Time continued to tick on. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to, what felt like, hours, but was in reality only about ten minutes. After the initial ten minutes, Matthew checked the time on his Pipboy. A few new comers had joined the group, and each time they appeared, it took all of Matthew's self-control not to open fire on the sudden movement. He was glad he did not shoot because there would be safety in numbers. "Spread the guns around guys, everyone should be armed in case one of those monsters gets up here" he said. Another few moments passed and Matthew decided that it was time to open the door. This is when the real heavy sweat began to form on his forehead and back and arms. If he opened the Vault door, nothing would ever be the same. But at this point, that ship had already sailed. Matthew figured that if he left, he would certainly not be able to ever come back and he would never know the fate of his parents. But if he stayed, that would almost certainly seal his fate. Matthew gave the side of the terminal a light punch out of frustration. "Fuck" he said to himself. He came to the conclusion that he had to open the door. Even though he did not necessarily want to leave, he could not condemn his fellow Vault Dwellers in the room with him to death. Matthew let out a deep sigh, hit a few keys on the keyboard, and watched. A loud creaking and rumbling emitted from the Vault door as it slid open. Small slivers of sunlight crept out from the end of the cavern and into the Vault Security room. The door was now fully opened. Before leaving the terminal, Matthew figured out how to see the door onto an automatic timer. Ten minutes. If anyone else wanted to leave, they had ten minutes before the door shut.
The light was not enticing at all. It was of an orangish hue. It was the outside world. The real world. The sheltered life he had led for 18 years was now over. The harsh realities of living in a post-nuclear world had set in. In all of his 18 years in the Vault, never once had he thought that he was at all affected by the outside world. Not once did he ever feel threatened by it or understand fully what it entailed. And then today happened. Those monsters were almost certainly the result of some kind of thing related to the outside world. And if they came in from out there, then surely there would be more. But Matthew also had a slight hope that there would be more people outside. Civilized people. Maybe a town or two. Somewhere he could just break down and take in the events of the day.
Matthew took his first few steps into the cave. He gripped his rifle tightly. Sweat was pouring profusely from his body. Nervousness enshrouded him. There was an overwhelming sense of dread, a feeling that Matthew had just stepped into the last chapter in the book of his life. A chapter entitled; "Matthew and the Fuckin' Outside World". Things would never be the same. Matthew continued down the tunnel. It was a simple tunnel. Rock, brown in color, and some moss, covered the majority of the tunnel. Finally, Matthew reached the metal door. The real barrier between him and the outside world. Matthew slowly placed his hand down on the handle. A shiver went up his spine as the metal touched his palm. Matthew used the 'fuck it' mentality and slowly pushed open the door. Very quickly he was overcome by the sunlight. It took a few seconds but his eyes finally adjusted. It was amazing. It was awesome. And it was terrible, all at the same time. He, in class, had seen photos of the world before. This place was obviously not the same. There were dead trees, hills, and mostly dirt. Some roads existed still. In the distance he could see small structures, maybe some houses or something like that. The roads had a couple of signs on them. One said "Denver" and pointed off into the distance. The other sign said "Colorado Springs" and also pointed down a road to nowhere. Matthew let go of the door, bringing both hands to his mouth, he was in awe. The door slammed behind him and gave him quite the startle.
All of a sudden a new feeling completely overwhelmed Matthew. His stomach turned and ached. Very quickly he made his way over to a little ditch near the door, bent over, and threw up all of the food he had eaten that day. He threw up a total of three times before he finally stopped. Matthew wiped the residue from the vomit on his sleeve, spat on the ground, and then wiped the sweat from his forehead. Tears started to form around his eyes but he quickly tried to clean them from there. Now he would wait for the others.
The light was not enticing at all. It was of an orangish hue. It was the outside world. The real world. The sheltered life he had led for 18 years was now over. The harsh realities of living in a post-nuclear world had set in. In all of his 18 years in the Vault, never once had he thought that he was at all affected by the outside world. Not once did he ever feel threatened by it or understand fully what it entailed. And then today happened. Those monsters were almost certainly the result of some kind of thing related to the outside world. And if they came in from out there, then surely there would be more. But Matthew also had a slight hope that there would be more people outside. Civilized people. Maybe a town or two. Somewhere he could just break down and take in the events of the day.
Matthew took his first few steps into the cave. He gripped his rifle tightly. Sweat was pouring profusely from his body. Nervousness enshrouded him. There was an overwhelming sense of dread, a feeling that Matthew had just stepped into the last chapter in the book of his life. A chapter entitled; "Matthew and the Fuckin' Outside World". Things would never be the same. Matthew continued down the tunnel. It was a simple tunnel. Rock, brown in color, and some moss, covered the majority of the tunnel. Finally, Matthew reached the metal door. The real barrier between him and the outside world. Matthew slowly placed his hand down on the handle. A shiver went up his spine as the metal touched his palm. Matthew used the 'fuck it' mentality and slowly pushed open the door. Very quickly he was overcome by the sunlight. It took a few seconds but his eyes finally adjusted. It was amazing. It was awesome. And it was terrible, all at the same time. He, in class, had seen photos of the world before. This place was obviously not the same. There were dead trees, hills, and mostly dirt. Some roads existed still. In the distance he could see small structures, maybe some houses or something like that. The roads had a couple of signs on them. One said "Denver" and pointed off into the distance. The other sign said "Colorado Springs" and also pointed down a road to nowhere. Matthew let go of the door, bringing both hands to his mouth, he was in awe. The door slammed behind him and gave him quite the startle.
All of a sudden a new feeling completely overwhelmed Matthew. His stomach turned and ached. Very quickly he made his way over to a little ditch near the door, bent over, and threw up all of the food he had eaten that day. He threw up a total of three times before he finally stopped. Matthew wiped the residue from the vomit on his sleeve, spat on the ground, and then wiped the sweat from his forehead. Tears started to form around his eyes but he quickly tried to clean them from there. Now he would wait for the others.