Chapter 4

One month later:

"Wake up!"

I gasp and shoot up from bed, "Gah!"

"Finally! Thank god!" Amata gasps.

I grin drowsily, "How weird, I was just having that dream about you again..."

She whacks the back of my head harshly, "Not now! This is really bad!"

A loud siren echoes throughout the Vault and Amata herself looks terrified.

"What? What's wrong? Tell me Amata!"

"I-it's your Dad! He's escaped the Vault! He's gone!"

"What?!" I yell, before her hand clamps my mouth.

"Shhh shut the hell up!" Amata whispers, "the guards are looking for you!"

"So? I'm here aren't I? Why would I have anything to do with Dad's stupid escape plan?"

"How should I fucking know?" she hisses.

"Woah hey... you don't think I had anything to do with this did you?"

She sighs, "I don't know about anything anymore..."

"O-OK. First thing I'm gonna do is just... talk to your Dad and explain my innocence."

"He won't listen! The guards have guns!"

I blink a bit and take in a breath. The thought occurs to me that I might not live past today if this is true. I sure as shit am not spending the rest of my life in the Vault jail.

"Get out of here, I never talked to you," I say, grabbing a bag and filling it with whatever "supplies" I have.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving... I'm going to open the door." I try to sound determined, but my heart aches and pounds with fear with every syllable.

"I... I-" she looks down with tears in her eyes, "here."

She hands me a gun and I tuck it into my pocket, "Come here," I say, pulling her into a hug. She hugs me back, crying and kissing my cheek, "I'll meet you at the door if I can. If not..." she just can't finish the sentence.

"Goodbye Amata," I whisper, "be brave OK? Look after Su- oh SHIT!"

"What?" she asks, following me as I start running.

"If they're looking for me the first place they'll try other than here is Susie's apartment!"

"Winter! Shoot to wound!" she calls as I dart out of sight. It's true. These people may be out to capture me, but they were friends, neighbors, they did good by me when I grew up without a mother.

"Hey! Winter!" Butch screams, running up to me. I turn and frantically point my gun at him, but I drop it.

"Woah! Don't shoot!" he begs, "it's my mom! The radroaches have her cornered!"

"Butch I'm busy right now!"

"Please! She's gonna die!"

The son of a bitch has bullied Amata all her life, but his mum is his mum.

"Here," I shove the BB gun in his hands and run with him into their apartment.

Butch's mum is covered in roaches, and Butch panics, "Oh god oh god oh god!" he gaps.

"Shoot them!" I gasp, kicking one away from her. He shoots all the roaches as his mother screams for his help.

"You're the best!" Butch grins.

"Not now Butch!" I gasp, snatching the gun from him.

"Oh yeah... nice knowing you... I guess..." he trails off, looking down.

I take a deep breath and start running again for the apartment.

"Susie?!" I yell, running into her apartment, "Susie?!"

"Oh thank god!" Susie leaps from under her bed and flings herself onto me, hugging me as tightly as she can before she starts to bawl, "I thought you were dead!"

"Are you OK?" I gasp, kissing her cheek.

"I'm fine. Oh my god Winter please... y-you didn't have anything to do with this did you?"

"No," I say firmly, "I promise you I didn't, I had no idea."

"What are we going to do Winter?" she sobs.

"It's going to be OK angel," I soothe, stroking her hair, "I promise."

"Check in here!" a guard yells.

"Punch me," she whispers.

"What?!" I whisper loudly back.

"Just do it! Trust me!"

I kiss her forehead, before slamming my fist against her nose. I'm immediately shoved into a closet and she slams the door. I pull down her clothes and cover myself with them.

"Where is she?!" Susie's Dad roars, "answer me Susanne!"

"She left!" she sobs, "she wanted me to go with her, I said no and she punched me! Daddy I'm scared!"

"Don't be scared sweetheart, Daddy's sorry he yelled at you, I'm just angry at the Daniels. Stay here, lock the door behind me and tell me if she comes back. I'll make sure you get cleaned up when this is all over."

I scrunch my eyes tight as they leave and she opens the door.

"I'm so sorry," I beg, rushing into the bathroom and grabbing a towel.

"Don't worry about me!" she gasps, "listen! Go into the head security's room! They might have a password to the door in there!"

I nod and hug her.

"I love you," she cries softly, "you have to promise me that you will live through today. Promise me!"

"Look at me," I say, still holding onto her, "no matter what happens, I'll be alive OK? I promise."

She grabs me and kisses my lips passionately, "You had better not be lying."

"Now listen to me," I say, pushing her off me, "I need you to stay hidden, no matter what OK? Don't follow me and don't let any guards see you."

She nods, "O-OK. I can do that."

"Goodbye," I kiss her quickly, before running out of the apartment.

"There she is! Stop her!"

I look and spot an officer pointing at me. Without thinking I pull out my gun and shoot his leg. He howls in pain and drops to the ground, allowing me to drop over him and do the same to another guard who had heard the gunshot.

"That's right!" Christine Kendall laughs, "run you stupid bitch! You're gonna die tired!"

"This isn't happening," I whisper, "this isn't happening... this isn't happening... wake up!"

I turn around the corner and trip on something.

"Ow!" I gasp, turning around and holding back a scream, "Jonas..."

My father's closest friend and the closest person I ever had to a brother lies dead on the floor, a huge pool of blood on the floor.

"No..." I whisper, crawling to him, "Jonas wake up... Jonas! JONAS!"

I wipe away tears and look at his hand, he's holding a Holotape with my name written on it. In too much of a state to read it, I grab it and run for the security office.

"Daddy let me go!"

I stop dead in my tracks outside the security office and listen.

"Be reasonable Amata... officer Mack may enjoy this but I sure don't. Just tell us where Winter is and everything will be OK."

"She's my friend... I- I was just trying to help her. What does she have to do with any of this anyway?"

"Probably nothing, which is why we need to talk to her... well? Where is she?... Very well, Mack, do it."

"No!" I yell, bursting in and pointing my gun at Mack.

"No!" Susie screams, running in after me, "Winter! Don't shoot my Dad!"

"Aw look, the baby found a gun," the Overseer smirks.

"L-l-l-look," I stutter, the gun weighing a million tonnes in my hands, "I- just leave her alone! Give me the password to the door and you'll never see me again!"

Mack growls, "You! You've brought nothing but SHIT to this Vault! To my family! Both you AND your father! You've been fucking my daughter, you beat my son up, and you DARE to point a gun at me?! Shoot ME in front of my daughter?!"

"This can end right now," I stutter. My entire body is shaking with fear, I can almost hear my heart pounding harder and harder.

"You know what Winter?" Mack sighs, "go ahead, shoot me."

"What?"

"Do it! Right there!" he points at his forehead, "I want to see if you have the BALLS to shoot me! You traitorous little shit!"

"No! Winter don't!" Susie begs.

I stick a hand behind my back and give her a thumbs up and glance back before I see Mack draw his gun.

"Fuck!" I scream, a searing pain in my leg, dropping my gun.

"Ha!" Mack laughs as I fall to the ground, clutching my bleeding leg. He walks up and aims the gun at my face.

"Please," I beg.

"Daddy! Don't!" Susie screams.

"Good riddance kid."

I close my eyes and hear a gunshot and Susie screaming, "No!"

My eyes flicker open, I'm not dead. I've got blood on my face and Amata is trying to pull me up.

"You killed him!" Susie screams at Amata, "you shot my Daddy!"

"Winter you need to go!" Amata gasps.

I look up at the Overseer, a cool, calm expression on his face, "I'm going to kill you." he says calmly, "slowly. In front of the entire Vault."

I scramble up and Amata supports me by putting an arm around my waist and pulling my arm around her neck.

"Amata!" he shouts, "come back here RIGHT NOW!"

"Be right back!" she yells.

"This isn't happening..." I groan, running and hopping with one foot.

"Come on, you need to go!"

I can only steal a small glance at Susie, who's sobbing over her father's body.

I groan and raise my gun and fire at anyone who tries to stop us, either in the shoulder or the leg. I could never live with myself if I killed someone, anyone.

"Here, just sit down," she soothes once we get into the Overseer's office and locks the door behind us.

"Argh! God!" I yell, "oh FUCK it hurts so bad!"

"Shh it's OK." she bends over the computer, "Daddy always tells me the password when he changes it, in case something happens to him."

She logs into the computer and uploads all the files onto her Pip-boy, that stupid damn chunky computer watch, it weighs a tonne right now on my wrist.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing," she sniffs, before activating the escape lock and picking me up, "come on."

I limp down the escape tunnel with Amata, "Fuck..." I groan.

"Stay awake Winter. I need you," she snarls, "we can do this!"

We stumble into the entrance room and Amata pulls down on the lever.

"Wait!" I shout, but I don't know why. Growing up in the Vault we both knew that opening the Vault door was simply unthinkable, no exceptions about anything, it stayed closed, that was the end of it. Seeing the door swing open and a huge gush of air hit my face, it was the most amazing and terrifying thing I've ever seen and felt in my life. There's a long tunnel carved into the earth and leading to it is a small wooden door, freedom.

"Drop me," I say, "I can make it from here."

"No," she sighs, "I'm going with you."

"Amata no!" I say, stopping her, "think about this! I don't want you go through this with me, it could be dangerous! We don't know what it's like out there!"

"You're my best friend Winter. You mean the world to me. Wherever you go, I go."

"Get the door open!" The Overseer shouts, pounding at the door to the entrance room of the Vault.

"Last chance. We won't come back."

Amata looks down, tears in her eyes, before looking up and running for the open door.

"Amata!" The Overseer roars, "get back here right now!"

"Winter!" Susie screams, "no!"

I look back, Wally is restraining her, and she's holding out her hand for me. Tears are pouring down her eyes and she's screaming her head off.

"Go! Get Amata!" the Overseer shouts, "leave the brat!"

"I'm not going out there!" a guard shouts.

"Just shut the door!"

"Let's go," I say, reaching and opening the door.

"Argh...!" I gasp, scrunching my eyes tight as a blinding light hits me. I slowly open them and gasp, "Oh... my... god..."