Chapter 22: The Horror
The tunnel grew darker as I travelled further down, but I had my wrist light to help me find my way. When I reached the large wooden door at the end of the tunnel it had become almost completely pitch black. I checked the vital signs on my Pip Boy and they all read normal, aside from the flickering shoulder which still felt sore. I did a quick ammo check and then reached for the handle on the door.
I nearly shit myself when the door swung open because a dead Enclave soldier fell on top of me. I pushed him aside and saw that his visor had been blown out, and dried blood stained the face of the helmet.
I looked in to the dark doorway and gulped hard before making my way in. I stayed low and kept my AR at the ready. I shined my wrist light up at the ceiling and noticed that all of the lights that hung from wires on the ceiling had been blown out.
I found two more Enclave soldiers lying face down in pools of their own blood. I had started to think that maybe the Enclave had gotten in over their head when they decided to take on Murder Pass, but I soon found out that wasn't the case. More and more Super Mutant corpses came in to view as I delved deeper in to the cave. Most had scorch marks all over their skin, and quite a number of them were missing limbs or their heads.
Signs of battle were everywhere. Broken guards towers, collapsed catwalks, scorch marks on the cave walls, and chunks of rock littered the ground. All in all it seemed that the Enclave had lost a total of nine soldiers, while the muties had suffered nearly three times that amount in casualties.
It took me about twenty five minutes to make it to the end of Murder Pass. The rock walls had changed in to cold, rusted metal walls which led up to a single electric door. It stood there under an ominous red light and sent a chill down my spine. I finally mustered up the courage to go on and approached the door. I flipped the switch to the right and within seconds the door slid open granting me entrance.
As soon as I took even one step inside the Vault I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I thought Vault 108 was creepy, this place made that Vault seem like Fun Land. The only lighting which illuminated the narrow corridors were tiny red lights which made everything look menacing.
My breathing had become short, and I made sure to look over my shoulder with each step I took. God knows what would be waiting in here for me. Enclave, Super Mutants…or maybe something worse from what Kirk had told me about this place.
I rounded the first corner and was met with a gruesome sight. Blood and gore had been splattered all over the walls, and various disembodied limbs littered the floor. Half torn torsos were leaned up against the walls, and giant claw marks had been engraved in to the metal of the floor, walls, and ceiling.
What in God's name?
I cautiously made my way down each corridor and peeked around every corner before moving on. As I turned the corner to a particularly long corridor, I heard what sounded like something sharp clicking against the wall coming from a door to my right. There were no windows that would allow me to see what I would be facing, so with my finger pressed tightly against the trigger of my gun, I flipped the switch next to the door.
It shot open with a loud whoosh and a shadowy figure darted passed me and knocked me on my back. I unloaded on to it as it crawled away, and heard it shriek when one of the bullets made contact. I didn't kill it though…only harmed it. The horrible noises it made as it slid along the cold floor of the Vault grew feint, and then vanished altogether.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and let out a few exasperated breaths before finally getting myself back on my feet. A low hissing noise caught my ear, and I shined my wrist light down the corridor at my front. Another crashing noise came from my left and I swung my weapon in its direction. More drops of sweat trailed down my face as I waited for what might be coming.
"Just fucking show yourself already!" I shouted in to the shadows.
A deep bellowing growl came from behind me, and I turned just as some horribly mutated creature leapt forth. I swung my AR across what I assumed to be its face and knocked it in to the wall. It quickly collected itself and made another go for me by swiping its elongated fingers across my chest. Its claws slashed across the metal plating of my armor without piercing through and hitting my skin. I reached for my sawn-off and aimed it as best I could at the creature's shrieking maw. I fired off and the creature reared back in pain while grabbing on to its face. It thrashed about the narrow corridor and slammed its giant tail in to my side. I slammed against the wall and sprawled out when I hit the floor. The creature cried aloud and made another go for me, but I dove between its thick legs and avoided the blow.
Holy fucking shit what is this thing!
I could barely make any prominent features out in the dimly lit corridors. All I knew was that this thing was huge, angry, and it wanted to mutilate me. I took off down the corridor with a slight limp in my step and loaded two more shells in to my sawn-off. I glanced over and realized that the thing was hot on my tall; so tall that it had to creep along on all fours. It hissed and snarled at me as it came closer, and I spun around and whipped my sawn-off in the direction of its head and fired off once again. The flash from the end of the barrel gave me a split second look that I would never be able to get out of my mind.
The creature had green, scaly skin and was built like a fucking brick house. It had long, bony fingers which tipped off at two inch razor sharp claws, and its legs were thick and had just as menacing claws on its feet as it did at the end of its fingers. It had an elongated snout which ended at a gaping maw lined with rows of dagger like teeth, and two horns protruded from atop its head.
The shotgun blast took one of the beast's horns off and it screeched in dismay. It leapt forward and swiped across my chest again, this time managing to break the skin. I yelled at the searing pain in my chest and covered the wound with my arm to help contain the bleeding. The creature jumped for me again as I rounded another corner and slammed in to the wall head first. It staggered back and shook its head before looking in my direction and snarling from deep within its throat.
It went down on all fours and continued with its low snarling. The light from my wrist reflected off its black, soulless eyes as it crept ever closer. I slowly raised my AR and took aim. It let loose another blood chilling screech and started towards me in a mad dash. I let loose as soon as it decided to strike and didn't stop until the massive creature finally fell just inches from my feet. Dark green blood oozed from the bullet wounds I had given it and ran under my boots. It let loose a few blood choked breaths before finally going still.
I backed up against the wall and slowly slid to the floor. My breathing had now become heavy and spaced, and sweat ran down my face like a waterfall. The gashes in my chest throbbed intensely, and I had to take a moment to get myself breathing normally again. I checked my vital signs and wasn't surprised to see my chest flashing and my heart rate had shot way up.
I took a Stimpak from my bag and jammed it in to my chest through one of the incisions in the armor. I grunted in pain as the fluid released in to my system to help numb the pain and increase the speed of the healing process. I didn't have much else to treat it with though, but luckily the bleeding had already stopped and I hadn't lost all that much.
What type of hellish experiments went on in this place back when it was still active?
I grabbed on to a windowsill above me and pulled myself up. Almost immediately my legs felt like they wanted to buckle under my own weight, but I took the pain and leaned against the wall as I continued further in to the Vault. I had to stop every ten minutes to catch my breath, and my head had started to pulsate and a slight ringing noise had entered my ears.
I finally came to an area that had three different paths to take. One led to the left, and was completely dark. Another lie to my right and was dimly lit, and the last was at my front. I opted for the path on my right and slowly made my way down. Upon turning another corner, I was caught off guard by a deep and unfriendly sounding voice which called out to me from within one of the rooms.
"You! Human! Come over here won't you?" it demanded. The voice sounded exactly like a Super Mutant, but it didn't speak in the same child like manner.
I made my way towards the voice and came upon a single window looking in to a sort of dorm room. I pressed my forehead against the glass and looked in, but I couldn't see anything. Just then, a Super Mutant adorned in a shredded up Vault suit walked up to the window. I jumped back in surprise and held my AR at the ready.
The mutant held its hands up, "Please, I mean you no harm human. Put your weapon down so we can talk." it said; which caught me off guard.
An intelligent mutant…what's next?
"What are you?" I said as I lowered my gun and walked back up to the window.
The mutant laughed a deep laugh, "I think you mean who am I. I am called Fawkes." it, or rather, he replied.
"And what might a peculiar mutant such as yourself be doing locked up in there all by your lonesome?" I asked.
"My more violent brethren from Murder Pass didn't like the fact that I have retained much of my former self, and so because of my difference they locked me in here. I was able to keep myself sane by searching through the various archives on this computer terminal here. Over time I started to long for the outside world, but knew that I would never be accepted even if I did mange to escape." he explained with a look of sadness on his face.
I shook my head, "Well, you don't have to worry about the other muties, the Enclave wiped them out…speaking of which, have you seen any soldiers wearing bulky metal armor around?"
Fawkes shook his giant head, "I'm afraid not. I did hear a quarrel break out a couple of hours ago. I could make out human screams as well as loud shrieks. There are horrible creatures roaming these halls. Failed experiments which eventually broke free of their captors and killed everyone."
"You don't say." I said sarcastically, the image of the creature I had fought still fresh in my mind.
"By the way, my name's Jason." I added with a feint smile.
A shrill cry rang out form the darkness behind me, and I turned and fixed my aim on the dark corridor I had just come from.
"They are coming. Please my friend, you must help me out of here. I know what it is you seek, for what other reason could there be for you to be in such a place? You're looking for the G.E.C.K." Fawkes stated.
I glanced back at him and had a curious look on my face, "You mean to tell me there is an actual G.E.C.K. in this Vault?"
Fawkes nodded, "Yes, there is. I read about it in the computer database. Now, if you set me free, I can help you deal with those creatures and lead you to the object you seek." he pleaded.
The shriek came down the corridor once again and I focused my attention back on the corridor. "How do I get you out?" I asked without averting my gaze.
I heard Fawkes rub his hands together, "There is an override switch just down the hall there. Activate it, and it will unlock my cell. Be warned though, the override will open all of the locked cells in this part of the Vault, and I can't guarantee there won't be any nasty surprises lying in wait." he said grimly.
I waited a few moments to make sure that nothing had wandered too close, and then darted off down the hall towards the override switch. I slid up to the switch and put one hand around it, and pulled it down. Emergency lights suddenly flickered on, and an alarm had been set off. All of the cell doors on the block suddenly slid open.
Well if they didn't know where I was before they sure as hell do now.
I ran back to where I had met Fawkes and found his cell already empty.
"Damn it!" I cursed under my breath.
"Ready my friend?" the familiar mutant voice called from my back.
I turned to find Fawkes towering over me, "Umm, yeah, let's get going."
I followed closely behind Fawkes as we ran down the various hallways and corridors of the inner sanctum. So far none of the creatures that had been loosed had spotted us and I hoped to God that they had all escaped to the outside world.
One of the walls suddenly gave way as one of the lizard-like creatures smashed through and tackled Fawkes to the ground. The creature extended its deadly claws and slashed Fawkes across the back. Fawkes yelled aloud and then grabbed the creature by its neck. He slammed it against the wall and backhanded it across its snout and then tossed it aside.
He cracked his knuckles and laughed to himself, "Stand back Jason, I'll take care of this one." he said, almost sounding like a normal Super Mutant.
The creature shook its head and got back on all fours and readied itself in a pouncing stance. It lashed out at Fawkes and got him across the chest before he punched it right in the jaw and then landed an uppercut under its chin and smashed the top of its head in to the ceiling. The creature grunted aloud and then tried to wrestle free of Fawkes's grip. The mutant grabbed the creature by the horns and threw it against the wall, which made a huge dent in the thick metal.
Fawkes screamed aloud and then tackled the hulking beast to the floor. The creature clamped on to his right arm with its massive jaws and blood leaked from the bite marks. Fawkes gave it a left hook right to the temple which caused it to let go of his arm. He then grabbed on to the top and bottom half of the creatures open mouth and tore the bottom half of its jaw off. The creature whimpered and then went limp.
Fawkes tossed the lower part of its jaw aside and then got himself to his feet. His eyes seemed to glaze over as he turned to face me, and I could see that even though he was intelligent and well mannered, he still had that natural Super Mutant rage hidden deep within his self-conscious.
"Let us continue." was all he said before taking off again.
Before long we reached an area of the Vault that was riddled with all sorts of terminals and data collecting machines.
"We are close." Fawkes told me.
We finally stopped in front of an open doorway in a small room and Fawkes held his hand up, "You wait here." he ordered.
"What, why?" I asked.
"Because the corridors leading up to the G.E.C.K. from this point are filled with a lethal amount of radiation, and since I am a mutant, I am unaffected by such things." he explained.
I simply nodded in response and Fawkes took off. It took him roughly ten minutes before he returned with a small, box shaped object in his hand. He held it out to me and smiled a lipless smile, "Here you are my friend." he said as I held my hand out. I wrapped my fingers around the cube and pulled it close.
Finally, after all this long searching, I've found it. I've found the G.E.C.K. Mom, dad…I'm going to take that purifier back from the Enclave and install this thing even if it kills me.