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The Fallout 3 Universe is owned by Interplay/Bethesda Softworks; all original characters are my own.
CHAPTER 2 – Never Saw The Sun
The darkness surrounded the young woman as she dashed up the stairs at the end of the corridor, her mind reeling with what had just happened.
Eddie. Oh God, I'm so sorry.
The tears streaked down her face, her voice a low moan of despair intermingled with gasps for breath. Her whole body trembled as she heard her pursuers give chase, the huge men with their barrel chests, trunk-like arms and those weapons. Those cannons, those death-bringers which had just torn her world apart.
She fought desperately against the nausea that threatened to overwhelm her, the bile rising in her heaving chest. It wasn't just the fear; she'd never gone this way before. To Evelyn, these stairs were an alien planet; she didn't know where they'd lead, or which way to turn. No, she had to actually think about which way to go next. And that wasn't easy, considering that their were monsters chasing her.
The stairs ended into another dim passageway, with what seemed like a glowing wall at the end.
Turn right. Run straight. Run as fast as you can. Keep your eyes on that light.
Then the light disappeared and Evelyn was thrown once more into darkness.
It took her a moment to realise that a shadow had draped itself over the light, blocking it in an instant. Her heart leapt up to her throat as the shroud moved in front of her, a glint of metal, and still she was running toward it!
Evelyn couldn't stop, she was almost running in a trance. The darkness ahead of her could only be another one of them, armed with one of those terrifying weapons that would tear the flesh from her body in a single, earth-shattering blast. But there were more behind her. More men, with their fleshy armour and their boom-sticks, and their female slaves, and their murdering ways. No, she had to keep going, even if death was a few steps in front of her. She wouldn't stop now.
The shadow grew larger in her vision and then she heard the shot.
Two shots. Three shots.
Evelyn didn't flinch as the sound of her imminent death rang around the passageway, a fact she was dimly proud of, nor did she feel any pain, or even fear. She just kept running.
She ran past the shadow, the form crumpling in her vision, and it was only then she realised her right hand was gripping the pistol, and her mind came back to her, and she was there, past the body, her gun trailing the smoke from the bullets she had just fired into the shadow.
She had no time to realise that she had just killed, nor time to realise that her fingers were still squeezing the trigger and producing dry 'clicks' from the gun. Evelyn had no time to think of anything, because she had reached the glowing wall, and it wasn't a wall at all, but a large bank of lights that all shone at her from the Vault's main entrance.
She shielded her eyes from the sudden blare, and almost stopped running, but the fear instinct had taken control of her legs, and she tore past the large, standing lights that illuminated the huge steel frame of the Vault. Evelyn took in everything in an instant; the semi-cylindrical nature of the long and narrow room she was now in, the long, metallic, many-doored beast in front of her, even the bizarre red-and-blue logo that was emblazoned "VAULT RED" and which was plastered all over the dirt-stained whitewashed walls. She noticed the men to her right, heard them cry a warning, and instinctively ran to the left as another hollow explosion shattered the glass of one of the metal worm's windows right next to her ear. She screamed, a gibberish of emotions pouring from her lips; fear, anguish, defiance.
The room had no exit that she could see, so she darted right, into the belly of the worm, and saw the inside was a thin corridor with seats either side. She kept running, away from the men, away from the Vault, away from her home. Into the next segment of the beast, passing through open doors and past the upright metal poles that stretched from floor to ceiling.
The end of the creature was another open doorway that led into more darkness. Evelyn didn't hesitate; she was out of the worm in an instant, the men's angry voices echoing down the dark tunnel she now found herself in. She landed awkwardly, and took a wild step forward. Her foot hit something hard and unmoving, and she fell with a cry.
She rose as quickly as she could, muttering curse words as a burst of pain shot through her. She'd landed on her knee; but she could stand, and she could run. She had to run.
Another shout from behind, and Evelyn was up on her feet. She almost tripped again before she realised that she was running on a floor intersected by thick panels every other step, and quickly learned to alter her pace to avoid stumbling. She could feel the blood trickling down her leg, and her knee screamed with pain with each step.
Slowly, she left the light behind, until she was submerged into utter darkness.
The men behind had flashlights, and Evelyn had to jink from side to side to avoid being caught in their glare. She found that there were two unending raised lines on either side of the narrow tunnel, higher than the central panels that ran perpendicular, and the fleeing vault-dweller was forced to measure each step to avoid tripping over once more. A couple more blasts rang down the tunnel, striking the walls and sending a shower of pellets ricocheting around the passageway.
But even despite her injury, Evelyn was faster than the men. Fuelled by fear and adrenaline, the young woman outpaced her pursuers, and slowly the flashlights grew dim, until she rounded a shallow corner and they were lost for good. She kept running until she could no longer hear their footsteps or their loud, perverse shouts. Even then, she kept running.
Finally, Evelyn slowed. She was gasping for breath; the tunnel's air was dry and warm. Evelyn hadn't felt anything like it. Her throat burned, and she longed for water.
It was a few minutes more before Evelyn's legs allowed her to slow to a walk. The immediate fear had left her, and she trembled from head to foot with its parting. She was still quietly sobbing, shedding dry tears for her lost life, her dead friend, and, in part, her bleeding knee. The emotions of the past hour threatened to overwhelm her, and it was only the pressing fear that the men may return that kept Evelyn moving along the tunnel.
After she had been walking for a few more minutes, Evelyn felt like she must fall off the end of the world. She'd never gone in one direction for so long. She'd never known darkness like this. She'd never smelt such an odour, she'd never known a silence that stretched this far.
More than anything, she'd never felt so alone.
Her mind went back to Eddie; to that one, single moment where she'd seen his head burst, the moment he'd turned from her living, breathing, joking friend... to...
Nothing.
She found tears from somewhere, and burst out crying. She needed her friend now, she needed to know that she'd be alright, that she – they – would escape this living nightmare. They could make it to another vault, seal themselves in, permanently this time. And her and Eddie could go on having lunches together, and she'd fix the generators, and she'd sleep in her comfortable bed, and she'd not need to walk more than a minute, and always smell the same smell, and never have this darkness that surrounded her right now.
And when she was lonely, or sad, she could go find him, and even though he'd be awkward about it, he'd take her in his arms, and attempt some stupid, corny joke that'd really piss her off, but in the end, it'd take her mind away from whatever it was she was sad about, and they would laugh, and hug it out, and everything would be okay again, until the next time. But that was fine, because she knew what would happen the next time, and the time after that. Time and time again, it would be alright.
But this wasn't okay. She wasn't okay. And her Eddie lay dead, seconds from safety, his lifeless body was sprawled on the edge of her world while she plummeted deeper into the abyss. Alone.
She didn't know how long it had been since she had run. It had been a while, but the darkness enveloped her to the point where her senses could not function. She was barely aware that she'd reached the end of the tunnel, and it was only the fact her path was blocked that finally broke her tearful reverie.
Facing her was another metallic worm, its face staring at her, mocking her, the broken panels of glass looking down the tunnel back the way she had come. A thin light escaped from the top and sides of the beast.
Evelyn looked up. It appeared to be an old-fashioned vehicle, but it was unlike any 'car' that Evelyn had seen in the holotapes. This was long and thin, and the tunnel in which she stood seemed to have been created just for its irregular shape. Its front blocked off the room beyond.
Evelyn stared at the vehicle for a while, feeling her tears dry on her cheek. She couldn't cry any more, she felt numb, and willed her addled mind to force her way past the obstruction.
Come on Evelyn.
She was well aware that the men might still be behind her, taunting her, trailing her in silence. So, with barely a glance over her shoulder into the void, Evelyn walked up to the face of the worm and reached up.
The glass panels that faced her had shattered, but were still jagged and fierce. She caught hold of an edge carefully and pulled it clear from the frame, and kept at this until her hands bled freely and there was a large enough gap for her to crawl through. She welcomed the pain in her hands, the sharpness brought her mind back into focus and removed the other demons that haunted her thoughts.
Evelyn pulled herself up, into the frame, and fell into a small compartment, rolling over a bank of panels at the vehicle's front end. There was ancient glass on the floor that crackled as she rolled over it and clung to her stained red jumpsuit . Standing, she took in her surroundings.
The worm continued on for several more segments, as the other had done, but this time the vehicle's rear end curled around in a wicked bend to the right, so that Evelyn could only see through the first few compartments. A dim light filtered through each window panel, illuminating the sections.
Evelyn walked down through the vehicle, marvelling at the complexity of each segment. Though peeling and partially ruined, a number of advertisements lined the walls, depicting some form of service or product. Evelyn gaped; she'd never seen these in real-life before, unless she counted the several adverts for Vault-Tec or for Nuka Cola that plastered the cafeteria in Vault Red.
Each compartment was completely shattered. The metal lining was twisted and broken, sometimes bent in on itself, other times missing altogether. No pane of glass was intact. The floor undulated like Evelyn had never known; sometimes it was level, sometimes leaning to the left or right, sometimes it even leaned upward or down. She stumbled carefully through each segment, picking over the glass and trying to ignore what she saw on either side.
For on either side was an army of bones. Some were whole skeletons, who sat or leaned against the walls. Others were limbs, others digits, while still others were unrecognisable fragments and slivers. Evelyn shivered in spite of herself.
She looked down into the staring eye sockets of a skull, grimacing as she did so. Next to the skull was an object, and Evelyn stopped picking over the debris for a moment to examine the item.
It was a box; a container, rectangular and thin. But unlike other containers she had seen, it was not made of metal, but what seemed to be leather – like the old coats that some of the elders passed down to the next generation, back in the Vault. The item seemed almost out of place; nothing else nearby was in such good condition.
She leant over and plucked it up, her fascination momentarily overwhelming her desire to keep moving. The artefact was well kept; despite having slightly melted corners, whatever was inside would presumably have been shielded from the devastation that surrounded her. Gingerly, she set it on a free seat beside her, and with another brief look back at the way she had come to check the men weren't following, she felt for a way to open it.
The case – for that is what it was, she decided, even though this was made of leather and not the dull grey steel of Vault Red – was easy to open, and the catch gave way after a moment of Evelyn's fumbling. The top sprang open, making the young woman jump in surprise, and the case bared its contents.
There was little that truly caught her eye inside. A thin stack of paperwork, a couple of pens, a smaller leather holder that held even smaller pieces of crumbled paper and rounded metal discs. A tiny terminal that only had numbers on its keypad was to one side of the case; although it seemed to be dead to the world, as while Evelyn tapped all the buttons nothing showed on its narrow screen.
She pocketed the small holder and quickly looked through the paperwork, mindful that she should not linger much longer. Most of the paperwork was a mass of figures, some were clearly personal letters, but one official form marked with a Vault-Tec logo caught her eye. She took it out of the pile and read it.
***
Vault-Tec UK Ltd.
101 Baker Street
London
NW1 5 RQ
12th May 2068
Dear Mr. Thompson,
Further to our meeting on April 27th, we would like to formally accept your application to join the Vault-Tec family. Congratulations!
Your application is approved pending the return of your Inhabitant Contract, which we ask that you return as soon as possible in the envelope provided. Once this is received, we will send out the full Vault-Tec Starter Package which will explain everything for you. However, below is a list of key points that you must know should the worst happen before we can reach you again!
Your registered Vault is Vault Red which is located underneath The Thames, by the Victoria Embankment in London. Your contact underground station is Charing Cross.
On activation of the General Alert, please make your way quickly to the underground station and insert your Vault-Tec biometric pass (enclosed) into the Vault-Tec registered door. Show your pass and this letter to the guards and you will be granted access to our exclusive underground station. This station is locked with Vault-Tec's patented security airlock system, capable of withstanding a 50 megaton blast.
An underground train will be waiting and will transport you to the Vault's entrance. Please move quickly.
We suggest you scout out the area of Charing Cross and understand the quickest route to the station at all times. Remember, when the alarm activates, you will have only four minutes to make it through our Security Gate!
Failure to show the requested documentation on demand will result in you being denied entrance to the Vault.
Your application fee is valid for 10 years, after which time you will have to reapply. Your place is guaranteed as long as you contact us by 12th March 2078.
You have registered the following number of inhabitants;
2 ADULTS/3 CHILDREN
*Important* Please note that if you attempt to enter with more than your registered number in your family your Resident status will be automatically terminated. Vault-Tec is not responsible for loss of life as a result of a failure to adhere to guidelines.
We look forward to seeing you soon!
Vault Red Populator,
Matthew Coleman
***
Evelyn clucked lightly; so this was a train? She'd heard of them, even seen pictures, but this looked different to any train she'd seen. What she could not understand was why this train – and particularly Mr. Thompson – had not made it to the Vault?
She folded the letter up neatly, and quickly found the Vault-Tec guide to go along with the letter. She pocketed them both before suddenly she heard a sound. Evelyn froze.
There was an echoing sound making its way down the tunnel, from where she had come. The sound was a pair of voices, murmuring to one another, and then the sound of footsteps, a number of them. She stood slowly and stared back down through the train's belly. Coming toward her were the invaders of Vault Red; a mass of men all armed with flashlights. Somewhere behind she could make out the bound silhouettes of those unlucky enough to be caught by the mob. She hadn't been seen yet; but she knew it would only be a matter of time. She'd dallied long enough.
Knowing that the group of men would take their time to crawl through the same window she had, she moved as slow as she dared, favouring silence over speed. Fortunately, the next compartment opened out onto the station, and Evelyn squeezed through the half-open doors and found herself in chaos.
The platform, which Evelyn now understood this room to be, was littered with bones; hundreds, probably thousands of people had perished here. The skeletons were everywhere, fanning out from a large open archway toward the train's open doors.
Across the walls there were severe scorch marks, but in certain sections was that same funny logo, the red circle with the blue stripe, and in that stripe was now marked "CHARING CROSS".
Evelyn kept moving, heading for the stairwell that lay beyond the archway. She dashed up the stairs, two at a time, desperate to avoid the bones that cascaded down toward the platform. At the top of the stairwell was another room, and it was here that Evelyn let out a soft gasp.
A huge metallic doorway stood ajar in front of her; fifty feet down the corridor that it was supposed to protect, another huge doorway was open. The corridor was full of bones; they reached waist height, and seemed to be laying on a huge layer of grey dust. Evelyn could not now walk without stumbling over the remains.
The walls were scorched black; very little remained of their original surface, although Evelyn would swear she saw shadowed hands silhouetted against the wall, reaching up to the ceiling. The young Vault-dweller stood horrified; this was a place of death. On that fateful day thousands had died here; the door hadn't been closed, and the huge blast that had wiped out the Earth had also found its way down here. Why the door hadn't been closed, Evelyn could only guess; but, judging from the pile of human remains, she imagined the mayhem that might have occurred here.
The crowd pressing, just like in her dream. Panicking, pushing, overwhelming the guard station, all trying to make it to safety, and as they did so, they doomed themselves The huge metallic doors would have both been forced open, letting in the blinding flash that had evaporated flesh and scoured the tissue from bones.
She saw the scorch marks again; the hands, reaching up, pleading with an uninterested God as the blast vapourised their bodies, leaving them as permanent murals stained against the walls.
Scrambling over the broken bones, and trying to keep down the rising bile in her stomach, the young woman forced her way on. If she lingered, then she'd end up just like these poor bastards; or worse, captured like...
Like poor Rosie?
Evelyn forced the images of her old Vault friends out of her mind. That time had gone. Now she was alone, and if she wanted to sit and mourn that, then she'd be dead. Like...
Like poor Eddie?
No. Not this time. She wasn't going to go out like that. She'd made it this far; further than any others of Vault Red. No, she had to keep going. She wasn't going to die here.
It was hard work, stumbling over the long corridor, cringing when her foot caught a skull, or snapped a bone like a twig. It took a number of minutes to traverse the lengthy passage, at which point there was suddenly a shout from behind her. The vault-dweller fearfully turned round to see the group of men that had been haunting her, a leer on each and every face, and again, those dreaded weapons!
"There she is!" Cried one.
"I'll get her," growled another, whose nose was caked in dried blood. He raised the gun to his shoulder;
And Evelyn dived out of sight, around the corner, just as the tiles behind her exploded in a shower of dust and debris. She was up and running straight away, hearing the curses coming thick and fast. She knew they'd be over that barrier of human remains a lot faster than her.
Ahead of her was another stairwell with metallic steps that stretched well upward. She took to them as fast as she could, hearing the dry crunching coming from the hallway behind her. Still, she would not look back.
Run you bitch! RUN!
She willed on her tired legs as she sprinted up to the higher levels, her calves burning with the effort. She was panting freely now, her hands were bleeding again as the scabs tore open on the rubbery handrail, and her knee was awash with pain. She could feel the blood running down into her boots and the sweat trickling down her neck.
There was another gunshot behind her and she felt a slight stinging in her arm. The shells struck all around her, causing a cacophony of noise. Evelyn realised she was screaming as she reached the top of the stairs.
There were more remains around her on this higher level; waist-high barriers seemed to cordon off half the room from the other. It was a large, open plan room with a low ceiling; the largest room Evelyn had ever seen. Corridors and stairwells led away from the room at different angles.
Evelyn did not have time to take it all in; she vaulted the barriers and ran for the steps in front of her, the steps that seemed bathed in an intensity she'd never seen. And then, there appeared more shadows; more men, descending from the glow to finally take her.
She veered off violently to the right as she heard them shout in alarm. Evelyn knew if these men pulled their guns on her, she'd be cut down before she'd ran ten steps. There was the horrific sound of metal sliding over metal, a loud, hollow clicking, and then again, that horrible explosion.
And a second, and a third, and suddenly the room was awash with gunfire. And still Evelyn ran.
She didn't look back, she didn't dare, but the gunfire came from all around her, and she knew that her pursuers must have met the men on the stairs, and clearly they were not allies. The gunfire from her nightmare was back, the rapid, hollow popping, followed by that explosion, and she heard the scream of men as flesh was rent from bone.
Evelyn missed the battle, and she was thankful; she'd made it into the long, thin corridor that stretched away from the large room. The passage twisted this way and that, holding endless torn posters that plastered every conceivable part of the wall. She passed another large room, with its low ceiling and waist-high barriers, and then, blessedly, she saw a thin stairwell, again bathed in light. Fear of what might have been chasing her made her take the stairs two by two.
And then, a blinding flash, and Evelyn still climbed, even though she knew she must be dead.
The stairwell stopped, and Evelyn looked upward, into the eyes of God. She tried to show no fear toward her maker; She wasn't a sinner; at least, she didn't think that she was. Sure, she'd shouted at Eddie, but even God would have done that, and God had made the little bastard. She marvelled at how sudden her death had been, how quick and painless it had come, and she thought to ask about whether Eddie had made it as well, before she realised that her death was painful.
Her arm was stinging like nothing she'd ever experienced. She couldn't control her fingers, which spasmed and flickered with every movement of her arm. And her knee, GOD her knee hurt!
No offence, God.
Her throat was raspy, her lungs burned, and that smell... what was that smell? And the sensation of air against her skin... what was that? And what was that? That great massive light that stretched across everything?
Then she realised, as her pain increased, God couldn't have taken her. If anything, she'd gone downstairs.
She stood in what she took to be the largest room she would ever see. The ceiling stretched upward infinitely, the floor spread away in every possible direction, and the light, Jesus, that light... it seemed to burn her retinas, to set her very skin on fire! She couldn't handle it!
She whimpered, pitifully, and crouched by the stairwell as she slowly sobbed. Please let me live... I haven't done anything wrong...
And for the first time in her life, God appeared to listen.
It took a few moments, but her eyes began to clear, her skin felt less like it was on fire, and the pain in her limbs became manageable again. If anything, the touch of the air on her skin felt cooling, and the light warmed her very soul. In fact, if she cast her eyes down at the floor, she could make out some features. Structures, huge, towering over her, more complex than she could imagine. Different plateaus, railings, a floor made of... what? And the ceiling, well, the ceiling was even higher than she first thought. The one huge spotlight that lit everything. It didn't seem possible. And then...
You're outside, you idiot.
The realisation dawned on her, and she berated herself for being so stupid. Of course this wasn't a room. That was the sky she saw. Buildings from before the war. Ground, not floor. Stone, not metal. And that light, Oh My God! That's the Sun! She smiled, despite the pain and anguish of the previous evening. She was outside, and it was wonderful.
Oh Eddie, if you could see this...
The Sun warmed her, and she lifted her head to the heavens. Another whisper of air blew past her, filling her lungs with a breath more refreshing than any she had taken in her life. She looked around, upward as a thick pillar stretched skyward; to her right, where a massive domed building dominated the skyline; to her left, where lines of vehicles lay scattered across the landscape. The outside was so vast! How did she know where to go?
The area around her seemed so empty, so unused. She supposed, in some ways, she was standing near the middle of a huge room, with this pillar at the centre, and the many buildings surrounding her were the walls. But where to go now?
She remembered the men then, those men that could kill so readily, and moved swiftly away from the stairwell. She headed deeper into the massive "room", toward the pillar and the strange shapes that surrounded it. As she approached, awestruck, she realised the column had been shattered, torn in half. The upper part had collapsed and lay in several pieces to one side. Evelyn cautiously rounded the debris and came upon what she supposed had been the top; a figure of a man, made of stone, whose lifeless eyes stared up at the sky. He lay broken into fragments, and Evelyn couldn't guess exactly what part had gone where, but the man's face, with his odd little hat, remained intact. She wondered who this man was, who he could have been. So many things to consider! Her head swam with the new information.
She looked back up at the broken pillar and at the raised slab that held it. It was then she saw the massive beasts shrouded in black. They were themselves made of stone, but seemed to have faired better than the man; the nearest seemed perfectly preserved, its huge form basking in the Sun. The young woman moved closer, brushing some of her loose hair back behind her ears. It almost seemed like these beasts were relaxing, waiting to reawaken.
Looks like a lion, Evelyn eventually decided, calling up memories from her textbooks. But surely these beasts couldn't be this big in real life – these stone animals were so large she doubted even one of them would fit in her apartment!
She soberly remembered that was the same apartment to which she'd never be able to return, and then the emotions were back, flooding through her like a wave. Her lip trembled, and she forced herself away from the ebony creatures.
To her right, just a few steps away, a raised stone lip ran curved erratically around a low body of water. In the centre of the container was another structure of stone, this one barely twice her height. This had delicate edges, like a bowl, and dripped green water into the sludge below.
The water in the main container was barely that. It stank, a putrid, sweet smell that caused Evelyn to ruffle her nose. She was thirsty – God, was she thirsty, but she wasn't about to drink from this green slime. She'd seen water like this before, when she'd be sent down into the sewer of the Vault to fix the purifier, and she understood that this water had never been cleaned. It was rank, and Evelyn sighed, her throat crying out for some form of drinkable liquid.
It was then she saw the body.
She froze in place, as still as the statues that dominated this plaza. It wasn't a skeleton, like the many she had seen, but a man, his facial features clearly visible, even though it were like his skin had peeled off in places. Tissue, scars and scabs covered the man's face, and Evelyn fought down another wave of nausea that threatened to consume her.
The corpse still had hair, albeit a light, wispy blonde straggle that barely covered his bleached scalp. The man's eyes were closed, and he almost seemed to be in peaceful slumber, laying as he did so casually against the side of the waist-height wall. Evelyn wondered what on Earth had afflicted this poor soul.
Silently, she moved again, away from the body, and gingerly perched on the wall. It felt good to keep the weight off her wounded knee. Tenderly, she pulled the jumpsuit up from around her right leg, exposing dried blood and her swollen joint. It didn't look as bad as she had feared; she'd gouged out a piece of flesh, but there wasn't bone or gristle showing. She breathed out slowly, thankful that she'd escaped those men without her knee buckling from underneath her. She wished she had something to cover her wound with, but she had nothing; no medkit, not even a stimpak to ease the pain.
Next she turned her attention to her right arm, which still stung and sent shooting pains to the tips of her fingers. She was dismayed to see perforations in her muscle; she'd been hit by that almighty weapon, and while she hadn't suffered the same fate as... as... others, she still felt light-headed because of the injury. Fortunately, the wounds were scabbing over, the blood drying on her arms.
Evelyn took the time then to look at her Pip-Boy – covered in more blood, although this was not her own. She could see past the film of crimson to the bright, green screen, and managed a light smile when she realised that her trusty computer had been collecting information the moment she had left the confines of the vault. The Pip-Boy sent out a constant, low-key radar, picking up walls and other obstructions, and gave Evelyn what she imagined was a birds-eye view of where she was now sitting. She moved her right hand to scroll across the landscape, but her hand refused to move, and her fingers danced involuntarily.
Damnit.
She was in no shape to operate her Pip-Boy, a fact that drove home her feeling of loneliness and helplessness. She couldn't move her fingers, she doubted she could walk much more, and she needed water, food, and medical attention. She had no idea how she could possibly find such help in this sprawling city she now found herself in.
Fighting back the despair that clung to her, Evelyn forced herself to think things through. She was in London. She knew that, the letter had said the Vault was in London, and she doubted she'd walked far enough underground to clear the settlement. The city might have been destroyed by the Great War, but some things were still standing. There had to be abandoned buildings that held water, that held food, that held something that might help her plight. There had to be.
She stood once more, hopping awkwardly as a pain shot through her right knee, then she looked up at the massive building in front of her.
The building looked gutted, but it still stood; the dome that rose atop a massive plateau of broken pillars was very much intact. The left part of the building looked to have fallen atop itself, but the central area was upright, and mainly free of debris. She'd start there, she decided. It had to hold something of interest.
She was about to start for the door when something caught her eye. The corpse, laying there so peacefully a few feet away, held something in his hand. It was odd that she hadn't noticed it earlier.
She stumbled back over to the body, and stopped dead in her tracks. In the man's hands was a death-bringer; one of those almighty cannons that had spewed flame, that had torn into her own flesh, that had... that had murdered her friend.
She was transfixed by its sight, and she moved closer, standing directly over the corpse as her hand went to touch the weapon, to feel its deadly power.
And then, just like that, the weapon moved, smoothly, standing upright and pointing straight at Evelyn.
The young Vault-dweller's jaw dropped, and her legs went to ice. She looked upon the corpse's face to be greeted with intense eyes staring back at her. The man, somehow alive despite his multitude of scars and gashes, had a somewhat serene smile upon his face, and aimed the weapon directly between Evelyn's eyes.
"Mornin' miss," he said, amicably.
Shit!
END OF CHAPTER TWO