Chapter 2:
Gears rumbled and cranked below them as the platform descended ever deeper and deeper. Jonathan looked shell-shocked, still wearing his baseball uniform. Jeff looked grim. Their neighbors from Sanctuary Hills had mixed reactions. Mr. and Mrs. Callahan had their heads up with serious looks on their faces. They both had military training if Andy remembered correctly. Mrs. Heady behind them, looked as though she were ready to have a stroke at any moment. Her husband had died some years earlier. It was a wonder how she had gotten herself to the vault in the small amount of time the warnings afforded. The gears cranked on and on, lowering them further and further. Andy idly wondered how many feet deep the vault was built into the earth.
The platform descended ever deeper and deeper into the earth until a room became visible from the floor and slowly unveiled itself. With a resounding clang, the platform came to a halt and the protective grating moved aside.
Except for the raw metal, everything was painted bright yellow and blue. Vault-Tec employees called out to the newest residents, directing them to step off of the elevator platform. She even heard the chirpy slogan called out, but it didn't sound so positive now.
The newest residents of Vault 111 slowly made their way forward in shock. Most of the residents moved forward to the decontamination room as directed by the doctors, while Andy and Jeff were stopped by a few Vault-Tec employees who gave them forms to fill out and check their bags into storage. A temporary measure until they could finish decontamination, they were assured. Andy noted as the backpack and duffel were put into cardboard boxes which were then placed in lockers, the small keys given to them.
Andy held onto the key like it was her life, fist balling around it. After thinking for a few moments, Andy threaded it onto a leather bracelet that she had on her wrist. A Vault-Tec employee directed her to a new line that led deeper into the vault. She asked for a size small as matching blue jumpsuits were handed to each of them along with sturdy leather boots. They walked down a tunnel filled with large wands that emitted humming sounds. Jeff turned around handed her his locker key.
"Hold onto this for me until we're done with the decontamination." He told her. Andy added it onto her bracelet turned keyring.
"This way to the decontamination pods." A man with a lab coat and clipboard instructed. They turned left at the end of the hallway. Through the open door to a decontamination bay Andy could see people changing into vault suits and climbing into the massive pods. She shivered at the temperature and held her arms around herself for warmth.
'Around 8 pods per bay,' Andy noted to herself. 'Five bays in total. But why so many? They should be able to cycle everyone through decontamination, so they should only need a few.'
A man in a lab coat directed Andy to a privacy screen where she could change into her new jumpsuit. Stretchy, comfortable, formfitting, and lots of pockets, she decided. After changing and slipping the new boots on, she went back into the middle of the room. Putting a few things like her watch and jewelry into the pockets of the suit, her uncle caught her eye in the middle of the room.
"Something isn't right here," he whispered to her when she got close enough. "There shouldn't be this many decontamination pods for a one-time event. And where are the exits to the living quarters? The layout of this vault is all wrong." His brow furrowed. "The vault layout I received said that Security was supposed to be where we are now, the decontamination pods should be back in that room there, and the stairs to the lower levels just past where that doorway is."
"Are you sure you aren't remembering wrong?"
"I'm certain."
"Jeff?"
"Just-be careful. We don't have a choice at this point, but don't trust these scientists," he ended.
"Sir?" An approaching man in a lab coat caught Jeff's attention. "Are you ready to enter decontamination?"
"Yeah. Yeah, just a second." Jeff waved him off. Looking back at Andy, "Just remember what I said. Anything happens, you keep a close eye on Jonathan."
Andy nodded. "I will. Don't worry about me."
Jeff nodded once, and then turned to get into a decontamination pod. Andy did the same when another scientist indicated that it was time for her to enter a pod as well. She turned and clambered into one of the large machines. As the door swung closed and air pressure hissed through, she couldn't help but to note how cold it was, and how quickly the temperature was dropping.
No! This couldn't be! Jeff was right, this place wasn't what it was supposed to be. Vault-Tec lied, this isn't what they signed up for!
The glass panel fogged over, and ice crystals started to form from the humidity of her breath. Everything went black and she remembered no more.
A whoosh, and hiss of air.
Cold. So cold. Warmth? Where was the warmth?
Supports fell away and Andy felt her body pitch forward. She hit the floor in a dead collapse. She tried to open her eyes, it was so hard, and the lights were so bright. She rolled herself onto her back and squinted her eyes, trying to see. As her vison became clearer, Andy started to make out her surroundings. A few decontamination pod doors swung open, the occupants of one or two falling out like Andy had, the rest remained inside.
Grabbing a pipe attached to the pod she had just fallen from a few minutes previous, Andy pulled herself into a sitting position. Rubbing grime from her eyes, she looked around. A woman was on her back in much the same way Andy had just been, rubbing her eyes. One or two people weren't moving. Andy looked away and up at the ceiling. Pipes running from place to place, some hissing some kind of coolant or other steam out. Rust wrapped a few pipes, clinging to the bolts and brackets especially around where the steam escaped.
The door at the end of the room slid open. Andy turned her head to face it. A man walked through. White skin, bald, an angry frown on his face, the same blue and yellow suit on as the rest of them. Big, too. At least 6 feet tall, she'd bet, and maybe 200 pounds. As he walked down the steps, she corrected herself. Nearly bald. A military style buzz cut. He looked around the room at the different pods.
"Two dead in this room, the rest look like they're recovering just fine." He called behind him to someone Andy couldn't see. The newcomer grabbed a man out of a pod, hoisting him to his feet and helping him find his footing before helping the woman on the floor to her feet. Andy shivered and hugged herself tight. Andy found herself staring at his outstretched hand for a second before taking it. He lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing to him. He grabbed her by the shoulder to steady her when she wobbled.
"What happened? This isn't..." She shook her head. "Who are you?"
He hesitated for a moment. "John. John Wakowski. I'm in the Army, the 2/4. You?" He questioned.
"Andy Smithwright. I'm a student at Boston University." She snorted. "Well, was. I don't imagine it's exactly open right now."
John let out a chuckle. "No. No, I guess not." He gestured to the doorway. "Come on, we're gathering everyone in another room. There are no Vault-Tec employees anywhere. In fact, it doesn't look like there have been for a while."
While they had been talking, a tall woman with blond hair pulled back into a no-nonsense bun had entered the room and was typing on the computer terminal on the raised platform. They made eye contact and nodded to one another as Andy exited. John stayed behind, helping people up and explaining where to go.
Andy felt a jolt of panic rush through her. Two bodies, there were two bodies in the room with her. Jeff and Jonathan, where were they? Andy pushed past a few people who were walking painfully slowly, rushing to find out where they could be. A few twists and turns down ill-maintained hallways and she found herself in the dining area John had directed her to. She stumbled once or twice along the way, but she found herself emerging into a small room with only two cafeteria style tables. There! A man with a bald head talking to a nervous seventeen-year-old.
"Jonathan! Jeff!" She cried out and ran to them. Jeff caught her in a hug.
"There were two bodies in the bay, I didn't know if it was you two or not. The pods weren't opening and I-" She stammered.
"We're all right. Andy, we're all here, we're all fine."
Jonathan looked at his father. "Dad, what's going on here?"
Jeff looked serious. Deadly serious. "Let's sit down first." Jonathan sat close to him, Andy across. "I've only been awake a few hours, I was one of the first ones up. The pods aren't waking everyone up all at once, it doesn't seem, only two every fifteen minutes or so. They put me in the bay next to you two." Jeff looked at his hands. "From what we can tell, from the computer logs so far and hacking into the database system. This vault was a lie. I was right, when we first came in. Everything was wrong. The layout, the procedures, hell, even the process to get us in. There shouldn't have been soldiers guarding the gate, this was a Vault-Tec project, with Vault-Tec people, and I don't know why the Army was here too."
"What are those pods we were in?" Jonathan cut in. "I feel like I've been stuck in a snowdrift and am just now waking up."
Jeff looked at his hands folded on the table in front of him. "You're not wrong, Son. We got into the Overseer's Office. The employees here were nothing but skeletons. We moved them into a side closet. No need for everyone to freak out. The bay I was in held a team of military people. Army. SpecOps if I'm correct. One of them, a big blond man named Jeffords is the captain. They've pretty much taken things over and are giving directions."
"Dad. What is it? You're rambling, what is it you're not telling us?"
Jeff looked at his son. "Cryogenics."
"What?"
"This 'vault' was never a vault. It was an experiment. I hacked into the terminal in the Overseer's Office and it was all there." Jeff breathed out heavily. Andy wasn't sure if it was a sigh or a half-aborted rueful laugh. "This vault is an experiment in cryogenics. They froze us here, set a timer, and left. We've been in here for 200 years."
A cold ball filled Andy's stomach that had nothing to do with the temperature. "No. They couldn't," she breathed. "That's against the law. It has to be. We never signed anything! There was no consent for something like this! How could the government allow this to happen?"
Jeff stood up. "I saw the time logs. The journal logs of the Overseer. Apparently, they were supposed to get an all-clear signal after six months. Except it never came. The Overseer wouldn't let any of the staff leave, eventually they ran out of food and there was a mutiny. From what we could tell, either they're all dead, or a few left the vault. But, considering how that was 200-odd years ago, who knows. It doesn't matter, anyways." He put a hand on his son's shoulder reassuringly. "I'm going to help Jeffords. If we're going to get out of here, we need to know exactly what's going on and what we're up against. You two stay in here, I'll be back. Look after each other." Jeff left the cafeteria, his son and niece in shock still processing their change in situation.
Andy looked around the cafeteria. A few people sat at the tables, more were in what looked like a barracks with bunk beds and bare mattresses lying down. Everyone was in shock, most still pale, from the cold or the shock, she couldn't tell.
Andy looked back at her cousin. "It's going to be okay," she told him. She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.
