Author's Note(s): Sorry this one isn't longer or has as much action. But I needed to get this oen up before I can get to what happens in the next one. BTW; /Check out Classic Cowboy's sequel to his story The Batman: The Dark Knight.

KP:

Fallout

3: Vault 15

Three Days Later.

The heat of the sun beat down on the two travelers as the tried to cross the hot wasteland. The barren ground was almost hot enough ti burn their feet through their shoes as the stepped across shattered foundations and old rocks. The rag Ron had been using to wipe the sweat away from his face was so completely soaked through that he had to wring it dry. Kim meanwhile seemed to be handling the heat just fine. He guessed it was from growing up in this wasteland all her life. He personally couldn't stand it out here and would be glad when he could return to the Vault and enjoy his soft bed again.

He glanced at the map again and checked the compass as he surveyed the area around him. All he saw was nothing but more dessert as the hot wind blew in his face. This didn't make any sense at all. According to the map, they were standing over Vault 15 right now. There should be some sign of the entrance somewhere around here. An opening at the side of the mountain in front of him, almost like Vault 13. But the big question was where the hell was it? He didn't see a cave opening or anything else, just barren dessert terrain. What the hell?

"Are we there yet?" Kim asked him.

"That's what sucks. I think we are." Ron said.

"Then isn't there supposed to be a big door, like you told me?" Kim asked him.

"There is. I just don't know where." Ron said as he continued walking.

"Maybe we're not there yet after all." Kim said as she began to follow again.

"No such luck. According to this map, we're here."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because according to this map I've got, the Vault is supposed to be at the base of a mountain. And from what I can tell, this is that mountain." Ron said as he looked at the map and the large mountain in front of them.

"Maybe it's on the other side." Kim said.

"Maybe. This is just aggravating. Now I know how all my friends felt when I wouldn't shut up about the Naco." Ron said as they began to climb the hill in front of them.

"What's a Naco?" Kim asked.

"It's a food I created back at the Vault. A taco combined with the tasty and oh so spicy nacho. One of my hobbies is cooking." Ron told her.

"Are you any good?"

"Let me just put it this way. When the Vault's chef threatens you to stay out of the kitchen so he doesn't loose his job, that's saying something." Ron said as Kim chuckled.

"Then how about you prove it when we make camp again?"

"I'll think about it."

As they reached the top of the hill, Kim saw something very strange. At least, it wasn't supposed to be out in the middle of nowhere.

"KP, are there any villages around here?" Ron asked.

"Not that I know of." Kim said as she glanced the terrain with him and stopped when she looked at something that was rather odd. "Then why would someone put an outhouse in the middle of no where?" Kim asked.

Ron looked where she was staring, and raised a questioning eyebrow. There was a large metal shed standing below them. There was no sign of people, or no sign of anything else around it. It looked it was made out of sheet metal, but Ron couldn't think of any real reason why it should be there.

"Do you think we should go check it out?" Ron asked his traveling companion.

"If nothing else, we could use the shed for cover in case of a sand storm. But if there's a skeleton on the pot, you owe me a drink." Kim said as they began walking down the steep hill.

It didn't take that long for them to reach the small structure. The thin sheets of metal it was composed of had large spots of rust all over it, with a few holes here and there that looked like they were made by bullets. The thing had obviously been used for target practice several times in the past. The small door creaked with age as it slowly opened and closed in the breeze with a bad smell coming from the inside of it.

"It smells like someone used it, doesn't it?" Ron asked as they examined it.

"It's still weird to find this here. You'd think this thing would have been blown down by the wind storms alone." Kim said as she took a look at its base.

"Well, we might as well take a look inside." Ron said.

"Are you sure about that? The way this thing smells,"

"Kim, we're in the middle of no where. What could we find in here that's dangerous?" Ron asked as he opened the door and screamed.

Ron quickly leapt out of the way and fell into the dirt as a large animal that was the size of a small pig ran out from the shed and off into the dessert. The fur on the thing was filthy and matted together, and it looked like it had a few whiskers on – a snout?

"What was that thing?" Ron asked.

"A pig rat." Kim said.

"Huh?"

"A mutated rat." Kim said as she helped Ron back onto his feet. "Bugs and cattle weren't the only things that got screwed with all that crap form the war. Most of them stay in the mountains where they can find food. That little guy must have wondered off and got stuck in there." Kim said as Ron glanced back into the shed.

"Or maybe he crawled out of there." Ron said as he pointed to something inside the shed.

Kim looked into the shed and saw a cement floor with a large circular opening in the center of it. Ron walked closer to the whole and examined it. There was writing engraved around the hole which read 'CAUTION WHEN CLIMBING.'

"What is it?" Kim asked as she knelt next to Ron.

"It looks like a sewer entrance. I can see a few iron bars for steps, but the passage is too dark. I can't see any further. Who knows how deep this thing is." Ron said.

"Maybe this will help." Kim said as she took a flare out of her pack and set it off. She dropped the flare down the hole, giving the tunnel brief illumination as it fell until it finally hit the bottom. "It looks like a steep drop. Maybe twenty feet deep."

"No wonder I couldn't find an entrance. They kept it hid." Ron said as he slapped himself in the head. "Ladies first?" he asked her.

"You wish." Kim said to him with a smirk.

"You're mean, you know that?" Ron said as he began to climb down the built in ladder that was in the hole.

"No, I'm just not that stupid." She said as she began to follow him.

The cavern below was small at first. It was a large as one of the huts back in Shady Sands. Ron ignited another flare as they ventured onward into the deeper areas. As they moved onward, they noticed that the passage way began to grow wider and wider in size. It wasn't until Kim ignited another flare that they saw the size of the cavern was now almost as wide as the Sistine Chapel. The passage had led the way into an underground cavern with what looked like a naturally formed cistern. Ron could actually hear the water in it as a few drops of moisture fell from the stalagmites.

"I have to hand it to whoever built this thing, they knew how to hide it." Kim said to herself.

"Wait until you see the Vault itself." Ron said to her and jumped when a single shot rung out. Ron quickly turned and saw that Kim had just shot another mutant rat.

"Warn me next time!" Ron said.

"Trust me Ron, most of these things have rabies or something worse. The last thing you want is to get bitten by one of these little buggers. You see it, you shoot it." Kim said as she kicked the lifeless rodent.

"Is it another pig rat?" Ron asked her, and began to worry when he heard her curse under her breath.

"We might be in deep shit. This isn't a pig rat at all; it's just a baby." Kim said to him and readied her gun.

"A baby?" Ron asked and looked at the dead animal. As he looked, he noticed that it was a little larger than the creature they had encountered in the shed, and its features were different in many ways. The body was longer, as was the snout. The snout itself was also slimmer with a row of jagged teeth that hadn't fully grown into place. If nothing else, it looked like a giant cross between a rat and a possum. But there was something else that was making Ron nervous as he glanced back up at Kim. "If this is a baby, then where's mama at?"

Both of their eyes widened when they heard the low growl coming from the side of the cavern. Both turned their heads and saw that the light of their flares was reflecting from two orbs that were in the shadows.

"I just had to ask." Ron whispered to himself.

With another thunderous growl, the creature charged and revealed itself in the light. Ron and Kim quickly darted in opposite directions as the large creature ran past them and landed into the cistern. Ron turned and received a good look at it as it struggled to pull itself out of the water and back onto the ground. Its large body had to at least be the size of a Kodiak bear, with the dirty yellowed claws that extended from each of its feet to be three times as big. Its thick brown hair was matted and course as it shook itself dry. As it looked at both Ron and Kim again, a vicious snarl crossed its scarred face as it exposed a row of sharp jagged teeth that looked more like giant needles. Its eyes were cold and black as it looked at each of them. Its ears were small and at the side of its head, barley even noticeable at all.

"Don't just stand there, shoot the damn thing!" Kim shouted and opened fire.

Ron pulled his gun free from the holster and opened fired, causing the creature to scream as it reared onto its hind legs. As it slammed back down onto all fours, it began to blindly charge as it roared in pain from the pieces of hot led burrowing into its thick hyde. Kim tried to get out of the monster's way in time, but was slammed into the cavern wall as the giant rodent ran by. Rom rushed to her and slid to a stop next to her unconscious form. He placed to fingers against her jugular and sighed in relief when he felt a strong pulse.

"Ron," she whispered as she tried to open her eyes.

"What?"

"Be-hind y-you." Kim said to him.

Ron turned to see the large rat was charging at him with its pink and yellow stained teeth bared and its drool dripping from its jaws. Ron fell backwards onto his butt as he lifted his gun and took aim. In that moment, it was as if everything began to slow down in front of him as he focused the gun barrel. His fear was rushing through him faster than an ocean current as he saw the creature running at him full speed. Pushing through the fear in his mind, he focused his attention, aimed, and squeezed the trigger.

Everything returned to normal and abruptly ending the state Ron had been in when he saw the monster scream as a splash of blood and bone erupted from the back of its head. The massive monster fell and began to tumble with an awful roar, making Ron act quickly as he pulled himself and Kim out of the way as it tumbled to a stop in a large cloud of dirt. Ron didn't move or risk doing anything for several minutes as he watched the creature lay on its side, not moving or breathing. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there until he began to feel Kim fully waking up in his arms.

"Did you get it?" she asked him as she rubbed the back of her head.

"I don't know. I think I actually did." Ron said.

Kim sat up and saw the lifeless giant rat. "Wow." Kim said as she slowly stood and walked to the other side of the creature. She could see the several bullet wounds they had put in the creature's body. When she reached the head, her eyes widened as she leaned in for a closer look. "Holy SHIT!"

"What's wrong?" Ron asked as he got to his feet and walked around the rat's corpse.

"Your kill shot. You nailed the sucker right in between its eyes!" Kim said, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"You're kidding." Ron said and took a look for himself. As sure as he was breathing, there was a bullet hole burrowed in-between the rat's eyes with a trail of blood dripping onto the floor.

"How did I pull off a shot like that?" he asked himself.

"Good question. You can't hit a wall that's two feet in front of you, and you nailed this sucker perfectly. Are you holding back on me?"

"No. I-it was almost like I – I was in the zone." Ron said as he thought about it.

"Zone? What zone?"

"Back at the Vault, me and the others used to play video games. When ever I really got into the game, it's like my complete focus and attention was on the game. My friends said that I was in my zone." Ron explained.

"Maybe you should get into it more often." Kim said as she popped another flare. "I take it that we're at the entrance?" Kim asked.

Ron looked upward and saw the entrance to Vault 15 standing in front of them. The door that should be covering it was lying on the ground in front of them, knocked out of its place ages ago. There were several dents and scratches in it as the number fifteen stood boldly in the middle of it. From what Ron could see, the rat had been hiding in the Vault entrance when it had attacked them.

"That would be it." Ron said as they marched forward.

As they entered the room, the first smell to hit them was the droppings from all the various creatures that had made a home inside the Vault. The room they were in was a small infirmary and quarantine room. They had it in case people from the outside entered the Vault. But it was obvious it hadn't been used in years. The glass to the quarantine room was thick with dirt and cracked while the walls themselves were completely covered in rust and various cave and mold growth. If it wasn't for the fact that Kim had a lit flare, Ron would have thought they were still in another part of the cave.

"This is what a Vault looks like?" Kim asked as she saw the state of the room.

"It's not supposed to be in this shape. What happened here?" Ron asked as he walked to a computer monitor. He tapped it several times, but didn't even get so much as a flicker of static. "The power's gone. Something major must have happened to knock out the power core." Ron said as he walked to the elevator doors.

"What kind of power source did it have?" Kim asked him.

"A few Vaults had nuclear power cores. But Vault thirteen and this one had a fusion reactor. Both were prototypes." Ron said as he forced the elevator doors open and revealed the empty shaft.

"I think I found the elevator." Ron said as he looked down.

"Where is it?"

"At the bottom floor. Where we need to be." Ron said as Kim joined him.

"How do we get down there now?" Ron asked himself.

"I've got some rope." Kim said as she slung her pack off from her shoulders and opened it. "Good thing I decided to come prepared." Kim said as she removed the large bundle and tied one end to a very large and thick pipe to anchor it. "Of course, being a gentleman, you wouldn't mind going down first to make sure its clear."

"Of course." Ron said as he threw the rest of the rope down the shaft.

What was left of the elevator was nothing but a pile of scrap. Jagged shards of metal of various sized jutted into the air, threatening to pierce anyone who wasn't careful. Slowly and carefully, Ron was able to find solid footing amongst the rubble and force the elevator doors open. The air that assaulted him was fowl as well as stale. Trying his best not to gag, he signaled Kim to follow him down. Ron looked down and discovered a very grizzly sight. There were several crushed and broken decaying bodies lying in between large pieces of the elevator. Who ever was in the elevator when it fell obviously didn't make it out in time. He could see severed limbs and shards of bone jutting out from various parts of the corpse's bodies. Shaking his head and forcing himself to look up, Ron drew his gun and carefully began to step into the command center.

The command center was in the same state as the room that was now several stories above them. There were several piles of what seemed to be droppings or stones, as well as various moss, mold, and other plants growing through the cracks and control panels. The beauty, wonder, and majesty of this Vault had disappeared long, long ago. These Vaults were supposed to be a testament to the wonders of technology humans could achieve. Now, it looked like it belonged in a scrap yard. It was almost depressing to see the state it had fallen into.

"Ron!"

"What?" he asked, seeing Kim had wondered into a near by break room.

"There are several lockers in here. Do you think there may be anything useful in them?" Kim asked him.

"Maybe. If there is, it's obvious no one's coming back for them." Ron said in a sad tone of voice. The Overseer was right. Whatever had happened here was bad. "Just take what we need."

As Kim began popping the old and rusted lockers open, Ron began making his way to the main control center. His Vault had made several alterations over the years, and had relocated the computers for the water purification systems. As their population increased, there were some systems that needed to have more memory and processors. So it seemed natural to relocate the system for the water supply near the actual water tanks. But if this place was still had the layout it was given when it came online, then water chip would be in the main control room.

Ron had to tip toe at what looked like to be several normal rats in several states of decay. He swore he would never watch another horror movie again after this was over. When Ron finally came to the entrance of the control room, his heart as well as his face just collapsed in on itself. This wasn't good.

"I found a couple of stimpacks, which should still be good. These things don't expire for almost two-hundred years. I also found – Ron, what is it?" Kim asked him when she saw the look in his face.

"I came here for nothing." Ron mumbled.

"What do you mean? All we gotta do is – shit." Kim said when she saw what was in front of them.

Blocking their path was a giant cave in. A wall of rock and rubble was completely blocking their path with not even so much as an opening. The roof and side of the walls had been ripped away, showing the origin of the rock slide. You didn't have to be a genius to guess that the rock slide may be completely filling the room they needed to be in.

"The chip was supposed to be in there. Wasn't it?" Kim asked him.

"Yeah. It was." Ron said solemnly.

"Do you think anyone got out of there in time?" Kim asked him.

"Not all of them." Ron said to her.

Kim noticed his gaze had been cast downward when she glanced at him. Gazing in the same direction, she let out a small curse at what was on the floor. There were several pieces of what used to be human bodies sticking out from the ruble. Some looked like the rocks had fallen on top of them while they were escaping. The top halves of a few of them could be seen, while only limbs were sticking out with others. She could even see the remains of a crushed skull around one large stone. All the bodies almost looked like their skin had been turned into a horrible kind of beef jerky. It was almost sickening to see the few that still had heads looking at them with empty eye sockets, their faces forever frozen in a look of utter pain and horror.

"What happened to them? These Vaults were made to withstand a nuclear blast." Ron said to himself as he leaned against a wall. "My Vault's dead. This was our only hope." Ron said.

"Ron, there still may be a chance." Kim said to him

"How, KP? A Vault's the only thing I know of that could have a water purifying chip."

"Ron, one thing about people in the wasteland is that just about all of them are scavengers. Most people purposely scrounge the city ruins and try to fix any machinery they find. Hell, the money you can get from a working toaster is enough to buy a farm." Kim told him.

"That's a very big if, Kim."

"Hey, it's worth a shot." Kim said to him. "By the way, I found you something." Kim said as she revealed an old black leather jacket, but it was still in pretty good shape. "I also found some old jeans and a shirt. I guess these people didn't like wearing your uniforms."

"You want me to wear that?" Ron asked her.

"Ron, you stick out like a soar thumb in that getup of yours. A raider would probably kill you just for a sleeve. With these clothes, you'll blend in more." Kim told him.

"Okay. Just don't call me the Road Warrior." Ron said as he took the jacket.

"Who?"

"Never mind." Ron said as he tried on the jacket and saw that it was a snug fit. "So where should we go to first?"

"Well, we need to stock up on some ammo and a few supplies. The nearest place is Junktown."

"Is it nice?" Ron asked her.

"It's livable. Besides, Uncle Slim has an old friend there that may give us a place to stay while we're there." Kim said as they headed back to the elevator.

"Then I guess it's on to Junktown."

The next chapter should have a lot more action, and a couple of gory gunfight scenes.