Many hours had passed since our encounter with the mutated serpent, yet even now I felt a deep-seated fear that it would return, that it would come back to finish what it had started. The others had to have been thinking the same as me. Aaron and Amarita led the expedition their pip-boy lights activated casting a dim blue glow on the swamp around us. It was easy to tell it was becoming late as the light that had been filtered through the canopy above slowly began to fade till now we were nearly bathed in darkness except for the light our pip-boys cast. Usually the light is a sickly green but with the sheer amount of moss upon the trees, brown water and foliage it would've been washed out. Hence, we'd all changed to a light blue. Amarita and Aaron had barely lowered their weapons since the encounter with the mutated serpent or as I had begun to call it, The basilisk. I remembered stories in which snakes of abnormal size were usually called basilisk's but those had been fantasy. This was real life and now they truly existed. Feeling a chill retreat down my spine I looked back to check on Damien and Claire.
Damien cradled the shotgun in both of his large hands, he was ready to blow anything that popped its head up away. Claire on the other hand had her weapon slightly lowered but her body was tense, her head constantly on a swivel. She seemed to be the most aware out of the entire group. Me? I wasn't tasked with holding some position to defend the group, nor was I its leader. I was just the navigator and the technician. Even now I held the spare pip-boy that we'd retrieved from the skeletal corpse in my hands. My stomach still turned at the thought of what could've possibly killed the individual. My first instinct screamed that it had been the basilisk but that was all too wrong. Snakes were known to eat their food whole, there would've been nothing left if it had been the basilisk. No... It was something else that had killed them.
"How far in are we?" Amarita whispered back to me forcing my mind back to the reality of the situation. It was getting late and eventually we'd have to camp out. We hadn't eaten since embarking from the vault, nor had we stopped to rest except for a few minutes at a time. That wouldn't be enough. I could feel my legs burning from exhaustion, every step I wanted to collapse, the sweat stains were so much now that my entire jumper was a darker color of blue, the same was for the others of the group. If I had more energy I would've admired how they clung to the tight figures of Amarita and Claire.
Looking at the map on my own pip-boy I shook my head. We were only ten miles into a trip that would force us to travel into the hundreds and that was if we were able to take a straight path. We were going slower due to not only the cautious pace but the swamp which had significantly slowed our progress. It was so late now that the swamp was alive with sound. The chittering of insects climbing up and down trees, the sound of splashing water and even a few snarls and hisses in the distance. The night was far more dangerous than the day. "We're nowhere near, only ten miles in… Not only that but its getting dark fast and we'll have to find some place to rest."
"I'd hate to agree with him, but he's right. I'm starving and can't keep going like this." Aaron growled never taking his eyes off what was in front of him.
"Well, what do you expect us to do? We can't just sleep right here, where would we sleep? The water is up to our ankles." Claire whispered back while the ever-stoic Damien nodded his head in agreement.
"I think I have an idea…" I chimed in looking down to my pip-boy. As they had been created and programmed before the bombs dropped they had maps of what the planet used to be like and held the landmarks that used to exist. "We'll be entering the city of Miami soon enough, or at least one of the towns on its borders… Perhaps we find a place to stay there? The city was known for its skyscrapers and its cityscape, if any buildings survived we can possibly camp out in them may even be able to clean ourselves."
Looking back to me and then the others around Amarita spoke clearly this time. "Well let's bring it to a vote, we can either continue straight on our path or we can go through Miami if anything I'd rather take my chances with a city than try to rest in a swamp."
"Same, I'd rather not risk being eaten in my sleep by some gigantic snake." Aaron said.
"Hmm… I don't know." Damien said looking to Claire to see what she had to say.
The blonde seemed just as troubled by the prospect of going through a city, but at the same time, it was obvious she disliked the idea of staying in the swamp. "We might as well take our chances with the city. If anything, it at least gives us the chance to clean ourselves."
Nodding her head Amarita looked to me, despite looking exhausted and drenched in sweat she was still a sight to behold. "The vote has been made. Which way to Miami?"
"North East," I said having to force the words out through my drying mouth. Reaching to my belt and lifting the vault 84 canteen to my lips I let the cool water flow down my gullet. I sucked on it draining more water like a baby from their mothers' breast. My thirst could not be quenched from a simple sip. It was only when a dribble of water flowed down my chin that I stopped.
"You heard him let's move."
Once again taking up formation and moving caution was thrown slightly to the wind as we picked up pace. It was hard on my body, every muscle cried for me to just take a break and sit down but we were all too close to our goal to give up now. It was too dark to continue to stay in the swamp, if we did I had a creeping suspicion that something horrible would happen. The further we went towards our goal the more the swamp thinned out.
Soon enough our feet were no longer submerged in water and we weren't forced to walk on mud, instead beneath our feet was solid concrete. The concrete was heavily damaged but it still held it was still strong enough to bear our weight. Looking off to our right and left I saw what could've once been homes that had been submerged in a mixture of moss or claimed by the swamp. The canopy that was above us broke as we entered the remnants of Miami and as I looked upon what remained of the city I found myself awed. The swamp was only a few feet behind us and the majority of the city was still quite a bit off but that open stretch of road leading into it was something I never thought I'd see. We'd always watched films or read stories about the cities of the old world, but seeing it in person was a completely different thing. Even with the damage, it had suffered, and the degradation that had taken place the city was still a site to see.
Skyscrapers reached high into the sky as though they pierced the clouds themselves, there were no visible lights in the city but the light from the stars and moon above cast a glow that made me wonder what the city had once been like in its prime.
"Wow…" Claire said voicing what all of us were feeling.
"Never imagined it would still be in such good shape…" Amarita said looking back to me as if I had some input on the city or was a living encyclopedia for the group.
Shaking my head, I continued to stare on. "While the Gulf Commonwealth was bombed, it seems like we didn't suffer that bad." Shrugging I looked to Claire and Damien who had begun moving away from the group and towards a Red Rocket build on the side of the road. "What happened to staying together?" I called out loud to look back and see Amarita and Aaron joining them. Sighing I shrugged and followed.
The Red Rocket was supposed to be one of the most common gas stations across The United Commonwealth. From the large size of it, I guessed this was one of the more popular ones. The gas station had around ten pumps outside of it and on its roof, the rocket was planted. Extending out far further than it realistically should have was the roof which offered shade around the building and over what once could've been a patio area. The iron fences that had once closed it off were bent at odd and unnatural angles and what few tables and chairs remained were nothing but shattered remnants of their former selves. On the far-right hand side of the building was a garage area and within it a broken down Chryslus Corvega, a four-door sedan model. Of course, it wasn't functional, what had once been red paint was now a rusted brown, two of the doors were missing and all the tires were gone. Even then it had been close to two centuries since the vehicle had been used or repaired so the work one would have to do to repair it wouldn't be worth it. Searching for functional parts alone could possibly take weeks.
The group stood around the thing admiring it though. Within the work area there was, however, a tool bench with an array of tools on its shelves, just what I needed to finish my work on the pip-boy, moving over to the bench I grabbed the first flat head screwdriver I saw and went to prying the panel off the pip-boy I had recovered. "We might as well stay here for the night, it's already dark and we're right outside the city. If we wanted to we could scavenge it tomorrow. " I suggested as I got to work examining the innards of the pip-boy. Strewn out before me were wires and a large motherboard which was still connected to the screen.
"You're right. But we better search the rest of the building. Claire stay here with Nik. The rest with me, I'd rather not have any other surprises tonight while we sleep." Amarita said. Her weapon wasn't at the ready anymore however, she had visibly eased but there was still a sense of disbelief in her voice. As they left I looked back to Claire who sat on the hood of the Chryslus her laser rifle between her legs.
"So… Been awhile huh?" I asked trying to make conversation with Claire. We had all been through school together and were around the same age. Claire was one of the more popular kids, you'd think that being couped up in a vault would destroy concepts like popularity but it didn't. Claire was one of the most athletic people in the vault and most admired.
"Yea, it has. Mr. Jacksons class, right?"
"Mmhmm, surprised you remember me. Haven't seen you since we took the GOAT and were given our duties."
Scoffing Claire shook her head. "Of course, you didn't you were off in your cush job in the lab."
"It wasn't all jokes and games, running the Vault was important to our survival."
"I… I kn-"Stopping short Claire stared straight forward as across the street there came a heavy thump. So, loud that my head snapped around and my heart skipped a beat. Coming towards the Red Rocket was a group of six individuals. They all wore a mix-match of clothes except for one, he was drabbed in Power Armor. What model I couldn't tell from the distance between us. It was obvious it had seen many trials due to the burn and pock marks that littered what few metal plates remained on the frame.
"Hey! We think someone lives here!" Amarita shouted as she burst back into the garage to see the dumbfounded looks on me and Claire's face. My attention now on Amarita I saw her lips moving but the sound didn't come out to me. Instead, I saw her mouth moving telling me to get down. Obeying I hit the deck as I heard a faint whirring and was greeted by the scent of seared flesh. It assaulted my nose making me want to gag and an instant later I heard a loud thump next to me. It was wet and I could feel a warm liquid touching my body. Looking over I saw a hole in the center of Claire's skull. All around the flesh was blackened and blood oozed out onto the floor.