Lone Wanderer

Chapter 2 - Wasteland Wanderer

I'm here, in what used to be paradise. I opened my eyes and looked out through the horizon. It was... horrible. All houses were, if not already completely reduced to ash and dust, caving in and collapsed. I had a sense of nostalgia mixed with complete and utter terror. Through all of the rubble, I saw my old house.
I sprinted to my fallen house and started pulling up boards and broken furniture. I eventually found two rotted skeletons. They were caught in an embrace. I was glad to have on my conscious that my parents were in good terms before the disaster hit.
As I was looking for useful supplies, a rocket with a glowing white streak following it passed behind my back. I jumped under cover and watched the rocket hit the now closed vault door. This is what made us dwellers afraid that the war was still continuing. Now there was another question, who was shooting these rockets?
I then saw a large settlement that had a tall central tower. On this tower were guards that paced the multiple platforms and staircases that were littered along the outer edges of the tower. The one thing that confused me was that the guards' armor seemed to be made from scrap metal and wire. It was very different from the pre-war standardized combat armor used by the military. Their guns were also different than standard weapons. The guns were made of pipes and nails and most of them were old and rusted. I recognized the weapons as pipe rifles made with all resources that can be scavenged.
I figured that since these people have survived this long, they may be friendly. I approached the front gate and spoke." Excuse me, do you kn..." before I could even finish my sentence, the guards were shouting warnings and orders and I was shot in the shoulder. I ran and ducked behind a car while loading my 10mm pistol.
I was being rained down on by bullets and a rocket landed to my left. I had to make a move or I wouldn't get any further. I turned on my V.A.T.S and aimed at the guard with the launcher. I had a 38% chance of hitting the head, so I fired 4 shots. The first shot hit and he had dropped the launcher and stumbled back. While he was dazed, I fired two more shots. The first missed, but the second landed right between his eyes and he rammed into the wall behind him, collapsing to the floor.
Beside of my current barricade, there was a frag grenade behind a semi. I sprinted past the bullets that still yet rained down and took cover behind the truck. I picked up the frag and searched for a strategic target. There was a small room with supplies and weapons, but the thing that really caught my attention was the propane tanks scattered throughout the room. I pulled the pin and slung the grenade as far as I could. It broke a window covering the room and landed right on point.
There was a small explosion that didn't do much, but then the propane tanks caught the blast and chained a massive explosion all throughout the bottom floor of the tower. The initial damage done to the room had made the lower level crumble. The entire concrete structure had come crashing down on top of itself and that impact had killed all of the guards in the entire camp. No more gunshots had sounded and there were no more shuffling feet trying to find cover.
I had gone into the now ghastly camp searching for new weapons and resources that they had left behind. I'd picked up a pipe auto-assault rifle, a handful of stimpaks, an ample amount of ammunition for the rifle and my pistol, and something that was very unfamiliar to me. On the side was written "fully charged fusion core". I could only remember when I read that name that fusion cores powered power armor. I looked for some power armor and found a frame for a suit of it. The frame had no metal add-ons and was completely bare, but it was something. I inserted the core into the empty power slot in the back of the suit and turned the release valve.
The suit divided open and I stepped in. The divisions closed behind me and locked me into the frame. I moved my different limbs and everything was smooth and fluent. I'd left with my findings and my new suit of power armor, more confident than when I left the vault. I would continue to the nearby city of Charleston, one of the most populated places in West Virginia.