A/N: Here you go, the first official chapter. I hope the lead-in got some of you interested... though I haven't gotten a review, I have had a few alerts at least. This is where the post-apocolypse actually kicks off (well, in between 0 and 1...), so expect more familiar settings. Also, to any resident of the town mentioned above? Sorry if I screwed it up. I'm generalizing based off GoogleMaps' D.C. Area. Lol
Also, thank my beta for Fallout fics, CyberWeasel89, for the improved quality. Also blame him for any mistakes. He gets paid in thanks, so it's all right. :)

Lastly, to readers of my other fics- fret not. Nothing (as ever) will be abandoned. In fact, I'm posting a chapter of One Hour with this one, so... there's proof. I have the next chapter of my current Bleach fic half done too, and it's been ages since I've posted that one. lol

Chap. 1 The Worst Wakeup Call

Distantly, Duncan was aware of coughing. He thought it might have been his own, but wasn't quite sure.

How could he not be sure if he was coughing?

With monumental effort, he forced open his eyes...

Nothing.

Black emptiness stretched out on all sides. He seemed to be floating in it. Couldn't feel, couldn't see... he could only hear. Rasping, steady, one-two, one-two, slowly, wracked occasionally by the hacking cough which had woken him.

Beep.

That was new.

Beep.

The new sound repeated itself, over and over, accompanied only by the rasp of breath and the less-frequent coughing.

And then...

Drip.

A clatter of... stone? On metal?

Duncan blinked, and suddenly could see again.

Not much, but some. The empty black had transformed into vaguely red-hued gray, but still so dark as to be nearly impenetrable.

Beep.

"T- Taylor?"

He shook with surprise. That was not his voice... was it? Deeper, louder... hoarse. Water...I need water...

A garble of noise from the screen in front of him, which displayed only static, warned him that power to his Medi-Lounger was failing and that he needed to hit the emergency eject button once he could move again, or he would run out of oxygen within minutes.

Duncan blinked again, and through the scratching of what had to be sand in his eyes, was able to look beyond the screen which had been his only conscious sight for... how many years?
The program had said sixty, didn't it? So it's been sixty years... I'm twice as old as Mom was- would have been.

Weakly, he reached down and fumbled with still-numb fingers for the release catch. He had to pull five times before it clicked, and the hydraulics hissed open.

He regretted it at once. The slightly-moldy air he'd been inhaling for who-knows-how-long was replaced at once with dusty so thick it was a wonder he could breathe at all.

Once his first coughing fit subsided, Duncan was able to sit up and look around. One of the Lounger's many machines was still beeping, quieter now, with a low-battery indicator flashing on the emergency power reader. Well, that's why it woke me up... but why's it so dark? Shouldn't there be, you know, people? Where's everyone else?

Eyes straining in the darkness, Duncan looked left, for the second time in a few minutes... and many years. No... don't even look over there.
Right...
No...

No, oh... oh... no...

His sister's pod... was gone.

Not just gone, but annihilated, crushed beneath the untold weight of two other pods, four-foot reinforced steel-and-concrete ceilings, and the hillside above the Vault, most likely. A great slab had probably ended his sister's life mere minutes after he'd fallen asleep.

And there would be no digging her out, not without heavy machinery, at least.

Taylor...

Mom...

Dad...

His parents, at least, had been able to live a little. But his sister, who he admired, respected, and cared about more than anyone else on the planet, was... she hadn't even been on one date. Hadn't ever been kissed.

And now she never will be, except kissed by death and concrete.

Eyes watering, cheeks cleansed of dust and the grime of untold years by salt and water, Duncan sobbed for...

Well, he wasn't really sure.

But the beeping of his life-support had ended before he stopped, the screen had gone dark. But when he opened his salt-crusted eyes again, there was a different light, white this time, flickering vaguely some distance off.

"H- Hello?" he called.

The artificial voice of a Protectron was at once annoying and intensely gratifying, relieving, to hear. "Maddox, Duncan. Citizen 0342, life-signs confirmed. Are you able to move, Mr. Maddox?"

Testing his motor-functions more carefully than he had when first waking, Duncan nodded, "Y- yes, I can!" he called, still surprised by his own voice's sound.
"Vault-Tec wishes to apologize for the near-failure of Vault One-Hundred, and assures it's Vault Citizens that reparations will be made, and the Vault will be returned to full working order as quickly as possible for the Vault Staff. If you will make your way to this unit, you will be directed to the nearest medical bay for a checkup and any care needed."

Woodenly, unable to fully process the surroundings, much less the details involved, Duncan made his way across the cavernous room toward the robot, which then pointed him to the only clear spot on the wall, which was lucky enough to contain an open doorway with a single light blinking above it in red.
"T- thanks," he murmured, suddenly desperate to be outside, to breathe clean air again, to...

To see what had happened.

How different everything would be.

To cast his eyes, only just fourteen, on a world without his father, mother, and sister. Without his friends. Everyone... gone.

He ignored the Protectron telling him to stop, that the door wouldn't open.

He didn't even notice the four voices, human this time, calling out to him.

Instead, he followed the twisting corridors, following the red line the entire way, until he came to the huge, heavy door that was guaranteed by Vault-Tec to withstand all but the most direct nuclear strike.

Duncan's growing spirits (such as they were) were quite surprised to see that it had actually held. The rest of the Vault may have been destroyed, but the door itself was intact, at least on this side. In fact, it didn't appear to have budged at all, if his meager engineering skills were...

Why the hell do I even care? The world's ended... my life is ended...

Why did I even come here? I should have just done what that guy with his gun did... ended my sister fast, then me... and we wouldn't have had to...

"D- Duncan?"

He blinked. The voice was feminine.

"T- Taylor?"

But the young woman of about sixteen, maybe seventeen, standing in the doorway leading back into the Vault could not be his sister.
She was, of course, about four years too old. Brunette to his sister's blonde, green eyes to her blue. As tall as he was, almost, instead of several inches shorter.

Whoever this girl was, though, she looked almost familiar, as if he'd known her, but...

"A... Amber?"

The young woman nodded, "It's me... you... you look d-different."

He could hear the tremor in her voice, and blinked. So did she. Lifting his hands, he stared at them for a long time. They were larger... not any harder. Not calloused as they once had been from long, hard play, working on badges, or at the arcade. In fact, they almost looked soft, as his dad's had been before he'd been arrested.

What kind of criminal had soft hands?
The white-collar kind, of course.

No use dwelling on that, though. He's gone... just like everyone else.

But no...

Not... not everyone.
"Cheryl? What about Cody? Your... your parents?"

Amber shook her head, "N- no... none of them. So... so Taylor didn't...?"

He mirrored her action, "No. The ceiling..."

Amber nodded this time, still not moving from the doorway, "Yeah... it happened to almost everyone. There's... there're three others. You and me, that makes five, but I was found nine hours before you. I don't think it's... I don't think there'll be any more."

He nodded, not sure what to think, what to feel. "So..."

"Hey, new guy," a deep, masculine voice called from behind Amber. The newcomer was taller than Duncan, broader as well, though he was as soft-looking as Duncan figured he must be. "What's your name?"

"D-"

But he was interrupted by Amber, "His name's Duncan Maddox, he was a ne- a friend of my family's."

The larger man nodded, "Right... good to meet ya, man. Come on, there's food and water here, you look like you need it. Look like hell, really."

He had to agree... he probably did.

(O)(O)(O)

"So that's the situation," the tall man, Greg, summarized, "The machines say they have enough food and water to keep the five of us alive for a year or so. They aren't sure what year it is, either, but know the sixty years we were supposed to be asleep are over. And... well, we don't really know anything else."

Duncan nodded. He was as bitter as everyone else about how they'd been deceived. What should have been a fairly standard time in the Vault- twenty years in their case- had suddenly turned to a near-coma-like sleep, in which their bodily functions had been slowed so much that, regardless of how much time had passed, they had aged only a few years. A few years none of them remembered. He'd been fourteen. Now, according to Greg, he could pass for twenty if he tried. The youngest of them, a girl named Cindy, looked about fifteen, while Greg, the oldest, was about nineteen. Amber and Duncan both looked about seventeen, maybe a young eighteen, though for his part, the young man was certain he'd never get used to suddenly being older. He sure didn't feel old enough to vote, or whatever. If there was anything or anyone to vote on.

"And we don't know anything about what's outside?" Robert, the youngest of the males, asked.

No one answered; they all knew it anyway. On the Vault Door Control Panel, a single green light continued to blink, apparently it alone still had plenty of power, even if little else in the ruined Vault functioned.
But what was on the other side?

None of them knew, or could even really guess.
"We have to go out there," Duncan said after what felt like an hour's silence, "We have to know."

"No way!" Greg said, "There's all that radiation! Maybe mutant bugs! Or worse, Mutant Commies!"

Amber snorted, "Commies can't handle rads any better than we can, stupid. If it'd kill us, it'd kill the Reds."

Duncan nodded, "She's right. Besides, what're you gonna do when the water and food run out? Just starve or die of dehydration?"

Greg still glared at the other two, while the younger pair, Cindy and Robert, seemed undecided.

Duncan shrugged, "I'm no expert, but I hear that's a terrible way to go. You eventually get so weak you can't even breathe any more, and you just... stop. But that doesn't mean it's pleasant or fun. Think of the hungriest, the thirstiest, you've ever been, and multiply that by a thousand. That's scratching the surface of what starving to death feels like."

"Oh yeah?" Greg suddenly cried, standing up from the circle they'd made around one of the few lamps they'd been able to salvage from the emergency supply closet in the entrance room, "Who made you the leader, huh? I'm the oldest, I was the first one awake, and I say we stay. Right. Here!"

Duncan wanted to yell back, wanted to rail and scream and the stupidity, but instead, he said nothing. His dark brown eyes were fixed on Greg, waiting for some sign of hostility other than yelling, but... nothing.

After a while, the taller boy- man- whatever- spun on a heel and stormed back into the dark corridors of Vault 100.

After his echoing footfalls died away, Amber whispered, "Is that right, Duncan? What you said about... about starving?"

He nodded, "'s what I learned getting my survival badge."

The young woman gulped, then nodded. Duncan was surprised to see her jaw was set, and for a moment, regretted not getting to know her better. Cheryl had annoyed him, Cody had been a dick, so he'd avoided this girl in their past life, but now... now he just might be able to... No, can't think like that. We have to survive, that's all that matters. Still, if she's the last girl on the planet... well... I won't complain. She's pretty under that grime, I bet.
"I'd rather die from rads or get killed by mutants than starve."

Duncan nodded, "Me too. That's why I think we should go outside. But even... I'd rather live. But we have to know what's out there. Even just opening it up, taking a look, and closing it again while wearing that mostly-intact rad-suit is better than nothing, right?"

Cindy nodded, "I... I think you're right. But... but shouldn't we stick together? I gew up next door to Greg, and he's pretty stubborn. I don't think he'll... I don't think he'll go if he doesn't want to."

Duncan shrugged, "Can't make him, but he can't make us, either. It's... it's up to each of us. I'm going."

Amber stood up to join him as he did, whispering, "Me too," as she did.

After glancing at Cindy, Robert stood as well, "I guess I'd rather die fast than slow too."

But even though the three of them waited for several minutes, Cindy didn't stand.

"I... I have to stay. He can't be alone... it's... it's not fair, right? I mean, what if we're... if we're the last ones? And you die? What then?"

Duncan sighed, "If we're the last humans alive, then we're dead. You heard the machines; there's only enough food and water for so long. Even if the air filters work well enough for the least-damaged parts of the vault, you can only last for so long. Eventually... you'll have to leave."

Cindy nodded, "I... I guess. But I'm still staying. Just in case."

A few minutes later, Robert, who had woken just minutes after Greg and a half-day before Amber, who had been next, lead Duncan to the locker room where they'd been asked to stow their personal belongings while Amber moved to her own. How both had survived, none of them knew.

Each moved at once to their own lockers, and even larger now, Duncan's soft, weak muscles had a difficult time carrying both his mother's and his own much-degraded backpacks to the Vault Entrance Room.

Ten minutes later, he was half-way done sorting. Medical records, he still kept. Birth certificates, job history for his mother, almost everything was left behind. For personal effects, only a single small, green velvet box. However, he also carried a few other items from his mother's bag, which had been tucked away at the bottom.

A combat knife, likely taken from his grandfather's home after his death, and a single nine-millimeter Beretta, with a box of 24 rounds. Not much, but far better than nothing.

"Are you... what are you going to do with... with those?"

Duncan's hands thrust the knife and gun deeply into the bag, though he knew it was too late. He didn't turn to look at Amber, "Just keeping them- keeping them safe. You know... we don't know what's out there. Some protection wouldn't hurt."

She gulped, nodded, and turned away to drop her own bag on the ground before sorting it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Duncan watched both she and Robert pack their bags with almost everything they'd brought. "Wait... leave all that crap."

"What?" Robert asked, looking up.

"The gum, the papers... why do you have all that stuff, anyway? What good's school report cards going to be?"

"Uh... well, I gotta show how well I did, right?"

Duncan shook his head, "No... that stuff's worthless now. If anything's out there, it's not gonna care that you got through seventh grade or whatever. Just take what you need. Food, water, medical records... even that's probably just gonna end up as kindling for a fire. Speaking of which, if you guys've got a lighter, bring that for sure. Or a knife, anything you can use as a weapon."

"Uh... w-weapon?"

Duncan closed his eyes and sighed, "Yeah, a weapon. I know a lot of people think there couldn't be any mutants, but radiation's been proven to do crazy things to lab rats and stuff. You never know what might have survived, so... it's better to be prepared, right?"

"But... but I'm just thirteen. I don't have a weapon. My parents wouldn't even let me have a pocket knife!"

Amber replied softly, "You aren't thirteen any more, Rob. You look like you're sixteen or seventeen, remember? I don't like it, but Duncan's right. We should be prepared. I don't have anything, though. The closest I've got is this curling iron my mom insisted I bring. Maybe I could beat a bear to death with it."

Duncan snorted with laughter as she threw the contraption away, watched as it clattered to the ground near the Vault Door. "Here... one of you can take this. I'll keep the gun, I'm not a bad shot. I practiced with my dad some a few years ago, anyway."

Reluctantly, he pulled the knife from his bag and held it out, but neither reached for it.

After a few seconds, Duncan grabbed Robert's hand and slapped the sheath into it, "Don't forget, the pointy end goes in whatever's attacking you. Don't lose it."

Amber scowled, "Why'd you give it to him, and not me? Trying to protect me or something? Soon as the world ends, you gotta treat me like I'm a glass doll?"

Duncan frowned, "No! It's just... he's bigger and stronger, right? He can use the knife better, right? At least, it'll hurt more, he can hit harder. Besides... if I die, you get the pistol. If he dies, you get the knife. It's fair, right?"

He didn't want to mention, since Amber appeared slightly mollified, that without a weapon she was the one most likely to die first if things came down to it.

"Well," he said a few minutes later after they'd gotten their essentials, and only the essentials, back in the bag, "looks like that's it. Say goodbye to Vault One-Hundred, after a day... or whatever it's been."

Robert stepped up next to him at the console, staring at the blinking green light, while Amber hesitated for a second.
They had all heard it, the soft footfalls in the corridor.

"So... so you guys are really leaving, then?" Cindy asked from the doorway.

Duncan looked back to see the slight girl sillohuetted in the doorway, "Yeah. If we stay we die. If we leave... maybe we die. Easy choice for me."

His companions frowned or gulped, but neither denied it. Cindy nodded, "Okay. I told Greg that's what you'd probably do. He just muttered about more food for us. I think he's a jerk, but... but I gotta stay. Good luck."
Duncan nodded. "Hey... before we go. Keep an ear open, huh? If we come back- any of us- and tap five times, then four times, then three times on the door, or if you hear us at the intercom... it's safe to let us in, okay? Five, four, three in that order. You know, if we find something good. Or... or if we don't find anything."

The smallest of them nodded, "I'll remember, and tell Greg. Five, four, three taps."

Nodding again, Duncan turned back to the console, hesitated for a moment, and then hit the button.

A loud rush of pressurized air flushed from the hydraulic lines around the door jack, before it swung downward and screwed itself into place.

Then, with an almighty screech of steel-on-steel, the jack began to move backwards, taking the humongous steel door with it.

Thirty seconds later, it was over..

Bright sunlight, far brighter than he'd been expecting, flooded into the entrance chamber from the tunnel's end twenty feet or so away. He could hear water in the distance.

"The Potomac's still running, so there's water."

Amber, who had been the only one carrying a dosimeter, read off, "Showing just low background... barely higher than we're used to. It's been a long time... if the war really happened."

Duncan nodded firmly and started walking, "It did. DC's on a stable plane, so it couldn't have been an earthquake. At least, not a natural one. The U.S. Capitol? It got hit, and hit hard. I think it's just been a while."

On the other side of the door now, the three stopped when Cindy called, "I'm shutting the door! Five, four, three! Good luck!"

Amber was the only one who replied, "To you and Greg, too!" before the door mechanism drowned out any chance of communication.

For only a moment, Duncan took note of this side's door controls, which still showed a blinking green light, then turned and continued out the entrance tunnel, doing his best to ignore the graffiti and black, charred skeletons that littered the path.
It wasn't like he could do anything for them anyway, right?

(O)(O)(O)

"Well, welcome to hell, I guess," Duncan said, sweeping the horizon with already world-weary eyes. "Just like home, right? Damn."

Robert sniffed, but said nothing.

Amber, on his other side, whimpered.

The suburban city of Brunswick, Maryland was probably spared a direct strike, but you wouldn't be able to tell judging from the damage. As far as they could see, on either the Virginia or Maryland side of the river, there was only burned-out, blasted remains of buildings, with only a rare few standing higher than three feet intact.

"My house... my house was right across the river. Right there," Robert pointed.

Duncan didn't bother looking. It wouldn't do any good.

"High ground, let's get a look around," he said, hoping that by moving, moving and not stopping, they could maybe alleviate some of the depression he could already feel coming.

Two hours later, they crested the hill he and his sister had raced down what seemed like only hours before on their bikes, racing against the horror he had known was coming... but had never known it would be like this.

"My house was that way," he muttered, gesturing without looking down one of the streets.

Amber nodded, "Yeah... mine too. I guess there's no point in looking around, right?"

Duncan nodded, "If anyone survived, it's been picked clean by now, probably. Let's go to the highest building, can't see enough from here. Don't climb it right off, though, we gotta make sure it's stable first."

As they searched, Duncan was a little glad that both Amber and Robert seemed to be in shock. He knew it would wear off, and that's when the hard part would begin. For himself, though, he just wasn't sure. He knew he should be in shock, but... he didn't seem to be. At least, he wasn't able to identify the symptoms in himself if he was.
"Hey..." he said after about an hour's more walk, "Are my eyes dilated or anything? Do I seem... I donno, twitchy?"

Robert frowned at him, but only shook his head. Amber, who at least knew him a little better, shook her head. "No... I've been watching, too. I know I am... I can feel it. But you seem all right."

"Watching for what? What's going on?"

Duncan shrugged, but kept walking, "Shock. You guys are both in shock, and I'm just wondering why I'm not."

The next person to speak was Amber, another twenty minutes later, "You've always been tough. I remember when you got hit by that car when you were six, and you just got up and kept going. Didn't cry or anything."

That made him pause, "I did what? Got hit by a car? I don't remember that."

Amber actually giggled, and he was a bit relieved that it didn't sound at all hysterical. In fact, it sounded... nice. "You were six, I'm not surprised. It wasn't going real fast, but it was one of those big Chrysalis Motors four-doors, ran right into you, and you got knocked a few feet, then got up and kept walking. Your mom freaked out, she saw the whole thing- it was right outside your house, and you were on your way over to ours to play with Cody."

Duncan blinked, "Really? Huh. I was friends with Cody? That's weird."

His companions shared an amused glance at what he thought was the 'weird' part.

(O)(O)(O)

"I wish we had some binoculars, or a telescope, or something. There's a weird color to the east, but I can't tell what it is. Green, I guess, but why's that part green with nothing else around here that way?"

Duncan frowned. His eyesight wasn't bad, but he couldn't see any green at all, unless you counted the faded green of Amber's backpack, which had been olive once. "What do you mean, Rob?" he asked.

"I donno, it's just... everywhere's brown or black or gray, but to the east, it's green. Only at the edge of the horizon, though, so I can't really tell."

Duncan was about to reply when a terrified call came from below radio tower they'd climbed, "Uh, guys? There's something... something out there. It's big... and it's coming this way."

Sparing only a second looking down to find out where Amber was pointing, he scanned outward. Sure enough, there was a colossal black-furred shape lumbering through the ruins toward them. "Fuck!" he swore, already shimmying down the tower as q uickly as he could, "Is that a bear?"

A moment behind him, Robert called, already out of breath from the climb, "Ain't like no bear I've ever seen!"

"Back to the Vault?" Amber asked, now that they were only a few feet above her. She was shaking visibly.

"Never make it," Duncan replied, "That thing's moving pretty quick, and it doesn't even look like it's in a hurry. Vault's hours away... shelter. Gotta find shelter..."

And so they ran, as quickly as they could, toward the river, which was the best any of them could come up with.

Behind them, growing louder and louder, was a repeated 'wuff, wuff' of heavy breathing, and hundreds of pounds of meat being carried along by four clawed legs. He didn't dare look back, because each was already out of breath, panting due to being so out-of-shape, each fervently praying that he wouldn't be the one who fell behind.

And then it happened.

Just before Duncan felt he couldn't run any more, not another step, Robert tripped.
Neither of the others stopped, didn't even slow down, until they were several hundred feet away, at the edge of the steep, concrete-lined slope that went directly into the Potomac, dozens of feet below at this spot.

Neither slowed even for Robert's screams, which lasted several long seconds, before the beast, whatever it was, ripped out his throat.

But they turned and looked back once they reached the relative safety... at least, the safety of having no where else to run.

Both of them were heaving, panting for breath. Duncan could feel pressure in his chest and throat, pain he couldn't blame on his body. He'd... he'd just left someone that could have been a friend to die. Left him to save himself. Wasn't he the one with the gun? Shouldn't he have... done something? Anything?

The creature, which, now that Duncan took a moment to get a better look, did closely resemble a very thin bear, if he squinted.

But their momentary reprieve was just that.

Because just then, a roar which could only have come from a similar creature bellowed out from behind a wall just a few feet away.
Duncan froze. He could hear whatever it was lumbering to it's feet. They had moments left... what could they do?
He couldn't abandon Amber, too. Not like Robert. Never... never again. Just when the black-tipped snout came around the edge of the wall, Duncan grabbed Amber's arm and jumped backwards as hard as he could.

Unfortunately, on the way down, his head struck the concrete at the edge of the river twice before he hit water.

(O)(O)(O)

"All right, local," a measured, artificial-sounding voice woke Duncan, "the meds wore off ten minutes ago, I know you're awake. Get up."

Blinking in the harsh sunlight, Duncan looked around as he did so before freezing in surprise. Whatever he'd thought would happen after he'd pulled Amber over the edge and into the Potomac... this was not it.

"Is... is that power armor? Where... where am I?"

"Yes, it's power armor. No, you can't have any, so don't ask. This is the Brotherhood of Steel's Raven Rock outpost. It's restricted territory, so as soon as you're on your feet, I'm gonna have to escort you out of here. Your friend's already gone."

"My... wait, Amber? So, she made it?"

"Oh, was that her name? I donno, she left three days ago, followed one of our resupply convoys. Kinda strange, if you ask me. I thought she might've been a slave or something, the way she acted. Nothing useful in her bag, no weapons... so I slipped her a ten-mil. Don't tell my superiors, though, that was my regulation sidearm."

"Oh. I... okay."

"What about you, local? Got a name? Something I can put on a report, anyway."

"Uh... Duncan. Duncan Maddox."

"Maddox, Duncan. Got it. So what's your story? Slave? Or... that Vault-Suit's pretty new-looking. You just open up, or something? I know the Citadel's got records of all of 'em around here, but I didn't know there were still some unopened."

"Uh... y-yeah, I guess. What's the Citadel?"

The man- he was sure it was a man, despite the modulated voice- chuckled, "It's the Brotherhood's DC chapter, kid. Used to be the Pentagon's main building. Maybe you've heard of it?"

Duncan snorted, "'Course I have. Hasn't everyone?"

The helmet slid back and forth a few times, accompanied again by chuckles, "You'd be surprised what the ignorant locals around here don't know. Still, I'm glad things are looking up, now that Project Purity's been completed."

"Project Purity?"

"Oh yeah, you probably don't know. Well, ten years ago or so, nine, really, all the water in the area was irradiated. Bad enough it was hard to find clean water to drink, safe water, you know? But then this crazy genius scientist and his team, and later his daughter, built this massive water purifier out of the Jefferson Memorial. It's cleaning up, little by little, all the water around here. But since they're gone, and we can't get into the Memorial again ourselves- radiation leak- we're taking the knowledge they gave us and building more Purifiers. That's actually what we're doing here."

"Oh."

"Listen, don't tell my CO I said anything about that, huh? It's not exactly a secret, but we're trying to keep it quiet. Keeps raider attacks down, and all that."

"Raiders?"

The power-armored soldier nodded, and gestured with what looked like a fancy laser rifle to Duncan, "Come on, kid, get up. You're fine, so you gotta move. I'll explain a bit on the way out, wouldn't feel right if I just through out you the gates with nothing. Raiders... savages, the lot of 'em. Druggies, rapists, murderers... do yourself a favor, kid. You ever see someone coming at you with a weapon, you shoot first, ask questions later, all right? If you've been in a Vault for the last two-hundred years, you don't know anything about surviving out here in the Wasteland. You'll live longer if you listen to that advice."

"The... Wasteland?"
"The Capitol Wasteland. Washington D.C. Ruins, whatever you want to call it. We're near the north-west border of the area now, with D.C. itself far to the southwest, on the bay. That spire you can just see on the horizon? That's the Washington Monument, tallest building in the country now, far as we can tell. And we can tell a lot."

"Oh. So... Raiders are bad?"

"The worst. Even the men, from what I hear, would as soon rape a spring chicken like you as shoot you. The worst would cut you up, cook you, and eat you afterwards."

"So... uh... what should I do, then?"
The armored shoulders shrugged, "Can't say. We aren't recruiting, so you can't stay here, though. Listen... if I were you, I'd make for Big Town, Megaton, Arefu, or better, Rivet City. Those are the largest settlements in the area, mostly in order. Megaton's a bigger and safer than Arefu nowadays, but not by so much. Mostly just follow the river, and you'll at least go near every one of those places. Don't go in the river, though, 'cause there's rads all over until you get near the D.C. Ruins themselves."

"Oh...kay..."

"One more thing. Stay on this side of the river if you can. The north-east side's Deathclaw territory for a long way, and past that it's Slavers. Not that this side's safe, just safer."

"D-Deathclaw? And... really? Slavers?"

"Yep. Here ya go, kid," the soldier said, grabbing a familiar bag from the guard-post near the gate in the chain-link and razor-wire fence, "All your stuff. Hey... you were out for about a week, so I cleaned your gun up a bit. Replaced the ammo with some spares. It's better quality than what you had. And, I, uh... I put some trade goods in there. You know, so you aren't penniless."

Duncan stumbled. And I thought even in my day, all kindness was gone from the world. Maybe these Brotherhood guys aren't so bad after all, if they patched us both up after fishing us out of the river, and fixed my gun up, too.

"Hey, kid... watch out for the mutants and zombies, too, okay? They've been getting meaner, lately."

"M- mutants? And... did you really say zombies?"
But the soldier only shut the chain-link gate with the push of a button. Duncan was about to grab it and call out when he felt, more than heard, the hum of electricity start running through the wire fence.

On the other wide, the soldier gave a jaunty wave to the guard, who had ignored Duncan's presence the whole time, and whistled as he walked back into the military compound.

With a heavy sigh, Duncan turned back around.

Before him stretched the Potomac, twisting downhill as it went through an S-curve toward what was once the Capitol of the mightiest nation on Earth. "Well hell. What a way to wake up, tossed out from safety into this shit."

But he was not the type who would give up so easily.

With another deep breath, Duncan moved one foot, and then the other.

Behind him was happiness, teenaged years, friends, family.
Ahead?
Only the Wasteland.