Chapter Five

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Posey

As Posey walked back towards the burned out husk of the town she'd first stumbled upon, she tried not to think about anything except the feel of the cool night air around her and the sound of her vault tec issued boots crunching down over the gravel and dirt under her feet. She definitely wasn't going to think about everything Moriarty had told her back in his dingy saloon.

"Is that what he told you? That you were born in that hole?"

She ground her teeth together and ran her hands angrily through her hair, twisting her fingers until she could feel the pull at the roots.

"The lies we tell to the ones we love."

She kicked a rock away viciously, but still wasn't satisfied.

"Daddy lied,"

The moon hung, fat and full above her head, illuminating the rubble that was all that remained of the road, casting her shadow ahead of her. Long, thin and inky black. She remembered when she was sixteen, down on the reactor level playing catch with her dad, asking if she was going to die down in that metal contraption. Asking if he'd been born there, in the vault.

"Of course I was."

She couldn't keep on dwelling on this, she couldn't. She could feel the anger bubbling in her chest, hot and licking at her brain curling into her heart,sending its vicious waves of heat and rage throughout her whole body with every pump of her heart. She could feel her nails digging into her palms, feel the skin stinging. She focused on that, the more her palms hurt, the less her insides did, so she squeezed her fists tight, and kept stomping on, eyes trained on the burned out houses.

Liar, liar, liar, LIAR.

She let out an involuntary cry of pain and stopped, bringing her hands up to her face. She'd broken the skin there in her palms, tiny crescent like indentations stinging at the contact with the night air. She traced one of the small wounds, shaking her head slightly. She'd never been so angry before, but then again, she'd never had reason to be this angry before. It was difficult learning that she'd been living for nineteen years based completely on a lie. She was growing to hate that word. Lie. She paused for a moment, letting her eyes drift shut. She concentrated on her breathing. She felt a slight breeze lift her hair away from her face, she felt her pulse in her neck. She was still alive. That had to count for something. It was amazing that she could say that at least. She made it farther than anyone in the vault thought possible. She tried to focus on that, on the fact that her heart was still beating in her chest and that she was relatively unscathed. She could almost see her dad, that half smile on his face, and hear his voice,

"Your vitals seem to be fine, so off to school with you."

"No, think about something else, something ELSE." She growled to herself. Not her dad, she couldn't think about him right now. She could think about that man, Colorado or whatever state it was. She'd seen him again before she'd left. He was fixing a pipe, bent over it in concentration, his broad shoulders straining a jumpsuit similar to the maintenance workers down in the vault would wear as he'd stared down at the pipe, frowning slightly and toying with a wrench in his hands. He'd looked up as she'd approached and she was again struck at how vivid his eyes were. She'd never seen that kind of green before, not anywhere.

"Where are you going?" He'd asked.

Why do you care? She'd wanted to answer. Why did he care? He'd been so brusque when she first ran into him. He didn't even know her name. So why did he care where she was going? What did it matter to him?

Colorado was a good distraction, because she was soon walking between the burned out houses, their shadows mingling with hers now in the bright moonlight. It had to be nearly ten, if not eleven, and Posey could feel the beginnings of exhaustion settling in. But she pushed that aside, scanning the place for anything remotely livable. A small ranch style house at the end of a long row of dilapidated buildings caught her eye. The place was still standing, and had at one time had boards across the door. They were torn down now though, the rotting two by fours scattered haphazardly aside. This must have been the place where Silver was hiding out. Posey carefully rested her hand on her gun, almost unconsciously. All she had to do was get the caps back from Silver. Moriarty didn't say how, just that she had to get them back. Maybe she could just, ask?

Somehow, she didn't think that was going to go over well.

Posey rested her hand on the doorknob, trying to avoid the tender flesh of her palms, and hesitantly, opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was how filthy the place was. Just because it had four walls and a roof didn't mean it had escaped the ravages of time. Her nostrils were immediately greeted by the smell of must and mildew, accompanied by something sharper, something sour that she'd gotten a whiff of in Moriarty's. She'd guessed it must be alcohol of some form. Posey didn't see anyone, so she stepped a little further inside.

"Who the hell are you?"

The voice startled Posey and she whirled around to see a women standing just beyond the edge of light that a single naked bulb provided, glaring over at Posey with her hand on her hip. Posey assumed this would be Silver, her stylish curls were a platinum blonde, and as she stepped into the light Posey could see that they did seem to glow silver. Now that she was in the light, Posey could also see there was something, unstable about her. She was beautiful, but her pale grey eyes seemed, fractured. Her face too gaunt, cheekbones too sharp.

"Where did you come from?" She demanded, and Posey saw her hand twitch towards a pistol at her side. "Did Moriarty send you!"

"Whoa, calm down, who's Moriarty?"

The lie startled Posey, but she hoped it didn't show. It had sprung to her lips as she'd watched Silver's hand twitch towards her gun. Simple and easy as breathing. She felt her stomach turn.

"Colin Moriarty. The owner of the saloon in Megaton. He's got in his head that I'm some kind junkie that stole money from him. And now he's sent you to come kill me and take it back, is that it?!"

"No! No, I'm not going to kill you." Said Posey, attempting to be soothing. "Here, just, don't shoot, I'm going to put my gun down alright? Just-" Posey placed her hand on her pistol "don't shoot me."

Silver's fingers twitched again, but she didn't react when Posey gripped her gun then slowly, slowly set it on the ground.

"Okay, so know that shooting you is out of the question." Said Posey slowly. "Moriarty did send me."

"You!"

"But I'm not going to kill you!" Said Posey emphatically. "He sent me for one hundred caps, he just said to get the caps back. You give me the caps and I'll tell him you're gone."

"What?" Silver looked taken aback. "You... You'd do that? For me?"

"I don't want to kill you." Said Posey, "I just need those caps so Moriarty will tell me where my dad went."

"If I give you the caps, then say that I'm gone, then he'll ask where the caps came from."

Posey frowned slightly. She hadn't thought of that.

"Then forget the caps. I'll tell him I couldn't find you."

"Why are you doing this?" Asked Silver brokenly. "You could have just killed me and taken them? Who are you?"

"I'm Posey Bennett. I'm from Vault 101. And I really don't think I could have killed you. Listen, I've got to get back. If Moriarty doesn't take the bait, I'll be back again tonight to warn you that he'll try again."

"No, here." Silver turned and reached into a cupboard under a cracked and filthy porcelain sink. She pulled out a rusted lunchbox, opened it up, and handed Posey a small pouch.

"Take it, one hundred caps, and tell him you killed me for it."

"What? No, I-"

"Then tell him I ran off, whatever he'll take but here. Take it. Before I change my mind."

Posey accepted the pouch, and reached down to retrieve her gun, Silver tensed for a moment but instantly relaxed again as Posey simply slid it into her holster.

"What'll you do now?" Asked Posey, pausing at the door out of the ranch. Silver shrugged,

"I dunno, shoot myself up until I forget who I am. The Wasteland sucks kid, get used to it."

Posey looked at her, and couldn't help but imagine what a beautiful young women she must have been before she fell into whatever Moriarty had going in his den.

"I'm sorry." Was all Posey said, before she opened the door and left without a backwards glance.

Moriarty looked surprised to see her as she walked back up the rusted metal ramp towards his saloon. It was nearing midnight, and he was leaning out on the railing, enjoying a cigarette and staring up at the full moon outside his saloon.

"Well I'll be damned," He said with a smirk as Posey approached him, the pouch of Silver's bottle caps gripped tight in her hand. "I never knew ya had it in ya, well done. I was half wondering-"

Posey cut off his statement with a well thrown punch.

"Ach! What the hell is-"

"Can it Moriarty. I have your caps, you bastard."

He looked at her, more surprised than anything, holding his nose.

"Much more of a spark than I bargained, lass." He withdrew his hand, prodding his nose experimentally. There was a slight trickle of blood but nothing appeared to be broken. "You're lucky I like a bit of fire in a woman."

"Take your caps. Now tell me, where is my dad?"

Moriarty caught the sack of caps she tossed at him and gave her a slight smirk.

"Maybe I was wrong about ya, you might just make it out here. You're dad headed to D.C. and if you're smart, ye won't follow him. That place is a bloody war zone. He's probably dead out there."

Posey felt her stomach clench.

"You're sure that's where he went?"

"He wanted to know what was going on in the Capital Wasteland, so I told him the person to ask was that lunatic Three Dog. He's always yapping about some Good Fight or some other lunacy on his station, Galaxy News Radio. So your dad set off the next day."

Posey glanced out over Megaton, trying to see the Wasteland past it's walls. She'd seen the Washington Monument when she'd first escaped the vault, and her Pip-Boy should have been able to pick up on its geographical location by now. D.C. couldn't be that hard to find. She turned and started back down the ramp, deciding she'd better find a place to catch a couple of hours of shut eye and down some of her vault food before setting out.

"Oy, Miss Bennett."

She paused, and turned back to Moriarty, not bothering to hide her look of disdain.

"What happened to Silver?"

"She's dead." Said Posey. "She was dead when I got there. Must have had too much of whatever she stole from you."

She turned back and headed down the ram again, before her face could give her away. Lying came too easy out here. She found Lucas Simms, walking back to what she assumed was his house and stopped him, asking where she could sleep.

"What? Not found of Moriarty's prices and company?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"I'll never go back there again, if I can help it."

"Well there's a common house, just down the road. Free to the public. Keep a close watch on your things though."

"Thanks."

"Any luck on your dad?"

Posey felt her lips twitch down slightly in a frown,

Yeah, and no thanks to you, Calamity Jane.

"Yes, Moriarty told me he went to D.C."

Simms let out a low whistle. "Rough country over there. You're not going after him, are you?"

"What choice do I have? Stay here with no caps and wind up a prostitute for Moriarty? I'd rather take whatever's waiting for me in D.C."

Simms looked at her carefully. Her vault tec suit was dirty and rumpled her pale, fresh from the vault skin had already received a slight sunburn, and she already seemed harder, somehow. When he'd first seen her, with all her "Thank yous" and wide smiles, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The Wasteland was going to tear her apart, or make her unrecognizable. He wished he'd been wrong.

"Be careful out there, then. You'll want to take the metro, as a short cut. Only way into D.C. these days. Full of Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants though."

"Full of what now?"

Simms sighed. this girl was going to get demolished.

"Wait right here, I'll be back."

He turned and jogged up a slight slope, disappearing amid the rusted buildings. Posey shook her head. This man was being very wishy wash. First no help at all, now it was a lesson in Wasteland Survival? Still, she'd take help where she could get it. She waited in the lane, looking up at the sky. Directly above Megaton, the sky was relatively clear and she could see the stars, twinkling above her. That at least, remained reason enough to be glad to be rid of the Vault. She stared up at them, wondering if she could ever make up for eighteen years without them when Simms came back. He was holding some kind of rifle and several packages of ammunition.

"Here." Said Simms, handing it to her. "It's a Hunting Rifle. Good condition too. You'll need it to get through that place. And in the morning, talk to Moria Brown at Craterside Supply. She's got an armored Vault tech suit up there. She'll probably let you have it. She's... an odd duck, but a good soul. You know how to use a gun, right?"

"I-" Posey looked up at him in shock, "I had a BB gun when I was a kid."

"Better than nothing. Now don't tell anyone how you got this alright? I can't afford to give the whole town handouts like this. Not to mention half of them would shoot themselves in the foot before they figured the damn things out."

"Sheriff-"

"Don't waste your ammo. It's hard to come by. For things like Bloatflies and Mole Rats, even Rad Scorpions, use that baseball bat of yours. You'll have to get close but it's better to save your ammo for things like Ghouls and Mutants. Get close enough to the them to use your bat and your game is pretty much already over. Got it?"

Posey nodded, lost for words.

"Well then, goodnight, Miss Bennett."

He started to walk away, but Posey called, "Wait, Mr. Simms."

He paused, turning back to her with slightly raised eyebrows.

"Thank you." She said fervently.

"I just hope it's not a waste." He said, and he turned again and left.

Posey gripped her new gun tightly, then looked back up at the stars again.

"Yeah," she murmured. "Me too."

Colorado

The common house was relatively empty tonight. There were two other settlers apart from him and they were fast asleep. Colorado envied their easy breathing and quick decent into unconciousness. He laid on the bare mattress, staring up at the one above him. He rolled over again, staring instead at the corrugated tin wall, counting rust spots. He reached twelve and then turned around again letting out an irritated sigh. He was tired. He just couldn't sleep. He couldn't get his worn out brain to shut down. It was like it was on a loop of where to go next and that girl from the vault. He shouldn't be this fixated on her. She was one pretty face amid dozens. Colorado knew women found him attractive, he didn't particularly know why. He was always filthy and more often than not had some sort of ailment: A bruised rib, gash across his chest, fractured knuckles. And he was a drifter. He'd always heard women wanted a man who'd settle down. All of this of course, came from faulty sources, but that wasn't the point. The point was if he wanted a girl, he could probably get one without too much hassle. Nova had flat out told him she'd give him one hell of a discount if he ever wanted one. But it wasn't that. He didn't want that. He didn't know what he wanted.

That fractured tea cup came back to him, and he shook his head, sitting up. That definitely wasn't what he wanted. Strange, dream like metaphors about girls he barely knew and useless ceramics. He rolled out of the bed, running his hands over his close trimmed hair, feeling the short almost stubble like hairs under his rough hand. It was getting longer on top again. The man in Rivet City had done it a little more stylishly than he was use to, leaving some actual length on top. Not much, but in a few weeks he knew it would be flopping in his eyes again and he'd just have to get it all buzzed off again. He was about to claim one of the couches on the first floor when the door opened and there stood the girl from the vault, staring at him with wide eyes. He didn't know what to do, so he stared back. She stepped hesitantly into the room. She held a Hunting Rifle that Colorado didn't think she'd had before, and was looking, if possible, more exhausted than he felt.

She moved past him, "What? No probing questions this time?" She asked, tossing her duffle bag on the top bunk of the bed he'd been sleeping in.

"You said it yourself, Wastelanders don't like questions."

"Good thing I'm not a Wastelander then." She said, hauling herself up onto the bare mattress and flopping backwards with a sigh. She settled her duffle under her head and very carefully laid her rifle next to her, after emptying the bullets from the chamber and turning the safety on. She knew how to handle a gun, somewhat. What was going on down in those vaults?

"What are you then?" He asked, stepping forward.

"Right now? Exceptionally tired."

Colorado watched as she shifted onto her side, trying to get comfortable and what he knew to be a very uncomfortable mattress.

"What's your name?" He asked before he could stop himself. She opened one eye and peered at him from under her arm that she'd draped across her face.

"Posey, Posey Bennett."

"Posey?" He raised an eyebrow, "What kind of a name is that?"

She glared at him, "A name my mother chose, she thought the world could use more flowers."

He looked at her for a moment before letting out slight scoff.

"Flowers don't grow in the wasteland, sweetheart."

"I don't recall asking you, Mr. Carolina."

"It's Colorado." He said in annoyance but she had turned away from him and with surprising speed, dropped off to sleep. He wondered how long she'd been up. Surely this must have been her first day out of the vault.

A couple of settlers wandered down the stairs to the left and caught sight of the girl, Posey, and exchanged looks with one another. Colorado knew that look. It was a "This'll be a piece of cake" look.

"Oh I'd think real hard about that, Gentleman." He said, turning to face them completely and crossing his arms across his chest. They looked at him petulantly, sizing him up.

"Don't you know? This one's from the vault. You know what kind of messed up crap they've got going on down there?"

They exchanged uneasy glances with each other and Colorado had to control his pleased smirk.

"All sorts of whacked out experimentation. I'm not even sure if she's completely human. I wouldn't mess with this one, if I were you. Who knows what she'll do to you." He shrugged, "But if you wanna give it a try, at least warn a guy. I don't want to be here when she wakes up to find you rummaging through her stuff."

He turned as if he were readying himself for bed and waited till he heard them scurry back up the stairs and allowed him a small, triumphant smile. He glanced around, before claiming the bed he'd originally had, the one under Posey's. He could hear her deep, steady breathing and allowed himself to finally relax. He would at least wake up if those rats came back. That much he knew. He didn't think they would though, and so he allowed himself to slowly drift off.

If someone asked why he was putting so much effort into this Vault girl, he'd probably scowl at them and tell them to mind their own damn business because that's usually how he responded to questions but, in all honestly, he wouldn't have a real answer for them or himself. He simply stared up at the rusted springs above him, and without really realizing it, synced his breathing with hers. He was asleep in minutes.

An: Another chapter out! Woot! What do you guys think of Colorado? He's always been sort of hard for me to pin down and he's been floating around in my head for almost a year now! I tried to keep the word count a little more reasonable this time. Instead of jumping straight to 8,000 words. What can I say, I'm long winded.

How about the song, huh? Boulevard of Broken Dreams ALWAYS reminds me of Fallout. I knew I had to have that in here at some point. Songs are getting a little more difficult for me to come by now for things that will fit so as always, if you have suggestions, please! Send them my way! I'm in no way a music snob, I'll listen to just about anything. So if you've got 'em, send 'em!

And once again, thank you SO much for taking the time to read this. I love you all!

Don't forget to review!