Okay everyone, for today I'm making a little something for my dad. It's his birthday today, and my gift to him is putting him in his favorite video game: The Fallout franchise. I never played it personally, but I've seen him play a few times at our old house, and a couple times here.
So pap, Happy Birthday.
Desolation, despair, and depression. Three D's to describe what has become of the world.
This has been, and will always be what this world is.
The question is, where did it all go wrong?
Why is the world we know it, now an empty pile of hopelessness and broken dreams?
I've been asking this my whole life, a life I spent wandering this world searching for any sign of hope and light. But like always, it never lasts.
So now I find myself in yet another quiet neighborhood, or better yet, what's left of it. I wandered around the many run downed houses, dead environment, and all around sadness that I've found yet another ghost town.
I was about to move along when I caught something that sparked a tiny bit of hope. A small house that looked to be still standing, with a light on the porch that still had a bit of energy left. I slowly approached the front door, I went to knock on the door, but the slightest bit of contact I made with the wooden thing made it immediately fall over.
It crashed with a bang, and a mess of dust poofed up.
Damn, looks like this place hasn't been cleaned up in 2 to 3 hundred years.
I looked around, the place was what I'd expect it, falling apart, messy, and abandoned.
But on a tiny table, I saw a little picture. It happen to depict a family.
Two men, and one woman. The woman looked about young, blonde curly hair, and looked like she had a bit of mass than most women, but tried to lower that.
The two men in the picture. One was a brown haired guy with a mustache and unruly beard, a blue shirt.
The other guy, black hair, small black stubble. They looked like a nice family.
Just then I heard something.
"HEY!"
I jumped.
"WHO'S TRESPASSING ON MY PROPERTY!?
I saw on the stairs, a guy that looked like the man in the picture, but with greyer hair, a large torso, and an angry scowl. He stomped over to me and grabbed the photo from my hand.
"Damn nabbit, you youngins these days and their snoobing ways!" he complained while setting the photo back on the table.
"What do you want? Don't you have any place to be that's not here you wanker?"
I've been going around looking for any food and shelter I could find.
He just said, "Well if you're trying to steal mine, forget it! You piece of shit!" he pushed me.
Those guys in the picture, you know them?
He looked like he wanted to strangle me, but he sighed.
"They're my family. My wife and son."
Son?
"Yeah, everyone get's that. He was 18 at the time. When it happened."
What happened?
"You're not my fucking therapist, but since you don't look like an asshole I'll humor you. Come along."
He lead me over to a dirty old couch, we sat down and he explained everything.
"But before I tell you anything, name's Paul."
I'm (Insert name here)
"Well, before all the apocalypse, I was just a simple man. With a simple life. With my wife, and son. Work was a bitch, just like everything else in my life. Growing up, I had to work hard everyday of my life. I was the smallest kid though high school and college, I had little few friends. And it seemed everyone was trying to kill me.
Then one day, I met a nice lady. Her name, was Lori Ann. I met her when her son Jake was just 7. Damn, he was a handful back then. He still is but for another reason. He got more serious and little... less confident in himself. He had on growing autism all four years of high school. So me and his mom always had to try to, get him through life and prepare him for the real world to face on his own.
And well, if I'm being honest with myself. I may have been a little, overboard with how I take things. Growing up has made me a bit frustrated and angry, at times. And when he doesn't listen, it's a struggle. But I just wanted him to be the best he can be, and sometimes you need to be a little hard to make your kids successful. Despite how many times he called out and joked about how much of a short fused bomb I can be, he still loves me, and I love him more. He really was one of a kind."
I shed a few tears at this story, such love between father and son that try to support each other through their problems.
"Yeah, but then the apocalypse happened. Everything I know is gone, all my friends, my home, even my family." and that's when things went south.
"I'm all that's left of this town. I've been alone for a long time. Every night, I pray that somewhere up there, Lori and Jake are watching over me." He started to softly cry.
I wrapped an arm around him.
You're not alone, I have a few survivors with me. There waiting at this old mall we set up base, if it's okay, would you like to come along.
"Hmmm, I guess. Beats wallowing in loneliness and self-pity."
It's okay Paul, we'll be your new family.
He smiled as I lead to our hideout a few miles from here, he packed some rations and two guns he had on hand.
I think I found him a new purpose.
Happy birthday Dad.