I awoke with a splitting headache. As I became cognizant again, I expected to find myself behind bars. Instead I was strapped to a stretcher including my head. I suppose when space is at a premium this is the only alternative to disposal. As I closed my eyes to stop the room from spinning they were forced open and examined by bright lights. I was not happy about that. I finally pieced together all of the strands of thought into the memory of what happened and that I was in deep shit.
"Norm…. Norm… It's Allen." said Allen
"Am I screwed here?" I asked.
"That's up to the dean. Sorry the overseer as he wants to be called now. Look, neighbor, I'm doing what I can for you. The fact that you're not dead means that he's taking mercy on you. In fact the fact that you aren't puts him in a bad place having taken most of the non-employees' life savings to secure a spot and you get to waltz in scot free." Said Allen.
"Well the fact that your dirty ass didn't secure a space for your wife cost me the life of mine. I'm not going to forgive you for that no matter what you do. So you might as well stick grateful right up your pickled ass you fucking whore of a man!" I said in a thirsty whisper.
Allen chuckled. "Listen, the world has changed. Life as we know it is over. Why shouldn't I have had the opportunity to leave a loveless marriage? This is a big adjustment for everyone. We are all starting over. The minor detail of Olivia not being part of it will be adjustable to the girls just like all the rest of this. I won't be made to feel guilty for that or for your wife. If you get into the general population you'll have a plethora of beautiful young college girls who miss their daddy to choose from. Why do you think I became a professor in the first place?"
"You want someone to say that about your girls, you sick fuck?" I said as I coughed.
"Oh my girls will never have to miss their daddy. I'm crucial to the operations here. I don't want to hear any of your shit about morals either, you killed Samuel Luciano when you threw him from his power armor. My girls would have made it in here either way. That was a selfish move. That was to save your own hide." Said Allen.
"Maybe it was. I don't exactly stop to analyze my psychie when I'm in crisis mode. I will say this. I have killed many men less deserving of death than him. This whole damn war is just a big vat of foggy muddy moral grey area. The problem is it's a battle of the Gods. Each person that gets god-like powers decides they get to play god and decide who lives and dies. Vaut-tec and your "overseer" are just more of those people." I said, finally regaining my voice.
"I understand you're angry, Norm, you have every right to be. There's no sense arguing with you on this. I'll try to talk to the overseer on your behalf. If he allows you to stay, I'd be happy to open our quarters to you until something else comes available. I figure that's fair trade for bringing my girls here safely." said Allen
Rage began to build within me again, but I held my tongue. If he was the only ally I had in here, I didn't want to further spit in his face even if he was indirectly responsible for me losing Kelly. As I said, I realize that I lost her long before the bombs dropped.
"Alright Allen, Just do what you can. I'm not asking for any favors from you here. All I'm asking for is a chance to die with dignity. I just don't want to die in a cage. If you can convince your overseer of that, then we're paid in full." I said in a cognizant manner.
I was resolved to my fate, but I didn't want to lose my spirit first.
"Fair enough, Norm." Said Allen.
"You be good to those girls, Allen, or I'll get you from the other side." I joshed.
"Put him out" Allen said to someone behind me. "Lights out, Mr. Norm." Said the Mr. Handy behind me as he injected the sedative into my neck….. Mr. Norm? Stevious?! I thought as the world went black yet again.
My concept of time was skewed here but I feel like I spent a month trapped in the nightmares that I avoided by only sleeping when I was too tired to dream. The only difference was the new scenes of the kid I yanked from the power armor being torn apart and the crowed being mowed apart by the turrets. In slow motion I was watching the ashes of disintegrating flesh separate from scorched bone with the red glow of the laser all around and tumble across the concrete. I was seeing Faces that I recognized from living in this city being reduced to painful expressions and then vanishing from existence. Then I flashed to a shot of the world melting into a molten metal pile of goo from the nuclear devastation. Once again my ability to reason kicked in and I realized that they must be bringing me around if I am aware of my dreams. I struggled to open my eyes more quickly as I was anxious to see what if anything I had to look forward to. After three hard forced blinks I realized that I was surrounded by a large group of people all in the vault jumpsuits. I forced yet another blink and I could make out the silhouettes of Tilda and Callie looking up from their father's sides, tearfully.
I heard a man grand-standing with his back to me. I immediately correlated his voice to that of the one over the intercom system when I first entered the vault. I was curious to see who this "overseer" was. The way he spoke was like that of a ring master. He sang his dramatic stretched out announcement, in a way to promote showmanship and thought-out control. If I were a spectator for this, I would have seen through his fake drama for what it was, a feeble attempt at influencing the minds of his people.
"My residents of Vault 52, welcome to the public trial of Norman Graves. Some of you may have known him as a veteran and a pillar of the local community. Some of you may have known him as a comfort to have nearby. Many look to those who served in this great-war as heroes. As people who can be relied on for security, for leadership, and for hard work. Vault 52 has no shortage of these things. You will look to me for leadership and security, and I will look to each and every one of you for hard work. There are two major things that set Norman Graves apart from every citizen of Vault 52. Norman Graves failed to secure his citizenship into Vault 52. His actions in gaining entry to our home cost the life of Samuel Luciano, whose power armor he stole to aid in his unlawful entry into our sanctuary. He breached the stadium's wall to allow another point of entry than those pre-determined by security forces thereby allowing a mob of desperate people close to our inner sanctum. His actions required us to close the vault door three minutes prematurely costing the lives of Stu Barkley, Levi Espenoza, Nathan Fitzgerald, Jenifer Schultz, Louis Robinson, Jamaal James, and Dr. Laura Petway. Once he gained entry to Vault 52, he attempted to murder Tina Callaway with his bare hands saved only by our inner vault garrison's quick response. Thereby, I am charging Norman Graves with nine counts of murder, unlawful entry into a sanctified area, and one count of attempted murder. Allen Story will speak on his behalf."
"Fellow Citizens, Staff Sargent Graves was my neighbor before all of this. I'd like to tell you that we were great friends. I'd like to tell you that I could guarantee that he is a saint and to put him to death for his crimes would be severely detrimental to all of our survival. I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is that Mr. Graves had a secure spot in a government owned vault whose location is unknown to the public. I can tell you that my girls would not be here today had he not carried them to the vault that day. I can tell you that Tina Callaway was ordered by the overseer to activate the turrets when she was ordered to shut the vault door. I can tell you that the reason the Vault-Tec security force did not open fire on Staff Sargent Graves because they assumed that he was Samuel Luciano in the power armor completing his mission. The breech of the wall would have been forgivable had this been the case, however, the lost lives of the remaining Vault-Tec security force and Dr. Petway were the result of the vault door being sealed early and the turrets being activated. If Staff Sargent Graves is guilty of murder, he is only guilty of Samuel Luciano's death. Please observe the security camera footage. You'll see that Staff Sargent Graves was doing his best to complete his mission and bringing my girls, the future generation of Vault 52 to their safe home. This man has lost everything already; to put him to a swift death would be mercy. No matter the number of deaths that he is found to be responsible for, it would set a precedent for our new society. Killing for principles on a large scale is what brought us to this dark time in human history. I spoke to Staff Sargent Graves about a week ago. I thanked him for saving my girls and granted him a debt of gratitude. To which he responded; 'Alright Allen, Just do what you can. I'm not asking for any favors from you here. All I'm asking for is a chance to die with dignity. I just don't want to die in a cage. If you can convince your overseer of that, then we're paid in full.' With that, I propose we grant Staff Sargent Graves his wish. One day, we will get the 'All Clear' signal from Vault-Tec, but it is possible we won't. We could have intelligence on the conditions of the world outside out Vault, but it is possible we could not. We could send a security detail to acquire this information for us, but they could drop dead the second they set foot outside the safety of the vault. Leaving us vulnerable to any attackers who may be waiting outside. Any volunteers?... Staff Sargent Graves is military trained, strong, resilient, smart, and no stranger to combat. After the accounts of my girls regarding their battle to get here, there is no doubt in my mind that there is no better candidate for this task than Staff Sargent Graves.
The congregation of the vault 52 citizens began to speak all at once aghast at this possibility. Sentiments about wasting resources and questioning his physical condition at the time and fear of his ability to take over the vault were discussed for a few minutes.
"Order! Order! We will discuss all of this in an orderly fashion. We must have order!" Said the overseer as the crowd calmed again.
"I heard you. You're concerned for your safety with him around. You're concerned about using valuable resources on him for as many years. You're concerned that if we keep him caged, he will not be as capable of the task as he is today. You're concerned that he would exit the vault and never return. There are many variables. I have a proposal that may set many of these concerns to rest. This Vault has been outfitted with two cryo-pods capable of hyper-freezing a human. Until Thawed, in theory, they will stay as they are today. This was originally developed for those afflicted with incurable terminal diseases. These have received few public tests prior to the war, but what better way to test them than with a man who is already sentenced to death? When he is thawed, we will outfit him with a pip-boy 3000 tethered to an eye-bot. They eye-bot will relay the Intel to us. I will rest my case here, but I propose you mull it over and not take the decision lightly. Thank you, fellow vault citizens." Allen Said.
"Professor Story, do not mistake this for a democracy. The ultimate say belongs to me. However, I will take the consensus of the people into consideration." the Overseer said under his breath to Allen.
"The Overseer says he will take your consensus into consideration while he decides since our current government is not to be mistaken for a democracy." Said Allen. "my Apologies, Overseer."
The Overseer's rage could be detected as he swallowed it and smiled.
"Your personal terminals will be set up with a voting option. You may vote prior to lights out this evening. For the Longevity of Vault 52, so it shall be. You are dismissed." Said the Overseer.
"Goodnight, Mr. Norm." Said the familiar Mr. Handy bot as more sedative was injected into my neck. I thought to myself that I would be glad when all this sedative crap is done with.