Chapter 117 - 117

Words : 1239 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

The two men then worked out a plan. A very simple one. Deccanus would use the latch at the bottom of the room's heavy metal door and pull it up like he was opening a garage door. While he was doing that he would be vulnerable, however if this gun worked as advertised it would ward off the aberrations and give Deccanus the breathing room needed to get the door open. Then, using Adam's already uncovered Pip-Boy map, they would head for the exit, open the door and literally never come back to this wretched place. The two then began. Deccanus struggled for a moment, the door was not meant to be moved by hand, it had the lower latch more for the ability of someone working repairs to stop its ascent or descent so work could be done on it. This was outside expectations from the designers. Maybe they thought there would always be power? Such hubris. After a few seconds of serious effort, with impressive strength, Deccanus began to slowly lift the door up, finding it easier to lift as the door began to pick up speed. It took only up to his knees before it became clear the creatures were still outside, waiting. Adam didn't hesitate. He bent down and fired through the still small opening gap that Deccanus had provided. The sound produced was as loud as a Jet engine, as high pitched as a child's screech, and created enough of a wind tunnel to make Deccanus' skirt blow from the blast. It actually hurt even Adam's ears, causing him to cover them reflexively. Deccanus likely would have wanted to as well but he bore with it and kept opening the door. Thankfully, however, the creatures seemed to hate the noise even more than he did as they quickly began to scatter, leaving the space in front of them empty. "They are gone, Deccanus! Just get it open now!" Adam said as he waited a few moments longer for Deccanus to raise the door a bit higher and then rolled underneath it. He then bent down, got into a stance and grabbed onto the exterior door handles and held on tight. "Deccanus, Now!" He yelled to him as he now bore the weight of the extremely heavy door. Deccanus wasted no time, he let go of the door, transferring all the weight to Adam and then also rolled underneath the door. Once Deccanus was completely clear of the door Adam let it go, the door connected with the ground with a loud clang but that was the least of Adam's concerns at the moment. He offered Deccanus a hand to stand up. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here." Deccanus looked at his hand for half a moment, took it, and then used it to help himself up. Adam held onto the sonic emitter pistol tightly, double checked his pip-boy map to ensure they were facing the right direction and then led the way out. Adam was taking no chances this time. While they were not running, anytime he felt the creatures were getting close he fired the pistol in the direction of the noises. It worked well to keep them far away, but they always seemed to return after a short time. The worst part was Adam had no idea how long this fusion battery would hold out. It had barely a charge left by the time he had found it, he could only imagine this gun was power draining. He truly could only guess but by his best estimate he had 10, maybe 15 shots left. "Adam." Deccanus said to him as he took up the rear. Adam turned to look at him and saw what he was looking at. The armory. "We don't have time Deccanus." Adam said, worried. "Perhaps not, but if we do…" He said back to him, staring him right in the eyes. "I will follow your lead." Deccanus continued, saying what he always did. Adam struggled for a few moments over his greed and desire to make this journey profitable and his desire to leave but after a few more seconds he nodded. "Quickly!" he said as he motioned for Deccanus to enter the room. Adam fired another sonic round down the hall to buy a little more time while they looted the room. The inside was dark, of course, but it seemed to be far more stocked than his own vault was, if only this wasn't a vault filled with Horrors it would be a great find, rifles lined the racks, pistols on the wall, ammo lined the shelves, and there were more than one sets of body armor. Adam heard more noises and then turned around to fire once more, the round rang out and once more scared the aberrations away but then he began to hear something strange. The gun began to beep. While he was no expert he was quite familiar with guns, technology, and warning beeps. This was the sound of low power. The gun had even less power than he had hoped, they were running out of time. "Deccanus we are out of time!" Adam said as he turned to him again. Deccanus looked at Adam, looked at the rack of weapons and then grabbed all of the rifles in his arms. Hugging them close to his chest as he did, they practically overflowed from his grip, him being barely able to hold them all but he was able to hold on just tight enough. "I am ready." He said with a resolute tone, his face hidden behind a sea of rifle barrels. Adam would laugh if he wasn't so scared, so instead he simply nodded. "Follow me closely, I'd bet we only have about 3 more shots before we will need to run, I need to make the rounds last." The two left the room and picked up the pace, jogging quickly to the exit. Adam had to fire twice more before they arrived at the door control. He quickly hooked his pip-boy up and hit the button. Once more the red warning lights spun to life and the door could be heard slowly opening. Then Adam could hear the sounds of even more creatures coming, so he fired again. It once more scared them away. The gun still seemed to have power so perhaps his guess of three rounds left was wrong? The door opened far too slowly for either man's tastes and by the time it was open and they were heading through, once more, the creatures could be heard coming after them. The door was only just beginning to close, he did not want a single one of these creatures to escape the vault into the greater Chicago area. These things were capable of breeding, there was no telling how far they would spread if they got loose so he waited, one second, two, three. Each second that passed by the door got closer to closing until he began to see the aberrations emerge from the darkness, heading for the light of the stairway they were in. Adam waited until they were close, very close and then fired. The gun let out its screech and then completely turned off. The aberrations ran away and the vault door closed. They had made it out.

Chapter 117 - 117

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