Our story starts in an abandoned high-school building east of Chicago, in a class room occupied by two super mutants and one human.
"But I'm hungry! I want to eat human now!"
"But you just ate! I say we turn him!"
"That's just more people to eat my food! I WANT TO EAT!!!"
Blake sat in the cage, watching silently as the super mutants argued over his fate.
"Fine, you big crybaby, we'll cook the human. Just don't hog it all this time."
'So this is how it all ends… why did I have to wander away from town? Curse my longing for adventure…' Blake thought silently to himself, with his head hanged low and tears streaming down his face. Watching the mutants leave the room, he sat alone in the dark for what seemed like an eternity.
*10 minutes later*
'Why… why did it have to be me… why…?' Blake's face was soaked in tears, and he could feel death coming closer and closer. 'I'm too young to die, I've never even made love to a woman ye-' His train of thought was broken and he was snapped back into reality when he heard a large explosion downstairs. "What the hell is going on down there?!" Blake could hear yelling, both human and mutant.
"GO, GO, GO! Leave none alive!" a female voice shouted out over what sounded like a machine.
"SIR, YES SIR!" shouted many other machine distorted voices. The priming and shooting of several laser weapons, the revving of a mini-gun, explosions from RPGs, and the sound of metal weapons clashing was heard underneath him. Several times he thought the ground under him would collapse from all the explosions, but it held steady. While the raging battle continued below him, he prayed that they were on his side. His prayers were answered when the door of the classroom was kicked in. A person in large hulking power armor, painted a dark military green, stepped though the doorway. In his hands was a specially modified laser rifle, colored a dark red. "Thank god you're here! Get me out of this cage!" Blake said as he shook his shopping cart prison. The armored savior pressed a button on the side of his helmet.
"This is Denver, I found a captive. I'm releasing him now." said a deep male voice from behind the armor. He grabbed a key from one of the desks and stuck it into the lock attached to the chains keeping the cage closed. "Alright, I gotcha." he said as he yanked open the cage. Denver helped Blake up on his feet and pressed the button on his helmet again. "Is it clear? I have a civilian to escort out." Denver waited a moment, listening to the reply that Blake couldn't hear through the helmet. "Come with me, the way to the exit is clear."
"Uh, okay…" Blake said as he followed Denver though the door. "Who are you guys, anyway?"
"Heh, you'll learn in a bit. Let's get to the safe zone first." Denver picked up a hunting rifle and threw it to Blake. "Hold on to this for safety."
*Later, in the cafeteria*
Blake accompanied Denver to the cafeteria, where the rest of the team was waiting. He counted six of them, including Denver. A female voice, the one he heard issuing commands while he was imprisoned, came from one of the soldiers. "Have we swept the entire building?" All the soldiers nodded. "Alright, caps off."
All six of the soldiers took off their power armor helmets. "Whoa, feels good to let my face breath for a while." One of the soldiers said as he took off his helmet and shook his head side to side. "So, is this only survivor?"
Denver, who Blake could see was a African-American man who had shaved his head bald and spoke with a deep manly voice, this time unfiltered by the mechanical helmet, replied to the soldier. "Yes, sadly this is all I found."
"Alright, then our job here is done. Let's move out and call the excavation team to sweep and demolish the building." said the female commander. She was African American, aged, had hair kept in a military cut, and had a scar running from her forehead, past her eye and down to her chin.
Blake spoke up. "Excuse me, but who are you guys? Normal people don't just charge into a mutant stronghold."
"Exactly, we're anything but normal. I am Commander Cross, and this is my squad. We are from the Brotherhood of Steel. Our mission here is to eradicate any threats, including raiders, super mutants and hostile creatures. We heard reports of a mutant infested building, and was called in to eradicate them. We still have no information of the surrounding area, so us finding you is beneficial for both you and us. Is there a village of some sort in the area?"
"Yeah, Driftwood, the town where I live, it's by the Great Lake."
"We should be able to find it, then. We shall escort you back to your town once our excavation team comes in."
****
Blake stood in the center of what used to be his town. There were several mutilated corpses strewn about, and buildings burnt down, and many people missing in general.
"My… my town… my family… my friends…"
One of the soldiers picked something up and examined it. "Sir, I think you should see this." He picked the object up and brought it over to Cross.
"A hand… a super mutant hand." Cross had a worried look on her face. "Damn it, just as we're done clearing out the mutants out of DC, we find more of them to the west. We're going to have to call in more troops. Radio the base, inform them of the situation."
"Sir, yes sir."