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The Lone Wandering Couple	By : XfoXshoreX Category: +A through F > Fallout (Series) > Fallout (Series) Views: 13860 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Fallout 3, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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A/N

Well, it's time for Chapter 3. I'm thinking I'll be adding a chapter about every week. Maybe a day later or eariler, depending on how I feel and if I forget and if I've felt up to writing enough. I'm so glad to see I'm up to 1,700 Dragon prints, which are views if I've researched correctly. To think that 1,700 different people have come to read my fic is pretty awesome. According to my friend, when I told her some of the scenes I have planned, she said you're all nuts, and some other things I won't mention, for possibly enjoying this kind of fic. Some women just can't understand I guess ha. I, however, am more than happy if you all enjoy reading this. So if you get a chance and enjoy it, please leave a review to let me know what you think of it so far. Remember if you do leave a review, please list what chapters you've read up to so I can know what you know and what you do not know and can reply accordingly. For example, if you've read chapters 1, 2, and 3, then in the review put something like "Chapters 1-3" before writing the review.
Well I think that's about it. Now, on to the story.
Three Years Later

Natalia awoke sleepily to someone yelling at her. She slowly sat up on the edge of her bed and rubbed her eyes. Quickly her ears picked up on the Vault’s emergency klaxons blaring in the background. Her head was pounding. She had drunk a little too much last night, which had become the norm for the last three years since her and Amata had put their relationship on indefinite hold. She normally could make it back to her room but some nights, usually on the weekends, she had to be carried back by her father. Thankfully, the Vault had a nice stock of Addictol that she had been sneaking away to keep the addiction at bay.

After a couple moments of holding her head, she opened her eyes to find Amata’s face about 2 feet from her own. She was startled and fell back onto her bed. “Natalia,” Amata said to her loud enough to be heard over the klaxons. “Wake up! Come on, you need to get up! Like right now!” Something clicked inside of Natalia’s head and she sat back up, trying her best to shove the pain of her headache into the back of her mind. “Huh? What’s wrong Mata?” She asked. “You need to get out of here.” Amata replied, serious concern in her voice. “Your dad is gone and my father’s men are looking for you!”

This made Natalia’s mind suddenly become sharp and focused. “What?!” she shouted. “What the hell do you mean my Dad is gone?” Amata looked away and out the window for a moment before returning her gaze to Natalia. “He’s left the Vault! I don’t know how, but he’s gone, and my father...he’s kinda gone completely fucking nuts.” Natalia’s mind was racing. How could her dad leave the Vault? They were told the door was busted and wouldn’t open. “Dad couldn’t have really left the Vault!” Natalia replied. “That’s impossible…” Amata simply shook her head. “I thought so too. But it’s true. He’s gone, Jonas is dead, and now they’re looking for you!”

Natalia shook her head. None of this made sense. Why would Jonas be dead? And why would they think she had any clue about what her dad was planning? “What?” she said at last “Jonas is dead? What the fuck is going on around here?” Amata lowered her gaze as she spoke. “My father’s men think Jonas helped your dad escape. They caught him and brought him to my father’s office and they…” Natalia could see Amata was shaking, either from fear or sorrow or a mix of the two. She quickly leaned up and brought Amata into a hug, which she returned. After Amata seemed to have calmed down, Natalia let her go, no matter how much it pained her to.

“You’re not going to start crying, are you?” Amata shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. Anyway,” she said after a sniffle “I came here to help you. If you still want my help, we’d better get going.” Natalia sighed. She knew how on edge Amata’s dad had always been and now that her father had up and left their supposedly inescapable steel fortress, he’d probably be in no mood to show mercy. But she couldn’t stay here in the Vault and try to stay away from his prying security cameras and guards forever. “You’re right. I can’t stay here. But where could I go?”

Amata seemed to think it over a moment and then she took a deep breath. “I’m sorry but I think you’ll have to follow your dad. You’ll have to escape the Vault.” Amata looked back into Natalia’s eyes before she continued. “Listen...maybe it’s none of my business, but didn’t your dad tell you he was leaving?” Natalia shook her head. “No, I had absolutely no damn clue he was planning on leaving.” Amata again lowered her eyes in sorrow. Poor girl has to be told by me that her dad’s run off. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was suppose to tell you everything.” Natalia simply shrugged.

“But it doesn’t matter now. I can help you escape. I’ve got my own plan.” Natalia giggled. “Not another one of your “plans” Amata…” Amata let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah well you always liked my plans. Anyway, listen. There’s a secret tunnel that leads right to the Vault door. It’s in my father’s office somewhere. You’ll have to hack his terminal to open it. Use bobby pins or something to get in. Or there might be a key in his room. Use whichever you want but my father might be in his room.” Natalia sighed and stood up. She didn’t want to leave but she knew she couldn’t stay. “Alright, sounds like as good a plan as any. Let’s get going.”

Amata held up her hand. “Oh, one more thing. I stole my father’s gun.” she said as she laid a 10mm N99 pistol onto Natalia’s desk “I pray to God you won’t need it but you never know. I don’t want you ending up like Jonas.” Natalia gave her a sorrow smile. “See, you do care about me.” Amata just looked away. “I’ve always cared about you. You know that.” The two girls didn’t look at each other for a moment. They both knew what was on the other’s mind. But time was of the essence. “Thanks Amata,” Natalia said, finally breaking the silence “I’ll only use it as a last resort.”

Natalia stood up and walked over to her dresser as Amata spoke. “Okay, I’ll try to meet you at the exit but don’t wait for me and watch out for security. Good luck...pet.” Before Natalia could rebuke her use of her old sub name, Amata ran out of the room. That girl really knows how to work me. She returned her attention to the dresser and opened the drawers. She grabbed a old backpack bag she’d found on some of the lower levels and stuffed in it her two customized jumpsuits, her old Grognak the Barbarian comic book Amata had given her at her tenth birthday. She grabbed Stanley’s Baseball cap he’d given her at that birthday too. Might come in handy when she reached the surface to stave off the blinding light.

She’d read some of the Vault-Tec issued books on how life would be like above ground and how to survive some of it. The first thing they usually mentioned was how her eyes wouldn’t be acclimatized to the sun. Hopefully the cap would help her. She slung the backpack on and set the cap down on the dresser. She quickly tied her hair up in a simple ponytail that sat about mid way up her head. She snuggled on Stanley’s cap, pulling her hair through the hole in the back where the plastic bit was to help adjust its fit.

She turned to her desk and picked up her old BB Gun that her dad gave her at that same birthday party. She didn’t want to leave it here but she knew it was going to be useless on the surface. Or against any guards. But in case she didn’t find her dad, she needed something to remember him by. So she quickly tore it down into its parts. Handguard, stock, lever, barrel and feed tube, and the internals. She stuffed it all into her bag, save for the barrel and tube which wouldn’t fit. She just strapped it to the side of the bag using one of the velcro straps.

She turned her gaze to the medical box on the wall. She’d never really used it except to hide her Addictol stash. She opened it and sorted through what was inside. Dressings, gauze rolls, adhesive tape, five Stimpaks, two needles of morphine, and oddly enough insect repellent. She wondered what they were thinking putting something like that in a medkit meant for a underground shelter. She shrugged it off, took all the contents, and put them in a side pouch.

She grabbed the pistol and ejected the clip. 12 rounds of 10mm Full Metal Jacket. She replaced the clip and grabbed it by the grip. She pointed it around the room, looking down the sight. It was a light little gun. Bulky, but light. She breathed in deeply and turned to her door. Time to escape. She walked out of her room, into he living room, and glanced at the couch. She wished her dad had told her what he was doing. This all could have been avoided.

She made her way over to his dresser and looked through the drawers. Nothing. He must have grabbed everything before he left. Right as she shut it, she heard something roll around on the bottom drawer. She opened it again and looked around in it. She just could see something glint in the corner. She picked it up and looked at it in the light. A single round of .38 Special. Her Dad must have had a stash of it here. But the Vault’s security had N99 pistols that used 10mm, not .38 Special. How he got it or why he had it perplexed her but she put it in a small pocket on her backpack all the same. Maybe she’d need it for something.

She approached the door and looked around. This was where she’d grown up. From a baby till now. It pained her to have to be leaving it but she knew what she needed to do. She walked out of her room, still looking into it, when she heard a voice in front of her. She turned and came face to face with Security Officer John Kendall, husband to Mary Kendall and father of Christine and Monica Kendall. She’d only had a problem with Christine but after that incident when she was 16, she never bothered to follow up on her threat she’d made the day before.

He noticed her about the same time she noticed him. He reached to his belt, pulled out his baton, and flicked it down to his side, extending the second half of it. “There you are! Halt right there.” he shouted. Natalia quickly moved her gun up but before she could aim it, she heard Kendall shout something and she saw him turn to the side. “Christ, more roaches!” He swung down and shattered the carapace of a Radroach. But then four more came scuttling around behind him. He was outnumbered and Natalia knew radroach bites got infected easily. She didn’t know how he’d respond to her shooting in his direction but she didn’t intend on him stopping her no matter what he did.

She took aim, holding the pistol with both hands. Her arms were stretched straight out, her feet about shoulder’s width apart and her right foot sat just a bit behind her left. Typical Modified Weaver shooting stance. 9 years of target practice with her BB gun made the job of aiming second nature. She’d managed to make hits on her targets at 100 yards. To do that, she had to open the door to her little shooting range and stand behind a big generator. Then she had put the BB through a small opening between the posts of the generator. She did this and consistently hit the center of the target. The same idea applied to a regular gun. Front post between the rear two posts and the tops of all three level and pointing at the target. She squeezed the trigger once. The gun jumped back in her hands as the 180 grain bullet flew out of the barrel and sliced its way right through one of the Radroaches’ shells.

She quickly switched targets to another Roach that was just making the leap to try and take a bite out of Kendall’s unprotected shin. She took aim again and fired, the bullet blasting through the Roach’s soft underbelly and exploding out the back of its shell, spewing chunky bits all over the wall and the force throwing the Roach into the wall. Kendall dispatched two of them at the same time by stomping on the head of one while simultaneously bringing his baton down on another. Natalia fired again and blasted the final roach into pieces.

Kendall looked around and saw no more Roaches. He turned his attention to Natalia, who lowered her gun to a low ready in case he decided to get violent. “Thanks kid.” he said, holstering his baton. “Listen, I was going to arrest you and take you to the Overseer. But according to him, your dad left the Vault and he thinks you had something to do with it. He thinks you plan on shooting your way out or something else violent. But if that was true, you either would’ve shot me in the back or let these monsters eat me.” He turned to one of the Roaches and punted the carcass into the wall. “I still think your dad’s to blame for this chaos and you should be atleast questioned. But you saved me from some serious injuries and I doubt you’ll come quietly. So I’m going to pretend I never saw you. I’m giving you to the count of 20 to get out of my sight. If you’re still sulking around here, then we’ll have to get into it. Now go.”

Natalia nodded and darted past Kendall, who stared at her the whole way. She took a glance over at Butch and his mother’s residence. Their window blinds were drawn and their door showed the red lock light. After she nearly beat him to death, he apparently had incurred amnesia and didn’t remember the fight nor that he ever had pictures of Natalia and Amata having sex. He had even lost the previous week’s worth of memories. They never came back or if they did, he never mentioned them. She wasn’t sure which was true. All she did know is Butch never again threatened or harassed her or Amata. She put these memories out of her mind and scurried up the stairs and down the hallway, leaving Kendall standing alone in the empty corridor behind her. She turned the corner and came to the diner, its door open. She peered inside its dark confines. She could just make out what looked like a dead body. But what startled her was the noises that usually were made by Radroaches. She quickly shut the door. “Damnit, can’t go that way to the Atrium.” she said aloud and continued down the hallway to the stairs that would lead her up to the clinic.

She jogged up the stairs and turned the corner. At the end of the room, she could see Officer Herman Gomez. She smiled. Gomez had always been her friend. She ran down towards him but was shocked when he withdrew his baton and extended it. She was then relieved just as fast when he motioned to the Roaches that were scurrying around outside the clinic. He turned to fight the Roaches. He got one swing in before backing up quickly. When a mass ball of flame roared out from the where he was, she understood why he backed up. She watched as Andy unleashed another torrent of flames that quickly torched the tight group of three Roaches. With all the Roaches quickly dealt with, Gomez collapsed his baton and slid it back into its pouch.

“Thank god it was me who found you. The others...won’t be so forgiving.” he said. Natalia quickly took him up in a hug which he tentatively returned. “Yeah, I know.” She said as she backed up from him. “I already encountered Officer Kendall. I helped him deal with some Roaches and he let me go under a threat if I didn’t within the count of 20, we would’ve gotten into it.” Gomez sighed and wiped some sweat from his brow. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re up to and I don’t really wanna know. Just clear out of here and I’ll pretend I never saw you.” Natalia leaned up quick and planted a light kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Gomez. I always liked you.” she said. He rubbed the back of his head. “It’s a real shame it’s come to this. I can’t believe what they did to Jonas. Officer Mack was just...out of control. But you’re a good kid. You didn’t do anything to deserve this. Go find your dad if you can.” With that, he unholstered his baton and handed it to her. “Here, take this. I got a spare one and if that fails, then Andy here will protect me. He loves toasting Roaches. Don’t you Andy?” “Most indubitably.” The Mr. Handy bot responded and then hovered into the clinic. “Bye Gomez. Stay safe.” Natalia said as she slid the baton into her hip pocket and followed Andy. “You too kid...you too.”

As she walked into the clinic, her mind flashed back to the day when she and Amata had brought Butch in here to have her Dad take care of him. She could even almost see herself sitting at the foot of the operating table and Amata in the corner as her dad looked Butch over. She walked over to the pile of medical instruments that were strewn about the floor and bent down. She picked up two Stimpaks and put them in her bag. She made her way into his office and sighed. The room was a mess. His chair was flipped over and a locker laid on its side. It seemed like the Overseer and his goons had ransacked the place. She turned his chair upright and sat down in it for a moment, breathing another sigh. She looked around the room. She remembered having been in here on the day of the G.O.A.T. when she tried lying that she was sick to get out of taking it. Her dad had naturally seen right through the ruse. They hadn’t said much that day.

As she looked around the room, she noticed a framed quote on the wall. She already knew what it said. “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. Revelation 21:6” she murmured the quote he had all but beaten into her head from the day she was born. She stood up and walked over to it. She didn’t know if it would still be there if she ever came back and decided to take the paper out of the frame and take it with her. She picked it up and was surprised to find a hole behind it, containing a bag and a holotape. She took the holotape, popped open the top of her Pip-Boy, inserted the tape in, and hit play. Her dad’s voice hit her like a ton of bricks. “Well, here we are. Nestled all safe and snug inside Vault 101. It's so cold down here. Colder still with Catherine gone. Oh, Catherine...I so wish you were here with me. How the hell am I supposed to do this by myself? Live down in this hole. Take care of our child. But this is our life now, so I guess I'd better get used to it. The Overseer who runs the place is an overbearing bully, but I've dealt with worse.”

Natalia’s head started to hurt. No longer from her hangover, which her body had flushed out with adrenaline, but from the gravity of his words. His wording...it all but confirmed that not only was he not born in the Vault, but in all likelihood, she wasn’t either. She put her back to the wall and leaned against it. Why hadn’t he told her? What was the point? Clearly the Overseer knew. The older Vault residents probably knew as well. What the fuck was the use of hiding it? She put her hands on the top of her head, suddenly drained of energy, and slid down to the floor. “Why Dad?” she whispered “Why hide it? This all could’ve been avoided.” She sat there for a couple more minutes. After she’d regained some of her strength, she stood. She knew she still had to get out of here. Maybe if she found him, he’d give her the answers she seeked. She took the tape out of the player and laid it on the desk. With it downloaded onto her Pip-Boy, she had no need for the tape itself. She looked back to the hole and grabbed the bag. It jingled when she opened it. Bottlecaps, hundreds of bottlecaps. She physically scratched her head. Why did he have a bag of bottlecaps? Then it hit her. Nuka Cola was widespread throughout the United State before the war and even had a major bottling plant in the D.C. area. Bottlecaps would be widespread. They were probably used as form of currency or such.

She stuffed the bag into her pack then turned to the framed quote. She set it on the nearby table and set her pistol down next to it. She pulled out the baton but didn’t extend it. She took careful aim and bumped the bottom of the baton on each of the corners, breaking the frame to free the quote. She folded the paper up neatly, unzipped the top half of her suit and slid the note into the inside of her bra, which she’d gone back to wearing after breaking up with Amata. She wanted to keep her parents’ favorite quote as close to her heart as she could. She zipped the suit back up and put the baton back into her pocket. She grabbed her pistol and made for the door, taking one last look in her father’s office as she went. She moved past Stanley as he worked on Andy. She didn’t see Gomez anywhere and so made her way to the door leading to the atrium.

She opened the door and saw Tom and Mary Holden, a recently married couple, arguing over about whether they should try escaping the Vault. Tom finally had enough and said he was getting out and not letting anyone stop them. She inched closer to watch as he rushed off to the door leading to the entrance. He shouted his name and to just let him through. She didn’t know who he was talking to till she heard the distinct bangs of a pair of N99 pistols going off almost simultaneously. Mary shouted Tom’s name and ran to where he’d fallen. She got about halfway before Natalia heard two more loud bangs and Mary fell forward as if she tripped and hit the floor with the sickening thud that only a dead body could make.

Natalia felt her blood run hot. Whoever those two guards were down in the hall hadn’t even told them to stop before shooting. Even Kendall, who was known for his anger issues, had given her that decency. She realized she could feel as her senses started to slip away. She guessed what would happen if she let them. She couldn’t afford to let herself become that monster from three years ago. So she started thinking about other things. Like Amata and her still obviously hot love for her. She thought of Amata’s concerned eyes when she had woken her up and of the sorrow she expressed when Natalia had told her that she didn’t know her dad was planning on leaving. After a couple of moments, she felt herself cool down and she refocused her mind on the task at hand.

She quietly slipped into a side room and searched it. She found various odds and ends. Mostly small parts to different things. She picked through it all and took what she guessed would be in short supply in a apocalyptic wasteland and tossed them into the smaller of the two big pockets of her bag. She left the room and creeped up to the side of the door that lead to the hall that those two trigger happy guards were posted in. She came up with a simple plan to get past them. She hit the switch for the door, which was thankfully on her side. The door slid closed. She quickly took a plug out from its holder on the underside of her Pip-Boy and inserted it into a hole on the control panel. She typed a quick command into her Pip-Boy and could hear as the door locked itself.

“What the fuck?” She heard come from the other side and could hear a man run up to it and pound on the door. “Listen here you little shit, if you don’t unlock this door right fucking now…” She remembered the voice belonging to Officer O’Brian. He was a foul mouthed angry man who hated everyone and everything living. How he’d managed to become a security officer was clear. If you needed to put down a violent revolt, he was the man for the job. Natalia knew they’d never be able to get the door open in time to stop her. Unless they knew how to hack with their Pip-Boys and she highly doubted a man like O’Brian could do something like that.

She ignored the rest of his obscene rant and headed to the stairs going up to the second level of the Atrium. She saw as several Radroaches scurried down to meet her. She tucked the pistol under her armpit, took out the baton given to her by Gomez, and replaced it with the pistol. She copied Officer Kendall’s movement from earlier and whipped the baton down. The second half extended out and locked into place. She made her way up the stairs and through the hallway, beating down any Roaches that dared oppose her.

She crossed pass the balcony overlooking where Tom and Mary had met their ends and noticed a man standing on the other side of a window. She recognized him as Allen Mack, husband of Gloria Mack, and the father of Wally, Steve and Susie Mack. He too was a vile man. He was never known to smile or laugh. He had clearly noticed her and was shouting something at her. She couldn’t hear through the 2 inch thick glass but it was probably something how it was all her and her dad’s fault. She simply flipped him off and moved into the room in front of her. It was a computer room and she saw Floyd Lewis’ body crumpled on the ground. He had apparently been fixing something when he was attacked by radroaches. The dead roaches around him and the wrench in his hand hinted that he had gone down swinging for his life. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for him.

She was interrupted by the voice of Paul Hannon Sr, head of security, shouting at her. “Hold it right there!” She opened her eyes and spun in his direction. He was brandishing a security baton. She quickly took out her gun, leveling it at his head. “No, why don’t you hold it?” He smirked and laughed. “Girlie, you don’t have the…” he started to say but was cut off when Natalia fired the gun, the bullet whipping past his head and burying itself in the wall behind him. “Yeah, I do have the balls to use it.” she growled viciously “Now why don’t you drop that baton and turn around with your hands above your head?” The security chief thought his situation over and let his baton drop from his hand. He turned around with a scrowl etched on his face and put his hands on the top of his helmet. “You won’t get out of this Vault alive you little bit…” He was silenced when the butt of Natalia’s pistol came down on the back of his neck, knocking him out cold. She quickly set her pistol down and put his baton in her pack, which was sadly becoming quite full. She rolled Hannon onto his back and slid the chin strap of his helmet off and pulled it off. She took off her baseball cap and stuffed it into a elastic strap on the side of her bag. She untied her hair and then retied it so her ponytail sat right at the base of her neck. She then slid the security helmet onto her head and slipped the strap under her chin. She took off her pack, set it to the side, and then unbuttoned his stabproof vest. She stepped into the vest and worked it up her body. It was a bit loose as Hannon was easily 50 pounds heavier than her but once she got it on, she found some straps that could be used to tighten the vest so it fit snug onto her 135 pound frame.

She stood up and moved around the room, crouching, running, jumping, and generally getting a feel for how the armor affected her movement. When she was satisfied it wouldn’t pose any problems, she went to work, taking off Hannon’s boots and right glove which were armored. Once she’d finished changing into his security armor, she retrieved her pack. Thankfully though he wasn’t carrying one, Hannon’s suit had a holster for a N99 which she slid her pistol into as well as a pouch for a security baton. Once fully outfitted and everything was where it needed to be to, she continued her trek to the Overseer’s office.

As she approached the jail room, she could see inside of it was Amata sitting in a chair. What really drew her attention was the Overseer standing over her, flanked by a security officer she knew was Stevie Mack, Allen’s son. He had just joined the security force but everyone knew he had been dying to join for years. He was a angry and vicious piece of shit. More than Butch had ever been. He was currently standing next to the Overseer with his baton drawn. Natalia tightened the grip on her pistol. If that fat slob laid so much as a finger on Amata…

Overseer was saying something to Amata, who was shaking her head. He nodded to Mack who raised his baton. Natalia made ready to breach the room but stopped when he lowered it. She snuck as close to the window as she could and put her ear up next to it. She could just make out what they were saying. “Amata please, don’t be stubborn.” the Overseer said “I only want to talk to your friend. Surely you understand what’s at stake here..” Amata shook her head. “If you think I’ll betray her, you don’t know me very well.” Overseer seemed to sigh. “Amata, darling why must you be so stubborn? The last thing I want is to see you hurt but my duty to the Vault comes first.” Natalia sat watching, waiting for just the right moment to barg in.

His head turned to Mack as he said “Again.” He raised his baton and waved it threateningly in the air. “You better start talking girlie!” Amata lowered her head as she cried out, “Please! Stop it!” The Overseer waved off Mack. “Amata, please. You know your friend’s father is a traitor. I just want to talk to her so I can get her side of this story.” “Daddy, please stop it!” Amata cried “Don’t you understand why I can’t tell you?! Why are you doing this to me?” The Overseer shook his head “I’ve always indulged you Amata.” the Overseer said, with a hint of venom “And now you’ve taken advantage of my lenience.” He turned to Mack and said “Again” as if commanding a dog. Mack repeated his previous movement, telling Amata she’d better start talking.

She simply cowered in fear. The Overseer again asked her to stop being stubborn and tell them where she was. The irony that she was sitting just outside their room, wearing the Security Chief’s armor and wielding the Overseer’s personal N99, was not lost on Natalia. “I’m not telling you anything!” Amata said “And don’t pretend that you’re not enjoying this daddy! You’re sick!” Overseer rested his forehead in his hand. He was clearly getting frustrated. “Very well. There’s no rush. Your friend isn’t going anywhere after all. Now, you know I don’t want to do this but I think if I let you in here with Officer Mack for a while, maybe you’ll decide you’ll want to be reasonable. Officer, I’ll be in my quarters. You may proceed as you see fit but no serious injuries.”

Officer Mack finally saw his opportunity to unleash his might. He brought his baton up and Natalia could see he was actually going to go through with his swing this time. Natalia knew it was her time. She quickly slid her pack down onto the ground and slammed her fist down onto the door panel. As the door slid open, she dive rolled through the still opening door, drawing her pistol, and coming back to her feet to the Overseer’s right opposite Mack and with her gun at the ready. “Hold it right there Mack!” she shouted. “If that baton comes so much as a inch closer to Amata, I’ll put so many bullets in your head, you’ll be more lead headed than you are now!”

Mack held his baton above his head for a moment, frozen. “Amata,” Natalia said glancing down at her “Get out of here. I’ll be along in a minute.” Amata quickly jumped from her chair and bolted out of the room. “Alphonse Almodovar. You are one massive piece of absolute dog shit. I watched outside as you repeatedly threatened Amata with this cocksucking lapdog you consider a security officer. If you so much as lay another finger on her, I’ll beat you and your crony so bad that not all the doctors in the world could put you two back together.” Alphonse snorted “I place the good of the Vault above everything, even my own paternal feelings. We must not allow sentiment to cloud our judgment! However, I admire your protective instincts. So you have my word she’ll be harmed no more due to your actions.” Natalia’s grip tighten on her pistol “BULLSHIT! Nothing that has happened this night is my fault and I don’t care how fucking high you place the Vault’s priorities! There’s no fucking reason to treat your own goddamn daughter like trash! Now you’re going to give me the password to your terminal and both of you are going to walk into that cell and stay there till I’m gone.”

Alphonse laughed. “You’ll get nothing from me. I’ll die before I see the safety of the Vault compromised again!” Natalia retroted with her own laugh, though this one was more dark than the Overseer’s. “The safety of the Vault? Right, you care so fucking much about that to have your entire security force out searching for me, someone who had to be told by your own daughter that her father had left the Vault and had whom had no idea he was planning anything of the like, while hordes of radroaches stalk your halls and kill people like Floyd, whose body lies just outside this room and while fires rage all around you. You don’t give a shit about the safety of these people. You only care that they look up to your as some kind of god who gives life and takes it. Well guess what buddy? You’re not a god. You’re a lowly sack of shit who doesn’t deserve the title of father. I’ll ask one last time. Give me your computer password and get in that cell before I fucking make you!” To emphasize her point, she cocked the hammer on her pistol.

Alphonse glanced at Mack, who huffed as he lowered his baton and slowly walked into the open jail cell. Alphonse sighed as he too walked into the cell. “The password is Amata. Get out.” Natalia kept her pistol trained on them as they walked and made her way over to the terminal on a desk next to the cell. Keeping one hand on her gun, she typed a quick command and the door went shut and sealed. She holstered her pistol and quickly searched the desk and lockers in the room. She found a couple bundles of Pre-War money as well as a pristine carton of cigarettes from before the war. She took the packs out of the carton and stuffed it all in any space she could find in her bag. She also found several magazines of 10mm ammo as well as a pair of police batons in the weapon lockers. She inserted the magazines into the pouches along her belt and replaced the magazine in her gun. With the room empty, she flipped off the Overseer and Mack as their faces peered at her from behind the windows of the pitch dark jail cell and she continued down the hall towards the Overseer’s office. She walked into the reception area right outside of the Overseer’s office. There, she fell to her knees beside Jonas’ corpse. Clearly, he’d been beaten over and over again until he had died of internal bleeding. “I’m so sorry Jonas.” she said under her breath. “None of this should have happened.” She knew she was close to escaping and so quickly searched Jonas’ pockets. She found a single stimpak which she put in her medical related pocket and found another holotape. She inserted it into her Pip-Boy and hit play.

Again, her dad’s voice came forth. It sounded like his head was turned away from the recorder. “Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first.” Then he seemed to give it his full attention. “I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong, and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously, you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday, things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the Vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going.” Suddenly, another voice could be heard in the background. It was Jonas. “Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with.” Then her dad spoke for the last time. “Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you.” The recording ended.

Natalia sat on the floor, trying to wrap her head around what she had just heard. How could it have been best for her not to know? The unknown is both one of humanity’s greatest fears and one of its greatest attracters. He’d always talked about she was quite a explorer, even when she was very young. This had solidified her will. She was going to go topside and she was going to find him. She stood up from the floor and searched the nearby desks. She only found more packs of Pre-War money that she put into her bag. Then she heard what sounded like sobbing from a nearby room. She walked into the open room just in front of her.

“Thank you!” Amata said, startling her. “I told you my father wasn’t himself. I don’t know what he find have done if you hadn’t come along.” Natalia quickly took Amata into a hug that seemed to last for hours. Amata spoke again after they broke the hug. “You’d better get out of here. I’ll try to meet you at the Vault door. If I don’t make it...” Natalia shook her head. “No, come on. The door is just at the end of the tunnel in your father’s office. We’re so close. Just come with me.” It was Amata’s turn to shake her head. “No, go on without me. I’ll be there, I promise. Just...give me a moment.” Natalia nodded her head. “Alright. You mind if I search your father’s room?” “Sure, go ahead. He doesn’t deserve the privacy.” Amata said and rested her head in her hands. Natalia guessed the room with a computer terminal was Alphonse’s room and she entered it. It was very bare, save for a desk, a bed, a couple of chairs, a dresser, and some kind of computer.. She searched his dresser. Shuffling through the packs of Vault suits, she heard something metallic hit the floor. She bent over and picked it up. Probably the key to his office. She left his room and walked past Amata, who was softly sobbing into her hands. Natalia’s heart was broken at the state her friend was in. She didn’t deserve the treatment her father had given her. Natalia hung her head as she left the room.

She walked up to the room to the Overseer’s office and inserted his key into the lock on the control panel. She turned it and hit the open button. The door opened with a hiss. His office was much like his room. Few things that took up space. A sofa sat next to the door with a status panel built into the wall on her right. She wasn’t too familiar with its workings but she guessed that with most of the lights being red, meant thing weren’t going too well in the Vault’s systems. A large circular desk dominated the room, with a large computer bank behind it. But first she decided to search the pair of lockers that sat to the right of the desk.

She approached them. One was empty but she opened the other and was surprised to find a small case sitting on the upper cubby hole. She tried to open the case but apparently it was locked. She took it out and thought about what to do. Before she saw the display in the jail, she probably would have just left it alone. But he’d shown what kind of a monster he really was. So with all her might, she threw the case to the ground. It hit the floor on a corner and the lid broke off and went skittering across the room. She knelt down and looked through the contents. She found and pocketed a trio of Stimpaks and a pair of mentat packs. She left the case lay on the ground and looked back into the locker. A security guard’s belt hung on a hook. She picked it up and saw it was lined with ammo pouches with N99 magazines in them. She took them all out and filled up her own belt, slipping the few remaining ones into any space she could find left in her bag.

She then turned her attention to the console. She walked up to it and turned it on. When it asked for a password, she typed in Amata. To her surprise, it actually worked. A list of options popped up. She went with the first one, View Security Dossiers. More options popped up. She read through them all. Apparently Alphonse was getting tired of the Tunnel Snakes, minus their now ex-leader Butch, constantly harassing Amata. At least they agreed with something. And apparently he’d been using them as pawns to do various dirty work. Beatrice had a file but nothing really stood out save for that the Overseer wanted to keep her quiet. Probably about her dad being let in. Jonas also had a file. It disgusted her to see that the Overseer thought of Jonas as being a fine doctor yet he let his goons beat the poor man to death. Though, she believed, Jonas would probably get the last laugh as with him dead and her dad gone, the Vault was without any real medical staff.

The final file surprised her the most. Amata’s. She read it. Apparently, he was upset with how Amata pushed him away. He admired that she did try to meet his approval and had grown into a fine, young woman but was saddened that she saw him as the Overseer, not as her father. Natalia scoffed out loud. “No wonder she pushes you away.” Natalia said aloud. “You’re a complete asshole and you don’t like she sees you as the Overseer? Then you shouldn’t have drilled it into everyone’s heads that you are the Overseer and acting like you’re unapproachable. Maybe if you were just a little more social, then she’d love you like the father you claim to be.”

She backed out of the Dossiers and selected the next option on the list. “Scouting reports?” Natalia murmured as she opened it. In it was a report dated February 10, 2241 as well as two pictures. She selected the report and read it. Her face dropped slightly. They’d gone exploring the outside! It had been more than 36 years ago, but they’d opened the Vault before. And if her and her dad were admitted roughly 20 years before the present date, that might mean the Vault had been open over a decade and a half before they were let in.

She took a mental note that the old maps the Vault had, as well as the one that was downloaded onto her Pip-Boy, were likely to be off. She felt her skin crawl as she read that due to the radiation, many animals had mutated, such as ants. She absolutely HATED ants. Creepy crawly fuckers. Her mood perked when she read that human civilization was still alive, albeit in pretty rough condition. There was settlement not far from the Vault called Megaton that the Vault had visited. Apparently, the area around D.C. was now called the Capital Wasteland, fitting she thought, and there was a lot more dangerous things out there than huge ants.

With this knowledge, she backed out to the main menu. She skipped the option of reading the Instructions from Vault-Tec. It had been over two hundred years since they’d been issued. She selected the last option. Open Overseer’s Tunnel. Suddenly, the desk behind her began to rise, revealing a tunnel underneath. She was about to move into the tunnel, when a part of her mind stopped her. “Maybe I should…” she murmured and quickly turned back to the computer. She again took the large plug on the bottom of her Pip-Boy and inserted it into its socket next to the computer screen. She typed a couple of commands and quickly downloaded the scouting report and its pictures, as well as the Vault-Tec instructions. She’d been hit with the sudden thought she might need them. She couldn’t say why only that she felt it necessary.

She finished the download, replaced the plug, and walked down into the tunnel. She extended her baton as a roach approached her. She was about to swing down onto its head but curiously, it didn't rear up to attack. It just skittered up to her and raised its head. Almost as if it was trying to talk to her. She knelt down, baton still at the ready. “Uhh hi there little guy. You have a name?” The roach simply stared at her. “Well, you might a little creepy but you seem friendly. In fact, if you weren’t irradiated and mutateted, you’d almost be cute. I think I’ll actually name you. Let’s see…” Natalia said, realizing she was having a conversation with a mutated cockroach. Oh well, she’d done much stranger things before. “I think I’ll call you Steve. Yes, Steve the Radroach. You like that name?” The Radroach made a strange dance. It seemed happy enough. “Well I can’t take you with me Steve but I hope you can get out of here.”

She tentatively patted the Roach on his shell and stood up. She walked down the hallway and looked back. The roach had followed her, but only to a corner in the hallway. It turned down the opposite direction and scuttled into a hole in the wall. So that’s how those cheeky little bastards get in here. Natalia returned her attention to the task at hand. She walked down the hallway and opened a large mechanical door. She walked into the room beyond. It was empty. She looked around, trying to find anything that would lead to the entrance. She found a switch on the wall and pressed a button on it. One of the walls lowered. She slowly crept into the room beyond. Then she saw it. The huge mechanical system that would swing down to the cog shaped Vault door, screw into it, and pull the door open. She holstered her pistol and walked into the room. It was bare save for a few containers. She then stood before the control panel. She looked it over. The idea it represented had her in awe. She was finally going to leave the Vault. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep as she reached for the handle to open the door.

Right as she did, she heard her name get called by a very familiar voice. She opened her eyes and looked over to see Amata come running out of the hall she’d just came from. Natalia smiled as Amata came barrelling around the corner and nearly tackled her in a bear hug. “I was worried I wouldn’t get down here in time.” She said through red eyes. Natalia quickly pulled away and set her bag down as well took off her helmet before turning back to her best friend and capturing her in a tight hug of her own. Amata reached up and pulled Natalia’s hair out of its ponytail so she could play with it. The two of them stood there, holding each other tight, for what seemed like a eternity.

After about 2 minutes, they parted slightly but still in each other’s arms. “So I guess this is goodbye then, right?” Amata asked, her gaze cast down at the floor. Her eyes widened slightly when Natalia lightly grabbed her chin and brought it back up to level with her own. “No, this is only see you later.” Natalia smiled. “I promise Amata, I’ll return one day. It might in a week or it might be a year. But I promise with all my heart. I’ll be back.” Amata stared at her lover somewhat surprised but then smiled. “Of course you’ll be. You’re my soulmate. We can’t stay apart forever.”

Natalia could only smile and tear up slightly at her friend’s words. Then she parted from Amata and turned to the console. “I guess it’s time to see just what is on the other side of this door.” As she reached for the handle, Amata’s hand overlapped hers. She looked over her shoulder at Amata and smiled. “Let’s do one last thing together.” Together, they both pulled the handle down. Klaxons sounded as the opener arm started to swing. “Oh and one last thing ‘Mata.” Amata got a puzzled look on her face. “What’s that Na…” Suddenly Natalia spun around and captured Amata’s lips with her own. Amata let Natalia have her way and melted into the kiss as the door opener came into contact with the door. They held the kiss until the door slid open and they finally parted. “I guess you should get going.” Amata said as she backed off from Natalia. “Yeah, I guess I should.” She replied.

Just as she finished speaking, a door behind them opened and two security guards armed with N99 pistols barged into the room. “Freeze!” They yelled. Natalia leaned to look over Amata’s shoulder as Amata turned around. With a moment of clarity, Natalia could tell the guards were officers Wolfe and Park. When they were both facing the same direction, with Amata covering most of Natalia’s body, Amata quickly threw her hands out and shouted “Wait!” The guards, their minds unstable from the night’s violence, made a fear induced decision and snapped off a pair of shots. Time seemed to nearly stand still to Natalia as she practically saw the bullets speed through the air. One of them missed by a narrow margin but the other ripped through Amata’s jumpsuit and cut into the flesh of her torso, piercing her spleen. Amata, in what appeared as slow motion to Natalia, clutched her wound as she fell backwards onto Natalia. She caught her and dropped to a knee. Natalia’s scream of “NO!” could be heard even over the sound of the door as it came to a rest.

Natalia held Amata in her arms. Her mind in a panic as she looked over her lover, unsure of what to do. “AMATA!” she shouted as she shook her friend, who seemed to have fallen unconscious. Then the full force of what happened finally hit her as she laid Amata down on the floor. She stood to her feet with her back to the security guards, who had lowered their guns as they both looked at each other with the look of 'What have we done?' Natalia turned to the guards, her head drooped down and her hair covering her face. The guards raised their weapons and again, yelled for her to freeze. The guards saw her body move strangely and then a deep, dark laugh sounded throughout the room. In a voice that sounded more like a demon than a human’s, Natalia spoke. “You two have made a grave mistake.” Then she raised her head. Both guards stared into her eyes and then made a frightened gasp as they took a step back. Her eyes had turned a deep dark red and they could just make out what looks like black spirals coming out from each of her pupils. She then yelled as loud as possible and in the same demonic voice as before. “AND NOW YOU MUST PAY!”

With a speed that neither of them could comprehend, she sprinted up to them. She grabbed Wolfe’s pistol with her left hand and punched his wrist with her right fist. With a shout of pain, his grip loosen and Natalia ripped the gun out of his hand and whipped it across the room. She rammed her elbow into his gut, doubling him over in pain. Spinning to her left, she came face to face with Officer Park who raised his pistol to her face. He fired just as she punched his hands upwards, with his shot digging into the concrete above their head. She then quickly grabbed his gun and forcefully twisted the gun vertically around so it was pointing back at him. The force snapped both of his wrists and his scream of pain could have been heard from space. She then ripped his gun out of his hand, breaking his trigger finger. Again, she threw the gun far across from the room. She then grabbed the visor of his helmet and ripped it clean off. With his face exposed, Natalia whipped out her security baton and extended it.

With all her might, she brought the baton down on Park’s face over and over again. Breaking his nose, both of his orbital bones, shattering most of his teeth, and generally turning his face into mush. Blood spurted all over her beautiful and previously spotless face while she wore a inhuman smile. Wolfe had regained his footing and breath but was unable to move from seeing the explosion of violence in front of him. After beating Park’s face in for nearly 30 seconds, she snap threw the baton behind her, nearly hitting Wolfe in the face. She grabbed the front of Park’s helmet and ripped it backwards off his head as easily as if removing a cap. Grabbing Park’s left wrist with her left hand and the hair on the back of his head with her right hand, Natalia turned them to face a guardrail that was next to the stairs leading to the door. Again with all her strength, she repeatedly smashed his head into the rail, slowly but surely turning his head into nothing but a bloody pulp. Blood now covered her from the waist up. To finish it, she grabbed his body by the collar of his armor and the back of his belt and hoisted him up in the air in a military press before plunging his back down and hitting his spine with her pointed knee, snapping it clean in two. Satisfied, she let his limp and broken corpse fall to the ground.

Remembering she had one more guest, she slowly turned her head to face Wolfe. A fear laced face of horror spread across his face. Her now slick black hair glistened in the fluorescent light, blood dripped from her chin, and even her teeth were stained red and could be seen through her insane smile. He slowly tried to back off but with every step he took back, Natalia would take one towards him. She chuckled darkly as she approached him. “You should have run while you had the chance.” Natalia said, her voice still demonic sounding but becoming ever so more human as she went on. Wolfe continued to back up until he bumped into the wall behind him. “I-I-I was o-only following o-orders!” he said in desperation as he put his arms in front of his face to shield it. “HAHA! Following orders?” Natalia said. “What a pitiful excuse. Every madman in history has used it to justify their actions.” She came to a stop right in front of the cowering Officer Wolfe. “IT DIDN’T SAVE THEM FROM THEIR JUST FATE AND IT WON’T SAVE YOU!” she yelled at him and drew her foot back, intent on smashing his junk into his head when a weak voice was heard from the direction of Amta’s prone body. “Nat….”

Natalia’s foot stayed cocked and ready as she turned to look at Amata, still on her back but her head turned towards her, her right arm stretched towards her, and her eyes filled with a pleading look. Natalia looked back to Wolfe, who was looking at them over the top of his still crossed arms. He immediately shrunk back behind his guard and closed his eyes. He waited for the blow to come but it never did. He peeked one of his eyes open and could see Natalia still boring a hole through him but to his amazement and wonder, he could see her eyes fading in and out before slowly fading from their previous look and turning back to a light baby blue. She blinked a few times and looked around. Blood was everywhere, including all over her, and she could see Park’s limp, bloody body off in the distance. She slowly deduced what had happened and was starting to turn emotional before remembering the events that took place just before her blackout.

She turned her gaze back to Wolfe, whose open eye showed all she needed to know. She was infuriated at him for shooting at, and possibly being the one to hit Amata but she knew more guards might be on the way and Amata was laying behind her with a bullet in her so she didn’t have time. She lowered her foot and turned her back to Wolfe, who slightly lowered his guard. “Run” she said lowly and almost so quietly Wolfe didn’t hear her. She snapped back to him and screamed “Run goddamn it!” right in his face. He immediately turned and ran for the door, stumbling a few times in his hurry to get as far as humanly possible away from what monster he just witnessed slaughter his partner. Natalia quickly ran to Amata’s side and looked her over again. She could see her jumpsuit was stained red around her entire torso. She lifted Amata lightly and felt around her back. Feeling nothing, she quickly unzipped Amata’s jumpsuit and could easily see where the blood was oozing from. She scampered over to her bag and practically ripped the zipper off getting it open. She pulled contents out and quickly found a gauze roll and some tape. She moved back over to Amata. Her mind was on autopilot. She had done plenty of first aid training with her dad and even helped him when Stanley had slipped in the reactor room and had a sharpened rod pierce clean through his arm. Her dad had taken care of the major stuff but Natalia had been the one to make sure he got to her dad in the first place.

She quickly unrolled a length of the gauze and tore it off when she had enough. She folded it over several times and set it aside. She grabbed some more gauze and tore off another length of it and bunched it up. She used it to wipe as much of the blood away from the wound as she could but it was hard as the wound just continued to bleed more. She could then hear as Amata groaned lightly. She was falling in and out of consciousness. “It’s ok baby. It’s just me. I’m taking care of your wound. Just hold on.” She tossed the bloodied wad of gauze away and reached for the folded piece. She placed it over the wound and grabbed the adhesive tape. While keeping as much pressure on the wound as she could, she pulled lengths of tape off the roll and taped the gauze down so it would keep pressure on the wound without her holding it.

Once it was taped down, she felt a hand on her forearm. It was Amata’s. Grabbed Amata’s right hand with her own and squeezed it tightly. “Don’t worry baby. You’re gonna be just fine.” Amata’s eyes opened slightly and Natalia could feel tears started to well up in her own when she could see Amata smiling and felt her hand squeeze back. “I know.” Amata said, weakly. “You’ve always taken good care of me.” Natalia sniffed back a sob. “Does it hurt?” She asked. Amata nodded “A little.” Natalia nodded back and reached over to the pile of stuff on the floor behind her and just was able to get her fingers on a morphine syringe. She turned back to Amata and pushed the needle through her jumpsuit and into the pit of her right elbow and injected it. “That should help a little.” Natalia said as she tossed the syringe away. Amata nodded, “Yeah, it feels much better.” Natalia quickly let go of Amata’s hand and turned back to her bag and quickly stuffed everything back and zipped it shut.

She slung it over shoulders and turned back to Amata. Her face dropped when she saw Amata’s eyes closed. She quickly knelt down and put her fingers on her neck. She sighed slightly when she could feel a pulse. It was weak however and she knew if Amata didn’t get help soon, she’d die. She then remembered the info she found on the Overseer’s terminal about a town called Megaton nearby. If it was a settlement, surely they’d have a doctor. She reached around and grabbed a Stimpak she’d put in a velcro strap and slid it into the same spot she’d injected it the morphine. She depressed the plunger and heard a light hiss as the contents were ejected. She tossed it aside and picked Amata up as lightly as she could into a cralding hold, like that of a princess. Pooling all the strength she could muster, she started off in a jog for the Vault door and the light that could be seen shining at the end of a tunnel the door led to. As she got halfway in, she could hear the door roll closed behind her and slide shut. She was now well and truly shut out into the Wasteland. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered as getting Amata to a doctor. This was the only thought in her mind as she held her beloved in her arms and pulled open the wooden door at the end of the entrance which led into the unknown hell of the Capital Wasteland.
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The Lone Wandering Couple