Steel Waste

An eighteen-year-old teenage boy was leaning against the brick wall of where he was currently working... He kept his head down and listened to the music playlist on his phone as his co-workers talked amongst each other, they had around thirty more minutes until they had to get back to work. He usually just kept to himself, relaxing during the relatively short break his boss allowed them, though, if it wasn't a legal requirement he reckoned they'd not even receive toilet breaks.

His name was Leonard Walsh, a college dropout who'd immediately started working as soon as the law permitted it. He lived with his parents, more for the "cheap rent" than anything else, he didn't care about the stigma due to the fact that a college dropout like himself would either live here or on the streets.

When his parents had heard he'd dropped out of college, they'd been... Unamused, to say the least. It seemed they'd had some ill-conceived notion that he'd meet a girl in college, graduate, marry, get a well-paying job and probably assist them in their retirement. Leonard had no intentions of doing any of that, it was annoying enough to have his friend's expectations thrust onto himself, let alone his parents.

The reason for his lack of motivation? In his eyes the world was, to be put simply, boring. All his life people had been telling him what to do, but whether it was due to his stubbornness or something else, he couldn't bear to follow along like some sort of lemming.

A pat on his shoulder draws him from his thoughts, taking out an earphone he glances towards the offending co-worker.

"Hey, Leonard, me and the guys were wondering if you wanted to check out the new Fallout game... Its online and'll probably be fun to fuck around on.."

...

Leonard looks behind the teen and spots two or three other people looking at him expectantly, "Erm... What's your name again?" he asks, having never bothered to remember the names of these people.

...

They look slightly offended but quickly fix their expression, "Its John."

Leonard nods, "And... What's Fallout?"

...

Apparently, the fact he didn't know what Fallout is was more of a shock than his name being forgotten, John went on to describe the game, the franchise, and general premise.

Leonard couldn't help but be interested by it, a post-nuclear wasteland with drastically different technology to their own, with the addition of many mutated creatures to liven up combat? Sounds like fun... "I'm not all that into gaming... My console has just been collecting dust ever since I bought it, I was actually about to pawn it off..."

"Look, due to the release of Fallout 76, Bethesda has given a discount on all their previous games aswell as creating a bundle... How about you check them out before making a decision?"

Leonard shrugs, "I guess I could? When is the new one coming out?"

"Two weeks." he states and Leonard nods, "Alright, I'll buy'em on the way home... I'll let you know what I think."

John nods, "Cool-shit... Breaks over..." he complains, having spent the entire time describing Fallout to Leonard.

After work, Leonard had stopped by the store and picked up the bundle containing Fallout 3, Fallout Newvegas, and Fallout 4. It was £20, so no big loss if he ended up hating them, if it was any pricier he might have just ignored it entirely though.

Getting home, he kicks off his shoes, and almost tears off his sweaty work clothes into a laundry basket. Ignoring his parent's greetings and heading to his room to check out whether these games were any good.

He started with Fallout 3 as it was the first game in the bundle, booting it up and finding that he'd actually be starting as a baby? Weird.

His playstyle was what some might call "Haphazard", ignoring most not integral dialogue and just doing as he pleases, as his "Father" was speaking to him he was idly thinking about whether or not it would be possible to enter the game as a baby... The thought thoroughly amuses him.

Leonard was a peculiar kind of person, lazy and motivated in most aspects of life... But, when he put his mind to it, nothing would sway him. Fallout 3, was significantly more fun that he'd initially thought it'd be... Three days quickly went by, everything except eating, drinking, and releasing his bowels forgotten. He didn't even notice his phone ringing for him, his boss firing him after the second day of getting no answer...

On the third day Leonard had finally completed the game, having done most of the side quests and collected the bobbleheads. The funny part was he had almost no idea what he was doing the entire time, simply shooting mutants, power armour wearing douche bags, and deathclaws. Following the pip on his map to go where he was needed... All he knew of the story was that the "Brotherhood of Steel were the good guys, Enclave were the bad guys, and everyone else is neutral."

He dropped his control and slumped backwards, exhausted from not having slept for three days... That didn't concern him though... "That was fun." he muttered, running through the Capital Wasteland having been one of the most fun things he'd ever done.

His eyes glanced towards the two other games he had yet to play... Taking another mouthful of the off-brand energy drink he'd stockpiled, he popped Fallout Newvegas into his console, determined to finish all of them as quickly as possible...

He didn't know what the plot would be, but he knew it'd be fun... Reading the back of the box as the game booted up... He'd be the... Courier? Strange name but whatever, he was already thinking of the various builds he could do... Becoming a melee only drug packing psychopath, energy weapons expert, or mad explosive flinger.

The game was almost about to start and the music was getting him hyped... Inwardly shouting "I'M READY, LETS DO THIS!"

...

His excitement was quelled however when his vision started blurring, he blinked a couple times to no avail, his sight was getting worse and worse the more time went on... He began getting nautious, getting to his feet and stumbling towards his window before throwing it open.

He gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air, only now realising how badly he'd let his personal hygiene go... With his vision still fading, he looked up at the clouds and had a strange thought pop into his mind...

"Why does that cloud look like a truck?"

He then collapsed, the indecent amount of energy drinks, sleepless nights, and improper eating leading to a catastrophic heart attack. His body was found a couple of days later when his parents got curious at what he was doing, only then spotting their decomposing son.