AN:

Well, here it is. The first chapter went up three years, four months and a week ago. I've changed a lot as a writer since then and I'm glad that at least some of you have stuck along. If you enjoyed the ride, leave a comment when you've finished to tell me what you think, or just to say goodbye. What you're about to read is the last chapter of my last fanfiction. I've been writing them since 2012, the summer after my freshman year in high school. I'm going to turn nineteen in about a month and I think this is a good place to leave it. I hope you all find better stories to read now that this one is done, or perhaps start again from the beginning sometime. Good luck with yourselves and have a good time.

Goodbye.


They headed through the waste slowly in a long clump of people. Amata walked at the front with Maxon and Greta, all scanning the world ahead.

"I think we need to go a little farther and get out of the area."

"But we'll need the supplies from the ruins and the vault."

"Yeah, and anyway the people from Megaton know this area pretty well."

"There could be trouble here, with what I've heard about raiders."

"We'll look into that, see if there are any in the area."

"I don't think we should abandon the area because there are raiders somewhere nearby."

"You want to try fighting them off?"

"I think we have a better chance of that than making it too far east."

"We'll have to train those vault dwellers, and quickly."

"Yeah, and find a great supply of weapons. I don't think we have quite enough now."

"We can figure it out later, first we need to find a place to stay."

"Just any long, flat area would be good. Like we had before."

"I think our best bet is to try beyond the edge of these hills."

"I think that area looks good, just over there."

"We'll have to scout the surroundings thoroughly, but I don't see anything wrong."

"Let's wait to get there before we start making judgments."

Amata looked back to scan over the crowd and examined their faces in turn. They looked tired and scared, especially the vault dwellers, but there was a stark element of hope between the lines. She noticed Ian walking among the group, alone and silent. She looked away.

Finally they reached the place that Maxon had pointed out and Greta called for the group to stop. They moved around quickly examining the area and it seemed stable with good visibility in all directions. Greta went to ask some of the locals what they thought of the place. Amata and Maxon called a few people and started looking around the area in a wider circle.

Amata walked out past the edge of the their plain and climbed a hill. She looked one way toward Vault 101, then around toward the still smoldering remains of Megaton. She met with Maxon a couple minutes later and he seemed equally pleased with the area.

"We're still close enough that we can scavenge the ruins, if there's anything left."

"We'll need to move quickly to use it before anybody else shows up to scavenge."

"I think we will need to move quickly anyway to get this area fortified."

"If we find a few more masks or radiation suits it shouldn't be difficult to scavenge from the vault."

"That will be a good place for building materials."

"He's coming over."

Amata looked around and saw Ian walking toward them. He approached slowly, stopped for a moment, then resumed and grew near.

"Hello."

Amata didn't say anything, but looked at him.

"I want to work."

"You left before."

"Yes, but I'm back now."

"Where did you go?"

"I can't tell you that."

He seemed nervous but watched her levelly.

"How can we rely on you if you're just going to leave like that?"

"I'm not going to. Not anymore."

"I can't trust that. You've done it twice and-"

"That was the last time. I want to work and help here. I won't leave again."

"How can we trust that you won't, after you have before."

"I guess you have no reason, except that I'm promising I won't. I want to live with other people again, I want to really try. Give me a job so I can keep busy and help out."

"All we can do now is scout the area, then eventually begin scavenging."

"I'll look around then, and bring back anything I find."

Ian turned sharply and left, Amata watched him go. Maxon didn't look but then spoke a minute after he was gone.

"He seems a little different now."

"I wonder what happened to him."

Amata watched him head out to start scouting the area. He was approached by a couple other people, and then they began to patrol together. She wondered if it had been the truth, but only time could really say. He did seem to want to try, but that didn't mean he would succeed.

"I'm going to start looking around with the others."

"Okay, I'll be over in a minute."

Amata walked away along the edge of the hills and quickly met up with Aaron. He wondered aloud what they would end up calling the new settlement, but Amata just thought they should wait for it to actually succeed.

"Of course it will succeed. We have so many people and the Brotherhood aren't going to stomp out a settlement that's mostly human. We're safe now."

"Not safe, but hopeful.'

"We'll need to find some extra guns, then we can start training the vault dwellers. Once that happens I'm certain we will be able to make it through whatever the wasteland brings."

"I just hope it will be that simple."

Amata still felt nervous about the whole thing, looking around.


Butch and a ghoul called Gob walked on either side of Ian but he just looked around at the waving desert. There wasn't much to find in the immediate area, just empty space and dirt. Other small groups looped the grounds, pouring over every inch and into the surrounding hills.

Gob opened his mouth a few times but didn't really say anything, just little obtuse thoughts on the world around. Sometimes Butch said something in response, but mostly he was quiet too, his personality beaten down by the sheer magnitude of existence.

Mostly Ian only watched the world and examined other people around working. Another group found some pieces of sheet metal mostly buried and were dragging it out of the earth. There were a couple vault dwellers there, one from security and another he didn't remember at all. They looked uncomfortable and afraid, mostly only staring around but desperate to help despite that.

Ian tried to remember himself looking like that, but it didn't make any sense. Without thinking he tried to move his left arm but the remaining nub of it just twitched. Ian looked down at the ashy surface and felt struck again by the loss. He sighed and brought himself back to watching people and the hills and sky. It was all very strange.

Ian looked back first at Gob, then Butch and made short eye contact with the latter. His stomach shifted from the experience and he shook his head slowly. It probably made them just as uncomfortable to walk with him. Ian listened to the heavy silence and began to feel certain of that. The next time Butch asked a question about the world out here, Ian tried to answer it with a level, friendly tone.

The answer steered away almost immediately toward bad details. Ian tried to control it but he couldn't. Butch's face changed into horror and sickness and it made Ian feel guilty so he became silent again. He couldn't talk to people now without it turning out badly. It would be easier to just walk away from them and leave the whole group, no one would care except Amata and himself. Ian struggled to stop those thoughts and knew he needed to apply more effort. He fought to stay away from those corrupting images of walking out alone.

Gob was describing Megaton to Butch in large, vague terms and Butch just nodded along trying to imagine it. Every few sentences Ian added something small to the conversation, a word or fractured memory, but he forced himself to try. He didn't feel right about any of it and the effort to move his lips became so difficult that he almost stopped talking in the middle of a sentence.

Butch kept holding up a hand in front of his eyes and trying to look around but muttered about a growing head ache from the glare of sunlight. Ian looked away and thought he saw Amata standing on one of the hills watching him, or looking away. He thought about that man hidden in the tunnels, and of the figure which followed him in darkness. Ian told himself inside that he would get better after everything, that he would find a way to live here somehow.

"Do you know how to use a gun?"

Butch just looked at him for a moment, then answered quickly.

"I took one from that guard, but… you just pull the trigger, right? Is there more, then I guess I… don't know."

Butch pulled it out slowly and looked at it, holding the black pistol awkwardly in both hands. Ian held out his own single hand and Butch gave it over. Ian struggled to eject the clip while holding it with the same hand, but eventually just sighed and gave it back.

"Do you see that on the side? Press that in and take the clip out. The bullets are there, take one out then put it back in. Put it back, push until you hear it click. Now put your hand on top, hold that and pull it back so the next bullet is ready. Do that when you put a new clip in."

Butch nodded along slowly and struggled to follow the directions as Ian explained. He achieved each step several seconds after Ian spoke until he cocked the gun and looked up expectantly.

"Don't fire. Hold it up in both hands, arms out. Aim toward the hill there. Look down the barrel with both eyes open, line it up. Stay calm, steady..."

Butch held the pistol out from his body and took deep breaths self-consciously through each reminded action. Ian imagined him being shot to death and bleeding through punched holes in that stupid pristine jumpsuit. The image was fleeting but Ian staggered beneath it and only managed to remain silent watching afterward.

He knew that some people were going to die eventually, but glanced back at the others roving around for a moment. They worked together, so some would survive. All around there were people scouting the area, people who had lost friends and families and homes, sometimes several times over. Ian just wondered how they could still find the hope to keep moving along. The world had taken so much from so many of them, the same as Ian, yet they fought to persist. It confused him to think of and there was no comfort in a dismal explanation. People kept hope and it kept them alive. He glanced at Gob slowly and whispered.

"How do you keep on despite the world?"

"You keep going and things will change, eventually."

Ian looked at the quick beginnings around and wondered if this was the world changing for him. It could be changing for all of them. Gob turned and gestured for Butch to follow them back toward the center of the area. They all walked slowly, just looking around again.

Feeling around for hope within himself felt ridiculous but Ian did what he could. He imagined their settlement growing into something strong like Rivet City. It felt ludicrous to even consider. He felt sure that it would fall within days, that they should all die else the world was nothing he thought.

That wasn't the way it had to go. Ian wondered if he made the world bad by expecting it to be. He thought about the fact that his gun was empty after killing those raiders. If they were attacked, Ian wouldn't be able to defend anyone. He would need to get some more, but didn't know where he would be able to. He hadn't seen Moira with the group at all. He still hoped that she made it through.

Ian tried to imagine what Gob must have gone through, and Butch and Amata and everyone else at once. He thought of all the pain they had experienced, and the fear and loss of every life. They still found the hope to keep moving and searching for a future worth existing. Ian wanted to learn how to find that strength of hope, but he felt afraid that the capacity might have evaporated already before.


Amata struggled forward under a large pack of wood tied across her back. Sunlight fell in a soft flush across her neck, but after the better part of an hour she finally threw the materials down beside the half finished hut. The rope came loose on impact and the bundle fell apart, but that was fine. She panted for a minute then wiped some tepid sweat from her face.

When finished, the hut would be large enough to house a few people. There were two in progress now, both skeletal but would be completed soon enough. There were still a couple people hammering it together even though dusk was coming on quickly.

"You should get to one of the fires soon, before it gets too dark."

"Yeah, we'll go. Just need to get this finished."

"It won't be finished for a while yet. Don't stay too late trying to do everyone else's work."

"Alright, just a little more. We'll be over."

Amata looked over at the other hut, only just abandoned by its workers for the night. Soon it would be too dark to do any work. Amata walked over toward the nearest fire and was already struck with the scent of warm food. Two others walked up beside her toward the same fire.

"We were looking out west today."

"You find anything?"

"A couple empty buildings."

"Supplies?"

"Scavenged already, but we can pull them apart."

"Take a few more people there tomorrow."

"We'll do that. Something else though..."

"What?"

"Might have seen a few raiders headed this way."

"Do you think they'll come this far?"

"Maybe. There was a fair number traveling together."

"Relocating?"

"Possibly."

"Take a few more than that. Bring someone who can track."

"You want us to follow them?"

"If not you then someone else. We need to find out where they're going."

"Okay. We can do that. A few to strip the buildings and we'll find the trail."

"I want to know where they're going, it's anywhere nearby, and when they'll arrive."

"I'll do my best."

They dropped their bags and gear a couple yards away from the fire then headed in to join the circle. Amata stopped just short and stood beyond the firelight watching. The two scouts sat and began to talk with others already there. Amata looked out away from the fires and saw a couple of silhouettes on a nearby hilltop. She watched the two sentries stand around in fading light then one headed back. They were lucky to have survivors from Megaton in the group. Those people knew the area rather well already and had been a great help in scouting.

Amata spotted another figure across the fire, standing apart and alone at the edge of darkness, only watching now the same as her. She looked for a minute but it was difficult to distinguish the face through flickering heavy shadows. It was Ian. She wondered if he could see her from over there, or if he was struggling at the same moment to recognize her. Amata hadn't spoken with him since they arrived here a few days ago, and she wondered if he had been settling in well.

Amata started walking slowly in a wide ring past the edge of light. Ian saw her coming and watched for a moment before looking away back to darkness. She stopped a couple feet away and stood without speaking for a couple minutes. They just watched people at the fire and listened to those conversations floating away.

"How have you been here?"

"It's been difficult, but I'm trying."

"You've kept yourself busy?"

"Most of the time I'm on the hill, or out scouting."

"What do you think of this place?"

"I don't know yet. I want it to work."

"But you don't think it will."

"I don't think anything will, but I'm trying."

"Have you had any trouble sleeping?"

"Yes… It's very loud with people around."

Amata looked him for a moment, caught a few glimpses in the light. He seemed different and, though it was only a slight change, it gave her some confidence that he would come back.

"Tell me what happened after I left?"

"We spent most of the time moving around, searching for this exact moment."

"Tell me more. I want to know what I put you through."

"It's the same that could have happened if you were there. Tell me what happened to you."

"I think you're going to make a good leader."

"I don't know if I want to lead anybody."

"Somebody needs to. Most of them would be worse."

"Tell me what happened when you were alone."

"No. It doesn't matter anymore. That's all gone. All we have is the future."

"Do you think you'll ever talk about it?"

"I hope not. I want it to just go away and never have happened."

"That's impossible."

"I can forget."

"You can't forget everything."

"Not if I talk about it."

Amata sighed. The world was completely dark except for the fires clustered around this area. A light wind passed through, causing the flames to lean over one direction. They spoke quietly and it was nearly drowned by the layered conversations nearby.

"We were close friends before."

"I can remember that."

"Everything is different now."

"The wasteland changes things, distorts them if you let it."

"Do you think that anything can go back the way it was before?"

Amata looked over but Ian was totally obscured. She could only see the shape of him standing nearby and silent. For a minute he didn't speak, so Amata began again.

"Everything has changed. We're both different, I know that. The past is gone, like you said. All we have is the future."

"I want to have that past, from before we ever saw this terrible world."

"We can't choose which past to accept now. We can't go back to the way things were before, but there can be something new."

"I want to try."

Amata nodded slowly and looked away. She tried to imagine them friends as before, except living in the harsh world above. It was a difficult idea to conjure, but she thought they could try. Amata took a breath then started walking toward the fire. She turned halfway and gestured for him to follow, and Ian took a few steps closer to the wavering firelight and darkness peeled back from the edges of his face.


Ian sat alone in the hills in the early morning, watching out to the empty world. He kept his hand near the revolver and ready, but wondered if this grey morning would present a single moving creature. Amata had managed to find him a couple bullets for the revolver, but that was only three and it wouldn't help much.

Ian looked out at the world, then back at the slowly growing settlement. They had completed two huts and were setting to work on three more. Ian looked back at the empty world and wondered how many people would actually be traveling at this hour.

"This is so tiring. I still don't know what to do..."

He had talked to Amata a couple times since that night, but he still felt afraid. Ian didn't know how he would manage to release that gnawing apprehension. He couldn't leave, but he just didn't know what to do. He didn't think about leaving very much now, but most of it just felt wrong. Except for Amata, most of the others just avoided him.

He still preferred solitude to the noise of the crowd and that was why he volunteered for sentry duty so often. Some of the others complained of it, but that silence was what he knew best. Ian enjoyed the familiarity of sitting on the hill alone for hours.

Sometimes Ian talked into the empty air, but that was just to help himself think. He looked back at the sleeping settlement for a moment and tried to think of the few people whose names he knew. They would all need to trust each other soon enough. The settlement would be attacked eventually. Ian heard about some raiders in the area, and that wouldn't take long.

It was a strange idea to belong to this place and among these people even if they did not accept him yet. Ian didn't know what to think about any of it, so he just settled against the calm of silence and waited. The change would take time.

Ian focused on some movement in the distance, but it was just a wandering bloatfly. He watched it disappear back over the hill and then watched the empty world for a minute longer. Ian glanced around at the other sentry across for a minute until the man noticed him and waved slowly. Ian waved back, then looked away. He was beginning to feel hungry so he reached down into his bag for some food, but pulled out the book instead.

He lay the roughly bound book on his lap and looked at the title with a strange feeling in his chest. He thought back and tried to remember completing the research with Markus, traveling for the first time. That version of himself had been so different. Amata was still unconscious then. All of the new wastelanders were like he was, but they would learn quickly enough. Ian nearly put the book back, but instead decided to take a look inside. On the inside cover he found a long inscription in deep grey ink.

Thank you for your contributions

Ian looked back up and around the wasteland for movement. There was nothing then and he kept looking for a minute longer to be sure, then returned to read the first paragraph.

Thank you for your contributions. Even though I did most of the work, I hope you'll enjoy reading the parts you were there for.

That section had been crossed out twice with a deliberate hand. Below was another section:

I'm sorry! That sounded pretty mean, didn't it? I don't mean it that way. You really did help a lot and Markus actually seemed to like you. That's a first. I'm sorry too for breaking into your house this time and last time. I didn't know when you might be back after you just disappeared so I figured I should just put it inside. I locked the door both times though, I'm sure you know. You're in here now so you saw just a minute ago when you came in. Anyway, I hope you like the book!

Ian looked back up and around. The bloatfly was back. Ian watched it hover over a hilltop in the distance, then it disappeared again.

This time I just got bored. I'm sorry, really I'm sorry that I keep coming in here. You don't seem to be using the place though so it's not hurting anyone, right? Maybe you'll see this and come say hi. What are you doing now? You haven't been back to Megaton since you left, at least I don't think you have. Are you sneaking in and out so I don't see you? If you are, just say something! I don't want to put you through all that trouble.

Below there were a few more, some long and others very short. It seemed she had started breaking in somewhat regularly for entertainment or just to check the book. One mentioned a time Lucas Simms caught her and yelled at her for that. Ian laughed at the next note which had come almost a week later. He put the book away after that and looked out at the wasteland. He hadn't seen her since Megaton burned and Ian just hoped she had escaped somewhere else. He didn't want to think of her being hurt or dead, the thought upset him.

Ian shook his head and looked back down at the people sleeping around dead fires and shook his head. Some people were starting to wake up and gather in the center. He recognized Butch getting ready for firing practice with a couple others. It worried Ian to think about the wasted ammunition, but it wasn't something they could get around.

Ian pulled out his revolver and fumbled the cylinder open to look at the bullets, then snapped it closed after counting to three for the fifth time that morning. He didn't think he could use any other gun now, except maybe something smaller. He shook his head and just sat to watch the warming desert once more. It would be another hour or two before his replacement marched up the hill.


Amata stood with Maxon near the edge of town, just watching the weapons practice. This was the second day of it and most of them couldn't hit the targets yet. It was comical to an extent, but also deeply worrying. Amata spoke without looking away from the firing line.

"We'll need to be ready."

"Have they found the raiders yet?"

"They're in a schoolhouse east of here."

"Any signs of an attack coming?"

"Not yet, but we have a couple people watching."

"We should put together a security force before much longer.

"You should take a couple from here, whoever manages to pick it up."

"It will be good experience."

"How long do you think it will be?"

"Before the attack?"

"It can't be too much longer."

"We'll have some warning, but that won't keep it away."

"I keep thinking it will happen each day."

"They'll need to learn this quickly."

"They'll need to learn everything quickly. There's no chance otherwise."

"I was talking to some of the others about that schoolhouse."

"What about it?"

"It's always filled with raiders. They've cleared it out before and they just come back."

"We might have to demolish the place then."

"That's what I was thinking."

"A wall could help as well."

"We should get started on that."

"There are almost enough huts now, just a few more."

"We'll get the last few started, then get to work on a wall."

"It will need to be defensible, not just for show."

"We'll see what's left from Megaton."

"Even if it's only wooden now like everything, sentry towers would be a good help."

"We need to keep looking, not just for building materials now."

"I know. We need some kind of food source. The molerats won't last forever."

"I don't know what we'll do if the bullets run out."

"We need to keep looking."

"It's the only way to solve this."

"It's just hard to wait, not knowing where the answer is."

"They're getting better."

"Just some of them."

"Only a few right now. Weren't they part of the vault security force?"

"I think so."

"I'll take them as part of the security up here."

"I think that will give the others some hope."

"That will be a good number. A few from below and a few above, and myself."

Amata noticed that Butch was a particularly bad shot among the group. He was sweating profusely and passed to hold a hand up over his eyes. It had been very difficult for him to adapt so far, but Amata hoped he would be ready when the danger presented itself.

Amata tried to imagine herself only a week out of the vault. She didn't know if she would able to do it herself. She tried to hold hope, even though it terrified her to think of. They could still lose everything in just a moment. She didn't say anything, but Maxon sighed.

"All we can do is try to be ready for it. I'll try to get people trained and prepare them."

"Whatever happen, we're going to fight."

"We won't be victims this time. Not like before."

"There are enough of us now, I think we can defend ourselves from that."

"Some might die."

"People are always going to die. Do we have a good count on the raiders yet?"

"Nothing substantial. We'll just have to prepare the best we can."

"If we get a wall built, I'm certain we'll make it."

"We'll need to scavenge further for the materials."

"That will be risky, but I think it will pay off."

"Even if we just get some cover up before they come."

"This is a good place to build, but the terrain is bad to fight on."

"Maybe we can get that wall up first, or even just a little."

One of the sentries called out her name and Amata looked around quickly. He waved to get her attention then pointed over the hill behind him.

"Some of the scouts are coming back."

"Are they bringing anything?"

"Looks like metal and wood."

Amata nodded to him and waved again, then sighed. She turned back to Maxon, who also seemed to be happy about the news.

"Maybe we can start work on the wall."

"Let's see how the huts are coming along first."

"We'll need to leave some room for expansion."

"Are you ready to be that optimistic?"

"If we can make it through this first attack, we might start getting new people."

"Maybe. We got a couple last time before the Brotherhood pushed us off."

"Think about what this could be eventually. It might be the same as Megaton was, or Underworld."

"We just have to survive whatever is on it's way."

"We'll fight."


While Ian walked back from his sentry post, shift ended, the replacement called in a loud voice.

"Looks like there's a caravan headed this way!"

Amata and Maxon appeared from one direction at a sprint, then Greta joined them suddenly headed toward the announcement. Ian was only a couple dozen yards from the hill, so he just stayed where he was to watch them pass. When the four of them congregated, Ian managed to hear a few floating words but the meaning of heir conversation was lost to the air.

When he heard them calling to another unseen party, Ian walked over to join them on the hill. He recognized it as a woman's voice before he could understand the words.

"...just surprised to find a settlement here."

"It's been a tough time. We are formed from survivors of Megaton and from the nearby vault.'

"What happened to Megaton?"

"The city was burned down and destroyed."

"That's a shame. I'll try to inform the others, but… That was an important stop in our route."

"Do you want me to apologize for letting it go?"

"No. I didn't mean anything like that. I'll tell the others about this place too, we can start coming through here."

"That would be a big help."

"Just be sure you have material worth buying."

"We'll be scavenging the area rather heavily in the coming weeks, so I'm sure we'll come up with something."

"Good, and you haven't yet told me. What is the name of this new settlement?"

"We haven't spent any time thinking about that yet."

"You should. It will be much easier to get the word out."

"I guess we will then."

"I'm not sure if you'd have a chance to know yet, so I'll tell you. We passed what seemed to be an encampment of raiders in an old schoolhouse near here."

"We're aware of that threat already. Thanks, though."

Ian nodded slowly, standing just a couple yards back from the rest. In just a couple days there would be an attack on the schoolhouse. Maxon would be leading in a group of the experienced wastelanders to end this before it began. Ian had spoken with both of them and would be part of the squad going in.

He knew it wouldn't be to difficult to kill the raiders inside, but the dead were always replaced quickly. The others would want to destroy the place to ensure to raiders could occupy it again. Ian didn't know what to do if they decided that. There was a man living below that he could not speak of, but that was his home. Maybe Ian could manage to warn him, somehow, before the actual demolition.

Maxon would be leading the squad, but Ian also hoped that he could build some trust with the others. Every inch had come so slowly that he found it disheartening. He wanted to help more than he had been already, but he didn't see how if the others didn't trust him.

The time for talking had ended, and now a few people had just gathered around the trader to see wares and sell. Ian touched into his pocket and felt the few caps he had found while scavenging. There was still a thin layer of ash in the bottom, and that stained his fingers when they came back out. Ian walked over to the trader and waited for another person to finish their purchase. Eventually the woman turned to look at Ian, glanced at his missing arm for a short moment, then back into his eyes.

"Are you here to buy or sell?"

"I'm looking for .44 rounds."

"I could have a few, let me check. Yes, a small box. That's ten rounds."

"That'll do. Will this be enough?"

"Yes, that should be enough, just let me count them out, and… yes. Now they're yours."

Ian nodded and put the small cardboard box into his pocket with the ash. It felt better to know he had a decent supply of bullets now, or close to that. Things were getting better, slowly but Ian imagined it would complete itself eventually.

Ian took a few steps away and crouched halfway to sit on a rock. He pulled out his revolver and opened the cylinder, then pinched the barrel between his knees and tapped his finger against each bullet. He took three more rounds from the box and fitted them into place, slowly.

"It looks like a few scouts are coming back."

"Can you hear what they're saying?"

"Why are they running? We'd better get ready, in case this is something dire."

Ian snapped the cylinder shut and then stood to look out across the hills. Three men were sprinting back toward the settlement, shouting something.

"They're coming! The raiders are coming!"

"Shit..."

Amata looked out for another moment, then back at the town. She turned to Greta.

"Tell everyone from the vault to get into the huts and stay down. Everyone else needs to get ready for a fight and come this way. We'll try to meet them if the raiders get this close before then."

Greta nodded, then turned and started running back to the center of town.

"I'm sorry, I must have led them here somehow by mistake."

"No, they were coming anyway. We've been expecting it."

"Either way, we will need to start moving. This isn't our town to defend so it's just best to get out of the crossfire."

"Get out of here then. We'll be fine, I think… Come back later with supplies, and send the others. We'll need it."

The merchant nodded, then hurried away with her guards and brahmin. Amata muttered something to herself as that left only four on the hilltop. Ian looked back at the settlement, then at the running scouts nearly upon them. He caught a brief glimpse of Greta speaking in the distance, but it was only pantomime at so far. The scouts ran onto the hill and finally stopped there, sweating and panting.

"How many are there?"

"They were only a couple minutes behind us. They nearly..."

"How many are coming?"

"Just over a dozen. They'll be here soon."

Maxon nodded and took a deep breath, then a glance back. Ian did the same and caught sight of about eight people running toward them with assorted rifles, then another six behind them preparing to follow.

"We have enough people. I think we'll have enough to take care of that."

Maxon looked back out but there was nothing to see yet. He starting dividing people into a few groups. Greta followed with the second set and glanced every few seconds out at the desert.

Ian noticed Butch standing among the first wave people coming to fight. He was holding the pistol in both hands pointed stiffly at the ground and shaking a little. His vault suit was gone, instead replaced with a thin shirt and pants and sunglasses. The whole outfit was dirty and stiff, and Ian wondered he had found it scavenging or traded his jumpsuit for the ensemble minutes ago.

"What are you doing here?"

"She said that we're going to be attacked."

"You were supposed to wait back there with the others."

"No, I… I'm going to fight."

"You can hardly shoot."

"No, I can't just hide over there, I..."

A gunshot cut through the air to announce the raiders' presence. Greta dropped behind some rocks and Amata pulled Butch down out of sight. Maxon returned a few seconds of automatic fire then disappeared. Ian stood a few inches from his crouch, but the raiders were too far yet. His aim one handed was still rather shaky.

He waited a few more seconds, then took a breath and leaned the barrel against the earth to steady it. Ian managed to shoot a raider in the arm at fifteen yards, though he had been aiming for the chest. A few of them were already dead, but others fell into cover and shouted to each other and vile things across.

He looked over and saw Maxon leading half the group around the side. Ian motioned to a few others and Amata followed them around the other way and they pressed forward. For the next few hills the raiders were nowhere to be seen. Ian noticed one moving out of hiding, but managed to kill him before a shot was fired. Moving forward they found seven dead raiders in the hills, then caught sight of the remainder running back toward the schoolhouse.

The two divergent groups met each other at the end and just watched the raiders fall back humiliated. Maxon tried to line up a shot, but the distance was too great. Greta managed to hit one in the leg, but that was the best she could manage. They were all panting and looking at each other intermittently with the distant killers running. Somebody spoke in a breathy, amused voice.

"That's it."

"We did it."

Butch took a few quick steps back and forth, then let out a quick bark of laughter.

"We actually did it!"

Suddenly his eyes bugged out and he dropped to his knees to vomit. Ian watched it drip over the side of the hill while Butch just heaved into the soil. He must have actually hit somebody then. Amata looked at him for a moment, then Ian, then around at the entire group.

"Was anybody killed?"

"I don't think so."

"Nobody hurt either, it looks like."

"Yeah, seems like that."

Amata started laughing then, and a few others. They all felt so relieved that it had finally happened and left them successful. Even Butch tried to say something cheerful until another wave of nausea silenced him. Ian took a pause from the joviality to gaze in the direction of the schoolhouse, though it was not visible at this distance.

"We need to finish them off soon."

Maxon nodded.

"It's better not to wait now that it's started. I'll get a few people together later today."

Maxon paused after that and just grinned back at the town.

"Since this is going to last, I guess we really do need a name."

"Yeah, yeah you're right about that."

Butch wiped the bile from his face and spat some more into the dirt, then stood with a slight quiver. He was still grinning and looking around with energy, then glanced down and shoved the gun away.

Finally Ian felt something sincere of the future, a real optimism he couldn't imagine before. This was strong enough to exist, had proven itself and would survive. He looked at Amata then the others and knew a little of the fear had dissipated. Ian could trust this would not disappear like everything else had before, at least he felt confident enough to attach himself to the struggle.

Whatever happened, whether a future or destruction, this was his home. It was his because he attached himself to it. Ian would protect this place and these people, even if many did not know or trust him yet. They would learn to trust him and he would learn to trust them in turn. The world was grim, but that weight could not bury him again. More than anything else, Ian felt he would stay and live, a real life. It would be slow to develop as that, but only destruction could happen quickly.

They group started walking back, a few people still laughed and Amata nodded silently to herself with a smile. Overall there was only a single, pervasive thought: this is permanent, and this is real. The future was at hand, to be held and entered with confidence. Some might die, but others would live and the sun would rise again. Walking back toward their nameless, newborn settlement felt like entering reality for the first time since leaving Vault 101, months ago and bleeding delirious.

Ian put away the revolver and let himself smile for a moment with the others. This beginning was worth the risk of joy.

The End