Chapter 127: Descent into Hell

Chapter 127: Descent into Hell

CRUNCH.

The blast door moved another few inches, grinding against the frame. It was deformed slightly underneath the grip of my cybernetic fingers, and the surface was still blistering hot. At least, I assumed it was hot. The metal was blackened and had literally blistered, but I didn't feel any heat under my palm. It's possible that my cybernetic arm was able to dull anything that might be picked up as 'pain,' leaving other tactile sensations intact. That would certainly explain why I could feel things as normal, but still punch through steel doors without feeling anything more than a mild rap on the knuckles. I might also explain why I didn't pass out from the deathclaw trying (and failing) to bite off my arm.

I know that doesn't seem all that important, but I had to do something... anything to take my mind off the... cloud... Focusing on something insignificant while ignoring the truly pressing matter: wasn't that was a common symptom of shock? Some kind of acute stress reaction? Sounded like something I'd read in one of Arcade's books, at least...

I gave the door another shove, and it opened wide enough for ED-E to float through. I could hear the sound of a klaxon ringing from somewhere inside, along with some other indistinct sounds. Beyond was darkness... and it was probably going to lead deep underground. That meant tunnelers. But it's not like I really had much of a choice. It was either that, or I stay out here and wait for the end. Neither choice was ideal.

Every part of my body was screaming in pain. I didn't need to check to know that I had to be covered in bruises from the concrete pummeling I'd taken. Even though I was sure my armor had taken the brunt of the heat from the explosion, my limbs still felt like they'd been set on fire. I could take some (small) comfort in that I could still feel things. No pain after an explosion usually meant only one thing: third degree burns. They'd melt away most of your flesh, and you'd never feel it because they'd cook off your nerve endings first...

I cast a glance to my left, off into the distance. The mushroom cloud had only gotten bigger since the explosion. The head of the mushroom was now so large that I could barely see any sky behind it. It was illuminated from below by the orange light of fires and radioactive molten slag. The scale was just... it was too big for me to wrap my head around. This was no longer something I thought they'd be able to see from Vegas. It was so huge that I was sure people could probably see it in places like the Boneyard, or even as far north as Shady Sands. And even if they couldn't see the cloud, I'm sure they'd seen the flash, which had lit up the sky like there'd been another sun. Plus, there was that earthquake caused by the explosion's shock front...

Yeah. I think people are going to notice.

I don't know how I'd survived. I don't think I should have. Had ducking behind the concrete wall actually helped shield me from the blast, or had I just been far enough away from the explosion? I tried to push these questions out of my mind. I had to keep moving forward. I had to get my answers from Ulysses. But the more I tried to force them away, the more the questions just kept popping back into the forefront of my mind:

How many people had been under the warhead when it detonated?

How many more people would die in the weeks to come from the fallout?

And how many more would have to die as a result of my selfish curiosity?

I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. Focus. Compartmentalize. You're no use to anyone if you stay still, paralyzed by fear and questions. You've got to keep moving forward.

"ED-E? You alright?" I asked, when I noticed that ED-E hadn't really moved yet. He wobbled a bit in midair.

"I am..." He moved forward, unsteadily. "No. I am not alright, Friend_Courier. But we must keep moving forward." As if to punctuate the thought, he started hovering his way to the now-open door, but stopped just before the threshold. "Are you going to leave the Red Glare behind?"

I looked over my shoulder at the rocket launcher. It was twisted in a mangled pile of half-melted metal, lying on top of the pile of concrete that had both shielded and nearly buried me earlier.

"Lost cause," I grumbled. "It'll only slow me down." And good riddance, I thought to myself as I followed ED-E into the underground. It was too heavy and cumbersome, ammo was way too scarce, and they did a total of jack and shit to the deathclaws around here. Unsurprising, really. There was only so much explosive fuel you could pack in rockets that tiny.

"Sue?" I asked, looking down at my chest. "What about you? How are you doing? You alright?"

"I'm sorry, Sheason," Sue squeaked out, a very audible waver in her voice; the digital processing was highly noticeable. "I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

"Okay then," I turned on my Pip Boy light. "At least we're on the same page."

Directly in front of me in this darkened structure was a large platform with a control panel in one corner. Based on the shape of the walls and the slanted ceiling beyond the platform not to mention the gaps underneath it it looked like some kind of cargo elevator leading underground. Hell, it would probably lead straight to the silo. And that distant rumbling from somewhere under my feet definitely wasn't encouraging. This did not seem like a good idea.

But this was my only way forward.

I checked my gear again, to try and get my brain to focus something I could actually control. With the exception of the Red Glare, most of my guns had been under me or protected by my armor when I'd taken cover. Roscoe, That Gun, the Ranger Sequoia, the sawed off, the pulse gun, the sonic emitter... they were all pretty much fine. Even the Big Mountain Transportalponder!, which I'd been keeping in a pocket somewhere inside my duster, was unmarred. There were a few pieces on the G36 which had melted or been bent out of shape, but all the important components on that gun which allowed it to fire still seemed to work. Even though it now no longer had a stock. The only other major casualty had been the flare gun. Damn thing had snapped clean in half, somehow. I'd have to find another one before I ran into more tunnelers.

The fact that so much of my gear survived intact was, frankly, a little surprising. What wasn't surprising was that my Pip Boy was completely unscathed. Hell, the glass wasn't even scratched or chipped or anything. The image of the Vault Boy looked up at me from behind the screen with that cartoonish, winking grin, and almost seemed to be giving me a thumbs up, as if to say "Of course I'm fine, I was built by Vault Tec! The one thing they knew how to do was build shit to last!"

"Alright, c'mon," I looked over to ED-E, and motioned at the platform. "We've got to keep moving." ED-E bobbed in place silently, as if nodding his agreement, and I walked over to the control panel, ignoring the klaxons ringing in my ear. Thankfully, this control panel was not like the one outside, and only had two buttons: "UP" and "DOWN." I could only hope that this wouldn't launch another missile, but as I'd just been trying to open a door before, who knows.

I pressed the button for "DOWN" and immediately the floor dropped out from under my feet several inches with a heavy KUH-CHOONK! The whirring and grinding of metal machinery all around filled my ears. The platform began to inch down the sloping ramp, entirely too slow for my liking.

And then, as things are wont to do, they suddenly got worse. One of the pipes on the sloped roof above the platform exploded without warning.

"FUCK!" I yelled, leaping to the back edge of the platform, and brought my Pip Boy to cover my face. And that's when I finally made the connection: those distant rumbles were the sounds of explosions going off elsewhere in the bunker! This place was tearing itself apart after the missile launch! And as if that weren't enough...

"Friend_Courier!" ED-E shouted, just as another large pipe burst in a plume of red fire. "I am detecting movement all around us!"

Sure enough, the hideous screeching sound of tunnelers wormed its way into my ears, drowning out theexplosions briefly. So much for finding another flare gun before fighting more tunnelers. I held the G36 in my cybernetic hand and reached behind me to pull out That Gun. They weren't going to take me without a

"Behind you!" I heard ED-E shout right before the platform shook from yet another explosion from somewhere underneath us. I wheeled around, aiming the rifle one handed as a curtain of fire rose up from below, providing a stark contrast to the jet black monster leaping through the air, its mouth wide and its arms and claws spread.

I was so caught off guard that I stumbled backward, firing at the tunneler as I fell. I landed flat on my back, and there was something vaguely surreal about the sign of the tunneler flying over my head, missing me by miles, illuminated by the darkening wall of fire from all sides and bright yellow muzzle flash from the assault rifle directly underneath.

The beast missed me completely and face-planted on the edge of the platform, flailing uselessly in a tangled mass of limbs as it skidded off the edge. When I got up, I had to keep myself from laughing: it had slid right past a "Caution: Trip Hazard!" sign just before toppling over the edge.

"ED-E! Slow down!" By the time I thought I'd caught up with him, he was already at the top of a staircase that looked more like a climbing wall. "Fucking... son of a..." I scrambled up the stairs, fighting for grip. And just as I reached a landing (leading to another set of stairs), the ceiling broke open, and a tunneler leapt out of the darkness, knocking me into the wall.

"FOR FUCK SAKE!" I grabbed hold of the tunnelers neck, trying to keep that gnashing maw as far from my face as possible. A claw swiped against the side of my helmet, and I almost lost my grip... but I could punch harder. I kicked off the back of the wall, shoved the tunneler into the opposite wall, and aimed my cybernetic fist right for its wide open mouth. My fist broke maybe two dozen of its teeth on the trip to back of its skull before my knuckles hit brick.

"Stay down already!" I pulled my fist out of the new hole in its head, tossed the corpse aside and looked up at the hole in the ceiling. There was bound to be more coming soon, so I pulled out a tin can packed full of rocket explosives and wired into a jury rigged sensor module. I'd made more microfusion cell grenades, sure, but I couldn't risk another huge explosion like before. Not if I couldn't get away in time because I had more stairs to climb.

I tossed the grenade into the ceiling, and was halfway up the stairs when everything shook again. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the rest of the ceiling behind me start to give way, so I poured on the speed, trying my damndest to get in front of the rapidly collapsing masonry.

"Oh, for the love of ED-E!" I shouted. "Where the fuck did you go, man?!" I'd lost sight of him. This was starting to become problematic, because that was when a pair of tunnelers leapt into sight right in front of me, rearing up and ready to try and rip me apart. I didn't even try and dodge. I just kept running and shoulder-checked the beast straight into the wall.

"I'm gettin' a little tired of this!" I yelled, holding the thrashing mass of limbs and teeth against the wall with my metal arm. I pulled out That Gun and buried the barrel against one of its eyes. By the time I pulled the trigger and blew away half its face, the other one had leapt on my back.

"Motherfu- AUGH!" Several rows of teeth gouged their way into my shoulder blade. I dropped the tunneler in my hand and elbowed the one on my back as hard as I could. It thrashed, but the teeth were still digging into me, so I spun around and slammed back-first into the wall. The spines on the tunneler went crunch (or maybe it was the brick wall, I don't know...), it screeched right in my ear, and finally let go.

"I SAID!" I spun around, putting my boot against the tunnelers throat. "I! AM GETTING! SICK!" I pulled Roscoe out of its holster. "OF! THIS! SHIT!" Five rounds later, and it finally stopped thrashing. I moved on, grimacing under my helmet, and clutching at my shoulder. Fuck me, that stings!

"We're not going to make it..." Sue spoke up softly as I made my way up another set of stairs. Fuck sake, how many sets of stairs are in this place? "Are we?" The waver in her voice was still present from earlier.

"We'll make it," I grunted out, holstering Roscoe, grabbing a stimpack, and jamming it into my shoulder. "Where the fuck is ED-E?"

"Friend_Courier," ED-E's voice buzzed in my ear. "I have found the way back outside."

"Well, that's just fantastic," I grumbled, checking the ammo on Roscoe. "And where are you? I've lost track of you in this crumbling piece of shit maze." And, as if things weren't complicated enough, I heard more tunnelers crawling through the walls. Great.

"The roof," is all he said.

"Motherfucker."

The wall in front of me exploded in a shower of brickwork and plaster. Another pair of tunnelers emerged, screeching and roaring and ready to eat me. I just took aim through the shower of shrapnel and emptied Roscoe into the closest one. I holstered the pistol, grabbed one of my boot knives, and rushed into the hail of debris, blade first. The knife sliced between a pair of chitinous plates on the abdomen of the other tunneler, and I dug down deep until I felt bone. Or was that the floor? Yeah, that was definitely the floor.

"Take the fuckin' hint already!" I yelled, picking up the not-quite-dead tunneler by the neck, and throwing it into the other one. More eyes looked at me from the darkness, and more claws emerged from the hole. I shrugged the G36 into my hands and hosed them. They screeched from the muzzle flashes, and I honestly think the bright lights were hurting them more than the bullets.

"I'm through fucking around, you assholes!" I yelled, emptying the magazine. The claws had disappeared, but the eyes were still looking at me... So I shouldered the rifle. "Alright, we do it the hard way!"

"Sheason?" Sue squeaked. "What are you doing?"

I didn't answer. I just grabbed two microfusion cell grenades from inside my duster, hit the buttons, tossed them into the darkness, and bolted. I figured I had maybe... 15 seconds? Maybe more, may-

The whole building shuddered. Definitely less. It felt like the floor was going to drop out from under me, so I just kept running. Up more stairs, trying to ignore the green plasma fire behind me, around a few more bends, leaping over sections of hallway that had already given way from the explosion, until finally...

"Friend_Courier!" ED-E yelled at me from the end of the hall, right in front of a door. "This way!" I kept my head down, and ran as fast as I could, straight for the door. ED-E floated up out of the way. And good thing too the door practically splintered when I slammed into it and rolled out onto the roof. A huge cloud of dust and smoke exploded out the door behind me, and it sounded like everything inside the building collapsed.

And speaking of sounds: I couldn't hear any more tunnelers. Either they'd been vaporized by the MF cell grenade explosions, or the floors collapsing behind me had crushed them. Either would have suited me, but the silence was very, very welcome. Contrasted nicely with the ringing in my ears.

"Ugh..." I was lying facedown on a roof somewhere. I had no idea where, I just knew that my legs were screaming at me. I shook my head and tried to look around. Sure enough, the door I'd rushed through was completely collapsed. There was a huge cloud of smoke everywhere, too... and there was... something else...

"Where the... fuck..." I finally looked up. I pushed off the ground, and finally understood what ED-E had meant earlier when he'd said 'chasm.'

Gigantic rock walls rose up in every direction all around me. And it wasn't just rock there were buildings halfway buried in the cliffs, sticking out at odd angles. The building I was standing on was just one of dozens. It was surprisingly lit up down here. Fires were burning at the bottom of the chasm below me, and every so often I saw a pulsing red light. The sky beyond the lip of the crevasse was completely blocked out by the still present mushroom cloud. At least it wasn't on fire anymore.

What really freaked me out, though, was the weather. It almost... it looked like snow. But that was... I reached out to grab one of the flakes between my thumb and forefinger, and it was crushed instantly. It left a grey-brown smear on my fingertip.

"Ash..." I muttered, looking around. All this ash must have been kicked up by the nuke... but I don't think it was fallout. My Geiger counter wasn't clicking, so it wasn't radioactive, and that seemed like a good sign.

"Alright, c'mon ED-E," I muttered, trying to take stock of everything. "We need to keep moving." As bad as The Divide had been already, I was getting that sinking sensation in my stomach again. I just knew, deep down, that things were going to get much worse before the end. I wasn't sure HOW. I mean... I'd already accidentally launched a fucking nuclear weapon today.

Silence.

"ED-E?" I turned to the silent, immobile robot hovering several feet away from me. I knew what was coming next. At least that explained the sinking sensation in my stomach.

"Hopeville..." Ulysses voice growled out of ED-E's speaker. "High Road... Ashton... Tiny cracks in the earth. Nothing compared to the road carved ahead. Before you now is the edge of The Divide. Ahead... lies your work. The History you burned in the earth. What you brought to the people here..."

Bad to worse. This is what my life had become.