Chapter 9
Darkness, Douglas stumbled around in the endless labyrinth of vault 101's deepest levels for what purpose he knew not. "HELLO! Is anyone here" Nothing but the ever present silence responded to him. Douglas knew these corridors knew the vault every which way but he was lost in the darkness. It wasn't normal, no light at all just an ever suffocating blanket of pitch black around him constricting further and further. "HELLO! ANYONE! Where the hell am I?" Every time Douglas thought he had found his way the corridors just seemed to shift leading him into yet another dead end or endless hallway. "You're right where you should be, among friends, your only true friends." Douglas stopped as an ethereal voice spoke in a whisper that brought hair to stand on end and fear to seep into his heart. "Who… who's there?" Douglas franticly turned from side to side searching the darkness. "You know me. I'm an ever present piece of you." The darkness around him took form before him the light that had been drowned in the sea of black leaking back into the halls of the vault. "I am you. Every dark impulse every sadistic thought every bit of rage. I am you, I am Darkness." Douglas turned to run from the dark form into the light of the corridors every turn he took leading back to the faceless dark figure. "Face it Douglas you can't escape the Darkness inside of you. Embrace me, it's the only way we may both yet survive in this hell of a wasteland." Douglas Fell to his knees before the dark figure exhausted the darkness sapping his strength to resist he couldn't stop the encroaching darkness. Its features morphing to match his as Douglas stared into his very own face his own eye boring back into him. "NOOO! This isn't who you are Douglas. You have to wake up, WAKE UP!"
"AMATA!" Clutching his chest Douglas bolted upright drenched with sweat his heart beating a mile a minute as he sucked in gulps of air reeling from his all too real dream. Holy shit that dream, was it a dream? It felt so real, too real. "Am I a monster? Those raiders I didn't just kill them I terrorized them, I… I made them suffer before I killed them, no I butchered them." Deep in his thoughts and self-doubt Douglas begrudgingly gathered his bed roll and stuffed it away in his pack before slinging it over his shoulder. I can't keep these thoughts running around endlessly in my head, I have to block them out. Arefu, I need to reach Arefu. Taking off down the road from the motel Douglas walked the remaining distance to the ruined overpass that the settlement sat upon, his mental debate continuing despite his best efforts to block them out. So deep in his thoughts he didn't notice the threat that lingered at the top of the overpass until a makeshift bomb landed at his feet. "What the hell? OHHHHH SHIT!" Douglas dove back as fast as he could, the bomb going off behind him as he managed to get to the partial safety of a burned out car. Several bits of shrapnel digging into his left leg that was still exposed while the rest pinged off the rusted metal of the car at his back. "AHHH! Fuck that stings. HOLD YOUR FIRE YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! I'm not your enemy." Douglas clutched his leg as a painful throb began radiating around the fresh holes made by the fragments of stone and metal. "OHHHH Hell you're not one of them shit! KAREN I NEED SOME HELP OUT HERE NOW!" What Douglas didn't realize is his leg was worse than he had though it was he was losing blood fast the voice that was right next to him sounded distant like it was at the end of a tunnel he was quickly losing consciousness as he felt two pairs of arm lifting him up.
Douglas awoke sometime later his head feeling just like it had two days before after the drinking game with Jericho. "Uhhhhhhh! My head, where am I? Whose bed am I in?" Douglas threw the thin blanket that was draped over him off and stumbled to his feet only a slight soreness in his leg. "No no no no no you shouldn't be up your leg can't-. Your leg, it's healed? How is that possible it's only been 3 days?" A woman who appeared to be in her early twenties from what Douglas could discern with dirty blond hair and a patchwork cloth gown like dress came into the room stunned at Douglas's recover. And to be honest she was right his leg was in bad shape but he was standing 3 days after the incident that caused it, it made him think. The mutation! It must be the cause of this advanced healing it's the only thing that could explain it. Moira you are a crazy genius. "I uhhhhh, I have a mutation I believe that's the cause of this accelerated healing. I'm as shocked as you are I had no idea that it could do this. By the way who are you?" He asked the woman who was staring at him still stunned at his recovery. "I… I'm Karen, Karen Schenzy, I'm a resident of Arefu I've been watching over you for the past 3 days since Evan nearly-." Douglas cut her off the memory of how he got here coming back to him. "Since Evan nearly killed me with a fucking bomb!" His word came out a bit snappishly. "Yes since that. I'm sorry we've all been on edge lately. We've been getting attacked by a band of people that call themselves the family and Evan's just trying to keep us all safe it's been hard on him." His anger faltered at her statement. He could forgive a mistake like that not forget it but forgive. It was at this time he noticed his state of undress causing him to blush, he was in nothing but his undershirt and boxers that he wore under his suit. "Hey ummmmm you wouldn't happen to have my things lying around somewhere would you? You know so I could get dressed." She noticed his lack of dress as he asked her, her face turning the same shade of scarlet as his as she stammered. "Uhhhh yes yes I do." She stared awkwardly at him for several moments before his question clicked with her. "OHHH yes I'll go get them for you." She quickly left the room stammering as she went. She's cute in an awkward kind of way. "I did my best to patch up the holes in your suit it's not perfect but it should hold for a while, here you go." She said coming back into the room holding his folded suit and pack in her outstretched arms. "Thanks, hey where are my weapons?" He asked while he put his suit back on. "Evan has them over at his place, he didn't want you waking up and going crazy." Understandable, still he wouldn't have to worry about that if he didn't go around trying to blow the legs off of everyone that came to town. Shaking his head at his thought Douglas finished putting on his armored suit and pack after checking all its contents were where they were supposed to be before exiting the room. "You should go talk to Evan he'll give you your weapons back and I'm sure he'll want to apologize as well." Douglas nodded heading for the door out double checking his suits straps as he went. "Right thanks Karen for you know making sure I didn't die."
That was my first brush with death, well closest by that point in time anyway. What I took out of the experience, don't walk around in the wastes deep in thought or you could end up legless.
Authors Note: Sorry for the length of the chapter and the wait for it, I've been fairly busy lately that and the whole one a day thing bled my enthusiasm for writing a bit. I'm still continuing this story but I'm not writing a chapter a day probably 2 to 4 a month or so. Thanks for reading.