User blog:Shezza123/The Rift - Chapter I

Elijah felt dizzy, as he layed in the bed. He was trying to  remember how he got there. It seemed just seconds ago, he had been in one of the research labs at Sanctuary, talking to Curie. He was now lying in a bed, as his vision was drifting in and out of focus.

His eyes finally adjusted to the sudden change in environment, and he recognised the location: his bedroom, in Sanctuary. Only it wasn't as it normally was. In fact, it was identical to what it had been back in 2077; 200 years before the Great War, and before Elijah had been frozen in Vault 111, while Nora was murdered and Shaun kidnapped.

"What the fuck?" He muttered, sitting up in his bed.

"Oh, you're awake too?" A soothing voice said from next to him.

"If I'm in this bed," Elijah thought, "And evrything else is how it is, then the person next to me is...." He gulped, "Nora?!"

"You okay? Look like you've seen a ghost." Nora's face wore a visible confusion.

"I'm... I'm fine." -"This is just a dream. This isn't happening. She's dead."- "I, uh... I need to use the bathroom." He silently got up, and walked away, past a clock which read 9:38 AM.

"Good morning, sir!" Chirped a synthetic, British voice.

"Codsworth?"

"My apologies, sir, I didn't mean to frighten you!"

"It's fine." -"This all feels so real. What the Hell's happening?"- "What's the date, Codsworth?"

"The 23rd, sir."

"Of...?"

"October, sir." The robot sounded worried.

"Year?"

"2077, sir." Codsworth hesitated, "Sir, are you sure you're feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Codsworth." Elijah lied, "Just didn't get much sleep last night."

"You sure you're okay?" Nora asked, as she walked into the kitchen, "Maybe you're nervous, about the veteran's hall. Trust me, your gonna knock 'em dead."

"I'm fine, honestly." - "Oh my god. It's October 23rd, 2077. The day... the day the Great War happened. It's happening again. It's all fucking happening again. There isn't anything I can do to save Nora, or Shaun. If we stay above ground, we'll die. If we go into the vault, she dies, and Shaun's gone. This can't be happening. This isn't happening."- "I'm going to go and see Shaun." As if on cue, the baby boy started crying. "I want to look at him. To hold him. One last time. Before he stops being my son, and starts being Father. One last time."

Elijah made his way to the bright blue crib, and scooped the infant into his arms. "It's okay, Shaun. Daddy's here. Daddy's here." The wails halted.

"How are the two mpst important men of my life doing?" Nora leant against the wall of Shaun's room, "Listen, I was wondering, after we're done at the veteran's hall, you wanted to go to the park with Shaun?"

"Sure," -"Things are happening in the wrong order. The Vault-Tec Rep hasn't come yet."- "That sounds great."

"Sir, Mum," Codsworth called from the kitchen, "You should come and see this!"

Elijah trembeled, and held Shaun tightly as he followed Nora into the kitchen. "It's happening again. No... no."

The news reporter sat at his desk, and said "Yes... we do have reports coming in. I repeat, confirmed reports of a Chinese surrender."

"What?" Elijah asked, "A... a Chinese surrender?"

The news reporter continued,  "President Xin of China gave these words earlier today:"

The camera cut to a shot of the Chinese president, while he spoke, a translator repeated his word in English, "We do not wish to put our country at risk of Nuclear innihilation. For this reason, The People's Republic of China is surrendering to the United States of America-" The president continued speaking for quite some time, still  excercisng the same point: China had surrendered to the USA.

"Oh my god!" Nora cried out,"Do you know what this means?"

Elijah knew very well what this meant: the Great War hadn't happened. "We finally did it," -"What the actual fuck is going on?! Am I going insane? Or have the past few years just been a dream?!"- "We finally beat the Reds!"

Nora smiled, "As much as I'd love to stay here and celebrate, we need to get going to the Veteran's hall."

"Of course, honey. I'll be with you in a minute." Elijah felt sick inside.