It was all a dream.
He had to remind himself that despite how good it was.
He had just spent a twelve hour guard shift patrolling the the vault and it was a dull occasion. The Tunnel Snakes had tried to make trouble with Amata and Susie Mack, but had split when they saw the baton of Officer Andreyev.
Now Artyom was in his bed, warm and cozy. Not a care in the world. He was dreaming that he was on his first date with Amata, reliving the experience that had brought him the greatest happiness he had ever known. Love was not a just a game for two, Artyom thought, because it is the greatest force man ever knew.
Nothing could ruin it.
"Artyom. Wake up. Wake up Artyom. It's time to wake up." Amata said next to him, gently nudging him. He turned over and smiled.
And that was when she suddenly turned into a fiery breathing demon. Her fingers started to extend, horns started to grow out of her head. The bed he was in started to bleat for some reason and he was started to feel heat, oh the heat, and then the alarms...what in the hell was going on?
"Artyom wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP!" and the fire escaped from the maw, washing over Artyom, and he woke up, screaming.
Klaxons were blaring, alarms designed to shred the ears to pieces. He had never heard them before and they made his ears hurt. What the hell was going on? Feelings of self-doubt, fear, and anger coursed through him. These damn alarms had woken him up!
But what made it all better was that Amata Almodovar was standing over him. But what didn't make sense was why she was in his room. Her father had barred her from ever stepping into his room and knowing that Amata was a Daddy's girl- yes she was, no matter what the hell the Overseer did- she would never do disobey that order not to be in his room.
"Wake up Artyom, come on you gotta wake up!" she started to scream again. He slid straight out of bed, more confused than hurt. He startled her, Amata putting her hand on her mouth in surprise.
"Whatever it is Amata, can't it wait until it is time for me to actually wake up?" he asked he paused before getting up. "Then again, I was just dreaming about you."
The smile that he expected to come was nowhere in sight. Instead, he had an angry nineteen year old girl staring at him with furious eyes. He didn't expect the scorching slap.
His face turned red as she flicked out her fingers in slight pain from the hard slap.
"Don't be a smart mouth! This is serious!" she shouted, her voice grave. This wasn't the fun loving and light hearted Amata he had grown to know and love. This was the leader poise that Amata gave off. Her arms then crossed. "My father's men are looking for you! They've already killed Jonas! You have to get out of here!"
Artyom felt a crushing sensation hit his throat. Jonas was dead? The man that had helped raise him alongside his father was dead? He had learned so much from Jonas, almost as much as he learned from his father. There wasn't anyway he could be dead. And why was the Overseer's men looking for him? They were his fellow officers, his fellow brother in arms. Hell, he had even welcomed Steve Mack into the Vault police, mostly out of respect to the Overseer, and he thought Steve Mack was a humongous prick!
And why did he have to get out of here? Why did they kill Jonas? Why, the word burned in his throat, was all this happening?
He wanted to see his father. He wanted to hear his counsel that he had learned to depend on. But then the words came from Amata's mouth and the dam of anger broke.
"It's your dad. He's left the vault! My father thinks Jonas helped him escape. So he had his men…" she hesitated, horror evident on her face.
"My god they killed him...they just beat him and beat him and beat him and wouldn't stop…" she started to snifle. He looked at her and knew watching a murder, especially one of a person she knew and cared about...it wasn't an easy thing. He did the only thing possible. He hugged her tight and kissed her on the forehead lightly. He then looked at her in the eyes.
"Are you okay?" and she nodded, wiping some of the tears coming from her eyes.
"Yeah. Don't worry about me. I'm just sorry that you had to find out this way. I know Jonas was your friend."
He let that sink in. Jonas was his friend, his best friend next to Amata. Though he was ten years older than him, he was the next in line to be the vault doctor after his father. Now, if Amata was correct, then there was no medical personnel left in the Vault, except for Artyom, who had a little medical training from his father and Jonas, and Susie Mack, who had been slated to be a nurse.
"Mudak…" Artyom muttered. Whoever had killed Jonas would pay. Vengeance...and death. Anger.
But one thing still bothered him...how in the hell did his father escape? The door had been shut for two hundred years!
"The Vault door was shut! How the hell did my father escape?" he put his thoughts in the air. Amata answered those quickly for him.
"Not anymore apparently," her sarcastic nature was coming back quickly. She seemed to recover quite nicely. Then her words softened.
"Are you telling honestly telling me you had no idea your dad was leaving? He really didn't tell you?"
"No, I had no idea. He didn't tell me he was planning to leave."
Amata then gave him a hug, tightening her grip around his chest.
"I'm sorry. I'm sure that he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was supposed to explain it to you?" he was about to answer when she continued to speak. Amata, the one who always had to speak with thirty year pauses between her sentences."But that doesn't matter. I can help you escape! I have my own plan!"
Artyom groaned on the inside. This was the girl who planned the disastrous senior prom that almost left him and Butch paralyzed for life. Now he didn't like Butch at all, but even he didn't want to see Butch crippled for the rest of his life.
"Not another one of your plans Amata. Remember the last one?" he asked and she slapped him in the chest, indignant of the reminder of the last plan she had.
"Shut it Artyom! Anyway, listen. There's a secret tunnel that leads directly to the vault door from my father's office. You are going to need to hack into the computer in his office in order to access it. Use these to get into his office," she said, giving him ten bobbypins. "That's how I always got in."
Artyom looked at it before giving it back.
"Why are you giving these back?" she asked, her head tilted in wonder.
"Because I don't know how to pick lock Miss Thief! Besides, that tunnel is bound to be guarded. What makes you certain this isn't a trap?"
"We don't have time for this!" she protested. It vaguely reminded him of a popular video that sprang out nearly two hundred and seventy years ago. "Trust me! Security doesn't know about the tunnel; only my father and me."
She was right Artyom realized. He had been a part of Vault Security for nearly two years now and this was the first time he had ever heard of this tunnel.
Then he saw a glint of metal. It was a N99 10mm pistol. Standard for vault security. He was the second best marksman in the security team, just behind Officer Gomez. Why did she have one?
"Maybe this pistol I stole from my father will make you feel better. Go ahead and take it! We gotta get the hell out of here."
He took the offered pistol. He knew how to operate it, how to fire it, how to aim it. He and Gomez were perhaps the only who took marksmanship seriously in the security team and it showed. He turned it around, inspecting it and making sure that it was in good condition. The pistol was in the best possible condition it could be in.
"Thanks Amata. I'll make sure to use it in self-defense. Don't know if any of those officers will try and kill me."
Amata nodded.
"Alright Artyom, meet me at the tunnel entrance. Don't try and get caught!" she yelled before bolting out the door. The klaxons continued to scream.
"Chush' sobach'ya." he muttered at the alarms before heading towards the medkit. He needed to be prepared for the outside world. Looking around, he saw his old backpack from his schooldays. It was better than nothing. Opening up the medkit he grabbed the stimpacks and Med-X and put it all in the backpack. Then he headed straight for his fridge, grabbing the two nuka-colas, the four bottles of water, and a bottle of vodka. He was supposed to save that for his twenty-first birthday, but since he wasn't going to be in the vault for that, he thought, why the hell not and took it.
His baseball bat was leaned against his desk, alongside his BB gun. Though he wanted to take his BB gun, now was not the time for that. He grabbed the baseball bat, gave it a few test swings, nodded his approval and gripped the bat with both hands. He made it into the hallway, his backpack around his shoulders, when he saw his first enemy. The man was wearing a black chestplate, gloves and boots. A helmet with a plastic face mask covered his head, offering protection. His eyes narrowed in anger.
Officer Kendall had always been a good officer. Not the best, but was law-abiding and didn't try to abuse his power. But the officer was pointing his baton at Artyom.
"You there! Stop right there!" the officer ordered and Artyom stopped, mostly because four radroaches appeared. Their slimy beady black eyes and shivering brown skin was apparent as they clicked and charged towards the officer.
"Crimey, more roaches!" Kendall shouted. His baton was raised and came crashing down, breaking the exoskeleton of one roach, the crunch of metal on skin echoing. He raised it again, catching another radroach in the head, killing it instantly. Soon the experienced officer had dispatched his insect enemies, bloodlust evident in his eyes.
"Now it's time for you to go to the Overseer!" he roared and charged forward.
Now, Artyom was not a great melee fighter. He was a fistfighter and a marksman, but not a bat on bat guy. So he had trouble, barely stepping back to avoid the blunt metal edge of the baton.
"You think that just because your dad left you think so to? Not a chance in hell!" Kendall snarled before he swung again, the baton connecting with Artyom's bat, making a clang, before backing off. He started to circle, like a lion circling its prey.
"You think that just because your dad is smart that he can walk all over the people in this vault? Not on my watch!" and Kendall swung it once more over his head, intending on crushing Artyom's head.
He never got the chance. A radroach bit him in his boot, forcing him to turn around and deal the crushing blow to the radroach. The insect's head was split apart and yellow fluid spurted from its head. By the time Kendall turned around, Artyom's baseball bat connected with the side of his head, causing the officer to spin around like a ballerina and slump to the floor, unconscious.
Artyom started to breathe easily again. He had just assaulted a fellow officer. Was it right for him to do so? What gave him the moral superiority to do what he had just done? He shook his head. Now was not the time for such deliberations. He tore off Kendall's helmet and placed it over his head. He then took Kendall's baton and placed it in his backpack. He was going to need these items.
Though the helmet didn't help Kendall.
Artyom continued down the hall, passing by closed doors and hearing the alarms scream out. He had just rounded a corner when someone bumped into him. Instinctively, Artyom raised his bat, only for the passerby to raise his hands. With slick black hair and his Tunnel Snakes jacket, Butch was a sight for sore eyes.
"Hey!" he cried." You gotta help me! My mom's trapped in there with the roaches!"
Artyom, intent on escaping the vault, couldn't believe this guy! It was his mother for Christ's sake. But he couldn't be an asshole about it. So he turned to Butch.
"Butch, that is your mother. She is the one that gave birth to you. I don't have the time to save her. Only you do!" he shouted at Butch. For the first time in his life, Butch seemed cowed.
"I can't do that...there's radroaches in there…and…" but Butch didn't get to say another thing before Artyom smacked him in the back of the head.
"Listen you self-centered prick! That is your mother! She is the one that gave you life! Damn it man, go and save her! Take my bat!" he said and with much anger, he tossed the bat into Butch's hands.
"Go! Save your mother! And keep the bat. Those radroaches always appear a second time!" he warned and watched as Butch took off, the bat raised over his head. Through the window Artyom watched as Butch charged into the room, his mother cowering on the bed, as three radroaches tried to bite her. In three swift hits, Butch smashed the radroaches with ease, his cool demeanor returning. Yellow sickly fluid flooded out of the dead radroaches.
Good for him. Artyom took off, heading straight for the atrium. But then he heard more scuttling, coming from the diner, the very same place he had celebrated his tenth birthday. The diner was dark and full of radroaches. Three of them were eating a dead woman. And Artyom almost vomited. It was Grandma Taylor, one of the sweetest old ladies in the vault.
He got the baton out from his backpack and with sudden strength and anger, dispatched all three radroaches. His baton was dripping with yellow before he headed straight for his father's old clinic.
Radroaches everywhere. At least two dead people. His father missing. His former brothers in arms looking for him. How could this had happened? He had gone to sleep, dreaming of heaven, and woken up in some sort of personal hell.
He continued to run forward, rounding corners and ran up a flight of stairs, towards the clinic. He paused when he saw an officer with a baton armed facing the stairs, but sighed a breath of relief. It was Officer Gomez, one of his friends and a good man. He hoped that Gomez wouldn't attack him. However, Gomez was dealing with a few radroaches of his own. The officer slammed his baton twice, breaking a radroach, when five more appeared, streaming from an air duct.
Then those radroaches went up in flames. On fire and burning, the radroaches were killed within seconds. Andy, the Mr. Handy robot of the vault, came from the clinic, the flamethrower arm clicking off. Stanley emerged from the office, holding a wrench in his hands. Gomez turned around, and noticed Artyom.
"Whew! You're lucky it was me who found you. The other's won't be so forgiving," Gomez warned. Artyom, remembering Kendall, knew that to be true. Gomez shuddered for some reason. "Look, I don't know what you're up to and I don't wanna know. Just, get the hell out of here and I'll pretend I never saw you."
This made Artyom sure that Gomez was on his side.
"Thanks Gomez. Always knew that I could count on you."
"It's a real damn shame that it's come to this. I can't believe what they did to Jonas….Officer Mack, he was just out of control, like a damn wildfire! You...he...your father...didn't do anything to deserve this. Go find that old man, if you can."
Artyom's anger swelled. What the hell did Mack do?
"Officer Mack. Did he kill Jonas?" Artyom's anger was barely masked. Gomez almost took note of it.
"The young fool! Barely out of school and into the force. You know how he gets! Arrogant, wild, and stupid. Saw the murder in his eyes as soon as the Overseer gave the order. Couldn't bring myself to watch."
Stanley and Andy just watched as Artyom marched into his father's office. They must have seen the fire in his eyes. He hoped for the sake of Steve Mack that he didn't run into him. Otherwise there would be no stopping him. He would kill Steve Mack for Jonas. Vengeance.
He moved into his father's office. He saw a Vault-Tec bobblehead, bouncing up and down for some reason. He picked it up. He read the inscription.
The smart man knows a bandage only hides his wounds.
Artyom grasped it, before placing it in his pack. He would only know the significance of those words later in his life. He then looked at his father's office. Nothing but a picture of his mother, a picture of him and his father at his sixteenth birthday, overturned beakers, and medical reports. Not a note for him, nothing. The despair tore him apart.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water freely.
That quote was staring him right in the face. It had been his mother's favorite, his father had told him, and he read those words, for perhaps the hundredth thousandth time. And that was when the dam of emotions flooded.
"You fucking asshole! You left! Why did you leave?" he screamed into the quote. It was mother's, his father said, and he wondered what could have been if his mother had survived. "It was always, never leave the vault. It is safe down here. But where is the fucking safety old man! Where the fuck is it?! You ebanatyi pidaraz!" he then slammed his fist straight into the quote, shattering it into a million pieces.
Revealing a hole in the wall.
It was deep, at least six feet. He had to lean in order to pull everything out. One, there was a bag full of bottle caps. What the hell his father had these for, he had no idea. Two, there was holodisk, marked "Home Sweet Home." He tucked that into the holodisk player in his Pip-Boy but didn't play it yet. Third, he removed a duffel bag, a small one, packed to the brim with something. He opened it. He couldn't believe what he saw.
There was a steel helmet, with a slight crack zigzagging from point to point. There was a gas mask, with plenty of filters, a Kevlar bulletproof vest, along with an assault rifle. What kind, he couldn't pulled out the assault rifle, admiring it. A drawing of a black circle encircling a black cross was painted on the stock of the weapon. He placed it back in the duffel bag and slung it across his shoulders. It added to the amount of weight he had, but he didn't mind.
He soon opened a door leading to the atrium. The atrium was where most of the vault dwellers moved through in order to get to their destinations. A two room hub, the Overseer's office was situated right over the atrium. Two people were huddled, one of them male, the other female. Whispers were heard and a foolhardy plan was taking shape.
"Don't you see? This is our chance! We're getting out of here, just like the doctor!"
Artyom recognized that voice. It was Tom Holden. He and his wife, Mary, had just been married; they were expecting their first child in a matter of months. Mary was crying, before Tom, emboldened by the escape of the couple, charged down towards the exit leading to the door.
"It's me Tom Holden! Let me through!" he shouted, as if that was going to persuade whoever was done there to let him through. His order was met by gunfire, bullets that punctured their refusal to his demands with death. Tom was struck multiple times, falling to the ground, a pool of blood already evident. Mary screamed and rushed to Tom, only for Artyom to grab her by her arm, yanking her down. She would not face the same fate as her husband.
"No! Don't run!" he whispered. Mary cried, her lithe fingers reaching for the dead body of Tom. They had been together for the longest time.
"Tom! Why, why did they gun you down?" she demanded, her face a streak of tears. Artyom, his face a mask, now ushered Mary to sit down on a chair. He drew his gun. A man, only doing what he thought was best, unarmed and not wanting to hurt anyone, was gunned down mercilessly. A man, who was about to become a father. Anger ran through Artyom's body.
He didn't know why he did what he did. The two security officers spotted him as soon as he stepped into the hallway leading to the vault door.
"There is the traitor! Get him!" one of them called out. Artyom saw that was Officer Richards. Bastard probably took glee in killing Tom.
Artyom took aim with his pistol and fired several times. Each shot tore through the officers, whose vests were only stab proof and not bulletproof. They both fell over, clutching their wounds, and died. These were not keepers of the peace, like Gomez or Armstrong. These were murderers.
Like him. He looked at the gun in question. It was the first time he had ever killed anybody. Shock ran through his body. Was it going to be like this? Murdering and killing people? Was this a fate that awaited him in the outside world. He couldn't dwell on it. If he didn't, most likely he would have died as well. And he could always look back and say that he saved Mary Holden from certain death. But was it necessary to kill these two? He could have just snuck past them. But he didn't. He took it upon himself to kill those men. And the most horrifying part of that?
He didn't regret killing them.
He went past them, scooping up their pistols and batons and tossed him into his pack. He also scooped up their added weight started to make him sag a little, but he would fix that later. He then looked at Officer Richards. Richards was his size and the vest that he wore didn't have blood. Neither did his boots, or his gloves, or anywhere else besides his head. Artyom had caught him in the throat.
He stripped the officer of his armor and placed it on himself. Countless hours putting the armor on had given him practice and he had it on within a minute. Strapping himself, he holstered the baton and the pistol. He continued on, dealing death to three radroaches when he headed up the stairs.
He had to escape the damn place.
As he passed by a window, he heard loud, angry knocking. He faced the window to see Allen Mack, father of Wally, Steve Mack the murderer,and Susie. He was an angry man, bitter at the lost of his wife.
"YOU!" he shouted through the glass. "This is your fault! You and your stupid father! He had to leave and screw up things for everybody! Guards! Guards, over here!"
Artyom ignored him, though he did see Susie in the background, her face buried between her hands. She was crying most likely. Artyom, not wanting to deal with the angry man, simply ignored him and walked into the vault's electronic center. Here the vault's central processor and main computer were located. The large computer mainframe hid at least half a dozen radroaches. With six bullets left, he killed all six radroaches. He reloaded.
A dead engineer was lying face first on the floor. So many dead people he had seen today. Tom...Grandma Taylor...O'Brian and that damn Richards...and now this man.
"This is all your damn fault!" he heard a man growl behind him. He spun around, to see Security Chief Hannon, his boss and Paul's father, point a shaky finger at him. In his hands was a baton. Artyom aimed his gun straight at his former boss. Seeing that he had murdered two of his fellow officers, he knew that Hannon was no longer his boss.
"So many dead because of you and your father!" Hannon accused. He then charged forward, his baton poised. A single shot was all it took. The 10mm bullet entered through the frontal lobe of the security chief and exited out through the back of the cranium. The mask was shattered. Hannon was dead. Three men killed by him. How could he do this?
"You stupid sons of bitches. You keep making me kill you! Stop it!" he ordered. Three men! He was almost as bad as Mack. Escape. That was the only through thing he could think of.
Then the crying.
Amata.
Artyom rushed forward, only to watch through a window as Amata was on a chair, crying. Whimpering. Helpless. Mack was over her, his baton raised and came whipping at her head, causing her to rear back, blood dripping her from her mouth. A second man was standing in the corner.
The Overseer.
"Be reasonable Amata. Officer mack may enjoy this, but I don't. Just tell us where Artyom is so that we can talk to him."
Artyom Carter Andreyev muttered curses. How could the Overseer let his own daughter get hurt like that?
Amata was sobbing now, tears flowing, mixing in with the blood dripping from her mouth. He gripped his pistol with anger, seething white with rage. She started to speak, her voice a tremble.
"He's my friend...and I just wanted to help him. I was worried about him. What does he have to do with all of this anyway? He didn't do anything I swear!"
The Overseer shook as his head in disappointment.
"That's why you need to tell me where he is. So I can talk to him, nothing more."
Amata didn't say anything. She couldn't because she didn't know were Artyom was.
"Hit her one more time Officer Mack. Teach my girl respect."
Mack, the sadistic asshole that killed Jonas, reared back. That was all it took for Artyom to spring into action.
"Put the baton down you sooka!" Artyom breathed, pointing the pistol straight at Officer Mack. Steve Mack seemed mildly amused with the gun that had already killed three men pointing at him. Amata, thank the Lord, sprung out of her chair and sprinted out of the room, heading straight for the Overseer's office. Artyom's eyes started to water. He was tired of all this damn killing!
"Now Artyom, you have caused too much trouble for me today. Turn in your firearm and we'll talk this out like adults," the Overseer said, his voice resonating with authority. Did he honestly think that Artyom would turn his pistol?
"Better do what the Overseer says boy, otherwise I'm gonna have to teach you a listen," Mack threatened. Artyom narrowed his eyes. How dare this fucking piece of shit threaten him! He had already killed three men. He guessed one more wouldn't matter.
"Listen you stupid piece of shit. I have already killed three men. Officers O'Brian and Richards, along with Chief Hannon. These were men that I have laughed with, patrolled with, trained with. Kendall too, if the radroaches got to him. I watched them gun down an innocent man who was trying to leave. So unless Mack gets the fuck out of my face and you don't give me the password and the key to your office Mr. Almodovar, I am going to put a round into Mack's face and then put a round into your leg. I am tired of your shit and I am tired of Mack's shit," Artyom then shifted the gun's barrel on the Overseer's leg. "Don't make me do this."
Mack just laughed. He didn't try anything, he just laughed.
"Ha, the boy thinks he's tough. So did Jonas, till I beat the brain out his ass. It was fun, watching him quiver and shrink, and die, as I beat him to death. Killing is the greatest drug there is you Russian piece of shit. Time for me to take this drug again!" Mack said and then sprinted forward, his baton raised high and waiting to slam into Artyom's face.
He never got the chance.
Artyom aimed straight at his head, not protected by a Plexiglass face mask and fired twice, one bullet grazing his skull, the other tearing into his throat. Steve Mack was stopped straight in his tracks, dying rather horribly, for it took three minutes for the blood to well up and he choked to death on his own blood.
Artyom watched it with grim satisfaction.
"Just give me the password and key Overseer. I promise you, if you do, no harm will come to you or anyone else in this vault," Artyom said warningly. He just wanted to go.
The Overseer looked as if he was about to protest, but slumped. He dug into a pocket and tossed a well worn key and a piece of paper with a single word written on it.
"Just go. I don't want to see your sniveling face here ever again. It was a mistake letting you and your father in."
And the man left, running towards the atrium.
Artyom did the same, heading into the large room that connected the Overseer's office to the rest of the vault. There, in the center, was Jonas, his body broken and bloody. His head had been smashed in, his chest crumpled. He was dead. His white labcoat was stained with blood and his glasses had been broken, thrown into a corner. But at least he was avenged. Steve Mack wouldn't ever be able to kill anyone again.
Artyom saw something in Jonas's hand. It was a holodisk. He ejected the one marked "Home Sweet Home", leaned down and picked up the holodisk, gingerly prying it from Jonas's hand. He then placed the holodisk in the Pip-Boy and listened to his father's words.
"Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first. I... 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 someday 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."
"Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with."
"Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you."
His father's voice, saying goodbye to him. Artyom laughed at the bitter irony of the words. Life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. No it wasn't perfect. His father had shattered the illusion of safety that so many in the vault lived under. He had torn down the walls that had sheltered this isolated community.
"I'm so sorry."
Artyom saw Amata walk out of another room, nursing her bloodied face. She was done crying, though her cheeks were puffy and her eyes red.
"I can't thank you enough. When I saw what Mack did to Jonas...I couldn't believe my eyes. If you hadn't come and saved me, there was no telling what my father would have done and what he would have let Mack get away with."
Artyom looked straight into her eyes.
"Amata, I am just glad that you are safe now."
Artyom grew silent before speaking again.
"I saw what monsters are today. I killed four men. All of them were my fellow brothers in arms. Comrades. Trained with them, joked with them, learned with them...and I killed four of them. But I do not regret killing Mack. I do not regret killing O'Brian and Richards. They killed Tom Holden, leaving his wife without a husband and leaving his child without a father. I killed Paul's dad in self-defense. I murdered four people today."
He grew silent once more.
"You did what you had to do. You couldn't have done anything else," she crooned, embracing him. Artyom started to tear. His father leaving, he killing four men, Amata being beaten, Jonas dead, it was almost too much for him. He gripped Amata with all his might, hugging her tighter than he had ever done before.
"I'm getting the hell out of here. Too much blood and bad history for me. And I am going to find my father."
With sudden strength, he gripped the well worn key that Amata's father had given to him, and unlocked the door to the office. A large circular desk dominated the room, with a few lockers placed in the corner near the computer. He imputed the password.
A.M.A.T.A.
It was a mistake letting you and your father in.
What did the Overseer mean by that? Was he not born in the vault?
Soon the terminal buzzed to life, several files popping up. Recognizing that he had little time, he lifted his Pip-Boy and using the USB cable that all Pip-Boys came equipped with, he transferred all the data from the computer to the Pip-Boy. Willing himself to read all of the Overseer's notes later, he clicked on the file that said OPEN TUNNEL.
The desk started to raise into the air, metal pistons groaning as they hadn't been used in nearly twenty years. The floor beneath it moved, revealing a flight of stone stairs leading to a large metal door. The two vault dwellers, amazed by this secret tunnel, stepped into it hesitantly, the poor lighting and the scurrying of radroaches the only indications of life. The tw moved through the dark halls, the corridors that smelled of dampness and moss, before reaching their destination.
A large metal door, circular and strong, built to withstand a direct nuclear strike, was the entrance to the vault. A panel, with various buttons and pulleys, was the answer to exiting this damn god forsaken vault.
He approached it, unsure of what to do. Until he looked down, saw a giant red button that said, OPEN DOOR. Pressing the large red button, an unlocking mechanism came to life, moving forward and latching onto the door. Alarms were buzzing as the mechanism groaned and turned, the pistons giving off steam. Artyom took a step back. It was almost time.
"Wow...I can't believe you opened it," Amata said in wonder. Artyom could hardly believe it either. He looked at Amata and kissed her then and there. She responded with equal fervor. Before long, they had to separate.
"I couldn't have done this without you," he praised. She glowed.
"If anyone could have done it was to be you," she praised back. Then a door opened and two more officers of the vault security team poured in, pistols at the ready. They had riot shields, surprising Artyom. The only time riot shields came out was when someone was deemed a high security risk.
Guess he was that risk.
The two men were Officer Park and Officer Wolfe, both new officers on the force. They were as old as Artyom. Artyom raised his own pistol, while Amata running into another room.
"Alright you sooka, what do you guys want?" Artyom said impatiently. He was about to leave and now these assholes were here.
"Give us the Overseer's daughter Andreyev. I don't have any beef with you. Neither does Wolfe. We just want Amata. The Overseer wants her," Park said, unevenly. He shifted a little behind the cover.
"I don't have her," Artyom said, gritting his teeth. There was no way that he would be able to shoot these two. The riot shield would be able to deflect all of his bullets.
"Officer Wolfe, Officer Park. I'll go with you. Just leave Artyom alone," Amata said, appearing from cover. The two officers looked at her with surprise. She left, but not before waving goodbye and offering one last piece of conversation.
"I'm sorry about my father. I'm sorry about all of this. Go out and find your father Artyom. I'll stay here and try to calm down the vault."
And she left. The two security officers followed close, their pistols still trained on Artyom. But Wolfe stopped and he holstered his pistol. He looked down at the riot shield in his hand, unhooked his hand, and tossed the ten pound shield to Artyom.
"What?" Artyom said in confusion.
"You're going to need it a lot more than I am."
And he left, leaving Artyom alone. It was the first time he had ever felt alone. And it would be a name that would accompany him, a name that would echo throughout history. A name that would change the landscape of the Capital.
He headed into the tunnel, passing by bodies that held up signs. Cracks of light could be seen through a desolate wooden door. Taking one last breath, he turned to see the vault door closing, a screeching noise that drowned out the tunnel. It locked into position. No more nose. Just...quiet.
He walked up to the door. With plenty of nervousness, he opened it. A light, a white light, more powerful and forceful than any artificial sun, flared in his face, forcing him to cover his eyes with his hands. It was the light of the sun. He bathed in the warmness. His eyes slowly adjusted.
Regret. Anger. Fear. Loneliness.
He saw the skyline, watching the gray outlines of crumpled and destroyed buildings litter the landscape. A hellish waste of nothing but dirt, destruction, and death. Scattered debris, once mighty buildings that were now great wrecks of concrete and rubble. Off in the distance a spire of metal and rock rose out of the ground, a monument to the greatest man in American history.
Fear was evident in his eyes.
He took his first unsteady steps into the Capital Wasteland.
And he took his first steps into changing it.
The Enclave technician was bored. It had been twenty-three days since she had been placed on this assignment. She knew what it was truly for. Punishment. For not being able to fix a radar dish that had stopped working. Oh, they said how this was supposed to be a promotion.
Bull.
She sipped a cup of coffee as she analyzed the data from the satellite array, making sure that the Bradley-Hercules orbital weapon system still worked. It was still drifting in space, not using the rest of its maneuvering fuel.
She started to read it once more, knowing that the damn data would be the same. As she read it, she took another sip. Skipping past a sentence, she read another. And then she spit out his nasty coffee.
A Pip-3000D had now started broadcasting to the communications satellite that connected the Enclave's Armed Forces to the central communication hubs at Raven Rock. It was picking up information that was classified and that was way out his security clearance level. Another satellite started to move into position. It was a weapons systems satellite, but not the same kind that the Bradley-Hercules one orbitally dropped a weapons cache, consisting of a .50 cal anti-material sniper rifle, a .44 scoped magnum, combat armor, stimpacks and Radaway, along with enough ammunition to last a lifetime.
She barely managed to halt it in time, putting a firewall between the satellite and the Pip-Boy 3000D. The D series was the Special Forces version of the Pip-Boy, allowing them access to electronic warfare systems and weapon caches from satellites. Whoever this was, he now had connection to the Enclave's classified data, but no way to open the files or read them.
Thank God for that. Otherwise Colonel Autumn would have her head.
Corporal Bethany Kolb lifted up the phone that would connect her straight to Major Hawthorne. He would want to know about this.
Hello everyone. Sorry for the late updates. Saw this half-finished chapter, decided to finish it. Longest chapter I have written. Thanks for the support!
