Fallout: (Nuclear)Winter Is Coming

Savannah was the typical girl you could find anywhere.

She had a mother and father that supported and loved her. She was attending school and was a decent student and she also had many friends.

But her life took a turn in her senior year of high school.

All of her friends would constantly brag about the exploits of thier youth and encouraged Savannah to get a boyfriend.

And she did. A young man she went to school with.

She enjoyed her time with him, but still didn't think she had 'fallen in love'.

She thought that maybe if she deepened her relationship with him, she would start to feel those magical feelings her friends were always saying they felt around thier boyfriends.

So she mustered her courage and took the final step with the boy.

The boy, of course, was ecstatic. Whispering words of affection and promises of the future.

But Savannah? She was left still confused. She had performed an adult activity but nothing seemed to change in her heart.

She began distancing herself from him so she could have time to figure out her feelings.

But in early October, she realised that she was late...

A quick trip to the local pharmacy was enough to tell her what was wrong with her.

She had become pregnant.

Savannah didn't know what to do and after many internal battles, she chose to terminate the pregnancy.

She kept everything from her parents and that boy, holding in the guilt she felt until she couldn't hold it in any longer.

That night she told her parents even though she knew they would not approve. Her parents were deeply religious so it was one thing for her to get pregnant before marriage. But it was another thing entirely to abort one of god's children.

She expected the yelling and cursing but the words of her father hurt her more than she thought they would, but what cut even deeper was when her mother wouldn't even look at her while she packed her belongings and prepared to leave home.

When they didn't stop her, she knew she had been completely disowned.

Maybe they could forgive her in the future but at that moment, she had to leave.

So she went to the only place nearby she could think of to rest for the night.

An old ranger cabin she used to play around as a kid.

She sobbed herself to sleep that night on the worn sleeping bag she had.

She didnt know where to go or what she would do. Her life seemed directionless and she still felt regret for what she did, even though she believed it was the best thing for herself.

The next morning, she had gotten up and took a walk around and then went back into the cabin to eat some Sugar Bombs she had packed in her bag. But she was taken by surprise when the door was suddenly kicked open.

She was a young girl in an isolated cabin in the woods. So she became instantly cautious in the situation.

"Who-who are you?!" She asked nervously.

At that moment the whining alert of air raid sirens echoed across Boston.

She naturally knew what this meant but she was couldnt help but deny it in her mind.

The world was out of time.

"The bombs are dropping. I dont have time to explain further. Come with me!" The young man said with urgency, before he reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her along.

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"And that's what happened before you showed up." Savannah had finished telling me her story.

'So it wasn't that she was pregnant but that she had an abortion. The fandom wasn't that far off the mark then.'

I also learned she was a resident of Santuary Hills. Turns out, those ghoul neighbors you can run into in the game were actually her parents.

'I think I'll keep the fact her parents have mutated into feral ghouls to myself...'

But now what do I do with her? It's good she isnt suddenly gonna pop out a baby but I cant just leave her to her own devices.'

I had much to consider. This had been a split second decision but now I'm responsible for her. I had the resolve to save her, so now I need to follow it through to the end.

That's what a man does.

"Thanks for sharing that Savannah. I can't imagine what you are going through. Take some time to heal and if you need anything, just let me know." I gave her a polite smile and said before taking a bite of a meatball.

She looked at me for a few moments before her shoulders relaxed and she seemed to become more comfortable.

"Thanks Frankie..." she whispered loud enough I could hear it.

We spent some time getting to know eachother over our lunch before I showed her around the areas of the vault she could access.

Those areas were just the communal areas. The residential quarters, the lobby, and the atrium.

I registered her as an official resident from my Overseer's computer. This would make sure the turrets never target her as a hostile and allow her move in those areas without supervision.

The storage and server areas were off limits and were sealed off by a laser grid door. The overseers office was also not accessible due to this.

I had many things I did not want to have to explain.

But thankfully she never asked why she couldn't enter those areas. She was a good girl and seemed to understand the value of privacy.

I brought out several holotape movies I had purchased and set up the vault projector in the Atrium. I figured having movie nights will help alleviate the boredom of living in a vault.

I felt a little bad for Savannah because I at least could focus on my daily Quests to stave off boredom and keep myself occupied. She had to find her own routine to keep herself sane.

That afternoon I was my workshop in my utility room, learning the ins and outs of crafting with the system.

Just like in the game, after approaching a work bench, a screen would pop up and show what could be made.

Luckily for me, all the plans I had learned in game were still available to me. However I still lacked the actual perks or levels for making anything good.

I had limited resources, even after my ventures outside before the bombs fell, so I couldnt afford to waste what I had.

"Let's see... let's try the chemistry bench." Approaching the chem bench, a screen popped up and I began browsing through my recipes.

"Stimpaks don't cost much... So how do I do this?"

I had to mentally click the stimpak option and it showed the ingredients of what I would need.

[Stimpak - 1 Antiseptic, 1 Steel, 1 Blood Pack]

"That's it?!"

I knew that was the recipe in game but I thought it might be more expensive in the real world.

'Maybe that's just the benefit of having a system?' I decided to chalk it up to that.

I pressed the craft button after assembling the materials.

I had gotten some blood packs from the local clinic during my purchases. I didnt think they would sell them but turns out the economy was that bad, they had to get money where they could.

When I pressed Craft, the materials moved together and blended with each other. It was a bit trippy but I was now holding a stimpak in my hands.

'So the crafting works like in the game, but what if I want to make something else not in the system?'

When I had taken those perks earlier, novice level knowledge had entered my brain.

I knew what all the tools on the chemistry bench were used for, and how to use them.

I now had some of the most basic knowledge of chemistry rooting around in my brain.

The same goes for robotics and as for [Science], I feel like it is all very basic knowledge that covers many topics.

I was determined to get all of the Intelligence perks because I felt that was my best chance to survive this world.

No. My best chance to make something better of it.

I didn't forget the recipe I recieved from the completion of my main quest.

I scrolled through the chemistry list until I found it under Serums.

"Pfft! Whoa!" I almost did a spit take. On one hand I was surprised that I had forgotten I could make mutation serums from the game. This was a real game changer and I felt stupid for forgetting it.

On the other hand, I saw the info for the Perfected Mysterious Serum.

[Perfected Mysterious Serum: Halts the aging process of the body permanently. Also grants passive radiation regeneration and a minor healing factor. Recipe: 1 Acid, 1 Plastic, 1 Pure Cobalt Flux, 1 Infected Blood Pack.]

"It halts aging permanently! After taking it once then I wouldnt need to take another? Now that is OP!"

My excitement was short lived because one of the ingredients I didnt understand.

'Infected Blood Pack? What is that? I never heard of it...'