“So what you’re saying is,” Simon paused, trying to wrap his brain around his new reality. “I have been locked in a submarine… for 138 years.”
Jack fed a few scraps of paper into the small fire.
“You asked the what year it was and I told you. What are you on about?”
Simon got to his feet, running a hand through his hair. He strode over to the bar, rummaging for something, anything that could help him think straight. The cracked mirror behind the counter showed his reflection in flowering shards and something was incredibly wrong.
Sam the eyebot hovered close, whirring as if thinking.
“Necrotic post-human,” it said, doing that cheery mid-air spin and floating back to Jack.
“You’re a ghoul.” Jack said. walking over to him. It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
Simon looked back at his broken reflection. Clearly he wasn’t the man who had gone into that submarine over a century ago, if that truly was the case.
“You got x-ray eyes don’t you? You tell me. Or does that weird glow thing only let you see in the dark?” he snapped. Jack’s upper lip twitched in what was either anger or shame.
“I can only make out shadows but just barely. Got Sam for the rest of it. Bear with me for just one second…”
Jack reached his hand towards him and carefully touched Simon’s face. He quickly pulled back at feeling for a nose that was no longer there.
“Sorry, sorry that was intrusive. Where I live…there’s a bit of a…chilly reception to ghouls.”
Simon knocked back a shot of…something, the label was far too faded to read. He tossed the glass into the burning trashcan. It was easier to drink from the bottle.
Jack had returned to his seat by the fire, his face unreadable.
“So…you’re from before the war, then?”
Simon set down the now empty bottle.
“Yeah. I was shoved into the submarine you and your bot cut me out of. Door shut right as this…glow encompassed everything. I don’t know how or why I’m even here.”
“Sam, parameter check. Calling it a night.” He turned his head to Simon’s direction. “Put the fire out before turning in, if you would.”
Sam floated off, playing a tune Simon recognized as the old broadcast sign off he used to hear during his nightshifts back when everything was normal. Back when he was normal.
Jack had curled up in one of the booths, contorted like a cat. Simon put out the fire as requested but he was too wired to sleep. He exited the building, walking down to what had once been a scenic overlook of the ocean. There was still a beauty to it. A sad one, with that ever present sickly glow. No training simulation or possible scenario could have prepared the world for this.
He walked back to the bar that was his shelter for the night, going into the back. There was a sense of familiarity in the kitchen. He’d worked odd restaurant jobs before the military recruited him. Serve a navy officer Sunday breakfast, live to see the end of the world.
“Good morning, Boston!” Sam chimed, buzzing around the bar.
“God Almighty, it’s morning already?” Jack grumbled, rubbing his neck. “Four more days of this shite. And I know the welcome committee is gonna be up my ass…”
Simon, who had been awake for the past hour and a half, slid a box of Fancy Lad snack cakes across the table to him, making it sure it brushed the blind man’s fingers.
“Snack cakes. I took them with me from the sub. And…consider it an apology. I was out of line with what I said. The whole…seeing in the dark thing.”
Jack snorted, munching on one of the cakes.
“Apology accepted and I understand. Still reel from it sometimes.”
“May I ask what happened?”
Jack tugged on the welding goggles, the pinprick glow barely visible.
“Accident half a year ago. Not much else to say.”
“Gotcha. What were you saying about four days?”
“Oh boy, how do I explain this,” Jack said, grabbing the metal pole he used in lieu of a cane. “You know about vaults, right?”
“Yeah, billboards and signs were all over. Bit more spacious than my tin can.”
He was pleased to see Jack crack a smile before shaking his head.
“Hilarious. Anyway, a while back Vault 88 was turned into what folks call the Consolidation of Iron. Some faction conglomerate shite. Was never one for politics. Oh, you’re gonna want to put this on when we get close. You got time, I’ll remind you.”
Jack handed him a bandana and Simon pocketed it.
“You won’t get in trouble for bringing me to this vault, will you?”
“More trouble for fucking off, it’ll be fine.”
“In the C.O.I? No, got recruited. Got ancestors that were from a different vault. Not sure which though. 76, I think? Ah, one last thing.”
The Irishman pressed a pistol into Simon’s hand.
“My aim’s not what it used to be. She’s better off with you. I’ll give you what ammo I still got. Traded most of it for food and water 3 days ago.”
“All right. Let’s hit the road.”