Procrastination = more writing, yay! Hope you enjoy!


Chapter 7

"Well, I guess you now know that I was once part of the Brotherhood. Dad was a scribe, and mom a paladin... Yeah, I know. Not what you would normally expect, is it? For the first few years I was grew up with others my age in the bunker, even though Helios One was "officially" our headquarters. Some of the good old seniors had managed to convince Elijah to at least keep the young there because... well you've seen it yourself, not exactly a secure location is it? Especially with the gradual arrival of the NCR.

"My childhood was... great I guess, by wasteland standards. I actually loved being part of the Brotherhood at the time. Technology around every corner... Guess you realise it spoils you a bit once you're thrown out into the "real world". You know, cooked meals, clean water, warm beds... Not exactly common resources these days.

"But even so, I could barely wait until it was my time to leave the bunker. I wanted to go out into the wasteland and explore all its mysteries! My best friend, Olivia, and I would stay up all night pretending, making up stories about the adventures we'd have: secret missions we'd be sent on, the people and creatures we'd encounter, the sights we'd see... we could barely contain ourselves!

"So finally at 14 when we had to pick a role to start training for, Livvy and I naturally chose to be a Paladin. I guess I also wanted to do my mom proud, her being one of the Senior Paladins and all. Anyhow, two years later and there we were, two Junior Paladin gals wondering the lonely wastes, hunting for lost tech for the Brotherhood. It was everything we had hoped for. But there was something we didn't expect."

Amy paused, her mouth a half open smile and her eyes lost in though as she tried to think of how to not come off as condescending with what she had to say.

"In the Brotherhood," she began slowly. "Everyone is taught that people in the outside world are all... uneducated... irresponsible savages and can't be trusted with any form of technology."

She then recited the words which had been drilled into her head ever since she was just a child, though this time a little satirical. "It is therefore the Brotherhood's duty to hunt down and confiscate all dangerous lost pieces of technology to keep it out of the hands of the uninitiated and to make certain they aren't abused by the wrong people. Everyone believed this," She added, "Including me. But then we met Sam.

"We first met him when Livvy and I were scouting the REPCONN headquarters back in '74. Apparently one of the scribes found files in Helios' computer banks about some prototype weapon plans which had been stolen by REPCONN, and it didn't take long until our instructor Paladin Hardin set us up with the mission of acquiring further information. I think it was the second day while we were in the planetarium when suddenly this guy quite literally fell through the ceiling. Livvy almost vaporised him thinking he was a Deathclaw!"

Amy chuckled. "Didn't do our stereotype of outsiders any good either with a first impression like that, but in the months to come he opened our minds to more than just what he called "Brotherhood propaganda". He was with the Followers, who had set up an outpost not far away to the east. They were hoping to salvage some useful parts from equipment in the building, and Sam was halfway through dismantling the air conditioning filtration unit when the roof gave way.

"He told us about the ideals of the Followers and how it would be much more useful for the Brotherhood to help teach locals how use technology rather than taking it away from them. He filled us with all sorts of ideas of how to save the wasteland. It also didn't take much longer after that for Livvy to fall for him, even though he was a few years older than us, and oh you should have seen them. They were almost inseparable!

"And at about the same time back in the Brotherhood we began to hear rumours leaking out from the Lost Hills about the Capital Wasteland chapter. By official accounts we were told that they had lost contact with the East Coast expedition some time after '55, but that was a cover up! It turns out that the expedition did in fact reach the Capital Wasteland, but the council decided to cut off support to them after the expedition's leader changed their mission priority to helping the locals instead of hunting tech, and kept other chapters in the dark in case they may be inspired by their example.

"Soon after Livvy and I joined a few others who shared similar views, and we began planning on how we could slowly steer our chapter onto a similar path. But before we could put our plans into action, the NCR began arriving en masse. Priorities soon shifted and before we knew it we were at war.

"Our technology and knowledge of the area gave us a massive advantage during the first few months, and it was soon pretty clear that Brotherhood were easily gaining the upper hand. But the NCR soon saw that too, and so they began their campaign to eliminate us out from the source: Operation Sunburst. And in '76, they came. 3000 of them. Everyone knew it was suicide to stay at Helios, and everyone knew our chances would more than triple if we retreated to the bunkers and set up our stand there. But Elijah... That man and his obsession led us to our slaughter! And Livvy..."

Amy paused and swallowed hard, but it didn't help. Tears flooded down her cheeks as she began to weep again as she once did all those years ago.

Liz stopped the little scooter and took her passenger's hands in her own.

"Amy..."

Amy embraced her new friend and sobbed into her shoulder.

"She was barely nineteen!" she said, choking on her own tears. "Nineteen and so full of life!"

Liz patted the back of her neck.

"I'm sorry, Amy. I'm so sorry."

"I carried her..." she continued. "Through the mirror yards back to the power plant when our second line of defence fell, only to find that butcher abandoned us.

"McNamara took charge and ordered a retreat, but I knew I couldn't go back, not after what happened. Not after Livvy. And so after I... buried her, I ran. Ran and never looked back, and I've been running from it ever since.

"I met up with Sam. Tell him the news and... I've never seen anyone fall apart like that before. I don't suppose I was in much of a better state either. He pleaded for me to stay... join the Followers, but I couldn't... I know I should have but... every time I looked at him I saw her, and it was too much. So I ran until I found Jacobstown when Marcus took me in, and I've been there ever since.

"But... I think it's time I finally face the truth. Thank you, Elizabeth. Thank you for bringing me."

Liz pulled back and smiled.

"Anything you need, just let me know okay? We're in this together now."

Amy nodded.

"Come on, let's get moving again. It's going to get dark soon."