Cigar smoked rushed from the interior of the car as the driver exited, the bluish cloud swept away by a light October breeze. Retrieving a backpack and large duffel from the trunk, the driver took one last drag of his vice of choice before flicking the cheap gas station cigar to the ground. He didn't bother to stamp it out as he briskly walked towards the home the Vault Tec representative had just left, ignoring said salesperson as they passed one another on the sidewalk.
"Mr. Shepherd, wonderful seeing you again!" the salesman exclaimed, turning to face one of his previous customers. The baggage laden man stopped halfway up the walkway to the house, a deep sigh of annoyance escaping him.
"Ah, I didn't recognize you!" the man lied, audible impatience in his voice. "Good to see you again. I would love to stop and chat, but I'm on a bit of a tight timetable." He eyed his watch before his gaze quickly shifted towards the northeast part of Sanctuary Hills.
The Vault-Tec representative followed the man's gaze before checking his own watch. The same sense of urgency that held the smoker washed over the salesman upon a realization that was also known to the former.
"I suppose you're aware?" The salesman began to shuffle in the direction of the hills and the promised safety buried in them.
"Yeah, now if you'll excuse me."
Their conversation ended at that. The Vault-Tec rep began to powerwalk towards the Vault he had just signed admission papers for for both the man and the family in the home he had just left. The man hoisted his bags before nearly sprinting the last steps to the front door, nearly beating it down as he began to pound on it.
"Nate! Nora! Open the damn door, now! Fuckin, or Codsworth!" While he normally held a strong disdain for robots, he would have been happy to have seen the Mr. Handy at that moment if it expedited his entry.
Nate opened the door with a look of surprise.
"Who is it, honey?" Nora called from a backroom. The sound of a crying baby, Shaun, could be heard as well.
"Zach, this time. Must be a day for surprise visitors," Nate commented as his friend and former brother-in-arms all but pushed past him into the house. "First the Vault-Tec guy and now you."
Nate noticed the bags and look of near panic on Zach's face, his own showing concern and fear.
"… Why are you here so suddenly, Zach? And without a phone call like normal?"
"Y'all joined that Vault, right?" Zach asked, a Southern twang coming to his voice as he became flustered. "We need to get from here and up the hill, now."
Without asking for details, Nate nodded and quickly rushed to the master bedroom, where he could be heard opening a suitcase and opening drawers haphazardly.
"Ah, Mr. Shepherd, so good to see you again, sir!" Nate and Nora's robotic butler, Codsworth, addressed the latest visitor from the kitchen where he was busy cooking pancakes. "Shall I set you a place at the table? I do believe I have a recipe for grits saved in my database, if you are wanting for food from back home."
Zach ignored the robot and the black, soulless stare of what were its eyes, instead heading into the back of the house. He dropped his duffel bag in the hallway before opening a door on the right. There, he found Nate and Nora arguing.
"Nate, what's going on? What do you mean we need to pack?" She turned as Zach entered the nursery, groaning when she saw his backpack. "Let me guess, another self-initiated drill? Or did you find out that Mrs. Summer is a spy for the Russians?"
Her tone was mocking and obviously annoyed. It wasn't the first time that the man her husband had served in the army with had shown up out the blue, bags packed and a sense of impending doom about him.
"It's real this time, Nora! I fuckin swear on my Mema's grave!" the Southern transplant spat out, accent thick.
"Nate, you can't possibly believe him this time?"
"You hear his accent cutting through?" Nate asked, stuffing a diaper bag with baby supplies. "The only time I've ever heard him not be able to hide that hillbilly twang is when he's worked up about something that's true and serious as a heart attack. Saved my life in Alaska during our deployment on multiple occasions."
"What even is going on?" Nora huffed. Shaun, cradled in her arms, began to whine, on the verge of crying again.
Before anyone could answer, Codsworth yelled from the living room.
"Sir. Ma'am. Mr. Zach. You should all come see this… "
"What is it Codsworth?" Nate asked, snatching up the diaper bag and a suitcase he had brought from the bedroom.
As the three adults and one baby made their way into the living room, they found Codsworth watching the television, a Galaxy News reporter sitting at his desk and clutching his head and a piece of paper.
"W-We do have- we do have... We do have coming in... That's um... confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania. My God."
Sirens could be heard outside the house in the distance, almost coinciding with the broadcaster's final words. The three stood in silence for what seemed minutes but was actually seconds before Nate shook off the initial shock.
"We gotta go, now! To the vault!"
Zach rushed back into the hallway and grabbed his duffel bag, the sound of the front door being slammed open echoing down the hall. He sprinted after his friends, struggling to make up the distance they had gained in their brief head start, his baggage weighing him down in comparison to their one suitcase, diaper bag, and infant baby.
Air raid sirens wailed in the distance, soldier laden Vertibirds filled the skies, and residents of the neighborhood with nowhere to go wailed in sorrow on their front lawns. Zach ignored them, guilt filling the pit of his stomach as he knew he could do nothing to help them.
Up a dirt path and over a small footbridge, the trio made their way to the entrance of the Vault 111 compound, the gate guarded by a pair of power armor clad soldiers with miniguns. The Vault-Tec representative from earlier ran past the trio in the opposite direction back towards the suburb, yelling obscenities at the soldiers for not allowing him entrance.
Worry washed over the group, fearful that their entrance paperwork had not been completed or submitted in time. The Army Lieutenant manning the gate looked across their faces before looking back to a holopad in his hands, comparing photos to names.
"Greene family. One adult male, one adult female, one infant male. Clear for entry. Shepherd family. One adult male. Clear for entry."
No questions were asked about how their photos had been acquired for the list, not when they were on the brink of nuclear hellfire. They continued up the hill, past the soldiers, a Vault-Tec security officer waving them onward.
"Platform, onto the platform!" he yelled, gesturing towards a massive cog shaped platform on the top of the hill.
And that's when it hit. They had just stepped onto the platform when a sudden, blinding flash light of light came from the south. The explosion reached their ears as everyone shielded their eyes from the power of a thousand suns, a massive mushroom cloud forming in the distance.
"Now! Send it down now!" a security officer yelled. The sound of the other officer slamming the elevator button repeatedly was drowned out by the screams of terror from those on the platform. By the grace of a higher power, however, the massive metal elevator lurched downward, taking its passengers deep within the Earth. The silo doors closed just in time, shielding the newly minted Vault Dwellers from the nuclear hellfire.
It wasn't long before they were standing in line for vault suits, the medical and security staff of the vault going about their business as if there wasn't a nuclear war raging above them all. Zach found it all surreal. The clean, sanitary walls of a fallout shelter, built God only knew how deep below the Earth, seemed out of place now that the rest of the known world was probably scorched like an ant under a magnifying glass.
"How'd you know?"
Nate was the first of the three to break the silence that had been present since the silo doors had slid shut above them.
"Vault-Tec Security at their office downtown," Zach muttered, eyeing the doctors and security officers that filled the atrium. "I responded to more than my fair share of calls for service there regarding protestors and angry terminated employees."
"Benefits of being a cop," Nate said with a half-smile. Zach nodded, taking his vault suit from the attendant.
"Their head of security took a liking to me, I guess," he said, stepping into a changing stall to doff his civilian attire. Nate and Nora stepped into a stall next to his, their conversation only divided by a thin piece of white fabric.
"Somehow, he got my phone number. Called me this morning from the office, I could hear what sounded like panicked yelling and running in the background. Said it was happening, to get my ass to a Vault or out of town."
The now former Officer of the Boston Police Department shook his head and snorted, stuffing his clothes into his already overstuffed backpack. He didn't want to admit it, but that wasn't the only phone call he had received that day. He had been on his way out the door when his Sergeant had called him, telling him that every officer in the city was being called in for an "emergency readiness drill."
Zach had hung up without saying a word.
"We're lucky you showed up when you did, pal." Nate gave his war buddy a look of thanks as he cradled Shaun in his arms while they made their way deeper into Vault 111.
"Yeah, lucky…" Zach tried not to think of his fellow patrolmen who weren't so lucky. How many died in the initial blast? How many didn't and suffered, or were suffering? He did his best to shove those thoughts aside.
They eventually found themselves in front of a table set up in front of what appeared to be a storage area for personal belongings. Behind the vault attendant, Zach could see through the doorway and observed lockers lining the walls, names of the vault dwellers written in what appeared to be black marker on each.
"Your personal luggage and items, please," the female attendant asked. Zach's grip tightened on his duffel bag. The attendant seemed to notice and she gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll receive your belongings back immediately after decontamination, and I can assure you no one will go through your luggage without your permission."
Zach hesitated, still gripping the handle to the duffel bag with almost a white knuckle grip. One of the security officers must have noticed, as one appeared seemingly out of thin air.
"Problem here, Samantha?" he asked the attendant. His eyes were on the man with the backpack and duffel bag.
"I don't believe so, Bill, I was just assuring Mister… "
"Zachary Shepherd," he drawled, eyeing the security officer.
"I was just assuring Mister Shepherd here that his personal belongings would be safe and sound here in storage."
"Don't worry, sir, you've nothing to worry about," Bill said with a nod. He gestured to Zach's bags. "Unless you've got something in there we should know about? Mighty odd that you've got as much with you as you do… "
Shaun began to cry. Zach looked behind him to Nate and Nora, finding that a line of other new residents had formed during the exchange. He turned back to Samantha and Bill, finally setting his bags on the table.
A badge and identification card were produced nearly instantaneously and placed on top of the duffel. Zach gently pushed them towards the security officer, maintaining eye contact all the while. Officer Bill picked up the metal insignia and plastic card, giving an understanding nod as he looked them over before returning them.
"Samantha, I'll be taking personal responsibility for Mr. Shepherd's luggage," he said, taking up the black duffel and backpack. He turned to Zach. "Corporal, these will be secured in the security office."
A quick word of thanks was exchanged before Officer Bill left to secure Zach's luggage, the other Vault residents looking on in confusion and annoyance. Most, however, were just ready to get moved into their new home and did not take to waiting in line all too well.
Their items turned over without further incident, the three adults and baby were then shuffled even deeper into Vault 111, eventually being led into a room filled with what they were told were decontamination chambers. Medical staff in lab coats were attending to the multiple Vault residents that were present in this area, ensuring each was positioned comfortably inside their respective pod.
"Just step inside here and we'll get you all made right at home after being decontaminated," instructed a balding doctor.
Zach made his way to the very end of the line of pods until he found one that wasn't already claimed. He gave one last glance to Nate and Nora as they consoled a crying baby Shaun, before they themselves entered their own pods.
"Alright everyone, keep your hands and feet in place while the doors close," called the bald doctor from the front of the room.
At the flip of a switch, the nearly dozen or so pod doors swung shut, sealing each resident inside. Zach stared through the glass, ready for the procedure to be completed so he could find a bed and sleep.
He shivered. Was it that cold when he first stepped into the pod?
Ice began to slowly crawl across the glass, his breath fogging in front of him. His fingertips began to feel numb along with his other extremities.
That's when he saw the stamp on the upper corner of the pod's interior.
'Cryo-Industries, Vault-Tec subsidiary: CryoPod Mod. 3500'
Zach managed to get out two words before the flash freeze function activated, turning him into a Vault-Tec popsicle.
"You bastards."