lost to another world

What Happened?

It's a perfect night to stay inside and play video games. The rain was pelting the street outside but the slight hum of the heater behind me ensured the cold wouldn't make it far enough to harm me. A popcorn bowl lay on my lap, the smell of the buttery goodness filling the room and giving it a movie theater feel to it. Perfect for a night alone. No one else was home tonight, they all had 'important plans' to take care of. So of course, I am going to take advantage of this time and replay some of my favorite games, I mean who wouldn't? home alone with no one to bother you about how long you've been on or how bad you are at the game. There were a few to choose from, some oldies, some newer games I have yet to even beat. "What am I feeling for tonight?" I flipped through the multitude of titles that littered the file, so many to choose from... "how about... fallout 4? I haven't played that one in a while." I clicked on the game and waited for it to load everything, the calm menu music bringing back memories from years ago. When I first played the game, I was still so little, my family used to gather in the living room to hang out and they would comment on how I played, they would yell things like "look out for the ghoul" or "use a stimpack!!" and then everyone would laugh when I wouldn't do things in time or if they thought I should have done something different.
The lights clicked out and I was snapped out of my memories, the console had turned off and for some reason the whole room was silent. 'Wasn't it raining? Why can't I hear the rain anymore?' I could feel the temperature drop in the room. 'Did I lose power?' I tried to get up off the couch but for some reason it felt like I was in a tiny room instead of my living room, it was silent, and it smelled like alcohol, then the lights snapped on. It was too bright. The white lights of the room stabbed daggers into my eyes, there was a biting cold all around me. I felt like I had taken a dip into a pool of the world's coldest water. It made my bones feel like stones with my skin as wet paper laying over their surface, one wrong move and I feel like my skin would rip into thousands of tiny threads. At least then my eyes would stop hurting. My warm living room had turned into what I could only think of as a smaller and much colder doctor's office. I leaned back to try and back away from the blinding lights and hit a chair behind me, my couch was gone, now replaced with the stiff and freezing leather of a standing chair. The room was slowly coming back into focus, like a fog lifting from my mind. I felt around me, there was nothing except cold glass in front of me and even colder fabric behind me. There was a man outside of my little room, he was pacing back and forth while this person in a white hazmat suit worked at a console of sorts, the man looked mad. wait... I know this room, this is the vault, the one I had just gone in when I was playing the game, that means the man is... Kellogg? Was that his name? it had been a long time since I played far enough to meet him in the story. He looked at me; it looked like I was living through the cutscenes. He went about his monologue as if nothing had changed, like no one had changed. But that can't be possible. This must be some dream; one I was supposed to wake up from any second. It felt as if someone was tightening a vice around my lungs and I couldn't process anything around me, I couldn't even hear Kellogg finish his speech before the fans in the pod kicked on again and with a gush of freezing air, everything went black.
It was black for a long time; they don't let you know that in the game but after a while you realize just how long you've been dreaming. Then all of time catches up to you like a dam breaking under pressure.

Those damned lights kicked on once again, stabbing ice picks into my brain and making me wish to be asleep again. At least I knew I was still alive. The cold wasn't as harsh as it was when I got here but it was still freezing. I could finally make out the rest of the room, there was a line of the cryopods in front of me and next to me, there were other people in the pods, but they weren't waking up like me. An alarm got my attention before the door lifted open allowing me to step out of the pod, red lights flash through the room as a speaker talks about the pods failing. I felt like I had been sitting in a car for hours and had finally been able to stop and stretch. All my muscles were as stiff as boards, and I almost fell while trying to stretch out my tired limbs. The smell of alcohol was a lot stronger out here and it was now accompanied by the added smell of mold, rust, and rot, it made for a horrible attack on my senses, I had to fight the urge to throw up. I looked back into the little booth and saw the contents of my pockets lying on the seat, I reached down to check my pockets for holes, But I didn't have pockets anymore... I was in the vault 111 jumpsuit, the one my character had changed into not even a few minutes earlier. My phone, ChapStick, and a random shirt button had come with me, they must have fallen out of my pockets when I tried to get off the couch. I checked my phone, the time said 12:35pm, time wasn't even right anymore. My bare feet hit the concrete floors, the floor was littered with papers and dust. No one had been here for quite a while, that much I could tell by looking around the room. There was a dripping sound off to my left and what sounded like scurrying on my right. I took my stuff from the pod and held them; they were all I had from my home, the only thing I had as a reminder that I was not where I was supposed to be. I walked over the crumpled papers towards the opposite pod. I inspected myself in the reflection, I was still me, other than the obvious change in clothing nothing was amiss. My hair was still the same color, my skin still had the same tint it always had, and my eyes, while looking a little more tired, were still the same as always. I forced myself to focus on the person inside the pod. There was Nate, lying dead inside his icy tomb. His expression of fear and anger still lingered on his still face, his time was stopped as his world ended, and they had the audacity to leave him like that. The other people in their pods looked similar, they still wore the fear on their faces from when they entered this godforsaken vault, they didn't know they would never wake up. All they knew was that their world ended when the bombs dropped, and they were afraid of how much their lives would change from that moment on.
'I wish I could have told them; no one deserves to go this way. Locked away forever, doomed to fade away as the world above them moves on not knowing they ever existed. Hopefully they had moved on to be with their family already.' I thought to myself as I let my hand brush over their pods as i followed them into the dim hallway.
To me they were nothing but a random NPC running alongside me as I ran towards the vault, they were such an insignificant piece of the game to me, someone who was just there to increase the feeling of panic in the intro. I was only concerned with getting to the vault so I could begin the actual game. Finish the intro so I could get to the good stuff. I used to wish you could skip the into so you could just go right into the fun gameplay and lore. Oh, how wrong I was. I could see all their fears etched into their faces, the fear of the threat of war and nuclear annihilation due to the bombs having left its mark on their now still faces. The game never shows just how much something like that can affect a person because the characters you meet were born over a hundred years after the bombs were dropped. They didn't know the normal lifestyle of not having to fear for your life every day, to fear for your friends, family, and neighbors every single day of your life. But that means they didn't have to experience it all being torn from them in a matter of seconds. For having to experience your entire life falling apart right in front of you is something no one in history should have ever had to deal with. Not now, not any time in the future.
The alarm still rang above me as the speaker repeated its message about the pods failing, the red lights still flashing on the walls beside me, slightly blinding me as I walked further into the crypt. There were corpses everywhere, long rotted and now reduced to skeletons in clothes on the floor. They left patches of red, now brown, below them and on their clothes, forever staining their resting place. They were the scientists and workers of the vault, and based on their clothes it wasn't too hard to guess that fact. Their bones had been picked clean of anything that hadn't rotted right away, my guess is by whatever was scurrying in the other room.
I finally found the main room. The terminals still worked but their screens were dimmed with a thick layer of dust and grime. I could barely make out the words on the screen and soon gave up on my hunt for answers, for now. I could hear the steady hum of the air vents pumping in air above me as I walked through the many rooms, some had their lights knocked out and some were locked entirely. There was a large, bright room with fallen bunks lining the walls, their mattresses had been rotted by time. some of them had trunks at the foot of the beds, most were empty or broken, but in one box I found an old pair of boots. They were too big, but it would be better than walking through a rusty vault barefoot. Tetanus was not on my list of things I wanted to die from. Their leather was thinning from disuse and the laces were hanging on by a thread; I shook free a few spiders who had made the shoes their home before sliding on the boots and securing them as tight as I could making sure to triple tie the laces before I stood and gave the boots a few good stomps to make sure they would stay on. Moving out of the room and back into the lobby I found what would have been a dining area, The picnic tables were lined with empty food trays and coffee mugs, there was a breakfast bar on the far side of the room. Whatever they were having to eat had long rotted and turned into something that I would have expected to see in The Last of US, not fallout. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that pile of mold would have jumped and tried to eat me and turn me into a shambling human shaped pile of meat and mold. But it stayed still as I moved around the room; I took some old supplies in my arms as I walked by. I didn't have a bag, so I had to be very careful with what I decided to take with me. Wandering into the next room I found more skeletons lying wherever they had been unlucky enough to have died, in the hands of one of the bodies I found an old 10mm, it was in surprisingly good condition compared to the rest of the room. I ran my hand over the cool metal, feeling every dent and ridge along its side. It was smooth but heavy, it would not be easy to use.
The only thing I knew about weapons was what I learned in this game, so I took my time messing around with the weapon. I figured out how to take out the magazine and how to reload it even how to hold it up without my arms shaking like crazy. I got the hang of it, one problem, I didn't want to hurt anything. I knew about the world of this game, and I knew there was no way I could make it out of the shelter without figuring out how to use the gun I found but I didn't want to have to take the life of anything. I took a deep breath and walked through one of the shutter doors into a long hallway; and there it was in front of me, a radroach. It was a giant mutated cockroach, it didn't do anything other than sit there and stare off into the opposite corner, chittering away as if it wasn't aware I was in the room.
'Perfect, I hate cockroaches.' I raised the gun towards the bug, it was still heavy, and my arm swayed slightly as I tried to aim at the creature but while taking a deep breath, I was able to steady my arm slightly. Not enough to aim properly but enough that I wouldn't completely miss. It took notice of me then and turned towards me and hissed. It began to run towards me, all its little legs working in tandem to move faster and faster, reaching a speed that put the fear of the gods into me, bugs have never been a big fear, but these ones aren't the normal small bugs you can just squish with a nearby shoe and call it good... I panicked and shot randomly, the blowback from the gun threw my arm back making me hit the wall beside me, I wasn't prepared for the gun to fight back too, it's like nothing wanted to go my way tonight. The hissing stopped and it was quiet again. I looked at the ground and saw the bug lying there twitching some before its body finally gave into its wounds. Another roach came running around the corner and I swung my gun in its direction, with another push of the trigger I shot toward the bug, the gun didn't throw my arm like it did last time but I missed the bug, instead the bullet collided with one of the pipes on the wall, with a new hole and pipe now shot out a line of steam into the room, hiding the insect for a few seconds before it emerged from the cloud still on track to barrel towards me like a bull to red. I fired again, this time I hit it and it fell silent beside the last, not spending nearly as much time twitching on the ground before falling silent. It was quiet in the vault once more. I was down to a single magazine of bullets, I had to be careful about my usage, one wrong move and I would be absolutely screwed against something that needed more than one bullet. I was even still holding my few possessions, so shooting and moving was quite a task. Walking down the remainder of the hallway I finally made it to the overseer's room. It was just as eerie as all the other decayed rooms of the vault, but now it was only one corpse, what was at one point probably the overseer of the whole vault. They were now a skeleton on the ground like most of the other residents of the vault, adorning their lab coat they lay still on the ground in a dried ring of what was once their blood and organs. They had a few more bullets in a cabinet near them and as I searched the room, I found a silly bobblehead and grabbed it too, a little moral support doesn't hurt. In the overseer's room I found A small leather bag, its small surface was coated with dust and debris, the leather held small holes from past adventures and the fabric inside had seen better days, it was torn and almost beyond repair and It wouldn't hold very much but it would help me until I could find a better bag with more room. I shook out its previous contents and put my few items inside along with a few stimpacks that were on the shelf beside it. The stimpacks had a bigger needle than I thought they did, 'I really hope I don't have to use one anytime soon.' I don't think anyone ever enjoyed having to use one of those.
I went to the overseer's terminal and opened the main door, it groaned and creaked but eventually opened all the way, letting in a gush of a little less stale air. The elevator was even louder as it lifted me towards the opening, the long-rusted gears awakening from their ancient slumber to do their job once more. The door cover dropped layer after layer of dust and ash upon me. I coughed to get both the musty air and dirt from my lungs as I waved my hand in front of my face to keep any extra dirt from getting in. I was slowly raised up onto the surface, the air was clogged with more dust, but it was a great change from the moldy alcohol that I had been stuck smelling inside the vault for the past few hours 'or what is days? How long was a stuck in that pod?'. It was a cloudless but crisp morning outside; the sun had just begun to peak its head out from the other side of the mountains and cast a warm glow over the valley. I could see the ruined neighborhood in front of me, the distant gleam of the other settlements in the distance gave little sparkles around the horizon, they gave life to the wasteland. I form of hope that not everyone was as dead as one would think. Below me the vault platform trembled and locked into its new resting place, groaning as it settled again. I began the trek down the hill and into sanctuary, the dirt pathway still littered with the skeletons of those who couldn't get into the vault their suitcases and bags still beside them, though those once beautiful bags were now reduced to a pile of scrap fabric. The little neighborhood was peaceful, quiet, comforting, all things that shouldn't be seen as a good thing in a living nightmare, but here we are. I could imagine the people making their way through their daily lives, doing yardwork, going to work, taking in the groceries. All the things I once saw my neighbors doing. All before the alarms rang and the bombs began to drop, then they spent the last few minutes of their life running for their only source of hope, the vault. I don't think my reaction would have been any different. It would play out like a normal day, I would be in my room reading, my family would be going about their normal business, like doing chores or homework; then the heart dropping sound of the nuclear fallout alarms would begin. It's Not likely that we would have been placed into one of the vaults, we would have had huddle in the basement hoping we were far enough away from the blast that we would survive, hoping that we would be able to see each other in our normal life again in a few hours. Knowing what happened to those in the vault it would have been better to die hugging my family rather than die a lab rat to some big corporation. Hell, being at school when the bombs dropped would have been preferable to what those people had happened. To have been told you would wake up in a few hours with your family just to go to sleep and never wake up again. It's horrible.
The cars of the long-forgotten citizens still lined the driveways and streets, like metal carcasses, a dusting of paint still adorned their bodies acting as an indicator of what they once were. who knew radiation could do so much damage to simple car paint. Some houses still stood but most had caved to the weight of time and now lay as piles of metal beams and scrap wood, their own weight having been too much for them to bare without having had maintenance in so many years. A few critters scuttled below the piles, but nothing dared poke its head out of their cold sanctuary into the warm light of the day. A light breeze swept through the streets following me like a dog at your heels, its chill making me yearn for my room again, for my heater and blankets, for my TV and popcorn, for anything other than this. The whirring of a familiar bot welcomed me as I made my way to the further end of sanctuary. He floated around the yard and house trying in vain to upkeep the dilapidated house; to return it to how it had once been, to return it to how he was ordered to keep it. While the bushes were as close to well-kept as you can get, the house itself was following the example of the many others in the area and slowly caving into its own weight. A few holes in the walls and roof could be seen with remnants of the furniture overturned or gone entirely inside. One whole wall was missing near one of the bedrooms and what was once a car now lay in the driveway. What little furniture remained could be in better shape, their fabric long bleached by the sun and slightly eaten by the critters of the wasteland offered little comfort in the chilly house. Codsworth wasn't any better himself; he had started to rust in some places and his blades weren't as sharp and shiny as they had been. They barely cut through the plant life anymore, instead catching and dragging some of the branches along the rest of his route. He went about the yard almost in a daze, like the days had morphed into a timelapse of his life in which nothing ever changed, where he cycled through the same routine. He would only stop every few feet to shake the attached branches out of his bladed arm only to continue again a few seconds later. There was a path worn into the ground below him, one could guess it was the path he followed to do his daily chores, his engine burning the pattern into the soil below him more and more as the days went by. How he still has power after this many years is anyone's guess; he doesn't seem like he will be giving up anytime soon.
He didn't even notice as I walked up the pathway towards him, it took waving in his direction for him to finally notice something had changed. "Hey codsworth!" I waved down the bot and he turned and began hovering towards my direction. He looked as if he were about to burst out from his metal casing, but it held strong.
"Mum! Yours back! But where is the sir and Shaun?" codsworth looked around me, searching the background for the other two. His attitude dropped quite a bit when he couldn't find the others he was looking for.
"Their gone codsworth, Nate... nates in a better place. Someone... someone took Shaun." This wasn't my world, would be better to play along for now, keep the peace until I had someone I could trust to tell and not both think me completely crazy and not explode at the idea. I already knew codsworth wouldn't be able to help me very much. Not only because of how worn down he is but because it wasn't what he was designed to do, he wasn't designed to help me figure out how to break out of this world and get back to my living room. He was designed to do simple chores, to be a live-in nanny for whomever decided to buy him, not do things todays scientists have wet dreams about, he would probably blow up at the concept let alone actually trying to figure it out.
"Oh mum, I'm so sorry." For once since I got here, he stopped moving, he hovered right in front of me and looked down towards the ground. This hit him harder than I thought it could, a familiar sadness crept into my chest. reminding me that like him, I am way out of my depth. Thrown into an unfamiliar area and expected to keep moving as if nothing had changed. Even though a lot had changed.
"Codsworth, I need some help. I need to know which way to go to get to the nearest city." motioning to the building around me "everything is the same and I have no clue which way I should go. Can you help me with that?" He was still looking at the ground, if robots could cry, I would bet he would have cried a river by now. He finally lifted his eye from the ground and looked at me again, he looked lost, like his one purpose had been ripped away... like the lives of the other people who had lived here. But I had no time to spend consoling a sad robot, I needed to get out of here, and soon.
"Just go that way mum, the nearest city is concord. Although I must say the people there aren't the friendliest. i left with quite a few new scrapes the last time I went by." He pointed off into the distance, a small town could be seen, it was the most intact out of all the buildings I've seen so far but it doesn't take much in this world to stand out. Still having a roof and four walls already puts you ahead of 90% of the rest of the United States and if you happened to be protected and had all your walls, you were basically a millionaire's house.
"Alright codsworth, thank you so much. You're doing great keeping the house together." I waved to the bot as I turned to begin walking out of the neighborhood, I could hear the robot do a little celebratory dance behind me, proud that he could keep going and keep everything to his 'mums' standards even in this disaster of a world. He could keep things in some form of order.
The houses got into worse and worse condition as I made my way down the road, if you can even call it a road anymore, they went from being slightly broken to nothing but a foundation and some rubble. Even the houses which were just piles of debris were better than straight concrete, for even in a pile of metal you can find some form of shelter. The bridge into the neighborhood hadn't faired any better than the houses beside it, it barely stood now, choosing instead to lean off to one side supported by half of its barely still attached legs, I could smell the wood rotting below me. As I walked across the boards, I could hear the creaks of several of the planks below me, they screamed as they tried to hold my weight and fight off becoming a pile of rotted wood in the water like many of the other structures in the area.
Before I knew it, I was on the other side, greeted by the corpse of a mongrel dog and a half-eaten raider. "Game rules still apply right?" I leaned down and took the clothes off the corpse, they were a bit messed up but would give much more protection and comfort than the scratchy vault jumpsuit I have been stuck in, so I stepped off the cracked concrete and into the bushes to change. It made me feel weird to be wearing a dead guy's clothes, especially since I had to literally pry them from his cold dead hands. The clothes fit correctly surprisingly, and I could use the pockets to hold more trinkets I come across, keeping my already small bag slightly emptier. It would be better than nothing, and anything is better than nothing at this point. I tucked the blue vault suit into my bag and threw it over my shoulder to continue down the road towards the gas station, its bright red paint was still holding strong even after all this time, it looked like if it were given a good was it would be better than ever and ready to give gas to the people. But it no longer held gasoline and most of the pumps now lay on the ground near it. A few cars lay near the side of the building, rotted metal carcasses like the others. My guess would be that they belonged to the workers of the station and patrons who stopped for gas and snacks. Although I doubt, they ever got their snacks... or gasoline for that matter, but I believe it became the last thing they were worried about very quickly.
The old station had been looted a lot from the look of it. It was stripped down to just the bare walls with the thin metal shelves lining the walls being the only reminder that this place used to hold more than just dust and broken cardboard boxes. The small room was much colder than the outside, since the sun was just coming up the darkness hadn't been scared off just yet. There was a quiet scratching sound coming from outside, it sounded like something was sniffing around in the rubble. Looking for something. Whatever it was, it was determined, and it wasn't quiet in its search; I could hear it moving rocks and planks out of its way, moving beneath the fallen gas pumps and around the fallen roof. Its nails clicked along the concrete as it moved, giving me a good idea of where it was always. I crouched on the ground near one of the smashed windows, keeping low enough that I could see out the window without whatever was out there being able to see me. Broken glass crunched beneath my boots making it hard to stay quiet, luck was not on my side today. I reached into my bag and drew my 10mm and held it steady, still not being confident with my ability to wield a weapon, all I could really do was hold it there and stay ready. My one magazine didn't offer much protection but it's better than having no ammo at all.
Whatever the creature was it continued its search, shuffling closer and closer to my hiding place. I couldn't see it, but I could hear it right below the window sniffing up the wall towards where my head was. I closed my eyes and held the gun ready.
Then I felt something sniffing my hair, and a bark broke through the silence of the shop. I jumped from my hiding spot to find a dog, basically jumping through the window to greet me. He looked like a German Shepard with his ears standing tall and proud atop his head. I brushed the dirt off my shirt and walked back through the door and out; the dog ran out to my side and eagerly began to lick my hand as I moved to put the gun away. He barked happily as he moved in circles around me, sniffing every corner of my being. "You must be dogmeat!" The dog looked at me and barked. He looked so happy that I somehow knew his name. He settled by my side and looked up to me with his big brown eyes. He seemed content to sit there with me. "You looking to come with me boy?" He barked once, so i started walking again, and he followed close on my heels.
The road became more and more rundown as I made my way down the street, the cracks became wider and harder to avoid. Much of the road had sunk into the ground leaving nothing to know there was a road there. I could see fallen freeway bridges ahead, mostly fallen and destroyed. Some had small camps on them, a smart way to keep yourself safe and out of the line of sight of many of the wasteland's creatures. I would hate to be sleeping and suddenly be attacked by a mirelurk or a ghoul, would not be a fun night's sleep especially if I somehow survived. While nowhere was safe from the constantly roaming enemy's, there were some spots where you could sleep with both eyes closed. Even if it was just for a few hours. I remember spending most of my time on the move, only stopping by sanctuary or good Neighbor if I needed something or needed to drop off my hundreds of pounds worth of random scrap to eventually build up a home; I never got around to building a base though, something always got me sidetracked before I could start. To me diamond city was full of too many scared people, I know everyone is going to be scared constantly but the people of diamond city were too scared of the wrong things. Instead of being afraid of not living until the next day they were more worried about their neighbor being a synth. I know the fear of being replaced by a spy robot was strong, but I could never understand the fear of those who didn't hide they were robots. People like my old favorite nick valentine would be ostracized for years all because people were afraid that he was a spy for the institute or was going to kill them. It was like racism all over again, people being hated just because they weren't made of flesh and blood. They still thought like everyone and had a conscious like anyone, some were nicer than the everyday citizen too. So, I just avoided the city, if I did have to go in I always made sure to keep my radio on so I didn't have to hear the guards talking about some murder or the citizens talking about how they thought one of their old friends had been replaced by a synth.
There were small settlements here and there as I made my way towards the town. The outline of small houses was like a signal for danger, there were strings of cans hanging in doors and small roaches ran across the outsides of the buildings like small children with sugar. Speedy little demon bugs. In some of the doors I could see thin wires running across the opening, they were only visible because of the sunlight gleaming off them. The city grew denser as I made my way inside, cars were overturned with rubble and bodies strewn all around the ground. They were fresh, blood still moving around them where they lay. I grew wary of everything around me, 'were those shadows really moving or am I being crazy?' I moved near one of the fallen houses and crouched along the walls. Dogmeat stopped near me and lowered himself closer to the ground. He began to growl towards the city museum as shots began to ring out. Stray bullets began to pierce the walls and hit the walls of nearby stores. They bounced off the dense concrete and flew into the few remaining cars in the street. Even behind a fallen wall I had to be careful of the ricocheting bullets as they came by, one wrong breath and I would likely have a new hole in my skull; not something I was in the market for currently.
Whoever was shooting being quite intent on killing whoever is inside without having to even enter the building. I peeked out from my cover while holding dogmeat behind me, there were three men from what I could see: two in the road ahead and one against the doorframe shooting into the building. Before they could notice me, I slid back behind my cover and looked into my bag, i didn't have enough ammo to take out three men but I could at least get the first two if I aimed my shots right. I crammed the last few rounds into the magazine and loaded the gun, it felt warm to the touch. An odd change from the cold metal I had felt the first time; I peeked my upper body out from my cover and aimed toward the first man, he was still shooting towards the museum without a care as to what could be sneaking around him. Almost oblivious to the gun aimed at his head from behind.
It was like the world slowed down, everything started moving in slow motion and I was the only normal one, I could see the men and whoever was shooting back. But they were moving so slow. It was the VATS system, it slowed everything to give me a chance to aim my shots. I shot towards the first man and fired. He hit the ground with a thud, and everything rushed back to its normal speed. His partner took notice of the new quiet beside him and turned to me, he yelled before starting to fire in my direction instead of the man in the window. Bullets grazed my hair as I stood and bolted into one of the next houses. I could hear the man still yelling about his friend, but I could no longer see him in the street, he must have finally gotten wise and left the open. This was going to make things much harder than they needed to be. This building was in worse condition than the others, its second floor had fallen, leaving a gaping hole in the roof where it once sat, there were crushed and breaking furniture sliding down the walls from where they originally sat. there were more of the can chains hanging in the doorways of the second floor, now that the floor had caved there was no worry about accidentally triggering them again. Unless I wanted to climb the hill of rubble to get there, I had no chance of running into them. Steps echoed outside as a few new men joined the party. I ducked beneath some rubble and peeked outside. They met in a group outside the room, likely sharing info as to what was going on. I took their distraction as my chance to run through a back door and out into the street again. One of the bandits was still standing in the door of the museum shooting inside. He peeked around and fired with what looked like a hunting rifle. It was stained and cracked but it sounded like thunder when it fired. I made my way toward the man, making sure not to step on any of the broken glass and rubble on my way. I checked my gun again, three more rounds, and no other weapons to use. I stood and took a breath, reactivating VATS and aimed towards the man's head, it would take all three of my remaining rounds to take him out, it would leave me in the open but maybe I could take some ammo from him. as the shots rang and the man fell, I heard the yelling of the others behind me, they began to run towards me screaming at the loss of another friend. My heart began to beat faster as I ran to grab his gun, I slid on the ground and grabbed his hunting rifle before standing and running into the museum. There were more men in here and after a quick yell of instruction from the guys outside they were quick to turn their attention my direction, forgetting whatever it was that they were originally shooting at in favor of taking out what they would deem as an easy kill. I dove into one of the exhibit rooms and hid behind a fallen display case, it once held old uniforms from the British soldiers and their weapons. The guns were replicas but the knifes weren't. I grabbed one of the dusty knives and leaned to check my new gun, I shoved the knife into my bag along with my now empty 10mm. The hunting rifle was heavy in my arms, heavier than the 10mm and much bulkier. It would be much harder to hold steady, especially when I am under the pressure I have been every time I've had to use a weapon.
My heart was beating loud in my ears as I turned to look through the doors. The men had run into the building behind me and were not searching the rooms on the other side of the building. I could see their lights roaming the rooms as they walked through. The shots had stopped for now, but I could still hear walking above me. I checked the ammo of the hunting rifle, it was low, but I had way more than my 10mm and it would offer better protection while allowing me to stay a little further away from whoever intends to hurt me at the moment. The bandits disappeared behind some fallen rubble into more of the buildings' rooms and I took it as my chance to make a run upstairs. I briefly remember how to get to the settlers and even with my faded memory I would be too busy worrying about getting shot to spend too much time thinking about where I needed to take a turn. While staying low to the ground I briefly scanned the rooms as I looked for the path to the third floor. Many of the rooms were filled with old memorabilia and some creepy audio about what happened in that time period, most of which was too old and distorted to be understood. They gave the building a horror movie feel to it which was not helping my growing nerves. Shadows danced along the walls caused by the fading lights and the creepy old mannequins. They all looked eerily lifelike as they stood either in their designated spots or their new resting places along the walls and floors. They were moldy and cracked but still somehow standing. How a mannequin survived a nuke while entire neighborhoods were wiped out is anyone's guess.
There was muffled talking above me as I slithered through the rooms, after a few minutes of searching I found the fallen roof which worked as a path to the third floor. The only downside was that I could hear the bandits threatening whoever was inside and the guys chasing me had finally made their way up to the second floor. With guys on both sides, I had no choice but to test my luck once more and try and fight those guys too. Dogmeat was hovering beside me, he whimpered towards the men behind me while I slowly made my way up the ramp, it creaked below me with every step growing louder than the last. I was happy that the bandits were talking too loudly to hear me not so quietly making my way towards them. I held up my hunting rifle as I completed the small jump from the ramp to the second floor. A cloud of dust welcomed me, but the men were still none the wiser as to my presence. I looked to dogmeat as I readied my weapon, motioning to the pair he softly barked before running to the men. He lunged and took out one of the men and I fired into the seconds chest. He grabbed at his shirt and fell, only he didn't die like the others. He began to scream in pain below me. The world seemed to stop then, all I could see was the man screaming and bleeding out below me, not even dogmeats barks could break me of my trance. I stood still with my heartbeat in my ears being the only reminder that I was still alive. My rifle had fallen beside me, I raised my hands to my face as they shook violently, they were clean physically speaking, but in my mind, I could see the blood of the men whose lives I had just ripped away in a second. Their blood covered my arms and dripped to the ground below...
A pair of rough hands grabbed my shoulders and moved me into another room before slamming the door shut behind me, I panicked and turned to start hitting whoever grabbed me before a familiar set of faces greeted me. My heart was threatening to beat through my chest as I looked at my saviors. One man leaned on the door as a set of voices yelled from the other side. They said how they were going to kill us once they got through that door. But the men held it steady. The one who grabbed me turned me to look at him, he asked a few questions, but I couldn't hear them. I looked back down to my hands and the blood was gone; yeah, my hands were still dirty, but they were my hands again, no longer the blood-soaked appendages that I wore not seconds earlier. Dogmeat stood by my legs holding my hunting rifle in his mouth, when he saw that I noticed him he dropped the gun and licked at my lowered arms. He looked worried, if a dog could look worried. I looked back up to one of the men, he was tall. Dark hair and sun-tanned skin, he looked worried. His face was rugged and covered in dust and soot with charcoal dark hair to match. He wore a pair of welding goggles around his neck.
"ma'am, can you hear me?" He still held my shoulders and consequently me, in place in front of him.
"Ye- yes, I'm fine" I shook my head to recenter my thoughts. He let go of my shoulders and gave a thumbs up to the man waiting by the door. "Who are you?" I kneeled and picked up my gun from dogmeat. He barked before leaving my side to investigate the rest of the room. It was cluttered with old furniture and desks, many of which were blocking the other doors into the room from intrusion. I noticed a handful of people sitting on the assorted furniture, they looked dirty and tired. Like they had been traveling for weeks without a wink of sleep. I still stood in the center of the room while they watched, like they were trying to decide if I was friend or foe. But considering how worn down they looked, I doubt they would have been able to do anything if it had been the latter.
"I'm Sturges," the man wearing the goggles motioned to himself before pointing to the man holding the door. The second man was dressed like a combo of an old timey soldier and detective. Adorning an old soldier's hat but wearing a tan trench coat. He held a rifle and leaned on the door, using his weight to keep out the intruders. "My friend there is Preston," the man named Preston tipped his hat before going back to focusing on the door. Sturges looked back my way, "what would yer name be?" he pointed towards me.
"Oh- I'm Y/N." I slung the hunting rifle over my shoulder and continued looking around the room. The other settlers had calmed down some, but I could still see the lingering feeling of distrust in their eyes. Its only fair that they don't trust too fast, you never know what someone's true intentions are. The two men look to me with a mixture of sympathy and distrust. They must know what I am going through but still know better than to trust me too soon. I know I would do the same in their shoes.
"First time having to kill someone?" Preston has looked up from his gun but it still leaning against the door heavily. "That look in your eyes gives it away, after a while in the wasteland everyone starts to look the same. So, it's easy to spot someone who doesn't fit in." the bandits outside have stopped trying to ram into the door and I could see Preston visibly relax. He finally stood up from the door and moved to the other side of the room where Sturges stood messing with a terminal intently.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that..." dogmeat had finished his inspection of the room and had returned to my side. Everyone seemed surprised by dogmeats very existence.
"Such a nice dog." An unknown voice speaks from behind me. I turn to find an old lady sitting in an old recliner. She wears her years on her face but reminds me of someone who has seen too much. She looks distant, like she is looking at all of us through a telescope from far away. Yet at the same time it's like she sees through my very soul.
"He is, I found him near a gas station not too long ago, he hasn't left my side since." I reach down and scratch the mutt's head.
"I know dear, he is such a noble defender." She is watching dogmeat, he looks confused but still shuffles over to get some more attention from the old woman.
"How do you- "I am cutoff by Preston tapping my shoulder. "What?" I turn his direction.
"Where are you from Y/N? I know damn well you aren't from around here." Sturges nods behind him. "no one from the commonwealth is that scared of death yet so willing to jump in and fight for people they don't know." He looks to be searching my eyes for any kind of answer.
"Your right about that Preston, I'm not from around here. But you'd think I was crazy if I told you where I am actually from. So how about this, I know a camp where you guys can stay and in return, I just need to know the quickest way to get to diamond city." My bag sits heavily on my shoulders, I needed a break, I knew that much. A break somewhere I could sleep for a few hours and maybe just maybe, happen to wake up where I am supposed to be. I shift my belongings on my shoulder and roll my shoulders. All this anxiety and running is really putting a strain on my body.
"That sounds amazing," he looks surprised at my offer, "how did you know that we were looking for somewhere to stay?" Sturges has looked up from his computer now and is looking at me just as confused as Preston. They both share a look before nodding and looking back to me.
"Call it something like mama murphy's foresight. Let's just say I know a lot more of this world and you guys than anyone else." The bottoms of my old boots are beginning to dig into my feet. I feel like I've been walking on glass for hours upon hours. "The place is called Sanctuary. Its right up the road. And before you ask, yes, I know this is weird and no I can't come with you, but I can say I have a friend there who would be more than happy to help out. Just make sure to tell him I sent you." They seem at a loss for words in general and the rest of the settler shift behind me. No one wants to comment or even move a muscle.
"This has to be a trick," one of the women behind me yell. If I remember correctly her name was Marcy? She looked about as distrusting of me as someone possibly could, like she wouldn't hesitate to rip my head off at any given second, with or without reason. "you guys can't really be willing to go where this total stranger just told us to go. That has trap written all over it." She waves her arms around, trying to reason with the two other men near me. "Preston, we've lost too many people to just go wherever," she motions to the remaining settlers in the room as one of the men breaks out crying. "Do you really want to risk this?" she stares at Preston with a glare I've only ever seen my mother give me when I messed up really bad.
"Marcy, your right, but what other choices do we have?" he looks exhausted, one wrong move and he would pass out where he stands. "But we need a break and what other choice do we have? If we stay here the bandits could come back. We have no choice or luck in beating them again and you know it. I'm down to my last ammo and you lost your gun in the last attack." He points to her empty holster on her belt. "With one less gun we have no chance. If it wasn't for Y/N I am sure we would have died just now!" he is getting annoyed now.
"Alright everyone calm down!" I yell over their frantic voices. Their voices die in their throat, but they still glare in each other's directions. "I am too tired to settle this, either you can trust me, or you get to continue looking for somewhere new. Its up to you, but I am going to find somewhere to get some sleep." I turn on my heel to leave the room, the door opens without any resistance but its quiet. I peek down the hallways and listen for any sign of other life. "It's clear. If you are wanting to leave, I suggest you, do it now." I shift my bag on my shoulder for what feels like the hundredth time today before motioning to dogmeat to follow.
"Sturges, let's go check it out. Come on everyone, we've got to get there before nightfall." Everyone jumps to their feet and begins to start packing their meager supplies into their bags. Even Marcy begins to reluctantly pack her bag, although she still looks angry at the men.
After a few minutes everyone was packed and ready to go, they looked worried, it makes sense though. They are about to put their lives into my hands, trusting that I am not leading them into a total death trap. "I promise you guys as soon as I finish what I came here to do I will come to sanctuary and make sure you guys turned it into a good home." I follow Preston and Sturges down the winding hallways and back through the front of the museum, it was littered with a few random corpses of the bandits, but their surviving counterparts were no where to be seen. The settlers were still on edge, but you could visibly see them relax slightly with the lack of new gunshots being fired at them. I held back and waited by the door as they begun the trek to sanctuary. It would be a quick walk but who knows what could go wrong. "Good luck to you all, I hope you make it there safe." Leaning on the door frame I waved to the group, Sturges turned and walked back to me quickly.
"Hey, thank you. Preston never said but diamond city is that way," he pointed off towards the city on the horizon. "Just follow the roads and you will make it there just fine. I hope I run into you again" he winked before turning and running back to the front of the group as they continued, my face grew warm, but I didn't have much time to focus on it. I gave one more quick wave before turning back into the museum and quickly running back into the secluded room. Once dogmeat was inside the room I slid one of the shelves in front of the door and walked to one of the dusty old couches. I dropped my bag and flopped down onto the scratchy surface, I opted to leave my boots on just in case but left my weapons in the bag next to me. Dogmeat laid right next to me on the floor, seemingly just as tired as I was. He gave a yawn before falling asleep, I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone. It wouldn't work very well in this world, but it was my only comfort. I scrolled through my old photos, looking upon the faces of my family and whatever chaos I got myself into while at school. It wasn't long before I felt warm tears running down my face, then I fell asleep with my phone lying on my chest.