Conquerors

Chapter 1

All I feel is bitter cold. Intense, like ice, coursing through my veins.

I try to move my fingers as I recover the feeling in them. Then I start to feel my toes.

Slowly my body loses numbness. I reach up slowly, my body still sluggish. I feel something frigid and icy under my palms.

I can open my eyes. I blink slowly, the bright light causing me to squint immediately.

I can't make anything out. Everything is a blur. But as I continue to blink, objects become clear. I'm behind a large door, with a glass window.

Suddenly, I hear a loud, intense beeping and the door begins to slowly rise.

"SYSTEM MALFUNCTION: PLEASE VACATE VAULT IMMEDIATELY." An automated voice booms overhead.

When the door opens, I feel my legs give out. I tumble forward and onto the floor.

I force my limbs to work. I stand, grasping onto the side of the pod I fell out of.

I look around. I'm surrounded by tall white pods with windows. The one across from mine has my husband in it.

Suddenly, I remember. The image of him fighting to save our son fills my head. The way he screamed at the bald man, and the woman in the white suit.

"I'm not giving you Shaun!"

Then, BANG.

My heart races. I look for a lever around his pod, my hands trembling.

"Where's the release?" I mutter, my voice hoarse.

I find a big red button and push it. Suddenly the light above his pod turns red and blinks.

"CRYOGENIC SEQUENCE INTERRUPTED." The automated voice booms overhead.

The metal squeals in protest,  slowly sliding upwards.

"Come on, come on, come on!" I hiss, my heart pounding against my sternum.

Water pours out from the bottom of the pod, flooding around my feet.

I peer in the pod at the man I love. He lays still, a thin layer of ice coating his entire body.

I see a large, red hole in the center of his chest. He doesn't breathe. He's dead.

I feel my chin quiver, my legs growing weak. I brace myself against the side of his pod to keep from falling at his feet. I weep bitterly.

I feel cold, but I don't care. I shiver, wrapping my arms around my body, trying to hold myself together.

My sadness is suddenly replacing itself with intense anger.

I climb to my feet, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

I reach down, touching his frozen hand. I carefully pull the wedding ring off his finger, holding it tightly in my palm.

"I'll find whoever did this to you." I croak. "And I will get our baby back."

I step back, pushing the button. The lid of his pod closes. I turn away, finding another pod. I push on the release button.

I hear a loud beep, followed by the automated voice saying, "ERROR: MALFUNCTION IN CRYOPOD MANUAL RELEASE OVERRIDE."

The next pod has the same reaction. I desperately try every pod in the room. Each one doesn't open.

I find a terminal on the wall. I turn it on, the keyboard sliding out. The screen glows with green text. I use the arrows to go down to the status of the cryopods. Every pod containing my neighbors and friends is void of life.

"Death by asphyxiation, due to respiratory machine failure..." I read aloud. "What the fuck?"

The stench of decay fills my nose as I venture deeper into the vault, following the path that Vault-Tec originally brought us down when we first got here. Both flesh, and rust. I find another room filled with cryopods, but they have the same error message. Death due to asphyxiation.

I find a clean, new vault suit. I quickly ditch my wet, dirty one and pull it on.

I come to a closed door, but it won't open.

"ERROR: VAULT IN LOCKDOWN SEQUENCE."

I need to find a way out of here.

I come to a door that opens. I walk down the dark hallway, water running down the walls on either side.

I wrinkle my nose at the stagnant water stench.

I hear the scurrying of little footsteps. I look around, seeing a police baton on a metal bench sitting to the side under a large window. I grab it, flicking it forward. It extends quickly. I hold it up as I round the corner. I see an enormous, polished, black creature creeping on six legs towards me. It hisses.

I strike it with the baton. I take a closer glance at it as it slowly dies.

"Giant... roaches?" I mutter in disgust.

I walk through an abandoned dining room, a dim light across the room showing empty cans of purified water and potato crisps scattered on the tables and floor. To my right is an empty office space and bathroom.

To my left is an open door, leading into a large, dark room, with multiple generators in the middle of the floor.

I pass them, watching as one zaps a giant roach. The smell of burning stench fills my nose.

I walk around it, avoiding it as much as possible, making my way towards the door.

In the entrance I almost trip over a skeleton, the white bones gleaming under the neon light. All that remains is a rotting vault 111 jumpsuit.

"What happened here?" I mutter.

I find the overseer's office, a terminal sitting on a desk. The door on the other side is closed and doesn't open.

I looked through the terminal, finding files about the vault and the plans, along with progress notes the overseer was taking after the bombs fell.

This vault was an experiment. They were using us as test subjects. They were testing the effects of being cryogenically frozen on the human body. I feel my stomach knot up in disgust.

I find the code to open the emergency exit. Then, in frustration, I kick the terminal off the desk. It clamors to the ground, the screen smashing.

"Fuck you, Vault-Tec."

I look through the drawers, finding a 10-millimeter pistol, a box of bullets, and some stimpaks. I put them in my pocket and continue out of the vault.

As I come to the massive circular door, I look for a release. I need a pip-boy. Just to my luck, a skeleton on the floor has one around its forearm.

I pick it up, the bones clanging against the tile floor below. I secure it above my wrist like a giant watch and pull out the switch for the door. I insert it into the panel and punch the large, red button.

Sirens sound loudly, a cloud of smoke erupting from the door.

"VAULT DOOR MANUAL RELEASE INITIATED." The automated voice booms over the speakers. The door rolls open, the sound of squealing metal hurting my ears.

I stand on the rusted, metal platform as it extends slowly. Then I rush down the steps and stand on the platform we came down in. There's still dust and debris littering the surface, suitcases, and skeletons lying around.

"ENJOY YOUR JOURNEY TO THE SURFACE. AND THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING VAULT-TEC." This is the last thing the automated voice says before the platform begins to rise towards the light above.

I don't know what the world above is going to look like. I don't even know if there is a world left up there. But one thing I know for sure is that it's better than what's left down here.

And that bald man is going to pay.