Early Sunsets (Fallout 3)

Chapter 1 - Intro

A/N: I despise writing in the first person honestly, but this intro chapter seems more fitting to be written in such a way, so I'll do it like that, but the rest will be in third person.. Consistency! 😜

I remember the day we first met. Not long after my inevitable departure from Vault 101, I had found myself stumbling blindly through the old DC metro systems, emerging where my Pip-Boy map had told me would lead to the home of Galaxy News Radio - and it's charismatic voice, Three Dog. I was desperate back then, I didn't have a clue about the Capital Wasteland, about the dangers, the radiation, super mutants, none of it. The only thing on my mind was finding my Dad. So much so that I didn't even notice the two super mutants emerging from a run-down building not 30 feet from where I stood. Luckily I had reacted fast enough and ducked behind a concrete wall before the pair opened fire. I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been for her.

Her. I was totally trapped. The way the ruins were set out, anywhere I could go to get a clear shot would get me shot even faster, and despite the fact I was wearing a modified armoured Vault 101 suit I'd picked up back in Megaton, it didn't exactly help against bullets.

She jumped out of nowhere, opening fire on the hulking abominations, commanding her small team flawlessly. Everyone was in formation, every bullet hit it's mark, and everyone was safe following the encounter; including myself, somehow.

"Thanks for the assist... I didn't know this place was so dangerous," I awkwardly spit out.

"Have you been living under a rock?" the blonde, heavily-armoured commander asks humorously, "the entire DC area is crawling with super mutants. It's a tourist death trap."

I hadn't mentioned where I'd come from - technically living under a rock. She hadn't noticed my Vault suit, so I had allowed her to continue.

"What brings you all the way out here, anyway?"

"I'm looking for Three Dog," I reply bluntly.

"Okay, well you're welcome to stick with us as far as GNR Headquarters, but that's as far as we can take you."

I had agreed without hesitation. If what she had said was true - and it certainly turned out that way - then I figured I'd be much safer with them than taking on mutants alone.

It took us only about ten minutes to make it to the GNR building from then. I'd even managed to chip in and kill a few super mutants myself. But it was the behemoth that really got the Brotherhood interested in me.

Initiate Reddin was killed immediately upon the colossal mutant's emergence, but my quick reactions saved many more. I remember yelling at the top of my lungs for everyone to get back, and I ran to another BoS corpse near the centre of the courtyard, and grabbed the Fat Man beside the lifeless soldier. At the time I had no clue what it was, but I saw the mini-nuke already loaded in the shaft, and I knew it might just be enough to win. Sure enough, with one mini-nuke and the backing fire of ten Brotherhood soldiers, we took the behemoth down easily, allowing me access to Galaxy News Radio - and Three Dog.

I remember Sarah Lyons had complimented me on my combat skills and quick thinking, stating I'd be a fine addition to the Lyons Pride if they had been recruiting. We then parted ways, not expecting to ever meet again.

The second time I ran into Sarah was when the Enclave attacked the Jefferson Memorial. Led by Colonel Autumn, the soldiers had trapped my father in the Purifier control room, while I was draining some intake pipes to allow Project Purity to continue. By the time I made it back to the rotunda, it was too late. Doctor Li regarded me with a look of pure sadness, and at that moment we both knew what was going to happen, but it didn't stop me from slamming my fists against the glass door and screaming, but I knew nobody was listening.

The blast knocked me backwards, and when I got to my knees, I saw my father crawling towards the door, placing his hand on the glass. Even from the other side, I could feel the radiation beginning to eat away at me, so I knew the levels within were lethal.

"Run..."

That was the last word my father ever uttered, having given his own life for the sake of the Wasteland; and his only son.

I remember that moment all too well. I was shattered. It's like there was nothing left inside me. I wanted to cry, and to scream, but I just couldn't bring myself to move. I felt dead, as dead as my father laying within the control room. The man who, nineteen years prior, had single-handedly thrown away the future of the Wasteland for the safety of his only child. I heard Doctor Li screaming at me, but I couldn't make out what she was saying; I didn't care. My hand pressed against the glass, against Dad's, time seemed to slow as his hand fell to the ground, slipping away from mine just as his last breath slipped from his lungs.

I don't know how long I sat there in shock, but Doctor Li eventually snapped me out of my daze. I still don't know how I managed to hold it together long enough to get Doctor Li and her team through the escape tunnel to the Citadel, but I did.

The moment we came topside it hit me. A crushing weight threatening to take me down like a ton of bricks. It hurt to breathe. I couldn't see anyrhing, my vision was blurred. But I still couldn't speak, I couldn't feel. I was dead inside. I remember shuffling hopelessly into the Citadel, where I saw her again. Sarah Lyons, the leader of the Lyons Pride, standing beside her father, as he spoke to Doctor Li and the team about the Enclave attack, and my father's demise. I don't remember what exactly was said, I could do nothing but stare at the cracked stone ground in front of me, still fighting with all the strength I had left to stay upright.

But when I did raise my head, I saw her looking straight at me. Elder Lyons and Doctor Li were engaged in conversation, and all the scientists and soldiers around us all were fixated on that, but Sarah was looking at me. Her expression was one of sympathy - the first emotion I had ever seen on the soldier's face.

I don't remember much about that first night, but I do remember that Sentinel Lyons was the one who stayed with me all the way through until dawn, keeping my heart beating despite the fact that it wanted to stop; that I wanted to die.

A/N: that's the first chapter! Now into the real story! NOTE: the story itself will contain strong language, violence and other themes such as that. Please read with care. 😊

Next chapter: Love And Faith