Wasteland Ferns

Betrayal

**Fern's POV**

The next day, Miles and I left Megaton.

We went at a fair pace, hills here, ruins there. The wasteland was just like I remembered after leaving the vault. Bleak, dry, and dead. Seeing the ruinned streets and houses, I couldn't help but wonder why people couldn't lay off the nuclear weaponry. It only made things worse. Sensing the tension and uncomfortability of the silence, I tried to make conversation.

"Where are you from?"

He shrugged. "Vegas. It's in Nevada-"

"I went to school, I know where Vegas is."

He scoffed and shook his head. After yet another uncomfortable silence, a question came to mind. I looked over at him and asked, "How long do ferals live?"

Miles looked at me and smirked. "Oh, I thought you went to school."

"It was a really shitty one."

He stifled a laugh. Gob was right, I am funny.

Miles continued as we walked, "They age really slow. It takes...maybe 50 years for a ghoul to turn feral if they're careless or maybe a week if they're exposed to too many rads. Some have been around since the bombs."

"Huh. So some ghouls were around before the bombs fell?"

"You could say that. Maybe not Gob, though."

My brow furrowed as I admitted," I don't get people's problems with ghouls. Sure, they look like something you'd find while robbing a graveyard, but they're still people. Maybe I'm just more tolerant than others."

Nearing a playground, Miles stopped in his tracks and looked at me. His face softened as he explained, "That may be true, but not all heroes wear capes. Others wear radiation scars, and one saved your life, helped you when no one else would."

"I guess so."

He smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder before continuing the journey. "Come on. There's a ruin nearby, we might find something."

I smiled and followed him.

The landscape of the wastelans was far from the happy place we would see in the books and cartoons. Really shows how much this world had died.

After a few minutes of walking, the ruin Milers had mentioned was in sight, but the area around it was flooded. He took a couple Rad-X tablets and started wading in the green water. I stayed behind, confused. He looked at me after noticing I wasn't with him. "You coming?"

I shrugged. "I don't know how to swim."

"Seriously?"

"What, you think we had pools in the vault?"

Miles scoffed, "No, smart-ass. Just...look." He then half-ass jumped in the water, and continued wading.

It wasn't as shallow as I thought.

I rolled my eyes and followed him after popping some Rad-X. "I don't know how I was supposed to know that."

The water was thick and murky, carrying a green hue. My geiger counter beeped a little, but not as much, thanks to the Rad-X.

We continued, and eventually reached the doors. The sign on the ruin read, "Springvale School." It was crumbling, and the bright paint was fading after centuries. I felt sad for a split second. Getting a nuclear bomb dropped in your state, barely surviving, and then getting the message that your kid isn't coming home.

Can't think of anything worse than that.

Entering the old school, we noticed how dark it was, and I got to make use of the light for my Pip-boy. The walls were crumbled, and the paint was fading. Faint blood stains decorated the floor. A telltale sign of raiders.