The Mojave Shadow
Prologue: The Rise
It had been 3 days since Emma and I had left the vault. We stayed at our rendezvous point, hoping that others would come. The holotape I left in the vault was found by a few people, and in return they brought more with them. In total there were 34 people who arrived, including us. The people who came also brought weapons, food, water and other supplies that we would need to use sparingly. Some of the other people wondered what to do next, of course I had no idea, I was making it up as I went. Everyone sat around the bon fire we had made and we discussed what to do now. Some said we should stay at the ruins of the city were it had a relatively safe structure. Others said we should try to force ourselves back into the vault. "It'll be a cold day in hell before that happens." Someone said aloud, "No one is safe in those vaults, we all know that." I said in response. "No Shit! Everyone was fighting for what was left! There was nothing left." The guy next to me said. I bumped up my voice a couple of octaves. "So what are we going to do? Anyone have any ideas?"
Everyone went silent and only stared at me. "Sam, you brought these people here. You have to bring them to their lives they deserve." Emma said looking up at me. I had never felt so conflicted in my life, I wasn't sure if I could help bring these people to safety, let alone lead them to it. Frustrated, I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed angrily. "Okay, think. What are the odds of someone surviving a nuclear holocaust?" I mumbled to myself. "Before the war there was just over 8 billion people in 2077. The power of one nuke, can kill twenty-two thousand people within the blast radius. One nuke for every 22,000 people, X-amount of nukes launched in a matter of 2 hours..." Some gave me strange looks, as if I were either a genius or fucking insane, so I continued the math in my head as I paced back and forth. I finally came to the conclusion of the estimated survivors, but I knew no one would understand the math. I forced to tell them my thoughts, "I'm not sure if there are survivors in this hellish wasteland." Everyone lowered their heads in disappointment, I tried to brighten it up by saying, "Hey I could be wrong! Perhaps people have made it through the war. Look at us, we did!" Most of them looked back up. "Now, c'mon. We should start trying to find some more adequate shelter. We'll start in the morning."
The time between what I said and the next morning, might as well have been a life time. I couldn't sleep at all that night, Emma lied next to me, sleeping peacefully. Looking at her, she was happy to follow me wherever I would go. Her loyalty was refreshing to me. This thought reinvigorated me to start planning for the next day and so on. I wasn't sure what everyone else had packed, but I looked into my pack again to take inventory. 10 Stimpaks, 5 instant meal provisions, and 6 bottles of water. Plus my improvised weapon -my crowbar- and the 10mm pistol with the scarce several rounds. I figured I'd take into account of the rest of the supplies when everyone wakes up.
After a few moments of utter silence, I heard a blood curdling scream come from the scattered group. instinctively I grabbed both my gun and crowbar and ran towards the noise. Emma awoke to the noise as well, she staggered up to run after me. "Sam! Wait for me!" She yelled at me. I reeled around, took her hand and kept running. The screaming continued even after we got there. A woman was being attacked by a hideous looking creature. The creature was knee-high and furless. Whatever it was, it was dragging her away by her foot. The men around her were trying to beat the animal off of her when I ran up, and with all my strength, swung the crowbar at its head. The animal squealed in pain as it slumped lifeless to the ground. The poor woman was almost traumatized by the experience, she wasn't hurt but her leg was scratched up a bit. I looked back at the dead animal, "what the hell was it?" was among the first questions. "Looks like a mole or some really fuckin' huge rat." Someone exclaimed. "My God, these are worse than radroaches." This is when I knew we had to start moving. I knew the effects of radioactive mutation in animals and bugs. For all they knew, this was a one-time-deal. "Everyone! I think we should start moving, there might be more of these things out there." I announced. Everyone agreed and they started packing their things. "But first, is there anyone who brought any kind of weapons with them?"
About twelve people raised their hands, they came up to me with 3 R91's, 2 'single shot' shotguns and 7 more 10mm pistols. "This is good," I said, "Now, who here can shoot?" I asked the others. All but one raised their hands. The one who didn't was armed with one of the R91's. "Why did you bring a gun if you can't shoot?", I asked him. "I-I knew that someone would be more efficient with it than me." He said nervously, "I understand, as least you prepared to an extent. But for now," I handed him my crowbar and he handed over the R91, "You'll need something to protect yourself with, as well as the others." He agreed to the terms. I looked at the old assault rifle and pulled out the magazine. The mag was full, so I slid it back into the gun and cocked it. "Damn it." One of the bullets jammed between the bolt and the ejector. I pulled it back again a couple of times and the first bullet chambered, finally. 'Shit." I thought to myself, 'This gun would have cost him his life.' I slung the gun onto my back, giving me a second weapon other than the 10mm pistol on my hip. "Okay everyone! Lets get moving." I called out, "Where will we go?" Someone yelled out. "Well we were in a small city block for a few days, so I figure if we head further west, we'll find some other place to stay." I replied, "Why west?" The same person questioned. "There is a city about twenty miles west from out vaults location. We've already walked four miles from the vault, if we start walking now we can make it to the city by morning." So we all headed westward with no argument.
Three hours passed at the slowest logical pace possible, and day light started to shine. We had found a road about one and a half hours into the walk and I had spotted a building nearby. Possibly a pre-war gas station. "Alright people, stay here and I'll look for some help." I readied my rifle and slowly opened the door to the building. I walked in and the door slowly closed behind me, "Hello?" I said softly. No answer. So I called a little louder, "Hello?" This time there was a noise, like some wet footsteps. The steps were coming from the back room, so I approached it with caution. I leveled my rifle and opened the door. I looked inside and saw someone. Their breathing was raspy and heavy. The person was completely naked and unhealthily bony. It seemed as though they were burned at the stake, their skin appeared almost leather like. I quietly called for them a couple of times, but they didn't turn around. Eventually I got annoyed and whistled at them. When they turned around, I was petrified. The person's face was burned all to hell, their eyes were foggy beyond color recognition. They stared at me for what seemed like forever. Then they let out a loud, gurgled screech and ran toward me. Before I knew it, it tackled me to the ground wailing at my face. Instinctively I kicked it from me and grabbed my rifle. It was quick to regain its grounding and ran at me again. So, I took my rifle and smacked it in the face, knocking it down. Before it could get up again, I ran up to it, my rifle pointing down at its face. I fired a burst into its head and it died where it fell before hand.
I was hyperventilating, then I felt something trickling down the side of me face. I was bleeding, the thing had cut the top right side of my forehead. Some of the group ran into the building to see if I was alright. Emma ran up to me crying, I dropped my gun and held her tight. "I'm alright." I tried to reassure her, "No you're not." She sobbed, "You're hurt." I felt the cut, and it stung like crazy. "Is there anyone who can stitch a cut?" I asked the group that was inside. Some shrugged, others shook their head, then someone said they'd get someone who does. I sat down and rested my back against the cash register counter. Emma squeezed my hand tight, as did I. Someone came in after a few minutes, "Someone needed some medical assistance?" They said. "Yeah, down here." I said as I waved him down to where I was. He got started immediately, after about the third stitch, he started making small talk. "So, what made you leave the vault?" He asked. I chuckled, "What made you leave? OW! Fuck." I said, "Sorry. I guess what made me leave, was finding a holotape in the vault lobby, and-" I interrupted, " So, you found my tape, huh?" I asked and smiled. "So you must be Samuel, yes?" I nodded, "What do I call you, Doc?" I asked. "My name is Shaun, Anthony Shaun." I offered my hand, he took it and shook. "Nice to meet you, Anthony." I said. "Like wise, Sam." He smiled. "Well, your all done. And this may be stupid to say since you're leading us, but try not to strain the stitches or they'll come loose." He said as he started for the door. "In that case, do you have something that will keep it together?" I asked. He tossed me a roll of medical tape and I caught it in mid air. "Thanks, Doc." He waved and then left. I took the tape and put a double layer over the stitched wound, then stood back up.
I sighed, "Okay, let's get moving." I said to Emma, I picked up my gun and put it back on my back. I took Emma's hand and we both went out to face the group and continue on. Some of the others asked me what had happened, so I told them the truth. I fluffed up the story by saying that what had happened can guarantee that there were survivors among us.
We continued down the road for another hour, then I saw something on the horizon. I wasn't sure if I was delirious from the heat of the wasteland, or if I was seeing a column of smoke in front of, what seemed like... A city. 'A CITY?' I wondered with excitement. Everyone started noticing the smoke in the distance, and were all estatic. We all started for the structure at a brisk walk, and about twenty minutes later, we were ever so closer to paradise, we then ran to the gate. "NEW RENO" The sign was a welcoming sight. We all stopped before the gate and the guards in front approached us. "Whats your business here?" They demanded. Being the unanimous leader, I spoke up. "We just want shelter, we recently left our vault, so we seek refuge." I said as sincerely as I could. One of the guards came up face to face sneering at me. "You should have gone back to that vault of your's. A city like this will skin you alive." "Well, I'm sure this place is better than the hell we once called home." The guard laughed, "Alright, you think this place will be better than your vault? Then be our guests, welcome to 'New Reno'. Open the gates!" As the gate opened, Emma took my hand. "You did it, Sam. You brought these people to a new life." She said as we looked into each other's eyes. I was never so happy in my life, and I knew this was the life that was waiting for us. Emma and I kissed, "Are you ready, Emm?" I whispered, "Yes, Sam. I'm behind you all the way." We took or first steps into the city, 'So it begins...' Was the only thought in my mind after that...