[ WP ] Civilization has fallen , but brave treasure hunters have heard the legend of Ft. Knox . The automated defenses , however , are still online .

“ Enough gold to buy our way into, or out of, anything, ” Alex said as he slowly drew a rolled up piece of paper out of his satchel. 
 
 Rachel leaned over and hissed, “ You ’ re not talking about Fort Knox are you? That place is a fucking deathtrap. ” 
 
 Blake and Henry rolled their eyes. “ I ’ m going to get another beer, you want anything, Blake? ” Henry said as he stood up to go back to the bar. 
 
 Alex waved his hands, “ Guys, guys, just wait a minute, look at this, ” and he laid the paper down on the table and unrolled it. 
 
 Henry, still straddling the table, glanced down at the paper. After a moment, he sat back down and leaned over carefully, “ Is that a blueprint? ” 
 
 “ Circa 2212, when they finished upgrading all the defenses, ” Alex said with a smile on his face. 
 
 Rachel picked at the map, “ Paper feels smooth, pre-Collapse. This might be legit. ” She turned to look at Alex, “ Who did you kill to get this? ” 
 
 Alex glanced around the room quickly while muttering, “ Nobody. I found it. ” 
 
 “ Shit, ” Henry and Blake said in unison. “ How much are we going to have to pay to get out of this? ” 
 
 “ If we find the gold, ” Alex said with a grin, “ it won ’ t matter. ” 
 
 Blake carefully pulled the map closer to her and studied it. Alex was right. It had all the turret locations, a rough outline of their lines of sight, and markers to show where tripwires and other sensors were. This map was perfect gold. Probably worth close to what was in the vault itself. “ How do we get in? ” she finally asked. 
 
 The others stopped arguing and looked at her, “ What do you mean? ” 
 
 Blake pointed at the map, “ There ’ s no indication of anything outside the building that will act as an access point except the front door. The windows are reinforced with metal bars to prevent breakage, I ’ m sure the walls are reinforced as well, and the weak point that ’ s accessible is the front door. ” 
 
 Henry took the map from Blake and studied it, “ She ’ s right, Alex. The only entrance is the front door, and it ’ s very heavily fortified. ” 
 
 “ That ’ s where Rachel comes in, ” Alex said. 
 
 Rachel frowned, then raised her eyebrows, “ You want me to blow up the entrance? ” she said with a hiss. 
 
 “ Damn right I do, ” Alex said. “ Look, most of the stuff that we need I figure we can either fashion, or steal. A good reinforced piece of sheet-metal should act as a good bullet shield, and we know how to find trip-wires after our other excursions. ” He smiled, “ We can do this. ” 
 
 The other three slowly nodded their heads. “ Alright, let ’ s do it then, ” Henry said. 
 
 -- -- -- -- 
 
 It hadn ’ t been easy to get in. The fence that surrounded the Fort turned out to be electrified, and they had to figure out a way to get past. It hadn ’ t been easy, and Henry had been pretty badly burned during the event. Then, oddly enough, searchlights clicked on and began roaming around the Fort. The power source was still going strong. 
 
 They also found out that the field between the fence and the building was a minefield. Rachel had noticed the small, unnatural bulges as a searchlight swept across the field looking for them. It had been very slow going after that, dodging the lights and the mines, but they had finally made it to the front door. 
 
 “ Rachel, hurry up with that bomb, ” Alex whispered as they crouched by the entrance. 
 
 “ I ’ m going as fast as I can, dickweed, ” Rachel whispered to herself. 
 
 “ Fucking nuclear reactors, ” Blake whispered to herself as they waited on Rachel, “ That ’ s why no-ones cracked this place open. ” 
 
 “ Actually, it ’ s for reasons much more complicated, ” A voice behind the group said. 
 
 All four whirled around in just enough time to receive a gunstock to the face. 
 
 -- -- -- -- 
 
 When they awoke, they found themselves locked inside a prison cell. Or at least, what looked like a prison cell. As they began to get their surroundings, Blake suddenly gasped. Everyone turned and looked at what she was pointing at. 
 
 Gold bars. They were stacked row upon row, cell upon cell, up and down the hallway they were in. The cell they were in was empty, but as far as they could see it was just more gold. 
 
 “ Beautiful, isn ’ t it? ” a voice said. Turning to look, the group saw several men and a woman in clean, white uniforms standing beside the cell. “ We ’ ve kept it safe for almost 200 years now. Soon the world will return to a point where it will be useful again for more than just whisky and debauchery, ” the woman said. 
 
 “ Who the hell are you? ” Alex asked. 
 
 The woman smiled, “ I ’ m Congresswoman Philips, member of the United States government. We ’ ve been hoping you would get here soon. ” 
 
 “ What do you mean by that? ” Rachel asked as she pressed herself up against the bars. “ Why are you keeping us here? ” 
 
 Congresswoman Philips smiled, “ When the Collapse happened, a number of key government officials and their families ran here, to the very secret underground vault below Fort Knox. Oh yes, I mean other than the gold vault. ” She walked over closer to the bars to stare at Rachel, and then moved her eyes from person to person within the group. “ It was capable of housing around 500 people, but there is only so much that we can manufacture down here. Food isn ’ t an issue, nor is water, and as you can see, ” she waved her hand to showcase the hallway, “ Nor is money. ” 
 
 “ Then what do you want? ” Alex asked. 
 
 “ Genetics, ” Congresswoman Philips said. “ We have a very controlled breeding program here, but there is still only so much we can do against degradation. So occasionally, we have to go procure some more. ” 
 
 “ The map, ” Blake said to herself, “ You made the blueprints. ” 
 
 Congresswoman Philips smiled, “ My you are a sharp one; you ’ ll be very useful. Yes, every 20 years we release a few blueprints in the hopes that it will attract fresh stock. Those who make it to the door are considered exceptional breeds, and those who fail well, ” she shrugged, “ I ’ m sure you noticed the mines out front. ” 
 
 Henry, who had not gotten up off the floor due to his injuries finally muttered, “ So we ’ re cattle. ” 
 
 Congresswoman Philips nodded her head, seeming pleased. “ Yes, you are. And when we ’ ve bred you, you will be retired. But don ’ t worry, we ’ re very humane, ” and with that, she and her entourage walked down the hallway, and left.
