CHAPTER 1: THE VAULT
"Waa!" a baby cried as it opened its eyes for the first time. He stared up at a white clad nurse with her surgical mask on her face as she peered down at the infant, checking to make sure everything is normal.
The nurse leaned back to let a male scientist get a good look at the baby. His father peered down.
"Let's see. Are you a girl or a boy?"
He paused as he checked between the infant's legs.
"Ah, a boy. We did it Catherine, we have a son! A beautiful healthy baby boy!" the infant's daddy proclaimed to his weak and weary wife laying beside him on a green colored gurney.
"Yes! We did it! A son, our beautiful son!" Catherine exclaimed in a happy, yet weak tone.
"You're mother and I have been working on a name. What do you think about Andrew Ross?" the infant's father suggested.
The lad smileed up at his father and gripped his large finger in his tiny hand, a silent celebration of the name bestowed upon the tiny babe.
"You like that, don't you? It fits you perfectly."
Dr. Li approached the doctor.
"James, the future projection simulator is up and running." Dr. Li said.
"Fantastic. Lets see what you'll look like when you are all grown up." James said with a smile.
The small simulator screen is pushed down a little way so both the baby and his father could see. On the screen was displayed a handsome, yet rugged face with eyes that were blue, yet weary of the long life he had led.
The dark Caucasian skin was offset by blond longish hair that was swept back over his head. His hair matched the thin blond goatee that covered his upper lip around to his chin. His lips were full and dark and his chin was broad and manly.
"You are going to look just like your dad." James laughed. He turned the monitor so that Catherine could see the image of her son.
"Oh yes, very strapping. Just like his father." She sighed as she gazed upon the handsome man on the computer screen.
All of a sudden Catherine's heart rate monitor started to beep wildly with a high pitched sound.
"Catherine! She's going into cardiac arrest! Get Andrew out of here. Stay with me Catherine! Start compressions! One, one thousand! Two, one thousand…"
The smiling baby was carted off to the nursery in rivet city amidst the turmoil of an unexpected medical emergency.
The nursery was bright and exciting with multiple colors on the ceiling and walls. The dingy ship interior of Rivet City could be damp and dark sometimes, but not here. This is where the younger children, as few as there were, would come to play. The room doubled as the monitoring station for the newborns.
A young woman named Trinnie, who was infamous on the giant floating city for promiscuity and prostitution, was filling in for the aide who was normally in there.
Trinnie was checking on the newborns after she had delivered the older children's lunch and making sure they were accounted for. She roamed the rows of bassinets and would stop and let them suck on her finger for a moment as she used her other hand to pat the diaper to see if they needed changing.
A couple needed new diapers and so lifting the white diaper off of the little girl nearest Andrew Ross's bed, she started to disinfect and wipe the down until she was as good as new.
Nobody really knew her. They all thought she was simply a drunken whore, but what did they really know? Trinnie felt that the young children were the only ones who really knew her, and she cared for them as her own. A regular Saint Monica in her own right.
"Jealous are we?" Trinnie laughed as Andrew started wailing from his cradle, eager to be changed. The 15 year old lowered Andrew's diaper and cleaned him up as well. After powdering came a new diaper.
With a kiss to the forehead, she left the room and let the regular baby sitter take over. Exiting the door, Trinnie waves at Andrew before she exits the nursery, a twinkle in her eye after spending another few hours with the only souls aboard who would not judge her.
ONE YEAR LATER
James stood before Andrew. He clapped his hands to gain his attention as father called son to him. Smiling wide a toothless grin, Andrew slowly stood and wobbled his way toward his father.
As Andrew hugged his father's leg and cooed, speaking in baby talk, his father stepped outside the playpen and fastened the small lock on the door.
"Now son, I know you don't like me to leave you alone, but I need you to take care of yourself for a while. I have to retrieve some things from my office, but I will return shortly. You'll be okay, pal."
Properly reassured, Andrew smiled at his father. He knew all too well. He was smart enough even at a year old to know that even when his father was out of his sight, that he would return swiftly. He was his father's one and only, and although he was young, Andrew knew his father would be there to protect him. Always.
Andrew laughed and clapped his hands. James grinned and placed a hand on Andrew's wispy blond hair. He checked the lock and exited through the door.
Little Andrew unlocked the gate and wobbled over to his "I Am Special" book and turned the pages, flipping the numbers around as he stared in awe and felt a part of his mind beginning to expand, the space emptying as he prepares himself to grow and learn one day. His stats for his future set, even unbeknownst to his infant brain, He sat to play with a favored toy as he heard the automated whoosh of the door and heard his father's deep laugh as he contemplates on his explorer of a son.
"Look and listen son, this was your mother's favorite verse. It is from the Bible. Revelation 21:6, I am the alpha and omega…"
NINE YEARS LATER
Andrew clenched his teeth and flexed his muscles while his hands were firmly gripping the tiny leather sphere in his hand. His brows sweat even as he heard the roar of an imaginary crowd.
"Ah, quit stalling and throw the ball, nosebleed!" that was the cry of the resident vault hoodlum Butch Deloria, breaking Andrew out of his reverie. He shook his head and only realized now that the other players on vault 101's baseball team were waiting on him to decide who would win this year's tournament. A tournament which was ultimately worthless due to the fact that the vault had only two baseball teams.
"Sorry. I'm ready now. Get ready…" With that, Andrew gripped the ball tightly and swung his arm, pitching the ball quickly over home base. Butch swung the wooden baseball bat he was holding a second too late and missed.
"Steee-rike Three!" called Officer Gomez as he proceeded to move Butch out of the way. The Vault Dwellers had triumphed once again over the Tunnel snakes for the third year in a row. A fact that Butch did not take lightly.
"You'll pay for that later, nosebleed." Butch called angrily as he stomped his way back toward the staircase that would lead him to the only home he had known for nine years.
Amata shook her head beneath her catcher's mask before taking her glove off and raising it to look Andrew in the eyes.
"That Butch, always such a sore loser. You would think that he would be used to it by now." Amata joked as Andrew turned around. His eyes fixed for the fleetest of moments on his childhood friend and his current crush, Amata Almodovar, daughter of Vault 101 overseer Alphonse Almodovar.
She had told him before that she didn't know how he could even like girls. She hadn't the slightest thought about boys, a fact that the overseer was very proud of.
"I know, and I will probably suffer a bloody nose later. Oh well, all a part of the game I guess." Andrew shrugged. He didn't like pain, but he knew that for whatever reason, there was this…place in his mind that whenever he entered it, it seemed that time stood still and he hardly felt the pain at all.
His father had looked into it after the first beating Butch gave to his son a few years ago and diagnosed the phenomenon as an inoperable, and thankfully benign, tumor in Andrew's brain. A certain defect, or advantage, that he had been born with. Diagnosing his son as fully normal and in no danger, James went back to his desk to record and ponder the strange occurrence
"I don't know why you're so confident all the time. If it was me I would at least be worried." Amata mused. Andrew feigned a pained look.
"You know why, Amata. My brain's broke." Andrew said, placing a hand on his hip. Amata giggled.
"Oh stop, your brain isn't broken. If anything that's a gift, you should treasure it." She had always been smart. The smartest of her class, even while he struggled to fit in and to make the right grades. She always seemed to be the center of attention, although she had few friends, a product of being the daughter of the overseer.
This was one reason that he treasured her friendship the way he did. They were the same person. They both had lost their mothers at birth, and both of them were basically loners. The latter was a problem known only to their respective fathers. Both children often speculated upon the reason that their fathers hated one another and why Andrew Ross seemed to be untrustworthy to everybody but her.
"Hey Andy, isn't tomorrow your birthday?" Amata asked suddenly wondering about what made the next day so special.
"Why yes it is! In all the excitement I just plain forgot! I wonder what my father is going to do for my birthday." Andrew wondered as his eyes grew round from the mention of the celebration of his birth.
"Well, you're just gonna have to wait and see. But I don't see why he would do nothing. You're his son, he's gotta celebrate your birthday." Amata reasoned. Andrew thought that she was acting strangely coy for some reason, but he couldn't seem to place his finger on it.
"Well come on, birthday boy. Let's go see if there's any movies playing." Amata said, taking his hand and simultaneously taking his breath away.
Thirteen hours seemed to go by in an instant. One would think that on such an exciting eve that young Andrew would be awake for the rest of the night. However Andrew found that he never had trouble sleeping, and in the morning his father awakened him with a special birthday breakfast.
Since Brahmin meat was so scarce in the vault, it was served only as an occasional delicacy, or to the highest bidder. But here it was staring Andrew in the face from his plate sitting on the tray next to his bed. Brahmin steak and eggs with orange juice. He could have jumped for joy, but he thanked his father and swiveled the tray toward him and started eating. After all he did not want to spill this very rare treat.
After eating and showering and dressing, Andrew was called into the living area.
"Well son, I don't want to rush you on this special day, but Amata told me that she wanted to meet you in the dining hall. So, go brush your hair and teeth and meet me down there, would you?" James explained to his son. Andrew nodded excitedly and ran off to the bathroom to do as he was asked while his father slinked away to wait in anticipation for Andrew's arrival.
Andrew sped through his morning routine, making sure he looked alright before sliding his dark red baseball cap down on his short blond hair. He decided he looked good enough for the occasion and set off into the hall to head to the diner, all the while wondering what could be awaiting him. He felt the twinge of anticipation and excitement in his gut as he pressed the glowing red button to the diner's door and…
"Surprise!" came the yell as the lights were suddenly flipped on, blinding Andrew and causing him to slap his hand over his eyes at the sudden brightness invading his skull.
"You turned the lights on too quick, Stanley! You could've blinded the poor kid." Officer Gomez chided. Andrew shook his head and looked around when he regained the use of his eyes.
This seems to happen entirely too often down here. Andrew thought.
He looked around. In a small crowded circle around him he saw most of the vault residents standing and clapping for him. Andrew couldn't help the excited smile that crossed his face as he had not expected something so large for his day.
"I can't believe you're already ten. I am so proud of you. If only your mother were…" James started to share a heartwarming moment with his son that the duo would remember the rest of their lives, only to be interrupted by the steadily rising ego of overseer Almodovar.
Even Andrew noticed the cold glare that James had cast the overseer's way, just as clearly as he saw Almodovar ignore it, either oblivious or nonchalant about interrupting a father-son moment.
"I don't have to tell you how important this day is young man. At age ten, all vault residents are ready to start work. This is your pip boy 3000. Get used to it; you'll be getting your first work assignment tomorrow." The overseer clamped a cold and old device to Andrew's arm which powered up as soon as it contacted the warmth of his body before walking away to a nearby booth chuckling.
Andrew noticed James swallow his pride and contempt for the overseer before forcing a smile and turning back to his son.
"Enjoy your party. You're only ten once, so have fun with it." James said softly. Andrew smiled at his father and went over to find Amata staring back at him. She hugged him and he found himself not wanting to let go. But the contact was broken far quicker than he would have liked.
"Happy birthday! We really surprised you didn't we? You're dad thought you were onto us, but I told him not to worry. You're so easy to fool." Amata teased. Andrew shook his head.
"This is so great! Thank you Amata." Andrew said, unable to think of anything pithier in his current state of mind.
"Well, it was mostly your dad's idea. I just helped with the decorations and stuff." Amata said nonchalantly. She never was the kind to accept a compliment. She always seemed to shrug it off or deflect it somehow, and this time was no different.
"So, I bet you can't guess what I got you for your birthday. Go on, guess!" Amata said happily, producing something from underneath her shirt and holding it behind her.
"Huh, is it a date with Christine Kendall?" Andrew whispered conspiratorially, making Amata scrunch up her face in disgust.
"Ew! I didn't even know you liked girls! And before you say something rude about me, I mean not more than a friend." Amata said, nearly blowing his cover with her louder than usual proclamation.
"I guess I should give this to someone who would rather curl up with Grognak the barbarian than with Mean Christine. The only problem is how could you tell the difference?" Amata joked, giggling at her own insult. Andrew smiled, accepting the gift that the slightly younger girl offered and thanking her.
"Oh its okay. Now I promised your dad I wouldn't hog you tonight. So I better let you get back to mingling with your guests." Amata said, waving goodbye and moving to go chastise her father for another work related speech in the middle of a kid's party.
Andrew chatted with the overseer and marveled at his one track mind. Paul Hannon had a shy half-apology for Andrew before he was ridiculed and broke his apology by calling him a butt-face. Sweet Miss Palmer had a gooey warm sweet roll for Andrew while Wally Mack did nothing but taunt him about how his party wasn't in the league of his own party.
That was before Andy the robot made his announcement.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to cut the cake!" Andy called before powering up his intimidating rotary saw and slicing the cake into a billion inedible pieces.
"Oh dear, I am so sorry! That was a dreadful mistake. I would offer you a piece of cake, young master, but as you can see…" Andy mourned the busted up cake before Andrew shrugged his shoulders defeated, but not too glum. After all, it was just an accident.
"I'm hungry." Butch yelled, taking Andrew's arm and spinning him around roughly.
"That stupid robot destroyed the cake. Give me that sweet roll you got from Old Lady Palmer!" Butch demanded, holding out his hand.
"You know what? I'm not in the mood. I'm not giving you my sweet roll. Miss Palmer said I didn't have to share today because it's my birthday." Andrew stated, boldly standing up for himself. He usually took Butch's threats and beatings with a grain of salt, but today of all days? Screw him!
"I didn't say anything about sharing with you. I want it and I won't ask again! Hand it over!" Butch said, pushing Andrew roughly by his shoulder.
"No! Go soak your head Butch; I'm not giving you my sweet roll." Andrew said, just before a stiff fist connected with his nose, causing blood to spurt from the orifices.
Andrew ducked and covered to protect his fragile face from another onslaught, but Butch had overstepped his bounds. This wasn't a beating at night when everyone had gone to bed. It was at his own party in front of children and adults alike, a fact made clear to Butch when Officer Gomez grabbed the boy by his collar and pulled him back.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Gomez demanded, as he held the boy back.
"It was nothing!" Butch lied, "Just boys being boys."
Butch looked right at Andrew with a threatening expression on his face. Andrew looked back at Officer Gomez and nodded.
"Yea, we were just messing around and I got hit. No big deal." Andrew lied.
"Well alright, as long as it was an accident. He's been nothing but trouble since the day he was born. If he starts another fight with you, you let me know." Gomez stated firmly. Andrew simply nodded before Gomez walked away.
"Butch, I'm not gonna run to the grown ups when we have a problem, but trust me, one of these days were going to handle our problems." Andrew stated before moving toward Stanley and questioning about his new pip boy before he received a new baseball cap from him as a gift. It was blue with a red brim unlike his fully red number. It was getting up there in years and was well worn, so the gift made him very happy.
"Thanks Stanley, I love it!" Andrew exclaimed honestly.
"You're welcome son. Happy Birthday!" Stanley said with a smile before turning back to his coffee.
James slipped away from the bar and toward the intercom on the far wall as Andrew sat down with Amata and Old Lady Palmer to talk about current events and enjoy the party together.
"Are you ready now, Jonas?" James whispered into the intercom speaker. The comeback was louder than he would have liked.
"Everything's all set down here, doctor." Jonas confirmed. James nodded and approached his son as he was laughing with Amata.
"That was Jonas on the intercom." James explained after getting Andrew's attention.
"He and I have been cooking up a little surprise present. Go ahead to the reactor level, I'm sure no one will mind if you slip out for a few minutes."
Andrew wondered what this could be and nodded with a grin at his father before excusing himself from present company and making his way down to the reactor level.
"Oh my goodness, dearie. I hope I didn't miss the party." Beatrice said as Andrew ran nearly smack into her.
"Oh not yet. Dad and Amata threw me a great party." Andrew said grinning up at the woman he had come to know through childhood.
"I'm sure they did. You're already ten years old, pip boy and everything. I remember helping your dad change your diapers." Beatrice beamed.
"Did you bring me anything for my birthday?" Andrew inquired politely.
"Absolutely! I wrote you your very own poem! Just for you!" the older woman declared proudly. Andrew read the poem line by line, the imagery somewhat disturbing.
"Okay, is that all?" Andrew asked, looking up from his pip boy after reading.
"Of course. I would never just copy one of my old poems! This one is just for you. Well, there was that Overseer's Day when I couldn't rhyme anything with Overseer."
That's totally not what I asked. Andrew thought with a mental roll of his eyes.
"Now, run along and enjoy your party." Beatrice wished him a happy birthday as he ran along to the reactor room with a wave behind him.
"Now, now, I thought kids were not allowed here on the reactor level." Jonas sighed, peering over the bridge of his glasses.
"I'm not a kid, I'm ten years old!" Andrew said; hand on his hip, incredulous that anyone would step in the way of his father's surprise.
"Hey, so you are champ. Pip boy and everything. Well if you can wait a few more seconds, I think your dad will want to give it to you himself." Jonas said as Andrew turned back toward the door upon hearing the footsteps cascading down the stairwell and into the small room inhabited now by Jonas and Andrew.
James appeared at the door, beaming at his son and holding something behind his back, its identity a mystery at the moment to Andrew.
"Okay, ready for your surprise?" James asked.
"What kind of surprise?" Andrew inquired raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you've gotten your pip boy and you're old enough to do some work, so I figured you were old enough for this." James said dramatically before pulling from its concealment behind his back a long black and brown contraption that looked to be made of a mixture of plastic and metal.
"Your own BB gun!" James exclaimed proudly. Andrew's mouth dropped open at the shock of this incredible surprise. He loved guns, even concealing a copy of guns and ammo beneath his mattress. Andrew held out his hands.
"This is so cool! Thanks dad!" Andrew cried taking the surprisingly weighty weapon from his father and cradling it in his hands.
"Now be careful, this is not a toy. It may still harm somebody." James cautioned as he stared in amusement at his son being in love with the greatest gift he had received to date.
"I will. But we can't shoot here." Andrew said, somewhat deflated.
"No we certainly can't, unless we want the overseer beating down our door. But Jonas and I have found a place. Follow me son." James said, leading the way to a concealed door. He unlocked it and Andrew followed his father and Jonas into the small dark room. A few yards away was a setup of three rotating targets. Andrew was momentarily robbed for words.
"This is so great dad. Thank you." Andrew said softly, in awe of the moment.
"Jonas helped a lot, you be sure to thank him." James said with a smile.
"Jonas, yes, thank you so much! This is incredible!" Andrew said happily, thanking his longtime friend.
"You're welcome champ. I'm glad you like it. Now go on, let me see you shoot something." Jonas said nonchalantly, patting Andrew on the shoulder.
Andrew nodded and squared his shoulder as he stepped up to the firing line and took his weapon from behind his back and cradled it in both hands. He had memorized his Guns and Ammo book and surprised both men when he expertly took out the clip to check the magazine before locking it back into place, flicking the safety switch to the off position, kneeling and firing at all three targets, managing to score a bulls-eye on two of them, and a near perfect bull's-eye on the third.
"Wow, great job Andy!" Jonas called, clapping his hands.
Just then all three of the men heard a soft scuttling noise coming from behind one of the crates behind which the target alley was created. Out from behind the crates against the far wall scurried a radroach, its feelers flicking into the air. Andrew had never seen one so close before, and he quickly decided it was hideous and something he loathed from the second he laid eyes on it.
"Careful son, there is a Radroach. Do you think you can take care of it with your BB gun?" James asked his son. Andrew pushed the fear away and set his eyes firmly on the abomination before him before nodding to his father's question and raising the weapon to his shoulder. He slowed his breathing and he could feel time seem to slow around him again while his focus increased dramatically.
This time, Andrew didn't panic. He used this decreased reaction time for his enemy and his increased focus to take a perfect aim on the creature's head. He squeezed the trigger one time and the creature's head was reduced into a mass of blood and effluents.
"Very good! That is one less Radroach to deal with. Why don't you come here and put your BB gun away. Jonas? Why don't you get a picture of me with the big game hunter? Capture the moment." James said proudly, beckoning Andrew toward him.
Andrew set his weapon down n a nearby crate and stood beside his father as the flash bulb erupted into an intense light as bright as any he had ever seen before. The memory burned into his brain just as that flashbulb burnt the image into a grainy black and white picture that would rest upon Andrew's dresser for years to come.
6 years later
"Yes you have to take the goat today, yes it has a stupid name, but no you are not sick, so you will be taking the test like every other 16 year old in the vault." James said to his son Andrew. It was time to take the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test, in order to find out his new job around the vault.
With a sigh and a nod, he smiled at his father and hugged him. He left the room, said a quick hello to Jonas, his father's medical assistant and longtime friend to Andrew. He felt he could tell Jonas things he could not even tell his own father, and Jonas always listened kindly and offered advice.
Stepping out into the hall and walking around the corner, the first thing Andrew saw was Amata, huddled against the wall and being tormented by three men in leather jackets. Wally Mack, Butch Deloria and Paul Hannon. Their puissant little gang was getting rougher with certain vault members, but their focus on the overseer's daughter was more intense than any other.
"Butch, fucking quit!" Andrew shouted in disbelief.
Amata was not struggling, but she turned her head to face Andrew, and a smile shone on her face through her tears.
"Don't be a hero, pal. Go play somewhere. I'm gonna be the one to mess with this little daddy's girl bitch."
"If you do that, the overseer will come down on you and your gang hard. The firing squad will enjoy shooting you and your bastard friends." Andrew challenged.
Butch, Wally and Paul moved away from Amata and toward Andrew. She ran into the nearest closet and locked the door.
"Yeah? And who's going to tell him? You?" Butch asked with a raised eyebrow and a sneer, causing a laugh from Wally and Paul as they neared him.
"I'd rather deal with this myself." Andrew said raising his fists. Butch, Wally, and Paul laughed.
"If that's the way you want it, little man." Butch sneered in a low voice.
With that Butch swung a fist that caught Andrew in the jaw he stumbled but blocked another two fists from Paul and Wally. He then started fighting back throwing punches at the three gang members.
His blows connected with them all, but soon enough he simply singled out Butch, their leader. After a few shots to the face, Butch fell to his back and Andrew ignored the raining blows from Wally and Paul and straddled Butch's chest.
Andrew rained down some punches of his own bloodying the bully's nose and blackening his eye.
"Alright, alright, we will leave her alone. The bitch isn't worth our time anyway." Butch said.
Andrew stopped punching him and got off of his chest. He stood, battered but the winner of the fight. Butch called his Tunnel Snakes off and they entered the classroom.
Andrew turned around and walked down the hall to the locked supply closet. He softly knocked on the metal door.
"Amata, it's me." He said softly.
She opened the door after a moment, her eyes red and her cheeks stained with tears. Her torn jumpsuit was zipped up but still showed the side of her right breast.
Amata hugged Andrew and kissed his lips for a moment.
"Thank you for getting rid of them. Assholes. They have fucked with me before but never this hard. Butch tried to rape me. My father would have killed him." She said, thanking her hero, Andrew.
"Why would they risk it?" Andrew asked.
"They're not afraid. My father has tried to clamp down on this vault with some kind of iron fist, but people are starting to become uneasy. Butch's gang is the worst of them right now. They are no doubt targeting me so hard because I am related to the overseer." Amata explained.
"The overseer has publicly stated that any opposition to his rule will be met with extreme consequences. The formation of the firing squad gives that one away." Andrew whispered.
She nodded her shivering head against his shoulder. She started crying again.
"First he ordered a beat down to that poor little kid. All he did was steal some candy and he had Officer Mack beat him. I saw the bruises. I think he has gotten addicted to inflicting pain." Amata shuddered at the memory. Andrew shook his head, his words having left him.
After a few minutes of crying on Andrew's shoulder and Andy comforting Amata, she was feeling better and they walked off to class hand in hand. They were now for a couple of years a true couple. They had to work hard to keep their relationship under the radar, because if the overseer found out, Andrew would likely be killed.
When Amata and Andrew entered the classroom Mr. Brotch did not reprimand the two. He took one look at Amata's ripped jumpsuit and handed them the test and led the two into a private room next to the classroom to take their test. When they were finished, Amata was excited to be on the supervisory track in the vault, and Andrew was happy to be on his way to become the new leader of the vault security team.
3 years later
"Wake up!" Amata was shouting into the sleeping Andrew Ross's ear. His eyes fluttered and he fought himself awake. When his vision returned to normal he looked up at Amata, his girlfriend now of 5 years.
The two were secretly planning to marry, the officiating to be done by James and the witness to be Jonas, and the ceremony to be had in the reactor level that they loved getting together inside when they were young and shooting the BB gun.
It was also their secret spot to sneak to when they were hungry for one another. The sweat and heat and passion always swelled to their breaking point, however Andrew never once entered her, as per her request. She had a very strict guard for her virginity and she would not give that up until she was married.
A lot had changed since Andrew became the head of vault security personnel. He could not fire any hand picked soldier that the overseer had chosen, but in the like, the soldiers had to do anything Andrew told them to do. He was in charge whether the team liked it or not.
He cleaned up things in the vault for Amata. All she wanted was to be left alone. She had not harmed or harassed any of the other vault citizens, but for whatever reason they all seemed to gang up on her. She had only a handful of close friends with most of the other kids and adults looking at her as if she could be the one to stop the overseer's madness at any point and simply refused to do so. If they only knew.
Her spirit was broken but Andrew saw redemption for her. He cleaned things up by issuing a public verdict that anybody seen physically hurting Amata would immediately be incarcerated. Furthermore inappropriate comments or sexual innuendoes or actions against her will would be punished by a strict cut back of food rations for the offender's families.
There was a small uprising from a front led by Butch, about 18 men strong, who stood against him at first. But on the first attack on the security force the tunnel snakes' rebellion was short lived with 8 gangsters dead. They immediately surrendered and were thrown into prison for 2 years. After the rebellion was crushed, the vault returned to peace, except for the growing corruption of the overseer.
As the peace grew there was a rift between Alphonse Almodovar and James. The drunker the Overseer got with power the more the idealistic James countered him, both privately and politically. The vault would become in less than two years, no more than a dictatorship.
With every tug at James' will that the Overseer attempted, James grew more and more impatient with the table of power that was set. He would eventually get the will to leave the vault.
In this moment, Amata is frantic and worried. Andrew looked up at her and tried to keep her calm.
"Hey Amata, I was just dreaming about you" he said with a loving tone, but Amata took this as glib.
"Don't be a smart ass!" she lectured him.
"Your dad…he is gone. He has left the vault." she said sadly.
Andrew sat up in the bed fully alert as he heard for the first time that the vault has been opened.
"But he can't! The vault door is sealed shut." Andrew said defiantly, trying to hang on to hope even as the emergency lights come on and the sirens blast every two seconds.
"Somehow he got it open, Andrew. You are going to have to leave this place, and follow him." She said wistfully.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Andrew asked in confusion, everything so fresh and new in his horrified mind.
"My father and his men are looking for you. The security force turned on your leadership and the vault is in chaos. Plus there's a Radroach infestation and…Jonas." She trailed off as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.
"What? What happened to Jonas?" Andrew asked now worried for his friend's safety.
"They…they killed him! Oh my God…they just beat him and beat him and wouldn't stop. I am sorry. I know he was a friend. I loved him too." Amata said.
She started off hot and angry and afraid, but ended with sympathy, running deep as she had also lost a friend.
"But there's no time to worry about that now." Amata said resolutely. "You need to leave the vault, and I know how. I have my own plan." She said, wiping the tears away.
"Alright. I love you. And I will trust you." Andrew said softly, lowering his head.
"There is a secret underground tunnel within my father's office. You'll need these bobby pins to pick the lock. The password is….Amata." She whispered.
She was furious with her dictator of a father, but she knew that deep down there was love, at least for her, and that was a start. She shook her head to chase the feelings away.
"Here. This is my father's pistol. I stole it after he was asleep the other night." she said, shivering at the cold and abusive way he had treated her. He had found out that she had been dating Andrew for the last 6 years and he had been furious at his own daughter's supposed betrayal. The night had ended badly with a few fresh bruises on Amata's face and with her running away from his apartment to the reactor level to cry herself to sleep.
He had pulled her hair and told her that she was a worthless fucking whore. He laughed at her as she cried, until she stole the weapon which she presented to Andrew now. Alphonse glared angrily at his daughter and told her not to do anything she would regret. Amata was ready to pull the trigger, but she shook her head and ran out the door as Alphonse stood stoically in the middle of the room.
He called her a filthy slut as she stormed out and mentally vowed to kill Andrew Ross for turning his daughter against him. That was an hour before James Ross got the courage to open the giant steel door to the vault and eventually turn the vault to chaos.
"Thank you for the pistol, Amata. I will only use it as a last resort." Andrew promised, touching Amata's shoulder and soothing her. She hugged him tight and hard and kissed his neck.
"I'm going to miss you baby." she whispered. "I'll try to meet you there, but do not wait for me. I love you."
"I love you too Amata and I always will. No matter what."
After gathering up his meager belongings, Andrew headed into the hall and was immediately approached by one of the vault security officers. He had a menacing look on his face as he raised his baton. Andrew raised his pistol at the man, when suddenly the Officer was flanked by several Radroaches.
He turned to fight them off and in his panic Andrew pulled the trigger three times, killing the officer. He stood still, having fired his first real weapon. He was slightly freaked, but he took a deep breath of the dank air and collected himself.
He turned the corner hurriedly and nearly ran into none other than Butch, his nemesis up until today. He had a worried look on his face and his eyes were red and stained with tears.
"You gotta help me, man. My mom, she's trapped in there with the Radroaches." he cried, clearly terrified.
"Butch asking for my help. If only you knew what the word irony meant." Andrew said glibly.
Andrew stared at the man who had caused him more pain and anger than any person he had ever known in his class or in the vault throughout all of his life. Would he help him, or give him a taste of his own medicine? His decision relied on Butch's answer to his statement.
"I know I've been a total dick to you over the years. I'm sorry. But it's my mom! You can't just leave her to die man. Please." Butch begged.
Compassion overwhelmed Andrew's heart and he smiled. He picked his gun out of his holster.
"Alright, let's go deal with those Radroaches." Andrew smiled, picking the fallen Butch up from the ground.
He led the way into Butch's apartment within the vault. As soon as Andrew turned the corner he heard Butch's mother wailing.
"Butchie! Help me!" she screamed as sounds of pain emanated from her.
Andrew opened the door quickly and stood outside the door to Butch's mother's bedroom. He opened it quickly. Ellen Deloria was frantic on her bed and the Radroaches were attacking her, biting into her flesh and leaving welts and bruises. A couple of spots of her body were broken, blood showing slightly, but otherwise she was none the worse for wear.
Andrew had a tingling in the back of his mind. He relied on his gift. He could slow down time and increase his concentration to give him deadly accuracy on any body part of a foe he chose to fight.
Andrew used it now. He stilled his breathing and looked at the four Radroaches attacking Ellen Deloria. He attacked each roach one time and never missed a mark. After the third shot, he felt his body becoming tired.
Time sped up to normal again as he doubled over, gasping for air. He could not use his gift very well right now. He made a mental note to work on his gift with practice before firing at the fourth Radroach and hitting it in the abdomen, killing it.
Ellen was so grateful that she jumped from the bed and hugged Andrew tight before delivering a thank you kiss on the lips. Andrew nodded to Ellen and left the room. He saw Butch who approached him rapidly taking him into an enormous bear hug.
"We did it man, my moms gonna be okay! Thanks man, you're the best friend I ever had! You're the best, man, the best!" Butch cried as he released Andrew. Butch took his leather jacket off and handed it to Andrew.
"Here, I know it's not much, but I want to give you my tunnel snakes jacket. It could be cold up there for all we know." Butch said. Andrew accepted the jacket and patted his friend on the back. Another bout of compassion rose up in Andrew's heart and he briefly returned to Ellen's room. It was no surprise that she had sat back down and was guzzling another bottle of Vodka.
"Hey, I don't normally say this, but your son needs you, okay? Stop being such a drunken bitch and spend time with someone who actually fucking matters okay? Put the fucking bottle down and go comfort your son. He needs you." With that he left the apartment and exited the door that led him through the atrium.
Ellen felt horrible. She smashed the bottle and stood up and walked into the living room to her son. She walked up to the boy, who turned and smiled at his mother. She grabbed his hand and brought him up to hug him. Thankful that he had swallowed his pride and accepted the help of his childhood nemesis.
"Forgive me sweetheart, I have spent time with all these different men and am drunk all the time. I will try to change okay? I love you son." she pulled away from the hug and smiled at Butch. For the first time she noticed that she was truly proud of him.
Andrew, in the meantime was killing some Radroaches alongside Andy, the Mister Gutsy robot and Security Officer Gomez. The battle was ferocious due to the large number of bugs scurrying about and trying to kill. But soon the heat died down and Officer Gomez turned to Andrew.
"You're lucky it's me who found you, Andy. The others won't be so forgiving. Look just clear out of here and I'll pretend I never saw you." Gomez said, leaning against a nearby concrete wall.
"Thanks Officer Gomez. I always did like you." Andrew said with a genuinely thankful grin.
"Well your dad was always good to us. And you were a good kid. Take care now." Gomez said before shaking Andrew's hand for the final time. Andrew turned away and ran up the nearby stairs to the atrium.
As he went up the stairs, Andrew was startled by Mr. Mack banging on the window from his room. Mack was pissed off and he raged against Andrew and his dad. He called the guards and one ran at him, but Andrew ducked the swipe of his baton and punched the guard in the back of the neck, stunning him before he shot him 5 times, killing him.
He reloaded the 10mm pistol, turned toward Mr. Mack and flipped him off. Thinking better of it, he retrieved a black magic marker from the corpse of the security officer. He moved to the window and wrote the words, "Fuck you, Mack. My father was a saint, and by the way, I've fucked your daughter Susie more times than anyone else here, and she moaned and squirmed every fucking second" on glass in large letters.
The look of death on Mr. Mack's face made Andrew laugh a little. With a bad boy grin he pretended to grab Susie Mack's ass and thrust his hips as if he was fucking her. Mr. Mack was red faced now and shaking, wanting to murder the boy he had hated and abused since Andrew was nine years old.
With this humiliation complete, he walked through the door and killed a couple of Radroaches as he climbed the stairs. He heard shouting coming from the room the jail cell was located in. He ducked and peeked through the window as Wally Mack, the newest leader of the Security Force, as well as the most corrupt, was repeatedly striking Amata with his baton. The sick bastard had an evil smile on his face as the wooden weapon struck the defenseless young woman with repeated thwacks.
Amata was crying, but continually denying that she had any knowledge of Andrew's whereabouts. Wally was being so…rough with her. He hit her so hard across the face with the back of his fist at one point that she nearly passed out, but he pulled her hair, nearly yanking it out by the roots as he forced her to look at him and be assaulted with more questions.
Wally Mack roughly pulled Amata to her feet and smashed her pretty face into the desktop and held her there, he repeated his inquiry as to Andrew's location harshly as he held her down, baton poised to strike her back and her cranium once again.
"Officer Mack may enjoy this, dear, but I surely don't. Now tell me where your friend is and I will have him stop this." The Overseer spoke softly, but he was menacing in his tone. He sweat and the look in his eyes told the truth in that he did not enjoy the mocking and torture his only living relative had to endure. However, he was the one and only person who could stop it and he did nothing.
Andrew could take no more and he sprang into action. The Officer was beating Amata but she was refusing to relent, even to end her pain knowing that the Overseer would do nothing. That knowledge alone had to be torturing her worse than Wally was.
Taking a breath of stale air, he opened the door and using his mind's gift he watched time crawl and he shot Wally Mack in the head and then turned and thinking quickly, shot the Overseer in the leg. Both dropped, one dead and the other simply wounded.
Amata, now free, ran as fast as she could, head in her hands to her apartment not even ten feet from the detention center and right next door to the overseer's office.
Being alone with the evil overseer, Andrew disarmed the man and field stripped Wally Mack. He took the armor from his body and the helmet from his head and donned them like trophies. He took Wally's club from his prone and lifeless corpse before he turned menacingly toward the Overseer.
Aiming his gun he advanced on the fallen man.
He grabbed the Overseer roughly by his hair and pointed the barrel of the gun underneath his chin, pushing up sharply and making the overseer cry out in fear.
"Listen here you fucking asshole. You EVER touch Amata again and I will fucking kill you. Slowly. Understand?" Andrew growled with intent and threat.
"I place the good of the vault over even my paternal feelings. But I admire your protective spirit. Amata will not suffer more because of your actions." he rasped.
"Not good enough. You put your hand anywhere near her and you will die." Andrew said through clenched teeth.
"Okay, you win. She will not suffer anymore." he said softly, sounding older.
"Now please, turn yourself in and end this destructive situation." he asked with authority.
"You are an evil son of a bitch. You will try to kill me. Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?!" Andrew shouted. The overseer did not respond.
"Listen here, Alphonse" Andrew started, not giving him any sign of respect, "I personally hope that you die a long, horrible, painful death and spend eternity in hell for your bullshit. But it won't happen today. What would I tell Amata?" Andrew grinned. He holstered his weapon and walked out of the room.
Andrew heard Amata crying from inside the door. He opened it and she started, but relaxed seeing that it was Andrew.
"Thank you!" she managed, hugging him, limping because of the abuse she had taken.
"I told you my father was not himself. Now go, I'll be okay. You need to open the vault. I'll try to see you there." she whispered, giving him a long kiss of appreciation.
With a final farewell Andrew left the house and expertly broke into the office of the overseer. Using the terminal within, he entered the password to the secret tunnel he had learned from Amata.
Andrew marveled at the password. Even with as evil as the overseer turned, he still loved his daughter. Andrew wiped a tear and opened the tunnel. He descended and aimed his gun for any other enemies. Finding none, he walked into the room where the giant gear-shaped metal door to the outside world was located.
He walked up to the control panel and stopped. What could the password be? Smiling, he typed the word "Amata" into the control panel. It was denied. He sighed and rolled his eyes and typed "overseer" into the panel. Within a second the loud buzzer sounded and the red lights surrounding the door came to life, bathing the room in a spinning red light.
Amata limped into the room and slowly approached Andrew. She placed her hand on his shoulder and kissed his neck. She had freshened up. She had washed her face and brushed her teeth and used mouthwash. Her lip was bruised and her eyes slightly red, but other than that she looked like nothing had happened.
"Oh my God, you opened the door." she breathed.
Andrew looked at her softly and kissed her lips.
"It was not easy, but it had to be done." Andrew said looking into Amata's eyes.
"You need to go, baby." Amata whispered.
"Why don't you come with me?" Andrew asked earnestly.
"It is tempting. I want to be with you. But I am needed here. I am the only person who can talk some sense into my father. He needs me more than you do. And if anybody can survive out there, it is you." She kissed his cheek and walked slowly back to her house within the vault.
A side door opened suddenly and two security officers rushed him. Using VATS he killed the first officer and then after he exited his concentration mode he pulled a baton and cracked the other officer's legs. He cried out in pain as he hit the concrete hard. Andrew was furious as he beat the man. He broke both of the officer's legs, a custom they used to deal with many people. He beat him across the chest and then over the head before breaking both hands. The officer screamed and cried out.
"This is what you and the entire corrupted security force do to people. If a person so much as steals something you hurt them, badly. You're just getting your comeuppance." Andrew growled as he swung the baton several more times, breaking the man's arms and bruising his face and neck. Andrew slammed the baton down across the man's throat, breaking it.
The corrupt officer gargled, choking on his own blood and as gasped for air he slowly died until he was limp. Andrew threw down the bloody baton and took the security armor off. He zipped his jumpsuit back on and with the same marker he had used earlier, in small capital letters, he wrote AMATA across the right shoulder of his jumpsuit before throwing the marker back down with his dead victim.
With that, he cautiously opened the small wooden door and walked into the sunlight, so bright from his life underground that the light blinded him completely for 30 seconds. He fell to his knees, shielding his eyes, but it was no use. He couldn't see anything but white. He was afraid he damaged his eyes, but was relieved when his sight slowly returned little by little. As soon as he could see again, he looked around slowly, surveying the landscape.
The wasteland.
He saw the damage and the destruction as far as he could see. He walked onto the scenic overlook nearby a simple tree and looked around. In the vicinity he saw a jumble of steel and junk. He noticed a robot and a couple of people coming out of that jumble of refuse and decided he would check it out.
He walked out, gun drawn and crossed the cracked heap of cement and blacktop that used to be a street and moved downhill underneath the cliff. He was wary and moved quickly, but was alert at the same time. He came to within sight of the rusted mass of steel and saw the robot out front.
"Hello…partner, and welcome…to megaton. Friendliest town around." the robot droned.
With that the huge metal door swung open. He cautiously entered the huge town within a crater and did not know what to expect.