Chapter 2: Welcome to the Wasteland

Kieran's eyes blinked rapidly as they discovered sunlight for the first time and Kieran suddenly felt too hot, a sensation that he had rarely felt aboard Vault 146. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself staring at a hideous, mutated face that smelled as bad as it looks. Kieran froze with fright, unable to move or speak.

"Hello. What's your name?" The mutant grinned at him in such a way that caused Kieran to nearly faint.

"Fawkes! Put him down! Now!" yelled a voice from behind Kieran. All of a sudden, Kieran fell to the ground and landed with a hard thump. A spasm of pain echoed up his spine and he cried out in pain.

"Fawkes! I said put him down, not drop him!" The voice was closer to Kieran now and he heard footsteps getting louder.

"Sorry." Fawkes mumbled sheepishly, shuffling away from Kieran slightly.

And then a mass of steel wandered into Kieran's view. It stared down at him as the sun glared off its armour. A large rifle was attached to its back and its face was covered by a steel helmet. Kieran noticed that his armour bore the old United States flag. Had they restored order already?

The metal man bent down to Kieran's level and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! I'm...well, they call me the Lone Wanderer, for some reason. What's your name?" His voice was slightly muffled through the helmet.

Kieran didn't answer but just kept staring at the man's helmet out of fear and amazement. The Lone Wanderer raised a hand to his face and then realized why Kieran was staring.

"Oh! The power armour! Sorry!" He grabbed the helmet with both hands and there was an unlocking and hissing sound as it came off. Underneath was a dark brown face with bright red hair styled into a small Mohican with much shorter hair on either side. He grinned at Kieran and held out his hand again.

"So...what's your name?" He held out his hand again and Kieran reached out to shake it carefully, like he was trying to pet a hungry lion.

"Kieran." he almost whispered as they shook.

"This is Fawkes." The Lone Wanderer jabbed a thumb behind him at the super mutant who waved shyly. Kieran would have laughed in a less uncertain situation.

The Lone Wanderer's eyes drifted to the Pip-Boy 4000 on his wrist, as if staring with lust. Eventually, he snapped back to reality and turned back to Kieran.

"So, you're from a vault, huh? A much more prestigious vault than mine, judging by your Pip-Boy. I've only got a 3000."

Kieran smiled, relaxing a little.

"Vault 146. It was reserved for businessmen before the War."

"Can't say I've heard of it. Where is it?"

Before Kieran could answer, a voice yelled out from behind a rock.

"It landed here!" The crew of four raiders came around the corner, all of them as mean as the last. Kieran jumped to his feet and hid behind the Lone Wanderer as he put his helmet back on.

"You boys looking for something?" asked the Lone Wanderer, surprisingly calmly. Fawkes stepped forward, growling slightly.

The leader swaggered forward, looking around like he was surveying his new mansion.

"Yeah. We saw this pod land here and we was looking to acquire any tech that we could use. Or any slaves to sell to Paradise Falls. Right, boys?" The other three laughed and brandished their guns threateningly.

"Well, there's nothing here for you, I'm afraid. So I suggest you leave."

The raider leader pointed behind the Lone Wanderer and grinned, showing his blackened teeth.

"What about him? He dosen't look over 16. So, I think we'll be taking him..." The raider stepped forward and the Lone Wander pulled out a strange metal cylinder with blue, glowing areas on it. The raiders looked taken aback by it but the leader held his ground.

"I've had enough of this shit. Rip them apart!" he yelled to the others. But before Fawkes or any of them had a chance to fire, there were four, bright blue flashes and the raiders were piles of ash.

"They never listen..." muttered The Lone Wander to himself. He turned around and laughed at Kieran's stunned expression.

"Come on. Megaton's not far. I'll tell you everything there."

Yes, the Lone Wanderer is based on mine from F3. This is set after all the DLC. I may put my Courier in at some point but I'm not sure.