Following His Footsteps
Walking towards the complex, the road was less buried, and withered tents rustled slightly in the wind. I walked past the tents and looked inside each of them to show that there was nobody inside, and all the furniture was scattered about. Standing just before the gate, I looked over the facility, trying to piece together what the scene showed, and noticed three things. Lying all around the tent camp were the corpses of over a dozen feral dogs partially buried from the storm, seeming to have been recently killed by a variety of different methods. The next thing I noticed was that the entrance to the mountainside military base was exploded open. I was about to investigate the entrance when I caught the last detail. Just beyond the chain link gate, and on an undisturbed patch of asphalt were SKIDMARKS!?
I couldn't believe it! Had that "Chosen One" dipshit really come here already with his car!? I surveyed the area and looked over the corpses of the hounds again. Of course, the scene made sense after seeing the tracks on what little exposed road was available. All the dogs were killed recently; probably only a few days ago, and the different causes of death were clearly from the different weapons the Chosen One and his gang used. I studied the car tracks to see that they faded south in the direction I came from. With all the initial details noted in my logs, I approached the blasted-out entrance to the facility itself for a closer inspection.
Near the blown-up entrance were hundreds of large rocks scattered across the courtyard indicating a large explosion, and what looked like the destroyed remains of a mining cart and rail. It was in that moment that I noticed the barrels, crates marked "TNT", and numerous shovels, pickaxes, and tipped over carts of rocks. Seeing all the mining equipment reminded me of the mine up in Redding. So, I wrote in my logs everything I saw along with a couple quick sketches, and proceeded towards the entrance.
As I approached the black mouth to the military base, my only thought was, "What the Hell happened here?" I entered the cave, and soon the only light available was the afternoon glow behind me. I wondered again what I was supposed to find in the base and pulled out my lighter for some dim illumination since the sunlight from outside had no effect on the cave at that point. I walked forward into the base only able to see about two feet around the glow of my flickering lighter. I knew I should have bought a flashlight from one of the caravans, and then my lighter went out before I tripped over something metal.
I laid there on the hard floor in nearly complete darkness and flicked the lighter back on to reveal what I tripped over. What I saw shocked me, but looked vaguely familiar. The thing I tripped over was a large steel corpse of what looked sort of like one of those old suits of power armor; not like any I'd seen in an old military or tech magazine. I held my lighter close to it. The suit of armor laid face up and spread across the floor almost seven or eight feet from head to toe. I tapped on the arm guards, and it felt like an extremely tough plastic or metal composite. I worked my lighter along all the crevasses and made out all the detail I could. Then, I sat on top of the giant breast protector to study the thing's helmet/mask. The face looked sort of like a bug or something with faded orange triangular eye lenses, chemical filters around the mouth, and hoses sticking out of the head. Following the hose above the right eye, I followed it to a connection point on the back in between giant steel shoulder plates. It sort of looked like the thing had a hunchback since the top of the helmet was even with the large back and neck protector plates. I fidgeted with the hoses again for a better look at the back of the suit, and jerked the helmet to the side. When I did, there was a *CLANK* and the helmet fell onto the back plate taking a skull with it!
Initially startled, I held up the helmet and pulled the skull out of it with my gloved hand. There was no way the Chosen One did this. This power armored guy had been dead for years. I briefly wondered how the head could have decomposed considering suits like these were supposed to be airtight. Again, stuck with my insightful thoughts, I was interrupted when I noticed a dark biological sludge start seeping out of the suit's neck. I stood up from the suit out of gross shock, and before my lighter went out again, I noticed something reflect the last hint of light. Igniting the lighter again; I studied where I was sitting to see a golden "E" symbol surrounded by a circle of stars emblazoned on the upper left plate of the chest protector and thought out loud:
"Enclave?... Is this what McNeil and Paul were looking for?"
I knew what I had found. Immediately upon my conclusion, I grabbed the power armor helmet, went through the pouches around the armored corpse's waist, and pulled out a small handheld radio. I again didn't know what the Captain was hoping I'd find in the base, and considered going further into the base. I looked into the blackness of the base opposite the light, and heard a strange noise. Hearing that noise made me remember the train of armed super mutants I saw earlier that morning, and so I reconsidered. At the revelation that I was probably inside a super mutant lair, I figured the two things I snagged oughta cover whatever the captain was looking for (Cowardly and half assed, I know). Approaching the exit, I honestly felt somewhat giddy.
Just as I emerged into the light of day and now setting sun, I heard the familiar sound that set me on the path I currently walked. Looking south towards the caravan road, I heard the noise and looked east. High in the sky and moving west were five Vertibirds darting towards the sunset. I didn't even know what to think. The aircraft were so high in the sky, but the noise from the propellers echoed throughout the whole wasteland. The Vertibirds flew straight over the eastern mountains, right over me, and disappeared in the glare of the setting sun. Then, the noise faded into the winds of another gathering dust storm from the west.