Vault 19 Vault 19 is one of the Vault - Tec vault s in the Mojave Wasteland . By 2281 the vault has been abandoned by its original inhabitants , and is currently occupied by Powder Gangers founder Samuel Cooke and his escaped convict followers . Background . Vault 19 ’ s “ social experiment ” involved the segregation of the dwellers into two different colored sections , with minimal contact . After the sulfur from the cave system beneath the vault unexpectedly began to leak through the ventilation system , a sense of paranoia grew , and the vault became abandoned , although records are inconclusive . The Great Khans avoided the vault because they , historically , hadn ' t had the best of times squatting in vaults . No other group has been aggressive enough to attempt to displace the fire geckos from the vault . Powder Gangers , searching for a location to turn into a base , explored the upper floor of Vault 19 and found that it was “ mostly clear . ” Now they wait , with a fragmented leadership conducting small scale raids on caravans passing the I - 15 . Layout . This vault is located in an abandoned parking lot on a road between Bonnie Springs and Whittaker Farmstead , northeast of Goodsprings . The entrance is concealed by a sewer grate inside the parking lot attendant ’ s booth . There is an alternate entrance directly into the sulfur caves northwest of Whitaker Farmstead . The top floor is mostly intact but most of the lower levels have been cut off by collapsed corridors . Main area . A ladder leads down from the sewer grate into a small room containing the vault door and its control panel . Passing through the main entrance into a hallway , to the left and right of the entrance are the two overseers ' offices . On the left from the entrance is the cafeteria , where many escaped convicts sit idly . There is a first aid box under the counter , a Nuka - Cola vending machine and a Sunset Sarsaparilla vending machine in a corner . Continuing through the cafeteria into the hallway , one will find two restrooms , both with first aid box es on the wall near the sinks , and the clinic . The clinic has a waiting room and an examination room with a large supply of chems and surgical instruments , two , and a copy of " Today ' s Physician " . Also note that there are 5 patient logs in the clinic : two under the desk in the examination room , one on top of that desk , one in the east corner of the room beneath the shelving unit , and one on the western wall , behind the privacy screen and underneath the medical trolley . Blue sector living quarters . This can be accessed with a blue sector key card , which Philip Lem will give to the Courier if they offer to help him . One can also find a blue sector keycard near a terminal in a room inside the red sector . Alternatively , one may wait for one of the convicts to open the door , and take a keycard from a desk in one of the rooms . The blue sector keycard can also be pick - pocketed from Lem if there is no other alternative . This sector is a horseshoe shaped hallway with many rooms on the sides occupied by convicts . A great deal of and s can be found in the dressers . At the end of the hallway is the elevator to the infested common areas . Red sector living quarters . This section can only be accessed with a red sector key card , which will be given to the Courier when they offer to help Samuel Cooke ( note that this will not affect Philip Lem or vice versa , it only opens up a new objective ) . This is a small " L " shaped hallway , and is much smaller than the blue sector , with similar loot in the dressers and lockers . Common areas . The common areas can be accessed through elevators in either the red or blue sectors , or through the sulfur caves . Blue sector . Assuming that the Courier comes down from blue sector , the room on the left in the collapsed hallway opens onto an apartment with a large hole in the ceiling and one or more fire geckos . Further down the elevator hall is a small room with double beds , a floor safe , two dressers and a single Vault 19 jumpsuit on one of the dressers . Strangely , this jumpsuit will not disappear when picked up . This room also has a Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap on the desk near the terminal . Finally , there is a large room with many beds and lockers at the end of the hallway . The atrium must be opened with a blue sector keycard . The atrium itself contains more fire geckos and the entrance to the sulfur caves on the floor . The upper level can be reached by crouching under the doorway , but there is little of value there . There is one first aid box behind the bar . Red sector . The red sector is also reached by an elevator . It is smaller than the blue sector , with only one collapsed room and the elevator . This is guarded by one fire gecko . The hallway leads to the shared atrium where the sulfur cave entrance is found . Sulfur caves . The sulfur caves can be accessed directly from the Mojave Wasteland by a cave northeast of the Vault 19 map marker , and through a hole in the floor of the recreation room ( with several pool tables ) on the Living Quarters level . There is also a secret elevator connecting the caves to the Overseer ' s Office that can only becomes accessible by picking a hard - locked door in the caves that leads to the secret area beneath the Overseer ' s desk , and hacking a hard - locked terminal in this area that opens up the floor of the office . The caves level of the vault is the most damaged by far , and is comprised mainly of yellow caves made entirely of sulfur , and the vault ' s operations , reactor , and utility rooms . It is also infested with many s and night stalker s . The cave itself is separate from the vault . Entering the cave will take you into the vault ’ s operations room . In order to block off the sulfur caves for Lem ’ s optional part of the quest Why Can ' t We Be Friends ? , follow the path to the right into a large cave . To the left is a large yellow rock formation peppered with lumps of gray rock . This is the “ Microcline Rock ” . If you activate it , you will see that it contains enough potassium to create an explosion large enough to block the caves or destroy the vault . An Explosives level of at least 50 and 5 blocks of C4 are required to setup the C - 4 . Beyond this cave is a larger cave with access via a staircase back into the operations center of the vault . There is also a ladder to the Mojave Wasteland , which will bring you outside northwest of the Whittaker Farmstead . Following the staircase leads to a common room with more vending machines . Exiting this room and going down the stairs will bring you to a utility room . Going left will take you past another entrance to the operations room . Past the blocked reactor entrance is the systems room , which has no loot whatsoever , but may contain a fire gecko . If you exit the common room and go right ( north ) there is a short passage which leads to a hard locked elevator leading to a tunnel beneath the desk in the overseer ' s office where Lem is located . The password to this computer may be gained from the terminal in the office itself , or it can be hacked with an average Science skill . Appearances . Vault 19 appears only in " " . Behind the scenes . Vault 19 was designed by Sydney Wolfram .