Wendy

I'm dozing off when everything goes black, I slump forward, and a piercing alarm starts to sound. What the-? I'm still trying to gather my bearings when emergency lights recessed along the baseboards flicker on, and the door opens, slower than usual.

"Come on, we're getting the hell out of here." It's Virgil, dressed in some kind of funky jumpsuit.

He helps me out of the pod and hands me my prosthetic, the Pip-Boy, and my harness. "Put these on, quick. We gotta get Charon before the lights come back on." I slide on the Pip-Boy, then my rubber-metal hand, tighten the harness straps, then buckle it around my chest, quickly.

"Lead the way."

He forces the door open, using a hidden mechanism. "For emergencies," he explains, briefly. "Dad, are you okay? Please tell me you're in one piece, and not drugged to the gills."

"I'm good."

"Wendy, I need light." I shine the light on the Pip-Boy as he picks the heavy-duty locks on Charon's manacles.

"Jesus. They must think you're an animal. Kept you tied up like one."

He sighs and shrugs, chains clinking softly. A clack – "One down, one to go."

"Charon, what did they do to you?"

"Nothing that won't heal. Don't worry about me," he answers.

"Hey, I'm the one giving orders around here."

He smirks. Clack! "All right gang, let's get the hell outta Dodge." Virgil says, as Charon rubs his wrists. They must ache horribly. Metal chains. What is this – the Middle Ages?

"Our stuff is down this way. Double time!"

Charon

We're putting on our packs and situating our gear when a shrill voice rings out over the alarms. "Virgil! Where are you going?!" Uh oh. Drama time.

A thin young woman with brown hair stalks down the hallway towards us, and I grip my shotgun tighter. Virgil lays a hand on my wrist, and I calm, just a little. "Emily, go back to your room. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I waited for you SO LONG, Virgil. I tried to be what you wanted," she whines.

"But I don't want you, Emily. I don't want the Enclave."

"We don't have time for this," I mutter. "Virgil, get rid of her. We don't have much time."

"Get RID OF ME?" she yells. She points at my chest. "NO! I'm not going anywhere, and I'll be GOD DAMNED if some rotten shuffler is gonna order me around!" There's fire in that one.

I step back as Virgil pushes her away from me. "Go, Emily. I'm leaving. There's nothing you can say to make me stay."

Her face twists in a mask of hate and disgust. "So that's it? You're choosing this CORPSE-FUCKING WHORE OVER ME?" She grabs at Wendy's shirt, and in an instant, Wendy is on top of her, fist flying. She holds her down with her left arm, grabs a handful of brown hair with her right, and starts slamming Emily's head against the floor. I have a brief moment of déjà vu as I yank her off of the woman. She lands a final vicious kick right in the ankle, causing Emily to shriek shrilly.

Virgil is glued to one spot, eyes wide. I nudge him in the shoulder. "Put on my pack. Let's go." He blinks at me. "She'll be fine. Let's go." He then bursts into activity, shouldering the pack in one smooth, practiced motion – that's my boy – and leads us down the hallway, as fast as he can.

"Follow the blue beacons!" he yells over the din.

We twist and turn, a maze of blinking lights and metal walls, when all the sudden, the sirens stop. The lights don't come back on, but we can hear a mouse fart in here. "That's our cue to get our shit together. I hope you know what you're doing." I say. Apparently, his guardian angels took us the back way around - we haven't seen a soul, other than Emily. Either that, or they're occupied with more pressing matters - not like I give a shit, anyway.

"Follow me. We should be almost there." He hits the emergency release on another door, and reveals a small room with an empty guard desk. There's an intercom on the wall, but Virgil makes no move towards it.

"And just where do you think you're going?" Asks a middle-aged man in full military uniform.

"I'm leaving, Joseph."

"Over my dead body." I raise my shotgun to my shoulder. More than happy to oblige.

Virgil

I'm stunned to see Joseph there. "Put your plasma pistol on the desk, Joseph. He will shoot you," I say, indicating Charon.

"With pleasure." Charon sneers.

Joseph removes the pistol from its holster and lays it on the desk. "I'm not gonna let you leave here again."

"Yes, you are."

Fast as lightning, he pulls a large pistol and fires at Charon, at point-blank range. Charon fires shortly after, turning Joseph's chest into a bloody mess.

"Are you hit?"