Fallout: Ohio
A work in progress, suggestions welcome Credit to @fallingthruspace for some of the ideas.
Dogs and cats roam the streets, some normal some tainted by radiation.
In more rural areas, yao guai.
Potholes the sizes of small lakes
The Great Pothole Lake in Akron, where someone has somehow managed to build a house in the middle of it.
It gets bigger every year
Cornfields are halfdead, but spread out wide.
Rad horses/alpaca/llamas, some wild some tame.
Giant st. bernard sized opossums, with their young hanging off them.
The possum Queen/King, as large as a tibetan mastiff, and their colony of opossums.
Irradiated skunks with deadly sprays.
The skunks can be tamed, if you’re careful.
Rad racoons with multiple limbs.
Crumbling farmhouses dot the landscape.
Beware the Grassman. Sometimes he’s aggressive.
There are a strangely large amount of crows everywhere.
They say you can find a woman who controls them near Winchester.
If you’re really lucky, you might see the Ohio Mothman. Very rare indeed.
Be careful in Loveland. There’s the Frogmen and the Crosswick Monster.
The Frogmen are smart, surprisingly so.
The Dogmen gather in packs, but there are some on their own. They’re vicious. Take care if you think they’re nearby.
There are a lot of settlements built on former farmland, even a small town.
Cleveland has become a raider hotspot.
Don’t go to Fort Wayne. There’s nothing but feral ghouls there.
Vault 98. The most well known conspircy theroists were gathered together, just to see what they came up with, and how much they knew. They formed factions, then fell to infighting as the theories grew wilder and wilder, until no one was left.
Vault 83. Stocked with a cloning machine that only worked on animals and a stock of viable DNA, from cats and dogs, to farm animals. Intended for use to repopulate the surface with usable animals.
Vault 25. Control Vault. Hero of the game either comes from here, or finds a community.
Vault 65. Experimented with the potential of corn. Over taken by greenery when found. There’s something in there.
Vault 56. Purpose Unknown.
Vault 10. Purpose Unknown.
Vault 30. Purpose Unknown.
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swan kingdom part 4-- EP
The first thing I noticed was the soft nature of my surroundings. My eyes weren’t open yet, but I felt as though a cloud was giving me a gentle hug, and I squirmed around in disbelief. “Oh,” a voice said from my right.
I opened my eyes to find the speaker, who, to my horror, was Mr. Crosswicks, dressed in a smart lavender sweater vest and holding an open book. “Mr. Crosswicks? W-what happened?” I stuttered. “Did I-- am I--”
“Well, after you passed out, I couldn’t just leave your lifeless body on the floor, could I?”
“Ah. Thank you very much, Mr. Crosswicks, I’ll make it up to you somehow.”
“Yes, I’ll make sure of it.” He snapped the book shut and scrutinized my face for a few tense moments before speaking. “When was the last time you ate something?”
How did he know everything I tried to hide? Could he read minds or something? “I’m not sure,” I replied. “How long was I asleep?”
“Approximately fourteen hours.”
“Fourteen--? Oh goodness, I’m so sorry. I really will make it up to you.”
“Answer the question.”
I swallowed, then mumbled, “er… three days ago… I think… or maybe four?”
“Good god. Remind me of your name.”
“Eden… Perelli…”
“You are a fucking idiot, Eden Perelli.” Mr. Crosswicks stood up and walked around the bed to open the door and yell down the hall, “Bellamy, lunch for two, and bring it soon.”
While he relayed orders, I observed the space. A wardrobe faced me on the other side, and to my right, a window let rays of sunlight filter inside. One electric light blazed from the center of the ceiling encased in a glass flower. And the walls-- I recognized the lavender walls at once-- I was still in Mr. Crosswick’s house. My face reddened. This man, a renowned scientist, caught me in his arms and let me sleep in his home. In a bed! I couldn’t recall the last time I slept in a bed.
“Do you take tea or coffee?” he asked me over his shoulder.
“Uh-- I’m not sure.”
He rolled his eyes. “Both, Bellamy, please and thank you. Yes, that’s all.”
“T-thank you.”
Without acknowledging me, Mr. Crosswicks closed the door and went back to his chair next to the bed. “So, you told me last night that you had information about IRs. Some information that you assumed I don’t already possess.”
When he put it like that, I realized how pompous it seemed for me to visit. More blood rushed to my face. “I suppose so,” I said.
“Would you care to share your findings with me?”
I decided to start with a preamble. “I’m a friend of Holland Rusk. She helps run the Rusk Bookshop, just north of here, and she gave me your name.”
“Oh, yes, I recall buying a book from her a few days ago. Rather chatty. Intelligent, for a civilian.”
“That’s her. She told me about your research, which is why I’m here.”
“I’m aware.”
“Mr. Crosswicks, forgive me if I sound ignorant, but how many interactions have you had with IRs?”
He considered this. For how rude he acted, at least he seemed to be taking me seriously now. “I have never met one,” he said. “My parents conducted most of the experiments and they died from radiation poisoning. I have utilized previous research or experimented on light forms of radioactivity-- plants, and the like.”
“You know the mutations vary from subject to subject, right? Some humans become animalistic, some humans can still think and communicate?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well--” I sat up in bed and rearranged my blankets, and realized that I was no longer wearing pants. I yelped and yanked the covers up over my legs.
“Oh, yes. I treated your leg,” Mr. Crosswicks supplied.
“Y-you did?” I lifted the covers a few inches to check. Sure enough, my left shin was wrapped up in clean white gauze. “Oh! Thank you so much, Mr. Crosswicks! I--”
“Yes, yes,” he replied impatiently, “continue.”
I replaced the blankets. “Right. I’m sorry. Well, I’ve spent the last few years searching for IRs and helping them hide from monster hunters. I like to think I’ve got a good reputation among them.”
Mr. Crosswicks pondered this. “Miss Rusk mentioned you,” he mused.
“Right! You see, when I first moved to New London, a humanoid IR was the first one who showed me any kindness, and I knew that that they had to be misunderstood. So I found an old radiation suit in a dumpster, and I thought, I might as well try to do some good-- pay that kindness forward. I tried to be public about it at first. I rallied in the streets with a few IRs to bring public awareness to the issue, but I was arrested. A year later I escaped from prison and I’ve been on the run ever since. Oh, and if you want to turn me in,” I added quickly, “I won’t fight, Mr. Crosswicks, I understand. I just need you to hear me out before that happens.”
He held up a hand to stop me and I fell silent. “I am less interested in IRs and more interested in you.”
“Er-- me? Why?”
“Yes. You say you have lived with multiple IRs?”
“That’s right. Dozens, probably.”
“When did this begin?”
I counted on my fingers. “About-- ten years ago, is when I started.”
“When did you get the radiation suit?”
“That would be nine years ago.”
“You’ve used this suit ever since?”
“I haven’t had the money to buy a brand new one, so… yes.” His eyes hadn’t left me once and it was starting to make me uncomfortable. “Mr. Crosswicks, I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about,” I continued.
“You don’t? Eden-- may I call you Eden?”
“Yes.”
“Eden, by all rights, you should be dead. I could feel the radiation coming off of you the moment you stepped into my study. As I have explained, I have studied various forms of radiation for years now, and I consider myself something of an expert on the subject. According to my research, the radiation suit you dug out of the trash should not have worked as well as you hoped, and your continued interactions with IRs should have killed you.”
So that’s what he meant last night when he told me that I was dying. He hadn’t predicted that the Rat Catcher was hunting me, he somehow felt the leftover radioactivity from the IRs. “Does that mean… I can’t help you?” I asked, feeling my heart sink.
“That depends. How do you feel about being observed?”
“Observed?”
A knock sounded at the door. The woman, Bellamy, came in, balancing a gargantuan tray in her arms, and setting it down with practiced precision on my lap. Fine china plates bearing piles of steaming sausages, arrays of tiny sandwiches, glazed meats, and salad, were spread out in neat rows in front of me. “Thank you,” I said, wondering what to eat first.
“You’re very welcome, dear,” she replied, casting a shifty glance to Mr. Crosswicks, who didn’t return it, and instead waved her out.
The moment she closed the door behind, he ordered, “eat.”
“Don’t you want some? You said it was for two.”
“Yes. I’m betting you can eat enough for two people, considering how long you’ve gone hungry.”
He wasn’t wrong. Without bothering myself with a fork, I began by sampling all of the sandwiches, which were cut into neat little squares and that I could fit between two fingers. Each one fit perfectly in my mouth. I didn’t recognize most of these flavors, but enjoyed each one all the same. Normally, what I ate came out of other people’s trash cans, so this was a real treat.
Mr. Crosswicks had gone quiet, probably because he knew I couldn’t get a word out while I ate. I glanced over at him. He had taken out a notebook to write in.
I swallowed the sandwich I was working on and asked, “What are you writing?”
“Notes.”
“Notes about what?”
He used the pen in his hand to point at the plate of sandwiches in front of me. “You reached for the cucumber first. Then the chicken, tomato, and finally, the potato salad. Tomato elicited the most positive reaction.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to this. Was he taking notes on me? “Is this what you meant by ‘observing’?” I said.
“Yes. I’d like to learn how you act, what patterns you exhibit, in a controlled environment-- if you don’t object.”
“Would it help your IR research?”
“Very much, I think. You see, the majority of the population is scared of IRs because of their unavoidable radioactivity, and the belief that living in close proximity with them is fatal. You could prove them wrong. In fact--” Mr. Crosswicks put his pen and paper down so he could lean closer. “If you want to pay me back, you can start by cooperating in experiments.”
“What would I have to do?”
“It’s simple. I want to visit you as regularly as possible, in your natural habitat. At your home.”
My heart skipped a beat. Home. “I’m not sure that would be possible, Mr. Crosswicks,” I replied.
He placed a hand on my arm, as though to comfort me, and again my heart fluttered. “You would only have to act as you normally do,” he coaxed. “I ask you questions, you answer. I need a blood sample, you give it to me. And if you want the IRs to keep visiting, I’ll donate an old radiation suit of mine, so I will know exactly what types of radiation you are experiencing.”
“It isn’t that. I would be fine with all that.”
“Then what on earth is the problem?”
“I-- I--” My hands clenched at the blanket. I could never go back to the warehouse, not while the Rat Catcher continued to hunt me. Considering that I planned that last night would indeed be my last, I hadn’t even contemplated the possibility that I might survive another day. Where was I supposed to go now? Straight back to the warehouse to wait for the Rat Catcher to find me, to sit in anguishing wait for death?
A tear dripped down my cheek and I rubbed it away and swallowed my cries. “It won’t work, Mr. Crosswicks, I’m sorry,” I whimpered.
“Won’t work?” He placed his notes on the floor. I could tell he had no idea why I was crying or how to stop me. “I’m-- Eden, look at me, it’s alright-- I’m offering you the opportunity of a lifetime. You came to me--”
“I know, I did, and I’m sorry. Thank you for everything but I should go now.”
Out of instinct, he reached his other hand for my face, and then just as awkwardly withdrew it, and put it on his lap. “Would you tell me why?” he inquired gently.
“The sad truth is, if I tell you, you may be in danger,” I replied.
“I’ll be in danger?”
I stared down at the tray of food to avoid his concerned eyes. “Someone wants to kill me, Mr. Crosswicks. They know where I live. They follow me. I’m not sure if they know I’m here, but if I go back home, I’ll die.”
“Why do they want you dead?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, they didn’t say. They hunt IRs for a living, I think. Yesterday, I wanted to keep a promise to a friend that I would find you, so I came here after I escaped. That’s where the cuts on my leg came from. So, you see… I have no home to go back to.”
He paused, and rested his hand on my arm again. Goosebumps rose on my skin. “Why did you come here? Were you looking for a place to hide?”
“No, I swear that isn’t it! I made a promise to my friend that I would share my knowledge of IRs with you. He knew how much I wanted to make a change but was too afraid for so many years. I just thought, if I’m going to die, I should die after I accomplish something.”
“Good god. And here I was thinking you were some starving tramp coming to my door to take advantage of me.”
“I would never!”
Mr. Crosswicks chuckled. “Yes, I believe you.”
He was smiling. Actually smiling. Up until this point, a frown stayed painted on his face, and now a little grin emerged from under the facade.
It was beautiful.
“I-- I wish I c-could help you,” I stammered.
“Perhaps we could help each other. Go on, eat, you need it.”
I didn’t want to remove my arm from his grasp, so I used my left one to fumble around for the fork and skewer leaves of salad.
“You have no place to live,” Mr. Crosswicks began. “If you go outside, you could very well be killed. I want to observe you on a regular basis in order to advance my IR research. Do you understand where I’m going with this, Eden?”
I frantically chewed my mouthful of salad, swallowed, and replied, “not really.”
“I’m suggesting that you live here for a time.”
“Here? Here, as in-- here, here? Your house?”
“Here here.” He withdrew his hand from me and gestured around the room to prove his point. “I have more than enough space for myself since my parents died. I’ll give you this extra bedroom, a bathroom, everything you could need.”
This was too good to be true. Was I dreaming? I just sat there, stunned, waiting for him to add a “kidding!”.
We stared each other down. “I need your consent before I set this up,” he continued.
“Uh. Are y-you sure?”
“Yes. I don’t care if you’re being hunted, my house is the safest place in New London. You agree to be my test subject?”
I didn’t like the term test subject, but I didn’t know how else to define myself now, so I nodded and answered, “yes, I’ll be your test subject.”
“Perfect! Let me draw up the papers and I’ll be right back. Finish your lunch, I want you to regain your health as soon as possible.” He stood up, abandoning his book and notes, and strode out the door, leaving me in contemplative silence.
Test subject. Me, a test subject? Have I gotten myself into something bad?
No, no, I persuaded myself. You can trust Mr. Crosswicks.
Why? Another voice chimed in. Why should I trust him? I only just met him.
And in that time he’s done more for me than anyone has in years without my asking him to.
Yes, I was sure of it. I could trust him. I would keep my guard up-- not like I had been during lunch when I poured my heart out-- but I could trust him for now.
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