*This takes place in Montana, 2292. All comment and criticism is appreciated and welcomed.

-Sanctuary-

Prologue

I was on the castles walkway, over looking rolling hills of earth. It might have been a scenic view before, but now all there is, is rocks, brush, and the occasional dead tree. What I was looking at though, was the multitude of black dots on the horizon.

[censored] Enclave.

The castle itself was a marvel. It had been built on the side of a mountain, the keep had been destroyed, but the walls were in good shape. Settlers quickly moved in. Due to the fact that it was easily defend able, it became the largest city in these parts of the wastes and was the center of trade. The stone walls had patches of metal in some places, but remained relatively untouched. The gate had been replaced by two large metal doors that slid away at a touch of a button. Inside was numerous buildings and shops, pretty big for the wastes. It was all deserted though, war was coming soon, and all unable personal had been evacuated.

Funny, how, even after we nearly extincted all of mankind, we still continue to fight. I shouldn't be one to complain, after all, I started this. Me and that [censored] tape.

“I'd estimate over a hundred.” I nearly jumped when Stephen spoke, he could sneak up behind you when you least expected it and I still hadn't gotten use to it. He had managed to come up right next to me and was crouching on the edge of the wall. He was only sixteen, but I've come to trust him the most and he was probably a better fighter than I I'm. His unkempt, black hair blew in front of his face, but I knew what he looked like. He always wore a stoic expression and his hazel eyes never gave his feelings away.

“I know.” I responded.

“So, are we going to fight?”

“Do we have a choice? If we don't they'll kill us or take this place from us. No. We must fight them to the death. They can not be allowed to take Itova, they can not take the Sanctuary! If they do, where will we go? This is the only place where we waste landers can find peace! If we allow it to fall, we allow them to completely control us!”

“I know, I was just wondering if you did. After all, people are going to die for this.”

“People die everyday in the wastes, this is for the good of everyone.”

“I'll go inform the rest of the settlers, we can we expect them to attack?” Fran spoke up from my side, people just kept sneaking up on me today, I really need to keep my guard up. I turned towards her, her dark red hair was pulled up into a ponytail, revealing green eyes, and a very dirty face. I grabbed at my brown, tangled hair as a calculated.

“Probably just one day, two max. It's a straight shot from there to here, I don't have any reason why they would delay.”

“How are we going to defeat a hundred armed and trained soldiers, with one hundred and fifty untrained and inexperienced settlers? Not to mention the lack of supplies.”

“Well, we are on the side of a mountain, so they would have to travel up the slope to get here, and we have the upper hand in defense. What I'm hoping for is for the Brotherhood of Steel to get here and flank the Enclave, with that we could decimate both sides in the confusion.”

“I see, so the hardest part will be the beginning, if we can just hold them off for a while, until the Brotherhood gets here. Then with all the confusion, we can wipe them both out.”

I just nodded in response. A huge war between Us, the Brotherhood of Steel, and the Enclave, was started all because of me. Me and the that tape.

I wish I never found that tape, should have left it alone, now hundreds are going to die.....

Ooh. A good prolouge indeed. A few, minor errors to do with spelling like you spelt where, were a few times. Other than that, good stuff. (Y)

Thank you very much. I'll try to fix those.

*All comments welcome.

-Sanctuary-

Beginning of a Nightmare

It all started on my way to Thenton, it was in the afternoon, my plain white t-shirt was completely soaked. I was a wanderer, traveling from place and just trying to stay alive in the big, bad wastes. The only things I had on me were, blue jeans, white sneakers, and a SW99. I didn't know what the later was called until I found the Sanctuary, amazing place really, but that's later and all I knew, was that it was a semi automatic pistol. I had three spare clips in my belt and each held fifteen rounds, only ten rounds in the loaded one, have to get dinner somehow.

Anyway, I was walking along a long abandoned road, passing cars frequently and some ruined shelters. I came across a shack, it wasn't exactly in good shape, but it wasn't in rambles either, I decided to check inside. I cautiously moved towards it and drew my gun. Leaning against the door, I slowly opened it and pointed my gun inside, bad decision.

It was empty, but not for long, I had no clue at the amount of trouble I was about to get into. I observed the surroundings, nothing unusual, I found some dog meat and a Nuka Cola in a fridge at the corner of the shack. I finished my meal while keeping my eye on the stairs. I took one last look around, fridge, small table, two chairs, and a doorway that lead to the bathroom. I took the steps cautiously, there was a trail of blood leading up them.

At the top I found a bed, bookcase, and two windows. Oh, and there was a dead guy on the floor, in a pool of his own blood, face up. I inspected him, hoping for something help full, hey, that's the way of the wastes. He was old, white hair, white beard and lots of wrinkles. He was wearing combat armor that was riddled with bullet holes, a laser rifle laid next to him. I was thinking about trying on the armor, when I noticed that he had something in his left hand. It was a holotape, covered in blood and grime, he was clutching it tightly, like it was the most important thing in the world.

I pried it from his grasps, I wiped off on my shirt, leaving a bloody smear, and slid into my pants. I was going to pick up the laser rifle, when a vibration filled my bones and shook the shack. I looked out the window that overlooked the road, the other one faced the stairs and looked parallel to the road. The sight I saw amazed beyond belief, a Vertibird landed on the road in front of the shack and unloaded six enclave soldiers. Luck, I have no shortage, be it bad or good.

Before I could even register what was happening, they were all ready inside the house. I moved quickly to the stairs, and looked down to see an enclave at the bottom of the stairs. We stared at at each other, than he spotted the tape sticking out of my pocket,

"Kill Him! He has it!"

I didn't what I had at that time, but I didn't need too, they were going to kill me one way or another. The lead one aimed at me with his plasma rifle and pulled the trigger, I winced, nothing happened. Didn't I mention my luck? Anyway, I turned around and dove out the window, actually it was just a hole in the shape of a window, I landed, rolled and came back up, running. I sprinted past the Vertibird and continued down the road, towards Thenton.

I don't know how long a ran, it was nightmarish for me. I vaulted over cars, and sometimes fell, acquiring some wounds. I eventually came to a bridge, filled with cars that were hard to maneuver threw. I stopped and vomited, on all fours with my head hung low. I was panting like crazing and I knew I couldn't keep up with this pace. Standing back up, I wiped the bile from my face and slowly tried to weaving threw the cars.

About three quarters of the way there, the enclave caught up, I looked back and saw them, they were moving threw the bridge and quickly closing the distance.

"Don't worry guys. We've got him," one of them said,

"I got him!" Thank my luck, he was stupid. He actually fire at me with his laser rifle,

"No! Don't!"

The warning that came from the other one was too late though, I ducked and the shots hit a car behind me. The car burst into flames and the stupid one finally realized his mistake. We were on a crumbling bridge, full of cars that were just inactive bombs really, and one ticking time bomb. They tried running back the way they came and I ran towards the edge of the bridge, the drop wasn't enough to kill you, there was water down below.

I jumped over the edge, feet pointing towards the water. The drop only lasted half a second, but it felt longer, I plunged into the water as the bridge exploded overhead. The sound was muffled from underwater, but it probably would've burst my eardrums above water. I didn't care about that, me lungs were burning, I couldn't hold my breath longer. I broke the water face first, gasping for air, but a big wave from the rubble falling into the water pushed me back down.

I came back up gasping, throat burning, I reached the shore and dragged myself up. I flopped on my back and looked at the sky. In a matter of a few minutes my life had took a turn for the worst. I was alone, lost, weaponless, soaked. Oh, and the Enclave apparently wanted me dead.

I lay there, soaked, with only a holotape in my pocket, I started to cry.

This was just the beginning of my nightmare.