Fallout: Undaunted

Chapter Three

I woke up in a dimly lit room on a medical examination table. The last thing I remembered was slashing a giant mutant to pieces with a makeshift machete. That doesn't explain why I'm where I'm at. Looking around, it looks like a clinic. Definitely not the one in the settlement though. This one has a been more personalized by the doctor or whoever it is that works here. I peered towards what I presumed was the door and made out a figure, who was not entirely facing my, but was looking at me for sure. "Sir, he's awake" the person, now clearly a man after hearing his voice, said while operating a radio. I heard another person approach and the two began to converse quickly. Two men. The new arrival walked into the room and switched on the lights, leaving me blinded for a solid minute. When I could see again, I could see that it was the Overseer. Not my father the Overseer though. It was the one who was in control of the Vault, and thus the settlement as well. "Now Officer Stallings, what you did was a brave thing. Deserving of a medal if we could spare the material to forge you one. The only thing is, is that what you did was also stupid and foolish. You could've caused the settlement to be damaged. Not to mention we found a lot of blood at one spot and nothing to explain it." The Overseer said sternly. "So the General got away then?" I responded back, curious about this. "General? So you left a potential enemy who might gather more freaks and lead an assault on the settlement. Well there's only one thing we can do about that." He said. "What would that be sir?" I said, fearing for my father. "Immediate expulsion from the Vault and settlement upon your full recovery. You will not be allowed your guard armor or your sidearm. Everything else was gifted to you by your uncle. Including the rifle, which he appears to have purchased from the quartermaster." The Overseer told me, his voice calm yet frightening, and before I could come up with a response, I realized how much pain I was in, right before some sort of auto-injection machine pushed more Med-X into my system.

I woke up again, except this time inside the building my father and I called home in the settlement, on my own bed. I was still clothed in a patient's gown though. That was the least of my worries the second I remembered that I was being exiled as soon as I was better, which I guess was now. I found all of my things, including a back pack which wasn't mine, on the table in my room. There was also a note which read "Be brave son, come out when you're ready, Father" on it. I changed from the gown into the only clothes any of us have: our Vault jumpsuits. As I was finishing up getting dressed I realized that the Overseer might make a comment and have me stripped and beaten or something crude like that if I bore the Vault's number on my suit. So I took the suit off, cleaned off the table and laid the suit down, and tied the gown around my waist so as not to be in my underclothes if anyone came in. I looked into the "hobby room" as my dad called, because he put all of my mom's hobby items into after we moved here, in spite of here death. Inside I found a fabric that matched the blue color of the jumpsuit and grabbed a needle and went back to my room. I spent what felt like ages trying to perfectly cover the numbers and make it look like it belonged that way. After I was satisfied that I had done it, I ditched the gown and redressed myself in my now neutral jumpsuit. I worked to get the armor I was given on myself, and then found a belt with ammo pouches as well. I packed provisions, a few books, a photo I still had of my mother, father, and myself from when I was a boy, a survival knife, and some material incase I needed to make repairs to my suit. I slung my rifle over my shoulder, and reached for my Aviators when I realized they had a fabric to allow them to hang from my neck when not in use. I put them on around my neck, and had another surprise waiting for me: that machete I had "acquired" and a sheath with a small strap with a button to, I assume, clip it around my belt. Geared up, I walked slowly towards the door, taking in the true home I had known for quite a few years, knowing I might never see it again. With the door right in front of me, I took a deep breath and pushed it open. I was kind of shocked. Literally everybody from the vault and the settlement were here. The guard were formed around the gate both on the wall and on the ground, people were everywhere, and yet it was dead silent. I made out the Overseer right above the gate on the wall. I began my slow approach to the gate as anyone in my family would have told me to: with my head raised high. People stared, some whispered as I passed, others gave me a look that made me feel like I was ascending a throne, yet still others smirked at me like I was a criminal going to execution. As I passed by my father and friends, I met his eyes and made sure he knew that I felt like I disappointed him, because I really think I did. I looked at the few friends I had made. Harold, Sarah, Thomas, Lindsey, Lee, and Sam. I'll never see them again. Lee and Thomas looked ready to fight their way towards me and fight to let me stay. Good people, all of them. I gave them all a nod and a somewhat hidden gesture that meant "okay" to reassure them I'll be fine. It did the exact opposite I think. I tore my gaze away from them and kept walking. As I approached where my uncle was, I noticed he was with the guard, except they were all of his friends in the guard, which meant eighty percent of it, and they were all in uniform and not directly at the gate. I met his gaze, and when I did, he looked at the men around him and across the way and nodded and they all drew weapons and they gave me a very synchronized twenty-one gun salute, albeit it was more that twenty-one. This didn't entirely alarm the people, but I looked towards the Overseer and I could tell instantly that that wasn't planned. I approached the gate and looked up at the Overseer. He began to speak "Everett Stallings, son of the esteemed Overseer of our settlement, you have committed a crime against the citizens that reside here by enacting a solo and unprovoked attack against potentially helpful people. In light of this, you are being exiled from this community either until a reasonable amount of time has passed, or not at all. If you are caught returning you will be shot on sight. That is your final verdict." He said, weaving a lie as he spoke. Upon him finishing his "sentence" the gate was opened and he gestured towards it. I gave one last look at the people around me, looked back towards the Overseer and I did the only logical thing. I flipped the bird, and casually walked out of the settlement, glancing behind me for a second, and, not surprisingly, nearly everybody was shocked. I just kept on walking, while the Overseer tried to yell at me to tell me something. The only thing he got from me was "Do the wasteland a favor and hang yourself from that wall." It shut him up quick, and I just kept on walking. I gestured towards where the numbers should be on my suit to him as I walked away. After wandering around the same block five times to look for any potential threats, I wandered into a relatively well off building, secured and fortified what I could, and plopped down onto an old mattress.