Chapter 3: Nothing but a Dreamer

Mutton Chop and Abe sat on the ground in the setting sun paying respects to they're deceased friend. Abe observed Cameron's headless body with regret. 'We should have run.' He thought to himself. 'Why did he spare me, and not Cameron? For fuck sake he was just a child…' Abe noticed how small Cameron's body was with out his head. 'that's really weird." He randomly thought.

Mutton Chop sat in silence. He had lost his best friend. Not only did he know Cameron since he was born, the dog had never spent a single minute away from him. The poor mutt began to lick some of Cameron's blood off his face, noticing how salty it was. Abe stared at Mutton Chop. "This is all my fault." He yelled out laud. Abe recollected what happened before he left the vault. How angry he was. He recollected on the better times in his life also. Remembering his first crush, his first fight and that ridicules exam he talked himself out of. Abe remembered it as if it was only yesterday.

"Happy birthday pal!" Abe's dad said as he crossed his arms staying out of the way of all of the other little kids. It was Abe's tenth birthday party. They had set up balloons in the vault's diner. There was Mr. Andy the robot trying its best not to ruin the cake, the Overseer had marched his way through the bundle of kids to congratulate Abe and told him about all the responsibilities he would have to face. Abe thought the Overseer was full of it so he didn't listen. All he cared about was the special toy every kid got on his tenth birth day. "On congratulating you on this fine day. Blah, blah… blah, blah." "Just wait for the word…" Abe thought to himself. He had longed for a Pit Boy for as long as he could remember. Blah, blah, blah, blah, giving the responsibility of your very own Pit boy 3000!"

Abe squealed in joy as he took the amazing gadget out of the Overseer's hands, then paused in embarrassment for getting over excited. "Are you all right?" Amata asked. Amata and Abe had known one another since they were born. Amata always sparked Abe's imagination. Together they would play make believe, pretending to be barbarians beating up bad guys and saving damsels in distress. "Yah I'm fine." Abe replied. "Just feel a bit dumb." "I don't think any one saw you…" Amata reassured him. "But I still did." She laughed. "Anyways, you'll never guess what I got you!" Abe looked intrigued. He thought of all the possibilities. Could it be a stuffed animal? Could it be a soccer ball? He had no idea! "I honestly have no idea." Abe admitted. "Ha! I knew you would never get it!" Abe got annoyed. "Just give it to me!" He pleaded. "Fine, fine… I got you another comic of Grognak the Barbarian… issue number one." Abe almost pissed himself. "Oh my gosh! Thank you so much Amata! Where the heck did you find this!?" He asked. "It was just lying around in some box deep in the vault." She explained. "Anyways why don't you go socialize with you other friends?" Amata suggested. 'What friends…' Abe thought. Other then his dad, Amata was the only person who liked him. Ever since he was younger he had always gotten into fights over what he thought was right. He remembered when he had talked back to the overseer and had showdowns with Butch, the vault bully.

After his party, Abe's dad told him to go wait in the basement for him. He had a surprise for the anxious ten year old boy. As Abe ran down the hall, avoiding all adults he turned down the stair case and bumped into his dad's colleague, Jonas. "What are you doing down here, young man?" The doctor said adjusting his bifocals. "Can it, Jonas!" Abe snickered. "Ohhh… so I guess because you ten years old now, your all business." Jonas replied.

Abe's dad entered the basement. "You ready for your surprise pal?" He asked. Abe pondered. From the day he was born he had always been given chores and tasks from his dad. Always expecting something cool when ever his dad called him into his office he was given a pile of files and was asked to organize them, or deliver medicine to the numerous seniors lurking in the vault. Abe frowned. "I don't like surprises." He muttered. "Ha!" His dad smirked. "Well you'll like this surprise pal; I got you your very own bee bee gun!" Abe's frown soon turned upside down. "Will I get to shoot anything with it?!" He asked in excitement. "NO." His father remarked. "Jonas and I have set up some targets in the storage room down here for you to shoot at."

As Abe opened the mechanized door he couldn't believe how big the boxes of supplies were. In the back behind all the yellow crates stood three targets. "Here pal, just hit the three targets. Pretty simple isn't it?" His dad replied. Abe pointed the gun at the target and began to aim. As he pulled the trigger the projectile totally missed the target shooting into a corner, and ricochet into Jonas's thick glasses. "Wow!" Jonas cried. "What are the odds of that?!" He stretched. Abe dropped the gun down in disappointment. "Don't worry son…" Abe's dad comforted him as he gave him a hug. "I was never good at shooting either. I guess that's why I'm a doctor, right?" Abe's dad chuckled. "Son, it takes more then shooting a gun to be a man…" Abe's dad explained. There is so much more to this world then killing. We all have our gifts. Some people are more organized and good at math; others can just about make anyone burst into laughter. I know your special son, and when you find your path you'll change the world, I'm sure."

Abe felt enlightened by his dad's little lecture. "Thanks dad." Abe replied. "Not a problem son." His dad said. "Now let's get a picture of the both of us."

As Abe grew up, he began to get interested in boxing. He had looked into the vaults library and found a book on the sport. Inside it, it told of a man called Mike Tyson. Abe admired this man, for all his skill and determination. In Abe's spare time, he would train in the storage room pummeling his own homemade punching bag. It was made out of an old blanket he had found and sewed up, and filled it with pieces of scrap metal, his old toys and some old pillows no one was using any more. He would spend hours on end in the storage room practicing techniques shown in the book about unarmed combat. Abe was also a huge fan of comic books and admired Grognak the Barbarian. He had always wanted to venture out into a world flooded with chaos, helping every person he could find and bring peace back to the world. But he was just kidding himself. Abe had thought he could never astound to the greatness of Grognak. By the time he was sixteen, he had a huge crush on Amata, it had only lasted for a year though after he figured out some one else had decided to go out with her. Amata's boyfriend was a quite guy. He went by the name of Conrad. He was always better at shooting then Abe, and knew a lot about repairing machines around the vault. Not just that but he was a real smooth talker to. Abe's had nothing to complain about in his life really. He was pretty happy in the vault. Although he had always wondered what it was like on the outside. He wished he could journey outside but who was he kidding. The vault was closed forever and he knew he was destined to die in the vault. Then came the horrific day his dad left. His dream was about to come true.

"Abe wake up!" Abe awoke to Amata's yelling. "What is it, Amata?" Abe asked rubbing his eyes. "Look, your dad escaped the vault. My dad is really angry. He just killed Jonas!" "He did what?!" Abe yelled. He had no idea what was going on. "Listen to me Abe; I know how you can escape."

"Well how do you suppose I could do that?" Abe asked sarcastically. "All you have to do get into my dad's office and open the gate from there. Abe was in shock. How could his dad have left him to die alone at the over seers finger tips? Amata pulled out a 10 mm pistol and handed it to Abe. "Here take this. I know you have a bad shot but you can use it just in case it gets messy." Abe looked down at the fire arm. "I have no need for that Amata." Abe declined the offer. He was thinking clearly now. His dream was about to come true. Who knows what places and adventures lay beyond the vault? He thought. "Alright Amata, I'm getting out of here right now. So all I have to do is get to your dad's office?" Abe asked. "Yah, I'll go get my dad's pass word to unlock the entrance." She planned. Abe gave a nod of understanding to Amata and ran for it.

'Now's a fine opportunity to test out my boxing skills…' Abe thought. As he turned to the right he was spotted by an officer. His uniform was padded with a bullet proof vest and his head protected by a thick plastic helmet. As the officer lifted his baton and raged at Abe, he noticed a crunchy sound from behind the security personnel. 'Radroaches…' Abe thought. Soon a swarm of the critters surrounded the officer. "Help me!" He yelled. Abe stood aside. He couldn't risk the consequences. The officer managed to kill two of the radiated vermin, but was engulfed by the rest. With no hesitation Abe kicked the giant roaches out of his way running into two officers. "Freeze! If you move even an inch we'll beat you to death!" one of them yelled. Abe brought his fists in front of his face. "Get him!" The second one yelled. Abe shifted out of the way as they swung they're batons. As he dodged they're swings, Abe swung his right fist into the first officer's neck and his left flew right into his gut. His back faced the other officer. As Abe hesitated, the second guard quickly chocked Abe from behind with his baton. "Dammit!" Abe yelled. He didn't know how long he could take this. Without thinking, he bent over, flipping the guard into the wall. As the officer lay half conscious on the floor Abe looked down into his eyes. "Sorry I have to do this…" Abe apologized sarcastically. Abe lifted his elbow up as he jumped into the air and landed on the officer smashing in his face. Abe ran down into the foyer of the vault. 'Almost there…' he thought to himself. He spotted to vault residents arguing over whether they should leave the vault. "I wanna get out of here right now!" One yelled. "NO, you ca-"she was soon silenced by a bullet. "Marline N-!" "Bang!" Another shot could be heard down the hall way. Abe got out of hiding and ran towards the shooters. He tried his best to dodge most of the bullets but one hit his shoulder while the other hit his leg. "OWWW!" Abe yelled. He had never thought guns could hurt that much. "Freeze Resident!" The Officers yelled at Abe. "Hold still you-Ahh!!" Abe heard another gun blast except this time it was behind him, and was aiming towards the officers. Abe turned behind him to see who was backing him up. "What's up sprout?" Conrad asked while aiming his pistol at the guards. "Conrad? What are you doing here?" Abe asked. "Shoot first, ask questions later, why don't you go in there and go kick some ass?!" Abe smiled. Ignoring the pain from his gun wounds he ran towards what was left of the guards while they reloaded. "One by one the guards were punched out, Abe hesitated as the last one pointed his pistol at Abe point blank. "Die! You fuckin Monkey!!!" He yelled. Before he could pull the trigger, Abe jumped into the air lifting his legs in and shooting them out like a loaded cannon. As Abe drop kicked the guard in the face he felt the more pain coming from the wounds. "Shit!" He yelled as he fell on the floor. As he lay on the ground coughing, he could make out Conrad's big feet coming towards him. 'you look like you could use one of these stimpacks sprout…" Abe had been called sprout ever since he was a kid because of his green hair. It had bugged him before but now it didn't matter at all. "Why are you helping me? Abe asked. "Well…" Conrad thought as he greased back his hair. "I've always wanted out of this place ever since I was young. And well, nah it's not important right now. Let's just get out of here…" He suggested.

As Abe finished treating himself with the Stimpacks Conrad gave him he got up. "Well, I'm ready to go." Abe said. "OH, here take the rest of these stimpacks; you'll probably need them more then me." "Oh, thanks Conrad, but wont-." Conrad interrupted him. "I wont be this generous next time we meet sprout so take advantage of it now." The greaser suggested. Abe smirked. "Will do…" "Great now lets get that pass word. Conrad demanded. "Let's do it." Abe replied.

The two walked down the corridor, a man with a cap was banging on one of the windows. He was going on of how it was Abe's fault for all this chaos happening. As Abe and Conrad made it to the over seer's living quarters. They could see Amata arguing with her father, the overseer. There stood an armed guard making sure no one gets in. Fortunately for the duo, he was facing the other way. "Father, how could you do this?!" Amata questioned her dad. "I must fulfill the duty as over seer to protect the residents of the vault." "Dad!" Amata interrupted. "People have died because of you! You're not keeping people safe, you're just causing chaos!" Amata, that's enough!" "But father!' I said that's enough!" Everyone was silent. "Bang!" Conrad had shot a bullet into the guards head. "You two! What are you doing here?" "Give us the password." Abe demanded bluntly. "Conrad? What are you doing here?" Amata asked her boyfriend. Conrad didn't answer. "NO!' The over seer yelled. "You are a dirty trader! We should never have let you and your father in the vault! You should've stayed out there and rot!" Abe tried to hold in his anger in towards this stubborn man. "Listen, if you give us the password, we'll just be on our way." "Over my Dead body!" The Over seer became hostile taking out a gun from his desk. Abe began to relax. He wasn't confident in its reliability but he was sure he was ready. Abe flicked the switch on his Pit Boy to activate V.A.T.S. Electricity ran through his veins. Time began to stop. He only had enough for four actions in the real world. As he stood there frozen in time, he felt so much anger towards the Overseer. For all the grief he placed upon Amata and for all the stupid decisions that many of the residents have suffered for. Time flew slowly know. Abe couldn't control his body. All the energy went into his fist. As he pummeled the over seer he could feel the electrical power transfer from his fists into the overseer. Abe, no!" Amata yelled. Unfortunately Abe couldn't control himself. All he could do was watch as his body did all the work. Blood flew from all directions; the overseer was swollen from all of the punches thrown at him. Soon he died. Abe had beaten him to death.

Amata eyes burst with tears. "Abe, how could you?!" "Amata, I'm…" "I don't want to hear it." She interrupted. Conrad stood there combing back his hair. "I guess this is bad time to say we should see different people…" Conrad mentioned, feeling stupid to what he just had announced. Amata stormed out of the room. Abe began to cry to. He had just realized he had taken the lives of those many guards and Amata's dad. How could he live with himself now? In the end he would just have to move on. "You did the right thing sprout. Now look, I found the password on the Overseer's body now all's we gotta do is get the fuck out of this shithole." Abe put himself together and agreed. "Yah, alright… lets go."

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