Stories of The New Hope Family.
Carter's Story:
Growing up in a wasteland was difficult enough. There was only so much you could do to survive, you were either in a town secured by its walls, or far away from the chaos to live in peace. This is not my story. My story is not a pleasant one because I am a scavenger, I am a loner, I am a survivor, but most of all, I am a runner.
My parents only wanted the best for us, My dad was a repair man that live in a place Megaton. The town started falling apart and he was there to repair anything that was damaged. It was good until an accident put him out of work. Eventually he had to leave Megaton and needed a new place to stay. He ran into a place called Paradise Falls that seemed like it would be perfect for us. We reached the town only to realize it was full of slavers. My Father made a deal with them saying he would sell himself into slavery if My mom and I could live there. They all agreed to the terms and eventually everything was fine. Unfortunately you should never trust slavers.
My father realized that this was not the environment he wanted for us and did everything he could to get us out. The slavers refused to bargain for another deal. My father threatened to leave and take us with him, without hesitation he was executed right on the spot. His body was then hung right in front of the entrance and a placed right under him saying traitors will suffer. My mother and I tried to fight back but they eventually told us what happens to any for resistance. My mom was killed right in front of me. As a punishment i would take my fathers spot into slavery...or so they told me.
I was forced down and they welded a slave collar to me. They told me that every slaver has a special device that gives off a unique signal. This unique signal is the same one they put into my collar. If a slaver ever gets less than five feet from me, the collar detonates. This is their cruel version of a cat and mouse game, I would have tried to kill them but then the collar would have detonated. I was not going to let them get away with this. They took away all my things leaving me only with a ripped t-shirt and dirty shorts. They told me to start running and that I would have a one day head start.
I have been running most of my young life. I have only killed a handful of slavers that came in contact with me, and I knew one thing, I was not going to be able to stop them all. I tried to stop at every town I came across, most of them didn't want anything to do with a slave. Everyone saw my collar and just told me to keep walking, this thing around my neck was a mark, a mark that I couldn't get rid of. I tried to find people out on the wasteland, but no one had the knowledge to disarm the collar. I was an orphan to the wasteland no place to call home, no place that seemed safe, no one to help me. One day I passed one of the many vault's, the number was faded so I couldn't read it. The massive door was still shut so I didn't bother stopping to see what it was about. As I continued down the road, just outside of the vault, I found what seemed to be a relief. It was a highway say with just one thing written on it. New Hope 5 miles. I knew this will be my salvation.