Chapter Text
August XX, 2281
Amy's captors took off the blindfold and she stared up at the starry night sky, her head erupting in a fiery headache even in the low light, blurring her vision. A trail of light smeared behind the twinkling gems and she could almost pretend they were shooting across the sky. It wasn't the real deal, but that was the best she was going to get, wasn't it? Right when she finally started wanting it the world had decided that her time was up.
All that time she's spent running herself ragged to try and make it back in time for the meteor shower hadn't even mattered in the end. Riding through the night and sleeping only when she felt like she was going to pass out. Avoiding all the danger she could just so she could make it back in time to sit on the roof of the Citadel with him and watch the stars fly across the sky. Not to mention all the effort Leo had put into having someone scavenge for an old almanac so he could calculate the next meteor shower in their area.
“You have to come back in time so we can watch it together. Promise?”
Back in the vault, they’d figured out together how to make the glowing mushrooms that grew in the lower levels into a paint, and painted stars on the ceiling of their room. Every night they'd fall asleep under the only stars they'd thought they'd ever get to see, and when they had finally gotten into the outside world? They had spent hours laying on roof tops mapping out constellations, and making ones up when they got bored. And now... now she was going to have to break another promise. Not just to Leo, but to everyone else waiting for her back home.
She thought about struggling, about trying to fight them off, but one too many concussions made her unsteady. She couldn't even focus well enough to count how many there were. There was two of at least all of them, and she thought there was another person off to the side, but in the darkness they just looked like one big blob. She hoped, at the very least, the person she'd gotten into this mess for was safe. That she'd given them enough time to runaway, but she had sinking feeling in her gut that she hadn't even managed that this time.
She didn't give her captors the satisfaction of seeing her cry, or beg. She wanted to, fuck did she want to, but she knew it wasn't worth it. She didn’t need to see clearly to know these assholes weren’t going to let her go. She was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and got involved with the wrong person. Just had to save the day, as always.
Time was up, no matter how badly she didn't want that to be true.
August 17th, 2277 - Vault 101
“Wake up! C’mon Amy, wake up!”
Amy batted at Amata’s face, pulling the blankets back around her and the pillow over her head, trying to block out the scream of the alarms, “It’s a roach attack, Mata, not a nuclear melt down.”
Amata ripped the pillow off and Amy whined in protest.
“Come on, take this seriously! You don’t have time to mess around! My father’s men are going to be here soon and I won’t be able to protect you.”
Amy opened her eyes, blurry vision finally coming into focus, and saw her best friend going around her room stuffing belongings into a duffel bag. Amy grabbed her hair tie, quickly pulling her mess of hair into a ponytail, and threading it through her old baseball cap.
“Protect me? Amata’s what’s wrong, what’s going on?”
Leo was sitting on the edge of her bed, already packed up, shaking like a leaf. His muss of blonde curls was even more wild today, and he was wrapped up in a jacket several sizes too big for him. Dad had said he’d grow into it by next summer when he finally hit his growth spurt…
Dad.
“Leo, where’s dad?”
“H-he-“ He hiccuped and his teeth clattered.
Amata shoved the packed duffel into Amy’s hands and said, “He’s gone, Amy. He’s l-left the vault and now my father is angry and he’s coming to get you and Leo. You two need to GO, now!”
“W-what? What do you mean he’s gone?”
Her shoulders dropped, “So you really had no idea.”
“You’re not answering the question!”
“Dr. Lockhart, he… He escaped the vault somehow, and now the Overseer wants you two but I’m not sure he cares in what state.”
“What do we have to do with it?!”
“He thinks you know something!” She choked back a sob, “T-they… they killed Jonas. They wanted to know where your dad went so they took him and they-”
Her blood cooled. If Amata kept talking she didn’t register it. Even the alarms were muffled to her now and the room around her fell out of focus. She tried to ground herself, tried to hang onto something here , but there was nothing to hang on to. Her dad had abandoned her. Jonas was dead. And she… she was next on the list. She tried to feel it, tried to understand any of it, but it was like her mind was behind a thick pane of glass, spinning. Out of reach.
Then there was a hand in hers. Warm, clammy, and shaking but pulling her back to this plane of reality with little baby blues filled with tears. Leo. She had to protect Leo.
“-but listen to me, there’s a secret tunnel that leads directly from my father’s office to the exit. You’ll have to hack the computer in his office to open it. Use these to get into his office, it’s how I always get in.”
She handed Amy a box of bobby pins and she managed to give Amata a smile, “Just like old times, huh?”
Amata smiled back weakly, “Just like old times. Take this pistol I stole from my father. I hope you don’t have to use it, but I want to make sure you have a way to defend yourself.” She gulped, “Just in case.”
The pistol felt strange in her hands. She was used to her old BB gun. The BB gun was lighter, and it didn’t have… real bullets. “Okay, I’ll try not to use it.”
“Okay, I’ll try to meet you at the exit. Watch out for security. Good luck.”
She gave her a quick hug, and then Amata was gone. Amy could feel herself slipping somewhere else again, but she gripped Leo’s hand tighter and slung the duffel bag over her shoulder. They had to get out. Even if she managed to talk down the Overseer, how could she stay? How could she or Leo live under that kind of oppressive force that would spend the rest of their lives watching their every move like a hawk?
But then where would they go? The outside… the outside wasn’t safe, right? How would they survive? As angry at him as she was, she’d have to find their dad. They’d be safe with him, right?
She bent down to Leo’s level and wiped a stream of tears off his cheek.
“We’re gonna be okay, alright? I’m not going to let anything happen to you. We’re going to get out of here, find dad, and we’ll figure it out. I promise.” Leo searched her eyes and she stared back at him summoning all the feisty rebellious courage she could, and then he nodded back at her mirroring her look. Even if it was an act, it was good enough.
She stood up, “Alright, here’s the plan. I don’t really want to use this thing if I don’t have to, so we’re going to try and sneak out. I have an idea of which path to take, but I wanna know which halls to avoid so the cams don’t catch us-”
“SOMEBODY, ANYBODY, HELP! MY MOM SHE’S-SHE’S IN TROUBLE!”
Deloria . Of course.
Butch barreled into them and Amy nearly smacked him on instinct.
“Amy, Christ, you gotta help me! Th-those roaches are eatin’ my mom alive and she’s trapped in there!”
“Butch, really? You’re still scared of roaches?”
“Yeah, so what? I swear I tried to go back in there, I really did! But I just can’t do it. Come on, Ames, we’re buds now, right? You gotta help her!”
‘Buds’ felt like a little bit of an overstatement. Shit, she didn’t have time for this. Still, she wasn’t going to leave Mrs. Deloria high-and-dry. She started digging through the duffel bag.
He eyed it warily and said, “Wait, where are you and the squirt goin’? What am I missing here?”
“Listen, I don’t have time to explain, but long story short security is after us. Amata said our only way out of this is to leave the vault-”
“What the hell?! What did you do, Ames?”
Amy couldn’t decide if she wanted to hug, or kill Amata for stuffing so much shit in here, “Be related to James Fucking Lockhart, I guess. Point being, we need as much of a head start as we can get. I wanna help, Butch, I really do, but-”
“You gotta protect Leo.” There was a resoluteness in his voice. He got it.
“Yeah, and you’re going to do the same for your mom.” Bingo . She pulled out the old BB gun and kissed it goodbye before handing it off to Butch. In a way, it was Butch’s too. His switchblade was sacrificed for a great cause.
“Woah, where’d you get this thing? She’s a beauty.”
“If you break her, Deloria, I’m coming back for your ass you hear me. Now go save your mom.”
“Don’t gotta tell me twice.” He turned to go and then hesitated.
“What?” She couldn’t gauge what was going through his head, but there were definitely some gears turning. “I don’t have all day.”
He shrugged off his Tunnel Snake leather jacket and wrapped it around her, “You’re the best, Lockhart, alright? Nobody in this lousy vault can hold a candle to ya. Now go kick some ass.” He leaned down to Leo’s eye level, “And you, Whirly. Take care of your sister. You’re the man of the house now, right? We gotta protect our own.”
Amy rolled her eyes and smiled at Leo’s perplexed expression, As if he wasn’t just screaming for me to do it a second ago. But she slipped her arms into the sleeve of the jacket anyway and gave Butch a fist bump goodbye.
“Not half bad yourself.”
She watched him go and hoped for the best. She felt guilty for not going in herself, but she’d lost enough time as it was talking to him. How long was it going to be until Security reached Residential? How long did she really have until she’d have to start shooting?
The thought unnerved her. The pistol felt heavy in her hand, but she didn’t have time to think about it. They had to move.
She kept her pistol in one hand, and held Leo’s hand in the other. His grip was tight despite the calm act he was putting on. “You doing alright, doc?”
“Y-yeah. I’m okay. Wait!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, “Don’t turn that way, Stanley fixed that camera’s range recently. We won’t be able to avoid it. Take the other hall.”
She smiled back at him and said, “Good catch. What would I do without you?” She got a small smile in response and held onto the small victory. It was something.
They turned that corner and were met with a crowd of radroaches surrounding Officer Kendall who was busy whacking them with a baton. They weren’t quick enough and he caught sight of them.
“You two! Stay where you are! By the order of the Overseer you’re to come with me. If you resist I’m authorized deadly force!”
“Deadly force?! Are you kidding me? He’s thirteen!”
“The Overseer’s orders are-”
“I don’t give a shit what the Overseer’s orders are! I’m not waiting around for you to do to us what you monsters did to Jonas. C’mon Leo, let’s go.”
“But what if-”
She cut him off, “Please, he’ll be fine. Officer Kendall can deal with a few radroaches. He doesn’t want our help anyway .”
Lucky for them he seemed to pre-occupied trying not to get eaten alive to follow after them, but she didn’t really know whether or not she wanted him to survive. She felt nauseous, but it didn’t matter. She had to keep going.
Every time she heard the Overseer’s voice loop over the PA system she thought about shooting the things off the wall. Her stomach was curdling having to listen to it over and over again, and while it covered their footfall, it’d also cover anyone else’s. Sure, Officer Kendall hadn’t had his gun on him, and he was too busy fighting off roaches to do anything about them… but would that be true for the next security officer they ran into?
What was she supposed to do in that scenario?
It wasn’t long before she heard the quiet chittering and hissing of another group of radroaches coming from further down the hall. She held up her hand to get Leo to wait and moved forward to investigate it.
The mess hall. It didn’t look like anyone was inside, and the lights were off… She frowned and flipped the pipboy’s brights on to get a better look. If it hadn’t been for the immediate hiss of roaches she would’ve dropped her pistol at the sight.
She dispatched with roaches quickly and tried not to hurl at the sight of Grandma Taylor’s body lying motionless on the ground. Amy could see the pocks in the flesh where’d they’d begun eating her and pivoted out of the mess as quickly as she came.
“Amy? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Leo, let’s keep going. Just a couple of radroaches. Don’t worry about it.”
He didn’t look like he believed her.
As they continued onwards Amy couldn’t get the image of Grandma Taylor out of her mind. Couldn’t stop thinking about Butch, and if he was able to save his mom. About what would happen if the BB gun ran out of ammo. If another wave of roaches came for them and Officer Kendall was too preoccupied to help the civilians on that floor.
She wouldn’t ever know, would she? If she and Leo escaped… there was no way they were letting her back in. She shoved those thoughts to the back of her mind. Butch would be fine. He had to be.
She was so wrapped up in her own head that she just barely caught sight of the familiar sight of the security guard uniform. Amy held her breath and moved to stop Leo, but an untimely squeak of his boots made the guard turn around. She couldn’t catch who it was, but it didn’t matter. They needed a way out of here fast.
She looked around for a way out, a closet to hide in, or an old vent to stuff Leo into. Her mind was racing, but there wasn’t anywhere to go the Security Guard couldn’t follow. She stepped back and let go of Leo’s hand to keep a steady grip on the pistol.
Just pretend it’s a radroach. A tall, humanoid-looking radroach. It did very little to steady her aim, or still the shake in her arm. Her aim was good. She’d spent almost a decade practicing, but that had been metal targets and bugs. Was she really going to kill someone? Someone she’d known since she was in diapers?
They don’t seem to have a problem with it.
She saw a carefully placed black boot step passed the corner and waited a second for the head to come into view, then-
She went for it. The gunshot in the close quarters metal walls of the vault was louder than she was expecting and she jumped back in surprise.
So did the security guard who yelped out a curse, “Hey! Don’t shoot! Friendly!”
“Officer Gomez?”
“Amy?” He rounded the corner, his gun holstered, and Amy shakily dropped her arm to her side. He was walking with a limp, but thankfully it didn’t seem to be because of her. “What were you thinking shooting like that?”
“I-I didn’t know who you were. If you were going to…”
He sighed and said, “You’re right. You’re lucky it was me who found you. The others won’t be so forgiving.” He glanced at Leo, at the duffel bags, and shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re up to and I-I don’t want to know. Just- Just clear out of here and I’ll pretend I never saw you.”
“Thank you, Officer Gomez.” She smiled at him half-heatedly, “You were always my favorite.”
Leo piped up from behind her, “Are you going to be okay? Y-you’re limping!”
Officer Gomez’s eyes softened at Leo and hobbled over to tussle Leo’s hair, “I’ll be fine, kiddo. Don’t worry.” He shook his head, “It's a real shame it's come to this. You two were always good kids. Even if you were a little rebellious. You didn't deserve this. Go find your dad.”
“That’s the plan.”
“And… I’m sorry about what happened to Jonas. I can’t believe what they did to him… Officer Mack was out of control.”
Amy could hear the shake in his voice as he talked, but she wished he hadn’t mentioned Jonas at all. She was trying not to think about it. As they parted ways she tried not to think about how she could’ve almost killed him. How, if her arm had been a little less shaky, or if the bullet ricocheted, Officer Gomez could be dead right now. Freddie could’ve lost his dad.
They kept going, avoiding gunfire, watching people get shot, and Amy did her best to push out the insecurities, the doubts, the fears, and all the questions that she didn’t have time to answer.
There just wasn’t time. Leo helped where we could, and stayed out of sight whenever she had to deal with something unpleasant. Even if he wasn’t crying anymore, she could tell that the only reason the shock hadn’t settled in was because of the adrenaline. It wasn’t like she was any different. If she were to stop and think, really think it’d all be over.
Thankfully, her rebellious teen years were also doing some good. Security was never fast enough to catch up, and she knew the halls of this vault better than they did at this point. She knew all their tricks, how’d they try and catch her, and even after all these years they hadn’t changed.
She and Leo were close. So close. They’d have to go by the holding cells to get to the Overseer’s Office, and it was going to have the highest concentration of security. If they were clever, and if they were lucky, they’d scoot on by without anyone noticing. It’d probably be easier if there were some kind of distraction, right?
Then she heard it.
Amata’s scream.
Amy bolted.
The Overseer shook his head with a disappointed sigh, “Be reasonable Amata. Officer Mack may enjoy this, but I do not. Just tell us where to find your friend, so we can talk to her!”
"I’m telling you, I don’t know! What does she got to do with this anyway?”
Stevie Mack raised his baton with a wicked grin, and the door to the holding cells slid open Amy cocking her gun and aiming at his head, “Drop it or I’ll shoot, asshole.”
Amata broke out in a grin. Her eye was bruised, her lip split, and her cheek swollen, and the more Amy looked the more she started seeing red, “Amy! You’re okay!”
“Sure am, Mata, now get out of here. I’ll handle this.”
The Overseer tsked as Amata ran out of the room, but stopped Stevie from chasing out after. He raised a brow at Amy, “Now, now, Amelia. Put that away, and come with us quietly and I promise that we can talk things out. With your full cooperation this can all be over with.”
She watched as Stevie flexed his fingers over the baton. It was covered in blood. Amata. Jonas. Who’s next was he planning to add to that collection?
“You made your choice when you let your dog murder Jonas. And what about Leo, huh? What were you thinking sending security after a thirteen-year-old boy?”
“Those were necessary measures-”
“Oh shut up! No they weren’t. You were just trying to make an example out of a kid to let everyone else in the vault know that no one’s safe! If one person breaks the rules, everyone gets punished. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it’s always going to be. Well not today. I’m not letting this piece of human trash hurt anymore people.”
“Officer Mack, make an example out of her.”
And then, before Stevie make a move, she shot. Her arm wasn’t shaking anymore, not with the rage flowing through her body, and this time she didn’t miss the three successive shots to that monster’s head. He’d been close. It was a straight shot. She couldn’t have missed it. Stevie Mack dropped to the ground, and Amy watched as the blood pulled around him. The vault always smelled metallic, and now the air was filled with the scent of gunpowder and iron. The alarms kept echoing off the empty metal halls of the vault, and the Overseer stumbled back and cowered.
“I always knew you were nothing but trouble.” He was cowering, but he had the audacity to sneer.
Amy turned and aimed at the Overseer, “Stand down, or your next.”
“Amy, don’t!” Amata stepped between them, and a wave of shock swept over her.
Her heard the pounding of her blood in her ears. What the actual fuck was happening. “Are you- are you kidding me right now? You’re defending him? After what he did?”
Amata didn't budge. She stared Amy down with tears and determination in her eyes, outstretching her arms to protect her father who stared up in complete surprise. "He wasn’t the one that killed Jonas! You got Stevie- it’s over!” She said it without wavering, without fear even though there was a gun in Amy's hands.
Amy didn’t agree with that. It wasn’t over, and Jonas’s blood was just as much on the Overseer’s as it was on Stevie’s, but there was yelling down the hall, and he just wasn’t worth it. If Amata wanted him alive, then it was on her to deal with the fallout of whatever happened afterwards, and... she wasn't going to shoot her best friend just to get the Overseer. Amy's blood cooled at the revelation. Had she actually considered it for a moment?
She turned and saw Leo, standing frozen in the doorway, his eyes on Stevie’s body, and suddenly she felt exposed. She didn’t regret it. Not now, anyway, but seeing that look of horror on Leo’s face?
She wasn’t forgetting that anytime soon.
“Come on, Leo, we have to go.” She took his hand, but it was limp in her hold.
There wasn’t time to think about that.
When they passed by Jonas’s body the adrenaline wasn’t enough to keep her going. It was so much worse than Grandma Taylor and in that moment she wished she could’ve given Stevie what he actually deserved. She had a passing thought that Leo shouldn’t see this, that they should move on from here, but her feet were glued in place. She couldn’t stop crying. It was all too much. There wasn’t time to mourn. Security was coming, they were going to die, and-
Her thoughts kept spiraling and she didn’t even clock Leo taking a holotope clutched to Jonas’ chest, or the way her little brother was so still even though he was sobbing. When the shouts of security got loud again she was barely tethered enough to pull Leo to his feet.
Despite everything, Amy made quick work of the door to the Overseer’s office and got to work on the terminal. She could hear them coming closer and she barked at Leo to lock the door. It seemed to snap him out of his stupor and he stumbled to the door and locked it.
“Fuck, what was the trick to these things again? It’s been ages since I’ve had to do this.”
Without a word Leo gently nudged her to the side, and within seconds the terminal was hacked to be used at their leisure.
The door didn’t stop security for long, and this time it sounded like they had guns.
So, Amy scooped Leo up into her arms and ran . He’d been too old for her to carry for a while now, not that had ever stopped her, but with the added weight of everything else she knew that without the adrenaline rush she couldn’t have done it.
Amata was there waiting for her. Her goodbye to Amata was quick. Too quick. But gunfire rained down on them and she didn’t have any choice. She tried to drag Amata with her, out of this place, but she knew that it was a losing battle. Amata was right, one of them had to stay.
Once she was out the vault door she didn’t let up her pace. She raced down the cavern hall, feeling uneven ground for the first time in her life, dust kicked up from the ground and clogged her haggard lungs, and made for the rickety door with light streaming through the cracks.
She fell. Cradled Leo in her arms and hit the rocky ground hard, but the alarms were gone. The cold was gone. The air smelled strange and humid against her skin, the light was blinding, and rock hot against her suit. She scrambled to her feet, holding tightly onto her baby brother, and carried him down the hill and behind the rock wall of the mountainside.
Then she collapsed against it holding his face close to her chest. It was over. They were out.
They’d made it out alive.
Despite the heat, neither of them made a motion to move.
Amy couldn’t be sure that they wouldn’t come out after them. She wouldn’t put it past Wally to come out raving mad to avenge his brother, or security who almost certainly would fly into a rage once they found out about Stevie. If anything, she was baffled that no one was coming out at all. The Overseer wanted them, right? It’s not like two kids could get very far outside the vault…
They could be waiting for them to come out, searching, or trying to decide if it was worth it to chase after them. Chief Hannon wasn’t the type to give up chase on a criminal. He’d gotten on her ass for small offenses, so she couldn’t imagine what would happen to her if they dragged her back. What would they do to Leo…?
She’d heard stories. True, or not, people talked. Whispered about the people who’d disappeared after being taken by security, and you didn’t dare ask about what happened to them. Dwellers who’d been forced into the back of everyone’s subconscious. Saying their name too loudly earned punishment. She’d shrugged the stories off once she graduated, but now? Now she couldn’t help but wonder what happened to them.
Did they die like Jonas? How many more Stevie’s had she grown up around? Officer Gomez had always been kind to her. He was even surprised at what Stevie did, but did that mean she was being paranoid, or they simply saw a softy for what he was?
Amy wrapped herself tighter around Leo. He couldn’t know she was scared. She needed to calm down, to put away these thoughts. She couldn’t afford to… to… freeze like she did earlier.
So, they waited.
…
But no one came.
…
They… they weren’t coming, were they?
It didn’t stop the thundering in her chest though it did begin to quiet. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that they were just around the corner, waiting, but she had to fight that thought. If they were, they'd have just come and checked down here already.
She leaned her head against the rock wall behind and tried to slow her breath. It all felt like a blur now. Running, shooting, panicking, crying. Her memory was running reels of highlights on everything that happened, and she felt it should’ve brought everything back full force, but it didn’t. If anything, none of it felt real now. The man who’d helped raise her and her brother was dead and her father had left her and Leo to their death. Had he known? Did he care?
Amy tried and tried to connect the beats of her life into a coherent picture, but nothing seemed to match up. Her dad had been distant lately, but he’d always been so patient and kind and goofy. Not the kind of person to abandon her. What changed?
And what about her? She’d never thought she could… do something like that. But she had. She’d killed someone. And she didn’t even feel remorseful. It felt like someone else had pulled the trigger. That someone else had taken her over. It all felt…
Surreal.
Yesterday she’d been in the parlor planning Amata’s next tattoo. The Overseer hadn’t approved of the first one, but technically speaking there wasn't a rule that Amata was breaking. Amy’s parlor had just one of the vault’s many services, and Amata was patroning her. He’d berated the both of them about how no man would want a woman covered in tattoos, but when Freddie saw it? Well, he certainly wasn’t complaining.
It took up most of Amata’s left shoulder blade. A pretty little canary flying out of its cage, the broken wire in its beak. It was a little on the nose, sure, but Amy hadn’t seen Amata smile like that in years. Every little way to rebel. Every little way to prove to her father that she wasn’t something to be controlled.
The next one was going to be for the two of them. They’d been debating on what to get for years, ever since Amy had gotten her GOAT assessment.
They hadn’t ever settled on a design.
Another thought to put away.
Sweat dripped down her neck, her back, and matted the hair under her hat. The vault wasn’t always cold, but the heat had never gotten like this. No wonder people went to the beach before the war. Was that still a thing? Could she make that a thing again?
Amy grimaced at the sunlight slowly making its way to their shady spot, then shrugged off her new leather jacket. As sweet as the gesture had been, there was no way that it was going to help their current predicament. She managed to maneuver it around her waist even with Leo still resting against her.
He didn’t stir as she moved. Just kept looking at some unknown point on the horizon. Despite her best efforts to shield him during the fall, his face was covered in dirt. It mixed with his tears and dried on his cheeks. She waved a hand in front of his face. Nothing.
She felt a distant memory of her dad bubble up, talking about the symptoms of shock, and knew that if it weren’t for how exhausted she felt she’d probably be angry.
They were both dehydrated, or would be soon, and she dug through their bags for a while in search of water. There were two water bottles, one for them each, and she twisted one open and held it up to his lips.
“C’mon, you need to drink.” She said it gently. When he didn’t respond she ran a hand through his matted curls, “Houston to Leo. We need you to fuel up.”
He leaned against her hand and let out a haggard breath as he breached the surface of the stratosphere, coming back down to Earth. He slowly raised shaky hands to grasp the water bottle, and drank in small sips.
“D-don’t…” He started in a whisper and she kept rubbing the back of his head, “D-don’t drink… too fast… It’ll make you sick.”
Amy snorted and properly tousled his hair, “Thanks, doc.”
He handed her the water bottle and watched her take his instructed slow sips, and when she was finished he fished out a collection of snacks from his pack. He handed her the Fancy Lad Snack Cakes and opened his own bag of chips.
He eventually shifted out of her lap as they ate and Amy took in their surroundings. It was weirdly quiet out here. There was an eerie moan, but otherwise… nothing. The wind was nice at least.
Everything was run down. The pre-war homes were rubble and frames, and while she could see a full building out in the distance, it was rusted. No sign of life as far as she could see except for…
For the giant metal structure out in the distance. She couldn’t really tell what it was from her, and it definitely didn’t look like anything she’d seen in the movies. Post-apocalypse films had been banned if they weren’t government or Vault-Tec produced, and their version was… well it wasn’t far off from this, but she’d have expected there to be more noise.
The films always made it out to be filled with radiation tainted monsters, waiting right outside vault doors to eat you alive. Gunfire constantly. Criminals, cannibals, and creatures. It’s not like she expected them to be true, but there had to be something to it right?
However, they weren’t all that wrong about the landscape. It was depressing out here. She knew it wouldn’t be rolling fields of green but there was… nothing out here. When she’d imagined the outside world it was greener, fresher, more alive. She’d hoped for something at the very least.
By the time they were done eating the sun had completely encompassed them in its horrible heat and it was clearly time to get up and get going. Amy unzipped the top of her vault suit so her top was just the undershirt she wore underneath and wrapped a second layer around her waist.
It was way too bulky, but it’s not like the bags had any more room to spare, so around her waist stayed the jacket and the suit. Leo copied her as he readied his own things.
He fidgeted as he surveyed the landscape and looked up to her almost to ask a question before thinking better of it. She started down the rest of the mountain path, “Out with it.”
He stiffened but followed dutifully. “Where… where are we going? Are we… Are we going to find dad?”
Fuck she was really trying to not think about him.
“That’s the plan. I…” She kept herself from saying ‘I have no idea!’ and started again, “First step is to find people. People means food, shelter, water, and I’m somehow doubting we’re going to find dad immediately. I mean, hell, who knows how long he’s been gone, or what direction he went in.”
She saw Leo withering out of the corner of her and sighed, “We’ll find him, don’t worry, but right now I want to get us somewhere safe. Then, we can ask around and… and figure out a game plan from there, okay?”
“But what if something happened to him? What if he needs our help?”
She said, “We can’t do anything for him right now Leo. We have less than two bottles of water, a half eaten box of pastry, and what… a couple of sandwiches? We need to make sure we can survive this place before we can even think about that.”
“But how do we know we can trust these people? W-what if they start shooting at us, too?”
“Then I’ll protect you.”
Somehow, that didn’t seem to satisfy him, but he did go quiet. Brows furrowed, like he was deep in thought, but eyes firmly on the ground in front of him. She didn’t know what to say to make him feel better.
Sure, during the heat of the moment they’d worked together fine, but now that they were alone in this awful quiet place she didn’t… she didn’t know what to do. If they were back in the vault she’d take him to the mess to get milkshakes, and ask him about his latest science project. Then he’d perk up and start chatting about it, and their dad or Jonas would come by to talk to him about it.
(Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it.)
She was good at beating up the people who bullied him, and making him laugh when he was down, but how was she supposed to help him through this?
Damn it. It… It wasn’t like she didn’t care. Or that she didn’t want to know, because she did.
Amy trudged on forward.
Now… Now wasn’t really the time to open that whole can of worms with him. She could figure out what was going on in his head when they were safe, and until that point they were both just going to have to suffer through it.
It didn’t take long to get there, but it took her a second to approach the thing. It was just so big. Arching her head up to look at it, this tall imposing thing , made her nauseous. It made her look at the sky and feel so small. She hadn’t decided whether or not she liked that yet.
A sudden voice broke her out of her stupor, “Please. You just came from the vault, right? Do you have purified water…?” A man with red sun baked skin weakly propped himself up on the mat he’d been sleeping on and gestured towards the both of them, “Please…”
Amy stiffened, “I… You don’t have any? Is there no water out here?” She felt a little stupid when the words came out of her mouth. Of course there wouldn’t be. This place looked like a desert.
He shook his head weakly, “Not purified water. Even the water in the city is somewhat irradiated. Please, I’ve drunk all I can of that shit. It just makes me throw up now.”
“I…” she gripped onto her pack and avoided Leo’s eyes. Could she really say no to him? But then what about Leo? If water was really that precious of a commodity out here then shouldn’t she prioritize taking care of him first?
“Hey! Micky, cut it out. What are you asking that from a couple kids?” Amy whipped towards the sudden newcomer, but couldn’t find the source. “Up here.”
A man waved down from a bird’s nest post at the top of the structure, “Sorry about him. Now, are you two coming in or staying out?”
Her eyes quickly glanced at Leo’s heart broken expression and immediately regretted it. She knew that they needed it, but if she walked away without doing anything… Who knows what would happen to this guy? “Um, coming in?” she yelled to the man up top. Then, under her breath to Leo, she said, “Give him a bottle.”
Leo’s eyes sparkled with relief as he quickly dove into the pack and fished it out, “Here you go sir! If we get any more I’ll be sure to come back and give you some!”
Guess she was going without a drink for a while.
"Really? Seriously?”
“Of course!”
“My God. Thank you. Thank you so much. I'll never forget this!"
Up top Amy could almost see the man rolling his eyes, “Alright, let me get the gate open for you then.” He turned and yelled something to somebody else, and looked like he kept talking when the screeching began.
Her heart leapt in her throat at the horrible screech and squeal of the “gates”. She’d never heard a sound more grating. She wrapped an arm around Leo and prayed that he wouldn’t notice if she’d jumped. This whole thing was like something straight out of a movie. Complete with a silly little robot in a silly little hat.
“Wel-come to Meg-a-ton. En-joy your stay.”
When the second set of gates opened, and they cautiously stepped inside, they were met with a man in a goddamn cowboy hat, duster, and a shiny little sheriff’s badge on his breast. Okay, sure, it was dinged up to hell and back, but it was a genuine sheriff’s badge. She didn’t know that the post-apocalypse was a western.
“Well I’ll be damned, you’re from that vault, Vault 101!” said the sheriff. He laughed, deep and warm, and she felt herself go a little at ease. He had a gun on his back, but he didn’t seem too keen on bringing it out. That’d be a first for today, “I haven’t seen one of those in a long time.” He crested the hill and looked Leo and her over.
Despite the greeting, there was a cautious look in his eye. Discerning. “When Stockton told me that we had two vault kids at the gate I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth, but you two seem to be genuine articles.” He frowned and nodded at their suits, “What happened there?”
She followed his eyes to the blood on her suit. She… hadn’t really noticed it.
“We got attacked. I…” Images like disjointed frames flashed in her mind, “Didn’t really have a choice. Just needed to make sure that he didn’t hurt anyone else.” She felt far away again, but not far enough. Leo stiffened against her, and then shifted away. She probably wouldn’t have noticed it if her arm hadn’t been around him.
(Not the time. Not the time.)
Amy straightened her back to meet the sheriff’s stare and stored all those feelings away in a box for later. She didn’t want to look like a threat, but pushover wasn’t any good either. They weren’t going from one authoritarian asshole to the next.
The sheriff looked her over intently, brows furrowed, and the cautious look in his eye softened.
He nodded, seeming to find what he was looking for, before extending a hand to her, “I’m sorry to hear that, Miss…?”
She took it, “Amelia Lockhart, but I just go by Amy.”
“Good to meet you, Amy. Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises.” He tilted his head to Leo and said, “I take it this is your brother?”
Leo nodded and shyly extended his hand, “Leo Lockhart, sir. I-it’s nice to meet you.”
Simms smiled warmly at Leo and took his hand, “It’s good to meet you too, Leo. With manners like that I think we’ll get along just fine. Tell you what, you two treat my people nice, and you’re welcome as long as you like. Not about to let two kids get lost out there in the wastes.”
Leo’s shoulders dropped and his entire posture relaxed. He still seemed cautious, but there was a sudden curiosity to him as he took in this new place. She almost laughed when she noticed his nose twitching; the look he always got when the gears in his mind were turning.
The wave of relief hit her and she felt the damn break. She felt stupid tearing up, but she wasn’t doing a great job at hiding it. She said, “T-thank you, sir, we both really appreciate it.” She said while she sniffed back tears, pitifully wiping her eyes.
“Don’t mention it. I have a good feeling about you two. In fact, I have a son that’s got to be around your age,” he said looking at Leo. “He’s a little shy himself, but I think with time he could warm up to you. I’ve been waiting for a new family to settle in, but I haven’t gotten any to stick.” He grumbled under his breath, “Everyone wants to go to Rivet City these days.”
“Well, I’m not sure how long we’ll be sticking around. We’re looking for our dad.”
“Hm, another vault dweller?”
Her heart sank a bit, “50 years old ish, Irish accent, probably a lab coat and a vault suit. Can’t miss him.”
Simms took off his hat and looked to the sky. Scratched his head and rapped his fingers against his side, “Can’t say I’ve seen him.”
Then, he hesitated. She hated how her hackles immediately went up. He’d honestly been nothing but kind and the minute she caught a whiff of maybe something else she got paranoid. Stupid.
Simms started again, “You’d have better luck checking in the saloon. When it comes to rumors everything runs through there eventually, but be careful. Moriarty is NOT your friend, no matter what he may say, so don't fall for his lies. And for god's sake, don't trust the man.”
Amy nodded slowly, See? It’s fine. He’s just trying to help. Calm down.
“Thanks for the tip. I’m assuming it’s the place with the big flashing sign?” She pointed and he nodded with a roll of his eyes.
“You got the place. You two need anything just holler, understand?”
Amy cringed as she and Leo said, “Yes Sir!” in unison.
Simms chuckled again, warm and rumbly, and she shrank even further into her boots. He tipped his hat, “Alright, you two be safe, and I hope to keep seeing you around. Goodluck finding your dad,” and walked back down the hill to continue his patrol.
“I like him.” Leo said softly.
She tousled his hair, “Yeah, I do too. Probably the nicest grown up we’ve met today.”
He batted her hand away this time which Amy considered progress. He said indignantly, “Technically, you’re a grown up too.”
“Yuck, stop reminding me.”
“You’re the one who keeps saying it when you want me to do something! ‘Leo, I’m nineteen now, which means you have to listen to me when I say so!’”
“Correct.”
“And I’m thirteen, but you don’t seem to care that that means that I’m a teenager now. I’m going to be fourteen in six months!”
“A teenager is still a kid, and technically speaking, I’m still in my teens. Nine-teen. See? Still a teenager.”
“You can’t be a grown up and a kid.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“You’re just saying that so you can get away with doing whatever you want.”
“Also correct. Now, do you wanna go find out where dad went, or do you want to stand here arguing with me? I could keep going but earlier you really wanted to find dad.”
He glared at her, “We’re not done talking about this.”
She forced a smile and flicked his arm, “Yeah, sure. C’mon, let’s go find dad.”