Lone Star: A Fallout Story

prologue

A loud bang caused Ava to open her eyes abruptly. She sat up quickly, still collecting her thoughts.

Another loud bang erupted, this time causing her house to rumble lightly.

Ava ran out of her room, greeting her brother that stood in the living room.

"Jacob," Ava approached him, "what the hell is happening?"

"I think we're being attacked." He said in a low tone.

Jacob was always one to keep his composure to keep his younger sister from panicking- something he learned to do ever since they were kids.

"By who?" She asked worriedly.

Jacob shook his head, "Let's not worry about that at the moment. Just get on your horse and meet me north of here. I'll get Ezekiel and we'll meet you there."

"Jacob, please. I don't want to go alone." Ava cried. She may have been eighteen but she still needed her big brother to keep her safe.

"Ava," He spoke loudly, "Go!"

She nodded and ran out of their house, and towards the pen where her horse, Beau, stayed alongside the other ones.

Mounting onto her horse with nothing but the clothes on her back, she pet his mane and spoke to him. "Come on, Beau. Let's go."

Beau was prompt to take off, as the loud crashes and fires startled him. He galloped. And galloped... and galloped. Twenty minutes passed, yet it felt like a minute due to the adrenaline.

Until Ava deemed they were far enough north, she stopped her horse in his tracks. She got off, her bare feet stepping in the dirt.

She spotted a log on the ground and sat on it, waiting for Jacob and Ezekiel to arrive. She told herself they would arrive any minute, they couldn't have been too far behind.

Another hour passed. Ava was giving the two the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they had to grab some extra supplies? After all, their town was being burnt to the ground.

Two hours so far, the hot sun was now beating on her pale skin, and they have yet to arrive. Ava began to worry even more. Was one of them injured?

Finally a total of three hours surpassed. Ava was shaking with fear. She had no choice but to go back to find them. They were the only people she had left, she couldn't live without them to guide and protect her.

Getting back onto Beau, she took a deep breath in between shakes. "One more time, Beau. Let's go look for the boys." She gently instructed the horse to strut, this time taking her time on the trip back in case she ran into Jacob and Ezekiel.

Ava was finally back in her town. It was a hellhole. Who knew that only a few hours of chaos could bring such catastrophic results?

She slowly rode her horse through the ruined street that ran through the middle of the neighborhood. Almost every house was burned down to the foundations, leaving thick fogs of dark smoke.

Riding past her house, it was somehow still standing. Barely- but it was still there.

"Jacob?" Her voice rang, "Zeke?"

No response, just the crackle of the dying fires.

Ava dismounted Beau and tied him to a a small tree. She walked into her house cautiously, making sure there were no intruders hiding and waiting to attack. Looking around, she found nothing, not her brother. Nor Ezekiel.

Taking this exploration to her advantage, she went into her room and put on some boots, and shoved as much clothes as she could into a bag. Running through the hallway and into her dad's old room, she opened a large armoire that revealed multiple weapons and a selection of ammo.

Grabbing a few weapons she was familiar with, and the ammo to match, she turned to her left and looked at the nightstand by the bed. Walking closer to it, she spotted a picture in a frame. She snatched it and shoved it into her bag as well.

Taking a few steps back, she looked around one last time. She wasn't sure if she would be back. By the state of her community, chances are she would never see this place again.

Ava met her horse back outside and began to ready him for another trip. Taking another look around her now dead community, she took off and rode Beau north once again.

Going back to the spot she was previously, she made shelter as best as she could with the trees in the area. The sun began to set. In a few hours, the cooler air would be a good change to Ava's poor sunburnt skin.

Ava lied underneath the tree and began to rest her eyes. She hoped that in the morning, they would be there to greet her. But she had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be the case.

__________

Five years had come and gone. The first three years were spent with Ava searching what seemed about every square inch of the wasteland for her brother.

But to no avail, she never found him, nor Ezekiel.

She spent the years alone, with the occasional company of townsfolk's from the bars she attended. Or the churches she's prayed in. Or her own thoughts in her scrambled mind.

The past two years, she finally settled in a small shack in the middle of the woods. It was homely, worn and dark. Out of plain sight.

During this time, Ava had unfortunately lost her horse, Beau, after a group of feral ghouls bombarded her property in the middle of the night. Losing him made it difficult to travel.

Despite all of the obstacles thrown at Ava, she persisted. For five years, she did what she could to stay alive, even if it was something she told herself that she would never do.

Because that's what people do in the wasteland.

Survive.