- "Dad, can I have another pill?"
- "Headache again, sweetie?"
- "Yes, worse than the last one, I think."
Amy was lying in her bed in an almost fetal pose. She's heard her father come in but didn't risk moving - any movement made the headache worse.
- "I'll bring one in a minute."
- "Thanks Dad."
One of the worst things about lying still with your eyes closed was that there was nothing to do but reflect on your life. At that point for Amy that meant thinking about how fast her life was going downhill and why this was happening now.
Things seemingly started to get worse around her nineteenth birthday, Amy reflected. Everything was going rather well until then. She and Freddy were fine - they argued sometimes but they were happy and in love. They've applied for their own quarters, even talked about marriage. At the time there were no empty quarters available - they would have to wait until someone else's quarters became vacant - most likely it would be Mr. Abernathy's who was at that point spending most of his time in medbay. Amy found it ghoulish but of course that's how it always worked for everyone in the Vault, why would it be any different for Freddy and her?
Amy was even thinking about applying for permission to have children, once they got their own quarters of course. She knew from Amata that Vault population at this point was below the ideal number so the Overseer would almost certainly grant them permission - even in spite of their young age. She even talked about it with Dad - he advised her not to rush into things. This turned out to be wise.
Freddie was out of the Tunnel Snakes ever since that fight he had with them on the day of the GOAT. The Tunnel Snakes themselves were suddenly dissolved about a year and a half ago. They've been harassing Amata for a long time but on that day something happened that was different. Amata always refused to tell Amy anything at all about that incident - all Amy knew was that afterwards Security arrested all the Tunnel Snakes and gave them a severe beating. Dad told her that Butch got way more than the maximum punishment of thirty hits with a baton - he was brought into Medbay in serious condition but Dad and Jonas were able to stabilize him. Since them Butch and other Tunnel Snakes never hassled Amata or anyone else again.
For a while it seemed like Freddy, now no longer in that stupid gang, would be on the straight and narrow. He was doing well in Maintenance, there was even talk of him doing some work in Engineering. Amy was especially excited about the possibility - it would mean that they could end up working together some of the time. But that didn't last. Eventually Freddy's nature took over and he started to get into trouble again. Stupid stuff - fights, dumb pranks, vandalism, sabotage and being rude to Floyd Patterson - his boss in Maintenance.
Amy used to really look forward to going over to the Gomez's quarters but lately she started to dread it. Usually Freddie and his father ended up shouting at each other and she would have to be the peacekeeper. She was getting really tired of playing that role, especially as it was getting harder and harder to find excuses for Freddy's dumb antics.
What made it harder was that as angry and frustrated she felt at Freddy's stupid behavior she could understand it a little bit. He once told her how he painted something on the corridor wall just to make it somehow different from every other wall in the Vault. It was stupid, but Amy had to admit that sometimes she felt the same way herself.
Well, it wasn't exactly the same. For a long time Amy felt like she wanted to get out of the Vault, but lately this feeling was getting more and more intense and it was starting to cause serious problems. She would often imagine mixing up some nitroglycerin and blowing a tunnel through the thick concrete walls of the Vault. She was getting tired of asking Mr. Brotch to borrow the map of the local area. She would spend hours looking at it, as damaged as it was, imagining it all, the rivers and hills, roads and towns.
Shroud was no help at all. He went on and on about the "wide wondrous world out there" and how Amy would not be able to "accomplish any great deeds" while in the Vault.
- "What great deeds?" asked Amy once. "What are you even talking about? All I want is to work in Medbay one day and have a family with Freddy and for him to be a great dad that I know he can be. That's all I've ever wanted. What else is there anyway?" It made no sense - after all that old saying 'You're born in the Vault, you die in the Vault' was as true for her as for everyone else. Almost as true - she suspected she was not born in the Vault, but she was certainly going to die there. Yet it felt like something inside her wanted something else. She just didn't know what. It was an itch she didn't know how to scratch.
From time to time she would still practice with her BB gun. By some miracle the little utility room on the reactor level that Dad and Jonas set up for her nine years ago was still hers to use. Her BB gun was still working, she kept it in good repair, even though it was now too small for her. She would practice shooting the targets while running, strafing, rolling backwards or sideways, from every conceivable position.
The shooting practice seemed to help her a little bit but no more than that. In trying to find ways to satisfy her need for whatever it was she needed Amy ended up doing odd things. She started sneaking around the Vault again, like she used to when she was a kid, lockpicking her way into rooms, hacking terminals she was not authorized to access. Once Security caught her breaking into a locked storage room and she got five hits with a baton - minimum punishment for adults in the Vault.
That was horrible. Not because it was painful, even though it was - officer Mack seemed to really enjoy administering the punishment - but because it was so embarrassing. Amy has never ever got punished by Security for anything, even when she was a kid. It just wasn't her. What's worse, some of the arresting officers seemed to assume that she was stealing something from the room she lockpicked. Amy didn't blame them - it made a lot more sense than the real reason, but it was humiliating.
Amy felt like the strange urge to get out of the Vault was making her more irritable, meaner even. It probably played its part in making things more tense with Freddy. Their arguments got more frequent and more heated. They would argue over the smallest most meaningless things. It always left Amy scratching her head trying to figure out how something so pointless led to them screaming at each other. And yet a few days later they'd be at it again.
They had an argument just yesterday. Freddy was complaining about her 'nagging' as usual. Amy then told him
- "I bet Christine doesn't nag you"
- "What?"
- "Christine Kendall, in Maintenance. As if you don't know what I'm talking about."
Freddy spent some time looking at her, his mouth open. Later he called her "stupid" for the first time ever. Amy had no idea why she said it, she knew Freddy wasn't like that.
And then of course there were the headaches. She started getting them perhaps about two years ago, but then they weren't serious enough to pay any attention to. Since then they've been getting worse and worse. By now an especially bad headache would feel as it someone slowly drilled a hole in her brain and then set it on fire.
Her gloomy thoughts were interrupted by her father bringing her a glass of water and a pill.
- "Here we are sweetie. Like I said, you can't take another one of these for at least six hours."
- "Thanks Dad" Amy swallowed the pill and washed it down with water. Then a little while later she looked at her father with alarm "I don't think it's working."
- "It takes about ten minutes to kick in. The pain should gradually go away."
- "OK." Amy slowly sank back to her bed - "thanks Dad". She gingerly felt her left temple. "Do you have any idea what might be causing them? Do you have anything that can fix that?"
Her father sighed. "I'm not sure. Maybe."
Amy curled back into fetal position and waited for the headache medicine to start working. It sounded like Dad walked towards the door to their quarters but then he stopped and turned around.
- "Sweetie, I need to ask you. What would you do if I went away?"
Amy shifted her position slightly. "You mean now?"
- "No, I mean if I left the Vault. For ... hmmm ... for a couple of months."
Amy sat up on the bed and turned towards her father.
- "I don't understand. What do you mean, 'left the Vault'? You can't leave the Vault."
- "Yes yes of course. But let's say I did. Hypothetically. What would you do?"
- "Well I'd miss you."
- "But would you be able to look after yourself? If Jonas and some other people helped you."
- "Of course I'd be able to look after myself, I'm not ten." Amy looked at her father "God, Dad. I have the worst headache, why are you asking me these weird questions now? Do you also want to know how I'd feel if you married Beatrice DeLoria and made me call Butch 'brother'? Or if you shaved my head and painted me purple?"
- "Sorry sweetie. Try to get some sleep."
- "I'll try. Goodnight Dad."
The meds finally kicked in and Amy felt better. She turned off the light and tried to fall asleep but instead ended up spending more time thinking about everything going wrong in her life. At least, she thought, things can't get any worse.
- "Wake up! Come on, you've got to wake up!"
Amy opened her eyelids a little, then tried to ignore the annoying loud voice and go back to sleep. It didn't work, the voice was still there and just as loud. What was Amata's deal? Since she didn't have any option she opened her eyes gradually and sat up in bed.
- "Amata, what the hell, let me sleep." At least her head wasn't aching anymore.
- "No you have to get up now! Your father left the Vault and Jonas is dead. My father's men are looking for you!"
She heard what Amata said but it didn't make any sense, like a string of words joined together at random. She started dressing herself, fumbling clumsily with the zip of her vault suit. Then some part of her brain finally finished processing what Amata said and she sat upright staring at her friend.
- "Wait, you said Dad ... left the Vault? But that's impossible." A part of her was getting ready to explain the full ridiculousness of the idea to Amata, figure out how she got so confused to come up with all those scary things she was saying and then everything would be back to normal, just as another part of her was coming to a realization that this wouldn't go away so easily.
- "There is a secret tunnel that leads outside, that must have been how he got out. I thought only me and my father knew about it, I have no idea how he found out."
- "And you said Jonas is ... dead?"
- "When they found out James left my father just went crazy, I've never seen him like this. He and the security went to question Jonas about the escape. They just beat him and beat him " Amata's voice cracked but she regained control quickly. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this."
Amy just sat there staring at her friend.
- "I'm sorry but you have to go now! There's no time! I got here as quickly as I could but they'll be here any minute now"
- "Go where? I don't understand."
- "You have to leave the Vault. The same way you Dad left. They're looking for you and it's not safe for you here."
- "But ... you can't go outside."
- "Come, on I know you never believed that. It's dangerous but there are people living there. There's a whole settlement not far from the Vault." Amata kept glancing at her pipboy the whole time she was talking. "Give me your hand." Amy reached her left hand out to Amata "No, the other one!"
After Amy extended her right hand Amata grabbed the base of her pipboy and started turning dials and rapidly running her fingers across the keys
- "Here is the secret tunnel, it's in the Overseer's office. There's a terminal command to open it. Here is the password. I've put the settlement on your map, it's called Megaton."
Her mind pummeled into submission by everything Amata's been telling her Amy felt she had no choice but to trust her friend and do what she told her.
- "I'll have to pack" she said blankly.
- "There's no time!" Amata almost shrieked. "I'll bring everything you need to the Vault entrance. Now go!" Amata turned around and ran for the door, but just as she was reaching for the door she abruptly stopped and turned around .
- "Oh, there are these things that got into the Vault from outside. Be careful"
With that, Amata bolted outside. Amy could hear her running footsteps. She grabbed the BB gun - she didn't know why, she just felt she should - and dashed out into the corridor.
The corridor was strangely empty. As she ran across it, in fast but quiet strides she quickly found out why. There was an announcement on the loudspeaker - sounded like it was being broadcast in every room - that everyone was now confined to their quarters and that there was a 'vermin infestation' but it was under control. She remembered the late Mrs Abernathy talking about how it happened once when she was young but she never knew anyone else who experienced this. Whatever these things from outside were, it must have been serious.
Just as she turned the corner she heard the loud sound of Security officers' boots. She poked her head around the corner and saw four of them, Officer Mack (who she once knew as Wally) one of them. All of them had guns. Amata was right, they were close. Amy didn't dare to look anymore, afraid one of them would see her, she just stopped and focused on the sounds coming from her quarters.
She could hear the door opening and the officers bursting inside.
- "Where is she?"
- "Check under the bed and inside the cupboard."
- "Nothing here, sir"
- "The bathroom?"
- "Nothing"
- "Find her. She couldn't have gone far."
- "And if she runs?"
- "Then shoot her."
Amy moved off silently. 'Why?' she thought 'What did I do?' She told herself that now was not the time to try and figure things out. She was in serious danger and she had to escape.
Luckily Amy knew the Vault like the back of her hand, she knew almost every corridor and every room.
She continued moving, quickly but silently. Sneaking around the Vault again, she though, just like when she was a kid. Except this time it wasn't a game. She moved as fast as she could but she had to take a lot of detours to avoid Security, sometimes going back the way she just came from. Once she had to dive into a utility room when she heard footsteps. Just as she closed the door an officer emerged from a side corridor. She heard the steps go back and forth, for one awful moment it sounded like they slowed down near the door she was hiding behind, but then the officer walked away. Once the coast was clear Amy came out of the door and continued on her way.
Amy was trying to keep herself from panicking. Her heart was threatening to jump out of her throat together with last night's dinner. Yet on some level, insanely, she felt a bit relieved that there was an immediate threat to her life she could focus on, at least it meant she didn't have to think about everything Amata told her.
She was now approaching the corridor to the upper level. She was getting closer, but here there was nowhere for her to hide. If security found her here she would be cornered. She had no choice, thought Amy and moved quickly. Just as she was nearing the end of the corridor a large figure emerged from around the corner. Amy took a step back, then stopped, panic rising as she could see the officer's security helmet and gun, and then all her emotions started to fade and disappear as the officer's movements started to slow down.
'Threat level - medium. Weapon ineffective against target's armor. Optimal strategy ...'
Just then what felt like a faint echo of a thought made its way to the surface. The face behind the helmet was familiar. She shook her head and a wave of relief washed over her. It was Freddy's father.
She ran towards the man and hugged him.
- "Amy. So lucky that it was me who found you. Listen, you have to hide. I'll take you to our quarters. " Officer Gomez put his arm around Amy's shoulder and started leading her out of the corridor. "You'll have to lay low for maybe a couple of days until all this madness dies down. Don't worry, no one will check in our quarters. It'll be a bit cramped, sorry."
Amy followed Officer Gomez but then stopped and carefully took his arm off her shoulder.
- "Herman, were you there when ... Jonas"
- "No, god no" Officer Gomez stopped abruptly. "I've heard what happened." He shook his head, then with a quick but uncertain movement put his gun in its holster, then clasped his hands. "Look, whatever temporary insanity has taken over in the Vault, I'm sure everyone will come to their senses in a couple of days. Then a proper internal investigation can be conducted and whoever was responsible for this will be punished." He looked at Amy "And I don't mean thirty strikes with a baton. We're talking expulsion from the Vault."
The corners of Amy's mouth went upwards slightly but the look in her eyes was no happier than before.
- "Temporary insanity ... Herman, I don't think you understand what is happening here."
- "You're right, I don't. First James goes mad and leaves the Vault for the outside. I'm not even sure how he's done it. Then these horrible creatures get inside. And then ... I mean a curfew is fully justified under the circumstances, no question, but the rest of it ... But this won't last long. I'm sure when the Vault is fully secured and all the creatures have been found and killed things will return to normal. I promise you."
Amy took several steps away from Officer Gomez.
- "No. I'm going outside. I'm going to find Dad."
Officer Gomez looked at her, horrified. "Amy you can't do that. Even if you did manage to get outside, it's certain death. You didn't see the creatures that broke into the Vault. And I'm sure there are things that are much much worse out there. I can't let you do that."
Amy took several more steps backwards.
- "Outside is not a certain death. I'm sure it's dangerous but people live there. There is a whole settlement not far from the Vault. That's probably where Dad went."
- "Who told you this?"
Amy paused for a second "Someone I trust."
- "Then you shouldn't trust this person. No human life is possible outside the Vault. Didn't Mr. Brotch teach that in school?"
Amy sighed. "Herman, I can't stay here. I'll take my chances outside. Are you going to stop me?"
For several horrible seconds Amy watched Officer Gomez decide. Then he sighed wearily.
- "I'm not going to chase after you. As things stand, this will put you in more danger. But Amy, please, think about what you're doing."
- "I'm going outside" Amy repeated.
- "OK, then at least take this." Officer Gomez took out his gun and grabbed its muzzle, ready to throw it to Amy.
Amy hesitated for a moment but then shook her head "I can't. If Security catches me on the way out with your gun, I don't know what they'll do to you."
- "To hell with that, Amy I can't let you go out there without a weapon! Do you think that whatever this thing you're carrying ... is that a toy gun?"
Amy smiled slightly "Kind of. Herman, I'm sure that when I get out of the Vault I'll have a real gun. It's been planned."
Officer Gomez put his gun back in the holster. "OK." he pressed his lips uncertainly. "If the Outside is like you say it is, when you find your father in this settlement, please get back to the Vault with him. I'm sure things will be back to normal by then. I mean there will be an investigation into endangering the Vault. I'm sure James had his reasons, he will get a chance to explain his side of the story. Even if there is a punishment I'm sure he'll be welcomed back as a doctor after that. Just please get back here as soon as you can."
- "Yes. Sure." Amy paused. "Can you tell Freddy ..."
- "You can tell him yourself when you're back in the Vault"
- "OK" Amy nodded.
- "Take corridors 5E and then 3B. They should be clear of security. I'll try to keep them from the area as best I can. Please be careful out there."
- "I will. Bye Herman. And thank you."
The rest of the way towards the upper level was mostly clear, Amy didn't run into any more Security. Perhaps Officer Gomez managed to divert them or maybe she just got lucky. She didn't run into any residents either, it looked like hardly anyone was trying to break the curfew. Amy did catch Tom Wilson, a boy three years younger than her she didn't know very well sneaking out of his quarters with another boy his age. Her first impulse was to tell them to get back to their quarters but she couldn't risk being seen by anyone, so she snuck past them.
She kept on moving quietly, keeping to the shadows. She'd been very lucky to run into Herman Gomez rather than anyone else from Security. These creatures from Outside, whatever they were, getting into the Vault also played to her advantage, sneaking through empty corridors was much easier. She was really close now, just through the Atrium and up the stairs then through the server room and the Overseer's office would be right there. But what if it was guarded, she thought. What if the Overseer was inside? Amy paused for a second but then continued forward. Amata wouldn't have told her to go to the Overseer's office if it wasn't empty. She had to trust her friend. She had no other choice.
Approaching the Atrium, Amy heard noises inside. When she took a careful peek inside she saw five officers. They all had their guns out, pointing them at the doors at the far side of the room.
Amy pressed her back into the wall next to the door and tried to think but she felt panic rising. What was she supposed to do now? The only way up was through one the doors that the officers were guarding. She could try to wait them out but every minute she stayed here increased the chances of someone else finding her. Could she find a better place to hide? That would be just wasting time she didn't have.
Should she have taken Officer Gomez' gun, Amy thought. And just how would that help her? What was she going to do, shoot all the officers? She couldn't stay but there was nowhere for her to go either. She only had one option, and it wasn't good.
Amy took several steps back, then took a deep breath and tried hard to ignore the fact that her hands were shaking and her knees felt like they were going to give way and second. She would be fine, she told herself, she just needed to be really really fast. 'OK here goes. One, two .. '
She sprinted across the Atrium floor, straight towards the leftmost door, still clutching her BB gun. The officers were so focused on the doors that it took them longer to react to the noise behind them, buying her precious fractions of a second. But react they did. Amy heard "What the ... ?" "Stop right now!". Then she heard gunshots.
Amy was already through the door and running up the stairs when she felt pain flare up in her left leg, just to the left and below her knee. She yelled but continued running up the stairs. 'Just don't stumble' was the only thought running through her mind. She heard sound of boots running behind her, then the sound stopped.
- "Sir, what do we do?"
- "Stand back. Either she comes back out or those things get her."
Amy kept on running until her leg gave out and whe fell to the floor, breathing hard. She sat up, leaned back against the wall and felt her wound carefully. It hurt but it it looked like the bullet just grazed the flesh on the outside of her leg, it didn't hit any bone or cartilage. She just needed something to bandage the wound with. Amy tried tearing off a sleeve of her Vault suit but the material was sturdy and she didn't have the strength. In the end she just pressed her arm on the wound as hard as she could and continued walking hunched forward.
In spite of the pain in the leg and the uncomfortable stance she had to take Amy continued hobbling forward as fast as she could manage. She was already well inside the server room, the Overseer's office was now close, but she had to be fast, Security already knew where she was. The loud hum of the server fans was covering the sounds of her laboured breathing, that was good. Then through the noise of the servers she heard a strange, skittering sound. It was close, somewhere in front of her. A moment later, a creature emerged from behind the nearest server tower.
Amy never saw anything like that in her life, not even in her worst nightmares. Admittedly Amy never saw anything non-human, only pictures in books. But this thing - it was something else altogether. The strange material covering it didn't look like it was anything living but it's features, as grotesque as they were, were definitely biological. There were bizzare eyes, jaws, legs. For several seconds Amy was paralyzed with revulsion as she and the creatures stared back at each other. Then Amy watched in horror as the creature run towards her. Amy took a step back and then the run of the creature slowed to a crawl and Amy's mind was filled with the same feeling of cold certainty she felt when she first run into Herman Gomez.
'Number of hostiles estimated at 9. Threat level - very low. Hostiles using unarmed attack. Optimal strategy - shoot the nearest hostile in the eye, to hit chance - 91.3%.'
Amy raised the BB gun and shot the creature in the eye. She saw it break it's stride and flip over on its back, its six thin legs now folded and pressed to its body. She saw two more creatures up ahead. She waited until they got closer, then shot both in their eyes, one after another.
'Estimated remaining hostiles - 6. Remaining ammo - 4'
Amy saw two more creatures ahead and shot them both, then continued moving forward.
'Hostile approaching from the left. Optimal strategy - retreat 35 cm, shoot the creature in the eye. Estimated to hit chance - 85%'
Amy felt a dull echo of pain in her leg as she took four steps back. Another creature emerged from around the corner, and headed for her, as soon as she had a clear view of its hideous face Amy shot it. She then followed the skittering sound, found another creature and killed it. She became aware that the sound of movement ahead of her was now fainter.
'Revised estimate of remaining hostiles - 1. No ammo remaining, switching to melee attack.'
Amy held the BB gun with both hands by its barrel, like a club, and continued forward. She soon saw the last remaining creature. It headed straight for her.
'Optimal strategy - one upward blow to the head, two downward blows to the head. Overall to hit chance - 99.96%'
Amy put her left leg backwards and drew the BB gun back, behind her body. Just as the creature was the right distance from her she swung the BB gun in an upward arc, The butt of the gun connected with the creature's head with a squelching sound, sending it flying backwards. The creature hit the server tower behind it and landed on its back. Right after her swing Amy took a long stride forward and swung the BB gun downward as hard as she could, twice. Each of her blows send drops of slime flying. She saw the creature's six legs fold as it stopped moving.
'All hostiles eliminated.'
The time resumed its normal flow as Amy snapped out of her trance. Shaking and overcome with revulsion she dropped the BB gun, now broken from the impact of the blows, to the floor. For a few seconds she felt like she was going to throw up but the feeling passed. She noticed a few drops of slime that landed on the sleeve of her Vault suit, stifled a squeal and frantically wiped the sleeve clean.
She continued on through the server room and onto the corridor leading to the Overseer's office. Her arm was getting tired from pressing on the wound on her leg, drops of blood were falling to the floor. That was bad, she was leaving a trail, Amy thought. At least she is really close now. Please let the Overseer's office be empty, please.
She poked her head out of the door. The corridor leading towards the Overseer's office was empty, it looked like the office itself was too. She saw one of the creatures on the other side of the corridor and froze for a second but the creature seemingly didn't notice her and run in the other direction. Moving as fast as her wound would allow, Amy run towards the Overseer's office. She punched the code Amata gave her and the door opened. The password Amata gave her for the Overseer's terminal worked too. Constantly glancing at the door, Amy found the 'open door' command and jumped when the floor in front of her slid open to reveal a staircase.
The way down to the Vault door was empty. It was dark and dusty, it looked like it hasn't been maintained for some time. Amy reflected that this was a whole area of the Vault she's never seen before. She should be feeling excited, Amy thought, but at this point the only thing she felt was tired. Really really tired.
She saw Amata and called to her. Amata started to run towards her, then noticed her friend limping.
- "Amy, what happened?"
- "I got shot by security on the way here."
- "Oh my god. Are you OK?"
- "It looks like the bullet didn't hit anything serious. I just need to bandage the wound."
- "I've got some bandages here here." Amata ran back, took a huge backpack from behind what looked like a console of some kind, opened it and fumbled inside. "Where did I put them .. here they are. Hold on."
She helped Amy take off her left boot and pull up the leg of her jumpsuit, Amy then bandaged her wound.
- "Did you ran into any of these things?" asked Amy.
- "No, there is another secret passage here from father's quarters."
- "Do you know what those things are? How did they get inside?"
- "I don't know. I only saw one from a distance. Really didn't feel like having a closer look" Amata frowned. "I think the door didn't close completely when James left, there was a gap and they got through."
- "Are you sure?"
- "No, I don't know." shrugged Amata. "But we should make sure that we close that door properly when you leave."
- "Do you know how to open it?" Amy asked.
- "Yes, but I've never done it before."
Amata put the bandages back in the backpack, then handed it to Amy.
- "I've put everything in here. There's food, water, everything else you will need. I hope I didn't forget anything but there was so little time and I had to make sure no one saw me" Amata grimaced apologetically. "It's going to be pretty heavy, sorry."
- "Amata, I think I'm going to need a gun out there."
- "That's the best I could get my hands on." Amata handed her a 10 mm pistol. It's fully loaded, as best I can tell anyway, there's ten more ammo clips in the front pocket, here" she pointed at the largest pouch in front of the backpack."
- "Thanks Amata."
- "I think ... " Amata frowned. "Everything happened so quickly. I need more time to think it through." she sighed. "But I think that you shouldn't return here for a while. Maybe several months. Maybe longer."
- "It's OK. I'm going to find Dad and we'll figure it out from there."
- "Yes, good. Maybe he can tell you why he left." Amata got up and started towards the large mechanism at the far end of the area. "Now let's get that door opened, we don't have much time."
- "Amata, wait!" Amy limped towards her friend and they hugged each other. They stayed like this for some time.
- "I wish you could go with me."
- "I can't, I'm sorry."
- "I know"
- "We can't waste any more time. They could be here any minute" Amata drew back and walked to the large mechanism at the end of the area. "OK, this should be pretty simple." She wiped the tears from her face, drew out a cable from her pipboy, plugged it into the mechanism and pulled one of the switches. There was a deafening screech of metal and the Vault door slowly slid open, revealing a rocky tunnel.
Amy headed towards the door. When she was near the exit she stopped, then turned around.
- "Go already!" Amata made a frantic waving motion with her right hand in the direction of the door while wiping her eyes with her left. "And .. please stay safe out there."
Amy nodded, then turned around and walked into the tunnel heading out of the Vault.
Amy walked forward limping slightly on her left leg. She bandaged the wound well, it wasn't bleeding anymore but it still hurt to put weight on that leg.
She didn't really know where she was going. To choose a direction would require thinking and right now she really didn't want to think at all. It felt like all the thoughts, questions and feelings in her head were like an enormous pressure that built up inside a water pipe. If she opened the valve the jet of water would blast her away and she would drown. Eventually she would have to think about what she should do but not now, not yet.
Amy felt warmth on her face as everything around suddenly got brighter. She didn't know what this feeling was until she looked up and saw that the clouds have parted and the sun was now shining in the sky. Huh. That was going to take some getting used to.
- "Now that's an utterly unexpected turn of events. I do think however ..."
- "Go away Shroud"
Maybe it was all a dream, Amy thought and in the same instant knew it to be wrong. This was far too weird to be a dream, even the most bizzare and crazy dreams she had in her life were nothing next to what she was seeing around her. She was walking for what felt like forever and didn't see a single human being or hear any noise that could've been made by one. Just empty space, so so much of it. She used to think the atrium was huge, but this was bigger than the not just the atrium, but the whole Vault by a degree that her mind could barely comprehend. She saw the distances on old maps but they were abstract numbers, like a distance from Earth to the Sun.
Perhaps she was hallucinating. Amy searched her mind for possible causes of complex hallucinations like this, then remembered that extremely severe migraines could cause seizures and those could produce hallucinations. 'My headaches finally got me' she thought. For a little while she actually believed this explanation, until her senses forced her to accept that it wasn't true. This was all real.
She felt air blowing in her face and was alarmed until she remembered reading about this. This was 'wind'. The noises and smells around her were all unfamiliar. Even the air smelt completely different than in any part of the Vault.
An especially loud noise made her turn. A small shape was moving towards her fast. Amy realized it was an animal of some kind. Then some primal part of her brain made her realize that that thing wasn't friendly, and the time slowed in a familiar way.
'Number of hostiles - one, hostile using unarmed attack, threat level - very low. Time until target gets in melee range 11.43 seconds, time to unholster weapon aim and fire 2.68 seconds, delay time 5 seconds, to hit probability after delay 96.45% aiming for target's head.'
The impact of the shot stopped the animal in its tracks but its momentum still made it land under Amy's feet. Everything happened so quickly she didn't have time to feel anything but now she felt her hands shake. She carefully put the 10mm back in the pocket of her Vault suit and hesitantly looked at the dead animal at her feet.
She's never seen anything like it before yet there was something familiar about it. Amy searched her memory for a while until it came to her. She saw a lot of pictures of dogs in pre-war books. They had all kinds of shapes and sizes, it was incredible to learn that they were all the same species, but some of them had a similar shape as the thing lying before her. Amy looked at the dead dog incredulously. Once a most common pet alongside 'cats', man's faithful companion and best friend has now become ... this? The dead dog was skinny, its very short fur mottled, in places she could see scars and what looked like sores. Yellow uneven fangs were bared, there was no hint of any kind of intelligence in its ugly muzzle. Amy could see ribs showing through its skin.
Amy shuddered in disgust and started walking away quickly. The thing was trying to kill her, she thought. Just like the Vault security guards before. She quickly shut down that line of thought, trying to focus on practical matters instead.
The sun was now lower in the sky and the light was getting dimmer. Amy remembered that it meant it would soon get dark. She needed to find some shelter. The thought brought on a realization that she was dead tired and hungry, her legs were aching and her stomach was rumbling.
Finding shelter was not going to be easy. She was trying to follow what she knew was a 'road'. Or at least it used to be once. The surface that must have been smooth at one point has now deteriorated so much that at times it was hard to tell where the road was. On the side of the road she saw remains of what looked like man made structures. It was hard to tell what their purpose used to be - Amy could see pieces of what must have been a wall but the rest of it collapsed in a pile of rubble.
Finally she saw a building that was somewhat intact. One of the walls has partly collapsed but the other three were still standing, although it looked like they were about to fall down any second. The ceiling had a big hole in it. Inside the building there was a partially collapsed staircase but otherwise it was completely empty. This was strange, thought Amy, if people used to live there they must have had some furniture and possessions.
She took a tin of canned meat from the bag, opened it, then realized she didn't have a spoon. She fumbled through the bag with clumsy panicked motions, at that moment it seemed to her like it would be a really terrible thing if she didn't have a spoon. After a few seconds she found it, tied to a knife with a piece of string.
After Amy finished the tin she felt better, but her body still felt completely wrung out. It was still light outside but she thought she might go to sleep already. In the bag she found a blanket and a pillow. She would have to lay the blanked on the ground and put the pillow on top of it.
Even with the pillow and the blanket she could still feel what used to be concrete floor of the ruined building press against her head. Moments later she felt the familiar burning sensation just above her left temple - first sign of a headache coming on.
What are the chances that Amata packed her pills as well? Very unlikely, but might as well check, Amy thought. She looked into the backpack and to her amazement found a bottle of pills. She was just about to take them out when she noticed something else there. She wasn't sure what it was until she took it out of the backpack and looked at it. It was a bobblehead doll - Vault boy cheerfully holding a syringe that was almost as tall as him. The one Dad kept on his desk.
Amy took it out and for some time - maybe minutes, maybe hours - just sat there staring at it. From time to time she would carefully push the top of the doll with her index and middle fingers and watch it nod its head. In this nightmarishly warped version of the outside world she's read so much about, it was the cherry on top of the insanity cake. A thought came that she should put it away. Just as she reached for the doll, she had another thought. This doll may have been the only thing she had left of her father. With that, she felt the dam inside her mind start to crack. She started sniffling, which soon turned into violent sobs that shook her whole body. Just like the tears, thoughts poured out uncontrollably. Would she ever see Amata again? Freddy? Mr and Mrs Gomez? Anyone she ever knew? Where was she going? There was supposed to be a settlement nearby, but so far that dog she shot was the only living thing she saw, except for the sparse clamps of grass growing out of the cracks in the ground. And the main question she kept asking over again in her head. Why did Dad leave? Where did he go?
She spent most of the night crying, although she drifted off to sleep a couple of times. She had no answers to any of the questions and so they kept running through her mind in a loop. Finally in the morning she resolved to focus on getting to the settlement that was supposed to be nearby. Once she got there she would figure everything else out.
According to her pipboy she was getting closer but Amy could see no signs of human life. There was only the cracked road with crumbling ruins of buildings on either side of it. Once, resting in one of these ruins she saw something odd in the rubble. It turned out to be a human skull, with another, slightly smaller one, lying nearby.
At least the leg seemed to be healing well, it didn't hurt as much as yesterday. Now there were still flashes of pain from time to time, but mostly it felt normal. Amy still tried to walk slower and to lean on the other leg as much as possible.
- "Isn't it great to be great to be out and about, breathing fresh air and taking in the sites of this great land? Truly there is no place in the world like the US of A."
Amy stopped and for a few seconds just stood still.
- "Shroud, what .. uhm .. what are you ... OK, emergency news bulletin. Front page news. Dad is gone. I don't know where. Jonas is dead. I've just escaped the Vault before they could kill me too."
- "Yes, it is villainy most foul. In due time we shall bring the miscreants to justice."
- "God, Shroud. This isn't comic book. This is real life"
- "And is there no justice in real life?"
- "Not that I've seen! That bastard, that murderer. He'll be running the Vault until he dies. And everyone will keep pissing their Vault suit if he looks at them wrong. And there will be new Tunnel Snakes and they'll do whatever the hell they want and no one will do a thing about it. Anyway, who exactly is going to dispense this justice of yours?"
- "We cannot sit there and wait for a new hero to come and take the reins of righteous revenge. We must take it upon ourselves to right the wrongs and help the helpless."
- "Helpless? I'm helpless here! I've barely made it out the Vault alive! I don't even " Amy's voice was now cracking, tears were running down her face "I don't even know where I'm going. Everything is ruined and dead. And you. You don't even exist."
- "I've never let such a trivial thing hold me back"
Amy blinked several times. Then snorted loudly. Next she was laughing .
- "Oh God. Shroud, I swear .. So it's the two of us against the world then, dispensing righteous justice?"
- "The world should better brace itself"
- "You hear that, world?" she shouted in no specific direction "Get ready, we're coming!"
Amy couldn't see any movement around, nor hear any sound except the whistling of the wind. The world seemed completely indifferent to her announcement.
- "So, I've gone completely insane" mused Amy. "I'm not even sure it's a bad thing anymore."