Blood from Vault 18

Day one

"K-Kieron… help me…" Mandy crawled towards him, as her skin melted and peeled from her bones. The tears in her eyes were made of water and blood, Kieron crawled back as he watched with horror at his beloved sister died "W-why weren't you there… WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE ME!"

Kieron gasped as he woke his body covered in sweat as he tried to calm down, the teen stumbled a bit as he tried to stand up but fell to his knees as tears began to pool in his eyes a broken sob escaped his lips as he allowed himself to feel weak "Mandy… I'm so sorry…" dawn had arrived and the golden rays of the sun began to shine.

Standing up his bones and muscles complained and he let out a groan of discomfort, he had fallen asleep outside. That was a little embarrassing, walking inside the house Kurtz nodded at him "You're up. Good, we need to make a plan. Do we stay here for a long time or do we move, I'll follow your lead and I think the other will too but Kira might…"

"I'll deal with Kira" the star player said as he reached into a duffle bag and pulled out a can of beans opening and using a wooden spoon that the previous owners of the house had carved from wood Kieron made a face at it but continued to eat, Kurtz for his part continued cutting up the mysterious meat with the sharp end of his spear as he put some herbs on it "Killed one of those large flies?"

Kurtz shook his head "No, a snake. It was crawling on top of you before I killed it, you're luck you dint startle it or it would have bit you" There was a small silence as Kurtz continued preparing his and Kieron blinked in surprise at almost dying… again. He just hoped this didn't become a recurring theme in his life, continuing with his meal Kieron smiled as the sound of birds and other animals reached his ears "Looks like we are not the only ones that are awake now"

"Yes, shall I wake the others?" Kurtz commented as he looked up fro what he was doing, Kieron tilted his head as he took a peak inside the room. He spotted Jenn and Jamie both sound asleep while Eric seemed to be just relaxing next to his girlfriend, as for Kira he really had no idea were she went to sleep.

Johny seemed to still be passed out.

"No, let them rest. I don't think we need to leave the area just yet, we need leads on were to go and prepare for what might be days long travel"-"Weeks, month maybe. I remember here, Doctor Rossman once told me that this area was nothing more than sand and land as far as the eye could see. That there were rumors of something in the sands but I would lie to you if I said that I remember more, maybe the people that lived here had a map or something on the terminal downstairs"

Kieron nodded "Not a bad idea actually, I will be sure to check that out when I am done eating" a glimpse of purple outside alerted the two teens about the presence of their fellow vault dweller was up and about.

"Kieron… you look like shit" Kira blinked in surprise as she went to dust off her friend "I slept outside for a bit, keeping watch and all that"

There was a pause as the purple haired girl turned to glare at the tribal kid "And you couldn't wake him up or move him inside" Kurtz did not turn to look at her as he continued to prepare his food "I woke up later than I was supposed to, the battle fatigue from yesterday slowed me down significantly. When I woke up it was almost dawn and Kieron was already waking up from his nightmare"

"Also I had a snake on top of me apparently" Kieron said as he pointed to the meat that Kurt was cutting up. Kira made a face at the meal but shook her head "Whatever, Kieron we need to make a plan on how to fight the raiders. They are around this area, the notes on the Vault computer say so"

The star player made a face at that but nodded "Sure, but we need to have a good plan. They kicked the crap out of Brag and his boys and that man almost killed all of Vault Security with a bunch of teens from the vault ball team"-"But we are not those Enclave bastards Kieron, we can do this"

Kieron really wanted to believe, he really did, but there was no way in hell he could kill a thousand raiders and their chances plummeted even more when they grabbed all those vertibirtds from the Enclave as Kira liked to call them, but when his friend looked at him with that much hope in her eyes he could not tell her that all this was insane.

"Hell yeah we are, but not now. They are high on victory, lets wait for them to get lazy and slip up and they have advantage over us other than firepower, they know the land and we don't"

Kurtz hummed in agreement "We could be walking into their traps, stalking them and learning from their scouts would be our best option. If you want my opinion" Kira rolled her eyes but let out a long sigh "Yeah… yeah, what good would I do the tribe by just charging in and dying like a moron. Then for now I guess we are free to do what we please, how long are we staying here anyways?"

"Not long" Eric showed up as he rubbed the back of his neck and suppressing a yawn, as he walked out of the room he had shared with Jamie last night "We need to gather supplies, every single weapon we can find and then get the hell out of here they will come back to try and pick the carcass of the Vault"-"The radiation would melt them in seconds" Kira commented.

The readhead snorted "You expect to much of the raiders, they are not the smartest tools in the shed. They don't know that we used nuclear power to make everything work on the vault"

Kieron let out a long sigh "Then we need to pick Pinehaven clean, everything that is not bolted to the floor and that is useful then we will take and bring it here. But before that someone wake up the others so we eat and ration our remaining food" the small tribe went to work as Jenn, Jamie and surprisingly Johnny stumbled into the kitchen. "Ooooh fuck, my head… buddy help me out here"

Everyone turned to look at Kieron who only let out a sigh and helped Johnny sit down near the kitchen "Thanks pal… how the fuck…"-"Are you alive, you can thank Kieron and Jenn, you almost overdosed yourself into the grave" Jamie commented as she sat down next to Eric to eat. The tallest of the team gave the two a nod "… man thanks… both of you… I owe you a big one"

Jenn simply gave a weak smile, not fond of Johnny thanks to previous comments he made about her… well pretty much everything, but as for Kieron he simply gave him a pat on the shoulder. He did not hate the guy he was just hard to get along with "Sure, no problem. Just be sure to help me out today, we need to gather resources and prepare to leave. We need maps, posters anything that tells us were we can go next, Eric says that this place will be crawling with raiders in a couple of days so that narrows our time we need to get moving"

There was nod of agreement from everybody as they finished their meal "Do we form pairs, or do we go alone"

"Alone"
"Pairs"

Kira and Jenn said at the same time, the blonde looked away while Kira rolled her eyes, Kieron rubbed the back of his head "I think it would be best if we work in pairs just in case, Jamie and Eric…"-"I am not going with Jenn or Johnny" the expected interruption came as Kieron nodded, he turned to look at Jenn who looked at Johnny warily. "Then Johnny and I can go to get some stuff while you and Jenn explore near this area alone"

"Sounds like a plan, do not follow me Jenn" Kira said as she moved towards the forest to the left. Jenn scoffed at her but smiled at Kieron "I'm going to be checking out the abandoned houses on the right, maybe they have something we can use"

Eric looked at were Kira had walked and let out a long sigh "We will be stay close to the lodge just in case that girl manages to piss off the animals too and needs some to rescue her"

Kieron nodded and turned to Johnny who looked like he was going to pass out at any minute "Then I guess that we check the ruins on the proper Pinehaven" Jamie raised her hand and smiled "We should call eachother by code, that way they wont know our real names if someone is listening. You know just in case anyone that worked for Bragg escaped"

"That doesn't sound like a bad plan, do we go in order of age?" Kurtz asked "I think we should, that would make Eric one, Johnny two, Kurtz three, Jamie four and well me five" Jenn said as everyone turned to look at Kieron "I really don't know Kira's age honestly so for now she is Kira. Is not like everyone knew her in the vault and as for me I guess that makes me Six"

Everyone began to move as their morning started, Kieron and Johnny began their walk down the mountain as Johnny stopped along the road to catch his breath "Are you trying to fucking kill me man, you should have just taken Jenn and left me explore the fucking houses there"

"And have Kira pissed at me for choosing Jenn over her, not a chance Johnny" the taller teen gave him a look "Who the fuck cares if she is jealous"-"I do, she is my friend and I don't want her to think that I have also betrayed her"

Johnny snorted "Oh so you meant it as friends, not as in them wanting your dick" Kieron chuckled "I think the last think those two are thinking of is my dick Johnny, come on we need to look for a map" the duo made their way to the ruins, it did not look promising at all they could spot was some rubble and a few building that might have something. "Ki… I mean Six, were the fuck do we start"

"I actually don't know, yesterday I was still so focused on just getting somewhere that I dint look around" Johnny let out a sigh "Great, then I say we start with the garage over there" he pointed with his head towards a half destroyed building that had the logo of a car and some wrenches the name had long faded thanks to the passage of time.

Kieron nodded "Sounds like a plan two, lets go"

A/N: Hello thank you for the support on this story!