Chapter 3 – Vault Invasion
I was jolted from my sleep, by the deafening scream of an alarm, and a repeating announcement "VAULT DEFENCES HAVE BEEN BREACHED! DESTROY THE INVADERS!", as I glanced up I saw that the Fresh Air Vent was pumping more of that blue gas into the room. I had no time to react to that, before the gas descended around me, and the Red Madness seized control once more, pushing what was left of my rational mind firmly into the back seat, unable to do anything, than vaguely watch as events occurred.
I grabbed the .32 pistol and knife, and charged the door, slamming straight into it, as it didn't open, because I had locked it the night before. My insane mind clawed at the door, taking several minutes to open a door, which should have only seconds to do, if I had been in control.
This delay, probably saved my life, for as I fumbled and clawed at the door, I heard several other residents charge past, which meant that when I finally got and ran screaming after them, up several flights of stairs, and into the Atrium, where there was about 20 or so heavily-armed raiders, fighting about 30 or so crazed Vault Residents who had got there before me, and were armed with knives, clubs, etc. I imagine that under most other normal circumstances, it would have been an easy victory for the Raiders, but the gas was so thick, as more was being pumped into the room, that the air was literally purple, and it was affecting the Raiders more than Residents: the Residents seemed for the most part only to be attacking anyone, not wearing a Vault suit, in fact I noticed one resident who had his suit half-torn off by a frenzied Raider, was immediately attacked and beaten to death by three other Residents.
The Raiders on the other hand, didn't seem able tell friend from foe, with one Raider emptying his assault rifle magazine into the back of five of his own gang, before he himself was hacked down by a comrade.
My delayed arrival meant that I was on the outer edge of the fighting mob, when one of the maddened Raiders decided to throw several grenades; Not a good move, when his target was standing right next to him. The resultant chain of explosions blew bodies in all directions. The people in front of me shielded me from the worst of the blast, but it still left me lying senseless in a corner, behind some crates.
When I regained consciousness some hours later, I found myself alone with the dead and dying, the survivors having dispersed to wherever they normally lived. The psychoactive gas had also dispersed to some degree, enough so that I could now think and act rationally.
I was covered in cuts and bruises, so but I decided that it would be a good move to checking for anything usefully first, for I likewise left the area.
My quick search of the bodies was not as fruitful as I would have expected, it was clear that other survivors had also been through the bodies to some degree. I did find a few .32 pistols, and a beat-up 10mm hand-gun, and some ammo for them, which replaced what I had expended already. My original .32 gun, I had to simply throw away, because in my gas-induced killing frenzy, after it had jammed, I had used it as club, and it was now beyond any mortal repair.
Something similar must have happened to the rifles, for although several of the Raiders had them, most had been smashed literally to pieces, though I did find a broken hunting rifle, with an intact telescopic scope on it, and two other hunting rifles, that I might be able to use for spares.
I also found a decent Combat Knife, with a sheaf, to replace my knife, which I had lost somewhere, probably in one of the bodies lying around.
As a next move, I thought I would try and see if the Vault Door was open, which was not easy to do as the Vault layout was not the same, as what I had expected from playing the game, plus the disconcerting fact that for some reason, I did not have a Pip-Boy (then again, none of residents of Vault 106 that I had seen had been wearing one either), so I did not have access to its map function. In the end, I ended up having to back-track along the line of the dead bodies (Resident and Raider) from the Atrium to the entrance.
DAMN! Some idiot had closed the door behind themselves, and the Door Control Panel was incomplete. It looked like it had been attacked with a hammer or some such heavy object; there had been an attempt to repair it, but it had been interrupted rather permanently it appeared from the skeletal remains lying amongst the scattered tools and spares. So leaving was not an option, at least not at the moment.
One interesting thing I noticed on my return to the Atrium, was that in a few corners, here and there was discarded Raider armour, and nearby bodies of Residents that had been stripped of their Vault suits. Perhaps some of the Raiders tried to escape the massacre, by disguising themselves as residents, this theory seemed to be confirmed by the body of a Raider who half-dressed in a Vault Suit, but had either died of his wounds, or been killed by a resident before he could complete his disguise.
Anyway, I took the discarded Raider Armour, plus a handful of Stimpacks, and two intact first-aid kits that I had collected on route, back down to my quarters.
To say that I was relieved, when I was able to lock that door behind me once more, is definitely a world-class understatement.
To be honest, with all my aches and pains, I would have loved to have crashed out on the mattress, but until I had dealt with that extra gas release from the ventilation, I would not be safe. This time I was lucky, next time I might not.
Lying next to the toppled shelving unit, was a step-ladder, which in reasonable condition, as well as three toolboxes; when I went through none of the toolboxes were complete, but once I had merged all the contents into one box, I had fairly comprehensive set of tools, which made me feel comfortably happy with, probably to due to the fact that I gave my character a fairly high Repair level. I dumped the two empty toolboxes across the corridor.
With the steps under the relevant Fresh Air vent, it took less than two minutes to remove the grill, and stick my head into the air duct. I found myself face to face with a bank of 4 gas cylinders, which were fitted with electric solenoid valves. I quickly nipped down, and got a valve key from the tool-box, which I quickly used to isolate off each of the gas cylinders, before disconnecting and removing them from the ventilation duct.
After examining the gas cylinders, their respective solenoid valves and the valves wiring, I concluded with my best guess, that two of the cylinders which were practically empty, had been the original timed gas release valves, the other two cylinders, which were about 10% and 30% full respectively, had been linked to the Vault's security system, as a means of rallying the residents to the defence of the Vault. I wish I could get my hands on the sick swine that came up with that idea.
I quickly moved all the gas cylinders across the corridor, putting the empty cylinders at the back of the rubbish-dump and the two partly filled cylinders in the bathroom morgue. As an additional precaution, and checked the ventilation those rooms as well. I found an identical arrangement of gas cylinders, which I also isolated and dismantled.
Once, safely secure back in my rooms, I drew the blinds across the window, to prevent any passing lunatic getting the idea of calling in to see me.
After a short meal on some Cram (for protein) and some Dandy Boy Apples (for the vitamins) though after 200 years, I am not sure of either ~ Note to self, must find more food supplies, as I haven't got much with me ~ I decided to try and tidy the rooms and sort out what I have.
I initially started in the bedroom, putting the bed back on its legs, and the mattress onto the bed, which point that "Domestic Goddess" trait kicked in, and as a result, I gave the whole bedroom a comprehensive spring-clean, with walls washed and floor scrubbed. I also did some laundry, washing some blankets and pillows that I found in locker, along with some Vault suits in the bath, and hanging them to dry on improvised washing lines in the living-room. Even the mattress got a good scrub, although I couldn't get the stains out, it did smell a whole lot fresher.
By the end of which, I was exhausted, so I gave myself a good wash in the bathroom, which from the relief my body felt, was probably the first bath it had had in decades, then collapsed into bed ,and fell fast asleep.