The Survivalist's Story Narration [Fallout New Vegas]

Transcript

October 28th, 2077, 5 days on foot, still can't sleep. Outside it's like nothing happened, sky looks wrong, that's all. Hike back to overturned NAC guard truck near Torquerville? After blisters heal, maybe.

Looks like the USGS team was researching something here in the cave, cleared out when bombs fell, left equipment behind, probably thought they had families to run back to. October 29th, 2077, Char must have said this out loud a thousand times walking here, maybe writing it will feel more like you heard. You were right, I was north of Spanish Fork, took the 77 along Provo Bay to steer clear of town, would have been home in an hour, engine died, truck just stopped.

So did a Christless in the other lane, knew right away. Wasn't no kid, SLC, inside a minute, I was looking south, lucky man, flash behind me so bright the world looked on fire, old couple from the Christless start screaming they can't see. Didn't watch you die, Char, saved my eyes, counted 12 more flashes next 7 minutes, ground shook each time, 18 seconds later, when nothing hit for the half hour, took a look, globe of fire where you and Alex died, didn't kid myself, didn't know what to do, grabbed my pack and rifle, sawed to the old couple, sat them against a car, let them hold and comfort each other, told them I was going to get help, everything will be okay.

One bullet through both heads, instant, 5 day hike back to Zion, you told me, stop running off into the wild, man belongs with his family, and you were right, you were right, you were right, you were right, wasn't there to hold you, my boy, died without me, never touch you or him again, could shoot myself maybe, what I deserve, can't, maybe soon. October 31st, 2077, black rain falling outside, Geiger jumping, should let it kill me, bottling water from back of the cave all the same, November 2nd, 2077, sounds dead outside but I can't look, Geiger goes lethal 15 feet from the cave's mouth, do the math, radiation goes down before water runs out or I never leave this cave, year 2083, May 5th, the comeback goes on, add prickly pear to list of survivors here with a money mesquite and banana yucca, odd nodules and mutations but safe to eat, harvesting oh so careful, never take more than a fifth, mouth waters every time I'm about to eat something that isn't from a can, May 7th, clouds of those stinging flies near fallen tree I call the napper, little flashes in the cloud, something dragonfly sized that zaps in the midair then scoops them up, something new, May 19th, bighorn sheep, a family, ram, ewe, a little one, fucking goddamit, May 20th, 2083, the sheep were different, brawny, ewe had curved horns just like the ram, seen some tiny lizards but this is first time seeing animals that big, fingers crossed, 5-10 years breeding fresh meat, hides, horns, I know it's time to go back char, when winter had passed, June 14th, 2084, just got back, tired, could scrounging along the way, ended up dragging back a cart of stuff, write tomorrow, sleep, June 15th, departed April 10th, walked to SLC took 15 days, would have been 7-9 back in the old days but had to circle pockets of radiation and foraged along the way, don't know what I was thinking, imagined I'd find my house, dig through rubble, find something, your bones, I hoped, and little nuts, would have buried them, here in Zion maybe, SLC is mostly craters, warped steel girders where high rises sit, mounds of bricks, never found our house, didn't even find street, what wasn't a crater was scorched clean, want to believe it was fast, a flash, both of you vaporized, lies to make me feel better, I'll never know, which part of the city got hit first, northeast and you both died in a blink, farther away and you would have burned alive screaming, or the blast broken glass and bits of bricks and wood splinters shredding you like hamburger, look at it coward and listen, don't turn away, face it, if you'd been brave lucky man, you would have found a spot and blown your brains out, but not you, you took your time walking back, made a shopping trip of it, scrounger, the truck was still there on the 77th north of the Spanish fork, the Chrysalis too, but no sign of the old couple's bones, outside Nephi I caught a trail, three men, tracks headed towards Fountain Green, thought about following but didn't, stupid fantasy of friends, more likely cannibals, June 20th, took two days to build door and electrify it, no soliciting assholes, home sweet fucking home, September 20th, 2095, I count 28 of them, 11 adult males, 8 females, 9 children aged 2 to 10, some rifles and pistols in bad repair, old world clothes, ratty, September 22nd, got close enough last night to hear them talk, Spanish I think, from Mexico, heard them say Paradiso a bunch, think that means paradise, here to stay them, seem harmless, seem, October 5th, the one I call Maria is pregnant, think the father is Jose, but she spends a lot of time with Pablo too, October 7th, Pedro ran out to pee in the stream and would have seen me if he looked to his left, too close, need to give them space, November 10th, Jose broke his leg chasing a bighorn, too far from camp for them to hear, I told myself to leave it be, but couldn't, 300 yards from their camp did my best Jose screaming imitation until a bunch of them came looking, then strung them along to the crest where they could hear the real Jose, probably useless, compound fracture, broke the skin, November 11th, Infection, so many goddamn words nearly the same, think I'd be fluent, but anyway Jose's leg has got it, so he's going to die, nature for you, of course they're giving prayer a try, November 12th, left bottle of antibiotics on a rock outside of their camp last night, they thanked god, dios, of course, as though that asshole saw fit to burn the world, but still cared enough to leave some medicine on a rock, November 15th, Jose will always limp, but otherwise he'll be okay, good deed for the month, good deed for the month, will they make it through the winter, February 11th, 2096, fuckers killed all the men, I think they would have taken the women alive, but Maria and Selina opened fire, and some of the others went for their guns, so they shot them down, and some of the kids with them, if I could have warned them, February 12th, 2096, Elena and Carmen and five children are still alive, being kept in a pen, there are more than 100 of these assholes in blue suits, every suit says 22 on the back, why, armed to the teeth with submachine guns, pistols, estimate 60% male, everyone seems to follow the dark haired guy, but can't get close enough to tell, assholes are disciplined, patrols, sentries, they mean business, say I go in at night and get the women and children out, where to next, but I have to get them out, have to, February 13th, recon during night, well organized, sentries along most approaches, but stream not covered, are they sick, lots of coughing fits, tuberculosis, women and children still in pen, will try to infiltrate by stream tomorrow night, February 14th, they ate them, February 19th, ambush along Riverside trail, six males killed, heard their coughing a mile away, used their grenades to booby trap bodies, kept half, secured six SMGs, 500 rounds, 10mm, six frags, February 20th, ambush along Riverside trail, two males died checking bodies, killed two more with rifle, shot one through calf and let asshole crawl off to spread message, coughed like I'd shot him through the lungs, February 23rd, ambush half mile east of coal pits wash, eight males killed, February 28th, 2096th, ambush in the narrows, six males killed, took a 10mm through the thigh, steel jacket, missed femoral, lucky, used turn kit to make sure no blood splattered on rocks back to cave, have settled traps along entrance passage but if they find me it will be a matter of time, still 24 confirmed kills in 10 days, equals one third of their combat force, not bad for an old man, March 2nd, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, patrol was small, three men, screaming woke me, point man caught under deadfall, panic fire ricocheted into the cave, almost hit me, crawled forward and killed them all with SMGs, nearly used frags, stupid, finger and pin when remembered ricochets, leaving at once, no other patrols in the area but they'll be searching narrows for these three, taking as much food as I can drag with me and heading to cave south, January 13th, 2097, the coffers are gone finally, all 34 that still lived, ate their dead for strength, then struck out southeast, victory, 10 months of killing, all I feel is cold, they deserved every goddamn bit of it, January 17th, thought I was dreaming but the screams were real, for a moment thought they tricked me, just pretended to leave Zion, then sent a patrol to track me down, but the screams were once, edged around every corner and passageway to have a look, one vaulter, ankle deep in a bear trap, leveled my SMG but the way she was crying stopped me, how she screamed when she saw me, been their boogeyman for a long time, named Sylvie, claims she ran away from them, calls them evil people, children of the devil, turns out they were sick after all, something they caught in a vault they lived in, she never came down with it, yet, so help me, I've wound up being her nurse, January 18th, her story matches what I learned from my interrogations last year, but according to her, let's just say it was bad to be a woman in that group, so when they left she slipped away, she knows nothing about living outside of a vault, says she wants to learn, September 9th, 2100, never been so scared in my life, Canada wasn't scary, just sickening, the criminality of it, the end of the world wasn't scary, when I knew you and Alex were dead I didn't have anything left to be scared about, I just went on for some reason, I wasn't scared fighting the vaulters, it was like I kept daring them to finish me, when I killed them I think it was the closest I came to feeling happy in years, Sylvia's pregnant and I am terrified, ridiculous old man, a father again at age 47 in this world, she's so excited and so trusting, says it's God's will that we will have this child, like nothing can go wrong, you see Char, she doesn't know about you and Alex, never told her, almost did some, .