24/08/15 – Edited in preparation for Fallout 4


Fallout 3: The Wayward Soldier

"As you walk in the crowded empty spaces
And you stare at the emptiness around you
You wanna go to the city and the bright lights
And get away from the sinners that surround you
"
- Tiesto, In The Dark

Chapter Two: Dirty Hands


Sunlight filtered through the cracks of the aluminium ceiling. One lid cracked open to reveal bloodshot hues of green. Alex surveyed her unfamiliar surroundings and panic seized her throat, closing around her breath. Where was she? This wasn't her bedroom. What had happened?

And then it all came flooding back; her dad's disappearance, the escape from the Vault, Megaton, Mister Burke.

She pulled the covers over her head, trying to block it all out. It was a mistake. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as she realised just how badly the blankets smelt.

Whatever happened, she couldn't stay here.

Alex rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a gaping yawn. She had not slept well the night before, despite how exhausted she had been. The persistent, gentle humming of the Vault had been absent. She didn't realise just how much she needed that white noise to sleep. Megaton was noisy in a different way. She still wasn't accustomed to hearing gun shots.

"Mornin'. You alright aye?" Her Pip-Boy remarked from her wrist. Alex tapped his glowing screen in response.

"Yeah, just a little itchy from that bed. We need to find somewhere else to stay. I can't sleep another night in that bed," she insisted.

"I think your father is more of a priority. Have you checked that holotape we found?" he hummed.

The Holotape.

Alex almost kicked herself. How could she have forgotten?

She scrabbled out of bed and collected up her discarded gear, looking for the small holotape she had stuffed into a pocket yesterday during the escape.

Yesterday.

Her burrowing fingers stopped.

Yesterday.

Had it truly been that long? Her life in the Vault seemed so very far away now. It had only been a day and God, how she missed the Vault. From bully boy Butch down to the lightbulb in their bathroom that always flickered despite her attempts to fix it. And Amata... Her throat went tight with emotion.

"You okay?"

Alex sniffed it back. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her fingers enclosed around the holotape. "Here it is."

"Slot it in and let's find old what your Papa has to say for himself."

"Okay." Alex flicked the holotape into her Pip-Boy. The screen flickered a moment, then the recording started to play.

At first she heard nothing, just rapid footsteps and the sounds of supplies being shoved roughly into a bag. Then came her father's soft, comforting voice and Alex nearly cried all over again.

"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first…I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe some day, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going."

There was a pause in the recording, and Alex had to strain her ears to hear it. Was that Jonas?

"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."

Oh Jonas. Poor kind, sweet Jonas. He had been a constant in her life that was hard to imagine her world without him. And all she had left of him was a three second recording of his voice.

"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye….I love you
."

The audio ended with a click. A tiny sob slipped from between Alex's wind chapped lips, audible even over the ambience of Megaton outside. Her teeth found her as she bit into her knuckle to stop herself from breaking down completely.

God, what was she supposed to do now? Where was he going? And why couldn't he tell her? She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to wring her father's neck. She wanted to hug him and never let him go. She wanted to do everything at once.

Her Pip-boy's screen flashed back to standby. "Well?" was all he said.

What more could be said?

"Well…what?"

The Pip-boy hummed in what she could only assume was annoyance. "What do we do now? Do we go looking for him?"

"We don't even know where we are, much less where he is," she pointed out. Her Pip-Boy's pre-war map was all but useless. Megaton didn't seem to register anywhere.

"Someone in the town must have seen him, heard where he was goin' Let's ask around. It won't cost a bob just to ask."

Alex rubbed her eyes again then wiped her hand against her shirt. "Yeah. You're right. Let's get going."

She pulled on her jumpsuit halfway; tightly securing the sleeves into a knot around her hips. She preferred it that way; the big "101" stitching on her back felt like a white hot brand. And she would much rather forget the Vault for the moment. "We'll need money."

Her Pip-Boy spluttered, his version of a snort. "We've just come from a vault. We're bound to have some shite in our bag we can sell."

She picked up her heavy leather sack, finally managing to bring herself to look into it almost twenty four hours after she left the vault. Fingertips trembled as she untied the leather cords and unbuckled the straps. Despite the chaos of her exit, Amata had managed to pack essential objects including a good few bottles of purified water and a number of Stimpacks stolen from the medical bay. Alex turned the bag upside down and proceeded to shake it roughly. A treasure trove of radiation medications and personal effects spilled out onto the bed along with, packs of ration cubes, bobby pins, pistol ammo and sewing thread. The pockets were overflowing with junk she had collected on the run.

"Christ, we're minted."

"That depends on how much this crap sells for," Alex said as she heaved her bag onto her shoulder and headed down the staircase once more.

The saloon hadn't changed overnight. In fact, it looked worse and she was less than surprised to find the same people she left the night before still there, sipping away at amber coloured liquid in faded green tumblers. The young woman glanced at the armchair were Burke sat the previous night. It was empty still, and Alex breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure she could have faced him again.

Gob greeted her with a smile when she handed her room key back over. Nova was suspiciously absent. "Not going to stay another night?"

The brunette tapped her empty pockets. "I can't afford it. Unless you accept peanuts instead of caps."

Gob sighed wistfully. "I haven't had peanuts in fucking years…You don't have any on you do you?"

"No, sorry," Alex said. Even if she did, Alex doubted she would even share. "Listen, I really need to make some money…Is there any jobs going?"

Leaning over the counter, he signalled for Alex to do the same and she could not help but stare for a moment. After all, she hadn't heard of a Ghoul until the previous night much less had a good look at one up close. He was both intensely fascinating and horrifying. Dull blue eyes stared back at her, glazed over a fine white to make seem all the more zombie-like. Hollow out patches in his cheek gave the girl a clear view of the inner workings of his jaw and the place where his nose should have been was vacant.

"Well, I heard that Walter, the old mechanic, needs some help at the Water Processing Plant. And that he's willing to pay."

"How do you know all of this Gob?" The said ghoul tapped the gap where his nose should have been and Alex could not help but wince. She would never get used to that.

Gob's brow rose. "I work in a bar. I hear all sorts of things when I'm not getting slapped around the customers."

"Say Gob, can I ask you something?"

"Anything for you friend."

"I need to find my father; middle aged man with a beard. Sort of looks like me. He'd might have been in a vault suit as well."

His facial expression twitched slightly in remembrance. "I do remember seeing someone like that. He wasn't here long, spoke with Mister Moriarty though. You should ask him."

Alex adjusted her bag. "Thanks for the help. See you later Gob," Alex said before exiting the rundown saloon, glad to put the experience of her first night in the Wasteland behind her. Megaton was hot was energetic and thriving in a way that. Though the town looked even worse in the luminous daylight than it did when she arrived, it was busy and felt very much alive. Sterile corridors and crowded rooms was what she was accustomed to. She wasn't used to such…life.

She swallowed, looked around and spotted who she assumed was Moriarty, leaning against the railing of the balony. He was tall – much taller than her – with a messy of white that had been unsuccessfully been slicked back and a tangled, unkempt beard. He wore a sleeveless duster coat over a white shirt and grey trousers of similar material and steel toe capped boots.

"Colin Moriarty?" she asked, fiddling with the straps of her bag. She hated how her fingers seemed to shake, how her voice seemed so hesitant. She wasn't used to hearing that sort of edge to her voice.

He turned, seemingly noticing her presence. He wore a look of surprise, evidently not used to people not knowing who he was. "That's me little lass. Colin Moriarty, at your service! Welcome to Moriarty's! My saloon, my home, my slice of heaven in this backwoods little burg. What can I do for you sweetlin'?" He spoked with an Irish accent that was so heavy that it could have been fake.

Alex felt her skin shudder despite the warm megaton air. "I'm looking for my father James. I heard he passed through here," she enquired, trying to keep her tone calm and polite as she knew how. She needed a favour after all.

Moriarty's demeanour suddenly switched the moment the words left her mouth; rapidly so that Alex almost regretted asking him. The man then looked at her again; as if he had only really noticed her properly. There must have been something amusing about her appearance for Moriarty suddenly laughed heartily.

"My god it's you! The little baby girl, all grown up. Persistent little flower aren't' ya?"

Alex's brow furrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You wouldn't remember me lass. You were too young, just a newborn babe. You and your father stayed in my saloon years ago." Green eyes widened with surprise as the Irishman continued. "That's right, your father, his Brotherhood of Steel friend and you; a suckling babe with nary a tit to suckle. Sorry about your mum. Truly."

"What you are talking about? You've got the wrong girl. I was born in the vault-" She was cut off by a snort of laughter.

"Is that what your dad told you? That you were born in the hole? That he was born there as well. Oh the lies we tell to those we love." Alex stared,, too stunned to realise she was holding her breath.

No that couldn't be right. The man was lying. He just had to be.

She found her voice again.

"That's complete crap! My dad would never lie to me. He wouldn't!" she insisted her voice breaking slightly. Again, the man laughed at her and her temper flared in response.

"Oh I see. I have heard of the brain washing that goes on down there, 'All hail the Overseer, all hail the Overseer. We're born in the vault, we die in the fault' and all that assorted lunacy" Moriarty mocked before taking a deep drag of his cigarette. "Listen kid, you've got better programming than our own deputy weld. You'd best wise up quick. You wouldn't anyone...taking of advantage of ya hmm?"

Alex's skin rippled again, threatening to run off without her. "Right okay. Let's just pretend that I believe you. What do I need for his location?"

Moriarty leaned back against the railing of the banister and shot her a toothy grin. For a brief, wonderful moment Alex with the idea of pushing him over the edge of the railing and ending her troubles for good.

"You catch on quick kid. Your father raised a smart kid. Speaking of dear old dad, One hundred caps and Daddy's location is yours."

"Are you nuts? I don't have that kind of money! I've only been out here one day!" Alex exclaimed loudly, causing several passersby to stare with interest.

Moriarty sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with weathered fingers. Evidently he was beginning to become annoyed with her, but frankly, she didn't care.

"Just tell me where he is and I won't beat the crap out of you," Alex threatened, too angry to be diplomatic. Her fists balled tight, leaving tiny crescent shaped groves against her palm. From her wrist, her Pip-boy hummed gently; trying to calm her.

He needn't have bothered.

Moriarty did nothing but let out another string of laughter; howling away like a hyena. Alex could have died on the spot; furious beyond all reasoning as yet another one of her threats had gone ignored. "Oh you're great value kid. James raised you well."

"You don't think I wouldn't do it?"

The Irishman merely smirked. "No, you wouldn't because daddy raised you better than that," he said casually and Alex felt her confidence shrink. It just wasn't used to her threats not working. God she was out of her element. "Listen kid, I'll help you out. For old times sake," Moriarty said, taking a deep drag examining the curls of smoke thoughtfully. "If you don't have the caps to pay for the information then perhaps you can help me with a little problem."

Alex shifted her weight slightly, unease building in her stomach. "Go on."

"This junkie bitch named Silver borrowed quite a few caps off me. Said she could selling me jet at a low price, only she ran and took the Caps with her."

"Yeah? What's that got to do with me?"

"Kill her, and the Caps are yours. Well, yours to pay me with."

Alex hesitated a moment, and Moriarty's eyes narrowed. "Where is she hiding out?"

"That's a good lass. She's hold up in Springvale. Now on you go, scoot."

She didn't need telling twice.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief as she retreated from the Irishman, ignore the creeping sensation up her spine. Dealing with Moriarty had been an experience that she was not willing to repeat.

"That dirty jerk. I can't believe Dad stayed there with me," Alex continued to grumble, not really paying attention to what she was saying. Her mind was pre-occupied with the gruelling prospect of her impending task. She wasn't a killer, but she had to find her father. It did not seem as if she had much choice.

The too familiar sensation of ice flooding into the base of her skull alerted her to the presence of her Pip-Boy connecting into her neural pathways, opening a link between her brain wave frequency and his own artificial one; a sort of private channel that he used so they could communicate without interference

'Just what would your papa say if he knew what you're going to do?' Her Pip-Boy whirled from her wrist with disapproval.

'I'm not going to do Moriarty's dirty work for him. But there's no harm in checking it out. We might find something we can trade for the money.'

The Pip-Boy released what she supposed was a hum of relief.

'Do you even know where Springvale is anyway?'

'I have a rough idea.'

'Forgive me if I'm wrong pet, but you drew on the red sea next to Australia in a geography lesson.'

'Easily done.'

'Not if you're copying from an atlas.'

Alex tapped the screen in irritation. 'Well clever clogs, where it is then?' Alex thought as they made their way through the dusty, warm settlement.

Her Pip-Boy brought up the co-ordinates of the town almost immediately with an almost smug electrical hum.

'You did that on purpose.'

'Don't be daft.'

She secured the straps on her bag and smoothed out her Vault-Tec overalls before leaving the settlement for Springvale.


The situation in Springvale was resolved without any violence. Silver turned out to be a rather twitchy blonde woman hiding out in the only habitable house in Springvale. The woman explained her situation to the Alex and the pair struck a deal. Four hundred caps and she would tell the Saloon owner that Silver was dead. Problem solved and Colin Moriarty was none the wiser.

As soon as she returned, Alex headed straight for the town merchant; following the crudely made signs up across various walkways until she reached a surprisingly large building. It was in better condition than some of the other buildings in Megaton and the front of the shop appeared to be made out the cockpit of a prewar-airbus.

After a somewhat strange encounter with the eccentric owner of Craterside supply, Alex left the shop with a lighter load; an assault rifle, a few medical supplies and two hundred caps to spare. Enough for another night in the saloon if need be. In her other hand was a request for a research assistant from the owner of the store, Moria Brown; who was at least two sticks short of the full bundle. But despite her irritatingly eccentric attitude, Moria was a loved member of the Megaton community. As a gesture of good faith, Moria had presented Alex a modified 101 Jumpsuit; a substantially more armoured version of her former overalls and a notice for a research assistant.

It didn't take long for the young girl to find the unsurprisingly rundown building with the words "Water Processing Plant" hastily scribbled on the side. Several lead pipes jutted out from under the building; running down the crater and spiking off in every direction like a piece of abstract art. Alex pushed the door open and a laugh bubbled up out of her throat. The Vault's plumbing equipment was pretty old but Megaton's was even worse. Corroded lead conduits groaned and shook with age as water was constantly funnelled through and sent off to every part of the town, a continuous sloshing of water gurgled beneath her booted feet.

She touched the walls gingerly and her fingerprints left blurred marks upon the walls; a deep and thick powder of Limescale seemed to coat every surface of the shack.

"Hello? Alex called out over the pipes. "Anyone here?" The wrinkled figure of an old mechanic stepped from a cramped workspace that she assumed was his office, and immediately she thought of Stanley. He had a kind face, the colour of old worn leather. Age lines pulled at every corner of his weathered face and his chin was covered in a sprouting of thick white hair. Weary dark eyes stared back at her, troubled with worry. He was dressed in pale blue overalls and clutched pipe wrench in his left hand. Alex eyed it warily.

"Yeah? Can I help you?" the old mechanic wearily.

"I heard from Gob you've been needing help up here."

The old mechanic nodded as he collected up stray components from floor; tossing them into a large steel container before wiping his hands against his grubby overalls. He made Stanley's suit look well-scrubbed up.

"It's no secret that this place-" he silenced a nearby gurgling pipe with a swift kick, "Is falling to pieces. I haven't got the time to fix the leaks all over town when I'm needed here."

"I could give you a hand."

"Heh, what experience have you had with mechanics stranger?" Alex let a grin crack over her face.

Alex felt a burst of pride. She had been good at her job. "I'm a Vault-tec maintenance Engineer."

A smile cracked across the old man's face, revealing a gap on the side of his mouth.

"Grab a tool belt and hop to it. I'll pay you sixty six caps each leak you fix."

"How many are there?"

"From the pressure in the pipes, I'd say about three."

Alex snapped the toolbelt around her waist, and for the first time since leaving the Vault, she felt a sense of normality. It was deeply comforting. "Yeah, I saw one on the way into town."

"The other two are somewhere else."

"Can I leave my stuff here?"

"Sure thing. What's your name kid?"

"Alex Halsey."

"Well Alex, thanks for doing this. And for the love of God don't screw up now."

She didn't even bother to dignify his comment with a response.

Outside the Water Processing plant, Alex looked for the leaks and spotted three small fountains of water through the settlements. She crossed several bridges and slid down a good few slopes to reach the first leak she had passed the night before. It was at an odd angle so she had difficulty crouching comfortably. She squatted down next to the fractured pipelines, her knees grinding into the dusty ground as she pulled on a pair of calloused gloves.

"Nice to see someone fixing those, didn't think it would be you though."

Alex glanced up and managed a smile she didn't feel for the sheriff of Megaton.

"I need the caps so I can find my dad," Alex replied and she pulled out a pipe wrench; a rare old Stillson model that had certainly seen better days. Applying weight onto the wrench, Alex placed a gloved hand upon the pipe and turned the loose bolt with a moderate amount of pressure. She didn't turn too quickly or hard, wary that too much weight would damage the already fragile duct. Sure enough, as the bolt got harder to turn, the sharp jet of water slowed. She picked out another wrench with smaller jaws and made quick work of the minor bolts that were weak around the base of the pipe. The young woman then gripped the pressure valve and tightened it slightly; causing the weak spray to cease altogether.

"You're pretty handy with a wrench girl."

"I was even better at hitting people with it," Alex said without looking up.

"Don't be a smartass now," Simms warned, sounding almost parental. Or was that just her imagination.

"Sorry."

She wasn't. Not really. But Simms didn't need to know that. She looked up properly. The sheriff watched her intently but he did not appear angry or annoyed by her cheek. If anything, he seemed very intrguied by her.

"You're from a vault. I don't suppose you know anything about atomic weapons?"

Alex went back to her work. "Mostly theory. We didn't really have any weaponry to practice on Why?" She tightened another bolt with a grunt of effort. It would be much easier to work without someone watching over her shoulder.

"Well…" Lucas Simms started. "It's about that bomb."

The memory of Burke slithered into her mind, causing her to pause a moment. "What about it?"

"I was thinkin' about trying to disarm it for good. But I don't trust any of the locals to tinker with it. Besides, most people don't even realize it's still a threat. And hell, Cromwell and those crazies from the Church of Atom, they worship the damn thing. Figured you'd had a better idea how it works. They say Vault Dwellers are clever."

Alex laughed without meaning to and looked up. The idea was just so ludicrous. Clearly he hadn't met Butch and his gang. "I lived with some fucking morons in the Vault. But You want me to take a look at it?" she asked, sitting back on her haunches.

"I'd pay you for your trouble kid. Hundred caps alright with you?"

She cracked a proper smile. A hundred caps was better than alright. A hundred caps could buy food for a week.

Maybe you should tell him about Burke came the disembodied voice of her Pip-Boy, and for the briefest of moments she hesitated for a reason she didn't understand. She slipped her wrench into the toolbelt and suddenly felt her wrist ache again. God he nearly had broken it.

"Sherriff…" She started. "Yesterday when I first got here. There was a man at the saloon, Mister Burke."

The sheriff seemed to tense with alarm. "Yeah what about him? He try anything on with you kid?" he said with almost parental concern.

Alex swallowed down her hesitation. "No, he tried to talk me into rigging the Bomb to explode."

Lucas Simms himself nearly detonated in response.

"He did what?! Oh, I never did like the look of him," Simms seethed in anger, and suddenly Alex regretted even mentioning it. What if he thought her an accessory? The rifle on his back looked awfully menacing.

"What are you going to do?" she said, trying to sound braver than she felt.

Simms wiped his damp brow beneath his hat. "Not much I can do. He took off yesterday; said he had some business to take care of so he's long gone by now, the bastard. But I swear: If he steps within a mile of Megaton, he's a fucking dead man."

She thought of the look he had given her before he left and her flesh pimpled in response. She wasn't used to men looking at her like that; with a strange mixture of infatuation and interest. It was deeply unnerving. She was glad he was gone.

The sheriff glanced over her to the Bomb, looking deeply concerned. "Listen girl, we need that bomb disabled as quickly as possible. If Burke knows it's still armed, others could as well. If you disarm that bomb before the end of today I'll give you three hundred caps. Hell I'd even let you move in."

Three hundred caps was more than she could have ever hoped for.

Alex stood up abruptly, ignoring the crack of protest in her knees. "I'll get to it right away."

"Good! Just don't go blowing us up now."

She managed to smile again. "No promises."


The sky had been painted a dull shade of murky orange before Alex finally finished up all her jobs for the day and collected her rewards. An ecstatic Walter had rewarded her with two hundred caps and a request for any scrap metal. Lucas Simms had been more than generous to the rowdy teenager, presenting her with a hundred caps as well as a deed to an empty house in Megaton. For that, Alex was thankful. Meant she wouldn't have to pay Nova for a bed every night and save a hundred and twenty caps a night. Fatigued pulled at every joint in her body shrieked for rest. Moriarty would have to wait, Alex needed sleep.

Disarming the Megaton bomb had been quite a challenge and had taken the help of a blood red Mentat pill before she had the nerve to cut the cables she knew were right. She had thought of Burke the moment she cut the cord that linked the reactor to the undetonated timer. If the man made good on his promise (which she did not doubt in the slightest) he would come back to Megaton and find the bomb completely useless. Alex hoped she would not be around when he found out it had been disarmed.

And more especially, who had disarmed it.

Weary, and unwilling to waste any more energy thinking about Mister Burke, Alex pushed the shack door open. It was a modest sized house, bigger than her quarters inside Vault 101 but sparely adorned. Despite the apparent flimsiness of the walls, they were surprising sturdy. She dropped her travelling sack near a set of lockers and breathed in the smell of her new home. The ceiling sagged somewhat with age and the house had a musty smell that tasted distinctly like the inside of a wool shoe. The previous owner was probably a mechanic for various broken tools and scrap were piled in a corner near a weathered workbench.

Upon further investigating of the stairs landing, Alex found a simple desk and a bed and another footlocker had housed several blankets that were a little more threadbare than she would have liked. It wasn't exactly her home in the Vault, but it wasn't Moriarty's saloon either. She swallowed the lump of hesitation in her throat and quickly made up her bed, desperate for sleep.

It wasn't until Alex heard an almost silent buzz that whirling away that she realised she was not alone in the house. A Mister Handy came floating out out from the kitchen, humming a merry tune to himself. Just like the Mark II model, Andy, back in the Vault, his body was constructed from large sphere with three robotic limbs; each highly flexible and holding a small arsenal in each limb. He let out a synthesized noise that Alex guessed was his equivalent of a gasp.

"I am sorry Madam, I did not see you there. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Wadsworth, your person butler and I am here to attend to your personal needs. Is there anything you require of me today?" He asked cheerfully in a businesslike, English accent. He sounded so much like Andy that she found herself reaching out and planting a hand on his steel chasse.

"I'm going to bed. Can you get me up at 0600?" The brunette turned and flopped down onto her bed, not bothering to change out of her jumpsuit or to even make the bed properly.

"Of course Madam, I am fully equipped to deal with-" Alex never found out who he was equipped to deal with for the young woman was asleep before Wadsworth even finished his sentence.