"Would you like to buy some lemonade?"

The young boy's voice cut off Janet Rockwell's argument mid-sentence, her sour expression showing no signs of letting up.

"No, thank you." Janet hastily replied, Her glare still aimed at Roger Rockwell, her suspicions about Martha Simpson growing every minute. They've been married for years and now this? How could Roger be cheating, she had been the perfect wife for him, and this is how he treats her?

"Come on Janet, the boy worked hard to make it." Roger said, taking a quick glance at Martha, not out of interest, but disgust that she would allow such a nasty rumor.

"Roger, your staring again!" Janet cried.

"Gosh Janet, just because I look at someone doesn't mean I want to sleep with 'em!" Roger said, already knowing he would regret what he just said.

"Ugh, Roger I can't believe you!" Janet yelled as she also fled back to their house.

Roger's frustration simmered down, overtaken by bewilderment. Why has she started acting like this? Ever since that one kid talked to her she's been suspicious of everything he does. What was the kid's name again?

"Mr. Rockwell, did you still want that lemonade?" asked the boy, Timmy. "I want to show that mean girl Betty that I can get that Red Racer too!"

"No thanks, I've got something else to deal with first." replied Roger, his mind still wondering what that young girl could have said to his wife. He started back towards his house only to be interrupted by... gunfire?

Turning around, Rodger was met with a bullet to the chest. Clutching the wound, another piercing pain shot up his spine. Falling to the ground, he could just make out what appeared to be a soldier's uniform, but couldn't recognize the red badge with a star on it. The pain was horrible at first, but then it subsided. It felt almost as if he was being set free.

Then everything faded to black.


"Ugh…"

Roger awoke in a what appeared to be a human-sized pill, a strange computer hanging in front of him displaying odd sentence fragments.

*RESIDENT: ROGER ROCKWELL; PULSE: ELEVATED*

*ERROR*

*VIRTUAL REALITY: TRANQUILITY LANE FAIL-SAFE MALFUNCTION*

*WARNING: EMERGENCY EXIT ENGAGED, LOUNGE OPENING…*

The lid above him began to glide upwards, pressure releasing from the human container. His senses started to come back, but most his memories were still foggy. What was going on? Where was he? the computer said Tranquility Lane. It must have been some sort of Virtual Reality machine. What was the V.R about? all these things were flying through his head.

Pieces of his past were there, but it felt like it was all scrambled, and whenever he tried to focus on something it flew out of grasp. He recalled working for a company called RobCo, was he some sort of engineer? Robots, that memory came with RobCo, he must be some sort of robotic technical engineer.

He could also vaguely recall some extracurricular activities. He was running down a road, a sprinter? Jogger? That was it, he was running a marathon. Another memory showed him shooting a strange laser gun, like he was testing it. Everything after that was an a blur, including the Virtual Reality itself, all playing through at once, none of them making sense. Something about a safety vault? Nuclear World War? Was he dead? He certainly didn't appear dead.

"Welcome back Mr. Rockwell, I hope you enjoyed your time in the Lounge." A Robobrain greeter said to him. Surprised, the robot seemed to activate a quick memory, one where he was programming a robot just like this one.

"Where am I and how long have I been in there?" he asked.

"You registered and entered Vault 112 approximately 203.3 years ago. The lounge has preserved your body since you first entered. Your vitals are running at slightly above average levels for a twenty-one year old." The robot replied with its friendly voice.

"By God, its been that long?" he wondered. What year did he enter this... this Vault? 2077? He imagined all the things humankind could have done in a that amount of time; Images of the future flooded through his mind: Jetpacks, robots with emotions, space colonies. "How do I get out of here?" he thought out loud.

"Proceed up the stairs and follow the hallway until you reach Vault 112's entrance. If you are leaving please wear eyewear, the sun's rays can be harmful to vault resident eyes. Have a nice day!" The robot answered with a pleasant tone.

Looking down towards his wrist he noticed a Pip-Boy 3000 attached him. The time read 12:30 PM. "I remember these, always thought they were a waste good technology." Roger thought.

He observed the rest of the room, spotting several other bodies lying in the other capsules. He thought he recognized one, a young woman, but couldn't put a name on the face. None of the other people in the capsules captured his interest, so he proceeded up the stairs.

When he reached the entrance, it was already open. Someone else must have been here! He started to feel some hope as he stepped through the door. That hope was soon replaced with fear.


Lying by the stairwell on the other side of the door was what appeared to be a giant dead naked mole rat, a pair of large bullet holes appearing in it's side. He stepped over the body, wondering what in God's name could have made something like that, and preceded up the stairwell, glad to be away from whatever that was.

As he entered what seemed to be a car body workshop, he saw another one of those creatures, and his heart skipped a beat. This one's alive, and not too happy to see him.

It was staring at him from across the room, its eyes completely feral, and he knew he only had a limited amount of time until it attacked him. Looking around the room he saw a counter with a knife on it, still sharp from whatever purpose it was used for. The giant mole rat chattered its teeth and charged at him. He immediately ran towards the counter, grabbing for the knife with his shaky hands.

Swallowing down his fear, he braced for impact, knowing that one puncture with the mole rat's teeth in his throat would end his short journey. It rammed into him and as it did, he wildly stabbed at it with the knife.

As they fell onto the ground it fell on top, his left arm barely able to hold it off him. The creature's teeth still chattered away, shoving the arm out of its face. Roger closed his eyes in fear, waiting for the beast to sink its teeth into him.

The bite never came. All that came was a series of gurgling noises, along with a wet dripping sound. He opened his eyes to find the giant Mole lying dead with the knife in its side on top of him, bleeding all over his Vault 112 Jumpsuit. He shoved the body off, got up, and staggered to the chair, sitting down with a deep sigh.

His fingers were still shaking, still trying to grasp what just happened. An odd feeling of fear, courage, and sheer amazement at this giant killer rodent. After he regained control of his shivers, he proceeded towards the door, walking as far away from the rodent's corpse as possible. His heart sank as he reached it, realizing that whatever out there might be worse than the rodent he encountered in here. Swallowing hard, he pushed open the heavy steel door.

Light poured through, like opening heaven's door. But some sixth sense told him this wasn't anything like heaven. In fact, it just might be the opposite.


I did It! My first published story! I can't tell you how much fun I've had thinking up the plotline for it! And even more fun writing it! Sorry in advance for any grammatical errors and plot holes in the story. Feel free to leave reviews and if you like it, I post a new chapter about every 2 weeks. So stay tuned!