Caesar in the Capital
Bobby
I sat in my Megaton home drinking a Nuka Cola. I had defeated the Enclave at Nellis Air Force Base and avenged my father's death, yet I still felt empty. I think I know what's making me feel this way though. A girl named Amata. I heard the door open and pulled out my pistol and aimed for the door. "Hold it right there," I said seriously.
"Woah woah, easy Bobby," a startled Butch said. After my return to the Vault, I ran across Butch after I made the previous overseer retire. Butch had come out of the Vault and we met up in Rivet City. Even though Butch was always an asshole to me as a child I still knew that he had a good side, so I convinced him to come along with me on my adventures. He thought I wanted to be part of his so called gang, but really I wanted to make sure that I could keep an eye on him so that he wouldn't get killed.
"You know Butch, you should know not to enter unannounced by now. I am the Lone Wanderer after all." I holstered my pistol and resumed drinking my Nuka Cola.
"Yeah I guess I should but there's something that's more important. You need to go back out in the Wastes. I mean seriously, you've been holed up here for, what a week?"
"Your point?" I asked with no concern.
"Bobby, you've been depressed and need something to take your mind off it all. I think shooting up some raiders will clear your mind off whatever's bothering you," Butch said with concern in his voice.
I stood up and walked over to my closet and opened it. "You're right. Let me get into my power armor real quick and we'll go and shoot up some raiders or something," I said with a bit of hype in my voice.
Butch and I set out on our journey out to the Wastes and decided to hit the Super Duper Mart since there are typically a lot of raiders there. While we were on the trail, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, well four somethings actually.
"Butch hold up." He stopped and turned as I pulled out my sniper rifle. I adjusted the scope so I could see a bit farther than usual. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw what was happening. Amata was being questioned by some Enclave men. "A-amata." I stuttered. "Butch go to Vault 101 and tell them to be expecting me in a little bit."
"What, why?" Butch questioned.
"Just go now!" I said in anger.
Butch didn't egg me on and he was gone faster than a fire under water. I lined up my crosshairs with the Enclave officer's head and took the shot. His head blew up in a cloud of blood. The two men in power armor were shocked and I was able to pick one of them off before the other reacted. The other started firing in all possible directions not knowing where I was. The Enclave man had not aimed carefully and ended up shooting Amata's foot with his laser rifle. That was a mistake. I shot the soldier in his knees and one of his arms. As I saw him struggle to get away I ran towards where they were. As I approached, the Enclave soldier begged for mercy and pleaded with me to spare his life. I took off my power helmet and tossed it on the ground. The soldier knew who I was immediately. He begged even more now.
"Please don't kill me I have valuable information about Enclave stations in D.C I'm worth much more to you alive than dead. Please don't kill me." He begged pathetically.
I raised my .44 revolver to his face. "You're worth nothing to me. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, and evil for evil. Burn in #!*% ." I pulled the trigger and holstered my pistol. I heard Amata cry out in pain now. I rushed over to her and kneeled at her side and was about to give her a stimpack but she pushed me away. I was completely shocked by her odd behavior, as I would at least have thought she would have allowed me to heal her wound.
"Get away from me this is all your fault!" she said in anger. Her words pierced me like poison daggers. My confusion developed into anger.
"MY FAULT ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THESE ASSHOLES WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU IF IT WASN'T FOR ME AND YET YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO SAY THIS IS MY FAULT! PLUS YOU'RE THE OVERSEER, SHOULDN'T YOU AT LEAST HAVE SOME GUARDS WITH YOU OR EVEN A GODGAMN WEAPON!" I lashed out at her and she just shrunk into herself.
"I-you're right I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry." She said apologetically.
"Look we can talk later but for now let's get you back to the Vault so you can get that looked at. Stims can only do so much for a laser burn." She gave a nod and I picked her up bridal style and started walking towards Vault 101.
We got back to the Vault and she entered in the password to open the door. The door shrieked a banshee like sound as it opened. As I walked in with Amata in my arms I saw guards staring at me. Mostly in shock. I got the same expressions as we walked over to the infirmary. I set her down and told Susie Mack, the new doctor, what the best treatments were for laser burns. "Oh, and how would you know? Are you a doctor? No, you're the one who put this place into chaos."
I started to take off the top part of my power armor and showed her where a few laser rounds had hit me. "That's how I know, now shut up bitch and help her. I'll leave once I know she's better." I stormed off without needing a response. By the look on her face I could tell she would listen to me after I showed her my scars.
As I was walking in the auditorium, Susie's brother Wally walked up to me. "I heard you were back. You know my father died the night you left. I guess you wouldn't know what it's like to have a hero for a dad huh?" This set me off. I could always take insults and punishment but no one speaks ill of my father.
I grabbed Wally's shirt and lifted him up. I looked into his eyes with pure hatred while his showed fear. "You think my father wasn't a hero. My father left because he wanted to give fresh clean drinking water to the Wasteland. When I found him I tried to help him complete the project but what I ended up doing was watch him sacrifice his own life to save me and a team of scientists while the Enclave were shooting at us. As he was dying, the last words he said to me were to run. My father died a hero because he died for a noble cause, one that he believed in. Your scumbag father worked for an evil man and defended him. The follower is only as good as the one he follows. Your father wasn't a hero he was an evil asshole who I am glad is dead. If you feel so strongly about how much of a hero your father was then why don't you fight me to prove it and I'll give you an advantage. You can wear your Vault security suit and I'll wear a normal jumpsuit."
Wally smirked now. "Big mistake I bet you're too reliant on your gear to beat me hand to hand."
Wally had put on the Vault riot gear and I wore my jumpsuit. As I made my speech a crowd had gathered around us. "You're going to regret this punk." Wally was being an over confident dick about this.
"Whenever you're ready," I said cool and collected. Wally charged me and I dodged effortlessly. He swung again at my head but this time I caught his fist and punch the Kevlar vest he had on. Even with the Kevlar he got the wind knocked out of him. He was holding his stomach and bending over. I walked up to him and kneed him in his head. He fell down in defeat. "Never speak ill of my father again or next time I won't give you the luxury of fighting me without having my power armor." I walked away from him and the crowd separated. I decided I would walk back to my old home in the Vault.
I walked into the old room. Dust had gathered in my absence. I looked over to my desk and saw the picture of my father and me taken on my tenth birthday. The best years of my life were in the Vault, though I'm not sure if it's because dad was still alive or if it was because I lived in an environment where the worst thing to fear was a radroach not a deathclaw or super mutant. I heard a knock on the door. Since not everyone is fond of me down here I drew my pistol and opened the door. "Hey kid I heard you were back." A familiar face that I hadn't expected was there greeting me.
"Gomez, how are you?" I asked happily.
"I'm good. Amata appointed me to be Chief of Guard so that's pretty good. I've missed you kid, now come here." Gomez opened his arms up warmly.
"I'm still wearing power armor, if I try to hug you then you'll be crushed like a twig." I said with a chuckle.
"Fair enough. Hey I heard you gave Wally the business is that true?" He asked with a smirk on his face.
"Let's just say He'll know better than to cross me in the future." I said with a smug grin. Gomez was practically a childhood friend. No matter what, I could always trust him.
"If you ask me I think that's just common sense. You're not even a one man army, you're a one man armada." We both had a laugh.
"Hey come over to my room we have food that isn't spoiled. Plus Freddie would like to see you since you helped with the whole Vault apocalypse thing." I thought about it for a moment.
"Ok, what the hell ."
As Gomez and I were walking towards his room. I could tell people were staring at me like I was an alien. But since they knew what I was capable of, and since they know what I did to Wally they decided not to do anything. Once we got to his house, Freddie had greeted me and said it was good to see me again. We all sat down and had some Salisbury steak along with Nuka Cola. I heard a knock at the door. Gomez yelled out. "Who is it?"
"It's Amata and I'm here to see Bobby." She said nervously.
To be honest I was shocked she sounded so shaky. It just wasn't like her. I stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. "It seems you're doing better. Should I get going?"
"No! I actually need to talk to you in my quarters." She said nervously. I shrugged and walked with her to her room. She turned around and looked me in the eye, "Why?"
"Pardon?" I asked.
"Why did you choose to save me when I've been so cruel to you this whole time?"
The question struck me unexpectedly. "You've been my best friend since we were children. You helped me through my hardest moments in life and even though you have been cruel to me I still have strong feelings towards you." 'Stronger than you might think,' I thought to myself.
Walking through the halls of my old home I begin to feel waves after waves of nostalgia. As we walk past the door leading towards the reactor room, I remember my tenth birthday when my dad gave me my BB gun. My eyes are stinging as I remember some of my best times with my dad. 'I need some air or else I'm going to break down in here' I think. "Amata, there are actually some areas topside that I wanted to check up on, so can this wait till later?" I asked with a respectful tone. "But, Bo-" she begins with desperation in her voice. "I promise I will be right back," I said and I take off before the tears can well up and make it out before anyone can see me. My escape was pretty covert... Except for the godamn banshee screech that the door lets out.