Brad Zaxxon's Arc

Chapter 1 of 9

Brad Zaxxon spread the vault schematics across the crate and knew he was already behind. Someone had breached Vault 141 before his team arrived. They had camped inside and pushed toward the medical labs, where the G.E.C.K. waited. If Brad wanted a trading post in Calico Flats, survivors trading real intelligence, he needed this vault opened and mapped before strangers stripped it bare. Every hour let them dig deeper. He found Donovan on the garage roof, hunched over a radio relay he had bolted together from three dead units. Donovan didn't look up. He was Brad's teammate, the one who built a supply base out of a ruin before anyone else showed up. That kind of man you brought bad news to. "We're short on time," Brad said. "Someone's already inside, working the labs. I need supplies and two more hands. Experienced ones. People who've breached hardened doors." Donovan set down his wrench. "Oh man, you're not wrong to worry. That kind of thing tends to get around fast." He wiped grease off his fingers. "Supplies I can cover. Cutting charges, shielded cable, water for four days. It's stocked below." "That's half of it," Brad said. "I need names." Donovan leaned back and thought. "You bet. Two I'd trust. Sergeant Greymire — she ran comms and breach on the Redoubt job. Steady. Never rushes a door." He tapped the relay. "And Corporal Desior. Grey tabby, quiet, hits harder than he looks. He's cut through vault steel before." Brad wrote both names on the schematic margin. "Where are they?" "Both close. Greymire's a day out with a radio caravan. Desior's already north on salvage." Donovan's tone flattened. "Here's the flat part. Desior's running with the same crew Chen went up with. If you pull him, Chen loses a hand on the salvage run." Brad's ears flicked back. Chen supported his trading post idea. He was already two days out and short-staffed. "Your call," Donovan said. "But you asked for people who've done this. Those are the two." Brad looked at the schematic, then at the valley below the garage. The vault sat quiet down there while someone worked inside it. He couldn't wait for a cleaner option. Waiting handed the labs to strangers. "Raise them both," Brad said. "Greymire first. Tell Desior to break off and come south." Donovan nodded and reached for the headset. "Warming her up now." He keyed the mic. Static crackled, then a woman's voice answered, clipped and calm. Brad heard Greymire agree in under a minute. She'd ride in by morning. Desior confirmed next, slower, then cut the channel to pack out. Donovan pulled off the headset. "They're coming. You've got your team." Brad rolled the schematic tight. He had his breach crew now. He had also just pulled a man off Chen's run, two days out with no warning. His trading post depended on Chen's goodwill, and he'd spend some of it before Chen even knew.