On my way out, I notice something strange. A little lunchbox or something of the sort, only loaded and covered in wires. Curious, I lean down to examine it, only to notice the familiar Vault-Tech style of art pasted on the front of it. And a strip of duct tape across the cover, cutting across the still vibrant art with the hastily scrawled words: bottlecap mine.
Moira had one of these, if I recall. She'd said they weren't so difficult to make at a work bench. And that they were incredibly powerful and devastating, especially in an enclosed space. I wonder how she knows that?
Pushing this thought to the side, I lift the bottlecap mine up and shove it haphazardly into the crook of my left arm. I'm already starting to feel sore from carrying so much in one arm, but I need to keep my pistol out and at the ready.
Satisfied by what I have, I make my way back out into the now desolate open area of the Super Duper Mart. Things are all quite now, except for the dull thuds of the protectron as it continues it's patrol about the building, pacing in what I assume to be a circle pattern as it hunts for shoplifters.
I wonder what this place must have been like, hundreds of years ago, before the bombs dropped? Plenty of food and clean water lining the shelves, smiling faces at the counters, people pushing shopping carts and loading up to cook fresh, clean meals at home, surrounded by friends and family? Without wondering where the next meal would come from, or if tomorrow would even come at all?
How could those who had so much destroy the world? Turning this place into a nightmarish hellscape, full of hanging corpses, empty bottles of liquor and chem syringes and inhalers littering the dirty, uncleaned floor? Had they known, back then, what the world would come to?
I step in something slick, as I am caught daydreaming, and skid across the smooth, paved ground, slamming down hard on my backside. The pain is very dull, in fact it hardly registers at all. I shake my head as I use my right hand and pistol to push myself back up to my feet, when I feel something wet and warm. I raise my hand to my face, eyes taking in the red smear that now lines the butt of my pistol and hand, and realize I've slipped in the blood of one of the dead raiders.
I push myself back up to my feet, thankfully I hadn't dropped any of my supplies during the fall. That would've been a mess, picking out bloody chems and stims from amidst the macabre scene splayed out across the ground. Or worse, I could've activated the bottlecap mine, and added myself to the gory display.
I can't help but think that luck has saved me again. And I truly hope it stays with me, because chances are good I'll be needing it yet again.
In fact, it might be better to get rid of this bottlecap mine sooner rather than later. And I think the less I have to carry, the easier it's going to be for me to carry the food back. I think I know just the place to set up my bottlecap mine.
I make my way to one of the two entrances to the Super Duper Mart. Having explored the right side of the building thoroughly, I now intend to check the left. As such, I gently place the bottlecap mine just around the corner of the Nuka Cola vending machine by the left entrance. Satisfied with my work, I make my way over past the registers to the far left side of the main room.
From here, I spot an open door way, with the door clearing having been ripped off it's hinges long ago. I look into the room, spotting a closed refrigerator. This must be just what I've been looking for. At least I hope. Across from the refrigerator, I spot some more boxes of food, scattered across a countertop, along with what looks to be a laser pistol and ammunition, for some strange reason. Perhaps the raiders had simply never figured out how to use these types of weapons.
Ignoring the pistol for the moment, I open up the refrigerator, to be greeted with a load of preserved food. Things seem to be going my way.
That is, until I hear the scrape of two sets of doors open up. Of course, I knew that more raiders were bound to show up. But this is some truly terrible timing. Maybe I'm not as lucky as I thought.
"Heyyyyyy, we're back! Got a story to tell ya!" a man's voice rings outechoing across the empty chamber, with an accent exactly like the rest of the raiders I'd killed, "guys? What the hell? Where is everyone?"
I crouch down, using the counter as cover so the raiders won't see me. But I have no doubt that one of two things is bound to happen. One, the raiders will discover the bodies of their dead companions. And two-
An explosion louder than anything I've ever heard in my life goes off. From peering over the counter top, I see shrapnel fly in every direction. Two raiders are ripped apart in a flash, their blood and bone matter joining the rest of the debris being hurled across the wide open space. I hear nonstop clanging of metal and bits of dead raider strike every shelf and register, nailing into the walls, floors, ceiling. One bit of shrapnel rips right at me, slicing the edge of my right temple, an inch above my eye socket.
"Holy mother of fuck!" the male raider voice cries out, "what was that?"
It seems I'd taken out two raiders, but at least one more remains.
"Wait, is that a robot?" a different raider exclaims.
Make that two more.
"Shoot that thing! How'd it fucken' turn itself on in the first place!" the first raider screams.
Now is my chance. The cowardice that had taken hold of me only a few moments ago is completely gone now. I am no longer the same man that I was. I know I need to kill them, and if I don't do it now, they could come back for me, or hurt and kill others. The numerous bodies that decorate this place already show what these raiders are capable of.
I stand up, taking aim with the new laser pistol and squeeze the trigger. Nothing happens. I squeeze the trigger again, and nothing happens.
The raiders turn their heads towards me and point, before raising their guns my way. I slap the pistol twice, then attempt to fire again, with the same result.
I toss the laser pistol to the side, picking up my original firearm. This would explain why the laser pistol had been tossed out in the open. My own fault for not being aware of the situation. I can't let this happen again, placing my life to the whims of blind chance.
A hail of bullets rip into the area I'd once stood at, smashing into the counter. I sneak my way around, to the other side. Then the bullets stop. I stand to see both raiders in the process of reloading, and let lose a shot. It goes wild, but both raiders snap up, one dropped his ammo on the ground. This time, I aim better, and let lose a shot that rips through one of the raider's heads, dropping him and leaving the other standing.
"I'll kill-" the raider's cry is cut off by a blast from the protectron, which has lumbered it's way back around.
"Resuming patrol," the robot says mindlessly, as it continues to shuffle along.
I think this is the last of them. Or so I hope. I'd like to leave nothing to chance, but I want to leave this place as fast as possible. I open my pack, slung across my back, and begin loading it with food, medicine and the laser pistol with ammo. Never know if I could get it fixed up. From what I'd seen the protectron do, it seems like a pretty useful weapon.
Finally, I breath out a sigh of relief, knowing that at long last, it's all over.
Three days ago, I'd been living a normal life in the vault. Three days ago I thought the vault was all there was to civilization left on this planet. Life was good there. I know I can never go back now, and I'll never see those dull grays and tight corridors again. But I miss it. A place where there was no radiation, no raiders, no monsters, laser weapons and killer robots. A place with my friends. With Amata.
I'll never seen Amata again.
I wish so badly I could go back. But life goes on.
Now, with my backpack stuffed with food and water, carrying two crates of medical supplies, I make my way back towards the town from which I'd come. Leaving Super Duper Mart another empty relic of a bygone age, guarded by an ancient machine until the next unlucky soul stumbled in that forsaken place. As I exit the door, I don't even look back. I've undoubtedly seen the worst the wasteland has to offer. Surely there can be nothing worse than this.
