Chapter 3
William had to stop often to let the old woman rest. She wasn't crying now, but she stared blankly ahead as he guided her along. She appeared to be in shock. William began to talk to her. Asking questions didn't get any reply, so he told her about himself. He told her, how he had escaped vault 106, and that he needed to rescue his mom and sister, if they were still in the vault.
They had walked a long way, and finally, the old woman said, "Agatha...my name is Agatha."
William stopped and looked at her.
"His name was Albert." She said, holding out the bloody clothes, as her lips trembled. "He was my husband."
Tears welled up in her eyes and William hugged her.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save Albert. Please forgive me Agatha."
"It wasn't supposed to be like this." She said. "We only needed a little longer to see the end together."
"He kept you safe as long as he could."
Agatha shook her head in agreement, and stepped back to look at Albert's clothes.
"Can we bury him?" She asked, her eyes imploring him
"Yes," he said, as they looked around them. "let's find a nice place."
"There," said Agatha. "that old tree."
William looked at the tree. It barely qualified as a tree. It was twisted, ancient, most of the branches were broken, and it had no bark left.
"That looks perfect." Said William.
Agatha took William's hand, and they walked to the base of the tree, where they dug a small cradle of earth away from between the roots. William gently took the folded clothes, and placed them in the resting place.
"Seems right." Said Agatha, as she looked up at the twisted gain of the grave marker. "This old tree has seen a lot, just like Albert and I. He doesn't have to be alone now, and I can find him again when it's time."
Together they pushed the dirt over the clothes and smoothed it with their hands. William waited, while Agatha silently said her goodbys. After a few seconds, she looked at William. He helped her up. She stood, slowly stepping and turning around; memorizing the location.
Then she noticed William's eyes were locked on something over her shoulder. There, standing a little way off was the young woman from the cage.
"Glad you made it." The young woman said, as she walked up to them. "Sorry I couldn't stick around. I tried to lead the Mutants away, but they didn't go for it."
"That was clever," William said. "waiting till they untied our feet."
"It was the best chance to save at least one of you." She answered.
"This is Agatha." He said. "My name is William. What's yours?"
"They call me Ice."
"Just Ice?"
"Good a name as any. I went by a different name, years ago, but this one stuck."
Agatha looked at Ice but said nothing.
William's eyes shifted between the two women, and he sensed there was some unspoken recognition.
The woman looked at his jumpsuit, and she seemed to be thinking; then she turned his shoulder to look at the number on the back.
"Welcome to the real world William." She said. "I guess I owe you thanks for getting that bobby pin to me or who knows what the Mutant's would have done to us."
"They said they were taking us somewhere. What for?" He asked.
"I don't know." She answered. "Nobody knows what they do with most of the hostages; some of them disappear. Rumor has it, the mutants used to be hostages themselves. A fate worse than death, if it's true."
"Are they following you?" Asked Ice.
"I don't think so," said William. "they might be dead."
"Good," said Ice. "we should get going. We shouldn't stay out here for long without guns. My camp is that way. I got caught by the Mutants when I was...gathering supplies."
William noticed Agatha looked at him when Ice said this. Ice started leading them further in the direction they were headed.
"So what's your story?" Asked Ice. "I've seen that number on your jumpsuit on a vault door. Is it open to the public now?"
William told his story as much to Agatha, as to Ice, as he wasn't sure how much Agatha had heard the first time.
"How did you know about the vault?" Asked William.
"I was there once with some friends." Said Ice. "A couple guys went in to scout its potential. One came back, but he was delusional and talking like an idiot. We never saw the other one again. It took hours before he snapped out of it; it was pretty obvious there was something in the air down there. He told us pretty much what you just did. There seemed to be..." Ice paused, and then continued, "There seemed to be a lot of supplies, but no way to get to them. We thought about a place where we could get some oxygen tanks and masks; it's a town called Old Oldney. It has a Fire Department, or at least what's left of one. It's another tough place to get into. We were on our way there, when the Mutants found us. Both of the guys got shot, one died; he was the first to get eaten." Ice turned to look at William and said, "When it was obvious Tank wasn't going to survive, they butchered him next. Along the way I could hear them talking about German Town and a Vault 87; it was the one that called it the birthplace.
"If you get those breathing masks," William said. "you're going to need someone to lead you around down there."
"That's what I was thinking." Said Ice. "We'll have to get some help before we go to Old Oldney."
Agatha tightened her grip on Williams arm.
"It sounds like a long journey." He said. "I think Agatha will need to rest a lot."
Ice kept walking, but William could tell she was debating something.
"We're not far from my home." Said Agatha. "If you take me there, you can rest and eat before you go on your way."
This seemed to satisfy Ice who replied, "Lead the way."
