As Evelyn's eyes adjusted the darkness around her she was able to make out the metal surrounding the circular Vault elevator. She looked up to where they had been lowered, scared that she would see rubble or even fire come down to meet them, but nothing came down, in fact she could barely make out a dull red glow at the top of the hole before the hatch closed shut throwing them into complete darkness "We must be in really deep, and we haven't even reached the actual vault yet" Evelyn thought wondering just how deep the Vault actually was.
Evelyn looked over at the other people who had made it onto the Vault door on time, she didn't recognize any them, none of her friends and neighbors must have made it on time, they had probably died either when the bomb fell or in the chaos that was most likely going on right now. She looked over at James who was still holding Shaun, he seemed calm and she wondered if it was due to his training as a soldier or the horrors he had most likely seen in Alaska during the war with China. Evelyn was about to try and talk with James when the Vault door started to slow down in it's descent and a female synthesized voice came through the speakers "Hello, and welcome to Vault-111, we hope you find your stay pleasant here and enjoy all the commodaties offered by Vault-Tec! if you could please exit the elevator door in an orderly fashion then you can be escorted into the Vault by Vault-111 personel, for your future underground!" the speakers shut off and Evelyn wondered. just how long they had to stay underground for, "surely they didn't have to stay underground for a long time,maybe a year or two,but one nuclear bomb,no matter how strong, shouldn't really force them to live the rest of their lives underground, right?" Evelyn was afraid they would never see the sun again or even hear the birds chirp on the calm evenings in Sanctuary Hills.
Just as she was about to voice her concern to James, she was momentarily blinded by the Vault lights that had come on just as the elevator had come to a stop. As her eyes adjusted to the new lights, she could make out two figures who were standing by a flight of stairs that led to a large gear shaped hole in the wall,similar to the one they had ridden down into the Vault. The figures stepped foward and she was able to see their clothing one wore what seemed to resemble riot police gear, that is to say clothing underneath a bullet proof vest and a helmet with a visor on it, he also seemed to have a 10mm pistol on his side, so he was definitely a security officer in the Vault, the other man wore a lab coat with the Vault-Tec insignia on it so Evelyn guessed he was a scientist of sorts. The security officer stood behind the scientist as he looked towards them with a large smile "Welcome!Welcome! we here at Vault 111 are very happy that so many of you could join us in this state of the art Vault" he seemed genuinely exited to see them as if he had been just dying to meet them all, " We are very sorry that you all have lost your homes up above,but we hope that in time you will all find this Vault to be your new home, now if you could all head on in we will begin orientation and try to get you all settled in inside, please go right on in!" he then turned and started to talk quietly to the Vault security guard.
Everyone aboard the elevator started to shuffle foward as a group onto the stairs and into the Vault, they all looked around in wonder at all the machinery that lined the walls and the giant metal door that when shut,would seal them off from the world above. While they all stepped foward Evelyn turned anand looked at James who held a sleeping Shaun in his arms,"How you doing honey? I know how you must feel right now, but its okay we're in a Vault and I feel like we'll be safe here" Evelyn knew she was lying since she still felt uneasy about the way the scientists and guards would look at them with cold unfeeling eyes as if they did not care what actually happened to them.
James however seemed to relax upon hearing her words as if he had been hoping she also felt good about having to live in the Vault for the foreseeable future. Just as he was about to say something they were called foward by a woman in a blue jumpsuit who handed each of them one of their own, Evelyn was temporarily separated from James and Shaun as they were escorted into changing rooms, Evelyn felt strange in the jumpsuit and thought it hugged her body too tightly "I feel like some sort hussy in this damn thing!" she thought to herself. When she left the changing room she found James waiting for her with Shaun wide awake now, he was not wearing a jumpsuit since the Vault staff apparently hadn't prepared for a baby residing in the Vault.
A man was waiting for them the second they set a foot in the hallway outside the changing rooms, he led them down the hall eagerly explaining to them about how lucky they were to be residing in one of Vault-Tec's most advanced Vaults and how they would be very happy in the Vault. When they reached a room at the end of the hallway the man stopped and turned to look at them with a very eager smile on his face, Evelyn again felt strange when she saw his smile, like many of the others his smile seemed much too happy and his eyes much to bright with malice.
Evelyn felt like they were some new experiment and the scientists would play with them as if they were nothing but lab rats, but maybe she was being paranoid it must have been the days events getting to her , making her feel unsafe. The man went on to explain to them the purpose of some strange looking pods lining the room's walls they looked strangely like refrigerators to Evelyn but she decided to ignore it and pay attention to what the man was saying, "Now if you could both please enter the pods they will decontaminate you,this is necessary and must be done so as to not bring in any external bacteria into the lower levels of the Vault where you will all be residing in." Evelyn turned to look at James who only kissed her forehead and turned to go into the pod settling himself inside, still holding Shaun, before the pod shut itself he looked at her and smiled,opening his mouth to say something he was stoped as the pod's door sealed its self shut.
Nervous, Evelyn turned to get into her pod and as it sealed she looked at James smiling lightly and waving goodbye at him even thought she knew she would see him after the decontamination. However she started to feel very cold as if someone had run ice down her back, she looked at James with a confused look on her face, hoping he and Shaun were okay in their pod. Suddenley a female robotic voice came in through the pod's speakers "Now staring cryogenic stasis in 5..4." Evelyn looked at James alarmed knowing exactly what cryogenic meant, "Those bastards! they hadn't put them into a decontamination pod they had put them into a fucking freezer!" she thought angrily as she started to bang on and push the pod's door trying desperately to escape, but the door had been tightly sealed shut. James seemed to have also understood the purpose of the pod as he too tried to escape but it was hopeless, "3..2" the countdown continued and now Evelyn felt very cold and tired as she felt her heartbeat slow down, James too looked drowsy but still attempted to protect Shaun by pulling him close to his chest as he fell into a deep sleep.
Evelyn started to feel heavy too heavy too move and lost her strength to keep fighting the cold "1..0..cryogenic stasis commencing" as the countdown stopped Evelyn heard a hiss as the pod depressurized and she felt as if she hadn't slept in years, her last thought before her eyes closed was "Why would Vault-Tec do this?",then everything went dark.