Ok so this is another Fan Fic. :woot: I know it's a little short but its only the Prologue which is also why its written in italics. Please read, enjoy and comment.

The Journal of a Dead Man

Prologue

15 years after the purifier was activated the people of the wasteland began to die of a mysterious virus. It took the people another 5 years to realise that the water that came from the purifier was infected with the virus. By then it was too late and the majority of the D.C’s population was wiped out. The virus managed to wipe out Megaton, Rivet City and the majority of the Brotherhood. With the Enclave’s Raven Rock and Crawler destroyed they no longer had a presence in the wasteland. The Outcasts feared what the virus could do to their already dwindling numbers so they retreated back to the east. What was left of the Brotherhood in D.C ensconsed themselves in a secret vault in the wasteland. They took the G.E.C.K with them and attempted to rebuild, their location remained hidden.

The Talon Company Mercs were the only faction that remained in tact. Although they were affected by the virus they managed to stop its spread through their ranks. The Mercs ultimate goal was to be the most powerful force in all of America. They decided that their first mission would be to build their own source of fresh water and sell it off to what was left of the wastes and beyond. This would hopefully make them powerful enough to create an army.

80 years later the Mercs had everything they needed to build a monster purifier. Everything except for the G.E.C.K. The Brotherhood still had it hidden away although they hadn’t been seen in 80 years. The Talons began to hear rumors that there was only one member of the Brotherhood left and he had left the vault to wander the wastes. It was also rumoured that he carried a journal which held the location of the secret Vault 76.

The year is 2377 and Fort Bannister had just received a message detailing the whereabouts of the last Brotherhood soldier. They dispatched a squad immediately to intercept the man before he vanishes.

Sounds good, I like it... It's a good backstory, good prologue and good grammar/spelling etc. I'd give it a 9.9/10 as I can't completely say much yet as it's only the Prologue... But still, great!

Thanks Francois. Chapter 1 is in progress and will probably be up tomorrow. I hope it can achieve a 10/10

A good start, but being picky I have three minor suggestions -

In the first paragraph you used 'retreated' twice in relatively quick succession. Perhaps use another word for one such as "What was left of the Brotherhood in D.C ensconsed themselves in a secret vault in the wasteland".

'ultamite' is misspelt in the second paragraph - should be 'ultimate'.

Third para - "It was also rumoured that he carried a journal which withheld the location of the secret Vault 76." Surely it should be just 'held' not 'withheld'.

(Note: using this account to distinguish it from a moderator post. )

Thanks Cuddly I've edited my post accordingly

Haha, good pick outs, I thought it was perfect... , ah well, it was close enough right? ... RIGHT!!!??? Ah well, good work Aussie, I hope you can get something else up sooner or later... I loved this story, if you wanted I'm sure this could evolve into one of the best RP's as well... But it looks great as a story, good work!

Yeah I actually thought about doing a Rp but I just got myself into one and there are a bunch of others so I decided to wait to see how this story will pan out. I may start an Rp with a similar story but for now you can just enjoy this Fan Fic . Here is chapter 1 Enjoy people!!

Chapter 1

"Right now men, this mission should be a piece of cake but don't get too full of yourselves. I don't want to be embarrassed on my first day of leading this squad. Now... any questions?"

The captain spoke as if he had been punched in the throat hundreds of times. Come to think of it, that probably was the reason he talked like that.

"Yeah I've got one!" said the man standing next to me, with an amusing accent.

"What the hell is this guy doing here? He doesn't even look like he could hold a gun let alone fire it." The man with the funny accent said, pointing at me.

The captain chuckled.

"He's here because he can read a lot better than you which will become very valuable to us. So shut your traps and let's move out."

I heard the buzz and whirl of the vertibirds propellers begin to start up. The vertibird was an astonishing find. A squad of the Mercs had found it at the citadel abandoned but still in working order. I wasn't sure as to where we were heading all I knew is that it was somewhere in the mall.

"ETA five minutes." The loud speaker rang out.

I sat there and looked around at the other members of the squad to suss them out. There were 7 of us including me. I guess the Commander wanted a small strike force to intercept the soldier instead of a full blown army.

The captain of the squad looked mean and unforgiving much like every member of Talon Company ever. He was about average height but he looked strong and battle hardened. His armour had what looked like dry blood stains smeared all over it. As I began to think about how many people he had killed to gather all that blood, there was a sudden dissention from the vertibird and we hit the ground quite hard.

"Alright this is it everybody out. There will be no support on our behalf as we need to head back and refuel. Radio in when your mission is complete."

The squad and I crammed ourselves out of the vertibird. We were in the middle of the road on the outskirts of the mall. We all crouched down with our weapons drawn awaiting the captains next order.

"The target is 2 blocks away in an old building the sound of the bird might have alerted him so stay on your guard. I will take point, everyone single file behind me. We will be travelling down the footpath with our backs to the wall. Keep an eye out for any activity I know you've all heard the reports. Lock and load men we're moving out."

The captain spoke in a soft voice, almost a whisper. Although I wasn't sure why as that vertibird was enough to wake anything or anyone.

I shuddered at the thought of those reports the captain was talking about. About 30 years ago we used to have expedition teams travel all throughout the mall, making great finds and huge strives to achieve our ultimate goal. That is until one day an entire squad vanished without a trace it was liked they just dropped off the face of the earth. The commander at the time didn't take too much notice but soon more and more squads began to disappear. There were no survivors, not even a tiny trace of where they had been. Eventually the expeditions through the mall stopped as it was just too dangerous, we never found out what happened to the men.

My hands began to shake as I loaded my Revolver. Hopefully my .44 and Talon combat armour would be enough to protect me from what ever was around. We began to move quickly and silently. I followed second last so I could copy what everyone else was doing, I'd never been in combat before. I was between standing and crouching as I moved down the street always scanning for any signs of movement.

It was dark out, the moon hid behind the clouds as we travelled the street. There was nothing bright about this place; it looked so cruel and uninviting. The Mall was like a ghost town. Nothing moved but the wind, it had an eerie feel to it. The worst thing about it though was the dead silence all you could hear was the howl of the wind.

The captain signalled us to stop and crouch down. We had reached an intersection. The captain then pointed at a half collapsed building on the other side of the road. I heard the *click* of safeties turning off before we proceeded.

From the outside the building appeared to be empty but there was no real way of knowing. There was still a door attached to the building so we spread out around the door. Half of us were to the left of the door and the other half were to the right of the door. The captain then prompted one of the men to kick down the door brandishing his shotgun. It was the man with the funny accent I hadn't recognised him at first as he looked so young.

The young man stood out the front of the door and brought his big black boot up so he could kick it. As soon as he made contact with the door a deafening shot rang out. The shot had taken a huge chunk out of the door and the man with the funny accent. The other members began to open fire, wildly, into the room. I bent down to see if I could help the man with the funny accent.

His stomach was a mess, bits of guts were hanging out, he was coughing up blood and shaking violently. I didn't know what to do I was certainly no medic the sight of the blood just made me sick, literally. As I tried to put pressure on the wound the captain kicked me off and spoke.

"No, putting pressure on the wound will make him wail and we don't want anyone to know that we are one down. Leave him to die and follow me in."

The Talon Company were known for their ruthlessness but this was just wrong. I didn't have the guts to say anything because without the Mercs I would surely die. I watched as everyone stepped over the dying man without as much as a glance or second thought. I too then got up and entered the dark room.

The room was filled with bullet holes but no dead men. The cause of it all was a rigged shotgun aimed at the door. The captain cursed for being so stupid. There was only the one empty room but it had a staircase leading down towards the basemant. The captain managed to defuse two set mines that were placed at the top of the stairs. He then led the squad down the narrow staircase. By some miracle he managed to step over the hidden trip wire but the man behind him wasn't so lucky.

*click*

That was the distinctive sound of the tripwire pulling out the pins from the grenades.

"Grenades." The captain managed to yell while leaping through the air.

I was half way down the stairs when I heard him. I turned quickly and half ran, half leaped up the stairs. I hit the ground and used my arms to cover my head.

BOOM

I felt fragments of wall, carpet and even people land on me. I stood up to find two more members ripped apart. The captain and other two members had regrouped down in the basemant I hobbled down to join them.

"Find this bastard and kill him. Slowly." The captain hissed.

The basemant was a lot like upstairs, empty, apart from the fact there was another room down there. The captain signalled for me to stay put while they checked the room. I pulled my .44 out just in case. I saw them slowly enter the room before disappearing into complete darkness. So there I stood alone with the fear of death looming metres away in that dark room. I didn't know what to do.

Suddenly I heard movement from behind me and I span around just in time to see a figure leap through the air. As the figure landed on me I fell to the ground. I felt my gun go off as I hit the ground. I awoke a few seconds later to find my captain looking down at me and a dead man on top of me.

"Well it would appear that you have a use after all. Congratulations you have just killed the last surviving member of the Brotherhood. Now find that journal." Said the captain as he pushed the dead soldier off me.

I coughed a bit and sat up, still shaking from the ordeal. I looked over to the soldier. He didn't look like a soldier at all his hair was long and wild, the same went for his beard, he wore a long coat with a white t-shirt and long pants. I could see his wound, the bullet had gone right through his left pictorial, into his heart. I managed to find the journal in his coat, I opened it to the last page.

It read.

26/4/2377

Journal log ? Last entry

I wrote last entry because I truly believe this is the end. There are people hunting me I can't be sure why but I know they're here. They have set off some of my booby traps and are searching the building it's only a matter of time before they find me.

It does not matter as I do not care anymore. Everything I've cared for is gone, dead and buried. I soon hope to join them. In my final days of loneliness and isolation I've come to peace with death and no longer do I wish to run from it, but instead, I wish to embrace it. I go now to take my final stand.

I love you Erin I hope you wait for me in the after life.

"So what does it say?" the captain snapped.

"He was lonely." I said moments before I felt the captain punch me.

Everything blacked out.

Very good i would buy this book right away if you made it into one

Haha I'm not sure about an entire book but thanks for the compliment

Before I begin Chapter 2 I would love some constructive criticism.

Here's your instructive criticism... IF YOU DON'T WRITE ANOTHER CHAPTER I WILL CRY!!! Jokes, but seriously... You must write another Chapter Aussie, this is one of the most DETAILED stories I've ever read. I'm not lying, this is.... Awesome doesn't cover it... FRICKING BRILLIANT!? I dunno...

Ok instructive criticism taken not to worry Francois a second chapter is underway.

Woopee! I love your writing Aussie, you do it sooo well.

Here's another chapter as promised. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

I awoke with a harsh slap to the face. I looked up to find the captains furious face staring back at me.

"Get up! You're lucky I only punched you in the face, if it were anyone else I would have shot them. Now before I shoot you tell me what the jour..." The captain was interrupted by one of the other men.

"Sir, we've er... got a situation upstairs." The merc spoke with fear.

He was scared and I mean really scared. He shook as he spoke, his hands, they gripped each other so tightly it looked like he was hanging on for dear life. His eyes, that's something that I will never forget. They were opened wide and they were darting all round the room as if he was trying to catch any sign of movement. At first I thought he was scared of the captain and what he had just threatened but as I followed him upstairs I realised that everyone should be as scared as him.

The body of the man with the funny accent was gone. There wasn't even a blood stain where his body had been. It knocked the wind out of me.

"What if we're next?" I thought

I leant against the wall trying to regain my breath. The whole thing was such a shock; I couldn't even bring myself to look at the others reactions. My heart began beating so fast out of fear. I clutched it hoping that would calm it down. I began to hear shouting so I looked up to see what the problem was. One of the mercs was holding their pistol to the captains' head and shouting.

"Oh God this was a suicide mission wasn't. You [censored] us over didn't you! Answer ME!"

The captain spoke calmly "You really think that I would send myself on a suicide mission? You must be dumber than you look. Now put down the gun so I can radio in and we can get the hell out of here."

The merc looked around wearily and slowly he put the gun down by his side. He never actually put the gun away he just stood there with the gun at his side. That was understandable as I was surprised the captain hadn't killed him.

"Come in Fort Bannister, this is Squadron Captain, Zackary Macmillan, reporting in. We have secured the objective, the target is down and we are awaiting pick up. We have a few minor casualties." The captain spoke into his radio.

A voice crackled through. "Roger that Captain the bird is on the way. E.T.A five minutes."

The captain spoke again with a bit of a disgruntled look. "Tell that bird to step on it; we have a bit of a situation. We've... um... had another incident."

We waited a moment before we heard the radio crackle through again.

"Sit tight."

It was still dark out and silence had hit us all. There we stood in the middle of the street with our guns drawn. We had our backs to one another so nothing could sneak up on us. I stood there shaking and it wasn't because I was cold. The shadows of buildings appeared to creep up on us. Suddenly there were strange noises, non human, sort of like a grinding noise. The noises were so quiet it almost felt like they were apart of my imagination. I tried to look at the other to see if they could hear it. Instead all I got was a yell from the captain.

"Peter! Eyes front! I don't want to die because your sorry hide made a mistake."

My head snapped into a forward position, scanning for any signs of movement. All of the sudden I got a warm calming feeling travelling throughout my body. I felt at peace with everything. The grinding noise had come back slightly louder but my body was too relaxed to do anything about it. I felt my eyes close; the grinding noise became almost soothing. I felt as if I was drifting off to a more peaceful place. I opened my eyes to see a boy standing just out of reach from the shadows, the boy had a bony hand placed on his right shoulder. The hand led off into the shadows. He must have known it was there but he had such a relaxed look on his face.

Before I could do anything about it I felt a familiar punch hit me in the side of the head. I fell to the ground dazed.

"What the hell are you doing? Where were you going?" The captain yelled.

I looked around to see that I had walked a couple of metres away from the group.

"But sir didn't you hear the grinding noise?" I asked.

The captain gave me a puzzled look and said. "What the hell are you talking about? There has been nothing but silence for past couple of minutes."

I looked around frantically "What about the boy sir? Did you see him?"

The captain grabbed me by the scruff and picked me up. "You listen here boy, if you're going crazy on me I will leave you behind. I don't care if you can read well or not. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir. Sorry sir I don't know what came over me." I said in disbelief.

I could hear the familiar buzz of the vertibird approaching. Thankfully so could the others. It landed right in the middle of the road and opened its doors. The captain stood at the door and watched me closely as I climbed in. I sat down and buckled myself up. As the last merc was approaching the bird when the captain stood in front of the door.

"Now Jensen I can't have another outburst like before can I?"

The man looked down at his shoes. "No sir it won't happen again."

The captain smiled. "I know it won't."

The captain then kicked the man in the groin. He fell to the floor in pain unable to get up. The captain hopped aboard.

"Leave him."

The door slammed shut. I could hear banging and crying coming from outside as the man pleaded to come aboard. The bird began to take off as I undid my seatbelt and looked out the window.

As we hovered above I could see the man shaking his fists and yelling at us. To this day I swear I also saw the little boy standing just out of the shadows. Waving to us.

I never saw Jensen again.

Any comments would be appreciated I could also use feedback so I know how to better my next chapter.

Frickin excellent! Good enough feedback? Continue writing Aussie, otherwise one night you'll wake up in a tank with sharks that have laser beams attached to their frickin heads!

Thanks Francois (not for the shark part ) I just hope people notice that I'm trying to create a sort of horror theme. Anyway next chapter will be underway some time in the near future.

Chapter 3

"Dammit Johnson. You bury your head in that journal immediately or I will send you out there with Jensen." The captain yelled.

I didn't have the guts to defend myself or speak up for the injustice that had just happened. So I just muttered.

"Sorry sir."

I opened the old journal to the first page. It read.

19/4/2377

Journal entry 1

I thought I would write this journal to explain a lot of unanswered questions. I'm not one hundred percent sure who is asking the questions or who I'm explaining this to. I guess I'm just doing this for myself to help rectify what I've done. I hope to God, if there is even a God, that this journal is in the hands of someone who will use it for good.

As I write, I breathe my first real breath of fresh air. I sit in the remains of the Brotherhood prime. It feels good to be outside and know not all of what I was told was true. Now where was I? Ah yes I was about to explain who I was.

I am the last of the Brotherhood as you may or may not know. Although 'last' wouldn't be the correct term. I am the last able bodied Brotherhood member and this is my story. My name is Matthew Lyons; I am a direct descendant of Owyn Lyons. My rank is Knight well was Knight.

Thirty years ago my father, who was Eldar, died mysteriously. They said it was a virus related death but I never believed them. At the time I was too young and inexperienced to take over the role as Eldar, so a Sentinel named Ryan Samuels stepped up. He had been my fathers trusted advisor for many years although many said that it was him who killed my father. They were right to distrust him; he led to the ultimate destruction of the brotherhood.

I have to end my first entry here as it starting to get dark.

"Well did you find anything Johnson?" The captain snapped.

"Yes sir. There is a line which refers to the entrance of the vault. 'As I write, I breathe my first real breath of fresh air. I sit in the remains of the Brotherhood prime'." I replied calmly.

"That says nothing about the entrance you idiot." The captain said shaking his head at me.

"You've got to read between the lines, sir. It says he takes his first breath of fresh air, meaning he has just come out of the vault. He also says he sits in the remains of the Brotherhoods prime. That must mean he's in the citadel. Therefore the entrance to the vault is around or in the citadel."

The captain looked at me like he was angry. He probably was angry because he was wrong. As we landed back at base he told me to go re-arm and prepare to fly out to the citadel. I heard his named being called over the loud speaker to report in to the commander. I went to my quarters to have a rest.

A few hours later I was awoken by a knock at my door. I opened it to find the captain with a very stern look on his face.

"Come with me." He said.

I followed him outside and towards the command centre. I had never been in the command centre as only high ranking mercenaries were allowed to go inside. We stopped at the door and the captain spoke to me.

"What your about to see inside is highly classified and cannot be mentioned to anyone under penalty of death."

I nodded as the captain opened the door. It looked much the same as the other building except for the big map of the known area. There were all these people running around like mad Brahmin and the Generals sat around the map. The commander was sitting with them but stood up when he saw me and the captain walk over. The captain and I saluted almost simultaneously to the commander.

"So Captain Macmillan, is this the kid who knows where the vault is located?" The commander asked.

"Yes sir, he's the one." The captain replied with a lack of confidence.

The commander turned and began to talk to me. "You better be right kid I'm throwing everything we've got at this chance to get the G.E.C.K. If you [censored] up I'll kill you myself. Now I want both of you to follow me, I have something to show you."

I wanted to tell him to go [censored] himself as I was starting to get sick of all the people threatening me. Of coarse once again I didn't have the courage to do such a thing. I followed him to an elevator which led down into an underground hanger. I was shocked to see that the hanger was overflowing with vertibirds.

"Ever since we found that first vertibird all those years ago we dedicated a huge amount of our resources to creating a fleet. With a fresh source of water, an army and the production of vertibirds we will be unstoppable." The commander grinned.

I half expected him to let out an evil cackle after telling me his plans for world domination.

"Now to the mission ahead. Captain Macmillan will be leading a small force to the citadel to retrieve the G.E.C.K. You will be assisting in finding and recovering the G.E.C.K. If there is any trouble I have given the captain a radio so he can call in the cavalry. Although I expect to not hear from your until you have arrived back. Any questions?" The commander paused as we shook or heads.

"Good. Captain your team is waiting for you topside in the vertibird. Move out."

The captain and I quickly gathered our things and made our way outside to the vertibird. On board was an entirely new squad. Although they just about looked like every other person in this place. Ugly and mean. The vertibird started up and the captain barked his orders.

"Our mission is to retrieve the G.E.C.K at all costs. It's located in a vault somewhere around the citadel. We have no knowledge of any enemies in the area but I still want all of you to be on guard. Johnson I want you looking further through that journal to see if you find any more clues. E.T.A's about 15 minutes, so sit tight."

I pulled out the journal and began to read the man's second entry.

20/4/2377

Journal entry 2

I managed to survive through the night. I had taken shelter under a near by bridge. It's early morning and before I journey off to escape the mall I thought I would write another entry. I don't know if writing this journal is the right thing to do. I just wish to explain why I left the Brotherhood for the sake of myself. I don't believe I've betrayed the Brotherhood, I believe the brotherhood betrayed itself.

Owyns goal was to protect this wasteland and I know we failed when the virus killed the majority of the wastelands population but the least we could do is try to seek a cure. Unfortunately we took finding a cure a little too far. By the time Ryan Samuels came to power we were already on a gradual slope heading down, he just helped speed up the process, by taking away the ramp and letting us free fall.

We were getting no where with the cure; we were no closer to finding one than when we started. We did manage to find out that the virus was caused by a modified version of the F.E.V virus. The original virus was tested on humans in vault 87 and instead of turning them into super soldiers, it turned into super mutants. The modified F.E.V virus did almost the exact opposite. Instead of filling people with a degree of radiation and turning them into super mutants, it killed anyone who had been mutated and/or came into contact with a certain amount of radiation.

Ryan Samuels was my fathers' right hand man, he was a sentinel. He was not always such a bad person, in fact he began to change the day he contracted the virus. He was conducting an experiment on the virus but it went wrong and he became infected. After that he became desperate to find a cure. Desperate enough to suggest testing on live human subjects. My father immediately put his foot down and condemned the suggestion. A month later he mysteriously passed away and Ryan came to power. The virus was slowly consuming him; we did have ways of slowing the process down, although the inevitable would come one day.

When he came to power he abolished the law banning testing on human subjects. One hundred years ago this wouldn't have stood with the brotherhood but times were desperate and Ryan filled our heads with doubt and fear. He claimed that the outside world was dead and we were the only survivors. He also said that the vault had been infected and the only way to find a cure would be to experiment on the infected.

This led to anarchy. Friends and families turned on each other, each believing that the other had the virus. They began quarantining the 'infected' and even my wife was detained. She wasn't infected and I knew that. There was nothing I could do to help; I was over powered by everyone else in the vault. The night that everyone was quarantined Ryan infected them with his own version of the F.E.V. That night we became the very thing that we waged war against, we became the very thing that Owyn had fought off all those years ago. That night we became the Enclave.

The result of Ryan's F.E.V virus was disastrous it changed the infected into something else, something that isn't apart of this world. These creatures were unstoppable killing machines. They would fill their victim with a sense of warmth and happiness, people would also see dilutions that would entice them, that's how they would lure them in. They were evil creatures with no soul; they would lure their victims in and just absorb them, body and all. There would be nothing left and that's how they fed. They looked like floating shadows with long skeletal fingers and they made a terrible grinding noise.

When Ryan realised what he had created he locked down the vault and let the creatures' loose outside. They could take anything they wanted with their amazing power. They are unstoppable. The mall....

Just then there was a sudden jerk from the vertibird. The pilot screamed.

"Oh God something, I don't know what it is, but it's got hold of us and I can't get loose. We are going down I repeat going down. Get to your crash positions people we're crash landing right in the centre of the mall!"

I buckled my seatbelt and held on tight. The last thing I remember is another sudden jerk before I blacked out. Some time later I woke up to find that my seat had been ripped out of the vertibird and a couple of metres away from the crash site. The journal was still in my hand so I opened it up to check if it was ok. I read the last line of the second entry.

The mall is the most dangerous place in all of America if not the world. Anyone who ventures into it will certainly die. Slowly and painfully.

I then blacked out for a second time.

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.

Exciting story! Keep it up!

I got chills down my spine when you read the last sentence of the journal. Great stuff. I'm sorry I cannot offer you with constructive critism, but this just doesn't have many faults. Keep it up.

awesome just wish it was finished

Excellent this is exactly what I wanted. Don't worry about adding constructive criticism too much I'm happy for people just to leave comments on this as well. The next chapter will be completed over the next couple of days or so. So for now just sit back and enjoy the story so far. Thanks to everyone who has commented me and inspired me to keep writing.

A couple If days dam btw the char blacks out to much in my opion but gd work keep it up

Well, I finally decided to have a go at another fanfic here, and I'm glad I picked this one. I found a couple of grammatical errors, mainly with your usage of commas, or rather, lack thereof. But let me say that this is easily one of the best written fics here, with almost no problems, a good style, and just generally well written. Well done, well done indeed. Have a drink, :foodndrink: on me.

I'm looked forward to the continuation.