AN: So here's the first update, tell me if you can spot what affliction you got stuck with.
just something to set up the very beginning of the story, proper voting starts next update. I'm not giving a specific time for that, but barring catastrophe it probably won't take as long as this one did.
Thanks to
@Japanime for his work as a Beta Reader, Helping me fix a pretty large amount of Grammar issues.
Remember, please discuss anything you think need's discussing, discourse is how I gauge reader interest. Constructive criticism is welcome as well.
At any rate here we go.
Alright so, you're awake now, that's good! It would be a good idea to do a preliminary check on the rest of your body before you open your eyes.
Legs? The right leg is hurting a fair deal, especially around the thigh, but you can work with it.
Arm's? Good to go.
Torso? You take a deep breath… yeah that hurts, that hurt's a lot… yeah that's a busted rib, can't tell if it's fractured or outright broken, either way it's not great, but hey you're still alive.
Head? Well, besides the consistent throbbing, and the distinct sensation of dried blood in your hair, nothing seems overly wrong.
Stomach? Yeah you're running on empty.
Overall, not the best it could be, but not the worst either.
Getting up to inspect what was left of your house leaves you rather dismayed, rubble in front of
both the doors out of said house? Really?
Well, at least it hadn't collapsed on top of you and crushed you to death. Which, was honestly the most you could reasonably ask for, considering what had been happening the last time you had been awake.
What with the panicking reporter on the TV, the air raid sirens, the quaking earth, and the mushroom cloud outside your window… it could be worse.
Honestly, you had been expecting this, well not the part where you were trapped in your own house by falling rubble, but the Big Kablooey, The End of The World, Total Atomic Annihilation? Yeah you had seen that coming.
How could you not have? You had known there had been something rotten in America for a while now… and despite what propaganda would have you believe, it wasn't
just communists. You'd become certain of that, after your
superiors had your unit start shooting subdued Canadian protestors.
To sum it up, that it had gotten to this point didn't really surprise you, well not as much as it could have anyway. But your foresight would serve you well! You had your stash buried in the backyard, you had your gun, the only thing you had been allowed to keep from your time serving in the Alaska campaign and Canadian Annexation, and you had your body and your mind! You wouldn't let the rot in your nation take you down with it.
Which, made it even more frustrating that your collapsing house had decided to fall in on itself in front of not one but,
both of your house's normal exits, kind of threw a wrench into all your planning.
You can improvise though, it's not like anyone can complain about holes in the walls, or broken windows, or random explosions anymore.
The windows had been reinforced explicitly to withstand being caught in a blast wave, and aside from the occasional crack, they had held out well so you doubted you were getting out that way. But the walls weren't reinforced much at all, and while they too had stood up to nuclear apocalypse, with the help of a few household cleaning supplies they wouldn't be standing much longer.
It had taken you two hours to rummage through your cabinets for the materials you needed. a half hour to turn the assorted boxes and bottles of Abraxo drain cleaner, Nuka-Cola, Mrs. Bubbles laundry detergent, and dish soap, into a workable explosive mixture. and then another twenty minutes to get said mixture into a proper explosive device. Apparently, having a busted rib made it hard to bend down or breathe. But you managed, and now your little explosive was about to do its duty in service of its creator.
Light the impromptu fuse and 3… 2… 1…
Oh hey it worked… your ears are ringing, and your headache just intensified three fold, but you had one perfectly serviceable hole in the wall leading to the outside world.
You slowly walked toward the improvised exit and finally saw the outside world once more.
Devastation, complete and utter devastation is what greets you, the sky is black and noxious green, and on the horizon you see a flickers of interspersed red and yellow… Detroit burning most likely.
The neighborhood itself isn't too much better.
Shady Meadows, A Peaceful Place, at least that's what the brochures had said. After your… retirement, The military had set you up here, supposedly as a reward for your actions in the Alaska campaign, but more likely to keep you quiet about the later years of the Canadian Annexation, the offer, and a few "compassionate" queries about how your mother was doing, had worked to shut you up quick. At any rate it had been a nice place quiet, out of the way, a perfect place for you to try and sort out your issues and build yourself a new life.
And now it was in ruins.
Several houses seemed to have been blown apart entirely by the shockwaves, and several more were still smoldering with half dead embers. The roads seemed to have cracked, fallen trees and scattered dust and ashes littered once pristine roads and walkways. Half melted lawn ornaments balefully stared out from a few of his neighbors yards as if condemning mankind for its actions, its hubris.
(The smell of burning meat, gunpowder and ozone, filling your head, boom boom boom, go the guns, Servo's click and whir, click and whir, click and whir. Screaming, so much screaming as fires climb up yellow bodies, skin bubbling away, they beg for help but you can't give any no oh no, no mercy for the red menace.)
You shake your head, and give yourself a slap on the face for good measure.
"Keep it together Tesla, you've got bigger problems."
A reprimand to yourself, to remind you of what needs doing. You can't get caught up in memories right now. You've got work to do, there might be other survivors, and if not you need to know how many holes you might have to dig later.
The first house you check, The Foley Couple's, is a bust. The oddly bent and scorched bodies on the lawn are proof enough of that. The house was a caved in wreck as well, so there wasn't even anything to salvage.
No one in the McAllister house, dead or otherwise, and their house was half burnt. In the garage, a still standing garage you note, you can see one of those new fully analog Corvega's...Manny always did like to flaunt his cash.
You pass by several more houses, and all you have is some dead bodies and a box of sugar bombs to show for it, you didn't really know why it was in a mailbox.
And then you get to the Reddington family residence, where your attempts to kick down the door (damn thing must be reinforced with something) provokes some noise on the inside, foot steps and a hushed "
Get the kids into the bedroom, Manny come with me"
Well… at least you had found survivors.
You hear clanking and clicking, probably locks and door blocks being undone and pushed away, and the door opens up… and now there's a shotgun barrel in your face.
"Whoever you are, we don't appreciate people who go around trying to break people's doors down, so how about you just go right back to wherever you came, and I'll let you keep your face."
Alessandra Gravano, the shy, 5'2" College bound Daughter of the Gavano family, was pointing a shotgun at your face. You figured the apocalypse would change things, but this is the kick in the head that made you really grasp it.
Manny McAllister, (Well at least you know where one of them had ended up) thankfully recognized you and decided to intervene, using that slick salesman voice of his to try and keep from witnessing your head getting blown off your shoulders.
"Easy, Alessandra! Easy, I know this guy, he lives two doors down, he's not some hooligan coming to loot us or anything… I think, Alex, Alex Tesla, right? That your name, like the scientist? Look pal sorry, but times are tough, and no one really knew you too well, you aren't actually here to loot us, right?"
They thought you were… no never mind that made sense, can't really blame them for paranoia. Probably a smart move to not just instantly trust anyone who comes to your door.
Alright, whilst you desperately wanted to correct Manny, (It was
Alexander Tesla thank you very much, and you didn't know him enough to call him a "pal") making sure that you don't get your head shot off is a higher priority, so you claw some words out from the depths of your noggin, and speak.
"I was looking for other survivors, my house collapsed and something musta hit my head, knocked me out for a day at least, and I had to take down a wall to get out of the house afterwards. Really I'm not here to loot or anything… just put the gun down okay, please?"
Alessandra put down the gun, relieved… and a little queasy looking, and were those tears in the corner of her eyes? Guess one day of nuclear apocalypse ain't enough to turn a teenage girl into a hardened killer or even make her comfortable giving out death threats. That innocence wasn't so quick to die was probably a good thing.
Pale faced, Alessandra spoke, the "Tough Girl" affectation from before mostly gone, replaced with an apologetic and stressed out young woman.
"Oh, oh gosh, I'm sorry… Alex right? It's just, so much has been happening and we're all worried and the kids keep asking what's going on, and we don't tell them, because how do you tell a 5 year old that the world just ended and, it's just been awful, I'm sorry, really."
Yeah, she had had it rather rough, that was easy enough to tell, but there was still some steel in her voice, she was a tough one alright.
"It's fine really, I would have done the same thing in your shoes, I'm just happy to still have my face." You assure her.
You smile… or at least try to, you get more of an "Inverted frown" really, it's just a bit hard to genuinely smile considering the current conditions, but it's the thought that counts right?
Yeah things are a little awkward. Fortunately for you, It's about this time that Manny decides to speak up again.
"Great, great! Now that we have that little issue cleared up, Alex buddy, you're not looking so good, why don't you come in? Pretty much all of us are staying here since it's the only house that hasn't caved in or burnt down somewhere. We got some food and some medicine if you need it, the missus can get you all patched up, and you can get some hot food in you."
That actually sounded pretty nice, your rib was still busted, and you were gonna need a stimpack or two and some bed rest before you could start excavating your stash anyway, there was safety in numbers too.
Also you were really,
really hungry.
"Yeah, that sounds pretty good right now Manny, lead the way."
After your little conversation in the doorframe, Alessandra and Manny had let you in, where you got a better look at them both.
Alessandra Gravano had been home from the University of Michigan for a weekend visit to her family, she had apparently just gotten in on the night before it all blew up, Nuclear detonations made for one hell of an alarm clock… Frankly she looks like she hasn't slept since, what with the unkempt red hair, the dulled eyes, and the shadows and tear tracks surrounding them. A face meant for smiling, now full of stress, grief and worry.
Manny McAllister, on the other hand, normally so clean and professional looking, looked haggard, stressed out, and covered in ashes… and was that a flower pattern Hawaiian shirt and cargo shorts under all the soot? Wow. You guess he must dress differently when at home, you're used to seeing him in his perfectly pressed suit for that fancy Robco sales job of his.
Apparently besides yourself, Melissa and Manny,
9 people had survived, The Reddingtons Jack and Katarina, there teenage son Ned. The McAllisters Manny and Clemence, their daughter's Sarah and Elizabeth. Alessandra's mother Celia and younger brother Damian, mentions of Mr Gravano just brought them to tears…
That was both good and bad… good because it was more than you had expected, bad because out of a neighborhood with roughly 100 people, only one tenth of that had survived, and you were a good distance away from the fireball.
The atmosphere inside the house was, to put it mildly, tense.
Very, very, tense. Worry, stress, sadness and fear. Just
oozing from everyone in the building and soaking into everything else. Not that that stopped Clemence McAllister, such a sweet woman, from mothering pretty much everyone, especially the kids. Although she briefly took her attention off them to check your ribs and leg and pump a stimpack into your veins, and then pretty much force you into laying down for awhile.
You and her both knew you didn't need to stay still for a stimpack to work, but she insisted (and was technically right) that you would heal better if you rested for an hour or two while the modern miracle of medicine did its work.
And thus you got to stick around in the same room as Ned Reddington and Sarah McAllister, for two hours.
Apparently Ned had gotten himself some nasty burns attempting to help the McAllisters out of there house yesterday, and Sarah had smoke inhalation to deal with.
You might as well get acquainted with some of the people you're probably gonna be spending at least a few weeks with.
"So Ned…, how are your uhhh, high school things going?"
Ned just stares at you like you're some sort of bewildering alien life form out of an issue of Captain Cosmos.
You almost instantly began to regret this decision.
"Fine they were going… fine."
Oh yeah… his high school and classmates may not exist anymore. Shit.
Note to self: Avoid topics that may have been destroyed by nuclear Armageddon.
"Have you heard about that new flavor of nuka cola? It's supposed to glow. Pretty cool huh?"
There, high school may be destroyed by a mere apocalypse, but Nuka Cola, like the half life of Bismuth 209 and Sugar Bombs, will outlast the universe.
Ned actually perks up a bit at this.
"Yeah, it actually is pretty neat, huh? Wonder if any of it got made and shipped out before… well you know."
"I'm sure it did, Ned."
With that, things actually seem to be slightly less awkward and you stop regretting your decision.
You then start regretting it again, when Sarah McAllister, awoken by you and Ned's Nuka-Cola conversation, begins singing the god-forsaken Nuka World Jingle, and it promptly gets stuck in your head.
Again.
Truly, these are dark times.
~What if there was a place with all the zip of Nuka-Cola
Wouldn't that be the cheer-cheer-cheeriest place in all the world~
"Uhhh, Alex, you in there buddy? We kinda have to talk this out." Manny crashes your day-dreams of a better world, a Nuka-World quite abruptly.
You come back to the real world with a bit of a shudder and whispered condemnation of your brain for getting that song stuck again.
Apparently stimpacks fix fractured bones faster than they do burns or smoke inhalation, and once you were deemed sufficiently healed by Clemence, you were finally allowed to get up… and promptly got called into a meeting involving all the adult survivors.
"So" Jack Reddington began, his tone and ability to lecture making his career as a university professor clear.
"It's fairly obvious that we have problems, we have no communication with the rest of the city, or anywhere else in the world. Presumably The EMP from the bombs has fried most of the electronics, the phones don't work, the radios are full of static, the televisions are done. Only Robco terminals are still functioning and they're networked to single buildings, effectively we have no way to know what's going on in the outside world. On top of that we don't really have much in the way of food or drink, beyond what was in our fridges and pantries at the time. Those issues really need to be solved, post haste, we're all adults here, and the children are relying on us. So any and all proposals will be considered… any ideas?"
Celia is the first to speak up.
"We could try farming, I have some seeds I was going to use to make a vegetable garden. We could try and stretch out what we have, until those bear some food."
Clemence, Alessandra, Jack, and Katarina, all perk up at the idea.
Manny, of all people, is the first to point out the flaw in that plan.
"Celia, In any other circumstances that might work, But I may not be scientist, but I know enough to know that what goes up eventually comes down, all that radioactive crud that big old firecracker kicked into the air, is probably gonna fall at some point and its gonna poison everything it touches, including the Soil, then we'll be attacked by mutant plants or something."
"Unfortunately he's right Celia, Farming isn't an option right now." Jack seems a bit saddened to have to say that.
It's about here that you decide to speak up.
"It may not permanently solve the problem, but, due to some… things I learned back in the army, I kind of thought this whole apocalypse thing might actually happen. when I couldn't get into a vault, I started building a sort of supply bunker under my yard, it's got food, water, medicine, and a few other things that might be useful, it would have been enough to last me, on my own, about six months… all 12 of us though? It may stretch out our food and water supply by two weeks, three tops."
"Your foresight is certainly Impressive, and it's pretty swell of you to tell us about this Alexander, but that still only delays our problem."
"Not so fast Jack!" you say "I had a plan to keep my supplies topped up as well."
The father of the Reddington family raises an eyebrow "Oh really? Well by all means do elaborate, Mr. Tesla."
Alright this was your chance to cement your worth to the group, to really contribute, better not screw it up.
You get up from your seat and begin to pace the room, as you put the words for your explanation together.
"Back in Alaska, it got cold, the weather could get pretty bad, and snow would sometimes block the roads, all that along with Chinese AA guns, would sometimes hinder supply drops. But as we pushed forward to Anchorage we would often find towns abandoned by the citizens fleeing from the reds, or we'd clear out Chinese positions, In either case the previous occupants didn't have time to pack their things… And supply starved as we sometimes were… we would take anything that wasn't nailed down, and sometimes things that
were nailed down."
Their attention was still on you, you hoped that their expressions meant that they were rapt with attention, but you were never the best judge of that sort of thing.
"Manny, that Corvega of yours, it was completely analogue right? No electronics to fry, and with a nuclear reactor so we don't need gasoline?"
Manny looked a bit confused, "Corvie? Yeah she's got it all! why do you ask?"
"Do you still have the keys?" you are absolutely sure that your eyes have a bit of crazy in them.
"Yeah… wait you don't mean your gonna…" Manny says, he and the rest of the group have caught on at this point.
You smirk, still not a real smile, so the universe can't fuck it up.
"Oh yes, ladies and gentleman, me and whoever else wants to come are gonna get some weapons, and whatever protection we can, and then were gonna go down to Detroit and take anything that isn't nailed down!"
"You can't be serious Alexander! Looting the city? What are we, Barbarians? Savages? Communists?" Katarina apparently does not approve of your plan.
"Well, it's that or starve, dehydrate, or die of radiation poisoning. It's do or die, and I doubt you all plan on dying." You counter, trying to drive home the importance of remaining properly supplied.
Murmurs and grumbling goes around the table until Alessandra speaks up.
"He's right."
The hushed arguments immediately cease.
"If we don't do it, if we don't start taking from the city, we are really going to die here."
Water begins to well up in Alessandra eyes, a haunted gaze, one you recognize all too well appearing to accompany the tears.
"My dad died getting my family out of our burning house, he did that so that me and Mom and Damian could live."
She chokes up for a moment, a shudder goes down her back, and then her heads looks up again… there's a steely glint shining in her eyes now, driving out the ghosts that haunted her gaze just a moment ago.
'So I refuse to just sit here and rot away slowly! Alex, you need people who know how to shoot right? My dad used to take me hunting and skeet shooting, and the shotgun has plenty of shells. I'll go with you, if you'll have me."
The hushed arguments, the muttered condemnations stop entirely as Alessandra finishes her little impromptu speech. You smile, and nod your head.
"Happy to have you aboard." you really are, back up may save your life, if things are as bad as you think they are.
"Hey, just hold on a second." Manny speaks up again, rudely bringing your mood down, is he really going to argue this?
"Your taking my car for this plan of yours, to just go loot the city like some rioters fed up with their paychecks?"
Damnit he really was going to argue this.
"Then I want to go with you, to make sure Corvie doesn't get dinged up, I may not know how to shoot, but I'm not in too bad a shape, and I can still swing a bat with the best of em!"
What?
Well this was unexpected… not necessarily unwelcome, but definitely unexpected.
"Your really going to go with us… and possibly risk your life with radiation or crazed mobs… over a car?" you asked, bewildered.
Manny looks you dead in the eye, raw determination peaking through his tired eyes.
"Alex, buddy, there are exactly two things of any real value left to my name. The first is my family, and the second is that car. Me going with you might save both of them at once, so Yes, I'll go with you."
Well, okay then, this was happening now. All in all it was pretty great it was actually going pretty well, this plan of yours might actually work, with three people you could have someone stay and guard the car so it didn't get stolen.
"Alright, It's great to have you Manny." You say, just a little bit of giddiness coming through your voice.
You reign yourself back in, there was still other things to talk about.
"So judging by the lack of further arguments, everyones okay with this plan then?" you pin the rest of the room with a look.
Nods and muttered assents move around the room.
"Alright then, there are still a few other things that need doing, We already have a scavenger team, and the rest of you are presumably gonna stay here… Someone should start dismantling the wrecks of the other houses, maybe start building some new shelter or a wall, no offense Jack, but your house is kinda cramped right now, and we want to keep other people from looting us."
"None taken Alex" Jack says, he seems to be getting into the idea as well now.
"as for more shelter." He continues, "I'm not half bad with tools and some wood, and Ned is actually pretty interested in crafting and woodworking, We can use the scraps from the ruined houses, start building a fence, maybe a shack or two once Ned's burns are fixed up, but that's gonna take a couple of days at least"
That's actually pretty great, with the basics of a plan worked out the meeting breaks up. You head out to get your stash, and head out to recruit some help from Manny to aid you in hauling supplies while you start planning out the Scavenger run into the city proper.
It's really coming together pretty nicely now. You've managed to get the others to go along with your plan to get more supplies, some more shelter might be on the way, and you might even have some walls going up that you can hide behind if worse comes to worse.
Heck, the Government's probably absolutely done now, so even the looming shadow of Uncle Sam coming to shut you up permanently is feeling less heavy!
Maybe the Apocalypse won't be so bad after all.
…
…
…
~Well it turns out there's a place with all the zip of Nuka-Cola Come on down to Nuka-World and see it for yourself~
Well it won't be as soon as this song gets out of your head.
Looking back on this day, you would decide that those last thoughts were incredibly naïve.
AN: Alright that's it for now, Voting options and next update coming soon, do the discussion thing, give criticism, and etcetera.
