Day 1 (Time unknown): My name is DanIel Hart, Dan to my friends…when I had those. I woke from what was apparently a cryofreeze pod in Vault 111 outside my home of Sanctuary Hills, north of Concord Massachusetts, to find my wife Nora dead in her own pod across from mine. The memory of her murder at the hands of nameless men, and our son Shawn's abduction, felt both like a recent and distant memory. I yelled for her to wake up and pounded on her pod’s window till my hands were bruised before seeing the access controls. I'm so sorry Nora…I failed you both.
I took her wedding ring and closed the door.
After just staring at her for I don’t know how long I explored vault 111. It was literally a tomb, both quiet and full of the preserved corpses of me neighbors in pods like ours. Everything was so fast when the bomb hit. We were herded into jumpsuits and then the pods with bare any questions. I suppose we all thought they were for protection against radiation…I doubt we would have said no if they had told us what they were.
As I pushed through the empty halls of the vault the eerie silence was replaced with a rapid scraping sound on the steel encompassing me. Wicked fast they flew at me: several giant roaches, and when I say giant I mean giant…like the size of dogs! Scared the shit out of me with their aggressiveness, I can’t lie. Normal roaches, small ones, freak me out so this was just icing on my nightmare cake. All I had to defend myself at first with an old security baton, then I found a .35 pistol but was sparing with the bullets as I found the blunt pole seems to be almost more effective, just had to get closer to them. While I was moving through the complex I took all the empty beer bottles I found and filled them with clean water from a fountain. Besides being thirsty as hell, I'm not sure what the water up above will be like, better safe then sorry. Also found some stim-packs on a desk while reading log entries about Vault-Tec policies and procedures on oddly ancient looking state-of-the-art computers. One had a holodisk of Red Death in it which I took. I eventually made my way to the "Overseer's" quarters where a skeleton lie sprawled on the floor before a bullet scared wall. Accessing the computer terminal there I discovered the reason for the Vault: it's twisted experiment, and extrapolated the mutiny that happened six months after we were frozen. At least the bastards behind this got what they deserved, though I suppose I do have to thank them for what’s left of my life. With no other option I scavenged what I could which was just another another pistol. Unfortunately I could not get the big gun that was locked in a glass case on the wall of a small storage closet. It was no model I recognized but looked mean. With nothing left to do I unlocked the only exit and left.
Down a twisted hallway full of more roaches and I found myself back at the vault's entrance. The memory of passing through there was a blur of action...it all happened so fast.
The lower floor of the Vault's entrance was flooded...and after a gulp I realized my instincts to bottle fresh water was a good one. It's irradiated, can tell by ingesting it. I don't want to but I'll most likely be back here to get more fresh water, and hopefully that odd gun someday. Took a pip-boy off a scientist's skeleton and activated the vault door to let me access the elevator, and thought to hold onto it, at the least I am logging this journal…but I know what these things can do. Used a stim to help with the scratches and bites from the roaches, and could feel my mouth drying out as the needle pierced my skin and auto-injected the chems. Chugging one of my clean waters I stepped into the lift...
October 23rd 2077 10AM: Sunlight...I made it to the surface. My body might have been in suspended animation but my eyes knew it had been a while since I saw natural light. Scavenged some more random crap from the control station, another stim and, luckily, some glasses then peered out on the blasted world.
The Pip-Boy says that it's still Oct. 23rd, the same date we went in...it doesn't make sense.
Well thank God for the glasses I found in the elevator control station at least! They are not quiet my prescription, but they help. Distance is less fuzzy now and they will help with any further shooting if needed. (+ 1 PER) I had not fired a gun since I left the service and it showed with the bugs. Of corse, once I find some people, maybe the authorities, I won't need a gun.
11:20 AM: Good news! I'm picking up radio stations on the Pip-Boy! Listened to something called "Diamond City Radio". Not much, just some really awkward guy playing current hits, stuff Nora and I listened to, and babbling about nonsense. Also have a classical station, less memories with those songs.
Stuck with the classical one.
12:05 PM: Made it home to Sanctuary. Even though it was a short walk it took longer then it should have. Kept getting lost despite this area being our home…its just so different. The bomb sure did a number, I only wish I knew how long I was down there. Apparently it was long enough for the radiation to dissipate which worries me...that takes a long time. I'd rather not thing about it.
I could barely recognize Sanctuary Hills, let alone our house...is that? Codsworth? I can't believe he's functioning!
12:25 PM: No. I can't believe it...210 years? I, I can't right now...
1:00 PM: He's right. The Pip-Boy shows the date as 10.23.2287, I didn't register the year when I glanced at it earlier but…that’s not possible. The year was 2077 yesterday morning when I woke up, and Cogsworths right were we left him at home…
Ok, focus...worry about the year later. He's pretty battered but seems fully functional, though acting odd. After he told me how long it has been, I told him about Nora and Shawn. It did not seem to register, like he was struggling with the news as much as I was about my Rip Van Winkle. He gave me a holodisk she made for me...said it was meant for after my big ceremony. I can't listen to this now...I don't know if I ever can. I failed her...
After some back and forth I convinced him to open up to me and he described how the past few centuries (I can't believe it has really been that long) had been tough for him. He's still erratic and he seemed convinced we might find Nora and Shawn somewhere in town, but I think just speaking to me again has helped.
I let him hover off while I scouted the area to got my bearings. I'm feeling tired, need to rest. Probably a combination of coming out of the freezer and, and everything. I checked out a few of our neighbor's homes quickly, some signs of squatters, but little else. I suppose if what Codsworth said is right finding any survivors I knew is not happening, everyone’s dead. At the Rosa's place across the street I found some kind of melons in the backyard, and workstations someone had built in their carport. I used a cook pot that was set up at the Russell's by the entrance to the Hills to grill up some of the roach from the vault…God it smells nauseating.
7:00 PM: Feeling exhausted. I headed back to our old bedroom and scrapped our bed's frame, the rug, picture frames...basically everything except the dressers, which were still intact. I managed to construct a bed from the supplies and other bits of junk I had been aimlessly picking up. I also made some candles to keep the dark at bay. I though it would take forever to get to sleep, I had apparently been doing it for 200 years after all.
I slept for nine solid hours...
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