Prologue
March 15, 2300
My Name is Hal Rockitansky, known to the people of the Commonwealth as the Sole Survivor. I leave this behind as a means of placating Piper and Curie who claim it will help me mentally to get this off my chest, but really I just want to leave behind a record or two of my time in this world I awoke to.
Where to even begin…? I was born and raised in what eventually became the settlement called Sanctuary, back then known as Sanctuary Hills. I came of age and met this wonderful girl named Nora, in High School, who I would marry and eventually went to serve in the military—thought I should, that every man of my country had an obligation to. Fought in a war that, in hindsight, was almost pointless seeing as what it led to. Came home, had my son Shaun, and was living a fairly idyllic life til one day…shit hit the fan. Bombs were dropped on the cities of my homeland. We got lucky and were allowed into the nearby vault, thankfully I had registered us for it that day. Then we were put on ice. Then as if that wasn't bad enough they thawed us out just so I could see the Institute lab dogs murder my wife and take our son just before being put back on ice.
When I was finally free from it all I was crushed. My wife was dead, I had no idea where my son was, and I awoke to a nightmare of a reality. Dog-sized roaches, monsters the size of dinosaurs, and roving bands of murderous raiders; all in the carcass of my homeland. And I was just supposed to make due.
These are the events I witnessed upon my advent to this new age.