The one Vault.
- Thread starter Tycell
- Start date
NUTS! We have a three way tie at the moment, and I am not about to pick which way it goes, one more vote will tip the balence.
Currently the scores stand at;
A - 2 votes
B - 2 votes
D - 2 votes
Heres a reminder of the choices (to save you going back a page, ain't I nice).
A: Beat on the inner door and plead with them to let him back in.
B: Pick up his rucksack, square his shoulders and step outside the Vault, looking for any source of danger and the clearing in the woods the Lieutenant had spoken of like a good little soldier.
C: Have a quick look outside, wait there for a moment, and then make up a story about how he wondered outside for a while but found no danger.
D: Try and talk the other two security personnel into coming out with him to provide backup.
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One vote will see the next chapter being written. Please dont double vote, however you can discuss the options between yourselfs if another voter doesnt come foward. Until we have a choice made (or until it drags on to long) I cant write the next chapter.
Morpoggel: Good idea, I had considered it, but then that would ruin the 'big picture' I have planned.
Currently the scores stand at;
A - 2 votes
B - 2 votes
D - 2 votes
Heres a reminder of the choices (to save you going back a page, ain't I nice).
A: Beat on the inner door and plead with them to let him back in.
B: Pick up his rucksack, square his shoulders and step outside the Vault, looking for any source of danger and the clearing in the woods the Lieutenant had spoken of like a good little soldier.
C: Have a quick look outside, wait there for a moment, and then make up a story about how he wondered outside for a while but found no danger.
D: Try and talk the other two security personnel into coming out with him to provide backup.
======
One vote will see the next chapter being written. Please dont double vote, however you can discuss the options between yourselfs if another voter doesnt come foward. Until we have a choice made (or until it drags on to long) I cant write the next chapter.
Morpoggel: Good idea, I had considered it, but then that would ruin the 'big picture' I have planned.
Well we could, but that would just complicate things uneedingly. If it happens again I might consider it but for now 1 vote is all we need.
Ah the next part is here:
Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest, part 5 – ‘What I would give for a set of binoculars.’
Tim took a deep breath, a cold breeze swept through the airlock chamber which sent a slight shiver up his spine. For the first time in a long time Tim could smell something other than the sterile, sweat filled mostly recycled air of the Vault. The cold fresh air giving him some sense of relief, as well as heightening his senses slightly, for the first time in his adult life he was breathing fresh air. Sure it probably had traces of Fallout, radiation and a million other minor contaminants in it, but he didn’t care. It was air from the outside world, which comforted him in the fact that even though the nuclear fire had scorched the earth, there was still an earth left. Firmly he gripped his one round pipe rifle and began slowly walking forward.
As he moved further from the wash of illumination that the lights of the Vault had provided him with for so long, his eyes began to adjust, remembering what darkness was. There was still no sound however, probably because when the Vault was built it had been constructed deep inside a cave network, the main entrance lying about half a mile from the cave entrance. Gingerly Tim raised his boot, passing it over the threshold of the hefty circular metal arch that had held the Vault door in place for so long, and slowly set it down into the darkness. Reassuringly there was the faint crunch of dirt under his boot as it touched down on the cave floor outside the Vault. Tim realized he had been holding his breath and quickly forced himself to resume a steady breathing pattern.
Pulling one of the straps that held his backpack in place away from his arm he swung it around in front of him, with the black standard issue rucksack dangling from one arm and his pipe rifle pinned under the other he opened it and reached inside, fumbling around for the pack of flares. Pulling the bundle of flares from his backpack he snapped one out of the plastic holder and shoved the remaining pack of flares between the straps of his belt. Pulling his backpack back into position he twisted the cap of the flare and smacked the bottom of it against his knee. The flare gave off red sparks for a moment before a white flame formed on its lit end accompanied by the high pitch burning sound that flares give off. Nearly immediately the cave in front of him was illuminated.
“Jesus!” Tim half shouted as his eyes were drawn to the human skeleton that lay before him.
The body had clearly been here for a long time, it was wearing very old rotted cloths and had no flesh or tissue attached to it. Disturbingly the cloths hanging from it were that of a Vault Jump Suit. The dark blue tone still visible even though it was all rotted, what was more worrying was that some of the bones were missing, and the cloths had been torn off around where the missing bones would have been. Something had eaten this poor person after they had died, closer inspection revealed gnaw marks on the visible bone and small tracks all around the body. Tim assumed that it was just rats or some small form of rodent and tried to push the image of the dead body out of his mind.
“Poor fucker.” He muttered, forcing his attention back to the task at hand.
Looking down the cave he could see the path he had to take trailing off into darkness, he pulled himself forward, his body almost unwilling to venture into the unknown. Placing his rifle into his right hand he switched the flare into his left, holding the burning stick as far from his face as possible. Stepping forward he examined the cave floor and began the half a mile journey to the surface. About one hundred meters in the cave turned to the right, taking the turn Tim came to a dead stop completely shocked at what he saw.
The cave ended about another fifty meters ahead of him, he could see stars lit in the moon bathed sky for the first time in years. This was odd, originally the cave did stretch for about half a mile, thinking it over quickly Tim concluded that weathering and the nuclear blasts had altered the landscape considerable, most likely what was once mountainside was now rubble and dust scattered below him. Tim threw the flare down on the ground; its life span not even half used up, and walked over to the mouth of the cave. As he approached more and more of the horizon fell into view. Tim stopped just outside the mouth of the cave and took in the surroundings.
To the far North he could see steep hills that appeared to go on for eternity and then just suddenly stop, to the West what was left of the mountain curved around in a dry loose rock mass that obscuring the view in that direction and a way to the East lay a deep valley masked in a thick green woodland terrain. Directly outside the cave entrance however was not as Lieutenant had described, over time the woods around the cave entrance had died back, perhaps due to the mountain’s partial collapse or the bombs or both. From the cave entrance there was a mostly flat barren rocky slope that lead down into one large mostly flat open clearing. At then foot of the hills on the other side of the clearing ran a river, it started up in the mountain and ran all the way down into the black wilderness of the wooded valley.
Tim took a deep breath of fresh air, the wind picking up slightly for a moment sending the dangling straps of his backpack trailing slightly to its steady force. A smile slowly exploded onto his face.
“Ha, scout for danger… nothing here but-“ His sentence was cut short.
He had just spotted something moving far away in the clearing. Tim ducked down resting his left buttock on his left boot while having the other leg forward his heart rate kicked up a gear and he was suddenly very aware of his vulnerability if something evil this way cometh. Tim whipped the general area he had seen movement with his eyes, looking for the movement again, to no avail. Quietly he perched himself, motionless, gripping his rifle firmly looking for any sign of movement again.
“Woooow.” Tim nearly jumped out of his skin, muscle layers and organs, shit himself and then pulled himself together in time to jolt rapidly in shock and spin around to see the cause of the voice behind him.
Lydia was standing right behind him, just inside the cave mouth, her side arm drawn and a flashlight in her other hand. Tim blew out his breath hard and shut his eyes for a moment, letting the abrupt boost of adrenalin in his blood that the shock had released time to settle.
“*Don’t* sneak up on me like that again, what the hell are you doing out here anyway?” He said staring at Lydia who was fixated on the view in front of her.
“Lieutenant Balk contacted us over the com’ system just after we, uh, sent you out. He told us what was going on. I can’t believe it. We may never be able to enter the vault again if the reactor pops.” She looked down at Tim, her face was pale, and clearly she was worried.
“Sorry about kicking you out on your own, it was just… I mean we were so…” Tim cut her off mid sentence.
“It’s ok. I dare say I might have done the same were I in your shoes. So what’s happening?” He said, hearing commotion in the cave behind her. Lydia put her weight on one foot and turned off the torch.
“We’re doing exactly as lieutenant Balk said, we have opened the main door and are moving as much of the equipment in the Main Storage area out of the Vault as possible before it blows.” Lydia ran her fingers through her short black hair.
Right on cue two other Vault citizens stepped into the moonlight from the shadow of the cave; they were carrying a large Vault Crate between them, their eyes fixated on the view of the surroundings from the cave mouth. Tim stood up and decided to take charge, rather than have all the downers in the Vault just wonder aimlessly out of the Vault and off a cliff or something like lemmings.
“Alright, follow me.” Tim said, standing up and beginning the walk down the rocky slope.
Lydia followed suit and ran until she was walking beside him. From behind Tim could hear the rhythm-less drum of Vault Citizens emerging from the cave, each of them sporting various goods and crates from the main storage area. Their pants and bursts of chatter accompanies by the growing flow of leather boots crunching on the loose rocks that made up the slope. Looking back briefly Tim watched the various expressions of awe and fear as the string of downers slowly emerged into the natural moon light and, for some, caught sight of the outside world with their own eyes for the first time.
“Alright, stack everything at the bottom of this slope here, in the clearing and then go back for more. Time is of the essence and we need to get as much as possible out before Command has to shut the door.” Tim had always wanted to say that, ‘time is of the essence’.
He felt a little buzz as, for the moment at least, he had control over what the steady stream of his fellow Vault Dwellers did as they emerged from the Vault. As he walked down the rocky slope slipping and sliding slightly as the loose rocks beneath him scattered to the touch of human feet, he looked ahead far on into the dusty plain of the clearing. Beyond the rocks and dust lay grass, most of it yellow and barley alive, apart from around the river where it looked green and lush. His eyes sweeping over the area where he had seen movement earlier on, his mind drifted as to what the movement might be. Not a person, surely not, a person would be easy to spot on this open ground and Tim doubted that any humans would even have survived the bombs.
Even if they had, this area had no apparent value or importance, the staging area used to build the vault now buried in the mass of rocks he was now walking over which had at one point made up part of the mountain. No, it was more likely an animal of some sort, probably part of whatever twisted radioactive eco system the woods had somehow managed to sustain in all the years since the nuclear rain of missiles. Tim weighed up his options.
A: He could take Lydia with him over to where he saw the movement and try and use the SIED unit’s sensors to try and pick up whatever it was he saw.
B: He could try and send Lydia alone to search the area, if it’s a nasty animal at least while its ripping her apart it will give him a chance to run. That would pay her back for kicking him out on his ass all alone.
C: He could head back into the Vault and help with moving the cargo from the Main Storage Area, and just hope that whatever it was goes away.
D: He could tell Lydia to wait here and oversee the process of moving things out of the vault while he checked for whatever it was alone; after all, it was his job to check the area for dangers.
What do you think? Feedback, as always, is welcome.
Ah the next part is here:
Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest, part 5 – ‘What I would give for a set of binoculars.’
Tim took a deep breath, a cold breeze swept through the airlock chamber which sent a slight shiver up his spine. For the first time in a long time Tim could smell something other than the sterile, sweat filled mostly recycled air of the Vault. The cold fresh air giving him some sense of relief, as well as heightening his senses slightly, for the first time in his adult life he was breathing fresh air. Sure it probably had traces of Fallout, radiation and a million other minor contaminants in it, but he didn’t care. It was air from the outside world, which comforted him in the fact that even though the nuclear fire had scorched the earth, there was still an earth left. Firmly he gripped his one round pipe rifle and began slowly walking forward.
As he moved further from the wash of illumination that the lights of the Vault had provided him with for so long, his eyes began to adjust, remembering what darkness was. There was still no sound however, probably because when the Vault was built it had been constructed deep inside a cave network, the main entrance lying about half a mile from the cave entrance. Gingerly Tim raised his boot, passing it over the threshold of the hefty circular metal arch that had held the Vault door in place for so long, and slowly set it down into the darkness. Reassuringly there was the faint crunch of dirt under his boot as it touched down on the cave floor outside the Vault. Tim realized he had been holding his breath and quickly forced himself to resume a steady breathing pattern.
Pulling one of the straps that held his backpack in place away from his arm he swung it around in front of him, with the black standard issue rucksack dangling from one arm and his pipe rifle pinned under the other he opened it and reached inside, fumbling around for the pack of flares. Pulling the bundle of flares from his backpack he snapped one out of the plastic holder and shoved the remaining pack of flares between the straps of his belt. Pulling his backpack back into position he twisted the cap of the flare and smacked the bottom of it against his knee. The flare gave off red sparks for a moment before a white flame formed on its lit end accompanied by the high pitch burning sound that flares give off. Nearly immediately the cave in front of him was illuminated.
“Jesus!” Tim half shouted as his eyes were drawn to the human skeleton that lay before him.
The body had clearly been here for a long time, it was wearing very old rotted cloths and had no flesh or tissue attached to it. Disturbingly the cloths hanging from it were that of a Vault Jump Suit. The dark blue tone still visible even though it was all rotted, what was more worrying was that some of the bones were missing, and the cloths had been torn off around where the missing bones would have been. Something had eaten this poor person after they had died, closer inspection revealed gnaw marks on the visible bone and small tracks all around the body. Tim assumed that it was just rats or some small form of rodent and tried to push the image of the dead body out of his mind.
“Poor fucker.” He muttered, forcing his attention back to the task at hand.
Looking down the cave he could see the path he had to take trailing off into darkness, he pulled himself forward, his body almost unwilling to venture into the unknown. Placing his rifle into his right hand he switched the flare into his left, holding the burning stick as far from his face as possible. Stepping forward he examined the cave floor and began the half a mile journey to the surface. About one hundred meters in the cave turned to the right, taking the turn Tim came to a dead stop completely shocked at what he saw.
The cave ended about another fifty meters ahead of him, he could see stars lit in the moon bathed sky for the first time in years. This was odd, originally the cave did stretch for about half a mile, thinking it over quickly Tim concluded that weathering and the nuclear blasts had altered the landscape considerable, most likely what was once mountainside was now rubble and dust scattered below him. Tim threw the flare down on the ground; its life span not even half used up, and walked over to the mouth of the cave. As he approached more and more of the horizon fell into view. Tim stopped just outside the mouth of the cave and took in the surroundings.
To the far North he could see steep hills that appeared to go on for eternity and then just suddenly stop, to the West what was left of the mountain curved around in a dry loose rock mass that obscuring the view in that direction and a way to the East lay a deep valley masked in a thick green woodland terrain. Directly outside the cave entrance however was not as Lieutenant had described, over time the woods around the cave entrance had died back, perhaps due to the mountain’s partial collapse or the bombs or both. From the cave entrance there was a mostly flat barren rocky slope that lead down into one large mostly flat open clearing. At then foot of the hills on the other side of the clearing ran a river, it started up in the mountain and ran all the way down into the black wilderness of the wooded valley.
Tim took a deep breath of fresh air, the wind picking up slightly for a moment sending the dangling straps of his backpack trailing slightly to its steady force. A smile slowly exploded onto his face.
“Ha, scout for danger… nothing here but-“ His sentence was cut short.
He had just spotted something moving far away in the clearing. Tim ducked down resting his left buttock on his left boot while having the other leg forward his heart rate kicked up a gear and he was suddenly very aware of his vulnerability if something evil this way cometh. Tim whipped the general area he had seen movement with his eyes, looking for the movement again, to no avail. Quietly he perched himself, motionless, gripping his rifle firmly looking for any sign of movement again.
“Woooow.” Tim nearly jumped out of his skin, muscle layers and organs, shit himself and then pulled himself together in time to jolt rapidly in shock and spin around to see the cause of the voice behind him.
Lydia was standing right behind him, just inside the cave mouth, her side arm drawn and a flashlight in her other hand. Tim blew out his breath hard and shut his eyes for a moment, letting the abrupt boost of adrenalin in his blood that the shock had released time to settle.
“*Don’t* sneak up on me like that again, what the hell are you doing out here anyway?” He said staring at Lydia who was fixated on the view in front of her.
“Lieutenant Balk contacted us over the com’ system just after we, uh, sent you out. He told us what was going on. I can’t believe it. We may never be able to enter the vault again if the reactor pops.” She looked down at Tim, her face was pale, and clearly she was worried.
“Sorry about kicking you out on your own, it was just… I mean we were so…” Tim cut her off mid sentence.
“It’s ok. I dare say I might have done the same were I in your shoes. So what’s happening?” He said, hearing commotion in the cave behind her. Lydia put her weight on one foot and turned off the torch.
“We’re doing exactly as lieutenant Balk said, we have opened the main door and are moving as much of the equipment in the Main Storage area out of the Vault as possible before it blows.” Lydia ran her fingers through her short black hair.
Right on cue two other Vault citizens stepped into the moonlight from the shadow of the cave; they were carrying a large Vault Crate between them, their eyes fixated on the view of the surroundings from the cave mouth. Tim stood up and decided to take charge, rather than have all the downers in the Vault just wonder aimlessly out of the Vault and off a cliff or something like lemmings.
“Alright, follow me.” Tim said, standing up and beginning the walk down the rocky slope.
Lydia followed suit and ran until she was walking beside him. From behind Tim could hear the rhythm-less drum of Vault Citizens emerging from the cave, each of them sporting various goods and crates from the main storage area. Their pants and bursts of chatter accompanies by the growing flow of leather boots crunching on the loose rocks that made up the slope. Looking back briefly Tim watched the various expressions of awe and fear as the string of downers slowly emerged into the natural moon light and, for some, caught sight of the outside world with their own eyes for the first time.
“Alright, stack everything at the bottom of this slope here, in the clearing and then go back for more. Time is of the essence and we need to get as much as possible out before Command has to shut the door.” Tim had always wanted to say that, ‘time is of the essence’.
He felt a little buzz as, for the moment at least, he had control over what the steady stream of his fellow Vault Dwellers did as they emerged from the Vault. As he walked down the rocky slope slipping and sliding slightly as the loose rocks beneath him scattered to the touch of human feet, he looked ahead far on into the dusty plain of the clearing. Beyond the rocks and dust lay grass, most of it yellow and barley alive, apart from around the river where it looked green and lush. His eyes sweeping over the area where he had seen movement earlier on, his mind drifted as to what the movement might be. Not a person, surely not, a person would be easy to spot on this open ground and Tim doubted that any humans would even have survived the bombs.
Even if they had, this area had no apparent value or importance, the staging area used to build the vault now buried in the mass of rocks he was now walking over which had at one point made up part of the mountain. No, it was more likely an animal of some sort, probably part of whatever twisted radioactive eco system the woods had somehow managed to sustain in all the years since the nuclear rain of missiles. Tim weighed up his options.
A: He could take Lydia with him over to where he saw the movement and try and use the SIED unit’s sensors to try and pick up whatever it was he saw.
B: He could try and send Lydia alone to search the area, if it’s a nasty animal at least while its ripping her apart it will give him a chance to run. That would pay her back for kicking him out on his ass all alone.
C: He could head back into the Vault and help with moving the cargo from the Main Storage Area, and just hope that whatever it was goes away.
D: He could tell Lydia to wait here and oversee the process of moving things out of the vault while he checked for whatever it was alone; after all, it was his job to check the area for dangers.
What do you think? Feedback, as always, is welcome.
your evil twin
It Wandered In From the Wastes
I vote for A.
Option B has a certain amusing appeal, I don't think it would fit the character, seeing how he didn't seem that harsh on Lydia a few moments earlier.
Option C would seem a bit of a dereliction of duty since he was supposed to be checking for danger, and no-one has any idea what to expect outside. So it makes sense to check out any signs of life.
As for Option D, he didn't seem all to happy about getting chucked outside, so I can't imagine him going off to investigate something all alone since now there is backup available.
Option B has a certain amusing appeal, I don't think it would fit the character, seeing how he didn't seem that harsh on Lydia a few moments earlier.
Option C would seem a bit of a dereliction of duty since he was supposed to be checking for danger, and no-one has any idea what to expect outside. So it makes sense to check out any signs of life.
As for Option D, he didn't seem all to happy about getting chucked outside, so I can't imagine him going off to investigate something all alone since now there is backup available.
The Vault Dweller
always looking for water.
I vote for C.
On the one hand ya he should check out the danger, but if it really was nothing he wasted precious time that could have been used to garner resources from the Vault before it blows.
Thing is he may or may not have seen something, but for sure he can help get the goods out and that in itself could save lives since I'm sure they'll need plenty of things in the "new world".
Great story installment once again Tycell.
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
On the one hand ya he should check out the danger, but if it really was nothing he wasted precious time that could have been used to garner resources from the Vault before it blows.
Thing is he may or may not have seen something, but for sure he can help get the goods out and that in itself could save lives since I'm sure they'll need plenty of things in the "new world".
Great story installment once again Tycell.
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
Once again thankyou for all the responces, this story is really going to get interesting now (just incase this part wasn't interesting enough for you).
Once again a nice variation of voting. Thanks to 'Your Evil Twin' for joining NMA just to read my story, hes a friend of mine, so dont ever say I didnt do anything for this website.
Currently the votes stand as such;
A - 2
C - 1
D - 2
As usual in this situation I will leave the voting open a bit longer so that everyone will get a chance to vote. Once a path is chosen the next chapter will take form.
Thanks to all my readers, once again, and keep voting!
Once again a nice variation of voting. Thanks to 'Your Evil Twin' for joining NMA just to read my story, hes a friend of mine, so dont ever say I didnt do anything for this website.
Currently the votes stand as such;
A - 2
C - 1
D - 2
As usual in this situation I will leave the voting open a bit longer so that everyone will get a chance to vote. Once a path is chosen the next chapter will take form.
Thanks to all my readers, once again, and keep voting!
Once again a great read. I think I'll have to go with choice A on this one.
A, backup could be useful and not alot of supervision is required for what the vault-dwellers are doing, the orders you gave are sufficient. Besides, Tim still seems a bit spooked, I'm sure he'll want someone watching his back, especially while he's focused on the SEID.
Well, I had to break the tie and decide which option to use, and here it is, A WINS! ::Crowd cheers::
Ehem, here you go, more text for thought. I think you might like the choices at the end of this one, they each have a little extra incentive to make the choice that little bit more difficult.
Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest, part 6 – ‘… No longer small and fluffy.’
“Lydia.” Tim said, deciding what he was going to do.
“Yeah?” Lydia replied as she stumbled slightly on some loose rocks.
“I though I saw some movement further over, into the clearing. While everyone is busy moving supplies I suggest we go over and check it out.” Tim said, not sure what reply he would receive, or how Lydia would react, seeing as how she was so frightened earlier on inside the Vault.
“Movement? What do you mean you *thought* you saw something moving? Did you or didn’t you? I mean what the hell would be moving out here? Probably just harmless wild life, right?” She said.
By her tone of voice Tim gathered that she was either damn good at hiding her fear all of a sudden, or her emotional state had suddenly turned around and she was no longer afraid. Looking at her Tim could tell she had calmed down, she wasn’t so uptight in her stature and she seemed a lot more relaxed now that they were outside the Vault and everything seemed ok.
“I could‘ve sworn I saw something move, but it could’ve just been the wind or something. We have to check out the area anyway, you up for it?” Tim wiped his mouth on his sleeve, letting his jumpsuit absorb the sweat beads that had formed when he was first alone outside the cave.
“Yeah. Yeah, your right, I s’pose we had ought to do a sweep of the area.” Lydia said, scanning the open plain with her eyes.
“Common then.” Tim said to her, turning around while walking backwards to address the rest of the Vault Citizens.
“YOU GUYS KEEP ON BRINGING STUFF OUT, WE’RE GOING TO SCOUT THE AREA.” He yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth like a speaker.
A mixed reply filled with various forms of ‘ok’ came back from a load of the citizens who were now setting boxes down at the bottom of the rocky slope and heading back for more. Tim turned back around facing the way he was walking. The two of them were already a fair way away from the rest of their fellow downers.
Tim took a quick look at the terrain ahead of him, it was mostly loose rock with dirt and grass growing in it, the grass was relatively short and sparse nearer to the rocky slope, but as they got further into the clearing it was a lot more thick and taller. Quickly Tim found himself wading through thy deep grass, Lydia close behind him, both of them having to lift their feet up higher and stomp back down in order to get anywhere. Quickly Tim took a quick look around the immediate area and then pulled his right sleeve up, revealing the SEID unit. He slid open the case and looked at the screen.
“Wow, where did you get that!” Lydia exclaimed spotting the high tech gizmo on his arm.
“Armoury.” Tim shortly replied, the bulk of his attention on the SEID screen.
Focusing on the small luminous green text of the device Tim read the message being displayed. ‘Warm up – Complete. Systems check – OK. Batteries – Full. Device Modules – 1 (Display).’ Tim remembered that the SEID units had various modules that you could plug into them in order to give the users more functions and freedom in its use. It seemed that someone had left a module plugged into this one when the last used it. Pressing the button next to ‘Display’ Tim went about finding out what it was. The screen went blank for a moment and then the relevant information was displayed.
‘Module slot 2 – Occupied. VT Data Storage Plug, Type 22.3 “VT Survival Basics V0.5”’ A short summery was listed next to it, apparently it was a small memory chip that had details on wilderness survival, such as how to build a fire, where to seek shelter and so on. This would no doubt come in handy now they were in the outside world, Tim thought. Tim pressed the button for the main menu, looked up briefly to look where he was walking and then returned his gaze to the screen.
Browsing through the various options Tim found the ‘Sensors’ button and pressed it, the screen again went blank for a moment. Tim looked up at where he was going again, briefly and then stopped, this was about the area where he had seen the movement, looking back on the Cave entrance at the top of the rocks he figured that he was in around about the right spot.
“Some where around here.” He said.
“Hang on, I’ll use this baby to scan the area and look for signs of life or whatever.” He proclaimed looking back at the SEID.
Lydia walked forward moving closer toward him, standing just behind him she kept her eyes skinned, looking for any sign of danger. She had her 9mm pistol drawn and gripped in both hands firmly. The SEID screen loaded an image of a small blonde cartoon boy in a Vault Jump Suit with a shocked expression on his face. Next to him was a small yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in it. Tim frowned and read the small report the boy was hovering above. ‘Sensors Module not installed! Only short range pulse radar available. Do you wish to proceed?’
“Damn.” Tim said.
“What is it?” Lydia inquired.
“You need some sort of plug-in in order to get the full sensors working, but it seems to have some sort of basic radar or something on it. I’m going to use that instead.” Tim pressed the button next to ‘Yes’ on the screen, which then momentarily went black.
“Yeah, sure. Just hurry up, we should get back and help with moving supplies out of the Vault.” Lydia said, still scanning the surroundings.
A small pale blue dot then appeared in the middle of the otherwise black screen, from it a circle expanded outwards accompanied by a very faint nock. The circle highlighted Lydia who was stood behind Tim and then various rocks and terrain defections. The little circle then came back, meeting the little pale blue dot in the middle with another fait knocking sound. The range of the radar read off at 25 meters, ahead of Tim a short way, just at the edge of the radar range a signal had come up, a large straight line.
“Odd… Picking up some sort of wall here.” Tim mumbled.
“Which way?” Lydia said.
Tim began to walk forward, Lydia followed close behind him, and glancing from the screen to where he was walking and then back again began to home in on the source of the signal. The screen was showing some sort of square reading right ahead of him, but Tim couldn’t see anything. A few steps forward and Tim began to make out a square mound of earth, which rose up sharply from the rest of the dirt around it.
“There.” Tim said, nodding his head in at the mound.
Lydia pulled her flashlight from her side belt and pointed it in the direction Tim had highlighted, turning it on. The beam of light showed exactly what the signal was. A wall stood up out of the dirt slightly, as the beam passed over the wall it became apparent that it was some sort of building that was nearly completely buried under the dirt and rocks. Tim realized what this was, it was part of the small staging area that had been set up to build the Vault. Now the buildings must all be buried under the dirt and rock along with all the tools, equipment and vehicles that had been held there.
As the beam passed over the side of the wall it became obvious that the windows of the building were still slightly above ground, although most of the glass was smashed. This meant that you could probably crawl down into the inside of the structure. The beam froze over one window; two small green eyes were highlighted in the torch light. Tim stared at them, almost frozen with interest and shock.
“What the fuck is that?” He said.
“Don’t worry, it’s only a little bunny rabbit. Aww, must have been hard on the little chap growing up after the bombs what with all the radiation.” Lydia said in a completely calm voice.
Her relaxed tone seemed to sooth Tim and he relaxed a little him self, still staring at the two little green eyes. He glanced down at the SEID unit; the rabbit wasn’t showing up on the little blue radar screen, probably because it was just inside the window. Tim deactivated the radar and slid close the small shutter that covered the screen, staring at the green eyes once again.
“Aww, poor little thing, I wonder how they’ve survived all this time? Here boy.” Lydia made a sort of kissing noise with her lips.
Bending down Lydia held out her hand towards the pair of eyes, letting her gun hand swing loose between her legs. The little eyes blinked and then blinked again, then started moved forward rapidly, it was a rabbit alright, but not just any rabbit. As it darted out of the small window which it probably used as its burrow it became apparent that the ‘poor little thing’ had quite the skill for survival, probably due to prolonged exposure to radiation. It was about the size of a small dog, its head was abnormally large and it was bearing a row of small sharp teeth as it rocketed toward Lydia. Its hind legs were much bigger than usual and it seemed to be hunched forward, appearing to crawl rather than walk like a dog or hop like a rabbit. On each of its front legs it had a small trio of pale grey claws.
Lydia had already stood upright at the sight of the small mutant critter; she raised her pistol and took a shot but missed, a small cloud of dust blowing up from where the bullet had hid the ground. The small ‘were rabbit’ leapt into the air, traveling about three meters before coming down, teeth first, onto Lydia’s knee.
“FUUUCK!” Lydia cried.
Tim was already reaching for his pipe rifle. Lydia beat the creature about the head with her left arm, the small viper loosing its grip, being beaten to the ground but then promptly biting her just above her ankle and digging in. Tim swung the pipe rifle round, flicking the safety off at the same time. Lydia began beating its head with the butt of her gun trying to get it to let go, the small creature had other ideas though, it bit in hard to her boot and scratched at her chins with its claws. Tim pressed the butt of his rifle against his shoulder and took aim at the small vicious bastard, he tightened his grip on the trigger and prepared to fire. Lydia beat him too it however, hovering her 9mm pistol right above the rabbits head she pulled the trigger, the bullet cut through the rabbit, then her boot, then her foot lodging itself in the ground beneath her. The rabbit slumped to one side, dead.
“AHHHHHH! AHHHH SHIT! MY FOOT!” Lydia cried out blood now pissing from her self inflicted gun shot wound as she fell on her ass in pain.
Tim lowered the pipe rifle and ran over, kneeling down next to Lydia trying to examine her foot which she was now clutching with both hands. Before he could get a good look Lydia screamed at something else. Looking up Tim spotted another one of the small grey biters, running right at him full pace, it jumped up into the air coming right for his face. Tim swung with his arm knocking the small creature flying, rising to his feet Tim aimed his pipe rifle and fired. The shot went straight into the rabbit’s torso; it squirmed for a moment and then died.
Looking up Tim could see another of these Ex-herbivores running at him with a none to friendly look in its eye, it would be on him at any moment. Reaching to his ammo belt Tim felt around for another bullet to load his now empty rifle with, a wash of horror ran through him as he realized he hadn’t stopped to fill the ammo belt with bullets and he didn’t have time to get the box of 80 rounds out of his backpack. Thinking quickly Tim looked down to the two ammo clips he had slid into his gun belt, using his left hand he slid one of the top bullets out of the clip and gripped it in his hand, with his right hand he pushed the small release catch on the pipe rifle.
The barrel broke; swinging down on its hinge, the expended bullet from his first shot popped out of the chamber and flew off to his right leaving a thin trail of smoke behind it in the cool night air. With his left hand he slid the fresh round into the barrel and then flicked the butt of the gun, which he had held in his right hand, the light weight barrel bounced up on its hinge and clipped back into place. Pulling the rifle up to his eye line he took aim at the fast little creature and fired, the round hit the rabbit mid pace and it folded over, its hind flicking over its head as it slid to a motionless blood splattered stop on the dirt.
Tim broke the gun again, sending the used shell case flying out with the traditional trail of smoke behind it, he reached down and slid another bullet from the pistol clips he had on his belt. Looking back quickly Tim could see several other armed Vault Citizens rushing to aid him and his wounded counterpart, alerted by the sound of the gunfire. Quickly he spun his head back around, facing forwards once more. It appeared these things had family over, as the long grass seemed to come alive with movement all of a sudden ahead of them, Tim could hear the squeaks and rustles of at least three more of these things coming towards him and his wounded partner, no doubt more would also be attracted to the commotion.
Tim had to make a choice.
A – Run for it; grab Lydia, sling her over your shoulder and run for it. (+ 1 Strength + 20% Outdoorsman)
B – Run deeper into the long grass, drawing the hungry critters away from his injured partner, giving the other Vault Dwellers time to get to them. (+ 1 Agility + 20% Outdoorsman)
C – Stand his ground, try and hold off the pack of mutant mammals until his fellow Vault Dwellers can arrive and provide backup. (+ 1 Endurance + 20% small guns)
D – Drag Lydia away, this will mean he can’t fire but Lydia can still use her firearm on any of the monsters that approach while she is being dragged. (+1 Charisma + 20% First Aid)
The choice is yours.
I will be keeping a separate page of Tim’s Stats and equipment; I think it should be good to let the players have a more proactive role in the player’s development. As usual, of course, feedback is more than welcome.
Ehem, here you go, more text for thought. I think you might like the choices at the end of this one, they each have a little extra incentive to make the choice that little bit more difficult.
Chapter 1: Leaving the Nest, part 6 – ‘… No longer small and fluffy.’
“Lydia.” Tim said, deciding what he was going to do.
“Yeah?” Lydia replied as she stumbled slightly on some loose rocks.
“I though I saw some movement further over, into the clearing. While everyone is busy moving supplies I suggest we go over and check it out.” Tim said, not sure what reply he would receive, or how Lydia would react, seeing as how she was so frightened earlier on inside the Vault.
“Movement? What do you mean you *thought* you saw something moving? Did you or didn’t you? I mean what the hell would be moving out here? Probably just harmless wild life, right?” She said.
By her tone of voice Tim gathered that she was either damn good at hiding her fear all of a sudden, or her emotional state had suddenly turned around and she was no longer afraid. Looking at her Tim could tell she had calmed down, she wasn’t so uptight in her stature and she seemed a lot more relaxed now that they were outside the Vault and everything seemed ok.
“I could‘ve sworn I saw something move, but it could’ve just been the wind or something. We have to check out the area anyway, you up for it?” Tim wiped his mouth on his sleeve, letting his jumpsuit absorb the sweat beads that had formed when he was first alone outside the cave.
“Yeah. Yeah, your right, I s’pose we had ought to do a sweep of the area.” Lydia said, scanning the open plain with her eyes.
“Common then.” Tim said to her, turning around while walking backwards to address the rest of the Vault Citizens.
“YOU GUYS KEEP ON BRINGING STUFF OUT, WE’RE GOING TO SCOUT THE AREA.” He yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth like a speaker.
A mixed reply filled with various forms of ‘ok’ came back from a load of the citizens who were now setting boxes down at the bottom of the rocky slope and heading back for more. Tim turned back around facing the way he was walking. The two of them were already a fair way away from the rest of their fellow downers.
Tim took a quick look at the terrain ahead of him, it was mostly loose rock with dirt and grass growing in it, the grass was relatively short and sparse nearer to the rocky slope, but as they got further into the clearing it was a lot more thick and taller. Quickly Tim found himself wading through thy deep grass, Lydia close behind him, both of them having to lift their feet up higher and stomp back down in order to get anywhere. Quickly Tim took a quick look around the immediate area and then pulled his right sleeve up, revealing the SEID unit. He slid open the case and looked at the screen.
“Wow, where did you get that!” Lydia exclaimed spotting the high tech gizmo on his arm.
“Armoury.” Tim shortly replied, the bulk of his attention on the SEID screen.
Focusing on the small luminous green text of the device Tim read the message being displayed. ‘Warm up – Complete. Systems check – OK. Batteries – Full. Device Modules – 1 (Display).’ Tim remembered that the SEID units had various modules that you could plug into them in order to give the users more functions and freedom in its use. It seemed that someone had left a module plugged into this one when the last used it. Pressing the button next to ‘Display’ Tim went about finding out what it was. The screen went blank for a moment and then the relevant information was displayed.
‘Module slot 2 – Occupied. VT Data Storage Plug, Type 22.3 “VT Survival Basics V0.5”’ A short summery was listed next to it, apparently it was a small memory chip that had details on wilderness survival, such as how to build a fire, where to seek shelter and so on. This would no doubt come in handy now they were in the outside world, Tim thought. Tim pressed the button for the main menu, looked up briefly to look where he was walking and then returned his gaze to the screen.
Browsing through the various options Tim found the ‘Sensors’ button and pressed it, the screen again went blank for a moment. Tim looked up at where he was going again, briefly and then stopped, this was about the area where he had seen the movement, looking back on the Cave entrance at the top of the rocks he figured that he was in around about the right spot.
“Some where around here.” He said.
“Hang on, I’ll use this baby to scan the area and look for signs of life or whatever.” He proclaimed looking back at the SEID.
Lydia walked forward moving closer toward him, standing just behind him she kept her eyes skinned, looking for any sign of danger. She had her 9mm pistol drawn and gripped in both hands firmly. The SEID screen loaded an image of a small blonde cartoon boy in a Vault Jump Suit with a shocked expression on his face. Next to him was a small yellow triangle with an exclamation mark in it. Tim frowned and read the small report the boy was hovering above. ‘Sensors Module not installed! Only short range pulse radar available. Do you wish to proceed?’
“Damn.” Tim said.
“What is it?” Lydia inquired.
“You need some sort of plug-in in order to get the full sensors working, but it seems to have some sort of basic radar or something on it. I’m going to use that instead.” Tim pressed the button next to ‘Yes’ on the screen, which then momentarily went black.
“Yeah, sure. Just hurry up, we should get back and help with moving supplies out of the Vault.” Lydia said, still scanning the surroundings.
A small pale blue dot then appeared in the middle of the otherwise black screen, from it a circle expanded outwards accompanied by a very faint nock. The circle highlighted Lydia who was stood behind Tim and then various rocks and terrain defections. The little circle then came back, meeting the little pale blue dot in the middle with another fait knocking sound. The range of the radar read off at 25 meters, ahead of Tim a short way, just at the edge of the radar range a signal had come up, a large straight line.
“Odd… Picking up some sort of wall here.” Tim mumbled.
“Which way?” Lydia said.
Tim began to walk forward, Lydia followed close behind him, and glancing from the screen to where he was walking and then back again began to home in on the source of the signal. The screen was showing some sort of square reading right ahead of him, but Tim couldn’t see anything. A few steps forward and Tim began to make out a square mound of earth, which rose up sharply from the rest of the dirt around it.
“There.” Tim said, nodding his head in at the mound.
Lydia pulled her flashlight from her side belt and pointed it in the direction Tim had highlighted, turning it on. The beam of light showed exactly what the signal was. A wall stood up out of the dirt slightly, as the beam passed over the wall it became apparent that it was some sort of building that was nearly completely buried under the dirt and rocks. Tim realized what this was, it was part of the small staging area that had been set up to build the Vault. Now the buildings must all be buried under the dirt and rock along with all the tools, equipment and vehicles that had been held there.
As the beam passed over the side of the wall it became obvious that the windows of the building were still slightly above ground, although most of the glass was smashed. This meant that you could probably crawl down into the inside of the structure. The beam froze over one window; two small green eyes were highlighted in the torch light. Tim stared at them, almost frozen with interest and shock.
“What the fuck is that?” He said.
“Don’t worry, it’s only a little bunny rabbit. Aww, must have been hard on the little chap growing up after the bombs what with all the radiation.” Lydia said in a completely calm voice.
Her relaxed tone seemed to sooth Tim and he relaxed a little him self, still staring at the two little green eyes. He glanced down at the SEID unit; the rabbit wasn’t showing up on the little blue radar screen, probably because it was just inside the window. Tim deactivated the radar and slid close the small shutter that covered the screen, staring at the green eyes once again.
“Aww, poor little thing, I wonder how they’ve survived all this time? Here boy.” Lydia made a sort of kissing noise with her lips.
Bending down Lydia held out her hand towards the pair of eyes, letting her gun hand swing loose between her legs. The little eyes blinked and then blinked again, then started moved forward rapidly, it was a rabbit alright, but not just any rabbit. As it darted out of the small window which it probably used as its burrow it became apparent that the ‘poor little thing’ had quite the skill for survival, probably due to prolonged exposure to radiation. It was about the size of a small dog, its head was abnormally large and it was bearing a row of small sharp teeth as it rocketed toward Lydia. Its hind legs were much bigger than usual and it seemed to be hunched forward, appearing to crawl rather than walk like a dog or hop like a rabbit. On each of its front legs it had a small trio of pale grey claws.
Lydia had already stood upright at the sight of the small mutant critter; she raised her pistol and took a shot but missed, a small cloud of dust blowing up from where the bullet had hid the ground. The small ‘were rabbit’ leapt into the air, traveling about three meters before coming down, teeth first, onto Lydia’s knee.
“FUUUCK!” Lydia cried.
Tim was already reaching for his pipe rifle. Lydia beat the creature about the head with her left arm, the small viper loosing its grip, being beaten to the ground but then promptly biting her just above her ankle and digging in. Tim swung the pipe rifle round, flicking the safety off at the same time. Lydia began beating its head with the butt of her gun trying to get it to let go, the small creature had other ideas though, it bit in hard to her boot and scratched at her chins with its claws. Tim pressed the butt of his rifle against his shoulder and took aim at the small vicious bastard, he tightened his grip on the trigger and prepared to fire. Lydia beat him too it however, hovering her 9mm pistol right above the rabbits head she pulled the trigger, the bullet cut through the rabbit, then her boot, then her foot lodging itself in the ground beneath her. The rabbit slumped to one side, dead.
“AHHHHHH! AHHHH SHIT! MY FOOT!” Lydia cried out blood now pissing from her self inflicted gun shot wound as she fell on her ass in pain.
Tim lowered the pipe rifle and ran over, kneeling down next to Lydia trying to examine her foot which she was now clutching with both hands. Before he could get a good look Lydia screamed at something else. Looking up Tim spotted another one of the small grey biters, running right at him full pace, it jumped up into the air coming right for his face. Tim swung with his arm knocking the small creature flying, rising to his feet Tim aimed his pipe rifle and fired. The shot went straight into the rabbit’s torso; it squirmed for a moment and then died.
Looking up Tim could see another of these Ex-herbivores running at him with a none to friendly look in its eye, it would be on him at any moment. Reaching to his ammo belt Tim felt around for another bullet to load his now empty rifle with, a wash of horror ran through him as he realized he hadn’t stopped to fill the ammo belt with bullets and he didn’t have time to get the box of 80 rounds out of his backpack. Thinking quickly Tim looked down to the two ammo clips he had slid into his gun belt, using his left hand he slid one of the top bullets out of the clip and gripped it in his hand, with his right hand he pushed the small release catch on the pipe rifle.
The barrel broke; swinging down on its hinge, the expended bullet from his first shot popped out of the chamber and flew off to his right leaving a thin trail of smoke behind it in the cool night air. With his left hand he slid the fresh round into the barrel and then flicked the butt of the gun, which he had held in his right hand, the light weight barrel bounced up on its hinge and clipped back into place. Pulling the rifle up to his eye line he took aim at the fast little creature and fired, the round hit the rabbit mid pace and it folded over, its hind flicking over its head as it slid to a motionless blood splattered stop on the dirt.
Tim broke the gun again, sending the used shell case flying out with the traditional trail of smoke behind it, he reached down and slid another bullet from the pistol clips he had on his belt. Looking back quickly Tim could see several other armed Vault Citizens rushing to aid him and his wounded counterpart, alerted by the sound of the gunfire. Quickly he spun his head back around, facing forwards once more. It appeared these things had family over, as the long grass seemed to come alive with movement all of a sudden ahead of them, Tim could hear the squeaks and rustles of at least three more of these things coming towards him and his wounded partner, no doubt more would also be attracted to the commotion.
Tim had to make a choice.
A – Run for it; grab Lydia, sling her over your shoulder and run for it. (+ 1 Strength + 20% Outdoorsman)
B – Run deeper into the long grass, drawing the hungry critters away from his injured partner, giving the other Vault Dwellers time to get to them. (+ 1 Agility + 20% Outdoorsman)
C – Stand his ground, try and hold off the pack of mutant mammals until his fellow Vault Dwellers can arrive and provide backup. (+ 1 Endurance + 20% small guns)
D – Drag Lydia away, this will mean he can’t fire but Lydia can still use her firearm on any of the monsters that approach while she is being dragged. (+1 Charisma + 20% First Aid)
The choice is yours.
I will be keeping a separate page of Tim’s Stats and equipment; I think it should be good to let the players have a more proactive role in the player’s development. As usual, of course, feedback is more than welcome.
The Vault Dweller
always looking for water.
D, because it f***in rocks!
Though I do consider A to be alot more realistic.
I really like your choice of creature for them to fight. Not some completely surreal mutant, but a normal creature twisted by its warped environment to a totally different lifestyle. Your use of the term "ex-herbivore" was very delighting to my imagination.
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
Though I do consider A to be alot more realistic.
I really like your choice of creature for them to fight. Not some completely surreal mutant, but a normal creature twisted by its warped environment to a totally different lifestyle. Your use of the term "ex-herbivore" was very delighting to my imagination.
Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
Great as usual! Love the idea of using these choices to build Tim's character. It reminds me a little of character creation in System Shock 2. If only Tim had the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch...but since he doesn't, I vote for D. Lydia has an automatic pistol, so she can get a better rate of fire without having to reload after every shot.
(By the way, last time A actually won by votes anyway if you count them, 4 to 3. Both killap and PhredBean voted for it).
(By the way, last time A actually won by votes anyway if you count them, 4 to 3. Both killap and PhredBean voted for it).
Hotel California
Mildly Dipped
This story R0x0r$!eleventyone!11
But seriously, I vote C just because i want to see him grap Lydia's pistol - his rifle is far too slow, she wouldn't be accurate and really she deserves it for pushing him outside the vault.
But seriously, I vote C just because i want to see him grap Lydia's pistol - his rifle is far too slow, she wouldn't be accurate and really she deserves it for pushing him outside the vault.