Chapter 2 – You've got it all wrong...

The platform made it to the top; Nate was blinded by the sun's bright rays. His hand immediately moved to shield his sensitive eyes from the extremely sunny day that had been awaiting him at the very top of the platform. As it came to a stop, his eyes took a moment to adjust before his vision cleared and everything came into view... The sky was blue, with white clouds spread across. Surrounding him, the few skeletons of the people near the platform were still around, and the machinery that had been parked was either turned over, or completely rusted. But what really caught his attention... Was his neighborhood. The top of the hill overlooked Sanctuary Hills. His home. Stepping up to the edge of the hill, he looked out to see ruins. Collapsed houses, in shambles. Cars out in the street, turned over, rusted and with the wheels popped off. There were more skeletons, and Halloween decorations spread across the cracked, paved streets. The trees were no longer carrying autumn colors. They were, for the most part, dead. Though some were growing leaves once more, or maybe they were trees that had long since replaced any that were in the nuclear blast just... Twenty years ago, maybe? Somewhere around there? Nate wasn't sure, and he didn't know if he'd ever be sure. Clearly, there were people here on the surface. If that murderer and the woman in the bio-hazard suit had broken in, that must've meant life still existed on the surface. Somewhere... There were people. Could anyone be living in Sanctuary? Perhaps people who'd taken up residence where he used to live? Or maybe not... It seemed... Undisturbed, at least from here. Either way, without a clue where to start on his search, one thing was on his mind.

Going home.

What else was there to do at a moment like this except see what remained of his old home? Of his car? Of his belongings? Looted and stolen? By any possible survivors? He stopped thinking about the possibility of Sanctuary Hills having been ransacked by miraculous survivors of the bombs, or where his wife's killer and son's kidnapper may have been from, if everyone here was dead.

Nate stepped off of the platform now, his boots crunching underneath grass, and skeletal remains of those who had been unfortunate enough to be stuck above the surface. Walking through, it felt like just moments ago that he was running down with his wife and son, trying desperately to get to the vault in time. As he neared the gate, he saw tons of skeletons awaiting him. The crowd of people who'd been pleading to be let into the vault. They'd all been killed in the blast. Some of them were his neighbors... Everyone at the Veteran's Hall. All the friends he'd made, people he'd gotten to know. They were dead too. His entire life was... Over. All that remained was himself, and his son, wherever he was. Nate took a moment to be silent for the people who'd died, just outside of the gate. A tragedy had happened here. A tragedy had happened all over the country, all over the world. Once Nate had dedicated enough time to them, he moved on, walking down the trail that led to the tiny bridge over a stream of water and into the neighborhood itself. It wasn't anything like it was before he left it. But that much was clear. He just needed to see... What remained of his home?

Stepping out into the street, it was quiet... So quiet. No people, no screaming, no crying, no birds chirping, no wind rustling the leaves. It felt weirdly still, calm. Some would say peaceful... But it gave Nate an overwhelming feeling of absolute dread. Like a dark shadow was looming over him as he took more and more steps, following the cracked sidewalks path down the street. Nature had certainly begun to take over, more than likely a short while after everyone was dead. There was overgrowth in the sidewalk, on the street. Some of the houses were torn down, and had vines and other leaves and roots now attached to them. Without people, nature would devour everything left of their mark on the world. How insignificant, they seemed, when nature cared not for the absence of people.

Eventually, he'd come right across his front doorstep. His door had been completely blown off, allowing him a view of the inside of the house. Somehow, the entire building hadn't collapsed. The roof had some holes, and one of the walls was missing a good chunk, with debris scattered across the floor. But for the most part... Everything was intact. All of their belongings, the TV, the fridge, couch, the holotape viewer, they were all destroyed. Beyond repair, but it wasn't like there was any power to get them up and running, anyway. Turning to his left, he walked into the small corridor which lead to the rest of the house. To his left, the bathroom. The floor was cracked, sunlight was pouring in through a hole in the wall. The toilet was broken, with pieces of ceramic scattered. Strangely enough... He had noticed something strange about the house. With all the debris, and cracks, not a single object was thrown onto the ground. Busted picture frames, bottles, even old, burnt books. They were placed upon surfaces, almost in a neat fashion as if someone had come in and cleaned it up. The further he walked into the house; the cleaner things seemed to get. Most of the debris waited in the living room, but in the corridor, and now his bedroom, things seemed strangely neat. His mattress was gone, and the bed frame was broken, but there wasn't any debris scattered or dirt he could spot. The broken dresser was leaning against the wall, with the drawers all shut. Inspecting them, he discovered some of his old clothing, as well as Nora's. Neatly folded and tucked away... It hadn't been disturbed this entire time? Turning around and walking to the opposite side of the room, he opened the closet up. His military fatigues, still there. As well as his old cap, and some medals. Looking down at himself, he figured it was best to get out of the stupid vault suit. Stripping down, he changed into his old uniform. Though he told Nora he wouldn't ever have worn it again... It, for now, just seemed like a better choice. Stepping out of the room, he was met with Shaun's closed door.

Nate's heart skipped a beat for a moment as he stood just outside of it. Taking a deep breath, a shaky hand moved up and pressed itself flat against the wooden door. Slowly... It creaked open. Inside, he was met with a sight he hadn't expected. Lying on the floor, next to Shaun's crib, was the metallic body of Fleur, the Nanny Bot. She was rusted, one of her eyes was broken. How long had she been 'dead'? The neatness made sense now. Even as they were gone, she managed to do her best to keep the house as clean as she could. His wife... Fleur... Those people. Everyone was dead, so far. The only people living, to him, was a killer and a kidnapper. Slowly crouching down... Nate picked up a little book in one of her metallic claws. Shaun's children's book.

'YOU'RE SPECIAL.' The title read.

Slowly setting the book down, he looked at the crib just beside him, "I'm comin', buddy..." He said, quietly. He wasn't sure what it was... But when he was supposed to be feeling mental anguish and absolute misery, given the state of the world, and the remains of his life and home, he was filled with motivation. Looking at Fleur, he quickly picked her body up, bringing her out into the living room. Setting her down, the next thing he did was move to the laundry room, where he had placed the Miss Nanny box, manual and some special tools whenever they had purchased her. Dragging the box out, and grabbing the toolset, he walked back over to the Nanny bot and got down onto the floor. Turning the box over, he dumped out everything that was inside. There were some spare parts, a single eye, a claw, some key components and the manual to fixing up one of the bots in case anything ever went wrong. There was also a number to call for refunds or replacements, but that wouldn't do him any good now.

Quickly, he gave the manual a read, and once he was done, began to get to work. The first thing he did was replace one of her eyes. The extra claw would be kept in case she ever needed it replaced again, which, he hoped no situation ever lead to her having to need that replaced. Once the new eye had been put in place of the old, broken one, he popped her backside open, looking through. There were a couple fried wires, and her circuit board definitely needed to be either fixed or replaced. It didn't seem beyond repair... She wasn't beyond repair. He could bring her back! Speak to her... He'd speak to anyone right about now. It felt strange and lonely, especially with how quiet it was outside. Either way, fixing her was going to take a fair amount of work. But at the moment, he had the necessary parts and tools. Now all he had to do was figure it out...

Hours had passed by. The bright soon was no longer in the center of the sky, but beginning to move down, toward the west now. In another couple of hours, nightfall would come. This worried Nate... As desperate as he was to get Fleur in working order again, he still didn't have food, water or a comfortable place to sleep. His house would have to do for shelter, but he could feel the temperature dropping outside, and his body could use some water. There was a river nearby, but... Would it be irradiated? If the water was contaminated, he'd more than likely get sick from it. And travelling down to Vault 111 to collect water from their sinks seemed like a lot of legwork. He could go a couple of days without food or water. But soon... He'd need to find some basic needs fast, otherwise he'd perish before ever finding his son.

Another couple of hours had passed. With the sun having set, it was too dark to see. Luckily for him, his PIP Boy had a flashlight option that illuminated the room enough for him to still see what he was working on for Fleur... Finally, it was complete. For the time being, however, he found himself exhausted. Exhausted from the day's events, and working on Fleur. He had a lot to think about, a lot to reflect on and a lot to dream. He hoped tonight wouldn't be filled with nightmares... Lying down on the floor, he'd used the crumpled-up vault suit to rest his head, and had grabbed a torn, old blanket to wrap himself in. Softly sighing, he shut his eyes... But it was too quiet. Unbearably quiet...Moving his PIP Boy up to his face, he decided to check the radio tab. Could he possibly pick up any frequencies? Were there even any?

There were exactly two.

'Diamond City Radio.'

'Classical Music Radio.'

While it was interesting to see two radio stations broadcasting... The name of the first one caught his attention the most... "Diamond City...?" He mumbled out loud, selecting it. So... Civilization wasn't completely gone. Diamond City must've been some kind of place set up by the survivors of the war. It had to be, there was never any Diamond City before. He waited for his PIP Boy to begin broadcasting the signal to him... And after a few moments... It started.

A song was playing. Instantly, just after the first few lyrics, Nate recognized the song.

"I don't want to set the world on fire," The song went.

"I just want to start a flame in your heart..."

Well, with the absence of recording studios, no doubt new songs couldn't exactly be written, recorded, distributed and broadcasted nationwide. If civilization wasn't completely gone, surely there were performances still. Singers, dancers, and new music. But it wasn't being recorded. Or maybe, there were day time broadcasts with new music, from this 'new world' to listen to sometime soon. Something to look forward to... As Nate began to fall asleep to the song, his attention was caught by a voice over the radio. This station had a DJ...

"And now, a short, er – Commercial break. Brought to you by Diamond City Radio's sponsors... They help me, um, us, stay on the air. So... Be sure to give them some business. Ahem, Kathy and John's super salon...! Tired of that old, dirty haircut? Let John and Kathy turn your moppy head into something from the upper stands...! So... Be sure to give Kathy and John's Super Salon a visit... For some caps. Especially if you like listening to the radio. Ahem... And now, for -… Orange Colored Sky... A timeless classic, sang by Nat King Cole... You probably know that by now, though..." The DJ was awkward, stilted and weirdly quiet. Nate wasn't quite sure how he managed to land himself this particular job, as his personality was all wrong. Did most people today lack charisma and cheery attitudes? He wouldn't blame them. If the world out there was the same as it was here in Sanctuary, everything was in shambles. Ruins. And whatever was left of society more than likely was nothing but a massive, crummy dumpster. He'd soon find out... But a few things took priority first. Fleur needed to be activated, food needed to be gathered, and a reliable source of water had to be established before he ventured out there. Perhaps in this new society, someone could help him find the man who killed his wife and stole his son. With no leads, and no knowledge of who he might be or where he might come from... He couldn't just aimlessly walk in a random direction, hoping to run across him.

As the song played, Nate turned over onto his side, his left arm stuck out to have his radio propped up against the ground, letting the song play. Once more... He shut his eyes, and let himself drift off to sleep.

That night... There were no dreams. He was asleep one moment, and then he awoke to birds chirping, and sunlight shining on his face through the holes in the wall. At least there weren't any nightmares... Slowly sitting up on the ground, he felt his throat was a bit sore. He was incredibly thirsty... But he wasn't sure where to find water. Looking down at Fleur, he figured he might as well activate her first before going off to find water. Crouching beside her, he grabbed a small tool that he could fit into a little power button in her back panel. Once he pressed it, he retreated the tool and then shut her back panel. Sitting back on the ground, he waited for her to activate... Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing...

Still nothing...

Nate grabbed the manual, looking through it once more. Where had he gone wrong? Why wasn't this working? Reading through again and again, he couldn't find a skipped step or anything wrong that he'd done. Tossing the manual aside, he swore as he looked down at the metallic body of the Nanny Bot. Perhaps General Atomic's bots weren't created to last more than a couple of decades. Sighing, he stood off the floor and left the house. The river just next to the bridge that led out of Sanctuary Hills wasn't dried out, and still had water. However, it wasn't purified. No doubt it was contaminated, and may still be irradiated. Nate wasn't sure how to purify irradiated water, but for now, would have to simply boil the water, at the very least. It would be somewhat clean... Though, he wouldn't know the level of radiation he'd be in-taking with each drink. Once he arrived at the bridge, he carefully got down to the side of the water. Crouching down, he washed his hands and face. The water was cool, and enjoyable... But to bathe in it or use it for more than drinking was probably a bad idea. Cupping his hands, he gathered what he could and began to drink. Again, and again until his throat was no longer parched... His PIP Boy went off; Raising his arm to look, it seemed it could tell him whenever he ingested irradiated substances. Only know did he notice there was also a Geiger counter on it. That'd be useful.

Now that he'd drank some water, as awful as it was for his health, he walked away from the bridge. The next thing he had to do was find food – He was already hungry now, and would be even hungrier later on in the day. His first instinct was to scavenge the nearby houses for old canned goods he could find stored away in their cabinets and drawers. House after house, he dug through all sorts of containers, and raided the kitchens. He found cram, cans of beans and other items he could cook up over a fire and a pot of boiling, radiated water. No doubt whatever he ate later would leave him sick and bent over... Some spots offered good rewards for his scavenging. Old water bottles, more than likely unaffected by the outside world's radiation. He opened one up, and took a few gulps. The difference in quality between this bottled water and the river water was drastic... It was clean. Gathering up some bottles in an old bag he found in a closet, he also took any other food items he had found and stuffed them inside. Making his way back to his house, he sat on top of his old, broken, rusted car underneath the car port's roof. Bursting one of the fruit cans open – He sniffed the inside, dry heaving from the smell. Canned goods typically didn't last over a single decade, but this smelled and looked like it had been rotting inside the can for hundreds of years. He tossed it aside, instead going for a can of lentils. A proper fire and potted water would have to be used to cook them. At least lentils would definitely be good, even this much time later.

After a couple of hours, Nate had managed to get a proper fire going. Having found an old pot in his kitchen, he filled it was purified water, and began to boil it. The lentils wouldn't take much longer than twenty or so minutes to cook. He'd removed his PIP Boy, leaving it on and letting the Diamond City Radio play over the sound of his cooking. But another noise had disturbed him as he stirred the lentils with an old spoon... Mechanical whirring, and shifting inside of his house where he'd left Fleur. Quickly, he stepped into the living room – Only to see Fleur's body slowly rising up, hovering once more. She turned around, her three eyes looking right at him.

"Monsieur Davis...?" She wondered aloud, as her eyes investigated him, "Impossible... Forgive me, Monsieur. I had you confused with someone who looks... Very, very similar. But he should be long dead by now. And so should I... Did you repair me, Monsieur? I see my manual over there, just on the floor. And my eye – It has been fixed! How ever could I repay you?" She asked, still using that chirpy voice, and her French accent was as thick as ever.

Nate chuckled, putting his hands on the top of his head, "I did it!" He exclaimed, "Fleur, it's me! Nate! Nate Davis!" He walked right up to her, "I'm not some random guy, it's me. Look, I'm even in my old uniform. You folded it for me, while I was gone. Jesus... I'm sorry, it just -… I can't believe I managed to repair you."

"Monsieur..." She hovered back for a moment, clearly surprised that Nate had shown up after so long, "But... How? What happened to you? When you... When you left me?" It was clear that she was still hurt, even after all this time. It seemed incredibly strange to Nate for Fleur to be so... Human, sometimes. She was quite emotional for a domestic house robot.

"My family and I were frozen in that vault up there. They lied to us, told us it was depressurizing pods to make it easier for us to access the deeper sections of the vault." Slowly, Nate shook his head, "Bunch of bullshit. Packed us into fridges and... I know it's been like, some twenty years and I haven't aged. Well, that explains it. I only woke up yesterday. And it feels like a lot has happened since then..." Nate told her, his face softening into a more somber look.

"Monsieur..." Fleur approached slowly, "You... You could not be any more wrong." She said.

Nate looked at her, his face now confused, "What're you talking about? Wrong about what?" He asked her.

"Twenty years since you left?" She slowly shook her body, "No. Monsieur... It has been exactly 210 years since you and your family left for the vault, in the year 2077. The current year, Monsieur, is 2287."

Nate was completely silent as he looked at her. His eyes, slowly looked away. At this point, he was spacing out, as if wondering how on earth such a massive amount of time could've passed... Two hundred years of sitting in that fridge, underground. With his back against the wall, Nate slowly slid down and looked to the ground, "J-...Jesus..." He said, looking up at Fleur, "Two... Two hundred years?" It was a lot to take in. To think, what he thought must've been around twenty years, given the skeletons all around the vault, was actually two entire centuries, "I've been sleeping for two hundred years..."

"Monsieur..." Fleur's calming voice began to speak to him, in a gentler tone, "You've re-activated me. And I am still in your service, even after all this time. Please... Allow me to assist you, as I should. I know it's a lot to take in, but we can do this. Together! We can survive, Monsieur." If Fleur had a mouth, no doubt she'd be smiling, "Monsieur... Where is the Mademoiselle and young Shaun? Perhaps in another house nearby? Still at the vault?"

Nate hadn't even thought to tell her yet. But it needed to be said... Looking up at her, it pained him to even repeat what happened, "Fleur... I... When we were frozen, I woke up twice. The first time, two people showed up and opened up my wife's vault. One of them was this... Grizzled, bald asshole with a scar on his face. The other looked like some kind of scientist, or – or something, I don't know. Well," He cleared his throat, feeling that familiar lump begin to form, "They wanted Shaun. Nora refused to give him up so... They -" He gulped, trying to speak through the pain as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes, "He shot her."

"Monsieur..."

"She died. Instantly, thank god... And-… And then they took Shaun away. After they left, I was re-frozen. And then... I woke up a second time. I don't know how or why. Some kind of error in the machine, but it let me out. Everyone else was dead. The pods had malfunctioned, and left them dead inside. I was... Lucky, for some reason. Now I'm out here. And Shaun's out here. And my wife's killer and my son's kidnapper, they're out here, Fleur. Somewhere, in this godforsaken land, my baby boy is lost, kidnapped by total fucking strangers." Slowly, Nate started to rise. Anguish was replaced by anger, "That fucking maniac is out there with my son!" He shouted at her, "And I don't have a god damn clue where to start looking! I have no fucking clue where he could've gone or what he could've possibly wanted with MY son!"

"Monsieur, please! Calm down... I understand you're upset... But please... Try to relax..." A mechanical claw outstretched and was gently placed onto his arm.

Nate looked over at Fleur, all three eyes on him. Sighing, he nodded, taking deep breaths, "You're right, I'm... I'm sorry. Acting like that isn't going to help me find my son. Fleur, we'll survive. Together. And... Maybe you can help me find my son."

"I'll do anything you ask me to, Monsieur! It's so good to have a friend again! I've spent two hundred years not talking to a single soul... Monsieur... If you don't mind me saying... Your wife," She paused for a moment, as if uncertain that she should continue, "Do you... Want to bury her?"

Nate had considered this shortly after leaving the vault. Would he leave her body, down in that cold vault, full of the dead bodies of other pre-war corpses and skeletons... Or would he go back down there to pick her up, and bring her to the surface. To be buried in the ground, with a proper grave. A place where... When Shaun was older, he could take him to, "Yes." He answered her, simply, "You're coming along. There are a few things I have to get there. Mainly their... Clean water. I need bottles, jugs of it. And we need to haul it back up here. I... Haven't bathed in two hundred years, you know... Heh..." He tried finding some humor in the situation, to make things less tense for the two of them. But it was difficult... Could he even manage...? Carrying the corpse of his dead wife, who'd only been recently killed for him, and burying her?

She deserved it. Nora, the woman who'd supported him through everything. Mother of his infant son. She deserved more than what she'd been given... The least he could do, is give her a proper burial.

Within the hour, Nate and Fleur headed back up the hill to Vault 111's entrance. He had Fleur stand on the platform, while he went to the control console and pressed the button to lower it into the ground. Walking back over to the platform, it took a moment, just like before until it slowly began to descend into the ground. Once more, he was entering into the vault. But this time, with a much more different goal in mind. Once they were at the bottom, and had reached the vault itself, they quickly moved inside. Nate didn't want to spend more time than he already had to getting water supplies, some tools and then eventually getting his wife. In fact, he was taking his sweet time filling up the bottles and empty jugs he'd brought with him from the surface. Even Fleur seemed to note his... 'stalling' of the situation, as if afraid to encounter his wife's body once more. But he had to do it... There was no doubt about it, and now that he was down here, there was no turning back.

Once the jugs and bottles had been filled, and other supplies gathered, they left what they needed to wait on the platform. Nate moved along through the same hall he'd followed the doctor through two hundred years ago. Once more, he walked down the hall where everyone assured him that he and his family would all be okay.

What a load of horse shit...

Stepping into the cold pod room, his wife's was the only pod opened besides his. They were right across from each other. How fitting... He had a perfect view of his wife's murder. And a perfect view of the one who pulled the trigger.

"I promise..." He mumbled once more, as he approached his wife's pod. Nate took a deep breath, looking at her lifeless body. Every noise seemed to completely stifle itself as he looked at her form... Her face...

Why?

Before Fleur could approach, Nate stepped toward Nora's body, his hands going around her and lifting her up from her spot in the pod. Nate held her in his arms, the way he held her after their wedding ceremony. Flashbacks hit him hard – It was a better day, in a better time. But he focused himself on what was now... Holding his wife closely against himself, both he and Fleur were as silent as the dead that surrounded them. Wordlessly, Nate stepped onto the platform, Fleur next to him as it began to ascend once more to the surface. Nora would never see what became of the world. She wouldn't ever see what became of their house, their car, their things. What became of Sanctuary Hills, or the high school they used to attend together. She'd never see what happened to the park they drove to, or the theater where they watched movies. And once he had Shaun back, she'd never see what became of him... But at least, she would be at rest. Buried, close by. So he and Shaun could pay their respects.

Once they'd reached the top of the surface, Fleur helped sling the bags onto Nate's shoulders, and she as well took some of the bottles and jugs in bags they'd collected. Afterwards, they began their descent into Sanctuary Hills, following the trail laid out for them. Upon arriving to the house, the bags were set down, and Nate carried Nora into the backyard. There was a perfect spot for her, in the grass. Fleur found a shovel in another house's garage, and brought it to Nate. Then, he spent the next few hours digging a proper grave for his wife. Once the hole was deep enough, and fit her size, he slowly lowered her inside. And then, buried her.

He'd constructed a cross with some wood and nails he'd found. Using a tool's sharp edge to carve out some writing...

'Nora Marie Davis. Mother. Wife.'

By the time he had finished, night had fallen. Nate didn't exchange very many other words with Fleur. For now... He chose to lay on the ground, quietly, thinking about the past days' events. Activating Fleur, scavenging, gathering supplies, discovering he'd been asleep for two hundred years, burying his wife. It all felt so... Surreal. Like it wasn't really happening, a terrible dream he couldn't wake from. As he lay there, his eyes wandered over to Fleur, who was currently cleaning the debris, as quietly as she could, in the house. He was definitely grateful to have her back... But tomorrow, things would be different.

Sanctuary was no longer home any more. And there was a man out there. A man who was going to pay. And his son, who needed his father.

Tomorrow, at first light, Nate would begin his journey into the wasteland.