Prologue.
War.
War never changes.
In the year 1945, my great-great grandfather, serving in the army, wondered when he'd get to go home to his wife and the son he'd never seen. He got his wish when the US ended World War II by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The World awaited Armageddon; instead, something miraculous happened. We began to use atomic energy, not as a weapon, but as a nearly limitless source of power.
People enjoyed luxuries thought the realm of science fiction. Domestic robots, fusion-powered cars, portable computers. But then, in the 21st century, people awoke from the American dream.
Years of consumption lead to shortages of every major resource. The entire world unraveled. Peace became a distant memory. It is now the year 2077. We stand on the brink of total war, and I am afraid. For myself, for my wife, for my infant son – because if my time in the army taught me one thing: It's that war...
War never changes.
Chapter 1 – Free Insurance, good sir.
Shuddering breaths between short gasps and mumbles, his hands gripped the sheets tightly, let go and clutched them again. His body shook and twisted on the bed's surface, as those memories from not so long ago continuously invaded his dreams at night. A pool of cold sweat formed underneath his body, as he continued to toss and turn. There was no escape from the memories that haunted his dreams. No escape from the countless faces of the friends he'd lost, and the lives he'd taken. Some soldiers had it easy. They shot off into the distance of incoming fire, probably killed some men and never even knew it, or were lucky enough to not have killed at all. But men like him, the ones who'd been up close and personal, the ones who'd watched the life escape the eyes of an enemy soldier, knowing full-well it was their doing... Those were the men who'd had it worse than anyone else. No amount of booze, therapy or holy forgiveness could erase the faces of the men you'd killed. With your gun, with your knife, with your bare hands. Nothing would ever take away both the satisfaction, and extreme guilt you'd have to deal with for killing the man who was simply following the same orders as you.
A hand was placed atop the shaking man's chest, which instantly woke him. For a moment there, he was back in the war. Enemy fire raining down beside him, explosions causing men to be eviscerated on the spot. And suddenly... The dark ceiling of his bedroom. The comforting touch of his wife, who he'd been lucky enough to return to after the ordeal. His head turned to face her, his eyes exhausted and dark, looking into that of his wife's, who in contrast, had eyes full of concern, love and worry, almost glowing brightly to him in the darkness of the bedroom.
No words were exchanged. Quickly, the man threw the covers off of himself and climbed out of bed, walking out of their bedroom and into the dark hallway. Taking a deep breath, he passed through the hall and into the kitchen, where a screen door awaited him. Walking through, he found himself just underneath the car port. Pulling up a foldable chair, he sat down and enjoyed the fall's nighttime breeze hitting against his skin. There were many thoughts running through his mind... The most prominent one was regret. Regret he couldn't be a more stable, normal man for his wife. And what of his child? Would he be able to be a normal father for him? Would he, ten years from now, still have episodes and freak-outs in the night or day, in front of his own son?
"Nate..." The voice of his wife sounded from the cracked open screen door. She stood there, dressed only in her sleeping garments as she held the door open. Slowly, she opened it the rest of the way, and joined him below the carport's roof, 'It's chilly out here." She commented, then awaited a response from him. She wouldn't receive one... Not for another half a minute before Nate finally replied to her.
"Yeah," He said, simply. Upon noticing the disappointed look on his lover's face, he quickly added more, "But I like it. It was... Getting hot in there," He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, honey. If I scared you or... if I seem distant. It's just not a good night for me."
"You haven't had a single good night in the past week. To think, after all this time that you've been back... That you'd have recovered a bit more. Or at least, made some progress with the therapist, or – or," His wife was clearly struggling to comprehend his situation. Many did, during these times. PTSD wasn't what it used to be treated as, but the efforts to treat it and help its victims were still challenges faced today, even in a tech advanced America.
"Nora, Nora..." Nate stood up from his seat, his arms going around the slender body of his wife, taking her against himself, "Don't worry about me." His voice was soft, and gentle as he spoke to her, "Listen to me... Listen," He held her face in his hands, looking deeply into her eyes with his. They were no longer dark, but carried that same gentle look she had, "I'm going to be okay. I know what you're concerned about, but that's not going to be me. I have you, and Shaun. You guys are my anchor... Nothing is going to be taking me away from either of you, I promise." He assured her, as he had before, but hoped this would be the last time he had to do it. It made him feel awful to see his wife wracked with concern, terrified he'd be yet another veteran plagued with nightmares that fell down booze, drugs and eventually death. But Nate wasn't lying. The one thing that got him through hell in Anchorage was his wife and infant son. Through every struggle, through every fire fight, they were what kept him going. They were what would keep him going, for the rest of his life. He needed her to understand that. And perhaps, as Shaun would grow older, she would realize it. But for now, he had to do his best to convince her in the present.
"I believe you..." Nora responded, her voice barely a soft whisper as she leaned forward, placing a kiss upon his lips. Nate returned the kiss, and continued to hold his wife in the chill, autumn night.
She was the reason.
In the morning, Nate had been the first to wake up. The baby was already being attended to by their robot servant, Fleur, a Miss Nanny robot constructed and distributed by General Atomics to take care of household chores, as well as handle parental responsibilities. At first, the Nate and Nora were reluctant to allow Fleur to handle their fragile infant, but she had quickly proved herself to be more than capable of taking care of the child. Even so, both parents heavily insisted on helping or taking over for Fleur. Plus, as Fleur had told them before, babies still needed human affection. Naturally, as loving parents to their son, they agreed.
"Morning, Fleur. How's the weather looking today?" Nate asked as he stepped into the kitchen, seeing the morning paper sitting atop the kitchen counter already.
"Good morning, Monsieur! I hope you slept well! The weather forecast today is sunny with the high being sixty-seven degrees Fahrenheit, and the low being forty-five degrees Fahrenheit!" The nanny bot spoke in her usual chirpy, French accent, "Shall I prepare you a coffee, Monsieur?"
"Yeah, sure. Hand the baby over to me, I'll hold him while you take care of that." Nate walked over to her, taking the baby away from her mechanical arms as she quickly began working to prepare a coffee for him.
"One moment, Monsieur!" Fleur opened cabinets and fished for the proper ingredients to brew the coffee for the early morning.
Nate looked down at young Shaun in his arms, smiling down at his baby, who looked up at him with those wide, innocent eyes of a baby. His arms moved about, a tiny hand scratching at Nate's arm, curious brown eyes staring intently at his father, "Hey, buddy... How you doin', huh?" He chuckled, swaying side to side as he looked down at his child.
Shaun slowly smiled as his father moved about, making small noises as the pair moved throughout the living room. All of Nate's stresses and worries escaped him whenever he looked down at his son. That sweet smile, and innocent face only warmed his heart and calmed him. It was a great way to start his day...
"Your coffee is ready, Monsieur!" Fleur chirped up, holding the coffee in her robotic arms as she turned to look at Nate and the baby. She paused for a moment, her robotic eye whirring and focusing on the father and son. She took a moment to watch before speaking, "Young Shaun appears elated to be held by his daddy!" She said, "You and the Mademoiselle are so good with him!"
"Appreciate it, Fleur, thank you." Nate walked back over to Fleur, "Uh - Well, I've got my hands full, can you set it down for me?"
"I have an idea, Monsieur! Why don't I just bring the coffee to your lips as you hold the baby?" Fleur asked, slowly raising the coffee cup to Nate's level.
"I suppose... Uh," Nate leaned over, his lips touching the rim of the coffee mug. Slowly, she tilted it, but upon feeling the absolute burning sensation of the coffee on his lips, Nate reacted by quickly pulling away, "Wow, that is hot! Damn!" His lip was still burning from the hot coffee.
"Apologies, Monsieur! Perhaps it is best to set the coffee down and allow it to cool off whilst you hold Shaun!" Fleur moved the coffee cup away, setting it down on the countertop, "Apologies once more, Monsieur! Please forgive me!" The nanny bot begged.
"It's all good, nothing to stress over. Just set the cup down, I'll watch Shaun for a little while longer while the cup cools." He told her, giving her a reassuring smile. Whenever she did something wrong, she instantly apologized and begged to be forgiven. Was she programmed that way or was it this robot's personality? Perhaps Nate may never find out.
Once a few minutes had passed, Nate had given the baby over to Fleur to be fed by her. With his hands free now, he sat at the kitchen counter, pulling over the coffee cup and paper. One hand had the cup while the other opened the paper, reading the headlines... Nothing good, it seemed. There was never anything good in the paper these days. Not even little small footnotes or feel-good stories to cheer everyone's stressed mood. Every country in the world was still carefully looking at the other, all ready to attack or retaliate at a moment's notice. It led to a lot of business for at-home shelter businesses to build bomb shelters in people's backyards. Nora had even mentioned to him of a Vault-Tec salesman that had been repeatedly over searching for him to sign him up for a spot in Vault 111. Though, he'd never been around to see him. While the chance for a nuclear war to break out was high, he didn't think they had the funds to get their own spots in a Vault. A veteran out-of-work and a housewife with a law degree she hadn't used in a while. It would be time, soon, for each of them to start working as hard as they could. Perhaps, while Fleur stayed, Nate could find some work. Perhaps in the police force or as a mechanic. Nora, on the other hand, would start putting that degree to work. All for a better life for their son.
The paper was too negative these days to be viewed anymore. Nate rolled it up and tossed it in the bin before his wife could wake and read it. She had enough concerns herself to have to be reading about the world possibly about to destroy itself, or bad news from the troops away from home. The doorbell had rung suddenly, causing him to jerk his head back to look at the front door. Standing from his chair, Nate made his way over and looked out the peephole to see a man dressed in a yellow trench coat and fedora. Just on the street, he could see a blue Vault-Tec vehicle. It appeared the salesman finally managed to catch him.
Nate opened up, looking at the Vault-Tec salesman standing on his welcome mat.
"Good morning, sir! My name is James Williams, I'm a salesman with Vault-Tec industries. I've got a heck of a deal for you, sir, if I could just get a moment of your time on this fine, autumn morning." The salesman flashed him the usual smile that sales people gave. His attitude was overly cheerful, but how else would one make a sale?
"Been hearing a lot about you guys lately. Unfortunately, I don't think we can afford anything you guys might be willing to offer." Nate said, leaning on the doorway, "I'm sorry, but you're wasting your time."
"Not so fast, my good sir. Like I said, Vault-Tec is offering you a special deal for you... And your family. Vault-Tec has recognized your service to our great country. Today, I'm offering you a completely free place in the local vault, Vault 111. For you, your wife and infant. Any pets or domestic robots will have to stay behind, I'm afraid. But don't tell me you'll pass this opportunity up? It's not drilling any hole in your wallet! There's no catch, no timeshare presentation, no con! You've done a great service to our country and Vault-Tec wishes to repay you. Please, Mister, get yourself some free insurance for your family, in the event of total annihilation."
The salesman certainly made a good point. A spot in a vault in the event of nuclear war, totally free for him and his family. Why pass an opportunity like that up? If anything did happen, it would be a shame about Fleur. But he was sure she'd understand, "Well... You're right. Free insurance. Yeah, yeah, I'll take it. Do I sign somewhere?" He asked, standing upright now and ready to grab a pen.
"First..." The salesman reached into his trench coat pocket, pulling a clipboard with a paper out. Next, a pen, "Could I get your full name, your wife's full name and the full name of your child?" He asked.
"Sure. Nate Cole Davis, Nora Marie Davis, Shaun Jerry Davis. Is that all or is there some kind of paper I need to fill out?" Nate asked, shrugging his arms. He hoped there wasn't a ton of paperwork involved with this.
"No need, sir! Your full names will be recorded into the system, ensuring the placement of you and your family safely inside Vault 111. If the bombs come to fall, seek out the Vault immediately. There'll be a guarded entrance, allowing those whose names are listed with proper identification to be escorted safely inside. Thank you for your time, it was a great pleasure to meet you. Thank you, once more, for your service, Mister Davis." The salesman stuck his hand out.
Nate gave it a firm shake, "Thank you, Mister Williams."
"See you in Vault 111!" The salesman turned away from the door, heading back to his vehicle.
Nate shut the door, "Hopefully not..." This was insurance he hoped he'd never need... If lucky, in the coming months, they'd forget all about this. And life would go on, he'd find work, Shaun would start school, and the years would come and go until Shaun was a grown man. That's what he hoped for. A normal life, with a normal family.
"Hey, was that the salesman?" Nora was standing in the kitchen, she must've only recently walked in, "Did you buy us a spot in a vault?"
Nate turned to look at her, walking toward her, "Yeah, it was a free offer, so. If it doesn't set our wallet back, what's the trouble?" He asked her, "We've got insurance now. Free insurance, as he put it. Figured it was worth the very tiny amount of paperwork I didn't really even have to do. Hopefully we won't need this insurance, but either way, make sure that you know where your ID is. We're gonna have our names in the system, but without proper ID, they won't let us in."
"That's fine, I keep mine with me. I'll bring along Shaun's birth certificate as ID. That should be enough... Right?" She asked, quite obviously concerned.
"It's going to be whether they like it or not. I'm bringing my baby in there, regardless of whether they accept a certificate or not. What do they want? His own little plastic state ID card? He's fucking one." Nate shrugged.
"Language, Monsieur! You will give young Shaun a potty mouth!" Fleur called from Shaun's bedroom.
"Sorry, Fleur!" Nate called back out to her, "Look, we're fine. We're going to be fine. No matter what happens, all right? You have been... Way too stressed out lately. So, I had an idea..." He walked up to her, gripping her waist, "You, me, the baby. A picnic today at the park. Weather's going to be bright and sunny all day, so what do you say, hmm?" He kissed her lips, waiting for her answer.
Nora giggled, "All right, all right... You're right, I've been really stressed. Everyone has been and I know I haven't been making things easy for you, the way I should be. I think we could both really use this, then. Fleur can stay here and take care of the house for us while we go?"
"Sounds like a plan. Let's go get showered and dressed." Nate let go of her, heading back to the bedroom but he was stopped by Nora's question.
"Together...?"
Looking back, he could see her smirking, "Well... If that's the way you want it." Nate returned the smirk, his wife soon joining his side as they headed into the bathroom.
Later that day, just as the weather forecast had predicted, it was bright, sunny and with a cool temperature outside to keep things relaxing and comfortable. The family had headed to a park not too far away from Sanctuary. Other families were out with their kids as well. They certainly weren't the only family with the idea to take advantage of the gorgeous day. Sitting atop a hill with a blanket and food they'd bought at a store on the way, the pair played with their son as they sat on the hill, laughing and carrying light conversation. It was moments like these that gave Nate the motivation he looked for in life. Happy times, and more to come. One day, he'd be at this park, playing catch with his boy.
"Hey, so, you still giving that speech at the Veteran's Hall?" Nora asked, holding Shaun as he started taking steps around the blanket. He'd been practicing for a while, and soon would be completely ready to walk on his own.
"Yeah, of course. I owe a lot to them. I know it's a little tough to believe, but I'd be in worse shape without those group counseling sessions and meetups we have together. I only know a couple of them from the war itself, but those guys are probably some of the best men the United States Army had the pleasure of having. Good men, each and every one of them." Nate said, "I wish … Well, I wish my friends could've been here to meet them." He went silent after that.
Nora looked over at him, sitting Shaun down, "So... Why don't you tell Shaun a little more about the men who helped you get home?" She smiled, "So he can remember them too."
Nate looked down at his son, who was looking right back up at him. Babbling and attempting to form words as he slowly stood up, taking his steps toward his father, whose hands now resided at Shaun's sides, helping him keep balance.
"Well... Let's start with names. Andrew Jones, Fred Miller, Shane Meadows, Albert Hastings, Grayson Earl, Ashton Jones, John Brown. Those are the names of the men who I'll never forget. Those are the names of the men who are the reason I'm right here with you, bud... And someday, when you're older, I'll tell you about every single one of them. They deserve that, and you deserve to know too." He smiled, holding his baby up to himself and embracing it/
"He'll enjoy hearing those stories. I know he will." Nora said, putting her hand on Nate's back, "I'm thankful for them too. I'm just glad – Well, I'm just glad you made it back." She told him.
Towards the end of the week, just a few days away from Halloween, Nate had been reciting and perfecting his speech for the Veteran's Hall in front of the mirror for the entirety of the morning. While not exactly nervous, he wasn't even sure if he was worthy enough to be the one to give a speech. There were better, more heroic men out there who deserved to be heard. At the end of his speech, he planned to recite the names of the men he'd lost in the war, and explain why they deserved to be remembered too. How their achievements and actions mean more to him, and should mean more to everyone else than Nate's 'act of heroism.' Sighing, he finished washing up, combing his hair and dressing in casual dress for the day. The speech wasn't until the night, so for now, it was just relaxing with his family until it was time to leave.
The baby's wails could be heard from his bedroom, "I'll get him, Fleur!" Nate called out before the Nanny Bot could make her way over to him. Stepping out of the bathroom, he walked into the child's bedroom to see him in his crib, "Hey, pal, hey..." Stepping over and leaning over the crib, Shaun immediately calmed upon seeing his father's face, "That's right, bud, I'm right here... Oh, I got this working again for ya, pal..." He spun the mobile that rested at the top of the baby's crib, which played a soothing melody for him, "Yeah, you're all right, huh, pal?" He chuckled, his hands going down to gently poke and tickle Shaun.
"You're a wonderful father, you know that, right?" Nora said, standing in the doorway. As Nate looked at her, she walked into the bedroom, standing on the opposite side of the crib that Nate was standing at, "He's lucky to have a father as loving and caring as you."
"And I'm lucky to have the most beautiful baby in the world. And you're lucky enough to have the most handsome and... Eloquent husband in the world." Nate smirked.
"Oh, handsome I agree with. Very handsome. Mm, eloquent?" She chuckled, "You learn a new word the other day, or something?" She teased.
"Very funny. Wait until tonight and you'll see me as 'eloquent' as they come. Gonna dressed my best for the event, best you'll have seen me in a while, I'll tell you that much." Nate answered her, still using a playful tone.
"Oh, yeah?" Nora laughed, "You aren't the snappiest dresser. You gonna throw the ol' uniform on?" She asked.
Nate shook his head, "You know what, hun? I don't think I wanna wear another army uniform ever again. It's not that I don't have pride... I just, I can't -"
Before Nate could finish, Fleur interrupted from the living room, "Monsieur! Mademoiselle! Please come see!" She wasn't using her usual chirpy tune.
"What's going on, Fleur?... Fleur?" Nate looked out the door, "Get the baby." Nate quickly walked out of the room, walking right into the living room where Fleur was floating in front of the TV. She moved out of the way, the newscaster in the middle of his sentence.
"- Followed by reports of... Flashing lights... Yes, flashing lights and sounds of-" He paused, "Explosions... We're getting confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and-… And... Oh, god..." He couldn't keep going, and shortly after, the TV signal was lost. Nate was frozen for a moment... Did they finally do it? Was this it?
"Nora!" He turned back, seeing her stepping into the living room, "Get the ID's! We gotta get to the Vault, now!"
"Wait, wait! What about our clothes, our stuff, the baby's stuff!?" She asked, panic rising in her voice.
"We don't have time, we gotta get the hell out of here!" Nate ran over to the kitchen counter, looking for his wallet. He found it, opening it up and making sure his ID was inside, "Fleur, Fleur! I'm so sorry, but we gotta get going."
"Monsieur! Mademoiselle! You're going to just leave me?" Fleur asked, a bit of a hurt tone.
"We don't have a choice, Fleur! We can't bring you! I'm sorry! Take care of yourself. But we have to go." Nate turned around, throwing their front door open and quickly exiting, Nora following behind.
"You be safe too, Monsieur! You and your family!" She called out to them, as she hovered helplessly in the middle of their living room, "Will you come back?"
Unfortunately for Fleur, they were too far away now to have heard her question. As Nate ran out with his wife in tow, he was almost shocked to see the amount of disarray just outside. Military vehicles had wasted no time in showing up and making sure everyone was evacuating or making sure to head to the Vault, which was thankfully nearby. Neighbors were panicking, screaming and running. Some seemed to be refusing to leave, Nate overhearing statements about hoaxes or how there's no way a bomb could land here, of all places. Their funeral... But there was still that flicker of hope that maybe they were right, and this was all a terrible mistake. What would life be like for them... And Shaun underground in some vault? Would he live and die there...?
As they ran up the trail leading to vault, he made sure to constantly turn back and look to make sure his wife was following closely behind. There was a crowd of people pushing their way to the top. Nate slowed down, putting an arm around his wife to protect her and Shaun from any impatient, shoving people, who didn't care who was trampled or shoved aside. Arriving to the top of the hill, there was a gate and several soldiers manning it, in charge of the list of people allowed to go inside. Two of them were in power armor, carrying miniguns, which seemed severely excessive to him.
"Only those on the register may enter the vault! The rest of you evacuate or return to your homes!" The military officer shouted at the growing crowd.
"There's gotta be plenty of room in there!" A man screamed, "I got a wife and kids here! You're the fuckin' army, help us out!"
"Let us in!"
"We'll die out here!"
Nate pushed through the throng of people with his wife following, getting to the gate, "Excuse me, sir! I'm Nate Cole Davis, this is my wife Nora Marie Davis and my son, Shaun Jerry Davis! We – We have our identification cards with us right here... My son, he doesn't have one so we brought his birth certificate. Please, please tell me that's enough." Nate' voice was full of panic and worry – The concern for the certificate being a valid form of ID didn't hit him the way it hit Nora till now.
The officer looked through a list, then up at Nate and his family, "Everything checks out. The certificate is fine, follow him and hurry up."
"Thank you, thank you..." Nate moved along with his wife and Shaun, "Come on, honey, come on..." Walking through the gate, they were met with a Vault-Tec official wearing the jumpsuit along with what appeared to be a security vest, helmet and baton at his side.
"Follow me onto the platform!" He yelled back at them, over the sound of a nearby Verti-Bird.
Nate and Nora, carrying Shaun, followed as quickly as they could, eventually stepping onto a round platform at the top of the hill. No doubt this would bring them to the vault deep into the ground. He held Nora in his arms as they waited atop, along with other accepted signers, who probably paid for their places in the vault, "We're gonna be okay... We're here, we're here..." Nate kept reassuring her, and himself, "We made it. We did it... We-"
A loud bang could be heard from afar, the formation of a mushroom cloud in the distance causing everyone on the platform to scream and begin to panic, "Oh, Jesus..." Nate looked on, the cloud was becoming massive. Only then, did the platform finally start to slowly lower them into the ground, the shockwave of the blast just barely missing them as the platform descended, and the entry at the top shut out the outside world.
"Oh my God... All those people up there... What're they going to do? What's going to happen to them?"
"Our homes... Gone..."
"Everything's going to be different from now on..."
Everyone had something different to mumble and say to each other. Nate was quiet, simply holding his wife and hoping this ordeal would be over soon. It wouldn't matter if he had to wear a blue vault suit for the rest of his life, or live underground. So long as life was considered good for Shaun, it didn't matter. If he learned playing ball underground, or reading and writing, it didn't matter so long as he could watch his boy grow up to be a good man. That's what was important...
Soon, the platform had come to a full stop. In front of a barrier that quickly raised itself up to allow the newcomers to step out was the vault overseer and some security guards.
"Welcome! To Vault 111!" The overseer raised his arms up, "Please stay in line, and proceed up the stairs in an orderly fashion. You'll be picking up your newest vault suits, and heading into the pressurizing pods to make sure your entry deeper into the vault goes well. Remember, here at Vault-Tec, we're prepared for the future!"
Everyone was a bit reluctant, and had questions to ask, but for now, the best thing to do seemed to just do what they were told. One by one, people went up the stairs, were scanned be some machines and then stepped to a table to pick up their vault suits.
"Welcome to Vault 111. Here's your vault suit, and aww! Your baby is adorable. We don't have any vault suits for little tykes like him, but once he gets a little older, he'll get his very own vault suit. Please, follow the doctor into the next room." The woman handing out vault suits to the newcomers welcomed each and every person with a warm, welcoming smile. Nate felt glad to have these kind of welcomes... It seemed to put everyone at ease, how friendly the Vault-Tec staff were/
"You three all set then?" The doctor started moving toward the hallway that led to the next room over, "Nothing to be afraid of. Just pods that'll pressurize and stabilize you to be able to comfortably enter deeper into the vault with no risks of problems. It doesn't hurt and it's quick and over before you know it. You can even bring the baby in with you."
"Deeper into the vault?" Nate asked, "Exactly how deep are we going to go?"
"Oh, just another three hundred, five hundred feet. Trust me, once you're pressurized and stabilized for it, it'll feel just like the normal surface. You know, to prepare being staff in a Vault, we've all had to live in a vault already. This is actually my fifth year here. Trust me, you get used to it quick and it's very comfortable." The doctor told him, leading him into the room with several pods lining up each side. It was awfully cold...
Even so, it was great comfort to both Nate and Nora that life would be comfortable and quickly to adjust to down here. The staff were friendly and helped ease their moods... Nate looked over to his wife, "We made it. Thank god for that free insurance, huh?" He chuckled, "Thank god..."
"Glad that salesman finally caught up to you." She said back, smiling at him, "I don't care what life here is like. Just as long as we're all together."
"And we're going to be," Nate told her, "Shaun's going to grow up underground, but let's be grateful he's going to do any kind of growing at all. Underground, it doesn't matter. We made it, our boy's with us. What's there to complain about right now?" Nate shrugged, "Let's just get this over with."
The doctor stopped them at their pods. After they changed into their new vault suits, their clothing was put into a bag and taken away somewhere else. Where? It didn't matter at the moment. As they said, and as advertised, the vault suits were much more comfortable than Nate thought they'd be. It was like putting on a fitting glove. It barely felt like one was wearing it, it was that incredibly light. And the material, smooth on the inside and the outside was just a little rougher. Nate's pod opened up. Entering, he stood with his back to the cushioned part of the pod. Soon, it closed over him, a little window allowing him to see out into the pod room. Just across from him, he could see his wife and son in the pod. She moved her hand, placing it against the glass. In just a few minutes, he'd be right back with him...
"Time for a whole new life..." He said, his hand moving back down as he watched his wife.
"Beginning depressurizing process in five... four... three... two... one..." The pod's voice sounded inside. And soon, a sudden freezing cold took over. Nate felt... Nothing, as he blacked out.
And suddenly... He was awake. Was this normal? Perhaps he reacted negatively to the process... He coughed, feeling absolutely cold as he looked out, his eyes searching for the doctor. But instead, he watched as a woman dressed in some kind of hazmat suit stepped into view, "This is the one, here." She said, tapping Nora's pod. What was this about? Some kind of malfunction?
Then, out of nowhere, a bald man, who was most certainly not wearing a vault suit stepped into view, "Open it." His gruff voice spoke, staring at Nora's pod. Nate could make out a gun belt around his waist... Was he security?
The woman fumbled with the pod's controls, the door opening. Shaun instantly began to cry, as Nora coughed and sputtered, taking deep breaths, "is... Is it over? Can I come out now?" She asked.
"Everything's fine, relax." The man said, putting a hand up.
The woman in the hazmat suit reached out, her hands wrapping around Shaun's body.
Nora refused, "I've got him..." But the woman in the suit continued, trying to pry the baby from her hands.
"Hey!" Nate shouted, his fist pounding against the glass, "Let go of Shaun!" He shouted.
"Let go of the boy, now." The man pulled a gun out, aiming it at Nora, "I'm only asking you once."
"Hey, hey! Stop! Stop! You fucking bastard, stop!" Nate screamed at the top of his lungs, his heart racing, pounding out of his chest as he tried prying the door open, pounding against the glass.
"I'm not giving you Shaun!" Nora screamed, as she struggled against the woman.
BANG.
"NO! NO!" Nate shouted louder than he ever had before, as rage and grief coursed through him all at once, "YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED MY WIFE!" He tried kicking, pounding the door, but it wouldn't budge.
Nora's lifeless body lay against the pod as the woman finally yanked the baby away from Nora's dead hands.
"God damn it, get him out of here." The man suddenly stopped, looking at Nate, leaning in. He had a nasty scar along his left eye, "At least we have the backup." And with that, he left.
"NO! GET THE FUCK BACK HERE NOW! GET BACK HERE!" Nate struggled harder and harder, but it was in vain. The door simply wouldn't budge. One moment, he could move, and the next, his body started stiffening up as his tears began to freeze against his face, "No...! No... Nora... Nora..." His hand reached out as far as it could until it hit the glass, but then, he blacked out once more.
And then... What seemed to be just moments later, the pod unfroze him once more. He had trouble breathing this time, leaning against the door as he attempted to catch his breath. A hissing sound was followed by the pod door suddenly unlocking, and the opening up. Nate fell right down, onto the cold floor of the cryo pod room. He coughed and sputtered, lying on his back. As soon as his breath was back, he weakly stood up, leaning against Nora's pod as he flipped the switch, getting it open, "Baby, please... Please, please, please..." What was he even hoping for? For her to magically wake up and tell him it was all okay? That she was fine, and it was all just a terrible nightmare? The pod door slowly opened, revealing Nora's very cold and very dead body inside.
Nate had no words... He fell to his knees, his face contorting into a mess of anguish and sadness, tears freely streaming down his face as his voice went strained and hoarse from the lump in his throat, "N-no... No, baby, please... Why? Why?" He said the words, weakly, "Please tell me this isn't real... Please..." His voice, at this point, was nothing more but a whimpering whisper as he fell to his side. Lying against the cold floor, he could barely stand to look at her cold, dead corpse. Instead, he let himself sob, and let his tears fall to the floor beneath him, "Nora..." He'd barely whisper now and again...
It was ten minutes before he found the strength to finally stand, groaning and grunting, his cries not completely over as he roughly slapped himself multiple times, "Wake up, wake up... Wake the fuck up." But he knew it was also in vain. This was no dream, this was all too real. Everything about it, even as insane as the situation was. Frozen, then his wife, murdered and his son stolen, only for him to wake up now. Why...?
Nate looked back at her pod, frozen in fear of having to look at her dead body again... But he had to. Slowly, his legs managed to carry him over to the front of the pod, slowly looking up at her corpse. The tears came right back, but no whimpers or cries escaped him. He looked down seeing her hand and went to hold it. Her fingers were stiff and cold, the ring from their wedding still on her hand. Nate's hands moved to slowly remove it from her hand, and hold it tightly, "I'm gonna get Shaun back... I promise, baby, I-…" His words were caught in his throat as he attempted to speak. He had to turn away to finish, "I'll find whoever did this... I'll fucking kill him. I'll fucking kill him..." He sniffed, wiping away the tears still in his eyes, "I promise..." With one last glance at her pod, he tucked the wedding ring into one of the pockets on the vault suit, and walked away.
As he walked, he saw the other pods full of people in the room as well. And they didn't have a clue... Seeing a terminal nearby, he thought maybe he could get them all out. Based off what he was seeing, the current screen was showing him the statuses of the inhabitants of each pod. His own pod was marked as, 'MALFUNCTION.' The other pods were active, but the names of the people all had one word next to them, 'DECEASED.' They were all dead... Nate turned to look at the remainder of the pods in the room, and everyone inside. It wasn't just Nora... But all the people in the room were dead in their pods. As he stepped back, he heard his boot crunch underneath something. Turning around, he looked down only to see a skeleton wearing a broken vault suit, "What...?"
A human skeleton. It took about a decade for a human corpse to become a skeleton. Had a decade passed without him realizing it?... There wasn't any time to focus on it... He had a mission. Whoever those people were, they weren't Vault-Tec. Could they have broken into the vault? If so... Did that mean enough time had passed that the surface was habitable again? It took just about five or so years for nuclear fallout to clear. But it must've been longer if there were skeletons... Twenty years asleep? Without even realizing it...
Nate continued moving through the freezing vault, his breath shuddering, body shivering. The vault suits may have been comfortable, but they weren't exactly warm. He had to constantly exhale warm air into his hands, and rub them together as he walked through the vault's hallways and lone corridors, coming across the occasional skeletal corpse. It seemed all the other vault residents were dead long ago... No one continued. No one went on. No one left? What happened...?
He passed near a window, showing a power room inside. It was still active, which explained why the lights were on. But suddenly, a massive roach jumped onto the window, causing Nate to suddenly step back, "The fuck!?" Quickly, it moved away before he could continue to look at it, "Giant roaches...?" Had enough time passed to mutate certain insects...? What about animals? On the table in front of him, a single security baton was waiting to be picked up. Roaches weren't usually 'hostile' insects, but just in case... He picked it up, letting the entirety of the baton slip out to its full length. Afterward, he entered the power room just next door. His worries were correct. A massive, dead roach lay on the floor just a few feet away, electrocuted, most likely. Walking around, he found another couple massive roaches skittering about, "Move, get away...!" He tried kicking at them, but they responded with aggression, approaching quickly and jumping up. Swinging, he managed to hit one hard enough to burst it in half. But then he felt a painful bite on his lower abdomen, "Fuck!" He shook the roach off, stomping hard on its head. With a loud squeal, it died. Normal roaches were disgusting enough... Now they were of this immense size?
After climbing a short set of stairs, Nate quickly met with a water fountain. He quickly threw himself next to it, crouching down and testing to see if the plumbing was still working. Pressing the button to dispense water, he was elated to see a stream moving through. He pushed his mouth against the stream, sucking up as much water as his parched throat could drink. When he was done, he gasped and sat back, breathing heavily... it felt good to get a drink of water in... Who knows how much time, exactly? Standing back up, the next door led to what appeared to be an office. The overseer's office, perhaps? There was a skeleton here, it probably belonged to him. There was also a 10mm handgun resting on the counter, along with some ammunition. That would certainly come in handy... Nate's hand moved toward the gun... He hadn't held a firearm since his time in the war.
But killing roaches or other mutated insects wouldn't be the same as killing people. He could do this, guilt-free. Picking up the pistol, he loaded it up and made sure it was ready to fire with one in the chamber before sitting on the chair, looking through the overseer's computer. There were some interesting files to look at... Mostly journal entries. This cleared everything up. Once everyone was put in cryostasis, things were relatively normal. But it seemed their 45 day wait until they'd be allowed to return to the surface was delayed, again, and again. This wasn't a vault equipped to handle life for the next hundreds of years. Food started running out, people started turning on each other. The overseer became paranoid and selfish, and the people angry and desperate. Those who died in cryostasis actually had it easier... Starvation and infighting or freezing to death without being aware of it? He hoped that was the case, anyway...
Among the computer options, there was also a command linked to an evacuation tunnel which would lead from here straight to the entrance. Using the command, a door at the end of the room unlocked and swung open, revealing a long corridor that would lead to yet another door. Nate stood, quickly walking through now and moving along to the entrance. But he stopped once he was met with the sight of five or six of those damned roaches at the end of the hall, which all quickly began to approach.
Gun in hand, he aimed, closing one eye and beginning to fire at each one individually. A bullet for each. He was a precise shot with weapons, but the constant sound of firing weapon caused his hand to start shaking, quite rapidly. He missed his next to shots, and found one of the roaches up close now, jumping up and biting his hand, "Ngh!" He swung his arm onto the wall, crushing the roach against it. Not only was his hand shaking... It had a small bite and a little blood on it now. Perfect... He started taking deep breaths...
He wasn't in the war...
This situation was different...
No human lives were taken...
Only one human life had to meet its just end. The bald, scarred man that killed his wife and kidnapped his son. He'd pay for what he did... He promised Nora. He promised Shaun, and he promised himself... He'd kill him.
Moving along, he was quickly met with the beginning of the vault once more. It felt strange... It felt like he was here just an hour ago... To think more than a few decades must've passed since... it was a scary thought. What was the world like up there? Was society rebuilding itself? Were any places left untouched? Surely, there had to be some places in the United States that weren't affected by the nuclear bombs. Or in any other part of the world. Clearly... He wasn't the only human left. Not if that man and woman just walked on in. Stepping up to the vault door controls, he tried pressing the big red button with 'open' at the top. But it didn't work... There was some kind of slot in the left, but he wasn't sure what to put there. As he continued looking down, he noticed the skeleton of the vault scientist laying there, a PIP Boy 3000 wrapped around his bony wrist. Reaching down, Nate decided he'd find a better use for it than they would now.
Letting it wrap around his wrist and locking it in place, the machine whirred and turned on, displaying his current bodies' status. It seemed he was perfectly okay... But it seemed this thing didn't know when he was hungry or thirsty, because he still felt both quite strongly. There was also a radio section, but there was no signal in range. Maybe above ground, something would catch on? Another noticeable item on his PIP Boy was a white, key-like object that was attached by wire to the PIP Boy itself. It seemed to perfectly fit with the slot size on the controls. The big red button lit up, and Nate pressed it. Just as he thought, the Vault Door began to slowly, and nosily open up. It screeched wide open, a small bridge extending to allow him to the other side, where the elevator platform was currently waiting for him. Moving through, he stepped on it. A moment later, it actually began to slowly move up. So... Back toward the surface. In just a few moments... He might see sunlight, or moonlight. Or feel the wind, or see the trees. Not that they were distant memories... But hope to see everything living and flourishing would be a good sign. If everything was dead... It meant the surface was no longer habitable, even after all this time. Which meant he'd just die from radiation after a while. The platform moved higher and higher... Eventually, the entrance opening up, almost blinding him from the light just outside... He had to shield his eyes, but eventually, he felt it...
The wind.