Erin winced as she stepped around the hideously over-sized bodies of the roaches that littered the escape tunnel. At some point during her panicked flight through the vault, she had kicked off her boots, so at least they weren't pinching. Her feet hadn't grown much, but they'd been painful once feeling had returned to her extremities after what must have been (judging from the skeletons and rust) at least the better part of a lifetime in deep-freeze. The issue then was that the concrete was bitterly cold and the tough pieces of exoskeleton that had been scattered across the tunnel floor were sharp! A few bullet casings lay where they had fallen, while some of the roaches had been cracked open by a small, blunt object. Whoever had come this way had certainly left a mess, but all the same, it was re-assuring to the young girl: Someone else was alive. Perhaps the other survivor from the pod she'd found empty had taken the baby and got out? She had no way of knowing how long ago that had been however, so the odds of catching them up were slim…
Erin's suspicions were confirmed when she emerged from the tunnel and saw the massive vault door standing open. Either someone had come in or, far more likely, someone had left. Before she could do the same however, she needed something better to wear. Her child-sized vault suit was coming apart with every step and while she had to admit that a certain, vain part of her liked the idea (to say nothing of the feeling), it would never do to go above with it in such disrepair. She had no idea what was waiting for her, but whatever it was, she'd greet it properly dressed! Luckily, the same boxes the vault suits were being handed out from when she arrived were still there, lying next to the skeletal remains of what was possibly that same smiling Vault-Tec rep that had greeted her. After seeing the frozen corpses of her neighbours in the cryo pods however, Erin was largely numbed to the sight now and soon found a pristine Vault 111 jumpsuit, still in its plastic packaging. As she tore it open however, Erin noticed a far greater prize down a short flight of steps. Water had pooled in the trench near the door and lying half in and half-out of the murky trough was a skeleton, its outstretched arm reaching up the stairs and on its wrist, a still-serviceable Pip Boy personal computer.
Erin winced at the thought of stealing from the dead, but who even knew what she might face one she stepped out of the vault. Chinese troops perhaps; or hostile mutants; an irradiated desert; or even a revived, futuristic America! Anything was possible and anything she could carry would only help. "Sorry about this," she mumbled, reaching out and tugging at the solid device. The few scraps of waterlogged sinew that held the bone in place fell apart at even the slightest force and she found the band easy to slip free and wipe with an old oil cloth, before fitting it snugly around her wrist. "On the other hand, I've always wanted one of these," she sighed. "Let's see… This thing has biometrics, so let's see if it can tell me what's happened to my body." The time so close to water hadn't been kind to the dials and switches on the pip-boy and Erin struggled a little with their stiffness, before they gave way. "Okay, here we are… Uhm…" she frowned, looking at the array of information offered. Pulse rate; blood pressure; nerve activity… It all would have been fascinating, if her college course had been in medicine rather than comp sci. It wasn't that she couldn't understand at least some of the information being displayed; it was just that she had no idea what was a 'normal' baseline to compare it to! "What was I really expecting?" she sighed, "A bar reading, 'You are this far from death'?"
The new vault suit was a perfect fit. The snug fabric nestled tightly over Erin's figure, but she knew this was no time for vanity, as much as the prospect of investigating her changed body intrigued her. The heavy elevator ground ponderously downwards, with significantly more scraping and sparks than it had the last time she had boarded it. Erin took a nervous step forward and looked up at the distant daylight high overhead. Despite being only the size of her thumbnail, it filled her with mixed emotions. The last glimpse she had seen of her home was as it was consumed by the blast from an atom bomb. At least the tiny scrap of sky that she could see far overhead was clear and blue, rather than the fiery orange it had been before. "Well… Here goes nothing, I guess," she muttered, pressing the button and gulping as the gate rattled down behind her and the platform began its long and shuddering ascent. As she neared the opening, anxious panic started to rise in her chest and her limbs shook with suppressed fight-or-flight response. There was no way she could stay underground, of course; sooner or later, she would need food, and variety of which was sorrowfully lacking in the Vault and besides that… There was too much death there. Vault 111 was a tomb and one she, as one of the living, had no place in.
The light was blinding, forcing Erin's eyes shut as the elevator emerged into the open air. As she shielded her face with her upraised arm, a gust of wind brought an eddy of dust to her nose and mouth and she doubled over, coughing and spluttering as she blinked in the light. "Not the best start," she mused, as she spat and stood to survey her surroundings… And froze. The world was a ruin. Before her, down the hill in what had once been her home, only the lifeless shells of houses still remained and beyond that, Massachusetts stretched out, empty and silent. All her life, Erin had been used to the hum of atomic motors and the rumble of cars, or the soft growl of a Mister Handy's jet engine, or just the soft murmur of a radio through the neighbour's window. Now, she fell to her knees and tears pricked her eyes as she felt the heart-rending sensation of being the only person in the entire world. The fragile resolve, born of shock, that had held since the overseer's office, crumbled like a child's sandcastle before a wave and Erin sobbed, her newly beautiful eyes filling with tears, which spilled over her cheeks and onto the unfeeling steel beneath her. Great, wracking sobs shook her until there were no more tears left to shed and only dry heaving and shaking remained. Her misery choked her, until Erin sat up on her heels and wiped her eyes with a balled fist, still hiccupping gently as her grief clung on. As she did so however, her ears pricked. The world wasn't as quiet as she had first imagined. Crows cawed, their harsh voices sounding like dogs barking; the breeze rattled the dead limbs of trees and brushed through the undergrowth like a careful hand; in the far, far distance, she thought she heard a deer's barking bray and a faint, echoing popping. There was still life here, maybe even people.
Erin wiped her eyes and took a deep, shaking breath. The air didn't taste contaminated and the Geiger counter every Pip-Boy came with wasn't going off, so she should be safe to walk around, but where to go? Where did someone even start living in a world that had been destroyed? As Erin pondered the question, her eyes rested on the metal control booth that stood to the side of the elevator. The operator's last act had been to send her and everyone on the platform to what they had thought was safety, but had turned out to be the death of all but three of them. Her eyes narrowed, as she recognised the faded Vault-Tec logo stencilled on the rusted metal. This was their fault. Maybe the company couldn't be blamed for the war, but the vault and what had happened down there; the deaths of dozens of people; her own… Changes… They were Vault-Tec's doing. She wanted answers. If Boston hadn't suffered a direct hit, there was a chance the Vault-Tec regional office there was still intact. Maybe she could find something to tell her what had happened to her; why Vault-Tec had done it and what their purpose was in freezing everyone alive. Erin rose and gulped back her nerves. She had a purpose now – a goal. It wouldn't keep her warm, her throat wet or her belly full, but it got her moving and that was important.
Erin shook like a leaf, her hands clasped over her mouth. Seeing bodies the aftermath was one thing, but the act of murder-? She had made her way to what remained of Sanctuary Hills, aiming to perhaps find something of use in the ruins, but what she had seen had stopped her dead in her tracks. The path down to the small footbridge was easy going, but barely had she set foot beyond the gates to the vault's perimeter, when four loud cracks split the air like a whip, causing her to squeak with fear and throw herself to the ground. More sounds followed; something almost like the boom of thunder, mixed with the distinct, low hum of an energy weapon of some kind. Erin crawled desperately off the path and into the bushes, peeking out. Three bodies lay on the ground, fresh, burned markings showing how they died. They wore a mix of rough clothes, leathers and rusted metal and a fourth man, similarly dressed, was slumped on the ground behind a tree, clutching at his right arm in pain. As Erin watched, he leaned out, nervously checking down the path… At once, another booming hum split the air and a red beam of light lanced out, blowing the man's head apart like a ripe melon! Erin stifled her gasp with her hand, as she watched the man slump over. His killer rose from a kneeling position near the footbridge and swept the area, his weapon still at the ready. He was dressed oddly; almost like someone from colonial times, even including a kind of cowboy hat. Erin silently waited, praying she wasn't spotted, until the dark-skinned man shrugged and turned, heading towards Sanctuary Hills.
Erin felt sick and had to fight to keep from spewing whatever was in her stomach all over the ground. The graphic way the man had died was branded into her memory, as was the casual ease with which his killer had done the deed and then waited for Erin herself to show herself. And worse yet, the man was now between her and her destination! Erin closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I… I just need to be careful," she told herself in a whisper, "If he doesn't see me, I-I should be safe." Her heart hammered in her chest so loudly, she could swear anyone with a pair of ears could hear it from the far side of the river, but without at least some kind of supplies, she was as good as dead out here, just as surely as if she caught one of those laser blasts in her chest. Little by little, Erin crept forward. The footbridge was obviously no good; she'd be right out in the open, so she'd have to cross by splashing through the stream. Luckily, it was neither wide, or deep and while she knew the water was probably radioactive, the brief exposure wasn't even enough to cause her new Pip-boy to tick. The closer Erin got to her old home however, the more she regretted her decision. It was too late to turn back now, of course and she didn't really have much choice, but… "I-I'll be quick," she muttered, "I'll just… Grab whatever seems useful and get away. I'll be fine." She reached out and tugged gently on the back door, trying to ease it open. The fatigued creak of the hinges set the hairs on the back of her neck on end and she squeezed her eyes shut, counting to ten. No-one seemed to have heard it. Erin let out the breath she'd been holding and squeezed inside, only to be met with a collapsed beam that had fallen from the roof and blocked her way. "No… Oh come on," she whispered, biting her lip anxiously. There was no way around, but maybe if she could just shift it a little..? She wasn't very strong, but if she could just wriggle it a little, she should be able to fit past.
Erin gripped the beam and heaved with all her meagre strength, but it wouldn't budge. "Nnngh- Come on..! Just six lousy inches? Please?" Now she'd come this far, Erin wasn't leaving without at least trying one more time. She squatted down, remembering she was supposed to lift with her legs, rather than her back and adjusted her grip. "One. Two. Three-!" She counted herself down and heaved, but still it refused to move. "Come on, come on-!" she almost sobbed, fear of discovery growing in her chest. Once more, she took a deep breath and pulled! A sensation ran though her, like a warm, tingling rush that stole her breath. For a moment, it stole her breath with the sudden, unexpected pleasure it brought, but more shockingly, the beam suddenly moved! It was by no means light, but all at once, Erin found herself not only shifting it a few inches, but lifting it clear of the ground! What she hadn't realised however, was just how much was balanced on the beam. With a rattling crash, a cascade of metal plates and roof tiles slid off and smashed to the ground, immediately prompting surprised voices!
"What in the hell was that?"
"I don't know. Maybe one got away? Keep everyone back; I'll deal with this."
"A'ight… You be careful, Preston."
That had to be him. The man who'd gunned down those others in front of her. Erin squeaked in fear and dropped the beam, sending yet more debris raining down, before she turned on her heel and ran for her life!
"There she goes, the scoundrel!" cried a third voice. "Tally ho!"
"Hey! Hold it there! Wait!"
Not a CHANCE, Erin thought, as she sprinted for the safety of the treeline, mud splashing around her ankles as she neared the river. She wasn't stopping for anyone or anything, while that killer was pursuing her!
The world that had seemed so barren and dead was suddenly all too alive. Leaves, creepers and branches all plucked at Erin's hair and clothes, as if the plantlife itself were maliciously trying to slow her down. Her breath rasped and caught in her throat as she ducked behind a tree, heaving for breath. She had never been a particularly athletic girl and the last few minutes had accounted for as much exercise as she usually got in a year! "Please don't still be following me," she panted; a quiet prayer to any god that was listening, "Please oh please just go back…"
Erin strained to listen, peeking around the scaberous trunk of the tree and hoping against hope she would hear nothing - that her pursuer had given up the chase… But what reached her ears was nothing human. She turned her head slowly and her mouth opened in horror at seeing the thing advancing toward her. Hairless skin; blind eyes; a blunt, whiskered snout; teeth like chisels of bone; and most horribly, through its blistered and scarred flesh, a hideous green luminescence glowed. Erin couldn't even find the breath to scream, as the creature snarled and bounded forward, leaping up and bowling her over! With a desperate effort, her fingers managed to find a grip and she struggled, trying to hold the thrashing thing away from her neck! Tears stung her eyes as its hot fetid breath washed over her face and her Geiger counter started ticking. It couldn't be; she couldn't die like this-!
The crack of thunder split the air and a brief flash of searing heat lanced into the glowing monster. It roared in pain and turned, only to meet another flash and slump, the malicious light in its eyes dying.
"Damn, you have a death wish or something?" His heavy boots splashed through the mud, frowning and holding his weapon unthreateningly across his body. "You okay? It didn't take a chunk out of you, I hope?" He reached out a hand to Erin, looking concerned. "Come on. You're safe now; I'm with the Minutemen- Whoa!"
Erin no longer cared if he was a killer. She no longer cared about the danger. All she wanted now, all she needed, was the human contact and assurance of safety that came with community. She took his offered hand, but rather than standing, she pulled hard, yanking the man down to sit beside her. Before another moment had passed, she had buried her face in his coat and was once again sobbing with fear and confusion.
"Oh man… Hey, uh, it's alright now. But this isn't any place to be crying about what could have happened- Aw man…" He awkwardly patted her head, clearly not used to having to deal with something like this. "Come on now… I'm Preston. What's your name?"
"E-erin," she managed to choke out, wiping her eyes and hiccupping slightly.
Preston gave a small sigh of relief that he'd managed to distract her. "Nice name. I just wish we could have met under better circumstances. Listen, this is no place to hang around. Let's get you up on your feet and back to Sanctuary."