Why was she so cold?
The sun was shining outside, casting golden rays into the living room that highlighted the floor rug they had just purchased. Tess smiled. She remembered shopping with Nate just before they moved in to their new house in the Sanctuary Hills housing development. The news was on, the caster droning on about something she couldn't quite make out. The sounds. Familiar sounds. The whooshing, fiery jet of their Mr. Handy, Codsworth, flitting about the kitchen. A newspaper being spread out. The smell of coffee.
But she was freezing. She could feel her body trembling so hard her teeth were chattering.
And then the idyllic landscape started to splinter and crack, like shards of a mirror breaking apart until a darker, more ominous vision appeared. She heard the sound of a computerized voice, people talking, the loud report of a firearm. Nate! Her eyes fluttered open. Her heart sped into a gallop. Where was she? Snapping her head from side to side, up and down, and then... out of the semi-frosted glass in front of her... to a large object across from her... it jolted through her like a soundless bolt of lightning.
She banged on the door of what she now remembered as being a decontamination pod and pushed on it.
"Let me out! Let me the hell out of here!!"
She felt the seals give way and pushed with all her might until it finally began opening with a hiss, the pressurized chamber releasing her from imprisonment. Shivers wracked through her until she could barely breathe. As she tried to stand her legs gave out and she fell to the floor. Willing herself to her feet, she stood transfixed for what felt like hours, staring at the pod that housed her husband.
This isn't real. It's not real. Wake up Tess, wake the hell up!
The mechanical voice echoing throughout the vault continued its loop. Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. All vault residents must vaca... It trailed off as she stared across the floor.
Looking around, it didn't appear anyone was there. She moved a step closer. If she just went as slowly as possible she knew she'd wake up before she had to face the nightmare inside the other pod. But... she had just been drinking her coffee, not really listening to the news, admiring the beautiful day outside. That was real. This was not.
But the cold was as real as the grave.
Biting her lip she took a few more steps, then two more until she was finally within a foot of the door. It was Nate. He was frozen. His dark brown hair almost white with ice crystals. He was slumped over to his side. That voice. That raspy voice. She flinched as if poked with a branding iron.
"That man," she growled to herself. Who was he, why... Swallowing hard she looked for a way to open Nate's pod.
She was going crazy. That's what it was. Her dream had become so vivid that she was starting to believe it was real. That looping voice wasn't helping either. Her nerves were raw, her breathing strained, her throat sore. She finally found the lever and pushed it up and stood back as the door unsealed and slowly ascended.
She stood, unable to move. Her body trembled, still not accepting this was real. But deep down she knew it was. Flashes started playing out in her mind. The news, the Vault Tec man... the bombs! Oh god, where was Shaun?! Where did those bastards take her son?!
Stepping under the door she looked at her husband's lifeless body for some time until she felt something hot trailing down her cheeks. She absently brushed the tears away as she reached for Nate's hand. It was so cold. Even colder than she was, and a chill coursed through her blood; not from the cold, but from the finality. The abject horror. The mind numbing confusion. Looking down at his hand she saw his ring.
A sad smile curled her lips as her wedding day played like a movie in her memory. They were so happy. Their families were there, neighbors, co-workers – everyone. It had been the perfect day, and the reception was once in a lifetime. She never knew she could be that happy. Until they had Shaun. She slid the ring from his finger. Gently placing her palm to his face she began to weep. She fell to her knees and wept until she couldn't take another breath. Sobbing and choking her body curled up and slumped over. She lay in a fetal position wishing she were dead, tightly grasping Nate's ring.
She woke up to the sound of a baby crying. Jolting upright she looked around frantically, but the sound was gone. "Shaun?" she asked feebly. Finding her legs again she returned to her husband.
"I am going to find whoever did this. And they are going to pay dearly. I will burn this world down until I find our son! I promise." She knew Nate would want her to go on. Would want her to find their son. But how could she do this without him? How could she go out... there?
She slid his ring onto her thumb and started looking for the exit.
After several dead ends, she found herself in a hallway that opened into a room adjoining what looked like a kitchen. There wasn't much around, but she saw a baton on a crate and took it. Just as she whipped it open to examine it, she heard a squeaking, scurrying sound and to her horror, what started to come toward her was something out of her darkest nightmares. It was a cockroach the size of a dog! She stood frozen as it began moving faster, shock and disbelief planting her feet. Just as it jumped forward she swung the baton with her entire being, cracking it's exoskeleton, ooze spraying from its ruined body, and sent it flying ten feet across the floor.
"What the FUCK was that thing!" She was trembling and almost dropped her weapon.
How? Why was that thing... how was this possible? The biggest she'd ever seen was a couple inches long and she nearly demanded Codsworth use his fire stream on it. God she hated those things! But this one? She could have saddled it! More fear set in.
What was happening? Where was everyone?
Moving forward she was slower and more cautious, the baton raised in full ready mode. There wasn't much in the kitchen. Some empty bottles, an old coffee pot. There was no one in the bunk room that she found to the right of the kitchen. The place was as quiet as a tomb, except for a deep humming sound like something electrical she could hear in the next room. Cautiously she approached the door and it whooshed open. It was large, some sort of transformer? It appeared to be malfunctioning as there were bolts of electricity, like a Jacob's ladder, hitting the floor in various places.
Further inside, the next series of bolts hit something with a sizzle. It was another damn roach.
Good, she thought. Fry the fucker! She shuddered again, Disgusting.
Making her way around a safety railing she saw another door on the far side. But just under the light she spotted yet another one of the abominations. This was too much. Watching it for a time, she realized the only way through that door, was through it. Like some raving banshee she raised the baton and let out a curdling warrior scream and ran at the thing for all she was worth. Her blow nearly tore it in half, which only made her feel more sick to her stomach. The scream burned like acid in her throat.
She closed her eyes and took some calming breaths until her pulse no longer felt like a jackhammer in her temples. She then noticed the skeleton on the floor in a degraded vault suit and white lab coat. Kneeling down she looked at the name tag still attached. It was the doctor who had led her family to the pods. She recoiled in disbelief.
What had happened here? Why was she alone? And how could the doctor be reduced to skeletal remains? Exactly how long had she been in that fucking pod?!
She went through the door. That sound again. She took some deep breaths and found her resolve. Fuck this place. And fuck these roaches! She needed answers and she needed out. But was it safe yet? What day was it? Hell, what year was it! She was not a stupid woman. Bodies did not skeletonize in days. It took a hell of a lot longer. It took years, she thought.
The next set of roaches were easier as her determination won over her phobia. In the following room was another of the staff, also tattered and bone. She found a 10mm pistol, some ammo, and some medical supplies. She stuffed them into a pack she found in an adjoining room along with everything else she could grab. It took a moment to figure out the next door needed to be opened via a terminal on the desk.
The next hallway was just fabulous.
After dispatching the herd of roaches there, she went through the next door and discovered the exit chamber–hallelujah. There was yet another staff member's skeleton and another just ahead under what looked like a terminal. She spotted a Pip-boy on the grating by the control panel. She had seen Nate's but never really looked at it in detail, hoping she could figure it out as she clamped it onto her arm. It was surprisingly light for as hefty as it looked.
She looked to her right. There it was. The door to the exit. Should she open it? Would she die within hours from radiation sickness? How long did it have to be before it was safe? Had enough time passed? She closed her eyes, seeing the frozen body of her spouse, the memory of the terrible man who had shot him and stolen their baby. Her eyes narrowed with anger. What choice did she have now?
Reading the instructions on the panel, she found the the connector on the Pip-boy and slid it into the receptacle of the control panel then hit the activation button. Klaxons started turning, shredding the darkened room with rotating orange light, then an announcement commenced that she didn't really listen to. Machinery came to life and the clunks and hisses of the multi-ton door as it began to move inward, then roll to the right deepened her resolve.
She would do whatever she had to to find answers. And mete out justice. Death be damned.