Chapter 1

“War. War never changes...”

I reached up to wipe the mirror off so I could put my make-up on. “Come on, can you turn the hot water down just a little? I’ve had to wipe the mirror off twice so far, and you’re still in there, muttering over that speech.”

The water in the shower quickly cut off. “Sorry, Tina. It’s just...”

“I know, you want to make sure that you have it down pat. You’re the one who gets to speak at the Veterans Hall tonight. You’re the one with all the medals, because you were in combat arms and in the power suits.” My voice sounded a little bitter.

Nathan grabbed a towel and started drying off. “I know, hon, it’s not fair. Hell, you’re just as much a veteran of the Anchorage combat as I am, and I’m man enough to admit you’re a better shot than I am, too. But you were a civilian that got caught up in the fighting while I was actually in the Army. So yeah, I got all the glory ... and you.”

“Well, I still have to finish getting ready, if we’re going to take Shaun out later. Just because it’s Saturday doesn’t mean we don’t still have things to do first.” I slipped my dress on and put on some flats while Nathan moved towards the mirror to shave. He let his towel drop to the floor, standing nude before me.

“Hey, can you think of something good to do this afternoon, like maybe go up to the park like we did in January?”

I rolled my eyes. “Grow up, hero. I just got my body back in shape, it’s going to be a while before Shaun has any siblings.” Shutting the bathroom door behind me, I thought, a long time if I stay married to you.

I walked into the kitchen area, where our Mister Handy robot butler was busy at the counter. “Ah, good morning, Miss Tina. Your coffee, 173.5 degrees Fahrenheit, brewed to perfection. And today’s newspaper, just delivered!”

I picked up my coffee cup. “Thank you, Codsworth. Did you fix a light breakfast?”

“Yes, mum. A slice of fried Cram with a fried egg, on a fresh and lightly toasted muffin.” Using his claw arm, he handed me a plate. From the end of the hallway my son started crying. “Ah, sounds like someone made a stinky! I shall attend to young Shaun.”

Nathan had finished getting ready and passed Codsworth in the hallway. “You know, I was nervous at first, but Codsworth is really good with Shaun.”

I glanced at the morning paper. The headline mentioned that the case was closed on the crime boss, Eddie Winter. “Huh, looks like Eddie Winter was a police informant.” I saw another story. “You weren’t able to get tickets to the Series game, were you?”

“No, even the scalpers were holding onto them for their own use. With us leading the Rangers three games to none, this afternoon will be a nightmare anywhere near the Big Green Wall. I couldn’t even get into our corporate box.”

I took a bite of my sandwich. “Well, if General Atomics can’t get you in, I doubt if my being the lead attorney for RobCo in Massachusetts will pull much ... oh, now what?”. The doorbell was ringing.

Nathan glanced at the door. “It’s that salesman again. I don’t know why he keeps bothering us. But he says he’s here for you, every time, and won’t talk with me.”

I finished my sandwich. “Fine, grab your plate and get ready. We need to get some groceries. I’ll see what he wants.” I crossed to the front door and opened it. An older man, wearing a tan suit and hat, with a clipboard in his hand, was waiting there patiently. Behind him I could see his truck, with the large Vault-Tec placard on the side.

“Good morning! Vault-Tec calling!”

“No offense ... but no soliciting.”

“Oh, no worries, ma’am. Not worries at all! I’m not selling anything. Not today. I’m here today to tell you that because of your family’s service to our country, you have been pre-selected to entrance into the local Vault. Vault 111.”

“Really? What about my family? And why do you have to talk to me, and not the war hero over there?”

“There’ll be room for you and your family, minus your robot, naturally. In fact, you’re already cleared for entrance. My paperwork here shows that you’re very important to RobCo and thus to Vault-Tec. I just have to verify some information is all.”

Well, that was a switch. Normally Nathan was the important one. He’s the one that got us Codsworth for next to nothing. And Codsworth had proved very useful around the house, in more ways than one. “So, what’s so important, and what information?”

“Well, after all, in the unforeseen event of total nuclear annihilation, it wouldn’t do to have paperwork not done, now would it?”

“Fine, let me see your clipboard, then.”

He handed it to me, and I started thumbing through the pages. How about that, I was first on the list. Tina Shannon Wilson, my law degree, when I started working for RobCo, and way too much personal information on the Alaska debacle, my current job title at RobCo. Then Nathan Wilson, a list his military service stations, his combat tours, and all of his medals, and his work title at General Atomics. And finally, Shaun, with his birth date and blood type.

I looked up at the Vault-Tec representative. “Okay, that’s us. I’m rather annoyed that you have all this information already, but apparently someone at your corporation has been talking with my corporate people.”

“I completely understand, ma’am. If this is all correct, then I’m just going to walk this over to the Vault! Congratulations on being prepared for the future!” He bowed a little and stepped back. I watched him walk down the street, towards the pathway that led up to the hill behind Sanctuary Hills subdivision. Nathan came up behind me.

“Things are going to hell in a handbasket, Tina. I hope that we never have to use the Vault, but ... it’s a good thing it’s there.”

I sighed. “I suppose. It’s like insurance, or your footlocker that’s hidden out back. Something that is better to have and not need, than to need and not have.”

He grinned. “Yeah, well, hopefully we’ll never need to use either one.” He started to move closer to me when Codsworth called out from Shaun’s room.

“Miss Tina! Shaun just won’t settle down.”

Nathan raised his voice. “All right, Codsworth, we’ll be right there.” He lowered his voice to me. “Look, hon, I know you’re proud of your job, and your career, and I know that having Shaun disrupted the hell out of those plans. But ... I do love you.”

I sighed. “I know, Nate. It’s just...” I shook my head. “Tell you what. Let’s get Shaun checked out and changed. I bet all he wants is to just be held, and that’s something Codsworth just can’t do. Then I’ll get on the phone and see if there’s any seats in the RobCo box that I can get for us. I am a Vice-President there, after all.”

His eye lit up at that. “Thanks, hon.” He led the way into Shaun’s bedroom. Shaun was fussing and Codsworth was flustered by it. Robot arms could change diapers, but they weren’t designed to pick up infants.

“We’ve got this, Codsworth,” I said. Nathan picked Shaun up and he immediately quieted down.

“Yeah, that’s all the little man needed, just being held, isn’t it? Hey, little bud, do you like the space ship mobile I made for you?” Nathan started bouncing Shaun a little, making our baby giggle now.

I couldn’t help but grin at that. Times hadn’t always been as bad between us as they were now. I don’t think Nate really understood that, that he thought he was still the soldier in the T-51b power armor coming to rescue me. It wasn’t that I hadn’t needed a bit of rescue at the time, it was more like I just needed reinforcements and someone to load for me.

From the living room, Codsworth called out, “Sir, Ma’am, you need to see this!”

Still carrying Shaun, Nate walked out. “What is it, Codsworth?” I followed him out.

The Radiation King television showed the local station instead of the network broadcast. The announcer was saying, “We’ve reports now of nuclear detonations in Washington and New York, with other missiles inbound. Get to your shelters now!”

“Oh, my God. We need to get to the vault, now! Come on, honey!” Nate started running for the door. He barely broke stride as he opened the door. From outside, I could hear the warbling sound of sirens coming from the courthouse in Concord and faintly in the distance from Boston.

I was right on his heels. Our neighbors in Sanctuary Hills were running outside of their homes as well. I saw one of them, Mrs. Rosa, dropping the bags she carried. Her son yelled at her, “Leave the bags, Mom! We need to hurry!” I followed Nate down the pathway behind our homes. There were soldiers along the path waving us along.

Things were chaotic and I almost felt like I was back in Anchorage again, trying to process everything happening around me at the same time. I saw a couple sitting beside the pathway, holding each other and crying. A soldier in power armor was trying to walk up the hill beside the pathway. I could feel the tunnel vision starting to take me, like it had when I was alone in that office building, trying to hold off the attacking wave of Chinese soldiers, before Nate had showed up. I focused on the middle of his back, like I was looking over the sights of the battle rifle I had used, making sure to not lose sight of him and more importantly, Shaun, in the confusion. I could hear a soldier along the pathway yelling, “All Vault participants, this way!”

A tall security fence with a gate blocking the pathway was suddenly in front of us. An Army officer, a Captain by his rank tabs, was arguing with the Vault-Tec representative.

“That’s absurd, I AM Vault-Tec!”

“You’re not on the list. You don’t get in!”

“I’m going in. You can’t stop me!” Beside the Captain, another soldier in power armor leveled his battle rifle. The Vault-Tec representative suddenly raised his hands in fear. “Okay, okay!”

Nate was next. “Nathan, Tina, and Shaun Wilson, Captain. We’re on your list.”

The Captain looked down. “Infant, adult male, adult female ... okay, go ahead. Vault elevator is on top of the hill. Move it!”

As I went by him, I could see in his eyes that the Captain knew what was going to happen to him. I paused for a moment, touching his arm. “Godspeed, Captain, you and your troops. Thank you.”

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, like he was in pain, then gave a quick nod. He knew his likely future as well. “Good luck, ma’am, and God help us all.”

I followed Nate to the top of the hill. We passed some construction equipment, cranes and bulldozers, that had been hastily abandoned. Piles of crates were scattered about. Several soldiers were surrounding the opening to the vault, a large circle in the ground, with the Vault-Tec insignia painted on it. Several of our neighbors were already standing on the entrance. Trying to comfort Shaun, Nate took a spot in the middle of the circle and crouched down with him, crooning a simple tune.

There were warning sirens starting to blare and from a hidden speaker, someone said, “Prepare for elevator operation. Stand clear. Prepare for elevator operation.”

Through the soles of my shoes, I felt a vibration as the motors powering the elevator started to slowly lower it into the ground. I started to breathe a sigh of relief when the biggest flash of light I’d ever seen before came from the south. Nate looked up from where he was kneeling, a look of shock on his face, then laid down flat on the elevator, covering Shaun. I realized in an instant what had happened near Holliston and dropped to the steel floor myself.

Some of the others on the elevator just looked at us. They realized their error when the first blast wave started to buffet them, debris being picked up and thrown at them. The elevator seemed to quicken its pace in dropping down below ground level, cutting us off from being injured. A couple of the women were crying. I could hear Shaun laughing at the fun ride. I rolled over and looked upwards, seeing the opening in the shaft grow smaller and smaller as we descended further and further into the earth.

After a couple of minutes, I stood up. Reaching down, I helped Nate to his feet. “Well, honey, I guess we’ll be at our new home soon,” he said. Right after he said that, the elevator stopped moving. A safety cage along one side raised up, and some people wearing white lab coats were waving us along.

“Come along, folks. This way. We need to get you changed into your vault suits and do a quick medical exam.”

There was a small metal stairwell leading upward to a platform. From there we went across a narrow metal walkway that passed through a round opening with many slots, like gears almost, in it. That had to be where the main vault door would close. The yellow handrails didn’t look that sturdy to me. A brown-haired man in a blue jumpsuit stood to one side, looking at a console as we crossed. A swinging gateway blocked the end of the walkway.

I looked up. On the wall above, a large sign said, Vault 111 and below that, it read, Welcome Home. Just above where another man stood with a clipboard was a sign telling us to proceed in an orderly fashion. There were two flat pieces of electronic equipment sticking up on each side of the walkway. I heard them making a humming noise as I walked through them. The man with the clipboard said, “Right this way, folks. We’ll get your uniforms issued and then get you ready for your new home. Come along, right this way.”

A smiling woman, also wearing a blue jumpsuit, had boxes open on a table next to her. She looked at Nate and Shaun, then reached into the box and pulled out a sealed, plastic bag with a blue jumpsuit in it and handed it to him. “This one should fit you. Just get changed and we’ll get you on to decontamination. Put your personal items back into the bag so we can get them to you later.” She looked at me and reached into a different box. “Here you go, honey. Get changed and follow the doctor.”

Off to one side was a curtained area. I quickly skinned out of my dress. In the plastic bag was a plain bra, panties, a pair of loafer style shoes, and a blue jumpsuit with the vault identifier in large yellow numbers on the back. I slipped their underwear on over my own, then pulled the jumpsuit and booties on and put my clothes and shoes back into their bag. I handed it to the woman when I came back from behind the curtain and she put it into a box with other bags.

Nate had changed as well, with Shaun still in his blanket. He looked at me and smiled. “Well, you’re looking good in that, honey.”

“Thanks. What’s he saying?” From behind Nate, a man in a white lab coat started talking.

“Come this way, folks. We have a final decontamination procedure for you, then we’ll move you further on, deeper into the vault to your new home. You’re going to love it here; this is one of our most advanced facilities. Not that the others aren’t great, mind you.”

Nate wondered, “How long do you think we’ll be down here?”

The doctor heard and said, “Oh, we’ll be going through all that in orientation. Just a few medical items we have to get through first.”

After a few minutes, the rest of the people were changed and we were all led down a corridor. First one small group, then another was taken into smaller rooms with a group of chambers in them. “Okay, folks, these are special decontamination units that will make sure you don’t have any remaining radiation or other biological hazards that could cause problems. Everyone get into their own pod ... um, Mr. Wilson, you go ahead and carry your son with you, that’ll be fine. The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper into the vault. Just relax.”

Nate tried to smile encouragingly at me. “See you in a few minutes, honey!”

“Right. I’ll take Shaun from you when we get out of these things.”

The pods looked vaguely like giant pet carriers, with doors that came down from above. There were some pipes and hoses running to them, probably for air and whatever else it was that they used for biological and radiological decontamination. A leather covered pad on the back wall gave me something to lean against. I entered the pod and watched as the door closed. A clear viewing port let me see Nate and Shaun in their pod across from me.

A computer speaker inside the pod said, “Resident secure. Occupant vitals, normal. Procedure complete in 5... 4... 3... 2...” The atmosphere inside the pod got cloudy and I felt woozy, like I was falling asleep. I closed my eyes, then I knew nothing.

I don’t know how much time passed. I didn’t dream. From what sounded like a long way away, I thought I could hear the computer voice again. I felt like I had a hangover. Whatever stupid chemicals these idiots had used, had obviously caused a bad reaction in me. I tried to focus on what the computer was saying.

“Manual override initiated. Cryogenic stasis suspended.”

What the hell? Cryogenic stasis? We’d been lied to? I tried to open my eyes, finally managing to do so. It took me a couple of moments for them to focus. I realized it was cold in here. I could see a layer of frost around the outside of the clear view port. The center of the view port was free of frost. It was much darker outside the pod. From a light inside their pod, I could see Nate and Shaun in the pod across from me.

From one side, a woman wearing a full environmental suit, complete with face mask, came into view. I heard a muffled voice through the wall of the pod saying, “This is the one, here.” I saw her arm pointing at the pod with Nate and Shaun in it. A balding man, wearing some kind of harness, walked in front of me and looked at their pod.

He had a harsh, grating voice. “Open it.” The woman did something to the control panel beside their pod, causing the front door to swing up.

Nate leaned forward, nearly dropping Shaun, but managing to hold onto him at the last second. The sudden movement scared Shaun and he started crying. Nate was coughing, trying to catch his breath. “Is it over? Are we okay?”

The balding man said, “Almost. Everything’s going to be fine.” The woman stepped forward, reaching out for Shaun. “Come here, come here, baby.”

Shaun continued crying and Nate wouldn’t let go. “No, wait. No, I’ve got him!”

The balding man brought his right hand up and I could see a very large pistol in it, pointed at Nate. “Let the boy go. I’m only going to tell you once!”

I looked around for a switch to open my pod. There wasn’t one. I started pounding on the inside of the port. Nate pulled back from where the woman was trying to take Shaun from him. “I’m not giving you Shaun!”

A single gunshot stopped the argument. That bald bastard shot Nate, nearly hitting Shaun. The woman grabbed Shaun from Nate’s lifeless hands. “Goddammit! Get the kid out of here and let’s go...” He pointed towards the entrance of the vault for the woman, then came over to my pod. I could see his face; he had a large scar running down one side of his face. “At least we still have the backup.”

The computer voice said, “Cryogenic sequence reinitialized.”

My thoughts were full of anger, but I couldn’t hold onto them as my mind went blank again. Once again, I didn’t know how much time passed, but all of a sudden, I could feel myself starting to breathe again. Only I felt myself being hit with racking coughs, making me bend over as I tried to catch my breath.

The computer voice now said, “Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. All Vault residents must vacate immediately.” The front of the pod opened up, raising above me. My legs felt weak, and I fell to the floor for a moment.

I stood back up and rushed across the aisle. There was a control panel just to the right of Nate’s pod. I found a button on it and pushed it. I heard myself saying, “Come on, come on, come on.” The door raised up, revealing Nate, still frozen, with no Shaun. Damn, I had hoped it was just a nightmare or a weird dream. There was a large hole in his chest where the bullet had gone in. The blood from his body was also still frozen.

I just stood there for a minute, in shock. The computer voice sounded again, barely penetrating my conscious mind. Finally, I snapped out of it. I could see on his left hand that Nate still had our wedding ring on. I reached out and took his hand in mine. His body was starting to thaw, so I could flex his fingers and pull his ring off. “You were a lousy husband, but you didn’t deserve this. I’ll find whoever did this, and I’ll get Shaun back. I promise.”

The lights in here seemed bright to me, but they were actually dimmer than they had been, before. I looked at the other cryogenic capsules. Everyone else in them was dead. A single computer terminal at the end of the hall told the tale, there’d been failures in all the pods but mine. Next to the terminal was a door. I looked at it for a couple of minutes, finally figuring out the controls. My hands still weren’t coordinating with my thoughts. With the sound of activating hydraulics, I got the door open.

“What the hell happened?” A skeleton lay in front of me. I was both surprised that the body had completely decayed and that there wasn’t a stench. The air didn’t have a musty smell to it.

The hallway before me had windows and a door on my left. I could see another room behind it with more chambers in it like the one I’d been imprisoned in. The lights were low in there as well. I opened the door to it and checked the computer console just inside. None of the inhabitants of those chambers remained alive. I didn’t find anything useful in there, either.

Shit, now what? The computerized voice was still calling for everyone to evacuate. I went back into the hallway and paused, thinking for a moment about how we’d come in here. That’s right, it was at the end, to my left. The doorway leading out to the entry was closed and it wouldn’t open. A toolbox with some wrenches sitting on a cart and a small ladder under an open ceiling panel showed that someone had been working on it at some point. There was a thin, even coating of dust on everything in here. I could feel the air circulating, so obviously there was still power to the fans.

I saw something I’d missed earlier, an opening leading off this hallway. A small flight of stairs led upward to another hallway. An open doorway off it led into a room, a sign reading ‘Security’ over the entry, with a working computer terminal on a desk. A filthy ashtray showed that people had been using this room, but the shape of the chairs showed it’d been a long time since someone had sat here. I pulled up a chair, wiped the dust off the screen, and hit enter.

The glowing words on the green screen didn’t seem real to me. They’d planned on us being frozen all along. This was some sick experiment for AFTER a nuclear war? How could they do this? What’s this, a one hundred eighty-day period before they could evacuate, with us icebergs still frozen. Doesn’t sound like it went well for them, and for that body to be down to a skeleton means it’s been a hell of a lot longer than six months.

I found an extendable baton that still worked, so I at least had a weapon in case I ran into anything down here. The squealing of the chair on the steel floor as I scooted back to stand up sounded incredibly loud to me. I guess my hearing was a bit sensitive after ... how long?

I went back into the hall, following it around. There was a window to my left. I could see what appeared to be a power generator in that room, with large transformers coming from the top that were glowing. There were sparks and the occasional arc of electricity coming off the transformers, so it appeared it must not be working right. And ... what the hell is that? In the light of the power arcs, I could see another body on the floor, but there was something else moving.

It looked like a cockroach. It scuttled like a cockroach. But this was the cockroach from hell, at least a foot long, half that wide. “Oh, God, what spawned that?” I turned back down the hallway, finding two more rooms and a closed door at the end. The closed one had a sign over it saying this was the power room. The other two were a barracks of some kind and a small kitchen.

The barracks held several bunk beds and some wall lockers. All the materials inside had decayed to useless rags. The mattresses and beds were possibly usable, but I’d rather not find out. I did find a pillow case that seemed strong enough to carry, so I grabbed it as a bag in case I found anything useful. There was a shower and bathroom off to one side. The shower didn’t work, but surprisingly enough, the sink did. I turned the water on. It ran brown for a few moments, then cleared up. The pressure didn’t seem to drop so I let it run for another minute, then took a drink.

Wow, that tasted good. Of course, it’s the first thing I’ve had to drink in ... well, to me, it was just a few hours ago. To the cells in my body, it was a lot longer. I remembered how, back in Alaska, we’d been on the run and I’d gone almost a whole day without any water. This refreshed me like I’d felt back then after getting something to drink.

Which also brought something else into play. I raised the lid on the toilet. Inside the bowl was bone dry. I tried to flush, with nothing happening. Checking inside the tank, it was dry. There wasn’t a visible water line running to it like in our home toilets, so this was just going to be a convenient spot. I unzipped my jumpsuit, pulled my underwear down, and felt instant relief inside. Things smelled a little off to me, so I made sure and drank some more water once I was done. I suspected I didn’t want any kind of bladder infection.

The kitchen area had some food that scared me. It’s one thing to see a Salisbury Steak package in your kitchen cabinet at home and know it’s got a shelf life of two years, it’s another to see one sitting on a cabinet now, open the package, and it still looks vaguely edible. Maybe if I was starving. Food poisoning also didn’t appeal to me. There were a couple of cups and plates here, as well as some empty bottles with lids, so I could store some food, if I found any, and water for later.

But first I needed to deal with the cockroach from hell.

I went back up the hallway to where the toolbox was located. It took me a couple of minutes and it wasn’t pretty, but using the hammer and screwdriver, I knocked the lid off it while keeping the handle attached. It wasn’t much, but it’d give me a rudimentary shield. After that I went back to the closed door of the power room.

The sound of the hydraulics from the door opening sounded loud to me, but once I stepped into the power room, I realized it was drowned out by the buzzing noise coming from the power plant itself. I readied the baton as I carefully crept further into the room. A walkway went around the perimeter had several crates on it, giving me places for concealment.

The giant roach came closer to where I was hiding. Finally, it was close enough and I lashed out with the baton, smashing it. Well, that’s encouraging, it squished like a regular roach. But ... damn!

The insulators on the power plant seemed to be failing, as some power arcs came flashing out from it. The crates and other metal items in the middle kept the lightning contained, but gave me a sense of urgency about getting out of here before the thing totally failed. In one of the flashes, I could see both the body of several roaches that had tried to cross the middle and failed, as well as another one on the far side still moving.

I had no desire to find out how painful the bite from one of those bastards would be, so I decided to roll the dice and hope the power plant was only in the process of failing and wouldn’t just quit while I was still down here. So, I continued to try to be as stealthy as I could. After a couple of minutes, I made it around to the far side. The roach was sitting there, flapping its wings and trying to feed on the remnants of another, smaller roach that was dead. It ended up crunching nicely as well.

I sighed with relief as the tension left me. An opening led to a flight of stairs, so that was the way I headed. I shouldn’t have relaxed so much, there was another roach on the stairs. It jumped at me, and it was only from the sheer reflex of moving my left hand up with the tool box lid that prevented me from getting hurt. I swung hard at it with the baton, killing it. My hand hurt a little from the bash, but nothing serious, thank God. A second roach was sitting in the corner, flitting its wings. It finally decided that I must be edible and started towards me, but that was too late for it, as I was able to intercept and kill it mid-leap.

The landing at the top of the stairs opened into a room with a large curved desk, several chairs, shelves along a wall, and another skeleton wearing ragged clothing. The roaches had been busy chewing in here, with several of the storage boxes on the shelves looking like they would crumple to dust with a hard sneeze. The lights in here were relatively steady, and as I looked around for more roaches, I noticed a dull blue gleam under the hand bones of the skeleton.

I used the baton to scoot the bones aside. They concealed a 10mm pistol. I picked it up. It still had a full magazine. I pulled the slide back, locking it open, to check things out. Other than being a little stiff, I was surprised that the mechanism seemed fine. I blew some of the dust out. I was rather pleased there wasn’t any rust in the barrel. I didn’t really trust the ammo or the magazine spring, but I also didn’t have much choice.