The Fallout universe belongs to Bethesda.
Chapter 1
The light was blinding, searing her eyes. She cringed, and turned away, holding her hands over her them as they slowly adjusted.
She finally turned, blinking away the tears that had sprung up.
As her eyes scanned the horizon, she felt her heart beat faster. Her throat dried, and she shook her head.
There was nothing. Just crumpled buildings and shriveled trees.
The tears started coming again. "Dad..." She whispered. She would never be able to find him, not in this mess.
For a second she contemplated going back to the Vault, then remembered the whole reason she was outside.
She sunk to the ground and put her head in her hands.
It was a long walk, and her legs were burning by time she stood in front of the building she had seen in the distance. It did have what looked like a gate, so maybe it was a town?
"Welcome to Megaton. Friendliest town around."
She smiled at the robot, even though she still felt terrible.
As she entered what she hoped was a town, and a man greeted her.
He looked her up and down, and shook his head in disbelief,"Well, damn. Haven't seen one of them vault suits in a while. Lucas Simms." He offered his hand.
"I'm Treiy Keel." She said as she took his dark and weathered hand, hers pale and flawless in comparison."I'm looking for my dad. He's tall, gray hair, he's a doctor, he has a pip-boy on his arm-"
The man shook his head when he realized she would probably stand there all day describing her old man.
"Sorry, kid. Haven't seen him, but you may want to talk to Moriarity. He owns the saloon." He said, gesturing to a building farther up.
"Thank you." Treiy said in a quite voice, trying to hide the disappointment she felt.
She heads over quickly, and realizes how sore and tired she is as she enters the building.
Her eyes widened as she saw the creature standing behind the bar. He looked human, but his skin was patchy, revealing hard muscles, and his hair didn't look any better.
He looked up at her. When he noticed her expression he sighed and turned back to cleaning the table.
She stepped up to him, swallowing her fear and gave him a nervous smile,"Hello. Are you Moriarity?"
He shook his head, a small chuckle escaping from his throat,"No, I'm Gob. Moriarity's in the back room."
She nodded and extended her hand,"I'm Treiy. It's nice to meet you, Gob."
He raised what was left of an eyebrow and shook her hand,"I'll go get him for ya."
"Thank you." She said as he walked away, opening a back door and stepping inside.
She looked down at the table, her blonde hair falling in her face. She was about to fix the bun when she heard a voice behind her.
"Well, aren't you a pretty one." She turned to find a woman with short red hair looking her over.
Treiy wrung her wrists and tried for a nervous smile,"Oh, hello."
"What are you doin' here kid? Bit young to be hangin' out in a bar." The woman had a hand on her hip, and was staring at Treiy inquisitively.
"Well, I needed to ask Moriarity some questions about my dad." The woman nodded,"Well, I'm Nova. Be careful around Moriarity, he's an ass."
Treiy nodded, and whispered a thank you as Gob came back to the table, a man with slicked back blond hair following behind.
"It's you, isn't it? James' little girl? Come back to find him, haven't you?" Treiy nodded,"Please, do you know where he is?"
"Ya, but it'll cost ya." Her face fell, and she sighed,"I don't have any money."
He paused, and looked as though he was contemplating something,"Well, there is one thing you can do for me. A woman named Silver used to work for me. The bitch took my caps and left for Springvalle. Heard she set up a house there. I want you to go there and...take care of her."
Treiy's eyes widened a fraction. She wasn't going to do it, but she didn't really know what to say,"I-I'll think about it."
Moriarity shrugged,"Think about it fast, girl. Your father doesn't have an eternity."
Moriarity left for the back room again, and she sighed. Treiy had no idea how she was going to go about this. She couldn't 'take care' of anybody, and she didn't bring any money from the Vault.
Gob looked over at her from his work, and when Treiy caught his eyes she had an idea. "Gob, do you know anything about my Dad?"
He froze for a second, then shook his head quickly,"No, sorry."
Treiy could tell he was hiding something,"Gob, please. I need to know, and I don't have the money, and I'm not 'taking care' of anyone. Please."
The ghoul sighed,"I like you, so I'll tell you this: Moriarity keeps tabs on everyone that comes through his bar. If your dad was really here, then you'll find info on him on Moriarity's terminal."
She sighed, and flashed him a smile,"Thank you, Gob."
He nodded,"Just don't get caught, kid" He said it under his breath, but Treiy still heard.
She moved into a corner, and watched as Moriarity stepped out of the room, had a quick and none to kind, conversation with Gob, then stepped out of the saloon.
Treiy waited another minute before quickly heading into the back room. There was a chair with a glowing terminal set in the wall in front of it.
She plopped down in the chair and leaned forward, working away at the terminal. It was frutrating, but she figured it out after a minute.
She froze as footsteps echoed outside the door. She let out the breath she had been holding as whoever it was stepped away.
She scanned through the terminal's contents, and quickly found the part about her dad.
GNR. She frowned. She had never heard of it, but the terminal said it was somewhere in D.C.
"You! What are you doin' on that terminal." She felt a hand grab her arm and yank her out of the seat roughly. She gasped, and looked up into the enraged face of Colin Moriarity.
"Let me go." She said, almost gagging at the smell of cigarettes and alcohol coming off of him. She pushed herself away from him and pulled open the door, stumbling out.
Gob looked over, surprised as Moriarity went to grab her again. He looked up, realized that everyone was looking their way, and straightened himself out.
He glared at her and hissed between his teeth,"Get out of my bar. Now."
Gob looked over at her incredulously and she smiled, trying to let him know that she was successful. He nodded, and watched her as she left the bar.
