Silent Tomorrow

Two days... it's been two days since I've woken up. I haven't left her since, but I'm getting hungry, my stomach growls every time I think too hard. This isn't fair... why, why did you do this to her? Why did you do this to us... I've kept her pod's door shut since, preserving her for as long as I can before I leave to find someone to-to bury her. I'd do it myself, but... I can't, I don't want to. It's bad enough that man stole Shaun, but-but to take the one person who understood me better than any away from me...

My arms cross over my stomach, my back pressed against Nora's still pod. Ever since mine shut down, the power to this place seems to fluctuate every now and again, the lights went off a day ago, but everything else seems to be powered. I've been living in darkness these past two days... it feels like it's been two days at least, my stomach keeps yelling and I figured today would be the day I satiate it. Maybe. I tilt my head upward to look into the blank glass of her pod, why?

Slowly, unsure, I pull myself upward. My knees tremble at being still for so long, but they manage. As I stand at full height, I look longingly at her face, sorrow filling mine. Why? My stomach growls again at me as I bite my lower lip. My hand raises on its own and I sign to her, knowing full well she would never see it.

[I will find Shaun and whoever did this to you, I swear. Take care of yourself in the beyond, my love. Wait for me.]

I pull away the hand that was pressed against the glass and turn away from her, my eyes trained in this darkness, and walk towards the one door. Maybe someone else is here. Maybe they can help me.

-----

Dead.

Everyone I've come across, nothing but corpses and bones. How long had I been stuck in that pod, how long since Nora's been killed? Nothing to eat, no one to ask for food, no one to ask for help. No one and nothing. It wasn't long until I found myself at the entrance to the Vault, the large gear-like door locked in place would have been my stopping point... if only there wasn't a corpse near the control panel with exactly what I needed to use to unlock it. A device, a wrist computer, or to those who don't know what it is literally, a Pip-Boy. Bending downward to pick it from the dead scientist, long dead if I'm to assume, I slap it on my wrist. The locking mechanism seems rusted, but latches with little problem.

Maybe this will help me find someone outside? Is it even safe to go outside?

Turning it on, a low green loading screen scrolls by and I'm greeted with a small, jumpsuited man giving me a wide grin and a thumbs-up. He seems very positive, but none of his uplifting appearance rubs off on me. I stare down at it before scrolling through the several tabs it held before looking down to the console. A red port meant precisely for the Pip-Boy's connector stares blankly at me; this was the Vault control console obviously. With little resistance, I pull the plug from the wrist computer and place it in the port. The green button next to it lit up and I press it with my now free hand before warning lights go off all around the room.

"Thank you for choosing: Vault-Tec. Enjoy your stay on the surface!"

The suddenness of the automated voice frightens me a little, but I hold my tongue. Pulling the plug from the console and placing back in the Pip-Boy, I stare as a large mechanism lowers from the ceiling and into the large gear door. It whirs to life and twists its inner workings along with a horrifyingly loud screech, I could see sparks escape from the backing of the machine as it locks into the door before finally... it pulls back, the large gear door with it and rotates to the right.

Vault 111 has been opened.

The elevator was now in sight. Making my way to and across the bridge again for the first time in however long, I stare with a concerned brow at the lift. It looked different from when I last saw it. The large '111' that was printed on it was all but faded and the actual elevator itself looked rusted beyond proper use.

How long has it truly been?

I make my way down the stairs and tentatively step onto the large plate, it groans under my added weight. On the far side of it there was a low, dim red button that I assume I have to press. But part of me doesn't want to.

Turning back to look into the Vault, I think of Nora's lifeless face, all of the corpses I've crossed just to make it here. If just being in the Vault was hell alone... what would the Earth be like now? My stomach growls at me and I'm reminded on why I'm even bothering to make this journey: my son... and food. Looking back at the button, I press my hand into it before a blip sounds in my ears. Gears beneath the elevator grind together and the lift practically screams in denial. It doesn't want to budge; it's been so long. But it must, it realizes, for that is what it was built for.

With a jolt, I feel the platform begin to raise and my eyes look upward into an infinite black. Darkness above and darkness below, I wish there was light...

And then there was.

A crack slowly forms however far ahead, the form of a cog's edge takes place signaling the elevator cover was opening... but something happened that I did not expect. Grass fell onto the elevator I stood upon, with it, dirt. That's how long it's been? Enough time for the Earth to reclaim the area this Vault was built under? Incredible.

As the light grows brighter with each increasing moment, my thoughts race.

Is there still a war going on? If it's been so long, is Shaun even still—no, he has to be... he has to be.

And finally, my heart jack-hammering in my chest, the elevator stops. With how long I've been in the darkness of the Vault, I can no longer take the brightness of the luminescent day. It blinds me and I'm forced to cover my eyes with my hands. It was a minute or two, but eventually I lower my hands and blink wearily at my surroundings. I'm in a forest? But-but... my eyes stop tracing over everything as they land on something I never thought I would ever see.

Two eyes staring back into mine.

But they weren't human.