The Vault of the Rising Sun Chapter 2

	‘He’s going to get us killed.’ Hanako thought warily as she shook her head, listening to the man muttering to himself behind her as they walked up the stairs.

	They had come from the entrance after only finding a locked set of double doors that looked to lead to some sort of office. Instead they had opened the center door, which lead to a long stairwell going up.

	They hadn’t run into anyone yet, but Hanako knew that the man out front must have some sort of friends here. They hadn’t found any sort of bedding out in the cave, nor any sort of evidence of someone living there, so there had to be a place where this guy had stayed.

	Slowly, Hanako crept forwards, the combat shotgun firmly pointed at the door above them. As they drew nearer, Hanako could hear the steadily building sounds of voices. She turned to Kenji and waved her hand for him to keep low.

	By his shrug, he didn’t seem to understand.

	Hanako rolled her eyes, put a finger to her lips, and then pointed to the ground, motioning for him to stay put.

	She crept forwards. She approached the door and cursed under her breath. The thing was shut, and with a latch that would need to pull two bars out of the ground and the ceiling. It was like the door was designed to be noisy as hell. If she were to try and open it, she was sure to make a sound, and every punk with a gun would be filling it with holes before she could wave at them.

	A hand pushed past her and made her jump, nearly causing her to blast Kenji in the chest with a shell. She swung the shotgun away from him, hand flying out and slapping him.

	“Ow, what the hell?” He whispered.

	“You idiot, I nearly shot you!” She replied in a harsh whisper of her own.

	“I was gonna open the door so you could shoot.”

	“It’s closed. They’ll hear it open.”

	“So shoot them?” Kenji said, shrugging. He reached out and pushed on the door before Hanako could stop him, not even grabbing the latch. To Hanako’s shock, the door soundlessly swung a few inches open. She had to stop herself from stammering questions. She could swear that the door was fully closed…

	No time to question it now though, Hanako swung the shotgun to bare and pushed the door open a bit more with the nose of her gun.
Bright white lights seemed to be the theme of the vault, although now one hung from the ceiling by its cables. Voices were talking, and Hanako could make out two men standing with their backs to them. They were looking up towards a circular window that hung over the room, like an observation point.

	Neither of the men had shirts on, but had scraps of leather tied around their backs, likely as carrying equipment for weapons. Her father had shown her it after a raider attack, and had referred to the apparel as raider armor. The men’s hair also stood out, a stark difference to the cleanliness and orderliness of the vault. Greased to all hell, and as neon as the bar lights, the men looked as if they hadn’t showered in weeks.

	“What do you think is up there?” One of the men was asking the other. He had a rifle in his hand, pointed up towards the ceiling.

	“How the fuck should I know? Ask Scorch.” Replied the other. He had his arms crossed, with a lead pipe tied at his belt. Hanako crept forwards, silently. She slid the shotgun to her back, and from her pants leg withdrew a long sharp knife.

	“Oh, fuck no. He’d think I’m moving in on it, and fry me.”

	“Then maybe you’d deserve it.” The man with the pipe said, shrugging. “Don’t ask about shit that you don’t need to know.”

	Closer still, Hanako crept. She planned out her attack as she did, the two men still unaware.

	“You know what, fuck scorch. It was me that found that stupid girl that took us back here, I deserve some fucking credit.”

	“Yea, you also thought she was a Red-eyed Demon chick that you summoned.” Said the other guy.

	The first man suddenly lowered his rifle, taking aim at the glass, and fired a burst into it. The glass shattered inwards.

	“What the fuck!?” Exclaimed the man with the pipe as the one with the rifle walked forwards, leaning down to look at the glass. Hanako chose that moment to strike. Her hand went forwards, clamping over the raider’s mouth as her knife entered through his back. She felt the tension in his body and air push out against her hand, but the man didn’t have enough to scream. Hanako withdrew the blade as she felt the man begin to go limp.

	“Oh shut up.” The man said, crunching his heel into the glass. Hanako rushed forward as he began to turn back and lept, slamming knife first into the man’s chest. His rifle fell to the side as they toppled backwards, the man letting out a yelp of pain and surprise before they slammed onto the broken glass. Hanako stared into the man’s eyes as the light faded from them, and he ebbed away. She stood up, pulling the knife free from his corpse, and wiped the blood on his pants.

	“Woof.” Kenji said, coming up behind her. “I haven’t seen you use a knife before.”

	“We have no idea how many other people are here.” Hanako replied, sheathing the knife. “And from the sound of it, this Scorch is a real bastard. We can’t let a potential safe haven go to the raiders, but I’m not gonna go looking for a big fight.”

	Kenji chucked. “You’re such a Ranger’s girl. You keep going, and maybe you’ll have your own big fight against Caesar’s Legion. Didn’t we just come here to get your Mom a birthday gift?”

	Hanako found herself blushing shyly as Kenji brought up the stories her father had brought back after the fighting in New Vegas calmed down. He’d served as a NCR Ranger during the fighting, and had taught Hanako over the past few years more than a few skills on how to survive out in the wastes. He talked of a beautiful city, filled with beautiful people, and amazing technology that the NCR could only dream of. It was all NCR territory now and Hanako had hopes that she could go herself… one day.

	But today is today, and they had things to do.

	“It’s not just about the gift anymore. This is a vault, an actual safe spot, and it’s being occupied by raiders. We could give it to the NCR. There’s got to be a ton of pre-war tech here that they could salvage.”

	Kenji’s eyes seemed to gleam, but only for a moment. “Yea… That sounds good.”
Hanako knew the boy well enough to tell something was on his mid, but a sudden crash from the other room had both of them drawing their weapons in an instant. Slowly, Hanako ebbed forwards. She passed over the broken glass, which crunched under her feet, and under the office above. The door at the end of the area was closed tight, but that hadn’t stopped the sound. Whatever had fell, it was big.

	Hanako pulled at the hatch, and partially opened the door. Shouting on the other side obscured the sound.

	“You stupid motherfucker!” Roared a voice. “How the hell are they supposed to get back up?”

	“Hey, fuck you! That’s not my fuckin problem!”

	Hanako pushed the door open further, three men were standing around an open door which seemed to only lead to blackness.

	“The stairs don’t fucking go down there.” Said a man, who was grabbing another guy by the shirt.

	“There’s got to be a way up.” Replied the man. “Get the fuck off of me.” He said. He tried to push at the other man, but he was larger and held firm.

	“Oh yea? Why don’t you go fucking find it!” He shouted.

	The gripped man started shouting, as he was bodily thrown into the shaft. Hanako could hear his voice further and echo, until it suddenly cut off.

	“Fucker.” Growled the large man. “Go get Scorch. Tell them dumbass just fucked up the elevator, and that the guys are stuck down in utilities. Then tell him what just happened.”

	“Ugh, yea, sure.” Said the other raider. He turned and started walking off. Hanako crept into the hallway, again drawing her knife. The large man looked down the elevator shaft, peering down. As Hanako grew closer, she could hear men down there shouting.

	The man suddenly tensed as the door forward that his companion went through closed. Hanako sprang forward, but with a whirl the man’s fist came up and he stuck her in the face. She staggered backwards, dropping the knife, and he slammed her into the wall, grabbing her by her slender neck.

	“Well well, we knew SOMEBODY would come looking for her.” The man said, delight in his voice. “Been off wandering long? Where’s the rest of ya?”

	His breath stank of alcohol, but his sharp eyes told Hanako that the man must be on some sort of drug. She kicked out, trying to catch him, but it just bounced off. He tightened his grip on her neck, chocking her. “Scorch is going to love you.” He said with a gritted smile. Shock suddenly took over as he let her fall from his grip, turning just in time to block the lead pipe Kenji swung with his arm. Bone cracked and the man let out a howl, his foot flying out and catching Kenji in the stomach. It didn’t even phase him, as he drew back for another swing. The man went to block it again, but Hanako flung herself onto his back and pulled his arms down. The pipe connected with his cranium, and with a sickening split he began gushing blood. He slumped onto the ground, his chest rising and falling rapidly and his eyes blinking furiously.

	“He’s doped up.” Hanako said to Kenji. “He won’t go unconscious, but his body it trying to shut down. We have to kill him.”

	Kenji grabbed at her knife, but she stopped him. “No, wait.” She said, panting. “Those guys will be coming here. We can’t get too much blood here, or they’ll know. Drop him down the shaft.”

	Kenji nodded, and kicked the man in his stomach. He let out a groan of pain as Kenji lifted him and tossed him down. With a sickening crunch, the voices at the bottom suddenly got louder, but the echoing just made it an unintelligible mess. Next to the shaft read the word ‘Elevator’ with an arrow pointing up for ‘Living quarters, medical, Overseer’s office’ and one pointed down labeled simply

	‘Utilities.’ The raiders must have went down the elevator to get there… but why would a vault only have an elevator to get down to the things that kept it running? That seemed like an awful idea, for the very reason the raiders were experiencing now.

	Hanako was about to try and wipe up the blood when the sound of the door opening at the end of the hall made her freeze. It was pulled back, and beyond it stood multiple men, all staring directly at her and Kenji. The lead one had some sort of tank on his back, and what looked like a gas mask covering face, though they all seemed to be unarmed.

	Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. The tension was silent, and built rapidly.

	“Shit.” Kenji said.

	Shouting exploded from the men, who turned and rushed into the room as Hanako swung the shotgun from her shoulder and fired at the group. One of the men tried to slam the door shut, but was rebuffed as the shell struck the door, swinging it back against him and hitting him. He fell to the ground as Hanako ran forwards, and emptied a shell into his prone body. The force of the blast sent him skidding, a sick stream of blood pouring from him.

	The shouting from ahead continued as Hanako charged after the group, and turned into a large room filled with long tables. The raiders were flipping the tables to use as cover, and in the center of them stood the man with the gas mask, now holding a large and ominous looking weapon that was hooked up to the backpack.

	A Flamer.

	The man laughed, the gas mask muffling it maniacally, as the blue light at the tip suddenly flourished, orange flame taking over and screaming directly towards Hanako. She stood stock still, a deer in the headlights, as the flames rushed at her.

	“Look out!” Kenji screamed, shouting as he tackled Hanako around the corner of the door. Flame filled the spot where they had just been, followed by gunfire.

	Hanako looked up and over Kenji at the flames that had nearly consumed her, shock on her face.

	“Ow, fuck.” Kenji said, rubbing his head. “Sorry. Stupid fucking shoe laces.”

	‘What???’ Hanako thought confused. Sure enough, when she looked down, she saw Kenji’s shoelaces had gotten tangled. ‘Did he not mean to tackle me’?

	Another burst of flame reminded Hanako that maybe this wasn’t the best time to ask. “Here, hang on.” She said, swinging her backpack around her. She unzipped it and pulled out a small round object. A fragmentation grenade.

	“Dad’s going to kill me for taking this…” she said to nobody, but decided dying later was better than being burned alive now. She pulled the pin on the grenade and waited a moment, holding the clasp.

	The fire died down, and nobody shot for a moment.

	“Come out, fucker.” Said a high and psychotic voice. “I’ll only give you a little singe!”

	Hanako looked out of the cover of the door and launched the grenade forward. It struck the unmasked flame carrier in the face like a baseball, and she had just enough time to duck back behind the door as it exploded.

	A wave of fire launched through the air as the tank on the man’s back also ruptured, filling the corridor with an outrageous explosion. Heat washed over Hanako, but she kept pressed to the door and soon the heat faded. Water began shooting down from the ceiling from little devices that Hanako had never seen before. She watched as the cool water hurriedly extinguished the flames in the dining area, and the tables smoldered. Her purple hair matted to her Combat Armor. She looked herself over. Apart from a bit of redness on her arm that had been nearest to the door, her right side, she was unscathed. Even her long hair seemed to make it without any issue. It was amazing, really. She walked forward into the dining area to inspect the raiders.

	There was a mess of blood and body parts mixed with the water, though some a lot was being washed down some drains with the water. The body parts, though, would need to be cleaned out if they were ever going to use this place. That’d have to be by hand. Hanako’s nose scrunched as the smell of burning flesh made its way to her through the dampness. It was a disgusting smell.

	“Good throw.” Kenji said simply, standing behind her. “Anything they had is trash now though. Think there’ll be any more?”

	Hanako shook her head, her long purple hair whipping side to side. “No, just those guys downstairs. They probably heard that explosion though… I hope they don’t wreck anything before we get back with the NCR.” Hanako said.

	“Well we gotta look for your thing first, right? Let’s go look upstairs. No elevator, let’s use the stairwell.” He said, glibly, and began walking from the room. Hanako sighed, lamenting the need for what had just happened, but knew there was no other way. The sprinklers tampered off as she and Kenji left the room, headed towards the living quarters.