**So, I'm considering writing a "Falling Skies" fic, just none of the characters appeal for writing first person other than Tector. So I may just make a survival guide type thing, I dunno though. Just know this wont be abandoned. Like it matters though? XD I also started school right after I started this 3rd chapter.**
School has ended but the kids still demand to hear the elder lady's story. The town mayor and sheriff decided to leave the school open to her so that she can teach "summer school". On the last day she instructed students to bring some more comfortable furniture for themselves so that they don't have to sit on the floor. The desks had already been put into storage for the summer and she doesn't want to take the time to unload them just for a couple weeks more of reading a book. She personally left her arm chair in the classroom.
When she walked in around noon, to her surprise, everyone brought in something. There was a few couches lined up, a couple of beds stacked on top of one another and a handful of wooden dinner chairs. But what really put her into shock, was the fact that every open spot was occupied by her entire class. They arranged the furniture so that theres one row in the middle of the room, leading from her chair to the door and rows between each seating arrangement. The class stands at the sight of their teacher walking in.
She takes a breath. "Why, hello class! I'm going to be reading the third chapter of my father's travels now, so if you would all calm down and take a seat." She walks to her spot as they sit down. She looks at the youth that sit before her and notice something different. Each of them have a gleam in their eye. They're actually excited to hear the story. She sits down and opens the book at a bookmark just before the third chapter.
She clears her throat and begins. "We got to the outside world, the sun was bright and I started to feel the dampness in my side. I had forgotten about the bullet wound, I need to get to a town fast. 'Hey Amata, do me a favor and play this Holotape?' My voice is weaker than I expected it to be. I merge the file over to her pip-boy and she starts it almost immediately. I don't hear it and the world is slowly going blurry. Falling over I hear screaming, my name. There is a ding of some coordinates being uploaded to my pip-boy and I black out.
There is a constant fading in and out. Somehow Amata managed to drag me to a town built out of plane remnants. There is a two headed cow and a man in a bright yellow jump suit that help her get me inside to a doctor. The doctor is a cranky old black man. Fading out again I hear a heart monitor flat line and Amata cry out. I'm dead. I'll get to see my dad, and Jonas.
Then it hits me. Amata gave up everything to come with me, to see me reunite with my mother. She could have lived a completely safe and comfortable life inside the Vault, where her only problem was Butch and his gang. I gotta try and fight. But how, I'm practically dead.
It's a white arrangement, just like how the priests inside the Vault said. I'm sitting in a chair, a metal one like the ones in the clinic.
I hear a deep voice. "It's our beautiful boy Catherine!" it says.
I hear a familiar voice "Oh ho ho ho, he's going to look just like his dad!"
I whip my head around, what the hell is going on? I look forward again, and a figure approaches me. Squinting my eyes, I see the figure more clearly. It's my Father. I jump up and run to my dad. He opens his arms and I run straight into him.
"You've grown up so fast son, but people need you." He practically whispers into my ear.
"I know dad, but how do I go back?" I ask him, my face buried in his chest.
He starts to laugh, a deep, happy laugh. I close my eyes to blink, but the laughing becomes a sob, it's not my dad anymore, it's a girl. My eyes wont open, so I use all the strength I have and force them open. Amata, holding my lifeless corpse, blood on her hands and arm. Her eyes are closed and she leans forward to kiss my forehead. She connects the kiss and I kiss her chin. She gasps and looks at my eyes.
'Hey, I knew you were excited...to see me...but you didn't have to wake me up so...damn early.' I have to stop in between phrases to catch my breath.
'You bastard.' She says with a smile on her face.
'I'm gunna go back...to sleep.' I tell her with a fake yawn to cover my pain.
'Fine, one more hour, but you gotta wake back up.' She says, resting my head in her lap. Nodding as a response, I pass back out.
When I wake up, it's been around a day's time and Amata is missing. I sit up abruptly and feel a sheering pain in my side that puts me back down almost as fast as I sat up. I groan a little and the doctor comes in to check on me. He looks me over and nods, rubbing his chin.
'You look good kid, but that pain ain't gunna just get up and walk off, you're going to need to avoid heavy lifting, or really moving in general to avoid breaking those stitches.' He says it like this is an everyday procedure. I knew it would be bad out in the wastes, but not that bad.
'Did you get the bullet out?' I ask with a scratch in my throat. He looks surprised with the question.
'Bullet? There was no bullet, it looked like you gut cut real deep but a knife or other sharp objects.' his expression doesn't put me to ease at all. I had assumed it was a bullet that hit me. It couldn't have been the robot, his saw only goes up and down.
'Alright, thanks doc, mind giving me a hand out of th...' He had left before I started the sentence and it took me up until then to realize it.
It takes me around ten minutes to get up and out of the bed. I was a little dizzy when I first stood, made it impossible to walk for that short time. I paced the room a few times just to get my footing back before looking like more of an idiot when I walk into a town that I don't even know the entrance to. I walk through the curtain and I see the doctor, he doesn't look at me but another tall African-American man wearing a cowboy suit is staring at me.
'Hey, nice hat Calamity, where can I get one?' I say it with a joking smile, but my wound keeps me from laughing.
'We've got another Joker. Just remember, I'm the sheriff and the mayor, so if you cause any problem in my town, I have no problem shooting you again and putting you back in the wastes.' He says it with a stern look. I was about to come up with a witty comment but I restrain myself, I need this guy to help find my mom.
'I'm sorry if I insulted you, my wound keeps me from making any type of joke not serious. I was curious if my mother may have passed through your town.' I show him a picture of my mom via pip-boy and he shakes his head.
'Sorry boy, I don't know your mother, and she doesn't look familiar.' He says as he walks out. I groan and follow him with, I gotta find Amata.
It's night time and I can barely make out the shape of what seems to be Amata just outside what seems to be an eat out diner, she's chatting with an older lady. She hasn't noticed me yet so I straighten up my posture and head towards her. I can't help but nearly sprint to her. I would have sprinted if it wasn't for the searing pain in my side. Instead I take a light jog to her and put my arms around her waist. She giggles and looks up at me, I interrupted her but she's smiling about it.
'Oh my, this must be the boy you told me about!' I hear the voice come from in front of Amata and I ,it's an elderly woman's voice
'Yes, this is him.' Amata turns to me. 'This is Misses Manya Vargas, her father was the founder of this town, Megaton.' She says it with a pip in her voice, like she just gave a history lesson.
I extend a hand from Amata's waist and Manya greets it.
'It's nice to meet you Mrs. Vargas.' My eyes don't move from Amata's even though I talk to Manya.
'Why don't you two young loves come with me, my husband and I have an extra bed you two could sleep in, and I bet you're hungry!' Manya seems like she's happy all the time."
The teacher stops reading to turn the page and shutters while she turns the page. It's hard to think that she nearly didn't exist, and her mom was nearly left alone in the wastes.
She clears her throat once and begins reading once again. "It wasn't very far to reach her house, it was just the incline that made it difficult for me. A man named "Billy Creel" helped get up the incline, he practically dragged me though. It appeared that they lived in an old blue metro bus, this doesn't bother me because it's a lot more roomier than I thought it would be.
The elderly woman looked towards Billy and said 'Thank you Billy, you can go home now.'
He doesn't question her, but he does add on; 'Not a problem ma'am, I'm always around to lend a hand.' He walked out and closed the door behind him. Inside the Vault, they had said that the people on the outside were untrustworthy and very rude. These people seem very polite and credible.
Manya led me to a place to sit down and took Amata to go get some food towards the front of the bus. I heard Amata say something about spaghetti and other foods from the Vault. Manya squealed when she heard about each of the things Amata talked about. It took me a moment before I had realized that Amata had been talking about the food my mom had made just 3 nights ago. Didn't really hit me until now, I miss my mom, she would have had me cleaned and stitched in just a matter of minutes if she had seen what happened.
I had been sitting there for a while when an elderly man came in, whistling the tune of "Yanky Doodle".
Manya was fast to turn and greet him. 'Nathan! Why don't you introduce yourself to our guests for the night?' She's so chipper about it, it's like I'm back inside the Vault.
He looks at me and nods, extending a hand out. I greet it with a handshake 'I'm Nathan Vargas, and that beauty over there is my wife!' He's just the same, are they just a couple of senile old people?
'Nice to meet you Nathan.' I feel odd about my response, I'm not as happy about it. I was quick to take my hand and hold my wound again. He wandered towards the front of the bus and greeted Amata. Again, all I hear is a few pieces of their conversation, she said that were from the Vault and Nathan got agitated. Manya was quick to calm him down by putting him to the task of pulling the couch into a bed so me and Amata could sleep tonight.
I give him what little help I can, which was practically making the bed. When we're finished, we're thanked with a couple of smiley girls, holding soup. Me and Nathan look at each other and take our food politely. I can't help but stop to stare into Amata's eyes for a second before going with Nathan to the table.
I take my place across from Nathan and set the bowl down. I didn't want to ask what it was so I just plow my spoon through the meaty liquids and ignore the bitter taste. A day without eating seems almost painful. When I finish I see Nathan staring at me.
'Boy, did you watch for bones?' He asks it extremely stern.
I think for a few seconds. 'Well, I thought it seemed a bit crunchy.' His serious face turns into laughter, as does mine, we share some laughter and he looks at me with a smile.
'So how old are you two?' He seems less serious now.
It doesn't take me long to respond 'We're both sixteen, she's just a few weeks younger than me though.'
He nods and fishes through his soup and takes a while to finish it. Manya and Amata had eaten in the kitchen, watching us thoroughly, like they were studying us for the next big test. Manya walks over and rushes Nathan off to bed, giving me a smile in return. Amata walks up, she's not as smiley as she was 10 minutes ago. Manya walks back through and cleans up the bowls.
When I stand up, Amata heads for the door. I follow her, and gesturing to Manya that we'll only be a minute. I just barely see her smiley nod as Amata and I step out into the open air. The door closes behind me and Amata just stands there with her head down. I see her shiver so I put my arms around her, she slips her arms up the center of my back and wails into my chest. I was expecting something of a cry, but not sobbing. I feel the fabrics on my back tighten.
I whisper in her ear to try and calm her down. 'Shhhh, calm down, you're safe and so am I.' She calms down a little bit but is still pretty upset. I pull her as close as she can be, the warm spot on my chest is getting larger slowly.
It occurs to me yet again, that she left a safe life to be with me, she's not worried about being safe, she probably misses her dad and thought about all the damage I just did to him.
She calms down a little bit more and finally squeezes out some words. 'You think he survived? With all the Rad Roaches, and the blood and the broken bones, and what about Butch, do you think he may have killed my dad?' She's so quivery that I had to think about what she said for a moment, but it takes me an even longer time to think of an answer. 'You're dad is fine Amata, Mr. Brotch was just of a good doctor as my mother, and if you don't recall, Butch is working with and for your father, there is no way your father is dead.' I whisper it into her ear and she still sniffles. I feel the fabric on my back grow looser gradually, but her face seems to have burrowed itself in my chest.
She looks up at me and asks a question I wasn't expecting. 'Do you feel bad at all, for the people you killed, hurting my dad and the fact that your mother broke all functionality in the Vault?' I'm stunned with how blunt the question is. I don't need to think about it to much though.
'Yeah, I feel bad for destroying what peace was left in the Vault, and I may have gone a bit far with your dad, but his guards were trying to kill me, and he ordered the attack on me... I can't let that go unattended, he killed Jonas, Amata, what if you were next, who knows what he would have done to you for helping me.' I stuttered every other word but I got my answer out. She seems pleased with it, maybe for once I gave her an answer she wanted to hear.
A smile forms on her face and she whispers out a few words. 'I'm just happy you're still here.'
I can't help but laugh through the pain in my side. 'Yeah, I'm not just gunna lay down and die, Amata, I have a couple of goals that need to be accomplished.'
'What goals did you have in mind...other than finding your mom?'
She's calmed down quite a bit at this point, so I can understand her and make an answer quicker. 'Well, you've narrowed it down to one goal and about a hundred smaller ones.' She seems confused by this so I explain. 'I need to make sure you're safe, get us a home so I can come home and know you'll be somewhere close.' It didn't occur to me what I just said until after I thought about it. I look down at her, her face is warm with a smile and her eyes glitter in the moon light. She caught on to what I said quicker than I did. Her arms have moved up and around my neck and mine are around her waist. We bump chins when we go to kiss each other, but we ignore the error and correct it, connecting our lips once more. It's a simple kiss, but it's enough to warm my insides.
I look her in the eyes, they still seem to sparkle. I can't stop the words from escaping my mouth.
'Amata, I love you.' Her face turns bright red and she giggles quietly.
She finally stops giggling and responds. 'And I love you.'
We stand there and smile for a moment. I put an arm around her and we go back in. there is only one pillow for us to share, as well as one blanket. Manya had gone to bed with Nathan, leaving me and Amata to feel our way to the bed. We got onto the bed and under the covers. Without thinking, I removed my shirt and got comfortable next to the pillow. She pulled me onto the pillow and clung to my torso, using it as her own pillow. I put an arm around her and it wasn't to long before I was asleep."
She stops to turn a page and looks at the anxious crowd in front of her. Breathing in, she begins to read once more. "When I awoke the next morning, the mayor sheriff was talking with Amata. They were arranging a deal so that her and I could actually get a house in the town. I go to sit up, but forgot about the cut in my side and grip my waist. There is no medical tape over the stitches so I just end up touching it directly and give myself a slight sting. I groan in pain and the sheriff looks over to me, his face is calm and slightly happy. It makes me feel in less pain for whatever reason, I stand and offer him a hand shake, he accepts it. His hand is sturdy and strong with a fluent motion, these people aren't savages at all, they're real humane people.
He looks at my wound and nods, slightly ignoring it and moving on to business,'Your girlfriend tells me that when you were in the Vault you studied Science.'
I nod and look over at Amata, who approaches me slowly. The Sheriff continues; "She also told me that you had quite the interests in explosive weaponry development and construction."
I think for a moment, how could she have known that? 'Yes sir, I read most books that were stored behind the desk inside the library, concerning heavy artillery, and other things, I didn't kno...' He interupts me "Calm down boy, you're not in any kind of trouble, in fact, I need you to put that knowledge to use. The bomb in the center of town is starting to become a threat to the townsfolk and there has been a rumor that someone has recently tried to arm it to explode. If you can defuse the bomb for me, I'll reward you with the house on the left of the main entrance." I look at him and think for a second, I need to get some money out of this as well.
"Sir, that is quite the generous offer, and it's not going to be very easy. Maybe you should sweeten the deal, for the sake of me risking my life for your town's safety" I say it a bit bold, like I know what I'm doing. He's quick with his response. 'Kid, you've got some balls to come into my town, insult my appearance, then try to bribe me... But you've got a deal, I'll throw in an extra hundred caps.'
I've got no idea what he means by caps, I assume Amata knows more than I do at this point so I'll just have her explain it later. Then it hits me, there is a NUCLEAR bomb in the center of town, that could potentially do a lot of damage, it wouldn't be just me dieing if I fuck it up, it'd be everyone in town. Including Amata. I take a deep breath. I toss a hand towards the Mayor to seal the deal, he's reluctant, but he shakes my hand and leaves almost immediately.
Amata helps me down the ramp and towards the center of town, all the while she fills me in with whats been going on since the bombs went off. Apparently people have resorted to soda caps for currency due to all the money burning in the radiation. Most documents burned as well, they assume that the "Declaration of Independence" was one of them due to it being no where to be found, and the "Museum of History" being nearly reduced to rubble on the interior. Then again, the majority of people who go in there usually die.
When we get to the bomb, I'm sitting in a puddle of radiation and start to work with the door. Amata goes off to the "Brass Lantern" to get some breakfast. I take a few tugs at it and groan, when someone shadows over my shoulder.
'Let me help you with that kid.' A man in a suit and black hat leans over and slides it open. "There you go.' I look up at his face and he reaches his hand down to me, attempting to shake it. I accept his handshake.
'Kid, I'm Mr. Burke, and I've got a deal for you. I'll give you 500 caps and a luxury suite in the Ten Penny Towers if you just uh... rig this to explode, instead of defusing it. Just put this little box in wherever it needs to be and meet me at the tower, I'll give you till midnight tomorrow to show up. Here's the coordinates.' He types a few things into my Pip-Boy and slams a canister into my hand, before I can tell him to shove it up his ass, he walks off towards the bar at the highest point in town. I shake my head and pocket the canister and begin the process." She stops to catch her breath and turn the page. When the elderly lady looks at the crowd, their still sucked into the book. She starts again
"It takes me a while to recognize all the components in the bomb, but it falls into place slowly. The pictures that were in the books were of the bomb standing on it's bottom. It's not to different than an artillery shell, just with a lot more wires and components to power the engine. I get the job done before Amata gets back with breakfast, it was pretty intense deciding which wire was the best one to pull on. But we aren't dead and I didn't hear the trigger mechanism go off, so I assume we're safe.
I look at the breakfast she presents me. It's a de-boned squirrel on a kabob stick. I don't see her with any food and she looks towards the bomb to try and hide that she has no food. I don't feel to hungry from all the nerves. I tap her shoulder and offer it out to her.
'I'm not hungry Amata, all this life threatening stuff has kinda set my appetite to a minimum." I say it to her normally, so she doesn't feel bad about taking it back. She refutes anyways though. "You need to get some strength, after being nearly killed by... who knows what, then saving an entire town, a hero needs a break sometimes you know?' I look at her for a second, and she's looking at the squirrel. 'Take the food and lets go get our home, then with the caps we get from that, I'll buy us both some more food.' She doesn't say anything, takes the stick of meat and eats it nearly as fast as you can count to twelve. I laugh, we lace our fingers together and walk towards the Mayor up by the front gate. He seems surprised when we show up.
'I assumed it would have taken longer than just ten minutes, boy.' He says it with a smile on his face.
'Yeah, and I assumed that the person who tried to arm it was smart enough to get the job done.' I say straight faced, tossing him the canister. He catches it and looks at me.
'Was this inside the bomb?' He asks with concern in his voice.
'No sir, a man that goes by "Mr. Burke" gave it to me, told me to arm the bomb with it and he'll give me five hundred caps and a luxury suite in some tower.' I reply, giving as many details as I could give.
'Well, did you see where he went off to?' He asks.
It doesn't take me long to respond. 'Yeah, he went up into the bar.'
Not a second after I tell him, he starts to make his way towards the bar. We walk past the entrance of his house and a store front to get there, a bridge made of an old bus makes me a bit nervous though, doesn't seem to be welded on or anything, but we get across just fine. The bar gets silent when we enter, I nod towards the bar tender and stand at the side of the sheriff and approach the black hatted man. The sheriff starts.
'This boy tells me that you're the one who tried to set off our bomb, Burke.' He says it calmly, but firmly.
'Well Sims this BOY is right I was trying to set off your little bomb, but did he ever tell you about mine and his deal?' Anger settles into his face while he stands up, slowly.
Sims looks over at me, a straight face, then looks back towards 'Yes, yes he did. I'm gunna need you to come with me Burke, you're under arrest for endangering Megaton and its settlers'
Sims turns his back and starts towards the door, but Burke doesn't move, instead he reaches down to his pistol holster. When I understand what he's doing I grab the screwdriver that was provided for opening the bomb. I'm not to far from him, everything seems like it's slowing down to almost a complete stop. I make the choice to stab him in the right arm, knock away the gun, stab him in the upper leg and punch him out. All crucial areas, but it shouldn't kill him. Everything speeds back up.
'I can't do that, Sims' Burke says it and Sims turns around, he doesn't have much time to reach the assault rifle on his back, it doesn't matter anyways I've already started my attack.
I grip the handle of the screwdriver in my hand and start towards his arm. He takes a few shots at me, I've got not idea if they hit me, I just know I need to get this done. I pierce his arm with the screwdriver, blood sprays the wall and my chest. Next, I need to disarm him. I grip his upper right arm and his wrist, bringing his elbow down to my knee, breaking his arm. He lets off a loud groan of pain and this is when put the screwdriver in his leg, so he can't run. Again, pulling it out sprays blood onto the floor and my legs. His constant moaning and groaning is annoying, so I put push my fist into his temple, sending him to the floor, silent.
Sims walks over to check Burke's pulse. He looks up at me and laughs.
'Boy, you nearly killed this man to save my life. That gets you some brownie points!' He has a smile on his face while he says it. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small cloth sack that jingles when he moves it, tossing it towards me. I catch it with my bloody hand and look at him, slightly confused.
'What is this, sir?' I tilt my head while I ask him.
'300 caps and the key to your new house.' He smiles to me as he looks towards a long haired man in the back of the bar. 'Moriarty! Give this kid the information he needs to find his mother!'
I look around kind of confused and this "Moriarty" fellow, groans and walks over to me. Sims heads to get the doctor. Moriarty looks at me.
'You look a whole lot like your dad kid.' He talks casually. 'How is your father? I haven't seen him in the longest time.' I look at the floor and rub my neck with my empty hand. Amata takes the sack and slips it into her pocket.
'My father has been dead since my birth, sir. I just want to know where my mother is.' I think about the vision I had of my father, we do look a lot a like.
'Well kid, I need a favor of my own done.' He says it so unmoved by my father, his friend, being dead. I look up at him, anger in my face. I lurch forward and grab the collar of his shirt, pushing his back onto the bar.
'Listen here asshole, I need to know where my mom is NOW.' I start to whisper in his ear to intimidate him.'Before I slit your throat and watch as you bleed out on the floor.' He laughs in my face and looks me in the eye.
'Boy, you couldn't kill an innocent man, how about you just give me some of thoughs caps and we can be done with this whole conversation.' Him saying this just infuriates me, I need to make my point clear. I stand him up and let him go. He starts to smooth his already wrinkled clothes, I wait for him to finish. When he finishes I headbutt him in the bridge of his nose. He leans back to hold his nose and I put one in his gut. He huffs to try and catch his breath. I didn't break his nose, but it sure is bleeding a lot, I can tell because of the cut that forms on the bridge of his nose with the blood trying to escape his veins.
'Jesus kid, your mom went to the Galaxy News Radio tower to try and assemble her old team.' His Irish accent is quivery under his words. I decide now is a good time to leave, everyone is staring at him and me. Amata and I head towards the door. I look down towards my chest and see all the blood. I rub my eyes and everything starts to swirl. I put an arm around her waist to try and keep myself up, she can feel the unbalance in my walk when we start towards our new home.
'Hey, are you okay?' She looks over at me and my head does a little spin.
'Nope, not okay, I think I'm gunna be sick.' Just as fast as I say it I lean over the railing next to me and throw up on top of the doctor's hut. The ramp we were walking on gets hard to stand on, so I sit down. I look up at Amata, she looks concerned now. I smile at her.
'I feel better, help me up.' I say it as playfully possible. She laughs, rolls her eyes and gets her shoulder beneath mine, helping me keep my balance when I stand. I keep my arm around her shoulders and she slips one around my waist. The sun is starting to go down, the day is nearly already over. She scrounges around inside of the sack and finds the key, opening the door not a second later. We get in and it's pretty clear whats inside. There is a fridge at the opposite side of the room, two lockers on either side of the room and a really strange platinum stand right in the center of the wall opposite to the bookshelf pushed against the staircase." She licks her finger before turning the page this time, not bothering to look at the astonished crowd in front of her. "I notice that theres no table on the first floor. I head back outside, theres an old circular table and two chairs just outside the door. I stack the chairs on top of the table and push it through the door, Amata was heading upstairs while I set up the dining room table.
'Theres an office and bedroom up here!' She shouts from one of the rooms upstairs, I laugh.
'Is there now... How big is the bed?' I ask up the stairs.
'Looks like you're sleeping on the floor.' She's walking down the stairs behind me, talking so I don't notice that she's there.
'Is that so? Alright, sounds good to me!' I shout up the hole above my head. She doesn't respond so I look down at my shirt, covered in both my blood, and now Burke's blood. I shake my head and peel off the skin tight top. I look down to my wife beater, it's got a stain of blood around the tear in my hip and some of Burke's blood bled through the other shirt. I need to find some new clothing before people start thinking I'm a savage.
I turn around and see Amata standing at the bottom of the staircase, like she froze going down the last step. She chews on her bottom lip, staring at my back. I half lean, half sit on the table and cross my arms. She catches herself chewing on her bottom lip and turns red, feeling this happen, she runs back up the stairs. I laugh and watch her look back down at me, she giggles and disappears into one of the rooms. I realize whats going on, and take my time up the stairs, trying to figure out which room it was she went into. I hear a creaking sound and see the door shut slowly, so I go into that room. I hear her giggle and I creep into the room, see the bed that actually looks to fit two people. I laugh.
'This bed is definitely big enough, what are you talking about "sleeping on the floor"?' I say it loud enough for her to hear me, wherever she may be, and take a few steps forward to check out the bed. It has a large stain on it. I don't really know what the stain is but, it doesn't matter much to me though, I just wanna go to sleep. Sitting on the bed I can tell it's been used by a heavier person, there is a bit of a dip in the middle of the bed. The bed itself is slightly soft, the cotton probably aged over time.
I huff and look around the room, I notice Amata peeking from around the back of the door. She's hiding the bottom portion of her face. She takes a few steps out from behind the door, to my surprise she's wearing just as much clothes as me, under a girl's standards. She struts towards me and straddles herself around my waist, placing her left leg parallel with my right and her right to my left. Her cheeks are beat red and she begins to kiss me, it doesn't take long for kissing to evolve into exchanging saliva and from there the night carried itself to things that would get us into a lot of trouble inside of the Vault." The elderly woman closes her book with a breath and looks at the crowd, they teens sit straight up, leaning their heads on their hands, looking at their red-faced teacher. She finally works up the courage to speak to the class one more time to conclude their readings.
"Okay class, that was the end of the chapter, and it seems to be about time for you guys to get home."
The class look around at one another, it's nearly noon and from the looks on most of their faces, they want more than just one chapter. The raider youth stands up to speak for the class, being that he's the class representative.
"I speak on behalf of the majority of the people here, that we would like to hear ONE more chapter before heading to our homes." His warhawk bobs back and forth when he bows to the teacher as a conclusion. He sits down and the teacher wipes her palms off on her dress.
"Go get lunch and come back, I'll be continuing the reading at One sharp." She says it sternly, but not one teenager holds back their smile as they rush for lunch.