Techno wouldn't say he missed Tommy's constant chatter, but he'd forgotten how eerily quiet it could get without somebody talking his ear off while he walked.
He was used to the silence. Actually, to be honest, it was probably less preferable to walk around making a bunch of noise. It could draw unwanted attention and get them noticed by somebody dangerous, or it could prevent them from hearing a threat sneaking up on them. Deathclaws weren't exactly subtle, but humans could be. So Techno knew the silence was better, safer.
However, the silence was also extremely uncharacteristic for Tommy - which concerned Techno. Somehow, in so little time, Techno had gotten used to Tommy being all happy and chatty all the time. And Tommy not being like that almost made Techno feel bad for him, or at the very least it made him uncomfortable.
"Are we there yet?" Tommy asked while kicking at a rock, the first words he'd spoken in almost three hours. Apollo bounded ahead to go after it, but couldn't get it into his mouth to pick it up and slobbered all over it instead, licking at the gravel.
"Snowchester? Nah, that's days away," Techno answered. He didn't even need to consult the map for that.
Tommy did a weird thing with his face that was half-frown and half-pout. "Okay, that's… that's good. And then we split up, right? You're going to go off doing your scavenger things, and I'll just… I- whatever." He kicked another rock. Techno rolled his eyes at the sour attitude.
Okay, fine, Techno could imagine it wasn't the greatest feeling in the world to know you had people who wanted to hunt you down. But Techno had lived with that for years, and he was fine. Tommy could cope. He needed to keep his head in the game before they both died.
"It's a good idea to come up with a plan of what you'll do after," Techno said carefully.
"I know that," Tommy bit out, more annoyed.
"What was your plan before you ran into me?" Techno asked. "You couldn't have left the vault not knowing what you were going to do next."
Hesitantly, Tommy glanced at him while continuing to walk. Techno groaned.
"Seriously? Anybody else could have been out there when you came up. You got insanely lucky."
"Not really, since you're going to abandon me anyway," Tommy said.
"I'm not abandoning you, I'm doing my agreed part," Techno said. He readjusted the bag on his shoulders as they trudged uphill. To avoid any more unpleasant encounters, they were not taking the roads but rather traversing straight through the wasteland. Though sometimes it was hard to see where old roads were. Techno could see some asphalt up ahead.
"I kind of hoped you'd have changed your mind by now," Tommy admitted.
"Changed my mind about taking you all the way to vault-tec?" Techno asked. Tommy nodded. "Not very likely."
Tommy wiped the sweat from his brow, also exhausted from the climb. "You're not a little curious?"
"About where your brother ran off to?"
"About why Dream and his fucking friends are trying to kidnap me! Since it's probably connected and all."
"They're after you because somebody paid them to," Techno said. "It's that simple." Tommy scowled and was about to say something else before Techno cut him off. "And no, I'm not curious."
"Ugh, fine, be a jerk." Tommy kicked another rock.
Subtly, Techno smiled. Getting Tommy fired up about something was better than the tense silence. He just also genuinely didn't want to get involved. Techno had survived this long by keeping his nose out of other people's business. He wasn't about to change that formula.
They finally came to the top of the hill and Techno pulled out his binoculars to survey their surroundings, but Tommy grabbed his sleeve, pulling his arm down before he could even look at anything. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at a piece of metal gleaming in the sunlight. Techno squinted, swallowing down some quip about how he would have been able to tell Tommy if the kid hadn't interrupted his surveying.
"I think it's a playground," Techno said after a moment.
The play equipment was rusted and warped, had definitely seen better days, but a few pieces were left standing. Techno was often flabbergasted at what seemingly random stuff had survived the nuclear war. He found an intact fridge, a couple buildings that definitely should have collapsed, and on one notable occasion a completely functioning car wash. Apollo had enjoyed that discovery.
"Damn," Tommy said with a wide grin. "I've never seen one." He started to skip down the hill, mood instantly lifted. Sometimes, Techno could make heads nor tails of that guy.
"They didn't have underground playgrounds in your vault?" Techno called after him, following Tommy down.
"No?" Tommy said. "That would be ridiculous."
"Mine had one," Techno said.
Tommy came to such a sudden stop he almost toppled over, feet digging into the sand. He waited for Techno to catch up before continuing at a slower pace, walking side by side. "I thought you didn't live in a vault?" he asked suspiciously. They did have that whole talk about mutual honesty.
"I didn't. But my parents told me about the one they were born in. And I visited it once."
"Oh…" Tommy seemed a little disappointed at the answer. Maybe he'd almost hoped to catch Techno in a lie somehow.
"Most vaults look different on the inside, in my experience," Techno added. He didn't know why, but he'd been in about a dozen vaults across the country over the years, and while the layouts could sometimes be roughly similar, they were never exact copies. A little strange considering they were all made by the same company.
There could be a completely plausible reason, though. Maybe the ground composition or population density of the area altered how the vaults were built?
They came to the edge of the playground and Techno watched Tommy take it in. A truly pathetic patch of once-childlike joy that was reduced to a paltry pile of rubble by the bombs, with a few things left standing. Tommy laughed, as if he was so glad to see it. As if he was impressed by it.
"This is amazing. Kids came out and played on these?" he asked.
"I guess," Techno said.
"I bet it was a lot of fun. Maybe there was a whole park here." He looked around, but they couldn't really decipher if there had been anything else or not. Tommy started to walk towards a seesaw. "Do you know how this one works?"
"Yeah, you just sit on it," Techno said, continuing to follow him.
Tommy sat down on the lowered end, shifting his hips back and forth a bit. Obviously, nothing happened. "Now what?" he asked.
"Now I do this." Techno used his hand to press down on the empty seat, lowering it while Tommy shot up. Tommy squeaked in surprise, gripping the metal tight lest he fall off.
"Oh, you need to sit down too," Tommy realized, eyes widening. "So we can go up and down." Techno was keeping the other end down with his foot.
"I'm not sitting on this," he said firmly.
"Why not?" Tommy asked, leaning back. The shifting of his weight almost made Techno want to lift his foot away. Gravity would make quick work of Tommy… In his defense, it would be extremely funny.
"I don't want to get my pants dirty," Techno said.
Apollo barked and put his front paws on the middle of the seesaw, uncomprehending why they were so occupied with it but wanting to play along regardless. His claws scrambled against the bar, except the front part of his body fell off when he dragged up his hind legs. Techno laughed, making a grab for the dog's collar before the silly thing hurt itself.
"It doesn't seem safe either. You're going to get tetanus or something," Techno said, pulling Apollo away from the rusty metal.
"I won't. I've had all my shots," Tommy said proudly.
"You know what tetanus is but not a seesaw?" Techno asked. Tommy was getting a bit too squirmy for his tastes, and he grabbed the seat again while taking his foot away, so Tommy's end could come down and he could hop off.
Tommy shrugged as an answer, already walking towards another piece of playground equipment. A swing set. On the first seat, one of the chains was broken, leaving the swing itself to lie on the ground in a pathetic coil. The other swing had two unbroken chains.
"This is the thing people push each other on, right?" Tommy asked, flopping down on the canvas seat. Looking at it a bit closer, Techno actually wondered if the playground wasn't constructed after the war. Possibly nomads camped out there before and fastened up something quick to entertain their kids. It wouldn't be the first or last time traces of other survivors were repurposed by new travelers.
"Yeah," Techno said. Tommy was staring at him expectantly. "What?"
"So are you going to push me or what?"
"You're insufferable," Techno said. But he did walk to stand behind Tommy.
The thing was, the silence had truly become suffocating. And Tommy's constant jumpiness was equal parts concerning and annoying. If humoring the teen for a while so he could play pretend on some crappy old playground would make him feel better about being hunted for sport, Techno would take it.
Tommy was already using his legs to propel himself slightly forward and backward. Techno gave him a firm push, stepping back to avoid being hit in the face on the opposite swing.
"Is it everything you ever wanted it to be?" Techno asked flatly.
Either Tommy didn't pick up on his sarcasm or the wind rushing in his ears had made him misunderstand the question, because he nodded eagerly. "Yeah, this is cool."
"You're a bit too old to be the demographic for a playground," Techno said.
"The demo-what?"
Techno gave him another firm push, sending Tommy carreen higher. Tommy yelled, which then also made Apollo bark where he was jumping up to try and catch the trailing shoelaces of Tommy's sneakers. Techno looked around, because this certainly wasn't anywhere in the realm of safe anymore. A group of raiders could hear them easily.
Nothing, though. Nothing but wasteland, hilly terrain, a few burnt-out cars that Techno would be scavenging if he hadn't signed up for this impromptu escort mission.
"A vault!" Tommy screamed suddenly. Techno turned so rapidly that the swing seat almost slammed into his face because Tommy had jumped off at the highest point. He landed with a pronounced oomf and a buckling of his ankles that Techno thought looked a bit painful. Not that Tommy reacted.
He was pointing ahead, into the distance.
"I swear, I saw a fucking vault entrance. It's hidden by some rocks and shit, but when I went up I could see the sign," Tommy said, grinning proudly at his discovery.
"Are you sure?" Techno asked. He'd been in this area once or twice and never spotted a vault before.
"I'm sure," Tommy insisted. And Tommy would have no reason to lie about that anyway. "Should we check it out?"
"Maybe," Techno said.
Vaults were always risky. Some of them were still in use and had defensive measures against outsiders. Vault dwellers seemed to think they lived in small utopias compared to the surface, so they believed wastelanders would want to invade. Even an old vault that got abandoned years ago could be unsafe, loaded with military technology like protectrons.
"They might have your medicine though," Tommy said.
Techno shifted. He wasn't used to others knowing about his radiation sickness and the things he did to ward off symptoms. Niki was basically the only one who knew the extent of it. As a result, he also wasn't used to others worrying that he could get ill.
"If it hasn't been looted already," he said. But he could tell from the look on Tommy's face that he really wanted to check it out. As long as they kept their wits about them, it should be fine.
"We won't know until we check," Tommy said.
Techno nodded. "I suppose it's worth the small detour."
Finding the vault after Tommy had only caught a glimpse of it from afar was easier said than done. Tommy said he saw some rocks, but that was describing practically half of the terrain this far out. Rocks and sand, a few dried-up shrubs desperately clinging to life. The Great War had decimated most of the ecosystem.
"There's something over here." Tommy pulled away some branches.
Time had made the blue and yellow logo of Vault-Tec fade into almost nothing. The sign was askew, and the arrow too hard to make out.
"Nice find," Techno said, which made Tommy smile. He searched the direct area around the sign until he found the hatch in the ground, covered in sand. Techno needed to unbury it first. Kneeling, he slid his fingers around the edges when he was done.
"This is the entrance?" Tommy looked at it in confusion. "The exit to my vault looked nothing like that."
"Most vaults have multiple entrances and exits in case one gets blocked," Techno said. "Besides, I already said they're not all the same."
"It's tiny."
"And it's already been cracked open," Techno said. He could feel that the seal was gone, the screws on the hatch lifting up a few inches since it didn't have to accommodate an airtight environment anymore. After the war, somebody either exited or entered through this thing. But obviously that didn't mean the vault was empty.
Techno opened the hatch with a turn of the cog that sat on top. He peered into the darkness for a moment before grabbing his flashlight and tossing it at Tommy.
"Be careful," he warned, then slid himself down through the entrance.
Tommy scrambled to follow him, bumping into Techno as he clambered into the too small tunnel. Up top, Apollo sat down and whined, casting a shadow into the hole.
"Stay," Techno told him. Apollo made another soft noise but did lie down. He never wanted to follow Techno underground.
"What if somebody comes by while we're down here?" Tommy asked. He'd grown very attached to Apollo in just the week they'd been travelling together.
"Nobody will pay a stray any mind," Techno said. He took a step into the tunnel, feeling the incline under his feet. He'd given Tommy the flashlight because, as a part ghoul, his own eyes were a bit better adjusted to the darkness. Not fully though.
"Man, it's dark," Tommy said a moment later, stating the obvious. Techno chuckled.
"Yeah, that's what no windows will do to a place." He used his hand to feel the walls on either side, making sure they couldn't miss any doors or passageways. Eventually, they reached the end of the maintenance way. Since that's what Techno assumed this was. A proper hallway used for people in daily vault life wouldn't be so narrow.
He tried the handle.
The door opened, and instantly, Techno was blinded by the lights coming to life. He hissed when the harsh fluorescent made his eyes sting. A deep hum filled the air, and pressed against him so closely they were practically touching, Techno could feel Tommy tense up.
"Are there people?" he asked, trying to glance around Techno.
But Techno relaxed and stepped into the room. "Nah, just the emergency generator kicking in."
The lights were motion-activated, and so was the oxygen flow that sluggishly pumped stale air around the vault network. Techno could feel his breathing get a little less strained compared to the tunnel, but not by much. The air wasn't 'fresh' to put it mildly. Fine for a couple of hours, then they should get out. Searching this place shouldn't take too long anyway.
"It looks abandoned, but keep your eyes peeled," Techno said. Opening the nearest cabinet, he started rifling through stuff quickly. He'd done this a million times before.
"What does your medicine look like?" Tommy asked, pulling on a drawer.
"You saw it the other day? It's a bright yellow bag that says RadAway, can't miss it." Techno closed the cabinet again. "You won't find any in here though, this is a pantry."
"Oh…" Tommy dropped a random fork.
"They might have a proper medbay or something." Techno stepped out of the pantry and into the kitchen. Emergency exits were usually in covert places. The kitchen was a mess, with items left lying around in disarray. From where Techno could look into the canteen, he could see furniture overturned. Maybe the vault dwellers left in a hurry.
"Should we split up?" Tommy asked, also looking around.
Techno hesitated. He wasn't too fond of that idea. Tommy hadn't done anything too stupid yet, but he was obviously green at everything that came with surviving outside of a safe, controlled environment. So far he'd dodged all bullets - both the proverbial ones and the literal ones. Techno didn't think that would last forever.
On the other hand, this vault was pretty sizable, and Techno didn't want to waste too much time. Maybe letting Tommy check a few empty rooms out by himself would be fine. What's the worst that could happen?
"Don't touch anything that looks suspicious," Techno said. "Leave all the doors open, scream if you need me, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm not stupid." Tommy turned and thudded off, as if the warning was a slight to his person. Maybe it was. Techno wouldn't need to caution another wastelander against doing something foolish. It was common sense.
He had a bad feeling about this.
But Techno pushed it aside, left alone in the room as Tommy's footsteps echoed away from him. Scavenging through vaults was simple. The highest priority was chems and medications, found in medbays and sometimes the Overseer quarters. Any kind of machinery room could be interesting for mechanical parts. Food was the lowest priority. Most vaults had their own food source through underground farming and chemical labs that produced artificial nutrients. When the vault became defunct, so would those food sources. Maybe they'd left a few cans lying around somewhere, but it was a long shot.
Techno just had to stick to his usual routines. Tommy's presence shouldn't change anything.
He started methodically going room to room, heading in the opposite direction. Every place was briefly looked over, only searched if the first observation would betray it holding something valuable inside. Techno soon found several offices. Looked like Tommy had gone off towards the living areas, which should be less interesting to scavenge, but at least Techno didn't have to worry about the teen accidentally turning on some kind of old vault self-destruct protocol.
After a bit, Techno did find the medbay. Predictably, the place had been ransacked before whoever lived there left. No RadAway, and no Rad-X either. If they couldn't find anything else useful, this detour had been for nothing aside from satisfying Tommy's curiosity of seeing another vault.
"Techno!" Tommy's call came from down the hallway. Techno popped his head out of the room he was currently searching.
"Yeah?"
"Do we need dog toys for Apollo?"
"What?!"
"I guess they had dogs in here or something? They have animal cages and stuff lying around."
Strange. Techno hadn't ever been to a vault where they had animals before. Keeping anything else alive aside from the overcrowded population would be a waste to most.
"Don't grab more than you can carry," Techno called back. He heard a muffled answer, then Tommy throwing something closed with a thud. He went into the next room.
This must have been the Overseer's office. One wall was completely covered in screens, currently all turned off. There were papers on the desk, the wall, a corkboard with little strings that attached pictures with words. Techno couldn't read all of them. Or he could read, he just didn't know what the words meant. Except for one that definitely stood out.
Experiment.
He picked up a few of the papers, looking at the room numbers and the notes that were taken in accordance with each living unit. They were complete nonsense to him.
What the heck had been going on in this vault? Was this normal?
Techno looked at the screens, at the moment each a blank square of nothing. Curious, he flicked a few buttons and watched the still operating ones come to life. Not all of them, maybe the wiring had broken down on some. But even with the few that did still function, the view of a dozen different living units made a tense feeling drop into Techno's gut.
They were… watching their residents. Techno supposed that could make sense for security and stuff. Except he couldn't quite get himself to believe that was all this was about.
He saw Tommy on the screen, searching through a room. Maybe it was the one he mentioned before with the animal cages, since it had a few in them, and a kennel sort of area. Techno watched as Tommy messed with the spring lock on one.
He also saw the wire that ran from it up into the ceiling.
Techno was already out of the room by the time he heard Tommy screaming. He didn't have to see the trap snap shut, or the damage it could do to the vulnerable flesh of Tommy's fingers. How could Techno have been this stupid? How could he not have thought about the fact that once a vault gets abandoned, some stragglers usually are left behind. And they built traps to protect themselves from looters.
After all the vaults he searched, Techno barely thought to mention it. He knew the signs to look out for. Tommy wouldn't.
By the time Techno made it to Tommy, he was already sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the wall. He was holding his wrist in his right hand, while staring at the three remaining fingers on his left hand.
The other two were stuck in the trap's spring lock system, torn clean through when the device snapped shut.
Tommy wasn't making any noise anymore. His chest was moving, rapid little bursts like he was hyperventilating without making a sound. Techno knew this was bad. Tommy had lost a lot of blood, splattered all along the tiled floor, and while it wasn't enough to kill him it would certainly make him go into shock if Techno didn't do anything soon.
"Tommy?" Techno knelt beside him and pushed his pack off his shoulder, digging through it. He kept some first aid stuff on him. Amputations were new, though. Techno had never dealt with one before.
"It-" Tommy tried to say, but his lips trembled and he was pale, and Techno had a sense Tommy was about to puke. So he shook his head.
"Don't talk. Listen to me. Keep pressure on this." He started to wrap the stumps in cloth. "We'll figure something out."
"Figure what out?" Tommy asked slowly. Yeah, definitely shock.
"Did you find anything useful?" Techno asked, trying to distract him.
"Toys for Apollo."
Techno snorted. Not exactly what he would call useful.
"That's great, Tommy." With a firm grip on Tommy's elbow, Techno helped him upright. "I know where to go." Not that Techno was too thrilled about it, but desperate times would call for desperate measures.
After all, Pandora had a strict policy of shooting first and asking questions later.
That was not the reason Techno hated that settlement. No, his grievances were more personal in nature. If he had a choice in the matter, Techno wouldn't have gone back there willingly in a million years.
However, Pandora was also the one place Techno could think of that would help Tommy's current situation. They had a lot of experience with this sort of issue.
Techno hoped the sight of another person leaning on him, clearly in bad health, would be enough for Sam not to open fire at the sight of him.