Chapter Text
“I can't stand it to think my life is going so fast and I'm not really living it.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises
“Honey, be a dear and whip up some of that onion dip I like before the guys get here,” Nate hollered from the bathroom.
Nora sighed and set down her dog-eared copy of The Sun Also Rises before going to the kitchen and reaching down a large bowl. She pulled a carton of sour cream from the refrigerator and dumped it in.
“It’s just sour cream and onion soup mix, how hard can that be? But of course, I have to do it,” Nora grumbled under her breath, mixing the dip with a little more vigor than necessary.
“What was that?” Nate stood in the hallway, watching her. The overpowering scent of his aftershave hit her like a wave.
“Nothing, just singing along with the radio,” she smiled but it was tight, bopping her hips to Easy Living.
Nate eyed her before pulling an ice-cold Gwinnett Ale out of the refrigerator. He popped the cap off and flipped it onto the countertop before taking a long sip. She watched the bottle cap spin and fall flat with a clink. He winked at her and walked to the couch, sitting down with an indulgent groan, eyes glued to the football game flashing across the screen.
She grit her teeth and swiped the bottle cap into the trash can.
The kitchen was filled with the rich smell of Salisbury steak sliders, spinach-feta stuffed puff pastry, and homemade peach cobbler. She had gotten up quite early that morning to make this spread for Nate’s Sunday afternoon football party, and now her feet ached like nothing else.
His friends were due within the hour, and she was expected to play the perfect host.
Nora untied her apron and hung it on a small hook inside the pantry before walking down the hallway towards the bathroom. She paused by the open laundry room door to watch Codsworth hum while he folded a fresh batch of clean clothes. The warm pleasant scent of Summer Breeze Abraxo cleaner made her eyes flutter closed.
“Hello ma’am, beautiful day we’re having isn’t it?” Codsworth sprinkled in more Abraxo for the next load with a jovial flick of his mechanical arm. She was fascinated by the way his optic lenses focused on whatever he was looking at.
“Yes Codsworth,” Nora smiled and her eyes relaxed. “Thank you so much for finishing that laundry, you’re a lifesaver.”
Codsworth whirred at the praise.
“Not a worry ma’am, consider it done and dusted!”
She nodded and slipped into the bathroom to refresh her mascara. Nate liked her to look natural, so she kept it minimal. She wore short kitten heels and a button-up mauve-taupe dress that dipped low enough in the front to hint at her décolletage.
Nora fluffed up her hair, annoyed that it was already falling back to loose waves, and applied a fresh coat of nude lipstick. Her eyes were drawn down to a deep purple bruise on her arm from where Nate had grabbed her the other night. She stared hard at herself in the mirror.
How has it gotten this far?
She smoothed her sleeve down and left the bathroom, stopping for a moment at her framed degree hanging in the hallway. She traced the side of the wood frame with her fingertips; the only woman in her family to graduate college. She remembered standing on that stage to accept her certificate and flushed with pride. Law school had been the hardest three years of her life, and despite the criticism from her family and friends, she had graduated top of her class. The struggle had all been worth it.
Nora had always wanted to help people from an early age. She hated to see those on the bottom get taken advantage of by those who sat at the top.
She also knew she never wanted to be at the mercy of a husband and his income, though she kept that to herself. She had grown up watching her mother suffer in silence at the hand of her father, because the alternative was being thrown out on the street with no career or skill-set to fall back on, and her mother had four children to raise.
The glass protecting the certificate caught the light coming in through the bathroom window and shone so that the only thing Nora could see were her own disappointed eyes staring back. She pushed away from the wall and walked into the kitchen to prepare a veggie tray for the onion dip.
“That’s right baby, come on!” Nate shook his fist at the TV and clapped.
Nora had just started assembling the baby carrots and broccoli florets on an embossed glass plate when the doorbell rang. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and opened the door.
“Good morning, I mean afternoon! Vault-Tec calling!” A man in a yellow trenchcoat and fedora greeted, clutching a clipboard to his chest. Nora couldn’t help but smile, taking pity on the man.
“Good afternoon, what can I help you with today?”
“I know you're a busy woman, so I won't take up much of your time. Time being a, um, precious commodity,” he snuck a glance up towards the sky. “I'm here today to tell you that because of your family's service to our country, you have been pre-selected for entrance into the local vault, Vault 111!”
“Sounds great,” she gripped the side of her dress, feeling the daggers Nate stared into her back.
“Oh, it is, believe you me. Now, you're already cleared for entrance, in the unforeseen event of… total atomic annihilation.” The Vault-Tec Representative tried to smile but it came out a grimace. “I just need to verify some information, that's all,” he pushed the clipboard towards Nora.
Her finger brushed against his as she accepted the proffered clipboard and pen and a red flush burned over the tips of his ears as his eyes flicked over her figure. She flipped through the forms oblivious to his stare, reading through a few paragraphs and signing where needed before handing it back.
“This is great, thank you. Minus your robot, you and your husband are both cleared for entrance. Congratulations on being prepared for-”
Nate slammed the door shut.
“One more word out of him and I was going to have to shut him up myself,” he scoffed, walking to the refrigerator for another Gwinnett Ale.
Imagining the Vault-Tec Representative’s face on the other side of the door, shocked and humiliated, made Nora curl her nails into her palms.
“Why did you have to slam the door in his face?”
Her voice wavered and she took a steadying breath before turning to look at Nate. His eyes danced across her face before sticking a carrot into the dip and popping it into his mouth.
“He was done, and I shut the door. Any reason in particular you wanted to chit-chat with him longer?”
His eyes narrowed and Nora deflated, shaking her head and walking to the wet bar to make herself a strong gin and tonic with a splash of grenadine.
She took a sip and closed her eyes as the fizz buzzed in her ears and warmth spread through her chest. She leaned back against her armchair to get in a few more chapters of The Sun Also Rises before Nate’s friends came over, glad to be off her feet.
Time passed quickly, and soon enough the afternoon light began to dip across her page. Nora drained the contents of her glass, licking the sweet grenadine from her lips before checking her watch.
“Nate, it’s been well over an hour. Did anyone ring to say they’d be late?” She stood and brushed the wrinkles from her dress.
Nate sat rigid on the couch, drumming his fingers against the armrest. She picked up his empty beer bottle and threw it away before grabbing him a fresh one.
“No, but I’m sure they’re just running a little behind. Damn rude if you ask me,” he frowned, accepting the ale from her.
As she pulled her hand away, Nate grabbed it and held her slim wrist, rubbing his thumb down the soft skin. Nora’s heart caught in her throat.
“Nate…”
“Ma’am, sir, you should hear this,” Codsworth interrupted, hovering near the TV.
“Followed by... yes, followed by flashes. Blinding flashes. Sounds of explosions... We're... we're trying to get confirmation... But we seem to have lost contact with our affiliate stations... W-We do have- we do have... We do have coming in... That's um... confirmed reports. I repeat, confirmed reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania. My God.”
The TV cut to static before a stand-by message appeared on the screen.
Like flipping a switch, Nate went into a calm that years of military training had drilled into him.
“We need to leave, now,” Nate bolted from the couch and yanked the front door open.
On reflex, Nora grabbed her book and hurried after him.
Ice-cold terror filled her as people ran screaming down the street, dragging children and suitcases. Nate gripped her wrist like a vice and tugged her to the small bridge at the end of the block that led into the back hills towards Vault 111.
A soft life had not prepared Nora for this moment, and soon she was gasping for air, struggling to keep up with him.
“Nate, let go please, I’m going to fall!” Nora panted, breath hitching.
He released her and she ran alongside him, adrenaline causing her feet to fly while her lungs burned.
She noticed her neighbors arguing over spilled luggage and wanted to scream at them to leave the damn luggage and run but before she could open her mouth Nate had grabbed her wrist again and hauled her with him across the bridge.
Her ankles wobbled in her kitten heels over the uneven dirt path, but she was too afraid of stepping on something sharp to kick them off. Up ahead Nora saw a chain-link fence with military stationed in front, as well as the Vault-Tec Representative from earlier.
“That's absurd, I am Vault-Tec!” He stabbed a finger against the Vault-Tec logo on the back of his clipboard.
“Not on the list, you don't get in!” A soldier shouted back, big pearls of sweat dripping down the side of his face.
“I'm going in! You can't stop me,” the Vault-Tec Representative attempted to force himself past the soldiers.
Angry panicked shouting from the line of people behind Nora got louder. The soldier nodded to another one nearby who started to rev up a minigun, and the blood drained from the Vault-Tec Representative’s face.
“Whoa! Okay, but I’m reporting this!” His hands shook as he stepped to the side.
Nate brushed past him and approached the soldier.
“If you're in the program, step forward. Otherwise, return home!”
“We’re in the program dammit, let us in!” Nate flashed his military ID.
Nora looked back and saw the Vault-Tec Representative standing off to the side of the fence, looking utterly lost and desperate. He met her gaze and his lip trembled.
“Help me, please,” he begged, hand reaching out to hers.
“I’m so sorry, I wish I could.”
Nate grabbed her wrist again and dragged her through the gate. They ran alongside a few of their neighbors and were waved onto a large metal platform.
“That’s all we have time for, send it down!” A soldier shouted out, and the platform began to lower with a grinding moan.
Nora lurched forward and Nate grabbed her arm to steady her. An explosion roared on the far horizon and filled her eyes with blinding white light. The reverberating shockwaves made her knees buckle, and soon the air was filled with screams and heat as the platform lowered just in time to avoid the fallout from the blast.
She covered her face and began to shake.
“We forgot Codsworth! How could we leave him behind?” Nora gripped onto the sleeve of his shirt.
“Get ahold of yourself! Codsworth was never able to come with us,” he removed her fingers from his shirt and tried to smooth out the warped fabric. He wrapped his hand around her arm and she flinched.
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I think I’m in shock,” Nora took a deep breath and brushed down the skirt of her dress. She looked around, but the rest of the couples weren’t fairing much better than her.
Her left hand cramped and she looked down, startled, to see her age-old battered copy of The Sun Also Rises held in an iron-clad grip.
Her lips lifted into a soft smile and she felt a momentary ripple of peace.
The platform touched bottom and a gate swung open for them.
The room was cold and calm and still in comparison to the chaos above. Nora shivered, guided forward by the vault attendants that waved them along. Her heels clicked on the polished concrete floor.
Husbands and wives murmured worries and reassurances to one another as they walked. She looked to Nate, but his eyes were glued on their surroundings, sizing up the vault attendants.
Nora looked ahead and got in line for a vault-suit.
“Wow, fits like a glove,” one of her neighbors remarked, running a hand up the side of her suit-clad hip.
The vault attendant handed Nora and Nate vault-suits and ushered them into nearby makeshift changing stalls. Nora removed her dress and folded it into a neat square with shaking hands before stepping into the suit and zipping it up, marveling at how supple yet firm the material felt.
Glancing down at her throbbing feet, Nora kicked off the heels and padded back out to the attendant. She handed him the dress and her book, wondering if she would ever see them again.
He looked straight down to her naked feet and Nora blushed.
“Size?”
Nora felt her ears grow hot.
“Seven,” she whispered. He lifted a brow before passing her a sturdy pair of boots and thick socks.
“Thank you,” she slipped on the shoes and followed Nate to a room filled with upright pods.
“What’s going on? What do we do now?” One of her neighbors asked the nearby Vault-Tec Doctor.
“Now now, no need to worry. Everything will be cleared up for you all very soon. But first, we need everyone to step inside their decontamination pod.”
Nora shivered and her breath puffed out in front of her face.
Nate reached down and grabbed her hand.
“Let’s just get this over with, we can figure everything else out after,” he squeezed her hand once before letting her go. Nora nodded and stepped inside the pod across from Nate’s.
The door lowered with a hiss.
“The pod will decontaminate and depressurize you before we head deeper into the vault. Just relax,” the Vault-Tec Doctor’s voice was soothing and firm.
Nora looked out the glass to see Nate staring straight back at her.
Will this be my life from now on?
“Occupant vitals: Normal. Procedure complete,” a robotic voice overhead reported, before counting down from ten.
The air in the pod chilled her to the bone and frost crept across the glass.
Nora gasped and felt breathless before everything turned black.