Three weeks later, after a funeral had been held for Tom, Mary and Wolfe, Vault 101 went back to business as usual. I spent most nights in my office, planning for the next trip out. We'd spent three trips in Megaton and the ruins of Springvale, but I wanted to push deeper into the 'Capital Wasteland' and learn what was truly out there.

It was lucky that I'd decided to take N99's with us, because our second trip to Springvale saw us taking on a disused school full of 'Raiders'. The interior of that place was the most sickening place I'd ever seen. Mutilated corpses hanging from the ceiling, decaying skeletons of children, bloody mattresses. And the Raiders themselves seemed to represent evil itself. Their armor was made from what seemed to be scraps of metal and leather, their eyes were wild with rage, and I caught two of them getting high off of something called 'Jet'.

They put up a hell of a fight, but all of them fell at some point or another. We looted everything they had, and I almost vomited as I lifted a 32. revolver up, it's handle gripped by the severed hand of it's owner.

Nonetheless, we stripped the place clean of anything valuable, and made it back to the Vault within a day.

I sighed, remembering how long it had taken us to get back to the Vault. The scouting runs had gotten longer and longer. I'd have to work on getting camping gear; if we went out any farther, we'd be gone for a day or two.

The scouting plan was getting nowhere, so I decided to call it quits for the night. I'd been working almost nonstop for the past month, and I hadn't been able to even talk to anyone outside of Vault business. Maybe Amata would be in the diner at this hour. It would be good to just sit down and have a conversation outside of work.

We'd picked up old music holotapes on our last trip, so the Vault PA system was playing 'the Wanderer' as I made my way down to the diner. Thankfully, it wasn't too crowded, and I saw Amata and my father sitting at a booth near the back. They beckoned me over, and I practically fell into the seat.

"Good God," I said to Amata. "How your dad did this job for nine years, I will never know."

"My dad never had to plan a trip out of the Vault," Amata pointed out. "Hey Andy, can you get Ryan a Nuka Cola?"

"Here you are, sir!" said Andy cheerfully before setting a cold Nuka Cola bottle on the table and drifting away. The sweet liquid was refreshing, and I had to restrain myself to a few sips at a time.

"How have you been son?" my father asked. The attack from Hannon had left his right arm in a cast, so Jonas had taken over most of his duties.

"Exhausted," I replied, rubbing my eyes for the millionth time today. "At least we're getting somewhere with it."

"It's hard to get used to," Amata said, "You being away for so long. I keep getting worried that something's happened out there."

I hesitated for a moment, unsure if this was for my father to hear. Thankfully, I didn't have to decide. My dad excused himself, leaving us alone.

"I know, it's not easy," I told her, putting an arm around her shoulder. "But it's something that probably won't change anytime soon. We need to know what's out there, and we can't know unless we go out there."

"I know," said Amata, shifting in her seat to face me properly. "But every time you guys go out there, you're gone for longer. You've been here every day of my life, and I don't think I could go a day without you there. If you have to spend days at a time out there then fine, but I want to be by your side when you do."

I was taken completely aback, and didn't bother hiding it. In the three weeks since the Vault opened, Amata had never once expressed any desire to leave the Vault. Where had the sudden change of heart come from?

"Y-You want to go out there?" I asked her, astonished. "Into the wastes? Amata, it's dangerous out there."

"I don't care," she replied. "I want to at least know what's going on out there. It's driving me crazy, being cooped up in here. It's a big world out there, and I don't want to live and die in the same corner I was born in. I want to see the world."

"You're sure about this?" I asked, frowning. "You won't a lot of what you see. Is this really what you want?"

It is."

"Alright," I finally said reluctantly. "But I want you to be prepared. We start firearm training tomorrow."

For some reason, the Vault felt suffocating, so I went topside for some air. I sat down on the scenic overlook outside the Vault, my eyes passing over the illuminated Megaton walls and the darkened ruins of Springvale, the night air cooling me down. On our last trip into Megaton, Simms had filled me in on some of the nearby settlements. Near the D.C ruins was Rivet City, an old disused aircraft carrier and the largest city in the Capital Wasteland.

"Don't get your hopes up," Simms had said. "D.C's a complete warzone. Between the Brotherhood of Steel and the super mutants, you'll be lucky to get out alive."

We'd have to look for more firepower if we ever wanted to venture into the city. Some of the Raiders we'd killed had been armed with submachine guns and assault rifles, but ammo was in short supply.

I heard a low whining noise to my right, and looked around, then nearly jumped in alarm. At the top of the slope leading away from the Vault, staring at me, were two small eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. I tensed up, wondering if the creature would attack, then relaxed. It wouldn't attack; it was just curious.

"C'mon," I said to it. "Don't be afraid."

The creature walked over, and I saw a furry body walking on two legs. I felt my jaw drop. Was it a dog? I'd never seen one before, aside from pictures in the Vault library books. But I didn't even recognize this one's breed.

"It's okay boy," I said, reaching out. "You got an owner?"

The dog gave another whine, and moved closer. His fur was brown and gray.

"You seem like an okay boy," I told the dog, who rested his head on my leg, "I guess you can stay with us."

The dog gave a happy bark. I looked at the name tag hanging from his collar. It had one word; Dogmeat.

For somebody who had never fired a gun before, Amata wasn't actually a bad shot. I'd brought her down to the room by the reactor where'd I'd trained with a BB gun for nine years. I didn't want to use valuable ammunition on training, so I let her use my BB gun for practice. Her first few shots bounced harmlessly off the wall, but they gradually worked their way closer and closer to the center of the target. After three days of practice, I decided she'd do fine outside.

We stocked several extra bottles of purified water for trading in Megaton, and a thought occured to me. I'd made an offer to Sheriff Simms to disarm that bomb, but I didn't trust myself to do the job alone. This called for a trip to the maintenance department.

"Hey Stanley, you interested in a trip topside?"

Stanley looked up from replacing a vent cover and looked up, wiping his sweaty brow.

"What do you want me for?" he asked, standing up.

"The town we've been visiting, Megaton, it's got a live atomic bomb, and I don't trust myself to disarm it alone. Think you could help out?"

Stanley paused for a second, then said, "Well, it should only take one man, but I can lend a hand if you need."

"Alright. We leave in two days."

"Gotcha, boss."

I was on my way down to the cafeteria at lunch to ask Kendall if he was interested in a few days outside, when I heard shouting coming from the room. I recognized the voices of Officer Kendall, his daughter Christine, and his wife Mary.

"-leaving all the time!" Mary was saying. "I don't care what the Overseer says, John! You can't just neglect your family like this!"

"I've got a duty to the Vault!" John Kendall replied. "I can't ask the Overseer to give me a free pass because I'm married. Besides, I'm rarely even gone for long."

"No, dad!" Christine piped up. "You're away with Ryan and the officers longer and longer. You've got mom and Monica and me here!"

"John, listen to them!" said the voice of Allen Mack. "Why are you letting that little punk Ryan force you to risk your life?"

"He's not forcing me!" John replied. "He's never ordered me to go out there."

I heard Allen scoff. "John, you should know better. That brat of an Overseer is going to realize sooner or later that he can do whatever he wants with us. We have to stop him before he goes mad with power."

A few voices murmured in agreement, but they were drowned out by the shouts of "You're embarrassing yourself!" and "Shut up already!". John Kendall actually burst out laughing.

"You think Alphonse was any different? He ran this Vault with an iron fist for years, and only because there was no one else. Ryan's capable, and he's reasonable. He's one of the best Overseers we've had in a long time!"

"That won't last!" Allen Mack insisted. "He's always been selfish and insubordinate, just like his father. And probably his mother too. Thank God she didn't live to bother us."

"Mack!" I shouted, unable to contain myself. "That's the fucking limit!"

He'd gone too far now. It was time to put an end to his bullshit. Without a second thought, I stormed into the cafeteria, walked straight up to Allen Mack, and threw a punch him in the face.

"You can talk shit about me all you want," I fumed as he staggered back in shock. "I'll even tolerate you spewing bullshit about my dad. But you do not ever talk about my mother like that, or I'll make your life a living hell. If you ever mention my mother again, getting smacked will be the least of your worries."

Mack was either too frightened or too stunned to retort. I stood there, heaving for a moment, then stormed out of the room.

I somehow wound up in the library, alone. I sat down at a terminal and tried to control my breathing. How fucking dare he! Sure, this was Allen Mack we're talking about, but how spiteful can one get to go that far? My thoughts were interrupted by Christine Kendall, Allen's niece-in-law.

"Sorry about that," I said to her, still shaking, "I've always been sensitive about my mother."

"I understand," said Christine. "I know how Allen can get. I don't even bother calling him uncle; he's not really family."

She sat down at the terminal next to me.

"Being Overseer- it's getting to you, isn't it?" she said, more as a statement than a question. I sighed and nodded.

"I'm just terrified," I said, my head in my hands. "that I'll end up like Amata's father. Is this just part of being Overseer?"

"No, I don't think so," Christine replied. "Amata's mother died very early on, and Alphonse had the responsibility of raising a child and running the Vault on his own. You've got people to look to for help, at least. You'll be fine."

The shouting match with Allen Mack had reminded me of the Vault's biggest problem; population. We'd gotten to the point where almost everyone was under one family tree, which meant that the Vault would descend into inbreeding within a generation or so. Without outside imput, this place would collapse after a decade or so. I'd had an idea, ever since we first ventured outside the Vault, to let people come and go freely. Not with regulation, but perhaps allowing people to come and go would lead to a solution.

Kendall had to bail out on the next scouting run, so the final team was me, Amata, Gomez, Taylor, and Stanley and Officer Richards. Stanley and Richards would return to the Vault after the bomb was disarmed, while the four of us would continue. I'd asked around Megaton on our last trip, and learnt of a few settlements in the Capital Wasteland. Rivet City was off the agenda, due to it's proximity to war-ravaged D.C ruins. Greyditch was on the city outskirts, and supposedly spared the horrors of the super mutants. Big Town a short walk north of Megaton, and Arefu was a little further north-west.

My father and Alphonse came to see us off, Alphonse walking with the aid of a cane we'd found for him. He'd been... less than joyful when he'd learned that Amata would be going out with us, but had grudgingly accepted it. When he arrived at the Vault door, he whispered to me, "If my daughter gets hurt out there, I'll kick your ass."

The sirens blared as the door slid open, and we stepped out into the tunnel leading outside. Amata cringed at the decayed skeletons by the door, but said nothing.

I allowed her to take it all in when we stepped outside the cave. It was a big experience for her, to see sunlight for the first time in her life. I didn't know what she expected of the outside. She'd been fed those lies about an uninhabitable irradiated wasteland all her life, so maybe a part of her expected hell itself.

"It's incredible," was all she could say, standing on the cliff overlooking the Wasteland. Her eyes settled on Megaton.

"That's out first stop," I told her. "Stanley will disarm the bomb in town, and we'll trade a few bottles of water for some caps. After that... we'll look at our options."

Stanley, Amata and Richards finally tore their eyes away from the view, and we made our way over to Megaton. As we approached the bomb in the center of town, I had to restrain myself from cursing. The crazy preacher was standing in the irradiated water, worshiping that damn bomb again. I deliberately avoided him on every trip into town, but he'd most likely confront us if we started tampering with the bomb. Sure enough, I was right.

"Pardon me," he said. "But what business do you have with Atom?"

Stanley looked up from removing a panel on the bomb, and gave me an uncertain look.

"We're just... making sure the bomb is safe," I said carefully. Stanley gave a quick nod. The answer did not satisfy the preacher.

"It's regrettable that you cannot speak to me truthfully, so I must ask you to step back," he told us, narrowing his eyes. Out of the corner of my eyes, two more cult members appeared outside of their church, eyeing us. Gomez, Taylor and Richards eyed them back.

"It's regrettable that I can't oblige the request," I finally told the preacher. "We're here at the Sheriff's request."

"Then perhaps you should go back to the Sheriff and inform him that the Church of the Children of Atom will not allow people to desecrate our place of worship," the preacher shot back, looking more than a little cross now.

"This bomb is not your place of worship," said a familiar voice that couldn't come at a better time. "This bomb is in a public space, and these people are indeed here with my knowledge and permission. And I can't allow you to obstruct them."

For a moment, the preacher looked like he'd been slapped. Then, he hid it with a small smile and said, "Sheriff, these people have lived their lives underground, and are somewhat ignorant of our ways. If you were to allow me to conscript these poor souls-"

"Not a chance!" I said. "Put your hands on any of us, and we'll have a problem."

"That's not happening, Cromwell," Simms warned. "If you continue to harrass people, then I'll have to detain you."

A scowl appeared on Cromwell's face, and before stepping aside, he hissed at me, "You have made a massive error in judgement, Overseer, and you and everyone in you Vault will feel Atom's wrath because of your actions!"

I only glared in response. This man was clearly a fanatic, and pouring fuel on the fire would be a bad idea.

"Alright Stanley," I said, turning around. "What have we got?"

Stanley looked up and wiped his brow on his dirty jumpsuit. "It's C-23 Megaton bomb. Won't detonate without a fusion pulse charge, but the core is still alive and leaking radiation. When the inner plates deteriorate with age, probably in a year or so, it's gonna irradiate this whole town."

"Can we disable it?" I asked.

"Easily," Stanley nodded. "If we deactivate the core, it'll stop releasing radiation, and the bomb will be dead for good. Could I get a pair of hands down here?"

I knelt down, thankfully that my boots were radiation-resistant, and did as Stanley instructed. Most of the bomb's interior was taken up by a massive round shape, which must have held the core.

"Ah, I see," said Stanley. "The core's in the physics package, so getting it out will be hard, but we can remove the X-unit and the plate, so that it can't detonate. Here, you hold the unit while I unscrew it."

I did as he requested, putting my hands under the metal square while Stanley unscrewed the unit. When he was done, he placed the unit in the leather pouch I'd given him.

"We'll have to dismantle this thing fully sometime," he said. "These parts could be useful."

"Haven't we pissed off the church enough?" I replied sarcastically.

Stanley and I both took some Rad-X before working on the core. As he opened the aged physics package, the gieger counter on my Pip-Boy began to tick, but only for a second.

"Alright, the core's disabled," Stanley announced, wiping his hands on his jumpsuit. "The bomb is officially dead."

"Well I'll be damned."

I turned around. Lucas Simms had returned, a look of disbelief on his face.

"You did it, didn't you? You disarmed that thing!" he said, looking astonished. "And all without asking for a reward too. Here, this is the least I could do."

He drew a piece of paper from his pocket, and handed it to me.

"See that empty house, up there on the hill?" said Simms, pointing. "It's yours now. Do whatever you like with it."

Inside the folded paper, was a single key. I stored it in my pouch with a smile. I looked up at Amata, who gave me an approving smile.

I didn't plan on settling down in Megaton, but it would be handy to have a place on hand to stay at if need be. Maybe we could even turn it into a store of some kind, provided we could find someone to run it.

That thought left my mind immediately. Greeting us as we stepped inside the shack was, hovering off the ground, a round ball with three arms and three eyes, was a Mr Handy robot.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Sirs and Madam. I am Wadsworth, this dwelling's personal robotic butler. May I ask who holds the deed to his house?"

I held up the deed, but said, "We haven't decided on an owner yet, and we're considering turning this place into a store of some kind. How would you feel about it?"

"A store, sir?" said Wadsworth. "I think that would be quite an interesting idea sir! Moira from Craterside Supply might not be so welcoming to competition, but perhaps you can find some other valuables to trade with!"

"We're from a nearby Vault," I explained. "Vault 101. We're hoping to set up trade on the surface."

"Ah, I heard that a Vault had opened recently. Well, I wish you luck sir. Will any of you be requiring anything?"

I looked at my companions who, looked at each other and shook their heads.

"No, we're fine thank you," I said politely. After a moment of thought, I added, "If anyone from Vault 101 comes over, tell them that they're welcome to stay here and that the Overseer owns this place. Other than that, I'd prefer if nobody else comes over unless they have a good reason. Can you do that for me?"

"Absolutely sir!" said Wadsworth cheerfully. "Proud to serve!"

We traded two bottles of water for 80 caps before leaving town at noon, while Stanley and Richards went back to the Vault. We stopped in Springvale for a quick lunch, watching an eyebot drift by, playing Enclave Radio out of it's speaker. I'd tuned into Enclave Radio a few times, but all it seemed to play were old patriotic songs and the occasional monologue by someone who called himself 'John Henry Eden'. From the speeches, we determined that this 'Enclave' was some kind of pre-war government remnant, and Eden was it's president. Over the radio, he vowed that the Enclave would restore America to it's former glory. Sounded like rubbish.

We camped out at an old Red Rocket gas stop, since all of the houses were reduced to unrecognizable frames. In the afternoon, I tuned in to Galaxy News Radio, right as Three Dog began a report.

Got some great news out of the town of Megaton. Turns out the live atomic bomb in the town's center has finally been deep-sixed for good. The town's sheriff, one Lucas Simms, commissioned a few guys from Vault 101 to disarm the nasty nuke. Nice going 101. Glad to see you folks finally fighting the Good Fight. Next time you're in the neighborhood, pop into the studio."

"News travels fast, huh?" said Gomez.

I frowned. How had word gotten to the D.C ruins already?

I went over to join Amata, who was exploring an old house nearby.

"Find anything?" I asked.

"No, not really," she said, half distracted, while pulling a blue pre-war dress out of a suitcase. "Pretty good condition, for 200 years old."

The house had collapsed into ruin, leaving only a few walls. But the mailbox, knocked over, was still outside. I saw a yellowing piece of folded paper inside it. Pulling it out and unfolding it, I read it.

Dear Mr and Mrs Almodovar, congratulations on your recent inclusion in the Vault 101 community. In your application materials you will find a full review of rules and procedures related to preparing for shelter in a Vault-Tec facility, but we will outline a few key points here:

Vault-Tec provides all clothing, bedding and accommodations for residents. Personal belongings must be reviewed and approved of by an authorized Vault-Tec hermetics technician before such belongings can be delivered to your reserved quarters within the Vault. In the event of an emergency entrance to the Vault, no personal belonging will be permitted beyond the main door of the facility.

All Vault residents must attend an orientation seminar. If you did not attend such a seminar as part of the application process, you must make an appointment with your Vault-Tec representative.

In the event of a Vault activation, whether actual or drill, Vault-Tec will sound a siren audible in the immediate vicinity of the Vault facility entrance, and residents will be contacted via holotape message at the phone number provided in their resident profile records. Please report promptly to Vault 101 to await admittance and processing upon such a notification.

Vault-Tec looks forward to having you and your family as valued residents! Be sure to present this letter to your Vault-Tec representative to receive your special; commemorative Vault Boy bobblehead toy! Sincerely;

Vault-Tec

Dept of Public Relations

Washington, D.C

I stared at the letter, gaping. Surely this wasn't what I thought it was?

"Amata?" I said. "You should take a look at this."

Amata walked over, still carrying the blue dress, and read the letter over my shoulder. She let out a gasp, and her eyes went wide.

"How-" she began to say. She looked down at the dress, holding it close to herself, and said, "My mother died when I was little... I've never known any family members outside of my father. Ryan, do-do you mind if I keep this?"

"Not at all," I said, handing her the letter, which she carefully folded and placed in her pack along with the blue dress.

"You okay?" I asked her. She nodded, saying, "You mind if I look around a bit longer?"

We decided to settle down for the night at the gas stop. I took the first watch, with Gomez to take over in two hours. We all rolled out the sleeping bags that we'd brought with us, along with a portable heater. I sat by the road, away from the heater, letting the cool night air wash over me.

This isn't so bad, I thought, Cool air, sleeping bags, no alarms bother me in the morning. Wasteland life ain't too bad.