A hulking suit of power armour stands near the doorway to the structure the soldiers took shelter in, acting as doorman to prevent anyone from getting the drop on them. James and O'Neill are huddled together by an old ham radio trying to get it working.
"This is Lieutenant James with the US Air-force, Command do you read, over." James speaks through the microphone.
"Long range comms must be gone, try short range, surely someone is out there listening" O'Neill adds.
The wounded soldier tosses and turns on the stretcher, eventually his eyes open and he breathes deeply, his heart races as he scans his surroundings.
"Where am I?" he asked as he looks up at the two soldiers at the radio
"Your awake", James remarks as he moves quickly to the soldier's bedside. "Relax yourself a little, I need to check your vitals". He then proceeds to scan the wounded soldiers' vitals for any abnormalities.
"I can't feel my legs" the soldier shrieks as he tries to wake them up. James reaches one hand out to lay it on the soldier's shoulder in an attempt to calm him.
"You took bad fall and broke both of them, we had to induce lower body paralysis to prevent any further damage." James adds.
The soldier looks down in shock then back up at other two men in the room, before he could ask the next question, O'Neill reassured him.
"You will walk again son, the damage isn't permanent, we need to get you to a surgeon to fix you up, but you will recover" He says in a relaxed tone.
"What's your name son", James enquires as he sits beside him
"Private First-class Mark Weber sir", He remarks
"Well Private Weber, it's a good thing the Captain got to you when he did, plus he saved you from that god awful basic training", James laughed
"Where is the Captain Sir, I'd like to thank him personally", Weber asks.
James Points to the suit of power armour watching the doorway.
"He stood vigil all night while you were out, didn't want anyone sneaking up on us unannounced."
Weber peers over at the hulking suit, in awe of its impressive stature before asking if he can hear us.
"He can indeed soldier, but fair warning, he is sort of the strong silent type, don't expect much out of him while he's on watch." O'Neill smirks
Weber pulls himself up to rest on the top of the bed frame, then adjusts his uniform before giving a salute to the power armour.
"Captain Miller sir, I'd like to thank you and your men for saving my life." he says, "last thing I remember was missing the rope on that god forsaken obstacle course. When I hit the ground all I felt was cold, I honestly thought I was done for, until I heard your voice through that helmet. I thought I had died there and gone to the great beyond.
Just as Weber was finishing up his speech, Miller walks in the backdoor.
"Who you talking to soldier?" Miller asks
Weber turns to see the Captain out of his power armour, he turns back to the suit then back to Miller, scratching his head in confusion before noticing O'Neill burst out laughing.
"You should have seen your face, when you realised you were talking to nothing." O'Neill jokes.
Weber's face turns red from embarrassment, before he can respond Miller interjects.
"It's alright soldier, they were only having a little light-hearted fun, its needed in a time like this" He adds.
"Time like this sir?" Weber asks curiously.
"There is no easy way to say this son, at 1800 hours yesterday, multiple high yield nuclear warheads were detected entering US air space. After a brief moment following that message, we lost long range communication due to the electromagnetic pulse created by the detonation. We have no way of confirming but my guess is the whole country was targeted, who knows how bad the rest of the states are. Most of the warheads aimed for Virginia failed to reach their targets, either they missed or were intercepted by our defence systems. Two detonations did occur in the southern regions, everything south of the hospital is gone."
The three soldiers' eyes widen as they listen to Millers report.
"Jesus Christ, I knew it was going to be bad, but the whole US" O'Neill sighed
"My family lived near Sutton, do you know anything about that area?", Weber asked.
"I'm not sure, the defence systems at the Capitol building could have intercepted any warheads, we won't know any more until we link up with command." Miller walked towards the window of the building, peering through it, before turning back to his men.
"Alright men, we can't control what has transpired, this is the hand we have been dealt, all we can do now is do our job" Miller says stoically.
"Our job sir, it's a wasteland out there, O'Neill adds.
"Perceptive as always Sarge, it doesn't matter the conditions, we all took the same oath, who knows how many lives need help out there, we may be the only Para Rescue unit in the state. We need to get to work" Miller then turns to Weber.
"Private, as commanding officer of this region, I'm re-tasking you to our team, you will assist us in our duties".
"I'm honoured sir, but unless you plan on carrying me on your back, I'm not going to be much good to you." The private responds.
Miller turns to his suit of power armour before looking back at Weber.
"Did your training cover power armour usage Soldier?" Miller asked.
"Very minimal sir, I can operate it but was never trained in combat procedures." Weber shrugged
"Good, hopefully you won't need to fight anything. Now, LT help me get him in that armour."
The two men help weber up on his feet, then slowly carried him over to the back of the suit. Weber reached one hand out to open the valve, before grabbing the shoulders and lowering himself into the suit. Miller helps close the rear hatch then moves to his front to help him calibrate the suit to his reflexes.
"Remember to take it slow, you have to learn to crawl before you can run. Lucky for you, you don't need your legs to move the armour, just lean your body forward to go forward and back to reverse."
After some time getting use to the suit, Weber starts to get the hang of it. Miller is even impressed at how quickly he picked it up. Before he can commend him on his effort, the ham radio on the table inside the building starts broadcasting. The two quickly head back inside to join James and O'Neill who are sat by it.
"Status Lieutenant?" Miller commands.
"We are picking up a faint message on the low band sir, trying to clear up the static now."
The Lieutenant fiddles with the dials on the front, eventually getting the clear message.
"This is General Swafford, broadcasting on all channels, any armed forces are ordered to The White springs Resort for immediate reassignment. We may be winded but we are most certainly not out of this fight yet. Grid coordinates are as followed, this message repeats."
Miller gets up from the table and reaches for his pistol, pushing a magazine into the mag well before chambered a round.
"Well, that settles it then, Boys get ready to move out, Lieutenant, get me a heading for those coordinates, Sergeant, you and the Private scour the vertibird crash for any supplies, we may need everything we can carry for the road ahead. Now, let's hope to it" He orders
The other three men give a unanimous Yes sir, before jumping to action.
YOU ARE READING
This Once Great Nation
FanfictionA short story about one of my fallout characters. It follows Captain Miller's journey through West Virginia shortly before the bombs drop. The choices he will have to make to keep those under his command safe, while trying to do his best to reassemb...
