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From The Personal Recollection Of Leanne Walker

I stepped through the door into Vault 101, unsure what I would find.

Remembered the assault on my senses when I had first emerged into the Wastes from 101 - the brightness of the sun, the sounds both near and far, the crunch and slither of dirt underfoot, and the VAST array of smells.  With my return, I had kind of expected the reverse effect, except ....

The haze in the Vault's air smelled like smoke, with a hint of gunfire.  There were other smells that were familiar, but not in this place.  The entry room itself was ...

"What's the word, kid?"  Cutter, poised just outside the door and peering in, Minigun 'Eugene III' at the ready.

" ... The word is 'mess'.  No rads, but something's wrong with the ventilation, that haze shouldn't be here.  This area is dirty, plus all this junk scattered around .... the Overseer would have a cow, he's a full-on neat freak."

"Um.  Either he doesn't control this area anymore, or he's got bigger worries ..."

"Yeah  ... Oh, DAMmit."  The bundle next to the Main Control Panel came into focus.  Steve Armstrong, or what was left of him.

Minutes later, with help from Cutter and Gary, the story was clearer.  Steve had connected something to the Control Panel when he was shot twice in the back.  Then 'someone' (the shooter?) pulled his body off the Control Panel and dumped it on the floor, wiped some gore off the panel, then unplugged Steve's electronic device, stomped that to bits underfoot and left.  Protective gloves and size 11 boots, both Vault-Tec Security Issue.

Stanley Armstrong, his stepdad and Vault 101's head of maintenance, had been Dad's friend.  He'd also been a kind and fair boss to me during my working career in 101.  I wondered if he and his wife were still alive, and how I would tell them about this.

"Friend of yours, kid?"  Cutter's voice was very gentle.

I shook my head.  "Not really.  But he was a good guy.  Sort of quiet.  Not an obvious hero."

Steve's body had been there no more than a couple of days at best, so he must have been the one who changed the door combination and rejigged the Vault's distress beacon to include Amata's message.  That he died to bring me here didn't help my mood, and my two friends had openly abandoned all pretense of 'Medical Rescue'.

"Where next?"

"The secret way to the Overseer's office is sealed this end, otherwise we'd pay him a quick visit."  Some grim smiles.  "Door to the Admin Level is locked, so that leaves the door to the lower levels.  You guys stay here and secure this area.  I don't know who or what might come your way, so be very careful who you are polite to AND who you shoot."

"Gary."

"Roger, kid."


*******

I headed through the door to the lower levels, feeling a bit more positive.  Anything that got past Cutter and Gary would have to be fifty feet tall with fangs.

More evidence of disorder along the way - barricades, furniture, odds'n'ends.  Then a figure in Vault-Tec Security Armor stepped through the door ahead.  At sight of me, he froze and gaped, the most surprised look I'd seen on any human.

"Hello, Officer Gomez.  How are you?"

Herman Gomez looked tired.  He was unshaven, and thinner than when I first left Vault 101, and his uniform was in need of a good cleaning.  Unusually for him, he was carrying an SMG instead of his usual baton (which I only ever saw him use on radroaches).  I gratefully noted he showed no inclination to shoot, arrest or threaten me.

"L-Leanne Walker?  What are you doing here?"

I gave what I hoped looked like a reassuring smile, whilst trying to note his boots and any other possible indications.  Gomez had been a decent person, always fair in his duties and the only Security officer I'd met during escape who didn't try to stop or kill me.  He'd even wished me luck in finding Dad.  But I didn't know how much that might have changed.  Still ....

"I came because I got Amata's distress message.  What are YOU doing here, Officer Gomez?"

"Distress message?"  He looked completely baffled by that.  "... I was patrolling this area when I heard the Vault door operating."  A ghost of a smile.  "Should have guessed it was you.  You've had more practice with it than anybody ..."

I got the story - or his side of it, at least.  Between Dad's sudden departure, and my much noisier exit, and the radroach infestation, and the losses to Security personnel, and losing both of its medics (leading to several deaths), and the damage to some key systems, things had been quite chaotic in the Vault.  The Overseer then promoted Officer George Wilkins to Security Chief.  From the Overseer's point of view, probably one of his better ideas.  To  anyone else, Wilkins was ... well, "a power-grabbing thug" was probably the mild term.

Then various people started asking questions about leaving the Vault and what conditions were really like out in the Wasteland.  The Overseer and Wilkins reacted exactly as I would expect, meaning that instead of calming things down, that pair ended up triggering a full-on rebellion.  Only limited violence so far, Gomez said (I did not mention Steve Armstrong at that point), but the rebels (including Amata) were barricaded in the Clinic and a couple of other places.

Gomez finished his account of Vault 101's recent events and fell silent for a little bit, then  "If ... you're really here to help, to try and make things right, I'll help if I can.  It can't continue like this, no matter what it's like out there ..."  He eyed my high-tech armor, "... And on that, I don't know what to think."

"Long story.  I"d be glad of any help you can give, Officer Gomez.  Only ...."

"Yes?"

I smiled, sort of.  "I need a close look at your boots first."