Washington D.C.
October 15th, 2278
"Uh, this stuff really needs to cut it out…" The older of the two women muttered, pulling a hood over her blonde hair. "Don't say it, I know it's good for the Wasteland and that we should be happy, but I hate rain."
The younger of the two just grinned and stuck her tongue out as they walked down the street of Galaxy News Radio; an old Brotherhood of Steel outpost where the two friends met for the first time; since then they were nigh inseparable when possible. A pair of Brotherhood knights waved in greeting as the two entered the building; both shaking their hair like wet dogs, much to the amusement of those inside.
"Say anything Vargas and you'll have latrine duty for the next month." The blonde sneered as she pulled back her hood and tucked it into her power armor. "Gah, a year of this stuff and I still don't like it."
"Sarah, the Wasteland is healing itself, nothing we say or do can stop that now." The brunette explained, pushing a pair of spectacles higher on her nose as she spoke. "Nature just has a way to figure things out; I didn't know that the rains would start again and that they wouldn't be radioactive. I'd say we are lucky."
Shaking her head as they made their way up the stairs, Sarah Lyons, Commander of Lyon's Pride, couldn't help but agree. Ever since Rebecca Evers crawled out of Vault 101 that young woman has been changing the face of the Wasteland for the better; achieving things in a few short months that others tried for decades to do. Taking down the Enclave, bringing fresh, pure water to the Wastes, and no need to mention all the places she had been when just wandering around.
"Lucky or not, Becca, I think nature should realize when Sarah Lyons is walking outside and stop the damn rain." She laughed as they walked into the radio broadcast room and listened to Three Dog, jockey of the Wastes, howling his heart out to those listening.
"Hey, there children! This is Three Dog and I just wanted to say thank you to Ms. 101 for bringing this wet stuff from the sky! It's much better than the damn nuclear heat we're used to, but remember to read up on your Survival Guides; with rain comes cold so get ready for some temperature changes! Once again this is Three Dog…OWWW…and we're here for you."
Pulling off his headphones, the boisterous black man came bounding out of his office and wrapped his arms around the two women waiting on them.
"Hey, my two favorite badasses! What can an old man do for you?" Three Dog howled as he reached into his pocket and pulled a pack of cigarettes out.
"Three Dog…" Rebecca warned, gesturing towards the pack. Sighing, she grinned as he put them back into one of his pockets; grinning behind his sunglasses. "Glad you still listen to me about that."
"Been smoking since I was a kid and then you come along; you're lucky you took out the Enclave otherwise I'd have a thing or two to say about it." He laughed as walked past them and pulled a pair of stools out of nowhere and hopped up onto the counter. "Please sit, now what can I do for you?"
"You're the one who called us, Three Dog, something about top-secret, classified." Sarah explained, quickly getting down to business, her armor hissing as she leaned forward. "This better not be another wild brahmin chase."
"Oh yes, now I remember, hold on my girls." Hopping off the counter, he rushed into his room and came dashing back faster than Sarah expected. In his hand he held a worn manila folder with top-secret stamped literally all over the damn paper. "Here you are, told you that it was top-secret and shit."
Taking the folder, Rebecca flipped it open and began leafing through the photos and documents that weren't completely covered in black ink. Her eyes scanned the words faster and faster when she began to realize what this could be. Looking up, she blew a loose strand of hair out of her face.
"Have you verified this?" She asked, taking a few photos and passing the folder to Sarah. The paladin quickly read through the folder before looking up at the smug grin of Three Dog. "Seriously, this better not be one of your jokes, what she said, is this verified?"
Laughing, Three Dog crossed his arms and took his sunglasses off his face pointing at the two women. "I haven't been able to verify it, but if those papers say is true…then there are some people in dire need of a wakeup call."
Xxxx
Far off on the opposite side of the city, a group of scavs were rummaging through the remains of a street side diner. The leader, a stocky man with a set of scars lining his neck, cradled a rusty sawed-off as he watched his group pick through the bombed out building.
"Boss, there ain't nothing here." One scraggly man said, a mouth full of broken teeth as he stood up from the pile he was searching. It was the last thing he did as a heavy projectile zipped through the air and entered the base of his neck; severing his spinal cord and sending his body tumbling through the air.
Boss saw the round hit his man before he heard it so they had to be far off. Diving to the ground, he watched as the only woman in the group stumbled to the ground as a round entered her chest and blew blood and gore all over him.
"Shit!" He'd have to get a new bitch now. He began crawling rapidly, ignoring the fact that the rest of his crew were being slaughtered. Using a mailbox as cover, he rushed from behind and sprinted down an alleyway; his breath ragged and shallow. Turning around, he couldn't see anyone chasing him, but it meant he didn't see who he ran into. His screams echoed down the alley, but they fell on deaf ears.
"Sir, the wasters have been disposed of." A mechanized voice followed by the hissing of servos as a dark armored man walked up to his commanding officer; picking bits of flesh out of the serrated edge of his knife.
"Good, begin setting up base camp." The officer said, raising his hand as the vertibird landing kicked up dust. "I want comms set up with base camp within the hour and get rid of these bodies before they start to stink more."
"Yes sir, when do you want us to begin to move on the objective?" The man asked, sheathing the knife.
Glancing down at his watch, the officer watched as the vertibird's bay opened and more troopers came streaming out followed by an older woman, streaks of grey highlighting her jet black hair. Dismissing the soldier with a wave of his hand, he approached the woman and saluted; noting his commander seemed to barely acknowledge him.
"Ma'am, everything is prepared. We inserted silently and the Brotherhood hasn't picked up on our patrols. They're in the dark." He explained, his adam's apple bobbing slightly. "We should be prepared to move on the White House within the hour."
Only then did the woman look at him, her gaze seemed to say that she was only tolerating his presence. Nodding, she strode forward, hands clasped behind her back, the officer quickly following behind. Stepping around the soldiers clearing the bodies, she glanced up at the vertibird as it soared back towards its base to resupply.
"Captain."
"Ma'am?" The man turned and waited for her to continue.
"Make sure that anyone who happens upon our little…expedition is dealt with accordingly, understood?" She ordered, wiping a speck of grime from her armor that the wind had blown onto her. "We can't have anyone interfering with government business."
"Understood…General Autumn."
Xxx
"Wait, if this bunker is underneath the White House then it would have been destroyed…I mean it's just a crater, I've been there." Sarah wondered aloud as she and Rebecca double timed; their Brotherhood escorts struggling to keep up.
"So have I, but the documents in the folder said that not only was it reinforced to withstand a nuclear warhead, but it wasn't directly underneath the building, it was built adjacent to the building; underneath the main lawn." Rebecca explained as she jumped over a trash can, her R91 banging against her back as she ran. "If that's the case then it could have survived."
The group, five in total, rounded the corner and found themselves in the square where a pair of Brotherhood paladins stood guard; the pair saluting with a simple nod of their heads. They both cradled miniguns and didn't think to tear their gaze from their post. They both wondered what brought the Lone Wanderer here, but simply shrugged to themselves. Whatever brought her here was soon to bring trouble.
"Becca, stop." Sarah pulled the girl back before she climbed the fence leading to the ruins of the House. "The radiation is too much still, it'll kill us to even get close."
Glancing at the ruins, Rebecca sighed, pulling a bottle of rad-ex from her belt and popped two pills. "The rains from the past year should have cleansed some of it away…Sarah if this whole thing to true then we might have survivors from Pre-War…do you know what this could mean?"
Glancing at the Brotherhood behind her, Sarah sighed and grabbed the bottle from Rebecca and popped the same number of pills. Swallowing them dry, she grimaced and turned to the soldiers.
"Stay here and set up a perimeter, I don't want any muties to even get close to us." The soldiers nodded and went to the task, Sarah turned back to Rebecca and shrugged. "What're we waiting for?"
Xxxx
There was a sharp screech of metal on metal as Sarah used her enhanced strength to rip open the hatch they had found underneath the rubble; the ticking of her Geiger counter temporarily forgotten in the excitement. Clicking on the light fixed to her shoulder, she nodded to Rebecca as she proceeded down the rusty steps, her laser rifle sweeping the stairwell.
Making their way down, they found themselves staring down a long passageway that even her light couldn't cut through; the darkness too great. Sarah winced as Rebecca lit a flare and tossed the device down the corridor; the flare hissing as it illuminated the way. The two took a deep breath and began their way into the unknown; hearts pounding in their chests.
"Reminds me of the vaults I've been in." Rebecca whispered softly, her hands gripping her rifle tight; her gloves the only reason her hands didn't slip free. "I hate vaults."
Sarah just nodded as she glanced all around her, they had found themselves in front of a large vault door, the panel still blinking periodically. Must have been a backup generator inside keeping the place going.
"Think you can open it, geek?" Sarah asked as she turned to cover their way in, the flare beginning to die out. She jumped at the sound of the door alarm going off and turned to find the door opening already and Rebecca standing there with a shit-eating grin on her face.
"I may be a geek, but I'm the geek that can hack anything." She said, pulling the connection cord from her Pip-boy and slipped inside the bunker.
"Becca, wait!" Sarah hissed too late, cursing as she followed the naïve girl into the bunker. "Whoa…"
She let her arms drop to her side at the sight of a dozen cyropods lining the walls of bunker; lockers were in the middle, but what astounded her was the technology that was inside. Cyropods were only something that was hinted at in the Citadel's database; the Scribes never knew if they had been put into production. Rebecca was right, this was so worth the decontamination that followed once they reported back to the Citadel.
Rebecca moved forward, curiosity getting the better of her, she went to the first pod and, with a shaking hand, wiped the dust from the glass pod only to leap back. She sucked in a disappointed breath.
What stared back at her was slightly preserved remains of a man in an Army dress uniform; she had seen them in one of her textbooks years ago. The man's face looked peaceful so he must have died sometime after the bombs dropped. Glancing down, she saw that the power had gone out, rendering the pod useless for the man inside.
That explains it.
Hurrying over to the remainder of the pods, she quickly wiped the dust free, her disappointment growing as the number of dead faces peered back at her from behind the glass. "They're all dead…Sarah, they didn't-
"Welcome guests."
Spinning rapidly, she pulled her sidearm and brought it to be on a rusted Mr. Handy bot that floated up and down silently. She hadn't even heard the robot activate in her excitement.
"Rebecca, back away from it." Sarah warned, her rifle trained on the robot as she circled behind it. She couldn't believe the thing was still operational after so many years inactive.
"Welcome guests, do not be alarmed, this unit is programmed for medical purposes only. Welcome to Bunker Alpha, you are one hundred and twenty years late; power to the cyro personnel has been sorted." The robot stuttered, its voice module dropping in tone and rising sharply.
Waving her hand at Sarah, Rebecca took a step forward. "What do you mean 'sorted', everyone is dead."
The sensor on the robot rose as it scanned Rebecca. "Negative, Lieutenant, the Vice President is still alive according to my calculations."
"Lieutenant?" Rebecca mouthed to herself then it dawned on her. She glanced to her shoulders, the metal bars that she had found on the armor she wore; they were rank bars! Mentally slapping herself, she never realized that they meant anything anymore…she just thought they looked good.
"Unit, you're saying that the Vice President has survived? Intact?"
The robot buzzed over to a pod nestled in the corner; its arms typing away at the control console. "Yes, ma'am. This unit had to reroute power one hundred point five years ago to keep the cyro stasis active; protocol ma'am." The bot turned, its sensor looking at Rebecca. "Preparing the unthawing sequence, please have a nice day."
"Rebecca, is this a good idea?" Sarah asked, standing beside her as the pod's lights began to flash rapidly and steam hissed from the generator behind it. "I mean…it's been two hundred years, but to him it's only been a few seconds."
Without looking at her friend, Rebecca took a few steps forward and crossed her arms. "We'll find out."
Xxx
"A few seconds"
"We'll find out."
That was the first thing I heard when I woke. Soft voices that seemed to echo inside my head…which was pounding like a drum.
Man, never drink with staff sergeant again.
Then I remembered, the alarms, bombs, the Vice President being shot and taking his place in the pod. Reaching out, I gripped the edges of the pod and pulled myself from the padded bed. A harsh light hit me and raised my hand to shield my eyes.
"Shit, Sarah, your light. Unit, activate interior lighting, dim setting."
I heard the voice again, definitely female. The light winked out a second later followed by the main lighting activating. Thankfully it was low or else I would have been blinded again. Stumbling out of the pod fully, I coughed a thick wad of flim and spat it to the side; looking up to find a pair of girls…no, women standing in front of me.
Both were armed, but their weapons were down. One, the blonde, was in power armor and the other looked to be wearing Marine combat armor with bars on the shoulder. Shit.
"Ma'am, Sergeant Andrew Becher, good to see a friendly face." I croaked out weakly, my throat feeling dry. "Are you the rescue party?"
The lieutenant turned to look at the blonde who just shrugged. The lieutenant stepped forward and held her hands up; palms empty. "Sergeant, I don't know how to say this, but how long do you think you were in there?"
Scratching at my head, I realized my hair had grown out, past my neck and reaching my shoulders. Taking a hand, I ran it across my face and found a fully beard in place of smooth skin. Looking at the two, I shrugged myself.
"Uh, few years, I think I remember the protocol being that the pods would open once everything died down topside." I muttered, looking around. None of the other pods had been open yet and I was getting antsy just standing there in my skivvies. "Ma'am, why haven't you opened the other pods yet?"
I could see her face fall. Disappointment? Regret?
Squaring my shoulders, I went to parade rest and looked them in the eye. "Ma'am, how long have I been asleep?"
"Uh, Sergeant…I don't know how to say this, but the other pods won't be opening…" The woman glanced behind her, at the pods before pushing the glasses on her face up. "It's…it's been two hundred years since the bombs fell. We aren't the U.S. government, it doesn't exist anymore."
It felt like someone had just sucker punched me in the stomach. My eyes widened and I looked at the other pods finally realizing that the lights on the pod generators had gone out. The others…dead…I failed again.
"Sergeant…Andrew?" The lieutenant…no, she just said she wasn't U.S. personnel so the rank meant nothing. His rank meant nothing anymore.
"We came here to find survivors and we didn't think that anyone might have still been here." The woman stepped forward, placing a gloved hand on my shoulder. "My name is Rebecca; Rebecca Evers. This is Sarah Lyons, we're…we're here to help."
Glancing at the two of them, I nodded weakly, gesturing towards the medical bay. The woman, Rebecca, nodded and gently steered me towards the bay. I just keep my head fixed on the deck; my hair falling past my shoulders.
What now?
Well, yall asked and I hope I came through. Those wondering about the location of the bunker, I hope that the explanation I gave made it seem likely and well, hey it's fanfiction so anything is possible.
Please read, review and tell me what ya think!