Fallout: Yosemite

[darkedge42392]

Morgan could barely catch his breath as the view of the valley of Yosemite opened up before them. His amber eyes drank in the greenery, glad to see something so vibrant after the dreary white walls of the Vault. He was completely astounded. His customary half smile deepened into a full grin. He laughed again. He couldn't believe it! He was free!

 

As the Evans' girl splashed her way into the water, Morgan wandered over and slid his hand into the rushing water. He laughed again. Such power! He could feel the weight of the water as it flew so freely over his hand and pushed it downstream. It was so different compared to the tepid and fine amounts of water that their showers consisted of. This, this was raw natural power. And it was cold! Morgan pulled his hand out of the water and chuckled. His hand was bright pink. He swept his eyes over the valley of Yosemite again. He couldn't believe the park had survived the onslaught of nuclear war so well. Everything was so alive. And the sky was so blue. Trees stretched for miles around, filling the bowl created between the tall peaks around them. The waterfall that they had come out from behind of rushed along in a river that went further into the wilderness as it wrapped around a jutting of rock in the distance. He wondered where it went.

 

Morgan wiped his now cold hand off on his jumpsuit and wandered back over to the others. They were discussing which way they were going. The tall dark headed one named Lancer suggested that they needed a scout. Morgan smirked as he walked up.

 

"If you want, Jess, I can scout ahead. I think I might be able to see what lies ahead. Besides, I need to stretch my legs," he chuckled. He brushed his hair back out of his eyes and grinned again. "Anyone want to pair up with me so I have some extra eyes I can use? No point in going alone and getting lost."

[AurianaValoria1]

Angel glanced about, impressed with the vivid scenery but just waiting for the moment when something would inevitably call them potential food. She gave the man called Morgan a silent glare, all the while thinking, Don't look at me. I'm a repair girl, not a park ranger.

[chaptermaster21]

Jon stood and watched with the other vault members as the vault door was about to open. He checked his bag to make sure that everything is in order, he had been given the standard rations and equipment just like all the other people around him. He looked at his 10mm gun that his father gave him a long time ago. He still remembers his father's words when he gave it to him. "Remember when the time comes and you have to take a life, always consider the consequences of your actions, for each life has a value and shouldn't not be easily cast aside". He chuckled as closed his bag and looked at the vault door.

 

His dream was finally coming true, no more sitting and living in the same place. no more waking up to do all the routine he had been forced to do. Finally the vault door is opening and the entire world is welcoming him with open arms.

 

The vault door finally opened and the rays of light coming from the outside world blinded the Jon and the vault dwellers. Jon Stood silently and closed his eyes as he let the light bath him with the first wonders of the world.

 

Jon looked at Morgan as he said "Don't be scared of what're you leaving behind, everyone! Be scared of what we'll find!" and replied with a grin:

 

"Think of all Incredible things we will encounter Morgan, We are finally free from this dull prison and this dull life"

 

Jon grabbed his bag and moved toward the exit steadily. He had nothing in the vault he valued and he hasn't really made any relationship with anyone so he had no regrets.

 

Jon exited the vault and looked around him in awe, as he watched the outside world. Finally his dream came true and he was finally free. He smiled while gazing across the horizon for he knew that his new life has just started and his chance to make his mark on the world has just begun.

[Flipout6]

Jessica's head snapped to Lancer. "Keep that attitude in check, boy. We're relying on each-other out here, and an attitude problem isn't helping that. Besides, you know we're not allowed back in the Vault."

 

Saying nothing further, she took a minute to think through her options. On the one hand, having an idea of what lay ahead of them could prove beneficial and help them to avoid danger. But on the other, the issue of them not knowing what lay ahead was an issue in and of itself; there could be anything.

 

"No." She responded flatly when the suggestion was brought up. "We need to stick together. Anything could be on that trail, and if it's dangerous, it's better that all of us face it rather than just two." She considered her possibilities further, but decided to stick to her current course of action. "We stay together, no matter what."

 

"I don't know, Jessica." Alex added. "I mean, if they're good at keeping quiet and they can find their way back, the extra knowledge could come in handy."

 

"It's not hard to stay quiet on flat, steel floors. Just take your shoes off and go around in your socks and you barely make a sound. Out here, even if you were out and about in sock feet, even our quietest is going to make noise. Nobody's used to the bush." She raised an eyebrow and looked at the young scientist. "And I'm willing to bet that our Vault scamp Isabella here-" She shot the hellraiser in question a small smile. "-would have wanted to be the one going scouting."

 

"Can't have that." Alex responded, and then her shot her a look. "She's already proven herself to have quite the unhealthy penchant for carefree risk-taking."

 

There was a brief pause as the last of them finished adapting to the bright light, the heat, and generally got themselves ready to go. Jessica habitually checked to make sure she had everything for what had to be the fifteenth time that day, and tightened her laces a bit. "Alright people, that's our five, let's get moving!"

[tokyobiohazard]

Izzy sloshed her way out of the water, returning the grin Jessica gave her. She crossed her arms, now feeling a bit chilly after getting out of the cool water. Maybe hopping in wasn't such a great idea. "Yeah, I definitely would have scouted ahead for you. But if you think it's not a good idea, I'm sure it isn't."

Caden found himself checking both his Pip-Boy's built-in compass, and the non-digital one he'd brought along, to be safe, as they moved through the bushes. If they doubled back on the twisted path, he let Jessica know they were going backward and the group righted themselves.

"Stop! Look around." Izzy called out after walking for a solid forty minutes, as they entered a clearing, the path nearly at an end as it led to a large meadow full of bright grass and flowers.

"Yes, it's very pretty, but we need to find a place to camp that's not knee-high with grass, if that's what you're getting at."

"Look DOWN, Caden." Izzy pointed toward the ground, at a group of beaten hoofprints in the muddy earth. "Looks sort of like deer tracks to me. A couple huge raccoon prints around them, too. There's food around here, and a lot of it."

[AurianaValoria1]

"Which means there's also predators," Angel remarked of a sudden from the rear of the group. She raised an eyebrow as she held on to the strap of her backpack, "I'd be ready for the wildlife to take exception to our intruding on their territory, if I were you." Despite the fact that she was entranced with her surroundings, she did not relish the thought of being pounced on by bears, mountain lions, wolves, or anything else she had read about back in the vault.

 

Or their irradiated counterparts.

[darkedge42392]

Morgan wandered up from the rear of the group to see these deer tracks himself. He crouched down and gently touched them. The earth of the valley was soft and dark, and the prints left by the deer were smooth and clearly defined. They were fresh. At the mention of predators, he frowned and readjusted his weight on the balls of his feet, scanning the clearing with a quick eye. Nothing that he could see except the trail, tall grass, and the trees in the distance.

 

"I do not want to get eaten by anything out here, especially since we're all fresh out of the Vault," he said, his deep voice rumbling as he trailed off as he was distracted by the feel of the cool breeze from the high peaks around him rustling the trees. His adrenaline from earlier had worn down into a quiet amazement at the world around him. He couldn't believe how alive he felt. And he sure as hell wasn't going to risk that feeling by being stupid.

[FreemasonGamer]

Watching and listening from the outer edge of the group, Lancer nodded slightly. Despite his wariness towards the others―few of which he even knew to any meaningful extent―he kept Jessica's warning in mind; as mismatched and poorly coordinated they were as a group, they were a still group more or less dependent on one another. After Isabella brought the animal tracks to attention, Lancer narrowed his eyes before cautiously surveying the forests bordering the meadow. "We're not short on food for now, but we aught to keep that in mind for later." He replied quietly, not exactly keen on hunting and butchering the next poor creature they might come across.

Edited March 27, 2015 by FreemasonGamer

[chaptermaster21]

Jon Watched the group as they had conversations with each other. The idea of going out and exploring the area sounded appealing to him. However he knew that they were unprepared for whatever mysteries lurked in the outside world. They had barely took the grasp of the sudden fresh air and the sun light, so it didn't seem like a good idea that they would start separating and venturing out on the get-go.

 

Jon nodded quietly when angel mentioned the possibility of encountering predators. However something popped into his head that made him decide to finally approach the group and talk to them. He moved slowly toward the group then he said in a calm tone:

 

"Also keep in mind that not everything we see is safe to eat. Many things in this place may be poisonous or irradiated. For while this place survived the fallout there is still a high chance that many things have been affected by the radiation".

[tokyobiohazard]

"It's best we keep moving." Jessica urged, as the speculation died down. "Don't want to stick around in the middle of nowhere for too long."

"I'm mapping our progress on my pip-boy." Alex told her. "At least we probably won't get lost."

As they cautiously moved through the clearing, it became evident that Isabella was struggling with her pack, adjusting it multiple times, and even stopping for a breather once.

"Here." Jessica's beckoning hand was suddenly pointing towards her backpack. "I'll carry that for a while."

Izzy gave it no second thought and slid the pack in Jessica's direction. "Don't you think we should be taking a break to eat or something here soon?"

Jessica frowned a bit as she took the pack. "I'm not sure. Do we really want to start using up food this early?"

Caden cut in, "It doesn't look like we're exactly going to go hungry out here."

"But what have we seen that we know we can eat?" She countered. "Do any of us know what would be safe?"

"Actually," Alex interjected. "There's a few ways of finding out what you can eat safely. It's one of the many functions on the pip-boy. And besides, if we don't eat, we'll burn out our energy completely."

"I... guess you're right." Jessica sighed, then nodded toward a few beaten down picnic tables off toward another path that led into the clearing. "We'll eat over there. Convenient."

The group neared the picnic tables, which looked sound enough, if not a little rickety. Jessica followed the lead of her peers by sitting down on one of the benches. However, her plans were thwarted when the bench underneath her cracked in half and gave way underneath her bum. With a sharp thud, she was on her behind in the grass, a bewildered look on her face and her cheeks flushed with red.

Caden suppressed a snicker, but Izzy surprisingly didn't make a peep, simply offering Jess her hand. "Must have been the extra pack that did it."

After about a half hour of eating, a lone figure emerged from the bushes, and it was most likely the scariest thing the group had seen since leaving the vault: a large black bear with mangy fur, one of its eyes milk-white.

Jessica jumped to her feet with a mouthful of canned pork and beans, snatching her pistol from its place at her right side.

"Easy, easy!" A man's voice exclaimed from the bushes. He stood up from his position hidden beneath some underbrush and held his hands in the air, a gesture of peace as the bear rumbled at Jessica. "Easy, Luce." He murmured, stroking the bear's ear, and it backed down.

"Why were you watching us?" Jessica demanded sharply, clutching her pistol tightly but giving him the benefit of the doubt and keeping it pointed at the ground.

"I just had to make sure you weren't hostile folks, is all." He stepped forward. A badly-shaven salt-and-pepper beard and a heavily-lined face set his age at somewhere in his forties or early fifties. He gazed at them with wide, but sharp eyes. "You seem honest enough to me, though. I'm Hunter. This-" He scratched the bear behind the ears again. "-is my Yao Guai, Lucy."

"A Yao Guai?" Alex pondered. "It's clearly a black bear, or....something descended from the area's bear population, at least. And domesticated?" He looked up at Hunter. "Is her eye wounded?"

Hunter shook his head. "Nah, boy. Yao Guai have usually got a milky eye or two, something from the bombs, I guess. Some of 'em have brown ones, though. Yao Guai are almost like dogs, these days; you got your wild man-eaters, and you got the ones people keep as pets. They can be real friendly, actually."

Caden was taken aback, "Dogs? Man-eaters? Dogs were called man's best friend, right?"

Izzy nodded, "Yeah, that's what they say. I guess they've gone feral again... What about cats?"

"The hell's a cat?" Hunter retorted, puzzled.

"Gone, then..." Alex pondered to himself.