Brian's POV

I wake up and I look around to see a hospital room I try sitting up but pain knocks me back down.

someone comes to my side. "Brian, you shouldn't be trying to move just yet."

I look up at the person and I see the face of my wife. "Sarah? wha?" I shake my head and look again to see Hannah's face.

She looks down at me, "Sorry, no, You lost a lot of blood so you're hallucinating a little bit."

I nod, "I'm good now."

She looks me over. "You in very much pain?"

I nod a little bit. "My knee is the worst. but I'm starting to feel my shoulder a bit too."

She gives me a stimpack, "Here, take this for the pain. However, unfortunately, I can't do anything about your face." I chuckle and smile genuinely as she laughs with me. "I'm gonna go rustle up something for us to eat. I'll be right back." I nod and relax back into a sleepy state.

Hannah's POV

I head out into the main area of the hospital. From the look of the outside, this place used to be a church. I guess it makes sense since its one of the biggest buildings in town except that big old building down the road.

I enter what looks like a diner with signs on it with a symbol of a shield on it, on this shield is a circle with a heart inside, with a heartbeat sensor going across. I move in and I see a man sitting at a table. we make eye contact and I greet him. "Hello."

He immediately smiles and starts to speak. "So, have you come to join the responders?"

I give him a confused look and I say, "Who are the responders?"

He gives me a confused look back. "All across America, they were the first to run into danger: the brave firefighters, police officers and medical professionals who selflessly served their communities. After the bombs fell, they formed the Responders. Their mission – help each other… no matter the cost."

I give a small smile, "Sounds like a wonderful goal. but how do I know that this isn't just another grab for control over a broken nation? Who are you even working for?"

He gestures all around him. "We work for ourselves. No body of government, just basic human decency."

I nod, "Sorry, I guess working with the brotherhood of steel has given me trust issues.."

He nods in understanding. "I don't blame you. all I've ever seen of them is stealing tech and saying get out of our way or be neutralized."

I look at him in surprise. "Really? I knew it was corrupt, but I didn't think it was that bad."

He looks down, "You soldiers have your security escort, but you never pay attention to what's left behind. ruined crops and broken homes."

I lean on the desk to get closer to him. "On behalf of the worst of the brotherhood, I'm so sorry."

Someone runs in, "John! it's happening again."

He looks over at the teenage boy. "Goddammit. alright, I'm on the way." He turns to me, "If you know how to use that big iron on your hip, come with me, we could use the help."

I nod and follow him.

As soon as his feet hit the cracked pavement, he starts barking orders, "Pete! Get the women and children that live on the edge of town in the church. Shaun! go with him and watch each other's backs." They both nod and go off to do as he says, "The rest of you follow me!"

In all, about 16 men and women follow him towards the end of town where that big old building is. I follow them. we all line-up, clustering behind stacks of sandbags for cover. I point my laser rifle and I look through the scope to see a lot of Mr. Handys and Protectrons.

I lean over to John who is crouching next to me. "What's going on?"

He talks to me, "Some sort of security subroutine in their system causes them to come out and patrol. And for some reason, they are very hostile towards humans. We tried raising our hands or giving them voice commands. but nothing has worked."

I nod. "is there a way you can just turn them off? There should be a master terminal inside the building that can be used to turn them all off."

He nods, "There is, but even when we're able to get in, the terminal is hardcore encrypted. Without a password, it's going to be impossible to get into the system."

I nod, "Well, for now, let's just focus on the threat in front of us."

Just then, a barrage of laser blasts come from the robots who are now in range. John yells out, "Fire!"

I start firing at the eyes of the Mr. Handys. They get a bunch of good hits on us. I duck behind cover to reload just as three men are taken out at the stack next to us.

Before long, the last robot is destroyed and the battle is won.

Brian's POV

I jolt awake to the sound of distant gunshots. I think to myself, "What the hell?"

A woman comes towards me. "Hey, How are you feeling."

I nod, "Actually, not that bad."

She chuckles and gestures to my knee, "May I take a look?" I nod as she goes to inspect my knee. "It looks like your knee is pretty much fully healed, it's just going to be sore for a while. With a little practice, you should be able to walk, although I wouldn't recommend going out there right now."

I look at her. "Why not?"

She says, "It's just that old fertilizer factory at the end of the road. Now and again, it has security robots come out of it who aren't exactly friendly to people."

I nod, "Do you think they'll need any help?"

She shakes her head. "You don't need that type of action right now. Plus, if they didn't have it handled, there would be more laser fire in the air than live rounds."

I nod, "I suppose you're right."