Blood from Vault 18

Pale Imitation

"MY CHILD HAS RISEN!" a scream echoed in the darkness as a grotesque abomination crawled out of an ocean of green. The thing screamed into the air in pain, it had no eyes and no hands it crawled on the ground like a blind snake.

Its skin began to fall apart and it bones seemed to be breaking with every painful movement it made.

A large monster grabbed the thing and held it gently, like a father would a child "You are the first, the one that has opened the way for his return" the creature moved what could only be described as its head towards the giant, in its short existence this was the one comfort that it had.

"Thank you, my child." The giant grabbed the head of its creation and crushed it between his fingers. Its suffering ended by the one that has started it "I see the path I have to take now"

Kieron gasped as he sprang from his feet and held his head. "What?" was he could mutter as he looked around the darkness. Torches illuminated the great mine as his body tried to adapt itself to the darkness, how had he survived?

What was that dream?

As he struggled to walk Kieron fought the urge to cry, all he wanted was to go home. A home, any place where he didn't feel like he was about to die, why was he in this hell? He was barely eighteen and now he was expected to kill a monster? Panic made begin to hyperventilate and the humidity made his cold sweat feel like it was suffocating him. As he fell to his knees he struggled to breathe "N-no… I won't…"

"Who is there?" a voice called out as the light of a torch illuminated the dark stones that surrounded him, Kieron looked up to see a pale old man looking down at him "You… you're sent from above and yet… you're pale like the us!"

Kieron stumbled up as he looked around for anyone else "Y-yes… I was sent to help… with the monster" his worries doubled when the man laughed "You alone? Taking on the beast? That demon is as big as a mountain and stronger than anything we have ever seen, he rules the depths and you alone will not be able to stop it… The Voiceless could not why you"

"The voiceless?" Kieron asked as the old man motioned him to get up to where he was, Kieron let out a sigh as he climbed and the faint sound of digging reached his ears. There in the distance he could see them, pale and dressed in rags Kieron watched as this pale people loaded carts with metals and used a small elevator to send it to the surface "We are the voiceless, born and raised here on the bellow"

Kieron felt his eyes widen as he realized what that meant "You have never been out of this mine" a soft chuckle reached his ear "No, does this surprise you?" Kieron remembered who was in control of the mine and frowned.

"With who is in charge of this place, no. It does not" the young boy commented as the old man seemed to agree with him as he lead him towards the more "civilized" part of the deep mine. The men and women of the Voiceless tribe stared at him with fear or hate, the ones above seemingly had not left the best impression.

The old man looked back at him "You frighten them, the Voiceless want to know why you are here"

Kieron nodded "I was thrown here, I don't want to hurt any of them I promise…" there was a pause as the seemingly mute people stared at him and then back at the old man "They do not believe you, they think you are like the last one from the surface" Kieron followed their eyes as he stared at a hanged half eaten corpse.

The uniform gave him away instantly "One of Brags's!" he muttered to himself. "That one thought himself above the Voiceless did not pick rock, did not eat the food given by the masters above. Tried to attack us and look at him now… at least his flesh mad efor a good meal"

"what do you… oh" Cannibals, this people did not mind eating human flesh. Kieron swallowed his nervousness and raised both his hands "I am not like him, his group destroyed my home… I am here just like you to work on what the one upstairs wants" this seemed to make an impression as the small group began to disband and simply nodded at him.

The old man nodded "The Voiceless then will leave you to your work. The door over there leads to the abyss where the monster is… if you wish to speak do not disturb the others, I am the Voice I am the only one that may speak to them" Kieron then was left alone, as the lights flickered all around him all of them leading him to the big metal door. He felt his hands tremble as the idea of facing the beast now with only his fist seemed to be the only way out, would the raiders come looking for him if he simply stayed here and hid among the voiceless?

But then what would happen to his friends?

As scared as he was, he needed to take the first step. Looking at one of the broken tools scattered near him he spotted what looked like the broken pick of what once was a large Pickaxe. It was better than no weapon at all, one of the voiceless seemed to be interested in his actions as she followed him towards the door. Kieron opened the metallic door as rust and dust fell to the ground and just as quickly he closed it.

To his surprise a small window was opened, the voiceless girl following his moves. Maybe she wanted to see if he would survive "And if I die maybe she wants to eat me" Kieron shuddered as he advanced, broken down robots and pieces of machinery seemed to be his only company as the tunnels seemed to stretch forever. The artificial lights of centuries past continued to flicker on as they gave him an idea of where he had to go, but they seemed to not be enough to combat the darkness that was the mine. It was quiet, so quiet Kieron could hear the lights hum as energy ran through them and the soft sound of water falling to the floor. And then a snarl reached his ears as from one of the many holes to the side something crawled out.

Kieron gasped as a deformed man crawled out of its hiding spot, its eyes white and without a soul. Their lips gone and the only thing that remained was a set of yellow crooked teeth, the creature screamed at him and launched himself towards Kieron.

Slamming his pick on the side of the head of the creature Kieron felt the blood run down his hand as the creature continued to struggle against him the fact that a sharp object was lodged in his brain not something that seemed to stop it, the metal sunk deeper as Kieron was pushed back and the teeth of the creature snapped close to his face, pushing the creature off him Kieron grabbed a rock and slammed it against the metal that was already on its head.

Like a nail that pierced wood the pick sank all the way into the head of the creature as it was finally put to rest "What… the fuck… a ghoul…" Kieron answered his own question as the name of the creature was given by his brain.

Did Rossman mention them in a lecture?

Looking into the tattered clothes of the once human, Kieron spotted something shining on the side. A knife, why had he not used on him? No, he already knew the sad answer to that question when sanity left and the man's soul died this was what remained, feral and incapable of rational thoughts.

"Sorry about this" Kieron did not know why he apologized to the ghoul, but it did make him feel a little bit better now that he had taken the knife for himself. with this new weapon Kieron pressed on towards the descending path, to his surprise more ghouls seemed to inhabit this part of the mine their decaying flesh and odor giving them away.

Spotting a small pistol on the hip of one of the ghouls Kieron let out a long sigh and sprinted towards his opponents and used the knife to strike down the one with the gun reaching for the revolver he noticed the bullets on it and used it against the undead. It was a quick and merciful kill, all his bullets piercing their brains and shattering their skulls.

Looking down at the revolver Kieron noticed that he needed to reload, searching on the corpse of the one that had the weapon he frowned as he retrieved the only remaining ammo it had "Six bullets"

Six.

It was all he had to face down a monster that ruled the depths "A bullet is all it takes… nothing can survive a bullet to the head" he muttered to himself as a small smile made its way to his lips. He had this, he just needed to be sneaky enough to pull this off, no matter how big the odds seemed to be stacked against him he needed to succeed.

As the caves around him seemed to expand a now familiar smell reached his nose, blood, using the PipBoy as a lantern Kieron gasped at the scene before him "What happened here?" the corpses of ghouls scattered around the area as the tunnel opened to a large cave with a giant machine in the center of it all.

Kieron shot at the dark as his heard something "One" the darkness answered him.

He was not alone down here.

Turning off his PipBoy light Kieron searched for any movement, something that would give his opponent away. Something stepped on the puddle of blood, Kieron shot at its direction "Two… you are running out of time boy" his hands trembled as he turned around trying to find where the voice was coming from, he could not scream his lungs seemed to be failing him and his vision was blurry.

Something moved next to him as he let out a flurry of shots, blood fell from the ground as he struck something invisible, then he was flung back his ribcage felt like it had been struck by an anvil as he desperately tried to crawl to his knees "Three, four and five… come on then take your last shot."

His attacker materialized out of thin air as Kieron suppressed a scream "You… you are…"

"Super Mutant, Nighkin and your executioner. You have been a troublesome prey, so weak that I couldn't tell you apart from the others but then I saw it… I will carry your mangled body back to the Father" Kieron raised his hands as he managed to get to a standing position.

The Nighkin reached for his weapon "Going to plead for your life?"-"I am not the one you are looking for… I am just some kid from a vault I am nothing special" this seemed to anger the Nighkin as he slammed him against the rocks and took the knife from him.

"I agree, but there is one way to know" Kieron screamed as the knife was brutally dragged across his chest and then he was lifted back to a standing position "Move and I will use my rifle to remove each of your limbs" scared of what would happen if he did not comply Kieron could only nod as he watched down as his bloodied chest.

This was the monster.

Taller than he was and a vicious killer, one bullet he only needed one bullet. Kieron looked down as the bleeding began to stop, the Nighkin seemed to frown as he pointed at him "No… you are the one, the wounds are already closing" Kieron looked down as he watched in horror as his flesh began to heal the wound and all that remained was a red scar.

"W-what?"-"You didn't know… what type of live did you have that this anomaly never appeared. You are not HIM" Kieron felt a panic attack begin to set in as he looked at his hands "What am I"-"A letdown, but that does not matter. I will cut you in pieces and escape this cave"

That snapped Kieron out of his shock as he jumped back "No you cant do that!"

"Why not, it is my mission" the way the knife glowed red with his blood made Kieron shiver as he looked frantically around for something to save him an idea made its way into his head.

One bullet, one shot at this.

"There is no way for you to leave, not without the raiders knowing the only to the entrance to the mine is back there. You are trapped in here just like me" a gamble on his part, the Nighkin glared as he looked around.

"It is not impossible to escape, I don't care what happens to me as long as I can take you to the Father, even if not intact"

Kieron pointed at himself "You think I am weak, what if I don't make it? Wouldn't that mean that you would fail?" The Nighkin looked at him up and down "And you have a way? You are nothing but a slave, a thing that is going to be made to mine for the rest of his life."

"No, I was sent down here with a mission. Kill the monster that is down here…" the Nighkin growled "And why does that matter to me?"-"If I convince them that I killed the monster, cant you turn invisible again and escape… we can call truce until that happens cant we?"

The Nighkin laughed, a cold laugh "You? Kill a Behemoth?"

Kieron raised an eyebrow as he looked at him "A-aren't you the one Elsdragon wants dead?"-"Are you not listening boy? I followed you down here and I am but a Nighkin, he would just send his men to kill me if needed. Want he wants you to kill is down there" there was movement as something the size of house moved, Kieron could only look in awe as a colossal beast awoke from its slumber a ghoul seemed to have disturbed it.

Slamming a large metal object against the creature it exploded in a shower of gore as Kieron could only fall to his knees in despair "Behemoth is a being blessed with immense size and strength, a rarity among my kind. He is centuries old not even decades down here starving have diminished his might"

"A-and we have to kill him…"-"We?"

The nighkin seemed to be amused at him "If we want to leave yes… and well…" Kieron looked back at the ghouls he had killed, would he feel the same way he felt about the ones that used to be human "It would be mercy"

"Mercy? DO YOU THINK MY KIND IS WEAK HUMAN" the nighkin roared as he grabbed Kieron by the neck "N-no ACK you said yourself… he has been starving down here… living in shit and rock… that's no way to live" this seemed to do the trick, Kieron fell to the ground as he clutched his neck in pain.

The monster next to him seemed to look at him in confusion "Is he not a monster to you? Why do you care of his suffering?"

"Well because you said he is like you I just assumed that he also has intelligence and a soul you know…" this made the creature pause "Behemoth will not leave this place, he is too heavy to be brought out, too weakened to climb out by himself and his mind seems to be deteriorated even more than the normal behemoth… he will never know the glory of serving the Father again or the purpose to bring Unity to the world"

The gargled breathing of the mad creature reached them as it walked aimlessly in the giant cave, picking up rock and eating whatever resembled flesh. Handing the knife back to Kieron the mutant glared "Then we have work to do, a fight with a behemoth is not a fight that is to be taken lightly boy"

"Kieron, my name is Kieron" the boy extended his hand to the mutant as it could only snort at him "Charmed, Mandrake. Now get to killing" Mandrake replied as he stared at the gun in his hand.

Five out of Six bullets had been used "And that is Six" Mandrake said as Kieron prepared the weapon.

"And that is all I need; we just need to get creative" Kieron looked around and spotted a half-submerged vehicle near them "Help me move this rock" Mandrake followed him as the large boulder was moved and the entrance to the vehicle was accessible. "I think it was like a small container vehicle… here we go!"

Kieron returned with his hand full of explosives "The explosion will not kill Behemoth"

"It doesn't need to" tilting his head towards the rocks and broken machinery "We just need to wait" Kieron looked all the way back to the door he had entered from and saw that the Voiceless was still looking at him.

Mandrake noticed her too, Kieron walked back as he holstered his weapon and the last bullet.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Next chapter is the battle against the Behemoth and maybe some surprises, see you around!