Fallout RP - Chapter 1: Dinner with Vault Boy

Emily listened to Gallagher, he seemed to have a plan or a plan that was better than her own idea for living out here. But the world as vast as this, surely there where some settlements or other vault dwellers out in the wastes?
It could not be just them... Could it?
"I guess that is a wise idea I am certain we will survive if we work together" Emily said encouragingly, hoping that she sounded more confident than she felt.

Without further adieu, the Doctor set off. Down the grassy knoll he went, leaving behind the vault and those who left it. Each step he took down the hill felt right. He had been born to walk this land, on this grass, this dirt. Each and every step he took felt like a liberation. His spirit got lighter and lighter, the light in his eyes brighter, and he was at the bottom of the hill. He adjusted the duffle-bag. He then fell to his knees, and put his hands to the ground. He was out of breath. This excitement, being around all these people, leaving the vault, it was exhausting. The grass was soft in his hands. Tears worked their way up to his eyes and down his face. He clenched his jaw, he would not breakdown and cry.

This must be what they call emotion. The want to scream out, to let the world know of your joy. These tears, a sign that he could feel. He coughed, clearing his throat, and wiping the tears from eyes. Looking back up the hill, they seemed so far away, the others. Would they survive if he left them? Would he? He would have to find food for himself now, sleep with one eye open. Everything would have to be examined. Everything would have to be studied. He would have to resist the urge to collect things. Everything here would be new, novel, possible unique, one of a kind. But collecting every new thing would mean he would be weighed down by them, he wouldn't be able to run as fast or be nimble and quick. No, information about these new things would have to be stored on the Pip-boy.

He wondered for a moment, how many people kept their pip-boy when the left the vault. Creating a new pip-boy for every new-born would be quite difficult, and a waste of resources. Which means these pip-boys would be the first some of these people have seen. These people referring to, of course, the possible other humans or organisms they come across. Which means they might be seen as some magical instrument! Or valuable. He didn't want to lose his life over a pip-boy. That seemed rather silly. But what of these other people, what kind of people exist out here? He imagined them being truly hardy folks, to live in this destroyed land. Perhaps they tried to rebuild, or recreate the region, the city. What would people who lived in the city even look like? would they still look human? They must, some of the former vault dwellers must now dwell in the city, or somewhere in this land. Maybe there's a town full of vaultians that banded together. They were kicked out in troves after all, many people turn 20 at about the same time, so some of them must have done something.

Abe looked over at the less-than-sane doctor began to stumble out into the wastes. He sighed, looking back to Gallagher and Nadine, as Emily and a few others voiced their support. He could see, as he scanned the crowd, that the people who didn't support the idea were remaining quiet for now. He rubbed his neck and sighed.

"Do we have the means to do that, Gallagher? We'd need water, food, and shelter. I suppose we could settle down in that tunnel, but..."

The Overseer held his hand up, shaking his head and looking at Nadine and then at a few of his guards, the larger ones. It was only now Abe noticed the packs they were carrying. Had... had Gallagher prepared for all of this?

"We have kits that we set up each year, in case the Vault... in case something happens. We have gallons of water, bottled and in canteens, and we've got enough food to last us a while. As for shelter..."

He looked at the entrance to the Vault tunnel, shaking his head and scratching his chin, thinking. There were tents, but nowhere near enough for this many people. So unless some people didn't choose to sleep...

"We have tents. We don't have enough for everyone here, but I'm sure once we have watches and patrols sorted, that won't be as big of a problem."

Abe sat up, confused as he tried to make sure he'd heard the right thing. It didn't seem like he was the only person who'd noticed it either - voices began to rise as people joined him, standing and looking at their Overseer with very mixed emotions.

"Woah, hold on, patrols? The fuck are you talking about, patrols?"

Abe looked over to Angus, trying to push through to the Overseer. I suppose for him this was rather difficult, given he was one of the Overseers lapdogs before, and now he was just another civilian. Though, technically, the Overseer was no longer the Overseer. He was just a man assuming his previous control gave him control now.

"Yes, patrols. Do you all expect us to just wait for fate to meet us? No. I've thought this through already. We will send three groups out each day. Each group will be composed of four, and due to some of you having not grabbed your weapons, we will have a minimum of two weapons per group. This may lead to some people patrolling more than others, but it will keep people safe. We need the immediate area mapped out around us, and... I suppose we need to find if anyone is nearby."

Ike relished in the sunlight, it was something else. He felt revived. As though he was living in a cold, dank cave all his life. Which at this point the Vault may aswell be. He wasn't going back, especially after breathing in real air. Sure the Vault's was too but it was filtered, different. This felt more natural, better. That and the breeze... better then any fan the Vault could muster. Ike felt like he belonged here. And he did. People weren't meant to be cramped up in a box underground. He sees that now.

But were they meant to walk in a world full of monsters and radioactivity? Probably not but it was their own fault, Humanity's fault, that it was this way. Gotta live with the consequences of your ancestors. Wasn't really fair but what could Ike do about it? Shake his fist at the sky? Seemingly pointless. The only thing that mattered now was survival. Even if the air was better, the light was better and even the ground was better this was still a dangerous place.

Yet that was already being taken care of for him, as the previous Overseer explained. Ike didn't object to Gallagher's role as leader of the little group. He seemed like a nice enough guy and a pretty decent leader last time he checked. More experience then everyone else here. Then again Ike never payed much attention to the Vault politics. He was always under stress he didn't realize he was under. Constantly having to be on the look out for his own life was alot of it. But it was also the work he did, the people he worked under, the gangsters, the fear of leaving the Vault in two years.

Now he was finally out here and the stress of it was gone. He didn't have to worry anymore, he was out here! And so long as he didn't try to see the big picture it didn't look that bad. Who knows, there might be stuff out there worth it. He might even get to see it. For now he had a question, one for his gun. He never got to speak it though.

Ike stepped forward but was surprised to see there was no foot to catch him. He had tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his face. He then attempted to get up and woe, the ground beneath him gave way. All he could see was the sky then darkness then sky. He was rolling down the hill uncontrollably. Next thing he knew he was lying on top of the false doctor. He was dizzy and didn't, couldn't get up right away. "Damn... why..."

Mary let everyone argue, she would much rather they moved out, set up camp some place and then tried to find civilisation and integrate into it. She did not want to remain under the Overseer's command, that was one thing she did know.
Anyone would be better than him, Mary wondered if they would have the chance to have an election to choose a leader of their own.
"I have a better plan" She piped up suddenly. "If there are too many of us let some of us have supplies and move out"

Okay so it wasn't the best idea but... It would beat staying here with the Overseer who she did not trust at all.

"GAH, FOOL!" The Doctor yelped. The moment, ruined! That was all the reason he needed to march straight off into the unknown. The Known Unknown that was Grant Park in Chicago. He pushed Ike, that insufferable mechanic, off of him and stood up. He looked down at him for a second, before taking off. Leaving people behind him as he and his supplies marched off towards the city. There would be a life to be lived there, full of adventure, and knowledge. Mostly knowledgeable excitement. The physical kind was not his forte.

Walking off, he left behind the vaultians. This was a new world, he had no need of an overseer, he had no master. No one could tell him what to do. He would commit himself to his own devices, experiments, without anyone telling him he could not - unless they could prove it with science. SCIENCE, the great equalizer of man! This pre-war city would be his new home, after all, it had close-spaces! no need for this wide-openness. He had no agoraphobia, no fear of wide open spaces, of great expanses of land, of un-closeness. No fear. None whatsoever. Not even a trace. No sliver in the skin here! No sir! Not a one.

This was a new chapter in the life of one Nicholas the Doctor. No longer would he be called freak! Or Genius! He would be called nothing! Because no one would call him. He could at last live a life of true seclusion. Free of the social constraints that came with socializing with other people! He would live out the rest of his days in peace! IN SILENCE! With the occasional blues song. Perhaps a bit of Jazz, or Bebop. Maybe even some classical music! Or rock! WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT? CERTAINLY NOT THAT GALLAGHER! GALAGER! GALAGHER? GALA-HER? GALANOMONIMOUS! THE FORMER OVERSEERESS! No more would he dictate the music so listened to by the populace of he! Not today! Not with his biosensory pipboy at his freedom to manipulate! No more would he be restricted in his modifications to improve the pip-boy processor or capability! No longer! He forgot where he was going with this. OH YES. FREEDOM. No more would his right to the pursuit of happiness be hindered by the suggestions of man! YES! YES! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Now he was some 300 meters away and he began to feel a sense of impending doom. Which, funnily enough, if you have dark enough humor, is a medical symptom that can have quite adverse effects on the body. Knowing this, the doctor stopped and took notice of his surroundings. He would be able to see better at the top of the next hill. Or he could ignore his gut feeling and continue forward. He ignored his gut feeling. He continued on his way towards the Windy City, Chicago.

"The supplies will last longer if rationed in large numbers, young lady. The only thing we gave residents on the Twenty Year March was a canteen and a lunchbox of food."

Gallagher walked through the people, and Abe watched him close, his hand resting on the butt of his revolver. He trusted the Overseer to get them through the first few nights, but in the same, he didn't trust him when it came to interacting with people.

"If you wish, and if you earn the trust of others, you may take one canteen and one packed meal, and wander off into a world you know nothing about, with people you've never seen. Though why you would ever do that I can only ponder."

Abe sighed, looking at the people around him. Almost none of them even looked at Emily, turning away her idea. Many of them found it far too... Well, dangerous. Even from where they sat, they could see that the city was a crumbling mess of ruins. If anyone lived in there, they'd probably be stupid and violent.
Though, that was Abe's reasoning for these people. To him, anything would be good by now. Slowly, he wandered down to the edge of the group, watching the city... and, seemingly, the doctor and one of the Vaults repairmen just wander off.

Gallagher looked around at the residents, some eating slowly, others drinking, most just not paying attention, finding it hard to grasp that they were never going to see their home again. Gallagher knew he needed to say something... anything...

"What'n the fuck is this?"

Abe bolted up, reaching for his gun, as the grizzly, rotting visage of a man appeared, his nose missing, his hair in clumps, everything about him indicating that he was, in fact, dead. Everything except for his speech, rough and coarse, but still speech. Over his shoulder was a shotgun, and as he grinned evilly and looked over the crowd, a few others joined behind him, though they were quite clearly normal.

Abe wished he could say something. But judging by the silence behind him, he wasn't the first person to notice these people.

Emily frowned at the Overseer, it was clear that she disliked his tone and his response to her. "I will do that then" She responded without hesitation. Staying here with the Overseer and pals so he could be his own king of his micro kingdom wasn't high on her things to do list.

The swear based question caught Emily off guard and she turned round to see what appeared to be a dead man in a weird parody of life. Yet... That dead man could have once been human. She was surprised that she did not feel any fear or disgust from his appearance just a sadness that he had become this instead of the man he once happened to be. Of course, his shotgun and friends where a few reasons to be concerned. After all there would be no real way to tell if they where going to be friendly or not.
Well they weren't shooting at the vault dwellers or more accurately former vault dwellers so that was a good start in terms of diplomacy.

Seeing as how the rest of her current companions seemed to have lost the ability to use their voices Emily spoke up. "Hello" She said introducing herself. "I'm Emily and we are vault dwellers... Well former any who nice to meet you" She said all of this seemingly from the safety of behind the crowd. It wasn't that she chose to hide behind them, just that getting to the front with her height was difficult. She emerged finally to the front of the group, looking a little flustered.

Abe looked around, watching as guards pushed their way to the front, cutting the group in half, ensuring most of the younger ones were at the back, while the older, generally armed individuals were in the front. Abe looked at Emily, who stood just ahead of him. Slowly, he pulled his gun out, swallowing hard as the 'man' and his friends seemed to scan the group. And then, slowly, most of them lowered their guns, and took up a lax stance. That only made Abe more worried.

"Heh. We know what you are, tunnel snakes. You aren't a common sight, but you're not exactly rare either. Well, a few of you aren't. But this is a few dozen of ya. Hmm. Heh, just as well equipped as the rest..."

He leant back to a few of his pals, muttering. Abe frowned, wishing he was a little bit more perceptive, as he couldn't make out a single word. Before long, they turned back to face the crowd.

"I'm Stiltskin. What are you young bloods doing outside of your Vault, huh? Something bad down there, heh?"

Emily tired to ignore her companions who seemed keen to show off their various fire arms. Guns would be no help here in the long run, not when they knew so little about the world around them. Without contacting other people who survived in the wastes, their own survival would be limited.
She listened intently to what Slitskin had to say, even picking up a few of the words he shared with his companions. Emily happened to be highly perceptive.

"We just left the vault" She explained, uncertain if she should mention the current state of the vault. Emily was a terrible liar so if he asked why it was almost certain that she would inevitably tell him the truth.
"For some of us it was the time to leave and others decided that they wished to leave" She continued hoping that it would satisfy his question. Now onto a topic everyone, everywhere enjoyed. Trading.
"Do you have anything to trade?" Emily inquired wondering if this was a chance for the group to arm themselves or armour themselves better. "If you need things repairing I can fix them?"
Would she charge them for the repairs? That was highly unlikely.

Stiltskin looked at his group, and nodded, smiling a toothy, boney grin up at Emily. His friends stepped forward, tossing down two bags and opening them up. Abe slowly inched closer, and saw a few guns, what looked like some food, and some clothing. He looked back to the soldiers, and hesitated.

"Go through it. It's all just shit we plan on giving to grunts later on anyway. But like you said - this is a trade. And we work in three major markets."

Stiltskin stepped forward, right behind the bags, holding his shotgun in both hands now, resting down by his waist. Abe could see now, that there was no flesh on his jaw. Only muscle and nerves... it was horrible. How could this man live like this?
But, before long, a few guards stepped forward to go through what was in the bags, before nodding, waving Emily over.

"Abe, Angus. You two as well."

Abe huffed, as the Overseer barked orders from somewhere behind the lines. He moved forward, seeing Angus grin at him as he too walked over to the bags. At this point, Stiltskin cocked his gun, and everyone jumped back.

"Hold the fuck on. You said this is a trade. We wanna see your wares. If you're from a Vault, you'd have pure water... clean food... pure people..."

He licked his lips as he looked over Emily, scratching his neck gently, a few chunks of flesh falling off in response.

"So tell you what. Give us enough water and food for this and you can take a few guns and armour. Or hey, maybe give us a few of your people, and you can take the whole fucking lot. Up to you. But don't think of becoming white knights and 'gunning down some slavers'. You even hesitate to pull that trigger, and there'll be more bodies on this knoll than blades of grass."

Ike struggled to compose himself, standing and brushing the dust off his jumpsuit. "Hey, wait!" He called out. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened..." Not the best way to start off outside. Especially since Nicholas was the only doctor that came outside, at least that he knew of. "Woah hey, Nicholas! Where you going man?" He was walking off and Ike wasn't quite sure why. It was probably his plan once he left but he could just overly pissed about someone falling on him. Either way Ike didn't want him off on his own. Because he was a doctor, a scientist and a decent mechanic. Not because he cared for him. It was the cold but honest truth.

Nicholas was a little ways away now and it was clear he wasn't going to come back. Damn. Ike had to make a choice, doctor guy or group of people? Or out on his own? But where the fuck would he go? Besides some mutant monster's belly. So that was out of the picture. Which leaves us with the original question: Nicholas or the group that may or may not split up anyway. Gah choices.

Emily leapt back startled by the sound of a gun being cocked. She tried not to shudder when the Stiltskin looked at her. Now she wished she happened to be at the back of the crowd, behind the relative safety of the guards with their weapons and training.
"Okay well... Let me discuss it with the Overseer and Abe since it is not my place to sell supplies or People" She left added emphasis on the word people just so that the slavers understood where they stood.

Cautiously Emily retraced her steps back to the safety of the group to discuss what they could trade with those that she had named. Assuming the Overseer let them trade anything at all. Her main concern happened to be avoiding becoming a slave, such a thing as slavery was barbaric, it was sick, evil... One of the most vile things that could ever happen on the world, up there with the terrors of Nuclear War and Zombie attack.

There is something to be said of this world, where after the world lay in ruin, the earth still grows its seed. Bombs fell hundreds of years ago and destroyed civilization. What lay around was the remains of a long dead society with survivors who either know nothing of the old days or don't care. The Vault was now out of sight. The people now without him, and he without them. He would be sad, if he cared, or got rightly along with any of them. But he didn't. Now he would tackle this new world, modified laser pistol in hand, and doctors duffle bag over his shoulder. He would learn, he would survive, he would be... interrupted by people, undoubtedly.

They were quite unaware of his presence. The people who interrupted his train of thought and sent it crashing off the rail. They The Doric Columns of the Memorial of... The Millenium Park Monument. Yes. Six of them, humans, all of them. In fairly good physical condition, survivors. Killers. Well equipped, they had a bunch of guns, assault guns, shotguns, rifles, pistols, and melee weapons. They didn't seem so bad. However, first encounter, need to observe further to get greater understanding of the situation. They wouldn't notice him listening in. He wasn't that noticeable. In a white lab coat. He would have to change its color. Or take it off, it would be a useful blanket on its own.

He crept upon them to listen to their idle banter. He had plenty of stealthiness built up for all the times he avoided people in the vault. He watched them as they moved. They had on interesting armor, it looked like it was scrounged from spare parts, that over time became reshaped, remolded, into what it is now. The leather armor looked particularly interesting, someone around here must have had knowledge of leather making in order to make such a fine outfit from leather. It probably chaffed a bit. Especially if or when it got wet. If for whatever reason his livelihood was threatened, he would have to aim for the exposed skin. The armor would block a good chunk of the lasers heat, and diminish the damage output. Especially that metal armor. That would be particularly pesky. PESkiness. PesKINess. PeskinESS. 9 letter words were so fun to play with.

"We cannot give up any of these people. If we start treating our people as merchandise, we wont survive out here."

Abe looked up at Gallagher, arms crossed, frowning at him. Angus was standing behind him now - and though he was quiet, it was pretty clear that the majority of people here agreed with Emily that there would not be slave trading going on. It wasn't right for anyone, and certainly not for them.

"Fine. We'll give up what water and pure food we can then. We wont be able to get everything, so pick the best things you can get. Weapons, armour, anything that could help us survive. Emily, I want you to focus on survival gear. Shelter and sleep, and travel. A map would be best. Abe, you focus on weapons. We don't need big guns, we need good guns. Angus, you find armour, enough to outfit anyone here not fitted with already above par body armour. When it's all done, I'll bring the water and food forward... and we'll do our trade with these... bastards."

Abe sighed as he returned to the front of the crowd, with Emily and Angus. They both looked at the female, who was at this point essentially the representative, and waited for her to say something.

Emily did not want to be the one to be taking the lead again. She wasn't very good at this bartering system, usually she just fixed things in exchange for what she required or desired. "Okay we can offer you some water and food in exchange for small firearms, armour and survival gear" Emily offered to the ghoul and his minions.

Emily had hoped that her companions who flanked her like a pair of bodyguards would have taken the lead this time around. Well guess this was karma for being the first to speak to the newcomers when they arrived.
Still maybe she could achieve a decent deal. If so it might catapult her standing with the group even though the Overseer well former Overseer now the outside Overseer, was still around. Not that Emily desired the role of leader, but if she kept up doing this sort of thing she might have the poor fortune to find herself bearing the mantle of leadership whether she wanted it or not.

Ike was torn, confused and in a position he really hoped he hadn't put himself in just now. He weighed the options, pros and cons etc. Eventually he came to the conclusion the Doctor was the better choice. He hoped he was right. However the Doctor, Nicholas, was already out of sight. Ike had to move fast just to see him in the distance. But before long the Doctor stopped for a reason Ike didn't know yet. He silently thanked him before catching up. Sucking in air somewhat nervously, Ike approached Nicholas from behind. "Hello?" He said quietly, trying not to scare the Doctor. Last thing Ike needed was another laser burn.