AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I do not own Fallout or anything else like that blah, blah, blah.
This is a completely original story, filled with all original characters, and an area of the American Waste land not covered in the games. There for I will be taking a few liberties within my story, yet will be attempting to stay as close to the overall Fallout Universe as possible. I will try to bring any attention to big discrepancies as they come up, but if I do miss anything, just let me know and I'll try to provide an explanation for my altercations.
I will try to update as regularly as I can, but sometimes the real world tends to take a bit of precedence, and all that jazz. Between my student's, rugby, and those all important significant others I will do my best to get a chapter up here at least once a week. But if I don't then do not fret, I will see this through to the end.
So without further ado let's get this party started…
War, war never changes…
In the years leading up to the Great War the world was gripped in the cold grasp of the Reapers hand.
The great plague swept across the land killing untold millions
America closed its borders quarantining millions as they raced to develop a cure
What they discovered however was something far more intriguing
As the true nature of what FEV could accomplish became known the military quickly rushed in to take control
Mere men became super beings capable of unimaginable strength and ferocity
After the Great War these abominations swept across the land killing any who resisted, and taking any unable to fight
Turning captives into mindless, heartless, soulless creatures as themselves they were able to bolster their numbers
They began moving west reclaiming the ruins of once major cities as their own, fortifying them for their war with the brotherhood and Mankind
These Super Mutant tanks of muscle and bone feel no pain, no remorse, and no mercy and as their ever widening circle of influence increases more and more villages and towns fall to their terror
With no reason other than the domination of all living things the Super Mutants pressed on with their brutal and bloody campaign
Killing with the efficiency of the plague they had been intended to cure, they have caused the world to once again become gripped in the cold hand of the reaper, because war. War never changes
. 1 .
The night air was cool as a steady breeze blew down the mountains into the small town of Rockshed. The town was hardly more than a few dozen bombed out buildings, most of witch still stood, that the inhabitants had erected a sturdy wall around using scrap metal and long dead automobiles. The City that Rockshed was built on the outskirts of had long since been forgotten, its building long since shattered by the Great War, and the elements of this new harsh wasteland. A high way stretched off to the North and South as far as the eye could see, tracing its way along the great mountains behind the town to the West.
Tanner lay on an old, all but destroyed sofa on the porch of his small home. He lifted the half empty bottle of warm beer to his lips and swallowed hard. It was a lazy evening for him. He was not needed on watch tonight, and tomorrow he would be leaving with a merchant caravan, perhaps for good. In his twenty two years he had barely ventured outside of the town and its surrounding city, and for the longest time he had relished in the tales told by traveling merchants, adventurers, and warriors that had come and gone. His parents had been dead for almost ten years now, and the need to set out and find a better existence had been building inside of him for too long. He was skilled with a hunting rifle, and after proving himself to the caravan master he had packed his bags and readied himself for this new adventure.
The town was stable, but boring. They were able to feed themselves, had enough Brahmin that they could trade for guns, ammo, or other luxuries. But it was a stifling place, capable of killing someone's soul if they stayed here too long. Tanner had seen it all before. Except for the occasional raider attack, life dragged on here everyday like the day before. As he finished his beer Tanner let his mind drift to the possibilities that tomorrow could bring. Breathing deeply he could almost smell the promise of adventure in the air.
Kooouuuch…. A distant gun shot split the night air and Tanner was on his feet in an instant, hunting rifle in hand. The shot had come from the town wall, but no alarm or voice had been raised to sound a warning. Tanner sat back down. 'Another false alarm' he told himself, 'happens all the time.' Some one on watch gets jumpy and starts shooting at shadows. But as he lay down and closed his eyes the peaceful night was shredded with the sound of automatic gun fire, and the cries of the men on watch for help.
Tanner was back on his feet in a flash, the hunting rifle cradled comfortably in his hands as he raced through the dirt streets towards the large metal gate to the town. From every house came men with weapons in hand as they raced to give aid. As Tanner rounded the corner of the last building into the large open courtyard in front of the gate he heard someone yell,
"Lookout!"
But it was too late; he was ripped from his feet by a skull shattering blast. It took several seconds to shake the fog from his mind, as his ears screamed the shrill sound of agony into his head. With blurry eyes he looked up and saw the gate ripped open like the gapping maw of some devilish creature, its shiny metal teeth illuminated by fire. All around him the other men of the town struggled to their feet. Then they came.
Like mountains of flesh and bone they poured through the mouth of the now sinister gate. Tanner had only heard stories of them; he had never imagined the shear terror that such creatures could produce, or what awesome fire power they could wield. The super mutants poured into the town, mini guns shrieking shrill songs of death and destruction as a thousand rounds ripped through the town. Tanner scrambled to his feet and dove into an alley way as the super mutant swung his arm around guiding his belching tool of death his way. The buildings shook, crumbled and began to fall as their very supports were ripped apart.
Tanner raced down the narrow streets away from the gate; there was nothing he could do against a foe as fearsome as this. He could hear the screams of the town's folk as the daemons of the night slaughtered them at will. Bursting from the alley way onto the merchants street Tanner saw the caravan guardsmen charge the street, weapons in hand, as a pack of mutants came around the corner at the far end of the street. Dropping to one knee he aimed his rifle and added his shots to the thunder of gunfire from the guardsmen, but the creatures seemed impervious to the hail of small arms fire rained upon them. They charged the men, and dispatched them with sledge hammers and rippers, spraying blood in every direction. Tanner charged down the road away from the beasts, ducking into another alley as the mutants continued their relentless hunt.
As he ran up the steps of his porch three at a time he lowered his shoulder and slammed through the door of his small home, the chaotic sounds of gunfire ceased, replaced by the terrified screams of the towns folk. Blocking from his mind the images of what must be taking place out there; Tanner quickly grabbed his pack, thankful that he had already been prepared to leave. Giving his house a quick look, he shouldered his pack and left. There was an escape tunnel at the back of the village for just such an occasion. The thought that he was acting like a coward briefly crossed his mind, but was quickly replaced by the image of the charging super mutants, and the seeming invincibility of their massive forms.
'Anyone dumb enough to stick around and try to fight these things is stupid,' he told him self as confidently as he could.
Slowly sticking his head out of his now shattered door he carefully looked back towards the gate. There were several rows of buildings between him and the courtyard, but he could see large grotesque shadows moving about the town and could hear the horrified screams of women and children mingled with the agonizing gurgles and death throes of the dying men. Tanner took the steps in stride, wrapping the shoulder strap to his rifle around his right arm with the flick of his wrist, a nervous habit of his from long nights on watch. He jogged down the dirt street not expecting any trouble from the mutants, he was well enough ahead of them at this point
"TANNER!"
Tanner stooped down and scanned the dark streets until he saw a shadowy figure hidden in an alley way. Quickly charging across the street he slid to a stop next to the man in the alley way. It was Paul, the town's mayor. He was wide eyed and clutching a beat up AK-47 in his shaking hands.
"Tanner what's going on, what's happening?"
"Sir it's… it's…" Tanner fought for the words to explain. "It's super mutant's sir. Their unstoppable."
"My God. We're not prepared for this. They'll kill us all."
Tanner shook his head, his heart pounding in his chest. "We can still escape, through the tunnel, and into the mountains. There's nothing we can do for the fallen, and those of us still alive should all be trying to get out of here."
"Yes, yes, that's a good plan." The mayor paused and stared at the ground, lost in thought.
"Sir, we have no time, let's go!"
"No….no you go. Get Brooke she is in the underground bunker inside the old furnace. Get her and keep her safe."
"Paul, there's no need to stay here and throw away your life; we can all make it out of here together."
The two men were thrown into the alley as what was once Tanner's house exploded in flames, spraying the town with bricks and shattered pieces of wood. As they peered back down the street the fire illuminated the giant ten foot tall creatures as they methodically searched the town. Their killing spree seemingly at an end, what the two men saw now horrified them beyond imagination. The super mutants were dragging living towns folk from their houses, and hoisting them into a cage that rode on the back of a creature so grotesque, so powerful, so full of anger and rage that it's eyes looked as thou they could have killed as effectively as any weapon ever made. The behemoth mutant stood taller than any building in the town. It lumbered forward, plucking the live humans from his smaller mutant brothers and tossing them into the rusted metal cage on his back.
The mayor grabbed Tanner and shook him, breaking the young mans stare on the demonic creature. "Tanner, go. I can not let a fate like this fall upon Brooke. I am not young enough, or strong enough to keep her safe outside of town, but you are. Promise me you will save her. Protect her. I will stay here. Distract them, and buy you as much time as I can."
"I promise you sir; I will get her out of here. I will get her someplace safe."
"Thank you my boy. Your parent's would be very proud of you. Now go, and tell Brooke that I love her." Tanner shifted the pack on his back and bolted from the alley and down the street, as Paul knelt near the alley firing shots at the mutants. Tanner heard the shriek of the mini guns again as he flung himself through the door of the mayor's house, and new that Brooke's father was no longer alive.
Willing with all his might for his eyes to focus in the pitch black of the house he began feeling his way to the back room. There he took the stairs down into the basement where an old furnace, rusted and useless sat. Everyone in town knew about the old bunker here, they had built it years ago to hide the children during raider attacks; tonight it seemed Brooke was the only one that had made it here. He felt for the handle and opened the old creaking door as quietly as possible. He paused for a second, mindfully trying to slow his hard beating heart. He could hear the faint whimper of scared breathing from the chamber below.
"Brooke…" He whispered as loud as he dare. "Brooke we have to go."
"Who is it? Where's my father?" Tanner winced at the loudness with which she spoke.
"Keep your voice down. It's Tanner. There's no time to explain. We have to go and we have to go now."
"I am only supposed to leave here when my father comes to get me."
"Damn it Brooke, who do you think sent me?" Tanner bit his tongue, forcing himself to calm down and lower his voice. "If we do not leave right now there is a fate far worse than death awaiting us out there. Now if you want to stay here and discover what that is fine by me, but I'm leaving." Tanner sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity in the stillness of the dark basement, not even the sounds of the hell outside could penetrate the quiet. Finally he felt a gentle hand grab for his, and he helped the girl up out of the chamber.
"I need to get my stuff." Brooke whispered softly, clutching Tanner's hand.
"I'm sorry but there is no time. We have to make it to the tunnel behind the destroyed jail past the Brahmin pins."
"I know where it is."
The two survivors crept up the stairs and back into the house. The screams of townsfolk began drifting back into Tanner's ears, and the house was eerily illuminated by fire nearby. They slowly crawled to the window near the front door, and Tanner instructed Brooke to keep down as he took a look. From the window he could see the mutants still continuing their search, they were half a block away, but moving quickly, most every house from here to the escape tunnel had been destroyed long ago. They would finish their sweep of the town in no time. Tanner pulled Brooke up and put her back to the window. Her eyes were large and wide with terror, and he wondered what his own eyes must look like illuminated by the flames behind her.
"Ok…. Listen to me and listen good. No matter what you see out there, no matter what you hear, no matter what happens you have to keep running. Don't stop running. If anything happens to me, you keep running. Do you understand me?"
Tanner watched as she purposely nodded her head in confirmation, and noticed for the first time that she had tears streaming down her face. He ground his teeth and wished that somehow he could grant her the silence of that basement as the screams of the townsfolk grew louder.
"Don't let go of me."
Brooke tightened her grip on his hand, and with one fluid motion he through open the door, pulled her to her feet, and began racing down the street away from the mutants. Their feet pounded the hard packed dirt road sending up little clouds of dust. Brooke nearly lost her footing once but her tight hold on Tanners hand enabled her to quickly fall back into step. They pushed themselves as hard as they could to the end of the street and as they jumped over the fence into the Brahmin pin, Tanner thought they might have avoided detection. But as they landed hard on the other side, the mutants could be heard shouting in their deep guttural voices.
"Humies! Humies, to the north!"
The pair quickly regained their footing and raced beyond sight of the street as several beams of energy ripped through the air behind them. Moving as quickly as possible they picked their way through the long destroyed buildings along the north end of town. In the near distance they could see the one remaining wall of the old prison illuminated by the fires of their dying town. Somewhere out of sight the super mutants could be heard barking orders. Tanner could not make out what they were saying, but he was sure they were hunting for them. Stealing a quick look back he saw four of the beasts in the Brahmin pin, making their way towards the prison. Their large bulks would have a much more difficult time making it through the maze like piles of ruble and fallen houses. He and Brooke just needed to keep moving quickly.
At last they managed to make their way to just in front of the prison. All that lay between them and hopeful freedom was a twenty foot stretch of brightly illuminated dirt road. The Escape tunnel beyond was far too small for the mutants to use. It ran west into the mountains several hundred feet. If they could make it through there they could slip away, hidden by the darkness of the moonless night into the mountains.
"Ok Brooke. You ready?" Tanner waited for a response as he stole another glance backwards. "Brooke?" He jerked her hand, and looked at her. She was lost, starring down the street at the behemoth mutant in all its glory. It was walking purposefully through the streets scanning over roof tops for survivors just like them, every step falling like thunder upon the land. Tanner grabbed hold of her shoulder with his free hand and spun her to look at him. "Brooke. Focus. Let's go." She made no acknowledgement, only stared at him, her mouth open, lower lip quivering, and tears still running down her face. Tanner reached up to her face and wiped away the tears from her cheeks. "It's going to be ok."
With that he pulled her to her feet and raced across the street ducking into the cover of the prison wall. Stealing a quick look back down the road Tanner exhaled a sigh of relief that the behemoth had not seen them. Quickly making their way to the escape tunnel they crawled inside, emerging some four hundred feet from the village at the base of the mountains. Pausing only momentarily, Tanner removed a canteen of dirty water from his pack and offered it to the girl. She drank greedily at first, then composed her self and offered it back to him.
"Ok, this is no place to stop, we have to get as high into these mountains as we can tonight." Tanner took a long pull from his canteen. "You have to push yourself until you cannot go anymore, ok?" With a nod of her head, she wiped the still falling tears from her cheeks and the pair pushed on, upward into the mountains, and away from the devastation that was once their lives.
***
Hours later the two stopped their trek up the mountain side. Brooke had never complained during the ordeal, but Tanner could see in her face that she had pushed herself to the brink of exhaustion. They had stopped several times and he had gazed hard back down the mountain watching for any pursuers and had never seen one. As he sat watching the remnants of their town burn he could still see the large bodies of the super mutants trekking amongst the fires, and even from this height the massive body of the behemoth sent chills down his spine. Brooke slept fitfully as she rested her head on his pack, still tightly clutching his hand, she had not let go of it since he pulled her from the furnace hiding place.
Staring tiredly out across the bleak dark landscape beyond the burning town He shuddered at the thought of what greater evils lurked out there in that darkness. He knew so little of the world outside of town, and even less about how to protect this girl the mayor had thrust upon him. After starring down the mountain for another hour, he finally convinced himself it was safe to get some sleep. He curled up next to the sleeping girl, making sure not to let go of her hand, as he drifted off to sleep.