, and we'll do more than that... We're going to finish their job for them!"
And for the first time in a long while... the Fire Breathers were alive once more.
Anthony held the axe in both of his hands then, looking down at it, at this symbol of the Fire Breathers. He had been just a security guard back in the Vault, always more than willing to obey whatever orders Security Chief Campbell or the Overseer gave him... But things were different now.
Something had to be done. Campbell was a broken man who was just beginning to put himself together. The Overseer was still missing. And there were just too many men and women depending on him to look after them, to lead them.
So he would give them structure. He would give them hope. He would give them a mission. "All right. Listen up! Those of you with technical skills, check in with Harry Reinhardt. Those of you with medical skills, talk to Kathryn Price. Those of you with scientific skills, find Jack Foster. And those of you who are ready and willing to put your lives on the line, to fight the Scorched with axe and gun, tooth and nail... Let's take that fucking exam!"
With the efficiency born of living in a Vault for twenty five years, everyone focused on carrying out their orders then, long accustomed to authority. The men and women Anthony had mentioned had already been given their orders, having agreed with the man before his speech on what had to be done.
Until the Overseer could be found, until the Scorched Plague was eradicated, until things returned to an acceptable level of... normalcy... Anthony J. Barrett would hold down the fort and defend the remaining survivors of Vault 76.
And together with his new Fire Breathers, they would be the thin red line that held back the tide of destruction.
Current Population - 46 Survivors
Author's Note: So, instead of an update for BRAVE NEW WORLD this week, I decided to post the first chapter of a new story set in Fallout 76, something I've been playing and enjoying since last week. Don't worry, my first story will remain a priority and will be receiving a new chapter soon! I just couldn't resist doing a story for Fallout 76, especially since I haven't seen any uploaded yet! THIN RED LINE won't be posted as regularly as BRAVE NEW WORLD but there should be at least one or two updates a month, especially since I'm still making my way through the storyline.
And obviously, whatever happens in THIN RED LINE will eventually be a part of BRAVE NEW WORLD down the road. :)
Hope you enjoy this story!