#fallout show

“Bullhead,” you answered, grabbing ammo and restocking your bandolier. “Just east of the River.”  

“Oh wow,” he nodded along. “You know, I’ve never met anyone from Arizona.” You hummed passively, letting the lid of the trunk fall shut once you were done emptying it. “Is every gal from Bullhead as pretty as you are?” You sighed, turning to look at him. 

“Well, they’re mostly slaves, so...” You said with a sardonic smile, testing the weight of a new rifle on your back before walking past him. You heard him stammer as you went over to rejoin your companion, who had found an ammo box of his own. 

“You uh—“ he went on, following your path. “You look good for uhm—for having gone through…that.” 

“I didn’t,” you said, setting your bag down on a workbench near the other two. The man’s friend, Max—you’d overheard—looked up as you began emptying your bag. 

“Well, then that’s really great! You know stuff like…stuff like that-that’s just...” He scoffed. “You know it’s just really shitty.” 

“Thanks,” you said with a raised brow, then returned your attention to the handgun you’d pulled from your bag. 

“What’s shitty?” Max asked, looking between the two of you and throwing his friend a silent ‘what are you doing?’ 

“Slavery,” he said, furrowing his brow in sympathy. “Did you know that’s what’s happening in Arizona? I mean, gosh, we should be doing something about that.” His gaze found you again, angling his head to see your face, hoping you’d be impressed with the gumption. 

“Arizona?” Max repeated, now both their eyes were on you. “That’s all Legion territory.” 

“Yep,” you confirmed, keeping your focus on the weapon. 

“You got out?” 

“Yep.” 

“I mean, a girl like you, how could they keep you?” The other chimed in again. “They took one look at you and said ‘well you just go wherever you want, sexy lady’.”

You turned your head slowly, your brow raised again as you looked at him. “I was seven.”

“Right,” he nodded, finding somewhere else to look. “Probably uh…probably didn’t say that then.”

“What’s your name?” You asked, holstering the newly modded gun on your hip. 

“It’s uh, it’s Thaddeus,” he answered, almost reluctantly. Before you could say anything, you heard a shifting behind you. 

“Go find something to shoot with, kid.” The Ghoul spoke, short and clipped. Thaddeus nodded, scurrying off. You cast a glance over your shoulder, speaking without words to your companion. You smiled, a barely there, teasing smirk before pulling your bag over your shoulder. 

Back on the road, it was Max who had matched your pace to talk to you first. “How’s a seven-year-old escape the Legion?” He asked, genuinely curious. You let out a long breath through your nose, keeping your eyes on the remains of the highway. 

“It was 2281,” you said. He shrugged, and you let him sit in the silence for a moment before he eventually caught on. 

“That was-“ 

“Yeah,” you nodded. “It was a lot of back and forth, really. That week, Caesar was on the short end of the rope. Sent more Legionnaires across the Colorado, left Bullhead a little less…patrolled. One night, my mom snuck us down to the river, stole a dinghy, and we left. We landed in Nevada, outskirts of Legion territory. But there was an NCR camp close enough we could see the flag.”

“You made it?” 

“I made it,” you said, working your jaw for a pause. “During the Battle, the Legion didn’t have time for all their peacocking. No crucifixions or bizarre torture. If you did something wrong, they just shot you.“ You pulled your water out from your bag, taking a long drink as you walked. “Nearly got me, too. A trooper caught it instead.”

Max nodded along, his wide eyes giving you an empathetic look even as you kept your gaze straight. “I lost my parents too,” he said. “Shady Sands.”

“Jesus,” you muttered, finally turning to him. “Good thing it’s not a competition.” You smiled as you capped your water, returning the canteen. “How’s someone survive that? We settled on the other side of the old state line and we had to evacuate to avoid any radiation.”

“My parents put me in the icebox,” he said. You chuckled, looking forward again. 

“Our house had this old fruit cellar,” you heard after an awkward jog to join your pace. “Yeah, my mom would put us in there if we didn’t make enough food. My brothers were always kind of scared, but,” Thaddeus clicked his tongue with a nonchalant shrug. “Wasn’t really much to me though, y’know?”

“Yeah,” you agreed with a sigh, fixing your gaze on the Ghoul who now seemed to be almost unsteady on his feet. Thaddeus kept prattling on about how that same bravery probably would’ve made him a good Knight, but you tuned him out. 

“I mean it was kind of crappy to put the dog in that cooler, but—“

“Give us a second,” you interrupted, jogging forward after watching the Ghoul off his usual stride. 

“You done boostin’ troop morale?” He asked, not sparing you a glance as you fell into his pace. His voice sounded more tired than its usual rasp.

“Are you out?” You asked, ignoring the comment as you began to rifle through your bag. 

“No,” he snipped.  

“Then what’s up with you?”

“I’ve been alive for two hundred years, sweetheart. Some days a fella’s just a little sore,” He said. You huffed, narrowing your eyes at him. 

“Don’t give me that shit, Cowboy,” you hissed back. “Stop being a pain in the ass and tell me what you need.”

“I need you to quit playin’ nurse,” he clipped. 

“The Strip’s got more deathclaws than it’s got poker chips right now,” you said, stopping in your tracks. You grabbed him by the sleeve of his duster, making him stop too. “I don’t know what you got yourself into after we separated, but you’re messed up, and going in there tired as a racehorse won’t do anyone any favors. Stop being a fucking tool and let me help you.”

He jerked his arm out of your hold, turning to glare down at you. You matched his stare, the two of you at a standstill until Thaddeus and Max were about a yard behind you. 

“Fine,” he growled, stepping back.  He looked back towards the two men, jerking his head in a silent keep going. The two of you walked until you found the two-walled remains of an old house. 

“Keep going straight,” you told Max. “We’ll catch up in a minute.” You and the Ghoul ducked behind what bricks were left of one of the walls. He sat down on the few planks that still made up the front staircase. He pulled off the bandolier and saddle bag, letting you see the state of his clothing. His vest was buttoned on the top and the bottom, but the middle was torn, as was the blue shirt underneath. The middle of his abdomen was charred and not yet healed; around it, newly scarred skin twisted and snarled toward a point in the center. You got closer, straddling the edge of his lap before gingerly reaching out to touch the fabric of his shirt, stained darker with now-dried blood. 

“Jesus Cowboy,” you muttered, running a finger along the jagged edge of the tear. “You catch the business end of a Fat Man?” 

“Not quite,” he muttered, wincing as your hand moved to graze over the healing wound, the skin of which was hot to the touch. 

“Whatever happened,” you said, stilling your hand on his side. “Looks like you’re almost healed.” 

“Looks can be deceivin’,” he said. You hummed, shrugging your bag off your shoulder and setting it on his legs between your bodies. 

“StimPak, then?” You asked. He nodded, watching as you pulled a smaller bag of different chems and medications out. “I need to get more when we get to Vegas.” 

“Last one?” 

You hummed, pulling the cap of the syringe. 

“Shouldn’t go wastin’ it on me, then.” He said, but didn’t stop you as you pressed the needle into his abdomen. 

“I’m a little more careful than you are.” You smiled back, but kept your focus on the syringe as the medication auto-injected. He hissed, his jaw clenched tight as he leaned his head back. When the pressure gauge clicked empty, you withdrew it, tossing it haphazardly behind you. He let out a long breath, one gloved hand finding your hip to rest on. You put your own back against the now healed skin, frowning to feel it still felt feverishly hot. “Any better?” He nodded, closing his eyes for a heavy moment. 

“Got anythin’ else in that bag of yours?” He asked. You shook your head with a soft smile. 

“So needy,” you tsked playfully, grabbing an inhaler and a vial of the yellow, viscous chem. “You’re still hot,” you noted, handing him the inhaler. 

“I suppose there’s somethin’ for everyone.” He said, straightening up before taking a deep inhale of the medication. 

You rolled your eyes. “You know what I mean.” 

“Uranium,” he said, giving the inhaler back. You instinctively pulled your hand away. He chuckled, a small and almost undetectable noise at your reaction. “Hope you took your Rad-X today, sweetheart.” 

“Maybe I should take another,” you hummed archly, putting the medications back in your bag. You shifted your attention to the torn leather of his vest with a small frown. “I can try to fix this when we get settled.” His other hand reached up, holding your chin and guiding your gaze back to him. 

“Don’t think we are,” he said. “Might be it.” 

You nodded, fidgeting absentmindedly with the frayed fabric. “He knew, then?” He nodded. “You think he’s telling the truth?” 

“Stakes were pretty high. Didn’t have a reason to lie.” He said. 

“How’d she take it?” You asked. 

“You’re lookin’ at it.” 

You sucked your teeth, raising your brow. “I told you,” you hummed. 

“Get it out of your system.” 

You gave him a quick smile, raising your head a hair out of his hand, which mirrored the other on your hip. “You think they’ll take it okay?” You asked in earnest. He nodded after a thoughtful moment. 

“She will,” he said eventually. “She’s the kind of kid who’d smile at the boogeyman.” Your smile turned warm. 

“What’s her name?” You asked, the question a proverbial toe in the water. 

“Janey,” he answered softly. You nodded. 

“It’s pretty,” you said, your hand stilling on the fabric as you silently stammered. “What’s yours?” You watched his face, and it looked for a moment as if you might get an answer, but you wouldn’t get the chance to hear it. 

“So we’ve been going straight and-“  You heard the awkward pitch of Thaddeus’ voice as he rounded the corner. You leaned back on instinct, and the Ghoul moved one hand from your hip. “Oh…sorry.” He blurted out, and you looked over your shoulder.

“Sorry,” you sighed. “We’ll catch up here in a second.” 

“Yeah, no, that’s fine there’s just like this kind of fork in the road…” Thaddeus said, running a thumb along one suspender. You heard the Ghoul let out a graveled sigh of his own. “…and your dog keeps wanting to go the wrong direction, and we think she’s just confused because you’re back here.” 

“Your dog’s confused,” you said, turning back to the Ghoul with a small smile. He rolled his eyes. 

“Your dog’s incessant,” he shot back under his breath. You rolled your eyes, standing up and allowing him to follow suit.  You let Thaddeus gather himself, then the two of you followed him back towards the highway. 

“What’re you going to do?” He asked, his voice lower so as not to gather the attention of the other men. 

“Don’t know yet,” you shrugged. “Maybe settle in Freeside for a while.” 

“Ain’t what it used to be,” he said. “Might be smarter to leave Vegas altogether.”

“Don’t really know where else I’d go.” You admitted. “Gotten so used to traveling I haven’t thought much about where else I’d go. Maybe I’ll keep at it, things are feeling uneasy again. Only a matter of time before they’re at it with each other again.”  He hummed, looking forward to the two men who seemed to be trying to keep their own voices down. 

“Don’t stray too far,” he said eventually. “Just in case.” You nodded, a small smile wanting to pull at your lips.  

The Ghoul eventually made his way back to the front of the small campaign, and you were content to keep your own pace a few feet following him, Max and Thaddeus behind you. Eventually, you noticed the taller of the two next to you in your peripheral. 

“So you uh…you like ghouls?” He asked. You turned to look at him with a raised brow, but said nothing. “I’m a ghoul. Ghoul in progress, really.” You gave him a skeptical once-over, then fixed your eyes straight ahead again. “So right now is great because I’m a human with all the ghoul benefits. Or the other way around, whichever works best for you, really.”