FO4 | Book 1: Bombs on Monday Morning ✔️

Ch 4: Crawl Out Through the Fallout

The light was blinding at first to my sensitive eyes. There was something stifling about the air. It was chilly outside but considerably warmer than the Vault. I could feel the tingling sensation of the sun on my face. It took my eyes a moment to adjust, but I was finally able to get a good look at my surroundings.

Everything looked deadened. No leaves on the trees. No green grass. Ruin lay in every direction. It was overwhelming, disheartening, maddening. It was enough to make me want to give up completely. The sorrow finally began to fully overtake me. My chest swelled, tears started running down my face like a flood. My home was destroyed, my child was gone, and I left my husband below, in that crypt. I had no idea if I was the last person alive.

If this was my reality, then God had to be a sham. Surely he didn't plan for such things. There truly was no one looking out for any of us, and I felt then how truly alone I was.

I dropped to my knees on the Vault's platform and bellowed out a cry of pure pain. Like an angry child, I punched at the ground and yelled and cried until I didn't have any energy left. I cried until I couldn't produce any more tears. I felt like I had spent an eternity wallowing there out in the open, unfazed at the thought of potential dangers that could have been alerted by my mental breakdown.

After a long moment of catching my breath, I got to my feet. With shaky legs, I made my way down the hillside and to Sanctuary Hills. Everything was so quiet. Every now and then, I would hear a crow cawing nearby. When I caught sight of the bird responsible for the noise, I had to double-take. It didn't look like a crow at all. Some kind of ugly, mutated bird. It didn't come as big of a shock as the giant roaches, though.

I walked toward my home. It was still standing, sort of. All that was left of it was the frame and some of the siding. The door hung loosely from its hinges. The ceiling had all but collapsed, leaving room for rainwater to fall through the holes with ease and flood the molded floor. The flowers were dead and my car was rusted and hollowed out. Only the deflated tires and the frame were left. The bomb couldn't have disintegrated the interior; this was the work of looters or scavengers. For a moment, that notion had me holding out hope that there were other people left.

And there, by the dead shrubbery, was a familiar and heartwarming sight. Codsworth was loyally trimming the bushes in the front yard. He looked like shit, what with the rust marks and kinks, but he wasn't having any trouble getting around as usual. He was humming merrily to himself.

One of his sensors caught sight of me, then ll three turned in my direction. "As I live and breathe!" he cried. "It's... It's really you!"

I almost couldn't find my voice. I was overcome with relief and elation. "Codsworth! Y-You're still here!" I threw my arms around his metal frame just to feel him for myself, to make sure he wasn't an illusion.

He abandoned his self-assigned duties altogether. "Well, of course I'm still here. Surely you don't think a little radiation could deter the pride of General Atomics International? But you seem the worse for wear. Best not let the hubby see you in this state. Where is sir, by the way?"

I took two steps back and gulped hard as the tears attempted to return. I didn't want to tell him. Instead, a jumbled mess of information escaped me as the thought crossed my mind that Codsworth may have seen the people that took my baby.

"They came into the vault... Maybe you saw them? They had guns... and strange outfits?"

"I've only seen Ms. Rosa's boy, running around in his Halloween costume, more than a week early. I swear, the nerve of that woman leaving her brat unsupervised. Not like you, Mum. You're the perfect mother. And sir is — Oh where is sir, by the by?"