A Vault Dweller in the Wasteland

*This story is set in the "Fallout" gaming series universe. I tried to write it in such a way that you can still enjoy it even if you've never heard of or played the game. All characters are at least 18 years old.*

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Holly winced as a bead of sweat rolled into her eye. She shut her eyelid against the pain and swiped at it before returning her attention to the cart at the base of the hill she was lying on.

A large, two-headed brahmin stood near the cart and quietly grazed on nearby grass. There was a rope looped over one of the heads and the other end was secured to the cart to keep the animal from straying. The cart itself was piled high with all manner of crates and boxes and many more lay in the area around the cart. There was a small tent set up near the cart and smoke drifted up from a recently extinguished campfire.

Holly rolled onto her hip and opened her backpack. She reached in and retrieved a small glass jar. There was a small amount of clear liquid at the bottom of the jar. Purified water. There was only enough left for a few mouthfuls.

She had tried to ration her water as best she could after being expelled from Vault 690. She'd been warned to only use the water for drinking and to only sip it as needed. But having grown up bathing on a daily basis, she was loathe to skip on washing herself and had gone through her water supplies rapidly.

Her mouth felt as dry as her surroundings. Cracked, brown earth stretched out in every direction below the hill. The ground was pockmarked with small, light green shrubs.

She opened the jar and tipped it up to her lips, only intending to take a small sip, and swished the water around in her mouth before swallowing it. When she brought the jar back down, her heart sank as she realized she had drunk all the remaining water. She was already dehydrated and would only make it a couple days at most if she didn't find more.

The jar made a quiet thump as she tossed it to the side onto a soft stretch of dirt. She reached back into her backpack and pulled out a set of black binoculars and lifted them to her eyes. She trained them on the cart then swept her view left and right along the road next to the cart.

She had come upon the cart the day before. When she'd first spotted it, she beeline right for it, fully intending to resupply herself, until a man had appeared from the far side of the cart. Thankfully it was just after sunset and Holly had been able to stop short of the cart and backtrack away without revealing herself. She quietly scurried up the hillside behind the cart and watched the man below. He was carrying a large, silver-barreled rifle. From the looks of it, it looked capable of automatic fire.

The man's torso and legs were covered in tan leather armor. It was dusty and marked with cuts and gouges. It looked fairly thin but had apparently done its job of taking abuse that the man's body wouldn't have suffered so well. His muscular arms were exposed and tan from toiling under the sun of the Wasteland. His head was shaved close to his scalp. A dark brown beard covered most of his face making it difficult to determine his age. Holly estimated him to be in his 50s or 60s.

Holly had lain on top of the hill next to the cart and watched the man as darkness moved in. She had hoped for a moment when he'd leave the cart unattended during the night but he never did. Twice, her hand had swept over the laser pistol holstered on her hip. From this distance, she was sure she could hit him. The problem was that if she didn't take him down before he shot back, she'd be done for. The cloth of her thin blue vault suit provided no protection whatsoever. It was basically a cloth shirt with a matching pair of cloth pants.

This morning, Holly had awoken to find the man gone. Her joy had been short lived as she spotted a figure in the distance walking down the road pushing a small, metal wire pushcart. The person, a man, shuffled as he walked, kicking up a small cloud of dust behind him. A rifle was slung over his shoulder. As the figure drew closer, she had recognized him as the man from the day before.

When he had reached his camp, Holly could see the pushcart partially filled with mostly unidentifiable items. The man unslung his rifle and leaned it against a large box. He removed the few items from the pushcart and swapped them out with items from the larger cart that the brahmin was attached to. He had worked until the pushcart was filled.

A small box slid off the pile and the man lunged quickly to catch it. He shook his head and seemed to wince in pain. He wedged the box into the side of the cart, leaning in with his body and pushing on it until it stayed in place. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and then disappeared around the side of the large cart behind a stack of large boxes. Holly was unable to tell what he was doing and he had stayed out of sight for almost an hour.

When the man re-emerged, he had picked up his rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He had pivoted the pushcart and pushed it up onto the road and set off in the opposite direction from where he'd previously come. Holly had waited half an hour to make sure the man was gone. During that time she'd drunk the last of her water.

Fairly confident that the man would be gone for awhile, Holly returned the binoculars to her backpack. She got up to her knees and placed her arms through the pack's straps. She took a moment to dust off her blue vault suit before getting to her feet.

Stepping carefully, she sidestepped her way down the hillside. It was steeper on this side than on the backside that she'd climbed the day before. As she stepped, she briefly lost her footing and knocked a rock out of place. It bounced free and rolled down the hill, picking up speed and making more noise as it went. It came to a stop with a loud knock against the side of a wooden crate. The brahmin head that wasn't tethered let out a loud groan in response.

Holly continued down the hillside until she was down on level ground. She wasted no time before moving into the camp and rifling through the contents of the boxes around her. She found random pieces of scrap metal, cloth, plastic bags marked "fertilizer", and other plastic bags marked "concrete."

She continued her search and came upon several boxes filled with stimpacks. She knew from her time in her vault that stimpacks were used to heal injuries but she had never personally seen one used. She placed several of them into her backpack.

She opened another crate and found it filled to the top with bullets. She searched the nearby crates hoping to find a gun to go with them but only found more bullets of varying sizes and shapes. In one crate she found an odd-looking oblong bullet about the size of her head. She reached in and tried to lift it out but found it deceptively heavy. It was made of metal and had fins on one end. The other end had a faded yellow strip of paint going all the way around. There was a yellow painted triangle about halfway down with some sort of writing that was scratched and faded away to the point of being illegible.

Holly shut the crate and continued her search. She opened one of the small crates near the tent. There were about a dozen glass bottles filled with brown liquid. She lifted one of the bottles and observed its red and white label marked "Nuka Cola." Holly had never heard of it before and wondered if it was drinkable. She placed it in her backpack along with two more bottles.

She pivoted around on her heels and her eyes fell on the tent. It was simple in construction and was no more than a large, dirty white cloth draped over a series of poles in the ground. She walked over to it and poked her head inside. She smiled to herself at the feel of the cooler, shaded air on her face. There was a bedroll on the ground and two small, flat boxes in the corner. She got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the tent. She lay down flat on the bedroll and took a moment to enjoy its softness. It had been days since she'd felt something soft against her body.

She only lingered for a few moments before crawling on her stomach until she reached the flat boxes in the corner. The one on top was grey. With the way the faint light in the tent slid off the box, she couldn't tell if it was made of metal or plastic. As she reached for it, there was a click behind her that made her heart leap into her throat.

"Okay asshole, come out of there! Nice and slow!" a deep voice boomed from outside the tent.

Trembling, Holly shuffled backwards on her stomach. When her feet got outside the tent, she got up onto her knees.

"I said 'slow' damnit!" A foot kicked her in the butt and she fell onto her chest, knocking the wind out of her.

She rubbed her hands over her ass cheeks. After taking a moment to collect herself, she continued to slide out of the tent, staying on her stomach the entire rest of the way. When she was fully outside the tent, the person behind her kicked her in the side, sending a spike of pain through her ribs. The foot wedged itself beneath her body and rolled her onto her back.

When Holly looked up, she saw the silhouette of a person standing over her. She squinted her eyes against the sun, which was shining down from just above the person's shoulder.

"Just what do you think yer doin'!" the person said.

"I...uh...I was just...," Holly thought quickly, "I came to trade."

"Bullshit! Yer a no-good thieven'--"

"No, I swear! I brought things to trade." Holly shifted her body off her backpack, which was pressing painfully into her back. When she moved, the person took a quick step closer, blocking out the sun. It was then that Holly was able to see that the person standing above her was the bearded man from before. His teeth were bared in an animalistic snarl and his rifle was trained down at her chest. Holly put her hands up in front of her body.

"Well go on, open it," the man said, nodding at the pack.

Keeping one hand up to shield herself from the gun, Holly opened her backpack. For a brief moment she considered going for her laser pistol but it was under her hip. She was sure she'd never be able to get it out quickly enough before the man started shooting.

She felt around in her backpack. Her hand passed over the bottles of Nuka-Cola and stimpacks and settled on a container she knew was food. She grasped it and pulled it from her backpack slowly.

The man's disinterested eyes settled over it briefly then swung back to her. "I already got food. What else ya got?"

Holly set the food aside and reached back into her pack. She pulled out one of several electronic chipsets she'd been given on her way out of the vault. They were old and of little value within the vault, but it was possible people might find them useful in the world outside.

The man studied them for a moment. "Hmm," he removed one hand from his gun and stroked his beard. "Got any caps?"

"Caps?" Holly parroted back. "What are caps?"

"Bottle caps. Don't play games with me."

Holly was clueless as to what he'd want with bottle caps. In any event, the only bottle caps she had were the ones on the bottles of Nuka-Cola she'd swiped.

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Holly said.

The man grunted. "What do ya want in exchange fer that little do-bob ya got there?"

"Water would be great if you've got it," Holly said.

The man nodded and motioned with the barrel of his gun for her to get up. Holly slowly got to her feet, still holding out one hand to shield herself from the gun. When she was up, she realized the man was tall, more than a head taller than she was. Up close, Holly could see lines in his face and flecks of grey in his beard. There was a slight stench of sweat coming off him that made Holly's nose wrinkle.

"The water's over there," the man motioned with the gun, apparently wanting Holly to stay in front of him. She bent down to retrieve her pack and tossed it onto her shoulders. She walked toward the brahmin cart until the man told her to stop. "How many of those little do-bobs ya got?"

"Five," Holly said in response.

"Don't move," the man said, jabbing a finger at her. Holly nodded. He slung his gun over his shoulder and shuffled to the rear of the cart. Holly heard him rummaging around before returning with five jars of cloudy liquid. He sat them down on one of the boxes between him and her. "I'll give ya five waters for 'em."

"Water?" Holly frowned and furrowed her brow. She leaned down and looked at the jars. Not only did the water have a brownish tint to it, there were tiny particles floating in it. "But it's dirty."

"Of course it's dirty! Where do ya think ya are, Diamond City?"

Holly picked up one of the jars and shook it. The water clouded over. "I can't drink this."

"Ok Miss Fancy Bluesuit, either yer tradin' or yer not. If yer not, get out of my camp and stop wastin' my time!"

Holly was barely able to form spit in her mouth. The water was filthy but it'd keep her alive. Probably. "Ok, it's a deal." She swung her pack down from her shoulder, forgetting that she hadn't refastened it after pulling out the food and the chipset. As the pack came around, one of the bottles of Nuka-Cola went flying out. It shattered as it struck the ground, sending pieces of glass and brown liquid everywhere.

Holly's eyes went wide and her body froze. She turned her gaze back to the man. He had a look of indifference as he watched the Nuka-Cola seep into the ground.

"You outta be more careful," he said, frowning at the broken bottle. He turned back to face her. "Alright let's go. Five of those do-bobs for five waters."

Holly's eyes flashed back to the broken Nuka-Cola and then back to the man. It was clear he didn't know she had stolen it. "Umm, yeah, sure, ok, five chipsets." Holly tried to settle her voice and steady her hand as she retrieved the chipsets. She laid the chipsets on the box next to the jars of water.

"What're ya so jumpy about?" The man rolled his eyes at her and picked up one of the chipsets and held it close to his dark brown eyes, studying it. Holly glanced back at the broken Nuka-Cola bottle again, her heart racing. When her eyes shifted back to the man, he was looking at her. His eyes went to the broken bottle and back to her. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and was sure the man could hear it. His eyes narrowed. "Where'd ya get that Nuka-Cola?"

Holly struggled to speak, her mouth feeling drier still. "I...umm...traded for them."

The man's face turned cold. He dropped the chipset and reached for his rifle. "Traded for them where?"

"I...uhh...that is to say...I traded for them at the...uhh...trading post." Holly was baking beneath her vault suit. She could feel it sticking to her like a second skin.

"At the tradin' post, eh?" The man extended one of his long fingers out at Holly, indicating that she wasn't to move. Holly trembled as she watched him walk to the crate where she'd stolen the Nuka-Cola. She thought about making a run for it but her legs felt like they were starting to liquefy.

"You theivin' bitch!" the man screamed out after flipping off the lid to the crate. Holly's hand went to the laser pistol holstered on her hip. The man closed the distance between them in an instant. It was a stark contrast to his usual shuffling movements.

The man wrapped one of his large hands around Holly's throat before she had a chance to unholster her laser pistol. He shoved her backwards by the neck until she crashed up against a stack of crates. They were heavy and didn't budge as her back smacked against them. Pain shot through her shoulder blades. Her air was cut off. She reached up and tried to remove the man's hand but his grip was too strong.

He leaned in close to her, his thunderous voice booming in her ears. "You dirty bitch! You think you can steal from me!?" Holly felt droplets of spittle hit her face. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her vision became dark. She felt her knees going weak. The man slammed her head back against the crates, sending piercing pain through her skull. He released her throat and took a step back, training his gun on her.

Holly doubled over at the waist, coughing and desperately sucking air back into her lungs.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot yer mole-rat ass," he snarled.

Holly was still coughing too much to speak and could only hold up her hand in a plea not to be shot. After several moments, she gathered enough oxygen to speak. "No, please! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Ya didn't mean to!?" The man lunged toward her, screaming into her face again. "Ya took what doesn't belong to ya! How could ya not mean it!?"

"Please don't! Here," Holly gestured toward her pack on the ground, "you can have everything I've got."

The man swung his head around to glance at the pack. When he turned back to face her, he had a sinister grin that made her blood run cold. "Yeah, maybe I should take everything ya got." He leaned in closer. Holly tried to move backwards but she was already pressed up against the crates. She cringed as he brought his nose in next to her neck and sniffed. "You smell delicious." He ran his tongue up Holly's neck to her jaw, making her sick to her stomach. "You taste delicious too."

The man put his hand on Holly's hip and snatched her laser pistol out of its holster. He heaved it over his shoulder and Holly watched it sail through the air and bounce end over end across the ground. He put his hand back on her hip and slowly ran it up along the side of her torso. She cried out when his hand went to her right breast. He squeezed it several times before finding her nipple through the thin material of her vault suit. She cried out again when he pinched it.

"I tell ya what," the man's voice had lowered, "give me a piece of this Diamond City pussy and I'll call it even." His hand began sliding down from her chest toward her waist. "Better yet, I'll throw in some supplies if ya give it up."

Holly was confused but still terrified. "D-D-Diamond City? I'm not from Diamond City." Her voice wavered. She vaguely remembered a reference to Diamond City in the database on her Pip Boy mini-computer, but she knew nothing about the city itself.

"No?" the man said. He lowered his nose to Holly's light brown hair and sniffed it. "Mmmmm...you sure smell like you're from Diamond City." He ground himself against Holly's hip. "Where are ya from if yer not from Diamond City?"

"I'm from Vault 690," she said. This gave the man pause. He stopped groping and grinding against her. He stepped back and looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time.

"Yer from a vault?" He let out a long, loud belly laugh. "Well, why didn't ya say so?" he slapped his thigh hard and continued to laugh. Holly had no idea what was so funny. "Take me to yer Overseer," his voice was clearly mocking. He stuck out his arms and started walking mechanically as if he were a robot.

Holly's fear started to give way to anger. She folded her arms across her chest and scowled at the man. "I'm serious. I'm from Vault 690." She turned around so that he could see the back of her vault suit top. The numbers '690' were emblazoned on the back in bright yellow.

The man stopped marching and looked at her. He was no longer laughing. "Yeah right. Who'd ya steal the vault suit from?"

"I didn't steal it!" Holly's fear had been washed away. "It's mine!"

"If yer from a vault, what're ya doin' out here?"

Holly cast her eyes down to the ground. "It's...it's none of your business," she muttered quietly.

"None of my business?" The man's brow lowered. His humorous mood had faded. "Ya know, yer absolutely right. This," he swept his hand around, gesturing at the camp around them, "is my business." The man's voice was rising in volume. "So, do we have a deal or not?"