Disclaimer: I wish I could claim ownership to the brilliant Fallout Universe, but alas, that would be untrue.

The thoughts of the Lone Wanderer as he commits his final actions.

Sacrifice

Suffering from radiation is a pain that has become ironically familiar to me ever since I first left Vault 101. It was subtle at first, but as I was forced to survive in the harshest elements of the Wasteland, conserving the precious purified water I had collected overtime, but there would inevitably be occasions when I was forced to drink the radiated waters of the Potomac in order to survive.

I vomited the first time, my body rejecting the contaminants within the liquid, but I would eventually adapt and force myself to drink the water. Drinking the water was in a very real sense, only a temporary stay of execution, for while the polluted waters would keep me alive for a moment, the radiation was slowly killing me, a fate I shared along with every other human being residing in the charred remains of Washington DC.

A fate that can only be averted with the aid of Dad's purifier. I turn my head to see the airlock door seal with a tone of finality, Lyons behind it, her normally disciplined mask slipping away in favor of what appeared to be sorrow and admiration. I turn away, focusing on the room where my father died in order to save my life. I barely step into the room when I feel the first effects of the reactor, my limbs growing heavier with every step. If not for my power armor, I doubted I would have been capable of reaching the control board. It takes a mere five steps to reach the machine, but my body aches as though it had been five decades.

For a moment I stare at the numbers, remembering the favorite biblical verse of a mother I had never met, the verse's fulfillment soon to be created merely by the touch of my fingers. I look to my right, and see Dad, alive and well despite being dead for well over a month. I know he is a delusion, the heavy amount of radiation I'm absorbing undoubtedly affecting my mind as well as my body. But I take comfort in his presence, and he grips my shoulder one last time, a warm smile on his face as he speaks,

"Revelation 21:6, I am the Alpha and Omega, I give unto thee the waters of life, freely'. Marcus, you know what you have to do."

I nodded, and tapped the three numbers, and executed the command, and a bright green consumes my vision, and the pain finally becomes too much. My left leg gives in first, the right not far behind, and I find myself on my back, the ceiling above me. I can feel the blood beginning to exit my ears, my nose and eyes. I know that if the radiation doesn't kill me soon, I'm going to suffocate on my own blood.

With that cheery thought, I decide that I'm not going to wait for death on my back. My every movement is akin to being stabbed by a thousand blunt electrified nails, but with agonizing slowness, I make it to the airlock door, when I can't move any more, and find myself sitting with my back to the door, as good as a position as any to die in.

Dad's sitting next to me, tears in his eyes as he gazes at the fruition my mothers dream and decades of his life's work, and I can't help but grin at the sight, and with a voice that I can barely recognize, blood constricting my throat to the point that I'm amazed I can speak at all, mutter my final words.

"Looks like we got a happy ending for this story, Dad."

The last thing I see is Dad, shaking his head before the whiteness consumes my vision.

" No, Marcus, there are no happy endings. No endings at all really, and your part in the story is far from over."

The last sensation I feel is a pair of strong hands at my shoulders, and I knew no more.

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Draic: Looks like they may not be his final thoughts after all. I'll update soon.