The Short Story

As is customary of Short Story Saturday, here is your short to mull over.

This really made me want to play Fallout 3 again...


"I vote we go outside!"

It was the first of what would be many problems the group would face. The dissenting voice of the man called Barry. The eldest one known as the Elder, hated Barry. This was well known. But the Elder hated Barry even more when he brought up the suggestion of going outside.

They had lived inside their safe haven for over a century. It was tradition to live there, away from the dangerous and chaotic outside world. They had been doing it all their lives.

"Barry!" shouted the Elder "Stop this nonsense! There is nothing outside except death!" He waved his arms dramatically to emphasize his point. The rest in the group gasped in horror.

"Says you!" Barry barked back. "If that were true then the others would have come back!"

"Butch and Cassidy can't come back because they're dead!" the Elder cried. "Don't you get that!?"

"Or maybe they just don't want to live under your rule." Barry folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe its so much better out there they don't want to be back in here!"

"Barry" the youngest, known as Honey because of her honey coloured hair, stepped forward. She brushed her hair out of her eyes as she spoke. "What if the Elder is right? I don't want to die."

"But we won't know unless we check!" Barry pleaded. "All we know is being in here! We could learn so much more by going out there!"

"You're right!" Called the largest one, known as Big Bruce. "All we know is living in here! Why should that change?"

"Big Bruce has a point." The Elder stepped forward trying to calm the others. "We can't go outside. What's safest for us, is to stay here." The others nodded in agreement.

"I disagree." Barry said stomping his foot into the ground. "If we stay here we'll surely die."

"Barry! Stop it! You're scaring the others!" The Elder said glaring at him.

"We've been here for so long, and we have no way of making more food. This safe haven is just temporary. I'm sure our ancestors would've wanted us to leave at some point."

"Maybe years from now! Long after us!" The Elder tried to intervene but Barry kept talking.

"Think about it!" Barry took center stage once again. "We've already lost half our home because it's fallen into disrepair! We can't continue like this!"

"That's enough, Barry!" The Elder shouted.

"We'll run out of food!" Barry yelled.

"We have enough food to last centuries." The Elder countered.

"There's already less clean water now than there was five years ago!" Barry cried.

"We can recycle it!" The Elder deflected.

"What's next? Even our medical supplies are limited! Why don't you want to save yourselves!" Barry pleaded.

The rest of the group murmured in concern.

"Barry that's enough!" The Elder seized Barry by the arm and stared in his eyes. "You're just causing a commotion! Acting out! You need to stop! You're scaring the young ones."

"I'm not scared." Honey said.

"My dear, there's no need to put on a brave face." The Elder assured.

"But I'm not! A lot of what Barry says makes sense." She turned to the others. "Maybe we can stay here a few more years, but we should at least look into finding safety outside." She walked over next to Barry. "I agree with Barry."

The others gasped.

"Now, my dear." The Elder said in his sweetest voice he could. "This really isn't up for debate."

"I can't let Honey go outside without a guardian." Big Bruce stepped up. "I agree with Honey." He declared. "And Barry." He added.

"We'll need brains to go with that brawn." said a rather miniscule man known as Little Bruce. "I agree with Barry."

"Come on, guys! We need to start seeing what's out there." Barry said stepping towards the only door that no one dared walk through.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Shouted the Elder. He spread himself across the door blocking their path. "We can't leave!" he shouted. "You can't do this! This is wrong! YOU'RE JUST ENDANGERING EVERYONE!"

"We're not staying here." Barry said finally.

"We'll lock the door behind us." Said Big Bruce. "We'll make sure whatever is out there, can't get in here."

"You can't! You're all going to die and I won't let you!" The Elder shouted. "You can't do anything! You don't know what's out there! You're not allowed and you should never leave!"

Little Bruce packed a small backpack. "You can't keep us here forever, Elder." he said. "I want to see what's out there."

"You can't take that with you!" The Elder shouted pointing at the backpack. "That belongs here! It belongs with us! You're already trying to kill us by stealing our stuff!"

What remained of the group started to call out in anger now. They forced the bag from Little Bruce's arms deriding the group of four as trouble makers and problem children.

"You'd condemn us to such a terrible life?" Little Bruce stared confounded at the group. "You'd really rather we have less, when we want to help?"

"You think the world outside is so great, then you won't need them." The Elder said smugly and finally feeling assured of his victory.

"You're all fools to follow this blind old idiot!" Barry shouted at the group. "I don't care if I have less. It's better than living in this dark rotting hole that you call paradise." Barry spat at the Elder. With that he pushed him aside and pulled open the door disappearing behind it with a deafening crash.

The group went silent. Little Bruce opened the door and left followed by Big Bruce.

Honey looked back at the group one last time before placing her hand on the handle. The Elder put his hand on hers.

"You don't have to do this, sweetie." The Elder said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Dad." She said as she opened the door and left.