Fallout 1. Vault 101

Fallout: Victoria

Prelude:

This fanfic is based off my character Victoria in Fallout 3. This collection of stories will follow her through her adventures in the Mojave wastelands. Original characters and plots as well as cannon's will be witnessed along these rather...charming adventures. The adventures of the wanderer from vault 101.

Note: I am afraid this one goes a little fast pace for the start. I did this simply because I am sure everyone has a basic idea about this chapter from the game and I didn't want you to go through any more than you needed.

Vault 101

"Wake up, you have to wake up." A bright flash awoke her, shifting under her covers Victoria sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Despite her slow start to the morning her dearest friend Amata tugged her from her bed and forced her to stand up. Victoria wasn't fully alert until her friend shook her violently in an attempt to wake her fully. "You have to wake up." Amata screamed at her friend, the sound of terror in her voice alarmed Victoria. It caused her eyes to widen in alarm, her heart to race, what on earth was going on? Was the Vault in danger?

"Wha...what's going on Amata? Did something happen? Where's my father?" Her words were still a little slurred as she shook off the last effects of her slumber.

"You're father's gone, he left the vault. Didn't he tell you about this?"

"No, no he didn't say anything...but how is that even possible? The vault door can't be opened."

"Well he did Victoria and my father, my fathers lost it. He's gone mad, Jonas dead and they are coming for you. You have to go now. You have to follow your father and leave the vault. Here take this." Amata took the pistol out from behind her back. With hands shaking she offered it to Victoria thought she was reluctant to take it. All this information just hit her so quickly, some part of her hoped Amata would tell her it was all a joke but the warning lights flashing outside told her otherwise. Taking in a deep breath Victoria took the pistol and tucked it inside her gray vault 101 jumpsuit.

"Amata this is crazy, how am I suppose to get out of here? What am I suppose to do?"

"Get to my fathers office, I'll meat you there. He has a secret underground tunnel to the vault door. We'll decide what to do then but now I have to go." Giving her childhood friend one last hug Amata left the room running out into the hall towards her fathers office. Victoria turned on her toes quickly running to her desk and lifting up the old BB gun her father had given her. Slinging it over her shoulder her eyes darted around the room for anything else she might need. Franticly Victoria was tossing her belongings around the room. She took her comic book she had gotten from Amata on her tenth birthday and stuffed it inside her jumpsuit before picking up her baseball bat.

"This just might come in handy." Victoria whispered to herself holding the bat tight and sneaking out into the hallway. The place was a mess, lock down had been activated and guards ran around trying to fight off radroaches. She had figured as much, Victoria had to work security and recently the radroaches were showing up in large numbers. Her had even had to patch up a few people after they had been aggressively attacked by three of them. Before heading for towards the Overseers office Victoria turned a left down near the cafeteria. If she was leaving she needed to be a little more prepped for it. Trying to stay out of the flashing red light she trapped along until the sound of radroaches reached her ears. They scuttled about in the kitchen eating the rations that had been tipped over during a struggle. Holding her breath a moment Victoria crept closer to the oversized bug and raised the baseball bat up over her head. Jumping the corner the roach stud on it's back legs hissing at her before it took a lethal blow to the head.

It's lifeless body slumped over allowing her to pass unharmed to the food shelves where she took a bottle of purified water and scrounged around for food. Before she could even find a scrap Butch came storming in, panicked he turned to Victoria as his only hope. "You got to help me, my moms trapped, the radroaches were surrounding her. Please you just got to help me Vic."

Every ounce of her wanted to turn her back and ignore him. He had bullied her most of her life, Amata too. Victoria couldn't even recall how many times she had ended up on the floor in a fist fight with him. Enough to make her father concerned for her every time she left her room. The two could never get along but despite everything she couldn't just leave his mother to die. What had that woman ever done wrong, well aside from raising a rotten child? "Alright Butch calm down, show me where she is, I'll get her out." The two ran from the kitchen down the hall to where Butch and his mother lived.

"She's in there, you go, I just can't."

Victoria narrowed her eyes, the temptation to call him a coward was killing her but she wouldn't. Butch's mom wouldn't hold up long against those things. With a nod of her head she opened the door with the keypad and ran in swinging her bat. A loud _thwack_ echoed through the room as one of the roaches was sent flying into a wall. Her bat came down hard onto the back of a second sending white spray up on Butches horrified mother. The last roach ran to her side and clamped her arm between it's razor sharp mandibles. With a piercing scream of pain the frightened woman jumped up from her hiding spot beside her sofa and ran behind Victoria while she took a final swing and smashed it's head in. Butch ran in to hold his sobbing mother. "Hey thanks, thanks a lot Vic. You, you saved my mothers life. Here, take this, it's my Tunnel Snakes jacket, as a thanks." Butch slipped the leather jacket off and tossed it to Victoria. "I heard about your dad, so sorry."

"Thanks Butch...thanks a lot." That jackass had treated her like shit all her life and now he picked the day to be nice to her? Better late than never she figured. Throwing on the jacket Victoria made sure it fit. "And Butch, take this, in case you run into any more of those things." Victoria removed her BB gun and threw it at him. "Aiming for the head works best."

"Thanks Vic." With that they parted ways, Butch running his mother to safety and Victoria towards the office. Now came the real challenge, there were guards all over, guards looking for her. Resting her hand on the pistol inside her jumpsuit. Hopefully she wouldn't need it, she had never killed anyone before and she hopped she wouldn't have to start today. Warning alarms and messages ran over the intercom giving her a better chance to stealth around the few guards walking the halls. Walking up into the lab a strange scent caught her attention. It was a sort of earthy smell, like iron, very metallic in base. Entering the lab Victoria had not been prepared for what she saw there on the ground. Jonas's body laid beside his desk, blood pooling around him from where he had been shot. "Jonas." Though she knew he was gone she still dropped to her knees and checked his pulse. Victoria had always considered him a great friend. Jonas had always looked out for her as a kid and now he was...just gone? Still, he must have known about it, about her father leaving. Victoria checked his pockets pulling out a holodisk, this had to have been of some importance.

"Goodbye my dear old friend. Goodbye." She didn't want to just leave him there in a pool of his own blood but there was no other choice. Gingerly she folded his hands over his chest and closed his eyes. Tried to make him look like he was sleeping, peaceful. Her father would have appreciated it. Still there wasn't much time to grieve for him now. The sound of Amata's scream for help caught her attention. It was towards Officer Macks apartment. The Overseer had order Jonas shot but Mack was the one to pull the trigger. She knew him too well, he just wanted to be a hero, get on the bosses good side. Didn't care who got in the way of him. Pulling out the pistol Amata had given her Victoria ran down the hall with murder in her eyes. Her mind buzzing with the events of the night, of what they had done to her friends, to her. They wouldn't get away with it.

Storming into the room she saw Amata seated in a chair, her father and Mack yelling at her to tell them where Victoria was hiding. "Amata please be reasonable and tell me where she is."

"No, just let me go, please."

"If you don't tell me I am afraid I'll have to use force."

Mack grinned at the Overseers words and stepped forward raising his baton, gearing up to hit Amata as hard as he could.

"I'm right here assholes." Victoria growled before she pulled the trigger on Mack and watched him collapse to the ground. "Amata run, get out now." Her friend obeyed leaping from the chair and leaving while Victoria turned on the Overseer. "Stay right there or you'll be next. Don't think I'm kidding either. How could you? You were suppose to protect us, watch over us, I always knew it was too perfect to be true. If you follow us I won't think twice about putting a bullet between your eyes." Backing out the door Victoria followed behind Amata. The two blocked the door to the office hoping the rest of security would not get through. "Amata where is that secret tunnle? We need it about now."

Amata walked over to the controls, her fingers moving over the keys as tears ran down her face. "He's not himself right now. I don't know why he's acting like this."

"Yeah well, you're not the only one who's father has left them confused for the day Amata, I'm sorry." With the password punched in the Overseers desk began to rise and the steps slid back revealing the hidden underground passage to the vault door. "So I guess this is it then, here we go." Victoria ran down the steps and opened the door looking back to be sure Amata was following. Together they ran down the short hall and into the observation room stopping in their tracks to look over the large metal door before them, gear shaped and heavy looking as hell. "Damn, so that's it?"

"I guess, we should open it before they get here."

"Yeah, good idea." Victoria took Amata's hand and drug her out into the gate room. A large lever sat before them on a control panel, begging to be pulled. If her father did it so could she. Taking in a deep breath Victoria pulled the lever and jumped back as the large bar moved forward and took hold of the door. Sirens screamed and lights dimmed, for a moment Victoria wanted to turn back but it was too late now. Carefully the two girls watched the door open revealing a long stone tunnel. There it was, freedom, what Victoria had always dreamed of but feared. She didn't know what was beyond this vault, never thought she would see it either. "Lets go."

Lurching forward she stopped when she realized Amata was standing firm. "No you go, I'm the only one who can talk to my father, get him to calm down. You have to be the one to go, just look at you, if anyone can survive out there it's you." The words hurt her, she thought they were in this together but now...now she was staying?

"I understand." Victoria fell forward giving her friend a hug, perhaps the last she would ever give Amata again. "Stay safe, promise me."

"You too."

Trying not to make it a tearful moment Victoria rolled her eyes as if to say she didn't need to be told to stay safe. The painful parting was cut short as security flooded the room. Victoria let go of Amata and ran for the door hearing bullets bounce off the thick sheets of metal. Leaping to safety she rolled down against the hard stone outside her home and shelter and gazed back as a guard restrained Amata. "NO, leave her alone." Victoria screamed getting to her feet and moving back at the door. Before she could reach it the giant steel gear was rolled back into place and sealed shut. "No, no, AMATA." Grabbing the baseball bat in her hand Victoria hit the door as hard as she could screaming out to her friend. It didn't take long for her to lose her steam and finally collapse under the stress of the night. Sliding to her knees Victoria pressed her head against the door and cried. She stayed that way until morning when shafts of light peeked through the rickety looking door at the end of the tunnel and gently kissed her fingertips. Victoria opened her eyes and blinked in curiosity, just outside that door was a whole new world, a new adventure and danger. Did she dare go there? She had to, to find her father, there was no turning back now.


	2. The Wastes

The old shack door creaked as Victoria pushed it open. Soon dancing beams of light flooded the stone hallway and blinded Victoria in a flash of light. For the first time in her life she felt the wind blow on her face, her long dark auburn curls twisting in the warm breeze. It carried with it so many smells unlike any she had known in the vault. Not like the smells of the cleaning solutions used on the floors, the smell of oil on workers jumpsuits, the scent of protein powder in the kitchen. Smells wafted to her nostrils, odors both pleasant and rancid yet all seemed so liberating to her. Green eyes adjusted to the brightness of the wastelands as things faded into perfect clarity. Honestly she hadn't know what she expected to see but this hadn't been it. All around her was nothing but rocks, sand, ruins, dead trees, nothing but death. Even an old skull looked up to her with an eerie grin.

Moving one foot in front of the other she started on her path not knowing where to go, what she would find. Were there even other people out here? Suddenly the thought of being outside the vault became so verifying to her, what if she was all alone out here? Through all the dirt and rocks, burned trees stood a few ruined homes in the distance. If there was to be people or anything she could use they would be there. It had been a short walk through smooth terrain to arrive to the corroded sign welcoming her to the dead town. 'Welcome to Springvale' Down the cracked road the bones of homes stood tall, wind howling through their rafters. In the distance there was a faint sound of music and then a voice echoing over a low buzzing rumble. Turning her attention towards the music there came a small floating robot unlike the Mr. Handy that was in the vault. It floated by playing some patriotic song and spouting off some nonsense from some president guy. At first she was going to ignore the racket but it meant something important. There could be people out here after all, either that or it was a robot playing some old recordings.

In the vault Victoria had learned of U.S. Presidents, this country use to have them but after the fallout who knew. Still she felt a sense of hope and at least with the robot floating up and down the road she didn't feel so alone. There was a voice, there was music, it almost reminded her of home aside from the ancient ruins. Continuing her way through the broken down homes Victoria kicked though the rubble and fallen charred timbers hunting for anything she could use. Pushing back a broken door revealed an almost untouched safe sitting on the ground. Perhaps this was just the luck she needed, or it would be yet some more useless stuff that would mean nothing for her survival. All the same Victoria figured it was worth a shot. "Alright, good thing I learned how to pick locks from watching Butch." Getting on one knee Victoria reached into the pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out a few bobypins she used to put up her hair. Snapping one in half she slipped it into into the lock and bit down on her lip twisting them around, testing which direction it had to move to unlock the safe. Playing around for a few minutes Victoria finally got it, that satisfying sound of the safe unlocking making a small smile cross her face.

Swinging the door open she looked inside the safe pulling out some ammo and pre war money. Quite a bit of pre war money in fact. "This should come in handy I would hope." Stuffing her pockets with the money and ammo she reached back further and pulled out a pistol holster and what seemed to be a perfectly in tact 10mm pistol. Unlike her own however this one had a scope like her BB gun had. As she recalled scopes were a lot more accurate since you could really see what you were aiming it at. "Right, I can use this. I can use the scope to find...maybe a settlement or something? I just need to get to higher ground." Victoria's green eyes shifted about seeking out a high place she could see better off into the distance. It looked like she could climb a few rafters and get up high, get the birds eye view of the surrounding turf. Water was a main thing she would have to find, this place was a desert and from books she had read in the vault you don't last long in a desert without water. Throwing the holster around her waist Victoria put her first 10mm there and locked it in place before unloading the second one with the scope and putting the spare ammo in a pocket. Better to not be climbing with a loaded gun in your hand, safety first, her father had told her that even with the BB gun.

"Alright kids here we go." Victoria talked herself up a little before jumping up and pulling herself onto the first and lowest beam. Never would you have called her the strongest girl in 101 but she was athletic. Had been on the soccer team and everything. Played a little baseball too. Carefully she stood up on the beam reaching over for the next and gently stepping onto it. The wood under her feet creaked and bent sounding a little like it would give but she had to get higher. Climbing the next few beams had been trickery as one was badly burnt and snapped under her weight nearly throwing her back to the ground. Luckily she had grabbed onto the one over her head and again pulled herself up before taking a painful fall. By the time she reached the highest beam Victoria felt exhausted. Thirsty, hungry, and now tired she laid down on the last beam to catch her breath wondering if she should just stay here till she died and let the buzzards pick her bones clean. No, she had to find her father, she needed answers.

Sitting up Victoria looked through the scope and scanned the surrounding area. Most of what she could see were other ruins, desert, rock, dead trees, just more lifelessness and disappointment. Just before she was about to give up Victoria noticed something odd, it looked like a heap of trash from here but unlike the rest of the trash there was something else to it. Almost like someone had built it that way. Walls of metal standing up high, taller than the ruins she stood on. Now it might be nothing but it was worth a shot. The least she could do was check it out. "Okay, it's not that far, I can walk it before it gets dark. Easy enough." Stuffing the 10mm into her jumpsuit Victoria made the slow and steady climb back down out of the rafters. With feet firmly on the ground again she could breath a sigh of relief. "I wonder if dad came this way, he had to of, there's no where else to go really." Even as she walked back to the road Victoria looked through the homes picking around for anything else she could use. Leaving Springvale behind her she made way towards the giant scrap heap. Whistling a tune from the old vault radio Victoria continued her path with a little peep in her step. Kicking up the dirt and occasionally throwing a stone or two just to see how far she could get it.

Not long after she started whistling Victoria broke out singing her favorite song. Her father use to sing it to her at night when she couldn't sleep, ever since then it had always been the song to keep her spirits up.

"Gonna pack up all my care and woe,  
Here I go singin' low,  
Bye bye blackbird.

Where somebody waits for me,  
Sugar's sweet, so is he,  
Bye bye blackbird."

Kicking up her heels a little more Victoria felt herself picking up speed, almost skipping as she continued on humming that song. For a moment she felt she was back at home walking the hallways and causing trouble for the Overseer. That asshole never liked her but she was his daughters only friend and so he put up with all her tricks and pranks. Guess he was happy she was gone now, her and her father, troublemakers in his eyes. The two risking the safety of his people. Ever since she could remember she had wanted to leave the vault. Never had been a fan of the Overseer worship either.

Looking up a moment Victoria figured she had gone a few miles, the sun was high in the sky over her head now and beating down on her with a powerful strength. In the vault she never had to deal with stuff like this. Pulling off her leather jacket Victoria tied it around her waist and then slipped off the top half of her jumpsuit letting it hang until she only had her dark gray tank top on. Wind hitting her bare shoulders felt so much nicer and with a ponytail around her wrist she was able to throw her hair up into a messy bun getting it off the back of her neck where sweat had started running down her back. In the vault you were never too hot with the temp control and everything. So things were different out here, at least you could be whatever you wanted to be now right? Didn't have to serve under some controlling moron?

It seemed quiet now away from the ramblings of the robot and the howls through the rafters. Frightfully quiet in fact, Victoria's footsteps were the only sounds around for, god knew how far. Each step she took now slowed as eyes shifted back and fourth. Somehow she felt as if something was watching her, following her. Odd sounds came from behind her where three large ant beasts scurried along running in her direction. Quickly Victoria pulled out the pistol and started shooting. Bullet after bullet missed as she ran backwards and hit one of the massive bugs in the head taking it down. The other two however kept on coming. Their mandibles snapping open as they got closer. Hitting a second in the leg she finally lost her balance and stumbled back hitting her elbow on a rock and knocking the pistol from her hand. Mere seconds later a scream erupted from her mouth as one of the giant ants bit down into her leg.

Blood dripped down onto the sand and muscles ripped from the sharp pincers, with another hard snap Victoria screamed again retrieving her 10 mm and shooting the her assailant in the face. Still clamped onto her leg the large ant fell still while the final ant bit into her arm and slashed at her ribs. Letting out another scream she swung her arm pushing the ant back and firing two rounds into it's body, only enough to slow it down. For a moment it seemed to go into retreat until it came back and bit down on her ribcage. With the last of her fighting will she put the pistol to it's eye and blew the thing away. Guts rained down on her as the headless corpse collapsed. She tried to assess her situation looking over her wounds a moment. The one on her arm wasn't too bad, it had bitten deep but the cuts were clean, on her side was another story. Blood soaked through her tank top turning it a crimson shade. Lightly pressing against the wound she felt a bone shift a little and screamed again. Must have been a broken rib, flesh was badly tattered too.

Hands still shaking she put the pistol back and sat up grabbing onto the mandibles still clamped around her leg. Prying them off she pushed the dead creature away and felt woozy over the scene. Though badly mangled the bone wasn't broken, but walking wasn't going to be easy anymore. In fact she half felt she just might never make it. "I, I have to stop the bleeding." It was easier talking to herself to keep from panicking, or going into shock. Best way to stop the bleeding was put pressure on it. Thankfully Victoria had paid attention to her father a lot, she fancied herself fairly brilliant herself. Ripping the sleeves off her jumpsuit Victoria worked on the arm first. Wrapping the sleeve over the wound she used her teeth and free hand to pull it tight and wrap it twice. The wound wasn't bleeding as much as the others so she wasn't too afraid of it bleeding out. Painfully she moved her leg throwing the second sleeve around the tattered skin and ripped fabric. Pulling tight she wrapped it twice before tying it up and giving it one more look over.

"That one is going to have to do." Cringing and huffing Victoria ripped the top half of her jumpsuit up into strips with one larger patch. Wrapping the larger patch around her wound she took the strips and pulled it tight before using the bails of pre war cash to place pressure against the wound. Packing the last few bails under the patch Victoria grit her teeth and held in a cry of pain. The pressure hurt against the broken ribs, her body tensing up as it tried to adapt to the pain and pressure. Gingerly she unwrapped the jacket from around her and slipped it on hoping that if she zippered it up it would help keep everything in place. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." Victoria moaned slipping it one one sleeve at a time. Gently shrugging it the rest of the way on she zipped it up with one sharp breath and stored her scoped pistol into the jacket. "Now I just have to get up, damn I wish I had the baseball bat still." Carefully she got to her knees and pushed herself up screaming when her leg almost buckled under her.

Broken or not she couldn't put any weight on it, the pain was too much that her ankle would just roll and send a fiery sting up her spine. Victoria needed something she could use as a crutch. All there was had been a long splintered branch. The top looked sharp and jagged, She leaned forward crying a little, tears running down her face while she ripped the bottom half of her pants. Panting Victoria wrapped the cloth around the top of the stick and used some shoelace from her boot to secure it. "That is going to have to do." Victoria tested the strength and bend of the stick before standing back up and leaning against it. So much time had already passed, the day wouldn't last much longer and Victoria's speed was greatly decreased now. Holding her wounded side she limped forward shifting in discomfort from her makeshift crutch. "I guess I learned my lesson about this place, you just can't let your guard down."

This place was going to eat you up and shit you out if you did. Each step sent another shock of pain through her. She had to bite her lip just to numb the pain in her leg and take her mind off it. Stopping now, giving up now meant certain death. Feet started feeling like miles, minutes like hours, and her hunger and thirst only grew. Victoria's limbs shook now, growing tired, above her the sun was already starting to set. How long had she been struggling on? Felt like days but it hadn't been, perhaps a few hours. Looking up at the sky ablaze Victoria shed a few tears. She had never in her life seen a sunset, it was almost poetic. Those fuzzy feelings subsided though thinking of being out in the dark with those things. Would they smell her blood? Would others come after her?

Victoria tried to pick up her pace struggling to even stay standing. Panic hit her like a punch from Butch to the face and Victoria realized she didn't want to die out here. Ahead of her the lights from the trash heap shone out, strings of lights like they had during Christmas. It was a welcoming sight, the light in the dimming day. Out of desperation she dropped her crutch and drug her back leg trying to move along faster. Victoria raised her arms to wave in distress but felt the pain in her side again. Too tired to go on Victoria finally lost her balance and collided with rock and sand. Her body rolled like a rag doll down a small hill and got wedged up against some old trash and rocks. Taking deep breaths and blinking through a blurry gave Victoria could hear nothing but her heart beating franticly in her ears. Each breath hurt more and more until Victoria felt she would stop breathing, blood leaking out from her wraps and dripping onto the rocks around her. She closed her eyes one last time before slipping off into the cold darkness. The pain leaving her body once her mind fell away from her surroundings and left her there defenseless in the wastes.


	3. Megaton

"Revelation 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega. The beginning... and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life, freely."

Slowly Victoria opened her eyes, how was this possible? How was she alive? Beneath her she could feel a stiff mattress and slick sheets. They felt a little more itchy than those in the vault, she couldn't have been back home so where was this? Above her a dim light swung back and forth. Through her blurred vision Victoria could have sworn she saw her father look down at her, telling her it was alright. Slowly his voice faded from her mind and was replaced with the voice that truly spoke to her. It was much older and gruffer, his tone much darker than her fathers. "Oh good your awake, about time too." Victoria looked over at the Doc, he was older, perhaps late fifties to early sixties, dark eye and dark skinned with graying hair like her father. He seemed fairly tall and rather scrawny, perhaps from the poor nutrition mentioned out in the wastes. Sitting up fast the doc tried to slow her down and propped a pillow up behind her back. "Whoa now easy there, you were out for three days. Nearly though we would have lost you. It's a miracle you are still alive."

"Where am I?" She asked, her mind still foggy. This meant one good thing however. There truly were people out in the wastes. Were these the people on the radio, the station the bot had played? Did they know where her father was? Her excitement got the best of her making her lunge forward and strain her side. Clasping a hand over the bandages around her ribs she grit her teeth in pain. Despite how she felt still Victoria tried to hide it, tried to be strong just like her father raised her.

"I said easy now, you really are going to hurt yourself." The doc forced Victoria back down to the bed and gave her a stern glance. "Your in the clinic in Megaton. A scavenger crew found you out there in the wastes, thought you were dead at first until they tried to loot you and realized you were still living. Took a lot work to get you stable again but you should be good as new in a few weeks. By the way, I'm Doc Church, only doc around for miles. You were lucky to have fallen on the trade route or help would never have come. Now for the real questions, just who are you and where the hell did you come from?"

It took her aback a moment, she had just shown up in the desert wearing strange clothes, a vault uniform no less. Maybe they didn't even know about the vaults or that people were still alive in them. He must have had just as many questions as she did. "My names Victoria Westington, I came from Vault 101. Born and raised in a vault so I don't honestly know much about topside or really where Megaton is but I'll take it over those giant ants."

"Wait, you are from the vault? What are you doing out here then? Was life in the vault too nice for you? Get kicked out for being a criminal"

"No, no not at all, I left to go after my father. You see he left the vault and never told me he was planing to so I came out after him." She felt a little nervous, would this guy turn on her? Think she was bluffing?

For a moment the doc went quiet and nodded his head almost trying to think back on something. "Ah yes, so you're related to the other one who left the vault."

Forgetting her injuries again Victoria sat up fast ignoring the jolt of pain. "My father, you saw him? Where is he, is he here?"

"You need to learn how to control your excitement, and no he left before you got here. You would have to ask the Sheriff more. He's the only one who keeps track of people coming and going around these parts." That was all she needed to know to get that last spark which took away her pain. Throwing the sheets off herself Victoria tossed her legs over the side of the bed and noticed she didn't have on much for clothes. Only a white bra and her underwear. The rest of her body just looked like a mummy. Ribs were wrapped, her lower leg was wrapped, and her upper arm. Though she had noticed the bandage around her ribs she hadn't noticed the other two. "Hey now, if you think you are going anywhere you need to at least eat a little something. Don't go out there running around. Here let me get you some grub and some clothes." Doc Church pulled over a single crutch and leaned it across the bed. "And you'll be needing this. Keep weight off that leg until it mends more. Gave you a few stimpacks to help it heal but the damage was pretty bad."

Once he left the room Victoria pulled the crutch closer to her and stood it up on the ground. She hadn't ever been this hurt before, in the vault the worst she ever got was a broken nose from a fight with Butch. Carefully she got to her feet putting the most of her weight on the crutch. From the corner of the room Victoria could see her things hanging up. It hadn't taken long for her to reach over to her Pipboy and strap it back around her arm. Without it there she almost felt naked, more so than when she was standing in a strange place with nothing but underwear. The door creaked open again as Doc dropped off some clothes for her to throw on. It wasn't anything fancy, just a dirty looking old shirt and some tattered pants with the boots she had worn from the vault. Gingerly Victoria put the clothes on before slipping into the leather Tunnel Snakes jacket again.

Victoria toyed with her pipboy a little making sure it was still working. Flipping through her cataloged inventory she saw nothing was taken off of her. For a minute there she would have thought the Scavengers would have taken at least her weapons. Not that they had done her any good against those ants anyways. Growing up in the vault all she had ever attacked were the roaches, these ants were twice their size and twice as mean. If the bugs were this mean then she knew everything else would be worse. Doc Church came back with a bowl of noodles and set it down on a table for her along with a bottle of purified water. "Here, eat up, then I can officially say you are released of my care."

Limping over to the table with her crutch she gave him a small nod and a little smile to show her appreciation for everything he had done. "Thanks." Before even touching the food she took up the bottle of water and downed it in a few seconds. Damn had she been thirsty. Laying out there in the sand made her just want the cold water back at the vault all the more. Not like this place had any free flowing rivers around. It was what it was named, a wasteland. Scarfing down her lunch Victoria was ready to leave, ready to go back out there and find her father. Opening the door to the clinic she had been surprised, there actually was a real city out there. Tall steel walls stood up high keeping trouble out, likely those monsters. The whole place looked like it was made out of scrap but hell it was standing. There were buildings, walkways, and a giant atomic bomb sitting in the center of it all. "God damn."

Stepping off the clinics walkway she moved down into the busy little town. There seemed to be a lot of people around her, maybe as many as were in the vault even. Some guy at the bomb was yelling about the glory of Atom, a farmer was feeding his strange two headed cow, people were walking around chatting with one another. It felt good to feel like she was in a real community again. Now all she had to do was find the sheriff. It wouldn't take much searching on her part considering he was looking for her as well. From behind her she heard a strong serious voice that nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Good to see you feeling better." Turning as fast as she could with a crutch Victoria looked up at the tall buff man standing in front of her. He had on a dirty looking duster and cowboy hat like those old cowboys in the westerns wore. His face was stern but there was something about it that reminded her of her father. Hell the sheriff looked a little like he was related to Doc Church too. Imagined Doc Church looked more like this before he went all gray.

"Better, that's one way to put it. Still feel like I got into a boxing ring and lost." Butch would have felt like a real lowlife now. No matter how many times they went fist to face she never hurt like this. Kid just couldn't land a good hit on her, she was always too fast for him.

"Ha, you're a tough kid, you'll be just fine. Names Lucas Simms, I'm sheriff of this town, and mayor when the occasion calls for it. Now I just want to make one thing clear. We don't much like troublemakers here in Megaton and if you ever get the idea to cause a little ruckus I wouldn't be against putting a bullet in your sorry hide."

Victoria felt the need to be defensive, what had she done to piss this guy off? "Whoa hold on their cowboy, I'm not planing on causing any trouble here okay, I just want to find my dad. Tall older guy, a scientist from vault 101 have you seen him?"

"Yeah he passed through here before you arrived. Went to talk to Moriarty up at his saloon then left. I would guess Moriarty would know where he went off to but I'll tell you know to keep away from him. He's no good and knowing him information like that won't be cheap."

"I got money." Victoria smiled and pulled out the pre war money she had found in the safe.

Before she could even feel cocky about her cleverness Lucas started laughing at her. "No that stuff is useless in the wastes, we deal with caps. You can try to sell that trash for caps at the Crater Supply but you won't get nearly enough to get any answers from Moriarty. Tell you what though kid, I like you so if you can do anything to help Megaton then I would be happy to help you with that money problem of yours."

Looking over his shoulder she glanced at the atomic bomb then back to him. "How about I disarm that thing for you."

"Hell if you can do that I would make you deputy, just don't go blowing up my town."

"Good it's a deal then." This would be easy, maybe. She hadn't ever disarmed a bomb before let alone a radioactive one. Moving closer to the nuke she could hear her pipboy clicking, warning her of radiation. Checking the readings she saw it was a very small amount of radiation but she shouldn't spend too much time around the active bomb if she wanted to keep on her feet. Lifting up the control hatch on the thing she looked over the wires and switches. Despite being good with mechanical stuff this was a bit over her head for the time being. Still she was going to get this job done no matter how long it took. Closing the hatch again she stepped back until her pipboy stopped pinging. "I'll have to research into it a little. Like you said, don't want to blow up the town but I am sure once I look into it this should be pretty easy for me." Besides she had to find her dad.

"Well perhaps it's for the best, even if you did have the caps to get some answers from Moriarty you are hardly in the condition to go out in the wastes. Just look what happened to you before, you would get eaten alive."

"You seem like you know your way around the wastes, care to piss some wisdom on me?" She was hopeful the sheriff would take her under his wing. "I mean hey you aren't getting any younger, maybe you could use some backup right?"

"That's what I have my son Harden for." Lucas replied "But I'll tell you what kid, I like your spirit. You can stay with Harden and me until you get back on your feet. At least then if you decide to go kill yourself out in the wastes you'll be a little wiser." Victoria couldn't help but smile, checkpoint. "Well then welcome to Megaton kid."

"Thanks, and Sheriff the names Victoria."


	4. The Reasons

She must have listened to her fathers holotape a hundred times before putting it away. Her father hadn't wanted her to leave but honestly now there hadn't been a choice given to her. Victoria put the holotape away for good slipping it under the mattress and trying to forget it was even there. Everything that had happened to her the past few days had flipped the world on it's head. Her father had always been there for her, never lied to her and now he was gone. Left without even saying goodbye, what sort of loving father does that to his only child? Leaves them to fend for themselves? She knew she was nineteen now and could care for herself but the world seemed so...lonely without him in it, with her. Victoria almost felt anger towards him, betrayed but he was still her father and she loved him very much. That hadn't even been the cherry on this ice cream nightmare. No, she was outside the vault now, out in the big bad wastelands where the Overseer convinced them for years there was nothing but death. Yet here was Megaton, it seemed safe and the people in it were nice. Well most of them anyways. Worst yet was talking to Moriarty the day before when he revealed a real treat to her. Victoria hadn't been born in the vault? She still felt it was a load of bullshit but if he was right then her father had lied to her. Who could she really trust if even her life was a lie?

Sheriff Simms was the only good honest man she put her trust in for now and it seemed it would stay that way until she was well enough to leave Megaton. With her bum arm and leg she wasn't going out there anything soon and besides, Victoria wasn't a survivalist. She was a tough cookie but what did she now about the wastelands? Grabbing her crutch off the bed she stood herself up and limped into the kitchen where Harden spent a lot of the morning reading through some books his father had left out for him. There wasn't a school out here like in the vault, no teachers so if your child was to be literate you had to teach them yourself. Lucas was a smart man and it was obvious he was raising his son up to replace him as lawman one day. Harden had a large burden to carry on his shoulders but the kid was much like his father. "Mornin Harden." Victoria nodded her head at the boy as he peeked out from over the book on politics. Just the best subject in the world, honestly she must have fallen asleep in class the day they discussed old world politics because she couldn't remember too much about it.

"You talked to Moriarty yesterday, I saw you go into his saloon." Harden got straight to the point.

"Yeah, I did."

"Do you know where your dad is then? Are you going to leave Megaton?"

Victoria smiled a little, the poor boy didn't have much for friends and she supposed she was sort of his only friend. It was a blessing really that she had always remained a little childish herself so she got on well with children. Harden being mature for his age made them an interesting duo. They could talk about kid stuff like baseball and then go on and have a very nice discussion about the wastes. "As far as I can tell he knows where my dad is but he won't give me any information unless I pay up and we both know I don't have your current form of currency. Doesn't really matter though, for all I know he's full of bullshit."

Harden nodded his head seeming to agree with her. "Dad always tells me to keep away from Moriarty. I guess he can't be trusted."

"I can tell." She snorted, something about the guy just made him seem like slime. "Hey Harden how bout you put down that book and come with me to look around town for work."

"Why do you need work?" Harden wrinkled his nose. Turning out her pockets she revealed they were obviously empty, not even lint. Hell you could sell lint, maybe.

"Because I don't think your dad want's to pay for me forever. Besides...I need it to pay Moriarty for that information on my dad. I figured I could do really easy work around here. Work a cripple can do." Doc said she was healing up fast, soon the bandage on her arm could come off and the stitches could come out but the leg would take another week, even with the stimpacks. If her father could see her now he would have freaked out. When she came into his office with a busted lip from fighting Butch he would act like she was going to die. "Hey if you help me find work around town maybe I can show you how to play baseball, and I mean real baseball. The kind we played in the vault." Seemed that was another thing they didn't have much of out here, games. It made sense since your life was always in danger out here but hell, you needed something to keep your spirits up.

Harden shrugged not sure he wanted to take off before he had finished a few chapters in the books but the temptation of learning how to play baseball was too great for the young boy. "Okay but we have to be back before lunch then."

That would be easy assuming she could find simple little jobs here and there. Harden helped her down the ramp outside the house. With one good leg the ramps were tricky to navigate and if her crutch slipped and she was forced to rest her injured leg down to catch her balance it felt like fire burning up her calf muscle. Together they walked the stairs down to main level of the city where the crater and the bomb sat. She couldn't help but look at it a good long time, maybe take a second look at it? "Wait here Harden." Victoria motioned to him with her hand to stay back before moving up next to the bomb and opening the control panel again. "Now don't think of it as a bomb, think of it as a computer. Computers I can do." A computer that could blow Megaton and herself back into the stone age. Looking over the mechanics of it all it reminded her of the time she took a computer apart. All you had to do was pull the brain so it could never be set off. Pull the brain and the rest of it died, now what looked like a brain?

Victoria's fingers traveled over the wires and switches. "I don't think that's a good idea Victoria." Harden called out from behind her.

"Shush Harden I know what I'm doing...I think." Flicking a few switches and unplugging what looked like a motherboard Victoria paused hearing the bomb click and rattle. "Oh shit." She braced herself for impact before hearing the tick and rattle calm down into a dead lifeless groan. "Oh my god I think I did it."

"Did what?" Harden stood up on his toes and tried to look over her shoulder.

"I turned the damn thing off." Victoria backed up in case those loons from the cult came down. They seemed pretty convinced that the bomb was a holy relic. Setting it off seemed like a great idea to them, morons as far as she was concerned. Spent too much time sipping the irradiated water. Didn't Lucas say he would pay her for turning that thing off? Naw, he didn't need to do anything else for her, he had done enough. He had given her a home to stay, food on her plate and in return she would give him this free of charge.

"Turned it off? Was it ever on?"Harden questioned with a worried expression on his face. Most people hadn't known it was still active, Harden being one of those people since Lucas might not want to worry his ten year old with something so heavy.

"Ummm..." Victoria found herself not wanting to scare the boy but at the same time not wanting to lie to him either and so she did what she once did to her father when she didn't want to lie or tell the truth. She dropped the subject. "So the Craterside Supply. Maybe I can sweep or organize inventory or something." She assumed if it wouldn't require much running around then she could do the job. Hell even limp supplies over to peoples homes so they didn't have to go pick it up themselves.

"Once I helped Nathan clean his house for caps. You could try that. He gave me ten caps, you can buy a mirelurk cake with that." Harden threw that in hopping to assist his friend in her job search.

"Nope, I am going to need more than ten caps. I could be a handyman, I'm pretty handy with fixing things." Her father would have cringed at the very thought. After taking the G.O.A.T test her future seemed pretty clear to work in the science department like her dear old dad but plans were changed when she was instead asked to uphold the Overseers order. Perhaps it was because she had never questioned him in the past or possibly because everyone knew Amata would be Overseer one day and it was clear Victoria would have followed her to the ends of the earth. A security officer who was the prime choice for the next Oveseer was a good choice in those regards. Despite all that she could have done in the vault out here she was a lowly little handyman. Just until she got on her feet again. "My leg is killing me." She winced trying to continue up the ramp towards Craiterside. Victoria's grip on the side rail increased as she dropped her foot down at the toes and applied slight pressure to it. Tendons that had been out of use for the past few days stretched out and seemed to scream in agony. "So useless like this. I bet I couldn't even do any good work all banged up the way I am. As soon as I get better I am getting the hell out of Megaton and going out there to find my father."

Hardens face distorted with a look of horror and sadness all mixed into one. "Oh yeah, you won't need us anymore then. Just leave like everyone else does. Just like Mrs. Grady, Benny, my mom."

Harden had mentioned her before in the past, another thing they shared in common. Since he was three his mother had left them, left Megaton and as good as anyone could assume she was dead. Victoria had lost her mother at birth. Guess they both had abandonment issues. "Don't put it that way Harden, I'll come back to visit. Maybe once I find my father we can live here."

Shrugging his shoulders he put his hands into his pockets and looked down at the ground. "When people leave Megaton they don't normally come back. Not a lot of people survive outside the walls." It brought Victoria back to another reality. What if Megaton was the only settlement with people? What if this was humanities last stand? An attempt to rebuild itself? The merchants had talked about other places though and if this was humanities last stand then why would her father have left it? There had to be more out there beyond the walls. Even if it looked like nothing but ruble and ruins there had to be more.

"I would take you with me but your dad would have me shot and maybe I won't last long out there but I have to try. You have your dad Harden and you love him right? Well I love my dad too and I have so many questions for him. So much I want to know about, why he left, why he didn't want me to know." She let out a sigh and sat down at the top of the ramp propping her heel up over the side. Eyes flashed down to the leaking pipes near the entrance of Megaton. Just so happened a few pipes were pretty busted up around this place. Whole town seemed to be going to shit and for it she felt sorry.

"My dad says everything happens for a reason. I think there is a reason you are here Victoria and I don't think that reason is so you can leave and die out in the wastes. That's just what I think though." Some part of her regretted leaving the vault but another part of her agreed with Harden. Everything happens for a reason. For some reason she was needed out here more than in there, and no, that reason wasn't to just go die in the wastes.


End file.
