Chapter 4: Anger

Rep - suit helmet now removed - marched his way up to the Overseer's office at a very brisk pace. He was grinding his teeth, his brow tightly knitted just behind the rim of his glasses; he looked as a bull who's seen red. He came to the Overseer's door and tried to open the door. I was locked.

A burst of static came over the intercom before Mitch's voice came over, "Come back later." Rep growled in anger before he backed up and kicked the door control so hard it sparked and unlocked the door for the engineer. Stepping in he found Mitch and his father behind the desk. Mitch walked from behind the desk to confront Rep, "I said come b…"

"Security lead said you ordered my father shot!" Rep was yelling at the top of his lungs and pointed at Mitch.

"He wasn't your father anymore!"

"He was still in there, you son-of-a-bitch!" Rep wound up and punched Mitch right in the mouth, the both of them coming to blows taking swings at each other then wrestling in the office. The Overseer called for security as the two of them drew blood and broke objects around the room. Rep got on top of Mitch, grabbed him by the front of his Vault Suit, and started repeatedly slamming him into the floor right before Vault Security came in and pulled the men apart.

Rep was now in the Vault's brig. He was stripped of the radiation suit and his Pip-Boy as he sat on the bunk with his head in his hands. His glasses broke during the fight leaving him slightly sightless, but that hadn't mattered because all the now bruised up man could do was cry. Without his glasses a puddle of tears formed on the floor next to the drain unhindered. That moment looped in his mind over and over again as he gripped his head, trying to almost grab the memory physically and pull it out of his mind to make it stop.

The door hissed and clunked as it opened. Rep looked up and squinted at who now stood before him, "Who's that?" He couldn't see who was there, "Mitch, it better not be you, or I swear…"

"Relax, Lee," he recognized the voice; it was the Overseer, "Look, I didn't know about what happened with security until afterwards. As a matter of fact, Mitch was telling me what was going on when you came in and started fighting with him. Here," Rep saw something come into his field of vision; a new pair of glasses in the man's hand. They looked like much thicker frames than before. He put them on and looked around a bit. Everything became clear. In a very small voice he spoke, "Thank you."

The Overseer did a half smile and nodded. He pointed at the empty space next to Rep, "Mind if I sit with you?" Rep just shrugged and went back to leaning on the tops of his legs. The older man walked over and moaned as he slowly sat down, "Oh, man! I almost forgot what sitting felt like," he turned to the engineer, "Look, I talked with the head of security and got him to drop the charges. I'm also gonna forget you damaged my office door and have someone else in maintenance fix my office up."

All Rep could do was sigh. The Overseer knew this was a bad start to the conversation, and where it might go from there might be worse, so he took a direct approach and went forward, "Don't blame Mitch for what happened." Rep turned to the man with a face of annoyed surprise, "'Don't blame…'" "Wait a minute!" the Overseer stopped him short, "Let me explain. Mitch was in the office at the time the emergency happened. As you know, when an emergency like that happens I have to take Roll. When someone doesn't show, I have to find who's missing. When Old Man Melbourne on level three didn't show, I went down. Mitch was looking for me in common when security informed him of not only what happened to your father, but what you were doing. He did what he did to protect you, son."

"He was still my father." The Overseer looked over to the man who just had his life upended in a single day. The explanation didn't absolve Mitch's decision in his eyes. If anything, it made him more angry; his eyes burned more than they did even a moment ago, "I would suggest to Mitch he stays away from me from now on."

"I'm sorry to hear that. If I could turn back time…"

"I know," Rep had heard it before, "There would be more people alive. We're stuck going forward." The Overseer patted Rep on the leg, "Other than that, you're free to go," the man stood up and began walking to the door but stopped, "Oh, uh," he turned to the engineer, "After everything's settled - and I know this is a bad time - we need to talk about succession of your father's position. I want you to be the Senior Vault Maintenance Engineer," there was silence. The air around Rep had a dark tint to it the more he thought of what was happening. "Well," the Overseer finished, "we'll talk about it when it's time." With that the Overseer of Vault 53 stepped out, leaving the guards to escort the man out.

The door of Rep's living quarters opened. The engineer lumbered inside and looked around. All he could see before him was traces of the things his father did before leaving their home for the last time. He slowly walked to the foot of his father's bed and saw it messy - just as he had it for years after his mother passed away. He knelt down at the footlocker at the end of the bed and opened it. He found a picture of him, his father, Mitch, Ariel, and the Overseer. Him, Mitch, and Ariel were children. He remembered when the picture was taken.

"It was after you rescued me." Rep turned to find Ariel standing just behind him, a look of distress lingering on her face. Rep stood up after closing the footlocker, picture still in hand, "I remember. It was just after the Overseer gave me a citation for bravery."

"You didn't want to go because you were afraid of everyone picking on you over your new glasses," she gently took the picture from him to look, "God, how long has it been since I've seen this picture?"

"Long enough to see how ugly I've become," Rep chuckled at his own self-demeaning comment. Ariel didn't seem to appreciate that "Don't say things like that; you turned out okay."

"You sound like Mrs. Linscott on level two."

"She wouldn't be wrong if she said it, would she?" Rep shrugged as she continued, "I mean, just this morning me and your dad were talking ab…" Her eyes went wide as she clasped her own hand over her mouth. Rep looked at her in surprise, almost like his soul just jumped from his body, "You were with Pop this morning?"

Ariel's heart jumped into her throat, "I-I asked him over for breakfast," she started talking fast, "You were asleep, we thought you were out late with Mitch and the others, we didn't…" "The CRAM and eggs!" Rep cut her off. "Y-yes, we thought you'd be hungry when you woke up and… and…" Rep reached into his pocket and pulled out the note from that morning:

"Leroy,

Sorry we missed you for breakfast, but Ariel made extra for you. See you at the Reactor.

Love you, Son.

Pop"

Rep started hyperventilating as he looked to Ariel. She started shaking her head, "Lee, no…" He started to grit his teeth; eyes turned dark. He had that same dark air about him as he did in the Vault's holding cell, but now far more intense. Ariel started backing toward the door. As she moved, a lamp got knocked over, the bulb surviving the fall, but it's shade fell off. The angle of the light shined upward onto Rep's face. The new thick-framed glasses the man wore cast shadows so jarring along the worn contour of the man's face and fight bruises it made Rep look to have the Devil's fury. He growled as he walked toward her and quickly grabbed the picture away from her. He crumpled the photograph, "I should have never saved your life."

It was all so terrifying for Ariel. Never in the 21 years she's known Rep has she seen him so angry, or heard him say anything so hate-filled. He was always so kind and happy. The man before her was a stranger, and a very dangerous one at that. She knew the rumors of her were going to cause an argument, but something inside the man she knew came out in reaction, and it was far more terrifying than she had figured. This was not the man she knew.

She ran out of room. She backed into the door as Rep came closer, "I've done nothing but defend you and care for you," he came face to face with her, "and you take away one of the only other people in my life that means something to me? Do you have any idea what happened to him?"

Ariel was crying like a terrorized child. She couldn't speak even if she wanted to. He leaned in and spoke in a very low threatening growl, "Get out and never come back, you fucking jinx." He slammed his hand on the door control causing the door to slide open, Ariel falling out the doorway and into the hall. She turned over to see Rep close the door. Other people in the hallway saw her fall out of the door, a look of terror still on her face as the very angry engineer closed the door behind her.

Inside the living quarters, Rep reached into his suit pocket and pulled out the ring box. He opened it and looked at the ring inside. A little flame started to build in his chest as all of the day's events played back in his head. He closed his eyes as the tears started to flow. The fire in his heart erupted like a massive nuclear explosion that caused him to scream in extreme anger and throw the velvet box across the room.

Rep went on a rampage; he flipped the terminal desk; threw his tables; he kicked over a dresser; then picked up a baseball bat and started smashing random objects in the room in a blind rage. He screamed in sheer anger and agony as he continued tearing his own living quarters apart.

Outside in the hall Ariel sat outside the door curled up into the fetal position, her face buried in her knees as she kept hearing crashing and banging noises from inside the room. She cried. She was unsure on what to do as she heard the terrible rage consume the man she cared about.

More people were stepping out of their quarters wondering what all the noise was about, "Where's that ruckus coming from?" one person asked. "Sounds like the Chief Engineer's Quarters," another answered. That was when theories and rumors started, beginning with, "Did you hear the Senior Engineer died today?" to, "The Engineer's son attacked the Overseer in training." The talking of horrible things that had happened in the Vault that day made these people gleeful just became too much for Ariel. She stood up, eyes full of tears as she screamed at everyone muttering in the hallways hearing Rep's rage, "What the hell is the matter with you people?"

The murmuring of the other Vault citizens fell silent as she yelled, "A good man died and another is in pain, and all you can do is gossip? You people are absolutely sick!"

Someone yelled out in the crowd, "Weren't you the last one to see the head engineer alone?" Ariel's heart jumped again, and it was going to again still when someone else called out, "Wait, isn't that the woman that has accidents happen around her?"

Another, "Yeah, that's Accident-Prone Ariel!"

Ariel started having a panic attack as the murmering returned to full volume, but now about her. Someone from behind her put their hand on her shoulder. She jumped and spun around to find Mitch standing there, bandaged cuts on his face. She buried her head into his chest and cried. He put his arms around her and hugged her for a moment before calling to the crowd, "As Acting Overseer, I'm ordering a curfew on this level effective right now until 0600. Get back into your quarters! Now!"

Everyone filed out and headed back into their quarters as Mitch escorted the distraught woman back to her's. Mitch stopped at the intersection of the hallway, hearing his former best friend's screams of agony before looking his way with very sorrow-filled eyes. He sighed and continued ushering the hurt girl back to her home.

"The image was so clear in my mind, I couldn't help but avoid the funeral," Rep had the picture he crumpled up that day. He looked down at it with a large sense of guilt, "I felt like my world had fallen apart. I lost my father, my best friend, and the woman I loved. Come to find the person that I trusted most after the accident caused the fucking accident." Rep was sitting beside Ariel on her bed, both of them looking at the picture. She put her arms around his and leaned against him. "That was what Pop was trying to tell me, too, 'Was no accident.'"

"What are you going to do?" Rep looked to the girl on his arm. She then looked to him, a look of worry in her amber eyes. He had thought about it, but he didn't like the answers he drew. He looked around Ariel's quarters as she felt his pulse shoot up holding his arm, "What?"

"I got only one option: I have to run."

"But," her face telegraphed confusion, "you can't run in the Vault; you can only go so far."

"Exactly."

Ariel was confused at what he was saying. Was there some hidden place in the Vault she didn't know of? She was about to ask when he stood up and walked to a poster she had on the wall that read, "Vault of the Future", "Our ancestors came in one way," he pointed to the illustration of a line of people walking through the Vault door, "I'm gonna have to go out the same way."

Ariel's eyes became wide as saucers as she turned to look at him, "Out of the Vault?! Are you insane?!"

"I stay here, they're gonna kill me!"

"Go out there, you might die anyway!"

"Like you said, I can't hide here!" Ariel was about to say something, but no words came out. She stood up, back turned to him with her arms crossed. She was angry at what his plan was, but she knew what he was saying; outside the Vault he had a better chance of surviving. Maybe even live.

"Besides, I have nothing left here. Parents - gone; friends - alienated; love…" he looked toward Ariel, "...Lost." He saw her tilt her head. It was as hard for her as it was him. "With any hope, it'll be a while before the Overseer plans an inconspicuous death for me. I might have to go tomorrow."

Ariel spun on her heels, "Tomorrow? You can't go tomorrow! You don't even have a plan yet!" "The longer I stay here, the more my life is in danger…" Rep looked down, "...maybe even your's, too." He looked back up and locked eyes with her. She knew that face all too well: he was set on his path. He turned to walk out when she called out to him, "Wait! You'll need all the luck you can get."

Rep stopped. Ariel went into her dresser and dug past all the Vault Suits and sleepwear she had and uncovered an old, dirty, red baseball cap. She gripped it hard as memories flooded her mind. To this day she wishes she could apologize for what happened. Rep had turned and approached her, put a hand on her shoulder. "He always said this hat gave him the best of luck," Ariel lightly brushed her hand against the front and bill of the cap, another tear streaked down the fair skin of her cheek. She slowly faced Rep and handed it to the engineer, "Wherever you go, I know dad will be with you."

Rep took hold and looked at the hat. It was dirty and slightly torn in spots. It matched Rep's dirty utility suit. He knew this was very important to her, and he knew he had to follow through with the plan; After all, he thought, it wouldn't be her father's good luck piece if I died, would it? It occurred to him: Her father died wearing the hat. Oh, right. Note to self: Wash hat first.

Nevertheless, he looked back to Ariel and nodded, showing he understood. He looked to her wall clock depicting Vault-Tec's character and mascot Vault Boy using his arms to point at the time. It was reading 2300, "I have some work ahead of me. I need to go," he placed the red cap into his toolbox, but something he had in it caught his eye. He pulled something out, closed the box, and set the object down on her terminal desk before he opened the door.

Wait!" Rep stopped again and looked to the girl as she asked, "What is that?"

"Remember why I said Mitch proposed to you?"

"So you coul…" she stopped mid-sentence as she closed her eyes, "Oh my God…"

"Good-bye, Ariel. Saving your life was the best thing I ever did. I just wish I could stay a part of it." With that, he vacated her quarters, toolbox in hand. The door closed leaving the emotionally drained woman with her thoughts, prayers, and a small velvet covered box on a desk.

The next 12 hours were going to be chaos.