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A Philosopher in the Wasteland, Part One
By SkyNet2077_21
Chapter One: The Leaving
The end hath come, the Horsemen, in the form of sleek
birds of steel, have fell upon our earth. Decimated it their sickening dance of
purification. Purged the evil and good from the land by their Holy Flame.
Like the Romans before them, the American Republic fell and was desrtoyed, only
this time the rest of the world went with them. But that happened long ago, its
been 30 years since the Coming of the Flame and still the earth looks the same
as it did in 2077, years ago. The old ones left a mark on our world that will
take Millenia to go away.
I was born in a Vault, 34 was the exact number. I spent my youth growing up,
always a curious child, wanting to discover and discover. In that Vault, I was
oblivious to the world outside. The Vault society made me afraid of the door
that led outside, and I was afraid. Yet within that fear was a burning desire, a
desire to see what was beyond the door, the "evil" in it intrigued me
and I was slowly drawn in. More and more I stopped just to stare at the door,
hours on end. Finally I took the step forward and pressed the button. I great
circular door started to roll to the side, make a horrific grinding noise as it
went, then all was silent. I looked "outside" it was pitch black, the
harsh emotionless light from The Vault played in the darkness and illuminated
part of the outside with its harsh glare. I could make out a rounded wall made
of soot blackened, crumbling, bricks. The floor was made of equally black
concrete, with an indention in the middle that ran as far as I could see (which
was not that far). I continued to stare and stare outside until I was awakened
from my dream by the sound of Leather boots against cold steel, soon enough the
other members of the Vault came and closed the door. They chastised my and took
me before the Overseer, he asked me why I did it, why I wanted to do it. I could
not answer and he, angry and annoyed with me, punished me to spend five days in
solitary confinement, to "think on what you have done" were his exact
words. During my time in confinement I did think on what I had done. I thought
of the feeling that I felt when I first stared upon the outside world. It was
the thrill of discovery that I had felt, the unstoppable pull of human
curiousity, and it was pulling at me. At first I did not want to leave, I got
out of solitary confinement and continued my normal, static life. Soon enough
however I started to feel the strings of curiousity pulling at my mind. I
started asking question to myself, the question that pulled the most at my mind,
that challenged me the most was why did we refuse to leave. Many answers came to
me but they were all insufficient, the dangerous Fallout was gone by now, down
to safe levels, and besides we had anti-rad medicine. We had plenty of weapons
for fighting anything we may encounter. Only one answer proved sufficient to me,
that we as Humans were afraid of Change, we did not want to change, we were too
set in our ways and we would kick and fight if forced to change, against all
reason if neccesary. The leaving of the Vault represented and big change, a
change so big that the fear of change over came human curiousity, that was why
we did not want to leave the Vault. I realized at the same time that this fear
of change was instilled in the Vault Dwellers by their society. I knew that I
must escape from this society soon if I was to retain my Individuality and my
Curiousity. I devised a plan, In the Vault Handbook it listed all the crimes
that deserved expulsion from the Vault. Being a gentle person at heart I decided
that killing was out of the question, the next was Arson. I decided that I was
going to start some fires. At night I gathered my Pip Boy and some random data
tapes from the library, mostly from the P section, a Desert Eagle .45, 13 rounds
of ammo, and 5 bottles of water and a Vault Survival Handbook and took them to
my room, and put them in my pack. Then I got out my set of matches that I stole
from the kitchen and proceded to the Clothing Sterilization room. When I got
there I first planted the evidence I "accidentaly" dropped a ring that
my father had given me and hung a ripped piece of my Vault suit on a sharp edge.
Then I lit the match the small flame danced in front of my eyes and mezmerized
my, dancing slowly back and forth, seducing me with its orange glow, I snapped
myself out of it and set about my work. I set fire to three of the hanging suits
quickly and ran back to my room, It was night and I knew a way to avoid the
Night sentry’s. When I got back to my room and remembered that it took 2
minutes for the sprinklers to go off and another 1 minute for the alarm to go
off after that, it had taken me 2 minutes to run back to my room, so I figured
that the sprinklers should be going off now. So I sat on my bed and patiently
waited for the alarms to spring on and deliver their loud, piercing cry of
warning to the Vault dwellers and awake them from their deep slumber. 1 minute
later they went off. I quickly ran down stairs mock surprise on my face and went
to the Cafeteria, where we were supposed to meet in case of emergency. Most of
the Vault dwellers were gathered there, sleepy eyed and half awake. Then the
Overseer appeared in front of us and told us what had happened and that no one
was hurt. Then he came to the part about who did it. He said he had found some
evidence in the Room where the fire occurred, a ring and a piece of the Vault
suit. He asked if anybody knew a person who wore a ring like the one he had just
described, a few people raised their hand. At this point I was sweating like a
pig, not from fear but from anticipation of what lie ahead. He questioned those
people that raised their hand and one of them pointed to me, he called me up. He
asked me if the ring was mine and I said it was, he asked me if the Vault suit
was mine and I said it was (I was not one for lying). He them told me to gather
my personal belongings and repot to the Vault Door in 10 minutes. I quickly
rushed up to my room and retrieved my already packed belongings and went to the
Vault door. When I got there, the Overseer and few others were already there.
The Overseer then read the charges and asked how I plead, I said guilty and he
then read me my punishment, Banishment from the Vault. He asked if I accepted
(like it would matter) and I said yes. He then procceded to hand me a flashlight
and 3 stimpacks and open the door. I started to walk out and stumbled a bit on
the metal ground of the "airlock," when I had gained my footing again
I procceded on, from behind me I could here the Overseer say good bye, I
continued on w/o saying anything. As soon as I had crossed the barrier the door
started to close as soon as it had fully closed and locked I turned around and
stared at the door for a long, long time, then I started to cry. They were cries
of pain and suffering mixed with happiness and hopefulness, being severed (or
severing yourself) from the ones you love hurts more than anything, I realized
that today, the day I left the Vault, but at the same time I know that a Brave
New world lies ahead of me and that is why I am happy and hopeful. I guess my
travels shall start now.